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Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349Search All categories Advertising General Aerospace General Agriculture General Airlines General America - Post 9/11 General Apparel General Apple Products General Architectural General Architecture Architecture Art & Entertainments Books Celebrities Country Music Dance Magazines Movies Museums Music Music Downloads News & Talk Shows Performing Arts Photography Television Web Sites Arts/Culture General Auction General Automotive Aftermarket Classic Autos Consumer Publications General Motorcycle & Bike Racing Recreational Vehicle Repair & Service Trade Publications Blogging & Social Media Blogging & Social Media Business Advertising / Marketing Books Consumer Research Direct Marketing e-Commerce Entrepreneurs Finance Franchise Human Resources Insurance Investment Management Markets Network Marketing Online Marketing / SEO Payday Loans Public Relations Publications Real Estate Retail Stocks Supermarkets Women in Business Careers/HR General Chemical General Coaching / Mentoring Coaching / Mentoring Computers Apple Products Databases Games & Entertainment General Hosting Instruction Linux / GNU "Open Source" Macintosh Microsoft Windows PC Operating Systems Programming Security Software Tablet PCs Utilities Construction General Consumer Gifts and Collectibles Hobbies Web sites / Internet Design Graphic Design Industrial Web E-Cigarette General eCommerce General Economy General Education College / University General Home Schooling K-12 Post Graduate Technical Electronics General Email Marketing General EmailWire Press Releases Press Release Tips Employment/Careers General Engineering General Entertainment General Environment General Events / Trade Shows General Finance General Food General Franchise General Fraud / Identity Theft General Gaming General Government General Judicial Law Enforcement Legislative Local National Public Services Security State Transportation Healthcare General Home and Family Banking / Personal Finance Bereavement / Loss Home Furnishings / Interiors Landscaping & Gardening Marriage / Relationships Money Parenting Payday Loans Pets Taxes Wedding / Bridal Home Schooling General Hotels/Resorts General Household General Industry Aerospace / Defense Agriculture Apparel / Textiles Broadcast Construction / Building Electrical Food Funeral Healthcare Leisure / Hospitality Logistics / Shipping Manufacturing / Production Mining / Metals Oil / Energy Paper / Forest Products Plumbing, Heating & AC Print Media Printing Publishing Radio Restaurants Tobacco Toy Insurance General Internet/Online General Legal General Leisure General Lifestyle Beauty Dating / Singles Diet / Weight Loss Fashion Food / Beverage Health & Fitness Hotel / Resorts Pastimes Restaurants Retirement Travel & Tourism Machinery General Maritime General Medical Addiction Allergies Alternative Medicine Asthma Cancer Cardiology Chiropractic Dental Dermatology Diabetes Emergency Family Medicine General General Geriatrics Hospitals Infectious Diseases Internal Medicine Managed Care / HMO Medical Products Mental Health Neurology Nursing Nutrition OB / GYN Pediatrics Pharmaceuticals Physical Therapy Plastic Surgery Psychology Radiology / Imaging Research Sports Medicine Surgery Vision Military General Mining/Metals General Miscellaneous General Nanotechnology Nanotechnology Non-profit General Occupational Safety Occupational Safety Oil/Energy General Opinion / Editorial Opinion / Editorial Paper Products General Paper/Forest General Pharmaceuticals General Podcasting Announce Tools and Services Politics Politics Print Media General Public Utilities Public Utilities Publishing General Radio General Real Estate General Religion Christian General Islam Jewish Other Restaurants General Retail General RSS & Content Syndication RSS & Content Syndication Science and Research Science and Research Self-Help / Personal Growth Self-Help / Personal Growth Shipbuilding General Society African American Interests Asian Interests Childrens Issues Disabled Issues / Disabilities Gay / Lesbian Hispanic Mens Interests Native American Senior Citizens Social Services Teen Issues/Interests Womens Interest Software General Sports Baseball Basketball Bicycling Boating / Maritime Bowling Boxing Fishing Football Golf Hockey Hunting Martial Arts Outdoors Rugby Soccer Tennis Water Winter/Snow Sports/Fitness General Stocks General Supermarkets General Technology Biotechnology Computer Electronics Enterprise Software Games Graphics/Printing/CAD Hardware / Peripherals Industrial Information Internet Multimedia Networking Public Sector/Government Robotics Semiconductor Software Telecommunications Webmasters Telecom General Wireless Television General Tobacco General Trade General Transportation General Travel General Utilities General Volunteer Volunteer Weather WeatherJohnson was followed by nearly a dozen other appointees, some receiving salaries of up to $259,500. They had little experience in consumer protection enforcement or managing large groups of people, their resumes show. But many had a common profile, having worked for the financial sector or against the bureau. Two others had also worked as Hensarling aides, one of them a former financial lobbyist, according to their resumes. A third was a lawyer who once argued that the bureau was unconstitutional while representing a bank accused of deceptive practices, legal documents show.Ryugus samples should be here by December 2020. OSIRIS-REx aims to collect at least two ounces of dust and gravel. The spacecraft wont land, but rather use a 10-foot mechanical arm in 2020 to touch down and vacuum up particles. The sample container would break loose and head toward Earth in 2021.Which pipes are at risk for freezing? Pipes on exterior walls with little insulation, pipes in unheated areas of your home such as the basement, and outdoor pipes for your pool or sprinkler system. Here are some hints to help keep pipes running and warm:The Guardian story relied on unnamed sources and an internal document written by Ecuadors intelligence agency that lists Paul Manaford [sic] as one of several guests at the Ecuadoran Embassy in London, where Assange has sought refuge since 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden for alleged sex crimes. The newspaper said the document also mentions that Russians were guests at the embassy, but the story didnt identify any individuals, nor did it reproduce the document in question.It provides an unprecedented level of detail and transparency about how every school in Maryland is doing, said Justin Hartings, president of the Maryland State Board of Education. One can certainly just look at the star rating and draw some conclusions from that, but my hope is that people will look at all the other detail.Melissa Yorks of Gaithersburg, Md., said if theres a group photo, shes always the one with her eyes closed. I was at a lunch with a large group of Style Invitational losers some years ago, she wrote. One of them was trying to get a picture of everyone there. She told me it took her 13 tries to get a picture of me with my eyes open. And most of them werent even group pictures.Todays Headlines

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By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy PolicyAt a news briefing, county police said the woman, who was described as about 20 years old, was assaulted in the vehicle by two assailants during what officials called an hour-long nightmare in Prince Georges County and the District.Ironically, because it was considered improper for women to dance tango, men often had to learn the dance from other men. But tangos misogynistic roots came across in certain movements in the dance, with the man commanding and advancing on the woman, almost implying that he was trying to open her legs, and the woman trying to evade him, Varela said.Its not one thing that makes female politicians different from their male counterparts, but its clear that many bring something uniquely different to the job. The way many talk, act and unabashedly express their commitment to homeland and people. And it just might add up to what all kinds of studies have been pointing to for years: Women are better at governing than men.In that case, as many victims as want to testify will be able to testify, Edwards said. The number that were identified by the U.S. attorney is 36 to 40 women. There are more. It depends on how far you want to go. The operation was to recruit underage females, then have those underage females recruit others. Its like a spider web of child molestation.The Trump administration has chosen to wield the powerful and effective tool of trade sanctions to cajole China into curbing fentanyl production and export, Frydl said. Unfortunately, they have settled for Chinas prohibition of fentanyl as an appropriate concession, taking cues from a conventional drug war playbook that has proven ineffective elsewhere. Hopefully there is an undisclosed agreement monitoring the export of fentanyl, especially to Mexican drug traffickers, or one that pertains to Chinas largely unregulated chemical manufacture industry  otherwise prohibition will amount to little.During the 2016 presidential campaign, another young woman, known in court records only as Jane Doe, said Trump had raped her when she was 13, in 1994, at a party at Epsteins New York mansion. But the woman dropped her lawsuit and canceled a news conference at which she was expected to spell out her allegation. Her lawyer, Lisa Bloom, said the woman had received threats and was too scared to go ahead with her accusation. An attorney for Trump at the time called the allegation categorically untrue.Court orders Sri Lankan prime minister to refrain from duties: A Sri Lankan court has ordered disputed prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and his ministers to refrain from carrying out their duties as it hears an appeal against them. While the ruling is an interim order, it is yet another setback for Rajapaksa, who has held on to his position with President Maithripala Sirisena's backing despite losing two no-confidence votes. Sri Lanka has been in turmoil since Oct. 26, when Sirisena sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and appointed Rajapaksa in his place.At the heart of the problem in defining an economic strategy toward China is the following awkward fact: Suppose China had been fully compliant with every trade and investment rule and had been as open to the world as the most open countries at its income level. China might have grown faster because it reformed more rapidly, or it might have grown more slowly because of reduced subsidies or more foreign competition. But it is highly unlikely that its growth rate would have been altered by as much as 1 percent.Ultimately, of course, Bush agreed to do the right thing for his country, if not for his political career, by agreeing to a tax increase as part of a 1990 budget compromise. Insurgents in his own party turned against him. And when Bush ultimately lost his reelection bid, the broken pledge was blamed  perhaps unfairly, given that other factors (such as Ross Perots independent bid and the sluggish economy) also weighed against him.But after the George W. Bush tax cuts, which were mostly retained for middle- and upper-middle-income taxpayers under President Barack Obama, public opinion shifted. For the past 15 years, the too high percentage in Gallups polling has never exceeded 52 in any year. And in April 2018, only 45 percent embraced that complaint; they were outnumbered by the 48 percent who conceded that their taxes are about right.To be clear: Defending the human rights of journalists and activists does not mean launching a democratic crusade to overthrow the regions governments. In fact, a case for these efforts can be made on hardheaded self-interest alone. When senior U.S. officials convey that they are attentive to the rights of dissidents, despotic governments are more likely to proceed with greater caution against them. Conversely, when Washington signals its ambivalence, dictators are more likely to conclude that they can indulge their darkest impulses with impunity.As a leader, he deftly guided the world through a peaceful ending to the Cold War after it had stood on the brink of nuclear destruction for four decades. He did so with the wisdom of a man well-schooled in foreign affairs who selflessly put his country above himself and partisan politics. The world  enemies and allies alike  respected him as a leader of modest demeanor but steely resolve. He was proud of our nations ideals and pragmatic in advancing our interests. Above all, he understood our countrys unique place in world affairs and nurtured international institutions and coalitions that supported it.More than 30 years have passed since the day the leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union, meeting in Geneva, adopted a joint statement declaring that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. It was more than just rhetoric. Less than a year later, in Reykjavik, Iceland, they agreed on the parameters of future treaties on the elimination of intermediate-range nuclear forces, or INF, and the radical reduction of strategic nuclear arms. A year after that, in 1987, the first of these treaties was signed in Washington. The elimination of the entire class of nuclear missiles opened the way to a process of real nuclear disarmament.Paradoxically, the youngest leader on the world stage may well be Trump. He is 72, of course, but since ignorance is the functional equivalent of youth, he is forever young. The presidents head is uncluttered with the facts, not to mention the contradictions and paradoxes that come with knowledge and experience. For instance, his anti-NATO posture was clearly based on not knowing the underlying reasons for its creation. Trump saw it solely as an anti-Russia alliance, which it always was in part, but to him Moscow was just a nice place to build a hotel  not an enemy at all. But the desire to keep the United States engaged in Europe was beyond his ken.I do not make this decision lightly  I make it out of respect for my family. But for their concerns, I would run, Avenatti said in a statement in which he did not detail the concerns.Ill be as straight with you as I can, Biden said, according to accounts from CNN and local media.  I think Im the most qualified person in the country to be president. The issues that we face as a country today are the issues that have been in my wheelhouse, that Ive worked on my whole life.The truce with Trump allows the Bush family, and the nation, to honor the legacy of a president who guided the United States through the 1991 Persian Gulf War and the breakup of the Soviet Union without becoming mired in todays toxic politics. Trump in turn has been effusive in his praise of Bush since his death Friday, and paid respects Monday night at the U.S. Capitol, where the 41st president is lying in state.Beverly Tyler, 45, also a resident of Village Oak, said a woman came to her as well, asking for her absentee ballot. Tyler said she remembers seeing a truck parked in front of her door with a Mark Harris logo on it. Tyler, who is unemployed and seeking disability benefits for a back injury, said she turned her ballot over as well. She said she does not remember whom she voted for. Her ballot was turned in to the county, records show.They came because he was the last president to serve in World War II, or because he made the Americans With Disabilities Act the law of the land, or because they had seen him campaign in their hometowns, or because they admired how he and his wife, Barbara, showed their love for each other. Or they came because Bush was as different from Donald Trump as they could imagine a president might be.We have to have a relationship with some players that we dont agree with, Stewart said. Journalists disappear all over the country. Twenty journalists have been killed in Mexico. You dont think its happened in Turkey and China? Of course it does. And yet, we have to have a relationship with these individuals, or with these countries.Most of these items are things that either we never really had to kind of address because, guess what? We trusted Scott Walker and the administration to be able to manage the back-and-forth with the legislature, Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R) said Monday in an interview with conservative radio host Jay Weber. We dont trust Tony Evers right now in a lot of these areas.We are admiring of the trade representative and the attempts he has made to make sure that we are aware of what is in it, Pelosi said. But what isnt in it yet is enough enforcement reassurances regarding provisions that relate to workers and to the environment. There also has not been a law passed in Mexico in terms of wages and working conditions in Mexico.In his conversations with Perez and Cahill, Devine suggested that the party adopt a broader method of qualifying for the debate stage than the one used in 2016, which required candidates to get at least 1 percent support in three national primary polls. An October poll this year by CNN found 14 potential candidates with support from 1 percent or more of the primary electorate, although not all of them are likely to run.Top Republican officials in Washington have kept quiet about the allegations as the state investigation is underway. A spokeswoman for Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who will be the top House GOP leader next year, did not respond to a request for comment on Hoyers suggestion that Harris might not be seated, nor did a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee.KABUL  Everyone, it seems, is pushing for peace in Afghanistan these days. President Trumps special envoy is racing around the region, trying to drum up support for talks with the insurgent Taliban. The Russians, eager to get into the act, have hosted a conference on the issue. The Pakistanis, long accused of abetting the insurgents, insist they want to help end the war. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani hopes to win reelection in April as the man who brought peace to his country after 17 years.The Tices said they are particularly encouraged by Trumps personal interest in Austins case and by his track record of bringing home other Americans detained overseas, including Otto Warmbier, who was freed by North Korea earlier this year but died days later, and Andrew Brunson, the pastor who was released by Turkey in October. In meetings with Trump and other senior officials in recent months, they have each made a commitment to us that they are determined to bring Austin home safely, Marc Tice said. And we continue to call for direct communication between officials of the two countries.Like everywhere else, the question in France is how to find a way of combining ecology and equality, said Bruno Cautres, a researcher at the Paris Institute of Political Studies. Citizens mostly see punitive public policies when it comes to the environment: taxes, more taxes and more taxes after that. No one has the solution, and we can only see the disaster thats just occurred in France on this question.We heard noises. We called the army. We also took pictures of Hezbollah operatives on the border, Zamir Hatan, from the northern border village of Shtula, told Israeli Radio. The army held a meeting with us and told us we had nothing to worry about and that as long as they werent shooting, there was nothing to be done.The Army sent 4,600 green-card holders to recruit training in 2016, and 3,600 in 2017, according to data provided by the Pentagon. That number plummeted to 513 in 2018, as the Army also missed its recruiting goal in 2018 for the first time since 2005 by about 6,500 soldiers, despite spending more than $200 million on bonuses. The service declined to say how many green-card holders are in its system waiting to ship to training, citing the open litigation. The green-card holders originate from many countries with which the United States has friendly relations, with lawful permanent residents from the Philippines making up the largest number. In the Navy, about 656 of the group waiting to go to boot camp are from there. China, Jamaica, Nigeria and Mexico are among the other nations with significant numbers, according to data provided to The Post. The Pentagon has grappled with frequent Chinese efforts to steal U.S. secrets and is concerned about Islamic extremism in Nigeria, but it also has lauded the past efforts by green-card holders from those nations to join the military and earn their citizenship. The suit filed in California by the ACLU details the cases of Jiahao Kuang, who moved to the United States from China at 8 years old, and Deron Cooke, who successfully applied for a green card at age 22 and emigrated from Jamaica. Kuang grew up in California and enlisted in the Navy in July 2017, motivated by a desire to serve the United States and earn money for college, according to court documents for the case. He was initially expected to head to training in July 2018, but that date was later shifted until January 2019. He did not apply for college in anticipation of joining the Navy, the documents said. Cooke, unaware of the Pentagons new policy last year, resigned from a job in anticipation of soon joining the Air Force as an auto mechanic. He, too, was caught in limbo and still hasnt begun training. The judge ruled that the two recruits are representative of the kind of people affected by the Pentagons policy. The court will continue to review the issue.The gulf that has emerged between Republican lawmakers and the president over how to respond to the journalists killing appeared to widen after Tuesdays briefing, with Graham, one of Trumps closest Senate allies, announcing that he was no longer willing to work with the crown prince, whom the White House regards as one of its most important allies in the Middle East.One of the reasons that were having this debate . . . is we dont like being told  and were proxies for the American public  we dont like being told were not involved in hostilities, when bombs that are falling are made in the United States and when U.S. jets are involved in refueling Saudi bombing runs into Yemen, he said. Were insulted by that. . . . We dont find that to be believable.Moving away from the reprehensible political arena of our country, I would like instead to share with you a heart warming story I received, as told by Radhanath Swami!!! In the vicious world we live in today, it provokes a little soul-searching and conscience evaluating!!! Swami says and I quote:

In an evolved human society people love people and use things, but unfortunately so much in this world has changed. People love things and use people to get them and to keep them; unfortunately, there can be no inner-satisfaction in our lives in such a state of consciousness. Swami continues: Recently, I was told of one very influential doctor in America, who regularly would get his newspaper from a little boy whose leg was crippled.

The doctor felt a certain compassion for him and decided he could not afford it but would arrange a surgery. So, he went to a local medical hospital and said: If you give me your medical facilities for free, I will teach how to do this surgery to all your students. So, it was arranged and he told the little boy I will fix your leg so that you can run and play with all the other children. The little boy looked up at him and said: This is a really good thing because if you teach other people how to do this for free, so many other people like me will also benefit.

So the day of the surgery came and they were in the theatre for the surgery. The doctor and all his staff were together and the students were behind glass with CCTV watching everything. The little boy was wheeled in and the doctor told all the students exactly what he was about to do. Just before he went into his sleep from anaesthesia, the boy said Doctor, I think you are a really wonderful person and I pray that God will bless you for your kindness to me and he went to sleep. After the successful surgery, the doctor told all the students what he had done. And then he said, with tears in his eyes, Over the years, I have done surgeries for super VIPs, multi-millionaires, billionaires; I have made great fortunes from my surgeries. With great emotion, he said, But I can tell you Ive never experienced so much meaning, fulfilment and happiness as when I heard the words of appreciation from this little child. -Radhanath Swami. Reading this is infinitely better than being taken through the vicissitudes of politics today!!!!!!

Whither Politicians?



How many of us can claim to have done something as noble and fulfilling as the doctor that Radhanath Swami talked about??? Apart from singular instances such as that, we have innumerable causes:-Lanka Alzheimers Foundation, Sri Lanka Anti-Narcotics Association, Associations for the Deaf, the Blind, the Disabled, the Paralyzed, Cancer and counting; and yes, there are good people who take on these causes; work for them, walk for them!!! Yet, have we seen a single Minister or politician join one of these campaigns??? Donate to a worthy cause??? The Voice remains silent today!!!

FUTURE IMPOSSIBLE TENSE

Again, I am sharing today a worthwhile true to life discourse on LIFE!!! There are three things that control our lives, TIME, HEALTH AND WEALTH!!! When we are young we have time, time to play, time to work, time to explore, and time to be curious!!! When we are young we generally have health, we have energy, we have strength but most of us dont have wealth, we dont have all the money in the world!!! We dont have money to buy everything we want; we dont get all we want!!! As we get older, we still have our health, it may not be the same but it is still there!!! We now have more wealth, more money, a house, we have devices, we have possessions, we have a car, we have access to things but we dont always have time!!! Money can buy a house but not a home, it can buy a bed but not sleep, and it can buy a book but not knowledge!!! Money can earn a title but no respect, it can buy a clock but not time!!! Those of us who think we have no time for our health will sooner or later have to find the time!!! When we are young we have time and health but no money, when we get older we have money and health but no time!!! And finally, in old age, we have money and time but no health to use that wealth; so what do we do???

We can have them all but not all at the same time!!! We place so much pressure on ourselves trying to get everything to be perfect, trying to get everything to balance not recognizing that none of these things actually creates happiness or fulfilment in life!!!

As we get older, time, health and wealth will be taken away from us, but it is only the impact that we leave on others that will not be taken away from us!!! Our health is the foundation of how we can build our time and wealth!!! We become successful by what we give if our wealth and energy are used to make a positive difference in the lives of others, to make an impact on the lives of others; it is that legacy that will never be taken away!!! And, as Maya Angelou said, People will forget what you said, People will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel.

Finishing on a hilarious note  a Teacher asked

One day our country will be corruption free, what tense is it?

The student responded:

FUTURE IMPOSSIBLE TENSE!!!

THE VOICEThe Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, signed by the United States and the Soviet Union in 1987, banned nuclear and nonnuclear missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometers, or about 310 to 3,400 miles. It has been a pillar of Europes security architecture for more than three decades, but the Trump administration has said it puts the United States at a military disadvantage against China, which is not bound by the treaty.An appeal was handed over to the Supreme Court a short while ago against the interim order issued by Court of Appeal, MP Gamini Lokuge said.

The Court of Appeal yesterday issued an interim order restraining the functioning of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Cabinet ministers, deputy ministers and state ministers.

Video by PrasannaSubcontractors will be less exposed to non-payment on major government jobs when the state government expands the use of project bank accounts next year.

The accounts are already used by the Department of Finances for building management and works worth more than $1.5 million but from July 1 next year they will be used in a wide range of government projects, but won't apply to existing contracts.

New major government contracts will have to use project bank accounts by July 1, 2019 but it won't apply retrospectively to projects like the Forrestfield Airport Link tunnel. Credit:WA Government

Subcontractors have been screaming for some financial safety in WAs tough construction industry, which have seen a number of high profile construction companies go under, leaving them in the lurch.

Small Business Minister Paul Papalia building and construction was a high-risk industry for small businesses, with subcontractors exposed to high levels of late payments, non-payments and insolvencies.A royal commission will be held into what is likely the biggest legal scandal in Victoria's history that stems from Melbourne's bloody gangland war and threatens to quash the convictions of notorious underworld crime figures.

At the heart of the unprecedented scandal is a criminal defence barrister who became a police informer and gave up information about her own clients, in conduct the High Court of Australia slammed as "reprehensible".

A number of convictions are now in doubt, including that of drug lord Tony Mokbel and those obtained in the infamous "tomato tins" drug case, namely Calabrian Mafia boss Pasquale Barbaro and trafficker Rob Karam.

Tony Mokbel is among the high-profile gangland criminals whose cases are affected. Credit:AP

Known by the pseudonyms - Informer 3838, Witness EF or Lawyer X - the barrister claimed her information led to the arrest and charging of 386 people and generated more than 5500 internal information reports that were key in several gangland investigations.A former Myaree builder has been fined $10,000 by the State Administrative Tribunal for failing to properly manage and supervise three projects with a combined contract value of almost $2 million.

Geoffrey Ian Britton  the nominated supervisor of Avon Dream Pty Ltd, trading as Econstruct  accepted the Building Services Boards allegations, which included that he failed to detect or adequately rectify significant defects and also failed to ensure subcontractors work met required standards.

The allegations relate to extension work, valued at $400,000 and $625,000 respectively, at separate properties in Mount Hawthorn and construction of a new brick-and-tin home in Booragoon, valued at $975,000.

The tribunal heard hundreds of defects were found at the properties during and after the building projects and tradespeople engaged by the builder had not achieved an acceptable standard of workmanship. Despite subsequent rectification work, numerous defects remained at the sites.

The companys building registration ceased in April 2017 and Mr Brittons building practitioners registration expired in November 2017.A parliamentary committee led by Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce has broken ranks with the Coalition to call on Industrial Relations Minister Kelly ODwyer to crack down on employers using labour hire arrangements to entrench long-term casual work.

The House standing committee on innovation, industry, science and resources has recommended a review of casualisation and labour hire, with a view to amending the Fair Work Act to prevent misuse, particularly in the mining industry.

The Coalition-dominated committee echoed Labor's policy approach, calling for a prohibition on "replacing directly employed, full-time workers with 'permanent casual' employees, and other similar casualised employee types".

Barnaby Joyce wants the government to crack down on labour hire firms to boost regional employment. Credit:Mick Tsikas

"Changes to the act should also include provisions that guarantee that employees have a legal right to convert from casual to permanent employment after a set period of time," the report said.The University of Sydney has moved to sack controversial senior lecturer Tim Anderson after he showed students material featuring the Nazi swastika imposed over the flag of Israel.

Dr Anderson attracted criticism from federal education ministers for his numerous trips to Syria and North Korea, where he expressed solidarity with their dictatorial regimes and condemned Western imperialism and the United States.

He regularly posted on social media about the crimes of the "apartheid" Israeli state, and complained the mainstream media was complicit in distorting the narrative about Israel and Palestine.

Sydney University lecturer Tim Anderson. Credit:Facebook

A spokeswoman for the university confirmed Dr Anderson had been served a termination notice as he had engaged in "serious misconduct".A Western Australian Labor MP has quit two organisations promoting the Chinese government's foreign policy interests after failing to declare his membership to Parliament.

Upper House MP Pierre Yang has been under fire over his ties to the groups, but has won support from Premier Mark McGowan and senior ministers.

WA Labor MLC Pierre Yang with Labor supporters in May.

Mr Yang, who has travelled with Mr McGowan on official trips to China, told The Australian he overlooked his membership to the Northeast China Federation Inc and the Association of Great China when making personal interest disclosures to Parliament.

The newspaper reported these organisations support China's aggressive military posture in the South China Sea and its controversial 'Belt and Road' infrastructure scheme.The internet is a weird and wonderful place, and one of the websites that really embodies all the 'net stands for is Tumblr.

Its a place where anyone can be or say anything. Creepy furry porn blogs coexist peacefully alongside Greek mythology debates. Its made almost entirely out of memes, and its the home of both the aggressive hyper left young Tumblr pitchfork culture and a bunch of Nazis and people lobbying to have paedophilia be more accepted.

Tumblr is aiming to remove porn, but as always its collateral damage disproportionately censors women and LGBT content.

Its a place where the different sides of Tumblr never see each other; if youre on the lesbian fandom side, it can be easy to forget straight people use the site. So its entirely possible to miss the darker parts of Tumblr if thats not what youre into.

Its also lovingly known as the most incompetent major social media site out there, with many users noticing just how bad it is at targeted advertising, and how impossible it can be for popular blogs to monetise their influence.London: The new Sir John Monash Centre at Villers-Bretonneux is a beautiful thing, with a clever architectural design and cutting-edge digital bells and whistles.

The Sir John Monash Centre at Villers-Bretonneux nestles into the earth behind the Australian National Memorial.

But it would have to be, given the price tag.

The design and $100 million budget for the museum were revealed by then-prime minister Tony Abbott the day after Anzac Day, 2015.

The Western Front is where our thoughts must dwell if we are truly to remember our forebears, pay homage to their sacrifice and honour their achievements, he said.Brussels: US President Donald Trump's top diplomat promised on Tuesday a new democratic world order in which Washington will strengthen or jettison international agreements as it sees fit to stop "bad actors" such as Russia, China and Iran from gaining.

In a twist on Trump's "America First" policy, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Trump was not abandoning its global leadership but instead reshaping the post-World War Two system on the basis of sovereign states, not multilateral institutions.

"In the finest traditions of our great democracy, we are rallying the noble nations to build a new liberal order that prevents war and achieves greater prosperity," Pompeo told diplomats and officials in a foreign policy speech.

"We are acting to preserve, protect, and advance an open, just, transparent and free world of sovereign states," Pompeo said, adding that China's ability to benefit from the current US-led system of trade and other agreements was an example of "the poisoned fruit of American retreat."Washington: Last month, four-year-old Riley Wooten ran from his house in Paradise, California, with his grandmother and his dog as their home suddenly erupted in flames.

He grabbed his favourite toy, a dinosaur named Chompy, but left behind everything else, including his prized collection of other dinos.

He and his family made it safely out of town to relatives' homes, dodging fire raining around them in the Camp Fire blaze that killed almost 90 people and scorched about 14,000 homes. In the aftermath, friends and family kept asking Riley's family: What can we do to help?Navin Dissanayake, the eldest son of prominent United National Party (UNP) politician Gamini Dissanayake, was the Plantation Industries Minister before the disputed government was appointed. He is the National Organiser of the UNP and one of the young UNPers who is being groomed to take over the party leadership. He is also the son-in-law of Speaker Karu Jayasuriya. Navin, who is an Attorney-at-law, holds a masters degree in Finance and Financial Law from University of London. He sat with Daily Mirror for an interview on the current political impasse and shared his and his partys future plans.

Rajapaksas will breach their political contract and the promise given to the President. Despite this agreement between Mahinda Rajapaksa and President Sirisena, the Rajapaksas will present their own candidate I dont think I am ready to run for presidency as yet. It will take another five years for me to prepare myself The vote of the motion freezing the disputed Prime Ministers expenses was a very clear affirmation that Mr. Jayasuriya has acted in the best interest of the majority

Excerpts:

Q Why is the UNP calling for a Presidential election when the UPFA and the SLPP are demanding general polls?

At the moment and according to the interim order given by the Supreme Court recently, the general election cannot be held till December 7. We hope the judgment on December 7 will be the same because once the court has given an interim order, it is difficult for the judicial body to change its judgment. We will wait and see. We will be pleased to hold a Presidential election after January 9.

Q But local government elections have been postponed for years.

With the situation the country is in at the moment, lets go for a Presidential election and elect the Head of State.

Q Who is going to be the UNP Presidential candidate?

Everyone will come to know about it at the right time. According to our standard procedure, the UNP selects its candidates through closed door discussions and debates with its Working Committee and Parliamentary group. The best example is how we selected our candidate back in 1988. During discussions, Ranasinghe Premadasa, my father Gamini Dissanayake and Lalith Athulathmudali were nominated but they came into an agreement that the best would be elected; that was Ranasinghe Premadasa.

Q What about the discussion on a common candidate from the UNP to run for presidency?

Well, it is going to be a common UNP candidate. There are several people in the list including Karu Jayasuriya, Ranil Wickremesinghe and Sajith Premadasa.

Q Why are you not in that list? There is speculation that you and Sajith Premadasa are potential leaders of the party. How well equipped are you for competition?

Sajith Premadasa and I have been marginalised from the party for years. He being the deputy leader and me being the National Organiser of the party, there is no competition between us. However, I believe competition in a democratic and decent manner is good because there should not be a monopoly in the party. Whoever musters the biggest support from the people and whoever is fortunate will get the chance to run for presidency from the UNP.

Q In case you are nominated as the UNP common candidate, how confident are you of winning the election?

First of all, I dont think I am ready to run for presidency as yet. It will take another five years for me to prepare myself. I am confident enough to face any challenge. I am someone who believes in gut instincts as they have guided me throughout my political journey. I think there are more qualified people in my party for candidature. They should be given the opportunity. I will fully support whoever gets nominated by the party.

Q With the current political crisis, which is somewhat beneficial to the UNP, do you think your leader Ranil Wickremesinghe will agree to send someone else for upcoming polls?

It actually depends. As he had let himself to be replaced in 2010 and even in 2015, I think he will do it next year too.

Q Is there any truth in Johnston Fernandos and Dayasiri Jayasekaras allegations that you are influencing your father-in-law, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya?

Speaker Karu Jayasuriya is a very strong politician who takes decisions independently. Our personal relationship never gets mixed up with politics. He does whatever he feels is right. He has never asked for my opinion when taking political decisions. Neither have I.

Q The Speaker, coming from the UNP, is the main reason behind allegations that he is partial to his party. What are your thoughts?

None of these allegations would come up if the Mahinda faction had a majority in Parliament. The vote of the motion freezing the disputed Prime Ministers expenses was a very clear affirmation that Mr. Jayasuriya has acted in the best interest of the majority. He cannot act in the interest of the minority. One of the accusations levelled against him was that he had not followed the procedure in the no-confidence motion (NCM) against Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The NCM we brought against Rajapaksa was an extraordinary measure because this commotion happened all of a sudden. The Parliament had been prorogued even without asking the Speaker. When Parliament was summoned after the prorogation, Sumanthiran from the TNA stood up and suspended the standing orders.

Then, we were legally given the liberty to make decisions using the majority in Parliament. The Mahinda faction didnt allow us to take a vote by name. That is why he went on voice vote which is not new in the House. For instance, when Chamal Rajapaksa was the Speaker, the House had a voice vote for the Right to Information Act. Karu Jayasuriya acted within the standing orders. Those who level allegations against Mr. Jayasuriya have no leg to stand on.

Q What do you think of your previous common candidate President Maithripala Sirisenas course of actions and decisions in the recent past?

Just like every citizen of this country, I am shocked and disappointed about the President. He acted in a complete undemocratic manner which cannot be accepted by anyone. If the President is reading my interview, I would ask him to take a step back.

Q Why do you think he made such controversial decisions?

He has come up with various reasons. Therefore, only he knows the real reasons behind his actions. He has never spoken to us regarding any of the allegations he mentioned to the media. He should have called for a group meeting and a Cabinet meeting to discuss any issues he had.

What he did was having a dialogue with Mahinda Rajapaksa for about three months. Thilanga Sumathipala acted as the intermediary of this political contract. Deal is essentially that the President would block court cases against the Rajapaksa family and they would then give the SLPP Pohottuwa vote to Sirisena at the Presidential election. Their deal is already in action. In the next ten days, everyone will see how cases against the Rajapaksa family will get blocked and postponed.

Q Do you have anything to say about the silent approach of former President Chandrika Kumaratunga in this political crisis?

She is very subtle and silent, but I am sure she is operating behind the scenes. She is playing a hand, but I dont know what kind of role it is. What I heard was that she is disappointed because she was the one who nominated Maithripala Sirisena as the common candidate.

Q Gotabaya Rajapaksa was in the picture of social media in terms of presidency. Now he cannot be seen in the limelight. What is your opinion on the conflict within the Rajapaksa family over their future politics and how do you think it is going to affect the UNP?

Rajapaksas will breach their political contract and the promise given to the President. Despite this agreement between Mahinda Rajapaksa and President Sirisena, the Rajapaksas will present their own candidate. The UNP will have our own common candidate. If the President runs for the second term, he will end up with only 10-15% of the votes. He wont break any of the UNP votes, but the votes of the Pohottuwa. However, there is another possibility that Pohottuwa voters might never vote for the President. The person who is going to lose out on this crisis is the President and not us. There is a lot of confusion over their political situation. As the President is also very unpopular, the Rajapaksas will not stick with him.

He acted against the principles of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. There is no doubt that Maithripala Sirisena is certainly a one-term President. He could have had a better, safer and honourable second-term as a ceremonial President with more powers than the Prime Minister. We had it in our minds.

Q Will the UNP and President Sirisena jointly work again in future?

After this crisis, even if there is going to be a reconciliation, it is going to be difficult to create a conducive atmosphere because the trust is lost. However, as we all know, 24 hours is a very long time in politics. There are no permanent friends or enemies in politics, especially in a country like Sri Lanka.

Q In the recent past, we witnessed how executive powers of the President can be used and how the country could be dragged into a political crisis. Now, where does the UNP stand in the abolition of the executive presidency?

We are considering the 20th Amendment to abolish the executive presidency and vest the executive powers with the Prime Minister.

Q Reports said money was offered to MPs to crossover to the disputed government. On the other way around, was money offered to stay in the

UNF too?

Our party isnt that rich actually. I wish we were. But, we cannot match our party with the disputed government in terms of lavish spending. I know that a lot of money and government positions were offered to my colleagues. We are very happy that they refused those perks and benefits.

Q You have mentioned two people who reportedly tried to buy MPs.

I stand by what I said. Both Dudley Sirisena and Basil Rajapaksa were given the task to buy over MPs. I know Dudley contacted some of our colleagues.

Q Parliament was recently turned into a battlefield thereby setting a bad example to the younger generation. You were also there. How do you see the behaviour of public representatives?

It is such a disgrace to the country. How can such things happen in a civilized country? I have never seen anything like that throughout my political career. I hope they will learn a lesson. There are morally flawed politicians who shouldnt be in Parliament.

Q How hopeful are you that action will be taken against the MPs who caused damage to parliamentary property?

The committee that was appointed will first observe the video footages of the commotion. Their report will come next. Action will be taken against those who are responsible.There are political moments  like when President Maithripala Sirisena addressed the media after his defection in November 2014 or Speaker Karu Jayasuriya surrounded by police officers without badges conducting parliament seated on the side next to a wall, an act of defiance as powerful as that of Sirisena, four years back.

These moments, sometimes choreographed, have been catalysts for political movements in Sri Lanka. The campaigns then get coated with catchphrases, slogans and visuals. With the October 26 political drama, we have seen a new aspect of Sri Lankas political campaigns  Hashtags.

The first time I noticed a serious traction on political hashtags on social media in Sri Lanka was during 2014-2015 presidential polls. That was when #PresPollSLgained popularity. Before that Mahinda Rajapaksa had somewhat pioneered the use of social media for political campaigns in Sri Lanka with his interactive Facebook and Twitterengagements. He even did live interviews.

It took till the next political upheaval here to show how between 2015 and 2018 social media had evolved into a pivot for political campaigns from a sideshow. With six million Facebook accounts of Sri Lankan origin and over one billion content points on Facebook and affiliated platforms

It took till the next political upheaval here to show how between 2015 and 2018 social media had evolved into a pivot for political campaigns from a sideshow. With six million Facebook accounts of Sri Lankan origin and over one billion content points on Facebook and affiliated platforms, this was bound to happen.

There have been a cluster of hashtags that have evolved around the sacking of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe, among which #CoupLK, #ConsitututionalCrisisSriLanka and #ConstitutionalCrisislk have been prominent.

Take #CoupLK which generated over 70 tweets on December 1 that had the potential to impact over 7.7 million accounts given the reach and engagement of those tweets #ConstututionalCrisisSriLanka was featured in over 90 tweets with a possible impact reach of around 6.6 million accounts. According to researcher Sanjana Hattotuwa there have been over 150,000 tweets with hashtags linked to the October 26 sacking since the event.

Two of these have had two very interesting evolution = #RiseUpSL and #LetMeVote. The former was the tag line used by civil society groups and others that rose up against the sacking. It had the backing of UNP members, MPs of other parties and various political and civic groups but was not necessarily a creation of any one of them. The latter on the other hand had much more clear political links, it was created by MR supporters who were campaigning for elections.

A month after the sacking, both campaigns ironically seem to be spearheaded by the same accounts or had merged or one had been hijacked by supporters of the other. By volume #LetMeVote was higher, but several accounts with very clear political biases were among the top most active accounts on both hashtags.

During the last week of November#RiseUpSL was used in 754 posts while #LetMeVote was used in 692 posts, the former had a potential reach of 331,000 accounts while the latter had around 321,000. What these two movements showed us how easily a political hashtag, for that matter any hashtag, could be taken over or drowned out by another. By the sheer volume of tweets one can overshadow the other. Also, an orgainsed campaign where handles and accounts work in tandem can work far more cohesively than an organic campaign.

During the last week of November #RiseUpSL was used in 754 posts while #LetMeVote was used in 692 posts, the former had a potential reach of 331,000 accounts while the latter around 321,000. What these two movements showed is how easily a political hashtag, for that matter any hashtag, can be taken over or drowned out by another

Facebook has had a different dynamic since October 26. What was once the unambiguous fiefdom of the Rajapakas and gossip, has seen a significant shift. According to Hattotuwas research the interaction and engagement on UNP and linked posts have shown a significant rise since October 26.

It is not clear why this shift is taking place, but a safe assumption is that the Rajapaksa-centred Facebook activity was part of a planned, long-term political PR campaign which slotted into the echo-chamber effect like-minded users engaging, while the changes since October 26 possibly show a much more organic shift with users seeking out info on their own.

Another reason could be the lack of UNP point of view and related news on the main electronic and other news channels.

The author is the Asia-Pacific Coordinator for the DART Centre for Journalism and Trauma, a project of Columbia Journalism School. Twitter - @amanthapWe are amidst three nationally and politically very important and serious legal tussles, with the entire country waiting with baited breath, for the final outcome of them. And all three cases are a kind of first in the history and hence nobodys experience at least hints as to what the final outcome of the current political stalemate and the Constitutional conundrum is.

We are witnessing a court case filed by 13 petitioners being heard against the dissolution of the Parliament by President Maithripala Sirisena, while another case had been filed by the ousted Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and 121 Parliamentarians belonging to the UNP, TNA, JVP and the SLMC against Mahinda Rajapaksa and 49 others seeking a declaration from the court preventing the respondents from acting as the Prime Minister and Ministers.

A third petition has also been filed by former Civil Defence Force head Sarath Weerasekara seeking a declaration preventing the Parliament from meeting in the light of the Stay Order against the dissolution of the Parliament. The three cases have made the situation utterly perplexed even to the learned people in the country, while the difference between the arguments of the legal eagles in the country and those of the ordinary men on the street, on the situation, increasingly thinning.

However, in the coming days we can expect one of four scenarios depending on the final judgments of two of these important cases. One is a situation where dissolution of the Parliament might have been upheld while the legality of the Rajapaksa Government might have also been endorsed by the court. Another situation that might arise is where dissolution is upheld but the legality of the Rajapaksa Government is not.

Thirdly, the Supreme Court might declare the Gazette notification on the dissolution null and void, while the Rajapaksa regime could be declared legal. Also there is a possibility of both dissolution and the legality of the Rajapaksa Government might be declared invalid. If the second scenario occurred, a smooth transferring of power from one Government to another through an immediate Parliamentary Election would be possible.

However, depending on some other situations the country might face strange scenarios in the coming days. For instance, if the fourth situation becomes a reality  where both dissolution and the legality of the Rajapaksa Government being legally not acceptable  there would be a situation without a Parliament as well as a Government with a legally accepted Prime Minister and a Cabinet. And there is no provision in the Constitution or any other law for the President to appoint a Prime Minister under that circumstance. Then, the country would have to go for a General Election without a caretaker Government.

We have a populace that is blindly politicized and easily being carried away by the media hypes. We have seen them in the past being emotionally charged by the media hypes, especially with regard to the ethnic issues, ultimately leading to disasters, such as the Aluthgama mayhem. Also we have a media culture which is dishearteningly divided on political party lines. During the current muddle we witness some media outlets irresponsibly echoing the communal references made by the politicians, who have nothing to cling on to.

At a time when the people are emotionally charged such references might end up in untoward turns of events. We expect the politicians to be responsible and maintain restraint in their words and deeds, in this regard. Needless to say that the solution to the current impasse lies in a Parliament which must be new but considerably tilted towards one of the many political groupings. In other words, the solution lies in a parliament with a stable government and a strong Opposition. Yet, in the light of certain politicians always attempting to take mileage of racism, the involvement of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in the making or breaking of governments might lead to unfair communal interpretations while unfortunately driving the Tamil coalition away from the mainstream politics.

In the days to come, there might also be scenarios where the heroes of certain groups would inevitably be humiliated by the rulings of the courts or by the real ground situations. It is the duty and responsibility of the leaders to morally strengthen and prepare their rank and file, in order to put up with the reality, without taking the law into their hands.From left Mrs. Dhara Wijayatilake, Secretary General / CEO of CCC, Mr. G. S. Chatoor, Past Chairman, CCC, Mr. P.G.Kumarasinghe Sirisena Group Chairman /SLT, Mr. Priyantha Fernandez , Chief Operating Officer /SLT, Mr. Kiththi Perera , CEO/SLT, Mr. Deva Rodrigo, Past Chairman, CCC

Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT), the national ICT solutions provider in the country was recognized once again for its commitment and contribution to corporate responsibility and sustainability at the Best Corporate Citizen Sustainability Awards 2018, organized by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce(CCC). The prestigious awards night was conducted at the Cinnamon Grand Colombo recently amidst much glamour and glitz.

SLT was awarded the Sector Award for best performance under the Othercategory. The company was also recognized and awarded for its Consistent Commitment and Continuous Improvement under the Economic category.

Mr. P.G. Kumarasinghe Sirisena / Chairman of SLT Group, Mr. Kiththi Perera / Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Priyantha Fernandez / Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Prabhath Ambegoda / Chief Corporate & Digital Officer, Mr. Rohana Ellawala / GM-Corporate Relations and other SLT officials were present at the awards ceremony and accepted the awards on behalf of the company.

SLT has made a significant contribution towards the economy of the country by taking broadband to the masses in all corners of the country, by enhancing accessibility and affordability, dedicated to playing a catalytic role in the countrys digital transformation. Through the provision of a wide range of robust ICT solutions, SLT has succeeded in transforming the lives of people in the country in terms of the way they learn, work, play as well as entertain themselves. The company has greatly enhanced convenience to the general public by bringing services and solutions to their fingertips. It has also played a key role in contributing towards a green revolution by providing businesses and individuals with opportunities to adopt e-services and e-solutions that minimize their carbon footprint. In addition, SLT is also an employer to a large workforce that exceeds 7000 individuals located all across the country. Thus the company creates employment opportunities and is also responsible for the welfare and wellbeing of a large number of people from all parts of the island, being one of the employers of choice.

SLTs strategies are also aligned with the vision of the government of Sri Lanka to develop Sri Lanka into a high-income, knowledge-based economic power by the year 2030. With this vision, the companys core efforts make a significant contribution to the countrys National Digital Economic Strategy to develop the IT industry and improve ICT literacy. Furthermore, being the licensed operator for the countrys National Backbone Network (NBN) as well as the generous investments made in multiple submarine cables, add significant value to Sri Lankas economy.

Further, the SLT Group contributed total revenue that exceeds Rs. 73.8 billion during the year 2017.The company has also successfully contributed over Rs. 38.5 billion to the government of Sri Lanka by way of taxes and levies.

The Best Corporate Citizen Sustainability Award is organized with the vision of recognizing the importance of corporate sustainability in Sri Lanka and encouraging businesses to adopt best practices, to encourage the efficient use of resources in day to day business operations, minimize environment pollution as well as ensure the safety and health of workers, consumers and communities in all business operations and products, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. SLTs continuous recognition at these awards bears testimony to the companys continuous commitment towards corporate responsibility and sustainability via the initiatives mentioned above.Mr. Editor

I have to ask if my brothers and sisters, with a darker skin-tone and who originated from the African continent, seriously believe they were the only ones to suffer the indignity and horror of enslavement? Sorry, but I must enlighten you; slavery has been around since a couple of generations after Adam!

All dynasties, through-out time, grew with the use of unwilling, entrapped labour. I find this idea of reparations just a little ludicrous, yes Im white and born a Briton, that being said I want the British government to say, yes we will pay reparations from the reparations we receive from Rome!

For those too wrapped up in this current silliness and have not learnt, Britons were slaves to the Roman Empire in the first couple of centuries AD.



By the way are the families and tribes in Africa also being hounded to pay reparations; since they are the ones who sold their tribe-members to the British slaving ships in the first place?



Something else which seems to be conveniently forgotten, in the 1600s slavery was quite legal and only legislated against in the early 1800s, which movement was started by  the British!

Of course slavery, in some form or other, is still practiced to this day!



Trying to right wrongs.

The views expressed are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the WeblogBahamas (which has no corporate view).SriLankan airlines has paid passengers Rs.430 million as compensation for badly-handled baggage between 2008 and 2018, this was yesterday revealed at the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) into irregularities at SriLankan airlines, SriLankan Catering and Mihin Lanka.

SriLankan Security Division Senior Manager Titus Kannangara gave the following breakdown of the compensation paid -- Rs.33.8 million in 2008 to 2009; Rs.17.4 million in 2009 to 2010; Rs.49.4 million in 2010 to 2011; Rs.20 million 2011-2012; Rs.42.5 million in 2012 to 2013; Rs.41 million in 2013 to 2014; Rs.44 million in 2014 to 2015; Rs.56 million in 2015 to 2016; Rs.50.8 million in 2016 to 2017 and Rs.75.5 million in 2017 to 2018.

In a response to Senior Counsel Fazly Raziks question as how baggage could be mishandled Mr. Kannangara said baggage mishandling fell into four categories such as damaged baggage, lost baggage, pilferage of baggage and baggage delays.

He said most of the passengers were known to make false complaints to obtain insurance.

When Senior Counsel Razik asked about the responsibility of the Security Division in making sure of the safety of the baggage, Mr. Kannagara said security officers could not be present at all times when bags were mishandled and pointed out that most of the damage was minor.

However, during the proceedings it was also revealed that several incidents of pilfered baggage took place but the Security Division had not taken action against those responsible for the pilferage.

Senior Counsel Razik proved through audio evidence that security division had failed to take action in cases of pilferage.

The audio evidence which was played during the proceedings confirmed that on two occasions the witness had advised his officials not to check his colleague who was attached to the Security Division regarding the pilferage of baggage. However, the particular employee was on top in the watch list for pilfering baggage at SriLankan.

Senior Counsel also informed the PCoI that the witness had misled the Commission by providing false evidence and that the employees at the baggage counter deliberately complicated the process to discourage customers from making complaints about the pilferage of baggage. (Yoshitha Perera)Two UPFA members of the Western Provincial Council (WPC) crossed over to the UNP when the councils budget was taken up for debate today.

The two members who joined the UNP are Nauzer Fowzie and Keerthi Kariyawasam. They said the councils ruling party had failed to create a better society. (Muditha Dayananda)UNF Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said today they were agreeable to a legal election if a legitimate government was appointed in line with the Constitution.

UNF has no reason to oppose an election if other parties agree to hold a snap poll. Therefore parties can decide on a date of an election. This can be done by a motion which is approved by a two-thirds majority. We have conveyed this to the SLPP and had told them that parties should meet and decide on what needs to be done, he said.

Mr. Wickrmesinghe said the government should be constitutional. What we have in Sri Lanka is a Parliament-based government. No one should act like Hitler. It is only me and the UNF which could command a majority. Therefore we ask those concerned to work in accordance with the Constitution. (Yohan Perera)

Video by RMIt is only a matter of seconds to take someones life. A life so precious, so dearly brought up. Violence among youth has been a social issue that has emerged over the recent past. The advent of technology, accessibility to violence and triggers in the immediate environment are possible causative factors. Several incidents of violence among youth were reported during the last two weeks.

One was a CCTV footage of a youth being stabbed in Matara and the other a video of a group of youth recording a girl being strangled to death. As much as it is important to educate future generations, it is also important to inculcate moral values within them.

Against this backdrop, Daily Miror took a closer look at why youth are resorting to violence and what needs to be done to prevent crime.

Incidents over the past fortnight

November 21: A school prefect in his A/Levels (maths stream) who got into a brawl with a Grade 9 student after the latter took umbrage at being disciplined by a senior, succumbed to his injuries. The incident took place at a leading school in Dinagoda, Beruwala. The dispute had arisen because the younger student ignored the bell rung by the prefect to get everyone to be silent in class. This triggered an argument which ended with the prefect being shoved backwards by the Grade 9 student causing him to collapse and hit his head on the floor.

The victim, Mohamed Thariq, who complained that he was not feeling well, was admitted to the Beruwala Hospital and subsequently transferred to the Nagoda Hospital in critical condition. He was then transferred to the Colombo National Hospital only to breathe his last on November 27. According to hospital officials, Thariq had suffered a brain injury.

November 24: 19-year-old Rasindu Gimhana was stabbed to death while on his way to a tuition class. The tragedy took place at Alevella Street in Matara. The 17-year-old student who stabbed him had claimed that Rasindus brother has had an argument with his girlfriend. As a result, he was compelled to stab Rasindu -- a resident of Naimbala who was preparing to sit for his A/L exam next year. The main suspect and two others were arrested in connection with this crime and further investigations are being carried out.

November 25: 22-year-old Shiromi Priyadarshani was strangled to death by her boyfriend following a heated argument between the duo over a clandestine affair the girl had. Her body was found near Sumeda Tank in Magandanamulla, Monaragala. Shiromi had been working at a beauty parlour owned by the suspects sister. The suspect, who is a resident of Raththanapitiya in Weliyaya, had already been arrested and produced in the Monaragala Magistrates Court. Giving a new twist to the story, a group of youth had videoed the incident and released it on social media. The Monaragala Police are carrying out investigations to trace them.

November 26: A 22-year-old fruit vendor was killed after he was stabbed with a broken glass bottle by a fellow vendor in Pettah. The suspect had stabbed Kumara Dickson (22) when he had asked to repay the money the suspect owed him.

The Pettah Police are carrying out investigations to arrest the missing suspect who is said to be a resident of Kotahena.

19-year-old Rasindu Gimhana was stabbed to death while on his way to a tuition class. The tragedy took place at Alevella Street in Matara. The 17-year-old student who stabbed him had claimed that Rasindus brother has had an argument with his girlfriend

Society needs a revival: Prof. Dhanapala

There existed a strong social bond among people, but we dont see it anymore, said W.M. Dhanapala, Professor of Criminology at Sri Jayewardenepura University. There was a bond between the family, relatives and even the community. But over the recent past, we have seen these bonds being disrupted. A social bond is important to protect law-abiding behaviours. When moving out of the family, there is a bond among the neighbours and the community you live in.

The bond that existed between relatives and neighbours brought about a control in the community, he continued. But today we see new people settling in villages and the community is not integrated anymore. Hence, there is no control in the community as well. Although violent elements existed, they were never exposed owing to community control. But today, we witness a disconnection and violent elements lead to crimes. In schools, teachers were responsible in inculcating discipline among children. But with circulars going round to end corporal punishment, the teachers responsibility was weakened. This doesnt mean I support corporal punishment, but today, teachers dont even advise children to do the right thing. They are more interested in exam results. Back in the day, children feared teachers and had more respect, but today we hardly see that happening in schools.

Prof. Dhanapala further said deterrence was vital. If not, people will take things for granted similarly to what we see today. The family also doesnt consider social values. In school, there is no value-based education system but more of an exam-oriented knowledge culture. At home, both parents are employed and they dont have time to spend with their children.

When 22-year-old Shiromi Priyadarshani was being strangled to death, a group of youth decided to video the incident without taking action. We also see that the community doesnt seem to take any responsibility when crimes take place, Prof. Dhanapala added. Hence, they resort to videoing the event and uploading it on social media, causing further damage. The society needs a revival. It is important for a society to glue rather than taking on individual roles. In countries such as the United States, crime rate is high as a result of individualisation. There has to be strong communication among family members and children should have people whom they place trust in.

Since private education wasnt regulated, we saw the boom in tuition classes, Prof. Dhanapala said. These are causative factors that contribute to the increase in crime rate.

A tuition master is not bothered about values. He wants his students to secure island rankings so that he could grab more students to augment his income. These processes need to be streamlined. On the other hand, when we look at news reports, sometimes they are extremely exaggerated. Irrespective of the severity of the crime, the media also increases the magnitude of seriousness by screening it on repeat. The media has a huge responsibility in terms of reporting crimes as it also comes with a social responsibility. Thus, it is important that both electronic and print media personnel be trained before reporting or publishing incidents related to crime.

By showing incidents such as youth killing each other, there is a greater tendency of hinting an idea to another person to do the same. People should start respecting human life. A crime could only be prevented as it has no cure. Therefore, social values and responsibilities have to be inculcated in the minds of the people.

22-year-old Shiromi Priyadarshani was strangled to death by her boyfriend following a heated argument between the duo over a clandestine affair the girl had. Her body was found near Sumeda Tank in Monaragala

Adults should reduce risk factors: Dr. Udena Atygalle

Violence among youth is a serious issue the World Health Organisation (WHO) has given guidelines on, said Dr. Udena Atygalle, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist at Karapitiya Teaching Hospital. Theres no single reason as to why it happens but its a result of several causative factors. These could be factors related to the individual or family. Some of these include alcohol intake, limited education and even psychological disorders. Exposure to violence is another trigger. If there is violence in the family, chances are that the youth will follow suit. We should also look at access to violence, like where individuals get arms from.

He said adults should reduce risk factors. This includes teaching life skills and at home parents should have regular conversations with their children and discuss how to deal with situations without resorting to violence. Lack of communication is another issue why children behave violently. Schools can have policies on discrimination and conduct bullying prevention programmes. Parents can also extend their support to such initiatives. It is important to build a family network of support as it plays a pivotal role in the early identification of problems.Politics: the art of using euphemisms, lies, emotionalism and fear-mongering to dupe average people into accepting--or even demanding--their own enslavement.

~Larken Rose

Ever since the substantial breach of our Constitution by the Executive branch, only one political party, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), has been consistent in its action and speech; only one political party, JVP, has been trying to drive home the point that there is no possible compromise between Constitutionality and non-constitutionality; there is no compromise between treachery and patriotism and there shouldnt be any compromise between right and wrong.

The Executive committed the first sin: firing of one Prime Minister and replacing him with another who did not have a majority in Parliament; then in order to cover up that sin, the Executive committed the other sin: the dissolution of Parliament. As the axiom goes, two wrongs dont make one right. And added to the confusion of circumstances, is the unfortunate status of the polity of Sri Lanka- a looming anarchy replacing the Yahapalanaya.

The Executive committed the first sin..then in order to cover up that, the Executive committed the other

The Legislature and Judiciary chose the path of right

The Executive has a very easy decision to make. Yet it takes humility and courage

A country, whose innermost commitment to a life and governance of majority rule, in other words, Democracy, was being played inside out and upside down to the whims and fancies of just two individuals, the Executive and Mahinda Rajapaksa.

One can understand or rather surmise why Mahinda Rajapaksa is so keen to wrest the Premiership away from the then holder Ranil Wickremesinghe.

When one holds the wheels of power of Government, as was shown during his infamous regime of corruption and greed, Mahinda may have hypothesized that he could approach or even direct the arms of the law in the country not to stretch that far so that he and his family remained unchallenged from that stretch of the law.

Unlimited impunity that he enjoyed in his own regime was the scourge of the decade that spanned from 2005 to 2014.

A whole lot of litigation proceedings are pending against the Rajapaksas. Not even Mahindas powerful siblings and sons are spared. The lap of luxury and the cushions of power have been removed, not by a decree of the Executive; they were removed by a popular vote in the Presidential Elections held on January 8, 2015.

What the voter took away from him and his family, Mahinda Rajapaksa was successful in regaining, this time by the power of the Executive in the fading hours of October 26, 2108. With that Executive order, people may have thought, one nail was driven in on the countrys coffin of democracy and the rule of law. Not so. There was the judiciary, the Supreme Court.

My previous column made an attempt at explaining the supreme power our Supreme Court had and how that three-bench court arrived at a very sane and rational conclusion to stay the dissolution of Parliament which was executed by the Executive of the land on November 9, 2018.

That Stay Order was a slap in the face of the Chief Executive, not his office, but his personal self.

Carrying out the responsible and burdensome office of the Chief Executive is no mean task. It requires a great deal of political understanding, political tact and political discipline.

The Executive committed the first sin: the firing of one Prime Minister... then in order to cover up that, the Executive committed the other sin: the dissolution of Parliament. As the axiom goes, two wrongs dont make one right.

That poise, grace under pressure, as Earnest Hemingway most poetically described, is courage. One cannot be described as courageous when one is seen resorting to desperate measures that are outside the confines of the source of the countrys law, its Constitution.

hese are the real issues that have sprung up from the unprecedented Constitutional impasse that has crippled the countrys lingering journey towards her prestigious goals.

Resolution of the present constitutional gridlock is easy if those who control the switches of power intend to resolve the issues.

As per reports, if the Executive can withdraw the infamous Gazette notification, a definite comeback from the falsely lofty posture the Executive assumed on November 09, the Executive may well be spared the shame of being found wanting by the Supreme Court.

In order to provide a dignified exit for the Executive from the crisis, which the Executive himself created, withdrawal of the said Gazette notification may be cited as an easy and dignified way out.

But what must reign supreme are the national interest and continuation of democratic governance and the rule of law.

Today even in the remotest hamlet in Sri Lanka, whether in the North or deep South, along with the coastline or in the chilly Hill Country of the land, the people are unequivocally concerned about the rule of law.

The rule of law cannot be tampered with, period.

A softening of mind and tempering of blind determination is not a weakness of a human being.

On the contrary, it is conclusively a positive and rational response to an uncertain and volatile circumstance. Moderation, when taken as a weakness, bends to shameless subordination of principles and core philosophy in life. But if moderation is taken as a calm and sublime response to a hard and inflexible condition, it is highly commendable and praiseworthy. Yet, it is a grim test to pass.

It is in this unkind environment that the Appeal Court of Sri Lanka, on December 3, followed her superior, the Supreme Court.

The Appeal Court issued a so-called writ of Quo Warranto on Rajapaksa and his disputed Cabinet of Ministers, requiring him to justify his staying in office in a case to be heard on December 12.

As at now, December 4, while doing the finishing touches to this very column, there is no Prime Minister, no Cabinet of Ministers, and no Government.

The Executive consists of one solitary figure, the President. However, both the Legislature and the Judiciary have chosen the path of right.

The Executive has a very easy decision to make. Yet it takes enormous humility and consequently courage to say Im sorry, I was wrong.

Just six words in English and these words consist of a truly unpretentious and adequate expression of humble submission to the rule of law.

If on the other hand, the Executive wishes to trek a more winding and unbecoming path, the destiny of our democracy could be in grave danger, this time not from a demented set of representatives, but from the Chief Executive himself.

Expression of personal dislike of one individual, in this case, Ranil Wickremesinghe, is most un-Presidential.

That would be a tragic expression of loss of hope in human tolerance and decency. A nasty end to an imprudent judgment made in a different time could still be averted.

A wrong committed under different circumstances could still be righted. Bur resort to delusional processes in a democratic framework is far worse than a well-thought-out grabbing of power by a military leader.

Whilst all this tragicomedy is being enacted before a docile public, the very foundation of the countrys governing framework is trembling.

Seventy years of self-rule is being tested to the hilt. The peoples will is being challenged and their dreams and aspirations are fading. From the mist of this potential doom must rise hope and optimism; from it must rise courage and humility; from this dark cloud must separate a silver lining which is a profound commitment to optimism, to hope and wisdom.

A country, whose innermost commitment to a life and governance of majority rule, in other words, Democracy, was being played inside out and upside down to the whims and fancies of just two individuals, the Executive and Mahinda Rajapaksa.

There may be many a bright person in our midst, but finding a wise one is the most difficult and they are indeed rare and nearing extinction.

Indulgence in an analytical talk is redundant and infertile. We must first learn not to look beyond the obvious. What is palpable is evading us and there is no reason other than the fact that we are refusing to see such palpability.

The Executive has desecrated the nobility of office; it has wounded the hearts and minds of a people who placed immense trust in that office and they are left to the moods of a demonic conduct of political hooligans. And the Executive has wounded the conscience of a nation that craves the rule of law and majority decision called democracy.

That government of the people, by the people and for the people is precariously hanging on a fine yet hitherto unbreakable thread of the Judiciary. Independent judiciary, not because it gave a decision in favour of one party as against another, but by reaffirming the fundamental principle of the rule of law, in its last two judgments expressed the glory of our traditional commitment to democracy and sublime adherence to our Constitution.

The Yahapalanaya, having reached the threshold of anarchy, is still breathing, hopefully not its last. A journey that began with much hope and dreamlike cannot be left to end in tragedy.

The writer can be contacted at vishwamithra1984@gmail.comWASHINGTON - The attorneys general of the District of Columbia and Maryland plan to file subpoenas Tuesday seeking records from the Trump Organization, the Treasury Department and dozens of other entities as part of a lawsuit accusing Donald Trump of profiting off the presidency.

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This article was published 4/12/2018 (1088 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FILE - This Dec. 21, 2016 file photo shows the Trump International Hotel at 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, in Washington. The attorneys general of the District of Columbia and Maryland plan to file subpoenas seeking records from the Trump Organization, the IRS and other entities in their lawsuit accusing Donald Trump of profiting off the presidency. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

WASHINGTON - The attorneys general of the District of Columbia and Maryland plan to file subpoenas Tuesday seeking records from the Trump Organization, the Treasury Department and dozens of other entities as part of a lawsuit accusing Donald Trump of profiting off the presidency.

The flurry of subpoenas came a day after U.S. District Court Judge Peter J. Messitte approved a brisk schedule for discovery in the case alleging that foreign and domestic government spending at Trump's Washington, D.C., hotel amounts to gifts to the president in violation of the Constitution's emoluments clause.

The subpoenas target 37 entities, including 13 Trump-linked entities and the federal agency that oversees the lease for Trump's Washington hotel. Subpoenas were also being sent to the Department of Defence, General Services Administration, Department of Commerce and Department of Agriculture, all of which have spent taxpayer dollars at the hotel or have information on Trump's finances relevant to the case.

Other Trump entities that officials plan to subpoena include those related to his Washington hotel and its management. Eighteen private entities including restaurants, venues and hotels that compete with the Trump hotel are also being subpoenaed to "illuminate the unfair nature of that competition," said Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh.

"We're seeking to confirm the information that everybody already knows: Trump's violation of the emoluments clause of the Constitution," Frosh said. "He's received numerous payments from foreign governments and state governments and they've been funneled, at least in part, through the Trump (hotel) in D.C."

While news organizations have reported how groups representing Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and the Philippines have hosted events at Trump's D.C. hotel since he took office, the subpoenas offer the best chance to get a complete picture of which foreign and domestic governments are spending at the hotel, how much they are spending and where that money is going.They're also trying to determine how Trump's hotel is affecting the hospitality industry in D.C. and Maryland.

The subpoenas seek to prove that hotel revenues are going to the president through his affiliated entities, including The Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust. Most of the records are being requested back to Jan. 1, 2015.

The Justice Department declined to comment. Neither Trump's personal attorney on the case, William S. Consovoy, nor the White House responded to a request for comment Tuesday.

Trump's Justice Department lawyers filed a notice to the court Friday indicating it plans to challenge the Maryland judge's decision to allow the case to move forward. Justice lawyers have argued that earnings from business activity such as hotel stays don't qualify as emoluments and that any discovery would "be a distraction to the President's performance of his constitutional duties."

The president's notice that he may seek a writ of mandamus  to have the appeal heard by a higher court  is considered an "extraordinary remedy" that partly rests on showing Messitte's decisions to be clearly wrong.

Because the president has not released his tax returns, any responsive records would likely provide the first clear picture of the finances of Trump's business empire as well as his Washington hotel.

There is no indication yet that Frosh and District of Columbia Attorney General Karl A. Racine, both Democrats, would push for the president's tax returns, at least in this initial round of legal discovery, given the sensitive nature of such a request and likely additional delays it would cause. But tax returns for some of Trump's business entities, including the state and federal tax returns for the Trump Organization, are also being requested.

Co-counsel on the case is Washington-based non-profit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

The Treasury Department is being subpoenaed to determine not only whether its officials patronized Trump's hotel but also to learn more about Trump's promised donations of profit of foreign government spending at his hotel and similar businesses to the Treasury. In February, The Trump Organization donated $151,470  what it said was the total amount of spending in Trump's first year in office. The subpoena requests "all communications" regarding that payment.

State officials earlier told The Associated Press that the IRS would likely be subpoenaed, but it was unclear if that would happen on Tuesday or whether it would happen at all.

"We're certainly not ruling that out, just like we're not ruling out seeking the president's tax returns," Frosh said.

The Trump Organization said in an emailed statement to the AP that the company had "voluntarily donated" the profits and "intend to make a similar contribution in 2019." The company did not comment on the case otherwise.

There is a separate federal lawsuit involving the General Services Administration, which oversees the lease for the hotel with the Trump Organization. Democratic lawmakers want to know how Trump was approved by the GSA to maintain the lease of the Trump International Hotel in Washington after he became president.

The hotel is housed in the historic Old Post Office, which is owned by the federal government, and its lease has a clause barring any "elected official of the government of the United States" from deriving "any benefit."

Maine is also expected to receive a subpoena, likely because its governor, Republican Paul LePage, stayed at Trump's D.C. hotel when he had official business to conduct, including discussions with the president. LePage's office did not respond to a request for comment.

On one of those trips last year, Trump and LePage appeared together at a news conference at which Trump signed an executive order to review orders of the prior administration that established national monuments within the National Park Service. President Barack Obama had established a park and national monument in Maine over LePage's objections in 2016.

If there are no delays, legal discovery would conclude in early August.

___

This story has been updated to reflect that state officials initially said they would subpoena the IRS on Tuesday but later said they could only confirm their plan to subpoena the Treasury Department.

___

Follow Tami Abdollah on Twitter at https://twitter.com/latamsTEL AVIV, Israel - A shadowy Israeli billionaire who made his fortune in the insular world of diamonds has suddenly found his empire in jeopardy after close associates were busted in a massive smuggling ring and an employee mysteriously plummeted to her death from his high-rise Tel Aviv office building.

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This article was published 4/12/2018 (1088 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

This Dec. 2, 2009 photo showsLev Leviev at a district court in Tel Aviv, Israel. Israeli police are demanding his return from Russia to be questioned of charges including smuggling, money laundering and tax offenses. (AP Photo/Ofer Vaknin)

TEL AVIV, Israel - A shadowy Israeli billionaire who made his fortune in the insular world of diamonds has suddenly found his empire in jeopardy after close associates were busted in a massive smuggling ring and an employee mysteriously plummeted to her death from his high-rise Tel Aviv office building.

Lev Leviev, known in Israel as the "king of diamonds," has enjoyed close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and has a reputation for generous philanthropy to Jewish causes. But now, Israeli police are demanding that he return from Moscow for questioning on allegations of smuggling, money laundering and tax offences.

It's a stunning downturn for one of Israel's most well-known tycoons. Born in the former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan, the 62-year-old Leviev immigrated to Israel as a youth in 1971 and began working as an apprentice in a polishing plant in Israel's then-booming diamond industry. His meteoric rise saw him later establishing a plant of his own, and striking deals in Angola and Russia that briefly undercut the DeBeers diamond giant. He later branched out to real estate, construction and chemicals, with his Africa-Israel holding and investment company becoming a powerful player in the Israeli market and establishing Leviev as a precursor to a wave of Jewish oligarchs from the former Soviet Union who have become power brokers in Israel.

Though his net worth is estimated at more than $1 billion, Leviev suffered heavy losses in recent years because of his massive investment in Russia, where he is known to enjoy strong government support. Leviev, who moved to London a decade ago and recently relocated to Moscow, denies any allegations of impropriety and is currently negotiating terms of his return with Israeli police. But insiders say that even if he hasn't been formally charged with a crime, his mere association with the suspects accused of smuggling some $80 million worth of diamonds hidden in briefcases over several years could be devastating to his brand.

"I can't believe he would put himself in such a situation. He is still a strong oligarch, and this is not his style. A smuggling of this scale could topple businesses far larger than his," said Alex Kogan, a journalist who has covered the oligarchs in Israel for the local Russian-language press. "Even if he is not involved, this whole affair will harm him greatly."

Leviev's son and brother were arrested in early November, along with four others, and are currently out on bail in what has been dubbed the "Black Diamond" affair.

The saga took a more tragic turn on Nov. 11, when Mazal Hadadi, a bookkeeper for Leviev's diamond firm LLD, fell to her death from a small, elevated bathroom window on the 10th floor of his office building next to Israel's Diamond Exchange.

The death was initially reported as a suicide, the supposed result of a breakdown following tough police questioning about the smuggling affair. The family acknowledges Hadadi was rattled by the investigation but insists the mother of three would never take her own life and was on her way to meet her husband after work when a mysterious call to her cellphone made her abruptly return to the office.

Israel's reeling diamond industry has been trying to distance itself from the affair. With tens of thousands of employees in the 1970s, Israel was once the world's largest diamond trading centre but fell on hard times in recent years because of the proliferation of synthetic diamonds and outsourcing of polishing plants to countries like India, where wages are far lower. Dubai has also cut away at Israel's status as the regional gateway for trading because of tax benefits for companies.

But Israel is still a leader in the polishing of large diamonds and a hub for e-commerce and technological developments. Though officially still a member of the Israel Diamond Exchange, Leviev hasn't been seen in Israeli diamond circles in years as his business interests focused elsewhere and his brother took over the leadership at LLD.

An official in the industry, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, said the affair has put a strain on other Israeli diamond dealers. The Israeli market is now considered to be a highly regulated industry that has cleaned up its act after decades of shady dealings and association with "blood diamonds" mined in conflict zones that financed human rights violations. In 2003, Israel joined the Kimberley Process by which members meet annually to discuss strengthening controls over conflict diamonds.

Leviev's alleged motivations are also a mystery, since diamonds entering Israel only need to be declared and inspected rather immediately taxed.

For now, there are far more questions than answers. The Israeli media has been filled with trickles of information along with interviews with the bereaved bookkeeper's family, criticism of police conduct and speculation over whether Leviev will return and be arrested.

In a statement, Leviev's Israel office denied all allegations against its employees.

"Mr. Leviev and all of the companies under his control operate in accordance with accepted norms, adhering to the law," it said. "We hope that this matter will be clarified quickly and the suspicions will be proven baseless."

It's the kind of attention Leviev has long tried to avoid, preferring to limit his media coverage to his philanthropy for the Chabad movement, a Hasidic sect that performs outreach to Jews around the world, rather than his diamond dealing.

"It's a closed world where people like to keep their secrets," said Kogan, the journalist. "He doesn't like publicity and doesn't like to stick out."

___

Follow Heller at www.twitter.com/aronhellerapBEIJING - The designer boutiques of Manhattan and Paris are feeling the chill of a Chinese economic slowdown that has hammered automakers and other industries.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 3/12/2018 (1088 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In this Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018 photo, Chinese tourists walk past a Tiffany & Co. flagship in Canton Road, the one-stop-shop high street of high-end brands in Hong Kong. The designer boutiques of Manhattan and Paris are feeling the chill of a Chinese economic slowdown that has hammered automakers and other industries. That is jolting brands such as Louis Vuitton and Burberry that increasingly rely on Chinese customers who spend $90 billion a year on jewelry, clothes and other high-end goods. The industry already is facing pressure to keep up as ChinaAos big spenders shift to buying more at the spreading networks of luxury outlets in their own country. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

BEIJING - The designer boutiques of Manhattan and Paris are feeling the chill of a Chinese economic slowdown that has hammered automakers and other industries.

It's a rude awakening for such designer brands as Louis Vuitton and Burberry that increasingly rely on Chinese customers who spend $90 billion a year on jewelry, clothes and other high-end goods. The industry already is facing pressure to keep up as China's big spenders, mainstays for American and European retailers, shift to buying more at the spreading networks of luxury outlets in their own country.

Last week, Tiffany & Co. showed how much well-heeled Chinese tourists matter to retailers abroad. Shares in the jeweler known for $5,000 watches and $400 silver baby spoons fell 12 per cent after its CEO said they were spending less.

In Hong Kong, the top shopping destination for mainland travellers, only a dozen visitors were in Tiffany's flagship store one afternoon last week. Many looked without buying.

"The name-brand goods are too pricey," said Zhou Jiqing, from the neighbouring mainland city of Shenzhen. "I'm waiting for the Christmas sale."

Forecasters including Euromonitor International and Bain & Co. say Chinese customers will be the luxury industry's main growth engine over the next decade. But this year, shoppers are skittish amid cooling economic growth, trade tension with Washington and weak real estate and stock markets. The spending shift could have big implications for retailers who've been catering to them with various amenities but now will have to work even harder to get their dollars.

"Consumers are just not as excited about spending that kind of money right now," said Ben Cavender of China Market Research Group.

Demand for Tom Ford suits and Jimmy Choo shoes held up better than some other Chinese spending as economic activity slowed following a government clampdown on bank lending to cool a debt boom.

China's economy, the world's second largest, is forecast to grow by a relatively robust 6.5 per cent this year, easing from 2017's 6.7 per cent. But that is propped up by higher government spending on public works construction that helps to mask weakness in other areas.

In this Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018, photo, Chinese tourists walk past a Tiffany & Co. flagship in Canton Road, the one-stop-shop high street of high-end brands in Hong Kong. The designer boutiques of Manhattan and Paris are feeling the chill of a Chinese economic slowdown that has hammered automakers and other industries. That is jolting brands such as Louis Vuitton and Burberry that increasingly rely on Chinese customers who spend $90 billion a year on jewelry, clothes and other high-end goods. The industry already is facing pressure to keep up as ChinaAos big spenders shift to buying more at the spreading networks of luxury outlets in their own country. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Auto sales in the global industry's biggest market plunged 13 per cent in October from a year earlier. Housing sales are so weak that some developers are cutting prices. The main Chinese stock market index is down 22 per cent from a year ago.

Even before the economy cooled, the industry was under pressure from shifts in Chinese tastes and buying habits.

Luxury brands, some of them centuries old, have raced to serve China as its consumers emerged as a powerhouse market.

Brands designed watches, clothes and other goods for Chinese tastes. Hermes created its first single-country brand, Shang Xia, for China. Department stores from London to Los Angeles hired Mandarin-speaking salespeople.

Chinese traders fly home from Paris or Rome with stacks of designer bags and other goods to re-sell.

The incentive to shop abroad has eroded as major brands opened their China stores and prices fell closer to U.S. and European levels.

"Now, lots of world brands have shops in first-tier mainland cities," said Alex Bi, who was visiting Hong Kong from the mainland city of Guangzhou. He and his sister, Jessica, were window-shopping in the bustling Kowloon district.

At the same time, Beijing has stepped up efforts to reduce reliance on trade and encourage self-sustaining economic growth based on consumer spending. Import taxes on luxury goods were cut to lure shoppers home.

Luxury spending abroad is forecast to keep rising, but not as fast as in China.

The share of spending that goes to retailers in China should rise from one-quarter of last year's $90 billion to half of 2025's projected total of $170-190 billion, according to a Bain report this month. Under that scenario, spending abroad would rise from $67 billion to $85-95 billion.

Meanwhile, the customs agency is cracking down on informal imports by searching the luggage of travellers returning from Europe and other shopping destinations.

In November, a trader was sentenced to 10 years in prison for smuggling designer clothing from Hong Kong without paying the mainland's higher import duty, according to news reports.

"This shocked the whole industry. Nobody dares to continue to act as purchasing agents," said market researcher Li Chengdong of Donge Investment Management Co. in Beijing. "This has an immediate impact on the sales of the overseas retailers."

Anxiety over possible terrorist attacks has prompted some Chinese to avoid Paris, London and other shopping destinations.

In the United States, retailers face pressure from China's weak yuan, which makes prices in dollars more expensive for Chinese shoppers. Chinese tourist are also changing the way they sightsee, forgoing big organized tours that involve taking buses to specific tourist sites featuring key shopping destinations, according to David Becker, CEO of Brooklyn, New York-based Attract China, a Chinese travel consultancy. Instead, they're going on their own, he said. That hurts retailers used to big busloads of tourists at their front door.

"They're called the free independent traveller, he said.

Tighter visa restrictions under President Donald Trump also make it harder for Chinese shoppers to get to the United States, said Cavender.

Chinese tourist arrivals in the United States fell 20 per cent from a year earlier to 880,000 in the three months ending in September, according to an estimate by the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute in Hamburg, Germany. The number going to France rose 20.7 per cent to 664,800 and those bound for Italy rose 18.9 per cent to 850,000.

"If people previously were going to the U.S. to buy an American luxury brand, that's not their first choice anymore," said Cavender. "They would rather go to Japan, New Zealand or someplace in Europe where the process is easier."

Becker says he's been working with various clients including designer stores on New York's Madison Avenue and Brookfield Place, which houses such brands as Gucci on how to better cater to the Chinese That includes offering the ability for Chinese customers to pay via Alipay or WeChat. He says anecdotally, he has heard there's been some weakening in sales among Chinese tourists in the past three months because of the economy. But he says the political tensions between China and the U.S. haven't been a factor  yet.

"When your confidence in the economy is off, whether it's here in the United States or in the China, you're going to cut back on your overall spending," he said.

___

AP Writers Violet Law and Alice Fung in Hong Kong, AP researchers Yu Bing and Shanshan Wang in Beijing and AP Business Writers Colleen Barry in Milan, Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit and Anne D'Innocenzio in New York contributed.BEIJING - The designer boutiques of Manhattan and Paris are feeling the chill of a Chinese economic slowdown that has hammered automakers and other industries.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 4/12/2018 (1088 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In this Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018 photo, Chinese tourists walk past a Tiffany & Co. flagship in Canton Road, the one-stop-shop high street of high-end brands in Hong Kong. The designer boutiques of Manhattan and Paris are feeling the chill of a Chinese economic slowdown that has hammered automakers and other industries. That is jolting brands such as Louis Vuitton and Burberry that increasingly rely on Chinese customers who spend $90 billion a year on jewelry, clothes and other high-end goods. The industry already is facing pressure to keep up as ChinaAos big spenders shift to buying more at the spreading networks of luxury outlets in their own country. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

BEIJING - The designer boutiques of Manhattan and Paris are feeling the chill of a Chinese economic slowdown that has hammered automakers and other industries.

It's a rude awakening for such designer brands as Louis Vuitton and Burberry that increasingly rely on Chinese customers who spend $90 billion a year on jewelry, clothes and other high-end goods. The industry already is facing pressure to keep up as China's big spenders, mainstays for American and European retailers, shift to buying more at the spreading networks of luxury outlets in their own country.

Last week, Tiffany & Co. showed how much well-heeled Chinese tourists matter to retailers abroad. Shares in the jeweler known for $5,000 watches and $400 silver baby spoons fell 12 per cent after its CEO said they were spending less.

In Hong Kong, the top shopping destination for mainland travellers, only a dozen visitors were in Tiffany's flagship store one afternoon last week. Many looked without buying.

"The name brand goods are too pricey," said Zhou Jiqing, from the neighbouring mainland city of Shenzhen. "I'm waiting for the Christmas sale."

Forecasters including Euromonitor International and Bain & Co. say Chinese customers will be the luxury industry's main growth engine over the next decade. But this year, shoppers are skittish amid cooling economic growth, trade tension with Washington and weak real estate and stock markets.

The spending shift could have big implications for retailers who've been catering to them and now will have to work even harder to get their dollars.

"Consumers are just not as excited about spending that kind of money right now," said Ben Cavender of China Market Research Group.

Demand for Tom Ford suits and Jimmy Choo shoes held up better than some other Chinese spending as economic activity slowed following a government clampdown on bank lending to cool a debt boom.

China's economy, the world's second largest, is forecast to grow by a relatively robust 6.5 per cent this year, easing from 2017's 6.7 per cent. But that is propped up by higher government spending on public works construction that helps to mask weakness in other areas.

Auto sales in the global industry's biggest market plunged 13 per cent in October from a year earlier. Housing sales are so weak that some developers are cutting prices. The main Chinese stock market index is down 22 per cent from a year ago.

Even before the economy cooled, the industry was under pressure from shifts in Chinese tastes and buying habits.

Luxury brands, some of them centuries old, have raced to serve China as its consumers emerged as a powerhouse market.

Brands designed watches, clothes and other goods for Chinese tastes. Hermes created its first single-country brand, Shang Xia, for China. Department stores from London to Los Angeles hired Mandarin-speaking salespeople.

Chinese traders fly home from Paris or Rome with stacks of designer bags and other goods to re-sell.

The incentive to shop abroad has eroded as major brands opened their China stores and prices fell closer to U.S. and European levels.

"Now, lots of world brands have shops in first-tier mainland cities," said Alex Bi, who was visiting Hong Kong from the mainland city of Guangzhou. He and his sister, Jessica, were window-shopping in the bustling Kowloon district.

At the same time, Beijing has stepped up efforts to reduce reliance on trade and encourage self-sustaining economic growth based on consumer spending. Import taxes on luxury goods were cut to lure shoppers home.

Luxury spending abroad is forecast to keep rising, but not as fast as in China.

The share of spending that goes to retailers in China should rise from one-quarter of last year's $90 billion to half of 2025's projected total of $170 billion to $190 billion, according to a Bain report this month. Under that scenario, spending abroad would rise to $85 billion to $95 billion from $67 billion.

Meanwhile, the customs agency is cracking down on informal imports by searching the luggage of travellers returning from Europe and other shopping destinations.

In November, a trader was sentenced to 10 years in prison for smuggling designer clothing from Hong Kong without paying the mainland's higher import duty, according to news reports.

"This shocked the whole industry. Nobody dares to continue to act as purchasing agents," said market researcher Li Chengdong of Donge Investment Management Co. in Beijing. "This has an immediate impact on the sales of the overseas retailers."

Anxiety over possible terrorist attacks has prompted some Chinese to avoid Paris, London and other shopping destinations.

In the United States, retailers face pressure from China's weak yuan, which makes prices in dollars more expensive for Chinese shoppers.

Chinese tourist are also changing the way they tour, forgoing big organized tours that involve taking buses to specific tourist sites including key shopping destinations, according to David Becker, CEO of a Brooklyn, New York-based Attract China, a Chinese travel consultancy. Instead, they're going on their own, he said. That hurts retailers expecting big busloads of tourists at their front door.

Tighter visa restrictions under President Donald Trump also make it harder for Chinese shoppers to get to the United States, Cavender said.

Chinese tourist arrivals in the United States fell 20 per cent from a year earlier to 880,000 in the three months ending in September, according to an estimate by the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute in Hamburg, Germany. The number going to France rose 20.7 per cent to 664,800 and those bound for Italy rose 18.9 per cent to 850,000.

"If people previously were going to the U.S. to buy an American luxury brand, that's not their first choice anymore," Cavender said. "They would rather go to Japan, New Zealand or someplace in Europe where the process is easier."

Becker says he's been working with several clients, including designer stores on New York's Madison Avenue and Brookfield Place, on how to better cater to the Chinese. That includes allowing Chinese customers to use their preferred mobile payments systems, such as Alipay or WeChat.

He says he has heard there's been some weakening in sales to Chinese tourists in the past three months because of the economy. But he says the political tensions between China and the U.S. haven't been a factor  yet.

"When your confidence in the economy is off, whether it's here in the United States or in the China, you're going to cut back on your overall spending," he said.

___

AP Writers Violet Law and Alice Fung in Hong Kong, AP researchers Yu Bing and Shanshan Wang in Beijing and AP Business Writers Colleen Barry in Milan, Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit and Anne D'Innocenzio in New York contributed.WASHINGTON - Thousands of emails were stolen from aides to the National Republican Congressional Committee during the 2018 midterm campaign, a major breach exposing vulnerabilities that have kept cybersecurity experts on edge since the 2016 presidential race.

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This article was published 4/12/2018 (1088 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FILE - In this Nov. 1, 2017, file photo, traffic along Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington streaks past the Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters building. The National Republican Congressional Committee said Tuesday that it was hit with a "cyber intrusion" during the 2018 midterm campaigns and has reported the breach to the FBI. (AP Photo/J. David Ake)

WASHINGTON - Thousands of emails were stolen from aides to the National Republican Congressional Committee during the 2018 midterm campaign, a major breach exposing vulnerabilities that have kept cybersecurity experts on edge since the 2016 presidential race.

The email accounts were compromised during a series of intrusions that had been spread over several months and discovered in April, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. At least four different party aides had their emails surveilled by hackers, said the person, who was not authorized to discuss the details publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The committee said an "unknown entity" was behind the hack but provided few other details. A cybersecurity firm and the FBI have been investigating the matter, the committee said. The FBI declined to comment.

Politically motivated cyberespionage is commonplace across the world, but Americans have become particularly alert to the possibility of digital interference since Russia's meddling in the 2016 election. The theft of Democrats' emails is still fresh in the minds of many political operatives and lawmakers, who have stepped up defensive measures but still struggle to protect themselves.

Foreign spies routinely try to hack into politicians' emails to gain insight, ferret out weaknesses and win a diplomatic edge. But hackers often launch sweeping spear-phishing campaigns to gain access to a variety accounts  with no political motivation. With no immediate suspects and few technical details, it's unclear what the significance of this latest incursion is.

In August, the Democratic National Committee thought it had thwarted an attempt to break into its massive voter database  but the effort turned out to be unauthorized test that mimicked what an attack would look like.

CrowdStrike, a California-based cybersecurity company, said Tuesday the NRCC asked the company in April to "perform an investigation related to unauthorized access" to the committee's emails. Before that, the company had been helping the committee protect its internal corporate network, which wasn't compromised.

"The cybersecurity of the committee's data is paramount, and upon learning of the intrusion, the NRCC immediately launched an internal investigation and notified the FBI, which is now investigating the matter," the committee said in a statement. The hack was first reported by Politico.

Earlier this year, NRCC Chairman Steve Stivers said the committee  which raises money to support Republican candidates for the House  hired multiple cybersecurity staffers to work with its candidates and promised to do more.

"We're starting to advise campaigns, but we're not ready to roll the whole thing out. We're working on it," Stivers said in March. "We're working on the technology-based stuff to try and make sure that we know what's out there  which is hard, too  and then we try to defend against it the best we can."

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Russian state-aligned hackers organized the leak of more than 150,000 emails stolen from more than a dozen Democrats. The FBI later said that the Russians had targeted more than 300 people affiliated with the Hillary Clinton campaign and other Democratic institutions over the course of the presidential contest.

Special counsel Robert Mueller is now investigating the whether people close to Donald Trump's presidential campaign had advance knowledge of WikiLeaks' plans.

U.S. officials have expressed concern about foreign interference in U.S. elections. This weekend, Defence Secretary Jim Mattis accused Russia of trying to "muck around" in the November midterm elections. Mattis did not offer specifics and would not elaborate.

In October, the Justice Department unsealed criminal charges detailing a yearslong effort by a Russian troll farm to "sow division and discord in the U.S. political system" by creating thousands of false social media profiles and email accounts that appeared to be from people inside the United States. The complaint provided a clear picture that there is still a hidden but powerful Russian social media effort aimed at spreading distrust for American political candidates and causing divisions on social issues such as immigration and gun control.

The campaign season saw several examples of digital mischief, although none with the impact of the 2016 hacks.

In August, Microsoft alerted the public to attempts by government-backed Russian hackers to target U.S. conservatives' email by creating fake websites that appeared to belong to a pair of think tanks, the Hudson Institute and International Republican Institute. It also confirmed an attempt similarly attributed to Russian hackers to infiltrate the Senate computer network of Sen. Claire McCaskill, the Missouri Democrat who lost a re-election bid in November.

Google later confirmed in September that the personal Gmail accounts of multiple senators and staffers had recently been targeted by foreign hackers, though it did not specify the cyberspies' nationality nor the party affiliations of the targets.

___

Associated Press writers Eric Tucker and Colleen Long in Washington and Raphael Satter in London contributed to this report.TORONTO - A report by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. suggests a majority of landlord investors who bought properties in large, high-rise condominium buildings in downtown Montreal are not collecting enough rent to recoup their operating expenses.

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The Montreal skyline as seen from Mount Royal Friday, November 10, 2017 in Montreal. A new report from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. suggests that the majority of landlord investors who bought properties in large, high-rise condominium buildings in downtown Montreal are not collecting enough rent to recoup their operating expenses.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

TORONTO - A report by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. suggests a majority of landlord investors who bought properties in large, high-rise condominium buildings in downtown Montreal are not collecting enough rent to recoup their operating expenses.

The national housing agency estimates that investors who made a 20 per cent down payment on their properties are spending more on mortgage payments, condo fees and property and school taxes than the amount they receive in rental income.

The report suggests the owners of 75 per cent of the 375 rented condominiums it examined from Quebec's property listing service, Centris, experienced negative cash-flow. It found that in this scenario, operating expenses on average, exceeded rent by $385 a month.

CMHC noted the conclusions were theoretical and could vary due to a number of other factors that were not taken into consideration for the report, including whether the owners put down a down payment larger than 20 per cent or if the unit was purchased with cash.

CMHC economist Francis Cortellino, the report's author, says the ultimate hope for these investors is that their costs would be recouped in the resale of the condo, if market conditions continue to tighten and favour sellers.

Last month, the Greater Montreal Real Estate Board reported condo sales were up 22 per cent year over year, with the median price for a condo up four per cent to $265,000.

The CMHC report also found the proportion of investors (56.5 per cent) in the very large high-rise condominium apartments in downtown Montreal, what the agency categorized as new buildings of 300 or more units, was higher than in other condominium buildings (30 per cent).

It made this conclusion by looking at property assessment bills, and whether they were sent to the actual condo units or to a different address.

Resale of the units in the newer buildings within one year was also higher (7.2 per cent) than in the older buildings (1.8 per cent). While the percentage of sales resulting in a loss were also greater in the newer buildings (15 per cent) than in the older buildings (five per cent).

Cortellino says the report's findings give a snapshot of the investor condo market in Montreal, but the CMHC still needs to "dig a bit deeper" to draw more conclusions.

Follow @LindaNguyenTO on Twitter.With the Hudson Bay Railway back up and running with service to Churchill, new ownership of the railway now has the challenge to re-imagine the business case and try to inject new freight business onto the line to make it an economically viable operation.

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With the Hudson Bay Railway back up and running with service to Churchill, new ownership of the railway now has the challenge to re-imagine the business case and try to inject new freight business onto the line to make it an economically viable operation.

But in the meantime, there is also the business of reviving the supply chain of critical freight to Churchill and Nunavut communities to the North that has been forced to rely on freighter service from Montreal.

Next week, Gardewine Group, which has long been the dominant trucking firm servicing the North, will start accepting freight shipments destined for Churchill and all points serviced by air from Churchill, with weekly freight-train service from Thompson starting next Tuesday.

Darin Downey, Gardewine's president and chief operating officer, said the trucker has been working with Arctic Gateway Group, the new owner of the rail line, to re-establish that supply chain. Among other things, he said they have decided to retain the same rates that were in place before floodwater washed out the rail line in 20 different places along the 400 kilometre stretch of rail line between Gillam and Churchill.

"We made the decision jointly along with the railway to hold the rates," he said. "We felt it was important to show purpose and show we are serious about this."

After a year and a half without rail service to Churchill, the first freight train arrived two weeks ago. Throughout that entire period of time, Gardewine retained staff on site assisting in air-freight operations and the occasional barge traffic.

"We've been working with a great bunch out of Saskatchewan (the Regina grain company, AGT, is one of the partners of the Arctic Gateway Group), to help set up rates and schedules," Downey said."They are busy trying to figure out the operations. We are left to figure out how to get the freight on the train."

Terry Shaw, the executive director of the Manitoba Trucking Association, said while it may not always be obvious, trucking and rail are very complementary for shippers and it is a connection that is at play in the north.

"We see it in a very local Manitoba fashion with the relationships in northern Manitoba with carriers like Gardewine and the rail line opening up," Shaw said.

Gardewine and Arctic Gateway are working with Nunavut Sealink and Supply Inc. with the intention of reassuming the supply chain from Winnipeg to Kivalliq rather than the Nunavut region having to rely on the lengthy shipping route from Montreal that had been servicing those communities during the rail service outage.

Downey and his team are busy reconnecting with those customers to have that service in place in time for the shipping season that typically starts in May. Gardewine has storage facilities in Churchill and sizable warehousing operations in Thompson and Winnipeg.

Although it might be the dominant player in the North there is plenty of competition in spite of  maybe even because of  a significant number of layoffs in the mining sector in the North and with more looming.

"We may be the dominant player, but I can tell you I've never seen so much competition in a shrinking market," he said.

Meanwhile, the northern trucking business got a bit of relief recently after the provincial government lifted restrictions that had been in place regarding the operation of so-called "Rocky Mountain Doubles"  long-combination units with one truck pulling a 53-foot trailer with another 28-foot trailer attached  which can haul as much as 65,000 pounds.

For close to 10 years, the province had a "pilot program" in place that included time of day and frequency restrictions on the operation of those types of rigs in the North.

Shaw said the restrictions were in place for so long they started to look more like red tape than a pilot program.

"To their credit, Manitoba Infrastructure recognized that it was meeting the needs of the trucking community and northern Manitoba communities and they removed some of the operating restrictions very recently," he said.

"There is a big push right now on efficiency, not only economic but also with the environment. Whatever we can do to use complementary modes and meet the needs of the customer, we are all for it."

martin.cash@freepress.mb.caBill Blair has officially been named the minister responsible for administering the Cannabis Act, according to a privy council order dated Nov. 21.

This article was published 3/12/2018 (1088 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Bill Blair has officially been named the minister responsible for administering the Cannabis Act, according to a privy council order dated Nov. 21.

Blair, a former Toronto police chief, became Canada's first-ever minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction in July, but he played a key role in cannabis legalization well before that.

In his previous role as parliamentary secretary to the ministers of Health and Justice, Blair was frequently trotted out as a top spokesperson for the government's marijuana-legalization policy.

Health Minister Ginette Petitpas-Taylor was previously the minister responsible for the law that legalized non-medical cannabis in Canada on Oct. 17.

Blair's new responsibility was foreshadowed by his August ministerial mandate letter from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, which assigned him to "lead the legalization and strict regulation of cannabis" with help from the ministers of Health, Justice and Public Safety.

Bill Blair, Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction, has been a key Liberal spokesman on cannabis legalization. (The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld)

"Your key priorities are public safety, responsible usage and keeping cannabis away from children," instructed the letter.

The principle of ministerial responsibility is enshrined in Canada's constitutional structure, explains Philippe Lagasse, an associate professor of international affairs at Carleton University who researches the Westminster parliamentary system.

"When we're saying that a minister is responsible, it means that in law and in our constitutional system, they are the ones who have the authority to exercise executive power in regards to that particular file," says Lagasse.

The move to transfer responsibility for the Cannabis Act to the minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction means Blair and his ministry now have the authority to exercise a variety of powers set out in the new law. Those executive powers include the power to order cannabis producers and retailers to take certain steps to "address (issues) of public health or public safety" and the power to order cannabis recalls of "any cannabis or class of cannabis" to protect public health and safety.

The minister responsible for the Cannabis Act also has the power to compel licensed cannabis companies and retailers to provide information in order to address public health or public safety issues, or in order to determine whether a given action violated the law.

"There's a lot of law enforcement issues surrounding (cannabis legalization)," Lagasse says.

Bill Blair led the Toronto Police Service for a decade until 2015, when he retired and ran for parliament as a Liberal. (The Canadian Press/Nathan Denette)

"That may be a type of minister; therefore, you'd want more in that type of camp, as opposed to the health minister, which is a very different type of role... I think it's fair to say that in this case, the government is signalling that the public safety components of the act predominate in terms of which minister they think should be involved."

But just like Spider-Man, Blair's great power comes with great responsibility. In other words, he is now accountable to Parliament for the Cannabis Act, and must answer parliamentary questions about anything that goes wrong. However, the doctrine of ministerial responsibility means ultimate responsibility for the Cannabis Act rests with Trudeau, says Lagasse.

Blair's new ministerial responsibilities suggest the Liberals have been satisfied by his performance on the cannabis file so far, says Lagasse.

"The government clearly chose to have him as the face of that policy, and is therefore continuing with that approach," he says.

In an emailed statement, a spokeswoman for Blair described his new role as taking the lead on "the legalization and strict regulation of cannabis across Canada."

"With support from the ministers of Health, Justice and Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, our government seeks to better protect the health and safety of Canadians, keep cannabis out of the hands of youth, and keep profits from criminals and organized crime," wrote the spokeswoman.

solomon.israel@theleafnews.com

@sol_israelAt a time when police-reported hate crimes are on the rise in Canada, multicultural Manitoba is thumbing its nose at the haters in a big, happy way.

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At a time when police-reported hate crimes are on the rise in Canada, multicultural Manitoba is thumbing its nose at the haters in a big, happy way.

On Thursday night, an alliance of cultural groups that's grown in size and diversity since forming this summer is celebrating strength in numbers. Hundreds of members of more than 30 cultural and ethnic organizations that make up the Ethnocultural Council of Manitoba are gathering for an event dubbed Stronger Together.

It's a Folklorama-flavoured celebration for new and old groups who've banded together to share ideas and resources and to have a united voice, said event organizer Reuben Garang of Immigration Partnership Winnipeg.

The council is made up of long-established organizations such as the Japanese Cultural Association of Manitoba and the African Communities of Manitoba Inc., and newer groups such as the Kurdish Initiative for Refugees and the Yazidi Association of Manitoba, Garang said.

The Ethnocultural Council of Manitoba formed in June, and one of its first initiatives was to get out the vote in the October municipal election. The council worked with Immigration Partnership Winnipeg on the Got Citizenship? Go vote! campaign that played host to workshops for new voters and a Winnipeg mayoral forum.

"This is a good thing for the community, for the city, for the province and the country," said Garang, adding the groups are learning about each others cultures, sharing information and helping each other with integration.

"One of the values of the council is being open to diversity within the group itself," he said. "There are minorities within the groups.

"Youths, women and people of different sexual orientations will have a voice. This is a cross section."

Thursday's event at Canad Inns Polo Park is a chance for the local ethnocultural community to unite and celebrate their accomplishments. Many ethnocultural groups are doing a lot of informal, unpaid after-hours work helping newcomers resettle, said Garang, who knows from first-hand experience as a leader in the South Sudanese community.

"When offices are closed, we are there to provide services," he said. "If a new family comes and wants to see a doctor for an emergency at night, they will call people from their communities."

He pointed to the Yazidi Association of Manitoba as one such group. Its director, Hadji Hesso, who came to Canada as a refugee 18 years ago, has been helping many of the 302 Yazidis who arrived as government-assisted refugees in the last two years.

"For our communities to be integrated, they have to be part of the bigger community," said Hesso.

Many of the recent Yazidi newcomers who escaped genocide in northern Iraq don't feel safe yet, he said, adding the council is working to build trust among communities.

"You need to trust others to integrate into the society here," said Hesso.

According to the latest numbers available from Statistics Canada, in 2016, police reported 1,409 criminal incidents in Canada that were motivated by hate, an increase of three per cent than reported the previous year.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.caBUENOS AIRES - The trade talks that President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping launched this weekend have raised hopes for a peaceful resolution of the trans-Pacific tariff war - but the economic relationship between the U.S. and China has been permanently altered.



Over dinner following the Group of 20 summit Saturday, Trump agreed to cancel a planned Jan. 1 tariff increase in return for increased Chinese purchases of American farm and industrial goods.



The two sides also will commence talks about structural changes in Chinese practices, including forced technology transfer, trade secrets theft, and non-tariff barriers. The goal is to secure an agreement in 90 days.



Over the past quarter century, American manufacturers grew dependent upon low-wage Chinese workers to produce iPhones, clothing and industrial parts, often at the expense of factory employees in the industrial heartland.



China, in turn, invested more than $140 billion in the United States since 2000, according to the Rhodium Group, further knitting together two economies that account for roughly 40 percent of global output.



But altmost a year of heated U.S. rhetoric, escalating tariffs, and tighter investment and export controls have shaken Chinese government officials and global business executives.



As repeated tariff salvos prompt companies to rethink their reliance upon Chinese factories, Beijing is stepping up efforts to wean itself from what it sees as an unpredictable American partner, according to trade analysts, business executives and former government officials.

By  David J. Lynch  A1(c) 2018, The Washington Post, Dec 03, 2018THE province is launching a new online work-readiness course for young people.

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THE province is launching a new online work-readiness course for young people.

The Young Worker Readiness Certificate Course will teach youths the basics about workers and employers rights and responsibilities for safety and health in the workplace, Growth, Enterprise and Trade Minister Blaine Pedersen said Monday.

"This course contains important information everyone should know before getting their first job," he said.

The interactive course is based on Saskatchewans successful youth readiness course and is tailored for Manitoba.

It will help aspiring young workers to:

 Understand more about the work world and where to go for information about workplace safety and health.

 Examine a pay statement.

 Learn about workplace expectations and responsibilities and practise problem solving.

 Know the rights of both workers and employers and responsibilities for keeping workplaces safe, and how to recognize and address common workplace hazards.

However, the Manitoba Federation of Labour is objecting to the fact that the province is setting the safe working age at 13.

The MFL said business and labour had agreed that the safe working age should be 14, as it is in both Saskatchewan and Ontario.

"Clearly, the Pallister government is only interested in harmonizing with other provinces when they can race to the bottom on health and safety, not when harmonizing with our neighbours means setting a higher standard when it comes to the safety (of) our provinces very young, vulnerable workers," the MFL said in a statement.

The government said employers seeking to hire a worker under the age of 16 are required to confirm the successful completion of the new course and keep a copy of the certificate as an employment record.

The certificate of completion is transferable to different employers, meaning youths need to complete the course just once.

The course replaces an outdated process where employers were required to apply for a government permit to hire a young worker between the ages of 13 and 15, regardless of the type of work.

Manitoba was the only province in Canada that required such a permit, which created red-tape headaches for employers and was difficult to enforce, Pedersen said.

Youths can now complete the Young Worker Readiness Certificate Course online at https://ywrcc.safemanitoba.com/.Five years after Manitoba passed its first accessibility legislation, advocates say there is still a lot of work to do.

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Five years after Manitoba passed its first accessibility legislation, advocates say there is still a lot of work to do.

"We need to change the way people think and feel about disability," said Jim Derksen, adding enacting laws that protect people with disabilities is important -- but its a small piece of a huge puzzle. "We need to change our culture."

Hundreds of people gathered Monday at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights to celebrate International Day of Persons with Disabilities, and to acknowledge legislative milestones including the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Vulnerable Persons Act and, most recently, the Accessibility for Manitobans Act (passed in 2013).

The crowd heard from disability rights advocates, and Manitoba NDP Leader Wab Kinew (Fort Rouge) and Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont (St. Boniface), about how legislative strides have impacted people in Manitoba living with disabilities.

"They're significant steps forward, but we still have a long way to go," said Lamont. "It's important to remember that rights are not luxuries. Respecting them does not make us poorer. When we respect rights, it enriches us all."

Derksen, 71 -- who has been using a wheelchair since he lost use of his legs after contracting polio at six years old -- said existing accessibility legislation still doesn't address all the challenges people face.

"It can't always be done by force of law," he said. "That's not where it comes from. The problems we have -- the barriers, the prejudice and so on -- it comes from the way we feel about disability.

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Representing the provincial government, Janice Morley-Lecompt spoke to particpants gathered at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights Monday.

"It's an attitude deeply entrenched in our culture. It's all we know."

In 1990, after the Americans with Disabilities Act -- seen by many as a civil rights bill for those impacted in the U.S. -- was signed into law by then-president George H.W. Bush, the Council of Canadians with Disabilities assembled a group of rights leaders in Winnipeg.

The council wanted to see if the ADA model could work north of the border, Derksen recalled -- but it didnt happen.

"That's never really been done in Canada," said Derksen, who has been working with the Council of Canadians with Disabilities since 1978. "It's been talked about a lot, but it's not plausible to do an ADA in Canada."

Bill C-81 -- Canadas first national accessibility law -- was tabled in Ottawa this summer. Until now, Derksen said, provinces have taken individual approaches to protecting the rights of people living with disabilities.

While the new legislation is encouraging, Derksen said, the real challenge is to get people -- especially those without disabilities -- involved in changing perceptions.

"It's not so much what we think. It's what we feel," said Derksen. "You can sell somebody a theory by talking to them, training them, educating them, and so on. But it's what you feel that really governs your behaviour in the end.

"And people's feelings can be changed -- but it takes a real effort."

caitlyn.gowriluk@freepress.mb.caYork Factory intends to boycott a key Manitoba Hydro partnership and rally the other First Nations involved to join the protest.

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York Factory intends to boycott a key Manitoba Hydro partnership and rally the other First Nations involved to join the protest.

Chief Leroy Constant said the action doubles down on the northern Manitoba First Nations earlier call to remove Hydro vice-president Lorne Midford from any involvement with the Keeyask Hydropower Limited Partnership (KHLP).

York Factory, Tataskweyak Cree Nation, War Lake First Nation and Fox Lake Cree Nation are partnered with the Crown corporation on the Keeyask generating station project, located about 725 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg on the lower Nelson River.

On Monday, the utility said Hydro president Kelvin Shepherd had cleared Midford of any allegations of wrongdoing in his leadership role on northern hydroelectric development, following an internal investigation.

Midford voluntarily resigned as KHLP board chairman in September, hours before the York Factory chief called for his resignation over allegations of racism, discrimination and sexual violence at the hands of workers at the Keeyask site. Midford remained on the board as a Hydro representative.

"Obviously, were not happy with the outcome. York Factorys position is well boycott the KHLP until this is resolved, until Mr. Midford is removed," Constant said Tuesday.

In September, Constant cited York Factory board member Louisa Constants reaction to a call from the Hydro executive, which the chief described as an example of harassment. Midford was alleged to have taken issue over a media statement Louisa Constant had prepared, and then threatened the board would no longer review the communications protocol, as promised.

Hydro said it ordered an independent investigation into the allegations, which cleared Midford, the Crown corporations vice-president of generation and wholesale.

On Tuesday, the chief didnt back down, further accusing the Hydro executive of being disrespectful to an Indigenous woman.

"It goes to the standard of respecting women... youre in the position where youre the chair of a board, and you dont conduct yourself in that manner to anybody," Leroy Constant said.

"He (Midford) made a call to her after hours, the same day we went to the media and asked for an inquiry of hydro development. They were disappointed we went to the media in regards to the complaint against Midford and all the other mistreatment, (that) allow(s) them to continue to mistreat our women and our people."

Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Grand Chief Garrison Settee said Tuesday he shared Constants concern and pointed out a broader issue.

There have been 40 years of mistreatment related to Hydros involvement in the north, and the utilitys handling of the Midford complaint is indicative of a flawed corporate decision-making process, the northern grand chief said.

"We need to move forward and advocate on behalf of our women, who continue to be subject to all kinds of inequality. Nobody has a right to talk down or undermine or have a superiority complex towards our women... A complaint like this, when its not regarded as important, I question how far as a society have we come," Settee said.

"No voice should be stifled, no voice should be muffled, especially in this day and age when were trying to be included with the rest of society as equals."

In response, Hydro said Midford will keep his current role.

"Manitoba Hydro has full confidence in Lorne Midford, and he will continue as a KHLP board member," spokesman Bruce Owen said by email.

"We have no further comments."

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.caManitoba is poised to become a major Canadian player in providing large quantities of silica sand used in hydraulic fracking by the oil and gas industry.

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This article was published 4/12/2018 (1088 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

Manitoba is poised to become a major Canadian player in providing large quantities of silica sand used in hydraulic fracking by the oil and gas industry.

Canadian Premium Sand is proposing to develop an open-pit mine and processing facility to initially extract 45-million tons of aggregate to produce roughly 26 million tons of frac sand over the lifespan of the mine.

The company has stated it could expand its operation if demand warrants, as the company has the rights to 360 million tons of known frac sand reserves through its quarry lease holdings in the area.

This proposed open-pit mine and processing facility will be the largest of its kind in Canada and one of the largest in North America. It is slated to be fully operational sometime in 2019. The proposed open-pit mine and processing facility will be located adjacent to Hollow Water First Nation on the eastern shores of Lake Winnipeg, some 210 kilometres north of Winnipeg.

In large-scale extraction projects, the economic returns must be balanced against the adverse social, economic and environmental impacts, which would be substantial. Laying aside for the moment the negative effects at the landscape level, there are three known adverse impacts with similar frac sand mines and processing facilities in the United States.

The first adverse impact is to human health, for both those working in and those living near this type of development. Prolonged exposure to fine silica sand particulates can lead to silicosis, and the material is also a lung carcinogen. The immediate threat comes to those who work at the mine and processing facility.

Intense exposure to fine crystalline silica particulate matter can cause health problems within a year, but symptoms generally occur after at least 10 to 15 years of exposure. This is particularly troubling for those living in proximity to frac sand mines, and especially so for the elderly or families with young children, as they are more susceptible to disease. Fine silica particulate exposure has also been linked with other lung ailments, including emphysema and bronchitis.

Then, there are water quantity and quality impacts, as the total amount of water withdrawn and/or consumed by frac sand mining operations and processing facilities can vary, and much of the variation depends on whether the mine and processing facility uses an open- or closed-loop process system. In terms of water volume, site withdrawals can range from 1.6 million to 7.6 million litres per day, according to data obtained by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in January 2012.

Data on heavy metal content in sand wash ponds adjacent to frac sand mines obtained in the U.S. demonstrates that the same issue arises in frac sand mining. The more acidic water allows heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, aluminum, lead, manganese and copper to leach into water supplies at toxic levels. This issue also extends to reclamation processes.

Finally, it is also important to discuss the scale and impacts of truck-hauling traffic that accompanies frac sand mining operations. The frac sand mining operation proposed near Hollow Water First Nation will be hauling one to two million tons per year, which could see approximately 250 to 500 heavy-truck trips per day.

The most direct route for this increase in heavy-truck traffic would be Hwy. 304 to Hwy. 59, both single-lane either way from South Beach Casino. This will most certainly lead to increases in traffic accident rates on those highways. It is especially problematic for the tens of thousands who travel Hwy. 59 regularly to the east beaches communities to enjoy summer cottages, and for additional thousands who come to enjoy the beaches, such as Grand Beach, on a daily basis.

Before the company can build and operate its mine and processing facility, it must first receive a licence following a review process by the province of Manitoba under the Manitoba Environment Act. There is also a real possibility that this resource development project may be designated a project under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA) and the company will need to comply with the provisions of this act, which may include the need for a possible joint federal/provincial review process.

Another issue that has yet to be addressed is that of the legal obligation of the Crown to undertake Section 35 consultations with the affected Indigenous and Metis peoples when their rights may potentially be impacted. This consultation must occur at the earliest possible stages of planning and is independent of any review, licensing or approvals process undertaken by either the provincial or federal government. To date, this has not occurred.

Whether or not one supports this proposed resource development project for Manitoba is a moot point. What is important, and something that all Manitobans should agree on, is the need for a transparent public review process that considers the entire proposed frac sand mining, processing and transport development for both its benefits and adverse impacts prior to any government approval or licensing, and further, that the Crown undertake its fiduciary obligation to consult with Indigenous and Metis rights holders in the affected communities.

Don Sullivan is a landscape photographer, former director of the Boreal Forest Network and served as special adviser to the government of Manitoba on the Pimachiowin Aki UNESCO World Heritage site portfolio. He is a research affiliate with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Manitoba and a Queen Golden Jubilee medal recipient.Highlands market reinstated at the village (Source: toquoc.vn)

The colorful market space of the northern mountainous provinces where people meet to exchange of goods and news, and other cultural activities will be re-enacted. Mong ethnic traditional handicrafts and Lao ethnic brocade weaving in Dien Bien province will be introduced as well as a Khang ethnic festival in Son La province.

Especially, visitors can enjoy a folk program which praises the homeland and introduce ethnic cultural identities.

In addition, daily and weekend activities and tourist programs will be held to introduce the culture and customs of 13 ethnic groups, contributing to promoting exchanges among ethnic groups, and attracting tourists to the village.

Activities will draw the participation of about 200 ethnic people, artists, actors and students./.Oops....! We couldn't find that...

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Check the URL you entered for any mistakes and try again. Alternatively, search for whatever is missing or take a look around the rest of our site. American Consumer News, LLC dba MarketBeat 2010-2021. All rights reserved.

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 2021 Market data provided is at least 10-minutes delayed and hosted by Barchart Solutions. Information is provided 'as-is' and solely for informational purposes, not for trading purposes or advice, and is delayed. To see all exchange delays and terms of use please see disclaimer. Fundamental company data provided by Zacks Investment Research.Ferrellgas Partners, L.P. distributes and sells propane and related equipment and supplies. The company transports propane to propane distribution locations, tanks on customers' premises, or to portable propane tanks delivered to retailers. It conducts its portable tank exchange operations under the Blue Rhino brand name through a network of independent and partnership-owned distribution outlets. The company's propane is primarily used for space heating, water heating, cooking, outdoor cooking using gas grills, crop drying, irrigation, weed control, and other propane fueled appliances; as an engine fuel for combustion engine vehicles and forklifts; and as a heating or energy source in manufacturing and drying processes. It serves residential, industrial/commercial, portable tank exchange, agricultural, wholesale, and other customers in the United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. As of July 31, 2018, it operated 72 service centers and 859 propane distribution locations. The company is also involved in the sale of refined fuels; provision of common carrier services; and retail sale of propane appliances and related parts and fittings, as well as other retail propane related services and consumer products. Ferrellgas Partners, L.P. was founded in 1939 and is headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas.

Read More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 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.Total Energy Services Inc. provides various products and services to the oil and natural gas industry primarily in Canada, the United States, and Australia. It operates through four segments: Contract Drilling Services, Rentals and Transportation Services, Compression and Process Services and Well Servicing. The Contract Drilling Services segment offers contract drilling services to oil and gas exploration and development companies. As of December 31, 2020, it operated a total fleet of 98 drilling rigs. The Rentals and Transportation Services segment provides drilling, completion and production rental equipment, and oilfield transportation services in western Canada and in the United States. This segment owned and operated a fleet of 87 heavy trucks. The Compression and Process Services segment offers gas compression services; and designs and packages skid style compressors and proprietary trailer-mounted compressors under the NOMAD brand in Canada and the United States, the European Union, Australia, and Mexico. It had 54,800 horsepower of compression in its rental fleet. The Well Servicing segment offers well services. This segment operated a total fleet of 83 well servicing rigs across Western Canada, mid-western United States, and Australia. It has a strategic alliance with Pason Systems Inc. to develop and deploy drilling automation and optimization technologies. The company was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

Read MoreAfrican Battery Metals Plc, together with its subsidiaries, explores for and exploits mineral resources. It explores for cobalt, lithium, copper, nickel, gold, and other battery metals. The company holds interest in cobalt-copper exploration licenses, which include the Kisinka license covering an area of 50 square kilometers; and Sakania license covering an area of 140 square kilometers located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It also holds interest in the Ferensola Project, a gold, iron, and coltan deposit covering an area of 153 square kilometers located in Northern Sierra Leone. The company was formerly known as Sula Iron & Gold plc and changed its name to African Battery Metals Plc in January 2018. African Battery Metals Plc was incorporated in 2011 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.

Read MoreAnadarko Petroleum Corporation engages in the exploration, development, production, and marketing of oil and gas properties. It operates through three segments: Exploration and Production, WES Midstream, and Other Midstream. The company explores for and produces oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs). It is also involved in gathering, processing, treating, and transporting oil, natural-gas, and NGLs production, as well as the gathering and disposal of produced water. The company's oil and natural gas properties are located in the United States onshore and deepwater Gulf of Mexico; and Algeria, Ghana, Mozambique, Colombia, Peru, and other countries. As of December 31, 2018, it had approximately 1.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent of proved reserves. The company was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas.

Read More16 minutes ago

Black Friday is back but it's not what it used to be

NEW YORK (AP)  On this year's Black Friday, things almost seem normal. Malls and stores report decent-sized crowds, if not the floods of people that used to fight over the latest toys

Read ArticleRoyal Bank of Canada operates as a diversified financial service company worldwide. The company's Personal & Commercial Banking segment offers checking and savings accounts, home equity financing, personal lending, private banking, indirect lending, mutual funds and self-directed brokerage accounts, guaranteed investment certificates, credit cards, and payment products and solutions; and lending, leasing, deposit, investment, foreign exchange, cash management, auto dealer financing, trade products, and services to small and medium-sized commercial businesses. This segment offers financial products and services through branches, automated teller machines, and mobile sales network. Its Wealth Management segment provides a suite of advice-based solutions and strategies to high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals, and institutional clients. The company's Insurance segment offers life, health, home, auto, travel, wealth, annuities, and reinsurance advice and solutions; and creditor and business insurance services to individual, business, and group clients through its field sales force, advice centers, and online, as well as through independent insurance advisors and affinity relationships. Its Investor & Treasury Services segment provides asset, cash management, transaction banking, and treasury services to institutional clients; correspondent banking and trade finance services for financial institutions; and short-term funding and liquidity management services. The company's Capital Markets segment offers corporate and investment banking, as well as equity and debt origination, distribution, sale, and trading services for corporations, institutional investors, asset managers, governments, and central banks. Royal Bank of Canada has a strategic partnership with Royal College Of Physicians & Surgeons Of Canada to support the needs of Canada's medical specialists. The company was founded in 1864 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Read More American Consumer News, LLC dba MarketBeat 2010-2021. All rights reserved.

326 E 8th St #105, Sioux Falls, SD 57103 | U.S. Based Support Team at [email protected]t.com | (844) 978-6257

MarketBeat does not provide personalized financial advice and does not issue recommendations or offers to buy stock or sell any security.



Our Accessibility Statement | Terms of Service | Do Not Sell My Information



 2021 Market data provided is at least 10-minutes delayed and hosted by Barchart Solutions. Information is provided 'as-is' and solely for informational purposes, not for trading purposes or advice, and is delayed. To see all exchange delays and terms of use please see disclaimer. Fundamental company data provided by Zacks Investment Research.There is not enough analysis data for Aquantia.

4.7 Community Rank

Outperform Votes Aquantia has received 150 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.)

Underperform Votes Aquantia has received 64 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.)

Community Sentiment Aquantia has received 70.09% outperform votes from our community.

MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about Aquantia and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe AQ will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe AQ will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days.

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NextImperial Oil Limited explores for, produces, and sells crude oil and natural gas in Canada. It operates through three segments: Upstream, Downstream, and Chemical. The Upstream segment explores for and produces crude oil, natural gas, synthetic oil, and bitumen. As of December 31, 2020, this segment had 138 million oil-equivalent barrels of proved undeveloped reserves. The Downstream segment is involved in the transportation and refining of crude oil, as well as blending, distribution, and marketing of refined products. It also transports crude oil to refineries by contracted pipelines, common carrier pipelines, and rail; maintains a distribution system to move petroleum products to market by pipeline, tanker, rail, and road transport; and owns and operates fuel terminals, natural gas liquids, and products pipelines in Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario. In addition, this segment markets and supplies petroleum products to motoring public through approximately 2,400 Esso and Mobil-branded sites. Further, it sells petroleum products, including fuel, asphalt, and lubricants for industrial and transportation customers, independent marketers, and resellers, as well as other refiners serving the agriculture, residential heating, and commercial markets through branded fuel and lubricant resellers. The Chemical segment manufactures and markets various petrochemicals and polyethylene, such as benzene, aromatic, and aliphatic solvents; plasticizer intermediates; and polyethylene resins. The company was incorporation in 1880 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada. Imperial Oil Limited is a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corporation.

Read More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.

Read MoreIntu owns and manages some of the best shopping centres, in some of the strongest locations, in the UK and Spain. Our UK portfolio is made up of 17 centres, including eight of the top-20, and in Spain we own three of the country's top-10 centres, with advanced plans to build a fourth. We are passionate about creating compelling experiences, in centre and online, that make our customers smile and help our retailers flourish. We attract around 400 million customer visits and 26 million website visits a year offering a multichannel approach that truly supports retail strategies. Our strategic focus on prime, high-footfall flagship destinations, combined with the strength and popularity of our brand, means that intu offers enhanced footfall, dwell time and loyalty. This helps our tenants flourish, driving occupancy and income growth. We are committed to our local communities, with our centres supporting nearly 130,000 jobs (representing about 3 per cent of the total UK retail workforce), and to operating with environmental responsibility. We have already met or exceeded a significant number of our 2020 environmental targets.

Read MoreCanadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, a diversified financial institution, provides various financial products and services to personal, business, public sector, and institutional clients in Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company operates through four strategic business units: Canadian Personal and Business Banking; Canadian Commercial Banking and Wealth Management; U.S. Commercial Banking and Wealth Management; and Capital Markets. The company offers chequing, savings, and business accounts; mortgages; loans, lines of credit, student lines of credit, and business and agriculture loans; investment and insurance services; and credit cards, as well as overdraft protection services. It also provides day-to-day banking, borrowing and credit, investing and wealth, specialty, and international services; correspondent banking and online foreign exchange services; and cash management services. The company serves its customers through its banking centers, as well as direct, mobile, and remote channels. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce was founded in 1867 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of Exxon Mobil: AKG Marketing Company Limited, Aera Energy LLC, Al-Jubail Petrochemical Company, Ampolex (Cepu) Pte Ltd, Ancon Insurance Company Inc., Barnett Gathering LLC, Barzan Gas Company Limited, Caspian Pipeline Consortium, Celtic Exploration Ltd., Coral FLNG S.A., Cross Timbers Energy LLC, Ellora Energy Inc., Esmeroon Oil Transporta Imperial Oil Limited, Esso (Thailand) Public Company Limited, Esso Australia Resources Pty Ltd, Esso Deutschland GmbH, Esso Erdgas Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Esso Exploration Angola (Block 15) Limited, Esso Exploration Angola (Block 17) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Angola (Overseas) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Chad Inc., Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Deepwater) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Offshore East) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, Esso Exploration and Production UK Limited, Esso Global Investments Ltd., Esso Italiana S.r.l., Esso Nederland B.V., Esso Norge AS, Esso Petroleum Company Limited, Esso Raffinage, Esso Societe Anonyme Francaise, Exxo Holdings Inc., Exxon Azerbaijan Limited, Exxon Chemical Arabia Inc., Exxon International Finance Company, Exxon Luxembourg Holdings LLC, Exxon Mobile Bay Limited Partnership, Exxon Neftegas Limited, Exxon Overseas Corporation, Exxon Overseas Investment Corporation, ExxonMobil (China) Investment Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil (Taicang) Petroleum Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil Abu Dhabi Offshore Petroleum Company Limited, ExxonMobil Alaska Production Inc., ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., ExxonMobil Australia Pty Ltd, ExxonMobil B Resources Company, ExxonMobil Capital Finance Company, ExxonMobil Capital Netherlands B.V., ExxonMobil Central Europe Holding GmbH, ExxonMobil Cepu Limited, ExxonMobil Chemical France, ExxonMobil Chemical Gulf Coast Investments LLC, ExxonMobil Chemical Holland B.V., ExxonMobil Chemical Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil China Petroleum & Petrochemical Company Limited, ExxonMobil Development Africa B.V., ExxonMobil Development Company, ExxonMobil Egypt (S.A.E.), ExxonMobil Exploracao Brasil Ltda., ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Malaysia Inc., ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Norway AS, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Romania Limited, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Tanzania Limited, ExxonMobil Finance Company Limited, ExxonMobil Financial Investment Company Limited, ExxonMobil France Holding SAS, ExxonMobil Gas Marketing Europe Limited, ExxonMobil General Finance Company, ExxonMobil Global Services Company, ExxonMobil Golden Pass Surety LLC, ExxonMobil Holding Company Holland LLC, ExxonMobil Holding Norway AS, ExxonMobil Hong Kong Limited, ExxonMobil International Services SARL, ExxonMobil Iraq Limited, ExxonMobil Italiana Gas S.r.l., ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Inc., ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Ventures Inc., ExxonMobil LNG Services B.V., ExxonMobil Lubricants Trading Company, ExxonMobil Oil Corporation, ExxonMobil PNG Limited, ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical BVBA, ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical Holdings Inc., ExxonMobil Pipeline Company, ExxonMobil Production Deutschland GmbH, ExxonMobil Production Norway Inc., ExxonMobil Qatargas (II) Limited, ExxonMobil Qatargas Inc., ExxonMobil Ras Laffan (III) Limited, ExxonMobil Rasgas Inc., ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company, ExxonMobil Russia Kara Sea Holdings B.V., ExxonMobil Sales and Supply LLC, ExxonMobil Technology Finance Company, ExxonMobil Ventures Finance Company, ExxonMobil Ventures Funding Ltd., Fujian Refining & Petrochemical Co. Ltd., Golden Pass LNG Terminal Investments LLC, Golden Pass LNG Terminal LLC, Gulf Coast Growth Ventures LLC, Imperial Oil Limited, Imperial Oil Resources Limited, Imperial Oil Resources N.W.T. Limited, Imperial Oil/Petroliere Imperiale, Infineum Italia s.r.I., Infineum Singapore Pte. Ltd., InterOil Corporation, Jurong Aromatics Corporation Pte Ltd, MPM Lubricants, Marine Well Containment Company LLC, Mobil Australia Resources Company Pty Limited, Mobil California Exploration & Producing Asset Company, Mobil Caspian Pipeline Company, Mobil Chemical Products International Inc., Mobil Corporation, Mobil Equatorial Guinea Inc., Mobil Erdgas Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Mobil Exploration & Producing Australia Pty Ltd, Mobil International Petroleum Corporation, Mobil Oil Australia Pty Ltd, Mobil Oil Exploration & Producing Southeast Inc., Mobil Oil New Zealand Limited, Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, Mobil Producing Texas & New Mexico Inc., Mobil SerLimited, Mobil Venezolana De Petroleos Inc., Mobil Yanbu Petrochemical Company Inc., Mobil Yanbu Refining Company Inc., Mountain Gathering LLC, Mozambique Rovuma Venture S.p.A., Palmetto Transoceanic LLC, Papua New Guinea Liquefied Natural Gas Global Company LDC, Permian Express Partners LLC, Phillips Exploration LLC, Qatar Liquefied Gas Company Limited, Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited, Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited (II), SPI Limited, Saudi Aramco Mobil Refinery Company Ltd., Saudi Yanbu Petrochemical Co., SeaRiver Maritime Inc., South Hook LNG Terminal Company Limited, Tengizchevroil LLP, Terminale GNL Adriatico S.r.l, Trend Gathering & Treating LLC, Wolverine Pipe Line Company, XH LLC, XTO Delaware Basin LLC, XTO ENERGY, XTO Energy Canada, and XTO Holdings LLC.The following companies are subsidiares of PPG Industries: AIPCF V Texstars Blocker Inc., AkzoNobel, Alermac Inversiones S.A. de C.V., Alpha Coating Technologies LLC, Alpha Coatings Inc., Broad Range Development Limited, Brown Brothers Distribution Limited, CG Holdings Manufacturing Co., Centro de Investigacion en Polimeros S.A. de C.V., Chemfil Canada Limited, Chorlton Trade Paints Limited, Comercial Mexicana de Pinturas S.A. de C.V., Comex, Comex Industrial Coatings S.A. de C.V., Consorcio Comex S.A. de C.V., Cristacol S.A., Cuming Microwave Corporation, Deutek SA, Dexmet Corporation, Dexmet Holding Corporation, Distribuidora Kroma S.A. de C.V., EPIC Insurance Co. Ltd., Eberle Design Inc., Empresa Aga S.A. de C.V., Ennis Canadian Holding Company, Ennis Flint Soluciones Seguras Para Trafico, Ennis Highway Traffic Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Ennis Manufacturing Sdn Bhd, Ennis Paint Australia Holding Pty Ltd, Ennis Paint Boya Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., Ennis Paint Canada ULC, Ennis Paint Germany GmbH, Ennis Paint Netherlands Holdings LLC, Ennis Paint U.K. Holding Company Limited, Ennis Traffic Safety Solutions Pty Ltd, Ennis  Flint Mexico, Ennis  Flint New Zealand, Ennis  Flint New Zealand Holding Pty Ltd, Ennis-Flint, Ennis-Flint Africa (Pty) Ltd, Ennis-Flint Inc., Foshan Bairun Chemicals Co. Ltd., Fpu Industrial S.A. de C.V., Grupo Comex S.A. de C.V., Hemmelrath Automotive Coatings (Jilin) Co. Ltd., Hodij Coatings B.V., Homax Products, Industria Chimica Reggiana I.C.R. SPA, Johnstones Paints Limited, Kalon Investment Company Limited, Kalon South Africa Proprietary Limited, Manchester Thermoplastics LLC, Masterwork Paint, MetoKote Canada Limited, MetoKote Corporation, MetoKote Mexico Holding Inc., MetoKote UK Limited, MetoKote de Mexico S. de RL de CV, PPG AC - France SA, PPG ALESCO Automotive Finishes Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., PPG AP Resinas S.A. de C.V., PPG Aerospace Materials (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., PPG Architectural Coatings (Puerto Rico) Inc., PPG Architectural Coatings Canada Inc., PPG Architectural Coatings Ireland Limited, PPG Architectural Coatings Italy S.r.l., PPG Architectural Coatings UK Limited, PPG Architectural Finishes Inc., PPG Asian Paints Private Ltd., PPG COATINGS SINGAPORE PTE. LTD., PPG Canada Inc., PPG Cieszyn S.A., PPG Coatings (Hong Kong) Co. Limited, PPG Coatings (Kunshan) Co. Ltd., PPG Coatings (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., PPG Coatings (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., PPG Coatings (Thailand) Co. Ltd., PPG Coatings (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., PPG Coatings (Wuhu) Company Ltd., PPG Coatings (Zhangjiagang) Co. Ltd., PPG Coatings B.V., PPG Coatings Belgium BV, PPG Coatings Danmark A/S, PPG Coatings Deutschland GmbH, PPG Coatings Europe B.V., PPG Coatings Manufacturing SARL, PPG Coatings Nederland BV, PPG Coatings S.A., PPG Coatings South Africa (Pty) Ltd., PPG DYRUP S.A., PPG Deco Czech a.s., PPG Deco Polska sp. z.o.o., PPG Deco Slovakia s.r.o., PPG Deutschland Business Support GmbH, PPG Deutschland Sales & Services GmbH, PPG Distribution S.A.S., PPG Europe B.V., PPG Finance B.V., PPG France Business Support S.A.S., PPG France Manufacturing S.A.S., PPG Guadeloupe SAS, PPG Hellas S.A., PPG Hemmelrath Coatings Inc., PPG Hemmelrath Lackfabrik GmbH, PPG Holdco SAS, PPG Holdings (U.K.) Limited, PPG Holdings Argentina USA LLC, PPG Holdings Latin America USA LLC, PPG Iberica S.A., PPG Iberica Sales & Services S.L., PPG Industrial Coatings B.V., PPG Industrial do Brasil - Tintas E. Vernizes - Ltda., PPG Industries (Korea) Ltd., PPG Industries (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., PPG Industries (UK) Ltd, PPG Industries Argentina S.R.L., PPG Industries Australia PTY Limited A.C.N. 055 500 939, PPG Industries Colombia Ltda., PPG Industries Czech Republic s.r.o., PPG Industries Delfzijl B.V., PPG Industries Europe Sarl, PPG Industries France S.A.S., PPG Industries International Inc., PPG Industries Italia S.r.l., PPG Industries Kimya a Sanayi VE Ticaret AS, PPG Industries LLC, PPG Industries Lipetsk LLC, PPG Industries Middle East FZE, PPG Industries Netherlands B.V., PPG Industries New Zealand Limited, PPG Industries Ohio Inc., PPG Industries Poland Sp. Z.o.o., PPG Industries Securities LLC, PPG Industries de Mexico S.A. de C.V., PPG Italia Business Support S.r.l., PPG Italia Sales & Services S.r.l., PPG Japan Ltd., PPG Kansai Automotive Finishes Canada LP, PPG Kansai Automotive Finishes U.K. LLP, PPG Kansai Automotive Finishes U.S. LLC, PPG Luxembourg Finance S.aR.L., PPG Luxembourg Holdings S.aR.L., PPG Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., PPG Mexico S.A. de C.V., PPG Packaging Coatings (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., PPG Paints Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., PPG Performance Coatings (Hong Kong) Limited, PPG Powder Coatings (Shanghai) Limited, PPG Romania S.A., PPG SSC Co. Ltd., PPG Switzerland GmbH, PPG Trilak Kft., PPG Vietnam Co. Ltd., PRC-DeSoto Australia Pty Ltd., PRC-DeSoto International Inc., PT. PPG Coatings Indonesia, Painter's Supply, Paintzen, Peintures de Paris SAS, Plasticos Envolventes S.A. de C.V., Polymeric Systems Inc., Prismo Road Markings Limited, ProCoatings B.V., ProCoatings BV, Protec Pty Ltd. A.C.N. 007 857 392, Reno A&E LLC, Revocoat France SAS, Revocoat Holding SAS, Revocoat Iberica SLU, Revocoat S.A.S, Road Infrastructure Investment Holdings Inc., SEM Products Inc., Sealants Europe SAS, Sierracin Corporation, Sierracin/Sylmar Corporation, Sigma Marine & Protective Coatings Holding B.V., SigmaKalon (BC) UK Limited, SigmaKalon Group, SigmaKalon Middle East B.V., Sikar (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd., Spraylat International Ltd, Texstars LLC, The Crown Group Co., The Crown Group Inc, The Homax Group, Tikkurila Group, Traffic Safety Intermediate LLC, Traffic Safety Parent LLC, United International Business NV, Vanex Inc., Vernisol S.p.A., Versaflex, Viasa S.A. de C.V., Whitford, Whitford B.V., Whitford Corporation, Whitford Jiangmen Ltd., Whitford Ltd. (HK), Whitford Ltd. (UK), Whitford Pte. Ltd., Whitford S.r.l., Whitford Worldwide Company LLC, Worwag Coatings, and Zaganite Industries Pty Ltd.BT Group plc provides communications services worldwide. Its Consumer segment sells telephones, baby monitors, and Wi-Fi extenders through high street retailers, online BT Shop, and Website BT.com; and offers home phone, copper and fiber broadband, TV, and mobile services in various packages. The company's EE segment offers 2G, 3G, and 4G mobile network services; broadband, fixed-voice, and TV services; and postpaid and prepaid plans, and emergency services network. This segment also sells 4G mobile phones, tablets, connected devices, and mobile broadband devices from various manufacturers. Its Business and Public Sector segment provides fixed voice, mobility, fiber and connectivity, and networked IT services to retailers, utilities, public sector, healthcare, sports, construction, finance, and educational sectors. The company's Global Services segment offers business communications and ICT services comprising BT Connect, BT Security, BT One, BT Contact, BT Compute, BT Advise, and BT for financial markets. This segment serves approximately 5,500 customers in 180 countries. Its Wholesale and Ventures segment enables communications providers and other organizations to provide fixed or mobile phone services. Its ventures provide mass-market services, such as directory enquiries and payphones; and enterprise services comprising BT Fleet and BT Redcare. This segment also provides broadband and Ethernet, voice, hosted communication, mobile virtual network operator, managed solutions, machine-to-machine, roaming, and media services. The company's Openreach segment engages in the provision of services over the local access network; and installation and maintenance of fiber and copper communications networks that connect homes and businesses. The company was formerly known as Newgate Telecommunications Limited and changed its name to BT Group plc in September 2001. BT Group plc was incorporated in 2001 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of Colgate-Palmolive: 887357 Ontario Inc., COLGALIVE S.A., CP GABA GmbH, CP International Holding C.V., CP West East Investment Limited, Cleaning Dimensions Inc., Colgate (BVI) Limited, Colgate (Guangzhou) Company Limited, Colgate (U.K.) Limited, Colgate Business Services of the Americas S.C., Colgate Flavors and Fragrances Inc., Colgate Global Business Services Private Limited, Colgate Holdings, Colgate Inc., Colgate Oral Pharmaceuticals Inc., Colgate Palmolive Ghana Limited, Colgate Palmolive Holding S.Com.P.A., Colgate Palmolive Nouvelle Caledonie Sarl, Colgate Palmolive Tanzania Limited, Colgate Sanxiao Company Limited, Colgate Venture Company Inc., Colgate-Palmolive (America) Inc., Colgate-Palmolive (Asia) Pte Ltd, Colgate-Palmolive (Blantyre) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive (Brunei) Sdn Bhn, Colgate-Palmolive (Central America) Inc., Colgate-Palmolive (Central America) Inc. y Compania Limitada, Colgate-Palmolive (Centro America) S.A., Colgate-Palmolive (China) Co. Ltd, Colgate-Palmolive (Costa Rica) S.A., Colgate-Palmolive (Dominica) Inc., Colgate-Palmolive (Dominican Republic) Inc., Colgate-Palmolive (East Africa) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive (Eastern) Pte. Ltd., Colgate-Palmolive (Egypt) S.A.E., Colgate-Palmolive (Far East) Sdn Bhd, Colgate-Palmolive (Fiji) Pte Limited, Colgate-Palmolive (Gabon) S.A., Colgate-Palmolive (Guyana) Ltd., Colgate-Palmolive (H.K.) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive (Hellas) S.A. I.C., Colgate-Palmolive (Hong Kong) Holding Limited, Colgate-Palmolive (Kazakhstan) L.L.P., Colgate-Palmolive (Latvia) Ltd., Colgate-Palmolive (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Colgate-Palmolive (Middle East Exports) Ltd., Colgate-Palmolive (Myanmar) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive (New York) Inc., Colgate-Palmolive (Poland) Sp. z o.o., Colgate-Palmolive (Proprietary) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive (Research & Development) Inc., Colgate-Palmolive (Romania) SRL, Colgate-Palmolive (Thailand) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive (UK) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive (Uganda) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive (Vietnam) Ltd., Colgate-Palmolive (Zambia) Inc., Colgate-Palmolive (Zimbabwe) Inc., Colgate-Palmolive A.B., Colgate-Palmolive A/S, Colgate-Palmolive Adria Ltd., Colgate-Palmolive Argentina S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Asia Pacific Limited, Colgate-Palmolive Asia Pacific Treasury Services Limited, Colgate-Palmolive Belgium S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Bolivia Ltda., Colgate-Palmolive Canada Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Caricom Service Co. Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Central European Management Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Chile S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Cia., Colgate-Palmolive Comercial Ltda., Colgate-Palmolive Commercial (Hellas) SP LLC, Colgate-Palmolive Commerciale S.A.S., Colgate-Palmolive Commericale S.r.l., Colgate-Palmolive Compania Anonima, Colgate-Palmolive Company Distr. LLC, Colgate-Palmolive Company GmbH, Colgate-Palmolive Cote dIvoire S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Cyprus Limited, Colgate-Palmolive Development Corp., Colgate-Palmolive East West Africa Region (Pty) Ltd, Colgate-Palmolive Enterprises Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Espana S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Europe (Holdings) Sarl, Colgate-Palmolive Europe Sarl, Colgate-Palmolive Finance (UK) plc, Colgate-Palmolive Global Trading Company, Colgate-Palmolive Holding Argentina S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Holding Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Hungary Kft Limited Liability Company, Colgate-Palmolive IHQ Services (Thailand) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Inc. S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Industrial Ltda., Colgate-Palmolive Industriel S.A.S., Colgate-Palmolive International Holding LLC, Colgate-Palmolive International LLC, Colgate-Palmolive Investment Co. Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Investments (BVI) Ltd., Colgate-Palmolive Investments (PNG) Ltd., Colgate-Palmolive Investments (UK) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive Investments Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Israel Ltd., Colgate-Palmolive Italia S.r.l., Colgate-Palmolive JSC, Colgate-Palmolive Lanka (Private) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive Latin America Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Limited, Colgate-Palmolive Manufacturing (Poland) Sp. z o.o., Colgate-Palmolive Marketing Sdn Bhd, Colgate-Palmolive Maroc S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Mocambique Limitada, Colgate-Palmolive NJ Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Nederland B.V., Colgate-Palmolive Norge A/S, Colgate-Palmolive Participacoes e Investimentos Imobiliarios Lda., Colgate-Palmolive Peru S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Philippines Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Pty Ltd, Colgate-Palmolive Retirement Trustee Limited, Colgate-Palmolive S.A. de C.V., Colgate-Palmolive S.p.A., Colgate-Palmolive Senegal S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Services (Hellas) LLC, Colgate-Palmolive Services (Poland) Sp. z o.o., Colgate-Palmolive Services CEW GmbH, Colgate-Palmolive Services S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Slovensko s.r.o., Colgate-Palmolive Support Services, Colgate-Palmolive Temizlik Urunleri Sanayi ve Ticart S.A., Colgate-Palmolive Transnational Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Ukraine LLC, Colgate-Palmolive Unipessoal Lda, Colgate-Palmolive de Paraguay Sociedad Anonima, Colgate-Palmolive de Puerto Rico Inc., Colgate-Palmolive del Ecuador S.A.I.C., Colgate-Palmolive del Peru (Delaware) Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Eeska republika spol. s r.o., Colpal CBS S de R. L. de C. V., Consumer Viewpoint Center Inc., Cotelle S.A., Dimac Development Corp., Dominica Coconut Products Limited, EKIB Inc., ELM Company Limited, Elta MD Holdings Inc., Elta MD Inc., EltaMD, Filorga Americas Inc., Filorga Asia Limited, Filorga Benelux SA, Filorga Cosmetiques Polska, Filorga Middle East DMCC, Filorga Portugal Unipessoal Lda., Filorga RU Limited Liability Company, GABA Europe Holding GmbH, GABA International, GABA International Holding LLC, GABA Schweiz AG, GABA Therwil GmbH, Gamma Development Co. Ltd., Global Trading and Supply LLC, Hamol Ltd., Hello Products, Hello Products LLC, Hills Funding Company, Hills Pet Nutrition (NZ) Limited, Hills Pet Nutrition (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Hills Pet Nutrition Asia Limited, Hills Pet Nutrition B.V., Hills Pet Nutrition Canada Inc., Hills Pet Nutrition Denmark ApS, Hills Pet Nutrition Espana S.L., Hills Pet Nutrition GmbH, Hills Pet Nutrition Holding B.V., Hills Pet Nutrition Inc., Hills Pet Nutrition Indiana Inc., Hills Pet Nutrition Italia S.r.l., Hills Pet Nutrition Korea Ltd., Hills Pet Nutrition Ltd., Hills Pet Nutrition Manufacturing B.V., Hills Pet Nutrition Manufacturing s.r.o, Hills Pet Nutrition Norway AS, Hills Pet Nutrition OOO, Hills Pet Nutrition Pty. Limited, Hills Pet Nutrition S.p.A., Hills Pet Nutrition SNC, Hills Pet Nutrition Sales Inc., Hills Pet Nutrition South Africa Proprietary Limited, Hills Pet Nutrition Sweden AB, Hills Pet Nutrition Switzerland GmbH, Hills Pet Nutrition Taiwan Ltd, Hills Pet Nutrition Trading (GZ) Co. Ltd, Hills Pet Nutrition de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Hills Pet Nutrition de Puerto Rico Inc., Hills Pet Nutrition s.r.o., Hills Pet Products (Benelux) S.A., Hills Pet Products Inc., Hills Veterinary Companies of America Inc., Hills-Colgate (Japan) Ltd., Hopro Liquidating Corp., Hygiene Systemes et Services SA, IES Enterprises Inc., Inmobiliaria Colpal S. de R.L. de C.V., Inmobiliaria Hills S.A. de C.V., Innovacion Creativa S.A. de C.V., Kolynos Corporation, Laboratoires Filorga Cosmetiques Espana S.L.U., Laboratoires Filorga Cosmetiques Italia S.R.L., Laboratoires Filorga Cosmetiques S.A., Laser Brand Toothpaste, Lournay Sales Inc., Mennen Company, Mennen Interamerica Ltd., Mennen Limited, Mennen South Africa Ltd., Mennen de Chile Ltd., Mennen de Nicargua S.A., Mission Hills Property Corporation, Mission Hills S.A. de C.V., Norwood International Incorporated, Olive Music Publishing Corporation, PCA SKIN, Paramount Research Inc., Penny LLC, Pet Chemicals Inc., Physicians Care Alliance LLC, Productos Halogenados Copalven C.A., Purity Holding Company, Purity Music Publishing Corporation, Refresh Company Limited, Samuel Taylor Holdings B.V., Sanex, Sanxiao Company Limited, Services Development Co. Ltd., Societe Generale de Negoce et de Services (GENESE) S.A., The GDN - The Global Distributive Network SAS, The Lournay Company Inc., The MPDP - The Medical and Pharmaceutic Distributive Platform SAS, The Murphy-Phoenix Company, Tom's of Maine, Toms of Maine Holdings Inc., Toms of Maine Inc., Veterinary Companies of America Inc., Vipont Pharmaceutical Inc., and XEB Inc..Guess?, Inc. engages in designing, marketing, distributing and licensing of contemporary apparel and accessories for men, women and children that reflect the American lifestyle and European fashion sensibilities. It operates through the following segments: Americas Retail, Americas Wholesale, Europe, Asia, and Licensing. The Americas Retail segment includes the Company's retail and e-Commerce operations in North and Central America and its retail operations in South America. The Americas Wholesale segment consists of the Company's wholesale operations in the Americas. The Europe segment comprises the Company's retail, e-commerce and wholesale operations in Europe and the Middle East. The Asia segment refers to the Company's retail, e-commerce and wholesale operations in Asia and the Pacific. The Licensing segment includes the worldwide licensing operations of the Company. The company was founded by Paul Marciano and Maurice Marciano in 1981 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, CA.

Read MoreThere is not enough analysis data for Detour Gold.

4.9 Community Rank

Outperform Votes Detour Gold has received 194 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.)

Underperform Votes Detour Gold has received 71 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.)

Community Sentiment Detour Gold has received 73.21% outperform votes from our community.

MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about Detour Gold and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe DRGDF will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe DRGDF will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days.

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NextiShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF's stock was trading at $25.60 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, EWU stock has increased by 25.3% and is now trading at $32.07.

View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.The following companies are subsidiares of Sherwin-Williams: Acquire Sourcing LLC, CTS National Corporation, Comex North America Inc., Compania Sherwin-Williams S.A. de C.V., Contract Transportation Systems Co., Dongguan Lilly Paint Industries Ltd, Duron, EPS (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd., EPS B.V., Geocel Holdings, Geocel Limited, Guangdong Valspar Paints Manufacturing Co Ltd., Inver East Med S.A., Inver France SAS, Inver GmbH, Inver Industrial Coating SRL, Inver Polska Spoka Z O.O, Inver Spa, Invercolor Bologna Srl, Invercolor Ltd, Invercolor Roma Srl, Invercolor Torino Srl, Invercolor Toscana Srl, Isocoat Tintas e Vernizes Ltda, Isva Vernici Srl, Leighs Paints, M.A. Bruder & Sons, Omega Specialty Products & Services LLC, Oy Sherwin-Williams Finland Ab, PT Sherwin-Williams Indonesia, PT Valspar Indonesia, Paint Sundry Brands, Pinturas Condor S.A., Pinturas Industriales S.A., Piton Paints Limited, Plasti-Kote Co. Inc., Plasti-kote Limited, Productos Quimicos y Pinturas S.A. de C.V., Quest Automotive Products UK Limited, Quetzal Pinturas S.A. de C.V., Ronseal (Ireland) Limited, SWIMC LLC, SWIPCO  Sherwin Williams do Brasil Propriedade Intelectual Ltda, Sherwin Williams Colombia S.A.S., Sherwin-Williams (Australia) Pty. Ltd., Sherwin-Williams (Belize) Limited, Sherwin-Williams (Caribbean) N.V., Sherwin-Williams (Ireland) Limited, Sherwin-Williams (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Sherwin-Williams (Nantong) Coatings Technology Co. Ltd., Sherwin-Williams (Nantong) Company Limited, Sherwin-Williams (S) Pte. Ltd., Sherwin-Williams (Shanghai) Limited, Sherwin-Williams (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Sherwin-Williams (Vietnam) Limited, Sherwin-Williams (West Indies) Limited, Sherwin-Williams Argentina I.y C.S.A., Sherwin-Williams Aruba VBA, Sherwin-Williams Automotive Mexico S.de R.L.de C.V., Sherwin-Williams Balkan S.R.L., Sherwin-Williams Bel Unitary Enterprise, Sherwin-Williams Benelux NV, Sherwin-Williams Canada Inc., Sherwin-Williams Cayman Islands Limited, Sherwin-Williams Chile S.A., Sherwin-Williams Coatings India Private Limited, Sherwin-Williams Coatings S.a r.l., Sherwin-Williams Czech Republic spol. s r.o, Sherwin-Williams Denmark A/S, Sherwin-Williams Deutschland GmbH, Sherwin-Williams Diversified Brands Limited, Sherwin-Williams France Finishes SAS, Sherwin-Williams Italy S.r.l., Sherwin-Williams Norway AS, Sherwin-Williams Paints Limited Liability Company, Sherwin-Williams Peru S.R.L., Sherwin-Williams Pinturas de Venezuela S.A., Sherwin-Williams Poland Sp. z o.o, Sherwin-Williams Protective & Marine Coatings, Sherwin-Williams Realty Holdings Inc., Sherwin-Williams Services (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Sherwin-Williams Spain Coatings S.L., Sherwin-Williams Sweden AB, Sherwin-Williams UK Coatings Limited, Sherwin-Williams do Brasil Industria e Comercio Ltda., Spanyc Paints Joint Stock Company, Syntema I Vaggeryd AB, Taiwan Valspar Co. Ltd., The Sherwin-Williams Acceptance Corporation, The Sherwin-Williams Headquarters Company, The Sherwin-Williams Manufacturing Company, The Sherwin-Williams US Licensing Company, The Valspar (Asia) Corporation Limited, The Valspar (Australia) Corporation Pty. Ltd., The Valspar (Finland) Corporation Oy, The Valspar (France) Corporation S.A.S., The Valspar (France) Research Corporation SAS, The Valspar (Malaysia) Corporation Sdn Bhd, The Valspar (Nantes) Corporation S.A.S., The Valspar (Singapore) Corporation Pte. Ltd, The Valspar (South Africa) Corporation (Pty) Ltd, The Valspar (Spain) Corporation S.R.L., The Valspar (Switzerland) Corporation AG, The Valspar (Thailand) Corporation Ltd., The Valspar (UK) Corporation Limited, The Valspar (Vietnam) Corporation Ltd., The Valspar Corporation, The Valspar Corporation Limitada, UAB Sherwin-Williams Baltic, Valspar (India) Coatings Corporation Private Limited, Valspar (Shanghai) Management Co. Ltd., Valspar (Uruguay) Corporation S.A., Valspar (WPC) Pty Ltd, Valspar Aries Coatings S. de R.L. de C.V., Valspar Automotive (UK) Corporation Limited, Valspar Automotive Australia Pty Limited, Valspar B.V., Valspar Coatings (Guangdong) Co. Ltd., Valspar Coatings (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Valspar Coatings (Tianjin) Co. Ltd, Valspar D.o.o Beograd, Valspar Industries (Ireland) Ltd., Valspar Industries (Italy) S.r.l., Valspar Industries GmbH, Valspar LLC, Valspar Mexicana S.A. de C.V., Valspar Paint (Australia) Pty Ltd, Valspar Paint (NZ) Limited, Valspar Powder Coatings Limited, Valspar Rock Company Limited (Japan), Valspar Specialty Paints LLC, and ZAO Sherwin-Williams.GlaxoSmithKline Plc is a healthcare company, which engages in the research, development, and manufacture of pharmaceutical medicines, vaccines, and consumer healthcare products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceuticals; Pharmaceuticals R&D; Vaccines and Consumer Healthcare. The Pharmaceuticals segment focuses on developing medicines in respiratory and infectious diseases, oncology, and immuno-inflammation. The Pharmaceuticals R&D segment focuses on science related to the immune system, the use of human genetics and advanced technologies, and is driven by the multiplier effect of Science x Technology x Culture. The Vaccines segment produces pediatric and adult vaccines to prevent a range of infectious diseases including, hepatitis A and B, diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough, measles, mumps and rubella, polio, typhoid, influenza, and bacterial meningitis. The Consumer Healthcare segment develops and markets brands in the oral health, pain relief, respiratory, nutrition and gastro intestinal, and skin health categories. The company was founded in 1715 and is headquartered in Middlesex, the United Kingdom.

Read MoreThere is not enough analysis data for Novation Companies.

4.7 Community Rank

Outperform Votes Novation Companies has received 68 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.)

Underperform Votes Novation Companies has received 29 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.)

Community Sentiment Novation Companies has received 70.10% outperform votes from our community.

MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about Novation Companies and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe NOVC will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe NOVC will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days.

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NextThere is not enough analysis data for HighPoint Resources.

4.1 Community Rank

Outperform Votes HighPoint Resources has received 160 outperform votes. (Add your outperform vote.)

Underperform Votes HighPoint Resources has received 102 underperform votes. (Add your underperform vote.)

Community Sentiment HighPoint Resources has received 61.07% outperform votes from our community.

MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about HighPoint Resources and other stocks. Vote Outperform if you believe HPR will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote Underperform if you believe HPR will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days.

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NextThe following companies are subsidiares of TransDigm Group: 1711 Waterview Pkwy LLC, ARA Deutschland GmbH, ARA Holding GmbH, Acme Aerospace, Adams Rite Aerospace GmbH, Adams Rite Aerospace Inc., Advanced Inflatable Products Limited, Aero-Instruments, AeroControlex Group Inc., Aerosonic, Aerosonic LLC, Air-Sea Survival Equipment Trustee Limited, Airborne Acquisition Inc., Airborne Global Inc., Airborne Holdings Inc., Airborne Systems, Airborne Systems Canada Ltd., Airborne Systems Group Limited, Airborne Systems Holdings Limited, Airborne Systems Limited, Airborne Systems NA Inc., Airborne Systems North America Inc., Airborne Systems North America of CA Inc., Airborne Systems North America of NJ Inc., Airborne Systems Pension Trust Limited, Airborne UK Acquisition Limited, Airborne UK Parent Limited, Aircraft Materials Limited, AmSafe, AmSafe Aviation (Chongqing) Ltd., AmSafe Bridport (Kunshan) Co. Ltd., AmSafe Bridport (Private) Ltd., AmSafe Bridport Ltd., AmSafe Global Holdings Inc., AmSafe Global Services (Private) Limited, AmSafe Inc., Angus Electronics Co., Arkwin Industries, Arkwin Industries Inc., Auxitrol SAS, Auxitrol Weston Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Auxitrol Weston Singapore Pte. Ltd., Auxitrol Weston USA Inc., Aviation Technologies, Aviation Technologies Inc., Avionic Instruments LLC, Avionics Instruments, Avionics Specialties Inc., AvtechTyee Inc., Beta Transformer Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Beta Transformer Technology Corporation, Beta Transformer Technology LLC, Breeze-Eastern Corporation, Breeze-Eastern LLC, Bridport Erie Aviation Inc., Bridport Holdings Inc., Bridport Ltd., Bridport-Air Carrier Inc., Bruce Aerospace Inc., Bruce Industries, CDA InterCorp LLC, CEF Industries LLC, CMC Electronics Inc., CMC Electronics ME Inc., Champion Aerospace LLC, Cobham, DDC Electronics K.K., DDC Electronics Ltd., DDC Electronics Private Limited, DDC Electronique S.A.R.L., DDC Elektronik GmbH, Darchem Engineering Limited, Darchem Holdings Limited, Data Device Corp., Data Device Corporation, Dukes Aerospace Inc., EST Defence Company UK Limited, Edlaw Limited, Electromech Technologies LLC, Elektro-Metall Export GmbH, Elektro-Metall Paks KFT, Esterline, Esterline Acquisition Ltd, Esterline Europe Company LLC, Esterline Foreign Sales Corporation, Esterline International Company, Esterline Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Esterline Services China Ltd., Esterline Technologies Acquisition Ltd, Esterline Technologies Corporation, Esterline Technologies Europe Limited, Esterline Technologies France Holding SAS, Esterline Technologies French Acquisition Limited, Esterline Technologies Global Limited, Esterline Technologies Holdings Limited, Esterline Technologies Management France SAS, Esterline Technologies SGIP LLC, Esterline Technologies Unlimited, Esterline do Brasil Assessoria e Intermediacao Ltda, Extant Components Group Holdings Inc., Extant Components Group Intermediate Inc., GQ Parachutes Limited, Guizhou Leach-Tianyi Aviation Electrical Company Ltd, Harco, HarcoSemco LLC, Hartwell Corporation, ILC Holdings Inc., Irvin Aerospace Limited, IrvinGQ France SAS, IrvinGQ Limited, Janco Corporation, Johnson Liverpool LLC, Jupiter SAS, Kirkhill Elastomers, Kirkhill Inc., Kunshan Shield Restraint Systems Ltd., Leach Holding Corporation, Leach International Asia-Pacific Ltd, Leach International Europe S.A.S., Leach International Mexico S. de R. L. de C. V., Leach International UK Ltd, Leach Technology Group Inc., MarathonNorco Aerospace Inc., McKechnie Aerospace, McKechnie Aerospace (Europe) Ltd., McKechnie Aerospace DE Inc., McKechnie Aerospace DE LP, McKechnie Aerospace Holdings Inc., McKechnie Aerospace US LLC, Mecanismos de Matamoros S.A. de C.V., Militair Aviation Ltd., Norco, Nordisk Asia Pacific Limited, Nordisk Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, Nordisk Aviation Products (Kunshan) Ltd., Nordisk Aviation Products AS, North Hills Signal Processing Corp., North Hills Signal Processing Overseas Corp., Norwich Aero Products Inc., Pascall Electronics Limited, Pexco Aerospace, Pexco Aerospace Inc., PneuDraulics, PneuDraulics Inc., Pressure Systems International Ltd, Racal Acoustics Inc., Racal Acoustics Limited, Rancho TransTechnology Corporation, Retainers Inc., SSP Industries, Schneller, Schneller Asia Pte. Ltd., Schneller LLC, Schneller S.A.R.L., Schroth Safety Products, ScioTeq LLC, ScioTeq Ltd., ScioTeq Pte. Ltd., ScioTeq SAS, ScioTeq bvba, Semco Instruments, Semco Instruments Inc., Shield Restraint Systems Inc., Shield Restraint Systems Ltd., Signal Processing Matamoros S.A. de C.V., Skandia, Skandia Inc., Skurka Aerospace, Skurka Aerospace Inc., Symetrics Industries, Symetrics Industries LLC, Symetrics Technology Group LLC, TA Mfg Limited, TDG ESL Holdings Inc., TDG France Ultimate Parent SAS, TDG Germany GmbH, TEAC Aerospace Holdings Inc., TEAC Aerospace Technologies Inc., TREALITY SVS LLC, TTERUSA Inc., Tactair Fluid Controls Inc., Takata Protection Systems, Technical Airborne Components Industries SPRL, Telair International, Telair International AB, Telair International GmbH, Telair International LLC, Telair International Services PTE Ltd, Telair US LLC, Texas Rotronics Inc., TransDigm (Barbados) SRL, TransDigm Canada ULC, TransDigm European Holdings Limited, TransDigm Ireland Ltd., TransDigm Receivables LLC, TransDigm UK Holdings plc, Transicoil (Malaysia) Sendirian Berhad, Transicoil LLC, Wallop Industries Limited, Weston Aerospace Ltd, Whippany Actuation Systems, Whippany Actuation Systems LLC, XCEL Power Systems Ltd., Young & Franklin, and Young & Franklin Inc..The following companies are subsidiares of Boston Scientific: 34 Biomedical Merger Corp., 9357-1867 Quebec Inc., Acurate Industria e Comercio Ltda., Advanced Bionics, Advanced Stent Technologies, American Medical Systems, American Medical Systems Europe B.V., Apama Medical, Apama Medical Inc., Asthmatx, Atritech, Augmenix, Augmenix Inc., Augmenix K.K., BSC International Medical Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., BSC Medical Device Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., BTG, BTG Australasia Pty Ltd, BTG Europe B.V., BTG IM Holdings Ltd., BTG International (Holdings) Limited, BTG International Asia Limited, BTG International Canada Inc., BTG International Germany GmbH, BTG International Healthcare Inc., BTG International Healthcare LLC, BTG International Healthcare Limited, BTG International Inc., BTG International Limited, BTG Limited, BTG Management Services Limited, BTG Medikal Limited Sirketi, Bard Electrophysiology, Barosense, Biocompatibles Inc., Biocompatibles International Limited, Biocompatibles UK Limited, Boston Scientific (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Boston Scientific (South Africa) Proprietary Limited, Boston Scientific (Thailand) Ltd., Boston Scientific (UK) Limited, Boston Scientific AG, Boston Scientific Argentina S.A., Boston Scientific Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Boston Scientific Benelux NV, Boston Scientific Canada Limited, Boston Scientific Ceska republika s.r.o., Boston Scientific Chile SpA, Boston Scientific Colombia Limitada, Boston Scientific Comercial de Costa Rica BSCR S.R.L., Boston Scientific Far East B.V., Boston Scientific Gesellschaft m.b.H., Boston Scientific Group plc, Boston Scientific Hellas S.A., Boston Scientific Hong Kong Limited, Boston Scientific Iberica S.A., Boston Scientific India Private Limited, Boston Scientific International B.V., Boston Scientific International Finance Limited, Boston Scientific International S.A., Boston Scientific Israel Ltd., Boston Scientific Japan K.K., Boston Scientific Korea Co. Ltd., Boston Scientific Lebanon SAL, Boston Scientific Limited, Boston Scientific Ltd., Boston Scientific Medical Device, Boston Scientific Medical Device Limited, Boston Scientific Medizintechnik GmbH, Boston Scientific Middle East FZ-LLC, Boston Scientific Middle East SAL, Boston Scientific Nederland B.V., Boston Scientific Neuromodulation Corporation, Boston Scientific New Zealand Limited, Boston Scientific Nordic AB, Boston Scientific Peru S.A.C., Boston Scientific Philippines Inc., Boston Scientific Polska Sp. z o.o., Boston Scientific Portugal - Dispositivos Medicos Lda, Boston Scientific Pty Ltd, Boston Scientific Romania S.R.L., Boston Scientific S.A.S., Boston Scientific S.p.A., Boston Scientific Scimed, Boston Scientific Scimed Inc., Boston Scientific Services Private Limited, Boston Scientific TIP Gerecleri Limited Sirketi, Boston Scientific Technology & Engineering Services Private Limited, Boston Scientific Uruguay S.A., Boston Scientific Vietnam Company Limited, Boston Scientific de Costa Rica S.R.L., Boston Scientific de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Boston Scientific del Caribe Inc., Boston Scientific do Brasil Ltda., Bravo Bidco Limited, BridgePoint Medical, Cameron Health, Cardiac Pacemakers Inc., Cardiac Pathways Corp, Catheter Innovations, Claret Medical, Claret Medical Inc., Cosman Medical, Cosman Medical LLC, CryoCor, Cryterion Medical, Cryterion Medical Inc., Cryterion Medical Ireland Limited, EKOS LLC, EMcision, EMcision International Inc., EP Technologies, EP Technologies Inc., Electron Acquisition Corporation, EndoChoice, EndoChoice Holdings Inc., EndoChoice Inc., EndoChoice Innovation Center Ltd., EndoChoice Israel Ltd., Endotex, Enteric Medical Technologies, Galil Medical Inc., Galil Medical Ltd., Galil Medical UK Limited, Guidant, Guidant Delaware Holding Corporation, Guidant Europe NV, Guidant Puerto Rico B.V., Hong Kong Medtech Trading Limited, Intelect Medical, Millipede, Millipede Inc., NXT Merger Corp., Notebook Merger Sub Ltd., Novate Medical Limited, NxThera, NxThera Inc., PT Boston Scientific Indonesia, PneumRx GmbH, PneumRx LLC, PneumRx Liimited, Protherics Medicines Development B.V., Protherics Medicines Development Limited, Protherics UK Limited, Provensis Limited, RMI Acquisition Corp., Remon Medical Technologies, Rhythmia Medical, Robert S. Smith M.D. Inc., Roxwood Medical Inc., SNS Merger Corp, Sadra Medical, Sadra Medical Inc., Securus Medical Group, Securus Medical Group Inc., Special K Merger Corp., StarMedTec, Stream Enterprises LLC, Symetis, Symetis SA, Target Therapeutics, Target Therapeutics Inc., The LumenR Tissue Retractor System, Veniti, Veniti Inc., VertiFlex, Vertiflex Inc., Vessix Vascular, Xlumena, Zuma Investment Pty Ltd, iogyn, nVision Medical, and nVision Medical Corporation.iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF's stock was trading at $37.46 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 (Coronavirus) reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, EEM stock has increased by 30.2% and is now trading at $48.77.

View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.Shares of iShares MSCI Malaysia ETF reverse split before market open on Monday, November 7th 2016. The 1-4 reverse split was announced on Friday, October 14th 2016. The number of shares owned by shareholders was adjusted after the market closes on Friday, November 4th 2016. An investor that had 100 shares of iShares MSCI Malaysia ETF stock prior to the reverse split would have 25 shares after the split.iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF's stock was trading at $158.09 on March 11th, 2020 when Coronavirus (COVID-19) reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, IWF stock has increased by 89.1% and is now trading at $298.94.

View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF's stock was trading at $170.68 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 (Coronavirus) reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, IWO stock has increased by 73.9% and is now trading at $296.80.

View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.Mayan Energy Limited engages in the development, production, and sale of hydrocarbons and related activities in the United States. The company holds interests in Forest Hills project situated in Wood County, Texas; Stockdale oil fields located in Wilson County, Texas; Zink Ranch and Mathis leases situated in Osage County, Oklahoma; and Shoats Creek field located in Louisiana. It also trades in oil and gas. The company was formerly known as Northcote Energy Limited and changed its name to Mayan Energy Limited in August 2016. Mayan Energy Limited was incorporated in 2010 and is based in Tortola, the British Virgin Islands.

Read MoreMorneau Shepell Inc. provides technology based human resources consulting services in Canada, the United States, and internationally. It provides health and productivity, administrative, and retirement solutions to assist employers in managing the financial security, health, and productivity of their employees. The company offers health and productivity services, including absence and disability management, Internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy, safety groups, influencecare, and workers' compensation services; and administrative solutions, such as defined benefit and contribution pension administration, employee self-service, health and benefits administration, and human resources contact centers, as well as pension and benefits software. It also provides modern employee assistance, wellness, news feed and recognition, perks and savings, workplace learning, total health index assessment, workplace mental health, children's support, traumatic event support, workplace support programs, domestic and international student support, and HR support solutions. In addition, the company offers retirement solutions comprising actuarial; compensation consulting; defined contribution consulting; international pension regulatory; investment consulting; governance, legal, and compliance; pension sustainability and design; pension regulatory; pooled registered pension plans and voluntary retirement savings plans; and retirement planning and total plan solutions. Further, it provides asset and risk management, and communication and change management solutions. The company was formerly known as Morneau Sobeco Income Fund and changed its name to Morneau Shepell Inc. in January 2011. Morneau Shepell Inc. was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Read MoreSecretary Nguyen Thien Nhan presents a souvenir to Prince Andrew. (Photo: SGGP)

Mr. Nhan, on December 3rd, hosted a reception for Duke of York, Prince Andrew, who is on a working visit in the city.

During the reception, Mr. Nhan appreciated Prince Andrews visit when both countries are celebrating the 45th anniversary of their diplomatic ties, considering it a message showing the UK Governments and Royal Familys respect for the Vietnam - UK bilateral relationship.

Asserting that the bilateral relationship is developing well, Mr. Nhan noted that the Ho Chi Minh city - UK trade turnover reached USD795 million in 2017. There are currently 146 UK projects worth USD556 million in the city.

He also appreciated UK businesses strengths in infrastructure, energy, finance - banking and insurance, and said he hoped Prince Andrew will encourage UK businesses to invest in the city, especially in its urban innovation projects and start-ups.

In terms of education, the Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh city Party Committee suggested that Prince Andrew should support the city in training high quality labourers, increase the number of scholarships to Vietnamese students, and promote Vietnams image among UK residents.

Speaking highly of Ho Chi Minh citys dynamic development, Prince Andrew said that he is impressed with the citys and Vietnams wave of start-up businesses, confirming that he will deliver his message in continuing to expand cooperation in all areas.

He stressed that 2018 is an important milestone in the bilateral relations as the countries are celebrating the 45th anniversary of their diplomatic ties. In addition, it offers opportunities for both sides to develop practical cooperative programs./.Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.MS INTERNATIONAL plc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, sells, and services specialist engineering products in the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the Americas, and internationally. It operates through Defence, Forgings, Petrol Station Superstructures, and Corporate Branding divisions. The company offers defense equipment and open die forgings. It also engages in the design, manufacture, construction, branding, maintenance, and restyling of petrol station superstructures and forecourts. In addition, the company designs, manufactures, installs, and services corporate brandings, including media facades, way-finding signages, public illumination, and creative lighting solutions, as well as appearance of petrol station superstructures; and provides fork-arms for the fork lift truck, construction, agricultural, and quarrying equipment industries. MS INTERNATIONAL plc was incorporated in 1960 and is based in Doncaster, the United Kingdom.

Read MoreNeuberger Berman High Yield Strategies Fund operates as closed-end management investment company. Its investment strategy is to seek high total return. The firm will normally invest at least 80% of its total assets in high yield debt securities of U.S. and foreign issuers, which include securities that are rated below investment grade by a rating agency or are unrated debt securities determined to be of comparable quality by the fund's investment manager. The company was founded on July 28, 2003 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of UnitedHealth Group: 1031387 B.C. Unlimited Liability Company, 1070715 B.C. Unlimited Liability Company, 1st Avenue Pharmacy Inc., 310 Canyon Medical, 310 Canyon Medical LLC, 4C MSO LLC, 4C Medical Group PLC, 5995 Minnetonka LLC, ABCO International Holdings LLC, ACN Group IPA of New York, ACN Group IPA of New York Inc., ACN Group of California, ACN Group of California Inc., AHJV, AHJV MSO, AHN Accontable Care Organization LLC, AHN Central Services LLC, AHN Target Holdings LLC, AMIL International, AMIL International S.a.r.l., APS  Assistencia Personalizada a Saude Ltda., ARC Infusion, ASC Holdings of New Jersey LLC, ASC Network LLC, ASI Global, ASI Global LLC, Access Administrators Inc., Access HealthSource Administrators Inc., Access HealthSource Inc., Access I.V., Administradora Clinica La Colina S.A.S., Administradora Country S.A., Administradora Medica Centromed S.A., Advanced Care, Advanced Care Pharmacy, Advanced Pharma Inc., Advanced Surgery Center of Clifton LLC, Advanced Surgical Hospital LLC, Advantage Care Network Inc., Advocate Condell Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Advocate Sherman Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Advocate Southwest Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Advocate-SCA Partners LLC, Alere Health, Alere Health Improvement Company, Alere Healthcare of Illinois, Alere Wellbeing, Alere Wellology, Alere of New York, Aliansalud Entidad Promotora de Salud S.A., All Savers Insurance Company, All Savers Life Insurance Company of California, Alliance Surgical Center LLC, Aloha Surgical Center LLC, Ambient Healthcare, Ambient Healthcare Inc., Ambient Healthcare of Central Florida, Ambient Healthcare of Georgia, Ambient Healthcare of Northeast Florida, Ambient Healthcare of S. Florida, Ambient Healthcare of West Florida, Ambient Holdings, Ambient Holdings Inc., Ambient Nursing Services, AmeriChoice, AmeriChoice Corporation, AmeriChoice Health Services, AmeriChoice of Connecticut, AmeriChoice of New Jersey, AmeriChoice of New Jersey Inc., American Health Network of Indiana Care Organization LLC, American Health Network of Indiana II LLC, American Health Network of Indiana LLC, American Health Network of Ohio Care Organization LLC, American Health Network of Ohio II LLC, American Health Network of Ohio LLC, Amico Saude Ltda., Amil, Amil Assistencia Medica Internacional S.A., Amil Lifesciences Participacoes Ltda., Antelope Valley Surgery Center L.P., Analisis Clinicos ML S.A.C., Apothecary Holdings Inc., Apothecary Shop of Phoenix Inc., AppleCare Medical Management, AppleCare Medical Management LLC, Aquitania Chilean Holding SpA, Arise Physician Group, Arizona Physicians IPA, Arizona Physicians IPA Inc., AssuranceRx, AssuranceRx LLC, Athens ASC Holdings LLC, Audax Health Solutions, Audax Health Solutions LLC, Austin Center for Outpatient Surgery L.P., Avella Patient Access Program Inc., Avella Specialty Pharmacy, Avella of Austin Inc., Avella of Columbus Inc., Avella of Deer Valley Inc., Avella of Denver Inc., Avella of Gilbert Inc., Avella of Las Vegas II Inc., Avella of Orlando Inc., Avella of Phoenix III Inc., Avella of Sacramento Inc., Avella of Scottsdale Inc., Avella of St. Louis Inc., Avella of Tampa LLC, Avella of Tucson II Inc., Avella of Tucson Inc., Aveta Arizona, Aveta Health Solutions Inc., Aveta Inc., Aveta Kansas City, Aveta Tennessee, AxelaCare Health Solutions, AxelaCare Intermediate Holdings, AxelaCare Intermediate Holdings LLC, AxelaCare LLC, B.R.A.S.S. Partnership in Commendam, Banmedica Colombia SpA, Banmedica Internacional SpA, Banmedica S.A., Beach Surgical Holdings III LLC, Behavioral Healthcare Options, Behavioral Healthcare Options Inc., Belleville Surgical Center Ltd. an Illinois Limited Partnership, Benefit Administration for the Self Employed L.L.C., Benefitter Insurance Solutions Inc., Birmingham Outpatient Surgical Center LLC, Blackstone Valley Surgicare GP LLC, Blue Ridge GP LLC, Bordeaux (Barbados) Holdings I SRL, Bordeaux (Barbados) Holdings II SRL, Bordeaux (Barbados) Holdings III SRL, Bordeaux Holding SpA, Bordeaux International Holdings Inc., Bordeaux UK Holdings I Limited, Bordeaux UK Holdings II Limited, Bordeaux UK Holdings III Limited, Bosque Medical Center Ltda., Brandon Ambulatory Surgery Center LC, BriovaRx, BriovaRx, BriovaRx Infusion Services, BriovaRx Infusion Services 102 LLC, BriovaRx Infusion Services 200 Inc., BriovaRx Infusion Services 204 Inc., BriovaRx Infusion Services 209 Inc., BriovaRx Infusion Services 305 LLC, BriovaRx Infusion Services 402 LLC, BriovaRx Infusion Services Inc., BriovaRx Specialty LLC, BriovaRx of California, BriovaRx of California Inc., BriovaRx of Florida, BriovaRx of Florida Inc., BriovaRx of Georgia, BriovaRx of Georgia LLC, BriovaRx of Hawaii, BriovaRx of Indiana, BriovaRx of Louisiana, BriovaRx of Louisiana L.L.C., BriovaRx of Maine, BriovaRx of Maine Inc., BriovaRx of Massachusetts, BriovaRx of Massachusetts LLC, BriovaRx of Nevada, BriovaRx of New York, BriovaRx of New York Inc., BriovaRx of Texas, BriovaRx of Texas Inc., CDC Holdings Colombia S.A.S., CLISA  Clinica de Santo Antonio S.A., CMO  Centro Medico de Oftalmologia S/S Ltda., CMS  Central de Manipulacao e Servicos Farmaceuticos S.A., CNIC Health Solutions Inc., COI Participacoes S.A., COI  Clinicas Oncologicas Integradas S.A., Cabin Enterprises LLC, Cabin Holdings LLC, California MedTrans Network IPA LLC, California MedTrans Network MSO LLC, California Medical Group Insurance Company Risk Retention Group, Camp Hill-SCA Centers LLC, Capital City Medical Group L.L.C., Cardio Management, Cardio Management Inc., Care Improvement Plus Group Management, Care Improvement Plus Group Management LLC, Care Improvement Plus South Central Insurance Company, Care Improvement Plus Wisconsin Insurance Company, Care Improvement Plus of Texas Insurance Company, Casa de Saude Santa Therezinha Ltda., Casa de Saude Santa Therezinha S.A., Castle Rock SurgiCenter LLC, Catalyst360, Catalyst360 LLC, Catamaran Finance (Ireland) Unlimited Company, Catamaran Health Solutions, Catamaran Holdings I, Catamaran IPA III, Catamaran Mail, Catamaran PBM of Illinois II, Catamaran PBM of Puerto Rico, Catamaran PD of Pennsylvania, Catamaran PD of Puerto Rico, Catamaran Rebate Management, Catamaran S.a.r.l., Catamaran Senior Services, Catamaran of Pennsylvania, Cedar Park Surgery Center LLC, Cemed Care - Empressa de Atendimento Clinico Geral Ltda., Cemed Care  Empresa de Atendimento Clinico Geral Ltda., Central Indiana Care Organization LLC, Central Ohio Care Organization LLC, Central de Compras SpA, CentriHealth Corporation, CentriHealth UK Limited, CentrifyHealth LLC, Centro Medico Hospitalar Pitangueiras Ltda., Centro Medico Odontologico Americano S.A.C., Centro Medico PJ Ltda., Centro de Entrenamiento en Reanimacion y Prevencion Limitada (CERP), Centro de Servicios Compartidos Banmedica S.A., Centromed Quilpue S.A., Centros Medicos y Dentales Multimed Ltda., Centurion Casualty Company, Channel Islands Surgicenter L.P., Channel Islands Surgicenter Properties LLC, Charleston Surgery Properties LLC, Charlotte-SC LLC, Childrens Surgery Center LLC, ChinaGate (Hong Kong) Limited, ChinaGate Company Limited, Citrus Regional Surgery Center L.P., Clinica Oftalmologica Danilo de Castro Sociedade Simples, Clinical Partners of Colorado Springs LLC, Clinica Alameda S.A., Clinica Bio Bio S.A., Clinica Ciudad del Mar S.A., Clinica Davila y Servicios Medicos S.A., Clinica Medico Cirurgica de Santa Tecla S.A., Clinica San Borja (La Esperanza del Peru S.A.), Clinica San Felipe S.A., Clinica Santa Maria S.A., Clinica Sanchez Ferrer S.A., Clinica Vespucio S.A., Clinica del Country S.A., Coachella Valley Physicians of PrimeCare, Coachella Valley Physicians of PrimeCare Inc., Coalition For Advanced Pharmacy Services, Coalition for Advanced Pharmacy Services Inc., Coastal Physicians Management Inc., Collaborative Care Holdings, Collaborative Care Holdings LLC, Collaborative Care Services, Collaborative Care Services Inc., Collaborative Care Solutions, Collaborative Realty, Collaborative Realty LLC, Colmedica Medicina Prepagada, Colonial Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, Colorado Innovative Physician Solutions Inc., Colorado Springs Surgery Center Ltd., Comfort Care Transportation, Comfort Care Transportation LLC, Commonwealth Administrators, Connecticut Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Connecticut Surgery Properties LLC, Connecticut Surgical Center LLC, Connextions, Connextions HCI, Constructora e Inmobiliaria Magapoq S.A., Consumer Wellness Solutions Inc., Country Scan Ltda., Crescent Drug Corp., Cypress Care, Cypress Care Inc., DBP Services of New York IPA, DBP Services of New York IPA Inc., DTC Surgery Center LLC, DWIC of Tampa Bay, DWIC of Tampa Bay Inc., DaVita Magan Management Inc., Danbury Surgical Center L.P., Day-Op Surgery Consulting Company, Day-Op Surgery Consulting Company LLC, Definity Health, Dental Benefit Providers, Dental Benefit Providers Inc., Dental Benefit Providers of California, Dental Benefit Providers of California Inc., Dental Benefit Providers of Illinois, Dental Benefit Providers of Illinois Inc., Derry Surgical Center LLC, Diagnostico Ecotomografico Centromed Ltda., Diasnostico por Imagenes Centromed Ltda., Dilab Medicina Nuclear Ltda., Diplomat Pharmacy, Distance Learning Network, Distance Learning Network Inc., Doctor + S.A.C., Dry Creek Surgery Center LLC, Dublin Surgery Center LLC, Duncan Printing Services, Duncan Printing Services LLC, E Street Endoscopy LLC, ELG FZE, EP Campus I, EP Campus I LLC, East Brunswick Surgery Center LLC, Electronic Network Systems, Electronic Network Systems Inc., Elual Participacoes S.A., Empire Physician Management Company, Empire Physician Management Company LLC, Employers Health Choice PPO Inc., Empremedica S. A., Endoscopy Center Affiliates Inc., Enterprise Life Insurance Company, Equian, Equian LLC, Equian Parent Corp., Esho  Empresa de Servicos Hospitalares S.A., Etho  Empresa de Tecnologia Hospitalar Ltda., Evercare Collaborative Solutions, Evercare Collaborative Solutions Inc., Everett MSO Inc., Excellion Servicos Biomedicos Ltda., Excellion Servicos Biomedicos S.A., Excelsior Insurance Brokerage Inc., Executive Health Resources, Executive Health Resources Inc., Executive Surgery Center LLC, Eye Clinic Oftalmologia Clinico Cirurgica e Diagnostico Ltda., FMG Holdings, FMG Holdings LLC, FOR HEALTH OF ARIZONA, Family Health Care Services, Family Home Hospice, Family Home Hospice Inc., First Rx Specialty & Mail Services, Florida MedTrans Network LLC, Florida MedTrans Network MSO LLC, For Health, For Health Inc., For Health of Arizona Inc., Fortified Provider Network Inc., Fortify Technologies Asia LLC, Fortify Technologies LLC, Foundation Financial Services Inc., Franklin Surgical Center LLC, Freedom Life Insurance Company of America, Freeway Surgicenter of Houston LLC, Frontier MEDEX Limited, Frontier Medex Tanzania Limited, FrontierMEDEX, FrontierMEDEX (RMS), FrontierMEDEX (RMS) Inc., FrontierMEDEX Government Services, FrontierMEDEX Government Services LLC, FrontierMEDEX Inc., FrontierMEDEX Kenya Limited, FrontierMEDEX US, FrontierMEDEX US Inc., Fundacion Banmedica, GRANTS PASS SURGERY CENTER LLC, Gadsden Surgery Center LLC, Gadsden Surgery Center Ltd., Gainesville Surgery Center L.P., Gainesville Surgery Properties LLC, Genoa, Genoa Healthcare Inc., Genoa Healthcare LLC, Genoa QoL Wholesale LLC, Genoa Technology (Canada) Inc., Genoa Technology Inc., Genoa Telepsychiatry Inc., Genoa of Arkansas LLC, Glenwood Surgical Center L.P., Glenwood-SC Inc., Golden Outlook, Golden Outlook Inc., Golden Rule Financial Corporation, Golden Rule Insurance Company, Golden Triangle Surgicenter L.P., Grapevine Finance LLC, Greater Hartford ASC LLC, Grove Place Surgery Center L.L.C., Guardian Health Systems Limited Partnership, H&W Indemnity (SPC), H&W Indemnity (SPC) Ltd., H.I. Investments Holding Company LLC, HCP ACO California LLC, HCP ACO Nevada LLC, HCentive Technology India Private Limited, HMI NewCo LLC, Harken Health Insurance Company, Hayes-Strub LLC, Health Business Systems, Health Care-ONE Insurance Agency Inc., Health Inventures Employment Solutions LLC, Health Inventures LLC, Health Net Insurance of New York, Health Net Services (Bermuda) Ltd., Health Plan of Nevada, Health Plan of Nevada Inc., Health Technology Analysts Pty Limited, HealthAllies, HealthAllies Inc., HealthCare Partners ASC-LB LLC, HealthCare Partners Management Services California LLC, HealthCare Partners RE LLC, HealthFirst IPA Inc., HealthMarkets Group Inc., HealthMarkets Inc., HealthMarkets Insurance Agency Inc., HealthMarkets LLC, HealthMarkets NewCo Inc., HealthMarkets Services Inc., HealthSCOPE Holdings Inc., HealthScope Benefits Inc., Healthcare Partners Plan of Nevada Inc., Healthcare Solutions Inc., Heartland Heart and Vascular LLC, Help S.A., Help Service S.A., Highlands Ranch Healthcare, Highlands Ranch Healthcare LLC, Home Care I.V. of Bend, Home Infusion With Heart, Home Medical S.A., Hospice Inspiris Holdings, Hospice Inspiris Holdings Inc., Hospitais Associados de Pernambuco Ltda., Hospital Alvorada de Taguatinga Ltda., Hospital Ana Costa S.A., Hospital Maternidade Promater Ltda., Hospital Samaritano de Sao Paulo Ltda., Hospital Santa Helena S.A., Hospital de Clinicas de Jacarepagua Ltda., Humedica, Humedica Inc., Hygeia Corporation, Hygeia Corporation (Canada), Hygeia Corporation (DE), Hygeia Corporation (Ontario), INOV8 Surgical at Memorial City LLC, INSPIRIS of New York IPA, INSPIRIS of New York Management, INSPIRIS of New York Management Inc., INSPIRIS of Texas Physician Group, IRX Financing I LLC, Illinois Independent Care Network, Imed Star  Servicos de Desempenho Organizacional Ltda., Impel Consulting Experts, Impel Consulting Experts L.L.C., Impel Management Services L.L.C., Indian River Surgery Center Ltd., Indian River Surgery Properties LLC, Indiana Care Organization LLC, Infusource, Ingram & Associates, Ingram & Associates LLC, Inmobiliaria Apoquindo 3001 S.A., Inmobiliaria Apoquindo 3600 Ltda., Inmobiliaria Apoquindo S.A., Inmobiliaria Clinica Santa Maria S.A., Inmobiliaria Vinamed Ltda., Inmobiliaria e Inversiones Alameda S.A., Inspiris, Inspiris Inc., Inspiris Services Company, Inspiris of Tennessee, Instituto do Radium de Cammpinas Ltda, International Psychological Services Pty Limited, Inversiones Clinicas Santa Maria S.A., Isapre Banmedica S.A., Isapre Vida Tres S.A., Johnston Surgicare L.P., Joliet Surgery Center Limited Partnership, LHI, Laboratorio ROE S.A., Laboratorios Medicos Amed Quilpue S.A., LifePrint Health, LifePrint Health Inc., LifeStyles Marketing Group Inc., LifeWell Ltd. Co., Lifeprint Accountable Care Organization, Lifeprint Accountable Care Organization LLC, Lifeprint East, Lifeprint East Inc., Logistics Health Inc., Lotten-Eyes Oftalmologia Clinica e Cirurgica Ltda., Louisville S.C. Ltd., Louisville-SC Properties Inc., Loyola Ambulatory Surgery Center at Oakbrook Inc., Lusiadas - Parcerias Cascais S.A., Lusiadas A.C.E., Lusiadas S.A., Lusiadas SGPS S.A., MAMSI Insurance Resources, MAMSI Life and Health Insurance Company, MD Ops, MD Ops Inc., MD-Individual Practice Association, MD-Individual Practice Association Inc., ME AHS UC LLC, MEDEX Insurance Services, MEDEX Insurance Services Inc., MGH/SCA LLC, MHC Real Estate Holdings, MHC Real Estate Holdings LLC, MIAMI SURGERY CENTER LLC, MSLA Management LLC, MXMD Centros De Cancer, Mamoeco  Mamografia e Ecografia Centro de Diagnostico, Managed Physical Network, Managed Physical Network Inc., March Holdings, March Holdings Inc., March Vision Care, March Vision Care Inc., Marin Surgery Holdings Inc., Maryland Ambulatory Centers, Maryland-SCA Centers LLC, Massachusetts Assurance Company Ltd. PIC, Massachusetts Avenue Surgery Center LLC, Mat-Rx Development, Mat-Rx Fort Worth GP, MedExpress Development, MedExpress Development LLC, MedExpress Urgent Care Alabama LLC, MedExpress Urgent Care Inc. - Ohio, MedExpress Urgent Care Maine Inc., MedExpress Urgent Care New Hampshire Inc., MedExpress Urgent Care of Boynton Beach, MedExpress Urgent Care of Boynton Beach LLC, MedSynergies, MedSynergies LLC, MedSynergies North Texas, Medalliance Net Ltda, Medalliance Net Ltda., Medica Health Plans of Florida, Medica Health Plans of Florida Inc., Medica HealthCare Plans, Medica HealthCare Plans Inc., Medical Clinic of North Texas PLLC, Medical Hilfe S.A., Medical Preparatory School of Allied Health, Medical Support Los Angeles Inc., Medical Surgical Centers of America Inc., Medical Transportation Services, Medical Transportation Services LLC, Medication Management Systems Inc., Melbourne Surgery Center LLC, Memorial City Holdings LLC, Memorial City Partners LLC, Memphis-SC LLC, Memphis-SP LLC, Mesquite Liberty LLC, Metro I Stone Management, Metropolitan Medical Partners LLC, Metropolitan Medical Transportation IPA LLC, Mid Atlantic Medical Services, Mid-West National Life Insurance Company of Tennessee, Midwest Center for Day Surgery LLC, Mile High SurgiCenter LLC, Mississippi Surgery Holdings LLC, Mississippi Surgical Center Limited Partnership, Mobile Medical Professionals, Modern Medical Inc., Monarch Management Services, Monarch Management Services Inc., Montgomery Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Mountain View Medical Group LLC, Mt. Pleasant Surgery Center L.P., Multiangio Ltda., Muskogee Surgical Investors LLC, Mustang Razorback Holdings, Mustang Razorback Holdings Inc., My Wellness Solutions LLC, NAMM Holdings, NAMM Holdings Inc., NSC Fayetteville LLC, NSC Greensboro LLC, NSC Lancaster LLC, NSC Seattle Inc., NSC Upland LLC, Nashville-SCA Surgery Centers Inc., National Foundation Life Insurance Company, National MedTrans LLC, National Pacific Dental, National Pacific Dental Inc., National Surgery Centers LLC, Neighborhood Health Partnership, Neighborhood Health Partnership Inc., Netwerkes, Netwerkes LLC, Nevada Medical Services LLC, Nevada Pacific Dental, New Orleans Regional Physician Hospital Organization L.L.C., New West Physicians Inc., Newton Holdings LLC, North American Medical Management - Illinois, North American Medical Management California, North American Medical Management California Inc., North Puget Sound Center for Sleep Disorders LLC, North Puget Sound Oncology Equipment Leasing Company LLC, Northern Nevada Health Network, Northern Nevada Health Network Inc., Northern Rockies Surgicenter Inc., Northwest Surgicare LLC, Northwest Surgicare Ltd., Nutritional/Parenteral Home Care, Nutritional/Parenteral Home Care of Huntsville, OC Cardiology Practice Partners LLC, OSB  Tecnologia e Servicos de Suporte Ltda., Omesa S.A., OmniClaim LLC, Oncocare S.A.C., OneNet PPO, OneNet PPO LLC, Optimum Choice, Optimum Choice Inc., Optum, Optum Bank, Optum Bank Inc., Optum Biometrics, Optum Biometrics Inc., Optum Care Inc., Optum Care Services Company, Optum Clinical Services, Optum Clinics Holdings, Optum Clinics Holdings Inc., Optum Clinics Intermediate Holdings, Optum Clinics Intermediate Holdings Inc., Optum Digital Health Holdings LLC, Optum Finance (Ireland) Unlimited Company, Optum Global Finance (Ireland) Unlimited Company, Optum Global Solutions (India) Private Limited, Optum Global Solutions (Philippines), Optum Global Solutions (Philippines) Inc., Optum Global Solutions International B.V., Optum Government Solutions, Optum Government Solutions Inc., Optum Growth Partners LLC, Optum Health & Technology (Australia) Pty Ltd, Optum Health & Technology (Hong Kong) Limited, Optum Health & Technology (India) Private Limited, Optum Health & Technology (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Optum Health & Technology (UK) Limited, Optum Health & Technology (US), Optum Health & Technology (US) LLC, Optum Health & Technology FZ-LLC, Optum Health & Technology Holdings (US), Optum Health & Technology Holdings (US) Inc., Optum Health & Technology Servicos do Brasil Ltda., Optum Health Services (Canada) Ltd., Optum Health Solutions (Australia) Pty Ltd, Optum Health Solutions (UK) Limited, Optum Health and Technology FZ-LLC, Optum Healthcare of Illinois, Optum Healthcare of Illinois Inc., Optum Hospice Pharmacy Services, Optum Hospice Pharmacy Services LLC, Optum Inc., Optum Infusion Services 100 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 101 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 103 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 201 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 202 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 203 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 205 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 206 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 207 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 208 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 301 LP, Optum Infusion Services 302 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 308 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 401 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 403 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 404 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 501 Inc., Optum Insurance of Ohio, Optum Insurance of Ohio Inc., Optum Labs, Optum Labs Dimensions, Optum Labs Dimensions Inc., Optum Labs Inc., Optum Labs International (UK) Ltd., Optum Life Sciences (Canada) Inc., Optum Management Consulting (Shanghai) Co., Optum Management Consulting (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Optum Networks of New Jersey Inc., Optum Nevada Accountable Care Organization LLC, Optum Operations (Ireland) Unlimited Company, Optum Palliative and Hospice Care, Optum Palliative and Hospice Care Inc., Optum Palliative and Hospice Care of Pennsylvania, Optum Palliative and Hospice Care of Pennsylvania Inc., Optum Palliative and Hospice Care of Texas, Optum Palliative and Hospice Care of Texas Inc., Optum Perks LLC, Optum Pharmacy 701 LLC, Optum Pharmacy 702 LLC, Optum Pharmacy 703 LLC, Optum Pharmacy 705 LLC, Optum Public Sector Solutions, Optum Public Sector Solutions Inc., Optum Rocket, Optum Rocket Inc., Optum Senior Services LLC, Optum Services, Optum Services (Ireland) Limited, Optum Services (Puerto Rico) LLC, Optum Services Inc., Optum Solutions UK Holdings Limited, Optum Solutions do Brasil  Tecnologia e Servicos de Suporte Ltda., Optum Technology, Optum Technology LLC, Optum UK Solutions Group Limited, Optum Women's and Children's Health, Optum Women's and Children's Health LLC, Optum of New York Inc., Optum360, Optum360 LLC, Optum360 Services, Optum360 Services Inc., Optum360 Solutions LLC, OptumCare ACO Florida LLC, OptumCare ACO Holdings LLC, OptumCare ACO New Mexico LLC, OptumCare Clinical Trials LLC, OptumCare Colorado ASC LLC, OptumCare Colorado LLC, OptumCare Colorado Springs LLC, OptumCare Endoscopy Center New Mexico LLC, OptumCare Florida CI LLC, OptumCare Florida LLC, OptumCare Health Plan of California Inc., OptumCare Holdings Colorado LLC, OptumCare Holdings LLC, OptumCare Holdings New Mexico LLC, OptumCare Management LLC, OptumCare New Mexico LLC, OptumCare New York IPA Inc., OptumCare South Florida LLC, OptumHealth Care Solutions, OptumHealth Care Solutions LLC, OptumHealth Financial Services, OptumHealth Financial Services Inc., OptumHealth Holdings, OptumHealth Holdings LLC, OptumHealth International B.V., OptumInsight, OptumInsight Holdings, OptumInsight Holdings LLC, OptumInsight Inc., OptumInsight India Private Limited, OptumInsight Life Sciences, OptumInsight Life Sciences Inc., OptumRx, OptumRx Administrative Services, OptumRx Administrative Services LLC, OptumRx Discount Card Services, OptumRx Discount Card Services LLC, OptumRx Group Holdings, OptumRx Group Holdings Inc., OptumRx Health Solutions LLC, OptumRx Holdings, OptumRx Holdings I LLC, OptumRx Holdings LLC, OptumRx Home Delivery of Illinois, OptumRx Home Delivery of Ohio, OptumRx Home Delivery of Ohio LLC, OptumRx IPA III Inc., OptumRx Inc., OptumRx NY IPA, OptumRx NY IPA Inc., OptumRx PBM of Illinois, OptumRx PBM of Illinois Inc., OptumRx PBM of Maryland, OptumRx PBM of Maryland LLC, OptumRx PBM of Pennsylvania, OptumRx PBM of Pennsylvania LLC, OptumRx PBM of Puerto Rico LLC, OptumRx PBM of Wisconsin, OptumRx PBM of Wisconsin LLC, OptumRx PD of Maryland, OptumRx PD of Pennsylvania LLC, OptumRx Pharmacy, OptumRx Pharmacy Inc., OptumRx Pharmacy of Nevada, OptumRx Pharmacy of Nevada Inc., OptumRx of Pennsylvania LLC, OptumServe Technology Services Inc., Orlando Center for Outpatient Surgery L.P., OrthoNet Holdings, OrthoNet Holdings Inc., OrthoNet LLC, OrthoNet New York IPA, OrthoNet New York IPA Inc., OrthoNet Services, OrthoNet Services Inc., OrthoNet West, OrthoNet West Inc., OrthoNet of the Mid-Atlantic, OrthoNet of the South, OrthoNet of the South Inc., Ovations, Ovations Inc., Oxford Benefit Management, Oxford Benefit Management Inc., Oxford Health Insurance, Oxford Health Insurance Inc., Oxford Health Plans (CT), Oxford Health Plans (CT) Inc., Oxford Health Plans (NJ), Oxford Health Plans (NJ) Inc., Oxford Health Plans (NY), Oxford Health Plans (NY) Inc., Oxford Health Plans LLC, P2 Lower Acquisition, P2P Link LLC, PCCCV, PCCCV Inc., PCN DE Corp., PHC Subsidiary Holdings, PHC Subsidiary Holdings LLC, PHYS Holding Corp., PHYSICIANS DAY SURGERY CENTER LLC, PMI Acquisition, PMI Acquisition LLC, PMSI, PMSI Holdco II, PMSI Holdings, PMSI Holdings LLC, PMSI LLC, PMSI Settlement Solutions, PMSI Settlement Solutions LLC, POMCO Inc., POMCO Network Inc., PPH Holdings LLC, PacifiCare Health Systems, PacifiCare Life Assurance Company, PacifiCare Life and Health Insurance Company, PacifiCare of Arizona, PacifiCare of Arizona Inc., PacifiCare of Colorado, PacifiCare of Colorado Inc., PacifiCare of Nevada, PacifiCare of Nevada Inc., Pacific Casualty Company Inc., Pacifico S.A. Entidad Prestadora de Salud, Paoli Ambulatory Surgery Center, Paoli Surgery Center L.P., Parkway Surgery Center LLC, Pasteur Plaza Surgery Center GP Inc., PatientsLikeMe, PatientsLikeMe LLC, Patrimonio Autonomo Nueva Clinica - PANC., Payment Resolution Services, Payment Resolution Services LLC, Peoples Health, Peoples Health Inc., Pharmaceutical Care Network, Pharmacy Review Services, Pharmacy Software Holdco Inc., PhyServe Holdings, Physician Alliance of the Rockies LLC, Physician Care Partners, Physicians Health Choice of Texas, Physicians Health Choice of Texas LLC, Physicians Health Plan of Maryland, Physicians Health Plan of Maryland Inc., Physicians Plaza Holdings LLC, Plano de Saude Ana Costa Ltda., Plus One Health Management Puerto Rico, Plus One Health Management Puerto Rico Inc., Plus One Holdings, Plus One Holdings Inc., Polar II Fundo de Investimento em Participacoes, Polar II Fundo de Investimento em Participacoes Multiestrategia, Polo Holdco, Polo Holdco LLC, Pomerado Outpatient Surgical Center Inc., Pomerado Outpatient Surgical Center L.P., Precision Dialing Services Inc., Preferred Care Partners, Preferred Care Partners Holding, Preferred Care Partners Holding Corp., Preferred Care Partners Inc., Preferred Care Partners Medical Group, Preferred Care Partners Medical Group Inc., Premier Choice ACO, Premier Choice ACO Inc., Premier Surgery Center of Louisville L.P., Prime Health, Prime Health Inc., PrimeCare Medical Network, PrimeCare Medical Network Inc., PrimeCare of Citrus Valley, PrimeCare of Citrus Valley Inc., PrimeCare of Corona, PrimeCare of Corona Inc., PrimeCare of Hemet Valley, PrimeCare of Hemet Valley Inc., PrimeCare of Inland Valley, PrimeCare of Inland Valley Inc., PrimeCare of Moreno Valley, PrimeCare of Moreno Valley Inc., PrimeCare of Redlands, PrimeCare of Redlands Inc., PrimeCare of Riverside, PrimeCare of Riverside Inc., PrimeCare of San Bernardino, PrimeCare of San Bernardino Inc., PrimeCare of Sun City, PrimeCare of Sun City Inc., PrimeCare of Temecula, PrimeCare of Temecula Inc., ProHEALTH Fitness of Lake Success, ProHEALTH Fitness of Lake Success LLC, ProHEALTH Medical Management LLC, ProHealth Medical Management, ProHealth Physicians, ProHealth Physicians ACO, ProHealth Physicians ACO LLC, ProHealth Physicians Inc., ProHealth Proton Center Management, ProHealth Proton Center Management LLC, Procura Management, Procura Management Inc., Progressive Enterprises Holdings, Progressive Enterprises Holdings Inc., Progressive Medical, Progressive Medical LLC, Progressive Solutions, Promotora Country S.A., Pronetics Health Care Group, Pronounced Health Solutions Inc., Prosemedic S.A.C., Prospero Management Services LLC, Pueblo-SCA Surgery Center LLC, Pulse Platform LLC, QoL Acquisition Holdings Corp., Quality Software Services, QuarterMaster Newco LLC, R&H Family Fitness Unlimited LLC, Rally Health, Rally Health Inc., Real Appeal Inc., Recaudacion y Cobranzas Honodav Ltda., Redlands Ambulatory Surgery Center, Redlands-SCA Surgery Centers Inc., Reliant MSO LLC, Research Surgical Center LLC, River Valley ASC LLC, Riverside Electronic Healthcare Resources Inc., Riverside Medical Management, Riverside Medical Management LLC, Riverside Surgical Center of Meadowlands LLC, Riverside Surgical Center of Newark LLC, Rocky Mountain Health Maintenance Organization Incorporated, Rocky Mountain HealthCare Options Inc., SC Affiliates LLC, SCA Alaska Surgery Center inc., SCA Athens LLC, SCA Austin Holdings LLC, SCA BOSC Holdings LLC, SCA California Surgical Holdings LLC, SCA Capital LLC, SCA Cedar Park Holdings LLC, SCA Clifton LLC, SCA Danbury Surgical Center LLC, SCA Development LLC, SCA EHSC Holdings LLC, SCA EWASC Holdings LLC, SCA Hays Holdings LLC, SCA Heartland Holdings LLC, SCA HoldCo Inc., SCA Holding Company Inc., SCA Holdings Inc., SCA IEC Holdings LLC, SCA Indiana Holdings LLC, SCA Nashville ASC LLC, SCA Pacific Holdings Inc., SCA Pennsylvania Holdings LLC, SCA Premier Surgery Center of Louisville LLC, SCA ROCS Holdings LLC, SCA Rockledge JV LLC, SCA SSC Holdings LLC, SCA SSSC Holdings LLC, SCA Sage Medical LLC, SCA Sage Medical MSO LLC, SCA Southwestern PA LLC, SCA Specialists of Florida LLC, SCA Stonegate Holdings LLC, SCA Surgery Center of Cullman LLC, SCA Surgery Holdings LLC, SCA Surgery Partners LLC, SCA Surgicare of Laguna Hills LLC, SCA Teammate Support Network, SCA eCode Solutions Private Limited, SCA of Clarksville Inc., SCA-Albuquerque Surgery Properties Inc., SCA-Alliance LLC, SCA-Anne Arundel LLC, SCA-Applecare Partners LLC, SCA-Bethesda LLC, SCA-Blue Ridge LLC, SCA-Bonita Springs LLC, SCA-Brandon LLC, SCA-Castle Rock LLC, SCA-Central Florida LLC, SCA-Charleston LLC, SCA-Chatham LLC, SCA-Chevy Chase LLC, SCA-Citrus Inc., SCA-Colorado Springs LLC, SCA-Connecticut Partners LLC, SCA-DRY CREEK LLC, SCA-Davenport LLC, SCA-Denver LLC, SCA-Denver Physicians Holdings LLC, SCA-Derry LLC, SCA-Doral LLC, SCA-Downey LLC, SCA-Dublin LLC, SCA-Encinitas Inc., SCA-Eugene Inc., SCA-First Coast LLC, SCA-Florence LLC, SCA-Fort Collins Inc., SCA-Fort Walton Inc., SCA-Franklin LLC, SCA-Frederick LLC, SCA-Freeway Holdings LLC, SCA-Ft. Myers LLC, SCA-GRANTS PASS LLC, SCA-Gainesville LLC, SCA-Gladiolus LLC, SCA-Grove Place LLC, SCA-Hagerstown LLC, SCA-Hamden LLC, SCA-Hilton Head LLC, SCA-Honolulu LLC, SCA-Houston Executive LLC, SCA-IT Holdings LLC, SCA-Illinois LLC, SCA-JPM Holdings LLC, SCA-Kissing Camels Holdings LLC, SCA-MC VBP Inc., SCA-Main Street LLC, SCA-Marina del Rey LLC, SCA-Mecklenburg Development Corp., SCA-Memorial City LLC, SCA-Merritt LLC, SCA-Midlands LLC, SCA-Midway Management LLC, SCA-Mobile LLC, SCA-Mokena LLC, SCA-Mokena Properties LLC, SCA-Morris County LLC, SCA-Mt. Pleasant LLC, SCA-ND VBP Inc., SCA-Naperville LLC, SCA-Naples LLC, SCA-New Jersey LLC, SCA-Newport Beach LLC, SCA-Northeast Georgia Health LLC, SCA-PORTLAND LLC, SCA-Palm Beach LLC, SCA-Palm Beach MSO Holdings LLC, SCA-Paoli LLC, SCA-Phoenix LLC, SCA-Pocono LLC, SCA-Practice Partners Holdings LLC, SCA-River Valley LLC, SCA-Riverside LLC, SCA-Riverside Partners LLC, SCA-Rockville LLC, SCA-Sacred Heart Holdings LLC, SCA-San Diego Inc., SCA-San Luis Obispo LLC, SCA-Sand Lake LLC, SCA-Santa Rosa Inc., SCA-Shelby Development Corp., SCA-Somerset LLC, SCA-South Jersey LLC, SCA-Sparta LLC, SCA-Spartanburg Holdings LLC, SCA-St. Louis LLC, SCA-St. Lucie LLC, SCA-SurgiCare LLC, SCA-Swiftpath LLC, SCA-VERTA LLC, SCA-Wake Forest LLC, SCA-Western Connecticut LLC, SCA-Westover Hills LLC, SCA-Wilmington LLC, SCA-Wilson LLC, SCA-Winchester LLC, SCA-Winter Park Inc., SCA-Woodlands Holdings LLC, SCAI Holdings LLC, SCP Specialty Infusion, SCP Specialty Infusion LLC, SHC Atlanta LLC, SHC Austin Inc., SHC Hawthorn Inc., SHC Melbourne Inc., SPINETRACK 20/20 Inc., SRPS LLC, SXC Comet, Sacred Heart ASC LLC, Saden S.A., Salem Surgery Center LLC, Salveo Specialty Pharmacy, Salveo Specialty Pharmacy Inc., Sand Lake SurgiCenter LLC, Santa Cruz Endoscopy Center LLC, Santa Helena Assistencia Medica S.A., Santos Administracao e Participacoes S.A., Savvysherpa Administrative Services LLC, Savvysherpa Asia Inc., Savvysherpa LLC, Scanner Centromed S.A., ScripNet, ScriptSwitch Limited, Seisa Servicos Integrados de Saude Ltda., Senate Street Surgery Center LLC, Senior Benefits L.L.C., Senior Care Partners, Serquinox Holdings LLC, Serquinox LLC, Servicios Integrados de Salud Ltda., Servicios Medicos Amed Quilpue S.A., Servicios Medicos Bio Bio Limitada, Servicios Medicos Ciudad del Mar Ltda., Servicios Medicos Santa Maria Limitada, Servicios Medicos Vespucio Ltda., Servicios de Entrenamiento en Competencias Clinicas Ltda., SharedClarity LLC, Shelby Surgery Properties Inc., Sierra Health Services, Sierra Health Services Inc, Sierra Health Services Inc., Sierra Health and Life Insurance Company, Sierra Health and Life Insurance Company Inc., Sierra Health-Care Options, Sierra Health-Care Options Inc., Sierra Home Medical Products, Sierra Home Medical Products Inc., Sierra Nevada Administrators, Sierra Nevada Administrators Inc., Sirona Infusion, Sistema de Administracion Hospitalaria S.A.C., Small Business Insurance Advisors Inc., Sobam  Centro Medico Hospitalar S.A., Sociedad Editorial para la Ciencia Limitada., Sociedad de Inversiones Santa Maria S.A., Somerset Outpatient Surgery L.L.C., Southwest Medical Associates, Southwest Medical Associates Inc., Southwest Michigan Health Network Inc., Southwest Surgery Center LLC, Southwest Surgical Center of Bakersfield L.P., Space Coast Surgical Center Ltd., Specialists in Urology Surgery Center LLC, Specialized Pharmaceuticals Inc., Specialty Benefits, Specialty Benefits LLC, Spectera, Spectera Inc., Spectera of New York IPA, Spectera of New York IPA Inc., Spotlite, Spotlite Inc., St. Cloud Surgical Center LLC, StoneRiver P2P Link, StoneRiver Pharmacy Solutions, Stonegate Surgery Center L.P., Streamlines Health LLC, Summit Home Infusion, SunSurgery LLC, Surgery Center Holding LLC, Surgery Center at Cherry Creek LLC, Surgery Center at Kissing Camels LLC, Surgery Center of Boca Raton Inc., Surgery Center of Clarksville L.P., Surgery Center of Colorado Springs LLC, Surgery Center of Des Moines LLC, Surgery Center of Easton LLC, Surgery Center of Ellicott City Inc., Surgery Center of Louisville LLC, Surgery Center of Maui LLC, Surgery Center of Muskogee LLC, Surgery Center of Rockville L.L.C., Surgery Center of Southern Pines LLC, Surgery Center of Spokane LLC, Surgery Center of Summerlin LLC, Surgery Center of The Woodlands LLC, Surgery Center of Vero Beach Inc., Surgery Center of Wilmington LLC, Surgery Center of Wilmington Properties LLC, Surgery Centers of Des Moines Ltd. an Iowa Limited Partnership, Surgery Centers-West Holdings LLC, Surgical Care Affiliates, Surgical Care Affiliates LLC, Surgical Care Affiliates Political Action Committee, Surgical Care Partners of Melbourne LLC, Surgical Center of South Jersey Limited Partnership, Surgical Center of Tuscaloosa Holdings LLC, Surgical Health LLC, Surgical Health of Orlando LLC, Surgical Hospital Holdings of Oklahoma LLC, Surgicare LLC, Surgicare of Belleville LLC, Surgicare of Jackson LLC, Surgicare of Joliet Inc., Surgicare of La Veta Inc., Surgicare of Minneapolis LLC, Surgicare of Mobile LLC, Surgicare of Oceanside Inc., Surgicare of Owensboro LLC, Surgicare of Salem LLC, Surgicenters of Southern California Inc., Symphonix Health Holdings, Symphonix Health Holdings LLC, Symphonix Health Insurance, Symphonix Health Insurance Inc., THE SURGICAL CENTER OF THE TREASURE COAST L.L.C., TeamMD Holdings Inc., TeamMD Iowa Inc., TeamMD Physicians of Texas Inc., TeamUP Insurance Services Inc., Tecnologias de Informacion en Salud S.A., The Advisory Board (Chile) SpA, The Chesapeake Life Insurance Company, The Lewin Group, The Lewin Group Inc., The Magan Medical Group, The Outpatient Surgery Center of Hilton Head LLC, The Polyclinic MSO LLC, Thomas Johnson Surgery Center LLC, Thousand Oaks Endoscopy Center LLC, Three Rivers Holdings, Three Rivers Holdings Inc., Three Rivers Surgical Care L.P., Tmesys, Tmesys LLC, Topimagem Diagnostico por Imagem Ltda., Touchpoint Health Plan, Trails Edge Surgery Center LLC, Travel Express Incorporated, TriMed LLC, Trinity Infusion, Trio Motion LLC, Tucson Arizona Surgical Center LLC, U.S. Behavioral Health Plan, U.S. Behavioral Health Plan California, UHC Finance (Ireland) Unlimited Company, UHC Global Health Services BC Ltd., UHC International Services, UHC International Services Inc., UHC of California, UHCG Holdings (Ireland) Limited, UHCG Services (Ireland) Limited, UHCG  FZE, UHG Brasil Participacoes S.A., UHIC Holdings, UHIC Holdings Inc., UICI Funding Corp. 2, UMR, UMR Inc., USHEALTH Academy Inc., USHEALTH Administrators LLC, USHEALTH Advisors L.L.C., USHEALTH Career Agency Inc., USHEALTH Funding Inc., USHEALTH Group Inc., USMD Administrative Services, USMD Administrative Services L.L.C., USMD Affiliated Services, USMD CT (Mo), USMD Cancer Treatment Centers, USMD Cancer Treatment Centers GP, USMD Diagnostic Services, USMD Holdings, USMD Holdings Inc., USMD Inc., USMD PPM, USMD PPM LLC, USMD of Arlington GP, Ultima Rx, Unidad Medica Diagnostico S.A., Unimerica Insurance Company, Unimerica Life Insurance Company of New York, Unison Administrative Services, Unison Health Plan of Delaware, Unison Health Plan of Delaware Inc., United Behavioral Health, United Behavioral Health of New York I.P.A., United Behavioral Health of New York I.P.A. Inc., United Group Reinsurance Inc., United Health Foundation, United HealthCare, United HealthCare Services Inc., United Management Services Inc., United Resource Networks IPA of New York, United Resource Networks IPA of New York Inc., UnitedHealth Advisors, UnitedHealth Advisors LLC, UnitedHealth Group Finance Inc., UnitedHealth Group Global Healthcare Services Limited, UnitedHealth Group Global Services, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated, UnitedHealth Group Information Services Private Limited, UnitedHealth Group International Finance (Ireland) Unlimited Company, UnitedHealth Group International GP, UnitedHealth Group International L.P., UnitedHealth International, UnitedHealth International Inc., UnitedHealth Military & Veterans Services, UnitedHealth Military & Veterans Services LLC, UnitedHealth UK Limited, UnitedHealthcare, UnitedHealthcare Benefits Plan of California, UnitedHealthcare Benefits of Texas, UnitedHealthcare Benefits of Texas Inc., UnitedHealthcare Children's Foundation Inc., UnitedHealthcare Community Plan, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan Inc., UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of California, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of California Inc., UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Georgia, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Georgia Inc., UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Ohio, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Ohio Inc., UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Texas, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Texas L.L.C., UnitedHealthcare Consulting & Assistance Service (Beijing) Co., UnitedHealthcare Consulting & Assistance Service (Beijing) Co. Ltd., UnitedHealthcare Europe S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare Europe S.a.r.l., UnitedHealthcare Global Canada Limited, UnitedHealthcare Global Medical (UK) Limited, UnitedHealthcare Inc., UnitedHealthcare India Private Limited, UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company, UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company of Illinois, UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company of New York, UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company of the River Valley, UnitedHealthcare Insurance Designated Activity Company, UnitedHealthcare Integrated Services, UnitedHealthcare Integrated Services Inc., UnitedHealthcare International Asia, UnitedHealthcare International Asia LLC, UnitedHealthcare International I B.V., UnitedHealthcare International I S.a.r.l., UnitedHealthcare International II B.V., UnitedHealthcare International II S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare International II S.a.r.l., UnitedHealthcare International III B.V., UnitedHealthcare International III S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare International III S.a.r.l., UnitedHealthcare International IV S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare International IV S.a.r.l., UnitedHealthcare International V S.a.r.l., UnitedHealthcare International VI S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare International VII S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare International VIII S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare International X S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare Life Insurance Company, UnitedHealthcare Plan of the River Valley, UnitedHealthcare Plan of the River Valley Inc., UnitedHealthcare Service LLC, UnitedHealthcare Services Company of the River Valley, UnitedHealthcare Specialty Benefits, UnitedHealthcare Specialty Benefits LLC, UnitedHealthcare of Alabama, UnitedHealthcare of Alabama Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Arizona, UnitedHealthcare of Arizona Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Arkansas, UnitedHealthcare of Arkansas Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Colorado, UnitedHealthcare of Colorado Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Florida, UnitedHealthcare of Florida Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Georgia, UnitedHealthcare of Georgia Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Illinois, UnitedHealthcare of Illinois Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Kentucky, UnitedHealthcare of Kentucky Ltd., UnitedHealthcare of Louisiana, UnitedHealthcare of Louisiana Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Mississippi, UnitedHealthcare of Mississippi Inc., UnitedHealthcare of New England, UnitedHealthcare of New England Inc., UnitedHealthcare of New Mexico, UnitedHealthcare of New Mexico Inc., UnitedHealthcare of New York, UnitedHealthcare of New York Inc., UnitedHealthcare of North Carolina, UnitedHealthcare of North Carolina Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Ohio, UnitedHealthcare of Ohio Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Oklahoma, UnitedHealthcare of Oklahoma Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Oregon, UnitedHealthcare of Oregon Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Pennsylvania, UnitedHealthcare of Pennsylvania Inc., UnitedHealthcare of South Carolina Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Texas, UnitedHealthcare of Texas Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Utah, UnitedHealthcare of Utah Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Washington, UnitedHealthcare of Washington Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Wisconsin, UnitedHealthcare of Wisconsin Inc., UnitedHealthcare of the Mid-Atlantic, UnitedHealthcare of the Mid-Atlantic Inc., UnitedHealthcare of the Midlands, UnitedHealthcare of the Midlands Inc., UnitedHealthcare of the Midwest, UnitedHealthcare of the Midwest Inc., UpFront Insurance Agency LLC, Upland Holdings LLC, Upland Outpatient Surgical Center L.P., Urgent Care Holdings, Urgent Care Holdings Inc., Urgent Care MSO, Urgent Care MSO LLC, Urology Associates of North Texas, Urology Associates of North Texas P.L.L.C., VERTA MANAGEMENT SERVICES LLC, Valley Hospital L.L.C., Valley Physicians Network, Valley Physicians Network Inc., Vida Tres Internacional S.A., Vidaintegra S.A., Vivify Health Canada Inc., Vivify Health Inc., WESTMED Practice Partners LLC, Wauwatosa Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, Wauwatosa Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Wayland Square Surgicare Acquisition L.P., Wayland Square Surgicare GP Inc., WebInsure Benefits LLC, WellMed Medical Management, WellMed Medical Management Inc., WellMed Medical Management of Florida, WellMed Medical Management of Florida Inc., WellMed Networks  DFW, West Coast Endoscopy Holdings LLC, Western Connecticut Orthopedic Surgical Center LLC, WillowB Labs LLC, Wilmington ASC LLC, Winchester Endoscopy LLC, Winter Park LLC, XLHealth Corporation, XLHealth Corporation India Private Limited, Your Health Options Insurance Services, Your Health Options Insurance Services Inc., Your Partner in Health Services, divvyDOSE, eCode Solutions LLC, gethealthinsurance.com Agency Inc., hCentive Inc., inPharmative, inPharmative Inc., and ppoONE.Randgold Resources Limited is engaged in gold mining, exploration and related activities. The Company's activities are focused on West and Central Africa. The Company operates through the gold mining segment. The Company operates various mines, such as Morila, Loulo, Gounkoto, Tongon and Kibali. The Company is exploring in African countries, such as Mali, Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The Company also holds an interest in the Massawa project. The Company holds Morila Limited, which holds interests in the Morila mine in Mali. As of December 31, 2016, Morila mine has produced 122,370 ounces (oz) of gold. The Company holds a controlling interest in the Loulo mine, located in Mali, through Societe des Mines de Loulo SA (Loulo). The Loulo mine is mining from over two underground mines. As of December 31, 2016, Loulo mine has produced 350,604 oz of gold. It has a controlling interest in the Gounkoto mine through Societe des Mines de Gounkoto SA.

Read MoreMidSouth Bancorp, Inc., a bank holding company, through its subsidiary MidSouth Bank, N.A., provides various community banking products and services to commercial and retail customers in the United States. The company offers various deposit products, including interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing checking accounts, money market, savings accounts, investment accounts, and NOW account deposits, as well as time deposits, such as certificates of deposit; and commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, and consumer loans, as well as other loans secured by real estate. It also provides cash management services; and electronic banking services comprising remote deposit capturing services, Internet banking, and debit and credit cards. As of March 1, 2019, the company had 42 offices located in Louisiana and Texas, as well as a network of approximately 55,000 surcharge-free ATMs. MidSouth Bancorp, Inc. was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Read MoreConocoPhillips engages in the exploration, production, transportation and marketing of crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, natural gas liquids, and liquefied natural gas on a worldwide basis. It operates through the following geographical segments: Alaska; Lower 48; Canada; Europe, Middle East and North Africa; Asia Pacific; and Other International. The Alaska segment primarily explores for produces, transports and markets crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The Lower 48 segment consists of operations in the U.S. and the Gulf of Mexico. The Canada segment is comprised of oil sands development in the Athabasca Region of northeastern Alberta and a liquids-rich unconventional play in western Canada. The Europe, Middle East and North Africa segment consists of operations and exploration activities in Norway, the United Kingdom and Libya. The Asia Pacific segment has explorations and product operations in China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia. The Other International segment handles exploration activities in Columbia and Argentina. The company was founded in 1875 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.

Read MoreRolls-Royce Holdings Plc designs, develops, manufactures, and services integrated power systems for use in the air, on land, and at sea. The company operates its business through following segments: Civil Aerospace, Power Systems, Defense and ITP Aero. The Civil Aerospace segment offers commercial aero engines and aftermarket services. The Power Systems segment includes engines, power systems and nuclear systems for civil power generation. The Defense segment consists of military aero engines, naval engines, submarines and aftermarket services. The ITP Aero segment provides aeronautical engines and gas turbines. The company was founded in March 1906 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Read MoreThe Boeing Co. is an aerospace company, which engages in the manufacture of commercial jetliners and defense, space and security systems. It operates through the following segments: Commercial Airplanes; Defense, Space and Security; Global Services; and Boeing Capital. The Commercial Airplanes segment includes the development, production, and market of commercial jet aircraft and provides fleet support services, principally to the commercial airline industry worldwide. The Defense, Space and Security segment refers to the research, development, production and modification of manned and unmanned military aircraft and weapons systems for global strike, including fighter and combat rotorcraft aircraft and missile systems; global mobility, including tanker, rotorcraft and tilt-rotor aircraft; and airborne surveillance and reconnaissance, including command and control, battle management and airborne anti-submarine aircraft. The Global Services segment provides services to commercial and defense customers. The Boeing Capital segment seeks to ensure that Boeing customers have the financing they need to buy and take delivery of their Boeing product and manages overall financing exposure. T

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of BorgWarner: B80 Italia S.r.l., BERU AG, BW El Salto S.A. De C.V., BWA Receivables Corporation, BWA Turbo Systems Holding LLC, Borg Warner Europe Holdings (PDS) B. V., BorgWarner (China) Investment Co. Ltd., BorgWarner (Reman) Holdings L.L.C., BorgWarner (Thailand) Limited, BorgWarner Aftermarket Europe GmbH, BorgWarner Alternators Inc., BorgWarner Arden LLC, BorgWarner Arnstadt RE GmbH & Co. KG, BorgWarner Asia Inc., BorgWarner Automotive Asia Limited, BorgWarner Automotive Components (Beijing) Co. Ltd., BorgWarner Automotive Components (Jiangsu) Co. Ltd., BorgWarner Automotive Components (Ningbo) Co. Ltd., BorgWarner Automotive Components (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., BorgWarner Automotive Components (Wuhan) Co. Ltd., BorgWarner Brasil Ltda., BorgWarner Chungju Co. LLC, BorgWarner Comercial e Distribuidora de Pecas para Veiculos Automotores Ltda., BorgWarner Comercializadora PDS S. de R.L. de C.V., BorgWarner Componentes PDS S. de R.L. de C.V., BorgWarner Cooling Systems (India) Private Limited, BorgWarner Cooling Systems GmbH, BorgWarner Diversified Transmission Products Services Inc., BorgWarner Drivetrain Engineering GmbH, BorgWarner Drivetrain Management Services de Mexico S.A. de C.V., BorgWarner Drivetrain de Mexico S.A. de C.V., BorgWarner Electric Motors L.L.C., BorgWarner Emissions Systems (Ningbo) Co. Ltd., BorgWarner Emissions Systems (Ningbo) Co. Ltd., BorgWarner Emissions Systems Holding LLC, BorgWarner Emissions Systems India Private Limited, BorgWarner Emissions Systems LLC, BorgWarner Emissions Systems Portugal Unipessoal LDA, BorgWarner Emissions Systems Spain S.L.U., BorgWarner Emissions Systems of Michigan Inc., BorgWarner Emissions Talegaon Private Limited, BorgWarner Engineering Ketsch RE GmbH & Co. KG, BorgWarner Engineering Kibo RE GmbH & Co. KG, BorgWarner Esslingen GmbH, BorgWarner Europe GmbH, BorgWarner Europe Holding S.a. r. l., BorgWarner Gateshead Limited, BorgWarner Germany Holding GmbH, BorgWarner Germany Holding Services GmbH, BorgWarner Germany REH GmbH, BorgWarner Germany REM GmbH, BorgWarner Germany Verwaltungs GmbH, BorgWarner Global Holding S.a. r. l., BorgWarner Heidelberg I RE GmbH & Co. KG, BorgWarner Heidelberg II RE GmbH & Co. KG, BorgWarner Heidelberg REH GmbH, BorgWarner Heidelberg REM GmbH, BorgWarner Holding Inc., BorgWarner Holdings Limited, BorgWarner Hungary Kft., BorgWarner IT Services Europe GmbH, BorgWarner India Holdings Inc., BorgWarner Investment Holding Inc., BorgWarner Ithaca LLC, BorgWarner Ketsch Plant RE GmbH & Co. KG, BorgWarner Ketsch REH GmbH, BorgWarner Ketsch REM GmbH, BorgWarner Kft., BorgWarner Kibo RE GmbH & Co. KG, BorgWarner Korea Holdings (PDS) B.V., BorgWarner Korea Holdings LLC, BorgWarner Korea LLC, BorgWarner Limited, BorgWarner Ludwigsburg GmbH, BorgWarner Ludwigsburg RE GmbH & Co. KG, BorgWarner Markdorf Plant RE GmbH & Co. KG, BorgWarner Markdorf REH GmbH, BorgWarner Markdorf REM GmbH, BorgWarner Massachusetts Inc., BorgWarner Mauritius Holdings Ltd., BorgWarner Mexico Holding BV, BorgWarner Mexico Holdings II LLC, BorgWarner Mexico Holdings LLC, BorgWarner Morse Systems India Private Limited, BorgWarner Morse Systems Italy S.r.l., BorgWarner Morse Systems Japan K.K., BorgWarner Morse Systems Mexico S.A. de C.V., BorgWarner Muggendorf RE GmbH & Co. KG, BorgWarner NW Inc., BorgWarner Netherlands Holdings (PDS) B.V., BorgWarner Oroszlany Kft., BorgWarner PDS (Anderson) L.L.C., BorgWarner PDS (Changnyeong) LLC, BorgWarner PDS (Indiana) Inc., BorgWarner PDS (Livonia) Inc., BorgWarner PDS (Ochang) LLC, BorgWarner PDS (Thailand) Limited, BorgWarner PDS (USA) Inc., BorgWarner PDS Brasil Produtos Automotivos Ltda., BorgWarner PDS Irapuato S. de R.L. de C.V., BorgWarner PDS Mexico Holdings S. de R.L. de C.V., BorgWarner PDS Technologies L.L.C., BorgWarner Poland Sp. z o.o., BorgWarner Pyongtaek LLC, BorgWarner Romeo Power LLC, BorgWarner Rzeszow Sp. z o.o., BorgWarner Shenglong (Ningbo) Co. Ltd., BorgWarner South Asia LLC, BorgWarner Southborough Inc., BorgWarner Spain Holding S.L.U, BorgWarner Sweden AB, BorgWarner Systems Lugo S.r.l., BorgWarner Thermal Systems Inc., BorgWarner Thermal Systems of Michigan Inc., BorgWarner TorqTransfer Systems Beijing Co. Ltd., BorgWarner Tralee Ltd., BorgWarner Transmission Products LLC, BorgWarner Transmission Systems Arnstadt GmbH, BorgWarner Transmission Systems GmbH, BorgWarner Transmission Systems Korea LLC, BorgWarner Transmission Systems Tulle S.A.S., BorgWarner Trustees Limited, BorgWarner Turbo & Emissions Systems France S.A.S., BorgWarner Turbo Systems Engineering GmbH, BorgWarner Turbo Systems GmbH, BorgWarner Turbo Systems LLC, BorgWarner Turbo Systems Worldwide Headquarters GmbH, BorgWarner Turbo Systems of Michigan Inc., BorgWarner Turbo and Emissions Systems de Mexico S.A. de C.V., BorgWarner UK Financing Ltd., BorgWarner UK Holding and Services Ltd., BorgWarner US Holding LLC, BorgWarner USA Industries L.L.C., BorgWarner United Transmission Systems Co. Ltd., BorgWarner Waterloo Inc., BorgWarner Wrexham Limited, Cascadia Motion LLC, Creon Insurance Agency Limited, Delphi Technologies, Dytech ENSA, Gustav Wahler GmbH u. Co. KG, Haldex, Kuhlman LLC, Kysor Europe Limited, M. & M. Knopf Auto Parts L.L.C., NSK-Warner (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., NSK-Warner K.K., NSK-Warner Mexico S.A. de C.V, NSK-Warner U.S.A. Inc., New PDS Corp., Old Remco Holdings L.L.C., Old Remco International Holdings L.L.C., Remy International, SeohanWarner Turbo Systems LLC, Sevcon, Sevcon New Energy Technology (Hubei) Company Limited, and Transmission Systems AutoForm LLC.Federal employees are not to use the terms "resistance" or "#resist" in statements regarding President Donald Trump, according to guidance issued by the Office of the Special Counsel on Nov. 27.

The guidance, emailed to federal employees, states that use of those terms when discussing the President, as well as supporting or opposing impeachment of any candidate running for political office, which includes the President who is running for re-election, could be considered a violation of the Hatch Act.

The Hatch Act limits certain political activities of federal employees in an attempt to prevent the federal government from affecting elections or operating in a partisan manner. It applies to all federal employees, including those at the state and local level who work with federally funded programs. The act, however, is a guideline, so violations are not considered crimes. Punishment can range from a simple reprimand to the loss of a job.

The guidance states that any statements relating to "resistance to Donald J. Trump, usage of the terms 'resistance,' '#resist' and derivatives thereof is political activity." The guidance says that while those terms were initially used to oppose administration policies, they have now become "inextricably linked with the electoral success (or failure) of the President."

It also states that supporting or opposing impeachment of a candidate is "squarely within the definition of political activity" in violation of the Hatch Act. Because Trump has announced his candidacy for re-election in 2020, supporting or opposing his impeachment would be considered a violation.

American Oversight, a watchdog group led by former Obama administration officials, condemned the guidance, stating that their position on "impeachment advocacy or opinion goes too far," and that their position on activity related to 'the Resistance' also "suffers from overbreadth."

"Conflating resistance terminology with electoral advocacy opens the door to public employees being retaliated against for their policy positions or opinions," the group's executive director Austin Evers said in a statement posted on their website. "The overbreadth of OSC's position may run afoul of the First Amendment."

American Oversight warned that OSC's position on impeachment could "dangerously constrain whistleblowers."

In further clarification issued by OSC, the office specifies that the November 27 guidance "does not limit whistleblowers in any way from reporting or disclosing wrongdoing."

The guidance says that there are no "magic words" of "express advocacy" that are automatically considered to be violations of the Hatch Act. It also states that while this guidance restricts what federal employees can say and do in their official roles, the activity outlined in the email is only considered a Hatch Act violation when it is done while an employee is at work, on duty, "wearing an agency uniform or insignia, or while invoking any official authority or influence."

It also clarifies that broad usage of the terms "resist" and "resistance," like if an employee posts on social media, "I must #resist the temptation to eat another donut from the break room," would not be considered a violation.

The Office of the Special Counsel -- not to be confused with the Department of Justice's office of the special counsel led by Robert Mueller -- is a government body that enforces a handful of rules, including the Hatch Act.ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) - Police say a 14-year-old Rochester girl who was abducted by a 41-year-old man has been found safe in New York City.

The Rochester Police Department canceled an Amber Alert for Joanna Coates early Tuesday afternoon after she and Robert Gonzalez were found in Brooklyn.

Police issued the alert Monday night, saying the teen was abducted last Saturday night from near her home in the upstate city.

Authorities said the circumstances of her abduction could put her at risk of serious harm or death.

Police say Gonzalez, an ex-convict who lives in the girl's neighborhood, is in custody of the New York Police Department. Officials say he'll be charged with kidnapping when returned to Rochester.

The girl's mother, Linda Hollaert, says her daughter is being treated at a Manhattan hospital before being brought back to Rochester.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Utica, N.Y. - Fahrudin Omerovic took the stand in his own defense on Monday on day six of his trial for making terroristic threats at Utica College.

He testified that he doesn't remember anything from March 5, the day he is accused of calling in terroristic threats to Utica College that caused widespread panic for many at the school for two days.

When cross examined by Oneida County Assistant District Attorney Grant Garramone, Garramone asked Omerovic, "Do you have any dispute that you're the person that made all these calls?" Omerovic responded, "I do not have a dispute to that."

Garramone then said, "You're the person that made the calls." Omerovic responded, "I already confessed to that, yes."

Omerovic says he was addicted to Adderall, an amphetamine that he was first prescribed in 2012 for his diagnosed Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD. He was just 17 years old, about to turn 18.

Omerovic says in 2013, he asked his primary care physician, Dr. Roger Norton of the Slocum-Dickson Medical Group in New Hartford, to increase his dosage, and Dr. Norton granted that request from 10 mg. per day to 20 mg. per day.

Omerovic says at some point in 2015 or 2016 he felt like he needed even more than what was prescribed and that's when he began looking to other means to get more pills, He says he didn't go to Dr. Norton for another increase in dosage because he was afraid his doctor would cut off his prescription for Aderall completely.

Omerovic says he first turned to a couple of other students at Utica College who also took the drug to get a few extra pills, but then he needed more and ultimately started buying pills illegally from someone on the street after he says he no longer had health insurance coverage in December of 2017. He couldn't tell prosecutors who his supplier was, other than that describing him as a tall, white, skinny blonde guy named Jay whom he thought was a fellow Utica College student.

Omerovic says Jay drove a black Jeep and even met him on March 2nd at the Student Center at Utica College where he bought 60 to 70 pills.

He says he didn't have pills for several days before that, so when he got the pills, he took a lot of them. He says he doesn't remember anything from that Friday night when he took the pills until March 6th when he was questioned and ultimately arrested.

Garramone didn't buy the Aderall defense, and believes there was no 'Jay', that Omerovic was making the story up as a potential reason for trying to get out of a conviction. Garramone addressed Omerovic as follows, "You have no idea who Jay is, because Jay is a fictitious person. Is that correct? Omerovic's response, "It is not."

Omerovic claims in the weeks leading up to march 5th he was up to ten pills a day, thats 200 milligrams, when he was only prescribed 20 milligrams a day.

He says he doesn't remember anything from that Friday night when he got his new batch of pills until after he was arrested. He says he doesn't even remember FaceTiming his parents from inside Utica College during the lockdown, something Garramone addressed to Omerovic, "Two of the people that you love the most, you FaceTime from White Hall and told them that you were listening to gunshots and that you were afraid of being killed. Do you remember your mom and dad testifying about how afraid they were for you?" Omerovic replied, "I do remember that."

Garramone followed up, "And they were scared to death that you were going to die along with the other kids at that school. Do you remember all that?" Omerovic, in tears, replied, "I remember them saying that."

Summations will take place Tuesday morning, then the jury will get the case.LEBANON, Ind. (WLFI)  A 4-year-old girl who was accidentally shot by her brother in late November has died of her wounds.

According to police, Izabella-Marie Helem was originally shot by her brother on November 29 around 10:00 a.m. in the 300 block of North Park Street. Her brother had found the weapon that had been left unsecured in the home of their grandparents.

The preliminary investigation determined that Izabella-Marie suffered two wounds, one around her left shoulder blade and another around the right side of her head.

She was taken to Riley's Children's Health Hospital in critical condition but died of her wounds December 4.

The family has decided to donate the organs of Izabella-Marie.

Once the investigation has been finished, the findings will be presented to the Boone County Prosecutors Office for the determination of what charges, if any, will be filed in this case.LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - The Lafayette Attorney General office partnered with Ivy Tech Community College to host a Drug Take Back today.

The goal of the take back is to relieve people of their unused prescriptions and expired drugs. The drugs are properly disposed of and can eliminate the risk of the drugs falling into the wrong hands.

This is the 31st session hosted by the office, and the 1st partnership with Ivy Tech's Lafayette campus.

Since starting in March of this year, the Attorney General office has disposed of nearly 3200 pounds of unused and expired drugs.

Vice Chancellor of Student Success at Lafayettes Ivy Tech campus, spoke about why people should take advantage of the events to properly dispose of their unused drugs.

Truly, unneeded drugs, whether they be prescription or non-prescription drugs now, can be a hazard to young children in the home or elderly that may get confused.

He also spoke about his feelings about the colleges participation in the event.

Well, very proud, both me personally as well as a representative of Ivy Tech. That's what we do, we try to strengthen communities and protect individuals by preparing them for the future.

Be on the lookout for future Drug Take Back events thatll be hosted through the community.WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  For students who want a taste of college life before they even graduate from high school, a new summer program at Purdue University could give them exactly that  along with some college credit.

Starting in the summer of 2019, Purdue will offer Summer College for High School Students, a program that will provide three different one-week, one-credit classes, including one that focuses on preparing for professional schools such as medicine and veterinary medicine. The program also includes the option for high school students to complete regular Purdue courses during the summer.

The application period opens on Dec. 1 and can be found here. High school students apply directly to the program through Purdues Office of Admissions and will be admitted as non-degree students. Eligible students must possess a high school GPA of 3.30 or higher, be at least 16 years old, and complete the sophomore year of high school before courses begin. Acceptance to the program does not mean acceptance to the university as an undergraduate. High school students will need to complete the Common Application or Coalition Application during their senior year to be considered for degree-seeking admission to the university.

John Gipson, director of Summer Session at Purdue, said the courses will offer a combination of hands-on activities and work on a project that will be presented to participants families on the last day of each course. Students will also participate in social activities and explore campus.

Students will gain the opportunity to take classes taught by world-renowned faculty, enrich their academic portfolio by completing courses not offered during high school and meet other students from across the world, Gipson said. We hope students build community while exploring everything Purdue has to offer.

Dr. Regina Kreisle, associate dean of the Indiana University School of Medicine and director of the Indiana University School of Medicine-West Lafayette, is looking forward to collaborating on the pre-professional experience.

The Indiana University School of Medicine-West Lafayette is pleased to partner with Think Summer for this new course which explores planning for advanced professional training, Kreisle said.  Since moving to our new space in Lyles-Porter Hall in 2014, our partnerships across the Purdue campus continue to expand.

Below are brief descriptions of the courses and when they will be offered. Complete descriptions, as well as more information about the program, can be found online.

 Empowering Women in Business (July 7-12). The one-week residential course, targeted for young women, will include interacting with Krannert students, faculty, and alumni, creating a company, and developing a sales pitch to potential investors. Scholarships are available for this course.

 Model United Nations Summer Workshop (July 21-26). Model United Nations is an interactive course where students act as delegates to the United Nations and participate in mock committees. The coursework and activities will enhance research, critical thinking, public speaking and writing abilities. Students will debate with other delegates, learn together through group work, develope policies, and write resolutions.

 Exploring University Majors: Planning for Medical, Veterinary and Other Professional Schools After College (July 28-Aug. 2). Students will receive tips offered by staff from pre-professional advising, learn about animal health with Purdues College of Veterinary Medicine, and conduct activities related to human health with faculty across Purdue and the Indiana University School of Medicine-West Lafayette.

This program, offered by the Division of Summer Session, is another step toward Purdues goal of providing year-round academic offerings that expand access, increase affordability and speed time to college degree completion for undergraduate and high school students, as part of the universitys Purdue Moves priority initiatives.LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI)  St. Mary's Cathedral plans to demolish a house on 1014 South Street and the carriage house nearby in order to rebuild a new church rectory.

Lafayette Board of Works voted to uphold a 60 day public notice period for that project on Tuesday morning.

According to City Attorney Ed Chosnek, that public notice period is the only power that group has to delay the demolition.

Chosnek said other government entities may be able to encourage conversation between the diocese and the community but the city cannot stop the demolition from happening.

Dozens of people spoke in opposition to the demolition at the public hearing.

St. Mary's Building Committee Chair Mike Gibson was the only person to speak on behalf of the project at the request of the board. However, he didn't say much.

"I really appreciate all the comments today," said Gibson. "I've taken note of them, but really have no comment to make today because we thought it was going to be whether we waive the 60 day or not."

Lafayette Historic Preservation Officer Dann Keiser determined that the demolition of these structures would adversely affect the national historic district and would be a loss of historic resources. The Tippecanoe County Historical Association agrees.

"I think it would be valid and also just a show of good faith to explore the alternatives in a public way so the community knows what we are thinking or what the parties are thinking as they go into this," said Tippecanoe County Historical Association Chairman Pete Bill. "This is not just about one building it really is about the impact on the community and setting a precedent, setting a trend, sending a statement."

Like every piece of history worth saving, the house on 1014 South Street is rare. Built in 1884, its architecture is unique within the Greater Lafayette area. The original homeowner, Meyer Rose was a prominent member of Lafayette's Jewish community. This newspaper clipping suggests Rose met and was offered a job by President Abraham Lincoln.

Indiana Landmarks Director Tommy Kleckner drove from Terre Haute to be at the Lafayette Board of Works meeting Tuesday. He's optimistic for this community and the entire state of Indiana.

"I can assure you that the statewide preservation community is now watching this situation," said Kleckner. "I hope it's something that St. Mary and the diocese take seriously, takes into consideration, and will respond to the request to enter into talks and discussions about alternatives."

There's also an online petition with more than 2,500 signatures.The West African country of Ghana is endowed with a wide range of wildlife that supports the ever-growing eco-tourism sector. The diverse wildlife composed of mammals, insects, birds, reptiles and marine species thrive in different habitats mostly in Ghanaian natural forests and protected areas. Mammals include elephants, leopards, hippos, monkeys, and hyenas. Snakes are common while marine creatures such as crocodiles and hundreds of fish species live along the coast with the Atlantic Ocean and in Lakes Volta and Bosumtwi. Hundreds of insects and bird species thrive in the beautiful scenery of Ghana. Major wildlife parks are Mole and Kakum National Parks. The article below looks at some of the animals that live in Ghana.

10. Aardvark

An aardvark is a nocturnal medium-sized mammal found in Africa with quite a huge population native to Ghana. The insectivorous animal sniff termites and ants with its pig-like snout before burrowing with its sharp claws. The solitary mammals only pairs during mating leading to the birth of a single offspring after a gestation period of 7 months.

9. Hippo

Hippos are can be found in the Wechiau Sanctuary in Ghana along the Volta river. Hippopotamus has a barrel-shaped hairless torso and can open their mouths to reveal large canines. Despite their stocky robust morphology and short legs, hippos can run very fast. They are rated as highly aggressive and unpredictable hence dangerous.

8. Patas Monkey

Patas monkeys are conserved in Tafi Atome conservancy found in the Volta region. The unique feature is that the Patas dwell on the ground and rarely take refuge on top of trees like other monkey species. Patas monkeys are held sacred by Ghanaians hence not endangered.

7. African Giant Snail

The Giant African Snail is also known as the Giant Tiger Land Snail and Giant Ghana Snail. They are found only in West Africa including Ghana. They can grow up to 18 cm in length and are thought to be the world's largest land snail. Due to their large size they are considered an important source of protein in Ghana.

6. African Civet

The African Civet is a solitary nocturnal mammal found in the thick vegetation along riverine habitats of Ghana. It has a unique coloration of white and black stripes. African civets are able to form camouflage because of their course pelage of blotches. The omnivorous creatures produce civet fluid from their perineal glands which it uses to mark its territory.

5. Mongoose

Mongoose thrives in the wild forests of Ghana. They have a long face, short legs, round ears, and a long bushy tail. The unique feature is the presence of acetylcholine which prevents neurotoxin venom produced by snakes from attaching to them. Such immunity from venom enables them to kill and eats snakes.

4. Lion

The number of lions in Ghana is low except for some which can be sighted in Mole National Park of Ghana. Their population is negligible hence they are classified as endangered species.

3. African Bush Elephant

The African bush elephants are found inside the Mole National park. Also known as the savannah elephant, the mammal is the largest terrestrial animal alive. The social animals lives in herds although adult males are secluded from the main herd. Their distinctive feature is the trunk which can lift objects of enormous mass. Their tusks enable them to dig, put marks, feed and lift objects. The Elephants are hunted down for ivory making them an endangered species.

2. Zebra

There are not many zebras in Ghana today. One has to travel to remote regions to have a glimpse of a zebra. Each zebra has unique stripes of black and white which no other zebra has such prints in the world. Zebras are endangered through the interference of their natural habitat.

1. Antelope

Antelopes live in herds across savanna grasslands of Ghana. The herbivorous, ruminant mammals are able to escape predators by running fast using long strides enabled by their long, powerful legs. They also have very keen senses of hearing, smell and vision.Western Sahara is a disputed non-self-governing territory in northwest Africa. It is sandwiched between Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the south and east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The territory is contested by the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front based in Algeria.

Recognition of Western Sahara

The United Nations considers Western Sahara a non-decolonized, non-self-governing territory. The territory was formerly known as Spanish Sahara until 1976 when the Spanish colonists withdrew paving the way for annexation by Morocco. The occupation sparked a guerrilla war between Morocco and Algeria's Polisario Front that ended in 1991 after the United Nations negotiated a ceasefire and deployed a peacekeeping force. The UN planned to hold a referendum to determine whether the people of Western Sahara would integrate into Morocco or remain independent but the poll did not take place because the parties failed to agree on voter eligibility. From the 1980s, citizens of Morocco migrated and settled in the contested territory resulting in periodic ethnic tensions between the immigrants and the native Sahrawi population.

Administration of Western Sahara

Morocco controls 75% of Western Sahara, but the Polisario Front recognize Brahim Ghali as the president. In 1976, the Front created the Saharan Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) and established a government while in exile in Algeria. Ghali was elected the president of SADR in 2016 after the death of Mohamed Abdelaziz Ezzedine. He is a seasoned military leader who was among the founding members of the Polisario front and led the resistance against the Spanish occupation of Western Sahara.

Demography of Western Sahara

Western Sahara was inhabited entirely by the Sahrawi nomads until the mid-twentieth century. The migration pattern was based on the unpredictable rainfall and did not coincide with the colonial or international boundaries. However, the native population has been compelled to adopt an urban lifestyle due to the presence of constant clashes, minefields, cultural change, job opportunities, prolonged drought, and the closure of the border with Mauritania. The occupation by Morocco and the subsequent construction of the 1700-mile long defensive berm limited the movement of the nomads. About 80% of the population live in urban environments of whom 40% live in Laayoune.

Moroccan immigrants have altered the size and composition of the population as more people continue to migrate to the region. The country maintains a significant military presence in the territory and encourages its citizens to settle by offering pay raises, bonuses, food and transport subsidies, and tax exemptions. The Moroccan Kingdom also encourages the integration of the native by providing job opportunities, better pay, and construction of infrastructure. As of 2018, the population of Western Sahara was approximately 540,000.Israel is a Middle Eastern nation that spans an area of roughly 8,522 square miles making it the 150th largest nation in the world. Several international organizations such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund consider Israel to be an exceptionally developed nation. Due to the economic prosperity within the country, the residents enjoy a remarkably high standard of living. In 2017, Israel's gross domestic product was roughly $350.9 billion which was a significant rise from the 2016 gross domestic product of $317.7 billion. Israel's economic prosperity is mainly a result of ambitious economic policies and proper utilization of natural resources. Some of the country's most critical natural resources include arable land, natural gas, and minerals among others.

Natural Resources of Israel

Arable Land

One of Israel's most critical natural resources is arable land. In the past, Israel had limited agricultural potential due to its geographical location and the climate. Data from the Israeli government indicated that only 20% of Israel's total land area is naturally suitable to support agriculture. However, due to the development of agricultural technologies, the Israeli agricultural sector has grown significantly. Due to the developments in the agricultural sector, Israel attained a food security index of roughly 95%. Agriculture is a significant contributor to the Israeli gross domestic product as in 2017 the sector's contribution was approximately 2.3%. Approximately 2.6% of Israel's total workforce was either directly or indirectly involved in the agricultural industry. Some of the main crops grown by the Israeli people include wheat and mangoes.

Grains

Some of Israel's most essential grains are wheat, corn, and sorghum. The grains are a vital part of Israel's food security. Data indicates that approximately 830 square miles of land in Israel is used to grow these grains. Although Israel grows vast quantities of grain crops, the nation imports a huge amount of grain to satisfy the local demand. Approximately 80% of the grain consumed in Israel is imported from other nations.

Fruits

One of Israel's most important natural resources is the fruits grown within the country. Some of the most important fruits grown in Israel include grapefruits, apples, bananas, and avocados. Citrus fruits are some of the most important fruits in Israel since the nation is one of the leading producers. Data indicates that Israel earns more money from citrus exports than any other agricultural product. Israeli scientists have contributed significantly to the development of a number fruits, primarily tomatoes. During the 1970s, Nachum Kedar and Haim Rabinowitch contributed significantly to developing a new strain of tomato. Their tomato breed was unique because if it were grown in an ordinary climate, it would ripen slower than an ordinary tomato. Their development catalyzed the development and improvement of agriculture in Israel.

Flowers

Flowers are some of the most important agricultural resources in Israel as they earn the nation significant sums of foreign exchange. In 2000, the value of Israel's flower export was estimated to be $50 million. There are several types of flowers grown in Israel with some of the most common being roses and Chamelaucium. Due to Israel's unique climate, it can supply European nations with flowers even during the winter months.

Fish

Fish is one of the most important natural resources in Israel. Due to its location, Israel can access a wide array of fish from several sources such as the Sea of Galilee and the Mediterranean Sea. In the Mediterranean Sea, Israeli fishers can obtain a wide variety of fish species such as the sleeping sketches, the memorized string, and the Aramtan blue. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, which in Israel is in charge of fishing, Israeli fishers in the Mediterranean Sea obtain roughly 3,500 tons of fish every year. In the Sea of Galilee, the Israeli fishermen obtain some species such as Galil Amnon, Longhead Barbel and the Large-scale Barbel. In the Sea of Galilee, the Israeli fishermen obtain roughly 100 tons of mullet as well as 70 tons of silver carps. Israeli fishermen also fish in the Gulf of Aqaba where they obtain mackerel, mullets, and jacks. In the past Israeli fishermen also fished in the Hula Lake but in the 1950s, the government decided to drain it of all the water within it to combat malaria. Before it was drained, Hula Lake was home to a variety of species such as catfish and tilapia.

Natural Gas

In Israel, natural gas is one of the most important natural resources as it earns the government a lot of revenue and contributes significantly to the gross domestic product. One of the first gas fields discovered in Israel was situated close to the city of Ashkelon. Commercial use of the field began in 2004, and by 2014 the reserves at the field were almost entirely used up. The discovery of the Tamar gas fields in 2009 was a significant boost for Israel's gas reserves as it had gas reserves of roughly 7.1 trillion cubic feet. An American company, Noble Energy, was responsible for the discovery of the field and at the time it was the largest field they had ever discovered. In 2010, the company estimated that it would take approximately $3 billion to develop the field. Israel has recently begun exporting natural gas primarily to Jordan.

Beautiful Scenery

Israel's beautiful scenery is one of its most important natural resources. The beautiful scenery in Israel attracts a large number of visitors from various nations such as the United States, Poland, Russia, and China. Some hiking trails were developed in Israel to allow the tourists to see as much of the country's beautiful scenery as possible. Some of Israel's most popular hiking trails include the Israel National Trail, the Jesus Trail, the Sea to Sea Trail and the Valley of Springs Trail. The Israeli government has invested heavily in security to ensure the safety of visitors to the country.

The Israeli Economy

Major financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund expect Israel's economy to continue growing. The growth is due to the ambitious policies that the government has put in place as well as the improvement in various fields.Kuwait is a country found in the Middle East and it spans an area of roughly 6,880 square miles making it the 152nd largest nation in the world. Kuwait is one of the wealthiest nations in the world and its currency, the Kuwait Dinar, has a higher value than any other unit of currency in the world. The success of the Kuwaiti economy is mainly due to the presence of high-value natural resources such as petroleum and arable land. The Kuwait government has implemented several strategies to ensure the sustainable exploitation of its natural resources.

Major Natural Resources of Kuwait

Arable Land

Arable land is one of the most critical natural resources in Kuwait. A study carried out in 2014 indicated that approximately 945 square miles of land in Kuwait were used for agricultural purposes. However, despite its importance, the agricultural sector in Kuwait has not had significant improvement because the nation is situated in a relatively dry area. Due to the lack of development in the sector, it does not provide a large number of jobs. Research from the World Bank indicates that only 4% of the Kuwaiti workforce was employed in the agricultural sector. Most of the people who work in the agricultural sector are foreigners. Foreign investors own a large number of farms in Kuwait. The contribution of Kuwait's agricultural sector to the gross domestic product is also minimal as in 2017 it contributed less than 0.5% of the total GDP. Most of the agricultural produce from Kuwait include fruits and vegetables for local consumption. To increase the nation's agricultural output, the Kuwaiti government has experimented with some modern farming methods such as the use of hydroponics and growing food in a carefully controlled situation. Apart from the dry climate, another factor that limits the agricultural potential of Kuwait is the fact that much of its agricultural land was destroyed during the war with Iraq. The Iraqi army caused severe destruction to Kuwait's agricultural land as they used fire to destroy crops.

Livestock

Another primary natural resource in Kuwait is the livestock. Some of the most commonly kept animals in Kuwait include cattle, sheep, and goats. Livestock keeping contributes significantly to the countrys agricultural output as its contribution was roughly 67%. Due to the low amount of water in the country, the government supplies the livestock farmers with water. The Kuwaiti Ministry of Electricity and Water is responsible for supplying water to the livestock farmers.

Fish

Due to its position, Kuwait has access to large fishing grounds with a wide array of fish. Despite the availability of a variety of fish species, fishing only contributes a small portion to Kuwait's gross domestic product. Most of the fish caught in Kuwait's territorial waters are consumed locally by the Kuwaiti people. Large-scale fishing is primarily carried out by the United Fisheries of Kuwait. Apart from fishing in Kuwait's territorial waters, the organization also fishes in international waters of the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, as well as the Red Sea. The organization is well known for the quality of its shrimp. One of the factors that limit Kuwait's ability to exploit its fish resources in its territorial waters is the rampant overfishing that occurred in the Gulf during the 1970s. Apart from the overfishing, other factors that limit Kuwait's fishing industry is the impact of war and the environmental damage caused by frequent oil spills in the region.

Oil

One of the most critical natural resources in Kuwait is the oil reserves. Geological research indicates that the oil reserves in Kuwait comprise slightly below 10% of the world's total reserves. The Kuwaiti government indicated that its reserves were approximately 104 billion barrels. Part of Kuwait's oil reserves is situated in the Saudi-Kuwait neutral zone. Kuwait's oil reserves in this region are estimated to be 2.5 billion barrels. Kuwait is home to the world's second largest oil reserve, the Burgan field. The oil reserves in the Burgan field are estimated to range from 66 billion barrels to 75 billion barrels. In 2013, according to a report published by the Oil Patch Asia website, the field was considered one of the most productive in the world. Records indicate that the most productive year for the field was in 1972 when its production was approximately 2,400,000 barrels per day. Due to the presence of massive oil reserves in Kuwait, the industry has grown exponentially. The oil industry is often considered Kuwait's most important industry since it contributes more than 40% of the nation's gross domestic product. The Kuwaiti government is in charge of the oil industry in the country due to the importance of the industry to the economy.

Natural Gas

Apart from massive oil reserves, Kuwait also has substantial reserves of natural gas. Due to the massive size of its natural gas reserve, Kuwait is considered one of the top 20 leading natural gas producers in the world. In the Middle Eastern region, Kuwait's natural gas reserves are considered to have the 7th highest natural gas reserves. The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation is one of the most dominant companies in the country, and it owns all the gas reserves in the country. The Kuwaiti people consume vast quantities of natural gas, and experts believe that the demand for natural gas in the region is much higher than Kuwait's current production. The natural gas consumption in Kuwait grew by roughly 10% on average each year. Apart from having the second largest oil fields in the world, the Burgan field also has massive reserves of natural gas which are estimated to be 70 trillion cubic feet

Minerals

Kuwait also has vast quantities of minerals, which the country has been pursuing to diversify its economy. Cement production is one area the government has invested heavily. The Kuwait Shuaiba cement company contracted the FLSmidth of Denmark to supply in-plant materials and handling equipment worth 34 million Euros for the production line at the cement plant. The initial production line had the capacity of 5,500 tons per day. Later the second dispatch of similar capacity was supplied by the same company.

Economic Challenges That Face Kuwait

Kuwait faced some challenges mainly due to the impact of the war. The government implemented an ambitious recovery plan to restore Kuwait's economic growth after the war. In the modern era, the fluctuating price of oil in the international market is a significant challenge facing Kuwait.Mauritius is an African island nation that occupies an area of roughly 790 square miles that is situated within the Indian Ocean. According to the World Bank, the economy of Mauritius had grown significantly since gaining independence in 1968 when it was considered a low-income economy. One of the leading economic experts at the time, Professor James Meade, believed that the nation had very little chance of making significant economic progress. He thought that due to Mauritius' small size, it would be forever trapped in a Malthusian trap which would limit its economic potential. Despite the bleak picture that Professor Meade painted, Mauritius was able to fully utilize the natural resources available to achieve substantial economic growth. Some of the nation's natural resources include the arable land, the beautiful scenery, and the fish.

Natural Resources of Mauritius

Arable Land

Arable land is one of the most critical natural resources in Mauritius. According to the Economy Watch website, arable land made up roughly 39% of the nation's total area. Some of the main crops grown in Mauritius include sugarcane, bananas, and corn. The government of Mauritius has set up the Ministry of Agro-Industry and Food Security to provide oversight to the agricultural sector. Apart from using the arable land within its borders, the government of Mauritius also leases land from other nations such as Mozambique to increase the area under Mauritian crops. In 2010, the Mauritian government leased 91 square miles of land from the Mozambican government for agricultural use. Despite the prominence of the nation's agricultural sector, most of the food consumed within Mauritius, close to 70% according to some estimates, is imported from other nations. Since Mauritius imports most of its food, the nation's food security is affected by the change in global food prices.

Sugarcane

Sugarcane is the most important crop grown within Mauritius and in 2001 it accounted for close to 70% of the nation's cultivated land which was approximately 36% of the country's total land area. Most of the sugarcane grown in Mauritius is grown in extensive plantations with 21 plantations accounting for more than half of the total land under sugarcane in Mauritius. Apart from the large-scale sugarcane plantations, Mauritius also has a significant number of small-scale sugarcane farmers who are estimated to be more than 30,000. Due to the growth of other sectors such as tourism and manufacturing, the prominence of sugar has dramatically diminished. Sugarcane plantations in Mauritius are incredibly efficient as they make use of the sugarcane remains after processing, known as bagasse, to generate electricity.

Tea

Tea is also one of the crops grown in Mauritius, but in recent years, its prominence has diminished significantly. There are several reasons for the decline of tea production in Mauritius such as the high production cost and the insufficient labor force. In 1990, tea plants were grown on an area close to 12 square miles of Mauritian land, but in 2001 it was grown on 2.5 square miles of land. Due to the decline in tea production, most of the tea consumed in Mauritius is imported from other countries.

Forests

One of the most critical natural resources in Mauritius is the forests. Estimates indicate that close to 20% of the nation's entire territory is covered by forests. The forests were vital during the colonial period as they provided raw materials for several industries. Due to their importance, a massive number of trees were cut down, and the forested area in Mauritius declined dramatically. To counteract the effect of the rapid deforestation several exotic trees such as the eucalyptus, the beefwood, the Moreton Bay pine, and the Japanese cedar were introduced to Mauritian forests. Mauritius is one of the unique nations in Africa because it needs to import wood products due to the high demand.

Fish

Due to its position within the Indian Ocean, Mauritius has access to a wide variety of fish. The government of Mauritius set up the Ministry of Ocean Economy, Marine Resources, Fisheries, and Shipping to manage its marine resources. Some of the most common fish caught within Mauritius' waters include blue marlin, dogtooth tuna, black marlin, and yellowfin tuna. The government of Mauritius cooperates with the governments of Japan and India to improve its fishing industry. Fish farming is also common in Mauritius, and there are several species kept including sea bream and channel bass.

Minerals

Minerals are some of the most critical natural resources in Mauritius as they contribute significantly to the economy. The chief minerals extracted from the island include basalts and lime. Mauritian basalt is of high quality and is primarily used in building and construction. Lime in Mauritius is obtained from two primary sources, the coral sand around the island and the local coral limestone. There are several deposits of polymetallic nodules within the waters around Mauritius that are believed to be extremely valuable. Research has shown that the nodules contain high quantities of manganese and iron as well as small quantities of Cobalt. The nodules are situated on the ocean floor at a depth of roughly 13,123.36 feet which makes it extremely difficult to extract.

Beautiful Scenery

Mauritius is often considered one of the most beautiful nations in Africa and the natural beauty is one of the most critical natural resources. Most of the tourists who visit Mauritius cite the islands natural beauty as the main factor that attracted them to the island. Some of the most beautiful sights in Mauritius include the Ile aux Cerfs Island, Black River Gorges National Park, the city of Port Louis, and Ganga Talao. There are also several waterfalls in Mauritius such as the Chamarel waterfalls, Alexandra waterfalls, Rochester waterfalls, and the Exil waterfalls.

Economic Growth In Mauritius

Several economic institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary fund expect Mauritius to continue on its path on economic growth. The strategies put in place by the government are one of the main reasons why the nation is expected to experience economic growth.The Arabian Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Western Asia, otherwise known as the Middle East. It is bordered to the north by Jordan and Iraq, to the west by the Red Sea, to the east by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, and to the south by the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea. The Arabian Peninsula is the ancestral homeland of the Arab peoples. The peninsula consists of 7 countries, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait. In most of the countries on the Arabian Peninsula, oil and gas are the main drivers of the economy. In fact, almost a third of the entire worlds oil reserves are located in countries of the Arabian Peninsula. The peninsula also hosts important religious sites, as it is where Islam was founded.

Contents:

Bahrain

Aerial view of Manama, Bahrain.

Bahrain is the smallest country of the Arabian Peninsula. Actually, Bahrain is not located on the peninsula, but on small islands that sit in the waters between the northwest coast of Qatar and the east coast of Saudi Arabia. Bahrain Island is the largest of the islands, and is the location of the countrys capital, Manama. Bahrain has been ruled by the al-Khalifah family since 1783. The country was a British protectorate before achieving full independence in 1971. Oil was discovered in the country in the 1930s, though in smaller quantities compared to the other countries of the Arabian Peninsula. Thus, the Bahraini government has put efforts into diversifying the economy. Bahrains population is about 1.7 million. While most of the countrys population adheres to Shiite Islam, the ruling family follows the Sunni branch of the religion. The Shiite majority has often complained of being marginalized by the ruling family.

Kuwait

Aerial view of Kuwait City at night.

Kuwait is a small country that lies at the western end of the Persian Gulf. In the late 18th and early 19th century, Kuwait was part of the Ottoman Empire. It was brought under British protection in 1897, and achieved independence in 1961. In 1990, Kuwait was invaded and occupied by Iraq, but was subsequently liberated by a U.S.-led international military coalition. As with most countries on the Arabian Peninsula, oil is the mainstay of the Kuwaiti economy. The population of Kuwait is approximately 4.3 million, 70% of whom are expatriates. Although Kuwait is economically advanced, it is still a conservative country by Western standards. In fact, up until 2006, women were not allowed to vote in parliamentary elections.

Oman

Aerial view of Oman City.

Oman is located on the southeast corner of the Arabian Peninsula. The current ruling dynasty of Oman, the Al-Saids, took power in 1749. In the 1950s, oil was discovered in the country. In 1970, Omans sultan was overthrown by his son, who set about instituting economic reforms and modernizing the country, which had previously seen little economic development. Oman continues to be ruled by an absolute monarchy, headed by a sultan. The oil industry makes up the overwhelming majority of Omans economic activity, though the government has been making efforts to diversify the economy. Omans population is approximately 5.2 million, most of whom are adherents of a form of Islam known as Ibadism.

Qatar

The Bay of Doha, Qatar.

Qatar is comprised of a small peninsula that juts out into the Persian Gulf from the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Qatar was originally under the control of Bahraini sheikhs, but in 1867, the Qatari people revolted against them. In an attempt to pacify the Qataris, the British installed the head of a powerful Qatari family, Muhammad ibn Thani al-Thani as the countrys ruler. The al-Thanis have ruled the country ever since. Oil was discovered in Qatar in the 1940s, and has since been the main driver of the countrys economy. In 1971, the country became an independent state. Today, Qatar has a population of approximately 2.9 million people, of which nearly 90% are expatriates. The country is the home of the widely-popular news channel, Al Jazeera, which is based in the capital, Doha.

Saudi Arabia

Aerial view of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia is the largest and most populous country on the Arabian Peninsula. More than 35.2 million people live in the country, which has a land area of 2,149,690 sq. km. The country was founded by Ibn Saud, the first of the Saudi rulers, for whom the country is called. In 1901, Ibn Saud seized control of Riyadh, which is the Saudi capital today. Five years later, the Saudis controlled the entire region of Najd, which is the large interior region of the Arabian Peninsula. In 1925, the Saudis conquered Hejaz, a region comprising most of the Arabian Peninsulas west coast. The two regions of Najd and Hejaz were merged in 1932 to form the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. One year later, the Saudis took control of the southwestern region of Asir.

Today, Saudi Arabia is governed as an absolute monarchy, and is largely regarded as the most conservative country on the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East as a whole. In the last few years, however, the government has introduced certain reforms to liberalize and modernize the conservative kingdom. Greater rights and freedoms for women have recently been introduced, as have measures to allow for the creation of a modern entertainment industry. Saudi Arabia also seeks to diversify its economy, which is still heavily dependent on oil. Indeed, Saudi Arabia has the worlds second largest oil reserves. The country is also known for its important religious sites, specifically the two cities of Mecca and Medina, Islams first and second holiest cities respectively. Mecca is home to the Kaaba, Islams holiest shrine. Every year, millions of Muslims from around the world come to Mecca to take part in the Islamic Hajj, or pilgrimage.

United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Aerial view of the Marina in Dubai.

The United Arab Emirates is a federation of seven emirates (countries ruled by an emir) located in the eastern end of the Persian Gulf. The territory that now constitutes the UAE was known as the Trucial Coast when it was a protectorate of the British Empire. Oil was discovered in the area in the 1930s, though exports did not begin until the 1960s. In 1971, the seven emirates of the Trucial Coast united to become the independent state of the United Arab Emirates. As is the case with most of the countries on the Arabian Peninsula, the UAE is heavily dependent on oil exports. Now, however, the UAE is also a mecca for real estate and tourism. Nearly 10 million people live in the UAE, but only 10% of them are UAE nationals, called Emiratis.

Yemen

The city of Seiyun in Hadramaut valley, Yemen.

A country of about 30.4 million people, Yemen is located on the southwest coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is both the poorest and most unstable country on the peninsula. Yemen was originally composed of two parts, North Yemen and South Yemen. The north was part of the Ottoman Empire, but gained independence in 1918. The south was controlled by the British Empire. In 1962, the ruler of North Yemen was killed in a military coup, and a civil war ensued, which lasted until 1970. In 1967, South Yemen achieved independence and became a communist state shortly thereafter. Armed clashes between North and South Yemen occurred during the 1970s. In 1986, a power struggle began in South Yemen, which would eventually lead to its union with the north in 1990. War broke out again in 1994 as rebels in the south tried to recreate a separate South Yemen. Since the dawn of the 21st century, war has persisted in Yemen. The country has become a bastion for terrorist groups, like Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. In addition, Yemens government has been battling Shiite Islamist militants known as Houthis since 2004, which has recently led to one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.There are millions of non-resident Indians across the globe. The persons are either of Indian descent or born in India but migrated due to various reasons. The Republic of India approximates that over 31.2 million Indians reside in other countries. This figure means that India has the largest diaspora population in the world.

Countries with the Highest NRI Populations

The United States

The United States has the highest number of Indians outside India. An estimated 4,460,000 Indians live in the US where they are engaged in different economic activities. Immigration began as early as the 1890s when Indians went to America as subjects of the vast British Empire. Initially, they were discriminated against by being denied citizenship, voting rights, and the right to family reunification. Immigration policy was amended after the Second World War leading to more Indians moving to the US.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has the second highest NRI population at 4,000,000. The influx largely occurred after the 2014 agreement between the Saudi Arabian government and India on the recruitment of employees. Indians form the largest population of expatriates in Saudi Arabia.

Malaysia

Malaysia has over 2,400,000 Indians who initially migrated in large numbers to the country to work in plantations during the British rule. More Indians have continued moving to Malaysia in search of greener pastures.

United Arab Emirates

The UAE has over 2,803,751 Indians who constitute about 27% of the total population in UAE. The influx is a result of the friendly commercial and trade interactions between the two countries coupled with opportunities in the petroleum sector.

Pakistan

Pakistan is home to over 2,000,000 Indians largely due to the fact that the two are neighboring countries. Both legal and illegal immigrants have found their way into Pakistan either as workers, businesspeople, students, or spouses.

The United Kingdom

The UK has over 1,825,000 people of Indian descent. The first immigrants went to the UK during the era of the British Empire. Many British Indians belong to middle class registering the lowest poverty levels among immigrant ethnic groups in the UK.

Other Countries With an NRI Population

Canada and South Africa have 1,541,955 and 1,274,867 NRI populations respectively. The first settlers to Canada were soldiers in 1890s, but later years saw numerous immigrants especially after lifting of the quota system in 1967. Indians living in South Africa are mostly descendants of laborers in sugar plantations in KwaZulu Natal province. Myanmar has over 1,030,000 NRI population while at position ten is Mauritius with 994,500 NRI population.

Emigration From India

The earliest documented emigration from India was to Southeast Asia during the reign of Emperor Ashoka in the 1st millennium CE. Indians went there as traders. The migration led to the formation of the Indianized Kingdoms located in Southeast Asia. By 1610, numerous Indians had migrated to Arabia and Central Asia leading to the formation of a merchant colony in Astrakhan. Indians had already established small businesses in St Petersburg and Moscow, Russia at the beginning of the 18th century. Indian traders had immigrated to Persia, Kerman, Afghanistan, and Iran in the 18th century. Indians traded in precious metals, textiles, spices, and foodstuffs. The British Empire facilitated the immigration of Indians to various colonies to either serve in the army, build railway or work in plantations. Once the assigned duties were completed, most settled as traders. In the 1960s and 1970s, Indians migrated to the Middle East following the oil boom. Migration to the United States of America, Australia, and Europe was in large numbers from the 1960s in search of jobs, education and entrepreneurial opportunities. In recent years, Information technology has led to massive immigration. Indians in the diaspora have excelled in the field of entrepreneurship, law, finance, medicine, media, engineering, manufacturing, and even politics.The results of the regional election in Andalusia herald the open return of fascism to Spanish politics, 43 years after the death of dictator General Francisco Franco in 1975 and the transition to democracy.

The Vox party, which only decided to stand candidates at the last minute, won 12 seats in the 108-seat Andalusian parliament and almost 11 percent of the vote compared to zero seats and 0.46 percent in 2015.

It is highly likely that the party will enter the regional government in the role of kingmaker, as it holds the key to forming a new coalition administration with the right-wing Popular Party (PP) and Citizens party. The PP candidate for regional president, Juan Manuel Moreno, and for Citizens, Juan Marin, are already talking about forming a government that includes Vox.

The head of the National Rally (formerly the National Front) in France, Marine Le Pen, tweeted, My warmest congratulations to our friends in Vox who tonight in Spain have obtained a very significant result for a young and dynamic movement.

Vox was founded by Francoist members of the PP in 2013. Its policies include the suspension of Catalan regional autonomy, the banning of parties and other organisations that promote the destruction of [Spanish] territorial unity and its sovereignty, reversing limited measures relating to Francos crimes, closing mosques, bolstering the Catholic Church, lowering income and corporate tax, and deporting migrants.

It isnt that there has been a groundswell of support for such reactionary policiesthe huge abstention rate of almost 46 percent indicates the widespread opposition to all the official parties. Those who usually vote for the Socialist Party (PSOE) and Unidos Podemos (the pseudo-left Podemos and Stalinist United Left [IU]) stayed home. The decline in participation, the lowest since 1990, was especially strong in PSOE working class heartlands, such as the provinces of Seville or Jaen and the Seville municipalities of Alcala de Guadaira or Dos Hermanas.

This political alienation is fuelled by desperate social hardship. Unemployment remains at 23 percent (eight points higher than the national average) with youth unemployment at a staggering 47.3 percent (versus the national average of 34.7 percent). The risk of poverty and social exclusion in Andalusia is 37.3 percent, affecting more than 3.1 million people. Nearly 10 percent of the population are severely poor, which means that more than 1 million Andalusians survive on less than 300 per month.

Vox leader Santiago Abascal said the partys surprise result had shaken the PSOE, which has ruled the region for decades and provided an opportunity to evict communism and corruption from Andalusia.

The Reconquista begins in Andalusia and will be extended to the rest of Spain, the party tweeted.

Although the PP suffered its second-worst ever drop in votes26 seats, down from 33it declared, We are euphoric. This is historic. Party leaders were not only jubilant that the sorpasso (overtaking) threatened by Ciudadanosup from 9 to 21had not materialised and the PP has the possibility of being in power in Andalusia. They welcomed the gains made by Vox.

The monopoly of a single party has ended, I am going to immediately start working and speaking with all the forces and groups with the aim of reaching an alternative majority to the PSOE, Moreno insisted.

Marin declared, Change has arrived in Andalusia.  There are enough deputies to force a change. The partys national leader, Albert Rivera, said, We are going to throw the PSOE out. ...

After 36 years of uninterrupted rule in the region, the PSOE has suffered its worst-ever defeat. It remains the biggest party, keeping hold of 33 seats and 28 percent of the vote, but slumped from 47 seats and 35.4 percent of the vote. PSOE regional chief Susana Diaz brought forward elections scheduled for next March to last Sunday, believing polls that indicated an easy win for the PSOE. Instead, the PSOEs 33 seats, combined with the 17 of the Unidos Podemos electoral front Adelanta Andalucia, also down from 20 seats, is short of an absolute majority of 55 seats.

The dramatic drop in support for the PSOE and Unidos Podemos comes just six months after PSOE Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez Sanchez deposed Mariano Rajoy and his PP government, which the PSOE had kept in power. In a no-confidence motion backed by Unidos Podemos and regional nationalists, the PSOE came to power as a minority government. Soon after, polls began indicating a growth, by as much as 10 percent to 32 percent, in support for the PSOE thanks to its promises to end austerity and implement progressive social measures. PSOE officials not only confidentially spoke of winning in Andalusia. Sanchez also hinted he might call snap elections for May 2019.

The PSOEs optimism was boosted after Sanchez announced a new budget for 2019, which promised to raise the minimum wage to 900 a month from 736, or 22 percentthe biggest hike in 40 yearsand pledged increases in pensions, education spending, unemployment benefits, housing and paternity leave, and taxes on the rich.

Podemos, which has been seeking a lasting alliance with the PSOE, hailed this as proof of a left turn by Sanchez under its influence. However, just two weeks before the Andalusian election, Sanchez announced that he would not present the 2019 budget to parliament because of opposition from the Catalan nationalistsafter state attorneys confirmed sedition charges against separatist leaders for declaring independence last year.

This was a de facto pledge to implement the 2018 austerity budget drafted by the Rajoy government and including massive cuts to public services. The illusions cultivated by Podemos General Secretary Pablo Iglesias that co-governing with the PSOE was a starting point for a new period in Spanish economic policy lay in tatters, instead opening the door to the fascist right.

This has not changed Podemoss political orientation whatsoever. Its response to Voxs gains was to call for an anti-fascist front and for the Catalan nationalists to stop blocking the PSOEs 2019 budgetwarning, Not only is the General Budget at stake, but also the leadership of the State.

Iglesias said he hoped That this result will help the PSOE understand that we need to be its allies and that the Catalan forces understand that we are dealing with the future of our country.

Podemos regional head in Andalusia Teresa Rodriguez, a leading member of the Pabloite Anticapitalistas, blamed Diaz for the PSOEs defeat thanks to her not putting us in your bloc.

The World Socialist Web Site warned in October, There is deep, historically rooted opposition in the working class in Spain and internationally to fascism. However, to the extent that the working class remains subordinated to the PSOE and Podemos there is a real danger of VOX rising.

The election campaign confirmed this warning, so that Vox, amid its denunciations of the PSOE for seeking an accommodation with the Catalan separatists, attempted a populist appeal to the humble man against the the privileged, the well-to-do. Abascal declared, It is precisely the workers, the middle class, the people who have the most difficulties on a daily basis, who most need the country, who most need society with its roots anchored.This resolution was unanimously adopted by the Fourth National Congress of the Socialist Equality Party in Britain, which was held October 27-30, 2018. It is being published in three parts. This is the second part.

To join the Socialist Equality Party, click here

The social catastrophe in Britain

20. The Grenfell Tower Fire on June 14, 2017 was a seminal event. The horrific loss of 72 lives starkly exposed the reality of class relations in Britain. As the SEP commented, There are events in world history that lead to a fundamental change in consciousness and create the basis for developing a socialist political orientation among broad masses of workers. The June 14 Grenfell Tower inferno is such an event. The fire was an act of social murder, responsibility for which lies with successive Conservative and Labour governments and councils. They have destroyed Britains social infrastructure and turned London into a playground for the rich, while socially cleansing working people and the poor. That is why, despite the crocodile tears of royalty and the political establishment, no one has been held to account. The government-mandated inquiry is a cover-up. It cannot allow the truth to come out because Grenfell is only the most egregious example of how the lives of workers and their families are sacrificed to satiate the super-rich.

21. This is a deliberate policy. In a devastating critique of the impact of austerity, the United Nations special rapporteur Philip Alston commented, at the conclusion of his two-week visit to the poorest areas of the UK in November 2018, In the area of poverty-related policy, the evidence points to the conclusion that the driving force has not been economic but rather a commitment to achieving radical social re-engineering  Key elements of the post-war Beveridge social contract are being overturned. According to the British Medical Journal, austerity can be linked to 120,000 extra deaths since 2010. It estimates that between 2015 and 2020, an extra 100 people will die every day. The growth in life expectancy has now stopped and has decreased in some areas. This reversal is the fastest rate of any leading industrialised nation, outside of the United States. Unexplained infant mortality has increased and is highest in the most deprived areas. At least 320,000 people are homeless, with the numbers increasing by 1,000 people a month, meaning one in every 200 adults is without a permanent place to live. At least one person dies on the streets each day, yet the majority of homeless are in employment. Drug addiction, too, is rising, as are instances of suicide. With 4,500 suicides annually, this is now the leading causing of death amongst men below 50 years of age, while it has risen 67 percent amongst teenagers since 2010. The UK government has the dubious distinction of being the first in the world to appoint a Minister for Suicide Prevention.

22. Workers in Britain have suffered a decline in wages unsurpassed for more than a century, falling further than any European country except Greece. The official jobless rate of 4.1 percent conceals large numbers of mainly young workers, who have been driven off the employment rolls, and more than 7 million peopleone in every five workerswho are in precarious employment. At least 6 percent of the workforce is on zero-hour contracts, rising from 1.7 million to 1.8 million last year. More than 14 million people, including 4.5 million children, one-third of all children, live below the poverty line. More than two-thirds are comprised of the working poor. The use of food banks has doubled, with the Trussell Trust delivering almost one and a half million three-day emergency food supplies in the first three months of 2018. Food bank usage and the resort to extortionate pay-day loans has grown, even among professionals. The roll-out of the punitive Universal Credit benefits system has left thousands without any means of support. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation estimated that around 1.5 million people were destitute last year, including 300,000 children. UK households collectively owe 400 billion in personal debt, the highest on record, on average spending 900 more than they received in income during 2017. Every three minutes last year, one person sought help for issues related to non-payment of rent, utility bills or council tax.

23. The situation facing young workers is most severe. The ruling class is using this generation to set a new benchmark for the exploitation of the entire working class. The gig economy now accounts for more than five million workers, most of them young. Those employed in this sector are not even guaranteed the minimum wage. The norm now is zero-hour contracts and no pensions, sick leave, holiday or redundancy pay. Even as earnings overall have fallen, young workers aged 30 years and under have been especially impacted. In the last 20 years, the pay differential between those aged 30 and below, and those over 30 years of age, has increased by 50 percent. Young workers pay has fallen by 16 percent since 2008. Warehouse and distribution centres such as Amazon and call centres proliferate, where the latest technology is used to enforce maximum productivity at the expense of employees health. Millions of students and graduates face rising levels of debt, due to the hiking up of tuition fees to 9,240 a year. With interest repayments at 6.3 percent, average student debt is 57,000 with the student debt loan book expected to reach 1 trillion by 2025. Many will never be able to pay off their loans, as a university education is no longer a route to a decent job.

24. In a country that once prided itself on its social safety net, from the cradle to the grave, essential services have been gutted. Little remains of the founding ethos of the National Health Service. Subject to severe funding cuts, whole areas of healthcare have been turned over to giant corporations, such as Richard Bransons Virgin Care. Waiting lists have soared, leaving many with debilitating and life-threatening illnesses, or pushed into seeking expensive private provision. Almost half of all maternity units in English hospitals were closed to expectant mothers at least once last year, with some shut for weeks. In education, schools have suffered a real-term funding cut of 2.7 billion since 2015. In the next two years, nine out of 10 schools will see cuts in real terms, while further education colleges, catering predominantly for working class youth, have been the biggest losers in education spending over the last 25 years. Central government funding to local authorities has been slashed by 11.3 billion, and by 2020 local authorities will have lost 75 percent of the grant they received in 2015. Almost half of all councils will receive no central government funding by 2019/20, leaving a funding gap of 5.8 billion. The response of some local authorities has been to halt all but emergency spending and, in moves pioneered by Labour councils, to become property speculators, selling off social assets to private developers and earning themselves windfalls in the process.

25. The money looted by government from working people and essential services is funnelled into the coffers of the super-rich, so that the UK is now home to the largest number of billionaires on record134with London host to 86, more than any other city in the world. Since 2016, the wealth of Britains top 1,000 has grown by 14 percent to 658 billion, more than the combined wealth of the poorest 40 percent of the population (10.3 million families). Such a social divide has revolutionary implications, as was acknowledged by Martin Sandbu in the Financial Times: To borrow a Marxian term, the social contradictions are more acute [in the UK] than elsewhere and may have been so more often than not throughout history The more tense are the pent-up springs of opposite extremes forced together, the more disruptive is the snap when it ultimately comes. Brexit and the drive to trade and military war

26. The outcome of the 2016 referendum on Britain leaving the EU has produced an unprecedented crisis of class rule. The May government faces possible collapse due to the sharpening divisions within the Tory Party over an agreement with the EU to prevent a hard Brexit. Even the constitutional and territorial integrity of the United Kingdom has been thrown into question by the impact of Brexit on both Scotland and Northern Ireland. With Labour still torn apart by the efforts of its right-wing to remove Jeremy Corbyn as leader, the ruling elite is deeply divided over whether a general election can break the deadlock, with many urging a second referendum to overturn the 2016 result. Meanwhile, there are dire warnings of a national crisis and escalating social conflict, of failures in supply chains and talk that the police and armed forces are readying for a national emergency.

27. The SEP rejected the false binary choice offered in the 2016 referendum, insisting that the responsibility of genuine socialists is to define a policy that upholds the interests of workers not only in Britain, but in Europe as a whole and throughout the world. This was critical, it warned, as the biggest political danger in this situation is the mixing of class banners on the basis of the espousal of a supposedly left nationalism... subordinating the working class to an initiative aimed at shifting political life even further along a nationalist trajectory, thereby strengthening and emboldening the far-right in the UK and across Europe, while weakening the political defences of the working class. Calling for an active boycott of the referendum, the SEP explained, There can be no good outcome of such a plebiscite. Whichever side wins, working people will pay the price ... A boycott prepares the ground for the development of an independent political struggle of the British working class against these forces. Such a movement must develop as part of a continent-wide counteroffensive by the working class, which will expose the referendum as only an episode in the deepening existential crisis of the British and European bourgeoisie.

28. This was in sharp contrast to all the pseudo-left tendencies, who lined up behind one or another faction of the bourgeoisie. The Socialist Party and Socialist Workers Party, advocates of a Left Leave vote, acted as an appendage of a campaign led by the most right-wing sections of the Tory Party and the UK Independence Party. As for Left Unity, Socialist Resistance and the Alliance for Workers Liberty, they lined up behind Corbyn and the Labour Party in backing the Remain camp and its promotion of the EU as a bulwark of social progress against nationalism. Likewise, in the referendums aftermath, they are working to politically confuse and mislead workers and youth by parroting the demands to either honour the Leave vote or support a second peoples vote to overturn the result. Both arguments are yet another cynical pseudo-democratic smokescreen, aimed at obscuring that, whatever their disagreements, the Leave and Remain camps are united in their support for NATO, demands for more military spending and provocations against Russiaand, above all, in their determination to deepen the savage assault on the working class.

29. Events since the Brexit referendum have proved that in a globally integrated economy it is impossible to secure economic progress or defend democratic and social rights on a national basis. The Leave campaigns rhetoric of reclaiming sovereignty was only ever an assertion of the sovereign right of British capital to better exploit the working class and secure more favourable investment and trade relations with the US, China and the emerging markets. The Brexiteers dismissal of warnings from industry and the City over the economic impact of Brexit is based on the calculation that a hard rupture will create the necessary political crisis for the imposition of economic shock-therapy and the realisation of their preferred Singapore economic model. Their plan for a free trade deal between the UK and US argues for the complete privatisation of the NHS and a bonfire of consumer, environmental and worker protections. Their geostrategic calculations centre on aligning themselves with the Trump administration and its unilateralist turn against Europe in order to crack open the Single European Market, while establishing relations with far-right pro-US governments and parties on the continent, as allies against Germany and France.

30. Fear of economic dislocation, combined with hostility to the overt xenophobia and nationalism of the leading Brexiteers, and restrictions on travel and work within the EU, has increased support for a second referendum on Brexit. But these legitimate concerns are exploited by the political representatives of the dominant sections of the ruling elite, who are just as hostile to the working class as the pro-Brexit Tories. The Remain factions real concern is how best to ensure British imperialisms global position. The Labour Party, dissident Tories, the Liberal Democrats, Scottish National Party and the Greens want to ensure continued tariff-free access to European markets, on which Britain depends for 40 percent of its trade, and which has guaranteed Londons position as a global financial centre. That is why there is no hint of opposition among them to a domestic agenda of continued austerity, and why they are silent on what EU membership really means for working peopleas evidenced in Greece, where extreme poverty has doubled, social services have collapsed and the economy has shrunk by 25 percent as a result of EU dictates.

31. The acute polarisation of society between the mass of working people struggling to survive and a grotesquely rich oligarchy is incompatible with the preservation of democratic forms of rulewhether in or out of the EU. Already five years ago, Edward Snowden revealed the existence of the surveillance programs PRISM and Tempora, through which Britains GCHQ colluded with the US intelligence agencies in spying on millions of people throughout the world, to identify political threats and to destabilise and undermine their opponents. Britain now operates one of the highest levels of state surveillance and censorship in the world, including numerous legal restrictions of online communication and voluntary arrangements with ISPs. The ongoing parliamentary inquiry into further internet regulation, under the guise of clamping down on fake news and Russian interference, will inevitably end in the imposition of still more onerous restrictions.

32. Such police state measures are in line with a massive escalation of militarism, on which all factions of the bourgeoisie are agreed. The Commons Defence Committee has proposed to increase defence spending from 2 to 3 percent, on the grounds that it is the only solution to the serious risk of the army being outgunned by its Russian counterpart, warning that [d]iminished capacity reduces the UKs usefulness to the US and our influence within NATO. To this end the UK, despite disagreements over the nature of relations with the US and NATO, is still taking full part in plans to develop a European military capability. War requires the suppression of anti-war and socialist opposition at home. This is behind the Fusion Doctrine initiated by the National Security Council Capability Review, in which government, the military and the security services, corporations, the BBC and the other media, charities and NGOs are to be wielded together in a unified security strategy directed against Russia and other unnamed state actors.

33. The task facing working people is not to help resolve the crisis facing the bourgeoisie, as Corbyn and the Labour Party insist, but to secure its independent class interests in a common struggle with its class brothers and sisters throughout the European continent. The International Committees European sections, the SEP in Britain, the Parti de legalite socialiste (PES) in France and the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (SGP) in Germany, together with our co-thinkers in Turkey, Ireland and throughout the world, seek to mobilise the working class against the nationalist splintering of the European continent and the growth of far-right movements, while rejecting any support for the EU and its constituent national governments. The rule of the financial oligarchy and its governments must be broken and replaced with government of, by and for the working classa socialist Britain as part of the United Socialist States of Europe. The adoption of this perspective would bring the most powerful social force into actionthe European working class.

A balance sheet of Corbynism

34. Three years after taking the Labour leadership as the undeserving beneficiary of a leftward shift amongst workers, and especially youth, Corbyn and his Stalinist and pseudo-left coterie have reneged on every single one of his minimal reformist pledges. Despite widespread demands for change among the hundreds of thousands of new members that flooded into the party, he has opposed efforts to kick out the right-wing and issued instructions to Labour councils to abide by Tory spending limits and implement cuts. So completely does the right-wing continue to dominate Labour policy that the partys 2017 general election manifesto was largely indistinguishable from that under Ed Miliband, with its pledge for Tridents renewal, support for NATO, and commitment to a fiscal credibility rule that prohibits any end to austerity. Corbyns commitment to the interests of British capital is behind his promise, on Brexit, to oppose any deal that does not guarantee access to the European Single Market. This is combined with a rejection of free movement and support for managed migration. Above all, wherever the class struggle erupts, Corbyn functions as the high priest of class compromise, sermonising on the need for a swift return to negotiations.

35. The SEPs rejection of the claims advanced by the pseudo-left that Corbyns leadership offered a socialist rebirth of Labour, has been vindicated. For more than a century, the Labour Party has functioned as the primary political pillar of capitalist rule in Britainfrom its betrayal of the 1926 General Strike, the split to form the national government with the Tories in 1931 to administer austerity, and the formation of a second government of national unity to support the Second World War. Labour underwent a further transformation in the wake of the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 by the Stalinist bureaucracy. As the ICFI analysed, advances in science and technology enabled the development of globalised production, which exploits the labour power of the working class as a global workforce. This ripped the ground from under the feet of the old nationally-based labour organisations, which became the direct instruments of their own bourgeoisie in eliminating workers past social gains to secure global competitiveness. This process was epitomised by the Blair Labour government. Repudiating any connection with the working class, it transferred more wealth to the oligarchy than Margaret Thatcher did, joined the illegal war against Iraq in 2003, and bailed out the banks in 2008. As the SEP warned following Corbyns election in 2015, No one can seriously propose that a party which, in its politics, organisation and the social composition of its apparatus, is Tory in all but name, can be transformed into an instrument of working-class struggle.

36. Historically, the reformist pledges of the left have played a key role in subordinating the working class to Labour. Even so, the ruling class has viewed those carrying out this carefully calibrated task with deep suspicion, aware that they are policing dangerous militant and socialist sentiment in the working class. Writing in 1925, Leon Trotsky explained that the left-wing noises of the Labour leadership were made not at all with the intention of arousing the workers to drive the capitalists out, but merely to urge the capitalists along the road of progressive efforts... if this pathetic scaremongering has any effect at all, it is in the opposite direction. Every serious British bourgeois understands that behind the mock-heroic threats of the Labour party leaders there lies concealed a real danger from the deeply stirring proletarian masses. (Trotsky, Where is Britain Going? New Park, 1978, p.15) Any indication that the left might lose control has been met with deep-state intriguesincluding the forged Zinoviev Letter in the 1920s, the destabilisation of the Wilson government in the 1970s and the fashioning of the right-wing, break-away Social Democratic Party and the forced resignation of Labours leader, Michael Foot, in the 1980s.

37. It is the danger from the stirring proletarian masses that accounts for the hysterical attacks by the Blairites and the mainstream media against Corbyn. But it is Corbyns innumerable retreats that have given them free rein in their vicious political offensive for his removal, centred on smears of anti-Semitism. Led, behind-the-scenes, by the military-intelligence agencies of Britain, the US and Israel, the target is not primarily Corbyn, but the workers and young people who rallied to his pledge against austerity and war. Drawing an equals sign between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism is aimed at silencing criticism of Israel and its brutal treatment of the Palestinians. But it is also part of efforts to criminalise anti-imperialist and socialist views, while legitimising Europes far-right parties as defenders of Israel based on their espousal of anti-Muslim prejudice and support for imperialist intervention in the Middle East. The 2018 congress of the European Jewish Association devoted an entire session to the existential threat represented by a Corbyn government, while reaching out to the AfD, Freedom Party of Austria and other formations because, as one participant declared, Its impossible to classify European parties as Left or Right. Everything has changed.

38. The equation of Nazism and socialism is a historic libel. The emergence of modern anti-Semitism from the 1920s as a mass political movement in Germany and other European countries, was bound up with efforts to mobilise petty-bourgeois and lumpen layers as a shock force to destroy the organised workers movement. This was the precondition for an eruption of militarism, aimed at securing the markets and territory required by imperialism. Anti-Marxism was Hitlers driving obsession, to which he counterposed ethnic German nationalism. His hatred of the Jews was based on their association with the socialist movement. In Mein Kampf, Hitler wrote of his conviction that the question of the future of the German nation is the question of the destruction of Marxism ... In Russian Bolshevism we must see the attempt undertaken by the Jews in the twentieth century to achieve world domination.

39. None of those complaining about the threat facing Britains Jews from a Corbyn-led government have any qualms about allying themselves with Hitlers successors. Tory MEPs voted to defend Hungarys Viktor Orban in the European Parliament in September and set up the European Conservatives and Reformists grouping to unify the far-right in Europe. Boris Johnson and other leading Tories meet with Trumps fascist former adviser, Steve Bannon, who promotes the far-right Britain First, and anti-Muslim demagogue Tommy Robinson, whose supporters have been involved in attacks on left-wing bookshops and trade unionists, and the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox. Other leading Tories, such as Toby Young, advocate progressive eugenics, appearing alongside leading fascistic exponents of racial superiority at the prestigious University College London, to assert that global inequalities are the result of mental capacity and call for the phasing out of incompetent cultures.

40. There is widespread hostility to the Blairite conspiracy among workers and Labour Party members. This has been expressed in protests, especially in London, against the social cleansing carried out by Labour councils, as well as numerous successful no-confidence and censure motions against sitting MPs and a 50,000-strong petition to Labours annual conference calling for mandatory reselection. In each instance, it has been Corbyn, and his supporters within the Labour Party and the trade unions, who have sought to smother the fight against the right-wing, including vetoing mandatory selection at Labours conference. Unmasking Corbyns left pretensions is critical, especially under conditions in which the crisis over Brexit and the disintegration of the Tories could bring a Labour government to power. His constant policy shifts and abasement before the right-wing are in preparation for this possibility.

41. The SEP has lent critical support to the efforts waged by Labour members against the Blairites, urging them to Drive out the right-wing! This call is directed not to Corbyn, but to the rank-and-file. It is an appeal to Labour members to reject Corbyns soporifics and take up an independent political struggle. While solidarising with this struggle, the SEP warns that Corbyn and his coterie would rather see their own supporters expelled, than break with the Blairites. Events in the London borough of Haringey are telling. Popular opposition to the planned destruction of public housing, in a 2 billion sell-off of public assets and the imposition of cuts, led to the deselection of Blairite councillors and the resignation of the councils leader. Months later the newly elected Corbyn council announced a 10 percent overall budget cut on top of the 40 percent imposed by the Blairites, after McDonnell insisted that they must run a prudent, responsible authority. Under these conditions the call to kick out the right-wing can provide a mechanism to advance the class struggle, break the stranglehold of the Corbynites and strengthen the influence and political authority of the SEP.

42. As important as any such tactical initiative is in the arsenal of the party, it is always directed towards, and subordinate to, the building of the Marxist revolutionary party. In its June 10, 2017 statement, Britains general election: A new stage in the class struggle, the SEP stressed that the greatest political danger is to identify the radicalisation of the masses with the initial and undeserving political beneficiaries such as Corbyn. This was based on the lesson drawn from the warning made in 1967 by the Socialist Labour League, then the British section of the International Committee of the Fourth International, to the then-French section, the Internationalist Communist Organisation (OCI). The OCI was moving in a pronounced centrist direction, under conditions of the beginning of a major political shift in the working class that was soon to take on revolutionary dimensions. The SLL cautioned the OCI: There is always a danger at such a stage of development that a revolutionary party responds to the situation in the working class not in a revolutionary way, but by adaptation to the level of struggle to which the workers are restricted by their own experience under the old leaderships, i.e., to the inevitable initial confusion. Such revisions of the fight for the independent party and the Transitional Programme are usually dressed up in the disguise of getting closer to the working class, unity with all those in struggle, not posing ultimatums, abandoning dogmatism, etc. 

43. Corbyns overarching concern is to preserve the domination of the Labour and trade union bureaucracy over the working class, which routinely employs the possibility of a Labour government to stem rising social anger and demands for change. But the re-emergence of the class struggle that is now underway means this is not sufficient. With the support of the Trades Union Congress, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell champions the new economy plan of the Blairite Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). This calls for an activist role for government to reverse low productivity and boost industrial competitiveness to place the UK economy on a trade war footing. A central role is assigned to the unions as an arm of corporate management and the state apparatus in policing the workforce, with the IPPR advocating a social partnership between the Bank of England, Treasury, big business and the trade union bureaucracy.

44. As Trotsky warned in 1935: Should the electoral successes of the Labour Party raise it once again to power, the consequences would not be a peaceful socialist transformation of Great Britain, but the consolidation of imperialist reaction, that is to say, an epoch of civil war, in the face of which the leadership of the Labour Party will inevitably reveal its complete bankruptcy. ( Documents of the Fourth International: The Formative Years (1933-40), p.67) The character of any incoming Labour government and its role is already being mapped out. After first meeting with MI5 for a briefing on the threat of extremism, Corbyn then met with Alex Younger, the head of the Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, to discuss the necessary preparations for a possible snap election in the event of the failure of Brexit negotiations. The implications of such discussions were made clear by the head of the Armed Forces, General Sir Nick Carter, who confirmed the existence of sensible contingency plans  Whether its a terrorist attack or whether its a tanker drivers dispute, industrial action or whatever else it might be.

To be continuedThe police and courts are working hand-in-glove with Canada Post to enforce the reactionary law Justin Trudeau and his Liberal government passed last week illegalizing job action by the Crown Corporations 50,000 letter carriers, mail sorters, delivery truck drivers and postal clerks.

Indeed, they have effectively extended the anti-strike law into a legal ban on any protest that impedes Canada Posts operations.

Six peaceful protesters were arrested Sunday evening for picketing a Canada Post facility in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Reports indicate the police acted extremely provocatively outside the Almon Street sorting station, where a small group of protesters had set up a picket line to prevent mail delivery vehicles from entering the facility.

The police declared the protest a serious threat to public safety and ordered the participants to clear the road, even though protesters had used no physical force or threat of any kind to block the mail trucks. Those who did not abide the police order were detained and now face criminal charges of mischief and obstructing a police officer.

Earlier, Canada Post had gone to court in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia and obtained injunctions prohibiting anyone from obstructing or preventing vehicles or persons from entering or exiting its facilities. We have asked the police for assistance and we are considering all available legal options, declared Canada Post in a press release Saturday.

The Halifax protest was part of a series of stunts mounted by allies of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW)that is by the Canadian Labour Congress, its affiliates and sections of the pseudo-leftto cover up the unions abject capitulation to the Liberals draconian back-to-work law. Labeled community pickets, all of the protests have been relatively small affairs, with most comprised of a handful of union functionaries.

For legal reasons, CUPW is not officially sponsoring these protests, which have been held at a wide array of locations. Those at postal sorting stations that have blocked mail trucks have included no postal workers, and lasted no more than two or three hours.

Despite the protests toothless character, Canada Post management has provocatively declared them illegal protests and secured the backing of the courts to criminalize and repress them.

This further escalation of the state assault on postal workers only serves to underscore that they and the working class as a whole must mount a political struggle.

In their fight against precarious employment, two tier-wages, unsafe working conditions, speed-up and declining real wages, postal workers are opposing not just a ruthless employer determined to squeeze bigger profits. They are challenging the class strategy of the entire ruling class and therefore of its political hirelings in the Liberal government. All are determined to make the working class pay for the capitalist crisis through the destruction of public services and the gutting of workers social rights.

Big business howled for the illegalization of postal workers five-week campaign of rotating strikes, not just because they wanted to cash in on the Christmas online shopping rush. They, along with the Liberal government and the entire political establishment, feared the postal workers struggle could trigger a much broader mobilization of working people.

The issues that prompted a near unanimous vote for strike action by postal workers in Septembera vast expansion of flexible, part-time and precarious jobs, the slashing of pensions, decades of wage stagnation and a dramatic intensification of workloads due to technological changeare not merely problems for postal workers. The vast majority of workers in both the public and private sectors, in Canada and around the world, face like conditions.

The same week the postal workers strike was outlawed, the automaker General Motors announced the slashing of 14,500 jobs across North America, including that closure of its Oshawa, Ontario, plant. Meanwhile in France, the yellow vest movement, driven by opposition to deepening social inequality and the austerity agenda of the Macron government, continued to swell despite a brutal state crackdown.

The assault on postal workers mounted by the Liberal government, now joined by the courts and police, has been made possible chiefly due to the impotence and complicity of CUPW and its allies.

Adamantly opposed to making the postal workers struggle the spearhead of a political and industrial counter-offensive against the austerity policies of the ruling elite, CUPW has from the outset systematically worked to isolate and demobilize postal workers.

Despite being armed with an overwhelming strike mandate, CUPW President Mike Palecek refused to call a nationwide strike. Instead, he restricted postal workers to a campaign of regional rotating strikes, which he himself acknowledged were aimed at having as little impact on Canada Posts business operations as possible.

More fundamentally, Palecek and the entire CUPW bureaucracy maintained a deafening silence on the threat of the Trudeau government outlawing the strike, although it was obvious that Canada Post was relying on government intervention to enforce its attacks, as it has for decades. Even after Trudeau all but publicly announced that such a law was being prepared, Palecek and CUPW continued to evade the issue for another week-and-a-half.

This is because the CUPW bureaucrats feared any discussion of the impending clash between postal workers and the government would have exposed the need to expand the struggle, rally support from the working class and transform the strike into a working-class political struggle against the Liberal government and big business as a whole.

CUPW pursued this disastrous strategy because it, like the CLC and the rest of the trade union bureaucracy, enjoy close political ties to the Liberals and the entire establishment, including the pro-capitalist New Democratic Party, and is terrified of the eruption of a genuine working-class challenge to capitalist austerity.

Palecek stumped for Trudeaus election in 2015 on the basis that he represented a progressive alternative to Stephen Harpers Tories. He opposed any and all job action during the 2016 contract dispute, claiming that nothing should be allowed to disrupt the work of a Liberal-appointed task force studying the future of the post office. Predictably, that task force lined up behind the demands of Canada Post management. And even as the Liberals were ramming their strikebreaking law through parliament, Palecek and the CUPW continued to plead with them to live up to their phony progressive promises, while issuing not a single appeal to the working class for support.

After ordering workers back to their jobs without a single issue having been resolved, Palecek proclaimed that the struggle was entering a new phase, and that the union would challenge the Liberals outlawing of the strike in the courts. These are the same courts that have repeatedly upheld antiworker lawssuch that the right to strike has all but become a legal fictionand have now criminalized even the token community pickets organized by CUPWs allies.

Recent events demonstrate the correctness of the World Socialist Web Sites insistence from the beginning of the Canada Post dispute that if workers are to achieve their just demands, they must broaden their struggle and transform it from a collective bargaining dispute into a working class political struggle.

This requires a political and organizational break with CUPW. At every workplace, postal workers should form action committees to prepare a national strike in defiance of the Liberals strikebreaking law and relaunch their struggle as part of a working-class counter-offensive in defence of all public services and workers social and democratic rights, including the right to strike.Oakland Unified School District (OUSD), Californias 11th largest, serving over 50,000 students, is facing demands for $60 million in budget cuts over two years from the states Fiscal Crisis Management and Assistance Team (FCMAT) and the Alameda County Superintendent of Public Schools, Karen Monroe.

The district is in an education crisis, with decades of budget cuts and deteriorating conditions driving larger class sizes, understaffing, a high turnover rate among teachers, and a regularly failure to meet federally mandated special education services. Cutting any more from the already thin budget threatens a complete collapse.

Last year, the school board cut $9 million and so far, the school board has proposed $16.5 million in cuts for the next school year, including removing up to 340 positions. If those cuts are not deepened, the government is threatening the district with direct receivership. If we see that those budget balancing strategies are not being implemented, we will have to impose strategies, Monroe said.

On November 14 Kyla Johnson-Trammell, the Superintendent of OUSD, gave an initial presentation on the School Boards Community of Schools policy which included a systematic review of operations to determine what should be cut.

In an e-mail to OUSD staff and student families explaining the report, Johnson-Trammell demanded a shift towards charter schools, stating that OUSD operates too many district-run schools for the number of students we serve and the District must work together with charter schools to make every public school option a quality option. The report claimed, based on enrollment data, that the optimum number of district-run schools would be 53, requiring closing or merging of 23 out of 76 schools, roughly a third.

Johnson-Trammell was at pains to defuse the popular backlash by emphasizing that this report was preliminary and that a final decision on how many schools to close and which they would be, is coming in February. She was adamant that some schools had to be closed and the district had to develop charter schools. According to the preliminary report OUSD only expects to serve 57.6 percent of school-age children in Oakland by 2023. The rest will be in charter or private schools.

Currently, over 30 percent of OUSD students are in Oaklands 45 charter schools, the highest concentration in the state, and that number will likely increase as the district closes its own schools and sells or leases more property to charters. Study after study has shown that charter schools, on average, produce no improvement in a students educational outcome, but they do open up enormous amounts of public school funding to private profit and corruption by shifting money currently going to teacher compensation and student programs into the pockets of the private operators of charter schools.

To facilitate this cash grab, both Democrats and Republicans have carried out the steady dismantling of public education under the guise of school reform at the local, state and national level.

Crisis conditions in districts across the country led to a string of statewide strikes last school year in West Virginia, Oklahoma and Arizona. The walkouts arose outside the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and National Education Association (NEA), the two national teachers unions, which did everything in their power to isolate the teachers and turn the strikes into midterm election campaigns for the Democrats. The unions tried to present this as a red-state rebellion against the policies of the Republican Party, but the conditions in Oakland highlight the no less vicious attacks on public education carried out by the Democrats.

Since 1970, the Democrats have dominated both houses of the state legislature, only losing control of the State Assembly during 1995-96. California passed its first charter school law in 1992. The former and future Democratic Governor of California, Jerry Brown, was elected mayor of Oakland in 1999 and opened two of his own charter schools, and then orchestrated the 2003 state takeover of Oakland Unified alongside Democratic state senator Don Perata. The Democrats, coordinating with FCMAT and the state attorney general, conspired to force the district to accept a $100 million state loan and direct state control of the district in order to cover a $27 million budget deficit.

Although the state returned administration to the district after a series of budget cuts in 2009, the state continues to collect $6 million a year for the debt and maintains a trustee with veto power over district spending decisions. Over the past 15 years, the school board, state trustee, county superintendent, and unions have collaborated in imposing an endless string of cuts to district-run schools while expanding privately-run charter schools.

This has come at immense cost to public education. According to the May 2018 study Breaking Point: The Cost of Charter Schools for Public School Districts published by the University of Oregons Labor Education and Research Center, charter schools cost OUSD significantly more in funding compared to education provided directly by the district. This is mostly because funding is apportioned per pupil, yet charter schools enroll a much smaller percentage of high need students than district-run schools. For example, charter schools get 28 percent of the districts state-provided special education funding but only teach 19 percent of the districts special needs students and almost none of the districts severely disabled students. Similar disparities exist for refugee and recent immigrant students. Although charter schools are required by law to accept any student requesting admission as long as they have room, they are able to drive low-performing or high need students back into district-run schools through harsh discipline and other abuses.

In total, the study estimates charter schools cost the district just over $57 million each year. OUSD would have a significant budget surplus were it not for the amount siphoned through charter schools into private profits. The heart of Johnson-Trammells talk about closing district-run schools and building constructive relationships with charters, is the bankrupting of public education to line the pockets of the charter school corporations.

Throughout the decades long assault on public education, the local affiliate of the NEA and AFT, the Oakland Education Association, has been a willing accomplice. The union endorsed last school years budget cuts, only quibbling on the total amount. They do have to cut in order to make the $1.2 million reserve, thats a legal requirement said then OEA President Trish Gorham, but thats $5 or $6 million, not $9 million.

During the teacher strikes earlier in the year, the union maintained absolute silence out of fear that Oakland teachers, who are in their second year of working without a contract, would try to join or support the strike wave.

In the nearly three weeks since the superintendents presentation, the union has not issued any statement on the matter to its membership.

The results of this collaboration have been disastrous for students and teachers. One second-year special education teacher spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal from the district and union.

Across the board the district is in a state of collapse, he said. Every year about 20 percent of the teachers leave because of the terrible and stressful conditions. My school has a nurse for only one day a week so all the medication, cuts and scrapes have to be dealt with by the teachers and secretaries; we were short janitors and had to deal with roaches and mice; we even ran out of money for paper towels in the bathrooms two months before school ended last year so students couldnt dry their hands.

The situation is the worst with special education. These are the hardest jobs with no extra pay so they have the highest turnover. Each year its another set of teachers with no training, getting hired on an emergency credential, to deal with the districts highest need students. Were so short-staffed that almost none of my students are getting all of their federally mandated services and Id guess thats pretty common district-wide.

According to OUSD statistics, 251 teachers in the district have either an emergency or intern credential, meaning they have not completed a teacher training course. This includes 10 percent of general education teachers and 17 percent of special education. The district currently has 31 teaching positions open for the current school year, more than three months in.

In order to fight these conditions, teachers cannot accept the budget constraints dictated by the state and accepted by the school board and unions. They must draw the lessons from the teacher strikes and build rank-and-file committees independent of the unions in order to mobilize for a nationwide strike in defense of public education against both big business parties.Photo for illustration (Source: Internet)

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Ms. Karin Muller, Head of the Department of International Cooperation under the Ministry of Science and Art of the State of Hessen, expressed her pleasure at the development of VGU and confirmed that VGU plays an important and significant role in the educational cooperation between Germany and Vietnam in general, and between Hessen and Vietnam in particular.

She once again affirmed that the Ministry of Science and Arts of the State of Hessen will always accompany and support VGUs development.

At the event, Prof. and Dr. Tomas Benz, Rector of VGU, introduced the common operational model as well as incoming development projects of VGU.

Dr. Ha Thuc Vien, Deputy Rector of VGU, said that the model of VGU is based on the governance model and academic principles of the university system in Germany, looking to become a university with excellent training and research quality in the future.

According to Mr. Vien, in addition to providing qualified human resources in the process of industrialization and modernization for the country, VGU also promotes scientific research and technology transfer in Vietnam following the model of German universities.

He also said that with the aim of becoming an excellent research university, through this seminar, VGU's Board of Directors wished to attract the attention of many professors and Vietnamese undergraduates studying at German universities with enthusiasm and the ability to participate in teaching and research at VGU after returning the country.

Dr. Kambiz Ghawami from WUS affirmed that VGU is a unique and significant project in the cooperation between Germany and Vietnam. Through VGU, Germany has brought to Vietnam a qualified training model, a training program for administrative management research under the German standards.

According to him, the establishment of VGU is a right decision, demonstrating the foresight of the two governments, as Vietnam is in a strong development stage with great potentials and goals such as building smart cities, and the application of the 4th industrial revolution. VGU will certainly make a great contribution to Vietnams development, especially in the process of sustainable development.

He added that the administration of Hessen state has signed an agreement, in which Vietnam is a top priority partner for cooperation, especially in the field of education.

Through WUS, Hessen state has provided more than 4,000 scholarships to Vietnamese students to assist them in their studies and to receive hundreds of Vietnamese students to study at universities of the state.

VGU is the first public university in Vietnam to be established on the basis of an intergovernmental agreement, starting its operation in 2008 in Vietnams Binh Duong province.

After 10 years of operation, the German Government and the administration of Hessen state have evaluated that VGU is one of two lighthouse projects of the two governments, and also the most successful university cooperation project among projects that the German Government and Hessen state have cooperated on so far./.With a fourth consecutive Saturday of mass demonstrations against French President Emmanuel Macrons regressive taxes planned this weekend, tens of thousands of high school students throughout France have staged demonstrations at their school buildings.

Students staged demonstrations at 200 schools across the country on Monday, up from 50 on Friday. They expressed their solidarity with the Yellow Vest protesters opposing president Emmanuel Macron, their opposition to Macrons pro-corporate restructuring of university admissions, his mass layoffs of teachers, and his plans to reimpose the military draft.

The same day, dozens of ambulance drivers protesting changes to their working conditions blocked a bridge leading to the National Assembly. Statements are circulating on Facebook indicating that petrol refinery workers will strike today in support of the protests.

Protesters wearing yellow vests have staged demonstrations not only in France, but in Belgium and Bulgaria, where they have set up blockades of major roads, as well as the Netherlands. Opposition to Macron, austerity and the high cost of living is intensifying across Europe.

The anger of workers in France and all of Europe, growing for years, is developing in opposition to inequality, the politics of militarism and austerity of Macron and the European Union, and against the brutality of the police forces dispatched against the protesters.

After the confrontations between protesters and police on Saturday, students staged protests at over 20 high schools in the banlieues east of Paris, another seven in Paris, 17 in Bordeaux, 13 in Marseille, five in Montpellier, multiple in Lyon, four in Dunkerque and a large number in Toulouse. Thousands of high school students protested in Toulouse, Dijon, Nice, Pau and Limoges, where farmers participated by dumping manure in front of the police prefecture.

We are against the reforms of the high schools and the universities, said Lea, a high school senior. We are also part of the Yellow Vests movement; we are wearing the vests because we are worried about our future.

There are classes that are overflowing, but we are also supporting the Yellow Vests. For us, in a year or two, well have to pay for fuel as well. We are studying to earn nothing, said another student.

Police forces are violently confronting the protesting students, and scuffles have broken out in multiple cities. In Paris, bus shelters and cars have been set ablaze during clashes between hundreds of students and police in Aubervilliers, while violence also occurred in Chelles and Gagny. In Dijon, teachers announced their support for the student protesters.

In Toulouse, eight people were injured, and police arrested 11 high school students after confrontations between students and police in the Arenes quarter. The mayor of Toulouse, Jean-Luc Moudenc, closed multiple train stations in the city, denounced the extreme left as responsible for the protests, and called on the state to consider re-imposing a state of emergency.

In the meantime, the overwhelming popular repudiation of Macron, the banker-president, is only deepening. When he arrived at the Champs Elysees on Sunday to inspect the damage following the previous days events, passers-by booed and chanted Macron, resign!

Cultural figures have expressed their support for the Yellow Vests, including Pamela Anderson, who wrote on Twitter, I despise violence... But what is the violence of all these people and burned luxurious cars, compared to the structural violence of the Frenchand globalelites? Anderson added that she hoped the energy of the protesters would be used to construct equal and egalitarian societies.

Witness reports continue to emerge of the extreme violence unleashed by police and provocateurs against protesters. An 80-year-old woman died in hospital in Marseille after being hit with a tear gas cannister directly in the face, while she was attempting to close her window shutters to protect herself from tear gas. A demonstrator in Toulouse remains in a coma after being struck by a projectile, likely a stun-grenade, in the head.

One Yellow Vest, Yannick Krommenacker, shot a video recounting his experience in the protest, entitled Marching for the revolution. He said, I was hit by an intentional bean-bag gun shot in my right hand, which was holding my phone. Then I fell to the ground. I was hit with kicks [by the police] to the face. I lost consciousness for a few seconds, before I was taken to the hospital. The police kept me for 35 hours under watch, but no charge was laid against me, because the police knew well that I hadnt committed an offense.

Krommenacker has filed charges of armed violence against the police who detained him.

Police union officials confirmed that their agents are infiltrating the demonstrations. In the ultra-right and ultra-left movements, we are collecting information proactively, via infiltrations. But the yellow vests are a new and little structured movement, said police union officer Guillaume Ryckwaerttherefore requiring greater and more intense infiltration.

Demonstrators have accused the police provocateurs of instigating violence aimed at turning public opinion against them and discrediting protesters who are in the overwhelming majority peaceful.

The reaction of the political and media establishment and the trade unions underscores that the ruling elite has nothing to offer the masses of the population besides austerity and repression. Committed to an austerity program that is rejected by 80 percent of the population, the representatives of the financial aristocracy have no other response than to call for the re-imposition of a state of emergency and the intervention of the military against the population. The suspension of democratic rights would be in this case openly tied to the efforts by Macron to impose the diktats of the banks on workers.

Macrons government has already let it be known that it is considering imposing a state of emergency and banning demonstrations. Government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux revealed on Sunday that Interior Minister Chrisophe Castaner has discussed a state of emergency. He added, The president of the Republic, the prime minister and interior minister will first make an assessment of yesterdays events and see what measures we can take.

The editorial of Le Monde by Jerome Fenoglio insisted that alleged attacks by Yellow Vests against police must be condemned without reservation and denounced the outpouring of rage and hate which is spilling out, for hours, in the posh areas of the capital. He demanded that the unions take control of the movement, declaring they would be crucial for channeling a movement of this sort.

In fact, the demand that the unions take control of and channel the demonstrations has been the demand of the pseudo-left organizations like the New Anticapitalist Party (NPA). But the unions have sought to stifle and suppress every expression of social opposition to Macrons austerity, and it is entirely logical that the demonstrations have emerged outside of their control.

In fact, certain sections of the French trade unions are calling for the violent repression of the Yellow Vests. This is the case for the Police-Alliance, closely tied to the neo-fascists, which denounced the insurrectional protests. The union called for reinforcement from the army to suppress the demonstrations.The San Ysidro port, the busiest in the world, with 63,000 people crossing every day, has been closed after migrants were tear gassed by the Border Patrol and US military. The border itself has been fortified with barbed wire, military grade vehicles line the wall, and CBP officers armed in riot gear at all times patrol the perimeter side-by-side US troops.

Migrants have been faced with repression by US security forces, and the Mexican government is collaborating with the Trump administration in bolstering its police on the border and creating deportation centers. The mayor of Tijuana echoes Trumps xenophobia, calling the caravan an invasion and leading on fascistic protests in high end areas of Tijuana that call for the removal of unwanted foreigners.

A CBP patrol

The working class tells a very different story of sympathy for the migrants and anger over the government response. WSWS reporters spoke to workers passing through to the US at the San Ysidro port of entry.

Danielle has lived her whole life in San Diego and has witnessed the increasing militarization of the border. Its a shame that we have two sister cities that are so stressed out, she said. I turned 18 in 2000 and Ive seen the transition since 9/11. The border resembles a prison more and more. When they shut the border, I dont think its to keep people out, but to keep people in.

She continued: Our government says it defends human rights but they clearly dont care about the 85,000 children who died in Yemen. They want us fighting each other so we dont unite against the real enemy.

In passing, many workers said they never knew when the border was being closed and would be afraid to cross. One woman noted that when the border does close it is left inaccessible for seven to eight hours at a time.

Alan

Alan, a resident of Tijuana told reporters: I work at a dental clinic. Most of our patients come from the US, the UK, Africa and different places around the world. When the border is closed, we go from 20 patients to six or four. People call and say that theyre scaredand rightly sothat it looks like a war zone.

Jacqueline, who works for the Immigration Center for Women and Children in San Diego denounced the scapegoating of Central American migrants and the crackdown by the Trump administration.

I was in Tijuana last weekend, and the San Ysidro port of entry is covered in barbed wire, Mexican federal police are constantly patrolling the entry with riot gear. On the US side you have highly armed officers asking people to show their papers before they even speak with a customs agent. This is ridiculous.

Mexican police

Many of the migrants coming to the US are fleeing organized crime, state violence, threats against their lives; fleeing conditions of poverty, insecurity and lack of opportunities. I believe they do have a legitimate claim to asylum. The governments of Honduras and El Salvador are incapable of protecting them from these dangers. Prolonged US involvement in elections, CIA backed coups and military training have single handedly destabilized the region. If they are facing persecution, and the government is not fit to protect them, they have a legitimate claim to asylum here in the US.

Jacquelines recent visit to Tijuana was to assist in translating for a group of medical students who volunteered to help sick migrants.

An immigrant tent encampment

I have seen doctors from the US band together and go over to the Tijuana side to provide free medical care. I have also seen a huge amount of support from the youth, providing donations and being vocal on social media. However, the media has focused on the negative reactions to the caravan[anti-immigrant] protests from the most well-off layers of Tijuanenses who do not at all represent the Tijuana population adequately.

I believe the Democratic Party profits from allowing the Trump administration to scapegoat the caravan. If they were pro-immigrant, they would actively condemn the recent actions on the border, and they would push for legislation that directly funds USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services), judges, and asylum officers and would push for a path towards citizenship. They care so little for the American working class, and even less for the international working class.In a collective suicide, four youth aged 17 to 24 years old jumped into the face of an oncoming train in the northwestern state of Rajasthan late last month.

The college-educated youth reportedly took this horrific step because they were overwhelmed at the prospect of being jobless. Three of them, Manoj Meena aged 24, Satyanarayan Meena aged 22, and Rithuraj Meena aged just 17, died on the spot. Eighteen-year-old Abhishek Meena succumbed to his injuries after being hospitalized.

All four hailed from the same village and shared an apartment not far from the railway tracks where they took their lives. The media reported their friends, 18-year-old Rahul and 19-year-old Santosh, as saying that the four youth had seen no escape from an abysmal future of joblessness and poverty. Without work, they would be forced to return to their backward village and to try to subsist as farmers in what is one of the most arid and impoverished parts of India.

The tragic joint suicide of these young graduates highlights the stark reality facing Indian youth.

Despite the incessant boasting of Indias ruling elite, particularly Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government, about the country having the highest growth rate among the worlds large economies, India faces a devastating jobs crisis, with millions unable to find work, let alone well-paying, secure employment.

According to Indias Labour Ministry, at least 1 million new workers enter Indias job market every month. Yet the Business Standard reported in May of 2018, based on findings of the International Labour Organization (ILO), that from May 2014, when the BJP took office, until October 2017, just 823,000 additional jobs had been createdand most of these it classified as vulnerable employment.

Indias youth-suicides are the highest in the world. The Indian Home Ministrys National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reported that more than 9,000 students committed suicide in 2015, or more than one every hour. Yet many experts believe these figures underestimate the phenomenon.

All over the world, youth face increasingly difficult circumstances due to the capitalist crisis. But in India, the pressures are especially severe. Because of the lack of or dilapidated state of health care and other public services, and of pensions and other social provisions, the vast majority of parents are dependent on their children in retirement, or even earlier, should they become sick or injured.

Joblessness is a burning issue in Rajasthan, where the campaign for the December 6 state assembly elections is now in high gear. As usual, the various bourgeois parties are falling over themselves making grandiose and entirely vapid promises of jobs for youth.

Currently, Rajasthan is governed by the BJP, under Chief Minister Vasundara Raje, a member of the Scindia clan, the royal family of the former princely state of Gwalior. The BJP combines rabid Hindu communalism with total subservience to big business, claiming that the only way to bring development and create jobs is to do whatever investors ask.

Epitomizing the vast gulf that separates her government from the bleak reality that faces Rajasthans youth, Raje cheerfully commented to the press that the mood in the state is good.

According to Indias Ministry of Labour and Employment, in March 2018 Rajasthan had a mere 12,854 openings in all sectors for 857,316 job seekers. The Census Bureau has reported that in 2016 the unemployment rate for the states 20 to 29-year-olds was over 30 percent.

When the BJP campaigned for the 2013 state assembly election, Raje made the now often quoted pledge to Rajasthans youth, Lathi nahi, naukriya doongi (I will provide jobs, not police truncheons)a reference to the police beating unemployed youth who had protested against the then-Congress Party government earlier that same year. However recently, when over 200 youth marched peacefully to the BJP headquarters to submit a memorandum demanding jobs, the police beat them up in a similar fashion.

During the 2013 election campaign, Raje promised to create 1.5 million jobs by 2018. But according to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), out of the 127,817 people who received vocational training from the state only 9,904 were placed in jobs between 2014 and 2017.

There is a spate of other statistics that demonstrates the paucity of jobs in Rajasthan, in both the public and private sectors.

In 2017, when the state assembly secretariat advertised 18 job openings as office-attendants, over 13,000 people, including 129 engineers, 23 lawyers, a chartered accountant and 393 postgraduates, applied. Similarly, when the government recently advertised for five orderlies, it received over 23,000 applications, many of them from persons with advanced degrees.

The Rajasthan BJP governments principal job-creation initiative has been to reform the states purportedly rigid labor laws. These changes, which have been held up by the Modi government as a model for all India and copied by several other BJP-governed states, allow businesses in Rajasthan to effectively hire and fire workers at will, while erecting further barriers to workers engaging in collective action.

Nationwide, the situation for youth is similarly desperate. Facing widespread disenchantment, Modi and his BJP are stoking communalism in the run-up to the April-May 2019 general election. In the previous 2014 parliamentary elections, Modi loudly proclaimed that he would bring Acche Din (Good Days), and create 100 million jobs by 2022 with his so-called Make in India program.

The Make in India campaign has involved Modi traveling to Europe, North America and elsewhere in Asia to urge investors to take advantage of a government determined to provide them with plentiful cheap labor, rapid land acquisition, and lavish tax subsidies. One of Modis biggest boasts is that industrial wages in India are one-quarter of those in China.

The Modi government is well aware of the widespread hatred and disenchantment it has evoked with its bogus promise of providing employment through its pro-businesses agenda. That is why it has now resorted to crash, albeit limited, job-creation.

In February 2018, the government-owned Indian Railways, the nations largest employer with 1.3 million workers, placed advertisements for 90,000 railway jobs. An eye-popping 28 million people applied. This has created a logistical nightmare for the railway since it now has to sift through over 21.2 million final applicants. Given the Indian Railways notorious safety record there is every reason to fear the new hires will be put hurriedly to work without adequate training.

Although those who committed suicide typify educated youth facing misery, the prospects facing working-class youth and the poor are bleaker still. The overwhelming majority of the latter are compelled to eke out a living working as temporary or part-time workers with no benefits and uncertain income.

The Modi government and their henchmen constantly boast about how their policies have achieved a world-beating economic growth rate of over 7 percent. There is good reason to suspect the GDP growth rate as computed by the Modi government is skewed. But be that as it may, the overwhelming benefits of what growth there has been has gone to Indias rich, above all the 1,500 persons possessing $100 million in wealth or more.

Credit Suisses 2018 Global Wealth Report reveals only one in 10 adult Indians possesses more than $10,000 in wealth. On the other hand, the number of dollar millionaires, which numbered just 39,000 in 2000 had increased by the middle of 2018 almost 10-fold to 343,000. This includes some 130 billionaires.Australias Liberal Party, which is in a federal coalition government with the rural-based National Party, continues to be wracked by bitter factional conflicts in the wake of the August political coup that ousted Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and installed Scott Morrison in his place.

Public blows traded between Morrison and his supporters, and the Turnbull wing of the party over the past week have raised the prospect of a split.

The divisions, over how best the Australian ruling elite can respond to deepening geopolitical tensions between the US and China, economic volatility and seething discontent in the working class, are being compounded by the prospect that the Liberal-National Coalition will suffer a landslide defeat in an election that must be held by May 18.

Morrisons government, which lost its lower house majority when Turnbull quit parliament, has been able to remain in office only because the Labor Party opposition and crossbench MPs have not seriously challenged it. They, along with the corporate elite, fear that the crisis of the government threatens the stability of the entire parliamentary set-up.

The latest turmoil erupted when media reports last weekend revealed that Turnbull had been denouncing the prime minister in private discussions with Liberal state MPs in New South Wales (NSW). Turnbull allegedly said Morrisons only concern was keeping his arse on CI, the prime ministers official car. The former leader reportedly said Morrison should call an early election on March 2.

Since then, Turnbull has refused to deny making the comments. They were leaked to the media, deepening the governments crisis, while Morrison was in Argentina for the G20 summit.

The Turnbulls self-styled progressive wing of the party is agitating for a federal election to be held before the NSW state election, which is scheduled for March 23, because the widespread hostility to the Morrison government will increase the prospect that the NSW Liberal government of Gladys Berejiklian will be swept from office, following a major Liberal defeat in the Victorian state election on November 24.

On Monday morning, Turnbull publicly demanded an early federal election, so that Berejiklian could go to the polls and be judged on her record rather than being hit by the brand damage that arose from the very destructive, pointless, shameful leadership change in Canberra in August.

An anonymous NSW Liberal MP told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Monday that the state government wanted Morrison to call a federal election that afternoon. Another said Turnbull was just saying what everyone wants.

Morrison sought to hit back at Turnbull by directly intervening in the internal affairs of the NSW party. He reportedly spent much of Sunday making phone calls to party figures, demanding that they ensure federal MP Craig Kelly, a member of the partys most right-wing faction, be pre-selected for the forthcoming federal election.

Kelly was likely to lose the internal ballot for Liberal candidacy in his southern Sydney electorate of Hughes. In response, Kelly threatened to quit the Liberal Party and move to the crossbench, placing the government even further into a minority on the floor of parliament. Despite Turnbull publicly denouncing any move to bow to Kellys threat, Morrison prevailed, convincing the Liberal NSW state executive to dictate Kellys selection.

Kelly has been a vociferous opponent of Turnbull and a prominent supporter of the right-wing faction that serves as Morrisons base.

There have been calls from this constituency for Morrison to intervene also in support of Jim Molan, a far-right federal Liberal senator and retired military major general. A key backer of the coup against Turnbull, Molan was relegated last month to an unwinnable fourth position on the partys NSW senate ticket.

The machinations in NSW follow a series of blows to the crisis-ridden Morrison government.

On Saturday, Michael Kroger, a Morrison supporter, resigned as president of the Victorian state Liberal Party, after former state Premier Jeff Kennett and Turnbull backers demanded he step down following the unprecedented swings against the Liberals in the Victorian election.

The Liberals vote plunged by at least 6 percent, amid widespread hostility to its racist law and order campaign, and the partys blatant turn to anti-immigrant xenophobia and right-wing populism.

Krogers resignation came just after federal MP Julia Banks, who holds a Victorian seat, announced on November 27 she was quitting the government and moving to the cross-bench. Banks repeated her claim that she was bullied by the anti-Turnbull faction led by former Prime Minister Tony Abbott and declared on Sunday that the voices of party moderates had been drowned out by the right wing.

In a desperate drive to reassert his authority, Morrison called an unscheduled federal party-room meeting last night to push through changes to procedures for unseating a prime minister. The new rules, which passed, require a two-thirds vote by the party room for a spill to be called against a prime minister who had won a federal election.

The move does little to guarantee Morrisons leadership, because he has not won an election, but was installed by the party-room.

The real purpose of the meeting it appears, was to assert Morrisons control over the party. He used it to demonstrate his close ties to former prime ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott, whom he consulted on the change. Abbott was a key architect of Turnbulls ouster.

Editorials in the Murdoch-owned Australian and the Fairfax Medias Australian Financial Review hailed Morrisons move. The Australian declared: The time for Scott Morrison to appease Malcolm Turnbull is over.

An Australian opinion piece by businessman Maurice Newman pointed to the agenda underlying this support for Turnbulls removal. Newman denounced the former prime minister as a progressive and rejected his defence of the broad church conception of the Liberal Party associated with post-World War II Prime Minister Robert Menzies. Newman wrote of Menzies: Not for him the fashionable Left. He was a nationalist, not a globalist. He was a monarchist, not a republican.

Newmans article accused Turnbull of failing to appeal to the forgotten people of the hollowed out middle-class, whose conditions of life had been decimated by crony capitalism. Newman concluded by pointing to the possibility of a party emerging in the wake of a federal election out of the ashes of a defeated Liberal Party.

Behind the August coup is a push to refashion the Liberals into a far-right party, based on populism, anti-immigrant xenophobia and racism, in line with similar movements in Europe and the United States. It is aimed at channelling widespread disaffection into reactionary channels and cultivating a constituency that can be mobilised against the emerging social and political struggles of the working class.

Morrison also was at pains during the G20 summit to express his support for US President Donald Trump. Turnbull had, before his ouster, expressed concerns that the Trump administrations America First program and aggressive confrontation with China could jeopardise the Australian ruling elites trading relations.A diverse audience of more than 120 peoplemainly workers and young peoplefollowed with intense interest a lecture on the relevance of the history of the Fourth International delivered in Sydney on Sunday night by David North, the chairperson of the International Editorial Board of the World Socialist Web Site and national chairman of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) in the United States.

The meeting was part of a series of lectures around the world organised by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Fourth International by Leon Trotsky in 1938. Meetings have already taken place in Sri Lanka and in major cities across the US.

A section of the meeting

David North will deliver his lecture, entitled Eighty Years of the Fourth International (1938-2018): The class struggle, revolution and socialism in the 21st century, at meetings in Melbourne this Thursday evening and Wellington, New Zealand, next Sunday.



In Sydney, members of the audience ranged from long-standing members and supporters of the SEP to young students who were attending their first revolutionary socialist meeting. There was a serious response as North explained the striking parallels between the 1930s, when Trotsky established the Fourth International, and the new period of revolutionary upsurge by the international working class today, underscored by the mass Yellow Vest protests and industrial strikes in France.

From the beginning of his presentation, North emphasised that an examination of the present situation confronting the working class necessarily involved an examination of the history out of which the present emerged.

Amid the Great Depression of the 1930s and the looming prospect of another world war, Trotsky had established the Fourth International to fight to resolve the crisis of revolutionary leadership produced by the devastating betrayal of the international working class by Stalinism and the social democratic parties, which had permitted the installation of the fascist regime in Germany in 1933.

David North

Today, North explained, the problems that Trotsky addressed in an earlier stage of the current epoch, which he analysed as the death agony of capitalism, remained profoundly relevant to the world in which we live. Once again, humanity faced the danger of war and fascism.

The seriousness of the response to the complex historical, theoretical and political issues raised by North was reflected in a powerful collection of more than $5,000 for the SEPs monthly fund, and the purchase of nearly $400 worth of Marxist literature, including copies of the new edition of Norths The Heritage We Defend, examining the history of the Fourth International.

WSWS correspondents spoke to some of the workers and students who came to the meeting.

Alyssa, 18, who finished secondary school this year and intends to study law at university, travelled over two hours to attend the meeting. Asked for her response to the lecture, she commented:

I think its important that we study history because the same problems that confront the world today and the processes that gave rise to, for example, the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, are the same as those that gave rise to the Wall Street crash in 1929 and led to the Great Depressionits the crisis of the capitalist system.

The solution is also in history. Today, you go to school, and in a history lesson youre taught that there is communism in China or in Russia, and that communism is bad. They dont tell you the difference between Stalinism and Trotskyism. They dont tell you that Trotsky represented the opposition and alternative to Stalinism.

I see the government today as an unstable force, and its interests come into conflict with those of the working classwith the majority of people. There needs to be socialist revolution. The working class needs a socialist perspective and a socialist party, fighting for revolution internationally.

[The ICFI] does this. A solution wont come from electing the Labor party, the Liberal party, the Greens. They are capitalist parties and will do anything to maintain power over the working class. Its clear if you look at history and at our situation today, that if socialist revolution doesnt happen, capitalism will lead to a third world war.

Col

Col, an 18-year-old, who recently finished high school, was attending his first SEP event.

He said: I found out about the meeting from the WSWS, which I read quite a bit. When it was first announced I was really excited, especially to have David North here speaking in person.

The analyses of geo-political developments on the WSWS and the history of Trotskyism are really interesting. Ive considered myself a communist since discussions with my friend about the proletariat. I read up on Marxism and that led me to the logical path of Trotskyism.

Its incredible the number of crises that are taking place concurrently; thats why socialism has a growing appeal. There are so many issues that are forcing people to look for an alternative. As David North was saying, this is the last opportunity to form a society that isnt oppressive. If another war did break out, nuclear weapons would be used and we would face the absolute destruction of humanity. Its so terrifying, but its true.

I really liked David Norths refutation of pseudo-left ideas. Such a large portion of the left is intent on denying the importance of class. If you say something like class is just a constructed identity, it leads to a complete misunderstanding of the nature of society.

Its profitable to be into identity politics. But its so inadequate to addressing the actual problems of society: war, inequality and the actual liberation of humanity. I was really pleased that North spent so long refuting those ideas and reinforcing the importance of traditional Marxist tenets.

Gus

Gus, a construction worker, said he was attending his first political meeting, after seeing a Socialist Equality Party (SEP) poster.



I dont normally attend these things, but Ive been on your website, and been on its podcast for six months, so I am aware of many of the issues that were raised. Only the past few years have I been politically aware. The 2016 US presidential race went for 18 months, and during that time I became interested.

The charade of Sanders and Trump piqued my interest in politics. Ever since, Ive been avoiding the propaganda of mainstream media and have been trying to make sense of geopolitics, socialism, the pseudo-left, etc.

The social democrats, and organisations like the Jacobin magazine, capitulate to capitalism. Theyre not purists. They compromise. I like the purer strand of socialism that you guys adhere to. Its an internationalist perspective that speaks truth to power and I feel at home with it.

There are definitely parallels between today and the 1930s, as shown in the meeting. The far-right are seeing a resurgence in Germany and Brazil. At the same time, there is a lot of anger in the world about inequality. The winds of change are occurring.

Robyn

Robyn, science teacher, bought her meeting ticket on a street campaign. This was the first SEP meeting she had attended. She explained:

I came to the meeting because I have long been aware of the direct attack on democracy, the fact that the government is not protecting workers but instead taking away workers rights, and I wondered if a party like yours had the same ideas.

Education is being run down, particularly in the areas of science and mathematics. Students are not being taught how to think rationally and logically.

In the workplace, the legal system doesnt protect employees. The legal system is completely at odds with any idea of compensation. It seems to me that they dont want injured people in the workforce at all.

The worst part about it is that unions are following suit. The government can commit a crime against the workers, the legal system is totally on the governments side and doesnt support the worker, and the workers own union doesnt support the worker, so effectively the worker has no rights.

Gum

Gum, 19, a student, originally from South Sudan, was particularly interested in the perspectives of Trotsky and to learn the history of the struggles of the working class.

Gum commented: An important thing I learned about was the causes of World Wars I and IIthe economic basis of war. It is important to understand what happened in the past, because the same things are happening now.

I want to read and study Trotskys writings. Im really interested. This perspective can transform the whole world by bringing unity among people to end poverty and war. What we have now is the control of wealth by a few individuals. The majority have nothing, not even enough to eat. We are suffering. I like the principle of the Socialist Equality Partyunify the working class to stop war, stop discrimination.

Ying, a university student from China, said: This meeting has persuaded me of the importance of history and understanding it.

She explained: What is happening now with all the right-wing movements, it is more important to understand history and how and why these movements emerge. I think for me, the most important thing I got from this meeting is that I have to read more. Ive not read Trotsky. Ive seen a movie about Trotsky and thats all that I knew about him, until I met the SEP. Trotskys not approved of in China, we dont learn about him, so I will definitely have to read more.

The author also recommends:

Attentive audience at David Norths Sydney launch of The Heritage We Defend

[1 December 2018]

Eighty Years of the Fourth International : The Lessons of History and the Struggle for Socialism Today

[9 October 2018]The devastating announcement last week that General Motors will eliminate more than 14,000 jobs and close five auto factories in the US and Canada has sent shockwaves among workers. The callous decision by GM to restructure in the name of boosting its profits on the backs of workers and communities is another brutal demonstration of the consequences of the subordination of economic life to the capitalist market.

As for the United Auto Workers in the United States and Unifor in Canada, the opposition expressed by union officials to the GM plant closings is entirely false and hypocritical. The auto unions have spent decades suppressing every struggle by workers while overseeing the destruction of hundreds of thousands of jobs.

As is their stock-in-trade, the UAW and Unifor have responded to GMs attack on jobs with the promotion of virulent nationalism in order to throw dust in the eyes of workers in an attempt to divert and derail opposition.

The attempt to inject workers with the poison of nationalism is a deliberate effort by the unions to divide workers in North America from their working-class brothers overseas and prevent a unified struggle in defense of jobs. Further, it is aimed at covering up the bankruptcy and failure of the capitalist profit system, which subordinates every facet of economic and social life to the mad pursuit of profit by the corporate elite.

The UAW has made common cause with the viciously anti-working-class Trump administration on the basis of support for America First nationalism, embracing the threat by Trump to impose 25 percent tariffs on autos imported into the US. The idea that the billionaire con man Trump has anything to offer workers is ludicrous if not obscene. From threats to shoot down protesting migrant workers to massive corporate tax cuts and campaign proposals that auto companies reduce costs by shifting production to lower-wage areas of the US, this administration has marked itself as a deadly enemy of workers everywhere.

In this light it is not surprising then that in a statement issued following GMs plant closure announcement, UAW Vice President for GM Terry Dittes did not even mention the threat by GM to close its factory in Oshawa, Ontario with the loss of 2,300 jobs, implicitly rejecting any solidarity with Canadian workers.

Railing against workers beyond the US borders Dittes declared, This callous decision by GM to reduce or cease operations in American plants, while opening or increasing production in Mexico and China plants for sales to American consumers, is, in its implementation, profoundly damaging to our American workforce.

He continued, The UAW and our members will confront this decision by GM through every legal, contractual, and collective bargaining avenue open to our membership.

The claim that the UAW will address the plant closings through collective bargaining is a warning that union officials will use the plant closures as a bludgeon to beat back demands by workers for the restoration of concessions and, in fact, push for even further cuts. The bitter experience of decades has demonstrated that the endless offering of concessions has only whetted corporate appetites, leading to calls for ever greater sacrifice while failing to halt a single plant closing.

Meanwhile, north of the US border, Jerry Dias, president of Unifor, advanced Canadian nationalism, saying that he would urge Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to impose tariffs of up to 40 percent on any vehicles General Motors might try to import to Canada from its plants in Mexico, a provocative move that would further fuel the fires of trade war.

In the wake of the GM closing announcements, a layer of Democratic Party officials with ties to the UAW bureaucracy have also issued statements feigning sympathy with GM workers while stoking animosity toward workers in China and Mexico.

Workers would do well to recall that it was the Democratic Obama administration that carried through the 2009 forced bankruptcy and restructuring of the auto industry on the backs of workers in which tens of thousands of jobs were destroyed. Indeed, writing in an op-ed piece in the New York Times last week, Steven Rattner, the former head of President Obamas Auto Task Force, called GMs new job cut threat, a rational response to competitive pressures.

This did not stop US Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Dingell from Michigans 12th District, a former GM executive who has pocketed thousands if not millions in GM campaign contributions, from striking a mock pose of defiance, declaring, "We need to, as a Congress, be addressing public policy issues that keep manufacturing in this country."

She continued, "They moved a Blazer plant from the United States of America to Mexico, and very few people screamed about it or paid attention to it."

Dingell said she would oppose President Trumps proposed revisions to the North American Free Trade Agreement unless it ensures "that we're not moving jobs to Mexico.

Another Democrat, Haley Stevens, was recently elected to the US House of Representatives in Michigans 11th Congressional District, after boasting that she was the chief of staff of Obamas Auto Task Force, the gang of Wall Street financiers who halved the wages of new hires in the name of making US auto companies internationally competitive.

Meanwhile, Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio reported that he had gotten the backing of Trump for his American Cars, American Jobs Act that, among other things, provides customers with a $3,500 price deduction on the purchase or lease of an American-made car, in effect a direct subsidy to the auto companies.

The attempt to foster conflict and hatred between workers in the US, Canada, Mexico, China and around the world is a game of divide and rule that has been played many times before and workers should have none of it. The question that is posed is a common fight to defend all jobs and unify workers in a powerful struggle across national boundaries against the transnational auto giants.

The assault on jobs is global. In addition to its plans to close plants in North America, GM announced earlier this year plans to close a factory in Gunsan, South Korea, affecting more than 2,000 workers, with a wage freeze and other cuts imposed on the remaining workforce in collaboration with the unions. GM, which has previously closed plants in Russia, Australia and India and Europe, will soon announce two more international plant closures.

Workers all over the world have responded to the deepening attacks by the transnational auto giants with an expanding number of strikes. Last December, 1,000 Ford workers in Romania launched a courageous wildcat walkout against a rotten pay deal freezing wages and cutting pay for new hires accepted by their union.

In July, 600 Goodyear workers in San Luis Potosi, Mexico struck against poverty wages of about US$2 an hour. Meanwhile, in India, 3,000 autoworkers in Chennai, known as the Detroit of India, recently carried out strikes, protests and occupations against the use of contract labor and multi-tier pay systems by transnational auto companies, including Yamaha India and Royal Enfield motorcycle. In an effort to attract foreign capital, the Indian government has imprisoned for life 13 courageous workers at the Maruti Suzuki plant in Manesar, Haryana.

Workers, no matter what their nationality, language or culture, are bound in a common network of production spanning oceans and continents, making it more and more absurd to try to determine the national identity of the car being produced by the global working class.

This massive social force must be organized in defense of the right of workers everywhere to jobs, decent living conditions, safe working conditions and a secure retirement. This requires that workers mobilize independently of the pro-capitalist and nationalist unions. The Socialist Equality Party and the World Socialist Web Site call for the formation of rank-and-file committees democratically controlled by workers to spearhead this struggle and link autoworkers with broader sections of the working class, including Amazon worker, steelworkers, UPS workers and teachers.

This is of necessity a political fight, posing the necessity for workers to organize as an independent social force against the capitalist class of billionaires and the profit system in a fight for a workers government and socialism, including the transformation of the giant corporations and banks into public enterprises, collectively owned and democratically controlled by workers themselves.

The Socialist Equality Party and the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter urge workers and young people to attend the public meeting to fight the GM closures and layoffs. The meeting will be held on December 9 at 2 p.m. at Berts Warehouse, 2727 Russell Street in Detroit. Let us know you are attending and share the meeting info with your friends on Facebook here.On Saturday, Andres Manuel Lopez Obradoror AMLO, as he is knownwas sworn in for a six-year term as president of Mexico, the worlds tenth largest country by population, home to 130 million people.

The coming to power of Lopez Obrador sets the stage for an escalation of the class struggle across North America. No Mexican president since Francisco Madero was elected in 1911 has confronted as acute a contradiction between the progressive expectations of the masses of people and the reactionary aims of the ruling class. As in 1911, at the onset of the Mexican Revolution of 19101920, Mexico is a social powder keg waiting to explode.

Lopez Obrador is a 65-year-old former mayor of Mexico City who has spent his entire political life as a bourgeois functionary and political climber. Hailing from the southern gulf state of Tabasco, he became active in the ruling Party of the Institutional Revolution (PRI) in his early 20s and won appointments to positions at various government agencies in the years that followed.

In 1988, AMLO joined the populist Democratic Currents opposition within the PRI, whose leader, Cuauhtemoc Cardenas (son of Mexican President Lazaro Cardenas), split with the PRI and ran unsuccessfully for president that year. AMLO rose as a leading figure in Democratic Currents successor party, the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), and served as head of the party from 1996 to 1999 before winning election for Mexico City mayor in 2000, a position he held until 2005.

He ran for president as a member of the PRD in 2006 and again in 2012. Though it is likely AMLO won the vote in both elections, he was prevented from taking office both times by electoral fraud perpetrated by the ruling class with the support of the military and the media.

In this years election, however, AMLO won 30 million votes, double the total in each of his prior two campaigns. His National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) party, which was founded only four years ago after he split from the PRD in 2012, won an absolute majority in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate and captured five of the nine governors seats up for election. The traditional parties of the Mexican ruling class were reduced to parliamentary rumps.

The results marked a massive repudiation of the Mexican political establishment. Seeing AMLO as a mechanism for diffusing growing social opposition, dominant sections of the ruling class have supported his transition to power.

But now, with the hated PRI administration of Enrique Pena Nieto out of power, millions of Mexican workers, peasants and young people believe that AMLO and MORENA will have no excuse if they fail to deliver on campaign promises to reduce inequality and poverty, rein in government corruption, defend Mexican emigres in the US and end the disastrous war on drugs. According to a recent poll from El Financiero, 83 percent of Mexicans believe AMLO will generate economic growth and jobs and 74 percent think he will reduce poverty and inequality.

AMLOs proposed policies, packaged in pseudo-populist verbiage, make clear that these aspirations will soon be shattered.

While denouncing the repressive strategies of past administrations, AMLO has called for nearly doubling the size of the military and keeping it on the streets to conduct the hated war on drugs, which has resulted in over 260,000 deaths since 2006.

AMLO claims to oppose big business, but he has pledged to veto anti-bank legislation and called for passage of an austerity budget. He has rejected calls to re-expropriate the oil industry and proposes setting up a number of special economic zones in both the northern border region and the impoverished south, where transnational corporations will be allowed to hyper-exploit the land and the impoverished residents.

He has promised to work on behalf of the US to block the flow of Central American immigrants across Mexicos southern border with Guatemala. Some 10,000 asylum seekers remain encamped under horrible conditions in Tijuana, and AMLO is reportedly considering Trumps proposal that Mexico hold them in internment camps instead of allowing them passage to the US as is required under international law.

As AMLO faithfully carries out the policies of the ruling class, he will set a fuse igniting the anger of millions of workers, youth and peasants. Under conditions where workers will be breaking from AMLO and entering into the class struggle, various self-proclaimed socialist groups in the US and Latin America are already fighting to keep them tied to AMLO and the state.

In a December 1 article, Jacobin magazine, which is politically linked to the Democratic Socialists of America, tells its readers that AMLO will hit the ground running with a welcome set of proposals to be fought for and defended. It urges Mexican workers to apply pressure on Lopez Obrador to distance himself from his right-wing cabinet.

After the elections in July, the International Socialist Organization (ISO) wrote that AMLO and his government will come under a lot of pressure to deliver to all sides, including both the working class and the ruling elite. The ruling class and the US establishment are by far the most organized of these sources of pressure. The radical left will have to organize to make sure the urgent call for change that the elections represented isnt silenced.

The argument that a bourgeois politician and the capitalist Mexican state can be pressured to implement genuinely progressive, let alone socialist, policies is absurd and dangerous.

It is a formula for politically subordinating the working class to the ruling elite by promoting illusions in left-talking defenders of capitalism. It opposes an independent and revolutionary policy for the working class and thereby paves the way for the violent suppression of the class struggle. It is a repetition, at an even lower level, of the popular front politics that have proven so disastrous in Latin America, most tragically in Chile, where the refusal of the popular front government of Salvador Allende to oppose the counterrevolutionary, CIA-backed conspiracies of the Chilean corporate elite and military paved the way for the bloody dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

The policies of the Mexican government are not determined by the degree of pressure AMLO receives from his left, but by the class character of the state and Mexicos position in the global capitalist market. Above all, this means the domination of the country by American banks and corporations and the hyper-exploitation of the Mexican working class.

From 1993, the last year before the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), to 2016, the value of regional trade between Canada, the US and Mexico increased from $290 billion to $1.1 trillion. Over that same period, US foreign direct investment in Mexico grew from $15 billion to over $100 billion.

On the one hand, this economic domination means political subservience. When Trump rounds up Mexican immigrants, throws Mexican children in jail without their parents, calls Mexican nationals rapists and deploys the military to the border, the Mexican government pledges its readiness to work with his administration and honors his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, with the highest state honor, the Order of the Aztec Eagle!

The domination of Yankee imperialism does not lessen the intensity of the conflict between the Mexican bourgeoisie and working class, it heightens it. The ruling elite and all of its political representatives, AMLO no less than the openly right-wing leaders of the PRI and the National Action Party (PAN), fear the revolutionary threat to their property and power from the workers infinitely more than the depredations of Washington and Wall Street.

At the same time, the increasing economic interconnectivity between Mexico and the US has created a powerful working class. Mexico has become a formidable industrial country, with the 11th highest manufacturing output in the world. There are 9.1 million manufacturing workers in Mexicothree times the total in the UK.

In economic terms, the Mexican, Canadian and American working classes are not three separate entities, but a single social force, exploited by the same companies at different stages in the same process of production. Under capitalism, however, workers are held down by the nation-state system and pitted against each other by the corporations. While Mexicos natural resources can flow freely across the border to American corporations, the children of Mexican workers cannot cross to join their parents.

The task for workers across North America is to unite in a common revolutionary movement, tear down this irrational system and reorganize the hemisphere on a planned, socialist basis through the establishment of the United Socialist States of the Americas.In a move that leaves Sri Lanka without a functioning government, an appeals court yesterday issued an interim order restraining Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and his cabinet of ministers, state and deputy ministers from exercising their powers.

The court decision dramatically deepens the political crisis triggered when President Maithripala Sirisena unconstitutionally sacked Ranil Wickremesinghe as prime minister on October 26 and appointed former President Rajapakse in his place.

The court order was in response to a legal petition signed by 122 MPs, including Wickremesinghe, to prevent the functioning of prime minister and ministers appointed by Sirisena. Wickremesinghe, who is supported by his United National Party (UNP), the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), insists he was removed unconstitutionally and thus remains prime minister.

The petitioners declared that despite two no-confidence motions passed by the parliament on November 14 and 16, Rajapakse and his ministers continue as a cabinet and take governmental decisions.

The case is being heard before two judgesthe courts president Preethi Padman Surasena and Arjun Obeysekara. They have set the next hearing for December 12 and 13, and ordered Rajapakse and other ministers to appear and explain on whose authority they are acting.

Lawyers for Rajapakse and his ministers called on the court to dismiss the petition on technical grounds that the no-confidence motions had not been properly documented. They also argued that the country would plunge into anarchy if the cabinet were prevented from functioning.

Judge Surasena, however, rejected the argument, saying that the damage that would be caused by allowing a set of persons who are not entitled in law to function as the prime minister or the cabinet of ministers or any other minister would be more harmful. He said the court order was an interim one and not a final determination.

The court decision further undermines the position of Sirisena and Rajapakse in the worsening factional infighting in the Colombo establishment that has now proceeded for more than a month and shows no signs of any compromise or resolution.

Sirisena is engaged in one round of talks after another in a desperate attempt to end the political crisis. Yesterday the president met with UNP leaders for a second time to resolve the deadlock. After the meeting, however, the UNP said the talks failed. The UNP presented Sirisena with the affidavits from 122 MPs calling on him to reappoint Wickremesinghe as prime minister, which he flatly rejected.

In a meeting with TNA leaders yesterday, Sirisena said he would take the necessary action within the next 24 hours to end the political turmoil. Ominously, he said he would summon the countrys national security council and other officials. While he did not elaborate, it is a clear warning that Sirisena is considering the use of the military to impose his rule.

Sirisena is facing another legal challenge to his decisions to prorogue parliament, then dissolve it on November 9. The Supreme Court has temporarily overturned the dissolution and today begins hearing the petition against the presidents proclamation.

Following the appeals court order, Rajapakse immediately issued a statement declaring he did not agree with the judgment. Claiming that constitutional interpretations can only be made by the Supreme Court, Rajapakse said he would appeal to the highest court today, requesting that it stay the interim order restraining him and his ministers.

Rajapakse declared it was more important to be dedicated to the struggle for political stability in the country in the struggle to win a general election. Rajapakse and his allies are calculating that they can win an election, if one is called, by capitalising on the widespread alienation with the previous unity government over its attacks on living conditions.

Addressing a public meeting, a jubilant Wickremesinghe declared that the appeals court order was a victory for the democracy, adding: What we want is to strengthen the democracy and the parliament.

The claims by the rival Wickremesinghe and Rajapakse camps to be defending democracy are utterly bogus. Both have long histories of using police-state measures against working people. Their factional warfare erupted in response to a rising tide of opposition among workers and the poor to the International Monetary Funds austerity program, imposed by successive Colombo governments.

Sirisena broke from then President Rajapakse and ousted him in the 2015 presidential election in a Washington-backed regime-change operation, in league with Wickremesinghe. Sirisena was able to exploit the widespread hostility to the Rajapakse governments autocratic methods of rule, austerity measures and the atrocities committed during the communal war against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

However, the unity government of Sirisena and Wickremesinghe faced mounting opposition as it implemented the same IMF austerity agenda and used the police and military against striking workers and protests by students and the poor. After a landslide defeat in local elections earlier this year, Sirisena distanced himself from Wickremesinghe and then in October joined forces with Rajapakse, whom he had denounced as a dictator in the 2015 election.

The UNP and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) of Sirisena and Rajapakse represent the dominant bourgeois factions that have ruled the country since 1948, using anti-democratic methods and instigating anti-Tamil communalism that led to the devastating 30-year communal war. Whichever faction succeeds in grabbing power will resort to dictatorial forms of rule to suppress the developing mass opposition.

Yesterday, Colombo was in turmoil with protests by workers and youth. Hundreds of temporary workers sacked by the housing ministry defied police and demonstrated to demand their jobs back. A protest by unemployed university graduates was attacked by police. Today, hundreds of thousands of tea plantation workers are due to begin an indefinite strike for higher wages.

The intervention in the political crisis by the Supreme Court, and now the appeals court, is an expression of fears in ruling circles that the flagrant breach of constitutional norms will further fuel the disillusionment among working people in parliament and the entire political establishment. As a result, workers and youth could take a revolutionary direction.

The political crisis in Colombo has been compounded by the escalating confrontation between the US and China, which are both seeking to boost their influence in Colombo and throughout the region. Washington backed the ouster of Rajapakse in 2015 because he was regarded as too close to Beijing and, in the current situation, has lined up with Wickremesinghe. The Trump administration is undoubtedly engaged behind the scenes in undermining Rajapakse and Sirisena.

The working class cannot place any faith in either faction of the ruling class, which is united in its determination to suppress the growing opposition and protests, using whatever means necessary including the military and police. What is necessary is the independent mobilisation of workers, youth and the poor on the basis of an international socialist program to fight for a workers and peasants government. That is the perspective of the Socialist Equality Party.Stock markets around the world rose on Monday following the temporary ceasefire in the US-China trade war announced after the G20 summit meeting over the weekend, with Wall Streets Dow index finishing up almost 300 points.

However, the phrase fog of war comes to mind upon an examination of the statements by the two sides on the outcome of the talks between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. No official statement was signed, and the differences in the accounts of what took place and what was agreed give the appearance that the two leaders were at different meetings.

Both sides claimed progress had been made in the talks, described as highly successful in the US version and very successful in the Chinese account. But after that they diverge considerably, as, in absence of a statement of record, each side puts its own spin on the outcome.

The most important difference centres on the key demand by Washington that China make far-reaching structural changes to its economy in the area of high-tech development, which the US regards as a threat to its dominant economic position.

According to the statement from White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders: President Trump and President Xi have agreed immediately to begin negotiations on structural changes with respect to forced technology transfer, intellectual property protection, non-tariff barriers, cyber intrusions and cyber theft and agriculture. Both parties agree that they will endeavour to have this transaction completed within the next 90 days. If at the end of this period of time, the parties are unable to reach an agreement, the 10 percent tariffs will be raised to 25 percent.

The Chinese statement made no mention of what the US calls structural changes or the raising of the tariff rate after 90 days if an agreement cannot be reached on this issue. It said only that both sides had reached an agreement to step up negotiations toward the removal of all additional tariffs and reach a concrete agreement that would result in win-win results.

The US version of events has at least been partially called into question by Trumps claims in a tweet on Sunday night that the Chinese side had agreed to reduce tariffs on US auto imports. The supposed tariff cut, which boosted the share prices of auto companies, was not mentioned in either the US or Chinese statements on the talks.

Scrambling to explain the claim, Trumps economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the cut was a commitment, not necessarily a trade deal. He added that its stuff that theyre going to look at and presumably implement. Asked about why the auto tariffs were not mentioned in either of the two statements, Kudlow simply denied the fact. I dont agree with that, he said.

There were other divergences. The US statement said China will agree to purchase a not yet agreed upon, but very substantial, amount of agricultural, energy, industrial, and other product from the United States to reduce the trade imbalance, and that China had agreed to start purchasing agricultural product from our farmers immediately.

The Chinese statement said only that China would import more US goods.

There was also a difference on two key political issues. The Chinese statement said Xi had reiterated Chinas stance on the issue of Taiwan and the US side pledged to continue to adhere to the one-China policy. This was not mentioned in the US account.

According to the Chinese statement, Trump had said the US welcomes Chinese students to study in his country. But this was not mentioned in the US version.

This issue is significant because of a growing campaign in the US to brand Chinese students and researchers, especially in high-tech areas, as spies for the Chinese government.

The Chinese statement also included a sentence that points to a major obstacle in the way of any lasting agreement. It said that a concrete agreement featuring mutually beneficial and win-win results is the foundation of any positive moves from the Chinese side directed towards the US side.

In other words, for China to begin to meet US demands, there must be a quid pro quo. But this has already been ruled out from the US side. In the statement setting out its basic position last May, the Trump administration demanded, offering nothing in return, that China take action to wind back its program for industrial and technological development under its Made in China 2025 program, and that it simply accept US tariffs without objection or retaliation.

That position has hardened in the past six months with the imposition of tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods, and restrictions on Chinese high-tech companies wanting to import vital components from US firms, coupled with a campaign by Washington to ensure that its allies do not use the Chinese firm Huawei in the development of 5G phone networks, on security grounds.

As the Financial Times commented, since it is virtually impossible for Xi to implement or even agree to the far-reaching changes to the Chinese economy being demanded by the US, it is almost certain that the trade war will resume with a vengeance by the end of February 2019.

A key indication of the direction of the negotiations in the next 90 days is the decision that US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who, together with White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, is the key hardliner on China, will lead the US negotiating team, rather than Chinas preferred option, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Since May, Lighthizer has de facto been in charge, but Mnuchin, as a cabinet member, has nominally occupied the key position. Mnuchin has been regarded as more in favour of securing increased US exports to China, which Beijing is prepared to accommodate, as opposed to Lighthizer, who insists that the key issue is to prevent Chinese technological development. But Lighthizers appointment appears to have closed any gap that Beijing may have hoped to exploit.

In interviews since the Trump-Xi talks, Mnunchin has insisted there is unity on the US side Theres a 100 percent unanimous view on our economic team that this needs to be a real agreement, he told the Financial Times. There cant be soft commitments from China. There need to be specific dates, specific action times.

In other words, unless the Chinese side takes specific, verifiable measures to meet US demands, above all on so-called structural changes, then tariffs, as well as other possible measures, will be escalated.Watching the migrant caravan edge north through Mexico, I'm reminded of my own family's long, dangerous journey to America in the 1990s. These days, I'm a proud US citizen and a successful business owner  but I'm only here because the United States helped my family escape persecution.

We're from Somalia, where my mother was a bank clerk and my father was a successful food-industry entrepreneur. But when civil war broke out in 1991, my father bundled my pregnant mother and my older brother into a car and fled across the border into Kenya. I was born soon after, and spent the first four years of my life in a Kenyan refugee camp before American Catholic missionaries helped us resettle in Tennessee.

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My earliest memories are of growing up in Nashville, and I've always felt every bit as American as any of my native-born neighbors. That's why President Trump's efforts to close our doors to refugees and asylum seekers is so upsetting. The White House is cutting the refugees we admit to just 30,000 people a year  a third lower than current levels, and a dramatic decline from President Obama's target of 110,000 in 2017. The Trump administration is also implementing new policies that will make it harder for Central Americans to obtain asylum at our country's southern border.

As someone whose family once benefited from America's generosity, I believe that the Trump administration should walk back those policies. Our country must stay true to its core values, and that means reinstating Obama-era refugee quotas, and working to make it easier, not harder, for refugees to gain the help and protection they need.

Besides helping people fleeing persecution, war and gang violence, doing so would also be good for our nation's economic wellbeing. Everywhere refugees go, they work hard, pay taxes and start businesses, supporting local economies and creating countless jobs for native-born Americans. According to New American Economy, 13% of refugees start their own businesses, compared to just 9% of the US-born population; in total, our country now has more than 180,000 refugee entrepreneurs, running businesses that bring in $4.6 billion a year.

Those businesses mean jobs for Americans: Nationwide, immigrants found a quarter of new businesses. It shouldn't surprise us, then, that communities thrive when refugees arrive. In Utica, New York, where 15,000 refugees have settled in recent years, a survey of 300 local residents conducted by Zogby Analytics found that almost three quarters believed immigrants' presence had been a boon for the economy. And research shows that the 16,500 or so refugees living in Columbus, Ohio, have created almost 21,300 jobs, and contribute $1.6 billion to the local economy.

That matches my own family's experience. When we came to America, my father worked 60-hour weeks, putting in back-to-back shifts at multiple factories to put food on the table. He worked so hard that at one point, he collapsed from exhaustion, and we had to stage a family intervention to ask him to give up at least one of his jobs. Even so, he was soon back at work, starting a business selling Somali pastries to local restaurants.

His example motivated me to excel. After interning with Boeing in Seattle, I'm now back in Nashville, where my older brother and I run a small cafe called The Horn Coffee. We're selling the same Somali pastries that my father used to sell to local restaurants, but we're our own bosses.

As we grow, we hope to hire American workers, but for now the whole family pitches in: My mom and my sisters cook pastries, and my father works the register every morning. (We still haven't been able to persuade him to retire.)

To us, the Horn is more than just a neighborhood cafe: It's our little piece of the American dream, and a symbol of how, as a family, we've integrated into our community. We're still Somali, of course, but we're also proudly American, and we're doing our bit to support the local economy as we build a life for ourselves here in Tennessee.

That's good for us, and good for our community. According to NAE, there are almost 8,000 immigrant entrepreneurs in Nashville; across Tennessee, immigrant-owned businesses like The Horn employ more than 57,000 people, and generate $472.5 million in business income.

Nationwide, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, refugees boost government revenue by $63 billion more than they cost the country.

That's a reminder of how much our country stands to lose if we slam the door on the world's refugees. President Trump should give vulnerable and suffering people a fair chance to win asylum in America  not just because it's the ethical thing to do, but because doing so will create jobs and spur economic growth for all Americans.JACKSON, Miss. (WTVA) - Flu season is upon Mississippians, and state health officials are advising people to get a flu shot to help prevent the illness.

Today, December 4, the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) reported its first laboratory-confirmed case of influenza for the 2018-2019 flu season. The case was reported in an adult. A location was not provided.

While flu cases have been diagnosed and treated by healthcare providers throughout the state already this season, this is the first case confirmed in the MSDH Public Health Laboratory, detected through the Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) Sentinel Surveillance System.

Health officials are urging Mississippians to get a flu shot.

The flu shot takes one to two weeks to produce immunity, and flu season usually peaks in January through March in Mississippi, said MSDH Interim State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs.

Dobbs says an estimated 80,000 adults died nationwide last year from the flu.

Those particularly at risk for influenza complications include young children, adults 65 and older, pregnant women, and those with chronic illnesses, Dobbs continued.

Flu symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, muscle and body aches and fatigue.

Although state health officials are urging people to get a flu shot, basic etiquette such as covering the mouth when coughing and sneezing, staying at home when children are sick, and washing hands frequently is recommended.

MORE: Click here for more information about the flu from MSDHJACKSON, Miss. (WTVA) - Several local water associations have been awarded funds to help them better serve their community.

A total of nine awards were granted to Mississippi from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

This includes the following local departments.

City of New Albany - $7.9 million loan and $6.2 million grant will allow the city to construct a new mechanically-based wastewater treatment plant and renovate failing components of the citys existing wastewater treatment system.

Prairie Land Water Association, Columbus - $2.6 million loan and $1.8 million grant to improve public and environmental safety through a system to convey wastewater from three existing subdivisions in Lowndes County to the Golden Triangle Industrial Park wastewater collection system and treatment.

Mount Comfort Water Association, Bruce - $2.9 million loan and $937,000 grant to construct a new water supply well, a 100,000-gallon elevated water storage tank and radio read meters. The project will also entail an expanded distribution area and efforts to address water pressure issues.

Hayes Creek Water Association, Winona - $1.2 million loan to support the construction of a new 300-gallon-per-minute water well with a 10,000-gallon Hydro-Pneumatic tank, treatment equipment, water distribution lines and a generator for the Lodi System.

Bond Water Association, Louisville - $1.4 million loan to support the construction of a new 300-gallon-per-minute water well, install new water distribution lines to replace aged and undersized lines, install new radio read meters, and rehabilitation of two treatment plants.

Others include Marshall County Water Association (Byhalia), Hiwannee Water Association (Waynesboro), City of Moorhead, Fannin Water Association (Brandon).TUPELO, Miss. (WTVA) - A Mooreville man is serving 10 years in prison in connection with a DUI accident resulting in injuries.

Ronald Yoe, 62, entered a guilty plea to one count of aggravated DUI and two counts of felony DUI on October 31.

A judge sentenced him to 10 years in prison and five years probation.

Yoe was driving when his vehicle collided head-on with another car in Lee County in December 2016.

He was arrested three times on DUI charges after indictments were handed down earlier this year.

Yoe is currently in custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.JACKSON, Miss. (WTVA) - Mississippians can use a valuable tool to help prevent themselves from becoming victims of charity fraud.

People who will donate to those in need this holiday season can research critical financial and other information about charities on the Secretary of States website.

MORE: Click here for the Secretary of State's website

Our citizens are the most giving in the nation, and many choose to donate this time of year, said Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann.

Consumer organizations recommend at least 65 percent of a charitys total expenses be spent on program activities directly related to the charitys purpose.

Charities soliciting funds in Mississippi must be registered with the Secretary of States Office.

Each year, the agency publishes a report that outlines the financial information of charities registered in the state, including the percentage of charitable funds actually spent by a charity for its charitable purpose.

MORE: Click here for the reportIUKA, Miss. (WTVA) - Mississippi School Superintendent Dr. Carey Wright visited north Mississippi school districts that scored an "A" on the state's accountability system.

As part of the 3rd annual "Celebration of Excellence" tour, Wright and other officials from the Mississippi Department of Education stopped by the North Tippah Consolidated School District, Tishomingo County Special Municipal Separate School District and the Booneville School District on Monday to thank teachers and students for their hard work.

"This is the first time [the Tishomingo County Special Municipal Separate School District] has been honored this way," Wright said. "There are only 18 school districts in the state of Mississippi that earned an "A" and Tishomingo is one of them. I am here to pat them on the back and tell them job well done and just to enjoy the excitement."

Ratings are based on several factors including levels of proficiency and progress on tested subjects on the Mississippi Academic Assessment Program.

Mississippi's school grading system is designed to inform parents and communities how well their schools and districts are educating students, Wright said.

In addition to an increase in school districts earning an "A", the number of schools earning an "A" also rose from 114 in 2016-17 to 181 in 2017-18.

"It takes hard work and commitment by administrators, teachers, parents and community members to ensure that students receive a high-quality education," Wright said. "I look forward to visiting school districts each year to join in celebrating their accomplishments. As schools across the state improve, our students reap the rewards of an education that better prepares them to achieve their goals."

Wright, as well as other officials from the MDE, will visit the Union County School District and Pontotoc City School District on Tuesday.Country

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United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of ZimbabweA leftist commentator accuses the government of trying to annihilate those intellectuals whose opinions differ from its own. A pro-government columnist, on the other hand believes that the kind of open society the Central University advocates has no place in Hungary.

In a press release on Monday, the CEU announced that it will move its US degree courses from Budapest to Vienna as the government has not signed a draft agreement with New York State that would allow the CEU to continue to offer US accredited degrees in Budapest.

The law requiring foreign universities to run courses in their own country before doing so in Hungary was passed in April 2017. The CEU runs two non-degree courses in New York State which has accredited those courses and was ready to sign an agreement with the Hungarian Government as required by the new law.

Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto) has argued on behalf of the government that the two CEU courses at Bard College do not amount to a true university. CEU gave the government until December 1st to sign the draft agreement, or it would move the US-accredited courses to Vienna.

On Merce Kata Amon, a pro-homeless activist and a doctoral political science student at CEU reads the governments behaviour as proof that the governing forces want to educate a new generation of intellectuals who either support the government or confine their quest to apolitical and technical matters.

She also deplores those opponents of the government who describe the governing forces as barbarians. She thinks the opposition has still not realized what makes their opponents hate them and their ideas. That should be studied and understood before they can find a solution, Amon writes.

On Pesti Sracok, a columnist who writes under the pen-name Paranoid Android describes the CEU as a factory that produces so-called progressives who deny what unites Hungarians and who propagate an interpretation of human genders which would doom mankind to extinction.

He concludes that there is no room in Hungary for the CEU and the ideology it stands for, under the name open society.The Hungarian government recently submitted a bill that would ban demonstrations at many important, symbolic locations in Budapest and would only permit events organized by the government. For years, the most important protests have been held at these symbolic locations and at public holidays.

The downtown area is the most relevant for protests, as the majority of them take place at these venues.

This is the main point of the amendment: Kossuth Square, the central location for political protests, and its surrounding area would be denied to protesters on every single public holiday.

Besides that there will be other important locations affected: no protests can take place at the bank of the Danube on August 20.

The National Museum and its surrounding streets will be off limits on March 15; and on October 23, the Muegyetem Quay, where the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 started, will also be closed for protesters.

June 16 is a remembrance day of the anniversary of the reburial of Imre Nagy who was a leader of the revolution of 1956. On this day only government-organized events will be allowed on Heroes Square, where the re-burial took place in 1989.

It is important to note that, according to the amendment, protests would not only be banned at these locations when the state is organizing an event at the particular location. Even if there is no government event planned and the entire area is empty, demonstrations independent of the government will be still prohibited.

There are 23 public holidays and remembrance days in Hungary, and the amendment intends to ban protests on all these days on Kossuth Square, that is, in front of the Parliament.

In addition, from the first Sunday of Advent until January 6 the government organizes a series of events called Christmas of Hungary on Kossuth Square, thus these days would be also banned for anyone else who wants to organize a protest there.

This means that the most important square for political protests is off limits for demonstrators for 50 days every year - that is, one-sixth of a year.

Moreover, the streets surrounding Kossuth Square could not be used for protests on the most important Hungarian holidays: March 15, June 4, August 20, October 6 and October 22-23.

These bans would have a very strong effect on the possibility to protest in the entire country, as Kossuth Square is the most important a popular place for demonstrators to express their displeasure with government policies.

A recent analysis showed that 3237 requests for protest permits were submitted to the police in the past 2.5 years (between November 2015 and July 2018), and approximately two-thirds of these were organized in Budapest (1937 protest). Kossuth Square was the location for 164 protests in this period. In other words: there was a protest in front of Parliament every week.

42 out of the 164 protests in Kossuth Square were organized on public holidays or remembrance days, therefore, had the current amendment been in effect, one-fourth of all protests could not have been held.

If we look at all the protests in Budapest in the given period, we see that out of the 1937 demonstrations in the past 2.5 years, 77 could not have taken place under the new rules.

This seems to be a small number, but the organizers of these 77 gatherings expected 98,000 people to participate. Prohibiting this amount of people to remember a historical event or to express their opinion regarding current issues is extremely consequential.



Chaos Expected at the Local Government Level

The amendment authorizes all local governments to create more, locally effective bans. Regarding Budapest, it means that the city municipality and all Budapest district municipalities will have the right  and incentives  to create more protest bans for even more locations and more days.

Regarding the towns and villages, this authorization can be detrimental beyond expectations, as by prohibiting demonstrations on just one or two important streets, freedom of assembly can be practically eliminated.

Local governments will have the right to permit only the events that are favorable to them, and they can ban all other events.



Legal Problems with the Amendment

There are several legal problems with the proposed amendment. First of all, it undermines freedom of assembly. The European Convention of Human Rights states that No restrictions shall be placed on the exercise of these rights (i.e. Freedom of assembly and association) other than such as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety (Section 1, Article 11). The amendment would ban protests without reasons and discretion which is against the Convention.

Another legal problem with the amendment is that it would place a specific group of people  the political opposition, non-governmental organizations and ordinary citizens  into a very disadvantaged position.

If it comes into force, opposition parties or civil organizations will not have the opportunity to gather at the most significant locations for commemorating national events.

They would have to gather at insignificant locations, or they would have to gather before or after the holidays. It is a major practical and symbolic disadvantage to their conventions. Legally speaking, the amendment is disproportionately restraining and discriminative towards everyone who is not a government supporter.

There are numerous technical problems with the proposed amendment as well. Street names are misspelled or unofficial versions are used in the text  these can be considered spelling mistakes. The amendment would prohibit gatherings in some streets and areas for all 24 hours of specific days, then later in the text, it would ban gathering for the same streets for the morning hours only  these are logical mistakes.

Both types of mistake show that the amendment was created too quickly and without much consideration. In its current state, it cannot be interpreted unambiguously, which seriously harms legal certainty.

Another relevant legal problem is the issue of remembrance days, as they are established by parliamentary or governmental decrees, not by law. Such decrees can be declared after a short and simple process, they have a lot fewer guarantees than a law, and they are usually uninteresting for the public opinion.

In practice, this means that the government could declare a new remembrance day any time, e.g. a week before a planned major protest at a symbolic location. The new remembrance day would not be necessarily noticed by the public, but it would effectively prohibit the protest.

The right to assemble is a basic human right that can only be limited by law, not by government decrees. Thus, the proposed amendment contradicts this, and the Fundamental Law of Hungary (Article VIII (1): Everyone shall have the right to peaceful assembly.).



What Can Be Expected in the Near Future?

The proposed amendment was debated in the Parliament on November 21, and it can be voted upon on December 10-11 to be a law. The rules will be effective starting May 1, 2019.

The legality of the amendment will surely be challenged before the Constitutional Court of Hungary and the European Court of Human Rights. These bodies may override the restrictive provisions of the law.

This opinion does not necessarily represent the views of XpatLoop.com or the publisher. Your opinions are welcome too - for editorial review before possible publication online.

Click here to Share Your Story



MTI Photo: Marjai JanosAddressing a joint press conference with his Croatian counterpart Andrej Plenkovic in Zagreb, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he could not name any economic issue that was more important than the 800 years of friendship shared by Hungary and Croatia.

Orban, who is on his first visit to Croatia in seven years, said after talks with Plenkovic that the lack of energy that currently characterises Hungarian-Croatian ties was unnatural.

He said he had arrived in Croatia to help put bilateral relations back on the right track. The thorn must be removed from beneath the nail, and then everything will be alright, Orban said. This is what we would like.

Orban said he and Plenkovic had made progress in their talks on the two countries ties both in their private meeting and the plenary meeting between their delegations. We have common ground in terms of a historical perspective, Orban said.

We want a strong Europe, we want to strengthen cooperation among European nations and wed be happy to see Croatia join the Schengen zone as soon as possible, because this too will strengthen Europe. Further, both sides see bilateral economic cooperation as excellent, Orban said.

Bilateral trade turnover is constantly rising, as is the number of Hungarian investments in Croatia and more and more Hungarian tourists are visiting the country, he said.

The prime minister also said Croatian and Hungarian minority groups both enjoy living in each others countries. Hungarians living in Croatia are content with their government and speak respectfully about Croatia and Croats living in Hungary are also enjoying the strongest support they have seen from Budapest in a long time, Orban said.

Asked about the dispute surrounding Hungarian oil and gas company MOL and Croatian energy company INA, Orban said that if Croats and Hungarians were incapable of working together on a business matter, then they should not, and Croatia should buy back INA.

MOL holds just under half of INAs shares but has management rights in the company. The other big stakeholder is the state of Croatia. The sides have long been at odds over INAs strategy.

Asked about the case of MOL President-CEO Zsolt Hernadi, for whom there is an international arrest warrant in place, Orban said Hungary considered the case a legal matter.

Politics never gets involved in legal matters in our country, he added. Justice must take its own course according to its own logic, the prime minister said. Orban said he would not make any backroom deals regarding any legal matter and that he insisted on the separation of international political relations and legal matters.

On the topic of the LNG terminal under construction in Croatia, Orban said the role of natural gas was declining in Hungarys energy mix, as Hungary is busy expanding its nuclear plant and building solar farms.

However, given that it will take years before these new energy sources are ready to be tapped, natural gas will remain important, Orban said, adding that price was the key when it came to gas supply. The cheapest way for Hungary to get gas is to import it from Russia, he said.

The second cheapest option is Romania, followed by Slovakia and Croatia is only the fourth cheapest, he added. This is a matter of price for us, the prime minister said. If we can find a business model that presents Hungary with an acceptable price, we will cooperate.

Plenkovic said Orbans visit would play an important role in advancing the two countries relations. Annual bilateral trade turnover is at 2 billion euros, he said, adding that some 600,000 Hungarian tourists have visited Croatia this year. On the topic of the MOL-INA dispute, Plenkovic said the issue had been making bilateral ties difficult for ten years now.

Both governments want to settle the dispute, Plenkovic said, adding that it was important not to let the issue continue to affect bilateral ties. In response to a question, Plenkovic said the Croatian government still intended to buy out MOLs stake in INA, but it was all a question of price. But until then  the aim is for both companies to function well.



MTI Photo: Koszticsak SzilardAt the end of November and the beginning of December the Hungarian postal services sends innumerable packages abroad, as Hungarian families all over the world love to receive and decorate the Christmas tree with 'szaloncukor' - a traditional Hungarian candy.

Practically every Hungarian family puts up a Christmas tree these days. This custom was adopted from Hungarians of German descent at the beginning of the 19th century.

In the early days it was only the aristocrats who could afford a Christmas tree  one of the oldest records describes the richly decorated fir tree belonging to the Duchess Therese Brunswick (17751861), allegedly Beethovens immortal beloved.

Later on, wealthy middle-class families also started putting up fir trees in their reception rooms, until even the poorest families celebrated the festival  even if it was only with a green branch.

Many favor glittering glass baubles, others hang chocolate figures from the branches, some like straw and paper adornments, while those with poorest families celebrated the festival  even if it was only with a green branch.

Tree decorations are a matter of personal taste of course. Many families favour glittering glass baubles, others hang chocolate figures from the branches, some like straw and paper adornments, while those with a sense of tradition prefer folksy trimmings  shiny, rosy-cheeked apples, gilded walnuts, and snow-white garlands of popcorn.

One thing every tree has, of course, is candles  whether the traditional wax kind or the modern electrical varien. However, a genuine Hungarian Christmas tree would be incomplete without the szaloncukor.



Szaloncukor

This most indispensable of tree decorations is a traditional candy made from fondant or another sweetmeat. It is wrapped first in white tissue paper with fringed ends and then a layer of shiny aluminum foil, which glimmers in a multitude of colors.

Even though the saying the tailor makes the man is perhaps no longer relevant, it certainly still applies one hundred percent to the tree candy  the wrapping is the crucial part.

The entire Hungarian population was shaken when in the 1990s a large chocolate factory launched a szaloncukor wrapped not in tissue paper but in aluminum foil with fringed ends and a design printed on it. Szaloncukor is seasonal product with a short life.

In the run-up to Christmas the stores are filled with huge mountains of candy boxes  after the holidays even the finest, most expensive tree candies are sold at knockdown prices or simply donated to charitable causes.

They can no longer be sold, even though the statistics stand testimony to the simply lavish consumption of tree candies, with every Hungarian munching his way through over a pound of tree decorations on average each year.

How this confectionery came to be the most important accessory of the Hungarian Christmas tree can only be a matter for pure conjecture. The name szaloncukor or drawing-room sugar derives perhaps from the fact that the Christmas tree always stood in the drawing-room, the most luxurious room in the houses of the nobility and middle-classes.

Or the name may have originated because the term tree candy dates back to a sweetmeat offered in the reception rooms of noble houses. It may perhaps also have been given this name due to the connotations of elegance and selectness associated with the term drawing-room.

Even a century ago, the apprentice confectioners would work around the clock in the run-up to Christmas. They would fringe thousands of tissue paper wrappers, so that there were sufficient in the different colors and flavors of the various tree candies chosen by customers.

Up to a few decades ago, szaloncukor were made exclusively from fondant; later on they were coated in chocolate and later still filled or even made from marzipan.

Nowadays, the traditional, glittering wrapper conceals innumerable different flavors, although the jelly-filled szaloncukor is perhaps the most popular. In former times, each individual candy would be hung from the tree with wool or twine, but now they are simply suspended from thin wire hooks.

The Christmas tree must not be stripped until after Twelfth Night, January 6. Although the paper wrappers of the tree candy are perfectly intact, you will be lucky to find anything left in them to eat. The ability to remove the tempting confectionery from its wrapper without leaving any sign of tampering or damaging the aluminum foil is a skill acquired at an early age by this nation of candy-lovers and perfected until late on in life.



MTI Photo: Varga Gyorgy / Mohai Balazs / Mathe Zoltan / H. Szabo Sandor

Source: It's Hungarian, republished with permissionIt took a long journey before Egyptian-Austrian director Abu Bakr Shawky managed to bring his unconventional road movie Yomeddine, which is Egypts candidate for the foreign-language Oscar, to the big screen.

This ultimately uplifting drama in which a middle-aged man raised in a leper colony embarks with a sidekick and a donkey on a journey across Egypt to try to reconnect with his family was tough to finance and shoot. But Shawky and producer Dina Emams efforts paid off handsomely in May when Yomeddine world-premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, a rare case of a first feature making the fests official competition cut. Shawky, who is an NYU Film School graduate and the recipient of Varietys MENA Talent of the Year Award, spoke to Variety during the Cairo Film Festival about the impressive progression of his unique labor of love and how he chose, and worked with, its non-professional protagonists.

The initial building block of Yomeddine is your documentary The Colony. How did you intersect with the leper colony?

I had heard about the colony when I was in high school through charity stuff they were doing. I knew that there was this weird place out there somewhere and I always thought that I wanted to make a film about it. When we got a chance to do that documentary, it ended up being a really short, question and answer interview kind of thing but I heard stories such as: I was left here as a child and I never heard from my family again. And I thought: there is a road movie in there somewhere.

Was Rady Gamal, who is so powerful as the central character in Yomeddine, among those you interviewed then?

No, he wasnt part of the original documentary. I didnt meet him until later, when I wrote the film. But when I went back again to cast he was the first person I met. I knew he was the right guy, but I was a little worried because you shouldt cast the first person that walks through the door. I thought he was amazing, but I kept meeting other people just to make sure that my instinct was right. And I found myself always going back to him because he was such a great presence: he was funny; he understood the story. It was almost as though he had lived the story [which I had written] in real life.

Story continues

Most of the cast are non professional actors. How was this aspect for you, especially as a first-time director?

It was definitely challenging and a big risk. Being my first film I didnt have much experience with any type of actors. We had a discussion at one point: what if we hire a professional actor who is a celebrity, put him in makeup? Obviously that could have helped the film in terms of funding and, later, for the release. But when we found Rady, it was clear that wouldnt work. It would just have been a different film.

Ahmed Abdelhafiz, the young boy who plays the protagonists sidekick, is another impressive newcomer.

The same thing with Ahmed. I did some casting for a little boy, but I just couldnt find anyone [else]. He was the one that I felt: he just has that spirit. So we spent a very long time preparing; getting to know each other. Until we got to a point where I felt this could work. But then, you never really know if its going to work or not until you start shooting. Initially the plan was that at the start we just do on-the-road stuff. A lot of B-roll. Like driving a cart, I wanted him to ease into it. But then we had some scheduling issues, and we had to start with the big scenes like the orphanage scene. I was nervous about that because I had not had a chance to ease them into it. That was a make-or-break day for the film. But as soon as we started rolling it was clear it was going to work, because they were just so great!

From a production standpoint, how did you get Yomeddine financed and made?

The whole thing took five years. I had the idea 10 years ago, but then I didnt start writing it until my last year at NYU. Then I moved back to Egypt, and the whole funding process was very long and arduous. There were all these factors: my first film; the producers first film; non-actors; Egypt; foreign-language; road movie; leprosy. Even after we shot it, it was still difficult. Because people still couldnt really see it. We found an amazing editor, who did a great job, and then it took us a really long time to find the money for post-production.

Then what happened?

Dina Emam, who is the producer [and also his wife] basically went to [the] El Gouna [film festival] hoping to raise the money for post. We won a small award for post there and [producer] Mohamed Hefzy saw it there. She got to know him, then when were back in Cairo he agreed to finance those and become a part of the project. And he helped with the whole festival thing.

The rest, as they say, is history

Cannes was a huge turning point for us. It breathed life back into the film. Without the help of [Hefzys] Film Clinic and Wild Bunch, it would not have happened. After Cannes there was a lot of buzz, but then again people in Egypt are not really interested in festival films, there is a stigma against them. I think people here expected a film about misery that shows Egypt in a bad light and has non-actors, and is probably really dark and really sad. But then I think they were pleasantly surprised, because when we got into theaters at the end of October we were expecting to last a week but we stayed on screens for six or seven weeks. For a film of this size its been a great run.

How has all this impacted Radys life?

Hes still in the leper colony. Hes still operating his small cafeteria. But hes more of a celebrity now. Things have changed for him. Hes kind of an iconic face here. People know him. People recognize him. I think whats changed is people shake his hand. He recently said something to me like: people didnt use to look at me before; now they actually stop me and shake my hand! It feels good that hes able to be recognized that way. You should have seen him in Tunisia. He was walking down the main street, and people would stop him, take pictures of him, and things like that. Its interesting. He will also be in Marrakech. Also financially things have changed for him.

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Subscribe to Variety Newsletters and Email Alerts!Man Loses Bid to Legally Change His Age from 69 to 49 in Effort to Boost Tinder Profile Man Loses Bid to Legally Change His Age From 69 to 49

While he might feel like a younger man, Emile Ratelband wont be able to legally say he is one.

Ratelband, a 69-year-old self-help guru from the Netherlands, sparked a court battle last month in an effort switch his birth year from 1949 to 1969, effectively making himself 20 years younger  on paper, at least.

I have done a [doctors] check-up and what does it show? Ratelband, defending his reasoning, said in an interview with The Telegraph. My biological age is 45 years.

But feeling like a man 20 years his junior wasnt enough for Ratelband, since he believed he could find more opportunities as an actual 49-year-old.

When Im 69, I am limited, he told the news outlet, adding that he is a frequent victim of age-based discrimination. If Im 49, then I can buy a new house, drive a different car. I can take up more work.

But these challenges arent just limited to what he could purchase or where he could work, Ratelband said, it also affected his love life. If he would be able to say he was 20 years younger, it might help him get more attention from women.

When Im on Tinder and it says Im 69, I dont get an answer, Ratelband, not-so-humbly, explained. When Im 49, with the face I have, I will be in a luxurious position.

69-year-old Emile Ratelband

As the Washington Post explained, Ratelband has cultivated a reputation for being a provocateur, and many believed his court battle was nothing but a stunt to bring attention to his social media account and lifestyle business. In an interview, Ratelband told the newspaper that those accusations were simply B.S., and that his fight was similar to that of people who want to legally change their gender.

But a court in Arnhem, a city in the Dutch province of Gelderland, rejected Ratelbands argument based on other laws that are founded on age, such the rules that designate when someone is old enough to vote.

Mr. Ratelband is at liberty to feel 20 years younger than his real age and to act accordingly, the court said in a statement Monday, according to the New York Post. But amending his date of birth would cause 20 years of records to vanish from the register of births, deaths, marriages and registered partnerships. This would have a variety of undesirable legal and societal implications.

Story continues

RELATED: On Her 100th Birthday, Woman Shares Her Secret to Longevity: Wine

The court continued: There are other alternatives available for challenging age discrimination, rather than amending a persons date of birth.

Despite the courts decision, Ratelband remained animated about continuing his battle.

This is great! he told reporters. The rejection of [the] court is great because they give all kinds of angles where we can connect when we go in appeal.Police Find a Body After American Woman Goes Missing in Costa Rica on Her Birthday

Officials in Costa Rica have found a body outside the Airbnb rental where a missing Florida woman had been staying while vacationing in San Jose for her birthday.

Walter Espinoza, a spokesman for Costa Ricas government explained in a press conference, which has been translated from Spanish, according to TheMiami Herald, that a womans body was found wrapped in plastic, buried in the back of the vacation property.

Despite the bodys close proximity to the missing womans Airbnb, authorities cannot confirm that it is the body of missing woman Carla Stefaniak, 36, as its badly decomposed.

We cannot yet confirm that it is the body of Carla Stefaniak, Espinoza said The Herald reported. Once we get the autopsy results we can provide more details.

Espinoza also said in the press conference that blood was discovered inside the rental and has since been transported to a lab for testing, ABC Action News reports.

Stefaniak, who was traveling with her sister-in-law April Burton, was last seen on Nov. 27, just one day before her birthday.

Carla Stefaniak

Stefaniak, from Tampa, was expected to return home to Hallandale Beach on Wednesday, but her family grew worried after she didnt make it back. While the birthday girl checked into her flight she never got on the plane.

Prior to her disappearance, Stefaniak brought Burton, who had to cut her time in Costa Rica short due to an obligation back home, to the airport, according to Fox 13 Tampa Bay.

It was her birthday, and it makes me feel really bad. I do feel guilty because I left early, Burton told the outlet.

After being dropped off, Burton says she and her sister-in-law texted until late in the night.

She explained on Facebook that after the airport, Stefaniak returned her rental car and took an Uber back to her Airbnb.

RELATED: Mich. Man Kidnapped Young Mom From Her Gas Station Job and Murdered Her in Torture Sanctuary

Story continues

The Uber driver waited for her for approximately 50 minutes before taking her for tour around San Jose. She arrived back to her Airbnb between 4 and 5 tour around San Jose, Stefaniak wrote. Last time we heard from her was on 11/27 around 8 p.m. when she said it was raining crazy and the power went out.

Burton also said that Stefaniak texted her and said the Airbnb was pretty sketchy. Shes also had no online or social media presence since that night and hasnt responded to any of her friends birthday wishes, leaving her family to believe she was kidnapped.

We just know she has been abducted, Burton told WFLA-TV. There is no reason for her not to have any contact with anyone. It has been five days, Burton explained.

In hopes of finding answers, Stefaniaks brother Carlos Caicedo has traveled to Costa Rica where he visited the Airbnb.

Carla Stefaniak

 Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.

She went there the night before and left at 5 a.m., Caicedo told WFLA-TV, explaining what he claims the guards of the property told him.

Everything is gone. She left with everything on hand, Caicedo added.

According to Fox 13, the owner of the Airbnb also told the family that Stefaniak was seen getting into an Uber with her luggage early Wednesday morning.

However, given that her flight wasnt until 1 p.m. Stefaniaks family finds it hard to believe that she was heading to the airport that early.

None of us really believe this 5 a.m. story because it really doesnt make sense, Burton told Fox 13. We know she was abducted.

The investigation is still ongoing at this time.

The family has also created a GoFundMe in order to raise funds for their travels to Costa Rica to find Stefaniak.Cult Filipino director, Mikhail Red (Birdshot) has revealed details of his upcoming projects. After Eerie, Red is reuniting with the Philippines studio Star Cinema for zombie film Block Z.

For Globe Studios, Philippines, Red will direct youth film Dead Kids Its a true story about students who kidnap their fellow classmates, Red told Variety.

Red will also direct an international mini-series with fantasy and action elements, details of which will be announced later.

Reds Eerie, a horror film set within the confines of an exclusive convent school, had its world premiere on Monday at the Singapore International Film Festival. Eerie will release in the Philippines in the first quarter of 2019.

Hitherto used to working within indie set ups, Eerie is the first time that Red worked with a major Philippines studio. (The film also owes something to the Singapore Media Festival: Eerie, was a 2017 finalist at last years SAFF Project Market.)

At a discussion about the film ahead of the films premiere, Red said that working with a studio was an easier process as they have systems in place. The crews experience of working on independent films meant that they brought those efficiencies to the production.

The cast includes veteran Charos Santos-Concio, Bea Alonzo and Jake Cuenca. Santos-Concio, who debuted with 1977 horror title The Rites Of May, plays the role of the schools head, the Mother Superior, in Eerie. She is also the chief content officer at ABS-CBN, the largest media conglomerate in the Philippines. My years of leadership in a network helped me, as I run an institution in the film, Santos-Concio said.

Red is the son of Raymond Red, a towering figure in Philippines alternative cinema. I like to think that Im really different from my father, said Mikhail Red. The way I approach film making is more modern in a way. He does retro films, he does silent films, he does black and white Super 8 films, and I like to experiment more with genres.

Story continues

The Philippines is the focus country at this years Singapore Media Festival. Speaking about the current state of the industry in the Philippines, Santos-Concio said, There is lot of growth now in the independent scene, with the introduction of different digital platforms. There are a lot more opportunities for artists to make their voices heard. Yes, there is always mainstream film making, but I am happy to know that films now are becoming a fusion of commercial and art.

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Subscribe to Variety Newsletters and Email Alerts!Supporters of criminal justice reform frustrated with McConnell's handling of bill originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

The White House and outside supporters of the Senate criminal justice reform bill have grown increasingly frustrated with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnells handling of the legislation, multiple sources familiar with the matter inside and outside the administration tell ABC News.

McConnell, R-Kentucky, according to the sources, had previously pledged to put the bill on the floor if it could be demonstrated that there would be 60 votes for the measure, but he has since called for finding greater consensus within the Republican conference, instead, something supporters say is a higher bar.

One supporter recalled McConnell reassuring the bills backers before the midterms that he would bring the bill to the floor after the midterm election.

Look were not doing it before, were doing it after and youre likely to get the outcome you want because the votes are there, the source, who spoke on the condition on anonymity, recalls McConnell saying in a meeting before the election.

PHOTO: President Donald Trump invites Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, right, onstage as he speaks at a rally at Alumni Coliseum in Richmond, Ky., Oct. 13, 2018. (Andrew Harnik/AP)

Theres frustration, the source said, contending that there is already enough support within the conference for the bill to pass the bill in the Senate.

Jessica Jackson Sloan, the co-founder of the pro-criminal justice reform group Cut 50 that has been pushing the legislation, blamed outspoken opponents to the bill, like Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., for holding the bill hostage.

A very small and vocal group of senators are obstructing us from being able to get a vote and causing McConnell to move the goal posts, Jessica Jackson Sloan of pro-criminal justice reform group Cut 50.

One supporter noted that, in spite of the frustrations, there is also a sense that McConnell is coming around to taking the legislation seriously and looking ahead to where the legislation could fit into the calendar, advising senators that they may need to be prepared to stick around past December 20 to deal with judicial nominations and criminal justice reform.

Story continues

An administration source familiar contended that McConnell has been completely consistent throughout the process and suggested that the bills sponsors are actually upset because theres less support within the conference than the co-sponsors had forecasted.

PHOTO: White House senior adviser Jared Kushner speaks during an event on prison reform in the East Room of the White House, May 18, 2018, in Washington. (Susan Walsh/AP)

Contacted for comment by ABC News, McConnells deputy chief of staff Don Stewart said, Senators are reviewing the legislation and suggesting changes.

McConnell reiterated last week that he remains committed to carrying out a whip count to gauge GOP support.

"We'll be whipping that to see whether what the consensus is, if there is a consensus, in our conference about not only the substance but the timing of moving forward with that particular piece of legislation, McConnell said last week about the bill known as the First Step Act.

That same day, Jared Kushner and Vice President Mike Pence were on Capitol Hill to personally lobby Republican senators during their weekly conference lunch. Kushner is a primary supporter of the bill. Aides in the room say there was also an intense session with opponents voicing their concerns.

President Trump endorses major prison, sentencing reform legislation

President Trump urges Mitch McConnell to pass criminal justice reform bill during lame duck session

The core of conservative Republicans have said they are deeply concerned that the bill could result in the release of dangerous criminals and drug traffickers, something supporters of the bill counter is a false argument since the legislation is geared toward non-violent offenders.

The frustrations come as potential changes to the bill are being circulated by the administration, according to two administration officials, with an eye toward garnering greater support among those conservatives who could slow down any vote on the measure, as well as sheriffs who have come out to publicly state their points of opposition to the bill, administration sources and outside supporters said.

Sen. John Cornyn, R  Tex., who is a leading advocate for the criminal justice reform in the Senate, told Hugh Hewitt that there are considerations about how to make the bill more palatable to the sheriffs and acknowledged the clock is running out.

The Sheriffs Association has pointed out five issues where they believe there should be some exclusions to the early release portions based on good time earned. And were still talking about it. I dont know if we have enough time to get this thing done. Its going to take unanimous consent, and as I said at the outset, we dont have much time.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley denied that an alternative version of the legislation is being circulated.

"The President has endorsed the Senate compromise on the First Step Act, and the White House is not circulating any other version. All reporting to the contrary is false. The White House is committed to passing this legislation in the lame duck." Gidley said in a statement.

Some supporters of the bill accused McConnell of letting the president hang out to dry after he came out in public support for the bill earlier this month.

"Today I'm thrilled to announce my support for this bipartisan bill that will make our communities safer, and give former inmates a second chance at life after they served their time," the president said in announcing his endorsement for the legislations from the White House in mid-November.

Should the bill not be considered during the lame duck session, its not clear how the bill will fare in a new Congress with new political factions, including a Senate that is more conservative and A House THAT will be more liberal, with a new set of legislative priorities likely to overshadow the criminal justice reform bill. And with the death of President George H.W. Bush over the weekend interrupting the normal course of Congressional business as the nation pauses to mourn, the timetable for getting this presidential priority accomplished has shrunk even further.

ABC News' Trish Turner contributed reporting.Canyon Ranch Takeover

Surprising your spouse with a gym membership is one of the best ways to start divorce proceedings. But this gift from Canyon Rancha three-day buyout of the entire Tucson resort for you and up to 249 of your closest friendsis impossible to get mad about. The famed wellness retreat isnt just a place to drop a few pounds: Its a way to get totally rewired for the New Year, with stress-relief and sleep programs, nutritional education, and spa treatments in addition to the usual fitness classes and sports. Youll have the run of the house, with a team of doctors, trainers, and therapists at the ready to manage your health needs. And youll call the shots at the restaurant, too, regulating how decadent (or not) the cuisine is and how heavy (or not) the pours of wine. Odds are youll end up calmer and leaner by the end of itnot that your spouse thought you needed to or anything. The package starts at $750,000. Jackie Caradonio

Marble Dumbbells

Your abs may never be rock hard, but at least your weights can be. French designer Mathieu Lehanneurs limited-edition Take It Heavy marble dumbbells ($2,500) are so good-looking that if your enthusiasm for working out should ever wane, you might be tempted to display them as works of art. Jackie Cardonio

Peloton Tread

Time to unclip those cleats and lace up your trainers; your favorite piece of gym equipment has a mate. Pelotonmaker of the high-tech stationary cycle with a cult-like followinghas debuted a new way to sweat out your holiday sins with the Peloton Tread. Like its two-wheeled predecessor, the sleek treadmill comes with a touchscreen for live-streaming classes. Unlike the original, the new machine has a variety of fitness functions, including settings for circuit workouts that combine strength training with sprints and hills. Prices start at $3,995. Jackie Caradonio

Amans Unguents

What do you do when your favorite hotel brand launches a skin-care collection? If that hotel brand is Aman, you get straight to grooming. The cult label has launched 30 products, from face creams to pulse-point remedies, that use the native ingredients found at resorts like Bhutans Amankora (sea-buckthorn oil) and Balis Amandari (vetiver). But as good as they smell, they look even better: The slick black bottles designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma will stand proud amongst the other goods in your medicine cabinet. Jackie Cardonio

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La Prairies Platinum Rare Cellular Night Elixir

I dont know how much more is left of the shimmery new serum that sits atop my vanity in its faceted amethyst jar, but I do know theres pretty much nothing I want more than another jar of it.

The serum, the Platinum Rare Cellular Night Elixir is this years addition to the Platinum Rare collection by Swiss brand La Prairie. As magical and mysterious as a night elixir sounds, straight science backs this anti-aging fluid. It packs in the highest concentration of the brands signature and proprietary cellular complex (a formula executed in three parts by separate labs, so no one can divulge the secret), as well as high percentages of one of skincares miracle ingredients  hyaluronic acid, which binds to water molecules to retain moisture, keeping skin looking luscious and hydrated. (Hyaluronic acid is also the key ingredient in skin-plumping filler Restylane, by the way.) That cellular complex, according to Dr. Daniel Stangl, the director of innovation and a research scientist at La Prairie, contains the gold (or platinum) standards for rebuilding new skin cells, collagen, and elastin, as well as helps to increase protection against oxidation and inflammation and to rebalance the proteins in skin cells that are aging, pushing out the malfunctioning ones and nourishing the newly born.

As we age, our skin cells grow tired and make mistakes. If youre at an age where you need this serum, you can relate. Over time, exposure to UV light and environmental toxins damage our mitochondria (the little batteries that power a cell) and proteins inside the cell, and if the cell doesnt expel those damaged bits, the cell dies. That whole process slows as we age, but a strain of yeast in this serum helps to support the cell. All of this combines to help skin cells proliferate, minus the errors of aging replication. Dermatologists refer to this as senescence, says Dr. Mary Sheu of Johns Hopkins Medicine. Cells can divide only a certain number of times before they tire out. They cant divide as rapidly and become less organized when they do.

She also says that one of the key changes that happen as we age is that collagen production sharply decreases and its breakdown increases, meaning we need to give our skin cells a boost to produce more collagen.

Stangl calls the Platinum Rare Cellular Night Elixir a Rolls Royce  it has all the best stuff in there, he says, and it has a proven efficacy in cellular renewal. In clinical trials participants noticed changes in skinrefined texture, a refreshed and dewy look, and softened wrinklesafter just one application. That sort of immediate response always seems suspect to methat dash of hope we have in a new offering that promises what we most want to hear. More telling are the results after four and eight weeks, which showed real changes in all of those same qualities. And I can see for myself in the mirror; the elevens above my nose seem to be returning to whence they came, as are the crinkles at the outer corners of my eyes.

Its $1,200 price tag is not for the faint of heart, especially considering the night elixir is a .67-ounce serving, lasting just two months. However, if your other options to stave off the rigors of time include more invasive fillers that often cost $350 to $750 per area or plastic surgery, the figure is quite within the realm. And, while some injectibles do smooth out wrinkles, they are not always helping repair the health of the skin at the cellular level, which will hopefully allow for more graceful aging in the long run. Janice OLeary

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Amanjunkies Take Note: Amanpuri Unveils a Sleek UpdateWith designers flying around the world to present their pre-fall collections at this time of year, its about time someone brought one to New York. And Donatella Versace arrived here just in time on Sunday night with a show that had more big city callouts than a Broadway musical, starting with the set that featured an enormous, gilded rendering of the hand and torch of the Statue of Liberty.

Given the state of the world today, this might have suggested Versace was making a political statement on immigration and border control, but, well, this is fashion. More likely, Versace was referencing Lady Liberty as a proud and fiercely poised woman like herself, as well as those who followed on her runway show wearing a seemingly endless array of champagne satin slip dresses, wild animal prints and faux furs, neon accents that suggested hip-hop, and gold safety pin earrings that were more punk. Bring us your glamour glasses, your logo socks, your wheelie bags, your bouffant hair.

Well, its safe to say no one is accusing Versace of cultural appropriation. Her tribe of fabulous glamazons hardly need a passport to declare their country of origin, even when wearing an I N.Y. T-shirt like the one sported by Mica Arganaraz in the show. Whenever Versace comes to town, its a big production  think of her H&M collection that included a performance by Prince, or the occasional Versus show that would draw Madonna to the front row. This time, Kim and Kanye were the biggest attractions in a celeb-packed audience that also included Diane Kruger and Faith Hill. I even ran into Christopher Kane and Alexander Wang, the latter of whom had shown his fall collection in Brooklyn the evening before.

While Versace showed an idealized vision of the American dream (Donatellas energetic collection was a solid gold anthem of Versace signatures, from power babe prints to shellacked burgundy coats and faux furs that gave multiple levels of meaning to street wear), Wangs was more of a play on American fashion tropes. He showed logos woven onto everything from socks to hair extensions to garment bags, which were offered in animal print and vinyl versions. Come to think of it, its weird how many parallels there were between Wang and Versace.

His opening looks combined leather aprons with tweed suiting in what might amount to a campy send up of young arrivistes, but his sportswear read more sincerely cool, particularly in vertically striped rugby shirts and a pair of jackets spray painted with demented smiley faces. As it happens, these are items that have long histories in American fashion, from Bill Blass to Perry Ellis to Marc Jacobs, and I suspect Wang, in his own respectful way, was paying homage. The black tie looks that closed the show, however, were as individualistic in nature as they come. The smoking jackets and tuxedo shirting had a certain generic bravado about them, but nothing says Evening by Alexander Wang more clearly than a black lace catsuit thats fetishistic enough for the model to wear her nipple rings on the outside.The Italian house ventured stateside for its first-ever pre-collection runway show on what would have been the late founder's 72nd birthday.

Versace's Pre-Fall 2019 runway show finale. Photo: JP Yim/Getty Images

On Sunday night, while most New Yorkers were tucked away inside their apartments to keep warm and out of the rain, Donatella Versace threw her late brother, Gianni Versace  who would have turned 72 over the weekend  an extravagant birthday bash at the American Stock Exchange Building in the form of Versace's Pre-Fall 2019 show. While this Financial District location may not have been the most hip, it was fitting: Versace was acquired by Michael Kors for a staggering $2.12 billion back in September, ultimately forming the new luxury fashion group Capri Holdings Ltd.

The Italian house's first-ever pre-collection runway show  which fell between Alexander Wang's and Chanel's on the new December fashion calendar  attracted an impressive list of attendees despite the gloomy weather, a fact that's not too surprising considering just how many celebrities, models and industry bigwigs love and respect Donatella. Among the front-row guests sat Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, Lupita Nyong'o, Diane Kruger, Tracee Ellis Ross, Young Thug, 2 Chainz, Blake Lively and Paris Jackson, all dressed head-to-toe in outfits (many of which were custom) by the brand.

Upon entering the venue, the audience was seated around a mirrored black runway, at the center of which stood a gilded torch  a replica of the Statue of Liberty's  which, according to the designer's Instagram, symbolized "enlightenment, empowerment and freedom." When it came to how this collection related to the world-renowned New York state of mind, however, the theme was less obvious and more par for the Versace course  albeit with some strategic switch-ups.

The opening looks, as well as several dispersed throughout the lineup, had a decidedly "power woman" feel, like a burgundy patent leather overcoat, a classic trench, buttery leather knee-high boots and tailored all-black suiting, complete with Versace signature touches like safety pins and gold buttons. This New York lady-on-the-go story was developed even further when models rolled logo-emblazoned luggage down the runway, or carried giant duffle or tote bags under their arms  all highly practical for days and nights spent running around town.

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This season, Versace took the "concrete jungle" motif very seriously, with every conceivable animal print represented throughout the collection: Zebra stripes appeared on leggings, turtlenecks, mini-skirts, party dresses and more, while a giraffe-like spotting covered coats, ankle boots and a shiny blazer.

There was also a clear uptown-versus-downtown dichotomy at play. While some models were styled with silk headscarves and large sunglasses, or comically large teased hair adorned with jewels, others looked more suited for a walk down Saint Marks (Marjan Jonkman in a slime green and hot pink sweater) or a stroll in SoHo, thanks to youthful puffer jackets and bright faux-fur coats, fuzzy sweaters, logo beanies, men's chest bags, sneakers, lots of leather and basic white tees emblazoned with the brand's name. One T-shirt in particular, an "I Love NY" tee mashed up with a gilded Versace Medusa logo (worn by Mica Arganaraz), will likely prove to be as popular in the neighborhood as anything peddled by Supreme.

As she has done for the last several seasons, Donatella dipped into the nostalgia well, especially when it came to a duo of statement dresses: the black safety pin dress from Spring 1994 made famous by Elizabeth Hurley, along with the barely-there gown worn by Jennifer Lopez to the Grammys in 2000, this time done up in hearts. (Fun fact: The latter was modeled on the runway this season by Amber Valletta, who also modeled the Spring 2000 original.) In addition to these iconic throwbacks, the show featured countless multicolored prints that were unmistakably Versace, no matter if you're in New York, Milan or anywhere else in the world.

See every look from Versace Pre-Fall's 2019 collection in the gallery below.

A look from Versace's Pre-Fall 2019 runway show. Photo: Imaxtree

View the 58 images of this gallery on the original article

Stay current on the latest trends, news and people shaping the fashion industry. Sign up for our daily newsletter.One of the highlights of the midterm elections was the dethroning of Scott Walker, a man whose primary purpose as Wisconsin governor was to brand every teacher and public employee in his state as an evil leech. It was a big loss for the Koch brothers as well, who pumped nearly $2 million into Walker's re-election campaign. But the Republican-controlled state legislature doesn't plan to let governor-elect Tony Evers undo Walker's grievous damage without a fight. In fact, they don't plan to let him do it at all.

On Monday, in the first lame-duck session in Wisconsin in almost 10 years, the state GOP is preparing to pass sweeping legislation that would restrict the incoming Democratic governor before he even takes office, with Walker poised to sign away his office's powers on his way out the door. Per the Associated Press:

The bills up for a public hearing and committee vote Monday, setting the stage for legislative action Tuesday, would move the 2020 presidential primary to help a conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court justice, restrict early voting in way a federal court already disallowed and give the GOP-controlled Legislature the power to sidestep [Democratic Attorney General-elect Josh Kaul] in legal fights.

The moves give Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who leaves office on Jan. 7, one more chance to reshape state government before his term ends. While lame-duck sessions are common in Congress, they are unusual in Wisconsin. There hasnt been one since 2010, when Democrats in power then tried unsuccessfully to approve union contracts before Walker took office.

Changing Wisconsin's presidential primary, when Democratic turnout is expected to be high, from April to March will likely mean lower voter turnout in a separate election for Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly, appointed by Walker. By putting Kelly's vote on a separate day, Republicans give him a better chance of surviving. And of the state's 72 counties, 60 have said that they can't accommodate an extra election date.

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Meanwhile, Republicans in Michigan are also pulling lame-duck-session tricks to get around voters. A referendum to raise the state's minimum wage looked likely to pass, until the state legislature approved a wage hike on their own, causing the referendum to be taken off the ballot. Now that the election is over, the state Republicans are rolling back their own law to lower the minimum wage and scale back paid sick leave.

If this all sounds familiar, that's because North Carolina attempted the same thing when voters finally kicked out Republican governor Pat McCrory. It was such a naked power grab that political scientist Andrew Reynolds cited it when he declared that, by objective measures, North Carolina was no longer functionally a democracy. Reynolds also cited gerrymandering and voter suppression, but the GOP attempts to quash the effects of elections after they don't go their way are also deeply insidious. It's the natural next step for a party that believes if you won't vote for them, then you shouldn't be allowed to vote.

Republicans understand the importance of locking down power at the state level, allowing them to mount coordinated attacks on federal civil rights protections via attorneys general or shut down cities attempting to pass local environmental regulations. And they don't want something as petty as democratic process and the will of the majority of voters to keep them from having that kind of power.European success stories: Revolut Founder CEO Nikolay Storonsky, N26 Founder & CEO Valetin Stalf and Monzo CEO Tom Blomfield talk at TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin 2017. Photo: Noam Galai/Getty Images for TechCrunch.

A record amount of money is set to be invested in European tech businesses this year despite growing fears about how Brexit could hit Europes biggest tech hub, according to a report published on Tuesday.

European tech companies are on track to raise at least $23bn (18bn, 20bn) this year, up from $19.6bn in 2017. The figures come from the fourth annual State of European Tech report produced by London-based venture capital firm Atomico.

The report, which draws on a survey of 5,000 people and data from the likes of EuroStat and Dealroom, shows:

Europes software industry is now growing at least five times faster than the rest of the European economy

Tech contributes around $400bn to Europes economy each year, around 2.5% of total economic output

17 companies reached unicorn status  a valuation of above $1bn  this year, including Monzo, iZettle, and Darktrace

Tom Wehmeier, a partner and head of research at Atomico, said in a statement: Europe is now reaping the early rewards from the transformation of its tech ecosystem. The fact is the seeds of success this year were planted a decade ago.

On the up: Funding for European tech has grown strongly over the last 12 months.

However, the report highlighted a growing fear about the possible impact of Brexit on European tech, with increased mentions of Brexit in the press and legislatures.

Brexit-related fears cited by entrepreneurs include investors being put off, heightened uncertainty, and trouble attracting talent.

Wehmeier told Yahoo Finance UK: London has historically been one of the few hubs that tech talent has chosen in Europe, but this was changing even before Brexit.

Until recently, tech workers were ten times more likely to move country than the average citizen in Europe, but weve reached a new phase in talent where talent can and will build from home. Building barriers to movement, whether real or imagined, will simply compound these macro trends.

Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, was quoted in last years report as saying he is more pessimistic about European tech as a result of Brexit.

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I am deeply concerned about  frankly  the train wreck of Brexit, Wales said. I am afraid of it spiralling out of control.

The report, authored in tandem with tech conference Slush, also uncovered serious problems with sexism in tech. 46% of women who responded to the report said they have experienced discrimination. Data analysis also found that all-male founding teams received around 93% of the capital and were behind 85% of the deals in Europe.

Atomico has partnered with Diversity VC to launch a toolkit for tech investors to try and help them combat biases within the industry.

Andreas Saari, the CEO of Slush, said in a statement: All of us have the responsibility to tackle unconscious bias. If we get all this right, well have a much more powerful tech scene.

Yahoo Finance UK recently revealed that Atomico is trying to raise a new venture capital fund at the moment, hoping to raise at least $750m. The fund, its fifth, will focus on European tech.

Oscar Williams-Grut covers banking, fintech, and finance for Yahoo Finance UK. Follow him on Twitter at @OscarWGrut.

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BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan  Three astronauts have blasted off to the International Space Station, a successful launch that follows Octobers aborted mission.

NASA astronaut Anne McClain, David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency and Oleg Kononenko of the Russian space agency Roscosmos lifted off as scheduled at 5:31 p.m. (1131 GMT; 6:31 a.m. EST) Monday from the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

A Soyuz-FG rocket carrying NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos Alexei Ovchinin failed two minutes into its flight on Oct. 11, activating an automatic rescue system that sent their capsule into a steep ride back to Earth. A Russian investigation attributed the failure to a sensor that was damaged during the rockets final assembly.

Since the mishap, four successful Soyuz launches have been conducted to clear the path for the crews launch.ISTANBUL (AP)  Turkey's official news agency says three migrants have been found frozen to death in western Turkey.

Anadolu said on Tuesday three bodies were found separately in three villages in the western Edirne province, bordering Greece. One victim was an Afghan national while the others remain unidentified. First examinations revealed that they had frozen to death.

An Afghan migrant who was caught by Greek and Turkish authorities told journalists that Greece was sending back illegal migrants via small boats on the Maritsa river, which crosses both countries.

Migrants have been using the Aegean Sea route and land routes to cross into Greece, a member of the European Union. A 2016 deal between Turkey and the EU significantly curbed numbers but migrants still attempt the perilous journey to reach Europe.Brasilia (AFP) - Brazil's Supreme Court on Tuesday delayed indefinitely a decision on whether former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva should be freed from prison, where he is serving a 12-term for corruption.

One of the five justices called for the postponement to give more time to study the case after two of his colleagues decided against a release.

Lawyers for Lula, a broadly popular figure who was in power 2003-2010, have tried several appeals to get him out of prison, without success.

In the latest try, they argued that Lula's initial conviction was because of "political motivations," pointing to the fact that the judge involved, Sergio Moro, has now accepted to be justice minister in the incoming government of president-elect Jair Bolsonaro.

Lula had been the favorite to win the presidential election this year before being disqualified because of his graft conviction being confirmed by a higher court. He denies the corruption charges.

Bolsonaro said shortly before his election victory that he hoped to see Lula "rot in prison."Luxembourg (AFP) - EU countries can unilaterally end the divorce process from the bloc, the legal advisor to its top court said Tuesday in a closely watched case launched by anti-Brexit politicians in Britain.

The case was referred to the European Court of Justice by a Scottish court and hinges on whether the British parliament could simply revoke the country's "Article 50" EU withdrawal process.

"Advocate General Campos Sanchez-Bordona proposes that the European Court of Justice should declare that Article 50 authorises the unilateral revocation of the notification of the intention to withdraw from the Union," a statement from the court said.

"That possibility continues to exist until the withdrawal agreement is formally concluded," the court added.

Judges at the ECJ usually, but not always, follow the legal opinions of the court's advocate general.

A British government spokesman said the advice would change nothing for Prime Minister Theresa May's government.

"This is not a final judgment," he said. "It does nothing, in any event, to change the clear position of the government that Article 50 is not going to be revoked."

"It is an opinion offered by the advocate general, at this stage, no more than that," he added.

To be valid, any British revocation must be "decided in accordance with the constitutional rules" of the member state and be the subject of a "formal communication" to European Union leaders, the court said.

- 'Smooth and orderly' Brexit -

May's government argues it has no intention of halting Brexit anyway and that the case has been brought as a political tactic by pro-European opponents.

May is trying to sell an agreement on a "smooth and orderly" Brexit to a hostile House of Commons, arguing that their choice is to back a deal or face the economic calamity of crashing out of Europe without a plan.

But pro-Europeans hope that if the European court confirms that Britain has the right to stop the countdown then a third option would emerge: stopping Brexit altogether and remaining in the EU.

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The European Union institutions also oppose the Scottish case, fearing member states will tempted to launch their own speculative exit bids to extract concessions from Brussels -- only to reverse course.

Under Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon treaty, any member state can declare its intention to quit the union, a decision which for Britain comes into effect on March 29 next year.

Britain invoked the article on March 29, 2017 after voters backed Brexit in a national referendum the year before.

The country is on course to formally leave EU institutions in less than five months.

The decision remains hugely controversial, however, and a group of politicians -- members of the Scottish, UK and EU parliaments -- has brought a case arguing that Britain should have the right change its mind.

A court source told AFP that the decision could well be made before the end of the year, but the judges must first decide if the ECJ even accepts jurisdiction in the case.London (AFP) - Impassioned UK MPs debated Brexit late into Tuesday night after delivering two stinging defeats to Prime Minister Theresa May that exposed her lack of support in parliament.

It marked a tumultuous start to a momentous week that will conclude next Tuesday with a vote on May's plan for unwinding Britain's 46-year participation in the grand European project.

The House of Commons first voted 311-293 to censure the government for not publishing the full legal advice it received about May's divorce deal with the European Union.

May's critics believe the attorney general's report is full of embarrassing details about Britain being forced to follow EU rules for years to come while having no say in its decisions.

The government argued that May had a right to get private counsel and refused to publish the entire text despite a resolution from parliament.

The embarrassing loss saw it reverse course and promise to release the full tome on Wednesday.

"This house has now spoken and it's of huge constitutional and political significance," said opposition Labour Party member Keir Starmer.

Lawmakers also backed an amendment that will give them a bigger say in what happens if May's deal is voted down -- an outcome that looks likely.

It would let MPs draft a "Plan B" that May will face intense political pressure to follow.

The government's defeat next week could also trigger a no-confidence vote that forces early elections and leaves Brexit in chaos just three months before the March 29 deadline.

May faced these challenges and the ominous rumblings from disgruntled pro-Brexit members of her own party as she stepped before a packed session of parliament to kick off five days of intense debates.

"The only solution that will endure is one that addresses the concerns of those who voted 'Leave' while reassuring those who voted 'Remain'," May said.

"This argument has gone on long enough. It is corrosive to our politics and life depends on compromise."

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- 'De facto colony' -

Her message of unity was interrupted repeatedly by heckling from both pro-EU and Brexit-backing MPs.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called May's plan "a huge and damaging failure for Britain" that came from "two years of botched negotiations".

"To vote for this deal would be to damage our economy, to make our constituents poorer and to take a leap in the dark for the future of this country," said Corbyn.

And former foreign minister Boris Johnson -- an ardent Brexit supporter with an eye on May's job -- warned that Britain threatened to become the EU's "de facto colony".

"It is a paint and plaster pseudo-Brexit and beneath the camouflage we find the same old EU institutions," Johnson said.

- 'Brexit shambles' -

The pro-EU camp's longstanding bid to secure a second referendum on staying in the bloc received a sudden boost from an opinion issued by a legal adviser to the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

Advocate General Campos Sanchez-Bordona said London had the right to halt the entire Brexit process without the agreement of other EU states.

"That possibility continues to exist until the withdrawal agreement is formally concluded," he said.

The EU supporting Scottish National Party's MP Alyn Smith proclaimed: "We now have a roadmap out of the Brexit shambles."

But May warned that another Brexit vote "would take us back to square one" and do nothing to settle bitter debates about Britain's place in Europe.

"We cannot afford to spend the next decade as a country going round in circles on the question of our relationship with the European Union," she argued.

- 'Misjudged mood of country' -

May is charging ahead in the face of resistance from MPs who represent various political camps and who all hate her plan for their own reasons.

Left-wing Labour wants to use to prime minister's Brexit vote defeat to trigger a confidence vote to bring down her government.

She has also been constantly challenged by hardline eurosceptics in her own party and might face an internal leadership contest as well.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) -- the Northern Ireland party propping up May's government -- also objects to special provisions for the British province.

DUP formalised its rupture with May's Conservative Party by voting against the government on Tuesday.

"We're sad about this, I deeply regret it," the party's parliamentary leader Nigel Dodds said.

"I admire the prime minister, her stamina, her resilience, the work that she's doing -- but on this I think she has misjudged the mood of the country and the mood of the House."Theresa May has been dealt a major blow after MPs voted to allow Parliament to seize control of Brexit if the House of Commons votes down the prime minister's deal.

MPs backed a motion tabled by Dominic Grieve, the former attorney general, to allow the Commons to amend the government's plan for how to proceed if, as expected, Ms May's proposed agreement is voted down on 11 December.

Mr Grieve's amendment passed by 321 votes to 299 after a number of Tory MPs voted against the government.

The move means a no-deal Brexit is now highly unlikely, given a clear majority of MPs are opposed to such an outcome. Even if the government decides to pursue no-deal, MPs would now have the power to oppose it. While such a vote would not be legally binding, it would be almost impossible for ministers to ignore.

Mr Grieve's amendment was backed by MPs from across the Commons, including 26 Conservative rebels.

In addition to pro-EU Tories who have previously voted against the government, it also received support from MPs who have traditionally been loyal to Ms May.

Supporters included former cabinet ministers Sir Oliver Letwin, Sir Michael Fallon and Nicky Morgan, as well as Ms May's former deputy, Damian Green.

It was also backed by Nick Boles, who is garnering support among MPs for a "Norway for now" option that would see the UK remain in the European Economic Area (EEA) and customs union until a further arrangement was agreed with the EU.

Many of the Tory MPs who backed the amendment did so despite having already said they will vote for Ms May's deal.

Mr Grieve pushed the motion to a vote shortly before Ms May opened five days of debate on her proposed withdrawal agreement.

The amendment will fundamentally alter the sequence of events that will follow if the prime minister's deal is rejected by MPs.

Under the terms of the EU Withdrawal Act, the government must publish a statement within 21 days of the deal being voted down outlining how it plans to proceed, and MPs must be given a vote on this within a week.

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The vote, though, would only be on a "neutral motion" simply saying the Commons had considered the matter. Crucially, MPs would not be able to amend the motion in order to express a view on what action ministers should take.

Mr Grieve's amendment changes that. It says parliamentary rules stating that neutral motions cannot be amended should not be applied to government motions on Brexit.

That means MPs will be able to order ministers to change tack, for example by extending Article 50, reopening negotiations with the EU or calling another referendum.

A similar motion has been tabled by the chairs of several parliamentary select committees, including Brexit committee chair Hilary Benn. However, their amendment explicitly rejects Ms May's deal, meaning it is unlikely to be supported by Tory MPs who are backing the prime minister's plan but want Parliament to be given greater control if the Commons rejects it.

Speaking in favour of his motion, Mr Grieve told the Commons: "The reality remains that we have an unsatisfactory procedure to resolve differences of opinion in this House if we come to a point where the government does not succeed on its motion. The opportunity exists this afternoon to cure that anomaly.

"It is contrary to all sensible practice, and I have to say slightly disrespectful of the role of this House, that we should end up with a situation in which we have unamendable motions for consideration at a time when Parliament ought to be fully focused on trying to find means of resolving outstanding issues."

He said his motion would ensure that "whatever the outcome next week, we have a means of continuing the debate thereafter if we need to".

Speaking for the government, Andrea Leadsom, leader of the Commons, told MPs it was "not the time to pre-empt whether or not further motions" are likely as a result of Ms May's proposed deal being rejected.

The amendment secured the guarantees Mr Grieve general initially tried to extract from ministers during debates on the EU Withdrawal Act in June.

Having tried to ensure MPs would be able to amend the government's motion in the event the Brexit deal is rejected, the former attorney general eventually backed down after claiming he had received assurances that ministers would respect the sovereignty of Parliament.

It comes as a senior adviser to the European Court of Justice said that the British Parliament could unilaterally revoke Article 50, thereby halting the Brexit process.

Launching a People's Vote report outlining how Parliament could block a no-deal Brexit, Mr Grieve said: All the evidence Ive picked up is that the EU would give us a reasonable period of time to hold a referendum if we wish to do so.

If Parliament expresses a view that it wishes to have a Peoples Vote then unless the government has taken complete leave of its senses, it is possible for us to put in place the necessary procedure to hold such a referendum. And, more over, to make the necessary changes to the EU Withdrawal Act very simply to make sure that we dont crash out on 29 March.By Gary Robertson

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (Reuters) - The white nationalist who drove a car into a crowd of counterprotesters at a Virginia rally last year began sobbing and whimpering after his arrest when police told him he had killed someone, according to video played at his trial on Tuesday.

Within minutes of the mayhem at the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville on Aug. 12, 2017, James Fields could be heard on footage recorded by a detective's body-worn camera saying he acted in self-defense.

"I didn't want to hurt people, but I thought they were attacking me," Fields told the police, according to the video footage played to the jury, who will soon vote on whether to convict Fields on 10 charges, including murder.

After police arrested him, Fields, 21, asked at the police station about the extent of the injuries he caused.

"There were people with injuries, one had passed away," a detective tells Fields, according to video footage from the police station.

Fields is then heard sobbing, whimpering and gasping for breath.

Steven Young, the lead detective on the case, testified that it took about two minutes to calm him down. "Mr. Fields appeared to be in a panic," Young told the court.

Fields was one of hundreds of white nationalists who descended on Charlottesville last year to protest the planned removal of a statue honoring the U.S. Civil War-era Confederacy from a public park. At a rally the night before the incident, protesters carried torches and chanted anti-Semitic slogans.

Heather Heyer was killed after Fields drove his car into her and other counterprotesters, badly injuring others.

On Tuesday, Judge Richard Moore allowed prosecutors to show the jury a cellphone text message exchange between Fields and his mother the day before Fields traveled to Charlottesville.

"I got the weekend off," Fields wrote to his mother. "I'll be able to go to the rally."

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"Be careful," his mother replied.

"We're not the one who need to be careful," Field wrote. He also attached an image of Adolf Hitler.

Moore told the jury they would have to weigh whether the exchange and the image of the Nazi leader showed that Fields had premeditated intent.

Attorneys for Fields called Paul Critzer, a Charlottesville Sheriffs Department deputy, along with three other law enforcement officers, to the stand on Tuesday afternoon.

Critzer testified that he talked to Fields after stopping his Dodge Charger and telling him to throw his keys out of the window.

He seemed calm in tone. He said, 'Im so sorry,' Critzer said, adding that Fields bolted away from him after initially putting his hands out of the window of his car as if he was going to surrender.

The judge said the defense will call seven or eight witnesses on Wednesday and one witness on Thursday. The jury may get the case on Thursday, he said.

(Writing by Jonathan Allen; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Leslie Adler)Quito (AFP) - Ecuador's vice president resigned Tuesday over allegations by a former aide that she took kickbacks while serving as a lawmaker five years ago.

Maria Alejandra Vicuna announced her resignation on Twitter, saying the South American country did not deserve the "instability" caused by the crisis.

It came a day after President Lenin Moreno distanced himself, suspending her from the post to allow her time to fight the allegations.

In Ecuador, the vice president can only be sacked through an impeachment process in the national assembly, which last week called on her to resign.

Vicuna has been in the post for just over a year. She replaced Moreno's running mate, Jorge Glas, convicted and jailed for six years over his involvement in the massive Odebrecht bribes scandal.

The allegations against Vicuna come from a former aide, Angel Sagbay, who said last week that while working as Vicuna's advisor in 2012 and 2013 he regularly banked deposits -- totaling around $20,000 -- in Vicuna's account that he claims were kickbacks.

Prosecutors are investigating the corruption allegations and Vicuna said she was confident she will be cleared by the courts.Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), the incoming chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, is interested in calling Gov.-elect Brian Kemp (R-Ga.) in to testify about allegations that he aided his own campaign by engaging in voter suppression.

I want to be able to bring people in, like the new governor-to-be of Georgia, to explain, you know, explain to us why is it fair for wanting to be secretary of state and be running [for governor], Cummings told HuffPost.

Kemp won a narrow victory over Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams on Nov. 6 amid allegations that he used his position as secretary of state to purge voters from the rolls and reduce polling locations in African-American communities. She is suing the state, alleging a wide range of abuses by Kemps office aimed at reducing voting by African-Americans in the state.

It was not a free and fair election, Abrams said after conceding the election to Kemp on Nov. 20.

Possible hearings on voter suppression in 2018 would not be limited to Georgia. Cummings is also focused on allegations of voter suppression in Kansas and North Carolina.

Then-candidate for governor Brian Kemp (R) at a campaign rally with President Donald Trump on Nov. 4 in Macon, Georgia. Kemp won a narrow victory over Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams, amid accusations that he used his position as secretary of state to his advantage. (Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Aside from Kemp, Cummings suggested bringing Debbie Cox, the county clerk for Ford County, Kansas, to testify. She became the focus of controversy when she moved the only polling location in Dodge City outside the city limits over unexplained concerns about safety. Dodge City is over 50 percent Latino. The ACLU sued in response to the move and Coxs having provided only one polling location for a town of 13,000 people.

Cummings is also interested in calling officials from North Carolina in to testify about the closure of 20 percent of the states early-voting polling sites this year. These early voting sites were closed because of a law passed by the Republican-controlled legislature over the veto of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper in June.

Hearings on voter suppression in the 2018 midterms wouldnt just serve the purpose of exposing these practices on a national stage but would also show why its necessary for Congress to pass reforms to prevent such abuses.

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House Democrats will push a package of reforms targeting campaign finance, ethics and voting rights laws as their first order of business in January.

This legislation will include a fix to the Voting Rights Act that would reinstate the federal preclearance oversight for changes to voting laws in some jurisdictions that was gutted by the Supreme Court in 2013. The bill would also make it harder for states to engage in mass voter purges as Kemp did. Holding hearings on what happened in Georgia would help Democrats build an evidentiary case in support of their legislative agenda, according to Cummings.

One of the things about my committee, you know, its called Oversight and Government Reform, he said. Oversight, you know, you gotta research and find out what the hell is going on and then, if it is appropriate, to do those things to reform the system.

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Lima (AFP) - Alan Garcia, a former president of Peru embroiled in a corruption scandal, left the embassy of Uruguay in Lima on Monday after his request for political asylum was rejected, officials said.

"To put it simply, we have not granted the request for asylum," Uruguay's President Tabare Vazquez told a press conference in Montevideo.

Vazquez said his government took the decision after reviewing Garcia's request and documentation submitted by the Peruvian government.

Peru's Foreign Minister Nestor Popolizio told the RPP radio station in Lima that he had been informed by the Uruguayan ambassador that Garcia had left the embassy.

The 69-year-old Garcia took refuge in the Uruguayan embassy on November 17 after a Peruvian court investigating bribes allegedly paid by Brazilian contractor Odebrecht barred the former president from leaving the country.

Garcia, a social democrat who served two separate terms as president, maintained he was the target of political persecution, a charge denied by Peru's President Martin Vizcarra.

"In Peru, nobody has a crown. Our democracy guarantees the independence of powers and due process," Vizcarra said on Twitter.

Garcia had returned to Peru in November to testify in the Odebrecht case when the court issued an order barring him from leaving the country for 18 months.

"In Peru, the three powers of state operate autonomously and it is the judicial branch that is carrying out the investigations of possible economic crimes," Vazquez said at a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa.

"For strictly legal considerations we are not granting political asylum to Mr Alan Garcia," the Uruguayan president said.

The Odebrecht payments were allegedly made during his second term in office, from 2006-2011, to secure a contract to build the Lima metro. He had previously been president from 1985-1990.

Odebrecht has admitted to paying $29 million in bribes to Peruvian officials over three administrations.

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The Peruvian press also has reported that Garcia received a $100,000 payment from an illicit Odebrecht fund for giving a speech to Brazilian business leaders in Sao Paulo in May 2012.

Last week, while Garcia was in the Uruguayan embassy, Peruvian prosecutors opened a new investigation into irregularities in another public contract.

Prosecutors allege that Garcia and 21 other officials conspired to enable Dutch company ATM Terminals to win a 2011 concession to operate a terminal at the port of Callao, near Lima.Marriott Logo

Photo: DoublePHOTO studio/Shutterstock.com



The question for many companies isnt a matter of if it will have a major cybersecurity incident, but when, many experts say. Marriott International Inc. learned that the hard way and last week announced that its customer database was the victim of a data breach in which someone gained access to the personal information of up to 500 million customers.



Experts say that the hotels in-house counsel, aside from beefing up their cybersecurity, need to be prepared to litigate class action suits from aggrieved customers and shareholders and answer questions from regulators, develop a plan for continued disclosure and make sure the investigation is completed as quickly and as thoroughly as possible.



Joseph P. Facciponti, a former federal prosecutor and white-collar defense partner at Murphy & McGonigle in New York, said that the in-house team at Marriott should prepare for questions from the several regulators who will want to know about why it took so long to report.



Why did it take Marriott and Starwood take four years to discover this intrusion? Marriott says that the breach was detected on Sept. 8 of this year, but they later learned that it had been going on since 2014, Facciponti explained.



I think that is going to be a big question for regulators because having a reasonable cybersecurity program means having the means to be able to detect intrusions as they happen.



There already have been class-action lawsuits filed against the hotel chain over the breach and New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood announced last week that she would be investigating the breach and alleged delay of disclosure.



Marriott may also be facing inquiry under the E.U.s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) because under the GDPR, companies have 72 hours to disclose a breach once it is discovered.



Dimitri Sirota, the CEO and cofounder of BigID, a software company that helps companies protect personal information, said that in-house counsel should be thinking about how data privacy officers in the EU will want to react to the breach.



I would think theyre exposed, Sirota said. It could have ramifications from the GDPR.



Sirota said that he believes that the in-house team will be spending a significant amount of time dealing with the fallout from regulators.



Facciponti said that he is not sure if Marriott would have a cause of action against the former owners of Starwood. He said it would depend on whether there was any evidence that the former owners left something out about a known data breach during the acquisition.



In-house counsel will also need to investigate the possibility of any insider trading.



If you go back to the Equifax breach, at least two employees have been indicted and charged civilly by the SEC for allegedly trading on material information related to the Equifax breach that they learned between the time the breach was discovered and when it was reported publicly, Facciponti said.



The breach also serves as a reminder to turn over every stone while a company is in the due diligence process of an acquisition.



Jacey Kaps, a partner at Rumberger, Kirk & Caldwell in Miami, said that during acquisitions, he finds that during a merger and acquisition process companies tend to skip over data.



That comes up a lot. I just reviewed documents for a client and there was nothing about data ownership. If that is an issue here it would not be a great surprise, Kaps said.



Whether or not data ownership or cyber security issues came up during the purchase of Starwood in 2015 is unknown, and it is unclear if Marriott would have a cause of action against the former owners of Starwood.



Im not privy to whatever representations that Starwoods management made to that breach. That would be very much a question of what was told by whom during the due diligence, Facciponti said.



In the meantime, Marriott established a website and call center for those who think they might have been affected by the data breach at (info.starwoodhotels.com). The company said it would begin to contact customers effective Nov. 30. It also said it would provide internet monitoring and other services in some countries free of charge for a year. Starwood brands include W Hotels, St. Regis, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, Westin Hotels & Resorts, Element Hotels, Aloft Hotels, The Luxury Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Le Meridien Hotels & Resorts, Four Points by Sheraton and Design Hotels and Starwood branded timeshare properties, according to the company.



Read more:



Federal Data Privacy Legislation Is Likely Next Year, Tech Lawyers Say



NY AG Announces Probe of Marriott Data Breach and Its Failure to Report Incident



Marriott Guests, Both Lawyers, File First Class Action Over Data BreachThe Independent has handed in a petition carrying more than one million names to Downing Street, demanding the British public be given a final say on the outcome of Brexit.

A group representing The Independents Final Say campaign handed over the petition, along with another one including more than 337,000 names collected by the Peoples Vote initiative, as Theresa May prepared for what is set to be a bruising five-day Commons debate on her Brexit deal.

Pressure for a new referendum is increasing ahead of the vote that will come at the end of that debate next week, with the prime minister looking at a heavy personal defeat if MPs reject the deal she agreed with the EU.

Anger over her deal increased on Monday, when the government published a legal paper confirming that under Ms Mays plan, the UK will be indefinitely locked in to the controversial backstop arrangement.

Campaigners carrying EU flags and placards chanted calls for a new referendum as they met outside the Churchill War Rooms in Westminster, before marching to No10 to deliver the petitions on Monday morning.

Conservative ex-cabinet minister Justine Greening said: Britain has choices ahead of it. The key issue that were saying today, and thats why were delivering a petition signed by a million people in this country, is that those choices are ones that should be made by the British people.

Parliament is gridlocked ... This is no way to decide the most fundamental question facing Britain for the next 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years.

It is time that we now put the clear choices to the British people and allow them to decide.

The Independents Final Say petition has attracted more than 1,075,000 names since it was launched in the summer, while the Peoples Vote petition has also attracted 337,012 signatures.

The two documents were handed in to officials at 11am by Ms Greening, politicians from three other parties and The Independents editor Christian Broughton.

Labours Chuka Umunna, a champion of the Peoples Vote campaign, said: The biggest issue that weve had since the Second World War is being left to MPs. And the problem we have with MPs in parliament, is that they cant come to a view of what should happen in this situation.

Story continues

The bottom line is how else are you going to resolve impasse in Westminster if not by referring it back to the people. I dont know anyone who has come up with a viable alternative.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable said the lets-just-get-on-with-it attitude is a fallacy, because even if we accept the governments deal were not just getting on with it.

Well be spending years in negotiation of what kind of arrangement wed want with the European Union  the problem isnt going to go away, he said.

The prime minister has repeatedly said that she will not countenance a further referendum on Brexit. But with no option carrying a majority in the Commons, a new vote has become a more likely way to break the political deadlock.

Referring to calls for a new referendum on Monday, Ms May said: People are talking about a second vote when we havent even delivered on the first vote.

I think we need to deliver on the first vote. We asked people to vote. We said please decide whether we should leave or remain.

People voted to leave and I think theres a, sort of, democratic duty on us as politicians, having had that referendum, and having said it is your choice, to actually deliver on it. So, lets deliver on the first vote.

In a statement in the Commons, the prime minister updated MPs on her trip to the G20 in Argentina, where she said she made clear to president Donald Trump that the UK will be able to do a trade deal with the US after Brexit.

She said the working group between the US and UK examining the future trade arrangements has been making good progress.

But Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn pointed out that such a deal would be difficult under the backstop, which the governments own legal advice admits the UK could be indefinitely locked into.

The most controversial issue in Ms Mays withdrawal agreement is over the backstop, setting out what happens to keep the Irish border open if no trade deal is secured by the end of the Brexit transition period in December 2020.

Under the plan, the whole UK would stay in a customs union, but the legal document released on Monday confirms that this set up would continue to apply unless and until it is superseded by a subsequent agreement.

It later goes on: The agreement does not contain any provision on its termination.

In the absence of such a provision, it is not possible under international law for a party to withdraw from the agreement unilaterally.

Ms May will on Tuesday kick off the five-day debate leading up to the meaningful vote on her Brexit deal, due on 11 December. In recent days she has outlined how her proposals will deliver on the publics desire to end EU free movement.First manned Soyuz rocket since October accident takes off originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

A Russian Soyuz rocket carrying astronauts bound for the International Space Station has taken off for the first time since a Soyuz rocket failed midair in October.

American astronaut Anne McClain joined Canadas David Saint-Jacques and Russias Oleg Kononenko aboard the rocket that launched from the Baikonur spaceport in the desert in central Kazakhstan on Monday.

The launch had unusually high stakes following the accident in October, when a Soyuz suffered a malfunction around 2 minutes after take-off, forcing an American astronaut and Russian cosmonaut to eject about 30 miles above the earths surface.

PHOTO: Spectators watch the Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft for the next International Space Station (ISS) crew, c is ready to be set on the launchpad ahead of its upcoming launch, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan Dec. 1, 2018. (Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)

(MORE: Rocket carrying American and Russian malfunctions, forcing emergency landing)

Following that accident, Russias space agency Roscomos suspended all manned Soyuz flights, cutting off the only way to get astronauts to the ISS.

More than usual was riding on Mondays launch, as NASA officials warned that if the Soyuz failed to reach the ISS this time, the station would likely have to be temporarily abandoned, leaving it empty for the first time in its 18-year history. While another malfunction was deemed highly unlikely, NASA engineers had made contingency plans for how to put the station into stasis, should it be left unoccupied.

But the rocket launch on Monday went smoothly. Soyuz MS-11 took off at 5:31 p.m. local time from the Gargarin Start launch pad, and the Soyuz trailed a brilliant white tail as it roared up from the sandy steppe on a frigid evening with few clouds. The spacecraft docked safely with the ISS at 12.33 Eastern Standard Time, after a roughly 6 hour flight.

Soyuz accidents are extremely rare -- only three manned launches have ever failed-- and as a result Monday second attempt to reach the ISS had attracted intense attention.

But in Baikonur, the ritual-filled routine that precedes a rocket launch proceeded unchanged from the dozens of others that have been carried out by the Soviet-era spaceport.

Story continues

(MORE: International Space Station likely to be temporarily abandoned if Russian rocket fails)

After walking out of their hotel to the sound of a Russian rock anthem and a crowd of about 100 tourists and locals who had gathered to watch, the astronauts were driven on buses to a diagnostics center. There, separated from relatives and media by a wall of glass, they were strapped into a Soyuz chair, and their suits were tested for pressure. Afterwards, they sat in their suits making small talk through the glass with family members under the gaze of a dozen cameras.

PHOTO: NASA astronaut Anne McClain, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency prior to the launchof the Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft at the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Dec. 3, 2018. (Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images)

I guess you can just think of it as you have less mileage to go than Seattle, one of McClains relatives joked to her about the journey to the ISS, which is about 250 miles away from earth.

Well, we have to loop around the earth, McClain said, adding Ill be over Seattle in about the time itll take you get back from the buses.

This was McClain and Saint-Jacques first flight into space. Before joining NASA, McClain was as an Army attack helicopter pilot, and flew a combat tour in Iraq.

(MORE: NASA astronaut Anne McClain feels 'confident' flying aboard Russian Soyuz)

The mission to the ISS -- the 58th using a Soyuz -- may yet bridge two eras in spaceflight, as next year, NASA looks to restart its own manned launches from the U.S. using rockets produced by commercial companies, such as SpaceX and Boeing.

One of the new ISS crews tasks will be to receive an empty spacecraft launched on SpaceXs Falcon 9 rocket, that is scheduled to take off in a first test flight for NASAs commercial crew program in January.

While that test flight may yet be delayed, NASA hopes that by the end of 2019 there will be a proven route to the ISS using rockets built by commercial space companies.

While that would mean fewer Soyuz rocket launches out of Baikonur, NASA has said it has no plans to stop Americans flying from the spaceport.Best Life

Whether you're playing football with your friends or participating in an intense trivia night, you might be someone who's always in it to win it. There are also times where a little competition can be good for you. Some people thrive on competition, which helps them perform better both in the workplace and in their personal lives. But while everyone behaves differently in a contest, some competitors are much more ruthless than others. Research conducted by RunRepeata review and ranking site thaLibreville (AFP) - Gabon's top government officials gathered Tuesday in Rabat where President Ali Bongo is recovering after treatment for an illness that has not been officially revealed, his office said.

The 59-year-old leader, who fell ill on October 24 at an economic forum, arrived in Morocco last week following a month's treatment at a hospital in Saudi Arabia.

Prime Minister Emmanuel Issoze Ngondet, Vice President Pierre-Claver Maganga Moussavou and the head of the constitutional court, Marie-Madeleine Mborantsuo, were among the senior officials to join Bongo in Rabat, the president's office told AFP Tuesday.

A day earlier, Morocco's King Mohammed VI, a long-time friend of Bongo's, visited the president at the military hospital.

The palace later released a handout picture and a short video which it said showed the pair's encounter.

Both leaders are seen seated together -- with Bongo smiling and dressed in a turban and djellaba robe -- next to the flags of their countries.

The move came after persistent rumours over the health of the Gabonese president for more than a month.

After an extended period of silence, the Gabonese presidency eventually admitted last month that Bongo was "seriously ill" and had undergone surgery, but said he was on the mend.

His recovery would take weeks, or even days, a source in the presidency said last week.

A lack of official news -- along with memories of the secrecy-shrouded death of Bongo's father Omar Bongo in 2009 after decades at the helm -- had sparked numerous rumours, including speculation he was incapacitated or even dead.

The Bongo family has governed Gabon for five decades. Ali Bongo was elected head of state after his father's death.

He was narrowly re-elected in 2016 after beating opposition challenger Jean Ping by a few thousand votes following a presidential poll marred by deadly violence and allegations of fraud.BERLIN (Reuters) - A key ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday raised questions about the future of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline amid growing concern about Russia's seizure of three Ukrainian ships and their crew off the coast of Russian-annexed Crimea. Juergen Hardt, foreign policy spokesman for Merkel's conservatives in parliament, told Reuters that further sanctions against Russia would have to be considered unless diplomatic efforts were able to resolve the conflict. "When diplomatic efforts to ease tensions fail, we cannot ignore the question of whether it is responsible to further increase the dependence of Germany and the European Union on Russia gas," he said. "Without increased trust in Russian policies, Nord Stream 2 will become a mistaken investment in economic and policy terms." (Reporting by Andreas Rinke; Writing by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Michelle Martin)The shock arrest of former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn has thrown the international spotlight onto Japan's criminal justice system, where suspects face prolonged detention and interrogation without lawyers present.

Rights groups, lawyers and legal scholars have for years criticised the system, which relies heavily on squeezing out a "confession" from a suspect after lengthy and gruelling questioning.

After securing this confession, prosecutors nearly always secure a conviction at trial, as an admission of guilt usually outweighs all other evidence.

Colin Jones, a professor at Doshisha Law School, wrote recently in the Japan Times daily that the system is often referred to as "hitojichi shiho" or "hostage-based justice system."

"The 'hostage' is the suspect. The 'ransom' is their confession," wrote Jones.

But despite international criticism, there is little public appetite for change, as Japan's ultra-safe streets mean ordinary people have virtually no experience of crime and often view it as an abstract concept.

Authorities too defend the status quo, arguing that the nation's legal protocols have emerged out of Japan's unique culture and history and foreigners should mind their own business.

- 'Aggressive interrogations' -

Ghosn, 64, was arrested on November 19 and the court has granted prosecutors' requests to hold him through December 10 to decide whether to indict him on charges of under-reporting his salary.

Prosecutors are widely expected to file additional charges against the tycoon and with each charge they can seek to hold him for another 22 days with limited access to his lawyers.

Even after that, the high-profile businessman can still be held in pre-trial detention.

All this has prompted some criticism abroad, particularly in France, where the high-profile tycoon holds citizenship.

The Japanese system "creates an environment which makes it possible for aggressive interrogations and risks producing forced confessions and false convictions," the Japan arm of Amnesty International told AFP.

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Hirofumi Uchida, criminal law specialist and professor emeritus at Kyushu University in western Japan, said it was "very hard to gain public empathy" for protecting the rights of criminal suspects.

"We need to bring the system up to par with international standards," with shorter detentions, allowing lawyers to be present during questioning and less reliance on confessions in court, he told AFP.

However, prosecutors stress they are working within the existing legal framework, which emerged from the wreckage of World War II, when Japan sought to restore social order via bolstered authority for prosecutors.

In the fevered post-defeat atmosphere, suspects' human rights were seen as a secondary concern, say experts.

Shin Kukimoto, deputy chief prosecutor at Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, lashed out at foreign criticism of their work in a recent news conference.

"Each and every country has its unique history and tradition and systems. I do not criticise other countries' systems just because they are different," said Kukimoto.

"We do not unnecessarily keep people in custody for a long time," Kukimoto said.

- False convictions -

Defence lawyers say any trial is effectively decided before it starts, with prosecutors enjoying a 99.9-percent success rate -- with confessions the key weapon at their disposal.

"Investigations basically determine the outcome of the process, not trials," said Kana Sasakura, professor at Konan University.

The defence is often reduced to arguing for clemency in sentencing rather than trying to win the case.

Police and prosecutors believe in confessions as a key to discovering the truth, although experience in other nations has shown this it is not the case, Sasakura said.

"It is perplexing that they fixate on the old way of doing things, when there are better ways," she told AFP.

The traditional system has resulted in horrendous cases of prosecutor misconduct, as well as false convictions.

In 2009, a team of prosecutors arrested a senior welfare ministry official for an alleged scam and held her for months.

She was later cleared of all charges and several elite prosecutors involved were sued for a range of crimes including evidence tampering.

The existing system runs the risk of producing wrong verdicts, as there is little scope for reviewing individual cases or prosecutors' conduct, Uchida said.

In addition, Uchida said courts, prosecutors and police are bound together with a sense of pride in keeping Japan safe.

Moreover, there are now decades of legal precedents based on the system, making any reform extremely difficult, Uchida added.

"Lawyers, legal scholars and journalists are not aware of the historical background and they do not question the status quo," Uchida said.

"The debate should not be about simply comparing the French and Japanese systems.

"Japan and France have had many of the same problems. France has made changes to improve its system. Japan has not moved," Uchida said.JERUSALEM (AP)  The Israeli military launched an open-ended operation Tuesday to destroy what it said was a network of attack tunnels built by Hezbollah, saying it had foiled a plot by the Iranian-backed militant group to carry out a deadly infiltration in northern Israel.

Israeli forces did not enter Lebanese territory, and there was no immediate reaction from Hezbollah. But the Israeli announcement threatened to push the bitter enemies closer to an open confrontation for the first time since a bruising 2006 war. The military said it had protectively increased forces along the border and warned Hezbollah to keep its distance from the tunnels.

"Hezbollah knows well that whoever attacks the state of Israel will paid a very heavy price," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a nationally televised address in the evening. "What has been revealed to you now is but a small part of the bigger picture of our preparations and our activities and the activities we're planning."

The Israeli operation began shortly after Netanyahu returned from a surprise trip to Brussels to meet U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Netanyahu said he had discussed the operation with Pompeo, and he planned to talk to other world leaders, including the U.N. secretary-general.

Israeli military officials have long seen the northern front as the country's most pressing security concern, with archenemy Iran entrenched in Syria and Hezbollah gaining strength in Lebanon.

Hezbollah is believed to be far more powerful than in the monthlong 2006 war, in which it battled Israel to a stalemate. The group has gained valuable battlefield experience fighting alongside Iranian and Syrian troops in Syria's civil war, and it is believed to possess an arsenal of 150,000 rockets and missiles capable of striking virtually anywhere in Israel.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, an Israeli military spokesman, said the army has been tracking the Hezbollah tunnel project since 2014 and that Tuesday's operation, codenamed "Northern Shield," had been in the works for a year and a half. He said the tunnels were not yet operational.

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Standing alongside Netanyahu, Israeli military chief Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot said the mission would last for several weeks. "The operation commenced because the threat posed by the tunnels became an immediate and direct threat to residents of the north and Israeli army bases," he said.

The army said the tunnel revealed Tuesday stretched some 200 meters (yards) from a home in the Lebanese village of Kafr Kela across the border and exited in farmland southwest of the pastoral Israeli border town of Metula. It said was outfitted with electricity, a ventilation pipe and a communications cable.

Residents told Israeli media they had been hearing digging noises for years and had reported their suspicions to the military.

Metula resident Michael Mazeika said he and others received texts early Tuesday from local officials informing them of the situation.

"We've kind of been waiting for something like this," he said. "I'm just glad that they found it before anything really bad happened."

People went about their daily routines, he said, and Israel gave them no special orders, signaling it was not expecting an immediate response from Hezbollah.

Hezbollah is emerging from Syria's civil war with thousands of its fighters killed and wounded and is averse to another military adventure with Israel. The group, however, is feeling empowered by what its leadership regards as a victory for their ally, President Bashar Assad, who has survived a seven-year war and revolt against his rule.

The group is feeling increasingly emboldened internally in Lebanon, where it made significant gains in parliamentary elections in May. Hezbollah can also count on support from the Lebanese president, who is an ally, in case of confrontation with Israel.

There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah.

An official from the so-called "Axis of Resistance"  led by Iran and made up of Syrian officials, Iraqi Shiite militias, Hezbollah and other groups  said Hezbollah fighters were "on high alert to confront any possible Israeli aggression." The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the group's military activities with the media.

The Lebanese military said the situation on its side of the border is "calm and stable," adding that army units in the area were conducting their usual missions in coordination with U.N. peacekeepers. "The army command is ready to confront any emergency," it said.

Malene Jensen, spokeswoman for the U.N. force in Lebanon, said the situation "remains calm."

Although Israel believes Hezbollah is in no rush to go to war, the army has been preparing for renewed hostilities for some time. Last year, it held a large-scale drill simulating war with Hezbollah. It also has reinforced a massive border wall and stepped up foot patrols on the border.

Under the U.N. resolution that ended the 2006 war, Hezbollah is barred from operating in southern Lebanon. Israel has long accused it of violating the resolution.

Netanyahu said he holds the Lebanese government responsible for Hezbollah's actions.

At the U.N., Israel Ambassador Danny Danon said he urged Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to "condemn Hezbollah's violations" and called for the Security Council to "condemn this terrorist threat."

U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton said the U.S. "strongly supports Israel's efforts to defend its sovereignty" and urged "Iran and all of its agents to stop their regional aggression."

Israeli officials believe Hezbollah has long been preparing for an operation to shift the battlefield to Israeli territory. Conricus said the tunnels were meant to be a "surprise component" of that plan.

The 2006 war began with a cross-border raid in which Hezbollah abducted two Israeli soldiers whose remains were returned two years later in a prisoner exchange. Hezbollah's leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, on several occasions has vowed to storm northern Israel.

The border has been relatively quiet, but the sides have come into conflict in Syria, where Israel has carried out scores of airstrikes purportedly meant to prevent Iranian arms from reaching Hezbollah.

Netanyahu recently has faced a major crisis in his governing coalition over the handling of a cease-fire with Gaza militants. Facing heavy criticism over the cease-fire, he cited Israel's "complex" security situation, in what was seen as a reference to the north.

The operation also came days after Israeli police recommended indicting Netanyahu in a corruption case. The timing of the operation did not appear to be linked to his legal woes, given the months of preparations involved. Eisenkot, the military chief, said the Israeli Cabinet authorized the operation weeks ago, on Nov. 7.

___

Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue and Zeina Karam in Beirut, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem and Ariel Schalit in Metula, Israel, contributed.Auckland (AFP) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un could still visit Seoul for the first time in the next few weeks, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday, describing the possible trip as a major boost in efforts to make the peninsula nuclear-free.

Moon and Kim have met three times in 2018 amid warming ties between the two Koreas, with South Korea hoping to host a first-ever visit by Kim to Seoul before year's end.

But prospects of another meeting in coming weeks have dimmed as denuclearisation talks have stalled, prompting Moon to say that the planned visit's timing should not overshadow its historic nature.

"There is a possibility that Chairman Kim Jong Un's visit to Seoul may be made within this year, but there's more important things than the timing," he said in translated remarks during a visit to New Zealand.

"Whether it's this year or not isn't that important, what's important is that the North Korea leader's visit to South Korea will definitely accelerate the denuclearisation process in the Korean peninsula."

Moon said a visit by Kim to the South would also improve US-North Korea relations as Kim and President Donald Trump look to follow up their June summit in Singapore.

"I believe that our efforts will definitely give a positive impetus to the second US-North Korea summit meeting," he said.

"President Trump and I share a view in that regard."

Moon emphasised the impact Kim's presence in South Korea would have on the two nations.

"This will be the first time that the North Korean leader will visit Seoul since Korea was divided into two countries," he said.

"Although there's no timeframe set, that's still very meaningful. We can improve South and North Korean relations as well as attain permanent peace on the Korean peninsula and denuclearisation."

North and South Korea have begun to remove landmines and destroy some military bunkers along their common border as part of the detente.

However, Washington is taking a more cautious approach towards Pyongyang amid sparring over interpretation of a vaguely worded denuclearisation document signed at the Singapore summit.

Trump said on Saturday that he hoped to organise a second summit with Kim in early 2019.Beirut (AFP) - The Lebanese-Israeli border was quiet Tuesday, hours after Israel announced an operation against what it said were Hezbollah infiltration tunnels, a UN peacekeeping force said.

The Israeli army said it launched an operation dubbed "Northern Shield" to destroy "attack tunnels" it accused the Iran-backed Lebanese militia of digging under the border.

Hezbollah had not yet reacted and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said that there no signs of any increased tension, as Israeli bulldozers went to work.

"The situation in UNIFIL's area of operation remains calm," Malene Jensen, a spokeswoman for the UN mission which monitors the border region, said in a statement.

"UNIFIL is liaising with all relevant interlocutors to ensure that the parties use the UNIFIL liaison and coordination mechanisms to maintain the continued calm and stability," she said.

In 2006, Israel and Hezbollah fought a devastating month-long war during which the Shiite group made extensive use of a network of tunnels to counter Israeli troops.

It has since boasted re-building its tunnel network but never clearly stated they were to be used for cross-border attacks.

Israel appears increasingly concerned that Iran is attempting to transfer some of its military influence from Syria, where Russia is the government's top ally, to Lebanon.

Near the Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, an AFP photographer on Tuesday saw at least one Israeli bulldozer churning up earth, apparently as part of Operation Northern Shield.Lilongwe (Malawi) (AFP) - A Malawi court has blocked parliament debating a contested bill critics say would hamper charities and NGOs while giving government control over their work in the aid-reliant country.

Judge Charles Mkandawire ruled on Monday in favour of activists who had sought the injunction of the NGO Amendment Bill arguing the law would create a "monster regulator" and erode democratic freedoms.

The ruling is temporary pending a full hearing of the case, though no date has been set yet.

Malawi is one of the world's poorest and most aid-dependent countries and corruption is also rife.

Activists from the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation, Centre for the Development of People, and Youth and Society group also claimed the law was drafted without consulting NGOs.

"(The regulator) would have too much power... and would, in the long run, use these powers to intimidate and stifle the civic space within which NGOs operate," said the application to block the law.

The regulator's assessors would also have been appointed by a minister, handing excessive power to the government, the coalition of NGOs said.

"It is a bad and draconian law. It had bad sections that will suppress civil liberties such as the right to association," Centre for the Development of People director Gift Trapence told AFP.

Directors of charities and NGOs who did not comply with the law as drafted would have faced jail terms of up to seven years and fines.

Parliament spokesperson Leonard Mengezi said "parliament always complies with court orders".

- Upcoming election -

Meanwhile, the opposition United Transformation Movement (UTM), led by presidential hopeful and Vice President Saulos Chilima, said it supported NGO efforts to stop the new law.

"We are surprised by the speed with which government is pushing the bill. Because the standard procedure is that before you design a bill, you have a policy," said party spokesman Joseph Chidanti Malunga.

Story continues

Aid-dependent, war-torn South Sudan sparked controversy in 2015 when it passed a law forcing aid agencies to ensure no more than one fifth of their staff were foreign born.

It was widely seen as an effort by officials to clamp down on the groups which were often critical of the government.

Malawi President Peter Mutharika has previously faced criticism from NGOs for alleged government corruption and incompetence.

Malawi goes to the polls in presidential, parliamentary and council elections on May 21 in which Mutharika will face off against former president Joyce Banda as well as his VP, Chilima.Melanie Griffith was trying to work on a romance with Alec Baldwin when they shot Working Girl together  but she said the future Donald Trump impersonator was all business.

Alec Baldwin is handsome and charming, and I just had such a crush on him, Griffith, 61, told The Hollywood Reporter in a story posted on Monday. But he wouldnt go there with me.

Alec Baldwin (Mick) and Melanie Griffith (Tess) didn't hook up on the set of "Working Girl" -- much to Griffith's disappointment. (Photo: Alamy)

The two played a working-class Staten Island couple in the 1988 romantic comedy until Griffiths budding businesswoman Tess caught Baldwins Mick cheating on her.

Offscreen, however, the actress was still looking to seal the deal with her costar. I was like, Oh come on, have a romance with me!  she recalled. But no, Alec said, I cant do this with people I work with. Hes a sweetheart.

Griffith, who spoke with THR to mark the films 30th anniversary, did eventually find a relationship on the set  with a Wall Street guy who director Mike Nichols called in to teach her about mergers and acquisitions.

We had an incredible romance, she said. He was my love for a long time after that, too. Were still friends. He lives in New York, is married and has four kids. He actually managed some money for me for a while. Mike knew about it and thought it was great, but he wanted me to make sure I concentrated on the job.

When she decides to wed, Griffith prefers fellow actors. She was married to Don Johnson (twice), Steven Bauer and Antonio Banderas  the latter for almost 20 years until they finalized their divorced in 2015.

h/t New York Daily News

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.BRUSSELS (AP)  The United States warned Russia Tuesday it has 60 days to start complying with a landmark missile treaty or Washington could abandon the pact, creating doubts about nuclear security in Europe.

At NATO talks in Brussels, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Russia of "cheating at its arms control obligations" under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Pompeo warned that if Russia did not comply with the treaty's terms within 60 days, Washington could activate a six-month notice period for leaving the 1987 pact.

"Russia must return to full and verifiable compliance; Russia's failure to do so will result in the demise of the INF Treaty," Pompeo told reporters.

"Our nations have a choice. We either bury our head in the sand or we take common sense action in response to Russia's flagrant disregard for the expressed terms of the INF Treaty," he said.

The U.S. has shared intelligence evidence with its NATO allies that Russia's new SSC-8 ground-fired cruise missile could give Moscow the ability to launch a nuclear strike in Europe with little or no notice.

The bilateral treaty between Washington and Moscow banned all land-based cruise and ballistic missiles with a range between 500 and 5,500 kilometers (310-3,410 miles). Russia says the range of the new system does not exceed 500 kilometers.

Pompeo said Washington "would welcome a Russian change of heart" but that he has seen no indication that Moscow is likely to comply.

U.S. allies in NATO said Tuesday they "strongly support the finding of the United States that Russia is in material breach of its obligations." They called on Russia "to return urgently to full and verifiable compliance."

While Pompeo did not announce the end of the pact, its demise seems all but certain.

"I regret that we now most likely will see the end of the INF Treaty," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said, adding that "no arms control agreement will work if it is only respected by one party."

Story continues

Stoltenberg said the 29 NATO allies will "collectively develop responses" should the treaty be abandoned, but he declined to say what they might be.

Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, said he does not see the Russians returning to compliance under current conditions.

"They are not going to change course on the basis of a U.S. threat to withdraw," Kimball said.

He said the U.S. needs to redouble diplomatic efforts with Russia to find a way to resolve the noncompliance issues, but he doubts this will happen.

In Moscow, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that "Russia strictly complies with the provisions of the treaty, and the American side is aware of that."

Russia's actions in Ukraine also came under the spotlight at Tuesday's NATO meeting.

Stoltenberg accused Russia of using the Crimean Peninsula as a platform to take control of waters off eastern Ukraine, as allies struggled to find ways to dissuade Moscow from destabilizing the former Soviet republic.

Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014, sparking NATO's biggest military buildup in Eastern Europe since the Cold War. On Nov. 25, Russian border guards fired on three Ukrainian navy vessels near Crimea, where Russia's Black Sea fleet is based. The vessels and the crews were captured.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin appealed for NATO support in the confrontation with Russia over the Black Sea and the adjacent Sea of Azov, a key commercial waterway for the country.

"Four years ago, Russia illegally annexed Crimea. Now Russia is attempting to use Crimea to expand its influence and control of the Sea of Azov," Stoltenberg said.

But as to what more NATO would do beyond its existing sea patrols and air policing, he said: "There is already a lot of NATO in the Black Sea."

NATO allies have helped modernize Ukraine's armed forces and boosted their presence in the Black Sea over the last year, with more ships deployed in the region and more air policing. Three NATO allies on the Black Sea  Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey  are also taking individual measures.

NATO nations, individually and through the European Union, have also imposed economic and other sanctions on Russia since it annexed Crimea, but there is little appetite among the allies to broaden those measures.

Klimkin welcomed the political support he received in Brussels, but said: "We shouldn't just stay on the level of declarations, however strong declarations are."

"We need to create a coordinated response to the actions of Russia," Klimkin said, adding that he raised "a set of practical steps with a number of proposals" at the meeting as to how NATO, Ukraine and Georgia might do that together.

He also suggested a possible ban on Russian ships entering other countries' ports if Moscow continues to block the Sea of Azov and said he would raise the idea with European Union ministers next week.

Ukrainian authorities said Tuesday that shipping traffic has resumed on the Sea, but a senior U.S. State Department official said that at NATO "no one would see that as a satisfactory move or the end of the matter."

___

Robert Burns in Washington and Matthew Bodner in Moscow contributed to this report.Kano (Nigeria) (AFP) - The Nigerian Army on Tuesday said eight soldiers have been confirmed dead in a Boko Haram attack on a military base over the weekend in the country's restive northeast.

Gunmen from the self-styled Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) faction of Boko Haram attacked the base in Buni Gari village, in Yobe state, on Saturday.

Military sources initially said two soldiers and six insurgents were killed. Earlier on Tuesday, they told AFP the toll had risen to eight.

"Eight of our gallant troops paid the supreme price while over 10 Boko Haram terrorists were killed by the troops during the encounter," army spokesman Brigadier General Sani Usman told AFP by text message.

A senior officer, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to the media, said six bodies had been taken to the Yobe state capital, Damaturu.

A civilian militia member assisting the military in the counter-insurgency confirmed the recovery.

"All the eight dead soldiers are now in the morgue at the State Specialist Hospital in Damaturu," he said, also on condition of anonymity for fear of sanction.

The insurgents destroyed an armoured vehicle and stole a truck during the attack.

Sources said air support and reinforcements from a military base in the nearby town of Buni Yadi helped push the militants out.

Buni Yadi district is a known ISWAP stronghold.

The faction has in recent months intensified attacks on military targets in Yobe and neighbouring Borno state, prompting questions about the military's grip on security.

Since July, AFP has reported at least 19 attacks on military bases and positions in Borno and Yobe. ISWAP had claimed responsibility for most of them.

The Nigerian miliary has hit out at media reporting of the attacks and even threatened legal action against organisations for publishing unofficial casualty figures.

Borno and Yobe, along with nearby Adamawa state, have borne the brunt of nine years of jihadist violence that has claimed 27,000 lives and devastated the remote region.

Some 1.8 million people are still homeless while aid agencies are grappling with a humanitarian crisis triggered by the conflict.By Rania El Gamal and Ahmad Ghaddar

VIENNA (Reuters) - OPEC and its allies are working towards a deal this week to reduce oil output by at least 1.3 million barrels per day, four sources said, adding that Russia's resistance to a major cut was so far the main stumbling block.

OPEC meets on Thursday in Vienna, followed by talks with allies such as Russia on Friday, amid a drop in crude prices caused by global economic weakness and fears of an oil glut due largely to a rise in U.S. production.

The producer group's de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, has indicated a need for steep reductions in output from January but has come under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to help support the world economy with lower oil prices.

Possibly complicating any OPEC decision is the crisis around the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October. Trump has backed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman despite calls from many U.S. politicians to impose stiff sanctions on Riyadh.

The sources, three from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and one from a non-OPEC producer, said the meetings were taking place in a difficult environment and that Russia's position would be key in reaching a deal.

"Russia is playing tough," one of the OPEC sources said.

Another OPEC source said: "The Saudis are working hard on the cut. But if Russia says no cut, then we (OPEC) wont cut."

The Saudi and United Arab Emirates energy ministers, Khalid al-Falih and Suhail bin Mohammed al-Mazroui, said on Tuesday that an adjustment in global oil output was required but all producers must be on board.

"The next road to cross is whether all countries are willing to come on board and contribute to that cut," Falih told Bloomberg television.

Russian sources have indicated Moscow could contribute some 140,000 bpd to a reduction, but Middle East-dominated OPEC insists Russia cut by 250,000-300,000 bpd.

Story continues

Two sources said talks were focusing on a pro-rata cut of 3.0-3.5 percent from October output levels, with no exemptions for any member.

Sources also said OPEC could delay a decision to cut if the main criteria such as Russia's involvement were not met, even though doing so would mean a further fall in prices.

"OPEC can always meet again in February, for example, and decide on a cut then. Those who were not able or willing to cooperate will be wanting to cut then," one source said.

Saudi Arabia previously insisted on a need to reduce production.

It was unclear whether the apparent shift in position was caused by OPEC using negotiation tactics to bring Russia on board or by pressure from Trump to refrain from cutting output.

DAMAGE AVOIDANCE

Iraq's oil minister said OPEC must come up with a medium- to long-term strategy to achieve crude price stability and minimise damage to oil markets caused by geopolitics.

Thamer Ghadhban said Iraq would work to help balance markets and bolster prices. Iraq is OPEC's second-biggest producer after Saudi Arabia.

In October 2018, OPEC pumped 32.916 million bpd, while its non-OPEC allies pumped 18.252 million bpd, according to the groups internal data.

The non-OPEC source said a deal could still be done this week, though details remained unclear: "The Saudis and Russians have an agreement to cut. They are just working on the final details on the volumes and mechanisms."

Brent oil prices rose more than 2 percent on Tuesday, boosted by expectations OPEC would reduce output [O/R].

(Additional reporting by Shadia Nasralla and Olesya Astakhova in Vienna and Ahmed Rasheed in Baghdad; Writing and editing by Dmitry Zhdannikov and Dale Hudson; Graphics by Amanda Cooper)Doha (AFP) - Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani has received an invite from Saudi Arabia to attend this month's Gulf Cooperation Council summit, despite an ongoing diplomatic crisis, Doha state media said Tuesday.

The invitation to Riyadh is significant as Qatar has been isolated by a group of countries led by Saudi Arabia since June 2017, in the worst political fallout between the energy-rich Gulf powers.

Qatar News Agency said in a tweet that the emir had received "an invitation from the King of Saudi Arabia" for the meeting on December 9.

The tweet did not say if the emir would travel to the Kingdom.

Regional powerhouse Saudi and its allies the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt have suspended all relations with Qatar, claiming Doha supports terrorism and is too close to Riyadh's great rival, Iran.

Qatar denies the allegations, but the bitter dispute has dragged on for 18 months and has shown little sign of being resolved.

Earlier this week, Qatar announced it was leaving OPEC, a move seen by some as a calculated snub to Riyadh, one of the oil cartel's most dominant powers.By Eric Knecht

DOHA (Reuters) - Qatar said it will quit OPEC to focus on gas in a swipe at Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of the oil exporting group which is trying to show unity in tackling an oil price slide.

Doha, one of OPEC's smallest oil producers but the world's biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter, is embroiled in a row with OPEC members Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

It said the surprise decision to exit OPEC, which has 15 members including Qatar, in January was not driven by politics and it did not name Saudi Arabia, but Minister of State for Energy Affairs Saad al-Kaabi said:

"We are not saying we are going to get out of the oil business but it is controlled by an organization managed by a country," al-Kaabi said.

Qatar would attend an OPEC meeting scheduled for Thursday and Friday in Vienna and would abide by its commitments, he said, adding that Doha would focus on its gas potential.

This was because it was not practical "to put efforts and resources and time in an organization that we are a very small player in and I don't have a say in what happens," he added.

Graphic: Qatar's LNG and oil exports - https://tmsnrt.rs/2QbsLNgOPEC members Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and fellow Arab states Bahrain and Egypt, have imposed a political and economic boycott on Qatar since June 2017, accusing it of supporting terrorism, which Doha denies.

Qatar's former prime minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, said on Twitter that OPEC "is only used for purposes that hurt our national interests".

The United Arab Emirates said Doha's decision was a reflection of its declining influence.

"The political aspect of Qatar's decision to quit OPEC is an admission of the decline of its role and influence in light of its political isolation," Anwar Gargash, UAE minister of state for foreign affairs, said on Twitter.

OPEC's loss of a long-standing member undermines a bid to show a united front before a meeting that is expected to back a supply cut to shore up prices. Benchmark Brent is trading at around $62 a barrel, down from more than $86 in October. (LCOc1)

Story continues

"They are not a big producer, but have played a big part in (OPEC's) history," one OPEC source said.

It highlights the growing dominance over policy making in the oil market of Saudi Arabia, Russia and the United States, the world's top three oil producers which together account for more than a third of global output.

Riyadh and Moscow have been increasingly deciding output policies together, under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump on OPEC to bring down prices.

"It could signal a historic turning point of the organization towards Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United States," said Algeria's former energy minister and OPEC chairman, Chakib Khelil, commenting on Qatar's move.

Graphic: Who produces what within OPEC? https://tmsnrt.rs/2RxkhwC

"UNILATERAL DECISIONS"

He said Doha's exit would have a "psychological impact" because of the row with Riyadh and could prove "an example to be followed by other members in the wake of unilateral decisions of Saudi Arabia in the recent past."

Qatar, which Al-Kaabi said had been a member of OPEC for 57 years, has oil output of just 600,000 barrels per day (bpd), compared with Saudi Arabia's 11 million bpd.

But Doha is an influential player in the global LNG market with annual production of 77 million tonnes per year, based on its huge reserves in the Gulf.

Graphic: The world's biggest LNG exporters - https://tmsnrt.rs/2RvFB5zAl-Kaabi, who is heading Qatar's OPEC delegation, said the decision was part of a long-term strategy and the country's plans to develop its gas industry and increase LNG output to 110 million tonnes by 2024.

"I assure you this purely was a decision on what's right for Qatar long term. It's a strategy decision," Al-Kaabi said.

The exit is the latest example of Qatar charting a course away from its Gulf neighbors since the rift began last year. It comes before an annual summit of Gulf Arab states expected to grapple with the roughly 18-month standoff.

Once close partners with Saudi Arabia and the UAE on trade and security, Qatar has struck scores of new trade deals with countries further afield while investing heavily to scale up local food production and ramp up military power.

"There is a sentiment in Qatar that Saudi Arabia's dominance in the region and the region's many institutions has been counterproductive to Qatar," said Andreas Krieg, a political risk analyst at King's College London. "It is about Qatar breaking free as an independent market and state from external interference."

Oil surged about 5 percent on Monday after the United States and China agreed to a 90-day truce in their trade war, but prices remain well off October's peak.

Asked if Qatar's withdrawal would complicate OPEC's decision on output this week, a non-Gulf OPEC source said: "Not really, even if it's a regrettable and sad decision."

Al-Kaabi said state oil company Qatar Petroleum planned to raise its production capability from 4.8 million barrels of oil equivalent per day to 6.5 million barrels in the next decade.

Doha also plans to build the largest ethane cracker in the Middle East and it would still look to expand its oil investments abroad, Al-Kaabi added.

(Additional reporting by Florence Tan in Singapore, Rania El Gamal and Nafisa Eltahir in Dubai, Ahmed Ghaddar in Vienna and Lamine Chikhi in Algiers; Writing by Saeed Azhar and Ghaida Ghantous; Editing by Michael Georgy/Edmund Blair/Alexander Smith)Photo credit: Getty Images

From Car and Driver

UPDATE 12/4/18: Stating that "no tax is worth threatening the unity of the nation," French prime minister Edouard Philippe announced today that the rise in fuel taxes will be delayed for six months.

UPDATE 12/3/18: The anger of fuel-tax protesters continues to build across France over diesel taxes, up this year by 23 percent to an average $1.71 per liter. The protesters, calling themselves Gilets Jaunes (yellow vests) after the reflective clothing they wear, have now turned violent. For a third straight weekend, massive demonstrations called for reductions in the tax, and, increasingly, for the resignation of President Emmanuel Macron. France 24 reported that some 75,000 demonstrators were out across France this weekend, nearly 200 fires were set, and 378 arrests were made in Paris alone, as protesters scrawled graffiti on the Arc de Triomphe and broke store windows along the Champs-Elysees boulevard. More than 130 people were injured over the weekend, and the French government is now considering declaring a state of emergency. The president has said he will try to "slow the rate of increase" in fuel taxes, depending on the international fuel-price situation, France 24 reported today.

France's nerves are in a highly strung state over the increasingly high cost of driving a car in the country. On Saturday, November 17, about 283,000 motorists symbolically wearing reflective vests mobilized across the country to protest a series of unpopular measures ranging from the ever-increasing price of fuel to the lowering of speed limits on country roads. Massive protests and inescapable strikes are frequent in France, but this movement stands out as a moment of national collaboration that transcends partisan lines and social classes. Born on Facebook, it is not organized by a political party or by a trade union, and there is no identifiable leader to represent it.

Whether they're enthusiasts or commuters, motorists are showing their support for the movement by placing a reflective vest on their car's dashboard. Some activists marched in the streets of major cities over the weekend, while the more pugnacious motorists continue for a third day today to block roads, grocery stores, gas stations, and fuel-storage facilities. The blockades led to altercations between police forces and angry mobs, and a 63-year-old protester blocking a road in the Savoy region was struck and killed by a car trying to force its way through the barrier. The driver, who is in police custody, explained she panicked while taking her daughter to the hospital. About 400 protesters were injured in similar incidents, including 14 who were hospitalized in critical condition, and law enforcement officials made about 50 arrests. The demonstrations nonetheless continued across France on Monday, November 19, and they have spread to neighboring Belgium.

Story continues

A 2018 Fuel-Tax Increase Lit This Fuse

The rising price of fuel is, to use a French proverb, the droplet that caused the glass to overflow. In early 2018, the government announced it would raise taxes on gasoline and diesel to make both fuels more expensive and, in turn, financially pressure motorists into driving green (or, at the very least, driving less) to curb air pollution. As it stands, France has one of the highest tax rates on fuel among the countries in the European Union. About 60 percent of the cost of a liter of either fuel goes straight to the public treasury. Another increase is planned for 2019.

The price of diesel has increased more than the price of gasoline; it has gone up by around 23 percent in 12 months as France joins other nations in waging war on the fuel. Motorists took this relatively sudden measure as a punch in the gut. For decades, various administrations went to remarkable lengths to put drivers behind the wheel of diesel-powered cars, and lawmakers encouraged companies like Renault and Peugeot to develop diesel technology. The result is that, as of January 2017, 61.6 percent of the cars registered in France run on diesel, though that number is gradually shrinking as the percentage of new gasoline-powered cars increases. The protesters want to avoid the fate that has befallen motorists in Germany, where the government found itself trapped in a judicial straightjacket and resignedly ceded to court-ordered bans on diesels in many major cities.

Motorists feel the stick without seeing the carrot, protesters argue. The concept of raising taxes to eradicate an ignominious habit isn't new; the French government has also applied it, less controversially, to cigarettes. The cost of a pack of Camels has nearly doubled in the past decade, and the number of smokers has fallen. The difference is that, with enough willpower, a smoker can quit; a driver can't. Protesters insist they need a car to get to work, to take their kids to school, to go buy groceries, or to go on vacation. These arguments echo particularly loudly in the rural areas that make up a significant part of the country. The assertion that the national government makes rules to gladden wealthy Parisians and sees common folks as merely a money well it can tap into as needed has surfaced repeatedly during the protests.

The rising cost of diesel is the tip of the iceberg. The list of grievances hammered onto the president's door also notes the recent lowering of speed limits across the country's vast network of back roads-another measure taken, officially, in the name of air pollution-along with the proliferation of speed cameras and the strengthening of the biennial safety and emissions inspections, which have consequently become more expensive. And, in the Paris region, some protesters still haven't swallowed an elitist car ban that effectively prevents the poorest motorists-those who can't afford to buy a late-model car-from driving within the city limits.

The last time the government took a step to make driving more affordable was in 2000, when it began eliminating an annual registration tax called the vignette. It has been an uphill battle since, and working-class motorists have reached the end of their tether. They're not the type to do little but speak a great deal, either.



Members of the French government have shown an entrenched resistance to change. President Emmanuel Macron turned a Nelsonian eye to the protests and flew to Germany to participate in a commemorative ceremony with chancellor Angela Merkel. Prime minister Edouard Philippe acknowledged the anger felt across the country, but he stressed that increasing the cost of fuel is in France's best interest and made it clear that backpedaling isn't an option. What is an option, according to minister of the interior Christophe Castaner, is sending the army to quell the most recalcitrant part of the rebellion.

Motorists are standing their ground, too, and additional protests are planned across France in the coming days, leaving the nation deadlocked in an arm-wrestling contest. In 2013, a similarly-crippling movement in Brittany coerced lawmakers into scrapping a planned tax on semi-trucks. The government spent a not insignificant amount of money to install license-plate scanners on highway overpasses but ultimately nixed the law. It estimates the embarrassing ordeal cost about $1 billion.

The scanners are offline, but they're still perched over many French highways. For yellow-vest-wearing motorists, they serve as a reminder that it's never too late to force lawmakers to row back.

('You Might Also Like',)TEHRAN, Iran (AP)  Iranian semi-official ISNA news agency is reporting that a revolutionary court has sentenced a female pro-reform journalist to a nearly 13-year prison term over security charges.

The Saturday report said that Hengameh Shahidi can still appeal the verdict that sentenced her to 12 years and 9 months in jail. It did not elaborate.

Shahidi, 43, has been in jail since June after months at large during which she was active on social media.

The outspoken journalist has served many short prison terms, the first following the controversial 2009 president election that led to the re-election of former hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Since then, Iran has detained numerous journalist and activists over security charges.Algiers (AFP) - Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika called off a meeting with visiting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday because of ill health, the national news agency APS reported.

It said the 81-year-old president, whose health has been fragile since he suffered a stroke in 2013 and is rarely seen in public, was "in bed with a heavy flu".

Bouteflika postponed a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in February 2017 and was last seen on Algerian television on November 1 laying a wreath at the country's independence war memorial.

Prince Mohammed, on his first foreign tour since the October 2 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, held talks instead with Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia, Algeria's presidency said, during a low-key visit that was kept largely out of the media spotlight.

The visit would focus on "partnerships and investment projects", the Algerian presidency said before the prince arrived in Algiers late Sunday on a flight from Mauritania.

Like a previous stop in Tunis, the crown prince's visit has drawn criticism from political and academic circles in Algeria over the Saudi-led war in Yemen and Washington Post columnist Khashoggi's grisly murder in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

It was jointly denounced by 17 intellectuals, journalists, Muslim scholars and other figures in the North African country, in a statement obtained by AFP.

They said the "whole world is certain that he ordered a terrible crime against the journalist Jamal Khashoggi".

Khashoggi's killing has put mounting pressure on Riyadh and Prince Mohammed, who Turkish officials -- and reportedly the CIA -- have concluded was behind the critic's death.

Saudi authorities have vehemently denied the crown prince was involved.

The prince flew out of Algiers later Monday without an announcement on his next destination.

With its traditionally neutral stand, Algiers has good relations with Saudi Arabia's regional rival Iran but has also maintained cordial ties with Riyadh.

"Algeria finds itself half-way between the position of Iran and that of Saudi Arabia. It has never taken a position on their conflict," Rachid Grim, a political science professor at Algiers University, told AFP.Koryardu (Sierra Leone) (AFP) - They were promised a "peace diamond" dividend in the Sierra Leone village of Koryardu after the stone they handed over for auction fetched $6.5 million (5.7 million euros) a year ago.

But they are still waiting to see the benefits.

"Absolutely nothing happened," said Pastor Emmanuel Momoh, who manages the team of diggers that found the 709-carat diamond in March 2017, in eastern Kono province.

The idea of handing the diamond over to the government to sell was that it would generate money to be ploughed back into developing the local community.

But at the village school, Peter Baimoi, who helps teach its about 190 pupils, said there was no sign of the promised government funding.

With no qualified teachers in the village, parents rely on their children being taught by some of the better-educated local people who can read and write, like Bamoi who finished high school.

They do it voluntarily, the pastor said.

The government had promised that 15 percent of the total sale price -- nearly one million dollars -- would go into a fund for Koryardu to develop water, electricity, health and education.

A year on, Koryardu still has no electricity and no clinic -- and the nearest state school is in Koidu, about 14 kilometres (nine miles) away.

The hamlet lies 10 kilometres from the main highway -- and the road into the village is still impassable for six months of the year, during the rainy season.

- 'Blood' and 'peace' diamonds -

Sierra Leone, like some other African countries, is struggling to overcome the legacy of so-called "blood diamonds", sold by warlords to finance conflicts. The west African country suffered a devastating civil war between 1991 and 2002.

The international community set up the Kimberley certification system in 2003 to eliminate the problem, regulating the sale and export of diamonds.

Experts said Koryardu's diamond was the largest found in Sierra Leone in almost half a century.

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Momoh entrusted it to the administration of the country's then president, Ernest Bai Koroma, who dubbed it the "peace diamond".

The auction was originally scheduled to be held at the Central Bank in Freetown, but as the government thought the best offer made there -- more than $7 million -- was not high enough, they took the sale abroad.

The subsequent auction in New York netted $6.5 million.

- The legal option -

Under the sale agreement, 60 percent of the proceeds went straight to the government, out of which the village was to get its share, and 40 percent to Momoh, he said.

After sharing his proceeds with the five miners who found the stone, the village chief and the land owner, as well as donating 30 percent to charity and helping villagers, Momoh had about $1 million net, he added.

Declaring the find to the government was the only legal option. The only other alternative would have been to sell to smugglers on the black market.

Momoh also wanted the community to benefit from the proceeds.

But there is still no sign of the money promised to the village.

People need to see tangible benefits, said Victor Topoi, a teacher from Kono province, "not only on paper or in the news, but physically on the ground".

- 'Maintain trust' -

The Koroma administration did sign a million-dollar contract with a Chinese company to build a new school and a clinic in the village.

But that deal was frozen when the new president, Julius Maada Bio, took office in April.

Ibrahim Satti Kamara, spokesman for the National Minerals Agency, said there had been some design issues that had now been sorted out.

Work on the project should begin before the end of the year, he told AFP.

"The good news is that the money is still available and ready to use for that project," he said.

The authorities understand the community's frustration, he added.

"We expect that by the time we continue with the work, that will change.

"We are aware of the responsibility to maintain that trust, that's why we've been very careful on how the money is spent on the project," he added.

In the meantime, the Rapaport Group, the auction house that handled the New York sale, has stepped in to help, installing 50 solar panels in the village in November.

It also has plans to bring in water filtration systems.

"We want to make sure that (the villagers) see something tangible as the government gets its act together," the group's owner Martin Rapaport told AFP during a visit to Koryardu.

But the money from the diamond sale also needs to materialise, said Momoh.

"If the government doesn't fulfill its promises, I think that it will break the trust and people will not take their diamonds to the government any longer," he said.

"Not only the people in Koryardu, but all over Kono."Visitors at Vietnam's stall (Photo: baotintuc.vn)

This is the largest annual charity fundraising event organized by the Delhi Commonwealth Women's Association (DCWA), with the participation of nearly 50 foreign diplomatic missions in India.

The stalls at the bazaar displayed various products from consumer goods such as clothing, footwear and household appliances, to art handicrafts, interior decorations, furniture and specific dishes of countries.

The Vietnamese Embassy introduced many products related to the national identity such as palm leaf conical hat, instant coffee and traditional dishes such as spring roll and noodle soup.

Speaking at the bazaar, Vietnamese Ambassador to India Pham Sanh Chau stressed that the Vietnamese Embassy had attended the International Bazaar for many years, thus contributing to promoting the culture and image of Vietnam to international friends. He hoped that in the coming year, the Vietnamese diplomatic mission would not only promote Vietnams cuisine, but also introduce its famous tourism destinations.

The International Bazaar 2018 attracted a large number of visitors. A majority of the proceeds from this event will be donated to charitable activities such as building and upgrading health centres, playgrounds for children and Centres for disabled children of DCWA./.Bratislava (AFP) - Slovakia's prosecutor general said on Tuesday he had ordered the release of 12 Greenpeace activists who had been held "unlawfully" for staging a protest at the EU country's largest and oldest brown coal mine.

The campaigners from Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany and Slovakia were detained without bail last week after hoisting a banner saying "End coal age!" on the tower of a lignite mine in Novaky, central Slovakia.

Their detention and bail rejection sparked a protest in the capital Bratislava on Monday and criticism from Slovakia's top politicians including the president and prime minister.

Greenpeace had also called for their immediate release.

"Today, I issued an order to release all 12 people," Slovakia's prosecutor general Jaromir Ciznar told local media on Tuesday, adding that "these people are detained unlawfully".

He added that the district court, which had ordered their detention without bail on Sunday, had "improperly" defined their actions.

Slovakia's liberal President Andrej Kiska said in a statement Monday that he did not "understand how we can push activists into the role of criminals".Colombo (AFP) - Sri Lanka's toppled premier likened the president to Hitler on Tuesday as he demanded to be reinstated, almost six weeks into a paralysing political crisis in the Indian Ocean nation.

Ranil Wickremesinghe made the comments -- his strongest yet directed at the head of state -- at the prime minister's official residence, which he has refused to vacate since his dismissal in October.

"The president has to appoint me prime minister as I command a majority in parliament," he said.

"I am telling the president not to act like Hitler who bypassed the constitution... We are not going to allow him to do that."

President Maithripala Sirisena sacked Wickremesinghe and replaced him with Mahinda Rajapakse, the larger-than-life former president credited with ending Sri Lanka's bloody civil war with Tamil separatists in 2009.

However with Wickremesinghe's supporters still controlling a majority in parliament -- which has witnessed brawls between MPs in recent weeks -- Rajapakse has lost two votes of confidence.

On Monday the Court of Appeal denied Rajapakse the authority to act as prime minister and stripped his cabinet of their powers, giving Rajapakse until December 12 to prove his legitimacy and that of his government.

Sirisena, a former opponent of Rajapakse, told a group of legislators on Monday that he would not reinstate Wickremesinghe even if the latter had the support of all 225 members of the legislature.

Rajapakse's lawyers on Tuesday filed an appeal with the Court of Appeal, but it was not immediately taken up for hearing.

Rajapakse urged his supporters on Monday night to remain calm and join his struggle to press for a general election nearly two years ahead of schedule.

Sirisena meanwhile told minority Tamil legislators who held talks with him on Monday evening that he would resolve the political vacuum "within 24 hours". However, there were no signs of a settlement by Tuesday afternoon.

The Supreme Court this week is also expected to rule on whether Sirisena's decision to dissolve parliament in November -- a move already suspended by the court -- was constitutional.Abu Dhabi (AFP) - Proposed UN-led talks in Sweden mark a "critical opportunity" to bring peace to war-torn Yemen after four years of conflict, a top Emirati official said Tuesday.

The comments from the United Arab Emirates, which is part of the pro-government coalition fighting Huthi rebels in Yemen, came as UN envoy Martin Griffiths is in the rebel-held capital Sanaa seeking to push forward the planned talks.

"Evacuating wounded Huthi fighters from Sanaa once again demonstrates the Yemeni government & the Arab coalition's support for peace," the UAE's state minister for foreign affairs, Anwar Gargash, said in a tweet.

Fifty wounded rebels left on a UN-chartered plane Monday for neutral Oman to be treated, in what was termed "a confidence-building" measure ahead of any talks.

The conflict, which erupted in late 2014, has brought the impoverished country to brink of famine, and the UN has described Yemen as the world's worst humanitarian disaster.

Nearly 10,000 people are said to have been killed since the Saudi-led pro-government coalition intervened in the conflict in early 2015, according to the World Health Organization.

Human rights groups fear the actual toll is far higher.

No date has yet been set for the talks, which are due to be held in Sweden, but hopes have been building that they could go ahead this week.

"We believe Sweden offers a critical opportunity to successfully engage in a political solution for Yemen," Gargash said in his tweet.

He added that "a sustainable Yemeni-led political solution offers the best chance to ending the current crisis."

UN envoy Griffiths on Monday said on Twitter that he was "pleased to confirm" 50 injured Yemenis were to be treated on neutral ground in Muscat and "urged all Yemenis to work together in pursuit of peace and stability".

The evacuation marked a key step in kickstarting stalled negotiations as world powers press for an end to the devastating conflict.

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Saudi Arabia and its allies, who back Yemen's embattled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, had agreed the 50 wounded combatants, 50 escorts and a team of Yemeni and UN doctors could be flown out to Muscat -- a condition set by the Huthis for negotiations.

The Huthis have also called for guarantees for their safety if they leave the country -- a key condition which led to the collapse of earlier talks planned for September in Geneva.

Kuwait's Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled al-Jarallah told reporters that a Huthi delegation was now set to leave Sanaa for Stockholm on Tuesday morning together with his country's ambassador to Yemen.

The oil-rich Gulf emirate, which has been a mediator in the devastating conflict, hosted Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom for talks in Kuwait City on Monday.President Trump ripped into his former personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen on Twitter again Monday morning, saying he thinks Cohen should serve time in prison.

Michael Cohen asks judge for no Prison Time. You mean he can do all of the TERRIBLE, unrelated to Trump, things having to do with fraud, big loans, Taxis, etc., and not serve a long prison term? He makes up stories to get a GREAT & ALREADY reduced deal for himself, and get..  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2018

.his wife and father-in-law (who has the money?) off Scott Free. He lied for this outcome and should, in my opinion, serve a full and complete sentence.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2018

Cohen pled guilty on Thursday to lying to Congress about how much he discussed an ill-fated Trump Tower Moscow project with then-candidate Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign. He originally told the House and Senate Intelligence Committees that negotiations around the project had ended in January 2016, before the presidential primaries, but admitted on Thursday that the talks went on until at least June of that year.

Cohen once said he would take a bullet for Trump but on Thursday took a plea deal, agreeing to cooperate with Special Counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation and asking the federal judge overseeing his case to spare him prison time.

I made these statements to be consistent with Individual 1s [Trumps] political messaging and out of loyalty to Individual 1, Cohen said in his plea.

Truly the greatest punishment Michael has endured in the criminal process has been the shame and anxiety he feels daily from having subjected his family to the fallout from his case, his lawyers wrote in a Friday court filing making the case for a lenient sentence.

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Cohen pled guilty in August to eight charges, including bank fraud, tax fraud, and campaign-finance violations, related to hush-money payments made to women who claimed to have had affairs with Trump.

Hes a weak person and not a very smart person, Trump said of his long-time lawyer last week. Hes lying, very simply, to get a reduced sentence.

Cohen is set to be sentenced on December 12. Under his plea deal, prosecutors have recommended a term of zero to six months in prison.Washington (AFP) - Roger Stone, an informal adviser to US President Donald Trump, denied Sunday that the two had discussed a possible presidential pardon at a time when Stone is said to be under mounting scrutiny from prosecutors investigating Russian interference.

Stone also denied having had any contact during the 2016 presidential campaign with Julian Assange, the creator of WikiLeaks, the site that published hacked messages from Trump's Democratic opponents in an apparent bid to influence the election.

"I had no contact with Assange," Stone told ABC's "This Week" program. "We have had no communication with (Assange) whatsoever."

He said he had not been contacted by Robert Mueller, the special prosecutor investigating possible collusion or coordination between Trump's campaign team and Russia.

Asked whether he would expect a pardon from the president if indicted by Mueller, Stone replied, "I've had no discussion regarding a pardon."

But Stone insisted that he would never testify against his longtime friend.

"There's no circumstance under which I would testify against the president, because I'd have to bear false witness against him," he said. "I'd have to make things up, and I'm not going to do that."

Mueller has negotiated cooperation deals with several key witnesses, notably Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen, in exchange for reduced prison sentences for various charges.

Stone and one of his contacts, Jerome Corsi, are suspected of having had advance knowledge that WikiLeaks would, in the summer of 2016, publish a trove of hacked Democratic emails that would prove damaging to Trump's presidential rival, Hillary Clinton.

The ABC interviewer, George Stephanopoulos, asked Stone about emails in which he reportedly instructed Corsi in mid-2016 to "get to Assange at the Ecuadoran embassy in London and get the pending WikiLeaks email."

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But Stone insisted he had broken no law.

"I'm certainly guilty of bluffing and posturing and punking the Democrats," he said, before adding, "Where is the crime?

"I engaged in politics."Donald Trump had an informal conversation with Vladimir Putin at the G-20 summit in Argentina on Friday, one day after the U.S. president announced that he had decided to cancel a meeting with his Russian counterpart because of new developments in Russias conflict with Ukraine.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders confirmed their discussion at the gathering of leading industrial nations.

As is typical at multilateral events, President Trump and the First Lady had a number of informal conversations with world leaders at the dinner last night, including President Putin, she said in a statement Saturday.

President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin are seen during the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Friday. (Photo: Marcos Brindicci / Reuters)

Trump on Thursday announced on Twitter that it would be best for all parties concerned if he and Putin did not meet as planned because Ukrainian ships and sailors recently seized in the Sea of Azov had not been released by Russia.

Based on the fact that the ships and sailors have not been returned to Ukraine from Russia, I have decided it would be best for all parties concerned to cancel my previously scheduled meeting....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 29, 2018

Though the substance of Trumps conversation with Putin on Friday was not detailed by the White House, Putin said that it had to do with the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.

He has his position about that and I have mine, Putin told reporters at a press conference. We stayed in our own positions.

Putin put blame on Ukraine for the latest dispute between the two countries, adding that he considered it too early to return the ships and sailors.

The current Ukrainian leadership is not interested in resolving this at all, Putin said, according to The Guardian. As long as they stay in power, war will continue.

Ukraine had been part of the old Soviet Union but along with other Eastern European countries it declared its independence from that bloc in the early 1990s. Territorial disputes, often leading to violence, have marked relations between Ukraine and Russia in recent years, highlighted by the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014.

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Related...

Here's What Happened In Russia And Ukraine's Naval Clash

Trump Cancels Meeting With Putin Amid Ukraine-Russia Conflicts

G-20 Nations Agree On Trade, Migration; Trump Lone Holdout On Climate Change

Trump Aides Caught In Web Of Lies Over Russia Contacts

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Ankara (AFP) - A Turkish court on Tuesday rejected an appeal by jailed pro-Kurdish leader Selahattin Demirtas against his conviction for "terrorist propaganda", his lawyer said, in a fresh blow to the prominent politician considered a potential rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Demirtas, a former co-leader of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) who remains an influential and popular figure in the Kurdish movement, is facing multiple criminal proceedings and his pre-trial detention was last month slammed as politically motivated by a European rights court.

He was sentenced to four years and eight months for disseminating "terror" propaganda in September, a ruling upheld by the court in Istanbul in Tuesday.

The decision, which was announced on Twitter by his lawyer Mahsuni Karaman, follows a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on November 20 that called on Turkey to release Demirtas.

Karaman said the European ruling had given Turkish authorities an opportunity to "easily rule to release (Demirtas) in the case where he remains under arrest and say, 'look we followed the ECHR decision'.

"But Demirtas will remain a hostage as the conviction to four years and eight months is confirmed."

Demirtas rose to prominence with a charismatic performance in 2014 elections won by Erdogan. Demirtas ran again in the last elections in June 2018 from his prison cell.

Analysts see the politician as one of the few figures in Turkey who can match Erdogan's rhetoric and could become a dangerous rival for the president.

The Strasbourg-based ECHR ruled Demirtas' imprisonment had been aimed at "stifling pluralism and limiting freedom of political debate", calling for his release from the pre-trial detention.

He has been held since November 2016 pending his trial on charges including managing a "terrorist organisation" and "inciting others to commit crimes". He could be jailed for 142 years if he is found guilty.

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Erdogan, who has rejected the European court ruling, regularly accuses the HDP of being a political front for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.

The PKK is proscribed as a "terrorist" group by Ankara and its Western allies.

The HDP denies the accusations and says it is being targeted because of its opposition to the government.By Sarah N. Lynch and Brendan Pierson

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors announced Tuesday that they have charged four people with taking part in a decades-long scheme to evade U.S. taxes that came to light after a massive leak of offshore financial data known as the "Panama Papers."

Three of the four people have already been arrested, prosecutors said, in the first criminal case brought by U.S. authorities in connection with Mossack Fonseca & Co, the Panamanian law firm at the center of the leak.

Harald Joachim von der Goltz, a client of the firm, was arrested in London on Monday; Dirk Brauer, an employee of an asset management company closely tied to the firm, was arrested in Paris on Nov. 15; and Richard Gaffey, a U.S.-based accountant, was arrested in Massachusetts on Tuesday, according to prosecutors.

The fourth defendant, Ramses Owens, was a lawyer at Mossack Fonseca and remains at large, prosecutors said. The law firm shut down earlier this year.

Bill Lovett, a lawyer for Gaffey, could not immediately be reached for comment. Lawyers for the other three defendants could not immediately be identified.

The most serious charges in the case, which include wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy, carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

In an indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court, prosecutors said that from 2000 to 2017, Owens and Brauer conspired to help clients of Mossack Fonseca conceal assets, investments and income from U.S. tax authorities, using sham foundations and shell companies formed under the law of countries including Panama, Hong Kong and the British Virgin Islands. Owens, 50, is a citizen of Panama and Brauer, 54, is German citizen, prosecutors said.

One of those clients was von Der Goltz, an 81-year-old German citizen, according to the indictment. Prosecutors said that Owens and Gaffey helped von Der Goltz avoid taxes by creating shell companies and bank accounts that he falsely claimed were solely owned by his elderly mother, a Guatemalan citizen who did not pay U.S. taxes.

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Prosecutors also said that Gaffey, a 74-year-old U.S. citizen, helped another unnamed client of the Mossack Fonseca conceal offshore bank accounts from U.S. authorities.

The "Panama Papers", which consist of millions of documents from Mossack Fonseca, were leaked to the media in April 2016.

A review of the documents also prompted German authorities to raid the offices of Deutsche Bank AG and its board members as part of a money laundering investigation last week. [nL8N1Y519O]

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Brendan Pierson; editing by Rosalba O'Brien and Lisa Shumaker)GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States has made 11 attempts to begin negotiations with Iran in the last two years, all rejected by Tehran, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was quoted as saying on Tuesday. Tensions have escalated between the two countries after U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from a multilateral nuclear agreement with Iran in May and reimposed sanctions in a bid to curb the Islamic Republic's missile program and regional influence. "If you think America is victorious, know that today Iran is victorious and Trump has been defeated," Rouhani said in comments reported by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) news agency. "Last year America requested negotiations eight times directly and this year three times indirectly which we did not accept on the basis of the dignity of the people." The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Rouhani did not say which subjects the United States wanted to negotiate about and nor did he specify whether he was referring to the Iranian calendar year, which begins in March. Trump said in July he would be willing to meet Rouhani without preconditions to discuss how to improve ties after he pulled the United States out of the 2015 nuclear deal, saying, "If they want to meet, well meet". Senior Iranian officials and military commanders rejected Trumps offer as worthless and "a dream", saying his words contradicted his action of reimposing sanctions on Tehran. (Reporting by Babak Dehghanpisheh, additional reporting by Arshad Mohammed in Washington; Editing by Adrian Croft)GENEVA (Reuters) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani made an apparent threat on Tuesday to disrupt other countries' oil shipments through the Gulf if Washington presses ahead with efforts to halt Iranian oil exports.

The United States has imposed sanctions on Iran and U.S. officials say they aim to reduce Iran's oil exports to zero in a bid to curb the Islamic Republic's missile program and regional influence.

"America should know that we are selling our oil and will continue to sell our oil and they are not able to stop our oil exports," Rouhani said in a televised speech during a trip to the northern Iranian city of Shahroud.

"If one day they want to prevent the export of Iran's oil, then no oil will be exported from the Persian Gulf," he said.

Rouhani made similar comments in July.

Also in July, an Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander, Ismail Kowsari, was quoted as saying that Tehran would block oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz lf the United States banned Iranian oil sales.

Tensions have risen between Iran and the United States after U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from a multilateral nuclear deal in May and reimposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Rouhani said the United States would not succeed in cutting Iran's economic ties with the region and the world.

"The most hostile group in America, with relation to Iran, has taken power," Rouhani said, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). "Of course they never had a friendship with the people of Iran and we never trusted America or others 100 percent."

Earlier, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif denied a Reuters report that said a European mechanism to set up an account to trade with Iran and beat the newly reimposed U.S. sanctions may not cover oil sales, the Iranian foreign ministry website reported.

"Based on the information we have, it's not so. Because if Iran's oil money is not deposited into the account, it's not clear that there would be any funds for trade, because oil is a major part of Iran's exports," Zarif said, according to the website.

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"This appears to be propaganda aimed at discouraging people," Zarif added.

France and Germany are to take joint responsibility for the EU-Iran trade mechanism, Reuters reported.

But the agency quoted diplomats as saying that, with U.S. threats of retribution for sanctions-busting unrelenting, the goals of the nascent trade mechanism could be scaled back to encompass only less sensitive items such as humanitarian and food products.

Iranian Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri said on Tuesday that U.S. sanctions were hitting vulnerable people in Iran.

"When (Americans) say their target is the Iranian government and there won't be pressure on the sick, the elderly and the weak in society, it's a lie," Jahangiri said, according to IRNA.

(Reporting by Babak Dehghanpisheh, additional reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Adrian Croft and David Evans)London (AFP) - London will allow refugees living on a UK military base in Cyprus since 1998 to settle in Britain following a long legal dispute, a spokesman said on Tuesday.

The group of six families are among 75 people from Ethiopia, Iraq, Sudan and Syria who landed on the southwest coast of Cyprus after the boat in which they were travelling to Italy foundered.

They were recognised as refugees but then interior minister Theresa May decided they could not be admitted to Britain and they have since been pursuing a legal challenge.

The refugees have been living on the Dhekelia base, which is British sovereign territory.

"Given the unique and highly unusual circumstances of these refugees and their children we have made an exceptional decision to bring an end to this long-standing issue, enabling them to leave Dhekelia immediately and settle in the UK," a British interior ministry spokesman said.

While they could in theory claim asylum in Cyprus, many say they have little prospect of finding work or permanent residency on the island.

The dispute has rumbled on for so long that many of the refugees have married and had children, all within the boundaries of the seven-square-kilometre (three-square-mile) outpost where they live, although they are able to go outside.

"We are delighted that the current Home Secretary has done the humane thing and agreed to grant our clients and their families leave to enter the UK for permanent residency," Tessa Gregory, a solicitor at Leigh Day, said in a statement.

Tag Bashir, the lead claimant, said: "We only want to thank everyone who has worked so hard to help us escape this 20-year nightmare.

"I cannot express how happy our families are to be given the opportunity to come to the UK and start our lives again," he said.Brussels (AFP) - Ukraine on Tuesday pressed NATO to come up with a "comprehensive answer" to Russian aggression in the Black Sea, as the alliance treads carefully for fear of escalating tensions further.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin hinted that at least one NATO member was ready to enhance its presence in the Black Sea in response to a call from Kiev following Russia's seizing of ships and sailors in the Kerch Strait.

NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels discussed the Azov Sea standoff but did not agree any concrete new measures to help Ukraine.

"What is critically important is to have a very clear and comprehensive answer to Russian acts of aggression... (and) Russian abuses of Black Sea security," Klimkin told reporters.

The clash last week off the coast of Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014, left 24 Ukrainian sailors and three navy ships in Russian hands and sent tensions soaring.

European leaders have rebuffed Ukrainian calls for more support against Moscow, but Klimkin indicated that a NATO country was ready to step up, without giving clear details.

"This presence will be enhanced and we have to see which country will be the pioneer. You will hear that not from us but from the alliance member," he said.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg repeated a call for Russia to return the sailors and ships and ensure freedom of navigation in the Azov Sea, an offshoot of the Black Sea home to key Ukrainian ports.

He said the alliance had stepped up its presence in the area over the past year, but announced no new practical help for Ukraine.

The United States is pressing Europe to "show some leadership" on the Azov Sea crisis.

"We really want to see European allies do more," a senior US State department official said.

"We want to see European allies take greater responsibility for a security problem that's just 200 miles from Germany's border."

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But European countries -- some of which have strong business links to Russia -- are deeply wary of doing anything that might exacerbate the situation.

"We will continue to make every effort to ensure that this conflict does not turn into a serious crisis. and that can only be achieved with a political solution," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said.

Klimkin said he would use talks with EU officials next week to ask whether the international response could include barring Russian commercial shipping from international ports.

Ukraine has accused Moscow of blocking merchant vessels from entering and leaving Azov Sea ports.

But Kiev said Tuesday that Russia had begun allowing some ships to enter Ukrainian ports on the Sea of Azov, in what could signal an easing of tensions in the flashpoint area.Rimbo (Sweden) (AFP) - Peace talks between Yemen's government and rivals aimed at ending four years of devastating war will open on Thursday in Sweden, the UN announced.

No breakthrough is expected at the talks, which mark the first meeting between Yemen's Saudi-backed government and Huthi rebels, linked to Iran, since 2016 -- when more than 100 days of negotiations failed to end a war that has now claimed upwards of 10,000 lives and pushed 14 million people to the brink of famine.

Analysts and UN sources have set a low bar for the talks, which they say aim for "confidence-building" between the two parties, at war since 2015. No end date has been announced.

Sources close to the rebels say the Huthis are expected to request the reopening of Sanaa International Airport, which has been damaged by Saudi-led air raids and shut down by Riyadh and its allies, who control Yemen's airspace.

A source in the government delegation said President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's camp is seeking maps detailing landmines planted by the rebels.

Sources on both sides said they would demand a ceasefire -- initiated by their rival -- and the opening of humanitarian corridors.

UN envoy Martin Griffiths flew to Sanaa in the days leading up to the Sweden summit after his plans to host talks in Geneva in September failed when the rebels refused to leave Sanaa, saying they feared they would not be allowed to return.

"The (UN special envoy) would like to announce the restart of the intra-Yemeni political process in Sweden on 6 December 2018," his office tweeted.

The government and Huthis on Tuesday agreed to a prisoner swap, to be overseen by the International Committee of the Red Cross, after the Sweden talks. Among the thousands expected to be released is President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's brother Nasser, a general and former senior intelligence official.

Saudi Arabia and its allies also allowed the Huthis to evacuate 50 wounded rebels from Sanaa for medical treatment in Oman, a condition the rebels had set prior to the foiled Geneva talks.

Story continues

- Low bar -

A 12-member team from the Saudi-backed government headed by Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani, arrived in Sweden on Wednesday, a day after rebel delegates landed in Stockholm accompanied by the UN peace envoy.

Yemeni Information Minister Moammer al-Eryani confirmed their arrival via Twitter, saying the government team "carried with them the hopes of the Yemeni people for an end to the coup and the return of the state".

The delegation had delayed its departure until the rebels arrived in Stockholm after they failed to show up for the last UN bid to convene peace talks in September, sources close to the government told AFP.

The head of the rebel delegation, Mohammed Abdelsalam, said the Huthis would "spare no effort to make a success of the talks to restore peace and end the aggression" -- but called on rebel fighters to remain "vigilant against any attempt at a military escalation on the ground".

On Wednesday, six members of the rebel delegation could be seen in the grounds of the venue for the talks, the Johannesbergs Castle -- a large estate with a golf course 60 kilometres (40 miles) north of Stockholm, now cordoned off by police.

Analysts and diplomats have cautioned the talks could yield no breakthrough, with the two sides not actually due to sit down at the negotiating table together.

"I would have very low expectations," a Security Council diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.

- Crisis deteriorating -

The US State Department hailed the peace talks as a "necessary and vital first step".

The United Arab Emirates, a key backer of the Hadi government with boots on the ground in Yemen, said the planned talks offered a "critical opportunity" to bring peace to a country in the grip of what the UN has described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

"The hard work begins now," British Ambassador to the UN Karen Pierce told reporters outside the Security Council.

Thousands of prisoners have been captured by both sides in the grinding war of attrition that has devastated Yemen at a cost of nearly 10,000 lives since the Saudi-led coalition intervened in March 2015, according to World Health Organization figures.

Human rights groups put the death toll far higher.

The humanitarian crisis, already the world's worst, will deteriorate in 2019, the UN said on Tuesday, warning the number of people needing food aid is set to jump by four million.

Roughly 75 percent of Yemen's population will need humanitarian assistance in 2019, UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock told reporters in Geneva.

Aid groups including the Norwegian Refugee Council and UNICEF on Wednesday called for the two sides to put a halt to the fighting.

"Parties to the conflict must agree ways to reopen all ports and stabilise the nation's collapsing economy, while facilitating full and unfettered access for people in need of humanitarian aid," NRC said.

The coalition has largely suspended its offensive on the rebel-held port of Hodeida in the face of US-led calls for a ceasefire and new peace talks.

But fresh fighting flared this week, with a coalition spokesman confirming military operations were "ongoing".

burs-abh-ac/po/ny/harBogota (AFP) - A UN official called on the Colombian government to step up measures to protect human rights defenders following an upsurge in the number murdered since the signing of a peace agreement with former FARC guerrillas.

Michel Forst, UN rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, said in an interview late Monday that armed groups have filled a power vacuum left by rebels who disarmed after signing the November 2016 agreement.

Those armed groups -- an amalgam of political dissidents, drug traffickers, organized crime groups and paramilitaries -- "are now the main perpetrators or attacks against defenders," he said.

"At the time there is a drastic drop in the number of homicides throughout the country, probably related to the peace process," Forst told AFP, "there has been a sharp increase in the homicides of defenders."

Forst said the broad spectrum of aggressors also includes members of the security forces, as well as random strangers encouraged by "relatively high" rates of impunity.

"I have been horrified to hear the accounts of Afro-Colombian and indigenous farmers describing the attacks they face without being able to put a name to the perpetrators," Forst said.

Right-wing President Ivan Duque, who took office in August, acknowledged the increase in activists' murders, and pledged Monday to implement measures to prevent the killings.

"In recent years the number of murders have been growing and therefore it is very important that there is a reaction from the state," Duque said in a joint press conference with Forst late Monday.

Forst promised to return to the country to monitor progress.

Colombia's Ombudsman's Office said 311 rights defenders had been murdered between January 2016 and June 30 this year -- one every three days.Washington (AFP) - The United States urged the European Union on Monday to apply sanctions targeting Iran's ballistic missile program, calling it a "grave and escalating threat."

Over the weekend, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo charged that Iran tested a medium-range missile capable of carrying multiple warheads and striking parts of Europe and the entire Middle East.

He said the test violated UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the Iran nuclear deal signed by world powers with the Islamic republic.

In Paris, the French foreign ministry also condemned the Iranian missile test as "provocative and destabilizing," and noted that it was not in compliance with the UN resolution.

France "calls on Iran to immediately cease all activity linked to ballistic missiles conceived to carry nuclear weapons, including all launches using ballistic missile technology," it said.

Washington's Iran special envoy Brian Hook insisted that despite Tehran's assertions to the contrary, Iran's missile tests were not defensive in nature.

"We would like to see the European Union move sanctions that target Iran's missile program," Hook told reporters aboard Pompeo's plane as he traveled to Brussels for a NATO meeting.

Hook said President Donald Trump's campaign of "maximum pressure" on Tehran since withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal "can be effective if more nations can join us in those (sanctions)."

"It is a grave and escalating threat, and nations around the world, not just Europe, need to do everything they can to be targeting Iran's missile program," he added.

Hook said "progress" was being made on getting NATO allies to consider a proposal to target individuals and entities that play key roles in Iran's missile program.

The United States decided in May to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions on Iran.

EU countries have denounced the move and are working to preserve the nuclear deal, even though they have also criticized Iranian positions on other matters.United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The United States on Tuesday urged the UN Security Council to condemn Iran for carrying out a ballistic missile test, describing the launch as dangerous and a violation of a UN resolution.

The council met behind closed doors at the request of France and Britain which, along with the United States, have accused Iran of test-firing a medium-range ballistic missile on Saturday.

France and Britain maintain that missile launches are inconsistent with the UN resolution that endorsed the 2015 Iran nuclear deal while the United States has taken a harder stance and views them as an outright violation.

"Iran's recent ballistic missile test was dangerous and concerning, but not surprising," US Ambassador Nikki Haley said in a statement.

"The international community cannot keep turning a blind eye every time Iran blatantly ignores Security Council resolutions.

"If the Security Council is serious about holding Iran accountable and enforcing our resolutions, then at a minimum we should be able to deliver a unanimous condemnation of this provocative missile test," she said.

Iran has long maintained that its missile program is defensive in nature, a stance generally supported by Russia at the Security Council.

In a statement, the Iranian mission to the United Nations accused the United States of creating confusion about the wording of the resolution and insisting its missile-related activities were legal.

The UN resolution calls on Iran to refrain from testing missiles capable of carrying a nuclear weapon, but does not specifically bar Tehran from missile launches.

"Portraying Iran's ballistic missile program as inconsistent with resolution 2231 or as a regional threat is a deceptive and hostile policy of the US," the Iranian mission said.

- UN concern -

Iran has neither denied nor confirmed the launch that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said involved a missile of a medium range, capable of carrying multiple warheads and striking parts of Europe and the entire Middle East.

Story continues

Following the meeting, French Ambassador Francois Delattre said there was "widely-shared concern" at the council about the missile test and renewed France's call to Iran to halt all activities related to its missile program.

British Ambassador Karen Pierce stressed that the types of missiles launched on December 1 "go way beyond legitimate defensive needs" and point to Iran's destabilizing behavior in the region.

"If you wanted to demonstrate to the international community that you were a responsible member of it and genuinely interested in regional peace and security, these are not the types of missiles you would be test-launching," said Pierce.

The meeting ended with no joint statement or any plan for follow-up action, but the council is scheduled to take stock of the implementation of the resolution on December 19.

While the resolution remains in force, the United States decided in May to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions on Iran, to the dismay of its Europeans allies.

The nuclear deal signed by Iran and six powers -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the US -- provides for a lifting of sanctions against Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear activities.HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam has set up a telephone hotline for people to report accusations of police corruption, state media said on Tuesday, amid a crackdown on graft in the Southeast Asian country that has jailed dozens of officials. A court last Friday sentenced two senior police officials to up to 10 years in prison for running an underground online gambling ring which illegally raised hundreds of millions of dollars. "Reports will be discounted if providers do not declare their full name, address and telephone number, or supply insufficient, vague or unsubstantiated information," the official Vietnam News Agency (VNA) said, citing a Ministry of Public Security statement. "They will also be discounted if callers insult the officers on duty," VNA said. Vietnam's graft crackdown has seen the Communist-ruled government launch investigations into hundreds of public officials accused of mismanagement. Several executives at state-owned enterprises, including one former politburo member, have been jailed for mismanagement or embezzlement. Beyond those high-profile cases, petty corruption in Vietnam is commonplace, and road users are often forced to pay on-the-spot cash bribes to traffic police for minor offences. An official who answered the hotline's phone number on Tuesday told Reuters it had been previously used to report traffic police only, but now accepted complaints about corruption in the entire police force. The official, who was not authorized to speak to the media, declined to say how many calls a day were made to the hotline. (Reporting by James Pearson and Khanh Vu; editing by Darren Schuettler)Caracas (AFP) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged support Monday for under-fire Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro during a visit to Caracas aimed at strengthening ties with the crisis-wracked South American country.

On his first official visit to Venezuela, the Turkish leader blasted sanctions imposed on Maduro and many of his top officials by the United States, with which his government also has tense relations.

"Trade restrictions and sanctions are wrong," Erdogan said, warning that such measures would only deepen "instabilities."

"You cannot punish an entire people to resolve political disagreements," the Turkish leader said, according to an official translation of his speech to a business forum.

Earlier, Erdogan laid a wreath at the tomb of Venezuela's founding father Simon Bolivar, and Maduro also presented him with a replica of the revolutionary leader's sword.

- Business links -

But the key highlight was Erdogan's speech at the business forum.

With oil production in a tailspin the socialist president has invited Turkish businesses to invest in exploiting a vast mining reserve known as the Arco del Orinoco in the south of the country, an area with considerable gold, diamond and coltan reserves.

Non-oil trade between the two countries this year reached 800 million dollars, according to Caracas, a not insignificant figure given its serious liquidity problems.

Maduro said Turkish businesses intend to invest some 4.5 billion euros in its OPEC partner.

"We are going to cover the majority of Venezuela's needs, we have that strength, I would like to highlight this fact," Erdogan told business leaders.

The South American country has suffered from economic woes since 2014, when a crash in the price of crude prompted a crisis that has sparked an exodus of some two million people.

"I want my visit to be considered as a symbol of collaboration of the Turkish people with the people of Venezuela," said Erdogan.

Erdogan's trip had been announced, though without a specific date, during a September 21 visit to Caracas by his foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Maduro travelled to Turkey last July for the inauguration of Erdogan's inauguration at the start of a new five-year term as president of Turkey, a country he has led since 2003.Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily!

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Former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman addressed Monday the understandings reached between Israel and Hamas regarding a long-term ceasefire arrangement.

"Up until March 30 we hadnt thought about transferring money and fuel. Hamas applied pressure through the March of Return protests, and economically it paid off for them. Since then, Hamass support in the Gaza Strip has increased. A far as we are concerned, this is a catastrophe  we came out of this looking like complete losers, he stressed.The IDF launched Operation Northern Shield on Tuesday morning to expose and neutralize terror tunnels Hezbollah has constructed along the Israel-Lebanon border since 2006.

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It is unclear how many tunnels snake into Israeli territory from Lebanon, but the IDF stressed they were not operational and do not pose an immediate threat to Israel.

At present, work to expose the tunnels was taking place in Israeli territory, but IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis noted that "Neutralizing the tunnels will not necessarily be done in our territory."

One tunnel has already been found, stretching from a residential structure in the south of Kafr Kela in Lebanon and reaching 40 meters (130 feet) into Israeli territory. The IDF said it took Hezbollah two years to dig the 200-meters-long (656 feet) tunnel in the rocky terrain, adding there are longer tunnels.

A Hezbollah terror tunnel found on the Israeli border (Photo: IDF Spokesman's Office)

The tunnel is about two meters tall and two meters wide (6 feet 7 inches) and includes ventilation systems, electricity and piping. It was dug 25 meters (82 feet) under ground.

Unlike the tunnels Hamas is digging in Gaza, Hezbollah's tunnel does not require concrete walls as it is supported by the rocky terrain it was dug through.

IDF officials estimated the operation would last a few weeks, but noted that it depended on how Hezbollah would choose to respond. Israel will also demand to implement its defensive measures in areas along the border that are under dispute, which could lead to protest from the Lebanese government.

IDF forces begin Operation Northern Shield (Photo: Avihu Shapira)

"We've been preparing for this operation for two and a half years, with a standing operating procedure led by the IDF chief personally," the IDF said.

"This is the most blatant proof of the violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 that ended the Second Lebanon War," the IDF accused.

IDF uncovered Hezbollah tunnels

X

"The tunnels pose a risk to the Lebanese residents across the border as well, and we see the Lebanese government as responsible for everything that happens north or the border," the IDF added. "The fact is that the Lebanese army does not control the area and doesn't take responsibility for southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah is the one operating in the area and in the Shiite villages. Behind Hezbollah is Iranian knowledge and money, and we will deal with that in the coming days as well."

The IDF added it had "enhanced its presence and readiness in the Northern Command and is prepared for various scenarios," but noted there were no special instructions for residents of northern Israel.

IDF troops operating in the north (Photo: IDF Spokesman's Office)

Some areas near the border fence had been declared a closed military zone, with most of the army's operations taking place near Metula.

"We are in complete control over the operation, which is going according to plan, and we are determined to remove the underground threat to the State of Israel," the army went on to stress.

IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot held a situation assessment in the Northern Command on Tuesday, following which he took a tour of the border and met with mayors in the north.

IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis said Operation Northern Shield was so top secret there were General Staff members who did not know about it until Tuesday morning.

Manelis said reinforcements from the Commando Brigade were deployed along the border alongside infantry and Armored Corps. "Reinforcements of IAF aircraft and Navy vessels were also sent to the north... we're preparing for a long operation, therefore we prepared several options," he said.

IDF engineering forces operating on the northern border (Photo: IDF Spokesman's Office)

A Lebanese military official told The Associated Press that Lebanese troops and military intelligence agents, along with UN peacekeepers deployed in southern Lebanon, were observing the border on Tuesday.

An official from the so-called "Axis of Resistance"a grouping led by Iran and made up of Syrian officials, Iraq Shiite militias, Hezbollah and other groupssaid Hezbollah fighters were "on high alert to confront any possible Israeli aggression."

Malene Jensen, spokeswoman for the UN force in Lebanon known as UNIFIL, said the situation in the peacekeepers' "area of operation remains calm" and that they are in touch with all relevant parties to make sure calm and stability is maintained.

"We see Hezbollah's activities as a flagrant and blatant violation of Israeli sovereignty," said Lt. Col Jonathan Conricus, a military spokesman. "This activity is another example of the negative effects of Iranian entrenchment in the region."

Conricus said that Hezbollah has been developing an offensive plan against Israel that would "shift the battleground into Israel." The group would use firepower and ground units and "the surprise component of that plan was supposed to be tunnels that would allow infiltrators into Israel."

Meanwhile, the IDF issued warnings in Arabic to Hezbollah fighters and Lebanese troops not to come near the offensive tunnels Israel was working on neutralizing. "Your life is in danger, beware," Avichay Adraee, the IDF spokesman in Arabic, wrote on Twitter.

 #_  #_  #_              .  .    #_ pic.twitter.com/fRvRiecQ3B    (@AvichayAdraee) December 4, 2018

"We passed on a message to UNIFIL and the Lebanese Army: whoever goes into the tunnels is risking his life," IDF Spokesman Manelis added.

"Anyone who tries to hurt the State of Israel will pay a heavy price," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said about the operation.

The Prime Minister's Office has instructed ministers not to make any comments or give any interviews about the operation.

The Security Cabinet will be convened at the IDF headquarters in the Kirya in Tel Aviv at 7:15pm to receive updates about the operation.

Metula local council head David Azoulay said the only change to daily routine in his town was the fact some farmers were instructed by the army not to come to their plantations near the border fence.

Azoulay, a former engineering officer in the Northern Command, said it was harder to dig tunnels in the north. "The ground here is hard," he said, adding "I'm glad they found the tunnels now, and that the threat is being neutralized."

The local council opened a situation room to keep residents updated on the situation, but at the moment it is not fully operational.

Safed Mayor Shuki Ohana has instructed municipal workers to check all bomb shelters in the city and ensure they are ready for any scenario, even though the Home Front Command has not issued any special instructions.

Netanyahu to Lebanon: Stop Hezbollah's armament or we'll act

The operation comes hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a last-minute trip to Brussels to meet US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in which the two discussed "ways to halt together Iranian aggression in the region," including in Lebanon.

Netanyahu asked Pompeo to pass on a message to the Lebanese government, telling them that if Beirut doesn't stop Hezbollah's armament efforts, Israel will have to take action. Israel sent a similar message to Lebanon recently through France.

Netanyahu and Pompeo meet in Brussels

An Israeli government source said the purpose of the meeting was to update Pompeo of the upcoming tunnel operation.

"I want to thank you for everything that you're doing, for your strong statements on the latest violation by Iran on the ballistic missiles," Netanyahu told Pompeo. "I look forward to discussing with you how we can together curb Iran's aggression in the region, in Syria, in Iraq, in Lebanon and elsewhere and to continue our efforts to achieve peace and security for everyone."

During the 3.5-hour-long meeting, Pompeo "emphasized the United States' commitment to Israel's security and absolute right to self-defense and to fighting anti-Israeli bias at the United Nations," a State Department statement said.

"The Secretary reiterated US support for warming ties and increased dialogue between Israel and its neighbors in the Middle East and Africa, including Oman and Chad. Secretary Pompeo noted the strength of the US-Israel alliance and our multifaceted cooperation. He reiterated Americas resolve in confronting the totality of the Iranian regimes threats through maximum pressure," the State Department added.

This evening in Brussels, I met with with PM @netanyahu. It was a joy to wish him a happy #Hanukkah as we lit candles on the menorah. #ChagSameach! I also emphasized our commitment to #Israels national security & absolute right to self defense. pic.twitter.com/sF8m6rjsM0  Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) December 3, 2018

Netanyahu was joined in Brussels by Mossad Director Yossi Cohen, National Security Advisor Meir Ben Shabbat and his military secretary. He returned to Israel immediately after the meeting.

During an address to the United Nations in September, Netanyahu identified three locations in Lebanon where, he said, Hezbollah was converting "inaccurate projectiles" into precision-guided missiles. He warned the group that Israel would not let it "get away with it."

A few weeks ago Netanyahu also hinted at an upcoming Israeli offensive during a televised address. He offered no details, but said: "I will not say this evening when we will act and how. I have a clear plan. I know what to do and when to do it. And we will do it."

He said an upcoming security challenge would require Israelis to "endure sacrifice."

Netanyahu presenting map of Hezbollah military sites in Beirut (Photo: AFP)

Although its attention has been diverted to violent protests along its border with Gaza in recent months, Israel's main security concerns lie to the north, along the border with Lebanon.

Israeli officials have long warned the threat posed by Gaza's Hamas rulers pales in comparison to that of Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollaha heavily-armed mini-army with valuable combat experience and an arsenal of some 150,000 rockets that can reach nearly every part of Israel.

Hezbollah, founded in 1982 by Iran's Revolutionary Guards, has grown stronger since the 2006 Second Lebanon War with Israel, notably through its role in the Syrian war fighting in support of President Bashar Assad. With Syria's civil war winding down, Hezbollah is now free to re-establish itself back home in Lebanon and refocus on Israel.

Over the past decade, Israel and Hezbollah have largely maintained a stand-offthe group has rarely launched attacks into Israel from Lebanon and Israel has rarely struck against the group on Lebanese soil. But in the past few years, Israel has struck dozens of times inside Syria at advanced weapon deliveries to Hezbollah.

What led to the operation?

During the 2006 Second Lebanon War, IDF soldiers uncovered underground infrastructure Hezbollah had constructed in southern Lebanon. At the end of the war, the UN declared southern Lebanon a demilitarized area and barred the transfer of weapons to any organization that is not an established and official army. Despite that, the IDF says, Hezbollah continued developing its underground infrastructure in southern Lebanon.

"Since 2006, we've been identifying Hezbollah's efforts to build defensive tunnels on its territory, activity it has increased after the (Second Lebanon) war," the IDF said.

According to the IDF, in 2012 Hezbollah began developing a plan of attack inside Israel titled "Conquering the Galilee," which included conquering Israeli cities and towns. A year later, the IDF examined suspicions the terror group was digging near the border, but did not find anything.

Video released by Hezbollah threatening to launch the 'Conquering the Galilee' operation

Following the 2014 Operation Protective Edge, when Israeli citizens became aware of Hamas's attack tunnels in Gaza, residents in northern Israel began complaining about strange noises coming from underground and about unusual structures erected on the other side of the border.

"Any report by any civilian was checked in real time with technological and engineering equipment, and the places we've examined have been ruled out," the IDF explained.

Nevertheless, the IDF realized Hamas and Hezbollah were sharing knowledge on tunnel digging and construction, which led to the establishment of a special task form in the Northern Command in October 2014 to examine the threat.

IDF engineering forces operating on the northern border (Photo: IDF Spokesman's Office)

Starting in 2015, the IDF expanded its defensive operations on the northern border and technological measures were deployed in the area in an effort to detect tunnels. When tunnel construction efforts were detected, the IDF took a series of defensive measures on certain spots along the border.

"All of this allowed us this morning to launch an operation based on a good picture we've constructed in an effort to expose (Hezbollah's) project and neutralize it," the army said.

In the three years that followed, the IDF continued monitoring the tunnel construction. Several months ago, the army detected tunnels that clearly stretched beyond the Blue Line, leading to Operation Northern Shield.US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley tweeted on Thursday, "the UN will vote on a US resolution supported by the EU that condemns Hamas destructive actions.

"Countries must now ask themselves: are they for or against Hamas violence? The choice is clear for the US we hope it will be for the rest of the UN as well," she added.France and Britain asked Tuesday to convene the United Nations Security Council for a closed meeting following Iran's testing of a medium-range ballistic missiles capable of carrying multiple warheads last week, as reported by the Russian Sputnik news agency.

On Monday, France condemned the missile testing, calling it a provocative action, which destabilizes the area.A 22-year-old Palestinian was killed Tuesday during clashes with the IDF in Tulkarm, which erupted following arrests the army carried out there.A nationwide strike in protest of violence against women was underway on Tuesday, with thousands of men and women calling on the government to take action against domestic abuse.

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A jarring display of hundreds of red shoes spread across the Habima Square in Tel Aviv opened the day's events.

Red shoes spread across Habima Square in Tel Aviv

Protesters blocked central junctions across the country starting 9:30am, causing traffic congestion. The Azrieli Junction in Tel Aviv was the first to be blocked. Demonstrators gathered there, holding signs saying, "Stop killing women." In Jerusalem, 50 women blocked the entrance to the city, urging to "stop the murder of women." In Be'er Sheve, some 200 men and women gathered outside city hall.

At the Mount Scopus campus of the Hebrew University, signs with the names of the 24 women who were murdered over the past year were plastered on chairs with the writings: "Yara Ayub will no longer sit here. Who will be next?"

(Photo: Ayesha Ziadna)

Dozens of female and male employees of the Hadera Municipality, alongside women's organizations in the city, took part in a 24-minute rally commemorating the 24 victims of domestic violence. A similar rally also took place in Herzliya.

Many demonstrations also took place in the Arab sector. Dozens of men and women in Tira, Qalansawe, and Tayibe protested this morning against the government's inaction on the issue of violence against women. They held photos of the victims, demanding to eradicate the killings.

Fifty third-sector and women's organizations joined forces, protesting the most deadly year since 2011, dubbing it "emergency situation." Many women, among them artists and actresses, shared their photos on social media with the caption "emergency situation."

Netta Barzilai with the writing 'emergency situation' on her hand

Despite promises from municipalities that they would allow their employees to strike without missing out on the day's wages, the Civil Service Commission, the Finance Ministry and the Union of Local Authorities announced the strike would be considered a vacation day or be deducted from the salary of anyone who chooses to take part.

Nevertheless, 47 local authorities, 11 workers' unions, 84 companies, 51 firms and 65 small business pledged their support to the strike, including the President's Residence, Google Israel, Facebook Israel, Bank Hapoalim, KKL, the Histadrut Labor Federation, the Kibbutz Movement, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, and Maccabi Tel Aviv FC.

At 2 pm, protesters will put up a display commemorating sexual assault victims under the title "Every Woman Has A Name" at Habima Square and hold a rally where the names of the victims will be read out.

At 5 pm a demonstration will take place at Tel Aviv's Lewinsky Garden to protest of the violence against women in southern Tel Aviv.

At 7:30 pm, the main protest rally will be held at Rabin Square, to which shuttle services will arrive from all over the country.

Throughout the day, "Their right to strike"a free legal counseling service hotline will be operated by the Israel Women's Network.

Women protesting across the country

Ten days ago, a rally was held at Tel Aviv's Cinematheque plaza to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, with only a few hundreds of participants.

Since then two girls were brutally murdered 16-year-old Yara Ayub from Jish and 13-year-old Eritrean native Silvana Tsegai from Tel Aviv. These two murders, in addition to the 22 additional women murdered since the beginning of the year, where what sparked the women's protest.

Women's protest in Jerusalem

The protesters demand the government to allocate NIS 250 million promised for a five-year plan to fight violence against women, which was approved a year and a half ago.

The plan includes, inter alia, placing a social worker at every police station, putting ankle monitors on abusive men, establishing shelters for battered pregnant women, expanding rehabilitation programs for abusive men and resettling battered women abroad for their own protection.

Opposition MKS join the protest

The women's protest headquarters issued a statement, "We are making history. We are not only striking, we are showing real power and strength. We are proving we cannot be ignored and that we refuse to be the government's last priority."

"This demonstration of power is just the beginning of a historic move that will make the lives of women an issue that matters on the national agenda," the statement read.

"The fact that some 51 percent of the population do not count, nor receive resources and their basic needs are not met, is an outrage and we are stopping it," the statement concluded.

Amir Alon, Ilana Curiel, and Raanan Ben Zur contributed to this story.Rashida Tlaib, the first American of Palestinian descent elected to the United States House of Representatives, declared Monday that she supports the BDS Movement, adding that she plans a legislator's tour of the West Bank to create an alternative to the traditional tour of Israel given to new legislators by the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC.

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In an interview with The Intercept, Tlaib, the Michigan Democrat elected last month to Congress, compared Israel's policy in the West Bank to the racial segregation practiced in the southern United States against blacks.

Rashida Tlaib, D. Mich. (Photo: Reuters)

I want us to see that segregation and how that has really harmed us being able to achieve real peace in that region, Tlaib explained. I dont think AIPAC provides a real, fair lens into this issue. Its one-sided.  (They) have these lavish trips to Israel, but they dont show the side that I know is real, which is whats happening to my grandmother and whats happening to my family there.

According to Tlaib, the tour she plans will focus on issues related to the Palestinians, such as the detention of minors, education and poverty. She noted that it is possible that during the tour the legislators will visit her ancestral village , Beit Ur al-Foqa, in the Ramallah area.

Tlaib also declared for the first time her support for the BDS Movement to boycott Israel. "I personally support the BDS movement," she told the website. She said the boycott would bring attention to "issues like the racism and the international human rights violations by Israel right now."

Her declaration of support for BDS could make it difficult for the US legislator to enter Israel, in light of the law recently passed by the Knesset prohibiting entry into Israel of those who call for boycotting the state. In the United States, too, there is an attempt to ban the boycott movement. According to the report, the US Congress has promoted a bill on the matter.

Tlaib is the second elected legislator to announce her support for BDS. Ilhan Omar , a Somali-American representing Minnesota, has in the past called Israel an "Apartheid regime" and expressed support for boycott measures. However, during her election campaign, Omar softened her statements and claimed that the boycott of Israel was not helpful and that its right to exist should be recognized.

Ilhan Omar, D. Minn. (Photo: Reuters)

AIPAC offers separate trips for members of Congress from both the Democratic and the Republican parties. Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md, told the Intercept website that he intends to continue leading AIPAC tours to Israel in the future.

While it has not yet been planned, Mr. Hoyer intends to once again serve as the senior member on a delegation of Members of Congress to Israel next year, said Annaliese Davis, a spokesperson for Hoyer.

The delegation trip to Israel is an opportunity for freshmen Members of Congress to learn more about regional threats and dynamics in the Middle East and the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Davis wrote in a statement.

The organizers of the AIPAC trip, she added, work hard to show both sides of that conflict, including meetings with Palestinian leadership, the Israeli advocacy group Peace Now, and Israeli leaders from across the ideological spectrum.

The website published some interesting data on AIPAC's tours in Israel, noting that over the last decade the lobby spent $12.9 million to take 363 lawmakers and 657 parliamentary assistants on the Israel tours. According to the site, the average cost is around $9,300 to $10,500 per participanta price that includes a business class flight and accommodation in a luxury hotel in Jerusalem. Legislators are invited to bring along one family member.

Tlaib's statement in support of BDS is perhaps another sign of the growing gap between many Democrats in Congress and the Democratic leadership, which continues to express its support for Israel.

Palestinian rights are being integrated into the broader progressive agenda. Its becoming almost standard that if you support single-payer health care and climate justice, youll support Palestinian rights, said Rebecca Vilkomerson, the executive director of Jewish Voice for Peace.

The base has shifted and the leadership is going to have to shift sooner than they think, said Vilkomerson. The fight isnt over yet. But that era of bipartisan unity in support of Israel really seems to be over.Perhaps this is the kind of protest that should have erupted a long time ago. A protest thats popular, noisy, and manages to engage not only women but the country as a whole. A protest that has legs, with demonstrations taking place once a week if necessary, until a change in perspective happens. Only then we might be able to let go.

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If it had seeped into the subcounseness of the policemenwho arrived last Saturday at Huna Street in Tel Aviv's Hatikva neighborhood following the emergency call of Silvana Sagaithat a 13-year-old girl wouldn't call the police for no reasonwe would not have parted with her so soon.

Women's protest in Jerusalem (Photo: Yishai Porat)

Sagai dialed the number of the police call center because she was afraid of her mother's former boyfriend, who had arrived at their apartment to collect his belongings. By the time the police arrived, he was already gone. The teenager told the officers that everything was fine, but beneath the surface there was great fear.

Going into details was all the police had to do in order to get to the bottom of the problem. Perhaps they would have tried to locate the ex-boyfriend, and warn him to stay away from the family. Maybe then he would have let go, who knows. But standard police procedure did not obligate officers to investigate the source of the girls fear. The fact that there is no reason to delve into details as to why a 13-year-old girl calls the police is something that needs to changeand that can only be achieved by a protest.

Women's protest in Tel Aviv (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

Its not just the police that needs a shake-up. We, too, have to change our attitude. About a month ago in Netanya, during the Shiva (Jewish seven-day mourning period) of Aliza Shafakwho was murdered by her ex-husband Yitzhak Shafakfriends of the family and Alizas neighbors said they all knew about the domestic abuse taking place at the couples home. They saw the bruises on her face and heard her cries echoing throughout the neighborhood.

Even Shafaks friends from Acre, where Aliza lived 18 years ago, knew about the violence in the family. However, no one complained or reported it to the police or to welfare services.

Protest at Arab-Jewish Center for Empowerment, Equality, and Cooperation (Photo: Ayesha Ziadna)

There is no point in trying to think about what would have happened if someone had reported or complained. Maybe the first couple of phone calls would have been handled carelessly. Maybe Aliza herself would not have agreed to cooperate. But perhaps if the abuse would have been persistently reported, it could have forced the authorities to intervene.

Therefore, it's important for women to rebel. Taking to the streets is a mustdressed in black, with banners, on the city streets, outside police stations, everywhere. "The first womens protest in Israel" is a very important event, but it is also important for men to participate in this campaign. We all have to put our foot down and shout Enough!At present, Israeli defense officials don't foresee a military escalation in the north. While the IDF is working to expose and destroy a Hezbollah tunneland perhaps several tunnelsin the Metula area, the work is being done inside Israeli territory and neither Hezbollah nor the Lebanese government have any cause to claim that Israel is carrying out any aggressive action against them.

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Hezbollah was caught by surprise. The digging of the offensive tunnels into Israel was carried out quietly and apparently at a depth that led Hezbollah to believe that Israel remained oblivious to the underground effort. It will take a few days for the terror group to conduct a situation assessment and decide whether to act or not.

IDF activity from the Lebanese side







There is one more reason, perhaps the most important of all: if Hezbollah tries to interfere with the effort to uncover and neutralize the tunnels by firing into Israeli territory, Israel may expand the operation to all of Lebanon and undermine Iran's efforts to establish factories in Lebanon to upgrade the accuracy of Hezbollah's missile and rocket arsenal. Hezbollah and the Iranians are very concerned about such an eventuality.

In this context, we recall Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Brussels on Monday. Mossad Director Yossi Cohen, National Security Advisor Meir Ben Shabbat and the prime minister's military secretary also took part in the meeting.

IDF on the northern border (Photo: Avihu Shapiro)

An official statement about the meeting stated it dealt with curbing Iranian activity in the north, including in Lebanon and Iraq, but it is safe to assume Netanyahu asked for the meeting to warn the United States about the Operation Northern Shield to clear the tunnels, which can of course develop into a major war if Hezbollah decides to retaliate.

The meeting itself was meant to signal to all the parties operating alongside and under the auspices of Iran that Israel will not accept offensive tunnels infiltrating its territory, nor will it allow Hezbollah to improve the accuracy of its vast arsenal of missiles and rocketsezbollah has between 120-150 thousand missiles and rockets ready for launch throughout Lebanon, including southern Lebanon.

(Photo: Avihu Shapiro)

Diplomatic pressure will increase

A few years ago, Hassan Nasrallah announced that Hezbollah intends to "conquer the Galilee." Websites associated with the Shiite organization published a map of the operation, according to which Hezbollah intends to penetrate into Israel by way of a number of traffic arteries, and occupy a large part of the western and eastern Galilee between Metula and Rosh Hanikra.

Israel took this plan very seriously, and as a result it was decided to build an obstacle on the northern border that would make it difficult for Hezbollah militants to infiltrate in a ground operation.

A few days ago, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the construction of the barrier, including a wall, in certain sections of the Lebanese border, claiming that this obstacle creates tensions on the frontier.

Guterres also condemned the Lebanese government for not maintaining its part of the ceasefire agreement that ended the Second Lebanon War in 2006.

Engineering equipment to combat tunnels (Photo: IDF Spokesperson)

Now that Israel has revealed and proven to the UN the existence of offensive tunnels from Lebanon into Israel, the secretary-general will have to address the matter and the pressure on Lebanon will increase.

It is now likely that the United States, France, Great Britain, Germany and other countries in the Westincluding the European Unionwill put pressure on Hezbollah and Iran to not only stop the construction of cross-border tunnelswhich is itself considered a blatant violation of international lawbut to also stop work on upgrading Hezbollah's rocket and missile arsenal.

As far as Israel is concerned, the tunnels cease to be a threat once they are exposed, while the real threat is the accuracy and improvement of missiles and rockets . If war breaks out, Israel could face substantial destruction and heavy losses. Interception systems will not be able to handle such large barrages of missiles equipped with an accurate navigation mechanism that could hit critical military and civilian targets. Israel is determined to prevent such a situation at all costs.

The discovery of the tunnels can aid on the diplomatic frontand perhaps also validate military action against the main threat.

Tunnels dug in wadis, not towns

It is impossible not to address the claims of residents living along the northern border, some of whom say they could detect tunnel digging under their homes. They will certainly say, "We told you so," but the truth is that Hezbollah dug their tunnels in a manner that would enable its men to exit in an orderly fashion and then attack Israeli towns.

What motivated Hezbollah to build the tunnels is actually the border obstacle that Israel has built, and continues to build, above ground. They realized that Israel was conducting a military operation on the surface, and then, like Hamas at the time, began digging tunnels through the hard rock of the Galilee. The residents' intuition was correct, but apparently they did not actually hear the digging of the tunnels as they claimed.

Hezbollah has taken on a difficult task by digging tunnels on the northern border because of the terrain. In the south Hamas is digging through clay soil mixed with sand, which is easy to dig ineven with a spoon. In the north, the terrain is composed of limestone rock, which is hard to quarry and requires mechanical tools that make a lot of noise and are relatively easy to spot. Therefore, Hezbollah tried to situate its tunnels in dry riverbeds (wadis) with thick layers of ordinary earth, in which digging tunnels is easier.

In any case, we can assume that the methods and means developed for exposing the tunnels along the Gaza border have been adapted to meet the needs of the northern border, which enabled the discovery of the tunnels and their route, and now their destruction. The IDF, the intelligence community and the defense establishment as a whole deserve a big pat on the back.Mary Sterling-Torretti remembers decades ago reading the file of a student whose record predicted she would never go to college, let alone even graduate high school.

More recently, Sterling-Torretti, a 30-year teacher at The Winston School in Del Mar, found that same student on Facebook. The girl, whose outlook once looked dismal, had earned both a bachelors degree, as well as a masters degree in business, and was married.

Mary Sterling-Torretti Courtesy

"When I saw that, I cried for about 30 minutes," Sterling-Torretti recalled. "I remember reading her file and what a big deal it was on graduation day. I knew how hard she had to work to get there. She was somebody who had been told she couldn't do it. ... She's living this life that  if people had listened to the 'early experts'  she just wouldn't have been there."

The girl is just one of many success stories from The Winston School.

For nearly 30 years, the middle and high school has offered a place for students with learning differences, who don't thrive in traditional school settings.

The school, which is a unique hybrid of private and public education that has about 100 students and 40 staff members, sets out to address each child's individual needs.

It's not a one-size-fits-all model, explained Head of School Dena Harris. The school recognizes that children can come to the school with various assessments, including psychoeducational, private, occupational therapy and speech, as well as individual education plans.

Unlike traditional schools where each student is taught the same way, teens at The Winston School can opt for other methods to help them realize their learning potential. For example, tests can be taken visually, auditorily or orally.

"It all depends on what you need as a learner," she said. "There's no one set way. There are many ways. Some kids really do great with digital delivery, and other kids cannot do digital delivery at all and they need the paper and pencil. We have kids that have dysgraphia, dyslexia, dyscalculia. It really depends on the package they come in, and we work with that to try to make them as successful as possible."

The Winston School doesn't believe in hovering over students or shadowing them, which Harris said can add pressure to a student who is already struggling.

Dena Harris, Head of School at The Winston School, with Ollie, the school's therapy French Bulldog Courtesy

"It's not like a lifeguard situation where we're constantly mentoring," she explained. "It's a natural, authentic environment. If you need help, you need help. If you need to be by yourself and sit on the bench because you need a moment, have a moment."

And since joining the school two years ago, Harris has set out to make the environment even more comfortable for students. The school has spent about $300,000 in improvements over the last 18 months, including new lockers, seating, branding, upgraded floors, new kitchen servery, a sensory room, digital media arts lab, music program, culinary program, special lighting and diffusers. The classrooms are fairly open, with space for the students to move around so they are always comfortable.

The school also has four therapy dogs on campus to help comfort students. They will also soon have therapy bunnies and a miniature therapy horse in training, Harris said.

"The idea is, what can we do with what we have in the space that we have to bring the best programming for the kids here?" she said.

But now Harris is looking to improve the overall building, which she described as "run-down."

"I think the community would tell you that it wasn't maintained well," Harris said of the structure that was built between the 1940s and 1950s.

While the building is owned by the school  following a 2008 $8.5 million purchase, including $5.5 million raised by the community  the city owns the property. Harris said a rebuild of the school will likely cost between $8 million and $13 million.

The school's pre-paid rent in its 55-year-old lease ends in 2023.

Harris is asking the city to extend the lease to 99 years and allow a nonprofit, $1-a-year annual rent in exchange for contracting services and amenities to the city, with goals of improving both the school and joint-use park. Because of the building's age, not much of its materials can be salvaged, Harris said.

She said her biggest goal is to continue to make students feel comfortable and thrive and for families to know about Winston before they need Winston."

She said a lot of their students have experienced trauma, anxiety or learning disabilities that can make it difficult to succeed in traditional environments.

"As an educational community, we're realizing that trauma on a family level and anxiety greatly impact kids' learning," she said. "We're seeing kids come to school with higher rates of depression and anxiety, and they don't want to be at school. With the sizes of junior highs and high schools now and the school violence, parents are looking for other options, especially for kids who are really sensitive."

Dan Peragine, a 30-year art teacher at The Winston School, grew up with dyslexia and remembers doctors giving him eye drops when he said he had letter reversals. Now, children have more options, especially in places like The Winston School, where students with learning differences can better fit in.

Dan Peragine Courtesy

He said there's a "culture of tolerance" at the school, and kids don't get bullied because of their differences.

"These students wouldn't normally have a safe environment or a proper placement," he said.

Peragine, who formerly worked at a maximum security facility before coming to The Winston School, said he's seen the other side of the coin of where children can turn up if they don't receive the help they need.

"That was a real impetus for me to really try to help make a change, he said.

Both he and Sterling-Torretti said without hesitation that they know they are making a difference in their students' lives.

"I know working here means I'm touching individuals," Sterling-Torretti said. "I really feel confident that I can retire and I can someday say I touched lives. I saved lives."Hezbollah is adopting a more moderate tone and demonstrating restraint in its official statements following IDF Operation Northern Shield which was launched Tuesday morning in an attempt to expose and neutralize terror tunnels constructed by the terror organization along the Israeli-Lebanese border.

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Hezbollah's spokespeople said that the terror organization and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) are "closely monitoring the enemy's activities along the border and that the Lebanese army is in constant state of alertness. However, routine is maintained in southern Lebanon's villages."

Israel-Lebanese border

Moreover, Hezbollah officials accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of launching the operation to take the focus off his ongoing criminal investigations.

"He (Netanyahu) is in crisis mode. He is tilting at windmills in Lebanon in an attempt to evade it," an unnamed official told the Lebanon-based An-Nahar newspaper, in a reference to Don Quixote, a literary character who fights windmills that he imagines are giants.

IDF troops operating in the north (Photo: IDF Spokesman's Office)

The Shiite organization refused to further comment o the matter, while UNIFIL added that, "We are holding communications with both sides to maintain the calm and stability along the Israeli-Lebanese border."

IDF uncovered Hezbollah tunnels

X

The Security Cabinet will convene on Tuesday at 6:00pm in the Kirya headquarters base in Tel Aviv in order to discuss the situation on the border and receive updates.

In the past, Hezbollah threatened to capture the Galilee, simulating its plan in an animation video. However, penetrating Israel through terror tunnels was not mentioned in the plan.

Hezbollah's video threatening to capture the Galilee

X

The terror organization revealed several times it had used tunnels for various purposes, including sheltering Hezbollah members during battle with Israel.

In 2015, the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat reported that tunnels are not a new tool in Hezbollah's arsenal in general, and in southern Lebanon in particular.

IDF preparing equipment in wake of Operation Northern Shield (:  )

X

According to the newspaper, the tunnels along the border were already dug as early as 1982, and Hezbollah began using them in the early 1990s.

A former Hezbollah member told the newspaper that Israeli aircraft had monitored and documented one of the areas in which the tunnels were dug on a daily basis. Eventually, he added, the area was attacked by the Israeli Air Force (IAF) in an attempt to block the tunnels' shaft.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to the United States slammed Monday Hezbollah and Iran. The envoy accused the Shi'ite terror organization of attempting to establish an Iranian proxy in Lebanon.US National Security Advisor Ambassador John Bolton expressed his support for Israel on Tuesday following the launch of IDF's Operation Northern Shield.

"The US strongly supports Israel's efforts to defend its sovereignty, and we call on Hezbollah to stop its tunneling into Israel and to refrain from escalation and violence. More broadly, we call on Iran and all of its agents to stop their regional aggression and provocation, which pose an unacceptable threat to Israeli and regional security," Bolton said on Twitter.

The goal of Operation Northern Shield, which was launched this morning, is to expose and neutralize terror tunnels Hezbollah has constructed along the Israel-Lebanon border since 2006.A young man filed a sexual abuse complaint against Rabbi Moti Elon, UVDA investigative TV program reported on Tuesday.

Alon is an Israeli Religious Zionist rabbi who was convicted on two counts of forcible sexual assault against a male minor in 2013. The minor said his meetings with Alon took on a sexual nature. According to UVDA, some of the meetings were documented.

Following a meeting with three senior rabbis, Alon resigned from public activity. He has yet to respond to the claims.Israel's ambassador to Washington, Ron Dermer, thanked US Administration Tuesday following United States's support for Israel after the launch of IDF's Operation Northern Shield.

"Israel deeply appreciates the Trump administrations unequivocal support for Israels right to defend itself - against Hezbollah tunnels, Hamas rockets, Irans entrenchment in Syria, and all the other things that threaten the Jewish state," Dermer said on Twitter.

Dermer also thanked the UN envoy to the region, Nikolai Mladanov, Egypt and Qatar.

"The Government of Israel thanks the UNs Mladenov, Egypt and Qatar for their efforts to improve the situation in Gaza and hopes that a long term agreement can be reached that will both maintain Israels security and enable Gazas development," he added.Families of domestic violence speak with Ynet about the nationwide strike launched Tuesday in protest of violence against women. While they welcome the recent widespeared interest in the issue, most believes the government hasnt taken enough action against the phenomena.

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"If my mother was alive today, she would have gone to the rally against domestic violence," says Ortal Shafak, the daughter of Aliza Shafak, who was murdered by her husband two months ago in Netanya. "I know that she would have fought for other women. "

24 women have been murdered since the beginning of the year

Shafak was murdered by her then-husband, who had already spent five months in prison for another attack.

The daughter, Ortal, 35, who will speak at the main rally against domestic violence in Tel Aviv Tuesday night, welcomes the protest.

"Unfortunately, it is too late, and we shouldn't have to wait for so many women to die before we wake up. They don't talk about domestic violence enough in schools. There are resources, but not enough, there are no treatments for violent men, and yet it is better late than never," she said.

In the months since the murder of her mother, Ortal had become a mother of sorts to her little brothers and sisters. "This is not a simple time," she says. "I go to work, but I'm not focused, my mind is preoccupied with other things. It's very difficult to function after such a traumatic event," she added.

.

Aliza Shafak

'Where have you been until now?'

Tamar Ben-David was 19 years old when her father murdered her mother, Avital Rokach, in 2014. Since then, Tamar has participated in domestic violence protests several times. "I will attend the main rally in Tel Aviv," she said. A month ago, her father was convicted by the Jerusalem District Court after a four-year trial.

"I was pleasantly surprised by the protest, my family and I felt that this was a subject that had been swept under the rug for years. I very much hope that the protest against domestic abuse will stay in the headlines, and that we will know how to exploit the momentum, preserve the discourse and turn the subject into something that can no longer be ignored. If everyone understands that this is important, why doesn't the government fund a plan to fight the abuse?" she stressed.

Avital Rokach

Since the beginning of 2018, 12 Arab women have been murdered in Israel by their spouse or relatives. In Jewish society (about 80% of the population in Israel) 11 women have been murdered by their realtives. Hazad Abu Hamid, a resident of Kasra-Samia village in the north, lost his daughter Wajadan, 16, when a boy stabbed her to death two years ago because she refused to meet with him. Hamid named his newborn daughter after her late sister.

"Nothing has changed since the murder," he said. "54 people from the Arab community have died since the beginning of the year, and the women are the weakest... we go out to the streets and shout out against domestic abuse, but it's not enough. An intervention must be done by the clergy. Demonstrations alone will not suffice. I'm in favor of the strike, but if it does not continue  I dont think it could stop the violence," he argued.

Last week, two girls were brutally murdered 16-year-old Yara Ayub from Jish and 13-year-old Eritrean native Silvana Tsegai from Tel Aviv. These two murders, in addition to the 22 additional women murdered since the beginning of the year, where what sparked the women's protest.

"I am happy that there is a strike and demonstrations. My heart is with everyone. I call upon the citizens of the country men, women and children to participate in the strike. Violence is a danger to our lives. It must be stopped," Yara's mother told Ynet.













US envoy to the Middle East Jason Greenblatt expressed his support for Israel on Tuesday following the launch of IDF's Operation Northern Shield.

"We strongly support Israels efforts to defend itself, and we call on Hezbollah to halt all provocative behavior immediately and refrain from escalation and violence. We also call upon Iran and its proxies to stop their provocative and dangerous actions. We stand with Israel," he said on twitter.Senior US senators said on Tuesday they were more certain than ever that Saudi Arabia's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, was responsible for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi after receiving a CIA briefing on the matter. "You have to be willfully blind not to come to the conclusion that this was orchestrated and organized by people under the command of MbS," Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told reporters after the meeting with Central Intelligence Agency Director Gina Haspel, referring to the crown prince by his initials.

In his bid to pressure the Trump administration to condemn the crown prince, Graham, who has become one of the president's most vocal allies, said there may not be a "smoking gun," but that there was a "smoking saw," a reference to a bone saw that investigators said was used to cut up Khashoggi's body.

Making some of their strongest accusations so far, both Republicans and Democrats said they still want to pass legislation to send a message to Saudi Arabia that the United States condemns the death of Khashoggi. But they remain sharply divided over how to do so.

Many Democrats want a "straight up or down vote" on a war powers resolution to end all US support for the Saudi coalition in Yemen, without amendments.

But Trump and some of his fellow Republicans have argued that Washington should not take action that would risk its relationship with Riyadh, which is viewed as an important counterweight to Iran in the Middle East.The United States and Iran traded accusations Tuesday over Tehran's latest ballistic missile test, which the UN Security Council discussed behind closed doors without taking any action.

US Ambassador Nikki Haley called on the UN's most powerful body to unanimously condemn the "provocative missile test" on Dec. 1, calling it "dangerous and concerning, but not surprising."

At issue is Iran's compliance with the Security Council resolution that endorsed the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear agreement with Western powers, which the Trump administration pulled out of in May. A key provision calls on Iran "not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons" -- but it does not explicitly demand that Tehran do so.

The Security Council has been divided since the resolution was adopted over whether the language on ballistic missile launches is permissive or mandatory.

Iran's UN Mission said in a press release Tuesday that "all ballistic missile related activities of Iran are in full conformity" with the 2015 Security Council resolution and said that "it is the US that is in absolute violation of the very same resolution" for "its unlawful withdrawal" from the nuclear deal.Expert Advice with Philippe Brach 05/12/2018



Many worried investors have been asking me questions about the future of negative gearing, especially if Labor wins the next election. Although politicians are not always guided by common sense, there are many reasons why they should be careful when tinkering with it.

The statement we most often hear is that negative gearing benefits the rich, but lets take a closer look. According to the ATO there are approximately 13 million individual taxpayers, of whom about 2 million (15.4%) own one or more investment properties. Of these 2 million property investors, 1.5 million own one property and only about 80,000 own more than four properties. So negative gearing does not primarily benefit the wealthy; instead, it helps ordinary people supplement their superannuation.

Materiality for government budgeting

By allowing negative gearing on investment properties, the government forgoes about $3 billion in taxes every year. Compare this to other taxes forgone by the government:

1. Superannuation concessional taxation: $36 billion

2. Capital gains exemption on owner-occupier property: $34 billion

3. GST on uncooked and unprepared food: $7 billion

The $3 billion forgone because of negative gearing is further reduced by the fact that, for every dollar of interest deduction claimed, there is a corresponding dollar of taxable income for the banks. As a result, the government is only marginally impacted by this tax concession as interest is by far the biggest deduction claimed.

In addition, the government collects $10 billion a year in capital gains, which is only paid by investors (owner occupiers are exempt). So, is it worth even thinking about getting rid of negative gearing?

Effect on the economy

Back in 1985, a time when the economy was already fragile, when the Hawke government removed negative gearing economic chaos followed quickly. The very same government that removed it reinstated it eighteen months later. Given the reluctance of politicians to ever back down on their policies, it was a clear admission that it had been a major mistake! This lesson from history should provide ample warning for the future.

Also, there has been quite a bit of media coverage about negative gearing pushing property prices up, but there is no evidence of it. Investors do not tend to buy on impulse, unlike owner occupiers who have an emotional involvement in the decision making and represent 70% of the market.

Understanding the numbers

In countries where negative gearing does not exist, properties tend to have higher yields or lower expenses so that the return to investors remains reasonable. No one in their right mind would invest in a venture that did not provide market returns. In Australia, negative gearing is part and parcel of the equation and, if it is removed, the only logical outcome would be that investors will have to raise rent to compensate or simply sell. In effect property prices would decline and construction of new dwellings would slow down dramatically, creating a huge economic downturn as the construction industry in Australia employs a sizeable workforce.

In conclusion

Tinkering with negative gearing will have only downsides for everyone: the supply of properties will reduce, rents will go up, and unemployment numbers will rise and create a downward spiral such as the one that rocked Australia last time a government removed it. Property investment is an effective tool that helps 2 million mostly ordinary Australians bolster their retirement income and, at the same time, provides much needed rental accommodation that the government does not need to supply.



..........................................................................

Philippe Brach is CEO of Multifocus Properties and Finance.

Philippe is an experienced property investment specialist, mortgage broker and author of Creating Property Wealth in any Market.

Contact Philippe and get a jump start on your portfolio with expert advice.

Ph. 1300 266 350 | www.multifocus.com.au | philippe.brach@multifocus.com.au



Disclaimer: while due care is taken, the viewpoints expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Your Investment PropertyNews

Nashville, Tennessee - A Rogersville, Tennessee, resident was sentenced to 30 months in prison Wednesday for filing a fraudulent multi-million dollar lien against a government employee and filing a false claim for a tax refund, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Justice Departments Tax Division.

According to court documents, Brian Leo Snow failed to pay his federal tax liabilities for the years 2000 - 2008 and then became the subject of collection activity by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). After being held in contempt of court for failing to provide documents and records to the IRS, Snow filed false retaliatory liens claiming that various government officials, including an IRS revenue officer, an Assistant United States Attorney, a United States District Court Judge, and the Clerk of Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, owed him millions of dollars. Each of these government officials had been involved in attempts to collect Snows back taxes. Snow also filed three false claims with the IRS claiming over $144 million in tax refunds to which he was not entitled. Snow owes the IRS over $150,000 in taxes for tax years 2000-2008 and 2014-2015.

In addition to the term of imprisonment imposed, Snow was ordered to serve three years of supervised release and pay $154,025 in restitution to the IRS.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Zuckerman commended special agents of the offices of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and IRS Criminal Investigation, who conducted the investigation, and Tax Division Senior Litigation Counsel Jen E. Ihlo, who prosecuted the case.Latest News

Yuma, Arizona - Arizona Western College is partnering with BankMobile to process all student disbursement payments beginning Spring 2019.

A financial company focused solely on education, BankMobile is used by over 800 institutions across the U.S. including Imperial Valley College and Arizona State University. BankMobile helps colleges and universities deliver financial aid credit balances to students quickly, securely, and efficiently.



The partnership provides students with an instant, digital option for receiving refunds, Pell Grants, loans, scholarships, Financial Assistance (FA), Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits, and more. BankMobile is offering enrolled students a free, optional checking account where money can be deposited on the same business day BankMobile receives funds from AWC.



No fee ATMs will be available at/near most AWC campuses in San Luis, Parker, Yuma, and Quartzsite.



Students should watch for their bright green enrollment kit envelope, which will be sent to the mailing address that AWC has on file. The envelope will contain a personal code needed for students to select how theyd like to receive their disbursement payments. BankMobile will also send students a personal code via email.



For more information about BankMobile, visit bankmobiledisbursements.com/how-it-works or contact AWC Financial Aid Disbursement at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or (928) 317-6053. BankMobile also provides free customer service 7 days a week, from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. ET through a support line, online FAQs, email, and social media.Living Section

Yuma, Arizona - Located between Russia to the North, China to the East, and Iran and Afghanistan to the South, Central Asia has long been a coveted jewel as the peoples of Eurasia sought to control the Silk Road and modern nations seek to expand trade and access to oil.

On Monday, December 17th, join AZ Western College Professor Monica Ketchum for Summer in the Stans: From Desert Southwest to Central Asia, a slide presentation of insights gained in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan during her 2018 Fulbright-Hays project, at 6:00 p.m. at the Main Library. Professor Ketchum will also provide a rich list of books to further explore the literature, history, religion, and politics of this unique and dynamic region. There is no charge to attend.



The Main Library is located at 2951 S 21st Drive. For more information, call (928) 782-1871.Yuma News

Yuma, Arizona - City of Yuma residents are invited to apply for a once-a-week, in-depth course about different City functions, departments, services and facilities.

The City is now accepting applications for the 2019 Neighborhood Leadership Academy (NLA). Applications are available on the neighborhood involvement page of the Citys website, www.yumaaz.gov, (click on Departments, then Community Development and look for Neighborhood Involvement, or simply search for Neighborhood Leadership from the home page).

There is no fee to apply or attend. The first deadline for applications is Dec. 14; however, class size is limited, so prospective applicants are encouraged to apply early.

Academy participants will meet this year for three-hour sessions on Thursday evenings every week from Jan. 10 through April 18, culminating with a graduation event April 25. A maximum number of 25 Yuma residents are selected for a single academy from the group of applicants.

The NLA is an effort to ensure that the goals of the City are shared at the neighborhood level and neighborhood issues are at the forefront of policy decisions considered by the City Council. The NLA supports the formation of neighborhood associations and empowers residents in a neighborhood to seek a better quality of life that is citizen-driven and focused.

In a creative learning environment, the NLA brings together some of the City of Yumas leading representatives to equip participants with valuable insight and direction about understanding the City Charter, roles and responsibilities of City Council and City administration, an understanding of how City government works and its role in community affairs.

Graduates from the Neighborhood Leadership Academy are prepared for appointments to official City boards and commissions and are ready to serve if asked to work with City staff and Council on ad-hoc committees focusing on special issues and topics, and on community events.

Past graduates have reported that they leave better informed and prepared to participate in community boards and commissions and neighborhood associations.

NLA also prepares individuals to serve in elected City offices. Current councilmembers Edward Thomas and Jacob Miller are NLA graduates.

For additional information on the Neighborhood Leadership Academy or questions regarding the application, call City of Yuma Neighborhood Services at 928-373-5187.Our directory features more than 18 million business listings from across the entire US. However, if we're missing your business, add your business by clicking on Add Your Business.An introductory letter is meant to make a first impression that will last and represent you long before an actual meeting happens. There are different types of introductory letters written for different groups. The bottom line, however, remains to make a first impression that is powerful and that has an impact. This article will point out the best ways to write a good introduction letter.

SOURCE: unsplash.com

Source: UGC

Knowing how to write a perfect letter of introduction is a skill that is valuable and that should be learnt by everyone. There are some places you may never get to without requesting an interview or official appointment. To do this, you may be required to draft a letter of introduction to the said person. Knowing how best to get this done is important.

How to write an introductory letter

Writing an introductory letter may appear simple and straightforward until you actually have to do it in real sense. It may not be as easy as you would introduce yourself in person. In fact, the letter has to follow a certain format for it to be considered official. The following suggestions will make it easier for anyone interested in learning how to write a good letter of introduction. Before you look at any introduction letter sample, consider the following suggestions as you take note of the different types of introductory letters. Each of these comes with a different format. This is a guide for introducing yourself:

Take note that you need to address the letter to a specific person. Take some time to find out who the recipient of the letter should be. Use social media and LinkedIn to view their official profiles. Chances are you will get their name here.

You should start your letter by stating your name, your position, and your role if they are of significance.

You can then explain how you got the recipient's name.

You then need to state the reason behind writing the letter. Be clear about your intent for writing the letter. This could be to get an interview date or set up an actual meeting. This will direct the recipients answer to your letter.

Add useful information about yourself or your organization. This could be something like the companys history or your own contact information.

Always end positively and remember to say thank you.

Here is an example to consider:

Dear Mr. Keith,

My name is Kate White, and I am currently a recruitment associate for WPZ Recruiting. I have been working as a recruiter for the past three years.

I am interested in moving from recruitment work in a large corporation to internal recruitment for a nonprofit. I used to work in development for QRS Nonprofit and would love to bring my current skills to a similar nonprofit. I know you do this kind of work for Sunshine Nonprofit, and I would appreciate hearing a bit about your experience in this field. I would love to arrange a time to meet with you for an informational interview.

I have attached my resume for your review. If you have time for a brief conversation, please let me know. You can contact me via email (katewhy@email.com) or phone (733-512-0025). I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you so much.

Best,

Kate White.

READ ALSO: How to write an application letter for employment in Ghana

An introductory letter for employee/another person

SOURCE: unsplash.com

Source: UGC

In the case that you are writing a letter on behalf of someone else, you may have to follow a slightly different procedure.

Start by mentioning the persons name.

You are then expected to explain your professional relationship or association with the person in question. In this case, an employer should explain in brief what his or her experience has been with the employee.

In case it is a business contact, it helps to mention their qualifications based on projects handled and companies they have worked with before.

Go to the purpose of your writing the letter and what your expectations are.

In case you need to give the recipient a chance to meet with the person you are introducing, remember to leave their contacts. You can also suggest where and when they could meet.

In case you are introducing a business contact, attach their business card.

As you conclude, make sure that you end on a positive note. Reaffirm that you trust the person you are introducing and express your confidence that the meeting will be a good thing for both parties.

Consider this sample as an example.

Barby Cindy

123 Main Street

Anytown, CA 12345

555-212-1234

barbara.smith@email.com

September 1, 2018

Bob Smith

Talent Evaluation

Acme Recruiting

123 Business Rd.

Business City, NY 54321

Dear Bob,

I'm writing to introduce you to Janice Dolan, who I have the pleasure of being acquainted with through the Brandon Theater Group. I am the Technical Director for the group, as you know, and I have worked with Janice on several local theater projects. She is a terrific stage manager with over ten years of experience.

Janice is interested in relocating to the San Francisco area in the near future and would appreciate any recommendations you could offer her for conducting a job search for a theater position and any help you can provide with the logistics of relocating to California.

I've attached her resume for your review and you can contact her at janicedolan@email.com or 555-555-5555. Thank you in advance for any assistance you can provide.

Sincerely,

Barbara Smith.

READ ALSO: How to write a motivational letter for employment in Ghana

An introductory letter for a company

SOURCE: unsplash.com

Source: UGC

Apart from introducing persons, it is also possible to introduce a company, a product, a service or an organization. To do this, you may use a different approach from the other two already mentioned above.

You start by identifying the organizations or companys name.

You then have to talk about the organization or company. Mention its inception, how long it has been doing business, it's mission, vision, and objectives among other crucial things.

You can also mention the services/ products of the company if you find it relevant to do so. You need to point out the benefits of your own services compared to those offered by your competitors, and show why you are the preferred choice. You need to explain to the reader how they are better off using your products and services as compared to other options.

Extend invitations like to an open house if this is an applicable case.

In case you are standing in as a representative of an organization, it is important that you explain some of the benefits of the organization including the gain to the community. Mention some accomplishments and gains of membership.

Then proceed to invite the reader to become a member of the organization by pointing out the procedure. You can also ask them to buy your products online or at a physical shop.

Ensure you leave follow up information just in case the reader needs to get more information about your products or services if they want to.

Conclude by showing your hope that the reader will be interested in joining the organization or use your products and services.

READ ALSO: How to write a formal letter in Ghana

An introduction letter for a new product to an existing customer

This is also an introduction letter that differs from the ones described above.

For this, you first start by thanking the reader for past business.

You then proceed to introduce the product or service on offer.

Your next move would be to show the need to buy the product or service.

You can give supporting material on the use of the product. This can be a catalog, pamphlet or brochure.

You can include information about the product if there are any special promotions, offers or sales on the new product.

You conclude the letter by restating the customer's value. You can also express your hope that the reader will find interest in buying the product.

Here is a perfect introductory letter sample for this case.

From: John Doe

Date: 3-12-2007

To: Jane Doe

Subject: Introducing our newest product

Dear Ms. Doe,

We are extremely pleased to present to you our newest model, the [write the name of and describe the product]. We are sure you will receive it extremely well.

In the brochure we have attached, please find included all the details of [name the product]. We look forward to receiving your feedback.

Regards,

[Name and designation]

You can use the template and fill in the correct details for the specific customer. Consider which introductory letter you need to write and follow the suggestions given above. It is possible to meet your target if you do it right from the start.

READ ALSO: Best resignation letter samples and templates

Source: Yen.com.ghThree sisters have reportedly died after being involved in a gory road accident while travelling.

The sad incident is reported to have happened close to St Augustine College in the Central region.

According to a report sighted by YEN.com.gh on MyNewsGh.com, the three sisters were among five occupants of the private vehicle which was involved in the accident.

3 sisters die in ghastly accident in Cape Coast. Source: MyNewsGh.com

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: I am half Ghanaian, half Togolean- Rosemond Brown goofs

The others were a mother and her young son who were also on board the vehicle.

The accident is reported to have occurred after the said vehicle burst a tire, causing the driver to lose control of the steering wheel.

This caused the car to somersault several times leading to the unfortunate deaths.

Onlookers rushed to the scene to rescue the victims but found out that three of the occupants had died on the spot.

Meanwhile, the survivors have since been rushed to the hospital to receive treatment.

READ ALSO: GH420K Fee: NDC supporters queue to donate widow's mite to Mahama (Photos)

The mother and her son who sustained severe injuries are currently on admission at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital.

The Cape Cost Police has also confirmed that the bodies of the deceased have been deposited at the morgue of the same facility.

Ghana News Today: Colleges of Education Closed Indefinitely / Work Continues at GIJ | #Yencomgh

READ ALSO: Shatta Wale set to die on December 24  Prophet warns

Click here to get the latest exciting English Premier League news. Get match highlights, reports, photos & videos all in one place.

Source: YenThe feud between controversial on-air personality Afia Schwarzenegger and mother of her ex-boyfriend is not ending anytime soon.

The woman claimed that her son couldnt marry the TV personality because she was a weed smoker.

However, Afia Schwar seems not to be happy with the lady's comment as she has angrily replied to it by revealing more secrets on why the said relationship failed.

READ ALSO: Video: My 'sugar daddy' is over 20 years older than me - Tracey Boakye reveals

In an Instagram post, Afia Schwar said that her former guys mother begged her with plots of land to marry her son.

She went on to advise other women to be independent so that no woman will force them into a marriage.

YEN.com.gh had earlier reported how Afias latest boyfriend had dumped her over over her continuous attacks on Menzgold and Zylofon boss, Nana Appiah Mensah.

READ ALSO: Ghanaians react to Prophet Nigel Gaisie's claim that he saw Bishop Daniel Obinim in heaven

According to the report, Afia Schwar's ex-boyfriend, whose mother's GHC 4.3 million investment with Menzgold Afia was fighting for, had been displeased that the comedienne and TV presenter had refused to stop her actions after she was told to do so.

But Afia Schwar came in with a response saying she had rather dumped the guy because he was not mature enough.

READ ALSO: Shatta Wale set to die on December 24  Prophet warns

Ghana News Today: Colleges of Education Closed Indefinitely / Work Continues at GIJ | #Yencomgh

Your stories and photos are always welcome. Send us a message via YEN's official Facebook page.

Click here to get the latest exciting English Premier League news. Get match highlights, reports, photos & videos all in one place.

Source: Yen News- The NDC is reportedly facing financial challenges after two years in opposition

- It is alleged that the party is unable to pay its electricity bills

- A national executive, Sammy Gyamfi, however said that the party will rely on its supporters to help run its activities

Information available to YEN.com.gh shows that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is struggling to pay electricity bills for its headquarters.

This comes two years after it constructed an ultra-modern head office in Accra.

According to the General Secretary of the party, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, the party however needs to find a creative way to finance its operations.

Sammy Gyamfi, NDC National Communications Officer Source: Supplied

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Aspiring NDC flagbearer rejects 'heavy' donation from supporters

For that reason, he went on to say that someone had to pay for the party to organize the congress to elect a flagbearer on January 19, 2019.

The cost of living is high but somebody must pay the cost of running the elections; who is going to pay? he asked.

The 13 aspiring NDC presidential candidates have expressed various concerns about the partys nomination and filing fees for the selection of a flagbearer for the 2020 elections.

Alban S.K. Bagbin, one of the flagbearer aspirants, described the filling fee as opulent and elitist, and called on the party leadership to reverse it because it was against the tenets of social democracy, which was the partys ideology.

NDCs National Communications Officer, Sammy Gyamfi, reportedly hinted that the party was presently financially unsound.

He went on to say that the NDC would rely heavily on donations by its teeming members across the country to organize the upcoming presidential primaries.

READ ALSO: Man proposes to marry Afia Schwar but with terms and conditions

Ghana News Today: Highlight of Performances at AFRIMA 2018| #Yencomgh

Click here to get the latest exciting English Premier League news. Get match highlights, reports, photos & videos all in one place.

Source: Yen NewsYEN.com.gh earlier reported that president Akufo-Addo said his administration has worked on strengthening the fundamentals of the Ghanaian economy and improved every aspect of the life of every Ghanaian.

But whatever the president is talking about has not sat well with some Ghanaians as they do not agree with his analysis.

However, YEN.com.gh has compiled a list of five initiatives that have sparked endless debates in Ghana.

President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo Source: Supplied

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: 3 sisters die in ghastly accident in Cape Coast

1. National Cathedral:

The National Cathedral that have been disapproved by some Ghanaians because they money would be better in doing other developmental projects and also channeled to other sectors of the economy that is lacking

Source: Supplied

Source: UGC

2. Blood drone:

Parliament is yet to approve the budget for the purchase of the drones which would be used for the supply of blood and other medical supplies.

Ghanaians believe the health sector should rather be equipped with the money rather than investing it in the drones

Source: Supplied

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Photos: Jackie Appiah, Joselyn Dumas, KOD attend Global Festival Concert in South Africa

3. Creation of new regions:

The creation of new regions is not really needed considering the budget involved and the lissues regarding boundary demarcations, the country would be better off without the creation of new regions.

4. Digital Address System:

The Ghana post digital address system despite it being requirement for proper location of places, the system has been criticised by may saying the system was similar to some.

Source: Supplied

Source: UGC

5. 110 Ministers:

The unprecedented number of ministers in the Akufo- Addo government stimulated debates among a cross-section of Ghanaians.

Some Ghanaians have also raised concerns about the apparent ineffectiveness of some ministries.

READ ALSO: We have improved the lives of Ghanaians over the past 23 months - Akufo- Addo

Ghana News Today: Colleges of Education Closed Indefinitely / Work Continues at GIJ | #Yencomgh

Click here to get the latest exciting English Premier League news. Get match highlights, reports, photos & videos all in one place.

Source: Yen.com.ghThis years theme is Volunteers Build Resilient Communities and celebrates volunteers who contribute to making their communities more resilient against natural disasters, economic stresses and political shocks.

I am proud of Australian volunteers, not only because they have contributed to the success of Vietnamese organisations, but also more broadly to Vietnamese development in general and because they are great ambassadors who create strong people to people links between Australia and Vietnam said Mr Craig Chittick.

Photo: Australian Embassy in Vietnam

Since 1973, more than 1,000 Australian volunteers have worked in Vietnam in diverse fields including education and training, community development, private sector, agriculture, gender equality and health. Their contributions have assisted partner organisations in Vietnam build capacity to effectively deliver their development objectives.

The Executive Director of REACH, an Australian Volunteers program partner and local NGO said: From a small not-for-profit entity in 2008 to an internationally recognized organisation, REACHs growth story is a result of millions of volunteering hours. Australian volunteers have played a significant role across various functional areas and have helped REACH support and enhance the lives of disadvantaged youth in Vietnam. We at REACH, thank you for your dedication, passion for the REACH cause and contribution to our growth story. Without you we would not have reached where we are today.

The Australian Government has been supporting Australian volunteers to undertake international work overseas for more than 60 years. A new Australian Volunteers program, which demonstrates the continuous commitment of the Australian Government for international volunteering, was launched in February this year.

Each year, Vietnam receives the fifth largest contingent of Australian volunteers with over 40 Australian volunteers placed in the nation./.



Cargill grows business in Philippines with US$235 million planned investment



Cargill has reaffirmed its commitment to the Philippines with plans to invest US$235 million to grow its business in the country over the next two years.

The company is focused on helping meet the increased domestic demand for chicken and pork, as well as delivering solutions in key areas of the global agricultural supply chain. The company has also announced a contribution of US$$130,000 to support the Inclusive Business Capacity Building Fund to help Filipino farmers become more successful.



"We are proud to have been in the Philippines since we started our business here 70 years ago. Working closely with the government, our customers, partners and the community, we are helping farmers thrive and are bringing safe and nutritious food to Filipino tables. We are grateful for our partnership with the Philippines government as they welcome investments that enable Cargill to grow alongside the Filipino people and the local economy," said Dave MacLennan, chairman and CEO of Cargill, during his recent visit to the region.



2018 marks an important milestone for Cargill as the company celebrates its 70th anniversary in the Philippines. The company opened its first office in 1948, which also marked its first office in the Asia Pacific region. Cargill employs 2,200 employees across 27 locations in the Philippines. The company is also celebrating the first year anniversary of C-Joy, Cargill's joint venture with Jollibee Foods Corporation to process chicken for domestic consumption.



The $235 million investment will drive the expansion of Cargill's animal feed and nutrition business and agricultural supply chain businesses. It will also support the growth of C-Joy to deliver on increasing consumer demand for the chicken.



During his visit, MacLennan was also invited by the Philippine Business for Social Progress to address government officials, business leaders, non-government and civil society organisations, and local communities at the Inclusive Business Leaders Forum.



"Supporting the Inclusive Business Capacity Building Fund is another way we can help the world build food security. Smallholder farmers are an essential piece of feeding nearly 10 billion people by 2050 and they need all the help they can get to become more productive and profitable. I am also particularly pleased to see that this programme also focuses on advancing women in agriculture," said MacLennan.



C-Joy has also joined the Inclusive Business Model Investment Program of the Board of Investments (BoI) to improve the lives of 300 farmers, 30% of whom are women.



Cargill has a strong chicken and pork farmer training programme in the Philippines. For the past 25 years, the company has worked closely with these farmers, educating them on best farming practices to increase their productivity and profitability.



Last year, about 40,000 farmers benefitted from the programme. This year, this number is expected to increase to 70,000.



- Cargill

By Reuters , Dec. 02, 2018





DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran said on Sunday it would continue missile tests to build up its defences and denied this was in breach of U.N. resolutions following U.S. allegations that Tehran had tested a new missile capable of carrying multiple warheads.





U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday condemned what he called Irans testing of a medium-range ballistic missile in violation of the 2015 international agreement on the Iranian nuclear programme, from which Washington has withdrawn.

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I have been remiss on this blog in not earlier pointing readers to Eileen Markey's excellent biography of Sister Maura Clarke titled A Radical Faith: The Assassination of Sister Maura . In this biography, Markey offers us an intimate look at the faith and conviction which led a young woman from Queens, New York, to take religious vows and eventually immerse herself in the struggles of oppressed peoples in Nicaragua and then El Salvador. She became a martyr for her faith, along with Ita Ford, Dorothy Kazel and Jean Donovan, when the Salvadoran government saw those who would provide aid and comfort to oppressed campesinos as an existential threat.





There was a fifth churchwoman who also died that year in El Salvador. Maryknoll sister Carla Piette grew up in Appleton, Wisconsin and then dedicated her life to service of the poor in Latin America with Maryknoll, first in Chile during the Pinochet regime and then in 1980 in El Salvador. Sister Carla had heeded a call from Oscar Romero for assistance in the church's efforts to protect the vulnerable in El Salvador's growing conflict. She arrived there on the day Romero was assassinated. Later that year, she would also perish, drowned in a flash flood as she performed her work.





Sister Carla's story is not well known. The book, Vessel of Clay: The Inspirational Journey of Sister Carla , by Sister Carla's friend from Wisconsin, Jacqueline Hansen Maggiore, does a wonderful job of portraying one woman's dedication to serving the poor, regardless of where that call would lead her.

Sunday, December 2, marked the 38th anniversary of the 1980 murder of the four US churchwomen by Salvadoran troops in El Salvador. Their murder marked another atrocity from a bloody year which earlier saw Oscar Romero assassinated and in which thousands of civilians were killed by the military and death squads. While there is some movement towards a legal proceeding after the reopening of the Romero assassination case, those responsible for ordering the murder of the churchwomen have never been prosecuted.According to Shin, Lotte has injected VND40 trillion (US$1.71 billion) in its projects in Vietnam and created around 20,000 jobs for local workers. In addition, the group has supported Vietnam in human resources training and startup projects. Some Lotte scholarships have been granted to Vietnamese excellent students since 2008, while Vietnamese startups have received assistance from the group from 2016.

Lotte is carrying out a number of large projects in Hanoi, including Lotte Mall in Tay Ho district, he said, expressing his hope that they will be welcomed by local residents.

Lotte has huge potential to bolster investment in Vietnam, especially in the hospitality sector, he underlined, describing Hanoi as a credible market when the hotel reservation rate at Lotte Centre reached 98% and 100% on December 3-4.

Hailing Lottes activities in Hanoi, Chung affirmed that the corporation has made significant contributions to the citys social welfare projects and created favourable conditions for Vietnamese agricultural products to hit the shelves of Lotte Mart chains in the RoK.

Briefing Shin on Hanois economic development, he said that this is the eight consecutive years Hanoi has recorded rosy growth, with gross domestic products rising 8.56% against the previous year.

The city is working to put forth administrative reforms to facilitate business of both domestic and foreign investors, including those from the RoK, he stressed, wishing that Lotte will continue expanding its business in the locality.

Hanoi stands ready to coordinate and remove bottlenecks for the firm to ensure its effective operation in the city, Chung affirmed.Among the stalls are 385 from Vietnamese businesses, 835 from Chinese firms and nearly 200 erected by companies from a number of other countries, including the Republic of Korea and Thailand.

On display during the five-day fair are mainly farm produce, fruit, frozen seafood, traditional handcrafts, refined art products, and garments and textiles.

The annual event is held alternately between Vietnams Lao Cai province and Chinas Yunnan province, aiming to boost trade between investors from Vietnam, China and other nations, for the purpose of cooperation and friendship towards mutual development.

It also offers a good chance for Vietnamese and Chinese businesses to meet, discuss and advertise their unique products to the people of the two countries, in addition to seeking opportunities to expand their markets.

There are also a number of activities scheduled within the framework of the fair, including a seminar to discuss the economic and trade cooperation between Lao Cai and Yunnan and the signing of economic and trade deals between businesses from Vietnam and China.Stumps Pakistan 139 for 3 (Azhar 62*, Shafiq 26*, Boult 2-39) trail New Zealand 274 (Williamson 89, Watling 77*, Bilal 5-65, Yasir 3-75) by 135 runs

Progress was so slow it was barely progress at times, but Pakistan showed New Zealand they could gut out a first-innings total, too. After a brisk start pursuing New Zealand's 274, Azhar Ali and Haris Sohail , and then Azhar and Asad Shafiq , toiled for the last 49 overs of the day, adding just 78 runs to the tally during that period. However, with only three wickets lost and trailing by 135, Sarfraz Ahmed may feel his side is slightly ahead two days into this deciding Test match in Abu Dhabi.

Following on his valiant, if ultimately heartbreaking, half-century at this venue in the first Test and an 81 in Dubai, Azhar looks to be recovering from the loss of form that had dogged him since the retirements of Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan. With 38 runs away from three figures, he will hope he can register his first international hundred since that pair called it quits, not just for his own peace of mind, but also because it is pivotal to Pakistan eking out a first-innings lead.

Shafiq, too, needs to look beyond the pretty 40s he is more accustomed to making, and consider partnering Azhar for the long haul. He has worked hard for the 26 he has put on, coming off 87 balls, but with him, the danger of a soft dismissal is never far. He should need no reminding it was the manner of his dismissal after a partnership with Azhar that set the wheels in motion for a painful defeat in the first Test.

Pakistan were dented early on with the removal of both out-of-form openers, but as has been the case all series, the middle order was there to bail them out. Azhar and Haris hung tight to help Pakistan out of a particularly sticky situation at 17 for 2, putting on 68 runs for the third wicket. Trent Boult and Tim Southee had combined for both scalps, with the wickets nearly mirror images of each other, both left and right handers edging to the slips off Boult, allowing Southee to take sharp, low catches.

Boult had removed Mohammad Hafeez off what turned out to be the last ball before lunch, drawing him into the push outside off stump that he has been so susceptible to throughout his career. Though Imam-ul-Haq fell in a curiously similar manner, the set-up to that wicket had a bit more to it. Imam, who hasn't quite looked the same player since being rattled by a Neil Wagner bouncer in the second ODI, had his helmet shaken by a horrible bouncer that stuck in the pitch just enough to meet the batsman's ducking head. The next ball, he hung back, pushing tamely at a fuller one, prodding to a diving Southee, completing a textbook one-two for any fast bowler.

In the morning, BJ Watling continued where he had left off yesterday, earning himself another good night's rest with a continuation of the pluck and fortitude that characterised his batting yesterday. Another 70 balls were faced by the wicketkeeper-batsman, while Somerville gave him dogged company, allowing Watling to add 35 further runs to his tally.

New Zealand notched up 45 more to their overnight total before they were dismissed for 274, Bilal Asif taking his second five-for in five Tests, solely accounting for the bottom half of New Zealand's line-up as Pakistan took the best part of the morning session getting rid of the remaining three wickets.

A man whose position in the side was already beginning to be questioned - a mere three Tests after he took six wickets in his debut innings - Bilal earned himself some breathing room with his performance over the past four sessions. Even when he wasn't among the wickets yesterday, he was as good as the irrepressible Yasir Shah, and today, he was the only bowler who looked like breaking through. Somerville, who had clung on for 99 balls to make his 12 runs, was the first to go as he misread the extent of the turn on a Bilal offbreak, allowing the ball to beat the slice of the blade and go on to hit the middle stump.

Patel and Boult didn't quite offer the same level of resistance, and with Watling never showing any interest in farming the strike, Bilal had full freedom to go after the pair. He got the outside edge of Ajaz for a simple catch at slip, and beat the inside edge of Boult, knocking back his stumps, with Watling stranded at the other end, looking like he could partner another ten batsmen and still carry his bat at the end of it.

Yasir, for his part, wasn't quite at his majestic best, and failed to add to his pre-lunch salvo yesterday, meaning that he will have to wait until the second innings for the two wickets he needs to break Clarrie Grimmett's record as the fastest to 200 Test wickets. For now, however, that isn't the priority, and the later Yasir gets his next crack at the record, the better it will be for Pakistan, who need to bat with the same patience and reserve as Williamson and his men did over the first four sessions of the Test. With Shafiq and Azhar still around to face the first ball tomorrow, Pakistan will be confident their budding 54-run partnership can blossom handsomely over the third day under the Abu Dhabi sunshine.Eurojust - Europol - European BankingFederation (EBF) joint press release

168 arrested, 1 504 money mules and 140 money mule organisers identified as a result of the fourth European Money Mule Action 'EMMA 4', a global law enforcement action week tackling the issue of money muling.

The action took place over the course of three months (September-November 2018).

30 States took part in EMMA 4, alongside Europol, Eurojust and the European Banking Federation, supported by more than 300 banks.

The joint money muling campaign #DontBeAMule kicks off today to alert the public to this crime.

Working together with Europol, Eurojust and the European Banking Federation (EBF), police forces from over 20 States arrested 168 people (so far) as part of a coordinated money laundering crackdown, the European Money Mule Action (EMMA). This international swoop, the fourth of its kind, was intended to tackle the issue of 'money mules', who help criminals launder millions of euros worth of dirty money.

Held over the course of the past three months (September-November 2018), this year's version of EMMA saw the participation of judicial and law enforcement authorities from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Australia, Moldova, Norway, Switzerland, the UK and the USA.

Across Europe and beyond, 1 504 money mules were identified, leading to the arrest of 168, and the arrest of 140 money mule organisers. 837 criminal investigations were opened; many of them are still ongoing. More than 300 banks, 20 bank associations and other financial institutions helped to report 26 376 fraudulent money mule transactions, preventing a total loss of EUR 36.1 million. The wider community of global and European banks provided support where needed during the three months of action and committed to raising awareness in their countries. Once again, this action highlights the importance of a quick and coordinated response by judicial and law enforcement authorities and the banking sector.

Why do people help criminals launder money?

Money mules are individuals who, often unwittingly, have been recruited by criminal organisations as money laundering agents to hide the origin of ill-gotten money. Tricked by the promise of easy money, mules transfer stolen funds between accounts, often in different States, on behalf of others, and are usually offered a share of the funds that pass through their own accounts.

Newcomers to a State, the unemployed, and people in economic distress often feature among the most susceptible to this crime. This year, cases involving young people selected by money mule recruiters are on the rise, with criminals increasingly targeting financially-distressed students to gain access to their bank accounts.

While mules are being recruited via numerous routes, criminals are more often turning to social media to recruit new accomplices, through the advertisement of fake jobs or get-rich-quick schemes.

Although this may sound like quick and easy money  all it takes is a click to transfer money from an account to another  permitting a criminal group to use your bank account can have severe legal consequences. Mules may face lengthy prison terms and acquire a criminal record that could seriously affect the rest of their lives, such as never being able to secure a mortgage or open another bank account.

#DontBeAMule

To raise awareness of this type of fraud, the money muling awareness campaign #DontBeAMule kicks off today across Europe. With awareness-raising material, available for download in 25 languages, the campaign will inform the public about how these criminals operate, how they can protect themselves and what to do if they become a victim.

As of next week, international partners from judicial and law enforcement authorities, together with financial institutions, will be supporting the campaign at national level.

Do you think you might be used as a mule? Act now before it is too late: stop transferring money and notify your bank and your national police immediately.

Follow the EMMA prevention campaign here:This Page Is Under Construction - Coming Soon!

Why am I seeing this 'Under Construction' page?The official further said that trade protectionism is now on the rise and is seriously threatening the process of trade liberalisation and global economic integration.

Wider and deeper integration into the global economy means Vietnam will face more impacts from regional and global economic development trends, and that is why the country needs a proactive and flexible approach to cope with this issue, he added.

Sudhir Shetty, Chief Economist for the East Asia and Pacific Region of the World Bank, said Vietnam should enhance its macroeconomic response to international financial and trade turbulences, while strengthening national competitiveness with trade facilitation policies, improving the business environment, and strengthening connectivity between foreign investment and domestic suppliers.

Furthermore, Vietnam also requires extensive reform of trade and investment, including the simplification of non-tariff measures that distort trade, as well as promote trade in services, deepen regional and global integration, and increase commitments to supporting the reform of the global trading system.

Over the recent years, Vietnam has made progress in preparing for the new-generation free trade agreements (FTAs), including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) which was signed in March and ratified by the National Assembly in November, to come into force in January 2019.

Vietnam and the European Union announced the conclusion of the legal revision of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and agreed to keep the Investment Protection Agreement (IPA) separate from the FTA in June in preparation for the signing of the deal.

Vietnam has achieved certain outcomes in international economic integration, contributing to the national socio-economic development. The total import-export turnover in 2018 is estimated at US$ 475 billion, of which exports are expected to reach US$239 billion, a year-on-year rise of 11.2%.

The country also sought to increase goods exports to traditional markets and find new markets. Exports to countries that have FTAs with Vietnam in 2018 have seen high growth compared to 2017 with preferential rates reaching approximately 40%, a surge from 35% in previous years, indicating that Vietnamese firms are increasingly focusing on optimising opportunities from the implementation of free trade deals.The Institute of Business Ethics has expanded its Ethics at Work survey to cover Australia and New Zealand (in addition to Europe), and surveyed over 2,000 employees to provide insight into employees views on ethics across all sectors and job roles.

The survey shows employees are aware of ethical issues and are sensitive to ethical dilemmas in their workplace. But one in ten say they felt pressured to compromise ethical standards and a quarter of employees have been aware of misconduct during the past year at work.

We are seeing this pressure across all countries surveyed by the IBE, pressures of resource, like lack of time, following the bosss orders or peer pressure to be a team player.

As employees face increasing pressure, what are their organizations doing to support them?

In Australia, New Zealand and the UK, over a third of employees are aware of their organization offering all of the building blocks of a corporate ethics program  a code of ethics, a reporting line, and advice line, and ethics training.

However, 11 percent think that their organization offers none of these building blocks.

One key component of an open and supportive ethical business culture is the freedom to raise concerns. While 61 percent in Australia and 56 percent in New Zealand are aware of a confidential means to report misconduct, of the 25 percent who have been aware of misconduct in their workplace, over a third did not speak up or raise their concerns.

Their reasons ranged from fearing it might jeopardize their job (32 percent), to not believing corrective action would be taken (30 percent), or that they might be alienated from colleagues (25 percent).

Its clear, that, although employees are aware of the mechanisms available to them, much still needs to be done to ensure they feel safe in actually using them.

IBEs Ethics at Work survey shows is not so much the differences between employees perceptions in different countries, but how much they have in common. Employees want to do the right thing, it is up to all organizations to support them so they can.

The IBEs Ethics at Work 2018 survey of employees in Australia, New Zealand and UK is available as a free download here.

_____

Philippa Foster Back CBE is the Director of the Institute of Business Ethics. She sits on the board of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI) and on the advisory board of RAND Europe. Shes a Visiting Fellow of the Said Business School at Oxford University. London-based IBE is a registered charity that promotes high standards of business practice based on ethical values.Indio Technologies, Inc., a San Francisco, CA-based insurance application platform, received a minority investment from NFP Ventures.

The company intends to use the funds to enhance and streamline the underwriting process.

Founded in 2016 by Michael Furlong, Adam Bratt and Matt Watson, Indio Technologies provides a management software platform for property and casualty insurance providers to win more business, improve retention and save time through increased customer satisfaction.

By digitizing and unifying the entire data collection process, the companys platform allows brokers to deliver a fully digital client experience.

The company has raised over $8 million in venture financing from 8VC, NEA, Merus Capital and more.

NFP Ventures is the early-stage investment arm of NFP, an insurance broker and consultant that provides employee benefits, property and casualty, retirement and individual private client solutions through licensed subsidiaries and affiliates.

FinSMEs

04/12/2018Vantage Data Centers, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based provider of wholesale data centers in support of business and mission-critical applications, issued $225m principal amount of securitized notes.

The proceeds of the offering will be used to repay the current outstanding principal balance of Vantages Series 2018-1 Class A-1 variable funding notes and for general corporate purposes, including the future development of data centers.

This offering, combined with the companys existing liquidity, results in more than $500m in available capital to fund data center expansions.

Vantage Data Centers is a wholesale data center services provider in three strategic markets: Silicon Valley; Northern Virginia; and Quincy, Washington. The company has seven operational facilities totaling 81MW of capacity and two additional facilities currently under construction totaling 51MW.

FinSMEs

03/12/2018The PM highlighted the forum as an important dialogue channel between the Government and the business community.

He noted all of the constructive opinions from enterprises and appreciated their enthusiasm and aspirations to make more contributions to the countrys development.

The Government leader expressed his belief that businesses can find a lot of cooperation opportunities despite strong impacts from the global trade issues.

He underlined Vietnams significant economic accomplishments over the recent years, noting that national economic growth is projected at 7% in 2018, the highest level over the past decade and much higher than that of other countries in the region.

Along with the achievements, Vietnam has become a big workshop of the world and a fulcrum for many transnational corporations providing competitive products and services in the region and around the globe, he said.

The presence of leading groups in Vietnam, such as Samsung, Intel, Canon, Fujitsu, Toyota, Honda, Nike, and Vinacapital, as well as thousands of foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises, is a guarantee of the quality of the investment environment and growth prospects of Vietnam, he said.

The strong growth of private economic groups indicates that the business climate in Vietnam could give birth to large internationally competitive enterprises, the PM added.

Vietnam now has more than 20 export items worth over US$1 billion, he said, adding that agricultural products such as rice, pepper, coffee, and basa fish are leading the global market. Fruits such as dragon fruit, mango, longan, lychee, rambutan, and grapefruit are exported to such fastidious markets as the US, Europe, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Australia.

The PM emphasised the countrys consistency in trade liberalisation and economic integration with the signing of and negotiations on 16 free trade agreements (FTA), which will enable Vietnam to access more than 60 economies, including 15 countries in G20, and offer opportunities to engage more deeply in global value chains and production networks.

He suggested that businesses promote their strengths to increase competitiveness instead of depending on the Governments support.

He called on international groups and foreign firms to adopt more open supply policies as well as create more opportunities for Vietnamese businesses to join global value chains to a deeper extent.

The Government is determined to maintain socio-political stability and macro-economic foundation, he said.

The Government is committed to stepping up structural reform and improving institutional quality and State governance at both central and local levels, in addition to reforming State businesses and the financial system, handling bad debts, and improving public debt management... It will work harder to unlock bottlenecks for faster and more sustainable growth, he said.

He added that the Government will accelerate its efforts to improve the business environment and increase national competitiveness.

VBF serves as a dialogue mechanism between the Government of Vietnam and the national and international business communities to improve business conditions necessary to foster the development of private enterprises, facilitate the investment environment, and contribute to Vietnams sustainable economic growth..       ,         30 .        .          .      2 ,     5-  12-      ,     ,    ...Politburo member Nhan spoke highly of Andrews good sentiments towards HCM City and said his visit has contributed to developing the bilateral ties between Vietnam and the UK, covering cooperation in economy, trade and education-training.

The official congratulated Andrew on being presented Vietnams Friendship Order and urged him to make more contributions to the Vietnam-UK relationship.

Secretary Nhan wished that the UK would share its experience and encourage local businesses to invest in HCM City in the areas of their strength.

For his part, Andrew affirmed that his visit to Vietnam aims to strengthen bonds and expand all-round cooperation with the Southeast Asian country.

He stressed that 2018 is an important milestone in the bilateral relations as both countries are celebrating the 45th anniversary of their diplomatic ties. In addition, it offers opportunities for both sides to develop practical cooperative progammes, including those in economy and trade between the UK and Ho Chi Minh City.

The UK is a top trade and investment partner of the Vietnamese southern hub. During January-July, two-way trade revenue reached US$476 million. The European country has registered US$556 million in 146 projects in the city.

Decision at Diesel Summit in Berlin : Bonn to get 35 million Euros for "clean air"

Bonn The city of Bonn will receive 35 million Euros of federal funding for the 365-Euro-Ticket and for more frequent bus and train services. The city could also benefit from further federal funding.

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The federal government approved applications from Bonn for the Clean Air Emergency Programme at the Diesel Summit on Monday. The city of Bonn said around 35 million Euros could therefore flow into the federal city in the next two years. The money is to be used for the 365-Euro-Ticket and for more frequent bus and rail services, among other things.

Bonn could also benefit from further federal funding. The federal government wants to make 500 million Euros available to councils as part of the Emergency Programme. The city said Bonn had good prospects of getting financing for the conversion of its bus fleet to electric vehicles. In addition, a further 430 million Euros are available for the conversion of lorries and delivery vehicles, part of which could also come to Bonn.

The group agreed that the common objective of significantly improving air quality and avoiding a diesel ban should be a priority, said Lord Mayor Ashok Sridharan in the press release. We now hope that the current applications can be processed with as little bureaucracy as possible so that we can start as soon as possible, continued the Lord Mayor after the meeting in the Federal Chancellery.Killing in Sankt Augustin : Suspect was allegedly known to police

Sankt Augustin A 19-year-old German Kenyan has confessed to killing the 17-year-old girl from Unkel who had been reported missing since Friday. The man was allegedly known to police and was living as a homeless person in the accommodation where the body was found on Sunday.

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The location on the outermost edge of the Menden industrial estate appears quiet, almost abandoned. It is nearly midday but the shutters of the rooms on the ground floor of the city-run accommodation for asylum seekers and homeless people have been left down on this Monday. A few flowers and candles left by strangers at a metal fence in front of it indicate that a short time ago a terrible crime apparently took place inside the shelter.

After a large-scale search on Sunday, police found the body of a young woman in one of the rooms. Investigators initial findings are that the 17-year-old woman, who comes from Unkel and attended a school in the Rhine-Sieg district, was killed. The police detained a 19-year-old resident of the accommodation on site. Police said the man was born in Kenya, had a German passport and was living as a homeless person at the shelter. On Monday, the man confessed to killing the 17-year-old. During the afternoon, the magistrate in charge issued an arrest warrant against the 19-year-old for manslaughter. The public prosecutors office had initially applied for an arrest warrant for murder, said Bonns senior public prosecutor Robin Fabender.

A large contingent of emergency services personnel in the region searched for the 17-year-old woman on Sunday. Her parents had reported the teenager missing on Friday afternoon. They were unable to give any information on where the young woman might be staying. However, police spokesperson Robert Scholten said police investigations soon restricted the search area for the 17-year-old to the Siegburg and Sankt Augustin area. Emergency personnel were called to Menden at around 5pm on Sunday evening. Walkers had found clothes and a handbag belonging to the young person at the so-called Sieglarer See near Johann-Quadt-Strae.

Suspect did not deny crime

There were a total of around 200 emergency personnel at the scene including 120 firemen. There were also water safety units from the Rhine-Sieg district, ten rescue divers from Bonn and Cologne among other places and police search dogs. The Technische Hilfswerk helped to light the lake. The search lasted more than three hours, during which a fire brigade drone, a thermal imaging camera and a federal police helicopter were used.

The voluntary fire brigade stopped the search at around 8.15pm after consultation with the police. The reason: at this point officers had already found the girl in the local shelter.

Together with the police in Rhineland-Palatinate, we identified the 19-year-old as a possible point of contact for the missing person, said police spokesperson Scholten. When the suspect returned to his accommodation during the evening, he told officers who were waiting for him that the young woman was dead in his room, continued the spokesperson for Bonn police. Scholten said the suspect had already admitted to and not disputed the crime in his first interview. The investigations and gathering of evidence of the course and sequence of events continued, however. Among other questions, it was still unclear on Monday how the personal belongings of the victim had got to the pond in Meindorf.

Suspect was known to police

According to the public prosecutors office, the 19-year-old said in a further interview that he had met his alleged victim on Friday evening. They had been in a bar together. The 17-year-old woman later accompanied him to the local shelter for refugees and homeless people in Sankt Augustin where he lived. An argument broke out there on Friday night/Saturday morning during which the man became violent. The 17-year-old died. Fabender did not want to give more precise details of the circumstances of the crime but no weapon was used. The 19-year-olds statements are now being checked by the police and the public prosecutors office.

According to GA information, the 19year-old has previously appeared several times before police. Officers first investigated the man in 2014 for distribution of pornographic material. Investigations for theft followed and in October 2015 for sexual abuse. Referring to the ongoing investigations, the public prosecutors office did not initially confirm that the man now accused of killing the 17-year-old was known to police. There has also been no indication so far of a sexual crime.

Chief public prosecutor Robert Fabender told the General Anzeiger that the 19-year-old suspect, who has both Kenyan and German nationality, is a resident of the Menden shelter, categorised as a homeless person. He was not born in Germany but has lived here since his earliest childhood, said Fabender.New delays in Bonn : Unigarage ready by 2020 at the earliest

Bonn Originally, the Unigarage was to reopen at the end of 2019 in time for the Beethoven anniversary year. Now the renovations are delayed again.

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The Unigarage at the Hofgarten was closed six years ago. The car park, which opened in 1969, was so dilapidated that the construction and property company responsible for university buildings (BLB NRW) could no longer guarantee the safety of users. The renovations first started five years later in autumn 2017. Now the construction site has come to a standstill. Workers found parts of the old city wall and this has led to a halt in works, which in turn has delayed the completion date. Originally, the BLB wanted to reopen the Unigarage at the end of 2019 just in time for the Beethoven anniversary year 2020. BLB spokesperson Frank Buch now assumes that the work will not be completed before the end of the first quarter of 2020.

Buch said that parts of the outer defensive ring of the city wall were found over an area of at least 20 metres by 5 metres during excavation works for the new lift system at the start of September. After it was uncovered, the discovery was reported to Bonns historical monuments preservation authorities. Archaeological investigations resulted in the discovery being classified as worthy of protection and a rescheduling and a halt in works were ordered, explained Buch.

The Unigarage did not previously have disabled access, which is why the BLB had allowed plans for a new lift. Coordination talks are currently taking place between the university, as owner of the underground car park, and the city of Bonn, on how to deal with the archaeological monument and the location of the lift, explained Buch. According to deputy city spokesperson Marc Hoffmann, the remains of the wall should stay in the ground. It is being examined whether plans can be amended so that parts of it can be made visible.

Five years after the closure of the car park, the renovation was first able to start at the end of September 2017, among other things because of a complicated tender process and problems with the former planning office. First, the building technology inside the underground car park had to be dismantled. These works were carried out and completed on time, said Buch. In addition, the suspended ceilings must now be repaired as well as the lighting, video surveillance and various other technical systems.

The BLB had previously estimated the costs of the renovation to be around 19 million Euros. The university will contribute 2.5 million Euros. In any event, the halt in construction will result in an increase in costs. The lift shaft has to be relocated because of the historical finds, said university spokesperson Andreas Archut. The university also wants the remains of the wall to be made visible. The rectors office has decided that the university will bear the additional costs of more than 100,000 Euros.The statement was made by Vice Chairman of National Assembly (NA) Phung Quoc Hien during his working session with Bac Lieu provinces leaders on December 3.

The NA Vice Chairman appreciated the achievements that the province has gained over past years, particularly since the 15th provincial Party Committees Congress in 2015.

He also noted that Bac Lieu still faces numerous difficulties and challenges, particularly serious impacts of climate change in local peoples lives.

NA Vice Chairman Hien urged the province to choose appropriate methods in climate change adaptation as well as actively prevent coastal erosion and sea level rises in order to protect the peoples production and lives.

Earlier the same day, the NA Vice Chairman inspected the coastal landslide and Bac Lieu wind farm in Vinh Trach Dong commune as well as visited the high-tech shrimp farms of Vietnam  Australia Corporation in Hiep Thanh commune.As governments struggle to keep and attract employers and jobs, economic development incentives such as tax-increment financing and tax abatements are becoming more popular, as evidenced by the nationwide frenzy to offer massive tax breaks to attract Amazon's second headquarters. This is happening despite the growing body of research documenting that in the aggregate incentives are largely wasted, subsidizing projects that likely would have happened anyway and creating little or no new investment or job growth.Spurring development in economically moribund areas is a worthy policy goal, and in some cases forgoing tax revenue in the short term may be a good way to achieve long-term success. But it isn't always obvious which investments will yield the best return on taxpayer subsidies. After all, every urban developer hoping for a handout will paint a rosy picture of a project and the jobs and investment that will result. How are policymakers to determine which projects are worthy and which are not?Our state of Missouri is a compelling place to study such incentive programs. According to Good Jobs First , as of November 2017 Missouri had 4,113 active state and local economic development subsidy awards with a total value of just under $6 billion -- some of them in existence since before 2007. That dollar figure puts us 11th in the nation, ahead of larger states like Illinois and California. If such subsidies were an effective way to attract growth, evidence should abound.Such evidence hasn't been easy to find. Methods for researching the impact of subsidies vary widely, and the outcome of a study reflects the method used by the researchers. In May 2016, for example, the St. Louis Development Corporation released a study of economic development incentives. Researchers looked at use of various incentive programs and compared the value of the incentive with the increase in assessed value and job growth over time. The study concluded that development incentives had little or no positive economic development benefits, despite the $709 million the city had spent on them in the 15 years leading up to the study. Incentives had not created jobs, revitalized neighborhoods or increased long-term tax revenues. Moreover, the level and quality of reporting on incentives was so poor that, as the researchers wrote, officials and the public "cannot readily determine what may or may not be deemed a project worthy of consideration for a City tax incentive." These are damning conclusions, and the city's leaders are studying ways to reform the system.A very different process unfolded on the other end of the state. This August, Kansas City leaders delivered on a promise made years ago to study economic development incentives. The report was a disappointment. Researchers merely tallied up the value of the incentives offered and any job/wage/population growth that happened afterward. There was no effort made to determine how much of the growth happenedthe incentives -- researchers just assumed that all of the growth was attributable to the incentives. They therefore concluded that "each incentive dollar invested generated $3.83 in additional tax revenue."For a uniform examination of incentives, last year the Show-Me Institute turned to William Lester of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who previously researched tax-increment financing (TIF) in Chicago, to study the likelihood that Missouri incentives are driving development. Lester and his associate Rachid El-Khattabi examined the period from 1990 through 2012 in both cities , looking at employment, business counts and sales figures down to the census block. Perhaps most importantly, these researchers compared areas that had received TIF subsidies against similar areas that had not. They found no great differences in changes over time, indicating that it was not the TIF program that was creating economic growth. "Overall," they concluded, "the analysis conducted in this study finds no support for the claim that TIF generated tangible economic development benefits in either Kansas City or Saint Louis."The lesson to be drawn from these studies is clear: Policymakers must insist on meaningful and independent measures of the extent to which incentives are driving development. Much can be done on the front end to examine the real need for subsidies. Policymakers should also insist on regular reviews of performance, meaningful measurement of job creation, and the ability to terminate underperforming incentive programs and return the accrued taxes to the affected jurisdictions.Until cities and states adopt meaningful reforms, we can expect developers to continue asking for taxpayer subsidies whether the need is real or imagined. And as long as politicians are willing to oblige the developers, taxpayers will be all the poorer.The statement was made by Politburo member and Vice Chairwoman of National Assembly (NA), Tong Thi Phong,while attending the opening of the 15th Hanoi People's Councils seventh session on November 4.

The event also saw the presence of Politburo member and Secretary of Hanoi municipal Party Committee, Hoang Trung Hai.

The NA vice Chairwoman appreciated the achievements that the capital city has gained over the past few years and asked its leaders to be more drastic in their management.

She urged for Hanois close coordination with the central ministries and agencies to implement the specific mechanismsand policies for the citys development under the Capital Law, towards building a model of urban government, she added.

Regarding issues under the competence of the NA and Government, the city needs to synthesise, report and propose mechanisms and policies in solving difficulties and obstacles for its development.

Also addressing the event, Politburo member Hoang Trung Hai asked the members of the Hanoi Peoples Council to uphold democracy and their responsibility, to discuss the positive results as well as limitations during the implementation of socio-economic development.

Taking place until December 6, the delegates will review the socio-economic situation and security and defence of the capital city in 2018; set the key tasks and major solutions for 2019; consider and decide several issues under the competence of the Peoples Council; and hold a vote of confidence on officials holding positions elected and approved by the municipal Peoples Council.

Politburo member and Secretary of Hanoi municipal Party Committee Hoang Trung Hai speaking at the event (Photo: hanoimoi.com.vn)A Dec. 1 payment deadline came and went without anyone volunteering to pay up on a shortfall for debt supporting the Northland's Zona Rosa shopping center, further muddying up its financial picture.About $760,000 was owed on Dec. 1 to investors who bought $32 million in bonds in 2007 to provide upfront cash to build a parking garage at Zona Rosa. Investors were to be paid over time by sales taxes generated at Zona Rosa, but the shopping district hasn't produced enough revenue to make payments on its own.That's left an ongoing and unresolved question: Who's supposed to pay up?Platte County continues to insist that its taxpayers aren't on the hook for making the payment, even though it has budgeted the money to do so. It's been said that the county has a "moral" obligation to shore up any shortfalls to investors, but not a legal one."The county has a moral obligation to not waste taxpayer money," said Todd Graves, a partner with Graves Garrett LLC.Platte County Commissioners hired Graves Garrett to file a lawsuit in Platte County earlier this year, asking a judge to confirm that the county has no legal obligation to bail out Zona Rosa's investors. Commissioners think that money can be better used elsewhere providing county services, rather than propping up a shopping center's finances.The trustee for the Zona Rosa bonds, UMB Bank, filed a motion asking Platte County Judge James Van Amburg to compel Platte County to cover the payment, a request that Van Amburg denied last week.Van Amburg did tell the county to hang on to the money it had budgeted for the Zona Rosa shortfall until he decides what to do with the matter. A bench trial is scheduled for May.On Tuesday, UMB Bank sent a notice to bondholders letting them know that Zona Rosa remains in default. But all was not lost: The trustee took out money from a reserve fund, similar to a savings account, to cover interest payments to investors.There's more than $3 million left in that reserve account, but the trustee wants to be conservative with its use because of the uncertainty of future revenue sources for Zona Rosa. That's why the Dec. 1 payment was for interest only.Platte County Commissioners haven't decided how it will handle future Zona Rosa shortfalls. Their decision to not cover the Dec. 1 payment caused municipal credit rating agencies to clobber the county's credit rating, sending it from a good score to what's referred to in the industry as "junk status."Much like a personal credit score, lousy credit ratings for cities and counties means it will be expensive to borrow money in the future, if anyone will lend to them at all.Graves said county commissioners want to identify a long term, sustainable solution."While they want the best for Zona Rosa and they're willing to find a solution," Graves said, "they're not willing to be the patsy in this situation."Last year, Zona Rosa went into default on its mortgage after spending down a $500,000 letter of credit and failing to obtain a new one. Opened in 2004, the shopping center has been on and off the market for sale.SPEED READ:

One-fifth, or 6.8 million, of the children on Medicaid or CHIP are citizens but have noncitizen parents, according to a report released on Tuesday by the Urban Institute.

The Trump administration's proposed "public charge" rule could discourage their parents from enrolling them in health insurance.

The public comment period for the new rule ends Dec. 10.

With less than a week left in the public comment period for a new immigration rule, a study released on Tuesday calculated the number of immigrant children who could lose their health insurance if their parents opt out as a result of the new policy.The Trump administration in October proposed a new "public charge" rule that would penalize legal immigrants for using government aid -- even when they qualify for it. If enacted, the rule will make it harder for legal immigrants to obtain green cards or permanent residency status if they have used certain government benefits, including Medicaid, food stamps and housing subsidies. Currently, legal immigrants are only considered a public charge for using long-term care or cash welfare.According to the Urban Institute's study, 6.8 million children on Medicaid or CHIP (the Children's Health Insurance Program) are citizens but have noncitizen parents. That represents one-fifth of all children in those programs. The study also shows that Medicaid and CHIP participation increased by 15.5 percent among citizen children with noncitizen parents from 2008 to 2016.Jenny Haley, a researcher who worked on the report, says these numbers show that losses in coverage could be quite large. Some communities are already seeing a reduction in food assistance programs.Though these children, who are citizens but have immigrant parents, would not be directly impacted by this rule, the Urban Institute study notes that policy changes can have broad chilling effects that lead to immigrant families opting out of public benefits and avoiding interactions with government authorities.The number of U.S. children without health insurance rose for the first time in nearly a decade last year, according to a recent report from Georgetown University. Researchers partially attributed the rise to anti-immigration rhetoric from the Trump administration; in such an environment, they said, some immigrant parents opted not to sign up their kids for health care. The White House began discussions about updating the public charge rule shortly after Donald Trump took office in 2017.Backers of the Trump administration's new public charge rule argue it is a modernization of a Clinton-era definition of what welfare is and who is allowed to access it.For our fellow citizens, such assistance is justified, though we can argue about the best way to go about it. But what justification can there be for admitting people from abroad who cant pay their own way? Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which favors severely curtailing immigration, wrote in the National Review Meanwhile, left-leaning and bipartisan groups argue that the rule would have ripple effects beyond health insurance and beyond immigrants.This proposal will compromise childrens health, nutrition and development; impact access to health care for legal immigrants and citizens alike; reduce housing options; and negatively affect our local economies," said Steven Benjamin, the mayor of Columbia, S.C., and the president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, in a statement in September. "Make no mistake: The consequences will be dire and will force families to choose between the things they need and the people they love."As previously reported , the Affordable Care Act marketplace has struggled to attract younger, healthier populations, which has contributed to rising premiums. If more legal immigrants -- and their children -- forgo health insurance because of the new public charge rule, the cost of health care, for everyone, could rise further.There is additional research out there that shows health coverage early in life has impacts on education attainment and adult health," says the Urban Institute's Haley. "With a fifth of children [on Medicaid or CHIP] potentially impacted by this rule, this could have impacts on society at large.The60-day public comment period ends Dec. 10.A day after Florida's governor suspended Brenda Snipes from her position as Broward County's supervisor of elections, Snipes announced that she would be scrapping any plans to resign in January as she fights back against claims of incompetence and misconduct."We will be fighting this," said Burnadette Norris-Weeks, Snipes' contracted attorney, during a press conference Saturday. "In additional to that, Dr. Snipes hereby rescinds her resignation which would have been effective on the fourth of January. She rescinds that resignation as we go forward and fight these...allegations that are frivolous."Gov. Rick Scott, who won his race for U.S. Senate against Democrat Bill Nelson following a highly publicized election and recount, signed an executive order on Friday ordering Snipes' removal from office, citing "misfeasance, incompetence and neglect of duty."Following the Nov. 6 elections, Snipes' office garnered national media attention as her staff struggled to count tens of thousands of ballots that would end up narrowing three statewide races -- U.S. Senate, Governor and Agriculture Commissioner -- into mandatory recounts. Broward County heavily skews Democratic, and so Republicans like Scott saw their leads shrink in the days after the election.In a Nov. 8 press conference held on the steps of the Governor's Mansion, Scott accused Snipes of voter fraud without evidence.While the executive order does not mention any instances of voter fraud, Scott does note that his campaign successfully sued Snipes for failing to provide a record of counted and uncounted votes following the election. It also mentions that her staff misplaced about 2,000 ballots, failed to meet a deadline to turn in recounted vote tallies and submitted about two dozen invalid ballots to the state due to a sorting error.Following the recount, during which protesters swarmed the outside of her offices almost daily, Snipes submitted her resignation on Nov. 18.The Florida Constitution mandates that the Florida Senate is required to hold a hearing to remove Snipes from office. The Senate has three months to begin its proceedings. The hearing was not likely to take place if Snipes' resignation date was honored.The executive order states that Snipes will not receive any pay or benefits while suspended, but it remains unclear if her suspension would affect the pension she is set to receive after her retirement as Broward's supervisor of elections. Scott has appointed his former general counsel, Peter Antonacci, to lead the department.Norris-Weeks said she believed Scott's executive order was, at least in part, meant to interfere with her benefits. Mainly, she said, it was done "for the purpose of embarrasing Dr. Snipes" and "tarnishing her record.""The supervisor is being held to a standard that no other supervisor has been held to in the state of Florida," she said. "We are disheartened by the governor's actions. We believe it is a malicious action that should not have happened."Addressing reporters after the press conference, Snipes said she was proud of the work she did during her 15-year tenure as supervisor."We follow all statutes that are set forward in the state, we take the appropriate kind of training, we have invested in a lot of equipment," she said. "But there are issues that need to be dealt with in terms of structure -- that can be legal structure, it can be the physical structure that we work in.""Going forward we hope you'll stay out there and have an open mind about this whole process," she said. "That's really critical in any success we have in dealing with this issue."With the most prominent potential contender officially out of the race, Louisiana Republicans appear to be left without a well-known figure to challenge Gov. John Bel Edwards less than a year away from Election Day.But several Republicans are still in the running or at least considering jumping in, including U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham, state Sen. Sharon Hewitt and Baton Rouge businessman Eddie Rispone.U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, after toying with a potential run for several months, announced Monday that he won't be on the ballot next year."I love being in the United States Senate," Kennedy, a senator since 2017, said in an early-morning written statement. "I will not be a candidate for governor in 2019. I will, however, continue to work hard every day in D.C. and Louisiana for jobs, economic growth, cheaper health insurance, a stronger military and an end to government waste."The announcement touched off a wave of public statements and private speculation about what the future holds for the GOP in the coming year.Kennedy's candidacy had seemed all but inevitable until recently, but last week he delayed his planned announcement.Rispone, 69, is the only Republican to make a formal leap into the 2019 gubernatorial race so far, with more high-profile elected officials eschewing the opportunity to take on the only Democratic governor in the Deep South. State Attorney General Jeff Landry, U.S. House GOP Whip Steve Scalise, Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, U.S. Rep. Garret Graves and others have said they aren't going to run for governor, though they could change their minds before next year's qualifying deadline.The election will be Oct. 12, with a Nov. 16 runoff if no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote in the primary. The qualifying period will be Aug. 6-8."We're glad Sen. Kennedy is going to continue representing Louisiana in the Senate and keep on helping President Trump make America great again," Rispone said in a statement. "We need him there. I'm a conservative outsider running against a liberal career politician. It's time to unite the party around electing a conservative Republican. I love the people of Louisiana and I'm passionate about helping every one of our citizens reach their full potential."Meanwhile, Abraham, a Republican from Alto, said Monday his final decision will be coming "very soon.""Louisiana needs a strong leader who can take on the challenges we face, and our great state just isn't getting that with the current governor," said Abraham, 64. "There are several must-pass bills facing Congress in the next two weeks, and my focus right now is on my job."And Hewitt, a Slidell Republican, also has not ruled out a gubernatorial bid."I'm still strongly considering a run for governor (and) continue to pray for God's guidance on the best way to serve my community (and) help turnaround our great state," Hewitt, 60, said in a social media posting.Abraham, who has represented Louisiana's 5th Congressional district in the northeastern corner of the state since 2015, has been hinting for months that he is interested in running for governor. A military veteran, Abraham is a doctor, veterinarian and pilot who still runs occasional missions for the U.S. Coast Guard. He was overwhelmingly re-elected to Congress earlier this year and would not have to give up his seat to run for governor.Hewitt, an engineer and former oil executive, is a first-term state senator who has served on the influential Senate Finance Committee and Joint Legislative Budget Committee, where she has frequently tussled with the Edwards administration over budget concerns and spending on the Medicaid program that the governor expanded by executive order shortly after taking office.Rispone, founder of industrial contracting company ISC Constructors, is making his first stab at elected office and is seen as a candidate in Donald Trump's vein -- someone who has a track record outside of government to build a campaign around rather than a political career. One of his top campaign consultants recently worked on the campaign of Bill Lee, a businessman who was just elected governor of Tennessee Lee also was a political newcomer who fended off several Republicans with elected track records.The Republican Governors Association has identified the Louisiana race as "a top pick-up opportunity for Republicans in 2019."But many Republicans, burned by what they see as a fluke Edwards win three years ago in an otherwise reliably Republican state, have loudly called for the GOP to get behind one candidate. Edwards, 52, made it into a runoff race against Republican David Vitter in 2015 after Vitter and two other prominent Republicans bitterly campaigned against each other.Kennedy, who was state treasurer for nearly two decades and lost two previous attempts at becoming a U.S. senator, had recently taken to pointing to his own internal polling as proof that he was one of few Republicans who could defeat Edwards.With his decision to stay in the Senate, Kennedy may have cracked the door for others to reconsider challenging Edwards.Responding to Monday's announcement, Edwards questioned Kennedy's reasoning for openly mulling a run during several national television appearances and elsewhere."For Sen. Kennedy, this was never about the people of Louisiana. This was about focusing the spotlight on himself," Edwards said. "There are more than 4.5 million good people who call Louisiana home. They deserve to have elected officials who will work together to put Louisiana first."Edwards, a West Point graduate who previously served in the state House but was not widely known outside of the State Capitol before his gubernatorial run, has remained popular in most polls since taking office in January 2016.But efforts to shore up the state's finances have included a sales tax hike that opponents will likely target.Republicans frequently question the state's economic stability."No matter who runs for governor there is no question our economy must be a priority with Louisiana ranking as one of the four worst states in unemployment." Landry, who recently announced he will seek reelection as attorney general, said Monday.A political adviser for Landry wouldn't explicitly reject the idea that Landry may reconsider running for governor instead of campaigning to hold onto his attorney general seat. But in a recent interview, Landry expressed particular fondness for his current role and duties and said he was comfortable removing himself from gubernatorial consideration even without a final decision from Kennedy.Edwards, meanwhile, has defended his first term in office as trying to right a ship that had been struck by repeated budget crises and instability."The state and our people are much better off now than they were three years ago, and I look forward to another five years of putting the people of Louisiana first," he said.A Massachusetts district court judge who is reportedly under federal investigation should not be handling criminal cases while a review is underway, Gov. Charlie Baker said Monday.The Boston Globe reports federal prosecutor Andrew Lelling has convened a grand jury to investigate the role District Court Judge Shelley Joseph may have played in helping an undocumented immigrant, Jose Medina-Perez, get away from federal immigration authorities in April.Speaking to reporters at the State House, Gov. Baker, who nominated Joseph, called the story "extremely troubling.""I don't believe she should be hearing criminal cases until that federal case is resolved," Baker said, adding that there is precedent for court officials taking such action.A court spokeswoman declined to comment when asked about Baker's remarks.Baker said he did not regret nominating Joseph."Look, judges are not supposed to be in the business of obstructing justice," the governor said. "And as far as I can tell, based on the facts as they were presented, she clearly violated the court's own policies with respect to the way they're supposed to handle continuance and involve federal immigration enforcement."The Globe reported the judge told attorneys "ICE is going to get him," an apparent reference to an agent in the building, and offered to continue the case. She then told a clerk to switch off the audio recorder in the courtroom.The newspaper says she may have broken two court policies: Judges cannot help or hurt the efforts of federal agents, and court sessions, with some exceptions, must be recorded.Citing sources, the Globe reported that Medina-Perez later left through a back door, "scaled a fence and took off, leaving the immigration agent behind."Baker nominated Joseph in 2017. A criminal defense lawyer who specialized in Registry of Motor Vehicle hearings and restraining orders, she also worked as an assistant attorney general from 1993 to 2000.CONCERN THAT ISSUES WOULD DEVELOP

OTHER MUNICIPALITIES AFFECTED

(TNS)  The Trump administrations crackdown on communities that support asylum seekers will cost Portland police $68,000 next year, city officials said.Interim Police Chief Vern Malloch, a 34-year veteran of the department, said, Portland has been getting this grant for as long as I can remember.New language inserted into eligibility rules for the Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant issued by the Department of Justice requires city officials to attest that their community does not induce or encourage non-citizens to come to or reside in their community and does not aid or abet such actions.The existence of the Portland Community Support Fund, a unique public fund that helps meet the basic needs of asylum seekers who do not qualify for state General Assistance funds, was enough for the city to turn down the grant that it usually receives on an annual basis and uses to pay for police training and technology.Portland has been getting this grant for as long as I can remember, said interim Police Chief Vern Malloch, whos been with the department since 1984.City officials are worried that the language could be inserted into other federal grants, potentially cutting off larger sources of federal funds.Malloch said the decision to turn down the grant was made by Danielle West-Chuhta, the citys top attorney. West-Chuhta did not respond to several requests for comment. When asked about the loss of the grant this week, neither West-Chuhta nor BethAnne Poliquin, an attorney for the police department, would provide the new language the Trump administration added to the 57-page document explaining the grant guidelines.Malloch pointed to an appendix in the document that includes a federal prohibition against bringing in and harboring certain aliens.There does not appear to be any language in the grant rules directly prohibiting the city from providing local support to asylum seekers, but Malloch cited new language prohibiting communities from harboring so-called aliens or encouraging them to come, or aiding or abetting efforts to harbor them.We cant affirmatively say that thats not happening, Malloch said. And there is a strong possibility that it is happening.The publicly funded and publicly administered Community Support Fund is considered to be unique in the United States. Malloch pointed out that Portland set up the fund to help immigrants who were deemed to be no longer eligible for state assistance because they had not yet formally filed an application for asylum. An immigrant who is undocumented or has overstayed a visa becomes eligible for aid under state law once an asylum application is filed.City Manager Jon Jennings supports West-Chuhtas decision to turn down the grant. He and Malloch are worried that the language would be added to other federal grants.There was concern by all of us, that with the Community Support Fund and the new language thats been inserted, its harder to argue there may not be issues, Jennings said.City officials could not immediately provide information about how much the city receives annually in federal grants. But in fiscal 2017, the city appears to have spent $23.7 million in federal money, including nearly $1.7 million in funds from the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, according to the auditors report posted on the city website.The police department grant has paid for a variety of expenses. Last year, the city used $28,000 in justice assistance grant funds to purchase body-worn cameras and other associated technology for a pilot program.For the coming year, Malloch said the department planned to use the funds for officer training, mobile data terminals for police cruisers and an outside assessment center for officer promotions. One of the things that is attractive about this grant is there are few restrictions on it, Malloch said.The Trump administration also added language prohibiting grants to so-called sanctuary cities, a term that generally describes communities that prohibit law enforcement officials from cooperating with immigration authorities. That has not affected Portlands grant applications because the city does not meet the common definition of sanctuary city. Portlands ordinance only says that city officials will not ask about a persons immigration status, but it does allow local police officers to assist immigration authorities when asked.Portlands decision to turn down the grant also is affecting South Portland and Cape Elizabeth because they traditionally co-apply with Portland for justice assistance grants.South Portland City Manager Scott Morelli said attorneys are looking into whether the city can receive over $12,000 in grant funds it planned to use to purchase four thermal cameras. Its unclear how much Cape Elizabeth was expecting to receive.Change is especially challenging for governments and locales. In the face of chaos, successful counties pivoted to a digital-first approach. See a shining example of how one county achieved it.(TNS)  If kids really are the future, then the New Brighton Area School District is doing everything it can to prepare them to thrive in the ever-changing world of science and technology.The school district is the only one in western Pennsylvania to teach elementary school children how to write computer code and how to execute that code to manipulate a robot.The new program, available to about 330 pupils in grades 3 to 5, is a partnership between New Brighton and Carnegie Mellon University. The Montour School District in Allegheny County also participates in the program with middle school pupils.The program is simple: Pupils spent a 30-minute class period learning how to code using a software program called Calypso. The next day, student spend another 30-minute class applying that code to a robot named Cozmo.Kate Na-Shatal, a teacher at New Brighton Elementary School, trained last summer to be able to teach the pupils how to use Calypso and Cozmo.She described the robot as not unlike Disney's Wall-E: about three inches high and four inches long, with treads on the bottom that give Cozmo the ability to move around. The robot also has arms that enable it to pick up different materials, eyeballs that allow it to see, and a program that allows it to talk.Once programmed with code created by the pupils, Cozmo can perform an assortment of tasks. According to Na-Shatal, the Trobot can talk and play games with the children and can also respond to various commands."The possibilities are amazing of what this program can do and how the kids can code it," she said.For Na-Shatal, the benefits of teaching coding and robotics is obvious. The world in which young people live is changing and expanding rapidly, especially within science and technology. If you're not teaching kids early, then they may already be behind."It opens them up to new technologies and gives them a chance to create something on a computer, but then to see it come to life," she said. "Doing it at such a young age empowers them. Coding can be overwhelming, but once we break it down, they realize it's absolutely something they can do."Not only can they do it, Na-Shatal said, but they thrive at it."It feels like a game to them, but it still involves a lot of problem solving and rational thinking, which makes it a great tool for education," she said.Elementary school Principal Jason Hall said it was a no-brain decision to partner with Carnegie Mellon. He said the university offered Cozmo, the programming software and even new laptops to help facilitate the program."It's an honor for us," he said. "We always try to go above and beyond for our students, and this opportunity fell in our lap and we're taking advantage of it. We get to spread the knowledge of coding, and we get to partner with CMU, which is good company to keep."Hall said it's necessary to prepare pupils for a world that is increasingly dependent on computers and software. But besides that, Calypso and Cozmo are teaching much more than technology."Their engagement and interactions with each other are amazing," he said. "They get so excited and see it as playing, but it's also learning. It's really a win-win for us."Na-Shatal said the new program fosters an atmosphere of teamwork and togetherness not normally seen in a traditional classroom."The kids love helping each other," she said. "If they're coding and not sure about something, I rarely have to go over to help them because they help each other. They take a lot of pride in being able to navigate the programs and use the code. Their ownership of the program is phenomenal."The program doesn't have a set expiration date, and Hall said he will work with CMU for as long as the university permits. After all, there is no chance that pupils will learn everything they can about the software and robots."The technology is always changing and updating. There are endless possibilities with robots and programming," he said. "The more complicated it gets, the more students have to learn."(TNS)  Butler Countys antiquated parking garage is getting a couple technology upgrades, but some officials say full automation doesnt make sense right now.The commissioners dubbed the five-story, 623-space garage at the corner of Court Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. a Stone Age garage back in 2015 and asked staff to start work on fully automating the structure. It currently operates as a cash-only, pay-at-the-gate facility.Proposals to automate the garage, making it more user friendly and allowing the ability to generate revenue from community events  ranging from $100,000 to $400,000  were submitted a couple years ago. The operative budget amount had been $200,000 to $250,000.Commissioners Don Dixon and T.C. Rogers now say they dont support the project, at least not with the proposals currently before them.Wed all like to see it automated but its dollars and cents, Dixon said. When the payback is not in a reasonable time length, were going to have to wait until they come up with some different technology or the price comes down financially its not a prudent business move at this point.Rogers he has never seen a fully automated parking set up yet, there is always someone manning them so he doesnt support the investment, unless someone can convince me and they havent yet, he said.The budget for the garage for next year is $191,437 supported by $195,000 in revenues. Part of the reason automation was proposed was the garage is not manned on the weekends so they wanted to capture revenue from event-goers. County Administrator Charlie Young has said that would only raise about $5,000 to $7,000.The countys situation is unique in that there are a number of different parking arrangements at the garage. People can pay $40 a month for a reserved, covered spot  spots on the open-air roof cost $30  there are hourly and daily rates and jurors, law enforcement, fire officials and some others park for free.The commissioners recently approved a $45,000 investment in the structure for a new ticket dispenser at the entrance with bar code technology, replacement of the 20-year-old computer system and a new cash register.Commissioner Cindy Carpenter, who first raised the issue four years ago, could not be reached for comment.He met with President of the Frelimo Party and President of Mozambique Filipe Nyusi, Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho Rosario, and First Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Antonio Jose Amelia; held talks with Politburo member and Secretary General of the Frelimo Party Roque Silva; and held working sessions with Minister of Justice, Constitutional, and Religious Affairs Abdurremane Lino de Almeida and Minister of Transport and Communications Carlos Mesquita.

Politburo member Vuong also witnessed the signing of a cooperation agreement between the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and the Frelimo Party for the 2018-2022 period, a bilateral judicial assistance agreement; and held a working session with Movitel, a joint-venture with Vietnams military-run telecom provider Viettel.

During the meetings, Mozambican leaders hailed the visit as an important event in ties between the two parties and countries. They spoke highly of Vietnams stature in the region and the world and the business efficiency of Movitel, considering it a model of successful cooperation between the two nations.

They wished that Vietnam would continue assisting Mozambique in national development, especially in economic growth and poverty reduction.

They asked the CPV to continue sharing its experience in Party building and personnel training.

Politburo member Vuong affirmed that the Party, State, and people of Vietnam have always treasured and want to foster their solidarity, traditional friendship, and collaboration with Mozambique. He also suggested measures to develop ties between the two parties and nations in the near future.

Both sides agreed that the two parties need to reinforce traditional ties via the exchange of all-level visits; personnel training; outlining specific ways to facilitate economic, trade, investment, and cultural ties, especially in fields of high demand such as agriculture, education-training, telecommunications, and oil and gas.

The two legislatures will strengthen the exchange of high-level visits and specialised units, working closely together at regional and global multilateral forums, serving as bridges to extend relations with political parties in the region.(TNS)  The city council took more steps last week toward its goal of providing Fredericksburg with the fastest broadband Internet in Virginia.It unanimously voted Tuesday to speed up approval of a 10-year, non-exclusive franchise to Tenebris Fiber LLC to build and maintain the city school systems wide-area network before federal funding for the project expires. The agreement allows the dark-fiber provider to install fiber-optic infrastructure in the citys public rights-of-way.Once this project is complete, all Fredericksburg schools will have dedicated fiber for Internet, VoIP, Security/ Access Control, and Intranet communication, Michael George, the school systems director of technology, wrote in an email.In addition, we are excited to be working with Tenebris Fiber since it is a Virginia-based dark fiber provider that is working on a larger Virginia build, which will eventually run from Ashburn to Virginia Beach, he said. Being in the center of this build will give us many more options for our increased Internet bandwidth requirements in the upcoming years.The schools project will be Tenebris first in the city. School officials requested for proposals for the wide-area network and related services in February 2017, with the primary goal being to secure the most reliable, efficient, and cost-effective WAN for students and teachers in FCPS, George said.The School Board awarded Freedom Telecom Services, which is now owned by Tenebris Fiber, a contract in April 2017 that paid the firm $583,561 for construction and $1,750 per year for maintenance of the school-owned WAN.Ninety percent of the cost is being paid through the Federal Communication Commissions school and library E-rate Program, which will expire if the project is not finished by June 30. The rest will come from a Virginia Public School Authority program to help schools establish a computer-based instructional and testing system for standards of learning and to increase high-speed Internet connectivity and student access to computers.The council also unanimously approved a 10-year, non-exclusive franchise with NewPath Networks LLC to install small-cell wireless facilities and fiber-optic cables. The project will enhance wireless connectivity and expand wired broadband access.A second vote is required for the franchise, and the council scheduled that for Dec. 11.While Tenebris is a dark fiber provider offering infrastructure in several major markets in Virginia, NewPath Networks is a wireless infrastructure company that designs, develops and operates fiber-fed wireless carrier networks. It customers include wireless carriers, wired and wireless Internet service providers, university campuses and stadiums. It is a subsidiary of Crown Castle, the nations largest provider of wireless infrastructure.The Public Works Department will review all installations under the agreements. Both franchises cover the entire city, but do not allow installations on city facilities  those would still need to be negotiated as separate agreements.#AIM would like to send a warm welcome to Tye Hayes, our newly selected #ChiefTechnologyOfficer . We are so excited to have Tye join our team! #AllthingsAIM #CityofAtlanta pic.twitter.com/4yNnc09YCw  Atlanta Info Mgmt (@ATL_AIM) December 3, 2018

Atlanta named Tye Hayes as its new chief technology officer in an announcement posted on Twitter Monday.Hayes is an IT veteran who brings to her role experience in both the private and public sectors. According to her LinkedIn page , she served most recently as the CEO of N-Ovate Business Solutions, an IT consulting firm with a focus on the public sector  specifically education and government.Prior to that, Hayes was the deputy chief information officer for Atlanta Public Schools for most of 2014. Her resume also includes stints as information security/privacy officer and program manager with major private-sector companies such as Lockheed Martin and General Electric.Hayes appointment is part of the ongoing transformation of the executive team in Atlanta. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who took office in January, appointed Gary Brantley as the citys chief information officer in September.1. How has security evolved and become top-of-mind for not only IT officials, but also other agencies and even the public?

2. Arizona reportedly receives about 8.5 million cyberattacks a month. Is this similar to what other states experience?

3. What are the top concerns among cybersecurity officials?

4. What are some new approaches to data security that can make state government more resilient?

Mike Lettman has spent six years leading cybersecurity efforts in Arizona and serves as the states chief information security officer (CISO). A recognized information technology leader with more than 28 years in state government, Lettman previously served as CISO of Wisconsin, as well as chief technical officer for Wisconsins Department of Justice.Cybersecurity affects everyone at all levels of government  all of the agencies and everything we do. Years ago when we started down this road, we were concerned solely about data. And then as we started to expose our data to the Internet, and then build systems that were exposed to the Internet, suddenly we had to worry about people attacking our data and our systems, and exfiltrating our data. CISOs today find themselves involved in all parts of the organization, the most recent being elections and the alleged security attacks against the election systems. So the role has evolved over the years, and I think all states and all governors are concerned about cyberthreats.Id say its par for the course. I have regular contact with my counterparts in state government throughout the rest of the nation, and were all seeing similar numbers. Events can change this. Its literally in the millions. Its people constantly trying to manipulate or find vulnerabilities in your systems to find a way to get in.Most CISOs would say there are three main concerns: No. 1, the lack of qualified cyber-security professionals to fill all the jobs that we need across the country. Second, the advancement of attacks is also a huge concern. I like to say, I know what we know and dont know what we dont know. And when something new comes along, sometimes it takes time for people to analyze that and figure out, what is it trying to do? Is it truly an attack? Is it some other way of social engineering? Whats really going on?And No. 3 for most CISOs is the end users and protecting our data. End users are the easiest spot to attack our systems and our states, and to try to social engineer our employees and get them to open documents and things like that. Thats the easiest way in. It only takes one employee to click on a link in an email to download a malicious piece of software, and then compromise that PC, and then the bad guy has access to everything the employee has access to.What weve been working on is, how do we get proactive? How do we make security automatic? In other words, if theres a way we can discover an attack before its happening, or at least before its predominantly happening, and if we can automatically update our systems to protect us, thats our ultimate goal. Thats easier said than done, and cooler to talk about than actually see happen.We also share as much attack information and intel as we can with our other key partners in the federal government, local county government and private sector, where possible. And the more sharing we do together, the more we can see; if theyre attacking the private sector today, they may be attacking us tomorrow. The more intel sharing we do, the more proactive we can become to stop these attacks. If theyre attacking Virginia today, they might move on to Arizona tomorrow.Eugene's tech job "density"

(TNS) Anne Glickenhaus didn't know much about the companies she was heading to visit on a recent evening.And that's a big problem for Eugene's tech community.Glickenhaus was one of about 50 University of Oregon Computer and Information Science students who hopped on a bus last month for a free tour of three Eugene tech firms: CBT Nuggets, IDX Broker and Palo Alto Software.They are trips the Technology Association of Oregon industry group calls Experience Oregon Tech, or, simply, "tech tours." And they serve a crucial purpose for the organization and Lane County's economy as a whole: Keep talented UO computer science students in Eugene once they graduate  where they can earn 74 percent more on average than the typical Lane County worker  instead of fleeing for larger tech hubs like San Francisco or Seattle."I had an inkling that Eugene was on the map for tech but had really never heard of any of these companies," said Glickenhaus, a 26-year-old Portland native who came to the UO for a computer science degree, after earning her bachelor's degree in behavioral neuroscience from Eastern Washington University."I didn't quite understand the extent of the tech community in Eugene, and what measures they were taking to help increase the tech (opportunities) here," she said, "with the fiber-optic Internet lines through downtown and just the sort of quality of life these companies provide for their employees. I had no idea about any of that."It's an issue local employers and the tech association have have been trying to fix over the last three years, one tech tour at a time. And tech advocates say it's crucial to connect this young talent pool with the hundreds of small Lane County tech firms, especially as Symantec, once employing 1,400 local tech workers, has sold its massive Springfield complex and shrunk to about 200 people.Before the tours, "one of the overwhelming themes we heard from local tech executives was that talent retention just flat sucked," said Matt Sayre, the tech association's vice president. "We have this wonderful university in our own backyard, graduating tons of smart kids who all leave to San Francisco or all leave to Seattle. There was overwhelming concern about that, the 'brain drain' and leaking talent."Last month's tour started at CBT Nuggets, a firm that provides online training for information technology professionals worldwide. Joined by several Lane Community College students, the UO students broke into small groups and followed CBT employees on tours of each of the company departments.There they got a taste for the office perks that have become synonymous with tech culture: a kitchen and adjoining lounge with arcade games, pingpong and Foosball, an exercise room and a "serenity room" for employees to quietly gather their thoughts  not to mention the Nerf guns and hover boards scattered across the office.But the real pitches came in the middle of the tour, from employees such as CBT Nuggets web developer Peter Osborne. Osborne has worked in cities as large as Seattle and as small as Medford. He said he wouldn't have taken a job in Eugene when his Seattle employer laid him off in 2009."But Eugene has done a lot with its [tech] infrastructure. Eugene has more than 400 tech companies now," Osborne said. He commutes to work from his house in Creswell, where he pays less than half of the roughly $3,000 average monthly rent for a studio in San Francisco or New York."San Francisco has tons of jobs, but the cost of living there is really prohibitive," he said. "You want to think about how far your money goes, and you think about job density. What's a comfortable amount of job density to live in a place you can afford to live in but are also protected? Eugene has 400 tech companies ... . For me, if something happened and I couldn't work here anymore for whatever reason, I feel very confident I could find something very rapidly. We're in a community that has a high density of jobs that has a need for quality [web] developers."The sentiment was identical at the second tech tour stop, real estate tech firm IDX Broker. Welcoming the busload of students to his downtown business, CEO and company founder Chad Barczak said he had no problem if students preferred seeking an internship at CBT Nuggets, Palo Alto Software or another tech firm instead of his.But he urged them to consider keeping their talent in the UO's backyard once they earn a degree,"We may compete for employees, but we're very collaborative," Barczak said of the city's tech firms. "We want you to stay in Eugene, buy houses and pay taxes."Fewer tech employees, but more tech firmsAt Palo Alto Software, students on the final step of the tech tour snacked on pizza while gathering near a wall, some snapping pictures with smart phones. They were looking at postings for 16 internships available next summer at the software company, which develops business training programs.Kaela Schaefer stood nearby. A June graduate of the UO Computer and Information Science program, Schaefer interned at Palo Alto Software over the summer before being hired as a full-time software developer in October.Before learning about the company on a 2017 tech tour, Schaefer knew of the company only from a sponsorship banner at the Sheldon Pool where she worked, and thought they were based in Palo Alto, Calif.But, "I heard (Palo Alto Software CEO) Sabrina (Parsons) talking about how Palo Alto isn't out to just sell software to people. They actually want to make small businesses better," Schaefer said. "Just the idea that there's a tech company in town that had such a cool culture deck, had a real solid foundation in ethical business practices, I was like, 'This is the only company I want to work for.'"That's music to the Technology Association of Oregon's ears, and an encouraging sign for a region that has actually shed tech jobs in recent years, despite the addition of dozens of new small firms.About 4,100 Lane County workers were employed in tech jobs at the end of 2017, according to Oregon Employment Department data, down from about 4,500 in 2014.The net loss in recent years is almost entirely driven by Symantec's multiple rounds of large layoffs, said Brian Rooney, a regional analyst with the Oregon Employment Department who has studied the region's tech landscape. It's also down from about 5,600 a decade ago, when Symantec and the Hynix semiconductor plant in west Eugene were operating.But the number of firms has risen even as Symantec has slashed its workforce. About 450 tech businesses operated countywide at the end of last year, up from 418 in 2015, Employment Department data show."There's a lot of churn in tech sector, because companies start up, their goods and services are in demand for a while, and it's the nature of technology that things improve and things change," Rooney said. "But the addition of the new firms over the past year is definitely a good sign for the future."The average annual Lane County wage in the tech sector was $74,279 last year, according to Oregon Employment Department figures. That's 74 percent higher than the $42,644 average annual wage in all Lane County sectors.The tech association doesn't track how many tech tour participants later land jobs in Eugene, Sayre said. But it does survey each student before they participate in a tech tour, asking about their knowledge of Eugene's tech landscape and the number of employers here, Sayre said. Awareness of those companies has risen from about 10 percent of students in 2015 to 25 percent today."There are dozens and dozens of graduates over the last 24 months who, instead of going to Portland or Seattle, are choosing to stay and work for companies like Palo Alto Software," Sayre said. "I can point to a seemingly unlimited number of recent college graduates. These kids tell me, 'I didn't even know there was a tech sector. Now I work here.'"Hide your wife, hide your kids. Photo: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

This Saturday, reviled pub-crawl SantaCon will return to New York City and with it will come hundreds of people from Connecticut, New Jersey, Long Island, and within the city who want to participate.

Accordingly, the Long Island Railroad, New Jersey Transit, and Metro-North have all banned passengers from drinking aboard trains on Saturday, with NJ Transit going to an even further extreme and banning all beverages regardless of their alcohol content or lack thereof. (Violators will receive a summons and fine.) The MTA, meanwhile, has banned drinking on the subway during SantaCon for the last five years.

MTA police officers will be on duty at Penn Station, Grand Central Terminal and stations throughout the region, as well as on trains to enforce this restriction, MTA execs said in a statement. The police will confiscate alcoholic beverages and issue summonses carrying fines or imprisonment. Violators may also be subject to removal from the train or station by police.

As for the rest of us, avoid certain parts of Manhattan at all costs (Midtown, Murray Hill, Kips Bay, and the East Village) and wait until the storm has passed.The event was chaired by Vietnamese Deputy Minister Sen. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh and his Russian counterpart Alexander Vasilyevich Fomin.

It took place amid the continuously enhanced traditional friendship and comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries. Notably, it followed an official visit by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong in September and a trip by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in November this year.

The year also marks five years since the two governments signed an inter-governmental agreement on defence cooperation and 20 years since they inked the deal on military technique cooperation.

At the dialogue, the two sides spoke highly of their major achievements in defence cooperation this year. They shared the view that defence ties continue to be a prioritised pillar of development.

Agreeing to further expand defence connections, they specified the cooperation plan for 2019, including delegation exchanges, sharing opinions on strategic issues, personnel training, military technique, sharing experience in joining United Nations peacekeeping operations, and military medicine.

The officers also drafted a list of joint activities to be held in the Vietnam-Russia Friendship Year 2019 and 2020.

Deputy Minister Fomin thanked Vietnam for its support for and participation in the Moscow Conference on International Security, the International Army Games, the St. Petersburg military parade, as well as other multilateral activities hosted by the Russian Ministry of Defence.

He affirmed that his ministry will effectively contribute to bilateral cooperation within the framework of the Vietnam-Russia Tropical Centre. It also pledges to endorse initiatives and further engage in activities proposed and organised by Vietnam in 2020, when the Southeast Asian nation will hold the ASEAN Chair and the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus mechanism will mark its 10th anniversary.

For his part, Deputy Minister Vinh said Vietnam will continue taking part in multilateral activities that are held by the Russian Defence Ministry and match the countrys conditions. It is also ready to create conditions for Russian naval ships to visit Vietnamese seaports.

The two sides said their countries defence cooperation is one of the important factors helping with regional security, peace, cooperation, and development. They also echoed the view that all disputes should be resolved by peaceful means and on the basis of international law.

During their working visit from December 1-4, the Vietnamese delegation also paid a courtesy call to Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and visited the Kirov Military Medical Academy.The cash injection came from ARJ Holding, a Dubai-based company specialising in water, energy and infrastructure technologies.

Finest Bay Area Development on Monday announced it has received an investment of 100 million euros for the planning and permitting stage of its project to build an undersea railway tunnel between Helsinki, Finland, and Tallinn, Estonia.

Peter Vesterbacka, one of the two co-founders of Finest Bay Area Development, stated in a press conference that receiving the first external backer is a crucial step for the entire project. The Helsinki-Tallinn area will in the future be one of the fastest-growing [metropolises] in Europe, he was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Related posts: Finest Bay Area confident in mooted undersea railway tunnel between Helsinki and Tallinn (30 November, 2018)

The 15-billion-euro development project has thus far been funded independently by Vesterbacka and Kustaa Valtonen, the other co-founder of Finest Bay Area Development. The objective is to commence both passenger and freight services on the roughly 100-kilometre, double-track railway by Christmas 2024.

The project has thus far moved forward independently of Finest Link, a feasibility study for an undersea railway link between the two cities co-ordinated by the Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council.

Both Vesterbacka and Anne Berner (Centre), the Finnish Minister of Transport and Communications, emphasised yesterday that there cannot be two separate railway tunnel projects.

Finest Bay Area Development also said its project has made progress on the regulatory front: An application for a water construction permit has already been filed in Estonia while a proposal for environmental impact assessments will be filed in Finland in January. The undersea tunnel is also tentatively included in the regional plan for Uusimaa.

The development company also announced ticket vouchers for the 20-minute train ride are now available online, the idea being that the ticket and freight fees would ultimately cover the construction costs.

With a return fare of 100 euros, for example, the repayment period would be 17 years, according to Helsingin Sanomat.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Source: Uusi SuomiPham Minh Chinh, Politburo member, Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and head of the committees Organisation Commission, made the affirmation at a reception for visiting UK Prince Andrew in Hanoi on December 4.

He said the Princes visit is a good opportunity to strengthen bilateral relations, especially in trade, investment and education.

Politburo member Chinh hoped that Prince Andrew, with his experience, knowledge and prestige, will continue encouraging UK enterprises to increase investment in Vietnam and foster collaboration with the country in startup and innovation, while supporting the connection between the two nations training establishments in order to meet Vietnams demand for high-quality human resources training.

For his part, Prince Andrew spoke highly of Vietnams recent significant achievements, affirming that he will continue efforts to contribute to bolstering the strategic partnership between the two countries in an intensive and practical manner.

He also wished to actively coordinate with Vietnams relevant agencies to soon realise cooperation initiatives, especially in innovation and education-training connectivity.Mystic Sound wins World Clash, a 3-Peat victory for Canadian sounds. Sound clash excitement reached an all-time high at the epic 20th Anniversary staging of Irish and Chins World Clash on Saturday, November 17 at Torontos Tibetan Cultural Center when Mystic Sound nabbed the World Clash title, continuing the winning legacy of Canadian sounds for a third year and securing Canada as the International home of World Clash in 2019.

Notably, Mystic Sound scored the win upon defeating U.S. Rumble champion Dynamq in a suspenseful tune-fi-tune with a slew of powerhouse selections in the final minutes of the clash from the likes of Andrew Tosh, Gregory Isaacs and Tony Tuff. The high powered Canadian sound sailed through World Clash, also seeing the elimination of competition including World Clash champion and fellow Canadian sound King Turbo, along with several of the battlefields most promising sound systems Jah Works (Japan Rumble), Mour Dan/ Empire Sound (UK Rumble), Dee Buzz (Euro Rumble) and Three Sevens (Caribbean Rumble).

As the at-capacity war zone peaked, the sounds of horns and whistles resonated amongst the massive international audience, while flags, banners and flashing screen images of the battling sounds provided the optimal visuals. Boasting all elements of a theatrical production, fused with the competitive aspect of authentic sound clash, World Clash came to life. There was nothing sweeter than the well-orchestrated dubs that echoed through the colossal speakers as contenders aimed to make their mark on the coveted World Clash stage.

U.S. Rumble champion Dynamq sound was a crowd favorite at World Clash. For several hours, sounds captivated the crowd, hitting performance highs and lows. Much to the surprise of ecstatic clash fans, World Clash kick started with King Turbos introduction of a new female selector and Dynamq "crushing" an entire set without saying one word.

Mystic Sound, played by members Tyrone and Fabian, proved a force to be reckoned with in the heated battle, quickly shedding their underdog billing, as they annihilated the second round with an arsenal of new dub plates and music from some of the whos who of Dancehall including Masicka, Govana, Aidonia and Rygin King. Consistent performances throughout the clash combined with blunders by competitors helped solidify Mystics position in the renowned war.

In addition to Mystics respected sets at World Clash, strong showings in the clash from Jah Works, Dynamq, Three Sevens and Dee Buzz left a mark on the audience, often making eliminations a challenge. Whether relying on stage presence, good vibes with the audience or flat-out damn good, well-connected dub plates and customs, the sounds worked hard for the prized World Clash title. Although UK Rumble champions Empire Sound and Mour Dan did build some vibes with the crowd, the sounds lost steam as each round winded down, resulting in a double elimination following the third round.

Jah Works scores during the Mystery round, dropping hard God bless tunes. The Mystery round (aka the fourth round), incorporated by Irish and Chin during this Rumble Series season, proved to be a crowd favorite of the clash and true make-or-break point for competing sounds. Japan Rumbles Jah works genuinely maximized this round after drawing a God Bless card. The popular selector took advantage of 45s and scored forwards after every tune played. Dynamq remained on top of his A-game this round as well with Ganja selections, which hit home with the audience given Canada's recent legalization of weed.

By all accounts, World Clash culminated its 20th Anniversary with a bang! The epic event exceeded the expectations of sound clash fans and served as the ideal way for Irish and Chin to close out the year-long celebration of the industrys longest running sound clash brand. The famed promoters proudly eye the future as they continue their mission to highlight Jamaicas indigenous and vibrant sound clash culture.

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@irishandchinIn 1943, when the Second World War had reached its most pitiless intensity, three of the worlds most powerful menunlikely allies against the Axis onslaughtmet together for the first time. In their respective formative years, one had been a soldier, another a murderer, and the third a politician. None fully trusted the others. It was a scene out of Shakespeare perhaps, or even the Bible.

Winston Churchill, the soldier, reasoned in a military frame of mind. He was fair but ruthless, canny and perceptive. Joseph Stalin, on the other hand, quite literally murdered his way to the top of the Soviet Union and, with his hands covered in blood, was suspicious of all and loyal only to the Communist ideal of eventual world domination. Franklin D. Roosevelt, the politician, had an easygoing personality and believed in negotiation in good faith. He thought that deals could always be made between honest men.

The three leaders met in November 1943 in the Iranian capital of Tehranthe Allies had occupied the country since 1941to strategize the wars end and beyond. The vivid experiences of each mans youth informed their differing psyches, personalities, and approaches to the tasks at hand. While that can be said of any decision-maker at any meeting, this was no ordinary meeting. Events put in motion at Tehran would determine Europes fate for generations to come.

WINSTON CHURCHILL WAS A BRITISH aristocrat who had graduated from the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst in 1894. He later explained that his father had encouraged an army career because he thought young Winston was too stupid to become a lawyer. Churchill endured a baptism by fire with immediate combat stints in Cuba and India in 1895 and 1896 respectively and, in 1898, served in the deserts of Sudan with British general Herbert Kitcheners expedition against an army of 60,000 Islamic fighters. There, on horseback, Churchill saw intense action amid a swarm of sword-wielding Dervishes, shooting them down from his saddle one by one, and remarking later how easy it is to kill a man.



Young Winston Churchill made a name for himself as a soldier and war correspondent during the Second Boer War in southern Africa at the turn of the 20th century. (Photo12/UIG via Getty Images) Young Winston Churchill made a name for himself as a soldier and war correspondent during the Second Boer War in southern Africa at the turn of the 20th century. (Photo12/UIG via Getty Images)

In 1899, during Britains second war with the Boers of southern Africa, Churchill further distinguished himself, making a dramatic escape as a POW and crossing 300 miles of hostile enemy territory to safety in Portuguese East Africa. He wrote about each of these exploits in the British press, becoming the nations best-known and highest-paid war correspondent. This renown, along with his famous ancestral name, he parlayed into a seat in the House of Commons, launching an illustrious government career that ultimately led him to become the countrys prime minister in 1940.

As Great Britains head of state during World War II, Churchill led his nation through Dunkirk and the Battle of Britain. By the time of the Tehran Conference, after gains in the Mediterranean and North Africa, Britain stood poised to strike back at Germany.

JOSEPH STALIN (born Joseph Vissarionovich Djugashvili in 1878), a peasant, studied for the priesthood until he was 21, when he quit to become a full-time Bolshevik revolutionary.

As a young man, he worked his way up the ranks, organizing bank robberies, bombings, extortion, and murder on behalf of Vladimir Lenins fledgling Communist Party. In 1913, at age 35, he began calling himself by a new name, Stalin, an apt moniker based on the Russian word for steel. After the Russian Revolution of February 1917 toppled the Imperial Romanov family, Stalin became a major functionary of Lenins new Soviet government when it came to power that October.



Arrested several times by the Czars security forces, Bolshevik Joseph Stalin routinely escaped Siberian exile to orchestrate more revolutionary mayhem. ( Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images) Arrested several times by the Czars security forces, Bolshevik Joseph Stalin routinely escaped Siberian exile to orchestrate more revolutionary mayhem. ( Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

Upon Lenins death in 1924, Stalin outmaneuvered or assassinated his opponents and became leader of the Communist Party and dictator of Soviet Russia. By World War II, he had caused the deaths of tens of millions of Soviet citizens and purgedthat is, murderedthousands of his fellow Communist comrades as well, including hundreds of top-ranked officers in his army.

During the war, Stalin issued infamous orders that called for the immediate execution of any Soviet soldier caught retreating and branded his countrys POWs as traitors. (When his own son Yakov was captured, he was said to have exclaimed, I have no son!) But, wisely, Stalin let his generals develop and run the battles and by late 1943 the German army in the east was on the ropes.

FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT was born into a wealthy patrician family of Dutch descent that prospered in mansions along the Hudson River near Hyde Park, New York. He was a distant cousin of President Theodore Roosevelt, whom he worshiped.

Roosevelt attended the distinguished Groton School, an Episcopal boys academy in Massachusetts. Politics in those days was generally considered an unworthy calling by the upper classes, but the schools headmaster, Endicott Peabody, believed strongly that Groton men should change that impression and encouraged government service. Roosevelt thrived at school and gained a reputation for his leadership and ability to organize, compromise, and get things done.



A year before he contracted polio, 38-year-old Franklin D. Roosevelt ran for the U.S. vice-presidency on the 1920 Democratic ticket led by Ohio governor James M. Cox. (Everett Collection/Alamy) A year before he contracted polio, 38-year-old Franklin D. Roosevelt ran for the U.S. vice-presidency on the 1920 Democratic ticket led by Ohio governor James M. Cox. (Everett Collection/Alamy)

He went on to Harvard and Columbia Law School, but soon found himself bored with the legal profession, longing for something different at which he could excel. Politics became the answer. He ran successfully as a Democrat for a place in the New York state senate and, in 1913 at age 31, was tapped for the important federal position of assistant secretary of the navy. Following World War I, Roosevelt had made enough of a name for himself to be placed on the 1920 Democratic ticket as vice president, but the Republicans won.

The next year, tragedy struck when he was permanently paralyzed from the waist down by polio. Undaunted, from his wheelchair, Roosevelt campaigned for and won the governorship of New York in 1928 and, in 1932, was elected president of the United States amid the worst economic depression in the nations history. He immediately set about implementing a series of government measures meant to ease the suffering, calling it the New Deal.

Through it all, Roosevelt maintained a sunny public disposition and made the working class feel heard. The enemies of progress, as Roosevelt had come to see it, were the bankers, merchants, industrialists, and the moneyed crowd, and so he punished them through taxation and other constraints. In return, the wealthy businessmen branded him a traitor to his class.

After war broke out in 1939, the U.S. stayed outwardly neutralthough, through the Lend-Lease program, FDR worked to counter the countrys isolationist tendencies and support the Allies. Officially drawn into the conflict in 1941, the U.S. by 1943 was both at war with the Japanese in the Pacific and adding its considerable might to the fight in Europe.

THE IDEA OF A SUMMIT so these menknown as the Big Threecould meet in person to strategize the war had been proposed for some time, but Stalin had always said he could not leave Moscow with Germans at the gates. But at the end of 1943when the Axis powers had been at war with Britain for four years and with the Americans and Russians for twoStalin finally consented and the Allies gathered in Tehran for the Big Three Conference.

While Stalin trusted no one, he reserved a particular enmity for the British. Since the very beginning of the Russian Revolution 26 years earlier, Churchill in particular had been vociferously anti-Communist, anti-Soviet Union, andafter the Russians signed their short-lived 1939 peace pact with Hitleranti-Stalin. Churchill now found himself in bed with the very dictator and system he despised, for the simple reason that he loathed Hitler more.

Although Roosevelt and Churchill had developed a close personal relationship even before the war broke out, Roosevelt did not share Churchills antipathy toward Soviet Communism. His administration had officially recognized the Soviet Union soon after the president took office. Roosevelt, whose dislike of imperialism was well known, was actually more suspicious of the British. He worried of Churchills intentions of keeping Britains vast empire after the warwhich of course Churchill fully intended to do.

On November 27, 1943, Roosevelt and Churchill arrived in Tehran by airplane from Cairo, while Stalin, who didnt like to fly, came in from Moscow on his private train. The next morning, on the first official day of the conference, Russian foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov ginned up word of an assassination plot against all three leaders, warning vaguely of German saboteurs and parachutists, and declared that the only safe place in Tehran was with the Russians.

American diplomats and security personnel concluded that the purported assassination plot was a hoax to maneuver Roosevelt and others into a place where they could be secretly surveilled but, according to historian Thomas Parrish, the president welcomed the opportunity to make a positive gesture toward the suspicious Stalin. [For another perspective on the assassination plot check out Howard Blums Night of the Assassins: The Nazi Plot to Eliminate the Big Three]

So it was that by the afternoon of November 28, the president and his retinue of military advisers, diplomats, translators, and other aidesincluding his son Elliott, a U.S. Army Air Forces colonel, as attachefound themselves in Tehran along with the British contingent residing, of all places, in the Soviet embassy. Interestingly, a newly built wheelchair-accessible bathroom adjoined Roosevelts room.



The Soviet embassy played host to all three Allied leaders. Stalin had insisted the conference be held in Tehran because, he said, there were direct telephone and telegraph lines available from there to Moscow. (IWM (20753) The Soviet embassy played host to all three Allied leaders. Stalin had insisted the conference be held in Tehran because, he said, there were direct telephone and telegraph lines available from there to Moscow. (IWM (20753)

AS THE CONFERENCE got underway later that afternoon, it became apparent the Russians would dominate the discussions, mainly to demand yet more suppliesplanes, tanks, trucks, guns, rifles, ammunition, and all manner of secondary equipmentfrom the United States Lend-Lease program, but also to implore the other Allies to invade France and create a much-desired second front in the west.

For the British and American diplomats, a different question loomed: what would Soviet policies be after Germany was defeated? It was obvious that if the Red Army continued its successes on the battlefield, it would break through to Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and all the way into Germany itself. Would the Communists remain there to claim spoils, or return to their own boundaries?

The answer came more quickly than anyone thought possible. Stalin surprised Roosevelt before their first official meeting by volunteering that he had no desire to own Europe, and that he and his countrymen had plenty to do at home, without undertaking great new territorial responsibilities. This was what Roosevelt had wanted to hear and it certainly got things off to a good start, though there were those among the presidents diplomats and military brass who remained skeptical of Stalins true intentions.

There were still more pleasant surprises in store. In mid-1943, the U.S. War Department had produced a top-secret strategic assessment stating that the most important factor the United States has to consider in relation to Russia is the prosecution of the war in the Pacific. At the rate things were going, the paper said, if the United States alone had to fight a ground war on the Japanese mainland, the costs and casualties would be immeasurably increased, and the action might even fail. It was thus imperative, because of their strategic location and powerful military, that the Russians join in the defeat of Japan. Thus far, the Soviets had declined to participate on the grounds that they already had their hands full with the German invasion of their homeland.

Roosevelt, using all of his political expertise, took the lead by summarizing the general war situation in a session late in the afternoon of November 28, concluding with the thought that Europe was and should remain the chief focus, and that the longed-for cross-Channel invasion of France (now dubbed Overlord) would take place in May 1944. When this was translated to Stalin, he stunned the conferees by declaring that after the defeat of Germany, the Soviet Union would join the Allies in the war against Japan.

This was music to the military contingents ears but, again, some of the more cynical diplomats wondered what price the Communists would want for their services against Japan. Would it be concessions elsewhere? Japanese territory? Japan itself?

The next day, discussions soon turned toward what should be done with Germany when the war was won. Stalin suggested that the country should be dismantled, broken up into parts, so as to never again become an aggressive force. You will not change Germany in a short period of time, Stalin declared, citing that countrys aggressions in the 1870s, 1914, and yet again in 1939. There will be another war with them.

Roosevelt seemed outwardly sympathetic to Stalins position but said that U.S. military planners and diplomats favored turning the country into zones administered by Britain, France, the United States and, of course, the Soviet Union, for a specific period of time, to ensure that a peaceful Germany reappeared.

Churchill, for his part, was uneasy with both plans and more or less demurred. In fact, with his military-oriented mind he secretly wanted a strong Germany after the war as a bulwark against Soviet Communism, which he believed would be the greater threat once the Nazis were defeated. During the discussions, he kept muddying the waters, insisting that the Allies should consider his Balkans Strategyattacking Germany from Italy and the Adriatic, the soft underbelly of Europein addition to Overlord, but according to Elliott Roosevelt, It was quite obvious to everyone in the room what [Churchill] really meant. That he was above all else anxious to knife up into Central Europe in order to keep the Red Army out of Austria and Rumania, even Hungary, if possible. Stalin knew it, I knew it, everybody knew it.

THE EVENING OF NOVEMBER 29 started off with great fanfare and ceremony when, in the name of the English king, Churchill presented Stalin with the fabulous, custom-crafted Sword of Stalingrad to commemorate the Soviet victory there 10 months earlier. With tears in his eyes while a Russian army band played the Communist anthem, Internationale, Stalin kissed the weapon and handed it to one of his marshalswho managed to drop it on the floor (eliciting a scowl from Stalin that might or might not have had death penalty implications). After FDR and Churchill examined the sword, Stalin held it straight up and declared of his soldiers, Truly they had hearts of steel, noting it was easy to be a hero when you were dealing with people like the Russiansa fairly obvious reflection considering he had given orders for the secret police to shoot anyone who wasnt a hero.



Winston Churchill presents Stalin with the British-made Sword of Stalingrad, which Stalin gratefully kissed. ( Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images) Winston Churchill presents Stalin with the British-made Sword of Stalingrad, which Stalin gratefully kissed. ( Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

Dinner that evening was less convivial, owing to Churchills brush with a brandy bottle and his apparent black-dog mood. The Big Three, along with their aides, translators, and diplomats, were dining in the embassys Great Hall. After a multicourse dinner, toasts began, led by Stalin, who was drinking vodka.

Churchill had been drinking brandy all afternoon and was conscious of Stalin needling him good-naturedly during dinner. The Soviet premier seemed peeved over Churchills Balkans scheme. As Roosevelts translator Charles Bohlen wrote afterward, Stalin lost no opportunity to get in a dig at Mr. Churchill. Almost every remark he addressed to the prime minister contained some sharp edge.

At length, Stalin rose for what Elliott Roosevelt deemed his umpteenth toast, and proposed the swiftest justice for all Germanys war criminals. At least 50,000 German officers must be immediately shot upon capture, Stalin continued, in what the younger Roosevelt called a jocular fashion.

At this, Churchill could not contain himself and growled, The British people would never stand for such mass murder, adding it was wholly contrary to our British sense of justice. I feel most strongly that no one, Nazi or no, shall be summarily dealt with, before a firing squad, without proper legal trial. Stalin then asked for Roosevelts opinion, and the diplomatically inclined president replied that, As usual, it seems to be my function to mediate this dispute. Perhaps we could say that instead of executing 50,000 war criminals, shall we say 49,000?

Upon hearing this remark, Churchill seemed to become unhinged. He arose from his seat with his famous scowl in a flush, in the process knocking over his brandy glass, and declared again that war criminals must be allowed to stand trial. He then staggered out of the room, slamming the door behind him. In fact, he had not gone into the hallway, but had blundered into a darkened cloakroom, where he languished for several long moments before, Churchill later wrote, he felt arms clapped above my shoulders from behind. It was Stalin, grinning broadly, declaring he was only playing.

I consented to return, Churchill continued, embarrassed to have caused a scene, and the rest of the evening passed pleasantly.

That might have been so for Churchill, but Roosevelt had unfinished business. He was pleased with himself for goading Churchill. Almost invariably in a trio, at some point two will gang up against a third, and Churchill had been asking for it, Roosevelt thought. Winston just lost his head when everybody refused to take the subject seriously, Roosevelt told his son. He was going to take offense at what anybody said, especially if what was said pleased Uncle Joe.



Winston Churchill celebrates his 69th birthday at Tehran with dinner and cake at the British Legation (Lt. Lotzof/ IWM via Getty Images) Winston Churchill celebrates his 69th birthday at Tehran with dinner and cake at the British Legation (Lt. Lotzof/ IWM via Getty Images)

But the next morning, November 30, the presidentever the politicianasked to be wheeled through an exchange set up at the embassy for visitors in search of exotic souvenirs. From among the Persian knives, daggers, rugs, Elliott Roosevelt recounted, Father selected a Persian bowl of some antiquity as a gift, which he then presented to Churchill at a dinner that evening celebrating the prime ministers 69th birthday. Churchill, for his part, toasted the American president and their lasting friendship.

THE NEXT DAY, December 1, the final day of the conference, Roosevelt, without inviting or even consulting Churchill, got down to business with Stalin and began discussions on divvying up the countries of Europe after the war.

Roosevelt conceded the fate of Poland to Stalins Communist state, along with that of the Baltic countries, Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania. He blithely explained to Stalin that if the war was still going on in 1944, he intended to run once more for the presidency and would need the votes of the six million Americans of Polish descent (there were in fact only three million of these), and so he pleaded with Stalin not to formally occupy the country until after the American election.

As for the Baltic States, Roosevelt observed that they had once been a part of the old Russian Empire and that he had no objection to the Soviets reabsorbing them after the war, provided there would be some expression of the will of the people, perhaps not immediately after their reoccupation by the Soviet forces, but some day.

He also seemed willing to concede Finland, which was fighting alongside Germany against the Soviets, but Stalin didnt want it. He asked only for one of its ports on the Gulf of Bothnia, which was okay by Roosevelt.

Despite the apparent treachery of condemning these European nations to the tender mercies of Soviet Communism, there was a method of sorts to Roosevelts seeming madness. First, he told people both within and outside of the U.S. Department of State that these were countries the Soviets could take at will anyway. They were all states in the far north bordering on the Soviet Union, whose provenance was vaguely Russian to start with. The notion was, Roosevelt noted, that if he conceded their occupation to Stalin, the Soviets might not cast an acquisitive eye on the larger, more central European states such as Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and the Balkanseven Germany itself. As for Poland, Roosevelt explained that he had no confidence in its government-in-exile anyway, which he said consisted of landed aristocrats who intended to rule over a feudalistic system to the detriment of the Polish masses.

Before the conference closed, Churchill could not resist asking Stalin about his territorial claimsthe fate of all the European nations his armies were now occupyingafter defeating the Germans. The cagey old dictator responded that When the time comes we will have our say. It may have been the understatement of the century. (A year later, Churchill met with Stalin in Moscow in an attempt to divide Europe into spheres of influence and salvage as much of the continent as possible from Soviet dominationmuch as Roosevelt had done as Tehran.)

After the conference was over, Russian foreign minister Molotov asked Stalin which of the two men, Roosevelt or Churchill, he had liked the most. The Soviet dictator shook his head. They are both imperialists, he said.

THE TEHRAN CONFERENCE ENDED amicably enough, though not much had been accomplished beyond Roosevelts promise to open a second front in the west the following year and Stalins pledge to attack Japan after Germany was defeated, along with his claim that he had no desire to own Europe. Stalins reputation for truth and veracity regarding promises is well known. For the Soviet leader, having luxuriated in nearly 50 years of Marxist dogma, his maxim always remained: The end justifies the means.



The Big Three sit for a photo op on the Soviet embassys portico. Despite their differences, the Allied leaders helped seal Nazi Germanys fate at Tehran by agreeing to a western front. (Bettman/Getty Images) The Big Three sit for a photo op on the Soviet embassys portico. Despite their differences, the Allied leaders helped seal Nazi Germanys fate at Tehran by agreeing to a western front. (Bettman/Getty Images)

Churchill, with his soldiers eye, could see that if the Western Allies didnt get to eastern Europe before the Russians, it would probably fall to the Communists. In this, the prime minister was perfectly correct, and it was nearly 50 years before his aptly named Iron Curtain would rise again.

Roosevelt rarely looked at matters national or international through rose-colored glasses, but his sympathies seemed to lie with the multitudes of Communist Russia. The president failed to see Stalins murderous regime for what it wasalthough, in 1945, toward the end of his life, after Stalin had broken multiple promises made at the next Big Three meeting at Yalta, Roosevelt informed a New York Times reporter that Stalin is either not a man of his word or not in control in the Kremlin.

Roosevelt likely would have been pleased, however, as Churchill certainly was not, with the dismantling of the vast British Empire following the war. The president had always avowed that nations should have the opportunity to shape their own futures and fortunes and not suffer with interference from abroad. Ironically, the master politician, in his zeal to win over Stalin, helped doom Eastern Europe to just such a fate. 

This story was originally published in the February 2019 issue of World War II magazine. Subscribe here.With its manicured lawns and mature trees, Pickwick Road in Centreville, Virginia, is a nice place to raise a family. But it was once a place to fight a war. Halfway down Pickwick Road, you can park and walk along whats called the Covered Way, a three-acre linear park that winds through the housing developments. Here, Union forces built a long series of defensive earthworks, many of which can still be seen. Befitting its name, Centreville was considered an important Northern Virginia crossroads, connecting several important towns including Manassas, Warrenton, and Washington, D.C. Throughout the war, fighting, ransacking, and bivouacking were common occurrences in Centreville and the neighboring town of Fairfax, as Union and Confederate armies crisscrossed the region, leaving damage and desolation in their wake. If ever a village was killed in war, a Washington, D.C., newspaper declared in 1914, it was Centerville [sic]. But news of the towns death was premature, as these two towns are now among the most populated suburbs of Washington, D.C. People can still view battlegrounds, field hospitals, winter quarters, plantation houses, and even two martyrs graves, all in a single weekend. Most sites are located about a half-hour to 45 minutes west of Washington, D.C., off Interstate 66. Kim OConnell





The now quiet site of winter quarters

Tried by War

At the outbreak of hostilities, a clerk named Alfred Moss removed George Washingtons will from the 1799 Fairfax Court House, but inexplicably left Martha Washingtons will behind. Taken by Union Lt. Col. David Thomson, Marthas will eventually landed in the hands of steel magnate J.P. Morgan, who refused to return it to Virginia. Eventually, Morgans heirs returned the will to Fairfax in 1915. The courthouse was also the site of a June 1861 fight that killed Captain John Quincy Marr, the first Confederate officer to die in a military engagement during the war, and a monument to the captain is located there. In June 1863, J.E.B. Stuarts men whipped an outnumbered force of Union troopers at the courthouse, but the skirmish slowed the Confederate horsemen yet one more day in their effort to rejoin the Army of Northern Virginia during its advance into Pennsylvania.



Slave cabin at Sully Plantation

Winter Quarters

Not far away from St. Johns Episcopal Church sits an undeveloped park that was the site of Confederate winter quarters, rows of small pitched-roof log buildings that together resembled a shantytown. According to published plans, the county may eventually include an interpretive trail and some reconstructed quarters at this site, but for now, its simply a quiet place for contemplation.

Churches in the Crosshairs

Built in 1854, Centrevilles Old Stone Church (left), a Methodist Episcopal congregation, became a hospital for Union wounded after First and Second Manassas, and would change hands several times before wars end. Soldiers finally dismantled the property, but it was rebuilt in 1870 and currently operates as the Church of the Ascension. St. Johns Episcopal Church (right) was also used during the war. Soon after the first volleys at Manassas, Union troops reportedly vandalized the property. The church was later the site of a Confederate camp and partially burned in 1863. To one side of the church is a towering magnolia tree. Here youll find two headstonesone memorializing the unknown Confederate dead in the churchyard and the other marking the graves of privates Michael OBrien and Dennis Corcoran, Louisiana Tiger Zouaves who became the first two soldiers executed by the Confederacy, for a drunken attack on a superior.



Ox Hill Battlefield Park

Sully Plantation

Heading from Centreville to the city of Fairfax, stop at the picturesque Sully Historic Site, the 18th century estate of Richard Bland Lee. An uncle of Robert E. Lee, Richard and his family lived at Sully from 1794 to 1811, along with more than 30 enslaved African Americans. Now run by the Fairfax County Park Authority, the site contains five extant original buildings, including the main house, and a reconstructed slave quarters. J.E.B. Stuart and his men had breakfast at Sully, which must have caused consternation for Maria Barlow, whose family was living on the property, given that the Barlows were Unionists.

The night air was chilly to men in wet clothes. At the regimental headquarters we built a fire, and to this fire the dead body was brought. We knew by the uniform that it was a Federal officer, but we did not know his name or rank.

-Major Washington Grice, 49th Georgia Infantry, describes seeing the body of Union Maj. Gen. Philip Kearny, killed at the Battle of Ox Hill, or Chantilly, on September 1, 1862.

Two Horsemen A small building that was rebuilt from the stones of a house where John Singleton Mosby met J.E.B. Stuart has now been reopened as the Stuart-Mosby Civil War Cavalry Museum. It includes several artifacts related to both of the lauded troopers, including sabers, a lock of Stuarts hair, and a photo album, above, that Stuart gave to female friend Nannie Price. Check their website stuart-mosby.com for hours and details.



Army on the Run

Today, the paved trail through Cub Run Stream Park is popular with runners, but an interpretive sign tells the story of another famous runthe frenzied retreat from the First Battle of Manassas. It was here that fleeing Union troops converged on the bridge over the stream, abandoning wagons and gear as Confederate artillery rained down on them.

A Double Battlefield

The Ox Hill Battlefield Park in Fairfax is well worth your time. This is the site of both a fierce battle on September 1, 1862, as well as a historic preservation battle. In the late 1980s, a determined group of preservationistsincluding the late Brian C. Pohankaworked to save the battlefield from the rapid development that was taking over the rest of Fairfax County. Today, this five-acre site remains a monument to the power of preservation activists.

Writing on the Wall

Civil War soldiers commonly wrote graffiti on the walls of the buildings they occupiedeither out of boredom, to leave their mark, or to taunt their enemies. Located only blocks from the center of Fairfax, Blenheim is a historic brick farmhouse built in 1859 that contains nearly 125 known signatures, sketches, and other commentary on the walls done by Union soldiers who camped on the property or who were hospitalized in the house. One graffito depicts the sinking morale of the common soldier: No money. No whiskey. No friends. No rations. No peas. No beans. No pants. No patriotism.On Dec. 4, 1966, Airman 2nd Class Bob Thorneburg and his German shepherd, Nemo, were walking patrol about a quarter of a mile from the runway at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, near Saigon. They had just started when Nemo went on alert. Enemy fire erupted. Thorneburg released Nemo, and they charged the enemy. Nemo was shot in the head, the bullet entering under the right eye and exiting through his mouth. Thorneburg killed one of the Viet Cong before being shot.

Despite the serious head wound, Nemo continued to fight, throwing himself at the attackers and giving the severely wounded Thorneburg time to radio for help. Nemo crawled to where Thorneburg was lying and covered the airman with his body to protect him. Both man and dog survived, but both needed emergency medical attention. Thorneburg was flown to Japan and then to the United States. Nemo, after intense surgery to repair his head wounds, was flown to the U.S. as a war hero and retired at the Defense Department Dog Center at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.

Most military dogs who served in Vietnam werent so fortunate. The mantra no man left behind was not amended to include the dogs who fought alongside the men.

As an article on Vice.com, which included an interview with former Army dog handler Rick Claggett, stated: There was one group of U.S. veterans who, despite serving bravely and saving countless lives, were either executed or abandoned by the military they served. Those veterans were the military working dogs.

The U.S. military deployed an estimated 4,000 dogs to Vietnam and Thailand during the war. The exact number is unknown because the military didnt start keeping records of dogs serving in Vietnam until 1968. About 3,700 are confirmed by a brand number (similar to a GIs serial number) tattooed in the dogs left ear.

Only 204 of the dogs sent to Vietnam made it back to the States, or were reassigned to peaceful areas of the Pacific, in the war years of 1964-75, according to the U.S. War Dog Association. About 350 were killed, says Richard Cunningham, a sentry dog handler during the war, in a piece for The New York Times. Hundreds of others died from diseases, heat stroke, accidents and other noncombat causes.

But that doesnt explain the fate of thousands more dogs. Why arent they accounted for? Simply put, the military and Congress considered the dogs equipment and therefore expendable. Thus little effort was made to bring them home, where they could enjoy civilian life.

The United States had been using military working dogs since World War I. The dogs deployed in both world wars and Korea saved an untold number of lives, and many lost theirs in the process, just as they did in Vietnam. They loved to work purely for the approval and praise of their handler and partner, Cunningham recalled.

Dogs were invaluable in Vietnam because of their ability to sense threats, even in the thick jungle. Dogs have 225 million scent receptors in their noses, compared with 5 million in humans. They can detect movement quicker than humans and hear four times better. Canines on missions in Vietnam included scout dogs, tracker dogs, sentry dogs and dogs used to detect mines, booby traps and enemy tunnels.

Scout teams were made up of a German shepherd and handler walking point, at the front of a patrol, to detect enemy troops ready to spring an ambush, snipers, trip wires and booby traps. Those teams were so effective that the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong put bounties on the heads of both the handlers and their dogs.

Tracker teams comprised a Labrador retriever, the handler, a cover man, a visual tracker and a team leader. They would hunt down enemy troops after a battle, usually by following blood trails and body odor. Trackers also assisted searches for downed pilots and missing soldiers.

Sentry teams, one dog and a handler, walked the wirebarbed wire surrounding installationsto provide security for bases, ammo dumps and supply areas. Working mainly at night, their mission was to detect, detain and destroy enemy invaders before they got inside the wire.

Other teams of one dog and a handler were used to detect mines, booby traps and other devices that could produce U.S. casualties. Those dogs also discovered tunnels and sometime were sent down to flush out the enemy.

Even before the 1965 arrival of combat troops, the Air Force had started a research project in Saigon to explore the use of dogs in the tropics. In 1961 the Air Force sent two instructors and 10 dogs to assist in base security. The South Vietnamese werent interested, however, so the U.S. handlers went home, and the dogs were left with the Army of the Republic of Vietnam.

In July 1962, an additional 300 dogs sent by the U.S. Army arrived in South Vietnam and were turned over to the ARVN. But problems quickly arose. There were no veterinarians in the country, and ARVN troops didnt feed the dogs properly because of the expense. Nearly 90 percent of ARVN dog deaths could be attributed to malnutrition, according to website K-9 History. To improve conditions for the dogs, the Army sent a six-man team to establish veterinary support.

In March 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson officially authorized the use of U.S. military working dogs in Vietnam. In July the Air Force sent 40 handlers and dogs. In September, the Army landed its first dogs in South Vietnam. February 1966 saw two Marine dog platoons sent to Vietnam. By April 1966, the Navy also had dogs there.

In 1970, as American troops were being sent home as part of multiyear withdrawal, the U.S. government began to turn over many of its military dogs to the ARVN even though the South Vietnamese military didnt want them and couldnt handle them.

There are no records of what exactly happened to the dogs left in the ARVNs care during the course of the war. However, dogs are considered a food item in Vietnam, and there is a good possibility some were killed and eaten.

Most of the other dogs remaining in Vietnam during the last years of the war were euthanized by the U.S. military or abandoned.

Many handlers saw their dogs differently than the government did. They werent a piece of equipment to us, Claggett said. I loved that dog. It was a living, breathing thing that had emotions and played and did all kinds of dog things. Some handlers tried to get permission to bring the dogs home, even at their own expense. The governments answer was a flat-out no.

The handlers appealed to the American public and press. We made some phone calls trying to convince people to help bring our dogs back home, Claggett said. Under public pressure, the Defense Department in 1970 put 200 dogs in quarantine at the Long Binh base north of Saigon, in preparation for a return home. In September 1970, U.S. Rep. John E. Moss, a California Democrat, introduced legislation to create retraining or retirement shelters for canine veterans. His bill went nowhere. Before long, the military changed its mind about the dogs. Most were not going to be repatriated.

By May 1971 only 120 of the dogs in quarantine at Long Binh were still alive, but they were among the fortunate 204 survivors. They found homes in Okinawa, Japan; Fort Benning, Georgia; or Lackland Air Force Base. In June 1972 the 130 dogs then remaining under U.S. military control in South Vietnam were turned over to the ARVN.

Turning the dogs over to the ARVN or, in some cases, euthanizing them, was a cost effective way to deal with something regarded as just another piece of military gear being left behind. Bringing the dogs back from Vietnam would have been a huge logistical problem, but no one worried about cost or logistics when the dogs were sent there.

Americas canine soldiers, estimated by some to have saved 10,000 lives, were deserted by the people they serveda violation of the leave no one behind creed and a stain on our country. It is believed that all the American dogs turned over to the ARVN perished when the North Vietnamese overran South Vietnam, though there are no official records. One would like to think the dogs went down fighting just as they were trained to do; just as all American soldiers are trained to do.

Dana Benner teaches history, political science and sociology at the university level. He served more than 10 years in the U.S. Army.

Do you have reflections on the war that you would like to share? Email your idea or article to Vietnam@HistoryNet.com, subject line: Reflections.The Vietnamese PM made the suggestion while hosting Chairman of Lotte Group Shin Dong-bin in Hanoi on December 4. He informed his guest that Vietnam is encouraging the development of start-ups and to date, up to 3,000 projects, including 100 innovative ideas, have received financial support from foreign investors.

Speaking highly of Lotte Groups various ongoing projects in Vietnam over the years, PM Phuc urged the conglomerate to invest in manufacturing projects in Vietnam, and persuade RoK leaders to bolster the import of Vietnamese goods, especially farm produce.

He voiced his hope that cooperation and investment between the two countries firms in Vietnam, including Lotte Group, will deepen the Vietnam-RoK strategic cooperative partnership.

In response, Shin pledged that he will work to realise the Vietnamese PMs idea of a start-up fund for Vietnamese youths in the near future.

He reported that during more than 20 years operating in Vietnam, Lotte Group has injected 40 trillion VND (1.71 billion USD) in its projects in Vietnam and created around 20,000 jobs for local workers.

All projects run by Lotte Group in Vietnam apply advanced technologies and are environmentally friendly, he affirmed.

Regarding the import of Vietnams goods, he said that since 2011, Lotte has continuously organised fairs of Vietnamese products in the RoK, and will continue to partner with the Vietnamese side to sustain the event.

According to Shin, Lotte Group is also paying heed to talent development and is investing in several start-up projects in Vietnam.Heres a hands on look at Maple Landmarks Solid Red Oak Tap Handle  sourced via Amazon

In the package

Other side includes the description and ASIN number The packaging includes a nice little thank you note. Youre welcome Maple Landmark, from Middlebury, VT youre welcome. Heres the tap handle. Its a beautiful looking piece of wood. These would be great if you were looking for a blank canvas for your own custom tap handle. The beautiful wood grain also stands well by itself. The only marking on mine was a stamp on the top Another look at the grain A look at the faucet threads Installed on my Kegland Kegerator [Hands on Review] Installed on an Intertap Faucet [Hands on Review] on my DIY chest freezer based Keezer/Kegerator A different angle Close up installed on an Intertap faucet

Conclusions

This is basic tap handle, thats beautiful in its simplicity. It looks great as is and could make a good canvas if youre looking to design your own tap handles. I got this for under $10 and consider it a bargain, especially considering the fact that its made in the USA.

From the product description, check product page for current description, price and availability:

Hardwood Red Oak is great for making your own unique tap handle

The bottom has a threaded insert that fits onto all standard bar taps

The wood grain pattern will vary due to the natural properties of wood

The tap handle measures 5 high, 15/16 thick, and 1.5 wide

Made in Middlebury, Vermont, USA

Straight 5 Solid Red Oak Tap Handle







Also: Kegerator Tips & Gear | Keg Repair Part #s | Recent Keg FindsSubscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print.

Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition.

If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create.Welcoming Prince Andrews visit to Vietnam on the occasion of 45 years of the countries diplomatic ties, PM Phuc appreciated the Princes sentiments towards Vietnam and his contributions to bilateral relations.

Vietnam has always treasured ties with the UK, which holds an important role in Europe and the world, he affirmed, adding that the countries strategic partnership has grown with strength in all fields, from politics, diplomacy, trade, and investment, to security, defence, education-training, and tourism.

The UK attracts a large number of Vietnamese students, the PM said, noting that educational cooperation is a top priority in Vietnams cooperation with the European country. He also expressed that he highly values the British royal family and Governments support for relations in this aspect.

He said Vietnam has worked with several countries to open universities, and it hopes the Prince will promote the foundation of a joint university in Vietnam.

At the meeting, PM Phuc also urged both sides to step up high-level delegation exchanges in the time ahead, while effectively maintaining cooperation mechanisms like the strategic dialogue and the joint committee for economic and trade affairs so as to intensify cooperation.

He expressed his delight at the trade-investment partnerships over the past few years and asked the countries to capitalise on their potential and advantages to support each other.

The leader called on Prince Andrew, with his role in and influence on the business circle, to encourage more British investment in Vietnam, adding that Vietnam always creates the best possible conditions for foreign investors, including those from the UK.

For his part, Prince Andrew voiced his support for a Vietnam-UK university. He also asked the two sides to promote cooperation in scientific research and connect their universities.

He noted that his country has been relatively successful in start-up activities and is developing a diverse economy that needs a high-quality young workforce.

Vietnam is home to many small- and medium-sized enterprises and it should encourage them to create innovative ideas and connect them with major firms, including foreign ones like those of the UK, to help them spread their reach to the world. It also needs to create platforms for innovation and start-up ecosystems to attract the young, he added.As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content.

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After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code.

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NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  The bump in violent crime that led to the city being described as the most dangerous in the commonwealth for two years was caused largely by a bug.

A coding error discovered last month in the software used in crime reporting designated all assaults as felonies. Fixing it has dropped the number of aggravated assault cases so far this year by at least a third.

It's not that the incidents didn't happen, officials say, but rather the severity of the classification.

"Regardless of how you code these things, the total number of incidents we're dealing with isn't changing," Mayor Thomas Bernard said on Monday. "We're not reclassifying these things so they're not crimes. They're not violent crimes according to the definition that the FBI and DOJ use in the Uniform Crime Report."

The Federal Bureau of Investigation collects crime statistics each year from more than 18,000 participating communities, universities and tribal nations and releases the report annually the following fall.

The years 2016 and 2017 found North Adams, the state's smallest city, at the top of the ranking for the most number of violent crimes per capita in Massachusetts.

Police Director Michael Cozzaglio said on Friday that the department had done a "deep dive" into the cases and reporting because officers weren't seeing that level of felonies.

"We saw it the first time in 2016 and we thought it was an anomaly," Cozzaglio said last week. "Then the 2017 report came out and we thought, something is wrong."

In a letter to command staff and the mayor dated Nov. 20, Lt. Jason Wood explained that he had discovered the error after going back through all 111 recorded aggravated assaults that had occurred between Jan. 1 and Oct. 31.

He found that the common offense listed as "Domestic Assault and Battery on a Family Member" without aggravating factors, under Chapter 265 Section 13/M/B, was being tagged with IBR Code 13A (felony) and not Code 13B (misdemeanor).

"By making corrections where the elements to satisfy the 13A code were not met, I reduced the reported number of 111 to 76," he wrote. "Which if my calculation is correct is a 46 percent number reduction."

The difference, however, seems closer to about 31 percent.

The city uses IMC software by Central Square, a popular public safety software used throughout the state. The application is customized for each community or department and is routinely updated.

Wood said he found the discrepancy in the IBR code in the city's system and is manually correcting it but did not know if other departments were having the same issue.

"It could be isolated to just us, or it is possible other departments are affected and are not aware yet," he said in an email.

The error appears to be limited to assaults. During this same period, the department also recorded six robberies, 27 rapes and similar offenses, and one murder.

Wood's research found that in the 76 cases that met the felony charge, only five listed the offender as a stranger. In the other 71, both suspect and victim knew each other. Including all the cases, again only five came up with the suspect as a stranger.

"The City of North Adams is not a dangerous city by any means. These numbers are predominately generated by a small circle of individuals with a high tendency to offend multiple times," he wrote. "Furthermore, these individuals are victimizing known associates. The average law-abiding citizen usually has little to no contact with this small section of our population."

Officials are also noting that the FBI cautions about using the UCR for comparing communities because it only releases data for the crimes and population and does not take into account factors such as socioeconomic conditions, density, geography or the size or type of law enforcement.

"The offenses that we're seeing are related to the opioid and drug epidemic," Bernard said on Monday. "We can pinpoint the where, why, how and the who because there are some people in those statistics that are responsible for multiple data points."

The city has been putting into action programs officials hope will help reduce domestic violence and drug abuse. Part of that is an emphasis on community policing, working with the Brien Center to address mental health issues in the community, partnering with organizations to provide drug recovery programs and developing tools to address domestic violence.

Public safety officials are anticipating a drop in violent crime reports in next fall's UCR. But there's probably no backtracking for years 2016 and 2017. Bernard said he did not think the FBI would be open to changing those years but the city would be inquiring about amending this year's reporting.

"We also have to say we're not going to look away, we're not going to shy away from the fact that we do have crime in this community as every community does," the mayor said.

Update: it is not clear how the 46 percent referenced was calculated. We have updated that with a different amount.Email IC Arizona at azpoliticalintel-at-yahoo.comIC Arizona is a subsidiary of IntellectualConservative.comThe youths will stay in Ho Chi Minh City from December 2-5 to take part in a range of cultural exchange activities, visit schools, interact with the citys students and youths and live with local residents to experience the daily life of Vietnamese families.

Welcoming the ship, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee Nguyen Ngoc Luong said he expected the youths from ASEAN and Japan will have good memories about Vietnamese people and nature from their stay in HCM City and at the same time, each of them will also leave good impressions here to strengthen ties between ASEAN and Japan.

He urged Vietnamese participants to actively introduce their regional peers to the beauty of Vietnams nature, people and culture and learn from others to inspire the countrys youths.

Later the same day, SSEAYP participants and about 500 local youths participated in a cultural exchange programme where representatives from the countries performed their unique traditional songs and dances.

The SSEAYP is an annual youth exchange programme sponsored by the Japanese Government and supported by the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) since 1974 during which participants have an opportunity to live together on board the Nippon Maru Ship for over 50 days.

The journey aims to promote friendship among the youths of the participating countries, broaden their perspectives of the world and strengthen their spirit and skills for international cooperation.

This years SSEAYP, which takes place from October 23 to December 13, will visit four of the ten ASEAN nations, namely Brunei, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as Japan.

It is expected to help youths exercise leadership skills in various fields and contribute to society in youth development. The participants have engaged in vibrant discussions on social and youth matters, eye-opening cultural exchanges as well as sports, recreational and club activities.

At each port of call, they are provided the chance to interact with local youths, pay courtesy calls to leaders, visit local institutions, get involved in community services and experience the unique homestay programme.Indianapolis Public Schools announced the resignation of Superintendent Dr. Lewis D. Ferebee on Dec. 3. Ferebee accepted a job as chancellor of District of Columbia Public Schools.

As of this time, IPS has not announced a transition plan or if there are any candidates to replace Ferebee.

The Board of School Commissioners will meet soon to discuss transition decisions, interim leadership and a new leadership selection process, the school board said through a press release said. We are committed to making sure that our schools and our children lose no momentum in the progress we are making and that the IPS system continues on our path to providing a world-class education to all our students through the hard work of our principals and our teachers.

Ferebee became superintendent in 2013. Ferebees tenure at IPS has been categorized by highs and lows. He received praise for embracing innovation schools, interacting with students and his role in the recent IPS referendum, which will increase teacher pay and improve school security. However, he has received criticism for low teacher retention, the speed commencement plan and approving a raise for himself.

Superintendent Ferebees impactful leadership made a significant difference not only for Indianapolis Public Schools, but also for our entire community, former mayor Greg Ballard said through an emailed statement. At a time when the largest school district in the state needed bold, new ideas, Dr. Ferebee led with transparency and courage, while always doing what is best for students. Congratulations and best wishes for continued success in our nations capital.

This isnt the first time Ferebee set his sights on a larger school district. In April, Ferebee was among the finalists for superintendent for Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest district in the United States. He later withdrew his name from consideration for that position. Ferebees consideration for top positions in large school districts attests to his reputation in education circles.

If you look back just a few years ago, the notion that the superintendent here would be considered for a job running schools in Washington D.C. would have been unheard of, so I think this is a great day for Indianapolis, and its an example of the tremendous progress that has been made, Brandon Brown, CEO of The MindTrust, said.

See more on this story in the print edition of this weeks Recorder.

Contact staff writer Ben Lashar at 317-762-7848. Follow him on Twitter @BenjaminLashar.Comparing China and America: Economies Diverge, Police States Converge By Fred Reed December 03, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - I have followed Chinas development, its stunning advance in forty years from impoverished Third World to a huge economy, its rapid scientific progress. Coming from nowhere it now runs neck and neck with the US in supercomputes, does world-class work in genetic engineering and genomics (the Beijing Genomics Institutes), quantum computing and quantum radar, in scientific publications. It lags in many things, but the speed of advance, the intense focus on progess, is remarkable. Recently, after twelve years away, I returned for a couple of weeks to Chungdu and Chong Quing, which I found amazing. American patriots of the lightly read but growly sort will bristle at the thought that the Chinese may have political and economic systems superior to ours, but, well, China rises whlle the US flounders. They must be doing something right. In terms of economic systems, the Chinese are clearly superior. China runs a large economic surplus, allowing it to invest heavily in infrastructure and in resources abroad. America runs a large deficit. China invests in China, America in the military. Chinas infrastructure is new, of high quality, and growing. Americas slowly deteriorates. China has an adult government that gets things done. America has an essentially absentee Congress and a kaleidoscopically shifting cast of pathologically aggressive curiosities in the White House. America cannot compete with a country far more populous of more-intelligent people with competent leadership and the geographic advantage of being in Eurasia. Washingtons choices are either to start a major war while it can, perhaps force the world to submit through sanctions, or resign itself to Americas becoming just another country. Given the goiterous egos inside the Beltway Bubbble, this is not encouraging. To compare the two countries, look at them as they are, not as we are told they are. We are told that dictatorships, which China is, are nightmarish, brutal, do not allow the practice of religion or freedom of expression and so on. The usual examples are Pol Pot, Stalin, Hitler, Mao, and North Korea, of whom the criticisms are true. By contrast, we are told, America is envied by the world for its democracy, freedom of speech, free press, high moral values, and freedom of religion. Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter This is nonsense. In fact the two countries are more similar than we might like to believe, with America converging fast on the Chinese model. The US is at best barely democratic. Yes, every four years we have a hotly contested presidential election, full of sound and fury signifying nothing. The public has no influence over anything of importance: the wars, the military budget, immigration, offshoring of jobs, what our children are taught in school, or foreign or racial policy We do not really have freedom of speech. Say nigger once and you can lose a job of thirty years. Or criticize Jews, Isreal, blacks, homosexuals, Muslims, feminists, or transexuals. The media strictly prohibit any criticism of these groups, or anything against abortion or in favor of gun rights, or any coverage of highly profitable wars that might turn the public against them, or corruption in Congress or Wall Street, or research on the genetics of intelligence. Religion? Christianity is not illegal, but heavily repressed under the Constitutionally nonexistent doctrine of separation of church and state. Surveillance? onitoring of the population is intense in China and getting worse. It is hard to say just how much NSA monitors us, but America is now a land of cameras, electronic readers of license plates, recording of emails and telephone conversations. The tech giants increasingly censor political sites, and surveillance in our homes appears about to get much worse. Here we might contemplate Lincolns famous dictum, You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you cant fool all of the people all of the time. Being a politician, he did not add a final clause that is the bedrock of American government, But you can fool enough of the people enough of the time. You dont have to keep websites of low circulation from being politically incorrect. You just have to tell the majority, via the mass media, over and over and over, what you wnat them to believe. The dictatorship in China is somewhat onerous, but has little in common with the sadistic lunacy of Pol Pots Cambodia. In China you do not buck the government, propaganda is heavy, and communications monitored. If people accept this, as most do, they are free to start businesses, bar hop, smoke dope (which a friend there tells me is common though illegal) engage in such consumerism as they increasingly can afford and lead what an American would call normal lives. A hellhole it is not. Socially China has a great advantage over America in that, except for the Muslims of Xinjiang, it is pretty much a Han monoculture. Lacking Americas racial diversity, its cities do not burn, no pressure exists to infantilize the schools for the benefit of incompetent minorities, racial mobs do not loot stores, and there is very little street crime. Americas huge urban pockets of illiteracy do not exist. There is not the virulent political division that has gangs of uncontrolled Antifa hoodlums stalking public officials. China takes education seriously, as America does not. Students study, behave as maturely as their age would suggest, and do not engage in middle-school politics. In short, China does not appear to be in irremediable decadence. America does. An intelligent dictatorship has crucial advantages over a chaotic pseudo-democracy. One is stability of policy. In America, we look to the next election in two, four, or six years. Businesses focus on the next quarters bottom line. Consequently policy flipflops. One administration has no interest in national health care, the next administration institutes it, and the third wants to eliminate it. Because policies are pulled and hauled in different directions by special interestsin this case Big Pharma, insurance companies, the American Medical Associatiion, and so onthe result is an automobile with five wheels, an electric motor but no batteries, and a catalytic converter that doesnt work. After twenty-four years, from Bush II until Trump leaves, we will neither have nor not have national health care. Chinas approach to empire is primarily commercial, Americas military. The former turns a profit without firing a shot, and the latter generates a huge loss as the US tries to garrison the world. Always favoring coercion, Washington now tries to batter the planet into submission via tarifffs, sanctions, embargos, and so on. Whether it will work, or force the rest of the world to band together against America, remains to be seen. Meanwhile the Chinese economy grows. grows. America builds aircraft carriers. China builds railroads, this one in Laos. A dictatorship can simply do things. It can plan twenty, or fifty, years down the road. If some massive engineering project will produce great advantages in thirty years, but be a dead loss until then, China can just do it. And often has. When I was in Chengdu, Beijing opened the HongkongZhuhai-Macau oceanic bridge, thirty-our miles long. The bridge. The US would take longer to decide to build it than the Chinese took actually to build it. In the US? California wants high-speed rail from LA to San Fran. It has talked and wrangled for years without issue. The price keeps rising. The state cant get rights of way because too many private owners have title to the land. Eminent domain? Conservatives would scream about sacred rights to property, liberals that Hispanic families were in the path, and airlines would bribe Congress to block it. America does not know how to build high-speed rail and hiring China would arouse howling about national security, balance of payments, and the danger to motherhood and virginity. There will be no high speed rail, there or, probably, anywhere else. Wreckage from the 8.0 earthquauake. This is not unrepaired devastation but, weirdly, is kept as a tourist attraction and actually propped up so it wont collapse further. Phredfoto. China has a government that can do things: In 2008 an 8.0 quake devastated the region near the Tibetan border, killing, according to the Chinese government, some 100,000 people. Buildings put up long before simply collapsed. Some years ago everythingthe town, the local dam, and roads and houseshad been completely rebuilt, with structural steel so as, says the government, to withstand another such quake. Compare this with the unremedied wreckage in New Orleans due to Katrina. Here we come to an important cultural or philosophical difference between the two countries. Many Orientals, to include the Chinese, view society as a collective instead of as a Wild West of individuals. In the East, one hears sayings like, The nail that stands up is hammered down, or The high-standing flower is cut. Americans who teach school in China report that students will not question a professor, even if he spouts arrant nonsense to see how they will react. They are not stupid. They know that the Neanderthals did not build a moon base in the early Triassic. But they say nothing. This collectivism, highly disagreeable to Westerners (me, for example) has pros and cons. It makes for domestic tranquility and ability to work together, and probably accounts in large part for Chinas stunning advances. On the other hand, it is said to reduce inventiveness There may be something to this. If you look at centuries of Chinese painting, you will see that each generation largely made copies of earlier masters. As nearly as I, a nonexpert, can tell, there is more variety and imagination in the Corcoran Gallerys annual exhibition of high-school artists than in all of of Chinese paining. People alarmed at Chinas growth point out hopefully that the Chinese in America have not founded Googles or Microsofts. No, though certainly have founded huge companies: Alibaba, Baidu, Tiensen for example. However, the distinction between inventivenss and really good engineering is not always clear, and the Chinese are fine engineers. With American education crashing under the attacks of Social Justice Warriors, basing the future on a lack of Chinese imagination seems mayve a bit too adventruous. Fred, a keyboard mercenary with a disorganized past, has worked on staff for Army Times, The Washingtonian, Soldier of Fortune, Federal Computer Week, and The Washington Times. https://fredoneverything.org Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here ==See Also== Note To ICH Community We ask that you assist us in dissemination of the article published by ICH to your social media accounts and post links to the article from other websites. Thank you for your support. The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Information Clearing House.The Ignored Legacy of George H.W. Bush: War Crimes, Racism, and Obstruction of Justice

By Mehdi Hasan

December 03, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - The tributes to former President George H.W. Bush, who died on Friday aged 94, have been pouring in from all sides of the political spectrum. He was a man of the highest character, said his eldest son and fellow former president, George W. Bush. He loved America and served with character, class, and integrity, tweeted former U.S. Attorney and #resistance icon Preet Bharara. According to another former president, Barack Obama, Bushs life was a testament to the notion that public service is a noble, joyous calling. And he did tremendous good along the journey. Apple boss Tim Cook said: We have lost a great American.

In an age of Donald Trump, it isnt difficult for his hagiographers to paint a picture of the late Bush Sr. as a great patriot and pragmatist; a president who governed with class and integrity. It is true that the former president refused to vote for Trump in 2016, calling him a blowhard, and that he eschewed the white-nationalist, alt-right, conspiratorial politics that has come to define the modern Republican Party. He helped end the Cold War without, as Obama said, firing a shot. He spent his life serving his country  from the military to Congress to the United Nations to the CIA to the White House. And, by all accounts, he was also a beloved grandfather and great-grandfather to his 17 grandkids and 8 great-grandkids.

Nevertheless, he was a public not a private figure; one of only 44 men to have ever served as president of the United States. We cannot, therefore, allow his actual record in office to be beautified in such a brazen way. When a political leader dies, it is irresponsible in the extreme to demand that only praise be permitted but not criticisms, as my colleague Glenn Greenwald has argued, because it leads to false history and a propagandistic whitewashing of bad acts. The inconvenient truth is that the presidency of George Herbert Walker Bush had far more in common with the recognizably belligerent, corrupt and right-wing Republican figures who came after him  his son George W. and the current orange-faced incumbent  than much of the political and media classes might have you believe.

Consider:

He ran a racist election campaign. The name of Willie Horton should forever be associated with Bushs 1988 presidential bid. Horton, who was serving a life sentence for murder in Massachusetts  where Bushs Democratic opponent, Michael Dukakis, was governor  had fled a weekend furlough program and raped a Maryland woman. A notorious television ad called Weekend Passes,released by a political action committee with ties to the Bush campaign, made clear to viewers that Horton was black and his victim was white.

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As Bush campaign director Lee Atwater bragged, By the time were finished, theyre going to wonder whether Willie Horton is Dukakis running mate. Bush himself was quick to dismiss accusations of racism as absolutely ridiculous yet it was clear at the time, even to right-wing Republicans operatives such as Roger Stone, now a close ally of Trump, that the ad had crossed a line. You and George Bush will wear that to your grave, Stone complained to Atwater. Its a racist ad Youre going to regret it.

Stone was right about Atwater, who on his deathbed apologized for using Horton against Dukakis. But Bush never did.

He made a dishonest case for war. Thirteen years before George W. Bush lied about weapons of mass destruction to justify his invasion and occupation of Iraq, his father made his own set of false claims to justify the aerial bombardment of that same country. The first Gulf War, as an investigation by journalist Joshua Keating concluded, was sold on a mountain of war propaganda.

For a start, Bush told the American public that Iraq had invaded Kuwait without provocation or warning. What he omitted to mention was that the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, April Glaspie, had given an effective green light to Saddam Hussein, telling him in July 1990, a week before his invasion, [W]e have no opinion on the Arab-Arab conflicts, like your border disagreement with Kuwait.

Then there is the fabrication of intelligence. Bush deployed U.S. troops to the Gulf in August 1990 and claimed he was doing so in order to assist the Saudi Arabian Government in the defense of its homeland. As Scott Peterson wrote in the Christian Science Monitor in 2002, Citing top-secret satellite images, Pentagon officials estimated that up to 250,000 Iraqi troops and 1,500 tanks stood on the border, threatening the key US oil supplier.

Yet when reporter Jean Heller of the St. Petersburg Times acquired her own commercial satellite images of the Saudi border, she found no signs of Iraqi forces; only an empty desert. It was a pretty serious fib, Heller told Peterson, adding: That [Iraqi buildup] was the whole justification for Bush sending troops in there, and it just didnt exist.

He committed war crimes. Under Bush Sr., the U.S. dropped a whopping 88,500 tons of bombs on Iraq and Iraqi-occupied Kuwait, many of which resulted in horrific civilian casualties. In February 1991, for example, a U.S. airstrike on an air-raid shelter in the Amiriyah neighborhood of Baghdad killed at least 408 Iraqi civilians. According to Human Rights Watch, the Pentagon knew the Amiriyah facility had been used as a civil-defense shelter during the Iran-Iraq war and yet had attacked without warning. It was, concluded HRW, a serious violation of the laws of war.

U.S. bombs also destroyed essential Iraqi civilian infrastructure  from electricity-generating and water-treatment facilities to food-processing plants and flour mills. This was no accident. As Barton Gellman of the Washington Post reported in June 1991: Some targets, especially late in the war, were bombed primarily to create postwar leverage over Iraq, not to influence the course of the conflict itself. Planners now say their intent was to destroy or damage valuable facilities that Baghdad could not repair without foreign assistanceBecause of these goals, damage to civilian structures and interests, invariably described by briefers during the war as collateral and unintended, was sometimes neither.

Got that? The Bush administration deliberately targeted civilian infrastructure for leverage over Saddam Hussein. How is this not terrorism? As a Harvard public health team concluded in June 1991, less than four months after the end of the war, the destruction of Iraqi infrastructure had resulted in acute malnutrition and epidemic levels of cholera and typhoid.

By January 1992, Beth Osborne Daponte, a demographer with the U.S. Census Bureau, was estimating that Bushs Gulf War had caused the deaths of 158,000 Iraqis, including 13,000 immediate civilian deaths and 70,000 deaths from the damage done to electricity and sewage treatment plants. Dapontes numbers contradicted the Bush administrations and she was threatened by her superiors with dismissal for releasing false information. (Sound familiar?)

He refused to cooperate with a special counsel. The Iran-Contra affair, in which the United States traded missiles for Americans hostages in Iran, and used the proceeds of those arms sales to fund Contra rebels in Nicaragua, did much to undermine the presidency of Ronald Reagan. Yet his vice presidents involvement in that controversial affair has garnered far less attention. The criminal investigation of Bush was regrettably incomplete, wrote Special Counsel Lawrence Walsh, a former deputy attorney general in the Eisenhower administration, in his final report on the Iran-Contra affair in August 1993.

Why? Because Bush, who was fully aware of the Iran arms sale, according to the special counsel, failed to hand over a diary containing contemporaneous notes relevant to Iran/contra and refused to be interviewed in the later stages of the investigation. In the final days of his presidency, Bush even issued pardons to six defendants in the Iran-Contra affair, including former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger  on the eve of Weinbergers trial for perjury and obstruction of justice. The Weinberger pardon, Walsh pointedly noted, marked the first time a president ever pardoned someone in whose trial he might have been called as a witness, because the president was knowledgeable of factual events underlying the case. An angry Walsh accused Bush of misconduct and helping to complete the Iran-contra cover-up.

Sounds like a Trumpian case of obstruction of justice, doesnt it?

He escalated the racist war on drugs. In September 1989, in a televised address to the nation from the Oval Office, Bush held up a bag of crack cocaine which he said had been seized a few days ago in a park across the street from the White House . . . . It could easily have been heroin or PCP.

Yet a Washington Post investigation later that month revealed that federal agents had lured the drug dealer to Lafayette Park so they could make an undercover crack buy in a park better known for its location across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House than for illegal drug activity (the dealer didnt know where the White House was and even asked the agents for directions). Bush cynically used this prop  the bag of crack  to call for a $1.5 billion increase in spending on the drug war, declaiming: We need more prisons, more jails, more courts, more prosecutors.

The result? Millions of Americans were incarcerated, hundreds of billions of dollars wasted, and hundreds of thousands of human beings allowed to die of AIDS  all in the name of a war on drugs that did nothing to reduce drug abuse, pointed out Ethan Nadelmann, founder of the Drug Policy Alliance, in 2014. Bush, he argued, put ideology and politics above science and health. Today, even leading Republicans, such as Chris Christie and Rand Paul, agree that the war on drugs, ramped up by Bush during his four years in the White House, has been a dismal and racist failure.

He groped women. Since the start of the #MeToo movement, in late 2017, at least 8 different women have come forward with claims that the former president groped them; in most cases, while they were posing for photos with him. One of them, Roslyn Corrigan, told Time magazine that Bush touched her inappropriately in 2003, when she was just 16. I was a child, she said. The former president was 79. Bushs spokesman offered this defense of his boss in October 2017: At age 93, President Bush has been confined to a wheelchair for roughly five years, so his arm falls on the lower waist of people with whom he takes pictures. Yet, as Time noted, Bush was standing upright in 2003 when he met Corrigan.

Facts matter. The 41st president of the United States was not the last Republican moderate or a throwback to an imagined age of conservative decency and civility; he engaged in race baiting, obstruction of justice, and war crimes. He had much more in common with the two Republican presidents who came after him than his current crop of fans would like us to believe.

This article was originally published by " The Intercept " -

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A Nazi in the (pocket) is worth four in the Bush (family)

'May His Many Victims Across the Globe Rest in Peace': George H.W. Bush Dead at 94

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Thank you for your support.Children  Civilizations Future, Victims of Western Brutality

By Peter Koenig

December 03, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - The United Nations Universal Childrens Day 20 November  has come and gone  and nothing has changed. No action that would now protect children any more than before, no move even by the UN to call on nations at war to take special care to protect children  if for nothing else but the fact that children are our planets future. They are the standard bearer of human generations to come  and of our civilization as a whole, if we dont run it into the ground. Yet, children are among the most vulnerable, discriminated and abjectly exploited and abused species within human kind.

The culture of greed and instant profit has no space for children, for their rights, for their up-bringing within a frame of human rights, fair education, access to shelter and health services everywhere. For much of our western society, children are a nuisance, at best, a tool for cheap labor, especially when the west outsources its production processes to poor developing countries, mostly in Asia and Central America, so poor that they cannot enforce laws against child labor  all to maximize corporate profits.

Otherwise the western driven killing and war machine indiscriminately slaughters children, by famine, by drones, by bombs, by disease  by abuse. Collateral damage? I doubt it. Children could be protected, even in illegal wars. But eradicating by death and poverty entire generations in nations the west intends to subdue has a purpose: rebuilding of these nations will not take place under the watch of educated children, grown adults, who would most likely oppose their hangmen, those that have destroyed their homes and families, their villages and towns, their schools and hospital, their drinking water supply systems  leaving them to the plight of cholera and other diseases brought about by lack of hygiene and sanitation. So, in the interest of the empire and its puppet allies, childrens calamities and crimes on them are at best under reported  in most cases nobody even cares.

Look at Syria. The poison gas attacks instigated by US and NATO forces, carried out by their proxies ISIS and Saudi Arabia, to blame them on President Bashar al Assad, were directed at children for greater public relations impact  further helped by the fake heroes, the White Helmets. Can you imagine! (Im sure you can)  children have to be poisoned and killed by western forces who want to topple the Syrian Assad regime to put their puppet in Assads place, so that they can control the country and eventually the region. Yes, children are sacrificed  a huge crime against humanity  to commit another horrendous international crime  forcefully change a democratically elected regime. Thats what the west does and is  and probably always was for the last 2000 years.

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Take the situation of Yemen, where for the last 3  years the network of the worlds biggest mafia killer scheme, led by Saudi Arabia, as the patsy and foreign money funnel aiding the United States and her allies in crime, the UK, France, Spain, several of the Gulf States, until recently also Germany, and many more  has killed by bombs, starvation and cholera induced by willingly destroyed water supply and sanitation systems, maybe hundreds of thousands of children.

According to Safe the Children, some 85,000 children below 5 years of age may have already died from famine; mind you, a purposefully induced famine, as Saudi and Gulf forces destroyed and blocked the port of Hodeida, where about 80%  90% of imported food enters the country. The most vulnerable ones, as with every man-made disaster, are children and women.

Already a year ago, the UN warned that the cholera outbreak in Yemen is the fasted spreading cholera epidemic since records began and that it will affect at least a million people, including at least 600,000 children. A year later  how many of them have died? Extreme food shortages, destroyed shelters and hospitals, lack of medication, as medicine is also blocked at the points of import, have reduced childrens natural immune systems even further.

Imagine the suffering caused not just to the children, but to their parents, families, communities  what the west is doing is beyond words. Its beyond crime; and all those leaders (sic) responsible will most likely never face a criminal court, as they are controlling all the major justice systems in the world. Though, no justice could make good for the killing and misery, but at least it could demonstrate that universal crime  as is the war on Yemen and many others fought for greed and power  is not tolerated with impunity.

UNHCR  the UN refugee agency reports that worldwide some 70 million refugees are on the move or in refugee camps. This figure does not include a large number of unreported cases, perhaps up to a third more. Most of the refugees are generated in the Middle East by western initiated wars; wars for greed, for natural resources, for controlling a geopolitically and strategically important region  on the seemingly unstoppable way to full power world dominance.

At least two thirds of the refugees are children  no health care, no education, no suitable shelter, or none at all, malnourished-to-starving, raped, abused, enslaved  you name it.

Where do all these children go? What is their future?  There will be societies  Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan  missing a full generation. The countries are suffering a gap in educated people. This wanton gap will likely prevent rebuilding and developing their nations according to their sovereign rights. These countries are easier to control, subdue and enslave.

Just imagine, many of the lost children pass under the radar of human statistics, ignored, many of them are totally abandoned, no parents, no family, nobody to care for them, nobody to love them  they may quietly die  die in the gutters, unknown, anonymous. We  the brutal west  let them.

And the UN-declared Childrens Day has come and gone  and nothing has changed, Nothing will change as long as the west is devastating indiscriminately countries, cities, villages for sheer greed. Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan  never were threatening the United States, nor Israel, of course. But they have resources the west covets, or they are geopolitically of strategic importance  for step by bloody step advancing towards world hegemony.

According to the UN, about 300 million children around the world do not go to school. Again, the unreported figure is possibly double or higher, especially including those that attend school only sporadically. Many of the children are abducted, sold into slavery, prostitution, imprisoned for medical testing  and for use in orgies of blood thirsty secret societies, their organs harvested and traded by mafia type organizations. Organ trading allegations are levied against Israels armed forces killing thousands of children in Israels open prison and extermination camp, called Gaza; and against Ukraines Kiev Nazi Government.

Did you know, 60% of all children in Gaza are mutilated and amputated as a result of Israels war against the Palestine population? And the world looks on, not daring to protest and stand up against this criminal nation  Gods chosen people.

In the UK, 1 of 4 children live in poverty. In the US, 60million children go to bed hungry  every night. As I write these lines, at the US-Mexican border refugee children and their mothers are being shot at with teargas canons by US police and military forces, to prevent them from entering Mr. Trumps Holy Land, the Great United States of America.

The former UN Secretary General, Koffi Annan, winner of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize, referring to the horrific siege on Aleppo and calling for international action to stop the war, he said, The assault on Aleppo is an assault on the whole world. When hospitals, schools and homes are bombed indiscriminately, killing and maiming hundreds of innocent children, these are acts that constitute an attack on our shared, fundamental human values. Our collective cry for action must be heard, and acted upon, by all those engaged in this dreadful war.

But, how could the world of today be described better than by Caitlin Johnstone in her recent poem Welcome to Planet Earth, where she says, Welcome to Planet Earth where children who do not know how to live, teach their children how to live; where children pray for miracles, using minds that are made of miracles; with clasped hands that are made of miracles; where children wander in search of God, upon feet that are made of God, looking with eyes that are made of God.

Where have all the children gone?

Peter Koenig is an economist and geopolitical analyst. He is also a water resources and environmental specialist. He worked for over 30 years with the World Bank and the World Health Organization around the world in the fields of environment and water. He lectures at universities in the US, Europe and South America. He writes regularly for Global Research; ICH; RT; Sputnik; PressTV; The 21stCentury; TeleSUR; The Vineyard of The Saker Blog, the New Eastern Outlook (NEO); and other internet sites. He is the author of Implosion  An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed  fiction based on facts and on 30 years of World Bank experience around the globe. He is also a co-author of The World Order and Revolution!  Essays from the Resistance . Peter Koenig is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization.

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Thank you for your support.Gassing Migrants

By Sheldon Richman

December 03, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - The Trump administration and its apologists are quick to point out that Barack Obama was as willing as Donald Trump himself to tear-gas desperate people trying to protect themselves by crossing Americas southern border. So he was, though many will refuse to believe it. Lets not forget, after all, that Obama, like Trump, was willing to bomb men, women, and children in more than half a dozen Muslim countries. Those drones werent and arent dropping tear-gas canisters.

But that raises interesting questions: if every horrible thing that Trump has done so far was also done by Obama, why do Trump and his fans hate the former White House occupant so much? And why do so many Trump opponents love Obama? The Trumpsters ought to praise Obama, who set records for deporting people and prosecuting whistle-blowers under the espionage law.

Of course, the fact that the then-deferential media establishment downplayed Obamas brutality and rights violations hardly makes what Trump is doing acceptable. So yeah, Trump is not the first monster to occupy the White House, not by a long shot. That doesnt mean hes any less the monster; he could be more so by some amount. I suppose Trump could say that at least hes gassing intact families instead of separating parents from their kids before doing the disgusting deed.

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Frankly, we should have known it wouldnt have been too long before Trump turned on the gas. After all, lots of people are understandably fleeing terror states in Latin America  terror states the U.S. government helped to create beginning decades ago (including abominations committed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton)  and Trump has staked his political life on securing the border, which somehow is supposed to make American great again. So he had to be ready to poison invading children and their parents to keep them from entering and  asking for asylum! Im sure some people inside and outside the administration are silently chiding Trump for using too mild a gas. (Tear gas is for losers.) They must be wondering what some of Trumps authoritarian buddies in other countries would have done. Remember, National Review thinks Trump is too wimpy on immigration because during the presidential campaign he said hed put a reentry door in his big, beautiful wall. NR neednt have worried: nowadays Trump openly supports cutting legal immigration.

(Speaking of the U.S. governments responsibility for creating conditions that people are now fleeing, I note that both Clinton and John Kerry, another Obama secretary of state who helped create chaos in the Middle East and Africa, are now saying, apparently with no sense of irony, that Europe must crack down on immigration to keep the right wing at bay. I pray that hell has reserved a special place for those two.)

The Mexican authorities were of no help in the present situation. The migrants seeking to enter at San Ysidro, California, reportedly were peaceful until Mexican riot police interfered with their movement. As frustrations grew, groups broke through the police cordon and tried to rush the fence on either side of the official crossing, according to Vice. Before that, the crowd has been reciting, We arent criminals! We are hard workers, as they, Vice reports, marched toward the border, calling for the right to asylum in the United States. Then, according to AFP, US agents fired tear gas and rubber bullets at hundreds of Central American migrants who climbed over a fence and attempted to rush the border from Tijuana, Mexico into the United States.

This violence against innocent men, women, and children could have been avoided had the Mexican and American authorities worked together on an orderly entry procedure to enable the migrants to apply for asylum, as the U.S. government is obliged to allow for under the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, or the 1951 Refugee Convention, not to mention the simple rule of decency. (Were seeing stories about migrants with serious health problems; the same was true when Ellis Island was booming, yet it stayed open. This is nothing that international humanitarian organizations couldnt handle. The key is compassion and respect for individual rights.)

Trump probably wanted a confrontation because in his warped view its good for the country, his ego, and his political fortunes. He can show what a tough guy he is, and that surely must impress some people.

Trump and his thugs  why do those people not quit their jobs? Have they no shame?  are committing gross violations of individual rights and outrageous offenses to basic decency. As Charles P. Pierce writes in Esquire, The people at the border literally are running for their lives. The idea that the United States is now actively hostile to asylum seekers is a nasty throwback to the 1930s.

Pierce continues his parallel with the U.S. governments turning away of Jews during the Nazi reign:

The problem was that not enough people in America cared enough to understand why those Jews were fleeing, and from what they were fleeing in the first place. That is still the problem today. Radical Trumpists already are calling the weekends violence a successful repelling of a horde of invaders, as though gassing shoeless toddlers was the equivalent of Charles Martels turning back the forces of the caliphate at Tours. That point of view will be taken immediately as the legitimate Other Side of the argument regarding using chemical weapons on impoverished children.



These are people being told through violence that they have to return to the violence that drove them out of their countries in the first place. The ones with longer memories will recall the days when the United States used Honduras to initiate violence in Guatemala and El Salvador for the purpose of initiating it in Nicaragua. The younger ones will simply hate us. The Imperial Prerogative comes with some very heavy dues.

We have no need to fear migration or refugees, but those who do fear them might start working to liquidate the American empire, for the chaos it has wreaked in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa is one of the great instigators of mass migration.

Sheldon Richman is the executive editor of The Libertarian Institute, senior fellow and chair of the trustees of the Center for a Stateless Society, and a contributing editor at Antiwar.com. He is the former senior editor at the Cato Institute and Institute for Humane Studies, former editor of The Freeman, published by the Foundation for Economic Education, and former vice president at the Future of Freedom Foundation. His latest book is Americas Counter-Revolution: The Constitution Revisited. https://libertarianinstitute.org/author/sheldonr/

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How Traumatized Children See the World, According to Their Drawings

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Thank you for your support.Just How Corrupt Is The American Soul?

By Lawrence Davidson

Debunking the Noble American Soul

December 03, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - In an oped piece published in Al Jazeeera on 15 November 2018 , the Columbia University professor Hamid Dabashi challenges the widespread assumption that the American soul is something quintessentially good and even noble. He goes on to point out that most of those who hold this view also believe that President Donald Trump and his policies and practices cannot possibly be representative of real American values.

Dabashis position is that both of these idealistic beliefs are nothing but a historical delusions. We may, in fact, be hard pressed to find a single moment in American history when hateful racism, sexism, militarism, and xenophobia have not been entirely definitive to this American soul. In addition, those who view President Donald Trump as unrepresentative of American values are wrong. In Dabashis view this presidents policies and practices are indeed who we are.

It is the liberals who Dabashi is particularly upset with for it is they who, in his view, have reinforced the facade of national goodness and held at bay, or perhaps simply ignored, any critical examination of this self-glorifying image. For instance, Dabashi notes that, while campaigning against Trump in the lead-up to the recent mid-term elections, Barack Obama asserted that we [the U.S.] helped spread a commitment to certain values and principles like the rule of law and human rights and democracy and the notion of the inherent dignity and worth of every individual.

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Dabashi is having none of this. More often than not both Republicans and Democrats have identically supported dictators and the brutalization of entire populations. He notes that Obama is the president who who gave billions of dollars to Israel to slaughter Palestinians with ease. In terms of foreign policy, almost every president proceeding Obama has acted in the same culpable way, or worse.

Dabashi goes on to point out that the Democratic Party, the political party now opposing President Trump, is a structurally corrupt organization that is adverse to really basic change and so it is crucial for us not to fall into the trap of thinking the enemies of the Trumpian loonies are the friends of any progressive politics. In fact, it is Dabashis opinion that the United States is not, as the liberals say, a divided country. It is rather an unmistakably racist, sexist, xenophobic and violent country obsessed with domestic gun violence and foreign conquest with a few pockets of wishy-washy liberal resistance here or there.

Part IIQualifications

Is Professor Dabashi correct? Well, in terms of foreign policy there can be no doubt that he is. Such claims that the U.S. has made a project of spreading democracy, the rule of law, and the dignity of the individual are historically untrue, and I agree with his reaction of disgust when he hears such unfounded claims coming out of the mouth of someone like Barack Obama.

Domestically, despite a history of corporate corruption in politics, the picture is more complicated. Dabashi himself suggests that this is so. He tells us that there is nothing in the DNA or "blood" of any people, Americans included, that makes them constitutionally susceptible to latent and blatant fascism. Millions upon millions of Americans gathered around the most progressive figure in recent US politics, Bernie Sanders, in the hope of liberating themselves from the shackles of this gridlock of corrupt corporate politics. Such efforts at liberation through significant progressive efforts is not confined to the Sanders movement. There was, of course, the seminal civil rights movement of the 1960ssupported at that time by many Democrats and Republicans alike.

So it is not literally true that, domestically, there is not a single moment in history when America has not acted from the corrupt motives of racism, sexism, etc. However, I will go along with Dabashi as far as saying that Americas progressive moments are historically the exception. That is, they are reactions to an otherwise regressive norm.

There are some additional contextualizing observations that can be made about this imbalance between the uncivilized and the civilized.

 The uncivilized attitudes and practices we find dominating United States history are certainly not uniquely American. In one form or another, they are probably universal and, in the era of the nation state, magnified by just how much power a nation possesses, how prevalent are minorities within its population, and how strong are its political and/or religious ideologies. There is always a wide range of denials and/or rationalizations that are used to turn the inexcusable into the excused.

 In every case populations are held captive by remarkably effective, long-term brainwashing convincing them of the acceptability of their culturally inbred sins. This is how the nonsense of exceptionalism and noble national souls can be so convincing.

 In most instances, it is probably the case that the leaders are as delusional true believers as the populace.

These observations only reinforce Dabashis bleak picture. In fact, it looks like we are all stuck in an age-old self-destructive rut. The classic conservative explanation for this is that it is due to the unchanging evil quality of human nature. But then how does one account for the humanitarian momentsare they somehow in defiance of human nature? That does not sound right.

Part IIIHope?

It is hard for those Americans, particularly those of color, who understand the dark side of the American soul, to lend much credence to the moments of humanitarian idealism that arrive periodically on the historical scene.

But these moments do come around, and not just in the case of the U.S. For instance, there was the remarkable effort to spread international law following the debacle that was World War II. And, one might hope against hope, that these humanitarian moments represent the accumulation of precedents that may underpin a better future.

However, as Professor Dabashis lament implies, history is not on our side (even now international law is being eroded away) and thus the prospect of a better future entails never-ending struggle. Nonetheless, as long as things like civil rights and international law are possibilities we cant give up on them. I certainly dont think that giving up is Dabashis intent. He just doesnt want a bad situation denied based on delusional propaganda. Shaking loose from that propaganda is an essential first stepand perhaps, the hardest.

Lawrence Davidson is a retired professor of history from West Chester University in West Chester PA. His academic research focused on the history of American foreign relations with the Middle East. He taught courses in Middle East history, the history of science and modern European intellectual history.http://www.tothepointanalyses.com

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Thank you for your support.December 03, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - Last week, the US mainstream media demonstrated once again that it has a Palestine problem. CNN suspended the contract of commentator and Temple University Professor Marc Lamont Hill, after he gave a speech at the United Nations in which he criticised the Israeli occupation and the abuse of Palestinian rights.

Hill based his speech very much on facts. He cited Israeli laws that discriminate against Palestinians; the use of arbitrary violence by the Israeli security apparatus; the use of torture against Palestinian detainees; the denial of due process to Palestinians by Israeli courts; the restriction on movement in the occupied territories, etc - all violations that have been well-documented and condemned by the UN and a myriad of human rights organisations.

Yet CNN, which last year adopted a new slogan - "Facts first" - did not seem to agree with these facts. After pro-Israel organisations like the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) condemned the speech, the TV station was quick to sever its ties with Hill.

While CNN did not announce why it chose to do so, it is clear to many of us it caved in to pressure from pro-Israel groups. Hill was accused of being anti-Semitic for using the phrase "free Palestine from the river to the sea", which supposedly is a "Hamas slogan" and a call for the destruction of Israel. Well, it is neither.

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Throwing accusations of anti-Semitism at people criticising Israel and supporting the Palestinian right to self-determination is a convenient tool of the Zionist lobby. But calling for the freedom of Palestinians and for the recognition of their rights is not anti-Semitic; it is pro-Palestinian.

Conflating anti-Semitism with pro-Palestinian positions and criticism of Israel is not only ill-intentioned but also dangerous, as it does a disservice to Jews who have faced hate speech and hate attacks.

In Palestine, the Israeli authorities have brought this tactic to the extreme and have already passed a number of laws curbing freedom of speech. This means that those of us who dare criticise Israeli policy or call for resistance to Israeli occupation, even if in the form of a poem, face the risk of imprisonment.

In the United States, those who do so clearly face the risk of being fired, as in the case of Professor Hill and as in the case of many others before him- and probably many others after. The way CNN (mis)handled this situation offers us an opportunity to discuss how media organisations succumbing to Israel's campaign of silencing critics is particularly problematic.

For a long time, mainstream media organisations in the West, like the CNN, have been hiding behind the veneer of objectivity when it comes to issues such as the Palestinian struggle.

These outlets claim to be covering these issues objectively - applying certain procedures and high standards of verification that supposedly guarantee full and balanced reporting. With that grand declaration of objectivity, they then claim to present the true picture of what is going on. But they often don't.

The language employed by many mainstream media networks in the West when reporting on Palestine is often imprecise and misrepresents certain objective realities. CNN and its peers often talk of a "conflict" between Palestinians and Israelis, skipping the fact that the latter are - legally and objectively speaking - occupiers. They talk of "contested lands" - as if there is no illegal settler-colonialism going on in Palestine, pushing Palestinians out of their land. They would often call the Israeli army's violence against peaceful protesters "clashes" (as if the two sides are equal) and conveniently use the passive voice in titles reporting killings of Palestinians (as if Israeli soldiers were not the ones who shoot Palestinians dead).

Claiming objectivity but then, clearly using obfuscating language and intentionally skipping certain facts is not only damaging to the media profession but also spreads disinformation. The firing of Professor Hill has exposed once again this disingenuity, the apparent political bias, and perhaps even the fear of the Israeli lobby within Western mainstream media.

It also shows that even media institutions that claim to be fighting for freedom of speech, to be delivering "facts first", to be "speaking truth to power" can also partake in the silencing of critical voices. What is particularly disconcerting, in this case, is that CNN is not only succumbing to political pressure and Israel's speech policing policies but also perpetuating them - even if indirectly.

CNN is clearly not ready to take on the "controversial" topic of the Palestinian question and pursue "facts first". Instead, it has chosen to stay on the political "safe side": report only on certain events with bias, obscuring the real dynamic of relations between oppressor and oppressed and using a certain preset discourse.

Unfortunately, this "safe side" logic has also been adopted not only by media outlets but also by Western institutions - both academic and political ones - and even by governments. Just recall all those fake condemnations by political leaders in the West during Gaza's Great March of Return, when in one day Israeli snipers shot dead more than 50 unarmed, peaceful Palestinian protesters and wounded hundreds of others, with local hospitals unable to cope. They all called on Israel to exercise "restraint" and threw in there for "balance" and "objectivity" a reference to Hamas, which killed no Israelis that day - or any other day of the march for that matter.

Those who do not stand on the "safe side" of things - people like Marc Lamont Hill - have been taking clear positions on Palestine, based on facts and critical thinking. They - like others throughout history who stood up for oppressed peoples' rights - are vilified and viciously attacked, but they will persevere and continue to speak truth to power, objectively and factually.

Meanwhile, Western institutions (academic, media and others) will eventually have to engage in self-scrutiny because they are not only regularly succumbing to political pressures and adopting misrepresentations, but are also complicit in reproducing Israel's policing and silencing strategies.

Mariam Barghouti is a Palestinian American writer based in Ramallah

This article was originally published by " Al Jazeera " -

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TV Host, Fired by CNN For Urging a Free Palestine, Apologizes: The speech raised a huge outcry leading to his dismissal from the media giant CNN.

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Thank you for your support.Not one problem.

Until this weeks column titled Free The Free Press from Wall Street Plunderers

Earlier this week, Creatorss Syndicate informed Hightower they were not going to distribute this one.

Why not?

The big, hedge-fund owned newspaper chains that Hightower calls out in his column are big customers of theirs, and as such, they dont want to risk offending them, said Hightower assistant Melody Byrd. But while Creators reluctance to anger these powerful interests is somewhat understandable, the implications are frightening. Its one more example of this dangerous time for Americas decreasingly-free press that, ironically, Jim lays out in this very column.

In a note to newspapers urging them to run the column anyway, Byrd wrote  the American people deserve to know more about the entities that are squeezing so many of our community newspapers for cash and, in the process, choking our democracy.

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Byrd said that Creators Syndicate told her that while the hedge funds that Hightower fingered in his column dont own the syndicate, they do own many of the newspapers that the syndicate distributes to.

The demise of the real news reporting by our city and regional papers is a product of their profiteering owners, Hightower wrote in the column. Not the families and companies that built and nurtured true journalism, but the new breed of fast-buck hucksters whove scooped up hundreds of Americas newspapers from the bargain bins of media sell-offs.

The buyers are hedge-fund scavengers with names like Digital First and GateHouse, Hightower wrote.

They know nothing about journalism and care less, for theyre ruthless Wall Street profiteers out to grab big bucks fast by slashing the journalistic and production staffs of each paper, voiding all employee benefits (from pensions to free coffee in the breakroom), shriveling the papers size and news content, selling the presses and other assets, tripling the price of their inferior product  then declaring bankruptcy, shutting down the paper, and auctioning off the bones before moving on to plunder another towns paper.

By 2014, Americas two largest media chains were not venerable publishers who believe that a newspapers mission includes a commitment to truth and a civic responsibility, but GateHouse and Digital First, whose managers believe that good journalism is measured by the personal profit they can squeeze from it.

As revealed last year in an American Prospect article, GateHouse executives had demanded that its papers cut $27 million from their operating expenses. Thousands of newspaper employees suffered that $27 million cut in large part because one employee  the hedge funds CEO  had extracted $54 million in personal pay from the conglomerate, including an $11 million bonus.

To these absentee owners and operators, our newspapers are just mines, entitling them to extract enormous financial wealth and social well-being from our communities.

his article was originally published by " Corporate Crime Reporter " -

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Thank you for your support.The event aimed to promote the cultures of ASEAN members and offer a chance for them to meet and tighten solidarity.

The event comprised of sport competitions and art performances and introduced traditional dishes of ASEAN countries.

In his opening remarks, Vietnamese Ambassador Ngo Duc Manh hailed the significance of the event in the context that Russia is enhancing its relations with the ASEAN and Asia in general.

He expressed his hope that through this exchange programme, the ASEAN community in Russia will grow further.

On this occasion, the diplomat introduced participants to a photo and document exhibition featuring the beauty of Vietnams seas and islands held by the embassy and the Vietnamese Ministry of Information and Communications at the trade centre.

The ASEAN Family Day is held annually in Vietnam and other countries around the world. This year, the Vietnamese Embassy in Russia held the event in Russia for the first time.The collapse of civilisation and the natural world is on the horizon, Sir David Attenborough has told the UN climate change summit in Poland.

The naturalist was chosen to represent the worlds people in addressing delegates of almost 200 nations who are in Katowice to negotiate how to turn pledges made in the 2015 Paris climate deal into reality.

As part of the UNs peoples seat initiative, messages were gathered from all over the world to inform Attenboroughs address on Monday. Right now we are facing a manmade disaster of global scale, our greatest threat in thousands of years: climate change, he said. If we dont take action, the collapse of our civilisations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon.

Do you not see what is going on around you? asks one young man in a video message played as part of a montage to the delegates. We are already seeing increased impacts of climate change in China, says a young woman. Another woman, standing outside a building burned down by a wildfire, says: This used to be my home.

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Attenborough said: The worlds people have spoken. Time is running out. They want you, the decision-makers, to act now. Leaders of the world, you must lead. The continuation of civilisations and the natural world upon which we depend is in your hands.

Attenborough urged everyone to use the UNs new ActNow chatbot, designed to give people the power and knowledge to take personal action against climate change.

Recent studies show the 20 warmest years on record have been in the past 22 years, and the top four in the past four years. Climate action must be increased fivefold to limit warming to the 1.5C scientists advise, according to the UN.

The COP24 summit was also addressed by Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary general. Climate change is running faster than we are and we must catch up sooner rather than later before it is too late, he said. For many, people, regions and even countries this is already a matter of life or death.

Guterres said the two-week summit was the most important since Paris and that it must deliver firm funding commitments. We have a collective responsibility to invest in averting global climate chaos, he said.

He highlighted the opportunities of the green economy: Climate action offers a compelling path to transform our world for the better. Governments and investors need to bet on the green economy, not the grey.

Andrzej Duda, the president of Poland, spoke at the opening ceremony, saying the use of efficient coal technology was not contradictory to taking climate action. Poland generates 80% of its electricity from coal but has cut its carbon emissions by 30% since 1988 through better energy efficiency.

Friends of the Earth International said the sponsorship of the summit by a Polish coal company raises the middle finger to the climate.

A major goal for the Polish government at the summit is to promote a just transition for workers in fossil fuel industries into other jobs. Safeguarding and creating sustainable employment and decent work are crucial to ensure public support for long-term emission reductions, says a declaration that may be adopted at the summit and is supported by the EU.

In the run-up to the summit, Donald Trump expressed denial about climate change, while there were attacks on the UN process from Brazils incoming administration under Jair Bolsonaro.

Ricardo Navarro, of Friends of the Earth in El Salvador, said: We must build an alternative future based on a just energy transformation. We face the threat of rightwing populist and climate-denying leaders further undermining climate protection and racing to exploit fossil fuels. We must resist.

Another goal of the summit is for nations to increase their pledges to cut carbon emissions; currently they are on target for a disastrous 3C of warming. The prime minister of Fiji, Frank Bainimarama, who led the 2017 UN climate summit, said his country had raised its ambitions. He told the summit: If we can do it, you can do it.

This article was originally published by " The Guardian " -

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UN climate change summit

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Thank you for your support.December 03, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - Why do Donald Trump and the CIA disagree about the recent killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Turkey?

The CIA concluded that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabias de facto ruler, personally ordered the murder and dismemberment of Khashoggi. In an extraordinary statement for a U.S. president, Trump disputed the CIA findings. He saids it didnt matter if MBSas the Saudi ruler is knownwas or was not involved in the Khashoggi killing, and that U.S.-Saudi relations are spectacular.

Trumps statement reflects his narrow cultivation of business relations with MBS, while the CIAs announcement reflects the view that that MBS has become a liability for the U.S. ruling class as a whole. The spy agency, which has deep ties to Saudi intelligence, fears that bin Salmans reckless and impulsive actions could jeopardize the security of the whole Saudi ruling clique, endangering U.S. ruling class interests in Saudi Arabia and the entire Middle East.

For decades, Saudi Arabia has been one of the most strategic and valuable U.S. client states, and the CIA wants to keep it that way. Support for Saudi Arabia is completely bi-partisan. This partnership is drenched in blood, oil and deceit.

A review of U.S.-Saudi ties shows that Saudi Arabia anchors the U.S. empire in the Middle East. The kingdom, with the greatest oil reserves in the world, is a source of fabulous wealth for U.S. oil companies. The Saudis use their oil capacity to raise and lower world prices to further U.S. foreign policy aims. In the 1980s, for example, Ronald Reagan, got the Saudis to flood the market with oil to reduce the world price as part of an economic war against the Soviet Union.

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The kingdom willingly uses religion as a cover for imperialisms aims, exporting thousands of schools, mosques, and other centers that preach intolerance and recruit jihadists for U.S. wars. It allows the U.S. to invade other Arab countries from its territory and has funded covert CIA actions on three continents. It is treated like a cash cow for U.S. corporations and banks. It uses its vast stash of petrodollars to buy billions of dollars in Pentagon weapons at inflated prices, as well as other high-price U.S. products and services.

The country is ruled as the personal fiefdom of one family, the al-Sauds. The government is one of the most repressive and misogynistic in the world. There is no parliament or legislature. The first elections, and then only on a municipal level, took place in 2005, 73 years after the country was formed. Women were only allowed to vote in 2015. These incontestable facts go unmentioned by U.S. officials, Democrats and Republican alike.

While Washington claims to be a protector of human rights abroad, the Pentagon has pledged to send in troops if a mass movement tries to overthrow the Saudi regime.

A country birthed by imperialism

Britain and France emerged victorious after World War I. They carved Western Asia into more than 20 countries, drawing borders to weaken and dismember Arab and other indigenous national groups, and to facilitate imperialist domination.

Thats when Saudi Arabia was created. Its rulers, the al Saud and the Wahhabi families and followers merged into a political-religious alliance. The Saudi Arabia we know was established 1932, when the Saudis agreed to stop harassing other British protectorates, and to accept Britains definition of their borders.

Saudi Arabias rulers were among the first far-right Islamists assisted by imperialism. They set up an absolute monarchy and theocracy. The only constitution was the Koran as interpreted by the royal family. Slavery was legal until 1962.

Wahhabism, a form of Islam aggressively intolerant of other currents of that faith, and in opposition to secular governments, bwecame the state religion. Saudi Arabias control of the most important sites in IslamMecca and Medina gave it prestige it had not earned in the Muslim world.

Enter U.S. oil companies and the Pentagon

In 1933, the kingdom granted Standard Oil of California (now Chevron) exclusive oil drilling rights. Huge oil reserves were discovered in 1938, promoting the formation of ARAMCO (Arabian American Oil Company) by Standard Oil and 3 other U.S. partners that later became Texaco, Exxon, and Mobil.

Saudi Arabia would soon be the country with the worlds largest known oil reserves. It would be the greatest oil producer in the world. And U.S. companies were pumping it.

Diplomatic recognition soon followed. In 1943, President Roosevelt declared the security of Saudi Arabia a vital interest of the United States. The U.S. opened an embassy in the country the next year.

The Pentagon soon arrived to secure the oil. In 1950, the U.S. established the Sixth Naval Fleet as a permanent military presence in the Mediterranean. In 1951, after signing the Mutual Defense Agreement, the U.S. began arming the Saudi government and training its military.

Since World War II, the U.S. empire has been built on controlling the oil flowing from the Persian Gulf. Saudi Arabia was the linchpin of this control.

Waging holy war for Washington: Our faith and your iron

Following World War II, a wave of militancy and nationalism swept the Arab world. Mass secular movements in Algeria and Iraq overthrew colonial puppets. South Yemen declared itself socialist. The Egyptian and Syrian people deposed imperialist client rule. Many of the new progressive regimes and liberation struggles were aided by the Soviet Union

The thinking of U.S. policymakers was, as Rachel Bronson puts it, that religion could be a tool to staunch the expansion of godless communism.

Saudi rulers happily complied. The founder of modern Saudi Arabia told U.S. Minister to Saudi Arabia, Colonel William A. Eddy, Our faith and your iron.

Arab anti-imperialism was especially inflamed by the 1948 destruction of Palestine and the creation of Israel. To undercut this, the Eisenhower administration set out to increase the renown of King Saud, making him the senior partner of the Arab team.

A State Department memo documents expectations that the Saudis would redirect Arab anger from Israel to the Soviet Union:

The President said he thought we should do everything possible to stress the holy war aspect. [Secretary of State] Dulles commented that if the Arabs have a holy war they would want it to be against Israel. The President recalled, however, that Saud, after his visit here, had called on all Arabs to oppose Communism.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the Saudis gave shelter to extremists seeking to topple nationalist governments. The kingdom started funding a network of schools and mosques that recruited jihadists for the CIA in Soviet republics with Muslim populations, and in poor Muslim countries in Asia and Africa. This included facilitating contacts between the CIA and religious pilgrims visiting Mecca.

The oil weapon

Some members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have advocated using oil as a weapon to force Israel to give up Palestinian land. Saudi Arabia, the biggest oil producer of OPEC, has staunchly opposed this. While calling for separating oil from politics, the kingdom has repeatedly raised and lowered world oil prices to advance U.S. foreign policy.

There have been exceptions. To maintain credibility among the Arab world, Saudi Arabia joined the OPEC oil embargos against the U.S. and other governments supporting Israel in the Arab-Israeli wars of 1967 and 1973. The 1967 embargo lacked OPEC consensus and was not effective. Saudi Arabia agreed to join the 1973 embargo only after the U.S. promised $2.2 billion in emergency military aid to Israel, giving it an advantage in the fighting.

The 1973 oil embargo did not cause international shortages, as many oil producers didnt honor it. However, U.S. companies used the embargo to hold back oil supplies, raise prices, and increase profits. Occidental Petroleums 1973 earnings were 665 percent higher than those the year before. By the end of 1974, Exxon Corporation moved to the top of the Fortune 500 list. Four other oil companiesTexaco, Mobil, Standard Oil of California and Gulfjoined Exxon in the top seven rankings.

In 1970, the Saudis organized the Safari Club, a coalition of governments that conducted covert operations in Africa after the U.S. Congress restrained CIA actions. It sent arms to Somalia and helped coordinate attacks on Ethiopia, which was then aligned with the Soviet Union. It funded UNITA, a proxy of the South African apartheid government fighting in Angola.

More recently, the Saudi government likely drove down oil prices in 2014 in order to weaken the Russian and Iranian economies as punishment for supporting the Syrian government.

However, the U.S. ruling class has had it both ways with Saudi Arabia several times. While the country is a key client state of the U.S., the Saudis have also served as convenience scapegoats. When energy costs spike, causing considerable hardship among U.S. working-class families, for instance, the U.S. rulers hypocritically and suddenly start talking about the Saudi royal family, its thousands of princes, their gold bathtubs, and other extremes paid for by petrodollars.

Manufacturing a Sunni-Shia rift

In 1979, a mass revolutionary upsurge in Iran overthrew the Shah, a hated U.S.-backed dictator, establishing the Islamic Republic of Iran. The new government nationalized Irans huge oil reserves. That same year, an armed band of Sunni fundamentalists denounced the Saudi royal family and seized the Grand Mosque in Mecca, taking tens of thousands of religious pilgrims hostage. Hundreds of hostages were killed in the retaking of the mosque. Both events shook the Saudi rulers to their core. They responded by diverting attention to Iran. They began a religious campaign against Shia Iran, claiming they were enemies of Sunni Islam. They upped funding for Sunni jihadists worldwide, encouraging them to hate other strains of Islam, other religions, and secularism.

There was no significant conflict between Sunnis and Shias in the modern era. Saudi rulers fomented it in an attempt to turn Sunnis against the Iranian revolution. Since then, all national liberation struggles or groups fighting for some degree of independence that have Shia members have been falsely labeled as agents of Iran. These include Hezbollahviewed by Arab progressives as the central force in the national liberation movement of Lebanonthe amalgam of forces fighting Saudi domination in Yemen, and oppressed Shia minorities in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

The Saudis bought out the ARAMCO oil company in 1980. But this did not make Saudi Arabia independent. The oil was still controlled by U.S. companies, especially ExxonMobil, through their ownership of oil pumping and other technology, oil tanker fleets, storage facilities, etc.

Funding the Mujahideen and the Contras

In 1978, the Marxist Peoples Democratic Party of Afghanistan took control of the country in a coup. It promoted land distribution and built hospitals, road, and schools in one of the most underdeveloped countries in the world. It did this with the help of the Soviet Union. The new government banned forced marriages and gave women the right to right to vote. Revolutionary Council member Anahita Ratebzad gave the new governments view in a New Kabul Times editorial (May 28, 1978).

Privileges which women, by right, must have are equal education, job security, health services, and free time to rear a healthy generation for building the future of the country  Educating and enlightening women is now the subject of close government attention.

Seeking to overthrow the Soviet-aligned government, the U.S. covertly supported rural tribes that were opposed to the recent social changes, especially womens rights and secularism. The groups attacked the new rural schools and killed women teachers. In 1979, the Soviet Union sent in troops to support the government.

From 1979-89 the Saudi kingdom recruited reactionary mujahideen forces and financed them to the tune of $3 billion. The CIA formally matched the Saudi funding.

In 1984, when the Reagan administration sought help with its secret plan to fund Contra militias and death squads in Nicaragua, the Saudi Ambassador to the U.S. pledged $1 million a month. Saudi Arabia spent a total of $32 million supporting the Contras. The contributions continued even after Congress cut off funding to the them.

U.S. would stop an internal revolution

In 1981, Ronald Reagans Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger said that the U.S. would not let the Saudi government be overthrown, and that it would send troops to defend the Saudi regime if necessary: We would not stand by, in the event of Saudi requests, as we did before with Iran, and allow a government that had been totally unfriendly to the United States and to the Free World to take over. The U.S. would intervene if there should be anything that resembled an internal revolution in Saudi Arabia, and we think thats very remote.

This is a regime that allows no human rights or freedom of speech; where virtually all the work was done by migrants who are super-exploited and have no chance of becoming citizens; where all women are considered legal minors and require an appointed male guardian to supervise them and give permission for getting married, obtaining a passport, traveling, enrolling in a school; where in some court cases, a womens testimony is worth half as much as mans.

Saudi Arabia, 9/11, and extremism

Decades of funding extremist centers to recruit shock troops for CIA wars helped create radical Islamist groupings and individuals. Al-Qaedas founder, Osama Bin Laden, is a prime example. He was a Saudi citizen and a key recruiter of Saudi fighters to Afghanistan.

Fifteen out of the 19 hijackers on Sept. 1, 2001 were Saudi nationals. One might think that if the Pentagon were to retaliate against any country for the 9/11attack, it would be Saudi Arabia. Not so. While it took a few months to sort things out, the upshot was tighter security ties between Washington and Riyadh.

Instead, Washington sent troops to Afghanistan ostensibly to force the Taliban government to turn over Bin Laden, who was seeking shelter there (even though the Taliban offered to surrender Bin Laden). Ironically, another reason cited was to protect Afghani women from the Taliban that Washington installed. Many believe, however, that a more pressing reason for Wall Street and the Pentagon was that the Taliban government would not permit the U.S. to build gas and oil pipelines through Afghanistan to bring oil from Central Asia to the Arabian Sea.

In 2010,Wikileaks published secret Saudi diplomatic cables revealing that the Saudis had the dubious distinction of being the most significant source of funding for Sunni terrorist groups (like al Qaeda) worldwide.

Other published cables confirm how the the Saudis cynically use religious shrines in their control. Jihadists soliciting funds slip into the country disguised as holy pilgrims. They then set up front companies to launder and receive money from government-sanctioned charities.

In 2013, under operation Timber Sycamore, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. partnered to fund, arm, and train jihadists in Syria.

The wars on Iraq

As the Soviet Union neared collapse, the Pentagon took aim at governments in the Middle East that werent fully under its thumb. Iraq was the first target. When Kuwait waged economic war against Iraq, including the use of slant drilling technology to penetrate the border and steal Iraqi oil, the Iraqi government sent troops into Kuwait. This was the pretext for the U.S. to form an imperialist coalition to invade Iraq. The Saudis officially requested the U.S to send in troops. The Pentagon stationed 500,000 soldiers in the kingdom, and used Saudi soil as a base to invade Iraq, and later to enforce sanctions and a no-fly zone.

The Sept. 11 attack served as a pretext to invade Iraq in 2003. The corporate media whipped up a hysteria that Saddam Hussein bore responsibility for the 9/11 attacks, even though the Iraqi government and al-Qaeda were on opposite ends of the Middle East political spectrum, had no relations, and did not cooperate. U.S. and British leaders fabricated evidence that Iraq had developed nuclear weapons and posed an imminent threat to the world.

Once again, Saudi Arabia proved essential. U.S. coordinated attacks on Iraq out of the Prince Sultan Air Base near Riyadh, where some 10,000 troops were stationed. U.S. Special Operations Forces operated out of the country, which tapped into oil reserves to stabilize oil prices.

Subsidizing the U.S. arms industry

For decades, the Saudis have bought large amounts of U.S. weaponry at inflated prices. These purchases peaked under the Obama administration when Saudi Arabia agreed to spend over $110 billion on U.S. weapons, aircraft, helicopters, and air-defense missiles. This made it the largest purchase of U.S. arms in history. These weapons are not for defense. The purchases are far more than is needed for any purpose for a country with 22 million people. In effect, the Saudis are subsidizing the U.S. arms industry. Most of the military equipment sits in the desert.

Of course, the arms are used when needed. When the people of neighboring Bahrain rose up against a backward and repressive regime and Saudi ally in 2011, the Saudi military rode across sovereign borders on U.S. tanks and crushed the uprising. There was no outcry from Washington.

Waging genocide in Yemen

Additionally, in 2015 Saudi Arabia started a war to dominate Yemen. The war is currently at a stalemate, with the Saudi bombings and blockade responsible for a cholera epidemic, indiscriminate civilian deaths, and starvation, in what the United Nations calls the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. Tens of thousands of children have died from disease and starvation. The war is waged with U.S. arms. U.S. advisers provide intelligence and training on the ground. Until this month, U.S. planes were refueling the Saudi planes bombing Yemen.

The U.S. has also been conducting its own operations within Yemen as part of the so-called war on terror. These operations include drone warfare, raids, and assassinations.

The Saudi rulers clam that the conflict in Yemen in a Sunni-Shia one. But Saudi Arabia didnt think twice in the 1960s about backing Shiite royalist rebels in Yementhe grandparents of todays Houthisagainst Sunni troops from Egypt supporting a progressive Yemini government.

A cash cow for U.S. corporations

Saudi Arabia continues to be a cash cow milked by U.S. businesses. The kingdom bought $20 billion in U.S. products last year, from Boeing planes to Ford cars. It recently signed a $15 billion deal with General Electric for goods and services, and put $20 billion into an investment fund run by the Blackstone Group.

U.S. banks love Saudi Arabia. The kingdom has paid $1.1 billion to western banks in fees since 2010. And truly giant bank fees are in the offing for JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, who are working with ARAMCO to take that company public.

U.S. universities and corporations grease the wheels for these giant business deals by training the kingdoms managers and politicians, and promoting mutual interests. Many Saudi rulers begin their careers working for U.S. banks and businesses. Fahad al-Mubarak, who governed the central bank from 2011-2016 was previously chairman of Morgan Stanley in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Ministers, include those of finance and petroleum, got their degrees in the U.S.

The kingmakers in this oil-rich country have always been the princes of Wall Street. And the only god worshiped by the U.S.-Saudi unholy alliance is the almighty dollar.

This article was originally published by " Liberation School " -

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==See Also==

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We ask that you assist us in dissemination of the article published by ICH to your social media accounts and post links to the article from other websites.

Thank you for your support.Angry workers of the National Assembly are currently protesting the non payment of salaries arrears and allowances. The protesting workers were said to have barred senators and members of the House of Representatives from sitting at plenary.

Entrances to the two chambers were blocked by hundreds of protesters, sending back any NASS member, who came for plenary  The worker have said, no plenary would hold, until alerts for salary arrears and allowances are received.

More photosSpanish defender, Cesar Azpilicueta Tanco, has signed a new 150,000-a-week contract with Chelsea until 2022. The central defender joined Chelsea from French side, Marseille, in 2012, after spending four years with Osasuna in the Spanish La Liga.

https://twitter.com/cesarazpi/status/1069854339144003584?s=21

https://twitter.com/chelseafc/status/1069850053358034944?s=21

The 29-year-old has notched up over 200 appearances for the blues since joining the London club. He was named Chelsea player of the year in the 2013/14 season. Since I came, I felt the joy and responsibility to play for this club, these fans, and every time I go on the pitch, I try to do my best. Hopefully, there is a lot to come and we can keep Chelsea where it belongs. Azpilicueta told Chelseas official websiteSenator Shehu Sani has called on both government and citizens to stop spreading fake news, as it does the whole country no good. This comes, following clamours by the federal government that citizens should shun peddling false news in the name of freedom of speech or right of opinion.

Speaking on fake news, the senator representing Kaduna Central at the senate, analysed scenarios were both the government and citizens have contributed to peddling fake news.

Speaking via Twitter on Tuesday, the senator said authorities announcing that Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau had died severally was fake news, and inflating the number of causalities of troops, on the part if the citizens, is also fake news.

He wrote:

To repeatedly exaggerate the casualties of our gallant troops by the citizens is fake news;To repeatedly announce the killing and resurrection of the leader of the insurgents by the authorities is fake news.Fake news by the citizens and fake news by the Govt are all bad

He tweetedReno Omokri, former aide to former president Goodluck Jonathan, has attacked the Spiritual Director of the Adoration Catholic Prayer Ministry, Enugu Nigeria, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka for asking Kano state governor Abdullahi Ganduje to sow seed to Gods alter.

The priest during the 2018 harvest and bazaar celebration at his Adoration Ground in Emene, reportedly asked politicians he invited to sow seed for the development of the church.

In his reaction, Omokri said accused Reverend Mbaka of inviting Ganduje, who has been accused of collecting kick backs from contractors, with video evidence, to the House of God.

According to Omokri, this is the same Mbaka who asked Nigerians to reject PDP and vote for the APC in 2015. In a few tweets on Monday, stressed that it was wrong to invite Ganduje to sow stolen funds to the alter of God.

See tweetSenator Ben Murray Bruce has President Muhammadu Buhari must stop ignoring Nigerians at home then go abroad to address foreigners about issues that concern the country.

The Senators response comes days after the president finally reacted to the controversies of being dead and cloned in Krakow, Poland. There have been several conspiracy theories claiming that Buhari died in London, and has been replaced by Jubril from Sudan, whom the federal govenment struck a deal with to give 50% of all Nigerian earnings to cover the swap.

Mr Bruce in his reaction, said the attitude portrayed by the president, repeatedly, of addressing foreigners on core issues concerning the country, has made the international media believe that he feels that Nigerians are inferior and foreigners are superior.

Speaking via Twitter on Tuesday, Bruce said that Buhari has to be told to stop, else he would have greater issues to deal with than the issue of having a double.

He wrote:

President Muhammadu Buhari must be told that the international media believes that he feels that Nigerians are inferior and foreigners are superior and that is why he ignores Nigerians and speaks freely abroad. That must change or the cloning story will be the least of his headache!

See tweetThe presidential candidate for the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, has proffered solution to the frequent shut down of tertiary institutions over poor financing of education in the country.

One of the ways she suggested was to convert the budgetary allocations to universities to grants.

While expressing displeasure with the ongoing strike by members of the Academic Staff Universities Union (ASUU), the ACPN presidential candidate assured Nigerians in a press statement, on Tuesday, that there would be adequate funding for the educational sector if she emerged.

Ezekwesili explained that there was a need to reposition Nigerias universities to make them rank among their contemporaries in the world.

She said, One of the signature programmes of our administration would be TwentyToeRanking. This initiative will focus on the transformation of 20 Nigerian universities and to raise them up to the league of world-class institutions within a seven-year period.

The other signature programme is Grant Autonomy to Federal Universities, which is a core policy change that can facilitate #TwentyTo-eRanking. It implies that our government will grant full autonomy to public universities.

Our administration will end the current centralised control of universities by the Federal Government (or state governments over their own funded universities), which over the decades stifled their growth and performance.

Most top-ranking government-owned universities around the world are known to thrive as a result of de-balancing of the need for accountability for public resources on the one hand, and preservation of their academic freedom on the other.

She also said, Granting autonomy to federal universities will enable institutional differentiations through a competitive race to the top of their performance in how they attract the best students and top faculty.

The Federal Governments current budgetary funding for such universities will be converted to annual grants that are indexed to accountability, performance, results. The overriding objective will be for our public universities to deliver qualitative tertiary education at cost-effective tuition for their students.

University autonomy incentivises individual universities to pursue innovative methods of raising funds beyond tuitions and government budgets.

The presidential candidate identified the need to grant and implement full universities autonomy, lamenting that undue interference by government was affecting the performance of universities.

University autonomy will, especially, deepen research capabilities and building of partnerships within the tertiary education system. This policy will also change university leadership and governance, thereby insulating the institutions from political appointment of vice chancellors that has, over the decades, compromised academic quality and performance, she added.

As a means to ensure that no one is denied tertiary education because of finance, she said, Our administration will ensure that no individual with the requisite qualification and desire to pursue a university education is deprived of such opportunity solely on account of their inability to pay tuition.

Our government shall design and execute a solid financing model that allows for students that meet the requirements for tertiary learning to fund their education, relying on a mix of financial aids, scholarships and student loans.Former presidential aide, Reni Omokri has called out the Spiritual Director of the Adoration Catholic Prayer Ministry, Enugu Nigeria, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka for disgracing Peter Obi, Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) vice presidential candidate for refusing to donate to his church.

Omokri, in a series of tweets on Monday, said Obis refusal to donate to Mbakas church, should be the reason why Nigerians should vote the duo, because they are sure, state resources wont be donated to churches or mosques.

He wrote:

Fr Mbaka disgraces Peter Obi for refusing to donate to his church. That is exactly why you should vote for Abubakar Atiku and Peter Obi. They wont donate public money to churches and mosques. Has EFCC ever looked for Peter Obi? These are the types of leaders we need!

Also Omokri, asked supporters of the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, not to be moved about Mbakas prophesy about Atikuss failing at the polls in 2019. According to him, the same priest, announced Ibrahim Dankwambo, Gombe state governor, would be Nigerias next President during his 2018 prophesies.

In his words:Vanguard

THE Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, said yesterday that police undercover operatives will infiltrate the ranks of political parties and their associates in order to frustrate vote buying in the 2019 general elections.

Thisday

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday toughened the fight against terror, ordering immediate procurement of essential military equipment that could enhance the effectiveness of the soldiers at the theatre of war in the North-east.

The Sun

The Department of State Services (DSS) yesterday paraded a woman, Amina Mohammed, for impersonating Hajia Aisha Buhari, wife of the President Muhammadu Buhari, to defraud unsuspecting Nigerians. Addressing newsmen, DSS spokesperson, Peter Afunanya, said that Amina had disguised as Aisha Buhari to fleece a Lagos-based business mogul of N150 million.

Guardian"US President Donald Trump, in his letter addressed to Prime Minister Imran Khan, has stated that his most important regional priority was achieving a negotiated settlement of the Afghan war. In this regard, he has sought Pakistan's support and facilitation," the foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement.

The spokesman said Trump has also acknowledged that the war had cost both the United States and Pakistan.

"He (President Trump) has emphasized that Pakistan and USA should explore opportunities to work together and renew partnership," the spokesman said.

The spokesman welcomed the US decision and said Pakistan has always advocated a political settlement to end the war in Afghanistan.

"Pakistan reiterates its commitment to play a facilitation role in good faith. Peace and stability in Afghanistan remains a shared responsibility," he said.

Trump was seeking Pakistan's help in Afghan reconciliation at a time when the US had held a series of meetings with the Taliban in Qatar, where the Afghan insurgents have political office.

US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad held three-day talks with the Taliban political envoys last month and more talks are expected to be held this month.

A Pakistani official told Xinhua on December 3 that the US special envoy is likely to arrive in Pakistan on December 4 for talks on Pakistan's role in the Afghan peace process.Donald Duke who is the presidential candidate on Social Democratic Party (SDP) platform has fired his former party PDP in the lead-up to the 2019 election. Before he picked the ticket of SDP, he was a member of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and now he is sure that the PDPs baggage would negatively influence any good intentions of any candidate. Also, he added that if he won the election as a member of PDP, the party would not allow him to perform well as a president.

You can learn more on LEGIT if you want to know the latest news on 2019 presidential election in Nigeria and even more.

On the 22d November, during the meeting with journalists in Lagos, Donald Duke expressed his point of view, claiming that any person even with the best intentions will not be able to implement these intentions being a PDP candidate. He has hinted that the party will have a significant influence on its candidate and this influence will not be positive on the countrys level. He added that the corruption in Nigeria is huge and not to be pulled down and perform well a president-to-be must be unshackled entirely.

We believe that it is not the places that grace the men, but men the places, so every presidential candidate must talk about what he exactly will do to lead the country to the next level of the development and progress.

What about the former governor of Cross River state, Donald Duke? As it was already reported by Legit.ng, Mr. Duke on the 21st of October, 2018 gave his comment on how he will manage to fix the problem with electricity in the country if he will be elected as a president. Donald Duke insisted that he will cope with the task in less than three years. Also, in an interview on Channels Televisions Sunday Politics, Donald Duke expressed his strong belief that Nigeria should use its abundance of gas.A national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu has said Senate president Bukola Saraki, sold the partys mandate for a pot of porridge.

Asiwaju said this, while speaking during the National Consultative Forum themed: Nigeria on the right track, a programme that was put together by the National Committee of Buhari Support Groups.

According to the former Lagos state governor, the present administration can not do without talking about the past, because the past has done a lot of damage to the countrys present.

In his words;David Bradbury and Giorgia Maffini

David Bradbury and Giorgia Maffini have been at the centre of the OECD's work on digital tax. The next step of the BEPS project is to tackle the growing gap between international tax norms and the technological shift in the global economy.

The rise of new, internet-based business models has created challenges for tax policy. Tech companies like Google, Amazon and Facebook, and increasingly companies in other industries, too, don't need a physical presence to operate in a country and the source of the value can arguably come down to the click of a mouse.

According to one theory, the adverts on a social media platform only have value if they have an audience and a captive audience can be incredibly valuable. The algorithms only work to target users who have already entered their data. This theory is the subject of intense debate.

As Adam Cohen, head of economic policy for EMEA at Google, told the European Parliament in late November: "There continues to be a debate about where corporate income tax should be apportioned differently, including whether tax payments should shift from countries where value is created to those where goods and services are consumed."

"Hopefully, any changes will be based on broad international consensus," he added.

Highly digitalised businesses may mean old ideas of presence are inadequate. Likewise, the role of user participation and data collection in value creation raises questions about what kind of threshold such a tax may require.

"The real point of difference in the debate seems to rest around data and user contribution and on that front there were divergent views," Bradbury told the audience at International Tax Review's 2018 Summit on the Taxation of the Digital Economy in London.

"If it's not completely new, then it's certainly happening with a greater degree of intensity than we've seen in traditional business models in the economy," he said.

"This is something that is not new at all but we think it's the scale of reliance on intangible assets that is completely new," Maffini said during a press conference. "We will have to think about how to allocate profit to user participation."

Resolving the dilemma of digital tax may come down to how to apply old concepts like nexus and profit allocation when the global economy has completely changed from when the foundations of international tax were first laid down.

"These are the rules that determine whether or not a jurisdiction has a taxing right in respect of non-resident enterprises," Bradbury said.

Tech companies are concerned about the lack of international coordination and the possibility of multiple countries waging competing claims to tax the same income.

"We have a system that allocates the majority of taxing rights to where products are created, rather than where they're consumed," Cohen said. "It's perfectly legitimate to shift that shift, but it has to be done in concert with global governments [or] there will be conflict in the international tax system."

One possibility is that if the users are the source of value to an online platform, then the state should levy the tax on the number of users. The OECD has been careful not to take a strong position on this question, given the lack of a consensus on the issue.

This has left behind the space for others to make their own plans and the threat of unilateral action remains very real. The European Commission (EC) has taken the bold step of drawing up its own plan for taxing the digital economy.

Tax policymakers have to keep up with the pace of innovation, or they have to find reliable, long-term solutions. But this might not be the only choice to make.

Michael Lennard, the UN's chief of international tax cooperation, pointed out that the aim of perfect agreement around the world might not even serve the best aims of tax reformers.

"I doubt you'll get a complete consensus on the long-term issues, but a consensus might not even be the right result if it means one set of rules for a range of different countries," Lennard said.

"If we need different rules for different countries to achieve the right outcomes, that might be for the best," he stressed.

If this is right, the world may be about to see greater fragmentation as different countries and regions pursue their own way of addressing the problem of digital tax. So the race between the OECD and the EU may just be the starting shot of a much longer track.

Update: Giorgia Maffini left the OECD in June 2018 and joined PwC in August.

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Share this articleIn a bid to boost iPhone sales, Apple has decided to run attractive marketing schemes which include offering hefty trade-in discounts to customers. The company even moved some of its marketing executives in October from other projects to work on marketing strategies to improve iPhone sales.

As per Bloombergs sources, this was a fire drill on Apples part. Over the last few weeks, we have seen Apple unveil new marketing offers for the iPhone XS and iPhone XR. The company is offering additional trade-in credit of up to $300 towards the purchase of an iPhone XS or iPhone XR. It also launched a dedicated store for veterans and active military where it is offering them discounts of up to 10 percent on iPhones, Mac, iPads, and more.

Apple is heavily advertising the trade-in credit offer on its homepage where it highlights that one can get the iPhone XR from $449 provided they trade-in an iPhone 7 Plus or higher. Apple employees have also been told to highlight the new trade-in program to in-store customers. In Japan, wireless carriers reduced the price of the iPhone XR by around $100 using subsidies to spur sales as it was lagging when compared to the iPhone 8 Plus.

It is clear that despite Apples marketing head Greg Joswiak claiming that iPhone XR has been the companys most popular smartphone since its release, iPhone sales have not been up to the mark. In the last few years, Apple has had to rarely offer any kind of additional trade-in credit to attract customers. However, with increasing iPhone prices and the smartphone upgrade cycle increasing, Apple is facing the harsh reality of iPhone sales slowing down significantly. This is perhaps why the company decided that it will no longer be revealing iPhone sales in the future.

These marketing tactics might help Apple boost iPhone sales for the holiday season but after that, the company is likely going to struggle to keep the momentum going.

[Via BloombergFoxconn is considering setting up an iPhone factory in Vietnam to avoid any issues due to the trade war between China and the United States. Apart from Vietnam, Foxconn is also considering Thailand as an option.

Vietnamese state media reports that Foxconn and Hanoi Peoples Committee are actively discussing setting up an iPhone factory in the country.

We are discussing the possibility of this with Foxconn, Loc told Reuters, without elaborating. Hanoi Peoples Committee Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung declined to comment.

While Foxconn did not confirm this move, it would be a bold move from the company if true. Setting up an iPhone factory in Vietnam or Thailand would require a considerable amount of effort from the company as apart from setting up the factory premises, it will also have to look for skilled labors and other supply chain equipment.

Our Take

Apple relies heavily on Foxconn for assembling iPhones. The latter wants to ensure that any rise in import tariff due to a trade war would be negated to a great extent by having its factories across different regions. Foxconn could very well also use its Vietnamese factory for assembling older iPhones and save on import tariff. Apples supplier Pegatron does exactly this in India where it has a factory outside of Bengaluru to assemble older iPhone models thereby bypassing high import duties.

For now, the United States and China have entered into a 90-day truce and agreed not to increase or lay additional import tariffs. It is likely that Foxconn will also take a final call on setting up an iPhone factory outside of China after analyzing the situation post this 90-day truce.

[Via Reuters5G is coming. Its the next major milestone for the wireless networks in the United States, and they have all set their sights on the major upgrade thats going to launch at the end of this year and start its expansion from then on.

Verizon (and AT&T, and Sprint) has already confirmed that it will be welcoming 5G on the back of an unannounced Samsung smartphone. That will probably end up being the Galaxy S10, Samsungs upcoming and oft-rumored flagship smartphone. And in that device will be Qualcomms newest processor, what the company just announced as the Snapdragon 855. Qualcomm officially announced the new processor at its conference in Hawaii on Tuesday.

According to Qualcomm, this new processor will support multi-gigabit 5G download speeds, and it should be an expectation to see this new chipset in most of the major flagship smartphones launched throughout 2019. Qualcomm will tie its X50 5G NR modem with this latest processor, enabling 5G connections in many of next years devices.

Right now, details on the chip are still pretty light. We dont know what benefits the public will see when it comes to things like battery life and general performance when it compares to last years flagship processor, the Snapdragon 845. At this point, Qualcomm has only said this new chipset will offer up to three times the AI performance compared to the previous generation mobile platform. There will also be a new, dedicated computer vision processor which will apparently be able to not only recognize who youre capturing with the capture, but what youre taking a picture of.

We also know that the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 is based on the 7nm manufacturing process.

Apple, for its part, is taking its time with 5G adoption. It is expected that Apple is going to launch its first 5G-enabled iPhone in 2020, and that Intel will be providing the 5G modem under the hood to facilitate those network connections.

[via The VergeChinese President Xi Jinping (L) holds talks with his Panamanian counterpart Juan Carlos Varela in Panama City, Panama, on Dec. 3, 2018. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

PANAMA CITY, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday reached extensive consensus with his Panamanian counterpart, Juan Carlos Varela, on further promoting bilateral relations.

Xi arrived here on Sunday for a state visit to Panama, the first of its kind since China and the Central American country established diplomatic relations in June 2017.

During their talks on Monday, the two leaders spoke highly of the momentum of bilateral relations and cooperation results since the forging of diplomatic ties.

Xi hailed the strong start of bilateral relations highlighted by the exchange of visits of the two presidents and the deepening of mutual political trust.

He also lauded the rapid development of bilateral cooperation in various fields and the achievements made so far led by the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Facts have proven and will continue to prove that the establishment of diplomatic relations is an absolutely correct decision and will benefit the two peoples.

Cementing and developing the China-Panama friendly relations is China's unwavering diplomatic principle regardless of the changes in international situations, the Chinese president stressed.

China supports Panama's efforts in safeguarding the country's security and stability, improving its people's livelihood and increasing its international influence, and in playing a bigger role in promoting regional economic integrity and connectivity, Xi said.

The two countries also issued a joint press communique on Monday to advance the development of their ties.For big food companies looking to gain exposure to new, exciting, potentially faster growing categories, M&A remains a popular route.

But an alternative, especially when it comes to start-up companies, is to make a minority investment. And, over the last two years, an increasing number of major food companies majors have established in-house venture-capital arms to back innovative young companies with bags of potential, with a view to helping them to grow.

This is not altruism of course but such investments should, in theory, benefit both parties, enabling so-called Big Food to tap into evolving consumer trends and learn more about how to innovate and do business in a more agile manner.

Here we look at what some of the major companies have done in this area and at some of their key investments.

General Mills

General Mills has its 301 Inc arm, which outlines its strategy thus: We are seeking emerging food brands with a compelling product, a strategic fit and fuelled by founders that are driven, passionate and arent going to settle for anything less than success.



Investments include:

 Good Culture, a US cottage cheese maker (2016, 2019)

 US snacks firm Rhythm Superfoods (2016)

 Tio Gazpacho, a convenience food firm (2016)

 Kite Hill, a US maker of nut-based dairy products (2016)

 California-based emerging probiotics firm Farmhouse Culture (2017)

 US plant-based protein bar supplier Ds Naturals (2017)

 Purely Elizabeth, a US oatmeal, muesli, granola and cereal firm (deal done 2017)

 Beyond Meat, an alternative protein business (2017)

 Urban Remedy, a California-based plant-based food company (2018)

 GoodBelly, a Colorado-based probiotics food and drink products firm (2018)

 Gathered Foods, the US business behind the seafood-alternative brand Good Catch (2020)

 Pots & Co, a UK-based desserts maker that became 301 Inc.s first overseas investment (2021)

Kellogg

Kelloggs corporate-venture arm, Eighteen94 Capital, has the following proposition: If you have a food-industry consumer product in-market or ready to launch, we have the capital and resources to take it to the next level.

Investments include:

 Kuli Kuli, which makes products using moringa (2017)

 Bright Greens, a US smoothie businesses (2017)

 US mushroom ingredients firm MycoTechnology (2017, 2019 and 2020)

 Cargo (pictured above), a US, in-car product sale business (2018)

 Plantible Foods, a California-based start-up developing plant-based protein, on a B2B basis, from duckweed.

Hershey

The US snacks giant has set up in-house arm C7 Ventures to make equity investments.

In 2019, Hershey acquired minority stakes in Irish snack brand Fulfil and US confectionery maker Blue Stripes through the investment vehicle.

Two years later, the company used C7 Ventures to take part in a Series B funding round for US firm Bonumose to support the commercial production of allulose and tagutose.

Campbell Soup Co.

Campbell Soup Co. unveiled its US$125m venture capital fund Acre Venture Partners in February 2016.

The soup maker owned 99.8% of the fund, an interest the company sold in 2020.

Then CEO Denise Morrison said at launch: We believe that defining the future of real food requires new approaches, new business models, smart external development and an ecosystem of innovative partners.

Investments included:

 Spoiler Alert, a food technology business (2016)

 ImpactVision, also a food technology business (2017)

 Pilotworks, which aids food entrepreneur start-ups (2017)

Muller

In 2019, the German dairy giant set up Muller Ventures, a unit to invest into early-stage start-up companies along the food and beverage value chain to generate a financial return and boost an innovation culture.

The Zurich-based venture-capital arms efforts have so far included an investment in Yofix Probiotics, the Israel-based dairy-free yogurt start-up, in 2020.

Tyson Foods

Tyson Foods, the US meat giant, has a venture capital arm, Tyson Ventures, which was established in autumn 2016 to invest in companies developing breakthrough technologies, business models and products to sustainably feed the growing world population.

Key investments include:

 Beyond Meat, an alternative protein company (2016 and again in 2017. Exited in 2019)

 Memphis Meats, a US producer of lab-grown meat (2018)

 Tovala, a US steam oven and ready-to-cook meals start-up (2018)

 FoodLogiQ, a US food-tech business (2018)

 Future Meat Technologies, an Israel-based lab-produced meat firm (2018)

 US mushroom ingredients firm MycoTechnology (2019 and 2020)

 US plant-base shrimp company New Wave Foods (2019)

In April 2019, Tyson Ventures invested in California-based food safety business Clear Labs.

Kraft Heinz

In October 2018, US food giant Kraft Heinz announced it was launching a venture fund that would invest in emerging tech companies that are aiming to transform the food industry.

Bernardo Hees, then chief executive officer at Kraft Heinz, said at the time: New technological innovations in the food industry create endless new opportunities to strengthen business models. Through Evolv Ventures, we will work with tomorrows most innovative founders and companies in the space, and use the full resources of Kraft Heinz to help them succeed.

Investments so far:

 San Francisco-based food-to-table delivery service GrubMarket (2019)

 New Culture, another firm in San Francisco, focused on developing animal-free dairy cheese products (2019) and again in (2021)

 Flowhub, a Colorado-based cannabis tech firm that works with retailers (2019)

 Zippin, a US-based cashier-less technology start-up that employs computer vision, artificial intelligence (AI), and sensor-fusion technology to provide checkout-free services for retailers (2019)

 Joywell Foods, a California-based sweet protein ingredients business (2020)

just-food interview from September 2019: Were looking 10 years forward  Evolv Ventures Steve Sanger on strategy of Kraft Heinzs investment fund

Mondelez International

In October 2018, the snacks giant behind Cadbury and Oreo launched a business unit aiming to tap into the trends that could drive the future growth of the market.

Named SnackFutures, Mondelezs unit focuses on three areas, one of which is investing in fledgling firms.

The unit has three mandates, which Mondelez dubs invent, reinvent and venture. Its the third of these mandates that focuses on venturing with start-up entrepreneurs to seed new businesses.

Tim Cofer, Mondelezs chief growth officer and who leads the unit, said: Discovering and unleashing innovative ideas in snacking that will delight consumers and drive growth is a key element of our new strategy. We are launching SnackFutures, a new forward-thinking innovation hub, to capitalise on new trends and mobilise entrepreneurial talent and technologies to build and grow small brands with large-scale potential.

Investments include:

 US prebiotic functional foods business Uplift Food (2019)

 US free-from snacks maker Hu Master Holdings (2019); bought outright (2021)

 Israel snacks start-up Torr (2020)

Hain Celestial

Hain Celestial, the organic and natural food specialist, established its strategic platform Cultivate Ventures in November 2016 with a mission to grow strategic investments and act as an incubator of small acquisitions until they reach scale for inclusion in the companys core platforms.

Key investments included:

 Local 130 Seafood, a seafood business

 Maketto, a culinary marketplace

 FoodyTV, a TV food network

 Foodify, an office food delivery firm

 Better Bean Co., a US manufacturer of bean-based products (2017)

Hormel Foods

The US manufacturer behind Spam canned meat and Skippy peanut butter set up corporate-venture arm 199 Ventures in 2019.

Also an incubator, 199 Ventures focuses on four areas: alternative proteins; new business models (such as direct-to-consumer); fuelling foods (which includes personalised nutrition) and food technology, which Hormel says takes in novel ingredients, next-gen food production, food safety and sustainability.

In a statement on the Hormel corporate website, the company says 199 Ventures connects emerging food companies and entrepreneurs to Hormel Foods, our resources, and industry-leading expertise to build collaborative relationships and support their development through strategic partnerships.

In October 2021, Hormel announced it had decided to team up with US ingredients supplier The Better Meat Co. to bring new mycoprotein- and plant-based protein products to the marketplace. The deal was struck via 199 Ventures.

Asked if the corporate-venture arm had invested in The Better Meat Co. or in other companies so far, a Hormel spokesperson said: 199 Ventures can make equity investments to support the strategic development of its partners. At this time, we are not disclosing potential investment partners.

Unilever

Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant, established its Unilever Ventures arm as long ago as 2002. It now has 40 direct investments.

It works closely with the companys incubator programme Unilever Foundry, which provides access to pilot projects, mentorship and grant finance.

Key investments include:

 Froosh, a smoothie brand (2008)

 Gousto, a recipe box company (2014 and 2019)

 Instacart, a grocery store delivery business (2016)

 Sun Basket, an organic and non-GMP food ingredients business (2017 and 2018)

 Milkbasket, a grocery delivery service in India (2018)

In the food area they include organic and non-GMO ingredients business Sun Basket, grocery store delivery business Instacart, recipe box business Gousto, smoothie brand Froosh and Indian grocery delivery start-up Milkbasket.

Nestle

Nestle launched its venture capital fund in 2002. It is managed by an independent company, Inventages Ventures Capital, and is intended to provide the Swiss-based food giant with better access to new science, technology and know-how opportunities, through acquisitions, minority stakes, licensing and joint-ventures.

Key investments include:

 Vital Foods, a digestive aid business

 XO, a canned beverage innovator

 Velle, an oat-based product group

Danone

Danone, the French dairy giant, has a venture capital arm in the shape of Danone Manifesto Ventures, based in New York.

Set up in 2016, Danone said it employs a carefully selected team that is driven, passionate and eager to team up with exceptional entrepreneurs.

Key investments include:

 Yooji, a French baby food start-up (2017) and (2020)

 Kona Deep, a Hawaii-based water business (2017)

 Harmless Harvest, a US-based coconut water supplier (2018 and 2021  the latter investment took Danone to majority shareholder)

 Farmers Fridge, a US vending-machine business (2018)

 Yumble, a meal-kits delivery firm, supplying kids meals (2018)

 Halsa, a California-based supplier of oat-based, vegan beverages and yogurts (2018 and 2019)

 Agricool, a French urban farming business (2018)

 Epigamia, an Indian yogurt business (2019) and (2020)

 Forager Project, a US plant-based organic dairy company (2019)

 Natures Fynd  a Chicago-based firm producing alternative meat products using protein derived from microbes discovered in the geothermal springs of Yellowstones ancient volcano (2019 and 2020)

 Phenix, a Paris-based business dedicated to cutting food waste (2020)

 Laird Superfood, a US plant-based business making products from ingredients such as coconut water and turmeric (2020)

 Ready, Set Food, a California-based business that manufactures supplements which help babies to tackle common food allergies (2020)

 Hungry Harvest, set up in 2014, a US firm delivering oddly-shaped or surplus fruit and veg to consumers homes (2020)

Just Food interview, March 2019: The idea is to embrace change  Danone Manifesto Ventures chief Laurent Marcel on the French groups investment strategy in an industry disrupted

Barilla

Barilla, the Italian pasta and pasta sauce specialist, launched a venture capital fund and innovation hub called Blu1887 in November 2017, the name reflecting the colour of its packaging and the year it was founded.

Blu1877s initial plan was to seed investments in innovators in products and meal solutions connected with Barillas core business and related ones.

Key investments include:

 Regrained Supergrain, a health bar company (2017)

 BluRhapsody, a 3D pasta shaping business (2017)

 Pasta Evangelists, UK-based pasta supplier, primarily a direct-to-consumer business (2021)

In March 2019, Blu1877 was one of a group of investors to back California-based food by-products start-up Planetarians.

Katjes Group

Katjes Group, the German confectioner, has an investment arm called Katjesgreenfood which, as its name suggests, puts money into up-and-coming food brands with an eye on innovation and alternative food sources.

Key investments include:

 Veganz, a vegan supermarket chain in Germany (2016)

 Haferkater, a German porridge business (2017)

 Cate, a coffee and cherries-based drinks company (2017)

 Hemptastic, a hemp lemonade producer

 Seven Sundays, a US muesli manufacturer (2017)

 Foodstirs, a US organic baking start-up (2018)

 Fora, another US firm and supplier of vegan butter (2018)

 Wild Friends, a US plant-based, nut butter spreads maker (2018)

 The Rainforest Company, a business in Berlin marketing products containing acai

 PigOut, a US alternative bacon products start-up (2019)

Grefusa

The Spain-based snacks supplier set up Grefusa Ventures in 2018.

The privately-owned company, which has a brand portfolio including Snatts bread snacks, said it wants to invest not just in salty snacks but further afield.

In 2019, Grefusa announced the divisions first investment, with the backing of Spanish gaming business Play&go Experience.

Thai Union Group

Thai Union Group launched a venture fund in October 2019.

The Thailand-based company, which owns the John West tuna brand, put an initial amount of US$30m into the fund which will back innovative companies that are developing breakthrough technologies in food-tech.

Specifically, it was set up to invest in alternative protein, functional nutrition and value chain technology

The fund made its first investment straight away, pumping an undisclosed sum into Israel-based Flying Spark, which produces larval insect protein as a sustainable and nutritious alternative protein.

In September 2020, the fund invested in food-tech businesses Alchemy Foodtech, Manna Foods Co. and HydroNeo as well as food-tech investment fund VisVires New Protein.

A year later, Thai Union joined Japans Sumitomo, South Koreas Pulmuone and US food major Rich Products Corp. as an investor in BlueNalu, a Californian firm developing cell-based seafood.

In July 2021, Thai Union took part in a US$105m funding round for Israel cell-based meat company Aleph Farms.

Fonterra

In March 2017, Fonterra, the worlds largest dairy exporter launched the Fonterra Ventures Co-Lab  an open platform designed to forge potential partnerships with entrepreneurial individuals and businesses.

A year later, Fonterra announced the divisions first strategic partnership with a stake in Germany-based sports-nutrition firm Goodminton, a holding company that includes local start-up Foodspring.

Fonterra sold its stake in Goodminton in 2019 to Mars.

Orkla

Nordic food group Orkla has more than one investment vehicle.

At a group level, it set up an in-house venture fund in March 2017 to back start-up businesses.

On launch, it said that through Orkla Ventures it planned to build a project portfolio consisting of exciting, relevant growth companies with significant potential.

Orkla Ventures will initially focus on businesses in the Nordic region and Baltic states. It has set aside NOK100m (US$13m then) to invest.

In November 2019, it was announced the fund had invested in Norway-based baby-food start-up Grogro.

Meanwhile, in India, Orkla subsidiary MTR Foods has set up its own investment fund. MTR Foods announced its first investment in May 2018, backing kids snacks start-up FirmRoots.

Rich Products Corp.

The privately-owned US giant, home to brands such as Seapak seafood, Jon Donaire desserts and Byrons Smokehouse barbecue meats, has Rich Products Ventures, a corporate-venture arm that, according to management executives, invests in and supports companies that want to grow in B2B and direct-to-consumer food channels such as foodservice, in-store bakery and e-commerce.

Rich Products Ventures investments have included:

BlueNalu, a business based in San Diego that is developing cell-based seafood (2020)

Tovala, the meal-service and smart-oven company, based in Chicago that has also attracted investment from Tyson (2020)

MyCoTechnology, which provides ingredients based on mushrooms for food and beverage companies (2020)

In 2021, Dao Foods International, an investor in alt-protein businesses in China, announced Rich Products as a backer of its Dao Foods Venture Fund 1. The fund is looking to invest in up to 30 alt-protein start-ups in China.

Warburtons

In 2020, the UK bread major teamed up with local accelerator Mission Ventures to invest in start-ups offering bakery-led brands.

Privately-owned Warburtons and Mission Ventures, formerly known as Grocery Accelerator, said they planned to fund around five UK businesses that incorporated baking in their production process, including baking kits and baked snacks, as well as traditional goods such as bread and biscuits.

A vehicle, Batch Ventures, was set up by Warburtons and Mission Ventures to make the investments.

In February 2021, Batch Ventures announced its first move, investing in UK biscotti maker The Artful Baker.

A month later, it made its second investment  pumping GBP250,000 (US$344,980) into UK healthier snacks firm Insane Grain.

Grupo Bimbo

Bimbo Ventures is the in-house investment arm of Mexico-based bakery giant Grupo Bimbo, set up in 2017 to find and drive entrepreneurs projects.

In 2021, the company used Bimbo Ventures to buy a minority stake in Rule Breaker Snacks, a US-based maker of vegan and gluten-free treats.

Bimbo Ventures has also worked with Mexico-based venture-capital firm BlueBox Ventures to set up a food-tech accelerator for the bakery group called Eleva.

Minerva

The Brazilian meat processor launched a venture-capital fund in July 2020 to target investments in start-ups across the supply chain.

It will be focused on start-ups and tech companies with highly innovative skills, strictly related to Minervas value chain (alternative proteins, logistics, livestock, agri-tech and food retail) that have a long-term potential to enhance synergies, leverage our capabilities and unlock unique opportunities, the company said in a statement, without providing further details.

just-food asked Minerva for more information regarding the targeted geographical markets, the amount of money it plans to invest and the reasons behind the launch, but a spokesperson for the meat processor said no other details would be revealed until it publishes its next set of results.

No further information has yet been forthcoming.

Lotus Bakeries

In summer 2019, Belgiums Lotus Bakeries launched a fund to back emerging companies.

Lotus FF2032 fund  the FF standing for fast forward and 2032 marking the companys centenary  was established to create a platform for investment in promising brands and growth companies offering innovative products, technologies or market approaches within the food sector.

The fund made its first investment in July 2019, acquiring 20% of UK-based sourdough crispbread maker Peters Yard for an undisclosed sum.

Lotus said the fund will invest in companies focused on contemporary consumer demands in the areas of nutrition and convenience, based in Europe or the US. It said it will invest up to EUR30m (US$33.3m at the prevailing exchange rate) in such minority interests.

In August 2020, Lotus announced it had bought a minority stake in US business Love Brands, the owner of corn-snacks brand Love Corn.

Paulig Group

Finland-based food company Paulig Group has an in-house venture capital fund called PINC.

In January 2021 it took part in a US$2.4m seed funding round for Mirai Foods, a Switzerland-based cell-based meat firm.

Zurich-based Mirai, founded in 2019, is believed to be the only cultivated meat player in Switzerland. It suggests it is one of the few companies operating in this field that does not genetically manipulate the animal cells it uses to create meat products, which it predicts will be an important distinction for Europe-based consumers.

In May 2021, Paulig invested in Finnish start-up Carrot Revolution, which owns Carrot Kitchen, a cooking app for children. Paulig led a round of investment of approximately EUR500,000.

Three months later, the company backed a Swedish start-up manufacturing ingredients for use in plant-based foods. Paulig took part in a seed-financing round held by Melt&Marble, which uses precision fermentation to produce fats from yeast.

Zentis

A Germany-based B2B and B2C business, Zentis set up formed Zentis Ventures in 2019.

The vehicles investments to date include two companies based in Berlin: Haferkater, a start-up producing vegan porridge products; and Dorrwerk, which makes snacks and soups.

Calidad Pascual

In May 2021, Calidad Pascual, the Spain-based dairy business, joined the ranks of major food manufacturers that have set up an in-house venture arm.

The family-owned business formed Pascual Innoventures to work with and invest in start-ups doing business in areas including the circular economy, personalisation and health.

Pascual Innoventures, which is run by the third generation of Pascual family, is already working with Spain-based start-up Venvirotech on turning waste into bioplastics.

Tiger Brands

The same month, South Africa-based FMCG group Tiger Brands unveiled a fund with an initial capital outlay of less than ZAR100m (then US$7.1m).

The Tiger Brands Venture Capital Fund was targeted at product areas in which Tiger Brands operates, or in technologies linked to those operations, according to chief executive Noel Doyle.

We believe that this [VC fund] will give us early access to some potential growth opportunities, Doyle explained at the time. He added: We are not necessarily going to see the benefit of it in the next year or two but its something thats essential for us to do. We have to find those high-growth, high-potential businesses.

In November, Tiger Brands said it was close to making its first offer of investment in an unnamed domestic firm. The business, the company noted at the time, is closely

aligned to our health and nutrition strategy.

BRF

In July 2021, Brazilian meat giant BRF made its first venture capital investment, backing Israel-based cell-based meat company Aleph Farms as part of a US$105m funding round. Its contribution was $2.5m.

Dr. Oetker

The Germany-based food major  a manufacturer of frozen pizza to puddings via cake mixes  followed Kraft Heinz in becoming an investor in US animal-free cheese firm New Culture in November 2021.

The investment was made by Be8 Ventures, which is funded by Dr. Oetker.

Be8 was founded in 2020 as an independent venture capital fund that has its investment focus in the food and food-tech industries. Other direct investments it has made include Bluu Bioscience (2021), Glovo (2021) and Planted Foods (2021).

The fund is actively searching for and approaching early growth start-ups with a focus on Europe, Israel and North America. It makes minority investments only (usually between 5% and 10%).We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.In the first of a two-part interview, Greencore CEO Patrick Coveney talks to Dean Best about the private-label manufacturers decision to quit the US and focus on the UK market.

In more than a decade at the helm of Greencore, Patrick Coveney has reshaped and grown the Ireland-based manufacturer into a major player in private label.

Promoted from CFO to CEO in 2007, Coveney has, through organic growth and M&A, created a significant supplier of own-label products ranging from sandwiches and sushi to soups and ready meals.

The path has not always been smooth  Boparan Holdings derailing Greencores move to merge with UK manufacturer Northern Foods in 2011 stands out  but Coveney presides over a business supplying the UKs major grocers with a range of products and with a sizeable presence in buoyant food-to-go categories.

Until this summer, Coveney had also spent the best part of a decade building Greencore into a notable player in the US, supplying retailers, foodservice operators and  through the at the time eye-catching 2016 acquisition of Peacock Foods  acting as a co-packer for some branded manufacturers.



However, in October, Greencore announced it had struck a deal to sell its US operations and would quit the market.

Greencore had had its issues in the US in recent quarters and there had been some investor concern about the performance of its business there. In March, Greencore issued a group profit warning, with its US operations as the central factor. The London-listed group lost nearly a third of its market value on the day, its largest ever one-day fall.

Nevertheless, alongside that profit warning, Greencore set out a series of measures to try to improve the performance of its US business, meaning its decision to sell its US business a few months later did take some by surprise.

A month on from announcing the sale of Greencores US business, Coveney, sitting down with just-food in London, says the company had no intention of quitting the market.

No matter what way I look at it, we got completely smashed in March when we had the unanticipated profit warning but then we had a hard but pretty quick look as to whether we should change our strategy [and] come out of the US. We concluded no. We made a whole series of organisational decisions in the US and the UK consistent with running a two-country business, Coveney says. Then, in mid-to-late August, we got what I can only describe as a unique approach.

US contract manufacturer Hearthside Food Solutions, which itself got new owners earlier this year when private-equity firm Charlesbank Capital Partners and investment manager Partners Group bought the business, tabled an offer Coveney felt Greencores board had to accept.

You had the only real strategic buyer, very keen [and] seeing very significant levels of synergies attached to the combination. It so happens the principal equity owner of that buyer [Charlesbank Capital Partners] was the previous owner of Peacock Foods and therefore had a high level of existing knowledge and understanding of the business. We werent looking to sell but there was a price at which we felt we would have to sell, Coveney insists.

Hearthside Food Solutions and its owners had a US$1.07bn offer for Greencores US operations accepted by the Greencore board.

Thats what they put on the table and, although undoubtedly it is a change versus the strategy that we were pursuing, we felt it was a change that we should embrace in the interest of the shareholders, Coveney says. The root by which this opportunity came was through me, through my relationships with Hearthside and Charlesbank. It was an offer that was shaped by me, taken to our board  cognisant of the issues of change of direction and emotional change  and it was still with a very strong recommendation from me that at this price we ought to engage.

That recommendation must, however, have come with at least a tinge of disappointment for Coveney after spending the bulk of his tenure putting together the US business, even amid the challenges of knocking the business into shape along the way.

I think to be the leader of a business  particularly in a public company, you have to undoubtedly have the kind of financial discipline and focus on value creation for shareholders  but frankly you also have to have a passion and enthusiasm for what you do. I personally really like the US market, loved the kind of entrepreneurial spirit with which we were trying to build out the business there over the last ten years, Coveney reflects.

With a better resourced and more focused business, we should be able to capitalise on changes we see in the UK market more aggressively than we might otherwise have been able to

People from March on would almost commiserate with me on the trauma of the profit warning and this incredible imposition of having to spend a lot of time in America, working with and running our business. Now, I was appreciative of the people being empathetic about the fact we got smashed up a bit with the profit warning but spending more time with our US team, recreating the team, resetting the network, resetting the strategy, deepening our relationship with customers, thats fantastic stuff. Thats what we do, thats what Im paid to do. That really wasnt any imposition at all. And, of course, I miss that, you know? But the reason companies should have strong independent boards is to help CEOs and business teams navigate through those kinds of discussions.

just-food is meeting Coveney the day after Greencore held a shareholders meeting in Dublin to vote on the sale of the US business to Hearthside Food Solutions. The transaction was voted through but Greencore has faced criticism from some investors about the way the proceeds from the sale will reach shareholders. Greencore wants to pay out the bulk of the proceeds as a special dividend but this will incur an income tax liability for some shareholders.

Coveney acknowledges some investors were unhappy with the way returns were to be paid out but insists Greencores shareholders backed the move to sell to Hearthside Food Solutions at $1.07bn.

I have not succeeded in finding any shareholder who wasnt supportive of the decision to sell at that price [but] you then have a series of other challenges. Some shareholders dont want any money back at all. Theyd like us to keep all the money and invest it to grow the business. Some would like the option to take some money back but they dont like the mechanic of the special dividend. Some do like the mechanic of the special dividend, Coveney says. Were really clear that the decision to sell the US business has strong shareholder support. Were also noting that it has created a level of disruption and quite a lot of different opinion around what to do with the money. Thats what were working through at the moment.

A report in The Irish Times after the shareholders meeting said Greencore had faced criticism at the event that the decision to use a special dividend to distribute the proceeds from the US disposal suggested the company is lacking a strategy.

Individual shareholders will say what they say, Coveney says when just-food puts the report to him. The overwhelming view of shareholders is this is a good transaction to do, 97% of them voted for it, there was no arm-twisting on that. Undoubtedly, quite a lot of shareholders are irritated about the mechanism of capital return, in particular retail shareholders for whom they have to treat it as income. In Ireland, thats an up to 53% tax rate. Some of the comments I think need to be seen through that legitimate frustration.

For people saying Is this a change of strategy? Well, self-evidently it is. I think it would be completely incorrect for us to suddenly, in the course of four, five weeks, magic up an entirely new UK strategy because thats not the right way to do it. The substance of how we think about the path for the business forward here is we have always had a great business in the UK. We think the UK market is going into a period where theres going to be a lot of change and that, with a better resourced and more focused business, we should be able to capitalise on those changes more aggressively than we might otherwise have been able to do.

Announcing the sale of the US business in October, Greencore touted its industry-leading position in the UK, which, it said, generates attractive growth and returns. There are, the company told investors, significant opportunities in a dynamic UK marketplace.

Greencore pointed to how the UKs food-to-go category, where the company is a notable player (accounting for around 60% of the countrys sales of pre-packed sandwiches, for example), has been growing at almost three times the rate of the nations overall food sector. And Coveney expects food-to-go to continue to grow at around twice the pace of the market as a whole.

To some people, [the US exit] will feel like a more constrained vision for the company than a global vision of US, UK and other stuff in time, Coveney says. I think the proof of this will just take a bit of time to work through. We certainly internally have a view that we have very exciting things that we can do in the UK and, as that unfolds, some people will think thats exciting and some wont.

But the business will be more focused. Theres no point pretending otherwise. Its not like we have a strategy thats saying Were out of America, lets look at going into Mexico or Italy. Thats not it. Its how do we create value in the UK.

Click here for part two of just-foods interview with Coveney, in which he outlines where he sees opportunities for Greencore in the UK, as well as the challenges facing the business and the industry.Chinese Premier Li Keqiang presides over a meeting with leading officials of some provinces and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on current economic trends and development for next year in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, Nov. 30, 2018. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

NANJING, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- In the face of challenges at home and abroad, Premier Li Keqiang has called for firmer, bolder efforts to expand reform and opening-up, build up growth momentum and push forward high-quality development.

Li made the remarks at a meeting about current economic trends and development for next year, held recently in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province. It was attended by a number of leading provincial-level officials.

China has taken multiple, targeted measures to ensure a stable economy, with major full-year targets expected to be fulfilled, Li said. However, he warned of rising downward pressures amid complicated circumstances at home and abroad.

China will maintain the continuity and stability of policies, with measures to "ensure the proper intensity and tempo and improve the fine-tuning, and guide the market to form stable expectations," he said.

The supply-side structural reform will remain as a major task, and the government will step up support for manufacturing, services and other forms of the real economy, in particular small and private enterprises, according to Li.

China will moderately expand domestic demand and propel consumption upgrades, Li said.

He said China will improve the efficiency of government funds, grant private capital easier market access and accelerate building major projects.

He urged governments of all levels to give priority to employment and build a business environment that is convenient, stable, transparent and fair.

The premier also promised lower taxes and fees, and stressed the role of the labor force in sustainable development.

Li also called on governments to take differentiated measures and make use of the country's economic advantages to ensure the economy will perform well.Greater China will for the first time in centuries overtake the US as the worlds largest fashion market in 2019, according to a new study, amid a year of urgent awakening for the industry as global growth slows. A new report offers the ten trends set to shape the industry during the course of the year.

According to The State of Fashion 2019 report, fashion industry growth is predicted to slow to 3.5%-4.5% in 2019, slightly below estimates of 4%-5% for 2018 when the industry was bouncing back from a relatively weak period. Continuing the trend of recent years, players in emerging Asia Pacific and emerging Europe will lead the way.

However, emerging Asia Pacific is likely to continue its strong performance in 2019, while emerging Europe will probably slow slightly from 2018. Mature Europe and North America will also see slightly slower growth. The overall impact will be slightly less robust global industry growth than in 2018, the report predicts.

China dominance

As such, the report highlights China as the worlds fastest growing market for fashion. The countrys role in the global apparel trade is evolving, and because of its sheer scale, any shift in this role has ripple effects felt around the world.



China is pursuing ambitions to move into higher-value production by upgrading and modernising its apparel manufacturing capabilities, and wages are rising relative to the rest of the emerging world. At the same time, the burgeoning Chinese middle class is flexing its new spending power. China is now using its vast production capabilities to serve its own soaring domestic demand.

Now, the apparel industry is in the midst of being reshaped once again  this time, by the power of new consumers, the report notes. As hundreds of millions of people have joined the middle class in the developing world, particularly in China, they are flexing their newfound spending power by expressing their own tastes through fashion. China is no longer simply the factory to the world. It is the worlds fastest-growing consumer market, accounting for more than 18% of all final goods consumed.

The rise of super winners

Polarisation, however, continues to be a stark reality in fashion. Fully 97% of economic profits for the whole industry are earned by just 20 companies, most of them in the luxury segment. Notably, the top 20 group of publicly listed companies has remained stable over time and now account for around US$25bn of economic profit.

Long-term leaders include Inditex, LVMH, and Nike Inc, which have more than doubled their economic profit over the past ten years. According to the report, each racked up more than US$2bn in economic profit in 2017.

Yet over time, North American department stores have lost traction amongst this cohort, with none remaining in the top 20, compared to three ten years ago. Also of note, online retailers have yet to break into this elite group with none represented in the top 20 at all.

Storms ahead

But for fashion players, 2019 is set to be a year of awakening. The ones who will succeed will have to come to terms with the fact that in the new paradigm that is taking shape around them, some of the old rules simply dont work. Players will need to be nimble, think digital-first and achieve even faster speed-to-market. Consideration will also need to be given on social issues, transparency, and sustainability.

Around 42% of respondents to the survey, which interviewed around 300 fashion executives, are expecting conditions to become worse in 2019. Dealing with volatility, uncertainty, and shifts in the global economy are seen as the top challenges for the third straight year. Fears of an accelerating trade war as China and the US react to each others tariffs, uncertainty over how Brexit will play out, or just a feeling that a ten-year boom is now overdue to tip into recession, are seen as drivers of this pessimism.

Looking at segments, only value and luxury will perform very well in 2019 growing by 5% to 6% and 4.5% to 5.5%, says Achim Berg, senior partner and expert on the fashion and luxury industry at McKinsey. Value will be primarily driven by competitors having very strong propositions that edge out the mid-market players. Luxury, on the other hand, will be fuelled by fast-growing Asia-Pacific economies and the continuing boom in global travel.

Waking up not only to the tougher economic environment, but also to changing consumer trends and shifts in the fashion system, is amongst the top trends to watch out for in 2019, according to the report:

#1 Caution ahead: Downward movements in key economic indicators and other potentially destabilising forces will conspire to create a more cautious mood.

#2 Indian ascent: India will become a focal point for the fashion industry as its middle-class consumer base grows and manufacturing sector strengthens.

#3 Trade 2.0: All companies will need to prepare contingency plans for facing a potential shake-up of global value chains.

#4 End of ownership: The lifespan of the fashion product is becoming more elastic as pre-owned, refurbished, repair and rental business models continue to evolve.

#5 Being woken up: Younger generations passion for social and environmental causes have reached critical mass, causing brands to become more fundamentally purpose-driven to attract both consumers and talent.

#6 Now or never: In the mobile consumer journey, the gap between discovery and purchase has become a pain point for a more impatient fashion consumer who seeks to purchase exactly the products they discover, immediately.

#7 Radical transparency: After years of having personal data owned and handled by businesses, a more distrusting consumer now expects companies to reciprocate with radical transparency and sharing of information.

#8 Self-disruption: Traditional brands are beginning to disrupt their own business models, image and offering in response to a new breed of small emerging brands that are accelerating thanks to decreasing brand loyalty and a growing appetite for newness.

#9 Digital land-grab: As the race to be the platform of choice for both customers and brands intensifies, e-commerce players will continue to innovate by adding profitable value-added services.

#10 On-demand: Automation and data analytics have enabled a new breed of start-ups to achieve agile made-to-order production.When it comes to implementing sustainable practices, the size of a business is less important than the vision of the CEO, delegates were told during one of the sessions at this years Fair Wear Foundation Annual Summit in Amsterdam.

If you are big, your potential impact is also bigger, but of course its more like a tanker you need to shift  and that really requires courage and vision and perseverance and a long-term focus, Anniek Mauser, sustainability director of Unilever Benelux, told delegates.

It is maybe easier as a smaller company, although every size has its constraints and challenges, but it is strongly related to the vision of the CEO to really move the needle. It requires courage and perseverance. That, for me, is the most important qualification thats needed to make these changes.

Alfred Beerli of Swiss clothing company Workfashion.com offered a similar view. Im not convinced that size matters. It depends on the vision the CEO or the owner has. The bigger you are the bigger impact you can make on the market and in the supply chain.

The main difference is, Im the co-owner and Im fully responsible for everything I do. The big companies are owned by lots of people, and the CEOs are probably not driven by vision but they are more driven by bonuses and money. If he messes up he looks for another job. If I mess up then I really mess up.



Outdoor industry approach

For consumers, sustainability is top of mind for some categories more than others, such as outdoor clothing and footwear.

We have a totally different approach because we are not a fashion brand, we are part of the outdoor industry and here the consumer is more conscious about those topics, Christian Schneidermeier, CEO of German outdoor wear retailer Ortovox, told delegates. For those companies its a bigger topic to have something sustainable because the consumers are already on a higher level than the regular fashion buyer.

The company, which has been a member of the Fair Wear Foundation since 2015, sources from 41 companies across 12 countries, with around 61% of production coming from Europe. And it says the continual improvement of working conditions in its supply chain is an ongoing process, as is its work on sustainability.

We have a concept which is called Swiss Wool where we use wool from Switzerland as it does not make sense to transport the wool to Asia for production  so those styles are all produced in Europe. We [have] also increased our staff members, so we have a lot of staff taking care of developing [sustainable] processes in our team.

Schneidermeier admits the company is not paying a living wage throughout its supply chain, due to its size and therefore lack of voice on the factory floor, but says this is a goal it is hoping to achieve through collaboration.

Our goal is to become a Fair Wear leader  this has to be the focus of our activities in the next [few] years and we are ready to work together with our partners and with our competitors in our market because as a small brand, only having 1% or 5% share of the factory, you cant do too much.

In the outdoor industry, brands are sharing a lot of factories, so it should be our joint effort to work, to really cooperate together in the outdoor industry where we have a leverage of more than 50% sometimes in the factories and this could be the start.

Schneidermeier says Ortovox would be willing to pay a living wage if such collaboration was successful.

We are already considered a very high price level brand, so on the one hand its difficult because we cant go too much higher, but on the other side, we are expected to as a high-quality brand. Therefore its not just one aspect  the product needs [to be] a superior quality, a superior functionality, and it also needs a superior message in terms of sustainability. We have to work on those fields, and yes we are prepared to do that and this will be the focus for the next years.Textiles and apparel are, without a doubt, global industries. However, analysis by Dr Sheng Lu, associate professor in the Department of Fashion and Apparel Studies at the University of Delaware, based on the re:source by just-style sourcing tool and data from UN Comtrade, suggests world textile and apparel trade is also becoming more regional.

The importance of regional patterns in world textile and apparel trade reflects both the changing dynamics of the global economy and the shifting sourcing strategies of fashion brands and retailers.

As illustrated in Tables 1 and 2, three regions in the world  Asia, the European Union (EU) and Western Hemisphere (which includes North, Central and South America)  increasingly dominate world textile and apparel exports. Specifically:

Regarding textiles, in 2017 as much as 61.2% of global textile exports came from Asian countries, a new record high and much greater than the 30-40% a decade ago (Table 1). The European Union (EU) as a whole was the second-largest source of textiles, accounting for around 22-25% of world market share in the past ten years. About 5% of world textile exports came from North America (mainly the United States). However, other than the top three, textile exports from the rest of the world have shrunk significantly from 14% in 2007 to only 8.6% in 2017.

Similarly, Asia, the EU and the Western Hemisphere together accounted for 85% of world apparel exports in 2017, almost no change compared with a decade ago. Even though fashion brands and apparel retailers are gradually diversifying their sourcing bases, Asia still supplied a solid 56% of the total in 2017, followed by the EU (25.2%) and Western Hemisphere (3.6%). In comparison, just 15% of exports came from regions other than these top three in 2017, down from 18% back in 2000.



The deepening of the regional production and trade network (RPTN) is a key factor behind the increasing concentration of world textile and apparel exports. RPTN refers to the phenomenon that geographically proximate countries form a regional supply chain. In general, three primary textile and apparel regional supply chains are operating in the world today:

#1: Asia  Within this regional supply chain, more economically advanced Asian countries (such as Japan, South Korea and China) supply textile raw material to the less economically developed countries in the region (such as Bangladesh, Cambodia and Vietnam). With their relatively lower wages, the less developed countries typically undertake the most labour-intensive apparel manufacturing processes and then export finished apparel to major consumption markets around the world. In addition, various regional free trade agreements  such as the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement and the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement  have also helped through the elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers.

#2: Europe  Here developed countries in Southern and Western Europe (such as Italy, France and Germany) serve as the primary textile suppliers. In apparel manufacturing, mass market products are typically produced by developing countries in Southern and Eastern Europe (such as Poland and Romania), whereas high-end luxury products are mostly produced by Southern and Western European countries (such as Italy and France). Furthermore, a high portion of finished apparel is shipped to developed EU members such as UK, Germany, France and Italy for consumption. In addition, thanks to the EU single market, textile and apparel trade between EU members has a zero tariff rate and minimal non-tariff barriers.

#3: Western Hemisphere  Within this regional supply chain, the US serves as the leading textile supplier, whereas developing countries in North, Central and South America (such as Mexico and countries in the Caribbean region) assemble imported textiles from the US or elsewhere into apparel. The majority of clothing produced in the area is eventually exported to the US or Canada for consumption. As in Asia and the EU, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) have played a critical role in shaping and supporting the Western Hemisphere supply chain.

Linked to these these regional production and trade networks, three particular trade flows are important to watch:

First, Asian countries are increasingly sourcing textile inputs from within the region. In 2017, close to 80% of Asian countries textile imports came from other Asian countries, up from around 70% in the 2000s (Table 3). This change reflects the formation of an ever more integrated regional textile and apparel supply chain in Asia. However, the other side is also true: as Asian countries become more economically integrated, textile and apparel producers in other parts of the world may find it increasingly difficult to get involved in the region. We expect this trend to continue with the implementation of several free trade agreements currently under negotiation among Asian countries, particularly the Regional Comprehensive and Economic Partnership (RCEP).

Second, the pattern of EU intra-regional trade for textiles and apparel remains strong and stable. Intra-regional trade refers to trade flows between EU members. In 2017, 55% of EU textile imports and 47% of EU apparel imports came from within the EU region. Over the same period, 68% of their textile exports and 75% of their apparel exports also went to other EU countries (Table 3 and 4). EU intra-regional trade for both textiles and apparel seems to be resistant to unfavourable external factors, such as the regions high labour cost and competition from Asian suppliers over the past decade. However, the uncertainty created by Brexit may post new challenges down the road. As a reflection of the close connection between the UK and the rest of the EU, 67% and 79% of the UKs textile and apparel exports respectively went to other EU members in 2017. At the same time, 45% and 31% of the UKs textile and apparel imports also came from the EU.

Third, trade flows in the Western Hemisphere textile and apparel supply chain are becoming more unbalanced. On the one hand, 80% of textile exports and 89% of apparel exports from countries in the Western Hemisphere in 2017 went to the same region. However, on the other, the Western Hemisphere supply chain is facing growing competition from Asian suppliers. For example, in 2017, only 24.8% of North, South and Central American countries textile imports, and 15.7% of their apparel imports, came from within the region  a record low in the past ten years. If regional free trade agreements, such as NAFTA and DR-CAFTA, no longer existed, it would be even more difficult for the Western Hemisphere textile and apparel supply chain to survive. For the same reason, the regions textile and apparel producers did not regret the US withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). As studies indicated, if Made in Vietnam apparel had been given duty-free access to the US market under TPP, apparel producers in Mexico and DR-CAFTA countries would have been vulnerable to the competition, which in turn would have had a negative impact on US textile mills.

Note: In Tables 3 and 4, WH refers to Western Hemisphere, which includes North, South and Central America.

Looking ahead, it will be interesting to see how will the conclusion and implementation of several new free trade agreements will affect regional patterns of world textile and apparel trade. For example:

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which will take effect on 30 Dec 2018 and include all TPP members except the United States.

The Regional Comprehensive and Economic Partnership (RCEP), which includes member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other six economies in the Asia-Pacific region (Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand).

The EU-Japan Free Trade Agreement, which was reached in December 2017 and is likely to be implemented in 2019.

The US-EU Free Trade Agreement and the US-Japan Free Trade Agreement, which will enter into negotiation in 2019.

The detailed rules of origin provisions in these trade agreements, in particular, could either shape new regional supply chains or weaken existing ones.A crash in slow motion  its the only way one can describe the looming economic fallout should Bangladesh refuse to extend the Accord on Fire and Building Safety. In just one weeks time the Bangladesh government may force this landmark agreement to stop operating out of Dhaka: a disaster for apparel workers safety in an industry scarred by tragedy.

This is because Smart Jeans Ltd, a Bangladeshi manufacturer, challenged the Accord in court. The Bangladesh High Court in May ordered the Accord to end its operations by 30 November.

The Accord has appealed the High Courts decision, in hopes that it will be allowed an extension to 2021. This is precisely what the Bangladesh government and the Accord leadership agreed to in October 2017. The government also set up a Transition Monitoring Committee, as agreed upon with the Accord leadership to determine how and when its transition out of Bangladesh should proceed.

Exposed risk

If the Bangladesh Supreme Court rules against the Accord, it will have to scale back operations, exposing global brands to heightened risks

If the Bangladesh Supreme Court rules against the Accord, it will have to scale back operations, exposing global brands to heightened risks. Global apparel brands cannot afford another factory disaster. As of mid-November, more than 500 factories reportedly risked losing business from Accord signatory brands if they did not expedite repairs to make their premises safe for workers by the end of this month. But without the Accord, the robust monitoring and follow-up cannot happen.



The Bangladesh government and industry associations cant tell the courts how to rule, but they can and should let the court know that they support the Accord. Instead of opposing the appeal, the countrys powerful industry associations should petition the court to extend the Accord. It is their responsibility to protect factory workers safety  but is also in their own self-interest from a business viewpoint to do so.

For its part, the Bangladesh government should bring key facts to the courts attention. Since May 2017, the governments RCC has made progress in developing its capacity. But it still does not match the Accords capacity or infrastructure. It certainly cannot absorb all of the Accords work starting in December. Building its capacity will take years and needs careful planning and resources. The alternative risks leaving workers to toil in unsafe factories, thereby potentially undoing all the Accords successes and prompting international brands to take their business elsewhere.

The Accord has caused consternation among many Bangladeshi factories. Because of its collective brand power and legally binding nature, factories failing to take time-bound corrective action are eventually terminated from the Accords programme.

Termination is akin to being blacklisted. Once terminated, none of the more than 200 Accord brands can do business with the factory. This model of collective business consequences for non-compliant factories disrupted the cushy culture of business as usual for brands and factories.

Yet, the anger felt by Bangladeshi manufacturers is not entirely unreasonable. While brands have put their collective weight behind a much-needed credible fire and building safety programme, their contribution to the costs of social and labour compliance has been entirely inadequate.

Purchasing practices

A 2018 study by the Center for Global Workers Rights, based on a supplier survey of 211 Bangladesh suppliers of international apparel brands (not just Accord brands), concluded that in all major product categories we find a decline in nominal prices paid per unit [garment]. Between 2011 and 2016, the price drop for garments exported to the US was about 11%, in comparison to a 9% decline for EU apparel exports. Bangladeshi manufacturers are right to feel outraged by the hypocrisy brands display when they demand expensive improvements while insisting on cut-rate prices, and in that they will find support from workers and labor advocates.

Over the course of the last few months, Human Rights Watch has been conducting research on brand purchasing practices in other countries, doing in-depth interviews with manufacturers willing to speak anonymously about how brands poor purchasing practices have impacted labour compliance in the factory. Brands are clearly contributing to problems inside factories with their poor purchasing practices.

It is important to expose and rectify the ways brands contribute to problems the Accord means to solve

It is important to expose and rectify the ways brands contribute to problems the Accord means to solve. Recent studies have shown that the way brands do business with factories has a direct bearing on factories social and labour compliance. In a 2016 global survey of suppliers conducted by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), 52% of suppliers in Bangladesh reported that buyers bought apparel below the cost of production. The survey also found that relatively few buyers were willing to adjust prices when minimum wages were increased  forcing manufacturers to bear the whole brunt of those new costs.

Better Buying, a new industry initiative, gives the manufacturers the opportunity to anonymously provide information about brands purchasing practices. Its aggregate reports publicly name brands that have been ranked. Each brand that is ranked can ask to see a private report about its purchasing practices. The number of manufacturers headquartered in Bangladesh who took the survey jumped from one to 37 between the spring and fall 2018 survey cycles. Overall, the number of suppliers who took the surveys dramatically increased between the first and second survey cycles: 156 suppliers from 24 countries to 319 suppliers from 38 countries.

Instead of opposing the Accord and risking harm to workers and the countrys economy, the industrys association should actively support the extension of the Accord. They should also encourage members to take the Better Buying survey and answer the questions accurately and in detail. By doing so, they would help create credible information for investors. Generating more information is key to pushing back against brands being unfair business partners.

Its a small but crucial step in a series of measures that brands should take to walk the talk. Poor purchasing practices can and should be fixed, but that can happen only if the court allows the Accord to stay. Otherwise brands may well flee Bangladesh because the risks are too high. Then factories, workers, and the brands themselves would all lose.

About the author: Aruna Kashyap is a lawyer who works as a senior counsel for the womens rights division of Human Rights Watch. Her work focuses on womens labour and economic rights and violence against women. She has also researched and litigated in India with a leading legal aid non-profit, India Center for Human Rights and Law, where she worked on juvenile justice, sexual abuse, and childrens rights to education and food.MOSCOW, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Kremlin denied allegations by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko Monday that the recent seizure of Ukrainian naval ships proved Russia's plans to take Ukrainian ports on the Sea of Azov.

"This is an absolutely absurd statement. Actually it is another attempt to somehow provoke tensions," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Last week, Poroshenko told German Funke Media Group that Moscow was allegedly planning to seize two Ukrainian ports to build a land corridor between the insurgent Ukrainian region of Donbass and Crimea, which was incorporated into Russia in 2014 following a local referendum.

Peskov said Poroshenko used this statement to boost his ratings ahead of the presidential election in March 2019.

The spokesman also rejected Kiev's allegations that Russia was blocking traffic to and from Ukrainian ports on the Sea of Azov, saying that navigation has continued as normal except for occasional suspensions because of bad weather.

He also commented on Poroshenko's statement that he could not reach Russian President Vladimir Putin during and after the Kerch Strait incident on Nov. 25, when Russian forces shot and seized three Ukrainian naval ships citing their violation of the Russian border in the Black Sea.

"I can only confirm that there really has not been a telephone conversation between Putin and Poroshenko since the incident. Currently, as far as I know, no such a conversation is planned for days to come," he said.

U.S. President Donald Trump canceled his meeting with Putin, initially scheduled for Saturday during Group of 20 (G20) summit in Argentina, due to the Kerch Strait incident.While North Africa accounts for more than US$10bn of the continents US$13.54bn in clothing and textile exports, the much discussed potential of sub-Saharan Africa as the worlds next sourcing hub is starting to materialise, an industry conference has been told.

Even so, sub-Saharan African garment and textile manufacturers still have a long way to go to increase capacity, develop the supply chain and diversify overall production.

Preferential treatment to access Europe and the US is what is driving investment in Africa, said Navdeep Sodhi, partner at the Switzerland-based Gherzi Textil Organisation, which has carried out 100 assignments in Africa, including the training of 10,000 workers and operators in Kenya.

Egypt is the continents largest clothing and textile producer, with US$1.6bn in garment exports forecast for this year, according to the Readymade Garment Export Council of Egypt (RMGEC). The country has a free trade agreement with the US, while sub-Saharan African countries have preferential access to this critically important market through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

Around 70% [of total African clothing and textile exports] is from three countries  Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt  the rest of Africa only 30%. That is where theres potential, said Sodhi at last weeks Destination Africa trade exhibition and conference in Cairo.



But for sub-Saharan African nations to become clothing and textile exporters rather than importers (imports of clothing and textiles were worth US$21.56bn in 2016, according to international trade data) they should learn from the success of East Asian outsourcing hubs that have progressively taken less time to reach the crucial export threshold of US$5bn.

It took Bangladesh eight years, Vietnam seven years, and Cambodia five years, so it takes between five to ten years to move from the first US$1bn to the threshold of US$5bn, said Sodhi.

Attracting investment

Ethiopia wants to emulate Bangladeshs US$29bn in garment exports, and in 2017 announced a target of US$30bn for textile and garments exports by 2025. But more may well be required. We are amused when African countries target US$5bn; it is meaningless, as you first need to get to US$1bn, said Sodhi.

And for manufacturing to take off, Africa should attract [major] players to change the face of the industry, he added.

This is already starting to happen beyond North Africa, with new outsourcing centres emulating Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt, which are long-established manufacturing hubs for global brands.

Ethiopia has attracted investment from a number of the worlds leading garment manufacturers, including Hong Kongs TAL Apparel, which has set up premises in the Hawassa Industrial Park, south of the capital Addis Ababa. Indias Raymond Group, a US$1bn company, has also established a suit factory at Hawassa, and fellow Indian manufacturer Arvind has set up a shirt manufacturing facility at the plant. Other tenants include Epic Group, Hirdaramani Garment, and fabric mill Wuxi Jinmao.

Even companies in Bangladesh are beginning to look at Africa seriously as they feel theyll lose duty-free status in a few years [to Europe], and to access the US market, so there is an anticipation for companies to invest. The ball is in the court of Africa to attract them to flourish, said Sodhi.

Egypt and Ethiopia have been particularly proactive in attracting manufacturing capacity, both offering tax holidays and trade zones, with Ethiopia providing land for free at Hawassa. A Chinese delegation, comprised of the public and private sector, attended Destination Africa, looking to scope out possibilities.

Li & Fung scaling up

What could really drive growth is the entry of Hong Kong-based Li & Fung into Africa, the worlds leading supply chain solutions partner for consumer brands and retailers, handling US$16bn in volume a year.

In Africa weve only done 0.1% of our total volume  around 6 million pieces out of 5bn pieces  and that is not enough, said Jason Kra, president of the FRC division at Li & Fung.

Out of US$111m worth of product the supplier sourced from Africa during 2017, around US$30m was from Egypt. By 2019, Li & Fung wants to double that figure. By 2022 we will aim for US$350m, with US$210m from Africa, the rest from Egypt, said Kra.

To achieve such growth, Li& Fung has brought to Africa 13 companies from China and Bangladesh with combined exports of US$1bn, including three fabric mills and garment companies such as Shanghai Dongxia, HYT, Azim Group, Gilwood, Maxfung, and Cobalt, for example. We are looking to buy factories or establish partnerships, but its best to have partners, said Kra.

The firms initial focus will be Egypt. Our short-term focus is how to scale up in Egypt, and then start in other countries in a bigger way, he added.

This approach fits the current trend as the North African country is better established as a production hub, said Eihab El Zaher, export manager at Sweet Girl, an Egyptian garment producer, and member of the RMGEC.

Ethiopia will take five to ten years to scale up as its infrastructure is not there yet. But it is the buyer that dictates investment and forces manufacturers to set up according to their needs, he said.

China focus

Indeed, Chinese companies, along with Western buyers and retailers, are increasingly requiring more sustainable production as African nations gear up to become the next manufacturing hubs.

China is going to invest abroad, and it will increase very rapidly. As the situation in Africa is like Chinas industry 30 years ago, my suggestion is first, before we start production, we should consider sustainability, and consider environmental protection and employees, said Zheng Jian, international project director, Office for Social Responsibility, China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC).

That said, while proximity to Europe, especially from North Africa, is an upside for manufacturers, it is the continents low wages that are a particular boon, as higher electricity rates and financing costs in most African countries mean spinning is not viable, said Sodhi.

Average monthly wages in China have reached US$600, US$275 in Vietnam, and US$130 in Bangladesh, whereas in Ethiopia it is US$75, in Uganda US$100, and Egypt US$125, according to Gherzi figures.

US buyers certainly expect sourcing from China to fall in the near future, according to 67% of buyers recently polled by the United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA), said Matthias Knappe, programme manager for cotton, textiles and clothing at the International Trade Centre in Geneva. Rising garment demand in China is also expected to divert production away from exports.

Everyone is talking about China selling more clothes domestically, with the market maybe growing by 50%, he suggested. Even if it is 10%, that is more than Morocco exports as a whole to the EU. How can we make sure part of the pie goes to Africa? We need to find a way to work together. Knappe noted that in the first six months of the year, imports to Europe from China declined by 6.4%, while Egyptian and Moroccan exports were also negative year-on-year.

What may really trigger growth is the US-China trade war, with Chinese manufacturers set to lose out on the US market due to higher tariffs.

If the trade wars become more severe China will move business elsewhere, and African production will speed up. I dont think the US consumer will pay, say, 20% more to have a Chinese made garment, but the challenge for us is capacity, said Samer Riad, general manager of the Riad Group in Cairo.

Deeper ties

Egypt stands to benefit particularly through its Qualifying Industrial Zones (QIZ), where Egyptian garments have to have 10.5% of components from Israel to enter the US tax-free. The QIZs were established in 1996 to help normalise relations between Egypt and Israel, generating more than US$8.6bn in exports, according to the RMGEC. As a result, the QIZ is pretty safe as a tripartite agreement, no one will touch it, said Zaher, while Cambodia and Vietnam could come under the line of fire from the US due to China being the major investor in East Asian garment manufacturers.

A US delegation was also at Destination Africa to deepen bilateral ties. The US says it is coming to Egypt as an alternative to China, and we can see the Chinese are interested in investing in Egypt, said Sherin Hosni, executive director of the RMGEC.

A new industrial city is to be opened at the end of the year in the New Suez Canal area, to the east of Cairo, that is geared at Chinese investment, as well as in the industrial zones of El Minya, in Upper Egypt, some 245 km south of the capital. Foreign companies are allowed to employ non-Egyptians up to 10% of their workforce.

After a dip in exports following the 2011 uprising, Egyptian garment exports have gradually rebounded, growing by 14% in 2017 to reach US$1.4bn, and by 9% to September 2018, to US$1.2bn, according to RMGEC statistics. I think we will not exceed US$1.6bn this year, so around 10% to 11% growth, said Hosni.

While Egypt wants more foreign investment to bolster production, sub-Saharan Africa is seeking both foreign and continental investment, which is happening gradually. Companies born and raised in Africa, like Sunflag, [in Tanzania]; Fine Spinners, in Uganda; and [Egypts] Nile Clothing Company, which understand Africa, are also investing in production, said Sodhi.

Looking ahead, key to continental growth will be adding value, said Jas Bedi, chairman of Kenyas Export Promotion Council and chairman of the African Cotton and Textile Industries Federation.

We have huge potential, with duty-free to Europe and the US, and the need for speed, I can see more verticality in the supply chain, and investment in textiles. The numbers will start changing, and its going to be driven by buyers looking for a 35-day delivery time.Creating a truly sustainable global garment industry requires input from all players, including brands and retailers, business associations, trade unions, governments, NGOs and the end consumer, was the message at this years Fair Wear Foundation Annual Summit.

The key stakeholder here is the consumer and consumer awareness, Anniek Mauser, sustainability director of Unilever Benelux, told delegates. We should buy less. But Im very afraid if we look at the global figures that people generally are buying more clothes and that, on average, the lifetime of a garment becomes shorter and shorter. Those are two contradictory movements, and there I see the biggest challenge.

Fazlee Shamim Ehsan of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), shares a similar view on consumer responsibility. The end consumer mindset is very important for the garment industry. The consumer has to care about the product; how it is sourced and why its sourced. This is the most important thing.

For others, however, government involvement is key to creating change. Safia Minney, founder of fair trade apparel company People Tree, points to the UK governments implementation of the Modern Slavery Act, which requires brands earning GBP36m (US$46.2m) or more to report on modern slavery in their supply chains.

Its a great start to be a Fair Wear Foundation (FWF) member, and the consciousness is very important for consumers, but it really is time now for law enforcement. Thats really the missing link.



Tony Tonnaer of denim brand Kings of Indigo suggests a way of raising awareness amongst consumers might be for other governments to replicate a tax benefit system in Amsterdam that rewards consumers for buying sustainable products.

The consumer is the one who decides, and to get the consumer on board, one thing is to make amazing products. Be very critical of who makes it. How is it made? What is the composition? How is it woven? How is it washed? Be very specific. It makes your job much more fun. It creates a good story and the market is ready for good stories.

Ive been making sustainable garments since 2003 and I see a huge difference in mentality in the market and we need to enhance that by giving consumers a clearer benchmark, an easier choice  what is a good garment, and what is a bad garment? Be very specific. And buy less, buy better, use it longer, be fair, recycle, upcycle. Trade barriers and trade wars definitely do not help. We need to focus more on working together.

Taking responsibility

But as well as the consumer, industry needs to play its role, the speakers agreed. Ehsan praised the work of the Bangladesh Accord and Alliance in making the countrys garment industry safer.

On behalf of all the producers, we would like to thank the Accord. They have done a tremendous job in Bangladesh. We are most grateful to this initiative, and also the Alliance. Ehsan says it will now be the job of local manufacturers and the government to end their job respectfully and in the right way.

A safe working environment, however, is just one piece of the puzzle. Ensuring workers are paid a living wage has also been pushed to the top of the agenda for brands and retailers, and Ehan believes this is a responsibility that should be shared along the supply chain.

Its not a single person responsibility because its a chain product. The manufacturer should have the mindset that if he has extra from the buyers to share it with the workers. The same, if the buyer can get more from the consumer, he can share it with the producers. And the consumer will have the mindset they are contributing to a better living standard. We can pay maybe less than 1% more. Its enough to pay living wages. Everyone should have some stake.

Unilevers Mauser, however, believes the buck stops with governments to secure a decent wage. While Tonnaer of Kings of Indigo, which operates online and sells through the likes of Asos and Zalando, believes it is crucial to get all brands on board.

I would love to pay a living wage. I dont have any influence. Big companies are slow movers. Theyre not easy to change. Nobody can increase prices very quickly. But I believe the price of garments has to rise a little bit and then we will be more careful about what we buy.

Joined-up marketing

For consumers, one way of ensuring they are buying a sustainable product is through label recognition, with the Fair Wear Foundation, Fair Trade, and the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) to name a few. But is this just adding to the confusion?

Mauser believes there is a lot to learn from certification schemes like Fair Trade, but says that joining up marketing forces would help create more perspective for consumers.

In the end, you want to have as little labelling as possible. The forest of different labelling is like the history of how the product developed, she explains. On the backhand they are probably 80% the same. There is a huge opportunity to really join forces and to prevent 10-15 different labels and make sure it is all focused on one system. And therefore collaboration is very important.

Tonnaer offers a similar view. For him, raising consumer awareness starts with producing good quality clothes at a reasonable price, and with a good story.

The internet is a great tool. These days people are so curious about everything and more and more information can be shared through these platforms to create awareness. And you need to be completely transparent, even if youre not perfect. There is a lot of confusion about what is good; too many labels and certifications. We all have work to do.The digital disruption of the apparel industry from manufacturing to retail is being driven by virtual reality, 3D modelling, artificial intelligence and voice technology. So to be successful into the future, companies along the supply chain must embrace these new tools to better connect with consumers.

Some very dramatic changes are taking place in how retail is being done, Rahul Mehta, president of the Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI) and past president of the International Apparel Federation (IAF), told delegates at the latter organisations recent 34th World Fashion Convention in Maastricht.

In fact, the very definition of retailing is going through change, he adds, with the retailer no longer acting as a physical link between the manufacturer and the ultimate consumer. Instead, manufacturers can sell through portals like Amazon, or direct via their own websites.

But the one constant seems to be that whether online or offline, whether through an intermediary or direct, the consumer is looking for some kind of an experience when shopping.

And retailers are increasingly turning to technology to help. With artificial intelligence (AI) offering greater capabilities behind the scenes, and customer-facing solutions such as virtual try-on technology on the rise, retailers are feeling the pressure to continuously experiment in a bid to keep the consumers attention.



Technology is the driving force behind everything we see at the moment, says Jorgi Abraham, managing director of the Ecommerce Foundation, a community for ecommerce professionals that aims to facilitate global digital trade. It really is changing our world, from manufacturing to retail  and consumers are changing as a result. For us, the challenge is to compete in an entirely new market on a global scale.

But its not a case of simply rolling out virtual stores. Thats just copying the old model onto a new technology, Abraham says, explaining the success of magic mirrors  which allow consumers to virtually try on clothes, and can offer advice on complementary styles  is down to the fact they add value to the shopping experience.

Meanwhile, the influx of personalised subscription offerings means todays customers dont even need to know what they want: they can simply rely on companies such as Stitch Fix, which combines Netflix-style algorithms with human intuition and curation, to recommend products they are likely to enjoy.

Weve only now really found the drill to get the big data out of the ground and really use it, Abraham says. You see it happening: artificial intelligence is used to personalise customer experiences, to better align delivery routes. Its used throughout the entire supply chain, the entire sales process.

But while AI has the potential to enable retailers to sell in a better way, perhaps the biggest disruptor is voice technology. With one-in-two US consumers using voice technology today, and voice shopping expected to be worth US$40bn by 2022, Abraham says it will significantly impact the way retailers sell.

We started selling more in a physical space, then we went to the web, then we went mobile. Now we are very, very rapidly going towards voice.

But with this slew of technological advancements comes a battle between tech giants Facebook, Apple, Google, and Amazon to bring the latest innovation to market, with retailers caught in the middle.

For us as manufacturers, as retailers, its going to be a challenge to stay, Abraham acknowledges, adding in todays shopping sphere, consumers only need to see an item and say buy because Ebay knows my sizes, Amazon knows where I live, and Google has my credit card.

The word buy will be enough to allow purchasing in the future, he says.

A new consumer

At the same time as the retail industry is undergoing rapid transformation at the hands of new technologies, a different consumer is beginning to emerge.

The new consumer is about I, myself, and me  Jorgi Abraham

The new consumer is about I, myself, and me, Abraham says. Google sees it in the way searches are done; its all about themselves. We as retailers and manufacturers have to live with that and meet these expectations.

The best way to do that is to focus on the most valuable asset consumers have: time.

Competing on price is very difficult, Abraham adds, but with consumers willing to pay 40% more for convenience, helping shoppers save time and facilitating cross-border shopping is key.

Its amazing how fast we are starting to shop across the world. The consumer has discovered China and honestly, the younger generation does not mind shopping across the world. They trust people from China just as much as the retailer around the corner.

Embrace change, invest in tech

But with further change on the horizon, including the expected rise of the Asian economy and the consequences it may pose for closed e-commerce, how can retailers survive in this new era?

Jeff Streader, US investor and ex-COO of Billabong, Guess Jeans and VF, says retailers need to understand the consumer is in the driving seat, embrace change, and invest in technology.

The reality is that the customer is in control  Jeff Streader

The reality is that the customer is in control, he adds. She connected, shes smart, and she doesnt want to be told where to shop. Shes in control. But retaining customers, which is really what its all about, is not an easy job.

You have to have the right inventory. Understanding this, understanding the consumer, has never been more important.

Currently managing director of Go Global, a brand investment platform for the textile, apparel and footwear industry, Streader points to the success of Stitch Fix, to demonstrate the power of AI.

The digital transformation of our industry, which is being driven by artificial intelligence, is really going to change the way all of us retail and work, and the way that we consider our engagement with our customer.

Another success story is an app developed for footwear and accessories retailer Aldo. It allows users to like or dislike products, enabling the firm to get a sense of who the customer is and make recommendations.

They know what you like, Streader explains. Aldo and others are building a profile to target you with products that make sense. This will lead to a better customer experience.

In addition, machine learning or customer listening as it is also known, offers a way for retailers to get back in the water, Streader says.

They have to build an intimate relationship with the customer, or theyre going to go away. You have to understand who she is by investing in the technology or providing more accuracy and transparency to be able to respond to her faster. Your retail customer, your branded customer, your suppliers are all going to share information with you because they need you; thats part of the win-win, the partnership. My advice is to prepare for this and build your digital awareness.

In the modern supply chain, this means manufacturers embracing technology too, Streader says, adding IT no longer just means computer maintenance, it now encompasses an entire department that builds the bridges required to better connect with consumers.

Thats where this is going. You have to pursue new technology, not just automation of your factoryits way more than that.

Digital sampling, show roomingall of these things are absolutely coming and as a manufacturer, you need to be ready for this. Please do not turn your back on technology. Its not just a retail thing.

Equally important is switching from antiquated business models operating on-premises  where software runs on computers on the premises of the organisation using it  to a remote facility such as a server farm or cloud.

We had all these different machines that did not talk to one another, he reflects. Bridges had to be built between these machines so they could speak.

Switching to the cloud, or cloud computing, means storing and accessing data and programmes over the internet instead of on a computers hard drive. Its this software-as-a-service (SaaS) approach that Streader says is making companies quickly change their business models in order to be more robust.

And again, its not just best practice for brands. As manufacturers, this is not just for your retailer. This is also where you have to go and what you need to do.

Garments of the future

At the London College of Fashion, Matthew Drinkwater is leading the charge in working with emerging technologies at the facultys Fashion Innovation Agency. The department strives to close the gap between the fashion and technology industries and helps designers and brands change the way they make, sell or show their collections.

When you can get 3D models that are beginning to look photorealistic, then I think you have the opportunity to explore really interesting ways to retail, he says.

With advances in 3D fit and body model generation, designers can now create a garment digitally and put it to market before it has even been manufactured.

What weve seen happening is people virtually trying products on and then coming to a physical location to buy, Drinkwater explains, adding that as depth sensing and facial tracking improves on mobile devices, were going to see an awful lot more of this.

Within the next six to 12 months, well be able to really capture and track your entire body from a mobile device. When you can do that, it starts to offer some really exciting opportunities.

And consumers are ready. Everyone has a mobile device and I think everyone has used pinch and zoom to move things around. Consumers want this kind of content, theyre used to it, theyre ready for itgive them a more immersive experience and theyre ready to engage.

Consumers want this kind of contentgive them a more immersive experience and theyre ready to engage  Matthew Drinkwater

Meanwhile, with more and more advancements in 3D software and digitisation of garments, Drinkwater says it is becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate between a real garment and its digital counterpart. When we get to that point, youll have amazing opportunities.

The Fashion Innovation Agency has also been experimenting with virtual and augmented reality, shooting garments from collections separately so the items can be mixed and matched on an avatar when viewed via a headset.

When we showed this to this world, suddenly retail got excited. But what if that avatar was you? What if you could virtually try on, walk all the way around?

Most people have never stood in a room with a real life hologram, Drinkwater says, but when they experience it, it evokes an emotional reaction. As retailers, emotion is absolutely everything to your experience. In a world where I can buy whatever I want, whenever I want it from wherever I am, we have to think about what is the purpose of a store, of a location?

Emotional experiences, immersive experiences, are going to change the way that we engage with retail in the future. We need to provide excitement and emotion for consumers.

In addition, Drinkwater adds that when you can start to change peoples perceptions through digital and visual effects, it will ultimately open the door to a new type of garment. It may take five to ten years but at some point, we will be talking about a new type of garment; one that is augmented by computer graphics.

We are very clear that this new roadmap of technology is going to lead to a new generation of experimental fashion.

Click here to read more coverage from the IAF World Fashion Convention, including how US apparel giant VF Corp is working to become a purpose-led company.By this time next year, there could be as many as 30 garment manufacturing factories that are owned and operated by Asia-based companies in Haiti, according to Georges Sassine, president of the Association des Industries dHaiti (ADIH).

The Caribbean country has seen an influx of Asian-owned businesses since early 2017 and Sassine says there are presently almost 20 such garment factories in Haiti.

South Korean operators are leading the charge with 10 factories. Indeed, one South Korean company, S&H Co Ltd (SAE-A)  with SAE-A Trading its parent company  started operations in Haiti in 2012, and has since gone on to become the largest employer in the countrys clothing sector with more than 13,000 workers.

Taiwanese firms have also built three factories, and one is operated by a subsidiary of Sri Lanka-based MAS Holdings.

Giri Chandrasena, general manager of special projects for MAS Akansyel, says Haitis close proximity to the US, the companys largest market, was a driving force in its decision to set up shop there. That decision was also influenced by the USs Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement (HOPE) Act of 2006 and the Haiti Economic Lift Program (HELP) Act of 2010.



This has played a key role in making Haiti a favourable manufacturing destination for MAS, says Chandrasena. Given the potential duty benefits, we have been able to convince our premium customers to partner with us in Haiti.

The company makes active, athleisure and sportswear and in June 2018 celebrated its one-year anniversary in Haiti. Its factory is located inside the Parc Industriel de Caracol (PIC), in the north-east of the country.

Labour availability

Sassine says that in addition to Haitis proximity to the US and the benefits of the HOPE and HELP acts, the availability of labour also makes the island very attractive to Asian business owners.

The level of unemployment is very high in Haiti, says Sassine (14% in November according to data service Trading Economics). So, people want to work, they dont care who owns the factories. For them, all factories are the same.

Chandrasena says the company has received a very warm welcome from Haitians, with support from both the government and the non-governmental sector.

At present, MAS employs around 1,000 Haitians at its facility and is looking to take on 600 more workers. In addition, it has broken ground within the islands bustling apparel industry by ensuring that all employees have bank accounts. There is an automated teller machine (ATM) within the company compound.

All employees at MAS Akansyel have bank accounts, says Chandrasena. This comes at a cost to the company. Through this, we avoid cash payments and salaries are deposited directly into each employees bank account. All our employees are given transport to and from work and are provided with uniforms.

Sassine adds that some Asian-owned garment factories pay well above the minimum wage for the sector.

Last month, Haitis government published a decree giving a 20% increase to garment manufacturing workers, moving their salary from HTG350 (US$5) to HTG420 (US$6) per eight-hour working day. The wage increases took effect on the same day they were announced. But garment worker unions say the rise is not enough.

Challenges

But he says that while there is a lot of promise for the industry in Haiti, there are also some challenges. While Sassine expects at least a dozen more Asian-owned garment manufacturing businesses to start operations by mid-2019, he emphasises that the supporting infrastructure is lacking.

The main challenge is the lack of buildings, which we are frantically trying to solve, he says. Right now, we have two new businesses already established but they are waiting for buildings to use.

Another issue is a shortage of skilled workers, he says, although he believes this can be remedied through Haitis two training centres, where people are being trained specifically for the garment sector. The challenge is to train more people continuously to ensure workers are competent and available.

Sassine adds that garment manufacturing businesses owned by Haitian firms have no quarrel with overseas investors since the market is big enough for everyone to share.

MAS Akansyel is not only ramping-up production at its first factory in Haiti in a sustainable manner, Chandrasena says, but it has also been encouraged to look at expanding its production footprint and is presently looking for space to further expand its Haitian operations.

Other industry insiders in Haiti have also told just-style they are optimistic that the sector can continue expanding in size, as long as the Caribbean countrys government delivers economic and social stability: Haiti garment makers hopeful on future expansionThe Bangladesh High Court has postponed its hearing over the future of the Transition Accord in a move that leaves the alliances future in doubt for another week.

In May, the Court ordered the Transition Accord, as it is now known, to end its operations by 30 November. The safety alliance has since appealed the High Courts decision to allow an extension to 2021  the hearing for which took place yesterday.

The High Court has now scheduled a new hearing on 6 December and lifted the restraining order until that date, during which time the Accord will continue its operations. According to the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), the hearing took place amidst mounting international pressure and calls from the international community for the permanent removal of the order.

Given the grave consequences expulsion of the Bangladesh Accord would bring for workers and the overall garment industry, it is imperative that this threat be permanently ended next week, it said.

The governments Remediation Coordination Cell (RCC) is set to oversee workplace safety and remediation once the Transition Accord ends. However, CCC believes it is not prepared to take on the responsibilities of the Accords inspection programme, despite the Governments claims to the contrary.



All evidence points to a lack of readiness, including a recent report by the Bangladesh Sustainability Compact  a cooperation agreement between Bangladesh, the European Union, the United States, Canada, Bangladesh and the International Labor Organization  which shows that the national inspectorate fails to act transparently and has only one third the amount of inspectors to monitor twice as many factories as are currently covered by the Accord.

The Bangladesh Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments, which carries out inspections for the RCC, reports a woefully low 29% completion rate for mandatory safety renovations at factories the government is ostensibly regulating, it continues. The average progress at Accord-covered factories is 90%. Until the Government of Bangladesh demonstrates the capacity and political will to regulate the industry, the Accord is essential to protect the safety of workers.

Because the Accord is a binding agreement between unions and apparel brands, it will remain in effect through 2021, CCC says, with all brands remaining bound to their obligations under the agreement, including the obligation to cease business with any factory that refuses to operate safely.

However, without a local office, CCC says the Accord would have to use international engineering firms to carry out inspections, and the Accords ability to monitor and verify remediation progress would be severely curtailed, with grave consequences to workers safety and the progress achieved over the past five years.

Earlier this month, the European Parliament passed a resolution urging the Bangladesh Government to allow the work of the Transition Accord on Fire and Building Safety to continue beyond November this year.

In passing the resolution, the European Parliament also called on the Bangladesh Government to act urgently to address deteriorating human rights conditions in the country. In particular it points to the ongoing crackdown on freedom of expression and association, labour rights abuses and anti-union discrimination and extrajudicial killings.The US and China have declared a 90-day ceasefire in the US-China trade war following the meeting between President Trump and President Xi on the sidelines of the G20 in Argentina.

The truce, agreed on Friday (30 November) by US president Donald Trump and Chinas president Xi Jinping, has been welcomed by US associations representing apparel and footwear brands and retailers.

The move allows talks to take place between the two sides. Had a deal not been struck, tariffs on US$200bn worth of Chinese goods would have risen from 10% to 25% at the start of 2019.

The trade war has seen the US and China hit each other with escalating tariffs and US industry groups have openly voiced their concerns about the impact on brands, importers and manufacturers, and consumers.

American Apparel & Footwear Association President and CEO Rick Helfenbein said the AAFA is encouraged by the news. The resumption of talks between the US and China is encouraging for our industry, as we are dependent on complex global supply chains for our marketplaces around the world.



While we are pleased that American consumers have been protected from additional tariffs on most of our products to date, this announced 90-day reprieve on increased and future tariffs is promising and we hope it will lead to the swift removal of the punitive tariffs already imposed by the administration. We will continue to emphasise to the administration the need to stop taxing American consumers to the detriment of our retail economy. In that light, we will be watching the negotiations closely.

The National Retail Federations CEO Matthew Shay adds: The administrations decision to give diplomacy a chance and at least temporarily avoid the imposition of increased and additional tariffs is an encouraging sign.

We hope this 90-day tariff pause will lead to a positive resolution that removes tariffs altogether and improves US-China trade relations.A three-year roadmap set out by ten of Chinas largest viscose fibre producers to improve sustainability from sourcing to production, has been described as short on ambition and will not meet NGO requirements.

The plan, which comes from the Collaboration for Sustainable Development of Viscose (CV)  an initiative launched earlier this year in partnership with two Chinese textile trade associations  was compiled in response to rising scrutiny over the sustainability of sourcing and production of viscose, a regenerated fibre made from cellulose.

It aims to help members improve and benchmark their sourcing and manufacturing practices against a set of credible, practical and widely accepted international sustainability standards.

However, a report by the Changing Markets Foundation, Dirty Fashion: Spotlight on China, claims the new initiative allows members to pick and choose between different standards and lacks ambition and transparency.

More specifically, it says the CV Roadmap lacks ambition by not obliging its members to achieve the highest level of the Chinese Clean Production Standard for viscose, or a standard that would align with EU Best Available Techniques (BAT).



The report also says there is also a lack clarity and transparency by failing to provide publicly available information about how the Roadmap will be enforced, monitored, verified and whether it will sanction non-complying members.

At a time when major fashion brands such as Next and Inditex are sending a clear message to their suppliers to commit to responsible production of viscose, it is hugely disappointing to see such shortcomings in the CV Roadmap, says Urska Trunk, campaign adviser at Changing Markets.

It is a weak attempt to clean up the Chinese viscose industry and much more needs to be done to ensure that Chinese producers are aiming for the same level of ambition as other industry players. In its current format, brands and retailers should not consider membership of the CV initiative and commitment to the CV Roadmap as proof of good environmental performance.

Rapid development

The rapid development of Chinas textile industry has become one of the biggest threats to its environment, the Foundation says. China is the largest textile producer in the world and has a 63% share of the global viscose market. The new report also claims Chinese viscose factories  including sites operated by the members of the CV initiative  continue to violate government regulations.

Viscose is the third most commonly-used fibre in the world, with the potential to be a sustainable alternative to oil-derived synthetics and water-hungry cotton. However, many viscose manufacturers have yet to adopt responsible production methods and sustainable wood sourcing practices.

Changing Markets says eight brands and retailers  Inditex, Asos, H&M, Tesco, Marks & Spencer (M&S), Esprit, C&A and Next  have pledged to integrate its own Roadmap towards responsible viscose and modal fibre manufacturing into their sustainability policies. The Changing Markets Roadmap sets the viscose industry on a pathway to closed-loop manufacturing in line with what are currently the most ambitious guidelines for cleaner viscose manufacturing: EU Best Available Techniques (BAT).

We are engaged in working on the Changing Markets Roadmap towards more responsible viscose and modal fiber production, says Sara Bermudez Couto, head of product safety and environmental sustainability at Esprit. Achieving this ambitious roadmap is only possible by a joint approach of all stakeholders in the different areas of the viscose industry. We are looking forward to be part of this work and move the viscose manufacturing forward towards a more sustainable industry.

A spokesperson for Asos, meanwhile, said: Asos is committed to more responsible viscose production so welcomes initiatives to improve the viscose industry. Only by aligning with a higher level of ambition can viscose producers minimise the impact on the environment, workers and local communities.Hong Kong-based Global Brands Group (GBG) has sold its kids apparel business in China and is preparing to embark on a substantial restructuring programme as it revealed falling sales and a net loss in the first six months of the year.

Group revenue on a like-for-like basis was down 4.1% in the six months ended 30 September to US$699m, primarily due to a decrease in the companys China kids and home business.

Revenue from GBGs mens and womens fashion division edged up 1.8% to $265m, but total margin dropped by 22.2% to $81m. Kids sales, meanwhile, were down 11.9% to $142m, with total margin down by 12.5% to $27m as a result of lower sales in China and Europe due to challenges in retail environment.

The company moved to a net loss of $284m in the period from earnings of $26m a year earlier. Total margin narrowed to 26.8% from 31.4% in the year-ago period as a result of higher royalty and heavier discounting.

Compared to the same period last year, operating costs jumped by 48.9% to $321m, mainly due to gains related to the sales of Fryes intellectual property, and Sean John Asia, and the US home business.



Global Brands Group says it is now implementing a substantial restructuring programme in order to reduce operating expenses and drive efficiencies throughout the company. This will involve simplifying company processes, from design to product development and sourcing, while crafting plans to move these functions closer to the needlepoint. There are also plans to use new technologies such as 3D design and virtual sampling, to accelerate the product design and development process.

As we embark on our new journey, I believe that our unique competitive strengths, our global platform and the scale of our distribution capabilities, will enable us to take advantage of the opportunities ahead, says CEO Rick Darling. We will continue to grow our portfolio organically, further build on the strengths of our brands, and expand our CAA-GBG Brand management business, particularly in Asia, while ensuring the strength of our balance sheet.

Darling, however, warned on what he said will be a challenging environment ahead, in which the company will need to continue to innovate.

Trade tensions between the US and China continue to affect our industry in the US Brexit uncertainty has emerged as a growing concern in the UK and Europe, he explains. Raw material prices are rising globally. The US retail scene, while strong, is shifting with new winners and losers. The direct-to-consumer segment continues to grow both online and physically and has created many new brands that are emerging to grab market share.

In a separate announcement, Global Brands Group revealed the sale of its GBG Stallion Holdings business  the wholly-owned subsidiary of which, GBG Stallion (Shanghai) Retailing Co. Ltd is a distributor of kids clothing lines in China  to Grafham Holdings in a deal worth $20m.

The company says the business was underperforming and it therefore wanted to eliminate its exposure to operating losses as a result. It will also release resources, allowing the group to focus on its remaining core businesses.

Grafham will have absolute control over the GBG Shanghai business with effect from 1 October 2018. The company is headquartered in the British Virgin Islands and is a part of Fung Investments, the private investment arm of the families of Dr Victor Fung Kwok King and Dr. William Fung Kwok Lun, the controlling shareholders of the Fung Group.Top stories on just-style in November include an interview with Pamela Mar, director of sustainability at the Fung Group and EVP of Supply Chain Futures for the Fung Academy, how the US-China trade war could accelerate sourcing from Africa, and reports of poor working conditions, low wages, modern slavery and human trafficking in the UK garment industry. Meanwhile, the United Nations (UN) is preparing to launch the UN Alliance on Sustainable Fashion next year.

1. Digitisation is key to upgrading Asias fashion factories. Just do it responsibly, says Fung Groups director of sustainability

Digital technologies, robotics and artificial intelligence are starting to bring more speed, efficiency and transparency to apparel supply chains  but less well documented is their potential impact on job losses and social unrest, especially in Asia. Its a balancing act that Pamela Mar weighs up in her roles as director of sustainability at the Fung Group and EVP of Supply Chain Futures for the Fung Academy, as she tells just-style.

2. US brands ponder sourcing switch away from China

The ongoing trade dispute between the US and China could accelerate the trend for American apparel brands to shift their sourcing away from Chinese suppliers  but any such moves will pose challenges.



3. US-China trade war could accelerate Africa sourcing

While North Africa accounts for more than US$10bn of the continents US$13.54bn in clothing and textile exports, the much discussed potential of sub-Saharan Africa as the worlds next sourcing hub is starting to materialise, an industry conference has been told.

4. Ethiopia gets US$1.2m boost to accelerate economic growth

Ethiopia is to receive a US$1.2bn boost from the World Banks International Development Association (IDA) to help accelerate the countrys economic growth and achieve its vision of becoming a lower-middle-income country  a move expected to attract more foreign investment and raise export revenues.

5. Ethiopia invests $7bn in infrastructure and power projects

Ethiopia is to invest US$7bn in new infrastructure and power supply projects, amid plans by the countrys central government to boost economic growth and investment.

6. UK manufacturing  a ticking time bomb or sourcing gold?

Reports of poor working conditions, low wages, modern slavery and human trafficking in the global garment industry are usually focused on factories in Asia. But its happening closer to home as well. As more UK retailers look to reshore some of their sourcing, the local industry has come under intense scrutiny  and the findings are not good. Here executives from across the sector tell just-style whats going wrong, and why tough government action is needed.

7. Why technology is key to the future of smart retailing

The digital disruption of the apparel industry from manufacturing to retail is being driven by virtual reality, 3D modelling, artificial intelligence and voice technology. So to be successful into the future, companies along the supply chain must embrace these new tools to better connect with consumers.

8. UN to launch Alliance on Sustainable Fashion next year

The United Nations (UN) is preparing to launch the UN Alliance on Sustainable Fashion in March next year, in a bid to create an industry-wide push for action to reduce fashions negative social, economic and environmental impacts.

9. Vertical fashion firms are setting the pace on go-to-market

Fashion firms are continuing to wrestle with the challenges of taking decisions quickly and meeting deadlines  and admit they are struggling to speed their go-to-market processes to keep up with fast-moving consumer buying behaviour.

10. VF Corp inks deal for new Jeanswear business headquarters

US apparel giant VF Corp has named historic textile mill Revolution Mill in Greensboro, North Carolina, as the future home for select functions of its Jeanswear business.A doctor of the 19th China Medical Team in Rwanda examines a woman in Kigali, capital city of Rwanda, on Dec. 3, 2018. The 19th China Medical Team in Rwanda on Monday provide employees of a China-aided government office project with free health care service and knowledge about preventing infectious diseases. (Xinhua/Lyu Tianran)

KIGALI, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- The 19th China Medical Team in Rwanda on Monday provide employees of a China-aid government office project with free health care service and knowledge about preventing infectious diseases.

Rwandan Government Administration Office Complex, being constructed by China's Top International Engineering Corporation from 2016, consists of the Office of Prime Minister with eight floors and wing buildings of ministries and commissions. The complex building is able to accommodate 1,100 people to work.

All the 15 members of the medical team, including those working at Kibungo Hospital, some 80 kilometers southeast of Kigali, joined the activity at the construction site in the capital city, checking up and treating both Rwandan and Chinese employees.

The Chinese medical team hopes to meet the medical needs of the project employees, especially Rwandan employees who have poorer economic conditions, said Yang Wenhui, chief of the team.

Chinese medical team also wants to support Chinese enterprises doing aid projects overseas through the team's work, she told Xinhua.

The free treatment helps employees identify their health problems and solve their difficulties in health care, said project manager Zhu Zhen.

"It's a good action. You help us to know our health conditions, so that we can take care of ourselves," said Jacques Jean Ishimwe, a Rwandan working at the project.We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

Go to formADDIS ABABA, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- The first Africa-China business forum kicked off here on Monday as Ethiopian and Chinese businesses aspire to create partnership in various sectors.

The China-Africa business forum, which is underway in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa from Dec. 3 to 5 with a theme of "China-Ethiopia Industrial Capacity Cooperation Exposition," also hosts various other side events, including the a high-level business expo, industrial capacity cooperation forum, investment promotion conference, and visit to some of Ethiopia's industrial parks.

Some 46 Chinese companies are currently showcasing their products and services at the first edition of the high-level Africa-China business forum.

Speaking at the opening session of the forum on Monday, Melaku Ezezew, President of the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations (ECCSA), emphasized the strong business and investment ties between Ethiopia and China, both at government as well as business level.

Ezezew also noted that the business forum and the expo will help companies to forge "strong working partnership."

The event, which is scheduled to be held on annual basis in the future, is co-hosted by ECCSA and the China International Exhibition Center (CIEC).

According to Deputy Manager of CIEC, Liu Jian, the visiting high-level Chinese companies have planned to utilize the opportunity to create business partnership and joint venture with Ethiopian and other African businesses.

The expo, sponsored by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade in partnership with the China-Africa Development Fund, will serve as a platform in creating linkage among African and Chinese business people, Liu said.

The event is aimed at deepening the comprehensive partnership of Ethiopia and China so as to encourage the operation of industry and commerce of the two countries, according to ECCSA.Sebelum Anda bermain, Anda perlu mengetahui apa yang Anda butuhkan untuk masuk ke dalam permainan roulette kasino online ini. Jika Anda sudah mendaftar di situs judi casino online dan sudah memberikan user ID, login terlebih dahulu dan pilih menu live casino yang tertera di situs judi tersebut. Pertama pilih dealer dan putuskan sendiri, lalu pilih meja atau kursi di dalam ruangan. Jika namanya tertera dan berwarna coklat, maka kursi tersebut sudah ditempati oleh pemain lain, dan pilihlah kursi kosong berwarna hitam.

Kasino Roulette adalah salah satu permainan paling populer di situs perjudian kasino. Jadi dalam permainan ini kamu harus menebak angka berapa yang akan keluar. Ada 36 nomor berbeda dalam permainan populer ini di mana sebuah bola kecil diputar dan dilemparkan ke dalam mesin roulette. Anda harus menebak dari mana bola kecil itu masuk dan di nomor berapa ia berhenti. Ada banyak jenis pilihan angka dari 0-36, dan mereka dihitung secara berbeda. Sebagai agen casino terpercaya, panduan permainan roulette ini juga memberikan informasi tentang jenis pilihan dan nama permainan roulette casino online sebagai berikut:

Jika Anda ingin bermain roulette di situs kasino online, caranya sangat sederhana. Anda dapat bermain di Kasino ION, Kasino Sbobet, dan Situs Kasino. Di bawah ini adalah artikel panduan bermain di mana Anda dapat mempelajari roulette langsung dan memainkannya di situs judi online mana pun.

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Sebelum Anda bermain, Anda perlu mengetahui apa yang Anda butuhkan untuk masuk ke dalam permainan roulette kasino online ini. Jika Anda sudah mendaftar di situs judi casino online dan sudah memberikan user ID, login terlebih dahulu dan pilih menu live casino yang tertera di situs judi online tersebut. Pertama pilih dealer dan putuskan sendiri, lalu pilih meja atau kursi di dalam ruangan. Jika namanya tertera dan berwarna coklat, maka kursi tersebut sudah ditempati oleh pemain lain, dan pilihlah kursi kosong berwarna hitam.

Panduan Bermain Online Kasino Roulette

Kasino Roulette adalah salah satu permainan paling populer di situs perjudian kasino. Jadi dalam permainan ini kamu harus menebak angka berapa yang akan keluar. Ada 36 nomor berbeda dalam permainan populer ini di mana sebuah bola kecil diputar dan dilemparkan ke dalam mesin roulette. Anda harus menebak dari mana bola kecil itu masuk dan di nomor berapa ia berhenti. Ada banyak jenis pilihan angka dari 0-36, dan mereka dihitung secara berbeda. Sebagai agen casino terpercaya, panduan permainan roulette ini juga memberikan informasi tentang jenis pilihan dan nama permainan roulette casino online sebagai berikut:

1. Straight Up: Penempatan angka tunggal dari 0 hingga 36. Contoh perhitungan straight up adalah mengalikan taruhan dengan 35. Ini adalah jenis taruhan tertinggi dalam permainan roulette kasino, jadi 50 dikalikan dengan 35 memberi Anda 1750, mengapa jenis taruhan ini menghasilkan pengembalian yang begitu tinggi? Hal ini karena tidak mudah untuk memenangkan pilihan nomor dengan memilih hanya satu nomor dari banyak.

2. Taruhan split: Jenis taruhan yang ditempatkan pada dua angka atau di antara dua angka yang berbeda. Misalnya, menempatkan di sela-sela angka 9 dan 12 atau 13d dan 14 dihitung sebagai jenis taruhan split. Setiap nomor dapat ditempatkan dalam jenis ini selama nomor tersebut berdekatan dan persis seperti Gambar A dan B. Untuk taruhan ini, jika Anda memenangkan contoh dan mengalikannya dengan 850, Anda akan menerima jumlah taruhan yang dikalikan dengan 17. .

3. Taruhan jalanan: bertaruh dengan 3 angka ke bawah, misalnya 1,2,3 atau 10,11,12. Semua taruhan jalan akan menerima kemenangan dikalikan dengan 11. Misalnya, 50 dikalikan 550.

4. Taruhan sudut: Jenis taruhan di mana empat angka ditempatkan saling berhadapan, seperti 13,14,16,17 atau 19,20,22,23. Semua angka valid karena terdiri dari 4 angka yang diisi seperti kotak dan taruhan dikalikan 8 (misalnya 50 kali 800).

5. Taruhan baris: Atau, Anda dapat mengatakan bahwa ada 6 jenis taruhan yang terdiri dari 2 baris, tetapi 6 poin dengan 2 peregangan, seperti taruhan jalanan. Misalnya, jika Anda memilih angka 7 hingga 12 dan 13 hingga 18, taruhan 50 adalah 5 kali dan kemudian dikalikan dengan 250 kemenangan.

6. Kolom Inner Bet: Jenis taruhan vertikal dengan 12 poin berturut-turut, seperti kolom numerik 1,4,7,10,13,19,22,25,25,28,22,24,34 atau kolom lainnya. Dan jika dia memenangkan kolom, 50 taruhan digandakan dan 100 taruhan.

7. Lusin : Jenis taruhan menempatkan 12 angka tetapi menempatkannya pada kotak berbentuk seperti contoh Kolom A dengan angka 1 sampai 12 dan odds dengan kolom lain untuk dipilih dengan memilih 1 kotak pertama untuk Kolom A. Kalikan dengan 2, 50 taruhan 100.

8. Zero part : Cara bertaruh 0.1,2,3 sama persis seperti di gambar, karena berdekatan dengan angka 0, anda hanya bisa bertaruh 0.1,2,3. Menempatkan taruhan ini mengalikannya dengan 50. hingga 8.

9. Zero Corner: Bertaruh pada angka 0.1,2 atau 0.2,3 adalah dua pilihan karena Anda hanya bertaruh mendekati angka nol. Jenis taruhan ini dikalikan 11 jika taruhan menang.

10. Two Dozen: Jenis taruhan dengan hanya dua pilihan: 1-18 atau 19-36. Jika taruhan Anda adalah 50, itu dikalikan dengan 1 hingga 50 jika Anda menang.

11. Merah atau Hitam: Masukkan taruhan Anda dengan memilih Merah atau Hitam sebagai warna angka yang muncul saat taruhan 50.

12. Genap/Ganjil: Pilih angka yang menghasilkan jumlah jenis taruhan ganjil.HARBIN, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- China imported 23.37 million tonnes of crude oil from Russia through the China-Russia oil pipeline in the first ten months of 2018, up 71.35 percent year on year, authorities said Monday.

According to Harbin customs, the main impetus behind the increase is the second line for the China-Russia oil pipeline that began commercial operation in January, raising China's annual import capacity of Russian crude oil through the pipeline from 15 million to 30 million tonnes.

The second line starts from Mohe, which borders Russia, to the city of Daqing in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, passing north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The first line was put into use on Jan. 1, 2011, with an annual capacity of 15 million tonnes, starting from the Russian city of Skovorodino to Daqing.

The China-Russian oil pipeline has reduced costs and raised the efficiency of China's oil imports from Russia, which had previously relied on rail transport.Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.Chinese Ambassador to Portugal Cai Run(L) receives an interview with Xinhua in Lisbon, Portugal, on Nov. 28, 2018. The upcoming state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Portugal is historic and a milestone in the development of China-Portugal relations, which will open a new chapter for bilateral ties, said Cai Run. (Xinhua/Zhang Liyun)

LISBON, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- The upcoming state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Portugal is historic and a milestone in the development of China-Portugal relations, which will open a new chapter for bilateral ties, said Chinese Ambassador to Portugal Cai Run.

It will be the first state visit by a Chinese head of state to Portugal in eight years and also the first visit to Portugal since Xi took office as Chinese president, Cai said in an interview with Xinhua.

The friendship between China and Portugal has a long history with more than 500 years of exchanges, Cai said.

The ancient Maritime Silk Road linked the people of China and Portugal ly, which helped them understand each other and deepen friendship, the Chinese envoy said.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1979, the friendly exchanges and cooperation between the two countries in various fields have maintained a steady and healthy development, he said.

Sino-Portuguese relations are at their best in history, he said, adding that high-level exchanges between the two countries have been frequent and mutual political trust has deepened continuously.

In recent years, China-Portugal economic and trade cooperation has continued to deepen and achieved fruitful results. China is Portugal's largest trading partner in Asia, while Portugal is one of the main destinations for Chinese investment within the European Union (EU).

Chinese and Portuguese companies have joined hands to develop markets in Portuguese-speaking countries, as well as in Europe and America, Cai said, adding there are great potential and broad prospect for them to further cooperation in third-party markets.

Bilateral trade value between China and Portugal reached about 5.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2017.

Preliminary figures show that China's investment in Portugal has exceeded 9 billion euros (about 10.2 billion U.S. dollars), involving sectors such as energy, electricity, banking, insurance and health care.

Portugal's investment in China is also growing steadily. At present, the Portuguese government is actively preparing for the issuance of renminbi-denominated bonds in China. Portugal is expected to become the first euro zone country to issue such bonds.

Cultural exchange and education cooperation between China and Portugal have also been flourishing.

More than 250,000 Chinese tourists visited Portugal last year, an increase of over 40 percent year-on-year. At the same time, the Portuguese people's interest in Chinese and Chinese culture has become increasingly stronger. The number of Portuguese tourists visiting China so far this year has increased by 16 percent compared with the same period last year.

The number of students studying Chinese in Portugal has increased year by year, while the number of Chinese students studying in Portugal is also on the rise, according to Cai.

The pragmatic cooperation between China and Portugal is in full swing and is becoming a model for countries that seek mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation in bilateral ties, Cai said.

The cooperation between China and Portugal under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has continuously made new progress, he said.

Portugal is an important partner in the construction of BRI and one of the founding members of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

Both Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Prime Minister Antonio Costa made it clear that Portugal supports the BRI and hopes that China and Portugal could expand pragmatic cooperation in various fields under the BRI framework, Cai said.

Portugal is an important member of the EU and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries. It has always played a positive role in promoting China-EU relations and the relations between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, Cai said.

The Chinese ambassador believes that President Xi's state visit to Portugal will certainly inject new impetus to the development of China-EU relations and will expand new space for the cooperations under BRI.

"Bosom friends make distance disappear," Cai said, quoting a Chinese poem. He said that even though China and Portugal are located far apart, the two peoples love peace, hold dear friendship, value family, and share many common pursuits.

To strengthen China-Portugal relations on a friendly and mutually beneficial basis is the common aspiration of the two peoples, Cai said.Against this backdrop, a former unification minister predicted on Tuesday that Kim could come to Seoul between Dec. 18 and 20.







"I was told that a government official reportedly said Kim has no fixed schedule on Dec. 18, 19 and 20," former Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyun said in a

. "So I think he could come on the days."







is well known for his ample knowledge of North Korea, built on his experience of serving the nation as unification minister between Jan. 2002 and June 2004.







"Dec. 17 is the anniversary of the death of Kim's father, so it's impossible for him to come," Jeong said. "And he is set to become hectic from Dec. 20. If he comes and stays on Dec. 18, 19, 20, it will happen exactly three months after Moon's visit to Pyongyang on Sept. 18-20. Given that Kim has cleared the three days of schedules, I expect that Kim would come (to Seoul) during those days."







Jeong dismissed the possibility of Kim visiting Seoul in the week of Christmas.







"Christmas has no meaning in the North," he said. "Furthermore, Seoul would be bustling around the time."







Jeong said if Kim is really supposed to visit Seoul this year, the two Koreas would have already been in talks  in a clandestine manner  to set up Kim's itinerary and other details.





Orion Delaj from Albania arrived in Korea in 2017 to escape murder threats for something other members of his family had done. Swearing not to go back, he was determined to settle in Seoul as a refugee. But having had no response from the Korean government, he sees his hope for a new life gradually disappearing. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk









By Ko Dong-hwan







Orion Delaj's life in Seoul is simple. He goes to a one-hour Korean language lesson at Yeonam Global Village Center in the trendy Hongik University campus area in Mapo-gu every Monday and Wednesday. After that, the 26-year-old Albanian's days pass by quietly.







He lives in a tiny one-room apartment called a "gosiwon," a housing style notorious for a room that barely holds a single bed and a desk, in the western Seoul district. Before this, he lived in another gosiwon in Gangnam-gu for six months.







"I cannot do anything these days, spending days on my own, wandering around, trying to meet good people," said Delaj, who came to Korea and applied for refugee status in November 2017, but has not received any call or mail from the government since.







"But sadly most people I have met were bad with fake promises and schemes, asking me for money so they could help me with a visa. I didn't give money to anyone."







The temporary G-1 visa holder, who must revalidate it every three months, describes his life in Korea as a "nightmare." He wakes in the morning and does not know what to do, constantly asking himself what he is going to do, what will happen to him.







"I knew my life in Korea would not be easy," said Delaj, whose parents send him money sometimes and want him to leave Korea. "But the problem is that this (way of life) is not human."







He does not know what he would do if he goes back to Albania.







"What do I do there? It has no future for me. There is nothing else. Not only Albania, but all over Europe."







A gosiwon room fits little more than a single-size bed, a desk and a closet. Korea Times file









Delaj fears going back to the Europe because of murder threats from the Albanian mafia. He himself did nothing for the mob to hold a grudge against him. But he bears a scarlet letter  the price for a dispute between his family and another family more than a decade ago. The grudge has continued down through the generations.







The blood feud, which has trapped members of Delaj's family and the other family, will last until both parties bury the hatchet. Until then, surviving male members, excluding women and children, are reluctant to leave their homes for fear of being assassinated.







The mafia murdered his uncle, Elidon Delaj, in Barcelona, Spain, in September 2006. Spanish police claimed the case was linked to rivalry for illegal trafficking on the Iberian Peninsula, leading to the "mafia execution," according to an Albanian news article dated to June 2008.







In September 2012, Orion's cousin, Amarildo Delaj, was shot dead in front of his bar in Vlora, Albania. He was riddled with more than 10 bullets, according to local news reports.







Delaj claims his uncle and cousin were victims of "the Kanun"  an Albanian book of laws dating from the 15th century that codified the right to take a life to salvage honor from an earlier wrong.







From 1945 to 1991, the country's communist dictatorship suppressed the Kanun and its code of honor, punishing participants in any blood feud. But the 1997 economic crisis led to widespread social disorder, and the old life-taking practice resurfaced.







To curb Kanun's practice, the Albanian government reformed state institutions and courts and police arrested blood feud participants. But these national efforts have not stretched far enough to rescue Orion from his family tragedy.







Delaj has been waiting for a call from the Korean immigration office for more than a year, by which time the authorities are supposed to have responded, as stated in the Korean Refugee Act. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk





"I came to Korea to get away from this," said Delaj, whose parents and two sisters are in Italy. "It doesn't matter how many years have passed or who you are or where you are. These people will find you. This is the saddest reality of my country."







Delaj said the Albanian government knows who the murderers are and what they do, but the mafia has corrupted the administration and judges.







Albanians can travel freely in Europe, which means the mafia can follow a target anywhere there. He chose Korea at the last minute, hoping it would be the farthest country he could fly to.







"I could have sought asylum in Germany, Norway, Sweden or Finland," he said. "Their famous social welfare gives us assistance and support. They even offer you school if you want to study. But I didn't go there. I came here because I felt safer."











After landing in Korea, Delaj struggled to integrate into local communities. He knocked on the doors of humanitarian agencies and schools and got a part-time job at an Italian restaurant in Seoul. But all the places he visited for help offered no more than the basic daily necessities or hard labor jobs.







Delaj was not desperate for money. He wanted a dignified means of livelihood. The first step was for the Korean government to grant him refugee status.







But since Nov. 7 last year, when he applied for asylum at the Seoul Immigration Office in Yangcheon-gu District, he has heard nothing  this is way past the authority's due reply period of six months and, if necessary, an additional six months as stated in the Korean Refugee Act.







Inside the Seoul Immigration Office in Yangcheon-gu District. Korea Times file





"If more than one year has passed since he applied for refugee status, then it appears the government evaluation must have been delayed for unavoidable reasons," a Ministry of Justice official told The Korea Times.







The national refugee law does not strictly impose the maximum "reply due" period, according to the ministry. Rather, it defines the timeline as a "directory provision."







"It is a necessary guideline considering it takes a long time to evaluate factual statements in detail and particular backgrounds before granting asylum," the ministry official said.







The ministry said there had been a sharp increase in asylum seekers recently. As of late October, the government has registered 18,879 cases waiting for evaluation, with each taking an average of 10.3 months for just the first-round screening to be completed.







Shortly after he applied, Delaj visited the Seoul immigration authority again to ask what was happening with his application and to inquire about possible means of social integration. He claims a male officer there gave him the cold shoulder.







"He told me I need a Korean ID card to stay in Korea and, to obtain one, I need a house contract," Delaj said. "When I told him I had no money to pay a deposit as down payment for such a contract, he told me rudely that it was not his problem."







Caleb Jeong, a Christian pastor who regularly visits the office to see if there are any "lost souls" he can help, heard the noisy argument between Delaj and the officer. The pastor offered Delaj a place at his church/shelter in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. He told Delaj there were other refugees at his church and that he helped them with visa processing, the Korean language and in other areas.







"I don't usually trust people, but I thought he could give me directions so I went along with him," said Delaj.







In Pyeongtaek, Delaj accepted a job offer from Jeong, without knowing the line of work. He had told the pastor he didn't come to Korea to earn money but decided to experience the new venture.







When he got there after an hour-long ride, he found it was a yellow pickled radish factory. All the laborers were foreigners from Southeast Asian or Arabic countries. He said he almost vomited from the odor and barely lasted the day. He didn't work there again.







Delaj suspected the pastor was earning a commission from sending refugees to the factory.







In a joint consulting outreach project by the United Nations Refugee Agency in Korea and the National Human Rights Commission of Korea held in May 2010, human rights organization staff give consultations to refugees from Bangladesh at Yangchon District Office in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province. Courtesy of UNHCR Korea





Jeong told The Korea Times the scouting had never been about money and that he only wanted to help foreigners who needed a job. He said some of the factory workers got their jobs through him.







"I help people like Delaj to fulfill my mission as a missionary," Jeong said. "I have been delivering God's words to foreigners from non-Christian backgrounds for over 10 years."







Because the G-1 identification card he applied for at Suwon-Pyeongtaek Immigration Office in November 2017 was issued the following month, Delaj waited until December that year to move out from Jeong's church. He then went to the Gangnam gosiwon. He said he "survived" there for six months.











Shortly after moving to Seoul, Delaj visited the United Nations Refugee Agency's office in Jung-gu District to seek any means of social involvement. For him, it was a priority ahead of money or other material assistance.







But a male official there would not provide the information he desperately wanted. He claimed the official told him, "We are officially an office, but we don't help refugees with any assistance."







Having seen street UNHCR fundraisers touting passers-by to join various campaigns to help refugees, Delaj was confused at this response.







"In Korea it's not like what you expected," the official told him, according to Delaj, and suggested that he get help from local NGOs. He gave contact numbers for Pnan in Dongjak-gu District and Nancen, or the Center for Refugee Rights in South Korea, in Guro-gu, both refugee help centers in Seoul.







Delaj visited both offices but was disappointed to find they did not have the resources he was seeking, although they could offer clothes, shelter and money.







They told him that social integration was up to him. Pnan told him it could find him a job in a factory or a farm after about six months  places he did not want to work because he would feel "enslaved."







A man consults a staff member from the joint consulting outreach project for refugees held in April 2011 by the UNHCR Korea and the National Human Rights Commission of Korea at Seongdong-gu District Office in Seoul. Korea Times file





Asked about Delaj, the UNHCR refused to comment on any individual cases.







Nancen explained that it only provided emergency funds to cash-strapped refugees and shared information or work with government immigration offices or humanitarian agencies such as Save the Children and Korean Red Cross.







Pnan, helping mainly refugee applicants, said it provided about 40 foreigners, including Yemenis on Jeju Island, with temporary shelter with a maximum stay period of one month. The agency said it also helped visitors with basic livelihood, medication, education, children, employment and chances for social contribution.







"We are short-staffed so can't welcome so many visitors properly," Pnan executive director Lee Ho-taeg told The Korea Times.







A female Pnan staff member who met Delaj sent him an email apology following his visit, saying that she "didn't mean to ignore him" but she had been busy. She said her team called many restaurants, car-wash companies and factories, but they wanted people who could work 12-hour shifts and speak fluent Korean.







"It's really not easy to find only a 5-8 hour job for a G -1 visa holder," said the staff member in the email.







On his first visit to Pnan, Delaj met a man from Angola who was sobbing and asking the agency for help. Delaj, who claims he speaks seven European languages including Portuguese, Spanish and French, helped the man with translation for the agency. Delaj worked three hours the first day and four hours the next day for which he was paid 8,000 won (little over $7) an hour.







"I helped him because of personal reasons, but mostly because I wanted Pnan to help me in return," Delaj said.







After the translation job, Delaj again asked the agency if it could help him, but it again offered the same factory work.







In this street demonstration backed by Amnesty International's Korean office and Nancen at Bosingak in Jongno-gu, Seoul, in September 2018, members of the Egyptian Unions in South Korea urge the government to improve human rights for refugees and to ease the evaluation process for asylum seekers. The protesters hold banners that read "We object to refugee-phobia," "We welcome refugees" and "Let's support refugees." Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk





"I specifically asked an agency staff member why refugees always have to work at factories," said Delaj. "I told them refugees are all people, not slaves."







When he sought a free Korean language course at Konkuk University in Seoul, he was offered a construction job. To him, this was not much different than a factory job.







After he got a government work permit, Delaj worked for three months at an Italian restaurant in Gangnam near his gosiwon. There, he formed a rare relationship with a Korean that was not based on hatred, lies or anti-refugee bigotry but real friendship.







"The only person who was kind to me was the head chef," said Delaj. "He didn't care what country I was from or if I was a refugee. He was always making efforts (to form a good relationship with me)."







By the end of three months, he argued with two Korean managers there who did not like him. He said they asked why he came to Korea, why he sought refugee status and what he wanted here.







Already hoodwinked by the restaurant owner, who had promised to raise his salary after three months, he quit.







"The head chef wanted me to stay, but I told him there would be no solutions," Delaj said. "He seemed to feel partly guilty for what happened. He almost cried."







The owner, on the other hand, did not do anything even after he quit.







Delaj says he cannot stay in his present situation, which was why he spoke to The Korea Times.







"I think one year is already enough to wait and have some answers from the government," he said. "They didn't even give me the chance to explain why I came here."

Britain will open its ePassport gates to travelers from South Korea from next summer.



Britain said Monday it will add visitors from South Korea and Singapore to the list of people eligible to use ePassport gates to enter the European country starting in summer next year.



The electronic passport gates, currently available for British and European Union nationals, provide eligible visitors with a faster route through the border as they allow people to be processed quickly by using facial recognition technology to compare the passenger's face to the digital image recorded in their passport.



Britain has 259 ePassport gates at 14 locations, including Heathrow airport in London.

The addition of the two Asian countries, announced by the British Home Office, brings to seven the number of non-EU countries whose nationals are allowed to use ePassport gates.



The other countries are the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Japan.

South Korea was excluded from the list in October last year, when the five countries were added. But the South Korean Embassy in London communicated with the British government behind the scenes to have South Korean nationals added to the list.



Britain's addition of South Korea to the list is seen as its commitment to developing a new global immigration system as it leaves the EU. The number of South Korean visitors to Britain exceeds that of Japanese visitors.



Under the latest measure, an estimated additional 6.5 million passengers per year, including 400,000 people from South Korea, are expected to take to take the automated route through the British border.



Home Secretary Sajid Javid said in a statement, "I'm pleased to announce today that, in addition to the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, we will be allowing passengers from Singapore and South Korea to use ePassport gates when they travel into the UK."



The British government plans to allow those aged 18 and over traveling with a biometric or "chipped" passport to use the gates. People who are aged between 12 and 17 and accompanied by an adult are also able to use them. (Yonhap)

Mary Taylor sits near the fireplace in her house Dilkusha, possibly sometime around the mid-1920s. / Courtesy of Seoul History Museum





By Robert Neff









The Seoul History Museum is holding a

of more than 1,000 items donated by the family of Albert and Mary Taylor. The Taylors had a long and colorful history in Korea and the pieces on display are a mixture of everyday household items, photo albums, correspondence, clothing and an early national flag of Korea. But the centerpieces of the collection are their beloved home, Dilkusha, and the magnificent ginkgo tree that stands next to it.







In the early 1920s, while hiking along the city wall, Mary spotted an immense ginkgo tree, the first she had ever seen. There was something magical about it  the way it dominated the area and "its roots humped up from the ground like great serpents." One of her Korean staff told her gingko trees were only planted in sacred and royal places.







This site had been the home of General Gwon Ryul (1537-1599), the hero of the Battle of Haengju and later the commander-in-chief of the Korean army during the 1592-98 Imjin War.







Mary was determined to live next to the great tree. The Taylors purchased the land in 1921 or 1922 and preparations were made to build their dream house, Dilkusha (Sanskrit for "Palace of Heart's Delight). But construction was no easy matter, for many spirits and beliefs had to be placated.







The first was with the Japanese, who prohibited any building from being built that would be at the "eye-level of the Meiji Shrine" located halfway up Mount Nam. Once it was determined Dilkusha would not violate this law, permission was given.







For hundreds of years, the villagers revered this tree and associated it with great powers of fertility. Mothers, hoping to bear a son, would pray at the base of the tree and offer little sacrifices (coins) to it. Large numbers of magpies nested in its branches and they were thought to be messengers of good tidings; Mary was warned that "they must never be frightened away."







The region was popularly known as Haengchon-dong (in honor of the tree) or Eunchong-dong (Silver Nut Valley). The stream flowing beneath its roots was called the Magpie Spring and was known for its medicinal qualities.







Jennifer Linley Taylor, granddaughter of Albert and Mary Taylor, stands in front of a mockup of the fireplace of Dilkusha. / Courtesy of Robert Neff





When the villagers discovered the Taylors were going to build a house near their sacred tree and spring, they protested. Carts carrying building supplies were knocked over and an angry crowd gathered. Japanese police came and dispersed the crowd but not before a mudang (shaman) cursed them.







Mary dramatically described the incident in her book, "Chain of Amber":







"'The Spirit of the Place will be revenged. You will wither. Many evils will befall your family and your house will be consumed by fire!' [The shaman] shrieked hysterically in her cracked voice, her snake-like fingers making cabalistic signs."







And then she was gone and the house was built  "constructed of stone and brick, with a tiled roof, and stood isolated from neighbours."







The Taylors moved there in 1924 and were soon joined by Mary's sister, Una. The shaman's curse seemed forgotten until the following year when Una was having breakfast at a small table under the tree. She heard a loud crack, looked up and saw a huge branch falling toward her. Her lightning reflexes saved her from being crushed.







Sickness soon followed the broken branch incident. Una was stricken first with scarlet fever and then malaria and it was decided to send her back to the U.S. to recover. Soon afterwards, Albert was robbed of his health by "some mysterious disease" and the Taylors returned to the U.S.







In July 1926, while they were in the U.S., lightning set the house afire and completely gutted it. But the Taylors were not ready to give up.







By the late summer of 1930 the house was rebuilt. Albert had purchased a small five-level pagoda and placed it under the tree.







"Perhaps," Mary told Albert, "it will dispel the curse the [shaman] put on us when we first built here. And, now that the spirits have seen their words come true and the house destroyed by fire, they will find it in their hearts to forgive us."







Albert, always practical, dismissed her superstition and instead laid the blame upon himself for not having installed a lightning rod.







Workers clean out Dilkusha in western Seoul on Nov. 23. / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar





The Taylors lived in Dilkusha up until they were forced out of the country by the politics of World War II. Mary returned to Korea in September 1948 with the ashes of her beloved  he had died suddenly of a heart attack while making preparations to return  and buried him at Yanghwajin Foreigners' Cemetery. She returned to the U.S. where she kept the memories of Dilkusha and Korea alive in her writings.







At the opening of exhibit, Jennifer Linley Taylor, the granddaughter, confided that she could feel her grandmother's presence all around her.







The exhibit closes March 10, and then the collection will be moved into Dilkusha, which is being restored as a museum. As for the ginkgo, it still stands defiant and proud  a guardian of the past.











Robert Neff is a historian and columnist for The Korea Times. He can be reached at robertneff103@gmail.comBEIJING, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping's speech at the symposium to commemorate the 120th anniversary of the birth of Liu Shaoqi has been published by the People's Publishing House.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivered the speech in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Nov. 23.

The booklet is available at Xinhua Bookstore outlets across the country from Monday.President Moon Jae-in, left, shakes hands with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern after a joint press conference at a hotel in in Auckland, New Zealand, Tuesday. Yonhap



South Korean President Moon Jae-in and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern agreed Tuesday to further enhance their countries' cooperation in various areas, including trade and Antarctic research.



In a summit held in Auckland, the two leaders also agreed to boost their cooperation in the defense industry.



"While noting that the South Korea-New Zealand FTA that went into effect in 2015 is providing a strong institutional foundation to promote trade and investment between the two countries, the two leaders agreed to develop more cooperation projects that would benefit their people in the agriculture industry, where New Zealand has strength, and the infrastructure and construction sectors that South Korea enjoys leadership in," Moon's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said.



"The two leaders also agreed to work for an agreement on cooperation in military supplies so the countries' cooperation in the defense industry will be further expanded," it added.



In a joint press conference that followed the summit, President Moon said the two countries will work to further develop their relationship.



"Today, we agreed to develop the countries' relationship to be more mutually beneficial and future-oriented while sharing the common goal of people-centered values," he said.



The leaders also welcomed the scheduled launch of New Zealand's new South Korea-made military supply ship in 2019.





The two leaders listen to a reporter's question during a joint press conference. Yonhap





President Moon Jae-in / Yonhap





New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern / Yonhap





Yonhap



Moon arrived here Sunday following his trip to Argentina for the Group of 20 summit.



Moon and Ardern emphasized the need to combine the countries' strengths in various areas, including bio, health care, ICT and Antarctic research.



They also discussed ways to further expand the countries' people-to-people exchanges.

To this end, the leaders agreed to consider introducing a new leadership exchange program for the countries' young leaders.



Moon, who is on a state visit, explained the current security conditions on the Korean Peninsula, including the outcome of his three inter-Korean summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un this year.



"Prime Minister Ardern welcomed our government's efforts to establish peace and promised to continue actively supporting our efforts. It will be a great help in our journey toward peace," Moon told the press conference.



"In addition, we agreed to develop a free and fair market economy and enhance global trade order to help ensure prosperity and sustainable development of the international community," he added.



The president said he has also asked the New Zealand prime minister to visit South Korea in the near future.



"I hope today's summit will be an important milestone in developing the partnership between South Korea and New Zealand into a more future-oriented relationship," Moon said. (Yonhap)





President Moon rubs noses with a Maori performer during a welcoming ceremony in Auckland, Monday. / Yonhap



















President Moon Jae-in, right, shakes hands with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern before their bilateral summit held at the Auckland Cordis Hotel in Auckland, New Zealand, Tuesday (KST). Yonhap



By Kim Yoo-chul



AUCKLAND, New Zealand  North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's visit to Seoul, if realized, could help accelerate denuclearization of the North, President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday (KST).



In a joint press conference following his summit with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Moon also said Kim's visit would lead to a successful second summit between the North Korean leader and U.S. President Donald Trump, expected to be held early next year.



"There is a possibility that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could come to Seoul before the end of the year. If this happens, it would be the first time for a leader from the North to officially visit South Korea," Moon said.



"The timing of Kim Jong-un's visit to Seoul doesn't matter as what really matters is how to advance the denuclearization talks. I hope Kim's visit to Seoul will provide greater momentum for that."





Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon speaks at a meeting at the National Assembly, Tuesday, with lawmakers of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's committee on the Korean Peninsula's denuclearization. / Yonhap



By Kim Bo-eun



North Korea has willingness to keep agreements it reached with the U.S. on denuclearization, Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon said Tuesday.



Pyongyang's halting of nuclear and missile tests shows this, Cho said during a meeting at the National Assembly with the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) internal committee on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.



At the same time, the minister acknowledged the North is continuing some nuclear activities, when asked by lawmakers about U.S. media reports on the matter.



He said Pyongyang did not pledge to halt the operation of its existing nuclear facilities, or to shut them down. Cho said North Korea has yet to reach an agreement with the U.S. on a permanent shutdown of nuclear facilities.



However, he said the nuclear activities were not being conducted to the extent that they would obstruct the denuclearization process.



He said the roots of Washington's mistrust of Pyongyang were due to a fixated image of a "demonized North Korea" that developed over more than a decade of an absence of relations.



Cho recently visited Washington and spoke with key U.S. officials about inter-Korean relations.



He said on his visit he "felt December and January would be a critical time point for not only the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula but also inter-Korean relations."



The minister anticipated the summit between President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G20 Summit would exert a positive effect on the process.



At the summit, Trump expressed support for the leaders of the Koreas meeting for dialogue before his own summit with the North Korean leader which is expected to take place early next year.



Regarding the government's plan to host the North Korean leader in Seoul within this month, Cho said possibilities are being left open and the government hopes it will keep its pledge on enabling the visit.



The committee was launched last month as an internal committee of the DPK to support Moon's policies toward Pyongyang.



The meeting was arranged for lawmakers to hear about Cho's visit to Washington and U.S. officials' views on the situation concerning North Korea. Fifteen lawmakers attended the meeting.

President Moon Jae-in delivers his opening speech at the start of a dinner meeting with South Korean residents living New Zealand, at the Auckland Cordis Hotel Monday night. Yonhap



eGate will open to Korean travelers



By Kim Yoo-chul



AUCKLAND, New Zealand  President Moon Jae-in and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern have agreed for their countries to work together in Antarctica and collaborate on innovative science and technology.



"South Korea will work together with New Zealand for research-related programs in Antarctica because we are seeing increased activity there," Moon said at a joint press conference. "Given New Zealand's stronger scientific, political, economic and strategic interests in Antarctica, the agreement will help South Korea provide advanced technologies in assisting various Antarctica programs."



In 2014, South Korea built Jang Bogo Station at Terra Nova Bay and the country plans to mobilize more resources to increase its presence on the southern continent. New Zealand is one of seven countries that has made significant contributions to the Antarctic Treaty of 1959.



The treaty promotes international scientific cooperation, making Antarctica a "continent for peace and science." But the treaty system is facing big challenges such as resource scarcity with the increased interest in the continent by Asian countries such as South Korea. Moon is pursuing his New Southern Policy, a move aimed at expanding diplomatic diversification.











President Moon Jae-in and first lady Kim Jung-sook are greeted by invited South Korean residents living in New Zealand at the start of a dinner meeting with them at the Auckland Cordis Hotel on Monday night (KST). YonhapBy Lee Min-hyung



The Army has come under criticism for accidentally firing two mortar shells into a mountainous area in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, while carrying out an artillery drill last month.



According to the Army, three platoons were participating in the drill at a firing range near the border city, Nov. 22, but two 600 millimeter mortars deviated away from the target area by about 800 meters and exploded in the mountainous region. No casualties were reported.



Critics said that if the shells had hit houses in the area, huge physical damage and civilian casualties would have been incurred.



"We will conduct a thorough investigation into the accident to find out whether the units failed to follow safety guidelines," an official from the armed forces said Tuesday. "We will also take appropriate measures to find out who is responsible for the incident."



The Army was supposed to be using 15 mortars for the live-fire exercise, but suspended operations immediately. The armed forces have formed a joint investigation team comprised of military police and incident inspection units.



The incident occurred as officers in charge failed to calculate firing data for the mortars accurately, according to the Army.



"We feel a strong sense of responsibility for the accidental firing and will do the utmost to come up with stricter safety measures to prevent any recurrence," said the official.



Some observers argued that the incident occurred partly because the Army could not carry out the exercise near the military demarcation line (MDL) as it has to abide by an inter-Korean agreement signed recently.



The comprehensive military agreement banned the two Koreas from conducting artillery drills and regimental-level field training within 10 kilometers from the border.



As a result, other training areas, including the one where the incident took place, are being used as replacements.



But the Army said the incident had nothing to do with being unable to use the "land buffer zone."



It added that six officers in charge of the exercise had been sent before a military disciplinary committee. The Army also said it conducted a safety check on the live-fire range after the incident and ordered officers there to put a top priority on safety during any firing exercises.



By Lee Min-hyung



North Korea remains one of the most "urgent" threats to the United States despite the regime's ongoing peace gestures, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said.



"In terms of urgency, North Korea is the problem," Mattis said Saturday during a security conference in California. "We have got to address that issue. That is why the United Nations has Security Council resolutions that are unanimous."



Global society raises a common need to impose sanctions on the North, and this is unusual for most countries, especially the U.S., China, Russia and France, to stand on the same footing on the issue, according to him.



Mattis also urged North Korea to generate more clear outcomes in its ongoing pledge for denuclearization.



"The bottom line is, if they want out from underneath the U.N. Security Council resolution, they are going to have to make progress (in denuclearization)," he said.



The remark came at a time when the U.S. and the North engage in a political tug-of-war over their bilateral dialogue on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.



Following the first-ever leadership meeting between the two countries in June, no specific progress has been made.



At that time, expectations were that U.S. President Donald Trump would continue engaging in active dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un after the historic summit in Singapore.



But both sides failed to narrow their differences on the timeline for the North's denuclearization. The North has taken a series of steps by dismantling nuclear and missile facilities following the summit, but the U.S. has called on the North to make more progress and engage more actively in dialogue.



During the security conference, the Reagan National Defense Forum in California, Mattis also said Russia is most threatening in terms of the use of force.

Ruling Democratic Party Chairman Rep. Lee Hae-chan, center, speaks during his 100th day in office, Monday. On the same day, he spoke of Korean mens' preference for Vietnamese women during his meeting with a high-level Vietnamese delegation. Yonhap



By Oh Young-jin



Rep. Lee Hae-chan, chairman of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, is said to have uttered inappropriate remarks about Vietnamese women during his meeting with a high-level Vietnamese delegation Monday.



"A lot of Korean men marry Vietnamese women because they prefer them over women of other countries," Lee was quoted as saying when he met the delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Trinh dinh Dung at his office. The remarks were enough to be interpreted as objectifying women in general, condescending to Vietnamese women, most of whom marry Korean men through international brokers, and, perhaps worse, ranking migrant brides by Korean men's preference.



Lee didn't apologize and there were no reports that the Vietnamese delegates protested.



However, the remarks triggered an outcry from other parties.





Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Trinh dinh Dung has not reacted to ruling Democratic Party Chairman Lee Hae-chan's condescending remarks about Vietnamese women. YonhapA member of he international environmental group Greenpeace holds a rally in Seoul on Nov. 28, to urge that state-run financial institutions stop investing in overseas coal-fired power plants. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul



By Kim Jae-heun



International environmental organizations including Greenpeace have urged the Korean government to stop funding coal thermal power generations in developing countries, local environmental groups said, Tuesday.



Along with Greenpeace, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Sierra Club and Friends of the Earth sent letters to Cheong Wa Dae and other government organizations, including the finance ministry, the environment ministry and the foreign ministry.



The NGOs said in the letter that local financial institutions such as the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank), Korea Trade Insurance Corp. and Korea Development Bank (KDB) should stop their overseas coal investments. They also urged the government to halt operations of coal plants in Samcheok and Gangneung, both in Gangwon Province.



Korea has invested 9.4 trillion won ($8.4 billion) into overseas coal-fired thermal power plants since the late 2000s.



"OECD countries agreed to restrict financial aid to coal-fired thermal power plants in 2015. We will request an investigation from the OECD about Korean overseas investments," the NGOs were quoted as saying in their letters. "Instead of providing financial support to short-sighted, inefficient and anti-environmental coal plants through financial institutions like KDB, we encourage the Korean government to invest in renewable energies."



Indonesian coal plants supported by Korean financial institutions are 10 to 20 times weaker in controlling air pollution compared to those in Korea. The NGOs say such coal plants cause respiratory diseases and premature deaths in Southeast Asian countries as well as negatively affect the air and water pollution there.



The environmental organizations will protest the Korean government during the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Katowice, Poland, which started on Dec. 3 and continues until Dec. 14.



The NRDC and Southeast Asian environmental organizations are expected to play a key role here, along with Greenpeace and other international NGOs.



"Korean financial institutions investing in foreign coal plants show how our government lacks interest in abiding by the Paris Climate Agreement. This is what international environmental organizations are taking issue with," said lawyer Lee So-young of the local environmental group Solutions for Our Climate.



By Choe Chong-dae





During Korea's struggle for independence from Japanese colonial rule, one of the many foreigners who devoted themselves to this cause was Kaneko Fumiko, a remarkable female nihilistic anarchist from Japan.



It is an immensely positive sign she was recently formally recognized posthumously as a patriotic martyr 92 years after she had died in prison.



On the occasion of the 79th Patriotic Martyrs Day on Nov. 17, she was awarded the Order of Merit for National Foundation in recognition of her outstanding contribution toward Korea's independence.



Fumiko's (19031926) short life was dotted with vicissitudes. In her memoirs she explained that the maltreatment she experienced as a child led to her becoming a nihilist. Born out of wedlock to a Japanese couple plagued with alcoholism and poverty, Fumiko was denied entry to schools as a child with no legal existence and she faced abuse at home. When she was nine, her grandmother, a well-off colonist in Korea, took her in but physically and psychologically abused her. After finishing higher elementary school, Fumiko returned to Japan and eventually made her way to Tokyo, working odd jobs to afford tuition for math and English classes.



Influenced by philosophers such as Friedrich W. Nietzsche and Max Stirner, Fumiko fell in with anarchists associated with the Korean independence movement. As she described in her memoirs, her future husband Park Yeol (1902-1974) first entered her life as the mysterious force behind some powerfully moving poetry and Fumiko soon knew he was the special someone she had been waiting for. Park had formed a group called Futeisha or "outlaws," of which Fumiko was a member.

Fumiko and Park published two magazines with articles covering the oppression Koreans faced under Japanese imperialism. Fumiko's writing helped to raise awareness of Koreans' plight both in Japan and Korea.



In September 1923, the Great Kanto earthquake struck the Japanese main island of Honshu and after the tsunami swept away thousands of people, in swept mass hysteria as fires roared through Yokohama and Tokyo. Rumors spread that Korean immigrants were poisoning wells and were planning to overthrow the Japanese government. This led to the arrests of many Koreans, including Park. A few days later, his lover Fumiko was also detained.



Fumiko and Park were convicted of high treason for attempting to assassinate members of the Japanese Imperial family with bombs. Though they confessed to this crime, it is not known for certain whether Fumiko exaggerated the circumstances to sacrifice herself for her cause or to receive the same death sentence as Park.



Probably the most famous photo of the pair shows Fumiko sitting in front of Park and reading some papers. The two were married just a few days prior to their sentencing. Another photo portrays them wearing Korean clothing while on trial in court to make the statement that they were representing the Koreans.



Initially handed down the death sentence, Fumiko and Park later received an imperial pardon commuting that sentence to life imprisonment. While Park accepted the commuted sentence and was released 22 years later, Fumiko, the anarchist and nihilist refused to have her fate controlled by a government or institution she had spent her life rebelling against. She tore up the pardon and opted to commit suicide in her solitary confinement cell at Utsunomiya Prison in 1926 at the young age of 23.



History books have not granted Fumiko equal status to her husband Park. Both in the courtroom and after her death, Fumiko was often portrayed as the dutiful selfless wife who made the ultimate sacrifice for a male anarchist and his native Korea. Today we can reflect on the strong and courageous woman that she was.





Choe Chong-dae (choecd@naver.com) is a guest columnist of The Korea Times. He is president of Dae-kwang International Co., and director of the Korean-Swedish Association.



By Dr. Nehginpao Kipgen





At the end of the 33rd ASEAN summit in Singapore on Nov. 15, Singapore formally handed over the symbolic gavel of ASEAN chairmanship to Thailand, which it last held in 2009. The one-year rotating term will officially begin on Jan. 1, 2019.



As the incoming chair, Thailand hinted what the regional group could or should do when Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha told his ASEAN colleagues that the regional bloc is capable of playing an important role in addressing the situation in Rakhine State in a constructive, tangible and sustainable manner.



Prayut suggested the enhancement of the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management  to provide humanitarian assistance to the affected people, as well as support the repatriation of Rohingya refugees and to ensure the improvement of the quality of life for all communities in Rakhine state.



As the Rohingya crisis has become a regional and international issue, Myanmar needs to open up its doors for ASEAN to collectively help to address the problem. The engagement of ASEAN member states should not be seen as an interference in the internal affairs of a member state. Rather it should be viewed as fellow ASEAN members trying to strengthen the internationalization of the issue, which in many ways is Myanmar's own initiative.



For example, in August 2016, the Myanmar government formed a nine-member state advisory commission on Rakhine, chaired by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Among others, the commission recommended citizenship verification, rights and equality, and documentation, and talked about the situation of the internally displaced and freedom of movement as well as a ministerial-level appointment to coordinate the effective implementation of the commission's recommendations.



A year later in September 2017, the government established a 10-member advisory board for the committee for implementation of the recommendations on Rakhine state to advise on enacting the recommendations of the Kofi Annan commission.



And in May 2018, Myanmar invited the U.N. Security Council members to visit the conflict-ridden areas of Rakhine state. The council members, among others, urged the Myanmar government to conduct a transparent investigation into alleged human rights abuses in northern Rakhine or face the potential of military officials being referred to the International Criminal Court, and to speed up the repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh with the help of U.N. agencies.



The international community's pressure was largely responsible for the signing of a tripartite agreement on June 6 between Myanmar and two U.N. agencies  United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and United Nations Development Program (UNDP)  which would help with the voluntary return and reintegration of displaced refugees, assess conditions in Rakhine state for those who are considering returns, and support programs that benefit all communities in Rakhine state.



Since it has already engaged the U.N. agencies and international experts, Myanmar should welcome ASEAN's goodwill gesture to help address the protracted Rohingya problem. An attempt to oppose the ASEAN's desire to engage will only hamper the cohesion and strength of the organization, and invites criticism from the international community.



Many in Myanmar, including the military leadership, are more likely to be receptive and comfortable working with fellow ASEAN partners than the intervention of Western governments. Moreover, historically and culturally, Myanmar has largely been on good terms with the incoming ASEAN chair.



ASEAN should attempt to address the Rohingya conundrum in a mutually acceptable manner by involving the Rohingya community, the government of Bangladesh, as well as the U.N. agencies with which Myanmar had signed an MOU  the UNHCR and UNDP.



Besides leaders' summits, ASEAN should also explore other platforms such as the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting (ADMM) and the ADMM-Plus for possible ways to cooperate with the Myanmar military, which not only controls the security matters of the country but also retains significant political power.



The longer the Rohingya crisis is kept unaddressed, the more likely the issue could become a breeding ground for radicalization, which could be exploited and manipulated by Islamic terrorists. The role of ADMM and ADMM-Plus are particularly important for addressing such potential threats and for strengthening security and defense cooperation for peace, stability, and development of the region.



It is true that the ASEAN grouping has not taken any substantive measures on the Rohingya issue in the past, but given the recent developments within the organization, we can only hope for a more active and engaging role for ASEAN.



But the fructification of such engagement will largely depend on the openness and receptiveness of Myanmar, as well as the level of commitment from ASEAN member states, particularly the incoming chair of the group.



While there may be some concerns about the infringement of Myanmar's national security and sovereignty, it may now be too late for the country to oppose the presence or involvement of the international community. There is even a possibility that the absence of relevant international organizations may be counterproductive.



Moreover, in light of a number of unsuccessful initiatives of the Myanmar government since the quasi-civilian administration of President Thein Sein in 2012, the participation of ASEAN may help bring some new thinking and fresh ideas, which may pave the way for a possible solution to the protracted problem.





Dr. Nehginpao Kipgen is associate professor and executive director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Jindal School of International Affairs, O.P. Jindal Global University. He is the author of three books on Myanmar, including "Democratization of Myanmar."

Note: The following is a translation of a commentary from the Chinese-language "Commentaries on International Affairs."

On Saturday, President Xi Jinping met with his American counterpart Donald Trump in Argentina. According to the press releases that followed the meeting, both sides have agreed to halt further tariff escalations and to intensify their efforts at negotiation within the next 90 days, hoping to reach a deal to remove all of the additional tariffs imposed on each other since earlier this year. If these efforts fail, the United States is very likely to further escalate the trade war.

The two heads of state have clearly put the brakes on escalating the trade frictions. A truce was reached, and room given for further consultations. These are positive outcomes to begin with. Nevertheless, trade teams from both sides will now engage in a new round of what are certain to be complicated and tough talks in the coming three months.

Why did China and the United States reach this ceasefire? The main reason is that both sides have paid a price for the eight-month-long trade war. When their trade conflicts began escalating in March, the American side believed that it would be easy for them to win the battle.

But the following eight months demonstrated that no one emerges a winner from a trade war - both sides lose. The United States trade deficit in goods reached $77.2 billion in October alone, which is a new record high. The automaker General Motors announced at the end of November that it will shut down seven plants around the world, including four in the United States, but none in China, resulting in huge pressure on the American government.

At the same time, foreign direct investment flowing in the United States in the second quarter of the year slid in negative territory, with a divestment of $8.2 billion, the first time this has happened since the beginning of 2015. By contrast, as recently as 2017, the United States had FDI of $275 billion, the highest in the world.

Obviously, the trade war did not help the United States to shrink its trade deficit, and neither did it lead to jobs or capital flowing back onshore. Instead, the trade war resulted in more risks to its economy. So, should the trade war continue? Even President Trump himself was reluctant to call it a trade war during his interview with CBS on Oct 14. Instead he said it was but a "skirmish", which he was considering cooling down.

As it stands, the two presidents have pressed the "pause" button on the trade frictions. This is a wise choice that will benefit both sides. But the three months ahead will be critical  the economic and trade teams need to implement the consensus reached during Saturday's meeting, and come to an agreement. This would be a good thing for both China and the United States. The alternative would be a new round of trade conflict that brings greater uncertainty to both countries, and the world at large.

Frankly, with only 90 days at hand, and given the complex nature of the China-US trade issues, the negotiating teams have an arduous task on their shoulders and a pressing deadline. On the "structural issues" raised by the American side, such as intellectual property rights protection, technological cooperation, market access, and non-tariff barriers, China's general stance is that the issues that conform with China's intentions regarding its reform and opening up should be the focal points on the negotiation agenda.

China has also raised some of its core concerns to which the United States has responded. The coming round of negotiations is bound to be hard and complicated, as the two sides will bargain for deals, not to mention the fact that the American side had unexpectedly reversed course during previous negotiations. One also has to consider the internal divisions in the American team, and the broader domestic political situation in the United States.

No matter what the outcome is, China is more likely to respond calmly. In meeting the challenges of the trade war, China's approach has always been consistent and clear: China does not want a trade war, but it is not afraid to fight to firmly defend the core interests of the nation and its people. Eight months of consultations had demonstrated China's resolve and trustworthiness.

In the months ahead, China will undoubtedly make the utmost efforts to communicate with the American side, with the aim to do away with the tariffs for the benefit of both countries, and of the international trade system. At the same time, it will be neither too optimistic nor too pessimistic about the outcome.

The past eight months have made more people in China realize that their best response to a trade war is "doing their own things right". As China marks the 40th anniversary of its reform and opening-up this year, this is both a moment to remember its past and to make a new starting point for promoting a higher level of opening-up.

During this process, China and the United States have the opportunity to resolve their trade concerns and to realize win-win results if they come to the negotiations with sincerity, treat each other as equals, respect each other, and strive for mutual benefits. This is the way to properly address their differences.Nation's biggest law firm implicated in judiciary abuse



Korea's biggest law firm Kim & Chang has become a new center of attention in the widening probe into the judiciary abuse case surrounding former Supreme Court Justice Yang Sung-tae during the previous Park Geun-hye administration.



Prosecutors said Monday they had searched the law firm Nov. 12 on allegations of meddling in trials related to Korean victims of wartime forced labor by Japanese companies during the 1910-45 occupation of Korea. This marks the first time the nation's key law firm has been searched by the prosecution.



Prosecutors searched the offices of two lawyers, Kwak Byung-hun, who previously served as presidential secretary for legal affairs from February 2015 to May 2016 at Park's Cheong Wa Dae, and another lawyer surnamed Han, who is known to have close ties to Yang.



During the search, the prosecutors obtained evidence supporting allegations that the two served as mediators between the National Court Administration, Cheong Wa Dae and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to delay the forced labor trials.



The prosecution has summoned Kwak multiple times since September regarding the allegations, but it was made public for the first time that Han, who led the law firm's litigation team at the time, also played a key role. Kim & Chang is representing the Japanese firms in the wartime forced labor cases. Prosecutors found that Yang met with Han multiple times at his office between May 2015 and October 2016 to discuss delaying the rulings, which Park saw as damaging to Korea-Japan relations.



Many Koreans are disturbed by reports that the country's largest law firm has been implicated in such a grave scandal, which has severely impacted the people's trust in the judiciary. It is highly alarming that a powerful law firm like Kim & Chang might have played an active role in the collusion between the executive and judicial branches.



The news of the search came as prosecutors requested arrest warrants for former Supreme Court justices Ko Young-han and Park Byong-dae for their alleged involvement in the judiciary abuse. The arrest warrants for former Supreme Court justices is unprecedented. Last month, judges from courts nationwide also participated in a rare vote to impeach sitting judges implicated in the scandal.



Following these unusual developments, many Koreans are seriously disappointed about the loss of judicial independence from political power.



To establish justice and rebuild the people's trust in the judiciary, the prosecution should thoroughly investigate the Supreme Court's trial manipulation in politically sensitive cases during Yang's tenure to deliver verdicts favorable to the Park administration in exchange for favors from Cheong Wa Dae. In this regard, the prosecution should swiftly summon Yang, who is at the center of the trial manipulation scandal among others.



By Bernard Rowan





I am alarmed by the spate of recent stories about incidents of anger and related crimes or antisocial acts by young adults in South Korea. I want to discuss this already widely-discussed matter again. Young South Korean adults, not unlike other nations' citizens, face unprecedented pressures and strains. To some extent, generational pressure arises from Korea's success. Second, particular to Korean anger is "han." Third, Korean leaders must face the complete underdevelopment of the country's society in addressing anger and depression as mental illness. I say it's an undeclared national crisis.



South Korea is now a leading nation, and her ascent has been rapid. Social pathways create pressures on individuals. Today's young adults expect to do as well as or better than their parents, but find it difficult. Unfortunately, it's often unrealistic, and for no fault of the young adults or the parents. But the feelings remain. That's on top of all the competition that makes Korea Korean, if I may say so. The recent college exams saw calls for more social support, and some for ending it. The exams take a huge toll on tens of thousands of Koreans each year. Many feel stigmatized by the results  needlessly.



What I've learned about "K-rage" or "kimchi temperament" is not specific to young people. It's also not particular to South Korea. We worry about angry young people because it prompts the reaction: "This shouldn't happen." They're so young to be so lost.



A recent Korea Times report noted 37 to 38 people (of all ages) commit suicide in Korea each day, a sobering statistic. Most are older males. Growing numbers are younger. When we add acts of bullying, hazing and related behavior, however, the incidence of young people who suffer or perpetrate anger increases.



Korean traditional thinking is slow to accept anger and depression as illness. These maladies have a social part, a medical or wellness part, and a personal or individual part. Economics always matters too, including unemployment and underemployment. If a Confucian society stresses bonds between classmates, seniors and juniors, it also isolates those who don't "fit in." Too many young adults and teens lack mentors, people inside or beyond their families to whom they can turn to vent, to share frustrations, and to seek advice. Too many refuse help, medical and psychological, out of shame and guilt. Not enough help presents!



I've written about the Korean idea of "han." Koreans keep their opinions and feelings in. Koreans don't "let it out" normally. Han allows expressing anger in confined circumstances  or it's viewed as a vice. The self-control and propriety of grown-ups in Korea forbid taking out one's frustrations on others, scapegoating, or random acts of anger. However, this "bad behavior" grows! The old thinking stales.



Today, han shows its face. Intropunitive behavior continues, yes, but Koreans now act out deep-seated angst. Saving face doesn't matter. Rage and violence follow the stage of Korean social advance. Today the Korean person or identity includes more individuality, and social pressures bearing on youth and young adults worsen in severity.



Don't deny gender's impact. Young Korean women aren't immune, but overwhelmingly the acting out is a matter of male behavior. Too many boys and men spend too much time in virtual isolation. The internet cafes have shaded into worlds where one's phone is life. Men, including Korean men, don't need to play the alpha male game! That's not the way to happiness. Few realize it's impossible as society reaches the advanced stage  and senseless. Anger borne of alienation frustrates social and life possibilities. South Korea should launch a long-term policy effort to rival its industrial policy of the last century. Life doesn't end at 20 if one hasn't "made it" according to one's expectations.



What must we do? Today's young adults need the active development of mental health supports and mentoring from older generations. Anger and suicide need recognition of mental illness. Korea must invest in stopping youth and young adult anger by sharing income and wealth, jobs and opportunities. Lead in the cause of stopping the crisis.





Bernard Rowan (rowan10@yahoo.com) is associate provost for contract administration and professor of political science at Chicago State University. He is a past fellow of the Korea Foundation and former visiting professor at Hanyang University.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying 64 small satellites, including Korea's Next Sat-1, lifts off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Monday (local time). / Courtesy of Ministry of Science and ICT



By Jun Ji-hye



A Korean satellite designed for scientific space research was successfully launched from an air base in the United States at 10:34 a.m. Monday (local time), the Ministry of Science and ICT said Tuesday.





The Next Sat-1 / Courtesy of Ministry of Science and ICTShin Sung-chul, president of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), holds a news conference at the university in Daejeon, Tuesday, denying the Ministry of Science and ICT's claims that he embezzled state research funds. / Yonhap



By Jun Ji-hye



Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) President Shin Sung-chul is facing growing pressure to step down after the Ministry of Science and ICT exposed a series of alleged acts of misconduct Shin had committed, including embezzling state research funds.



After its inspection, the ministry sent an official document to the university board of directors, Nov. 30, demanding the university suspend Shin from his duties.



The ministry also filed a complaint with the prosecution against Shin and one of his former students as well as four professors of the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) for embezzlement and dereliction of duty.



In response, Shin held a news conference, Tuesday, denying all the accusations made by the ministry, saying, "I did not commit any acts unworthy of my positions."



The ministry's inspection concluded that Shin, when he was serving as the DGIST president in 2014, recruited his former student, identified only by his surname Lim, as a DGIST professor without going through due procedures.



Then, Lim received wages of about 140 million won ($127,000) for three years although he did not participate in any research projects.



Before joining the DGIST, Lim worked at a physics laboratory in the United States.



Also, Shin drew financial support from the National Research Foundation of Korea and the Daegu city government for a project on condition that participants of the project were going to use research equipment of a U.S. research center for free.



But Shin drew up an additional budget of 2.2 billion won, saying the money was necessary to use the research equipment, according to the ministry.



More than half of 2.2 billion won was believed to be paid to Lim, the ministry said, adding this was an improper act aimed at financially benefiting his former student.



The ministry plans to conduct additional inspection to see if other projects conducted by KAIST after Shin's inauguration have proceeded properly.



In response, Shin said the DGIST went through necessary procedures before recruiting his former student as a professor, saying a head of a department made the final decision after conducting a discussion with his colleagues.



"I have documentary evidence as well," Shin said. "I did not get involved in any decisions to pay wages to Lim. Wages were decided in accordance with regulations."



Regarding the 2.2 billion won, Shin said he approved the budget as he thought cash support was appropriate to vitalize joint research.



The unprecedented situation, in which the government asked for suspension of performing duties of the KAIST's incumbent president, is also seen by some as a move to put out figures appointed by the former Park Geun-hye government.



Since the Moon Jae-in government was inaugurated, heads of Korea Institute of Science & Technology Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP) and the National Research Foundation of Korea and the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources quit midway through. They were all appointed by the Park government.

MP Group headquarters in Seoul / Yonhap





Mr. Pizza founder Jung Woo-hyunChina is crucial to Teslas future. So its not surprising that the trade war is hitting the company hard.

China is Teslas largest market outside the U.S., accounting for about 10% of total revenue in the first three quarters of 2018  and the Model 3 isnt even available there yet.

The company sold about 15,000 of its more expensive Model S and Model X models in China last year, according to estimates from research firm LMC Automotive.

Since the country raised the tariff on U.S. car imports to 40% in July from the 15% it charges on non-U.S. auto imports, in retaliation for the Trump administrations tariffs on Chinese goods, Teslas China revenue has plummeted  27.5% in this years third quarter compared with the same period last year, according to company reports.

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The China Passenger Car Assn. told Reuters recently that sales plummeted further in October. Tesla said last month it was reducing Model S and X prices 12% to 26% under tariff pressure.

Like much of the stock market, Tesla shares were up Monday on reports of a trade truce between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The stock surged 5% early in the day, though it settled back down to finish up $8.01, or 2.3%, to $358.49.

Tesla last month began taking reservations in China for its more affordable Model 3 sedan, which is expected to start shipping early next year, Chief Executive Elon Musk said. Considering its relatively low price  starting at $46,000 in the U.S. compared with $78,000 for a Model S (with options that can push the price well over $100,000)  a 40% tariff on the Model 3 could devastate sales in China.

But if Tesla follows through with its plan to build a big factory in China, tariffs wont matter as much. The plant, to be near Shanghai, would manufacture Model 3s and a new Model Y crossover. Building the cars in China could reduce prices by a third, even without taking the tariffs into account, Musk has said.

Its really the only way to make the cars affordable in China, he told analysts last year.

But right now the project is little more than an empty expanse of land in Shanghai, which Tesla procured by signing a long-term lease in October. The project awaits a government license, and no financing has been announced. Musk has said Tesla will rely on loans from Chinese banks.

The project had been set to begin producing cars by 2020, but Musk told analysts in October the plant would be active sometime in 2019. Analysts did not ask what active meant.

Musk alluded to low capital costs in the plants early stages, relying more on manual labor than on advanced technology, akin to the assembly line the company built in a parking lot under a tent in Fremont, Calif., this year.

If the deal goes through, it would be the first time China has allowed a foreign company to manufacture cars on its own there. To date, a joint venture with a Chinese company has been required. General Motors, Ford, Volkswagen, Toyota, Honda and other major automakers operate in China on that basis.

The Trump administration has raised complaints about China forcing companies to give up proprietary technology for access to the China market. A Shanghai official was quoted this year saying technology transfer for the Tesla project is subject to negotiations.

russ.mitchell@latimes.com

Twitter: @russ1mitchellKATOWICE, Poland, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- Rarely has the southern Polish city of Katowice been brought into such a focus of global attention as delegates from nearly 200 countries are gathering for a key UN climate conference three years after the landmark Paris Agreement set a goal of keeping global warming below two degrees Celsius.

The two-week Conference of the Parties (COP24) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change aims to finalize the implementation guidelines and provide clarity on how to carry out the Paris deal fairly for all participating countries.

While countries including China and France are fully committed to finalizing the guidelines, a great deal of work remains to be done in Katowice.

ACTIONS URGED

The COP24 is held hot on the heels of a cascade of UN and other reports on increasing impact of greenhouse gas concentrations and emissions.

According to a latest report by the World Meteorological Organization, signals and impacts of the long-term global warming trend remains undeterred in 2018, following the 20 warmest years recorded in the past 22 years with the top four in the past four years.

Other signs of climate change including sea level rise, ocean heat and acidification and sea-ice and glacier melt continue, while extreme weather left a trail of devastation on all continents, said the report.

In December 2015, negotiators in Paris agreed to finalize by the end of 2018 a detailed set of rules and guidelines -- a "work programme" or "rulebook" -- for implementing the landmark deal.

Adopting the guidelines are crucial for putting the Paris deal into practice as it will enable and encourage climate actions at all levels worldwide and demonstrate the global commitment to tackling the pressing challenge.

"Climate change is running faster than we are and we must catch up sooner rather than later before it is too late," United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday while attending the climate conference.

"This meeting is the most important gathering on climate change since the Paris Agreement was signed. It is hard to overstate the urgency of our situation," Guterres added.

The sense of urgency is apparent well before the UN meeting kicked off Sunday at the heart of Poland's coal industry.

On the sidelines of the recently concluded Group of 20 summit in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires, China, France and the United Nations reiterated their firm commitments to working together in combating climate change.

In a statement, China and France renewed their highest political commitment to the effective and transparent implementation of the Paris Agreement in all aspects.

In particular, the Chinese side reiterated its firm support for implementing the Paris Agreement based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, and for reaching a package agreement at COP24.

CHINA'S CRITICAL ROLE

In an interview with Xinhua, UN General Assembly (UNGA) President Maria Fernanda Espinosa said China plays a "critical role" in tackling climate change, making "immense progress" on low carbon technologies and policy work on emissions reduction.

"I'm impressed with China's commitment to its climate goals, as are indicated by the fact that China has met its 2020 targets three years ahead of schedule," said Espinosa.

Thanks to increased investment in green energy, China's carbon intensity, or the amount of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP, declined by 46 percent by 2017 from 2005 levels, meeting the target ahead of schedule of a 40-45 percent drop by 2020, according to the latest report by the Chinese Ministry of Ecological Environment.

"With these goals met, a very solid foundation has been laid for meeting the target of halting the increase of carbon dioxide emissions by 2030, and even accomplishing that sooner than planned," said Xie Zhenhua, China's special representative for climate change affairs ahead of the meeting in Katowice.

China will remain steadfast and active in addressing climate change and implementing the Paris Agreement, Xie said.

The UNGA president hailed China's leadership in and commitment to tackling climate change as the country takes the implementation of the Paris Agreement as an inherent part of its own sustainable development.

"I think that China's demonstration of the mutually reinforcing goals of climate action and economic development can go a long way to encourage others to increase ambition to see a sustainable and prosperous future," said Espinosa.

"Learning from the excellent example China is setting, the rest of the world has much to gain from the opportunities presented by climate action," she said.

FLEXIBILITY, AUDACITY NEEDED

Despite full commitment by some countries, disagreement over the implementation of the Paris Agreement remains a tough issue, overshadowing the possible outcome of the crucial conference. Adding to the uncertainty is the impact of the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris deal in 2017.

Poland's environmental envoy Michal Kurtyka, who is presiding over the UN meeting, urged all countries to "show creativity and flexibility."

"We are here to enable the world to act together on climate change," said Kurtyka.

UNGA President Espinosa said she has seen strong political will by world leaders to consider all options on the table, noting that few have forgotten that human's shared collective future is at stake.

"All we need now is the audacity to act on climate change," she said. "We need the audacity to work past differences."

The success of the Paris Agreement depends on the world's ability to deliver on it at every level, said Espinosa.

"It will not be easy, but if we are willing to listen, and to compromise, and to effectively harness opportunities such as low carbon technologies, then we have a chance," she said.Billionaire investors Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner have found a buyer for Landmark Theatres, the nations largest owner of art-house cinemas.

The Los Angeles-based company has been sold to Cohen Media Group, the film production and distribution company of New York real estate billionaire Charles S. Cohen, the firms said Tuesday.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Privately held Landmark specializes in independent and foreign films, along with new Hollywood fare. It owns and operates 52 theaters with 252 screens in 27 cities, including New York, Denver, Washington and San Francisco. It has three Los Angeles locations, including its flagship theater, the Landmark at the Westside Pavillion.

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Dallas Mavericks owner Cuban and his longtime business partner Wagner have been looking to sell Landmark for years, on an off-and-on basis. They acquired the chain in 2003 from Los Angeles-based asset manager Oaktree Capital, which had taken the exhibitor out of bankruptcy.

The companys most recent effort to sell Landmark began late last year. The process started to kick into high gear in spring as suitors expressed interest in doing a deal.

Cuban and Wagner previously put Landmark on the block in 2011, but no sale occurred. Cuban and Wagner also own indie film distributor Magnolia Pictures and networks AXS TV and HDNet Movies.

Landmark has attracted interest from multiple potential buyers over the last few months. Executives at global streaming giant Netflix Inc. had broached the idea of buying Landmark but backed off over price, according to people familiar with the matter. Amazon.com, which has its own film production and streaming business, was also reportedly interested. Additionally, outspoken media entrepreneur Byron Allen had talked about buying the company.

But Cohen was a natural fit to buy Landmark, which will retain its current senior leadership team including Chief Executive Ted Mundorff, executives said.

Cohen, worth $3.4 billion, according to Forbes, made his fortune in real estate, owning office buildings in New York City and multiple design centers.

His Cohen Media Group specializes in releasing foreign and art-house titles, such as the Iranian drama The Salesman, which won the 2017 Oscar for best foreign language film, and the 2015 release Timbuktu. In addition to distributing movies, the company is known for restoring cinematic classics including the Merchant Ivory collection and the Buster Keaton catalog. Buying the Landmark chain will give Cohen a stronger platform to distribute his companys movies.

I think its the best scenario that you could ask for, Mundorff said in a phone interview. You have a gentleman whos passionate about independent film, and now he gets to buy the premier indie circuit. Its handmade for him.

Cohen serves as chairman and chief executive of Cohen Brothers Realty Corp. The New York firm owns and manages more than 12 million square feet of office space and design centers across the country, according to trade publication Real Deal New York. Among its properties is West Hollywoods Pacific Design Center.

He also owns high-end brands such as Harrys of London and luggage company T. Anthony, as well as the Quad Cinema in Greenwich Village.

ryan.faughnder@latimes.com

@rfaughnderFriends will be available to watch on WarnerMedias new direct-to-consumer streaming service, but the classic sitcom isnt leaving Netflix anytime soon, AT&T Inc. Chief Executive Randall Stephenson confirmed Tuesday.

Produced by Warner Bros. Television, Friends was a major prime-time hit for NBC from 1994 to 2004. The series popularity endured through syndicated repeats, and has found a new generation of fans through streaming behemoth Netflix.

The announcement that WarnerMedia is launching its own streaming service, set to commence in late 2019, led to speculation that the company would pull Friends from Netflix. That caused a minor panic among the shows legion of fans.

But the renewal of the streaming rights to Friends on a non-exclusive basis  which Stephenson confirmed at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference  indicates that at least some TV and movie studios plan to keep doing business as sellers of programs and films to Netflix while pursuing their own direct-to-consumer streaming businesses.

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Netflix has a new deal for the streaming rights to Friends through 2019, according to a person familiar with the details of the deal and not authorized to discuss them publicly. The following year WarnerMedia has the option to stream the show exclusively on its own service or share it with Netflix.

Based on Stephensons comments, the show will be on the new WarnerMedia streaming platform.

Netflix will reportedly pay significantly more to keep Friends. Since 2015, the company is said to have paid $30 million a year for the exclusive rights to stream all 236 episodes in the U.S. and Canada since 2015. Published reports put the license fee in the range of $80 million to $100 million in 2019.

The WarnerMedia service  which will carry content from WarnerMedia properties HBO, Turner and the Warner Bros. TV and movie libraries  is part of the new reality that media companies have to establish a direct relationship with their audiences as more consumers opt not to sign up for pay-television subscriptions, Stephenson said.

Stephenson said the goal of the new WarnerMedia service was not to become another Netflix and not to create a direct-to-consumer product that rivals Netflix in terms of being a warehouse of content.

His description of Netflix as a warehouse appears to be another attempt to define WarnerMedias product as a premium service. He has previously compared Netflix to mass-market retailer Walmart.

stephen.battaglio@latimes.com

Twitter: @SteveBattaglio

UPDATES:

3:55 p.m.: This article has been updated with details on Netflixs deal to stream Friends in 2019.

This article was originally published at 8:40 a.m.Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos knows that big players such as Walt Disney Co. and WarnerMedia are coming after his business  and hes not worried about it.

The streaming behemoth saw it coming seven years ago when it began aggressively pursuing original programming of its own instead of depending solely on acquisitions from the TV and movie production studios.

We needed to wean ourselves from dependence [on] program suppliers, Sarandos said Monday at the UBS Global Media and Communications conference in New York.

Sarandos said Netfix fully anticipated competitors would enter the streaming arena and expects some of them to be successful. But he is comfortable with the company making major bets on its programs and films.

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Were much better off deciding our own destiny and making our own choices with the consumer in mind than with a bunch of competitors, he said.

The Los Gatos, Calif., company has heavily invested in original content to the degree that it was satirized on Saturday Night Live this past weekend. A commercial parody portrayed a Netflix executive throwing cash at a show creator just a few words into her pitch for a new show.

Sarandos chuckled when the sketch was mentioned.

As for Disney and WarnerMedia, he said content from the studios is not likely to disappear completely from Netflix once they get their own streaming services up and running (both Disney and WarnerMedia are set to launch their streaming entities in 2019). The deals Netflix makes for programs typically run for the life of the series, which can keep them on the service for years.

The Netflix original program pipeline is now robust enough that series are being canceled, although the process of how shows are axed remains a mystery to the public. Netflix does not publicly share audience data.

But Sarandos offered a few insights on how the value of programs is assessed, saying the quality of the audience can sometimes outweigh the quantity.

There are some shows that people join Netflix to watch and they are so excited about it, its pretty much all they watch, he said. That show gets a thumb on the scale.

Sarandos cited Longmire, a series picked up by Netflix after it was dropped by cable network A+E. The shows older, rural-based audience is less appealing to advertisers, but that is not a factor for a commercial-free, subscription-based service.

It wasnt an enormous show for us, but new subscribers really loved that show and would attribute their whole value of their subscription for that show, Sarandos said. It brought a lot of brand love to Netflix.

Awards can also make a difference in a shows survival, he said.

Although large financial commitments and artistic freedom are major inducements for filmmakers to come to Netflix, Sarandos said there are still holdouts who prefer a traditional theatrical film release over streaming.

There are some people who are great artists, they dont care about money, they care about their artistic vision, Sarandos said. I couldnt pay them enough to premiere the movie on Netflix if their desire is for that move to play on 3,000 screens for eight months prior to going to us and thats why they went into it.

Sarandos does not see any such barriers in the television industry, as streaming has offered creative flexibility as a major lure. But among filmmakers, there is still an emotional connection to the theatrical experience, Sarandos said.

Sarandos also suggested that exhibitors are depriving films of the buzz and cultural currency that Netflix can generate by insisting on exclusive windows for its originals, calling them not very consumer friendly.

Were trying to connect people with movies in a big, meaningful way, Sarandos said. Were not trying to hurt theaters in any way.

stephen.battaglio@latimes.com

Twitter: @SteveBattaglioWorkers at Marriott hotels in San Francisco overwhelmingly voted Monday to settle a nine-week strike, ending the last of a series of walkouts that involved 7,700 workers in eight markets across the country.

Union leaders for workers at Marriott hotels in San Francisco said their members had voted 99.6% in favor of an agreement that would allow about 2,500 employees to return to work as early as Wednesday.

The settlement puts an end to job actions that began in early October at Marriott hotels in San Diego, Oakland, San Jose, Boston, Detroit and on the Hawaiian islands of Maui and Oahu. The seven other strikes were settled over the last few weeks.

Marriott confirmed that a tentative agreement had been reached in San Francisco. We look forward to welcoming our associates back, the company said in a statement.

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A spokeswoman for Unite Here, the union representing hotel workers, described the agreement in San Francisco as resulting in the best contract for hotel workers in the citys history.

Union spokeswoman Rachel Gumpert said workers won significant wage increases and an agreement from Marriott to continue to provide workers their existing health coverage plus contributions to its pension plans.

She said the hourly wages for housekeepers in San Francisco have been as low as $23 an hour  up to $8 an hour more than housekeepers in Detroit and other cities. But she said the cost of living is so high in San Francisco that even $23 an hour was not enough to make ends meet for most housekeepers.

The new contract agreement called for a retroactive raise of $1.75 an hour, dating back to the end of the last contract in August, with regular raises for the next four years.

The agreement in San Francisco also gives housekeepers and other hotel employees who work in isolated locations electronic devices to summon help in case of a sexual assault or harassment, Gumpert said.

In addition, union workers will get assurances that those who might be in danger of being replaced by automation  a check-in kiosk, for example  will get the opportunity to move to new positions in the hotels.

Marriott International is the worlds largest hotel company, with about 6,700 properties in more than 130 countries, 177,000 employees and revenue of $22 billion in fiscal 2017.

hugo.martin@latimes.com

To read more about the travel and tourism industries, follow @hugomartin on Twitter.

UPDATES:

6:35 p.m.: The article was updated to include the final vote of the union membership in favor of ratifying the contract.

The article was originally published at 5:10 p.m.The internet is home to a plethora of destinations offering adults-only content. But soon, Tumblr wont be one of them.

The microblogging platform announced Monday that it is banning adult content. In, naturally, a Tumblr post, Chief Executive Jeff DOnofrio said the move was meant to promote a better, more positive Tumblr.

The move appears to stem from a recent dispute Tumblr had with Apples iOS App Store. The Tumblr app was not available as of Nov. 16, news site the Verge reported, and a post from Tumblr indicated it was related to an issue with the filter the site used to automatically remove child pornography.

Every image uploaded to Tumblr is scanned against an industry database of known child sexual abuse material, and images that are detected never reach the platform. A routine audit discovered content on our platform that had not yet been included in the industry database, Tumblr said in the post.

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Mondays announcement said the ban on adult content will be enforced beginning Dec. 17. But many people are already seeing their content flagged  including posts that dont appear to run afoul of Tumblrs new community guidelines.

A collection of stuff on my Tumblr that is now labeled nsfw lol pic.twitter.com/IDfTl3oqge  AnhDang (@anhdangerous) December 3, 2018

I just went through the 12 most recent pages of my Tumblr archive and these were the only three photos flagged. Two photos of me fully clothed and a picture of my vase \_()_/ pic.twitter.com/dUG5K8lbCy  Erika Moen (@ErikaMoen) December 3, 2018

In his announcement, DOnofrio had warned this might be a problem. The company is using a digital tool, not human moderation, to assess posts.

Filtering this type of content versus say, a political protest with nudity or the statue of David, is not simple at scale, he wrote in the post. Were relying on automated tools to identify adult content and humans to help train and keep our systems in check. We know there will be mistakes, but weve done our best to create and enforce a policy that acknowledges the breadth of expression we see in the community.

A Tumblr spokesperson noted in an email that if users believe their posts were incorrectly flagged, they can appeal for a human reviewer to take a look.

Users also took issue with the language in the new community guidelines; specifically, the stipulation that female-presenting nipples would not be allowed. Instagram has a similar policy, which that companys CEO said in 2015 was also a result of App Store policy. An article on Tumblrs Help Center says content showing nipples in the context of breastfeeding, birth, mastectomies, gender affirmation surgeries and other health-related scenarios will still be allowed.

On Twitter, people decried the move as misogynist and overly puritan.

Another concern: Tumblr has a thriving community of transgender and nonbinary users, many of whom arent sure at which point their nipples take on a gender identity.

"Female presenting nipples" is the best using corporate PC language to still be broadly misogynistic I ever heard of.  Thomas (@ABCBTom) December 3, 2018

Tumblr was founded in 2007 and gained prominence in the following few years as people migrated from LiveJournal, Fanfiction.net and DeviantArt. (Casey Fiesler, an assistant professor of information science at the University of Colorado-Boulder, published a visualization of this shift in a Q&A on Slate.)

Yahoo acquired Tumblr in 2013 for $1.1 billion, though without a clear vision for its future or growth. Three years later, Yahoo concluded that it had vastly overpaid.

Founder David Karp left in 2017, prompting the Ringer to ask whether Tumblr was over. As with many other social media sites, users have complained that not enough has been done to limit far-right users and posts. A Kotaku article from July of this year called Tumblrs current incarnation a joyless black hole.

Over the years, Tumblr has also struggled with swarms of porn bots. A Tumblr blog called Purge the Bots was created this year to raise awareness of the problem and update users on what actions the site was taking to address it. A total ban on adult content could solve the problem, though possibly at the cost of users who are on Tumblr specifically for adult content.

A 2017 Glamour article about porn on Tumblr pointed out the sites GIF-heavy and largely artistic approach to pornography is part of its appeal to its majority-female user base. If Tumblrs changes make the site no longer a pornography destination nor a welcoming space for young LGBTQ people, and with the general trend of young people turning to newer mobile-friendly apps like Instagram and YouTube, whos left to even want to use Tumblr?

A decade ago, LiveJournal made a similar pronouncement banning adult content. That site summarily deleted hundreds of blogs, and users abandoned the platform in droves.

Follow me on Twitter @jessica_roy.

jessica.roy@latimes.comThe last several months have witnessed something rare in art  the birth and consolidation of a new art myth. A longstanding belief has been toppled, replaced by a brand-new conviction.

The fable: Hilma af Klint (1862-1944), a Swedish mystic and painter of remarkable skills who is not well known in the United States, invented abstract art.

Her extraordinary artistic accomplishment preceded by several years that of Russian-born Vasily Kandinsky and Kazimir Malevich and the Netherlands Piet Mondrian, one or another of whom is usually credited as abstractions inventor around 1911. As early as 1906, Af Klint began creating revolutionary works that bore no direct pictorial reference to the visible world.

The new myth has been prompted by Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future, a huge exhibition (167 paintings) that currently fills the spiral of New Yorks Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Local reviews have been rapturous, the Swedish artists generative role acclaimed.

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Given the powerful part that abstract art would play in Europe and the Americas as the 20th century unfolded, becoming virtually synonymous with modernity, the new myth is dramatic. Of course, it also isnt true. Hilma af Klint didnt invent abstract art. The answer to the question Who did? is unambiguous: No one did.

Art doesnt work that way. Im not talking about the abstraction that is found in most every culture in most every age, including prehistoric, but of other modern European artists who had already been exploring abstraction. And decades earlier than Af Klint.

In London, at the height of the Victorian Era, Georgiana Houghton (18141884) began making vivid paintings on paper of colorful swirls, staccato dots, linear spirals, feathery marks and assorted shapes and forms of visual energy. The product of 10 years of work was shown in an 1871 exhibition at a gallery on Old Bond Street, center of Londons art quarter, where the 155 abstractions were greeted with stunned puzzlement and often ridicule.

Thirty-five years later, when Af Klint began her abstract paintings, she kept them from public view for fear of similar negative reaction.

Georgiana Houghton, Glory Be to God, circa 1868, watercolor on paper. (Nationalmuseum, Stockholm)

Hilma af Klint, Group V, The Seven-Pointed Star, No. 1n, " 1908, oil on canvas. (Nationalmuseum, Stockholm)

Victor Hugo, Stains, circa 1852-59, ink and wash on paper. (Bibliotheque nationale de France BnF)

Victor Hugo (1802-1885) was in exile when he began to make abstract art in earnest. The great and controversial French Romantic poet and novelist  Les Miserables, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Legend of the Ages  had run afoul of Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, dictator of the Second Empire. Cast out to the island of Guernsey in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy, he applied the writers common tools of quill pen, ink and paper to abstract ends.

Stones to Stains: The Drawings of Victor Hugo, a darkly beautiful exhibition at the UCLA Hammer Museum to Dec. 30, lays out the absorbing result.

In collaboration with Swiss independent scholar Florian Rodari, curators Cynthia Burlingham and Allegra Pesenti of the museums Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts have assembled 65 drawings made between 1837 and 1876, the bulk of them from the 1850s and 1860s. Most pertinent are those referred to as stains  sensuous, layered washes of primarily brown, sometimes black or blue ink, often evoking a morose nocturnal gloom from which light seems to be pushing its way through.

Spilling ink onto paper, moving it around by tilting the sheet, drawing it out with the nub of the pen, brushing the quills feather across the surface, mixing it with graphite, blotting with cloth, dabbling with fingers  Hugo created a contemplative poetics of abstraction startling in its originality. Many relate to landscape  the stones of the shows title. Earlier images of a church belfry, hilltop castles, threateningly fantastic monsters, natural phenomena like the cloud-covered moon or breaking waves, and even a spider industriously toiling in its web seem to melt into the nonobjective atmosphere of ink-stained paper.

Victor Hugo, Stains, circa 1850, ink and wash on paper. (Nationalmuseum, Stockholm)

Victor Hugo, Stains, circa 1875, ink and wash on paper. (Bibliotheque nationale de France BnF)

The politically active Parisian writer, a draftsman from his youth, seems to have found the melancholy of his pastoral exile to be an opportunity for speculative thought. (The marriage of the sublime and the abyss is how Rodari puts it in the shows fine catalog.) Some 3,000 drawings are known, but none were publicly displayed during Hugos lifetime.

Hugos abstract art predates Houghtons by half a dozen years. It precedes Af Klints by half a century.

Although very different artists, one thing all three shared is a deep interest in spiritualism and the occult. (The Victorian Spiritualists Union in Melbourne, Australia, is the primary repository of Houghtons little-known work, which resurfaced in London in a 2016 show at the Courtauld Gallery.) For an artist exploring experience beyond the visible world, abstract art is an almost logical development.

Thats important because it distinguishes their work from most modern abstraction. Hugo, Houghton and Af Klint were painting an invisible spirit world. They used color, line, shape and form to explore the representation of reality  just not the reality that a human eye could see. By contrast, other 20th century nonobjective artists explored paintings visual structure as its own spiritual reality.

Af Klints spiritual mapping of lifes cyclical rhythms was channeled to her telepathically, she said, from an ancient Tibetan brotherhood. Houghtons torrential optical waves and Hugos bleeding atmospheric puddles resonate with their makers frequent participation in seances. (Hugo once tried to reach presumed inhabitants on the planet Mercury.) Little wonder, perhaps, that these three rarely showed their art to the general public.

That they didnt, and that their work has rarely (if ever) been substantively shown in the United States since their passing  the Hammer survey is only Hugos second show  has left an unplowed field for growing a new mythology of abstractions origins.

New York magazine called the Af Klint claim an airtight case. Game-changing said the New York Times. The New Yorker, slightly more reserved, confirmed the argument while describing it as the least of the excitements. Down the Acela Corridor, the Washington Post declared a headline revelation.

The clamor around Af Klint as inventor of abstract art is partly a reactionary hangover, as critic Peter Schjeldahl has noted, of the generally discredited idea of artistic progress. In a race to the future, being first matters.

Af Klints gender has also contributed, as establishment discrimination against women gets steadily, if too slowly, chipped away. The retrospectives timing was fortuitous: The thrilling Womens March that erupted in the wake of rampant misogyny in the 2016 presidential election, forming the initial groundswell of the blue wave that crashed on the political shore in Novembers record-breaking midterm vote, met the recent proliferation of contemporary art exhibitions by women now on museum schedules. (Five are on view at L.A. institutions alone.) Together they produced a receptive socio-cultural moment for her extraordinary work.

Just as weary as a modernist belief in artistic progress is New Yorks often-remarked provincialism  the assumption that if it didnt happen in Manhattan, it didnt happen. The Guggenheim show is the citys first good look at Af Klints paintings, which the artist stipulated should remain hidden from view for at least 20 years after her death. The actual concealment lasted twice as long: The paintings international debut came in Los Angeles in 1986.

The Spiritual in Art: Abstract Painting 1890-1985 was the inaugural extravaganza for a new wing that was opening at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Abstractions foundations were laid out in five introductory spaces. Af Klints provocative paintings were hung in the formative company of Kandinsky, Malevich and Mondrian, plus Czech innovator Frantisek Kupka. The show traveled to Chicago and the Netherlands, skipping over New York.

During the three decades since the LACMA debut, sizable solo surveys have taken place all over Europe, from England and France to Iceland and Estonia. Her work was in a modest three-person exhibition at New Yorks Drawing Center in 2005 (it traveled to the Santa Monica Museum of Art), and a small installation of her paintings was at MoMA PS1 in Long Island City in 1989, certainly inspired by the LACMA show. It seems not to have made a dent, the New York Times then describing the paintings not as a watershed but as a footnote to 20th-century art history.

They are, of course, much more than that, as the Guggenheim exhibition attests. Hilma af Klints paintings are the first pinnacle in a distinctive abstract legacy of metaphysical thought that unfolded over the course of a century. It launched in the 1850s and 1860s with the likes of Hugo and Houghton and picked up steam in America in the 1940s and 1950s with the transcendent mysticism of Lee Mullicans knife-edge paintings, the colorful numerology and prismatic structural systems of Alfred Jensens thickly painted diagrams and more.

The quest for spiritual insight grows acute in eras marked by the emergence of strange new worlds. Were in that perplexed soup right now. Renewed interest in artists like Hugo, Houghton and Af Klint speaks, I think, of our intensifying digital upheaval, as culturally disruptive as the Gutenberg revolution. Expect more new art myths to take shape around it.

         

Stones to Stains: The Drawings of Victor Hugo

Where: UCLA Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood

When: Through Dec. 30; closed Mondays

Admission: Free

Info: (310) 443-7000, www.hammer.ucla.edu

christopher.knight@latimes.com

@KnightLATDirector Ben Stillers Escape at Dannemora, a thriller that unfolds at a non-thriller pace, stars Patricia Arquette as Joyce Tilly Mitchell, a woman who oversees the sewing shop at a century-old upstate New York prison. Tilly has numerous verboten sexual trysts with two prisoners under her oversight, Richard Matt (Benicio Del Toro) and David Sweat (Paul Dano), who then manipulate her into helping them escape. The real-world story is a tour de force in exploratory character acting.

The writers, says Arquette, dug deep, and it was important to Ben too, all these different aspects of Tilly. Who cares if the audience likes them? Just tell the story.

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There is just something about her that fascinates; theres something real about her, she adds. As I got ready to play her, I told my older brother, You know, this lady can really be a bitch. He said, Youve tried to be such a nice person in your life; why dont you explore that [side]? Its so true. To play somebody like that is amazing.

What were your first impressions of Tilly after you read the script?

It felt like she was deceptive, yes, but she also tried to get her needs met, and in a larger sense its the same for everyone: All people want to be loved, feel alive and to feel something in their lives more than just the 40-hour workweek, the drudgery of everyday life. To feel like youre alive and you matter on Earth. She was going through a crisis and felt depressed, and this kind of attention and warmth pulled her in. Its an intense boiler room when youre in a prison where everything is heightened and its scary. She built a lot into these little moments of human contact.

So did you see Tillys prisoner connections as warmth or as basically anonymous interactions?

A little bit of both. When they have sex, its really fast because youre not allowed to do this so it has to happen so quickly. But I also wanted to look at who is allowed to be sexual in culture? What body type are you supposed to have? What age are you allowed to be? Are women allowed to be sexual? Or only just young women? A lot of artificial parameters have been put in the story of human beings and human sexuality, and womens sexuality for sure.

Patricia Arquette as Tilly in Escape at Dannemora. (Christopher Saunders / Showtime)

Did you see her as a cruel woman, especially her behavior toward her husband, Lyle?

Oh, yeah. Honestly, as a woman to even be able to play someone who is cruel, or unlikable, all of those things we never get a chance to even explore on film  yeah! To have a complicated person who is cruel, and then not cruel, who is many different things at once and not even aware of themselves. Her bad behavior shes subconsciously mad at herself and then blames [Lyle] for her behavior because shes not ready to look at it. Its a lot of unconscious behavior.

I read you did not meet with the real Tilly, who is still in prison. Why?

I dont know honestly if I could have, but we didnt even try, though I did meet David Sweat. People told me she was threatening and litigious and has a need to control whats written about her, and I didnt have the authority to promise her anything. Shes told a lot of things to a lot of people. So, I didnt want to get into Tillys snare. She was a hustler, but she was being hustled by pros and she wasnt a pro, though she thought she was. And thats also something interesting to me. People often think theyre outsmarting the system when theyre not.

I know youve worked with Ben as an actor. How was it different with him as a director?

Hes a very giving director, making all this space for us. Even when it might not have been his initial instinct, he really let us play things out and try things. He made space to let us win him over if thats needed. He was very much about The best idea in the room wins. And very generous, I want to say, very protective, very respectful. There were a lot of love scenes, and he was very cognitive of making us all feel comfortable and talking things through. But also bringing levity into things. Everybody needs to laugh, especially in situations like that.

You went through quite a physical transformation for the part: a dental device, contact lenses, wigs, weight gain 

There was no shying away from anything. I dont think [Ben] ever made me feel not beautiful. I think he really respected that part of Tilly; he was fascinated by her. I was fascinated by her  her self-esteem. In some ways she didnt have any self-esteem, and in some ways she really does.WASHINGTON, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will press allies to meet their defense spending targets and talk about Moscow on his North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) trip, according to a statement issued by the State Department on Monday.

Pompeo will participate in the NATO foreign ministers' meetings in Brussels during Dec. 3-5, a senior State Department official told reporters anonymously en route to Brussels, according to the statement.

The United States would continue to press allies on the following commitments: 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) spent on defense and 20 percent of defense budgets invested in major equipment.

The U.S. administration has been criticizing European nations for failing to meet the official annual defense spending target of 2 percent of GDP set by NATO.

According to NATO figures, only five of 29 members have met their defense spending targets this year -- Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Britain and the United States.

Besides, NATO members will also go through a report on the bloc's southern dimension during the meeting, and update the 2017 counterterrorism plan with a heavy emphasis on intelligence sharing, according to the statement.

In Brussels, the United States would cooperate with NATO allies to counter Moscow on various issues, including the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and the recent Kerch Strait incident.

"We will be ... working with allies to chart a joint way forward in how we tackle the problem of Russian noncompliance with the INF Treaty," the senior official said.

In October, U.S. President Donald Trump said that Washington would pull out of the landmark INF Treaty signed by the Soviet Union and the United States in 1987 on account of Russia's alleged breach of the agreement, which Moscow had repeatedly denied.

Russia believes that the U.S. plan to withdraw from the treaty will have grave consequences for the world.

Washington also planned to press Moscow to release the Ukrainian crew members and ships, calling on European allies to show leadership in tackling the problem, according to the statement.

On Nov. 25, three Ukrainian ships attempting to sail through the Kerch Strait from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov were seized by Russian forces. The Russian side alleged that they had violated the Russian border.For many Jewish Americans, the question is not whether they will travel to Israel, but when.

Each year, tens of thousands of young people from around the world make the trip  their expenses paid by Taglit-Birthright Israel, a nonprofit that aims to foster their Jewish identity and a connection to Israel by introducing them to the countrys everyday life, culture and history. Participants tour sites such as Israels Holocaust memorial and the Western Wall, and spend part of the trip in the company of Israeli soldiers their age.

That ritual met with some controversy this year after a few participants walked off the program to protest what they considered Birthrights failure to adequately address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. About a dozen American Jews abandoned their summer tours and joined up with other organized trips focused on the conflict and meeting Palestinian families.

Though small, the protest reverberated throughout Los Angeles Jewish community, with some expressing outrage at using Birthright to make a political statement and others showing support for the activism.

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Some of the protesters  members of a group called IfNotNow  claimed the trip erased the Palestinian experience.

Elon Glickman grew up in Los Angeles, where he attended Jewish day school, summer camps and youth groups. Still, he said, he was not shown a full picture of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict until he landed at Oberlin College, where he met activists working against the occupation.

Breaking: group takes money, sees agenda, agrees & goes before spotting a chance for self-righteousness. https://t.co/E1Q9Q3HQbg  David Wolpe (@RabbiWolpe) July 15, 2018

They would ask me my stance on settlements or the Green Line [the pre-1967 boundary that divides Israel and the West Bank territories], and I would say, What is happening? Glickman said. That was one of the moments that I knew my community was hiding things from me about Israel-Palestine.

Glickman had hoped his tour in July would help him deepen his ties to Judaism and educate him on the conflict. But the 25-year-old walked away from the program on the sixth day.

I was raised to believe Judaism is a religion of questioning and speaking truth to power, said Glickman, who joined IfNotNow two years ago. I feel proud to be Jewish because of my role in this.

Los Angeles Rabbi Sharon Brous said the protest reflects a shift in American Jewish society, in which more people are speaking out against policies they see as unjust.

In the American Jewish community, it is extremely difficult to engage and be active in a loving and critical way, Brous said. So I understand why young people now are looking for ways to make their voices heard.

In an email, Birthright said the protesters chose to leave their trips early as a means to generate publicity for their cause, adding that the group welcomes diverse views and questions as long as they are constructive and shared respectfully.

Birthright Israel is an apolitical educational program that does not condone use of its platform to disseminate one-sided political or social agendas, a spokesperson said.

Rabbi David Wolpe is among those in the local religious community who found the protest inappropriate.

I understand people want different kinds of experiences when they go to Israel, said Wolpe, rabbi at Sinai Temple in Westwood. But I think when you sign up with a trip, you have an implicit and maybe explicit commitment to the experience of that trip.  I didnt see it as a right or left issue, I saw it as a good-faith issue.

Taglit-Birthright Israel was launched in 1999 by a group of Jewish philanthropists in collaboration with the Israeli government in response to concerns that the diaspora was not as engaged in Jewish life as previous generations, said Leonard Saxe, director of the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University.

Since then, the program has sent about 650,000 young adults from more than 50 countries on the 10-day tour.

Houman Hemmati was among the first to go on a Birthright trip, in 1999. Each year, tens of thousands of young Jews from around the world make the free trip through Taglit-Birthright Israel, a nonprofit that aims to foster Jewish identity and a connection to Israel. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Some of those who quit the program said that they dont reject the concept of a trip such as Birthright, but believe it needs to be more inclusive and provide a range of perspectives.

Among the complaints was that the program had stopped dedicating part of the tour to meeting Israeli Arabs.

Birthright said it had only temporarily postponed programs that explore the joint society between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel in the fall of 2017 to refine them and ensure they were as productive and impactful as possible.

It began reintroducing the programs  part of a social diversity module that focuses on encounters between participants and Israeli Arabs, Druze, Ethiopian Jews, Haredi Jews and other members of Israeli society  in December 2017.

Birthright said its participants are required to engage in programming that addresses the complex issues of the Middle East and doesnt endorse any specific agendas, opinions or beliefs.

Co-founder Charles Bronfman noted that the program includes four hours devoted to discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict  in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza  as impartially as possible.

I dont see the issue not being addressed, he told Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

In fact, the program is not really meant to be an immersive educational experience about the ins and outs of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, said Siamak Kordestani, an assistant director at the American Jewish Committees Los Angeles office who attended Birthright in 2004.

Others who have taken the trip said that with or without formal programming  meeting Israeli Arabs comes organically.

Houman Hemmati, one of the first people to attend Birthright in 1999, decided to extend his visit after the tour ended  an option many participants take advantage of. Birthright pays for a return flight even if an attendee chooses to leave at a later date.

Hemmati made his way to the Muslim Quarter in Jerusalem on his own, spending time with a family who lived in a home carved out of stones. The family members showed him around, he said, and discussed their daily lives.

I wanted to explore things from a different perspective, Hemmati, 42, said. The trip was focused on cultural and national, and to some degree, religious things. It was less so focused on politics and conflict. That wasnt what it was billed to be.

To him, the act of abandoning the tour was disrespectful.

The mature thing to do is to vocalize, admit that they disagree in a professional manner, and then try to have it addressed. And if they cant have it addressed, to find a way which it can be done, said Hemmati, a biotech entrepreneur in Los Angeles.

One of those who quit the program last summer was Danielle Raskin, who started working with IfNotNow over the last year. The organization has launched a campaign called #NotJustAFreeTrip that argues Birthright curates an experience that deliberately obscures the occupation and the truth about Israel from view.

Raskin applied in the spring, eager to see Israel at a time when it was at the forefront of the news  the United States had announced that a new embassy would open in Jerusalem and there had been a fresh round of violence in the Gaza Strip. The 23-year-old said she had hoped Birthright would discuss those issues.

Raskin and four others left on the last day, after what she described as more than a week of trying to meaningfully engage with the occupation.

We felt we needed to do something to publicly call them out, Raskin said.

The protesters contacted another Israeli tour group that takes participants into areas such as the West Bank city of Hebron. There, they met with Palestinians and saw the settlements firsthand.

Still, Raskin said, Birthright did leave her feeling more connected to her Jewish identity.

It was a powerful, moving experience for everyone, and I think there is some value there, she said. I just think people who go on Birthright should really be aware that it isnt going to provide them the kind of education that our generation deserves.

sarah.parvini@latimes.com

Twitter: @sarahparviniCalifornia officials will take over a small insurance company that has been overwhelmed by claims from property owners in Paradise whose homes were leveled by the Camp fire.

A Merced County judge on Monday allowed Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones to liquidate the assets of Merced Property & Casualty Co., which informed Jones office two weeks ago that it was on the brink of insolvency.

Jones office had petitioned the court on Friday for that authority  which is uncommon if not unprecedented for a California property and casualty insurer.

The 112-year-old company, based in the San Joaquin Valley city of Atwater, has about $23 million in assets but expected it would ultimately need to pay out $64 million in claims, largely for properties in Paradise, according to a court filing.

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Jones said the order would enable the California Insurance Guarantee Assn.  a state-run insurance fund  to begin paying claims.

Protecting Camp fire policyholders who have already suffered through so much was my first consideration, Jones said in a statement.

Merced policyholders will be notified how to file claims or seek the return of premiums, according to the statement. Nancy Kincaid, a spokeswoman for Jones office, said the association will cover property insurance claims for up to $500,000.

Thats probably enough to cover most claims. The median home price in Paradise as of October was $257,400, according to Zillow. According to a Department of Insurance handout on the liquidation process, policyholders who have claims exceeding the associations limit may be able to seek additional payments out of Merceds assets.

Jones last week ordered the state Department of Insurance to review other insurance companies to see if they have been jeopardized by recent wildfires.

Kincaid said the departments investigators have found no other companies at risk of failure, though Rex Frazier, president of the Personal Insurance Federation of California, an industry trade group, said hes heard two more firms might be in trouble.

Merceds failure highlights the unprecedented destruction caused by the fire, which leveled nearly 14,000 homes, more than any other in state history. It also reflects the small size of the insurance company and possibly its willingness to offer homeowners policies in an area where some other firms had pulled out.

Merced operates only in California, mostly in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys. And it accounts for less than one-tenth of 1% of all the homeowners insurance policies in the state, collecting about $4 million in premiums last year, according to the Department of Insurance and company financial statements.

By comparison, insurance giant State Farm accounts for nearly 18% of all homeowners policies in California and collected $1.4 billion in premiums last year.

Its not clear now many policies Merced wrote in the Paradise area, but Frazier said small companies tend to have more of their business concentrated in specific areas. That makes it more likely that such a company could be bankrupted by a single catastrophe.

Steve Mora, president of insurance brokerage Heritage Insurance Agency in Chico, did not sell Merced policies but said the company appeared to be more willing than others to sell policies in Paradise. The town and surrounding areas were classified as high fire-hazard severity zones by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Most mainstream companies had pulled out of that area, Mora said. They were either non-renewing policies or were not writing any new policies.

Frazier said this is the only instance he knows of in which an insurer has been put out of business by a single calamity.

Its highly unlikely a major carrier would be taken down by something like this, he said. For a small company, all it takes is to get a lot of bad luck in an area thats overexposed.

He noted that one insurer, 20th Century Insurance, was almost bankrupted by the Northridge earthquake but that the company, now called 21st Century Insurance, eventually recovered and was never taken over by the state.

Like most insurance companies, Merced had reinsurance  essentially a form of insurance for insurance companies  to cover catastrophic losses. But destruction from the Camp fire may have been so great that Merced did not have the wherewithal to pay even its own share of claims.

A state examination from 2016 shows that under the reinsurance coverage in place at the time, Merced would have to pay the first $150,000 of any claim before its coverage would kick in. That means the companys $23 million in assets could have been eaten up by just 153 claims.

james.koren@latimes.com

Twitter: @jrkoren

UPDATES:

5:55 p.m.: This article was updated with more details and comments from Rex Frazier, spokesman for an insurance industry trade group, and Steve Mora, president of a Chico insurance brokerage.

This article was originally published at 12:10 p.m.The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a $4.5-million plan Tuesday to reduce the strain on the Los Angeles County Fire Department, which responds to devastating incidents such as the Woolsey fire but also provides 24-hour emergency services across 2,300 square miles.

The supervisors plan seeks to educate the public and leaders in the 59 municipalities the department serves about the new realities in staffing, equipment and facilities  and to gather their input about their experiences during recent fires.

The new effort comes months after the board raised concerns about the departments aging stations and equipment, and weeks after the Woolsey fire burned more than 90,000 acres in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

The supervisors said the fire has highlighted a new reality for the department: It must respond to wildfires in an era of drought conditions and prolonged periods of dry, windy weather while also providing emergency medical services to 4 million county residents.

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The number and severity of wildfires in Los Angeles County has dramatically increased over the past several years ... and that is testing our county Fire Department like it has never been tested before, said Supervisor Janice Hahn, who took over as board chairwoman Tuesday. This new normal has propelled me to ask whether our Fire Department has what it needs.

The boards move also comes amid new scrutiny about the departments payroll after the countys chief executive officer, Sachi Hamai, asked the auditor-controller to examine its overtime practices.

The Times reported in October that more than 640 firefighters received at least $100,000 in overtime in the 2017 calendar year as commanders struggled with staffing vacancies and the demand for fighting wildfires.

The report also found that two dozen firefighters made in excess of $200,000 in overtime.

The audit began in September and was expected to include interviews with department management about payroll and timekeeping to ensure that overtime spending complies with guidelines.

Auditors were expected to review some of the top overtime earners and study whether the department has a process for receiving some reimbursement when it helps other departments with emergencies such as wildfires or hurricanes.

The report is scheduled to be completed later this month, though its unclear whether the departments full-blown response to the Woolsey fire might delay the outcome.

Fire Chief Daryl Osby, who was appointed in 2011, told supervisors that his department is already among the busiest in the nation, behind New York, Chicago and Los Angeles city, he said.

The department responded to more than 400,000 calls last year, he said, and roughly 80% were to address emergency medical needs.

Only a fraction of the calls relate to actual fires  but incidents such as the Woolsey blaze expose lingering concerns about the departments staffing and equipment.

The county has already identified the need to upgrade the departments communications system and infrastructure, including breathing apparatus, fire engines and helicopters.

The Woolsey incident has probably laid on the map some of the challenges, he said, recalling his departments struggles to fight the blaze. We could never catch up with it.

Fire Capt. Dave Gillotte, who directs the union representing the departments 3,200 firefighters and paramedics, said the department should focus on hiring more firefighters and paramedics  including more women.

An integral part of this will be the recruitment of candidates from out there in our communities, he said.

Gillotte said he hoped the supervisors effort might change the culture in a department that has historically expected to do more with less.

The new norm is: We do more with more, he said. You give us more, and we can serve the citizens better.A 23-year-old Los Angeles man has been accused of abusing his 4-year-old daughter for several weeks before she died Sunday night, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Charles Richard Lee was charged with one count of assault causing death in connection with the death of his daughter, Zaraellia Thompson, according to a news release issued Tuesday by the Los Angeles County district attorneys office.

Lee is expected to make his initial appearance in a downtown courtroom Tuesday afternoon, authorities said. It was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney.

Los Angeles police launched an investigation about 11 a.m. Sunday after they were contacted by staff at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center about a 4-year-old girl who was brought in by ambulance, police said. The girl had been taken to the hospital from a home in the 1500 block of East 42nd Street, authorities said.

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Prosecutors said Zaraellia was dropped off at Lees home several weeks ago and that he had physically abused her over the course of that time, according to the news release.

Paramedics responded to Lees home and found Zaraellia unresponsive on Sunday, investigators said. She was pronounced dead at the hospital at 11:34 a.m. Sunday, though her cause of death has not yet been determined.

Lee is being held in lieu of $1 million, according to online jail records.

In a statement issued late Tuesday, the head of the countys Department of Children and Family Services said the agency had launched an internal review of its contacts with the family before Zaraellias death.

Today, we mourn the senseless death of a child in Los Angeles County  a 4-year-old girl whose father has been arrested and accused of child abuse. As a department, our first and foremost priority is the safety of our countys children. We are committed to cooperating with law enforcement to determine exactly what happened, DCFS Director Bobby Cagle said in the statement.

Times staff writer Richard Winton contributed to this report.

james.queally@latimes.com

Follow @JamesQueallyLAT for crime and police news in California.

UPDATES:

8:20 p.m.: This story was updated with a statement from the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services.

This story was first published at 3:05 p.m.A silky red robe. A Playboy magazine with Marilyn Monroe on the cover. A gold ring with a hidden compartment containing a Viagra pill. These treasures belonging to Hugh Hefner were among items that bidders walked away with over the weekend.

Fans, celebrities, universities and museums paid more than $3 million in a live auction for some of the late media magnates possessions, said Martin Nolan, executive director of Juliens Auctions.

The top-selling item was Hefners college typewriter, which he used in 1953 when he began building the Playboy empire. It sold for $162,500.

Hefners own collection of Playboy magazines, including his copy of the first edition, sold for between $35 and $40,000 each.

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The proceeds, Nolan said, will go to the Hugh M. Hefner Foundation, which supports organizations that advocate for 1st Amendment rights and sex and drug policies.

The auction was planned shortly after Hefners death in September 2017, Nolan said. His wife, a daughter and a son attended.

We had to clear the entire mansion, and we spent the year curating the auction, photographing and cataloging everything, he said.

Other items for sale included pinball machines, a jukebox, Hefners Monopoly board game and the 1977 script for the Saturday Night Live episode he hosted, Nolan said. SNL alum and comedian Jim Belushi walked away with that one for $3,125.

The auction was preceded by a VIP party for 700 guests, Nolan said. The venue was decorated to look like the entrance of the Playboy mansion, and items were placed on red carpets throughout the space.

It was a tribute to Hefner himself, a celebration of the empire he built, Nolan said. It was such a wonderful evening  [celebrating] fun and freedom. I think thats what Hugh Hefner would have wanted.

alejandra.reyesvelarde@latimes.com

Twitter: @r_valejandraProsecutors announced charges Tuesday against two additional suspects  including the alleged gunman  in a shooting that left two 15-year-old boys dead and two other teens wounded on Mothers Day in South Los Angeles.

Nancy Joanna De La Rocha, 27, and Edwin Federico Loza, 19, were each charged with two counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder in connection with a shooting that claimed the lives of Lamarrion Upchurch and Monyae Jackson, both 15-year-old Long Beach residents, according to a news release issued by the Los Angeles County district attorneys office.

Prosecutors say Loza opened fire shortly before 1:30 a.m. on May 13, striking Lamarrion, Monyae and two other teenagers in the 300 block of West Manchester Avenue in Florence.

Lamarrion died at the scene, and Monyae died in an area hospital two days later. The other teens injuries were not life-threatening, police said.

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De La Rocha and Loza were expected to make their first appearances in a downtown L.A. courtroom on Tuesday, but the hearing was continued until next month, said Paul Eakins, a spokesman for the district attorneys office. In June, 19-year-old Christian Ivan Macias was arrested and charged in connection with the slayings. He pleaded not guilty earlier this year. Charges were filed against De La Rocha on Sept. 20 and Loza on Nov. 16, prosecutors said.

Attempts to contact attorneys for De La Rocha, Loza and Macias were unsuccessful Tuesday morning. The defendants could get life in prison if convicted. Prosecutors have yet to decide whether they will seek the death penalty.

LAPD Det. Oscar Villarreal, the lead investigator on the case, said Tuesday that police think all of those involved in the killings have now been arrested. Loza, De La Rocha and Macias are all members of the 18th Street Gang, police said, and may have thought the victims were members of the rival Hoover Criminals street gang.

None of the shooting victims, however, were gang members, according to Villareal, who declined to say whether a weapon had been recovered.

At a news conference earlier this year, Kevonte Watkins described his younger brother, Monyae, as a bright, intelligent teen who liked to make people laugh.

He gave me the inspiration to be the positive role model in his life, Watkins said.

Relatives earlier this year said some of the victims, including Monyae, were placed in handcuffs after the shooting. The Los Angeles Police Department reviewed the body-worn camera footage from the scene and determined Monyae had not actually been handcuffed, said Josh Rubenstein, the departments chief spokesman.

The surviving victims had walked away from the scene after the shooting, and were briefly handcuffed and detained when they returned after officers arrived, according to Rubenstein, who said no officers were found to have done anything wrong.

Times staff writer Nicole Santa Cruz contributed to this report.

james.queally@latimes.com

Follow @JamesQueallyLAT for crime and police news in California.

UPDATES:

9:36 p.m.: This article was updated with additional comments from the LAPD.

11:35 a.m.: This article was updated with the possible penalty if the defendants are convicted.

11:05 a.m.: This article was updated with comments from an LAPD detective.

This article was originally published at 10:30 a.m.The city and county of Los Angeles both took steps Tuesday to limit the availability of single-use plastic straws in restaurants, joining the state and a slew of smaller cities that have approved similar restrictions.

By a 12-0 vote, the City Council asked for an ordinance to be drafted requiring dining establishments to give out plastic straws only by request, and laying the groundwork for a complete ban in the future.

L.A.s proposed measure goes beyond what the state requires, but is not as strict as the outright bans in place in San Francisco and some smaller California cities.

The state prohibits full-service, dine-in restaurants from offering plastic straws to customers unless they are requested.

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The city ordinance will include fast food restaurants  though it will create an exemption for those with drive-through operations. They would be allowed to tell customers in their cars that they may have a straw if they like.

Patrons in dine-in restaurants would have to ask for straws.

Councilman Mitch OFarrell sponsored the measure, and says he expects it to be in effect at establishments with more than 26 employees by Earth Day on April 22, 2019, and at all restaurants by Oct. 1, 2019.

During Tuesdays session, he displayed a photo of a sea turtle with a plastic straw up its nose  an image that has captured the public imagination on this issue  and said he hoped this bill would change human behavior and that people would begin to stop using these items.

We can make different choices as a society, OFarrell said. The evidence is in, and its overwhelming. The aftereffects  the consequences  of widespread plastic use is choking the planet.

He said the citys ban on plastic bags in 2013 has had a huge effect on the cleanliness of the Los Angeles River, but he noted that plastic straws can still be found in the sandy river bottom.

The county Board of Supervisors, meanwhile, unanimously adopted an ordinance prohibiting as many as 1,300 restaurants and food business in unincorporated areas from automatically providing plastic straws or beverage stirrers, or making them available in self-serve dispensers.

Under the county law, restaurants in unincorporated areas must ask customers whether they want a plastic straw before giving them out. In the city, customers would need to ask.

If you want one, you can still get one, Supervisor Sheila Kuehl said in a statement. Restricting the use of straws is one step toward a much larger goal of raising public awareness and reducing the amount of discarded plastics that pollute the planet.

The measures are seen as the latest victories in a years-long effort to reduce the amount of plastic in the environment.

San Francisco, Malibu and Manhattan Beach have banned the plastic devices. Berkeley, Davis and Oakland have all adopted something similar to Los Angeles  asking that straws be given out only at customers request. Companies like Starbucks have also said they will ban the items completely in the near future.

A city report said that single-use plastic straws, which were first developed in the 1960s, were the sixth-most collected item on California Coastal Cleanup days between 1988 and 2016.

In 2015, 7.3 million tons of nondurable plastics, which includes plastic straws, were trashed in the United States, and only 2% of those plastics were recycled, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Even though its symbolic, it does make a difference. It means straws wont be a top item in beach cleanups  and also makes people realize this is an unnecessary thing that has more problems associated with it than the benefit they derive from it, said Darby Hoover, a senior resource specialist at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The City Council also asked for the Board of Sanitation to study creating an ordinance that would phase out plastic straws completely by 2021. OFarrell said a two-year phaseout would give restaurants and bars time to get rid of their current inventory of plastic straws and gives the industry time to create more sustainable replacements for plastic straws.

In an interview after the vote, OFarrell said that once a report was issued on the subject, he expected that an ordinance enacting a full ban would be in place by April as well.

I would call it a plan, not a hope, he said. This is one of those issues that we shouldve acted on probably 10 years ago.

Disability advocates have expressed concern about a complete ban, saying there isnt a viable alternative to plastic for people who must use a straw to drink.

If restaurants and other establishments stopped having plastic straws available, disabled people wouldnt be able to do what we can do, which is walk into an establishment and order a drink and enjoy it, said Autumn Elliott, a senior counsel for Disability Rights California.

Does it need to be a plastic straw in particular? Not necessarily, but the alternatives currently available dont usually work for people with disabilities, Elliott said, calling glass and paper straws inadequate.

Once the ordinance is in place, there will be complaint-driven enforcement of the new rules. Written notices will be issued for the first and second violations, followed by $25 fines per day for violating the rule, capped at $300 per year.

Times staff writers Matt Stiles and Emily Alpert Reyes contributed to this report.

benjamin.oreskes@latimes.com

@boreskes

UPDATES:

3:10 p.m.: This article was updated with news of the the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors decision and additional details about the citys plans.

This article was originally published at 12:45 p.m.A long-debated development in a remote, uninhabited part of Los Angeles County could be vulnerable to dangerous wildfires of the type California has seen in recent months, prompting concerns about the safety of building there.

The Centennial development at Tejon Ranch would sit squarely within high and very high fire hazard severity zones as defined by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

From 1964 to 2015, Cal Fire recorded 31 wildfires larger than 100 acres within five miles of Centennial, including four within the projects boundaries, according to county planning documents.

Given those facts and the recent devastation of the Camp and Woolsey fires, some say the model that has long characterized development in Southern California  communities sprawling farther and farther out into wildland  is no longer sustainable.

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Going back to the 1960s, everywhere that we move  fire erupts, said Char Miller, professor of environmental analysis at Pomona College.

Theres a pattern here and we need to pay attention to the relationship between urban development on the one hand and wildland fire on the other, Miller said.

Representatives for Tejon Ranch Co. said they have taken fire hazard into account and that modern building and safety practices can significantly reduce the risks.

From the beginning of our planning process weve been cognizant of fireproofing Centennial insomuch as any community can be fireproofed, said Barry Zoeller, vice president of corporate communications and investor relations.

Over the last two years, California has experienced an unprecedented series of catastrophic wildfires, which burned tens of thousands of homes and killed more than 100 people. From Santa Rosa to Redding to Paradise, fires have swept into neighborhoods with incredible speed and destruction, generating new debate about the wisdom of building homes in areas that are susceptible to fire.

The disastrous toll of wildfires has also prompted discussion about how climate change has made homes in the path of fire more vulnerable than ever.

The proposed Centennial project, set to come before the Board of Supervisors on Dec. 11, would bring more than 19,000 homes to a private wilderness area. Supporters say it will help reduce Californias drastic housing shortage and provide more Californians the dream of a single-family home in a beautiful natural setting.

Aides to Supervisor Kathryn Barger, whose district includes the Centennial site, said she trusts the safety expertise of the L.A. County Fire Department, which submitted comments throughout the planning process and accepted the final environmental impact report.

Chris Perry, Bargers planning deputy, said Centennial would bring four new fire stations to the community and provide multiple points of entry and exit.

Every community has some vulnerability, Perry said. Its one of the reasons we said you must have an overwhelming fire presence in any new community that you build.

Barry Zoeller, center, vice president of corporate communications for Tejon Ranch Co., stands on a bluff overlooking the Centennial site on Tejon Ranch with Greg Medeiros, left, and Nathan Keith, right, Aug. 6. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

::

Like much of Southern California, Tejon Ranch experiences hot summer temperatures and a months-long dry season.

Though the area is susceptible to Santa Ana winds, more frequently it experiences cooler, moister winds from the north and northwest, lowering the potential for red flag conditions, said David Gomberg, manager of the fire weather program at the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

Local vegetation and terrain pose separate hazards.

The area selected for housing at Centennial is mostly flat grassland, though some of the site includes high brush, woodlands and steep slopes, increasing the chance of fire, according to county planning documents.

And grass, though short, is highly flammable.

Add to that an ignition and you get a fire thats burning very quickly, said Alexandra Syphard, an ecologist at the Conservation Biology Institute.

The vast majority of wildfire ignitions result from human activity.

County planning staff and the Tejon Ranch Co. say fire risk at the project site can be contained.

Because Centennial falls within state-designated fire hazard zones, homes will be built according to the most stringent codes, requiring flame-resistant roofing, attic vents with mesh screens, and double-pane, tempered glass windows. Homeowners must also clear brush within a certain radius on their properties.

Because the community will be master planned, the developer can ensure all of its homes are built to the same specifications and surrounded by fire-resistant landscaping and open space  a luxury non-planned communities dont have.

Power lines to the site  a frequent cause of fires  will be underground.

You could get a series of fires in downtown L.A., said Zoeller, of Tejon Ranch Co. What you have to do is  everything that you can within reason to try to fireproof any community anywhere.

But fire experts say reducing the risk to zero isnt realistic.

The aesthetic that would be required to do that  lots of concrete, small windows, little to no landscaping  is something people dont want, said Michele Steinberg of the National Fire Protection Assn.

In fact, one attraction of Tejon Ranch is its natural environment, which the company has promised to preserve.

Even if all the houses are designed exactly to code, Steinberg said, they have to be maintained perfectly, with no dry leaves accumulating in gutters, cracks seeping between tiles or wooden decks tacked onto houses.

Were talking about fires spreading house to house, vegetation to house, embers to house . The embers will get into gutters, ducts [and] vents that are open, she said.

Once houses ignite, they radiate heat and drive the fire forward.

Coffey Park in Santa Rosa was destroyed this way, as the Tubbs fire raced from home to home. Aerial photos of Paradise show trees still standing between burned-out houses.

In a worst-case scenario, 60,000 people  double the population of Paradise  would have to evacuate Centennial at once.

If the fire goes through fast enough, even with appropriate evacuation access, it becomes a human life concern, Syphard said.

State Route 138, which leads to Interstate 5 to the west and State Route 14 to the east, would offer the main path in and out.

The two-lane highway will be expanded to four to six lanes, and the Tejon Ranch Co. says it will add connecting roads to facilitate traffic to and from Centennial.

But the company is not required to design an evacuation plan before the projects approval. That will come later, with tract maps.

A view of the proposed Centennial project on Tejon Ranch from Highway 138 on Oct. 29. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

::

The countys Regional Planning Commission has recommended approval of Centennial. Planning staff found that measures to lessen the projects environmental impacts, including fire hazard, were adequate.

Mitch Glaser, an assistant administrator at the planning department, said public safety, health and welfare form the basis for all land-use planning at the county, but that there is no specific regulation prohibiting development in a fire hazard zone.

The Board of Supervisors could still deny the Centennial project on that or another basis, he said, but would need to explain its decision.

Glaser said he was not aware of any development in L.A. County that had been rejected wholesale because of fire hazard, though at least one had been downsized because of it.

Los Angeles is not unusual. Research shows that across California and the U.S., the number of homes built in wildland areas, including those that have previously burned, is growing.

The legal ground for denying developers the right to build after theyve met local planning requirements is shaky, said Don Elliott, director of the land-use consultancy Clarion Associates.

The 5th Amendment enshrines private property rights, and governments can be sued for taking private land and leaving the owner with no reasonable economic use of it.

The government will lose that lawsuit, Elliott said.

If you want to say you cant build in a fire hazard area, you have to adopt a resolution or ordinance ahead of time, he said. That law must be based on objective standards, including risk maps, and go through a public approval process.

The federal government already gives states and municipalities incentives to regulate developments in flood plains this way, but no parallel system exists for developments in the wildland-urban interface.

Donald Falk, a fire researcher at the University of Arizona, said communities should proceed carefully.

We need new places to live, of course, but we have to recognize that every time we build a house in an area that is fire-prone we are just making the land-use problem more difficult, he said. We cant be surprised down the road when were spending billions of dollars and losing many lives as a consequence of those decisions.

nina.agrawal@latimes.com

Twitter: @AgrawalNinaA UC Irvine employee has filed a lawsuit against the Board of Regents and a volunteer at the universitys medical center who she said sexually harassed and assaulted her for at least a year.

Carlin Motley, who works as a marketing analyst at UC Irvines Cancer Center, said the volunteer, Ibrahim Eldumiati, stalked her and hugged, kissed and touched her inappropriately beginning in January 2017.

Motley said the university did a poor job of vetting Eldumiati. According to the lawsuit, Eldumiati suffered a brain injury that makes it difficult for him to control his impulses, especially near women.

In one incident, Motley said, Eldumiati kissed her during a fundraising event in front of thousands of people.

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He began kissing my face and down my neck and telling me he loved me so much, Motley said in a news conference Monday. This was happening in front of more than 3,000 people.

Eldumiati followed Motley repeatedly to her office, waited for her in the parking lot and made excuses to enter her office, the lawsuit said. In one instance, he boxed Motley in and prevented her from leaving.

Supervisors were aware of the harassment, Motley said, and did little to prevent the unwanted advances, despite her pleas, she said in the lawsuit.

When she eventually filed a complaint with the universitys Title IX office, her supervisors retaliated by excluding her from regular meetings and told her to move on, according to the lawsuit. Motley said her bosses told her, Things will be harder for you if you dont let it go.

In my mind that was sort of a clear warning, if you will, to be quiet, to shut up and to go away, she said in the news conference.

Even following the conclusion of UC Irvines sexual harassment investigation, Motley said there was no discipline against Eldumiati, and he continued to work near her. A representative for UC Irvine said the man no longer volunteers at the university.

Ms. Motley is an exemplary employee who showed up every day to do her job, only to be continually harassed for over a year, her attorney, John Winer, said in a statement. Her coworkers knew, supervisors knew, the heads of the department knew and yet they did nothing to end this horrible behavior.

A representative for UC Irvine said the university has not been served with the lawsuit, though attorneys say it was filed late last week.

UCI obtained a copy of the complaint distributed at yesterdays news conference hosted by Ms. Motley and her legal counsel, but we have not been formally served, the university said in an emailed statement. While we do not comment on pending legal matters, we can confirm that Mr. Ibrahim Eldumiati was never a UCI employee and was removed as a volunteer.

Eldumiati could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.

alejandra.reyesvelarde@latimes.com

Twitter: @r_valejandraJust days after the final ballots were counted in a closely watched election that awarded him a stunning win, Alex Villanueva was sworn in Monday as Los Angeles County sheriff, promising to steer one of the nations largest law enforcement agencies toward a new era of change.

Villanueva, 55, took the oath of office from Superior Court Judge Lucy Armendariz at East Los Angeles College, a short distance from the East Los Angeles sheriffs station where he once served as a young deputy.

We are going back to being peace officers and should be judged by how well we protect our communities, Villanueva said before a crowd of hundreds of deputies, community leaders and elected officials who attended the event. Our immigrant communities shouldnt have to wonder whether were here to protect them or deport them.

His lapel was adorned with five gold stars, arranged in a pentagon shape, unlike some of his predecessors, who wore their stars in a row.

Yes, the rumors are true, Villanueva said to cheers, there is a new sheriff in town.

The audience, which included Los Angeles County Supervisors Janice Hahn, Mark Ridley-Thomas, Kathryn Barger and Hilda Solis as well as former state Sen. Kevin de Leon, gave several standing ovations throughout the packed event.

Local radio personality Big Boy served as the emcee.

Villanueva, a U.S. Air Force veteran who served three decades on the department before retiring as a lieutenant in February, scored 53% of the vote, with the outgoing sheriff, Jim McDonnell, taking 47%. His win marked the first time in more than 100 years that a challenger has defeated an incumbent sheriff in Los Angeles County.

Alex Villanueva kisses his wife, Vivian, after hes sworn in as L.A. County sheriff on Monday at East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park. The sheriffs son, Jared, an Army veteran who served in Iraq, and granddaughter Christy applaud. Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times

During his campaign for the nonpartisan seat, Villanueva promoted his status as a Democrat and promised to expel federal immigration agents from custody facilities.

He has also made statements that could create friction with more progressive voices in the community. He said that he would continue to honor requests from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain county jail inmates who were convicted of serious crimes, contrary to preliminary recommendations by the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission.

We must take advantage of this historic opportunity to ensure Sheriff Villanueva is up to date with the intricacies of immigration policy, that he understands how past administrations have completely eroded trust with our communities by aligning with ICE, and that we build together a policy that we can be proud of, Pablo Alvarado, executive director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, said in a statement.

De Leon, who authored Californias sanctuary state law, said at Mondays ceremony that he endorsed Villanueva because he trusts him to protect the rights of immigrants who come into contact with law enforcement.

Villanueva has also spoken of cleaning house in the upper ranks of the department and last week announced a massive shakeup, relieving 18 top officials of duty.

His new team includes two retired commanders: Ray Leyva as undersheriff and Bob Olmsted as assistant sheriff overseeing custody operations. Villanueva also intends to elevate Chief Maria Gutierrez to assistant sheriff in charge of countywide operations and Capt. Tim Murakami to assistant sheriff over patrol, department spokesman Capt. Darren Harris said.

The fourth assistant sheriff position overseeing the departments budget will temporarily be frozen, Harris said. LaJuana Haselrig, a lieutenant who had been previously named to an assistant sheriff role, will become a captain, Harris said.

Villanueva is taking over the Sheriffs Department at a time of transition after a jail abuse scandal exposed dysfunction in the agency and led to convictions on federal criminal charges of several top officials, including former Sheriff Lee Baca. McDonnell, who pledged to reform the agency and take a tough stance on discipline, lost the trust of scores of deputies who felt he was punitive and out of touch with the rank and file.

Villanueva has promised to implement his own style of reform, including moving quickly to give deputies body cameras and launching a truth and reconciliation commission that would allow deputies and the public a chance to address actions they believed were unfair.

His message Monday was one of inclusion, with a promise to hire more deputies who grew up in the communities they police and to address broad issues including homelessness.

This is a rare moment in history, where we not only have the opportunity but the courage and the responsibility to challenge an existing power, he said, to ensure that no matter where youre from, or where you live, or the color of your skin, your Sheriffs Department will work to protect you and keep you safe.

He also had a message for deputies, saying they would be judged by how well they served their communities, not by how well they catered to those in management. Those days are over, he said to applause.

maya.lau@latimes.com

Twitter: @mayalau

UPDATES:

6:45 p.m.: This article was updated with a quote from a community group and more information about the event.

2:12 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from Villanueva.

This article was originally published at 12:50 p.m.Screenshot shows a document of the ban on alcohol consumption.

Recently, a video clip showing a Chinese university prohibiting any drinking behavior on or off campus was widely circulated online and triggered heated debate.

In the video posted by sharing site Pear Video, Xi'an Fanyi University in Northwest China's Shaanxi province bans students and faculty from consuming alcohol.

The rigorous prohibition has banned students from drinking liquor at almost all events during their college life, including parties and celebrating graduations. Students who are caught drinking will be punished and those involved in serious cases such as getting drunk and fighting will be expelled.

Qiu Jie, head of the university's publicity department, said the ban from drinking liquor was adopted early in 1987 when the school was established. The regulation that recently caught public attention was rolled out in 2016, which was implemented later in 2017, following a series of alcohol-related incidents among universities students like misbehaving and fighting.

"For the students' health as well as making campus communities safer, we sent out a proposal to nearby vendors asking them not to sell liquor or cigarettes to students," said Qiu.

However, online opinions were divided with some supporting the ban while others claiming it's a violation of students' individual rights.

Previously, a college in Southwest China's Yunnan province reportedly tried to curb alcoholism by sending photos of drunk students to their parents.A new fast-casual Middle Eastern eatery has opened in Irvine and guests are sure to enjoy its affordable options and custom menu.

SAJJ Mediterranean, located in the Sand Canyon Plaza center at 6636 Irvine Center Drive, is the newest location for the Bay Area-based street eats chain that started as a food truck business and since 2012 has expanded statewide with several brick-and-mortar restaurants. SAJJs Irvine location is its second in Orange County; the first opened earlier this year in Rancho Santa Margarita.

The SAJJ dining experience is sure to be compared to Chipotle. Guests enter a minimalist industrial space and immediately join the assembly-line format to discover a wide range of custom options. It starts with a protein choice: falafel; chicken or steak shawarma; pomegranate chicken; or shawafel (a mix of falafel and shawarma). Those are then placed within a wrap, pita bread, rice bowl or salad bowl.

Then come the spreads: hummus, tahini (spicy or regular), garlic or tzatziki. Theres also a cilantro mint chutney sauce that I found particularly addicting. Its unavailable at the counter, though, and has to be found by the drinks stand and applied (generously!) on your own.

There are also hot or cold topping options, including eggplant, cauliflower, mixed greens, arugula, cabbage, pickles, beets and cherry peppers.

Available sides (at an extra charge) include fries, pita chips with a spread and additional falafel.

Hazem Karadsheh, SAJJ Mediterranean director of operations for Southern California, assembles a chicken curry salad bowl at the new SAJJ Mediterranean restaurant in Irvine. (Kevin Chang / Staff Photographer)

Entrees come with a small cup of lentil soup. The ingredients are from California produce farmers  We love our local farms, wall text proclaims  and the proteins are made without antibiotics or hormones.

Drinks include traditional Middle Eastern beverages, such as tamarind. Among the things Ive tried at SAJJ are the falafel (dubbed on Zagat to be the best in the Bay Area) and steak shawarma in a wrap, with tomato and cucumber salsa, hot eggplant, feta cheese, hummus and spicy tahini. I found the result a great combo begging for even more exploration on future visits.

What I particularly like about SAJJ is that it fits a food niche that isnt oversaturated and is delivered at an affordable price point. The falafel is only $9, with the shawafel topping at $12. For Irvine, its a reasonably priced lunch under $15.

SAJJ Irvine is open daily from 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. For more information, visit sajjstreeteats.com.From the moment Colombian cartel boss Juan Carlos Chupeta Ramirez Abadia sat down to testify against Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, no one in the courtroom could tear their eyes from his surgically mutilated face. But it wasnt until his third day on the stand that he was unmasked as a monster  in the first strong showing for Guzmans defense.

Known as The Man of a Thousand Faces, the longtime head of Colombias brutal North Valley cartel underwent multiple surgeries to disguise his identity while on the lam in Brazil. Between the mid-1980s and his arrest in 2007, he ran a vast narcotics empire, working hand-in-glove with the Sinaloa cartel to move dizzying quantities of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico to the United States.

He is also a killer, who pleaded guilty in a U.S. court in 2010 to ordering the murders of at least 150 people and personally shooting one victim in the face. He has not yet been sentenced, but hopes to have five years shaved off his prison term in exchange for his testimony.

On Tuesday, jurors learned that he tracked each of those assassinations in the very same spreadsheets U.S. Atty. Andrea Goldbarg had combed over and over again for close to two days of direct testimony, while many had struggled to stay awake.

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And this, this is a reference to the payment for the murder of three people, correct? defense attorney William Purpura asked the witness just minutes into his cross examination Tuesday morning.

Thats correct, Ramirez Abadia replied.

And do you know the names of these three people who were killed? Purpura asked.

I do not recall them, no, the witness said.

He did, however, know how much their deaths had cost him  $45,000 for the set.

If we went through all these ledgers, we would find around 150 notations of money spent on these killings, correct? the lawyer pressed.

I havent counted them, but its possible, the witness said.

In that moment, Ramirez Abadia went from the governments star cooperating witness to a compelling argument against his own prior testimony.

As cunning, ruthless and extravagant as Guzman was in his heyday, his Colombian supplier was that much more so. Everything Chapo did, Chupeta did bigger, whether it was the volume of cocaine he controlled, the size of his palatial homes, or the extremes he took to evade capture and extradition to the U.S. To Ramirez Abadia, Guzman was a middle man, albeit a crucial one. Guzman is fighting charges of drug trafficking, conspiracy to commit murder and weapons violations. Ramirez Abadia admitted to all of them, gleefully.

Indeed, until Tuesday, the most striking thing about the prosecutions latest witness was just how little he revealed that jurors didnt already know. The trafficking routes he drew mapped onto other witnesses routes, his drug prices their prices. His own detailed spreadsheets clearly indicate a long and lucrative partnership with the Sinaloa cartel. Though events sounded slightly different from the Colombian perspective, the details were all the same, down to Guzmans beloved Reina brand of cocaine.

Goldbarg lavished special attention on the drug ledgers, which document the minutia of two mens criminal conspiracies. But on cross examination, Ramirez Abaida quickly stole the spotlight from the man he was there to testify against, eclipsing two days of direct examination in little more than three hours on Tuesday.

Even on direct examination, Ramirez Abadia came across as equal parts venal narcissist and grotesque villain, his features so marred by the scalpel that he appeared more plastic than human. In three days of testimony, his expression never changed, whether he was attempting to recall the young Colombian prosecutors who were executed on his order on a highway outside Cali, or the hundreds of tons of his drugs the Sinaloa cartel moved across the border between Mexico and the United States.

He barely blinked when asked about the man who had prepared the ledgers he had been reading for days, a top lieutenant named Laureano Renteria, who was also one of his closest friends. Renteria was poisoned in Colombias maximum security Picota prison not long after his arrest.

And when he died, all of your secrets died with him, isnt that correct? Purpura asked.

He died and he knew a lot about my organization, thats correct, the witness said.

In fact, Ramirez Abadia showed distress only twice  both times over losses of drug revenue.

There was the captain whod scuttled his boat in the Pacific in the throws of cocaine psychosis, losing his life and his cargo in the process.

He started to see ghosts everywhere, American Coast Guard everywhere, and he sank the ship with my 20,000 kilos of cocaine, Ramirez Abadia recalled with a sigh. I saw all that sea and I became very sad. I said, theyre never going to find it.

Worse still were the pair of his drug boats  Juanita 8 and Juanita 9, which, along with sister vessels Juanitas 1 through 10 occupied several soporific hours of direct examination  that were seized in September of 2004 by U.S. authorities.

Thats a tragedy for me as a drug trafficker, Ramirez Abadia confessed. In my entire history as a drug trafficker, Id never had two ships seized by the United States.

Despite his disfiguring surgeries and obvious ill health, the witness also displayed bright flashes of vanity. On Monday, he insisted on narrating every job in his narco empire as though he himself had performed it, visibly bristling when he was corrected.

Many times I would sell it myself in Los Angeles   he began, before Goldbarg once again asked him to clarify that in fact he had not done that, because he had not set foot in the country since he was arrested in Miami with a fake passport in 1988.

It was the third such exchange in less than 10 minutes.

I am always referring to my lieutenants, but because the cocaine was mine, it belonged to me, I always say I sold it, Ramirez Abadia snapped back, striking his chest with his palm to emphasize the point.

His flare for the dramatic was matched only by the defense, with Purpura drawing a near constant volley of objections as he battled toward the climax of his cross examination, during which he probed the witness on the 25-year sentence he hoped to receive in exchange for his testimony, a total he noted was equivalent to 60 days per murder.

Yet, on redirect, the prosecution barely acknowledged what had happened, asking only briefly about the bloody events that had jurors on the edge of their seats after days of nodding and yawning.

As a leader of a drug cartel, why did you engage in violence? Goldbarg asked.

Its impossible to be a leader of a cartel in Colombia without violence, the killer said.The University of North Carolina on Monday proposed moving a toppled Confederate statue into a new $5-million building on the outskirts of campus, seeking to balance security with strict state historical laws.

The plan presented by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chancellor Carol Folt called for relocating the statue at a site a mile south of where the monument previously stood. It was overwhelmingly approved by the campus trustees, though at least one trustee voted against it.

Several hundred protesters marched peacefully but noisily against the decision hours later.

The Board of Governors that oversees the statewide university system will have final say over the plan for the statue known as Silent Sam. The board is expected to consider it at a meeting Dec. 14.

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The trustees proposed a site south of the universitys hospital to build a new history and education center that would house the statue torn down by protesters in August. The proposal said the building in the Odum Village area of campus would cost about $5 million to build, with an estimated $800,000 in annual operating costs.

The chancellor and several of the trustees said they would have preferred to move the statue off campus, but they were restricted by a 2015 state law on Confederate statues and other monuments. Folt said safety was chief among many factors considered in developing the plan.

It was very clear that public safety alone would make it impossible to return it to its base or any outdoor location on our campus, she said.

The statue had stood on a main campus quad from 1913 until it was torn down by protesters who decried what they described as its racist origins.

After the announcement by the trustees, a crowd of protesters gathered in downtown Chapel Hill. After several speakers, demonstrators marched west on Franklin Street, the citys main thoroughfare, chanting slogans as they made their way through the streets.

University of North Carolina isnt the first college to grapple with Confederate monuments and ultimately decide to move them indoors. The University of Texas has removed several Confederate statues from outdoor display, including a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis taken down in 2015 and now displayed in a museum.

North Carolinas law on historical monuments allows relocation in only narrow circumstances, such as to preserve the artifact or because of construction. University attorney Mark Merritt said the proposal meets those criteria because the statue was vandalized and ultimately toppled in its previous location and because of planned changes at the McCorkle Place quadrangle that many call the universitys front door.

Under the state law, a new location for a monument must be similarly prominent and accessible; the universitys proposal says the new building housing Silent Sam will be in the middle of the next area of growth for campus.

The new building would also have room to hold classes and display historical exhibits to contextualize the universitys history, Folt said. She said it was too early in the planning to discuss a detailed timetable for construction. The written proposal said a likely completion date would be in 2022.The Pentagon on Tuesday approved keeping several thousand active-duty troops along the Southwest border at least through January, extending a controversial mission to assist the Border Patrol as it grapples with a surge of migrants seeking asylum.

Defense Secretary James N. Mattis signed the order to continue the mission through Jan. 31, according to a Pentagon statement. The deployment had been due to expire in mid-December.

The order marks another expansion of a military operation that has steadily grown since President Trump rushed soldiers and Marines to border posts shortly before the Nov. 6 midterm election in what critics said was a political stunt, not a national security emergency.

The administration argued that the troops were needed to help block caravans of several thousand Central American migrants then headed north in Mexico and hoping to seek asylum in the United States.

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The White House last month authorized the troops to detain, search and if necessary use deadly force to protect other U.S. government personnel against migrants  a major change in the military role but one that Pentagon officials insisted would only be employed in dire emergencies.

About 5,600 U.S. troops are now deployed along the border in Arizona, Texas and California to back up the Border Patrol.

Some may return to their home bases in coming weeks, especially from engineering units that have largely completed the job of fortifying border crossings, a defense official said.

Its unclear how many troops will be needed at the border through next month, the official said.

The Secretary of Defense has approved an extension of the ongoing Department of Defense support to the Department of Homeland Security response to migrant caravan arrivals, according to the statement.

The order will keep troops away from home through the Christmas and New Year holidays. It is likely to intensify criticism from Democrats, who have called the Pentagon deployment a wasteful political ploy.

The Department of Homeland Security, parent agency of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, asked the Pentagon to postpone the troops planned departure, citing what it said was the continuing threat of clashes between asylum seekers and its personnel.

Thousands of migrants from the caravans have arrived in the Mexican cities of Tijuana and Mexicali.

Some clashed last month at the San Ysidro border crossing with Border Patrol agents, who fired tear gas as they tried to rush the border. Unarmed U.S. troops were seen moving razor wire to block the attempted crossing.

david.cloud@latimes.com

Twitter: @davidcloudLATA forensic examination shows a black man was shot three times in the back of his body when an Alabama police officer mistook him for a shooter after gunfire erupted at a crowded shopping mall, the mans family said Monday.

The results of a report commissioned by the family are devastating to relatives of Emantic EJ Bradford Jr., their lawyer, Ben Crump, said at an emotional news conference.

Emantic Bradford Sr. angrily jabbed his finger at the TV cameras as he addressed the unnamed officer, saying: Youre a coward! The officer in the Birmingham suburb of Hoover should be charged with homicide, Bradford said, because this is murder.

Emantic EJ Bradford Jr. (Emantic Bradford Sr.)

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The Rev. Jesse Jackson also attended the news conference at the Rock, a small church EJ Bradford attended in north Birmingham. Jackson said authorities refusal to release video evidence smacks of a cover-up.

Police in Hoover reiterated Monday that they wont release officer video or other evidence about the Thanksgiving night killing until the state investigation is complete. They released a letter from state investigators expressing concern that the investigation could be jeopardized or hindered if information is released.

A statement from the city, a Birmingham suburb of 85,000 people, didnt directly address the findings of the familys forensic examination but said the Bradfords should share it with authorities. Crump said they already had.

Crump said the forensic pathologist hired by the family determined Bradford was struck by one gunshot that entered the rear of his skull, another that hit the back of his neck and a third that penetrated his lower back.

The report didnt indicate the order of the shots, and the pathologists report did not indicate whether more than one person shot Bradford.

But Crump said any of the three shots could have killed the 21-year-old.

There were three kill shots, Jackson said.

Emantic Bradford Sr. discusses the results of a forensic examination on his son Emantic EJ Bradford Jr., who was fatally shot by police in a shopping mall on Thanksgiving. (Jay Reeves / Associated Press)

Police initially described Bradford as the person who opened fire at the mall as Black Friday shopping began on Thanksgiving night, and authorities called the officer a hero for his swift response.

Officials then backtracked, saying Bradford wasnt the initial shooter. They said Bradford had a handgun visible after the initial gunfire, and the city and police said that action increased the threat level for responding officers.

Protests have occurred almost daily since the shooting, and a number of people showed up at the Hoover City Council meeting Monday night. Council members adjourned the meeting after demonstrators in the audience repeatedly shouted EJ and no justice, no peace.

City Council members had a statement read earlier in the evening saying they wanted to formally express their regret for the misinformation provided to the public that later implicated [Bradford] as the shooter and to offer sympathy to Bradfords family.

Erron Martez Dequan Brown, 20, of Bessemer was arrested last week in Georgia on charges of shooting a teenager who was wounded at the mall, 18-year-old Brian Xavier Wilson of Birmingham. Authorities transfered him from Atlanta to the county jail in Birmingham on Monday.

A girl also was shot and wounded, but authorities havent filed charges in her case.A last-minute settlement was reached Tuesday in a long-running Florida lawsuit involving a politically connected financier accused of sexually abusing dozens of teenage girls, clearing the way for the victims lawyers to try to unravel a once-secret agreement that prevented federal criminal prosecution of the financier.

The non-prosecution agreement protecting Jeffrey Epstein was negotiated a decade ago by prosecutors in the South Florida U.S. attorneys office, which was then run by current Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta. It is the subject of a separate federal lawsuit in Florida filed by victims who say the deal trampled their rights to be heard.

That injustice needs to be addressed and will be addressed, said attorney Jack Scarola, who represents fellow lawyer Bradley Edwards in the lawsuit settled Tuesday. There is no justification for the broad scope of immunity that was granted.

Epstein, 65, pleaded guilty in 2008 to two state charges after reaching the non-prosecution deal with Acostas office while under investigation for sexually abusing dozens of teenage girls. He served 13 months in jail, was required to reach financial settlements with many of the victims and registered as a convicted sex offender.

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But Epstein could have faced a possible life sentence if federal prosecutors had pursued a draft 57-page indictment that was never filed. Now, Scarola and Edwards say that possibility still exists, and the victims  some of whom were only 13 or 14 when they were molested  may yet get their day in federal court amid a national #metoo movement that seeks to hold sexual harassers and abusers to account.

Theyre willing to talk. They want to share their stories, Edwards said.

None of the victims was in court Tuesday and it wasnt clear if any would be available immediately for interviews.

The settlement reached Tuesday involved a lawsuit Epstein filed against Edwards almost a decade ago. Edwards filed a counterclaim, contending that Epstein sued him maliciously, trying to harm Edwards reputation and derail his work with Epsteins own abuse victims.

UPDATES:

9:50 a.m.: This article has been updated with Associated Press reporting that a settlement was reached in the lawsuit against Jeffrey Epstein.

This article was originally published at 8:35 a.m.After a closed-door CIA briefing about the slaying of U.S. resident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi, key Senate Republicans sharply contradicted President Trump on Tuesday and said there was no question that Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman orchestrated the killing.

Senators said the briefing by CIA Director Gina Haspel contrasted sharply with one last week by Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and Defense Secretary James N. Mattis, who echoed Trumps position that it was unclear whether the crown prince was personally involved with or aware of the slaying.

If [the crown prince] went in front of a jury, he would be convicted in 30 minutes, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) told reporters after emerging from the meeting.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who had demanded to hear directly from Haspel after she was noticeably absent from last weeks briefing, said the U.S. should end arms sales to Saudi Arabia and come down on the country like a ton of bricks.

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The senators angry reaction gave momentum to congressional efforts to punish Saudi Arabia for the killing, despite Trumps plea to refrain from such actions because they might endanger Saudi investment plans in the U.S.

It marked the strongest pushback on the White House from Trumps own party since lawmakers approved sanctions against Russia this year, over the administrations objections, in response to the 2016 election meddling.

You have to be willfully blind not to come to the conclusion this was orchestrated and organized by people under the command of MBS, Graham said, using the princes initials.

There is not a smoking gun. There is a smoking saw, he said, a gruesome reference to the journalists alleged dismemberment shortly after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on Oct. 2.

Khashoggi, an opinion writer for the Washington Post, was an outspoken critic of the Saudi government.

Graham added that Pompeo and Mattis, who said last week there was no conclusive evidence that the prince orchestrated the killing, were following the lead of the president and that he assumed they were being good soldiers.

Haspels absence from last weeks briefing immediately raised speculation that she had been excluded because the White House was concerned about what she would say. Graham responded by threatening to withhold his vote on any legislation until she briefed lawmakers.

After hearing Haspels version, Graham now wants to release a sense of the Senate statement before the end of the year that the prince was complicit in a brutal murder that put the region into chaos. He also called for an end to arms sales to Saudi Arabia as long as hes going to be involved in this country.

Other Republicans left the meeting with the same conclusion on the princes involvement, but hedged on how to respond.

Somebody should be punished, said Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.). The question now is how do you separate the Saudi crown prince from the nation itself. That might be the real problem.

Saudi Arabia has been a key U.S. ally in the Middle East, but Graham warned that is not enough to overlook its de facto leaders role in the killing of Khashoggi.

The relationship is worth saving, but not at all costs, he said. Well do more damage to our standing in the world and our national security by ignoring MBS than dealing with him.

Congressional skepticism over Trumps handling of the killing was already high. In a rare rebuke last week, the Senate advanced a resolution calling for an end to U.S. military support for Saudi Arabias war in Yemen.

The resolution calls for a halt to U.S. military aid for the Saudi-led coalition that is battling Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. The civil war has killed tens of thousands of civilians and become what aid workers call the worlds worst humanitarian crisis.

Fourteen Republicans joined Democrats in supporting the resolution, which passed a procedural vote 63 to 37. But even with the anger from Republican senators, prospects for that joint resolution remain unclear. Graham, who voted in favor of it last week to send a warning shot to the White House, said Tuesday he would not support it going forward.

The House has not yet passed anything and Trump threatened to veto the resolution that advanced last week, if it reached his desk.

Democrats agreed that the briefing left little doubt in their minds on the killing, but did not detail what the administration should do.

I am now more convinced than I was before  and I was pretty convinced  that in fact the United States must have a strong response to both the war in Yemen as well as the killing of a United States permanent resident and journalist, said Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee. Only a strong response by the United States will send a clear and unequivocal message that such actions are not acceptable on the worlds stage.

The milder sense of the Senate action favored by Graham is viewed by some Republicans as a better way to make a statement against Saudi Arabia without reopening a potentially complex discussion about war powers, as Democrats would prefer.

The Senates response to Saudi Arabia could threaten to further tie up Congress to-do list before the end of the year. Lawmakers are already divided over whether to fund Trumps border wall in a must-pass spending bill by Dec. 21.

The briefing with Haspel was limited to a handful of lawmakers, including the leaders of key committees dealing with national security, intelligence and foreign affairs.

Sens. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), the top Senate Democrat and his deputy, who both attended the briefing, said all senators needed to hear the CIAs analysis.

It certainly reinforced my support for the bipartisan joint war powers resolution to end unauthorized U.S. military involvement in Yemen and the need for a stronger response by the U.S. and the Trump administration to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, Durbin said. Every senator should hear what I heard this afternoon. CIA Director Haspel must brief the full Senate immediately.

UPDATES:

2:05 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from Sens. Shelby, Schumer and Menendez.

10:55 a.m.: This article was updated with staff reporting about senators reaction to the briefing.

This article was originally published at 9:30 a.m.The attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia are issuing subpoenas for financial records and other documents from more than a dozen of President Trumps private entities Tuesday as part of an ongoing lawsuit alleging that the presidents business violates the Constitutions ban on gifts or payments from foreign governments.

The subpoenas seek details on some of the most closely held secrets of Trumps presidency: Which foreign governments have paid the Trump Organization money? How much? And for what?

All of the documents relate to Trumps Washington, D.C., hotel, which is at the center of the emoluments case because of events foreign governments have held there and the federal lease that allows the business to operate.

In addition to documents from more than a dozen entities related to the presidents company, including the trust that holds his personal assets, Maryland Atty. Gen. Brian Frosh and District of Columbia Atty. Gen. Karl Racine, both Democrats, are seeking documents from managers of the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and a slew of competing Washington hotels as part of an effort to try to show Trumps property is unfairly siphoning business from competitors, according to the two attorney generals offices.

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Also receiving subpoenas are a number of federal agencies that may have some information about Trumps hotel, which operates in the federally owned Old Post Office Pavilion on Pennsylvania Avenue downtown. At the top of the list is the General Services Administration, which leases the property to Trumps company.

Other agencies receiving subpoenas are the Commerce Department, the Defense Department, the Agriculture Department and the Treasury Department. The state of Maine also received a subpoena due to a visit Gov. Paul LePage made to the hotel in early 2017.

The Justice Department and Trump Organization did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Since Trump won the 2016 election, his hotel in Washington has hosted events put on by the embassies of Kuwait, Bahrain and the Philippines  all U.S. allies. The Saudi government spent at least $270,000 to reserve hotel rooms and banquet rooms at the D.C. hotel, according to foreign lobbying records. And at Trumps hotel in New York, the general manager credited travelers accompanying the Saudi Crown prince for spending so much money this spring that they helped the hotel turn a profit for the quarter.

But those transactions, which were discovered by reporters, may not be the only ones. Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump White House have provided any comprehensive accounting of which foreign governments have paid money to the presidents businesses  and, by extension, to the president who still owns them. Nor have they said what these countries paid for, which might address concerns that they might be overpaying for services to curry favor with Trump.

Now, after nearly two years of litigating, the attorneys general have filed formal requests for this data. Their argument: The Constitutions emoluments clause was designed to prevent the public from being left to wonder if the president had unseen business relationships with foreign powers.

The subpoenaed documents could lead to interviews with top officials within the Trump organization. The GSA, for example, receives monthly reports from the Trump Organization detailing the hotels costs and revenue.

The plaintiffs are also seeking tax records related to the presidents business, though they did not request the presidents personal tax returns.

It is unclear how much of the information  even if it is entered into the court record  may be released to the public. Many of the documents being sought by the plaintiffs are held by third-party hotel operators.

U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte in Greenbelt, Md., this summer allowed the lawsuit to move forward in the case, which alleges the president is violating the emolument clauses of the Constitution by continuing to do business with foreign governments.

As part of their case, Racine and Frosh must show that similar venues, such as the convention center, lost business because of competition from the Trump Hotel.

Justice Department attorneys have repeatedly sought to delay the case to prevent or at least put off discovery, a process in which attorneys can seek documents and depositions in the case. In court filings, the attorneys have argued that the president has not received emoluments, that D.C. and Maryland do not have standing to bring such action, and that the judge should dismiss the case.

Recently the Justice Department asked Messitte to stay the case and allow a higher court to intervene, a request he denied last month, instead ordering the plaintiffs to submit a schedule for discovery.

The agencys attorneys again asked Messitte for a stay Friday, in the hope that the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals would intervene.

Messitte has limited discovery to information related to the presidents D.C. hotel. This is the second civil case in which Trumps business is now subject to discovery, after Trump agreed to produce portions of his calendar from 2007 and 2008 in a defamation lawsuit brought by former Apprentice contestant Summer Zervos.

Separately, the judge has not yet ruled on the presidents request to dismiss the lawsuit against him in his private, unofficial capacity. Trumps personal lawyers renewed their request in a new filing on Monday for a ruling before the parties begin the discovery process.

The president, his attorneys say, should not be burdened with negotiations over documents and records if the complaint against him could ultimately be dismissed.

The President, in turn, will be drawn into the inevitable disputes that will arise as discovery progresses, wrote Trumps lawyer William Consovoy. The President will suffer the very burdens from which absolute immunity is supposed to shield him.

A second emoluments case, brought by 198 congressional Democrats, could open the presidents company to discovery beyond the Washington, D.C., hotel. A district judge in D.C. has so far allowed that case to proceed.

Trump resigned from his business when he entered the White House but still owns it and can benefit from it financially. His sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump now run the company.

OConnell, Marimow and Farenthold write for the Washington Post.The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is expected to give its final blessing this week to a sweeping ordinance that will prohibit some 1,300 restaurants and other food vendors in the unincorporated portions of the county from automatically handing out plastic straws or coffee stirrers with to-go beverages. Beginning Jan. 3, employees at any business that sells food will have to ask customers if they want a straw before giving them one. Even self-serve straw dispensers will be a no-no, unless the straws they are packing are made of paper or another biodegradable substance.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles City Council is expected to vote on its own effort to rein in plastic straws Tuesday. The citys measure will be subtly but significantly different from the countys. Under the proposed city straws on request ordinance, employees at restaurants, fast food joints and coffee shops may not even mention straws unless they are working the drive-through window. A customer has to ask for a straw to get one.

And thats not all. Malibu, Santa Monica and Manhattan Beach have banned plastic straws outright, as well other types of plastic takeout ware. California oceanfront cities have been the leaders in restricting single-use plastic items because so much of it ends up on their beaches. They know that not only is plastic litter bad for the environment, but its not great for their local economies. No one wants to sunbathe on a beach littered with used soda straws, latte cup lids and potato chip bags.

California needs consistency not just on straws, but on all single-use plastic items.

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But wait  didnt California just pass some sort of statewide plastic straw ban? And shouldnt that make all these other local straw laws go away?

The answer to the first question is a kind-of yes, but the second gets a definite no. Despite the national attention it received, Californias straw law  another straws on request formulation  is so mild it is nearly symbolic. When it goes into effect Jan. 1, it will apply only to full-service sit-down restaurants, even though the bigger source of disposable plastic straws is from businesses that serve to-go beverages, like fast food restaurants and convenience stores.

Dont blame the bills author, Assemblyman Ian Calderon (D-Whittier), for its weakness. His first proposal would have included all food providers, but it was watered down by the time it passed the Legislature.

The statewide measure served an important purpose nonetheless by raising awareness of the harm caused by a seemingly innocuous item that is contributing to the worlds growing problem with plastic waste. But symbolism doesnt solve the problem, so its understandable that local governments are coming up with their own rules to curb disposable plastic, including straws, coffee stirrers, sporks and soda cups. But its ridiculous that consumers and businesses should be required to deal with so many different rules about single-use plastic in different communities around the state.

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion 

The proliferation of straw laws is confusing, unmanageable and ultimately unsustainable, and may eventually prompt lawmakers to do the right thing. A similar patchwork of local plastic grocery bag restrictions created such a headache for retailers that they stopped opposing efforts to pass a statewide ban on single-use plastic grocery bags. Even then it was a tough fight to enact a bag ban, but ultimately one was embraced by Californians and has shown real results.

California needs consistency not just on straws, but on all single-use plastic items. In case you hadnt noticed, discarded plastic takeout cups, containers and other detritus of our disposable lifestyle are trashing many of the the Golden States beaches, parks and other areas. Thats not good for the environment or the economy. With the global market for plastic recyclables in free-fall and the production of disposable plastic items growing every year, more trash cans arent enough.

Calderon and his colleagues returned to Sacramento this week. If they havent done so already, they should prepare to take the next big step: enacting a comprehensive plan to wean the state of its disposable plastic habit.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and FacebookCongress can help atone for the nations horrific past by finally making lynching a federal crime

Since the Civil War, Americans have struggled to define what seems to be obvious: What is a lynching? It conjures visions of a mob pulling a man from a jail cell, hauling him to a tree and throwing a rope over a branch. But debates have centered on how how many people must take part in such an extrajudicial killing for it to qualify as a lynching (the NAACP suggested in 1921 at least five).

And must the motive be racial? Was the hanging of a suspected white horse thief in the Wild West by ranch hands the same as a white Southern mob, amid taunts, jeers and spit, turning a black man accused of insulting a white woman into strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees, as Billie Holliday once sang?

Do the nuances really matter? Its true that not all lynching victims were black, but blacks were overwhelmingly the targets (and many white victims of lynching had defended blacks or opposed lynching). We cannot sever that horrific practice from our disgraceful history of racism. Slavery was abominable, and to this day the nation is influenced by the riches  from New England shipowners to New York financiers to Southern farmers and brokers  and the evils of our original sin.

Lynching became slaverys evil spawn, acts of indefensible extrajudicial brutality meant to scare former slaves and their descendants to hew to their constricted place in a white society. After slavery, these acts of terrorism  more than 4,700 documented cases from 1882 to 1968  became the ultimate expression of racism and white supremacy.

Rather than being shamed, some whites celebrated racial lynching. Photographers sold pictures and postcards as souvenirs; to this day you can see white faces beam smiles into the camera as bloody bodies dangle gruesomely overhead. Some of the cards collected and posted on the Without Sanctuary site, part of a 1999 book and film project, are shocking in the banality of the notes to friends.

Well John, reads the back of one card sent to Dr. John W.F. Williams of Lafayette, Ky. This is a token of a great day we had in Dallas, March 3, a negro was hung for an assault on a three year old girl. I saw this on my noon hour. I was very much in the bunch. You can see the negro hanging on a telephone pole.

That photo was dated March 3, 1910  two years after the post office supposedly banned lynching cards from the mails.

It is to this nations continuing embarrassment that Congress has, for generations, failed to make lynching a federal crime (Philip Dray documented the history in his At the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black America). It wouldnt act more than a century ago when it might have made a difference, as local prosecutors looked the other way or local juries refused to indict or convict. And it wont act today, even after the laws necessity has faded and its value resides primarily in its symbolism.

The old argument against a federal anti-lynching law is that murder is a state crime and not the business of the federal government. States rights and all that. But that argument was fig leaf over the racism that propelled lynching, in which local and state prosecutions of the perpetrators were rare, convictions rarer still. The 14th Amendment guarantees equal protection of the laws, and when local communities in numbers small and large come together to use collective violence to repress African Americans, that is clearly a federal interest.

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) has co-sponsored a fresh piece of legislation to classify a lynching as a deprivation of civil rights  essentially a federal anti-lynching law that she says would give the Justice Department a few more teeth in prosecuting attempted lynching and conspiracy. Yet as Times reporter Jaweed Kaleem wrote this week, the prognosis for its passage isnt much better than the fate of its 200-plus predecessors.

Why is unclear. It could be that lynching has moved to an out of sight, out of mind status, even though three white supremacists lynched James Byrd Jr. only 20 years ago in East Texas by beating him then chaining him to a truck while he was still alive and dragging him three miles. All three perpetrators were convicted; one has been executed, a second is on death row and the third is serving a life sentence.

Those local authorities, unlike their predecessors elsewhere in the South, did their jobs. So, some question, why bother with a law now? Isnt this just a symbolic gesture?

Yes, it is a symbolic gesture. But a necessary one. Lynching served as a powerfully intimidating symbol  behave yourselves, lest you meet the same fate  that resonates today. Racism in the workplace often surfaces as a noose left in a locker or on a desk. Three years ago two members of the University of Oklahomas Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity were expelled (inappropriately given the right to even hateful speech) and the chapter shut down after a video surfaced of members singing a song including the N-word, You can hang em from a tree / But hell never sign with me / There will never be a ... SAE. Just last year, nooses were left at the African American Museum in Washington, D.C.

The symbolic weight of that despicable act is heavy. The U.S. Senate did approve a resolution in 2005 apologizing to lynching victims and their descendants for failing to act in the past. It passed in a late-night voice vote; 11 senators opted not to co-sponsor it.

We cannot, of course, turn back the calendar and undo the sins of our forebears. But we also cannot ignore them, or their legacy.

In an era in which African Americans take to the streets to protest the killings of unarmed black men by police, when reported hate crimes are on the upswing, when the president uses dog-whistle racism to mobilize his hard-right political base, when minority neighborhoods are over-policed and when African Americans disproportionately are subject to death sentences, Congress standing up now and correcting this historical wrong by making lynching a federal crime would send a powerful symbol to the entire nation.

And not passing this measure would also send a message, one that would reflect poorly on Congress, and on the nation.Portugal confident in the future of bilateral relations with China following Xis visit

Portugal and China have a sincere and longstanding friendship and constant bilateral high-level visits, said Pedro Sanchez Costa Pereira, Ambassador and Political Director of the Portuguese Ministry for Foreign Affairs in an interview with Peoples Daily.

Pereira spoke highly of the bilateral relationship between Portugal and China in the new era.

In 2005, China and Portugal established comprehensive strategic partnership, and in 2019, the two countries will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, said Pereira, adding that the two countries have always respected each other and endeavored to expand bilateral cooperation.

Pereira expressed satisfaction over the development momentum in bilateral relationship between China and Portugal, noting that the good momentum has witnessed exponential increase in all fields in recent years.

Last year, more than 250,000 Chinese tourists visited Portugal, said Pereira, noting that the trade and investment between the two countries have also kept growing, making China the sixth largest source of imports and the 11th largest destination of exports of Portugal.

We have all reasons for being very confident about the future of our bilateral relationship, said Pereira.

Mentioning Chinese President Xi Jinpings upcoming state visit to Portugal, Pereira said it will certainly represent a historical moment in our bilateral relations, and disclosed that the two countries are currently negotiating bilateral agreements at state, ministerial and local level for a wide range of issues, spanning from culture to science and finance.

Pereira said he truly believes that the visit will signal a further development in Portugal-China relations, enhance the Chinese peoples awareness of Portugal and further promote people-to-people and tourism exchanges.

In the upcoming state visit, we will reaffirm the commitment to promoting trade and investment liberalization and facilitation within the framework of a rules-based multilateral trade system, Pereira said.

Portugal understands and supports Chinas Belt and Road Initiative, and has consistently expressed its respect and interest for the Belt and Road Initiative, said Pereira He also noted that Portugal considers the Belt and Road Initiative a major contribution to international trade relations and, specifically, to Eurasian connectivity.

Both Portugal and China are staunch supporters of an open and free world economy and oppose unilateralism, said Pereira, stressing that for Portugal, the internationalization of its economy and the promotion of multilateralism are two fundamental axis of its foreign policy.

Calling the first China International Import Expo a further eloquent testimony of the importance China attaches to free trade, Pereira expressed that Portugal and China have ample possibilities for cooperation in fields concerning free trade and promotion of a multilateral world.From the bench in San Francisco this month, U.S. District Judge Jon S. Tigar unilaterally decided what our national border policies are. With a migrant caravan of thousands amassed just south of San Diego, this one judge blocked President Trumps executive order banning asylum applications from anyone who doesnt come through a legal port of entry.

Tigars nationwide injunction means anyone from the caravan who makes it into California can stay in the U.S. for as long as it takes to process his or her asylum claim  a process that can take years. Asked by the Department of Justice last week to lift this injunction, Tigar refused.

This is just the latest example of abuse of judicial injunction powers. Its time for Congress to reassert its constitutional prerogatives by reining in the out-of-control judiciary.

Individual federal district courts never issued preliminary injunctions overturning entire policies enacted by executive order until the 1960s. But in the last decade  and especially since Donald Trump entered the White House  such injunctions have become a regular feature of American governance.

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Tigars injunction marked the 26th time a judge has blocked a Trump administration policy nationwide without so much as a trial. Thats more injunctions in less than two years than any other president endured through his entire tenure in office.

The ideological leanings of certain judges and the hysterical focus among liberal lawyers on resisting Trump have certainly played a role in this state of affairs. But a consensus is forming  among conservatives, libertarians and liberals alike  that this is not how the government is supposed to function.

When nationwide injunctions are too easily obtained, the country is essentially ruled by a judicial dictatorship.

This spate of judicial bullying has laid bare a major structural problem with our federal courts: When nationwide injunctions are too easily obtained, the country is essentially ruled by a judicial dictatorship.

Activist lawyers know that a major test case takes at least months  and more often years  to make its way through the federal court system to the Supreme Court. If they can find just one federal judge somewhere in the country who is sympathetic to their arguments, they can set policy for the entire country while that lengthy process plays out.

Trumps ban on travel from terror-prone countries, for example, was eventually upheld by the Supreme Court as a constitutional use of executive authority. Yet for months, the American Civil Liberties Union and other liberal groups were able to bend the entire executive branch to their will because they found a sympathetic ear among federal judges in Hawaii and California who were willing to put an injunction in place against the travel ban.

Encouraged by that success, liberal activists have used the same antidemocratic tactic to force the Department of Justice to hand over federal grant money to so-called sanctuary cities, compel the armed services to accept transgender military recruits, and foist various other policy prescriptions onto the whole nation.

The desperation stirred up among activists who detest Trumps policies has brought the problem of nationwide injunctions to the fore. This is not, however, simply a left vs. right issue.

During Barack Obamas presidency, conservatives also pursued a number of nationwide injunctions to frustrate his agenda and upset the normal process of court cases. Even today, Democrats have concerns that a nationwide injunction out of a court in Texas could render Obamacare unworkable.

This is a threat to the rule of law that needs to be fixed. The Justice Department has already issued a memo directing U.S. attorneys to fight the imposition of nationwide injunctions all the way to the Supreme Court. In time, the Supreme Court and the circuit courts could limit the circumstances under which lower courts are able to issue nationwide injunctions.

Ultimately, though, the federal courts operate under parameters and rules set by Congress. Thats why lawmakers have proposed legislation to make clear to federal judges the very limited circumstances under which they can issue these sweeping injunctions.

This isnt about politics; its about returning the courts to their proper constitutional role. The executive branch cannot function effectively if activist lawyers  without winning a single election  can set policy for months or years just by shopping around for a federal judge sympathetic to their cause.

Joseph DiGenova was the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia from 1983 to 1988.

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion 

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand FacebookTo the editor: Americans can be defined not by age or income but by how much sacrifice they have made in their lives. (George H.W. Bush taught American politics an unfortunate lesson  restraint is for losers, Opinion, Dec. 1)

Those of us who lived through World War II, the Korean and Vietnam wars and the existence of the Soviet Union know how devastating and frightening those times were for the average American. Sacrifices were made not only by those who were drafted into war and failed to come home alive, but also by people on the home front during those frightening times.

Compare that with where we are now. We have a population that has little understanding of what it means to make sacrifices for the good of the country. Even voting has become a practice that so many Americans feel is too hard to do. It is no surprise, then, that we have a president who snubs hard-fought allies such as Germany and the rest of Europe.

The passing of former President George H.W. Bush brings all this into focus. He was the last of our presidents to have spent much of his life serving our country prior to election, unlike what we have now.

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David Novis, Santa Barbara

..

To the editor: Thanks to Doyle McManus for his beautiful op-ed article about Bush. As a lifelong Democrat who is now in ideological alignment with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), I appreciate being reminded of what a true patriot and contemplative leader Bush was.

He sought to create a kinder and gentler America, and he wisely practiced active patience and smart diplomacy, knowing the long-term benefits would help us all.

Jerry Beckerman, Ventura

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and FacebookAllies balk at Trump administration bid to block Chinese firm from cutting-edge telecom markets By David S. Cloud Britain and Germany are balking at the Trump administrations call for a ban on equipment from Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, threatening a global U.S. campaign to thwart Chinas involvement in future mobile networks. Both countries are expected to limit Huawei and other Chinese companies from providing core components including routers. But other types of Chinese equipment for next-generation, high-speed communications could still be installed on British and German networks, officials and analysts say. The U.S. push to ban Huawei has provoked a global dispute in recent weeks, with senior U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, publicly urging NATO allies in Europe to exclude the company and warning that the United States might limit its military presence in countries that did not do so. Read More Facebook

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Confucius Institutes: Do they improve U.S.-China ties or harbor spies? By Don Lee Hanging red lanterns welcome visitors to the University of Marylands Confucius Institute, the oldest of about 100 Chinese language and cultural centers that have popped up over the last 15 years on American campuses, subsidized by millions of dollars from Chinas central government. But last fall, when four U.S. Senate investigators walked into the Confucius offices in Maryland and spent hours questioning staff, they werent looking for an educational exchange. The committee has been seeking detailed information from the university about the program, including contracts, email exchanges and financial arrangements that school administrators have kept under wraps since it started in 2004. American colleges once viewed these jointly funded institutes as an economical way to expand their language offerings  one that could also bring warmer ties with China and, importantly, an influx of Chinese international students paying full tuition. Read More Facebook

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U.S. policy toward China shifts from engagement to confrontation By David S. Cloud For decades, China had no closer American friend than Dianne Feinstein. As San Francisco mayor in the 1970s, she forged a sister-city relationship with Shanghai, the first between American and Chinese communities. As U.S. senator, she dined with Chinese leaders at Mao Tse-tungs old Beijing residence. And in the 1990s, she championed a trade policy change that opened a floodgate of Western investment into China. Today the Democratic senator sees China as a growing threat, joining a broad array of Trump administration officials, national security strategists and business executives who once favored engagement with Beijing and now advocate a confrontational approach instead. Read More Facebook

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Mnuchins attempt to calm markets backfires as Trump takes another shot at the Federal Reserve By Jim Puzzanghera An attempt by Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin to calm plunging financial markets backfired Monday, further rattling investors with new fears about whether major U.S. banks have enough cash on top of worries about interest rates, political instability in Washington and a slowing global economy. Adding to the volatile mix was a fresh attack on the Federal Reserve by President Trump, who declared that the central bank was the U.S. economys only problem and that it didnt have a feel for the market. The Fed is like a powerful golfer who cant score because he has no touch -- he cant putt! Trump said on Twitter. Read More Facebook

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He speaks to Democratic hearts. But is Beto ORourke a serious White House contender? By Mark Z. Barabak Hes a failed U.S. Senate candidate with an undistinguished congressional record who, for the moment, is a blazing-hot 2020 presidential prospect  despite the fact that he may not run and faces long odds if he does. Beto ORourke suggests the will-he-or-wont-he speculation is something he himself cant quite fathom. I think thats a great question, he responded in a Dallas Morning News interview when asked whether his unsuccessful November Senate bid merited a promotion to the White House. I ask that question myself. Read More Facebook

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Russian disinformation teams targeted Robert S. Mueller III, says report prepared for Senate By Craig Timberg, Tony Romm, Elizabeth Dwoskin Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. (Associated Press) Months after President Trump took office, Russias disinformation teams trained their sites on a new target: special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. Having worked to help get Trump into the White House, they now worked to neutralize the biggest threat to his staying there. The Russian operatives unloaded on Mueller through fake accounts on Facebook, Twitter and beyond, falsely claiming that the former FBI director was corrupt and that the allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election were crackpot conspiracies. One post on Instagram  which emerged as an especially potent weapon in the Russian social media arsenal  claimed that Mueller had worked in the past with radical Islamic groups. Such tactics exemplified how Russian teams ranged nimbly across social media platforms in a shrewd online influence operation aimed squarely at American voters. The effort started earlier than commonly understood and lasted longer while relying on the strengths of different sites to manipulate distinct slices of the electorate, according to a pair of comprehensive new reports prepared for the Senate Intelligence Committee and released Monday. Read more Timberg, Romm and Dwoskin report for the Washington Post. Facebook

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President Trump announces Mick Mulvaney as acting White House chief of staff By Associated Press President Trump says budget director Mick Mulvaney will serve as acting chief of staff, replacing John F. Kelly in the new year. I am pleased to announce that Mick Mulvaney, Director of the Office of Management & Budget, will be named Acting White House Chief of Staff, replacing General John Kelly, who has served our Country with distinction. Mick has done an outstanding job while in the Administration....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 14, 2018 Facebook

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It aint over when its over: In Michigan, Wisconsin and elsewhere, losers seek to undermine election results By Mark Z. Barabak Democrat Gavin Newsom has yet to become California governor, but already a candidate for state Republican Party chairman is promoting a recall effort. In Michigan and Wisconsin, GOP lawmakers have rushed through legislation to thwart their incoming Democratic governors and hamper others in the opposing party from doing the jobs voters chose them to do. In Congress, GOP leaders have echoed President Trump and sought to undermine the legitimacy of Democrats strong midterm performance, raising unsubstantiated allegations of fraud and political malfeasance. Read More Facebook

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New CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger says she wont be a puppet of Mick Mulvaney By Jim Puzzanghera On her first full day leading the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Kathy Kraninger said she wont be a puppet of Mick Mulvaney, the controversial acting director whom she replaced in the powerful regulatory position. To underscore that point, the former White House aide said she would even reconsider a Mulvaney action that critics saw as a gratuitous jab at Democrats who championed the agencys creation: changing its name to the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. Kraningers declaration during a meeting with reporters Tuesday addressed one of the main criticisms of her selection. She is considered a protege of Mulvaney, her boss at the White House Office of Management and Budget who has executed a dramatic, industry-friendly shift at the watchdog agency. Read More Facebook

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Trumps pick for chief of staff, Nick Ayers, out of running By Associated Press Nick Ayers, right, with Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, at the funeral service for George H.W. Bush on Dec. 3. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Associated Press) President Trumps top pick to replace John F. Kelly as chief of staff, Nick Ayers, is no longer expected to fill that role. Thats according to a White House official who is not authorized to discuss the personnel issue by name and spoke on condition of anonymity. Ayers is Vice President Mike Pences chief of staff. The official says that Trump and Ayers could not agree on Ayers length of service. The father of young children, Ayers had agreed to serve in an interim capacity though the spring, but Trump wanted a two-year commitment. The official says that Ayers will instead assist the president from outside the administration. Trump announced Saturday that Kelly would be departing the White House around the end of the year. Thank you @realDonaldTrump, @VP, and my great colleagues for the honor to serve our Nation at The White House. I will be departing at the end of the year but will work with the #MAGA team to advance the cause.  #Georgia  Nick Ayers (@nick_ayers) December 9, 2018 Facebook

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U.S. hiring slows to 155,000 jobs, unemployment rate holds at 3.7% By Jim Puzzanghera Job growth slowed significantly in November but still was solid, indicating the economy remains in good shape but not expanding so quickly that it will lead to sharply higher interest rates. U.S. employers added 155,000 jobs last month, well below analyst expectations and a steep decline from Octobers strong 237,000 figure, the Labor Department reported Friday. Still, monthly job gains are averaging 206,000 this year, the best since 2015. Even the slower pace of 170,000 over the last three months is close to last years average of 182,000 and well above the amount needed to keep up with population growth. Read More Facebook

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Trump is expected to pick State Department spokeswoman for U.N. ambassador By Associated Press Heather Nauert at a briefing at the State Department on Aug. 9, 2017. (Alex Brandon / Associated Press) President Trump is expected to nominate State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Two administration officials confirmed Trumps plans. A Republican congressional aide said the president was expected to announce his decision by tweet on Friday morning. The officials were not authorized to speak publicly before Trumps announcement. Trump has previously said Nauert was under serious consideration to replace Nikki Haley, who announced in October that she would step down at the end of this year. Trump has been known to change course on staffing decisions in the past. Nauert was a reporter for Fox News Channel before she became State Department spokeswoman under former Secretary Rex Tillerson. Facebook

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Senate confirms new consumer financial protection chief: Kathy Kraninger, protege of industry-friendly Mick Mulvaney By Jim Puzzanghera The Senate, in a party-line vote Thursday, confirmed White House aide Kathy Kraninger to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and experts predicted a continuation of the industry-friendly shift it has taken since President Trump installed an acting director last year. Kraninger is a protege of acting director and White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney, an outspoken critic of the agency that was created in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis to prevent predatory lending and other abuses that led to it. Democrats and consumer advocates have denounced him for sharply departing from the aggressive watchdog role the bureau had pursued under its first director, Obama-appointee Richard Cordray, including scaling back enforcement and moving to reassess tough new rules on payday loans and narrow the definition of abusive practices by banks and other firms. Read More Facebook

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Shutdown postponed by two weeks under plan approved by Congress By Erik Wasson Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), shown at the Capitol on Tuesday, says President Trumps border wall is a waste of money. (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) Congress passed a two-week stopgap spending bill that will delay the chance of a partial government shutdown until Dec. 22 as lawmakers and President Donald Trump negotiate over his demands to pay for a wall on the southern border. The House and Senate passed the measure Thursday without dissent, and Trump has indicated hell sign the bill before the current shutdown deadline of midnight Friday. Negotiations were delayed by memorial services this week for former President George H.W. Bush. The temporary measure gives Democrats and Republicans more time to find a resolution to their biggest hurdle: funding a wall on the U.S. Mexico border wall. Trump says he wants $5 billion for parts of a concrete wall on the southern border and is willing to shut down the government if he doesnt get it. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York has said Democrats will provide no more than $1.6 billion for border security, because the wall is a waste of money. The presidents demands for wall funding from Congress come after he said during the campaign that Mexico would pay for it. This week he said on Twitter that a $25 billion border wall would pay for itself in two months, without providing evidence. Most of the U.S. governments $1.2 trillion discretionary budget has been appropriated already by Congress for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1. Departments at a risk of a partial shutdown late this month include the departments of State, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Treasury and Homeland Security. Talks to resolve the differences have been on hold since a meeting among Trump, Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California originally slated for Dec. 4 was postponed due to Bush memorial events. The three are scheduled to meet on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter. Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby of Alabama told reporters the rest of the seven-bill spending package being negotiated is basically done. Shelby in recent weeks had tried to broker a compromise in which Trumps $5 billion request would be split over two years, but Schumer has rejected that. Some Democrats have been willing to trade border wall funding for deportation protections for young undocumented immigrants. Pelosi ruled out such a deal in remarks to reporters Thursday. The stopgap government funding measure also would extend the National Flood Insurance Program, which provides subsidized coverage for homes in flood-prone areas, to Dec. 21. Facebook

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Bipartisan Senate group wants to formally blame Saudi crown prince for journalists killing By Karoun Demirjian Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires. (Associated Press) A bipartisan group of senators filed a resolution Wednesday condemning Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as responsible for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, directly challenging President Trump to do the same. This resolution -- without equivocation -- definitively states that the crown prince of Saudi Arabia was complicit in the murder of Mr. [Jamal] Khashoggi and has been a wrecking ball to the region jeopardizing our national security interests on multiple fronts, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said in a statement accompanying the release of the resolution. It will be up to Saudi Arabia as to how to deal with this matter. But it is up to the United States to firmly stand for who we are and what we believe. The resolution put forward by Graham and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who are expected to lead the Judiciary Committee together next year, comes just one day after CIA Director Gina Haspel briefed leading senators about the details of the agencys assessment that Mohammed ordered and monitored the killing and dismemberment of Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Senators emerged from that closed-door briefing furious not only with Saudi Arabia, but Trump as well for dismissing the heft of the CIAs findings. You have to be willfully blind not to come to the conclusion that this was orchestrated and organized by people under the command of MBS and that he was intricately involved in the demise of Mr. Khashoggi, Graham said following the briefing, referring to Mohammed by his initials. He added that Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and Defense Secretary James N. Mattis, who briefed senators last week, were at best being good soldiers and at worst were in the pocket of Saudi Arabia for presenting the evidence of Mohammeds involvement as inconclusive. The release of the resolution condemning Mohammed also comes as the Senate is preparing to move ahead with debate on a resolution to curtail U.S. support for the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen. Though the Yemen resolution does not directly address Khashoggis murder, its popularity is a sign of how strained the United States patience with Saudi Arabia is on multiple fronts, including its role in worsening the civilian cost of the war in Yemen, cited by the United Nations as the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. Last week, the Senate voted 63 to 37 to advance the Yemen resolution past an opening procedural hurdle. But Graham and Feinsteins resolution on the crown prince has the potential of drawing broader support, especially from Republicans, who are deeply divided about how fiercely to punish Saudi Arabia over Khashoggis killing. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who has been an outspoken advocate for human rights and is seen as one of the more influential foreign policy voices in the GOP, did not vote for the Yemen resolution last week or sign on to a bipartisan measure last month to sanction Saudi officials and cease weapons transfers to the kingdom. But he is an original co-sponsor of the resolution condemning Mohammed over Khashoggis death. So is Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), who represents the other end of the GOP spectrum in terms of recent Saudi-related votes and endorsements. Young was an initial co-sponsor of the bill Graham wrote with Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) to sanction Saudi officials deemed responsible for Khashoggis killing and stop the sale of anything but exclusively defensive weapons to the kingdom until it ceased hostilities in Yemen. Young also voted to advance the Yemen resolution  something Graham did as well, though Graham has signaled he will not be lending any similar support to the measure, fearing it may establish a precedent of invoking the War Powers Act too broadly. Sens. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) are listed as original co-sponsors of the resolution condemning Mohammed, which also urges Saudi Arabia to negotiate with Houthi rebels to end the Yemen war, work out a political solution to its standoff with Qatar and release political prisoners. But how much sway the resolution has probably comes down to how forcefully the administration decides to heed it -- and thus far, Trump has not shown any interest in condemning the crown prince the way the senators hope he will. Demirjian reports for the Washington Post. Facebook

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Los Angeles County offices and U.S. Postal Service closed Wednesday in honor of George H.W. Bush By Brian Park The Honor Guard carries the casket of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush following his funeral on Dec. 5 in Washington, DC. (Doug Mills - Pool/Getty Images) The U.S. Postal Service will suspend regular mail delivery Wednesday, which President Trump has declared a national day of mourning in honor of former President George H.W. Bush. All retail postal outlets will be closed, and package delivery will be limited. In Los Angeles, all nonessential county departments, offices and libraries will be closed for the day, L.A. County officials said. The Los Angeles County Library said no overdue fines will be assessed for books, and due dates will be moved forward one week. Los Angeles County Department of Public Health offices also are closed Wednesday. The Sheriffs Department, Fire Department, clinics and hospitals will continue to operate, the county said. The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health clinics are being operated with reduced staffing, and the department asked patients to confirm or reschedule any appointments. All county courts and the disaster recovery centers for the Woolsey fire in Malibu and Agoura Hills will remain open. Larger federal government operations will be closed Wednesday. To honor the life and legacy of President Bush, the Postal Service will observe the National Day of Mourning. Learn how Postal operations will be affected. https://t.co/Mffch7bPCh pic.twitter.com/vG46BsIOpm  U.S. Postal Service (@USPS) December 4, 2018 L.A. County offices and libraries will be closed tomorrow (Dec 5) in observance of the #NationalDayOfMourning for President George H. W. Bush.



The Countys Disaster Recovery Centers in Malibu & Agoura Hills will remain open from 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. pic.twitter.com/Sv1J7GoJ7T  Los Angeles County (@CountyofLA) December 4, 2018 @LAPublicHealth offices will be closed tomorrow December 5 in observance of the national Day of Mourning for President George H. W. Bush. Essential Services including clinics and other services will remain open: https://t.co/tZGoGGHRlg pic.twitter.com/ypXsV6vlYY  LA Public Health (@lapublichealth) December 4, 2018 Facebook

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Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to skip 2020 White House race, sources say By Associated Press Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick speaks during an interview in Boston on Dec. 15, 2014. (Elise Amendola / Associated Press) Former Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts will soon announce he wont launch a 2020 presidential campaign, according to three sources familiar with his plans. They did not say why the Democrat decided against a run. A formal announcement was delayed as the country observed a day of mourning for President George H.W. Bush, one source said. News of Patricks plans was first reported by Politico. Patrick, 62, served two terms as governor, from 2007 to 2015, was assistant attorney general for civil rights in the Clinton administration and since leaving the governors office has been a managing director for Bain Capital. Patrick traveled the country in support of Democratic candidates in the recent midterm election. Earlier this year, some of Patricks supporters and close advisors started the Reason to Believe political action committee, a grassroots organization dedicated to advancing a positive, progressive vision for our nation in 2018 and 2020. Reason to Believe PAC had been holding meetups across the country, including in early presidential primary states. While Patrick is opting against a 2020 run, dozens of Democrats are considering jumping in, including nearly a half-dozen members of the Senate, several House members, and other Massachusetts politicians. On Tuesday, Michael Avenatti, the attorney for adult film star Stormy Daniels and a vocal critic of President Trump, said in a statement that he would run. Patrick had previously expressed some concerns about breaking through if he sought the nomination, telling David Axelrod, a former advisor to President Obama, that he wasnt sure he could stand out in such a large field. Its hard to see how you even get noticed in such a big, broad field without being shrill, sensational or a celebrity, and Im none of those things and Im never going to be any of those things, Patrick said in a September interview with Axelrod. Facebook

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Former Trump adviser Roger Stone invokes 5th Amendment right and wont testify before Senate Judiciary Committee By Associated Press Roger Stone in 2017. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images) Roger Stone, an associate of President Trump, says he wont provide testimony or documents to the Senate Judiciary Committee. An attorney for Stone said in a letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the committees top Democrat, that Stone was invoking his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination in refusing to produce documents or appear for an interview. Stone has been entangled in investigations by Congress and special counsel Robert S. Mueller III about whether Trump aides had advance knowledge of Democratic emails published by WikiLeaks during the 2016 election. Stone has not been charged and has said he had no knowledge of the timing or specifics of WikiLeaks plans. In the letter to Feinstein, Stone said the committees requests were far too overbroad, far too overreaching and far too wide-ranging. Facebook

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Watch live: Vice President Pence and lawmakers honor George H.W. Bush at the U.S. Capitol before he lies in state Facebook

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Rebuilding crumbling infrastructure has bipartisan support. But who gets to pay for it? By Jim Puzzanghera The grades for major U.S. infrastructure would give any parent indigestion if they were on a childs report card. Roads: D; bridges: C+; dams: D; ports: C+: railways: B; airports: D; schools: D+; public transit: D-. The nations overall grade: D+, which translates to being in fair to poor condition and mostly below standards with significant deterioration and a strong risk of failure, according to an evaluation last year by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Read More Facebook

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Trump calls former lawyer Michael Cohen a weak person who is lying By Associated Press President Trump says his former lawyer Michael Cohen is lying to get a reduced sentence. The president is reacting to Cohens guilty plea Thursday to lying to Congress about work he did on a Trump real estate project in Russia. During a surprise court hearing, Cohen admitted to lying in testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee about a plan to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Cohen in his guilty plea said he made the false statements to be consistent with Trumps political message. Cohens lawyer says he continues to cooperate with special counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIs investigation into Russian election interference and possible coordination with Trump associates. Facebook

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As California Republicans confront a congressional wipeout, GOP leader Kevin McCarthy faces a reckoning By Mark Z. Barabak When the House voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Kevin McCarthy trooped with other Republican lawmakers to a splashy Rose Garden celebration, smiling alongside President Trump as they celebrated the moment. As majority leader, McCarthy had helped round up the votes to narrowly pass the hard-fought legislation, convincing 13 other California Republicans to go along, even though several faced tough reelection fights. Fewer than half will be returning in January. Read More Facebook

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As California Republicans confront a congressional wipeout, GOP leader Kevin McCarthy faces a reckoning By Sarah D. Wire When the House voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Kevin McCarthy trooped with other Republican lawmakers to a splashy Rose Garden celebration, smiling alongside President Trump as they celebrated the moment. As majority leader, McCarthy had helped round up the votes to narrowly pass the hard-fought legislation, convincing 13 other California Republicans to go along, even though several faced tough reelection fights. Fewer than half will be returning in January. Read More Facebook

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Michael Cohen, President Trumps ex-lawyer, pleads guilty to lying to Congress about Trump real estate project in Russia By Associated Press Michael Cohen, President Trumps former personal lawyer, pursued a Russian real estate project on candidate Trumps behalf well into the 2016 campaign, he said Thursday while pleading guilty to lying to Congress. Cohen had previously said that the project was abandoned in January 2016, but he now admits he continued to pursue a deal and says he updated Trump and members of his family about the negotiations, according to a new court document. Read More Facebook

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James Comey says acting Atty. Gen. Whitaker may not be the sharpest knife in our drawer By John Wagner Acting Atty. Gen. Matthew Whitaker speaks at the Justice Department in Washington on Nov. 14. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press) Former FBI Director James B. Comey apparently isnt too impressed with the mental prowess of President Trumps acting attorney general. Matthew Whitaker may not be the sharpest knife in our drawer, Comey said during a radio interview on Monday night in which he sized up the man Trump installed this month to replace ousted Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions. Comey was asked by WGBH News in Boston if he thinks Whitaker could derail the investigation of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Whitaker has spoken critically of the probe, and Trump  as recently as Tuesday  continues to call it a witch hunt. I think its a worry, but to my mind not a serious worry, Comey said. The institution is too strong, and [Whitaker], frankly, is not strong enough to have that kind of impact. He may not be the sharpest knife in our drawer, but he can see his future and knows that if he acted in an extralegal way, he would go down in history for the wrong reasons, and Im sure he doesnt want that, added Comey, who was fired by Trump last year and later wrote a book that portrays the president as an ego-driven congenital liar. Whitaker, a former U.S. attorney in Iowa, was Sessions chief of staff before being picked by Trump to lead the Justice Department. Trump has called Whitaker a very smart man. Earlier this year, Trump called Comey an untruthful slime ball. Wagner writes for the Washington Post. Facebook

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Interior Department watchdog clears Zinke in investigation of Utah national monument By Juliet Eilperin Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, third from the left, and Gov. Jerry Brown tour fire damage in Paradise, Calif., on Nov. 14. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) The Interior Departments Office of Inspector General has cleared Secretary Ryan Zinke in a probe of whether he redrew boundaries of a national monument in Utah to aid the financial interests of a Republican state lawmaker and stalwart supporter of President Trump. In a Nov. 21 letter to Zinkes deputy, David Bernhardt, Deputy Inspector General Mary Kendall wrote that her office found no evidence that the secretary or his aides changed the boundaries of Utahs Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in an effort to help former Utah state representative Mike Noel, who serves as executive director of the Kane County Water Conservancy District. Last December, Trump shrank the monument, first established by President Clinton in 1996, by 46% based on Zinkes recommendation. Noel owns 40 acres that had been surrounded by the monument, but now lies outside its boundaries. The new boundaries also would make it easier to construct the proposed Lake Powell Pipeline, which would deliver water to sites in Kane County that include Noels property. Earlier this year, the Interior Department had proposed selling off 120 acres of federal land from the former monument that lay adjacent to some of Noels land holdings, but later reversed the plan. We found no evidence that Noel influenced the DOIs proposed revisions to the [monuments] boundaries, that Zinke or other DOI staff involved in the project were aware of Noels financial interest in the revised boundaries, or that they gave Noel any preferential treatment in the resulting proposed boundaries, Kendall wrote. Neither the Interior Department nor the inspector generals office would release the actual investigative report. In the letter, Kendall writes that her office will provide the report to Congress no sooner than 31 days from Nov. 21, when it is provided it to Zinkes office. The Associated Press first reported the inspector generals conclusions Monday night, but did not provide details from the report itself. Noel emailed Zinke about the effort to alter Grand Staircase-Escalante, according to emails released by Interior under the Freedom of Informational Act. But those emails do not make references to Noels land holdings. Noel also pushed to rename a Utah highway in honor of Trump, but abandoned that effort in March after some of his fellow Republicans objected to the idea. Noel did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday. The inspector generals office still has at least two ongoing probes of the secretary, including one focused on his real estate dealings in Whitefish, Mont., and another regarding his decision to deny a permit to two Connecticut tribes who were hoping to jointly run a casino after MGM Resorts International lobbied against it. Interior Department spokeswoman Heather Swift welcomed the watchdogs conclusions. The report shows exactly what the secretarys office has known all along  that the monument boundaries were adjusted in accordance with all rules, regulations and laws, she said in an email. This report is also the latest example of opponents and special interest groups ginning up fake and misleading stories, only to be proven false after expensive and time consuming inquiries by the IGs office. But Kendalls spokeswoman, Nancy DiPaolo, defended the inquiry, even though she said the report has not been publicly released and we will not be speaking specifically about the matter at this time. The OIG opens investigations based on credible allegations and reports our findings objectively and independently, DiPaolo added. Any time or resources spent investigating conduct or activity that may be a violation of law, regulation or policy is a service to the public, Congress and the Department. Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement that he still intended to investigate the way Zinke and his colleague redrew the boundaries for Grand Staircase-Escalante and another Utah national monument, Bears Ears, next year. I have great respect for the inspector general, and I accept these findings, but Secretary Zinke should have known the people he listened to while destroying our national monuments had disqualifying conflicts of interest, he said. Should I chair the Natural Resources Committee in the next Congress, the process he and President Trump used to destroy Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante will be front and center in our oversight and investigations efforts. We need to know why they ignored overwhelming public expressions of support for both Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, why they ignored Native American tribes throughout their decision-making, and why they removed protections on parcels of land with known mineral deposits. Eilperin and Rein report for the Washington Post. Facebook

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Trump advisor Larry Kudlow says China must do more to end trade war By Jim Puzzanghera Larry Kudlow, President Trumps top economic advisor, said Tuesday that Chinas response to U.S. efforts to rework the two economic superpowers trade relationship has been extremely disappointing but the planned meeting this weekend between the nations leaders is an opportunity for a breakthrough. They have to do more. They must do more, Larry Kudlow, director of the White House National Economic Council, told reporters ahead of a Saturday dinner between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Group of 20 Summit in Argentina. I think the president is exactly right  to show strong backbone when prior administrations did not, to break through these Chinese walls, Kudlow said. Theyre so resistant to change. We have to protect the country. We have to protect our technology, our inventiveness, our innovation. Read More Facebook

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Watch live: White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders holds a media briefing amid tensions at the border By Los Angeles Times Staff Facebook

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Democrat TJ Cox grabs lead over Republican David Valadao in nations last remaining undecided House race By Maya Sweedler Democrat TJ Cox slipped past Republican incumbent David Valadao on Monday to take the lead in the countrys sole remaining undecided congressional race, positioning Democrats to pick up their seventh House seat in California and 40th nationwide. Cox, who trailed by nearly 4,400 votes on election night, has steadily gained as ballot counting continues nearly three weeks after the Nov. 6 election, a pattern consistent with the states recent voting history. On Monday, he pulled ahead by 438 votes after Kern County updated its results. Read More Facebook

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Former CIA director Michael Hayden hospitalized after suffering a stroke By Deanna Paul Then-CIA Director Michael Hayden testifies before a Senate committee in 2008. (Saul Loeb / Getty Images) Former CIA Director and retired Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden has been hospitalized after suffering a stroke, his family said Friday. He is receiving expert medical care for which the family is grateful, according to a statement issued by his namesake organization. The General and his family greatly appreciate the warm wishes and prayers of his friends, colleagues, and supporters. Hayden, 73, served as director of the CIA and National Security Agency during the George W. Bush and Obama administrations. He retired from the CIA in 2009. Hayden has been a vocal critic of Donald Trumps campaign and presidency. Earlier this year, after Trump decided to revoke the security clearance of former CIA director John Brennan, Hayden was one of several former intelligence leaders who signed a statement in opposition. Criticizing the president for crossing a line, he quickly became one of the individuals whose security clearance Trump threatened to review. Deanna Paul writes for the Washington Post. Facebook

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Trump tells troops hes thankful for what hes done for the U.S. and rails against courts and migrants By Associated Press President Trump talks with troops via teleconference from his estate in Palm Beach, Fla., on Thanksgiving. (Susan Walsh / Associated Press) President Trump used his Thanksgiving Day call to troops deployed overseas to pat himself on the back and air grievances about the courts, trade and migrants heading to the U.S.-Mexico border. Trumps call, made from his opulent private Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., struck an unusually political tone as he spoke with members of all five branches of the military to wish them happy holidays. Its a disgrace, Trump said of judges who have blocked his attempts to overhaul U.S. immigration law, as he linked his efforts to secure the border with military missions overseas. Trump later threatened to close the U.S. border with Mexico for an undisclosed period of time if his administration determines Mexico has lost control on its side. The call was a uniquely Trump blend of boasting, peppered questions and off-the-cuff observations as his comments veered from venting about slights to praising troops  You really are our heroes, he said  as club waiters worked to set Thanksgiving dinner tables on the outdoor terrace behind him. It was yet another show of how Trump has dramatically transformed the presidency, erasing the traditional divisions between domestic policy and military matters and efforts to keep the troops clear of politics. You probably see over the news whats happening on our southern border, Trump told one Air Force brigadier general stationed at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, adding: I dont have to even ask you. I know what you want to do, you want to make sure that you know who were letting in. Later, Trump asked a U.S. Coast Guard commander about trade, which he noted was a very big subject for him personally. Weve been taken advantage of for many, many years by bad trade deals, Trump told the commander, who sheepishly replied, Mr. President, from our perspective on the water  we dont see any issues in terms of trade right now. And throughout, Trump congratulated himself, telling the officers that the country is doing exceptionally well on his watch. I hope that youll take solace in knowing that all of the American families you hold so close to your heart are all doing well, he said. The nations doing well economically, better than anybody in the world. He later told reporters, Nobodys done more for the military than me. Indeed, asked what he was thankful for this Thanksgiving, Trump cited his great family as well as himself. I made a tremendous difference in this country, he said. Facebook

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Trump contradicts CIA assessment that Saudi crown prince ordered Jamal Khashoggi killing By Josh Dawsey | Washington Post (Susan Walsh / Associated Press) President Trump on Thursday contradicted the CIAs assessment that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had ordered the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, insisting that the agency had feelings but did not firmly place blame for the death. Trump, in defiant remarks to reporters from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, defended his continued support for Mohammed in the face of a CIA assessment that the crown prince had ordered the killing. He denies it vehemently, Trump said. He said his own conclusion was that maybe he did, maybe he didnt. I hate the crime .... I hate the cover-up. I will tell you this: The crown prince hates it more than I do, Trump said. Asked who should be held accountable for the death of Khashoggi, who was killed at the Saudi Consulate in Turkey, Trump refused to place blame. Maybe the world should be held accountable because the world is a very, very vicious place, the president said. He also seemed to suggest that all U.S. allies were guilty of the same behavior, declaring that if the others were held to the standard that critics have held Saudi Arabia to in recent days, we wouldnt be able to have anyone for an ally. Trumps remarks came after he held a conference call with U.S. military officers overseas, during which he repeatedly praised his administration and sought to draw the officers into discussions of domestic policy. Facebook

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Former FBI Director James Comey gets subpoena from House Republicans By Bloomberg Former FBI Director James B. Comey said he has received a subpoena from House Republicans, according to a Twitter post on Thursday. Bloomberg News reported last week that Comey would be receiving a subpoena alongside former Atty. Gen. Loretta Lynch as part of continuing probes into their handling of investigations into Hillary Clinton and Russian election meddling, according to a top House Democrat. Happy Thanksgiving. Got a subpoena from House Republicans. Im still happy to sit in the light and answer all questions. But I will resist a closed door thing because Ive seen enough of their selective leaking and distortion. Lets have a hearing and invite everyone to see.  James Comey (@Comey) November 22, 2018 Read More Facebook

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Republican David Valadaos lead slips to 447 votes over Democrat TJ Cox in still-undecided Central Valley House race By Mark Z. Barabak Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford), right, finds himself in an increasingly harrowing cliffhanger against Democrat TJ Cox. (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call) On election night, it looked like Rep. David Valadao had survived a close shave and was destined to return to Washington for his fourth term. But on Wednesday, when Fresno County announced its latest vote totals, the Hanford Republican found himself in an increasingly harrowing cliffhanger against Democrat TJ Cox, with his lead in the Central Valley district shrunken to 447 votes. Thousands remain to be counted. Valadao, a repeated Democratic target, finished election night with a lead of nearly 4,440 votes. Cox, an engineer and a business owner who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2006, has steadily gained ground in the 21st Congressional District ever since. The trend is consistent with historic patterns showing Republicans in California tend to vote early and Democrats later, meaning their mail ballots continue to stream in past election day. Under California law, ballots postmarked up to midnight on Nov. 6 will be counted. Democrats have already picked up six House seats in California. They ousted Reps. Dana Rohrabacher, Mimi Walters, Steve Knight and Jeff Denham and won the seats of retiring Reps. Ed Royce and Darrell Issa. All six represented districts that backed Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in 2016. Valadao was the seventh California Republican in a district Clinton won, though his previous successes  he last won reelection by a 14-point margin  suggested his ouster was a longer shot for Democrats. If Cox prevails, it would give Democrats a 40-seat gain nationwide, far more than the 23 seats needed to take control when Congress reconvenes in January. Facebook

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Trump says no new punishments against Saudi Arabia in Jamal Khashoggi murder By Eli Stokols In this Oct. 25 photo, candles are lit in front of a photo of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. (Lefteris Pitarakis) President Trump made it clear on Tuesday that he does not intend to punish Saudi Arabia or Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, an American resident killed by Saudi officials in Turkey in October. In a remarkable statement replete with exclamation points, Trump cast doubt on the CIAs reported conclusions that it has a high degree of confidence that the crown prince ordered Khashoggis murder and sent his closest allies to Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul to carry it out. Read MoreThis article has been updated with staff. Facebook

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Sixteen House Democrats vow to oppose Nancy Pelosi as next speaker By Mike DeBonis | Washington Post House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) Sixteen House Democrats said Monday that they will vote to deny Rep. Nancy Pelosi another stint as House speaker, a show of defiance that puts her opponents on the cusp of forcing a seismic leadership shake-up as their party prepares to take the majority. Their pledge to oppose Pelosi (D-San Francisco), both in an internal caucus election and a Jan. 3 floor vote, delivered in a letter sent to Democratic colleagues, comes as Pelosi has marshaled a legion of supporters on and off Capitol Hill to make her case. But her opponents said Monday they are convinced it is time to select a new leader. We are thankful to Leader Pelosi for her years of service to our Country and to our Caucus, they wrote. However, we also recognize that in this recent election, Democrats ran on and won on a message of change. Pelosi has expressed complete confidence that she will retake the speakers gavel in January  eight years after she lost it following massive Republican gains in the 2010 midterms and 16 years after she was first elevated to the top Democratic leadership post in the House. Come on in, the waters fine, she said Friday about a potential leadership challenge. The signers might not be able to force Pelosi out themselves. The size of the Democratic majority remains in flux, but Democrats have already won 232 seats, according to the Associated Press, with five races still undecided. All those races have Republican incumbents, but the Democratic challenger is ahead in only one of them. If the leads hold in the uncalled races, Democrats would have won 233 seats, a 16-seat majority. That means Pelosi could lose as many as 15 Democratic votes when she stands for election as speaker on Jan. 3. Read More Facebook

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Democratic senators sue over Whitakers appointment as acting attorney general By Associated Press Acting U.S. Atty. Gen. Matthew Whitaker (Nicholas Kamm / AFP/Getty Images) Three Senate Democrats filed a lawsuit Monday arguing that Acting Atty. Gen. Matthew Whitakers appointment is unconstitutional and asking a federal judge to remove him. The suit, filed by Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, argues that Whitakers appointment violates the Constitution because he has not been confirmed by the Senate. Whitaker was chief of staff to Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions and was elevated to the top job after Sessions was ousted by President Trump on Nov. 7. The Constitutions Appointments Clause requires that the Senate confirm all principal officials before they can serve in their office. The Justice Department released a legal opinion last week that said Whitakers appointment would not violate the clause because he is serving in an acting capacity. The opinion concluded that Whitaker, even without Senate confirmation, may serve in an acting capacity because he has been at the department for more than a year at a sufficiently senior pay level. President Trump is denying senators our constitutional obligation and opportunity to do our job: scrutinizing the nomination of our nations top law enforcement official, Blumenthal said in a statement. The reason is simple: Whitaker would never pass the advice and consent test. In selecting a so-called constitutional nobody and thwarting every senators constitutional duty, Trump leaves us no choice but to seek recourse through the courts. The lawsuit comes days after a Washington lawyer challenged Whitakers appointment in a pending Supreme Court case dealing with gun rights. The attorney, Thomas Goldstein, asked the high court to find that Whitakers appointment is unconstitutional and replace him with Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein. Rosenstein, the second-ranking Justice Department official, has been confirmed by the Senate and had been overseeing special counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation. Whitaker is now overseeing the investigation. The Justice Department issued a statement Monday defending Whitakers appointment as lawful and said it comports with the Appointments Clause, the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and legal precedent. There are over 160 instances in American history in which non-Senate confirmed persons performed, on a temporary basis, the duties of a Senate-confirmed position, Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said. To suggest otherwise is to ignore centuries of practice and precedent. Facebook

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Gov. Rick Scott says Sen. Bill Nelson concedes Florida Senate race By Associated Press Republican Senate candidate Rick Scott speaks with his wife, Ann, by his side at an election watch party in Naples, Fla., on Nov. 7. (Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press) Floridas Republican Gov. Rick Scott says incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson called him to concede defeat in their extremely tight race. Scott issued a statement Sunday saying Nelson graciously conceded their Senate race shortly after the states recount ended. The final results show Scott defeated Nelson by just over 10,000 votes out of 8 million cast. Nelson is scheduled to release a videotaped statement later Sunday. The defeat ends Nelsons lengthy political career. The three-term incumbent was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000. Before that he served six terms in the U.S. House and as state treasurer and insurance commissioner for six years. Scott spent more than $60 million of his own money on ads that portrayed Nelson as out-of-touch and ineffective. Nelson responded by questioning Scotts ethics and saying he would be under the sway of President Trump. Facebook

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Orange County goes blue, as Democrats complete historic sweep of its seven congressional seats By Michael Finnegan Gil Cisneros defeated Republican Young Kim on Saturday in the last of Orange Countys undecided House races, giving Democrats a clean sweep of the states six most fiercely fought congressional contests and marking an epochal shift in a region long synonymous with political conservatism. With Cisneros victory, Democrats will constitute the entirety of Orange Countys seven-member congressional delegation, the first time since the 1930s that the birthplace of Richard Nixon, home of John Wayne and spiritual center of the Republican Party will have no GOP representative in the House. Sitting back in the 1960s, I would never have believed this would happen, said Stuart K. Spencer, a party strategist who spent more than half a century ushering Republicans, including President Reagan, into office. Read More Facebook

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Going, going ... with midterm wipeout, California Republican Party drifts closer to irrelevance By Michael Finnegan For a party in freefall the last two decades, California Republicans learned that its possible to plunge even further. The GOP not only lost every statewide office in the midterm election  again, in blowout fashion  but Democrats reestablished their supermajority in Sacramento, allowing them to legislate however they see fit After major defeats in Orange County and the Central Valley, two longtime strongholds, Republicans will have a significantly smaller footprint on Capitol Hill. (Democrats hold both Senate seats.) When the vote-counting is finished, the GOP may not even have enough lawmakers in Californias 53-member House delegation to field a nine-person softball team. Read More Facebook

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Congresswoman-elect Katie Porter says she will support Rep. Nancy Pelosi for speaker By Maya Sweedler Democratic Rep.-elect Katie Porter is congratulated by volunteers at her campaign headquarters in Irvine. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) Congresswoman-elect Katie Porter said she plans to support Rep. Nancy Pelosis bid for speaker of the House and will make campaign finance reform her top priority when she enters the chamber in January. Im going to continue to have conversations, but so far I feel like Leader Pelosi is definitely making the things that were a priority to the families that elected me her priorities, including announcing her support for campaign finance reform and anti-corruption as HR1, Porter said in her first public appearance since being declared the winner in Californias 45th Congressional District on Thursday evening. It means a lot to me that she is a Californian. She understands our state, Porter added. When we talk about environmental protections, this is a person who understands as a Californian how fragile our environment is and whats at risk in things like drilling off our coasts. Porter, a law professor at UC Irvine, defeated two-term Republican Rep. Mimi Walters. The 45th District, covering inland Orange County, has never been represented by a Democrat. Porter became the third Democrat to claim a Republican-held seat in Orange County, following the victories of Harley Rouda in the 48th District and Mike Levin in the 49th. A fourth, Gil Cisneros, is running slightly ahead of his Republican opponent in the race for the open seat in the 39th District, which extends into Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. Porter attributed the massive political shift in the county, for decades a conservative stronghold, to increased levels of political engagement. Folks here care about education, they care about the environment, they believe climate change is real, they want healthcare that protects preexisting conditions, they want a tax system that doesnt punish California, they want our schools and places of worship to be safe from gun violence, she said. Those are the issues we campaigned on, and to the extent that Donald Trump and Mimi Walters were on the wrong side of those issues, the voters have made clear what direction they want us to go. Porter was flying back from the East Coast when her race was called, she said. She turned on her phone to find 167 text messages from friends and supporters. Among them was Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who was one of Porters teachers in law school and with whom she has remained close. The pair spoke via FaceTime this morning, she said. Facebook

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Bitter battle for Senate seat in Florida goes to hand recount By Associated Press Employees look through damaged ballots during a recount Thursday in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press) Floridas acrimonious battle for the U.S. Senate headed Thursday to a legally required hand recount after an initial review by ballot-counting machines showed Republican Gov. Rick Scott and Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson separated by less than 13,000 votes. But the highly watched contest for governor between Republican Ron DeSantis and Democrat Andrew Gillum appeared to be over, with a machine recount showing DeSantis with a large enough advantage over Gillum to avoid a hand recount in that race. Gillum, who conceded the contest on election night only to retract his concession later, said in a statement that it is not over until every legally casted vote is counted. The recount so far has been fraught with problems. One large Democratic stronghold in South Florida was unable to finish its machine recount by the Thursday deadline due to machines breaking down. A federal judge rejected a request to extend the recount deadline. We gave a heroic effort, said Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher. If the county had three or four more hours, it would have made the deadline to recount ballots in the Senate race, she said. Meanwhile, election officials in another urban county in the Tampa Bay area decided against turning in the results of their machine recount, which came up with 846 fewer votes than originally counted. Media in South Florida reported that Broward County finished its machine recount but missed the deadline by a few minutes. Counties were ordered last weekend to do a machine recount of three statewide races because the margins were so tight. The next stage is a manual review of ballots that were not counted by machines to see whether there is a way to figure out voter intent. Scott called on Nelson to end the recount battle. Its time for Nelson to respect the will of the voters and graciously bring this process to an end rather than proceed with yet another count of the votes  which will yield the same result and bring more embarrassment to the state that we both love and have served, the governor said in a statement. The recount has triggered multiple lawsuits, many of them filed by Nelson and Democrats. The legal battles drew the ire of U.S. District Judge Mark E. Walker, who slammed the state for repeatedly failing to anticipate election problems. He also said the state law on recounts appears to violate the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that decided the presidency in 2000. We have been the laughingstock of the world, election after election, and we chose not to fix this, Walker said during a morning hearing. Walker vented his anger at state lawmakers and Palm Beach County officials, saying they should have made sure they had enough equipment in place to handle this kind of a recount. But he said he could not extend the recount deadline because he did not know when Palm Beach County would finish its work. This court must be able to craft a remedy with knowledge that it will not prove futile, Walker wrote in his ruling turning down the request from Democrats. It cannot do so on this record. This court does not and will not fashion a remedy in the dark. The overarching problem was created by the Florida Legislature, which Walker said passed a recount law that appears to run afoul of the 2000 Bush vs. Gore decision by locking in procedures that do not allow for potential problems. A total of six election-related lawsuits are pending in federal court in Tallahassee as well at least one lawsuit filed in state court. Walker also ordered that voters be given until 5 p.m. Saturday to show a valid identification and fix their ballots if they have not been counted due to mismatched signatures. Republicans appealed the ruling, but an appeals court turned down the request. State officials testified that nearly 4,000 mailed-in ballots were set aside because local officials decided the signatures on the envelopes did not match the signatures on file. If those voters can prove their identity, their votes will be counted and included in final official returns due from each county by noon Sunday. Walker was asked by Democrats to require local officials to provide a list of people whose ballots were rejected. But the judge appointed by President Obama refused the request, calling it inappropriate. Under state law, a hand review is required with races that have a margin of 0.25 percentage points or less. A state website put the unofficial results showing Scott ahead of Nelson by 0.15 percentage points. The margin between DeSantis and Gillum was at 0.41 points. The margin between Scott and Nelson had not changed much in the last few days, conceded Marc Elias, an attorney working for Nelsons campaign. But he said that he expected the vote tally to shrink due to the hand recount and the ruling on signatures. The developments fueled frustrations among Democrats and Republicans alike. Democrats want state officials to do whatever it takes to make sure every eligible vote is counted. Republicans, including President Trump, have argued without evidence that voter fraud threatens to steal races from the GOP. Facebook

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Democrat Gil Cisneros pulls ahead of Republican Young Kim as more votes are tallied in Orange and San Bernardino counties By Michael Finnegan Congressional candidate Gil Cisneros (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) Democrat Gil Cisneros pulled ahead of Republican Young Kim in one of Californias undecided congressional races Thursday, an ominous sign for a GOP already reeling from its loss of four House seats in the state. In updated vote counts released by the registrars for Orange and San Bernardino counties, Kim fell 941 votes behind Cisneros in the contest to succeed Republican Rep. Ed Royce in Californias 39th Congressional District. The 39th straddles Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Orange counties. In another unresolved House race, Democrat Katie Porter pulled further ahead of Republican incumbent Mimi Walters in the 45th District, which includes Mission Viejo, Tustin, Irvine, Rancho Santa Margarita and Laguna Hills. Porter, a consumer attorney and UC Irvine law professor, is now 6,203 votes ahead. The Nov. 6 midterm election has been devastating to Republicans in California. If Cisneros and Porter win, the party will have lost six of its 14 House seats in the state, essentially a wipeout in every contest that both parties spent heavily to win. The three Republicans already bounced from Congress are Reps. Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa, Steve Knight of Palmdale and Jeff Denham of Turlock in the San Joaquin Valley. Democrat Mike Levin won the seat of retiring GOP Rep. Darrell Issa of Vista in the fourth district flipped so far. Facebook

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Florida Senate race likely headed to second recount By Associated Press A Palm Beach County Sheriffs deputy walks past boxes of ballots before a recount on Nov. 15 in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Wilfredo Lee) Unofficial Florida election results show that the governors race seems to be settled after a machine recount but the U.S. Senate race is likely headed to a hand recount. Republican Ron DeSantis is virtually assured of winning the nationally watched governors race over Democrat Andrew Gillum. Florida finished a machine recount Thursday that showed Gillum without enough votes to force a manual recount. Unofficial results posted on a state website show the margin between U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and Gov. Rick Scott is still thin enough to trigger a second review. State law requires a hand recount of races with a margin of 0.25 percentage point or less. Counties have until Sunday to inspect the ballots that did not record a vote when put through the machines. Those ballots are re-examined to see whether the voter skipped the race or marked the ballot in a way that the machines cannot read but can be deciphered. The election will be certified Tuesday. Read More Facebook

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Pelosi says she has the votes to become the next House speaker By John Wagner Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi speaks during a news conference in Washington on Nov. 14. (Susan Walsh) House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi insisted Thursday that she has the votes to become the chambers speaker despite solid opposition from more than a dozen Democrats who want fresh leadership when the party takes control next year. I have overwhelming support in my caucus to be speaker of the House, the San Francisco lawmaker told reporters. I happen to think at this point, Im the best person for that. A vote within the Democratic caucus is scheduled for Nov. 28. The full House votes on Jan. 3 to elect a new speaker. During her remarks, Pelosi touted the size of the Democratic victory in the midterms, which she called almost a tsunami. With a few races still to be decided, Democrats are poised to pick up close to 40 seats in the chamber. Pelosi called that the biggest victory for the Democrats since 1974, when the Watergate babies came in. Pelosis comments come as she faces solid opposition from at least 17 Democrats, setting the stage for a battle over who will ascend to one of the most powerful positions in Washington. After a campaign in which some Democrats prevailed in competitive districts by promising to oppose her, a coalition of incumbents and newly elected members has denied her a smooth path to the speakership. The defections, if they stand, would leave Pelosi, who has led the Democrats for more than 15 years, several votes short of the 218 she would need when the full House votes for speaker Jan. 3. However, no Democrat has stepped forward to run against her for a job she held from 2007 through 2010. Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) told reporters Wednesday that shes being encouraged to stand for speaker if Pelosi doesnt have the votes. In an interview with the Washington Post on Thursday, she said she has been overwhelmed by the support from many of her colleagues for her possible entry into the race for House speaker. Over the last 12 hours, Ive been overwhelmed by the amount of support Ive received, Fudge said, adding that there are probably closer to 30" Democrats who have privately signaled that they are willing to oppose Pelosi. Things could change rapidly, Fudge said. Fudge, 66, a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, said she is building a diverse coalition as she mulls a speaker run, talking with allies in the caucus, moderate Democrats and newly elected members. To this point, Pelosi has enjoyed the strong backing of the Congressional Black Caucus. On Thursday, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), one of its members, wrote a letter to colleagues praising her insight, fortitude and strategic thinking and urging support for her speakership bid. Former Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr., an African American who is contemplating a 2020 presidential bid, also voiced support for Pelosi, praising her in a tweet as an architect of the recent midterm success. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), a leader of the resistance to Pelosi, said during an interview on CNN on Thursday that Fudge is the kind of new leader that we need in this party. Shes in touch with middle America. She understands what the American people want. Shes a next-generation leader that people will look to and say, Thats the future of our party, thats the future of our country, and thats exactly the kind of leader that I want to see as our next speaker. Wagner reports for the Washington Post. The Posts Robert Costa, Erica Werner, Mike DeBonis, Paul Kane and Elise Viebeck contributed to this report. Facebook

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GOP Rep. Jeff Denham concedes to Democrat Josh Harder in Central Valley race By Maya Sweedler Rep. Jeff Denham (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call) Republican Rep. Jeff Denham has conceded to Democrat Josh Harder in the race to represent Californias 10th Congressional District in the San Joaquin Valley. It has been an absolute honor to serve our community and represent the Central Valley in Congress over the past eight years, the 51-year-old congressman said. The enormity of the responsibility was never lost on me. My wife Sonia and I look forward to starting the next chapter of our lives. Harder said he had spoken with Denham and the two were committed to a productive transition. Denham, an Air Force veteran, previously represented the region in the state Senate for eight years and founded a company specializing in plastic packaging used in agriculture. While a member of Congress, he sat on the Transportation and Infrastructure, Veterans Affairs and Agriculture committees. First-time candidate Harder was born and raised in the district. After graduating from Stanford University, he served as vice president of a Silicon Valley venture capital firm. Since moving back, he has been teaching at Modesto Junior College. Denhams House seat is one of four in California that Republicans lost in the Nov. 6 election, with two contests in Orange County still undecided as of Thursday morning. Jeff Denham called me this morning and we had a very productive conversation. I'm honored that I've been chosen to serve our community in Congress, and we're both looking forward to a productive transition that best serves the people of District 10.  Josh Harder (@JoshHarder) November 14, 2018 Facebook

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Democrat Katie Porter now nearly 3,800 votes ahead of GOP Rep. Mimi Walters By Maya Sweedler Rep. Mimi Walters thanks all of her supporters as she watches election results in Irvine on Nov. 7, 2018. (Alex Gallardo / Associated Press) Democrat Katie Porter opened a 3,797-vote lead Wednesday over Republican Rep. Mimi Walters in Orange Countys 45th Congressional District. In the neighboring 39th, Democrat Gil Cisneros has nearly tied the race against Republican Young Kim. Cisneros now trails Kim by a razor-thin margin of 122 votes. The 39th District straddles Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties; Wednesdays updated ballot counts came from the latter two. There are more than 202,000 ballots left to count in Orange County, which includes parts of seven congressional districts. The 45th is entirely in inland Orange County. In California, the ballots counted first tend to lean Republican and those tallied later skew Democratic. In the Central Valleys 21st Congressional District, Democratic challenger TJ Cox has pulled within 2 percentage points of Rep. David Valadao, who is serving his third term. The Associated Press had projected a win for Valadao on election night, but his 4,839-vote advantage has shrunk to 2,090. Back in CA-21, Valadao (R) wins a batch of ballots from his stronghold in Kings Co., but by a considerably smaller margin (14 points) than his previous ~30-point margin in the county. We're moving to Lean R from Likely R; today a bit scary for Valadao.https://t.co/WqJVUVkqGW  Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) November 15, 2018 A spokesman for Valadao told the Fresno Bee that the changes were expected and that [s]tatistically, David Valadao has won this race. Democrats in California have already flipped four House seats, defeating three Republican incumbents and claiming an open seat previously held by the GOP. Reps. Steve Knight of Palmdale, Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa and Jeff Denham of Turlock have already lost their races, and retiring Rep. Darrell Issas San Diego County seat was claimed by Democrat Mike Levin. Facebook

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Trump aide departs West Wing after rebuke from Melania Trump By Associated Press First Lady Melania Trump. (Alain Jocard / AFP-Getty Images) Deputy national security advisor Mira Ricardel is leaving the White House, one day after First Lady Melania Trumps office issued an extraordinary statement calling for her dismissal. No replacement was named. Aides said Ricardel clashed with the first ladys staff over her visit to Africa last month. Yet it is highly unusual for a first lady or her office to weigh in on personnel matters, especially the presidents national security staff. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Ricardel would have a new role in the administration. On Tuesday, Stephanie Grisham, the first ladys spokeswoman, released a statement saying, It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House. President Trumps White House has set records for administration turnover. Ricardel was the third person to hold the post under Trump. An ally of national security advisor John Bolton, Ricardel began her service in the Trump administration as associate director in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, then moved to the Commerce Department last year. Bolton brought her into the West Wing shortly after taking the job in April. He is traveling in Asia this week alongside Vice President Mike Pence. Facebook

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Race for House Minority Leader is Kevin McCarthys to lose By Associated Press (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call) House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy is running to take over next years shrunken caucus in closed-door elections that will set the tone for the new Congress. The race for minority leader is McCarthys to lose Wednesday. But the California Republican, who is an ally of President Trump, must fend off a challenge from conservative Jim Jordan of Ohio. Jordan is a leader of the House Freedom Caucus. The two encountered questions and finger-pointing during a private meeting with lawmakers Tuesday night as the GOP sorted through the midterm defeat that put Democrats in the majority next year. Elections Wednesday will also determine party leadership in the Senate. Voting for the biggest race, Nancy Pelosis bid to return as the Democrats nominee for speaker, is later this month. Read More Facebook

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Melania Trump calls for the firing of deputy national security advisor By Justin Sink First Lady Melania Trump arrives at the Chateau de Versailles outside Paris on Nov. 11. (Alain Jocard / AFP/Getty Images ) First Lady Melania Trumps office said she wants Mira Ricardel, the deputy national security advisor, ousted from the White House. It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House, Trumps spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, said in a statement in response to a question about reports the first lady had sought Ricardels removal. Ricardel is the top deputy to national security advisor John Bolton. She drew the first ladys wrath after threatening to withhold National Security Council resources during Melania Trumps trip to Africa last month unless Ricardel was included in her entourage, one person familiar with the matter said. Grishams statement comes as several media outlets have reported that President Trump is considering a broader shakeup of his administration, including ousting Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. Sink and Jacobs report for Bloomberg. Read More Facebook

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CNN sues Trump over the suspension of Jim Acostas White House press credentials By Jim Puzzanghera CNN said Tuesday that it is suing President Trump and other administration officials over the decision to suspend the White House press credentials of correspondent Jim Acosta after a conflict at a news conference last week. The suit, to be filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, escalates an ongoing battle between Trump and the cable news outlet that he frequently accuses of disseminating fake news for its aggressive coverage of him and his administration. The wrongful revocation of these credentials violates CNN and Acostas 1st Amendment rights of freedom of the press, and their 5th Amendment rights to due process, CNN said in a written statement. If left unchallenged, the actions of the White House would create a dangerous chilling effect for any journalist who covers our elected officials. Read More Facebook

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Maxine Waters to take aim at Wells Fargo and Deutsche Bank as new head of House Financial Services Committee By Jim Puzzanghera Rep. Maxine Waters plans to zero in on two big banks  Wells Fargo & Co. and Deutsche Bank  when she becomes head of the powerful House Financial Services Committee. The Los Angeles congresswoman, now the committees top Democrat, is widely expected to gain the gavel after her party won control of the House in last weeks elections. While Waters has outlined a wide-ranging agenda, she said her focus on bank oversight will target two large institutions she has been tangling with for a while  including one, Deutsche Bank, that spills into her bitter feud with President Trump. With Trump in the White House, I know that our fight for Americas consumers and investors will continue to be challenging. But I am more than up to that fight, Waters wrote in a letter last week to her Democratic colleagues on the committee that was obtained by The Times. Read More Facebook

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Heres how a controversial voting system will decide a congressional race in Maine By Kurtis Lee For the first time in U.S. history, a controversial voting system known as ranked choice is being used to decide a federal election. Its happening in Maine, which adopted the system in 2016. Rather than marking a single candidate, each voter ranks them all, assigning a first-place vote, a second-place vote and so on down the ballot. Read More Facebook

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ACLU files suit to stop Trumps new asylum limits By Associated Press A group of Central American migrants march to the office of the U.N.'s humans rights body in Mexico City on Nov. 8. (Rebecca Blackwell / Associated Press) The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a legal challenge to President Trumps order denying asylum to migrants if they cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. The lawsuit was filed Friday in federal court in San Francisco and argues the new rules are against the law. Attorney Lee Gelernt said the regulations will put families in danger. The suit seeks to declare the regulations invalid and wants a judge to stop the rules from going into effect while the litigation is pending. The new rules were spurred in part by caravans of Central American migrants slowly moving north on foot, but officials say they will apply to anyone caught crossing illegally. Officials say about 70,000 people who enter the country illegally claim asylum. The order invoked the same national security powers Trump used to push through his travel ban. Read More Facebook

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Trump on new acting AG: I dont know Matt Whitaker By Associated Press President Trump talks with reporters before departing for France on the South Lawn of the White House on Nov. 9. (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) President Trump is moving to distance himself from Matthew Whitaker as he faces criticism over his choice for acting attorney general. Trump told reporters Friday that I dont know Matt Whitaker and said he didnt speak with Whitaker about special counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation. Whitaker has made public comments critical of Muellers investigation, and critics have called on Whitaker to recuse himself from oversight of the inquiry. Under former Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, the investigation was overseen by Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein. Of the scrutiny Whitaker is facing, Trump said: Its a shame that no matter who I put in they go after. He also called Whitaker a very highly respected man. Whitaker was Sessions chief of staff before Trump made him Sessions interim replacement. Facebook

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Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg out of hospital after fall By Associated Press The Supreme Court says 85-year-old Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is home after being released from the hospital. She had been admitted for treatment and observation after fracturing three ribs in a fall. The court said Ginsburg was released Friday. Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg says she is doing well and working from home. The court had previously said the justice fell in her office at the court on Wednesday evening and went to George Washington University Hospital in Washington early Thursday after experiencing discomfort overnight. Ginsburg broke two ribs in a fall in 2012. She had two prior bouts with cancer and had a stent implanted to open a blocked artery in 2014. Facebook

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Gun-control activist Lucy McBath defeats GOP Rep. Karen Handel in Georgia By Associated Press Lucy McBath speaks during a rally for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams on Nov. 2 at Morehouse College in Atlanta. (Alyssa Pointer / Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP) Democratic gun-control activist Lucy McBath has defeated Republican Rep. Karen Handel of Georgia in a suburban congressional district long considered safe for the GOP. Handel had to seek reelection after winning her seat last year in a close special election race against Democrat Jon Ossoff. McBath became an advocate for stricter gun laws after her son, Jordan Davis, was fatally shot at a Florida gas station in 2012 by a man angry over loud music the teenager and his friends were playing in a car. McBaths margin of victory was narrow enough for Handel to have requested a recount. The Associated Press declared McBath the winner Thursday after Handel conceded. Handel conceded in a statement Thursday morning, stating that after reviewing all of the election data, its clear she came up a bit short in Tuesdays vote. Handel congratulated McBath, offering good thoughts and much prayer for the journey that lies ahead for her. McBath, who is African American, declared victory Wednesday. Facebook

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Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg hospitalized after fracturing 3 ribs in fall By Associated Press Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press) The Supreme Court says 85-year-old Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg fractured three ribs in a fall in her office at the court and is in the hospital. The court says the justice went to George Washington University Hospital in Washington early Thursday after experiencing discomfort overnight. The court says the fall occurred Wednesday evening. Ginsburg was admitted to the hospital for treatment and observation after tests showed she fractured three ribs. Ginsburg broke two ribs in a fall in 2012. She has had two prior bouts with cancer and had a stent implanted to open a blocked artery in 2014. Facebook

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White House suspends press pass of CNNs Jim Acosta after heated exchange with Trump By Associated Press The White House on Wednesday suspended the press pass of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta after he and President Trump had a heated confrontation during a news conference. They began sparring after Acosta asked Trump about the caravan of migrants heading from Latin America to the southern U.S. border. When Acosta tried to follow up with another question, Trump said, Thats enough! and a female White House aide unsuccessfully tried to grab the microphone from Acosta. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders released a statement accusing Acosta of placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern, calling it absolutely unacceptable. The interaction between Acosta and the intern was brief, and Acosta appeared to brush her arm as she reached for the microphone and he tried to hold onto it. Pardon me, maam, he told her. Acosta tweeted that Sanders statement that he put his hands on the aide was a lie. CNN said in a statement that the White House revoked Acostas press pass in retaliation for his challenging questions Wednesday, and the network accused Sanders of lying about Acostas actions. This conduct is absolutely unacceptable. It is also completely disrespectful to the reporters colleagues not to allow them an opportunity to ask a question. President Trump has given the press more access than any President in history.  Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) November 8, 2018 Contrary to CNNs assertions there is no greater demonstration of the Presidents support for a free press than the event he held today. Only they would attack the President for not supporting a free press in the midst of him taking 68 questions from 35 different reporters...  Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) November 8, 2018 As a result of todays incident, the White House is suspending the hard pass of the reporter involved until further notice.  Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) November 8, 2018 Sanders provided fraudulent accusations and cited an incident that never happened. This unprecedented decision is a threat to our democracy and the country deserves better, CNN said. Jim Acosta has our full support. Journalists assigned to cover the White House apply for passes that allow them daily access to press areas in the West Wing. White House staffers decide whether journalists are eligible, though the Secret Service determines whether their applications are approved. Facebook

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Trump spars with reporters at post-election news briefing, ordering several to sit down By Associated Press  President Trump assails CNNs Jim Acosta at a White House news conference. President Trump sparred with reporters at his post-election news conference, ordering several to sit down and telling another hes a rude, terrible person. He told another reporter hes not a fan of yours, either. The presidents mood turned sour Wednesday after reporters pressed him on why he referred to a migrant caravan making its way to the U.S. on foot through Mexico as an invasion. Trump ramped up his anti-immigrant rhetoric against the caravan in the final days of the midterm elections. Trump was also pressed on why his campaign aired an ad featuring a Mexican immigrant convicted of killing American police officers and linking the mans actions to the caravan. Several television networks pulled the ad after airing it or declined to air it at all. Facebook

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Im living one hour at a time at this point By Christine Mai-Duc Republican congressional candidate Young Kim and gubernatorial candidate John Cox campaign in Rowland Heights. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) Republican congressional candidate Young Kim greeted gubernatorial candidate John Coxs giant campaign bus, the words HELP IS ON THE WAY emblazoned across it, as it rolled into the parking lot outside her Rowland Heights field office. Standing beside Cox on Saturday, Kim predicted that a string of GOP victories Tuesday would start with voters repealing the gas tax hike. Can you imagine Gavin Newsom being our governor? Can you imagine Gil Cisneros being your representative? Kim asked the crowd, to loud boos and cries of Nooo! The former state assemblywoman who worked for retiring Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) is vying for his seat with Democrat Gil Cisneros. She led the crowd in chants of Enough is enough! and, though short-lived, Drain the swamp! Ive served you in Sacramento and Ive seen dysfunction personally, Kim continued. We cannot continue that route. She urged her supporters to stay and help make phone calls or walk neighborhoods. Lets get out there  the 72 hours is really critical. Its all going to come down to a few votes, it could be your vote, she said pointing to her left, then pivoting right, it could be your vote. So dont sit back and do nothing. Every night I go to sleep thinking, OK, how many more votes can I get or how many more people can I call tomorrow? Kim said. It can be physically exhausting but Im mentally, emotionally very energized. She listed off her events so far that day  and the next one she was heading to. Thats just what I can remember, she said. Im living one hour at a time at this point. Kims campaign invited press to two of her events on Saturday. After she was whisked away to her next event  a high tea fundraiser in Walnut, a couple dozen volunteers remained. John Freeman, a statewide field manager for the state Republican Party, tried to pump them up. This is the Super Bowl. Were not in an NFL stadium, were not getting paid millions of dollars, but you know what? Freeman said. Were walking on the field right now. This is that high-stakes-level game. Facebook

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Its going to be tough out there Democratic candidate Katie Porter speaks to volunteers in Mission Viejo. Jon Bauman, Bowzer from the band Sha Na Na, is in the background. (Victoria Kim / Los Angeles Times ) Judging from the cheers in the crowd, about half those assembled at Katie Porters campaign headquarters in Mission Viejo Sunday morning were old enough to remember 70s rock n roll star Bowzer from the band Sha Na Na. Jon Bauman, as Bowzer is known off stage, said it was her position on senior issues including retirement and social security that has him out supporting Porter over her opponent, incumbent Rep. Mimi Walters. I want you to make sure every phone is called and every door is knocked, he told the crowd of about 80 volunteers. There has never been a more important election. Both Bauman and his nephew, California Democratic Party Chairman Eric Bauman, were interrupted by yells from Trump supporters coming from an adjoining hillside. We love Trump, the voice cried out. We love him too, he makes great fodder, the younger Bauman retorted, before introducing Porter. Porter, a UC Irvine law professor and first-time candidate, acknowledged the uphill battle some of her canvassers might face in this more conservative end of the long-red Orange County district. I know its going to be tough out there, she said, motioning to the hillside. But she said the attacks meant the other side viewed her campaign as a significant threat. This election is going to be close, she said. If we dont fight all the way to the finish line, until 8 oclock on Tuesday, this could slip away. Bowzer then took to a keyboard piano to lead the crowd in a reworded rendition of the song Good Night Sweetheart: Good night, Mimi Walters, he crooned. A woman in a black tank top, jeans and flip flops holding a cup of coffee later joined the crowd with her two sons, 17 and 14, the younger one wearing a Trump 2016 T-shirt. She declined to give her name, saying she was concerned about being attacked, but said she lived up the hill and said she had been the one yelling. She said she was encouraging her sons to talk to people on both sides and make up their own minds. We need to have a government that runs the way government teachers are telling kids its supposed to be run, said the woman, a retired registered dental assistant who voted early for Mimi Walters. Referring to Democrats, she said: Theyve had control over all these years and Californias gone to crap. Among those canvassing was Stacie Campbell, 37, who was at the launch with her husband Jerome and three children, the youngest of whom was 2 months old. Campbell, a Mission Viejo resident who runs a business, had never canvassed or volunteered for campaigns before, and her husband is a French citizen and unable to vote. She said they had been talking to their children  the older ones are 5 and 2  about the presidency and the government since Trumps election. Together, they worked on homemade Katie Porter lawn signs and put them up around town. This is the first time its felt like a big deal and there isnt a president up for election, she said. Because her city is a mix of conservatives and liberals  her next-door neighbor is an NRA-supporting Republican  she the race felt mMichael Flynn, a retired Army general who was forced out as President Trumps national security advisor after misleading other White House officials, has provided substantial assistance to investigators in the Russia case and should be spared prison time despite lying to FBI agents, prosecutors told a federal court Tuesday.

They said Flynn had participated in 19 separate interviews with special counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIs office and other areas of the Justice Department while assisting in multiple ongoing investigations, including whether there was any coordination between Trumps 2016 campaign and the Russian government.

Although key details were redacted, court documents said Flynn disclosed interactions between the [Trump] transition team and Russian government officials, as well as other significant information.

In addition, prosecutors revealed that Flynn had helped the Justice Department with what appears to be a separate investigation from the Russia inquiry. The details were blacked out in one of the two documents submitted to U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan.

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The investigations in which he has provided assistance are ongoing, prosecutors wrote in an addendum to the sentencing memo. They repeatedly described his help as substantial.

The filings are the first to lay out the extent of Flynns cooperation. He is the only member of Trumps White House team who has been charged in the sprawling criminal investigation, which so far has charged or obtained guilty pleas from 33 individuals, including several of Trumps former senior aides and associates.

Flynn pleaded guilty last December to lying to federal agents about his conversations with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition, falsely claiming that they did not discuss U.S. sanctions. As part of his plea deal, Flynn agreed to cooperate with the special counsel.

A sentence that does not impose a term of incarceration  is appropriate and warranted, prosecutors wrote.

They said Flynns record of military and public service distinguish him from every other person who has been charged in the Mueller investigation. However, senior government leaders should be held to the highest standards.

But they also praised Flynn for accepting responsibility in a timely fashion and substantially assisting the government, including providing documents and communications to Muellers team and other Justice Department prosecutors.

Defense lawyers will have their own opportunity to make a recommendation to the judge before he is sentenced on Dec. 18.

Flynns family appeared pleased by the prosecutors recommendation. It is not over yet but tonight was good news, tweeted his brother, Joseph Flynn.

Flynn, 59, served 33 years in the Army and helped lead high-profile efforts to overhaul military intelligence operations as U.S. forces struggled against insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He later returned to Washington and led the Pentagons Defense Intelligence Agency, but he was pushed out after clashing with other members of President Obamas administration in 2014.

The former lieutenant general became one of Trumps most vocal and visible supporters during the 2016 campaign. At the Republican National Convention, he said Hillary Clinton should be jailed for her use of a private email server while serving as secretary of State, leading chants to lock her up.

After the election, Flynn joined Trumps White House as national security advisor, a pivotal role that gave him access to the nations most sensitive secrets. But he soon became a target in the Russia investigation, and he was ousted after only three weeks on the job.

Read Muellers sentencing memo for Michael Flynn 

His departure came after the Justice Department warned the White House that he could be vulnerable to blackmail because he misled Vice President Mike Pence and others about his conversations with Sergey Kislyak, then Russias ambassador in Washington.

Flynn also lied in an interview with FBI agents. He falsely denied telling Kislyak that Russia should not retaliate when the Obama administration enacted sanctions to punish Moscow for interfering in the election by spreading disinformation on social media and hacking Democratic Party emails.

When Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow would not get even with its own sanctions, Kislyak called Flynn to say the decision was in response to his request, according to court documents.

Those topics were material to the FBIs investigation into the nature of any links or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the Trump campaign, prosecutors wrote in their court filing on Tuesday evening.

James B. Comey, then the FBI director, said later that Trump asked him to end the investigation into Flynn.

I hope you can let this go, he recalled the president saying the day after Flynn left the White House.

Although Trump has denied asking Comey to drop the investigation, Mueller is investigating whether the president sought to obstruct justice in that case or others.

After pleading guilty on Dec. 1, 2017, Flynn has kept a relatively low profile, making a handful of appearances at conservative events or stumping for the occasional Republican candidate.

Im not here to complain about who has done me wrong, Flynn said at a GOP campaign event in California in March. Or how unfair Ive been treated. Or how unfair the entire process has been. It is what it is.

Prosecutors recommendation for Flynns sentence stands in contrast to the hard line they took with George Papadopoulos, a former low-level campaign foreign policy advisor, who also pleaded guilty to making false statements last year and hoped to avoid prison time.

In a memo, prosecutors said Papadopoulos was unhelpful after he agreed to cooperate. They also complained that he harmed the Russia inquiry by lying about his overseas contacts, making it more difficult for investigators to follow up with a key figure in the case.

Papadopoulos was later sentenced to 14 days in prison, and he was imprisoned on Nov. 26.

Flynn, however, was a much different story, according to prosecutors.

His early cooperation was particularly valuable because he was one of the few people with long-term and firsthand insight regarding events and issues under investigation by the special counsels office, prosecutors wrote.

In addition, they believe his guilty plea encouraged other related firsthand witnesses to be forthcoming with Muellers team.

chris.megerian@latimes.com

Twitter: @chrismegerian

UPDATES:

6:45 p.m.: The article was updated with details from the court filings.

5:40 p.m.: The article was updated with the release of prosecutors sentencing memo in Flynns case

The article was originally published at 6 a.m.As America celebrates the life of President George H.W. Bush and the kinder and gentler era in politics he represents, the current president, who rose to power in open mockery of that style of democracy and who hates to surrender center stage, will have to endure the tributes from a pew in the audience.

President Trump plans to attend Bushs state funeral Wednesday but is not scheduled to speak, according to the list of eulogizers released by the Bush family on Monday, marking the first time in nearly half a century  since President Nixon failed to eulogize Lyndon B. Johnson  that a sitting president has been left out of the memorial of a predecessor.

The omission will put the cultural and personal gulf between Trump and Bush and what they represent in sharp relief. It will force the White House for the second time in a little over three months to deal with inevitable and unflattering comparisons to a well-liked predecessor.

Unlike Sen. John McCain, whose family kept Trump out of his funeral entirely and used the September service to highlight their differences, President Bush and his family chose not to make a loud statement with his funeral, even though Trump built his political brand in large part by mocking the Bushes and everything they stood for.

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Presidential funerals are planned years in advance, with even the most mundane details accounted for. Bush, who believed strongly in the dignity of the office, appears to have sided with history in welcoming Trump to attend, preserving decades of tradition when it comes to sitting presidents.

His respect for the presidency meant that, just as he wanted President Trump invited to his funeral, he was always trying to figure out how to make it work, said Sen. Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican who early in his career worked in Bushs administration and last visited him in September at Bushs family retreat in Maine.

Follow the latest news of the Trump administration on Essential Washington 

Trump has been fighting the Bush family since he knocked off Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor and George H.W. Bushs second son, in the 2016 presidential primary. Trump mocked him as low energy, and then built momentum by bashing older brother George W. Bushs invasion of Iraq as the single worst decision ever made.

Moreover, Trumps central economic policy is a repudiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada. The pact was negotiated by George H.W. Bush, and Trump has called it stupid, a disaster, job-killing and the worst trade deal ever made.

In choosing nominees for staff positions and judgeships, Trump is known to look askance at people who served in the administration of either Bush, though Trump has found it impossible to blackball all of them, given their prevalence in Republican politics.

Even as the eldest Bush grew older, frailer and more well-liked by the American public, Trump continued his assault on the family, choosing a few months ago to mock Bushs signature slogan for volunteerism as the silliest form of presidential rhetoric and a contrast to his own nationalist branding.

We are finally putting America first. Were putting America first, Trump said at a rally this summer in Great Falls, Mont. And by the way, you know all the rhetoric you see, the Thousand Points of Light? What the hell was that, by the way?

Thousands Points of Light, Trump said again, letting the ridicule sink in. I know one thing, he added,  Make America Great Again, we understand.

Trump has kept such insults at bay since Bushs death Friday night, releasing a magnanimous statement and canceling a news conference in Argentina planned for Saturday, which he said was out of respect.

But as Bush remembrances dominated cable news Monday, and the former presidents casket made its way from Texas to the Capitol, where he would lie in state, Trump let off a slew of angry tweets about the special counsel investigation that has engulfed his presidency, displaying his reluctance to put his own grievances on hold amid the mourning.

Trumps allies say he is likely to be on his best behavior during the tributes to Bush, however, in gratitude that he was at least invited to the funeral.

Thats all he ever wanted from the McCain family as well, said Michael Caputo, a former political advisor, and the McCain family did not feel the need or the desire to simply respect the office.

Marc Short, a former legislative affairs director for Trump, predicts the media will make more of the comparisons with Bush than Trump will.

Sometimes, I think, people assume that hes more thin-skinned, Short said, and I think the reality is he will honor that generation, and he will honor the life of President Bush too.

Caputo, who worked for Bush as well, said the Bush family had arguably more reason to resent Trump than did the family of McCain, whose military service was mocked by Trump.

Yet the entire Bush family has pushed that aside because thats the kind of people that they are, he said. That will have a remarkable effect on President Trump as it does on all of us.

Former presidents tend to see their public approval rise as their tenure slips further into the rear view. And Bush is no exception. A February poll by Gallup showed his approval at 64%  higher than any living ex-president at the time and third highest among the last 10 presidents.

Trump, by contrast, has suffered some of the lowest approval numbers of any recent president through much of his tenure, usually at least 20 percentage points below Bushs. His allies say he is merely a casualty of a rougher moment in politics, rather than, as his critics charge, a symbol and cause of the nations polarization.

Nobody likes to be rebuked, said Barry Bennett, a former campaign advisor, predicting Trumps reaction to the Bush tributes. Theyre both products of their time, and certainly President Bush, who I personally love, was a product of a much kinder, gentler time. He certainly would not enjoy being in the White House today.

But Bennett believes Bush is also a symbol of the rejection Trump has long felt from the establishment, despite his efforts to brand himself as a wealthy celebrity.

Donald Trump, I think, has always thought hes not been treated fairly by the patrician class, if you will, Bennett said. When they wouldnt let him in their clubs, he built his own.

Indeed, in 1988, when Trump openly campaigned to be Bushs running mate, Bush saw the lobbying, one of the first signs of Trumps political ambition, as not only unseemly but also ridiculous.

Bush thought: Can you believe it that this kind of self-promoting New York real estate guy thinks hes qualified to be vice president? said Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian and humanities professor at Rice University in Bushs adopted home state of Texas. Bush just rolled his eyes.

But it was not just in style that the two men differed. Bush painstakingly built an international coalition to invade Iraq. He worked to expand NATO when the Soviet Union fell. He so much valued international cooperation that his critics accused him of ignoring domestic concerns.

Trump once called NATO obsolete and has ridiculed other international pacts as signs of American stupidity and weakness.

Portman, who stood quietly in the rear when he attended his one and only Trump rally in his home state in October, is one of many in his party caught between the two mens visions for the presidency and the Republican Party.

Donald Trump ran a presidential campaign saying all those things, and he won Ohio by 8 points, Portman said, reflecting on some of the insults Trump lobbed at the Bush family and others. President Bush respected that. He respected the presidency. But he also looked for ways to work together.

Maybe this weeklong celebration of reaching out and modesty and those Greatest Generation attributes, Portman added, will help us all reach out.

Staff researcher Cary Schneider contributed to this report.

noah.bierman@latimes.com

Twitter: @noahbiermanPresident Trumps criticisms of the Russia investigation are so common  its a witch hunt, rinse, repeat, tweet  that they no longer always register, but several presidential posts Monday may have crossed a legal line.

First he slammed his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, who asked a federal judge to spare him prison time for his crimes, including lying to Congress about pursuing a real estate deal in Moscow on Trumps behalf during the 2016 presidential race. Cohen lied for this outcome and should, in my opinion, serve a full and complete sentence, the president tweeted.

Next, Trump praised Roger Stone, an irreverent political advisor, who had vowed he would not be forced by a rogue and out-of-control prosecutor to make up lies and stories. Trump wrote, Nice to know that some people still have guts!

Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III already is investigating Trump for possible obstruction of justice in the Russia investigation, so talking about witnesses could create new legal problems for him.

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George Conway, a prominent conservative lawyer who is married to White House communications advisor Kellyanne Conway, tweeted a reference to the federal criminal code for witness tampering.

This is genuinely looking like witness tampering, agreed Neal Katyal, who served as solicitor general under President Obama. The fact its done out in the open is no defense, he tweeted.

Rudolph W. Giuliani, one of Trumps lawyers, rejected the notion that the president was trying to tamper with witnesses.

Thats a distorted view totally in favor of the prosecutors, who he called a bunch of bullies, Giuliani told The Times. He said Trumps tweet only urged Stone not to lie to prosecutors.

Its not cooperating to lie, Giuliani said. Hes not telling the guy not to testify.

Stone also dismissed the idea that Trump was telling him what to say, noting that he was not currently a witness in any proceeding.

Roger Stone, a longtime political advisor and friend to President Trump, is under investigation by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images)

Mueller is examining whether Stone had contact with WikiLeaks, which released thousands of hacked Democratic Party emails during the presidential campaign. Stone has denied any connection and has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

Those critics who claimed that the presidents tweet constitutes witness tampering should be reminded that I have never been contacted by Investigative authority, he wrote in a text message to The Times.

Stone seemed to appreciate the presidents tweet, however, posting a screenshot of it on Instagram.

Trumps efforts to blunt the Russia investigation are hardly new. Most notably, former FBI Director James B. Comey said Trump asked him to go easy on ousted national security advisor Michael Flynn, who was under investigation for conversations with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition.

I hope you can let this go, Comey recalled the president saying on Feb. 14, 2017. Trump denied pushing him to drop the case.

Trump fired Comey in May 2017 and Flynn pleaded guilty that December to lying about whether he discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador. Flynn is scheduled to be sentenced this month, and prosecutors are expected to file a memo on Tuesday that may provide additional details about his crime and recommend a sentence for him.

Follow the latest news of the Trump administration on Essential Washington 

Mueller has gone after people for witness tampering before. While Paul Manafort was awaiting trial for financial fraud this summer, he was charged with obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice in June for allegedly reaching out to potential witnesses.

Manafort was convicted in August of eight counts of tax evasion and bank fraud, and subsequently pleaded guilty to witness tampering as part of a deal to cooperate with prosecutors and avoid a second trial.

His plea deal fell apart when Muellers office accused him of continuing to lie, which Manaforts lawyers deny. Prosecutors are scheduled to detail Manaforts alleged falsehoods on Friday in a sentencing memo.

Trump has long used the language of a mob boss to describe people who cooperate with prosecutors or leak unflattering information.

When former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards went on trial for campaign finance violations in April 2012, Trump blasted Edwards former aide as a rat for testifying against him.

Two years later, Trump criticized Robert Gates, a former Defense secretary, for writing a memoir that included some criticism of President Obamas White House. Gates, Trump tweeted, turned out to be one disloyal dude! Personally I hate rats.

Michael Cohen leaves court after pleading guilty to lying to Congress about a Russian real estate deal. (Julie Jacobson / Associated Press)

Trump hasnt always viewed Cohen as a rat. After FBI agents raided Cohens home, office and hotel room for evidence in April, Trump praised him by suggesting he wouldnt cooperate.

Most people will flip if the government lets them out of trouble, even if it means lying or making up stories, he said. Sorry, I dont see Michael doing that despite the horrible Witch Hunt and the dishonest media!

But the president changed his tune after Cohen made a plea deal. Cohen has met seven times with the special counsels office, as well as with the U.S. attorney in Manhattan and New York state authorities to talk about Trumps murky business deals and private foundation.

Although the president has accused prosecutors of trying to make witnesses lie to incriminate him, court filings from Cohen suggest that Trump is more accustomed to people lying for him.

When Cohens lawyers wrote a memo last week asking a federal judge not to sentence him to prison, they said Cohen only made false statements about the potential Russian real estate deal to help Trump, who is referenced as Client-1.

In the heated political environment of the moment and understanding the public message that Client-1 wished to propagate, the lawyers wrote, Cohen lied when he said he had abandoned the deal before the first presidential primary  talks continued until Trump had clinched the GOP nomination in mid-2016  and how often he updated Trump and his family on his progress.

Furthermore, in the weeks during which his then-counsel prepared his written response to the Congressional Committees, Michael remained in close and regular contact with White House-based staff and legal counsel to Client-1, the lawyers wrote.

chris.megerian@latimes.com

Twitter: @chrismegerianCalifornia law gives children who inherit their parents homes a tax break that keeps their property taxes low  even if the heirs dont live there.

The provision, as detailed in an August Los Angeles Times investigation, has allowed celebrities, out-of-state professionals and other wealthy heirs to collect large sums in rental income from their parents homes while paying small property tax bills. But under a new plan from a Bay Area lawmaker, that benefit would come to an end.

For the record: An earlier version of this story said the governor must sign a constitutional amendment for it to appear on the ballot. He does not.

Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) is introducing a ballot measure to require children who receive the states property inheritance tax break to live in their parents homes. Doing so would rein in what Hill called abuses of a policy established more than three decades ago designed to help children retain ownership of family property.

People, I think, are taking advantage and gaming the system, Hill said.

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California homeowners get to pass low property taxes to their kids. Its proved highly profitable to an elite group 

Hill said The Times reporting inspired his proposal. The investigation found that as many as 63% of the homes inherited under the system in Los Angeles County were used as second residences or rental properties last year, with a similar trend seen in a dozen other coastal counties.

In general, property taxes in the state are capped under Proposition 13, which created a tax system that calculates a property owners bill based on purchase date, not what the property is worth on the open market. California also allows children to inherit the property tax benefits their parents have received through Proposition 13, and is the only state in the country to provide such a tax break.

Beneficiaries have included actors Jeff and Beau Bridges and their sister. The trio owed $5,700 last year in property taxes for their parents four-bedroom Malibu beach house, but would have had to pay an additional $300,000 in taxes had the home been reassessed when they inherited it in 2009, according to a Times calculation. Earlier this year, the siblings put the property on the rental market for $15,995 a month.

The Times found similar examples in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and San Francisco where children were receiving monthly rental incomes far in excess of their annual property tax bills for their parents homes.

Voters approved the inherited property tax break in 1986, eight years after Proposition 13s passage. Under current law, parents can give primary residences to their children, stepchildren, adopted children, or sons- or daughters-in-law without triggering a reassessment in value no matter how much the home is worth. Parents also can transfer their businesses, farms, second homes and rentals if the total assessed value is less than $1 million.

Hills proposal would require heirs move into their parents homes within a year of inheriting the property to qualify for a lower tax bill. If they dont, the property would be reassessed at its current market value, resulting in larger property tax bills. The ballot measure would still allow children to receive the tax benefits for their parents businesses or farms if the assessed value was less than $1 million.

The ballot measure is the second thats been proposed to change the inherited property tax break. The California Assn. of Realtors is considering sponsoring an initiative for November 2020 that would further curtail the benefit. Under that effort, those who inherit commercial properties wouldnt qualify for the tax break. Heirs would also have to live in their parents homes and the benefit would be capped at $1 million in assessed value.

A financial estimate by the states nonpartisan Legislative Analysts Office found the Realtors proposal could increase property taxes for 40,000 to 60,000 inherited properties each year, raising $2 billion in revenue annually over time. The Realtors initiative would use the revenue to fund an expansion of property tax benefits for those 55 and older.

No fiscal analysis was immediately available for Hills proposal, but he said local governments needed more tax dollars to address rising costs for services as property changed hands over generations.

This is depriving cities and counties of the resources that they need to provide the services for those homes that are now being rented, Hill said of the existing tax break. Its important that we close the loophole.

Hills bill, which will be Senate Constitutional Amendment 3, requires the approval of two-thirds of both houses of the Legislature for it to be placed on the March or November 2020 ballot.

Coverage of California politics 

liam.dillon@latimes.com

@dillonliam

UPDATES:

4:51 p.m.: This article was updated with the bill number, Senate Constitutional Amendment 3, for the ballot measure.

This article was originally published at 4:25 p.m.God Friended Me, a Sunday night TV series that began in the fall, presents the fundamental conflict between todays secular society and religious tradition with varying degrees of success, according to reviews of the show.

The main character of the drama-comedy is a podcasting atheist who receives a friend request from God on his Facebook account and with a journalist becomes involved in the lives of subsequent friend suggestions.

Critical reception reveals a mix of cynicism and openness to the shows fantastical premise. The Catholic website Crux says the show explores complicated questions of faith, while Vinnie Mancuso on the website Collider says, The story swirling around [the atheist] is bonkers.

Actress Javicia Leslie, who plays the role of the podcast hosts sister, says of the main character that his finding his faith again becomes a choice rather than something that he grew up doing.

Q. Is there a place in contemporary society for the fantastical premise of a religious program that teaches lessons about faith? Or is it old-fashioned given the purported skepticism of todays audiences?

The Bible teaches us that God exists and that we were all made by him for the purpose of knowing him personally and glorifying him in everything we say or do or even think. We are incomplete without him. Even though we cannot see him, there is abundant evidence of his existence to leave us without excuse if we reject him. He is there, and we need him. Lessons about faith, whether or not the context is a fantastical premise will always touch our hearts because they address a fundamental need in every human soul  to know our creator. They may seem old-fashioned, but they will never be obsolete because of the underlying reality of our need for God. The premise of God speaking to a man through Facebook may seem far-fetched, but Scripture tells us that God spoke to Balaam through a donkey, to others through dreams and to yet others audibly out of heaven. And I believe that God himself came up with the most fantastical premise of all: even though we had turned our backs on him in self-willed defiance he still loved us to the point of sending his only begotten son Jesus to take humanity upon himself, to live a sinless life and then to offer that life up on the cross to pay for our sins once for all, in full. And now if we will just believe in what Jesus did for us God will reconcile us to himself completely and eternally. I dont believe any television writer could come up with a story like that. It is fantastical indeed, but eternally true and eternally relevant.

Pastor Jon Barta

Burbank

--

I did a straw poll with my Facebook friends and found that there was quite a mix of folks who watch the show and find it valuable. I found that some who are not really church-going folk are watching. So with all the show choices we have, all the choices we have with using our time, to have people watching, signals to me that there is still a place for programs that teach lessons about faith. In fact, I often use movie or TV references in my sermon that illustrate what the scriptures are teaching us about the love of God.

I have watched several shows through the years  Touched by an Angel, Joan of Arcadia, for example  and note that often these shows tackle tough issues that people face and at least gives us talking points to discuss. Movies like The Shack and even the Star Wars, (may the force be with you), and Harry Potter films discuss issues of spirituality and morality, which, although not a substitute for Bible study and worship, can be an excellent fodder for discussions about God, the Spirit and the life of Jesus.

The show tackles some big questions and points to our invitation to help others, and some of the ideas of how to do that. People always will search for ways to make this a better world and reach out to those in need. Those who are giving to the recent wildfire relief funds are testimony to this. This show helps us stay in touch with that desire and gives us ways to talk to one another. All good stuff I think!

Rev. Steve Poteete-Marshall

Crescenta Valley United Methodist Church

--

Recently I rode with another person while listening to Christmas music on the car radio. This fellow remarked that he enjoyed a particular song that was playing, to which I opined that the message was a bit off-putting for the holidays. He responded, I didnt hear the lyrics. He wasnt listening to the thoughtful content, just the cheery sound, and with regard to the current television series, God Friended Me, I hope it isnt just another show of whodunit and crazy coincidences (the melody) but that viewers actually listen to and ponder the statements about God and faith that are made by the various characters (the lyrics). While I realize religion today is being assailed from all sides, there is in my understanding a spiritual hole in every individual crying out to be filled, and connecting with God is the only means of doing so (todays skepticism notwithstanding).

Having viewed the first episode, I perceive that it may well stir up some wondering, some searching, and perhaps even lead some people to finding faith in God despite the fact that that the protagonist is an atheist (albeit, son of a preacher man). I also assume this to be a secular production, as it featured an alluded instance of fornication between an Indian couple, and several of the old canards for denying Gods existence were repeated. Nevertheless, it was safe to watch, provided food for thought, and it didnt just bash God but seemed to question dogmatic faithlessness.

Does God actually friend people on social media? Well, he could, but likely not, as he has already made it clear that friendship with him comes only via the Christ born in a manger (Col 1:21-22 & John 15:13-15). Watch the show, go to church for Advent, and see if you cant get some answers to your many wonders. I reconciled with God by such a similar route some many years ago.

Rev. Bryan A. Griem

Tujunga

--

Examples of popular television shows with fantastical premises are legion, if we are OK using TV audiences to represent contemporary society. Ive had a chance to watch the pilot and the first episode of God Friended Me and find its religious lessons to be on the light side.

Steve Greene, a critic writing in the online IndieWire calls it as overstuffed hodgepodge of exaggerated emotions and familiar swings at family drama, which sounds right to me. The script tends to quips: I found God  hes in Jersey, and then, in reaction to a garish angel painting there, Its Jersey, theyre tacky. Not that viewers care. Rotten Tomatoes websites Tomatometer approval rating for God Friended Me is 58% by critics but 83% by audiences.

More unbelievable to me than God posting from the Heavenly Taco Truck is the struggling podcaster living in a well-furnished, spacious apartment in a nice Manhattan neighborhood, who dines and drinks out constantly, yet doesnt seems to spend much time at his low-level day job. And notice that TV characters rarely watch television, the ultimate unreality.

Without our willing suspension of disbelief, which poet Samuel Coleridge said fantasy demands, much of TV, movies and indeed literature in general, would not exist.

Greenes negativity takes a serious turn in his closing thought, to me a humorous exaggeration of any TV programs impact: Just what we need in this country right now. Our Vice President believes Adam and Eve is a true story. Now a show about God texting people. We are sooooo screwed.

Roberta Medford

Atheist

Montrose

--

Because some of us believe religion was invented in order to teach morality and respect for convenient hierarchies, as well as to explain the as-yet unexplained (I dont speak for all Unitarian Universalists here; in fact, it is often said that, if youve met one UU, then youve met one UU), I try to read between the lines of all religious literature for the truths its writers were really getting at. Some of the most beautiful  when poetic, poignant and thought-provoking  tales and essays are in the good books of the worlds religions, as are the allegories and art that shape much of our thought and whimsy.

I think presenting truth through the filter of religion is only dangerous when were unclear of the authorship. Lovecraft, Tolkien, Rowling and Gaiman can present wonderful and fantastical tales of morality and chaos that arouse our need for heroes, conflict and resolution that validate our ideas of right and wrong. As long as we are aware what were seeing has a human author, theres a place for all kinds of fantasies.

Marty Barrett, Board of Trustees President

Unitarian Universalist Church of the Verdugo HillsStudents of the Confucius Institute at the University of Panama are having class. Photo by Zhu Dongjun from Peoples Daily

Chinese people are unforgettable for Panama, says an exhibition caption at Panama Canal Museum located in the center of Panama Citys old town.

The Museum was built in late 19th century. The various collections in it showcase the Panama Canals vicissitude, and narrate the century-old relationship between Chinese people and the Canal.

Friendly interactions between the people of our countries could date back to more than 160 years ago when the first group of Chinese arrived in Panama to help with canal and railway building, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in his signed article published on Panamanian newspaper.

On this hospitable land, Chinese people eventually stayed, became part of the local communities, and joined the Panamanian people in their just cause for sovereignty over the Canal in 1964, which became a special memory of the Chinese people for a generation, Xi noted.

Panama has set up a special national day for Chinese ethnic group in Panama, built a park to mark the Chinese-Panamanian friendship, and established a monument to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Chinese arrival in Panama. They are symbols of the people-to-people bond between the two countries.

A special photo exhibition was held by the museum to showcase the history of the Panama Canal, at which a photo of the Chinese cargo carrier Cosco Shipping Panama passing through the newly expanded Panama Canal attracted attention.

The monument erected in 2004 marks the 150th anniversary of the Chinese presence in Panama. Photo by Zhu Dongjun from Peoples Daily

China is now the second largest client of the Panama Canal, and Chinese vessels are frequently sailing through it.

Over the one and a half years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, China-Panama ties have got off to a good start, delivering tangible benefits to the people of the two countries.

In April, the first direct flight connecting China and Panama was officially launched. Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela addressed the celebration ceremony, saying that the flight was a bridge between the two countries, and also between Asia and Central America, the Caribbean region and even the whole Latin America.

It would reinforce the relations between China and Panama, and strengthen the economic and trade cooperation and people-to-people exchanges, Varela said.

Over 20,000 Chinese visited Panama in 2017, and Panamanian President hopes the figure to double this year.

Bilateral exchanges are not limited to tourism. Panama was the first country in Latin America and the Caribbean region to sign a memorandum of understanding to jointly promote the Belt and Road construction.

The first Confucius Institute in Panama is up and running. By the end of this year, China will have trained about 6,000 Panamanian officials and professionals in various fields, and close to 1,000 Panamanian students are now studying in China.

As the "China fever" in Panama and the "Panama fever" in China are heating up, people in both countries are eager to know each other better through more exchanges, Xi remarked in the signed article.

The China-Panama relations couldnt have achieved such progress without the people of both countries. Today 280,000 Panamanians are of Chinese origin, and they are blood ties to deepen friendship between China and Panama.

Joining hands, the Chinese and Panamanians will give play to the late starter's advantage, speed up the development of bilateral ties, put cooperation on a steady and sustained course, and jointly contribute to a brighter future and a more prosperous world.Supporters of defeated Newport Beach City Council candidate Tim Stoaks plan to request a recount on his behalf in his exceptionally close race with Mayor Marshall Duffy Duffield, and theyre trying to raise $25,000 to do it.

Duffield edged Stoaks by 36 votes, 18,458 to 18,422, according to the final count the Orange County registrar of voters office certified Friday night. Thats a difference of 0.19%.

Recount proponent Susan Skinner, a Newport Beach activist, said Monday that she doesnt suspect fraud but that with nearly 37,000 ballots cast and only a sliver separating the candidates, theres a component, potentially, of human error.

Skinner is coordinating fundraising on behalf of a group organizing the potential recount request. She said she is confident the group will raise the counts estimated $25,000 cost. The proponents have until 5 p.m. Wednesday to collect the money. Counting could start within a week.

California does not automatically do recounts in close races, but losing candidates or any voter can request one if they bear the cost.

According to the registrars office, the person requesting the new tally must put down a daily deposit as the count is underway by a four-member counting board. If the recount changes the outcome, the county will refund the payment.

Stoaks said Monday that he is not seeking the recount himself but is aware of the effort.

With a race this close, its not uncommon for voters vested in an election to seek a recount, he said. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Stoaks had said over the weekend that I wish Duffy well and hope he hears the voices in this community who want honesty and transparency in City Hall moving forward.

Duffield could not be reached for comment this week.

Councilman Jeff Herdman jumped into the fray Tuesday afternoon with an email to constituents asking them to donate to the recount cause.

I was most hopeful for a new day in Newport Beach when the initial results were first broadcast on Election Night [when Stoaks was in the lead], Herdman wrote. But when I saw that Tims lead was beginning to erode, my hopes started to take the same direction. So, this final effort being launched ... with less than a 1% vote difference between Duffy and Tim is warranted and justified.

He added that he had pledged $500.

Herdman openly supported Stoaks during the campaign, and in April he sent constituents emails advocating the November election defeat of Duffield and fellow council colleagues Kevin Muldoon and Scott Peotter, all of whom Herdman and others believe forced then-City Manager Dave Kiff to leave his job months before his contract was to expire. Muldoon won reelection; Peotter was defeated by Joy Brenner.

Skinner said the recount would start with provisional ballots, which were among the last counted in the initial tally. According to registrar data, those ballots  which are counted after elections officials have confirmed the voter is eligible  are where the race broke for Duffield, who pulled ahead last week after Stoaks had led by 250 to 350 votes after most daily updates since Election Day on Nov. 6.

We are all aware that going through a recount may not change the outcome of the election but feel strongly that we have to try, Skinner wrote Sunday night in an email appealing for donations from Stoaks supporters.

She said donations would be refunded proportionally if the group decides to pull the plug early on the recount or it raises a surplus.

hillary.davis@latimes.com

Twitter: @Daily_PilotHD

UPDATES:

4:40 p.m. Dec. 4: This article was updated with Jeff Herdmans email.

This article was originally published at 6:55 p.m. Dec. 3.A Colorado man has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the shooting deaths of two men in downtown Huntington Beach in 1994, according to court documents.

Lamberto Ricci Castillo, 66, of Alamosa, Colo., pleaded guilty Nov. 16 in Orange County Superior Court to two counts of voluntary manslaughter and one sentencing enhancement allegation of use of a firearm, court records show. He initially had been charged with two counts of murder.

He was sentenced to 19 years and four months in California state prison.

The plea agreement closed the case more than two decades after Kenny Paul Sommer and his friend Chen Cosmo Maui Blanchard were killed March 31, 1994.

Authorities said Sommer and Blanchard, both 23, were socializing in downtown Huntington Beach when Castillo confronted them near Main Street and Orange Avenue.

Castillo may have challenged Sommer and Blanchard for urinating on the street, Huntington Beach Police Chief Robert Handy said in May 2017. The three argued and Castillo walked away. Forty-five minutes later, at about 10:15 p.m., he returned with a handgun, authorities said.

Sommer and Blanchard were shot multiple times and were pronounced dead at the scene. The shooter fled.

The Huntington Beach Police Department reopened the case in 2016 and reached out to the Orange County Cold Case Homicide Task Force to help in the investigation.

Castillo was arrested April 27, 2017, in Alamosa following newly developed evidence in the case, Huntington Beach police and the Orange County district attorneys office said.

Castillo had been living in rural Alamosa County for about 10 years before he was arrested, according to the Alamosa News.

julia.sclafani@latimes.comTen Years Ago

After learning a student had been arrested on campus in possession of seven balloons of heroin, Korean parents involved with the La Canada Flintridge Outreach organization held a meeting at La Canada High School to discuss teen drug use and to learn from officials what they should look for to prevent their children from falling victim to drug addiction. Then assistant principal Joanne Davidson reassured the parents, saying that despite that arrest, the kids seem to be much better this year in regards to discipline and drug issues.

Twenty Years Ago

Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, then the archbishop of Los Angeles, visited La Canada to preside at the Funeral Mass for Tom OCallaghan at St. Bede the Venerable Catholic Church. OCallaghan was founder of a travel agency and had organized trips for both Mahony and his predecessor, Timothy Manning, as well as archdiocese pilgrimages.

Thirty Years Ago

Carole Siegler was elected by her La Canada school board colleagues to a fourth term as president of the LCUSD Governing Board.

Forty Years Ago

After logging more than 50 complaints from residents about aggressive coyotes, the La Canada Flintridge City Council agreed to make use of the Los Angeles County Agricultural Commissions program to trap the animals. The city would put up $2,000 on a matching basis with La Canadans interested in paying the other half to have coyotes trapped and relocated.

Fifty Years Ago

Sources close to President-elect Richard M. Nixon reported that two former Flintridge residents, Robert H. Finch and Maurice Stans, were in line for cabinet positions in the new administration. Finch, then Californias lieutenant governor, was expected to be named secretary of Health, Education and Welfare while Stans was said to be under consideration for postmaster general (but was instead named Nixons secretary of Commerce).

Sixty Years Ago

A Robert Hall family clothing store opened at 2160 Foothill Boulevard, where Jo-Anns Fabrics is today. After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Hall personnel distributed pocket notebooks, magic brushes and boxes of mistletoe to the first 100 adults who visited the store.

Compiled from the Valley Sun archives by Carol Cormaci.Over the weekend, international attention was drawn to the streets of Paris, where thousands of marchers clashed with police and fires burned for hours in one of the biggest challenges yet to President Emmanuel Macron.

Yet Paris remains just part of a much broader story. Some of the greatest anger against a planned diesel fuel tax increase has come from the French provinces, where Macron is seen as an urbanite who favors the rich and lacks understanding of rural France.

Frances interior minister estimated that 136,000 people had marched or taken part in protests across the country over the weekend. In the southwestern city of Toulouse, the protests left 57 injured, including 48 police officers. Further east along Frances coast, a driver was killed in the town of Arles after his van hit a barrier put in place by protesters. In Narbonne, demonstrators set fire to a toll booth.

The Gilets Jaunes, or Yellow Vests, movement, in which protesters wear bright yellow vests, started initially as a reaction to the planned tax on diesel fuel set to take effect in January as part of the French presidents efforts to fight climate change. (Pascal Pavani / AFP/Getty Images)

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Even in Paris, prosecutor Remy Heitz said that most of the 378 people arrested over the weekend had come from provinces outside the capital.

The Gilets Jaunes, or Yellow Vests, movement, in which protesters wear the bright vests that drivers are required to keep in their cars at all times, started initially as a reaction to the planned tax on diesel fuel set to take effect in January as part of Macrons efforts to fight climate change.

Rural residents who are more dependent on their cars for work and daily life say the tax will fall disproportionately on their backs. But the movement also tapped into a broader anxiety bubbling across regions of the country far from Paris. And given the deep-seated, underlying issues, simply addressing the gas tax no longer seems like it will be enough to resolve the tension.

Facing the gravest crisis of his 18-month presidency, Macron returned Sunday from the Group of 20 economic summit in Argentina, toured the damage, and asked his prime minister to hold a series of emergency meetings with leaders of all the other major political parties and representatives of the Yellow Vests movement, which has no formal organization.

On Monday, there was no sense of any return to normalcy. Vinci, a private company that contracts to manage many of Frances highways in the southern part of the country, was still publishing a long list of blockages throughout its networks that included at least 70 protest sites, some of which cut off access to major roads. Meanwhile, even some high school students staged walkouts in sympathy.

The uprising has proved confounding because it was not organized by a recognized group. While the French are accustomed to strikes, typically they are called by a major union or political party, and then there is often plenty of warning. When French railway employees went on strike for three months last summer, they published a calendar of strike dates so travelers could plan accordingly.

In contrast, the Yellow Vests protest has felt more like an uprising, even as some unions have issued words of support and solidarity, adding to the sense of uncertainty and foreboding. Yet signs of the rupture have been there for years.

According to statistics from INSEE, the governments statistics and research wing, about 60% of French residents now live in big cities that comprise 7% of the nations land. In contrast, rural France covers 70% of the territory, but only has 23% of the population, a percentage that continues to decline. The rest live in some range of extended suburbs.

For those in the countryside, the numbers of stores, post offices, doctors and jobs continue to slide, leaving people even more dependent on their vehicles, according to INSEE.

To some degree, the anger that has bubbled up in recent weeks reflects tension in a country where culture, politics and the economy are highly centralized in Paris. The rural-urban divide has become even wider over the last decade, as evidenced in the most recent presidential election. Macron won the second round of voting with 66%, but much of the 34% received by far-right National Front candidate Marine Le Pen came from hard-hit rural areas.

A landslide for his party in the legislative elections emboldened Macron to push through work and tax reforms at breakneck speed.

Even as Macrons popularity plummeted to 27% in recent weeks, opposition parties felt powerless. And people who increasingly saw the former investment banker as the president of the rich, felt there was no way to make their voices heard.

The gas tax seemed to symbolize this disconnect. From the perspective of rural residents, while Macron was using his crusade against climate change to raise his international profile, he wasnt thinking about the average person when crafting policies. This led to what has become one of the movements rallying cries: They talk about the end of the world and we are talking about the end of the month.

On Monday evening, Claudine Rivals gathered near a highway exit with about 30 other protesters just outside the town of Gaillac. Rivals had spent almost her whole life in this rural southwestern region, known for its wine and flowers. She worked most recently as a florist, but was forced to stop for health reasons and has been living on a fixed income for several years.

Members of the yellow vest movement protest near Gaillac, France, on Monday. (Chris OBrien / For the Los Angeles Times)

But while her income has remained flat, the cost of just about everything else continues to go up. She had long given up on politicians to help, and didnt even vote in the last election. But when she heard about a couple of Yellow Vests protests over the gas hike, she put out a call on Facebook for people to assemble in her area and was surprised when hundreds turned out the first weekend.

This is not a political party and its not the unions, she said. Its the people who are shouting and its the people who are angry.

Having seized the publics attention and brought public life to a grinding halt, the Yellow Vests movement faces its own challenges. It has maintained public support in polls, despite the incidents of violence. But as the government seeks to negotiate, the movement has no clear leaders. And beyond rollback of the gas tax, its demands and agenda are unclear.

In Toulouse, a man named Benjamin Cauchy declared himself the spokesman for the local Yellow Vests protesters, and began appearing on TV and radio shows looking every bit an establishment figure in his coat and tie. When local protesters began insisting that they had never heard of him, and had no idea who he was, he abruptly resigned and declared he was starting his own organization called Les Citrons (The Lemons).

Both Le Pen and Jean Luc Melenchon, a far-left politician who was eliminated in the first round of presidential voting this year, have rallied to the Yellow Vests cause. We are in a situation that is almost insurrectional, Melenchon said in weekend interview on a French television station.

The pair have called for a vote of censure against Macron and for dissolving the National Assembly to allow for a new round of elections to let the French deliver a verdict on Macron before his term is scheduled to end in three and a half years.

Leaders of regional governments, where the Socialist Party still retains a fair bit of power, have taken a different tack. Carole Delga, president of the region of Occitanie, had already been pursuing policies around improving purchasing powers for residents of her southern territory, which includes Toulouse and Montpellier. That has included negotiating lower prices for local trains, and financial support for educational supplies.

Delga, whose support remains above 60% in regional polls, was one of 15 regional presidents to sign an open letter to Macron last week, calling him to recognize the problems of those in the Yellow Vets movement, and to take more direct steps to help them economically.

It would be a very serious mistake to caricature their revolt as an extremist movement manipulated by the ultra-right or the ultra-left, the letter said. The movement of yellow vests is the living expression of the fracture territorial and social in our country. It captures the anger of our fellow citizens.

OBrien is a special correspondent.Central European University said Monday it will move its U.S.-accredited degree programs from the Hungarian capital of Budapest to Vienna in September, as Hungarys government is refusing to sign an agreement allowing it to stay.

University President and Rector Michael Ignatieff said Monday that the school has been forced out of Hungary, calling it an unprecedented act against an American university by a NATO ally and against a European university by a member of the European Union.

The EUs executive commission last year referred Hungary to court in the university case, saying that amendments Hungary made to its higher-education law  some of which clearly targeted the school  were counter to academic freedom and other EU rights. The law has also been challenged at Hungarys Constitutional Court.

Ignatieff said while the university had a pretty good (legal) case at those courts, he would not speculate about their outcomes. The university said it would retain accreditation as a Hungarian university and continue teaching and research activity in Budapest as long as possible.

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The move to Vienna is a permanent move, Ignatieff said.

While the agreement for Central European University to remain in Budapest has to be signed and ratified by parliament by Dec. 31, the university set a Dec. 1 deadline for its decision on the move to Vienna to still have time to recruit students for the 2019-20 academic year.

The universitys ouster is part of populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbans ideological battle against Hungarian American philanthropist and school founder George Soros and his open society model. It is also part of a wider crackdown on academic freedom, including tighter budgetary and research controls over Hungarian universities and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

In October, for example, Hungary eliminated gender study programs at public universities.

The U.S. State Department issued a statement saying the U.S. government was disappointed that no agreement had been concluded between Orbans government and Central European University, which has an enrollment of more than 1,400 students from 118 countries, as well as nearly 400 permanent or visiting faculty.

The departure of these U.S.-accredited programs from Hungary will be a loss for the CEU community, for the United States, and for Hungary, said State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert.

Despite repeated statements to the contrary by the university and New York state, where the school is also accredited, Hungarian officials maintain that the university has failed to meet the new rules for higher education and prove it is conducting educational activities in New York.

The Central European University is the first to be forced out of an EU nation. (Attila Kisbenedek / AFP /Getty Images)

Witte writes for the Washington Post.

UPDATES:

5:35 p.m.: This article was updated with quotes and reaction.

This article was originally published at 10:05 a.m.His reputation shattered by evidence linking him to the gruesome slaying of a journalist, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has embarked on a rehabilitation tour, brandishing the money, influence and charm that constitute his powerful arsenal.

After a swing through the capitals of regional allies, where he was met with protests in the streets and warm welcomes in the palaces, Mohammed made the biggest splash at last weeks G-20 summit of the worlds most developed countries in Buenos Aires.

The meeting was a perfect stage for Saudi Arabias underlying message: To deal with the Middle East kingdom, you must deal with Mohammed bin Salman.

The de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed cut a high-profile, if somewhat solitary, figure among the globes leaders, including President Trump.

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For a group picture in the middle of the summit, for example, a looming Mohammed, in white flowing robes, installed himself at the edge of the stage. When the group broke off, he veered left, standing alone amid a beehive of officials greeting and glad-handing.

But the crown prince nonetheless walked away as the co-star of the most memorable image of the conference, his ebullient encounter with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The pair engaged in a high-five greeting, then what has been called a bro-shake, before sharing a big laugh (a video clip of the greeting went viral).

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said later that the exchange was an example of the good personal relations Putin enjoys with the Saudi leader, which will serve as grounds for mutually beneficial cooperation. The state-owned Saudi Press Agency said the two leaders talked about rebalancing [oil] markets and hinted at a deal between Moscow and Riyadh.

The Mohammed-Putin show, a senior U.S. State Department official said, reflected a Russian attempt to exercise greater influence over things in the Middle East like the price of oil.

We have to be cognizant that Putin is opportunistic, looking to cement stronger strategic relations with countries like Saudi Arabia, a close U.S. partner, the official, who briefed reporters Tuesday on condition of anonymity, said. We have to prevent Putin from having opportunities like this to cement relations with the Saudis among others.

To be sure, the cool reception from most leaders at the summit betrayed the calculus governments face when dealing with a volatile ruler but one who is also the driving force behind the astronomical investments his kingdom will pursue in the years to come.

That transactional relationship is what Trump points to as he fails to hold the crown prince responsible for the Oct. 2 killing of U.S.-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The American intelligence community, led by the CIA, has concluded that Mohammed likely ordered or at least knew of the slaying, despite his denials. Trump has said he has doubts about the CIA conclusion, and that arms sales and oil prices are more important anyway.

In Buenos Aires, Trump and Mohammed exchanged pleasantries and nothing more, according to the White House.

The crown prince did manage to meet with a handful of leaders and dodged calls by human rights groups for his indictment over the slaying of Khashoggi and the war in Yemen. But he did not escape completely unscathed.

The strongest public broadside came, predictably, from rival regional leader Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who said that Saudi authorities had been forced to acknowledge the killing due to Ankaras determined stance.

For us, this incident is a vicious murder and will remain so, Erdogan was quoted as saying by the Turkish state news operator Anadolu.

During the first part of his regional tour before the summit, Mohammed bin Salman visited the United Arab Emirates, his main partner in regional affairs. He then moved on to Bahrain and Egypt before arriving in the Tunisian capital, Tunis.

There, hundreds of demonstrators walked through the streets chanting, Bin Salman, you butcher, you killer of souls and carried signs deriding the crown prince as Mr. Saw, a reference to allegations that Khashoggis corpse was dismembered. Others said his visit was a desecration of the 2011 birthplace of the Arab Spring revolutions.

After Argentina, the crown prince continued to Mauritania and Algeria.

Though there were no protests in Algeria, 17 prominent writers and journalists issued a statement saying that the killing of Khashoggi in a barbaric and unimaginably cruel fashion by the followers of the crown prince reveals his true face.

Yet those outbursts of anger did little to change any official stance, said Abdel Bari Atwan, editor of the London-based pan-Arab Rai Al-Youm website.

We have to separate between people and the government. The government looks for interests, and Saudi Arabias weapon is its checkbook, Atwan said Tuesday in a telephone interview.

He pointed out that Mohammeds four-hour visit to Tunisia ended with half a billion dollars of Saudi money in its treasury. Algeria and Saudi Arabia are partners in OPEC, while Egypt, Mauritania and Bahrain all depend on Saudi Arabias billions to survive.

Yet, amid rumblings in and outside the desert kingdom that he might be replaced as crown prince, much of Mohammeds performance was directed at his home audience, said Yezid Sayigh, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Center think tank in Beirut.

He was showing anyone with influence in the kingdom that he was still able to appear on the world stage and, contrary to predictions, was no pariah.

He was trying to demonstrate to his domestic public, and more specifically to members of the royal family and key figures, that whatever the damage, he remains the man who receives international recognition, Sayigh said.

In Saudi Arabia, various government-controlled news outlets portrayed Mohammed bin Salmans trip as an unabashed triumph, in which the crown prince had outshone those who wanted to see him deposed.

Bulos reported from Beirut and Wilkinson from Washington.

tracy.wilkinson@latimes.com

For more on international affairs, follow @TracyKWilkinson on Twitter.Mexicos presidential plane  a luxurious Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner outfitted with flat-screen monitors, executive meeting rooms, sleeping quarters and a shower  left for California on Monday.

But Mexicos newly inaugurated president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, was not on board.

The aircraft, purchased by Mexico in 2012 for $218.7 million, is destined for sale, a high-profile casualty of the leftist presidents pledges to slash official expenditures.

I will not enter the presidential plane, Lopez Obrador vowed repeatedly during the campaign, which was marked by his populist pledge for a more austere governing style and an end to long-entrenched corruption.

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In his fiery populist oratory, the presidential aircraft was converted from a lavish conveyance to an ostentatious symbol of excess tied to the mafia of power  the elite clique that the president says has ruled Mexico for decades.

My face would fill with shame  to get into such a luxurious plane in a country with so much poverty, Lopez Obrador declared.

The plane was used to ferry Lopez Obradors predecessor, former President Enrique Pena Nieto, on scores of state trips, both domestic and foreign.

A day after taking office, Lopez Obrador flew commercial on Sunday to the Gulf state of Veracruz, posing on the tarmac for snapshots with the captain and crew. The Mexican media ran photos of Lopez Obrador checking in at the airport like any passenger, accompanied by aides and a discreet security contingent.

We are going to sell all the planes and helicopters that the corrupt politicians used, he said Sunday in Xalapa, the capital of Veracruz state.

Accounts of official graft in Mexico inevitably involved episodes of crooked politicians  prominent among them thuggish former Veracruz Gov. Javier Duarte, now serving a nine-year prison term for corruption  gallivanting about on official aircraft on vacations and shopping sprees.

Mexicos new government has announced plans to sell off a flotilla of some 60 official airplanes and 70 helicopters.

The presidential plane, named Jose Maria Morelos y Pavon, after an 19th century independence leader, took off Monday on what officials said would be its final departure from Mexico Citys Benito Juarez International Airport.

Its destination was the Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville, an aeronautics hub on the site of the former George Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert. There, Mexican officials said, it will be evaluated for future sale.

The official government Facebook page proclaimed the development with a kind of celebratory, mock-classified ad, employing breathless verbiage suited to the real estate postings of movie stars Hollywood mansions.

Its going to California and is being put on sale! the government declared, describing the type of plane as presidential, very luxurious and semi-new.

Accompanying the posting were images of the twin-engine jet in its hangar and close-ups of some of its amenities  capacious cushioned seats, a king-size bed and an expansive commode with what appeared to be a marble-topped washstand next to it.

A Mexican Air Force crew flew the jet to California.

Proceeds from the prospective sale of the presidential plane and other aircraft will go toward social development, said Lopez Obrador, who unveiled an expansive, New Deal-style program of infrastructure construction, job creation, pensions, grants and scholarships during his inaugural address.

It remains unclear how much Mexico will fetch for the already depreciated plane, whether it will need extensive retrofitting and how long it will take to sell it  while the government pays for hangar rental in the United States. A government-commissioned assessment in 2016 that backed keeping the jet estimated that the aircraft could lose 30% to 60% of its value if sold.

Some question whether the whole exercise is more of a public relations episode than a cost-saver.

I dont understand, wrote Alejandro Hope, a columnist for El Universal newspaper, in a Twitter message. Why not leave it in its [Mexican] hanger where there is no rent?

Sending the plane to California for evaluation and sale will maximize the value of the aircraft, Mexicos new finance minister, Carlos Urzua Macias, told reporters.

Lopez Obrador has also relinquished another perk of presidential power: Los Pinos, the sprawling presidential compound in the wooded Chapultepec parkland west of downtown. The gates of the formerly heavily guarded presidential residence were thrown open to the public last weekend, drawing scores of visitors.

The new president has said he intends to remain at his private home in a middle-class district of the capital for now but will eventually move to an apartment in the National Palace in downtown Mexico City.

During his campaign, Lopez Obrador said that the official residence at Los Pinos sent off bad vibes and was haunted and would be turned into a public space for art exhibitions and performances.

Cecilia Sanchez of The Times Mexico City bureau contributed to this article.

patrick.mcdonnell@latimes.com

Twitter: @PmcdonnellLATSilvana Tsegai was a 13-year-old Eritrean asylum seeker living in Tel Aviv. Yara Ayoub was a 16-year-old high school student on her way to a friends party in Galilee. The bodies of the girls were found on the same day last week, slain by men they knew well, according to authorities.

In death, the girls may well bring Israel to a halt.

Silvana and Yara were the 23rd and 24th female victims of domestic violence to die this year in Israel, officials said. Their deaths have led to a week of protests and a nationwide womens strike planned for Tuesday, to protest government inaction toward violence against women.

More than 200 companies and institutions have said employees may take the day off to participate. Organizers expect more than 100,000 to strike.

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On the day Silvana and Yara were found, Nov. 26, the Israel Womens Network issued a statement decrying the terrible news that just keeps coming.

Silvana was beaten to death by her mothers former boyfriend in Tel Aviv, authorities say.

Yara, from the village of Jish, was found in a dumpster following a desperate search, five days after she disappeared. Three men and a woman believed to be members of her extended family have been arrested.

This is an emergency that cannot be ignored, the Israel Womens Network said. Its time for the government to join the war for the lives of women in Israel.

Perhaps taken from that initial statement, the new movements motto, state of emergency, has been scrawled everywhere from high school walls to, most prominently, the palms of womens hands.

On Monday, opposition leader Tzipi Livni took to Instagram to post a picture of herself with other female legislators holding their arms out, inscribed palms forward. Im a woman and Im going on strike, the caption read.

For a week, Israelis have faced the two girls open faces on posters, on the front pages of newspapers and on television screens.

The nations cities have been awash with faux blood splattered on sidewalks or on urban walls  or spouting from fountains. In Jerusalem, water in the Paris Square fountain facing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus official residence and in the Lions Fountain in the stately neighborhood of Yemin Moshe was dyed blood red.

According to statistics compiled by the Womens International Zionist Organization, a feminist group, the number of women and girls killed since the beginning of 2018 is the highest since 2011.

In 2016 and 2017, 16 women were slain; and 13 were killed in 2014 and in 2015, according to the organization.

Netanyahu was taken to task for his governments neglect of the matter by none other than his wife, Sara, who said she was shocked to learn that her husband had voted against the establishment of a parliamentary inquiry into the killing of women by family members.

During a Nov. 25 visit the couple made to a battered womens shelter to mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the prime minister told the centers director he had opposed the recent legislation because I wasnt paying attention, adding, It was an opposition proposal.

As the visit was broadcast live on Israeli television, his wife, clearly upset, interjected that on this issue, there really should be no coalition and opposition. Its an issue we all share.

The moment immediately went viral.

For a nation of fewer than 9 million people who are familiar with military threats from declared enemies but, despite social and political polarization, remain accustomed to relatively violence-free daily lives, the spike has come as a shock.

The deaths of the two girls, one an African migrant and the other a Muslim Arab, each a marginalized minority, have galvanized a movement.

Allison Kaplan Sommer, a columnist and analyst for the Israeli daily Haaretz who writes often on Israeli society, said a number of dynamics factored into the mass reaction, starting with the victims ages.

The fact that they were children, no matter where they come from, has elicited a level of sympathy that grown women who are murdered dont elicit, she said. That their slayings brought the numbers of slain girls and women to a year-end high also contributed to the reaction.

However factionalized Israel is, Kaplan Sommer said, Israeli womens organizations tend to bridge the Jewish-Arab gap. Its a small country with very cohesive communities; everybody knows everybody here. And access to guns is limited, so the impact here is much larger than it would be in the United States.

Silvana and Yara had lively Instagram and Snapchat feeds that have been all over TV stories, Kaplan Sommer said. They reminded people of their own kids.

They werent just a name and a photo.

Tarnopolsky is a special correspondent.Israel launched what it called a major military operation on Tuesday aimed at exposing and disabling tunnels it said Hezbollah  the Shiite militia  dug from southern Lebanon into Israeli territory.

Operation Northern Shield, as the campaign has been named, is targeting an as-yet-undisclosed number of tunnels crossing the Lebanese border, Israeli officials said.

For several years, residents living on the Israeli side of the border have reported strange noises and episodes in which they felt the earth near their homes shake, but this is the first time the Israeli army has acknowledged the existence of any tunnels penetrating its northern territory.

The operation remains confined to Israeli territory and civilians have not been asked to change their daily routines, though the area surrounding Metula, one of Israels northernmost cities, was declared a closed military zone.

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The Israeli army released a video of the interior of one tunnel and a map showing what it called a cross-border attack tunnel in the southern area of Kafr Kela, a Lebanese village. The army said the tunnel was ventilated and wired for electricity and reached about 120 feet into Israel before it was neutralized.

The army said the tunnel was not yet in usable condition and did not pose an immediate threat to Israeli communities.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to Israel from Brussels, where he briefed U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo on the operation, and praised the soldiers he said were successful in the early stages of the campaign.

Whoever tries to attack the state of Israel will pay a heavy price, he said in a statement.

Netanyahu received a mixed reception at home, where police recently recommended charging him on several counts of corruption.

He announced that Israel was taking determined and responsible action in all sectors simultaneously and said that the country would continue with additional actions  open and covert  to ensure the security of Israel.

In a conversation with journalists, retired Maj. Gen. Yaakov Amidror, Netanyahus former national security advisor, said the operation comprised three components: developing the technology to locate the tunnels, determining how to respond to their threat, and understanding the international frame within which we are acting, because we know the ball is now in the Hezbollahs court and the response to their response might be devastating.

In Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency reported the army and U.N. peacekeeping forces had observed from their positions on the border. The U.N. also dispatched patrols on the border fence.

Later, the National Council for Audiovisual Media issued a statement dismissing the Israeli operation as a campaign of threat and intimidation against Lebanon.

Most likely, the president of the Israeli government Benjamin Netanyahu sought to divert attention from the corruption probe, said the statement, adding that the true danger in Lebanon is represented by the Israeli enemy.

The legal gantlet faced by Netanyahu was also noticed in Israel.

Ofer Shelah, a member of the centrist Yesh Atid party that opposes Netanyahu, said that while the military operation was justified, the bombastic rhetoric announcing it was not.

Netanyahu is sowing fear in order to distract. The Israeli army and the public are much more sober and calm than he is, he said in a radio interview.

Central Combat Media, a Hezbollah affiliated social media account, released pictures from Lebanese villages near the border that showed Israeli troops and what it said were four bulldozers working alongside the fence.

The group reported the situation was very normal in the villages despite the presence of Lebanese army and U.N. peacekeeping forces.

Israeli army spokesman Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis said the army planned to release more detailed information and that Israel had been monitoring the shifting situation along the border for years.

Israel has been beefing up its border with Lebanon for several years, since concerns began to mount that Iran was transferring its weapons-building facilities from Syria, where Israel has regularly attacked convoys of weapons being delivered to Hezbollah, into Lebanese territory.

Iran and Hezbollah, with Russia, are the main backers of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has been embroiled in a bloody civil war for eight years.

Israeli defenses include a seven-mile border wall along one section of its border with Lebanon and steeply carved artificial cliffs intended to make the penetration [into Israel] much more controlled and creating potential killing zones to ambush the enemy, said the former army spokesman, retired Lt. Col. Peter Lerner.

Upon returning to Israel, Netanyahu said that Iranian aggression had to be thwarted in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and elsewhere.

The Israeli foreign ministry said the operation was expected to continue as necessary. In talking points distributed to Israeli diplomats, the ministry said the tunnels constitute a severe attack on Israels sovereignty and a further violation of UNSC Resolutions 1701 and 1559, that define conditions along the volatile border between Lebanon and Israel.

UNIFIL, the United Nations peacekeeping force that supervises the area, said in a statement that the overall situation in its area remains calm and that it was working to maintain stability.

U.N. forces, it said in a statement, have increased patrols along the Blue Line and liaison teams are in contact with Israeli and Lebanese officials.

Tarnopolsky is a Times special correspondent. Times correspondent Nabih Bulos in Beirut contributed to this report.

UPDATES:

10:25 a.m.: This article was updated with additional information, including specific details about the tunnels.

This article was originally published at 8 a.m.A Chinese vessel passes by the Miraflores Locks of the Panama Canal. Photo by Zhu Dongjun from Peoples Daily

The Panama Canal, connecting the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, is a golden waterway for world shipping.

Striving for interconnection, Panama is currently promoting the National Logistics Strategy of Panama 2030, with an aim to build itself into a global logistics hub.

This strategy echoes Chinese President Xi Jinpings proposal of the Belt and Road Initiative, as a result of which the two countries are a pair of natural partners for the joint construction of the Belt and Road.

The expansion project of the Canal was completed two years ago, which has allowed ships of larger size to transit and further enlarged the handling capacity of the waterway. The centenary canal has since taken a new lease of life.

At the inauguration ceremony of the project, Chinese container vessel COSCO Shipping Panama became the first vessel to transit the expanded Panama Canal. It revealed the importance that Panama attached to Chinas marine logistics.

At present, China is the Canals second largest user, as well as the second largest source of imports of goods and the second largest destination of exports of goods.

Statistics from the Panama Canal Authority (PCA) indicated that over 22 million tons of goods transported through the Canal were from China, and nearly 20 million tons were to China in the 2018 fiscal year.

A long shot of the Panama City. Photo by Zhu Dongjun from Peoples Daily

PCA former officer Rodolfo Sabonge told Peoples Daily that the number of Chinese vessels passing through the Panama Canal had been surging from Chinas accession to the WTO. Chinas economic and trade growth is good news to the world, he added.

Apart from the direct contribution to the Canals revenue, Chinese enterprises also participated in the expansion and upgrade projects of the ports along the waterway, promoting comprehensive improvement of the Canals operation capability.

Colon Free Trade Zone (FTZ) located on the Pacific bank of the Canal is the largest FTZ in the Western Hemisphere, and also the second largest in the world. China is the largest supplier of goods of the FTZ.

The Margarita Island port, invested by Chinas Lanbridge Group, belongs to the FTZ. Currently the port is under construction, and will become one of the core ports of the world upon completion.

The Panama Canal is one of the worlds most important waterways where about 6 percent of the global trade passes annually. Therefore, the navigation of the Canal is always seen as a barometer of global trade.

Eric Dormoi, foreign trade advisor of the Panamanian trade company Exporta Consulting, told Peoples Daily that his country did not want to see the rising trend of trade protectionism, explaining that the more commodities passed through the Panama Canal, the more profits his country could gain.

Protectionism not only impacts Panama, but also the trade and economy of Central America. President Xis proposal to build an open world economy aims to protect global interests, and thats why he has received support from most of the countries in the world, Dormoi said.

Rosmer Jorado, president of Panamanian Association of Exporters believes that the Belt and Road construction had promoted Panamas light manufacturing and assembling industries, saying it is also conducive to the countrys infrastructure construction.

Panama is the first country in Latin America and the Caribbean to sign the memorandum of understanding on the Belt and Road cooperation with China, and the Belt and Road initiative will help Panama attract investment and secure the countrys position as the gate of the America, he noted.

An open world economy was the lifeline of the Panama Canal, said Manuel Grimaldo, general manager of the Colon Free Trade Zone.

The alignment of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative and the National Logistics Strategy of Panama 2030 conforms to the trend of history, Grimaldo noted, adding that China-Panama cooperation will benefit the whole world.

The general manager expressed his confidence in the prospect of China-Panama trade and believed that President Xis visit would further promote the progress of the two countries cooperation in economy and trade.Science AWARD FOR PHAGE THERAPY:



04.12.2018 12:12:59 - PHAGOMED WINS AUSTRIAN ENTREPRENEURSHIP AWARD PHONIX



(live-PR.com) - Vienna, 4 December 2018: Vienna-based Biotech company PhagoMed Biopharma GmbH was yesterday awarded the Austrian Entrepreneurship Award Phonix 2018 in the category Start-Up International. The Phoenix award honours the development of antibiotics alternatives based on phages, a class of natural viruses that only infect bacteria, at the Vienna Biocenter. A distinguished jury selected PhagoMed as a Phoenix laureate and the - Vienna, 4 December 2018: Vienna-based Biotech company PhagoMed Biopharma GmbH was yesterday awarded the Austrian Entrepreneurship Award Phonix 2018 in the category Start-Up International. The Phoenix award honours the development of antibiotics alternatives based on phages, a class of natural viruses that only infect bacteria, at the Vienna Biocenter. A distinguished jury selected PhagoMed as a Phoenix laureate and the award was presented jointly by the Austrian Minister of Digital and Economic Affairs and the Austrian Minister of Education, Science and Research during a prize ceremony in Vienna.





PhagoMed Biopharma GmbH (PhagoMed) works on solutions for the global antibiotics crisis  the accelerating rate of multi-drug resistances against the historically so effective antibiotics. The company develops pharmaceuticals based on natural viruses, so-called phages, that can infect and destroy bacteria. Phages therefore have the potential to become a highly effective alternative to antibiotics for the treatment of multi-drug resistant infections. Indeed, PhagoMeds clinical co-founders have successfully treated individual patients with phages in Germany  as a last resort when antibiotics had failed.



The high potential of PhagoMeds technology as well as the high socio-political relevance of its development programs were recognized by the distinguished jury of the Austrian Entrepreneurship Award Phonix, which was awarded for the fifth time this year. The award is presented jointly by the Austrian Ministry of Digital and Economic Affairs and the Austrian Ministry of Education, Science and Research and honours young and successful companies that serve as role models for high-class research and successful high-tech entrepreneurship in Austria. In a competitive contest, PhagoMed emerged as the winner in the category Start-Up International and received the award yesterday evening during a prize ceremony in Vienna. The award in the category Start-Up International is given to most successful young company, whose business idea was created outside of Austria and which was subsequently successfully established in Austria.



Were very excited to have received the Phonix Entrepreneurship Award. The award is a wonderful confirmation of our vision to re-establish phage therapy in Western medicine. says Dr. Lorenzo Corsini, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of PhagoMed. The category Start-Up International perfectly reflects our multi-national set-up. Our clinical co-founders are still based in Germany and our products are being developed together with prestigious research institutions in Belgium and Germany.



One specific field of focus for the company is the treatment of infected artificial joints, such as hip prostheses. These infections are difficult to treat since they are often caused by multi-drug resistant bacteria. In addition, the bacteria typically form a so-called biofilm on the surface of the prosthesis, which further inhibits the effectiveness of antibiotics. In these types of complex infections phages are especially promising as a treatment alternative since they can degrade the bacterial biofilms as well as kill the multi-drug resistant bacteria. Since 2018, PhagoMeds development programs are co-financed through public grants by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (Osterreichische Forschungsforderungsgesellschaft mbH, FFG) and the Austria Wirtschaftsservice Gesellschaft mbH (aws). Both institutions recognized the necessity of developing solutions for the antibiotics crisis  and the potential of phage therapy as an alternative to antibiotics.



TED.com publishes TED Talk on phages



The potential of phage therapy is also being recognized in the US. Recently, the American platform TED selected PhagoMeds Co-Founder and Co-CEO Alexander Belcredi as speaker on the topic of phages and phage therapy. His TED Talk was recorded at the beginning of October in Toronto, Canada and published on TED.com in mid-November (go.ted.com/alexanderbelcredi). The Talk focuses on Alexander Belcredis personal journey into the world of phages and the potential of phage therapy as a solution to the global antibiotics crisis. Within two weeks of its publication, the TED Talk has already been viewed more than 600.000 times.





About PhagoMed Biopharma GmbH

PhagoMed Biopharma GmbH is a biotech company focused on the development of human therapeutic applications of phage therapy. Its development programs are based on the last-resort treatment experiences of its clinical co-founders with phages as well as research collaborations with highly prestigious scientists and research institutions in Germany (Leibniz-Institute DSMZ-German collection of microorganisms and cell cultures GmbH, Braunschweig as well as Justus-Liebig-Universitat Gieen) and Belgium (Ghent University). Since its incorporation in November 2017, the company has raised more than 4 million in public grants and private investments. Amongst others, the company is supported by grants from the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (Osterreichische Forschungsforderungsgesellschaft mbH, FFG) and the Austria Wirtschaftsservice Gesellschaft mbH (aws). Currently, PhagoMed has a team of ten highly skilled scientist working on its programs, six of which at the Campus Vienna Biocenter in Vienna, Austria.



About Phages

Phages are viruses that only infect bacteria. Phages multiply by injecting their DNA into the bacteria and reprogramming the bacteria cells to produce new phages. As soon as sufficient phages have been produced by the bacteria, the phages express special enzymes that degrade the bacterial cell wall and lead to the death of the bacterial cell. Individual phages are only active against a limited spectrum of bacteria (typically even only within one species). The combination of high selectivity as well as high effectiveness in killing bacteria makes phages highly attractive as an alternative to antibiotics for the treatment of serious bacterial infections.





Contact PhagoMed



Alexander Belcredi

PhagoMed Biopharma GmbH

Goldeggasse 6, Top 5-6

1040 Vienna

Austria

M +43 / 676 / 3811082

E alexander.belcredi@phagomed.com

W www.phagomed.com



Redaktion & Aussendung



PR&D  Public Relations

fur Forschung & Bildung

Ira Paschinger

Mariannengasse 8

1090 Wien

T +43 / 1 / 505 70 44

E paschinger@prd.at

W www.prd.at/

award was presented jointly by the Austrian Minister of Digital and Economic Affairs and the Austrian Minister of Education, Science and Research during a prize ceremony in Vienna.PhagoMed Biopharma GmbH (PhagoMed) works on solutions for the global antibiotics crisis  the accelerating rate of multi-drug resistances against the historically so effective antibiotics. The company develops pharmaceuticals based on natural viruses, so-called phages, that can infect and destroy bacteria. Phages therefore have the potential to become a highly effective alternative to antibiotics for the treatment of multi-drug resistant infections. Indeed, PhagoMeds clinical co-founders have successfully treated individual patients with phages in Germany  as a last resort when antibiotics had failed.The high potential of PhagoMeds technology as well as the high socio-political relevance of its development programs were recognized by the distinguished jury of the Austrian Entrepreneurship Award Phonix, which was awarded for the fifth time this year. The award is presented jointly by the Austrian Ministry of Digital and Economic Affairs and the Austrian Ministry of Education, Science and Research and honours young and successful companies that serve as role models for high-class research and successful high-tech entrepreneurship in Austria. In a competitive contest, PhagoMed emerged as the winner in the category Start-Up International and received the award yesterday evening during a prize ceremony in Vienna. The award in the category Start-Up International is given to most successful young company, whose business idea was created outside of Austria and which was subsequently successfully established in Austria.Were very excited to have received the Phonix Entrepreneurship Award. The award is a wonderful confirmation of our vision to re-establish phage therapy in Western medicine. says Dr. Lorenzo Corsini, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of PhagoMed. The category Start-Up International perfectly reflects our multi-national set-up. Our clinical co-founders are still based in Germany and our products are being developed together with prestigious research institutions in Belgium and Germany.One specific field of focus for the company is the treatment of infected artificial joints, such as hip prostheses. These infections are difficult to treat since they are often caused by multi-drug resistant bacteria. In addition, the bacteria typically form a so-called biofilm on the surface of the prosthesis, which further inhibits the effectiveness of antibiotics. In these types of complex infections phages are especially promising as a treatment alternative since they can degrade the bacterial biofilms as well as kill the multi-drug resistant bacteria. Since 2018, PhagoMeds development programs are co-financed through public grants by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (Osterreichische Forschungsforderungsgesellschaft mbH, FFG) and the Austria Wirtschaftsservice Gesellschaft mbH (aws). Both institutions recognized the necessity of developing solutions for the antibiotics crisis  and the potential of phage therapy as an alternative to antibiotics.TED.com publishes TED Talk on phagesThe potential of phage therapy is also being recognized in the US. Recently, the American platform TED selected PhagoMeds Co-Founder and Co-CEO Alexander Belcredi as speaker on the topic of phages and phage therapy. His TED Talk was recorded at the beginning of October in Toronto, Canada and published on TED.com in mid-November (go.ted.com/alexanderbelcredi). The Talk focuses on Alexander Belcredis personal journey into the world of phages and the potential of phage therapy as a solution to the global antibiotics crisis. Within two weeks of its publication, the TED Talk has already been viewed more than 600.000 times.About PhagoMed Biopharma GmbHPhagoMed Biopharma GmbH is a biotech company focused on the development of human therapeutic applications of phage therapy. Its development programs are based on the last-resort treatment experiences of its clinical co-founders with phages as well as research collaborations with highly prestigious scientists and research institutions in Germany (Leibniz-Institute DSMZ-German collection of microorganisms and cell cultures GmbH, Braunschweig as well as Justus-Liebig-Universitat Gieen) and Belgium (Ghent University). Since its incorporation in November 2017, the company has raised more than 4 million in public grants and private investments. Amongst others, the company is supported by grants from the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (Osterreichische Forschungsforderungsgesellschaft mbH, FFG) and the Austria Wirtschaftsservice Gesellschaft mbH (aws). Currently, PhagoMed has a team of ten highly skilled scientist working on its programs, six of which at the Campus Vienna Biocenter in Vienna, Austria.About PhagesPhages are viruses that only infect bacteria. Phages multiply by injecting their DNA into the bacteria and reprogramming the bacteria cells to produce new phages. As soon as sufficient phages have been produced by the bacteria, the phages express special enzymes that degrade the bacterial cell wall and lead to the death of the bacterial cell. Individual phages are only active against a limited spectrum of bacteria (typically even only within one species). The combination of high selectivity as well as high effectiveness in killing bacteria makes phages highly attractive as an alternative to antibiotics for the treatment of serious bacterial infections.Contact PhagoMedAlexander BelcrediPhagoMed Biopharma GmbHGoldeggasse 6, Top 5-61040 ViennaAustriaM +43 / 676 / 3811082Redaktion & AussendungPR&D  Public Relationsfur Forschung & BildungIra PaschingerMariannengasse 81090 WienT +43 / 1 / 505 70 44 Author:

Till C. Jelitto

e-mail

Web: http://www.prd.at

Phone: +43 - 1 - 505 70 44 04.12.2018 12:12:59 -

Disclaimer: If you have any questions regarding information in this article please contact the author. Please do not contact Live-PR.com. We are not able to assist you. Live-PR.com disclaims content contained in this article. Live-PR.com is not authorized to give any information about content and not responsible for content posted by third party.This content is from: Patents

The state of standard essential patents in China, Japan and Germany, as well as challenges in patenting blockchain, were highlights from the 1st Asia-Pacific Licensing Executives Society Young Members Congress ConferenceUdaipur is all set for the big Indian fat wedding of the Ambani's 'Khandan's youngest. Isha Ambani and beau Anand Piramal is all set to tie the knot on December this year in Mumbai.

The city is gearing up to deal with the action and attention over the next few years. As per the reports, there are over 200 chartered planes scheduled to land and take off from the Udaipur airport over the course of this week.

Apart from the flights, the Ambani's are said to have booked all the five star hotels in the city for their guests. The pre-wedding parties are to have hundreads of guests flying down from all corners of the world. This week too, Rajasthan was on the world's focus, all thanks to Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas.The National Food Authority said Tuesday it bought 1,012,172 bags of unmilled rice from farmers from January to November this year. The agency said it bought 926,854 bags or 92 percent of the total in October and November, and this was after it introduced an additional P3 per kilogram buffer stocking incentive (BFI) on top of its support price of P17 per kilogram on Oct. 12. The NFA said the cumulative procurement total without BSI from January to September was only 85,318 bags, but for November alone it was able to buy 630,934 bags of unmilled rice from the top rice-producing provinces of Mindoro Occidental, Batangas, Mindoro Oriental, Bukidnon, Isabela, Capiz, Iloilo, North Cotabato, and Camarines Sur. NFA Administrator Tomas Escarez said the remarkable rise in procurement could be attributed to the agencys additional P3 per kilogram incentive on top of its P17 per kilogram support price and up to P0.70 per kilogram delivery, drying and cooperative incentives. This means that given the right price, the NFA will be able to buy more from our farmers, Escarez said.The P3 per kilogram BSI is given across-the-board based on the NFAs table of Equivalent Net Weight (ENW) parameters for moisture content and purity. For clean and dry unmilled rice, the total buying price of the NFA may now reach as much as P20.70 per kilogram. PNA With the additional P3/kg incentive, we were able to entice more farmers to sell their harvest to us. At a time when private traders were buying at P20.28 or lower than the NFA buying price, our farmers decided to sell to us instead, Escarez said. He said the NFA serves as the buyer of last resort to provide a fair income to farmers. In fact, the NFA is here to encourage traders to buy high to the benefit of farmers, he said.New YorkFor many visitors to New York, Times Square is a must-see. For one British man, it was where his romantic marriage proposal went horribly wrongthe diamond ring fell through a grate. But dont worry, thanks to the power of the internet, the story has a happy ending. John Drennan got down on bended knee to ask his girlfriend of 10 years, Daniella Anthony, to marry him in New Yorks Central Park. She said yes. But the ring was the wrong size, the couple told the BBC. I tried to tell John it was too big, but he insisted I wear it, Anthony said. As the couple walked through Times Square later on, the sparkling diamond ring fell off andplop!it fell through a grate. We were walking back to the hotel. I can still visualize the ring. Bouncing once bouncing twice and then it was gone, Drennan said. Enter the power of the internet.The couple called police, who opened the grate and hunted for hours. No luck. So Drennan and Anthony headed home and planned to buy a new ring. But in the interim, the New York Police Department had located the bauble after all and launched a social media campaign Saturday to find the couple, with pictures of them both and the ring. Police even had the ring cleaned. And on Sunday, the mystery was solved. The [now] happy couple is back in their home country, but thanks to your re-tweets they heard we were looking for them! Were making arrangements to get them their ring back. Congratulations! the NYPD said on Twitter. We dont use Twitterwe had absolutely no idea this was going on. But we are so happy, Anthony told the BBC."But they are Filipinos, and this is the Philippines."

Isidro Lapena and Nicanor Faeldon Jr. are Filipinos. As far as I know, they have lived their entire lives in this country. Accordingly, they have not imbibed the culture of any other country. The only culture that they have familiarity with is Filipino culture. Messrs. Lapena and Faeldon are not citizens of Japan, and because they are not Japanese, they are not highly familiar with the culture of the Land of the Rising Sun. They know littleor at least appear to know littleabout the Japanese peoples attitude toward the body of traditions, customs and practices that make up Japanese culture. Why am I pointedly making this distinction between Filipino culture and Japanese culture and between the Filipinoness and non-Japaneseness of Lapena and Faeldon? Because of the recent series of events involving the tenures by former military officers, of the position of Commissioner of Customs. President Rodrigo Duterte fired Faeldon and then appointed Lapena as Faeldons successor. Lapena was subsequently fired as well. The firings were for the same reason. During Lapenas and Faeldons incumbencies massive quantities of an illegal drugmethamphetamine or shabuwere smuggled out of South Harbor, virtually right under the nose of the Commissioner of Customs. In Faeldons case it was a little over six tons; in Lapenas case the quantity was in excess of 11 tons. In both cases the Office of the Commissioner appears to have had advance warning from the Customs intelligence personnel about the probable entry of shipments containing shabu. Witnesses who testified before the Senate indicated that their warnings were ignored. In Faeldons case, the illegal shipment was eventually traced to a warehouse in Valenzuela City. In Lapenas case the illegal shipment, which was detected by the South Harbor X-ray equipment, ended up in a Cavite warehouse. What happened after the discovery of the two massive shabu shipments is the reason for my having brought up the matter of Japanese culture. In keeping with Filipino culture, the reaction of both Isidro Lapena and Nicanor Faeldon Jr. went something like this: I have done nothing wrong. My conscience is clear. I had absolutely no knowledge about the entry and release of the illegal shipment. I serve at the pleasure of the President of the Philippines and I will resign the moment he indicates that he has ceased to have trust in me.Upon hearing the facts about the two infamous shipments, President Duterte showed his loss of trust in Lapena and Faeldon by firing them. But a Duterte firing is not the same as a firing done by other Philippine presidents; after giving an official his walking papers, Mr. Duterte usually gives him another appointment, often to a position with a higher rank. Faeldon was appointed director of the Bureau of Corrections, and Lapena was made the Director-General of TESDA (Technical Education and Skills Development Authority), with the rank of a Cabinet member. Not bad for a couple of notoriously malperformig officials. What troubles me about all this is not President Dutertes way of dealing with instances of official malfeasance, although that is certainly a cause for very serious concern. What alarms me is the absence of an it-was-during-my-watch-so-I-am-accountable mindset among Philippine government officials. When something bad happens in their official domains, Philippine government officials do not immediately accept command responsibility and tender their irrevocable resignations; they wait to be either firedand given another, better appointmentor be forgiven by the Chief Executive. Its different in Japan. When something bad happens in a Japanese ministry, department or agency, the highest-ranking official loses no time tendering his firm resignation to the Prime Minister. Not too long ago, the crash of an airline triggered the prompt resignation of the Minister of Transportation, notwithstanding the fact that the only connection between the crash and the Ministers official domain was that transportation was involved. In another instance, the Minister of Railways was quick to tender his resignation upon the a train derailment that caused the loss of many lives. Again, by no stretch of the imagination could the minister be held directly responsible for the occurrence of the train disaster. In the earlier part of Japanese history, Japanese government officials were known to disembowel themselvesthe Japanese word for the ritual is seppukuout of shame and embarrassment for the bad things that happened in the ministries, departments and agencies that they headed. Which brings me back to the title of this piece. If Nicanor Faeldon Jr., Isidro Lapena and others like them were Japanese, they would not have waited to be fired by President Duterte and to be subjected to humiliating Congressional hearings; they would have adopted an it-was-during-my-watch posture and promptly resigned. But Faeldon and Lapena are not Japanese. They are Filipinos. And this is the Philippines. (My Favorite Quotes Recent Quotes

Portfolio Summary Your most recently viewed tickers will automatically show up here if you type a ticker in the Get Quotes box on the top of the page.The Gilets Jaunes (yellow vests) movement in France is at a turning point. In the face of building radicalism, which now threatens the very survival of his government, Macron has changed his defiant tone and promised to suspend the fuel tax hike that provoked the movement. This retreat came after street battles over the weekend between thousands of protesters and the police that have left over 200 injured in Paris alone and resulted in at least one fatality.

The organised working class has begun to enter the struggle (although the labour union leaders have dragged their feet), as have students, who are occupying their institutions in solidarity and raising their own demands. But despite Macrons attempt to defuse the situation, the explosion of anger and frustration at years of austerity and inequality has acquired a logic of its own, and it will not be easy to put the genie back in the bottle.

The events of Saturday and Sunday marked the third straight weekend of unrest in the French capital. Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Paris  while the exact figures are unclear, it is certain that over 100,000 took part in demonstrations across the country. This is fewer than came out last weekend (200,000 according to the official figures, which is a major underestimation), but the mood was far more radical, and it was clear that the demands of the movement have moved well beyond the question of the fuel tax. Amongst certain layers of the movement there is an insurrectionary and revolutionary mood. The 5,000 who marched down the Champs Elysees at midday on Saturday were shouting and carrying the slogans Power to the People! and Macron resign! Many bore the latter slogan on their vests.

Class hatred

The yellow vest movement initially started in peripheral towns, cities and rural areas across France (residents of wich rely on personal vehicles to get to work, and thus will be hit severely by a higher fuel tax) and it includes many women and single mothers. Most are low-income workers, including secretaries, IT workers, factory workers, delivery workers and care workers  in short, people who are most affected by rising costs and wage stagnation. These working class and poor middle-class layers are resentful of years of being squeezed through austerity and increasing living costs, and are now expressing a deep hatred of the rich and the Macron government that represents them.

As Idir Ghanes, a 42-year-old, unemployed computer technician from Paris, stated: We have low salaries and pay too much tax and the combination is creating more and more poverty On the other side, there are government ministers and the president with their fabulous salaries. Other protestors, like Marie Lemoine, 62 (a school teacher from Provins) pointed out the pro-capitalist and hypocritical nature of Macrons policy: We are being targeted instead of the airlines, the shipping lines, those companies who pollute more but pay no tax Macron is our Louis XVI, and we know what happened to him.

The class character of the yellow vests, and their loathing for the rich, became clear during the demonstration in Paris on Saturday. Acts of vandalism hit the wealthy west and centre of the city, with storefronts smashed and looted, dozens of expensive cars burnt and the Arc de Triomphe covered in anti-government graffiti, along with the slogan: The yellow vests will triumph. The protestors smashed the windows of a newly opened Apple Store (AAPL.O) and luxury boutiques of Chanel and Dior, scrawling Merry Mayhem on a wooden board and pinning it to the facade. Of course, there were also some lumpen and criminal elements taking advantage of this situation, but that is not the main character of the movement.

Images of destruction were plastered all across the French and international press in an attempt to weaken and discredit the yellow vests. However, a Harris Interactive poll showed 72 percent support for the movement as of today, unchanged from a fortnight ago. In Paris, there was widespread sympathy for the protestors, and the expressions of anger were seen as legitimate. I am totally behind the Gilets Jaunes, said George Dupont, a resident in Paris 16th arrondissement, in The Province. The state has stolen money from the French people. Its time to give it back. Assistant teacher Sandrine Lemoussu, 45, who travelled from Burgundy to protest, agreed and said people were fed up with Macron. The people are in revolt. The anger is rising more and more, and the president despises the French. We arent here to smash things, but the people have had enough.

Police clashes

The authorities were unprepared for the scale of the unrest. There were pitched battles at the top of the Champs-Elysees boulevard and multiple sites across the city, including Opera and Place de la Bastille. Despite turning water cannon, stunguns, teargas and batons on the crowds, the police were overwhelmed in more than one instance as the crowds hurled projectiles on their ranks and drove them back. Frederic Lagache, of the Alliance police union, called for a state of emergency and said army reinforcements should be brought in to guard public monuments, to take some pressure off the police.

VIDEO: Amateur footage shows anti-government protesters throwing projectiles at a small group of riot police in Paris on December 1 #YellowVests #GiletsJaunes pic.twitter.com/a9BmjERnDd  AFP news agency (@AFP) December 2, 2018

In some instances, the police simply refused to engage the protestors altogether, as can be seen in a viral video recorded in the town of Pau in southwestern France. The video shows a line of riot police facing down a large group of yellow vests, and removing their helmets to signal they will not attack  to cheering and applause from the crowd. Allegedly, this was not a genuine display of sympathy, but the result of a deal between the local head of police and the yellow vests (we will stop our demonstration, and you remove your riot gear.) Still, the footage certainly attests to the confidence of the movement, and the weakness of the police.

A #Pau les #CRS retirent leurs casques face aux #GiletsJaunes . Applaudissements, Marseillaise, dispersion des manifestants dans le calme. pic.twitter.com/T1qdfQZATo  Quentin Top (@Quentin_TOP) December 1, 2018

Unsurprisingly, the capitalist class are horrified at the protests. Not just because it is bad for business around the Christmas period or because of rising fuel shortages due to spontaneous blockades at depots, but because of the fear that this movement could develop into a threat towards the regime as a whole. Jeanne dHauteserre, the mayor of the 8th city district of Paris, near the Arc de Triomphe, told BFM TV, We are in a state of insurrection, Ive never seen anything like it. Several regional representatives of the central government spoke anonymously to Le Monde of an "explosive and almost insurrectional" or "pre-revolutionary" situation. They also noted that it was a section of the population rising against taxes that sparked the revolution of 1789. One representative concluded: "What is expressed the most is the hatred of the President of the Republic.

Macrons hypocrisy

Macron (who was thousands of miles away at the G20 meeting in Argentina), responded to the weekends events by threatening to declare a state of emergency, and condemning the destruction, saying he will never accept violence." In general, the government has attempted to create divisions in the yellow vests by distinguishing between the legitimate grievances of peaceful protestors, and the violent radical groups who have infiltrated the movement. What happened in Paris has nothing to do with the pacifist expression of legitimate anger, Macron said on Saturday at the end of the G20 summit. No cause justifies the police being attacked, businesses being looted, passers-by or journalists being threatened, the Arc de Triomphe being defiled. Meanwhile, the Interior Minister, Christophe Castaner, argued that ultra-right and ultra-left elements had egged on people who just came to Paris to wreak havoc.

Macron condemned the "violence" of the yellow vests, but ignored the violence of the state that has left hundreds injured and one dead / Image: PoR

While it is true that there were lumpen and far-right elements in the demonstrations over the weekend, these were marginal. From the beginning, the yellow vests movement has penetrated into very deep layers of society, with Front National voters and middle-class elements taking part alongside the working class and trade unionists. But as the movement has begun to radicalise and the working class imprint on it increase, a lot of the rubbish on the right is being thrown out and the class contradictions within it have become clearer. For example, another viral video shows Yvan Benedetti, former president of the ultranationalist group L'uvre francaise (himself dressed in a high-visibility jacket), being attacked and driven off by anti-fascists within the yellow vests.

It is correct however, that the lack of organisation and leadership in the movement opens it up to opportunist elements. This could be resolved by the determined participation by the French labour movement. But Macrons criticism of violence by the yellow vests stinks of hypocrisy given the violent suppression the protestors have endured from the French state. Videos are circulating online of gangs of riot police chasing down and viciously beating isolated, unarmed protestors.

"Violence on the streets will.not be tolerated" says Emmanuel Macron. Does that apply to police brutality too?



9+ riot police beating, kicking, stomping, hitting with batons a fleeing, downed protester. #YellowVests#giletsjaunes #SocialistSunday https://t.co/m02UBzaLOp  Ben ? (@bencam18) December 2, 2018

There is also the case of an 80-year-old woman killed in Marseille after being struck in the face by a tear gas canister fired by the police while standing on her balcony, and that of a 28-year-old man who has been left in a coma after a clash with the police. This is not to mention the state violence previously employed by the Macron government to suppress other strikes and demonstrations (such as during anti-austerity mobilisations in 2017, and the CGT-led railway workers strikes earlier this year), and the terrible suffering already inflicted on the French people by years of austerity. The yellow vests are the inevitable manifestation of all of the frustration and pain that the French masses have been storing up. They have finally reached breaking point, and have unleashed their anger against the government.

Rank-and-file solidarity

As we have reported previously, the main leaders of the labour movement have attempted to distance themselves from the yellow vests, on the grounds that they will not march with the FN. But in this way they were abandoning the field to the far-right, to try demagogically to gain control over the movement and derail it. However, rank-and-file CGT trade unionists, in opposition to their own leadership, have sporadically offered solidarity with and supported the movement from the beginning, and several branches (FNIC, UD13, UD31, etc.) called for strikes and occupations in solidarity with the movement against the fuel tax. This exerted pressure on the leadership, who finally agreed to call for joint action on Saturday. As a result, a number of protesters  made up of yellow vests and members of the CGT  marched together at Place de la Republique in Paris. However, due to a lack of proper planning, the demonstration was quite small. Still, CGT workers (some of them in red jackets, others in yellow) were prominent throughout the day.

The breadth of the protests against Macrons tax hike has resulted in a convergence of demands and grievances from all across society, and various layers of the working class have spontaneously entered the struggle. For example, on Sunday, paramedics clashed with riot police as dozens of ambulances joined the protests at the Place de la Concorde, blocking a bridge near the National Assembly. In addition to supporting the yellow vests struggle against the fuel tax hike, these workers are opposing a range of social security and healthcare reforms they say could affect their services. One protester told Reuters: "[The reforms] will bludgeon us financially and destroy our companies."

In Bordeaux, riot police used batons to beat student protesters / Image: fair use

The students have also begun to link up with the movement. Last week, student organisations at a number of major universities (including Montpelier, Nantes and Rennes) called general assemblies to discuss a new government project to increase student fees and the ongoing campaign to stop the introduction of selection criteria for university admissions, and limit access to certain prestigious courses. These assemblies raised the question of joining the yellow vests, partly to promote their own demands  which raises the possibility of a nationwide student movement in solidarity with the yellow vests.

Subsequently, over the past week, over 300 high schools have been occupied and blockaded around the country, including in the southern city of Toulouse and in Creteil in the Paris area. A number of high school students were arrested after riot police were called to the Jean-Pierre Timbaud high school in Aubervilliers in the northern Paris suburbs. Videos are circulating online of police firing smoke grenades at the teenagers, who are shown kicking them back as the police advance. Around 1,000 pupils, many wearing yellow vests, demonstrated in Nice, chanting Macron resign! and photographs from a student protest in Bordeaux show riot police using batons to beat the young protesters. In another demonstration in Marseilles, school students were protected from riot police by stewards from the CGT. University and high school students were also widely involved in the demonstrations on the weekend.

A partial retreat

As pressure piled upon the Macron government, at a meeting with opposition party leaders on Monday, the Prime Minister, Edouard Philippe, faced calls from all sides to quell the unrest by scrapping the tax hike. Marine Le Pen attempted to demagogically bolster her image by calling on the government to end the fuel hike, while Jean-Luc Melenchon not only called for the immediate and unconditional removal of the tax increase, but also for Macron to step down.

The government finally announced today that it would suspend the fuel tax hike, in an attempt to placate the protestors. Stanislas Guerini, who on Saturday was elected the new leader of Mr Macrons La Republique en Marche, told RTL radio: we must appease the country.

While this forced retreat is a validation of the radical action by the yellow vests, it is actually a very minor concession that in fact solves nothing, as it comes on top of decades of rising taxes and further tariffs have been scheduled for 2019 as well. This move is simply intended to divide and demobilise the protests and give the government time to gather its breath and regroup. However, it could prove too little and too late, given the extremely radical conclusions that have been drawn by the yellow vests, who have long since moved beyond the question of fuel prices. This has become a movement about the chronic injustices of French society. While some moderate layers might withdraw, the majority will likely not be satisfied until the Macron government is brought down. Moreover, the movement is even beginning to spread internationally. Protesters in Belgium on Friday destroyed several police vehicles and threw rocks at the office of Prime Minister, Charles Michel, calling for his resignation over high taxes and food prices; and low wages and pensions. These copycat protesters wore yellow high-visibility vests and blocked streets in Brussels with pieces of scaffolding, impeding traffic. Whether this represents a genuine trend or a short-term development remains to be seen, but it reflects the fact that similar social contradictions exist throughout Europe.

The problem of leadership

Throughout the entirety of the yellow vest movement, a major issue has been a lack of coordination and proper leadership. There are elements within the movement that resist the presence of politics  in the form of political parties or the unions  presenting the yellow vests as a solely anti-political phenomenon. The yellow vests have no formal structures or elected leadership, only a number of unelected spokespeople, who reflect the confused, heterogeneous political character of the movement as a whole. Some of these are very far to the right, including Christophe Chalencon, who called on Macron to resign in favour of General Pierre de Villiers: a reactionary former head of the French armed forces, whom Chalencon called a true commander. However, as the movement has matured and become more radical, it has begun to move beyond these accidental figures. Moderate spokespeople, Jacline Mouraud and Benjamin Cauchy (the latter of whom has been evicted from the yellow vest movement in Toulouse), wanted to accept an invitation to negotiate with the prime minister, but were forced to pull out following outrage from the yellow vests' rank and file, who suspected they would sell out the movements more radical demands  which include the dissolution of the National Assembly.

A call must go out to the yellow vests to form general assemblies (which a few yellow vest groups have already begun to call for), and elect a democratically accountable leadership that can translate the energy on the streets into a programme of action. This is a call that the unions are very well placed to make, but so far, the opportunity has not been exploited. In fact, the field is wide open to the labour movement to provide leadership and a radical, class programme to the yellow vests. The unions and France Insoumise in particular must build on the momentum this movement has created to mobilise a general offensive against Macron. The current policy of the labour leaders has fallen well short of this. The CGT is calling for a "great day of action" for December 14, which, given the rapid pace of events, is far far too long to wait. Moreover, the movement has already seen many great days of action and few results  what is needed is a 24-hour general strike, as a starting point for a series of renewable strikes, with the objective of bringing down the government.

A new chapter has opened in the French class struggle. Coordinated and widespread strike action  unifying workers of all sectors with the youth  is the only path to victory / Image: Flickr, KRIS AUS67

France Insoumise, to its credit, was critical of the hesitance of the CGT and backed the yellow vests demands from the start. However, it has also called on Macron to accept a number of progressive demands (cancelling the tax increases on fuel, reintroducing progressive taxation on high earners, and allocating 40 billion euros of tax credits for businesses to "ecological transition"), or resign. This is utopian: Macron will do neither, and will instead continue to combine small concessions with repression. Instead of pressuring Macron to find a way out of the crisis, they should explain that there is no solution under the present bourgeois regime. The goal therefore can only be to bring down the Macron government, which only represents the interests of the capitalist class. But Melenchon has not been clarifying the class lines behind the conflict. He has been downplaying the class character of the yellow vests, which he described as a citizens revolution by a new historical actor  the people.

But none of the movements wider demands can be achieved without working-class struggle, which has the capacity to paralyse the country and leave the government suspended in mid-air, as in May 1968. That is why coordinated and widespread strike action  unifying workers of all sectors with the radicalising youth  is the only path to victory. No matter what happens to this particular movement, it is clear that a new chapter has opened in the class struggle in France, where as Frederick Engels put it, the class struggle is always fought to the end.These rocks arent precious; sometimes they are labelled semi-precious stones or hardstones, but they can all be classified as gemstones, which at least puts them on speaking terms with their more prestigious cousins. Their names are onyx, malachite, cornelian, turquoise, lapis lazuli, and even ruby, in its irregular, opaque variant that doesnt share the same properties as the more familiar precious jewel. Others, like coral and mother-of-pearl, are not stones, but theyre more valuable and perhaps more well-known. They are all capable of being sliced into thin sheets that are robust enough to cope with having a hole drilled through the centre to mount a pair of watch hands. One watch brand that has always recognised their beauty and showcased it to advantage is Piaget. This pioneering use of colour has its roots in the brands history.

Possession green malachite; Possession deep blue lapis lazuli; Possession Cuff green malachite; Possession red carnelian; Possession bright turquoise  Piaget

Around the mid-sixties, popular culture exploded in a way that no one could have predicted. The Swinging Sixties, the London scene, free love, the first hippies and Indias burgeoning influence on European tastes unleashed a frenzy of different colours and shapes. The jewellery industry jumped straight on board. Around that time, Piaget was a very conservative brand and a traditional family firm, but it was nevertheless able to capture the spirit of the times with jewellery creations that reflected the popular fashion. One of the main elements of this style, which we came to know as bohemian chic, or hippy chic, was the use of colour.

Altiplano with opaque ruby dial; Altiplano with dial in onyx, obsidian and slate-grey jasper marquetry  Piaget

Piaget went for gemstones that were not traditionally used in mainstream jewellery, because they offered a broader colour palette. They were also far more affordable then precious gemstones, which meant they could be used in larger formats and with a highly ornamental style, further expanding the creative possibilities. In watchmaking, their role was on the dial.

Vintage Inspiration watch with lapis lazuli dial  Piaget

Fifty years later, Piaget has not forgotten this culture, which has left its mark on the companys flagship watch collections. Altiplano, precious Manchettes, Extremely Lady, Vintage Inspiration, Altiplano Tourbillon  practically every collection comes with the option of a decorative mineral dial.

Manchette in gold, turquoise and pink mother-of-pearl  Piaget

The result, whether for women, where vibrant colour steals the limelight from conventional gold and diamond backdrops, or for men, is simply stunning. Indeed, before the explosion of colour that began with the discovery of blue ten years ago, the possibilities for mens watches were extremely limited. Even today, Piaget is one of the only watchmakers to offer dials made of vivid green malachite, vibrant blue lapis, onyx blacker than the very finest grand feu enamel, and warm red cornelian with a subtle orange tinge like the final moments of a summer sunset.Egypt's Defence Minister Mohamed Zaki told military officials at the opening ceremony of the countrys EDEX 2018 military expo that "those who have the keys to power can make peace."

Zaki saluted and expressed his deep appreciation of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi for sponsoring EDEX 2018, which he said was the first international defence and security industry exhibition in north and central Africa.

The defence minister said that President El-Sisi's sponsorship of the exhibition aims at delivering a message to the world that the defence and armament systems are the main pillars of peace and security and the fortress of stability for nations and peoples.

He explained that this international gathering will provide an opportunity for countries and companies producing armament systems and defense systems to present the latest developments in the field of production and military manufacturing of modern technologies.

"The current situation around the world necessitates a power which can protect and sustain peace," said Zaki in his speech at the opening, adding that Egypt's ability to organise such events affirms its capability to maintain security and stability.

"The Egyptian armed forces have been and still are the faithful bastions of this nation's capabilities, and we have sought to acquire the elements of power only in order to maintain its security and safety in a world beset by conflicts."

This international exhibition is a great opportunity for countries and companies manufacturing defence and armament systems to present the leading-edge military technology, exchange expertise and develop ties in the area of military production, the defence minister added.

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We attempted to send a notification to your email address but we were unable to verify that you provided a valid email address. Please click here to update your email address if you wish to receive notifications. Otherwise, you may click here to disable notifications and hide this message.Egypt launched the first ever edition of the International Exhibition for Defence and Military Industries, EXPO 2018, this week.

It is one of the outputs of the Egyptian military upgrading and development programmes which have achieved monumental leaps during the last four years.

This was reflected in Egypt's comprehensive balance of power.

Contrary to common thinking that military exhibitions are just a market in which modern military products are displayed, they have become an interactive platform to showcase capabilities enjoyed by countries that display products showing the extent of vast technical developments in the military and defence industries and evaluate the extent of efficiency of the national manufacturing bases in meeting local needs and addressing non-traditional dangers and threats that imposed producing defence and military products.

In addition, these exhibitions highlight the size of the international reputation which the organising country enjoys, enabling it to organise an event that attracts the big and distinguished producers and competitors in these markets.

This is a difficult matter that can't be accessible for countries that don't have special qualifications and capabilities to knock on the doors in this field.

There are several indicators that qualify Egypt to become a destination for defence and military investment focused on the weighty Egyptian military institution as well as its historical deep-rootedness and its incessant capability to modernise due to its accumulated experiences in keeping and maintaining the Egyptian state intact.

All the above have contributed to providing opportunities for maximising this institutions total power. This will be tackled in the following five indicators.

- Modernising military infrastructure: During the last four years (2014-2018), Egypt has witnessed monumental leaps in the field of armaments, shown in concluding agreements in armaments in all fields, land, air and sea. Perhaps the most significant of these agreements were the helicopter carriers, Abdel-Nasser and El-Sadat, the frigates Gowind and Fareem, the 902-Class German submarines and the Rafale fighters. It has also witnessed a leap in building and rehabilitating military bases such as founding the Southern Fleet and constructing the Mohamed Naguib Military Base.

- Upgrading the military infrastructure in order to develop the capabilities of the Egyptian soldier: This was done through several paths including the path of developing of the military educational institutions according to the latest international military sciences programmes, preparing such institutions to constitute a base for supporting national military manufacture. This was showcased in holding number of exhibitions specialised in innovations and participating in international scientific activities in the military field and the path of raising the combat effectiveness through specific training.

- Building a national advanced military manufacturing base in order to localise hi-tech military industries: The most prominent product in this context was an Egyptian version of the Gowind Frigate in cooperation with the French Naval Group and building a number of small and medium military vessels to meet the needs of the Egyptian fleet.

- Broadening the horizons of the regional and military cooperation: This was accomplished on several paths on an unprecedented scale comprising the following: concluding agreements and signing protocols for military cooperation with international and regional powers, concluding arms deals in the light of diversifying the sources of armaments strategy then beginning joint military manufacture, expanding bilateral and multi-lateral military exercises and manoeuvres such as the Bright Star and the Eagle Salute with the USA, Protectors of Friendship with Russia and Medusa with Cyprus and Greece and Cleopatra with France and other manoeuvres with Arab countries such as North Thunder and Arab Shield.

- Advancing in terrorism combat: This is quite evident in the decline of the terrorism phenomenon in Egypt manifested in the ongoing Operation Sinai 2018 as well as the cooperation in terrorism combat regionally and internationally through sharing experiences and intelligence information exchange.

Holding the EDEX 2018 definitely endorses Egypts status internationally following the holding of a previous international event, the World Youth Forum (November 2018).

Certainly, this points out Egypts ability to organise international activities with such magnitude.

The number of industrial visitors to EDEX 2018 is expected to reach 10,000, from all over the world; it is the first exhibition of its kind in North or Central Africa.

The exhibition aims at holding a distinguished international forum and the participation of about 41 countries from all over the world asserts this fact.

This could qualify Egypt to be one of the most important exhibition locations regionally and internationally.

It also displays the huge upgrading efforts made by the Egyptian armed forces to develop the Egyptian market in the defence weaponry and security technology trade.

The fantastic military expenditure in the region constitutes an opportunity for Egypt to attract military economies.

EDEX 2018 provides Egypt a chance to occupy an international position in the field.

The presence of 316 exhibitors means more interaction with agents and provides an opportunity to search for the best products in the field.

Finally, we may point out that the preparations for the exhibition took place for a whole year at Egypts International Exhibition Centre organised by the Egyptian Ministry of Defence and held under the patronage of the President of Egypt, the Supreme Commander of the Egyptian Armed Forces.

The preparations included three big display halls and 21 international pavilions during the three days of the exhibition as well as devoting a branch for security and terrorism combat to display the latest equipment and technological solutions against terrorism.

The EDEX 2018 is organised in cooperation with the British company Clarion Events, who are world's leading event organisers, producing and delivering innovative and market-leading events. The exhibition is sponsored by 15 international and local companies.

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Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry arrived in Kuwait Monday on a two-day visit to lead Egypt's delegation to the 12th session of the Egyptian-Kuwaiti Committee between the two countries.



Shoukry was received at the airport by Egyptian ambassador to Kuwait Tareq Al Qoni and embassy staff along with officials of Kuwait's Foreign Ministry.



He is expected to attend, along with the Kuwaiti Foreign minister, the signing of a number of cooperation agreements and memos of understanding.



Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Hafez had said the convocation of the Egyptian-Kuwaiti Committee comes as part of the two sides' keenness on developing their relations in the various fields to be up to the level of the sisterly relations binding the two countries.

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Both pilots killed as Armenian Su-25 jet on training mission crashes in mountains  military

Both pilots killed as Armenian Su-25 jet on training mission crashes in mountains  military

Armenias Su-25 jet disappeared from radars at 06.20 GMT on Tuesday, just fifteen minutes after leaving an airfield in the city of Gyumri for a scheduled training mission. The jet crashed in the mountains near the town of Maralik, press secretary of the Armenian Defense Ministry, Artsrun Ovannisyan told reporters. He later stated on Facebook that the scene of the tragic event had been discovered. Both pilots - Lieutenant Colonel Armen Babayan and Major Movses Manukyan - died, Sputnik quoted the press secretary as saying. The possible causes of the incident were not immediately clear.Source : RT - Daily newsThe members of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) may abandon border procedures and adopt a common currency in the future by analogy with the European Union (EU), according to the President of Kyrgyzstan Sooronbay Jeenbekov.

I strongly believe in the future of the EAEU, we have a tremendous potential. The EU has a single currency, and of course we will also come to this, but time is needed. We must introduce the best of what the European Union has we must work towards that," he told Rossiya-24.

Jeenbekov noted that Like in the European Union we have no borders, no border guards. All our nationals are freely traveling across the Union and are entitled to same services, no matter which  medical, educational

Also on rt.com Russia suggests creating single virtual currency for BRICS and EEU

According to him, the EAEU member countries should work towards boosting competition with third countries. The EAEU countries can compete with other foreign nations. We must work in coordination in this issue," Jeenbekov said, adding I believe that in 2040, the economy of our countries will be the same as in the European Union, the US, Japan and in other leading nations.

The Kyrgyz president said that the Eurasian Economic Union should expand by admitting new members. Other countries can also join the EAEU, we can expand, and we must work towards this as well.

Read more

The EEU, which is based on the Customs Union of Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus, was established in 2015. It was later joined by Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. In 2016, Vietnam officially became the first non-regional country to join the bloc. The union is designed to ensure the free movement of goods, services, capital and workers between member countries.

READ MORE: BRICS gearing up for digital revolution

More than 40 countries and international organizations, including China, Indonesia, and Israel, as well as some South American countries, have expressed interest in a free-trade deal with the EEU. The trade bloc is also holding negotiations with South Korea, Egypt, and India.

Last year, the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) proposed to create a joint digital currency for BRICS countries and the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). It could replace the US dollar and other currencies used in settlements among the member states, CBR said.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business sectionVenezuelan President Nicolas Maduro insists that national gold exports should continue despite sweeping US sanctions targeting the industry. It comes after the UK refused to release around $550 million in gold owned by Caracas.

Venezuela has the right to sell what it produces. We are moving forward with the plan on gold output as the new source of prosperity, Maduro stated, as cited by media, after the meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday.

Read more

Maduros statement comes shortly after the Bank of England (BoE) refused to return around $550 million-worth gold to Venezuela. The decision was based on concerns by British officials of possible money laundering. They claim the Venezuelan leader may seize the gold, which is owned by the state, and sell it for personal gain.

Washington has tightened its grip on the Latin American nation and its leadership, who the US accuses of violating human rights, imposing rounds of sanctions, including banning US individuals and corporations from dealing with entities and people involved in gold sales from the country.

It is very petty to try to use an illegal sanction to prevent Venezuela from selling its gold to the world, Maduro said.

Turkey has been at odds with the US over the restrictive measures against the South American country. President Erdogan lambasted US restrictions as manipulative attacks from certain countries and acts of sabotage from economic assassins.

Meanwhile, Ankara and Caracas have been increasing cooperation, and bilateral trade reached $892.4 million in the first five months of 2018, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute.

Ankara also helps Venezuela to avoid some of the constraints of US sanctions. The two countries recently agreed that Venezuelan gold will be refined in Turkey instead of Switzerland over fears that the precious metal will not be released from the latter due to restrictive US measures.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business sectionDonald Trumps disgraced ex-campaign manager and the Ecuadorian President considered the possibility of handing over the founder of WikiLeaks to the US in exchange for relief of debts, a news report claims.

A week has passed since the Guardian, citing a well-placed source, insinuated a direct relationship between Trump's ex-campaign manager Paul Manafort and Julian Assange, claiming that the two met three times in four years. While both WikiLeaks and Manafort denied the alleged meetings had ever taken place, the New York Times now claims Manafort was happy to talk about throwing his supposed buddy under the bus and having him somehow handed over to the US.

READ MORE: Assange-Manafort meeting claim backed by anonymous sources, what else do collusion skeptics need?

The newspaper, citing three people familiar with the talks, reported that Manafort traveled to Ecuador in mid-May 2017 to meet with newly-elected President Lenin Moreno and other senior officials. The agenda of the meeting had nothing to do with Assange initially as Manafort was offering Chinese investment into the countrys power industry and suggested his links to the Trump administration would help smooth things out with Washington.

Read more

But soon the discussion spiraled to the worlds most famous fugitive, a major obstacle lying in the way of the US-Ecuador rapprochement. The NYT sources said Manafort touted himself as a person who could solve the long-running problem, telling Ecuadorian government officials that he might be handy in striking a clandestine deal to hand over Assange to the US.

Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno previously called the WikiLeaks publisher more than a nuisance indicating that he would gladly get rid of his predecessor, Rafael Correas legacy. Correa offered Assange political asylum, leading to his long residence in the Ecuadorean embassy in London.

The protection stopped the British authorities from arresting him on a bail-skipping charge, a development that Assange believes would lead to his extradition to the US to face charges of espionage. Moreno has reportedly held rounds of talks with the British authorities in an attempt to clinch a deal that would allow Assange to leave the embassy without their interference.

According to the NYT, a possible deal on Assange was discussed by Moreno and Manafort during a second meeting, but the negotiations lead to nowhere after the lobbyist got drawn into the Robert Mueller investigation in the US. The newspaper said there was no indication that Manafort approached anyone in the US administration with the Ecuadorean proposal.

READ MORE: WikiLeaks betting $1mn & editors head against Guardian claims that Manafort met Assange

Manafort, who is in solitary confinement in a Virginia jail, has not commented on the new claims, however, his spokesman, Jason Maloni, said that the Assange problem was indeed invoked at the meeting between Manafort and Moreno. He insisted that the idea was floated by Moreno, while Manafort listened but made no promises as this was ancillary to the purpose of the meeting.

The new report linking Manafort and WikiLeaks, albeit at distinctively another angle, comes as Manafort faces additional charges from the special counsel in charge of the Russian collusion probe. The lobbyist reportedly broke the terms of his plea deal by lying to the FBI and to Mueller himself on a variety of subject matters.

Manafort denied the allegations, insisting that he provided the investigators with truthful information.

If you like this story, share it with a friend!UN seeks $21.9bn to address 21 humanitarian crises next year, says Yemen needs billions

UN seeks $21.9bn to address 21 humanitarian crises next year, says Yemen needs billions

The UN appealed for $21.9 billion on Tuesday to address 21 humanitarian crises worldwide next year, including $4 billion for Yemen, the largest aid operation. The appeal to donor countries does not include the funding requirements for Syria, which are expected to bring the total up to $25 billion, it said. Yemens government will need billions of dollars in external support to finance its 2019 budget and avoid another currency collapse in addition to $4 billion in aid, UN aid chief Mark Lowcock said on Tuesday. Lowcock said he had discussed the balance of payments deficit and the need to pay Yemeni salaries and pensions with officials from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the US at weekend talks in Riyadh, Reuters reports.Source : RT - Daily news[December 03, 2018] NIB and Nokia agree EUR 250 million financing for 5G research and development Press release

NIB loan will be used on 5G technology research and development in Europe 3 December 2018



Espoo, Finland - Nokia today signed a EUR 250 million loan transaction with the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) to finance research and development activities related to 5G technology. The loan, which has an average maturity of approximately 5 years after disbursement, will finance Nokia's extensive research and development program focused on 5G activities in Europe in 2018-2020. The investment will especially concentrate on developing new 5G-related end-to-end product offerings for different business areas.



5G is the next generation of wireless systems beyond the current 4G standards, providing a substantial increase in network capacity, reducing latency delays and enabling network slicing. Network slicing gives network operators greater ability to differentiate their services to match clients' needs.



Nokia's 5G research and development program also focuses on the implementation of the "Internet of Things", machine-type communication between the things humans have invented. In practice, this means a network of different devices, such as home appliances, vehicles and other electronics, being able to exchange data wirelessly.



"The business opportunities of 5G are numerous, as it will be the first mobile generation designed from the beginning for machine-type communication. Nokia's research and development is likely to benefit not just the telecom sector, but also several high-technology operators in our member countries," says Henrik Normann, NIB President & CEO.



"We are pleased to receive this financing commitment from the NIB, which shares our view of the revolutionary nature of 5G. This financing will further support 5G research and development in Europe and it bolsters the momentum we have already seen this year as the era of 5G begins," says Kristian Pullola, CFO, Nokia.



About NIB

NIB is an international financial institution owned by eight member countries: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden. The Bank finances private and public projects in and outside the member countries. NIB has the highest possible credit rating, AAA/Aaa, with the leading rating agencies Standard & Poor's and Moody's.



About Nokia

We create the technology to connect the world. Powered by the research and innovation of Nokia Bell Labs, we serve communications service providers, governments, large enterprises and consumers, with the industry's most complete, end-to-end portfolio of products, services and licensing.



We adhere to the highest ethical business standards as we create technology with social purpose, quality and integrity. Nokia is enabling the infrastructure for 5G and the Internet of Things to transform the human experience www.nokia.com



FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

It should be noted that Nokia and its businesses are exposed to various risks and uncertainties and certain statements herein that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect Nokia's current expectations and views of future developments and include statements regarding: A) expectations, plans or benefits related to our strategies and growth management; B) expectations, plans or benefits related to future performance of our businesses; C) expectations and targets regarding financial performance, results, operating expenses, taxes, currency exchange rates, hedging, cost savings and competitiveness, as well as results of operations including targeted synergies and those related to market share, prices, net sales, income and margins; D) expectations, plans or benefits related to changes in organizational and operational structure; E) expectations regarding market developments, general economic conditions and structural changes; F) our ability to integrate acquired businesses into our operations and achieve the targeted business plans and benefits, including targeted benefits, synergies, cost savings and efficiencies; G) expectations, plans or benefits related to any future collaboration or to business collaboration agreements or patent license agreements or arbitration awards, including income to be received under any collaboration or partnership, agreement or award; H) timing of the deliveries of our products and services, including our expectations around the rollout of 5G services; I) expectations and targets regarding collaboration and partnering arrangements, joint ventures or the creation of joint ventures, and the related administrative, legal, regulatory and other conditions, as well as our expected customer reach; J) outcome of pending and threatened litigation, arbitration, disputes, regulatory proceedings or investigations by authorities; K) expectations regarding restructurings, investments, capital structure optimization efforts, uses of proceeds from transactions, acquisitions and divestments and our ability to achieve the financial and operational targets set in connection with any such restructurings, investments, capital structure optimization efforts, divestments and acquisitions; and L) statements preceded by or including "believe", "expect", "expectations", "commit", "anticipate", "foresee", "sees", "target", "estimate", "designed", "aim", "plans", "intends", "focus", "continue", "project", "should", "is to", "will" or similar expressions.



These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. These statements are based on management's best assumptions and beliefs in light of the information currently available to it. These forward-looking statements are only predictions based upon our current expectations and views of future events and developments and are subject to risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. Factors, including risks and uncertainties that could cause these differences include, but are not limited to: 1) our strategy is subject to various risks and uncertainties and we may be unable to successfully implement our strategic plans, sustain or improve the operational and financial performance of our business groups, correctly identify or successfully pursue business opportunities or otherwise grow our business; 2) general economic and market conditions and other developments in the economies where we operate, including the timeline for the deployment of 5G and our ability to successfully capitalize on that deployment; 3) competition and our ability to effectively and profitably invest in new competitive high-quality products, services, upgrades and technologies and bring them to market in a timely manner; 4) our dependence on the development of the industries in which we operate, including the cyclicality and variability of the information technology and telecommunications industries and our own R&D capabilities and investments; 5) our ability to manage and improve our financial and operating performance, cost savings, competitiveness and synergies generally and our ability to implement changes to our organizational and operational structure efficiently; 6) our ability to re-establish investment grade rating or maintain our credit ratings, as well as the risk factors specified on pages 71 to 89 of our 2017 annual report on Form 20-F published on March 22, 2018 under "Operating and financial review and prospects-Risk factors" and in our other filings or documents furnished with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Other unknown or unpredictable factors or underlying assumptions subsequently proven to be incorrect could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. We do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent legally required.



Press Inquiries:

NIB

Mr Olli Lempiainen, Senior Manager, Infrastructure, Transportation & Telecom, at +358 10 618 0525, olli.lempiainen@nib.int

Ms Niina Rantti, Communications Officer, at +358 10 618 0265, niina.rantti@nib.int Nokia

Communications

Tel. +358 (0) 10 448 4900

Email: press.services@nokia.com

[ Back To www.mobilitytechzone.com\LTE's Homepage ]Military Production Minister Mohamed El-Assar held talks with Malis army chief of staff Brigadier General M'Bemba Moussa Keita on Tuesday, on the margins of Egypts first defence expo, EDEX 2018.



El-Assar asserted that EDEX - which opened on Monday and will close on Wednesday - is meant to review vistas of cooperation with friendly states, especially in Africa.



He noted that the talks tackled means of fostering cooperation with Mali in the military manufacturing domain.



Keita said that EDEX will open new vistas of cooperation between Egyptian and international companies in the defence and security fields.



Organising the event under the wise political leadership of Egypt underscores the importance of rallying efforts in the face of extremism and terrorism, he said.



Keita commended on the outstanding technological potentials of military and defence equipment produced at Egyptian military factories.

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Welcome to Morningstar.co.uk!

You have been redirected here from Hemscott.com as we are merging our websites to provide you with a one-stop shop for all your investment research needs.To search for a security, type the name or ticker in the search box at the top of the page and select from the dropdown results.Registered Hemscott users can log in to Morningstar using the same login details. Similarly, if you are a Hemscott Premium user, you now have a Morningstar Premium account which you can access using the same login details.Official spokesperson for Egypt's New Administrative Capital Khaled El-Hosseiny said on Tuesday that 70 percent of the land in the first phase of the new capital has been sold; a total 0f 17,000 Feddans.

During a press conference, El-Hosseiny affirmed that the government offices and the residential districts at the new capital are set to be completed by 2020.

He also affirmed that the main developers in the project are mostly Egyptian.

Egypt's Ministry of Finance has said that the New Administrative Capital project has an independent budget separate from the state's general budget, dismissing recent media reports that the ministry has allocated part of the state budget to finance the mega-project.

According to the Egyptian cabinet's Information and Decision Support Centre (IDSC), the project is funded byland sales to investors.

The country's new administrative capital project will be home to government ministries, residential units and an international airport.

The mega-project's first phase, which started in 2016, is part of the governments plan to expand urban areas to deal with the country's rapid population growth rate and improve the nation's infrastructure.

The new capital, built over 714 square kilometres, will be home to a government district housing 29 ministries and other state institutions, including the cabinet and parliament buildings.

The new capital, located some 40km east of Cairo, will offer homes for young people, low-income people, as well as high-income-bracket homes across 20 residential neighbourhoods that can accommodate 6.5 million people.

The government has started construction on 25,000 residential units so far.

A major developer working on the project is the Armed Forces Engineering Authority.

The first phase of the project covers 40,000 feddans and costs around EGP 200 billion pounds, according to the Ministry of Housing.

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Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi received the US Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and the US Charge dAffaires in Egypt Thomas H. Goldberger in Cairo on Tuesday, who praised the level of cooperation between Egypt and the United States at all levels, especially on counter-terrorism and intelligence cooperation, presidential spokesman Bassam Rady said in a statement on Tuesday.

The meeting was attended by the head of Egypts General Intelligence Agency Abbas Kamel.

El-Sisi conveyed greetings to President Donald Trump, stressing the significance of the strong Egyptian-American relations and the importance given by Egypt to enhanced cooperation with the US, especially on security and intelligence cooperation and coordination on regional and international security files.

Coats stressed his country's keenness on enhancing cooperation with Egypt on challenges facing both countries, in light of the situation in the Middle East, hailing the Egyptian pivotal role in maintaining security and stability in the Middle East.

The meeting discussed ways of pushing security and intelligence cooperation between both countries and exchanging views on Middle East files and political settlements for crises in the region.

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You have made us proud; but ...Senate Republican leader Len Fasano said he fired his chief counsel, Michael Cronin, on Monday after the lawyer admitted misappropriating tens of thousands of dollars from a Senate GOP caucus PAC that Cronin oversaw as treasurer in 2018.

At Fasanos urging, Cronin reported the theft to Chief States Attorney Kevin Kane, whose office has opened a criminal investigation into the finances of a PAC that reported raising more than $130,000 this year.

Cronin, a legislative lawyer for nearly 20 years and a trusted legislative aide, was the treasurer of the Senate Republican Leadership Committee, one of three Senate GOP caucus PACs, each with its own treasurer. Last week, Fasano said, he confronted Cronin about a bounced check and complaints from one or more vendors of unpaid bills.

The misappropriation did not impact the campaigns of Republicans, who lost five seats last month, Fasano said. After an 18-18 tie for two years, Democrats will have a 23-13 majority when the 2019 session opens on Jan. 9.

They got the benefit of the resources. It was work performed, Fasano said. IT was the vendors who are out.

Fasano said the Republicans will pay the bills, and Cronin has promised restitution.

I dont know what went wrong, whatever the fiscal hardships he was having, Fasano said of Cronin. It hurts. It hurts the whole caucus.

The Senate Republicans announced Cronins firing at midday, issuing a statement in which Fasano said, that Cronininformed me that as sole signatory of the Senate Republican Leadership PAC, he removed without authorization tens of thousands of dollars from the caucus PAC, monies that were donated to support state Senate candidates.

Upon learning this information, the Senate Republican Office immediately terminated Attorney Cronin. Following our meeting this morning, Attorney Cronin called Chief States Attorney Kevin Kane to report his actions and hired Attorney Ross Garber of Shipman and Goodwin to represent him. This severe breach of trust is both shocking and deeply upsetting. With his termination, our caucus has ceased all ties with Attorney Cronin.

Fasano told reporters later that he confronted Cronin after one or more campaign vendors told Jason Stark, who coordinated the Senate GOP campaign efforts, they had not been paid. Fasano said Cronin assured him the bills were being paid, but failed to provide a bank statement he sought.

The Senate leader insisted on a face-t0-face meeting early Monday at law office in New Haven, where he says Cronin admitted the thefts. Fasano said he told Cronin he should self-report the wrongdoing to the Office of the Chief States Attorney. Fasano then followed up to ensure the call had been made.

Mike has taken full responsibility for these issues, Garber, whom Cronin retained after his meeting with Fasano, said in a statement. He voluntarily reported them to Senate Republican leadership and to the Chief States Attorneys Office. He is cooperating with authorities and is committed to ensuring that all donor funds are accounted for and fully restored.

Garber declined further comment.

Cronin has been a lawyer with Republicans at the General Assembly for nearly 20 years and was paid $131,272 annually. He was the treasurer of the Senate Republican Leadership Committee, a political action committee that reported raising $130,167 and spending $113,265 as of Oct. 28 in support of Republican candidates for the state Senate.

State law allows each caucus three leadership PACs.

This story originally appeared on the website of The Connecticut Mirror, www.ctmirror.org.BERLIN  A Wallingford materials testing firm is moving to Berlin because a construction boom has it looking for more space and a more centralized location.

Why we chose Berlin was because Berlins a central hub in the state and we have field inspectors that travel all the way to Stamford, down to Norwalk all over the state of Connecticut, said Shawn Chaudhary, director of strategy and business development at Tri State Materials Lab in Wallingford.

After residing at 160 S. Turnpike Road since around 2007, the lab will complete its move to 60 Woodlawn Road in Berlin in early 2019.

The reduced driving times will be especially beneficial when testing concrete, which requires taking a cylindrical cast of concrete and allowing it to cure before bringing it to the lab the following day.

Tri State Materials also tests structural steel and welding integrity, fireproofing, asphalt, masonry and soil. The company also uses more specialized methods like ground penetrating radar to check for underground electric wiring or piping before excavation.

Berlin Economic Development Director Chris Edge said construction-related firms in Berlin benefit from each other, especially those with different specialties.

Theres a great ability to help each other grow and maybe even expand some of the things theyre doing, he said. I think its very complementary to what we have.

Tri State Materials is purchasing the former site of Eastern Broach and renovating the facade and interior to fit its needs, potentially leaving space available for rent to other small businesses.

The company tests for many large construction projects at state schools and universities, such as the new Student Recreation Center at the University of Connecticut, and commercial projects like the expansion of a 500,000-square-foot Aldi distribution center in South Windsor.

Connecticut is the companys largest market, but it also tests in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, and even had a recent job in Canada.

The boom in business means Tri State Materials keeps busy through the normally quiet winter months, prompting the company to hire additional field inspectors and lab staff.

Chaudhary said the company needs more space for its samples and for staff to conduct tests in a timely manner.

Outside the office, thats perfect  we can hire as many field inspectors as we need to keep up with the demand, Chaudhary said. But inside the office, thats where were starting to struggle.

The new buildings layout will also isolate more office space away from the noise of concrete shattering during testing.

dleithyessian@record-journal.com

203-317-2317

Twitter: @leith_yessianSwiss Ambassador in Cairo Paul Garnier said on Tuesday that his country looks forward to taking part in development efforts in Sinai due to the importance of achieving development and stability and combating extremist ideologies.

The Swiss diplomat also hailed Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi's efforts to amend the country's NGO law.

The diplomat's statements were made in a meeting with Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly to discuss bilateral relations in the fields of housing, utilities and urban development.

Madbouly highlighted that an integrated plan for development in Sinai is being implemented. He also explained that investment in the fields of farming, mining, fishing, and tourism are on the rise to create more job opportunities.

The Egyptian PM welcomed the Swiss side's readiness to take part in development efforts.

He also welcomed the diplomat's request to communicate with the minister of social solidarity on NGO activities.

The meeting also tackled the current projects between the two countries including a programme to improve drinking water and sanitation projects carried out in the governorates of Qena, Assiut, Sohag, and Minya between 2015 and 2021, cabinet spokesman Nader Saad said

According to Saad, the Swiss government's contribution to the project is estimated at 13 million euros.

The Swiss ambassador briefed the prime minister on the project to support small and medium enterprises in the fields of textiles and clothing, which is allocated by the Swiss government to five countries including Egypt at $1.5 million euros.

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By Express News Service

With the air quality continuing to deteriorate in Delhi, developers are feeling the heat with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) slapping a fine on 11 realty players operating in the region, and issuing notices to another 12 for violating environmental norms on the complaint of residents.

The developers slapped with fine of `5 lakh by the NGT, include Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Pvt. Ltd., Unibera Foreste in Greater Noida, Bhasin Infotech Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. in Greater Noida, YFC Project Pvt. Ltd. in Sector 51, Dasnac in Sector 75, Jaycon Infrastructure Ltd. in Sector 62, Bayaweaver Ltd. in Sector 129, Seaview Developers in Sector 135, Gulshan Homes Pvt. Ltd. in Sector 129, Ajnara Times Square in Sector 134 and Spring Meadows Group Housing in Tech Zone 4, Greater Noida.

The move came after residents complained against the bad air quality. The air quality has gone to worse from bad. There were citizens complaining against increasing dust in the air. The children were the worst affected. We will continue taking action because environment is our priority, said Shailendra Mishra, city magistrate, Noida.

Residents have been complaining to the authorities about dust pollution in their areas. Apart from that, the administration has also sent notices to 12 more developers to reply within a week to avoid any punitive action.

However, developers claim that the construction ban at night and the strict environmental law is threatening to delay their projects. Most of the fine was for not covering the construction site. Also, the authorities come any time to check and incidents of harassment have also increased in the name of inspection. There is already so much pressure on us to complete the project on time. This will lead to many project delays, said an executive with Ajnara Developers.Abhijit Mulye By

Express News Service

The Mumbai Trans Harbor Link (MTHL), also known as the Sewri-Nhava Sheva bridge, is a classic example of how mega infrastructure projects can get delayed for a mind-boggling number of reasons. The idea for the link was first mooted in 1963 by Wilber Smith and Associates when they were commissioned the task of transportation and traffic planning for Greater Mumbai. Named Uran Bridge then, the agency mooted the idea even as they were unsure of traffic and it was abandoned in 1981 after the success of Vashi Bridge connecting Mankhurd and Vashi in Navi Mumbai.

The proposal was revived only in 2004 after Navi Mumbais development moved into top gear and even the two bridges between Mankhurd and Vashi began seeming inadequate for smooth traffic flow. Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) moved a proposal to build the link, but again, for mysterious reasons, the proposal went back into cold storage.

In 2005, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) began inviting fresh bids for the project. A consortium of Anil Ambani-led Reliance Energy (REL) and Hyundai Engineering Construction Company quoted a concession period of 9 years 11 months against 75 years quoted by Mukesh Ambanis Sea King Infrastructure. MSRDC deemed both bids by the Ambanis as unrealistic, ending the process inconclusively in 2008.

Though the bids were invited again in 2008, the feud between the ruling Congress and the NCP resulted in none of the 13 companies who had shown interest turn up to submit bids. Around this time, responsibility for the project was transferred from the MSRDC to the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA). Three years later in 2011, MMRDA appointed consultants for techno-feasibility studies for a Public-Private Partnership (PPP).

The Sewri-Nhava Sheva bridge crosses the Thane creek (Photo | EPS)

Things started moving faster after 2012. Environment clearances had lapsed, and another year had to be spent until they were re-issued in 2012. The Department of Economic Affairs recommended granting Rs 1,920 crore for the project, and Coastal Regulation Zone clearances arrived in 2013 with a nod from the Centre. However, the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) now wanted the link to be constructed at a height of 51 meters instead of 25 meters to enable movement of huge ships. In parallel, bidders shortlisted in 2012 started withdrawing owing to government apathy and the model was scrapped.

In 2013, the MMRDA decided to go ahead on a cash-contract basis with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) expressing interest in funding the project. In June, 2014, JNPT also agreed to pick up a stake. After the BJP came to power, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis made it a priority. However, time was lost when Union Ports minister Nitin Gadkari favored an underground link while Fadnavis supported the traditional design. However, after the clearances arrived from the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) and the forest department, and JICA agreed to extend a loan of 80 per cent of cost, and the foundation stone was finally laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Dec 24, 2016.

Environmental activists however, had been crying foul over the effect on the Sewri mud-flats which attract migratory flamingos and the alignment was consequently changed and construction began in April 2018. Currently, around 10 per cent of the 21.8 km long 6-lane freeway grade road bridge is completed, with the project cost expected to hit Rs 13,400 crore.Anuradha Shukla By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: After the Ethiopian police took into custody three Indian officials working on a project being executed by a subsidiary of the beleaguered Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS), an alert government is looking at all the current projects of the firms overseas subsidiaries.

After seven IL&FS employees first complained of being held in captivity, the company said it has sought permission to transfer funds abroad to settle dues. Non-payment of wages and taxes has threatened not only Indian officials working on the project, but also turned an image and credibility issue for the country.

To take stock of the situation, the government has called for an urgent meeting to discuss the status of 150 overseas IL&FS projects that have been facing uncertainty ever since the company got into debt defaults and its old Board was ultimately sacked and superseded by a new one appointed by the government to find a resolution plan under the National Company Law Tribunal.

According to two separate sources, local police in Ethiopia have taken into custody three Indian officials of the infrastructure company over non-payment. The situation is complicated. While the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) will be dealing with this crisis on an urgent basis, there are 150 overseas projects that are stuck for payment and whose fates are uncertain. We will be meeting the new Board to discuss it on a priority basis, so that no Ethiopia-like situation is repeated, a senior Corporate Affairs Ministry official told TNIE.

A significant part of IL&FS various businesses under offshore jurisdictions are part of its listed road arm IL&FS Transportation Networks Ltd (ITNL), which has operations with multiple layers of subsidiaries both in India and abroad, including Spain, US, Africa, UAE, Singapore and China.The new IL&FS Board led by Uday Kotak has admitted that sending funds is a challenge. In the current circumstances facing the ITNL and the Group, remittance of funds from ITNL (India Operations) to offshore projects is a challenge under the regulatory and legal framework in force, said the Boards report submitted to NCLT on Monday. The Board is already looking for buyers for some of the overseas projects.

The larger consensus is to sell off these projects. However, it will require a detailed roadmap and we will discuss it at length when we meet next. As far as Ethiopia crisis is concerned, the MEA is working to resolve it, the official added. Apart from ITNL, IL&FS is also mulling divesting stakes in IIPL USA LLC, its O&M subsidiary in the US. The ministry has admitted that selling projects are easier said than done.

Board recommends slashing manpower by 65% to cut cost

New Delhi: In order to rationalise the expenditure of the debt-ridden IL&FS, the newly appointed Board has recommended slashing two-thirds of its total manpower and cut salaries of its staff. Several other initiatives are being initiated and that will bring down total manpower of the IL&FS Group by approximately 65 per cent and wage cost by 50 per cent respectively, the Board said in its second report submitted to NCLT on Monday. The companys annual wage bill is H1,066 crore, according to a filing.Rashmi Belur By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: Students looking to pursue management courses under Bangalore University will have to study a foreign language compulsorily from the coming academic year. Considering the numerous job opportunities for the ones knowing at least one foreign language, the Board of Studies (BOS) for management courses has decided to introduce one foreign language at the postgraduate level.

According to senior professors, there are plenty of job opportunities in countries like Germany, Japan and France for management graduates. The only reason our students are getting rejected from international companies, is their lack of communication skills in the official language of that particular country, said Prof K Janardhanam, head of Canara Bank School of Management.

As per the decision, students will be provided with options to choose anyone in three foreign languages. It has been decided to introduce German, Japanese and French. Of the three, students must choose one, said Janardhanam. Even now, the university offers foreign languages, but it is optional. Whereas, from next academic year, students will have to choose a language for 1st and 3rd semesters. However, this will not carry any credit.

Several students had got rejected in their final level during campus placements. Majority of the companies that take part in our placement process are based in Germany, France and Japan. These companies expect students to have basic communication skills in the language of their country, he said. According to authorities, the foreign language will be part of their compulsory paper on Employability skills and Language Learning, which is going to be introduced for 1st and 3rd semester from 2019-20 academic year.

Meanwhile, the university is planning to approach authorities to recruit teachers. We are thinking of approaching Alliance Francaise and other management institutes to hire foreign language faculties. The university also has a foreign languages department and we will approach them as well, he added.By Express News Service

BELAGAVI: Sagar Patil, son of former MLA of Belagavi South Sambhajirao Patil was killed after he accidentally lost balance and fell down from a railway overbridge at Yeshwantpura in Bengaluru on Monday late hours. He was 47.

According to sources, Patil had been to Bengaluru for some court work and was returning to Belagavi along with his supporters via Rani Channamma Express. He is said to have lost balance while passing through railway overbridge and fell down. His supporters who had accompanied him were unaware about the accident.

Railway police who rushed to the spot checked the mobile phone of Patil and called those with whom he was in regular touch. Police informed them that Patil was killed on the spot in that accident. According to sources, some persons who had accompanied Patil at Bengaluru were returning to Belagavi by bus.

But Patil had booked a railway ticket for a train starting from Yeshwantpura. After police intimated about the accident, the persons who were traveling to Belagavi through bus returned to Yeshwantpura.Madhumitha Viswanath By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Residents of Shenoy Nagar have sprung into action after news spread that the Thiru Vi Ka Park in their locality will not be restored and will not be open to the public anytime soon due to prolonged work by Chennai Metro Rail. A petition on Change.org created two weeks ago by residents has been signed by 706 people so far to stop the construction of the underground multi-level parking and shopping complex.

The park was to be thrown open to the public after an underground stretch from Thirumangalam to Nehru Park became functional in 2017. But, as the new plan of constructing a parking facility came into play, officials informed residents that the park will be restored only by 2020. A month ago, more trees were felled on the periphery of the park for this.

So far 138 trees have been felled across the 8.8-acre park since it was closed in 2011. Local residents are appalled, questioning the necessity of having a mall in a locality like Anna Nagar which already has two. How will trees grow if the entire area below the park is going to be filled with concrete? Officials promised us that they will restore the park. But a park without trees is only an ornamental one, said a resident.

A month ago, before the construction began, officials had inspected all houses around the park, said locals. They entered my house and took pictures of all the rooms and walls. When asked why, they told us that this was only a routine check. We are all very scared that our walls will develop cracks and weaken the entire building, said another resident.

Members from the Shenoy Nagar Residents Welfare Association were called for a meeting by CMRL officials on Friday, said a resident. We are planning an awareness walk to tell people about the ill-effects of this so-called development project, said a member.

An official from CMRL said that 34 trees have been transplanted and 2,500 saplings have been planted so far. Restoration works are in progress and saplings are planted according to the Miyawaki technique. We have prepared a blueprint in such a way that a minimum number of trees will have to be taken down. The other parks in the city closed due to metro work are being restored too. Nehru Park will be opened in a few weeks, said an official. Three other parks including Nehru Park in Egmore, May Day Park in Chintadripet and Ramulu Park have been closed since 2011.SV Krishna Chaitanya By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: IIT Madras was heavily trolled on social media on Tuesday for shaming and fining one of its students for using condoms in his hostel room inside the campus.

Following Express report on IIT Madras hostel notice board putting-up details of a student's 'used condoms' and charging Rs 5,000 as fine, which went viral, netizens came out in support of the student for doing the right thing.

As per the hostel rules and regulations prescribed in Office of Hostel Management (OHM), use of condoms is not prohibited. However, there is an 'unofficial' ban imposed by hostel offices and the vigilance staff often conduct surprise checks in men's hostels looking for condoms, students rued.

A female student said though OHM permits girl students of IIT Madras to visit the rooms of boy's student for 'academic' purpose till 9 pm, vigilance staff barge-in and make uncomfortable remarks. "Recently, a girl went to a boy's room just slept-off for some time and boy was working on his laptop when vigilance staff visited. They called the girls' parents and complained. The incident has shattered the girl."

Meanwhile, the institute continues to be in denial that no such details of the student were put on the notice board. But, the students have shared more evidence with Express and said the details were put out last week and removed only on Monday. The letter is undersigned by Brahmaputra hostel warden. A vigilance staff A Baskaran was the one who raised the complaint against the student.

Healthcare experts argue that India has spent millions of rupees over a 20-year period through NACO  National AIDS control Program aimed also at Condom Promotion and reducing newer STI/HIV infections - this banning condom and naming and shaming students, who might have used condoms for multiple reasons, appears totally to be the opposite.

Dr V Sam Prasad, Country Program Director at AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), said: The HIV programs all over the world demonstrate that condom programming does not cause individuals to have Sex - but do reduce rates of STIs, unwanted pregnancies and abortions. While a lack of access to condoms might lead students to employ other approaches to reduce the risk of pregnancy, Condoms remain the best available option to prevent STIs/HIV, outside of abstinence, he said and added that AHF offers to install condom kiosks in campuses or hostels.

Experts say the challenge is to bring down the stigma associated with condoms and promote its use and choose healthy options above fake morality rants.

Another student fined Rs 13,000

Brahmaputra hostel office has slapped a whopping Rs 13,000 as fine for having two unauthorised guests in room, besides having whisky and cigarettes in his room.

Students say there is no standard fine. "It all goes by whims and fancies by hostel warden. Alcohol and cigarettes would attract a minimum fine of Rs 8,000 and can go up to Rs 20,000. Our hostel fees for one semester is around Rs 20,000!".Madhumitha Viswanath By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Around 1,500 private sewage tankers plying to southern parts of Chennai are on an indefinite strike once again. However, this time they are striking against the citys Metro Water Boards decision to increase the price for the discharge of one load of sewage from `100 to `250 in the Perungudi treatment plant. The private tankers have stopped service since Monday afternoon.

Two months ago, the city was almost brought to a standstill when private water tankers went on strike for about three days. The reasons for the strike then were the restrictions imposed by the Madras High Court on the extraction of groundwater from over-exploited areas.Residents living along OMR once again find themselves in a fix due to their dependence on private tankers for water and sewage clearance. The tanker driver who comes to my apartment informed me yesterday about the strike.

Yet again, we residents are left to face the backlash of the governments incapacity to provide us such basic amenities. Metro Water has been promising for four years now to provide us with a water and sewage system. But this remains only on paper, said Harsha Koda, coordinator of Federation of OMR Resident Associations (FOMRRA).The reason for the strike now is the hike in the charges collected from the private tankers from the Perungudi Sewage Treatment plant.

The plant is the sole main point of discharge for these tankers, which collect sewage from hotels, multi-storeyed apartment complexes and households from Tambaram, Guduvancherry, Medavakkam, Jaladarampet and along the OMR and ECR stretches. For the past five years, each tanker carrying one load of 6,000 to 9,000 litres of sewage was charged `100 to discharge wastewater into the plant for treatment.

But since the first week of November, the price to discharge one load was hiked to `250 said Ravi D, member of Private Sewage Tanker Lorry Association. We collect `500 from residents and most of it is spent on the driver and cleaners salary and on fuel expenses. This increase is too steep and is not feasible for us. When we spoke to Metro Water officials, they refused to lower the prices and did not give a reason for the sudden hike, he said.

Private tankers now charge `500-`600 to pump out sewage from septic tanks of apartments and hotels which arent connected to the underground drainage system. If these discharge prices are increased, association members said they will have to charge residents `750-`800. In one day, each tanker makes a minimum of 10 trips to the STP. If the prices are increased each lorry will have to pay an extra of `1,500. We will prolong the strike until the government reduces the discharge rate, said N Nijalingam, president of South Chennai Private Water Tanker Lorry Association.

Metro Water officials confirmed the hike in prices and said that it was a long-pending revision in prices. It is unlikely that these prices will be brought down. For five years and more, prices were not increased. Once the underground sewage line is functional by March along OMR, people will not have to depend on private tankers to dispose of wastewater anymore, said the official.

Increase in prices

Private tankers charge `500-`600 to pump out sewage apartments not connected to the underground drainage system. If prices are increased, residents will have to pay `750-`800.By PTI

NEW DELHI: Reacting to a charge sheet filed by the CBI against Delhi minister Satyendar Jain in a disproportionate assets case, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said Monday residents of unauthorised colonies would give a reply to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the future polls.

Kejriwal reiterated the charge that the case was registered against Jain for making a scheme for regularisation of unauthorised colonies in Delhi.

READ| Court discharges Arvind Kejriwal, six others in 2012 rioting case outside Manmohan Singh's residence

"This case was registered against Satyendar Jain by Modi ji, for the offence of making scheme to regularise unauthorised colonies in Delhi. Residents of these colonies will give a reply to Modi ji this time," he tweeted in Hindi.

The CBI has filed a charge sheet against the Delhi health minister, his wife and a few others in a disproportionate assets case, officials said Monday.

The move comes days after the Ministry of Home Affairs granted CBI the sanction to prosecute Jain in a case registered by the central probe agency in August last year for allegedly acquiring assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.Abhijit Mulye By

Express News Service

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena leader and minister for environment in the Maharashtra cabinet Ramdas Kadam on Tuesday demanded a thorough inquiry into the forest fire which broke out Monday night, putting the city's green lungs at grave risk.

"We suspect that the fire was a manmade disaster and anti-social elements need to be checked to prevent such incidents. I shall discuss the issue in detail with forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar and urge him to order a detailed inquiry into the incident, which poses an existential threat to the city's lungs," Kadam said.

The blaze, which was reported to the fire brigade around 6.30 pm on Monday, was eventually doused around 12.30 pm on Tuesday, fire brigade officials said. Over a 100 firemen participated in the operation. The fire spread to an area spanning 3.5 km and was escalated to level III.

"Fortunately, the fire was outside the National park limits. However, 40 of our men were involved in the firefighting operations," said Anwar Ahmed, Chief Conservator of Forest of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP).

"We have taken several measures to prevent fires from spreading to the SGNP limits and are actively engage in sensitization of the population on the forest boundary to avoid accidental fires every year," Ahmed said, adding that efforts would be stepped up in the days to come to protect this 16 sq km green space.

According to Prof Haripriya Gundimeda, who is studying the ecological parameters of these green lungs of the city, "In the core area of SGNP the presence of most lethal of the pollutants like PM 10 and PM 2.5 was found to have decreased to almost one third compared to the areas on the boundary of the forest."

This shows the worth of this forest and its need for the city.

However, activists have said that the fires are many times lit by the miscreants. According to the political parties like the Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra Navanirman Sena (MNS) the fires are a systematic attempt to encroach upon the prestigious land in the area. That is the reason why local workers of both the parties staged demonstrations at Goregaon on Tuesday. These parties have also been opposing the Metro car shade that is to come up in the Aarey colony.

The fires around this time of the year are a regular occurrence but it was, for the first time, that a fire grew so large and almost risked everything, said environment activist Shardul Bajikar.

The pictures and videos of the fire went viral over social media and were being compared with the forest fires elsewhere. However, the MMRCL had recently reiterated its claim in the Bombay high court that the Aarey Milk Colony, that has over 2,702 trees was not a forest.Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi hailed on Tuesday Egypt's cooperation with French aerospace company Dassault Aviation, which manufactured Egypt's Rafale fighter aircraft.

The president stressed Egypt's keenness to maintain and develop cooperation with the French company given its unique expertise in the aeronautics industry.

President El-Sisi's comments were made at a meeting with Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier, which was attended by Defence Minister Mohamed Zaki and the head of General Intelligence Abbas Kamel, presidency spokesman Bassam Radi said on Tuesday.

Trappier praised Egypt's efforts in maintaining stability and security in the Middle East, highlighting the vital role the country plays in international anti-terrorism efforts.

Trappier also expressed his company's appreciation for the cooperation with Egypt, affirming its keenness to enhance this cooperation and help Egypt upgrade its military capabilities.

Egypt has made several purchases of French military hardware in recent years.

In April 2017, Egypt received three Dassault Aviation-built Rafale fighter jets from France, the third batch from a deal signed in 2015. The deal involves the sale of 24 Rafale jets and a FREMM (Fregate Europeenne Multi-Missions) multipurpose frigate.

The most recent purchase was a Gowind 2500 Corvette naval vessel, which arrived in Alexandria in October 2017.

The vessel is one of four such models purchased by Egypt in a deal signed in 2014.

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By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Police Association (KPOA) will shoulder the expenses of police officers who are waging legal battle after being arraigned on the basis of private petitions filed while discharging their duties. KPOA secretary C R Biju said a lot of officers had to shell out money from their pockets to fight legal battle that arose while discharging their duty honestly.

Now the officers need not worry about legal expenses as the KPOA will take care of it. All that the officers need to do is to submit the receipt of the lawyers fee with the Police Welfare Bureau, he said in a statement.

Biju said such private petitions and the protracted legal battle demoralise the officers. Cases have been made against several officers, including S P Yathish Chandra, who had gone to enforce the Supreme Court verdict, he said.The KPOA secretary also made it clear that the help would be available only for those officers who had to face private petitions while carrying out their duty.By IANS

LONDON: "The Lord of the Rings" fame actor Andy Serkis has defended actress Scarlett Johansson, who got dropped from the film "Rub & Tug" in which she was going to play a transgender following backlash from the LGBT community.

In an interview to Variety, Serkis said: "Actors should be able to play anything, and that's why I love performance capture technology.

"What should be the point is that whatever colour your skin is, whatever shape you are, whatever height you are, whatever your make-up is as an actor, you should have the ability to play anything."

So, in the wake of the backlash, Johansson dropped out of the film and a replacement is yet to be announced, reported metro.co.uk.

It's not the first time Johansson has got into trouble with her casting in a role. She was earlier accused of the film "Ghost In The Shell" when she was controversially cast as Major Motoko Kusanagi, a character who was Japanese in the original series that the film was based on.By IANS

MUMBAI: Actress Taapsee Pannu says she is excited to take her films "Mulk" and "Manmarziyaan" to the festival audiences in Marrakesh and Florence.

Taapsee tweeted on Monday night: "After whirlwind like crazy weeks I am finally off to a work holiday. While I show my two beautiful gems of this year, 'Mulk' and 'Manmarziyaan' to the festival audience, I shall enjoy visiting the unticked cities of Marrakesh and Florence in my bucket list."

While "Mulk" is about a Muslim family trying to reclaim its lost honour, "Manmarziyaan" is a love story set in Punjab.

Taapsee will next be seen on the silver screen in "Badla" along with megastar Amitabh Bachchan.V Nilesh By

Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Washing ones hands is arguably the most basic of personal hygiene measures, but unfortunately, this step seems to be often ignored at newborn care units and labour rooms, putting at risk the immunity of babies already suffering from poor health.

A study by Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) found hand hygiene compliance in wards at specialised newborn care units (SNCU) and neonatal intensive care units (NICU) to be as low as 23 per cent. The report also states healthcare workers coming in direct contact with blood and bodily fluids in newborn care units have a compliance of 14 per cent.

The adherence to hand hygiene is much lower in government hospitals -- a shocking 12 per cent, whereas in private hospitals it was an unsatisfactory 44 per cent.

The study titled Hand hygiene in hospitals: an observational study in hospitals from two southern states of India was conducted at 52 secondary and tertiary hospitals in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh by researchers from PHFI in association with researchers from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm.

Dr Samiksha Singh, associate professor at Indian Institute of Public Health blamed the abysmal figures on the absence of strict regulation and the non-availability of wash areas and alcohol-based hand sanitisers at hospitals. But the biggest issue is attitude problem because in many places it was observed that even when hand wash facility or the hand sanitisers were available, staffers would forget to use the facility.

Someone senior in the unit can on a regular basis monitor how many in the newborn care units are following hand hygiene rules, Singh said.SNCUs and NICUs have babies who are pre-term or immuno-compromised  already struggling to survive, poor hygiene can make them even more vulnerable, she said.Ejaz Kaiser By

Express News Service

RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh police in the strife-torn Bastar zone have devised a renewed strategy to step-up anti-Maoist operations after the region witnessed a largely peaceful assembly poll held the previous month.

The plan of action is equally aimed to corner the senior leaders of the left-wing extremists through tactical moves during the intensified operations. With the change of leadership in the outlawed CPI (Maoist) and the ongoing week-long People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) being observed by the naxals, the forces too have gone for a renewed action plan putting greater stress on joint combing and offensive operations.

The forces are carrying out combat operations against the Maoists for the past three decades in the conflict zone of Bastar, south Chhattisgarh. The troopers remain on high alert during the ongoing PLGA week from December 2-8, when the rebels hold meetings in villages, recruit locals and offer tributes to their comrades killed in the gun-battles.

"The change in the top leadership in the CPI Maoist is actually the consequences of internal bickering. 2018 saw the maximum damage inflicted on the rebels by the security forces in its 50 years of history when their maximum cadres were killed in the encounters. In the Central Committee of Maoists the resentment was brewing in recent years and it resulted in the removal of Ganapathy. In 1992 Kondapalli Sita Ramaiyya was removed in a similar fashion", deputy inspector general of police (south Bastar) Ratanlal Dangi told the Express.

Recently Ganapathy alias Muppala Laxmana Rao stepped down as general secretary of the banned organisation citing the health grounds and paved way for Basvaraju alias N Keshav Rao, who was in- charge of the Naxal's central military commission. According to the Bastar police the new general secretary of CPI (Maoist) Basavaraju, who hailed from Andhra has primarily focused his activities in the areas of south Chhattisgarh and adjoining border areas.

The rebels in their statement issued by the south sub-zonal bureau of CPI (Maoist) recently had admitted of losing their 65 fighters during the past one year in various encounters with the forces as they exhorted their cadres to observe the PLGA week with zeal and ardour. "The figures revealed by the naxals in their press statement is absolutely false. The forces have killed much more what they claimed. At least 125 bodies of Maoists were recovered during past one year. The naxals usually attempt to carry away their dead comrades after the gunfight", Dangi asserted.By PTI

THANE: Inspired by Akshay Kumar's film "Padman" which raised awareness about menstrual hygiene, a 13-year-old Dubai-based girl has adopted 250 girls from rural Maharashtra and donated sanitary napkins to them.

Riva Tulpule, whose family hails from Maharashtra, managed to collect funds for the cause in Dubai in the last couple of months.

She flew down to India last week and distributed about one-year stock of sanitary pads to girls from schools in Sahapur taluka on Saturday.

"I saw 'Padman' some months back and came to know about problems faced by girls during the days of their periods. I immediately decided to do something for girls living in villages in India, specially Maharashtra," she said.

The Class 8 student said she also discussed her idea with Konkan Graduate's constituency MLC Niranjan Davkhare during his visit to Dubai, and he encouraged her to take it forward.

Around Diwali time, Riva appealed to people in Dubai to donate money for the cause and within a short span, she managed enough sum to buy sanitary pads for 250 girls, she said.

The napkins were distributed by the teenager at a function organised by Davkhare's NGO 'Samanvay Pratishthan', which works for social causes.

Davkhare appreciated the girl's efforts to raise awareness about menstrual hygiene.

"Riva Tulpule a 8th Standard student from Dubai, this Diwali decided to do something special & took up an initiative to adopt 250 girls from rural Maharashtra and support them with full year of Sanitary Pads," the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator said in a tweet.By PTI

MUMBAI: NCP chief Sharad Pawar set tongues wagging Monday after he met former Congress leader Narayan Rane amid the speculation of the latter's possible return to the opposition-fold ahead of the 2019 general election.

Pawar, who is currently touring Sindhudurg district in the Konkan region of Maharashtra, visited former chief minister Rane's residence in Kankavli.

Rane, who has a strong support base in the Konkan region, had quit the Congress in September last year and floated a new party -- the Maharashtra Swabhimani Paksha.

He is currently a Rajya Sabha member backed by the ruling BJP.

Asked about the meeting, Rane's MLA son Nitesh, who too was present when the two senior leaders met, called it a "courtesy visit".

"He (Pawar) was heading towards Ratnagiri from Kankavli. He said he would come for tea, so he did," the legislator said, refusing to divulge any details.

However, a source said, "An informal discussion was held during the meeting on the current political scenario. Few more meetings between the two leaders may follow."

According to sources in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the option of fielding Rane from the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha constituency on a party ticket was currently being explored.

They claimed that Rane was upset with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) extending an olive branch to its alliance partner Shiv Sena ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Rane had left the Sena on a bitter note in 2005.

The sources also referred to Rane's latest criticism of the BJP-led central government over a range of issues.

"The BJP cajoling the Shiv Sena is not something that will go down well with Rane as he does not enjoy a good rapport with the Shiv Sena," a source said.

The Congress, which is in seat-sharing (for the LS polls) talks with other like-minded parties, including the NCP, does not have a strong candidate to field from the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg seat, currently represented in Parliament by Shiv Sena's Vinayak Raut, he added.

"The NCP too does not have a strong candidate there, but fielding Rane is a good option because of his winnability," the source said.

Given the practical reality, it was unlikely that Rane would go back to the Shiv Sena or the Congress, but could very well join the NCP, he added.By Online Desk

NEW DELHI: Christian Michel James, the alleged middleman in politically-sensitive Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland chopper deal, was brought to New Delhi late Tuesday night following his extradition by the UAE, the CBI said.

Michel, who is presently at the CBI headquarters at south Delhi's Lodhi Road area, will be produced before a designated CBI court where the investigative body will seek his remand to interrogate him in custody.

The agency took him under custody as soon as he arrived at the Indira Gandhi International Airport around 11 p.m. in a special aircraft, reported IANS. James, 57, was accompanied by some CBI, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Ministry of External Affairs officials, added the news agency.

The 16-seater jet carrying Michel reached the Palam airport, where officials completed Michel's immigration formalities. Michael's lawyer Rosemary Patrizi told NDTV that there are no evidences against him, and hoped that he will be delivered justice.

The ruling BJP said the extradition in the case from the UPA era is a diplomatic victory for India and could spell "serious trouble" for the Congress's "first family", referring to Gandhis.

It also asserted that the development was an unequivocal affirmation of the Narendra Modi government's "seriousness in fighting corruption".

The operation code-named 'Unicorn' was carried out under the guidance of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and being coordinated by interim CBI Director M Nageswar Rao, the CBI spokesperson said.

READ| VVIP chopper scam: HC seeks reply from Centre, ED on woman director's plea against summons

A team of the agency's officers led by Joint Director Sai Manohar was in Dubai to bring him back, it said.

The agency said that Michel has been brought back to India after completion of the extradition process.

The UAE government had cleared the extradition of 57-year-old Michel after his appeal against the move was turned down by a court there.

His alleged involvement in the chopper deal surfaced in 2012 as a middleman for swinging the deal in favour of AgustaWestland and for making illegal payment of commissions or kickbacks to the Indian authorities, CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said.

Michel was wanted for investigation but he escaped and had avoided joining the probe, he said.

A charge sheet was filed against him in September last year.

"An open non-bailable arrest warrant dated September 24, 2015, was issued by the special judge, CBI cases, Patiala House Courts, New Delhi," he said.

On the basis of this warrant, a Red Corner Notice was issued by the Interpol which led to his arrest in Dubai in February 2017, he said.

It was not immediately clear whether Michel would be kept in a safe house or in the CBI headquarters itself for the night before being produced in a court.

"Michel, who has been avoiding criminal proceedings in India in the AgustaWestland case, is being extradited by the UAE authorities to India.

"Under the guidance of Ajit Doval, the National Security Advisor (NSA), the entire operation is being coordinated by the in-charge Director of CBI, M Nageswara Rao," he said.

Michel was behind bars in Dubai since he was arrested and sent to custody pending the legal and judicial procedure in the UAE.

The Dubai Court of Cassation had earlier dismissed the two objections filed by Michel's lawyers and upheld the appellate court's decision to consider the possibility of extraditing him to the competent Indian authorities.

It was alleged that he had entered into a criminal conspiracy with co-accused persons, which included the then IAF chief SP Tyagi and his family members, and the public servants had abused their official positions by reducing service ceiling of the VVIPs helicopter from 6,000 metres to 4,500 metres.

The reduction in ceiling made AgustaWestland eligible for contract worth 556.262 million Euros, which was awarded to it by the Defence Ministry on February 08, 2010, for procurement of 12 VVIP helicopters.

He has been alleged to be a "historical consultant" of the AgustaWestland helicopters in the UK with technical operational knowledge of the aircraft, the military bases and the pilots, the CBI spokesperson said in a statement.

Michel worked with the company since the 1980s and before that his father had also been a consultant of the company for the Indian territory, the statement said.

He was allegedly a frequent visitor to India and was operating as a middleman for defence procurement through a wide network of sources cultivated in the IAF and the Defence Ministry at different levels, including through retired and serving IAF officials, the agency said.

Michel allegedly shared the information collected from the IAF and the ministry with his associates, who used to transmit the despatches through fax to other counterparts sitting in Italy and Switzerland, the CBI said.

"He was updating and informing the management of Finmeccanica and AgustaWestland, namely Giuseppe Orsi and Bruno Spagnolini and others, about his efforts in India for securing supply contract of VVIP Helicopters," the statement said.

In July 2006, AgustaWestland's commercial manager Renzo Lunardi had proposed that Michel will join other middlemen Ralph Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa in carrying out "scouting and monitoring activities" with regard to the acquisition of helicopters in India, keeping in view of his "knowledge of Indian military operational mechanism", it said.

During that meeting in Italy, they had negotiated a comprehensive fee equal to 7 per cent of the supply contract amount to cover the expenses and their payments.

Michel allegedly entered into 12 contracts through two of his firms -- London-based Global Trade and Commerce and Dubai-based Global Services FZE -- with Finmeccanica to camouflage and legitimise the alleged bribe received by him for clinching the deal, the CBI said.

With inputs from agenciesHarpreet Bajwa By

Express News Service

CHANDIGARH: Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday acquitted former Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandak Committee (SGPC) chief Bibi Jagir Kaur and co-accused in her daughter Harpreet Kaurs murder case.

Kaur was sentenced to five years imprisonment by a Patiala Special Court on March 30, 2012, holding her guilty of forceful abortion and illegal confinement. She had appealed against the trial court order in high court in November 2012. Kaur who had to resign as the cabinet minister after her conviction, could not contest last years assembly elections.

Pronouncing the order the division bench of Justice AB Chaudhari and Justice Kuldip Singh allowed her appeal and set aside the order of Special CBI Court in Patiala which had imposed five years imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 5,000. "All appeals filed by the convicted accused are allowed. They are acquitted of all charges. The judgement of the trial court is set aside. Appeals filed by the CBI and complainant are dismissed," the bench stated.

The judgment in the case was reserved in October by the division bench. Both Kaur and the CBI have filed appeals in the high court. Kaur has moved the high court through senior advocate JS Bedi.

Bedi said, "Jagir Kaurs appeal has been allowed and acquitted of all charges. CBIs appeal seeking conviction for murder has been dismissed."

Earlier the trial court had held, "The prosecution has been able to prove that accused Dalwinder Kaur Dhesi, Paramjit Singh Raipur and Nishan Singh abducted Harpreet Kaur who was a major by deceitful means. A conspiracy was hatched for terminating Harpreets pregnancy with accused Jagir Kaur. However, because the political and social status of Kaur was to be safeguarded at all costs, the latter distanced herself from the process of executing the conspiracy and accused Dalwinder Kaur Dheshi, Paramjit Singh Raipur and Nishan Singh, along with approver Dr Balwinder Singh Sohal, took upon themselves to accomplish the object of conspiracy by keeping Jagir Kaur informed of the developments from time to time.

The apex agency had been claiming that the trial Judge failed to appreciate that Harpreets death was homicidal and committed a grave error in law in not giving a finding that the death was under mysterious circumstances.

The CBI in its appeal has stated that Harpreet was abducted on March 18, 2000, from Chandigarh after being sedated. She was confined at her trusted friend Dalwinder Kaur Dhesi's residence in Jasdil Mansion at Phagwara. Her pregnancy was terminated against her will on March 20, 2000, at Kartarpur by Dhesi who was Kaurs political confidant Paramjeet Singh and approver Dr Balwinder Singh Sohal.

The CBI had claimed that the trial judge committed a grave error in disbelieving Sohal's testimony as far as the conspiracy to murder was concerned while believing his witness regarding conspiracy to kidnap, wrongfully confining Harpreet and terminating the pregnancy.

Police sources said that Kaurs daughter 19-year old Harpreet had reportedly been in a relationship with one 21-year Kamaljit Singh of Begowal in Kapurthala district. She was then the president of the SGPC and had opposed their marriage and on April 20, 2000, she was killed. It was on Kamaljits plea that the high court had ordered a CBI probe. Harpreet was reportedly cremated in a hurry without any post-mortem and Kamajit had alleged that it was Kaur who had conspired to murder her daughter.By PTI

HANUMANGRAH: Prime Minister Narendra Modi used the Kartarpur corridor linking Pakistan to India to hit out at the Congress on Tuesday and said the party will have to answer why this was not done 70 years ago.

Addressing an election rally here ahead of the elections in the state on December 7, he said Kartarpur went to Pakistan due to the lack of vision and sensitivity of then Congress leaders.

ALSO READ: Kartarpur corridor, yes. Talks, no, says India

The foundation stone for the much-awaited corridor linking Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur - the final resting place of Sikh faith's founder Guru Nanak Dev - to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Gurdaspur district was laid last week.

According to Modi, Kartarpur is in Pakistan today because then Congress leaders had no idea about the importance of Guru Nanak Dev and had no respect for Sikh sentiments.

ALSO READ: Imran rakes up Kashmir issue at Kartarpur, India reacts sharply

"The credit of the Kartarpur corridor goes to your vote. Correcting Congress mistakes was my destiny," he said at the rally. The headlines five years ago were about corruption and scams, the prime minister said.

"Have you seen any news of this kind in the last five years," he asked. Focussing on farmers and their problems, he said his government wants to make farmers "energy givers" and asked them to install solar panels, use drip irrigation and other modern methods of farming.

"The naamdar does not know the difference between red and green chillies," he said, hitting out at Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who he has often referred to as "naamdar" (dynast).

"If you tell him that farmers are getting high prices for red chilli as compared to green chilli, he'll say farmers should grow red chillies," he said, alleging that the Congress was responsible for the pain of farmers.Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi discussed with Sudanese Defence Minister Awad Mohammed bin Auf military cooperation, border control, as well as combating organised crime, terrorism and irregular migration on Tuesday, a statement by presidential spokesperson Bassam Rady said.

The meeting comes on the sidelines of Egypt's first defence expo EDEX 2018, which kicked off on Monday and will last until Wednesday.

El-Sisi praised the distinguished Egyptian-Sudanese relations and the deep historical ties between the two countries, and he stressed the importance of maintaining peace and security in the region and the African continent.

The Egyptian president also pointed out the importance of military cooperation and the exchange of experiences between the armed forces of both countries in training, security cooperation, intelligence, and military manufacturing.

The Sudanese defence minister conveyed to El-Sisi the greetings of Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir, stressing the strong relations between the two countries and Sudan's keenness to enhance joint cooperation with Egypt in all fields, especially in security and militarily.

The meeting was attended by Egypt's Defence Minister Mohammad Zaki and Intelligence Chief Abbas Kamel, as well as Sudan's ambassador to Cairo.

The Sudanese minister hailed Egypt's efforts in organising EDEX 2018.

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Kanu Sarda By

Express News Service

With an aim to decriminalise politics, the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed constitution of special courts in each district of Bihar and Kerala for the trial of pending criminal cases against present and former MPs and MLAs.The direction came after the court was told that there are 4,122 criminal cases pending, some for over three decades, against sitting and former members of Parliament and legislative assemblies while 1,675 are against former lawmakers.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph passed the directions for setting up of special courts in every district of the two states and also sought reports from both Patna and Kerala high courts by December 14.The court also directed the special courts to take up life-term cases on a priority while hearing pending matters against MPs and MLAs.

Tuesdays direction from the top court is a departure from its earlier focus on special courts in each state to try cases involving politicians. The apex court has asked each High Court to assign/allocate criminal cases involving former and sitting legislators to as many Sessions Courts and Magisterial Courts as each High Court may consider proper, fit and expedient and said, Would be a more effective step instead of concentrating all the cases involving former and sitting legislators in Special Court(s) in the district.

The court was hearing a PIL filed by lawyer and BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay seeking a life-time ban on politicians convicted in criminal cases.Senior advocate Vijay Hansaria who is assisting the court as amicus curiae in the case had filed the data received from states and high courts.As per the data, there are 264 cases in which trial has been stayed by high courts and in several cases, which have been pending since 1991, charges have not yet been framed.

Highlighting state-wise details of cases in which there has been delay of proceedings, the report said that in Uttar Pradesh all 992 cases have been transferred to the special court for MPs and MLAs at Allahabad, both heard by Sessions judge as well as Magistrate.In Andhra Pradesh, 38 out of total 109 cases and in Telangana 66 out of total 99 cases have been transferred to special courts headed by Sessions judges.By Online Desk

In the midst of increasing threats via air and sea, the government is planning to set up a 'surgical strike' unit comprising the best soldiers recruited from the three branches of the armed forces, said senior government officials.

As per an NDTV report, this unit will undertake surprise attacks deep inside enemy territory with precision, inflicting maximum damage and leaving the battle area in the shortest time. The strategy will be more lethal than the cross-border strike carried out by the country's special forces in September 2016 as the government plans to use the air force in future operations.

"The government feels the need for a special group with enhanced skills, so a unit having the best officers from all the three branches of the armed forces is being planned," said the official, who wished to be anonymous.

A pet project of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, the new commando group will have soldiers from Garuds, Marcos and Paras -- the special forces of the Air Force, Navy and Army respectively. Their skills must be on par with the US Navy Seals as they are required to manoeuvre in different terrains.

The force is being set up in the wake of regular infiltration attempts and ceasefire violations by Pakistani forces. "It's also a tactic of psychological warfare to put the enemy under stress," the official said.

"The team, which will be working under the direct orders of the Chief of Army Staff, will have two groups  planning which will have 96 members and assault which will consist of 124," he said, with the cabinet committee being notified.

Like every international special force, the assault group will have two sub-units, namely attack and support units, to ensure a smooth operation with flawless coordination.

Apart from having top fighting skills, the attack unit will be trained in field craft such as reading hi-tech maps and coordinating with air support. The support group will have local knowledge of the target area and can provide intelligence inputs to the assault unit.

"It's going to be a unified unit. And this group will have soldiers who have experience in handling counter-insurgency situations," the official said.

With a separate budget, the government temporarily plans to use any appropriate infrastructure to maintain this force, whose name is not yet known.By PTI

BHOPAL: Union minister and Jhansi MP Uma Bharti on Tuesday said the lynching of a police officer in Bulandshar by a mob on a rampage over suspicions of cow slaughter, was shocking and unfortunate.

"The incident needs to be probed in depth and it's good that the Yogi government has already assigned the case to a Special Investigation Team (SIT)," she said.

She also reiterated on Tuesday that she won't contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, but would, instead, focus on the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya and ensuring a clean Ganga.

Just a few days back, another union minister, the minister of external affairs and Lok Sabha member from MP's Vidisha seat Sushma Swaraj had announced in Indore that she won't contest the 2019 general elections owing to urgent health concerns.

Talking to journalists in Bhopal, Bharti, the former MP chief minister also expressed confidence that Shirvaj Singh Chouhan led BJP would come to power for the fourth time in MP, while PM Narendra Modi too would be given another chance by people of the country in 2019 polls.

Importantly, in February this year, Bharti had for the first time announced taking a break of three years from electoral politics for urgent health reasons and then also made it clear that she would neither contest the 2019 general elections nor get elected to the Rajya Sabha.

On Tuesday, while maintaining that her health had improved, Bharti, one of the frontal leaders of the Ram Temple movement said "I will focus the next year and half only for the cause of uninterrupted flow of clean Ganga river and the Ram temple construction. For that I would begin Ganga Pravas and Yatra from January 15 to create public awareness for the cause clean and uninterrupted flow of Ganga river," said Bharti.

While maintaining that she would be in politics till last breath of life, Bharti said "I won't contest the next Lok Sabha polls, but return to electoral polls after a year and half. During the year and half, when my sole focus would be Ram temple construction and the cause of river Ganga, I would also be available for the BJP to campaign in elections."

She also ruled out that any andolan (movement) was needed for Ram Temple construction in Ayodhya. "What is needed now is the construction of temple via consensus and dialogue among all political parties in the country. All political parties will have to sit together and decide that entire country will live in harmony only after the Ram temple is constructed in Ayodhya," said Bharti.

She also raised the issue of massive gathering of Muslims from across the globe at the Tablighi Ijtema in same Bulandshahar district. "Around 10-15 lakh people had gathered at the Tablighi Ijtema for which tents were erected in an area of 6-7 km. Entire gathering was kept secret and mysterious and even media personnel were not allowed entry into the conclave. It's alarming that the violence has happened in the same district while the Ijtema was still underway," said Bharti.By Online Desk

The UAE has given the green signal to India's request for the extradition of Christian James Michel, a Dubai-based Englishman wanted in India in connection with kickbacks in the VVIP chopper scam. Michel is likely to be brought to India in a flight at 9 pm on Tuesday night, according to a report.

The Dubai government has issued an administrative order for Michel's extradition after the highest court of Dubai rejected his plea on Monday.

ALSO READ | VVIP chopper scam: HC seeks reply from Centre, ED on woman director's plea against summons

Dubais Cassation Court had rejected Michels lawyer Bin Suwaidans argument that the case was politically motivated and that his client would be mistreated by the Indian authorities, and upheld the appellate courts decision.

Dubai government sources indicated that Indian government representatives have already been camping in the city for the past few days and are urging the authorities to extradite Michel. They have completed the legal formalities.

Michel will be formally arrested upon his arrival in Delhi and produced before a Delhi court in Patiala House where the prosecutors will seek his custodial interrogation.

ALSO READ | AgustaWestland VVIP choppers deal: Dubai court orders middleman Christian Michel's extradition

India had filed the extradition request before the Dubai Public Prosecution in February last year. Michel was arrested, and when the case came up for hearing in the Dubai court in July, he pleaded not guilty. In September, the Dubai Appeal Court approved the extradition request, but this too was challenged by Michels lawyers.

The UAE had ratified an extradition treaty with India in May 2013. Michel is alleged to have received 30 million euros as kickbacks in return for influencing Indian officials to sign off on the `3,600 crore AgustaWestland contract for 12 helicopters for VVIPs.By Express News Service

BHOPAL: The Ali Vs Bajrangbali speech by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, ahead of the November 28 assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, has triggered a resignation spree by Muslim leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the central Indian state.

Around 20 Muslim leaders and workers have resigned from their posts and primary membership of the party in Indore, which has long been considered a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-BJP stronghold.

Those who have sent their resignations to party leadership, include Indore BJP city executive member Haji Aman Memon, Irfan Mansoori (Indore Rural minority cell vice president), Danish Ansari (Indore city working committee member and office bearer of minority cell), Sonu Ansari (vice president of Maharana Pratap Mandal of Indore-IV assembly seat), Anis Khan and Riyaz Ansari (minority cell members in Indore district).

READ| Will Yogi government rejig quota system ahead of Lok Sabha polls?

While confirming the exits, state vice president of the BJPs minority cell Nasir Shah said, around 18-20 minority cell office-bearers and workers have quit from their post and also the party in the last three-four days over the speech by Yogi Adityanath.

They wanted to quit their posts immediately after the UP CM made the unholy utterances, but we convinced them not to resign in the middle of polling season, as it would have hurt the partys poll prospects ... said Shah.

Terming the development as ominous, Shah didnt rule out similar development in the coming days in districts adjoining Indore. Weve informed our top leadership in the state partys minority cell about the development and requested them to take up the matter with partys state and central leadership, said Shah.

Aman Memon, one the leaders who quit, confirmed that he had sent his resignation on Saturday, but it was yet to be accepted.

Ive been associated with the party for over a decade, while some others who have quit were BJP members even longer than me. Weve worked hard to make the party acceptable among our community in Indore and neighbourhood. But how can a senior party leader like Yogi Adityanath, who is the CM of politically the most crucial state make such irresponsible statements which hurt the sentiments of a particular community. Are we fighting polls on PM Modis development slogan Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas or attempting to win the polls by denigrating the religious faith of a particular community, said Memon on Tuesday.

After the UP CMs speech, mobilizing public support for our party among our community becomes like defending the indefensible. In a situation, where we can neither contribute to partys cause nor be able to revive peoples faith in the party, its better to quit the party posts and party, he added.By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court Tuesday sought response of the Centre and the ED on a plea by a woman director of two Dubai-based firms to set aside a trial court's order summoning her as an accused in a money laundering case related to the Rs 3,600 crore VVIP chopper scam.

A bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Sangita Dhingra Sehgal issued notice to the Centre and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking their stands on the petition.

The plea also sought the quashing of money laundering complaint against Shivani Rajiv Saxena as well as the third supplementary charge sheet, or prosecution complaint, filed by the agency in the case.

The court listed the plea for December 14, when it would also hear a similar petition by lawyer Gautam Khaitan who has also sought setting aside of the trial court's order summoning him as an accused in the money laundering case.

Saxena, represented through senior advocate Geeta Luthra, has also sought the court to declare the offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) as non-cognisable.

A cognisable offence is one for which a person can be arrested by a police officer without needing a warrant.

In case of a non-cognisable offence, a police officer requires a warrant to make an arrest.

The plea, filed through advocates Prateek Yadav and Shivani L Lohiya, has also challenged the power of arrest under Section 19 of the PMLA.

Saxena, director of Dubai-based UHY Saxena and Matrix Holdings, was arrested by the ED on July 16 last year and was granted bail by the high court on December 15, 2017. She was nabbed by the ED from Chennai. She and the companies have been charge-sheeted by the ED under various sections of the PMLA.

Saxena and her husband Rajiv Saxena are residents of Palm Jumeirah in Dubai.

The charge sheet contains her name and that of her husband, who is also a director in the two firms.

The ED has alleged that the two Dubai-based firms and Shivani Saxena were the ones through whom "the proceeds of crime have been routed and further layered and integrated in buying the immovable properties/ shares among others".

It has claimed that its probe found that AgustaWestland, United Kingdom, had "paid an amount of Euro 58 million as kickbacks.

The ED, in this case, had also arrested Khaitan, also a Delhi-based businessman, who is currently out on bail.

On January 1, 2014, India scrapped the contract with Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the IAF over alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of kickbacks to the tune of Rs 423 crore paid by the firm for securing the deal.A Surya Prakash By

Two recent judicial pronouncements including the judgment of a Delhi court awarding capital punishment to one accused and life imprisonment to another for their role in the barbaric killing of two Sikhs during the 1984 pogrom unleashed by the Congress are the first signals that even if 34 years have gone by, at least some of the perpetrators of the ghastly violence will be brought to book.

The Narendra Modi governments determination to bring the culprits in this macabre drama to book, its decision to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) for this purpose and the Supreme Courts sustained focus on the failure of the law and order machinery have begun yielding results.

In the first case, a murderous mob led by a Congress leader torched shops owned by Sikhs in the Mahipalpur area in Delhi and brutally assaulted and killed Hardev Singh and Avtar Singh, both in their twenties. That very day an FIR was registered against a leader of the Congress, but a Sessions Court acquitted him two years later. A second FIR was registered in 1993 but within a year, the Delhi Police filed a closure report claiming the accused were untraceable, despite the testimonies of family members and eyewitnesses. Success in this case became possible due to the governments decision to form a SIT in February 2015 to re-investigate such cases. The family is now determined to bring the Congress leader to book.

In the second case, the Delhi High Court upheld the convictions and sentences awarded to 70 persons, all part of a murderous mob that lynched 95 Sikhs in a most heinous manner in the Trilokpuri area of Delhi. The assault was so gruesome that 22 of these bodies remained unidentified. Shockingly, all the accused in this case of mass murder were awarded just five years of imprisonment by the trial court and many of them were on bail. The trial court delivered its verdict in August 1996 and the cases dragged on.

Stranger still, the then government did not appeal to a higher court seeking more severe punishment given the brutal acts committed by these persons. The matter came before the High Court only because the persons appealed against their convictions and sentences. While rejecting the appeals, the court had some harsh words to say about the attitude of the prosecution in this case. The police forces, and the civil administration, did not take timely or effective action to prevent the riotous conditions from spiralling out of hand, the court said.

The Nanavati Commission, which investigated the riots that broke out after the assassination of Indira Gandhi on 31 October 1984, did a far more thorough job than many previous inquiries, which were basically whitewash work. This commission found considerable evidence of the direct involvement of Congress leaders and workers and the complicity of the law enforcement agencies in the riots in Delhi. Describing the horrendous aftermath of the assassination, the commission said mobs were instigated to take revenge against Sikhs and were transported in Delhi Transport Corporation buses to localities where Sikhs were living in large numbers. The mobsters were given weapons and kerosene and petrol and they carried all this in DTC buses to specified locations. Then the savage assaults began.

The commission said it had received some material that indicated that Rajiv Gandhi, who had become prime minister soon after his mothers assassination, had told one of his officials, Yes we must teach them a lesson. The commission however did not pursue this because it found that the evidence in this behalf is very vague.

In light of all this evidence, the Narendra Modi governments efforts are indeed commendable. The government first constituted a committee headed by Justice G P Mathur in December 2014 to recommend measures to ensure justice for the victims of 1984. Acting on the recommendation of this committee, the Centre set up the Special Investigation Team in February 2015 to re-examine the closed cases.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court stepped in to enquire about the delay in prosecution in many cases. It constituted a supervisory panel of judges to examine the work of the SIT, and earlier this year decided to set up a three-member committee headed by a retired High Court judge to re-investigate 186 cases.

Reports from Germany indicate that even though 73 years have gone by since the end of World War II, efforts are still on to hunt down Nazis who were involved in the killing of Jews. Special efforts are on to track down three members of a Nazi mobile death squad called Einsatzgruppen, which killed over one million Jews. The suspects are over 90.

Such determination and honesty of purpose will be needed to track down and prosecute those who murdered thousands of Sikhs in 1984. Every case that was closed under Congress pressure must be re-opened and the political leaders who led the mobs must be brought to book. Only then will we be able to restore the faith of an aggrieved community in our Constitution and democratic way of life.

A Surya Prakash

Chairman, Prasar Bharati

Email: suryamedia@gmail.comIndias strategic autonomy came into sharp focus amidst the face-offs and fissures at the just-concluded G20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Originally planned as a mechanism to ensure that economic meltdowns like the one in 2008 do not take the world by surprise, the annual summit of 19 leading industrialised/emerging nations and the EU at times reflects the deep divides and conflicting priorities among its members, who account for over four-fifths of the global economy.

This year, the rifts, which went beyond economic issues and reflected bilateral tensions among the big powers, were on glaring display. The closing communique, arrived at after prolonged and at times heated exchanges, had no concrete promises, did not mention the threat of protectionism, and acknowledged Washingtons refusal to accept or battle climate change. Amidst all this, India managed to adroitly ensure that its strategic and economic interests were clearly articulated, even as it held two significant trilateral meetings with nations that dont see eye to eye. Also significant was PM Modis meeting with Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, who was cold-shouldered by many nations over the murder of a journalist in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, and Riyadhs military campaign in Yemen, in which hundreds of innocents have been killed.

The other leaders who had no qualms about meeting MbS, as the crown prince is popularly known, were Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. Modi held a trilateral meeting with Putin and Xi, the second such summit between the two in a dozen years, and another trilateral, the first, with US President Donald Trump and Japanese PM Shinzo Abe. The US has an ongoing trade war with China, and has imposed sanctions on Russia over alleged meddling in the US presidential elections. China and Japan dont get along. With these meetings, New Delhi has sent out a clear and important message: India will only act according to its own interests and not take sides.By Express News Service

KURNOOL/ANANTAPUR : Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan expressed sorrow over four Jana Sainiks, who were killed in a road accident near Dhone, while returning home after attending Jana Sena Kavathu in Anantapur on Sunday. The deceased were identified as Tadakala Hanumanna, Mala Madhu, Dasari Moulali and Harijana Madhu of Kurnool district.

A condolence meeting for the deceased was held at the Sri Seven function hall. A two-minute silence was observed in the Jana Sainiks memory. Addressing the meeting, Kalyan said the party would give `2 lakh each as help, including for funeral expenses, to the family members of the deceased. He recalled his words be careful while returning and be safe that he had spoken at the Kavathu. He declared that the party would help their families in future and not abandon them, he added.

I advise the party cadre to observe safety measures, while driving bikes and cars. I am here for your bright future. Any accident that occurs to you is a loss to the party and to your family members, which cannot be filled, he said.

Later, former minister Ravela Kishore Babu, who recently joined Jana Sena, handed over `25,000 to families of the each victim. The party will give another `1.75 lakh each as financial assistance. He said the party will also provide financial support to the family of the injured person, who is undergoing treatment at Kurnool Government General Hospital (GGH). Later, he visited Dhone GGH where the doctors conducted post-mortem of the deceased on Monday. Party leader Nadendla Manohar too expressed sorrow over the death of four Jana Sainiks.Prakash Samaga By

Express News Service

UDUPI: A chilling crime has left Udupi district in shock. A journalist with a local newspaper was arrested last week for sexually abusing 21 young boys, under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. Chandra Hemmady, 40, a resident of Hemmady in Kundapur, allegedly sexually abused boys in the age group of 10 to 15, over the past five years. He has been a journalist for over 10 years with various newspaper organisations. Chandra is married and has a daughter.

His misdeeds would have gone unnoticed if not for a 14-year-old boy. The lad reported the trauma he went through during a counselling session at Kasturba Hospital, Manipal, last week. The survivor, studying in Class 8, was mentally disturbed from many days and there was a discernible change in his behaviour. When his parents took him for counselling to Kasturba Hospital in Manipal, the boy revealed that he had been sodomized by Chandra Hemmady a few days earlier.

He also revealed that many of his friends too had faced abuse from Hemmady. The doctor immediately informed SP Laxman B Nimbargi, and Chandra Hemmady was arrested on November 29 by Byndoor police.

Hemmady, on the pretext of rural reporting for his newspaper, would meet people and promise to solve their problems by writing about them. Unsuspecting parents would send their sons with Hemmady who convinced them that he would show the boys the interiors of the district. Instead, he would lead them into secluded areas and sodomize them, sometimes at knife-point. Additional SP Kumara Chandra said probe is on to know if he has abused more boys.

SINCE his arrest on November 29, complaints alleging that their sons had been similarly abused by Chandra Hemmady, have been pouring in from parents from across the district.As on Monday, a total of 21 cases were registered against him under the Pocso Act. Udupi SP Laxman Nimbargi told

reporters on Monday that the arrested journalist also visited schools and sought permission from teachers to allow him to teach singing to kids.

Public prosecutor Vijaya Vasu Poojari told reporters that 21 cases against the same individual under the Pocso Act is a first. Hemmady has not applied for bail so far. In all, 16 cases were registered against him in Byndoor police station, one in Kollur station, three in Gangolli station and one in Kundapur Rural police station.After three days in custody, he was produced before the Udupi Court on Monday. The court remanded him in judicial custody till December 17.French Defence Minister Florence Parly said in a tweet on Tuesday that Egypt is a key partner in the fight against terrorism.

The minister's tweet came following her meeting with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi in Cairo on Monday on the sidelines of Egypt's first defence expo EDEX 2018.

"Egypt is a decisive partner for balance in the region and a key partner in our fight against terrorism," Parly's tweet read.

During their Monday meeting, both Parly and El-Sisi highlighted the importance of the strategic relations between Egypt and France, praising the cooperation between them in various fields, especially in the military field.

Parly attended on Monday EDEX 2018, and said that her country is proud of the participation of 31 French companies in the exhibition. EDEX 2018 is the first defence expo in Egypt, and is organised by the Egyptian Armed Forces under the auspices of the President El-Sisi.

Egypt has been fighting terrorism through its 'Operation Sinai 2018' military campaign, which was launched in February 2018.

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By Express News Service

BENGALURU: Senior Congress leader and Karnataka Water Resources Minister DK Shivakumar condemned the arrest of Telangana Congress Working President Revanth Reddy. "It is murder of democracy," he said.

Congress MLA Reddy was arrested from his residence in Kodangal in Telangana, at 3 am on Tuesday ahead of Telangana Chief Minister Chandrasekhar Rao's rally.

"It's highly condemnable that Telangana Police arrested Congress Working President and Kodangal MLA Revanth Reddy at 3 am today because CM K Chandrasekhar Rao is holding a rally there. We appeal to the Election Commission that such intimidation goes against the spirit of free & fair elections," said Shivakumar.

Shivakumar said Reddy's wife called him and informed about "the brutal attack by police. "It is very shocking that police broke open the doors to arrest him. It is murder of democracy. Chandrasekhar Rao has admitted defeat of his party in the assembly elections," the Congress leader said.

"Chandrasekhar Rao had earlier stated that if people do not vote his party to power, he would take rest at farmhouse. It is better for him to take rest at the farmhouse as the Congress-led coalition is coming to power in Telangana," Shivakumar added.By Express News Service

BENGALURU: Sanatan Sanstha has ridiculed the claim of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that the accused persons murdered journalist Gauri Lankesh inspired by the holy book 'Kshatradharma Sadhana' published by the pro-Hindu organisation.

Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, the organisation's national spokesperson Chetan Rajhans said, "The chargesheet filed by the SIT shows the efforts to dig out the old issue of Hindu terrorism and conspiracy to start Malegaon - 2 edition after Malegaon-1 has proved to be a total failure".

"If SIT claims that Gauri Lankesh was killed by reading holy text of Sanatan, will it dare to explain on which holy texts jihadi terrorism and Naxalism are based for killing lakhs of people," he questioned.

Meanwhile, he clarified that none of the accused arrested by the SIT have links with the Sanstha.By Express News Service

BENGALURU: Eleven Tanzanian nationals working in the renewable energy sector visited installations of renewable energy systems in rural Karnataka as part of a learning exchange visit organised by the not-for-profit Selco Foundation.The visit was organised between November 26 and December 3. It included on-field visits to various energy access solutions in coastal Karnataka. The delegates visited energy interventions in Udupi and Kundapura taluks.

The visit concluded with sessions on how learnings of the delegates can help develop and strengthen an ecosystem of renewable energy in Tanzania. Speaking of their experience at an interaction here on Monday, one of the Tanzanian delegates said, We learnt about the model of financing that Selco uses. They do not do the business of collecting money back, but financial institutions are able to do that on their behalf.By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Cracks have already started appearing in the womens human wall to be formed on January 1 as announced by the Chief Minister, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said here on Monday. Many organisations which attended the CMs meeting the other day had dissociated themselves from the programme. Chennithala denied saying he will bring down the womens human wall. Instead, he had said the people will demolish it.

He refuted the CMs charge he had referred to the outfits which attended the CM-chaired meeting as casteist. He pooh-poohed the CPM claims on having ushered in Renaissance. The Opposition leader demanded to know how C P Sugathan a former Kar Sevak, who had been in Ayodhya, was present at the CMs meeting which was conspicuous for the absence of any leader from the minority community. Chennithala warned the CM the Opposition will not be cowed down by threats and intimidation.

Brahmana Sabha cries off

Kerala Brahmana Sabha does not want to associate itself with the Renaissance committee formed after the meeting convened by the Chief Minister. This was stated by Brahmana Sabha state president Karimpuzha Raman in a release on Monday. The organisation will not cooperate with any move to alter the age-old customs and traditions, it said. Reacting to this, the CM said if Raman does not want to join the movement, its better that he stays away.Manoj Viswanathan By

Express News Service

KOCHI: At a time when depleting marine wealth, destructive fishing techniques and climate change have spelled doom for fishermen, the detection of purple back flying squid in abundance in the Arabian Sea has sown the seeds of hope in the community. An estimated 2.5 lakh tonnes of squid worth Rs 17.5 lakh crore is available in the fishing ground located in the central Arabian Sea, extending from 280 nautical miles (NM) northwest of Kochi and 180 NM west of Mangaluru.

Flying squid

The annual fishable biomass of flying squid is 6.3 lakh tonnes and if 50,000 tonnes of them can be caught per year, it will bring an additional income of Rs 350 crore, say boat owners. It takes more than 24 hours of vessel steaming from Kochi coast to reach the fishing ground.

The task is easier said than done. Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies former vice-chancellor B Madhusoodana Kurup said the state government should provide training to deep-sea fishers in squid jigging.

Japanese are the experts in squid jigging and well have to buy the technology from them. The vessels will have lights which illuminate water and attract squid. Theyre caught using lures on fishing lines which are jigged up and down in the water by machines. Theres enormous market and the demand is escalating, he said.

Kerala Fishing Boat Operators Association has decided to approach the High Court seeking direction to the state and Centre to allow mechanised boats to take up targeted squid fishery. China, Taiwan and Oman are exploiting our resources. If the government makes a policy decision to allow squid fishery, then well equip our vessels for the same. The expense to set up a squid fishery unit of three vessels will come to Rs 4 crore, said general secretary Joseph Xavier Kalapurackal.

Kerala stood third in the country with 5.85 lakh tonnes of marine food production in 2017.The government should allow 10 squid fishery units on a pilot basis to explore the fishing potential, he said.

It wont be a challenge for the 3,600 trawl and long liner boats operating from Kerala harbours. If the government supports us, itll help boost our economy. This high value squid fetch Rs 700 to Rs 800 per kg in the export market and its in high demand in Japan and the Western world, said Xavier.

A research team, led by Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute principal scientist K Sunil Mohamed had reported high abundance of purple back flying squid around 280 nautical miles off Kerala coast, and recommended exploration of a new targeted oceanic squid fishery.

Munambam Boat Owners Coordination Committee chairman P P Girish said: Weve to equip our trawlers for squid fishery. The oceanic squid live between 1,000 m to 3,000 m depth and we have to use squid jig or pelagic fishing nets to catch it. The government has banned the use of lights for fishing. If the Union and state governments make changes in the fishing policy, itll help improve the lives of fishermen, he said.

Fisheries Minister J Mercykutty Amma said the government has already written to the Centre requesting to extend the territorial waters from 12 nautical miles to 200 nautical miles.The government will hold talks with the CMFRI scientists and all stakeholders to explore the possibility of launching targeted squid fishery, she told Express.By Express News Service

BHUBANESWAR: The State Governments plans to introduce bio-metric attendance system in universities and colleges to ensure proper attendance of faculty and staff has run into opposition from a section of teachers. While the move has been welcomed in general, some sections have termed it a futile exercise that wouldnt help improve educational standards.

As part of the efforts to fix accountability in higher education, the Government had planned to bring in the system to keep track of the presence of teachers and faculty on campuses. The move comes in the face of increasing complaints of absence of teachers and non-teaching staff during college or university duty hours.

Unauthorised absence of teachers was affecting university and college education. The intention is to make sure the teachers and staff are present at their institutions during college hours. The fixing of accountability will improve quality of education, Higher Education Minister Ananta Das said.

However, the opponents argued that this move implied that the Government is viewing the whole teacher community with suspicion. All teachers cant be blamed for a few defaulters, convenor of Federation of University Teachers Association Santosh Tripathy told media here, adding, Focus should be on other areas too as Biometric attendance system alone cannot guarantee quality education.

Prof Prithish Acharya from Regional Institute of Education said, There is no point in installing biometric machines when every institution has a head who has the responsibility of ensuring teachers presence on campus and in classrooms.

Besides, he said, the system will not yield desired results in the absence of adequate infrastructure. Rather the funds should be utilised for other areas teaching to improve its standard in colleges and universities, he said.

The Higher Education Minister, however, said such protest wont affect the Government decision as most of the teachers have welcomed it. Most of the teachers have welcomed the decision and are demanding installation of such system, he said.

The Minister said the system will certainly help improving the activity tracking mechanism at college and university level.By Express News Service

BALANGIR: The Balangir bandh called by district lawyers over establishment of a permanent bench of Orissa High Court here was total on Monday. All Government offices, educational institutions, business establishments and markets remained closed and vehicles went off the roads.

Locals and lawyers in groups blocked roads leading to important offices in the town. Train movement through the Balangir railway station was stalled for a few hours and railway officials had to divert some trains through other routes.

Bandh was also total in towns like Titlagarh, Patnagarh, Belpara, Saintala, Kantabanji, Bangomunda, Sindhekela and Loisingha. Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra, BJDs Arkesh Singhdeo and BJPs Basudev Pati and Prabhas Panigrahi also extended their support to the bandh and joined a meeting of the agitators in front of the collectorate.

Earlier, members of the Balangir Bar Association had decided not to participate in the two-day Mahabandh called by Central Action Committee (CAC) of All-Western Odisha Bar Association (AWOBA) over HC bench issue.

The CAC had observed the Mahabandh on November 29 and 30. Instead, Balangir lawyers had decided to launch a separate agitation for establishment of HC bench here.They said the bench should be set up at Balangir which fulfils all the criteria of Jaswant Singh Commission report in this regard.By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Arumughaswamy commission which has been inquiring into the death of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has ordered the media to not telecast or report any news related to her death.

In an order, the retired High Court Justice, Arumughaswamy, who is heading the probe panel warned of legal action against media houses which will henceforth publish news related to Jayalalithaa without any prior permission from the commission.

The Commission rather requested the media to furnish the documents or information pertaining to the death of Jayalalithaa. Earlier, advocates on behalf of SUN TV network made a submission before the panel that the private TV channel will not telecast any serial on Jayalalithaa anymore.

The former Chief Minister was hospitalised in Apollo on September 22, 2016. After undergoing treatment for 75 days she was declared dead on December 5.

After a few AIADMK party leaders raised suspicion over the treatment provided to Jayalalithaa during hospitalisation, on September 25 2017, the Edappadi K Palaiswamy lead ruling government appointed retired High Court Arumughaswamy commission to probe the death of Jayalalithaa.

Besides, on Tuesday two doctors of Apollo hospitals deposed before the commission regarding the treatment provided to Jayalalithaa during hospitalisation.Donita Jose By

Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Political parties may help you get your daughter married off, but probably cannot assure her workplace safety. At a time when women are fighting hard for equal representation and equal access to public spaces, manifestos of most political parties are conspicuously silent on the issue, at least going by their manifestos.

The #MeToo movement, that caught the nations attention in the very recent past, finds no mention in manifestos of BJP, Peoples Front or the TRS. No party has recognised the issue or presented ideas or solutions to deal with sexual intimidation and harassment at the workplace. A cursory reading shows that most measures meant for women are, indeed, patriarchal.

The most prominent promise is financial assistance for marriage and parties are contesting with each other in this aspect. While Congress promises a dole of 1.5 lakh, BJP has assured 1 lakh and 1 tola gold and TRS plans to continue with 1 lakh assistance. Cash transfer for marriage assistance has proven to be ineffective, says child rights expert Mamtha Raghuveer.

The manifestos do not have anything with regards to protection of child rights. We need to devise better policies to that effect. We must encourage education of girls through scholarships, says Mamtha. Experts add that its voter appeasement that is making parties focus on financial aid for marriage rather than education and safety.

The manifestos seem to be focused on giving money rather than empowering them to make their own decisions and taking charge of their life, notes womens rights activist Sajaya Kakarla. For instance, most parties promise to waive off interest on loans given to self help groups while the focus must also be on providing them skills to become self-sufficient, profit-making bodies.

This is crucial because 11 out of the 31 districts in the State have more women voters than men. The manifesto of TRS and BJP also dont seem to have ideas on improving womens safety. Congress, meanwhile, wants to expand the She Teams to cities and villages. It also assures that it will ensure the presence of female sub inspector and constables in every police station.

For a State that tops the charts with regards to child marriages, none of the political parties have assured any action on that regard. Neither is there any mention on trafficking, caste-based killings or other such issues that affect women. Funnily enough, all three parties together have put forward only 51 women candidates, but have promised in chorus to assure 33 per cent reservation for women in the Assembly.By PTI

HYDERABAD: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday alleged the caretaker Telangana government is betraying the country and insulting the Constitution architect B R Ambedkar by proposing religion-based reservation with 12 per cent quota for Muslim minority while stealing the rights of Dalits.

Addressing an election rally, he said that great leaders of the country, while framing the Constitution, had decided against religion-based reservation at any cost in the interest of the nation's unity and integrity and for its bright future.

Targeting caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, Modi said he was surprised that "these power-hungry people, to save their chair for their family, resorted to such a step".

READ | If Marathas can get reservation in Maharashtra, why cant the Muslims in Telangana, ask Owaisi brothers

"Minority ko aarakshan dene ka khel, yeh desh ke saath gaddari hai ki nahi? (Playing this game of promising quota to the minorities, is it not a betrayal to the nation)?" he said and wondered how the promise will be met as the current Supreme Court's order does not permit it.

"Is it not an insult to the Constitution Assembly, is not an insult to B R Ambedkar...?" Modi asked.

"The Supreme Court has put a ceiling (of 50 per cent). You can't go beyond that. Does it mean that you would steal from the rights (quota) of Dalits, STs, and OBCs?," he asked.

ALSO READ | TRS, Congress busy in minority appeasement, says BJP chief Amit Shah

"To save your chair, you are conspiring to steal their rights (Dalits, STs and OBCs) from the back door?. Will you allow that sin to happen...should there be religion-based reservation?," he asked the crowd.

Referring to Congress president Rahul Gandhi's charge that the TRS is a "B" team of the BJP, Modi said it is in fact the KCR-led party which is the "B" team of the Congress.

The prime minister pointed out that before the Karnataka Assembly polls, "Naamdar (Gandhi) had described the JDS as 'B' team of the BJP but after the results were declared, they joined hands and formed the government."

"He (Gandhi) speaks so many lies," Modi said, alleging that the Congress was already engaged in "back door talks to somehow stop the BJP (from coming to power in Telangana)".

READ | Rahul, Modi slug it out at Hyderabad rallies

Modi said that four of the five parties in contention in the Telangana elections -- the TRS, Congress, TDP and AIMIM -- perpetuate dynastic and family rule.

"They (these four parties) are becoming a threat to democracy," he said, adding that "there is only one party...BJP, which is democratic".

He said many people have sacrificed their lives during the struggle for creation of a separate state of Telangana.

Targeting the TRS chief, Modi said "nobody has given one family the right to loot".

The prime minister also recalled that Rao was earlier in the Youth Congress and also had his first "apprenticeship" in the TDP, noting that he was once with that party.

He said that Rao was also a minister in the UPA-I.

ALSO READ | I am Telangana's agent, not of BJP or Congress: K Chandrasekhar Rao

TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi were his "Gurus", he said.

Slamming the electoral alliance between the Congress and the TDP, Modi said that NTR founded the latter in the name of "Telugu pride" and fought against the Congress. He claimed that the two parties have come together "only for the sake of power".

The TDP has also become a dynastic and family-ruled party, he said.

Modi said that the Congress and the TRS are "two sides of the same coin".

He said about Rs 300 billion worth of centrally-funded projects and Rs 80 billion worth railway projects are currently being implemented in the state.

The prime minister slammed Rao over his government's decision not to join the PMJAY health insurance scheme.

"He (KCR) says he does not want Ayushman Bharat scheme. If there is a government creating such hurdles, how can there be your (people's) welfare?"

Over 12.5 million families have been handed over keys of their house so far during the NDA regime, Modi said.

Only 5,000 houses were built in Telangana. "When the central government is providing funds, why is the state government not taking it up"? he asked.Israel's military said on Tuesday it had begun an operation to "expose and thwart" cross-border attack tunnels from Lebanon dug by the Lebanese militia Hezbollah.

Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said the military had detected tunnels crossing from Lebanon into northern Israel.

He said the Israeli operation to counter the tunnels would be inside Israel, and would not cross the border.

Israel released video footage of digging and pile-driving equipment at work in unidentified locations with trees and bushes in the background, carrying out what it said were "tactical preparations to expose Hezbollah's offensive cross-border tunnel project."

Reuters could not immediately verify the footage.

On Monday, Netanyahu met with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Brussels. An Israeli government source said the purpose of the meeting was to update Pompeo of the upcoming tunnel operation.

The current focus of operations was near the Israeli border town Metulla, Conricus said, adding that some areas near the border fence had been closed off.

An Israeli military source said the operation might take weeks to complete.

Hezbollah, founded in 1982 by Iran's Revolutionary Guards, has grown stronger since the 2006 war with Israel, notably through its role in the Syrian war fighting in support of President Bashar al-Assad.

Over the past decade, Israel and Hezbollah have largely maintained a stand-off - the group has rarely launched attacks into Israel from Lebanon and Israel has rarely struck against the group on Lebanese soil.

But in the past few years Israel has struck dozens of times inside Syria at what it said were advanced weapon deliveries to Hezbollah.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online

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By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: In a dramatic development, the Vikarabad police along with Task Force sleuths swooped down the residence of Telangana Congress working president A Revanth Reddy in Kodangal early Tuesday morning around 3 am and took him into preventive custody.

Reddy, who was MLA from Kodangal segment in the recently dissolved assembly is one of the most vocal voices from the Congress-led Praja Kutami alliance against caretaker Chief Minister, K Chandrashekar Rao. The assembly elections are to be held on Friday.

The development comes hours ahead of the public meeting in Kosgi mandal, part of the Kodangal assembly constituency, to be addressed by Rao.

In a video that has become viral, many men and women police officials can be seen inside Reddy's house as he questions the police why did they break the doors and force themselves into his house. Reddy's wife, Geetha Reddy could be heard questioning, "When there are ladies inside the room how can you break into the room? Are we terrorists?"

Stating that prohibitory orders were in place in the wake of the Chief Minister's public meeting, around 50 policemen including DSP rank officers forcefully entered into Reddy's residence by breaking open locks of main doors and asked him to cooperate with them. After the refusal to do so by Reddy, they lifted him and took him away with them. Reddy has been reportedly shifted to police training college in Jadcherla.

The police resorted to this move anticipating trouble after Kondangal constituency candidate A Revanth Reddy called for protests in view of Rao's public meeting.

Just on Monday the TRS General Secretary Srinivas Reddy met the Chief Electoral Officer of Telangana, Rajat Kumar and submitted a complaint that Reddy is working to disrupt Rao's public meeting in Kosgi.

"Highly condemnable that Telangana Police arrested Congress Working President & Kodangal MLA Revanth Reddy at 3am today."



This is what happens when you question Govt. for not implementing promises.#HitlerKCR pic.twitter.com/ziL1jOUIST  Telangana Congress (@INCTelangana) December 4, 2018

In a letter dated December 2, the Returning Officer from Kodangal assembly constituency and Joint Collector of Vikarabad, K Aruna Kumari communicated to the Telangana CEO as well as Vikarabad district Superintendent of Police, that a huge congregation of TRS supporters is likely to meet at Kosgi for Rao's public meeting. Also, followers of Congress may also gather there for a protest, which might lead to law and order problem.

Soon after the incident, speaking to media Geetha Reddy, said, "Due to fear of Praja Kutami alliance this step was taken. (The TRS government)...halted development in Kodangal. Water supply has been disrupted, college has been stopped, cement factory has been stopped, development has been halted, locals have been attacked. People asked for answers but they are coming here for election campaigning without providing any answers. We have a right to protest in a democracy. The police has resorted to undemocratic measures."

Taking to Twitter, senior Congress leader DK Shivakumar from Karnataka said, "It's highly condemnable that Telangana Police arrested Congress Working President & Kodangal MLA Revanth Reddy at 3am today because CM K. Chandrasekhar Rao is holding a rally there. We appeal to EC that such intimidation goes against the spirit of free & fair elections."By PTI

BEIJING: China on Tuesday welcomed US President Donald Trump's move to seek Pakistan's support for his efforts to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table to end the 17-year brutal war in Afghanistan.

Trump has written to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, seeking Islamabad's "assistance and facilitation in achieving a negotiated settlement of the Afghan war".

Commenting on the development, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said, "we welcome sound interaction between Pakistan and the US".

"Sound and steady development of Pakistan-US relations is conducive to the realisation of the reconstruction of Afghanistan as well as anti-terrorism endeavours," he said.

It is also conducive to regional peace and stability.

"We are pleased to see the improvement of their bilateral relations (and we) support their mutually beneficial cooperation and to step up communication on this issue," Geng said.

In the letter, Trump "stated that his most important regional priority was achieving a negotiated settlement of the Afghan war. In this regard, he has sought Pakistan's support and facilitation."

In Washington, a spokesperson of the US National Security Council told PTI that "the president recognises that Pakistan has the ability to deny the Taliban sanctuary on its territory. The letter also makes clear that Pakistan's assistance with the Afghan peace process is fundamental to building an enduring US-Pakistan partnership."

Since taking office, Trump has been very critical of Pakistan's lax attitude towards combatting terrorism.

Last month, Trump said Pakistan does not do "a damn thing" for the US, alleging that Islamabad had helped al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden hide near its garrison city of Abbottabad.

Ties between the US and Pakistan strained after Trump, while announcing his Afghanistan and South Asia policy in August last year, hit out at Pakistan for providing safe havens to "agents of chaos" that kill Americans in Afghanistan and warned Islamabad that it has "much to lose" by harbouring terrorists.

In September, the Trump administration cancelled USD 300 million in military aid to Islamabad for not doing enough against terror groups like the Haqqani Network and the Taliban active on its soil.

The Trump administration, in the recent months, has intensified its efforts to seek a negotiated settlement of America's longest war in Afghanistan where the US has lost over 2,400 soldiers since late 2001, when it invaded the country after the 9/11 terror attacks.

The Taliban are fighting to flush out US-led international forces and re-establish their regime in Afghanistan after their ouster in 2001.By PTI

CHINA: China and India have created "golden opportunities" for tourism with the rapid economic progress and a fast growing middle-class, a top Chinese official said here, as the country's picturesque southwestern Yunnan Province launched initiatives to woo more Indian tourists.

China, one of the world's top receivers of international tourists, has been promoting Yunnan as a paradise for Indian travellers, highlighting its proximity to the country, dramatic landscape and breathtaking views.

The efforts by the provincial government came months after President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi held their first informal summit in central China's Wuhan city where they agreed to strengthen people-to-people exchanges.

Kunming, also known as 'the city of eternal spring' due to its spring-like weather, ideal to escape the summer and the frozen winter, is the capital city of the country's most ethnically diverse Yunnan Province.

To attract a large number of tourists from India, the Yunnan Provincial Tourism Development Commission signed an agreement with the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) and a three-day convention 'Tourism Beyond Boundaries' was held here in which nearly 500 delegates from India explored the tourism opportunities between the province and India.

According to Li Malin, Vice Governor of Yunnan Province, "both China and India are developing countries with rapid economic development, increased living standards of the people and a fast growing middle-class which have created golden opportunities for tourism development".

"India has emerged as an important source market for China, while China is the potential market to send travellers to India," she said.

Between India and China, there is a tourist market which is broad enough for both the sides to explore, Li said.

"Social and people-to-people exchanges with tourism included as one of its integral components play an important part in enhancing relations between India and China," Li said.

According to Kunming-based tourist guide Maria, Yunnan offers a host of tourist attractions which include the Stone Forest, a notable set of limestone formations in Shilin Yi Autonomous County; Dianchi Lake, also known as Kunming Lake; Yuantong Temple - the most famous Buddhist temple in Kunming; Green lake park - an urban park in Kunming which comprises a group of four small sub-lakes linked by bridges in the traditional style among others.

Kunming is one of the most beautiful cities of China. It is also known as 'the flower city' as its unique weather conditions allow it to grow flowers across the year.

"The city's proximity to India, just a two-and-a-half-hour flight from Kolkata and a four-hour flight from New Delhi, makes it a must-visit tourist place for Indians looking to spend their vacations abroad," Maria said.

Li Malin said that her appreciation goes to those who are long committed in supporting and promoting cooperation between India and China, specially between India and Yunnan Province.

Yunnan is one of the most advantageous provinces in China, blessed with abundant tourism resources and endowments.

In 2017, the Yunnan Province received a total of 573 million domestic and foreign tourists, raking in a total revenue of 692.2 billion yuan (USD 101.1 billion), Li said.

In April in Wuhan, President Xi pointed out that China and India should jointly carry out comprehensive cooperation plans between the two countries and promote more extensive social and people-to-people exchanges, she said.

"Prime Minister Modi responded that the two sides should promote people-to-people friendship and raise bilateral relations to a new level," Li said.

He Ligui, Director General, Department of Culture and Tourism of Yunnan Province said that Yunnan, with the most nationalities in the country, has 26 nationalities as a whole.

Yunnan, which offers a lot of scenic beauty, natural wonders and excellent climate, is now focusing on Indian tourists, He told a group of visiting Indian journalists.

"There are plans to launch more flights to Kolkata and other Indian cities to boost two-way flow of tourists," He said.

Li Bijian, Minister-Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi, said Yunnan offers great tourism opportunities to Indians with its karst landscapes, beautiful mountains, red lands, dramatic landscape and breathtaking views.

"We think that India and China are the largest neighbours, the largest developing countries and the largest emerging economies.

"The decisions taken during the Wuhan summit are described as the Wuhan Spirit by your side while our side calls its Wuhan Consensus," Li said.

He also called for an increase in the inflow of Chinese tourists to India, saying there is a need for more Mandarin-fluent Indian guides holding official permits.

"Though there are many five-star and four-star hotels in India, there are very limited business hotels in India.

Also, there should be more Chinese restaurants in places like Kerala, Goa, Varanasi and Bodh Gaya among others, Li said.

President of TAAI Sunil Kumar said that TAAI is a vehicle for the governments to sit and ride on if they are seeking to promote a particular destination for tourism.

"Yunnan will be the most important household destination for every travel agency which is associated with TAAI. The tourists' arrival in Yunnan will rise significantly," he said.

Kumar said that there are several yoga institutes in Kunming and Yunnan.

The visibility of Indians in the province will go up in the days to come.By PTI

WASHINGTON: SpaceX has launched its Falcon 9 rocket, sending an unusual payload into space -- 64 satellites at the same time, a US record.

And the company headed by US tech billionaire Elon Musk marked another milestone on Monday in its bid to make rockets more re-usable, like aeroplanes: the blast-off used a recycled booster for the third time.

California-based SpaceX has landed more than 30 of these boosters back on Earth and has begun re-using them on subsequent missions.

ALSO READ | After Musk admission of smoking marijuana NASA orders probes at SpaceX, Boeing

In the past, companies have typically allowed rocket parts costing many millions of dollars to fall like junk into the ocean.

Monday's landing of the first stage was flawless, like many before it.

Several minutes after liftoff, the tall, white portion of the rocket -- known formally as the first stage -- separated from the second stage.

The booster then fired its engines and made a controlled, upright landing on a platform in the Pacific Ocean, video from SpaceX's live webcast showed.

Falcon 9 launches 64 payloads to orbit for the Spaceflight SSO-A: SmallSat Express mission, marking SpaceXs 19th launch in 2018. pic.twitter.com/oeX98v1t2N  SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 4, 2018

Meanwhile, the second stage pressed deeper into space, carrying 15 micro-satellites and 49 CubeSats belonging to 34 different clients including public, private and university sources from 17 different countries including South Korea, France and Kazakhstan.

The launch was chartered by a company called Spaceflight, which specialises in space "rideshares," or putting multiple satellites on the same rocket.

Microsatellites weigh a few dozen pounds (kilograms) and CubeSats are even smaller.

The satellites will be placed into orbit over the next several hours.

Not all the clients have scientific missions.

The Nevada Museum of Art sent up a sculpture called "Orbital Reflector" by artist Trevor Paglen.

The reflective, inflatable sculpture is designed to eject from its satellite and orbit the earth "for several weeks before disintegrating upon re-entry into Earth's atmosphere," the museum said.By PTI

WASHINGTON: India and the US have agreed to accelerate defence and security ties as Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met her American counterpart James Mattis, who described India as a "stabilising force" across the Indo-Pacific and the globe.

US Defence Secretary Mattis welcomed Sitharaman to the Pentagon on Monday for the fourth set of talks the two defense leaders have held this year.

Sitharaman, the first woman defence minister of India, is currently on a five-day maiden trip to the US.

From here, she will travel to California to visit the Defense Innovation Unit of the Department of Defense and the Indo-Pacific Command headquarters in Hawaii.

"The United States and India, in Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi's words, have overcome hesitations of history, carrying forward the legacy of friendship and making clear there is no contradiction between strategic autonomy and strategic partnership," Mattis said.

ALSO READ | India sees US as an important defence partner: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Sitharaman started her official visit here by visiting the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department, where she signed on the condolence book of former US President George H W Bush who died late Friday at his home in Houston.

From there, she drove to the Arlington National Cemetery where she laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a gesture which did not go unnoticed at the Pentagon.

"On behalf of our department and all of our service members, thank you for paying your nation's respect at Arlington National Cemetery this morning.

We're grateful," Mattis said.

Mattis said Sitharaman's presence at the wreath-laying made clear that the US-India military relations were not "defined by brittle or empty words" but by the human aspect of partnership steeped in recognition of the two nations' respective sacrifices and the cause of peace, friendship and freedom.

The two largest democracies of the world, despite diverse histories and cultures, have shared principles, values and respect for the rules-based international order, Mattis said.

"The US-India relationship is a natural partnership between the world's oldest and the world's largest democracy," he said.

ALSO READ | It's time to back PM Modi, UN and Afghanistan for peace in South Asia, Mattis tells Pakistan

While this is her first trip to Washington DC, the two leaders have met four times in about a year, reflecting on the growing defence relationship between India and the United States.

"We have made meaningful progress in advancing US-India defence cooperation, most notably with your nation hosting September's inaugural 2+2 ministerial dialogue in New Delhi," he said.

The ministerial talks served as a tangible demonstration of "our shared vision for a safe, secure, prosperous and free Indo-Pacific, underpinned by respect for the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of all nations," Mattis said.

"Today, I reiterate US appreciation for India's leadership as a stabilising force in pursuit of that vision, promoting peace and security across the region and the globe," he said.

The defence secretary said the 2+2 ministerial dialogue also made clear the commitment of India and the US to further bolster their defence partnership.

"Today, we build on that momentum as we work to implement our agreement from September, Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA)," he added.

During the dialogue, the two nations signed the COMCASA that allows India to receive advanced US military hardware.

Describing the inaugural 2+2 meeting in September as a landmark event, Sitharaman said it set the stage for strategic consultations between the two countries.

A docent led tour of the Freer-Sackler Galleries of South Asian Art. Thank you Defence Secretary Mattis for thoughtfully arranging for the visit and accompanying me all through. Immensely value your time and interest. @IndianEmbassyUS @USAmbIndia @PIB_India @PIBHindi pic.twitter.com/p9Zyfd3jmz  Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) December 4, 2018

The bilateral meetings during the dialogue in New Delhi and other meetings, including the one in Singapore in October, were "indeed positive and productive", she said.

In her remarks at the start of the meeting with Mattis, Sitharaman said the mutual trust and confidence in defence partnership between the two countries was growing.

The defence minister added that she was encouraged by the importance attached to the India-US defence relationship in the new US National Security Strategy.

"A strong foundation has been laid for the India-US defence relationship over the years. India sees the US as an important partner in defence," Sitharaman said, adding that the two countries have good military-to-military cooperation, defence consultations, scientific collaborations and co-production and co-development and industry collaboration.

Exuding confidence that the bilateral talks would accord greater momentum to the dialogue and partnership between the two countries, she said the relationship continued to be very strong.

The recent meetings between the two countries, Sitharaman said, have underscored their mutual desire to move positively.

The high-level exchanges are an indication of the depth and the quality of bilateral ties as well as their mutual desire to work closely on a range of regional and global issues, she added.

Sitharaman appreciated the responsiveness of the Trump Administration to India's sensitivities.

At the same time, it is also indicative of the desire and the effort to have an even more robust relationship than before, she said.

"Especially over the past three to four years, we have made considerable progress.

Our relations, based on common democratic values, enjoy strong political and popular support in both countries.

There's a growing mutual trust and also the confidence in defence partnership, which augurs very well for the future," Sitharaman said.By PTI

WASHINGTON: Asserting that 40 years is enough for every responsible nation to get on board with the south Asia peace process, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, in a strong message to Pakistan, said it is time for everyone to support the efforts of the UN, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghanistan in this regard.

"We're looking for every responsible nation to support peace in the sub-continent and across this war in Afghanistan that's gone on now for 40 years," he told reporters at the Pentagon on Monday as he welcomed Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for talks.

"It's time for everyone to get on board, support the United Nations; support Prime Minister Modi's, (Afghan) President (Ashraf) Ghani and all those who are trying to maintain peace and make for a better world here," Mattis said.

ALSO READ | No contradiction between strategic autonomy and strategic partnership: Mattis

"We are on that track. It is diplomatically led as it should be, and we'll do our best to protect the Afghan people," he added.

Mattis was responding to a question from reporters about the letter written by the President Donald Trump to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, seeking his support in the peace process in Afghanistan.

In his letter Trump has made it clear that Pakistan's full support in this regard "is fundamental" to building an enduring US-Pakistan partnership.By PTI

LONDON: British Sikh girls being targeted by Pakistani-origin grooming gangs for sexual abuse and exploitation over the years have not received full attention of the authorities due to political correctness, claims a new report released on Monday.

The 'Religiously Aggravated Sexual Exploitation of Young Sikh Women Across the UK' report, collated by the Sikh Mediation And Rehabilitation Team (SMART) and Sikh Youth UK, received the backing of parliamentarians as it called for an investigation into the pattern of abuse dating back decades.

"Since the early nineteen-eighties, evidence collated by British Sikh organisations has recorded cases of sexual abuse and exploitation against young Sikh females by grooming gangs populated by perpetrators of primarily Pakistani or Muslim heritage," the report noted.

"Although not exclusively, offences are documented as regularly being committed within the structure of networks, including the nuclear and extended family members of offenders. This has in turn prompted questions surrounding whether young Sikh females are victims of opportunists or being targeted due to their religious heritage," it said.

The researchers are keen to highlight that the study was not undertaken as a "witch-hunt against any individual, community, culture or faith" but as a means to provide some "clear understanding and acceptance" of key factors contributing to the risk.

Among the factors influencing the trend, the report flagged that some early Sikh migrants claim the organised targeting of Sikh females was conducted, in part, as "retaliation" for the involvement of Sikh soldiers in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.

It also documents a string of recent high-profile prosecutions of Pakistani-origin grooming gangs who targeted white British schoolgirls in areas such as Rochdale and Rotherham.

"With the emergence of multiple similar cases across the UK, the perceived failure to act has now been attributed to the 'political correctness' that inhibited authorities and agencies from addressing the racial and cultural dimensions understood as causative factors behind the abuse," the report noted.

It added: "Many within the Sikh community have advocated that it is of the utmost importance that British justice operates on a level playing field.

"However, where it is clear that a child is at threat or targeted for abuse due to their race or religion, it is essential that the recording and prosecution of cases reflects all aspects surrounding the abuse.

" Veteran Indian-origin Labour Party MP Virendra Sharma welcomed the findings that would help tackle the wider issue of child abuse by ensuring that while police are sensitive, they act "effectively" to prevent any immediate risk.

"Steps to end the stigma of reporting abuse and end the culture of silence, referred to in the report, are key but will require many years of difficult intervention.

I will be pleased to support steps to end any systematic targeting and this report is a key step in that fight," said Sharma, who represents the west London constituency of Ealing Southall with a large British Sikh population.

His views were echoed by fellow Labour Party MP Sarah Champion, who has been very vocal over the issue of child sexual grooming as many Pakistani-origin men from her constituency of Rotherham were jailed for sexual abuse and rape of schoolgirls.

She said: "When I first heard about the specific targeting of Sikh girls for abuse I was shocked.

Having met survivors, I know the long-term devastation to the girls, their families and the Sikh community as a whole.

"I support the call for an inquiry into this form of sexual exploitation and how it has been able to go on for so long unchallenged by government agencies.

" The issue hit the headlines in recent weeks as six British Pakistanis were sentenced to a total of 101 years behind bars last month for sexually grooming and abusing young girls in the northern England town of Rotherham.

UK home secretary Sajid Javid, himself of Pakistani origin, had taken to Twitter to condemn the "sick Asian paedophiles" and attracted some backlash for singling out a particular community.

On Monday, he defended his comments once again, saying: "Any normal person looking at the recent convictions of gangs that abuse children would have noticed that a vast majority are from a Pakistani heritage and we cannot ignore that."

"If you do ignore that, if you sit in a position of power like me and you ignore that, what you actually end up doing is fuelling the voices of extremism that are out there that will then prey on that," he added.

The UK Home Office said that child sexual abuse has been categorised as a "national threat", with the government investing millions of pounds to enable officers to actively seek out and bring offenders to justice.

"Group-based child sexual exploitation is a complex issue and the government is working to improve our understanding of how to prevent this heinous crime," a statement said.By PTI

COLOMBO: Embattled Mahinda Rajapaksa Tuesday filed an appeal in Sri Lanka's Supreme Court against a court order that barred him from acting as Prime Minister.

The Court of Appeal in an interim order Monday temporary halted Rajapaksa and his Cabinet from functioning in their positions in response to a case filed by 122 legislators against his disputed government.

The court set the hearing of the case for December 12 and 13.

MP Gamini Lokuge said the appeal was filed in the Supreme Court against the interim order issued by the Court of Appeal, Daily Mirror reported.

Rajapaksa had said on Monday that he would appeal against the Court of Appeal's interim order.

"We will not agree with the interim order issued by the Court of Appeal today suspending the Cabinet.

We will appeal to the Supreme Court first thing tomorrow against it," Rajapaksa said in a statement.

He said that it was the Supreme Court which has the power to interpret the Constitution.

As many as 122 parliamentarians of Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP), Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and Tamil National Alliance last month filed a petition in the Court of Appeal challenging Rajapaksa's authority as the prime minister.

The Court of Appeal ordered 49 members of Rajapaksa's Cabinet to appear in court on December 12 to respond to the petition and show by what authority they hold office.

The interim ruling was a major blow to both President Maithripala Sirisena and Rajapaksa after the former had appointed his ex-rival as the prime minister on October 26, plunging the country into a major constitutional crisis.

Sirisena later dissolved Parliament, almost 20 months before its term was to end, and ordered a snap election.

The Supreme Court overturned Sirisena's decision to dissolve Parliament and halted the preparations for snap polls.

Addressing a gathering of his Sri Lanka Freedom Party activists here Tuesday, President Sirisena said people have different opinions on the recent court rulings.

"I always accept the court rulings but people's opinion on the recent court rulings on political cases are diverse and some criticize them," he said.

He was referring to two interim orders granted by the Supreme Court and the Appeal Court in connection with the current political crisis, which has crippled the government for more than a month.

Both interim orders have gone against Sirisena.

As many as 13 petitions were filed in the apex court against Sirisena's decision to suspend parliament.

Ousted prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Rajapaksa both claim to be the prime ministers.

Wickremesinghe says his dismissal is invalid because he still holds a majority in the 225-member Parliament.

Prior to the crisis, Wickramasinghe's UNP had the backing of 106 parliamentarians while Rajapaksa and Sirisena combine had 95 seats.

Rajapaksa has, so far, failed to prove his majority in Parliament.

Wickremesinghe, with the support from the main Tamil party, claims to have the support of more than 113 legislators, required for simple majority.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has 16 seats in the house and JVP has six legislators.

The UNF has moved three no trust motions against Rajapaksa, who has refused to step down.

The Sri Lankan president has said that due to sharp personal differences with Wickremesinghe he would not reappoint him as the Prime Minister.

"He is not a political leader suitable to the country," Sirisena said, referring to Wickremesinghe who had been his main backer in the 2015 presidential election.

However, Wickremesinghe's UNP claims that Sirisena will be left with no choice as he would be the man who will command the confidence in the House.

He told reporters that appointing a prime minister was not Sirisena's personal choice.

"A prime minister is decided by parliamentary majority.President can't decide what he wants.

All we are saying is follow the Constitution.Don't be like Hitler and other dictators," Wickremesinghe told reporters.Yemen's government and the Houthi rebels said Tuesday they had agreed to swap hundreds of prisoners in another boost to UN efforts to convene new peace talks later this month.

The deal was swiftly welcomed by the International Committee of the Red Cross, which will oversee the exchange after the first round of planned peace talks in Sweden.

The deal was struck by UN envoy Martin Griffiths, who was in the rebel-held capital Sanaa on Tuesday for meetings already buoyed by the evacuation of 50 wounded Houthi insurgent fighters for treatment in neutral Oman on Monday -- a key rebel precondition for the talks.

The envoy is seeking to convene peace talks in Sweden, perhaps as early as this week, after a previous attempt collapsed in Switzerland in September.

The United Arab Emirates, which is, along with Saudi Arabia, a key backer of the government, said the planned talks offered a "critical opportunity" to end nearly four years of devastating war.

Yemeni government official Hadi Haig told AFP that between 1,500 and 2,000 members of pro-government forces and between 1,000 and 1,500 rebels would be released.

On the government side, they include former defence minister Mahmoud al-Subaihi, who has been held by the rebels ever since they overran the capital in late 2014, and President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's brother Nasser, a general and former senior intelligence official.

Rebel official Abdel Kader al-Murtadha confirmed the deal, adding that he hoped it would be "implemented without problem".

ICRC spokeswoman Mirella Hodeib welcomed the agreement, saying: "This is one step in the right direction towards the building of mutual trust among Yemeni communities."

*This story was edited by Ahram Online

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PRESSURE is piling on MDC Alliance legislators who do not recognise the leadership of President Mnangagwa after one of their party members approached the High Court seeking to stop payment of their allowances and vehicle loans pending determination of the opposition partys appeal at the African Court.



When MDC Alliance leader, Mr Nelson Chamisas election petition was dismissed by the Constitutional Court in August this year, it was announced that he lodged an appeal at the African Court.



MDC Alliance is on record stating that it does not recognise the leadership of President Mnangagwa, describing him as de facto President.



National Assembly and Senate members aligned to MDC-A have staged childish drama, causing chaos in Parliament with a view to disrespect President Mnangagwa and to show that they do not recognise him as head of State.







To that end, Mr Justice Dzingirayi who identified himself in the court papers as an MDC A member, has filed an application at the High Court seeking an order suspending payment of allowances, salaries (if any) and even advancement of vehicle loans to the MDC parliamentarians.





Speaker of Parliament Advocate Jacob Mudenda recently announced that errant legislators risked being barred from Parliament and having their allowances withdrawn for a specific period.

He said Parliament was reviewing the standing rules and orders to make them strict.





He made the remarks following exhibition of rowdy behaviour by MDC Alliance legislators and disrespect for President Mnangagwa just before the presentation of the 2019 Budget by Finance and Economic Development Minister, Mthuli Ncube.





Adv Mudenda said a similar model like the one adopted in Zambia was on the cards in Zimbabwe.

In the court application, Mr Dzingirayi argued that the current Government was illegitimate and that the MDC legislators should not receive money from it.





He cited the MDC-A, all its parliamentarians, party leader Mr Nelson Chamisa, Clerk of Parliament and the Minister of Finance and Economic Development as respondents.

In the application, Mr Dzingirayi described the allowances being received by the MDC A members as bribes saying the Government should stop paying them out.





It is therefore in the interests of my democratic choice that the 112th and 113th respondents (Finance Minister and Clerk of Parliament) be interdicted from paying my money or allowance, whether through a salary or loan or any other form, to my elected representatives as they represent an illegitimate government.





Until such a time as constitutionalism is resorted, my representatives just dues should remain in the hands of the Government.





In all circumstances, this money is being paid as a way to bribe my representatives into selling out on my legitimate choice, and eventually buy them to say that the Government is legitimate.





It is not. These bribes must stop. They work to undermine my right to political choice, in that they are paid to subvert the result of my vote in that people that I voted for will be swayed to support Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwas illegitimate regime, reads Mr Dzingirayis founding affidavit.





He added: Any money that is due to my representatives or my party, will need to wait for the ascendancy of the peoples president, and then will be legitimately disbursed.





Mr Dzingirayi, who is from Kuwadzana East Constituency, said he voted for Mr Charlton Hwende who won the National Assembly seat.





He argued that Mr Chamisa won the election but it was later rigged in favour of Zanu-PF.

Mr Dzingirayi also told the court that Mr Chamisa was the winner but the Constitutional Court, again, ruled against him.





The 115 respondents are yet to respond to the 87-page application.

John Mugogo, Attorney, filed the application on behalf of Mr Dzingirayi. HeraldA rebel delegation flew out of the Yemeni capital on Tuesday, heading for talks in Sweden with the government aimed at ending the country's devastating war, an airport source said.

The departure of the Huthi insurgents, accompanied by UN envoy Martin Griffiths, followed a prisoner swap deal and the evacuation of 50 wounded rebels for treatment in Oman in a boost to peace efforts.

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The Post and Regulatory Authority fined NetOne last month for misrepresenting information to its subscribers as the authority vowed that there are no sacred cows when it comes to the enforcement of telecommunication compliance, legislators have heard.



POTRAZ director general Dr Gift Machengete said the fine imposed against NetOne put paid to the notion from some quarters that the mobile service provider was getting preferential treatment because it was a Government owned entity.



Dr Machengete said this in Kadoma at the weekend while addressing legislators during a workshop aimed at making lawmakers familiarise themselves with Potraz operations.



Parliaments Portfolio Committee on Information Communications and Technology chaired by Kuwadzana East MP Mr Charlton Hwende held an interactive colloquium aimed at making legislators appreciate Potrazs work and discuss outstanding telecommunication related Bills.



We have not treated NetOne with kid gloves as widely perceived. In fact, only last month (November) we found NetOne guilty of misrepresenting subscriber information and levied a penalty of 5 percent of their gross revenue for August 2018, said Dr Machengete.



NetOne together with Econet and Telecel have received similar penalties in the past over quality of service breaches.



Dr Machengete did not, however, disclose how much the fine was. He said the directive to have mobile operators share infrastructure was not in any way meant to undermine one of the operators in which it had invested heavily.



Looked at objectively, that is not the case. The fact of the matter is that infrastructure will not be shared for free. Operators who put up their active equipment on towers belonging to another operator would have to pay rentals at market rates, said Dr Machengete.



He said there was need to expeditiously gazette cyber related legal instrument to curb the vice.

The 2017 International Telecommunication Union cyber security assessment report ranked Zimbabwe 113 out of 176 countries on the Global Cybersecurity Index, which means we are really not safe. We therefore need to accelerate the gazetting of the National Cyber crime and Cybersecurity Bill to mitigate security risks and cyber crime related threats, said Dr Machengete.



Mr Hwende said ICT was the one of the panacea of the success of Governments economic blueprint Zim-Asset.



In his keynote address, ICT Postal and Courier services Minister Kazembe Kazembe said ICT was integral in reviving the economy as well as the attainment of Vision 2030.





The role of POTRAZ cannot be underestimated in this day and age where ICT is playing a great role in reviving the economy. President Mnangagwas Vision 2030 is possible because it is driven by ICT, said Minister Kazembe. HeraldThere Was No Chance of

Survivorsbut They Found One(Newser) 

President Rodrigo Duterte has waged a controversially bloody war on drug dealers in the Philippines, but that didn't stop the leader from cracking wise Monday about his own use of illicit substances. Per Reuters , Duterte said in a speech that he used marijuana to stay awake at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which he attended in Singapore last month. After the comment caused a stir, Duterte clarified that he was merely kidding.

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"It was a joke, of course it was a joke, but nobody can stop me from just doing my style," he quoted by a local media network, per the AP. Possession of marijuana is punishable by a long prison sentence and a heavy fine in the Philippines. Philippine police say more than 4,800 suspects have been killed in the drug crackdown that began in July 2016 after Duterte took office. Rights groups have denounced the killings as extrajudicial executions and say the crackdown is unfairly directed at the poor rather than the kingpins in the illicit trade. (Duterte has also waged a war on corrupt public officials.)(Newser) 

The nation's capital embraced George HW Bush in death Monday with solemn ceremony and tributes to his service and decency, as the remains of the 41st president took their place in the Capitol rotunda for three days of mourning by the political elite and everyday citizens alike, the AP reports. With Bush's casket atop the Lincoln Catafalque, first used for Abraham Lincoln's 1865 funeral, dignitaries came forward to honor the Texan whose efforts for his country extended three quarters of a century from World War II through his final years as an advocate for volunteerism and relief for people displaced by natural disaster. In an invocation opening Monday evening's ceremony, the US House chaplain, the Rev. Patrick J Conroy, praised Bush's commitment to service. "Here lies a great man," said Rep. Paul Ryan, the House speaker, and "a gentle soul. ... His legacy is grace perfected."

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Sent off from Texas with a 21-gun salute, Bush's casket was carried to Joint Base Andrews outside the capital city aboard an aircraft that often serves as Air Force One and designated "Special Air Mission 41" in honor of Bush's place on the chronological list of presidents. (Bush's loyal service dog accompanied him.) Cannon roared again outside the Capitol as the sun sank and his eldest son, former President George W. Bush, stood with his hand over his heart, watching the casket's procession up the steps. He will lie in state in the Capitol for public visitation through Wednesday. An invitation-only funeral service is set for Wednesday at Washington National Cathedral. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump are to attend. Although Bush's funeral services are suffused with the flourishes accorded presidents, by his choice they will not include a formal funeral procession through downtown Washington. After services in Washington, Bush will be returned to Houston to lie in repose at St. Martin's Episcopal Church before burial Thursday at his family plot on the library grounds. (For Bush, a final, fitting pair of socks.)(Newser)  A grim find has been made in the search for a Florida woman who was reported missing after she failed to return from a trip to Costa Rica. Officials with Costa Rica's Judicial Investigation Department say a woman's body was found at the back of the Airbnb property where 36-year-old Carla Stefaniak had been staying, NBC New York reports. The half-buried body, covered in plastic bags, was discovered by tracker dogs, authorities say. In her last text to a friend, Stefaniak complained that the power was going out and said "it's pretty sketchy here," reports the BBC. She had been visiting the country with her sister-in-law, who flew out a day earlier. Stefaniak never showed up for her flight home Wednesday.

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Marlo Caicedo, one of Stefaniak's brothers, says all communication from her stopped around 9pm that night, which was extremely unusual because it was "her birthday and she loves to be on social media." He says the owner of the Airbnb told investigators a security guard saw her leave in a car at 5am, though her flight wasn't until 1:30pm. The body has not yet been identified, and Caicedo says he is sure his sister is still alive. "Sincerely, I didnt feel bad or scared because I have so much positivity and so much faith that its not my sister," he tells CBS Miami. "We're just waiting for the confirmation that it isnt her from the authorities." Stefaniak's sister-in-law has started a GoFundMe fundraiser to raise money for the search. (Read more Costa Rica stories.)(Newser)  Eric Trump thinks George Conway's constant disagreement with President Trump is one of the ugliest things he's seen in politics. The Trump sonwhose father's affair with Marla Maples kept tabloids busy in the early '90sspoke out Monday at the "utter disrespect" Conway is showing to his wife, Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, the Hill reports. "Of all the ugliness in politics, the utter disrespect George Conway shows toward his wife, her career, place of work, and everything she has fought SO hard to achieve, might top them all," Eric Trump tweeted. Kellyanne Conway is a "great person and frankly his actions are horrible," he added.

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George Conwaya respected conservative attorneyhas spoken out against Trump's policies numerous times, and recently started a Super PAC to oppose the president, Raw Story reports. Eric Trump may have been angered Monday by a George Conway tweet in which he suggested Trump's praise of Roger Stone for vowing not to testify against him could be considered witness tampering. Conway later retweeted remarks mocking Eric Trump's tweet, including this one from Obama-era White House counsel Eric Bassin: "Of all the ugliness in politics, the utter disrespect the Trumps show toward the rule of law, the presidency and its place of work, and everything this nation has fought SO hard to achieve might top them all." (Earlier this month, Trump dismissed "Mr. Kellyanne Conway" as a publicity seeker.)(Newser)  Mexico's newly inaugurated president kicked off his first Monday in office with something not seen in recent historya news conference and a pledge to hold one every working day of his six-year term to keep the people informed. Two days after taking the oath as the first leftist president in decades of technocrats, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador made good on his promise to govern as a common man and end decades of secrecy, heavy security, and luxury enjoyed by past presidents, the AP reports. His workday began at 7am with a gathering of more than 100 reporters, photographers, and TV cameramen all trained on the new leader. "Isn't that a change that I am here, informing you?" Lopez Obrador asked.

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While past presidents have rarely held news conferences, Lopez Obrador promised to do so on a near-daily basis, much as he did when he was mayor of Mexico City from 2000-2005. On Monday, Lopez Obrador tackled a case that cast a long shadow over the previous government, signing a presidential decree creating a truth commission to investigate the 2014 disappearance of 43 students in an apparent massacre. He then posed with parents of the missing young people, who displayed photos of their loved ones. Earlier, the new president arrived at Mexico City's National Palace in the same white Volkswagen Jetta compact car he used before taking office Saturday. He has refused the military bodyguards used by past presidents and travels with a small staff of aides who provide security. (He says that since being elected, Trump has treated him with respect.)The White House gave full backing Tuesday to an Israeli army operation to destroy tunnels built under the border with Lebanon by the Iran-backed group Hezbollah.

President Donald Trump's national security advisor John Bolton said that "the US strongly supports Israel's efforts to defend its sovereignty."

"More broadly, we call on Iran and all of its agents to stop their regional aggression and provocation, which pose an unacceptable threat to Israeli and regional security," Bolton said.

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(Newser)  "I'm making this video, because it could be the last video I make. Pretty soon, I'm going to be leaving somehow, and I'm not so sure of the outcome, but I'm 99% positive it will work." Those words are from a YouTube video recorded before the March disappearance of Latifa bint Mohammed al-Maktoumthe daughter of UAE Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Rashid al-Maktoumwho the Guardian reports tried to flee a life of "caged luxury." Deemed the "mystery of the missing princess" by the BBC, the 32-year-old's story took a chaotic turn in March when, after what friends say was a seven-year plot to escape her "oppressive" life, Latifa was snatched from her escape yacht off of India by armed men. Latifa's sister, Shamsa, had attempted a similar escape in 2000; it's still murky what happened to her after she was apparently recaptured.

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The Guardian and a new BBC documentary detail Latifa's escape attempt, which reportedly began with a letter she sent in 2011 to a former French navy officer who'd escaped Dubai himself in the late '90s after some legal troubles there. A friend tells the BBC she was the one on the day of Latifa's escape who drove the princess to Oman, then helped her get to a yacht at sea via inflatable boat and Jet Ski. Days after that, the ship was raided and Latifa disappeared; her Instagram was shuttered soon after. "If you are watching this video, it's not such a good thing," Latifa says in the recording. "Either I'm dead or I'm in a very, very, very bad situation." In April, the Guardian quoted a source said to be close to the Dubai rulers who said Latifa had been returned home, was "with her family," and was "doing excellent." (Human Rights Watch wants to know where Latifa is.)(Newser)  What's a country to do with migrants who are also criminals and rejected asylum seekers who can't be sent home? Banish them to an island, apparently. That's Denmark's plan, which its immigration minister sums up as making such foreigners feel "unwanted in Denmark." The New York Times highlights details that will serve that aimlike the fact the 17-acre Lindholm Island is currently used by scientists studying contagious animal diseases, houses a crematory, and is serviced by two ferries, one of which is named the Virus. The Local describes the island as "deserted."

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Deserted was the appearance given to the island in a cartoon video tweeted by the right-wing Danish People's Party, which pushed for the arrangement. The video shows a "dark-skinned man being dumped by ship" there, per the Telegraph. The immigrant facilitiesslated to open in 2021 so long as legal challenges don't get in the way, per Fortunewill hold up to 100 people, and while the word "prison" isn't being used, those who are sent there will have to sleep there and submit to daily check-ins, and the plan is to whittle down the ferry service and "make it as cumbersome and expensive as possible." The Times has more on the political maneuverings behind the move, and critics of it, here. (Read more Denmark stories.)(Newser)  Fior Pichardo de Veloz flew in to Miami from the Dominican Republic in 2013 to witness the birth of her grandchild. Instead, she found herself arrested on a drug charge she didn't realize was outstandingand locked up for almost 10 hours with male inmates after being mistakenly classified as a male herself. Her lawsuit over the matter was recently allowed to proceed, and the Miami Herald reports on the case. The arresting officer listed Pichardo as female, she was initially processed at the first correctional facility as female, and a female officer performed a strip search of her private parts for contraband. She was then taken to the medical unit for a routine checkup, and that's when things started to go wrong. Nurse Fatu Kamara Harris asked a corrections officer whether Pichardo was a man, because the nurse saw in Pichardo's file that she was taking hormone pills.

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Though such pills are often prescribed for menopause, Harris said male inmates sometimes took them for breast enhancement. Harris had Dr. Fredesvindo Rodriguez-Garcia examine Pichardo, but he never had her undress or did a physical exam; according to Pichardo's lawsuit, he never even asked her if she was female or why she was taking hormone pills, yet ultimately decided to reclassify her as male. Jail officers protested; Harris wasn't in the room but told officers the exam had revealed male parts. Thus, Pichardo found herself relocated to a male-only facility, where she says she was leered at by about 40 men in her large holding cell and was so scared to use the bathroom that she soiled herself. A federal judge initially threw out her lawsuit, but a federal appeals court reinstated it last month. Click for the full story. (Read more lawsuit stories.)(Newser)  Harvard University is investigating an alleged rape, and it's being sued in an attempt to stop it. The Boston Globe has the backstory: "John Doe" enrolled at Harvard in August 2016; that next summer, while interning "in a city hundreds of miles away from Harvard" he met "Jane Roe," who is not a Harvard student. Based on court filings, the Harvard Crimson reports that city was likely Washington, DC. While there, the two on July 22 had a sexual encounter that he says she consented to and she says she didn't. Prosecutors decided not to take the case, and a civil personal injury suit filed by Roe in March 2018 is pending. Where Harvard comes into play: The school's Office of Dispute Resolution in October began an investigation to determine "whether he had committed sexual assault in violation of Harvards Sexual and Gender-Based Harassment [Policy]."

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That policy itself is at the crux of Doe's suit against the school; he argues the policy is in force under certain scenarios: If the incident occurred on Harvard property, if there was an off-campus connection (ie, at a program sponsored by Harvard), or if the conduct could "creat[e] a hostile environment for a member of the University community." Those scenarios don't apply, he argues, and he filed a civil suit Wednesday seeking a halt to Harvard's probe and $75,000 in damages. The suit describes Harvard's disciplinary process against Doe as "arbitrary, capricious, malicious, and being conducted in bad faith." Read the full Globe article for more; it digs into some discrepancies between Harvard's overarching policy and that of the specific college Doe is enrolled at: the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. (Almost 50 years later, a Harvard student's murder is solved.)(Newser)  In November, Denise Horvath-Allan flew for the 15th time from the UK to Kelowna, British Columbia. The 69-year-old says it will be her last such trip, but not because her business there is finished. As James McMahon explains in a piece for MEL Magazine, Kelowna is where her 20-year-old son Charles was last seen alive, just shy of 30 years ago. Denise had bought him a plane ticket to Canada in advance of his 21st birthday; he planned to cross the country during a "gap-year pilgrimage to explore his roots" (he was born there, and his father lived in Ontario). McMahon recounts Denise's final two interactions with her son: a 20-minute phone call on April 17, 1989, and a fax he subsequently sent regarding flights for their planned trip to Hong Kong. "Then, nothing," McMahon writes.

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The last confirmed sighting of him in the city was on May 26 of that year. Denise phoned police around then after not hearing from Charles for a while, but "their response was to say that 20-year-olds aren't obliged to phone their mothers," she tells McMahon. They didn't open a missing person's file until Aug. 10. McMahon explains that Charles had been staying at the Tiny Tent Town campsite and runs down two rumors on what befell himin one, he ended up in a septic tank; in the other, a lake. Denise has, for all her efforts, been unable to get the tank tested for DNA. As for the camp, she felt it has "stench of evil." McMahon elaborates on the underbelly of Kelowna itself, which for all its beauty has some dark corners. Meanwhile, Denise is "'running out of life' to find her son." Read the full story here. (Read more Longform stories.)(Newser)  Senators came out of a closed-door briefing with CIA Director Gina Haspel on Tuesday with some pretty unequivocal opinions about Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's involvement in Jamal Khashoggi's October death. What you need to know:

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker put it like so: "If the Crown Prince went in front of a jury, he would be convicted in 30 minutes."

NPR points out that when senators were briefed by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last week, Mattis said there was no "smoking gun" that showed the crown prince's hand in the murder. Sen. Lindsey Graham picked up that thread Tuesday, saying there may not be a smoking gun, but there is a "smoking saw," a reference to the bone saw allegedly used to dismember the journalist in Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul. He added there is "zero chance" the crown prince, whom he described as a "wrecking ball," didn't play a part, reports the AP.

And the New York Times has this from Sen. Richard Shelby: "All evidence points to that, that all this leads back to the crown prince. This is conduct that none of us in America would approve of in any way."

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The Washington Post's take: "Senators put themselves in direct opposition to the White House, making clear that the evidence they heard had convinced them beyond the shadow of a doubt."

And while they were fairly united as it relates to Prince Mohammed, the Times sees senators as being much less unified when it comes to where to go from here, on the heels of last week's vote to consider ending the US' involvement in the Saudi-led war in Yemen. The Hill has much more on the efforts and sticking points around the legislation here.

The AP reports that vote set up debate on the resolution, but when, or even whether, that will happen is unclear, as senators are considering whether to amend the measure, and, if so, how.

As for who was allowed to participate in the briefing, the Post reports only Senate leaders and the ranking senators on select committees involved in national security and Saudi policy as it relates to Yemen were included.

Politico reports Rand Paul didn't number among them, and he wasn't pleased with that, saying all senators should have heard Haspel's testimony. "There are eight people in Congress who get briefings on intelligence. That is not democracy. That is not democratic representation nor is it democratic oversight. I think the very definition of the deep state is when the intelligence communities withhold information from Congress."

(Khashoggi learned Saudis read his texts, wrote "God help us."Qatar's emir, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, has received an invitation from Saudi Arabia's King Salman to attend a summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council on Dec. 9, Qatar News Agency said on Tuesday.

Qatar has not confirmed what level of representation it would be sending to the summit yet.

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France's prime minister on Tuesday suspended planned increases to fuel taxes for at least six months in response to weeks of sometimes violent protests, the first major U-turn by President Emmanuel Macron's administration after 18 months in office.

In announcing the decision, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said anyone would have "to be deaf or blind" not to see or hear the roiling anger on the streets over a policy that Macron has defended as critical to combating climate change.

"The French who have donned yellow vests want taxes to drop, and work to pay. That's also what we want. If I didn't manage to explain it, if the ruling majority didn't manage to convince the French, then something must change," said Philippe.

"No tax is worth jeopardising the unity of the nation."

Along with the delay to the tax increases that were set for January, Philippe said the time would be used to discuss other measures to help the working poor and squeezed middle-class who rely on vehicles to get to work and go shopping.

Earlier officials had hinted at a possible increase to the minimum wage, but Philippe made no such commitment.

He warned citizens, however, that they could not expect better public services and lower taxes.

"If the events of recent days have shown us one thing, it's that the French want neither an increase in taxes or new taxes. If the tax-take falls then spending must fall, because we don't want to pass our debts on to our children. And those debts are already sizeable," he said.

The so-called "yellow vest" movement, which started on Nov. 17 as a social-media protest group named for the high-visibility jackets all motorists in France carry in their cars, began with the aim of highlighting the squeeze on household spending brought about by Macron's taxes on fuel.

However, over the past three weeks the movement has evolved into a wider, broadbrush anti-Macron uprising, with many criticising the president for pursuing policies they say favour the rich and do nothing to help the poor.

Despite having no leader and sometimes unclear goals, the movement has drawn people of all ages and backgrounds and tapped into a growing malaise over the direction Macron is trying to take the country in. Over the past two days, ambulance drivers and students have joined in and launched their own protests.

After three weeks of rising frustration, there was scant indication Philippe's measures would placate the "yellow vests", who themselves are struggling to find a unified position.

"The French don't want crumbs, they want a baguette," 'yellow vest' spokesman Benjamin Cauchy told BFM, adding that the movement wanted a cancellation of the taxes. Another one, Christophe Chalencon, was blunter: "We're being taken for idiots," he told Reuters, using a stronger expletive.

The timing of the tax U-turn is uncomfortable for Macron. It comes as governments meet in Poland to try to agree measures to avert the most damaging consequences of global warming, an issue Macron has made a central part of his agenda. His carbon taxes were designed to address the issue.

But the scale of the protests against his policies made it almost impossible to plough ahead as he had hoped.

While the "yellow vest" movement was mostly peaceful to begin with, the past two weekends have seen outpourings of violence and rioting in Paris, with extreme far-right and far-left factions joining the demos and spurring chaos.

On Saturday, the Arc de Triomphe national monument was defaced and avenues off the Champs Elysees were damaged. Cars, buildings and some cafes were torched.

The unrest is estimated to have cost the economy millions, with large-scale disruption to retailers, wholesalers, the restaurant and hotel trades. In some areas, manufacturing has been hit in the run up to Christmas.

Macron, a 40-year-old former investment banker and economy minister, came to office in mid-2017 promising to overhaul the French economy, revitalise growth and draw foreign investment by making the nation a more attractive place to do business.

In the process he earned the tag "president of the rich" for seeming to do more to court big business and ease the tax burden on the wealthy. Discontent has steadily risen among blue-collar workers and others who feel he represents an urban "elite".

For Macron, who is sharply down in the polls and struggling to regain the initiative, a further risk is how opposition parties leverage the anger and the decision to shift course.

Ahead of European Parliament elections next May, support for the far-right under Marine Le Pen and the far-left of Jean-Luc Melenchon has been rising. Macron has cast those elections as a battle between his "progressive" ideas and what he sees as their promotion of nationalist or anti-EU agendas.

Le Pen was quick to point out that the six-month postponement of the fuel-tax increases took the decision beyond the European elections.President Muhammadu Buharis Personal Assistant on Social Media, Lauretta Onochie on Tuesday accused the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP...





President Muhammadu Buharis Personal Assistant on Social Media, Lauretta Onochie on Tuesday accused the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar of having thousands of cows roaming the country with armed herdsmen.

In a tweet, the presidential aide pointed out that unlike Abubakar, Buhari has 150 cows in a secluded ranch.





According to Onochie, Buharis cattle do not pose any threat to farmers across the country.





Onochie wrote: Hmmm, @MBuhari has 150 cows. Secluded in a RANCH and not posing any threat to farmers and their crops.

Atiku has thousands of cows roaming the nation with ARMED HERDSMEN, from Sokoto to Benue, from Taraba to Enugu.



President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the enhancement of the welfare of troops fighting insurgencies and criminal agents across the c...





President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the enhancement of the welfare of troops fighting insurgencies and criminal agents across the country.





The Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, made the disclosure yesterday in a statement signed by Tukur Gusau, the public relations officer to the Minister.





Dani-Ali also directed the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai to remain in the North-East until the security situation in the region improves.





The Minister also directed the General Officer Commanding 8 Division to relocate the tactical headquarters from Sokoto State to Zamfara, to oversee the conduct of Operation Sharan Daji.





Dani-Ali said, The President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces has also directed the emergency procurement of critical equipment for the armed forces in line with the Federal Government policy of procuring equipment from Original Equipment Manufacturers through government to government basis.



President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed concern over reports of violence in four communities in Biase Local Government Area of Cross ...





President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed concern over reports of violence in four communities in Biase Local Government Area of Cross River State.





The violence has reportedly resulted in the loss of lives, injuries and displacement of villagers.





In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, Buhari called for calm and restoration of peace in the affected communities bordering Abia State.





The President urged the people of the areas to allow law and order to prevail.





Our communities must be ready to live together in peace since no development can take place in an atmosphere of recurring violence, he said.





Buhari, who commended the state government for the steps taken so far towards bringing peace to the areas, also lauded the State Police Command for speedily mobilizing its personnel to the affected communities to contain the crisis.







Senator Oluremi Tinubu, representing Lagos central senatorial district, said President Muhammadu Buhari has learnt a thing or two after his 'I belong to nobody and I belong to everybody' inauguration speech in 2015.Tinubu said President Buhari now knows those who belong to him and support his government wholeheartedly.The senator, who announced she was running for third time in the Senate, said President Buhari will fight to have a better Senate in 2019.She said: I believe the president would have learnt a thing or two because when he came in, he said I belong to everybody and belong to nobody. But I know by now that he knows those people that belong to him.What I am saying is not to take the presidents comment for granted, but now, I am sure he knows that some Nigerians are very dangerous to his decisions, even moving forward. The president should know those who are his own by now.It is a lesson to him and I know that he would fight to ensure that we have a better Senate in the 9th Assembly, not what we have now with a set of people who are frustrating his efforts. I do not think he would want to go through that route again.She urged Nigerians to give APC another chance in 2019, while saying the president cannot be expected to fix the rot in the nation in just four years.She said: Nigerians should give the APC another chance in 2019; four years is not enough for a president to complete his task, he is not a magician. We did not get to where we are overnight, she said.I am doing a third term because the leaders of my district asked me to contest. Beyond that, there is so much more to be done.I have shown through our quarterly town hall meetings that power belongs to and rests with the people. This third term is thus a chance to consolidate on previous achievements.To ensure that the third term is even more productive, we have set out to focus more on empowering our youths and finding ways to make them self-reliant.Through our quarterly town hall meetings, 27 in the series, I have been able to bond more effectively with our constituents."It had earlier been reported that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday, November 27, slammed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and was affirmative in his remark that Nigeria will not return to the era of greed and selfishness.Tinubu made this comment at the inauguration of Gboyega Oyetola as the new governor of Osun in Osogbo, the state capital.He further said that no party apart from the APC will rule in the south-west region of Nigeria.Mansur Dan-Ali, minister of defence, has directed Tukur Buratai, the chief of army staff, to remain in the north-east until the securi...





Mansur Dan-Ali, minister of defence, has directed Tukur Buratai, the chief of army staff, to remain in the north-east until the security situation in the region improves.





Tukur Gusau, the public relations officer of the minister, made this known in a statement issued on Monday.





He said Dan-Ali gave the directive when he met with the chief of defence staff and service chiefs in his office.





The minister also directed the general officer commanding 8 division, to relocate his tactical headquarters from Sokoto state to Zamfara, to oversee the conduct of operation Sharan Daji.





He mandated the chief of defence staff and chief of army staff to effect changes in the operational commands of operations Delta Safe in the Niger Delta, Lafia Dole in the north-east, Sharan Daji in Zamfara and Katsina states and Awatse in the south-west.





According to Dan-Ali, this is to enable them meet up with the current threats and security challenges in their areas of responsibility.





The President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces has also directed the emergency procurement of critical equipment for the armed forces in line with the Federal Government policy of procuring equipment from Original Equipment Manufacturers through government to government basis, he said.





He announced that the army council and navy board had considered and approved the promotion of qualified senior military officers to their next higher ranks.



Femi Fani-Kayode, the former Minister of Aviation has condemned the Spiritual Director of the Adoration Ministry, Enugu Nigeria, Rev...





Femi Fani-Kayode, the former Minister of Aviation has condemned the Spiritual Director of the Adoration Ministry, Enugu Nigeria, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka over his latest prediction on the presidential candidate the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar and his running mate, Peter Obi in 2019 election.





Mbaka had during a Sunday thanksgiving service predicted dooms day for the flag bearers of the PDP, Atiku and Obi.





Mbaka said that if Atiku continued on the same trajectory, he and his running mate would end in shame.





Mbaka also berated Atikus running mate, Peter Obi for not doing anything for his church, warning him of the consequences of being stingy.





Fr. Mbaka curiously withheld Obis blessing and said he would only release it after Obi had done a project for them.





Using Umahi as an example, Mbaka said: Umahi donated 1,000 bags of rice and 1,000 tubers of yam to us, but it meant nothing to me until he handed N10 million cheque to me and promised to build a project for the ministry. This is the type of gesture we require from Obi.





You can be promising and doing for them in Anambra. In your capacity and what God has done for you as governor, God hates stinginess. What I am saying is not to please you, but what will save your life. Otherwise you and Atiku will fail.





Governors of Ebonyi and Enugu made donations without announcing at the altar, your own is taking time, the way you and Atiku are moving will end in shame.





Reacting, Fani-Kayode condemned the statements by the fiery catholic priest requesting donations from political parties.





The former minister described Mbakas actions as disgraceful, urging Catholic Church to call him to order.





Fani Kayode on his Twitter page wrote: I am disgusted by the words of Father Mbaka. It does not matter to me which candidate he supports but what galls me is his begging for money from both sides in return for favourable prophesies.



A group known as the Social Reformer Congress has hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for clearing the air on the report that he was clo...





A group known as the Social Reformer Congress has hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for clearing the air on the report that he was cloned.





Buhari, who has been silent on the allegation since it surfaced last year, spoke on it at a meeting with some Nigerians in Poland on Sunday.





The president had said his opponents were behind the rumours.





In a statement on Monday, the group said by that singular act, Buhari has put his traducers to shame.





Ada-Obi Mbakwe, executive director of the group, blamed nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPoB), of being behind the allegation.





Ordinarily, fake news that run contrary to common sense and logic like the cloning story are undeserving of any response but speaking to counter the lies is another testimony to President Buharis humility and credential as a man that is in tune with the mood of the nation he is presiding over, he said.





It is of note that rather than diminish the stature of President Buhari, the lie about his being cloned has rather increased goodwill for him with even the international media reporting his response in a way that exposed and confirmed the limited reasoning of those that were promoting the story.





The expectation from right thinking Nigerians is that merchants of the fake news will now relent since their lies have been exposed, which Mr. President has magnanimously reacted to with the calmness of a leader and a man that has nothing to hide. But for the need to maintain the spirit of reconciliation the appropriate thing would have been to task the arrowheads of the fake news with the burden of proof since they might be connected with the ill health that troubled President Buhari at some point.





Knowing that those that publicized this fake news are desperate to derail the ongoing reforms that is returning Nigeria to Nigerians under President Buhari, citizens should be on the lookout for the next mischief they will come up with. Nigerians should do this bearing in mind that these characters are pathological liars that have gotten to the pitiable level of believing their own lies irrespective of how absurd such lies sound.



The Kogi State Government has alleged there are covert plans by Senator Dino Melaye to cause mayhem and bloodshed in Kogi State.A statement issued on Monday in Lokoja by the spokesman for the governor, Kingsley Fanwo, stated that the office of the State Security Adviser had uncovered orchestrated plan to destabilise the state.He said Melaye, senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District, was set to disturb the peace of the state through violence in the name of political campaigns.According to the highly credible report, the senator is planning to visit the Kupa area in the Lokoja Local Government Area to launch campaign of calumny against the government of Kogi State. The choice of Kupa was informed by the solid support of the APC in the area.It is expected that the people will resist the use of Dino language on the government, which will lead to attack on the defenceless people by the armed thugs which Dino is planning to convey to the place.The intelligence also revealed that the thugs to be imported from a neighbouring state where a political godfather just lost a House of Reps election, are to wear black T-Shirts with the inscription, DSS to create an impression that they are security operatives. The thugs are to be conveyed in a white Hilux vehicle. A notorious thug from Lokoja has also been co-opted into the Satanic plan.Fanwo said Melaye, like every other candidate, had the right to campaign for votes but urged the senator to honour the process for peaceful campaigns by dealing with constituted authorities charged with the responsibility of ensuring peaceful campaigns.A lawmaker cannot continue to be a law-breaker. We are not stopping anyone from peaceful campaigns but government will not tolerate plans that will threaten the lives of the citizens in the name of politics. Kogi State Government values life more than politics.Efforts to get Melaye to react to the allegations through phone calls proved abortive. He also did not respond to a message sent via WhatsApp as of the time of filing this report.Obi, vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has asked people to stop attacking Ejike Mbaka, spiritual dire...





Obi, vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has asked people to stop attacking Ejike Mbaka, spiritual director of Adoration Ministry Enugu, Nigeria (AMEN).





During the ministrys 2018 harvest and bazaar celebration, Mbaka had said Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the PDP, and Obi, might end in shame with the way they are going.





The Catholic priest said this after Obi failed to make a donation at the bazaar celebration.





The priests comment has sparked different reactions from Nigerians.





Reacting, the former governor of Anambra state said he did not feel bad about the statement.





Speaking through Val Obienyem, his media aide, Obi said it is wrong for priests to be attacked based on what they said on the pulpits.





He was quoted as saying he has a reverend sister and reverend father as siblings.





Please let us leave Fr. Mbaka alone; our duty to him is prayers for God to lead him aright, he said.





While one may disagree with him, we should always acknowledge that he speaks and acts from the, higher perspective of wisdom.





I have full respect for men of God and will always remember them in my prayers.





When they go wrong as humans, subject to human frailties, ours is not to castigate them, but to pray to God to lead them aright.



Supporters of Uche Nwosu, son-in-law to Rochas Okorocha, governor of Imo state, mounted billboards with his picture and that of Presid...





Supporters of Uche Nwosu, son-in-law to Rochas Okorocha, governor of Imo state, mounted billboards with his picture and that of President Muhammadu Buhari across Imo on Monday.





Nwosu had lost out in his bid to secure the governorship ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) despite efforts of his father-in-law. Nwosu had lost out in his bid to secure the governorship ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) despite efforts of his father-in-law.





The national working committee of the APC had declared Hope Uzodinma, a serving senator, as candidate of the party in the state.





Commenting on this while addressing his supporters in Owerri, the state capital,Okorocha said Nwosu was robbed of the ticket.





He said he would not stop him from joining another party to pursue his governorship ambition.





What happened in Imo was a clear case of injustice, where Uche Nwosu won the primary and was robbed of the ticket. This injustice must be addressed. However, in spite of the fact that my aides are leaving the party, I am still a member of APC and will not leave the party, he had said.





I tried to persuade them not to leave, but they have made up their minds. I have done what I can to make them remain in the party, they disobeyed me. I dont have any moral justification to stop them.





Okorocha had absolved Buhari of the alleged irregularity, blaming it on Adams Oshiomhole, national chairman of the APC.



Spokesman of President Muhammadu Buhari Campaign Organisation, Festus Keyamo, has said that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is running a self-indicting campaign.He said the PDP is using the same problems it caused in the country as basis for its campaign.According to him, the PDP used issues about economy and division of the country as bases of its campaign but that these problems were actually caused by the PDP.He said the countrys economic woes should be blamed on the PDP whom he said bled the countrys finances dry.Keyamo made the claim while appearing on Channels TVs Sunrise Daily.According to him, the coordinating minister of Finance under the PDP, Okonjo-Iweala, had predicted that Nigeria was headed for recession.Mr. Keyamo who provided proofs on Vanguard publication of 2012, said the former finance minister, Okonjo-Iweala had rightly predicted under the PDP that the country was headed for recession. He said, the PDP is only trying to deceive Nigerians by saying the countrys economic woes began under the current administration of President Buhari.He also said that it was still the PDPs then presidential candidate (Goodluck Jonathan) that went about religious places, whipping up sentiments about division of the country when he was busy kneeling down infront of religious leaders and demanding for prayers to win election in 2015.On the electoral amendment bill awaiting the Presidents assent to become law, Keyamo said it remains the entire discretion of the President to either sign it or not.He however said that the country can rely on the 2010 electoral act to conduct her elections if the president chooses not to sign the amendment bill into law.He said: "let Nigerians know that the former electoral amendment bill sent to the President for assent did not make any provision for card reader. He said the PDP and other proponents of the card reader are only grand-standing.According to him, they removed the provision of the card reader from the bill entirely and that it was President Buhari who spotted its omission in the first place and had insisted that the provision be recognised in the bill.He therefore said that it remained the discretion of the president to either sign the amendment bill recognising card reader for elections or not.He however said that based on operational standing, that there is nothing wrong if the president fails to sign into law the amendment bill. He said the only implication of it is on legal terms.Keyamo also said that the PDP has been the greatest beneficiary of the old act without the recognition of the card reader because, two of its governors actually won their mandates in court because the law could not recognize the card reader as at the time of their cases.Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Digital and New Media, Tolu Ogunlesi has hit at Bishop David Oyedepo over his stateme...

Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Digital and New Media, Tolu Ogunlesi has hit at Bishop David Oyedepo over his statement on President being dead and cloned as Jubril Sudan.





Oyedepo had on Sunday reacted to report that Buhari was dead and the President in Aso Rock was Jubril El Sudan.





Oyedepo, speaking from Living Faith church HQ at Canaan land, Ota, on Sunday called on Buhari to as a matter of urgency, address the nation on the allegation.





But, reacting, Buharis aide, Ogunlesi took to his Twitter page, describing Oyedepo as a hater of Buhari.





He wondered why the cleric would go to a far length to discredit Buhari.





Ogunlesi wrote: Olatunji Dare, one of Nigerias finest satirists, wrote a piece titled Buharis Double on Nov 27:





Pastor of one of Nigerias LARGEST CHURCHES cites the SATIRE in a sermon (apparently yest) as evidence PMB likely dead.



The Class of 1978 of Government College Ughelli, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to replicate the increase in the salary structure of the Nigeria Police in the salaries of teachers in Nigeria.The class made their position known during their inaugural annual lecture and conference as part of activities to mark its 40 years anniversary.The event which held at the school premises in Ughelli, was entitled: Falling Standard of Education in Nigeria: Role of Old Boys, Government, Teachers, and Students.In his remarks, Chairman of the class, Dr. Akpo Mudiaga Odje while lamenting the welfare of teachers in the country, said: We hope President Buhari extends the increase of police salary to teachers as well as to members of Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, who are currently on strike.President Muhammadu Buhari has pledged that his government will not rest until the remaining Chibok girls kidnapped by Boko Haram terror...

President Muhammadu Buhari has pledged that his government will not rest until the remaining Chibok girls kidnapped by Boko Haram terrorists in April 2014 are safely released





According to a statement issued President Buharis Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Tuesday, Buhari made the pledge on Monday in Katowice, Poland, during a bilateral meeting with Swiss President Alain Berset, on the margins of the UN Climate Change Conference, COP24.





The Presidential aide said Buhari had spent the whole day at the International Conference Centre, Katowice, where he delivered his national address at the opening of the 12-day meeting of COP24.





Shehu said the president had also met with several world leaders and visited the impressive Nigerian pavilion at the climate summit.





During his meeting with the Swiss President, the Nigerian leader thanked the Swiss Confederation for its efforts and important role as intermediaries to secure the release of some Chibok girls.





He assured him that the issue of the remaining kidnapped girls and other abducted persons would remain a key priority for the Nigerian government.





President Buhari and his Swiss counterpart, according to the statement, discussed joint strategies to ensure the safe return of the girls, building on the past successes of securing the release of some of the Chibok girls and other abducted persons in the North Eastern part of Nigeria.





The President also welcomed the Swiss Presidents commitment to continue providing humanitarian assistance to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Nigeria and to ensure the safe release of the abducted school girls.





We will continue to make the safe release of the remaining Chibok girls a priority and will welcome any kind of support from any quarters to make this happen,  the President said.





In separate bilateral meetings with the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda and the Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, President Buhari commended the country for a successful outing at the opening of the COP24 meeting in Katowice.





The President told his Polish counterpart that Nigeria was facing serious climate change challenges, particularly the receding Lake Chad, which had been a source of livelihood to some 40 million people living in the region.





Nigeria is totally committed to global efforts to mitigate and adapt to effects of climate change, President Buhari told the Polish leader, whose country is the president of COP24.





In his meeting with Prime Minister Morawiecki, the President lauded the plan by the Polish Government to open a Trade Office in Lagos soon, promising that investors who look to Nigeria can be guaranteed of safe returns on their investments.





He said: We have a vibrant and active young population and our government is doing so much on the Nigerian economy, including diversifying to non-oil sectors.





We welcome increased cooperation with Poland and will encourage investments in other sectors of the economy like solid minerals and information technology.





Morawiecki told President Buhari that traditionally 96 per cent of oil imports to Poland came from Saudi Arabia and Russia, adding but now we are looking at importing oil from Nigeria.





The Prime Minister noted as the fastest growing economy in the European Union, Poland had identified Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa, as three top investment destinations in Africa.





We want the hub of our investment destination to be in Nigeria, he added.





The Polish Prime Minister welcomed the pledge by the Nigerian leader to immediately put in place a framework to encourage more Polish investments in Nigeria.





Meanwhile, the Presidents bilateral meeting with his Austrian counterpart, Alexander Van der Bellen, focused on the challenges of Lake Chad and what was required to recharge it.





While noting that the Lake faced the two challenges of technology and financing, President Buhari told the Austrian leader that enormous financial resources and technology were required to transfer water to Lake Chad from the Congo Basin.





Van der Bellen, who indicated his countrys interest to cooperate with Nigeria on recharging the Lake Chad, talked about climate change challenges in Austria including drought, glaciers melting, among others.





President Buhari also met with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and both leaders followed up on their past discussions, during their last meeting in The Hague, Netherlands, in July, which centred on trade, investments and partnerships in agriculture.





The President welcomed the proposal by the Dutch Prime Minister to visit Abuja soon and promised that the Nigerian government would continue to provide a conducive business environment for existing and prospective Dutch investors.





On the sidelines of COP24, President Buhari also met with the Prime Minister of Estonia, Juri Ratas.





The Prime Minister of the Northern European country sought Nigerias support on its bid for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council for 2020 to 2021.



The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested one Amina Mohammed for allegedly impersonating Rashida Bello, wife of Kogi governor....

The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested one Amina Mohammed for allegedly impersonating Rashida Bello, wife of Kogi governor.





Peter Afunanya, DSS spokesman, said the woman gained unauthorised entry into the residence of Aisha Buhari, wife of the president, at the presidential villa.





Afunanya said Mohammed allegedly defrauded one Alexander Chika Okafor (a.k.a Chicason) of N150 million.





The woman who is being paraded has adopted various aliases and used the same false identities to defraud several unsuspecting persons before she was discovered, Afunanya said.

She used the false identity to evade protocol and scrutiny thus gaining unauthorized access into the villa and particularly the residence of the first lady and wife of the president, Hajia Aisha Buhari.





She took advantage of the fact that personalities as first ladies, ministers and certain categories of officials are not taken through rigorous protocol and security checks at the villa posts.





Investigation has revealed that the first lady was away on Lesser Hajj and not in the villa during the period.





Okafor had complained that he was fleeced of over N150 million in respect of a court of appeal property in Lagos which Amina had promised to help him buy through the first lady.





The property was said to have been part of those under the presidential implementation committee on lease of federal government.





Investigation has shown that this unholy enterprise is not to the knowledge of the first lady. What Amina simply did was to use the first ladys name and office as bait to lure and defraud her victims.





In a video obtained by Sahara Reporters, Mohammed vehemently denied being a fraudster.





Mohammed named Babachir Laval, former secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), and one Moriyatu, said to be a sister to Aisha Buhari, as her alleged accomplices.





I cannot be a fraudster, it is not true. No, I cannot accept, the suspect said in the video.



Nigerias President, Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday in Poland said those fanning embers of discord in Nigeria are illiterates and ignoran...





Nigerias President, Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday in Poland said those fanning embers of discord in Nigeria are illiterates and ignorant.





Buhari spoke when he visited the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, in Oswiecim, Poland, where he paid tribute to Holocaust victims.





A statement issued by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Garba Shehu, said after an hour and 10 minutes guided tour of the Museum, devoted to the memory of the victims who died at both camps during World War II, Buhari penned a hand-written tribute in the visitors book, quoting Shakespeares Julius Caesar.





The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.





The President also laid a wreath at Block 11 of the museum, known as the Death block. Here, according to an epitaph in the Block: Male and female prisoners from all parts of the camp complex where held in this buildingfollowing brutal interrogations, they were in most cases sentenced to death by shooting.





Shortly before leaving the Museum, which included the Nazi concentration camps Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau, Buhari, fielding questions from State House Correspondents traveling with him, described those fanning embers of discord in Nigeria as illiterates and ignorant.





The President is on Day four of his visit to Poland, where he had attended the opening of the UN Climate Change Conference in Katowice, delivered his national address at the 12-day meeting of COP24, met with several world leaders and visited the impressive Nigerian pavilion at the climate summit.



The Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, said yesterday that police undercover operatives will infiltrate the ranks of political parties and their associates in order to frustrate vote buying in the 2019 general elections.The police revelation came as chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said the commission would deploy devices to track election finance so that politicians and their political parties would not go beyond its required expenditure limit.Both spoke at the Transition Monitoring Group, TMG, stakeholders roundtable on 2019 general elections, tagged Political Corruption and other Emerging Issues, organized in collaboration with Christian Aid, V2P and Hope Givers Initiative in Abuja.The police boss, who listed potential threats to the 2019 polls to include vote buying, militant groups, rigging, acts of thuggery, hooliganism, flashpoints of electoral violence, ballot box snatching and small arms and light weapons, also disclosed that to checkmate the activities of thugs, profiling of their leaders, sponsors sympathisers and locations was ongoing.Idris, who was represented by the Commissioner of Police, Federal Operations, CP Kenneth Ebrison, said: In the case of vote buying, undercover operatives will infiltrate the ranks and file of the political parties and their associates to frustrate the emerging menace.As it affects flashpoints and ballot box snatching, a comprehensive study of all previous elections has been conducted to nip this in the bud.Also, threat analysis carried out will ensure that tactical intelligence response and technical unit personnel will be deployed to all the six geopolitical zones and state commands before the commencement of the elections.This is anchored on the establishment of standard operations procedure and security arrangements for a secured,free and fair 2019 general elections.The Nigeria Police Force shall discharge its duties professionally, proactively, in approachable manner and manifestly demonstrate impartiality and fairness in the forthcoming 2019 general elections.On his part, INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, while regretting that over the years, campaign finance laws and regulations had been more obeyed in the breach, said the commission had reviewed the development and as a result, redesigned its campaign finance tracking and reporting forms that will be used by political parties, candidates and monitors, essentially splitting the forms to make them less wieldy and cumbersome to complete.Russia has partially unlocked Ukrainian sea ports on the Azov Sea, Ukraine's infrastructure minister Volodymyr Omelyan said on Tuesday.

"Yes, Berdyansk and Mariupol ports are partially unlocked. Vessels make their way to the entrance and exit through the Kerch strait towards Ukrainian ports ... the movement is partially restored," the ministry quoted Omelyan as saying.

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NATO said Tuesday it is "up to Russia" to save a Cold War nuclear arms reduction treaty that the US has threatened to leave, accusing Moscow of breaching the agreement.

"We call on Russia to return urgently to full and verifiable compliance. It is now up to Russia to preserve the INF treaty," foreign ministers from the 29-member alliance said in a joint statement after talks in Brussels.

Western powers say a Russian missile system developed and fielded over the last five years breaches the 1987 Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty.

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The cost of insuring debt issued by Thomas Cook against default hit a record high and its bonds tumbled on Tuesday, as worries about the travel company's borrowings deepened following its second profit warning in as many months last week.

The world's oldest tour operator said last week it was not in breach of its banking agreements, its lenders remained supportive and it had enough breathing space to handle the debt.

The British company, which employs more than 21,000 people, declined to comment on Tuesday.

Last week, Thomas Cook cut its profit guidance and suspended its dividend, blaming a summer heatwave that swept northern Europe for deterring people from going on holiday.

The company's five-year credit default swap, reflecting the cost of protecting against a default on its debt, jumped 73 basis points from Monday's close to 1,071 basis points, IHS Markit data showed.

The price equates to a 60 percent implied probability of default, one trader said.

The price of the company's 2022 euro-denominated bonds tumbled more than 13.5 cents to a record low of 69.51 cents, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.

Its shares, which have plunged more than 60 percent in the past week, were down 14 percent at 1300 GMT, giving the firm an equity market value of about 363 million pounds ($465 million).

That puts it on course to be demoted from Britain's FTSE 250 mid-cap share index, and is below the company's last published net debt figure of 389 million pounds.

S&P cut its outlook on the company's credit rating to "negative" from "stable" on Thursday, saying its leverage - debt-to-core earnings (EBITDA) - was too high at 5.9 times.

Capital increase?

Bernstein analyst Richard Clarke said there was speculation Thomas Cook might need to raise more equity, and that its shares could also be suffering from uncertainty over Britain's departure from the European Union.

"If you think that Brexit gets more dangerous, then you're not going to be wanting to buy into Thomas Cook at this stage because the fear will be that they're going to have to do a capital raise," he said.

On Tuesday, the Telegraph newspaper reported that Chief Executive Peter Fankhauser was in private talks with institutions to calm nerves after the company's shock profit warning and share price plunge. https://bit.ly/2Ebd3et

A Thomas Cook spokesman confirmed the CEO was meeting investors, which he said was normal after results.

Thomas Cook's bigger rival TUI Group has better coped with the summer heatwave, helped by its greater ownership of hotels and a large cruise ship business, which boost margins and mean its profits are less exposed to unpredictable trading.

This is not the first time large debts have combined with tough trading to hurt Thomas Cook. It was last plunged into crisis in 2011, when unrest in key destinations such as Egypt and Tunisia almost brought the company to its knees.

The current share price pressure on Thomas Cook, which also owns an airline business, is being exacerbated by market negativity towards airline stocks. They have been hit this year by oil price rises, and worries over further possible airline collapses after those of Air Berlin and Monarch in 2017.

There was media speculation in July Thomas Cook could sell its airline, but Fankhauser ruled that out at the time.

"If they're pushed into a corner that is one option," said Bernstein's Clarke, who also speculated Thomas Cook could look to sell its operations in one country, such as Germany.

The billionaire co-founder of Chinese conglomerate Fosun, Guo Guangchang, owns a 13 percent stake in Thomas Cook, according to Refinitiv data. Fosun and Thomas Cook operate a joint venture.

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Egyptian business tycoon Naguib Sawiris has announced that he has bought the home of late poet Ahmed Fouad Negm to turn it into a museum to display the poet's work and collectibles.

"I hope his friends help me gather Negm's collectibles," said Sawiris, a 63-year-old billionaire who owns a series of successful companies and is the founder of El-Masreyeen El-Ahrar political party.

The announcement was made at the fifth edition of the Ahmed Fouad Negm Award, which is sponsored by Sawiris and honours poets who write in colloquial Egyptian Arabic. The ceremony was held at the American University in Cairo.

"The Negm prize is the best thing I ever did in my life," Sawiris said in an emotional speech during the event, which was attended by dozens of culture and arts icons.

Negm, who died in 2013 at the age of 84, is an icon of political poetry who gave a voice to his country and the working class for decades. His involvement in politics landed Negm in jail for a number of years.

The author of many well-known poems, Negm, known to his followers as Al-Fogammi, was a sharp-tongued poet since his start in the 1950s, before he was paired with famous musician Sheikh Imam Eissa to quickly become the most successful duo of the time.

For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture

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We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription.Much to his credit, Chance the Rapper continues to use his platform and visibility to call attention to ongoing concerns in his native Chicago.

In 2016, the rapper launched SocialWorks, a charity organization centered on youth empowerment through the arts and educational resources. It is fitting then, that Chance wrote an op-ed for the Chicago Tribune addressing the issue of displacement of resources among disadvantaged black and brown youth in the Chicago public school systems.



In advocating for the prosperity of CPS, Chance writes: "My efforts  through face-to-face interactions and programming in the schools or creating grants that provide CPS principals the resources to produce their dream schools  are a sign of support that no matter the circumstances, I'm committed to providing innovative ways to work with institutions to positively affect our children." Chance is clear that his investment is not a bid for approval, but that he is committed to the success of CPS students.

"Instead," he writes. "I am witnessing what seems to be the never-ending cycle of the displacement of our black and brown children."

In advocating for the continued existence of South Side elementary school, National Teacher's Academy, which closed last year so that the building could be used for a new high school, Chance writes: "CPS made the decision despite NTA's educational successes and despite unwavering objections from the NTA community," citing accessible after-school activities, a built-in community health clinic, and a senior recreation center among those successes. Additionally, NTA is also a Level 1+ school, meaning it has earned the highest standardized school rating from CPS, "outpacing 80 percent of students across the nation," Chance writes. He effectively puts forward a call to action for the "village" that makes up the NTA school and CPS school system communities.

That said, Chance's efforts to raise awareness, along with various on-the-ground efforts from local parents and families, and online campaigns, appears to have worked. A local report reads that, though the new high school was slated to open next fall, Cook County Judge Frank Valderrama granted an injunction Monday afternoon, ruling that parents who challenged the closure of National Teachers Academy Elementary had a high likelihood of succeeding in their lawsuit. Those parents are also arguing that Chicago Public Schools violated their civil rights through the closure.

The report also stated that "many parents in the packed courtroom had tears streaming down their face as the decision was read." Further, this action reportedly marks the first time the court has intervened in a school closing decision by Chicago Public Schools. I guess the takeaway here is that you can be the change you wish to see, and it can actually work out for the best.

Photo via Getty

Tumblr is a platform literally designed for horny teens  whether they're into lightly smutty Harry Potter fanfic or hardcore BDSM. Which is why a new announcement from the micro-blogging website signals the end of an era: porn will be banned on Tumblr, effective December 17.

The blanket rule against adult content will apply to all Tumblr users, regardless of age, and is likely a response to the iOS store removing the official Tumblr app last month after it found an incidence of child pornography.

Anxious fan fiction writers, take note  Tumblr has provided a detailed description of exactly what does and doesn't constitute adult content. Posting "photos, videos, or GIFs that show real-life human genitals or female-presenting nipples, and any content  including photos, videos, GIFs and illustrations  that depicts sex acts" will see your blog get flagged by Tumblr's team and reverted to a private setting. Related | 15 Cultural Leaders on How to Fix the Internet

But some stuff is still allowed: "female-presenting nipples in connection with breastfeeding, birth or after-birth moments, and health-related situations, such as post-mastectomy or gender confirmation surgery" as well as "written content such as erotica, nudity related to political or newsworthy speech, and nudity found in art, such as sculptures and illustrations".No oil will go through Persian Gulf if US targets Iran's crude exports: President Rouhani

12/04/18

Source: Press TV

President Hassan Rouhani has reaffirmed that the United States will not be able to stop Iran's oil sales, warning that no crude will find its way out of the Persian Gulf should Washington attempt to target Iranian crude exports.



President Rouhani speaking in the city of Shahroud, Semnan Province

December 4, 2018 photo by Islamic Republic News Agency

"The US should know [this] that we are selling and will continue to sell our oil and it will not be able to block Iran's oil exports. And it should also know that if it attempts to stop Iran's oil [sales] someday, no oil will be exported from the Persian Gulf," he said during a speech on Tuesday in the city of Shahroud, Semnan Province.



Rouhani further noted that Washington had failed in its declared aims of stopping Iran's crude exports, choking its trade with the world, and isolating the country regionally and internationally.



"Our great nation proved to be the ultimate victor of this battle on all stages," the president said.

Washington has re-imposed its unilateral anti-Iran sanctions, including an oil embargo, after withdrawing from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and major powers in May in defiance of international objections.



The US had initially vowed to reduce Iran's oil sales to "zero" under the bans, but it later backed down and granted waivers to almost all of Tehran's major crude buyers.



"The US should know that our people will preserve their cultural, economic, and political relations with the countries of the region and the world," he added.



"We will expand our relationship with neighbors, Muslim countries, and the world," Rouhani said. The Islamic Republic, he added, is not adversarial towards any of its neighbors.



The president further underscored the Iranian nation's "great victories" of the past 40 years in the fight against "the oppressive and tyrannical enemy," referring to the US.



He further pointed out a number of defeats the US has suffered in its hostile plots, including staging a coup, undermining the economy through sanctions and breaking away the southern province of Khuzestan from the country.

'US, Israel detest powerful Iran'

The US and Israel cannot tolerate the existence of a powerful Iran, he said, adding that the Iranian nation would never bow down to them.

A U.S. aircraft carrier strike group will arrive in the Middle East within days, to exhibit a show force against Iran https://t.co/mYUNLsGExN  The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) December 3, 2018

Rouhani said the US animosity towards Iran has drawn no backing except from the Tel Aviv regime and a few small states, adding that Washington has even failed to win support for such a policy at the United Nations and the International Court of Justice.



"Our nation will not allow a smile to appear on the face of the enemy," he stated. "We will build an Iran, which is more powerful than ever before."China has called for the end of luxurious wedding ceremonies as part of plans to boost campaign against massive displays of wealth.



The ministry of civil affairs said, weddings should integrate core socialist values and Chinese traditional culture and shun anything extravagant. Officials stressed at a conference on wedding reform over the weekend that it was necessary to incorporate Xi Jinping Thought, the Chinese presidents political ideology, into wedding and marriage planning.



The ministry will ask local authorities to come up with wedding etiquette rules, following the example of one Chinese county that already limits guests to 200 and permits no gift worth more than 60,000 yuan explicitly forbidding houses and cars.



Weddings have long offered an opportunity for the Chinese to show off their wealth in a culture where saving face is hugely important. The more lavish the wedding, the more expensive the gifts that must be given. The ministrys criticisms of this culture coincided with the long-delayed release of Crazy Rich Asians, a romantic comedy with an all-Asian cast in which one couple splurge 40 million dollars on their nuptials.



The latest crackdown partly aims to reduce bride prices, which have been on the rise in China after four decades of the one child policy led to a shortage of women. Last year, Dengzhou, a city in Henan province, capped the cost for a bride at 30,000 yuan.



These reverse dowries typically include the cost of an expensive wedding and a cash payment to the bride and her family. Prices have risen significantly in rural areas where the gender imbalance is more acute than in cities.



Authorities are also concerned that the tradition of playing pranks on the bride and groom originally thought to ward off evil spirits is out of hand. One groom was hit by a car last week as he tried to escape a pre-wedding hazing that saw him tied up and beaten.









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Featured VideoThe Supreme Court has dismissed an attempt by businessman, Mr Alfred Agbesi Woyome, to have the ongoing legal proceedings in relation to his GH47.2 million debt owed the state moved to the High Court.



In a ruling yesterday, the apex court, presided over by a sole justice, Mr Justice Anthony A. Benin, held that it had the power to enforce its judgement and, therefore, surrendering its jurisdiction to the High Court would be unconstitutional.



The current legal battle is that the defunct UT Bank, through its receivers, is claiming ownership of two residential properties that the Attorney-General (A-G) says belong to Mr Woyome and, therefore, wants to sell to offset the debt.



Objection



Lead counsel for Mr Woyome, Mr Osafo Buabeng, had raised an objection challenging the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to hear and determine the dispute, since it was under the High Court (Civil Procedure Rules, 2004, CI 47).



It was counsels argument that hearing the case in the Supreme Court would deny the parties the right to appeal, although CI 47 makes provision for the right of appeal in execution processes.



Rather, he said, the case should be moved to the High Court, where the right to appeal in relation to execution process was guaranteed.



A-Gs response



In his response, a Deputy A-G, Mr Godfred Yeboah Dame, described Mr Buabengs objection as a red herring and urged the court to overrule it.



It was his contention that the current dispute in relation to the ownership of the properties emanated from a Supreme Court judgement in 2014 that ordered Mr Woyome to refund a GH51.2 million judgement debt that was paid to him by the state because it was unconstitutional.



In view of that, he argued that the Supreme Court had jurisdiction to hear and determine any dispute that had arisen from its own judgement.



Ruling



The apex court, in its ruling, upheld the Deputy A-Gs argument and overruled Mr Buabengs objection.



According to Mr Justice Benin, although the Supreme Court had adopted CI 47 in enforcing its 2014 judgement, it did not mean the court had to act like a High Court and allow the right of appeal.



The legal remedy available to any aggrieved party, the court held, was a review of its decision.



It was also the view of the court that under Article 129 Clause 4 of the 1992 Constitution, it had the power to assume any jurisdiction vested in any court established by law.



Based on its powers under Article 129 Clause 4, the court said, it could adopt CI 47 to conduct its business without having to surrender its jurisdiction.



I overrule the objection as misplaced and misconceived, Mr Justice Benin ruled.



Judgment



Meanwhile, the court has fixed January 21, 2019 to give its decision on whether or not the defunct UT Bank, through its receivers, had any right to claim the two properties that the A-G wants to sell.



The court has, therefore, directed lawyers for all the parties to file their written addresses within two weeks.



In another twist, Anator Holdings Limited, a company which the A-G says belongs to Mr Woyome, has laid claim to a quarry in the Eastern Region which the A-G wants to sell to offset the debt.



Consequently, lawyers for the company have filed their case at the Supreme Court, arguing that the quarry belongs to the company and not Mr Woyome.



The company, therefore, wants the court to stop the A-G from including the quarry in the list of the businessmans properties that she wants to sell.



UT twist



The UT Bank, in April 2016, claimed ownership of the two properties at Trasacco in Accra when the state attempted to auction them to defray the GH51.2 million the businessman owed the state.



The effect of the claim is that the state cannot sell those properties until it is proved that the banks claim is false.



Background



The Supreme Court, on July 29, 2014, ordered Mr Woyome to refund GH51.2 million to the state on the grounds that he got the money out of unconstitutional and invalid contracts between the state and Waterville Holdings Limited in 2006 for the construction of stadia for CAN 2008.



The court held that the contracts upon which Mr Woyome made and received the claim were in contravention of Article 181 (5) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, which requires such contracts to be laid before and approved by Parliament.



On March 1, 2016, Mr Woyome prayed the court to give him three years to pay back the money but the court declined to grant his wish.



He, however, refunded GH4 million in November 2016 and promised to pay the outstanding balance by quarterly installments of GH5 million, commencing April 1, 2017.



That did not materialize after the businessman initiated a litany of legal cases at the Supreme Court to support his case, which were all dismissed.



Apart from fighting his cases in the country, Mr Woyome also sought relief from the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) based in Paris, France, and the African Court of Justice based in Arusha, Tanzania.



In August 2017, the ICC threw out his case on the basis that he failed to properly invoke its jurisdiction.



His case at the African Court of Justice is yet to be determined.

Source: Graphic.com.gh









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Featured VideoProphet Nigel Gaisies revelation that he saw Bishop Daniel Obinim in Heaven has turned into a prophetic beef as Obinim has blasted him for claiming he saw him in Heaven.



In a video sighted by GhanaCelebrities.com, the self-acclaimed Angel was heard lambasting the man of God for his childish and senseless revelation.



The founder and leader of International Gods Way Church, Bishop Daniel Obinim fumed;



I am not happy about it at all because its not making sense. This is childish. If I see you in heaven, I will ask the reason why you are here.



The majority of Ghanaians thought Bishop Obinim would welcome this revelation and jubilate over it since he claims to be an Angel of God but it seems it has rather pissed him off.



Prophet Nigel Gaisie in his revelation disclosed;



Me I saw him in heaven so dont judge people. Dont condemn people. The people we are saying they are correct, [the] good English speaking preachers, I didnt see most of them in heaven. I saw this man, [a] controversial man, I saw him in heaven. I saw Bishop Obinim in heaven.



Obinim concluded that he knows he is an Angel of God and doesnt need anyone to testify to that fact so Prophet Gaisie should go to hell!



I know myself that I am a real Angel from God, I dont need anyone to testify me because I can do that myself. If you dont believe me keep quiet, Obinim said.



Watch the video





Source: Ghanacelebrities









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Featured VideoThe new Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana Right Rev Prof. Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante, has formally assumed office.



The 18th Moderator of one of the biggest and leading orthodox churches in Ghana assumed office at a special handing over ceremony held on Saturday, December 1st 2018 at the Eben-Ezer Congregation, Osu in Accra.



The historic event which was graced by people from all walks of life included General Assembly Council members, Ministers of the Church, family members, the academia, friends, heads of churches and para-church organizations in and outside the country including a delegation from the Independent Presbyterian Church if Brazil.



The former Acting Moderator of the General Assembly of the PCG Rev Dr Victor Okoe Abbey, called on the members of the Church to wholeheartedly accept the new Moderator, obey, respect, support and submit to his authority, so that he will have the peace of mind to work with joy.



This, he said, will inure to the benefit of the Church as it would lead to the growth of the Church in all spheres.



The Right Rev Prof. Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante was elected the new Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) to succeed the Very Reverend Professor Cephas Narh Omenyo, the immediate past Moderator.



Very Rev Professor Omenyo was elected Moderator of the Church in August 2016 at Abetifi Kwahu during the 16th General Assembly and was inducted into office on Sunday 4th December 2016.



Unfortunately the Moderator fell sick in May 2017 during his first official visit to the Europe Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana to ordain some Ministerial Probationers in London.



The General Assembly Council of the PCG took a decision on Friday, August 17 to declare the Moderators seat vacant so that a new leader could be elected for the Church.



Profile of the Right Rev Prof. Mante



He holds an MA, MPhil and PhD in Systematic Theology and Philosophy of Religion from Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, California in the USA.



Prof. Mante has served as the Board Chairman of Adom Foundation since 1996 and he also served on the National Accreditation Board of Ghana.



He has served on many committees and boards in Ghana and abroad over the past 20 years including the Presbyterian University College of Ghana, Presbyterian Womens College of Education, and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches in Geneva, Switzerland.



He has been a minister of the Gospel in the Presbyterian Church of Ghana since 1981 and he served as the Akuapem Presbytery Chairperson from 2006 to 2011.



Right Rev Prof Mante was the immediate past President of the Trinity Theological Seminary, Legon in Accra.





Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Featured VideoSon needs blood for mum on admission at a private health facility. The Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) blood bank official allegedly sells blood to him.



Son takes the blood to the private facility, which runs a test and says the blood turns out positive for HIV/Syphilis.



A doctor on duty rejects the blood and gives him a written response indicating why, and it is to the effect that the blood was not wholesome.



Social Media



Alarmed son takes up to social media to rant. His rant, as expected gets media attention.



National Blood Transfusion Service and KATH have issued statements indicating the rigorous processes under which blood samples are taken through before they are transfused.



Media reports say tests conducted on the sample at the KATH laboratory in the presence of some journalists, the complainant, police and other officials turned out negative for HIV/syphilis.



It has also emerged that further tests would be conducted on the sample in Accra.



Issues



I am not surprised with the turn of events but what amazes me is how some friends and followers are taking the young man to the cleaners for posting the first results on Facebook.



Some are accusing him of causing fear and panic for no reason. Others are saying he should have gone back to the KATH with the rejected blood for action to be taken. People are now dictating how others should GRIEVE! Interesting.



Questions



Instead of crucifying the poor youngman for simply expressing his displeasure on facebook, pause and ask yourself the following questions:



Do individuals purchase blood at hospitals?



If yes, is that the standard procedure? If no, why was the blood handed over to him? Is that what pertains in hospitals?



Would you have folded your arms if you were in his shoes?



Experience



I have had terrible experiences with some health facilities but I managed to resolve them because I knew who to contact



What happens to the ordinary Ghanaian who doesnt have anyone but social media to express a concern?



I have on numerous occasions seen mothers carrying babies supposed to be on admission to laboratories to either pick up results or hand over blood and other samples to laboratory technicians.



I witnessed one less than a month ago where a group of nurses sat round a big table playing on their phones while a mother with a patient (baby girl) asked permission to check on the status of lab results at the laboratory.



The nurses, as I expected, said she could go ahead to pick the results. This is a hospital that has upgraded its system and inputs data online. I held myself up and reported the incident to their boss later.



Social Media



I would have ideally preferred to link up directly with authorities anytime someone comes up with a complaint via my Facebook Messenger. However, I have observed that while some act quickly to resolve issues, others dont act until I post the problem here.



A friends company recently funded the surgery of a youngman and I was sent to Korle-Bu to hand over the cash to the woman. The poor woman had gone to the laboratory earlier to run some tests for her son.



The laboratory technician took 120 cedis or so from her and claimed she would have paid more if he gives her a receipt.



Meanwhile, the results showed the total cost of the test would not have been more than 80 cedis. Meanwhile, the other departments she went directed her to pay the bills at designated points at the hospital. She had receipts for those ones. I immediately called one of the officials of the hospital and reported the matter.



Dont kill the Spirit



I have used social media to get: a whole new school for a village, justice for several people, employment for unknown youth, medical interventions for many people and several other interventions that inure to social good.



It is so wrong to abuse a youngman, who expressed alarm on social media. He is not a laboratory technician. He only acted based on information given him by professionals. I get justice for some of you here based on information you supply me.



It is impossible for the media to turn itself into the investigator, the prosecutor, jury and the judge. The media only acts based on information supplied it.



It publishes developing stories as and when they emerge.



Positive Change



The information put out by the youngman will surely shake the laboratory industry in this country. I see a lot of changes occurring in the near future. Just look at how the KATH and the National Blood Transfusion Service, the Police and the FDA acted with speed.



It appears we live in a country where officials become proactive when issues emerge through social media or traditional media.



Until authorities act professionally in the dark, social media and traditional media should and must be used to expose rot.

Source: graphic.com.gh









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured VideoThe National Democratic Congress has descended on President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, tagging him a visionless and inept leader.



A statement dated December 4 and signed by National Communications Director, Sammy Gyamfi noted how the NPP government has paraded itself as useful before the Ghanaian populace through deception and sham.



Touching on the projected Greater Accra Regional tour to be embarked on by President Akufo-Addo to inspect some 10 listed major ongoing projects, the NDC said it was prudent that government duly acknowledges their predecessors for commencing them rather than take undue credit for these projects.



Government pathetically lists ten (10) "major" projects that the President will be visiting during his tour, most of which are projects of the erstwhile NDC-Mahama Administration, and a vindication of the towering infrastructure legacy of H.E President Mahama.



"Despite the fact that the NDC subscribes to the principle of governance being a continuum, and that successive governments must pursue projects commenced by preceding governments in line with the Directive Principles of State Policy, we believe in giving credit where credit is due. We think that successive governments have a moral duty to be fair and candid in how they appropriate credit for projects initiated and commenced by their predecessors. It was in recognition of this moral duty that the previous NDC-Mills/Mahama Administration invited former President Kufuor to the commissioning ceremony of the N1 George W. Bush Highway in February 2012, and in that same vein, we expect nothing but candor on the part of President Akufo-Addo during this tour, portions of the statement read.



They chastised government over their inability to invest in key capital projects which can enhance employment and development in the country, tagging the regional tours embarked on by President Akufo-Addo as glorification and celebration of mediocrity and a waste of taxpayers money.



All they can boast of is a private-owned Astro turf facility, inherited Mahama projects and a handful of insignificant projects. Though they remain the most resourced government in the history of Ghana, the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government has woefully failed to invest in key capital projects which can create sustainable jobs and improve the socio-economic wellbeing of the Ghanaian. This confirms our long-held view that President Akufo-Addo is visionless, inept and a monumental failure.



A statement dated December 4 and signed by National Communications Director, Sammy Gyamfi noted how the NPP government has paraded itself as useful before the Ghanaian populace through deception and sham.



Touching on the projected Greater Accra Regional tour to be embarked on by President Akufo-Addo to inspect some 10 listed major ongoing projects, the NDC said it was prudent that government duly acknowledges their predecessors for commencing them rather than take undue credit for these projects.



Government pathetically lists ten (10) "major" projects that the President will be visiting during his tour, most of which are projects of the erstwhile NDC-Mahama Administration, and a vindication of the towering infrastructure legacy of H.E President Mahama.



"Despite the fact that the NDC subscribes to the principle of governance being a continuum, and that successive governments must pursue projects commenced by preceding governments in line with the Directive Principles of State Policy, we believe in giving credit where credit is due. We think that successive governments have a moral duty to be fair and candid in how they appropriate credit for projects initiated and commenced by their predecessors. It was in recognition of this moral duty that the previous NDC-Mills/Mahama Administration invited former President Kufuor to the commissioning ceremony of the N1 George W. Bush Highway in February 2012, and in that same vein, we expect nothing but candor on the part of President Akufo-Addo during this tour, portions of the statement read.



They chastised government over their inability to invest in key capital projects which can enhance employment and development in the country, tagging the regional tours embarked on by President Akufo-Addo as glorification and celebration of mediocrity and a waste of taxpayers money.



All they can boast of is a private-owned Astro turf facility, inherited Mahama projects and a handful of insignificant projects. Though they remain the most resourced government in the history of Ghana, the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government has woefully failed to invest in key capital projects which can create sustainable jobs and improve the socio-economic wellbeing of the Ghanaian. This confirms our long-held view that President Akufo-Addo is visionless, inept and a monumental failure.









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Featured VideoOne of the eight disgruntled National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer aspirants has called the bluff of the partys executives to close the nomination process on Tuesday.



Ekwow Spio-Garbrah is confident the NDC National Executive Committee (NEC) will acknowledge it breached the partys constitution by setting nomination and filing fees without consulting the National Council of Elders, and address the concerns of the aspirants.



No they wont close the [process]. They cant do it. I am telling you the thing is illegal. The process is unconstitutional, Mr Spio-Garbrah told Multi TVsPM Express, Tuesday.



Mr Spio-Garbrah, together with seven others  Alban Bagbin, Sylvester Mensah, Stephen Atubiga, Nurideen Iddrisu, Goosie Tanoh, Kojo Bonsu and Elikplim Agbemava  want the nomination fees, or fees for collection of forms, to be pegged at GH 5,000 and filing fees reduced to GH100,000.



Nomination fee was recently hiked to GH20, 000 and filling fee pegged at GH400,000, 700% on the previous cost.



This situation has been condemned by the eight apart from former President John Mahama, whose nomination form was picked on Monday by some loyal party supporters.



The disgruntled aspirants have petitioned the Council of Elders, chaired by former President Jerry John Rawlings, to looking into the matter.



in a response to the raging controversy within the largest opposition party, Mr Rawlings called for a review of the nomination and filing fees.



I doubt if anyone of us who has served with integrity, relying on our salaries can raise these filing fees unless we engaged in some unethical behaviour while in office; Unless we abused or misused our positions during our tenure, Mr Rawlings was quoted as saying in a statement issued by his office.



Speaking on PM Express about the controversy, Mr Spio-Garbrah said because the NEC breached a glaring party constitutional requirement in setting the fees, a Tuesday, December 4, deadline for picking of forms will likely be suspended or postponed.



Did they consult the Council of Elders? That is all you have to ask them. Just asked them: I read your constitution that you must consult your Council of Elders, did you consult them? Lets wait and see, he said.



He added: We know that consultation has not taken place. As long as that has not taken place, constitutionally and legally, this process is dead in the water.

Lazy approach

Taking part in the discussion was another presidential hopeful and former Kumasi Mayor, Kojo Bonsu, who said the excuse given by the partys General-Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, that the fees will boost funds for the cost-intensive primaries on January 19 does not hold water.



I think it is a very lazy way of fundraising. We have to think very deeply...and find a different way of collecting money, he said.



He said filing fees should not be the principal means of raising funds for the party.

Source: myjoyonline.com









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Featured VideoAn aspiring National Democratic Congress flagbearer, Elikplim Agbemava, has repudiated the partys processes to elect a flagbearer for the 2020 presidential elections.



He says there are clear indications that the race is being cooked for a particular candidate and challenged the partys national executives to restore the integrity of the contest by leveling the playing field.



Eli, as he is popularly called, was speaking on Asempa FMs Ekosii Sen talkshow on Friday protesting the partys GH400,000 nomination filing fees, and accused all the partys national executive committee members of having openly declared support and preference for ex-President John Mahama.



Look every single member of the NEC has made a categorical statement that for them, they are for John Mahama. Every single member, Asiedu Nketiah has said it, Ofosu Ampofo has said, you know, Hannah Bissiw has said it, Akamba has said it, you understand, so I mean, are they referees? You ask yourself. And it is sad, you see, I can go and lose, it is my problem but we must have the standards, the principles, if tomorrow, Jean Mensah of the Electoral Commission comes out and says that oh for me, I dont think that this contest is necessary so Akufo-Addo alone should be allowed to go for 2020, would anybody be happy? Would anybody be happy? These are the things, we are pushing the country into a ditch



Elikplim Agbemava said the lopsided race to elect John Mahama does not augur well for competitiveness and unity in the party.



According to Eli, the party will suffer ultimately should the biased officiating continue, as it would yield the expected result of a leader foisted on the party.



Filing fees too exorbitant



He said the high filing fees for the presidential race only puts the partys race for a flagbearer up for sale to the highest bidder and makes a mockery of the partys democratic credentials.



He insisted that leadership is not about wealth, and although he agreed with his host that a leader need be resourceful, he said the high fees only shuts the door to many well intended persons but who are poor.



They do not understand politics if that is the objective, they are not fighting for the country, he said of the executives pegging the filing fees that high.



He said the partys current leader, Mr. Samuel Ofosu Ampofo paid no more than 15,000 to file his nomination to be elected national chairman of the party, saying arguments that the party needs to raise funds to run affairs cannot apply to only the presidential aspirants, saying if the party needs money, it is the duty of the entire membership to raise the funds. It is too much, he said.



Eli said it is wrong for the party leaders to put money ahead of equity as it only excludes a section of the society from participating in the democratic processes, much against the accepted and durable standards of equity, integrity, commitment and loyalty to nation.



If I can pay and somebody else cannot pay, what does it mean? he quipped, saying emphatically he would not be picking the nomination forms if the fee is not reviewed.

Source: Daily Graphic









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Featured VideoNational Organizer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Sammy Awuku has called for calm in the Ayawaso West Wuogon constituency as they prepare for the constituency's by-election



According to him, this is not the time for agitations as the party should be more united and committed than ever for a resounding victory during the by-elections.



Speaking on Okay FM's 'Ade Akye Abia' programme, he said he had met with the constituency and polling station executives to resolve every impasse preceeding the bye-election.



"We are urging all party executives in the constituency to remain calm and let us give the late Member of Parliament a befitting burial, then afterwards we can all rally behind one candidate for the bye-elections," he said.



Following the death of the Member of Parliament of the area several agitations have risen as to who will occupy the vacant seat.



But leadership of the party have asked members of the party to rally behind any body who the party will consensually agree to represent the constituency in the upcoming bye-election.



Article 112 (5) of the 1992 Constitution says whenever a vacancy occurs in Parliament, the Clerk of Parliament shall notify the Electoral Commission in writing within seven days after becoming aware that the vacancy has occurred; and a by-election shall be held within 30 days after the vacancy occurred except that where the vacancy occurred through the death of a member, the by-election shall be held within 60 days after the occurrence of the vacancy.



The Member of Parliament of the area, Hon. Emmanuel Kyeremanteng Agyarko, died on November 21, 2016.



Mr Agyarko went to the United States to seek medical care.



Mr Agyarko, who was married with seven children, had been the MP for the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency since 2012.



The late MP was a pharmacist and a politician born on December 10, 1957 at Odumase-Krobo in the Eastern Region.





Source: Isaac Kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected]









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Featured VideoThe Students Representative Councils of the University of Ghana and GIMPA will on Wednesday, December 5, 2018, hold special remembrance service For the late Member of Parliament for Ayawaso West Wuogon constituency, Emmanuel Kyeremateng Agyarko.



In a statement copied to peacefmonline.com, the Students of both institutions will recount the priceless efforts of the late Member of Parliament over the years in supporting the education of many students from the University of Ghana and GIMPA particularly .



The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency, Emmanuel Kyeremanteng Agyarko, died in the states where he had gone to seek medical care.



Sources close to the family and the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), said Mr. Agyarko, 61, died, Wednesday, November 21, in the United States of America after a long illness.



The late MP went to the States to seek medical care after his condition was stabilized at the Ridge Hospital in Accra.



As a member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Agarko has been the MP for the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency since 2012, after he replaced the current Chief of Staff, Frema Opare as MP for the area.



Read full statements below;



The Students Representative Councils of the University of Ghana and GIMPA will on Wednesday, December 5, 2018 hold a special remembrance service For Hon. Emmanuel Kyeremanteng Agyarko, who until his demise was the Member of Parliament for the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency.



Students of both institutions recount the priceless efforts of the late Member of Parliament over the years in supporting the education of many students from the University of Ghana and GIMPA particularly .



They point to the special scholarship program Hon. Agyarko instituted in his office and how it became the 'lender of the the last resort' for many undeprevileged students.



The rememberance service will be held at *Business School Auditorium(R.S Amegashie)* on Wednesday, 5th December 2018 at 5.30pm



All are cordially invited to this important ceremony.



Thanks.

Source: Josephine Acheampomaa/Peacefmonline/[email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured VideoFORMER PRESIDENT John Dramani Mahamas hankering for leading the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as flagbearer in 2020 will receive a massive boost today.



Scores of supporters of Mr. Mahama in the Ashanti Region will be making cash donations to support his presidential bid, starting from today.



A special desk will be created at the Ashanti Regional NDC office at Amakom today for supporters of the ex-president to make cash donations to boost his ambition.



The Coordinator for Ashanti Regional Fund Raising for John Mahama, Francis Dodovi, made this known in an interview with DAILY GUIDE on Monday evening.



Already, scores of NDC supporters in other parts of the country have been joining long queues just to donate to help Mr. Mahama to pay the GH400,000 filing fee.



Dodovi said thousands of supporters of Mr. Mahama in Kumasi, notably in the NDC, have expressed their desires to also make cash contribution to support him.



We have been receiving calls from thousands of Mr. Mahama supporters from all over Kumasi that have expressed readiness to support him.



Some of the people called from Suame Magazine, Alabar and Adum as well as other commercial areas in the city, expressing their desire to donate to help Mr. Mahama, he disclosed.



Dodovi said the desk has been created in the NDC office so that every loyal supporter of Mr. Mahama will get the chance to also donate to help the ex-Ghanaian leader.



He said the mad rush by people to donate to help Mr. Mahama clearly shows that Ghanaians see Mr. Mahama as the one that can save the country from its woes.



Asawase Bails Mahama



Meanwhile, the NDC members in the Asawase Constituency in the Ashanti Region have paid the GH 20,000 NDC presidential race nomination fee for Mr. Mahama.



Alhaji Mutum, the Asawase NDC Chairman, said he and other party executives at Asawase travelled to the NDC national office in Accra on Monday to pay for the forms.



He said Ghana is in difficult times presently and so the teeming NDC members across Ghana see Mr. Mahama as the suitable person to save Ghana.



Alhaji Mutum said the Asawase NDC members want to see Mr. Mahama as president again, adding we shall also pay the GH400,000 filing fee for him.

Source: Daily Guide









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured VideoThe Canadian Forces Snowbirds (431 Air Demonstration Squadron) perform over 19 Wing Comox. 431 (AD) Squadron and CF-188 Demo Team deployed to 19 Wing Comox to complete training prior to the start of the 2017 Air Show season. Approximately 42 personnel and 14 CT-114 aircraft deployed to 19 Wing Comox for the Canadian Forces Snowbirds. Pilots will acquaint themselves with mountainous terrain and over-water show sites.After a 2-billion-kilometer journey that began in September 2016, NASA's OSIRS-REx spacecraft has safely arrived at asteroid Bennu. At 17:00 UTC, with the spacecraft just 20 kilometers away from its 500-meter-wide target asteroid, OSIRIS-REx lit its engines for a 20-second burn that put it on course for an initial close flyby of Bennu's north pole tomorrow.

"We know the burn is occurring," said Javi Cerna, an OSIRIS-REx telecom engineer, during a NASA TV broadcast from Lockheed Martin in Littleton, Colorado. Cerna watched his computer screen closely as the spacecraft's radio frequency shifted, indicating a change in velocity. "We have arrived!" he called out moments later.

Back at the University of Arizona, which is leading the mission, a crowd watching at the Stevie Eller Dance Theater broke into cheers. Dante Lauretta, the mission's principal investigator, told reporters later that the burn appeared to have gone well, but he was eager to read the navigation report, which was probably waiting in his inbox.

"As soon as we're done here, I want to get to my office and get back to work," he said.KAMPALA- In Uganda, the informal sector is estimated to be 52.4% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to a 2014 Uganda Bureau of Statistics report. The sector employs about 70% of the labour force.

In a bid to widen the tax base, the minister of Finance, recently announced a number of policy and revenue enhancement measures this financial year, geared at tapping into the informal sector.

Among these measures, is a requirement for certain taxpayers to have Tax Identification Numbers (TINs) as a pre-condition to accessing certain services and licenses.

However, a section of the public has shared their frustrations with the process of how difficult it is to obtain a TIN from Uganda Revenue Authority (URA).

PML Daily believes this article will help them learn more about registering for a TIN.

What is a TIN?

The Tax Identification Number (TIN) is a 10-digit number that works as your identity when meeting tax obligations. Like a bank account number, the TIN acts as an account number for a taxpayer with URA. It is issued at every URA service center using the authoritys online platform at no cost.

On receiving a TIN, applicants are required to quote this number in all correspondences with URA in order to ease doing business.

Who requires a TIN?

Everyone who is employed or involved in any type of income producing or economic activity, where customs duties, Income tax, VAT, excise duty, stamp duty, withholding tax or any other tax is due. This involves any person running a business in Uganda, persons seeking trading licenses to run any business in Uganda, importation of goods in Uganda among others.

How to apply for a TIN number?

Applications are made online via the URA web portal. For those doing business as sole proprietors, it is important to note that the TIN is for the business owner, not the business. So, if an individual has more than one business, they are only entitled to one TIN. Nevertheless, you must register all other businesses with URA on your TIN account.

After picking the category of service you are acquiring the TIN for, you will have to download the form template appropriate to your Registration. After downloading the form, you will see a yellow menu with a security warning. When here, enable macros by clicking Enable Content.

Enabling the macros helps in completing the form in that there are a number of self-populated fields which you will not need to individually fill in, such as names of districts and sub-counties.

Failure to enable macros will lead to futility in filling the form. You will notice that the forms are spreadsheets in Excel format with a number of worksheets. The last worksheet titled Help is a guide on how to fill the form. Read it before attempting to fill the Application Form. It is imperative to know that while filling in the TIN application all mandatory fields must be completed. The TIN application form requires information that helps URA to accurately maintain the taxpayers account.

Have the following information ready before you start to fill in the form:

Individual registration: Birth and citizenship identification documents, sources of income, type of business activity and alternative contact.

Non-individual registration: Name and address, subsidiary details if any, type of applicant, tax type, sources of income, type of business activity, primary authorized contact person and persons associated with entity, such as the directors.

Identification documents (IDs): The applicant is expected to provide at least two copies of valid identification documents to help URA validate the information given in the applications. Where possible, these should include one Government issued ID such as Passport, national ID or Voter Card.

Contact Details: These include email addresses and telephone numbers. These are crucial for taxpayers who apply for TINs for purposes of obtaining services that require them to have an account on the URA portal e.g. importation of goods, the filing of returns and motor vehicle-related services etc.

They are also key in supporting the online registration process and are needed to validate the information given by the applicant as opposed to physical interviews. These details are also very important in managing the security of your account with URA.

This implies that whoever has access to your contact details, can get access and transact through your account genuinely or fraudulently.

Email addresses are particularly important because, after approval of your TIN application, youre TIN, along with a default password, are sent to your email address to help you access your account on our web portal.

Address: This should be stated clearly to help the tax body easily locate the taxpayer in case of any need for; delivery of physical communication, tax education & sensitization and/or routine inspections to validate and update the information given in the application form.

Income sources: The applicant is required to clearly indicate all their sources of income. This is important for URA to ensure that they register a client for all the applicable tax types. For example, an applicant may be employed, but also with some rentable properties/houses and a shop.

One TIN will apply for all these income sources. In case of business income, the applicant is expected to give a clear description of the business they are dealing in to allow URA to classify them in the respective industry/ business sector.

As such descriptions like businessman, businesswoman, and investor are not accepted by the system. URA also has Service Centers spread across the country where taxpayers can seek assistance with applying for and obtaining a TIN.

RelatedThe National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund today announced the retirement of its founding Chief Executive Officer, Craig W. Floyd, at the end of 2018 after 34 years at the helm. Lori Sharpe Day, managing director of the Ashcroft Law Firm and longtime supporter of the Memorial Fund, will be named interim chief executive officer while the search for a permanent replacement is finalized.

Mr. Floyd founded the Memorial Fund in 1984 alongside United States Rep. Mario Biaggi (D-NY), a highly decorated New York City police legend who authored the public law to establish the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, DC. Under Mr. Floyd's leadership, the Memorial was dedicated in 1991 and now bears the names of 21,541 American law enforcement officers who have died in the performance of duty.

This October, Mr. Floyd and the Memorial Fund achieved another important milestone with the opening of the National Law Enforcement Museum at the Motorola Solutions Foundation Building, located across the street from the Memorial in historic Judiciary Square. The Museum, which was 20 years in the making, features high-tech interactive exhibits, historic artifacts that tell the story of law enforcement's past, and educational programs that address topical issues confronting communities today.

"With the opening of this world-class Museum, after a long and exciting journey, the timing seemed right to step aside and allow the Memorial Fund to bring on new leadership with the right experience, expertise, and ideas to meet the challenging and exciting future ahead," Mr. Floyd stated.

Mr. Floyd's retirement is effective December 31, 2018, after which he will remain active with the organization as Founding CEO Emeritus and as a consultant to the Memorial Fund and Museum.

"This organization and our nation's law enforcement professionals will be forever grateful for Craig's leadership and tireless devotion to the Memorial Fund's mission these past 34 years," Chairman of the Board and former United States Attorney General John Ashcroft stated. "His efforts have ensured that our fallen law enforcement heroes are properly remembered and honored, and those following in their footsteps are safer and better appreciated."

Under Floyd's leadership, the Memorial Fund achieved major accomplishments, including:

Creation of the world's most comprehensive database on officers killed in the line of duty

A federal law authorizing all American flags to be flown at half-staff on Peace Officers Memorial Day (May 15)

30 annual Candlelight Vigils honoring fallen officers during National Police Weekthe Memorial Fund's signature event that attracts a crowd of more than 30,000 people

Publication of the book, "To Serve and ProtectA Tribute to American Law Enforcement"

The issuance of commemorative coins by the U.S. Mint to honor our nation's law enforcement officers and their families

The establishment of a maintenance endowment fund for the Memorial that now totals more than $6 million

The formation of key partnerships with the departments of Justice and Transportation aimed at promoting officer safety and wellness

The opening of the National Law Enforcement Museum

"There could be no greater personal privilege than to have led the Memorial Fund for the past 34 years," Mr. Floyd said. "I have never worn the badge, but this job has allowed me to meet thousands of law enforcement professionals and learn their heroic and noble stories of service and sacrifice. Now, through the Memorial and Museum, millions of others will have that same opportunity and come to better understand the vital role that law enforcement plays in our society."

For more information about the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, visit www.LawMemorial.org.Chief Sandra Spagnoli of the Beverly Hills Police Department has been the subject of a number of complaints against her in the past two years. The first of the cases to be settled will grant former Captain Mark Rosen $2.3 million in damages. Rosen had accused Spagnoli of denying him promotion opportunities based on his religion, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Spagnoliwho was hired as the citys first female police chief in 2016has been the target of at least 20 civil suits or employment complaints of racial and sexual discrimination during her tenure, according to The Times. At least 10 have made allegations in civil suits, while the others are contained in fair employment complaints or notices of intent to sue.

Beverly Hills spokesman Keith Sterling said the decision to settle Rosen's lawsuit was made by the city's insurance company.The 22-year-old daughter of a Pennsylvania state trooper who was killed in the line of duty nearly a decade ago is following in her father's footsteps, taking the U.S. Army Oath of Service beside her father's grave over the weekend.

According to PAhomepage.com, Breana Miller will enter the military just as her father had done prior to becoming a Pennsylvania state trooper.

Dozens of troopers and loved ones gathered as Breana was sworn in as an enlisted soldier.

Trooper Joshua Miller was shot to death in 2009 while pursuing a man who abducted a nine-year-old boy from his mother at gunpoint.

The suspect's vehicle was stopped in Coolbaugh Township (Monroe County) when members of the Pennsylvania State Police utilized the PIT maneuver, causing the vehicle to crash. Following the crash, Trooper Miller and another trooper approached the car in an attempt to rescue the boy, but the suspect opened fire on the troopers striking Trooper Miller in the neck and leg, and striking his partner in the arm.

The troopers were able to return fire, killing the suspect.A Florida State Trooper pushed a bystander out of the path of an oncoming vehicle before being struck by that car at the scene of a traffic collision on Monday, according to WDSU-TV.

Trooper Mithil Patel was having a conversation with a witness on the shoulder of a freeway just north of West Palm Beach when he was hit, according to a press release from Florida Highway Patrol.

Highway workers who were clearing debris from the previous crash then ran over to help the injured trooper. Patel was transported to a nearby hospital where he is listed in serious condition.

"He pushed me out the way. If it wasn't for that, I'd be a dead man," Rony Bottex, the man saved from the crash by the trooper, told WPLG.If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found hereRoy Christensen, A Man For The Ages <p>Roy Christensen, a major innovator and 58-year veteran in the long term care profession, died peacefully on Nov. 11, 2021, at the age of 87.</p><p>Christensen, along with his son, Christopher, founded the health care company Ensign Group Inc. in 1999, and he served as a member and chairman of its Board of Directors until 2019, when he became chairman emeritus and director. Ensign Group Inc. is the parent company of the Ensign group of 245 companies that invest in and provide skilled nursing, senior living, and rehabilitative care services in 12+ states.</p><p>Its difficult to sum up the influence Roy had on our industry and the little company we started 22 years ago, said Christopher Christensen, Ensigns executive chairman. He truly was a pioneer and a visionary who has impacted so many that knew him and even more that did not.</p><p>At the core of Ensigns vision was achieving a culture of leadership and values in individual facilities that would better serve patients and their families, Christopher said. His father was especially honored when he talked about all of the thousands of co-founders and heroes that strive every day to carry out this collective mission, he said. Words cant describe how much he was loved and will be missed.</p><p>Barry Port, Ensigns chief executive officer (CEO), added, Roy once told me that his involvement in helping to form this Ensign family was one of the crowning achievements of his entire life. Roys place in the culture of Ensign is irreplaceable, but our entire company is joined together in our determination to honor his legacy.</p><p>Prior to founding Ensign, Christensen was founder and chairman of Beverly Enterprises in 1963, which grew to be the largest nursing home company in the country, with more than 1,000 facilities. He also served as chairman and CEO of GranCare, which later merged into Mariner Post-Acute Network. In 1994 he founded Covenant Care, another successful long term care company.</p><p>In the course of his long career, Christensen also taught at Brigham Young University and served as a member of President Nixons Advisory Task Force on Medicare and Medicaid. He spent four years as a member of the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfares Advisory Task Force.</p><p>Roy Christensen was an absolute giant in the long term care industry, said Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living. In developing Ensign with Christopher, he proved that a very large company can provide exceptional care to residents and create phenomenal jobs for employees. The lessons of Ensign will survive for many years.<br></p> 2021-11-22T05:00:00Z <img alt="" src="/Breaking-News/PublishingImages/740%20x%20740/Roy%20Chirstensen%20head%20shot.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> Management An eminent entrepreneur in long term care is remembered for the gift he left behind.

AHCA/NCAL COVID-19 Honors Program Celebrates Caregivers <p></p><p>Beginning in March 2020, COVID-19 swept through long term care facilities almost overnight. Facility leadership and staff were faced with unprecedented challenges. Not even proven existing emergency preparedness and infection prevention plans could contain this new and unknown virus.</p><p>Despite all of the unimaginable challenges brought on by the pandemic, long term care staff across the country have shown incredible determination and dedication to the residents they care for every day.</p><h2>An Idea is Born</h2><p>On Nov. 12, 2020, after hearing about various Veterans Day celebrations that had taken place the day before, Stacy Cromer, divisional director of operations at Life Care Centers of America, recognized a resemblance between these veterans and long term care workers.</p><p><img class="ms-rtePosition-1" alt="Stacy Cromer" src="/Breaking-News/PublishingImages/Stacy%20Cromer-%20CHP.jpg" style="margin:5px 15px;width:135px;height:189px;" />I felt we were also in the middle of a COVID war. A war just as bad, only we couldn't see it, and our staff really needed to be celebrated as well. Life Care did a great job celebrating folks; however, I wanted it bigger than Life Care, bigger than a state would do," Cromer recalls.</p><p>This prompted her to reach out to Mark Parkinson, president and chief executive officer of the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) with the idea of a national recognition program. Fully supportive of such an initiative, Parkinson and AHCA/NCAL set out to create and execute something meaningful for the long term care sector.</p><p>In March 2021, AHCA/NCAL launched the COVID-19 Honors Program (CHP) for long term care facilities to recognize their heroic staff who demonstrated strength and co urage in the face of COVID-19.<br>Program merchandise included a pin for individuals who work in a long term care facility that experienced a COVID outbreak, a medal for staff who contracted COVID-19 and survived, and a medal to the families of those staff members who passed away from the virus.</p><h2>Providers Embrace Program</h2><p>National HealthCare Corp. (NHC) placed the largest order for all of its 75 skilled nursing centers, 25 assisted living communities, five independent living communities, and 35 home care agencies, totaling nearly 15,000 employees across 10 states.</p><p>Denise Alvis of NHC who placed the order notes, As a member of AHCA/NCAL, we embraced the opportunity to recognize our health care heroes through the CHP. Each of our locations hosted a unique ceremony to recognize each staff member's commitment to our patients and each other throughout the pandemic. Staff had the opportunity to share personal experiences of hope and loss.</p><p>Recognizing the teamwork and individual efforts of our NHC staff was a special way to help boost morale as we move forward," she says.</p><h2>'Staff Wear Them Every Day'</h2><p>Christopher House, an independent nonprofit skilled nursing center in Worcester, Mass., opted not to hold a ceremony. Instead, each department manager or supervisor handed a pin to each staff member individually to thank them personally for their service.</p><p>Staff still wear them every day, and we give them to new employees. It's still a pandemic, and they're still facing the challenges of COVID-19," says Sandra Mahoney, Christopher House administrator. People were touched and felt appreciated by the gift. They see it as a true recognition."</p><p>Since its unveiling, the program has been met with overwhelming success. AHCA/NCAL has received numerous messages from participating facilities that the program has helped lift spirits and assured staff that they are truly valued.</p><p>The program will conclude at the end of December 2021. However, facilities are encouraged to continue honoring staff and conveying appreciation for the hard work and sacrifices they make every single day.</p><p><em>Natalie Visnick is senior manager of Public Affairs for the American Health Care Association.</em><br></p><p></p> 2021-11-17T05:00:00Z <img alt="" height="740" src="/Breaking-News/PublishingImages/Medal_survivor.jpg" width="740" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> COVID-19;Caregiving Across the country, long term care facilities recognize their heroic staff who demonstrate strength and courage in the face of the pandemic.

Unfunded Nursing Home Mandates in 'Build Back Better Act' Will Worsen Historic Staffing Crisis <p>The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) said that two provisions in the <a href="https://rules.house.gov/sites/democrats.rules.house.gov/files/Section_by_Section_BBB_RCP117-18_.pdf">Build Back Better Act</a> (HR 5376) will have a devastating impact on nursing homes and could force thousands more facilities to further limit admissions or possibly close their doors.</p><p>The provisions, one that would require nursing homes to have a registered nurse (RN) on-staff 24 hours a day and another that would require the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to conduct a study on minimum staffing ratios and implement the regulations within one year, are unfunded mandates that, conservatively, would cost the nursing homes industry billions of dollars a year and require hiring more than 150,000 new caregivers.</p><p>We strongly support having an RN on staff in nursing homes 24 hours a day, as we originally proposed in our <a href="https://www.ahcancal.org/Advocacy/Documents/24-Hour-RN.pdf">reform agenda </a>earlier this year. However, <a href="https://www.ahcancal.org/Advocacy/Documents/24-Hour-RN.pdf">current data</a> show that nursing homes are facing the worst job loss among all health care providers. Weve lost 221,000 jobs since the beginning of the pandemic, and recovery is a long way away, said AHCA/NCAL President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Parkinson.</p><p>Nursing home providers are doing all they can to attract and retain new workers, but the applicants simply arent there. The provisions in this bill do nothing to help us strengthen our workforce and will only force thousands of nursing homes to further limit the number of residents they can serve, he said.</p><p>AHCA/NCAL estimates that if the HHS study found that nursing homes need to increase clinical and direct care staff by 25 percent, it would require hiring more than 150,000 RNs, licensed practical nurses (LPNs), and certified nurse assistants (CNAs), costing $10.7 billion per year.</p><p>Current requirements mandate that nursing homes have an RN on staff eight hours a day. Under the proposed mandate in the legislation, AHCA/NCAL estimates it would require hiring 21,000 more nurses, costing $2.5 billion a year.</p><p>Phil Fogg, president and CEO of Marquis Companies, who operates more than 20 long term care facilities in California, Nevada, and Oregon, said if Congress enacts these provisions without the necessary resources and recruitment programs, it could have a devastating impact on nursing homes and the residents they serve across the country.</p><p>The workforce and economic crisis long term care providers are already experiencing is unprecedented. Lack of qualified workers is forcing providers to limit their admissions and, in some cases, close their doors permanently. Providers simply cannot attract more caregivers to our profession and meet the requirements of these mandates without financial support from Congress, said Fogg, who is also the chair of the AHCA Board of Governors.</p><p>"We all share a common goal, and that is to strengthen our workforce and provide the best possible care for our residents, said Len Russ, operator and administrator of Bayberry Care Center in New Rochelle, N.Y. But these unfunded mandates could further exacerbate the challenges we face and ultimately limit access to care for millions. </p><p>We are eager to work hand-in-hand with lawmakers to find meaningful solutions that will ensure seniors continue to receive the highest quality care and caregivers have access to good-paying, rewarding jobs."<br></p> 2021-11-17T05:00:00Z <img alt="" src="/Breaking-News/PublishingImages/740%20x%20740/capitol_blue_skies_flag.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> Policy;Workforce Bill could force thousands of struggling nursing homes to further limit access to care to millions of seniors.

Nursing Homes Down 221,000 Jobs Since Start of Pandemic <p>The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) have released a <a href="https://www.ahcancal.org/News-and-Communications/Fact-Sheets/FactSheets/BLS-Report-LTC-Job-Losses.pdf">report</a> showing long term care facilities are suffering from the worst labor crisis and job loss than any other health care sector. Nursing homes alone have seen their industry's employment level drop by 14 percent, or 221,000 jobs, since the beginning of the pandemic and more than any other health sector.<br></p><p>While hospitals, physicians' offices, outpatient care centers, and other health care facilities have reached or surpassed pre-pandemic staffing levels, nursing homes and assisted living communities are still experiencing substantial job losses, according to the latest October employment data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.</p><p> <img class="ms-rtePosition-4" src="/Breaking-News/PublishingImages/nurses1.png" alt="" style="margin:5px;" /><br></p><p><em class="ms-rteFontSize-2">Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) March 2019  October 2021</em></p><p>Mark Parkinson, president and chief executive officer of AHCA/NCAL, said that these workforce challenges for nursing homes and assisted living communities could be attributable to multiple factors.</p><p>As many caregivers are getting burned out by the pandemic, workers are leaving the field for jobs in other health care settings or other industries altogether. Chronic Medicaid underfunding, combined with the billions of dollars providers have spent to fight the pandemic, have left long term care providers struggling to compete for qualified staff," he said.</p><p>We desperately need the help of policymakers to attract and retain more caregivers so that our nation's most vulnerable have access to the long term care they need."</p> 2021-11-10T05:00:00Z <img alt="" src="/Breaking-News/PublishingImages/740%20x%20740/mask_1.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> Nurse Shortage;Turnover A report shows long term care facilities are suffering from the worst labor crisis and job loss than any other health care sector.

CMS, OSHA Release New Vaccine Mandate Details <p>On Nov. 4, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published an interim final rule (IFR), with comment period, that revises the requirements that most Medicare- and Medicaid-certified providers must meet to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The Biden Administration is <a href="https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/biden-harris-administration-issues-emergency-regulation-requiring-covid-19-vaccination-health-care?cm_ven=ExactTarget&cm_cat=COVID-19+Update+%23219&cm_pla=All+Subscribers&cm_ite=requiring&cm_lm=1149416120&cm_ainfo=&&&&&">requiring </a>covered health care workers to be vaccinated through this IFR. The requirements will be phased in via two phases. </p><p> Phase I - Effective Dec. 5, 2021 - Skilled Nursing Facilities, Nursing Facilities, and ICF-IIDs (CMS notes that this does not apply to assisted living providers) must establish a policy ensuring that all eligible staff have received by Dec. 5, 2021, the first dose of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine or a one-dose COVID-19 vaccine prior to providing any care, treatment, or other services, or have requested or been granted an exemption.</p><p> Phase II - Effective Jan. 4, 2022 - Requires that primary vaccination series has been completed and that staff are fully vaccinated, except staff who have been granted exemptions, or those whom COVID-19 vaccination must be temporarily delayed as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention due to clinical precautions and considerations.</p><p>Staff who have completed the primary series for the vaccine by Jan. 4, 2022, are considered to have met the requirements, even if they have not yet completed the 14-day waiting period required for full vaccination.</p><p>CMS makes clear that the IFR issued today does not apply to assisted living. </p><p>The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released its vaccine requirement for employers with more than 100 employees (corporation-wide). It appears that this also does not apply to assisted living providers.</p><p>OSHA specifically excludes the health care employers covered by this past summers <a href="https://www.osha.gov/coronavirus/ets?cm_ven=ExactTarget&cm_cat=COVID-19+Update+%23219&cm_pla=All+Subscribers&cm_ite=emergency+temporary+standards&cm_lm=1149416120&cm_ainfo=&&&&&">emergency temporary standards </a>(ETS), which did cover assisted living settings. It is likely that assisted living was unintentionally left out and the language will probably be changed at some point in the future to cover the health care settings not included in the CMS IFR.</p><p>Additionally, the Nov. 4 OSHA ETS do not apply to the SNF, NF, and ICF-IID providers that are covered under the CMS rule above. </p><p>Highlights of the OSHA ETS include:</p><p> By Jan. 4, 2022, employers must ensure that their employees have completed their primary series of vaccination. <br>o If employees have not completed their primary series at that time, they will need to provide a verified weekly test to their employees. If employee test positive on a COVID-19 test, they must be removed from the workplace until it is safe for them to return. <br>o Employers are not required to cover the cost of this weekly testing. <br>o Those employees who are not vaccinated will also be required to wear a mask while in the workplace. </p><p> By Dec. 5, 2021, employers must provide employees paid time to get vaccinated and recover from any side effects. </p><p> Employers are required to obtain proof of vaccination and maintain records of each employees vaccination status. </p><p>These CMS and OSHA rules preempt any inconsistent state or local laws, including laws that ban or limit an employers authority to require vaccination, masks, or testing.</p><p>The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living issued <a href="/Breaking-News/Pages/AHCA,-NCAL-Issue-Statements-on-Release-of-CMS,-OSHA-Regulations-on-Vaccination-Rules,-Schedule-Member-Webinar.aspx">statements </a>on the two rules upon their release. The association is offering a <a href="https://media01.commpartners.com/AHCA/ahca_110521/index.html">webinar </a>for member providers on Friday, Nov. 5, at 1:30 p.m. Eastern, to provide an overview of the new policies.<br></p> 2021-11-05T04:00:00Z <img alt="" src="/Breaking-News/PublishingImages/740%20x%20740/0520_news4.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> Policy;COVID-19 Interim rule sets timeline, particulars for health care worker vaccination requirements.

AHCA, NCAL Issue Statements on Release of CMS, OSHA Regulations on Vaccination Rules, Schedule Member Webinar <p>On Nov. 4, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released an interim final rule requiring direct care workers in Medicare- and Medicaid-certified health care settings to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Staff at these health care facilities must have received the first dose of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine or a one-dose COVID-19 vaccine by Dec. 5, 2021. All eligible staff must be fully vaccinated by Jan. 4, 2022. </p><p>The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) have <a href="https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/biden-harris-administration-issues-emergency-regulation-requiring-covid-19-vaccination-health-care?cm_ven=ExactTarget&cm_cat=COVID-19+Update+%23218&cm_pla=All+Subscribers&cm_ite=released&cm_lm=1149416120&cm_ainfo=&&&&&">released </a>the following statement attributed to association President and Chief Executive Officer Mark Parkinson on the interim final rule:</p><p>Once again, we appreciate the Biden Administrations efforts to ensure that as many workers as possible in all health care settings are vaccinated. Nursing home providers have dedicated themselves to increasing staff vaccination rates, and as a result, three-quarters of employees are fully vaccinated today. We are committed to forging ahead and encouraging all staff members to get these safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines.</p><p>While we support the overall intent of this CMS policy, we are concerned that the execution will exacerbate an already dire workforce crisis in long term care. A hard deadline with no resources for providers or glide path for unvaccinated workers is likely to push too many out the door and, ultimately, threaten residents access to long term care. </p><p>Even a small percentage of staff members leaving their jobs due to this mandate would have a disastrous impact on vulnerable seniors who need around-the-clock care. Across the country, access to long term care is becoming strained as providers have no choice but to limit admissions or even close their doors due to workforce shortages. We hope to continue working with the Administration to make the federal vaccine mandate successful while supporting our residents and caregivers. </p><p>Additionally, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) <a href="https://www.osha.gov/news/newsreleases/national/11042021">released </a>its vaccine requirement for all employers with more than 100 employees.<br>AHCA/NCAL weighed in on the OSHA rule, which may affect certain assisted living companies, with a statement from NCAL Executive Director LaShuan Bethea:</p><p>We commend the efforts of the Biden Administration to vaccinate millions more of our essential workers against COVID-19. Assisted living communities and other residential care facilities are deeply focused on encouraging our frontline workers to roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated to protect their vulnerable residents. </p><p>We appreciate the policies set forth in the OSHA emergency temporary standard, including the weekly testing option for unvaccinated staff members. Such flexibilities are a vital step to avoid further exacerbating the critical workforce shortage in long term care. NCAL will review the emergency temporary standard in further detail, and we look forward to submitting comments.</p><p>AHCA/NCAL to Host Member Webinar on CMS and OSHA Vaccine Mandates</p><p>On Friday, Nov. 5, at 1:30 p.m. Eastern, AHCA/NCALs Parkinson and Chief Medical Officer David Gifford, MD, will host an <a href="https://media01.commpartners.com/AHCA/ahca_110521/index.html?cm_ven=ExactTarget&cm_cat=COVID-19+Update+%23218&cm_pla=All+Subscribers&cm_ite=all-member+webinar&cm_lm=1149416120&cm_ainfo=&&&&&">all-member webinar </a>to provide an overview of these vaccine mandate rules, who is impacted by which, and how to get started with implementation of either the CMS or the OSHA vaccine mandate. </p><p>Registration is not required, but attendees are encouraged to <a href="https://media01.commpartners.com/AHCA/ahca_110521/index.html?cm_ven=ExactTarget&cm_cat=COVID-19+Update+%23218&cm_pla=All+Subscribers&cm_ite=login&cm_lm=1149416120&cm_ainfo=&&&&&">log in </a>15 minutes prior to the start of the webinar.</p> 2021-11-04T04:00:00Z <img alt="" src="/Breaking-News/PublishingImages/740%20x%20740/0220_News1.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> COVID-19 Nursing home providers have dedicated themselves to increasing staff vaccination rates, Parkinson says.Queens Together On Thursday November 18, Queens Together and volunteers helped 1,000 families in Astoria, LIC, Woodside, Jackson Heights, Sunnyside, Corona, East Elmhurst, Jamaica, Rosedale, Far Rockaway,...

Mets Turkey Giveaway The Amazin Mets Foundation donated 5,000 turkeys to those in need in advance of Thanksgiving. Pitcher Tylor Megill, Mr. & Mrs. Met and members of...

Rebuilding Median By LaGuardia Kicking off construction of a project to rebuild and beautify the Ditmars Blvd medians between 78th Street and the airport (82nd Street), a press conference...Los Alamitos, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 12/04/2018 --Cowan Insurance, Inc. is a renowned family owned and operated insurance company which has been serving the residents since 1972. The company is certified to serve in the state of California. At present, Cowan Insurance, Inc. serves the residents of Cypress, Los Alamitos, Cerritos, Rossmoor, Long Beach, Buena Park and Seal Beach, CA. Cowan Insurance, Inc. is known for offering top quality auto insurance in La Palma and Signal Hill California. The insurance agents here assist customers in finding the right home insurance policy that will offer utmost benefits in the form of coverage but at a cost-effective price rate.



As a local, independent insurance company, Cowan Insurance, Inc. has connections with some of the well-known insurance service providers and this allows customers to compare the coverage and the costs of the policies before choosing the best one. The company knows that all car owners may not need the same type of auto insurance policy and thus they offer tailored solutions to meet the demand and necessity of the customers. Also, the agents here are highly competent and knowledgeable, and therefore they can assist the customers in finding the best insurance policy.



Besides offering the top quality home insurance policies, the company also specializes in other types of policies for instance home, business, renter's as well as commercial insurance in Cerritos and Westminster California.



To talk to the team of professionals at Cowan Insurance, Inc., one can at once call at 562-431-0501. In addition to this, the company can also be reached on 714-898-9811. In addition to this one can also contact at 877-732-6926 which is a toll-free number. Apart from this, one can also visit the online portal of the company to get a free of cost no-obligation quote for the insurance policies.



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Medical rescue team transports injuries with helicopters in a joint medical rescue drill by China's Support Base in Djibouti and Spanish navy on Saturday in the western waters of the Gulf of Aden. Photo: Zhang Qingbao/GT

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Support Base in Djibouti conducted a medical rescue drill with the Spanish navy on Saturday, improving the capability of regional joint humanitarian rescue efforts.

It is the first time that China's Support Base commanded a team of helicopters to transport injured people and land in the support base's airport, which explores a new type of joint overseas operation and provides valuable experience for humanitarian rescues at sea, as well as promotes communication and cooperation between the support base and the Spanish navy.

The drill was conducted in the Gulf of Aden and simulated conditions in a hurricane disaster. The Spanish navy amphibious ship Castilla received a large number of injured people and sent the medical rescue request to China's Support Base.

During the four-hour drill, the Chinese medical team held an emergency meeting with the medical staff on the Castilla and established a joint medical team.

The drill focused on procedures, such as emergency helicopter medical evacuation.

Djibouti's military staff and air staff were invited to watch the drill.A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.Blockchain, Cryptocurrency startups in Switzerland can now apply for new "FinTech" license that would allow them to handle public deposits of up to 100 million Swiss francs or around $100 million, according to The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority or FINMA.

The Swiss financial regulator released new guidelines for obtaining a license, which is required to manage large amounts of money on behalf of investors and customers. Starting from 2019, interested parties can apply with the authority for getting the license.

The FinTech licence allows institutions to accept public deposits of up to 100 million francs, provided that these are not invested and no interest is paid on them. Till now, only banks had the right to handle such huge amount of deposits.

As per the new guidelines, an institution with a FinTech licence must have its registered office and conduct its activities in Switzerland.

FINMA said the new guidelines are aimed at simplifying the application process. The Swiss parliament introduced the new FinTech licence to boost innovative financial companies.

FINMA will also supervise these institutions. The license document was said to be in development since February this year.



In November, FINMA reportedly issued Switzerland's first crypto license, which targeted crypto asset investment funds. The regulator earlier had issued guidelines for the regulation of Initial Coin Offerings.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business NewsU.S. Border Patrol guards arrested about two dozen Central American migrants who scaled the border fence separating Mexico from the United States near Tijuana on Monday.

The migrants said they now plan to claim political asylum, but as per an order President Donald Trump issued last month, asylum pleas of migrants who crossed the southern border illegally will not be entertained.

A presidential order signed on November 9 says that the cases of asylum seekers who have crossed the border other than through a legal port of entry would not be heard. But a judge in San Francisco stayed the order until later this month, saying that the courts have an obligation to hear all asylum cases no matter whether people entered the country illegally or not.

Applying for asylum at a border post is a time-consuming process, and the migrants could be stuck for months or even years in shelters.

Thousands of Latin American migrants, who started their grueling journey on foot from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, have been impatiently waiting in shelter camps in the Mexican border city of Tijuana to cross the border hoping for a new life.

The migrants, who are mostly fleeing poverty, violence and persecution in Central America's "Northern Triangle", are determined to reach the U.S. hoping to build a better future for their families.

Frustrated by worsening food and sanitary conditions and a long wait at a makeshift shelter housing around 3,500 migrants, some jumped over the fence with their children.

Border police arrested those who ran to evade capture, as well as others who handed themselves in to them, BBC reported.

Claiming that there are criminals among migrants trying to enter the U.S., Trump had threatened to shut down the border, and authorized troops to use lethal force to thwart their attempt.

Police used tear gas against a larger group of migrants who tried to jump over the border wall, sending women and children running back to the Mexican side.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business NewsIndustry ministry condemns aggression coalition targeting to Hodeidah port [04/December/2018] SANAA, Dec. 4 (Saba) - The Ministry of Industry and Trade on Tuesday condemned the targeting of the countries of aggression coalition to the port of Hodeidah for the second time in less than a month.



The ministry said in a statement obtained by Saba that targeting the port, which represents the lifeblood of the Yemeni people, is part of the crimes of genocide and the war of starvation carried out by the US-backed saudi-led aggression coalition against more than 25 million Yemenis and a clear obstruction to the upcoming peace consultations in Sweden.



The statement pointed to the economic dimensions of the targeting of the port and the humanitarian disaster represented by the cutting off by the aggression to Yemen's only source of supply of food and medicine.



The statement pointed out that the targeting of the port of Hodeidah flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and human rights law and a full-fledged war crime.



The statement brought the international community and organizations, including the United Nations, the Security Council, the Human Rights Council, the General Assembly for Human Rights and the European Union, responsible for the continuation of aggression and saudi-led air strikes on economic and vital installations.



The statement condemned the silence of international community over the crimes and violations of the aggression coalition since nearly four years against the Yemeni people.



The statement called on the free men in the world and United Nations organizations to press their governments to work to stop the aggression and lift the siege and neutralize economic facilities from targeting and bombing.





AA

SabaBritish Prime Minister Theresa May has brushed aside questions about whether she will resign if her Brexit deal is rejected by Parliament, saying she's confident she'll still have a job after the crucial vote.

May is battling to persuade lawmakers to support the divorce agreement between Britain and the European Union in a Dec. 11 vote. Opposition parties say they will vote against it, as do dozens of lawmakers from May's Conservatives.

Political Council appreciates UN, Kuwait role in facilitating national delegation travel to Sweden [04/December/2018]



SANAA, Dec. 4 (Saba) - The Supreme Political Council on Tuesday expressed its gratitude for the efforts made by UN envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, and the State of Kuwait to facilitate the travel of the national negotiating delegation to Sweden.



In a statement, Saba obtained a copy of it, the Council appreciated Kuwait's support for the success of the political process and peaceful solution in Yemen, and the logistic support it provided in coordination with the United Nations to ensure the necessary security and technical arrangements for transporting the national delegation.



At the same time, the Council stressed its firm position on peace and the political process, hoping that this positive attitude of the State of Kuwait as an indicator to stop the aggression and siege on Yemen.



The statement expressed the council's thanks to the Sultanate of Oman for its humanitarian stance towards Yemen and for receiving the wounded of the Yemeni army and the popular committees.





BA

SabaIsraeli police on Sunday recommended indicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on bribery charges related to a corruption case involving Israel's telecom giant, prompting immediate calls for his resignation.

Police say their investigation has established an evidentiary foundation to charge Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, with accepting bribes, fraud and breach of trust. The case revolves around suspicions that confidants of Netanyahu promoted regulations worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the Bezeq telecom company in exchange for positive coverage of the prime minister on Bezeqs subsidiary news website, Walla.

Police have already recommended indicting Netanyahu on corruption charges in two other cases. One involves accepting gifts from billionaire friends, and the second revolves around alleged offers of advantageous legislation for a newspaper in return for positive coverage.

The prime minister has denied any wrongdoing, dismissing the accusations as a witch hunt orchestrated by the media.

"The police recommendations regarding me and my wife dont surprise anyone," Netanyahu said in a statement. "These recommendations were decided upon and leaked even before the investigation began."Korean students are flocking to study pharmacology in Japan as it becomes increasingly difficult to get a degree in the field at home. Graduates in pharmacology from Japanese universities are allowed to get a pharmacist license in Korea too.

An official at the Korean Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education said, "Around 200 people apply for a pharmacist license in Korea every year after studying in Japan."

The number of students who want to get into pharmacology schools in Korea is increasing. In 2010 when the country first introduced a six-year degree program which students can enter after two years of undergraduate study, 10,047 people sat for the national eligibility test with a combined quota of 1,500 to 1,600, and the number rose 48 percent to 14,892 this year with the highest competition ratio at 23.6:1 at CHA University.

Recruiters for Japanese universities entice prospective students in Korea by telling them that it is easier to get into a pharmacology school in Japan. Japanese universities administer separate tests for Koreans who want to study pharmacology there in every April or May.Gold chains for men are uniquely designed, preserving in mind the durability. The excellent gold chain for men that are...

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This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie PolicyKorean workers down tools more often than their counterparts in any other major economy as labor relations are chronically bad.

According to a report by the Korea Labor Institute on Monday, strikes in Korea cost businesses 2.03 million lost workdays in 2016. The number was derived by multiplying the number of striking workers by the number of days they downed tools.

That means an average of 5,600 workers went on strike every day. The KLI compared the figures to International Labor Organization data and found that Korea suffered the largest number of lost workdays among the world's nine major economies.

In Japan, only 3,000 workdays were lost in 2016, which is just 0.14 percent of Korea's.

Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading.The Unification Ministry on Monday unveiled a master plan for developing ties with North Korea focusing on "peaceful coexistence, joint prosperity, and sustainable development of inter-Korean relations."

The plan was supposed to come out in January, but events rapidly overtook it as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sat down for an unprecedented summit with U.S. President Donald Trump and the two Korean leaders met.

"It took more time to finalize the plan than we expected because we had to take the overall changes into consideration," a ministry spokesman said.

The new plan does not insist on making North Korea apologize for sinking the Navy corvette Cheonan in 2010, which Pyongyang still denies. "The new approach is part of efforts to create a favorable atmosphere for dialogue to peacefully resolve the crisis on the peninsula," a ministry official said.

Efforts to improve human rights in North Korea also take up a smaller portion than in similar plans in the past.

Denuclearization of the North is to be achieved by a "step-by-step approach," which to some observers sounds alarmingly like the North's own salami-slicing approach where small steps are rewarded with big concessions.

A former ministry official said, "This shows that the government has accepted Pyongyang's salami-slicing tactics aimed at dragging its feet as much as possible."

Home  Just In  From the Kathmandu Press: Tuesday, December 4, 2018

All major Nepali and English broadsheet dailies published from Kathmandu on Monday have given the priority to a host of issues from political, sociocultural and economic spheres. The Nepal Oil Corporations decision to reduce the prices of petroleum products citing the change in prices in the international market, and the failure of Constitutional Council to nominate the name of next chief justice have been covered on the front pages by almost all newspapers.

There are few news reports about the controversial Asia Pacific Summit that concluded in Kathmandu on Sunday.

Important

NOC slashes fuel prices

According to the new tariff that came to effect from last night, the price of a litre of diesel, petrol and kerosene has been reduced by Rs 2 each, according to newspaper reports. The government owned fuel distribution monopoly has cited changes in the international market.

Meanwhile, Naya Patrika comments that the reduction in the prices in nominal as the Corporation is in Rs 40 million profit every day these days.

Why did CC fail to nominate new CJ?

A snippet in Nagarik reports that the Constitutional Council decided to study both the names recommended by the Judicial Council further before picking the one for next Chief Justice. Therefore, the Council has called its next meeting for Saturday.

Kantipur, however, claims the meeting ended indecisive as the main opposition leader Sher Bahadur Deuba left the meeting halfway citing his other engagements.

Nepali Ambassador to Australia faces trafficking charge

Nepals Ambassador to Australia, Lucky Sherpa, has been accused of human trafficking, reports The Himalayan Times. The envoys driver Wongchhu Sherpa has accused the Ambassador and her husband of involvement in the illegal activities.

The driver told a private TV channel of Nepal that he paid Rs 3.3 million to Ambassador Sherpas husband to go to Australia, according to the report.

Ignored

Madhav Kumar Nepals role in Asia Pacific Summit

Naya Patrika claims in its lead story that former prime minister and senior leader of ruling Nepal Communist Party, Madhav Kumar Nepal, is the key person behind the successful completion of controversial Asia Pacific Summit in Kathmandu.

The report claims that Nepal had convinced the government to co-host this function organised by the Universal Peace Federation which has been promoting the agenda of the Unification Church.

Congress CWC meeting to continue for next few days

The Central Working Committee meeting of Nepali Congress that begun on Thursday last week is likely to continue within next few days, Nepal Samacharpatra reports.

The meeting is currently finalising a proposal that it will table at the partys mahasamiti meeting to amend the party statute.

The mahasamiti meeting has been scheduled to begin in Kathmandu on December 14.

Transitional justice bodies prepare to wrap up assignment

The Kathmandu Post reports in a three column lead story that two transitional justice mechanisms are preparing to wrap up their assignment by submitting progress reports to the government.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons have begun the preparations after the government hinted that it would not extend the term, according to the report.

Their tenure is set to expire on February 9 next year.

Interesting

NAC all set to resume Japan flights

It has been 11 years since Nepals national flag carrier, Nepal Airlines Corporation, stopped its regular flights to Japan due to lack of aircraft. However, the NAC has now begun preparations to result regular flights, according to a three column story in Karobar.

The Corporation says it will conduct three flights per week to Osaka from coming February.

One of the two recently bought wide body aircraft will be used for Japan flights.

Till 2007, there were two flights to Japan every week.New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/03/2018 -- Global consumption of sodium metal will grow at a sluggish CAGR of 3.3% through 2024, according to Persistence Market Research's report entitled, "Sodium Metal Market: Global Industry Analysis and Forecast, 2016 - 2024." In 2016, over 98,400 MT sodium metal was consumed globally, and it is estimated to surpass 127,400 MT by 2024.



The sluggish demand for sodium metal is attributed to hazardous effects of highly reactive sodium element. Challenges with handling and storage of sodium metal will continue to negatively impact the growth of the market. Further, limited availability of sodium metal on account of fewer players has resulted into introduction and use of alternatives, such as magnesium for use in industrial applications.



Request Report Sample@ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/14854



Key players in this market are concentrating on expansion of their production capacities and making long-term contacts with end-use industries, especially in near proximity, to incur growth opportunities. Manufacturers are also focusing on introduction to new grades of application-specific sodium metal. Inner Mongolia Lantai Industrial Co. Ltd. held the highest volume market share in 2015. Other leading players in the global sodium metal market include Wanji Holdings Group Limited, Shandong Moris Tech Co. Ltd., and MSSA S.A.S.



In terms of volume, chemical synthesis application of sodium metal held 70.4% share of the market in 2016; by 2024, this is expected to reach nearly 72%. Sodium metal is also used in the production of dyes, and it is projected that this application segment will grow at 4.7% CAGR in terms of volume through 2024. The weakness in demand will be offset to a certain extent by applications in chemical synthesis and textile industry.



APAC is projected to be the most lucrative region for the global sodium metal market followed by North America and Europe. Asia Pacific forms a hub for textile industries owing to the ever-growing population and demand for a wide range of textiles, resulting in steady demand for sodium metal. Over 53,690 MT of sodium metal was consumed in APAC in 2016. The North America sodium metal market was around US$ 60 Mn in 2016, and it is expected to reach around US$ 80 Mn by 2024. Consumption of sodium metal in Europe, pegged at over 19,700 MT in 2016, is expected to surpass 24,200 MT by 2024.



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Key Market Drivers and Trends



The demand for denim clothing has witnessed a robust growth in the recent past resulting in higher demand for sodium metal for textiles and apparels

Sodium metal forms a key constituent in the manufacturing of indigo dyes

Steady growth in global biodiesel production is one of the primary driving factors as sodium methylate is widely used as a catalyst for large-scale biodiesel production

Application of sodium metal as a reductant in metals manufacturing and refining

Global sodium market is characterized by competitive oligopoly, wherein few manufacturers hold major shares in the overall market supplyValley Cottage, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/03/2018 -- Russia's healthcare infrastructure will continue witnessing significant rise in number of orthopaedic patients as several bone & joint-related disorders are likely to be caused by people's eating & drink habits, their proactive lifestyles and the country's harsh weather conditions. Rising occurrence of joint-related ailments such as knee osteoarthritis in Russia are a result of people performing physical labour in severely cold weather conditions. This has necessitated the adoption of viscosupplementation as an ideal medical procedure for injecting lubricating fluid in bone joints during surgeries. An in-depth analysis of Russia's viscosupplementation market, conducted by Future Market Insights, projects that demand for three-injection viscosupplementation will gain traction over the next decade.



Request to View Sample of Research Report @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-ru-2897



According to Future Market Insights' recent report, titled "Viscosupplementation Market: Russia Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 2016-2026," nearly 70% of viscosupplementation revenues amassed across Russia in 2016 were accounted by three-injection viscosupplementation. The report estimates that the Russian viscosupplementation market incurred revenues worth over RUB 1.13 billion (US$ 19 million) in 2016. Registering a steady increment at 5.8% CAGR, Russia's viscosupplementation revenues are expected to reach RUB 2.02 billion (US$ 34 million) by the end of 2026. With higher demand for three-injection viscosupplementation, Russia's healthcare industry leaders will continue to extend production of three-injection viscosupplementation products as opposed to single injection and five-injection viscosupplementation products.



The report also establishes projections regarding the end-use of viscosupplementation in Russia. Hospitals across the country will account for just above RUB 1.24 billion (US$ 21 million) revenues by the end of projection period. Within this, the demand for viscosupplementation will remain considerably higher in hospitals with capacity of more than 500 beds. End-use of viscosupplementation in Russia's ambulatory surgical centres (ASCs) will remain nascent, while revenues accounted by orthopaedic clinics are expected to surpass RUB 595 million (US$ 10 million) through 2026.



Need more information about Report methodology ? @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-ru-2897



Top Players in Russia's Viscosupplementation Market



Top three established players in Russia's Viscosupplementation market include Hyaltech, Croma-Pharma GmbH and TRB Chemedica. The market is fragmented with small players holding substantial market share. While Hyaltech, Croma-Pharma GmbH and TRB Chemedica collectively dominate with more than half of the country's viscosupplementation revenues. International players such as Sanofi, Ferring Pharmaceuticals and Fidia Farmaceutici spa have low share as compared to the other players, Anika Therapeutics has recently launched their viscosupplementation product in Russia's viscosupplementation market.The Archbasilica of St John Lateran is the cathedral church in the city of Rome, Italy. It is the oldest and highest ranking of the four papal major basilicas, giving it the unique title of Archbasilica. The church was originally built in the 4th century CE by Constantine the Great, a Roman Emperor who ruled between 306 and 337 CE and made Christianity the official religion of the Empire. Positioned on the Caelian Hill, the Archbasilica of St John Lateran would have dominated the Roman skyline at the time. As new research from the Lateran Project reveals, however, the site had already been in use for centuries.

To build the Archbasilica of St John Lateran, Constantine had swept away the Castra Nova (New Fort), the lavish headquarters of the imperial horseguard constructed over a century before by the Emperor Septimius Severus.

In much the same way, Severus had previously destroyed the palatial houses of some of Romes most powerful residents to make way for the horseguards impressive new home.

This ongoing process of construction on the site meant that over hundreds of years layers of Roman history were laid down, much of it reflecting the changing fortunes and priorities of the Empire.

Working far beneath the modern streets of Rome, archaeologists on the Lateran Project have brought to life the first ever holistic picture of hundreds of years of Roman history by using digital mapping, ground penetrating radar and 3D visualization techniques.

Working with some of the worlds leading visualization specialists, they have reconstructed the splendor of the buildings.

The work has also permitted study of how the different buildings that occupied the site evolved, how different elements relate to one another and has given a sense of the scale the four-hectare site covers.

There is a large area of space underneath the Lateran that it is possible to walk or crawl through, said Newcastle Universitys Professor Ian Haynes, co-director of the Lateran Project.

The archaeology is at varying levels below  at the deepest we were 8.5 m below modern ground surface.

To access some of the spaces we worked with a group called Roma Sotteranea who specialize in working on buried sites and use exactly the same equipment and techniques as potholers. In some places, it was necessary to rotate the teams on a half hourly basis because otherwise it just becomes stifling.

The construction of the Archbasilica of St John Lateran was a pivotal moment marking the start of the major Christian buildings that came to define Rome and is a potent symbol of the military making way for religion.

In 312 CE, Constantines army fought the Battle of Milvian Bridge, after which the old Horse Guards base and several nearby buildings were destroyed.

The land was given to the Church and provided the perfect spot for Constantine to set out his new vision for Rome.

The land may have been given to the Church within weeks of the battle. A decision was certainly taken pretty soon afterwards and work on the Lateran started some years before it did on St Peters, Professor Haynes said.

The cathedral was rebuilt in the 1650s but there is still original Constantine fabric in the walls, while the original foundations are exposed beneath the church.

There have been various efforts to reconstruct it since then, so we wanted to pull together all of this information to create a digital cathedral that you can walk around.After traveling through space for more than two years and 1.2 billion miles (2 billion km), NASAs OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer) spacecraft arrived at its destination  asteroid Bennu (formerly 1999 RQ36)  on December 3, 2018.

Launched on September 8, 2016, OSIRIS-REx is NASAs mission to explore the near-Earth asteroid Bennu, collect a sample and return it to Earth.

Now, at about 11.8 miles (19 km) from Bennus Sun-facing surface, the spacecraft will begin a preliminary survey of the asteroid.

It will commence flyovers of Bennus north pole, equatorial region, and south pole, getting as close as nearly 4 miles (7 km) above Bennu during each flyover.

The primary science goals of this survey are to refine estimates of the asteroids mass and spin rate, and to generate a more precise model of its shape. The data will help determine potential sites for later sample collection.

OSIRIS-REx will enter orbit around Bennu on December 31  thus making this asteroid, which is only about 1,600 feet (492 m) across  the smallest object ever orbited by a spacecraft.

During our approach toward Bennu, we have taken observations at much higher resolution than were available from Earth, said OSIRIS-REx project manager Dr. Rich Burns, of NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center.

These observations have revealed an asteroid that is both consistent with our expectations from ground-based measurements and an exceptionally interesting small world.

Now we embark on gaining experience flying our spacecraft about such a small body.

When OSIRIS-REx begins to orbit Bennu at the end of this month, it will come close to approximately three quarters of a mile (1.25 km) to its surface.

In February 2019, the spacecraft will begin efforts to globally map Bennu to determine the best site for sample collection.

After the collection site is selected, the spacecraft will briefly touch the surface of Bennu to retrieve a sample.

OSIRIS-REx is scheduled to return the sample to Earth in September 2023.Home  Just In  Kathmandu police arrest Indian national for khukuri attack on trader

Kathmandu, December 4

Police in Kathmandu say they have arrested an Indian national for his alleged involvement in a khukuri attack on a textile trader in Tilganga of the capital.

Chief of the Gaushala-based Metropolitan Police Circle, DSP Sunil Malla, says 18-year-old Aananda Kumar from Bihar of India was arrested. He was residing in Tilganga.

Police have accused him of attacking 30-year-old Pramila Wagle with the sharp weapon on Monday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the injured victim is undergoing treatment at Om Hospital in Chabahil. She is said to be out of danger.

Police say they have not identified the motive of murder yet, and further investigation is underway.

The suspect is producing different statements about the incident, hence the probe is difficult, according to the investigators.Kathmandu, December 4

European consumer good production giant, Unilever, has announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire the Health Food Drinks portfolio (GSK HFD) of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in India, Bangladesh and 20 other predominantly Asian markets.

The GSK produces Horlicks and Boost, among other healthcare nutrition products that are popular in Nepal as well.

The company announced on Monday that it will consider shares worth 3.3 billion, using a combination of cash, and shares in its listed subsidiary in India, Hindustan Unilever Limited.

The transaction is aligned with Unilevers stated strategy of increasing its presence in health-food categories and in high-growth emerging markets, the company says, Unilever is well positioned to further develop the market given the extent of its reach and capabilities.Hosts Steve McLaughlin, Oceanias vp sales Australia and New Zealand and Steve Odell, snr vp & md Asia Pacific of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, told guests that Australia is the No. 2 global source market for the company after North America.

Odell said a major selling point is the relaxed lifestyle on board.

Appealing to Australian travellers

Although Oceania is a luxury product, life on board is casual, with no jacket or tie required, and this has great appeal to the Australian traveller.'

McLaughlin said 2018 has been a tremendous year in Australia for Oceania Cruises and that Australia is already ahead of the world for sales in 2019.

He remarked that the secret of Oceanias success in the Australian market has been its claim to have the finest cuisine at sea.

He added, We are getting passengers who have never been to sea before, coming for the food on board plus the fact that Oceania Cruises has smaller, more intimate ships.'

McLaughlin shared its destination immersion programme is a tremendous success and this is due, in part, because its ships can go where bigger ships cant.

They also spend more time in port.

Four ship revitalization

He said when OceaniaNEXT was announced, the company said the revitalization of its four smaller ships would cost US$100m.

Thats already been extended to US$150m and the programme has only just started, he said.

Insignia was the first ship to emerge from revitalization this month and she will be followed by Sirena (May 2019), Regatta (September 2019) and Nautica (June 2020).

McLaughlin said Australians will have the opportunity to see the new look Insignia when she arrives in Sydney in March next year.In a letter to shareholders co-ceos of DHT Trygve P. Munthe and Svein Moxnes Harfjeld said the company was neither for nor against scrubbers. The further explanation as to why it is fitting scrubbers to more than half its fleet comes as major tanker hub Singapore announced it would be banning the use of open loop scrubbers in its waters from 2020 when the 0.5% sulphur cap is enforced, and more countries are expected to follow.

Read more: Singapore to ban use of open loop scrubbers in port waters

We believe scrubbers to be an economical way to comply with the new regulations and want with this communication to share some important details in our scrubber programme, they said.

DHT is fitting scrubbers to 18 of the 27 vessels in its fleet  15 retrofits plus two newbuildings. Of the scrubbers fit 15 will be capabale of scrubbimg down to 0.1% sulphur content for use in emission control areas (ECAs).

We configured our fuel tank lay-out allowing us to carry various grades of fuels facilitating the flexibility to consume compliant fuels with 0.5% or less sulphur content when in emission control areas and in ports that does not permit scrubbers. We have elected this configuration in anticipation of countries implementing stricter rules related to use of scrubbers when ships operate in their respective near seas and ports, they said.A broad range of Rolls-Royce customers and other interested parties saw real-time images of the vessels progress as it navigated around obstacles, without human intervention, on the voyage between Paraino and Nauvo. Later, the return passage was completed under remote control from a shore-based centre.

Read more: Ferry completes first 'ground breaking' autonomous passage in Finland

Just a few days before, Finnish technology group Wartsila revealed details of an automated dock-to-dock procedure conducted in the presence of the Norwegian Maritime Authority. The system was successfully tested on board the ferry Folgefonn and represented an important step forward in the companys smart marine programme.

Rolls-Royce, which already has its own automatic docking set-up used in part of the Falco demonstration, will soon be taken over by Kongsberg. The Norwegian company will be acquiring what is arguably the worlds leader in sensor-based real-time ship autonomy, and it is a competition between technologists in Norway and Finland as to who leads the race. On the face of it, those involved talk about collaboration, but make no mistake, this is a highly competitive business and the stakes are high.

Increased safety

Oskar Levander, Rolls-Royces high-profile ship autonomy expert, is a leading pioneer of the science which, in theory, could allow many ships, deployed on certain routes, to operate without human intervention. The advocates of such arrangements point to benefits including increased safety  most maritime accidents are a result of human error  and lower costs. Traditional seafarers, they argue, would see their jobs transferred from ships to shore-based control centres, with their lives transformed into more normal existences, living at home with access to friends and family.

However, at a smart reception to celebrate completion of the two Falco voyages earlier in the day, Levander highlighted the IMOs 2050 carbon emission reduction target and suggested that autonomous shipping development could be a major contributory factor in achieving this aim. But regulations were a constraint on technology developments, he said, and those at the forefront of developments would like the IMOs regulatory procedures to speed up.

Not far away

What will start in short-sea maritime business and local waters will move, step by step, into regional trades and eventually deep-sea vessel operation, Rolls-Royce Marine President Mikael Makinen said, predicting that this development was not far away and could be closer to five years than 15.

Levander added that there would be little point in the automated operation of some ships  very large container vessels, for example  because the benefits would be marginal. However, the business case for small container ships, including feeder vessels, could be very interesting, he suggested.

Conservative sector

Shipping is the most conservative of transport sectors and there are plenty of naysayers when it comes to ship automation and ultimately, ship autonomy. However, recent demonstrations by some of the sectors leading technology companies show that these initiatives are no longer academic exercises to see what is possible.

The presence of a significant contingent of shippings customers at the Rolls-Royce event suggests that those in denial need to adjust their thinking. If the end users want to see the cost and safety benefits associated with autonomy, then shipowners and operators need to embrace the new technologies and, with new regulations from the IMO, prepare for a more automated future.Press Release

December 4, 2018 De Lima welcomes global campaign to free political prisoners Amid the growing trend of jailing government critics in many parts of the world, Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima has welcomed Liberal International's (LI) campaign calling for the freedom of imprisoned liberals and democrats, including herself. In her message to the 62nd Congress of Liberal International in Dakar, Senegal, De Lima underscored the need to pressure national and inter-governmental authorities to help end intimidation and persecution of leaders who fight for worthy causes. "This will reinforce the will and determination of other campaigners even as it will exert a much-needed pressure on national and inter-governmental authorities and decision makers to resolve not just the specific cases of the political prisoners, but to contribute in alleviating the socio-political situation in such severely strained countries, like the Philippines," she said. De Lima's message entitled "Let's Keep the Optimism and Work in Solidarity!" was delivered by her brother, Vicente "Vicboy" de Lima II, during an online teleconference before LI delegates last Nov. 30. Aside from De Lima, LI is also calling for the release of Kem Sokha of Cambodia and the Raif Badawi of Saudi Arabia, among others. In her message, the Senator from Bicol reiterated her call for the establishment and maintenance of a solid network of human rights defenders and pro-democracy champions to turn the tide of autocracy and populism. "Some pundits claim that democracy is dying all over the world, and that what we are witnessing is the end of human rights. They attribute it to the recent rise of populist and authoritarian leaders like Duterte, on the one hand, while there seems to be an absence of leadership and political will to confront them, on the other end," she said. "The former may be true, but the latter definitely is not. We continue to fight. Our hearts and minds will always bear the courage and determination to defend our freedom and the world's democracies," she added. In the Philippines, De Lima noted that the country is once again under the grip of despotic rule under the populist strongman, Mr. Duterte, 32 years after the fall of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. As the first prominent political prisoner under the Duterte regime, De Lima earned Duterte's ire when she introduced a Senate resolution calling for an investigation into the spate of extrajudicial killings in the government's brutal war on drugs. Prior to this, De Lima also exposed Duterte's involvement in the vigilante group known as the "Davao Death Squad" during her term as chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights. "What is clear is that my arrest and continuing incarceration have been preceded and accompanied by a vicious and unparalleled campaign of personal vilification, character-assassination, and slut-shaming from no less than the Philippine president and his allies," she said. "There is no doubt that the personal attacks, political persecution and unjust detention that I have been suffering are inextricably connected to my vigorous and unrelenting criticism of Duterte's so-called war on drugs and other anti-human rights policies," she added. Despite her continued unjust detention, De Lima continues to reap awards and citations here and abroad recognizing her outstanding fight for justice and human rights no matter the cost. She was conferred by the LI as this year's Prize for Freedom awardee.Press Release

December 4, 2018 Drilon rejects martial law extension Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon thumbed down plans to extend martial law in the entire Mindanao for another year. "The proposed second extension of martial law is unconstitutional," Drilon said. "There is no basis for a second extension of martial law as there was no ground that necessitated the first extension," he added. Drilon issued the statement amidst reports that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) will recommend another extension of martial law in Mindanao. "The Constitution is clear that martial law may be declared only in cases of actual rebellion when public safety requires it." Drilon said Section 18, Article VII of the Constitution states that martial law may only be extended "if the invasion or rebellion shall persist and public safety requires it." "I may sound like a broken record but for the nth time, I would repeat: there is no actual rebellion. Rebellion no longer persists in Mindanao," Drilon stressed. The former justice secretary explained that rebellion is committed by rising publicly and taking arms against the government for the purpose of removing from its allegiance to the Philippines and any part thereof. He said that AFP Chief Carlito Galvez's statement that they will recommend an extension of martial law because "terrorism is still lurking in the area" would confirm that there is no actual rebellion happening in Mindanao. "There may be threats of rebellion, but what the Constitution clearly requires as a ground for declaring and extending martial law is the presence of actual rebellion," he added. "Let us not normalize martial law. Instead, let us help bring back normalcy in the lives of our brothers and sisters in Mindanao, Drilon said. The opposition senator said that the AFP and PNP can very well exercise their powers under the law without placing the south under martial law. "Even without martial law, I have full confidence in the capability of our military and the police to suppress criminals, rebels and terrorist," he said.Press Release

December 4, 2018 GORDON CALLS ON PNP TO INVEST ON POLICE VISIBILITY, STRICTLY IMPLEMENT ILLEGAL POSSESSION OF FIREARMS LAW With crimes, especially killings committed with impunity, still unabated, Senator Richard J. Gordon has called on the Philippine National Police to invest on police visibility and on conducting intelligence operations. Gordon, chairman of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, said law enforcers should be more proactive, by taking actions to prevent crimes instead of just waiting for crimes to happen before taking action. "Dapat ang law enforcers natin, hindi naghihintay na may mangyari, dapat preventive. They should invest in police visibility. There must be an investment on police visibility. They should always be looking out for lawless elements. Nung nasa SBMA ako, namili ako ng police cars para ang mga police nakakapag-ronda to prevent crimes," he said. Gordon said the police should also strictly implement the law against illegal possession of firearms and arrest people who are carrying guns without proper papers. And with the PNP having a big intelligence fund, law enforcers should also know who are practicing target-shooting. "They should not punish those who should legitimately possess firearms. Legitimate people should be allowed to carry firearms as long as they have the proper permits. Pero dapat yung mga loko-loko, nache-check nila yan. If there were more policemen to do that, there would be less crimes," he stressed. Following the assassination last week of businessman Dominic Sytin, the senator also called on the security personnel of different establishments to be more alert and for barangay officials to do their jobs in order to prevent crimes. "Every hotel has a security guard yet Dominic Sytin was gunned down in front of the Lighthouse Hotel in the Subic Freeport Zone, right outside the front lobby, where there are usually more security personnel posted. Sytin's security had a gun but he was still shot. Security guards should be more alert," he said. Gordon earlier deplored the assassination of Sytin, who was but the latest victim in a series of killings over the years where business people, politicians, newsmen, activists and ordinary citizens were felled by bullets with seeming ease and impunity. Sytin and his bodyguard, Efren Espartero, were about to enter the Lighthouse Marina Resort Hotel in Subic's busy Central Business District at about 7:30 p.m. on November 28, when an unidentified male suspect fired at close range, shooting Sytin at the back and left part of the head. Espartero tried to fire back, but the assailant turned on him, too, hitting his right arm and right torso. Sytin was the founder and chief officer of United Auctioneers Inc., an industrial auction company based in the Subic Freeport Zone and was also a part owner of the ACEA Subic Bay resort.Press Release

December 4, 2018 BIGGER MOTORCYCLE PLATES LAW WILL OBVIATE RIDING-IN-TANDEM CRIMES - GORDON Deploring the still unabated killings with impunity, Senator Richard J. Gordon expressed hope that the bigger motorcycle plates bill will be signed into law soon because it will obviate crimes perpetrated by motorcycle-riding criminals. Gordon, who chairs the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, cited as example the assassination of businessman Dominic Sytin, who was gunned down outside the Lighthouse Hotel inside the Subic Freeport Zone last week, with the unidentified gunman fleeing on board a motorcycle without a plate number and with the identification marks scraped. "Kahit anong higpit sa Subic, na-execute pa din ang assassination kasi plinano it. Iniscrape yung motorsiklo of any identification marks, tapos walang plate number. Our law will obviate that. Dun sa batas natin, kapag ninakaw ang plate number mo, you have to report that within 48 hours. Huhuhulihin din kapag ibinyahe ng walang plate number ang motorsiklo. Another case din pag ini-scrape," he said. Gordon said Sytin is but the latest victim in a series of killings over the years where business people, politicians, newsmen, activists and ordinary citizens were felled by bullets with seeming ease and impunity, hence the need to take a bite out of crimes through Senate Bill No. 1397 or the Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act of 2017, which had already passed on third and final reading on both Houses of Congress and for which a bicameral conference committee had been set this week. "Criminals on board motorcycles have really become so brazen and fearless that they execute their crimes at anytime and anywhere. It is high time that we take a bit out of these crimes committed with impunity by imposing bigger plate numbers on motorcycles so that riding-in-tandems will no longer get away easily after committing a crime. I am hoping that the bicameral conference will go smoothly so that we can transmit the enrolled bill to Malacanang as soon as possible for signing into law by President Rodrigo R. Duterte," he said. Sytin was the founder and chief officer of United Auctioneers Inc., an industrial auction company based in the Subic Freeport Zone and was also a part owner of the ACEA Subic Bay resort.Press Release

December 4, 2018 Martial law extension a continuing violation of Constitution: Kiko We call on the military to match its request for martial law extension with hard and justifiable facts. For instance, it should answer the question: How big and wide is the threat in the region that necessitates it to be placed under such declaration? As it is, what we are hearing and seeing are facts and records from people's organizations of intimidation and harassment by state forces and paramilitary groups. The extension itself is a manifestation of martial law's failure in the region. This is so because the military might could never solve the people's woes deeply rooted in poverty, lack of jobs, absence of basic services. We should also take note that we are heading toward the midterm elections, and a region under the control of the military could affect the campaigning of opposition candidates and those not allied with the administration. The extension was and continues to be in violation of the Constitution. Martial law is an extreme measure to be imposed only in exceptional cases when there is actual rebellion or invasion and only for a very limited period. Such an extension violates the fundamental law.Video description: Peter Brown, a middle-aged thin Black man, appears onscreen. He reads: "To Whom It May Concern: I'm writing a formal statement to complain and inform that I've been wrongly accused and threatened with deportation from ICE. I am and have always been a citizen of the United States."



Image of Brown beside a copy of the formal grievance from which he was reading. Text onscreen: "A Florida jail detained Peter Brown, a U.S. citizen born in Philadelphia, so that he could be deported to Jamaica."



Video of Brown at home in his kitchen. Text onscreen: "In April 2018, Peter had turned himself in to Monroe County for violating probation for a marijuana-related offense. Instead of being released quickly, Peter was held in jail because ICE wanted to deport him."



Brown appears onscreen. He says: "I did not even realize what ICE was at the time, and, reading through it, I realized it had something to do with immigration. And, at that point, I made a comment of, 'There must've been a mistake.'"



Image of Brown. Text onscreen: "ICE had mistaken Peter for someone with the same name."



Video of Brown at home on his porch. Text onscreen: "Even though Peter repeatedly told the jail he is a U.S. citizen, and jail records confirmed his citizenship, Monroe County kept Peter behind bars."



Brown appears onscreen. He says: "The guard mocked me, singing the theme song from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, with the reference of, 'West Philadelphia born and raised,' because I had told him I was from Philadelphia. So he decides that, rather than do anything to help me, he thought that was funny and decided to mock me with that."



Video of Brown at work in a restaurant kitchen. Text onscreen: "Peter was released only after his roommate sent his birth certificate to ICE."



Image of Brown, seguing into image of prison cells. Text onscreen: "Peter is not alone: 17 Florida sheriffs, including Monroe County's, participate in an ICE pilot program that pays the counties $50 for each immigrant who they re-arrest for ICE."



Image of ICE officer. Text onscreen: "ICE frequently asks local jails to hold U.S. citizens and others who are not subject to removal, violating their Fourth Amendment rights."



Image of man with hands cuffed behind his back. Text onscreen: "The ACLU and Southern Poverty Law Center are now suing the Monroe Country Sheriff."



Brown appears onscreen. He says: "I would never have expected it in a million years, that this would happen  and I can tell you it's not a good feeling. And with policies like this in order and people implementing them like that, it was only going to continue. There has to be a stop at some point, before it becomes all of us."



Logos of the ACLU and Southern Poverty Law Center.

"I am, and have always been, a citizen of the United States," Brown said in a video produced by the American Civil Liberties Union and published Monday.



These facts appeared not to sway law enforcement officials, who told him that ICE was preparing to deport him to Jamaica  "a country where he has never lived and knows no one," according to a lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The lawsuit was filed by the ACLU, along with the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Los Angeles-based law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. The suit accuses Richard A. Ramsey, Monroe County's sheriff, of unlawfully arresting and detaining a U.S. citizen, in violation of the Fourth Amendment and the right to be free from false imprisonment, as Florida law guarantees.



Monroe is among more than a dozen Florida counties that in January 2018 entered a new arrangement with ICE under what are called "Basic Ordering Agreements." They stipulate that the federal agency compensate sheriffs to the tune of $50 for extending the detention of "criminal aliens," as the National Sheriffs' Association put it in a statement. The ACLU argues that the set-up has created a financial motive for sheriffs to execute every single detainer request they receive, despite countervailing evidence. This approach negates basic principles of policing, such as probable cause, the ACLU reasons, and turns people like Brown into collateral damage.



"Nobody should have to endure what he endured," the complaint maintains. "He was kept in jail  away from his family, friends, and work  solely to facilitate his illegal deportation from the United States. The Sheriff's Office ignored his pleas for weeks, mocked him, and led him to believe that he would soon find himself in a Jamaican prison. He suffered severe anxiety, fear, and trauma in the process."



...Brown is hardly the only U.S. citizen to face the threat of deportation. A Syracuse University study published in 2013 used ICE records to determine that the agency had placed detainers on 834 U.S. citizens over just a four-year period.



But the details of Brown's case stand out, said Spencer Amdur, an ACLU attorney on the case.



"It's particularly stark just how many indications the sheriff had that Peter Brown was a U.S. citizen," Amdur said in an interview with The Washington Post. "It doesn't happen in every case that not only is the person telling everybody he can find and filing written complaints, but the sheriff's own records have his citizenship and birthplace. Peter was very assiduous."

[Content Note: Nativism.]Peter Brown is a U.S. citizen who was born in Philadelphia. But when he turned himself into the Monroe County [Florida] Sheriff's Office for a minor probation violation, he was held in custody for weeks, because the Monroe County Sheriff's Office is collaborating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to facilitate deportations. When Peter Brown turned himself in, they sent his information to ICE, who asked them to detain him, because has the same name as an immigrant that ICE wants deported to Jamaica.The ACLU, ACLU of Florida, and Southern Poverty Law Center have brought a case against Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsey for violating Brown's Fourth Amendment rights, and they put together this video explaining the incredible facts of the case. At the Washington Post , Isaac Stanley-Becker details Brown's case, the resultant lawsuit, and the collusion between sheriff's offices and ICE:There is much more at the link, including Brown's disclosure that he was particularly afraid of the threat to be deported to Jamaica, because he is gay, and Jamaica remains violently homophobic. Brown also lost his job because of the weeks-long detention.This is utterly contemptible and terrifying. It is also the inevitable consequence of a vile nativist agenda, financially incentivizing nativist policing, the dehumanization of immigrants, and a contempt for the rule of law among its enforcers.What is even more troubling is that Donald Trump and the Republican Party are busily stacking the courts, so that people like Peter Brown and his advocates will increasingly find no remedy to the gross violation of their rights.And, as Brown pointedly notes, that could be any of us.[H/T to Aphra_Behn.]Vector has had a partial win in its efforts to protect the form of the contracts it has with electricity retailers.

The Auckland-based power distributor  the countrys largest  has spent much of the past four years opposing efforts by the Electricity Authority to set standardised use-of-system contracts between network operators and power retailers.

Last week the company had a partial victory when the Court of Appeal declared unlawful two parts of a code change the authority had planned which would have limited the topics on which firms could negotiate their own terms.

And the court may yet restrict the authoritys powers further. President Stephen Kos and Justices Helen Winkelmann and Raynor Asher were unable to agree whether the authoritys proposal had strayed into the service quality-setting territory of the Commerce Commission, something it is barred from doing.

They have sought additional submissions on that issue, particularly on what powers the authoritys predecessor  the Electricity Commission  previously had to impose quality standards on distributors.

Standardised use-of-system agreements have been debated in the power industry for almost 20 years. The Electricity Commission, and then the authority, published model agreements for participants in 2008 and 2012 respectively believing greater standardisation would lower costs for retailers and increase competition nationwide.

But little changed and in 2016 the authority proposed a standard agreement that parties could then vary by mutual agreement.

Vector opposed the move, noting that  at that time  it had agreements with 21 retailers. It said that number belied any suggestion that competition was being reduced, and added that some of the additional terms had been added by retailers, and others were for specific operational and reliability reasons.

Critics argue that Aucklands sheer size makes it the first market of choice for most retailers and leaves them little choice but to accept Vectors terms.

The small size of many other networks also makes it costly and time-consuming to negotiate terms with all of them in order to provide genuinely national offers. While consumers in Auckland had 34 brands to choose from last year, on 12 networks they had fewer than 20 and on the Buller network, the countrys smallest, they had only 12.

Vectors latest appeal, after losing in the High Court last year, was backed by major shareholder Entrust. It believed the EAs changes would have prevented Vector requiring retailers to provide information to it on its beneficiaries  their customers.

Leaving aside the issue of quality standards for distributors, Justice Kos said the 2010 Electricity Industry Act clearly gave the authority the power to impose standard distribution terms in the industry code.

But he said the real issue was whether it also had the power to prevent parties negotiating other terms. And that was particularly true of terms that might deliver benefits to third-parties  such as Entrust  over which the authority had no jurisdiction.

While greater standardisation of use-of-system agreements  UoSAs  was demonstrably desirable for improving competition and efficiency in the industry, the legislative history showed no evidence that complete standardisation was expected, he said.

Nor had the authority provided substantial evidence that it was necessary to exclude terms from use-of-systems agreements that didnt relate strictly to regulating distribution services.

In other words, while the authority made its case for greater standardisation of UoSAs, it did not do so for complete standardisation.

(BusinessDesk)

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Delegat Group will spend $33 million developing its vineyards in the current financial year to support an expected 23 percent lift in global sales by 2021.

The country's biggest listed winemaker spent $46 million in the year ended June 30 as it planted 200 hectares of new vineyard. It projects capital expenditure of $33 million in the June 2019 year while it develops another 136 hectares, executive chair Jim Delegat said.

That will step up the following year with another 575 hectares of land set to be planted from the 2020 financial year onwards, he said. Available bank facilities and retained earnings are enough to fund that programme, he said.

Delegat currently has 4,145 net hectares of vineyards, of which 3,631 ha are in New Zealand and 514 ha in Australia.

The company has targeted North America as a centre for global growth, with a growing taste for premium wine in the US underpinning sales in the world's biggest economy. Meanwhile, the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership eliminates Canadian tariffs on New Zealand wine and is seen as extremely beneficial for exporters such as Delegat.

Managing director John Freeman told shareholders at today's annual meeting that capital spending coupled with developing in-market sales teams underpins its expectations to add another 640,000 case sales to 3.38 million cases in the 2021 financial year.

He affirmed Delegat's forecast case sales of 2.95 million in the year ending June 30, up 8 percent from a year earlier. Freeman said operating profit will be in line with market consensus of $50.3 million, up 12 percent from $44.9 million in the June 2018 year.

"We will continue to focus on the significant and immediate opportunity in North America, and that we will continue to learn and grow in new markets such as Asia," Freeman said.

Unfortunately for shareholders, a late venue change meant they weren't able to sup on the winemaker's Delegat, Oyster Bay or Barossa Valley brands alongside canapes as in previous years.

"Instead at the conclusion of the meeting the board invites you all to mix and mingle with your fellow shareholders, board members and senior management where a tea service will be provided," Jim Delegat said.

Delegat shares were unchanged at $9.76. They have gained 21 percent so far this year, outpacing a 2.3 percent increase in the S&P/NZX All Index during the same period.

(BusinessDesk)

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Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones expressed his displeasure at comments by the chief financial officer of Westland Milk Products about the cooperative's $9.9 million Provincial Growth Fund loan, saying it was "something of a surprise to me that the CFO was breaking wind".

Jones was defending the advance from the PGF in Parliament from questions lodged by National's economic development spokesman Paul Goldsmith and Act MP David Seymour. Both questioned the extent of the government's willingness to extend loans that might normally have come from a bank.

Seymour quoted Westland's CFO, Dorian Devers, as saying the terms of the PGF loan were attractive to us and that the co-op, which has been facing commercial headwinds and paying less for milk than Fonterra, "could have financed this in other ways but the terms we have been given from the PGF are more favourable".

Jones confirmed only that the PGF loan was for a longer term than Westland could have obtained from its bankers.

Westland Milk farmer-shareholders are due to meet in Hokitika tomorrow morning, where they are anticipating the first progress report from their board on a proposed capital restructuring that would allow Westland to make a competitive payout to farmers in the coming season.

That follows three seasons of after-tax losses and a payout in the last season that was 50 cents per kilogram of milksolids lower than the largest dairy processor, Fonterra.

Any proposed changes would require a 75 percent majority of shareholders.

The $9.9 million PGF loan will go towards funding a new $22 million manufacturing plant targeting higher margin products.

Jones referred first to Devers' remarks as an unwanted verbal emission from the West Coast and then as breaking wind, but said he agreed with the comment that it was nice that the PGF loan terms were better than were available from a bank.

He said there is a robust process for both receiving and approving applications to the PGF, which is resourced to advance loans totalling $3 billion to regional development initiatives over the current parliamentary term.

"Yes, it is different in terms of the last 30 years. Yes, it will challenge some of the purists," said Jones. "But we will continue to do it and look forward to campaigning on it in due course."

The NZ First party polled 4 percent in a OneNews Colmar Brunton poll taken in late November and broadcast last Sunday. At that level the nine-seat party would be swept from Parliament under the MMP voting system, unless it could secure one territorial electorate, which it failed to do in the 2017 general election.

(BusinessDesk)

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Trade Me has attracted a second private equity suitor willing to pay $2.56 billion for the country's dominant online marketplace.

The Wellington-based company today said it's received a non-binding indicative offer from Hellman & Friedman at $6.45 a share, trumping an earlier indicative bid from UK private equity firm Apax Partners at $6.40 a share, or $2.54 billion.

Apax is doing due diligence on the New Zealand business, but Trade Me is allowed to engage with parties lobbing in unsolicited bids. The Kiwi firm's board has decided it will also engage with Hellman & Friedman on the new bid, which is subject to certain conditions and completing due diligence.

"The board has decided that it is in the interests of Trade Me and consistent with its fiduciary obligations to also engage with Hellman & Friedman on the new proposal," it said. "The board notes that there is no certainty either proposal will result in an offer, or any other transaction, for Trade Me."

Trade Me was trading at $5.10 before the Apax bid was made public on Nov. 21, and gained 1.8 percent to $6.16 today.

The company's small debt load has been cited as an attraction for potential private equity buyers, who typically leverage up their target companies. Trade Me's strong brand and network are also seen as giving it a sustainable advantage to rivals breaking into the local market.

When the Apax offer emerged, Morningstar Research gave it a 50/50 chance of success, given the early stage of the negotiations and that due diligence was a high hurdle to cross. It put a $5.70 fair value on Trade Me's stock because of the premium.

Hellman & Friedman is a US private equity fund manager which focuses on large-scale equity deals in select sectors. Last year it was one of several bidders for Australian publisher Fairfax Media Group and its online real estate listings unit Domain. Fairfax is a former owner of Trade Me.

(BusinessDesk)

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Fonterra Cooperative Group has reached a provisional deal with Chinese partner Beingmate Baby & Child Food to unwind their Darnum joint venture in Australia.

The joint venture - 51 percent owned by Beingmate and 49 percent Fonterra - produced infant formula products at the Darnum plant in Australia for Beingmate's Chinese customers, and was a key component of Fonterra's plan to expand its reach into China's second and third-tier cities.

That Beingmate partnership included Fonterra taking a 19 percent stake in the Chinese firm for $750 million. That investment was written down by $405 million in the last financial year after several years of under-performance and has been under review since new leadership took over at Fonterra this year.

The New Zealand Herald today reported China's Great Wall - one of four national asset management firms - is poised to take a controlling stake in Beingmate.

"Weve been open about the fact were looking at all aspects of our investment in Beingmate, as part of that broader strategic review," a Fonterra spokesman said in an emailed statement. "This includes our Darnum joint venture. Fonterra and Beingmate have reached a provisional agreement on the key terms to unwind the Darnum joint venture."

The New Zealand dairy processor will provide more details at tomorrow's first-quarter result.

Economists predict Fonterra will have to lower its forecast farmgate payout at tomorrow's update as it contends with record domestic production and weak global prices.

Both Fonterra shares, which can only be owned by farmers, and Fonterra Shareholders' Fund units fell 3 cents to $4.68 in a widely weaker market. The NZX 50 was down 1.5 percent in early trading.

(BusinessDesk)

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An employment lawyer is calling for a new visa category that lets skilled migrants work as contractors rather than being tied to a single employer.

Thats at the same time as the Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA) says skills shortages are hurting employers and as ANZ Bank New Zealand reports rising job advertisements.

Job ads increased 6.4 percent in November compared with a year earlier and ANZ chief economist Sharon Zollner says thats consistent with the unemployment rate remaining low. With the employment rate under 4 percent, some firms may be giving up on advertising positions.

Aaron Martin, the principal lawyer at New Zealand Immigration Law, says New Zealand is part of a global shortage of skilled workers but there are thousands of skilled migrant contractors in the worldwide talent pool that Kiwi employers cant hire.

The nature of work is evolving with the constant changes in technology, Martin said.

Employment is no longer as straightforward as it once was: fewer people are working for long durations with a single employer and more people are taking up contracts that allow them flexibility with projects and clients as well as places and times of work, he said.

The nine-to-five, Monday-to-Friday workweek is becoming less prevalent and agile and remote working is becoming the norm.

A visa for contractors would bring several benefits for New Zealand employers including less administration, increased flexibility and choice.

EMA chief executive Kim Campbell said that finding new staff is the biggest handbrake on employers ability to increase productivity and the skills most lacking include technicians, professionals and machinery operators.

Increasingly, employers are looking to the immigration market, technology or taking on relatively unskilled staff to train them up, Campbell said.

Of his members, 32 percent are seeking migrant workers, up from 23 percent a year ago, and 70 percent say they are finding it difficult or very difficult to recruit for any position, let alone skilled roles, an increase of 9 percentage points on the same time a year ago.

The EMAs survey had 206 respondents, mostly owner-operators with fewer than 50 staff and located from Taupo northwards.

The EMA represents about 8,500 member companies and not-for-profit organisations including hospitals and schools.

(BusinessDesk)

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Bollywood diva Katrina Kaif has been flaunting her curly hair for a while now and she did just the same on the cover of a fashion magazine.

As per her latest Instagram photos, Katrina has been sporting the hair style for her upcoming film Bharat.

The 35-year-old, who has turned cover girl for the December issue of Vogue magazine, looks ravishing in a Versace dress and belt. The broad belt with a statement golden buckle accentuates the actor's waist, and so does the tube-dress which opens into a flowy multi-coloured side slit skirt at the bottom. She has been styled by popular Bollywood stylist and Fashion Director for Vogue India, Anaita Shroff Adajania.Trump says China trade talks to end March 1 'unless extended'



Washington, Dec 4 (AFP) Dec 04, 2018



US President Donald Trump said Tuesday the talks to resolve the trade dispute with China had begun already and would last for 90 days unless they were extended.

The clock started ticking on December 1, when Trump met in Buenos Aires with China's leader Xi Jinping and agreed to work towards an agreement to roll back the exchange of tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars in two-way trade.

However, Trump held out the possibility of an extension.

"The negotiations with China have already started. Unless extended, they will end 90 days from the date of our wonderful and very warm dinner with President Xi in Argentina," Trump tweeted.

After the meeting, Washington agreed to hold off on Trump's threat to raise tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports to 25 percent beginning January 1, leaving them at the current 10 percent rate.

In return, Washington said China would purchase "very substantial" amounts of US agricultural, energy, industrial and other products.

Trump on Sunday said China also would "reduce and remove" tariffs of 40 percent on cars, though Beijing has yet to confirm the move.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will lead the talks to see "whether or not a REAL deal with China is actually possible," Trump tweeted on Tuesday. "China is supposed to start buying Agricultural product and more immediately."

American farmers have been hit hard by China's retaliation on US farm goods, especially soybean exports, which have plummeted.

Trump warned that although he and Xi want to get to an agreement "remember, I am a Tariff Man."

"When people or countries come in to raid the great wealth of our Nation, I want them to pay for the privilege of doing so," he said.

In a subsequent tweet, Trump said he would "happily sign" a "fair deal" that addresses US concerns, should one be reached with Beijing.Soyuz arrives at ISS on first manned mission since October failure



Baikonur, Kazakhstan, Dec 3 (AFP) Dec 03, 2018



A Soyuz spacecraft carrying Russian, American and Canadian astronauts arrived at the International Space Station on Monday, following the first manned launch since a failed launch in October.

Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, Anne McClain of NASA and David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency blasted off from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome earlier in the day.

They successfully docked at the ISS on schedule at 1736 GMT to begin an expected six and a half months aboard the ISS, the Russian Roscosmos space agency said via Twitter.

It was the first manned voyage for the Soviet-era Soyuz since October 11, when a rocket carrying Russia's Aleksey Ovchinin and US astronaut Nick Hague failed just minutes after blast-off, forcing the pair to make a harrowing emergency landing.

They escaped unharmed but the failed launch -- the first such incident in Russia's post-Soviet history -- raised concerns about the state of the Soyuz programme.

The Soyuz is the only means of reaching the ISS since the United States retired the space shuttle in 2011.

Kononenko, McClain and Saint-Jacques smiled and gave thumbs up to the cheering crowd including relatives as they ascended into the Soyuz capsule on Monday morning.

Minutes after take off, Roscosmos said the capsule was in orbit. NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine meanwhile thanked the US and Russian teams "for their dedication to making this launch a success".



- Risk 'part of our profession' -



In a successful rehearsal for Monday's flight, a Soyuz cargo vessel took off on November 16 from Baikonur and delivered several tonnes of food, fuel and supplies to the ISS.

Russia said last month the October launch had failed because of a sensor damaged during assembly at the Baikonur cosmodrome, but insisted the spacecraft remained reliable.

While flight commander Kononenko is beginning his fourth mission to add to an impressive 533 days in space, both Saint-Jacques and McClain are making their maiden trip.

Crew commander Kononenko, 54, said during a press conference on the eve of the launch that "risk is part of our profession".

But he added that his team "absolutely" trusted those who had prepared for the flight.

European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst, NASA's Serena Aunon-Chancellor and Sergei Prokopyev of Roscosmos were set to greet the trio on arrival at the ISS.

Veteran Kononenko said the crew would conduct a spacewalk on December 11 as part of an investigation into a mysterious hole that has caused an air leak on the ISS.

While on board, Saint-Jacques will be involved in an experiment called "At Home in Space" which "takes a closer look at how crew members adapt to living with each other by creating a shared culture," according to the Canadian Space Agency.

Among the dozens of other experiments the new crew members will take part in is one that will use worms to examine muscle loss in space, led by British scientists.

The experiment could pave the way to new treatments for muscular conditions for people on Earth, according to the UK Space Agency.



- 'Spacewalking like rugby' -



McClain, 39, served in Iraq and has represented the United States in women's rugby.

She has said that training to spacewalk resembled the sport since it demands "grit, toughness, mental focus, and more".

Russia-US cooperation in space has remained one of the few areas not affected by a crisis in ties between the former Cold War enemies.

But comments by the combative chief of the Russian space agency, Dmitry Rogozin, have raised eyebrows.

He recently joked Russia would send a mission to the Moon to "verify" whether or not NASA lunar landings ever took place.

In recent years Russia's debt-laden space industry has suffered a number of mishaps including the loss of cargo spacecraft and satellites.

At a press conference following the successful docking, Rogozin announced March 1, 2019, as the date for the next manned launch to the ISS.

He said Ovchinin and Hague would be on board, along with NASA's Christina Koch.At-risk nations plead for 'justice' at UN climate summit



Katowice, Poland, Dec 3 (AFP) Dec 03, 2018



Nations facing imminent environmental disaster on Monday called on rich polluters to help them back from the brink, as the UN warned the world's plan to avoid climate catastrophe was "way off course".

From glaciers melting in Nepal to the rising seas threatening to engulf small island states, the world is already experiencing the damage lying in wait if global warming runs unchecked.

Nearly 200 nations gathered in Poland Monday for the start of the COP24 summit, where they must agree on a universal rulebook to make good on the promises they made in the 2015 Paris climate deal.

"Nepal is a country comprised of mountains and plains," president Bidhya Devi Bhandari told delegates. "We have been bearing the brunt of disproportionate impact of climate change despite being a low carbon-emitting country."

The Paris agreement vowed to limit global temperature rises to under two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) and to the safer cap of 1.5C if at all possible.

For this, richer nations must provide funding -- $100 billion per year by 2020 -- to steer developing countries towards greener energy while drastically drawing down their own emissions.

But developing nations have complained that richer states -- responsible for the vast majority of historic fossil fuel use -- aren't doing enough to help them adapt to our warming planet.

"We feel as if we have been penalised for the mistakes we never made," said Bhandari. "It is incumbent on the international community to ensure that justice is done."

Trust in the Paris process has been hit by US President Donald Trump's decision to renege on his country's commitment, and there are fears the political will to act is waning as negotiations drag on.

Not a single G20 nation sent a top-level representative to the COP on Monday.



- 12 years to halve emissions -



With just one degree Celsius of warming so far, Earth is already being subjected to raging forest fires, flooding and superstorms made worse by rising seas.

A string of UN reports have sounded the alarm: levels of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere are the highest in 3 million years and the last four years were the four hottest in history.

In October a team of more than 90 independent scientists said mankind must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by half within the next 12 years to avoid heat rises that could tear at the fabric of society.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned nations that their plan to chart a route away from runaway global warming was "way off course".

"Even as we witness devastating climate impacts causing havoc across the world, we are still not doing enough, nor moving fast enough, to prevent irreversible and catastrophic climate disruption," Guterres said.

President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria used his address to call for more stringent guidelines on financing "from developed countries to developing economies for climate change action."

As developing nations begged for vastly quicker action, host Poland was pushing its own agenda: a so-called "just transition" to greener energy which critics fear would allow it to continue burning coal for decades.



- 'Generation that betrayed humanity' -



Eighty percent of Polish energy comes from coal, and the COP24 itself is being held on the site of a decommissioned plant in the mining city of Katowice.

Proceedings were injected with a shot of glamour as former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and veteran wildlife documentary maker Sir David Attenborough both addressed delegates.

At a roundtable event later Monday, Schwarzenegger was asked what he would most wish for.

"I wish that I could be The Terminator in real life to be able to travel back in time and to stop all fossil fuels when they were discovered," said the former movie tough guy.

Attenborough issued a plea for action on behalf of humanity: "If we don't take action the collapse of our civilisations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon".

Frank Bainimarama, prime minister of Fiji and president of last year's COP, said developed nations must act before countries such has his are consumed by the waves.

"Or, God forbid, (we) ignore the irrefutable evidence and become the generation that betrayed humanity," he said.Slovakia frees 'unlawfully' held Greenpeace activists



Bratislava, Dec 4 (AFP) Dec 04, 2018



Slovakia's prosecutor general said on Tuesday he had ordered the release of 12 Greenpeace activists who had been held "unlawfully" for staging a protest at the EU country's largest and oldest brown coal mine.

The campaigners from Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany and Slovakia were detained without bail last week after hoisting a banner saying "End coal age!" on the tower of a lignite mine in Novaky, central Slovakia.

Their detention and bail rejection sparked a protest in the capital Bratislava on Monday and criticism from Slovakia's top politicians including the president and prime minister.

Greenpeace had also called for their immediate release.

"Today, I issued an order to release all 12 people," Slovakia's prosecutor general Jaromir Ciznar told local media on Tuesday, adding that "these people are detained unlawfully".

He added that the district court, which had ordered their detention without bail on Sunday, had "improperly" defined their actions.

Slovakia's liberal President Andrej Kiska said in a statement Monday that he did not "understand how we can push activists into the role of criminals".Merkel says German 'Mittelstand' mustn't get left behind in AI race



Nuremberg, Germany, Dec 4 (AFP) Dec 04, 2018



Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday warned that Germany's vaunted "Mittelstand" must not fall behind in the digital era, as the economic powerhouse races to catch up to foreign rivals in new technologies like artificial intelligence.

Speaking at a digital summit in Bavaria, Merkel said technological advances were revolutionising the workplace, and Germany's small- and medium-sized enterprises could not afford to miss the boat.

"We have global champions (in digitalisation) but the bulk of the Mittelstand companies are perhaps not as far along as they should be," Merkel told the audience.

"Since we're a country that prides itself on saying that the Mittelstand is the backbone of our industrial value creation, we have to make sure that the frontrunners pull the others along."

Merkel said it was not just up to the private sector to help SMEs adapt to what has been dubbed "industry 4.0", adding that "the government is also ready to play a role" in the efforts.

Germany's Mittelstand is made up of tens of thousands of companies that often make highly-specialised products for niche markets, ranging from a specific type of screw to high-tech parts for medical equipment or factory robots.

Merkel's government, often criticised for not investing enough in the country's creaking internet infrastructure or the technologies of tomorrow, has belatedly embarked on a push to encourage German innovation.

Berlin last month promised to spend three billion euros on research and development in artificial intelligence by 2025, an area where US and Asian companies are seen as far more advanced.

"AI will save us time on mindless, repetitive algorithms and allow more time for creativity, Merkel said.

"That's good news, at least for all those who aren't mentally lazy," she added with a smile, winning a chuckle from the crowd.

At the same gathering, Germany's economy minister Peter Altmaier repeated his plea for European cooperation on AI projets.

"AI technology can massively improve our lives, be it through early detection of diseases, support in the care sector or autonomous driving," he said.

"Alongside modern digital infrastructure, we need a strategic industrial player, a kind of Airbus for AI."

mfp/hmn/jhFrance, Britain seek UN Security Council meeting on Iran missile test



United Nations, United States, Dec 3 (AFP) Dec 03, 2018



France and Britain on Monday requested a closed-door meeting of the UN Security Council after charging that Iran test-fired a medium-range missile at the weekend, diplomats said.

The meeting is expected to be held Tuesday.

The United States said the missile launch on Saturday was a violation of a UN resolution that endorsed the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, from which Washington has withdrawn.

That resolution calls on Iran to refrain from testing missiles capable of carrying a nuclear weapon.

France said it was concerned by the test-firing with the foreign ministry describing it as "provocative and destabilising" and "does not conform" with UN resolution 2231 on the Iran deal.

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt called the missile test "provocative, threatening and inconsistent" with the resolution and said Britain was determined "that it should cease."

Iran has long maintained that its missile program is defensive in nature and not aimed at ensuring the delivery of a nuclear weapon, a stance supported by Russia at the Security Council.

Washington's Iran envoy Brian Hook urged the European Union to slap sanctions that target Tehran's missile program as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to Brussels for talks with European partners.

The United States decided in May to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions on Iran, to the dismay of its Europeans allies.

The nuclear deal provides for a lifting of sanctions against Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear activities.

The remaining five signatories to the nuclear deal -- Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia -- have backed an EU effort to set up a special payment system in a bid to maintain trade and business ties with Iran.UN Security Council to meet on Iran missile test



United Nations, United States, Dec 4 (AFP) Dec 04, 2018



The UN Security Council will meet behind closed doors on Tuesday at the request of France and Britain after they accused Iran of test-firing a medium-range missile at the weekend, diplomats said.

The United States said the missile launch on Saturday was a violation of a UN resolution that endorsed the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, from which Washington has withdrawn.

That resolution calls on Iran to refrain from testing missiles capable of carrying a nuclear weapon.

France said it was concerned by the test-firing with the foreign ministry describing it as "provocative and destabilising" and "does not conform" with UN resolution 2231 on the Iran deal.

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt called the missile test "provocative, threatening and inconsistent" with the resolution and said Britain was determined "that it should cease."

Iran has long maintained that its missile program is defensive in nature and not aimed at ensuring the delivery of a nuclear weapon, a stance supported by Russia at the Security Council.

Washington's Iran envoy Brian Hook urged the European Union to slap sanctions that target Tehran's missile program as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to Brussels for talks with European partners.

The United States decided in May to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions on Iran, to the dismay of its Europeans allies.

The nuclear deal provides for a lifting of sanctions against Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear activities.

The remaining five signatories to the nuclear deal -- Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia -- have backed an EU effort to set up a special payment system in a bid to maintain trade and business ties with Iran.Israel launches operation to cut off Hezbollah infiltration tunnels



Jerusalem, Dec 4 (AFP) Dec 04, 2018



The Israeli army said Tuesday it had detected Hezbollah tunnels infiltrating its territory from Lebanon and had launched an operation to cut them off.

Israeli army spokesman Jonathan Conricus said the "attack tunnels" detected were not yet operational. He declined to say how many were detected or how they would be cut off.

All operations would take place within Israeli territory, Conricus said, though they were likely to boost tensions with Hezbollah, the Shiite militant group with which Israel fought a devastating war in 2006.

The military has used various means to collapse or fill in tunnels from the Gaza Strip.

"We have launched Operation Northern Shield to expose and thwart cross-border attack tunnels dug by Hezbollah terror organisation from Lebanon into Israel," Conricus told journalists.

The announcement of the operation comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Brussels on Monday night.

Netanyahu said he had planned to discuss with Pompeo "steps we are taking together to block the aggression of Iran and its proxies in the north," referring to Syria and Lebanon.

Hezbollah is backed by Iran, Israel's main enemy.11 S.African peacekeepers convicted of abusing boy in DRC



Johannesburg, Dec 4 (AFP) Dec 04, 2018



Eleven South African soldiers have been convicted of mistreating a teenage boy during a UN peacekeeping deployment to the Democratic Republic of Congo, the military said in a statement.

The men, who were convicted of common law assault by a military court, dragged the 17-year-old into their base in southern Kasai province after he was caught allegedly stealing buckets in January, the military said Monday.

Sixteen men were originally charged under anti-torture legislation over the incident but five were subsequently cleared of all charges, and the other 11 were not convicted of torture.

"The chief of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), General Solly Shoke, welcomed the speedy trial and the successful conviction of those guilty of assault and tarnishing the good name of the SANDF peacekeepers in the DRC," said the statement.

South Africa is one of the leading contributors to the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), according to a UN briefing note.

The conflict-torn former Belgian colony is heading for long-delayed presidential and parliamentary elections on December 23.

The government, which has a thorny relationship with the UN, has rejected all forms of international financial or logistical assistance for the election in a country nearly five times the size of France.

MONUSCO had suggested using its helicopters and planes to ferry imported voting machines to polling stations nationwide.

But Kinshasa wants to see MONUSCO gone by 2020, ending a 20-year presence that has seen 16,000 troops deployed at an annual cost of more than a billion dollars.Two dead in Armenia warplane crash: ministry



Yerevan, Dec 4 (AFP) Dec 04, 2018



Two crew members died in an Armenian warplane crash on Tuesday, the ex-Soviet republic's defence ministry said.

Debris of the SU-25 fighter jet "was found in the mountains near the town of Maralik" in Albania's western Shirak region, the ministry spokesman Atrsrun Hovhannisyan said in a Facebook post.

"Two pilots, lieutenant colonel Armen Babayan and major Movses Manukyan, were killed" in the crash, he said.

The aircraft disappeared from radars on Tuesday morning, minutes after it took off for a routine training flight, the ministry had reported earlier.

mkh-im/oc/bocDeath toll rises in Boko Haram base attack in NE Nigeria



Kano, Nigeria, Dec 4 (AFP) Dec 04, 2018



The number of soldiers killed in a Boko Haram attack on a military base in northeast Nigeria's Yobe state has risen to eight, security sources said Tuesday.

Gunmen from Boko Haram faction the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) attacked the base on Saturday in Buni Gari village, 60 kilometres (37 miles) from Damaturu, the state capital.

Two soldiers and six insurgents were initially said to have been killed in the attack. But sources on Tuesday said eight soldiers were killed.

"The death toll is now eight. Six more bodies of soldiers were later recovered and moved to Damaturu," a military officer, who did not want to be named, told AFP.

A civilian militia fighting jihadists in the area confirmed the recovery of six more bodies of soldiers.

"All the eight dead soldiers are now in the morgue at the Specialist Hospital in Damaturu," said a spokesperson for the militia, who asked not to be identified for fear of sanction.

Military authorities were not immediately available to comment on the new toll.

The insurgents destroyed an armoured vehicle and stole a truck during the attack.

Sources said air support and reinforcements from a military base in the nearby town of Buni Yadi helped push out the militants from the base.

Buni Yadi district is a known ISWAP stronghold.

The Boko Haram faction has in recent months intensified attacks on military targets in Borno and Yobe states.

The two regions, along with nearby Adamawa state, have borne the brunt of nine years of jihadist violence that has claimed 27,000 lives and forced 1.8 million people to flee their homes.

Since July, AFP has reported 19 attacks on military bases in Borno and Yobe and ISWAP has claimed responsibility for most of them.UN boosts peacekeeping patrols on Lebanon-Israel border



Beirut, Dec 4 (AFP) Dec 04, 2018



UN peacekeepers said they increased patrols on the Lebanese-Israeli border on Tuesday after Israel announced an operation against what it said were Hezbollah infiltration tunnels.

The Israeli army said it launched an operation dubbed "Northern Shield" to destroy "attack tunnels" it accused the Iran-backed Lebanese militia of digging under the border.

Hezbollah had not yet reacted and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said they had increased patrols along the border, as Israeli bulldozers went to work.

"The overall situation in UNIFIL's area of operation remains calm," Joumana Sayegh, a spokeswoman for the UN mission which monitors the border region, said in a statement.

"UNIFIL is working with all interlocutors in order to maintain the overall stability," she said.

"UNIFIL peacekeepers have further increased their patrolling along the Blue Line, together with the Lebanese Armed Forces," Sayegh added, referring to the UN-established ceasefire line.

Lebanon's army also said it was monitoring the situation closely.

"Army units deployed in the area are carrying out their usual missions along the border in cooperation and coordination with UNIFIL," it said.

Hezbollah gained its moniker as "the Resistance" among its supporters by fighting Israeli troops, who occupied southern Lebanon until 2000.

In 2006, Israel and Hezbollah fought a devastating month-long war during which the Shiite group made extensive use of a network of tunnels to counter Israeli troops.

Israel appears increasingly concerned that Iran is attempting to transfer some of its military influence from Syria, where Russia is the government's top ally, to Lebanon.

Near the Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, an AFP photographer on Tuesday saw at least one Israeli bulldozer churning up earth, apparently as part of Operation Northern Shield.

The Israeli military said it had located one tunnel dug from a home in the Kafr Kela area that crossed into its territory and was working to "neutralise" it.US 'strongly' supports Israel action against Hezbollah tunnels



Washington, Dec 4 (AFP) Dec 04, 2018



The White House gave full backing Tuesday to an Israeli army operation to destroy tunnels built under the border with Lebanon by the Iran-backed group Hezbollah.

President Donald Trump's national security advisor John Bolton said that "the US strongly supports Israel's efforts to defend its sovereignty."

"More broadly, we call on Iran and all of its agents to stop their regional aggression and provocation, which pose an unacceptable threat to Israeli and regional security," Bolton said.

The surprise announcement came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Brussels over regional dangers, with both having repeatedly warned about the activities of Iran.

Netanyahu said he discussed the operation with Pompeo and called the tunnels a violation of a UN resolution aimed at ending a 2006 war between Israel and Shiite militant group Hezbollah.

It was unclear how many tunnels exist or what the Israeli military would do to destroy them.Ukraine urges 'comprehensive' NATO response to Russia



Brussels, Dec 4 (AFP) Dec 04, 2018



Ukraine on Tuesday pressed NATO to come up with a "comprehensive answer" to Russian aggression in the Black Sea, as the alliance treads carefully for fear of escalating tensions further.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin hinted that at least one NATO member was ready to enhance its presence in the Black Sea in response to a call from Kiev following Russia's seizing of ships and sailors in the Kerch Strait.

NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels discussed the Azov Sea standoff but did not agree any concrete new measures to help Ukraine.

"What is critically important is to have a very clear and comprehensive answer to Russian acts of aggression... (and) Russian abuses of Black Sea security," Klimkin told reporters.

The clash last week off the coast of Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014, left 24 Ukrainian sailors and three navy ships in Russian hands and sent tensions soaring.

European leaders have rebuffed Ukrainian calls for more support against Moscow, but Klimkin indicated that a NATO country was ready to step up, without giving clear details.

"This presence will be enhanced and we have to see which country will be the pioneer. You will hear that not from us but from the alliance member," he said.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg repeated a call for Russia to return the sailors and ships and ensure freedom of navigation in the Azov Sea, an offshoot of the Black Sea home to key Ukrainian ports.

He said the alliance had stepped up its presence in the area over the past year, but announced no new practical help for Ukraine.

The United States is pressing Europe to "show some leadership" on the Azov Sea crisis.

"We really want to see European allies do more," a senior US State department official said.

"We want to see European allies take greater responsibility for a security problem that's just 200 miles from Germany's border."

But European countries -- some of which have strong business links to Russia -- are deeply wary of doing anything that might exacerbate the situation.

"We will continue to make every effort to ensure that this conflict does not turn into a serious crisis. and that can only be achieved with a political solution," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said.

Klimkin said he would use talks with EU officials next week to ask whether the international response could include barring Russian commercial shipping from international ports.

Ukraine has accused Moscow of blocking merchant vessels from entering and leaving Azov Sea ports.

But Kiev said Tuesday that Russia had begun allowing some ships to enter Ukrainian ports on the Sea of Azov, in what could signal an easing of tensions in the flashpoint area.Israel launches operation to destroy Hezbollah tunnels



Jerusalem, Dec 4 (AFP) Dec 04, 2018



Israel's army said Tuesday it has discovered Hezbollah tunnels infiltrating its territory from Lebanon and launched an operation to destroy them, a move likely to raise tensions with the Iran-backed group.

The surprise announcement came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Brussels over regional dangers, with both having repeatedly warned about the activities of Iran, Israel's main enemy.

Netanyahu said he discussed the operation with Pompeo and called the tunnels a violation of a UN truce resolution that ended a 2006 war between Israel and the Shiite militant group Hezbollah.

"Whoever tries to harm Israel's security will pay dearly," Netanyahu said in a statement.

US President Donald Trump's White House gave its full backing to the operation, with National Security Adviser John Bolton saying "we call on Iran and all of its agents to stop their regional aggression and provocation".

Hezbollah did not comment in detail but published footage of Israeli soldiers across the border and described the activity as aimed at "discovering tunnels allegedly from southern Lebanon to settlements in northern occupied Palestine".

Israeli army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said the "attack tunnels" were not yet operational. He declined to say how many had been detected or how they would be destroyed.

The military later specified it had located one such tunnel dug from a home in the Kafr Kila area of south Lebanon that crossed into Israeli territory and was working to "neutralise" it.

The tunnel runs some 200 metres (660 feet), at a depth of 25 metres, Conricus said, and stretches some 40 metres into Israel.

The area around the Israeli town of Metula has been declared a closed military zone, with the army distributing images of heavy machinery digging into the ground.



- UN peacekeepers monitoring border -



Israel labelled the operation "Northern Shield" and said all its activities would take place inside Israeli territory. No tunnels from Lebanon include exit points within Israel, the army said.

A UN peacekeeping force which monitors the border region said it had increased patrols but noted the area remained calm.

Lebanon's army also said it was monitoring the situation closely.

According to Conricus, the tunnels were part of a Hezbollah plan from 2012 to "shift the battlefield to Israel" and "conquer the Galilee" in a future conflict by infiltrating its territory.

In 2013, the army acted on reports that Hezbollah was digging tunnels, but failed to locate any, he said.

Following the 2014 war between Israel and Gaza, in which the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas used cross-border attack tunnels, the army said it found "Hezbollah and Hamas share knowledge" and soon after began intensive work to prevent tunnels from Lebanon.

The military has used various means to collapse or fill in tunnels from the Gaza Strip.

Conricus said that while the army has boosted its presence in the north for the Lebanon operation, it has not summoned reserve soldiers.

He said the military "holds the Lebanese government responsible for all activities perpetrated in Lebanon towards Israel".



- 'Irresponsible' -



Netanyahu has spoken of a sensitive security situation without providing details, particularly after defence minister Avigdor Lieberman quit over a controversial Gaza ceasefire last month.

Lieberman's resignation threatened to provoke early elections, but Netanyahu has held his coalition together and is clinging to a one-seat majority in parliament.

The prime minister, who has since assumed the role of defence minister, said at the time that holding elections would be "irresponsible" due to the undefined security threats.

His comments were seen by some as an attempt to save his government, with polls showing wide disapproval among the Israeli public of his handling of a Gaza flare-up in November.

Netanyahu is also facing further political pressure after Israeli police on Sunday recommended he and his wife Sara be indicted for bribery, the third such recommendation against the premier in recent months.

Conricus rejected suggestions of politics influencing the announcement.

Netanyahu has pledged to stop Iran from entrenching itself militarily in Syria and to keep it from transferring advanced weapons to its ally Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria against what it says are Iranian military targets and deliveries of advanced arms to Hezbollah.

However, a friendly fire incident in Syria in September that led to the downing of a Russian plane by Syrian air defences during an Israeli strike has complicated Israeli operations.

Russia subsequently upgraded Syrian air defences with the delivery of the advanced S-300 system.NATO says 'up to Russia' to save Cold War arms treaty



Brussels, Dec 4 (AFP) Dec 04, 2018



NATO said Tuesday it is "up to Russia" to save a Cold War nuclear arms reduction treaty that the US has threatened to leave, accusing Moscow of breaching the agreement.

"We call on Russia to return urgently to full and verifiable compliance. It is now up to Russia to preserve the INF treaty," foreign ministers from the 29-member alliance said in a joint statement after talks in Brussels.

Western powers say a Russian missile system developed and fielded over the last five years breaches the 1987 Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty.

In October, President Donald Trump declared the United States would pull out of the treaty and build up America's nuclear stockpile "until people come to their senses."

But on Monday, the US leader said he wants talks with his Chinese and Russian counterparts Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin "to head off a major and uncontrollable Arms Race."

Trump's chief diplomat Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was at NATO headquarters for a ministerial meeting on Tuesday and won support for a tough stance from the allies.

"The United States has remained in full compliance with its obligations under the INF Treaty since it entered into force," the ministers said in their joint statement.

"Allies have emphasised that the situation whereby the United States and other parties fully abide by the Treaty and Russia does not, is not sustainable," they warned.

"Russia's violation of the INF Treaty erodes the foundations of effective arms control and undermines Allied security. This is part of Russia's broader pattern of behaviour that is intended to weaken the overall Euro-Atlantic security architecture."US urges UN to condemn Iran missile test



United Nations, United States, Dec 4 (AFP) Dec 04, 2018



The United States on Tuesday urged the UN Security Council to condemn Iran for carrying out a ballistic missile test, describing the launch as dangerous and a violation of a UN resolution.

The council met behind closed doors at the request of France and Britain which, along with the United States, have accused Iran of test-firing a medium-range ballistic missile on Saturday.

France and Britain maintain that missile launches are inconsistent with the UN resolution that endorsed the 2015 Iran nuclear deal while the United States has taken a harder stance and views them as an outright violation.

"Iran's recent ballistic missile test was dangerous and concerning, but not surprising," US Ambassador Nikki Haley said in a statement.

"The international community cannot keep turning a blind eye every time Iran blatantly ignores Security Council resolutions.

"If the Security Council is serious about holding Iran accountable and enforcing our resolutions, then at a minimum we should be able to deliver a unanimous condemnation of this provocative missile test," she said.

Iran has long maintained that its missile program is defensive in nature, a stance generally supported by Russia at the Security Council.

In a statement, the Iranian mission to the United Nations accused the United States of creating confusion about the wording of the resolution and insisting its missile-related activities were legal.

The UN resolution calls on Iran to refrain from testing missiles capable of carrying a nuclear weapon, but does not specifically bar Tehran from missile launches.

"Portraying Iran's ballistic missile program as inconsistent with resolution 2231 or as a regional threat is a deceptive and hostile policy of the US," the Iranian mission said.



- UN concern -



Iran has neither denied nor confirmed the launch that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said involved a missile of a medium range, capable of carrying multiple warheads and striking parts of Europe and the entire Middle East.

Following the meeting, French Ambassador Francois Delattre said there was "widely-shared concern" at the council about the missile test and renewed France's call to Iran to halt all activities related to its missile program.

British Ambassador Karen Pierce stressed that the types of missiles launched on December 1 "go way beyond legitimate defensive needs" and point to Iran's destabilizing behavior in the region.

"If you wanted to demonstrate to the international community that you were a responsible member of it and genuinely interested in regional peace and security, these are not the types of missiles you would be test-launching," said Pierce.

The meeting ended with no joint statement or any plan for follow-up action, but the council is scheduled to take stock of the implementation of the resolution on December 19.

While the resolution remains in force, the United States decided in May to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions on Iran, to the dismay of its Europeans allies.

The nuclear deal signed by Iran and six powers -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the US -- provides for a lifting of sanctions against Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear activities.Optimization

Are you frustrated with a slow pc or a hard disk not performing as it should?

Try SLOW-PCfighter to speed up boot time on a slow PC, or try a free scan of FULL-DISKfighter to recover space on a full disk. The latest offering is DRIVERfighter to update your driver updater. Get complete PC optimization and extend the life of your PC with these must-have software tools.Havana, Dec 4, 2018 (SPS) - The president of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Brahim Gali, who is on an official visit to Cuba, will hold a dialogue today with the head of state of Cuba, Miguel Diaz-Canel.

On the agenda of the visit is also planned a tribute to the National Hero of Cuba, Jose Marti, in the memorial that bears the name of the Cuban independence hero.

Gali arrived in Cuba on Sunday night and will extend his official visit until Wednesday morning.

The president is accompanied by a delegation composed of Mansur Omar, Delegate Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Latin America, Malainin Tgana Saharawi Ambassador in Cuba and Abdati Breika, Councilor of the Presidency.

Cuba and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic established diplomatic relations in January 1980, and currently their main areas of collaboration are health and education where thousands of young Saharawi people are trained in Cuba as professionals from the most diverse areas. SPS

125/090/TRAEnglish03/12/2018

TOTAL FOREIGN TRADE USD4.59 BILLION, SURPLUS WITH EU STATES

BANJALUKA, December 3 /SRNA/ - Republika Srpskas foreign trade in the first ten months of 2018 totalled USD4.59 billion, its import coverage ratio was 70.6 per cent, while a surplus was made with the EU, reports the entity Statistics Institute.



Exports totalled USD2.69 billion and imports USD1.9 billion in the observed period.



The value of exports in the ten months is 16.7 per cent higher, and the value of imports is higher by the same percentage in comparison to the same period of 2017.



Republika Srpskas most significant trade partners have been Serbia, with the total foreign trade of around USD684 million, Italy USD584.34 million, and Germany USD396 million.



Observed by economic groups of countries, Republika Srpskas exports to the EU market stood at around USD1.4 billion, and imports at USD1.33 billion.



Exports to the Union in the first ten months of this year are 17.8 per cent higher, and imports 16.7 per cent higher than in the same period of last year.



Economist Djurdjica Stojadinovic has told Srna that, according to the present and earlier business indicators, as well as according to the forecasts of the European Commission and Eurostat, Srpskas trade with the EU, the major foreign trade partner, can be expected to grow in the mid-term.



"According to the projections made by international institutions, the global economy will continue to grow, which will have a positive effect on this region too, said Stojadinovic.



Last year, the EUs economy grew by 2.7 per cent and the trend will continue in 2018 and beyond, she said, leading to growing demands in that group of countries.



Stojadinovic added that the EU demand-led growth will keep reflecting positively on Republika Srpskas foreign trade and the possibility of further surplus in trading with the Union. /end/dsEnglish03/12/2018

VISKOVIC: WE WILL FOLLOW SERBIAS POSITION

BANJALUKA, December 3 /SRNA/ - Republika Srpska Prime Minister Designate, Radovan Viskovic, pointed out today that Srpska has an official position on BiHs membership in NATO and that it is following Serbia in everything.



"Republika Srpska does not participate in this theory and follows the Serbias position. If Serbias position is changed, we will call the citizens of Republika Srpska to vote on a NATO membership referendum," Viskovic told reporters in Banjaluka.



He has said that this is also the political position of the SNSD, whose member he is, and which will not be changed in the upcoming period.



The Republika Srpska National Assembly adopted in October last year a Resolution on protecting constitutional order and declaring military neutrality of Republika Srpska, which defines the neutrality of Srpska in relation to the existing military alliances.



NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said he expects the foreign ministers of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation to approve BiH to send the first annual programme for the launch of the NATO Membership Action Plan /MAP/ at the forthcoming ministerial meeting.



"We must wait and see if the BiH authorities will take the opportunity. BiH already has a MAP, now we just show that we are ready to accept their annual programme, and they will decide whether to do so," Stoltenberg said in a press conference today in Brussels. /end/vosEnglish03/12/2018

JANJIC: I LEARNT ABOUT COMPLAINT OF DISCIPLINARY PROSECUTOR FROM MEDIA

ISTOCNO SARAJEVO, December 3 /SRNA/ - Prosecutor Miroslav Janjic told SRNA that he learnt from the media that the Disciplinary Prosecutors Office of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council /HJPC/ of BiH filed complaints ex officio against him, based on the criticism he made on the account of the Prosecutor's Office and the Court of BiH after the acquittal of Naser Oric and Sabahudin Muhic.



Janjic says he is not sure what the complaint relates to, since "some media did not accurately publish what he had said", but they informed him "that they would make corrections in the part where what he had said was wrongly published".



He emphasizes that, in the event that the complaint relates to what was wrongly published, the complaint should be dismissed, since it is, as he says, the reaction to something he did not say.



According to him, in the event that the complaint relates to what he did state and that the disciplinary procedure is initiated based on that, then it would be sanctioning of the opinion expressed.



"This means that we have a situation that someone within judicial institutions has expressed the opinion and that this is a complete material truth, because nothing is inaccurately stated, everything is objectively, materially visible on TV screens. I am of the opinion that the judicial institution is the last place to sanction someones opinion," Janjic notes.



Janjic said that he had recorded statements he gave to the media in the form of messages, so he knows exactly what he said.



The HJPC Office of Disciplinary Prosecutors told SRNA that it registered complaints ex officio against Janjic, who criticized the Prosecutors Office and the Court of BiH after the verdict was handed down to Naser Oric and Sabahudin Muhic, who were acquitted by the Appellate Chamber of the BiH Court for the murder of Serb prisoners of war in Srebrenica and Bratunac on Friday, November 30.



After pronouncing the verdict, Janjic told SRNA that the basic reason for acquitting the war commander of the so-called BiH Army, Naser Oric, is that there is no justice for Serb victims in BiH judicial institutions.



"It has become obvious and, as it seems now, there will be no justice for the Serbs. The competent bodies, I mean the HJPC BiH, should ask themselves whether this is the actual BiH judiciary as it should be: to have no one from Republika Srpska in the courtroom of the BiH Court," Janjic has said.



He has stressed that there are no victims, judges, nor prosecutors from Republika Srpska in the courtroom of the BiH Court. /end/vosWould better access to the Mississippi River be advantageous to Ste. Genevieve?

Yes! It would boost tourism and be awesome for locals.

Not really. Anyone who really wants to see it can drive to the ferry landing. View ResultsShares is the leading weekly publication for retail investors. It is packed with investment ideas, news and educational material to help build and run portfolios and get more from your money.

Shares puts on free Investor Events throughout the year across the country. They provide an opportunity for investors to learn more about companies on the stock market and hear from a range of investment experts including fund managers and Shares journalists.To kick start our Women in Yachting series, we turn to women in brokerage. Katya Grzeszczak Jaimes, Eleonora Pitasso and Lucrecia Vogogna shed light on what it was that drew them to the trade.

Talking to all three women, it is clear that they harbour a deep-seated passion for their respective careers. For Katya Grzeszczak Jaimes, Sales & Charter Consultant at IYC, the industry is literally a dream come true. I call it Disney World, she jokes, Yes, it is somewhat removed from the real world in terms of the luxury items that we work with, but it is a dream that actually did come true for our clients.

Certainly, the lifestyle surrounding superyachts is a fantasy realised by few, and Katyas role in securing that dream is a major draw. She reminisces about one particular deal involving a 55m Heesen that she unexpectedly listed whilst on holiday in her native Moscow: I immediately flew to Australia to inspect the yacht, and then right away had her sent to Palm Beach Boat Show. She had to cruise halfway around the world on a 9400 mile journey. The boat made it to the show after an epic 42 day journey, and was promptly sold to a buyer who owns her to this day. It is clear that Katya derives a genuine joy from being the middle (wo)man between the client and their dream yacht.

Eleonora Pitasso, Shipyard Relationship Coordinator and Sales Broker at Burgess, is just as enamoured with an industry that she calls beautiful, sophisticated and unpredictable. In what appears to be a general trend, she cites assisting the client in their dream purchase as the thing that attracted her to brokerage: This job takes time, emotion, concentration and patience, but it offers some of the most rewarding returns. Throughout Eleonora's 12 year career, she has had the opportunity of working with world-leading design studios, shipyards and industry professionals, but it all eventually boils down to watching an idea become a reality.

For Lucrecia Vogogna, Sales Broker at Thompson, Westwood and White Yachts, unconditional passion about these floating objects is a prerequisite. Seeing a long awaited project touching the sea for the first time, and delivering said project to owners, is a thrill that she hasnt tired of in 15 years: I love the smell of the wood and the metal. My favourite part is seeing the project growing day after day. Although Lucrecias professional development has led her down the avenue of selling (predominantly) motor yachts, her innate passion for the sea is evident in her insistence that where I really feel myself is sailing with friends and family.

A love of the sea and proclivity for customer care is something that evidently runs in the veins of these brokers. In part 2, discussion turns to whether they feel that they have been held back by their professional minority.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Federica Genovese (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, December 4, 2018 15:16 1088 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e073c77 3 Opinion COP24,The-Conversation,climate-change,diplomacy,environment,#environment,#ClimateChange,global-warming Free

Representatives of almost all the countries on the planet are gathering in Katowice, Poland, for the 24th Conference of the Parties (COP24) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). They will set the course for action on climate change by discussing the implementation plan for the 2015 Paris Agreement which aims to coordinate international effort to halt warming at 1.5C.

The COPs receive significant media attention and, sometimes, even notable public interest. They take place every year as an opportunity for countries to collectively assess progress on dealing with climate change.

In 2018 the negotiations kick off barely two months after a report by the UNs Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that the international community only has a 12-year window to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Clearly, 24 years after the first COP there is a deep disconnect between how urgently the world needs effective climate policy and the pace of discussing global mechanisms on how to abate greenhouse gas emissions.

A history of failure

The first COP meetings held in the 1990s led to the creation of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, which set binding emissions targets for developed countries over two commitment periods (2008-2012 and 2013-2020). However, the Kyoto agreement failed as the US did not ratify it and because several inconclusive conferences followed its implementation.

COP15 in Copenhagen in 2009 also failed to yield any agreement on binding commitments for the second commitment period. A few major countries agreed to a short accord recognising the need to limit global temperature rises to 2C, but there were no substantial guidelines on how to do so.

Similarly, COP19 in Warsaw four years later did not finalise any binding treaty. It only recognised a flexible ruling on differentiated responsibilities and loss and damage. In Warsaw, the international community failed to take essential steps for the future. Some even think that the 2013 conference cast some doubt on the capacity of the Polish government to successfully lead COP24 in 2018.

Against this backdrop, COP21 in Paris in 2015 appeared to generate the most optimistic outcome in two decades of international climate negotiations. In Paris, the world leaders agreed on a general action plan that legally binds countries to have their progress tracked by technical experts.

The countries who signed up also agreed on a global stocktake  a process for reviewing collective progress towards achieving the long-term goals of the agreement. However, lots of details about the Paris Agreement still have to be nailed down. This is precisely what the international community seeks to do this December in Poland.

The focus of COP24 and the likely outcomes

The major objective for COP24 is to agree upon the so-called Paris rulebook  the details of how nations should implement the Paris Agreement and report their progress. Three major areas of political discussion will receive most attention: finance, emission targets, and the role of big states.

Finance

In 2015, richer countries pledged US$100 billion a year by 2020 for poorer nations to mitigate the effects of climate change. However, the climate funding is still about US$20 billion short. COP24 delegates will need to discuss in more detail on when the rest of the money will be generated before committing to the rulebook.

Perhaps even more importantly, rules for where that money comes from, and particularly whether international loans are acceptable, still have to be agreed on. Because finance is closely linked to issues of justice and fairness in the international system, it is unlikely that this discussion will lead to more generous levels of climate aid  although there is space for improvement, and some past conferences have actually provided small but significant advances on this front.

Emission targets

COP24 also needs to set some form of flexible yet comparable rules that will govern the Paris Agreement. One groundbreaking feature of the Paris Agreement is that all parties agreed to commit to national contributions to climate action. In other words, the agreement is based on a bottom-up process in which countries largely determine their own contributions, and then act upon them.

This COP may settle on some basic strategies for verifying climate actions, but it is very unlikely that the international community will agree on any mechanisms for delivering sanctions to states that do not meet their targets, because of the high sensitivity towards financial costs for non-abatement.

The role of big states

Finally, while small countries will have an important role to play at the negotiations as usual, there are several question marks around the large countries that need to bear a lot of the efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

It will not help that President Donald Trump, who intends to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement, decided in 2017 to cancel climate funding for poor nations. The US position at COP24 will also affect China and India, which are likely to continue disagreeing with rich countries on some fundamental issues. Additionally, the domestic politics of Russia and Brazil point to more uncertainty for cooperation.

Looking ahead from COP24

The urgency to reach key milestones in the Paris Agreement and deal with climate change puts a lot of high expectations on COP24. Unfortunately, many challenges stand ahead of international climate cooperation.

Approaching the negotiations with the right level of reason and determination will be critical to manage expectations and avoid any media hysteria, as media coverage can hurt the climate talks by shifting attention from the policy issues to unproductive discussions of whether climate change is influenced by humans.

For a credible and valid rulebook, we need frank conversations about energy transition and compensating the losers of climate policies, such as people working in high-emission sectors.

There might be the opportunity to do so in Katowice, an industrial hub and coal-mining city. We will see if this COP will highlight the necessary transition from fossil fuel industry to renewable solutions as the negotiations unravel.

***

Federica Genovese, Lecturer in Government, University of Essex

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, December 4, 2018 13:08 1088 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e06a7b2 1 Opinion Indonesia,China,Trade,export-import,economy,market,investment,partnership,business Free

With its sights set on overturning a long-standing trade deficit with China, Indonesia must come up with new solutions to promote itself in the worlds most populous country. The Jakarta Posts Dian Septiari, Tama Salim and Novan Iman Santosa sat down with Indonesian Ambassador to China, Djauhari Oratmangun, on the sidelines of a recent seminar on the Indonesia-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership to talk about his efforts in China. Below are some excerpts:



Question: How do we achieve a balance between exports and imports with China?



Answer: Its better to get creative [...] rather than blame other people. Why do we have to blame people for the fact that Malaysia can export almost US$50 billion [of goods] there, while we [have more to offer] in terms of products and population? Why can Vietnam [...] or why can such a small country as Singapore [do it?] Why cant we? Something must be wrong with us, not with them, because other ASEAN member states can [achieve greater trade volume].



Is it because our businesses are just not interested in China?



Not really [...] but maybe that is just one of the reasons. Our [level of] domestic absorption is high, but we still need exports [to continually grow our economy]. China has seen high domestic consumption too, but it is still expanding abroad. Were the fourth most populous nation in the world, so we do have high absorption, but that doesnt mean we dont need to export our products.



I believe in what President [Joko Jokowi Widodo] said, [that] our growth rate is currently at 5.2 percent, and that we need at least 6 percent so we can be among the top five economies by 2050  that number comes from exports, imports and tourism.



I also want to add e-commerce to the mix because the platform is the future of the world. If we dont seize it, we will be left behind again.



My mission in China is to make creative breakthroughs that close the gap in trade. One of them is through digital platforms such as Alibaba, JD.com, Huawei and Tencent.



During the 11.11 Singles Day [online shopping] event recently, in just one night Alibaba was able to sell almost $31 billion in goods, while JD.com made almost $17 billion. [Together] thats almost $50 billion in sales. In the course of one night, the total number of transactions went far beyond the value of Indonesias exports to China in an entire year.



What are our export priorities in China?



Of course palm oil, because its value is in the billions of dollars, and it still can be increased because China still has problems with one of its trading partners  and they dont import soybeans, meaning that our palm oil and coal can go in there and makes billions of dollars.



Were also trying to get our tropical fruits into China, right now we have negotiations for [exporting] mangosteen, zalacca, dragon fruit, Cavendish bananas and milk bananas. Were also trying to [find ways to export] mango and durian.



Meanwhile, out of Malaysias $50 billion in exports to China, it turns out that around $28 billion comes from electronic products. We produce a lot of nickel for batteries and as China is switching from fossil fuels to electronics, I think we should be the one supplying it.



On opening up Chinas market, wouldnt infrastructure projects like Chinas Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) help our supply chains? Whats our position on this issue?



We are looking for cooperation that is not purely BRI, but a synergy between BRI and our own Global Maritime Fulcrum (GMF), which is reflected in the cooperation on the four economic corridors.



But that is mainly a matter of investments. The real question is in exports from Indonesia to China; how can we enter their market?



So this BRI-GMF synergy does not necessarily have to support efforts to increase our exports?



We need time for these kinds of projects, but we can still work with existing connectivity.



What is the advantage of having an Indonesia-China comprehensive strategic partnership in terms of Indonesias competitiveness with neighboring countries?



In this partnership, there are three pillars: politics, economics and the sociocultural. On these three pillars we must go forward together.



We were good friends, [but with the upgraded ties] we are now the closest of friends. It goes without saying that there must be some kind of special treatment from them to us and vice versa. We can have many friends, but out of those friends we have those who we are closest to, so we should be given some preferential treatment by our close friends.



What about mutual trust between the two countries (or lack thereof)?



We have to identify the reasons for the mistrust, whether it is coming from us or from them. Resolving trust issues must come from both sides.



Everybody wants to do business with China, and its not easy. Not only do we have to compete with other countries, we also have to deal with the [discrepancies in] regulations. I have to translate [the rules] and keep negotiating.



So I usually end up saying, If you consider us as a comprehensive [strategic] partner, it has to be reflected in numbers. The comprehensive [part of the] partnership means we are your best friend, so give us some preferential treatment.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Inforial (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta, Indonesia  Wed, December 5, 2018 00:07 1087 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e0824eb 4 Inforial Free

The Manpower Ministry announced that is has arranged for Shinta Danuar, a 26-year-old Indonesian migrant worker employed in Taiwan, to return to her hometown in Banyumas, Central Java, after she suffered from chronic respiratory failure.

Shinta arrived home on Nov. 29. She started working as a caregiver in a nursing home in Taiwan in April 2014. On Jan. 6, 2015, the Indonesian Trading and Economy Office in Taipei received information that Shinta suffered from a respiratory illness and was lying unconscious in Mackay Hospital in Hsinchu.

. (./.)

The hospital later stated that Shinta needed to go on life support because her lungs had ceased working. She was subsequently relocated to Heping Hospital in Hsinchu for her treatments to continue. On Nov. 23, the hospital announced that Shinta was well enough to return to Indonesia. A doctor and two nurses from the hospital accompanied her journey home.

On her way back to Indonesia, Shinta was also accompanied by Sri Indah Wijayanti, chairman of the Indonesian Trading and Economy Office, as well as Shintas mother, Suryati. After she landed at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in late November, she was taken to the Kramat Jati National Police Hospital in East Jakarta for several medical examinations.

Shintas arrival at the hospital was greeted by Social Affairs Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, the Agency for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers chairman Nusron Wahid and Manpower Ministry labor posting, guidance and expansion of job opportunities director general Nurahman, among others.

Thank God that she has started to recover from the long illness, Nurahman said, adding that the government was grateful for all parties involved in bringing Shinta back to Indonesia.

He added that the government should always be present to protect migrant workers, especially those who fall ill while working abroad.

. (./.)

Nurahman added that the ministry would strive to always improve the protection of Indonesian migrant workers.

We should also decrease the risks that migrant workers face of falling ill or having an accident abroad, he explained.

According to Nurahman, his directorate general is also working hard to improve the quality of Indonesian migrant workers by boosting their foreign language skills, cultural adjustment and competence.

After Shinta returned to her hometown, all matters related to her welfare and healthcare were placed under the care of the Social Affairs Ministry. The ministry also helped procure a car that transported Shinta to her hometown.

Agus said his ministry was committed to treating Shinta until she was fully recovered from her illness.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, December 4, 2018 12:38 1088 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e06910d 4 Lifestyle 2Madison-Avenue,New-York-Fashion-Week,fashion,#fashion Free

Artisan fashion brand 2Madison Avenue is set to take part in 2019 New York Fashion Week slated to be held in February.

Maggie Hutauruk Eddy, the brand's designer and creative director, said she would showcase collections that incorporated Indonesian tenun (handwoven fabric) and art.

[We will showcase] 12 outfits that merge tenun and artistic elements, Maggie told Antara. [Theyre] easy to wear using materials such as ulos [traditional Batak textiles], Bima batik, Japanese cotton and brocade.

Read also: Fashion Week introduces Jakarta's 'beautiful mess', inclusivity

Tenuns patterns are mainly colored in black and red, but Maggie dares to combine them with brocade.

She is hopeful her designs could inspire people to love and create more collaborations using Indonesian products.

2Madison Avenue released its latest collection, Fabulous1819, in Jakarta on Nov. 30. It comprises 23 collections in which Maggie applied paintings of the late American actress Marilyn Monroe in several outfits. (wir/kes)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Liza Yosephine (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, December 4, 2018 11:33 1088 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e066201 1 Art & Culture Kongres-Kebudayaan-Indonesia,Indonesian-Cultural-Congress,Indonesian-culture,Hilmar-Farid,Education-and-Culture-Ministry Free

Local administrations across the country have submitted their cultural assessments ahead of the Indonesian Cultural Congress (KKI) that is set to be held by the Education and Culture Ministry on Dec. 5-9 in Jakarta, as the events are expected to produce a culture-related strategy for the nation.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, the ministry's culture director general, Hilmar Farid, said 296 regencies and 28 provinces had submitted assessments of cultural development, which include, among others things, identifying their cultural strengths, local facilities and infrastructure.

"With well over half of the country's 34 provinces participating, the data is representative of the national condition for policy-making that would affect the entire nation," said Hilmar, who is overseeing the event.

The upcoming congress aims to formulate a policy framework, or dubbed the cultural strategy, which focuses on the development of culture, in line with Law No. 5/2017 on cultural advancement.

The ministry notes that the law outlines 10 focus objects of cultural development, namely oral tradition, manuscripts, customs, rites, traditional knowledge, traditional technology, art, language, folk games and traditional sports.

The formulation of the strategy,which would be implemented at the national level, would be based on data and recommendations gathered from regional governments.

"The cultural strategy would be submitted to President Joko Widodo, as the document would then be valid for up to 20 years," Hilmar said.

Further, the congress is also expected to produce a "congress resolution" that would be adopted by congress participants, including representatives from regional governments, as well as relevant stakeholders.

Read also: Government gears up to hold Indonesian Cultural Congress

While different iterations of the congress have been held dating back as far as 1918, this year marks the first time it will be open to the public, inviting the participation of experts, speakers and performers in a series of sideline events throughout the five days, Hilmar said.

"More than 2,300 people have registered so far, bringing together people from various backgrounds and making the event fertile ground to learn and support the development of culture," Hilmar said.

For the venue, artist and designer Novi Kristinawati has created a bamboo-based dome for the main stage of events, which will take place at the ministry's complex on Jl. Sudirman in Central Jakarta.

"The structure is made up of 1,300 pieces of bamboo, measuring 10 meters in height and a diameter of 20 meters," Novi, also speaking at the press conference, said in reference to the stage constructed from material brought from Yogyakarta, where she is based.

Meanwhile, noted poet and writer Afrizal Malna has co-curated a series of cultural objects to be displayed throughout the grounds, ranging from printed, audio and digital mediums that are all set to be at the forefront in illustrating Indonesia's cultural richness.

"We started with taking on two perspectives in the curation process through which we wanted to convey Indonesian culture, one from how others would view Indonesian culture, so those include works by foreign writers and such, while the second, we took from the perspective of how Indonesia would view modernization," Afrizal said. (kes)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Stockholm, Sweden  Tue, December 4, 2018 14:01 1088 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e06c648 2 Art & Culture Nobel,rape,Sweden,France,trial,Jean-Claude-Arnault,Nobel-Literature-Prize Free

A Frenchman at the center of a scandal that led to the postponement of this year's Nobel Literature Prize was on Monday found guilty on appeal of two counts of rape and jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Once an influential figure in Stockholm's cultural scene, 72-year-old Jean-Claude Arnault was convicted by a Stockholm appeals court of raping a young woman in October 2011 and again in December the same year.

He had pleaded innocent to the charges, insisting the sex was consensual.

A Stockholm district court had in October found him guilty of the first count of rape but acquitted him of the second, and had sentenced him to two years behind bars.

"The appeals court has come to a different conclusion and considers it proven beyond a doubt that the accused is guilty of rape on the second occasion as well," the appeals court said in a statement.

The case was one of the first big trials to come out of the #MeToo movement, and has left the venerable Swedish Academy, which awards the Nobel Literature Prize, in tatters.

Arnault is married to Katarina Frostenson, a Swedish Academy member who has rarely spoken out since the scandal erupted.

He has been locked up since his conviction by the lower court.

Read also: Nobel literature body rejigs committee after sex scandal

The scandal erupted in November 2017, one month after rape and sexual abuse accusations surfaced against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein.

At the time, Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter published the testimonies of 18 women claiming to have been raped, sexually assaulted or harassed by Arnault.

The Frenchman ran the Forum club, which he founded in 1989 as a meeting place for the cultural elite and was popular among aspiring young authors hoping to make contact with publishers and writers.

The Swedish Academy, which funded his club for years, has 18 members and Arnault often referred to himself as its "19th member". He reportedly occasionally leaked the names of Nobel winners to friends.

The revelations have left the prestigious body deeply divided over how to manage its ties with Arnault and his wife, with some members quitting the Academy.

His accusers claim the Academy was aware of Arnault's behaviour but ensured that "a culture of silence" reigned in cultural circles.

Discredited and without a quorum to make key decisions, the Academy postponed the announcement of the 2018 Nobel Literature Prize for the first time in 70 years.

Several allegations against Arnault were dropped due to lack of evidence or because the statute of limitations had expired.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Liza Yosephine (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, December 4, 2018 14:20 1088 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e06dd27 1 Art & Culture Jaya-Ibrahim,The-Dharmawangsa-Jakarta,interior-designer,designer,architecture Free

Luxury hotel The Dharmawangsa in South Jakarta is notably distinct in its sophisticated design, boasting subtle touches of decor reflecting Indonesian history and culture balanced with timeless modernity.

Indeed balance is a keyword that defined the creations of late interior designer Jaya Ibrahim, with The Dharmawangsa being one of his first projects in the 1990s that grew to become one of the masterpieces he produced throughout his life.

The Legian Bali is also another of Jaya's outstanding designs in Indonesia, while he also worked on interior projects abroad, including, among others, luxury hotels in China and Singapore.

Jaya passed away in 2015.

Three years after his death, a tribute was held recently for the late designer, gathering family, friends, partners and those who supported his career, in an evening together at The Dharmawangsa.

Rommy Ardian, interior designer and managing partner at Kalandara Design Studio, had worked with Jaya since 1999. He said Jaya had always included cultural aspects or local crafts in every project, whether in Indonesia or abroad. Each project held a unique relationship between local culture and design, Rommy added, noting it as Jaya's strength in creating a harmonious design.

"One of the signatures of PakJaya is symmetry, composition and balance in the creation of a design," Rommy told The Jakarta Post.

Read also: Ways for aspiring interior designers to gain global recognition

After four years of working together, Rommy resigned in 2003 before eventually returning to work with Jaya and becoming a partner by 2005.

"While working with Pak Jaya, I learned a lot from him in designing a room that is not just aesthetically pleasing, but also functional and where space and harmony is present," Rommy said.

Shaun Yeo, who became Jaya's first employee in Singapore 10 years ago, said Jaya stood out as a disciplined designer with immaculate taste, juxtaposing different colors, textures and materials in a spot on manner.

"At the same time, even though Jaya was a designer who comes across as he knows exactly what he wants, I also feel that there is a side of him that is very open. He embraces different cultures, different characters, different roles in this beautiful story," Yeo said.

Yeo has forged his own design company, SAY, and partnered up with Agnes Affandy, who is also a former employee of Jaya. Agnes further noted Jaya's ability to combine various material, making even inexpensive material look expensive.

"He was very particular about balance," Agnes said. (kes)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Belinda Goldsmith (Reuters) London, United Kingdom  Tue, December 4, 2018 17:03 1088 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e07a197 2 People Michelle-Obama,Britain,politics,vote Free

Former US first lady Michelle Obama urged a group of London schoolgirls on Monday to ensure they played a role in tackling the bitterness and nastiness in current politics - by never wasting their vote.

Obama, 54, received a rock-star welcome from students from two central London girls' schools, many of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds, before encouraging them to find their passion, mentors, and work hard to overcome any self-doubt.

It was a return trip for Obama - who is in London to promote her memoir Becoming - as she first visited the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School in 2009 and has kept close ties with the school and nearby Mulberry School ever since.

While not mentioning President Donald Trump who replaced husband Barack Obama after eight years in the White House in 2017, she said it was important to give young people a reason to hope, particularly in the current divisive political climate.

"It is our responsibility to have hope, and act with hope and lead with hope," Obama told 300 teenage students.

"The one challenge we have - at least I know in our country - is harnessing the power we do have and not relinquishing that and by that I mean voting."

She said at the last presidential election in the United States many young people, Hispanic, and African American people did not vote - the same people who felt the most oppressed.

"Voting is how change happens in democracies," Obama said.

Read also: Michelle Obama's memoir sells two million copies in two weeks

Never forgive

Asked often about her political ambitions, Obama makes it clear in her book she has no intention of going down that route.

"I have no intention of running for office, ever," she wrote. "I have never been a fan of politics and my experience over the past 10 years has done nothing to change that."

Obama said her visit to the London school in 2009 inspired her to use her time in the White House to campaign for education for all girls as well as work to combat childhood obesity.

A World Bank report this year said more than 130 million girls remain out of school despite the fact that women who have completed secondary education are more likely to work and earn on average nearly twice as much as those with no schooling.

Obama, a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School, said girls had to find ways to overcome self-doubt.

Earlier this year, Obama was named the world's second-most admired woman, behind Angelina Jolie, in a YouGov poll, but she said she still sometimes questioned if she is good enough.

"How I overcame that? Hard work," said Obama, who has two daughters, aged 20 and 17.

"(But) I still feel at some level I have something to prove because of the colour of my skin, the shape of my body."

Obama will speak on Monday evening at the Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall about her memoir released last month.

Tickets to the event were hotly sought with many on social media saying there were more than 40,000 people in the line when booking opened and the venue intervened when tickets appeared on online marketplace Viagogo for thousands of pounds.

While Obama has not criticized Trump directly at events to promote her memoir, she does criticize him in the book.

Trump with "his loud and reckless innuendos" about her husband's birth certificate put "my family's safety at risk."

"And for this, I'd never forgive him," she wrote.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Marrakesh, Morocco  Tue, December 4, 2018 20:07 1088 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e07c32d 2 Entertainment James-Gray,director,Donald-Trump,Marrakech,film-festival,festival Free

US director James Gray, chairman of this year's Marrakech film festival, on Monday lambasted his country's President Donald Trump as an "imbecile" and source of embarrassment for Americans abroad.

"It's been very hard for me to be here because the president of the United States is a moron and a very dangerous moron," he told a news conference in the Moroccan city.

"It's embarrassing, I feel very awkward and I feel I have to apologise every two minutes, because... I'm trying to represent the better part of my country not that one that is represented by an imbecile."

Read also: MBS mingles with G20 leaders as Trump fuels summit tensions

US actor Robert De Niro, an outspoken critic of Trump, received a tribute award at the festival on Saturday. He used the occasion to launch a fresh tirade against the president and his "America First" mantra.

"Sadly, in my country we are going through a grotesque version of nationalism... marked by greed, xenophobia and selfishness under the banner of 'America First'," De Niro said to loud applause from the audience.

Gray, whose films include "Little Odessa" and "The Immigrants", with sci-fi thriller "Ad Astra" starring Brad Pitt, to be released next year, said De Niro's latest outburst against Trump was "for me... the moment" of the festival, which opened Friday.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Elysa Ng (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, December 4, 2018 16:30 1088 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e078f4e 3 Environment Alfred-Russel-Wallace,Science,evolution,biodiversity,Charles-Darwin,Indonesia,environment Free

If somebody was to mention the father of evolution, people would immediately think of Charles Darwin.

To this day, Charles Darwin is most famous for being the writer of the most influential book that has shaken the entire world upon its publication. Titled On the Origin of Species, this book shaped biology into what it is now.

But everybody has gotten so used to Darwin being placed under the spotlight alone for many years, that it might come to a shock when people find out that a cofounder for evolution actually exists.

Unbeknownst to many people, another scientist played an influential role in the discovery of evolution. There could be many other scientists out there who also observed evolution, but did not step up with their discovery because of the traditional rules of society back then.

Almost entirely unheard of, Alfred Russel Wallace, who was born on Jan. 8, 1823, and died on Nov. 7, 1913, was also an English naturalist and explorer.

Just like Darwin, he sailed on a voyage, collecting about 100,000 insects, birds and animal specimens that he donated to British museums. Through careful observations of the wildlife around him, he deduced in 1855 that animals could evolve by adapting to their environment.

It began when he wrote down his theory in a document about eight to nine pages long and mailed it to Darwin. Eventually, he became Darwins pen pal and mentor, and the two continued to write back and forth about their theories on evolution.

Of course, Darwin had discovered the idea first a couple of years back and this correspondence with Wallace inspired Darwin to write it down. It can be said that Wallace was the main catalyst for why the On the Origin of Species was published.

On the Origin of Species started with them doing a joint paper about the beginning of the theory of evolution. However, the joint paper was mostly forgotten. A year after it was published, Darwin began to write On the Origin of Species.

Read also: 2018 Wallacea Week: Celebrating diversity and science

As On the Origin of Species began to stir up controversy and gain popularity inside the world of natural science, Wallaces popularity began to fade and the fame all went to Darwin. Now everybody recognizes Darwin as the father of evolution, without keeping in mind that Wallace also played a significant role in the founding of this theory.

Wallace himself never really protested over that, choosing instead to stay humble about it. He never tried to steal Darwins fame.

While Wallace should regain more attention worldwide, why is it important for us as Indonesians to appreciate Wallace more?

While Darwin went to the Galapagos and got his inspiration through the Galapagos finches, Wallace sailed to the Dutch East Indies, which was the name of the chain of islands before it was changed to Indonesia.

He landed on what we now call Sulawesi, to find the native Maleo bird. The main thing he observed was that the Maleo bird was very well adapted to its environment, unique for using geothermal energy to incubate its eggs rather than body heat like what typical birds would use. This led him to develop evolution as a plausible theory.

Aside from that, he created the Wallace line, which is a boundary line separating the ecozones and faunas of Asia and Wallacea. Wallacea is the zone between Asia and Australia. This clear division line is split right in Indonesia, with Kalimantan, Java and Sumatra on the west side and Papua, Sulawesi and Australia on the east side. On the West of the line are the Asiatic species, and toward the East are species that look like a mix of Asian and Australian origin. This split is important because it shows how evolution varies across the continent and how its a gradual and constant change.

Wallace has a great number of achievements and clearly deserves more fame. As Indonesians, we have to be extremely proud as Wallace found out a very important discovery right in our homeland and contributed to a very important theory that changed the entire world.

To celebrate him, I think exhibitions and memorials should be created in his honor every year to commemorate his death anniversary. And by that, I dont mean some floppy exhibition something that would rival the exhibitions that people created in honor of Charles Darwin.

Its time we give Wallace the recognition that he deserves. (kes)

***

Elysa Ng is a junior high school student and a passionate supporter of environmental conservation and protection. She loves wild animals, reading, writing and white chocolate, and has been writing seriously since she was 10.

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 News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, December 4, 2018 09:02 1088 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e05aadf 1 City water-hyacinth,water,river,pollution,North-Jakarta Free

The North Jakarta administration began planting water hyacinth in the Inlet 3 River in North Jakarta, on Sunday in a bid to remove pollution and beautify the waterway.

The operation head of the North Jakarta water management unit, Lambas Sigalingging, said the plant could absorb pollution particles and help clean the water.

If the hyacinth grows well, it will protect the fish so they can swim comfortably. The plant can also get rid of the river's smell, Lambas said on Monday as quoted by kompas.com.

Lambas said the administration would periodically monitor the water condition to see whether it was becoming cleaner.

Critics have said that water hyacinth is an invasive species that tended to spread undesirably.

The administration said it had anticipated this potential problem and would implement measures to limit the spreading of the plant. (cal)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, December 4, 2018 08:41 1088 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e05a719 1 City Tinder,thief,theft,dating,Scam Free

A man identified as Andhika Prasetyo, 39, was arrested by Depok Police on Monday after allegedly attempting to steal a car owned by W, 41, a woman he met on mobile dating app Tinder.

Depok Police chief Comr. Deddy Kurniawan said Andhika and W met up in a mall after chatting on the app.

While [she] was shopping, Andhika attempted to steal her car, which had earlier been parked by a valet, Deddy said on Monday as quoted by kompas.com.

According to the police, Andhika may have stolen the cars of four previous Tinder dates. Deddy said the police would follow up the other reports against Andhika.

Andhika reportedly said he always tried to date women over 40 years of age, who had promising jobs and had relationship problems.

"I usually date women who have neglectful husbands. There was one whose husband had a bad temper, or another whose husband was cheating. Those women need a friend to talk to," said Andhika as quoted by kompas.com.

He has been charged under Article 372 of the Criminal Code on embezzlement. (cal)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Karina M. Tehusijarana and Wahyoe Boediwardhana (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta/Surabaya  Tue, December 4, 2018 10:41 1088 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e062fa5 1 National Papua,students,students-arrest,surabaya,university,East-Java,police Free

Police in Surabaya, East Java, ordered 233 members of the Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) to leave the Papuan student dorms on Jl. Kalasan where they were staying on Monday following a rally that turned violent on Saturday.



Around 300 Papuan students gathered in Surabaya from various cities across Java and Bali, to hold a rally on Dec. 1 to commemorate what some Papuans claim to be the birth of the West Papua nation in 1961.



The students marched from the Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI) studio on Jl. Pemuda to the Grahadi Building on Jl. Gubernur Surya and made speeches calling for the right of Papuans to self-determination. They also displayed images of the Morning Star flag, a symbol of the Papuan independence movement.



The situation became tense when around 200 people from various mass organizations, including the Communication Forum of Indonesian Veterans Children (FKPPI) and Pancasila Youth (PP), arrived on the scene to stage a protest against the AMP.



The counter-protestors accused the Papuans of committing treason and the two camps launched verbal attacks on each other, which escalated into a physical clash, resulting in injuries to 17 people.



On Saturday night, when the students had returned to the student dorms, Surabaya Police surrounded the building and detained the 233 AMP members, two non-Papuan students, and an Australian citizen.



The 233 Papuans were released on Sunday evening, under the condition that they immediately leave the dorms and return to their respective homes.



Fifty students were put on a bus headed to Malang, East Java, 90 others were sent to other cities, while 80 were sent back to their residences in Surabaya. The remaining 13 were residents of the Jl. Kalasan dorm.



AMP human rights lawyer Veronica Koman confirmed the release of the students and condemned the polices actions as forceful removal that violated the students civil rights.



It clearly violates their freedom of movement as well as their freedom of expression, she told The Jakarta Post on Monday.



Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) Surabaya commissioner Fatkhul Khoir agreed. What happened to the students is in violation of the principles of human rights that state that every citizen has the right to chose where to stay, he told the Post.



The two non-Papuan students, Fachri Syahrazad and Arifin, had been thought missing after the police raid on the dorms, but were actually being held in a separate police station in Surabaya. They were also released on Sunday.



The Australian citizen, identified as Ronda Amy Harman, was handed over to the Surabaya immigration authorities. Veronica said Ronda had not taken part in the rally and was at the dorm to meet her boyfriend, who is an AMP member.



I have spoken to immigration officials and they told me she is being secured at a hotel but I have not been allowed to see her, she said. It is my understanding that she is likely to be deported. This is the third time this year that a foreign citizen has had problems with immigration because of their connection with Papua.



In February, Australian journalist reporting for BBC Indonesia, Rebecca Henschke, was told to leave Papua after she posted several tweets criticizing the provision of aid. In August, Australian PhD candidate Belinda Lopez, who was planning to visit Papua, was barred from entering Indonesia for unspecified reasons.



East Java Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Frans Barung denied allegations that the police had violated the students rights, claiming that the officers were actually trying to ensure their safety.



Police deliberately brought [the students] to the station to protect them from the threat of groups opposed to the AMP, Frans said.

This article was originally published in The Jakarta Post's print edition on Dec. 4, 2018, with the title "Papuan students removed from Surabaya after rally".Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States  Tue, December 4, 2018 07:07 1088 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e057486 2 World #SaudiArabia,#USA,CIA,chief,Lawmakers,journalist,Khashoggi,murder Free

CIA director Gina Haspel has agreed to brief Senate leaders on what the agency knows about the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

The briefing will take place on Tuesday, the Journal said, after the Central Intelligence Agency failed to take part when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis spoke to senators on the issue last week.

Further details of the briefing were not available, and the CIA would not confirm or deny whether it would take place.

The spy agency is reported to have concluded with "medium-to-high confidence" that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman directed the October 2 assassination of Khashoggi by a team of Saudis in the country's consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.

The veteran journalist was a strong critic of Prince Mohammed and had been resident in the United States, where he wrote about politics in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East for The Washington Post.

The Journal, the Post, and The New York Times have all reported that the CIA has evidence Prince Mohammed exchanged 11 messages with his close aide Saud al-Qahtani, who allegedly oversaw the murder, just before and after it took place.

The New York Times reported Monday that Haspel was furious over the leak of the CIA's conclusions, which increased pressure on the White House to take strong actions against the Middle East powerhouse.

With relations with Riyadh already fraught, President Donald Trump has declined to accept the conclusion that the powerful heir to the Saudi throne approved the murder, saying there is no direct evidence of it.

"It could very well be that the crown prince had knowledge of this tragic event - maybe he did and maybe he didn't!" Trump said in a statement on November 20.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, December 4, 2018 14:40 1088 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e071c6a 1 Business citilink,jakarta,Samarinda,routes Free

Low-cost carrier PT Citilink Indonesia, a subsidiary of flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, launched on Monday its new Jakarta-Samarinda route as part of its effort to expand its market to eastern Indonesia.

Opening the new Jakarta-Samarinda route reflects Citilinks commitment to providing more flight options to connect these two major cities [...], Citilink vice president corporate secretary and CSR manager Ranty Astari said in a statement issued on Monday.

Ranty said that the new flight to Samarinda, the East Kalimantan provincial capital, would support the province's economic growth and strengthen Samarindas position as an industrial city in connecting it with other major cities.

Samarinda is one of the cities forming the East Kalimantan industrial development triangle, along with Balikpapan and Kutai Kartanegara.

With all [these] facts, Citilink is optimistic that the seat load factor (SLF) would average 85 percent, Ranty said of the new route.

Citilink flight QG422 departs from Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport at 12:23 p.m. and arrives at Samarinda's APT Pranoto Airport at 3:50 p.m., while flight QG423 departs from APT Pranoto at 4:20 p.m. and arrives at Soekarno-Hatta at 5:40 p.m.

The Airbus A320 aircraft, which has a maximum capacity of 180 seats, serves the route seven days in a week. (bbn)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, December 4, 2018 15:41 1088 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e076c78 1 City flood,inundation,East-Jakarta,pump Free

The East Jakarta Water Resource Agency has said it will install two mobile water pumps in the Cakung River to alleviate flooding in Rawa Terate, East Jakarta. The pumps are capable of absorbing 200 liters of water per second.

Well work with the [Jakarta Water Resource] agency and the BBWSCC [Ciliwung-Cisadane Flood Control Office] before installing the pumps at the sluice gate, said the agency's head, Mustajab, as quoted by kompas.com on Monday.

Flooding struck neighborhood unit (RT) 010 neighborhood unit, community unit (RW) 005 in Rawa Terate after heavy rain on Monday, inundating 183 houses.

Cakung district head Alamsah said flooding in Rawa Terate occurred every year. According to Alamsah, the area was a swamp that was used as a water reservoir.

The ground level of the residential area is low. Years ago, it was used as a rainwater reservoir, he said.

He called on the city administration to help him find a long-term solution by, for example, building a dam and sluice gate in the Cakung River so that flooding could be prevented in the future.

We also wish for a water pump so that when theres heavy rain, the water won't flow here as much, he added. (vla)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Dian Septiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, December 4, 2018 14:17 1088 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e06c6fe 1 Politics Saudi-Arabia,Indonesia,diplomacy,212-Alumni,rally-aftermath Free

The Foreign Ministry expressed concern over a statement made by Saudi Arabian Ambassador Usamah Muhammad al-Syuaiby on Twitter regarding an Islamist rally over the weekend, and on Monday summoned representatives from the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Jakarta.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Arrmanatha Nasir said on Tuesday that the ministry had taken swift action regarding the ambassador's online statement.

"After learning about the statement by the Saudi Arabian ambassador on social media, the Foreign Ministry communicated on Sunday with the ambassador, who's still abroad," Arrmanatha said on Tuesday.



After learning that Al-Syuaiby was not available, the ministry moved on to request the presence of the deputy chief of mission or the charge d'affaires of the embassy.



Arrmanatha said the Indonesian government had deemed the ambassador's statement on social media as inappropriate. "Ethically, such a statement, as made by the ambassador on social media, is not consistent with the principles of [good] diplomatic relations," he said.

Al-Syuaiby posted a number of photos onto his Twitter account, @Os_alshuaibi, on Sunday with a caption in Arabic that read: "the actions of millions of Muslims as a reaction to the burning of a flag bearing the tawhid by a deviant organization. The tweet referred to an incident in October in which members of the civilian security unit under the Nahdlatul Ulama's (NU) Ansor youth wing (Banser), burned a flag bearing Islamic text.

The NUs leadership issued on Monday a statement calling on Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi to expel the Saudi Arabian ambassador.



[We] urge the Indonesian government to send a diplomatic note to the Saudi Arabian government to recall the ambassador, as punishment for his reckless move of involving himself in a matter of national politics, NU chairman Said Aqil Siradj said in a press briefing on Monday.



Responding to the backlash, Al-Syuaiby deleted his post on Monday afternoon.

In his statement, Said Aqil also accused the ambassador of intentionally making a libelous statement by alleging that the burning of the flag was conducted by members of "jamaah al-muharifah"( a deviant organization). The NU chairman said those who took part in the flag burning incident were rogue members of the organization that had been duly punished. We have also expressed regret over the burning of the flag.



Said Aqil further lambasted Al-Syuaibi, whom he accused of committing a "serious diplomatic violation" by getting involved in internal Indonesian affairs, in violation of his authority. "This clearly undermines Indonesia-Saudi Arabia relations," he said.

This is not the first time Al-Syuaibi has weighed in on Indonesian politics.

In early November, he made a statement in which he defended the move of firebrand cleric and Islam Defenders Front (FPI) leader Rizieq Shihab, who was questioned by authorities in Mecca for flying a black Islamic flag.

Al-Syuaiby said the tawhid had a significant meaning for Muslims, but displaying it on a flag was not necessarily a criminal act. "Are you a criminal for installing the flag on your house? I don't think so," he said.

In responding to the ambassador's statement, the Indonesian government appears to have walked a fine line between responding to a demand from the NU, the country's largest Islamic organization, and maintaining good ties with Saudi Arabia, the custodian of Islam's holiest sites in Mecca and Medina, which allocates quotas for the number of haj pilgrims allowed to enter the country.

The Saudi Arabian government was accused in 2016 of blocking access for Iranians to go on the haj following a diplomatic rift between the two nations. The Saudi Arabian government severed its diplomatic ties with Iran after a mob stormed and looted the kingdom's embassy in Tehran, retaliating for the execution of a prominent Shiite cleric, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. Among other counter-measures, the kingdom banned Iranian airlines from entering its airspace, and with no Saudi Arabian diplomatic missions in Iran, pilgrims did not have access to visas for traveling to the holy sites.

Hamdan Basyar, an expert on the Middle East from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said Al-Syuaiby had gone too far by getting involved in Indonesia's domestic affairs. "He even mentioned the word deviant, which means he already made a judgmental statement. I can totally understand why the NU protested," Hamdan told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Rachmadea Aisyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, December 4, 2018 08:26 1088 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e057c43 1 Business palm-oil,Yayasan-Kehati,foreign-buyers,concerns,negative-campaign Free

A researcher from Yayasan Kehati (Biodiversity Foundation) has called on stakeholders in the countrys palm oil business to listen to the aspirations of foreign buyers, who have voiced concern over the production of Indonesias flagship commodity.

Ichsan Saif, Yayasan Kehatis environmental policy researcher, said foreign buyers concerns should not always be treated as a negative campaign against the commodity.

Those [concerns] are assumed [to be a negative campaign], but the government has never even conducted any in-depth studies to find out whether the concerns are indeed negative campaigns to bring down pam oil, Ichsan told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.

[Maybe] they are purely a suggestion from consumers demanding products that are managed sustainably.

Ichsan said the government had never attempted to substantiate its concerns.

The government has been trying to improve the image of palm oil, the countrys biggest export commodity in terms of volume. Indonesia is the biggest palm oil producer in the world.

Ichsan said the ongoing efforts by the government to promote the sustainability of Indonesias palm oil management should be able to demonstrate to the world Indonesias commitment to fix issues surrounding the commodity.

The next question is whether these policies can be implemented effectively and change the national management of palm oil for good, he added. (bbn)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, December 4 2018

The West Jakarta Fire and Rescue Agency has recovered the body of a child that reportedly drowned in the Batang Hari River near Jl. Gajah Mada in West Jakarta.

The victim was found [on Sunday] at 6:06 p.m. by the subdistrict military command and has been taken to Tarakan Hospital, said Rompis Romli, head of the West Jakarta Fire and Rescue Agency, as quoted by tempo.co on Monday.

The child was identified as Bagir, 10, a resident of Petojo in Gambir, Central Jakarta.

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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Depok  Tue, December 4 2018

A mortar shell has been confiscated from a junkyard on Jl. Raya Curug in Depok, West Java, after a worker reported finding the explosive weapon to local police.

We received information about the mortar shell on Saturday morning at around 8 a.m., said Depok Police spokesman, Adj. Comr. Firdaus on Sunday, as quoted by tempo.co.

Firdaus said junkyard worker M. Syarif had reported to police that an unknown person had delivered a sack to the junkyard about two weeks ago.

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Linkedin David Brunnstrom (Reuters) Washington  Tue, December 4, 2018 09:02 1088 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e05ba2c 2 World Rohingya,human-rights,tribunal,Myanmar,UNSC Free

A human rights law group contracted by the US State Department to investigate atrocities against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar called on Monday for the urgent establishment of a criminal tribunal to bring those responsible to justice.

There were reasonable grounds to believe the Myanmar military committed crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes against the minority group, the Public International Law and Policy Group (PILPG) said in a report. The report was based on more than 1,000 interviews with Rohingya refugees who fled to Bangladesh.

The Washington-based group's use of the term genocide adds pressure on US President Donald Trump's administration to harden its own characterization of the treatment of the Rohingya, something that could oblige the US government to take stronger punitive measures against Myanmar.

"The international community is obliged to protect populations subjected to atrocity crimes by their own governments and ensure justice and accountability for such crimes," the report said.

It called for the urgent establishment of an "accountability mechanism," or referral to the International Criminal Court. It noted that in similar circumstances in the past, different mechanisms had been used, including the ICC, ad hoc tribunals established by the United Nations, and hybrid or domestic tribunals established with the support of intergovernmental organizations.

The military in Myanmar, where Buddhism is the main religion, has denied past accusations that it had committed genocide against the Rohingya and says its actions were part of a fight against terrorism.

Myanmar's Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington also issued a statement on Monday saying there was compelling evidence that the Myanmar military committed ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and genocide against the Rohingya.

A report by UN investigators in August found that Myanmar's military carried out mass killings and gang rapes of Rohingyas with "genocidal intent," and said the commander-in-chief and five generals should be prosecuted under international law.

That report called for the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo and targeted sanctions as well as for the suspects to be tried by an ad hoc tribunal or referred to the ICC. However, diplomats say veto-wielding powers China and Russia are likely to protect Myanmar, previously known as Burma, from UN action.

The PILPG's refugee interviews formed the basis of a US State Department report released in September, but Washington stopped short of using the terms crimes against humanity, genocide or war crimes. Monday's report from PILPG added the group's legal analysis to its findings on the atrocities.

The State Department report, the subject of an internal debate that delayed its rollout for nearly a month, referred to a "well-planned and coordinated" campaign of mass killings, gang rapes and other atrocities.

A declaration of genocide by the US government, which has only gone as far as labeling the crackdown "ethnic cleansing," could require Washington to impose stronger sanctions on Myanmar, a country with which it has competed for influence with regional rival China.

Asked about the PILPG report, a State Department spokesperson noted the ethnic cleansing designation Washington has used so far, and said it "continues to review and analyze new evidence and information as it comes to light."

More than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled a sweeping army crackdown in Rakhine State last year, according to UN agencies. Human rights groups and Rohingya activists have put the death toll from the crackdown in the thousands.

Senators criticize US stance

US senators from both sides of the aisle have criticized Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for not going further in his condemnation.

A congressional aide said the House could vote as soon as next week on a resolution stating that the Rohingya were victims of genocide and crimes against humanity.

The resolution also calls for the release of two Reuters reporters, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who reported on the killing of 10 Rohingya men in Rakhine State in the west of the country, implicating Myanmar's security forces.

A Myanmar judge found the two reporters guilty of breaching a law on state secrets and jailed them for seven years in September.

"The State Department had access to the exact same data when developing its report, yet we dont have any policy announcement from Secretary Pompeo on a genocide determination, nor any other public statement on how the administration views the brutality. What is the reason for this silence?" Democratic Senator Ed Markey said in a statement to Reuters.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio last week called for an immediate determination of genocide.

The lawyers' report, based on the work of 18 investigators from 11 countries, found that Rohingya men, women, and children were the victims of "mass shootings and aerial bombardments, gang rapes and severe beatings, torture and burning, and attacks from flamethrowers and grenade launchers."

It focused on the build-up to and conduct of "major systematic attacks" in Myanmar's Rakhine state between Aug. 25 and Sept. 4 of 2017.

Even as the Rohingya fled for Bangladesh they were fired on by military helicopters while the Myanmar Navy sought to sink overcrowded ferries, the report said, adding this showed the campaign went beyond the aim of merely driving the people out.

"The scale and severity of the attacks and abuses ... suggest that, in the minds of the perpetrators, the goal was not just to expel, but also to exterminate the Rohingya," the report said.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Fachrul Sidiq (The Jakarta Post) South Tangerang  Tue, December 4, 2018 10:15 1088 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e061863 1 City health,Electronic-Waste,battery,lead,lead-poisoning,children-health,hazardous-and-toxic-waste,Greater-Jakarta Free

Lead slag waste produced by unlicensed used battery smelters in various areas across Greater Jakarta threatens the health of nearby residents as it contaminates the air and soil.



The toxic substance puts adults at high risk of various ailments, including asphyxiation, anemia, impotence and stomach cramps, while children could suffer from more serious health conditions, such as low IQ and physical disabilities.



It has been nearly two decades since the Committee for the Phasing Out of Leaded Fuel (KPBB) pointed out the dangers, as there were 71 smelters illegally gathering and smelting used batteries. However, there had been no firm action from the government or law enforcement officials to clamp down on the activities, KPBB executive director Ahmad Puput Safrudin said.



They are still operating, only moving to different areas. I believe they already know about the dangers but it seems that the demand is high, Puput said during a workshop on the environmental impact of used battery smelters on Monday held at the Center for Science and Technology Research in South Tangerang, Banten.



Our proposed solution is to integrate them into the licensed firms, which have adequate technology to process the batteries. They could serve as collectors of used batteries, he added.



Puput said he had invited workers from the 71 smelting sites to Mondays event and had prepared a workshop for them on how to make their activity more environmentally friendly, but they failed to show up despite previously agreeing to attend it, Puput said.



There are around 140 areas across the country identified as being polluted by lead slag, according to the committee.



Research conducted by the KPBB in 2016 in eight areas, five in Greater Jakarta, including Cinangka in Bogor, West Java; Pasar Kemis in Tangerang, Banten; and Rawa Buaya in West Jakarta; revealed that many children had abnormally high blood lead levels.



The areas chosen were those that had at least a small-scale smelter operating nearby.



In the areas, we often found cases where children had physical disabilities or autism, he said.



The survey was carried out on 40 students in each area, and found that many of the children had more than 60 milligrams of glucose per deciliter (Mg/dL) of lead in their blood, while the maximum harmless lead level in humans is 10 Mg/dL, according to the World Health Organization.



Five companies have obtained permits from the Environment and Forestry Ministry to run the used battery smelters. The equipment they need to run the business costs at least Rp 30 billion (US$2.01 million).



Mustofa of PT Muhtomas, one of the five licensed smelter companies, said he demanded the governments presence to settle the problem and would support the idea to hire the workers as collectors only if there was a clearer regulation.



For the past six months, our production has been declining, he said, hinting that the illegal smelters likely had access to sell their products to big companies that manufacture batteries.



Used motorcycle batteries are normally priced at Rp 20,000 but many people seem to fail to recognize their value and often hand them out for free to workshops, making their circulation uncontrollable.



Adj. Sr. Comr. Jarot Setiyoso of the National Polices Criminal Investigation Department said the smelting carried out by unlicensed residents was a breach of the law as it was damaging the environment, adding that the police were continuously tracking down their activities.



For instance, we raided illegal smelters in Pasar Kemis, even without prior reports from residents, he said.

This article was originally published in The Jakarta Post's print edition on Dec. 4, 2018, with the title "Used battery smelters imperil Greater Jakarta".Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Riska Rahman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, December 4, 2018 09:47 1088 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e060a1f 1 Business trade-war,US-China,economy,Trade,export-import,Sri-Mulyani,G20-meeting Free

Indonesia may still feel the impact of the trade war between the United States and China, even though tensions between the two economic giants have cooled down following a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinas Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a G20 leaders summit at the weekend.



Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who just returned from the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, said the impacts from global uncertainties were still looming.



We have to take advantage as well as anticipate the downside risk after the 90 days of the trade war ceasefire, Sri Mulyani said during the CEO Networking 2018 discussion forum in Jakarta on Monday.



The Finance Ministry and Bank Indonesia (BI) have prepared a range of policy mixes and relaxations in order to make the countrys economy more resilient next year.



Such policies are being established to anticipate the return of this years economic volatility, which occurred as a result of heated trade tensions and a strengthening US economy that shook emerging market currencies as well as their economies.



On the sidelines of the G20 leaders meeting, Trump met Xi for a highly anticipated dinner on Saturday and both agreed to suspend imposing any new tariffs on each others goods for 90 days.



In the meantime, both countries are set to have more talks to resolve trade issues.



White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, however, that if there was no progress on structural reform after the trade war pause was over, the US would raise the tariff on US$200 billion worth of Chinese goods entering the country from 10 to 25 percent, according to Bloomberg.



US demands include China ending a host of trade barriers, intellectual property theft and other actions that the US says make fair trade impossible.



Aside from the uncertain trade war truce, other external uncertainties that come from the US and Europe monetary normalization could potentially hurt Indonesias economy.



BI governor Perry Warjiyo said he and the board of governors were bracing for a fourth increase in the Federal Reserves benchmark rate, the Fed Fund Rate, this month and another three hikes next year.



The European Central Bank is also expected to start its monetary normalization later in 2019 or early 2020 as part of the ending of the quantitative easing era, Perry said.



As part of its effort to tackle these threats to Indonesias economy next year, Sri Mulyani said, the ministry planned to keep domestic demand resilient by maintaining the 2019 state budget deficit at 1.84 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and maximizing its total budget of Rp 2.4 quadrillion ($168.48 billion) for government spending, which is expected to provide a necessary boost the economy next year.



The government, she said, was also actively using its tax policy to give incentives to businesses in order to drive investment demand.



The government recently increased the number of business units that are eligible to apply for the tax holiday scheme to 169, from 153 units previously. It also lowered the minimum investment amount required to get a tax holiday to Rp 100 billion.



Perry said the central bank was also preparing a number of policies to stabilize the demand side of the economy, particularly in investment and consumer spending.



On the investment side, he said, BI was making sure that the financial sector, such as banks and the capital market, had enough liquidity to supply businesses with the money they needed to expand.



It was also deepening the countrys financial market by developing domestic non-deliverable forward (DNDF) transactions and swap agreements with several countries, such as Singapore and China, to ease external pressure on the rupiah, he said.



On the consumer spending side, he said, BI would continue to relax housing down-payments through its loan-to-value policy to boost the property sector so that more people could afford to buy a house.



Chief economist at Bank Central Asia (BCA) David Sumual told The Jakarta Post that Indonesia should attract more foreign investment into the country to help fix the current account deficit (CAD) problem, which has widened to $8.8 billion, 3.37 percent of GDP in the third quarter.



As our CAD narrows, our economy will become stronger to face the US and Europe monetary normalization next year, he said.

This article was originally published in The Jakarta Post's print edition on Dec. 4, 2018, with the title "Indonesia still wary as trade war truce called".Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, December 4, 2018 13:40 1088 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e06beff 1 City Kalimalang,waterways,revamp,ridwan-kamil,state-budget Free

West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil announced that he has secured ministry support for a rehabilitation project of the Kalimalang waterway that connects Bekasi and East Jakarta.

The Public Works and Public Housing Ministry will reportedly be allocating Rp 40 billion (US$2.8 million) for the project.

"That is good news [] as everyone is excited about the project," Ridwan said at Gedung Sate in the provincial capital Bandung on Monday evening as reported by tempo.co.

The decision came not long after the provincial administration and the legislative council had agreed on the 2019 draft regional budget, which includes funds for the first stage of the Kalimalang revamp project.

But with the support of the state budget, the two stages of the project will be able to proceed simultaneously.

Ridwan added that a tender would be held as soon as the Home Ministry approved the regional budget draft bill.

The renovation of Kalimalang was one of Ridwan's main programs following his inauguration as West Java governor in September 2018. (ars)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, December 4, 2018 11:16 1088 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e065026 1 National Papua,shooting,killing,police,Nduga,OPM,#PapuaMassacre Free

The National Police have said that an armed group linked to the Free Papua Movement (OPM) has reportedly massacred 31 workers of state-owned construction company Istaka Karya in Nduga regency, Papua.

We havent checked the details yet, but the Indonesian Military [TNI] and the National Police are heading toward the scene, National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. M. Iqbal said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Jayawijaya Police chief Adj. Comr. Yan Pieter Reba said he had received information about the alleged massacre, but added that authorities were still verifying it.

The information is that 24 people were killed in the workers camp. Another eight people managed to escape to the residence of a local councillor. But seven of them are now reportedly dead, while another has escaped, he said as quoted by tribunnews.com on Monday.

The workers were assigned to build a road and open access to the hilly area in Kali-Yigi-kali Urak in Nduga.

One of them, according to the police, reportedly witnessed a pro-independence ceremony held by the National Liberation Army of West Papua on Dec.1 and decided to take a photo of it.

[What he did] angered [the group], so they killed the workers staying in the camp, Reba said.

The TNI and the police deployed 150 security personnel to verify the report and recover the bodies if a massacre did take place. (spl)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Karina M. Tehusijarana and Wahyoe Boediwardhana (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta/Surabaya  Tue, December 4 2018

Police in Surabaya, East Java, ordered 233 members of the Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) to leave the Papuan student dorms on Jl. Kalasan where they were staying on Monday following a rally that turned violent on Saturday.

Around 300 Papuan students gathered in Surabaya from various cities across Java and Bali, to hold a rally on Dec. 1 to commemorate what some Papuans claim to be the birth of the West Papua nation in 1961.

The students marched from the Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI) studio on Jl. Pemuda to the Grahadi Building on Jl. Gubernur Surya and made speeches calling for the right of Papuans to self-determination. They also displayed images of the Morning Star flag, a symbol of the Papuan independence movement.

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Linkedin Stefanno Reinard Sulaiman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, December 4, 2018 10:27 1088 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e0622c8 1 Business pertamina,tppi,exports,ChemicalsSubstances Free

State energy holding company Pertamina and PT Trans Pacific Petrochemical Indotama (TPPI) kicked off its maiden export of 10,000 tons of paraxylene, a petrochemical product, to China, according to a press statement received on Monday.

The export was made possible after the production capacity of the TPPI refinery was increased.

"With the capacity, we can produce 70 tons of paraxylene per hour. Hence, production will be 50,000 tons per month," TPPI general manager Sugeng Hermanto said in the statement.

TPPI is a subsidiary of PT Tuban Petrochemical Industries, of which Pertamina controls 41 percent.

Paraxylene is the main raw material used in producing purified terephthalic acid, which is an important component in the textile industry. Paraxylene is also processed into polyethylene terephthalate, the main material used in producing food grade plastic packaging.

Sugeng further said the company had to export the product because national paraxylene production had exceeded domestic demand.

Pertamina aromatic olefin manager Darius Darwis added that the company would increase exports of petrochemical products, especially to regional markets such as China.

"Pertamina and TPPI will use a tender scheme to find the best buyer that would meet the production plan at TPPI refineries," he said. (bbn)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Arnold Belau and Kharishar Kahfi (The Jakarta Post) Jayapura/Jakarta  Tue, December 4, 2018 18:15 1088 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e07bc84 1 National Papua,Jokowi,referendum,OPM,massacre,#PapuaMassacre Free

President Joko Jokowi Widodo has done more than any of his predecessors to build Papua and West Papua, the nations easternmost provinces that have long been plagued by extreme poverty and violent separatism.

Jokowi, who is seeking reelection in 2019, has sped up infrastructure development and implemented a policy of uniform fuel prices in the two provinceswhere market prices for fuel would be much higher than in other regions to boost the local economy and bring prosperity to Papuans.

The populist policies, however, have failed to put an end to the desire of some Papuans to be independent from Jakarta.

Mass killing

The region has seen increasing political violence in recent days, with the latest incident taking place on Sunday, when a rebel group led by Egianus Kogoya allegedly massacred at least 28 workers hired by state-owned construction firm Istaka Karya in Yigi district, Nduga regency, Papua.

Read also: OPM gunmen accused of massacring 31 construction workers

The group, believed to be a faction of the National Liberation Army of West Papua (TPNPB), also killed an Indonesian Military (TNI) member and injured another.

The workers, mostly from South Sulwesi, were assigned to build a 275-kilometer section to connect Wamena and Mamugu, which is part of Jokowis signature trans-Papua road project.

Construction of the 4,300-km road through Papua and West Papua is expected to finish in 2019.

National Police and TNI personnel have been deployed to the location of the alleged massacre to verify the report and recover the bodies of victims, if a massacre did take place.

Our duty and priority is to rescue those who are still alive and check if the number of victims reported in the media is correct, National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. M. Iqbal said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Read also: Trans-Papua road project suspended amid worsening security

Mass arrests

The alleged massacre took place only days after police arrested more than 500 Papuans taking part in nationwide rallies on Dec. 1 to commemorate what some Papuans claim to be the birth of the West Papuan nation in 1961.

The lawyer of the arrested Papuans, Veronica Koman, said in a statement on Saturday that 537 people had been arrested in Kupang in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), Ternate in North Maluku, Manado in North Sulawesi, Makassar in South Sulawesi, Jayapura, Asmat and Waropen in Papua and Surabaya in East Java. Of the total, 322 were arrested in Surabaya.

In Papua, 90 people were arrested in separate places and at different times.

Hundreds of people march in Surabaya on Saturday under the banner of the Papuan Students Alliance (AMP). (JP/Sigit Pamungkas)

On Friday, a day before the rallies, a force of the military and National Police searched the headquarters of the National Committee for West Papua (KNPB) in Kampung Vietnam in Jayapura. The joint force also arrested Larius Heluka on Friday.

The following day, the joint force arrested 89 people in Abepura in the Jayapura municipality, in separate places in Jayapura regency and in Yapen regency. All 90 have since been released.

In Surabaya, which saw one of the biggest Dec. 1 rallies, a clash occurred between about 300 people grouped under the Papuan Student Alliance (AMP) and other groups that accused the Papuans of treason.

Seventeen people were injured, with some sustaining head wounds.

AMP spokesperson Dorlince Iyowau said the Papuans only demanded the right to decide their own fate.

Our main demand is the right to decide our own fate, as a democratic solution for West Papua. We want Papuans to have their own political rights, Dolince said.

The East Java Police and Surabaya Police deployed 1,055 police officers, aided by two Army groups and the Surabaya Public Order Agency (Satpol PP), to disperse a clash between members of the Papuan Students Alliance and other groups that accused them of committing treason. (JP/Sigit Pamungkas)

Human rights groups have condemned the arrests, calling on the authorities to release the arrestees and respect the rights of the Papuans.

This is a clear and shocking violation of Papuans human rights to freedom of expression and assembly. These people did nothing, but peacefully attend public events, said Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid.

These arbitrary arrests add to the long list of acts of harassment, intimidation and arrests faced by Papuans this year.

Usman further said: The police must bring to justice the attackers and should not be arresting peaceful Papuans  it should instead respect and protect their right to come together in peace and say what they think, in a safe environment.

Populist policies

Responding the reported violence in Nduga, President Joko Jokowi Widodo, who is seeking reelection and has been touting his infrastructure drive in his campaign, gave assurances that the development in Papua would continue.

Papua's infrastructure development will not stop because of this.

Jokowi has drawn support from Papuans, winning 72 percent of the vote in the region during the 2014 presidential election.

Since he was elected President in 2014, Jokowi has visited Papua eight times, with the last visit taking place in April this year, when he vowed to accelerate development in Papua.

Warm welcome: A female vendor greets President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo during his visit to the Mama-mama Market in Jayapura, Papua, on April 11. (JP/Nethy Dharma Somba)

During his visit, Jokowi directly handed over land certificates to around 3,000 Papuan residents. He also visited the Mama-mama Market in Jayapura, which was finally built under the Jokowi administration after years of delay.

Jokowi has also insisted that his fuel price policy would work, even though the policy would force state-owned energy company Pertamina to shoulder Rp 800 billion in subsidies annually.

The President said the most important consideration was not the money, but social justice for all Indonesians. We should not let just one or two people enjoy the fuel prices enjoyed in other parts of the country, while others have to buy fuel at a higher price.

'Referendum as solution'

Analysts, however, said Jokowis populist policies were not enough to contain the separatist sentiment.

The separatist sentiment in Papua is still strong, because the government, in particular President Jokowi, has not tackled the root of the problem yet, from the Papuan perspective, Adriana Elisabeth, head researcher on Papua studies at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), told the Post via telephone on Tuesday.

The root of the problem includes discrimination and marginalization, priority of development, and violence as well as the violation of human rights.

Jokowis infrastructure development only focused on the structures, and not yet on the human resources, she further said. All of the problems are correlated.

President Joko Jokowi Widodo gets ready to inspect the progress of trans-Papua road project by trail motorbike in Wamena on May 10. (Courtesy/State Palace)

National Committee for West Papua chairman Agus Kossay deplored the reported mass killing in Nduga, saying civilians should not have been killed in an ongoing war between the TNI and the TPNPB.

The KNPB as the media of the Papuan people called on the two militaries to focus on their respective targets. They must not disturb civilians.

In light of the incident, the KNPB argued that political rights was an important issue for Papuans.

Agus said the solution offered by the committee was for Indonesia to hold a referendum on whether it should stay with Indonesia, so that we can address the problem of Papua peacefully and honorably.

Indonesia is a democracy so [Indonesia] could show the Papuans and the world that there is democracy in Papua, and in a democracy all parties that are against Indonesia should be given the right to speak.

Meanwhile, Papuan figure Theo Hasegem conveyed his condolences over the reported death of the construction workers. We are saddened, because the action is wrong. The action will create a huge problem for civilians in Nduga, he said, as quoted by suarapapua.com on Tuesday. (ggq/spl/ahw)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, December 4, 2018 12:41 1088 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e0696e6 4 Business SOEs,debt,Q3,2018 Free

Several state-owned enterprises (SOEs) had a combined third-quarter debt of Rp 5.57 quadrillion (US$369.04 billion), most of which were owed by state-owned lenders, an official has said.

State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Ministry business restructuration and development undersecretary Aloysius K. Ro, however, said that the debt figure was not a cause for concern, saying that the SOEs were capable of repaying their debts.

Debt equity ratio to the capital is relatively secure. Therefore, we do not need to worry, Aloysius said as quoted by kontan.co.id on Tuesday.

He explained that the ability of any company to repay debt was also reflected in the company's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), and not their annual profit.

If the debt-to-EBITDA ratio ranged between 3 and 4, the company was still capable of repaying its debt, he added.

Aside from state-owned lenders, the other indebted SOEs are electricity company PLN with Rp 543 trillion in debt, oil and gas holding company Pertamina with Rp 522 trillion, pension company PT Taspen with Rp 222 trillion, developer PT Waskita Karya with Rp 102 trillion, telecommunications company PT Telkom with Rp 99 trillion and fertilizer producer PT Pupuk Indonesia with Rp 76 trillion. (bbn)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Arnold Belau (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Tue, December 4, 2018 14:17 1088 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e06cdd5 1 National Papua,security,Trans-Papua-road,Jokowi,infrastructure,OPM,#PapuaMassacre Free

The government in Jakarta has decided to suspend construction work on some parts of the trans-Papua road project following reports that armed Papuan rebels have allegedly killed dozens of workers in Nduga regency, Papua.

Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono told reporters on Tuesday the government would suspend the construction of 35 bridges on the 278-kilometer road that is to connect Wamena and Mamugu.

With this incident, we will stop all the work from Wamena to Mamugu while waiting for the situation to be conducive [for continuing], he said.

The National Police and the Indonesian Military (TNI) are still investigating claims that between 28 and 31 workers building a bridge on Yigi-Kali Aurak River in Nduga were shot dead by members of a National Liberation Army of West Papua faction led by Egianus Kogoya.

Read also: OPM gunmen accused of massacring 31 construction workers

According to the police, the incident took place after one of the workers  most of whom come from South Sulawesi  took a photo of a pro-Papuan independence ceremony on Saturday.

The workers were reportedly murdered on Sunday.

Two state-owned construction firms  PT Istaka Karya and PT Brantas Abipraya  are responsible for the construction work along the road.

PT Istaka has been assigned to build 14 bridges, 11 of which are under construction. PT Brantas, meanwhile, has been tasked with building 21 bridges and is currently working on five of them.

PT Brantas has halted the construction of some bridges based on the recommendation of the Papuan military command, Basuki said.

In Papua, we couldnt work without guaranteed security. The security coordinating center called for the projects to be suspended.

The development of the 4,300-kilometer trans-Papua road in Papua and West Papua provinces in Indonesias easternmost provinces is expected to be completed this year, Basuki said last year.

Despite the work suspension, President Joko Jokowi Widodo, who is seeking re-election and has been touting his infrastructure drive in his campaigns, made assurances that the development in Papua would continue.

Papua's infrastructure development will not stop because of this.

The government, along with PT Istaka Karya, the construction company for which the allegedly murdered men worked, has yet to confirm the number of victims in Sundays killings. It was previously reported by the National Police that as many as 31 workers had died.

There were 28 workers in the location  the workers came from South Sulawes i which we expect to be victims now, but we will confirm it later, PT Istaka Karya's president director, Sigit Inarto, said. (ggq)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States  Tue, December 4, 2018 08:08 1088 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e057529 2 World #USA,#DonaldTrump,former-lawyer,jailed,Russia,probe Free

US President Donald Trump called Monday for a long jail term for his ex-lawyer Michael Cohen, who admitted lying to Congress about pursuing a real estate deal with Russia on Trump's behalf during the 2016 election campaign.

Trump also praised another former advisor, Roger Stone, for refusing to testify against him -- drawing accusations of witness tampering and illegally obstructing the Russia collusion investigation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Trump accused Cohen of fabricating stories about his Russia dealings to minimize his sentence on multiple counts of tax evasion, financial fraud and campaign finance violations that he has admitted in federal court in New York.

Last week Cohen also admitted to lying in testimony about contacts with powerful Moscow figures over building a Trump Tower in Moscow.

Those contacts, including with a top aide to President Vladimir Putin, continued throughout the first half of 2016 even after Trump secured the Republican nomination for president, Cohen admitted -- contradicting claims by Trump that there were no dealings beyond 2015.

In a pre-sentencing pitch to the court on Friday, Cohen's lawyers asked that he be given no jail time, noting his ongoing cooperation with Mueller's sprawling investigation.

Trump, newly returned from the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, unleashed his ire in a volley of tweets.

"You mean he can do all of the TERRIBLE, unrelated to Trump, things having to do with fraud, big loans, Taxis, etc., and not serve a long prison term?" he said.

"He lied for this outcome and should, in my opinion, serve a full and complete sentence," Trump added.

Once one of the real estate tycoon's closest allies and a top executive at The Trump Organization, Cohen has become a key witness in Mueller's investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russians in 2016.

His revelation in court that Trump and his family were kept informed about contacts over building a Trump Tower in Moscow has ratcheted up the pressure from the investigation on the US president.

Trump has repeatedly labelled the probe an "illegal witch hunt" and accused Mueller Monday of forcing witnesses to make up lies damaging to the president.

"Robert Mueller... and his out of control band of Angry Democrats, don't want the truth, they only want lies. The truth is very bad for their mission!" Trump tweeted.

- Witness tampering via Twitter -

The president compared Cohen with Stone, who is also being investigated by Mueller over his possible role in colluding with the Russians during the campaign.

In an ABC News interview on Sunday, Stone, a veteran Republican political consultant, denied any impropriety and said he would never give evidence against Trump, with whom he has worked for four decades.

Trump tweeted that Stone's comments showed "he will not be forced by a rogue and out of control prosecutor to make up lies and stories about 'President Trump.'"

"Nice to know that some people still have 'guts!'" he said.

Legal experts said Trump was empowering the obstruction of justice case against him by using the power of his position to influence witnesses.

"This is genuinely looking like witness tampering.... The fact it's done out in the open is no defense," said Neal Katyal, a veteran constitutional lawyer and former acting solicitor general of the Department of Justice.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post)  Wed, December 5 2018

Manlio Di Stefano (Courtesy of Italian Foreign Ministry)

Over the past few years, Italy has intensified visits by its officials, which started with the visit of Italian President Sergio Mattarella in November 2015. Such visits demonstrate the strong intention of both countries to step up their dialogue. On Wednesday, Italian Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Manlio Di Stefano is visiting Jakarta prior to his attendance at the 11th Bali Democracy Forum. Before the visit, Di Stefano talked to The Jakarta Posts Agnes Anya in an email interview. The following are excerpts from the interview:

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Linkedin Riska Rahman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Wed, December 5 2018

Aloysius Kiik Ro (Antara)

Electricity firm PLN and energy holding company Pertamina carry the biggest amount of debt among state-owned enterprises (SOE) this year, a ministry official has said, as they are tasked with implementing major government programs.

The interest-bearing debt of the two giants accounted for almost half of the combined debt of 10 SOEs at the end of September, said Aloysius Kiik Ro, the SOEs Ministrys undersecretary for business restructuring and development, on Tuesday.

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Linkedin Duncan Graham (The Jakarta Post) Yogyakarta  Tue, December 4, 2018 08:37 1088 75e76da2d15e495661b6357e2e059964 4 News robot,disability,Physiotherapy,Orthopedic,South-Korea,student,robotic,disability-equality Free

Life has given Muhammad Fahmi Husaen a cruel punt. Now hes booting back with an invention best described as a robot physiotherapist, so smart it knows when leg muscles need a rub and roll to ward off paralysis.



Fahmi, a 21-year-old computer program and information systems student at the Gadjah Mada Universitys (UGM) Vocational School, has already won awards for an electric car design, but his latest concept is far more significant.



Its called AVEO (Achilles Physiotherapy Orthosis) and it will get its first public showing at an inventors fair in South Korea this month.



Fahmi is one of 10 young disabled Indonesians supported with education scholarships from the New Zealand Rehabilim Trust, a NGO based in the capital Wellington.



It was started in 1982 by the late Colin McLennan, a Kiwi social activist. Outraged when he saw crippled beggars in Yogyakarta streets, he set up the Yakkum rehabilitation center, now backed by European charities.



Designing AVEO is a tremendous achievement, said Trust chair Bill Russell. We are very proud of Fahmi who is fast becoming an inspiration and role model.



Most importantly, Russell said, Fahmi was showing that he could make a valuable contribution to society and help others struggling to deal with their own handicaps. This is exactly what the Rehabilim Trust is all about  providing young people in Indonesia with physical disabilities the opportunity and support to receive tertiary education and qualifications to become independent.



Before entering primary school, Fahmi was told he had Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). The rare and so far incurable genetic disorder leads to progressive muscle degeneration and weakness.



Life expectancy seldom went beyond the teens but new treatment is prolonging survival, though not dramatically. DMD affects around one in 5,000 boys. Girls rarely suffer. Two of Fahmis three brothers have similar disorders.



If Fahmi had less spirit and more anger hed be raging at the world from the wheelchair hes used since he was 10. Fury erupted when reality hit, then subsided when he realized this is part of my life.



I refused to go to high school for a year because I was so upset, he said. But my mother [high school science teacher Anik Marwati] asked: If you dont go to school, what will you do? And I had so many ideas.



With whatever time he has left, Fahmi is using every moment positively.



He got his moms message, ignored the schoolyard taunts and excelled. He saw a video of General Electric Indonesia CEO Handry Satriago, now 49, who has been in a wheelchair since contracting lymph cancer as a teen.



Apart from his achievements with the United States manufacturing conglomerate, Satriago is famous for urging youngsters to adapt, overcome hurdles and create a better world.



He inspired me with his determination and confidence, said Fahmi. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. Its important to stay optimistic, to not give up, to ignore snide comments about handicaps as a divine punishment for sins.



No religion teaches that sort of thinking.



Another hero is Stephen Hawking. The British theoretical physicist and cosmologist died earlier this year aged 76 after spending most of his life in a wheelchair suffering from motor neuron disease  but continued writing and lecturing.



Now Fahmi is turning his personal experiences to benefit humanity by inventing AVEO with two fellow students, Danar Aulia Hasan and Widiyanto.



I know well that its difficult for people in wheelchairs to get out and see a physiotherapist  and theyre not easy to find, Fahmi said. Advances in technology have created new opportunities to help give the handicapped choices and independence.



Fahmi is one of six Indonesians to be invited to the Seoul International Invention Fair to show AVEO. Hell be accompanied by his mother and two classmates.



The fair, first held in 2002, is the largest international invention exhibition in Asia. It is hosted by the Korean Intellectual Property Office and organized by the Korea Invention Promotion Association.



We are working on our third prototype, Fahmi said. Battery weight is a problem and the flexible shoe needs to be lighter  its presently around 2 kilos. Eventually it will be linked to the users smartphone so progress can be monitored.



I dont know how much AVEO will cost as further development is needed  maybe about Rp 2.5 million [US$175] a unit, though costs will fall with mass production.



Society needs to do more to help the disabled. Access to many buildings, and the services they offer, is limited. Fortunately, public attitudes are changing  as they say in Australia, see the person, not the problem.



Although UGM is one of the nations leading universities, its facilities for physically impaired students are far below international standards. Theres no lift in the building where Fahmi studies so he has to rely on colleagues to carry him up and down stairs.



Having a handicapped child can put huge burdens on a family, often resulting in marriage splits as parents play the blame game.



Marwati said she told her husband Murtandlo (a teacher of religion) he could leave and find another wife when they learned their sons were disabled. He refused, she said. He told me: This is something we must handle together as a family.As part of our MENtal Health content series on male mental health, Gianluca Chincoli has produced a photo series, based on the theme (In)visible.

His photographs cover a range of ideas surrounding the theme, combining portraits of people he knows and has encountered with a self-portrait to express the complexities of mental health beyond appearances.

1) Merging two shots together, the first photo in the series represents the intricacies of the ego. Captured in photographic form, the subjects shout is frozen in silence, creating a discomforting sense of echoing endlessness.

Image credit: Gianluca Chincoli

2) Taken in Edinburgh, the below image explores the sense of self in large cities. Gianluca says, This shot [aims] to remind the audience that not all of us can always comfortably be themselves in such a chaotic environment.

Image credit: Gianluca Chincoli

3) Using long exposure, this shot explores the inner chaos of the mind. From photographing the subject facing three different directions, the image features this sort of monstrous creature, as Gianluca describes the distorted head of the model.

Image credit: Gianluca Chincoli

4) After making friends with an artist in Bali, Gianluca found out about the mans life, stresses and struggles. This photo of the artist on a beach is a striking portrait, with an angular positioning of his arms  one of which drapes heavily and somewhat wearily against his forehead  along with the added depth of the personal story behind it.

Image credit: Gianluca Chincoli

5) In Malta, Gianluca captured this photo of a play, created and directed by students, about overcoming struggles with being stereotyped or bullied. The play focused on encouraging viewers to speak up, seek help and stand up for themselves and others.

Image credit: Gianluca Chincoli

6) In a contemporary art exhibition in Austria, Gianluca captured a man surrounded by an installation of cubic mirrors. He says, The meaning I see behind this image is that the man is lost within the walls of his mind, which can distort and confuse the concept of reality.

Image credit: Gianluca Chincoli

7) The person in the below image was a homeless man that Gianluca met in Madrid. He was holding a saxophone, and Gianluca spoke to him for over two hours about his struggles with depression and the difficulties he has faced throughout his life.

Image credit: Gianluca Chincoli

8) Gianlucas self-portrait is an interesting addition to the series, highlighting the wide relatability of the theme.

He says, I decided to incorporate this self-portrait in the series to remind the audience that no one is completely sane.

The very concept of being mentally sane could never exist simply because everyone is different, and we could never pretend to fully understand what goes on in the mind of someone else.

Many times I feel like an outsider, a weirdo, someone that doesnt stick to stereotypes, and does not fit in but I love it.

Ive been away from my home for already 3 years and Im only 20. This has given me the opportunity to experience an incredible variety of situations, where I realised that the beauty of people resides in [them] being themselves.

Image credit: Gianluca ChincoliKatie Johnson and Fatima Sheriff, who study Biomedicine, and Kayvan Richter, who studies MSc Molecular Medicine, discuss the big questions - from whether computers can help us fight cancer to the science behind a hangover. Kayvan says: Science touches every facet of life. It's ever-changing, always developing, and it's easy to get lost. "Streaming from Sheffield, we set up this podcast to shed light on the newest scientific findings and their significance and impacts on society. In episode one: Alcohol, the University of Sheffield students discuss drinking culture, the effects of alcohol on the brain and body, and more.For discussions on what exactly is mental health, and how perceptions of mental health have changed over time, listen to episode two.Can computers spot criminals in a crowd? Is Google reading your mind? How can computers help us in the fight against cancer? These are just some of the questions covered in this weeks' episode of Eureka! Check it out here.Lead image credit: Courtesy of Eureka!Unfortunately, The Content Is Not Here

You have arrived at this page because the page or post you were looking for no longer exists. Please check our main navigation pages for other content: 

Home PageIf you want to trade Santas sleigh for rockets and UFOs, the Lincoln Park Historical Museum has you covered this holiday season.

Entitled Smokin Rockets! with actor Lyn Osborn, an exhibit focused on the life and career of Osborn, best known for a co-starring TV role in Space Patrol from 1950 to 1955, will begin Dec. 9.

According to a press release from the museum, the show was created at a time when most television was aired live, and the shows cast ended up performing over 200 live shows during its run as well as 129 live radio shows that ran on ABC Radio from 1952 to 1955.

Born in Texas, Osborn was raised in Lincoln Park and graduated from Lincoln Park High School in 1943. After spending time in the U.S. Navy, he spent time working at the Empress Theatre in Detroit.

Long interested in theater, Osborn eventually made the move to California. There, he found several film and TV roles, such as the 1957 cult classic Invasion of the Saucer Men. Aged 32, he died in the summer of 1958 following surgery on a brain tumor.

Jeff Day, curator of the Lincoln Park Historical Museum, said the museum started working on the exhibit about a year ago, collecting memorabilia and contacting Osborns connections.

This exhibit has been a long time coming, he said. This is a fellow who left Lincoln Park many, many years ago, and much of his family left the area, too. We didnt really have a connection to him for several decades, but we knew about him and the idea was to come up with something that would resurrect a little interest in him and his career.

One member of the Lincoln Park Historical Society, Tim Caldwell, is a big collector of sci-fi movie and TV items. His mother attended Lincoln Park High School with Osborn in the 1940s, Day said.

The museum received donations from Osborns family, including photographs, press clippings and other memorabilia collected by his mother, Bess Osborn, and sister, Beth Osborn Flood. Several other rare collectible items associated with Osborns career also are temporarily on loan to the museum.

We are extremely grateful to the Flood family for their generous contribution, Day said. Were also trying to reach other people who mightve known Lyn when he lived here in the 1940s.

From 2 to 4 p.m. Dec. 9, a special holiday open house at the museum will feature a reception with members of Osborns family. The museums vintage printing press also will be making holiday greeting cards at the event.

The Lincoln Park Historical Museum is located at 1335 Southfield Road. Regular hours are 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays. Admission is free.

The Lyn Osborn exhibit will run through the end of January, at which point part of the display will be absorbed into the museums permanent collection.

For more information, call 313-386-3137 or email lpmuseum@gmail.com.Montreal, CA (H4T1V6)

Today

Periods of snow. Temps nearly steady in the mid 30s. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 100%. 1 to 3 inches of snow expected..

Tonight

Cloudy with snow showers mainly during the evening. Low near -4C. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 80%. Snow accumulations less than one inch.

remaining of

Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading.NHLANGANO  An alleged delayed response by the police became a major concern at the Nhlangano Taxi Rank on Sunday, resulting in taxi drivers taking the initiative to apprehend a dangerous criminal.



The 30-year-old suspect, who was wanted for the murder and possible rape of a female textile worker around Nyamane, had managed to evade police arrest for the past three months.



Police were only able to find the ex-convict on Sunday, shortly after 10am, with help from taxi drivers, in a dramatic citizen arrest which seemed to endorse the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) which is currently underway.



Drama



The drama saw a member of the public firing two warning shots to dissuade the suspect from running away.

Earlier on, the man had been spotted by commuters boarding a kombi from Nyamane, which was heading to Nhlangano.

It is understood that residents considered the man a significant safety threat in the area, which somehow explained why two elderly women elected to get off the kombi soon after the suspect got on board.



A call was swiftly made to the police, with the hope that they would intercept the kombi before it reached Nhlangano town.

However, a tense atmosphere reportedly prevailed inside the kombi until it reached the local kombi depot, where the driver alighted and notified his colleagues to keep the mans movements in check while he went to the police station to report about the sighting of the wanted suspect.



According to witnesses, after getting off the kombi, the suspect went towards a popular bar where he reportedly bought a cigarette to smoke.



Bar



Onlookers suspected that the man later realised he was being followed as he left the bar in haste and took the direction towards one of the busy shopping centres around town.

He then disappeared until he was again spotted walking towards the local kombi rank, where he boarded one heading towards Mahamba, before changing his mind again.



The visibly hesitant man disembarked before the kombi drove off and chose another one travelling to Mathendele location, which eventually took off with him onboard.

The taxi drivers who had been following the man thereafter gave chase, and at the time they were in the company of a lone police officer they picked up around town.



But again the elusive man later stopped the driver after he had only covered about 600 metres and asked to get off, just before the kombi reached the Mahamba intersection.

The taxi drivers later caught up with the kombi a few metres from where the man had disembarked.



When they gave the stunned kombi driver a description of the man they were looking for, he told them the man had already alighted and the search for the suspect took a different direction.



Fortunately, the manhunt followed the route towards Mahamba border, which coincidentally happened to be the same direction taken by the alleged fugitive.

He was caught about 200 metres from the intersection, where he alighted from the kombi.



At that moment, one of the suspect hunters allegedly fired two warning shots to deter the man from running away, which worked to their favour as he offered no resistance.

Bystanders revealed that the suspect was bundled into a vehicle which was used by his pursuers and taken to the Nhlangano Police Station where he was handed over to officers.



Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed the arrest of the 30-year-old suspect when contacted yesterday.COSATU President Zingiswa Losi narrating a point during an interview. (R) A section of the women who attended the workshop dancing to a political song. (Pics: Sibusiso Zwane)

MANZINI  Newly-elected COSATU President Zingiswa Losi has challenged female politicians to lobby and pass laws which will liberate women in the country.



The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) president said this during the Trade Union Congress of Swazilands (TUCOSWA) three-day women leadership workshop at Global Village in Manzini.



The president, whose role was to motivate the federations women about trade unionism leadership and challenges by reflecting on Southern African Trade Union Coordination Council (SATUCC) women representation and visibility, said men and women have equal powers in trade unions.



She said this was because female members of a trade union were paid a subscription fee equivalent to that of male members.

The few women who are in Parliament should lobby and pass laws which will liberate even the ordinary women on the streets, the president said.



She said female politicians agenda should not be different from that of the ordinary women on the streets. She said the female politicians need to define democracy and ask themselves where women stand in the countrys system of governance.



By so doing, they will know their struggle, she said.

On that note, the president said female politicians in the country should draw lessons from their female icons such as Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and Walter Sisulus wife Albertina, who pushed the struggle despite the fact that their husbands were behind bars for being political activists.



She said women who partook in the struggle for gender equality, should know that they were equal with their male counterparts.

Men and women pay same subscription fee to a union and this means that their power is equal, the president said.



She added that women who were elected into leadership positions should know that they were no entity as they were part of the society.

They should know that they are not inferior to their male counterparts, Losi emphasised.



Views



She said women, just like men, have a right to be heard and express their views freely. She added that it had been noted that most women usually take responsibilities which do not even belong to them, like preparing lunch, while strategic decisions were being made. He said as a result, women do not participate in strategic decision-making yet the decisions taken would affect their lives.MBABANE  What appeared to be an easy way of making extra cash has turned out to be fraud for some emaSwati.



Information gathered from the victims was to the effect that the unsuspecting people were drawn into joining a pyramid scheme which was operated by an unknown woman in a WhatsApp group.



The administrator of the group is known to this publication but cannot be named because she has not been charged with any offence.

The group was known as Beeraffri Reloaded and had a bank account at the First National Bank.



In an interview with one of the victims, Wami Tsabedze, he said he was enticed to join the pyramid scheme after his colleagues informed him about the easy way of making profit through a short-term investment.

Tsabedze said through the assistance of his colleagues, he joined the group, after he was convinced that it was authentic.



unsuspecting



He said the administrator attracted the majority of unsuspecting people through adverts which circulated in the group.

She posted two categories which she termed as PH (Please help) and GH (Get Help). By the PH she meant the money that one should invest while the GH meant the bonuses, said Tsabedze.



Tsabedze claimed that the administrator advertised some specials where she informed the members of the group that they could make up to 150 per cent bonuses through short-term investments.



He said he was among those who targeted 50 per cent profit with his E1 000.

He said the members of the group received E1 500 in their bank accounts, something which gave then hope that the scheme was authentic.



Tsabedze said the administrator allegedly posted another advert informing the beneficiaries about another chance to get 100 per cent bonus on condition that they invested more than half of the their profits.MBABANE  Ratepayers money will be spared by town councils as international trips have been suspended.



The Ministry of Housing, under Prince Simelane, is cracking the whip as it took the lead in the plans articulated by the premier to all government ministries to save every penny.



The ministry issued a minute to all municipalities suspending international trips that were to be undertaken by their personnel.

This act by the ministry will curb the exorbitant expenditure incurred by the town councils during the international trips.



A fortnight ago, the Prime Ministert, Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini, informed the nation that Cabinet had taken eight key decisions in dealing with the financial challenges experienced by the country.



Among the decisions brought forth by the premier was the enhancement of monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for all external trips. Subsequent to this, personnel at the Municipality of Manzini suffered the consequences.



Travel



According to impeccable sources in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, a group of senior staff from the Municipal Council of Manzini had to travel to a number of countries in Asia.

However, they had to abort the trip due to the minute issued by the ministry.



The impeccable sources said they were informed that government was broke and every cent had to be used profitably.

Mathokoza Thwala, Public relations Officer of the municipality could not be reached for comment as he was reportedly out of the office and so was the Chief Executive Officer, Lungile Dlamini.



Lungelo Nkambule, who is Communications Officer of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, confirmed the communication to the other municipalities.

She said: Government as a whole has implemented major interim fiscal decisions to enhance financial prudence and controls so as to spend as little money as possible; this move by the ministry is in line with that. This has been communicated to all municipalities.



The minute from the ministry will affect two municipal councils, five town councils and six town Boards. These are the Municipal Council of Mbabane, Municipal Council of Manzini, Ezulwini Town Council, Matsapha Town Council, Nhlangano Town Council, Piggs Peak Town Council and Siteki Town Council.You have permission to edit this article.

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By Leman Mammadova

The 24th Azerbaijan International Telecommunications and Information Technologies Exhibition and Conference took place at Baku Expo Center on December 4.

Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies Ramin Guluzade said at the opening ceremony of the exhibition that Bakutel exhibition provides favorable conditions for the introduction of new technologies, establishment of contacts in the field of IT and other new opportunities.

He pointed out that Azerbaijan is working to improve the potential in ICT sector and create a transit and regional information highway.

Negotiations on Trans-Eurasian Information Super Highway (TASIM) project on establishment of fiber-optic highway connecting Europe and Asia are underway.

The project was initiated by the Azerbaijani Ministry of Communications and High Technologies at the meeting within the 14th "Bakutel" exhibition-conference in Baku in November 2008 by adoption of Baku Declaration. The aim of the project is to establish a transnational fiber optic line from Frankfurt to Hong Kong, from Western Europe to East Asia. This project will eliminate "digital distinction" and open new economic opportunities for landlocked Eurasian countries.

In 2009, the UN General Assembly adopted a special resolution on TASIM project, accompanied by the resolutions in 2012 and 2013 as well.

In 2013, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with 5 telecom operators participating in the project.

The transit line will reach Germany, passing through China, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.

The realization of TASIM will consist of two stages: installation of the main Internet-transit infrastructure connecting the West and East; affordable access provision to Eurasian countries without open access to the transit infrastructure.

The minister also said that the work on the application of new technologies has been recently carried out, the Azerbaijani postal service acts as a transit post, the cargo from China is sent to other countries through the Azerbaijani mail. A big regional DATA center meeting Tier3 standards was created in the country as widespread use of ICT makes it necessary to keep information securely. Data center in Azerbaijan meets the most secure and up-to-date standards in the region.

Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia and Turkey also held a roundtable on regional cooperation in the field of ICT within the framework of the exhibition.

Ramin Guluzade, Russian Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Konstantin Noskov, Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Mehmet Cahit Turhan and Iranian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mohammad Javad Azari Jahrami attended the meeting.

The meeting discussed issues of development of startup ecosystems, satellite, postal services, cyber security, cooperation in the development of international fiber-optic networks, design and management of technology parks, as well as information and experience sharing.

It was decided to establish a consortium for further development of information and communication technologies.

The sides are expected to cooperate in the fields of satellite communication, cyber security, the development of telecommunications infrastructure, etc.

The Iranian side has agreed to hold the next similar meeting in Iran.

The investment in ICT sector reached to 225 million manats ($ 132.39 million) over the first nine months of 2018. The sector's revenues increased from 1.1 billion to 1.2 billion manats (from $ 0.65 billion to $ 0.71 billion) and the growth rate of revenues was 7.7 percent.UAE-based Property Finder, a real estate portal with a major presence in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, has launched an exclusive new Pricing Report that helps agents in each area to better assist homeowners in achieving a faster property sale.



A handy tool, the new data-driven pricing report lists vital, up-to-the-minute information about your community - backed by government transactions and Property Finder stats.



The new Pricing Report allows the top agents to display a range of crucial data in a clear and concise format across a couple of pages, enabling sellers to clearly see current facts, statistics and trends relevant to their home.



This data is sourced from both the latest government transactions and Property Finder statistics, said the company, which has a major presence in the key regional markets of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt and Morocco.



At a time when the UAE property industry continues to navigate a subdued real estate market, Property Finder with this new tool will help brokers to give truly accurate and up-to-the-minute pricing advice to house sellers, reassuring and empowering them to get faster sales, while also boosting the local market.



The valuable information on each Pricing Report includes:

*Recent transactions in the chosen area, or even tower

*Price trends over a set period

*Details on the brokers current standing, such as whether theyre in the top 5 percent of performers in their area



Selling a property is a big financial and emotional decision, so it is important for homeowners to find the right agent to guide them through this process and ensure the property is sold at the right price," remarked Alex Miauton, the chief product officer at Property Finder.



"When the time comes to sell your home, its essential to ensure you are working with a real estate agent you can trust, one armed with that crucial insider knowledge that will get you the best deal," stated Miauton.



"Being able to view data on actual transactions and agent performance in a given area empowers sellers in this decision and gives them the transparency needed to form trusted relationships between sellers and agents," he added.-TradeArabia News ServiceOmans Raysut Cement Company aims to acquire ARM Cement, a leading producer and major supplier of cement in Kenya, as part of the companys aggressive strategy to expand into East and Central Africa.



The move from Omans largest cement manufacturer comes following the declaration by ARM Cement that it has a debt of over $140 million.



Raysut said it had expressed its interest to the administrators to take over the company in a deal which is estimated to be valued at over $100 million.



The Omani firm is already in the process of setting up a grinding unit in Somaliland and Mogadishu, Somalia with a Dubai-based partner. The company is also in advanced discussions to acquire various cement producers in Uganda and Djibouti.



Plans are also afoot to build a one million tonne per annum cement plant in Berbera, Somalia and the construction work could start as early as next month. Also it is in advanced negotiations with Kampala Cement, it stated.



Besides, Oman cement giant is also building a one million tonne plant in Georgia, near Tbilisi, it added.



This comes as part of Group CEO Joey Ghose's five-year strategy to turn Raysut Cement into a 20-million tonne company by 2022.



The acquisition will complement Raysuts revised strategy to manufacture clinker in proximity to the markets it supplies to in East Africa, said a statement from the Omani company.



Raysut Cement is one of the major clinker suppliers to the East African region and the ARM assets will fit very well with its plans for East Africa where in the last quarter alone it supplied over 300,000 tonnes of clinker from its home plant at Salalah, Oman to Kenya and Tanzania, it stated.



A recent board meeting held in the presence of Raysut Group Chairman Ahmed bin Yousef bin Alawi bin Abdullah Al Ibrahim approved the proposal of the Kenyan-born Ghose with significant support from all stakeholders of the company, including the government representatives.-TradeArabia News ServiceUS automotive brand Chevrolet announced that its electric model the Chevrolet Bolt will be joining as an Official Electric Vehicle Partner at the Electric Vehicle Road Trip (EVRT) Middle East, to be held in January.



The event will launch at the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) in Abu Dhabi, UAE, on January 17. It is an eight-day adventure over 2,000 km from the UAE to Oman. Connecting experiential eMobility festivals and thought leadership forums, with one mission: To inspire transformation to smarter mobility.



Ben Pullen, chief executive officer and co-founder of Global Electric Vehicle Road Trip, said: We are delighted to have Chevrolet confirmed once again as a partner to join the Electric Vehicle Road Trip Middle East 2019.



The Chevrolet Bolt EV is a game-changer in the electric vehicles market particularly when it comes to its best-in-class 520km range and will help dispel common misconceptions that electric vehicles cant drive long distances, he said.



At the event, Chevrolet launched the Bolt EV in the region following the announcement made at the Dubai International Motor show in 2017. The partnership once again marks another milestone with the Chevrolet Bolt EV now on sale nationwide in the UAE and other markets in the Middle East, said a statement.



On the January, the electric fleet will drive a distance of 504km from the capital of the UAE to the capital of Oman, allowing the Chevrolet Bolt EV to demonstrate performance credentials over a long distance and prove that range anxiety is a thing of the past, it said.



Gary D West, head of future mobility Middle East, General Motors, said: Last year, the event gave car enthusiasts a first look at our Chevrolet Bolt EV as it was put to the test driving over 1,750 km from the UAE to Oman and back.



The Chevrolet Bolt EV has proven it can tackle any real-world driving situation and we look forward to welcoming new EVRT Middle East participants this year to experience the car's outstanding green credentials themselves, he added.



The EVRT Middle East Challenge put teams and electric vehicles head to head optimise on the efficiency and range. There will be plenty of exciting opportunities to prove your technical abilities and experience the Chevrolet Bolt EV as we cruise on the drag racing strips at the Yas Marina Circuit, cross the desert, take on the highest mountain of the UAE and the winding coastal roads overlooking the Gulf of Oman, it stated.  TradeArabia News ServiceInitiated by Schneider Electric, the Africa Data Center Association (ADCA), a non-profit, Pan-African professional association, was launched at BroadGroups inaugural Datacloud Africa Leadership Summit, held in Marrakech, Morocco.



ADCA will foster the development of the data centre industry in Africa.



During the summit, more than 50 members joined the founding members of the association, which now has 30 data centre operators and 30 partners and suppliers, said a statement.



Other international organisations, such as France Datacenter, DDA (Dutch Datacenter Association) and the European Data Centre Association are supporting the initiative, it said.



Fatoumata Sarr Dieng, director of wholesales at Sonatel, Orange, was elected as the new president and a member of the board.



Other board members are the secretary general, Ayotunde Coker of Rack Centre, Nigeria; and the treasurer, Wouter Van Hulten of Paix Data Centres, Ghana.



The vice presidents are Stephane Duproz of Data Center Africa (Liquid Telecom), South Africa and Kenya, Amine Kandil of N+One, Morocco, Dr Lawrence Nkala of Tel One, Zimbabwe and Paul-Francois Cattier, Schneider Electric, Ivory Coast.



Dieng said: Our new association has three main objectives. First, we want to put our assets in Africa together, to hold our data in Africa. Second, we want to solve the issue of latency time and connectivity we have currently on the continent.



Finally, we want to become a major actor in the new digital economy. I want to personally thank Paul-Francois Cattier, Schneider Electric, for leading such an initiative, which has been a great success. I encourage all data centre operators to join the association, which currently has 30 members from all over Africa, he added.



I am very pleased to hand over the presidency to Fatoumata Sarr Dieng, she has the right leadership for this important role, said Paul-Francois Cattier. There is a huge growth in demand for energy and connectivity in Africa. The smartphone penetration, the digital services explosion as well as the Data Sovereignty law, the bandwidth and latency times, are triggering a bright future for the data centre and colocation business in Africa.



All founding members are confident that Dieng and the new board will succeed in their mission to make the data centre industry one of the pillars of the African economic development, Cattier added.



Philip Low, chairman of BroadGroup, said: We were delighted to host the new Africa Data Center Association at the event, as its goal is to keep Africas data in Africa.



We are thrilled to be contributing to the growth of computing and networking on the continent, building and operating hubs at the heart of Africas digital economy, he said.



The summit took place at an important moment in the evolution of the data centre industry in Africa. This inaugural event provided a range of benefits, structured networking and the opportunity for business deals. We will be repeating the initiative in 2019, he added.  TradeArabia News ServiceWBR ELS SUMMIT: Traders Descend on Miami for WBR Conference

Winter is coming.

But some traders are fleeing to the warmer climate of Miami Beach to attend the last major educational and networking event before year-end  the WBR Equities Leaders Summit. The marquee winter meeting, spanning three days from December 5thto the 7th at the Trump National Doral Miami Hotel, promises to be a must attend event. According to WBR, it is the leading buy side driven equity trading conference, attracting over 300 leaders representing the who is who from the full value chain- key regulators, buy side, sell side, trading platforms and technology partners.

More than half of the attendees represent the biggest names on the buy-side. So much so, the first day of the conference is devoted entirely to the institutional traders and their firms. There are six power sessions devoted solely to the buy-side that will discuss liquidity, data usage and algorithms from which to choose.

WBR confirmed that the days schedule will go ahead as planned despite the stock markets decision to close in observance of the National Day of Mourning. WBR said in a statement that it will observe a moment of silence at the beginning of the Wednesday sessions in honor of the late former President George H.W. Bush.

Day Two, December 6th, opens the conference to the general attendee list with Lucy Bradley, Editorial Director, Worldwide Business Research providing the opening remarks. She is followed by Conference Chairperson Dave Weisberger, Head of Crypto, ViableMKTS who kicks off the days events. Themes for the day start with Disrupt or Be Disrupted, followed by Solving the Liquidity Conundrum and then segueing into a variety of technology and strategy sessions.

We have found the ELS Roundtable sessions to be a unique feature of the conference, began CODAs Mike Lazar, Managing Director-Institutional Sales. Traders feel comfortable providing honest feedback and seem genuinely interested in discovering new liquidity sources. Weve been able to further enhance our offering via that collaborative setting.

Imperative Execution CEO Roman Ginis commented: Its great to participate at this years Equities Leaders Summit alongside some of the biggest names in equities trading to debate todays key issues in market design. Our IntelligentCross product is all about market efficiency helping institutions minimize market impact  a key implicit cost of trading that affects everyone with an investment account from Main Street to Wall Street.

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For more information on related topics, visit the following channels:Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

As we have now just concluded the G20 Buenos Aires Summit, and as we will be deep diving, the next 10 days , in Katowice , to map forward the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement, the moment is quite auspicious to reflect on how the Middle Income Countries -MICs , a group which represents one third of global GDP, could continue to be leading forces in shaping and moving forward the international development agenda.

Our meeting today is then very timely.

But we must be mindful that the MICs concept presents a definitional challenge by itself . As a mono-dimensional (revenue factor) categorization of a complex reality; and bracketing in a single entity a huge variety of countries (103 countries), with a wide variance in contexts, such a definitional challenge can be a limiting factor by itself; as it may lead to too generic policy prescriptions. A more adequate taxonomy would have been using relatively more complex and comprehensive indicators such as HDIs. We must one day get out of that simplistic arithmetic trap which the MIC definition is! The real question is how countries can keep transitioning up and forward on the sustainable development ladder.

It is true though that the journey from lower income to higher Income country is long and tedious Historically, those economies that graduated from lower-middle income to upper-middle income did it in about 55 years. Likewise, it took 15 years , on average, for an economy to graduate from upper-middle income to high income. This is a very steep climb. The world must move to a more accelerated tempo.

I would like to commend Panama who joined the high income category, for the first time, this year!

Stagnation in middle-income often happens when countries are too rich to compete with low-cost producers elsewhere, but too poor to invest in activities with higher value-added. While this is a concern for many countries making the transition to middle-income, they can get trapped also for three other reasons, which will also guide our policy response.

First, the dependency syndrome: Countries can get stuck if they rely too much on the comparative advantages that brought them to middle-income status in the first place. Many MICs continue to have undiversified economies and they remain excessively dependent on one or two commodity exports, which can lead to high levels of volatility in investment. It is critical to diversify into new, sustainable, job-rich, productive sectors to transform economies.

Second, the middle income blues syndrome: This is particularly the case where vertical (across people) and horizontal (across groups) inequalities are high or increasing. People should be given opportunities for stronger economic, political, cultural and social inclusiveness. Not doing so can strain the social contract and affect social cohesion; this is a recipe for political instabilities, civil unrests and economic disruptions.

Third, the Jekyll and Hyde syndrome: Some middle-income countries present two very different faces. Low levels of human development, including high level of poverty, often persist with high economic growth . It is therefore critical to build an economy that is driven by educated and healthy people, with the skills needed to make the transition to high income. Productivity and skills need to be improved to enhance international competitiveness, create jobs, and the ability to access, use and develop new technologies is increasingly important in todays world. Systematic and systemic innovation will be critical in constantly improving productivity.

Countries can avoid the middle-income trap and accelerate their growth and development path. They can do it through deliberate and determined policies, steered and backed by policy strong institutions; and producing policies aiming at tackling these three syndromes; they can do it by diversifying their economies to create more and better jobs, by creating conditions for broadly shared development gains and by opening up space for political debate and civic engagement.

While we are here to discuss the sustainable development challenges of middle-income countries, and how we can strengthen our support to them as the United Nations system and development partners, it is also important to celebrate the incredible human development progress realized by many over recent years. For example, since 1990 average global HDI levels have increased by 22 percent reflecting that on average people in MIC are living longer, are more educated and have greater income.

On financing for development, there is also much to commend. Many have access to international capital markets and can attract Foreign Direct Investment. It is also predominantly middle-income countries that have been able to access and make use of new innovations in finance, such as blended finance or Green Bonds to support key investment priorities. For example, supported by UNDP and the World Bank, Indonesia recently issued a Green Sukuk, and Fiji also issued a Green Bond in 2017, the first for a small island developing state. Mexico City has issued a municipal Green Bond to support investments in clean urban transportation.

On domestic resource mobilization  which is the largest and most important source of financing for sustainable development  progress remains slow for middle-income countries (though there are important differences between countries); tax revenues as a percent of GDP have remained largely stagnant at about 12 percent on average over the last decade. And empirical studies show that we need to go beyond 13% tax over GDP ratios to have significant impact on growth (IMF) and beyond 24% to trigger accelerated growth (UNCTAD).

How can we as development partners support middle-income countries to address some of these challenges? Our support also needs to be responsive to the diverse realities which middle-income countries face.

Middle-income countries are in the lead and have a clear role to play to, for example, boost efforts to mobilize more domestic resources for development, and ensure resources are used effectively and target vulnerable and marginalized populations. Some of our work at UNDP supports countries to improve the quality of public expenditure and ensure budgets are SDG-aligned. Through initiatives such as Tax Inspectors Without Borders, which UNDP implements jointly with the OECD, we are supporting many middle-income countries to build the capacities of their tax administrations in to expand their fiscal space. This includes countries such as Botswana, Egypt, Jamaica and Costa Rica.

Because domestic resources and aid cant do it all, strengthening private finance will be key. Yet financing costs can still be prohibitively high for some middle-income countries; investors still perceive higher risk in newer markets and investment sectors. Middle-income countries still need support to develop a high-quality investment pipeline. For this reason, UNDP launched, in September , this year an Initiative called SDG Impact . SDG Impact will provide investors and businesses with much-needed country-level data and develop SDG investment roadmaps. We aim to connect investors with business opportunities that will deliver a real SDG impact, provide market intelligence, and provide a UNDP managed certification for investors and enterprises to authenticate alignment with the SDG Impact standards.

Let me conclude by reaffirming that accelerated development is possible. It requires sustained focus in systematically and simultaneously addressing challenges related to Inequalities, Innovation and Inclusion. That virtuous triangle is the recipe to overcome Sisyphus climbs in moving development forward.Today, on International Volunteer Day 2018, we celebrate the more than 1 billion volunteers who are helping to transform our world for the better.

This year, nearly 2,000 UN Volunteers served with the United Nations Development Programme worldwide - as peace building officers, engineers, gender equality advocates, youth counsellors, and in many other critical roles.

UN Volunteers often work is some of the most challenging environments, helping to shape a brighter future for the poorest and most vulnerable, including those affected by conflict.

In Iraq , for example, after extremist violence destroyed large parts of the country, UN Volunteers work with UNDP to help Iraqis who fled the violence return home, and help rebuild their homes so they have someplace to return to. They have also helped strengthen the resilience of communities in the face of climate change and natural disasters in countries such as the Central African Republic , Liberia, and Senegal .

The United Nations is committed to help countries build inclusive and resilient societies. Societies in which the voices of women, youth, the disabled, and other vulnerable or marginalized groups are heard and respected.

Nurturing local volunteerism is a valuable way to bring unheard opinions, and know-how to the table, and helps to weave and strengthen the social fabric of all societies.

Today, we thank and celebrate the over 1 billion volunteers who are working to advance peace and development around the world. We also call on all actors to collaborate with these dedicated volunteers who are contributing their experience and talent to secure a better world.

Hyderabad, Dec 4 (UNI) Enforcement Officials have seized Rs 5.5 crore cash at two different places during the last 24 hours while checking vehicles in connection with the Telangana Assembly election to be held on December 7.

In the first incident, Rs 5 crore was seized at Pembarthy check-post in Jangaon district when they were transporting the money in a car from Hyderabad to Warangal without any valid documents.

In another incident, Police seized Rs 50 lakh from an auto-trolley when they were transporting the money from Manchiryal to Nennella.

Police suspecting that the money belongs to TRS Candidate Durgam Chinnaiah who is contesting from Bellampally Assembly Constituency.

The police and IT departments have so far seized about Rs 99.5 crore cash besides Rs 9 crore worth liquor and among others since the election process had commenced, Official sources said.

UNI VV CS 1021 /1040US, allies concerned over new wave of violence in Myanmar: Joint Statement 26 Nov 2021 | 9:02 PM Washington, Nov 26 (UNI/Sputnik) The United States issued a joint statement with its partners and allies, including the United Kingdom and Australia, expressing concerns over a new wave of violence in Myanmar and is calling on the international community to suspend all kinds of arms sales and assistance to the military in the country, the US State Department said on Friday. see more..

US to decide on S Africa travel ban after studying data on new COVID-19 variant - Fauci 26 Nov 2021 | 8:02 PM Washington, Nov 26 (UNI/Sputnik) The United States will decide on whether to ban travel from South Africa over the danger of a new COVID-19 variant as soon as it collects enough data, top US infectious disease official Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN. see more..

France suspends flights from 7 southern African nations due to finding of new COVID variant :Govt 26 Nov 2021 | 7:39 PM Paris, Nov 26 (UNI/Xinhua) The French government announced on Friday to suspend immediately flights coming from the southern parts of Africa following the detection of a new Covid-19 variant in South Africa. see more..

Australian Prime Minister confirmed departure of 40 soldiers, navy ship to Solomon Islands 26 Nov 2021 | 7:34 PM Canberra, Nov 26 (UNI/Sputnik) Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed the departure of 40 soldiers to the Solomon Islands on Friday, where the government has imposed a nighttime curfew after three days of riots and looting in the capital, Honiara. see more..Meet the Artist: Paul Cosquieri to Deliver Talk at the University

The University of Gibraltar is hosting a special Meet the artist public lecture on Wednesday 5th December.

The event offers an exclusive insight into the process and work of one of Gibraltars most loved artists, Paul Cosquieri. Paul (known locally as Cosqui) is the artist behind Non Plus Ultra the large-scale mixed media piece that is housed within the Universitys brand new Kishin Alwani Foundation Student Common Room.

The abstract work references Gibraltarian culture and aims to convey its unique identity to students and visitors. Following his talk, you will be invited to view the work.

The event takes place at the Europa Point Campus from 6pm and entry is free.Clubhouse Christmas Appeal

Clubhouse Gibraltar are pointing out that the most valuable gift you can give this Christmas is Mental Health Support.

Many individuals and organisations spend a lot of money during the Christmas Season on unnecessary or unwanted gifts. Clubhouse Gibraltar would like to invite the public to consider making a donation, instead, towards the renovation of their new premises at 304a Main Street, to enable them to provide mental health support in a better environment.

The building works will commence shortly and your contribution towards building works, building materials, a room, disability access, furniture, kitchen appliances etc. would be greatly appreciated.

Donations can be made through http://www.justgiving.com/clubhousegibraltar

For more information about the support provided please get in touch with Clubhouse to arrange an appointment:

Telephone 20068423

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

www.clubhousegibraltar.comeasyJet - New London Luton Service from Gibraltar

easyJet has celebrated the commencement of its new service between Gibraltar and London Luton today.

The first flight arrived into Gibraltar from London Luton at 3:50pm with 125 passengers onboard.

easyJet have said the new service is operating twice weekly year round on Tuesdays and Saturdays on an Airbus A319 aircraft with fares starting from 15.72 (*based on two people travelling on the same booking)

London Luton joins Bristol, London Gatwick and Manchester on easyJets route network from Gibraltar.

Ali Gayward, easyJets UK Country Manager said:

Were delighted to have operated the first flight of this new service today and to be increasing our services from Gibraltar. This is a fourth UK service to our network from the airport and we continue to see an increased number of travellers looking to fly with easyJet on our Gibraltar routes. With affordable fares and flight time of just over two and a half hours, were confident that this new service to London Luton will prove popular with both business and leisure travellers.

We remain fully committed to serving Gibraltar and supporting the growth of tourism and business through our easy and affordable fares.

Gilbert Licudi MP QC, Minister for Tourism and Commercial Aviation added:

We warmly welcome easyJets new London Luton service, which will cater for the north London region and beyond. The introduction of this fourth UK departure point to Gibraltar for easyJet highlights the demand that exists for travel to Gibraltar, be it for business, leisure, student travel and visiting friends and relatives on both sides of the route.

We continue to work with the airline in exploring even further opportunities, as well as growing existing routes.Back in 2014, the World Customs Organization (WCO), the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat and five Customs administrations from the EAC region (Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda) embarked on a five-year partnership to support the effective design and roll-out of the EAC Regional AEO Programme. The partnership came to be known as the WCO-EAC CREATe Project and benefitted from the generous financial support of the Government of Sweden.

On 21 and 22 November 2018, the EAC Secretariat played hosted the WCO and the above-mentioned five EAC Customs administrations in Arusha (Tanzania), in order to reflect on the achievements, challenges and lessons learned with respect to the EAC Regional AEO Programme. Over the past five years and through the delivery of nearly 100 activities (including 86 on-site activities), the WCO-EAC CREATe Project has successfully supported the EAC region in establishing a robust and globally recognized Regional AEO Programme aligned with the WCO SAFE Framework of Standards.

To date, 82 companies have joined the EAC Regional AEO Programme and they account for nearly 9% of regional trade, translating into more than 1.5 billion USD per year in volume of trade and a Customs revenue contribution of approximately 10%. The Regional AEO Programme has led to significant time and cost reductions for AEOs which have contributed to job creation, in some cases, as well as to improved Customs-Business relations. By way of example, Mr. Mugwe, Chief Executive Officer of Farmers Choice Limited in Kenya, has reported that since joining the Programme, our brand is seen as credible and trustworthy. Priority clearance has also led to a 30% reduction in our costs. These savings have allowed us to open new lines of business and subsidiary companies, with an increase in our staffing numbers from 1,300 to 2,009. Similarly, Bakhresa, a Tanzanian transport company, has made annual savings of USD 1.8 million since joining the Programme, while Brarudi, a Burundi beverage producer, has saved USD 350,000 per year since becoming part of the Programme.

The Customs Commissioners of the EAC region and the EAC Secretariat commended the WCO Secretariat for this partnership, noting that the achievements recorded during the last five years provide solid foundations for the growth and development of the EAC Regional AEO Programme. In particular, the region will work to further involve all Cross-Border Regulatory Agencies (CBRAs) in the Programme, as well as to provide adequate guidance on and support with the AEO Programme to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

For more information please contact capacitybuilding@wcoomd.orgBack in 2014, the World Customs Organization (WCO), the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) Secretariat and the five Customs administrations of the SACU region (Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland) embarked on a partnership to support effective implementation of the five-year SACU Customs Modernization Programme. The partnership came to be known as the WCO-SACU Connect Project and benefitted from the generous financial support of the Government of Sweden.

On 15 and 16 November 2018, the SACU Secretariat hosted the WCO and the five SACU Customs administrations in Windhoek (Namibia), in order to reflect on the achievements, challenges and lessons learned and to receive the Project deliverables as the Project comes to an end in December 2018. Over the past five years and through the delivery of 114 activities (including 96 on-site activities), the Project has achieved tangible results in the areas of IT Connectivity, Trade Facilitation, Risk Management and Legislative Reform.

In particular, the SACU region has developed its own regional framework for IT Connectivity, based on the WCO Data Model and Globally Networked Customs (GNC), and South Africa and Swaziland have now entered into live data exchange. The SACU region has also developed a framework for its Regional Preferred Trader Programme (scheme and operating manuals), covering 76 operators, and has trained a critical mass of Preferred Trader auditors to effectively roll out the programme at regional level.

In terms of Risk Management, the SACU region has developed and effectively implemented a Regional Risk Management Package. This has led to the successful completion of three regional enforcement operations resulting in significant seizures and remarkable levels of revenue recovery. Thanks to the Projects momentum, the SACU Member States were all also able to ratify Annex E to the SACU Treaty during the lifetime of the SACU-Connect Project and to modernize their Customs legislative framework.

The SACU Secretariat reported that all the Project structures, such as the Regional Working Groups and the Steering Committee, will now be mainstreamed into SACU structures, hence ensuring the sustainability and impact of the Projects benefits beyond 2018. In handing over the Project deliverables the WCO reaffirmed its commitment to continued collaborate with the SACU Secretariat under the MoU signed in 2010 while SACU Member States remain entitled to benefit from WCO support by the virtue of their membership to the organisation.

For more information about this activity, please contact capacity.building@wcoomd.org.At the request of the Lesotho Revenue Authority (LRA), the WCO conducted a diagnostic support mission on the implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) from 19- 23 November 2018, in Maseru, Lesotho. The mission was conducted under the framework of WCO Mercator Program and the financial support of the Government of the United Kingdom through Her Majestys Revenue and Customs under the framework of the extended HMRC-WCO-UNCTAD Programme. The Mercator Programme is designed to support WCO members to successfully implement the provisions of the TFA through the effective application of WCO instruments and tools and by using WCOs extensive network of international customs experts.

The scoping mission included discussions with different units of the LRA as well as other key stakeholders including the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Cooperatives and Marketing (MTICM), the Private Sector Foundation of Lesotho, the Chamber of Commerce, the Association of Lesotho Employers, and the Lesotho Nation Trade Facilitation Committee inter alia. Through the exchange with different stakeholders, the mission team was able to identify areas where the WCO best could provide forward support and complement national and international supported TFA initiatives. The discussions during the mission covered a wide range of technical issues not limited to but including Risk Management, Post Clearance Audit, Measurement of Release Times, Border Cooperation, crossing cutting areas such as Human Resources, Training and Leadership, as well as areas where the LRA could benchmark against other customs administrations best practices in Africa and elsewhere.

As a result of the mission, a comprehensive assessment was made of the current needs in Lesotho with regards to implementing the TFA. Moreover, forward capacity building and technical assistance support was identified, which will be provided through a multi-year implementation plan in line with the tailor made track approach of the Mercator Programme. To ensure efficient TFA support delivery, this support will be aligned and delivered in collaboration with other development partners, leveraging the respective strengths of all partners. The WCO looks forward to future collaboration with the LRA in implementing this multi-year Mercator plan in keeping with the unique customs to custom partnershipThe WCO National Workshop for Myanmar Customs on border enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR) was held from 26 to 30 November 2018 in Yangon, Myanmar, under the sponsorship of Japanese Customs Cooperation Fund (CCF/Japan). A total of 12 Myanmar Customs officers participated in the Workshop and resource speakers from the WCO Asia Pacific Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB A/P) and Japan Customs participated in the Workshop to share their knowledge and practices with the participants and facilitated the discussions.

In order to strengthen the IPR border enforcement, the Myanmar Customs has strived for reviewing its current practices and establishing administrative regulations to implement WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. In the Workshop, participants from the IPR Working Group and newly established IPR Section of Myanmar Customs intensively discussed provisions and elements to be included in administrative regulations. Participants also discussed the roles and responsibilities of IPR section and front line officers as well as the capacity building for officers in order to effectively implement administrative regulations.

Through the workshop, participants reaffirmed the importance of robust IPR border enforcement while keeping in mind that the procedures themselves should not become barriers to trade. Participants also showed their commitment to continuously work for strengthening IPR border enforcement measures at Myanmar Customs.Highlights:



Revasum to list today at 12.00pm following a fully underwritten Initial Public Offering (IPO) which raised A$30.7 million

The IPO received strong support from some of Australias leading Institutional Investors

Revasum recently selected as strategic partner for Silicon Carbide production by major semiconductor device manufacturer  a major endorsement of Revasums technical expertise

Business is tracking strongly to Prospectus dated 9 November 2018 (Prospectus) forecasts with 63% of 1H 2019 forecast system revenue now under confirmed purchase order, versus ~50% at Prospectus date

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif., Dec. 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Leading semiconductor equipment company, Revasum, Inc.s CHESS Depositary Interests (CDIs) (ASX: RVS, Revasum or the Company) will commence trading on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) at 12.00pm AEDT today following the successful completion of its Initial Public Offering. Revasum raised A$30.7 million through the issue of 15.4 million CDIs over common shares at A$2.00 per CDI for an undiluted market capitalisation of A$153.0 million at the offer price.

The IPO was fully underwritten by Moelis Australia and Shaw and Partners, and was well supported by both institutional and retail investors. Demonstrating the investor appetite for the Companys leading technology, highly regarded institutional investors including Perennial Value Management, Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Acorn Capital have all invested in Revasum at the IPO.

US based technology venture capital investor, Firsthand Venture Investors, which has backed the Company since incorporation, will hold 70.4% of Revasums common stock on listing and did not sell down any of its holding into the IPO. Key Revasum Management will own approximately 14.7% of the Company (on a fully diluted basis) following the listing.

Commenting on the Companys listing, Revasum President and Chief Executive Officer Jerry Cutini stated:

We are extremely proud to become an ASX listed company and to have attracted the support of so many highly successful Institutional Investors. The capital they have provided the Company will allow Revasum to continue its aggressive R&D efforts, supporting the rollout of new products in 2019 and beyond. The IPO is a key inflection point for the Companys growth and we look forward to delivering on our Prospectus forecasts.

Revasum a leading equipment supplier to the semiconductor industry

Revasum designs and manufactures a variety of sophisticated systems that its customers use as part of the manufacturing process for semiconductor devices. Devices produced using its equipment include microchips, sensors, LEDs, RF devices and power devices which are commonly found in electronic systems and products people may use every day, including automobiles, mobile phones and the countless connected electronic devices referred to as the Internet of Things (IoT). Revasums customers are some of the leading technology providers to these end markets, and Revasum is well positioned to continue to expand its footprint in these fast-growing segments of the global semiconductor market.

Revasum recently selected as strategic supplier for Silicon Carbide

Revasum is pleased to announce that it has been selected as a supplier and strategic partner to a major semiconductor manufacturer for its new single-wafer Silicon Carbide (SiC) program. Revasum will supply grinding and polishing systems to support this customers important strategic initiative in Silicon Carbide. The Company believes that its selection as a partner by such a leading semiconductor manufacturer is a powerful endorsement of its technical expertise. Having capabilities in SiC wafer manufacturing is critical as this is a future growth market in the wafer industry. Silicon Carbide is a compound substrate material with unique electrical and thermal properties for use in applications such as hybrid and electric vehicles, power management and communications devices. This is an important milestone in supporting Revasums vision to be a leading equipment supplier for the production of Silicon Carbide semiconductor devices.

On track for Prospectus forecast

Revasum confirms that it is on track to deliver its Prospectus revenue forecasts for the 6 month periods to 31 December 2018 and 30 June 2019.

100% of forecast system revenue for the 6 months to 31 December 2018 has either been shipped, or is under purchase orders (with deposits paid) and due to be shipped, prior to 31 December 2018.

Revasum is also pleased to advise that 63% of system revenue for the 6 months to 30 June 2019 is now under confirmed purchase orders, having increased from approximately 50% at the date of the Prospectus, being 9 November 2018. The Company is pleased with this progress and is in active discussions with a range of customers that it expects to place orders.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements, which address a variety of subjects including, for example, our statements regarding expected events, including expected revenue and earnings, system shipments, expected product offerings, product development, market adoption and technical advances. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about our beliefs, plans and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on our current expectations and information currently available to management and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties, many of which are outside the control of the Company, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The Company's management believes that these forward-looking statements are reasonable as and when made. However, you should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements because such statements speak only as of the date they are made. Revasum does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law or the ASX Listing Rules. In addition, forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, events and developments to differ materially from our historical experience and our present expectations or projections.

About Revasum

Revasum (ARBN: 629 268 533) manufactures market-leading wafer processing equipment for the global semiconductor industry at 200mm and below. Its portfolio of production proven, reliable CMP, grinding and polishing equipment supports device and substrate producers in critical growth markets including IoT, 5G, and automotive. Revasums products serve a broad range of market segments such as silicon, silicon carbide, power, RF communications, LED, MEMS, semiconductor and other mobile applications. Revasums equipment and processes are designed and developed in close collaboration with its customers. As a result, each system meets or exceeds customers requirements for quality, performance, and cost.

For more information, www.revasum.com .Calvert City Jingle All the Way 5k and Fun Run set for December 4Email To : Multiple e-mail addresses must be separated with a comma character(maximum 200 characters) Email To is required.

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Your Email Address: Your Email Address is required.By West Kentucky Star Staff Dec. 03, 2018 | 09:14 PM | MARSHALL COUNTY

A woman was arrested Friday after police reportedly found drugs inside her vehicle.

The Marshall County Sheriff's Office says a deputy was dispatched to the 400 block of Hill Estates Lane in reference to an unwanted person on the premises. Upon arrival, the deputy found Melody Bell asleep inside of her vehicle.

The deputy conducted a search of the vehicle and reportedly found a cut straw and a glass pipe which tested positive for methamphetamine residue. A further search of Melody's property found inside the home yielded additional drug paraphernalia and controlled prescription medication.

Bell was charged with public intoxication, possession of controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. She was lodged in the Marshall County Detention Center.By The Associated Press Dec. 03, 2018 | 09:19 PM | LEXINGTON

Kentucky's education commissioner has scaled back proposed new high school graduation requirements after some districts worried they wouldn't have the resources needed for their students to graduate.

Wayne Lewis announced the changes Monday, two days before the state Board of Education is scheduled to vote on the new requirements after a public comment period.

At a public hearing last week, some superintendents of rural school districts worried they could not offer all of the options to their students, including apprenticeship programs and 500 hours of "exceptional work experience.""The concern from the field was that the step forward we were proposing was too big a step," Lewis said. "It is still a step forward, but it is a smaller step."The new requirements are designed to better prepare students for either a career or to pursue a degree at a college or university. Kentucky has one of the highest high school graduation rates in the country, with about 90 percent of its students earning diplomas each year. But state education officials say only about 60 percent of those students meet standards showing they are ready for a college or a career.The first proposal, initially approved in October, would have required students to meet standards for "transition readiness" to graduate. The new proposal offers students a choice among seven "graduation qualifiers" that are not as rigorous as the first proposal.For example, the first proposal would have accepted a benchmark score in reading and math on a college admission exam like the ACT. The new proposal loosens that standard, only requiring students meet the benchmark in one area, not both. And if students could not meet the standard in a college admission exam, the state would accept a benchmark score in a less rigorous college placement exam.Another option under the first proposal was for students to gain certification in a certain industry, as approved by the Kentucky Workforce Innovation Board. But the new proposal would accept an easier standard: students who complete at least four courses within a "career pathway" as approved by the Kentucky Department of Education."Do I believe that by students meeting one of these qualifiers that they are ready for postsecondary education or ready to go into the workforce and get a job where they can take care of themselves? Maybe, maybe not," Lewis said. "But I do believe I am confident that with this proposal the expectation for minimum high school graduation in Kentucky is a more rigorous expectation than what we currently have."The changes come after a public hearing last week where 16 of the 17 people who spoke opposed the plan, including education advocacy groups, school superintendents, teachers and a high school student. Lewis said the changes show the department values the feedback.The Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, an education advocacy group, said in a statement it is glad Lewis is "being receptive to feedback" and looked forward to reviewing the proposal in more detail. But they again renewed their call for the state Board of Education to delay voting on the new requirements."There is broad agreement that too many kids are not getting all they need out of high school," the Prichard Committee said in a statement posted to the organization's Twitter account. "But the call at last week's hearing was near universal for the Kentucky Board of Education to table the proposal and have authentic engagement with stakeholders to craft solutions."Other aspects of the proposal did not change. Students will have to show a "basic competency" in reading and math to graduate. They can do this by meeting the minimum required scores in reading and math in tests taken in the eighth and 10th grades. Most education advocacy groups have opposed this, arguing it places too much emphasis on a test. But Lewis noted students can take the test twice a year. Plus, students can bypass the test by presenting a portfolio of work demonstrating they have met the standard, among other options.SAN DIEGO, Dec. 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Driven Inc. (OTC: RBOS), a cannabis delivery service, announced today that they will be presenting at the 11th Annual LD Micro Main Event. The conference is being held on December 4-6, 2018 at the Luxe Sunset Blvd Hotel, Los Angeles.



Mr. Chris Boudreau, CEO and Mr. Brian Hayek, President of Driven will be presenting an overview of the Company as well as discussing recent business highlights. For those not able to attend, the presentation will be webcast. Management will also be available for one-on-one meetings.

Date: Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Time: 12:00 p.m. PST

Location: Luxe Sunset, Bel Air, CA

Webcast: http://wsw.com/webcast/ldmicro15/rbos/

The LD Micro Invitational Conference is one of the nations largest independent conferences for small/micro-cap companies, with more than 230 names presenting to 1,000+ attendees. The conference will also feature a variety of speakers and panelists discussing topics of interest to investors and issuers, as well as evening social events.

For more information please visit; https://godriven.com/

About Driven

Driven Inc. is the only publicly traded cannabis delivery service operating within the United States. Founded by experienced technology and cannabis executives, The Company provides on-demand marijuana delivery, in select cities where allowed by law. Driven provides the legal cannabis consumers the ability to purchase and receive their marijuana in a fast and convenient manner. By 2020, legal cannabis revenue in the U.S. market is projected to hit $23 billion. In leveraging consumer trends, and offering a proprietary, turnkey delivery system to its customers, management believes it is uniquely positioned to best serve the needs of the emerging cannabis industry and capture notable market share within the sector. For more information, please visit https://godriven.com/ and review Drivens filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

About LD Micro:

LD Micro was founded in 2006 with the sole purpose of being an independent resource in the microcap space. The firm hosts several influential conferences annually (Invitational, Summit, and Main Event). In 2015, LDM launched the first pure microcap index (the LDMi) to exclusively provide intraday information on the entire sector. LD will continue to provide valuable tools for the benefit of everyone in the small and micro-cap universe. For those interested in attending, please contact David Scher at david@ldmicro.com or visit www.ldmicro.com for more information.VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ValOre Metals Corp. (TSX-V: VO) (ValOre or the Company) today announced that it will conduct an offering (the Rights Offering) of rights (Rights) to acquire common shares of the Company (Shares) for gross proceeds of C$2.45 million.



Rights Offering

Pursuant to the rights offering circular (the Rights Offering Circular) and the notice of rights offering (the Notice of Rights Offering) for the Rights Offering, each eligible registered shareholder of the Company resident in Canada holding Shares as at the close of business on December 10, 2018 (the Record Date) will receive 0.99091284387 of one Right every one Share held. Each Right will entitle the holder to subscribe for one Share at a subscription price of C$0.10 per Share.

The Notice of Rights Offering will also be mailed to holders of Shares resident outside of Canada (the International Jurisdictions) together with a letter advising such shareholders that their Rights Certificates will be issued to, and held on their behalf by, the Rights Agent pending confirmation by a shareholder resident in an International Jurisdiction who wishes to participate in the Rights Offering that such shareholder is permitted to participate in the Rights Offering under the securities laws in the International Jurisdiction where such shareholder is resident. In order to have the documents delivered to the Rights Agent (as defined below) by the Expiry Date, it is recommended that shareholders send the documents via registered mail or courier.

The Rights Offering Circular and Notice of Rights Offering will be available on ValOre Metals Corp. SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com and at www.valoremetals.com.

The Rights issued under the Rights Offering will be evidenced by transferable rights certificates (each, a Rights Certificate), and will expire at 5:00 p.m. (Eastern time) on January 8, 2019 (the Expiry Date), after which time unexercised Rights will be void and of no value. The Rights Offering includes an additional subscription privilege under which eligible holders of Rights, who fully exercise their Rights, will be entitled to subscribe, on a pro rata basis with other shareholders who participate in the oversubscription, for Shares that have not been purchased under the Rights Offering.

The Shares will trade on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) on an ex-rights basis commencing on December 7, 2018. The Rights will not be listed for trading on the TSXV.

The Notice of Rights Offering and related Rights Certificates will be mailed to all registered holders of Shares resident in Canada as of the close of business on the Record Date. Eligible registered shareholders, as described in the Rights Offering Circular, who wish to exercise their Rights must forward a completed Rights Certificate, together with the applicable funds to exercise their Rights, to Computershare Trust Company of Canada (the Rights Agent), the rights agent for the Rights Offering, on or before the Expiry Date. Shareholders who own their Shares through an intermediary, such as a bank, trust company, securities dealer or broker, will receive materials and instructions from their intermediary. Instructions on how shareholders may exercise their Rights are included on page 11 of the Rights Offering Circular as well as on the back of the Rights Certificate.

Loan Agreement and Lender Standby Guarantee

As previously announced, in order to ensure that ValOre can meet its short-term capital requirements, Mr. James Paterson (the Lender), the Chief Executive Officer, a director and a shareholder of the Company has agreed to lend the Company up to C$1 million on a revolving basis (the Bridge Loan), which will allow the Company to continue its operations until the closing of the Rights Offering. Please refer to ValOres press release dated October 26, 2018 for additional details regarding the Bridge Loan.

In connection with the Rights Offering and as a term of the Bridge Loan agreement, the Lender has agreed to provide a stand-by guarantee to subscribe for, and the Company has agreed to issue, up to 8,800,000 Shares offered under the Rights Offering that are not otherwise purchased by the Companys shareholders (the Lender Standby Guarantee). The Lender Standby Guarantee has been approved by the independent directors of the Company. As consideration for the Lender Standby Guarantee, the Company has agreed to issue 880,000 bonus warrants (the Lender Standby Guarantee Warrants) to the Lender (being 10% of the amount of the Lender Guarantee). Each Lender Standby Guarantee Warrant will be exercisable for two years from the date of issuance into one Share at a price of $0.23 per Share.

The acquisition cost of any Shares acquired by the Lender pursuant to the exercise of Rights, either under the Lender Standby Guarantee or as a holder of Rights, will be satisfied by the reduction of the amounts payable to the Lender under the Bridge Loan agreement.

The Bridge Loan constitutes a related party transaction under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection Of Minority Security Holders In Special Transactions as the Lender is a director of the Company and owns 451,360 Shares, representing approximately 1.83% of the Company's outstanding Shares. The Company has relied on the exemption from formal valuation and minority shareholder approval in sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(a) of MI 61-101 as the Bridge Loan represents less than 25% of the Company's market capitalization.

Additional Standby Guarantees

In addition to the Lender Standby Guarantee, the following parties (the Additional Stand-By Guarantors) have agreed to provide stand-by commitments in the amounts set out below, for aggregate standby commitments of C$2,450,000 (including the Lender Standby Guarantee). As consideration for the stand-by commitment of each Additional Stand-By Guarantor, the Company has agreed to grant to each Additional Stand-By Guarantors bonus warrants to purchase 10% of the total number of Shares that the Stand-By Guarantors have agreed to acquire under the stand-by commitment (the ASG Warrants) as set out below. Each ASG Warrant will be exercisable for two years from the date of issuance into one Share at a price of $0.23 per Share.

Name of Additional Stand-By Guarantor Stand-By Commitment ASG Warrants Sandstorm Gold Ltd. C$400,000 400,000 John Robins C$400,000 400,000 Inclination Earth Sciences Inc. C$400,000 400,000 Robert Scott C$165,000 165,000 Vincent Vandamme C$70,000 70,000 James Malone C$60,000 60,000 Dale Wallster C$30,000 30,000 Garth Kirkham C$30,000 30,000 Colin Smith C$15,000 15,000

Soliciting Dealer

In connection with the Rights Offering, ValOre may engage certain soliciting dealers to assist ValOre with soliciting the exercise of the Rights by holders of those Rights.

If the Company engages such soliciting dealers, in consideration for providing soliciting dealer services, ValOre intends to pay each soliciting dealers a cash commission of 3% of the gross proceeds raised under the Rights Offering attributable to such soliciting dealer. ValOre also intends to grant to the soliciting dealers non-transferable warrants (Dealer Warrants) entitling the soliciting dealers to acquire that number of Shares equal to 3% of the number of Shares distributed pursuant to the Rights Offering attributable to the soliciting dealer, with each Dealer Warrant exercisable at $0.23 into one Common Share for a period of one year from the closing date of the Rights Offering.

About ValOre

ValOre Metals Corp. (TSX-V: VO) is a Vancouver based company with a portfolio of high quality uranium and precious metal exploration projects in Canada. In addition to the Baffin Gold Property, ValOre holds Canada's highest grade uranium resource outside of Saskatchewan. ValOres 89,852 hectare Angilak Property in Nunavut Territory, hosts the Lac 50 Trend with a NI 43-101 Inferred Resource of 2,831,000 tonnes grading 0.69% U3O8, totaling 43.3 million pounds U 3 O 8 . ValOre's comprehensive exploration programs have demonstrated the "District Scale" potential of the Angilak Property. For disclosure related to the inferred resource for the Lac 50 Trend uranium deposits, please refer to ValOre's news release of March 1, 2013.

In Saskatchewan, ValOre holds a 100% interest in the 13,711 hectare Hatchet Lake Property and a 50% interest in the 131,412 hectare Genesis Property, both located northeast of the north eastern margin of the uranium producing Athabasca Basin.

ValOres team has forged strong relationships with sophisticated resource sector investors and partner Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI) on both the Angilak and Baffin Gold Properties. ValOre was the first company to sign a comprehensive agreement to explore for uranium on Inuit Owned Lands in Nunavut Territory, Canada and is committed to building shareholder value while adhering to high levels of environmental and safety standards and proactive local community engagement.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Jim Paterson

James R. Paterson, Chairman and CEO

ValOre Metals Corp.

For further information about, ValOre Metals Corp. or this news release, please visit our website at www.valoremetals.com or contact Investor Relations toll free at 1.888.331.2269, at 604.646.4527, or by email at info@valoremetals.com.

ValOre Metals Corp. is a member of the Discovery Group of Companies, for more information please visit: www.discoverygroup.ca.

Neither the TSX-V nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX-V) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements regarding the completion of the Rights Offering and the provision of the standby guarantees. Although ValOre believes that the expectations reflected in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements have been based on factors and assumptions concerning future events that may prove to be inaccurate. These factors and assumptions are based upon currently available information to ValOre. Such statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could influence actual results or events and cause actual results or events to differ materially from those stated, anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. A number of important factors including those set forth in other public filings could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include the receipt of regulatory approvals in respect of the Rights Offering and the timing thereof. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The statements in this press release are made as of the date of this release and, except as required by applicable law, ValOre does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. ValOre undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third parties in respect of ValOre, or its financial or operating results or (as applicable), their securities.

This news release is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States. The offer and sale of the securities offered in the Rights Offering has not been and will not be registered under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any state securities laws, and such securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or applicable exemption from such registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in the United States or in any jurisdiction in which the offer, sale or solicitation would be unlawful.World Bank President worried about SA

Stunted growth in children, high broadband costs and human capital investment in South Africa worries the World Bank.

The President of the World Bank Jim Yong Kim delivered a public lecture at Wits during his visit to the country and engaged with the audience about the work of the Bank. During the discussion themed The Human Capital Crisis: Building a New Social Contract, Kim argued that there are three critical issues that countries need to address in order to eradicate poverty.

Countries need to build digital economies for inclusive growth, foster resilient societies and invest more effectively in people, said Kim.

In answering the question about building inclusive digital economies, Kim said the key is in investing in basic and relevant infrastructure.

African governments are focussing on the wrong infrastructure.

Every head of state (in Africa) that I have ever seen says we on the path to industrialisation and we want to build infrastructure for industrialisation. But if thats not the path that is open, then what is the right infrastructure? Almost for sure broadband seems to be the right infrastructure.

South Africa needs to bring down the cost of data in order to build an inclusive digital economy, he said.

According to Kim, e-commerce has uplifted poor communities in China through joint ventures between government subsidies and business subsidies.

Poor health and education impacts economic growth

The health and education of the population directly impacts the economic prospects of a country.

Although South Africa has managed to decrease child mortality the country still has high levels of stunting among children, according to the Human capital index released by the World Bank.

South Africa ranked 127 out of 156 in the index and stunting was recorded at 27% and is a crisis in a country that has some of the best resources in the world, lamented Kim.

Stunting is impaired growth and development that children experience due to poor nutrition, repeated infection, and inadequate psychosocial stimulation, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Children are defined as stunted if their height-for-age is more than two standard deviations below the WHO child growth standards median.

A physician and anthropologist by training, Kim argued that in some countries the percentage of children who are stunted and have had terrible education will be the source of instability.

He urged governments to invest more in human capital. There has to be a political cost in not investing in people, he said.

There are so many different things that you have identified as a country that you want to tackle. This issue of human capital, everyone in this country has to take some responsibility.

Kim concluded his talk by saying that young people must not trust anyone over age of 30 years to determine their future. Young people must get militant and demand investment in education and health; and must do everything to ensure that every South African child has the opportunity to become what they want.English Finnish

Suomen Hoivatilat Oyj

Stock exchange release 4 December 2018, 09:00 am EET

Suomen Hoivatilat Oyj: Change to Hoivatilat executive team

Sales Director Antti Kurkela will leave Hoivatilat on 1 February 2019 to assume a new position outside the company. He was appointed as a member of Hoivatilat executive team in January 2017.

"Antti has had an important role in the growth of Hoivatilat and developing customer relations and sales. I thank Antti for his efforts over the years and I wish him all the best in the future", says Jussi Karjula, CEO of Hoivatilat.

Hoivatilat will immediately start recruiting a new Sales Director. Jussi Karjula will temporarily take responsibility for sales management.

Suomen Hoivatilat Oyj

Further information:

Jussi Karjula, CEO, tel.: +358 40 773 4054

Suomen Hoivatilat in brief:

Suomen Hoivatilat specialises in producing, developing, owning and leasing out daycare centre and nursing home premises, service communities and schools. Hoivatilat was established in 2008 and cooperates with around 60 Finnish municipalities. It has started over 150 real estate projects throughout Finland.



China News on Women





Sorry, the page you requested was not found. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Womenofchina.cn, try visiting the Womenofchina Home pageVANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MGX Minerals Inc. (MGX or the Company) ( CSE: XMG / FKT: 1MG / OTCQB: MGXMF ) is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary MGX Renewables, Inc. (MGXR) has entered the final phase of development for its next generation zinc-air mass storage systems. All components of the system have been designed, tooled and received with the exceptions of the fuel cell and regenerator plates which comprise the housings, and the final system enclosure. Housings are expected to arrive this month, followed by subsystem testing, this will be proceeded by system level testing in January. All components are designed for mass production. Many of the most sophisticated and proprietary components such as the cathode are manufactured in-house.



MGXR Energy Storage System

The MGXR ESS is a modular Energy Storage System designed to deliver power in the range 20 kW  50MW and storage in the range of 120Kwh  1GWh over extended periods of time. With the advantage of rechargeable zinc-air fuel cell technology, the system can be configured to support a wide range of discharge power, recharge power and duty cycle requirements. Since the energy storage capacity of the system is determined only by the size of the fuel tank, a very cost-effective scalable solution now exists as an alternative to the linear power storage ratio in the lithium ion battery.

Li-ion versus Zinc-Air

The fundamental limitation of a linear power to storage ratio and cost burden associated with both lithium-ion and lack of flexibility gives an overwhelming advantage to MGXRs zinc-air fuel cell technology. In addition to containing no expensive commodities such as lithium or cobalt, the zinc air fuel cell battery has a much lower cost of storage reflecting a paradigm shift essentially eliminating the traditional linear fixed power / storage ratio and allowing for scalable power with highly flexible storage capacity at essentially any ratio, limited only by the physical parameters of the fluidized zinc storage tank(s). The zinc-air fuel cell battery has completely decoupled power and storage subsystems with ratios of 1:5 up to 1:20 and conceptually 1:100, giving significant advantage in any scenario requiring more than a few hours of storage. This fills the need in both renewables storage as well as industry and grid scale opportunities in power acquisition and distribution along with the inherent benefits of clean steady power; with the potential to acquire power not just overnight and discharge on demand during the day but to take advantage of much larger swings in power demand and supply such as weekly, monthly, and potentially seasonal fluctuation. Charging is also flexible and is scaled to match discharge but is a separate subsystem that can be scaled to match supply markets and timeframe of power availability whether long or short windows for power acquisition. This creates both an arbitrage opportunity and cost savings opportunity but a policy level opportunity to enhance localized power infrastructure without the need to build new power plants or transmission lines.

Technology

The MGXR ESS is based upon unique and patented zinc-air fuel cell technology. Energy is stored in the form of zinc particles, similar in size to grains of sand. When the system is delivering power, the zinc particles are combined with oxygen drawn from the surrounding air. When the system is recharging, the zinc particles are regenerated and the oxygen is returned to the surrounding air.

Applications

The flexibility of the MGXR ESS enables it to service a wide range of applications. Typical examples include:

Storage and smoothing current from renewable energy sources such as wind and solar

Commercial, industrial backup replacing diesel generators

Industrial scale on demand power for peak shaving or standby

Grid scale energy storage for energy trading and arbitrage

Architecture

The MGXR ESS is designed according to a modular architecture that enables a wide variety of system configurations to be created from a small number of common subsystems. Each subsystem implements a single element of the technology:

The Zinc Regeneration Subsystem (ZRS) provides the recharging function

The Fuel Storage Subsystem (FSS) provides the energy storage function

The Power Generation Subsystem (PGS) provides the discharging function

PGM-5000 Power Generation Module

The MGXR PGM-5000 is a power generation module that combines oxygen from the atmosphere with zinc particles drawn from a storage tank to generate electricity. It is composed of 24 bipolar plates connected in series to produce a nominal 24 Volt ouput. Optional instrumentation includes an embedded microprocessor control system and associated voltage, temperature and pressure sensors.

Technology

The PGM-5000 is a key component of MGXRs unique and patented zinc-air energy storage system. In this system, energy is stored in the form of zinc particles, similar in size to grains of sand. When the system is delivering power, the zinc particles are combined with oxygen drawn from the surrounding air in the Power Generation Module (PGM).

ZRM-4500 Zinc Regeneration Module

The MGXR ZRM-4500 is a zinc regeneration module that uses electricity to extract zinc particles from a potassium zincate solution. It is composed of up to 18 bipolar plates connected in series and driven from a nominal 60 Volt input. The unit is constructed of Noryl plastic and magnesium alloy and is fitted with SurLok connectors for quick electrical installation. Optional instrumentation includes an embedded microprocessor control system and associated voltage sensors.

Technology

The ZRM-4500 is a key component of MGXRs unique and patented zinc-air energy storage system. In this system, energy is stored in the form of zinc particles, similar in size to grains of sand. When the system is recharging, the zinc particles are regenerated and the evolved oxygen is returned to the surrounding air by the Zinc Regeneration Module (ZRM).

Spin-Off of MGX Renewables

MGX has previously announced arrangement agreement, dated October 31, 2018 with its wholly-owned subsidiary, MGX Renewables Inc. whereby MGX will complete the spin-out of 40% of the common shares of MGX Renewables (MGX Renewables Shares) pursuant to a plan of arrangement (the Plan of Arrangement) under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) as part of a going public transaction. For further information see the recent press release dated November 30, 2018 .

About MGX Renewables

MGX Renewables, has developed a patented zinc-air flow battery that efficiently stores energy in the form of zinc particles and contains none of the traditional high cost battery commodities such as lithium, vanadium, or cobalt. The technology allows for low cost mass storage of energy and can be deployed into a wide range of applications scalable energy storage applications.

Unlike conventional batteries such as lithium-ion, which have a fixed energy/power ratio, the technology uses a fuel tank system that offers flexible energy storage to power ratios and scalability. The storage capacity is directly tied to the size of the fuel tank and the quantity of recharged zinc fuel, making low cost scalability a major advantage of the flow battery system. In addition, a further major advantage of the zinc-air flow battery is the ability to charge and discharge simultaneously and at different maximum charge or discharge rates since each of the charge and discharge circuits is separate and independent. Other types of standard and flow batteries are limited to a maximum charge and discharge by the total number of cells as there is no separation of the charge, discharge and storage components. For more information visit www.mgxrenewables.com .

About MGX Minerals

MGX Minerals is a diversified Canadian resource company with interests in lithium, magnesium and silicon assets throughout North America. Learn more at www.mgxminerals.com .

Contact Information

Jared Lazerson

President and CEO

Telephone: 1.604.681.7735

Web: www.mgxminerals.com

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking information or forward-looking statements (collectively "forward-looking information") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information is typically identified by words such as: "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "potentially" and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by the Company is not a guarantee of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking information as a result of various factors. The reader is referred to the Company's public filings for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects which may be accessed through the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com .

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1e9a81b7-81c6-4b86-99e6-e6354e539aec

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a887b948-c328-4db5-80a1-dbe70b666453

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a2d95bbc-2c37-4744-a5cc-71d414fb50aaLONDON, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vodafone today launches its 2019 Global Trends Report, highlighting customer centricity, ethics and purpose, and the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as key business priorities for the next 12 months. In line with the findings of the report, the refresh of Vodafones enterprise division brand  now called Vodafone Business  demonstrates the companys renewed focus on putting customers and tangible business outcomes at its core, working with any organisation of any size.



Brian Humphries, CEO at Vodafone Business, said: Our research has identified the key concerns, challenges and opportunities that businesses will face over the next year. In an era of unprecedented change, the most important factor for businesses  customer centricity. Placing people at the heart of business is the trend we truly identify with and is core to Vodafone Business, running through all of our products and services, from technologies such as IoT and SD-WAN through to our approach to relationships with customers.

Iris Meijer, Director of Marketing at Vodafone Business, said: Customer centricity is a concept that has stood the test of time. When we began to explore the idea of our brand refresh, reaching out to our customers from the home office to the boardroom, each was worried about the same thing: digital transformation. We have known for some time that our customers want a partner to join them on their digital journey, a partner they can trust. We are already very proud to fulfil that role, and as Vodafone Business we now have a refreshed brand to represent that partnership.

The Trends Report is designed to allow better understanding of customer needs and challenges and to offer expert insight into how businesses can embrace key trends to their advantage. Drawn from primary research with businesses, industry analysts, global consultancies and futurologists, key findings include:

Technology-led disruption is putting people at the heart of the business

Businesses need to take a people-centric approach to get ahead of changing customer needs in a market that is being reshaped by technology, and do so at speed.

85% of business leaders agree that the needs of customers are changing rapidly

76% agree that they are becoming more powerful and 93% believe that customer expectations are increasing

Commercial success is tied to purpose, ethics and trust

With companies going toe-to-toe with price points and new offerings, they need to seek differentiation in new areas and manage perceptions of their organisations carefully.

93% of businesses agree that they are expected to act ethically by customers, and 92% have this expectation of their own suppliers

83% of respondents believing that acting ethically ultimately generates more revenue

55% of business leaders indicated that retaining the trust of customers is a concern for their business

A balance is being struck between human and machine

Leaders are recognising the need to create an environment that allows people to thrive, supported by automation and machines, and employees expectations of the future of work is changing.

86% think AI will lead to different jobs; 83% think jobs will be more productive, and 85% agree that humans will be required to work alongside AI systems

54% think that the use of AI could lead to discrimination, highlighting the unsettled feelings that automation is creating in the workforce

The full report can be read here: Vodafone Global Trends Report 2019



For further information:

Vodafone Group Media Relations www.vodafone.com/media/contact

About Vodafone

Vodafone Group is one of the worlds largest telecommunications companies and provides a range of services including voice, messaging, data and fixed communications. Vodafone Group has mobile operations in 25 countries, partners with mobile networks in 44 more, and fixed broadband operations in 18 markets. As of 30 September 2018, Vodafone Group had 531.9 million mobile customers and 20.4 million fixed broadband customers, including all of the customers in Vodafones joint ventures and associates. For more information, please visit: www.vodafone.com.Sellbyville, Delaware, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --



Germany dominated the Europe ventricular assist devices market and was valued over USD 106.7 million in the year 2017. According to the statistics published by European Union (EU), around 51,000 heart bypass surgeries were carried out in Germany in the year 2016. CVD diseases are one of the leading causes of death in the Europe region. Growing prevalence of the CVD disease among the Europe region will enhance and drive the growth of ventricular assist devices market in the region.

Global Ventricular assist devices market will surpass USD 2 billion by 2024; according to a new research study published by Global Market Insights, Inc. Recent technological advancements in the design and functioning of ventricular assist devices making it more efficient, risk-free and less invasive will lead to growing demand and adoption rate of the device. Improvements in the devices and the implantation procedures has reduced the health risk and increased the survival rate in patients. This rapid technological advancement will be one of the major factors for boosting the market growth in the near future.

Growing geriatric population in developing nations of Asia Pacific region will be a significant market driving factor over the forecast timeframe. Cardiovascular diseases are one of the major causes of death in Asia Pacific countries and the growing geriatric population in the region will eventually increase the chances of people getting affected by end-stage heart failure. Hence, rise in the number of older populations will result in augmenting the demand and adoption of ventricular assist devices, fueling the business growth.

Request for a sample of this research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/3014

The risks associated with the product and procedure will be one of the major market impeding factors. Patients with left ventricular assist devices have chances of health risks such as bleeding, infection, device pumping issues and right-side heart failure. Such health risks will result in hampering the growth of ventricular assist devices market growth in future.

Left ventricular devices market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 10.6% during the projection period. Modern day advancements in the device such as high survival rate, efficiency and low risk will be one of the major factors responsible for the market growth. Growing heart failure rate and lack of heart donors across the globe has led to increase in number of people opting for ventricular assist devices, boosting the industry growth.

Browse key industry insights spread across 200 pages with 180 market data tables & 10 figures & charts from the report, Ventricular Assist Devices Market in detail along with the table of contents:

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/ventricular-assist-devices-market

Destination therapy market held the maximum market share and was valued over USD 419.5 million in the year 2017. As per the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, destination therapy is one of the most preferred therapies that is used in the heart failure patients and constitutes a major and growing portion of the overall heart implants. The growing use of destination therapy for ventricular assist devices in patients suffering from end-stage heart failure will enhance the market growth.

The sales of ventricular assist devices in the people aged between 60-79 years is estimated to grow significantly at a CAGR of 10.5% over the forecast timeframe. Growing sedentary lifestyle has led to increase in life style diseases such as cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and heart failure. Rising prevalence of CVD diseases in geriatric population will result in boosting demand and adoption rate of ventricular assist devices, augmenting the business growth.

U.S. ventricular assist devices market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 9.8% during the forecast timeframe. According to the statistics published by Johns Hopkins Medicine Organization, around 84 million Americans suffer from some or the other form of cardiovascular disease. Growing population suffering from CVD disease, recent technological advancements in the country and favorable reimbursement policy will be few major impact rendering factors on the growth of the ventricular assist device market in the region.

Some of the leading players in the ventricular assist devices market include Abbott, Abiomed, Berlin Heart, Bivacor, CardiacAssist, Inc., Evaheart, Maquet, Jarvik Heart, Medtronic and Terumo Corporation. These companies mainly focus on strategic decisions to increase the research and development investment in order to manufacture more advanced and innovative products. Merger and acquisitions have increased the capabilities of the companies and increase their efficiency to sustain in the market by providing better solutions.

Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @ https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/3014

Browse Related Reports:

Patient Handling Equipment Market Size Forecast 2018  2024

Global Patient Handling Equipment Market was valued at USD 11.0 billion in 2017 and is expected to witness growth of around 11.2% CAGR from 2018 to 2024 owing to expanding geriatric population across the globe.

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/patient-handling-equipment-market

Pharmacovigilance Outsourcing Market Size Outlook 2018  2024

Pharmacovigilance outsourcing market was valued at USD 2.8 billion in 2017 and is expected to witness 15.7% CAGR from 2018 to 2024 driven by increasing number of adverse events and other safety concerns associated with medical products.

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/pharmacovigilance-outsourcing-market

About Global Market Insights

Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.MOSCOW, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mechel PAO (MOEX: MTLR, NYSE: MTL), one of the leading Russian mining and metals companies, launching a new facility for output of import-substituting multi-strand steel ropes at Beloretsk Metallurgical Plant.



The Republic of Bashkortostans acting Head Radiy Khabirov, Director of Russias Industry and Trade Ministrys Metallurgy and Materials Department Pavel Servatinsky, First Deputy Director of Russias Industrial Development Fund Andrei Manoilo, Chairman of Mechel PAOs Board of Directors Igor Zyuzin, Mechel PAOs Chief Executive Officer Oleg Korzhov and Beloretsk Metallurgical Plants Chief Executive Officer Viktor Kamelin attended the ceremony.

Equipment produced by Germanys Sket Verseilmaschinenbau GmbH enables stranding 6-12 strand ropes up to 90 mm in diameter, while an extruder made by Austrias Rosendahl may coat with polymer both separate strands and the rope as a whole. Plastic protects the ropes from external and internal abrasions, decreases the impact of impact loading and contact stress, shields them from aggressive environments and difficult climatic conditions and ensures a longer life for both the rope and other expensive parts. Polymer-coated ropes will replace their imported counterparts in mining and oil industries as well as engineering, bridge construction and shipbuilding.

Beloretsk Metallurgical Plant began implementing the project on producing import-substituting ropes in 2015. The project cost a total of some 511 million rubles. In 2016, the plant was granted a concessionary loan from Russias Industrial Development Fund for over 255 million rubles. The plant supplied the remaining half of required funding. In 2017 the project was listed among the Republic of Bashkortostans priority projects.

The facilitys annual capacity is 15,000 tonnes. Its launch has created 68 new highly productive jobs.

This new facility will help improve labor efficiency, create new highly qualified jobs, increase the volume of wire ropes on the domestic market and, in the future, foreign markets as well. Launching a modern facility for producing a wide range of quality wire products creates an opportunity for replacing imported analogues in mining and oil industries as well as bridge construction and shipbuilding. Throughout its history, Beloretsk Metallurgical Plant has been a pioneer in developing and implementing innovative technologies in hardware production, Russias Industry and Trade Minister Dmitry Manturov said in an address that was read at the ceremony by Director of Russias Industry and Trade Ministrys Metallurgy and Materials Department Pavel Servatinsky.

Both in our country and our republic in particular it is not often that we launch major industrial facilities. This is a great and happy event for us. This project has won the Industrial Development Funds support, and that gives us reason and hope to believe it will be the first of many. Today our colleagues joined forces with Beloretsk Metallurgical Plant in preparing an even bigger project of over 1 billion rubles for the plants development. This means not only the plants upgrade and transfer to best available technologies, but also more jobs, better salaries, improvement of social status and an overall increased stability of our republics economy. I wish the plants staff luck and prosperity, the Republic of Bashkortostans acting Head Radiy Khabirov said.

In 2016, the Industrial Development Fund has granted Beloretsk Metallurgical Plant a concessionary loan of 255 million rubles as part of the Development Projects program. We lent our support to the Beloretsk project as it is import substituting and creates a product that has not been manufactured in our country before. Moreover, our borrowers products are much cheaper than their foreign counterparts and will be in demand in various industries, Russias Industrial Development Funds Director Roman Petrutsa said.

We developed this project prompted by the intense need of our clients  mining companies  for domestic counterparts of imported multi-strand ropes, including polymer-coated ones. We are grateful to the Industrial Development Fund for their support. Granting us this loan was proof of the states trust in both our plant and the company as a whole, Mechel PAOs Chief Executive Officer Oleg Korzhov noted.

We have successfully tested polymer-coated ropes on excavators at our own mining facilities. They showed that Beloretsk Metallurgical Plants new ropes can hold their own against foreign analogues while their price is more attractive, Beloretsk Metallurgical Plants Chief Executive Officer Viktor Kamelin summarized.

***

Mechel PAO

Ekaterina Videman

Tel: + 7 495 221 88 88

ekaterina.videman@mechel.com

***

Mechel is an international mining and steel company. Its products are marketed in Europe, Asia, North and South America, Africa. Mechel unites producers of coal, iron ore concentrate, steel, rolled products, ferroalloys, heat and electric power. All of its enterprises work in a single production chain, from raw materials to high value-added products.

***

Some of the information in this press release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of Mechel, as defined in the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We wish to caution you that these statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. We do not intend to update these statements. We refer you to the documents Mechel files from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Form 20-F. These documents contain and identify important factors, including those contained in the section captioned Risk Factors and Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements in our Form 20-F, that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections or forward-looking statements, including, among others, the achievement of anticipated levels of profitability, growth, cost and synergy of our recent acquisitions, the impact of competitive pricing, the ability to obtain necessary regulatory approvals and licenses, the impact of developments in the Russian economic, political and legal environment, volatility in stock markets or in the price of our shares or ADRs, financial risk management and the impact of general business and global economic conditions.Dublin, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Disruptive Innovations in European Logistics Industry, Forecast to 2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The economic environment remains strong due to increasing domestic demand, favorable employment conditions, and high consumer confidence levels. Growth momentum is expected to be sustained in 2018, with the regional economy expected to grow by 2.1% in 2018.



However, trade tensions, the increase in energy prices, and uncertain policy environment is expected to have a negative impact on business confidence. Increased supply chain networking, transshipment, expedited trade negotiations, and improving connectivity with Central Asia and East Asia Eurasia land bridge as part of One Belt, One Road program' with regional transportation infrastructure initiatives are expected to enhance the efficiency of freight transportation in the region.



The road freight transportation segment is the major contributor to the region's logistics industry, considering the total freight movement of goods compared to other modes of transportation. This segment is largely fragmented, with the regional service providers holding 15% of the market while the remaining 85% of this segment is controlled by medium- and small-sized service providers.



eCommerce has emerged as a major driver of growth for both storage and warehousing segment and courier express and parcel segment. Europe contributed about 15% of global GDP and 20% of world trade in 2017. With key trade partners being located in North America, East, and Southeast Asia and Africa, sea-borne trade is a major transportation mode in the region. The share of air and land transportation is expected to increase due to growth in hi-technology, pharmaceuticals, and eCommerce demand



The European logistics industry is considered to be an early adopter of technologies and innovations. With regard to the logistics industry, productivity, process efficiency, and speed of delivery, and last-mile delivery costs have been the crucial factors that influenced the growth and profit margins.



With the emergence of the digital environment, traditional service offerings are increasingly being replaced with innovative logistics solutions driven by digital technologies. Digitalization of core business operations with technologies is expected to facilitate the logistics service providers to transform their business by adopting innovative business models.



This study analyzes key trends and their implications relating to Industry 4.0, emission regulations, cross-border trade, infrastructure modernization, and industry digitalization and their implications for the logistics and supply chain service providers. Specific digital technologies covered include augmented reality, autonomous transportation, the blockchain, cloud digital platform, data analytics, drones technologies, Internet of things (IoT) robotic systems, and 3D printing. This research identifies the potentially disruptive impact of the technologies on logistics segments such as freight transportation, logistics, warehousing, supply chain, and last-mile delivery solutions in the European region till 2025.



Research Scope



Process efficiency and speed of delivery have always been the crucial factors for logistics service providers. With the emergence of the digital environment, optimal and innovative logistics solutions are being offered by service providers; this leads to significant improvement in efficiency and productivity. This study analyzes the disruptive trends such as Industry 4.0, emission regulations, cross-border trade, infrastructure modernization, and industry digitalization and their implications for freight transportation, logistics, warehousing, supply chain, and last-mile delivery solutions in Europe.



Key Issues Addressed

What are the major macroeconomic trends altering the European logistics industry landscape?

What are the key disruptive trends that are likely to shape the future of European logistics industry segments?

What are the major digital technologies that are likely to transform freight transportation, warehousing, logistics, and supply chain solutions?

What are the emerging business model-driven disrupting digital technologies that are expected to open up new business opportunities for the service providers?

What options available for the development of digitalization strategy? What is the expected adoption rate of digital technologies?

Key Topics Covered:



1. Executive Summary

Key Insights-European Logistics Industry

Executive Summary-Impact on European Logistics Industry Participants

Executive Summary-Focused Investment Strategy

Executive Summary-Digital Proliferation

Executive Summary-Interface Standardization

Executive Summary-Digital Technology Timeline

Executive Summary-Technology Adoption Approach

Executive Summary-Transformation Strategy

2. Research Scope and Methodology

Research Background

Research Scope

Research Aim and Objectives

Key Questions this Study will Answer

Related Studies

Research Methodology

3. European Economy and Logistics Industry-An Overview

European Economy at a Glance

EU28 Trade-Import and Export

European Free Trade Agreements

European Logistics Industry

Europe Standings in Supply Chain Visibility

4. Trends and Developments Shaping European Logistics Industry

Trends and Developments shaping European Logistics Industry

5. Industry 4.0

Industry 4.0-Extending the Value Chain

Industry 4.0-Integration of Smart Products and Services

Industry 4.0-Building the Future Enterprises

Industry 4.0-Logistics Industry Transformation

6. European Emission Regulations

Europe GHG Emissions-An Overview

European HDV Emission Regulation Standards

7. European eCommerce Delivery Paradigm

European eCommerce Industry-An Overview

Europe-Last-mile Delivery Paradigm in eCommerce Industry

eCommerce Supply Chain with Technologies

Future Delivery Models and Cross-border eCommerce

Global Cross-border eCommerce

8. Cross-border Developments-OBOR

OBOR-6 Economic Corridors

NELB Economic Corridor

Europe-Major Rail Operators in NELB Economic Corridor

Cross-border eCommerce Logistics in NELB Corridor

9. Industry Digitalization

EU Digital Single Market Initiative

EU Initiatives for Digitalization

Index-European Logistics Industry Digitalization

10. Infrastructure Modernization

Single European Transport-An Integrated Mobility

Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T)

11. BREXIT

BREXIT-Hard Border for Cross-border Enforcement

UK-A Single Sensitive Market Against EU Single Market

12. Digital Technologies Disrupting European Logistics Industry

Disruptive Innovations

13. Blockchain Technology

Blockchain History

Concepts of Blockchain Technology and Platform Types

Features of Blockchain Technology

Blockchain-Method of Operation

Blockchain-Smart Contract Process in Logistics

Blockchain-Reinventing Logistics Value Chain

Blockchain-Europe Factsheet

Blockchain-Perception with European Logistics Industry Participants

Blockchain-Impact on European Logistics Industry

Case Study (1/2)-TradeLens: Maersk and IBM for Blockchain Shipping Solution

Case Study (2/2)-Other Trial Projects in Logistics Industry

14. Internet of Things (IoT)

IoT-More of a Connected Things

IoT-Global Spend Outlook

IoT-Opportunities by Industry and Application (Europe)

IoT in Logistics Industry-Future for Autonomous Intelligence

Industry Challenges-Reasons for Sluggish Adoption Rate

Case Study-Real-time Container Monitoring

15. Augmented Reality

AR-How it Is Experienced?

Wearable Technology-Global Market Outlook

AR-Presents Another Look for Logistics Operations

AR-Enhanced Value Addition

Warehouse Operations-Factors to Consider

Case Study-AR in Logistics

16. Data Analytics

Data Analytics-Technology Value Chain

Data Analytics Global Market Outlook

Data Analytics in Logistics-The Next Frontier

Data Analytics-Benefits and Challenges for Logistics Industry

Case Study-Uncapping the Potential for Optimization

17. Robotics

Robotics in the Logistics Industry

Robotics Global Market Outlook-Logistics

Robotics-Scaling the Need for Automation

Robotics-Factors to Consider on Deployment

Case Study-Robots as Colleagues

18. 3D Printing

3D Printing-Decentralized Production Strategy

3D Printing Global Market Outlook

3D Printing-Gearing for Virtual Warehouses

Case Study-3D Printing Technology

19. Autonomous Transportation-Commercial Vehicles

Autonomous Transportation-Commercial Vehicles

Autonomous Vehicles-Technology Development

Global Autonomous Heavy-duty Truck Adoption Forecast

Scope for Truck Platooning

Truck Platooning-Europe Market Outlook

Autonomous Vehicles-For Logistics Industry

Case Study-OEMs Would Hold the Power

20. Drone Technology

Drone Technology

Commercial Drones-Market Outlook

eCommerce Delivery Drones-UK Cost of Delivery

EU Commission U-Space Initiative for Drone Airspace

Drones-For European Logistics Industry and Factors to Consider

Case Study-Drones in Distribution

Index on EU Drone Regulations

21. Implications for European Logistics Industry Participants

Future of Digital Technologies with European Logistics Industry

The stature of European Freight Forwarders

Digitalization Adoption Route for European Logistics Industry

22. Growth Opportunities and Companies to Action

Growth Opportunity-Logistics Services

Strategic Imperatives for Success and Growth

23. The Last Word

The Last Word-3 Big Predictions

Legal Disclaimer

24. Appendix

Market Engineering Methodology

Table of Acronyms Used

EU28 Countries

Annual Average Exchange Rates

List of Exhibits



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/hwcgxb/disruptive?w=12

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.NEWTOWN, Conn., Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- General Electric Energy will install nearly half the total electrical power generating capacity to be added over the period 2019-2032, according to projections made by Forecast International. When licensees and subsidiaries are included, GE Energy is projected to deliver 49.34 percent of the capacity to be installed during this period. Siemens will follow with 25.76 percent, while Mitsubishi-Hitachi Power Systems (including MHI) will contribute 15.53 percent. Thus, these three companies will be producing more than 90 percent of the projected increase in worldwide electrical power generation capacity between 2019 and 2032.





The strength of GE Energy in the power generation market is the result of a deliberate drive by the company to maximize its market penetration at a time when reduced demand, overcapacity, and soft prices look set to continue until at least the early 2020s. This strategy brought with it significant risks that were picked up by stock market analysts to reflect concern about the company's performance. Stuart Slade, Industrial Gas Turbines Senior Analyst, sounds a note of caution on this approach. "Much of this criticism concentrates on the problems GE has experienced without allowing for the fact that these are common to the power generation equipment industry as a whole." He added that "GE Energy's market share in total capacity terms gives it major strengths that will help sustain it through a difficult readjustment period."

In August 2018, Forecast International introduced forecasts of total additional annual installed capacity to its breakthrough Platinum 4.0 forecasting and analysis service. Now, users can see vital statistical projections based on units sold, total capacity of those units, and sales value for the Industrial and Marine turbines market over the next 15 years, plus historical data stretching back 10 years. "The clarity this adds to projected investment patterns over the next 15 years is remarkable," said Slade. "With this capacity analysis, we can see how the various power output classes will stack up against each other over the next 15 years. This is vital information for those making investment decisions, now and in the future."





About Forecast International

Forecast International, Inc. is a leading provider of Market Intelligence and Consulting in the areas of aerospace, defense, power systems and military electronics. Based in Newtown, Conn., USA, the company specializes in long-range industry forecasts and market assessments used by strategic planners, marketing professionals, military organizations, and governments worldwide. Forecast International also maintains a high posture of situational awareness and geopolitical analysis.

FI on the Web: www.forecastinternational.com, www.fi-aeroweb.com, www.fi-powerweb.com

FI on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ForecastIntl

FI on Facebook: www.facebook.com/forecastintl

FI Blog: http://blog.forecastinternational.com/wordpress/

AttachmentVANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RavenQuest BioMed Inc. (the Company or RavenQuest)  (CSE: RQB OTCQB: RVVQF Frankfurt: 1IT) is pleased to announce that it is concluding its first cannabis sales transaction, beginning a new era for the Company as it joins an exclusive club of companies that generate revenue from the legal sale of cannabis in Canada.



RavenQuest recently obtained its Business to Business (B2B) sales license from Health Canada, permitting the Company to effect sales to other licensed producers. Under the terms of RavenQuests first cannabis sales transaction, it will use its B2B sales license to sell its cannabis inventory at its Markham, Ontario facility to a large publicly traded Canadian licensed producer.

This is an important inflection point in the history of RavenQuest, as we will soon generate revenue from cannabis sales, stated George Robinson, CEO. We expect a new harvest from our Markham facility in the coming weeks, which will add significantly more revenue. Importantly, pricing in the B2B market is favourable, competitive and on par with that from provincial wholesalers, meaning we expect to have multiple sales channels available to us and are fully able to take advantage of these opportunities to generate revenue for shareholders. Our message to shareholders is simple: Cannabis sales at RavenQuest have begun and will continue at competitive prices, Robinson continued.

About RavenQuest BioMed Inc.

RavenQuest BioMed Inc. is a diversified publicly traded cannabis company with divisions focused upon cannabis production, management services & consulting and specialized research & development. RavenQuest is a licensed producer with facilities located in Markham, Ontario and Edmonton, Alberta. RavenQuest maintains a research partnership with Montreals McGill University focused upon cultivar (strain) recognition, plant stabilization and yield maximization of the cannabis plant. The Company focuses on partnerships with Indigenous communities.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of

RAVENQUEST BIOMED INC.

George Robinson

Chief Executive Officer

For further information, please contact:

Mathieu McDonald, Corporate Communications  1-877-282-1586

Neither Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release, which has been prepared by management.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking information with respect to the Company within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements with respect to the receipt of payment for and successful shipping of cannabis from the Companys Markham facility to a large publicly traded company, the successful harvest of cannabis at the Companys Markham facility and the addition of more revenue, generation of revenue from future cannabis sales, the Companys ability to take advantage of multiple sales channels, the continued pricing of cannabis in the B2B market being favourable, competitive and on par with that from provincial wholesalers and the continued sale of cannabis by the Company at competitive prices. The Company provides forward-looking statements for the purpose of conveying information about current expectations and plans relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. By its nature, this information is subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give rise to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions, projections or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to those identified and reported in the Companys public filings under the Companys SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless required by law.TORONTO, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Teranga Gold Corporation ("Teranga" or the "Company") (TSX:TGZ; OTCQX:TGCDF) is pleased to announce that the most recent drill program on its Golden Hill property in Burkina Faso, West Africa has returned dozens of encouraging gold intersections from surface and strong, widespread mineralization along trend and to depth at three advanced prospects.



The latest step-out drill results from the Ma Main, Ma North and Jackhammer Hill prospects also outline excellent continuity of multiple gold zones within each of the highest priority prospects at Golden Hill. These drill results will be included in the initial resource estimate for Golden Hill to be released in early 2019. Teranga has a 100% interest in Golden Hill following the purchase of its previous joint venture partners interest.

HIGHLIGHT RESULTS

Ma Main Prospect

8 m @ 14.23 g/t gold, including 1 m @ 94.05 g/t gold (uncut) from 120 m down hole depth (DHD) and 11 m @ 3.05 g/t gold, including 3 m @ 5.68 g/t gold from 131 m DHD (GHDD-460) (see Table 1 in Appendix 1 for uncut and cut grade intervals for GHDD-460)

3 m @ 10.20 g/t gold, including 1 m @ 28.33 g/t gold from 45 m DHD and 9 m @ 4.05 g/t gold from 117 m DHD (GHRC-126)

8 m @ 9.44 g/t gold, including 1 m @ 68.00 g/t gold (uncut) from 62 m DHD (GHDD-445) (see Table 1 in Appendix 1 for uncut and cut grade intervals for GHDD-445)

3 m @ 6.55 g/t gold, including 1 m @ 18.39 g/t gold from 126 m DHD and 9 m @ 3.55 g/t gold from 136 m DHD (GHDD-467)

Ma North Prospect

13 m @ 2.25 g/t gold, including 6 m @ 3.57 g/t gold from 88 m DHD (GHDD-418)

15 m @ 2.28 g/t gold, including 5 m @ 4.49 g/t gold from 110 m DHD (GHDD-455)

13 m @ 4.38 g/t gold, including 5 m @ 7.69 g/t gold from 118 m DHD (GHDD-456)

Jackhammer Hill Prospect

12 m @ 5.63 g/t gold, including 1 m @ 35.02 g/t gold (uncut) from 30 m DHD (GHRC-086) (see Table 3 in Appendix 1 for uncut and cut grade intervals for GHRC-086)

15 m @ 8.82 g/t gold, including 3 m @ 32.89 g/t gold (uncut) from 35 m DHD (GHRC-094) (see Table 3 in Appendix 1 for uncut and cut grade intervals for GHRC-094)

8 m @ 4.37 g/t gold, including 3 m @ 9.60 g/t gold from 152 m DHD (GHDD-422)

We are very encouraged by these drill results, both the along-trend and to-depth correlation of gold mineralization that we are seeing at multiple prospects throughout the Golden Hill property, said Paul Chawrun, Chief Operating Officer. With approximately 70,000 metres drilled to date, along with the geologic modelling and metallurgical test work underway, the project continues to build momentum and support our confidence that Golden Hill could be Terangas third gold mine in West Africa.

Golden Hill includes nine advanced exploration prospects all within a 7.5-kilometre radius (see Figure 1 in Appendix 2) which would be conducive to a centralized processing facility. Recent results from Ma Main, Ma North and Jackhammer Hill add to the strong drill results announced to date at these and the other prospects at the Golden Hill project.

Over the remainder of the year, drilling will continue on a number of the advanced prospects, including Ma Main, Ma North and C-Zone.

We are moving forward rapidly with our aggressive exploration program at Golden Hill, stated David Mallo, Vice President, Exploration. A busy year of resource definition drilling is drawing to a close at the project. Geologic modeling, preliminary metallurgical test work programs, and base line environmental and social studies are underway in advance of our initial resource estimation early next year. Exploration activities are progressing well, and we are excited to see where it leads us.

Upon satisfaction of conditions precedent relating to the projects initial preliminary economic assessment, Teranga has secured $25 million in debt financing to advance the Golden Hill project through to feasibility.

GOLDEN HILL PROPERTY

The Golden Hill property is comprised of three adjacent exploration permits covering 470 km2 in southwest Burkina Faso in the central part of the Hounde Greenstone Belt. This belt hosts a number of high-grade gold discoveries, including the Siou, Yaramoko and Hounde deposits, the latter being contiguous with Golden Hill.

This news release provides an update on exploration drilling results from a number of prospects recently evaluated as part of ongoing advanced exploration programs at Golden Hill.

Recent drilling was undertaken at Ma Main, Ma North and Jackhammer Hill prospects as part of a property-wide resource evaluation program. Please refer to Appendix 1 for significant results (Tables 1-3) and Appendix 2 for plan maps and representative sections related to this phase of our exploration drilling program. Cumulative results from all Golden Hill drilling are available on the Companys website www.terangagold.com under Exploration.

Ma Main Prospect: Strong Gold Mineralization Demonstrating Excellent Correlation

The Ma Main prospect remains the largest in size and is the most extensively drilled of those being evaluated currently at Golden Hill, with a current strike length of approximately 1.5 kilometres. The lesser drilled Ma East prospect ties on directly to the Ma Main and adds a further 1.2 kilometres of strike extent to this continuous mineralized system. The primary gold mineralization at Ma is hosted within two extensive brecciated fault zones (BZ-1 and BZ-2) that demonstrate excellent continuity throughout the areas drilled to-date. Of further note is the favorable geometry of both BZ-1 and BZ-2 which are spatially proximal, generally parallel and have moderate dip orientations which are advantageous for a future mining scenario. As drilling has progressed, additional mineralized zones have been intersected, predominantly in the hanging wall of BZ-1, which further enhances the upside potential at this advanced prospect.

Representative sections including some recent drill results are shown in Figures 3, 4 and 5 in Appendix 2.

Recent notable diamond drill results at Ma Main are outlined in Table 1 in Appendix 1.

Ma North Prospect: New Drilling Results Extends Mineralization Further Along Trend and to Depth

Our most recent Ma North diamond drill results continue to confirm that a third and fourth well-mineralized breccia zone (BZ-3 and BZ-4) exist within the Ma Structural Complex where previous drilling had identified BZ-1 and BZ-2 at Ma Main (see Figure 6 in Appendix 2). Comparatively, drilling at Ma North is still at an early-stage when compared to more advanced Ma Main area of the Ma Structural Complex. Similar to Ma Main, hole-to-hole correlation is demonstrating excellent continuity of mineralization both along trend and to drilled depths. Additional drilling is planned to further evaluate Ma North, especially along trend and to depth focusing on the eastern extension area where recent drilling has intersected a series of sub-parallel breccia-hosted mineralized horizons that remain open to further expansion.

A representative section including some recent drill results is shown in Figure 7 in Appendix 2.

Recent notable diamond drill results at Ma North are outlined in Table 2 in Appendix 1.

Jackhammer Hill Prospect: High-Grade Mineralization Hosting Visible Gold

Recent drilling at the Jackhammer Hill prospect has focused on defining along trend expansion potential, depth extensions below previously identified shallow mineralization and confirmation of the geological interpretation.

The gold mineralized zones identified thus far at Jackhammer Hill comprise a series of steep, southeast dipping horizons hosted within an altered and sheared diorite intrusive unit. Drilling has been directed along an approximate 1,350-metre strike extent (Figure 8 in Appendix 2), predominantly to vertical depths of approximately 125 metres. A 200-metre long central portion of the Jackhammer Hill mineralization includes a number of previously announced high-grade intervals hosting visible gold within a broad altered and mineralized zone.

A representative section including some recent drill results are shown in Figure 9 in Appendix 2.

Recent notable diamond drill results at Jackhammer Hill are outlined in Table 3 in Appendix 1.

Competent Persons Statements

Teranga's Burkina Faso exploration programs, corresponding to the drill holes being reported herein, were managed by Peter Mann, FAusIMM. Mr. Mann was a full time employee, recently retired, of Teranga and is not "independent" within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101  Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101). Mr. Mann has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralization and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a "Qualified Person" under NI 43-101. The technical information contained in this news release relating to exploration results are based on, and fairly represents, information compiled by Mr. Mann. Mr. Mann has verified and approved the data disclosed in this release, including the sampling, analytical and test data underlying the information. The RC and diamond core samples are assayed at the BIGS Global Laboratory in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Mr. Mann has consented to the inclusion in this news release of the matters based on his compiled information in the form and context in which it appears herein.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain statements that constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws ("forward-looking statements"), which reflects management's expectations regarding Teranga's future growth and business prospects (including the timing and development of new deposits and the success of exploration activities) and opportunities. Wherever possible, words such as objective to, likely, intend to, potential, belief, believe, expects, estimates, plans, anticipated, ability and similar expressions or statements that certain actions, events or results should, or "will" have been used to identify such forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, all disclosure regarding possible events, conditions or results of operations, future economic conditions and anticipated courses of action. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this press release reflect management's current beliefs based upon information currently available to management and based upon what management believes to be reasonable assumptions, Teranga cannot be certain that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based upon assumptions, opinions and analysis made by management in light of its experience, current conditions and its expectations of future developments that management believe to be reasonable and relevant but that may prove to be incorrect. These assumptions include, among other things, the ability to obtain any requisite governmental approvals, the accuracy of sampling, analytical and test data underlying the exploration results included herein, gold price, exchange rates, fuel and energy costs, future economic conditions, and anticipated future estimates of free cash flow. Teranga cautions you not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements.

The risks and uncertainties that may affect forward-looking statements include, among others: the inherent risks involved in exploration and development of mineral properties, including government approvals and permitting, changes in economic conditions, changes in the worldwide price of gold and other key inputs, changes in mine plans and other factors, such as project execution delays, many of which are beyond the control of Teranga, as well as other risks and uncertainties which are more fully described in Teranga's Annual Information Form dated March 29, 2018, and in other filings of Teranga with securities and regulatory authorities which are available at www.sedar.com. Teranga does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements should assumptions related to these plans, estimates, projections, beliefs and opinions change. Nothing in this document should be construed as either an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy or sell Teranga securities. All references to Teranga include its subsidiaries unless the context requires otherwise.

About Teranga

Teranga is a multi-jurisdictional West African gold company focused on production and development as well as the exploration of more than 6,400 km2 of land located on prospective gold belts. Since its initial public offering in 2010, Teranga has produced more than 1.5 million ounces of gold at its Sabodala operation in Senegal. Focused on diversification and growth, the Company is advancing construction of its second producing gold mine, Wahgnion, which is located in Burkina Faso, as well as carrying out extensive exploration programs in three West African countries: Burkina Faso, Cote dIvoire and Senegal. The Company had more than 4.0 million ounces of gold reserves as of June 30, 2018. Teranga applies a rigorous capital allocation framework for its investment decisions to execute on its growth strategy relying on a combination of cash on the balance sheet, free cash flow from operations and debt.

Steadfast in its commitment to set the benchmark for responsible mining, Teranga operates in accordance with the highest international standards and aims to act as a catalyst for sustainable economic, environmental, and community development as it strives to create value for all of its stakeholders. Teranga is a member of the United Nations Global Compact and a leading member of the multi-stakeholder group responsible for the submission of the first Senegalese Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative revenue report.

Contact Information

Richard Young

President & CEO

T: +1 416 594 0000 | E: ryoung@terangagold.com

Trish Moran

Head of Investor Relations

T: +1 416 607 4507 | E: tmoran@terangagold.com





APPENDIX 1

Table 1: Ma Main Prospect  Selected Drill Highlights

Hole # Northing Easting Elevation Azimuth Dip EOH

(m) Interval

(m) Core

length

(m) Grade

(g/t Au) GHDD-445 1237559 452165 400 021 -45 84 62-70 8 9.44 * Including 68-69 1 68.00 * 62-70 8 4.70 ** Including 68-69 1 30.00 ** 76-78 2 2.23 GHDD-446 1237595 452182 395 021 -45 65 48-51 3 1.13 GHDD-447 1237573 452204 395 021 -45 80 46-47 1 3.63 54-56 2 3.55 GHDD-448 1237605 452222 399 021 -45 50 29-34 5 3.09 GHDD-449 1237591 452251 400 021 -45 50 14-15 1 10.46 32-36 4 2.47 GHDD-451 1237484 452270 408 021 -45 130 10-13 3 2.32 GHDD-457 1237570 451875 380 025 -45 190 100-102 2 3.47 147-148 1 3.37 GHDD-458 1237570 451940 383 025 -45 167 132-142 10 1.91 Including 135-138 3 3.89 GHDD-459 1237526 451962 384 025 -45 180 119-122 3 2.38 157-162 5 2.57 GHDD-460 1237536 452017 386 025 -45 164 92-94 2 1.87 114-115 1 5.10 120-128 8 14.23 * Including 126-127 1 94.05 * 120-128 8 6.23 ** Including 126-127 1 30.00 ** 131-142 11 3.05 Including 134-137 3 5.68 GHDD-461 1237470 452028 390 025 -45 200 125-131 6 2.57 139-147 8 2.42 172-173 1 4.41 GHDD-462 1237443 452105 395 025 -45 181 118-122 4 1.27 126-135 9 2.15 172-173 1 3.85 GHDD-463 1237418 452134 405 025 -45 194 122-135 13 2.13 Including 131-134 3 4.67 156-157 1 6.17 GHDD-464 1237298 452156 417 025 -45 212 20-22 2 1.43 131-138 7 2.17 141-143 2 2.26 149-150 1 2.68 GHDD-465 1237229 452289 432 025 -45 215 168-174 6 2.77 GHDD-466 1237265 452308 431 025 -45 170 133-141 8 2.38 Including 134-136 2 5.87 GHDD-467 1237242 452338 428 025 -45 161 126-129 3 6.55 Including 128-129 1 18.39 136-145 9 3.55 GHDD-468 1237105 452563 401 025 -45 182 142-145 3 1.07 155-157 2 1.19 GHDD-469 1237097 452646 389 025 -45 179 65-68 3 1.28 84-87 3 1.54 118-127 9 1.06 159-163 4 2.02 GHDD-470 1237098 452690 391 025 -45 130 60-71 11 1.57 Including 61-65 4 2.74 114-117 3 1.57 GHRC-096 1237379 452403 436 025 -45 70 11-15 4 2.66 GHRC-097 1237279 452359 426 025 -45 125 94-100 6 4.58 Including 96-98 2 9.40 GHRC-098 1237378 452360 436 025 -45 60 27-30 3 1.98 35-42 7 2.66 Including 37-39 2 7.12 GHRC-099 1237450 452063 388 025 -45 192 136-145 9 1.18 Including 138-140 2 3.43 GHRC-100 1237573 451986 385 025 -45 135 66-69 3 1.25 102-104 2 1.98 120-122 2 1.68 GHRC-101 1237608 451961 384 025 -45 109 48-50 2 2.90 105-108 3 4.56 GHRC-102 1237591 451923 382 025 -45 156 73-78 5 1.96 91-93 2 12.32 131-134 3 1.33 GHRC-103 1237732 451988 385 025 -45 78 11-20 9 1.52 Including 16-20 4 2.63 GHRC-104 1237609 451891 381 025 -45 150 66-69 3 4.65 90-94 4 1.19 130-134 4 2.25 GHRC-109 1236500 453146 367 025 -55 95 48-54 6 1.66 GHRC-110 1236544 453135 366 025 -55 84 6-8 2 3.06 33-36 3 2.77 55-56 1 2.51 GHRC-111 1236596 453053 368 025 -55 100 40-41 1 1.94 GHRC-112 1236687 453010 369 025 -55 95 43-51 8 1.54 Including 44-46 2 4.03 GHRC-113 1236721 453065 368 025 -45 75 27-31 4 1.67 GHRC-114 1236826 453011 366 025 -55 50 20-26 6 1.32 GHRC-115 1236797 452884 372 025 -55 100 79-87 8 1.05 GHRC-117 1236905 452883 374 025 -55 60 15-21 6 1.08 GHRC-118 1236904 452842 372 025 -55 95 28-30 2 1.19 33-36 3 1.77 GHRC-120 1237177 452685 405 025 -45 110 37-39 2 1.31 40-44 4 1.07 GHRC-121 1237183 452775 395 025 -45 72 12-15 3 1.12 GHRC-122 1237094 452601 396 025 -45 177 87-88 1 3.63 103-106 3 5.83 Including 104-105 1 16.05 110-111 1 2.58 150-152 2 3.71 GHRC-123 1237228 452378 420 025 -45 147 130-135 5 3.04 GHRC-124 1237603 451848 379 025 -45 177 44-45 1 30.95 * 44-45 1 30.00 ** 83-85 2 1.30 86-88 2 1.37 107-111 4 1.34 137-146 9 5.17 GHRC-125 1237715 451784 376 025 -45 123 17-18 1 2.02 GHRC-126 1237692 451735 375 025 -45 170 45-48 3 10.20 Including 45-46 1 28.33 90-93 3 3.69 Including 90-91 1 9.77 112-114 2 1.63 117-126 9 4.05 158-159 1 2.93 GHRC-127 1237678 451775 377 025 -45 162 47-49 2 3.77 117-119 2 2.08 GHRC-128 1237141 452534 406 025 -45 145 80-81 1 23.74 GHRC-129 1237224 452485 417 025 -55 138 86-93 7 1.26 GHRC-130 1237305 452532 422 025 -55 97 11-15 4 2.24 GHRC-131 1237178 452819 384 025 -45 60 1-17 17 1.28 Including 12-16 4 2.83 GHRC-132 1237371 452226 426 025 -53 140 116-119 3 2.03 133-139 6 3.65 136-137 1 17.39 Intervals calculated with a 0.4 g/t Au cut-off and 2 metres maximum internal dilution. True widths are unknown. UTM's are WGS84-30N. Intervals with grade x thickness (gram x metre) of 10 or higher are highlighted in bold.

*Uncut grades

**Cut grades  individual assays above 30.0 g/t gold are cut to 30.0 g/t gold

Table 2: Ma North Prospect  Selected Drill Highlights

Hole # Northing Easting Elevation Azimuth Dip EOH

(m) Interval

(m) Core

length

(m) Grade

(g/t Au) GHDD-412 1237848 452761 414 310 -50 101 31-32 1 1.63 59-61 2 2.18 GHDD-416 1237921 451750 376 010 -50 173 162-165 3 4.48 GHDD-417 1237977 452011 384 010 -45 61 30-34 4 1.83 GHDD-418 1237878 452127 407 010 -45 113 79-83 4 1.90 88-101 13 2.25 Including 89-95 6 3.57 GHDD-419 1237801 452421 425 010 -45 152 89-92 3 1.28 141-146 5 2.63 Including 142-144 2 4.98 GHDD-420 1237779 452465 433 010 -50 179 101-103 2 2.01 GHDD-441 1237791 452510 427 010 -45 110 75-76 1 1.59 GHDD-443 1237769 452587 431 010 -45 116 90-91 1 2.12 GHDD-453 1237880 451997 384 010 -60 120 93-95 2 1.26 106-111 5 2.79 GHDD-454 1237865 452029 387 010 -65 128 115-117 2 1.68 GHDD-455 1237844 452123 419 010 -65 155 110-125 15 2.28 Including 119-124 5 4.49 GHDD-456 1237820 452156 420 010 -50 152 103-107 4 1.78 118-131 13 4.38 Including 120-125 5 7.69 GHRC-105 1237826 452191 422 010 -50 150 18-19 1 3.17 113-120 7 3.58 Including 115-117 2 8.00 GHRC-106 1237864 452096 405 010 -45 120 94-96 2 2.11 99-104 5 4.62 Including 99-101 2 8.41 GHRC-107 1237984 451969 382 010 -45 60 30-31 1 2.21 36-42 6 2.23 GHRC-108 1238007 451931 382 010 -45 50 36-39 3 4.05 Intervals calculated with a 0.4 g/t Au cut-off and 2 metres maximum internal dilution. True widths are unknown. UTM's are WGS84-30N. Intervals with grade x thickness (gram x metre) of 10 or higher are highlighted in bold.

Table 3: Jackhammer Hill Prospect  Selected Drill Highlights

Hole # Northing Easting Elevation Azimuth Dip EOH

(m) Interval

(m) Core

length

(m) Grade

(g/t Au) GHDD-422 1229838 452876 333 315 -55 185 42-44 2 1.48 102-115 13 1.28 Including 105-107 2 4.11 134-137 3 1.43 139-140 1 1.64 152-160 8 4.37 Including 153-156 3 9.60 GHDD-423 1229884 452885 333 315 -55 150 87-90 3 4.17 114-115 1 1.74 GHDD-425 1230001 452965 336 315 -55 140 6-7 1 3.70 42-44 2 2.03 GHDD-426 1229949 453016 342 315 -55 226 58-60 2 18.79 * 58-60 2 15.82 ** 115-118 3 3.34 122-125 3 6.49 131-134 3 2.56 151-154 3 1.75 180-185 5 2.34 192-195 3 1.12 200-202 2 1.04 204-206 2 1.11 GHDD-427 1230013 452980 337 315 -55 135 33-35 2 1.41 GHDD-428 1229964 453029 344 315 -55 221 145-148 3 1.11 182-185 3 1.26 187-204 17 1.83 Including 189-192 3 3.93 And 196-199 3 3.57 GHDD-429 1229843 452955 340 310 -55 242 161-168 7 2.27 Including 165-167 2 5.34 GHDD-430 1229891 452992 345 315 -55 260 117-118 1 4.41 211-227 16 2.05 Including 211-214 3 4.14 GHDD-432 1229322 452518 312 325 -50 140 16-17 1 2.55 90-94 4 1.65 GHDD-433 1229288 452473 311 325 -50 125 98-100 2 2.96 117-118 1 7.75 GHDD-436 1229962 452971 337 315 -55 182 60-61 1 3.28 120-122 2 1.61 147-149 2 1.90 160-162 2 2.02 GHDD-437 1230131 452957 338 315 -50 179 44-46 2 1.11 149-155 6 1.01 GHDD-440 1229682 452790 327 315 -55 120 82-84 2 2.54 106-107 1 4.36 GHDD-471 1229638 452766 320 315 -55 119 85-88 3 1.45 GHDD-472 1229615 452741 319 315 -55 116 79-81 2 1.51 GHDD-474 1229368 452531 313 325 -50 101 8-9 1 2.73 62-64 2 1.31 68-69 1 4.10 GHRC-086 1229935 452830 327 315 -55 72 30-42 12 5.63 * Including 30-36 6 10.47 * Including 30-31 1 35.02 * 30-42 12 5.21 ** Including 30-36 6 9.64 ** Including 30-31 1 30.00 ** 47-49 2 1.22 58-60 2 5.19 GHRC-087 1229342 452436 311 325 -50 78 28-30 2 2.81 GHRC-088 1229379 452481 313 325 -50 80 14-21 7 1.86 21-22 No Sample 22-23 1 4.57 GHRC-089 1229467 452572 314 310 -55 60 15-20 5 1.70 GHRC-090 1229493 452606 315 320 -55 50 28-36 8 1.03 GHRC-091 1229415 452605 314 325 -55 110 89-95 6 1.28 Including 93-95 2 2.67 GHRC-093 1230206 452875 337 315 -55 75 43-46 3 1.47 54-58 4 1.31 GHRC-094 1229958 452863 328 310 -45 70 26-32 6 1.58 35-50 15 8.82 * Including 36-41 5 22.21 * Including 36-39 3 32.89 * 35-50 15 8.20 ** Including 36-41 5 20.36 ** Including 36-39 3 29.80 ** Intervals calculated with a 0.4 g/t Au cut-off and 2 metres maximum internal dilution. True widths are unknown. UTM's are WGS84-30N. Intervals with grade x thickness (gram x metre) of 10 or higher are highlighted in bold.

*Uncut grades

**Cut grades  individual assays above 30.0 g/t gold are cut to 30.0 g/t gold





APPENDIX 2

Figure 1: Golden Hill Property  Prospect Location Plan Map

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e9125af7-92d0-4fdb-86fd-f47070c9a1ff

Figure 2: Ma Main - Plan Map

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/397920de-3c9d-4dc6-8b72-4a2d05077d73

Figure 3: Ma Main Prospect - Representative Drill Section (A-A 0+60 E)

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2c761442-787e-4a37-a125-69db12c4aa05

Figure 4: Ma Main Prospect - Representative Drill Section (B-B 2+40 E)

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6aa41e2d-ee51-4ea9-90d2-d5d950134322

Figure 5: Ma Main Prospect  Representative Section (C-C 6+60 E)

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2ae1887f-b07d-4f39-819d-39c475ce86c1

Figure 6: Ma North Prospect - Plan Map

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1e2c29f3-0e77-48d4-a751-ed3b442034d4

Figure 7: Ma North Prospect  Representative Drill Section

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1b894180-3ccd-4fac-a16e-86c4148175ab

Figure 8: Jackhammer Hill Prospect  Plan Map

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f2dbb100-5f53-43c4-857c-8a453b7032cb

Figure 9: Jackhammer Hill Prospect  Representative Section

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/10241b88-39eb-44ab-8da3-463630f1142dTORONTO, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LSC Lithium Corporation (LSC or together with its subsidiaries, the Company) (TSXV:LSC) is pleased to announce that it has completed the Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for its Pozuelos-Pastos Grandes (PPG) Project.



PEA HIGHLIGHTS

US$2,994/t Li 2 CO 3 US$338m US$1,036m 34 % Avg Operating Costs

(incl. 5% contingency) Initial Capital

(incl. $59m contingency) NPV8% (Pre-tax) IRR (Pre-tax) US$125m 20,000tpa US$762m 30 % After Tax Annual Free Cash Flow Production of Battery Grade Li 2 CO 3 NPV8% (Post-tax) IRR (Post-tax)

US$762 million after-tax NPV at 8% discount rate and IRR of 30%

CAPEX estimate of US$338 million with 34% of estimate at PFS level accuracy

OPEX of US$2,994/t of lithium carbonate over life of mine

Mine life of at least 20 years with initial production in 2021 and steady state in 2024

Designed for production of 20,000tpa of battery grade lithium carbonate

Combined PPG Project Resource of 2,617,000 tonnes LCE in Measured and Indicated category and 938,500 tonnes LCE in the Inferred category i

Process development supported by benchscale test work. Pozuelos brine chemistry, in particular is amenable to excellent process performance

LSCs President and CEO, Ian Stalker, noted, These results support our view that PPG is one of the most advanced and economically viable lithium projects in Argentina. Operating costs are in the lowest quartile globally, the capital requirements are manageable, and we are excited by the large resource, which leaves room for future upsizing.



"This important development milestone will be further supported by the Environmental Impact Statement which we intend to submit to the Salta mining secretary before the end of the year. We look forward to 2019, when further pilot testing and geotechnical work at the project will support further data for a full Feasibility Study.

The PEA is based upon brine grades across LSCs Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources only. Mineral Resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no certainty that the PPG Project envisioned by the PEA will be realized. The PEA is preliminary in nature and includes Inferred Mineral Resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves.



Unique Project Advantages

The PPG Project enjoys certain unique advantages, which support a rapid development schedule, and low capital and operating costs:

LSC controls over 90% of the area of the Pozuelos salar and its surroundings. This advantageous position makes siting of infrastructure, extraction of fresh water and preparation of brine-extraction models extremely simple. In this way, sustainable pumping of brine can be ensured.

Geotechnical conditions in the mature portion of the Pozuelos salar are such that construction of evaporation ponds can occur on the salar surface at low cost.

For the two reasons above, it was decided to locate all infrastructure at Pozuelos, with only extraction wells and a pipeline located at Pastos Grandes.

Pozuelos proximity to the existing Fenix gas pipeline ensures that only a 26km connection needs to be constructed. LSC has been allocated gas capacity on this pipeline by the gas supply company.

At least three separate sources of fresh water have been identified and road access is readily available.

The brine chemistry of the Pozuelos and Pastos Grandes salars complement each other. Test work has shown that an efficient evaporation path can be pursued to produce a high grade and high purity concentrate for feeding into the lithium plant ensuring high recovery rates.

The Argentine fiscal regime is supportive of mining projects. A reduced corporate tax rate of 25% will be effective for the industry from 2020. A royalty of 3% is applied to all exported products. Salta Province in particular, is actively encouraging mining investment and therefore requires no additional royalties or government participation in the project at this time.

Pozuelos hosts no communities in the immediate vicinity or environmentally sensitive flora or fauna. This increases the likelihood of a fast and efficient project approval and implementation.

LSC developed a processing method that is based on conventional and proven operations for lithium brines.

GHD was selected in June 2018 as the preferred engineering company for the execution of the PEA after an extensive selection process, where LSC solicited expressions of interests and proposals from 14 different companies across the globe. GHD offers extensive experience in the design and implementation of lithium projects with brine feedstock. GHD has experience in Argentinas Puna plateau, working with Orocobre as the preferred engineering service provider for the expansion project at Sales de Jujuy operation, as well as providing services for Neo Lithiums Tres Quebradas project. GHD also supports major lithium producers in Chile and Australia along with other lithium developers in the South American region.

1. Capital Costs

Capital costs were estimated by GHD based on initial civil material take-offs, a detailed mechanical equipment list and budget offers for major equipment. The accuracy of the capital cost estimate is +/- 25%. A summary is shown in Table 1. LSC made the decision to develop the primary concentration ponds to a higher level of accuracy. Additional engineering was undertaken to support an estimate for this infrastructure that is at Pre-feasibility Study (PFS) level.

Table 1 - Capital Cost Summary

Description US$ '000's Production Wells and Primary Ponds* 88,862 Secondary and Tertiary Ponds and Chemical Treatment 48,806 Lithium Carbonate Plant 33,194 Reagents and Services 23,808 Infrastructure 42,888 Direct Capex 237,558 Indirect Costs 41,418 Contingency 58,672 Total Capex 337,648 *Engineering and Cost Estimate at PFS Level

Brine supply from Pastos Grandes, as well as ponds and equipment for salt harvesting, have been deferred to Years 2 and 3 of operations respectively. This equates to a deferred capital cost of $33m (or 10% of initial capex), which will be funded from operating cash flows during project ramp up.

2. Operating Costs

Operating costs were estimated by GHD based on information provided and subject to several assumptions, and are shown in Table 2. The accuracy for the operating cost estimate is +/- 25%. The operating costs benefit from major fundamental advantages, which include:

High expected process recoveries based on an understanding of the chemical evolution. This has been reviewed and confirmed by process test work undertaken by LSC.

A high quality brine feedstock from Pozuelos salar, which is complemented by Pastos Grandes chemistry.

Optimisation within the lithium plant through the use of Continuous Ion Exchange circuits.

Table 2 - Summary of Operating Costs

Description US$ / t Li 2 CO 3 Reagents 1,431 Salt Removal and Transport 440 Energy 160 Manpower 314 Catering & Camp Services 106 Maintenance 144 Consumables 25 Product Transport to Antofagasta Port 115 Direct Costs Subtotal 2,735 Contingency (5%) 137 General & Administration 122 Indirect Costs 259 Total OPEX 2,994

Sustaining capital was estimated by GHD to average approximately $373/t and at current prices, royalties are approximately $360/t lithium carbonate. Total all-in sustaining costs are therefore expected to be $3727/t. This places the PPG Project at the bottom end of the current production cost curve for lithium carbonate. See the following link for the current production cost .

3. Price Assumptions and Economic Analysis



3.1 Price Assumptions

The PPG Project has been designed to produce 20,000 tons per annum of lithium carbonate that meets battery grade specifications.

LSC has reviewed five publicly available price forecast scenarios, which have been concluded between May 2017 and August 2018 as part of technical studies for other lithium projects. The forecasts include analysis undertaken by signumBOX, Roskill, Global Lithium LLC and Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.

It was found that long-term price forecasts used in other projects vary between $11,800-$14,500/t lithium carbonate, with an average forecast price of approximately $13,500/t. This compares with the current free on board (fob) price achieved by an Argentinian lithium producer of $14,700/t (Orocobre, Nov 2018).

LSC applied a conservative long-term price forecast near the bottom end of the range of price forecasts used by other project developers. A price of $12,000/t will be used for the project base case. A downside scenario of $10,000/t and an upside scenario of $15,000/t were also considered.

Table 3 - Battery Grade Lithium Carbonate Price used for the PPG Project Economic Evaluation

US$/t Li 2 CO 3 2018 (US$) 2019(US$) Long Term (US$) Base 12,000 12,000 12,000 High 15,000 15,000 15,000 Low 10,000 10,000 10,000

3.2 Economic Analysis

A Technical Economic Model was prepared by GHD for the PPG Project. The model determined before and after tax project economics in real terms.

A tax rate of 25% and a royalty of 3% was applied to the gross market value of the product.

Using base case price assumptions, and applying a discount rate of 8%, the after-tax project NPV is $762m, with an IRR of 30%. Annual free cash flows are expected to be approximately $125m.

The pre-tax NPV is $1,036m, with an IRR of 34% and annual free cash flows of approximately $165m.

3.3 Sensitivity Analysis

Sensitivity analyses were undertaken for product price, capex, production rate and discount rate. These sensitivities on after-tax economics can be seen graphically at this link .

The project economics are most sensitive to product price. The after-tax NPV 8% for the low product price scenario is $515m and $1,135m in the high price scenario.

The net present value is least sensitive to capex, with a 20% increase in capex, reducing the NPV 8% by less than $70m or less than 10%. The after-tax NPV 10% is US$604m; the NPV 12% is $478m and the NPV 6% is $962m. Reducing production to 16,000 tons per annum, reduces the NPV 8% to $540m.

4. Mineral Resource Estimate

A combined PPG Project resource estimate is shown in Table 4. Combined Measured and Indicated Resources are 2.6Mt LCE, 1.7Mt from Pozuelos and 0.9Mt from Pastos Grandes. Total PPG Inferred Resources are 0.9Mt LCE, 0.6Mt from Pozuelos and 0.3Mt from Pastos Grandes.

Table 4 - Combined PPG Project Resource Estimate

Resource Classification Total Brine Volume Li Ca Mg K SO 4 RBRC Available Brine4 Li (tons) LCE Equivalent3 million m3 mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l mg/l % Million m3 Metric tonnes Metric tonnes PASTOS GRANDES1

Measured 7,353 465 682 3,093 4,783 9,847 4.83 355 168,090 894,720 Indicated 508 452 727 2,909 4,479 9,533 3.51 18 8,335 44,360 M&I 7,862 464 685 3,081 4,763 9,827 4.74 373 176,425 939,080 Inferred 2,515 467 681 3,084 4,775 9,879 4.81 121 57,760 307,500 POZUELOS2

Measured 4,713 470 1,757 2,652 4,143 6,570 8.41 396.4 180,000 958,000 Indicated 4,260 544 1,054 3,216 2,761 11,359 5.84 248.9 135,155 719,500 M&I 8,973 505 1,423 2,920 3,487 8,843 7.19 645.3 315,155 1,678,000 Inferred 4,937 518 1,170 2,948 2,240 8,771 4.64 229.3 118,603 631,000

For resource estimate details see Technical Report on the Pastos Grandes Lithium Project dated October 25, 2018 with an effective date of October 19, 2018 prepared for LSC as filed on SEDAR. For resource estimate details see LSC press release dated November 27, 2018 LSC Announces an Updated Mineral Resource Estimate for the Pozuelos Project as filed on SEDAR. The effective date of the resource estimate for salar de Pozuelos is November 22, 2018. A technical report on the updated resource estimate for salar de Pozuelos will be issued within 45 days of the November 27, 2018 press release. Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE) calculated by applying a factor of 5.323 to lithium metal resource estimate. Totals for M&I and Inferred Resources have been rounded. Available brine volume within each resource category calculated by applying the Relative Brine Release Capacity (RBRC) factor to total brine volume. RBRC value is the weighted average for the resource classification category. Resources have been classified in accordance with CIM mineral resource definitions, May 25, 2014. Assay values have been rounded to nearest whole number. Resources have been estimated by Louis Fourie, P. Geo., Pr.Nat. Sci., under the direction of D. Hains, P. Geo. Resources have been estimated using a cut-off grade of 330 mg/L lithium for Pozuelos and 100 mg/L lithium for Pastos Grandes based on economic considerations related to estimated production costs for brine extraction. Mineral resources which are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic value. There is no assurance that additional exploration will result in the conversion of Mineral Resources to Mineral Reserves. Inferred Mineral Resources are considered as too speculative to have economic criteria applied to them. There is no assurance that additional exploration will result in the conversion of Inferred Mineral Resources to Indicated or Measured Mineral Resources.

5. Process Development

The process development was undertaken in-house by LSC and includes applications from mineral processing technologies used in other commodities. This LSC process was reviewed by GHD prior to incorporation into the PEA. The salt chemistry in the evaporation stages of the process has been tested in small basins in the Puna. Batch ion exchange and carbonation have been tested at SGS in Perth, Australia.

This link shows images of the test work undertaken both of the front end concentration process in Argentina Puna conditions and the ion exchange test work undertaken at a laboratory in Perth, Australia.

6. Infrastructure



Other than brine extraction wells and the pipeline connecting the two salars, no infrastructure is planned at Pastos Grandes, with all project infrastructure to be located at Pozuelos. This link shows a general arrangement drawing of the project infrastructure.

Key project infrastructure components include:

Brine Extraction wells located at Pastos Grandes and Pozuelos. Initially, a total of 15 pumping sites are estimated to feed into the primary evaporation ponds.



770ha of primary evaporation ponds supported by 40ha of auxiliary and washate ponds.



110ha of secondary and tertiary ponds and associated equipment for chemical reagent addition, entrainment recovery and other mechanical treatment.



A lithium plant, including boron, magnesium and calcium removal, carbonation circuit, micronisation, bagging and product storage.



An employee camp, offices and warehouse, partially leveraging off the existing camp at Pozuelos.



A power generation plant, consisting of 7 x 1.5MW gas engines and cogeneration facilities for steam.



A 26km long 4 (100mm) gas pipeline tying into the Fenix gas pipeline to the west of the salar.



Salt storage stockpiles both on and off the salar for salt harvested from the primary and later ponds respectively.

7. Implementation Schedule and Next Steps

GHD and LSC jointly developed an implementation schedule which is shown in the attached link . First lithium carbonate production is expected in 2021, with steady state achieved in 2024.

LSC intends to start field work in the new year, with construction of pilot plants and geotechnical testing at Pozuelos. The Feasibility Study is currently scheduled to start in Q2 2019.

Qualified Person

This press release is based upon information prepared and approved by Donald H. Hains, P.Geo. Mr. Hains is a qualified person, as defined in NI 43-101 and is independent of LSC. Mr. Hains has verified all sampling, analytical and test data underlying the information contained in this press release by on-site inspection during drilling, brine sampling; review of drill core photographs to verify lithology; review of certified assay certificates against the assay data base and review of pump test data. There are no drilling, sampling, recovery or other factors that could materially affect the accuracy and reliability of the data.

An NI 43-101 report is required to be filed, in conjunction with the disclosure of this PEA and the Pozuelos Resource Update, within 45 days of this press release.

The information contained in this news release relating to the PEA has been reviewed and is approved by Lawrence D. Henchel, P.Geo., of Stantec C International LLC. Mr. Henchel is a Qualified Person as the term is defined in NI 43-101 and is independent of LSC. GHD of Santiago, Chile, has also reviewed and approved the presentation of the PEA information in this news release.



ABOUT GHD:

GHD is one of the worlds leading professional services companies operating in the global markets of energy and resources, water, environment, property and buildings, and transportation. Established over ninety years ago and privately owned by its employees, GHD delivers engineering, architecture, environmental and construction services to public and private sector clients across five continents and the Pacific region. Committed to creating lasting community benefit, GHD connects the knowledge, skill and experience of nearly 10,000 diverse people with innovative practices, technical capabilities and robust systems. www.ghd.com

ABOUT LSC LITHIUM CORPORATION:

LSC Lithium has amassed a large portfolio of prospective lithium rich salars and is focused on developing its material projects: Pozuelos and Pastos Grandes Project, Rio Grande Project and Salinas Grandes Project. All LSC tenements are located in the Lithium Triangle, an area at the intersection of Argentina, Bolivia and Chile where the worlds most abundant lithium brine deposits are found. LSC Lithium has a land package portfolio totaling approximately 300,000 hectares, which represents extensive lithium prospective salar holdings in Argentina.

For further information please contact:

LSC Lithium Corporation

Ian Stalker

President & Chief Executive Officer

40 University Avenue, Suite 605, Toronto

ON Canada M5J 1T1

+416 306 8380

Email: info@lsclithium.com

Web: lsclithium.com

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this news release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or future performance, including statements as to the realization of the project advantages set out herein, including access to infrastructure; ongoing government support; ability and feasibility of building a pipeline; ability, timing and likelihood of construction at PPG; accuracy of estimation of capital and operating costs; timing of commencing a feasibility study and field work; ability and likelihood of using combined resource of PPG in the operation outlined in the PEA; likelihood of upsizing the project; timing for submitting the EIS; the ability to convert mineral resources to mineral reserves to be used in operations; timing of production and likelihood of producing in 2021; likelihood of meeting target production rate at PPG; ability and timing of advancing LSCs properties through various stages of exploration and resource development, and any other matters relating to the exploration, production and development of PPG and LSCs other properties. The use of any of the words could, anticipate, intend, expect, believe, will, projected, estimated and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on LSC's current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Whether actual results and developments will conform with LSC's expectations is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties including factors underlying management's assumptions, such as risks related to: drill program results; title, permitting and regulatory risks; exploration and the establishment of any resources or reserves on LSC properties; volatility in lithium prices and the market for lithium; exchange rate fluctuations; volatility in LSCs share price; the requirement for significant additional funds for development that may not be available; changes in national and local government legislation, including permitting and licensing regimes and taxation policies and the enforcement thereof; regulatory, political or economic developments in Argentina or elsewhere; litigation; title, permit or license disputes related to interests on any of the properties in which the Company holds an interest; excessive cost escalation as well as development, permitting, infrastructure, operating or technical difficulties on any of the Company's properties; risks and hazards associated with the business of development and mining on any of the Company's properties. Actual future results may differ materially. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof and LSC is not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Because of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein. For more information, see the Company's filing statement on SEDAR at www.sedar.com .

The PEA was prepared to broadly quantify the PPG Project's capital and operating cost parameters and to provide guidance on the type and scale of future project engineering and development work that will be needed to ultimately define the project's likelihood of a positive feasibility determination and optimal production rate. It was not prepared to be used as a valuation of the project nor should it be considered to be a final feasibility study on which a commercial production decision could be made as mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The capital and operating cost estimates which were used have been developed only to an approximate order of magnitude based on generally understood capital cost to production level relationships, and although they are based on engineering studies, these are preliminary so the ultimate costs may vary widely from the amounts set out in the PEA. This could materially adversely impact the projected economics of the project. As is normal at this stage of a project, data in some areas was incomplete and estimates were developed based solely on the expertise of the Company's employees and consultants. At this level of engineering, the criteria, methods and estimates are preliminary and result in a high level of subjective judgment being employed. There can be no assurance that the potential results contained in the PEA will be realized.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange Inc. nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

The TSX Venture Exchange Inc. has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.

_________________________

i This Measured and Indicated figure is comprised of 1,678,000 tonnes LCE from Pozuelos with average grade of 505mg/l Li and 939,080 tonnes LCE from Pastos Grandes with average grade of 464mg/l Li. This Inferred figure is comprised of 631,000 tonnes LCE from Pozuelos with average grade of 518 mg/l Li and 307,500 tonnes LCE from Pastos Grandes with average grade of 467mg/l Li. See Technical Report titled Mineral Resource Estimate and Technical Report on the Salar de Pastos Grandes Project, Salta Province, Argentina with an effective date of October 28, 2018 filed on the Companys SEDAR profile. See also the press release of LSC dated November 27, 2018 filed on the Companys SEDAR profile for the updated resource estimate of Pozuelos. Numbers have been rounded and may not add.French English

Paris, 4th December, 2018 - Atos, a global leader in digital transformation, today holds its 5th Atos Quantum Scientific Council meeting in Bezons. The members of the Scientific Council made of universally recognized quantum physicists and mathematicians reviewed the two research and development projects selected for the "Quantum Flagship" - a one-billion-euro EU-funded initiative to develop quantum technologies - and acknowledged the European leadership of Atos in the quantum field.

As part of the "Quantum Flagship" Initiative in the EU H2020 program, Atos will bring its expertise in two key research areas: Quantum computing and Quantum simulations.

The AQTION project - Advanced quantum computing with trapped ions - aims at realizing a fully-automated ion-trap quantum computer to solve scientific and commercially interesting problems beyond the capabilities of classical computers. Atos will bring to the project its powerful programming platform, the Atos Quantum Learning Machine and work on finding new industrial quantum applications. The project led by the University of Innsbruck in consortium with other major academia and industry players, supports Atos' commitment to develop a true 50-qubit quantum accelerator before 5 years.

The PASQuanS project - Programmable Atomic Large-Scale Quantum Simulation - intends to create the well-advanced neutral atom and ion-based quantum simulation platforms up to 500 atoms, far beyond both the state-of-the-art and the reach of classical computation. Within this project led by Max Planck Institute of Munich and Institut D'Optique Graduate School, Atos is in charge of the application part with key European industrial partners like Total, Bosch, Airbus, French EdF, and Siemens.

Following the Atos Quantum Council Meeting, Thierry Breton, Atos Chairman and CEO said:

"Having two of our Quantum projects selected by the "Quantum Flagship Initiative" launched by the European Union is a great achievement and establishes Atos as a leader in quantum computing. Our teams of researchers - supported by a world-renowned Scientific Council - have developed the most powerful quantum simulator on the market, which is now adopted by the world's most prestigious universities and centres. Thanks to our global R&D laboratory dedicated to quantum computing, we are fully committed to make Atos and Europe leaders in this already major technology".

Quantum computing should make it possible, in the years to come, to deal with the explosion of data, which Big Data and the Internet of Things bring about. With its targeted and unprecedented compute acceleration capabilities, quantum computing should also promote advances in deep learning, algorithmics and artificial intelligence for areas as varied as pharmaceuticals or new materials. To make progress on these topics, Atos intends to also put in place several partnerships with research centers and universities around the world.

For more information: Atos Quantum

***

Media contact :

Sylvie Raybaud | sylvie.raybaud@atos.net | +33 6 95 91 96 71 | @Sylvie_Raybaud

About Atos

Atos is a global leader in digital transformation with 120,000 employees in 73 countries and annual revenue of  13 billion. European number one in Cloud, Cybersecurity and High-Performance Computing, the Group provides end-to-end Orchestrated Hybrid Cloud, Big Data, Business Applications and Digital Workplace solutions through its Digital Transformation Factory, as well as transactional services through Worldline, the European leader in the payment industry.

With its cutting-edge technologies and industry knowledge, Atos supports the digital transformation of its clients across all business sectors.

The Group is the Worldwide Information Technology Partner for the Olympic & Paralympic Games and operates under the brands Atos, Atos Syntel, Unify and Worldline. Atos is listed on the CAC40 Paris stock indexDublin, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Natural Food Colors Market" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



Global natural food colors market reached USD 1,126.5 Million in 2016 and is expected to gain revenue of USD 1,657.7 Million by the end of 2023, expanding at a CAGR of 5.8% over the forecast period i.e. 2018-2023.



The demand for food and beverages is expected to dominate the application segment and is anticipated to have a share of more than 46.7% by 2023. By product type segment, the demand for soft drink natural food colors is estimated to remain highest and is expected to propel the growth of the market of natural food colors across the globe.



Geographically, Asia Pacific dominated the global natural food colors market by contributing a market share of 31.2% in 2016. The market of natural food colors is majorly driven on the back of stringent regulations by the government authorities on the manufacturing of synthetic food colors and rising awareness among the population regarding the advantages of natural food colors. Additionally, rising number of food industries and offering of new food products are likely to spur the demand for natural food colors in both the region over the forecast period i.e. 2016-2023.



Europe & North-America natural food colors market size is projected to surpass USD 907.3 Million by 2023. Increasing awareness about the harmful effects of synthetic colors and the chemical used in manufacturing of such colors are substantially raising the demand for natural food colors in numerous end-use industries.



Government banned trading of synthetic colors in several regions such as Europe and Japan has resulted in restricted manufacturing of synthetic colors. This factor intensified the demand for natural food colors in various end-use industries. Several initiatives and promotions are carried out by various authorities in order to grow awareness towards eco-friendly and healthy natural food colors is expected to exhibit a positive impact on the market of natural food colors in near future.



Moreover, technological advancements in food industries to procure sustainable solutions for the enhancement of packaged food are fostering the growth of natural food colors market. Emergence of food industries owing to rising population and their daily needs of food and growing number of food products are further likely to bolster the demand for natural food colors across the globe over the forecast period i.e. 2016-2023.



Demand for Anthocyanin and Paprika to remain dominant across the globe; and these two types are projected to expand at a CAGR of 6.3% & 5.2% respectively during 2018-2023.



On the other hand, the market share of curcumin natural food colors market is expected to decrease to 9.3% by 2023 from 10.1% in 2016. The major reason behind this decline is the increase in the market share other natural food colors. Although, the demand for Curcumin natural food colors from product segment will help the segment to maintain its dominance over the forecast period.



U.S., Germany, China and Japan are expected to be the biggest market for natural food colors over the forecast period i.e. 2018-2023. China and India alone had a total share of 64.2% in the revenue of Asia-Pacific natural food colors market in 2016.



Key Topics Covered:



1. Research Methodology



2. Executive Summary



3. Global Natural Food Colors Market Size (USD Million) and Forecast, 2016-2024



4. Market Dynamics & Its Impact Analysis

4.1. Growth Drivers

4.2. Challenges

4.3. Trends



5. Global Market Segmentation Analysis

5.1. By Product Market Size (USD Million) & Y-O-Y Growth Analysis (%), 2016-2024

5.2. By End User Industries Market Size (USD Million) & Y-O-Y Growth Analysis (%), 2016-2024

5.3. By Application Market Size (USD Million) & Y-O-Y Growth Analysis (%), 2016-2024

5.4. By Region Market Size (USD Million), Y-O-Y Growth & Share Analysis (%), 2016-2024



6. Competitive Landscape



GNT International

ITC

Chr. Hansen Holdings

Kalsec Inc.

Naturex

Sensient Flavors

ROHA Dyechem

Dohler Group

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/x3hfgj/1_65_billion?w=12

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.Dublin, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Oral Dosing Cups Market" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



Global oral dosing cups market reached USD 270.11 Million in 2017 by registering a CAGR of 4.18% across the globe between 2016 and 2027. Moreover, the market is expected to garner USD 416.27 Million by the end of 2025.



Further, the market of oral dosing cups worldwide is anticipated to achieve a Y-o-Y growth rate of 6.81% in 2025 as compared to the previous year.



Global oral dosing cups market is segmented on the basis of product type into disposable and re-usable. Disposable segment (57.36% share in 2017) occupies the largest market of oral dosing cups across the globe. Additionally, disposable segment is anticipated to reach USD 232.98 Million by the end of 2025 from USD 154.93 Million in 2017. Moreover, disposable segment is anticipated to flourish at a CAGR of 5.38% over the forecast period.



Global oral dosing cups market is also segmented by end user into pharmaceutical companies, pharmacy stores, hospitals, clinics and others, out of which, pharmaceutical companies segment captured 57.38% market share in the Global oral dosing cups market in 2017. Furthermore, the market is expected to contribute to a market value of USD 245.12 Million in 2025, as compared to USD 154.98 Million in 2017.



Hospitals segment contributed around 15.45% market share in total oral dosing cups market in 2017. Further, this segment is projected to capture 14.87% market share by 2025. Further, the segment is projected to achieve Y-o-Y growth rate of 6.16% in 2025 as compared to previous year.



By capacity, 2.5ml - 15ml segment is estimated to be a major contributor to the Global oral dosing cups market throughout the forecast period. Further, increasing investment from various government globally anticipated to catalyze the growth of global oral dosing cups market over the forecast period.



Moreover, various beneficial factors such as rising prevalence of lifestyle diseases, higher smoking generality amongst European countries and increasing government stakes in healthcare industry across the globe exhibits notable growth in pharmaceutical industry and complementary markets such as oral dosing cups.



Key Topics Covered:



1. Research Methodology



2. Market Definitions, Assumptions & Abbreviations



3. Market Taxonomy



4. Global Oral Dosing Cups Market - Executive Summary

4.1. Market Extracts by Product Type

4.2. Market Extracts by End User

4.3. Market Extracts by Capacity

4.4. Market Extracts by Region



5. Oral Dosing Cups Product Overview



6. Top Countries with Highest Demand for Oral Dosing Cups, 2017



7. Recent Changes and Development in Oral Dosing Cups Market by Geography

7.1. New Product Development

7.2. Merger and Acquisition

7.3. Expansion and others



8. Porter's Five Force Model Analysis



9. Oral Dosing Cups Market - Risk Analysis

9.1. Demand Risk Analysis

9.2. Supply Risk Analysis



10. Market Dynamics & Its Impact Analysis

10.1. Growth Drivers

10.2. Challenges

10.3. Trends

10.4. Opportunities



11. Global Oral Dosing Cups Market Value Forecast (USD Million) & Y-o-Y Growth (%), 2017-2025



12. Global Oral Dosing Cups Market Segmentation Analysis By Product Type

12.1. Introduction

12.2. Re-Usable Oral Dosing Cups Market Value Forecast (USD Million) & Y-o-Y Growth (%), 2017-2025

12.3. Disposable Oral Dosing Cups Market Value Forecast (USD Million) & Y-o-Y Growth (%), 2017-2025

12.4. Market Attractiveness Analysis By Product Type

12.5. Market Contribution and BPS Analysis, 2017 & 2025 By Product Type



13. Global Oral Dosing Cups Market Segmentation Analysis By End User

13.1. Introduction

13.2. Hospital

13.3. Clinics

13.4. Retail Pharmacy

13.5. Pharmaceuticals Companies

13.6. Others

13.7. Market Attractiveness Analysis By End User

13.8. Market Contribution and BPS Analysis, 2017 & 2025 By End User



14. Global Oral Dosing Cups Market Segmentation Analysis By Capacity

14.1. Introduction

14.2. 2.5 ml - 15 ml

14.3. 15 ml - 30 ml

14.4. >30 ml

14.5. Market Attractiveness Analysis By Capacity

14.6. Market Contribution and BPS Analysis, 2017 & 2025 By Capacity



15. Global Oral Dosing Cups Market Segmentation Analysis By Geography

15.1. Introduction

15.2. North America

15.3. Latin America

15.4. Europe

15.5. Asia Pacific

15.6. Middle East & Africa



16. Competitive Landscape

16.1. Competitive Positioning of Major Players in Global Oral Dosing Cups Market

16.2. Company Profiles



17. Guide to the Industry by Region & Analyst's Recommendations



Companies Mentioned



Comar Inc

Stiplastics S.A.S.

Argo S.A.

Gramb GmbH

Origin Pharma Packaging

Eastman Chemical Company

Yuyao Liantong Plastic and Moulded Co.

Medline Industries

Adelphi Healthcare Packaging

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/8r7pvw/270_million_oral?w=12

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.FRAMINGHAM, Mass., Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Arch Therapeutics, Inc. (OTCQB: ARTH) ("Arch" or the "Company"), developer of novel liquid, gel and solid hemostatic and wound care devices, is pleased to announce that the Japanese Intellectual Property High Court has favorably ruled to affirm the prior trial decision and maintain without any amendments Japanese patent number 5204646 (646). This patent is part of the intellectual property estate that Arch has licensed globally and exclusively from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Versitech Limited (MIT).



The 646 patent was challenged in a Japanese court by an opponent. Previously, a Japanese Court issued a decision in our favor to maintain the patent in its entirety. The opponent appealed the decision. On October 30, 2018, the Japanese Intellectual Property High Court affirmed the lower court decision to maintain the patent in its entirety. The opponent has one remaining right to appeal this decision.

Chief Executive Officer, Terrence W. Norchi, MD, said, We value both our licensed and internally developed intellectual property. We appreciate the courts reaffirmation of the patent rights and reserve the right to protect and defend our technology.

As previously announced, Arch filed a 510(k) premarket notification for AC5 Topical Gel in the United States in the third calendar quarter of 2018. The submission is under review. Further, Arch filed a CE mark for AC5 Topical Hemostat during the fourth calendar quarter of 2018.

Norchi added, These next weeks, months, and quarters are important to Arch as we continue to develop our products for commercialization in the US and Europe.

About Arch Therapeutics, Inc.

Arch Therapeutics, Inc. is a biotechnology company developing a novel approach to stop bleeding (hemostasis), control leaking (sealant) and manage wounds during surgery, trauma and interventional care. Arch is developing products based on an innovative self-assembling barrier technology platform with the goal of making care faster and safer for patients. Arch's development stage product candidates include AC5 Topical Gel1, AC5 Topical Hemostat1 and AC5 Surgical Hemostat1.

Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Statements in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such forward-looking statements include, among other things, references to novel technologies and methods, our business and product development plans and projections, or market information. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the inherent uncertainties associated with developing new products or technologies and operating as a development stage company, our ability to retain important members of our management team and attract other qualified personnel, our ability to raise the additional funding we will need to continue to pursue our business and product development plans, our ability to obtain required regulatory approvals, our ability to produce commercial quantities of our products within projected timeframes, our ability develop and commercialize products based on our technology platform, and market conditions. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although we believe that any beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that any such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate. Investors should consult all of the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factors disclosure outlined in the reports and other documents we file with the SEC, available at www.sec.gov.

Source: Arch Therapeutics, Inc.

Contact

ARTH Investor Relations

Toll Free: +1-855-340-ARTH (2784) (US and Canada)

Email: investors@archtherapeutics.com

Website: www.archtherapeutics.com

or

Richard Davis

Chief Financial Officer

Arch Therapeutics, Inc.

Phone: 617-431-2308

Email: rdavis@archtherapeutics.com

Website: www.archtherapeutics.com

1. AC5 is currently an investigational device and is limited by federal law to investigational use.English French

TORONTO, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canadian companies donate generously to help those coping with natural disasters and community tragedies, but few are increasing budgets to meet these unexpected needs, according to a new study from Imagine Canada.



The Corporate Giving in a Changing Canada study finds that, while eight-in-ten companies gave funds to help communities deal with extreme crises, only 19 per cent increased their community investment budgets. A third elected to re-direct funds originally allocated to other charities, and 48 per cent drew funds from community investment budgets dedicated to disaster relief.

Of the 54 leading companies studied, 84 per cent gave funds to at least one major crisis in the past three years. An additional 58 per cent raised money from employees, while 30 per cent donated goods and 24 per cent raised funds from customers.

According to the study, disasters and crises most commonly supported in the past three years include:

Fort McMurray wildfires (supported by 65 per cent of the corporations canvassed)

Humboldt Strong (50 per cent)

British Columbia Wildfires (39 per cent)

Flooding in Eastern Ontario and Quebec (33 per cent)

Support for Syrian refugees (26 per cent)

Toronto Van attack (20 per cent)

Opioid Crisis (4 per cent)

Corporate Canada is acting to help communities impacted by unexpected emergencies. The not-so-good news is that many companies are inadvertently diverting funds from charities and nonprofits they traditionally support.

Demand for essential services from charities and nonprofits is projected to spike over the next decade, creating a social deficit as needs go unmet. Based on current demographic trends and average GDP growth of 1.8 per cent (source: Parliamentary budget office and Conference Board estimates), Canadas charities and nonprofits will need about $25 billion more than they raise today to meet rising demand for their services.

Unless corporations create new budgets for disaster relief, climate change will increase the social deficit and put further pressure on social services Canadians want and have come to rely upon.

Climate change is making extreme natural disasters the norm rather than the rarity, and the frequency and ferocity of these crises is only going to accelerate, says Bruce MacDonald, Imagine Canadas president and CEO. The good news emerging from this study is that corporations are increasingly intentional and thoughtful about their charitable giving. Our hope is that business leaders will recognize the threat and build in budget allowances for disaster relief to avoid the unintended consequence of hurting organizations that rely on their support.

The corporations studied invested more than $443 million in communities in the past year. 42 per cent indicated their community investments would increase in the coming year with 8 per cent predicting a decrease.

Community investment trends:

Corporate community investment activities are increasingly strategic and focused on business and social value. This involves greater emphasis on measurement and a highly organized approach to improving outcomes for the cause being served. Key business benefits cited by corporations are: improved employee retention and recruitment; improved customer relationships and stronger brand identification with social value



Direct giving from companies is essential to the health of charities and non-profits, particularly for non-religious organizations. In 2014, corporations gave $4.2 billion to charities (Source: Lasby & Barr, 2017), almost all of which went to non-religious causes



Companies are leveraging stakeholder support (employees, suppliers, customers) to magnify their impact on communities and causes. Virtually all corporations surveyed encourage volunteerism. Ninety-two per cent give staff paid time to volunteer; 82 per cent have a corporate day of volunteering, and 40 per cent maintain online lists of volunteer opportunities

The study examined the community investment programs of 54 leading Canadian corporations. Nearly all are participants in community investment programs, associations, and networks, including the Imagine Canada Caring Company movement, Canadian Business for Social Responsibility (CBSR), LBG Canada, the Conference Board of Canadas Community Investment Council, and the Business Council of Canada.

The full study is available online at: http://imaginecanada.ca/communityinvestment

Imagine Canada

Imagine Canada is a national charitable organization whose cause is Canadas charities. Our three broad goals are to amplify the sectors collective voice, create opportunities to connect and learn from each other, and build the sectors capacity to succeed. Corporate community investments are an integral part of Imagine Canadas vision for a vibrant and strong charitable sector. Imagine Canadas Caring Company designation encourages companies to adopt a leadership role as investors of 1% of pre-tax profit into stronger communities.

www.imaginecanada.ca | Twitter: @ImagineCanada | Facebook: /ImagineCanada

For further information:SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pacific Green Technologies Inc. (PGTK) (OTCQB: PGTK), owner of the ENVI-MarineTM Exhaust Gas Scrubbing System (System), is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, Pacific Green Marine Technologies Inc. (PGMT), has executed an agreement to manufacture its System for 52 vessels owned or managed by SCORPIO TANKERS INC. (NYSE: STNG) (Agreements).



The Agreements provide for 42 vessels in 2019 and 10 vessels in 2020. Pricing is based on the size of each vessels exhaust gas emissions in accordance with PGTKs Pricing Curve concept. The Agreements are currently estimated to have a total value of USD$79.6m subject to further engineering studies.

In addition to the Agreements, PGMT and SCORPIO TANKERS INC. have executed a Framework Agreement whereby SCORPIO TANKERS INC. can elect for PGMT to design and engineer the System for up to a further 28 vessels in 2020 subject to certain criteria being met.

PGTKs partner, PowerChina SPEM Company Limited, will work alongside PGMT to ensure the successful execution of the project.

About Pacific Green Technologies, Inc.

Pacific Green Technologies Inc. is focused on addressing the world's need for cleaner and more sustainable energy. The company's strategy is to build through organic development and acquisition, a portfolio of patented competitive cutting-edge technologies designed to meet increasingly stringent environmental standards.

For more information, visit PGT's website:

www.pacificgreentechnologies.com

About SCORPIO TANKERS INC.

SCORPIO TANKERS INC. is a provider of marine transportation of petroleum products worldwide. SCORPIO TANKERS INC. currently owns or finance leases 109 product tankers (38 LR2 tankers, 12 LR1 tankers, 45 MR tankers and 14 Handymax tankers) with an average age of 3.3 years and time or bareboat chartersin 13 product tankers (one LR2 tanker, five MR tankers and seven Handymax tankers). Additional information about SCORPIO TANKERS INC. is available at the website of SCORPIO TANKERS INC.

http://www.scorpiotankers.com/

About POWERCHINA SPEM Co. Ltd

POWERCHINA SPEM is a subsidiary of POWERCHINA, the largest power equipment manufacturer in the PRC and owned by the Chinese Government. With abundant resources, expertise, strong manufacturing capacity, domestic sales channels and rich experience, POWERCHINA SPEM is in a strong position to deploy PGTK technology throughout China.

Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

This news release contains "forward-looking statements," as that term is defined in Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Statements in this news release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such forward-looking statements include, among other things, that PGT's emission control system has significant potential to be a market leader in China.

Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, general economic conditions, and the continuation of the JV with POWERCHINA SPEM resulting in definitive agreements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this news release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate. Investors should consult all the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factors disclosure outlined in our annual report on Form 10-K for the most recent fiscal year, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other periodic reports filed from time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.San Francisco, CA, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (via Blockchain Wire) Storecoin has announced the launch of a new working group and public peer review process around its decentralized republic-model governance of checks and balances.

For todays public blockchains to move past prototypes and low usage dApps  to where entities trust a decentralized blockchain enough to process millions of utility-based daily transaction volume  blockchains need an enforceable rules engine that has no centralization of power, that key network participants trust, and that is censorship resistant, said Storecoin CEO Chris McCoy. This is only possible through a robust system of checks and balances

Blockchain governance refers to the set of processes by which a protocol makes decisions and evolves to changing circumstances. The domain of governance includes important issues like responding to security threats or hacks; evolving monetary policy such as token issuance; or ongoing questions of updating and improving protocol features.

To date, blockchain governance systems have been an exercise in tradeoffs. Those that employ autocratic systems face a centralization of power, either in the form of a powerful corporate entity (like Ripple), an overly strong foundation (like Stellar), or a benevolent dictator (like Ethereum). Plutocratic systems like EOS delegated proof of stake model enshrine rule by the wealthy. Voluntaristic systems like Bitcoins tend to elevate a group of core developers with inevitably opaque change processes. Finally, would-be democratic systems like Decred find themselves buckling under the weight of populism, as absolutely every operational decision becomes subject to a full community vote.

For todays mainstream enterprises and major economic actors, the downsides of each of these systems represents risk that must be factored in to any decision to be involved.

Storecoin is designing a new, on-chain governance approach based on a system of checks-and-balances. Through Storecoins proposed systems, the community of participants can shape protocol-level feature changes, leadership positions, and even monetary policy. The governance is divided into different branches based on roles in the network, whose incentives and power distribution within the network provide a counterweight to one another and ensure that changes and updates are truly to the benefit of the protocol network as a whole, rather than any one type of participant alone. Decisions reached by the community are enforceable, and unlike in other systems, nodes who participate in the network agree contractually to update to the software reflecting the latest consensus.

Storecoin believes that this system will create trust and inspire confidence among major enterprises. The Governance Peer Review Process and Working Group is an open, invitational process meant to facilitate input on this proposed governance model from the Storecoin community.

Session 1 of Storecoins Governance Peer Review was an overview of the process and invitation to participate

Session 2 was an essay about the trade-offs inherent in blockchain governance models and a discussion of the origins of Storecoins checks-and-balances model

Additionally, an essay by McCoy on the crypto communitys growing focus on governance was published on Token Daily.

Weve spent many years researching governance models - both within crypto and beyond, said McCoy. This Peer Review is a way to invite our community into the process to review, debate, and ultimately improve the system by which the economics, security and consensus of Storecoin is coordinated.

Contact:

Chris McCoy

CEO

Storecoin

chris@footprintlabs.coOTTAWA, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Interset, a security analytics company that uncovers insider threats , today announced Interset 5.7  the first iteration of its platform that offers cloud-native services to reduce complexity and cost of ownership to make threat detection available to organizations of any size or budget. This update gives customers unprecedented flexibility to wield Intersets powerful, proven AI-driven user and entity behavioral analytics (UEBA) to quickly spot difficult-to-detect insider threats at an even lower cost.



Security budgets are heavily impacted by high-cost, resource-heavy cybersecurity ecosystems. According to Forrester Research, traditional approaches to cost management for security must shift to help organizations keep pace with new technologies and threats. Business climates are changing, and elastic scalable cloud offerings will free the business from technical constraints as a barrier to innovation, says the firm.

Interset 5.7 gives managed security service providers (MSSPs), commercial users and OEM partners more control over compute resources and maintenance costs with cloud-native components that reduce the cost and complexity of the underlying server. This latest version of the Interset platform cuts down on costs with services designed specifically for the cloud, and allows customers to scale up and down based on usage. Inteset 5.7 has been optimized for use in Amazon Web Services big data architecture, leveraging native cloud services including EMR, Lambda and Kinesis.

Todays complex threats are forcing companies to deploy equally complex cybersecurity ecosystems, resulting in infrastructure investments that not only drain resources but limit business agility and distract from other business operations, said Mark Smialowicz, CEO at Interset. Intersets new cloud-native services bring our powerful AI and behavioral analytics to enterprise and mid-market organizations in an even more flexible, scalable and affordable way, allowing them to find threats in less time, at less cost.

The latest update also brings greater extensibility that allows security team to easily integrate Interset into their existing ecosystems and do their jobs more quickly and effectively. With new features such as reporting microservice, customers can unlock the power of Intersets unsupervised machine learning to find threats in customizable ways.

Availability

Interset 5.7 is available now.

Learn more

Read more about Interset 5.7 in our blog, Interset 5.7: Boosting Time-to-Mission with Cloud-native UEBA.

Ready to see Interset in action? Schedule a demo with us today.

Citations

Forrester Research, Security Budgets 2018: Uncertainty Trumps Normalcy, Pollard, J., McClean, C., Pikulik, E., & Dostie, P., January 23, 2018.

About Interset

Interset, a security analytics company, augments existing security tools and empowers security teams to detect, investigate and respond to the threats that matter before data is stolen. Intersets machine learning threat detection platform measures the unique digital footprint of systems and users, distilling billions of events into a handful of prioritized threat leads. What used to take months, can now take minutes. Interset is backed by In-Q-Tel and trusted to protect critical data in finance, critical infrastructure, high-tech manufacturing, healthcare, utility and energy industries. Visit us at interset.ai , and follow us on Twitter , LinkedIn and Facebook .London, U.K., Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Duck Creek Technologies Europe (DCTE) is delighted to announce that its parent company, Duck Creek Technologies, has been positioned as a Leader in the 2018 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Non-life Insurance Platforms, Europe.

Headquartered in Boston, USA, Duck Creek Technologies is historically a North American technology expert, but accelerated its expansion in the EMEA market with the launch of a London, UK, office in 2017.

This independent Gartner report - which analysed European technology providers based on their completeness of vision and ability to execute - identified Duck Creek Technologies among vendors that have experienced implementations in Europe.

We believe scale, breadth, and innovation are Duck Creek Platforms key advantages. Recently, Duck Creek sales velocity in the EMEA markets has continued to grow.

Bart Patrick, Duck Creek Technologies Europe Managing Director, said:

To us, this independent recognition from Gartner is very pleasing. Duck Creek is has deployments in production across the globe, including multi-country installations covering writing business in multiple currencies at policy and risk level and settling claims in multiple currencies.

We are very proud of this, Patrick continued. We are actively investing in growing our European resource base, working with our clients to ensure that they have appropriate resourcing and governance in their implementation projects to drive their success.

We will continue to grow - weve closed two significant new European deals in the last six months and believe this is early evidence of a successful change in approach to sales in the territory, whereby we focus on professional software sales, away from our consultancy-based approach of the past.

Our resourcing model for provisioning of training, support, and maintenance is the same for Europe as it is across all geographies, and we have resources and facilities dedicated to these functions for the region in our London and Barcelona locations. In particular, we have centres in Spain and a new facility in the UK where we host training of customers, partners, and our own employees.

Duck Creek Technologies was recognised as a Leader in Non-life Insurance Platforms, Europe, by the research and advisory firm Gartner.

The Duck Creek Platform is the technical foundation of solutions for policy administration, rating, billing, claims, data insights, and digital engagement. These configurable tools are designed to work independently - or as part of a combined approach - to manage all aspects of the P&C insurance lifecycle.

The entire Duck Creek Suite can be deployed via Duck Creek OnDemand, the providers SaaS solution for the P&C insurance industry.

Source: Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Non-Life-Insurance Platforms, Europe, Sham Gill, 26 November 2018.

Gartner Disclaimer

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartners research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About Duck Creek Technologies

Duck Creek Technologies paves a genuine path to the future for P&C insurance companies. Decades of insurance experience underpin advanced technologies specifically designed to accommodate changeallowing carriers to navigate uncertainty and capture market opportunities faster than their competitors. Duck Creek solutions are available standalone or as a full suite. All are available via Duck Creek OnDemand, the providers SaaS solution for the P&C insurance industry.

For more information, visit duckcreek.com.

Duck Creek Technologies Europe PR Contacts:

Roddy Langley

Lysander PR Limited

roddy@lysanderpr.com

07740 633 296SOUTH PLAINFIELD, N.J., Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Admera Health, a molecular diagnostic company, welcomes Dr. Ruben Bonilla-Guerrero as Medical Director to the company. Ruben Bonilla-Guerrero obtained his M.D. from the Universidad Veracruzana in Mexico followed by 14 years working experience at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, including fellowships in Experimental Pathology, Clinical Pharmacology, and Clinical Biochemical Genetics. Prior to joining Admera Health, Dr. Bonilla-Guerrero held the titles of Medical Director, Medical Affairs, Genetics, and Associate Medical Director, Genetics at Quest Diagnostics, Inc. Quest Diagnostics is a national reference laboratory focused on diagnostic testing, laboratory information, and services. At Quest Diagnostics, Dr. Bonilla-Guerrero was credited for his outstanding analytical skills as well as an invaluable set of clinical insights which he applied to clinical laboratory medicine, inborn errors of metabolism, and pharmacogenetics genotyping.



At Admera Health, Dr. Bonilla-Guerrero will head the Medical Affairs team and be responsible for helping to continue to demonstrate the utility of precision medicine to the global healthcare community. Dr. Bonilla-Guerrero is board certified in Clinical Biochemical Genetics by the American Board of Clinical Medical Genetics (ABMG) and in Molecular Biology by the American Society of Clinical Pathology (ASCP). Dr. Bonilla-Guerrero is an active member of several professional organizations including the American College of Clinical Pharmacology, the American College of Medical Genetics, the American Society of Human Genetics, and the American Medical Association.

We are extremely pleased to welcome Ruben to the Admera Health team. Given our position as a leader in pharmacogenomics testing, we believe he is uniquely qualified to further expand our sequencing services into clinical settings, stated Guanghui Hu, Ph.D., President, and CEO of Admera Health. Hu continued, Ruben was working in the field of pharmacogenomics in its earliest days and we think he can help us continue to champion for it becoming the standard of patient care.

In addition to authoring many peer-reviewed medical publications, Dr. Bonilla-Guerrero is a winner of the Henry Christian Award from the American Federation for Medical Research (2002) and the Mayo Clinic Department of Internal Medicine Outstanding Research Fellow Award (2003).

Admera Health offers clinical pharmacogenomics testing services with its PGxOne Plus test, which interrogates 50 genes with coverage of >200 genetic variants. Beyond Pharmacogenomics, Admera Health also offers LiquidGx (a liquid biopsy test), OncoGxOne, and OncoGxSelect for tumor profiling to guide the selection of targeted therapies, cancer supportive care, and inherited cardiovascular diseases via its partnership with Health in Code.

About Admera Health

Admera Health is a CLIA-certified and CAP-accredited advanced molecular diagnostics company focused on personalized medicine, non-invasive cancer testing, digital health, and providing research use only services. Research and development efforts are dedicated to developing cutting-edge diagnostics that span the continuum of care. Utilizing next generation technology platforms and advanced bioinformatics, Admera Health seeks to redefine disease screening, diagnosis, treatment, monitoring, and management through its innovative, personalized solutions. It is our mission to deliver transformative, valuable solutions to patients, physicians, and clinical researchers. We are committed to improving the health and well-being of our global community through the direct delivery of personalized, medically actionable results.

Admera Health Contact:

Brady Millican,

VP Business Development

908-222-0533

brady.millican@admerahealth.comICOx designs and creates blockchain economies with established brands

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ICOx Innovations Inc. (TSXV and OTC: ICOX) (the "Company" or "ICOx), which designs and creates blockchain economies for established companies to benefit and grow their businesses through blockchain technologies and branded cryptocurrencies, today announced its shares of common stock have been approved for trading on the TSX Venture Exchange (the Exchange) under the symbol ICOX effective at the opening on December 4, 2018 (the Effective Time). The Company has been approved for listing (the Listing) as a Tier 2 Technology Issuer on the Exchange.

ICOx Innovations has a strong management team comprised of:

Cameron Chell, Co-Founder and Chairman. Chell is also Co-Founder of KODAKOne and Co-Architect of the KODAKCoin. Chell has 25 years of experience in the energy, technology and finance sectors. He is the founder and co-founder of several successful ventures, including Business Instincts Group, Draganfly, Raptor Rig, ColdBore, and Urthecast.

Bruce Elliott, President. Elliott is a 25-year e-commerce veteran who has held senior leadership roles in privately held and listed companies in online payments, gaming, venture capital and the trust and corporate service sectors in North America and Europe.

Michael Blum, Chief Operating Officer. Blum is co-founder and president of Hedgeye Risk Management, a leading online financial media company.

Swapan Kakumanu, Chief Financial Officer. Kakumanu has over 25 year senior finance and operations experience and has served at senior management levels both in public and private companies in high growth technology.

Notable members of the Board of Directors include:

Edmund Moy. From 2006 to 2011, Moy served as the 38th Director of the United States Mint. Previously he was a special assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel at the White House, and he also served as an advisor to the Wall Street private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe.

Alphonso Jackson. Jackson was the 13th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and also served as Vice Chairman of Consumer & Community Banking at JP Morgan Chase.

"The ICOx focus on regulatory compliance, corporate governance and program execution allows us to attract world class talent and international brand partners. From KodakONE, BitRail and our pipeline of opportunities, we are solving real world problems to help brands reduce transaction costs, increase customer adoption and raise engagement levels with blockchain technology and their own branded and regulated cryptocurrencies," said Bruce Elliott, President ICOx Innovations.

ICOx Innovations helped create and launch KODAKOne , a blockchain-based platform that will use an encrypted ledger of rights ownership for photographers to protect, manage and monetize their new and archived works  potentially making it significantly cheaper and faster to register, move and sell their digital images. By pairing blockchain technology with the KODAKCoin (its designated cryptocurrency), KODAKOne aims to enforce copyright compliance and track the usage of images, giving photographers more control over licensing as well as a comprehensive marketplace that meets all their needs.

ICOx Innovations is also helping to launch BitRail, a digital payment platform that provides frictionless use of regulated cryptocurrencies benefiting both consumers and the ecommerce brands they love. BitRail will provide low-cost and transparent transaction services for cryptocurrencies seeking to be fully compliant in the US, BitRail is expected to provide ACH integration money transmitter licensing and AML/KYC compliant transactions in Q1 2019.

In connection with the Listing, the Company appointed Swapan Kakumanu as its Chief Financial Officer effective as of the Effective Time. In order to accommodate the appointment of Swapan Kakumanu as the Companys Chief Financial Officer, Michael Blum resigned as its Chief Financial Officer and the Company appointed him as its Chief Operating Officer effective as of the Effective Time.

In connection with the Listing, the Principals (as defined by the policies of the Exchange) of the Company entered into the Tier 2 Value Security Escrow Agreement in the form required by the Exchange with respect to the shares of common stock and stock options of the Company held by them. In addition, Oceanside Strategies Inc. (Oceanside) entered into an escrow agreement in accordance with the seed share resale restrictions of the Exchange. Pursuant to the escrow agreement, Oceanside agreed to place into escrow the shares of common stock of the Company issuable upon conversion of five previously issued convertible notes outstanding in favor of Oceanside in the aggregate principal amount of US$175,325.

About ICOx Innovations

ICOx is positioned for the long term as an enterprise platform for building blockchain economies for established brands. ICOx Innovations Inc. provides a platform for the design and creation of crypto economies that solve real-world problems with established organizations. ICOx Innovations provides operational insights intended to benefit and grow its customers businesses through the use of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. The ICOx Innovations platform is compliance-driven and combines rigorous strategic planning, capital structuring, technical integration and token economics model development, designed to allow its clients to create sustainable economies. The ICOx Innovations team co-founded KODAKOne, a blockchain-based image-rights management platform, and is the co-architect of KODAKCoin, the token that will reward and incentivize the KODAKOne platform users. Notably the Honorable Edmund C. Moy, 38th Director of the United States Mint (2006-2011) and the Honorable Alphonso Jackson, Former US Cabinet Secretary & Former Vice-Chair of JP Morgan Chase are members of the ICOx Board of Directors, For more information on ICOx Innovations, go to: www.icoxinnovations.com .

Interested in ICOx Innovations or have a question for management? Join our ICOx Investor Group . Click here to watch a video from our Chairman Cameron Chell.

For additional investor info please visit www.icoxinnovations.com or www.sedar.com and www.sec.gov searching symbol ICOX.

Disclaimer for Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements. Statements in this news release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such forward-looking statements include the Companys statements: that KODAKOne, a blockchain-based platform, will use an encrypted ledger of rights ownership for photographers to protect, manage and monetize their new and archived works  potentially making it significantly cheaper and faster to register, move and sell their digital images; that KODAKOne aims to enforce copyright compliance and track the usage of images, giving photographers more control over licensing as well as a comprehensive marketplace that meets all their needs; that BitrRail will provide low-cost and transparent transaction services for cryptocurrencies seeking to be fully compliant in the US; and that BitRail is expected to provide ACH integration money transmitter licensing and AML/KYC compliant transactions in Q1 2019.

The material assumptions supporting these forward-looking statements include, among others, that the Company will be able to successfully develop the software necessary to operate the BitRail platform; there will be no material variations in current regulatory environments in which the Company or its clients operate; the Companys operating expenses, including general and administrative expenses, will be as expected; the Company will be able to obtain any necessary financing on acceptable terms; that the Company will be able to retain and recent the of skilled personnel necessary to complete its projects. Although management considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect. These forward-looking statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including: the risk that the Company will be unable to efficiently manage the Companys operations, including the project for KODAKOne and BitRail; the risk that there may be negative changes in general economic and business conditions; the risk that the Company may have negative operating cash flow and not enough capital to complete its projects; the risk that the Company may not be able to obtain additional financing as necessary; the risk that there may be increases in capital and operating costs; the risk the cryptocurrency and other trading platforms are relatively new, largely unregulated and may not be accepted by the public as a payment platform; the risk that the platform of the Companys clients may be subject to fraud and other failures; the risk that there may be technological changes and developments in the blockchain and cryptocurrencies that make the Companys projects obsolete; risks relating to regulatory changes or actions which may impede the Companys ability to complete its projects; the risk that other competitors may release platforms similar to those of the Companys clients; and other general risks involved in the cryptocurrency industry. Any of these risks may cause the Companys actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Further, although the Company has attempted to identify factors that could cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results, levels of activity, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and the Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable law, including the securities laws of the United States and Canada. Although the Company believes that any beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this news release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that any such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate. Readers should consult all of the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factors disclosure outlined in the reports and other documents the Company files with the SEC, available at www.sec.gov, and on the SEDAR, available at www.sedar.com.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Company Contact:

Bruce Elliott, President

Bruce.Elliott@icoxinnovations.com

ICOx Innovations Media Contact:

Arian Hopkins

arian.hopkins@icoxinnovations.comCONCORD, Calif., Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) and AssetMark, Inc., an independent provider of investment and consulting solutions for financial advisors, today announced that AssetMark has signed a lease for a 4,300 square foot software development office at 101 Marietta Street NW in Atlanta, Georgia.



Located in the center of Atlantas business district, the new office is in an area designated by the federal Opportunity Zones Program, which is designed to stimulate economic development through tax incentives for organizations investing in the community. The opening of AssetMarks new office location will also create 13 new high-wage jobs in Fulton County.

Our excitement about this new office is twofold, said Charles Goldman, President and CEO of AssetMark. This expansion is a strategic investment in future AssetMark technology initiatives, and we are proud to play a part in the creation of economic opportunity in an Opportunity Zone in Georgia.

Atlanta has one of the countrys fastest-growing economies , and is becoming a hub of IT talent due to the citys combination of affordable housing opportunities, local universities, and a growing community of fintech startups.

The work were planning in Atlanta will support a full range of technology functions, including application development for our industry-leading advisor technologies, infrastructure, and network services, as well as security operations, said AssetMarks Chief Information Officer Muk Mehta.

Congratulations to AssetMark on their new software development office, said GDEcD Commissioner Pat Wilson. Atlantas talented workforce will surely meet the needs of this innovative company and I look forward to their success.

GDEcD Senior Project Manager Randall Toussaint represented the Global Commerce division in partnership with the Metro Atlanta Chamber, Invest Atlanta, and Georgia Power.

Congratulations to AssetMark, Inc. on the selection of downtown Atlanta for their new office, said Hala Moddelmog, President and CEO of the Metro Atlanta Chamber. As innovators and thought leaders in the asset management industry, they are a welcome addition to metro Atlantas thriving financial services ecosystem.

101 Marietta Street features state-of-the-art amenities, including a fitness center and renovated meeting spaces. The building is close to two MARTA rail stations, providing optimal accessibility to Metro Atlanta, and is located within walking distance of Centennial Olympic Park, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the Georgia Aquarium, and CNN Center.

We want to welcome AssetMark to its new home in downtown Atlanta as they target their solutions to the countrys more than 300,000 independent financial advisors, said Dr. Eloisa Klementich, President and CEO of Invest Atlanta. Our citys abundance of tech talent, strong business climate, educational institutions and financial services ecosystem continue to attract industry leaders like AssetMark. This announcement once again demonstrates Atlantas ability to bring top-tier financial technology companies to the heart of the city.

About AssetMark, Inc.

AssetMark, Inc., an investment adviser registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, is a leading independent provider of innovative investment and consulting solutions serving financial advisors. The firm provides investment, relationship and practice management solutions designed to make a difference in the lives of advisors and their clients. AssetMark, Inc., including its Savos and Aris divisions, has more than $47.5 billion in assets on its platform as of August 31, 2018, and a history of innovation spanning over 20 years. For more information, visit www.assetmark.com and follow @AssetMark on Twitter.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Jill Epstein, Group Gordon

jepstein@groupgordon.com

(212) 784 5698Houston, Texas, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Megola, Inc. (OTC: MGON), has announced it is complying with the filing regulations of the OTC Markets and will be current in its submissions within the next two weeks.

Megolas CEO, Eric Ottens, also took the added measure of visiting Spain to verify status of the Cannabis harvest, olive oil packaging and distribution facilities for purposes of proper disclosure. MGON plans on having its financial statements audited in the near future in order to qualify as a fully-reporting issuer and these filings and re-filings will make that process much more efficient.

Over the next few weeks, the Company plans on making several announcements regarding the upcoming audit and launch of CBD infused productions.

The company also wishes to notify all shareholders and persons of interest that Megola, Inc. will be making announcements and updates via social media. Updates can be found at on newly created new social media channels on Twitter https://twitter.com/MegolaMMJ and a Facebook Business Page https://www.facebook.com/Megola-Inc-1844493719004617



Acordy S.A. is currently a privately owned Spanish company that was formed in late 2014. Acordy is primarily involved in the production and distribution of food items from Spain with a concentration in olive oils and wines from the Iberian Peninsula. Acordy became involved in the production and distribution of medical marijuana products and is commencing the commercialized launch of CBD products.

Safe Harbor: This release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements contained in this release that are not historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain. Actual performance and results may differ materially from that projected or suggested herein due to certain risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, ability to obtain financing and regulatory and shareholder approvals for anticipated actions.

ContactsToronto, Ontario and New York, New York, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- Big Data Media Inc. (BDM), a Toronto-based media company and wholly owned subsidiary of Luminar Media Group, Inc., (Luminar, OTCMKTS: LRGR), and Ascel Bio, a New Yorkbased public health forecasting and consulting company, are pleased to announce the development and release of: Diseasecast.com.



Diseasecast is the first of its kind tool to warn the public of potential outbreaks of diseases using maps that look exactly like weather maps. The goal of the forecasts is to save lives in much the same way that warnings of hurricanes save lives.

Diseasecast.com is a web-based information source for anyone interested in protecting their own health, or the health of their family and loved ones. Designed for the general public, it contains forecasts of influenza, food and water-borne illnesses (for example, Salmonella), mosquito borne illnesses (for example, Zika or Ebola) and diseases caused by ticks. The information is updated hourly. In addition, the site features blogs, written by public-health experts, designed to provide state-of-the-art health information.

When it is a period of high risk to your health or when someone in your family gets sick, there are links to the best-in-class protective products via each users Amazon account.

BDM is pleased to present this critical, life-saving tool to the public, said Chris Cook, Chief Executive Officer. It is an important addition to our portfolio of media products. BDMs goal is to promote healthful practices, especially when risks of, for example, an influenza or other deadly disease is forecasted.

The Diseasecast forecasts were developed for Luminar Media Group by Ascel Bio. Ascel Bio has been delivering health data to business and government users for over seven years, and the Diseasecast site is focused on consumers.

We look at a number of factors important to the spread of disease, including the weather, said chief bio-meteorologist Mike Smith. For example, weather conditions are conducive to the laying of mosquito eggs. Warm, damp conditions are further conducive to their hatching and spread. A large population of the insects makes mosquito-borne illnesses more likely. Seven years of research has gone into the development of the forecasts available on the site.

About Ascel Bio:

Ascel Bio produces proprietary news and analysis for customers who share an interest in disease outbreaks and recognize the importance of filling gaps in local public health information.

Ascels value-added content has been distributed under license to physicians, corporate chief medical officers and business continuity analysts, government crisis managers, quarantine officers, and health officials, and to community groups directly. Our team delivers insight, promotes awareness, and supports education.

About Big Data Media Inc.

Big Data Media Inc. (BDM) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Luminar Media Group, Inc., (Luminar, OTCMKTS: LRGR). BDM has successfully identified its first opportunity to monetize large data collection by partnering with Ascel Bio Inc. (Ascel). BDM uses Ascels proprietary APIs of raw data to automatically generate forecasts from various health and meteorological sources to provide an outbreak disease forecast mobile and online application.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements about our business, or financial condition and prospects, that reflect our assumptions and beliefs based on information currently available. The Company can give no assurance that the expectations indicated by such forward-looking statements will be realized. There may be other risks and circumstances that we are unable to predict. When used in this news release, words such as "believes," "expects," "intends," "plans," "anticipates," "estimates" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although there may be certain forward-looking statements not accompanied by such expressions. Investors should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors, including risks discussed in the company's periodic reports that are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on its website ( www.sec.gov ). All forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or to persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these factors other than as required under the securities laws. The Company does not assume a duty to update these forward-looking statements.

Investors should refer to the risk factors disclosure outlined in our periodic reports filed from time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.LONDON, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Maru/Blue premium quality data services firmannounces the launch of Maru Voice UK . Maru Voice UK is a global expansion of the Maru/Blue online market research panels, joining Maru Voice Canada and Springboard America , (launched in 2006 and 2009, Canada's and the United States leading online market research panels). Maru Voice UK will now provide people in the UK with the opportunity to voice their opinions on a variety of topics and issues.



Maru Voice UK partners with reputable organizations including household brands, government bodies, not-for-profit organizations, and the media in order to help them better understand their customers and stakeholders, and to ensure they uncover the opinions of the UK general public. This collective feedback will influence the brands, products, and services we all use every day.

I am excited to be bringing such a high-quality community to the UK market, said Paul Williams, Managing Director, Maru/Blue UK. We know what the people who do our surveys like and dislike and we treat them like people, not sample . Thats how we have such quality that we can proudly call ourselves boringly reliable .

After a fast-paced first year of growth for Maru/Blue, we are excited to announce the expansion of the Maru/Blue family of premium panels to the UK, a key geographic market with significant opportunities for growth, said Rob Berger, Managing Director of Maru/Blue. Pauls wealth of experience and knowledge of the local market makes him the perfect choice to lead and develop Maru/Blues new UK panel.

To accelerate the growth of Maru/Blue in the UK, the company also recently hired two business development managers on the agency and enterprise sales team. Izzy Nurdin has 17 years of experience in building and cultivating client relationships within advertising, marketing and creative agencies across the country. His knowledge of market research and creative agencies will prove to be invaluable to the growing business in the UK. Izzy is commercially focused, using analytics, trends and research and readily able to Identify new revenue streams.

Deborah Horrocks comes to Maru/Blue with vast experience as a business development professional, previously working within the eLearning, education & learning technology, and publishing sectors. Deborah has also worked for many years as an interpreter giving her an excellent understanding of different cultures and business environments. Both will be an integral part of expanding and growing our presence in the UK.

About Maru/Blue

Maru/Blue is a premium quality data services firm that provides reliable global data connections for brands, agencies, and market research. We create value for our clients by connecting them with expertly profiled known respondents. The result? Reliable, reproducible insights. We deliver instant access to the general population, specific markets, and your or your competitors customers.

We began disrupting the market community industry in 2000. Our market communities broke new ground, adding depth and richness to clients understanding of what motivates their customers and shapes their markets. Now, as part of the Maru Group , we continue to provide reliable global data connections for agencies, brands, and market research firms.Edward Snowden Announced as Keynote Speaker for UNLEASH America 2019

UNLEASH America returns to Las Vegas on May 14-15 at the ARIA Resort

Las Vegas, NV - December 4th, 2018 - UNLEASH America the most exclusive, innovative and impactful event for HR and HRIT leaders and those evolving the Future of Work, announced today that Edward Snowden, former CIA employee and NSA contractor will be a keynote speaker at its third U.S. conference taking place on May 14-15, 2019 at the Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

Speaking about trust, cyber-security, privacy and transparency in the digital age and keeping employee data secure, Snowden will be present via a live telecast and answer people's questions onsite about questioning the status quo, how cyber threats to your business are real and share his thoughts on the safety and security of HR systems.

In 2013, Snowden leaked the NSA's classified cybersecurity program (PRISM) documents, which stated that the agency was using records of hundreds of millions of people around the world to spy on citizens and that they were getting the data on the behalf of multinational IT/communications companies such as Google, Facebook, Yahoo!, Dropbox and Microsoft. Even from abroad, he's led a movement on data security and warned others on how easy it is to get information.

Winner of The Foreign Policy Global Thinker and the Sam Adams Awards, Snowden will share his knowledge on how data security with the most exclusive C-level leaders' HR community.

Additional UNLEASH America speakers announced from the HR and HRIT industry include:

Amy Cappellanti-Wolf, CHRO of Symantec

Charlotte Marshall, VP of Digital/Social Media and Employer Brand at Magellan Health

Todd Carlisle, VP of People at IPSY

Ronda Sheffield, CHRO at Lowe's

John Bunch, Lead Organizational Designer & Technical Advisor to the CEO at Zappos

Jennifer Boyd, VP of talent at Exelon

Please visit unleashgroup.io/america to register or receive more information.

About UNLEASH

From humble start-up beginnings, UNLEASH has helped shape, shake-up and disrupt the HR industry globally with the #1 events in the world on the Future of Work and HR Technology. In 2019, over 10,000 attendees across three locations will include the World's big brands, government, NGO's, startups and the decision makers, visionaries, disruptors and doers changing the way we work and get work done. And we pride ourselves on evolving the show year on year and have bundles of FUN making it happen!

#UNLEASH19 #uyp

One Mission: UNLEASH Your People!

For more information or any media inquiries, please contact pr@unleashgroup.ioNEW YORK, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DataView VR, LLC (www.DataViewVR.com), a New York City based Virtual & Augmented Reality (VR & AR) analytics and presentation software company targeting data-intensive industries, announced that it has released DataView Version 2.0 for commercial deployment.



DataView is a comprehensive virtual workspace, designed to provide insight into complex data, improve productivity, and facilitate virtual collaboration and presentation.

DataViews Workspace of the Future leverages Virtual Reality (VR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to provide both two-dimensional and multi-dimensional tools, allowing analysts in any industry to develop deeper insights, faster, and to share their work virtually with anyone, in any location. DataView also provides functionality specifically tailored to the financial community, particularly investment analysts.

Founder and General Manager Andy Maggio stated: As available data becomes increasingly complex, analysts need to leverage cutting edge technology. With DataView, users can now harness the combined power of Virtual Reality and AI to process and analyze information, creating deeper insights, faster, and transforming presentation and collaboration.

Please see DataView VRs promotional video at https://youtu.be/v1A4IHgDIJg

DataView VR is led by founders Andy Maggio, a former Morgan Stanley investment executive, and Brennan McTernan (CTO), former President of Megatouch with 30+ years of VR/AR software development experience.

DataView provides a plethora of VR-based functionality. The DataView Hyper Desk provides users with eighteen virtual desktop monitors, the ability to create multiple customized Data Rooms based on topic, and drag & drop chart creation capability, while the DataView multi-dimensional visualization space displays optimal predictive models for any given data set and allows users to create their own six-dimensional representations, allowing them to craft predictive models and analyze outliers.

DataView VR is a part of the Glimpse Group, a Virtual and Augmented Reality platform company comprised of multiple VR and AR software & services start-ups, designed with the specific purpose of cultivating entrepreneurs in the VR/AR industry. For more information on The Glimpse Group, please visit www.theglimpsegroup.com

For additional information on DataView please contact:

DataView VR

Andy Maggio, General Manager

contact@dataviewvr.com

www.dataviewvr.comRADNOR, Pa., Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The law firm of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP reminds Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) (Honeywell) investors that a securities fraud class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey against Honeywell on behalf of purchasers of Honeywell securities between February 9, 2018 through October 19, 2018, inclusive (the Class Period).



Important Deadline Reminder: Investors who purchased Honeywell securities during the Class Period may, no later than January 2, 2019 , seek to be appointed as a lead plaintiff representative of the class. For additional information or to learn how to participate in this action please visit www.ktmc.com/honeywell-securities-class-action .

According to the complaint, Honeywell is a multinational conglomerate that makes a variety of commercial and consumer products, engineering services, and aerospace systems. Honeywell previously owned Bendix Friction Materials (Bendix), a manufacturer of automotive, truck and industrial brakes. Despite known health hazards, Bendix used asbestos in its brake- and clutch-pad products until 2001. Honeywell sold Bendix in 2014.

The Class Period commences on February 9, 2018, when Honeywell filed an annual report on Form 10-K with the SEC, announcing the companys financial and operating results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2017, and reported asbestos related liabilities attributable to Bendix of $616 million as of December 31, 2017.

On August 23, 2018, Honeywell disclosed that the Companys Bendix asbestos-related liability is estimated to be $1,693 million as of June 30, 2018. This is $1,083 million higher than the Companys prior estimation.

According to the complaint, on October 19, 2018, Honeywell issued a press release announcing its third quarter 2018 earnings, and filed its quarterly report with the SEC for the quarter ended September 30, 2018. In its quarterly report, Honeywell disclosed that the SECs Division of Corporate Finance had reviewed Honeywells prior accounting for liability for unasserted Bendix-related asbestos claims, and that [o]n September 13, 2018, following completion of Corporation Finances review, the SEC Division of Enforcement advised that it has opened an investigation related to this matter. Further, Honeywell revised its Bendix-related asbestos liability, disclosing that [t]he Companys revised estimated asbestos-related liabilities are now $2,610 million as of December 31, 2017, which is $1,087 million higher than the Companys prior estimate.

Following this news, Honeywells stock price fell $1.72 per share, or 1.11%, to close at $153.47 per share on October 19, 2018. Over the following three trading sessions, Honeywells stock price fell by an additional $7.87, or 5.3%, to close at $140.72 per share on October 24, 2018.

The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, the defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Honeywells Bendix asbestos-related liability was greater than initially reported; (ii) the company maintained improper accounting practices in connection with its Bendix asbestos-related liability; and (iii) as a result, Honeywells public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

If you wish to discuss this securities fraud class action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check (James Maro, Jr., Esq. or Adrienne Bell, Esq.) at (888) 2997706 or (610) 6677706, or via e-mail at info@ktmc.com .

Honeywell investors may, no later than January 2, 2019 , seek to be appointed as a lead plaintiff representative of the class through Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, or other counsel, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. A lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of all class members in directing the litigation. In order to be appointed as a lead plaintiff, the Court must determine that the class members claim is typical of the claims of other class members, and that the class member will adequately represent the class. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision of whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff.

Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check prosecutes class actions in state and federal courts throughout the country involving securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duties and other violations of state and federal law. Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check is a driving force behind corporate governance reform, and has recovered billions of dollars on behalf of institutional and individual investors from the United States and around the world. The firm represents investors, consumers and whistleblowers (private citizens who report fraudulent practices against the government and share in the recovery of government dollars). The complaint in this action was not filed by Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check. For more information about Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, please visit www.ktmc.com .

CONTACT:TORONTO, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Roy Sebag of 334 Adelaide St. W., Suite 307, Toronto, Ontario M5V 1R4 (Sebag) filed an early warning report today in connection with the acquisition of 2,000,000 common shares (the Shares) in the capital of Fortress Blockchain Corp. (Fortress) through the facilities of the TSX Venture Exchange at an average price of $0.1125 per share between November 30, 2018 and December 3, 2018 (the Acquisitions). Sebag paid a total of $225,000 for the Acquisitions.



Prior to the Acquisitions, Sebag had ownership or direction and control over an aggregate of 7,813,692 Fortress Shares, representing approximately 10.6% of the issued and outstanding Fortress Shares on a partially diluted basis. On an undiluted basis, Sebag owned or directed or controlled 5,356,000 Fortress Shares prior to the Acquisitions, representing 7.5% of the issued and outstanding Fortress Shares.

Following the Acquisitions, Sebag has ownership or direction or control over 9,813,692 Fortress Shares representing 13.3% of the issued and outstanding Fortress Shares on a partially diluted basis. On an undiluted basis, Sebag now holds 7,356,000 Fortress Shares, representing 10.6% of Fortresss issued and outstanding Shares.

The Shares were purchased by Sebag for investment purposes. Sebag expects to evaluate on an ongoing basis Fortresss financial condition, results of operations, business and prospects, the market price of the Shares, conditions in securities markets generally and in the market for shares of companies like Fortress, general economic and industry conditions and other factors that Sebag deems relevant to his investment decisions. Based on such evaluations, Sebag may at any time or from time to time determine to acquire additional Shares, or securities convertible into or exchangeable for Shares or derivative relating to Shares, or to dispose of Shares or securities convertible into or exchangeable for Shares or derivatives relating to Shares that Sebag owns or may hereafter acquire, through open market or privately negotiated transactions or otherwise, at such prices and on such terms as he deems advisable. Sebag intends to monitor his investment in the Shares. Sebag and his representatives and advisers may communicate with other shareholders, industry participants and other interested parties concerning Fortress. In addition, based on Sebags continuing evaluation of the foregoing factors, Sebag reserves the right to change his plans and intentions at any time or from time to time, as he deems appropriate.

Fortress Blockchain is located at 320 - 638 Broughton Street,Vancouver, British Columbia V6G 3K3.

The above-referenced early warning report relating to this press release has been filed on System for Electronic Document Analysis and Review (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com under Fortresss issuer profile.

For further information or to obtain a copy of the early warning report, please contact Ruab Waraich at Fortress at info@fortressblockchain.io .

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy of this release.NEW YORK, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DoubleVerify, the leading independent provider of marketing measurement software and analytics, today announced an exclusive integration with Adform, one of Europes leading multi-screen ad tech platforms, to assure media quality coverage and drive workflow efficiencies for global media buyers. The integration was driven through DoubleVerifys partnership with Vodafone, one of the worlds largest telecommunications companies.



Vodafone has invested heavily in creating a best-in-breed digital media buying practice that leverages both DoubleVerifys global verification services and Adforms leading platform capabilities. DV is the first measurement provider to enable its proprietary post-bid blocking solution through the Adform platform, assuring brands like Vodafone that their programmatic ads will be delivered fraud-free, brand safe and in-geo. The integration ensures seamless activation of pre-bid targeting, measurement and blocking across devices (including mobile in-app) and formats (display and video), resulting in heightened quality coverage for advertisers.

In addition to blocking, the Adform integration also includes implementation of automated tagging  creating significant workflow efficiencies for media buyers. Adform tags can now be distributed directly to publishers, simplifying campaign setup, reducing the potential for manual error, and speeding campaign time-to-market. DV is the only measurement partner with this capability.

DVs partnership with Adform demonstrates our commitment to provide the most comprehensive verification coverage for our global client base, making execution of consistent quality controls as streamlined as possible, said Matt McLaughlin, COO of DoubleVerify. We are proud of our collaboration to date and look forward to partnering with Adform on future innovations.

The integration with Adform reinforces DVs mission to power the new standard of marketing performance  the DV Authentic Impression, a proprietary, MRC-accredited metric that assures both media quality and media effectiveness. To be counted as Authentic by DV, an impression must be fully viewed, by a human, in the right geo, in a brand safe environment. DV is the only company to measure and de-duplicate impression quality employing this methodology  giving global advertisers clarity and confidence in their digital investment.

Sara Martins de Oliveira, Global Brand Director, Vodafone, said, The Authentic Impression is a core KPI that defines Vodafone media quality. As a result of DVs integration with Adform, Vodafone can seamlessly activate pre- and post-bid filtering, measurement and blocking across devices and formats. The DV integration represents the most complete post-bid blocking solution available to brands on Adform today and helps reinforce Vodafones Global Brand Safety Profile.

DV and Adform have partnered since 2017 to provide pre-bid targeting and post-bid monitoring of fraud, viewability and brand safety.

About DoubleVerify

DoubleVerify is the leading independent provider of marketing measurement software, data and analytics that authenticates the quality and effectiveness of digital media for the world's largest brands and media platforms. DV provides media transparency and accountability to deliver the highest level of impression quality for maximum advertising performance. Since 2008, DV has helped hundreds of Fortune 500 companies gain the most from their media spend by delivering best in class solutions across the digital ecosystem, helping to build a better industry. Learn more at doubleverify.com.

About Adform

Adform provides an integrated Software as a Service platform for the buying, managing and serving of digital advertising. The companys software consist of a Data Management Platform, a Demand Side Platform and an Ad Serving Platform with advanced analytics, reporting and creative tools that drive high impact digital advertising campaigns globally. Founded in Denmark in 2002, Adform services a client portfolio that includes the worlds leading agencies, advertisers, consultancies, and publishers. To learn more visit us at adform.com or join.adform.com.

About Vodafone

Vodafone Group is one of the worlds largest telecommunications companies and provides a range of services including voice, messaging, data and fixed communications. Vodafone Group has mobile operations in 25 countries, partners with mobile networks in 46 more, and fixed broadband operations in 18 markets. As of 30 June 2018, Vodafone Group had 534.5 million mobile customers and 19.9 million fixed broadband customers, including India and all of the customers in Vodafones joint ventures and associates. For more information, please visit Vodafone.com.UCLUELET, British Columbia, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Leaders from the Clayoquot regional tourism, fisheries, and stewardship sectors came together with elected officials in Ucluelet for an emergency session last week. The collective call was: Ottawa, pay attention. With MP Gord Johns, Mayor of Tofino Josie Osborne, Port Alberni Mayor Sharie Minions and the Mayor of Ucluelet Mayco Noel present, the community was united in calling on Ottawa to incorporate local knowledge and local values into any Southern Resident Killer Whales action plan.



We're fortunate to have a group of community and industry leaders at the table, able and willing to come together, and work together, to help shape a strong path forward for all. We're calling on the government to let us be a part of the process, said Minions. This echoes the call from other areas, sectors and First Nations on WCVI in demanding fair process that represents the values held by coastal communities in Ottawas decision making process.

Ocean Shine of Ocean Outfitters Whale Watching in Tofino stressed, Fast approaching decisions regarding SRKWs, critical habitat, and vessel management plans have the power to shape our futures and we would like our voices to be heard.

We need to learn from the mistakes made in Newfoundland around the Cod fishery. We have the opportunity to do this differently, put conservation first and maintain healthy vibrant coastal communities, said local MP Gord Johns.

"Conservation of fish stocks is needed. A wide reaching approach that the region understands and accepts is critical. Any approach should focus on local experts input, said Mayor Noel, Ucluelet.

Coastal communities are ready and willing to work with Ottawa. They want to work collaboratively with government and deliver on the promise of Canadas Ocean Strategy. We can have healthy oceans and thriving local economies, said Josie Osborne.

West Coast Aquatic seeks to produce innovative solutions to coastal concerns, and strengthen the understanding and relationships between parties that share a common interest in the health and wealth of aquatic resources. West Coast Aquatic brings together governments, key sectors and communities including First nations to develop valuesbased outcomes for marine resources on the West Coast of Vancouver Island providing technical and administrative support, facilitation, process design and communications to our member communities. Our governance board was mandated under the oceans act and continue to engage in opportunities for collaboration in decision making regarding aquatic resources on WCVI.

For more information and to schedule interviews contact:

Marc LaBrie, Director of Development for West Coast Aquatic - 250.735.0702 marc@westcoastaquatic.ca

Or Josie Osborne, Mayor of Tofino and alternate director, West Coast Aquatic. 250-266-5229

osborne@tofino.caBELLEVUE, Wash., Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Auth0 , a global leader in Identity-as-a-Service (IDaaS), today announced it has achieved Gold CSA STAR certification from the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), signifying that the company has surpassed rigorous third party independent assessment of its security as a cloud service provider.



CSA STAR is the industrys most powerful program for security assurance in the cloud. There are 11 controls areas that dictate certification level, including compliance, data governance, facility security, human resources, information security, legal, operations management, risk management, release management, resiliency, and security architecture. Auth0 has achieved the highest level of Gold for the Level 2 audit.

In this predominantly cloud-centric environment, it is critical that companies can rest assured that their vendors have gone through all of the steps necessary to be as secure as they can be, said Joan Pepin, CISO and VP of Business Operations at Auth0. We are pleased to have achieved this level of CSA STAR certification and will continue to invest in standards like these to provide the most secure solution possible.

Auth0s CSA STAR certification can be downloaded from the CSA Registry here:

https://cloudsecurityalliance.org/star/registry/ auth0 / . For more information about Auth0s approach to security, please visit: https://auth0.com/security .

About Auth0

Auth0, a global leader in Identity-as-a-Service (IDaaS), provides thousands of customers in every market sector with the only identity solution they need for their web, mobile, IoT, and internal applications. Its extensible platform seamlessly authenticates and secures more than 1.5B logins per month, making it loved by developers and trusted by global enterprises. The company's U.S. headquarters in Bellevue, WA, and additional offices in Buenos Aires, London, Tokyo, and Sydney, support its customers that are located in 70+ countries.

For more information, visit https://auth0.com or follow @auth0 on Twitter.

Media Contacts:

Jeana Tahnk

Corporate Communications

Auth0

press@auth0.com



VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Metallic Minerals Corp. (TSX-V: MMG; US OTC: MMNGF) (Metallic or the Company) is pleased to announce initial results from the 2018 exploration program conducted at its 100% owned McKay Hill Project, located 50 km north of the historic Keno Hill Silver District, and adjacent to ATACs Rackla Property, in the Yukon Territory. Highlights include the outline of six areas of highly elevated silver, lead, zinc, copper and gold in soils of 1 to 1.5 km in length that remain open to further expansion.



Soil sampling was conducted as part of the McKay Hill Project exploration program in 2018 in order to expand the previously limited sampling. The soils program covered an area approximately 3 km long by 1.5 km wide with samples collected at approximately 50 m spacing.

Figure 1  Soil Assay Contours (Silver Equivalent) is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/30abb062-a87d-45de-9940-33c9a175fd04

Within this 3 km long area are six discrete zones of elevated soil values, consistently registering between 2 g/t to 200 g/t Ag Eq. (yellow to magenta colours) that correspond with the target areas previously identified through mapping and rock sampling, expanding these areas with more continuous coverage where outcrop exposure is limited on the property (see Figure 1). These large areas of highly elevated metals in soils support the potential for significant scale mineralized systems in the bedrock below. The soil anomalies defined both by their strong tenor and large areal extent coincide spatially with both the historic and the new vein exposures that together outline the Central Zone and five additional newly defined target areas.

McKay Hill Central Zone

The Central Zone was the focus of historic exploration and high-grade production in the 1940s from a small area of the No. 6 Vein Corridor. The 2018 soil sampling grid was designed to expand on previous sampling that showed elevated metals in soils along the main Central Zone ridge, where most of the previously known mineralized exposures had been identified. When viewed in the context of the areas geology, the new results from the 2018 sampling highlight that the Central Zone is one of a series of roughly 1 to 1.5 km long, east-west to northeast trending zones of mineralization on the property. The mapped mineralized structures in the Central Zone consist of: 1) thick, sub-vertical, sulfide-bearing quartz veins in three predominant orientations striking north-south, east-west and north-east; and 2) numerous parallel massive sulfide veins up to 2 m wide typically striking north-easterly with a sub-vertical dip. Together these vein sets generate the large, property-scale soil anomaly that is open in multiple directions and will be the subject of additional sampling work in future programs.

Other Target Areas at the McKay Hill Project

In addition to the significant expansion of the main Central Zone, systematic exploration on the McKay Hill Project over the last two years has also identified and refined six additional surrounding target zones: West McKay, Falls, Bella, Red, Snowdrift and Independence (Figure 1).

The West McKay anomaly appears to be a significant parallel zone to the Central Zone and contains some of the highest soil grades from the survey, coinciding with several newly-defined sulfide-bearing quartz veins that were located in 2018 and that have similar orientations as the vein structures seen in the Central Zone. The Red, Falls, Bella and Independence zone grids are also open to expansion in several directions and additional follow up sampling will be planned in future programs to determine the extent of the open soil anomalies and to provide expanded coverage. To date, Metallic has identified 37 vein structures at the McKay Hill Project, 18 of which were identified during the 2018 field program.

Metallics CEO and Chairman, Greg Johnson states, We are very pleased with the these initial results from the 2018 McKay Hill Project work that are outlining a number of significant mineralized systems of scale. These metal in soil anomalies, coupled with the historic and newly discovered high-grade vein occurrences only cover a portion of the McKay Hill Project but support the potential for a district scale system that is significantly larger than previously recognized. The tenor and scale of the surface anomalies indicate potential for broad zones of high-grade mineralization that warrant further investigation through additional surface sampling work and drill testing. With the successful exploration program at the McKay Hill Project, new claims have been staked to cover additional prospective ground and planning for the 2019 work program is underway. Additional results from rock sampling and initial trenching at the McKay Hill Project are pending and are expected in the coming weeks. We also anticipate providing a project update and results from our advanced Keno Silver Project in the Keno Hill Silver District.

About the McKay Hill Project

The 100% owned McKay Hill Project covers 44 km2 within a belt of silver-lead-zinc related deposits that stretch from the Alaska border to the southern part of the Yukon and includes the famous Keno Hill Silver District, approximately 50 km to the south. McKay Hill is a historic high-grade producer that shows potential to host a significant district scale vein system similar to Keno Hill but that have seen very limited modern exploration. McKay Hill was discovered and initially explored in the 1920s with selective mining in the 1940s producing 143 tonnes of high-grade material from the No. 6 Vein Corridor area, grading 390.8 g/t Ag and 74.1% Pb.1

1Geological and Geochemical Evaluation Report on the McKay Hill Project, Jean Pautler, P.Geo. JP Exploration Services Inc., 2009

About Metallic Minerals Corp.

Metallic Minerals Corp. is a growth-stage exploration company focused on the acquisition and development of high-grade silver and gold in the Yukon within under-explored districts with potential to produce top-tier assets. Our objective is to create value through a disciplined, systematic approach to exploration, reducing investment risk and maximizing probability of long-term success. Our core Keno Silver Project is located in the historic Keno Hill Silver District of Canada's Yukon Territory, a region with over 300 million ounces of past production and current high-grade silver resources. The Companys McKay Hill Project, northeast of Keno Hill, is a high-grade historic silver-gold producer. Metallic Minerals is also building a portfolio of gold royalties in the Klondike Gold District. Metallic Minerals is led by a team with a track record of discovery and exploration success, including large scale development, permitting and project financing.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Website: www.metallic-minerals.com

Email: chris.ackerman@metallic-minerals.com

Phone: 604-629-7800

Toll Free: 1-888-570-4420

Quality Assurance / Quality Control

All samples were assayed by 36 Element Aqua Regia Digestion ICP-MS methods at Bureau Veritas labs in Vancouver. Analytical work in 2017 was done by Bureau Veritas Commodities Canada Ltd. with sample preparation in Whitehorse, Yukon and geochemical analysis in Vancouver, British Columbia. Each rock (grab) sample was analyzed for 36 elements using an Aqua Regia digestion with inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) and inductively coupled Plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) (AQ202). Samples with over limit silver and gold were re-analyzed using a 30-gram fire assay fusion with a gravimetric finish (FA530-Ag, Au). Over-limit lead and zinc samples were analyzed by multi-acid digestion and atomic absorption spectrometry (MA404) or titration (GC516, GC8917). All results have passed the QAQC screening by the lab.

Qualified Person

Scott Petsel, P.Geo, Vice President, Exploration and an employee of Metallic Minerals Corp., is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Petsel has reviewed the scientific and technical information in this news release and approves the disclosure contained herein. Mr. Petsel has reviewed the results of the sampling program and confirmed that all procedures, protocols and methodologies used in the drill program conform to industry standards.

Forward-Looking Statements

Forward Looking Statements: This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts including, without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization, historic production, estimation of mineral resources, the realization of mineral resource estimates, interpretation of prior exploration and potential exploration results, the timing and success of exploration activities generally, the timing and results of future resource estimates, permitting time lines, metal prices and currency exchange rates, availability of capital, government regulation of exploration operations, environmental risks, reclamation, title, and future plans and objectives of the company are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. Although Metallic Minerals believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of material factors and assumptions. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include failure to obtain necessary approvals, unsuccessful exploration results, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, results of future resource estimates, future metal prices, availability of capital and financing on acceptable terms, general economic, market or business conditions, risks associated with regulatory changes, defects in title, availability of personnel, materials and equipment on a timely basis, accidents or equipment breakdowns, uninsured risks, delays in receiving government approvals, unanticipated environmental impacts on operations and costs to remedy same, and other exploration or other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the companies with securities regulators. Readers are cautioned that mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Mineral exploration and development of mines is an inherently risky business. Accordingly, the actual events may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on Metallic Minerals and the risks and challenges of their businesses, investors should review their annual filings that are available at www.sedar.com.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.ATLANTA, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Atlanta Marriott Marquis proudly congratulates the hotels long-time concierge, Claudia Mashburn on being inducted to the Atlanta Hospitality Hall of Fame, following the 20th anniversary celebration of the organization at Flourish on November 1st, 2018.



The Atlanta Hospitality Hall of Fame recognized Claudia, along with a host of other notable inductees. Marriott is honored to be named among some of the areas best in the hospitality industry, thanks to Claudias hard work, dedication and friendly service to all guests.

Claudia has worked for Marriott for 34 years, 31 of which have been at the Marquis, currently serving as chief concierge for Atlanta Marriott Marquis. Mashburn began her career with Marriott brands in 1982 at Marriott Biscayne Bay in Miami as bell captain. Following a successful career in Miami, she relocated to Atlanta in 1987 and worked both the front and concierge desk at Atlanta Marriott Marquis. During Atlantas time hosting the Centennial Olympic Games, Mashburn organized and staffed the International Olympic Committee desk as the Marriott Marquis hotel liaison and assisted international dignitaries, executive committee members and international press. Shes received the Where Magazine Silver Plume Susan Sturgis Hyde Distinguished Service Award for her ongoing contributions to tourism, the hospitality industry and the community at-large, while also being selected to join Les Clefs d'Or concierge society for her local expertise and commitment to excellence when assisting hotel guests.

Claudias personalized attention to detail, warm smile and commitment to the guest experience are all hallmarks of Marriotts hospitality philosophy, and the hotel is proud to celebrate her incredible work. Her level of service is part of what makes each stay at the property unique.

Offering all-new Atlanta hotel rooms and Stay Well Rooms, along with a rejuvenating on-site spa, the hotel has become an iconic destination for travelers looking to explore Atlanta. Its soaring, Instagram-worthy atrium, designed by Atlanta legend John Portman, greets guests in style, along with restaurants, a Starbucks, fitness center and indoor and outdoor pools.

For those looking to book a stay at the hotel, Marriott Rewards has now merged with the Starwood Preferred Guest program to add even more incentives and savings. Guests who book directly with the hotel will get the lowest available rates.

For more information, or to book a stay at the hotel in Atlanta, Georgia , guests can call 404-521-0000.

About Atlanta Marriott Marquis

Located in downtown, the Atlanta Marriott Marquis is an iconic hotel in Atlantas heart. Its lobby features a spectacular atrium, which is anchored by the 50-foot color-changing sail of Pulse, the hotels vibrant cocktail lounge. Situated in the Peachtree Center, the hotel places travelers near a MARTA rail station, Georgia World Congress Center and AmericasMart Atlanta. Its spacious guest rooms all feature stunning cityscape views, state-of-the-art technology and serious creature comforts. Guests are invited to indulge and dine at one of five unique dining destinations, including Sear steakhouse, find urban calm in The Spa, the hotels signature wellness destination, or break a sweat in the hotels 24-hour fitness center. Rising as the preeminent meetings terminus of the South, Atlanta Marriott Marquis boasts more than 160,000 square feet of meeting space, making it the preferred hotel among savvy business travelers.

CONTACT: Atlanta Marriott Marquis

265 Peachtree Center Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia 30303 USA

+1 404-521-0000

https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/atlmq-atlanta-marriott-marquis/

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4456a8f8-133e-4fb5-974d-dbb8926df359TORONTO, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Questrade ( www.questrade.com ) -- Canadas fastest growing online brokerage and a true innovator in financial services for Canadians -- has been named as one of Canadas Most Admired Corporate Cultures for 2018.



The annual program from Waterstone Human Capital, now in its 14th year, recognizes best-in-class Canadian organizations for a corporate culture that enhances performance and helps sustain a competitive advantage.

Questrades submission was scored on six categories: vision and leadership, recruitment and hiring for fit, cultural alignment and measurement, retention, rewards and recognition, organizational performance and corporate social responsibility. The program facilitates valuable networking opportunities and relationship-building with Canadas most successful and innovative organizations that outperform their peers. Review and voting was done by Canadas Most Admired Corporate Cultures Board of Governors, comprised of leaders of past winning organizations, experts in knowing what makes a great corporate culture and leading organizations that exemplify winning cultures.

Winning Canadas Most Admired Corporate Cultures is a mark of excellence in culture and performance, so we are very honoured to be recognized, said Edward Kholodenko , president and CEO of Questrade. Our goal is to make a positive difference in the lives of Canadians and demonstrate how we care about their financial success. To deliver this it is essential we create and nurture a corporate culture that really cares both about our customers and our people.

We believe corporate culture drives performance and that it is an organizations greatest asset, says Marty Parker, president and CEO, Waterstone Human Capital and Chair of Canadas Most Admired Corporate Cultures. Whats notable about the 2018 winners is their commitment to culture as a competitive advantage. They set an outstanding example for cultivating and sustaining great cultures that ultimately drive growth and performance. This years winning organizations are to be admired for the diverse and impactful ways they ensure culture underpins their success.

Ever since its founding in 1999, Questrade has had one clear vision: to help Canadians achieve financial independence by providing them with the best investment products, technology, and client services. Questrade currently has more than $8 billion in assets and more than 50,000 new accounts opened every year.

In their ongoing commitment to helping Canadians achieve their financial goals faster, the firm recently introduced Questwealth Portfolios - new lower fee, actively managed portfolios to meet the needs of Canadian investors who are looking for an alternative to traditional investments.

We work to ensure we have a culture in which our people can thrive, for individual, team and organization-wide success, concludes Emma Horgan, chief people officer, Questrade. Were particularly delighted to be a recipient of this prestigious award that shares our commitment to being best-in-class. One doesnt have a great culture without great people and I consider it a privilege to have the opportunity to work alongside our exceptional, high performing team.

About Canadas Most Admired Corporate Cultures

This national program annually recognizes best-in-class Canadian organizations for having cultures that enhance performance and help sustain a competitive advantage. Forty winners are chosen across four categories; three are based on revenue (growth, mid-market and enterprise) and one not-for-profit category (broader public sector). Organizations submissions are scored on six categories: vision and leadership, recruitment and hiring for fit, cultural alignment and measurement, retention, rewards and recognition, organizational performance and corporate social responsibility. The Canadas Most Admired Corporate Cultures program creates a benchmark of success for all those who are nominated. For more information visit www.canadasmostadmired.com .

About Waterstone Human Capital

Waterstone Human Capital is a leading retained executive search firm specializing in recruiting for fit and cultural talent management for entrepreneurial-minded, high-growth organizations across North America. The Canadas Most Admired Corporate Cultures and Canadas Most Admired CEO programs are founded and presented by Waterstone Human Capital. These national programs annually recognize best-in-class Canadian organizations, and CEOs, for fostering cultures that enhance performance and help sustain a competitive advantage. For more information please visit www.waterstonehc.com or www.canadasmostadmired.com .

About Questrade, Inc.

Questrade ( www.questrade.com ) is Canadas fastest growing online brokerage that is changing the Canadian financial services industry by leveraging technology to lower fees, and providing a viable alternative to traditional financial investment options, thereby allowing Canadians to Keep More of their Money. As a leader and innovator in fintech, Questrade is a trusted ally that advocates for consumers, focused on improving value.

With 19 years of challenging the status quo as Canada's leading, non-bank online brokerage, more than $8 billion in assets, account protection of up to $10 million and more than 50,000 accounts opened every year, Questrade and its companies provide financial products and services: securities, foreign currency investment, and online wealth management. Questrade has been named one of Canadas Best Managed Companies for the seventh year in a row, achieving Platinum status. For more information visit www.questrade.com or follow on Facebook and Twitter @Questrade.

Questrade, Inc. is a registered investment dealer, a member of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund (CIPF).

About Questrade Wealth Management, Inc.

Questrade Wealth Management Inc. ("QWM") provides professional investment management services through Questwealth Portfolios ( www.questrade.com/questwealth-portfolios ). QWM is an Exempt Market Dealer, Investment Fund Manager and Portfolio Manager. QWM is a wholly owned subsidiary of Questrade Financial Group Inc.

For more information, visuals, or to arrange an interview or in-studio segment with Questrade president and CEO, Edward Kholodenko please contact Susan Willemsen or Briana Le Goaix at The Siren Group Inc. Tel: 416-461-5270.

Email: susan@thesirengroup.com or briana@thesirengroup.com .

Visit www.thesirengroup.com , and on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram

@thesirengroup.MIAMI, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay proudly stands out among the most sought-after venues for events, celebrations, holiday parties and conferences in the Miami area, with more than 20,000 square feet of Miami event space , backed by bay views.



Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4d79830e-e638-4f3e-83b2-785165682617

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/35094226-5edc-45ab-a185-9c456a087203

Located on Biscayne Bay, the hotels floor-to-ceiling windows provide stunning views for creating unforgettable backdrops for events, and its downtown location puts guests and attendees close to major attractions, museums, sporting events and city events.

The Miami meeting venue offers 23 meeting rooms, with a 9,860-square-foot Grand Ballroom that can accommodate up to 1,350 guests, as well as the 2,500-square-foot Bayview Ballroom, offering inspiring views of the bay. All meeting rooms offer both high-speed wired and wireless Internet access and the latest audiovisual equipment, as well as custom catering.

Spacious accommodations, some with private balconies, let guests wake up to views of the Miami skyline and Biscayne Bay. Amenities include a state-of-the-art fitness center, where floor-to-ceiling windows inspire every workout, a lobby for mixing and mingling and The Catch Grill & Bar, which offers a taste of Floridas freshest seafood.

Marriotts experience in event and meeting management provides a seamless approach to the planning and execution of any meeting. The Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay Event Planning team focuses on uncovering what is important to you, from catering to decor, to technology, and choosing the right event venue in Miami to fit your needs, whether large or small.

For more information, or to start planning an event, guests can call +1 305-374-3900.

About Marriott International

Marriott International, Inc. is a leading global lodging company with more than 6,700 properties across 130 countries and territories, reporting revenues of more than $22 billion in fiscal year 2017. Founded by J. Willard and Alice Marriott and guided by family leadership for more than 90 years, the company is headquartered outside of Washington, D.C. in Bethesda, Maryland.

About Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay

Edging the shimmering waters of the Port of Miami, Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay offers modern comfort in a breathtaking downtown location. Spacious comfort awaits in beautifully appointed hotel rooms and suites, featuring Wi-Fi, work desks and lovely views of the city or waterfront. Explore the area's most popular attractions, including American Airlines Arena, Bayside Marketplace, Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts and South Beach. Celebrate and succeed in 20,000 square feet of elegant event space for meetings, weddings and social affairs. When it's all said and done, take a dip in our pool or savor distinctive cuisine at our signature restaurant. With a well-equipped fitness center and stylish poolside bar, the hotel is a sophisticated oasis, where contemporary comfort is complemented by the beauty of Miami.

CONTACT: Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay

1633 North Bayshore Drive, Miami, Florida 33132 USA

+1 305-374-3900

https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/miabb-miami-marriott-biscayne-bay/



The official recalled that earlier, at 7:20 AM, his Uruguayan counterpart Rodolfo Nin Novoa informed him of the decision taken by the Council of Ministers, which was then officially announced by President Tabare Vazquez.





Likewise, he said close coordination with Uruguayan authorities was observed through the entire assessment process.





In this sense, good bilateral relations have been maintained at all levels after such a decision.





"This country made a decision by examining though a legal analysis ex-President Alan Garcia's case-related documentation sent by the Peruvian Government, thus concluding there is no reason to grant the asylum," Minister Popolizio expressed.





Concerning Garcia's situation, the Foreign Affairs representative indicated Garcia has been barred from leaving the country but can move freely throughout the nation.





Remarks were made at the Foreign Affairs Ministry's headquarters in Lima.





On November 17, a Peruvian Judge approved Prosecutor Jose Domingo Perez's request to forbid former President Alan Garcia from leaving the Inca country for 18 months.





On the same day, Garcia entered the Uruguayan Ambassador's residence with the purpose of requesting asylum.





As is known, Brazilian construction giant and corruption-tainted Odebrecht allegedly paid bribes to secure the Lima Metro Line 1 contract during Garcia's presidency (2006-2011).





Additionally, investigative journalism site IDL-Reporteros reported Garcia had received US$100,000 from Odebrecht for a lecture in Sao Paulo.





On Monday, Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez informed his administration had rejected the request.





Alan Garcia served as President of Peru between 1985-1990 and 2006-2011.





(END) JCC/CCR/DTK/RMB

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Foreign Affairs Nestor Popolizio on Monday affirmed that Uruguayan Government's decision to reject ex-President Alan Garcia's asylum request is good for countries to know there are no foundations supporting said petition.Publicado: 3/12/2018Presidente @MartinVizcarraC: Ni un minimo de concesion a quienes actuan al margen de la Ley, ni a aquellos que afectan la tranquilidad de los ciudadanos! Cuentan ustedes con todo el respaldo del Estado y el Gobierno para restablecer el principio de autoridad en el territorio.As for the possibility of a future asylum request by Alan Garcia, he said the ex-Head of State is free to do what he thinks is right.

Presidente @MartinVizcarraC: Todas las autoridades de la region #Puno deben trabajar coordinadamente para priorizar los proyectos que beneficien a sus ciudadanos. Desde el Gobierno central apoyaremos a todos los alcaldes y gobernadores durante su gestion. pic.twitter.com/6Ge3KSBU88



"Now the prosecutor has a stronger case of procedural risk. He will claim Garcia is not settled (in Peru), has a son and partner in Spain, lacks habitual residence, has no ties, or that his children are adults," he told RPP radio and TV news station.





Therefore, he explained, the diplomatic asylum requested to Uruguay's Embassy will be perceived as an escape attempt or a use of contacts to evade justice.





The so-called procedural risk that is to say the high risk of flight or obstruction of justice is one of the criteria considered by judges when deciding on whether a preventive detention requested by the Prosecutor's Office is justified or unjustified.





According to Paredes, Garcia is in trouble now because the rejection of his asylum request placed him in a difficult situation, thus increasing the procedural risk or risk of flight.





Accordantly, the ex-President's defense shall provide evidence to prove his settlement in Peru, despite lacking a permanent place of residence in Lima and the fact that his family remains in Spain.









(END) CCR/RMB/MVB

An asylum request provides stronger arguments for the Prosecutor's Office to claim procedural risk in the case of investigations on former Peruvian President Alan Garcia, said Jorge Paredes, a specialist in criminal law.Published: 12/4/2018According to Uruguay-based newspaper El Pais , Vazquez gave a press conference this morning to comment on the request. He was joined by Foreign Affairs Minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa.12:37 | Lisbon (Portugal), Dec. 3.





The World Travel Awards (WTA) Grand Final Gala Ceremony 2018 took place in Lisbon, Portugal, unveiling the globe's finest travel brands.









Back in September, WTA announced South America's 2018 winners.





On that occasion, Peru won four awards: Leading Tourist Attraction , Leading Culinary Destination, Leading Cultural Destination, and Leading Tourist Board.





About World Travel Awards





WTA was established in 1993 to acknowledge, reward and celebrate excellence across all sectors of the tourism industry.





Today, the WTA brand is recognized globally as the ultimate hallmark of quality, with winners setting the benchmark to which all others aspire.





Each year, WTA covers the globe with a series of regional gala ceremonies staged to recognize and celebrate individual and collective success within each key geographical region.





(END) NDP/MAO/DTK/RMB

Machu Picchu has won for the second time in a row the World's Leading Tourist Attraction award this year, Exports and Tourism Promotion Board (PromPeru) has informed.Published: 12/3/2018CALGARY, Alberta, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Baywest Homes and Calgary Marriott Downtown proudly celebrated the seventh edition of the Building Hope for Kids Gala: A Night in New Orleans. The hotel in downtown Calgary partnered with Baywest to raise $1.5 million for the cause, with over 400 people in attendance. The hotels restaurant, ONE18 Empire showcased a sponsored stand with old-fashioned whiskeys, selling out in just two hours.



Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e5816f28-e76e-47ef-b756-bbdd071203ab

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8c538be7-7571-4187-8852-7a5608e2ac47

The annual event welcomes more than 600 Building and Development professionals every year who want to help support the Alberta Childrens Hospital while experiencing some of the worlds most exciting locales. All food at the gala was catered by Calgary Marriott Downtown and its team of expert chefs and culinary artists. The event showcased what makes dining in downtown Calgary a unique experience, while raising money for a worthy cause.

Building Hope for Kids provides state-of-the-art equipment, innovative research and family-centered care programs at the Alberta Childrens Hospital. This years event helped to support Mental Health initiatives at the hospital. The funds raised at the event will help children and families throughout the community as they face one of the worlds biggest health concerns.

The night was a huge success and will help continue to fund the efforts of Building Hope for Kids throughout the coming year. Calgary Marriott Downtown is proud to partner with and help support one of the communitys most noteworthy charities.

To Make a Donation, click here . For more information, or to book a stay at the hotel, guests can call 403-266-7331.

About Calgary Marriott Downtown Hotel

The Calgary Marriott Downtown is a luxuriously revamped high-end destination for both business travellers and discerning leisure travellers. The fully transformed hotel boasts high-end finishes in all guest rooms, complementing the sleek design elements that anchor the modern decor and furnishings throughout. Amenities include a 24-hour fitness centre, indoor pool, concierge service, laundry service, valet parking, on-site Starbucks, and over 11,000 square feet of meeting space, providing the ultimate destination experience. Recharge after a long day exploring all that this world-class city has to offer.

But the crowning glory of this hotel, noted as a 'jewel in the heart of the city', would be their recently launched M Club Lounge, another one of the hotel's firsts in Canada among Marriott properties. The M Club Lounge offers an elite space to work, connect and relax. Visitors will enjoy complimentary breakfast, evening hot/cold hors d'oeuvres, and dedicated staff including a Hostess and a Bartender. Guests can also take advantage of one of the hottest spots in the city, the ONE18 EMPIRE, an on-site restaurant that offers diners a trendy culinary experience.

CONTACT: Calgary Marriott Downtown Hotel

110 9th Avenue SE, Calgary T2G 5A6 Canada

+1 403-266-7331

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/yycdt-calgary-marriott-downtown-hotel/"I registered as Spanish because I had to show my passport. I love racing as a Spaniard, but 90% of the support I get in terms of sponsors and fans is from Peru," Borrell, 44, said in an interview with EFE.





"I'd like to be able to register myself as from both countries, but I know I can't," he expressed, adding that he has started the process of becoming a Peruvian citizen.





Since swapping La Mancha for the tropics of northern Peru, Borrell has never dropped his passion for the powerful two-wheelers, almost always in motocross, his specialty, but later also in the enduro and rallies, and has now had his dream come true of competing in the toughest of them all, the Dakar.





In 2019 he will compete in it for the third time, after completing the rally in 2013 and having dropped out in 2018 with mechanical problems.





"Everything was perfect. The motorcycle was ideal. I was doing well. I was sure I'd end the day among the first 40, but out of nowhere the motor broke down," he recalled.





So for his next Dakar, all he asks is to do as he did in 2013 when he crossed the finish line in Santiago, "to complete the experience again and add one more to my book."





"I'd love to be able to say I'll be fighting the top 30, but that's a lie. I want to go to enjoy it and I'm an enthusiast who likes to tackle it head-on. It's a lot of kilometers. It's not worth losing the whole race for a position," Borrell said.





This time he will ride a KTM leased from Spain's Xraids team, which has already provided him with mechanical assistance in other adventures, and will have the added support of his sponsors Motul, Socopur, MSG Performance and Mancora Hard Enduro.





Al Borrell does not lack dunes to practice on in northern Peru, where he went at age 21 to help his father breed squat lobsters, until two years ago when dad changed the business for a hotel that he manages in the coastal municipality of Mancora.





"It was the moment when you wanted to own the world and become a billionaire. I came to that, but obviously I quit trying to be a billionaire. I kept my work on the beach, which is very calm and allows me to ride my motorcycle, which I love. For me, that is quality of life," he concluded.





Efe Agency: All rights are reserved. It is expressly prohibited reproduction without prior written permission from the Efe agency.





(END) EFE/DTK/MVBYEREVAN, DECEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo announced supporting Tel Aviv and emphasized the countrys absolute right to self-defense during the meeting with Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu in Brussels, the State Department said in a statement.

The Secretary of State emphasized the US commitment to Israels security and absolute right to self-defense and to fighting anti-Israeli bias at the United Nations, the statement says.

The Secretary reiterated US support for warming ties and increased dialogue between Israel and its neighbors in the Middle East and Africa, including Oman and Chad.

Secretary Pompeo noted the strength of the US-Israel alliance and our multifaceted cooperation. He reiterated Americas resolve in confronting the totality of the Iranian regimes threats through maximum pressure, reads the statement.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, DECEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. The government is likely to refuse the offered property donations from ex-general Manvel Grigoryan and ex-customs official Armen Avetisyan, since the general prosecution might have objections, Chairman of the State Property Management Committee Narek Babayan told ARMENPRESS.

Grigoryan, a former general and MP currently jailed on corruption-related charges, and Avetisyan, the former director of the Customs Service, have offered to donate private property to the state. Grigoryans offered land and property donation is valued nearly 10 million dollars, while Avetisyan offered to donate the Golden Palace Hotel of Tsakhkadzor.

Babayan said that the committee must first design a draft , and only after receiving the conclusions from all relevant bodies the government can decide to receive the donation or not.

The prosecutions opinion is required for the government decision. As far as the judicial process, there might be certain objections from the prosecution, he said. He said the state cannot accept problematic property as donation.

He said it is likely that the property wont be taken as a donation, because it might get expropriated anyway in the future.

We can assume that the property has been acquired illegally, otherwise they wouldnt give it away, he said.

Babayan said they will study the case.

He argues that perhaps the two former officials wanted to raise their public image by making the donation.

He said the state will evaluate the value of the properties if it decides to take it as a donation.

He said that the properties are likely to get auctioned off.

Edited and translated by Stepan KocharyanYEREVAN, DECEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. According to the interim report of the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO), an organization observing the general election of Armenia, the campaigning is proceeding calmly and peacefully.

ENEMO Mission Head Zlatko Vujovic told a news conference today that there is big progress in preventing state resource abuses compared to the previous electoral processes, which also concerns implementation of electoral administration.

The first part of the campaigning was calm and peaceful, although there were cases of hate speech, Vujovic said. At the same time, the ENEMO Mission Head said that the hate speech is a lot less than in a number of other countries.

We were pleasantly surprised that this election campaign was proceeding peacefully, taking into consideration the fact that the changes in the country took place very recently. Weve recorded certain cases of hate speech, but if we take into account the general level, here the hate atmosphere is a lot lower than in other countries during similar campaigns, Vujovic said.

Zlatko Vujovic said that there is political will in Armenia, that will support fair elections. In Armenia, like in any other country, organizations dealing with elections must be free, independent and act within the law, Vujovic said.

ENEMO Armenia Mission Press and Logistic Officer Maja Milikic said this is the first observer mission of ENEMO in Armenia.

ENEMO started its activities in the beginning of November and will stay in the country another six weeks after the election, she said.

ENEMO will publish its report one month after the election.

Edited and translated by Stepan KocharyanYEREVAN, DECEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. Acting Prime Minister of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, who is in Belgium on a working visit, met on December 4 with Belgian Deputy Prime Minister - Foreign Minister Didier Reynders.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the MFA Armenia, highly assessing the traditionally high level of bilateral and multilateral close cooperation, the Foreign Ministers of the two countries reaffirmed the readiness to take measures to further deepen and develop the cooperation in different spheres, particularly in the sphere of trade and economy. The interlocutors exchanged views on further enhancing partnership agenda, pointing out innovation, high technologies and creative education as priority directions.

Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Didier Reynders expressed satisfaction over the cooperation between the two countries and mutual support in international institutions. Armenia-EU relations were also touched upon during the meeting. Acting FM Mnatsakanyan emphasized that the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement opens new opportunities for Armenia-EU cooperation.

Mnatsakanyan presented to his counterpart the recent domestic political developments in Armenia. Referring to the upcoming parliamentary elections, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan emphasized the commitment of the Government of Armenia to hold them free and fair that will meet the international standards.

A number of regional and international issues were also touched upon during the meeting, including the situation in Syria and the recent developments over Irans nuclear program.

The acting Foreign Minister of Armenia presented the approaches and position of Armenia on Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement. In this context the sides highlighted that the conflict should be settled through exclusively peaceful means in the sidelines of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chair format, which is the only internationally authorized format.

At the end of the meeting Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Didier Reynders signed the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Armenia and the Kingdom of Belgium on the remunerated work of family members of diplomatic missions and consular officers.

Edited and translated by Tigran SirekanyanYet we all know that, at some irrevocable point ahead, the proverbial chickens will come home to roost. At least, perhaps we hope, that might happen on someone elses watch.

Therein lies the real issue. Collective inertia. While total collapse can be put off until some time in the future, we still enjoy our days in the sun.

So if most people agree on the problem, why is it so difficult to devise an effective solution?

Whether it be at social get-togethers or standing in line waiting to pay for groceries, everyone seems to be agree on the same issue. While I dont immerse myself in social media, I know that is discussing much the same thing (if one excludes fake news).

GOLD COAST - The constant issue everyone seems to agree on these days is the demonstrable lack of real leaders who can enunciate both a clear vision and a set of achievable national objectives.

Apres moi, le deluge (after me, the deluge) is a quote attributed to the King Louis XV of France (171074) and acknowledges that, while he enjoyed the good times, his successor would inevitably end up paying the price of so much extravagance.

He was correct, his successor (Louis XVI) being beheaded in the gory French revolution that followed.

So with all our knowledge of what works and what doesnt, why is it that we keep making the same mistakes? The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, Albert Einstein (probably incorrectly) is reputed to have said.

While clearly Einstein was a genius, this trait of human frailty has been noted down the millennia of human history.

So why is it humans havent learnt to recognise that which doesnt work?

Perhaps because its easier to get high on the sugar fix of comfort and leave the inevitable low which follows for someone else to suffer. The timing of the perpetrators escape is crucial. How long can the good times be drawn out before the bad times arrive?

Phil Fitzpatrick has pointed out that for the vast majority or Papua New Guineans who arent part of the global economy, the global financial crisis of 10 years ago meant very little.

The observation recognises that, in a number of respects, the lives of very many people arent in any material way much changed from how their forefathers lived. As some wag pointed out to the Speaker in a previous PNG parliament, You can get progress forwards but you can also get progress backwards.

So inevitably one arrives at the source of the problem. As long as someone can put off the day of reckoning, for that person at that time it is an effective way of dealing with the problem.

Theres no problem until it become impossible to ignore. Like sweeping dust under the mat until someone trips over the hump.

So in the words of that old university song:

Gaudeamus igitur,

Juvenes dum sumus;

Post icundum iuventutem,

Post molestam senectutem

Nos habebit humus.

Let us therefore rejoice,

While we are young;

After our youth,

After a troublesome old age

The ground will hold us.

Or (in my words), Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.

Gosh! Hold on. Maybe all those sweet words have deluded me from thinking about what I really am upset about.

Aiyah! Nau tasol het bilo mi klia liklik na mi malgalim ol samting bilo yu ya!Being invited to connect with Marlene was to share her lived experience as a Papua New Guinean women living in present day PNG society. It is a privilege I do not take for granted. It takes courage to put your experiences and feelings into writing when challenges become overwhelming.

These personal traits encapsulate how and why Marlene is like many of those people who make up the PNG Attitude virtual family.

Yet in my online interactions with Marlene, she is by no measure a victim but always future-oriented, persevering to find an effective solution as issues arise.

This incident was just the latest of a series of burglaries  and worse - going back some years, which have placed Marlene and her children in heartbreaking circumstances.

And I note that Marlene never asked for help. Her only response to another serious assault on her well-being was a cry of frustration. Thats why Marlene is an inspiration to so many of us.

This blog and its virtual family have been instrumental for nearly 13 years advocating for PNG women (domestic and in the diaspora) so I thought Id ask the publisher and editor, Keith Jackson AM, a few questions to highlight the importance of the appeal currently underway to assist Marlene and her children.

RASHMII BELL: The first piece of writing I sent you in 2014 was drawn from a few posts Id written for a blog Id begun. They were me having a rant about motherhood including the outrageous contradictions and challenges faced by women raising children in PNG. In that, Ive a few things in common with Marlene. How often do you receive contributions from PNG women who are raising children? Are there any recurring themes and issues?

KEITH JACKSON: I think the field on that particular topic has been limited to you and Marlene, who have drawn from your personal experiences to offer more general lessons about the terrible predicament of many, if not most, Papua New Guinean women.

RB: Marlene has been a contributor to PNG Attitude for many years, has authored several titles and been included in the Crocodile Prize Anthology volumes. Her writing also appears in My Walk to Equality. How would you describe Marlenes writing? What have been her standout pieces for you?

KJ: Marlene is an accomplished writer and, in a country that valued its writers more than PNG  and thats most countries, would be a successful journalist and author of childrens books. In her essays, she has a wonderful ability to use personal experience to develop some embracing themes. She has a great sense of humour and a soaring imagination which is at its most vivid in her childrens stories. I enjoy all Marlenes writing and, for a fine example, I suggest reading this essay, very relevant to our appeal, PNG Dystopia: The perils of life as a single mother. And for something very different, this delightful piece, Deeply, Madly.

RB: Included in My Walk to Equality is an account Marlene wrote about a devastating fire that devoured her Lae lodgings in 2016. That disaster left her and her children with no home and few possessions. It was an important inclusion in the anthology to highlight the inhumanity that exacerbated Marlenes adversity. Each of us needs to pause and understand the challenges faced by her and others like her. Its a universal dilemma, of course, but in PNG there is an unrelenting tendency to exploit single parents, especially women. Have you seen this demonstrated in writing by Papua New Guineans on issues outside of parenthood?

KJ: I have read much from Papua New Guinean writers on the subject of exploitation. Its not an unusual topic in PNG: exploitation by greedy politicians, by foreign companies and by fellow Papua New Guineans who also live impoverished lives. The latter is the hardest to accept because it departs so much from the traditional hospitable and fair-minded Melanesian society. It is symbolic of how, in creating a country of 800 tribes, the politicians have failed to create a fair society.

RB: PNG Attitude has been key in how Ive developed my writing and it has supported and created opportunities for including my voice in addressing PNGs social issues. What I think is special about the PNG Attitude community is that we are a virtual family; everyone is made to feel welcome, to participate and to form genuine connections. So when people talk about strengthening bilateral relations between PNG and Australia, other than the carriers of the Kokoda Trail, Attitude is the only place where I see a genuine effort being made. Can you tell us of other occasions where the PNG Attitude community has banded together to help other Papua New Guineans, especially girls and women?

KJ: Over the years, there have been many projects to assist PNG people either as individual or collectively. I try not to burden our readers too often with appeals for money and support but it happens occasionally when there is great need. It happened with My Walk to Equality, with establishing the Crocodile Prize and with supporting Francis Nii through a period of great personal challenge. There are too many other cases to itemise here. As I wrote in a recent piece in Attitude: And so it has been that readers have assisted people in PNG who required hospital treatment and medical support, they sponsored PNG writers through travel, fellowships, mentoring, awards and publishing, they provided the means to stock schools with books and equipment, they were front and centre in supporting Papua New Guineans in their quest to root out corruption, facilitate equality and bring honesty to the relationship between our countries. And more. That sure sounds like a caring community to me.

RB: It upset me reading Marlenes recent post where she described losing 20 years worth of writing as a result of a robbery earlier this year and how she dealt with that. She truly is a remarkable individual with incredible spirit and commitment - to spend months handwriting her stories, and to type them again when she was able to purchase a desktop. What are your suggestions for Papua New Guineans who would like to contribute writing to PNG Attitude, but do not have a computer? Are their individuals in PNG who are currently acting as conduits for the blog who would assist?

KJ: Find a friend who has a computer. I dont want to sound harsh but we do not have the resources to transcribe writing, nor to translate from the many languages of PNG, although from time to time we do this. PNG Attitude is one man and a computer supported by hundreds of people and their computers. There is no big, wealthy hierarchical organisation. Self-help in all aspects of our activity is essential.

RB: PNG Attitude reaches a globally wide and demographically diverse audience. I didnt truly understand this until the MWTE project began in 2016. Always impressive is that PNG Attitude operates with virtually no public funding. This year, the blog marked 10 years as an archived resource of the National Library of Australia. Could you explain what this means for Papua New Guineans who write for the blog?

KJ: It means that their writing will be retained for posterity, long after PNG Attitude has ceased to exist. The NLA archive is permanent and accessible. Not online yet but perhaps that will happen as digital society matures.

RB: This years PHDC Writer Fellowship enabled me to focus clearly on the effects of the absence of government and major corporate support for PNG writers. Like other authors, Marlene has published several titles but she is unable to even afford to buy copies of her own work. Can you suggest some ways that PNG authors like Marlene can be assisted to have copies of their books purchased and distributed?

KJ: In a country where the government does not respect its writers nor the content they produce, and where people are generally too impoverished to purchase books, no substantial solution presents itself. That is the gloomy truth.

RB: My final thought and question; Weve seen with many PNG writers how an association with the blog has helped us in many ways. For me, I have been impacted significantly by an increase in self-confidence and in connecting with amazingly compassionate and deep thinking people. How can Papua New Guinean girls and women become involved with PNG Attitude, whether as readers or contributors from now and into 2019?

KJ: It just requires engaging with the blog by commenting on articles, contributing material, following it on Twitter or on Facebook. We welcome participation and encourage all forms of writing. As a first step people can contact me here and I can point them in the right direction

mailto:benelong@bigpond.net.auLOS ANGELES, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Due to popular demand, JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles will extend SOU FUJIMOTO: FUTURES OF THE FUTURE  an exhibition featuring more than 100 architectural models and large-scale photographs of international projects by acclaimed Japanese architect, Sou Fujimoto  through January 6, 2019. Originally set to end December 12, architecture enthusiasts can now continue to enjoy the exhibition, including works from Fujimotos Architecture is Everywhere  a unique exploration of his past and current projects, from complex models to the whimsical reimagining of the future with small-scale human figures placed next to ordinary, everyday objects such as potato chips.



Named the Wall Street Journals 2014 Architecture Innovator of the Year, Fujimoto has designed buildings around the world since establishing his atelier in 2000.

A reoccurring theme in Fujimotos work is the primitive future. This apparent contradiction refers to the primordial, intuitive moments that reconnect us with our own humanity, and open us up to new possibilities. JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles FUTURES OF THE FUTURE exhibition seeks to share this empowering experience with visitors. It invites them to participate in Fujimotos thought experiment surrounding the possibilities of architecture and, as a result, be inspired to reimagine the future in any shape or form.

Fujimoto addresses many opposite concepts in addition to the primitive future. His designs often feature juxtapositions of outside and inside, nature and urbanity, objects and spaces, public and private. His projects feature unexpected transitions, such as Museum in a Forest (Taoyuan, Taiwan 2013) where a path gradually leads visitors from lush, green woods to the white walls of a gallery, and Toilet in Nature (Chiba, Japan 2012), where public and private are brazenly mixed.

In Fujimotos breakout piece, Serpentine Pavilion (London, UK 2013), hard-edged white poles descend onto a London park in a pattern that is simultaneously natural and mechanical. It considers the macro and micro of when an object becomes a space. The result is a piece that somehow manages to be part landscape, functional furniture, and an enclosing building, all at once.

The exhibition also includes several works from Architecture is Everywhere. This series presents miniature models created by placing small-scale human figures next to ordinary, everyday objects. The whimsical installation focuses on how architecture must be found (sometimes by chance) before it can be created with intent.

SOU FUJIMOTO: FUTURES OF THE FUTURE is made possible in collaboration with TOTO GALLERYMA, Tokyo and sponsorship provided by ANA. Admission is free.

ABOUT JAPAN HOUSE

JAPAN HOUSE is an innovative, worldwide project with three hubs  London, Los Angeles, and Sao Paulo  conceived by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. Kenya Hara is Chief Creative Director for the project, which seeks to nurture a deeper understanding and appreciation of Japan in the international community. JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles occupies two floors at Hollywood & Highland, with the 2nd floor featuring a gallery space and shop. The 5th floor hosts a Japanese restaurant, relaxing library, and event space, along with spectacular views of Hollywood and Downtown Los Angeles. The 2nd floor has been open since December 2017, and with the completion of the 5th floor, JAPAN HOUSE celebrated its grand opening in August 2018, offering the public a place of new discovery that transcends the physical and conceptual boundaries creating experiences that reflect the best of Japan.

Location: 6801 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028

Website: www.japanhouse.jp/losangeles

ABOUT TOTO GALLERYMA

TOTO GALLERYMA was founded in 1985 in Tokyo, Japan. It specializes in architecture and design and is operated by TOTO Ltd., Japans leading manufacturer of sanitary equipment and plumbing hardware. We aim to contribute broadly to the fostering of architecture and design culture by inviting exhibitors to convey their ideas to society. The gallery takes its name from the Japanese concept of ma-ai, which describes the spatiotemporal intervals or connective voids that are perceived between people, time, and space. For more information, visit https://jp.toto.com/gallerma/index_e.htm .

ABOUT TOTO

TOTO USA is headquarters for the Americas Division of the TOTO Global Group, which was established in 1917 with the founding of TOTO Ltd., in Kitakyushu, Japan. TOTO is the worlds largest plumbing manufacturer with $4.9 billion dollars in annual sales. For over 100 years, TOTO has been the recognized leader in innovation, technology, performance, and design with products that enhance the luxury bathroom experience. With three centers devoted to research and development, TOTO engineers products that respect the environment while meeting people's needs for comfort, beauty and performance. Winner of numerous domestic and international awards, TOTO is the only plumbing manufacturer honored as Water Efficiency Leader by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. For more information, visit www.totousa.com or call 1.888.295.8134, Option 5.

Media Contact

Nerissa Silao | 310-874-9230 | nerissas@ca.rr.com

Lisa Nakanouchi | 323-904-9298 | lnakanouchi@japanhousela.comAustralians are getting wealthier, with almost three out of every ten worth $US1 million or more.

As a group, Australians hold $US6.1 trillion in net assets. Around $US1.7 trillion of that, or 28%, of this is held by high net worth individuals.

The average person in Australia has net assets of $US279,000. This makes Australia the fifth wealthiest country in the world on a per capita basis, behind Monaco, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Switzerland.

Australia's capacity to create wealthy people is growing.

The number of US dollar billionaires in Australia will double to 80 from 36 in less than a decade, according to analysis by consultancy New World Wealth.

And the rise of high net worth individuals (HNWIs), those with net assets of $US1 million ($A1.36 million) or more, will continue with Australia expected to have more than 650,000 by 2027, up from 377,000.

Total wealth held in Australia rose strongly over the 10 years to $US6.1 trillion in 2017 from $US3.4 trillion in 2007.

Wealth grew with the help rising real estate vales, especially on the East Coast, a strong local equity market, and high performing industry sectors including financial services, professional services, real estate, transport, IT, telecoms and healthcare.

The report, Australia 2018 Wealth Report, says growth in Australian wealth is expected to be strong over the next 10 years with total wealth reaching $US10.4 trillion.

This will make Australia the seventh largest wealth market in the world by 2027, moving up from seventh, overtaking Canada and France. It will also come within touching distance of Germany and the UK.

New World Wealth also expects strong migration of the wealthy to Australia, attracted by a safe and free society with strong links to Asia, to continue.

In 2017, Australia topped the world with a net inflow of 10,000 HNWIs. Second was the US with 9,000.

These high net worth individuals like their taxes low, something Australia doesn't have.

Story continues

However, what the wealthy like about Australia's tax system is that there are no inheritance taxes.

"This encourages wealthy people to stay in the country and build their businesses for future generations," says the report.

New World Wealth put the reasons for its high Australian wealth growth forecasts as:

Low population density and a mineral-rich large land area.

A very safe country. Australia was recently rated as one of the five safest countries for women (along with Iceland, Malta, New Zealand and Canada).

Australia has strong business ties with Asia including China, Japan and Korea.

The average Australian is now significantly wealthier than the average US citizen, reversing the situation of then years ago.

Over the past 10 years, wealth per capita in Australia has risen by 83% to $US279,000 compared to just 20% growth in the US with $US193,400.

On several measures -- safety, social services and wealth per capita -- Australia is now the leading first world country worldwide.

The US is only the leading country worldwide by total wealth and total GDP but the US has over 300 million people living there.

And if financial hubs and tax havens Monaco, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Switzerland are excluded from calculations, then Australia ranks first in the world on average wealth per person in US dollars:

Monaco: $2,087,400

Liechtenstein: $761,100

Luxembourg: $368,000

Switzerland: $354,000

Australia: $279,200

Norway: $228,000

Singapore: $194,500

United States: $193,400

Canada: $185,300

New Zealand: $173,700

This latest research follows Credit Suisse Research Institutes 2018 Global Wealth Report showing Australia as the country with the highest median household wealth at $US191,453.

The wealthy like what they see in Australia, says the analysis from New World Wealth.

Australia is arguably the most politically developed country in the world with politicians viewed as everyday public servants without extreme power.

The consultancy points to the recent high turnover of prime ministers to support this statement.

"Notably, the prime minister of Australia is often replaced between elections if party members feel they need a change," the report says.

"Australian politicians also dont have much security around them and often wonder around public spaces on their own. In most other countries (including the US), politicians have excessive security which sends a very bad message to the everyday person... that politicians are better/more important than the everyday person.

"In Australia politicians are seen as easily replaceable which is probably the way it should be."

The report also says Australia has the highest minimum wage -- at $AU719.20 a week -- in the world.

The only area where Australia is still well behind the US is in terms of big multi-nationals, especially in those in tech, says the report.

As of September this year, the US is home to eight of the ten largest companies in the world by market cap. The other two are based in China.

"Australia has some catching up to do in this area," says the report.Apple won't release a "5G" iPhone until 2020 or later, according to a new report.

A look at the only 5G phone that has been announced makes it clear why Apple is sitting this cycle out.

5G technology simply isn't ready for phones.

One of the most anticipated next-generation features for smartphones is "5G" wireless connectivity.

Once the next-generation wireless networks become available, 5G service will blow away the LTE and 4G networks most phones currently work with, at least according to the carriers.

"5G mobility service will provide massive bandwidth, greater opportunities for connectivity and improved network reliability," Verizon said on Monday in a press release. "When fully implemented, it will offer capacity and download speed many times faster than today's 4G LTE network."

Sounds great! But at least one tech giant will sit out the rush to release a 5G phone next year: Apple.

Apple's not planning to release a 5G iPhone until 2020 or later, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing sources familiar with the plans.

"As with 3G and 4G, the two previous generations of mobile technology, Apple will wait as long as a year after the initial deployment of the new networks before its main product gets the capability to access them, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing the company's plans," Bloomberg reported.

This comes as Wall Street analysts have started saying that 5G is the most likely feature that could spur a big cycle of iPhone upgrades for Apple.

But if you look at the current state of 5G, it's obvious why Apple is sitting this round out: The technology simply isn't ready for it.

One photo shows it all.

Check out the Moto Z3

Moto Z3: The First 5G Phone

The chunky phone above is the Motorola Z3, which was launched to much fanfare in August, claiming the title of "first 5G phone."

But as you can see from the photos, the first-ever "5G" phone is a little chunky. Once the 5G modem attachment is affixed to the Android phone, it becomes distinctly clunky and large. Part of the attachment is a battery, but that underscores only how experimental and power-hungry these new 5G electronics can be.

Story continues

And although the device was revealed in August, it was only a prototype, according to people who got to try the device, and journalists weren't allowed to photograph the working device. The 5G mod isn't ready yet - it will go on sale in "early 2019," when Verizon launches its 5G network in Los Angeles, Houston, Indianapolis, and Sacramento.

Moto 5G phone

Plus, if you don't live in those specific areas, you won't be able to use 5G connectivity.

Even a Motorola representative seemed sceptical that 5G will be built into phones anytime soon.

"If we did put [5G] in the mobile phone, it wouldn't be early 2019, it would be much later," a Motorola director told CNET. "The four-antenna modules use up a lot of space ... and if you put them all in the phone, you'd wind up with a thicker phone with a much smaller screen."

Apple doesn't make chunky phones - think of the company's obsession with thinness and weight - and it builds devices for a global audience. It simply wouldn't make sense for Apple to launch a 5G iPhone if it could only work in a few cities in the United States and other developed nations, like South Korea.

It's really hard to imagine Apple ever releasing a phone that looks like the Moto Z3 with 5G.

Even Verizon is calling 5G developments scheduled for next year a "proof of concept" in an announcement on Monday - and it's the company building the network.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd1aqQGR12g

A different kind of cellular connection

Apple Innovation Zone

That's not to say that Apple isn't deeply curious about 5G.

It's been working on the technology, Business Insider has previously reported. In 2017, Apple received approval to test "millimetre wave" connectivity, one of the key technologies underpinning 5G. Earlier this year, it deleted a job listing for a "millimetre-wave IC design engineer," strongly suggesting that it planned to develop its own 5G chips.

Apple has also received permission to conduct new radio-frequency tests inside "innovation zones" at both its Apple Park headquarters and 1 Infinite Loop campus. Apple has also joined an industry group for 5G technology.

But it's still unclear whether 5G technology is something that will ultimately end up in a phone, or whether the tech will instead exist as a wireless industry infrastructure or a "last mile" connection to homes or offices.

As Business Insider previously reported, 5G may end up being a "middle mile" technology that connects "small cells" to the broader network, which then connects to a phone over a standard like Wi-Fi. That means your first 5G device might not be a phone - it might be a router, instead.

However, there are drawbacks to millimetre-wave technology on a handset, as well. One issue is a "propagation" problem, which means that its waves can't travel very far before they start losing information. Another problem with millimetre waves is the technology often requires a clear line-of-sight between the device and the transmitter - so a 5G phone might lose signal when you go behind a wall.

Apple's experiments may end up being more closely related to it severing relationships with Qualcomm and Intel, which make wireless modem chips and are expected to make their own 5G chips.

Experts have said millimetre wave is only one technology that will make up the 5G standard, which is still being finalised. The biggest advantage to millimetre wave is that it can achieve very high data rates, with much more bandwidth than current cellular networks.

There's a huge push from carriers, chipmakers, and others to commercialize 5G soon, though. "I'll call it the classic 'More G.' In cellular, you're going to have more capacity, more data rates, lower latency. From an operator's point of view, it really helps them grow the capability and the network," Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf told Business Insider in 2017.President Donald Trump named US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer as the new lead negotiator in trade talks with China.

Lighthizer is the third person to spearhead the Trump administration's talks with China.

Lighthizer is significantly more hawkish toward China than the previous lead negotiator, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

He opposed China's entry into the World Trade Organisation in the 1990s and more recently advocated tariffs on roughly $US250 billion worth of Chinese goods.

President Donald Trump on Monday named US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer as the lead negotiator in follow-up talks with China over trade, elevating the longtime China hawk to a critical role over the next few months.

The move could dampen investor and business enthusiasm over the preliminary trade agreement Trump made with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit last weekend.

Lighthizer is also the third point person since trade negotiations with the Chinese began in 2017, following Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, neither of whom was able to strike a concrete, long-term deal with Beijing.

The appointment of Lighthizer reportedly took Chinese officials by surprise, as Lighthizer has a more critical view of China than Mnuchin.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Lighthizer opposed China's entry into the World Trade Organisation in the 1990s and more recently was a driving force behind Trump's decision to impose tariffs on roughly $US250 billion worth of Chinese goods.

Lighthizer's office was also responsible for the original report earlier this year that laid out allegations of Chinese theft of US intellectual property and formally kicked off the tariff process. In a follow-up report in November, the US trade representative's office reiterated that China had made no progress in addressing the underlying issues that led to the trade war.



Read more:

The US-China trade war might still rage on despite a breakthrough deal between Trump and Xi



Story continues

During his time in President Ronald Reagan's administration, Lighthizer was also known as a hard-nosed negotiator. In one famous incident, Lighthizer smoked an entire box of Cuban cigars as a tactic to throw off counterparts from the Soviet Union. During the same period,Lighthizer became known among Japanese officials as "the missile man" after throwing a set of proposals back as a paper aeroplane.

Trump appears to have confidence in the US trade representative after Lighthizer was able to reach a deal to update the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada.

White House officials downplayed Lighthizer's role, saying the talks would be a team effort.

"And, by the way, I personally - I'm very happy that Bob Lighthizer is going to be running the trade negotiating side and the monitoring side. And again, Mr. Mnuchin will be very involved. Others of us will be very involved," Larry Kudlow, the free-trade advocate who serves as director of the National Economic Council, said in a conference call Monday.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told CNBC on Tuesday that the concern over Lighthizer's stronger stance on China was overblown since the US trade representative always takes the lead in trade negotiations.

"Bob Lighthizer by statute is the official negotiator for the US on trade deals, just as he was in the US-Mexico-Canada deal," Ross said. "So I don't know why anybody would have been that surprised that he was the lead negotiator. He has been acting in that capacity, so that's not really news."

Trump confirmed Lighthizer leading role in a tweet Tuesday, but also said the US Trade Representative will be "working closely" with other administration officials including Mnuchin, Kudlow, Ross, and notable China critic Peter Navarro.

Talks between the two sides are expected to start in mid-December. If the sides don't reach a deal by March 1, Trump has threatened to raise existing tariffs and to impose tariffs on the remaining $US267 billion worth of Chinese goods not already subject to duties.Brexit firebrand Nigel Farage resigned Tuesday from the UK Independence Party which he co-founded and turned into an influential force in British politics as its leader for nearly a decade. "With a heavy heart, I am leaving UKIP. It is not the Brexit party our nation so badly needs," Farage wrote in a column for the Daily Telegraph. Farage, who quit as party leader in 2016 but stayed on as a card-carrying member, fell out with the current leadership after it appointed a far-right activist and convicted criminal named Tommy Robinson as an adviser last month. Farage, who has himself been accused of fomenting far-right views, said that at a UKIP conference this year he was confronted by "several angry young men... who all seemed to be obsessed with Islam and Tommy Robinson". "The party of elections is quickly becoming a party of street activism, with our members being urged to attend marches rather than taking the fight to the ballot box," he wrote. Farage co-founded the party and has represented UKIP on the European Parliament -- a job he will lose when Britain withdraws from the European Union. He is also a radio host in Britain and a commentator for Fox News, building on a bond with President Donald Trump forged during the US election campaign. - Brexit dream - Brexit has been the 54-year-old former trader's dream ever since leaving the Conservatives in 1992 following the signing of the Maastricht Treaty, which deepened European integration. Farage has spent nearly three decades undermining European institutions and mocking its leading lights, a mission that culminated with the 2016 referendum to leave the EU. He stepped down as party leader after the vote, explaining that "my political ambition has been achieved". He will stay on as deputy chairman of Leave Means Leave, a pro-Brexit campaign group. Farage was born in 1964 to an affluent family in Kent, southeast England. His father was a stockbroker and an alcoholic, and his parents divorced when he was five. He was educated at one of England's top private schools, Dulwich College in London, before becoming a commodities trader. Farage has had three brushes with death. In 1985, he was hit by a car after a night out, suffered serious head and leg injuries. Months later, he had a cancerous testicle removed. Once recovered, he married his nurse, and the couple had two sons. Following their divorce in 1997, Farage married second wife Kirsten Mehr, a German, with whom he has two daughters. The couple has since announced they are separating. Farage's most recent scare came in 2010 when a light aircraft in which he was campaigning on election day crashed on take-off after a banner got caught in a propeller, but he escaped with broken bones and a punctured lung. - 'I want my life back' - Farage's political destiny was cast with the co-founding of UKIP in 1993, and with his election to the European Parliament in 1999, aged 35. He became UKIP's leader in 2006 before standing down in 2009 and then being re-elected the following year, stamping his charisma and anti-establishment humour on the party as it soared in popularity. The party won the most British seats in European Parliament elections in 2014, although Farage himself never managed to get elected as a lawmaker at home despite repeated attempts. With the party's image and Farage becoming intertwined, and with the Brexit vote achieved, UKIP faced a vacuum of leadership and identity. Much of Farage's appeal lay with his "everyman" image, the result of many hours spent swilling pints of ale down at the pub, cigarette in hand. Voted "Briton of 2014" by The Times, Farage maintained a high profile before the referendum but was kept out of the official pro-Brexit campaign, which feared his brand was too divisive. The Brexit vote helped vindicate some of Farage's methods, but came at a price. "During the referendum I said I wanted my country back ... now I want my life back," Farage said when he resigned as leader two years ago. Brexit campaigner and member of the European Parliament Nigel Farage quits UKIP, saying it is 'not the Brexit party' Britain needsImpassioned UK MPs debated Brexit late into Tuesday night after delivering two stinging defeats to Prime Minister Theresa May that exposed her lack of support in parliament. It marked a tumultuous start to a momentous week that will conclude next Tuesday with a vote on May's plan for unwinding Britain's 46-year participation in the grand European project. The House of Commons first voted 311-293 to censure the government for not publishing the full legal advice it received about May's divorce deal with the European Union. May's critics believe the attorney general's report is full of embarrassing details about Britain being forced to follow EU rules for years to come while having no say in its decisions. The government argued that May had a right to get private counsel and refused to publish the entire text despite a resolution from parliament. The embarrassing loss saw it reverse course and promise to release the full tome on Wednesday. "This house has now spoken and it's of huge constitutional and political significance," said opposition Labour Party member Keir Starmer. Lawmakers also backed an amendment that will give them a bigger say in what happens if May's deal is voted down -- an outcome that looks likely. It would let MPs draft a "Plan B" that May will face intense political pressure to follow. The government's defeat next week could also trigger a no-confidence vote that forces early elections and leaves Brexit in chaos just three months before the March 29 deadline. May faced these challenges and the ominous rumblings from disgruntled pro-Brexit members of her own party as she stepped before a packed session of parliament to kick off five days of intense debates. "The only solution that will endure is one that addresses the concerns of those who voted 'Leave' while reassuring those who voted 'Remain'," May said. "This argument has gone on long enough. It is corrosive to our politics and life depends on compromise." - 'De facto colony' - Her message of unity was interrupted repeatedly by heckling from both pro-EU and Brexit-backing MPs. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called May's plan "a huge and damaging failure for Britain" that came from "two years of botched negotiations". "To vote for this deal would be to damage our economy, to make our constituents poorer and to take a leap in the dark for the future of this country," said Corbyn. And former foreign minister Boris Johnson -- an ardent Brexit supporter with an eye on May's job -- warned that Britain threatened to become the EU's "de facto colony". "It is a paint and plaster pseudo-Brexit and beneath the camouflage we find the same old EU institutions," Johnson said. - 'Brexit shambles' - The pro-EU camp's longstanding bid to secure a second referendum on staying in the bloc received a sudden boost from an opinion issued by a legal adviser to the European Court of Justice (ECJ). Advocate General Campos Sanchez-Bordona said London had the right to halt the entire Brexit process without the agreement of other EU states. "That possibility continues to exist until the withdrawal agreement is formally concluded," he said. The EU supporting Scottish National Party's MP Alyn Smith proclaimed: "We now have a roadmap out of the Brexit shambles." But May warned that another Brexit vote "would take us back to square one" and do nothing to settle bitter debates about Britain's place in Europe. "We cannot afford to spend the next decade as a country going round in circles on the question of our relationship with the European Union," she argued. - 'Misjudged mood of country' - May is charging ahead in the face of resistance from MPs who represent various political camps and who all hate her plan for their own reasons. Left-wing Labour wants to use to prime minister's Brexit vote defeat to trigger a confidence vote to bring down her government. She has also been constantly challenged by hardline eurosceptics in her own party and might face an internal leadership contest as well. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) -- the Northern Ireland party propping up May's government -- also objects to special provisions for the British province. DUP formalised its rupture with May's Conservative Party by voting against the government on Tuesday. "We're sad about this, I deeply regret it," the party's parliamentary leader Nigel Dodds said. "I admire the prime minister, her stamina, her resilience, the work that she's doing -- but on this I think she has misjudged the mood of the country and the mood of the House." The British parliament will hold five days of debate on the prime minister's Brexit deal Theresa May has been challenged over Brexit by hardline eurosceptics in her own party Brexit timeline, 2016-2020Campaign groups representing citizens from across the world demanded Tuesday that big energy leaves coal in the ground as COP24 host Poland pushed for protections allowing it to continue burning fossil fuel. With nations locked in UN climate talks aimed at heading off runaway global warming, many parts of the world are already dealing with the storms, floods, fires and droughts our heating planet will suffer. Man-made emissions have increased annually since the landmark 2015 Paris climate accord was struck and with political progress slowing, people who will bear the biggest burden issued their clearest plea to date: end fossil fuels now. "The urgency of the climate crisis is very real on the ground because our people are suffering the different impacts of extreme weather," said Lidy Nacpil, co-coordinator of the Asia Peoples? Movement on Debt and Development. "Crops will be destroyed not just by flooding and rain but also by droughts. Yet this urgency is not reflected in the actions of governments," she told AFP. The People's Demands (https://www.peoplesdemands.org/) initiative has been signed by nearly 300,000 people from over 120 nations. It calls on richer states -- who are responsible for most greenhouse gas emissions -- to honour their promises to help fund at-risk countries to adapt to climate change, and developed economies to be fully green by 2030. They also want a ban on fracking and an immediate, worldwide moratorium on new fossil fuel exploration and extraction. The UN's independent panel of climate experts in October issued its starkest findings yet: emissions from fossil fuels must be slashed by half within 12 years in order to hit the Paris goals of limited temperature rises. But most Western economies remain heavily dependent on fossil fuels. Poland, which gets roughly 80 percent of its electricity from coal, this week called for nations to weave measures into the UN climate framework that critics fear would allow it to keep polluting for decades. President Andrzej Duda used his address at the COP opening Monday to say Poland's dependence on coal "does not clash with climate protection and progress achieved in this vein". Duda reinforced his message on Tuesday with a speech to miners in the southern town of Brzeszcze, where he said he would not allow "anyone to murder Polish mining". He said while Poland was hosting the climate summit "we're also there to speak the truth without taking into account political correctness, which is often driven by foreign interests and not Polish ones". Poland and other fossil-fuel reliant economies say they need a gradual and "just transition" towards renewables that protects miners and national energy security. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told officials at negotiations Tuesday that "the dialogue with industries is sometimes difficult and complex". "But we believe that even in the oil and gas industry, there is a growing conscience that the present trend is not sustainable." - 'Detached from reality' - Paris committed countries to limiting temperature rises to well below two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) and to the safer cap of 1.5C if possible. But a UN body warned last month that the gap between greenhouse gas emissions and levels needed to hit the Paris targets was bigger than ever before. Air pollution alone is now estimated to kill as many as nine million people every year. "More and more communities are understanding the need to transform our energy systems and their immediate reason is they can see how damaging coal plants or oil drilling are," said Nacpil. "It's becoming a popular cry that there has to be a swift transition away from these kinds of energy." Groups representing big energy are present at COP negotiations and environmentalists fear they may embolden nations to stick by old coal. Jesse Bragg, of the Corporate Accountability group, told AFP fossil fuel influence at UN climate talks had "succeeded in making what goes on in those rooms very, very detached and different from the needs of the world." Many parts of the world are already dealing with the storms, floods, fires and droughts our heating planet will suffer Air pollution alone is now estimated to kill as many as nine million people every year Poland's pavillion at the COP24 climate talks is decorated with coal Coal workers in the Polish city of Katowice -- host of crunch UN climate talks -- celebrated the Day of St Barbara, patron saint of coal miners, on Tuesday.CIA director Gina Haspel has agreed to brief a "small group" of US lawmakers about the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the chair of the Senate foreign relations committee said Monday. The briefing will take place on Tuesday at 11:00 am (1600 GMT), Senator Bob Corker told journalists, after the Central Intelligence Agency failed to take part when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis spoke to senators on the issue last week. The spy agency has concluded with "medium-to-high confidence" that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman "probably ordered" the October 2 assassination of Khashoggi by a team of Saudis in the country's consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, The Wall Street Journal reported. The veteran journalist was a strong critic of Prince Mohammed and had been resident in the United States, where he wrote about politics in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East for The Washington Post. The Journal, the Post, and The New York Times have all reported that the CIA has evidence Prince Mohammed exchanged 11 messages with his close aide Saud al-Qahtani, who allegedly oversaw the murder, just before and after it took place. The Times reported Monday that Haspel was furious over the leak of the CIA's conclusions, which increased pressure on the White House to take strong actions against the Middle East powerhouse. With relations with Riyadh already fraught, President Donald Trump has declined to accept the conclusion that the powerful heir to the Saudi throne approved the murder, saying there is no direct evidence of it. "It could very well be that the crown prince had knowledge of this tragic event -- maybe he did and maybe he didn't!" Trump said in a statement on November 20. Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in the country's Istanbul consulate by a team under the direction of the Saudi crown prince, the CIA has reportedly concludedAlan Garcia, a former president of Peru embroiled in a corruption scandal, left the embassy of Uruguay in Lima on Monday after his request for political asylum was rejected, officials said. "To put it simply, we have not granted the request for asylum," Uruguay's President Tabare Vazquez told a press conference in Montevideo. Vazquez said his government took the decision after reviewing Garcia's request and documentation submitted by the Peruvian government. Peru's Foreign Minister Nestor Popolizio told the RPP radio station in Lima that he had been informed by the Uruguayan ambassador that Garcia had left the embassy. The 69-year-old Garcia took refuge in the Uruguayan embassy on November 17 after a Peruvian court investigating bribes allegedly paid by Brazilian contractor Odebrecht barred the former president from leaving the country. Garcia, a social democrat who served two separate terms as president, maintained he was the target of political persecution, a charge denied by Peru's President Martin Vizcarra. "In Peru, nobody has a crown. Our democracy guarantees the independence of powers and due process," Vizcarra said on Twitter. Garcia had returned to Peru in November to testify in the Odebrecht case when the court issued an order barring him from leaving the country for 18 months. "In Peru, the three powers of state operate autonomously and it is the judicial branch that is carrying out the investigations of possible economic crimes," Vazquez said at a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa. "For strictly legal considerations we are not granting political asylum to Mr Alan Garcia," the Uruguayan president said. The Odebrecht payments were allegedly made during his second term in office, from 2006-2011, to secure a contract to build the Lima metro. He had previously been president from 1985-1990. Odebrecht has admitted to paying $29 million in bribes to Peruvian officials over three administrations. The Peruvian press also has reported that Garcia received a $100,000 payment from an illicit Odebrecht fund for giving a speech to Brazilian business leaders in Sao Paulo in May 2012. Last week, while Garcia was in the Uruguayan embassy, Peruvian prosecutors opened a new investigation into irregularities in another public contract. Prosecutors allege that Garcia and 21 other officials conspired to enable Dutch company ATM Terminals to win a 2011 concession to operate a terminal at the port of Callao, near Lima. A policeman stands guard outside the residence of Uruguay's ambassador to Peru, after former Peruvian President Alan Garcia requested asylum amid a probe into alleged bribes paid by a Brazilian contractor during his second term in officeOttawa, ON, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As Western economies have struggled with the upheavals brought about by globalization, technological change, and disruption, one sector remained consistently strong for Canada: the energy industry. Put simply, Canadas economy cannot prosper without a growing and healthy resource sector.

However, while this sector fills such an important role in Canadas economy, it too has suffered, with major energy infrastructure projects like the Trans Mountain pipeline on life support and projects like Energy East dead in the water.

It is for this reason that two major liquified natural gas (LNG) projects in British Columbia have such promise for Canada. A new paper by MLI Munk Senior Fellow Philip Cross, titled BCs LNG Projects: A Turning Point for Canadas Energy Industry, makes the case that these two projects will hold considerable benefits.

In the paper, Cross argues that the new LNG projects represent an important turning point for a number of reasons. He says that, even with conservative estimates based on sophisticated Statistics Canada models, they could increase revenues from exports to Asia by $6.366 billion. That said, the most important impact could be that greenlighting these projects sends a broader message to investors around the world that Canada is able to undertake these kinds of large projects.

Canada definitely needs a mega project to succeed to show investors that it is capable of building major resource projects, writes Cross. This makes the LNG projects important for several reasons including (but hardly limited to) Canadas image at home and abroad.

Cross divides the economic benefits of the LNG projects into three major categories: building the pipelines and terminals; increasing BCs natural gas production; and raising the price received for natural gas exports. In each case, the benefits would directly improve the economy.

However, the benefits of major resource projects  and indeed the energy industry at large  go much deeper than simply the economic boon. Cross points to how the strength of Canadas resource and energy sectors have helped prevent the sort of populist upheavals that have plagued other political systems.

The middle class in Canada fared relatively well in recent years partly due to steady growth in sectors such as natural resources and construction If Canada had faced the same financial and economic crisis as the US, we might have experienced similar political turmoil.

But we did not, and Canada can partly thank its resource sector for that.

Ultimately, the ability to develop our energy and natural resource sectors is crucial for protecting the Canadian middle class and supporting Canadas working class.

At a time when policymakers are concerned about the future of work, the potential for technology-induced dislocation, and the uncertain prospects for the middle class, explains Cross, Canadas natural resource sector can and should serve as a ballast for working-class Canadians as well as a source of new opportunities for Canadas Indigenous peoples.

To learn more about these projects and why they are so crucial for Canadas economy and Canadian society at large, read the full paper here.





***

Philip Cross is a Munk Senior Fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute. Prior to joining MLI, Mr. Cross spent 36 years at Statistics Canada specializing in macroeconomics. He was appointed Chief Economic Analyst in 2008 and was responsible for ensuring quality and coherency of all major economic statistics.

For more information please contact:The UN Security Council will meet behind closed doors on Tuesday at the request of France and Britain after they accused Iran of test-firing a medium-range missile at the weekend, diplomats said. The United States said the missile launch on Saturday was a violation of a UN resolution that endorsed the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, from which Washington has withdrawn. That resolution calls on Iran to refrain from testing missiles capable of carrying a nuclear weapon. France said it was concerned by the test-firing with the foreign ministry describing it as "provocative and destabilising" and "does not conform" with UN resolution 2231 on the Iran deal. British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt called the missile test "provocative, threatening and inconsistent" with the resolution and said Britain was determined "that it should cease." Iran has long maintained that its missile program is defensive in nature and not aimed at ensuring the delivery of a nuclear weapon, a stance supported by Russia at the Security Council. Washington's Iran envoy Brian Hook urged the European Union to slap sanctions that target Tehran's missile program as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to Brussels for talks with European partners. The United States decided in May to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions on Iran, to the dismay of its Europeans allies. The nuclear deal provides for a lifting of sanctions against Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear activities. The remaining five signatories to the nuclear deal -- Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia -- have backed an EU effort to set up a special payment system in a bid to maintain trade and business ties with Iran. France and Britain have called for a closed-door UN Security Council meeting after charging that Iran test-fired a medium-range missile at the weekendThe shock arrest of former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn has thrown the international spotlight onto Japan's criminal justice system, where suspects face prolonged detention and interrogation without lawyers present. Rights groups, lawyers and legal scholars have for years criticised the system, which relies heavily on squeezing out a "confession" from a suspect after lengthy and gruelling questioning. After securing this confession, prosecutors nearly always secure a conviction at trial, as an admission of guilt usually outweighs all other evidence. Colin Jones, a professor at Doshisha Law School, wrote recently in the Japan Times daily that the system is often referred to as "hitojichi shiho" or "hostage-based justice system." "The 'hostage' is the suspect. The 'ransom' is their confession," wrote Jones. But despite international criticism, there is little public appetite for change, as Japan's ultra-safe streets mean ordinary people have virtually no experience of crime and often view it as an abstract concept. Authorities too defend the status quo, arguing that the nation's legal protocols have emerged out of Japan's unique culture and history and foreigners should mind their own business. - 'Aggressive interrogations' - Ghosn, 64, was arrested on November 19 and the court has granted prosecutors' requests to hold him through December 10 to decide whether to indict him on charges of under-reporting his salary. Prosecutors are widely expected to file additional charges against the tycoon and with each charge they can seek to hold him for another 22 days with limited access to his lawyers. Even after that, the high-profile businessman can still be held in pre-trial detention. All this has prompted some criticism abroad, particularly in France, where the high-profile tycoon holds citizenship. The Japanese system "creates an environment which makes it possible for aggressive interrogations and risks producing forced confessions and false convictions," the Japan arm of Amnesty International told AFP. Hirofumi Uchida, criminal law specialist and professor emeritus at Kyushu University in western Japan, said it was "very hard to gain public empathy" for protecting the rights of criminal suspects. "We need to bring the system up to par with international standards," with shorter detentions, allowing lawyers to be present during questioning and less reliance on confessions in court, he told AFP. However, prosecutors stress they are working within the existing legal framework, which emerged from the wreckage of World War II, when Japan sought to restore social order via bolstered authority for prosecutors. In the fevered post-defeat atmosphere, suspects' human rights were seen as a secondary concern, say experts. Shin Kukimoto, deputy chief prosecutor at Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, lashed out at foreign criticism of their work in a recent news conference. "Each and every country has its unique history and tradition and systems. I do not criticise other countries' systems just because they are different," said Kukimoto. "We do not unnecessarily keep people in custody for a long time," Kukimoto said. - False convictions - Defence lawyers say any trial is effectively decided before it starts, with prosecutors enjoying a 99.9-percent success rate -- with confessions the key weapon at their disposal. "Investigations basically determine the outcome of the process, not trials," said Kana Sasakura, professor at Konan University. The defence is often reduced to arguing for clemency in sentencing rather than trying to win the case. Police and prosecutors believe in confessions as a key to discovering the truth, although experience in other nations has shown this it is not the case, Sasakura said. "It is perplexing that they fixate on the old way of doing things, when there are better ways," she told AFP. The traditional system has resulted in horrendous cases of prosecutor misconduct, as well as false convictions. In 2009, a team of prosecutors arrested a senior welfare ministry official for an alleged scam and held her for months. She was later cleared of all charges and several elite prosecutors involved were sued for a range of crimes including evidence tampering. The existing system runs the risk of producing wrong verdicts, as there is little scope for reviewing individual cases or prosecutors' conduct, Uchida said. In addition, Uchida said courts, prosecutors and police are bound together with a sense of pride in keeping Japan safe. Moreover, there are now decades of legal precedents based on the system, making any reform extremely difficult, Uchida added. "Lawyers, legal scholars and journalists are not aware of the historical background and they do not question the status quo," Uchida said. "The debate should not be about simply comparing the French and Japanese systems. "Japan and France have had many of the same problems. France has made changes to improve its system. Japan has not moved," Uchida said. Ghosn's arrest has put the Japanese justice system in the dock Ghosn could be kept in the Tokyo detention centre for several weeks What we know so far about the unfolding scandal involving Carlos Ghosn. Ghosn is only allowed limited access to a lawyerA Perth girl is lucky to be alive after unwittingly bringing home a deadly blue-ringed octopus.

The child had been collecting shells at Coogee Beach before returning home to clean them out.

It was there, as her aunt cleaned out the shells that the incredibly dangerous sea-creature emerged.

The Coogee Beach WA Surf Life Saving Club issued a warning to parents to check what their children are picking up on the sand, following the near miss.

The child unknowingly picked up a shel containing the deadly sea-creature. Image: Facebook/ Coogee Beach WA Surf Life Saving Club

A good reminder about keeping watch of what you little people are collecting, the post, which has since been deleted, read.

They look beautiful but a bite can be deadly.

A former paramedic reiterated just how deadly they can be, telling 6PR that a single bite can kill up to 26 adults.

She was very, very lucky. She is lucky to be alive, he said.

Theres a possible chance (the octopus) could have come out of that shell and bitten her without her even knowing.

Given their blue rings usually only appear when irritated, the sea-dwellers which have yellow, brown and grey bodies, can be hard to identify for children.An Indonesian soldier was killed while investigating reports that more than two dozen construction workers were shot dead by separatist rebels in restive Papua province, officials said Tuesday. If confirmed, the killings would mark the deadliest bout of violence in years to hit a far-flung region wracked for decades by a low-level independence insurgency. Citing local police, Indonesian media reported late Monday that the workers were shot dead on Sunday in Nduga, a district in the centre of the region on the western half of New Guinea island, just north of Australia. Police and military teams were sent to the area on Monday when they came under rebel gunfire with one soldier killed and another wounded in the firefight, authorities said. The employees of state-owned contractor Istaka Karya were building bridges and roads as part of efforts to boost infrastructure in the impoverished region. All construction work in the area would be temporarily suspended, the public works ministry said. More than a dozen coffins were being readied in Wamena, the nearest major town to where the alleged killings happened. "Some media are saying 31 workers are dead, some 24, so we really need to check ourselves," said Papua military spokesman Muhammad Aidi. A team of about 150 personnel would delay its operation until Wednesday morning, fearing a confrontation with rebels at night, the military said later Tuesday. "We think they'll be expecting us," local military chief Jonathan Binsar Sianipar told AFP. Four workers -- including three suffering gunshot wounds -- were among 12 civilians evacuated from Mbua district about 6.00pm (0900 GMT) Tuesday, the Indonesian military said. - 'Chase these criminals' - The violence was reportedly carried out by rebels who have long fought against Jakarta's rule and were angry at some workers taking pictures of pro-Papua independence activities. Indonesia routinely blames separatists for violence in Papua. Foreign media need permission to report from Papua and obtaining reliable information is difficult. Authorities would "chase these criminals wherever they are", said national police spokesman Muhammad Iqbal. "But we need to check whether it was really (the rebels) or not," he added. The suspected killings could be the worst outbreak of violence in a "very, very long time", said Sidney Jones, director of the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC). "Every time we have had a significant incident that has involved military deaths, even though the main victims here were civilians, it is followed by massive retaliatory response," she added. The suspected killings came as more than 500 activists -- including an Australian -- were arrested in a nationwide police crackdown that coincided with rallies on December 1, a date many Papuans consider their anniversary of independence from the Dutch. Papua declared itself an independent nation on that date in 1961, but neighbouring Indonesia took control of the region by force in 1963. It officially annexed Papua in 1969 with a UN-backed vote, widely seen as a sham. Jakarta keeps a tight grip on the resource-rich region, which experienced several spasms of violence this summer including the killing of three local people, allegedly by rebels. The deaths followed a gunfight that saw a small plane carrying police officers -- sent to oversee the local elections -- shot at as it landed at Nduga. Some of the violence has been centred on protests against a huge gold and copper mine operated by US-based firm Freeport McMoRan -- a frequent flashpoint in the local struggle for independence and a bigger share of the region's resources. In April, an Indonesian soldier and at least one rebel were killed near the mine. In August, authorities arrested Pole Jakub Skrzypski in Papua for alleged links to separatists and he could face life in prison if convicted. His trial date has not yet been set. Indonesian security forces have for years been dogged by allegations of widespread rights abuses against Papua's ethnic Melanesian population including extrajudicial killings of activists and peaceful protestors. If confirmed, the killings would mark the deadliest bout of violence in years to hit Papua, a region wracked for decades by a low-level independence insurgency Papua has long pushed for independence from Indonesia and more than 500 activists were arrested in a nationwide police crackdown that coincided with rallies on December 1 Police and military teams were sent to the area on Monday when they came under rebel gunfire with one soldier killed and another wounded in the firefight, authorities said Jakarta keeps a tight grip on the resource-rich region, which experienced several spasms of violence this summer including the killing of three local people, allegedly by rebelsIsrael's army said Tuesday it has discovered Hezbollah tunnels infiltrating its territory from Lebanon and launched an operation to destroy them, a move likely to raise tensions with the Iran-backed group. The surprise announcement came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Brussels over regional dangers, with both having repeatedly warned about the activities of Israel's arch foe Iran. Netanyahu said he discussed the operation with Pompeo and called the tunnels a violation of a UN truce resolution that ended a 2006 war between Israel and the Shiite militant group Hezbollah. Later in a televised address, the Israeli leader also denounced what he called Iran's hand in the construction of the tunnels. "We are acting with determination to prevent Iran from being rooted in Syria... we are also acting against Iran's terrorist actions in Lebanon," he said. Netanyahu said he would discuss the matter with world leaders in the coming days and that he was seeking an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss Hezbollah's "aggression". US President Donald Trump's White House gave its full backing to the operation, with National Security Adviser John Bolton saying "we call on Iran and all of its agents to stop their regional aggression and provocation". Hezbollah did not comment in detail but published footage of Israeli soldiers across the border and described the activity as aimed at "discovering tunnels allegedly from southern Lebanon to settlements in northern occupied Palestine". Israeli army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said the "attack tunnels" were not yet operational. He declined to say how many had been detected or how they would be destroyed. The military said it had located one such tunnel dug from a home in the Kafr Kila area of south Lebanon that crossed into Israeli territory and was working to "neutralise" it. The tunnel runs some 200 metres (660 feet), at a depth of 25 metres, Conricus said, and stretches some 40 metres into Israel. The area around the Israeli town of Metula has been declared a closed military zone, with the army distributing images of heavy machinery digging into the ground. - Peacekeepers boost patrols - Israel labelled the operation "Northern Shield" and said all its activities would take place inside Israeli territory. No tunnels from Lebanon include exit points within Israel, the army said. A UN peacekeeping force which monitors the border region said it had increased patrols but noted the area remained calm. Lebanon's army also said it was monitoring the situation closely. According to Conricus, the tunnels were part of a Hezbollah plan from 2012 to "shift the battlefield to Israel" and "conquer the Galilee" in a future conflict by infiltrating its territory. In 2013, the army acted on reports that Hezbollah was digging tunnels, but failed to locate any, he said. Following the 2014 war between Israel and Gaza, in which the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas used cross-border attack tunnels, the army said it found "Hezbollah and Hamas share knowledge" and soon after began intensive work to prevent tunnels from Lebanon. The military has used various means to collapse or fill in tunnels from the Gaza Strip. Conricus said that while the army has boosted its presence in the north for the Lebanon operation, it has not summoned reserve soldiers. He said the military "holds the Lebanese government responsible for all activities perpetrated in Lebanon towards Israel". - 'Irresponsible' - Netanyahu has spoken of a sensitive security situation without providing details, particularly after defence minister Avigdor Lieberman quit over a controversial Gaza ceasefire last month. Lieberman's resignation threatened to trigger early elections, but Netanyahu has held his coalition together and is clinging to a one-seat majority in parliament. The prime minister, who has since assumed the role of defence minister, said at the time that holding elections would be "irresponsible" due to the undefined security threats. His comments were seen by some as an attempt to save his government, with polls showing wide disapproval of his handling of a Gaza flare-up in November. Netanyahu is also facing further pressure after Israeli police on Sunday recommended he and his wife Sara be indicted for bribery, the third such decision against the premier in recent months. Conricus rejected suggestions of politics influencing the announcement. Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria against what it says are Iranian military targets and deliveries of advanced arms to Hezbollah. However, a friendly fire incident in Syria in September that led to the downing of a Russian plane by Syrian air defences during an Israeli strike has complicated Israeli operations. Russia subsequently upgraded Syrian air defences with the delivery of the advanced S-300 system. Israeli soldiers stand by machinery near the border wall with Lebanon on December 4, 2018 close to the northern Israeli town of Metula Israel began intensive work following the 2014 Gaza war to prevent Hezbollah tunnels under the Israeli-Lebanese border Israeli soldiers stand by excavation machinery along the border wall with Lebanon on December 4, 2018 near the northern Israeli town of Metula United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) military police cars drive past a concrete separation barrier between the southern Lebanese border village of Kfar Kila and IsraelItalian police on Tuesday arrested new Mafia boss Settimino Mineo and dozens of other suspects in a major swoop against a resurgent Cosa Nostra. Police arrested jeweller Mineo, 80, and at least 45 others in Sicily just before he was due to be officially anointed at a reconvened Mafia Commission or Cupola, the police said. The suspects are accused of extortion, illegal gun possession, arson, Mafia association and other crimes, investigators said. The Sicilian Mafia managed to rebuild the Cupola after it had not met for years, Italian media reported. The Cupola met in May for the first time since 1993 and was due to appoint Mineo official heir to notorious Mafia boss Toto Riina who died in prison last year. Police also arrested three other Cupola members in the swoop. The four senior Mafia leaders had all recently served prison time for their activities. Italian media reported that police obtained crucial information by tapping the phone of one of the senior arrested members, Francesco Colletti. He reportedly told his driver about details of the May 29 Cupola meeting, describing it as "a beautiful meeting, very serious, with country people, old people." Palermo prosecutor Francesco Lo Voi told journalists that the Cupola meeting was identified thanks to phone taps and that the main topic at the meeting had been "rules". "The need to reestablish certain rules that Cosa Nostra had lost along the way, they were applied less because of the organisation's overall disorganisation," Lo Voi said. "We deduced that it was a Cupola meeting because important Cosa Nostra members... were not allowed to take part," he said. "These people, despite being heads of families, were kept outside because only regional bosses could take part." It is not known where the Cupola meeting took place, but Colletti's conversation with his driver implicated Mineo and others. Colletti reportedly rejoiced in the resurrected Cupola, which was to be an improvement on Riina's "tyranny". "We all got up and kissed," Colletti reportedly said of the end of the meeting. - Coded messages - "Forty-six arrests and one in particular, that of Settimo Mineo, represents one of the toughest blows inflicted by the State on the Mafia," said deputy prime minister Luigi Di Maio. "Mineo was indeed elected 'heir' to Toto Riina after his death. There is no longer room for this scum in Italy," Di Maio wrote on Facebook. Lifelong Mafia member Mineo was arrested as part of investigations by judge and prosecutor Giovanni Falcone in 1984 and imprisoned for five years. Falcone was murdered in a massive car bombing in 1992. Mineo was rearrested in 2006 and imprisoned for another 11 years. Mineo survived a 1992 ambush that killed his brother Giuseppe, around six months after another brother, Antonino, was murdered outside the family jewellery shop. Italian police in March arrested 11 suspected gangsters accused of aiding and abetting senior mob fugitive Matteo Messina Denaro. Hunted by police since 1993, Denaro, 56, was also considered to be a successor to Riina and fellow boss Bernardo Provenzano, who himself died recently in prison. A former Cosa Nostra hitman, Denaro has been sentenced in absentia to life in prison for multiple murders. The only photo of him dates back to the beginning of the 1990s. Over the past two decades Italian police have increased arrests and seizures targeting his entourage, in a bid to isolate the notorious boss. In 2015, police discovered that Denaro had abandoned modern methods of communication and was giving orders to his men via traditional "pizzini": small bits of paper containing encoded messages. Italian media reported that Mineo was a preferable new Mafia leader because he was not in hiding. Mafia boss Settimino Mineo was held by police in Palermo after his arrest Mafia boss Salvatore "Toto" Riina was arrested in 1993 and died in prison last year Mineo was due to be anointed as head of the Sicilian Mafia at a meeting of its leaders when he was arrested Police in 2006 caught former Mafia boss Bernardo Provenzano, who was living in a hut in the Sicilian countrysideAn Italian prosecutor on Tuesday took the unusual step of criticising far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini claiming one of his tweets about "Nigerian mafia arrests" was compromising a police operation. Anti-immigrant Salvini, who is also deputy prime minister and a big user of social media, tweeted about a swoop on the Italian Mafia in Sicily and immediately afterwards about the "arrest in Turin of 15 other Nigerian mafia members". However, the chief prosecutor in the northern city, Armando Spataro, said in a statement that while there were 15 arrest warrants, they were not all for mafia-related crimes and, most notably, not all the suspects had yet been arrested. Some of the suspects were "still being sought", Spataro said, noting that police usually wait for a prosecutor's green light before releasing operational details. "In the future it would be better if the minister of the interior avoids making similar statements, or at least checks to avoid any risk of harming ongoing investigations," Spataro said. Salvini swiftly retaliated with his own statement that it is "unacceptable to say that the interior minister could harm investigations and jeopardise arrests". "If the police chief writes to me at 7:22 am informing me of operations against the mafia and organised crime, as he does regularly, I feel free and honoured to thank and congratulate the police." Salvini wished Spataro "a very peaceful retirement in the future". Italy?s Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, pictured in November 2018, tweeted about a swoop on the Italian Mafia in Sicily and immediately afterwards about the "arrest in Turin of 15 other Nigerian mafia members"North Korean leader Kim Jong Un could still visit Seoul for the first time in the next few weeks, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday, describing the possible trip as a major boost in efforts to make the peninsula nuclear-free. Moon and Kim have met three times in 2018 amid warming ties between the two Koreas, with South Korea hoping to host a first-ever visit by Kim to Seoul before year's end. But prospects of another meeting in coming weeks have dimmed as denuclearisation talks have stalled, prompting Moon to say that the planned visit's timing should not overshadow its historic nature. "There is a possibility that Chairman Kim Jong Un's visit to Seoul may be made within this year, but there's more important things than the timing," he said in translated remarks during a visit to New Zealand. "Whether it's this year or not isn't that important, what's important is that the North Korea leader's visit to South Korea will definitely accelerate the denuclearisation process in the Korean peninsula." Moon said a visit by Kim to the South would also improve US-North Korea relations as Kim and President Donald Trump look to follow up their June summit in Singapore. "I believe that our efforts will definitely give a positive impetus to the second US-North Korea summit meeting," he said. "President Trump and I share a view in that regard." Moon emphasised the impact Kim's presence in South Korea would have on the two nations. "This will be the first time that the North Korean leader will visit Seoul since Korea was divided into two countries," he said. "Although there's no timeframe set, that's still very meaningful. We can improve South and North Korean relations as well as attain permanent peace on the Korean peninsula and denuclearisation." North and South Korea have begun to remove landmines and destroy some military bunkers along their common border as part of the detente. However, Washington is taking a more cautious approach towards Pyongyang amid sparring over interpretation of a vaguely worded denuclearisation document signed at the Singapore summit. Trump said on Saturday that he hoped to organise a second summit with Kim in early 2019. South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (onscreen) have met three times in 2018 amid warming tiesThe French government has backed down on planned fuel tax hikes in a bid to draw the heat out of fierce protests that have escalated into the deepest crisis of Emmanuel Macron's presidency. The concessions, coming after an earlier 500-million-euro ($570 million) relief package for poorer households, mark the first time 40-year-old Macron has given ground in the face of public opposition. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced Tuesday rollbacks on fuel taxes and electricity price increases in a rare televised address after France was rocked by intense street clashes and vandalism in Paris over the weekend. "This anger, you would have to be deaf and blind not to see it, nor hear it," Philippe said after more than a fortnight of demonstrations by so-called "yellow vest" protesters. "No tax merits putting the unity of the nation in danger," he said. Planned tax increases on petrol and diesel on January 1 will be suspended for six months, while hikes in regulated electricity and gas prices will be frozen during the winter. Pressure has been mounting on the government after protests degenerated into the worst street clashes in central Paris for decades. Across France, four people have been killed in accidents linked to the demonstrations and road blockades, and hundreds injured. For weeks Macron held his ground on the fuel taxes, which are meant to finance anti-pollution policies but critics say unfairly weigh on drivers in rural and small-town France. Rescinding the January increase -- three euro cents for unleaded and six cents for diesel -- was a core demand of the demonstrators, alongside a higher minimum wage and the return of a wealth tax on high earners that Macron abolished. Two groups blockading petrol depots in Brittany said they would stand down following the announcement of the measures, which will cost public coffers some two billion euros ($2.3 billion). - Praise from Trump - Yet many others said they had no intention of stopping the demonstrations. "They hope we'll now go home but we're not going to move," said Lionel Rambeaux, a 41-year-old welder manning a fuel depot blockade outside Le Mans in western France. "We want Macron and his entire government to resign." US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Macron's retreat vindicated his rejection of the 2015 Paris Agreement on combating climate change. "I am glad that my friend @EmmanuelMacron and the protestors in Paris have agreed with the conclusion I reached two years ago," Trump tweeted. "The Paris Agreement is fatally flawed because it raises the price of energy for responsible countries while whitewashing some of the worst polluters...in the world." Trump also retweeted a false claim from American conservative student activist Charlie Kirk that said: "'We want Trump' being chanted through the streets of Paris." The French government is hoping to stave off another day of running riots and burning cars like on Saturday, when more than 400 people were arrested in the capital. Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said extra police would be deployed next Saturday on top of the 65,000 out in force last weekend, urging "reasonable" members of the movement to stay at home. Paris Saint-Germain's home Ligue 1 football match against Montpellier on Saturday has already been called off, as has an electro music festival in the city centre. Mass protests have repeatedly forced French presidents into U-turns, something Macron had vowed to avoid in his quest to "transform" the French economy and state. A new poll by the Ifop-Fiducial survey group on Tuesday showed the former investment banker's approval rating at a record low of 23 percent. "Eventually he backed down, which is going to divide the (yellow vest) movement, but it also risks dividing his own political base," said Jerome Sainte-Marie of the PollingVox survey group. - 'Original sin' - Macron's office said he would not speak publicly about the violence "for the time being", though he met briefly with a protester at his office Tuesday. He also visited local government offices in the central town of Puy-en-Velay, which were torched during a protest last weekend -- and was booed upon leaving. The "yellow vest" movement, named after the high-visibility jackets worn by supporters, emerged on social media in October after months of swelling anger over rising fuel prices. It quickly grew into wider protests against Macron, whom many accuse of representing a Parisian elite with little understanding of their monthly struggle to make ends meet. Immediately after coming to power in 2017, Macron pushed through tax cuts for entrepreneurs and high-earners -- an "original sin" for his critics. The "yellow vest" protests have blocked highways and fuel depots around the country, causing headaches for businesses and fuel shortages in some regions. The so-called 'yellow vests' protests first erupted over fuel tax hikes President Emmanuel Macron has faced growing pressure after the protests degenerated into street clashes and looting in Paris Running riots with police in Paris over the weekend left cars burned out and shops vandalised Fuel depot blockades by 'yellow vest' protesters have led to shortages in several regions Map of France locating violence on Dec 1-2A Dutch motivational speaker has lost a court battle to shave 20 years off his age in a bid to gain more matches on dating app Tinder.

Emile Ratelband, 69, made headlines around the world when he launched legal action hoping to lower his age from 69 to 49 to try and improve his success rate on the app.

But on Monday the self-styled self-help guru lost his challenge.

Emile Ratelband failed in his bid to lower his age. Source: AP

A statement released by Arnhem court, Netherlands said Mr Ratelband is at liberty to feel 20 years younger than his real age and to act accordingly.

But amending his date of birth would cause 20 years of records to vanish from the register of births, deaths, marriages and registered partnerships, the court said.

This would have a variety of undesirable legal and societal implications.

Mr Ratelband went to court last month arguing that he did not feel 69, and saying his request was consistent with other forms of personal transformation which are gaining acceptance in the Netherlands and around the world, such as the ability to change ones name or gender.

But in a written ruling, the court said Dutch law assigns rights and obligations based on age such as the right to vote and the duty to attend school.

If Mr Ratelbands request was allowed, those age requirements would become meaningless.

The court said it acknowledged a trend in society for people to feel fit and healthy for longer, but did not regard that as a valid argument for amending a persons date of birth.

It said Mr Ratelband failed to convince the court that he suffers from age discrimination.

It added that there are other alternatives available for challenging age discrimination, rather than amending a persons date of birth.VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Midas Gold Corp. ("Midas Gold" or the "Company") (MAX:TSX / MDRPF:OTCQX), its wholly owned subsidiary, Midas Gold Idaho, Inc. ("Midas Gold Idaho") and seven of the communities closest to the Stibnite Gold Project site have officially established a community agreement. Through the creation of the Stibnite Advisory Council, the agreement establishes a collaborative environment for the companies and local communities to work together throughout the life of the project and provides a venue for cities and counties to address concerns and opportunities directly with Midas Gold. It also creates the Stibnite Foundation to support community projects.



We are looking forward to working with the members of the Stibnite Advisory Council, said Laurel Sayer, CEO of Midas Gold Idaho. Working alongside communities has always been an important pillar of the Stibnite Gold Project. Weve spent a lot of time out in the community speaking with our neighbors and listening to their ideas because we know this information helps make our project stronger. With this agreement, weve formalized this philosophy and given every signatory to the agreement a voice and seat at the table throughout the life of our project.

Since August, Cascade, Council, Donnelly, Idaho County, New Meadows, Riggins and Yellow Pine all unanimously voted to sign onto the community agreement, which has an effective date of November 30, 2018. Anne Labelle, Midas Gold Idaho Board Member, and Belinda Provancher, community relations manager for Midas Gold Idaho, worked closely with each of the communities to gather their feedback and incorporate it into the final community agreement. Each signatory is now in the process of appointing representatives to the Stibnite Advisory Council and Stibnite Foundation.

Midas Gold has shown itself to be a good corporate citizen and partner. The Company has taken its commitment to another level with the community agreements, said Julie Good, the President of the New Meadows City Council. We are pleased to be a part of the Stibnite Advisory Council and look forward to working with Midas Gold and giving our community a voice in the Stibnite Gold Project.

Under the agreement, the Stibnite Advisory Council will meet regularly to get updates from Midas Gold and discuss topics of concern or interest regarding the Stibnite Gold Project. The advisory council held an initial planning meeting and is currently scheduling an organization meeting. At this meeting, the Stibnite Advisory Council will establish its regular meeting schedule and start to discuss how partnerships can be formed around workforce training, housing and infrastructure, employment, recreational access and business opportunities. Each advisory council member is tasked with sharing information from the meetings with the communities they represent.

I am grateful Midas Gold sees the value of working collaboratively with those who live closest to the site, said Bob Crump, a Riggins business owner. As the Stibnite Gold Project moves forward, it gives me peace of mind knowing the community agreements are in place and local voices will be able to help shape the plan for the restoration and redevelopment of the site. I am also excited for the opportunities the Stibnite Foundation will create in our communities. This foundation will help all of us benefit from the Stibnite Gold Project.

The Stibnite Foundation will support projects that benefit communities surrounding the project. While Midas Gold will be required to directly address impacts of the project, such as power and road improvements and environmental mitigation, as part of the permitting process, the foundation will be a tool to fund projects that address other community needs that may arise. Midas Gold will fund the foundation through a combination of milestone cash payments by Midas Gold Idaho and stock contributions from Midas Gold. The Stibnite Foundation is being established in a manner that will allow it to continue even after mining at the Stibnite Gold Project ends.

Midas Gold is pleased that the Community Agreement has been finalized so its neighbors can have a meaningful way to work with the Company now and into the future.

A detailed description of the the Project can be found in the Plan of Restoration and Operations which is available on the Companys website at www.midasgoldcorp.com . Details of previous news releases and technical studies can be found filed under Midas Golds profile on SEDAR ( www.sedar.com ) or at www.midasgoldcorp.com .

For further information about Midas Gold Corp., please contact:

Liz Monger -- Manager, Investor Relations (t): 778.724.4704

(e): info@midasgoldcorp.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/midasgoldidaho Twitter: @MidasIdaho

Website: www.midasgoldcorp.com

About Midas Gold and the Stibnite Gold Project

Midas Gold Corp., through its wholly owned subsidiaries are focused on the exploration and, if warranted, site restoration and development of gold-antimony-silver deposits in the Stibnite-Yellow Pine district of central Idaho that are encompassed by its Stibnite Gold Project.

Forward-Looking Information

Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking information" or "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "Forward-Looking Information") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward Looking Information includes, but is not limited to, disclosure regarding the funding of the Stibnite Foundation. In certain cases, Forward-Looking Information can be identified by the use of words and phrases such as once, estimates", "potential", "confirm", if or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" "be achieved". In preparing the Forward-Looking Information in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including, but not limited to, that all necessary regulatory consents and/or approvals to fund the Stibnite Foundation through stock contributions will be obtained in a timely manner and on acceptable terms, the continuity of the price of gold and other metals, economic and political conditions and operations. Forward-Looking Information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the Forward-Looking Information. Such risks and other factors include, among others, risks related to the availability of financing on commercially reasonable terms; operations and contractual obligations; future prices of metals; environmental risks, including environmental matters under US federal and Idaho rules and regulations; impact of environmental remediation requirements and the terms of existing and potential consent decrees on the Company's planned exploration and development activities on the Stibnite Gold Project; certainty of mineral title; community relations; delays in obtaining governmental approvals or financing; fluctuations in mineral prices; the Company's dependence on one mineral project; the Company's lack of operating revenues; governmental regulations and the ability to obtain necessary licenses and permits; currency fluctuations; changes in environmental laws and regulations and changes in the application of standards pursuant to existing laws and regulations which may increase costs of doing business and restrict operations; risks related to dependence on key personnel; and estimates used in financial statements proving to be incorrect; as well as those factors discussed in the Company's public disclosure record. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could affect the Company and may cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in Forward-Looking Information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that Forward-Looking Information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on Forward-Looking Information. Except as required by law, the Company does not assume any obligation to release publicly any revisions to Forward-Looking Information contained in this news release to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.More than 150 women and girls have come forward in the past 12 days to seek help in South Sudan after they were raped or suffered other forms of sexual violence, the heads of three UN agencies said Monday. Armed men, many in uniform, carried out the attacks near the northern city of Bentiu, according to a joint statement from Henrietta Fore, who heads the UN children's agency UNICEF, UN aid chief Mark Lowcock and the director of the UN Population Fund, Natalia Kanem. The three agencies condemned "these abhorrent attacks" and called on South Sudan authorities to ensure the perpetrators face justice. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) last week said 125 women and girls had been raped while walking to emergency food distribution centers set up by international aid agencies. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned the attacks. "These horrific acts are a distressing reminder of how, despite recent recommitments by South Sudan?s leaders to a cessation of hostilities and a revitalized peace agreement, the security situation for civilians remains dire, especially for women and children," he said in a statement. He urged all parties to the conflict and future leaders in South Sudan "to ensure the safety of civilians and address impunity for these crimes through investigation and prosecution of perpetrators." At war since 2013, South Sudan has seen horrific levels of sexual violence. In the first half of 2018, some 2,300 cases were reported, the vast majority of those targeting women and girls. More than 20 percent of the victims were children, the UN statement said. The three agencies said the actual number of rapes was far higher because the violence is severely underreported. As well as being raped, MSF said many of the victims were "whipped, beaten or clubbed with sticks and rifle butts" and robbed of their clothes, shoes, money and the ration cards entitling them to food aid. "In more than three years of working in South Sudan, I have never seen such a dramatic increase in survivors of sexual violence arriving at our programmes looking for medical care," said Ruth Okello, a MSF midwife in South Sudan. A UN panel of experts last month said in a report to the Security Council that there were "alarming levels" of sexual violence and human rights abuses in South Sudan. The council is due to discuss the crisis in South Sudan on December 18. Map locating Rubkona county in South Sudan, where women and girls sought help after sexual violence by armed men, said UNPhrases featuring meat such as bring home the bacon and grab the bull by the horns will die out as people try to avoid offending vegans, a university researcher has said.

Dr Shareena Hamzah, a researcher at Swansea University in the UK, said idioms such as let the cat out of the bag and dont put all your eggs in one basket will eventually fade away as awareness of veganism grows.

She predicts they will fall out of usage as healthy eating and awareness of animal cruelty becomes more widespread.

It could mean that animal-free alternatives are used to complete the phrases in the future, such as feeding a fed horse instead of flogging a dead horse.

Writing on The Conversation academic website, Dr Hamzah said: If veganism forces us to confront the realities of foods origins, then this increased awareness will undoubtedly be reflected in our language and literature.

Bacon and eggs could find themselves culled from popular phrases. Source: PA Wire via AAP, File

The increased awareness of vegan issues will filter through consciousness to produce new modes of expression.

She added: The image of killing two birds with one stone is, if anything, made more powerful by the animal-friendly alternative of feeding two birds with one scone.

Following guidance from PETA, Dr Hamzah suggested dumping taking the bull by the horns and replacing it with taking the flower by the thorns.

In a similar vein, more than one way to skin a cat could become more than one way to peel a potato.

On its website, PETA said: While these phrases may seem harmless, they carry meaning and can send mixed signals to students about the relationship between humans and animals and can normalise abuse.

Teaching students to use animal-friendly language can cultivate positive relationships between all beings.They were promised a "peace diamond" dividend in the Sierra Leone village of Koryardu after the stone they handed over for auction fetched $6.5 million (5.7 million euros) a year ago. But they are still waiting to see the benefits. "Absolutely nothing happened," said Pastor Emmanuel Momoh, who manages the team of diggers that found the 709-carat diamond in March 2017, in eastern Kono province. The idea of handing the diamond over to the government to sell was that it would generate money to be ploughed back into developing the local community. But at the village school, Peter Baimoi, who helps teach its about 190 pupils, said there was no sign of the promised government funding. With no qualified teachers in the village, parents rely on their children being taught by some of the better-educated local people who can read and write, like Bamoi who finished high school. They do it voluntarily, the pastor said. The government had promised that 15 percent of the total sale price -- nearly one million dollars -- would go into a fund for Koryardu to develop water, electricity, health and education. A year on, Koryardu still has no electricity and no clinic -- and the nearest state school is in Koidu, about 14 kilometres (nine miles) away. The hamlet lies 10 kilometres from the main highway -- and the road into the village is still impassable for six months of the year, during the rainy season. - 'Blood' and 'peace' diamonds - Sierra Leone, like some other African countries, is struggling to overcome the legacy of so-called "blood diamonds", sold by warlords to finance conflicts. The west African country suffered a devastating civil war between 1991 and 2002. The international community set up the Kimberley certification system in 2003 to eliminate the problem, regulating the sale and export of diamonds. Experts said Koryardu's diamond was the largest found in Sierra Leone in almost half a century. Momoh entrusted it to the administration of the country's then president, Ernest Bai Koroma, who dubbed it the "peace diamond". The auction was originally scheduled to be held at the Central Bank in Freetown, but as the government thought the best offer made there -- more than $7 million -- was not high enough, they took the sale abroad. The subsequent auction in New York netted $6.5 million. - The legal option - Under the sale agreement, 60 percent of the proceeds went straight to the government, out of which the village was to get its share, and 40 percent to Momoh, he said. After sharing his proceeds with the five miners who found the stone, the village chief and the land owner, as well as donating 30 percent to charity and helping villagers, Momoh had about $1 million net, he added. Declaring the find to the government was the only legal option. The only other alternative would have been to sell to smugglers on the black market. Momoh also wanted the community to benefit from the proceeds. But there is still no sign of the money promised to the village. People need to see tangible benefits, said Victor Topoi, a teacher from Kono province, "not only on paper or in the news, but physically on the ground". - 'Maintain trust' - The Koroma administration did sign a million-dollar contract with a Chinese company to build a new school and a clinic in the village. But that deal was frozen when the new president, Julius Maada Bio, took office in April. Ibrahim Satti Kamara, spokesman for the National Minerals Agency, said there had been some design issues that had now been sorted out. Work on the project should begin before the end of the year, he told AFP. "The good news is that the money is still available and ready to use for that project," he said. The authorities understand the community's frustration, he added. "We expect that by the time we continue with the work, that will change. "We are aware of the responsibility to maintain that trust, that's why we've been very careful on how the money is spent on the project," he added. In the meantime, the Rapaport Group, the auction house that handled the New York sale, has stepped in to help, installing 50 solar panels in the village in November. It also has plans to bring in water filtration systems. "We want to make sure that (the villagers) see something tangible as the government gets its act together," the group's owner Martin Rapaport told AFP during a visit to Koryardu. But the money from the diamond sale also needs to materialise, said Momoh. "If the government doesn't fulfill its promises, I think that it will break the trust and people will not take their diamonds to the government any longer," he said. "Not only the people in Koryardu, but all over Kono." Last year's sale of the 'Peace Diamond' was meant to bring benefits to the village where it was foundSri Lanka's toppled premier likened the president to Hitler on Tuesday as he demanded to be reinstated, almost six weeks into a paralysing political crisis in the Indian Ocean nation. Ranil Wickremesinghe made the comments -- his strongest yet directed at the head of state -- at the prime minister's official residence, which he has refused to vacate since his dismissal in October. "The president has to appoint me prime minister as I command a majority in parliament," he said. "I am telling the president not to act like Hitler who bypassed the constitution... We are not going to allow him to do that." President Maithripala Sirisena sacked Wickremesinghe and replaced him with Mahinda Rajapakse, the larger-than-life former president credited with ending Sri Lanka's bloody civil war with Tamil separatists in 2009. However with Wickremesinghe's supporters still controlling a majority in parliament -- which has witnessed brawls between MPs in recent weeks -- Rajapakse has lost two votes of confidence. On Monday the Court of Appeal denied Rajapakse the authority to act as prime minister and stripped his cabinet of their powers, giving Rajapakse until December 12 to prove his legitimacy and that of his government. Sirisena, a former opponent of Rajapakse, told a group of legislators on Monday that he would not reinstate Wickremesinghe even if the latter had the support of all 225 members of the legislature. Rajapakse's lawyers on Tuesday filed an appeal with the Court of Appeal, but it was not immediately taken up for hearing. Rajapakse urged his supporters on Monday night to remain calm and join his struggle to press for a general election nearly two years ahead of schedule. Sirisena meanwhile told minority Tamil legislators who held talks with him on Monday evening that he would resolve the political vacuum "within 24 hours". However, there were no signs of a settlement by Tuesday afternoon. The Supreme Court this week is also expected to rule on whether Sirisena's decision to dissolve parliament in November -- a move already suspended by the court -- was constitutional. Sri Lanka's ousted premier Ranil Wickremesinghe (C) has refused to vacate the prime minister's official residence since his dismissal in OctoberProposed UN-led talks in Sweden mark a "critical opportunity" to bring peace to war-torn Yemen after four years of conflict, a top Emirati official said Tuesday. The comments from the United Arab Emirates, which is part of the pro-government coalition fighting Huthi rebels in Yemen, came as UN envoy Martin Griffiths is in the rebel-held capital Sanaa seeking to push forward the planned talks. "Evacuating wounded Huthi fighters from Sanaa once again demonstrates the Yemeni government & the Arab coalition's support for peace," the UAE's state minister for foreign affairs, Anwar Gargash, said in a tweet. Fifty wounded rebels left on a UN-chartered plane Monday for neutral Oman to be treated, in what was termed "a confidence-building" measure ahead of any talks. The conflict, which erupted in late 2014, has brought the impoverished country to brink of famine, and the UN has described Yemen as the world's worst humanitarian disaster. Nearly 10,000 people are said to have been killed since the Saudi-led pro-government coalition intervened in the conflict in early 2015, according to the World Health Organization. Human rights groups fear the actual toll is far higher. No date has yet been set for the talks, which are due to be held in Sweden, but hopes have been building that they could go ahead this week. "We believe Sweden offers a critical opportunity to successfully engage in a political solution for Yemen," Gargash said in his tweet. He added that "a sustainable Yemeni-led political solution offers the best chance to ending the current crisis." UN envoy Griffiths on Monday said on Twitter that he was "pleased to confirm" 50 injured Yemenis were to be treated on neutral ground in Muscat and "urged all Yemenis to work together in pursuit of peace and stability". The evacuation marked a key step in kickstarting stalled negotiations as world powers press for an end to the devastating conflict. Saudi Arabia and its allies, who back Yemen's embattled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, had agreed the 50 wounded combatants, 50 escorts and a team of Yemeni and UN doctors could be flown out to Muscat -- a condition set by the Huthis for negotiations. The Huthis have also called for guarantees for their safety if they leave the country -- a key condition which led to the collapse of earlier talks planned for September in Geneva. Kuwait's Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled al-Jarallah told reporters that a Huthi delegation was now set to leave Sanaa for Stockholm on Tuesday morning together with his country's ambassador to Yemen. The oil-rich Gulf emirate, which has been a mediator in the devastating conflict, hosted Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom for talks in Kuwait City on Monday. A wounded Yemeni rebel is transported by ambulance to Sanaa International Airport, before being evacuated to the Omani capital Muscat for treatment, on December 3, 2018Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko met Tuesday with families of Ukrainian sailors captured by Moscow, vowing to do everything in his power to bring them home. "For me there's nothing more important than getting them out," Poroshenko told relatives of some of the 24 seamen taken by Russia last month. "All of Ukraine is now proud of your loved ones," he said during the emotional meeting in his office, hugging the captives' family members, some teary-eyed. Late last month Russia opened fire on and seized three Ukranian navy vessels as they tried to pass through the Kerch Strait from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov. The 24 Ukrainian crew members, three of whom were wounded, were detained. The incident was the most dangerous in years between the ex-Soviet neighbours, which have been locked in a confrontation since 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea and supported an insurgency in eastern Ukraine. More than 10,000 people have been killed in the conflict. Despite international calls for their release, the Ukrainians were sentenced to two months detention and are now held in Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the Ukrainian vessels crossed into Russian waters illegally and insisted that Moscow will not release the sailors as part of an exchange. The seamen have joined a long list of Ukrainians held in Russia including filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, who refused food for 145 days in his Arctic penal colony earlier this year. Kremlin critics have said Russia is preparing a show trial of the sailors. The Ukrainians, charged with illegally crossing Russia's borders, face up to six years in prison, Nikolai Polozov, one of the defence lawyers in the case, told AFP on Tuesday. He said it remains unclear who is in charge of the criminal case. Calls to the Investigative Committee and the FSB security service went unanswered on Tuesday. Poroshenko insisted that the seamen's detention was illegal. "According to their status, according to the Geneva Convention, they are prisoners of war and cannot be tried in any Kremlin court," he said. - 'No threat to health' - In Russia, Moscow's top rights official Tatyana Potyaeva visited the three wounded Ukrainian sailors who are being treated for hand, arm and leg injuries in the medical unit of the Matrosskaya Tishina remand prison. "There is no threat to their health," the ombudswoman said, adding they were receiving antibiotics and painkillers. Two of them also spoke to their relatives, she added. On Tuesday the European Court of Human Rights, acting on a request from Kiev, called on Moscow to provide "appropriate medical treatment" to the wounded soldiers. The other 21 are being held in Moscow's high-security Lefortovo jail. Kiev last week imposed martial law for 30 days in 10 regions that border Russia, the Black Sea and the Azov Sea. Poroshenko has warned of a build-up of Russian forces near Ukraine's borders, claims the Kremlin has dismissed. European leaders have rebuffed calls from Ukraine for greater support against Russia, after Kiev urged NATO to send ships into disputed waters. On Tuesday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin pressed NATO to come up with a "comprehensive answer" to Russian aggression in the Black Sea, as the alliance treads carefully for fear of further escalating tensions. In Brussels for a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, Klimkin hinted that at least one member was ready to step up its presence in the Black Sea, without naming it. The foreign ministers discussed the standoff but did not agree any concrete new measures to help Ukraine. Ukraine has accused Moscow of blocking commercial vessels from entering and leaving the ports. But Kiev said Tuesday that Russia had begun allowing some ships to enter Ukrainian ports on the Sea of Azov, in what could signal an easing of tensions in the flashpoint area. "For me there's nothing more important than getting them out," Poroshenko told relatives of some of the 24 seamen taken by Russia last month Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko vowed to bring home the 24 seamen captured by Russia last month at an emotional meeting with relatives of the sailors Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, left, shown here with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu, hinted that at least one NATO member might step up its Black Sea presenceUN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday urged all parties meeting in Geneva this week to discuss the Western Sahara dispute to be constructive and impose no conditions for formal talks. Morocco, the Polisario Front, Algeria and Mauritania are taking part in two days of roundtable discussion with a UN envoy starting Wednesday to try to relaunch negotiations, which have been stalled since 2012. Guterres "urges all to engage in good faith, without preconditions and in a constructive spirit in the discussions," said a statement from his spokesman. The UN chief expressed support for the UN envoy, former German president Horst Koehler, who is seeking to revive negotiations. The United Nations has repeatedly failed to broker a settlement in Western Sahara, where Morocco and the Algerian-backed Polisario fought for control from 1975 to 1991. A UN peacekeeping mission has been deployed in the contested territory since 1991 to monitor a ceasefire and organize a referendum on the status of Western Sahara, which never materialized. Morocco insists that any negotiation on the territory should focus on its proposal for autonomy while the Polisario maintains that the status of Western Sahara should be decided in a referendum on independence. The United States has led a push at the UN Security Council to revive talks and has suggested that the UN mission there, MINURSO, wil not remain if the parties are unwilling to seek a settlement. The Security Council must decide on renewing the MINURSO mission before April 30. The first UN-brokered talks in six years on Western Sahara will begin Wednesday in Geneva with Morocco, the Polisario Front, Algeria and Mauritania attendingNOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO THE United States, Canada, Australia, Japan or Hong Kong OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO BUY, SELL OR SUBSCRIBE FOR ANY SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN.

Aqua Bio Technology ("ABT" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has received binding pre-commitments to subscribe for 4,610,000 new shares (the "New Shares") for gross proceeds of NOK 11.525 million in a conditional private placement of minimum NOK 10.5 million and maximum NOK 15 million (the "Private Placement"). The board of directors of the Company (the "Board") will also propose a repair issue.

The Board has also decided to make certain changes in the Company's management team to increase focus on sales and marketing efforts for the Company's product offering. Going forward, current CEO Arvid Lindberg will function as Head of Sales and Marketing and Espen Kvale will function as interim CEO through a consultancy agreement with Espen Kvale Consulting LLC. These changes will come into effect as soon as possible.

The Private Placement

The Private Placement is directed towards the Company's 140 largest existing shareholders as of 4 December 2018, as registered in the Company's shareholder register in the VPS on 6 December 2018 (the "Record Date") and the Company's board of directors and key management (the "Eligible Investors"), however limited upwards to 149 investors in total. Eligible Investors that wish to participate in the Private Placement must contact the Company at arvid@aquabiotech.no in the period between 5 December 2018 at 09.00 CET until 3 January 2019 at 16.30 CET.

The subscription price in the Private Placement has been set to NOK 2.50 per New Share. Each investor in the Private Placement will also receive one (1) warrant ("Warrant") per New Share subscribed and allocated in the Private Placement. Each Warrant shall give the right to require issuance of one additional share in the Company in the period between from and including 30 June 2019 to and including 1 September 2019 against a cash deposit of NOK 2.50 per share.

Allocation of New Shares to Eligible Investors will be determined by the Company's board of directors on or about 4 January 2019. The number of New Shares to be allocated to the Company's board of directors and key management, and the allocation thereof, shall be made at the sole discretion of the Company's board of directors. The remaining New Shares may be allocated to the Eligible Investors up to a number of New Shares which equals to a factor of their existing proportional shareholding and the total number of New Shares to be allocated to the Eligible Investors. Shareholders that have pre-committed to subscribe for New Shares for NOK 11.525 million, will on a pro rata basis (based on their subscription commitment) have a preferential right to subscribe for New Shares that are not subscribed for in the Private Placement. If such shares are not allocated, then they may be allocated to other Eligible Investors based on their proportional shareholding.

The net proceeds from the Private Placement will be used for general purposes and working capital related to the Company's products in its markets of operation, as further described in the enclosed Company presentation dated 3 December 2018.

As the subscription price in the Private Placement is lower than the current par value of the Company's shares, the board of directors (the "Board") will propose to carry out a share capital reduction (the "Share Capital Decrease") in order to reduce the par value of the Company's shares to NOK 2.50.

The Company's obligation to complete the Private Placement is conditional upon the following:

The Company's extraordinary general meeting (the " EGM ") resolving the Share Capital Decrease, the Private Placement and the issuance of the Warrants;

Receipt of payments for share deposits in the Private Placement; and

Due registration of the Share Capital Decrease, the share capital increase pertaining to the Private Placement and the resolution to issue Warrants in the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises.

The EGM will be held on or about 7 January 2019. A notice for the EGM will be distributed in due course.

The New Shares will be delivered to the investors in the Private Placement on a separate ISIN as soon as practically possible after the registration of the share capital increase pertaining to the Private Placement, expected on or about 16 January 2019. The New Shares will be converted to the ordinary ISIN of the Company's shares following approval and publication of a prospectus, expected in February 2019 (the "Prospectus").

The Private Placement constitutes a deviation from the preferential right of the shareholders to subscribe for the New Shares. The Board, together with the Company's management, has considered various transaction alternatives to secure new financing. Based on an overall assessment, taking into account inter alia the need for funding, execution risk and possible alternatives, the Board has on the basis of careful considerations decided that the Private Placement is the alternative that best protects the Company's and the shareholders' joint interests. Thus, the deviation of the preferential rights inherent in a share capital increase through issuance of New Shares is considered necessary.

The Repair Issue

In order to reduce the dilution resulting from the issuance of the New Shares, the Board intends to launch a repair issue (the "Repair Issue") of new shares (the "Offer Shares") at a subscription price of NOK 2.50 per Offer Share (i.e. the same subscription price as for the New Shares). Eligible Shareholders (as defined below) who subscribe for Offer Shares will also receive one (1) Warrant per Offer Share subscribed for.

The Repair Issue will be directed towards the Company's shareholders as of the Record Date, less (i) shareholders who were offered to participate in the Private Placement, and (ii) shareholders who are resident in a jurisdiction where such offering would be unlawful or would require any filing, registration or similar action (the "Eligible Shareholders"). The subscription period in the Repair Issue will commence shortly after approval and publication of the Prospectus, and relevant information (including size) about the Repair Issue will be given in due course. The Repair Issue and the issuance of Warrants to Eligible Shareholders who subscribe for Offer Shares will inter alia require approval by the EGM and publication of the Prospectus.

The shareholders that have pre-committed to subscribe for New Shares for NOK 11.525 million, will on a pro rata basis (based on their subscription commitment), have a preferential right to subscribe for offered shares that are not subscribed for in the Repair Issue. If such shares are not allocated, then they may be allocated to other Eligible Shareholders based on their proportional shareholding.

Certain major shareholders, includingbut not limited to closely related companies and related persons of three of the board members and the five largest shareholders, corresponding to 55.02 % of the shares and votes in the Company, have given irrevocable voting undertakings to vote in favor of the Share Capital Decrease, the Private Placement, the issuance of the Warrants, and an authorization to complete a Repair Issue at the EGM.

* * *

Major shareholders and members of the Company's board that has pre-committed to subscribe for New Shares include:

Roger Hofseth (through Finnvik Eiendom AS) has pre-committed to subscribe for New Shares for an amount up to NOK 3,750,000;

Director Jan Pettersson (through Initia AB and Swelandia International AB) has pre-committed to subscribe for an amount up to NOK 3,000,000;

Director Kristin Aase and related party Espen Dahl (including associated companies) has pre-committed to subscribe for New Shares for an amount up to NOK 1,500,000.

Chairman Edvard Cock has pre-committed to subscribe for New Shares for an amount up to NOK 1,250,000

Formal primary insider notifications will be published following allocation of the New Shares.

A Company presentation dated 3 December 2018 that have been distributed to the investors who have pre-committed to subscribe for New Shares in the Private Placement is enclosed to this stock exchange notice.

For further information, please call Arvid Lindberg, CEO, telephone +47 9824 5410 or arvid@aquabiotech.no.

Aqua Bio Technology (ABT) has launched several cosmetic ingredients used in skin care products globally. Skin care is the fastest growing segment in the cosmetics industry, where ABT's ingredients have established a foothold. In addition to ingredients from its own technology, ABT also commercializes novel technologies/ingredients for partners, for use in skin care products. Aqua Bio

Technology is listed on the Axess market of the Oslo Stock Exchange.

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

This communication may not be published, distributed or transmitted in the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan or Hong Kong. These materials do not constitute an offer of securities for sale or a solicitation of an offer to purchase securities of the Company in the United States or any other jurisdiction. The securities of the Company may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"). The securities of the Company have not been, and will not be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act. Any sale in the United States of the securities mentioned in this communication will be made solely to "qualified institutional buyers" as defined in Rule 144A under the U.S. Securities Act. No public offering of the securities will be made in the United States.

In any EEA Member State that has implemented the Prospectus Directive, this communication is only addressed to and is only directed at qualified investors in that Member State within the meaning of the Prospectus Directive, i.e., only to investors who can receive the offer without an approved prospectus in such EEA Member State. The expression "Prospectus Directive" means Directive 2003/71/EC (and amendments thereto, including Directive 2010/73/EU, to the extent implemented in any relevant Member State) and includes any relevant implementing measure in the relevant Member State.

In the United Kingdom, this communication is only addressed to and is only directed at Qualified Investors who (i) are investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (as amended) (the "Order") or (ii) are persons falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (high net worth companies, unincorporated associations, etc.) (all such persons together being referred to as "Relevant Persons"). These materials are directed only at Relevant Persons and must not be acted on or relied on by persons who are not Relevant Persons. Any investment or investment activity to which this announcement relates is available only to Relevant Persons and will be engaged in only with Relevant Persons. Persons distributing this communication must satisfy themselves that it is lawful to do so.

Matters discussed in this announcement may constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and may be identified by words such as "anticipate", "believe", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "intends", "may", "should", "will" and similar expressions. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions. Although the Company believes that these assumptions were reasonable when made, these assumptions are inherently subject to significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other important factors which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond its control. Such risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other important factors could cause actual events to differ materially from the expectations expressed or implied in this release by such forward-looking statements. The information, opinions and forward-looking statements contained in this announcement speak only as at its date, and are subject to change without notice.

This announcement is for information purposes only and is not to be relied upon in substitution for the exercise of independent judgment. It is not intended as investment advice and under no circumstances is it to be used or considered as an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a recommendation to buy or sell any securities of the Company. Neither the Managers nor any of their respective affiliates accepts any liability arising from the use of this announcement.

The Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update, review or revise any statement contained in this announcement whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

The distribution of this announcement and other information may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions. Persons into whose possession this announcement or such other information should come are required to inform themselves about and to observe any such restrictions.Peace talks between Yemen's government and rivals aimed at ending four years of devastating war will open on Thursday in Sweden, the UN announced. No breakthrough is expected at the talks, which mark the first meeting between Yemen's Saudi-backed government and Huthi rebels, linked to Iran, since 2016 -- when more than 100 days of negotiations failed to end a war that has now claimed upwards of 10,000 lives and pushed 14 million people to the brink of famine. Analysts and UN sources have set a low bar for the talks, which they say aim for "confidence-building" between the two parties, at war since 2015. No end date has been announced. Sources close to the rebels say the Huthis are expected to request the reopening of Sanaa International Airport, which has been damaged by Saudi-led air raids and shut down by Riyadh and its allies, who control Yemen's airspace. A source in the government delegation said President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's camp is seeking maps detailing landmines planted by the rebels. Sources on both sides said they would demand a ceasefire -- initiated by their rival -- and the opening of humanitarian corridors. UN envoy Martin Griffiths flew to Sanaa in the days leading up to the Sweden summit after his plans to host talks in Geneva in September failed when the rebels refused to leave Sanaa, saying they feared they would not be allowed to return. "The (UN special envoy) would like to announce the restart of the intra-Yemeni political process in Sweden on 6 December 2018," his office tweeted. The government and Huthis on Tuesday agreed to a prisoner swap, to be overseen by the International Committee of the Red Cross, after the Sweden talks. Among the thousands expected to be released is President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's brother Nasser, a general and former senior intelligence official. Saudi Arabia and its allies also allowed the Huthis to evacuate 50 wounded rebels from Sanaa for medical treatment in Oman, a condition the rebels had set prior to the foiled Geneva talks. - Low bar - A 12-member team from the Saudi-backed government headed by Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani, arrived in Sweden on Wednesday, a day after rebel delegates landed in Stockholm accompanied by the UN peace envoy. Yemeni Information Minister Moammer al-Eryani confirmed their arrival via Twitter, saying the government team "carried with them the hopes of the Yemeni people for an end to the coup and the return of the state". The delegation had delayed its departure until the rebels arrived in Stockholm after they failed to show up for the last UN bid to convene peace talks in September, sources close to the government told AFP. The head of the rebel delegation, Mohammed Abdelsalam, said the Huthis would "spare no effort to make a success of the talks to restore peace and end the aggression" -- but called on rebel fighters to remain "vigilant against any attempt at a military escalation on the ground". On Wednesday, six members of the rebel delegation could be seen in the grounds of the venue for the talks, the Johannesbergs Castle -- a large estate with a golf course 60 kilometres (40 miles) north of Stockholm, now cordoned off by police. Analysts and diplomats have cautioned the talks could yield no breakthrough, with the two sides not actually due to sit down at the negotiating table together. "I would have very low expectations," a Security Council diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity. - Crisis deteriorating - The US State Department hailed the peace talks as a "necessary and vital first step". The United Arab Emirates, a key backer of the Hadi government with boots on the ground in Yemen, said the planned talks offered a "critical opportunity" to bring peace to a country in the grip of what the UN has described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis. "The hard work begins now," British Ambassador to the UN Karen Pierce told reporters outside the Security Council. Thousands of prisoners have been captured by both sides in the grinding war of attrition that has devastated Yemen at a cost of nearly 10,000 lives since the Saudi-led coalition intervened in March 2015, according to World Health Organization figures. Human rights groups put the death toll far higher. The humanitarian crisis, already the world's worst, will deteriorate in 2019, the UN said on Tuesday, warning the number of people needing food aid is set to jump by four million. Roughly 75 percent of Yemen's population will need humanitarian assistance in 2019, UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock told reporters in Geneva. Aid groups including the Norwegian Refugee Council and UNICEF on Wednesday called for the two sides to put a halt to the fighting. "Parties to the conflict must agree ways to reopen all ports and stabilise the nation's collapsing economy, while facilitating full and unfettered access for people in need of humanitarian aid," NRC said. The coalition has largely suspended its offensive on the rebel-held port of Hodeida in the face of US-led calls for a ceasefire and new peace talks. But fresh fighting flared this week, with a coalition spokesman confirming military operations were "ongoing". burs-abh-ac/po/ny/har Saelem Mohammed Noman Al-Mughalles, a member of the Huthi rebel delegation, stands outside Johannesberg Castle in Rimbo, Sweden where Yemen peace talks are set to start No breakthrough is expected at the talks, which mark the first meeting between Yemen's Saudi-backed government and Huthi rebels, linked to Iran, since 2016 Map showing territorial control in Yemen as of December 5. The Yemeni rebel delegation flew to Sweden aboard a Kuwaiti aircraft accompanied by UN envoy Martin Griffiths to allay security concerns which had led to the collapse of the last UN peace bid in Switzerland in September A wounded Yemeni rebel is transported by ambulance to Sanaa International Airport, before being evacuated to the Omani capital Muscat for treatment, on December 3, 2018 The Yemen war has left children severely malnourished and brought the country to the brink of famine UN Yemen envoy Martin Griffiths travelled to the rebel-held capital Sanaa as he intensified his efforts to convene new peace talksA United Nations rights expert voiced alarm Tuesday over Egypt's clampdown on people she met with during a recent visit, saying their homes were demolished while others were forcibly evicted or arrested. The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to housing, Leilani Farha, said she was "shocked" at the treatment of communities she visited during a recent official visit to Egypt. "Egypt has failed to adhere to the assurances provided to me that no person would be harassed, intimidated or subjected to reprisal for meeting or providing information to me or my delegation," she said. Following her mission from September 24 to October 3, she said "a number of families from two communities I visited have suffered forced evictions contrary to international human rights law." "Several multi-storey houses have been demolished, furniture was thrown into the street, and residents have been made homeless," she said. "Among those targeted were several houses and apartments belonging to family members of community leaders with whom I met," she added. The UN's top expert on human rights defenders, Michel Forst, meanwhile said he had received reports from activists and lawyers working on housing rights that they had been "followed and photographed by persons unknown to them." Some also reported receiving anonymous and threatening phone calls, while others said they had been summoned by police for interrogation. "Unless Egypt ensures that human rights defenders and victims of human rights violations can interact with UN human rights envoys without fear of reprisal, it is in our view not ready to host further visits," the experts said. United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing Leilani Farha, pictured April 2016, said she was "shocked" at the treatment of communities she visited during an official trip to EgyptA woman is suing the prison medical staff who insisted she be placed in a mens facility when they believed she was transgender.

Fior Pichardo de Veloz, 55, a lawyer and mother of three from the Dominican Republic, was arrested in Miami, Florida, in November, 2013 over an outstanding drugs case while she visited the US to see the birth of her grandchild, The Miami Herald reported.

She was taken to The Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center for assessment.

While the officer who arrested her identified her as female, when she was assessed by Dr Fredesvindo Rodriguez-Garcia and nurse Fatu Kamara Harris, she was wrongly identified as a male inmate.

Fior Pichardo de Veloz Source: Miami-Dade corrections

Even though she was previously strip searched by a female officer, the pair enlisted her as a man after Harris discovered Pichardo was taking hormonal pills.

Harris then told jail officers that everything fell out in reference to her male genitalia, despite not conducting a strip search.

Concerned officers questioned the decision yet ultimately were forced to go with the decision of the medical staff.

The day after her arrest, she was taken to Metro West Detention Center, an all male facility 12km away.

When pleading she was female with an officer, they responded: You are a woman. Good luck if youre alive tomorrow, the officer replied, according to the unanimous opinion released by Judge Frank Hull on November 21.

The opinion said Pichardo was so scared inside the prison she refused to go to the bathroom and instead urinated on herself.

She was taken to The Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center where medical staff said she was male. Source: Google Maps

She was confined to a space with 40 men, with several inmates shouting mami! mami! at her.

Pichardo was only removed when her family rushed to the facility to question the decision.

As she was removed, she claims prison officers laughed and one even took photos of her as she undressed.

The drugs charge which led to her incarceration was dismissed months later and she returned to the Dominican Republic.

Pichardo wins court appeal

Pichardos initially filed a lawsuit against those involved, however it was dismissed by a federal judge.

Story continues

However after appealing the decision, the appeals court last month said the actions of Dr Rodriguez-Garcia and Harris were deliberate indifference.

Every reasonable prison officer and medical personnel would have known that wrongfully misclassifying a biological female as a male inmate and placing that female in the male population of a detention facility was unlawful, Judge Frank Hull wrote.

The decision allows Pichardo to now pursue a trial against the two medical professionals.



US Ambassador Nikki Haley is urging countries at the United Nations to back a US-drafted resolution condemning the Palestinian Hamas movement, warning in a letter that the United States takes the vote "very seriously." The UN General Assembly is scheduled to vote Thursday on the draft resolution that would condemn Hamas for firing rockets into Israel and demand that it ends the violence. If adopted, it would mark the first time that the assembly has taken aim at Hamas, the Islamist militant group that has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007. In a letter sent to UN diplomatic missions, Haley warned that there could be attempts by some countries to introduce amendments to the text and urged ambassadors to vote against any such proposed changes. "The United States takes the outcome of this vote very seriously," wrote Haley in the letter dated Monday and obtained by AFP. "The resolution has been carefully-crafted to address a specific problem, and it reflects consultations with many stakeholders to ensure balance. "That is why we are asking that you not only vote in favor of the resolution but that you also vote against any amendments or other efforts to undermine adoption of the text," she added. Haley, who steps down as UN ambassador in January, has steadfastly supported Israel in its confrontation with Hamas in Gaza and chastised the United Nations for criticizing both sides. The influential UN ambassador has not shied away from pressuring countries to support the US stance at the United Nations. Arab countries are expected to put forward amendments to the resolution and push for a ruling at the General Assembly that would specify that the measure must be adopted by a two-thirds majority, instead of a simple majority. The United States has won crucial backing for the measure from the European Union after it agreed to add a mention of relevant UN resolutions. The text does not however refer specifically to the two-state solution. The European Union, like the United States, considers Hamas a terror group, but the 28-nation bloc is divided over how to support peace efforts. The vote on Thursday follows the adoption in the assembly of about a dozen resolutions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that condemn Israeli settlements and call for progress toward the two-state solution. Resolutions adopted by the General Assembly are non-binding, but they carry political weight and are seen as a barometer of world opinion. US ambassador Nikki Haley has told countries at the United Nations that the United States takes the vote on a US-drafted resolution condeming Hamas 'very seriously'Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged support Monday for under-fire Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro during a visit to Caracas aimed at strengthening ties with the crisis-wracked South American country. On his first official visit to Venezuela, the Turkish leader blasted sanctions imposed on Maduro and many of his top officials by the United States, with which his government also has tense relations. "Trade restrictions and sanctions are wrong," Erdogan said, warning that such measures would only deepen "instabilities." "You cannot punish an entire people to resolve political disagreements," the Turkish leader said, according to an official translation of his speech to a business forum. Earlier, Erdogan laid a wreath at the tomb of Venezuela's founding father Simon Bolivar, and Maduro also presented him with a replica of the revolutionary leader's sword. - Business links - But the key highlight was Erdogan's speech at the business forum. With oil production in a tailspin the socialist president has invited Turkish businesses to invest in exploiting a vast mining reserve known as the Arco del Orinoco in the south of the country, an area with considerable gold, diamond and coltan reserves. Non-oil trade between the two countries this year reached 800 million dollars, according to Caracas, a not insignificant figure given its serious liquidity problems. Maduro said Turkish businesses intend to invest some 4.5 billion euros in its OPEC partner. "We are going to cover the majority of Venezuela's needs, we have that strength, I would like to highlight this fact," Erdogan told business leaders. The South American country has suffered from economic woes since 2014, when a crash in the price of crude prompted a crisis that has sparked an exodus of some two million people. "I want my visit to be considered as a symbol of collaboration of the Turkish people with the people of Venezuela," said Erdogan. Erdogan's trip had been announced, though without a specific date, during a September 21 visit to Caracas by his foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. Maduro travelled to Turkey last July for the inauguration of Erdogan's inauguration at the start of a new five-year term as president of Turkey, a country he has led since 2003. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro decorates Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with the Order of the Liberator in CaracasThe UN warned Tuesday of a "severe increase" in Yemen's hunger rate and cautioned the situation would deteriorate further in 2019, when four million more people are expected to need food aid. The head of the World Food Programme, David Beasley, told reporters that a food security survey due to be published later this week would show "a severe increase in hunger rate" in the country. "We are seeing the severe hunger rate spike, from eight million to 12 million," he said, stressing that "these are the people who are on the brink of starvation... These are people who don't know where the next meal is coming from." "This is not a country on the brink of catastrophe. This is a country that is in a catastrophe," Beasley said. The UN humanitarian agency, OCHA, meanwhile listed the humanitarian crisis in Yemen as its top concern going forward. "The country with the biggest problem in 2019 is going to be Yemen," OCHA chief Mark Lowcock told reporters in Geneva as he released the agency's projected global humanitarian needs assessment for next year. He said that in 2017, the UN had provided food assistance to three million people a month in Yemen. That figure rose to eight million per month this year and should hit 12 million in 2019, Lowcock added. The numbers are devastating, but Beasley said it remained unclear if all conditions had been met for a full-fledged famine to be declared, according to the so-called Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) scale. But, he stressed, "to me, it is bad. It is bad enough and we don't need to be waiting for it to be declared a famine." "We need to be all hands on deck, because usually once a famine has been declared you are way behind the curve." - Sent home to die - Beasley described visiting a hospital in Sanaa recently, and seeing a tiny boy of eight, but who looked like he was five, lying limply in bed. He said he tried to tickle his feet to get a smile, but "it was like tickling a ghost". He was told that that hospital alone received around 50 children in the same condition each day, but only had the capacity to care for 20. When he asked what happened to the other 30, the hospital administrator had told him: "We send them home to die." "This is Yemen. This war must end," Beasley said. The crisis in Yemen spiralled after a Saudi-led coalition launched an offensive to support the government against Iran-backed Huthi rebels in March 2015. The situation has worsened in recent months due to a broad economic collapse and rising violence in the rebel-held port of Hodeida, a crucial import hub for food and other basic supplies. Lowcock said the UN as a whole is asking for $4.0 billion (3.5 billion euros) to help suffering Yemenis next year. Beasley said WFP alone needs around $160 million each month just to cover the most desperate food needs. Overall, 24 million people in Yemen -- roughly 75 percent of the population -- will need humanitarian assistance in 2019. Lowcock noted that the government will also need additional budget support from other countries to pay salaries and pensions in order to contain wider suffering. He indicated that some of Yemen's allies in the Gulf, notably Saudi Arabia, have committed to continue helping finance the government. The OCHA chief stressed, however, that the outlook for Yemen could improve if progress is made at UN-brokered peace talks, set to begin in Sweden this month. If the talks show results, "it is possible that we could find by the second half of the year that the extreme edge could get taken off the suffering of those people who have no form of income," Lowcock said, while noting that diplomatic gains were difficult to predict. This picture taken on November 22 shows Yemeni mother Nadia Nahari sitting next to her five-year-old son who is suffering from severe malnutrition and weighing 5 kilogrammes. The UN says it will need to provide food assitance to 12 million people next year in war-torn YemenGov. Andrew Cuomo will kick off his third term at an historic landmark.

Cuomo, a Democrat, will deliver his third inaugural address Jan. 1 at Ellis Island, his office announced Tuesday.

"In these stormy times, Ellis Island is an enduring symbol of who we are as a nation," Cuomo said in a statement. "This historic gateway to America reminds us of the core values that built our state and our country, and it will serve as a fitting location to launch a new term fighting for New Yorkers and for the soul of this nation."

Ellis Island was a major immigration station that welcomed more than 12 million immigrants to the U.S. It was designated part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument in 1965.

Cuomo has chosen new locations for each of his inauguration ceremonies. To launch his first term as governor, he delivered his inauguration address in Albany. Four years ago, when he began his second term, he held events in Buffalo and New York City.

He also suffered a tremendous loss on the day of his inauguration in 2015. His father, the late Gov. Mario Cuomo, passed away.

Cuomo won a third term in November by defeating Republican challenger Marc Molinaro and a handful of minor party hopefuls, including Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins and Serve America Movement nominee Stephanie Miner, both of Syracuse.

The decision to hold his inauguration address at Ellis Island hints at a theme for Cuomo. He has criticized President Donald Trump, a New Yorker and Republican, for his administration's immigration policies.

When railing against Trump's policies, Cuomo has often mentioned Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.

"New York has always been a beacon of hope and opportunity, and today more than ever we are called upon to lead the way forward and set a progressive example for the rest of the country to follow," Cuomo said.

The choice to hold the inauguration ceremony at Ellis Island may also raise questions about Cuomo's presidential ambitions. He has repeatedly said that he won't run for president in 2020. But politicians have been known to change their positions, especially when it comes to running for higher office.

For now, Cuomo maintains that he's focused on being governor of New York, a position he's held since 2011.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 0Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon announced another round of town hall meetings, including a forum in Skaneateles this week.

McMahon will address issues and answer questions beginning at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 6, at Skaneateles Town Hall, 24 Jordan St., Skaneateles. The event is open to the public.

The Skaneateles town hall meeting will be the first of four December forums led by McMahon. He will hold two town hall meetings next week: Tuesday, Dec. 11, at Clay Town Hall and Thursday, Dec. 13, at Cicero Town Hall. Both events begin at 6:30 p.m.

The latest round of town hall meetings concludes at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 17, at Salina Town Hall.

"These town halls are a great way for me to hear directly from people about the issues important to them," McMahon said. "They also allow us the opportunity to share our vision on how we plan to tackle issues like poverty, economic development and infrastructure."

McMahon was sworn in as county executive Nov. 1. He succeeded longtime Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney, who resigned to become chief operating officer at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse. She's also serving as a special adviser to SUNY Upstate Medical University.

With the vacancy, the Onondaga County Legislature voted to appoint McMahon to the position. Before becoming county executive, he was the legislature chairman.

So far, McMahon has held town hall meetings in Fayetteville and Syracuse. He participated in a town hall meeting last week that was sponsored by the Syracuse/Onondaga NAACP.

He plans to hold more town hall meetings in 2019.

"No one has a monopoly on all of the good ideas and I believe when we work together, listen to each other and collaborate, we can make our community a truly better place to live and raise a family," he said.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0AUBURN  An Auburn man pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography in Cayuga County Court Tuesday morning.

Cayuga County Judge Mark Fandrich said Tuesday that on Feb. 17, Dellostritto committed the crime of possessing a sexual performance by a child by having a photo of a 14-year-old's vagina on his phone.

David Elkovitch, Dellostritto's defense attorney, said that Dellostritto was ready to plea guilty to the charge under a deal offering six months in jail with 10 years of probation.

Dellostritto said the image was messaged to him on his phone. He then pleaded guilty by waiver to one count of possessing a sexual performance by a child, a class E felony, which carries a maximum sentence of 1 1/3 to four years of prison.

Assistant District Attorney Heather De Stefano said this case was different from many child pornography crimes as there was a known victim, but also said that the offer was acceptable to the victim's family.

In light of Dellostritto's guilty plea, he was promised a sentence of shock probation with six months in Cayuga County Jail and 10 years of probation. He will also need to register as a sex offender. Dellostritto was remanded back to Cayuga County Jail and is due back in court at 9:30 a.m. Feb. 5 for sentencing.

Also in court:

 A Moravia man who shot himself in the leg this spring was sentenced to prison for unlawfully possessing a firearm after violating his original sentence of probation.

Frankie Putt, 20, of 1582 Lick St., was sentenced in August to five years of shock probation with weekends in jail for a four month period. The sentence would have allowed him to finish his senior year of high school and graduate.

His original charge, criminal possession of a firearm, a class E felony, stemmed from police responding to a call reporting someone heard a gunshot. On the scene, police found Putt had shot himself in the leg with a stolen firearm that he didn't have a license to possess.

De Stefano said he was on probation for less than three months before violating it.

Judge Fandrich said Putt violated his probation by smoking marijuana on school property during school hours as well as using heroin and consuming liquor in November. Putt admitted to both violations. Fandrich also added that in November, Putt broke into and stole change from several vehicles and tools from garages.

"Mr. Putt is prepared to admit to the violation," defense attorney Charles Thomas said. "I think he understands the gravity of the situation."

Thomas asked the court for either a sentence of one to three years, or a shock camp recommendation with a 1 1/3- to four-year sentence.

Fandrich then terminated Putt's probation and sentenced him to 1 1/3 to four years in prison with a shock camp order.

 An Auburn man was sentenced to six months in Cayuga County Jail for breaking into his former employer's home.

Donald Card Jr., 45, of 135 Quill Ave., Apt. A-3, pleaded guilty Oct. 2 to unlawfully entering the home of his former employer in June while looking for a table saw he had left there. Card entered the garage, where he last left the saw, but couldn't find it and assumed his boss sold it.

As the home appeared to be empty, he then entered the residence through the garage and searched the house. Out of anger, Card stole a TV, several ladders, other tools and a patio set. He then pawned some items at Auburn's Pawn King.

"I'd just like to say I'm remorseful for the wrong I've done," Card said. He added that he was "anxious" to get into a drug program to help his addiction.

True to the agreed-upon sentence in October, Fandrich sentenced Card to a term of shock probation with six months in jail followed by five years of probation for his charge of second-degree attempted burglary, a class D felony. No restitution was ordered as the victim was already made whole by insurance.

 A 30-year old Oswego County woman was sentenced, again, for stealing nearly $3,000 worth of merchandise from two Cayuga County stores after she violated her original sentence of probation.

In July, Stosha Holley, 30, currently at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, was sentenced to shock probation and five years post-release supervision. She was also ordered to pay nearly $3,000 in restitution for the several vacuum cleaners and an air purifier she stole from Lowe's and Kohl's in Sennett and Aurelius, respectively.

In court Tuesday, Fandrich said while Holley, a mother of five, was out on probation for the grand larceny charges, she both failed to report to her probation officer and failed to submit to an evaluation for a drug treatment program.

"Unfortunately, you suffer from an addiction and you need treatment," Fandrich said. "You were unable to follow through with the treatment."

For the original charges of two separate counts of fourth-degree grand larceny, class E felonies, Fandrich sentenced Holley to 1 1/3 to four years in prison, to run concurrent to an Oswego County sentence she is serving, with a shock camp order. He said he would continue to allow probation to pursue restitution.

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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Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.Federal funding, amounting to $401,000, was awarded to the town of Sterling last week by the state's U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, according to a press release.

The funding, provided through the U.S. Department of Agricultures Rural Development Grant Program, will expand clean drinking water for residents by financing the construction of Water District #3 in the town. The service area has no municipal water system and residents rely on wells  which currently don't meet the state's sanitary standards for water quality and quantity.

This funding is in addition to a $1.27 million loan and $550,000 grant awarded in January for the same project.

The project includes installing approximately 25,000 feet of water main distribution pipes, hydrants and valves. The new system will serve around 90 residents.

"I am proud to announce this federal investment," said Sen. Schumer in a press release. These federal funds will allow the Town of Sterling to construct the new municipal water system they need to provide clean, safe drinking water to their community."

"No New Yorker should have to worry about whether their water is safe to drink," said Sen. Gillibrand in the release, "and I will always fight for funding in the Senate that protects the health and quality of life for residents.

More information on the USDA Rural Development Program that provided this funding can be found at rd.usda.gov/programs-services/water-waste-disposal-loan-grant-program.

Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0Spanish English

MEXICO CITY, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Grupo Salinas, a group of dynamic, fast-growing and technologically advanced companies, deeply committed to the modernization of the countries where they operate, announced today that the Attorney General of the State of California, Xavier Becerra, met with Mexican opinion leaders at a meeting organized by Grupo Salinas in order to exchange views on the conditions that strengthen the relations of communities on both sides of the border.



During the event, Political Analyst Agustin Barrios Gomez; Expert in Latin America Ana Maria Salazar; Member of the Board of Directors of Pemex Lourdes Melgar; Program Director of the Aspen Institute Miguel Limon; and Border Affairs Advisor to the President of Mexico Pedro Romero, met with Mr. Becerra and Monique Limon, Representative of the 37th District of California.

Attendees shared information on migration, energy, and working conditions, and agreed on the importance of strengthening ties between the two economies in order to expand opportunities for exchange and development.

Mexico and the United States, in particular the State of California, are complementary regions that are strengthened by greater integration in the economic, political, social and cultural spheres; encouraging cooperation; and promoting joint work opportunities that improve competitiveness and growth prospects.

Grupo Salinas is firmly committed to fostering forums where ideas are exchanged and activities are developed that support wellbeing and progress that promotes inclusive prosperity, strengthened living standards, and the growth of communities.

About Grupo Salinas

Grupo Salinas (www.gruposalinas.com) is a group of dynamic, fast growing, and technologically advanced companies focused on creating: economic value through market innovation and goods and services that improve standards of living; social value, to create social capabilities to improve communities; and environmental value, by reducing the negative impact of business activities. Created by Mexican entrepreneur Ricardo B. Salinas (www.ricardosalinas.com), Grupo Salinas operates as a management development and decision forum for the top leaders of member companies. These companies include: TV Azteca (www.TVazteca.com; www.irtvazteca.com), Grupo Elektra (www.grupoelektra.com.mx), Banco Azteca (www.bancoazteca.com.mx), Advance America (www.advanceamerica.net), Afore Azteca (www.aforeazteca.com.mx), Seguros Azteca (www.segurosazteca.com.mx), Punto Casa de Bolsa (www.puntocasadebolsa.mx), Totalplay (www.totalplay.com.mx) and Totalplay Empresarial (http://totalplayempresarial.com.mx). TV Azteca and Grupo Elektra trade on the Mexican Stock Exchange and are part of its Sustainability Index. Each of the Grupo Salinas companies operates independently, with its own management, board of directors and shareholders. Grupo Salinas has no equity holdings. The group of companies share a common vision, values and strategies for achieving rapid growth, superior results and world-class performance.

Press Relations:

Luciano Pascoe, +52 (55) 1720 1313 ext. 36553, lpascoe@gruposalinas.com.mxWASHINGTON (AP)  Senators leaving a briefing with CIA Director Gina Haspel on Tuesday said they are even more convinced that Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman was involved in the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said he believes if the crown prince were put on trial, a jury would find him guilty in "about 30 minutes."

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who demanded the briefing with Haspel, said there is "zero chance" the crown prince wasn't involved in Khashoggi's death.

"There's not a smoking gun. There's a smoking saw," Graham said, referring to reports from the Turkish government that said Saudi agents used a bone saw to dismember Khashoggi after he was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Graham said "you have to be willfully blind" not to conclude that this was orchestrated and organized by people under the crown prince's command.

But President Donald Trump has equivocated over who is to blame for the killing, frustrating senators who are now looking for ways to punish the longtime Middle East ally. Senators overwhelmingly voted last week to move forward on a resolution curtailing U.S. backing for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

It's unclear whether or how that resolution will move forward. The vote last week set up debate on the measure, which could happen as soon as next week, but senators are still in negotiations on whether to amend it and what it should say.

Haspel met with a small group of senators, including the chairmen and top Democrats on the key national security committees, after senators in both parties complained that she didn't attend a briefing with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis last week.

Pompeo and Mattis tried to dissuade senators from punishing Saudi Arabia with the resolution, saying U.S. involvement in the Yemen conflict is central to the Trump administration's broader goal of containing Iranian influence in the Middle East. Human rights groups say the war is wreaking havoc on the country and subjecting civilians to indiscriminate bombing.

The two men also echoed Trump's reluctance to blame the crown prince. Pompeo said there was "no direct reporting" connecting the crown prince to the murder, and Mattis said there was "no smoking gun" making the connection.

After that briefing, Graham threatened to withhold his vote on key legislation until he heard from Haspel. "I'm not going to blow past this," he said. That afternoon, senators frustrated with the briefing and the lack of response to Khashoggi's killing overwhelmingly voted to move forward with consideration of the Yemen resolution, 63-37.

Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin said the briefing with Haspel "clearly went in to an evaluation of the intelligence" and was much more informative.

"I went in believing the crown prince was directly responsible or at least complicit in this and my feelings were strengthened by the information we were given," Durbin said.

Some senators were frustrated that they were not invited to the briefing with Haspel. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a critic of Saudi Arabia, said that excluding some lawmakers is "the very definition of the deep state" and that he suspected that the Trump administration is attempting to get some lawmakers to switch their votes on the resolution by giving them information.

Khashoggi was killed two months ago. The journalist, who had lived for a time in the U.S. and wrote for The Washington Post, had been critical of the Saudi regime. He was killed in what U.S. officials have described as an elaborate plot as he visited the consulate for marriage paperwork.

U.S. intelligence officials have concluded that the crown prince must have at least known of the plot, but Trump has been reluctant to pin the blame. He has touted Saudi arms deals worth billions of dollars to the U.S. and recently thanked Saudi Arabia for plunging oil prices.

In a column for the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, Graham wrote that the killing and other moves by the Saudi regime showed "astounding arrogance entitlement" and disregard for international norms.

"We are a coequal branch of government exercising leadership to safeguard the country's long-term interests, values and reputation," wrote Graham, a frequent ally of the president. "After all, someone's got to do it."

Even if the Yemen resolution passes the Senate, it appears unlikely to advance in the House. Speaker Paul Ryan last week said the Yemen resolution "isn't the way to go."

___

Associated Press writer Padmananda Rama contributed to this report.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1MIAMI, Fla.Bryan Deneumostier, the Peruvian native who posed as a woman on Craigslist and enticed straight men to come to his hotel room to have sex, only to surreptitiously film the encounters and post them on the gay-oriented website StraightBoyz.com, has been sentenced in U.S. District Court in Miami to three years in prison. Deneumostier pled guilty to two counts of violating "Unlawful Recordings of Individuals" (18 U.S.C. 2511), though a U.S. Department of Justice press release dated today described the crimes as "illegal interception of oral communications." (We're guessing, no pun intended.)

The charges stemmed from the fact that Deneumostier, posing online as "susanleon3326," a "real, heterosexual female," lured men to a hotel room, blindfolded them and promised that "Susan" would come along shortly to give them blowjobs.

"In several of these advertisements, Deneumostier would state he was either a man looking for men (m4m), a transvestite looking for men (t4m), or a woman looking for men (w4m)," the DOJ PR noted. "In most advertisements, he stated he was looking for 'young sexy guys.'"

But whoever the ads said he was, the blowjob giver was actually Deneumostier himself, and it was the fact that Deneumostier digitally recorded the encounters and posted them on the Madrid-based website StraightBoyz.com without their permission (and of course without obtaining the ID information required by 18 U.S.C. 2257 for all sexually explicit material) that led to his prosecution. Although not charged as an accessory or co-conspirator, the owners of StraightBoyz.com paid Deneumostier a $3,000-per-month stipend to assure that he would continue to post the sexual encounters to their website.

It's unclear which of the roughly 150 men with whom Deneumostier recorded himself having sex, 80 of whom allegedly did not know Deneumostier was recording their encounters, formed the basis of the two federal charges. According to the Justice Department, "The indictment and plea agreement refer to four known victims whose identities are being withheld to protect their privacy." But part of Deneumostier's guilty plea included the provision that he would not face charges of having violated the 2257 law by not obtaining proper IDs for his subjects.

U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonga of the Southern District of Florida also ordered Deneumostier to serve three years of supervised release following completion of his sentence.WASHINGTON, D.C.Strike 3 Holdings, which is co-owned by director Greg Lansky, and which owns the rights to the XXX material created for his websites Vixen, Tushy, Blacked and Blacked Raw, is hardly a stranger to copyright litigation. In fact, at last count, Strike 3 had filed more than 1,500 copyright infringement claims over the past few years against a vast array of "John Doe" defendants, charging that each had downloaded Strike 3-owned material from BitTorrent sites, and seeking money damages for such infringement.

But Strike 3 hit a roadblock on November 16, when U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth denied Strike 3's attempt to serve a subpoena on an D.C.-area ISP, the purpose of which subpoena was allegedly to identify the person or persons belonging to an IP address which Strike 3 had traced as the downloader of the copyrighted material. Judge Lamberth ruled that Strike 3's use of geolocation software to identify the downloading IP address was insufficently precise to identify a particular user, and that in any case, the user's privacy rights outweighed Strike 3's power under copyright laws to identify him/her/them.

"[T]he Court must ... balance Strike 3's need for discovery with a potentially-noninfringing defendant's right to be anonymous," Judge Lamberth ruled, referring to the 2010 Second Circuit case of Arista Records LLC v. Doe.

Worse, however, was that Judge Lamberth tossed the term "copyright troll" in Strike 3's direction, comparing it to such voluminous copyright litigators as Malibu Media.

"Of the forty cases Strike 3 has filed in this district (including seven on a single day), none have reached the Court of Appeals," the judge noted. "Twenty-two have been voluntarily dismissed, all but one following the same formula: Strike 3 files a complaint (identical in every case except for the infringing IP address). A few weeks later, Strike 3 files a motion to subpoena the anonymous defendant's ISP prior to a Rule 26(f) conference... Satisfied by Strike 3's showing of likely personal jurisdiction, the court grants the motion, usually providing at least twenty days for the defendant to move to quash the subpoena, and sometimes providing for defendant's continued anonymity. Nothing happens for a few weeks, and then Strike 3 voluntarily dismisses the suit."

But Judge Lamberth's decision betrays his antipathy for sexually explicit material, and if Strike 3 appeals, that may figure into an appeals court's decision.

"Strike 3 fails to give the Court adequate confidence this defendant actually did the infringing," the judge wrote. "Given this uncertainty, Strike 3 cannot overcome defendant's weighty privacy expectation. Imagine having your name and reputation publiclyand permanentlyconnected to websites like Tushy and Blacked Raw. (Google them at your own risk.) How would an improperly accused defendant's spouse react? His (or her) boss? The head of the local neightborhood watch?"

Later, the judge doubles down on bashing Lansky's material's character.

"[T]he typical case does not involve pornography, nor is this even run-of-the-mill porn," the judge claims, noting in a footnote that "'it is unsettled in many circuits'including this one'whether pornography is in fact entitled to protection against copyright infringement.'"a ludicrous legal argument since non-obscene sexually explicit material has full First Amendment protection.

"By extension, two factors limit today's holding," the ruling continues. "First is this content's abberantly salacious nature. Second is the legion pitfalls associated with Strike 3's tracking and identication of infringers." [Emphasis added]

For this judge to describe Lansky's content as "abberantly salacious" is to imply that it should receive lesser copyright protection, even though the material has never been judged obscene by a court.

But at bottom, Strike 3's problem is its inability to identify that a particular person is behind the IP address its software search uncovered. The court earlier speculated that "the computers, smartphones, and tablets of anyone in the owner's house, as well as any neighbor or houseguest who shared the Internet" could be the actual infringer, rather than simply the person listed as paying for the ISP service.

In his conclusion, however, Judge Lamberth went out of his way to bash frequent copyright litigators in general.

"Armed with hundreds of cut-and-pasted complaints and boilerplate discovery motions, Strike 3 floods this courthouse (and others around the country) with lawsuits smacking of extortion," Lamberth wrote. "It treats this court not as a citadel of justice, but as an ATM. Its feigned desire for legal process masks what it really seeks: for the court to oversee a high-tech shakedown. This court declines."

So, absent a successful appeal of Judge Lamberth's ruling, Strike 3 may have to kiss its 40 D.C.-area cases goodbyebut Strike 3's appeal period for the decision has not yet run, so its litigation future remains unclear.

Pictured: Lansky and performers at a recent AVN Adult Entertainment Expo.CHATSWORTH, Calif.Clandestine Devices, maker of the wildly-popular Mimic and new Mimic + Plus adult toys, has been selected for an AVN Awards nomination for 2019.

AVN has been so supportive of the company and the amazing Mimic massager, and we are so proud and grateful to receive this nomination, said Clandestine Devices President and founder Jules Jordan. We want to give a special shout-out and thanks to the wonderful people at AVN, our distributors who sell this amazing toy and of course to our customers who keep us in business.

The company earned a nomination for Best Pleasure Product Manufacturer - Small for its role in creating the Mimic s inspired design, powerful vibrations and timeless style.

Mimic has remained a consistent best-seller since Clandestine Devices and legendary adult icon Jules Jordan launched the colorful vibrator nearly two years ago to overwhelmingly positive feedback from satisfied users.

The powerful handheld Mimic offers a versatile ergonomic design, user-friendly interface, bright colors and glowing LED light; the waterproof, rechargeable pleasure product is made of medical-grade silicone, with six speeds/intensity levels, eight vibration patterns, a glowing LED light and 90 minutes of powerful pulsations on a single charge.

AVN Awards winners will be announced at the AVN Awards Show, taking place Saturday, January 26, 2019 at the Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

For more information visit ClandestineDevices.com or follow on social media at Instagram.com/clandestinedevices.

The Mimic and the company's brand-new product, Mimic + Plus, are in stock and available to order now. For sales, contact Kimberly Faubel at (717) 576-4795 or email [email protected].Food-to-go giant Greencore has set its sights on significant growth through expansion and acquisition in the UK following the disposal of its US division.

The comments were made by Greencore chief executive Patrick Coveney as the company announced a 4.2% year-on-year increase in full-year revenue to 1,498.5m, with adjusted EBITDA up 1.7% to 140m.

The performance had been driven by a 10.8% increase in food-to-go (sandwiches, sushi and salads), with Greencore saying it was playing an increasing role in supporting customer growth in new channels, formats and product types.

It reported that improved profits in food-to-go categories had been partly offset by a decline in other areas, particularly ready meals.

The business last week completed the sale of its entire US operation to an affiliate of Hearthside Food Solutions in a deal worth $1bn (817m). This followed Greencore exiting the UK desserts sector with the sale of its cakes and desserts business in Hull to Bright Blue Foods and the closure of its desserts facility in Evercreech, Somerset.

2018 was a year of significant change for Greencore. We delivered good underlying growth in the UK, with favourable consumer and retailer trends helping drive our core food-to-go business, said Coveney.

We will now focus all our attention and resources on the significant growth opportunities that we see in the UK, both organic and inorganic.

Among the growth opportunities identified by the business were the demand for fresh, local convenient food; broadening the reach of food-to-go; moving into adjacent categories; and acquisitions.

Greencore said it was monitoring the potential implications of Brexit, particularly in volume, material sourcing and labour availability, and explained it had been engaged in Brexit planning since the result of the referendum was announced.

The business added that it believed the risks from Brexit were manageable in the medium-term, but the challenges of a no-deal Brexit remained uncertain.

Despite the short-term uncertainties of Brexit, our scale, depth and expertise in attractive and structurally growing food categories mean that we are confident in the future growth prospects for Greencore, said Coveney.CALGARY, Alberta, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ATCO announced today, that as operator for its joint-venture partnership with the Haisla First Nation, it has been chosen to provide workforce housing and operational support services for three camps in the Haisla territory in support of construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline in British Columbia. The contract was conditionally awarded by Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. upon a positive final investment decision by the joint-venture partners of LNG Canada, and has a combined value of approximately $40 million.



We are tremendously proud to support this crucial energy infrastructure project, and to be doing so alongside our valued partners within the Haisla Nation, said Nancy Southern, Chair & Chief Executive Officer with ATCO. We look forward to working hand-in-hand with our partners to support major workforce housing projects in the Kitimat region on landmark infrastructure development in the years ahead.

The three camps are proposed to commence operations in March 2019 and continue until August 2022. ATCO has operated a successful partnership with the Haisla Nation since 2011, delivering multiple camp and modular site accommodation projects within the Kitimat region of British Colombia.

Over the last decade, ATCO has provided premier workforce housing and operational support services to several of the worlds most ambitious LNG infrastructure projects. In 2016, the company completed its largest-ever U.S. workforce housing project at a major LNG project near Lake Charles, Louisiana. ATCO has also supported several major LNG projects in Australia, including the Chevron-operated Wheatstone Project in Western Australia, and three large workforce housing projects on Curtis Island, providing more than 6,000 beds for workers constructing LNG terminals.

With approximately 7,000 employees and assets of $23 billion, ATCO is a diversified global holding corporation with investments in Structures & Logistics (workforce housing, innovative modular facilities, construction, site support services, and logistics and operations management); Energy Infrastructure (electricity generation, transmission, and distribution; natural gas transmission, distribution and infrastructure development; energy storage and industrial water solutions; and electricity and natural gas retail sales); Transportation (ports and transportation logistics); and Commercial Real Estate. More information can be found at www.ATCO.com .

Investor Inquiries:

D.A. (Dennis) DeChamplain

Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer

403-292-7502

Media Inquiries:

Chad Cummins

Senior Advisor, Marketing & Communications

403-807-6268

Forward-Looking Information:

Certain statements contained in this news release may constitute forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as anticipate, plan, estimate, expect, may, will, intend, should, and similar expressions.

Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information.

The Companys actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in this forward-looking information as a result of regulatory decisions, competitive factors in the industries in which the Company operates, prevailing economic conditions, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company.

The Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking information should not be unduly relied upon.

Any forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the Companys expectations as of the date hereof, and is subject to change after such date. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities legislation.

PDF Available: http://resource.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/fa6da1f4-6bd3-4890-bbd9-538b0491545bCKI scholar Matthew Ladner counters charges that private schools fail to offer students a wide-ranging education

Opponents of school choice in North Carolina are attacking the curricula in private schools. They argue that Opportunity Scholarship vouchers steer students toward schools that prepare them inadequately for college-level coursework or certain careers. One person who has heard this argument before in other parts of the country is Matthew Ladner, senior research fellow at the Charles Koch Institute. Ladner addressed the concerns during an interview with Mitch Kokai for Carolina Journal Radio. (Head to http://www.carolinajournal.com/radio/ to find recent CJ Radio episodes.)This is one of the more popular arguments right now against the school voucher program in North Carolina - the Opportunity Scholarship Program. "Hey, these private schools that are taking these students, they just don't have good curricula. We should not be sending tax dollars to these schools." You have heard this in other attacks on private school choice.I have, yeah. It's a hot topic in Florida right now, for instance. I would say that people should be more focused on not curricula, but rather outcomes, right? And there is a lot of ... I don't see any other word to use but "prejudice." There's this prejudicial notion that private schools won't teach science. I have even seen news articles from Florida newspapers where people are talking about hillbilly science and snake handling and all this stuff.There is one source of testing data that actually allows us to compare science scores for both private and public school students. And unfortunately, we can't get this at the state level, but we can get it at the regional level. So I have looked at the private school science scores in the American South, compared to the public school scores. And what you see, consistently, is the private school students perform at a higher level on science, display higher levels of science achievement and knowledge than the public school students.So it's really not a basis on which you'd want to deny families freedom and opportunity to choose the sort of school they want to send their child to.Why do you think we're hearing this argument?I think that opponents of parents being able to direct their children to the schools that best fit their needs make a lot of different arguments. They come in different flavors. At the end of the day, there is an urge on the part of some people that think that we ought to standardize the education of children, ... that everyone needs to be doing the same thing. And then there are others of us who think that there should be variety and diversity in education and that we should allow families to direct students to the best-fit schools, right? That's not necessarily "the best" school based on something like standardized test scores because people's needs are much more varied than that.The bottom line is that every bit of testing data that anyone could get their hands on, in terms of science, indicates that the private schools are teaching science to their kids. Or I should put it this way: If you want to use science scores as a justification to get rid of school choice, the river is going to have to flow both ways, and we're going to have to say, "What's going on with the public schools because their science scores are lower?There was a study recently, led by the League of Women Voters, that dealt with this issue in North Carolina, and the vouchers, and talking about the curricula. It came out at about the same time as a research study from N.C. State University that showed our school vouchers were having a positive and statistically significant impact on low-income students and their student achievement. That probably sounds a lot more in line with what you're hearing in other states, as well?Yeah. There's a tremendous amount of empirical research around the country showing that when families have the opportunity to choose schools, that it's actually mutually beneficial - that the process by which parents exercise these choices actually has a beneficial impact on the test scores and the performance of the public schools.I think that it's pretty obvious, if we were starting a schooling system from scratch, that what we would not do is want to have schooling exclusively done by government entities with a monopoly and not allow anyone to go anywhere else. That is a recipe for a lot of the problems that we actually do see.Public education is that funding is guaranteed in all state constitutions. ... I assume that if we had a poll of the public in North Carolina, we'd find overwhelming support for that notion. But the fact that the public is going to provide funding for education does not mean that it should be the exclusive provider of that education. And this is crucially important.If you go back and read John Stuart Mill's On Liberty, he has a chapter about education. He describes it as being of unspeakable importance that civil society takes a leading role in providing education. Because otherwise he describes what would happen is, is that schooling will simply become what he describes as a "mold," that there will be a tyranny of the mind, and that we'll simply be shaping people in the mold, whether that mold is controlled by a king, or bishops, or the majority opinion of the day.And that impulse is ultimately illiberal. We need to be tolerant of people having differences of opinion - about science, about other things - and allowing sort of a peaceful coexistence rather than yield to this urge to try to make everything the same.One of the things that we've talked about, about North Carolina's Opportunity Scholarship Program, is the fact that our General Assembly has built in additional funding year after year, going out for about the next eight to 10 years, until the program is substantially larger than it is now. Based on what you know about how school vouchers are working across the country, are they setting us on the right path there?Yeah. In fact, I understand that despite the regular funding increases that there are also wait lists. There are more parents that want into these programs than the funding will allow, even with the increases. The evidence is pretty clear that providing families with opportunities is a source of K-12 improvement that you cannot get from any other source. There are other strategies that states do to try to improve K-12 outcomes. They have a mixed record, I would say. But these strategies are always top-down. Freedom and opportunity [are] bottom-up.It gets down to the basic fact that no one knows the individual needs and aspirations and hopes of a child better than the child's own family. And that sorting process where maybe your oldest child is a musician and would like to attend an arts-focused school, and maybe your younger child is more focused on science and technology and engineering. A lot of what we're seeing around the country is getting away from the idea that one size fits all.There is a significant demographic change occurring in North Carolina that virtually no one is talking about. A change that will have major implications for the state's fiscal health for decades to come.With the ageing of the baby boom generation (born 1946-1964), North Carolina is witnessing a meaningful shift in the income source of its residents, as retirement income replaces wage income for more and more seniors in the Tar Heel State.State budget writers need to pay attention to this shift, as it has serious implications for budget and tax policy in the coming years.Research provided in a legislative memo from the Fiscal Research Division's chief economist finds that in North CarolinaMoreover, the research showed that our state's population of residents over 65 as a share of total population grew from 12.2 percent in 2006 to 15 percent in 2015. The memo addedIn short, in just a dozen years, one in five North Carolinians will be age 65 or over. A significant share of which will be fully or partially retired.What impact will this have on North Carolina's economy?According to the memo,Fewer people in the labor force means lower income, as retirement income typically does not fully replace prior wages. Making matters worse, the memo goes on to say, isthat willThe result is a smaller tax base for the state's largest revenue source: the personal income tax.The memo suggests that other factors such as population growth and overall economic conditions can offset the declining tax base, but concludes the likeliest scenario will be tax revenue growing at a "slower pace."For state budget writers, this is especially troubling news in light of the rapid growth of unfunded state pension and retiree health care benefits.For instance, annual minimum required payments for state pension and retiree health benefits total nearly $2.5 billion. That figure is up roughly 87 percent from just five years ago.The pension fund's total unfunded liability of $7.9 billion is up a whopping $11 billion over 13 years ago (there used to be a surplus), while the retiree health benefit liability totals nearly $33 billion - up $9 billion over its 2005 amount.These trends indicate severe upward pressure on budgetary obligations for years to come, at a time when our changing demographics tell us there will be a smaller tax base from which to finance these obligations.How will legislators continue to balance a state budget with growing spending obligations funded from a shrinking tax base?Some will no doubt resort to their solution to every fiscal problem: tax the rich. But this is problematic for several reasons, including 1) the "rich" are not significant enough in numbers, especially retirees, to generate adequate revenue, and 2) wealthy people, especially retirees, are not stationary targets. Wealthy individuals are highly mobile and will move to more financially hospitable states, shrinking our tax base even further as they take their income and consumption spending elsewhere.This leaves legislators with the choice of pension and retiree health benefit reform. On the pension side, transitioning current and new employees from the current defined benefit program to a 401(k)-style defined contribution plan makes the most sense. Employees will have ownership of their retirement funds and taxpayers will be off the hook for any liabilities.Regarding retiree health benefits, reforms could include asking retirees to pay a small percentage of the premiums, amounting to perhaps $65 to $130 per month depending on the plan in which they are enrolled. More than thirty states require retirees to contribute a significant share towards their health insurance premiums, while fourteen states require retirees to fully fund enrollment in their state health plan.Offering high-deductible plans coupled with a Health Savings Account (HSA) to retirees can also yield noticeable savings.North Carolina's aging population, combined with dramatically rising state retiree liabilities, presents state budget writers with a significant challenge. There is no more time to kick the can down the road. The longer we wait to address these concerns, the more painful the solutions will be.San Nicola di Bari

In some parts of Italy the feast of San Nicola, patron saint of Bari, ushers in the Christmas season (stagione natalizia) with the giving of gifts (regali) on the eve or morning of December 6, his onomastico (names day). Although many stories of San Nicola s life may be mythical, he did inspire the figure of a beloved old manwhether hes known as Babbo Natale (Father Christmas) or Santa Clauswho gives out presents in December.

The son of a wealthy Christian family, San Nicola grew up in a Greek-speaking colony of the Roman Empire, now part of Turkey, and became bishop (vescovo) of the city of Myra. In addition to saving a sailor from drowning during a voyage to Egypt, Nicola also reportedly restored three murdered children to life. And so he became the patron saint (patrono) of sailors (marinai) and children (bambini).

In the most famous legend about the saint, an impoverished man in his diocese couldnt afford dowries for his three daughters, which meant they would never find husbands. With no money to feed and clothe the girls, the desperate father was planning to sell them into prostitution.

On three separate occasions, Nicola, who had inherited a fortune, tossed a sack of gold down the familys chimney (camino). The coins landed in socks and shoes (calze e scarpe) left to dry by the fire, inspiring a Christmas Eve tradition. As word of his generosity spread, every anonymous gift was attributed to the kindly bishop.

When San Nicola died of old age (a rarity at the time) in 343, his bones (ossa) were placed in the cathedral of Myra, which became a popular pilgrimage destination. After the Turks conquered the city in 1087, sailors from Bari, racing against Venetian sailors with the same intent, rescued the saints remains and brought them to rest in their home town in southern Italy.

Baris fedeli (worshipers or faithful believers) built an enormous basilica over the reliquie del santo (saints relics), which reportedly produce a clear liquid called Manna with mysterious healing powers. Every year a three-day festival celebrates the arrival of the sacred relics in Bari and the collection of the holy Manna on May 8.

Over the centuries San Nicola inspired the Dutch tradition of Sinterklaas, from a shortened version of Nicolas name in Dutch, which emigrants carried to North America. When the British took over the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, which later became New York City, they also adopted the tradition of the gift-giving Sinterklaas. However, they mispronounced the Dutch name, and so Sinterklaas became Santa Claus.

Todays chubby, red-suited, white-bearded American Santa Claus may bear little physical resemblance to San Nicola di Bari. But both figures share a generosity of spirit (generosita di spirito) and love of children (amore per i bambini) that remain timeless.

Words and Expressions

Santita  saintliness, holiness

Festa del santo - saints day

Santino - little holy picture reproducing the image of a saint and a prayer.

Santificare le feste - to observe the holy festivities.

Santo martire - martyred saint

Dianne Hales is the author of LA BELLA LINGUA: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language, MONA LISA: A Life Discovered and the upcoming LA PASSIONE: How Italy Seduced the World. Click here to preorder. For more information, visit her new website: www.diannehales.com.2018 was a historic one for farm animals, with California passing the strongest law against farm animal confinement in the world. And you can rest assured that in the coming year, the HSUS and HSI will continue to push progress for farm animals, in campaigns designed and carried out with purpose, passion, and vision. Photo by iStockphoto

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The year 2018 was a historic one for farm animals, with California passing the strongest law against farm animal confinement in the world. We successfully campaigned to protect chickens in the meat industrymoving major US companies to adopt comprehensive welfare reforms and spotlighting those lagging behind. HSI worked with dozens of food industry leaders around the world to adopt and implement cage-free egg policies. And we partnered with the largest foodservice companies, entire school districts and leading universities on incorporating more plant-based foods onto their menus.

Big public policy wins

Our public policy team won big for farm animals in 2018.

In California, we spearheaded the successful campaign to pass the historic Proposition 12 measure, which strengthens Californias law prohibiting confining laying hens, mother pigs and veal calves in cagesand bans the sale of eggs, pork and veal from caged animals statewide regardless where those products were produced. This is the strongest law of its kind in the world!

After several years of campaigning by HSI and our partner groups, the Delhi High Court directed the government of India to ensure that no new battery caged farms are established in the country.

In Rhode Island, we successfully campaigned to pass a bill banning battery cage confinement of egg-laying hens.

In Iowa, our pressure campaign helped lead to amendments that weakened a bizarre measure to require grocery stores to sell at least some eggs from caged hens.

In Mississippi, we thwarted a dangerous ag-gag measure.

In Oregon, we helped persuade the state Department of Agriculture to revoke the operation permit for a mega-dairy, Lost Valley Farms, arguing that it had failed to implement required waste management processes.

In the federal courts, we won a lawsuit preventing the government from sending more than $20 million to the pork industrys largest lobbying group, the National Pork Producers Council, to fuel opposition efforts against our policy work to protect farm animals across the country.

Shifting people globally toward plants

Through our Forward Food, Green Monday, and other meat reduction campaigns, our Food and Nutrition teams are helping foodservice professionals from the US to South Africa to Vietnam serve more plant-based meals.

In the United States and Canada, we hosted more than 130 plant-based culinary trainings in 2018 for major universities, hospitals, K-12 school districts and other institutional food buyers. In total, we trained 3,533 professionals through these trainingsincluding staff at the California Department of Education, Utah State University, Vanderbilt, University of Florida, Harvard, Cornell, Northeastern and Virginia Tech.

We garnered nearly 100 meat reduction policiesfrom institutions including Academica Charter Schools (Floridas fifth-largest school district), Arizona State University, Virginia Tech, University of Pittsburgh, Columbus Public Schools and University of Nevada Las Vegas.

We announced major partnerships with the foodservice sector around plant-based eatingincluding with Sodexo USA(the second largest food service company) and Fresh Ideas (a foodservice company that serves more than 100 schools and other locations).

In Brazil, HSI implemented its Carnes da Terra (Meats of the Land) meat reduction program with school districts and other institutions, garnering commitments from four new school districts to go 100 percent plant-based at least one day a week. HSI launched its Sustainable School partnership with four cities in the country to go 100 percent plant-based at all of their public schools by the end of 2019. This will affect approximately 23 million meals per year. HSI is also implementing Meatless Monday in a Sao Paulo program that encompasses 1270 institutions, including daycares, vocational schools and nursing homes.

HSI worked with the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, to launch its Green Monday South Africa program, offering many new plant-based options in all its residence dining halls, including one that will be 100 percent plant-based every Monday. This is the first dining hall in Africa to become 100 percent plant-based on Mondays.

HSI continued to expand its Green Monday program in Vietnam, and worked with three manufacturing factories to implement Green Monday in their corporate cafeterias, impacting over 22,000 workers.

Corporate engagement

We battled big for chickens in the meat industry throughout 2018moving major companies to adopt animal welfare reforms, and spotlighting McDonalds for having fallen behind. Our HSI team worked globally with corporations to end the use of cages for hens.

We helped move many companiesincluding Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Accor Hotels and Brueggers Bagelsto adopt chicken welfare policies in 2018.

We worked with the State of New Yorks Comptroller to send a strong letter urging McDonalds to improve its chicken welfare policy, generating coverage from Bloomberg. (The State of New York holds $300 million in McDonalds stock, for its pension funds.)

In Thailand, our HSI team worked with Charoen Pokphand Foods (CP Foods), one of the largest agribusiness and food conglomerates in the world and the third largest pig producer globally, to announce a commitment to phase out the use of cages for 100 percent of company-owned layer hen farms in Thailand. The company also committed to transition to higher welfare group housing systems for mother pigs by 2025.

In Singapore, hotel and food companies Grand Hyatt Singapore and Andaz Singapore, The Prive Group and Asias leading healthy food chain Salad Stop!with locations in nine countriescommitted to going cage-free in partnership with HSI.

In Brazil, our HSI team worked with Carrefour, the countrys leading retailer and second largest supermarket chain, to announce a commitment to sell exclusively cage-free eggs in all its 650 stores in the country by 2028.

We garnered the first-ever cage-free egg commitment in Argentina, from the leading food company Havanna, and from Colombina in Colombia, one of the countrys leading food manufacturers.

The work we do for farm animals, as for all animals, involves working with stakeholders across the spectrum, from corporations to farmers, from NGO partners to caring citizens, from scientists to nutritionists, and from celebrities to politicians of every stripe. We are committed to a world where farm animals do not suffer needlessly, and you can rest assured that in the coming year, the HSUS and HSI will continue to push progress for farm animals, in campaigns designed and carried out with purpose, passion, and vision.Cyberattacks rank as the number one risk of doing business in North America, Europe and the East Asia-Pacific region, according to a World Economic Forum report, Regional Risks of Doing Business. While business leaders in other areas of the globe are more concerned about unemployment, unstable governments and oil prices, cyber risks rank as the fifth highest worldwide.

The concern about cyberattacks shows just how critical cybersecurity has become, ranking even higher than terrorism in the global top 10. Not surprisingly, cyber risks are a bigger concern among the most industrialized areas of the globe such as North America, where cyberattacks have become an all-too-common occurrence.

In Canada, 87% of businesses reported being the victim of a successful breach in 2017, the report says. In early 2018, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence cited cyber vulnerability as a top risk for government and businesses alike in a hearing before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Around the globe, cyberattacks rose to number five in 2018 from eight the previous year. The report attributes this to massive cyber events such as the WannaCry and NotPetya ransomware infections in spring 2017, which jumped countries and continents to cause disruption and inflict damage.

The WannaCry ransomware attack affected 300,000 machines across 150 countries, while the NotPetya malware attack caused huge corporate losses. For example, Merck, FedEx and Maersk each reported losses of around $300 million in the third quarter of 2017 alone, the report says, adding: 2017 was the year the world began to take seriously the potential extent of our vulnerability to cyberattack disruptions.

Regional Differences

The WEFs report was based on 12,548 responses to a question about business risks in the organizations Executive Opinion Survey, conducted between January and June 2018. Despite regional differences in the perspective of business risks, the survey found that cyberattacks also rank high in some places outside North America, Europe and the East Asia and Pacific region.

For instance, cyberattacks are among the top three biggest risks in Bangladesh, Botswana, Ethiopia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Tanzania and the United Arab Emirates. A related risk, data fraud or theft, ranked in the top three in Bulgaria, China, Denmark, The Gambia, Germany, Indonesia, Jamaica, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, Senegal, Singapore and the United States.

The report acknowledges that cyberattacks are a bigger concern in more advanced economies, where business leaders typically dont have to worry as much about government instability, unemployment or economic crisis.

Of the 19 countries that ranked it number one, 14 were from Europe and North America (the others were India, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates). By contrast, of the 34 countries that ranked unemployment or underemployment first, 22 were from sub-Saharan Africa, the report said.

Heightened Awareness

The rise of cyberattacks in the global top 10 business risks highlights just how serious the problem has become. But perhaps more importantly, it means business leaders are paying more attention to cyber risks. Hopefully, it will compel them to adopt comprehensive cybersecurity policies and practices.U.S. Secretary Education Betsy DeVos has praised the Swiss approach to apprenticeships, which allows students to prepare on the job for careers in health care, finance, and law.

Now the United States has signed an agreement with Switzerland to encourage businesses, policymakers, and educators in both countries to champion apprenticeship programs. (The agreement does not appear to include new financial resources for on-the-job learning.)

The signing ceremony for the agreement at NOVA Woodbridge Regional Center for Workforce Education and Training , in Woodbridge, Va., not far from Washington, featured DeVos; Wilbur Ross, the commerce secretary; Alexander Acosta, the secretary of labor; Ivanka Trump, the presidents eldest daughter and adviser; as well as Swiss government and business officials.

DeVos traveled to Switzerland earlier this year, where she visited career education sites. After the trip, she lauded the sheer number of students participating at some point in their academic careerabout two-thirds according to the secretary. And she said she liked that the Swiss allow students to transfer from apprenticeship programs to higher education

The Swiss approach is one from which we can all learn a great deal, she said in remarks at the event Monday. One important take-away from my visit to Switzerland is that Swiss business leaders didnt ask for a permission slip from government to partner with educators.

She urged U.S. business to follow suit.

Right now, with Americas growing economy, there are over seven million unfilled jobs, DeVos said. So, let me say this to business leaders: instead of calling a legislator, visit an educator! And educators, visit a business leader and see first-hand what is needed for todays and tomorrows opportunities.

She said the agreement would help build on a recent reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education program, the main federal funding vehicle for high schools. Learn more about that new law here.

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on March 13. --Andrew Harnik/AP

Follow us on Twitter at @PoliticsK12 .UPDATED

Lewis Ferebee, the superintendent in Indianapolis, was named Monday as District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowsers choice to lead the citys public schools.

During his five years in Indianapolis, Ferebee, an Education Week Leaders To Learn From honoree in 2016, has focused on forging partnerships with charter schools leaders and establishing choice-friendly policies, including a common-enrollment system for all the citys students. That approach may be tailor-made for D.C., where about half of the 48,000 K-12 public school students are enrolled in charters.

In his work with students, educators, and families, Dr. Ferebee has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to improving student outcomes, Bowser wrote in a statement. He understands the complexities of leading a large urban school district in a growing city. He knows theres no one-size-fits-all solution to meeting the needs of our young people. And he has experience building partnerships that ensure more students have a path toward success.

Ferebee will succeed Antwan Wilson, who was forced out earlier this year amid a school transfer scandal. Wilsons family bypassed the citys school lottery system so his daughter could transfer into a highly coveted public high school. It marked a clear breach of a policy he helped draft to address the issue of high-ranking officials receiving special treatment in the school transfer process.

Wilsons interim replacement, Amanda Alexander, was the other finalist for the top job.

This is the second high-profile job that Ferebee pursued this year: he was a candidate to lead L.A. Unified schools in the spring, but eventually withdrew his candidacy.

Before taking the top job in Indianapolis, Ferebee worked at several districts in North Carolina, including the Durham schools, where he served as chief of staff.

Given his start in education, Ferebee appears to be an unlikely champion of charter schools as Arianna Prothero wrote in this EdWeek Leaders To Learn From profile of him:

The son of educators whose own career has been built by rising through district schools' leadership ranks in the South, he has a decidedly traditional educational pedigree. His dissertation at East Carolina University argued that public-school-choice provisions in the No Child Left Behind Act didn't improve student achievement. And on top of all that, he's the head of a struggling urban school system that many argue has been hurt even more by a fast-growing charter sector. "There's this idea that you have to be on one side or the other--you can't wave both flags," Ferebee says of district and charter schools. "The more we encourage people to wave both flags, the more effective we will be in educating our children."

Related Stories

Indianapolis Superintendent Enlists Charters as Allies to Improve Citys Schools

D.C. Schools Chief Asks Forgiveness for Violating Policy He Put in Place

Photo Credit: Lewis D. Ferebee

--Swikar Patel/Education Week-FileHawaiian Brand Chips Sued for Misleading Name

In case you didn't know, Hawaiian Kettle Style Potato Chips are made in Washington State.

And that's why there is a new case against the chip maker. The company doesn't hide the fact that the chips are made in the mainland, but the plaintiffs say it is false advertising to call them "Hawaiian" chips.

By motion or settlement, the case could be over before too long. But it's still a wake-up call for businesses that advertise products using a state name.

Hawaiian Names

The plaintiffs say it's all about the names, including "Hawaiian Kettle Style Potato Chips," "Hawaiian Luau Barbecue Rings," and "Hawaiian Sweet Maui Onion Rings." They also complain that Pinnacle Foods, which was recently acquired by Conagra, uses images of an outrigger canoe, hula dancers, and tropical landscapes to mislead consumers.

"Pinnacle is exploiting the State of Hawaii for its own financial benefit, at the expense of deceived consumers," the lawsuit says. "Pinnacle intentionally plays on the false impression that the Hawaiian Snacks are made in Hawaii in order to differentiate its products and thereby maximize corporate profits."

Michael Maeda of Honolulu and Iliana Sanchez of Los Angeles are the named plaintiffs. They say they would not have purchased the chips if they had known they were made in Washington.

In online advertising, the chip maker says the business started in Washington and spread to 11 western states. It has more than a dozen locations in Hawaii.

Name Use

Ernest Baskin, an assistant professor of food marking at St. Joseph's University, told USA Today that the issue turns on how the word "Hawaiian" is used.

"In a lot of cases, the adjective becomes synonymous to 'in the style of X,'" he said. "There are a lot New York bagels that are definitely not being made in New York."

The case does not involve the Hawaiian Chip Company, which is based in the islands and best known for its sweet potato and taro chips.

Related Resources:Challenge to Illinois Liquor Law Revived

A federal appeals court revived a challenge to an Illinois liquor law, but forewarned the plaintiffs their case may not be easy.

In LeBamoff Enterprises v. Rauner, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a trial court that had dismissed the plaintiffs' case with prejudice. The appeals court said the trial judge acted too quickly, noting there are material issues about the reasons for the state statute.

The 21st Amendment permits states to regulate liquor sales, the appeals panel said, but they cannot engage in "unlawful economic protectionism."

"Economic Protectionism"

Under Illinois law, out-of-state retailers are restricted in marketing and shipping liquor in the state. LeBamoff Enterprises, which operates a wine store in Fort Wayne, Indiana, claimed the law violated the Commerce Clause and the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Illinois argued that the 21st Amendment gave states the right to regulate liquor sales. The state law protects residents and "the economy of this State," the law says.

"The first reason touches the core of the Twenty-first Amendment, while the second smacks of protectionism," the Seventh Circuit said.

The appellate judges said the district court erred by not inquiring further. The trial judge must sort out the reason the Illinois law treats out-of-state retailers differently.

Tennessee Wine

Meanwhile, a similar issue came up recently from the Sixth Circuit. In Tennessee Wine & Spirits Retailers Association v. Blair, the question is whether the 21st Amendment empowers states to give liquor licenses only to entities that have been there for a specific number of years.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in that case in January. The Seventh Circuit said Tennessee Wine may make the plaintiffs' case more difficult in LaBamoff.

"But the question in that case differs from the one now before us, and these differences often matter to the analysis," the Seventh Circuit said. "Our cases involved the ability of companies to ship alcoholic beverages to consumers in Illinois; it does not directly address licensure for retail or wholesale establishments."

Related Resources:President Lenin Moreno of Ecuador *really* wants Julian Assange out of that London embassy.

Convicted felon and former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort suggested he could broker a deal for the handover of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to the United States during a meeting in May 2017 with the president-elect of Ecuador.

Paul Manafort is reported to have implied to Lenin Moreno, who is now the President of Ecuador, that he could help the South American nation get a debt relief deal from the Trump Administration in exchange for handing over Julian Assange to the U.S.

The talks went nowhere.

A few days later, Special Counsel Robert Mueller was appointed to lead the investigation that now threatens to topple Trump's entire political career and family organized crime business.

And now, of course, Manafort is now a convicted felon.

Report Kenneth P. Vogel and Nicholas Casey at the New York Times:

In at least two meetings with Mr. Manafort, Mr. Moreno and his aides discussed their desire to rid themselves of Mr. Assange, who has been holed up in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London since 2012, in exchange for concessions like debt relief from the United States, according to three people familiar with the talks, the details of which have not been previously reported. They said Mr. Manafort suggested he could help negotiate a deal for the handover of Mr. Assange to the United States, which has long investigated Mr. Assange for the disclosure of secret documents and which later filed charges against him that have not yet been made public. Within a couple of days of Mr. Manafort's final meeting in Quito, Robert S. Mueller III was appointed as the special counsel to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 election and related matters, and it quickly became clear that Mr. Manafort was a primary target. His talks with Ecuador ended without any deals. There is no evidence that Mr. Manafort was working with  or even briefing  President Trump or other administration officials on his discussions with the Ecuadoreans about Mr. Assange.

Boy, this thing just keeps getting more interesting, doesn't it.

Hold onto your butts. I predict tomorrow will be an interesting day, for a while.

NYT: Manafort Tried to Broker Deal With Ecuador to Hand Assange Over to U.S.When a rightsholder complains to Google about a website infringing its copyright, Google will generally delist the site, but allow the site's owner to contest the removal through a process defined in Section 512 of the DMCA.



But when Google gets a complaint about DRM-breaking tools, which come under Section 1201 of the DMCA, they remove the accused site and offer no appeal process  it's permanent.





Malware authors have been serving Google with DMCA 1201 notices, in which they impersonate Ubisoft, Steam and other large game companies. These notices target pirate sites that distribute cracked versions of games, and when the malware authors get them taken offline, permanently, their own sites rise in Google's search rankings, advertising the same cracked games, but these oneshave been poisoned with malware.

After some negative publicity, Google has reinstated a few of the sites. Google correctly says that DMCA 1201 doesn't provide any appeal process, but that doesn't mean that the company has to honor obviously fraudulent notices.



Google revealed that this "Ubisoft" sent notices from suspicious Gmail addresses, using a Russian user interface, from an unidentified Ukrainian IP-address. In addition, the handle used in one of the email addresses can be linked to game-related spam, which doesn't build any confidence either. The site owner shared his findings with Google but the company repeatedly said that there is no option to file a counter notification. This is because the notices are not regular DMCA takedowns. Instead, they are notifications that the URLs circumvent technological protection measures such as DRM, which is separately covered in the DMCA. "Google has been notified that the following URLs distribute copyright circumvention devices in violation of 17 U.S.C.  1201," Google informed the site owner. "Please find attached the notice we received. There is no formal counter notification process available under US law for circumvention, so we have not reinstated these URLs. If you dispute that you are distributing circumvention devices, please reply with a further explanation."

Scammers Hit Pirate Game Sites With 'Irreversible' Google Takedowns [Ernesto/Torrentfreak]"If the Crown Prince went in front of a jury, he would be convicted in 30 minutes," Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said after a closed-door Senate briefing with CIA Director Gina Haspel. In other words, Corker and his fellow Senators were convinced by the evidence that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

In a rare instance of opposition against Trump, GOP senators are calling for an end to arms sales to the Saudis.

From the Washington Post:

In some of their strongest accusations to date, lawmakers said evidence presented by the U.S. spy agency overwhelmingly pointed to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's involvement in the assassination. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) said while there was no smoking gun, there was a "smoking saw," referring to the bone saw that investigators have said was used to dismember Khashoggi after he was killed by a team of agents from Saudi Arabia in that country's consulate in Istanbul in October. Graham made clear that business as usual with the Saudis had come to end, and said the United States should come down on the government in Riyahd like "a ton of bricks," adding that he could no longer support arms sales to the Saudis as long as Mohammed was in charge.

Image: Defense Secretary James N. Mattis meets with Saudi Arabia's First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz at the Pentagon in Washington D.C., by Navy Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Kathryn E. Holm. Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic- A viral video shows an altercation at Honeydew police station

- Ruth Du Toit had gone to the station to report her friend's experience with police officers

- She recorded the argument using her phone and a cop was seen slapping the phone from her hand

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A dramatic video shows a police officer at Honeydew police station in Johannesburg slapping a phone from a woman's hand.

The woman in question, Ruth Du Toit, shared the video on her Facebook page recently, Briefly.co.za gathered.

In footage, Ruth is heard questioning the officer why police cars don't have trackers. In turn, the officer repeatedly asked Ruth to listen to him before apparently losing patience with her.

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Ruth wrote in her Facebook post that she had gone to the station to report how cops had harassed her friend at a road block. She explained:

They wanted to arrest her and told her she thinks she is privileged cause she is white!!!!!! They made her draw R2500 to let her go. She was not drunk or even over the limit.

They took her phone, driver's licence, and shoes and told her they have her ID number so they can find where she lives, therefore out of fear she drew the money.

READ ALSO: Love in the air: Kelly Khumalo and Chad Da Don got engaged

Ruth therefore sought to have the officers identified, but was told that it was impossible because their vehicles were not tracked. This then led to the confrontation.

The video has gone viral, racking up over 76,000 views, 3,400 shares, and close to 400 comments so far. Many commenters expressed outrage. Davy Davis wrote:

It's that type of behaviour that gives the whole SA Police Service a bad name. Even the loyal ones.

However, others argued that Ruth could have handled the situation differently. Diane Reynolds said:

He wouldn't have any control over the tracking. Why did she not go straight to the top? Don't ever open a case against the police at the station they are working at, most logical.

READ ALSO: Jealousy gets the better of AKA: "Don't talk about me at all"

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Source: Briefly.co.zaNews / National

by Staff reporter

Dozens of opposition legislators have received death threats and are scared stiff for their lives, pushing for a government probe into the intimidation.Spooked Members of Parliament (MPs) who spoke to the Daily News yesterday said they were particularly worried about the fact that the real intentions and next move of the people behind the chilling death threats were not known.A number of the affected legislators also said they were concerned that this was the fourth time in a row that MDC MPs had been sent the death threats on their mobile phones by suspected security agents, without authorities being able to shed light into the matter.This week's threats came just after police forcibly removed some opposition MPs from Parliament after they refused to stand up for the President, Emmerson Mnangagwa.The MDC lead by Nelson Chamisa - who is not a member of Parliament and lost a court challenge to Mnangagwa's win - maintains that he was cheated of victory by the electoral body and says the 76-year-old president lack legitimacy.MDC national chairperson Thabitha Khumalo forwarded the received threat messages to this publication, that originated from "text.co.zw" - a bulk message system that is used by Parliament.The message reads: "Zita rangu ndinonzi 'Death.' Mafreedoms nemarights amunoda kukoshesa aya be careful kuti security in numbers haiwanzobatsiri kana wawega, we are gunning for u!"Khumalo said: "If you look at the top message before the one that was threatening me, it was a message that was coming from the external relations officer who was instructing honourable members to collect some documents from his office."Now what boggles my mind is what is it that I have done wrong that is outside the rules and norms of Parliament. I have followed every single standing rule including the Constitution of Zimbabwe articulating issues that I have been sent by the people of Zimbabwe to come and present."Speaker of National Assembly Jacob Mudenda said: "I am not in the country at the moment. I am not aware of the proceedings."Clerk of Parliament Kennedy Chokuda said the Legislature would never churn out such messages, moreover on a public platform."The bulk SMSs we send are sent through a public platform. I have said to them (MDC legislators) there is no manner in which Parliament could send such threatening messages. Those who received these messages should report to the police," Chokuda told the Daily News.Khumalo said: "Intimidating me will not turn the economy around, intimidating me will not bring drugs to hospitals, intimidating me will not create employment."Sending me threatening messages is a violation of my rights as a member of Parliament because in what I do and say in Parliament, I am immune. So, they are violating my immunity, and I am very disappointed the Parliament of Zimbabwe would want to stoop that low and intimidate me for carrying out my duty as the leader of the House."Khumalo said she was not fearful of the regime and its tactics.The legislator said Zanu-PF should listen to the electorate, insisting that they will not stop refusing to recognise Mnangagwa ostensibly because Chamisa won the 2018 harmonised elections."Instead they must listen to the people; they must listen and listening has become a lost art when it comes to Zanu-PF. They have got the 'me and I syndrome' and those days are gone," she said."People are suffering; they want change. All they must do is just hand over power to Nelson Chamisa and we start turning the country around; it's as simple as that."MDC spokesperson Jacob Mafume said several MDC MPs had also received the threatening messages.Mafume said the "regime" was showing its "true colours"."They are tired of playing the 'nice guys' for the donor community. They are now showing their true colours of intimidating and threatening. That only shows us that we are in the right direction. We are not scared of their infantile methods of fighting."News / National

by Staff reporter

Sadc Executive Secretary Dr Stergomena Lawrence Tax has advised the opposition MDC Alliance that President Emmerson Mnangagwa's legitimacy is indisputable, underscoring that the regional bloc is preparing for Zimbabwe's Head of State and Government to take over as Chair of its influential Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation.President Mnangagwa assumes Chairmanship of the Organ at the 2019 Ordinary Sadc Summit.The Organ is one of the bloc's foremost structures, mandated with overseeing elections and promoting peace and security, including deployment of Sadc forces.Mr Nelson Chamisa's MDC Alliance on Thursday released a petition to the Parliament of Zimbabwe, Sadc and African Union challenging President Mnangagwa's legitimacy.News / National

by Staff reporter

GOVERNMENT has commended the Bulawayo Power Boat club for its assistance leading to the retrieval of the body of Brian Umera, a Central Intelligence Officer, a week after he drowned in Lower Ncema Dam in Umzingwane last month.Umera who was based in Bulawayo drowned on November 17 during an outing with friends and his body was found a week later by rescuers.During a media briefing last Friday, Bulawayo Provincial Affairs Minister Cde Judith Ncube singled out the manager of Bulawayo Power Boat club Mr Norman Gardner and his colleague Mr Brett Halloways who assisted in the recovery of Umera's body at their own cost.She said daily they searched for the body until it was found after a week."We had a group of people who were ready to assist, they demonstrated a unique heart in the search for Brian Umera who died on the 17th of November as a result of drowning in Lower Ncema dam in Esigodini. He was laid to rest on November 25 in Vumba, Manicaland province," said Cde NcubeShe said Gardner and his colleague used their own resources to search for the body of Umera."We want to thank him and his colleague for the job well done. Thank you so much, we wish everybody could possess the same spirit so that we assist each other as Zimbabweans," said Cde Ncube.She also thanked members of the police sub aqua who led the search team.Umera reportedly slipped from a rubber float that had been tied to the back of the boat.Speaking on behalf of the CIO during a funeral service in Bulawayo, assistant director in the western region Mr Innocent Mada said Umera's death dealt a great blow to the organisation.News / National

by Staff reporter

THE Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) intends to recruit more than 100 workers on a fixed term contract of up to 36 months for the Hwange Thermal Power Station expansion project.In March this year, President Emmerson Mnangagwa officiated at the groundbreaking ceremony for the $1,5 billion Unit 7 and 8 expansion project expected to produce an additional 600 megawatts.The two units will each generate 300MW of electricity to be fed into the national grid while raising Hwange Power Station's installed capacity to 1 520MW from the current 920MW."The company is now on the execution stage of the 600MW Hwange Power Station expansion project.We are therefore inviting suitably qualified and motivated persons for the various vacant positions of the project that have arisen on a fixed term contract basis of up to 36 months," said ZPC.The power company indicated that from the 27 positions that have been created, the project requires engineers in areas such as mechanical, electrical, control and instrumentation, quality and risk as well as other administrative jobs that include logistics.In the past 10 years, the project could not take-off due to funding constraints after Zimbabwe was frozen out of the international community as punishment fo redistributing the land.Progress only started showing after President Mnangagwa's State visit to China in April this year during which Chinese President Xi Jinping authorised financing of the power project.The two countries further deepened their bilateral ties by upgrading them to comprehensive, strategic partnership and co-operation, which broadens the scope of engagement and funding of projects across all economic sectors.The expansion project has started spending the $200 million first drawdown.It is hoped that after the completion of the expansion project, there will be massive socio-economic transformation through increased supply of energy to the mining, agricultural and manufacturing sectors.The expansion project is expected to create more than 7 000 jobs directly and indirectly.The project will be undertaken by Sino Hydro of China and will take 42 weeks to complete.The Hwange power project is being implemented in line with international best practices in environmental management.The plant will have a flue gas clearing facility to treat emissions and will use 12 000 tonnes of limestone per month in its operations.President Mnangagwa has said the Hwange power project was the first project to be implemented under a Public-Private-Partnership arrangement and is a confirmation of Zimbabwe's desire to increase energy and power supply.The country has installed capacity to generate 2 245MW but due to a host of challenges, about 1 600MW was achievable.National electricity demand is about 1 600MW while power generation averages 1 200MW per day.This leaves a deficit of about 400MW, which is met through imports from Mozambique and South Africa.In order to minimize the damage wrought by myriad Santas merrily barfing into their hats on the way to and from SantaCon, the Long Island Railroad, New Jersey Transit, and the Metro North have all issued alcohol bans, effective Saturday to Sunday. Actually, NJ Transit went so far as to ban all beverages across all transportation modes, buses and light rails included, because there is no better mask for Jaeger shots than a can of Red Bull.

SantaCon, the annual rowdy Santa-themed flashmob, descends upon New York City on Saturday starting at, good God, 10 a.m. The official event page advises participants to "be merry, be safe, be responsible for your own actions, respect the city, don't litter, don't scare children, [and to] listen to the cops," but anyone who's weathered the Santa storm in years past knows participants tend to disregard all of that. Here's a taste:

For five years running, the MTA has banned alcohol consumption on the train lines that ferry the Santa squalls in and out of Manhattan. Whether or not the hordes of blasted yuletide bar crawlers can be reined in remains a point of contention, but the MTA promises to meet force with force.

"MTA police officers will be on duty at Penn Station, Grand Central Terminal and stations throughout the region, as well as on trains to enforce this restriction," reads a statement from the agency. "The police will confiscate alcoholic beverages and issue summonses carrying fines or imprisonment. Violators may also be subject to removal from the train or station by police."

On the Metro North and LIRR, alcohol will be banned from noon to noon, December 8th to December 9th, which presumably means that the sneakier/more dedicated booze hounds commuting in could (and likely will) begin their pregame en route to the event.

NJ Transit, meanwhile, refuses to take chances, because as spokesperson Nancy Schneider explained, the agency has "found in the past that many people have alcohol in water bottles and cups," and while authorities may want to assume those vessels contain something so benign as soda, or as prudent as Gatorade, that's how the Santas make asses of U and ME but most especially, themselves. NJ Transit will therefore revoke all riders' beverage privileges for the duration of its service day, starting when trains begin running on Saturday until the last trains clear away the SantaCon dregs early Sunday morning. Anyone found in violation of the policy will be issued a summons for an open container violation, which Schneider characterized as disorderly conduct, and a fine.

I can't and won't discourage any efforts to mitigate the Santas' drunken sprawl, but we all know the drill at this point: Inevitably, the bearded armies will descend, they will ravagehell, even pillagethe East Village, they will spew chunks everywhere, and then they will wretch their way home while our streets run with urine. I'm throwing my weight behind City Council Speaker Corey Johnson's SantaCon containment strategy, I hope you'll do the same.News / National

by Staff reporter

LOCAL wildlife conservationists are still watching the movements of North Korea's representative in Harare, Kim Chung Su, amid growing worries about his alleged involvement in poaching syndicates in the country, it has emerged.Chang Su, is still holed up in Harare purportedly as the DPRK's point-man despite the Ministry of Foreign Affairs having promised to "take action" over eight months ago.New Foreign Affairs secretary James Manzou through his personal assistant requested questions in writing, but a month later said they were still looking into Chung Su's activities."We are still waiting for information from the 'people' who are supposed to look at the issue. We will come back to you," a senior official who cannot be identified because they are no allowed to talk to the media said on Friday.The DPRK has an embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, from which Chang Su was deported on allegations he had links with the poaching underworld having been arrested in October 2016 after attempting to smuggle ivory fashioned into bangles on a flight from Ethiopia to China."His (Chang Su)'s movements remain as murky as ever. It's difficult to tell but it is important that authorities clear things up as quickly as possible," NewsDay heard.Chung Su's mobile number was answered by a woman who claimed he was no longer in Zimbabwe."Mr Chung finished (tour of duty) and he is in another country," the woman who said before terminating the conversation.Given the growth in tourist arrivals from the Far East, fears abound Zimbabwe's porous entry and exit points could prove a regional weakling."We could do better as an industry and there has not been much help from authorities. If we are not careful, Zimbabwe could become a regional hub for poachers. We have seen an increase in visitors from the Far East, especially into Victoria Falls area," a source said adding the Victoria Falls International Airport could be a new conduit.Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Mnanagement Authority spokesperson Tinashe Farawo refused to comment on the matter."I cannot say the nationalities of the people who have fallen victim to our campaign, but we are serious about combating poaching. It is a dangerous exercise and our rangers have no choice because if they do not shoot first they will be killed," he said.According to Farawo, there were 12 armed contacts with poachers resulting in seven fatalities  two foreign and five locals last year alone. There have been three fatalities this year involving one foreigner and two locals."Nine black rhinos were killed by poachers this year, while last year we lost 20 white rhinos. This forced us to adopt the shoot to kill policy."Last year we recovered 23 rifles and 67 rounds of ammunition. Some 41 foreigners were arrested. We have managed to bust syndicates and as part of efforts to preserve our wildlife we have moved our rhino population to internal sanctuaries away from the border game reserves," said Farawo.On the other hand, the Safari Operators Association of Zimbabwe (SOAZ) has raised the red flag, warning Africa's endangered rhino population could disappear in the next 20 years."The scourge of poaching cannot only be viewed as an issue that is peculiar to Zimbabwe alone, but must be considered in the wider context of a global fight that must be treated as a war against the illicit wildlife trade to be monitored like other global conflicts," the SOAZ said.It added that consistent demand from Asian markets led by China and Vietnam makes it difficult to track poaching syndicates."But expert researchers say the current black-market rate in Vietnam is around $24 000 a kilo. Africa's rhinos could be extinct within 20 years at the rate they are being poached, according to International Wildlife experts and organisations," said the SOAZ. "Rhino horns are highly prized, where they have been known to fetch up to $60 000 (50 200) per kilo  more than gold or cocaine."A group of "poachers" reportedly linked to former First Lady Grace Mugabe is currently on trial in Harare for the illicit trade. Grace's cartel was reportedly blown open by a Polish photo journalist who was doing an investigative story which he picked in China.SOAZ argued: "The rhino campaign in particular and in terms of armed conflict is as intense as any war and the intensity has become high and it is an extremely dangerous job to protect wildlife."Zimbabwe, according to SOAZ, has not been lagging behind in anti-poaching activity and has among other initiatives adopted at various stages of implementation electronic technologies and other initiatives to counter poaching such as drone technology, DNA tracking of particularly rhino horn, carbon dating products that may have produced after the global ban on ivory trade in 1989.South Africa was applauded by conservationists for its stance in expelling Chung Su and his colleagues over links to poaching.News / National

by Staff reporter

Craft Properties (Pvt) Ltd a subsidiary of Craft Properties Holdings and an elite member of the World Confederation of Businesses have signed a mega solar projects deal worth 1.8 billion United States Dollars in Austin Texas United States of America, Zim Techreview reported.Speaking from Austin Texas the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Craft Properties (Pvt) Ltd Mr Kudakwashe Taruberekera said, "We are pleased that we are here today for the signing ceremony of the first Memorandum of Understanding between Labacorp Power Company and Craft Properties (Pvt) Ltd Zimbabwe for proposed mega solar projects to be implemented in Zimbabwe. This day is a very special day for our organization and Zimbabwe at large, as it marks the beginning of a journey that is very crucial in our country of alleviating the shortage of electricity in Zimbabwe"."Electricity use and access are strongly correlated with economic development. There is evidence that reliability of electricity supply is important for any nation's economic development and prosperity and Zimbabwe is no exception. Zimbabwe is a developing country and as such heavily relies on industries, agriculture, mining, manufacturing etc and for these sectors to function.The provision of reliable electricity supply is fundamental. This is the reason why when we informed our government of this proposed Mega solar projects deal that will be born after the signing of the MOU today 27 November 2018, our government was very positive and approved the implementation of the project without hesitation. The government of Zimbabwe have pledged to give us the fully support necessary for the proposed solar project to succeed" said Mr. Taruberekera.The proposed mega solar projects will have a capacity to produce a minimum of 900MW a day that will be fed into the national electricity grid. This will go a long way in supplementing the national electricity.Mr. Taruberekera emphasised that this deal besides supplementing the country's electricity needs will bring the much needed foreign currency into the country and it will create employment as it is anticipated to employ more than 4000 people.Mr Taruberekera said "We are currently here in Austin Texas where we have signed an MOU with our business partner and will have a series of meetings that I believe will culminate in the commencement of the implementation of the proposed mega solar projects early 2019 in Zimbabwe".Mr. Taruberekera went further to highlight that the company has also been nominated to attend the business meeting to be held in Las Vegas, United States of America on the 10th of December 2018. The organization being an elite member of the World Confederation of Businesses has also been invited to be part of The International Socrates Award Ceremony and Oxford Summit of Leaders to be held on the 18th December 2018 in Oxford, United Kingdom. Craft Properties (Pvt) Ltd has also been chosen as the high profile representative of regional business elite on behalf of Summit of Leaders organising committee.The organization have also been incorporated into the special panel for regional business leaders' One Step ahead business.Founder and Chief Executive Officer Mr Kudakwashe Taruberekera of Craft Properties ( Pvt) Ltd, Zimbabwe, will also be one of the speakers at the Oxford session in Oxford, United Kingdom.Mr. K. Taruberekera will be representing the whole of our beloved country Zimbabwe at the Oxford Summit of Leaders. The company was also nominated for prestigious international prize for professional achievements in commercial activities- The Excellence in Quality Award. Mr. Taruberekera said that his organization will take the opportunity to market to international investors vast business opportunities in Zimbabwe during all the business forums. In recognition of the professional and quality execution of work, Craft Properties Pvt Ltd was conferred upon the title of Elite Member of the World Confederation of Businesses with all its privileges and obligations.Craft Properties Pvt Ltd is now allowed to use the World Confederation of Businesses' seal. Mr Taruberekera said being incorporated into this elite World Confederation of Businesses comes with a lot of privileges including attending all the business meetings, seminars and summits across the World.Mr. Taruberekera is grateful to the government of Zimbabwe who have supported the organization immensely prior to the signing of the mega solar project MOU in Austin Texas United States of America and pray that the same support will be rendered to make another partnership deal to seal through with a Chinese company. The reputable Chinese company intends to enter into a collaborative partnership with Craft Properties (Pvt) Ltd to invest in the country in the following investments:1. Real Estate Business: Apartment/building, Hotels with modern facilities.2. Cement Plant/Industry (Manufacturing and supply)3. Fuel/gas Stations in different cities, regions/locality, Biofuels, etc4. Energy and lighting Solutions, Mining Corporation, Construction5. Highly skilled services in Oil logging (Upstream and downstream operations, Exploration and discovery)6. Food and Beverage business.7. Agriculture8. Transportation"Craft Properties (Pvt) Ltd will be travelling to China soon to sign business deals for investment in various sectors of our economy in support of the government's initiative of attracting foreign direct investment into the country" said Mr. Taruberekera.News / National

by Mandla Ndlovu

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change has been taken to court over their continued receiving of parliament salaries yet they do not recognise the President Emmerson Mnangagwa.This was revealed by party Secretary General Douglas Mwonzora on Monday."I have just received a bizarre court application from someone purporting to be an MDC member. He wants the state to stop paying salaries of MDC MPs because Emmerson Mnangagwa is illegitimate. The mischief is clear. This is part of the "Lawfare" against the MDC." Mwonzora said.Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda recently ejected MDC MPs before budget statement for "disrespect" after they failed to stand up when President Emmerson Mnangagwa walked into Parliament.Mudenda said "the international community has accepted that Cde Mnangagwa is the head of state. And no-one can take a different view. Administratively we will take appropriate action."Mnangagwa got a rude awakening when MDC MPs remained rooted in their seats as he walked in.Mudenda then called the police and Parliament security who physically removed the MDC MPs one by one.This resulted in a delay to the 2019 Budget Presentation by Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube who was presenting his first budget statement.Advocate Mudenda ruled that the opposition MPs had breached Parliamentary rules and protocol when they remained seated when the President entered the House.An ambulance was called soon after to help an injured female MDC MP.News / National

by Mandla Ndlovu

Garikai Rwodzi from Sizinda suffered serious leg injuries in an accident. Doctors say if he does not get operated soon he'll be disabled. I've decided to pay for the surgery so that he continues to win bread for his family. @nickmangwana @samkebusiness @MoHCCZim @KMutisi pic.twitter.com/VmOtTbSrZ8  Raj Modi (@RModiByoSouth) December 4, 2018

The Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce Raj Modi has paid medical fees for a Sizinda man after doctors indicated that if he is not operated he might be disabled for life."Garikai Rwodzi from Sizinda suffered serious leg injuries in an accident. Doctors say if he does not get operated soon he will be disabled. I have decided to pay for the surgery so that he continues to win bread for his family." Modi said.Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce Raj Modi yesterday donated his ministerial salary to a victim of story Brenda Zulu who is admitted at Mater Dei hospital. Upon being appointed into the Ministry The Deputy Minister had pledged to donate his ministerial salary to charity.News / National

by ZimLive

The killing of a university professor has shined a new light on long-whispered allegations that some South African universities have been dishing out fraudulent PhDs.South African police say they have arrested two men after the University of Zululand's dean of the faculty of arts, professor Gregory Kamwendo, was killed allegedly after he uncovered a fraudulent PhD syndicate at the institution.Kamwendo was shot dead at his home in Empangeni, KwaZulu Natal Province in May, it is alleged by a hired assassin. One of the two men arrested by police is a lecturer at the same institution.Persistent rumours have followed some South African universities, particularly those in KwaZulu Natal, that degrees were being offered in exchange for money.Kamwendo's colleague, who has not been named ahead of a court appearance, was behind the hit, according to the Sowetan newspaper.He is alleged to have hired a hitman for R10,000 to kill the professor because he had uncovered a fraudulent PhD syndicate in the university that involved three members of the academic staff.The Sowetan, citing a university source, said the university was "facing a crisis of fraudulent PhD degrees being granted to students" and the academic in question had been suspended for the alleged criminal activities."The professor was fighting against this corruption. There is a lot of people who have received PhDs through fraud," said the source."They arrested the men late last week. It was a joint operation with the Empangeni tracing team, a detective from Sandton and Bheki Thusi, a private investigator from KwaZulu-Natal."The source said Kamwendo had received death threats before he was killed."An employee that was arrested is a professor at the university. He was bitter and telling him that he was going to kill him. The professor ended up opening a case of intimidation against him."Kamwendo, who was 53, was originally from Malawi and had been at the university since 2016.Police say he was shot and killed in the driveway of his home. He suffered multiple fatal shots to his upper body.It has been alleged that the academic in police custody confessed to hiring and paying a hitman to kill Kamwendo.Colonel Thembeka Mbhele confirmed that two men were arrested last week."On Thursday, November 29, 2018, detectives arrested two suspects aged 50 years for murder. They will appear in the Empangeni magistrate's court on Tuesday," Mbhele said.Last year, Zimbabwe's Vice President Constantino Chiwenga initiated legal action against former Higher Education Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo who insinuated that his degree from the University of KwaZulu Natal was fraudulent.Moyo, in a press statement, said in July 2017: "Finally, I'm happy that Chiwenga wants pre and post-independence disclosures about who was who, who did what and so forth. That's good."Meanwhile, I take that to mean he wants the disclosure of who contributed what to his doctorate and who really wrote his KZN PhD. Again, the Shona wisdom that kunyarara kurinani pane kutaura, applies (staying quiet is noble). #Handeitione ."Chiwenga said the allegations were defamatory and claimed $5 million in damages. Moyo is defending the lawsuit.News / National

by Staff reporter

The Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) has added its voice in endorsing President Emmerson Mnangagwa as the party's presidential candidate in 2023.The national executive of the association held a meeting in Harare today ahead of the 17th Zanu-PF annual people's conference where they affirmed full confidence in the leadership of their patron, President Mnangagwa and commended the work being done by the presidium.ZNLWVA Secretary General, who is also the Deputy Minister of Defence and War Veterans Welfare, Victor Matemadanda told a media briefing this Tuesday that the war veterans association distances itself from a section of war veterans who are working against the values of the party.He also said the war veterans association are going to lobby for a constitutional amendment to raise the presidential age limit from 40 to 52 years to ensure anyone who contests for the presidency is mature enough to shoulder the responsibilities.Opinion / Columnist

The ouster of Robert Mugabe in November 2017 by the military with civilian help introduced a spectacle of hope & rekindled the aspirations of the nation that had sunk into despondency over decades of misrule characterized by brazen brutality, total absence of the rule of law as the capture of the judiciary was conspicuous & the use of all state security apparatus to muzzle any descenting voice had become a common cause of concern . Now that Mugabe was no longer in the political scenes Zimbabwe got branded in many forms in its transitional trajectory as many people were engrossed in the very fact that the old order had evaporated.The branding was well articulated by the so called new leadership coming from the old & it had inimitable hallmarks of real change through sentimental expressions that captured the nation's attention such as ,"new dispensation' ," second republic of Zimbabwe", & " Zimbabwe is open for business "But to date it seems the coined terms or rather should I say transitional expressions that were used rigorously to transform cognitive views of the ordinary people haven't yielded any tangible results as the politics & economics have gone stupid as Bill Clinton once said. Why? & What? & when & where? are the questions that will be left to the historians to pen as they open pages about the historical events from during the liberation struggle to the present.My obsession now is to posit facts that I see as a solution to the economic crisis in Zimbabwe without any pontifications but as a patriot & am humbled to concede in advance that I am not an economist, neither did I study economics but I am instructed by common sense that is not always common to other people and this could be one of the reasons that we most of the times find ourselves acquiescent to negative practices thrust on us & Stoicism becomes our life burn.Any Government that exist under the sun has institutions & organizations that drive its agendas political ,economical & social. Amongst these organizations the commanding one is the "Judiciary" the core arm of Gvt that maintains Law and Order "This is the organization that brings trust to national development & progress if left to be independent and it builds confidence to the citizenry and the investors. All in summary in a thriving economy there is peace and tranquility.Now all this being said, it brings us to my perceptual solutions to our economic free fall . The first prerequisite to our economic crisis as a step in finding lasting solutions is to make attempts & efforts to prescribe curable measures to the so called " politics" that manifest itself in violence and political power struggles and tribal thinking that creates fear and curtails freedom of speech and bludgeons people's democratic rights which are sine qua non in progressive societies .What the Government of Zimbabwe needs to do is to take heed of people's concerns by opening up ideological interaction space that allows a plethora of ideas to be proffered by any Jack & Jill that will transform our political, social & economic landscape and create investor confidence.Once "trust" a key operational ingredient has been inserted in our systems will function effectively. Let me remind you at this juncture that " trust" in organizations be they shoe making companies bring confidence and businesses thrive.Now that confidence & trust has been installed investment starts trickling in,it is my wish and desire that it is the Government's responsibility to prioritise ," manufacturing, & production for "Exports" to bring forex into the country. Also of interest is that once employment levels begin to rise people have access to their incomes through banks and this automatically oils the " transport industry " as people are able to travel on a daily basis and the banks have money to issue out to customers without fail & in any case this gives the banks opportunities to expand their operations and enhancement of effective service delivery. All what is means is that as a country once we start capturing foreign currency through "Exports" it enables us to " Import" without pain and this brings us " political ,economic & social stabilisation " This will then propel our economy to easily reject the substitute currency " bond" rather in polite terms the bond note gets phased out and we remain with the US dollar as a single currency that sanitizes our trade and eventually centralisation of responsibility to Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe " becomes a thing of the past as I believe this is where corruption is centralised that has always led to this" credit crunch" and both capital & human flight.It is those that want to serve their self egos that are turning a blind eye to this economic melt down as Zimbabweans have always foolishly remained stoic to harsh economic ,political & social conditions that have been born arbitrary by a few black elite. It is time for us to have a resolve about the future of our country & generations to come and begin to view the system as " albatross " needing a quick cure.37 Best Gifts for the Beauty-Obsessed Woman in Your Life

All the Best Gifts Sure to Please Any Beauty-Obsessed Gal

The AskMen editorial team thoroughly researches & reviews the best gear, services and staples for life. AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service.

Product photos from retailer site.

Women certainly arent the only ones who can be tricky to shop for  finicky fashion fellas stand up  but when it comes to something such as makeup or skin care, picking the right gift can be a little extra challenging. Do you know her foundation shade? What kind of shampoo she uses? Who her favorite beauty-influencer is?

RELATED: 39 Best Gifts for Girlfriends

Thats why were here. We can help you find the right product  or products if you want to win some extra points  to stuff her stocking with this year and make it look easy. We can help you find the gifts that are perfect additions to her already well-curated beauty routine. We picked out the top 37 best beauty and skin care items that are sure to make the beauty-obsessed woman in your life happy.

Ready, Set, Glow Mini Essentials Set

A set of must-have Boscia essentials in travel sizes plus one full-size eye cream to help detoxify, brighten, hydrate and firm her skin.

$55 at Forever21.com

Pattern Jumbo Zip Pouch For The Community

Chic enough to use as a clutch, the Jumbo Zip Pouch from the brand founded by Tracey Ellis Ross is the queen of storage for all your full size PATTERN items & tons of minis. Featuring a water-resistant lining to wipe clean should anything spill & an oversized shape (because we like it big), you've got a ton of room to store all your hair things while traveling on any adventure.

$30 at PatternBeauty.com

Rae Honey Citrus Vegan Collagen Boost Powder

Beauty starts from within, right? Get the beautiful gal in your life something that will help support and protect her body's natural collagen production.

$14.99 at RaeWellness.com

Virtue Labs Damage Repair Starter Kit

Depending on which type of hair the beautiful gal you love has, one of these kits will add volume, reduce frizz, or repair damage.

$39 at VirtueLabs.com

Herbivore Botanicals Coconut Milk Body Polish

Herbivore Botanicals is a cult favorite among the beauty-loving set, so adding the brands new luxurious coconut milk body polish is sure to make just about anyone on your pretty list happy.

$36 at HerbivoreBotanicals.com

Westman Atelier The Brush Collection

With a client list that includes Jennifer Aniston, Anne Hathaway, Reese Witherspoon, and Gwyneth Paltrow, not to mention the attention to sustainable practices and clean ingredients, its no surprise Gucci Westmans eponymous collection of beauty products are the new It Gifts of the holiday season.

$435 at Credo.com

Lolas Lashes Day To Night Flick & Stick Lash Kit

If you know anything about the art of makeup, you know that its the lashes to transform the final look. These vegan, cruelty-free non-magnetic lashes are versatile, reusable, and easy to apply.

$79.95 at LolasCosmetics.com

Henry Rose Torn Candle

From the mastermind behind the Henry Rose fragrance line (spoiler alert: its Michelle Pfeiffer) comes a new cruelty-free candle that evokes the same sensuous feelings she gets when wearing her favorite fragrance. Henry Rose candles offer 100 percent ingredient transparency and are free of all endocrine disruptors, parabens, phthalates, and carcinogens.

$65 at HenryRose.com

Palette by Pak The Original High Fiver

Shell be traveling again, one day. Get her excited for that next trip with a palette made to pack up perfectly. This leak-resistant system uses medical grade wells to hold liquids, oils, creams, gels, and powders. Its made up of 30% or more recycled plastic in the base and is washable and reusable, eliminating the need for wasteful tiny travel sets.

$39 at PalettebyPak.com

First Aid Beauty Skin Superstars

A good face of makeup looks even better when the skin underneath is clean and hydrated. This First Aid Beauty set includes all she needs to start the day and end the night with a clean slate.

$49 at Ulta.com

Circcell Amethyst Eye Mask

Amethysts naturally carry a negative charge and emit energy in the far-infrared spectrum providing detoxifying benefits and supporting circulation. To some, this stone is said to emit high vibrations, supporting the third eye chakra leading to calming ones thoughts, combating negative energy, and creating a protective shield of light around the body. In just 15 minutes, signs of fatigue, damage, and stress are diminished.

$160 at Circcell.com

Urban Decay Stoned Collection Vault

Cruelty-free brand Urban Decay is a favorite among the MUAs and beauty bloggers out there. This 2020 collection features 10 full-size makeup products: eye shadow, highlighter, four lip glosses, and four eye pencils.

$195 at QVC.com

Tarte Tartelette Palette Custom Bundle 3-Piece Set

This easy-to-use Tarte Tartelette eyeshadow palette has 12 skin tone-friendly shades that will become everyday essentials. Additionally, she will get Tarte favorites Lights, Camera, Lashes 4-in-1 Mascara and Maracuja Juicy Lip gloss to round out the look.

$45 At QVC.com

Revitalash Brow Perfecting Gift Collection

For those who arent makeup enthusiasts, eyebrows may seem like just another patch of hair on your face, but for those who are obsessed with beauty, the shape and thickness of an eyebrow in an old photo can show exactly what era its from. Healthy brows are the brows of now, and this collection lets her condition, enhance, and define for bold, beautiful brows all holiday season.

$110 at Revitalash.com

Merle Norman Starry Eyes

Help her starry eyes sparkle with this trio of products from Merle Norman. Nothing says ring in the new year quite like golden, shimmery eyelids.

$29 at MerleNorman.com

Ziip GX

This smart little device packs a powerful punch. ZIIP is an electrical facial that uses nanocurrents and microcurrents to communicate with skin cells, increasing their effectiveness, prompting them to heal, and encouraging them to make an abundance of collagen and elastin. The result is healthy, lifted, glowing skin that gets better and better with every use.

$495 at ZiipBeauty.com

Phillip Kingsley The Story of Hydration & Shine

If she has fine, dry hair, this is the treat for her. Comprised of a pre-shampoo equalizer, shampoo, conditioner, and finishing touch polishing serum, this quartet delivers to her quality hair with ease.

$65 at PhilipKingsley.com

KungFu Apothecary Complete Facial Tool Set

Pick from amethyst, white jade or black obsidian in this three-piece Complete Facial Tool Set designed to tone, plump, and lift naturally. The set includes the brands signature noise-free facial roller, heart shaped gua sha tool, and soothing eye wand.

$115 at KungFuApothecary.com

Bioeffect Body Intensive Serum

The Bioeffect EGF Serum is a cult favorite thanks to its potent use of growth factors. Now, that technology is in a body serum, which really just screams soft, silky luxury.

$110 at Bioeffect.com

The Lip Bar Fast Face Kit

Being obsessed with beauty doesnt mean she has to be about that #shelfie life. Sometimes living by the less-is-more way of life is just fine too. The Lip Bar Fast Face Kit comes with the perfectly curated array of essential products in an impressively inclusive range of shades.

$99 at TheLipBar.com

Everyday Humans Humans On Holiday Kit

If shes obsessed with beauty, shes obsessed with sunscreen. Everyday Humans has released a pairing of face and body sunscreens with a lip saving salve to help maintain healthy, happy, human skin.

$40 at Ulta.com

Forvr Mood Send Moods Candle Set

If she loves to surround herself with rich gourmand fragrances, you have found yourself the next gift set to drive her wild. These four candles wrap the room in the sensuous aroma with notes of vanilla, sweet roasted coffee, spiced pumpkin, white clove, and almond cream. These are practically made to warm up winter nights.

$135 for set at ForvrMood.com

Gucci The Alchemist's Garden Hand Cream Set

Even if there wasnt a global pandemic wreaking havoc all around the world, chances are, the beautiful woman in your life would still want to have soft, supple, hydrated hands. Gucci offers the most indulgent opportunity to douse her digits in perfumed perfection with its three fragranced hand creams, designed specifically to keep hands protected from the cold.

$220 at SaksFifthAvenue.com

BareMinerals 24 Days of Clean Beauty Advent Calendar

Why give her something for each of the 12 days of Christmas when you can give something for all 24? BareMinerals makes it easy by adding up all the favorites into a fun and festive package.

$99 at Ulta.com

Solvasa Beauty Crystal Energy Wand

Shell see a lift in brightness, notice tension lines soften, see a reduction in puffiness under her eyes all while feeling the calming stress resilience that comes from taking a mindful moment for herself.

$200 at SolvasaBeauty.com

Linne Botanicals Full Kit

If you arent sure what shes into, but you know she loves a good skin care routine, Linne Botanicals is a great place to start. Gentle formulas made in small batches from a diverse collection of natural, wild-harvested, and organic plant ingredients are free of synthetics, carcinogens, environmental toxins, and fillers.

$150 at LinneBotanicals.com

Paulas Choice 2020 Best Sellers

If you really really dont know what to get her, opt for some of the best sellers from a tried-and-trusted skin care brand founded on transparency about ingredients. This exclusive kit features powerful, research-backed ingredients that work together to enhance skins moisture retention, eliminate dullness, smooth bumpy texture, and visibly reduce signs of aging.

$158 at PaulasChoice.com

Payot Holidays Beauty Set

None of us can go anywhere without casting a shadow from the blue light that follows us. Thats why shell want a range of skin care products that fights the effects of desynchronized skin biorhythms while mitigating the impact of blue light, allowing the cells to regenerate easily.

$99 at Amazon.com

Fekkai CBD Scalp Calming Discovery Kit

Who doesnt love the gift of CBD? This time around, its formulated elegantly with aloe to help soothe her scalp while cleansing. The hemp plant's natural compound and the succulent and medicinal aloe vera plant work together to help calm as well as moisturize and nourish, delivering a clean, healthy Frederic Fekkai-approved shine.

$39 at Ulta.com

Wen Love Gift Set

Love Eau de Parfum by Chaz Dean has top notes of acai, white currant, and white grapefruit which are blended with floral notes of plumeria and rose blooms. Love Ultra Nourishing Intensive Body Treatment wraps the body with the same delicate fragrance and is packed with smoothing peptides and skin rejuvenating amino acids, as well as the restorative properties of arnica and vitamin K.

$169 at ChazDean.com

Artis Elite 10 Brush Set

Thought to be some of the best brushes money can buy, these Artis brush handles are made using a proprietary metal alloy similar to what is used in the manufacture of luxury car engines. Who says you dont have anything in common with your glamorous gal pal? You really want to be a baller? Artis offers a fantasy travel kit for a modest $30,000.

$380 at ArtisBrush.com

SimpleHuman Sensor Mirror Hi-Fi with Alexa

Alexa, order my husband the best Christmas present ever, is what shell say if you buy her this mirror. Or not. We still think its worth the gamble.

$399 at Amazon.com

Fenty Beauty Glossy Posse: Holo'daze Edition Mini Gloss Bomb Collection

Rihanna can do no wrong and that include the makeup brand she gladly cosigns. Making deep, dark foundation colors a focal point of her collection, she aims to ensure that no one is left out when it comes to feeling beautiful.

$36 at FentyBeauty.com

Benefit Blush Bar

Benefit is a brand that has been loved by influencers for years. Thats because the punchy colors of the cruelty-free product, as well as the packaging that product comes in, is fun, fresh and modern.

$67 at Amazon.com

Tatcha Silk Treasures

Another favorite brand of 2019, Japans Tatcha offers a trio of perfect priming products that all use silk proteins to create a clean canvas that is ready to receive makeup or go makeup free and receive compliments.

$135 at Tatcha.com

Charlotte Tilbury Glittering Galaxy of Makeup Magic Beauty Advent Calendar

Both luxurious and fun, this advent calendar from makeup artist to the stars Charlotte Tilbury offers a little bit of everything for those who dont feel like deciding right away.

$200 at CharlotteTilbury.com

Dyson Airwrap Complete Styler

Unparallelled when it comes to styling, the Dyson Airwrap is the next generation of hair tools. Want bonus points? Add the Supersonic hair dryer to your shopping cart as well.

$549 at Amazon.com

Huda Beauty Throwback Lip Kit

The OG when it comes to influencer-turned-mogul, Huda Kattan launched her brand only six years ago and today, ranks number one in followers of any brand in the world. If the lady in your life loves makeup, shes going to love this.

$34 at HudaBeauty.com

These are all great gifts, but whats most important to remember is that whomever the lucky woman on your list is this holiday, shes beautiful no matter what. Feel free to her too  we dont need the credit.

You Might Also Dig:

AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service. To find out more, please read our complete terms of use.Samsung Plans 5G Phone for 2019, Apple Likely Won't Have One Until 2020

Trending News: Sorry iPhone Users: Samsung Users Will Have 5G Sooner Than You

When Apple launches a new feature like going waterproof or having a button-less screen, it's hailed with fanfare. Meanwhile, Samsung users are rolling their eyes. Far more often than not, Samsung already released the technology  and it looks like 5G will be no different.

Samsung will reportedly release a 5G phone next year, while Apple isn't expected to add the internet technology to its line of iPhones until at least 2020.

Related: AskMen Grooming Awards 2018: Best Grooming Gadgets

What is 5G?

It's the fifth generation of cellular internet technology and it's received a lot of hype  change the world sort of hype. Think about how fast your phone internet currently is, and now imagine 10 to 100 times faster. That means you could download a season of your favorite show in seconds. 5G is also expected to reign in the tech necessary for driverless vehicles and the "internet of things" where everything around you is smart and connected.

Samsung is Ready

As it did with foldable phones, Samsung bragged about its future at a conference, this time, at the annual Qualcomm Snapdragon Summit in Maui. Samsung and Verizon are planning to release a 5G capable phone early next year. OnePlus and Motorola have also promised 5G phones by 2019.

Apple Lags Behind

Meanwhile, Apple is treating the new technology like a shy couple waiting a few dates before hooking up  they're taking it slow. Apple wants to make sure the technology reliable enough before releasing it to the world and it's going to let the other tech companies be the guinea pig. Makes sense.

What About the Digital Divide?

As someone who travels the world, and has driven across America, this 5G thing makes me lol. It's like Road Runner's feet are moving faster than his head. How could we even be talking about 5G, when there is a crisis in connectivity in the world, even in America? I'm all for faster internet speeds, but can we please do something about the digital divide first? It's far more urgent to connect the world than to download a season of Stranger Things at the snap of your fingers.

You Might Also DigA brawl broke out on a Brooklyn street Monday afternoon after a FedEx driver allegedly struck a person in a funeral procession. Two FedEx employees, including the driver, were arrested, as was one of the mourners.

Around 1 p.m., mourners were outside the Beit El-Maqdis Islamic Center in Sunset Park when a Fed Ex truck driver struck a 46-year-old man in the group. According to NBC New York, the truck driver was backing up on Sixth Avenue by 63rd Street when he hit the pedestrian.

Cellphone video allegedly shows the truck driver "clipping" the man. Mosque board member Naim Jawad said the driver "appeared to be impatient because [of] so many people. He kept moving and he hit one of the members that was crossing the street."

Immediately following the collision, outraged mourners reportedly blocked the truck and the FedEx driver and another employee left the vehicle to confront the crowd. Police say that during the melee, the truck driver, Andrew Blount, had a knife or a box cutter and cut a 56-year-old mourner's hand, while his colleague, Omar Lindsay, took out a fire extinguisher and used it to hit a mourner. Both were arrested and charged with felony assault, the Daily News reports.

Abdel Hamid Abdelquadus, a 23-year-old mourner, was arrested for allegedly punching one of the employees. He is reportedly charged with misdemeanor assault.

The unnamed individual who was struck by the driver sustained "minor injuries" according to the News, and two people injured in the fight were treated at NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn.

Jawad, the mosque board member, said at a press conference on Tuesday, "As professionals, all they had to do was close the doors, sit in the car and wait until the police arrived. They hit a member. They hit a congregant and everybody was in a bereavement state of mind."

FedEx said, "We are aware of preliminary reports regarding this disturbing incident and are cooperating with investigating authorities to determine the facts. Until then, further questions should be directed to local law enforcement."Alberta Premier Rachel Notley speaks during an announcement of a mandatory cut in oil production to deal with a price crisis that is costing Canada an estimated $80 million a day, in Edmonton on Sunday, Dec. 2, 2018. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson)

Alberta Premier Rachel Notleys plan to cut through an unrelenting glut of heavy crude has perked up Canadian oil prices and energy shares. But analysts warn the governments hand on the output tap can only do so much to stabilize a dysfunctional market desperate for new pipelines.

The main grade of heavy crude from Alberta recently plunged to a near-record low of US$10 per barrel, thanks to a one-two punch of robust production and jam-packed pipelines. Fear of damage to Canadas economy, including the risk of losing energy sector jobs, has risen instep with Albertas oversupplied oil market.

The discount on Western Canadian Select (WCS) oil versus the U.S. standard West Texas Intermediate narrowed to under $20 a barrel a day after Notley announced production will be curtailed by 325,000 barrels per day beginning in January 2019. The discount has recently swelled into the mid-$40s range.

The province said the plan will clear the glut of excess oil and improve prices within three months.

Its a big deal, Michael Dunn, an analyst at GMP FirstEnergy in Calgary, told Yahoo Finance Canada. We certainly think the measures they announced will fairly quickly and a significantly correct the oversupply situation we have.

The cut will work in tandem with a plan for the province to buy thousands of new rail cars to move shut in oil to market.

Alberta is currently producing 190,000 barrels of raw crude and bitumen per day over what can be shipped by pipeline or rail, according to the province. About 35 million barrels of processed oil is currently in storage, the government said. Thats 16 million too many, by its own estimate.

Scotiabank commodity economist Rory Johnston said many of the oilsands projects pumping extra barrels into the market are from half a decade ago, back when we had four or five major pipelines, forgive the pun, coming down the pipeline.

It was reasonable to assume that at least one of them would have gotten built, he told Yahoo Finance Canada. This is an abnormal situation. The government has taken extraordinary steps to alleviate the value destruction in an extraordinary discount situation.

Story continues

He notes the glut could be even larger than the Alberta government is acknowledging, pointing to data from the Alberta Energy Regulator indicating the provinces total inventory is closer to 75 million barrels. The province said its reduction efforts will be adjusted as needed until its authority expires on Dec. 31, 2019.

Reaction to the planned cuts from major oil executives has been mixed. Cenovus Energy Inc. (CVE.TO) has been a major proponent. While critics, including Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) CEO Rich Kruger, have suggested such intervention carres trade risk, and will scare investors away from Albertas energy sector.

Bob Fitzmartyn of GMP FirstEnergy in Calgary acknowledges Notleys move to bolster oil prices could credibly be viewed as anti-free trade by the United States, the chief buyer of Alberta crude. The risk of inflaming Canada-U.S. trade tensions is remote, but possible he said, given President Donald Trumps propensity to escalate seemingly minor irritants.

Im not adept at keeping up with the tweets, he told Yahoo Finance Canada, referencing Trumps active social media habit. Moves like this arent exactly indicative of free trade.

Fitzmartyn called Notleys two-pronged response plan, the production cut and additional rail car capacity, appropriate given the circumstances. But he is concerned that the advent of a state-managed oil sector in fiercely free-market Alberta, if only for a year, could jolt investors.

You are signalling to the market that the government needs to actively manage things. Im not sure that is the correct message, he said.

At the beginning of its mandate, Notleys NDP government riled energy executives with a hard cap on greenhouse gas emissions from the oil sands and a carbon tax  environmental measures perhaps intended to make pipelines that have yet to materialize easier for some to swallow.

You torched the house, and now youre coming with your buddies to bring a pail of water, Fitzmartyn said. Im not sure overall, holistically, the entire policy initiatives by the NDP since they got in have been credible.

Johnston is less critical.

There has been a rise in an opposition to pipelines that began back in the mid-2010 to 2013 period. In many ways, it really started with the opposition to Keystone XL, he said. Its not something thats directly in the Alberta governments control.

Federal Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi has said Ottawa is working on short and long-term solutions to Albertas oil crisis. He ordered to the National Energy Board (NEB) to examine options to optimize pipeline capacity out of the region.

However, Sohi noted in a letter to NEB chief executive officer Peter Watson that in light of the Line 3 Replacement and Keystone XL pipelines approved by the Government of Canada, current transportation challenges are unlikely to be long-term in nature.

Notley has repeatedly called on the federal government to take action, including sharing the cost of purchasing additional rail cars.

Ian Lee, an associate professor at Carleton Universitys Sprott School of Business, said the Alberta governments response to low oil prices is a suboptimal response in lieu of pipelines, but an understandable one.

Its real purpose it to ratchet up the pressure on the Government of Canada. Premier Notley understands that ultimately it is going to require the federal government to intervene, he told Yahoo Finance Canada. They claim they are doing everything possible, which is not accurate.

Lee said the federal government could even go as far as invoking the controversial notwithstanding clause to overturn the court ruling halting construction on the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion. Although, he admits such a move would be unlikely.

Safe-ish for now

Johnston said the Alberta governments production cut at the wellhead is the only meaningful course of action near-term, given the six to 12 months required to get new rail cars online, and the persistent regulatory delays and construction lags associated with new pipeline capacity.

He predicted Canadian crude was on the cusp of rebalancing prior to Notleys interventions, as the heavy discount wipes out high-cost production, and the industry invests in more rail cars to haul away the glut. Thanks to the government imposed stop-gaps, hes calling for WCS to remain in the low $20 range into 2020.

After we get Line 3, and we have those rail cars on, were probably safe-ish for another one to two years. After that, we are still going to need one of the other two major pipelines, he said. Up until the court of appeal overturning of the Trans Mountain approval, that pipeline was viewed to be the most likely candidate. After that, Keystone XL jumped in front. I think that one is the more likely candidate at this stage. We probably put it at about 60 to 70 per cent that we get one of those pipelines within 2021 at this stage.



Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.By Edward McAllister and Alessandra Prentice DAKAR (Reuters) - Assane Diallo is making final preparations for a journey he knows could cost him his life: one thousand miles across open ocean from Senegal to the Canary Islands in a 50-foot wooden boat held together with rusty nails. The 35-year-old fisherman hopes to push off this week from a beach in the capital Dakar with water, dried food and potentially dozens of passengers. He just needs two motors and enough petrol for the week-long journey and also to patch up a three-foot (1 meter) gash in the hull. Diallo is part of a resurgence in African migrants taking the treacherous Atlantic route to the Spanish territory this year in search of jobs and prosperity that they cannot find at home. Many migrants see the chain of islands off the Moroccan coast as the only viable option left as the European Union spends millions of dollars cutting off land routes through north Africa. They consider it a launchpad for asylum in mainland Europe. "Some, if they see a canoe, do not even consider staying here. They will leave at all costs," said Diallo, looking over the litter-strewn beach where listless teenagers mill about at dusk, some fixing fishing nets or painting boats in bright reds and blues. Over 1,200 migrants arrived in the Canary Islands between Jan. 1 and Nov. 14, Spanish Interior Ministry data show, the highest in nine years and a four-fold increase over the same period in 2017. It marks the revival of a worrying trend. In 2006 - when 30,000 migrants managed to reach the Canary Islands - some 7,000 people died trying to make the crossing, rights groups say. In the decade that followed, Spanish patrols slowed the pace. Land routes through Niger and Libya to Italy became more popular. But the Italian government has focused on stopping the Libya route. With migrants detained in slave-like conditions in Libya, the numbers arriving in Italy have dropped off dramatically from a peak of 181,000 in 2016. Still, migrants' will to leave remains. The fall in arrivals to Italy has corresponded with a surge in attempts to reach Spain, where a record number of migrants has reached the mainland in recent months. "Managing... migratory flows is very much like squeezing a balloon. When one route closes, the flows increase on another," said Izabella Cooper, spokeswoman for EU border agency Frontex. "The only solution to migration is to eliminate the root causes: wars and poverty." "VERY, VERY BIG" SEA Migrants face many dangers on the open ocean, including mountainous waves, blistering heat and starvation. While the numbers remain small compared to arrivals on the Spanish mainland, authorities in Senegal and Gambia said there has been a rise in boats attempting the crossing to the Canary Islands this year. The lack of data on departures makes it impossible to calculate how many die. In October, Guinea Bissau's coastguard discovered the empty wreckage of a boat that had been carrying dozens of migrants. That same month, a boat with 72 Gambians and Senegalese heading for the Canary Islands was rescued off Guinea Bissau after an engine failure. One of the migrants, Alieu Gaye, said he went by boat because he heard that land routes had become too dangerous. "People are afraid to take the road. They prefer to take canoes to travel by the Atlantic Ocean," he said. Policing a coastline hundreds of miles long is a tough task, coast guards say. Spain's Guardia Civil has worked with the Senegalese Coast Guard since 2006 to intercept migrants. They have two 100-foot boats, one of which goes out every day, but crew members say they rarely find anything. "The sea is very, very big. And they can leave from wherever in Senegal, Gambia or further south," said Rafael Carballo Abeger, an attache at the Spanish embassy in Dakar. Assane Diallo is confident he can evade the coast guard when he leaves before dawn in the coming days. It is worth the risk, he says. Fish stocks are depleting and he can no longer provide for his wife and two children. "It's hard to come back and bring nothing home," he said. "It hurts the heart, that's why I want to leave." (Additional reporting by Pap Saine in Banjul and Diadie Ba in Dakar; Editing by Gareth Jones)A second executive with the Alberta Energy Regulator is billing the organization for travel expenses because the person is living in B.C.

The AER tells CBC News its board of directors wasn't aware of the situation. The AER is the single regulator of energy development in Alberta  from application and exploration, to construction and operation, to decommissioning, closure and reclamation.

Since May, Jennifer Steber has expensed flights, taxi trips and other costs to go to work at the AER from her residence in B.C. Her expense claims also include mileage on her vehicle driving from her B.C. residence to the Penticton airport in B.C's Okanagan Valley. Steber is part of the executive team at the AER.

AER

The discovery comes after the Alberta government expressed its disappointment with the regulator for reimbursing CEO Jim Ellis's travel from B.C.

Former CEO got expenses to come to meetings

CBC News counted nearly 50 trips, mostly return airfares between Calgary and Penticton, to transport Ellis for the express purpose of attending AER meetings. A tally of those flights shows costs topping $14,600, not including airfare change fees and other travel expenses. Ellis has since retired.

According to the regulator, Ellis authorized Steber to file expense claims from her residence in B.C.

"This travel arrangement was approved by the AER's previous CEO, Jim Ellis," said Bob Curran, a spokesperson for the regulator, in an email. "The AER board of directors has just become aware of this issue and has ordered a thorough review of practices inside the AER to determine what corrective action is required."

There is no indication from her expenses about where in B.C. she lives, however a property registry search shows Steber is listed as one of the registered owners of a house in Osoyoos, located 60 kilometres south of Penticton.

The AER lists Steber's salary as $373,547 in 2015.

The provincial government sets the budget for the AER, but the oil and gas industry itself funds the regulator through administrative fees.

According to the regulator, Steber is currently on vacation and couldn't be reached for comment.Members of the K'atl'odeeche First Nation near Hay River, N.W.T., continue to oppose any outside claims to their traditional lands.

The chief and council met with the media Friday afternoon.

Band councillors Pat Martel, Peter Tambour, Peter Sabourin, Robert Lamalice took turns telling stories about their fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers who hunted, fished and trapped in the area for generations.

"We did not cede, release and surrender under Treaty 8. This is our land," said former chief Roy Fabian, who is now an advisor on council.

Kirsten Murphy/CBC

The news conference comes at a time of growing tensions between the First Nation and the Northwest Territory Metis Nation (NWTMN).

K'atl'odeeche First Nation believes the Metis group is close to settling a more than 20-year-old land claim.

The First Nation's band office provided several maps in a media package  one shows the Metis Nation claim to be about 63 per cent of K'atl'odeeche primary traditional territory. The map says its source is the proposed agreement draft from July 2018.

"[The First Nation] takes no issues with all of the other aspects of the Metis claim. It's simply the application of [their] claim within the K'atl'odeeche First Nation traditional territory," says Peter Redvers, K'atl'odeeche director of lands, resources and negotiations.

Kirsten Murphy/CBC

Adding to an already tense situation, the Metis Nation installed a mini billboard on K'atl'odeeche land two weeks ago, welcoming people to Metis territory.

The Metis see it as shared land. The First Nation disagrees.

"They can use it with permission to an extent. And it's nice that they would ask if they can use the traditional territory  but they have no traditional claim," said K'atl'odeeche Chief April Martel.

New sign, old concerns

Between 2012 and 2013, the K'atl'odeeche First Nation was present during an agreement in principle discussion about the proposed Metis boundary under Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution, said Redvers.

Story continues

Section 35 recognizes Indigenous and treaty rights.

At the time, Redvers said the First Nation requested the boundaries be redrawn, so that its land was not included.

Redvers said the band is "surprised [that] there has been no action in addressing the issue."

K'atl'odeeche First Nation media package

Two weeks ago, the First Nation asked the the federal and territorial governments if they plan to proceed with the Metis claim despite its long-standing opposition. The First Nation said it expects an answer in January 2019.

"Depending on that response, [K'atl'odeeche First Nation] will have to weigh its options," Redvers said.

NWT Metis Nation responds

"Any Metis that is Indigenous to the Northwest Territories has the right to harvest and use the land the way they have always and no First Nation can take that right away," said NWT Metis Nation president Garry Bailey.

"We are not trying to fight with them. We are trying to work with them."

The two sides have yet to meet face-to-face. Bailey said they will "absolutely" meet with the First Nation "when the time is right."

Bailey said their claim is at the final agreement stage but could not say when it might be finalized.

The NWT Metis Nation represents Metis in the N.W.T.'s South Slave region.Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques and two international colleagues joined the crew at the International Space Station on Monday following a successful launch aboard a Soyuz rocket earlier in the day.

Saint-Jacques, 48, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and American astronaut Anne McClain are on a mission that is scheduled to last 6 months.

The trio entered the International Space Station after spending nearly eight hours in their tiny capsule.

They were greeted upon arrival Monday by the station's current crew members, NASA's Serena Aunon-Chancellor, Russian Sergei Prokopyev and German Alexander Gerst, who were waiting outside the capsule's hatch when it opened at 1:37 a.m. (2:40 p.m. ET) while the station was flying over the southern coast of Yemen. Aunon-Chancellor, Prokopyev and Gerst are scheduled to return to Earth on Dec. 20.

During a brief conversation with family members on the ground at the Baikonur Cosmodrome launch site in Kazakhstan, Saint-Jacques said he was completely astounded by everything he had seen.

Speaking in French, he described his first sunrise seen from space as "breathtaking" and said it's just the beginning of the discoveries ahead of him.

Saint-Jacques, Kononenko and McClain launched into space from the Russian-leased Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Monday at 5:31 p.m. (6:31 a.m. ET). They docked with the station at 11:33 p.m. (12:33 p.m. ET). The families of the crew, other astronauts and space officials from several nations breathed a sigh of relief after observing the flawless launch, with October's Soyuz rocket failure still on the minds of many.

It was the first manned Russian rocket launch since a dramatic aborted Soyuz failure in October, when the two astronauts aboard were forced to make an emergency landing.

Russia suspended all manned space launches pending an investigation before giving the green light to resume them on Nov. 1.

It's the first time a Canadian has been in space since 2013, when Chris Hadfield gained immense popularity around the world by providing glimpses  and the occasional musical performance  into daily life on board the orbiting laboratory.

Story continues

NASA

Saint-Jacques  a doctor who also holds degrees in engineering and astrophysics as well as a commercial pilot's licence  was initially scheduled to head to the ISS later this month, on Dec. 20. However, his launch was moved up after the Soyuz malfunction in October.

He'll spend his time at the ISS conducting experiments, operating Canadarm2 (the Canadian-built robotic arm aboard the ISS) and testing new technologies, the Canadian Space Agency says. Some of the experiments will focus on the physical effects of the weak gravity astronauts experience in orbit, as well as how to provide remote medical care.

The crowd on hand to watch the launch included members of Saint-Jacques' family as well as Governor General Julie Payette, herself a former astronaut.

This could be the last time a Canadian launches on board a Soyuz: NASA is preparing to return human launches to U.S. soil beginning in 2019, with two new crew capsules provided by SpaceX and Boeing.By Luiza Ilie BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Starting out as a unit production manager in Romania's film industry more than two decades ago, Ada Solomon felt she needed to punch above her weight. But after fighting with crew on set early on in her career, Solomon, now a producer of some of Romania's most internationally renowned films, took the advice of an assistant director that she would get farther by staying calm and treating them as partners. "It was perhaps the first lesson in movie production I ever got," Solomon told Reuters at the office of her production company, HiFilm. "Since then, this is how I've functioned with my teams." Today, Solomon is one of Europe's leading film producers and the woman behind some of the most critically acclaimed dramas of recent years, including Berlinale winners "Child's Pose" and "Aferim!" and the Oscar-nominated "Toni Erdmann." She is also at the forefront of an increasing number of female producers and directors working in Romania at a time when more established film industries are struggling with issues of diversity and inclusion. The increasing role of women in Romania's film industry is being showcased at the Making Waves Romanian Film Festival taking place in New York until Dec. 5. Now in its 13th year, the festival is devoting a section to films directed by women, including this year's Berlin Golden Bear winner "Touch Me Not," an exploration of intimacy by Adina Pintilie, as well as the thriller "Moon Hotel Kabul", which won Anca Damian the best director prize at the Warsaw International Film Festival. Ten out of the festivals' 17 films were produced by Solomon. The former communist country has emerged as a powerhouse of cinema over the last two decades and much has been made about the Romanian New Wave, a genre of naturalistic and unflinching films that have been consistently winning top prizes such as the Palme d'Or in Cannes and awards at the Berlin and Venice festivals. "Over the last two years or so, the number of female directors has grown visibly," said Anca Damian, who first won praise for her 2011 animated feature "Crulic  the Path to Beyond." "You can feel the wind of change. A decade ago, a woman had to make films for children. There were moments when you felt like you didn't exist in the film community, you were just transparent," she said. "But I've always felt that what I wanted to say has pushed me forward." Documentary filmmaker Mona Nicoara said Romania's economic growth, which has potentially made funding more accessible also helped. There are more women working in the industry overall, from editors and cinematographers to camera operators and set designers. "Barriers that used to exist are no longer in place, there used to be few female directors, few women in general in the industry," said Nicoara, whose documentary about the dissident poet Nina Cassian features at Making Waves. (Reporting by Luiza Ilie, editing by Louise Heavens)NYC's Deputy Human Rights Commissioner says she was spat on by a menacing racist while riding the subway with her family last week, and that NYPD officers brushed her off when she tried to report the incident.

On Friday morning, Marissa Jackson was riding the 1 train in Manhattan when an irate man on the train began shouting the n-word at several black riders. Jackson said the man soon zeroed in on her, repeatedly calling her an "ugly n-gger bitch" as she tried her best to ignore him. She says he continued berating her for several minutes, then allegedly spit in her face and hair moments before fleeing the 1 train at the 50th Street station

The encounter was traumatic, Jackson said, and left her feeling "deeply violated and shocked" for hours afterward. But when she went to her local precinct on Saturday to report the assailant, she claims multiple police officers "tried to discourage me from filing, saying there was no point." She recalls being told by one officer: "If you do the report, we're not going to look at it. It's just going to sit here. You understand that, right?"

(Upon reflection, Jackson stressed that the officers were empathetic, if misguided.)

As reports of hate crimes and bias incidents have increased across the country, a growing body of evidence suggests police departments are struggling to adequately address the complaintsand may in some cases be outright ignoring them. But amid these alarming and increasingly commonplace stories, this particular incident stands out for another reason: Jackson is a top city government official charged with stamping out hate crimes and bias incidents across the city.

As Deputy Commissioner at the New York City Commission on Human Rights, Jackson was instrumental in formalizing the city's bias response platform, which is intended to streamline the process of reporting a bias incident to the police. Created in 2016 following a surge of reported hate crimes on public transit, the Bias Response Team's work has only become more urgent in the last two years, according to Jackson.

After he spit on me and left the train, nobody went after him. I screamed for someone to call the police or 911. Someone said it wasnt necessary. A black woman brought me wipes and hand sanitizer. Everyone else stared and said they were sorry. One woman said Id be fine.  Marissa Jackson Sow (@MarissaEsque) November 30, 2018

"There's been a crazy uptick in bias incidents in New York City specifically, and I think across city government we're all just figuring out how to serve folks who are dealing with it," she told Gothamist, referencing multiple recent attacks, including the assault of an Orthodox Jewish man in Brooklyn this past weekend. "You're breathlessly trying to keep up with this hate, and each incident is more disgusting than the last."

She says her own attack was arguably a case of discriminatory harassment, as the assailant singled her out as a black woman"a n-gger bitch," he said repeatedlyand appeared intent on causing harm. At the very least, it could be considered a bias incident (which, unlike hate crimes, don't necessarily include criminal activity) and a case of straightforward harassment.

Still, after waiting over an hour at the 44th precinct, Jackson says police officers repeatedly questioned why she would even want to file a report ("there's no point," one allegedly said.) Her response was that she wanted to have a record substantiating the incident, even if she didn't have much information about the attacker. Eventually, she was told to take it up with the transit police.

"I just felt super defeated by that," Jackson told Gothamist. "I felt confused by the process, like there really wasn't a lot of recourse for folks in my situation who are attacked by a stranger like this." She noted that her interaction with the transit cops was much more positive, and that they seemed to be taking it seriously as of Monday morning. A spokesperson for the NYPD did not return Gothamist's request for comment.

My brain is a scrambled mess right now and I'm still deep in my feelings about what happened to me this morning. but I already know that when I start to heal I'm going to make it my business to organize New Yorkers so this kind of thing stops happening to people.  Marissa Jackson Sow (@MarissaEsque) December 1, 2018

Beyond her experience with the police, Jackson says the subway attack was an eye-opening window into the ways New Yorkers respond, or don't respond, to witnessing public harassment. She recalls that bystanders "gave her sympathetic stares, but no one tried to stop him," even as it became clear that the man was targeting her specifically. "I don't fault New Yorkers for this," she notes. "I think we need to learn how to become 'upstanders', to teach people how to do what someone else can't do."

There are a variety of things observers can do besides directly intervening, she said. In her own case, it would have been helpful if someone had videotaped the incident or noted the number of the subway car where it occurred, so that she'd have some additional info to give police officers when she attempted to file a report.

Following the attack, she says passengers were helpful, giving her hand sanitizer and wipes. But that sort of team effort would have been welcomed minutes earlier, when an intimidating man had been shouting racist and sexist slurs in front of a largely silent group."If everybody had stood up and shouted him down, he probably would have gone away," Jackson speculates.

Above all else, the Deputy Commissioner says she wants survivors of attacks to have access to a more efficient system of justice. "When you have been victimized, it can be hard enough to just get out of bed, much less explain your story over and over again only to be told there is nothing anyone can do, that you're in the wrong place, that you should come back," Jackson said.

"I can see how it discourages people from seeking justice in the first place. I feel inspired now to get a handle on the processor what that process could or should beso that we can better support people who have been victimized the way I was. When I get back to work, that will be at the top of my agenda."

Gothamist received this tip through ProPublica's Documenting Hate project.Police arrested six people Sunday night who were protesting outside the Almon Street offices of Canada Post in Halifax.

On Monday police announced the six people are facing charges of mischief and obstructing a peace officer.

"There were a bunch of us that were having a peaceful picket," said Suzanne MacNeil, president of the Halifax and Dartmouth District Labour Council in an interview Sunday evening.

MacNeil said her husband, Tony Tracy of the Canadian Labour Congress, was among the six who were arrested shortly after 9:30p.m.

Halifax Regional Police said in a news release that they were called to Monaghan Drive in Halifax around 7:30 p.m. for a report of five backed-up vehicles and a group of protestors blocking the road.

Police said the situation posed "a serious public safety threat" and "could have resulted in an injury to a member of the public."

Police said officers asked the group to move, but when the people did not do so, six of them were arrested.

"We weren't letting the mail trucks into the plant. The police showed up and decided that they didn't want us there anymore," MacNeil said.

The protests are the latest in a series of what Canada Post calls "illegal pickets" following the Trudeau government's back-to-work legislation.

"We maintain that what we were doing was peaceful and nobody was getting hurt," MacNeil said.

In a video posted on Facebook members of the Halifax Regional Police can be seen asking the protestors to get off the street and move to the sidewalk near the Almon Street sorting facility.

"I think it's pretty heavy-handed and it's happening in the context of the government passing some egregious legislation to end a strike at Canada Post," MacNeil said.

MacNeil said no postal workers were among those who stood in the rain Sunday night to block mail trucks.

"We decided it was up to us to pick up the pickets for them," she said.

The picketers who were charged were scheduled to appear in Halifax Provincial Court Monday.Protesters crowded into the Aurora auditorium where York Region District School Board trustee Elizabeth Terrell-Tracey was sworn in Monday evening.

Terrell-Tracey unleashed a storm of controversy when a comment posted from her Facebook account during the election campaign called attention to the birthplace of her opponent, Lena Singh.

"I would like to inform people Just so you know Ms. Singh was born in Guyana," the post reads. "You are backing someone not born in Canada."

The protesters, one carrying a Guyanese flag, filled the front of the auditorium to decry the fact that Terrell-Tracey had not been required to step down.

CBC

"I don't want my children to be in the same school as her  I don't want them around her bigotry," said parent Julie Stevens.

Terrell-Tracey resigned, then reconsidered

Terrell-Tracey has apologized for the post but has also said she was the victim of a Facebook hack.

Her account had also sent a private message to a community member who had endorsed her opponent, writing that "crime is prevalent across Guyana ... she is born there."

In the aftermath of the comments coming to light, Terrell-Tracey had resigned as trustee-elect, but then later reconsidered.

Despite acknowledging last month that Terrell-Tracey's election had led to a loss of public confidence in the board, the YRDSB said no mechanism exists to compel her to step down.

Darek Zdzienicki/CBC

In the Aurora auditorium, Stevens called on the board to lobby the province to amend the Education Act to extend the code of conduct to trustee-elects.

Later, board chair Corrie McBain addressed the room, saying that while the board "strongly denounces the comments," she was "confident in the mechanisms we have in place to safeguard  equity and inclusion."

A 'history' of racism

Charline Grant was also present Monday night. Grant was called the "n-word" by York trustee Nancy Elgie, who has since stepped down.

Story continues

"This board has a history of having racist trustees," said Grant. "What's happened here is disgraceful."

Arnold Neufeldt-Fast

A subsequent review by the province following Elgie's comment determined the board was operating under a "culture of fear" and "systemic discrimination."By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Uber Technologies Inc on Monday confirmed it hired a senior U.S. auto safety official involved in the federal government's handling of self-driving cars for its autonomous vehicle efforts. Nat Beuse, a long-time official at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) overseeing vehicle safety research, is the latest federal official to join the private sector's effort to commercialize self-driving vehicles. "Ubers approach to self-driving vehicles is an opportunity to make a difference in the safe commercialization of this revolutionary technology, which Ive spent a considerable amount of time working with in recent years," Beuse said in a statement released by Uber. "Its clear to me that the team here is dedicated to prioritizing safety." Last month, Uber asked Pennsylvania for permission to resume self-driving car testing on public roads and said it had improved the autonomous vehicle software, more than seven months after it suspended testing following a deadly crash in Arizona. Uber is still waiting for approval, a spokeswoman said. Uber has said it will resume testing with two employees in the front seat, enable an automatic braking system at all times, and more strictly monitor safety employees. In June, police in Tempe, Arizona, said a back-up driver behind the wheel of a self-driving Uber was distracted and streaming a television show on her phone right up until about the time the car struck and killed a pedestrian walking across a street, deeming the March 18 crash that rocked the nascent industry "entirely avoidable." The crash was the first death attributed to a self-driving vehicle and a significant setback for the industry. Last week, Alphabet Inc's Waymo said it hired former National Transportation Safety Board Chair Debbie Hersman as its chief safety officer. Waymo said Hersman will "oversee the design and enhancement of our product safety program." In 2017, General Motors Co hired NHTSA's chief counsel Paul Hemmersbaugh to oversee legal and policy work on automated vehicles. Also last year, autonomous car start-up Zoox Inc hired former NHTSA administrator Mark Rosekind as chief safety innovation officer. Waymo plans to launch a limited commercial self-driving ride hailing service in Arizona before the end of the year, while GM has asked NHTSA for approval to launch a similar service next year in vehicles without steering wheels or brake pedals. In October, NHTSA said it was moving to revise safety rules that bar fully self-driving cars from the roads without human controls. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)CEO of the New Israel Fund, Daniel Sokatch

Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh. blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work.

.

..03 December '18..The videos include personal testimonies from bereaved parents, Druze and Muslim minorities, a wounded IDF veteran and a resident of the Gaza periphery, each stating how the New Israel Fund has harmed them.The New Israel Fund harms me as well, states Israeli-Arab Issam Ottman, whose son Youssef was murdered in a terrorist attack in September 2017.The NIF funds millions of dollars to Machsom Watch, which according to testimonies of soldiers at the scene, a Machsom Watch activist caused a disturbance at the checkpoint where the attack occurred and shouted Youre a disgrace at one of the soldiers, moments before the attack.While the MTA is projecting a nearly $1 billion budget deficit looming three years from now, it held a special meeting Monday to discuss an estimated $215 million shortfall from subway and bus fare evasion.

According to MTA surveys of observed fare evasion, there was an uptick last year that coincided with Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance's decision last February to no longer prosecute criminal arrests for fare beating.

"It's quite striking that that change in policy has led to a remarkably coincidental rise in fare evasion," New York City Transit President Andy Byford told reporters after the specially called public meeting on fare evasion. "Regardless of what the intent was, I think people heard that there would be less of a penalty and that that has led to more fare evasion."

For the past few board meetings, the MTA had blamed fare evasion for some of the agency's troubled finances and requested more details on exactly which stations have the highest number of fare beaters.

Those figures werent presented Monday, but the agency's brass were confident there was a connection between fare evasion and Vance's policy shift, although even Byford admitted the agency doesnt have granular data on fare evasion.

"We're merely stating a fact," Byford told the MTA board Monday. "It's not a blame issue, it's a statement of fact. You want us to give you evidence-based reports; it's just a fact."

The MTA also called fare evasion a "significant factor" in the decline in ridership.

Since 2015 the amount of uncollected fares has gone up by $110 million. According to the MTA, there were about 210,000 fare beaters on buses, and 109,000 on subways in 2013, compared with 348,000 farebeaters on buses and 208,000 on subways so far in 2019.

As of September, bus and subway ridership was down 3.9 percent from 2017. That works out to 5,714,000 average weekday subway riders in 2017 compared with 5,523,000 in 2018.

The agency's collected its fare evasion data by observing subway stations and bus routes, and compared it to paid ridership numbers.



New York City Transit Authority President Andy Byford (right) earlier this year (Marc A. Hermann / MTA New York City Transit)

Danny Frost, a spokesperson for the Manhattan DA, said in a statement that Vances policy does not prevent the NYPD from stopping turnstile jumpers, and actually enabled the police to make more stops.

By issuing more ejections and summonses, and initiating fewer prosecutions, officers spend less time processing arrestees and escorting them to court, and more time on patrol at these critical posts, Frost said. Manhattans decline- to-prosecute policy began in February 2018. MTAs long-spiraling deficit is approaching $1 billion, and the reasonsdebt service, declining ridership, and out-of-control costsare well-documented.

While the MTA's report didn't break down exactly where the most fare evasion is taking place, the head of buses Daryl Irick said the worst fare evasion on buses occurs on Staten Island and in the Bronx.

MTA board member David Jones, who's also president of the Community Service Society, which has led the charge against criminalizing fare evasion, and successfully pushed the city to offer half-priced MetroCards for low income New Yorkers, said he was surprised how high the evasion numbers were. When Jones joined the board in 2016 he was told that of 130,000 stops for fare evasion, 92 percent of those people were Black and Latino people.

"Clearly, there's not correlation here between a system-wide problem and the over enforcement in the poorest and blackest and Latino neighborhoods in the city of New York," he said at Monday's meeting.

New York City Transit Executive Vice President Tim Mulligan said the agency had been collecting fare evasion data as far back as 2013, but hadn't released it publicly.

"If we'd been straight about this and heard about Staten Island and other places which are not considered the poorest part of the city maybe we would've had a more proactive effort and sense of equity here because it's not, traditionally, equitable enforcement," Jones fired back.

"Yes, we have to deal with fare evasion. People have to perceive this is being done fairly," Byford responded. "This can't be a blanket, all-out onslaught against particular demographics."

Jones hopes when half-priced MetroCards are available at the beginning of 2019 the number of fare beaters will go down.

For now, Byford suggested hiring a third party to conduct a survey to figure out why people aren't paying fares. He wants to figure out whether it's because of cost, a case of "opportunists" looking for an easy free fare, or some sort of "recidivist" that believes fares should be free, or whether it's a protest fare evasion because riders don't believe they should have to pay for bad service.

Larry Schwartz, chairman of the MTA finance committee, suggested the board should tie future fare hikes to the MTA's ability reduce the number of fare evasions.

"To sit here and know that $200 could be $300 million is somehow not being collected, when we talk about huge revenue losses, that's huge. Even if we could cut it in half, $100 million could go a long way to cleaning up stations, improving reliability or holding down future fare increases," Schwartz said.

But with an operating budget of $16.6 billion, this is a drop in the bucket.

For reference, the Citizens Budget Commission pegs the average cost for those enhanced stations, with new tiles, lighting, benches, etc. at about $37 million per station. At that cost savings rate the MTA could do an additional two and a half stations a year, with all that extra revenue.

President Byford said he'll crack down on fare evasion by beefing up his "eagle teams" or MTA workers that ride buses with NYPD looking for fare evaders on buses. He also suggested putting these types of teams at subway stations near entrances to deter would-be fare beaters and asking police chiefs to deploy some of their 2,600 transit bureau officers to create "fare evasion strike teams" to catch and deter evaders.

The full MTA board meets next week for its last meeting of the year, where it will continue to discuss the 2019 fare increase. A vote on that is expected in January or February.

I started a new job after almost almost 14 years at a previous job.

The reasons? Firstly, the previous business decided two years ago, when it became apparent to me they were not interested keeping with the times and selling/servicing new devices such as self-service checkouts (even though they are exclusively partnered in Australia with another business which manufacture such devices) and instead just waiting to obtain more servicing contracts - of bank networks with slowly reducing ATM numbers and

Second, I was not ever going to get regular eight hour, non-shift days, Monday to Friday - I was originally hired to do this but the day I started I was told I would be on the CLM (seven day, varying shift times) roster but when it was possible, I would be able to go to 9-5 Mon-Fri. I waited 12 years and two years ago was told it would never happen.

ATM's and cash are dying a slow death.

I think Cash will always be around to some extent and ATMs will likely always remain in branches but it will be a shadow of what it is, even now.

About 1 year ago, we saw in a meeting that showed transaction usage has gone from 20% electronic / 80% cash 15 years ago to 60% electronic / 40% cash in 2017.

The reduction in ATMs really became apparent earlier this year when most of the big banks introduced fee-free cash withdrawals. The problem this caused is the off-site (non-bank branch) ATM's went from making the banks a tidy profit to costing them money - and we all know any business, banks included, dont like things that cost them money!

It costs a lot to have an offsite ATM - bunker room rent, power, alarms, communications - two lines both for ATM and alarms, the ATM itself, repairs and upgrade projects and cashing the machine. As such, I would estimate an ATM costs on average around $1000 per week to keep running.

Since January, I would guess based on what I have seen, more than 100 ATM's from a major ATM network have been removed and continue to be removed, including the closing of several bank branches throughout the state. Talking with others at different companies in the industry, the story is the same.

Change

We were busy before I left but this was mostly due to the new $50 notes having major problems with one of the major ATM brands we service, and project work is still going on to upgrade machines to accept the new notes.

After this dries up, I forecast things will likely be quiet, and continue to get quieter.

After I had already resigned, we received an email from the parent company, asking employees if we had any ideas to generate business and make more money.

Not too good for confidence in the company!

Due to inside knowledge of the industry I believe to be winding down, I was more than a little doubtful when going for an interview with my new potential employer.

I went in to the interview, honest and saying I wasn't really keen to work on machines that were quickly becoming obsolete and I was interested in what else they serviced.

Interestingly, they showed me their stats on equipment they service - only 10% of their work is ATM's as they recognised long ago ATM's are a dying industry, especially with the banks pushing for a cashless society.

Their workload generally consists of (roughly) 10% ATM work, 40% self-service checkouts, 20% point of sales equipment and 30% back-end server maintenance (the computers in phone exchanges and businesses which manage internet data flow and caching, which you would never know they are there unless told so). Compared to the employer I resigned from, which has (roughly) 80% ATM work, 20% cash dispensing safes work.

Other issues

The new employer has a 10 year and beyond plan  some things which I cannot mention as I have already signed an agreement but that which I can mention includes next generation self-service checkouts which use 3D cameras to determine what you are purchasing and also portable, cost effective eftpos equipment for the likes of sole traders  technologies which are, like it or not, part of an evolving society.

So even though, as some people knew, I was looking for a job as an electronics technician (which is my actual qualification) with major local electronics manufacturers, I have continued in the field service industry. Some good changes have come about such as set hours of 8:30am to 4:15 pm five days a week, flexible working arrangements, a very fair pay bonus for doing an 'altered shift' of working Saturdays but getting Monday's off, working alone - I no longer have to drive for up to an hour to pick up a guard before I start my shift.

I start from home and finish at home - commute to work is literally walking from the front door to the work car and it is classified as a 'work from home' job. I also wont travel as far, the south will be my region, within a 30km radius from my house.

Looking forward to the change!

References (apart from my own industry knowledge!)

https://www.smh.com.au/business/atm-use-hits-15yearlow-as-shift-to-cashless-society-gathers-momentum-20170313-guwsry.html

Michael Dahlenburg is an electronics technician currently working in the Commercial transaction IT industry. He is non-denominational and has previously been involved in church plants and assisting those in ministry. His interests include; enjoying family, home DIY, gardening, and most things tech-related and driving his wife crazy with a constant stream of inventions! He lives with his wife Michelle and three children in Gods own land of Southern Adelaide, Australia.

Michael Dahlenburgs previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/michael-dahlenburg.htmlWe know that we are of God, and that the whole world is under the power of the evil one. (1 John chapter 5, verse 19). World events proclaim the evil one constantly. It is easy to feel overwhelmed. That Bible verse clearly declares the world is made up of two specific groups a) those who know they are of God, and b) the rest.

Is that too blunt? Its true. If like me, you are aware of international events and the daily news, you are aware of the violence and hate that surrounds us. We live on this planet, so that ferocity impacts our lives, our families and our friends.

There is a depravity on earth but God is aware of it. And Yahweh saw that the evil of humankind was great upon the earth, and every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was always only evil. And Yahweh regretted that he had made humankind on the earth, and he was grieved in his heart. And Yahweh said, I will destroy humankind whom I created from upon the face of the earth, from humankind, to animals, to creeping things, and to the birds of heaven, for I regret that I have made them. But Noah found favor in the eyes of Yahweh. Genesis chapter 5, verses 5-8)

Mankind was so offensive to his holiness and righteousness, the flood came and to use a popular phrase, the swamp was drained. He promised not to do that again but instead to provide a way out. He sent Jesus Christ to be our ark. Like Noah we find our safety and security in Him. (I love the dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit, came to tell Noah he was safe!)

The prophet Isaiah encouraged us: When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of God will raise a standard against him! (Isaiah chapter 59 verse 19)

Think about the phrase the whole world is in under the power of the evil one. That is huge, the whole world?

Evil age

The Bible calls the whole world this present evil age! The Apostle Paul wrote to the church saying: Christ gave himself for our sins to deliver us from this present evil age. (Galatians chapter 1, verse 4)

Jesus taught His disciples to pray deliver us from evil! I have been stunned throughout the years to watch the venom of anti-Semitism. Year after year Israel and the Jewish people have been targets. Throughout their persistent ordeal they have looked to the promises. They turn to their prophets. Much encouragement from Isaiah: Do not be afraid! For I have bought you and made you free. I have called you by name. You are mine!

These words have encouraged, comforted and uplifted the Jews through their persistent and horrific ordeals. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned! That verse does not say there will be no more fires, but the Father will nullify the consequences. (Read Isaiah chapter 43)

Goodness

I loved a comment made recently by evangelist Reinhard Bonnke on his Facebook page:  If the enemy can come like a flood, so can the Lord  a flood driven by the gales of the Almighty! God is at work as a driving force  a force for goodness. The Bible concept is of goodness flooding from heaven. I will pour out my Spirit (Joel 2:29)  not just a fine sprinkling but great gushes of water. Water is a sign of life in its fullness  Whoever believes in me, Jesus said, streams of living water will flow from within him (John 7:38). Be flooded today by the goodness of God.

Goodness is described as not a mere passive quality. Goodness is to be embraced. Scripture says Yahweh is good  a refuge in the day of distress, he knows those who take refuge in him. (Nahum chapter 1, verse 7) Maybe today you need more awareness of that refuge. The world can be overwhelming!

The prophet Zechariah call goodness great. - Zechariah chapter 9, verse 17. David said goodness is satisfying  Psalm 65, verse 4.

The words of David are appropriately translated by the Lexham English Bible  Surely goodness and loyal love will pursue me all the days of my life and I will stay in the house of Yahweh for a very long time  Psalm chapter 23, verse 6.

I was challenged recently by a quote attributed to George Bernard Shaw: A native American elder once described his inner struggles in this manner  Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good time all the time. When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and replied, The one I feed the most.

It is about focus. Consider these wise words from Paul: Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. (Colossians chapter 3, verses 2)

Ron Ross is a Middle East consultant for United Christian Broadcasters (Vision FM). Previously he was radio news editor for Bridges for Peace in Jerusalem, Israel.

His career started at WINTV (Email: ronandyvonne@mac.com)

Ron Ross previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/ron-ross.htmlTUESDAY, Dec. 4, 2018 (HealthDay News) -- Exposure to chemicals found in a wide array of personal care products has been linked to early puberty among girls, a new investigation warns.

The issue centers on specific chemicals including phthalates, parabens and phenols. They're found in an array of products, including perfumes, soaps, shampoos, nail polish, cosmetics, toothpaste, lipstick, hairsprays and skin lotions -- to name just a few.

These chemicals "get into our bodies either by absorption through the skin, by being inhaled, or being ingested [like lipstick]," explained study author Kim Harley. "Once they are in the body, they are quite quickly metabolized and [then] excreted in urine."

Harley is associate director of the Center for Environmental Research and Children's Health at the University of California, Berkeley.

As to how routine exposure to the chemicals might affect puberty, she said they've "been shown to mimic estrogen in certain laboratory conditions."

In fact, prior animal studies have suggested that exposure can throw puberty timing out of whack, Harley said.

Now, her team found that "the higher the levels of the chemicals in mothers' or daughters' bodies, the earlier the puberty" among girls. No such link was found for the timing of male puberty, however.

"We were a little surprised that the associations were only with girls and we didn't see much with boys," Harley said. "But since these tend to be estrogenic chemicals, it makes sense that they might impact girls."

To explore the issue, investigators analyzed data collected in a study that enrolled pregnant women between 1999 and 2000. The women had blood tests twice throughout their pregnancy, and interviews were also conducted to gauge exposure to the chemicals in question.

Nine in 10 of all the urine samples taken from the expectant moms tested positive for chemicals that fall into one of the three chemical classes of concern, with slightly lower percentages (about seven in 10) with respect to a chemical called triclosan. An antimicrobial, triclosan was banned for use in soap by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2017, but it can still be found in some toothpastes, the researchers noted.

In the study, the scientists tracked 338 of the women's offspring through adolescence, with urine samples analyzed at the age of 9. Onset of puberty was then checked regularly between the ages of 9 and 13.

The researchers determined that for every doubling of a woman's blood level of phthalates, the development of her daughter's pubic hair started 1.3 months earlier than usual.

A doubling of a mother's triclosan levels was also linked to a one-month earlier start of her daughter's first period, the study found.

Blood tests were also take of the children themselves. Harley's group found that a doubling of paraben levels in girls was linked to the one-month earlier onset of both breast and pubic hair development.

Harley stressed that the findings are "definitely not" absolute proof that such chemical exposure actually causes early puberty among girls. "There is always the possibility that there were confounding factors that we were not able to control, or that our findings were due to chance," she explained.

"That said, our findings are consistent with what we know about the endocrine-disrupting properties of these chemicals," said Harley. "So, although we are not ready to say that early life exposure to these chemicals causes earlier puberty in girls, we have enough evidence to be concerned."

The findings were published in the Dec. 4 issue of the journal Human Reproduction.

An industry group said the study had limitations.

"Levels were determined in the mothers' urine by measurement of a single sample at each of two time points during pregnancy. In the children, levels were determined in a single sample taken at age 9," noted Linda Loretz, chief toxicologist at the Personal Care Products Council.

"Patterns of exposure may have varied greatly over the course of pregnancy in the mothers, and between the ages of 9 and 13 in the boys and girls, so the representativeness of the exposure levels is unknown," she added.

"Furthermore, as phthalates, parabens and phenols are all rapidly excreted from the body, measured levels will change not just over months and years, but over the course of a single day, so that any given measurement reflects only a specific moment in time," she added.

Last but not least, "the researchers also acknowledge exposure to other environmental chemicals, such as pesticides encountered during farm working, might also affect the results," Loretz concluded.

But one other expert said the findings aren't so surprising.

Dr. Margaret Cuomo is a board-certified radiologist who formerly served as an attending physician in diagnostic radiology at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y. She said "many previous studies have reported the association between the chemicals that are called 'endocrine disruptors' and human health".

As to what consumers can do, Cuomo suggested checking out the website of the watchdog organization Environmental Working Group. There you can "find a list of those products that are relatively safe to use," meaning products that are free of parabens, phthalates, triclosan and similar chemicals.

Cuomo also advised picking household cleaners and detergents are that "environmentally safe," and opting for organic foods when possible.

"States such as California and Washington have laws protecting consumers from harmful chemicals in a variety of products," she added. "[And] New York is the first state to require disclosure of harmful chemicals by manufacturers of household cleaning agents. Hopefully, New York State's initiative will be extended soon to include many other consumer products."

More information

There's more on puberty at the U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.Despite the historic results, the 2018 midterm election will be remembered by many New Yorkers for the miserable voting experience caused by a two-page, perforated ballot; rain and humidity; and aging electronic ballot scanners that largely failed to keep up with the high voter turnout and additional ballots. And now it turns out that the head of New York City's Board of Elections has been taking trips on the scanner company's dimeand he apparently failed to properly disclose those jaunts.

NY1 reports that NYC has paid Election Systems and Software, which makes the DS200 scanning machine used in NYC elections, $43 million since 2009. And in the wake of last month's Election Day fiasco, NYC Board of Elections Executive Director Michael Ryan has defended the scanners, which experienced widespread malfunctions throughout Election Day, causing long lines at some locations. "We only had to replace about 56 scanners citywide which is a relatively low number," Ryan said in an interview, though that number does not take into account the undisclosed number of on-site repairs that were needed.

Asked why some 1,000 additional ballot scanners were not even deployed on Election Day, Ryan said, "Getting hung up on the hyper-technical, 100 scanners here, 200 scanners there is not the appropriate direction for this conversation. The appropriate direction for this conversation is, how do we, in a spirit of professionalism and collegiality, work to make this system better together."

Now NY1 has revealed that Ryan has been on multiple trips paid for by ES&S:

Since 2014, ES&S has paid for Ryan to go to at least nine so-called conferences all across the country. It's part of Ryan's role as a member of a secretive advisory board for ES&S, something it calls the "National Customer Advisory Board." Ryan was invited to join it in 2013... This all means a major contractor for Ryan's agency is paying for him to fly across the country, stay in posh hotels, and bankroll fancy dinners. In 2014, he went to Omaha, Nebraska, where ES&S is headquartered, as well as Buffalo. In February 2015, Ryan went to Tucson, Arizona as part of this so-called advisory board. Just six months later, he was off again to Omaha. In 2016, it was Fort Lauderdale in Florida. A few months later, the board was hosting Ryan right here in New York City. In 2017, ES&S paid for Ryan to go to Las Vegas; later that year, it was back to Omaha. This year, Ryan went to Charleston, South Carolina.

When NY1 asked Ryan how many trips he had been on, he replied, "I don't recall off the top of my head. Some years it's been two. Some years it's been one. I think last year it was none." NY1 found that there were actually two trips in 2017.

Ryan says he received permission for the paid trips, but NY1 "checked with the city's Conflicts of Interest Board, and Ryan actually never got the required waiver, which is needed if someone takes an advisory position with a company that does business with the city." The station also found that Ryan has been "filing inaccurate annual disclosure forms with the city's Conflicts of Interest Board"; for instance, he didn't mention trips to Arizona, or Florida, or South Carolina.

After the election, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson had said Ryan should resign:

Every election is like Groundhog Day: long lines, polling site issues, huge problems. Now were blaming the weather? Its unacceptable & unfair to voters. Michael Ryan should resign & we should begin a top to bottom review of how this happened. Its time for new leadership at BOE https://t.co/nxl5swtCeb  Corey Johnson (@CoreyinNYC) November 6, 2018

Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause, said that Ryan must go, calling his presence on ES&S's board and acceptance of paid trips an "outrageous conflict of interest."Qatar has announced its withdrawal from Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) from January 2019 and focus more on the production of natural gas. It makes Qatar first Gulf country to leave OPEC bloc of oil-producing countries led by Saudi Arabia.

Qatar has been member of OPEC since 1961 and its decision to pull out after more than five decades comes at turbulent time in Gulf politics. It is under boycott from its neighbouring gulf allies including Saudi Arabia for 18 months (since August 2017).

Key Facts

Qatar is the worlds largest exporter of liquified natural gas (LPG) and 17th largest producer of crude oil (around 600,000 barrels per day). It also only holds around 2% of the worlds global oil reserves. The withdrawal decision reflects Qatars desire to focus its efforts on plans to develop and increase its natural gas production from 77 million tonnes per year to 110 million tonnes in the coming years. Being part of OPEC its oil production was steady with limited prospects for increases. Since 2013, amount of oil Qatar produced has steadily declined from about 728,000 barrels per day (2013) to about 607,000 barrels per day (2017), or just under 2% of OPECs total output.

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

OPEC is an intergovernmental organization (or cartel) of 15 oil-exporting developing nations that coordinates and unifies the petroleum policies of its member countries. It was established in 1960 in Baghdad, Iraq by the first five members. Its headquarters are in Vienna, Austria.

Its mission is to coordinate and unify petroleum policies of its member countries and ensure stabilization of oil markets, in order to secure an efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to consumers, steady income to producers and fair return on capital for those investing in petroleum industry.

OPEC member countries accounted for an estimated 43% of global oil production and 73% of the proven worlds oil reserves. Two-thirds of OPECs oil production and reserves are in its six Middle Eastern (west Asian) countries that surround the oil-rich Persian Gulf.

OPEC MembersAbout Documentation Centre

The Documentation Centre of ICSF was initiated in 1999, in Chennai, India. The main aims behind the setting up of the Centre were to disseminate relevant information pertinent to small-scale fisheries and fishworkers in a format that would be easily available. The focus areas of information collection of the DC has been: artisanal fisheries, working conditions of fishworkers, fishworkers unions, fishworker movements, social security, women in fisheries, fisheries statistics, fishing technology, fishing communities, aquaculture, fisheries trade, fisheries management, coastal ecosystems and legal instruments, from different parts of the world.A pair of Staten Island police officers who allegedly planted marijuana in a black teenager's car earlier this year are now facing additional accusations of racial profiling, following an inquiry into their past arrests by the Legal Aid Society.

The analysis of recent arrests made by Officer Kyle Erickson and Officer Elmer Pastran, shared with Gothamist on Tuesday, revealed that the two partners have stopped "an extraordinarily high percentage of people of color in relation to the community they serve." In response to the findings, public defenders and police reform advocates are calling for a criminal investigation into the officers, amid fears that their alleged set-up of Lasou Kuyateh earlier this year was part of a larger pattern of evidence planting.

"While it is incredibly disturbing to watch video of Officer Erickson planting marijuana on Mr. Kuyateh, it is equally as disturbing to examine the patterns of practice among these two officers," said Aiden Cotter, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society representing Kuyateh. "Unfortunately, the actions of these two officers only exemplifies the racial bias that exists within the NYPD."

Despite working in a precinct where less than half the population is black and Latino, people of color comprise nearly 90 percent of individuals arrested by the partners since 2017. For street encounters, that number was as high as 93 percent. Out of 37 marijuana arrests made by the officers since 2017, people of color have been charged in all but four instances.

Cotter emphasized that the apparent racial bias in the officers marijuana arrests was largely in line with citywide enforcement discrepancies. According to a recent Times investigation, black people in New York City were arrested on low-level marijuana charges at eight times the rate of white people over the past three years.

The NYPD does not want marijuana to be legalized because they would lose a frequently utilized tool in their over-policing of people of color, Cotter told Gothamist. (The Legal Aid Society could not immediately provide the demographic breakdown of all arrests made in the 120th precinct)



(Courtesy of the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys)

The stark racial disparities were discovered as part of a Legal Aid Society inquiry undertaken following the controversial traffic stop and arrest of Kuyateh this past February. After officers claimed to have found a lit joint in the backseat of his car, Kuyateh, then 19, was held for two weeks in the Brooklyn Detention Center on $1,000 bail. He's made a dozen court appearances for the arrest in the months since, all the while maintaining that the officers planted the drugs.

While the charges were recently dropped, Kuyateh's attorneys are now accusing the Staten Island D.A.'s office and NYPD of blocking further scrutiny into the "abhorrent police misconduct" that led to the arrest.

Their concerns were outlined in two letters sent to Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon last week by the Legal Aid Society and the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys. According to Christopher Pisciotta, Attorney-In-Charge of the Staten Island Criminal Defense Practice at Legal Aid, the NYPD's own body camera videos "revealed criminal acts and misconduct" by Erickson and Pastran, including "planting evidence, arresting an innocent person, making false sworn allegations and assisting in the prosecution of manufactured charges."

They note that police body camera footage presented during pre-trial hearings shows Erickson telling Pastran: "We gotta find something, you know what I mean?" Erickson's recording device turns off moments later, but he remains visible on his partner's camera, and can be seen fumbling with an evidence bag near the window of Kuyateh's car. The footage, according to Pisciotta, then captures Erickson planting a joint in an area of the car that was previously searched. Just as Erickson purposefully reaches into the back seat to retrieve the alleged evidence, his own body camera is reactivated.

When the suspicious body camera footage was finally presented in court, eight months after the arrest, Judge Christopher Robles abruptly intervened to prevent the cross-examination of Erickson by Kuyateh's lawyers. In a highly unusual move, the judge then recommended Erickson hire a personal lawyer, according to the Legal Aid Society. The following day, the case was dismissed and sealed by the Staten Island D.A.'s office, with no further explanation from prosecutors or the judge.

Asked about the suspicious circumstances of the arrest and testimony, NYPD spokesperson Phillip Walzak told Gothamist last month that a "thorough investigation" had turned up no evidence of any wrongdoing by the officers. The department would not comment on the new revelations, except to reiterate that the officers had been cleared. The Civilian Complaint Review Board said it was investigating allegations within their jurisdiction, but would not elaborate.

"Too often, such matters are referred back to NYPD to police their own to no avail," wrote Pisciotta in his letter to D.A. McMahon. "The call for justice then rests upon you." In addition to demanding a criminal investigation into both Erickson and Pastran, the public defenders group is calling for a review of all prior convictions secured with the officers' help, citing the "ease in which the officers planted evidence" and an "undeniable pattern of racial profiling targeting black and Latino people for arrest and charges in a more diverse community."

"Community trust cannot remain when prosecutions are based on criminal acts and false testimony of police officers sworn to protect and serve," he added.

A spokesperson for the Staten Island District Attorney declined to comment for this story. You can read the full letters sent by the Legal Aid Society and the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys below.

Following publication of this story, a spokesperson for the Staten Island District Attorney's office provided Gothamist with the following statement: "After a thorough review of this case, the charges against the defendant were dismissed. Moreover, allegations against responding officers were determined to be unfounded."Hyderabad: MIM MLA from Aurangabad Imtiyaz Jaleel said it is deplorable that a person who holds the post of Chief Minister claims that the Owaisi brothers will have to flee the country if the BJP is voted to power in Telangana.

Why should the Owaisi brothers leave the country just because the BJP takes the rein of the state, he asked.

The UP should first focus on his constituency and state. In his own constituency of Gorakhpur 150 children died in a year when he could not provide oxygen to the hospitals. Asked whether Mr Akbaruddin Owaisi does not use filthy language and call Prime Minister Narendra Modi a chaiwala, Jaleel replied that Mr Modi himself said that he was once a chaiwala and Mr Akbaruddin Owaisi was simply saying that Mr Modi has to behave like a Prime Minister and should keep the dignity of the post.

Mr Jaleel asked how a political party could ask another to refrain from electoral politics. The Congress was raising objections on the MIM contesting the Assembly elections.

Replying on Congress president Rahul Gandhi branding the MIM as the C team of the BJP, he thanked the Congress, saying, Earlier, it was describing the MIM as the B team; now, we have come down to a step, he said. The Congress wants the MIM to refrain from politics so that it can usurp the votes of Muslims. The Congress had treated Muslims as its property, he said.

On renaming Hyderabad as Bhagyanagar, Mr Jaleel said that every city has a history behind its name and you cannot change history by renaming the city.The building at 826 Broadway, at the corner of 12th Street, is remarkable, an early skyscraper exemplary of the Renaissance Revival style that distinguishes the architecture south of Union Square. The reason you know it, however, likely has more to do with what's inside: The Strand bookstore, arguably the city's most famous independent bookseller and a retailer so firmly entrenched in New York's culture, it attracts visitors from around the world.

The Strand is a landmark all on its own, and now, the city wants to make that status official. But according to The Strand's owners, workforce, and locals, codifying the site as a landmark could be unnecessarily burdensome for the bookstore.

On Tuesday morning, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing on its proposed plan to landmark 826 Broadway along with six neighboring buildings, shielding them from the encroaching threat of a tech industry that's been snapping up and redeveloping space throughout the Village. On its face, 826 Broadway reads as a worthy candidate: Designed in 1902 by William H. Birkmire, a pioneer in steel skeleton construction, it stands 11 stories tall, impressive for the era. It played a role in New York's garment industry, but its cultural significance ballooned after The Strand took up residence there in 1957.

Ben Bass opened The Strand in 1927, with the intention of turning it into a literary hub. The business passed to his son, Fred Bass, who died in January of this year at age 89. "My dad started working at The Strand at age 13 and saved up his money for 68 years to buy the building that the store occupies," Nancy Bass Wyden, who inherited The Strand, said at Tuesday's hearing. He understood that rising rents would eventually force him out and shutter his store if he did not buy, she explained. The number of bookstores in New York has steadily declined for decades, Bass Wyden pointed out: New York had over 350 in the 1950s, but today, Manhattan counts just 79, only eight of which still stand in the Village.

Like most brick-and-mortar businesses, independent booksellers face often-fatal competition from online retailersparticularly Amazon, the tech giant slated to set up shop in Long Island City, after receiving a widely maligned $3 billion package of tax breaks. "Unlike Amazon, we have never asked for taxpayer funded subsidies, tax breaks, or special favors," Bass Wyden emphasized. "We do want the government to spare us new changes to our business that already operates on tight margins."

"We are at a point where we cannot absorb any unnecessary expenses. All of this designation will do will cost us in bureaucracy, time, money, and uncertainty," she said. The obligation to turn to the city for approval on every possible change to the storefront and interior, Bass Wyden argued, would slow down her team "just when we need to be our most competitive," and would deny them the flexibility required "to change with the needs of our customers."



(Courtesy of The Strand)

Bass Wyden believes her family has proven themselves to be responsible stewards of the building, half of which is rented to business tenants, the Times reports. After sewer fires ignited a massive explosion that shattered The Strand's windows, for example, they made the independent decision to restore the building's facade. Routing similarly urgent matters through a municipal body strikes Bass Wyden as likely to add an expensive layer of delays to her everyday operations.

At the hearing, a number of Strand advocates voiced concern about the landmarking plan. The rare unionized bookseller, Strand offers its employees health insurance and a wage livable enough to pay New York City rent, one worker stated. Novelist Gary Shteyngart called The Strand "the best second home anybody could ever ask for," attributing his career as a writer to the store's existence.

"The Strand is where I came to worship literature, to learn from literature," Shteyngart stated. "When I was young and broke, I bought books at a tremendous discount," he added. "Those books made me a writer."

Although most attendees seemed to stand in The Strand's camp, some did make a case for landmark status. "There is no building so tall or so famous that New Yorkers will not demolish it," said Christabel Gough of the Society for Architecture of the City. "The reservations raised with respect to The Strand seem to us to be unfounded in reality, unless they plan to sell."

The LPC, meanwhile, maintains that it adeptly liaises with building owners who need permits for storefront work. In a statement, a spokesperson pledged that the Commission would "continue to work with the owner of 826 Broadway, home to the Strand bookstore, to address her concerns and ensure that this cultural institution endures. LPC successfully regulates thousands of commercial buildings across the city and we are sympathetic and responsive to their needs."

Theoretically at least, landmark status would protect 826 Broadway and a smattering of its neighbors from death by rampant development. Instagram and Facebook already reside south of Union Square, where a slick Tech Training Center is slated for construction. Again and again, though, residents insisted the commission had missed its mark.

Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historical Preservation, accused the LPC of "cherry-picking seven buildings, none of which are threatened or could be threatened due to their size." Meanwhile, smaller buildings with less notoriety but just as much historic integrity remained "vulnerable to the wrecking ball," one local complained. By contrast, taking a broader approach, perhaps designating the whole area a historic district might keep the tech industry from cannibalizing the architectural landscape.

Unfortunately, development has been changing the face of this neighborhood for quite some time, and buildings lack the continuity required of historic districts. Bass Wyden wasn't sure what such a designation would mean for her store, anyway, but says she believes the Strand's building has been singled out by the LPC arbitrarily.

"We're not going anywhere, we're overbuilt, we have no air rights," she said. "[The Commissioners] really need to put their precious resources toward other things, and we just need to be left alone."Vietnam Airlines plans to list on the Ho Chi Minh City stock exchange in the first quarter of 2019. Photo by Shutterstock/Vytautas Kielaitis

Vietnam Airlines plans to list its shares on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange next year amidst rising competition of low-cost carriers.

"Vietnam Airlines will go public in the first quarter of next year," its chief executive, Duong Tri Thanh, told the Financial Times. "We are making our target the first quarter of next year, and I think it is feasible."

But he admitted the final decision rests with the government.

The carriers shares are traded on Hanois Unlisted Public Company Market (UPCoM) and it has a market capitalization of more than $2 billion.

The government currently owns around 86 percent of Vietnam Airlines, but has said it wants to reduce this to 51 percent by 2020.

The countrys largest airline by passengers carried now faces rising competition from budget carrier VietJet Aviation and others. Last month Vietjet became the second most valuable airline in Southeast Asia by market cap behind only Singapore Airlines.

With the domestic market showing signs of saturation, Vietnam Airlines seeks to expand overseas. In October it started a daily service from central Da Nang City to Osaka City to add to the 70 weekly flights from Vietnam to Japan. In 2020 it plans to begin a direct service to the U.S.

Vietjet launched a daily service from Hanoi to Osaka last month to take its total number of international routes to 64 in 11 countries. It plans to add two more routes to Japan by next month.

Other airlines are also jostling for market share. Bamboo Airways, Vietnams newest airline, received a license last month and is set to make its maiden flight on December 29.

Experts said the listing of Vietnam Airlines would allow it to compete with other carriers by attracting more investors.

"This would be a major Vietnamese company joining the stock exchange, which would interest international investors and potentially enable Vietnam Airlines to raise funds more easily to compete with the likes of VietJet and Bamboo," the Financial Times quoted Tony Foster, a partner at Hanoi law firm Freshfields, as saying.

Vietnams international aviation market, driven by the rapid growth in tourism, has been expanding at more than 30 percent a year, according to the CAPA Centre for Aviation, an Australian consultancy.

Vietnam welcomed 14.1 million international tourists from January to November, up 21.3 percent year-on-year, according to the General Statistics Office. As many as 11.4 million of them came by plane, up 15.3 percent, it added.

Vietnamese carriers transported 45.1 million passengers between January and November, up 11.9 percent year-on-year, and 369.2 million tons of goods, up 18.6 percent, according to the General Statistics Office.

There are five carriers in Vietnam: Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, Bamboo Airways, Jetstar Pacific and VASCO. Vietnam Airlines owns VASCO and has a 70 percent stake in Jetstar Pacific.Fear has always shaped human history. It can beget violence and apathy, or it can be the strongest force for good.

Nguyen Phuong Mai, an author and lecturer

Last week, a secondary school student in the central province of Quang Binh was slapped 231 times by his classmates under their teachers orders for "using foul language." While many see the incident as a classic case of school violence, I dont.

From my point of view, this has more to do with fear than violence.

In the 20th century, American psychologist Paul Ekman said humans have six basic emotions: anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise. Of these, fear is the most primal, the most powerful and also the most important one, as it is the precursor to all other negative emotions.

Criminological studies also found that the reason murderers murdered was because of fears they never even knew they had; fears that were etched too deep within ones psyche to ever come into awareness. These could be fear of rejection, failure or being ridiculed; products of unhappy childhood - toxic parental figures or abusive peers. It is these subconscious, unexpressed emotions that later manifest into malicious, destructive behaviors found in killers. For the criminals, violence is their answer to an unjust world that failed them.

In everyday life, violence can stem from even the most mundane, ordinary fears. Parents beat their children as a last resort when they fear their children no longer respect them. Authority figures oppress when they fear their position of power is being challenged. The common mass gets into an uproar when they fear their rights are being trampled on.

In the Quang Binh slapping case, too, it all boils down to fear: the fear of authority, which causes people to blindly obey authority figures even if they dont want to.

After the incident made headlines in national newspapers, excuses started pouring in. The teacher said she ordered the slaps because she feared her classs academic performance was the worst in the entire school, while school administrators claimed the reason why they compared class performances was to promote competition and therefore help the school get better results, which, in turn, would enhance its reputation.

It is not difficult to understand why the students slapped their classmate without objection. They simply followed the order of the only authority figure present at that time: the teacher.

In 1961, a series of social experiments were conducted in the basement of Yale University by a psychologist named Stanley Milgram to answer a popular contemporary question: "Could it be that the Nazi soldiers who helped kill millions of Jews in the Holocaust were simply following orders?"

To do that, the experiments measured the willingness of study participants to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts conflicting with their personal conscience.

In two adjacent rooms, one person, called the "teacher," would be able to press a button to send electric shocks to another person, called the "learner," in the other room, every time the "learner" answered a multiple-choice question wrongly. The shocks would increase in 15-volt increments for each incorrect answer, until it supposedly reached a lethal voltage of up to 450 volts.

But heres the catch: there was no actual electric shock, and all "learners" were only actors. Whenever a fake electric shock was administered to the actor, a pre-recorded tape would play various audios indicating that the supposedly shocked "learner" was writhing in pain, banging of walls, crying, screaming, and so on.

If at any time the "teacher" wanted to stop the experiment, the experimenter would insist, four times, that they continue. The experiment would end when either the "teacher" wants to stop it or the maximum 450-volt shock was administered three times in succession.

The result? 65 percent of the participants continued the experiments until the very end, supposedly killing the person on the other side of the room.

Vietnamese students attend the annual new school year ceremony at Doan Thi Diem secondary school in Hanoi, Vietnam, September 5, 2018. Photo by Reuters/Kham

It turns out that a person could kill a total stranger, albeit reluctantly, when an authority figure tells them to do so. Fear begets blind obedience, the experiments result showed.

So should we just accept that it was human nature that made those secondary-school kids physically assault a classmate?

Obviously, the answer is no. While fear will always be a natural part of life, it is how much we let it control us that needs to be discussed.

In the Milgram experiments, there were still 35 percent of participants who refused to do what was against their conscience. But in the slapping incident, no student dared to disobey their teacher.

Could that be an indication to how much fear permeates our lives? To how much it dictates our choices?

Could that justify our decisions to stay silent before oppression, to break ourselves to fit the mold, to compromise our values for fear of rejection, to not be able to separate authority from tyranny?

What we should do is not to eliminate fear, but to redirect it. The same fear that makes us turn a blind eye to our fellow human beings suffering could also be the clarion call that jolts us into doing whats right, to fight for the weak and stand against injustice.

No matter what we do, fear has, is and will always be fuel to the flame that drives the engine of human society. But whether that flame lights up our path to prosperity or consumes all of us in its blaze, is up to each one of us.

*Nguyen Phuong Mai is an author and lecturer at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. The opinions expressed are her own.Its rapidly aging population is imposing a big burden on Vietnams healthcare system.

According to the World Banks 2016 report titled "Live Long and Prosper: Aging in East Asia and Pacific" the ratio of the elder people in Vietnam is 11 percent and will account for a fifth of the population in the next 10 years.

An aging population affects socio-economic development and burdens the healthcare system.

The burdens, pointed out at a forum on "Paving the path for the future in healthcare: Driving efficiency and outcomes in a rapidly aging Asia" include seniors growing demand for healthcare services, a rising number and complexity of chronic diseases, the double burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases, and more.

The forum was held by the Vietnam Medical Association and Novartis Vietnam on November 12 - 13 this year.

Vietnam Medical Association in partnership with Novartis Vietnam organized the 11th Future Trends Forum on "Paving the path for the future in healthcare".

Vietnam Medical Association in partnership with Novartis Vietnam organized the 11th Future Trends Forum on "Paving the path for the future in healthcare"

Firstly, the current over-reliance on hospital care could exacerbate the cost pressures brought on by an aging population with many non-communicable diseases.

Secondly, the poor quality of primary care poses a challenge to the cost-effective management of health conditions that increase with age such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Thirdly, pharmaceutical expenses and procurement create inefficiencies in healthcare, which are exacerbated by an aging population.

The country now has around 10 million people aged 60 or more, accounting for about 11 percent of the population. The ratio is expected to reach 20 percent in the next decade. A larger senior citizen population could lead to labour shortages, increased cost of social welfare and a heavier burden on the public healthcare system.

According to experts, the current situation in many countries proves that technology plays a significant role in finding and effectively using resources for healthcare in the context of an aging population.

At the forum, Dr Po-Chang Lee, director general, National Health Insurance Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taiwan, spoke about the strategic use of IT - cloud healthcare in Taiwan and leveraging IT to achieve better patient outcomes.

Obviously, the participation of leading healthcare corporations plays an important role in the acceleration of connectivity and innovation in the healthcare sector.

Nguyen Thi Xuyen, president of the Vietnam Medical Association and the ASEAN Medical Association, said: "The contributions and experiences shared by academic leaders, healthcare policy makers and, especially, innovative and high-tech healthcare corporations such as Novartis would surely enhance the quality of healthcare services in Vietnam and other Asian countries."

Nguyen Thi Xuyen, president of the Vietnam Medical Association and ASEAN Medical Association, speaks at the forum.

With its efforts to collaborate with the Ministry of Health, Novartis is a healthcare corporation that constantly seeks solutions for the urgent issues facing the healthcare system.

For years, Novartis has been committed to providing support programs to help patients on access to high-quality and advanced healthcare services, which is the primary goal of building a sustainable health system.

"Novartis is committed to improving the healthcare sector in Vietnam in terms of quality, cost and accessibility," Roeland Roelofs, country president of Novartis Vietnam, said.

Roeland Roelofs, country president of Novartis Vietnam, said his company is committed to improving the countrys healthcare sector with regards to quality, cost and accessibility.

The forum clarified the challenges the healthcare sector has to face in the context of a rapidly aging population. It sought to connect healthcare policymakers and academic leaders in the healthcare sector, allowing them to share ideas and best practices and discuss ways to improve the healthcare system.

Ha MyThe Ministry of Public Security Monday handed over a Russian woman sought by Interpol in connection with drug crimes in Russia.

According to Interpol, Turets-Afuda Kseniia, 26, has been charged by Russian authorities with a series of violations involved in illegal production and sale of large amounts of narcotics, local media reported.

Shed been on the run for a long time and illegally entered Vietnam via the Cambodian border.

Kseniia sought help from foreign citizens living in Vietnam to help her secure rented accommodation, which she changed often to avoid capture.

Police forces revealed no details about her eventual capture.

Last year, police in the central province of Khanh Hoa arrested a Russian woman internationally wanted by Interpol for drug trafficking.

Ekaterina Bering, 47, was found guilty of illegal making, acquisition, storage, transportation, sending or sale of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances in large amounts by Russian authorities.China will keep talks going while strengthening its political, economic and military positions, rendering the South China Sea COC moot.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang speaks at the 44th Singapore Lecture in Singapore, November 13, 2018. Photo by Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha

Chinas Premier Li Keqiang said last month Beijing hoped consultations with Southeast Asian nations on a code of conduct (COC) for the South China Sea would be completed in three years, so that it will contribute to enduring peace and stability in the disputed waters.

Li made his comments when in Singapore to attend annual meetings between ASEAN and its partner nations.

China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed August on a working text to continue long drawn-out negotiations over the COC in the South China Sea. The waterway is known as the East Sea in Vietnam.

Some ASEAN members and China have laid overlapping claims to islands in the sea, one of the worlds busiest waterways. In 2002, China and ASEAN signed the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), committing to respect the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in order to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea.

In 2013, two sides started negotiating a COC and approved the framework in August 2017. At the 51th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting (AMM) in Singapore in August this year, ASEAN and China agreed on a single COC text. This was seen as progress in solving disputes in the South China Sea, aimed at a legal binding COC that would de-escalate tension in the sea.

Position of strength

Dr Maria Ortuoste with California State University East Bay told VnExpress that China believes it is negotiating from a position of strength. It has established strong economic linkages with individual Southeast Asian countries and ASEAN in general. It has shown that it is willing and capable of using economic levers of power.

Ortuoste recalled incidents in 2012, when China imposed trade restrictions on Philippine exports (bananas) and later also restricted the travel of Chinese tourists to the country. These steps had strong negative impacts on the Philippines.

China has also managed to drive a wedge within ASEAN through Cambodia. Cambodia blocked mention of the South China Sea dispute in the 2012 Joint Communique. And Chinas influence over Cambodia does not seem to be waning  it was recently reported in The Diplomat that in the draft chairmans statement for the ASEAN Summit in 2018, Cambodias numerous interventions led to the deletion of any reference to legal and diplomatic processes with regard to the South China Sea.

More importantly, Vietnam and the Philippines proposal to welcome the "award by the Arbitral Tribunal constituted under Annex VII to the UNCLOS" was not included.

At sea, China is also the dominant military power in the region as evidenced by its modernization, its occupation of features in the South China Sea, as well as the reclamation of land in the area. So, if needed, China can assert its claim to the occupied areas via coercion.

Advantage of China

"In short, China has the diplomatic, economic and military advantage over ASEAN countries to prevent provisions in a future COC that would be inimical to Chinas interests," said Ortuoste, warning that it is highly probable China will be able to prevent ASEAN from taking any joint diplomatic position against it over the Single Draft Negotiating Text.

She doesn't think the choice of 2021 for COC is an accident for several reasons. Firstly, a new U.S. president will take office in January 2021, and by that time, the U.S. governments attention will probably be on domestic, rather than international affairs. U.S. presidential elections are scheduled for 2020.

Secondly, 2021 is also the end of Rodrigo Dutertes official term as president of the Philippines. Duterte has prioritized improved relations with China over a strong assertion of the International Tribunals 2016 ruling in favor of the Philippines. A new Philippine president might have very different views from Duterte. A September 2018 survey by the Social Weather Stations showed that 84 percent of respondents do not agree to giving up on Philippiness claims in the South China Sea and do not agree to allowing Chinas military buildup in and occupation of the area.

Thirdly and most importantly, 2021 is the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party. Since the Party has been relying on nationalism for its claim to legitimacy, negotiating a COC that protects Chinas interests and raises its international profile will further legitimate the CCPs and Xi Jinpings rule.

An aerial view of China occupied Subi Reef at Spratly Islands in disputed South China Sea, April 21, 2017. Photo by Reuters/Francis Malasig/Pool

Easy, cost-free delay

"China declared a three-year timeline for the COC because it is an easy, cost-free way to continue to delay negotiations," said Gregory Poling, Director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative and a fellow with the Southeast Asia Program at CSIS, U.S.

According to Poling, the single draft negotiating text that China and ASEAN put together earlier this year shows that they haven't even begun discussions on any of the most difficult issues, and Beijing isn't willing to compromise on any of its key points as long as it feels it is winning.

Its goal is to keep ASEAN talking, thereby making it harder for Southeast Asian claimants like Vietnam or the Philippines to pursue alternate means of negotiating or arbitrating the disputes, while China will continues to strengthen its control over waters and airspace until the COC becomes moot.

"If Beijing doesn't feel like it has control in three years, there will just be another delay," Poling predicted.

Advice for ASEAN

Ortuoste said ASEAN countries should be very cautious and not let some of their own disagreements be used against them. The bloc should also not allow itself to be bullied to say yes, she said.

"While it is true that it seems to be a "milestone" that China is finally moving forward with the COC, we must remember that this progress is based on Chinas own readiness and being able to position itself in such a way that it can exert strong influence over the process," she noted.

Poling felt that outside powers like the United States, Japan, Australia, and the Europeans should do much more to impose costs, economic and diplomatic, on Beijing for its continued bullying and violations of international law.

He said: "The only way to alter that state of affairs is for the Southeast Asian claimants to coordinate on a stronger stance toward Beijing, establishing their own joint negotiating position and demanding real talks with Beijing, That kind of effort could prove successful in getting the Chinese to come to the table and negotiate a real code of conduct."Three Vietnamese photographers won top prizes at the 14th Orhan Holding International Contest in Turkeys Bursa city last Saturday.

In the black-and-white category, Luong Nguyen Thien Chuong won the gold medal for "Gingli," a photo that shows a man trying to catch fish inside a cave with a net.

"Gingli" by Luong Nguyen Thien Chuong. Photo courtesy of Orhan Holding International Contest

Vu Manh Cuong won the bronze medal in the color category for his "Summer on the lotus pond," an aerial shot of a boat floating amid lotus leaves.

"Summer on the lotus pond" by Vu Manh Cuong. Photo courtesy of Orhan Holding International Contest/via Vietnam News Agency

Dang Quang Vinh won the International Federation of Photographic Arts best author award and Ohran Holding special award in the experimental category for his "Molder."

"Molder" by Dang Quang Vinh. Photo courtesy of Orhan Holding International Contest/via Vietnam News Agency

In all, Vinh won five of the 12 awards Vietnamese photographers received in four categories. His photos mostly feature life in fishing villages.

This years contest received over 5,000 submissions from 71 countries and territories, including from 15 Vietnamese photographers.

Orhan has become a prestigious international photography competition after starting out as a domestic contest.Old houses are seen across the Hoai River in Hoi An. Photo by VnExpress/Huong Chi

Vietnam seems to be losing the tourism promotion battle at home not to speak about globally.

The International Tourism Fair was held in HCMC last September by the tourism ministry and the city. Originally meant to attract visitors to the country, the fair, over the last 14 years, has instead become a place for foreign tourism agencies to find outbound Vietnamese tourists.

At Japan and South Korea's tourism booths, guests get to try on traditional costumes.

The Japanese booth was the biggest one this year. It and those of Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea dazzled with their modern design and eye-catching images that drew visitors like a magnet.

The Cambodian booth had an idol of a four-sided god and a full-sized replica of a temple, and entertained visitors with non-stop music and dance performances.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism's (VNAT) booth on the other hand barely distinguished itself from last year with the agency thinking large photos of tourist attractions would suffice.

Meagre tourism promotion budget

At many meetings, VNAT leaders said the governments funding for tourism promotion is too low and not competitive enough with that of other countries.

Vietnam's tourism marketing budget is around $2 million a year, just 2.9 percent of Thailands, 2.5 percent of Singapores and 1.9 percent of Malaysias, according to Forbes.

Thus, Vietnam spent $0.15 per visitor considering there were almost 13 million arrivals last year. Thailand, which received 35 million visitors, spent nearly $2 with its budget of $69 million.

But Pham Trung Luong, a former deputy director of the Vietnam Institute for Tourism Development, said: "It does not matter if we receive more or less funds as compared to how professional our promotion is. Have we spent the $2 million efficiently every year?"

Before traveling to Vietnam with her family, Michalina Stovaka of Poland tried to find information about the country, but there was little available from official sources, she said.

"I had to consult personal blogs and social networks of foreigners," she said.

Stovaka is not an isolated case in the community of travelers to Vietnam. Official tourism websites are very poor in content, talking more about government management and policy rather than what tourists could hope to discover.

Huynh Phan Phuong Hoang, deputy general director of Vietnam's leading travel company Vietravel, said: "We need to increase the budget for practical promotional activities and adopt current trends like promoting through apps, social networks, websites, and events in collaboration with travel bloggers."

These are cost-effective promotional means which Vietnamese tourism seems to have overlooked, she said.

The spectacular Ha Long Bay. Photo by VnExpress/Meo Gia

Waiting for tourism promotion fund?

A tourism promotion fund found a mention in the 2005 Law on Tourism, but remains on paper more than a decade later due to a lack of legal mechanisms and systems.

Amendments to the law approved in 2017 name it "Tourism Development Assistance Fund".

The fund will be replenished from the state budget on an annual basis, but will also get money from other sources like entry and visa fees, donations and other lawful means.

However, in addition to promoting tourism, the fund is also meant for market research and development of tourism products and training and development of human resources for tourism and marketing. This has many people in the tourism industry worried about spreading the money too thin to be of real benefit.

Vu The Binh, vice chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association, said the Tourism Promotion Fund and the Tourism Development Assistance Fund should be clearly distinguished from one another since "the two concepts are quite different."

Luong said, echoing Binhs point of view: "If we identify tourism promotion as the key objective, we will attract more funding sources including that from businesses."

"The content used abroad to promote Vietnamese tourism is not appropriate. If, for instance, tourists are fond of nature but the tourism industry brags about Vietnams culture, it would fail."

Information channels are poor due to a lack of thorough research, Luong said.

"Not everyone depends on leaflets handed out at fairs. There are markets where potential tourists like to watch television or go on social channels. Thus, it is important to study information channels in each market to be effective," he said.

Luong noted tourism promotion funds should focus on digital marketing through websites, Facebook, Google, Instagram and Youtube.Vietnam has set up a telephone hotline for people to report accusations of police corruption, state media said Tuesday.

The move came amid a crackdown on graft in the Southeast Asian country that has jailed dozens of officials.

A court last Friday sentenced two senior police officials to up to 10 years in prison for running an underground online gambling ring which illegally raised hundreds of millions of dollars.

Reports will be discounted if providers do not declare their full name, address and telephone number, or supply insufficient, vague or unsubstantiated information, local media reported, citing a Ministry of Public Security statement.

"They will also be discounted if callers insult the officers on duty," a Vietnam News Agency report said.

Vietnams graft crackdown has seen the government launch investigations into hundreds of public officials accused of mismanagement.

Several executives at state-owned enterprises, including one former Politburo member, have been jailed for mismanagement or embezzlement.

Beyond those high-profile cases, petty corruption in Vietnam is commonplace, and road users are often forced to pay on-the-spot cash bribes to traffic police for minor offenses.

An official who answered the hotlines phone number on Tuesday told Reuters it had been previously used to report traffic police only, but now accepted complaints about corruption in the entire police force.

The official, who was not authorized to speak to the media, declined to say how many calls a day were made to the hotline.What do you think about our new website?

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Scary rare fish spotted on a beach in San Diego

At first, I thought it was a like a jellyfish or something, and then I went and looked at it a little more carefully, and some other people were gathered around it too, and then I saw that it was this very unusual fish.Russia partially unlocks Ukrainian ports in Sea of Azov  Omelyan

The minister expects the Ukrainian ports will be fully unlocked in the coming days.

If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+EnterRemaining part of the project gave Germany political influence, including over Russian energy policy toward Ukraine, Maas said.

Germany will not withdraw its political support for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline with Russia, its foreign minister said on Monday, as some lawmakers suggested curtailing the project to punish Moscow for its seizure of Ukrainian ships and their crew.

Russia is resisting international calls to release three Ukrainian ships seized last month in the Kerch Strait, which controls access to the Sea of Azov near the Crimea region that Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014, as reported by Reuters.

Moscow accuses the 24 sailors of illegally entering Russian waters by trying to pass through the strait. Kyiv says the sailors did nothing wrong, and its ships have the right to pass through the strait to reach Ukrainian ports in the Sea of Azov.

Several German lawmakers have linked the standoff to support for Nord Stream 2, an $11 billion pipeline from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea.

But Foreign minister Heiko Maas, a member of the Social Democrats, junior partners in Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition, told reporters the pipeline was a commercial project that would continue even if German firms pull out.

Read alsoPM Groysman sees Nord Stream 2 as Russia's covert war against Europe

Remaining part of the project gave Germany political influence, including over Russian energy policy toward Ukraine, Maas said.

"It would still be built, but there would not be anyone advocating for alternative gas transit through Ukraine. That is why we consider it important to remain engaged politically."

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, a leading candidate to replace Chancellor Angela Merkel at the helm of her Christian Democrat party, said on Sunday one option might be to reduce the amount of gas that will flow through the pipeline.

Juergen Hardt, foreign policy spokesman for Merkel's conservatives in parliament, also raised questions about Nord Stream 2 and said further sanctions against Russia would have to be considered unless diplomatic efforts bore fruit.

"When diplomatic efforts to ease tensions fail, we cannot ignore the question of whether it is responsible to further increase the dependence of Germany and the European Union on Russian gas," he told Reuters.

The pipeline project aims to double capacity of the existing Nord Stream 1 pipeline from next year, bypassing traditional routes through Ukraine.

Germany has insisted Ukraine should continue to play a role - and receive revenues - for allowing gas shipments across its territory. Merkel secured a pledge from Russian President Vladimir Putin on the issue in August, Maas said.

Russia's Gazprom is the sole shareholder in Nord Stream 2, shouldering half of the construction cost. Its Western partners are Germany's Uniper and Wintershall, Anglo-Dutch group Royal Dutch Shell, Franc's Engie and Austria's OMV.

The United States, also keen to export gas to Europe, argues that the pipeline will harm Ukraine's economic interests and leave Germany dependent on Russia for decades to come.

After meeting Putin at the G20 summit, Merkel called on Russia to release the Ukrainian sailors and allow shipping access through the Kerch Strait to the Sea of Azov. But she did not endorse further sanctions against Moscow.

Kramp-Karrenbauer, a close Merkel ally, on Friday said the European Union and the United States should consider banning from their ports Russian ships originating from the Sea of Azov in response to the incident.

Another contender for the CDU leadership job, Health Minister Jens Spahn, said it was important to set new limits.

"I think it's an important signal to Vladimir Putin and Russia that Nord Stream 2 is not totally unconditional and it can't be that the project continues whatever he does and how far things are escalated," he said.Ukraine reduces gas imports by almost 23% in Jan-Nov

The largest volume of gas was imported from Slovakia.

If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+EnterRussia's aggression against Ukraine in the Black Sea has raised to another level in the international arena the issue of the construction of the Nord Stream-2, the Kremlin's noose for the European Union. European officials have already submitted to Parliament a resolution on halting support for the Russian project, but it is only scheduled to be heard in March. UNIAN figured out what Ukraine should expect from a Europe that is constantly "in doubt."

The incident with the seizure of Russian Ukrainian naval boats in the Kerch Strait raised another wave of opposition to the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline bypassing Ukraine. The first country to voice a categorical statement was the United States who called on European countries to finally stop supporting the Gazprom project, set to link the Russian coast with Germany via the Baltic Sea, while leaving the Ukrainian gas transmission system with nothing.

The United States government has taken a very strong position  in support of Ukraine. We would like other countries to do more as well. That is something thats enshrined in our National Security Strategy, encouraging other countries to help one another around the world so that the United States isnt completely  I dont want to say shouldering the burden, but so the United States isnt handling these issues chiefly alone, said State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert.

According to her, the U.S. government will shortly hold talks on the issue with their European allies.

Ukraine's top officials have once again warned the EU of the threat of Nord Stream 2. President Petro Poroshenko said that Russian leader Vladimir Putin, in the matter of protecting the gas pipeline, could resort to an attack on the Baltic states and Scandinavia.

Putin may decide to defend Nord Stream 2, and therefore decide to attack the Baltic states, the Scandinavian countries [those opposing the project]. There are no 'red lines' for Putin, Poroshenko said, stressing that in the current situation, it is very important for global security to speak with one voice.

Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman called the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project a form of a disguised war against Europe and European consumers. Nord Stream 2 is a form of disguised war against Europe. We know what it is to be dependent on Russia in energy. We know from our own experience how dangerous it is. Therefore, we are now considering the project as Russia's geopolitical weapon, Groysman said, adding that Ukraines preservation of the status of a priority gas transit country is of great significance in terms of security and politics" for all of Europe.

The European Union, at first glance, finally took into account all the challenges arising. A resolution has been introduced to the European Parliament, which states that Nord Stream 2 deepens the EUs dependence on Russian gas supplies, threatens the EUs internal market, and runs counter to the EUs energy policy, and therefore needs to be stopped. The European Parliament also emphasizes the need to end the partnership and cooperation agreement that was concluded between the EU and Russia in 1997 and that has been annually extended since then. According to MEPs, cooperation with Russia remain only in the areas that are necessary and of mutual interest, while security guarantees for the EU and its neighboring countries should be respected. The document will be reviewed by the European Parliament in March.

Meanwhile, Germany, which is more interested in Nord Stream 2 than others, because it will allow them buying Russian gas directly and give it the status of Europe's main gas hub, has remained neutral so far, making some strange statements, to say the least.

For example, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas believes that Berlin's refusal from the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline will not stop the project, but will reduce the ability to defend the need for gas supplies via Ukraine. Maas says that Nord Stream 2 will be built anyway, but no one will stand for an alternative gas transit route via Ukraine, which is why Germany considers it important to remain "politically active."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the project exclusively economic and noted that it would be too radical to completely abandon it. However, according to her, Berlin could reduce the volume of gas supplies through the new pipe.

Russia, with the support of Germany, also declares that it is not going to give up Nord Stream 2, although it promises to load Ukraine's GTS, while reducing significantly, to just 10-15 billion cubic meters. For Ukraine, this would be practically zero transit, a loss of $3 billion a year and 3% of GDP.

And while disputes are raging over the pipe, Gazprom has announced the completion of the laying of Nord Stream 2 pipes in Germany's coastal zone.

The construction of the gas pipeline is proceeding in accordance with the schedule. So far, in total, about 300 km of pipes have been laid at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. In particular, the laying of both threads in the coastal zone of Germany has been completed, while work is underway in the territorial waters and in the exclusive economic zone of Germany, as well as in the exclusive economic zone of Finland, says a statement by Gazprom.

Experts believe that Europes rejection of Nord Stream 2 is quite likely. In the West, many have begun to realize that this is not just a gas pipeline, but the Kremlins infrastructural weapon, a mechanism for corrupting European political elites, above all, those in Germany. Moreover, the situation for supporters of Nord Stream 2 in Europe is very nervous now.

Decision time

President of the Strategy-XXI Center for Globalization, Mykhailo Honchar, believes that everyone in the West realizes that Russias antics cannot be left without an adequate response, which, moreover, should be asymmetric. Moscow got away with too much, but patience is not unlimited. The absence of a reaction, or a sluggish reaction, in the first place, on the part of Europe, does not lead to proper results. That is why it is completely logical that a wave of discontent with Russia's aggressive behavior has risen in the United States, UK, and Germany.

"Therefore, it is possible that the Nord Stream2, Putin's beloved brainchild, will be abandoned. Hence the turbulence around this topic and a wave of statements from the various parties  governments and parliaments... Berlin is in panic, as can be seen from the statement of the German foreign minister, which is difficult to comprehend. Moreover, the longer the pipeline is built, the more resistance it causes. In Europe, everyone likes to do things by consensus. But it's just not there, the expert said.

According to Honchar, the logic of Germany and Russia in this matter was linear  let them talk the talk, while we'll just keep implementing the project, and then everyone will take it for granted. But everything worked exactly the opposite. Resistance to the project is growing, and it has intensified against the background of the intensification of Russian aggression in the Black Sea.

Europe clearly saw that Russia first builds some infrastructure, and then, arguing that it needs to be protected, strengthens its military presence. The escalation in the Azov Sea and the Kerch Strait began just when Russia, albeit partially, put into operation their Kerch Bridge. They say that Ukraine doesn't like the bridge, and neither does NATO, and, to foil any attempts to blow it up, they began boosting military presence in the region. Such Russian logic can be easily reflected on the Nord Stream 2. The situation will be exactly the same. And Europe is now considering this, Honchar stressed.

Head of the Energy Research Center, Oleksandr Kharchenko, also believes that the process of resistance to Nord Stream 2, despite Germanys lobbying support, has moved to the active phase, and the Kremlin will be unable to stop it.

The main support of Nord Stream2 comes from Germany and Austria, which have deep and long-standing ties with Russia. Germany has considered Russia a reliable source of energy for the past 40 years, that is, in fact, a resource colony. Berlin doesn't want to fathom that the gas station could go berserk. But the West began to actively respond to what is happening, the process is underway. And it will be impossible to stop it, the expert noted.

But if, indeed, the implementation of the Nord Stream2 is frozen, the issue of the modernization of the Ukrainian GTS will arise, which Europe has failed to address for many years.

Aid with no guarantees

Throughout the years of independence, Ukraine has been offering the European Union to enter the management of its gas transmission system in order to modernize it so that gas transit is reliable and stable, thus minimizing any geopolitical risks.

For break-even operation, the GTS must pump at least 40 billion cubic meters of gas annually, although the maximum technical capacities are at 140 billion cubic meters. Moreover, Ukraine's preservation of the status of a priority gas transit country is of great importance for Europe. Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman once again mentioned this during his Germany visit.

We offered our partners in the West to manage our GTS together. Its capacity is 140 billion cubic meters. Our gas storages allow storing stocks up to 1,000 days. This is a great potential, said the head of government.

But there were no effective proposals from the EU, again.

Honchar believes that the European Union does not fully understand all that is happening around the gas transmission system of Ukraine due to the fact that there is a standard approach in the EU. Say, you must first conduct the unbundling of Naftogaz, move the GTS into a separate enterprise, and only then will Europe begin discussing the fate of the Ukrainian pipe.

They do not understand that we cannot do the unbundling of Naftogaz all at once. And it's not only due to the fact that there are contradictions in Naftogaz and the government's positions, but also because there is a problem with the existing transit contract with Gazprom. Plus, there is the decision of the Stockholm arbitration in our favor, which can easily be rejected by Gazprom, which is not going to pay anything. If Naftogaz goes for unbundling and allocates the GTS into a separate enterprise, Gazprom will take advantage of this as an excuse to accuse Naftogaz of unilateral revision of property issues, as, according to the contract, it must be agreed by all parties. Therefore, Europes attitude to the issue is surprising, Honchar said.

According to him, for Ukraine, the question of the future of its GTS is closely linked to the Nord Stream 2. But Europe divides these two concepts. However, if the project is implemented, and also the threads of the Turkstream are loaded too, then this will mean only one scenario for Ukraine  zero transit. The capacities built by Russia will be loaded first. At the same time, Europe is saying that later, European companies will come to join the management of Ukraine's GTS.

For us, it's not participation that's important but the guarantees that the pipe will be loaded. This is the element of misunderstanding. We should have solved this problem much earlier. I think now it will not work out. Next year will be a year of political turbulence associated with the elections. There will be no consensus on the issue. Real decisions will be made in a year. But during this period, Russia will try to complete the laying of the Nord Stream 2 pipes, making everyone take it for granted. When the question is raised of guaranteeing the preservation of transit via Ukraine, we hear a friendly European statement that transit should be preserved. Putin also claims that 10-15 billion cubic meters will GTS, but this is close to zero transit. At the same time, in Europe they say that they will not provide guarantees and tell us to negotiate with the Russians. If we proceed from the words of the European Commission Vice-President Marcos Sefcovic, voiced at the twelfth energy security conference in Bratislava, before Christmas, the EU-Ukraine-Russia tripartite meeting on future gas transit will have taken place, where such guaranties will have been discussed. But no one in the EU is willing to provide guarantees, saying that it's Gazprom who must provide such guarantees, but we all know the "value" of Russian promises. I believe it's our diplomats' drawback. After all, there is Article 274 of the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement, which clearly states that the parties must take into account each other's infrastructural capabilities. That is, Europe must take into account the gas transmission capacity we have. And the position of the European Commission should be in solidarity with ours. First, the capacities of our GTS must be loaded, and only then it's the turn of any other flows. But we hear nothing of the kind from Brussels. No one even recalls that in 2009, the so-called Brussels Declaration on the modernization of the Ukrainian GTS was signed off. The European Union promised our country assistance in the matter. But that was it. That is, when we want to rely on Europe's clear position, we don't find support. Such behavior is not partnership, the expert noted.

He believes that Ukrainian politicians and officials are afraid to say something frankly to their European counterparts, since there are still a lot of issues that need EU support, such as receiving macro-financial assistance, maintaining the sanctions approach, and that's amid criticism of reforms and anti-corruption efforts in Ukraine...

However, Kharchenko argues that the process of Europeans joining the management of the Ukrainian GTS is underway, and there is progress.

Despite the lobbying efforts by the Firtash group, represented in the government and lobbied at the level of Deputy Prime Minister Kistion, it will not be possible to stop the process of EU accession to the management of Ukraines GTS. Now, active negotiations are underway with several potential partners for the Ukrainian GTS. I am sure that in 2019, we will achieve the result, said the expert.

Thus, negotiations with the European Union on various "gas" issues are underway, while Nord Stream 2 is being built. And in the issue of freezing the project, Ukrainian diplomacy should "play the first violin." Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said that "we have a common position regarding Russian manipulations, which, unfortunately, are supported by certain European politicians, on the construction of Nord Stream 2." I wish that the minister's efforts as long as those of his subordinates ensured that the common position was conveyed to those certain European politicians who still did not realize all the risks of Nord Stream 2.

Nana Chornaya

If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+EnterYes, you can transfer your domain to any registrar or hosting company once you have purchased it. Since domain transfers are a manual process, it can take up to 5 days to transfer the domain.

Domains purchased with payment plans are not eligible to transfer until all payments have been made. Please remember that our 30-day money back guarantee is void once a domain has been transferred.

For transfer instructions to GoDaddy, please click here.Protest against Vox in Seville. ALEJANDRO RUESGA

Thousands of people marched in several cities in southern Spain last night to protest the rise of Vox, a far-right party that has burst onto the political scene after an unexpectedly strong performance at the Andalusian regional election on Sunday.

Polls had only predicted five seats for the party, which instead attracted nearly 11% of the vote and earned 12 seats.

Voxs presence in the Andalusian parliament is shameful

Carlos Caballero, law student

Anti-Vox demonstrations took place in provincial capitals across Andalusia, including Granada, Malaga and Seville, where marchers cried out slogans such as: We are not afraid.

The anti-immigration party, which wants to recentralize power, lower taxes and toughen up the criminal code, could be the kingmaker in Andalusian politics as parties scramble to form a coalition in the wake of an inconclusive election that was technically won by the Socialist Party (PSOE) with 33 seats.

But the incumbent Socialists, who have governed Spains most populous region for 36 straight years, could be ousted if the conservative Popular Party (PP), the center-right Ciudadanos and Vox put together their collective 59 deputies in the 109-seat house.

Protest on Monday in the center of Malaga against the rise of Vox. Alvaro Cabrera (EFE)

In Granada, around 5,000 people joined an anti-fascist protest in front of City Hall, according to local police estimates. Demonstrators walked down Camino de Ronda, one of the citys main arteries, to Vox headquarters. The protest was called spontaneously on social media, and downtown traffic was affected as thousands of youths blocked lanes, leading to verbal confrontations with motorists.

In Seville, hundreds of people marched from Plaza de la Encarnacion to the regional assembly and City Hall. Waving Andalusian and Republican flags, the protesters blocked traffic while chanting: Its fascism, not democracy, and: Refugees welcome.

Voxs presence [in the Andalusian parliament] is shameful, said Carlos Caballero, a law student at the march. There are people who think like them, and now theyve seen that their vote could be useful, added Julia Garcia, another protester.

In Malaga, several hundred youths protested in the Plaza de la Constitucion, where they held signs against Vox and in favor of feminism.

English version by Susana Urra.Far-right group Vox has shaken up the political landscape of southern Spain. The party received almost 400,000 votes at the Andalusian regional elections on Sunday, and will for the first time have elected deputies in parliament. The rise of the far-right party has been particularly significant in traditional strongholds of the conservative Popular Party (PP), such as El Ejido (Almeria) and Los Remedios (Seville). Albunol (Granada) was won by the Socialist Party (PSOE) but Vox made a surprising jump into third place there. Here is a visit to the three municipalities.

El Ejido

On Monday in La Redonda, five kilometers from El Ejido (Almeria), where dozens of small farmers come to sell their wares, the conversation centered on one thing: the 12 deputies Vox had won in the Andalusian regional election, two of them in Almeria. Located in the southeast of the province, El Ejido is home to 89,000 residents and is covered with greenhouses. Agriculture is the main economic driver.

They are against immigration but at the same time they need the manual labor of Moroccans and Sub-Saharan Africans

Shopkeeper in Balanegra

One-third of the population are migrants (mainly Moroccans, sub-Saharan Africans and Romanians) who have come here because it is easy to find work in the fields, often without needing proper paperwork. Voxs anti-immigration stance is one of the reasons it has become so popular in El Ejido, the only municipality where it received more votes (29.5%) than any other party.

Here there is just one type of racism: the racism suffered by Spanish people, says a farmer in La Redonda, who did not want to give his name. [Migrants] have everything that the Spanish dont. They arrive and get 400, when there are pensioners here who only receive 600, he adds.

A few migrants waiting outside an administration office at La Redonda say they have never heard of Vox. They dont know that a party that wants to deport undocumented migrants and legal migrants who commit crimes has just been elected to the Andalusian Parliament. Our relationship living here together is not bad, says Rabha Kharifi, a 51-year-old Moroccan woman who has spent 15 years in Spain and the last six in El Ejido. But locals still remember what happened in February 2000 when, in retaliation for the murder of three people by North African migrants, hundreds of residents decided to take justice into their own hands and attacked the migrant community.

In Balanegra, a municipality on the outskirts where just 3,000 people live, Vox received 30% of the vote. A shopkeeper from the area says he voted for the PSOE but says the area is very right wing. You can tell by how they treat you, he explains, adding that many of the farmers have double standards. They are against immigration but at the same time they need the manual labor of Moroccans and sub-Saharan Africans for their crops.

A group of migrants in Albunol (Granada), one of Vox's strongholds. Fermin Rodriguez

Albunol

With 7,000 residents and thousands and thousands of greenhouses, Albunol is the Granada version of El Ejido. It too depends on migrant labor to keep the agricultural industry going. And like in El Ejido, it is one of the places where Vox has made major gains, winning 20% of the vote.

On Monday at 5pm, truck after truck drops off dozens of field workers in the town square. Moussa and Paco Sall are two of them. They come from Senegal and charge between 4.60 and 5 an hour, for an eight-hour working day without a contract. They are not happy with the deal but they say they feel comfortable in the town. As they continue their path, Rafael, a bricklayer off work for health reasons, points at them: Do you see? They take a huge amount of work that isnt given to Spaniards. Rafael voted for Vox.

The election results are a breath of fresh air

Angel Voix from Los Remedios

In Albunol, where the average salary is 15,866, PSOE was the top-voted party (775 votes, 31.85%) but 491 of the 2,500 ballots went to Vox. Rafael used to vote for the PP but is one of the many who have swung to the far-right party. As he speaks, Annuar, a Moroccan migrant who has been in Spain 20 years, with papers but without work listens in. When he reminds Rafael that Vox is against migrants in Spain, the bricklayer denies it. Immigrants, yes, but only with papers and work, he argues.

Vox has little infrastructure in Albunol save for a Facebook page that mostly shares posts from the national party. According to Matias, a 50-year-old bar owner, their campaign has been quiet but very good from what can be seen. The PSOE voter, who is concerned about the sudden rise of Vox, explains: It has been all face to face, some people having a few beers while others convince them. Its been so good that I know PSOE supporters who have voted for Vox.

Armando, a customer at the bar, agrees: Not one document was circulated, they have not put up posters in the street. The closest Vox meeting was in Almeria, 75 kilometers from Albunol.

A man on a balcony in Seville with a Vox banner. Paco Puentes

Los Remedios

Spanish flags hang along the balconies of Asuncion street in Los Remedios in Seville. One home has hung out a green Vox banner. I voted for Vox because I feel protected to defend, among other things, the unity of Spain. The election results are a breath of fresh air, says Angel Voix, a local from the area. In this conservative town, traditionally won by the PP, Vox received 3,645 votes. Three years ago, just 471 people voted for the party.

In Los Remedios, where the average salary is 42,984, almost 75% of the 20,000 eligible voters turned up to cast their vote  a turnout rate more than 15 points higher than the average. Vox came in second place after the PP. It is the clear consequence of the frustration with the former PP leadership, a party that has lost its lifelong values, that has not defined itself in many areas  Today Vox represents the values of the neighborhood, says Jose Maria Canizares, the president of the neighborhood association.

Support for Vox rose from 471 votes in 2015 to 3,645 in 2018 in Los Remedios

Friends and neighbors who supported the PP told us they would vote for Vox as a test, to see if they would do more than the PP We are all disillusioned with politics, adds Mari Carmen Vazquez, who says she has always voted for the PSOE. My wife is a member of the PP but we have both voted for Vox, my children as well. We are disappointed with the PP, especially after [former prime minister Mariano] Rajoys era, says Eugenio Leria, who trusts the PP, Ciudadanos and Vox will be able to form a government. Andalusia needed a change.

The neighborhood doesnt even have public schools, or high schools or libraries or day centers We have a health center and it is overwhelmed, adds Maria Canizares.

The extreme always comes when something doesnt work, explains Marisol Serrano, who voted for the PP.

English version by Melissa Kitson.More information Spanish-Belgian raid deals new blow to Costa del Sol drug lords

The members of what police have described as the most violent gang ever seen in southern Spain have been arrested, allegedly leaving behind them a trail of ruthless crimes.

The group  North African in origin, but from Malmo in Sweden, hence their nickname of los suecos  is thought to have carried out point-blank shootings in the middle of the street from bicycles, motorbikes or cars, while wearing hoods.

Their victims have been gunned down leaving their homes or just after attending a First Communion church service. They are a group of nine people, led by two pairs of brothers  none of them older than 30. Thought to be planning on setting up an operational hub in Malaga, they were being sought by the Spanish and Swedish authorities, who have tied them to as many as 10 murders in that country.

The Costa del Sol is not, nor will it be, an easy place for criminals to take root

National Police officers

But the police dealt them a deadly blow last week. It needs to be made clear that the Costa del Sol is not, nor will it be, an easy place for criminals to take root, explain officers from the organized crime squad of the National Police (UDYCO), which blames this gang for at least two of the six killings that have been carried out recently in this area of southern Spain, which is a strategic location for organized crime chiefs.

On May 12, a man dressed in black and riding a black 500cc motorbike without a license plate stuck a pistol through the window of the car being driven by David Avila Ramos, known as Maradona in the Marbella drug underworld, and fired off five shots. The killing took place as the victim was leaving his sons First Communion ceremony, just opposite the San Pedro de Alcantara church, in a scene that could have been lifted straight out of a mafia movie. Ramos was 37 years old, and had dedicated his life to cocaine trafficking. He also had pending debts and had received a number of warnings.

In May they burned down his gym, in the same municipality, by crashing a stolen car full of gasoline into the building, and days later they did the same with the Heaven nightspot, which he joint-owned with his partner on a beach in Estepona, officers explain. At the time of his death, Maradona had his two young children and his wife in the car. The latter maintained the law of silence that reigns over the business.

At the time of his shooting, the drug dealer known as Maradona had his children and wife in the car with him

The genesis of what came to be known as Operation Rueda, an operation carried out in close conjunction between the Spanish and Swedish police, began with an investigation into the theft of the all-terrain vehicle that was crashed into the gym. The work of more than 30 officers led the police to the hideouts of what they described as the worst gang of hitmen that the Costa del Sol has ever seen.

The investigation led them to solve a second murder: that of Sofian Mohamed A. B., another well-known drug trafficker known as El Zocato. He was shot nine times  an entire magazine of bullets  on the doorstep of his house. The shooting was carried out by a hooded man on a bike, a mode of transport that, along with the black motorcycle with no license plate, was located in one of the five properties that the group of killers was renting in a number of luxury developments in the area.

They slept in a different house nearly every day, and took a lot of security precautions, as well as traveling to Malmo and Morocco a lot, investigators explain. Of the nine men arrested, five were captured in Malaga  three are already in jail  and four in Sweden, where they are known by the police, according to Swedish police chief Petra Stenkula, who explains that there are as many as 10 organizations of this kind currently operating in the aforementioned city.

In total, seven of the nine suspects have been jailed, and are facing charges of murder, criminal association and document fraud. A Marbella court is heading the Spanish side of the investigation.

They slept in a different house nearly every day, and took a lot of security precautions

Police investigators

As an example of the hardened criminals that make up this gang, the officers recall that, on one occasion, a member was targeted supposedly by a rival gang in a cafeteria in Malmo. The hitman got away despite getting shot in the leg, but a couple next to him that was having coffee died in the shootout. Fortunately, here in Spain no one innocent has been affected, no one that wasnt already involved in the drug world, explains one of the investigators. They only settle scores like this when theyre dealing cocaine, explain investigators, who suspect that organizations of Spaniards and Colombians are behind the ordering of these killings, albeit without having managed to get close to them in ongoing investigations.

During the operation against the gang there have been a total of nine searches carried out at properties in Malaga and Malmo, which have turned up a bulletproof vest, a holster, a Taser, computers, pepper sprays, 11 cellphones, 4,165 in cash, clothing worn during the incidents being investigated and three expensive watches, one of which was made with diamond-encrusted gold and has been valued at nearly 250,000.

English version by Simon Hunter.British ambassador to Spain Simon Manley.

I wanted to update you on the recent developments on our exit from the European Union. As many of you are no doubt aware, on Sunday November 25, there was a special European Council on Brexit. EU leaders agreed the Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration on the future relationship between the United Kingdom and the EU.

Citizens rights is a key part of the agreement, so this represents a big step forward in providing certainty for UK nationals living in Spain. As the British prime minister said following the European Council: If you are one of the over three million EU citizens who has come and built your life in the UK  come to be our colleagues, our neighbors and our friends  you need a deal that guarantees your rights. If you are one of the almost one million UK nationals living elsewhere in the EU, you need the same. This deal delivers for you all.

I and the team strongly recommend you ensure you are correctly registered as a resident, as is your current obligation

The next stage is for the UK Parliament to vote on the deal the government has negotiated, which is expected on December 11. The European Parliament will also vote on the agreement.

If approved, the Withdrawal Agreement will secure the rights of one million UK nationals living in the EU. It means that the 300,000 British people who have chosen to make Spain their home have a legal guarantee that they will be allowed to stay here after the UK leaves the EU on March 29, 2019.

The Agreement also defines the Implementation Period as running from March 30, 2019 and until December 31, 2020. All UK nationals lawfully residing in Spain on December 31, 2020 will be covered by the Withdrawal Agreement. Under the current rules, UK nationals living in Spain must register with the Spanish authorities (at the Oficina de Extranjeros or at a designated local police station) to be legally resident here. Therefore, I and the team strongly recommend you ensure you are correctly registered as a resident, as is your current obligation. For detailed advice on registering, please see gov.uk/living-in-spain. We will, of course, update our advice if the Spanish authorities announce any changes to the registration requirements linked to Brexit.

UK nationals and their families covered by the Agreement will continue to have broadly the same access to healthcare, pensions and other benefits as they currently do

During the Implementation Period, you will be able to visit, live and work in the EU broadly as you do now. If you want to move to a different Member State, you will be able to do so during the Implementation Period.

UK nationals and their families covered by the Agreement will continue to have broadly the same access to healthcare, pensions and other benefits as they currently do. And you will be able to leave Spain for up to five years without losing your right to return if you have acquired the relevant residency status. If you have any questions about who is covered by the Withdrawal Agreement, please see the UK nationals living in the EU pages on gov.uk.

Next steps

Make sure you are correctly registered with Extranjeria here in Spain (please see gov.uk/living-in-spain

Sign up for email alerts to stay up to date and find out about our outreach events, by visiting the Living in Spain guide on gov.uk

Follow our Brits in Spain social media channels, including on Facebook

Both the Embassy and our network of consulates will continue with outreach events across Spain to answer your questions about your rights and Brexit, with three events planned before Christmas and more planned for the new year. And we will continue to update you with key information in the months ahead. In the meantime, I would like to wish all British nationals living in Spain, a very merry Christmas.David Duke in Charlottesville in 2017. Shaban Athuman (AP)

VOX triumphs in Andalusia! 12 seats and the end of the socialist regime  #EspanaViva makes it history and shows that change is possible. The Reconquista begins in the Andalusian lands and will be extended in the rest of Spain  #AndaluciaPorEspana. This is the message sent out on Twitter by David Duke, 69, the leader of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s.

A Nazi sympathizer since the age of 14, founder of a branch of the Klan in 1974, congressman in Louisiana between 1989 and 1992, jailed for 15 months in 2002 for tax fraud, and a failed pretender to a role as governor, senator and US president, Duke is now an online agitator for the far right.

The Anti-Defamation League has described him as perhaps America's most well-known racist and anti-Semite. Hes the most recognizable figure of the American radical right, a neo-Nazi, longtime Klan leader and now international spokesman for Holocaust denial, adds the Southern Poverty Law Center, which specializes in the study of extremism.

The message from the former Grand Wizard of the white supremacist group in support of Vox was posted on Monday, and had garnered 410 likes and 259 retweets by Tuesday afternoon, turning the phrase Ku Klux Klan into a trending topic in Spain.

In other messages on the social network, the racist, anti-Semite and Holocaust-denier once congratulated US President Donald Trump for his honesty and courage, while he also blamed both sides for the incidents in Charlottesville, where the biggest white supremacist march seen in years in the United States ended up with confrontations between counter-marchers and the death of a 32-year-old woman, as well as 34 people injured.

David Duke in a Ku Klux Klan uniform in London in 1978. He managed to visit the country despite being banned. AP

Bolsonaro sounds like us, he said recently after the victory of the far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro at elections in Brazil.

Duke took an active role in events in Charlottesville, as he did 45 years before in other racist incidents. At the march he promised to fulfill the slogan of Donald Trump to take back the country.

As well as the message from Duke, a number of European far-right figures have also congratulated Vox on its strong performance at the Andalusian elections on Sunday. Geert Wilders from The Netherlands and Marine Le Pen from France were the first to celebrate the rise of the party led by Santiago Abascal. Le Pen sent her message before even the official results were known, calling Vox a young and dynamic movement.

English version by Simon Hunter.US$30m OPEC Fund loan to Ameriabank to promote sustainable energy and support small businesses in Armenia

Black Friday at ucom: up to 70% discount for smart home devices, gadgets and smartphones

116 million AMD assistance to minors with disabilities in Shirak Province from Mikayel Vardanyan

Discussion on the topic IT infrastructure as the basis of the digital economy with the participation of the heads of telecommunication companies in Armenia

Statement nn the ongoing Aggression by Azerbaijan against the Republic of Armenia

"We condemn any attempts at borderisation, as observed since the incursion of Azerbaijani troops into Armenian territory on 12 May" Joint statement

The United States is deeply concerned about reports of intensive fighting today between Armenia and Azerbaijan.ANTONY J. BLINKEN

Statement of the MFA of Armenia

Ookla has awarded Ucom with The fastest fixedline network in Armenia award

UCOM keeps on supporting the 42 YEREVAN programming school

Recognizing the One-Year Anniversary of the Ceasefire Declaration Between Armenia and Azerbaijan

They should not be positioned near civilian communities neither in Armenia nor in Artsakh

Humanitarian and human rights protection needed following the 2020 outbreak of hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh

Galaxy Group of Companies expands its activities in Belarus: a new TIME and Pandora store launched

I think its a good moment to invest in Armenia. Head of Markets at Symbiotics Vincent Lehner

Ameriabank has Raised USD 17.5M Tier 2 Capital

Google Ad

UNIGHT TO UNITE. UCOM CELEBRATED ITS REBIRTH

Ameriabank and HSBC Armenia to provide their customers access to each others ATMs without additional fees

Ameriabank. 62.5% Growth in Taxes YOY

Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans have provided 300 million AMD to overcome the infertility in Armenia

UCOM has officially launched the sale of IPHONE 13

Six servicemen were wounded by the attack of the Azerbaijani armed forces in Artsakh, two of them in critical condition

S&P Improved the Outlook on Ameriabank to Positive

Ararat Mirzoyan to visit to Minsk

Foreign Minister of India visits the Memorial of Armenian Genocide

1217 new cases

Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia

Statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group

At UCOM only: Tv sets at 10% discount + 1 month free UMIX package + 4k tv channelUS$30m OPEC Fund loan to Ameriabank to promote sustainable energy and support small businesses in Armenia

Black Friday at ucom: up to 70% discount for smart home devices, gadgets and smartphones

116 million AMD assistance to minors with disabilities in Shirak Province from Mikayel Vardanyan

Discussion on the topic IT infrastructure as the basis of the digital economy with the participation of the heads of telecommunication companies in Armenia

Google Ad

Statement nn the ongoing Aggression by Azerbaijan against the Republic of Armenia

"We condemn any attempts at borderisation, as observed since the incursion of Azerbaijani troops into Armenian territory on 12 May" Joint statement

The United States is deeply concerned about reports of intensive fighting today between Armenia and Azerbaijan.ANTONY J. BLINKEN

Statement of the MFA of Armenia

Ookla has awarded Ucom with The fastest fixedline network in Armenia award

UCOM keeps on supporting the 42 YEREVAN programming school

Recognizing the One-Year Anniversary of the Ceasefire Declaration Between Armenia and Azerbaijan

They should not be positioned near civilian communities neither in Armenia nor in Artsakh

Humanitarian and human rights protection needed following the 2020 outbreak of hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh

Galaxy Group of Companies expands its activities in Belarus: a new TIME and Pandora store launched

I think its a good moment to invest in Armenia. Head of Markets at Symbiotics Vincent Lehner

Ameriabank has Raised USD 17.5M Tier 2 Capital

Google Ad

UNIGHT TO UNITE. UCOM CELEBRATED ITS REBIRTH

Ameriabank and HSBC Armenia to provide their customers access to each others ATMs without additional fees

Ameriabank. 62.5% Growth in Taxes YOY

Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans have provided 300 million AMD to overcome the infertility in Armenia

UCOM has officially launched the sale of IPHONE 13

Six servicemen were wounded by the attack of the Azerbaijani armed forces in Artsakh, two of them in critical condition

S&P Improved the Outlook on Ameriabank to Positive

Ararat Mirzoyan to visit to Minsk

Foreign Minister of India visits the Memorial of Armenian Genocide

1217 new cases

Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia

Statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group

At UCOM only: Tv sets at 10% discount + 1 month free UMIX package + 4k tv channelA delay in unbundling by national joint-stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy puts under threat the signing of new long lasting contract on transit of Russian gas across Ukraine, and the immediate steps should be made today, Energy Community Secretariat Director Janez Kopac has said.

"The EU in trilateral talks with Russia cannot help if it doesn't have a key argument for long lasting transit contract, certified transmission system operator," he said in a video address to the participants of the meeting of stakeholders in Brussels on November 29 and published by the Energy Community on Monday.

Kopac said that the immediate action is needed to convince all colleagues in Brussels, Washington, Stockholm that Ukraine is better than Nord Stream 2. "Now we need to make sure that nobody in Russia or elsewhere can accuse Ukraine of applying double standard when it comes to insisting on the rule of the Third Energy Package.

"The most important token to justify trust in Ukraine in this respect is unbundling, but real unbundling, not in line with a plan and timeline devised by Naftogaz. There are many plans of Naftogaz from the past. All of them are completed outdated," he said.

"Unbundling should be designed in a way that the transmission system operator can be certified before the end of next year," Kopac said.

Kopac said that if the certified gas transmission system operator does not exist by the end of next year, Gazprom would most probably prolong the current contract for a very short time and try to bypass Ukraine with gas transit at the earliest convenience.Russia has no plans to stop gas transit via Ukraine after launch of Nord Stream 2 - Peskov

Russia has no plans to stop transiting gas via Ukraine after the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is commissioned, but everything depends on Kyiv, presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

"President Putin has reaffirmed this stance multiple times; he has said there are no plans to stop transiting gas via Ukraine after the launch of Nord Stream 2. This kind of transit will still be possible, but everything will depend on the Ukrainian side," Peskov said.

Journalists had asked him about the Kremlin's attitude to the remarks made by German Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said that Russia must guarantee gas transit via Ukraine due to the latter's vulnerability.

"The transit can be continued," as Putin has confirmed many times, Peskov said.

Journalists pointed out the different modalities of the statements made by the Kremlin, which said "the transit can be continued," and the German chancellor, who said "the transit must be continued."

In response, Peskov said, "I am speaking of the standpoint expressed by President Putin. We have only one modality: the standpoint of Putin. I cannot speak for the German chancellor."JSC Zaporizhtransformator (ZTR), a large global manufacturer of transformer equipment, part of the Energy Standard Group of businessman Konstantin Grigorishin, has decided to close its representative office in Moscow (Russia).

According to a company report in the information disclosure system of the National Commission for Securities and the Stock Market, the decision was made due to the absence of the need to operate for the office and with the purpose of optimizing costs.

"The representative office was created to promote solving statutory tasks of ZTR to satisfy the demnd on products made by ZTR," the company said.

As reported, the ZTR office in Moscow was opened in 2003 to establish more intensive work with the end customer and to provide operational support to Russian consumers of products in the operation of installed equipment and support of contracts.

At that time, the Russian market was the key one for the enterprise.

Zaporizhtransformator is a large world manufacturer of transformer equipment. It has experience in deliveries to 88 countries. It produces power oil transformers, electric reactors, and controlled shunt reactors.The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) together with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) will provide financial support for the modernization of the Kyiv heat and power complex, the mayor's press service has reported.

Financing will be provided in the framework of the memorandum on the development of the Kyiv heat and power complex, which Kyiv City State Administration, municipal enterprise Kyivteploenergo and international partners will sign in mid-December.

"It is especially important for us that today we have the first results of joint work, embodied in the draft memorandum on the development of the Kyiv heat and power complex between Kyiv City State Administration, Kyivteploenergo, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the EBRD, and the IFC. In ten days we have to sign the memorandum between all the parties," Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

According to the report, it is planned to invest funds in upgrading the infrastructure of the heat and power complex, improving the quality of services provided by Kyivteploenergo, as well as reducing the cost of these services.

It is also recommended to optimize the organizational and management structure of Kyivteploenergo, as well as to create a supervisory board, which will ensure the transparency of the enterprise's operations and prepare it to attracting private investment.The delegation of Ukraine has expressed its strong protest to the Russian Federation at the Maritime Safety Committee of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in connection with the armed attack at the Ukrainian Navy ships in the Kerch Strait, and delegations of 34 IMO member states have supported the position of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Embassy in the United Kingdom has reported.

"On 3 December 2018 at the Maritime Safety Committee of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) the delegation of Ukraine expressed its strong protest to the Russian Federation in connection with the armed attack and capture of the three Ukrainian Navy ships as well as capturing of members of their crews," the Ukrainian Embassy said on Monday.

Delegations of 34 IMO member states have supported the position of Ukraine and condemned yet another act of armed aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine.

According to the report, the Ukrainian side condemned the excessive stopping and inspection of commercial vessels, heading to Ukrainian ports, in violation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea as well as the Ukraine-Russia bilateral agreements.As of December 3, 2018, ships have resumed navigation through the Kerch Strait towards the Ukrainian ports in the Sea of Azov, Ukraine's Ministry of Infrastructure has said.

"The Berdiansk and Mariupol ports have been partially unblocked. The ships can now proceed through the Kerch Strait towards the Ukrainian ports. They are stopped to be inspected by the Russian party as before; however, navigation has resumed to some degree," Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelian said.

He said 17 ships are awaiting permission to enter the Sea of Azov, and one vessel is waiting for the permission to exit it. Some nine more ships are anchored at the piers in the ports.

He voiced the hope that the Ukrainian ports will be fully unblocked in the coming days, and the Ukrainian naval seamen will be released soon.

As reported earlier, on November 25, Russia blocked the entrance to the Kerch Strait for three Ukrainian naval vessels and detained them along with their crews.The Ukrainian border guard service has denied admittance to over 600 Russian citizens since the declaration of martial law, and the number of Russians wishing to visit Ukraine has fallen 66% over that period, Ukrainian State Border Service head Petro Tsyhykal has said.

"We have now denied admittance to over 600 Russian citizens. [...] The arrivals have dropped 66% over this period," Tsyhykal told the television channel UATV in an interview.

As to why female Russian citizens had been denied entry, he said there were a number of reasons, such as previous visits to Crimea, which Ukraine considers to have been annexed.

"A woman may be recruited and pose a threat. [...] There is such a notion as second-line control - we use a special questionnaire to conduct our interviews. If there is information regarding a woman or she cannot explain the purpose of her visit, we deny admittance. As a rule, only a handful [of female visitors] are rejected," Tsyhykal said.

In the past few days, Russia has denied admittance to Ukrainian citizens, even groups of 40 to 50 people, mostly men, without an explanation, he said.

On November 26, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed an executive order introducing martial law until 2 p.m. on December 26. The Verkhovna Rada endorsed the president's order on the same day. It was published in the parliamentary newspaper on November 28.

Martial law was declared in regions bordering Russia and Transdniestria (Vinnytsia, Luhansk, Mykolayiv, Sumy, Odesa, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Kherson, Donetsk, and Zaporizhia) and the internal waters of the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait.Martial law provides a basis for restoring the maximum order on the streets of the country and a tough response to offenses of any scale, Ukraine's Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko has said.

"In the closed part of the meeting with security forces, I set the task to respond as strictly as possible to any violations of the law on the streets. Starting from the banal use of obscene words in the presence of citizens, which, by the way, is an offense for which a specific punishment is provided, to violence and attacks on business or individual citizens," Lutsenko said at a briefing on Tuesday in Odesa.

He said hooliganism has recently fallen into a certain comfort zone, since the police are busy investigating more serious crimes. We agreed that it will be terminated, Lutsenko said.

"The introduction of martial law provides a good basis for establishing maximum order on the street now. Of course, no one will illegally detain people and throw them into some basements or subject to physical abuse, but the maximum qualification for offenses on the street will be used," the prosecutor general said, adding that the number of police patrols will be increased.

As earlier reported, On November 26, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed an executive order introducing martial law until 2 p.m. on December 26. The Verkhovna Rada endorsed the president's order on the same day. It was published in the parliamentary newspaper on November 28.

Martial law was declared in regions bordering Russia and Transdniestria (Vinnytsia, Luhansk, Mykolayiv, Sumy, Odesa, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Kherson, Donetsk, and Zaporizhia) and the internal waters of the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait.The Ukrainian presidential administration has requested the lists of Russian legal entities and individuals that are planned to have sanctions imposed on them, Ukraine's Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko has said.

"I hope the president will support me [in my motion to request that the National Security and Defense Council impose sanctions against certain legal entities and individuals in Russia by way of freezing their assets pending the de-occupation of the territory of Ukraine.] In any case, I have just been told that the presidential administration has requested all the lists with all the details. It is clear that several meetings will be held soon to be followed by the NSDC's decision," Lutsenko told reporters in Odesa on December 4.Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko during a meeting with relatives of seamen taken prisoner by Russia said they had been carrying out a typical redeployment mission.

"The President emphasized that the Ukrainian ships performed the usual task of redeployment and rotation," the press service of the head of state said after the meeting.

Addressing the relatives of the sailors, Poroshenko said Ukraine will not accept compromises in return for their return home.

"We do not make any compromises. And when they say: are there any preconditions for us to take any further steps? I say: the first step is to bring our seamen home," the president said.

"It is not your (Russian - IF) unjust court to try our children! They are prisoners of war according to their status, according to the Geneva Convention, and are not under the jurisdiction of any Kremlin court. Why? There is no truth, no justice, no law," Poroshenko said. .

He thanked the relatives and friends of the seamen. In particular, the father of Berdiansk boat commander, Lieutenant Roman Mokriak, who, after being captured, refused to be interrogated or filmed by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB).

Poroshenko praised the courage of the captive sailors and praised them for resisting "psychological stress, and the treatment by FSB agents."

As earlier reported, on November 25, Russian border guards captured the Yany Kapu tugboat and two small armored artillery boats of Ukraine's Naval Forces. The prisoners of war were transported to Moscow on November 29.

On December 3, Nikolai Polozov, a lawyer for one of the sailors, said Russia would charge the seamen with illegally crossing Russia's border.The Ukrainian side in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) has demanded the immediate release of 24 Ukrainian sailors captured by Russia in the Kerch Strait without any conditions and exchanges, as they are prisoners of war, First Deputy Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament and Ukraine's envoy to the Trilateral Contact Group's humanitarian subgroup Iryna Gerashchenko has said.

"Ukraine demands the immediate release of 24 Ukrainian sailors, prisoners of war, who are kept in Russia without any reasons. They are subject to the Geneva Conventions. Prisoners of war cannot be judged, and we demand their immediate release without preconditions, without any exchanges," Gerashchenko wrote on Facebook following the TCG meeting in Minsk on Tuesday.The Russian side in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) and representatives of the ORDLO at a meeting in Minsk again rejected Kyiv's proposal to release hostages and political prisoners in 23/23 and 66/19 format, proposed for December 27, First Deputy Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament and Ukraine's envoy to the Trilateral Contact Group's humanitarian subgroup Iryna Gerashchenko has said.

"The Ukrainian side once again conveyed the suggestion on releasing the arrested Russians in exchange for Ukrainians in Russian prisons and pardoning the separatists in exchange for Ukrainians in the occupied territories. We gave specific lists and suggestions in 23/23 and 66/19 format with a proposal to release our military and civilians from ORDLO before the New Year and Christmas holidays. We are ready to repeat last year's success and hold the next stage of release on December 27," she wrote on her Facebook page about the TCG meeting in Minsk on Tuesday.

"Unfortunately, the Russian Federation and their puppets refused another initiative of Ukraine and thwarted this proposal of the release of Ukrainians. Responsibility for blocking hostages' release is completely on the Russian side," the Ukrainian representative in the TCG stressed.One Ukrainian military killed, two more injured amid hostilities in Donbas on Tuesday  JFO

Russia-led militants violated the "cease fire regime" 11 times in Donbas as of 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, with one Ukrainian soldier reported as killed in action and two more injured in action, the press center of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) has reported.

"Over the day, the Russian occupation forces violated the ceasefire regime 11 times. At the same time, they used weapons prohibited by the Minsk agreements four times," the JFO press center said on Facebook on Tuesday evening.

Illegal armed groups shelled Novozvanivka, Luhanske, Avdiyivka, Berezove, Novomykhaylivka, Starohnativka, Vodiane and Shyrokyne, the report reads.On Thursday, December 6, at 11.00, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency will host a press conference entitled "On Human Rights in Ukraine in 2018" Dated to 70th Anniversary of UDHR, Genocide Convention": the members of the coalition of public human rights organizations "Against Tortures" will talk about the evolution of attitudes towards these documents and consider the state of human rights in Ukraine in 2018. Participants include Kharkiv Human Rights Group (KhPG) Director Yevhen Zakharov and Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union Director Oleksandr Pavlychenko (8/5a Reitarska Street). Details at: zakharove@gmail.com (Yevhen Zakharov).On Wednesday, December 5, at 11.00, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency will host a press conference entitled "The State Wants to Makes Lives of Labor Migrants More Difficult." The press conference will be used to make public the draft amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On the Employment of the Population and the Compulsory State Social Insurance in Case of Unemployment," which are being developed by the government and which may lead to the international labor market in Ukraine to go underground. Participating will be Vasyl Voskoboinyk, president of the All-Ukrainian Association of International Recruitment Companies; Vyacheslav Kyslovsky, vice president for crewing of the All-Ukrainian Association of International Recruitment Companies; lawyer Serhiy Voichenko, chairman of the Voichenko & Dulsky law firm (8/5a Reitarska Street). Registration requires press accreditation at +380 50 630 5097 (Mykola Oleksandrov).BRUSSELS/PARIS Dec 4 (Reuters)

The United States is pressing the European Union to consider economic sanctions on Iran over its ballistic missiles, a senior U.S. official said on Tuesday, warning of a wider regional conflict if Tehran's ambitions remain unchecked.

Iran's test of a ballistic missile this month alarmed the West and France called it a destabilizing act, but the EU is focused on protecting the 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran that U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of in May.

"We would like to see the European Union pass sanctions that would designate the people and the organizations that are facilitating Iran's missile testing and missile proliferation," Brian Hook, Washington's special representative for Iran, told Reuters after meetings with European powers in Brussels.

Such punitive measures usually involve travel bans and asset freezes and seek to choke off funding to such arms programs.

Hook said Iran's tests violated U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231 that enshrined the nuclear accord and he called on Tehran to stop all its ballistic missile-related activities designed to carry nuclear weapons.

"This is a grave and escalating threat and we need to restore deterrents against Iran's missile program. Otherwise I think we are aggregating, we are accumulating risk of a regional conflict if we don't," Hook said.

Resolution 2231 says Iran is "called upon" to refrain for up to eight years from work on ballistic missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons. Iran maintains that the resolution does not require it to stop missile development, which it says has nothing to do with its nuclear program.

Britain, France and Germany in March proposed fresh EU sanctions on Iran over its ballistic missiles, according to a confidential document seen by Reuters, but were rebuffed by other EU nations including Italy, which are seeking to develop business ties with the Islamic Republic.

Hook said Tehran was making transfers of Iranian missiles and missile technology to Syria and allies of Tehran, such as Houthi forces in Yemen and Lebanon's Iranian-backed Shi'ite Hezbollah, a position that European powers privately agree on.

However, diplomacy with Iran is highly sensitive for the EU because Brussels considers the 2015 pact to stop Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon as the bloc's biggest foreign policy achievement in decades and does not want it to collapse.

Fresh EU sanctions on top of renewed U.S. measures could risk that, European diplomats say.

Asked if the United States was aware of European sensibilities, Hook said: "Those who negotiated the deal, to begin with, made it very clear that just because it was focused on the nuclear (deal) didn't limit them from addressing all the other threats that Iran presents to peace and security."

FRUSTRATING TALKS

Britain, France, and Germany have been talking to Iranian officials about its ballistic missile program and regional activities at the bilateral level since Trump indicated he would withdraw from the Iran deal in 2017.

But diplomats say that after more than a year of regular talks, Iran has stood firm and maintains that its ballistic missile program is defensive and not up for negotiation.

That has frustrated officials. France in particular has bemoaned Iranian "frenzy" in developing and propagating missiles and wants Tehran to open negotiations over its missiles, which Hook said were capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

Over the last month, Britain's foreign minister and senior delegations from France and Germany have traveled to Tehran to raise the issue. "They don't want to talk ballistics," said one European diplomat.

A second European diplomat said it would be difficult for London, Paris and Berlin to get EU sanctions agreed, but added that it could be put back on the table given Iran's stance.

EU foreign ministers showed cautious support on Nov. 19 for possible new economic sanctions on Iran in a shift of policy after accusations of Iranian attack plots in France and Denmark, diplomats said.

"Don't rule out us looking at sanctions again because we aren't getting concrete results for now," the diplomat said.An Iranian official in charge of an Islamic solidarity organization in Iran has said that his country will sponsor families of Palestinians killed this year in clashes with Israeli forces.

Ayatollah Mohsen Araki who heads the World Assembly of Solidarity Among Muslim Sects, an organization under the auspices of Irans Supreme Leader, made this statement during the Islamic Solidarity Conference held in Tehran in November, according to Tasnim news agency.

Araki, who was leading a commemoration for Imad Mughniyeh, a Lebanese Hezbollah militant killed in a car bomb blast in Damascus in 2008, announced that the Islamic Republic will sponsor the families of martyred Palestinians. This usually means monthly cash stipends from Iran. Mughniyehs daughter was present in the ceremony in Tehran.

This year, large popular protests have rocked Iran as the economy and living standards have deteriorated. Millions of Iranians blame the government for spending money for wars in Syria, Yemen and on militant groups in various countries.

Currently, workers in several cities in Iran are on strike and daily protests for unpaid wages.

Araki did not mention how many families Iran will sponsor, but 300 Palestinians have been killed and around 20,000 wounded on the Gaza border with Israel.Iran National Steel Industrial Group (INSIG) workers poured into the streets of Ahvaz on Monday and Tuesday protesting overdue wages, hardship and mismanagement of the complex.

On Monday, the 24th consecutive day of protests, the frustrated workers assembled outside public buildings and the office of the city's Friday Prayer Leader, Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Mousavi.

Latest reports say that the workers continued their protests also on Tuesday, marching on government buildings and chanting anti-regime slogan. There was also a march in the city by families of the workers in solidarity with their demands.

Footages circulated on social media from Monday, show angry workers chanting rancorous slogans against the Islamic ruling establishment.

Referring to president Hassan Rouhani's logo (a key) during his presidential election, the enraged protesters directly addressed him, chanting, "The lying locksmith, where is your key to prudence?"

The Islamic Republic's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was also the target of bitter slogans in rhymed Persian, "Neither the ruler, nor the government - None care about the nation". Rouhani has presented his administration as the government of prudence.

The disgruntled workers, who have taken their protest rallies out of INSIG's compound to the streets of Ahvaz, the capital city of the oil-rich Khuzestan province for eighteen days, described the country as "The House of Thieves - Unique in the whole world", insisting that "Our enemy is right here -They lie saying its America".

Workers chanting "Our enemy is right here -They lie saying its America".

The clergy who are dominating Iran for nearly four decades, were also the target of fiery slogans, "You have used Islam as a ladder to trample on the people".

INSIG workers assert that they want their complex production line restored and overdue wages paid.

Earlier, the government officials had promised that the wages would be paid by November 30, but a representative of the protesters, Morteza Akbarian, reiterated that the promise had not been kept.

Footages circulated on social media show Akbarian delivering a speech at the rally, saying, "The government is lying by reporting that it has paid two-three months of the overdue wages".

Furthermore, Akbarian accused the government of ignoring the protesters' demand for restoring INSIG's production line.

INSIG, based on a steel mill founded in 1963 during Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavis reign, was privatized in 2016, leading to repeated demonstrations by workers protesting unacceptable work conditions under the new management.

The discontented workers of INSIG started a new round of strikes nine days ago. On the eighth day of the strike, protesters chanted slogans to relay their dissatisfaction, including, Today is the day of mourning, labor is hosting a funeral, No nation has ever seen such injustice, as well as sarcastically shouting, Down with labor. Hail to the tyrant.

The industrial group has nearly 4,000 employees who have not been paid for at least three months.

The owner of INSIG, Iranian tycoon Abdol Reza Mousavi, has accused his employees of being provoked by malicious elements outside the industrial complex.

Scores of industrial groups and factories across Iran are currently experiencing strikes and protests.

Nonetheless, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has repeatedly maintained that the recent widespread labor protests across Iran are designed by "foreign enemies".

One of the major activities of our enemies has been to create a recession and obstacles in our factories and among labor groups -- particularly the big ones -- so they can provoke the workers, Khamenei said in one of his shortest speeches ever, addressing the Congress Of 14,000 Martyred Laborers February 5.

The enemy, as a rule, is a term used by Iranian authorities to describe the United States or Israel.

Currently, thousands of workers across the oil-rich province of Khuzestan, including at Abadan's refinery (once one of the largest oil refinery in the world), Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane plant in Shush (ancient Susa), Ahvaz Metro project, and the employees of the municipality in Hamidiyeh are on strike.Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 4

Trend:

International exhibition Jewelry of the world co-organized by The M.O.S.T. was held in Four Seasons on November 28, 2018. The Ukrainian five-star hotel Edem Resort & Medical Spa took part at this event.

The exhibition was held two days, from 28th to 30th of November, where such well-known brands as Bo Chic, DJoya were represented, and the guest of this social event were elite of Baku.

An official presentation was organized, during which each of the jewelry brands presented their collections in the format of fashion shows on the first day of the event.

Edem Resort & Medical Spa represented the vouchers that were drawn during raffle at the event.

Edem Resort & Medical SPA is a health complex located not far from the ancient Lviv, on the shore of a picturesque lake. The complex combines a luxury hotel with 88 exclusive rooms, 4 fine restaurants and 5 rooms for conferences and banquets. There is a Health Recovery Center on the territory of Edem Resort Medical & SPA. It offers longevity, recovery and detoxification programs: Detox, Re-energy, Anti-stress SPA Weekend, Fithealth.

First Class Hospitality is the official representative of the Edem Resort & Medical Spa hotel, as well as many other luxury hotels in Azerbaijan and the region, and is a member of the Prime Management & Consulting group of companies.Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 4

Trend:

Baku Higher Oil School (BHOS) will be broadcast on well-known Japanese Fiji Television.

A video footage of the Higher School prepared by a crew of Fiji TV will be a part of a special program of the popular Naruhodo! The World TV series, which was aired more than 700 times since its first telecast in 1981. The program to be shown at the beginning of 2019 will feature Azerbaijani history, culture, economics, social and daily life, and the national traditions.

A special part of the program will cover the development of oil and gas industry in the country and training of the specialists for the oil and gas sector. The Fiji Television invited BHOS to cooperate in order to produce this TV spot for the Naruhodo! The World series.

The crew of the Japanese Television visited the Higher School, met with the teachers and students and made a video footage at the BHOS campus, classrooms, training laboratories and other premises. The Fuji TV producers and cameramen also attended a practical lesson for Petroleum Engineering students conducted by BHOS professors Fuad Veliyev and Rauf Nadirov who demonstrated properties of oil and told about little known facts of the history of the oil industry in Azerbaijan and the development of industrial methods of oil extraction. Then the BHOS professors and students were interviewed by the guests for the broadcast.

During the visit to the Higher School, the crew of the Fuji TV met with BHOS Rector Elmar Gasimov. Naruhodo! The World Program Coordinator Midori Umehara highly praised the conditions created at the Higher School campus, which meets the highest international standards, and expressed his sincere gratitude to the BHOS Rector for the hospitality and providing the opportunity for the video footage.Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 4

Trend:

The ceasefire monitoring at the contact line between the troops of Azerbaijan and Armenia, in the direction of Fuzuli district, held in accordance with the mandate of Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on December 4, ended with no incident, the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan said in a message on Dec. 4.

The Personal Representatives field assistants Ognjen Jovic and Simon Tiller carried out the monitoring from the territory of Azerbaijan.

The Personal Representatives field assistants Michael Olaru, Ghenadie Petrica and Martin Schuster carried out the monitoring on the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan occupied and controlled by the armed forces of Armenia.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 4

Trend:

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received a delegation led by Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of the Republic of Turkey Mehmet Cahit Turhan.

The head of state hailed the fact that Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Mehmet Cahit Turhan attends Bakutel 2018, the 24th Azerbaijan International Telecommunications, Innovations and High Technologies Exhibition, with a large delegation.

President Ilham Aliyev said that bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey are successfully developing in all areas, including in the fields of transport and infrastructure.

Touching upon cooperation in the transport sector, the head of state highlighted joint projects implemented by the two countries. President Ilham Aliyev noted that the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, which was put into service last year, is of great importance not only in the region, but also in a broader geography.

The head of state underlined that the two countries are working together in the field of communication, and added that the Turkish companies have been operating in this area for many years.

President Ilham Aliyev pointed out great prospects for further expansion of the bilateral cooperation in the field of communication.

Minister Mehmet Cahit Turhan extended Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's greetings to the head of state. Noting that relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey have deep historical roots, the Turkish minister said he saw big development in all areas in Azerbaijan, including infrastructure and urban planning.

Mehmet Cahit Turhan quoted national leader Heydar Aliyev as saying that Azerbaijan and Turkey are one nation, two states, adding that Azerbaijan's achievements are met with great rejoice in Turkey. Minister Mehmet Cahit Turhan noted that Azerbaijan and Turkey will continue to successfully implement joint projects.

The head of state thanked for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's greetings, and asked Mehmet Cahit Turhan to extend his greetings to the Turkish president.Details added (first version posted on 17:40)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 4

Trend:

After the election in Armenia, Azerbaijan stands ready for substantial and intensive negotiations as proposed and supported by OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, Deputy Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration Hikmet Hajiyev said in an interview with EURACTIV Dec. 4.

On 11 November, the world marked the centenary of the end of the First World War, he said. Lessons learned from the First and Second World Wars are that the use of force against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of states have terrible consequences. Therefore, attempts to change the internationally recognized borders of states are inadmissible.

If Armenias new government intends to build a civilized state and provide a decent living for the Armenian population, it must comply with Armenias international commitments and withdraw its troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan as demanded by the four UN Security Council resolutions on this issue, he noted. Azerbaijani internally displaced persons (IDPs) should return to their homes and justice must be provided.

Armenia should learn to live in peace with neighboring countries without military aggression and territorial claims and cease its self-isolation, he added. Thereafter, the military risk factor can be eliminated, the status-quo of occupation can be changed and opportunities for a political settlement of the conflict may arise.Details added (first version posted at 16:11)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 4

Trend:

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received a delegation led by Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense of the United States Laura Cooper.

The head of state hailed the successful development of bilateral cooperation between Azerbaijan and the US in a variety of areas.

President Ilham Aliyev pointed out the role of reciprocal visits, including the US Presidents National Security Adviser John Boltons and other officials trips to Azerbaijan in developing bilateral relations between the two countries.

Describing cooperation in the field of defense as satisfactory, the head of state noted that the issues relating to energy security are of vital importance in developing bilateral relations. President Ilham Aliyev hailed the US governments and personally the US Presidents support for the implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor project in this regard. The President also noted the significance of the US President's letters on the Republic Day and on the issues relating to energy cooperation.

Praising the development of bilateral ties within the NATO, the head of state described his recent successful visit to NATO headquarters as a good sign of cooperation with this organization. President Ilham Aliyev noted that Azerbaijans involvement in peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan and the countrys increasing the number of its servicemen in the Resolute Support Mission testify to Azerbaijans contribution to the overall peace building efforts in that country.

Describing Azerbaijan as a reliable and stable partner, President Ilham Aliyev underlined the country's contribution to the reconstruction and renovation work carried out in Afghanistan, particularly the application of ASAN xidmt experience in Afghanistan.

President Ilham Aliyev expressed his hope that Laura Coopers visit to Azerbaijan and the consultations between the two countries in the field of defense will give an extra impetus to the development of bilateral cooperation.

Saying her visit to Azerbaijan aims to continue expanding cooperation and strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and the US in the field of defense, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper added that the leadership of the United States attaches great importance to relations with Azerbaijan.

Laura Cooper hailed cooperation on preventing the spread of terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and drug trafficking, as well as security cooperation in general. She also commended Azerbaijan for supporting the peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan and creating opportunities for transit transportation to that country.Details added (first version posted on 17:40)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 4

Trend:

After the election in Armenia, Azerbaijan stands ready for substantial and intensive negotiations as proposed and supported by OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, Deputy Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration Hikmet Hajiyev said in an interview with EURACTIV Dec. 4.

On 11 November, the world marked the centenary of the end of the First World War, he said. Lessons learned from the First and Second World Wars are that the use of force against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of states have terrible consequences. Therefore, attempts to change the internationally recognized borders of states are inadmissible.

If Armenias new government intends to build a civilized state and provide a decent living for the Armenian population, it must comply with Armenias international commitments and withdraw its troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan as demanded by the four UN Security Council resolutions on this issue, he noted. Azerbaijani internally displaced persons (IDPs) should return to their homes and justice must be provided.

Armenia should learn to live in peace with neighboring countries without military aggression and territorial claims and cease its self-isolation, he added. Thereafter, the military risk factor can be eliminated, the status-quo of occupation can be changed and opportunities for a political settlement of the conflict may arise.

Hajiyev also commented on the talks held between President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan on the sidelines of the CIS heads of state meeting in Dushanbe in September this year.

As a result, Azerbaijan once again demonstrated its constructive position and strong determination to resolve the conflict through negotiations, Hajiyev said.

In Dushanbe, verbal agreement was reached to strengthen the ceasefire regime, to establish communications at low-levels and ensuring commitment to negotiations, he noted. After the election in Armenia, Azerbaijan stands ready for substantial and intensive negotiations as proposed and supported by OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. But, unfortunately, contrary to Azerbaijans goodwill and constructive position, Armenia continues its illegal activities in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, which are completely detrimental to establishing an environment conducive for negotiations.

Hajiyev went on to add that Armenia pursues the policy of annexation of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan with illegal activities and in this way attempts to strengthen the status quo of occupation.

Particularly disturbing is the settlement of Armenians from Syria to occupied territories and artificially changing the demographic situation in the seized lands, he said. According to the humanitarian law and Geneva Conventions, illegal activities in the occupied lands are forbidden. Exploitation of mineral resources of the occupied territories and their export without due diligence and transparency to OECD countries is yet another matter of serious concern. Armenia also destroys the centuries-old cultural heritage of Azerbaijani people in the seized lands. Some of them cannot be restored any longer.Details added (first version posted on 17:40)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 4

Trend:

After the election in Armenia, Azerbaijan stands ready for substantial and intensive negotiations as proposed and supported by OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, Deputy Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration Hikmet Hajiyev said in an interview with EURACTIV Dec. 4.

On 11 November, the world marked the centenary of the end of the First World War, he said. Lessons learned from the First and Second World Wars are that the use of force against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of states have terrible consequences. Therefore, attempts to change the internationally recognized borders of states are inadmissible.

If Armenias new government intends to build a civilized state and provide a decent living for the Armenian population, it must comply with Armenias international commitments and withdraw its troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan as demanded by the four UN Security Council resolutions on this issue, he noted. Azerbaijani internally displaced persons (IDPs) should return to their homes and justice must be provided.

Armenia should learn to live in peace with neighboring countries without military aggression and territorial claims and cease its self-isolation, he added. Thereafter, the military risk factor can be eliminated, the status-quo of occupation can be changed and opportunities for a political settlement of the conflict may arise.

Hajiyev also commented on the talks held between President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan on the sidelines of the CIS heads of state meeting in Dushanbe in September this year.

As a result, Azerbaijan once again demonstrated its constructive position and strong determination to resolve the conflict through negotiations, Hajiyev said.

In Dushanbe, verbal agreement was reached to strengthen the ceasefire regime, to establish communications at low-levels and ensuring commitment to negotiations, he noted. After the election in Armenia, Azerbaijan stands ready for substantial and intensive negotiations as proposed and supported by OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. But, unfortunately, contrary to Azerbaijans goodwill and constructive position, Armenia continues its illegal activities in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, which are completely detrimental to establishing an environment conducive for negotiations.

Hajiyev went on to add that Armenia pursues the policy of annexation of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan with illegal activities and in this way attempts to strengthen the status quo of occupation.

Particularly disturbing is the settlement of Armenians from Syria to occupied territories and artificially changing the demographic situation in the seized lands, he said. According to the humanitarian law and Geneva Conventions, illegal activities in the occupied lands are forbidden. Exploitation of mineral resources of the occupied territories and their export without due diligence and transparency to OECD countries is yet another matter of serious concern. Armenia also destroys the centuries-old cultural heritage of Azerbaijani people in the seized lands. Some of them cannot be restored any longer.

He noted that Azerbaijan is a supporter of multilateralism and international cooperation.

We also are a staunch supporter of the reform and adaption of the universal institutions and tools to the realities of the modern times, he said. Baku will chair the Non-Aligned Movement in 2019-2022. [The Non-Alignment Movement is an international organization uniting 120 countries on the principles of non-participation in military blocs]. International peace and security issues are priority topics in the Agenda of the Non-Aligned Movement. Azerbaijan has strong will to contribute to the promotion of these goals during its chairmanship.

Azerbaijan today plays a role of global security platform where parties with completely different agendas find common ground, he noted. In this context, it is worth mentioning regular meetings of NATO and Russia and United States and Russia top military leadership in Baku.

He added that Azerbaijan was historically located on the ancient Silk Road.

The historical experience, the geopolitical location and the will to contribute global trade condition Azerbaijans active engagement and contribution in building different models of connectivity, he said. Today, Azerbaijan has the most up-to-date infrastructure in the region consisting of land, air, sea and railroad components of Silk Way. The recently commissioned Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad is a vivid example to this end. Since its inception, Azerbaijan supports the One Belt  One Road (OBOR) initiative of China, as well as it welcomes EUs concept of connectivity.

Establishment of transport corridors doesnt just mean freight, he noted.

Of course, it is more than that, he said. As the ancient Silk Road shows, it is the collaboration and mutual enrichment of civilizations and cultures. With its modern infrastructure and regional outreach capacities, Azerbaijan contributes to linking Chinese and European markets along East-West corridor within the shorter and efficient time frame. It will generate more jobs, prosperity and stability.

Hajiyev also touched upon Azerbaijans relations with the neighboring states and said that they are the priorities of Azerbaijans foreign policy.

Azerbaijan has friendly and partnership relations with both Turkey and Iran, he said. We cannot give advice. However, we can share Azerbaijans experience and lead by our own examples. Azerbaijan pursues a transparent, predictable and independent foreign policy. It does not interfere with the internal affairs of any state, and offers regional cooperation opportunities by finding common grounds between its interests and interests of its partners.

He added that Azerbaijans cooperation with Turkey and Iran, along with bilateral format, is developing on a trilateral basis and serves for the promotion of mutually beneficial regional partnership.

Last but not least, based on the reciprocal good will, shared interests and trust, it is possible to achieve successful models of bilateral cooperation, he said.Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 4

By Elnur Baghishov  Trend:

The export of goods from Iran's East Azerbaijan province has increased by 27 percent during eight months of this Iranian year (started March 21), ISNA cited Leila Urangi, customs officer at Irans East Azerbaijan province, as saying.

She said 1,452,499 tons of products worth $1.764 billion were exported from the province.

Among the main exported products are rubber, fuel and lubricants, iron and steel cast, citrus fruits, equipment, chocolate, glass, Urangi added.

She said that these products were exported to 96 countries.

The products were mainly exported from the East Azerbaijan province to Iraq, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Georgia, Pakistan, China, Bulgaria and Italy, Urangi said.

She said that 205,527 tons of goods worth $601,132,936 were imported to Iran through the East Azerbaijan province.

Among the imported products are equipment and spare parts, tobacco and tobacco products, paper, cardboard, electrical equipment, meat, various food, steel and iron bars, rubber, Urangi said.

She added that these products were imported from 54 countries, mainly from Turkey, Germany, United Arab Emirates, China, Italy, Japan, South Korea, the Netherlands and Spain.Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 4

By Rashid Shirinov  Trend:

A plant for the production of high-quality cement was launched In the city of Rudny in Kazakhstans Kostanay region, which will meet the needs of the construction industry of Kazakhstan and the southern regions of Russia, Kazakh media reported.

A total of $100 million of investments was spent on the implementation of the project.

Governor of the Kostanay region Arkhimed Mukhambetov, who attended the plant launch ceremony, noted that the state rendered support for its construction.

Director of the enterprise Artem Maklasov, in turn, spoke about the future plans.

"We plan to get the first products within 5 days. There is already a buyer for cement  from Ufa (Russia). They are ready to purchase about 200,000-300,000 tons of cement, that is 50 percent of the design capacity of the plant," the director said.

He also noted that the plant plans to produce 17,200 tons of cement by the end of the year.

According to Maklasov, now the plant employs 190 people, and with a maximum load of the plant, the number of workers will reach 304 people.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @ShirinovRashidBaku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 4

By Rashid Shirinov  Trend:

Kazakhstan's trade turnover with Kyrgyzstan in the first 9 months of 2018 amounted to $625.7 million, which is 9.9 percent more than a year earlier, says a report by Energyprom.kz.

In January-September, exports from Kazakhstan to Kyrgyzstan increased by 22 percent, amounting to $452 million. The greatest growth was in the export of fuel and energy products (2.5 times in a year), and the largest decrease was in raw hides, furs and products from them (73.7 percent).

Imports of goods from Kyrgyzstan for the 9 months amounted to $173.4 million, which is almost 13 percent less year-on-year. The greatest growth was in the supply of building materials  almost 5 times. However, the supply of textiles decreased by 88 percent compared to January-September 2017.

It is worth noting that Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan plan to increase the volume of trade between the countries to $1 billion by 2020.

In general, in the first 9 months of 2018, Russia accounted for the bulk of Kazakhstans trade with the EAEU countries (almost 92 percent). Kyrgyzstan is second (4.5 percent) and Belarus  third (3.6 percent).

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Follow the author on Twitter: @ShirinovRashidBaku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 4

By Elnur Baghishov  Trend:

Some 70,000 tons of fruits were exported from Irans Mazandaran province, ILNA cited Azizollah Shahidifar, head of the agriculture organization of Mazandaran province, as saying.

Kiwi, Thomson orange and tangerine are exported from the province, he said, adding that exporters have a lot of problems with transit.

He said that customs duties are high for exporters.

However, there are problems with the export of Thomson oranges and these problems are expected to be resolved, he added.

Shahidifar said that 22 agricultural products are produced in Mazandaran province.Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 4

By Matanat Nasibova - Trend:

By the end of 2018, the production of Nakhchivan salt may exceed 6,000 tons, Anar Asadullayev, director of Nakhchivan Duz Istehsali Ltd., told Trend.

Asadullayev noted that this figure will increase by 500 tons in comparison with 2017.

"This is not a big difference in production volumes, given that last year the production volumes did not exceed 6,000 tons of salt. This year, these volumes could be 7,000 tons. But due to the fact that for a number of reasons the production process had to be stopped, production volumes for the current year will not exceed 6,500 tons," Asadullayev said.

He noted that the company plans to increase this figure to 7,000 tons of salt in 2019.

The company produces table and industrial salt.

The company's products have a Certificate of Conformity issued by the State Committee for Standardization, Metrology and Patents, as well as a hygiene certificate issued by the Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology of the Azerbaijani Healthcare Ministry.

Nakhchivan Duz Istehsali Ltd. operates modern equipment made in Russia, Turkey and Iran.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @MatanatNasibovaBaku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 4

Trend:

Azerbaijan's low-cost airline Buta Airways received another new Embraer E-190, which was delivered to the airlines fleet directly from the manufacturer in Brazil.

It is the eighth in the low-cost airlines fleet and will allow add more flights to the most popular destinations in the airlines flight schedule.

Adding new aircraft to the fleet will further expand the route network of Buta Airways. We are pleased that the national low-cost airline is in great demand among Azerbaijani citizens and tourists arriving in our country. The increase in the number of flights and destinations of Buta Airways will further contribute to the development of tourism in our country, AZAL President Jahangir Asgarov said.

The new aircraft of Buta Airways is named after the city of Aghdam.

By tradition, the new aircraft was welcomed at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport with a water salute.

You can watch the video of the new Embraer E-190 aircraft welcoming ceremony on the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqVTmK4NeJo&feature=youtu.be

It should be noted that the Airlines air tickets to most destinations - to Sofia, Alanya, St. Petersburg and other cities are already available in its summer flight schedule. The Airline also increased the number of flights to Izmir to three times a week.

Buta Airways is the first low-cost airline in Azerbaijan, a structural division of the CJSC Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL). It was founded in December 2016. The first flight was carried out on September 1, 2017. The Airlines fleet consists of modern Embraer E-190 aircrafts.

The Airline is based in Baku, at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport and carries out flights to the most popular destinations.

You can follow all updates and news on the social networks pages of Buta Airways:Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 4

By Fikret Dolukhanov  Trend:

Starting Aug. 1, 2018, Uzbekistan will ban the sale of some local and imported goods without labeling using a protected label and nano-molecular technology, Uzbek media reported referring to a presidential decree.

The list of 54 categories of goods subject to mandatory labeling includes non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages, medicines, vitamins and food additives, cosmetics and hygiene products, household chemicals, fertilizers, automotive fuel, and others.

There is a tendency to increase the volume of illegal, poor-quality, counterfeit and falsified products, which is detrimental to the life and health of citizens, leads to unhealthy competition and losses of the state budget of Uzbekistan, and also creates conditions for the manifestation of corruption and other offenses, the document read.

The list will be supplemented by new product groups in the future. After inclusion of goods in the list, their sale without labeling is allowed within 180 days.

Labeling services will be provided by a single supplier, which should be selected by the National Project Management Agency under the president before Feb. 1. The cost of the suppliers services will be fixed for the entire term of the agreement, which will last from 5 to 10 years.

It is also planned to adopt amendments to legislation that establish responsibility for the sale of goods without labeling.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @FDolukhanovBaku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 4

By Matanat Nasibova - Trend:

Azerbaijani salt producer Nakhchivan Duz Istehsali Ltd. intends to export its products to the CIS and the Middle East, Anar Asadullayev, director of the company, told Trend.

The company has received export related requests and offers from Turkey and Russia, Asadullayev said.

"For the time being, we are considering these two options, and we are planning to start exporting to the Russian and Turkish markets as production increases after new salt deposits are discovered," he said.

The company produces table and industrial salt.

The company's products have a Certificate of Conformity issued by the State Committee for Standardization, Metrology and Patents, as well as a hygiene certificate issued by the Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology of the Azerbaijani Healthcare Ministry.

Nakhchivan Duz Istehsali Ltd. operates modern equipment made in Russia, Turkey and Iran.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @MatanatNasibovaBaku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 4

By Rashid Shirinov  Trend:

In the first 9 months of 2018, the export of Kazakh agricultural products to China increased by 42 percent, Kazakhstan's Agriculture Vice-Minister Arman Yevniev said, according to Kazakh media.

"To ensure the availability of markets and the development of exports, measures are being taken to protect the domestic market and expand foreign markets," he said at a government meeting, noting that the Chinese market is open to many agricultural products.

Yevniev also said that veterinary requirements for the supply of live sheep, frozen and chilled lamb, beef and eggs have been agreed with Iran. This year it is planned to harmonize the requirements for live cattle supply.

"Restrictions on the supply of cattle and small ruminants to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, as well as of meat, meat products and chicken eggs to the UAE, have also been lifted," the vice minister added.

He further noted that 153 Kazakh enterprises have the right to export agricultural products to China, and 17 fish processing enterprises have permission to export fish products to the EU.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @ShirinovRashidBaku, Azerbaijan, Dec.4

By Taleh Mursagulov  Trend:

OPECs status will not be harmed as a result of Qatar's exit, Gal Luft, the co-director of the Washington-based Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, told Trend.

While the departure has political dimension having to do with its ongoing tension with the GCC a more important reason is that Qatar has long ago turned its focus from oil to gas, said the expert.

Luft pointed out that in oil it will always be a small fish in a big pond but when it comes to gas, and particularly LNG, it can play in the top league.

Therefore its investments will be more focused on the gas sector and I don't see it making huge investments in oil or ramping up production capacity. Gas is traded in long term contracts and it provides Qatar with long term fiscal stability unlike oil countries that have to endure the dramatic ebbs and flows of the oil market, noted the expert.

Furthermore, Luft believes that Qatar can divert more investments to gas-chemicals and other related downstream industries to maximize its gas profits. Simply put, it can afford to dump oil.

Qatar's departure would not mean much for the cartel, according to the expert.

After all it only contributes 2 percent of OPEC's output. The impact on the global oil market will also be negligible. Qatar did not want its membership in OPEC to be used to pressure it. Nor did it want to serve as a holder of the balance between the Iranians and the Gulf Sunni countries. It is a bold and forward looking decision, he said.

As for OPEC, its status will not be harmed as a result of Qatar's exit. Only this year the cartel admitted Congo Republic as a new member and its close coordination with Russia has boosted its status as a market maker.

Qatar has announced it will withdraw from OPEC on 1 January 2019, putting an end to its 57-year membership of the producers cartel. Qatar, which said it intends to focus on its gas production, made the announcement ahead of the 6 December OPEC meeting.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @TalehMursagulovBaku, Azerbaijan, Dec.4

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

Baku Oil Refinery named after Heydar Aliyev will be able to start Euro 5 gasoline production presumably from early 2021, Public Relations Head at Azerbaijans state oil company SOCAR Ibrahim Ahmadov told Trend.

"The work on modernization of a diesel complex is expected to be completed by late 2020 and the production of Euro 5 gasoline will be possible circa from the beginning of 2021," he added.

Ahmadov noted that modernization will make it possible to provide the domestic market with Euro 5 fuel.

"Here we first of all mean diesel fuel. The modernization will also allow to produce Euro 5 gasoline with 92-95-98 octane and other products that will be sold depending on the future market demand," he said.

Ahmadov went on to add that given the rapidly growing fuel consumption in Azerbaijan in recent years, the major part of the refinerys products is expected to be sold on the domestic market.

The products will fully meet the domestic demand and the remaining part will be exported, he added.

Currently, Baku Refinery is undergoing modernization, which will be completed in 2021. Following the modernization, the refinerys capacity will increase from 6 million tons per year to 8 million tons per year, while its operational term will be extended until 2040.

The cost of modernization of the Heydar Aliyev Oil Refinery is estimated at around $2.2 billion.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_ZeynBaku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 4

By Fikret Dolukhanov  Trend:

Uzbekistan invites investors to participate in a project to build a solar power plant with a capacity of 100 megawatts in the Navoi region, the State Investment Committee of Uzbekistan announced.

On Nov. 20, a conference was held in Tashkent for potential investors on the construction of the first solar power plant in the form of a public-private partnership (PPP). The event was organized by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the State Investment Committee of Uzbekistan and Uzbekenergo.

Representatives of the 22 largest energy companies and international financial organizations arrived in Uzbekistan to familiarize themselves with the technical features of this project and about the planned dates for the competitive selection.

Investors will be selected through a transparent and competitive tender, will have the opportunity to conclude a land lease agreement, a concession agreement and exploit and use the main assets of the power plant.

In May 2018, IFC signed an agreement with the Government of Uzbekistan to attract private sector investment in renewable energy in Uzbekistan.

IFC acts as a consultant to the government of Uzbekistan and Uzbekenergo on structuring PPPs, with the goal of mobilizing experience in attracting private investment for the construction and operation of a 100 megawatt solar power plant, which is planned to be built in the Navoi region.

This is only the first phase of the initiative to bring the total capacity of photovoltaic plants to 1,000 megawatts. The joint project aims to attract over $1 billion in private investment in the development of solar photovoltaic stations.

According to experts, this will allow not only to improve the energy supply of the country, but also to create a transparent and simplified mechanism for attracting investments, aimed further at the implementation of investment projects in other industries.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @FDolukhanovBaku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 4

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

Against a muted backdrop for demand, the US JP Morgan Bank expects oil prices to be capped around $60 per barrel.

The Bank believes that this is due to supply risks stemming from: 1) US Shale, 2) Non-OPEC, non-US productivity gains, and 3) OPEC (+).

"Key risks to our view: 1) deeper than expected OPEC cuts in 2019 and non-renewal of waivers on Iranian production; 2) stronger than expected demand growth; 3) higher decline rates and non-OPEC supply contraction at an accelerating rate over the balance of the decade, as the lack of investment in recent years is converted into a meaningful fall in new field additions," said a report from JP Morgan.

The Bank believes that the Supply Risk 1 is that OPEC+ fiscal breakevens have fallen to $50-70 per barrel; better placed to move into offense on oil policy and market share.

"While we expect OPEC to renew its production framework in 2019, we expect a weak deal. A return to 100 percent compliance would imply a net cut of 830,000 barrels per day back to 32.5 million barrels per day (from peak production of 33.3 million barrels per day in October). This would not only fall short of expectations (we believe consensus is looking for 1-1.2mb/d cut) but it would ultimately prove to be short-lived.

Moreover, JP Morgan does not expect Russia to reduce output meaningfully.

"A higher pain threshold to withstand lower oil prices drives a greater propensity for OPEC to justify increased volumes. We forecast OPEC to grow production by a net 700kb/d from an average 32.9mb/d in 2018 to 33.6mb/d in 2019. Within that we forecast Saudi Arabia to grow production to 11mb/d in 2019 and 11.5mb/d in 2020," said the report.

The Supply Risk 2 implies that the US shale will continue to be a relentless source of supply growth as production continues to increase. "The long-term outlook remains strong, supported by production from new sites."

Supply Risk 3 is the non-OPEC, non-US productivity gains, said the Bank.

"We note the latest correction in oil prices will act as a timely reminder to international oil companies that they need to stay disciplined on capital expenditure and strive for greater bang for each barrel they possess which includes mitigating acceleration in decline dates," said JP Morgan.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_ZeynBaku, Azerbaijan, Dec.4

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

The OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, has received a letter from the State of Qatar giving notice of its intention to withdraw from its Membership of OPEC, pursuant to Article 8 of the OPEC Statute, with effect from 1 January 2019, said a message from the cartel.

The letter from His Excellency Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatars Minister of State for Energy Affairs, also expressed sincere appreciation to OPEC Member Countries, the OPEC Secretary General and all OPEC staff.



Every Member Country has the sovereign right to withdraw from the organization and this requires no approval from the OPEC Conference. The organization respects the decision taken by the State of Qatar.

The OPEC Secretariat expresses thanks to the State of Qatar for its support of the organization over the many decades of its membership, said the cartel.



In the past three years, OPEC has seen Gabon (2016) rejoin the organization and welcomed new members, Equatorial Guinea (2017) and the Republic of the Congo (2018). OPEC appreciates the continued interest of producers wanting to join the organization.



OPEC said it remains fully committed to achieving and sustaining balance and stability in the market, through the organization, and with the landmark Declaration of Cooperation, alongside 10 participating non-OPEC countries.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was founded in Baghdad, Iraq, with the signing of an agreement in September 1960 by five countries namely Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. They were to become the Founder Members of the Organization.

These countries were later joined by Qatar (1961), Indonesia (1962), Libya (1962), the United Arab Emirates (1967), Algeria (1969), Nigeria (1971), Ecuador (1973), Gabon (1975), Angola (2007), Equatorial Guinea (2017) and Congo (2018).

Ecuador suspended its membership in December 1992, but rejoined OPEC in October 2007. Indonesia suspended its membership in January 2009, reactivated it again in January 2016, but decided to suspend its membership once more at the 171st Meeting of the OPEC Conference on 30 November 2016. Gabon terminated its membership in January 1995. However, it rejoined the organization in July 2016.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_ZeynBaku, Azerbaijan, Dec.4

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

Azerbaijans Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov will visit Vienna, Austria on Dec. 4-7 at the invitation of OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, said a message from Azerbaijans Energy Ministry.

Shahbazov will take part in the 12th meeting of the OPEC-Non-OPEC Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee.

Azerbaijans energy minister will also participate in the 5th OPEC and non-OPEC

Ministerial Meeting on Dec.7 as part of 175th meeting of the Council of Ministers of OPEC countries. During the visit, it is also planned to hold a number of bilateral meetings, said the message.

In December 2016, at a meeting of oil producers in Vienna, 11 non-OPEC countries, including Azerbaijan, agreed to cut oil production by a total of 558,000 barrels a day. The agreement was concluded for the first half of 2017 and was extended until the end of the first quarter of 2018 at a meeting on May 25, 2017.

At the last OPEC meeting in Vienna, the agreement was again extended until the end of 2018. Azerbaijan supported the decision.

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Follow the author on Twitter:@Lyaman_ZeynBaku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 4

By Taleh Mursagulov - Trend:

After withdrawal from OPEC, Qatar can start to market Iranian oil to Asia and Europe, Sam Barden, director of the international trading and consulting company SBI Markets, told Trend Dec. 4.

This decision is a politically and economically right thing to do, he said.

There is absolutely no benefit to Qatar to remain a member of OPEC, he noted. Firstly, they are a small oil producer in comparison to others in OPEC, and the time needed at the ministerial and executive level to maintain OPEC relations doesnt match the benefit gained.

Qatar will and should focus on gas over oil, as gas has a much bigger future than oil globally, he said. Qatar, as the largest producer of LNG, is also the host of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), an 11 member global organization, sometimes referred to as the Gas OPEC. Given Russia is a member of the GECF, but not OPEC, and is also one of the largest procurers of gas and oil, Qatar can now deepen cooperation with Russia, and also Iran.

Strategically, and moving forward, this makes much more sense politically and economically, as Russia and Iran, along with China and other parts of Asia, are likely to move away from US dollar settlements and trade in an effort to remove sanctions risk, he noted.

"Qatar can now start to market Iranian oil to Asia and Europe, and this could dramatically increase supply, or take market share from others," he added.

A move like this could be coordinated with Russia and China as part of the overall strategy to fund and build the Belt and Road Initiative, which is the largest infrastructure project on the planet, he said.

Such actions will more than likely fasten the collapse of the US dollar trading system, which is a good thing for future peace and free trade in the world, Barden noted.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @TalehMursagulovBaku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 4

By Rashid Shirinov  Trend:

It will take some time for Kazakh Tsesnabank to restore the stability of its funding base, reards a message by S&P Global Ratings.

"We expect the banks profitability to be pressured in the next 12-18 months, given increased risks and competition in the sector," the rating agency noted.

S&P Global Ratings lowered its long-term issuer credit rating on Tsesnabank to 'B-' from 'B' and its Kazakhstan national scale rating to 'kzBB-' from 'kzBB+'.

The message says that the banks deposit reduction in November was lower than in September and October 2018. Retail deposits decreased by 1.6 percent in November, versus 24.7 percent in September and 22.2 percent in October. At the same time, corporate deposit outflows reduced by 14 percent in November compared with 18 percent in September and 16 percent in October.

"The bank has received substantial support of 400 billion tenge from the government from its portfolio disposal, and we expect the bank to receive another 50 billion tenge in the near future. However, we consider that proceeds from the sale were mostly used to repay the deposits of corporate customers and individuals," S&P Global Ratings said.

At the same time, the rating agency believes that Tsesnabank remains a moderately systemically important in Kazakhstan and will continue to benefit from government support.

"We could lower the rating if we see that deposit outflows continue putting pressure on its liquidity, and/or if we believe that the bank is no longer eligible for government support," reads the message.

(371.56 KZT = 1 USD on Dec. 3)

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Follow the author on Twitter: @ShirinovRashidBaku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 4

By Taleh Mursagulov - Trend:

The price of Brent crude oil may rise again to $64-69 per barrel, Ilkin Aliyev, analyst of the Azerbaijani investment company InvestAZ, told Trend Dec. 4.

He said that such a scenario is possible if the oil price in global markets continues to remain above $62 a barrel.

Recently, the decision of the government of Qatar to withdraw from OPEC has been discussed at commodity exchanges, Aliyev said, noting that daily oil production in Qatar reaches 1.9 million barrels per day. The main question of market participants is how this decision may affect oil prices.

He said that the decision of Qatar will weaken the position of OPEC in relation to oil production in the world, but wont have a strong impact on oil prices.

One of the main reasons for this is the agreement between Saudi Arabia and Russia, and the price of oil is controlled by OPEC+, Ilkin Aliyev said. In addition, the Qatari government noted that it will remain in the OPEC+ agreement.

Qatari Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi has earlier stated that Qatar is withdrawing from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as of January 2019.

Commenting on the decision, the minister noted that Qatar wants to focus on the production of natural and liquefied gas.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @TalehMursagulovBaku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 4

By Huseyn Valiyev  Trend:

Russian Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media and the Azerbaijani Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies reached a preliminary agreement on necessary measures to reduce roaming tariffs between communication operators of the two countries, Russian Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Konstantin Noskov told Trend.

Noskov added that the work in this direction is carried out at the level of bilateral relations.

"We are working closely with Azerbaijan and have set the task for communication operators to negotiate with each other, he said.

The negotiations on this issue were held. We agreed with the Azerbaijani minister of transport of communications and high technologies to take the necessary measures for the operators to reduce tariffs for roaming services. I am convinced that we will be able to greatly reduce the cost of calls for residents of our countries."

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Follow the author on Twitter: @h_veliyevBaku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 4

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

In October 2018, 16,981 Belarusian tourists visited Turkey, which is 18.43 percent more compared to October 2017, the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry told Trend.

Belarusian citizens accounted for 0.45 percent of the total number of foreigners who visited Turkey in October 2018 compared to 0.48 percent in October 2017.

Some 237,172 tourists from Belarus visited Turkey in January-October 2018, which is 6.44 percent more than in the same period of 2017.

The ministry stressed that the share of Belarus citizens in the total number of foreigners who visited Turkey in January-October 2018 accounted for 0.67 percent.

The ministry noted that 3.8 million tourists visited Turkey in October 2018, which is 25.48 percent more than in the same period of 2017.

In January-October 2018, 35,571,419 tourists visited Turkey, which is 22.43 percent more compared to the same period in 2017.

In October 2018, 1,359,212 tourists visited Turkeys Antalya province and 1,230,070 tourists visited Istanbul.

In January-October 2018, 12,008,939 tourists visited Antalya, while 11,340,081 tourists - Istanbul.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizogluBaku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 4

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

In October 2018, 153,201 tourists from Georgia visited Turkey, which is 28 percent less than in the same month of 2017, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey told Trend Dec. 4.

The share of Georgian citizens in the total number of foreigners who visited Turkey in October 2018, amounted to 4 percent.

In January - October 2018, a total of 1,792,478 tourists from Georgia visited Turkey, which is 13.48 percent less compared to the same period of 2017, the ministry stated.

Thus, 5.04 percent accounted for the share of Georgian citizens in the total number of foreigners who visited Turkey in January - October 2018.

In October 2018, 3.8 million tourists visited Turkey, which is 25.48 percent more compared to October 2017, according to the ministry.

As of January-October 2018, 35,571,419 tourists visited Turkey, which is 22.43 percent more than in January-October 2017, the ministry noted.

The ministry said that in October 2018, 1,359,212 tourists visited Turkey's Antalya province, while Istanbul's visitors amounted to 1,230,070 tourists.

In January-October 2018, Antalya and Istanbul were visited by 12,008,939 and 11,340,081 tourists, respectively, the ministry added.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizogluDirector of the State Agency for Local Government and Inter-Ethnic Relations (SALFGIER) of the Kyrgyz Republic Bakhtiyar Saliev met with representatives of the Hanns Seidel Foundation in Central Asia, headed by Max Georg Meair, head of the office in Shandong province in China Michael Klaus and Lothar Winklerem, member of the Executive Committee of the Rural Development Administration of the Bavarian Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Forestry, kabar.kg reports.

During the meeting, Lothar Winkler briefed about the Bavarian experience in the development of local government and the holding of the conference Rural Development in Bavaria, which will be held on December 5 of this year in Bishkek.

Lothar Winkler said that Bavaria has been paying a lot of attention to rural development for several decades.

In 2013, the Constitution was changed, namely, the norms were introduced that the state of Bavaria should provide equivalent conditions, both in urban areas and in rural areas. Thus, priority is even more determined for the development of rural Bavaria, he said.

In turn, Saliev informed about the current state of local self-government in the Kyrgyz Republic.

The main goal of the regional policy of Kyrgyzstan is to ensure accelerated socio-economic development of the regions of the republic in order to improve the well-being and quality of life of the population through focal support for the development of supporting territories, including development centers and relevant ayil aimaks. As we know, the main principles of rural development in Bavaria are citizen participation in regional development, land management and space management. And these processes are of central importance, he noted.Employees of the Embassy of Kyrgyzstan in India took part in the annual 30th International Charitable Diplomatic Bazaar, kabar.kg reports.

This year, an international event gathered on the same site more than 35 diplomatic missions accredited in India, the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic reported.

Each country represented at the exhibition the best types of products, cuisine and national costumes. The diplomatic bazar was accompanied by music, dance and performances of creative teams of foreign countries and India.

Kyrgyzstan, as a regular participant of this annual fair, presented the most delicious Kyrgyz honey, various types of agricultural products from the regions of the Kyrgyz Republic and a variety of national souvenirs.

The pavilion of Kyrgyzstan is always famous for its environmentally friendly products, which this time attracted thousands of visitors to the fair with great interest.

Traditionally, following the results of the exhibition, each country will make its own special charitable contribution to help the capital medical center for the poor.Kyrgyz Prime Minister Mukhammedkalyi Abylgaziyev met with Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the Kyrgyz Republic Ha Tae-yeok, kabar.kg reports.

During the meeting, issues of cooperation between Kyrgyzstan and Korea, as well as prospects for further cooperation in the implementation of joint projects were discussed, the press service of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic reported.

Mutual interest was emphasized in enhancing Kyrgyz-Korean cooperation in the trade, economic, investment and transport and logistics spheres, taking into account the favorable conditions for doing business created in Kyrgyzstan and the country's capabilities related to participation in the economic integration processes in the Eurasian space and GSP+ preferences provided by the European Union.

Ambassador Ha Tae-yeok noted that Korea and, in particular, the Korea International Cooperation Agency aim at supporting economically viable projects in the regions of Kyrgyzstan as part of the Governments work that will help strengthen the country's export potential. He also assured of his willingness to make every effort to attract Korean investment in the most attractive sectors of the Kyrgyz economy.

The meeting was also attended by Head of the Representative Office of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) in the Kyrgyz Republic Dongil.The Dushanbe mayors office has decided to reduce the number of fixed-route taxis (minivans) in the Tajik capital in order to remove traffic jams in the city, news.tj reports.

The number of fixed-route taxis has been reduced on route # 11 (School # 61  Balkh Bazaar); they have been replaced with buses, an source official at the Dushanbe mayors office told Asia-Plus today morning.

Besides, the number of fixed-route taxis has been reduced on routes ## 10 (Tajik Institute of Physical Training  Pakhtakor Neighborhood) and 2 (Eastern Passenger Terminal  Southern Passenger Terminal). Buses now run along these routes.

The number of fixed-route taxis has been reduced on route # 33 (Julius Fucik Street  Southern Passenger Terminal) as well. However, bus service has not yet been launched along this route.Tajik leader Emomali Rahmon will attend an informal summit of the CIS heads of state that will take place in St Petersburg on December 6, news.tj reports.

The CIS heads of state will review the results of the past years work and determine priorities of activities for the next year, a source in the Tajik government told Asia-Plus in an interview.

While in St Petersburg, Rahmon will also participate in a summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

Russian media reports say the CSTO heads of state will take decision on election of a new Secretary-General of the Organization.

Established on December 8, 1991 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional organization. It now consists of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine. Georgia pulled out of the organization in 2009.

Although Ukraine was one of the founding countries and ratified the Creation Agreement in December 1991, Ukraine chose not to ratify the CIS Charter as it disagrees with Russia being the only legal successor state to the Soviet Union. Thus it does not regard itself as a member of the CIS. In 1993, Ukraine became an "Associate Member" of CIS. On March 14, 2014, a bill was introduced to Ukraine's parliament to denounce their ratification of the 1991 Agreement Establishing the CIS, following the Russian military intervention in Ukraine and annexation of Crimea, but was never approved. Following the 2014 parliamentary election, a new bill to denounce the CIS agreement was introduced. In September 2015, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed Ukraine will continue taking part in CIS on a selective basis. Since that month, Ukraine has had no representatives in the CIS Executive Committee building. In April 2018, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko indicated that Ukraine would formally leave the CIS. On May 19, 2018, President Poroshenko signed a decree formally ending Ukraine's participation in CIS statutory bodies. However, as of 1 June the CIS secretariat had not received formal notice from Ukraine of its withdrawal from the CIS, a process which will take 1 year following notice being given. Ukraine has stated that intends review its participation in all CIS agreements, and only continue in those that are in its interests.

CSTO is the regional security organization, which was initially formed in 1992 for a five-year period by the members of the CIS Collective Security Treaty (CST) -- Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, which were joined by Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Belarus the following year. A 1994 treaty reaffirmed the desire of all participating states to abstain from the use or threat of force, and prevented signatories from joining any other military alliances or other groups of states directed against members states. The CST was then extended for another five-year term in April 1999, and was signed by the presidents of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. In October 2002, the group was renamed as the CSTO. Uzbekistan that suspended its membership in 1999 returned to the CSTO again in 2006 after it came under international criticism for its brutal crackdown of antigovernment demonstrations in the eastern city of Andijon in May 2005. On June 28, 2012, Uzbekistan announced that it has suspended its membership of the CSTO, saying the organization ignores Uzbekistan and does not consider its views. The CSTO is currently an observer organization at the United Nations General Assembly.The Government has sent draft amendments proposed to the countrys administrative code for consideration to the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan lower house of parliament), news.tj reports.

The amendments, in particular, stipulate that import of low-quality food products will be punishable by a fine ranging from 25,000 somoni to 35,000 somoni for legal entities, an official source at the Majlisi Namoyandagon told Asia-Plus in an interview.

According to him, repeated violation of the administrative codes provisions regarding low-quality food imports will be punishable by a fine ranging from 35,000 somoni to 50,000 somoni for legal entities and a fine ranging from 25,000 somoni to 50,000 somoni for officials.

In both cases, the discovered low-quality or expired goods are liable to confiscation and destruction.

Currently, the discovered low-quality or expired goods are confiscated and destructed but no penalties are imposed.

Recall, former chief customs officer Abdufattoh Ghoib was retired because of problems related to import of low-quality poultry into the country.

Because of this problem heads of some government bodies have been sacked while some others have been reprimanded.

In a statement delivered at the governments review meeting, President Emomali Rahmon on January 18 this year criticized improper work of the Customs Service, pointing out cases of corruption among customs officers and the failure to fulfill the customs duty collection target.

The head of state also expressed dissatisfaction with the level of control over the quality food products, in particular poultry, being imported into the country.Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Dec. 4

By Huseyn Hasanov  Trend:

A three-day international exhibition of the import substitution production technologies kicked off Dec. 4 in Ashgabat.

The exhibition is organized by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Turkmenistan.

The event is aimed at expanding trade and economic relations, the formation and launch of projects to improve the competitiveness of the national economy, its production potential.

As part of the import substitution program in Turkmenistan, there are plans to build facilities for the production of construction, chemical, household and other products based on local raw materials.

Turkmenistan, according to a BP report, ranks fourth in terms of gas reserves and at this stage exports it to China and Iran. Turkmenistan is in the process of diversifying its economy.Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 4

By Elnur Baghishov - Trend:

In the first eight months of the current Iranian year (started March 21), exports of Iran's Razavi Khorasan Province increased by 40 percent compared to the previous year, the acting governor general of the province, Ghorban Mirzaei, said, IRNA reported.

He noted that despite problems, exports of the province reached 1.919 million tons or $1.697 billion.

Meanwhile, imports of Razavi Khorasan amounted to 170,000 tons or $231 million, he added.

Thus, imports, compared to the same period of the previous Iranian year, decreased 12 percent in terms of weight, but increased 0.1 percent in terms of value.The head of the Central Bank of Iran and the ambassador of China in Tehran emphasized solving the mutual banking problems on Tuesday, IRNA reports.

'Despite the US attempts to cut Iran's commercial ties with the world, several countries have proposed methods to keep and expand their banking relations with Iran,' said Abdulnaser Hemmati in the meeting with the Chinese envoy Pang Sen.

Hemmati added that the US government's measures have not been able to have their desired effects in Iranian economy.

Pang said that China is interested in expanding its long-term strategic ties with Iran.

China is the biggest economic partner of Iran. About $6.5bn of goods has been exported to China since the beginning of the Iranian year (starting March 20).

Iran has imported $7.38bn of goods from Iran in the same period.Algerian Cultural Exhibition is scheduled to start in the Iranian capital Tehran today and will last for three days, IRNA reports.

Organized by the Algerian Embassy in Iran, the exhibition, which will be held at Melal Cultural Center, aims to make people of the two countries more familiar with each others culture, customs and tradition.

The head of the cultural center, Esmaeil Fallah-Kheir, said that traditional and visual artworks (watercolor paintings, oil paintings, miniature and acrylic) as well as handicrafts (potteries, stone paintings) will be displayed at the exhibition.

In Art and Cinema section, The Battle of Algiers by Gillo Pontecorvo and The Well will go on silver screen.

An exhibition featuring Algerian cuisines and traditional clothes is another part of the event which seeks to promote friendship between the two countries.Georgia has set a new record, hosting over eight million international travellers this year, Agenda.ge reports referring to the Georgian National Tourism Administration (GNTA).

More specifically, Georgia hosted 8,105,829 international travellers in January-November 2018, showing an increase of 10.6% year-on-year. Of these travellers, 4,486,595 were tourists, which is 17.2% more compared to the same period of 2017.

The majority of foreign travellers were from:

Russia -1,341,127 travellers (+23.8%)

Azerbaijan - 1,311,907 travellers (+9.8%)

Armenia - 1,162,220 travellers (+0.3%)

Turkey - 1,031,147 travellers (+11.6%)

A positive trend was maintained by visitors from the European Union:

Estonia (+82%)

Romania (+63%)

Slovakia (+62%)

The Netherlands (+58%)

Germany (+50%)

The countries with the most significant increase were:

Korea (+117%)

China (+80%)

Belarus (+43%)

Israel (+33%)

Kazakhstan (+24%)

The United States (+24%)

Last month alone Georgia hosted 598,312 internatioanal visitors (6.4%) of which 307,272 were tourists (+14%), said the GNTA.

About $2.81 billion was generated from international tourism in Georgia in January-October 2018, which was $468 million more compared to the same period of 2017, shows the preliminary data of the GNTA.

In the first and second quarter of 2018 international tourism revenue reached $1.36 billion.

Meanwhile, in all of 2017 international tourism revenue reached $2.7billion, which was $594 million more compared to 2016.Georgia has exported 8,595 tonnes of mandarins this year as of 3 December 2018, announces Georgias Ministry of Agriculture and Environment Protection, Agenda.ge reports.

Taking into account the fact that this year is a very rich and high quality citrus harvest, exports are also proceeding actively, the ministry said.

Georgian mandarins were mainly exported to Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Uzbekistan and Latvia.

The price of mandarins varies from 0.40 GEL to 0.70 GEL.

The government of Georgia is subsidising the cost of mandarins as a way to support fruit growers and processing companies.Syria and North Koreas foreign ministers met in Damascus on Tuesday, officials said, and thanked each other for their support during years of international isolation, Reuters reports.

North Koreas Ri Yong Ho thanked Walid al-Moualem for Syrias opposition to economic sanctions on Pyongyang, according to Syrias foreign ministry. Moualem said Syria was grateful for North Koreas support in international forums.

United Nations monitors say the relationship has gone deeper than diplomacy and accused North Korea in February of cooperating with Syria on chemical weapons - a charge North Korea denied.

Israel in 2007 bombed a suspected nuclear reactor in eastern Syria which it said was being constructed with help from North Korea and had been months away from activation.

Syria, a signatory of the 1970 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, has always denied that the site was a reactor or that Damascus engaged in nuclear cooperation with North Korea.

Both countries have faced international isolation, North Korea over its nuclear weapons program, and Syria over its nearly eight-year-old civil war.

A Syrian parliamentary delegation visited North Korea in October.China wants to deepen cooperation with the European Union, Chinas President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday during a visit to Portugal, a country he said was an important link to Europe, Reuters reported.

Chinese-Portuguese relations are entering their best period in history, Xi said in a speech after meeting Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

Xi said the two countries could benefit from Beijings belt and road initiative, to build business partnerships, including in third countries along the old silk road from China to Europe.

Xi said that having Portugal as a partner, we will deepen our ... strategic partnership between China and the European Union. He made no mention of Beijings trade spat with Washington.

Portugal has been one of Europes biggest recipients of Chinese investment in the past few years and Chinese companies have large stakes in the energy sector, banking, insurance and healthcare.Spain has received a total of 73.9 million international tourists in the first 10 months of the year, Xinhua reported citing Spain's Statistical Office (INE).

The figure is 0.5 percent higher than that of the same period in 2017. Visitors from Britain reached 16.7 million, followed by French and the Germans, the INE said, while pointing out that Spain's northeastern region of Catalonia had been chosen as the main destination, receiving more than 17.1 million international tourists from January to October.

The INE also reported that in the first 10 months of the year, international tourists spent 79.92 billion euros (90.71 billion US dollars) in the country, which meant a 2.7 percent rise when compared with the same period of a year earlier.

As for October, Spain received 7.6 million international visitors, which meant a 5 percent rise year-on-year. They spent 8.15 billion euros, meaning a 4.6 percent increase when compare with October, 2017.

Spain's State Secretary for Tourism Isabel Oliver said in a statement that this data was "excellent news".Israels Defense Forces have launched Operation Northern Shield to expose and destroy tunnels, built by the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah, crossing into Israel, IDF Spokesman Jonathan Conricus said on Tuesday, TASS reports.

The army has not called up reserves, but reinforced its forces in the north. The northern command is on full combat alert and is ready for various unexpected circumstances and scenarios, the spokesman said.

Although the tunnels cross into Israel, they are not yet operational and do not pose an imminent threat to Israeli civilians, Conricus said. He did not elaborate on the number of tunnels.

"It will take time to neutralize and expose all the tunnels," the spokesman said.

The army declared an area around Metula, in northern Israel, a closed military zone.The Health Ministry of Israel, alarmed over the soaring number of cases of pneumonia related to the flu, is urging the public to get vaccinated against the influenza virus, The Jerusalem Post reports.

Influenza is a disease that can be caught, especially by sensitive populations such as the elderly. We call on the public to get vaccinated against influenza, a health ministry official said. There is an effective vaccine available that can prevent a lot of illness and damage.

In related developments, Immigration Ministry officials have noticed increased cases in respiratory morbidity relating to the flu while clinics around the country have been experiencing both an uptick in visits related to the virus, and an increase in positive flu identifications.

Sixteen percent of the cases brought in last week contained traces of the flu virus. Out those, three were confirmed to be stricken with Severe Acute Respiratory Infection. The increase directly affects all age groups, according to the Health Ministry.Thousands of women went on strike Tuesday to protest what they say is authorities failure to stem a sharp increase in violence against women in Israel, with marches and other demonstrations planned for the day, The Times of Israel reports.

Tens of thousands of women were expected to skip work and join nationwide demonstrations to draw attention to domestic violence, after the suspected murders of two teen girls brought the number of women killed in past year to 24.

Hundreds of institutions, municipalities, schools, and organizations have said they will allow their employees to strike, and the governments civil service commissioner has also made concessions to allow participation in the labor action.

Demonstrators gathered at Tel Avivs Azrieli interchange at 9:30 a.m. where they blocked the traffic, and are expected to meet at the intersection of Rokach Boulevard and the Namir highway in the north of the city at 12 p.m. Police have warned drivers to expect delays in those areas.

At 10 a.m., a 24-minute period of silence was observed in memory of the 24 women killed by a partner, family member or someone they knew in the last year.

Throughout the day, music and art exhibits will be displayed along Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv, and a march in solidarity with the asylum-seeker community will depart Levinsky Park for Rabin Square in the afternoon.

On Tuesday morning, over 200 pairs of womens shoes, painted red, were laid out to protest the violence in an installation at Tel Avivs central Habima Square.

The days events will culminate in a main demonstration in Tel Avivs Rabin Square at 7:30 p.m. that is expected to draw thousands.

On Monday, the oppositions Zionist Union brought a no-confidence motion condemning the government failure to curb the violence. Coalition members boycotted the discussion and vote. A no-confidence motion needs at least 61 votes in the 120-member Knesset to pass.

During the discussion, a number of activists in the stands overlooking the plenum pulled out signs and loudly protested the government inaction. Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein ordered the women removed from the plenum.

According to organizers, over 300 institutions have expressed support for the strike, including 47 local municipalities, 11 labor unions and around 100 corporations and private businesses.

In recent days, the Knesset, the Histadrut national labor union, the national student union, the Jewish National Fund and the National Insurance Institute have joined hundreds of others backing the strike, whicht was called last week following the murders of two teen girls.

We are striking because decision-makers must realize that actions are required, not empty words, the organizers said in a statement on Monday that called on Israelis to take to the streets the next day to stand up to negligent indifferent and demand solutions.

We demand the transfer of the NIS 250 million budget promised a year and a half ago for the emergency plan to prevent violence against women, organizers said, and called for additional educational and rehabilitation programs to combat domestic violence.

On Monday, Civil Service Commissioner Daniel Hershkowitz said that anyone who wanted to participate in the labor action could do so without being penalized by their employer.

As per Hershkowitzs instructions, employees must be allowed to strike on Tuesday but their employers reserve the right to dock the time from accumulated vacation days. He also instructed government ministries to hold workshops and other activities to raise awareness for domestic violence on Tuesday.

On Saturday, the Tel Aviv Municipality said its female employees would be allowed to take paid leave Tuesday if they wished to observe the strike. A short time later, the municipalities of Jerusalem, Haifa, Beersheba, Ramat Gan, Modiin, and Rishon Lezion made similar announcements.

The Arab-majority towns of Tamra, Tira, Sakhnin, Taibe, Kafr Kassem, Jaljulia and Qalansawe have also said they will participate, among others.

According to organizers, the Rami Levy and Tiv Taam supermarket chains, the Fattal hotel chain, the Haaretz publishing group, the Yes TV satellite company, eBay Israel, the Dizengoff Center mall, and the Super-Pharm drugstore chain have also backed the strike.

Tel Avivs Bar Ilan University announced it would hold a special seminar on domestic violence on Tuesday instead of regular classes. Tel Aviv University and Jerusalems Hebrew University canceled some of Tuesdays classes in support, while Beershebas Ben Gurion University called for an on-campus demonstration against domestic violence.

Organizers called the strike last week in the wake of the murders of two teen girls, whose deaths brought the number of women killed in the last year in domestic violence-related incidents to 24, the highest in years. The strike was initiated by a group called Im a Woman, Im Striking and a Red Flag coalition made up of dozens of womens groups.

On November 26, 16-year-old Yara Ayoub was found dead in her Galilee hometown of Jish, six days after she went missing, according to police. Authorities have identified the primary suspect in the murder as a 28-year-old man from the village, and have arrested several others suspected of involvement.

Many of the details of the investigation, including the identities of the suspects, are under a court-ordered gag order for fear that their publication could hinder the investigation.

Hours later, authorities said Sylvana Tsegai, 13, was found after being murdered in her Tel Aviv home, allegedly by her mothers former partner Tesfebarhan Tesfasion, who evaded police for several days before being caught. Police reportedly suspect she was also sexually assaulted.

According to reports, Tsegai had been known to welfare authorities as a victim of domestic violence. She reportedly called police on Saturday to complain about Tesfasion being in her home.

At a visit to a womens shelter on November 25, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, said they were unsettled by domestic violence.

Netanyahu later told ministers he was surprised to learn that almost nothing was done to domestic abusers. Netanyahu said the uptick in violence against women in Israel in recent years was a criminal phenomenon and called for stricter enforcement.

Netanyahu said he had voted against the Knesset proposal to establish a parliamentary commission of inquiry on violence against women because it was presented by opposition lawmakers.

The opposition floated last weeks proposal for a commission of inquiry into violence against women after the government failed to deliver a plan to address the problem, as it had promised to do several weeks ago.

There have been several protests targeting government inaction since the murders, including late Sunday when activists dyed the waters in several public fountains blood-red, including a fountain outside the Prime Ministers Residence.Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 4

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Turkey will carry out a census of Syrian refugees, the Turkish media cited Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu as saying on Dec. 4.

The presence of Syrian refugees in Turkey is a very complex issue and should be thoroughly examined, he said.

Soylu also stressed that after the Olive Branch and Euphrates Shield operations were conducted, 285,000 Syrian refugees returned to Syria.

Presently, there are 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey.

On Jan. 20, the Turkish Armed Forces, together with the Free Syrian Army, launched the Operation Olive Branch in Afrin, Syria.

On Aug. 24, 2016, units of the Turkish Armed Forces began the Operation Euphrates Shield against the "Islamic State" and with the support of the Syrian opposition liberated the border town of Jarablus in northern Syria, as well as al-Bab.

----

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizogluThe U.S. State Department said it will reopen its embassy in Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday, more than a week after it closed because of a terrorist threat, Reuters reported.

The embassy and other facilities in the capital Kinshasa have been shut since Nov. 26 and U.S. citizens were advised to keep a low profile.

U.S. officials have remained tight-lipped in public about the nature of the threat, but have informed foreign diplomats that the embassy closure is due to the arrest last month of a cell of Tanzanian jihadists from a Ugandan Islamist group called the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), two diplomats told Reuters.

Congo is on edge ahead of a long delayed presidential election in December to find a successor to president Joseph Kabila who has publicly agreed to step down after holding on to power two years beyond his allotted mandate.

Congos foreign minister said in a news conference on Friday that the threat against U.S. government facilities was real and serious.US and Indian officials in coming days will sort out all issues related to the United States possibly waiving sanctions against India for its purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems, Secretary of Defense James Mattis said at the Pentagon, Sputnik reported.

"We'll sort out all those issues here today, and in the days ahead well work all this forward," Mattis told reporters on Monday when asked if he expects New Delhi to get a sanctions waiver over the S-400 purchase.

Mattis also noted that India has spent many years in non-aligned status despite drawing a lot of weapons from Russia. The defense secretary said he would discuss a number of issues with his Indian counterpart who is now visiting Washington, DC.The United Nations appealed for $21.9 billion on Tuesday to address 21 humanitarian crises worldwide next year, including $4 billion for Yemen, its largest aid operation, Reuters reports.

The appeal to donor countries does not include the funding requirements for Syria, which are expected to bring the total up to $25 billion, it said.U.S. President Donald Trump is building a new world order upheld by American leadership and democracy, the secretary of state Mike Pompeo told diplomats at an event in Brussels on Tuesday, blaming Iran and China for instability in the world, Reuters reports.

In the finest traditions of our great democracy, we are rallying the noble nations to build a new liberal order that prevents war and achieves greater prosperity, Mike Pompeo said in a foreign policy speech.

Under President Trump, we are not abandoning international leadership or our friends in the international system, he said.

Pompeo criticized Iran and China in his speech, rejecting suggestions that Washington was acting unilaterally.

Even our European friends sometimes say were not acting in the free worlds interest. This is just plain wrong.

We are acting to preserve, protect, and advance an open, just, transparent and free world of sovereign states. This project will require actual, not pretend, restoration of the liberal order among nations. It will require an assertive America and leadership from not only my country, but of democracies around the world.

Pompeo said the United States was pushing the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to reduce funding to countries such as China, saying they already had access to financial markets to raise capital.

Pompeo is in Brussels for talks among foreign ministers at NATO, where Trump has accused European members of failing to spend enough on their own defense and relying too much on Washington.

NATO is also pressing Trump not to go through with his decision to quit the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty with Moscow, signed in 1987, but instead to work to bring Russia into compliance with the arms control pact.KYODO NEWS - Dec 4, 2018 - 12:07 | All, World, Japan

The Japanese government is considering inviting U.S. President Donald Trump as a state guest after Crown Prince Naruhito's planned accession on May 1, government sources said Tuesday.

The government is trying to arrange a meeting between the new emperor and Trump, in a move that could make the U.S. president the first foreign guest to meet with him, according to the sources.

Tokyo will arrange the detailed schedule of Trump's trip with Washington as he is also expected to visit Japan to attend the Group of 20 summit in Osaka on June 28 to 29 next year, the sources said.

Japan aims to demonstrate its strong alliance with the United States through Trump's visit as a state guest that typically involves a meeting with the emperor, in addition to talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

In a meeting on the sidelines of the two-day G-20 summit through Saturday in Argentina, Trump told Abe that he looks forward to visiting Japan next year.

"I'll be going to a tremendous event in Japan," he said, adding, "I was very honored to be invited. Your emperor."

The 58-year-old crown prince will succeed to the throne after Emperor Akihito, 84, abdicates on April 30 as the first living monarch to do so in about two centuries.

A senior Japanese government source said Trump's Japan visit will come after the new emperor's enthronement.

The U.S. leader paid a visit Japan in November last year as an official guest, rather than a state guest. His predecessor Barack Obama was invited to Japan as a state guest in April 2014.

Meanwhile, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said Tuesday former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda will attend Wednesday's state funeral for former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, who died on Friday at age 94, as a special envoy of Abe.



(Emperor Akihito, right, and Crown Prince Naruhito)

Related stories:

Emperor Akihito attends last garden party ahead of abdication

Japan mulls 10-day holidays around 2019 imperial successionJustice Devan Ramachandran felt that swift and exemplary action could change the psychology of the police.KAIST will participate in Kenya's strategic economic development plan under the provision of a turnkey-based science and technology education consultancy for the establishment of the Kenya Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (Kenya KAIST).

KAIST signed the contract on November 30 with the Konza Technopolis Development Authority to establish Kenya KAIST. Korea Eximbank will offer a 95 million USD loan to the Kenyan government for this project.

The project will include the educational and architectural design and construction of Kenya KAIST. The campus will be constructed in the Konza Techno City nearby Nairobi by 2021, with the first batch of 200 graduate students starting classes in 2022. KAIST, in consortium with Samwoo and Sunjin architecture and engineering companies, will take the lead of the three-year project, with the kick-off ceremony planned at the end of next January in Nairobi.

The Kenyan government plans to transform Kenya into a middle-income country under Vision 2030 through promoting science, technology, and innovation for national economic growth. Nicknamed Africa's Silicon Savannah, Konza Techno City is a strategic science and technology hub to realize this vision. To this end, the medium-term plan set a goal to provide specialized research and training in various leading-edge engineering and advanced science fields.

In the two-phase evaluation of the consultancy bidding, KAIST won preferred bidder status in the technical proposal evaluation, outbidding three other Korean consortia. Invited to the financial proposal bidding, the KAIST consortium successfully completed month-long contract negotiations with Kenya last week.

KAIST will develop academic curricula for six initial departments (Mechanical Engineering, Electrical/Electronic Engineering, ICT Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, and Agricultural Biotechnology), which will lay the ground work for engineering research and education in Kenya to meet emerging socioeconomic demands. In addition, KAIST will provide the education of basic sciences of math, physics, chemistry, and biology for students.

It is also notable that the Kenyan government asked to develop an industry-academy cooperation program in Konza Techno City. It reflects the growing industrial needs of Kenya KAIST, which will be located in the center of the Konza Technopolis. It is anticipated that the technopolis will create 16,675 jobs in the medium term and over 200,000 after completion, positioning Kenya as an ICT hub within the region.

KAIST also shares a similar history of establishment with Kenya KAIST, as it will be built with a foreign loan. KAIST, created by the Korean government in 1971 to drive the economic engine through advancement of science and technology with a six-million USD loan from USAID, has now become a donor institution that hands down science and technology education systems including the construction of campuses to underdeveloped countries.

The successful case of KAIST has been benchmarked by many countries for years. For instance, KAIST set up the curriculum of the nuclear engineering program at the Khalifa University of Science and Technology in UAE in 2010. In China, Chongqing University of Technology is running its electrical engineering and computer science programs based on the educational systems and curricula offered by KAIST from 2015. In October, KAIST also signed an MOU with the Prince Mohammad Bin Salman College of Cyber Security, AI, and Advanced Technologies in Saudi Arabia to provide the undergraduate program for robotics.

Among all these programs benchmarking KAIST, Kenya KAIST clearly stands out, for it is carrying out a turnkey-based project that encompasses every aspect of institution building ranging from educational curriculum development to campus construction and supervision.

President Sung-Chul Shin is extremely excited about finalizing the deal, remarking, "It is of great significance that KAIST's successful development model has carved out a unique path to becoming a global leading university that will benefit other countries. In only a half century, we have transitioned from a receiver to a donor institution, as the country itself has done."

"KAIST will spare no effort for Kenya KAIST to become a successful science and technology university that will play a crucial role in Kenya's national development. I believe Kenya KAIST will be an exemplary case of an ODA (Official Development Assistance) project based on the development of science and technology to benefit underdeveloped countries," he added.

###



White & Case has hired Allen & Overy Duesseldorf corporate partner Murad Daghlesthe latest German departure from the magic circle firm.



Allen & Overy has lost two other partners in Germany in recent months.



Daghles joined Allen & Overy in 2010 from Hogan Lovells, where he was an associate before making partner at the magic circle firm last year. He speaks Arabic and has experience working in the Middle East. His practice covers national and cross-border M&A transactions, as well as corporate litigation matters.



Earlier this year, he advised Saudi Arbian Oil Co. on its 1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) acquisition of German chemicals company Lanxess's 50 percent stake in their synthetic rubber joint venture, Arlanxeo.



Murads focus on transactions involving German and Middle Eastern organizations, and his Arabic background, knowledge and experience, position him as a unique talent in the German legal market," said White & Case executive committee member Oliver Brettle.



Daghles' move marks the third partner departure from Allen & Overy's German offices in recent months; Legal Week, Law.com's U.K.-based publication, reported in October that two senior partners were leaving the magic circle firms Frankfurt base. Global head of employment and benefits Tobias Neufeld left to launch a consulting business, while German litigation head Daniel Busse will leave the firm early next year to launch his own boutique.





The Germany departures came after senior figures from Allen & overyincluding Germany senior partner Thomas Ubbermet with the U.S. firm OMelveny & Myers in Frankfurt earlier this year to discuss their potential transatlantic merger.





For White & Case, the hire of Daghles is the latest in a series of expansive moves across Europe.



Last month the firm recruited a Paris-based private equity team from rival Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe. It also has recently boosted its London base with the additions of Taylor Wessing financial services regulatory head Jonathan Rogers and Weil, Gotshal & Manges London banking head Mark Donald.Dec 4(Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on Tuesday, led by healthcare shares, while market sentiment was hurt by fading hopes of a swift resolution to the U.S.-China trade dispute.

* At 9:34 a.m. ET (14:34 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was down 41.76 points, or 0.27 percent, at 15,233.22.

* The healthcare sector fell 3.1 percent, the most among the 11 major sectors.

* Aphria Inc plunged over 20 percent, extending losses from the previous session. The cannabis producer defended its Latin American operations from claims in a short-seller report on Monday that the company had overpaid for assets.

* Bank of Montreal fell 1.1 percent, after Canada's fourth-biggest lender reported fourth-quarter earnings, ending a mixed earnings season for Canada's biggest banks.

* The financials sector edged down 0.5 percent.

* The energy sector dropped 0.1 percent as U.S. crude prices pared gains to trade up 0.3 percent per barrel, while Brent crude added 1 percent.

* The materials sector, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertiliser companies, added 0.3 percent as gold futures edged up 0.4 percent to $1,238.4 an ounce.

* The largest percentage gainers on the TSX were Trican Well Service, which surged 9.9 percent as Raymond James raised rating on its stock to "strong buy" from "outperform".

* Second biggest gainer was Teck Resources B, which rose 3.2 percent, after the mining company agreed to sell a 30 percent stake in its Quebrada Blanca copper mine expansion project in northern Chile to Japan's Sumitomo for $1.2 billion.

* Aphria Inc declined the most on the TSX, while the second biggest decliner was Osisko Gold Royalties, down 3 percent.

* The most heavily traded shares by volume were Aphria Inc , Trican Well Svc and Aurora Cannabis .

* On the TSX, 73 issues were higher, while 165 issues declined for a 2.26-to-1 ratio to the downside, with volume touching 12.38 million shares.

* The TSX posted two new 52-week highs and four new lows.

* Across all Canadian issues, there were four new 52-week highs and 12 new lows, with total volume touching 18.71 million shares. (Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by James Emmanuel)By David Lawder and Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States expects immediate action by China on trade issues after a deal reached by the countries' leaders, including lower tariffs on automobiles and measures against intellectual property theft and forced technology transfers, a White House official said on Monday.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to hold off on new tariffs for 90 days during talks in Argentina on Saturday, declaring a truce following months of escalating tensions on trade and other issues.

A White House official said the 90-day period started on Dec. 1. Earlier, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters it would start on Jan. 1.

The Chinese offered more than $1.2 trillion in additional commitments on trade, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on Monday. Kudlow said that figure was a broad benchmark and referred to private transactions for buying U.S. goods, subject to market conditions.

China also committed immediately to start lifting tariffs and non-tariff barriers, including reducing its 40 percent tariffs on autos, Kudlow said.

"We expect those tariffs to fall to zero," he told reporters.

Americans will get majority ownership in companies in China for the first time, which should help address top U.S. concerns about including intellectual property theft and forced technology transfers.

None of the commitments were agreed to in writing and specifics had yet to be hammered out.

Mnuchin said there was a shift in tone at Buenos Aires from past discussions as Xi offered a clear commitment to open China's markets to U.S. companies.

"This is the first time that we have a commitment from them that this will be a real agreement," Mnuchin told CNBC.

Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, said he, Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer held two private meetings with China's Vice Premier Liu He in Argentina and he told them that Beijing would move immediately on the new commitments.

"The history here with China promises is not very good. And we know that," Kudlow said. "However, I will say this: President Xi has never been this involved."

Story continues

Kudlow said: "They cannot slow walk this, stall this, meander this. Their word: immediately."

The truce boosted global markets on Monday with world stocks rising to their highest in about three weeks. On Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) gained nearly 1 percent, although the index had come off its earlier session highs in afternoon trading.

Kudlow said U.S. officials will monitor Chinese progress on enforcing the commitments very closely.

Trump has appointed Lighthizer, one of the administration's most vocal China critics, to oversee the new round of trade talks with China, officials said.

The appointment of Lighthizer, who just completed a new agreement with Canada and Mexico, may signify a harder line in talks with Beijing and marks a shift from past practices where Mnuchin had a lead role.

"He's the toughest negotiator we've ever had at the USTR and he's going to go chapter and verse and get tariffs down, non-tariff barriers down and end all these structural practices that prevent market access," White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told National Public Radio earlier on Monday.

Kudlow said he and Mnuchin would be heavily involved as well, with the Treasury secretary dealing with financial and currency issues.

The White House is stepping up efforts to prod other countries to build more vehicles in the United States. Lighthizer and other officials including Kudlow are set to meet with German automakers on Tuesday, including the chief executives at Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) and Daimler AG (DAIGn.DE), people briefed on the matter said.

Kudlow said the meeting was not meant to focus on potential car tariffs, though Trump still held that option in his "quiver," and the automakers would be encouraged to build engines in the United States.

Chinese regulators did not respond to requests for comment on Trump's tweet on autos tariffs. Neither country had mentioned auto tariffs in their official read-outs of the Trump-Xi meeting.

On Sunday, Trump tweeted that China had agreed to cut import levies on American-made cars.

(This story has been corrected with White House official saying Kudlow misspoke on date when 90-day clock starts)

(Reporting by David Lawder and Jeff Mason; Additional reporting by David Lawder and David Shepardson in Washington, Meng Meng and Stella Qiu in Beijing, Andrew Galbraith and David Stanway in Shanghai, and Noah Sin and Anne Marie Roantree in Hong Kong; Writing by Ben Blanchard and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Kim Coghill, Susan Thomas and Sonya Hepinstall)This article is for investors who would like to improve their understanding of price to earnings ratios (P/E ratios). Well show how you can use China Zhongwang Holdings Limiteds (HKG:1333) P/E ratio to inform your assessment of the investment opportunity. Based on the last twelve months, China Zhongwang Holdingss P/E ratio is 6.54. In other words, at todays prices, investors are paying HK$6.54 for every HK$1 in prior year profit.

See our latest analysis for China Zhongwang Holdings

How Do You Calculate China Zhongwang Holdingss P/E Ratio?

The formula for P/E is:

Price to Earnings Ratio = Share Price (in reporting currency)  Earnings per Share (EPS)

Or for China Zhongwang Holdings:

P/E of 6.54 = CN3.27 (Note: this is the share price in the reporting currency, namely, CNY )  CN0.50 (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2018.)

Is A High P/E Ratio Good?

A higher P/E ratio implies that investors pay a higher price for the earning power of the business. That isnt a good or a bad thing on its own, but a high P/E means that buyers have a higher opinion of the businesss prospects, relative to stocks with a lower P/E.

How Growth Rates Impact P/E Ratios

Earnings growth rates have a big influence on P/E ratios. Thats because companies that grow earnings per share quickly will rapidly increase the E in the equation. That means unless the share price increases, the P/E will reduce in a few years. So while a stock may look expensive based on past earnings, it could be cheap based on future earnings.

China Zhongwang Holdings increased earnings per share by a whopping 36% last year. And its annual EPS growth rate over 5 years is 5.6%. Id therefore be a little surprised if its P/E ratio was not relatively high.

How Does China Zhongwang Holdingss P/E Ratio Compare To Its Peers?

The P/E ratio indicates whether the market has higher or lower expectations of a company. We can see in the image below that the average P/E (7.8) for companies in the metals and mining industry is higher than China Zhongwang Holdingss P/E.

Story continues

SEHK:1333 PE PEG Gauge December 4th 18

China Zhongwang Holdingss P/E tells us that market participants think it will not fare as well as its peers in the same industry. Since the market seems unimpressed with China Zhongwang Holdings, its quite possible it could surprise on the upside. You should delve deeper. I like to check if company insiders have been buying or selling.

Remember: P/E Ratios Dont Consider The Balance Sheet

Its important to note that the P/E ratio considers the market capitalization, not the enterprise value. Thus, the metric does not reflect cash or debt held by the company. Hypothetically, a company could reduce its future P/E ratio by spending its cash (or taking on debt) to achieve higher earnings.

Such expenditure might be good or bad, in the long term, but the point here is that the balance sheet is not reflected by this ratio.

How Does China Zhongwang Holdingss Debt Impact Its P/E Ratio?

Net debt totals a substantial 185% of China Zhongwang Holdingss market cap. This level of debt justifies a relatively low P/E, so remain cognizant of the debt, if youre comparing it to other stocks.

The Bottom Line On China Zhongwang Holdingss P/E Ratio

China Zhongwang Holdings trades on a P/E ratio of 6.5, which is below the HK market average of 10.8. While the EPS growth last year was strong, the significant debt levels reduce the number of options available to management. If the company can continue to grow earnings, then the current P/E may be unjustifiably low.

When the market is wrong about a stock, it gives savvy investors an opportunity. If the reality for a company is not as bad as the P/E ratio indicates, then the share price should increase as the market realizes this. So this free report on the analyst consensus forecasts could help you make a master move on this stock.

You might be able to find a better buy than China Zhongwang Holdings. If you want a selection of possible winners, check out this free list of interesting companies that trade on a P/E below 20 (but have proven they can grow earnings).

To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements.



The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com.One dinner has resulted in two messages. The ceasefire agreement in the U.S.-China trade war is a Xi said, Trump said situation.

After what both sides called a highly successful meeting in Buenos Aires, U.S. and China put out separate statements, rather than a joint one to discuss the outcome. That arrangement allowed both to describe the unwritten deal in their own words, based on their own perceptions and recollections, Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote in a note on Sunday.

While both Beijing and Washington claimed major progress in the meeting that avoid further escalation for now, some significant differences stand out as the two countries communicated the results.

Tariffs:

China: The two heads of state reached a consensus on not imposing new additional tariffs, and instructed the economic teams of both countries to intensify consultations and step up negotiations toward the removal of all additional tariffs that have been imposed this year, and reach a concrete deal that is mutually beneficial and win-win.

U.S.: On Trade, President Donald Trump has agreed that on January 1, 2019, he will leave the tariffs on $200 billion worth of product at the 10% rate, and not raise it to 25% at this time. Both parties agree that they will endeavor to have this transaction completed within the next 90 days. If at the end of this period of time, the parties are unable to reach an agreement, the 10% tariffs will be raised to 25%.

China didnt mention the deadline of 90 days. It also makes the situation sound more optimistic as it aims to eliminate all the additional tariffs imposed by Trump earlier this year. China has shown a commitment to future negotiations but also emphasizes any deal must be mutually beneficial.

After the Trump-Xi meeting, both sides on the dinner table have declared wins. (SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

Trump also tweeted Sunday night that China has agreed to remove tariffs on imported cars from the U.S. No announcement from the China side so far. In July, China raised the tariffs on American-made cars to 40% during the tit-for-tat dispute with Washington, while it slapped tariffs on other imported cars to 15%.

Buying U.S. goods:

Story continues

China: China is willing to expand imports according to the needs of the domestic market and the people, including the purchase of marketable goods from the U.S., and gradually ease balances in two-way trade.

U.S.: China will agree to purchase a not yet agreed upon, but very substantial, amount of agricultural, energy, industrial, and other product from the United States to reduce the trade imbalance between our two countries. China has agreed to start purchasing agricultural product from our farmers immediately.

This says nothing was actually agreed upon, Weinberg of High Frequency Economics pointed out the wording of will agree in the White House statement. China has long pledged to expand import, but doesnt specify what they will buy from the U.S. in its own statement. There is no good news for U.S. farmers in this deal, Weinberg wrote.

Technology transfers and IP protection

China: No mention of intellectual property protection and technology transfer.

U.S.: President Trump and President Xi have agreed to immediately begin negotiations on structural changes with respect to forced technology transfer, intellectual property protection, non-tariff barriers, cyber intrusions and cyber theft, services and agriculture.

This has been a sticky point of the China-U.S. trade talks. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told Yahoo Finance that the main problem with China is not tariffs, but the invasion of intellectual property rights, forced technology transfers and espionage, which makes the negotiation much harder. But its something China is not even willing to admit. After the fruitful meeting, China still doesnt want to address the issue publicly.

Krystal Hu covers technology and trade for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter.

Read more:

Americans who say their finances havent improved mostly blame Trump

Why you wont feel much pain from Trumps tariffs this holiday season

Amazon bought Whole Foods a year ago. Heres what has changedInterconnection and data-center REIT, Equinix, Inc. EQIX recently announced plans to expand in Europe by building International Business Exchange (IBX) data center in Helsinki, Finland. The data center will offer interconnection and colocation services to businesses which will help in their IT transformation measure.



Named HE7, the data center is slated to open in the second quarter of 2019. The first phase will cost around $20 million (17 million). It will fall under Platform Equinix, comprising 200 data centers in 52 markets worldwide.



The HE7 will lead to the addition of 250 cabinets in the first phase and 1,475 cabinets at full build. Customers will be able to securely interconnect with more than 135 businesses in Finland, majority being financial services and content and digital media companies. Further, HE7 will offer direct, secure and dynamic software-defined interconnection through the Equinix Cloud Exchange Fabric to several businesses including some of the prime Cloud Service Providers (CSPs).



Notably, Helsinki serves as a digital gateway connecting Russia, the Baltic states and the rest of Europe through direct digital routes. As such, it is a preferred location for companies providing solutions globally and require interconnection to CSPs, the company said in its press release.



Moreover, the interconnection bandwidth is projected to rise 48% per annum in Europe, reaching 1,900+Tbps by 2021, per Equinix's Global Interconnection Index (GXI) Volume 2, contributing to approximately 23% of Interconnection Bandwidth globally. All these make the current expansion move by Equinix strategic.



Admittedly, data-center REITs are experiencing a boom with growing popularity of cloud computing, Internet of Things and big data, as well as the use of third-party IT infrastructure by several companies. Also, the estimated growth rates for the artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicle and virtual/augmented reality markets will remain robust over the next five to eight years.

Story continues

In fact, demand has been outpacing supply in top tier data-center markets. These markets are absorbing new construction at an accelerated pace despite enjoying high occupancy. This, along with improved outlook for economic growth, will significantly propel growth of data-center REITs, such as Digital Realty Trust Inc. DLR, Equinix, CyrusOne Inc. CONE, CoreSite Realty Corp. COR and others.



Nevertheless, given the solid growth potential of the data-center real estate market, competition may intensify in the upcoming period from existing as well as new players. Amid these, an aggressive pricing pressure is anticipated in the data-center market.



Currently, Equinix has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.



However, the stock has depreciated 2.8% in the past month against 3% growth recorded by the Real Estate industry.











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Zacks Investment ResearchBy Francesco Guarascio

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union finance ministers on Tuesday adopted a plan to enhance the bloc's defences against money laundering at banks, but the move could slow a legislative reform on banking supervision.

The action plan is meant to be the EU response to high-profile cases of alleged money laundering at banks in several EU states, including Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Spain, the Netherlands, Britain and Cyprus.

Ministers agreed there was a "need to strengthen the effectiveness of the current framework" to counter money laundering, and proposed some non-legislative actions to implement in coming months.

But the plan did not include any recommendation for legislative changes. Nor did it address calls from the European Central Bank to set up an EU-wide agency to counter money laundering.

The plan could also delay proposed reforms of money-laundering supervision from the European Commission in September, because ministers first want to assess the recent cases of financial crime, the document said, confirming a Reuters report last week.

The Commission's proposal would have given the European Banking Authority more power to oversee money laundering and would have increased from one to 12 the agency's staff in charge of monitoring financial crime at thousands of banks in the EU.

The review of past cases is expected to last until June. That would be after EU elections due in May, which makes it likely the new European Parliament will shelve the proposed legislative changes.

The action plan lists measures that would need to be carried out until 2020 and tries to reduce the discretion of national supervisors in applying anti-money laundering rules, which in some states have been executed too leniently.

Under the plan, supervisors will have to clarify existing rules for assessing whether bank managers are fit for their job and on revoking banking licences for serious breaches of anti- money-laundering rules.

National authorities are also requested to cooperate more closely, but without new binding requirements on exchanging information.

The European Commission is invited to make proposals for other possible changes in the second half of next year, but no indication is given on which long-term reforms should be considered.

(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio; editing by Alison Williams, Larry King)Wreckage recovered from Lion Air flight JT610, that crashed into the sea, lies at Tanjung Priok port in Jakarta, Indonesia, October 29, 2018. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan/Files

By Tim Hepher and Cindy Silviana

PARIS/JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's Lion Air is reviewing airplane purchases from Boeing Co and has not ruled out cancelling orders as relations worsen in a spat over responsibility for a 737 jetliner crash that killed 189 people in late October.

Co-founder Rusdi Kirana is furious over what he regards as attempts by Boeing to deflect attention from recent design changes and blame Lion Air for the crash, while the airline faces scrutiny over its maintenance record and pilots' actions.

Kirana is examining the possibility of cancelling remaining orders of Boeing jets "from the next delivery," according to a person familiar with his thinking. Another source close to the airline said it was looking at cancelling orders.

No final decision has been made, but discussion over the fate of $22 billion of remaining orders highlights the stakes surrounding an investigation involving Boeings fastest-ever selling jet, the 737 MAX, which entered service last year.

Lion Air has 190 Boeing jets worth $22 billion at list prices waiting to be delivered, on top of 197 already taken, making it one of the largest U.S. export customers.

Any request to cancel could be designed to put pressure on Boeing and would likely trigger extensive negotiations. Many airlines defer orders, but industry sources say aerospace suppliers rarely allow much scope for unilateral cancellations.

Lion Air declined to comment. A Boeing spokesman said: "We are taking every measure to fully understand all aspects of this accident, and are working closely with the investigating team and all regulatory authorities involved. We are also supporting our valued customer through this very tough time."

MAINTENANCE, SOFTWARE

Kirana, who is now Indonesia's envoy to Malaysia but still carries weight at the airline he co-founded with his brother in 2000, ordered the review in response to a Boeing statement focusing attention on piloting and maintenance, the person said.

Boeing released the statement after investigators last week issued an interim report focusing on maintenance actions spread over four flights in the run-up to the doomed flight on Oct. 29.

Story continues

Boeing is also examining software changes in the wake of the crash, while insisting longstanding procedures exist for pilots to cancel automated nose-down movements experienced by the 737 MAX in response to erroneous sensor readings.

It has come under fire from U.S. pilots for not mentioning the MCAS system - a modification of existing anti-stall systems - in the manual for the 737 MAX, which began service last year.

"Why are they changing (software) if there was nothing wrong?" the person familiar with Kirana's thinking said.

Boeing has said all information needed to fly the 737 safely is available to pilots and that its workhorse model is safe.

Some financial sources say Lion Air and southeast Asian rivals over-expanded and would be comfortable with fewer orders.

But the row highlights an unusually polarised dispute over the causes of the crash. Experts say most accidents are caused by a cocktail of factors and parties rarely comment in detail before the final report, which often follows a year of analysis.

In its statement, Boeing recapped the interim report and listed questions on maintenance and pilot behaviour that it said remained unanswered in the 78-page document, but did not mention the MCAS modification covered in an earlier safety bulletin.

It is not the first time an airline has crossed swords with its supplier after a crash. Lion Air's rival AirAsia clashed with Airbus after its Indonesian subsidiary lost an A320 in 2014. It continued to take deliveries, but relations never fully recovered and it later toyed with buying 787s from Boeing.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher in PARIS, Cindy Silviana in JAKARTA; Additional reporting by Eric JOhnson; Editing by Mark Potter)GlaxoSmithKline plc GSK has signed a definitive agreement to acquire small cancer biotech, TESARO, Inc. TSRO for $5.1 billion including the latters debt. The acquisition price of $75 per share in cash represents a premium of 110% to TESAROs 30-day average price.

Emma Walmsley, the U.K pharma giants chief executive officer, has since long made it clear that Glaxo will focus on growing its pharmaceuticals business. The acquisition of TESARO will add its ovarian cancer drug, Zejula to Glaxos product portfolio and strengthen the latters position in the oncology market.

Zejula, an orally-available PARP inhibitor, was approved in the United States and EU last year as a second-line maintenance treatment of recurrent ovarian cancer patients. Zejula recorded sales of $166 million in the first nine months of 2018.

Meanwhile, TESARO is looking to expand Zejulas label into other treatment settings for ovarian cancer and additional cancer types like lung, prostrate and breast, which, if approved, can increase the drugs sales prospects. In addition to Zejula, TESARO has three other candidates in its pipeline, which are being evaluated in early-stage studies in multiple tumor types.

Glaxos shares declined around 8% on Monday as the investor community felt Glaxo is overpaying for TESARO considering that Zejula is at an early stage of commercialization in a fiercely competitive market. So far this year, Glaxos shares have underperformed the industry, rising 8.8% compared with an 11.3% increase for the industry.

While the ovarian cancer market provides immense commercial potential, competition in the PARP inhibitor segment is fierce with two other PARP inhibitors also marketed for the ovarian cancer indication  Merck/AstraZenecas AZN Lynparza and Clovis Oncology, Inc.s CLVS Rubraca. Importantly, Lynparza is already approved to treat breast cancer while Zejula is not. Pfizers Talzenna (talazoparib), also an orally-available PARP inhibitor, was approved recently for advanced breast cancer. Meanwhile, several companies are developing PARP inhibitors including AbbVies veliparib. Moreover, the market share of PARP inhibitors, a fairly new class of cancer medicines, has also stagnated in the ovarian cancer market recently.

Story continues

Shares of TESARO, which has long been seen as a potential takeover target, shot up 58.5% on Monday. Earlier on Monday, Glaxo announced that it is divesting its Horlicks and other nutrition products business in India and Bangladesh to Unilever for 3.3 billion euros ($3.8 billion) in a cash and stock deal. The cash from the divesture is expected to be used to fund the purchase of TESARO.

Glaxo said the acquisition will hurt its adjusted earnings per share (EPS) by a mid to high single-digit percentage in the first two years. By 2022, however, the TESARO deal is expected to be accretive to adjusted EPS. Though Glaxo maintained its 2018 adjusted EPS growth expectations in the range of 8-10% at constant exchange rates (CER), it lowered its long- term earnings growth expectations. It now expects to be at the bottom end of the mid-to-high single digit adjusted earnings growth expectations in the 2016-2020 period. The transaction, expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2019, already has the approval of TESAROs board of directors. However, consent of regulators and shareholders is required before it can be closed.

Glaxo currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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Zacks Investment ResearchGlaxoSmithKline plc GSK announced that it is divesting its Horlicks and other nutrition products business in India and Bangladesh to London-based consumer giant Unilever PLC UL for 3.3 billion euros ($3.8 billion) in a cash and stock deal.

Per the deal structure, Glaxos listed Indian subsidiary, GSK Consumer Healthcare Limited (Glaxo India)  which sells these nutrition products  will merge with Unilevers listed Indian counterpart Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL). Shareholders of Glaxo India will receive 4.39 shares in HUL for each share. In addition to selling its 72.5% stake in Glaxo India, Glaxo will sell its 82% stake in its subsidiary in Bangladesh, GlaxoSmithKline Bangladesh Limited, and certain other assets outside India to Unilever. These nutrition brands fetched Glaxo sales of around 550 million euros in 2018. Unilever commands 67.2% stake in HUL.

Following the merger, Glaxo will own 5.7% stake in HUL, which it intends to sell in tranches after completion of the transaction, currently expected by the end of 2019. Also, Glaxo Indias OTC and other Oral Health brands like Crocin, Eno and Sensodyne will be distributed in India by HUL following closure of the merger deal.

Horlicks malted-milk drink is popular in the powdered hot beverages category in India. With Horlicks buyout, Unilever is looking to strengthen its market position in India, an important growth market for the European consumer giant. However, a group of investors opine that Unilever has overpaid for the brand, which has been seeing slow growth in the past couple of years. Unilever sounds confident that it can develop the market for the nutrition brands with its far-fetched marketing capabilities.

So far this year, Glaxos shares have underperformed the industry, rising 8.8% compared with an 11.3% increase for the industry.

Glaxo, in March this year, had said it is looking at strategic alternatives for its Horlicks and other nutrition products business. Several food giants, Nestle, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola KO other than Unilever were speculated as frontrunners to bid for the Horlicks business. Back then, Glaxo had said that Glaxo India will also be included in the strategic review process.

Story continues

We remind investors that in June 2018, Glaxo bought Novartis NVS 36.5% stake in their consumer health care ("CHC") joint venture for $13 billion (9.2 billion).With the acquisition of Novartis stake, Glaxo now has 100% ownership of its Consumer Healthcare unit, which includes products such as Sensodyne and Flonase.

Reportedly Glaxo put the Horlicks business up for sale to fund the buyout of Novartis stake in CHC JV. Emma Walmsley, Glaxos chief executive officer, said that the proceeds generated from the deal will be used to invest in Glaxos growing pharmaceuticals business.

The transaction will be subject to approval of shareholders/creditors of both Glaxo India and HUL while the boards of both the companies have already given a green signal to the deal.

Glaxo currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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It's hard to believe, even for us at Zacks. But while the market gained +21.9% in 2017, our top stock-picking screens have returned +115.0%, +109.3%, +104.9%, +98.6%, and +67.1%.

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Zacks Investment ResearchA Saudi dissident filed suit in a Tel Aviv court against NSO Group, a company whose spyware allegedly helped Saudi Arabia track and ultimately kill journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to the Associated Press.

Omar Abdulaziz, who received asylum from Canada, claims that he clicked on a link sent to his phone that surreptitiously allowed the NSO Groups technology, called Pegasus, to spy on him. Abdulaziz was in close contact with Khashoggi to plan actions to embarrass the Saudi government.

Abdulaziz seeks about $160,000 and a revocation of its Israeli export license that allows it to sell the software to governments around the world.

In a statement to AP, NSO Group said that its software enables governments and law enforcement agencies to fight terrorism and crime and that it does not tolerate misuse of our products.

This isnt the first lawsuit targeting NSO Group. In August, the New York Times reported on lawsuits filed in Cyprus and Israel by Mexican journalists and Qatari activists that governments use the software to crack down on dissent. Another suit, filed in Panama, claims that a former president of that country used the technology to spy on rivals and critics.

Amnesty International has claimed that someone used the technology on one of its staff members. The NGO sent a request to Israels Ministry of Defense, demanding that NSO Groups export license be revoked.

The software is reportedly powerful. Motherboard reported an interview with an unnamed Israeli entrepreneur who said he had been given a demo. He went to the NSO Groups office, gave them his phone number, and within five or seven minutes saw all the contents of the phone on a large monitor.NEW YORK, Dec. 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Klein Law Firm announces that class action complaints have been filed on behalf of shareholders of the following companies. If you suffered a loss you have until the lead plaintiff deadline to request that the court appoint you as lead plaintiff.

Ternium S.A. (TX)

Class Period: May 1, 2014 to November 27, 2018

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: January 28, 2019

Ternium S.A. allegedly made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Defendant Paolo Rocca, Terniums Chairman, knew that one of his companys executives paid cash to government officials from 2009 to 2012 to expedite compensation payments for the sale of Terniums Sidor unit; (2) this conduct would lead Rocca to be charged in a graft scheme and subject Ternium, its affiliates, and/or its executives to heightened governmental scrutiny; and (3) as a result, Terniums public statements were materially false and/or misleading at all relevant times.

On November 27, 2018, Bloomberg reported that Rocca was indicted for his role in a graft scheme. According to the article, The judge charged Rocca after the Argentine billionaire testified that one of his companys executives paid an undisclosed amount of cash to government officials in monthly installments from 2009 to 2012. The officials were allegedly working for then-President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchners administration to speed up a compensation payment from Venezuelas Hugo Chavez for the nationalization of Sidor, a unit that had been seized by Venezuela. Roccas group was compensated with $1.95 billion for the unit.

Get additional information about the TX lawsuit: http://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/ternium-s-a-loss-submission-form?wire=3

Marriott International, Inc. (MAR)

Class Period: November 9, 2016 to November 29, 2018

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: January 30, 2019

The complaint alleges Marriott International, Inc. made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Marriotts and Starwoods systems storing their customers personal data were not secure; (2) there had been unauthorized access on Starwoods network since 2014; (3) consequently, the personal data of approximately 500 million Starwood guests and the sensitive personal information of approximately 327 million of those guests may have been exposed to unauthorized parties; and (4) as a result, Marriotts public statements were materially false and/or misleading at all relevant times.

Story continues

Get additional information about the MAR lawsuit: http://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/marriott-international-inc-loss-submission-form?wire=3

Cheetah Mobile Inc. (CMCM)

Class Period: April 26, 2017 to November 27, 2018

Lead Plaintiff Deadline: January 29, 2019

According to the complaint, Cheetah Mobile Inc. allegedly made materially false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Cheetah Mobiles apps had undisclosed imbedded features which tracked when users downloaded new apps; (2) Cheetah Mobile used this data to inappropriately claim credit for having caused the downloads; (3) the foregoing features, when discovered, would foreseeably subject Cheetah Mobiles apps to removal from the Google Play store; (4) accordingly, Cheetah Mobiles revenues during the relevant period were in part the product of improper conduct and thus unsustainable; and (5) as a result, Cheetah Mobiles public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

Get additional information about the CMCM lawsuit: http://www.kleinstocklaw.com/pslra-1/cheetah-mobile-inc-loss-submission-form?wire=3

Your ability to share in any recovery doesnt require that you serve as a lead plaintiff. There is no cost or obligation to you. If you suffered a loss during the class period and wish to obtain additional information, please contact J. Klein, Esq. by telephone at 212-616-4899 or visit the webpages provided.

J. Klein, Esq. represents investors and participates in securities litigations involving financial fraud throughout the nation. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.(Adds details, background)

By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA, Dec 3 (Reuters) - The World Health Organisation (WHO) warned on Monday that gene editing may have "unintended consequences" and said it was establishing a team of experts to set clear guidelines and standards after studying ethical and safety issues.

The Chinese government last Thursday ordered a temporary halt to research activities for people involved in the editing of human genes, after a Chinese scientist said he had edited the genes of twin babies.

Scientist He Jiankui said he used a gene-editing technology known as CRISPR-Cas9 to alter the embryonic genes of the twin girls born this month. He said gene editing would help protect them from infection with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

"Gene editing may have unintended consequences, this is uncharted water and it has to be taken seriously," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, told a news briefing.

"WHO is putting together experts. We will work with member states to do everything we can to make sure of all issues - be it ethical, social, safety - before any manipulation is done."

He's announcement, which has not been verified, sparked an international outcry about the ethics and safety of such research.

"We are talking about human beings, editing should not harm the welfare of the future person," WHO's Tedros said. "We have to be very careful, the working group will do that with all openness and transparency."

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg, Richard Balmforth)Michael Cohen, left, walks out of federal court with his attorney Guy Petrillo, on Nov. 29, 2018. Photo: Julie Jacobson/AP



A small group of attorneys across the New York barincluding a former president of the Brooklyn Bar Associationhas come forward to publicly urge a judge to show leniency for Michael Cohen.



Cohen, former attorney to President Donald Trump, filed a memo late Nov. 30 urging a judge not to send him to prison despite his guilty pleas to several crimes, including campaign finance violations and lying to Congress. His lawyers at Petrillo Klein & Boxer detailed his cooperation with prosecutors and argued that his crimes arose out of his fierce loyalty to Client-1, known as Trump.



The defense attorneys also submitted 37 letters of support in documents addressed to U.S. District Judge William Pauley of the Southern District of New York, who is scheduled to sentence Cohen on Dec. 12.



The attorneys writing to Pauley include several leaders of small and midsize firms, but they dont include partners at Cohens last affiliated firmSquire Patton Boggs. That firm in 2017 promoted its strategic alliance with Cohen and then ended it a year later, following an FBI raid on Cohen's offices. (For the duration of the agreement, Cohen introduced five clients to Squire, prosecutors said.)



The attorneys who wrote letters to Pauley mainly echo Cohen, essentially writing that he was so dedicated to his client that the devotion hurt him in the end.



Ethan Gerber, an equity partner at Abrams, Fensterman, Fensterman, Eisman, Formato, Ferrara, Wolf & Carone, said he first knew Cohen as an adversary about 18 years ago and over the years Gerber was never given any reason to question his integrity or his ethics.



Gerber, a former president of the Brooklyn Bar Association, is a long-standing member of the bar groups grievance committee, according to his law firm profile. As a member of a grievance committee, I have seen many attorneys succumb to the wishes of a particularly persuasive client. Mr. Cohen had a client whose extraordinary power of persuasion got him elected to the highest office in the land, Gerber said.



I believe Mr. Cohen has taken responsibility for his actions, is sincere in his efforts to rectify his wrongs and is willing and able to help his country in any way he can, Gerber added.



Andrew Albstein, managing partner of New York real estate firm 35-attorney Goldberg Weprin Finkel Goldstein, said he has known Cohen for nine years, representing him in various real estate transactions. Albstein, in an interview, said his firm never represented Trump or the Trump Organization.



While we were together working on Michael's deals, Michael often received telephone calls from his employer at the time, Albstein wrote, referring to Trump. Michael almost always would interrupt our conversations or negotiations and take the call, being respectful in the manner in which he addressed his employer, providing quick and clear responses, taking notes and proceeding with the same zeal in which he seemed to address all his personal transactions.



While Albstein praised Cohen for his generosity for charity and fundraising over the years, Albstein spoke of another side of Michael that he witnessed on television talk shows. Cohen would provide "tough, almost unbelievable, responses to situations in which candidate Trump found himself, Albstein said, adding he believes Michael was performing as he was directed, and excellently carrying out a job for which he was hiredgiving his 100 percent commitment to satisfy his employer.



David Schwartz, of Gerstman Schwartz, who has appeared on television as Cohens attorney and spokesman, said Cohen has referred over the years a number of legal matters to his law firm.



He would ask that the clients he would recommend received a discount in their legal fees. His first inclination is always to put the interests of others ahead of his owns interests. It is with this mindset that probably led to the troubles he has in the instant case, Schwartz said.



Meanwhile, other attorneys spoke highly of other aspects of Cohens legal practice. A former Debevoise & Plimpton associate, Andrew Dworkin, now a partner at venture capital firm Vedanta Capital, said he has known and been friendly with Cohen for years. Thats despite the fact, Dworkin said, that he is strongly opposed to Donald Trump and his administration, both on policy grounds and the uncivil tone he has set in this country.



Dworkin said Cohen gave him career and networking help about five years ago when it looked like his private equity firm might wind down.



I understand that some of the actions to which Michael has admitted guilt are not admirable. That said, I strongly believe that Michael should be judged on the totality of his person and his life, Dworkin said.



Marea Wachsman, founding partner of personal injury firm Schreier & Wachsman, and president of the Womens Trial Lawyers Caucus Inc., spoke of their friendship for the past 32 years and his help over the years, including in a personal injury case and in legislative activities. On the latter, Wachsman said she once called on Cohen to discuss legislative issues related to Uber safety and Ubers failure to properly screen, train and regulate its drivers. Cohenwho owned taxi medallions worth millions of dollarsdid not hesitate to help me understand so I could educate those I worked with on this issue, Wachsman said.



Another lawyer who now runs a consulting business, Jan Sigmon, who said she has worked as a senior thought leadership marketer" for BlackRock, LinkedIn and Royal Bank of Canada, also asked Pauley to look at the totality of Cohens life.



Michael Cohen is not a bad person; he made some bad decisions, Sigmon wrote.Dec 4 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the New York Times business pages. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

- Verizon Communications Inc's Oath Inc has agreed to pay about $5 million to settle charges from the New York attorney general that the media company's online advertising business was violating a federal children's privacy law. https://nyti.ms/2BNSFh4

- Current and former employees of the British fashion chain Ted Baker are accusing the company's founder and chief executive Ray Kelvin of inappropriate behavior, citing a "forced hugging" policy and a workplace culture that "leaves harassment unchallenged." https://nyti.ms/2BQq62F

- A new contract with Marriott International that will give housekeepers in San Francisco an eventual $4-an-hour increase and better protections against sexual harassment was approved Monday, ending a nine-week strike by 2,500 workers at seven hotels in that city. https://nyti.ms/2BNXTt9

- China vowed to stem the supply of the powerful opioid fentanyl flowing into the United States. It pledged to target exports of fentanyl-related substances bound for the United States that are prohibited there, while sharing information with American law-enforcement authorities. https://nyti.ms/2BPAA2g

(Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom;)MOSCOW, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Tuesday that the Iran-related sanctions, imposed by the United States against a ministry unit, were "baseless".

Last month the United States has moved to disrupt an Iranian-Russian network that it said had sent millions of barrels of oil to Syria and hundreds of millions of dollars to indirectly fund militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.

Among various individuals and companies, it put under sanctions state-owned Russian company Promsyrioimport, a subsidiary of the Energy Ministry, which the U.S. Treasury alleges had facilitated shipments of Iranian oil to Syria. (Reporting by Anastasia Lyrchikova; Writing by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Alison Williams)GENEVA, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia told the World Trade Organization on Tuesday that national security concerns meant it "simply will not engage in dispute settlement procedures" in an intellectual property dispute with Qatar, according to a transcript seen by Reuters.

Qatar launched the dispute in October, saying Saudi Arabia was blocking Qatari-owned broadcaster beIN and refusing to take effective action against the piracy of beIN content by a sophisticated pirate operation called "beoutQ".

Representatives of the United States, Egypt and Bahrain supported the Saudi position at a WTO dispute settlement meeting, while European Union and Turkish diplomats spoke up in support of Qatar, a Geneva trade official said. (Reporting by Tom Miles; Editing by Alison Williams)COLOMBO, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Credit rating agencies have been too hasty to downgrade Sri Lanka based on short-term political uncertainties, a senior central bank official said on Tuesday after Fitch became the second agency in two weeks to cut the indebted islands rating.

"We are of the view that actions by both rating agencies are too hasty as their decisions are based on short term political uncertainties. Such uncertainties could be very short lived only for couple of weeks," Central Bank Senior Deputy Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe told Reuters. (Reporting by Shihar Aneez Editing by John Geddie and Kim Coghill)Thailand cryptocurrency

In 2014, the Revenue Department of Thailand had arrested many individuals and investigated about 60 companies for defrauding the department out of $18.29 million worth of baht in value-added taxes (VAT). Since and before, the department has been unable to track a majority of such tax defaulters, losing billions of dollars in the process.

So could blockchain be the solution that could minimize tax frauds? The director-general of the Revenue Department believes it can.

Ekniti Nitithanprapas, in his latest comments to the Bangkok Post, revealed that their department is conducting a blockchain trial to explore its use case in tracking VAT payments. The tax compliance officer recognized that there was an increase in the number of cases that involves fake VAT invoices. He said that they have set up a particular innovation lab to test blockchains potential in minimizing such cases while drawing inspirations from its use-case in the verification of bitcoin transactions.

The blockchain is expected to help verify VAT invoices which would help root out fake invoices for VAT claims, Nitithanprapas said. For example, when a company buys products from a second company, the former will issue VAT invoices to the latter, and both firms can use blockchain to confirm the transactions.

Blockchain Marries Tax Auditing

Since its launch, blockchain has outpaced other emerging technologies regarding both hype and investment-influx. The enterprises and government bodies, in particular, have shown interests in adopting the technology mainly to make use of its core attributes, which are transparency, security, and real-time information.

PwC, one of the Big Four auditors, has also recognized blockchain for detecting errors and frauds in tax filing more efficiently than traditional systems, stating:

Blockchain makes fraud and errors far easier to detect because the system provides clear and transparent information about transactions and items in the network. This could be particularly useful in tracking if and where VAT has been paid, and in doing so reduce VAT fraud.

Story continues

Thailands blockchain pilot marks a step towards achieving a full-fledged solution to minimize tax evasion, indicated Nitithanprapas. The chief revealed that their anti-tax fraud solution would combine the digital ledgers prowess with that of machine learning and artificial intelligence to learn and study tax-cheating practices to efficiently examine tax payments and compel more people to enter the formal tax system.

Before Thailand, tax authority in China had also initiated a similar blockchain trial in May to detect tax evasion in the country. They partnered with internet giant Tencent to create digital invoices on the blockchain, which could be verified by participating nodes in the real-time.

Featured image from Shutterstock.



The post Thailand Revenue Department to Track VAT Payments using Blockchain appeared first on CCN.

BRUSSELS, Dec 4 (Reuters) - The United States delivered Russia a 60-day ultimatum on Tuesday to come clean about what Washington says is a violation of a 1987 nuclear arms control treaty or it will be forced to start a six-month process of withdrawal.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Russia had developed "multiple battalions of the SSC-8 missiles", referring to the land-based, intermediate-range Cruise missile which also has the name of Novator 9M729.

"Its range makes it a direct menace to Europe," he told a new conference after a meeting with his NATO counterparts. (Reporting by Robin Emmott; Editing by Janet Lawrence)China and the U.S. said different things about their three-hour meeting at G20. And now it looks like President Donald Trumps closest advisors have their own interpretations of the meeting, too.

Since the Saturday meeting, Trump, the White House, and his top advisors have given different accounts on key details regarding the meeting, causing confusion among investors and trade experts.

When is Chinas deadline?

The White House statement on the meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump said both sides have agreed to immediately begin negotiations and they will endeavor to have this transaction completed within the next 90 days. It was considered that the deadline for the negotiation is 90 days from the dinner, which will be March 1.

Trumps cabinets attend the meeting with Xi at G20. (SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

But on Monday, National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow told reporters the clock for the trade talk wont start ticking until January 1. The President has said 90 days beginning January 1, which is when it was going to go  the 10 to 25 was going to go into effect, said Kudlow, who attended the dinner as Trumps top advisor.

As some thought this may leave more time for Washington and Beijing to tackle the complicated deal, the White House issued a statement hours later to correct Kudlow by crossing out the word January and inserting December in his transcript.

Tuesday morning, Trump confirmed that the timeline for negotiations will be 90 days from the G20 Trump-Xi dinner. He also claimed the negotiations with China have already started. The Chinese havent yet publicly acknowledged any deadline.

Who is leading negotiations?

The prominence U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has in the negotiations could help to determine whether the White House takes a more aggressive or conciliatory approach with China. (Getty Images)

Trump attended the dinner with his top economic advisors, including outspoken China critic Peter Navarro. Who will be put in charge of the negotiations in China has been widely watched. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had led initial rounds of talk, which made no major progress. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, whose job is to negotiate trade deals, is known for hawkishness towards Beijing.

Thats why when Navarro told NPR that Trump is putting Lighthizer in charge of negotiations, many thought it signaled Washington taking a hard line on China. Navarro called Lighthizer the toughest negotiator weve ever had at the USTR.

Story continues

But it contradicts what Mnuchin said on CNBC. President Trump will be the one who leads the negotiations and the team. Well be an inclusive team, Mnuchin mentioned the five cabinet members working in partnership, including himself.

Trump confirmed Navarros version of the story that Lighthizer would be the lead negotiator. Bob will be working closely with Steve Mnuchin, Larry Kudlow, Wilbur Ross and Peter Navarro on seeing whether or not a REAL deal with China is actually possible, he tweeted on Tuesday morning.

China to cut auto tariffs?

On Sunday night, Trump announced that China agreed to remove tariffs on imported cars from the U.S. in a tweet that many viewed with a grain of salt. This major deal hasnt been included in any sides statement on the meeting. Nevertheless, auto stocks rallied on Monday morning following the tweet.

But Trumps cabinet is not ready to back him on this. The first part was to reduce the surcharge, but yes there have been specific discussions on where auto tariffs will come down to, but Im not prepared to talk about the specifics, Mnuchin told reporters outside the White House.

Kudlow implied there could be no concrete deal on auto tariffs, so far. We dont yet have a specific agreement on that, but I will just tell you, as an involved participant, we expect those tariffs to go to zero, said Kudlow.

While in Beijing, Chinas foreign ministrys spokesman declined to comment on any car tariff changes. Its unlikely that China could reduce the tariffs to zero as Trump claims. As a World Trade Organization member, if China opts to remove all tariffs on U.S.-imported cars, it will have to do the same thing for other WTO members. If China lowers its auto tariff to 0% for the U.S., China has MFN (most-favored-nation) obligation to give all WTO members the same 0% tariff, Jennifer Hillman, a law professor at the Georgetown University, tweeted on Monday.

China just slashed tariffs on foreign cars to 15% in July, but raised duties on American-made cars to 40% in a retaliatory measure to Trumps tariffs.

Shares of many car companies have given back earlier gains. General Motors, for example, fell by more than 3.5% Tuesday afternoon.

Krystal Hu covers technology and trade for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter.

Read more:

Trump thinks tariffs are the only way to get China to change, some say no

Why you wont feel much pain from Trumps tariffs this holiday season

Amazon bought Whole Foods a year ago. Heres what has changedA fourth U.S. soldier has died from wounds suffered last week in a roadside-bomb blast in central Afghanistan, the Pentagon says.

Sergeant Jason Mitchell McClary, 24, died on December 2 at a U.S. military hospital in Germany.

McClary was from Export, Pennsylvania.

His death takes the number of U.S. military personnel to have been killed in Afghanistan this year to 13.

Three U.S. service members were killed on November 27 when an improvised explosive device detonated near the city of Ghazni, the U.S. military said at the time.

Three other soldiers, including McClary, and a U.S. contractor were wounded.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack -- the deadliest against U.S. forces in Afghanistan this year.

The militants have an active presence in several parts of Ghazni Province.

Some 14,000 U.S. soldiers are currently serving in Afghanistan, where the United States and NATO formally concluded their combat mission in 2014.

Most of the remaining Western forces mainly train and advise the Afghan security forces, which have been struggling against attacks from a resurgent Taliban and other militant extremist groups. There are also several thousand U.S. Special Forces conducting counterterrorism missions.

Based on reporting by AP and AFPLee Bolin, the longtime co-owner of Saddletree Homes in Colorado Springs, wasnt just a successful, popular and respected member of the local homebuilding industry. He also had one of the communitys most recognizable voices.

We build the home you see when you close your eyes and dream, Bolin would say in a folksy manner at the end of each radio commercial for Saddletree  a simple but powerful message that he wrote and that was heard for years and years in the Springs community.

Bolin, known for his honesty and thoughtfulness as an employer and family man, died Nov. 24 after complications of a stroke last year, said business partner Kelley Barcus. He was 74.

Lee was just a good guy, said George Hess of Vantage Homes in Colorado Springs. He was caring and generous and friendly. He was just a good guy.

Bolin was born in Missouri, moved to suburban Los Angeles when he was 9 and started a framing and construction company in 1971, according to friends and family. By the mid-1980s, his company was one of Southern Californias largest framing contractors, with nearly 1,100 carpenters. Along the way, he also built homes as a hobby in addition to running his business.

Bolins Christian faith was very important to him, said Barcus, who went to work for Bolin in 1981 and became his partner. A supporter of Focus on the Family, Bolin came to the Springs in the early 1990s for the ministrys headquarters dedication after it moved here from California. Bolin fell in love with the Springs, moved here in 1994, and he and Barcus started Saddletree.

The company was named after the wooden support thats embedded in saddles, which reflects strength, longevity and artistic expression, Bolin said in a 2011 Gazette interview.

Saddletree gained a reputation for its creative home designs. The company also was known for Bolins radio ads, where he would use gentle humor to advise homebuyers.

Saddletree rode the ups and downs of the construction business. But even when the industry was in the midst of the post-Great Recession slump, Bolin said in 2011 that he enjoyed his work so much that hed probably build homes even if he were only breaking even  although he certainly was in business to make a profit.

I cant imagine anything that could be more rewarding than what I get to do, Bolin said. Ive often said that Ive never really worked for a living because I get to do my hobby every day.

Barcus described Bolin as very honest and someone who loved people. And he built a good product that people really liked. Barcus will continue to run Saddletree and plans no changes in its operation or philosophy.

Hess and Bolin occasionally got together for lunch but often didnt talk business; they talked about life.

He was one of those guys that honestly cared about those that worked for him, those around him and our community in general.

Bolin and his wife, Mickey, were married for 57 years; on their golden wedding anniversary, Bolin took out a billboard ad that read, 50 years and still glowing.

Bolin also is survived by daughters Nancy and Janet, three grandsons and a great-grandaughter. A memorial service will take place from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Calvary Worship Center, 501 Castle Road in Colorado Springs. A reception will follow. Instead of flowers, contributions may be made to the worship center.Eight-year-old Jalen Thompsons face lit up like a Christmas tree when he saw his surprise Monday evening.

The third-grader returned home from Freedom Elementary School to find his familys northeast Colorado Springs rental home decorated for the holidays, as if by Santas elves.

Jalens parents, Karen and Chad Thompson, his 23-month-old brother, Dexter; neighbors and friends looked on as Sturgeon Electric workers flipped the switch to reveal the house and a roughly 40-foot pine tree in the front yard blazing with sparkling multicolored lights.

Just before dark, a speechless but smiling Jalen stepped out of his dads car and into a big hug from Santa Claus in front of the group gathered on the sidewalk.

Three ... two ... one ... Merry Christmas, Jalen! roared the group as the lights came on while snow fell lightly on the scene, right on cue.

The Thompson family  Jalen in particular  needed some holiday cheer, and the Childrens Hospital Colorado Foundation and Sturgeon Electric planned the surprise installation, with lights donated by Blazer Electric Supply.

On April 10, Jalen was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a blood cancer that affects the bodys white blood cells. He immediately was put on an aggressive three-year treatment course including chemotherapy.

Jalens parents noticed last March that the boy was limping a bit and seemed weak. Then they found a swollen lymph node on his neck, and their doctor referred them to Childrens Hospital Colorado for testing.

They gently let us know that he had leukemia, Karen Thompson said.

After a nine-day stay at Childrens Hospital Colorado in Aurora, Jalen has completed many of his treatments in the hospitals Briargate office. A new Childrens Hospital Colorado now is being built in Colorado Springs.

Jalen had never even taken a pill, but suddenly he needed rigorous chemotherapy. The family credits the hospitals experts for helping them through.

Childrens Hospital Colorado knows exactly what Jalens needs are, exactly how to take care of him, Karen Thompson said. Every single nurse, every doctor weve encountered there has been very kind. Jalen loves going to Childrens. He know its all about him. They really do make him feel like hes No. 1.

Now seven months into his treatment plan, which included weekly chemotherapy infusions, Jalen is doing well. Hes an active boy who loves math and science and calls himself a master builder of Legos, his mom said.

Since April, with all the meds and stuff hes had to take, its been draining for Jalen. Normally hes such a hyper kid, so its that much more noticeable when his energy is down, she said. We are thankful for his treatment and how well its going. He only has to go once every 10 days now, and after January hell be on maintenance.

Jalen loves school but had to miss a lot of it this year. The bright boy has returned to the classroom more regularly in recent weeks.

At first he lost a lot of weight. It was hard for him to keep things down when he was having meds constantly pumped into his body, his mom said. He does not let it stop him. He was at first embarrassed about his port, but now hes ready to talk about it. His class had a lot of questions for him. And hes not shy about it anymore.

His parents, aunt and little brother shaved their heads in a show of unity when he lost his hair to chemo.

We let him know how serious it is. But hes such a brave kid. He takes it so well, and he keeps going. Its his life now, his mother said. I dont know how he does it. Hes just in a good place and has a lot of love in his heart.

Jalen will be a 2019 ambassador for Childrens Hospital Colorado, sharing his story with other sick children.

The family is preparing to buy and move into their first home, near Jalens school, in January, so they had planned to forgo much holiday decorating  making Mondays surprise even sweeter.

Last week, Jalen and I talked about the neighbors Christmas lights. He said, I wish there were more lights we could see, Karen said Friday, during arrangements for the surprise.

He loves holidays, loves to decorate. ... He understands that this year, theres a lot we dont have time for. So when he sees the yard all lit up, hes going to be over the moon.

Childrens Hospital Colorado Foundation came up with the idea to literally light up the familys lives for the holiday season. They approached Sturgeon, one of the subcontractors working on the new hospital.

We wanted to create this magical moment to bring light and hope to Jalen this season, said Ann Fenley, the foundations corporate partnerships manager.

Weve done a few things with Childrens before, but never anything like this, said Jason Boyle, Sturgeon project manager in Colorado Springs. My whole team is really excited to do this for the Thompson family. We like to be part of the community and give back.

While Jalen was at school Monday, a crew of Sturgeon installers with two bucket trucks got to work decorating the house and giant tree.

I estimate theres 3,000 lights on the tree alone, Boyle said.

The installation remained dark until Jalen returned home about 5 p.m., and then Sturgeon electrified the display. The lights flickered off for an instant, then went on for good.

Its so much better than a gift, Karen said. Every night well be able to go out there and take a look at the lights.

The Denver-based Sturgeon Electric is credited with creating the very first outdoor holiday lighting display in 1914. The owners son lay ill on the second floor of their Denver home and couldnt see the family Christmas tree, so his father, David Dwight D.D. Sturgeon, dipped some light bulbs in red and green paint, strung them on electric lines and draped them on a tree outside the boys window, the story goes. Neighbors soon adopted the practice, and the rest is history.

Mondays surprise for Jalen kicked off the hospital foundations Give Comfort & Joy fundraiser to inspire year-end giving. Shop corporate partners Ace Hardware, Good Buy Gear, Jimmy Johns at 9275 N. Union Blvd., Alpine Buick GMC South and Chuck E. Cheeses through Friday, and part of the proceeds will benefit the new hospital.

Im glad Childrens Hospital is out here in Colorado Springs. I cant imagine going to Aurora all the time, Karen said. The last thing a sick child wants is to go on a long car ride after a treatment.

The $165 million hospital, taking shape beside UCHealth Memorial North, will make treatment more accessible to young patients from southeast Colorado, western Kansas and northern New Mexico.

Construction began in May 2017. The 294,000-square-foot, five-story building will have a 50-bed neonatal intensive care unit, 48 beds for pediatric surgery and pediatric intensive care, eight operating rooms, and 31 emergency exam rooms, among other amenities.

Contact the writer, 476-1602.New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. High 61F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Considerable cloudiness. Occasional rain showers after midnight. Low around 45F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%.A 20-year-old man will avoid a death-penalty trial under a plea bargain Monday in a gang plot that led to the killings of two Coronado High School students.

Diego Chacon of Colorado Springs pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder in the March 2017 abductions and shooting deaths of Natalie Cano-Partida, 16, and Derek Greer, 15.

He will be sentenced to 65 years in prison under his deal, which doesnt require him to testify against Marco Garcia-Bravo, 22, the other alleged shooter in what authorities have characterized as gang-related kidnappings and killings.

The sentence is expected to be imposed Jan. 23 by 4th Judicial District Judge David Shakes.

In admitting his crimes, Chacon didnt identify the second shooter, saying that after shooting Partida, he passed off the gun to another individual, who then shot Greer.

One of his attorneys, Joshua Tolini, said Chacon agreed to an exit interview with Colorado Springs police because he believes the family has a right to have their questions answered.

But I want to make it clear that hes not going to testify, Tolini added.

Despite the limits of Chacons cooperation, Natalie Partidas mother said there was comfort in having someone take responsibility for her daughters death.

We still dont know why, but to hear someone say, I did it, that helps me out, Tamara Partida said after the hearing. I waited for that moment. Thats why it was so important for me to be here.

The plea was heard in court after Shakes rejected a motion by Garcia-Bravos defense attorneys to close the hearing to the public, including about a dozen relatives of the victims and a Gazette reporter. The judge ruled that there is a presumption that court hearings remain public, and that the defense hadnt established a clear and present danger to Garcia-Bravos right to a fair trial, which has yet to be rescheduled after a recent postponement.

Greers mother, Heather Ferguson, leaned forward and wept as Chacon admitted guilt, dabbing at her eyes with tissues.

Its still a long road ahead of us, she said in the hallway afterward.

Whether prosecutors intend to press on with a death-penalty bid against Garcia-Bravo wasnt disclosed in court.

Chacon and Garcia-Bravo are reputed members of a Surenos-linked street gang, accused of serving as triggermen in the slayings of the two Coronado High students. The teens were abducted at gunpoint from an apartment in Colorado Springs and driven to a dirt road outside Fountain, where they were shot at point-blank range.

Investigators said the youths were targeted over suspicions that Cano-Partida had been helping a rival street gang. Greer was abducted alongside her and killed to eliminate witnesses.

Attorneys for Chacon previously suggested their client had been falsely implicated by co-defendant Gustavo Marquez.

Ten people were charged in the case, accused of playing a role to assist or help cover up. Of the five people charged with first-degree murder, only Garcia-Bravo faces pending charges. The others have pleaded guilty to lesser offenses and await sentencing.

Garcia-Bravo is expected to return to court Dec. 19.A man was sentenced Monday to 12 years in prison for a drunken-driving crash that killed three people in Colorado Springs last year.

I just wish I could take it back, Austin Robert Weisse, 31, said in a tearful apology before 4th Judicial District Judge Larry E. Schwartz, who called it the deadliest drunken-driving case in his 21 years on the bench.

Weiss pleaded guilty in October to three counts of vehicular homicide and one count of driving under the influence.

Authorities say he was driving recklessly at nearly double the 40-mph speed limit on July 27, 2017, when his Jeep slammed into a Honda minivan at Galley and Babcock roads on the citys east side. Killed were both occupants of the minivan, James and Danya Daily, and Trevor Weisse, a passenger in the Jeep and the drivers brother. Austin Weisse was severely injured.

Weisses blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.15 percent, nearly twice the 0.08 percent legal limit for drivers in Colorado.

At least five witnesses said Weisse was either speeding or changing lanes abruptly as he passed them before the crash. One said he was flipping off other motorists. Another said he appeared to be jamming out to music, which blared from the Jeep, prosecutor John Percell said.

A police accident reconstruction investigator determined that Weisse was traveling up to 75 mph in a 40-mph zone at the time, Percell said.

James and Danya Daily were longtime residents of Colorado Springs who had been married 47 years, according to an obituary published in The Gazette. James Daily, 76, was a Vietnam War veteran who later worked as a real estate agent. Danya Daily, 73, was a stay-at-home mother and a substitute teacher.

He stole the only grandparents my children will ever know, said their daughter, Victoria Budrejko of Colorado Springs.

The defendants mother, Kathy Weiss, said Austin Weisse struggles from cognitive delays he suffered in the womb from a traffic crash when she was pregnant. She described late son Trevor Weisse, 31, as a free spirit and minimalist who kept few material possessions but had thousands of friends.

Trevor Weisse, a photographer by trade, had arrived in Colorado Springs one day before the crash, intending to stay here, she said.

With one son gone and another bound for prison, I will never have the joy of having grandchildren, she added.

In crafting his sentence, Schwartz said he took into consideration Weisses lack of prior drunken-driving offenses and his cognitive impairments. But the severity of the crash demanded a prison sentence, as punishment and to discourage other drivers from behaving so recklessly, he said.

No amount of remorse is going to cure that, Schwartz said.This is a video of 'The Gator Crusader' Michael Womer of Orlando, Florida attempting to swing over a pond of alligators, and winds up landing in the drink with them after his rope snaps. Obviously, Indiana Jones is not impressed.

He said: "I love my alligators more than most people love their own children."

"I put on adventurous, educational demonstrations for guests around the world sharing my love for gators and crocodile Conservation.

So what educational demonstration was this exactly -- what not to do around a pond full of alligators? Because I'm pretty sure everybody already knew 'fall in' was not at the top of the list of survival techniques. 'Trust me, you have to steer into the skid,' I imagine Michael explaining as he tries wrestling one of his legs back from a gator.

Keep going for the video of Indiana Bones in action.

Thanks to Jeffrey S and n0nentity, who agrees somebody needs to invest in some sturdier rope.CALGARY, Alberta, Dec. 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ATCO Ltd. (TSX: ACO.X, ACO.Y)



ATCO announced today that, through its wholly owned subsidiary ATCO Structures LNG Limited Partnership, it has entered into a joint venture with a subsidiary of Bird Construction Inc. to design, engineer and construct a 4,500-person workforce accommodation centre, known as the Cedar Valley Lodge. The facility will be built to house workers involved in the construction of LNG Canadas natural gas liquefaction and export facility. The Bird-ATCO Joint Venture will execute a modular supply contract for 4,500 accommodation rooms for the Cedar Valley Lodge Project through a joint venture between ATCO and the Haisla Nation. Design and engineering for the project is currently underway, with construction commencement planned for spring 2019.

The project is one of the largest accommodation facilities ever built in Canada and will provide high quality amenities for the LNG Canada workforce. ATCO has executed several operational support services contracts and modular site accommodation projects within the Kitimat region. Since 2011, the company has operated a successful joint-venture partnership with the Haisla Nation, which will also benefit from the Cedar Valley Lodge project.

We are proud to support this crucially important energy infrastructure project in Canada, which is vital to the prosperity of our nation, and to build upon our proven track record of providing premier modular workforce housing solutions to LNG projects around the world, said Nancy Southern, Chair & Chief Executive Officer with ATCO. Our long history of delivering major workforce housing projects throughout the world continues to position us well to support landmark infrastructure development in the years ahead.

Founded in Alberta in 1947, ATCO has been prolific in delivering workforce housing solutions for major energy infrastructure and mining projects around the world. More recently in 2016, ATCO completed construction of a 1,600 person workforce housing facility for BC Hydros Site C project , on budget and with an impeccable safety record. The company has also delivered major workforce accommodations for customers throughout the world, including Canada, USA, South America, the Middle East and Africa.

With approximately 7,000 employees and assets of $23 billion, ATCO is a diversified global holding corporation with investments in Structures & Logistics (workforce housing, innovative modular facilities, construction, site support services, and logistics and operations management); Energy Infrastructure (electricity generation, transmission, and distribution; natural gas transmission, distribution and infrastructure development; energy storage and industrial water solutions; and electricity and natural gas retail sales); Transportation (ports and transportation logistics); and Commercial Real Estate. More information can be found at www.ATCO.com .

Investor Inquiries:

D.A. (Dennis) DeChamplain

Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer

403-292-7502

Media Inquiries:

Chad Cummins

Senior Advisor, Marketing & Communications

403-807-6268

Forward-Looking Information:

Certain statements contained in this news release may constitute forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as anticipate, plan, estimate, expect, may, will, intend, should, and similar expressions.

Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information.

The Companys actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in this forward-looking information as a result of regulatory decisions, competitive factors in the industries in which the Company operates, prevailing economic conditions, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company.

The Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking information should not be unduly relied upon.

Any forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the Companys expectations as of the date hereof, and is subject to change after such date. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities legislation.

PDF available: http://resource.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/7ad1c2d1-6ba0-453d-80a1-a2467d7ea933HOUSTON and CALGARY, Alberta, Dec. 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Civeo Corporation ("Civeo" or the "Company") (NYSE:CVEO), one of the largest global providers of workforce accommodations, logistics and facility management services to the natural resource industry, announced today that it has been awarded a room commitment from LNG Canada. The Company also announced it has elected to terminate the Bird-Civeo Joint Venture (B-C JV) and no longer participate in the design and construction of LNG Canadas Cedar Valley Lodge.



LNG Canada Room Commitment at Sitka Lodge

Civeo is pleased to announce today that it has been awarded a room commitment from LNG Canada to provide rooms and services from the Companys existing Sitka accommodations facility. Civeos Sitka Lodge, located in Kitimat, British Columbia, has 646 rooms, with plans to expand to 1,100 rooms to support this contract, along with previously announced commitments. The contract is for an initial 18- month time period, with a minimum room commitment and options for extension of up to 36 months. In accordance with this contract, LNG Canada will use the Sitka Lodge for the initial construction phases of the LNG Canada export terminal. This contract at Sitka Lodge is in addition to the previously announced Sitka room commitments from Coastal GasLink Pipeline Project (CGL) and LNG Canadas engineering, procurement and construction firm.

Bradley J. Dodson, Civeo's President and Chief Executive Officer, stated We are pleased to partner with the local First Nation to serve LNG Canada at our Sitka Lodge. The Sitka Lodge is strategically located to serve LNG infrastructure investment and can be expanded beyond the 1,100 rooms as room demand in the region dictates. We look forward to delivering best-in-class accommodations on this exciting LNG project.

Bird-Civeo Joint Venture

In 2016, B-C JV announced it had been selected as the contractor for the design and construction of LNG Canadas Cedar Valley Lodge. After the final investment decision for LNG Canadas LNG export terminal in Kitimat, British Columbia was deferred in 2016, and against a changing market backdrop over the last two and a half years, Civeo has made the strategic decision to begin outsourcing the manufacturing of accommodation units and close its manufacturing plant in Alberta, Canada. This decision aligns with Civeos sourcing strategy in its U.S. and Australian operations. As a result, Civeo felt it was in its best commercial interest, as well as the best interest of LNG Canada and its partner, to no longer participate in the B-C JV.

Mr. Dodson commented, We are proud of the work that Civeo and B-C JV have completed on the Cedar Valley Lodge to date, and we look forward to continuing to be a partner to LNG Canada through our Sitka Lodge and our mobile camps supporting the Coastal GasLink Pipeline Project.

About Civeo

Civeo Corporation is a leading provider of workforce accommodations, with prominent market positions in the Canadian oil sands and the Australian natural resource regions. Civeo offers comprehensive solutions for housing hundreds or thousands of workers with its long-term and temporary accommodations, and provides catering, facility management, water systems and logistics services. Civeo currently operates a total of 30 lodges and villages in operation in Canada and Australia, with an aggregate of approximately 32,000 rooms. Civeo is publicly traded under the symbol CVEO on the New York Stock Exchange. For more information, please visit Civeo's website at www.civeo.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements are those that do not state historical facts and are, therefore, inherently subject to risks and uncertainties. The forward looking statements in this news release include the statements regarding Civeos future plans, priorities and borrowing needs; growth opportunities; optimism about activity, market demand and commodity price environment in 2018; and expected benefits of the contract with LNGC and other previously announced commitments. The forward-looking statements included herein are based on then current expectations and entail various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among other things, risks associated with the general nature of the accommodations industry, risks associated with the level of supply and demand for oil, coal, iron ore and other minerals, including the level of activity and developments in the Canadian oil sands, the level of demand for coal and other natural resources from Australia, and fluctuations in the current and future prices of oil, coal, iron ore and other minerals, risks associated with currency exchange rates, risks associated with the development of new projects, including whether such projects will continue in the future, and other factors discussed in the "Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Risk Factors" sections of Civeos annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017 and other reports the Company may file from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Each forward-looking statement contained in this news release speaks only as of the date of this release. Except as required by law, Civeo expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

CONTACT:

Frank C. Steininger

Civeo Corporation

Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer

713-510-2400

Jeffrey Spittel

FTI Consulting

713-353-5407WISeKey to Present at the Imperial Capital Security Investor Conference on December 12th in New York City

ZUG, Switzerland - December 4, 2018 - WISeKey International Holding Ltd ("WISeKey", SIX: WIHN, OTCQX: WIKYY), a leading cybersecurity and IoT company, today announced that James Livingston, Vice President of Sales & Business Development, will present at the Imperial Capital Security Investor Conference, on December 12, 2018, at 3:30 pm ET, at the Intercontinental New York Barclay.

The presentation will not be webcast; however, investors will be able to download the most recent investor presentation via the Investors section of WISeKey's website, www.wisekey.com . Additionally, Mr. Livingston will host one-on-one meetings with investors throughout the day.

About WISeKey:

WISeKey (SIX Swiss Exchange: WIHN, OTCQX: WIKYY) is a leading global cybersecurity company currently deploying via a Virtual Platform large scale digital identity ecosystem. WISeKey's Swiss based cryptographic RoT ("RoT") and IoT Microchips provides secure authentication and identification, in both physical and virtual environments, for the Internet of Things, Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence. The WISeKey RoT serves as a common trust anchor to ensure the integrity of online transactions among objects and between objects and people. For more information, visit www.wisekey.com.

To receive WISeKey's latest news visit the WISeKey Investors Corner.

Press and investor contacts:

WISeKey International Holding Ltd

Company Contact: Carlos Moreira

Chairman & CEO

Tel: +41 22 594 3000

info@wisekey.com WISeKey Investor Relations (US)

Contact: Lena Cati

The Equity Group Inc.

Tel: +1 212 836-9611

lcati@equityny.com

Disclaimer:

This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking statements concerning WISeKey International Holding Ltd and its business. Such statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of WISeKey International Holding Ltd to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. WISeKey International Holding Ltd is providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities, and it does not constitute an offering prospectus within the meaning of article 652a or article 1156 of the Swiss Code of Obligations or a listing prospectus within the meaning of the listing rules of the SIX Swiss Exchange. Investors must rely on their own evaluation of WISeKey and its securities, including the merits and risks involved. Nothing contained herein is, or shall be relied on as, a promise or representation as to the future performance of WISeKey.English French

Press release

Paris La Defense, 4 December 2018

Great success of the issue of BSAAR warrants

Albioma announces that the issue of redeemable share subscription and/or purchase warrants (BSAAR warrants) reserved for 42 employees of the Company and its subsidiaries and the Company's Chief Executive Officer, without preferential subscription rights of the shareholders, launched on 9 November 2018, met with great success.

With a subscription rate over 140%, the transaction results in the issue of 1,071,731 BSAAR warrants of 0.90 euro each (representing 964,557.90 euros gross proceeds), allocated to 31 subscribers including the Chief Executive Officer, who subscribed for 110,650 BSAAR warrants.

The exercise of the totality of the BSAAR warrants would result in the creation, between 6 December 2021 and 4 December 2024, of a number of new shares representing c. 3.46% of the share capital as at 30 November 2018 (3.35% of the share capital post exercise of the BSAAR warrants). The exercise price of the BSAAR warrants was set at 20.90 euros, i.e. a price equal to 120% of the average closing prices quoted for the Company's shares over a period of 20 consecutive trading days preceding 8 November 2018. The terms and conditions of the BSAAR warrants are available on the Company's website, www.albioma.com.

Albioma was accompanied by Europe Offering as advisor to the issuer, and Banque Transatlantique as centralising agent of the transaction.

Next on the agenda: annual results for the 2018 financial year, on 8 March 2019 (before trading).English Lithuanian

Vilnius District Court on 2018-10-25 announced decision, by which refuse all claims of AB MV Group Production for AB Vilniaus degtine and left registrations of various trademarks of the company, in which marks 999 and/or devynerios are used. The decision is based on rulings in other trials, where was confirmed, that these marks are generic, with a meaning of geographical indication Trejos devynerios. This decision has come into force. On the same day Appeal Court of Lithuania, has overruled decision of Vilnius District Court and refused claim of AB MV Groups Production in full, for the damages, related to supposedly illegal usage of the companies trademarks.









General Manager

Rokas Mituzas

Phone: +370 5 233 0819



Toronto, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The addition of 13 populations of Chinook salmon from Vancouver Island, Thompson and Fraser rivers to the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlifes (COSEWIC) list of species assessed as at-risk in this region points to an ecosystem in crisis, WWF-Canada says.

Megan Leslie, CEO and president of WWF-Canada, says:

These individual, at-risk designations add up to paint a bigger picture of an ecosystem in trouble. We now have southern resident killer whales fighting to reproduce and survive in an increasingly busy, noisy and degraded environment. Their main food source of Chinook salmon has just been assessed as being at risk of extinction, with 13 populations from Vancouver Island, the Thompson River and Fraser River included in COSEWICs recommendations. Add that to 16 Sockeye salmon populations, and dozens of other species already assessed as being at-risk in this region  something is terribly wrong here.

Chinook salmon have had to contend with warmer water temperatures that affect life-cycle events, degradation of both their freshwater and marine habitats, and fishing. The simple fact is by the time the orcas go to eat, too few Chinook are left to keep them alive and healthy.

We cant keep adding more stressors to these already overloaded, interconnected ecosystems. We need to look after the region in its entirety, from headwaters to the ocean  and any and all development decisions must be made through this lens. We need to act quickly to reduce threats to wildlife, and prioritize actions that have the best chance of success.

Other species assessed by COSEWIC include polar bear (Special Concern) and the American bumble bee (Special Concern).

Brandon Laforest, senior specialist, Arctic species and ecosystems at WWF-Canada, says:

Seven years after being listed as at-risk, polar bears remain of Special Concern and yet have no federal management plan. While co-management that incorporates science and traditional knowledge has been largely successful to date, we must continue to work together to address threats  primarily, sea ice loss due to climate change. While acting to ensure populations are as resilient as possible, rapid global efforts to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions are needed to ensure a healthy future for polar bears. We also must make public safety a top priority; investment in reducing human-polar bear conflict will be critical as polar bears come into more conflict with northern communities.

Emily Giles, senior species specialist at WWF-Canada, says:

The American bumble bee has joined the ranks of seven species of native bees in Canada assessed as being at risk of extinction due to threats from climate change, pesticides and habitat loss. The precipitous decline of native bee populations over the past few decades is serious, not only for bees but for humans, too, as bees are the most important pollinators of the food we eat. To help native bee populations  and other wildlife facing troubling declines  we must act to restore natural landscapes and the naturally occurring plants that together provide essential habitat.

Species assessed or re-assessed as at-risk include:

Chinook salmon  16 populations in the Fraser River, Vancouver Island, and Thompson River  assessed as Endangered (8 populations), Threatened (4 populations), Special Concern (1 population), Not at Risk (1 population), Data Deficient (2 populations).

Polar bear  reassessed as being of Special Concern.

Wood turtle  reassessed as Threatened.

American bumble bee  assessed as being of Special Concern.

Black ash  assessed as Threatened.

Find the full list here.

For more information on species decline in Canada, please see Living Planet Report Canada.

About World Wildlife Fund Canada

WWF-Canada creates solutions to the environmental challenges that matter most for Canadians. We work in places that are unique and ecologically important, so that nature, wildlife and people thrive together. Because we are all wildlife. For more information, visit wwf.ca.

For further information

Rebecca Spring, senior communications specialist, rspring@wwfcanada.org, +1 647-338-6274CALGARY, ALBERTA, CANADA, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- De Beers Group is pleased to announce additional scholarship funding for Canadian women pursuing full-time studies in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) subjects and STEM-related studies.

These scholarships are part of wider focus on gender equality by De Beers Group as a United Nations HeForShe Thematic Champion.

In 2019 De Beers Group will continue its partnerships with the University of Waterloo and the University of Calgary, while funding additional opportunities for study through a new partnership with Scholarships Canada. Funds received through Scholarships Canada may be applied to STEM undergraduate degree programs at any post-secondary institution in Canada.

This expanded program means there is now the equivalent of 67 years of scholarship funding being made available by De Beers Group to female students in these fields of study in Canada.

At the University of Waterloo, two one-year entrance scholarships were awarded in 2018. Six will be awarded in September 2019, with four more being awarded in each of September 2020 and September 2021. This means a total of 16 scholarships will be available to women at Waterloo through to 2021. Additional preference for these scholarships goes to Indigenous women from the Northwest Territories (NWT), Northern Ontario and Nunavut as these are the areas in which De Beers Group currently has Canadian mining operations and projects.

At the University of Calgary, 24 De Beers Group scholarships will be awarded overall. Six one-year entrance scholarships were granted in 2018, with six more to be awarded in 2019. Successful 2019 applicants will have the option to renew their funding for an additional two years based on academic performance. Additional preference for these scholarships also goes to Indigenous women from the Northwest Territories (NWT), Northern Ontario and Nunavut

In addition, nine new entrance scholarships that can be applied towards STEMs at any Canadian University will be made available in 2019 through Scholarships Canada. Successful applicants will have the opportunity to renew for an additional two years based on performance. Indigenous women from the Northwest Territories, northern Ontario and now Nunavut (following the recent acquisition by De Beers Canada of an advanced-stage exploration property on Baffin Island) will be encouraged to apply and pursue academic careers in STEMs and STEM-related studies.

De Beers Canada Chief Executive Officer Kim Truter said the partnerships with the University of Waterloo, the University of Calgary and Scholarship Canada are intended not only to attract more women into STEM fields, but also to set them up for success in their studies.

Ensuring we had the right partners was very important for us, as we needed quality programs, a proven track record and institutions that understood the cultural component for applicants who may be applying from communities where we operate, most of which are remote, said Truter. By expanding the STEM-related course selection this year, we believe it will be a win-win for both the applicants and their communities, potentially providing new or enhanced capacity in some communities that may not currently exist.

The expanded STEM-related programs eligible for study now include (among other fields):

Nursing

Medicine

Accounting

Information Technology

Business Management

"We are very excited to be working with De Beers and UNOPS on this scholarship program. Our ScholarshipsCanada.com database has over 100,000 scholarships but very few are designated for Canadian female students interested in STEM programs. We look forward to helping make a significant and positive impact with these scholarships," says Chris Wilkins, Founder & CEO at The SchoolFinder Group | EDge Interactive.

The STEM scholarships are just one component of the De Beers Group-UN Women partnership that will see a total of more than US$600,000 invested by De Beers Group in Canada through 2020. Additional activities and investments are planned across Canada over the next three years.

AttachmentLONDON, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Following a strong year in 2018  which saw revenue targets exceed and significant client gains - Third Republic have announced the opening of a new office in central London. The opening of this office in the city of London represents a significant development in the continued organic growth of the firm that specialises in recruitment solutions for advanced technologies.



Founded in 2014, Third Republic has undergone three office moves in four years as a result of the rapid growth and  with headcount doubling again since the start of 2018  now totals 60 sales consultants across both London and New York offices.

Richard Vercesi, CEO and Co-Founder of Third at Republic, said: I have to admit, the first three years of our journey were definitely a lot harder than I was expecting them to be attracting staff to winning new clients and engaging high-quality candidates, we really had to push to break into the market. However, after a lot of hard work and persistence, we have come a long way from our humble basement office in Farringdon where it all began. Our brand has matured significantly over the past twelve months and, as a result, more and more people in the markets we engage with are starting to take notice of who we are and our modern approach to recruitment has definitely helped with this. Our new, state-of-the-art space will enable us to continue developing our footprint and expanding our reach, as we continue the transition from start-up to scale up here at Third Republic  and I am definitely excited to see what the future holds for us here!

Whilst much of the recent developments have been within the UK marketplace, Third Republic is now gearing up to increase their reach across Europe, with a particular focus on Germany.

"We are also particularly excited to welcome our communities of Tech talent to the new office, as we take advantage of the new space and continue to host MeetUps and networking events in each of the cloud and digital technology spaces that we operate in," commented Adam Woozeer, Head of Marketing at Third Republic.

About Third Republic: Next Generation Sourcing

Most recruitment agencies are designed for an era that existed 10 years ago that was aggressive, short-term and transactional. Our goal is to build a new breed of agency focused on both clients and candidates - our customers.

Built on values of transparency and trust, a partnership for the long-term. Our vision is to transform the way companies hire advanced technology skills. Our mission is to deliver these skills by creating the agency of the future, designed for the digital age of recruitment.

We believe we are moving into a new era in talent acquisition, driven by innovations in next-generation technologies and forward-thinking resourcing methodologies.

For more information, visit www.thirdrepublic.com .

Contact:

Francesca Greane

Francesca.greane@thirdrepublic.com

10-year Mining Land Use Permit expires November 2028

2019 Program Planning Underway

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alianza Minerals Ltd. (TSXV:ANZ) (Alianza or the Company) is pleased to report that it has received a Class 3 Mining Land Use approval for the Haldane Silver Project, located in the historic Keno Mining District, Yukon Territory. This approval is valid until November 25, 2028 and is subject to the standard restrictions and conditions contained in the Yukon Quartz Mining Act and the Quartz Mining Land Use Regulations.

The receipt of this approval for our exploration activities allows us to move forward without delay at Haldane in 2019, stated Jason Weber, P. Geo., president and CEO of Alianza. Planning is underway and will likely include additional trenching at our new Bighorn anomaly and drilling at the Mount Haldane Vein System and Ross targets.

Haldane Silver Property

The 8,579 hectare Haldane Silver Property is located 25 km west of Keno City, YT in the western portion of the Keno Hill Silver District where companies such as Alexco Resource Corp. and Metallic Minerals Corporation are currently exploring. Notably, the access road to Victoria Gold Corp.s Eagle Gold Mine crosses the northern portion of the property. Mineralization in the district consists of structurally-controlled, silver-bearing veins. Silver production began in the Keno district in 1913, with over 200 million ounces of silver produced through 1989. Production statistics from the Yukon government Minfile (2003) state that 4.87 million tonnes were mined at an average grade of 1,389 g/t silver, 5.62% lead and 3.14% zinc in that time.

Mineralization at Haldane consists of galena, sphalerite, tetrahedrite and pyrargyrite, with gangue of manganiferous siderite and quartz in veins, hosted within Keno Hill quartzite in proximity to the Robert Service Thrust. This mineralization and setting bears a strong resemblance to the main Keno Hill deposits. The Mt Haldane Veins System (MHVS) forms the core target of the property and was the location of small high-grade silver mining in the 1920s. Based on the 2018 field program, this target may have up to 3.5 km of strike length. The 2018 program was also successful in identifying a potential new vein target 2.5 km northeast of the MHVS at the Bighorn anomaly.

About Alianza Minerals Ltd.

Alianza employs a hybrid business model of joint venture funding and self-funded projects to maximize opportunity for exploration success. The Company currently has gold, silver and base metal projects in Yukon Territory, British Columbia, Nevada and Peru.

The Company has 45.1 million shares issued and outstanding and is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V: ANZ).

Mr. Murray Jones, MSc, P.Geo., of Equity Exploration Consultants Ltd. is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Jones supervised the preparation of the technical information contained in this release.

For further information, contact:

Jason Weber, President and CEO

Sandrine Lam, Shareholder Communications

Tel: (604) 687-3520

Fax: (888) 889-4874

To learn more visit: www.alianzaminerals.com

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. STATEMENTS IN THIS NEWS RELEASE, OTHER THAN PURELY HISTORICAL INFORMATION, INCLUDING STATEMENTS RELATING TO THE COMPANY'S FUTURE PLANS AND OBJECTIVES OR EXPECTED RESULTS, MAY INCLUDE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS ARE BASED ON NUMEROUS ASSUMPTIONS AND ARE SUBJECT TO ALL OF THE RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES INHERENT IN RESOURCE EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT. AS A RESULT, ACTUAL RESULTS MAY VARY MATERIALLY FROM THOSE DESCRIBED IN THE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS.Culver City, CA, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- eWellness Healthcare Corporation  (OTCQB: EWLL)  a provider of the state of the art PHZIO platform for the physical therapy (PT) and telehealth markets, announced today that the Texas Board of Physical Therapy Examiners, has included telehealth as a treatment option to provide physical therapy services to patients who are physically located at a site in Texas, other than the site where the physical therapist is located, whether or not in Texas.



https://www.ptot.texas.gov/idl/93325510-A467-AAFD-99DA-2F566C860077

Darwin Fogt, CEO stated, We have created a strong path to lowering the spending on physical therapy claims through the utilization of our PHZIO digital PT treatment platform and are happy to be in a position to share our revolutionary cost savings technology with patients in the great state of Texas.

Our PHZIO platform has been developed to significantly support us in becoming the leader in the new industry of digital telehealth physical therapy (dPT). Our focus is to highlight that a majority of all future PT treatments can be accomplished with a smart phone. This new digital adoption will lower patient treatment costs, expand patient treatment access and improve patient compliance. Our PHZIO platform allows patients and PTs to cut the cord from the old-school, wait in line, brick and mortar clinical experience to an immediate response digital, in-home PT experience. 80% of all PT assessments and treatments can now be done on a patients smart phone in the privacy of their own home. Digital PT is clearly the next upgrade the industry needs to make.

About eWellness

eWellness Healthcare Corporation (OTCQB: EWLL) is the first physical therapy telehealth company to offer insurance reimbursable real-time distance monitored treatments. Our business model is to license our PHZIO (PHZIO) platform to any physical therapy (PT) clinic in the U.S. and or have large-scale employers use our PHZIO platform as a fully PT monitored corporate wellness program. The Companys PHZIO home physical therapy exercise platform has been designed to disrupt the $30 billion physical therapy and the $8 billion corporate wellness industries. PHZIO re-defines the way physical therapy can be delivered. PHZIO is the first real-time remote monitored 1-to-many physical therapy platform for home use. Due to the real-time patient monitoring feature, the PHZIO platform is insurance reimbursable.

For more information on eWellness go to:

http://www.ewellnesshealth.com/

http://phzio.com/

http://prehabpt.com /

Safe Harbor Statement

This news release includes certain information that may constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by terminology such as could, may, will, expects, anticipates, future, intends, plans, believes, estimates, proposed, planned, potential and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, including statements about eWellness beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information is necessarily based upon a number of assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Although eWellness believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such forward-looking information will prove to be accurate. eWellness cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. Accordingly, due to the risks, uncertainties and assumptions inherent in forward-looking information, readers and prospective investors in the Companys securities should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. All forward-looking information contained in this press release is given as of the date hereof and is based upon the opinions and estimates of management and information available to management as at the date hereof and is subject to change. The Company assumes no obligation to revise or update forward-looking information to reflect new circumstances, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

For additional information on eWellness Healthcare Corporation and its PHZIO telemedicine products please contact Mr. Darwin Fogt, CEO: 1-855-470-1700.293eedefense wrote:





I've detailed my profile and relevant stats below. I want to know if I'm truly targeting the right schools or am I aiming too high. I plan on applying Next fall for Matriculation at Fall 2020. Thank you in advance for taking the time to read through the profile and offering valuable advice!



Stretch Schools:

Haas, Kellogg, and Columbia (I plan to do ED at Columbia). I believe my stats would be too low for HSW, Booth, or Sloan.



Target Schools:

Tuck, Ross, Darden





My profile

Undergraduate information-

Major: Electrical Engineering

School: Top 5 USNews Undergrad EE school (Georgia Tech, UMich, UIUC)

GPA: 2.93



I understand that my GPA is super low. I plan to utilize the optional essay to show that my GPA was on an upward trajectory. I had a 3.5/4.0 GPA my senior year (which included all hard Advanced Level EE Core Classes along with capstone.) I will take full ownership of my mismanagement of priorities and time my first 3 years of college and that it isn't indicative of future performance (with examples of last year GPA and GMAT)



GMAT: 730 - I plan to retake this mid-February



Work Experience-

1. Company 1 - 2 years+ (Will explain + below) - Top 5 Power Design Firm - United States

- Nuclear Power Plant Design Division - Have 18+ months of experience on an International Power Plant Project. Contract was for $100+MM, including a couple months stay at the country. Was sole electrical design engineer leading a team of outsourced (Joint Ventureship) international engineers. Very Client Facing role - developed mature relationships with the international clients - 9-10 Months: Responsible Project Engineer on large time sensitive (29 days of implementation, construction, etc) $35MM project in the United States -Promotion Cycle includes 2 promotions. Additionally post-resignation, I was hired back on as a part-time consultant (as requested by one of the senior partners) to help assist for holes in the international project due to my mature client relationships. Was given an additional promotion/title bump upon taking this role.

2. (Current) Company 2 - A few months (Will be closer to 2 years upon matriculation) - Top 5 Defense Contractor (Lockheed, Raytheon, Northrop)

-Design Engineer for R&D Projects for Weaponry Division -Experience in Cross-Discipline and functional program project requirements and work closely with Safety, Quality, Systems, Manufacturing Floor

ECs:



-Volunteer for local ethnic outreach group (including web development for them) -Volunteer for a Trail Clean up group (Help clean up popular hiking trails around the area) - I am very active in the hiking community in the region that I am in.



Race/nationality:

US Citizen  However first generation immigrant. Family moved here when I was like 4-5 from India. I grew up in the inner-city with an economic disadvantage. I was able to apply with my math score and essays in the 8th grade to a Top 10 State High School (USNews)



Sex: M



Post-MBA Career:

I plan to specialize in Strategy Consulting (in A&D/E&U) in companies like ATKearney or MBB since I have distinct design/construction/manufacturing experience on the Nuclear/Electric Power Mission Critical and Defense Mission Critical systems (Both Hi-intensity areas). I plan to utilize the skills that are developed throughout the MBA curriculum to assist in noting how projects come to life. I've seen first hand how business decisions pivot entire business models and industry space (Think state of Nuclear Construction Internationally versus domestically). I want to be in an instrumental role in that for E&U and A&D companies. Hello,I've detailed my profile and relevant stats below. I want to know if I'm truly targeting the right schools or am I aiming too high. I plan on applying Next fall for Matriculation at Fall 2020. Thank you in advance for taking the time to read through the profile and offering valuable advice!Stretch Schools:Haas, Kellogg, and Columbia (I plan to do ED at Columbia). I believe my stats would be too low for HSW, Booth, or Sloan.Target Schools:Tuck, Ross, DardenUndergraduate information-Major: Electrical EngineeringSchool: Top 5 USNews Undergrad EE school (Georgia Tech, UMich, UIUC)GPA: 2.93I understand that my GPA is super low. I plan to utilize the optional essay to show that my GPA was on an upward trajectory. I had a 3.5/4.0 GPA my senior year (which included all hard Advanced Level EE Core Classes along with capstone.) I will take full ownership of my mismanagement of priorities and time my first 3 years of college and that it isn't indicative of future performance (with examples of last year GPA and GMAT)GMAT: 730 - I plan to retake this mid-FebruaryWork Experience-1. Company 1 - 2 years+ (Will explain + below) - Top 5 Power Design Firm - United States2. (Current) Company 2 - A few months (Will be closer to 2 years upon matriculation) - Top 5 Defense Contractor (Lockheed, Raytheon, Northrop)ECs:Race/nationality:US Citizen  However first generation immigrant. Family moved here when I was like 4-5 from India. I grew up in the inner-city with an economic disadvantage. I was able to apply with my math score and essays in the 8th grade to a Top 10 State High School (USNews)Sex: MPost-MBA Career:I plan to specialize in Strategy Consulting (in A&D/E&U) in companies like ATKearney or MBB since I have distinct design/construction/manufacturing experience on the Nuclear/Electric Power Mission Critical and Defense Mission Critical systems (Both Hi-intensity areas). I plan to utilize the skills that are developed throughout the MBA curriculum to assist in noting how projects come to life. I've seen first hand how business decisions pivot entire business models and industry space (Think state of Nuclear Construction Internationally versus domestically). I want to be in an instrumental role in that for E&U and A&D companies.

Nisha Trivedi

mbaMission Senior Admissions Consultant

35 positive reviews on GMATClub, 2020 Top 20 of admissions consultants across the industry per P&Q: https://poetsandquants.com/2020/08/26/best-mba-admission-consultants-of-2020/



Sign up for a free 30-minute consultation at https://www.mbamission.com/consult/mba-admissions/

Read our Insider's Guides to the top b-schools: http://www.mbamission.com/guides.php?category=insiders Signature Read More

Hi there, and thanks for writing! You have impactful and progressive work experience, and a solid GPA that, if you're able to increase it, can help offset your lower GPA.I think that the target and stretch schools you've identified make sense. I wouldn't necessarily count out Booth (it's roughly as competitive as your other stretch schools). Ross is just about as competitive as Kellogg these days, so I would also add Fuqua to your target list. Before now and when you apply, here's what I suggest you focus on:- Increasing the GMAT score if possible, though 730 is a great start- Taking a supplemental quant course to help offset your GPA. I recommend statistics, calculus, microecon, or accounting, either in person or online (just make sure the course offers a letter grade). You could also consider UC Berkeley Extension Math for Management or HBx CORe- Within your volunteer involvement, take on a leadership role- Research the programs thoroughly (including speaking with students/alumni and going to info sessions) so that you can make a strong case for why each one is a strong fit for you when you applyI hope that helps!_________________Perhaps wrote:

After reading all posts above, i got messed up with the basic concepts.

"Let's look at the formula on a simple case. 2 fair coins, and we want to know if we'll get at least one Heads. We'd use the formula to say that the chance of getting heads on the first flip is 0.5, heads on the second is 0.5, and heads on both is 0.5x0.5 or 0.25. This gives us 0.5 + 0.5 - 0.25 = 0.75, which is correct. "

If at least one head is needed in two flips, then propabilty should be " prob of head occuring in first coin (HT--->0.5) + prob of head occuring in second coin (HT--->0.5) + prob of head occuring in both the flips HH--->0.25 ( because we need that at least one head is occurring).

So , all the three probabilties shud be added. Y do v subtract the last one...and how its like " the question being asked here is "at least one head", which means HH is being counted in both calculations of 0.5. That's why we need to remove it afterwards, because it's being double counted, and should only be counted once." ??? ....in ques it is mentioned that "AT LEAST" one head shud occur...so whats wrong in adding the third probabilty in which both heads are occurring.

at least one occurs

Exactly one occurs

Hi Perhaps,I apologize if the example confused you, I'm trying to denote the difference between the standard question:and this particular question:

AT LEAST ONE

If at least one occurs, you use the formula P(1) + P(2) - P(1&2). This is because the probability of 1&2 occuring is accounted for once in P(1) and another time in P(2). Hence, it is double counted. You then have to remove one instance of both occuring in order to get the correct answer.In the simple example of two fair coin flips. The chances of getting Heads on at least one is P(1) + P(2) - P(1&2) or 0.5 + 0.5 - 0.25, which is 0.75. Written out: HH, HT and TH work. TT does not.

EXACTLY ONE

In this question, they are asking the equivalent of getting exactly one Head. Using the same basic formula, we could just take the probability of at least one and subtract the probability of both occuring, which leaves us with P(1) + P(2) - 2xP(1&2). As previously mentioned, the case where both occurs is accounted for twice when it should be accounted for zero times.For the coin flips we again get P(1) + P(2) - 2xP(1&2) = 0.5 + 0.5 - 2x0.25 = 0.5. Written out: HT and TH work. HH and TT don't work.On simple examples like this you're probably better off using logic and writing out examples (until ~10 possibilities this is best), but if the exam started asking about 5 coin flips you're better served to use the formulae than writing out 32 possibilities. I hope this helped clear up any misconceptions. The same principle can be applied regardless of the percentages used, it will only change when the number of coinflips or requirements change.Hope this helps!-Ron_________________Department of Health and Human Services

Part 1. Overview Information

Participating Organization(s) National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Components of Participating Organizations National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

National Cancer Institute (NCI) All applications to this funding opportunity announcement should fall within the mission of the Institutes/Centers. The following NIH Offices may co-fund applications assigned to those Institutes/Centers. Office of AIDS Research (OAR)

Funding Opportunity Title U.S.-Brazil Collaborative Biomedical Research Program (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)

Activity Code R01 Research Project Grant

Announcement Type New

Related Notices December 19, 2018 - Notice of NCI Participation in RFA-AI-18-054. See Notice NOT-CA-19-014.

Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) Number RFA-AI-18-054

Companion Funding Opportunity None

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number(s) 93.855; 93.113; 93.865; 93.242; 93.853, 93.393, 93.394, 93.395, 93.396, 93.399

Funding Opportunity Purpose The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to promote collaborative biomedical research between the United States (U.S.) and Brazil under the U.S.-Brazil Collaborative Biomedical Research Program. Research areas supported under this program include allergy, immunology, and infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS and its co-morbidities; neurological disorders and stroke, and environmental health sciences. This program represents an outstanding opportunity for U.S. and Brazil scientists to pursue collaborative research partnerships that address public health topics of mutual benefit to both nations.

Key Dates

Posted Date December 4, 2018

Open Date (Earliest Submission Date) February 8, 2019

Letter of Intent Due Date(s) February 8, 2019

Application Due Date(s) March 8, 2019, by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization. All types of non-AIDS applications allowed for this funding opportunity announcement are due on this date. Applicants are encouraged to apply early to allow adequate time to make any corrections to errors found in the application during the submission process by the due date.

AIDS Application Due Date(s) March 8, 2019, by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization. All types of AIDS and AIDS-related applications allowed for this funding opportunity announcement are due on this date. Applicants are encouraged to apply early to allow adequate time to make any corrections to errors found in the application during the submission process by the due date.

Scientific Merit Review June 2019

Advisory Council Review October 2019

Earliest Start Date December 2019

Expiration Date March 9, 2019

Due Dates for E.O. 12372 Not Applicable

Required Application Instructions

It is critical that applicants follow the Research (R) Instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, except where instructed to do otherwise (in this FOA or in a Notice from the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts). Conformance to all requirements (both in the Application Guide and the FOA) is required and strictly enforced. Applicants must read and follow all application instructions in the Application Guide as well as any program-specific instructions noted in Section IV. When the program-specific instructions deviate from those in the Application Guide, follow the program-specific instructions. Applications that do not comply with these instructions may be delayed or not accepted for review.

Table of Contents

Part 1. Overview Information

Part 2. Full Text of the Announcement

Section I. Funding Opportunity Description

Section II. Award Information

Section III. Eligibility Information

Section IV. Application and Submission Information

Section V. Application Review Information

Section VI. Award Administration Information

Section VII. Agency Contacts

Section VIII. Other Information



Part 2. Full Text of Announcement

Section I. Funding Opportunity Description

Purpose

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to promote collaborative biomedical research between the United States (U.S.) and Brazil under the U.S.-Brazil Collaborative Biomedical Research Program. Research areas supported under this program include allergy, immunology, and infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS and its co-morbidities; neurological disorders and stroke; and environmental health sciences. This program represents an outstanding opportunity for U.S. and Brazil scientists to pursue collaborative research partnerships that address public health topics of mutual benefit to both nations.

Background

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) supports international collaborative biomedical research to advance science and expand biomedical knowledge. Scientific cooperation between the U.S. and the Federative Republic of Brazil spans over 50 years. Recognizing that enhanced cooperative biomedical research would be of mutual benefit to the U.S. and Brazil, NIH, the Brazil Ministry of Health (MS), and the Brazil Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation, and Communication (MCTIC) signed a Letter of Intent in 2014 to establish the jointly funded, collaborative research program, the U.S.-Brazil Collaborative Biomedical Research Program. This collaborative program was strengthened further when the HHS Secretary and Brazil Minister of Health signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2015 to enhance and expand cooperative efforts in health and medical sciences. A working group made of members from NIH, MS, and MCTIC developed strategic plans for collaboration. The NIH, MS, and MCTIC have allocated resources to support joint activities under this program.

Structure of the U.S.-Brazil Collaborative Biomedical Research Program

The structure of the U.S.-Brazil research partnership relies on the submission of a single application prepared jointly by U.S. and Brazilian scientist(s). This application will be submitted to NIH and peer reviewed using the well-established NIH process at the Center for Scientific Review, which will include a review panel that incorporates the expertise of non-conflicted U.S. and Brazilian scientists in the proposed topic areas. Funding will be provided to the meritorious application (per NIH peer review) from the U.S. and Brazilian funding agencies. For successful applicants, the U.S. scientist(s) will receive funds from the NIH and the Brazilian scientist(s) will receive funds from the Brazil MS (http://portalms.saude.gov.br/) through the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) (http://www.cnpq.br/) within the Brazilian Government's MCTIC (http://www.mctic.gov.br/portal). The research project(s) proposed in the application will be a full partnership between the U.S and Brazilian scientists involving a collaboration of joint and mutual benefit to address both U.S. and Brazilian biomedical research questions and/or public health issues.

By sending an application to NIH, the expectation is that the applicants agree to allow NIH to provide a copy of the submitted application and summary statement to the government of Brazil. Information about the MS and MCTIC funding for the program is provided at http://www.cnpq.br/. The government of Brazil will concurrently advertise this funding partnership opportunity on their website and provide a link to the announcement on the NIH website. Information regarding the funding process to the Brazilian scientists will be given by the Brazilian Government upon announcement of the final results. This may include the submission of a Portuguese version of the proposal to MS and CNPq. Given this sharing requirement, applicants concerned about confidentiality or proprietary information should take this into account before deciding what information to submit in the application to NIH.

Funding decisions will be made considering the research priorities of the U.S.-Brazil program. Applications must be determined to be eligible and responsive to the U.S. and Brazilian research interest areas as described in this FOA to be considered for funding under the program. Final funding decisions will be made by the NIH following consideration by the U.S.-Brazil Joint Committee utilizing the NIH peer review results.

Through this U.S.-Brazil collaboration, projects supported under this FOA will focus on novel scientific ideas or new model systems, tools, or technologies that have the potential for significant impact on biomedical or biobehavioral research common to the biomedical research needs of the U.S. and Brazilian governments. This scientific collaboration is expected to be a true partnership between the U.S. and Brazilian scientists, with each providing substantial, responsible leadership for their portion of the project. Inclusion of early career investigators is strongly encouraged. Preliminary data are not required under this FOA.

Applicants and collaborating partners are expected to adhere to the NIH policies on the use of human subjects and animals in research. NIH expects awards using animals in research to comply with the animal welfare policies (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/air/NIH_Funded_Resources.htm). Clinical research (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/glossary.htm#ClinicalResearch), clinical trials (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/glossary.htm#ClinicalTrial), and human subjects research (https://humansubjects.nih.gov/) are allowed under this FOA. For this FOA, NIH-defined clinical trials may be proposed only if they meet the definition of mechanistic study (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/glossary.htm#MechanisticStudy). NIH-defined clinical trials designed to develop or test treatment approaches or to evaluate safety, efficacy, clinical management, or implementation of an intervention will not be supported under this FOA. For the NIH definition of clinical research versus clinical trials, please see https://grants.nih.gov/policy/clinical-trials/definition.htm. Applicants desiring to conduct such clinical trials should contact the relevant NIH IC prior to submission to review the scope of the proposed clinical trial with the program contact.

Scope of the Research Responsive to this FOA

The research that is responsive to this FOA is listed below. Applicants can obtain more information on the research interests listed below by referencing the websites of the participating Institutes and Brazilian agencies or through the Scientific/Research contacts listed in this announcement.

HIV/AIDS and Co-Morbidities

Reduce Incidence of HIV (Prevention)

Developing novel prevention interventions, including combination prevention strategies, that will reduce HIV transmission among key populations in Brazil, including men who have sex with men (MSM), transgender persons, sex workers, pregnant and breastfeeding women and adolescents; addressing ethical challenges of working with stigmatized and marginalized groups.

Defining novel HIV vaccine candidates, including but not limited to identification of candidate novel immunogens, and novel adjuvants.

Developing novel epidemiologic tools to identify and track clusters of HIV transmission among individuals, including use of viral phylodynamic analysis at the population level; assessing social impact and associated ethical issues of identifying clusters.

Research leading to the development and validation of modeling and simulation methods and related tools to examine HIV transmission dynamics, make epidemic projections, and estimate the impact of HIV treatment and prevention interventions.

Multipurpose prevention technologies (MPT) for women who desire contraception and HIV/STI prevention in a single product.

Mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

Improving means to objectively measure adherence to antiretrovirals used as prevention.

Develop Next-Generation HIV Therapies (Treatment and Care Continuum)

Delineating the demographics of the care continuum for the Brazilian epidemic and comparing the social and structural barriers seen in the epidemics in Brazil and the United States, which slow and prevent the full-scale implementation of antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Analysis of the factors that interfere in the adherence to ART for the young population living with HIV.

Improving means to objectively measure adherence to antiretrovirals used as treatment.

Evaluation of strategies for improving sustained adherence to ART in the young population living with HIV/AIDS, including children and pregnant and breastfeeding women.

Research Toward HIV Cure

Studies on HIV reservoirs, latency, and persistence with the aim of achieving long-term remission for HIV/AIDS.

Development and testing of novel strategies that may reduce or eradicate HIV in persistent reservoirs (including those targeting the brain) or control viral rebound in the absence of ART.

Screening and/or testing of molecules that are unique to South American compound libraries or research programs or defines how these molecules influence the basic mechanisms of latency and persistence.

Developing genetic editing mechanisms to achieve clearance of HIV.

Research at the individual, community, and population levels developing and implementing a cure for HIV/AIDS, including social and ethical impact of HIV cure research in the context of the ongoing epidemic.

Address HIV-Associated Comorbidities, Coinfections, and Complications

Coinfections





Exploring the epidemiologic and/or biologic interactions between HIV and tuberculosis (TB), in those with dual infections, including children and pregnant women.

Research to develop point-of-care TB diagnostics and biomarkers to predict disease outcomes in TB infection or disease for people living with HIV.

Exploring novel strategies to interrupt TB transmission in people living with HIV.

Pre-clinical development of novel immune based therapeutic and prevention modalities for TB infection and disease in people living with HIV.

Development and/or evaluation of strategies to prevent, treat and diagnose coinfection with Hepatitis C, histoplasmosis, cryptococcosis, leishmaniasis and other tropical diseases.

HIV-associated coinfections in pregnant women.

Non-Infectious Comorbidities: Mental Health and Neurological and Neurocognitive Disorders





Impact of Brazilian treatment strategies on the outcomes of treated HIV disease, specifically focusing on differences in the incidence, prevalence and mechanisms governing the onset of noninfectious co-morbidities in treated HIV-disease.

Neurological and neurocognitive complications associated with the disease and long-term ART

Identification of mental health factors which can impede optimal access and use of effective HIV prevention and treatment.

Development and testing of methods and strategies to aid HIV-infected individuals and their families to cope with HIV infection; engage in HIV/AIDS care and other services to enhance quality of life and improve health outcomes; prevent complications and reduce the impact of co-morbidities (especially mental disorders); and avoid new sexually transmitted illnesses and the onward transmission of HIV.

Identification of the effects of HIV infection on the central nervous system (CNS).

Identification of the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying HIV-induced CNS dysfunction.

Development and testing of potential therapeutics to prevent or treat HIV/CNS disease.

Analysis of the impact of social determinants, such as gender, race and sexual orientation, on HIV/mental health interface.

Suicide risk and psychosocial health among people living with HIV and affected by mental disorders.

Other Infectious Diseases

Arboviruses and emerging/re-emerging viral pathogens, including but not limited to:

Identification and analysis of factors associated with atypical and/or severe clinical presentations of dengue, chikungunya and zika.

Development and evaluation of dengue, chikungunya and Zika vaccines, including studies on the effects of co-administration with other vaccines.

Analysis of the dynamics of the transmission of dengue, chikungunya and Zika viruses.

Development and/or evaluation of tools for the early diagnosis of arboviruses.

Development and/or evaluation of predictive models of the risk of wild transmission of Yellow Fever and of re-urbanization of transmission of Yellow Fever virus (by Aedes aegypti) in Brazil.

Basic research to develop countermeasures related to dengue.

Influenza.

Bacterial Infections

Tuberculosis

Development of new adherence strategies for tuberculosis (TB) treatment based on the characterization of populations most likely to develop active TB, such as pregnant women and children, to improve clinical outcomes.

Assess the impact of implementation of new TB drug regimens for the treatment of latent tuberculosis and active tuberculosis (observational studies).

Assess the impact of the implementation of the Combined Fixed-Dose regimen for the treatment of drug sensitive TB in Brazil (observational studies).

Identification of biomarkers or biosignatures for the diagnosis of active TB versus latent tuberculosis (LTBI), predict progression of LTBI to active disease, response to treatment and correlates or protection from infection or disease.

Define TB transmission patterns and identify locations of high risk for transmission.

Evaluation of social protection strategies in access, diagnosis, and treatment of people with TB and how these strategies impact public health outcomes.

Epidemiology/risk factors and interactions between diabetes and TB.

Basic research to develop countermeasures related to leprosy (Hansen's disease).

Evaluation of new strategies to control and eliminate leprosy (Hansens disease) and trachoma as a public health problem in Brazil.

Leptospirosis.

Identification of new strategies for the prevention and monitoring of antimicrobial resistance.

Parasitic Infections



 Malaria

Evaluation of the level of resistance to insecticides used in the control of vectors transmitting malaria in Brazil and validation of new resistance analysis technologies to prevent its spread.

Development and/or validation of technologies for diagnosis of malaria in remote areas, such as the ones with difficult access and without electricity.

Cost-effectiveness and impact evaluation related to the use of insecticides for vector control (malaria transmitters).

Vector biology, including vector-pathogen interactions, vector ecology, and development and evaluation of new tools for vector control and early identification of resistance to insecticides.

Evaluation of environmental and ecologic modification and its impact on malaria transmission and incidence.

Transmission dynamics and molecular epidemiology of malaria in different eco-epidemiologic settings.

Studies on the molecular epidemiology, pathogenesis, immunology, vaccinology, and transmission of Plasmodium vivax.

Basic research to develop countermeasures related to Chagas, leishmaniasis, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminths.

Evaluation of new strategies to control and eliminate geohelminths and schistosomiasis.

Vector Biology and Control

Vector biology, including vector-pathogen interactions, vector ecology, development and evaluation of new tools for vector control and early identification of resistance to insecticides.

Evaluation of innovative strategies and technologies for the control of vectors of importance in public health in Brazil.

Pesticide resistance in disease vectors.

Detection and Surveillance of Infectious Diseases

Innovation in multiplex diagnosis of communicable diseases, with evaluation of possible cross reactions.

Elaboration and/or analysis of prediction models for zoonosis and water and food transmission diseases.

Development of surveillance strategies that integrate the health, environment and agriculture sectors: integrated surveillance for communicable diseases.

Allergy, Immunology, and Transplantation

Basic human immunology.

Host immune response and/or regulation of the inflammatory response to microbial and/or viral infection.

Topics of interest relevant to immunity to infection and/or vaccination include, but are not limited to:

Activation of innate immune cells and signaling pathways.

Positive and negative regulation of inflammation.

Mechanisms by which the innate immune system directs subsequent adaptive immune responses.

Generation and maintenance of effector and memory antigen-specific T and B lymphocytes.

Regulation of antibody production and mechanisms of antibody-mediated protection.

Definition of biomarkers of protective immune responses.

Characterization of innate and adaptive mucosal immune responses.

Mechanisms of immune-mediated pathogenesis triggered by responses to microbial infection.

Effect of viral and microbial infections, and environmental pollutants on innate immunity and epithelial/mucosa functions and their contribution to the pathogenesis of asthma and allergic diseases.

Child Health and Human Development

Improved prevention, diagnostics, and treatment of congenital infections.

Analysis of growth and development of changes, from pregnancy to early childhood, of children with congenital syndrome associated with Zika and Syphilis, Toxoplasmosis, Rubella, Cytomegalovirus and Herpes (STORCH).

Safety and efficacy of infectious disease treatments for mothers and infants, including but not limited to, cytomegalovirus, influenza, syphilis, tuberculosis, malaria, Chagas disease, and toxoplasmosis.

Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Basic or clinical research across the spectrum of neurological, neuromuscular, neuroinfectious and neurovascular diseases and disorders within the mission of NINDS and of significance to Brazil (refer to NINDS Disorder Index). BRAIN Initiative research focused on mapping and understanding brain circuits is also of interest.

Environmental Health Sciences



Basic and/or epidemiological research that addresses or seeks to understand how exposures to toxic environmental insults alter biologic processes, are linked to disease initiation, progression or morbidity, and activities that lead to the development of prevention and intervention strategies to reduce environmentally induced diseases.

Airway diseases, CVD and neurological disorders, childrens environmental health and the unique vulnerability of developing children to harmful environmental exposures including outcomes such as low birth weight or premature birth, climate change and human health, research exploring exposures during early life stages or critical windows of susceptibility that may directly or indirectly affect the risk of developing disease, research examining health consequences due to the interplay between environmental exposures and cofactors such as infectious agents, and research that examines social factors that contribute to environmental health disparities.

Examples of environmental exposures relevant to the mission of the NIEHS include but are not limited to industrial chemicals or manufacturing byproducts, e-waste, metals, pesticides, herbicides, and inhaled toxicants including indoor air pollutants from cooking and other sources.

Evaluation of the direct costs to the Brazilian public health system (the Sistema Unico de Saude, or SUS) of indirect costs (such as productivity, years of life lost) related to the exposure of individuals to pesticides and agrochemicals.

The following applications will be considered non-responsive and will not be reviewed.

Applications working with Select Agents research (see 42 CFR 73 for the Select Agent list [73.3] and 7 CFR 331 and 9 CFR 121 for the relevant plant and animal pathogens, respectively.

Applications that do not include a Brazilian collaborating investigator as a full science partner.

Clinical trials that are not mechanistic studies as defined by NIH (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/glossary.htm#MechanisticStudy).

Note: For further information on the U.S.-Brazil Program for Collaborative Biomedical Research please visit the following website for general information and answers to commonly asked questions: https://www.niaid.nih.gov/grants-contracts/questions-answers-rfa-ai-18-054

See Section VIII. Other Information for award authorities and regulations.

Section II. Award Information

Funding Instrument Grant: A support mechanism providing money, property, or both to an eligible entity to carry out an approved project or activity.

Application Types Allowed New The OER Glossary and the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide provide details on these application types.

Clinical Trial? Optional: Accepting applications that either propose or do not propose clinical trial(s) Need help determining whether you are doing a clinical trial?

Funds Available and Anticipated Number of Awards Issuing IC and partners intend to commit up to an estimated total of $2.75 million to fund 8-10 awards in FY 2020.

Award Budget Application budgets are limited to $175,000 direct costs per year for the scope of work of the U.S. and Brazilian scientists. Budgets must reflect the actual needs of the proposed project. The U.S. portion of the budget may not exceed $100,000 in direct costs per year. The Brazilian portion of the budget may not exceed $75,000 per year.

Award Project Period The scope of the proposed project should determine the project duration. The maximum project period is 4 years.

NIH grants policies as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement will apply to the applications submitted and awards made from this FOA.

Section III. Eligibility Information

1. Eligible Applicants

Eligible Organizations

Higher Education Institutions

Public/State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education

Private Institutions of Higher Education

The following types of Higher Education Institutions are always encouraged to apply for NIH support as Public or Private Institutions of Higher Education:

o Hispanic-serving Institutions

o Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)

o Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs)

o Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions

o Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs)

Nonprofits Other Than Institutions of Higher Education

Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education)

Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education)

For-Profit Organizations

Small Businesses

For-Profit Organizations (Other than Small Businesses)

Governments

State Governments

County Governments

City or Township Governments

Special District Governments

Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Federally Recognized)

Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Other than Federally Recognized)

Eligible Agencies of the Federal Government

U.S. Territory or Possession

Other

Independent School Districts

Public Housing Authorities/Indian Housing Authorities

Native American Tribal Organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)

Faith-based or Community-based Organizations

Regional Organizations

Foreign Institutions

Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Institutions) are not eligible to apply.

Non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are not eligible to apply.

Foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are allowed.

Only foreign components from Brazilian locations are eligible.

Required Registrations

Applicant Organizations

Applicant organizations must complete and maintain the following registrations as described in the SF 424 (R&R) Application Guide to be eligible to apply for or receive an award. All registrations must be completed prior to the application being submitted. Registration can take 6 weeks or more, so applicants should begin the registration process as soon as possible. The NIH Policy on Late Submission of Grant Applications states that failure to complete registrations in advance of a due date is not a valid reason for a late submission.

Dun and Bradstreet Universal Numbering System (DUNS) - All registrations require that applicants be issued a DUNS number. After obtaining a DUNS number, applicants can begin both SAM and eRA Commons registrations. The same DUNS number must be used for all registrations, as well as on the grant application.

System for Award Management (SAM) Applicants must complete and maintain an active registration, which requires renewal at least annually . The renewal process may require as much time as the initial registration. SAM registration includes the assignment of a Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code for domestic organizations which have not already been assigned a CAGE Code.

. The renewal process may require as much time as the initial registration. SAM registration includes the assignment of a Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) Code for domestic organizations which have not already been assigned a CAGE Code. NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE) Code  Foreign organizations must obtain an NCAGE code (in lieu of a CAGE code) in order to register in SAM.

eRA Commons - Applicants must have an active DUNS number to register in eRA Commons. Organizations can register with the eRA Commons as they are working through their SAM or Grants.gov registration, but all registrations must be in place by time of submission. eRA Commons requires organizations to identify at least one Signing Official (SO) and at least one Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) account in order to submit an application.

Grants.gov  Applicants must have an active DUNS number and SAM registration in order to complete the Grants.gov registration.

Program Directors/Principal Investigators (PD(s)/PI(s))

All PD(s)/PI(s) must have an eRA Commons account. PD(s)/PI(s) should work with their organizational officials to either create a new account or to affiliate their existing account with the applicant organization in eRA Commons. If the PD/PI is also the organizational Signing Official, they must have two distinct eRA Commons accounts, one for each role. Obtaining an eRA Commons account can take up to 2 weeks.

Eligible Individuals (Program Director/Principal Investigator)

Any individual(s) with the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research as the Program Director(s)/Principal Investigator(s) (PD(s)/PI(s)) is invited to work with his/her organization to develop an application for support. Individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups as well as individuals with disabilities are always encouraged to apply for NIH support.

For institutions/organizations proposing multiple PDs/PIs, visit the Multiple Program Director/Principal Investigator Policy and submission details in the Senior/Key Person Profile (Expanded) Component of the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.

The PD(s)/PI(s) must be from a U.S. institution, and the application must name the Brazilian scientist as a full collaborating partner. If the multi-PD(s)/PI(s) option is chosen, the U.S. PD(s)/PI(s) must be the contact PD(s)/PI(s) on the application, while other PD(s)/PI(s) could be from Brazil. Inclusion of early career investigators is highly encouraged.

2. Cost Sharing

This FOA does not require cost sharing as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

3. Additional Information on Eligibility

Number of Applications

Applicant organizations may submit more than one application, provided that each application is scientifically distinct.

The NIH will not accept duplicate or highly overlapping applications under review at the same time. This means that the NIH will not accept:

A new (A0) application that is submitted before issuance of the summary statement from the review of an overlapping new (A0) or resubmission (A1) application.

A resubmission (A1) application that is submitted before issuance of the summary statement from the review of the previous new (A0) application.

An application that has substantial overlap with another application pending appeal of initial peer review (see NOT-OD-11-101).

Section IV. Application and Submission Information

1. Requesting an Application Package

The application forms package specific to this opportunity must be accessed through ASSIST, Grants.gov Workspace or an institutional system-to-system solution. Links to apply using ASSIST or Grants.gov Workspace are available in Part 1 of this FOA. See your administrative office for instructions if you plan to use an institutional system-to-system solution.

2. Content and Form of Application Submission

It is critical that applicants follow the Research (R) Instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, except where instructed in this funding opportunity announcement to do otherwise. Conformance to the requirements in the Application Guide is required and strictly enforced. Applications that are out of compliance with these instructions may be delayed or not accepted for review.

Letter of Intent

Although a letter of intent is not required, is not binding, and does not enter into the review of a subsequent application, the information that it contains allows IC staff to estimate the potential review workload and plan the review.

By the date listed in Part 1. Overview Information, prospective applicants are asked to submit a letter of intent that includes the following information:

Descriptive title of proposed activity

Name(s), address(es), and telephone number(s) of the PD(s)/PI(s)

Names of other key personnel

Participating institution(s)

Number and title of this funding opportunity

The letter of intent should be sent to:

Tami Lu, MPH

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Telephone: 301-761-6859

Fax: 301-480-2954

Email: tami.lu@nih.gov

Page Limitations

All page limitations described in the SF424 Application Guide and the Table of Page Limits must be followed.

Instructions for Application Submission

The following section supplements the instructions found in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide and should be used for preparing an application to this FOA.

SF424(R&R) Cover

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

SF424(R&R) Project/Performance Site Locations

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

SF424(R&R) Other Project Information

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

SF424(R&R) Senior/Key Person Profile

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

R&R Budget

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions:":

In the budget forms, the U.S. PD(s)/PI(s) should include only budget information for the activities related to the U.S. portion of the project. Do not include budget support for the activities proposed by the Brazilian scientist in the budget forms.

In the budget justification section, under Other Direct Costs, include the budget for the research activities to be carried out by the Brazilian scientist using the cost categories of Supplies (i.e., consumables), Travel Expenses, Subcontracts, Capital Expenditure (i.e., equipment) and Personnel Expenses (i.e., scholarships). Applicants are strongly encouraged to utilize the suggested categorical areas above. Within each category applicants should list the number of units per category, the unit price per category, and the total amount per category and the total amount across the categories in U.S. Dollars and separated by annum for each year of the project.

Provide the person months effort of the U.S. and Brazilian scientists for the proposed research project.

R&R Subaward Budget

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

PHS 398 Cover Page Supplement

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

PHS 398 Research Plan

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed, with the following additional instructions:

Specific Aims: Briefly describe the individual specific aims for the proposed research to achieve the overall goals of the program. Designate which specific aims will be conducted by the U.S and Brazilian partners.

Research Strategy: Applicants should propose a single Research Strategy for the combined efforts of the research from the U.S. and Brazil scientists.

Describe the overall scope of the proposed project and indicate the extent to which the success of the project relies on the planned organizational structure and specific roles and responsibilities of U.S. PD(s)/PI(s) and Brazilian partners.

Provide a timeline for the implementation of the proposed research project by all research partners.

Describe the unique features of the collaboration that will enhance or improve the biomedical knowledge to be gained through the partnership. For example, what are the unique populations, resources, or integrated hypotheses that benefit from the proposed collaboration.

Describe in detail the integration of the U.S. PD(s)/PI(s) and Brazilian collaboration efforts including communication plans, processes for making decisions on scientific direction, procedures for resolving conflicts, and contingency plans related to potential setbacks and delays.

Based on the needs of the project, describe what aspects of the research will be performed in the U.S. and what aspects will be performed in Brazil.

Describe the nature of the resource or data sharing that will benefit the collaboration and how these will be distributed to address specific proposed project needs.

Describe the plans to obtain approval for the shipping of biospecimens, if applicable, and address how the project will be modified in scope and procedure if shipping approval cannot be obtained.

Potential U.S. applicants concerned about confidentiality or proprietary information should take this requirement into account before deciding what information to submit in their application.

Note: Although preliminary data are not required under this FOA, evidence supporting past productivity, success with proposed techniques or methods, and feasibility of the approach should be included. Appropriate justification for the proposed work can be provided through literature citations, data from other sources, or evidence of productive collaborative team work in an area of expertise.

Letters of Support

Applicants should include a Letter of Support co-written and co-signed by the U.S. PD(s)/PI(s) and the Brazilian collaborating partner and co-signed by the authorizing institutional officials confirming the new or existing collaboration and confirming that the U.S. awardee organization agrees to allow NIH to provide a copy of the submitted application and summary statement to the government of Brazil.

Resource Sharing Plan: Individuals are required to comply with the instructions for the Resource Sharing Plans as provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, with the following modification:

All applications, regardless of the amount of direct costs requested for any one year, should address a Data Sharing Plan.

Appendix:

Only limited Appendix materials are allowed. Follow all instructions for the Appendix as described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.

PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information

When involving NIH-defined human subjects research, clinical research, and/or clinical trials (and when applicable, clinical trials research experience) follow all instructions for the PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide, with the following additional instructions:

If you answered Yes to the question Are Human Subjects Involved? on the R&R Other Project Information form, you must include at least one human subjects study record using the Study Record: PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information form or Delayed Onset Study record.

Study Record: PHS Human Subjects and Clinical Trials Information

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

Delayed Onset Study

Note: Delayed onset does NOT apply to a study that can be described but will not start immediately (i.e., delayed start).

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

PHS Assignment Request Form

All instructions in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide must be followed.

3. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management (SAM)

See Part 1. Section III.1 for information regarding the requirement for obtaining a unique entity identifier and for completing and maintaining active registrations in System for Award Management (SAM), NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE) Code (if applicable), eRA Commons, and Grants.gov

4. Submission Dates and Times

Part I. Overview Information contains information about Key Dates and times. Applicants are encouraged to submit applications before the due date to ensure they have time to make any application corrections that might be necessary for successful submission. When a submission date falls on a weekend or Federal holiday, the application deadline is automatically extended to the next business day.

Organizations must submit applications to Grants.gov (the online portal to find and apply for grants across all Federal agencies). Applicants must then complete the submission process by tracking the status of the application in the eRA Commons, NIHs electronic system for grants administration. NIH and Grants.gov systems check the application against many of the application instructions upon submission. Errors must be corrected and a changed/corrected application must be submitted to Grants.gov on or before the application due date and time. If a Changed/Corrected application is submitted after the deadline, the application will be considered late. Applications that miss the due date and time are subjected to the NIH Policy on Late Application Submission.

Applicants are responsible for viewing their application before the due date in the eRA Commons to ensure accurate and successful submission.

Information on the submission process and a definition of on-time submission are provided in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.

5. Intergovernmental Review (E.O. 12372)

This initiative is not subject to intergovernmental review.

6. Funding Restrictions

All NIH awards are subject to the terms and conditions, cost principles, and other considerations described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

Pre-award costs are allowable only as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

The NIH will make awards to the U.S. institution, while the Brazil MS will make awards to the Brazilian collaborators through CNPq.

7. Other Submission Requirements and Information

Applications must be submitted electronically following the instructions described in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide. Paper applications will not be accepted.

Applicants must complete all required registrations before the application due date. Section III. Eligibility Information contains information about registration.

For assistance with your electronic application or for more information on the electronic submission process, visit How to Apply  Application Guide. If you encounter a system issue beyond your control that threatens your ability to complete the submission process on-time, you must follow the Dealing with System Issues guidance. For assistance with application submission, contact the Application Submission Contacts in Section VII.

Important reminders:

All PD(s)/PI(s) must include their eRA Commons ID in the Credential field of the Senior/Key Person Profile Component of the SF424(R&R) Application Package. Failure to register in the Commons and to include a valid PD/PI Commons ID in the credential field will prevent the successful submission of an electronic application to NIH. See Section III of this FOA for information on registration requirements.

The applicant organization must ensure that the DUNS number it provides on the application is the same number used in the organizations profile in the eRA Commons and for the System for Award Management. Additional information may be found in the SF424 (R&R) Application Guide.

See more tips for avoiding common errors.

Upon receipt, applications will be evaluated for completeness and compliance with application instructions by the Center for Scientific Review and responsiveness by components of participating organizations, NIH. Applications that are incomplete, non-compliant and/or nonresponsive will not be reviewed.

Post Submission Materials

Applicants are required to follow the instructions for post-submission materials, as described in the policy. Any instructions provided here are in addition to the instructions in the policy.

Section V. Application Review Information

1. Criteria

Only the review criteria described below will be considered in the review process.

Applications submitted to the NIH in support of the NIH mission are evaluated for scientific and technical merit through the NIH peer review system.

In addition, for applications involving clinical trials:

A proposed Clinical Trial application may include study design, methods, and intervention that are not by themselves innovative but address important questions or unmet needs. Additionally, the results of the clinical trial may indicate that further clinical development of the intervention is unwarranted or lead to new avenues of scientific investigation.

Overall Impact

Reviewers will provide an overall impact score to reflect their assessment of the likelihood for the project to exert a sustained, powerful influence on the research field(s) involved, in consideration of the following review criteria and additional review criteria (as applicable for the project proposed).

Scored Review Criteria

Reviewers will consider each of the review criteria below in the determination of scientific merit, and give a separate score for each. An application does not need to be strong in all categories to be judged likely to have major scientific impact. For example, a project that by its nature is not innovative may be essential to advance a field.

Significance

Does the project address an important problem or a critical barrier to progress in the field? Is the prior research that serves as the key support for the proposed project rigorous? If the aims of the project are achieved, how will scientific knowledge, technical capability, and/or clinical practice be improved? How will successful completion of the aims change the concepts, methods, technologies, treatments, services, or preventative interventions that drive this field?

Specific to this FOA: How well will the outcomes from the proposed project advance the fundamental knowledge on the specific topic addressed? In terms of the expected outcomes, will the partnership between U.S. and Brazilian scientists address key biomedical research questions and/or public health issues that would not otherwise be explored?

In addition, for applications involving clinical trials

Are the scientific rationale and need for a clinical trial to test the proposed hypothesis or intervention well supported by preliminary data, clinical and/or preclinical studies, or information in the literature or knowledge of biological mechanisms? For trials focusing on clinical or public health endpoints, is this clinical trial necessary for testing the safety, efficacy or effectiveness of an intervention that could lead to a change in clinical practice, community behaviors or health care policy? For trials focusing on mechanistic, behavioral, physiological, biochemical, or other biomedical endpoints, is this trial needed to advance scientific understanding?

Investigator(s)

Are the PD(s)/PI(s), collaborators, and other researchers well suited to the project? If Early Stage Investigators or those in the early stages of independent careers, do they have appropriate experience and training? If established, have they demonstrated an ongoing record of accomplishments that have advanced their field(s)? If the project is collaborative or multi-PD/PI, do the investigators have complementary and integrated expertise; are their leadership approach, governance and organizational structure appropriate for the project?

In addition, for applications involving clinical trials

With regard to the proposed leadership for the project, do the PD/PI(s) and key personnel have the expertise, experience, and ability to organize, manage and implement the proposed clinical trial and meet milestones and timelines? Do they have appropriate expertise in study coordination, data management and statistics? For a multicenter trial, is the organizational structure appropriate and does the application identify a core of potential center investigators and staffing for a coordinating center

Innovation

Does the application challenge and seek to shift current research or clinical practice paradigms by utilizing novel theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions? Are the concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions novel to one field of research or novel in a broad sense? Is a refinement, improvement, or new application of theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions proposed?

In addition, for applications involving clinical trials

Does the design/research plan include innovative elements, as appropriate, that enhance its sensitivity, potential for information or potential to advance scientific knowledge or clinical practice?

Approach

Are the overall strategy, methodology, and analyses well-reasoned and appropriate to accomplish the specific aims of the project? Have the investigators included plans to address weaknesses in the rigor of prior research that serves as the key support for the proposed project? Have the investigators presented strategies to ensure a robust and unbiased approach, as appropriate for the work proposed? Are potential problems, alternative strategies, and benchmarks for success presented? If the project is in the early stages of development, will the strategy establish feasibility and will particularly risky aspects be managed? Have the investigators presented adequate plans to address relevant biological variables, such as sex, for studies in vertebrate animals or human subjects?

If the project involves human subjects and/or NIH-defined clinical research, are the plans to address

1) the protection of human subjects from research risks, and

2) inclusion (or exclusion) of individuals on the basis of sex/gender, race, and ethnicity, as well as the inclusion or exclusion of individuals of all ages (including children and older adults), justified in terms of the scientific goals and research strategy proposed?

Specific to this FOA: Does the application clearly state which partner of the collaboration will be responsible for accomplishment of each proposed specific aim? Does the application provide appropriate plans for the collaborative research, demonstrating the integration of the U.S. and Brazilian collaborator efforts, including communication plans, process for making decision on scientific direction, and procedures for resolving conflicts? Does the application provide appropriate contingency plans and/or solutions for addressing setbacks and delay, including those related to biospecimen transfer or shipping? Will the net effect on outcomes from the U.S. and Brazil scientific collaboration result in greater synergy and outcomes than if the projects were performed separately?

In addition, for applications involving clinical trials

Does the application adequately address the following, if applicable

Study Design

Is the study design justified and appropriate to address primary and secondary outcome variable(s)/endpoints that will be clear, informative and relevant to the hypothesis being tested? Is the scientific rationale/premise of the study based on previously well-designed preclinical and/or clinical research? Given the methods used to assign participants and deliver interventions, is the study design adequately powered to answer the research question(s), test the proposed hypothesis/hypotheses, and provide interpretable results? Is the trial appropriately designed to conduct the research efficiently? Are the study populations (size, gender, age, demographic group), proposed intervention arms/dose, and duration of the trial, appropriate and well justified?

Are potential ethical issues adequately addressed? Is the process for obtaining informed consent or assent appropriate? Is the eligible population available? Are the plans for recruitment outreach, enrollment, retention, handling dropouts, missed visits, and losses to follow-up appropriate to ensure robust data collection? Are the planned recruitment timelines feasible and is the plan to monitor accrual adequate? Has the need for randomization (or not), masking (if appropriate), controls, and inclusion/exclusion criteria been addressed? Are differences addressed, if applicable, in the intervention effect due to sex/gender and race/ethnicity?

Are the plans to standardize, assure quality of, and monitor adherence to, the trial protocol and data collection or distribution guidelines appropriate? Is there a plan to obtain required study agent(s)? Does the application propose to use existing available resources, as applicable?

Data Management and Statistical Analysis

Are planned analyses and statistical approach appropriate for the proposed study design and methods used to assign participants and deliver interventions? Are the procedures for data management and quality control of data adequate at clinical site(s) or at center laboratories, as applicable? Have the methods for standardization of procedures for data management to assess the effect of the intervention and quality control been addressed? Is there a plan to complete data analysis within the proposed period of the award?

Environment

Will the scientific environment in which the work will be done contribute to the probability of success? Are the institutional support, equipment and other physical resources available to the investigators adequate for the project proposed? Will the project benefit from unique features of the scientific environment, subject populations, or collaborative arrangements?

In addition, for applications involving clinical trials

If proposed, are the administrative, data coordinating, enrollment and laboratory/testing centers, appropriate for the trial proposed?

Does the application adequately address the capability and ability to conduct the trial at the proposed site(s) or centers? Are the plans to add or drop enrollment centers, as needed, appropriate?

If international site(s) is/are proposed, does the application adequately address the complexity of executing the clinical trial?

If multi-sites/centers, is there evidence of the ability of the individual site or center to: (1) enroll the proposed numbers; (2) adhere to the protocol; (3) collect and transmit data in an accurate and timely fashion; and, (4) operate within the proposed organizational structure?

Additional Review Criteria

As applicable for the project proposed, reviewers will evaluate the following additional items while determining scientific and technical merit, and in providing an overall impact score, but will not give separate scores for these items.

Study Timeline

Specific to applications involving clinical trials

Is the study timeline described in detail, taking into account start-up activities, the anticipated rate of enrollment, and planned follow-up assessment? Is the projected timeline feasible and well justified? Does the project incorporate efficiencies and utilize existing resources (e.g., CTSAs, practice-based research networks, electronic medical records, administrative database, or patient registries) to increase the efficiency of participant enrollment and data collection, as appropriate?

Are potential challenges and corresponding solutions discussed (e.g., strategies that can be implemented in the event of enrollment shortfalls)?

Protections for Human Subjects

For research that involves human subjects but does not involve one of the categories of research that are exempt under 45 CFR Part 46, the committee will evaluate the justification for involvement of human subjects and the proposed protections from research risk relating to their participation according to the following five review criteria: 1) risk to subjects, 2) adequacy of protection against risks, 3) potential benefits to the subjects and others, 4) importance of the knowledge to be gained, and 5) data and safety monitoring for clinical trials.

For research that involves human subjects and meets the criteria for one or more of the categories of research that are exempt under 45 CFR Part 46, the committee will evaluate: 1) the justification for the exemption, 2) human subjects involvement and characteristics, and 3) sources of materials. For additional information on review of the Human Subjects section, please refer to the Guidelines for the Review of Human Subjects.

Inclusion of Women, Minorities, and Individuals Across the Lifespan

When the proposed project involves human subjects and/or NIH-defined clinical research, the committee will evaluate the proposed plans for the inclusion (or exclusion) of individuals on the basis of sex/gender, race, and ethnicity, as well as the inclusion (or exclusion) of individuals of all ages (including children and older adults) to determine if it is justified in terms of the scientific goals and research strategy proposed. For additional information on review of the Inclusion section, please refer to the Guidelines for the Review of Inclusion in Clinical Research.

Vertebrate Animals

The committee will evaluate the involvement of live vertebrate animals as part of the scientific assessment according to the following criteria: (1) description of proposed procedures involving animals, including species, strains, ages, sex, and total number to be used; (2) justifications for the use of animals versus alternative models and for the appropriateness of the species proposed; (3) interventions to minimize discomfort, distress, pain and injury; and (4) justification for euthanasia method if NOT consistent with the AVMA Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals. Reviewers will assess the use of chimpanzees as they would any other application proposing the use of vertebrate animals. For additional information on review of the Vertebrate Animals section, please refer to the Worksheet for Review of the Vertebrate Animal Section.

Biohazards

Reviewers will assess whether materials or procedures proposed are potentially hazardous to research personnel and/or the environment, and if needed, determine whether adequate protection is proposed.

Resubmissions

Not Applicable

Renewals

Not Applicable

Revisions

Not Applicable

Additional Review Considerations

As applicable for the project proposed, reviewers will consider each of the following items, but will not give scores for these items, and should not consider them in providing an overall impact score.

Applications from Foreign Organizations

Not Applicable

Select Agent Research

Reviewers will assess the information provided in this section of the application, including 1) the Select Agent(s) to be used in the proposed research, 2) the registration status of all entities where Select Agent(s) will be used, 3) the procedures that will be used to monitor possession use and transfer of Select Agent(s), and 4) plans for appropriate biosafety, biocontainment, and security of the Select Agent(s).

Resource Sharing Plans

Reviewers will comment on whether the following Resource Sharing Plans, or the rationale for not sharing the following types of resources, are reasonable: (1) Data Sharing Plan; (2) Sharing Model Organisms; and (3) Genomic Data Sharing Plan (GDS).

Authentication of Key Biological and/or Chemical Resources:

For projects involving key biological and/or chemical resources, reviewers will comment on the brief plans proposed for identifying and ensuring the validity of those resources.

Budget and Period of Support

Reviewers will consider whether the budget and the requested period of support are fully justified and reasonable in relation to the proposed research.

2. Review and Selection Process

Applications will be evaluated for scientific and technical merit by (an) appropriate Scientific Review Group(s) convened by the Center for Scientific Review , in accordance with NIH peer review policy and procedures, using the stated review criteria. Assignment to a Scientific Review Group will be shown in the eRA Commons.

As part of the scientific peer review, all applications:

May undergo a selection process in which only those applications deemed to have the highest scientific and technical merit (generally the top half of applications under review) will be discussed and assigned an overall impact score.

Will receive a written critique.

Appeals of initial peer review will not be accepted for applications submitted in response to this FOA.

Applications will be assigned on the basis of established PHS referral guidelines to the appropriate NIH Institute or Center. Applications will compete for available funds with all other recommended applications submitted in response to this FOA . Following initial peer review, recommended applications will receive a second level of review by the appropriate national Advisory Council or Board . The following will be considered in making funding decisions:

Scientific and technical merit of the proposed project as determined by scientific peer review.

Availability of funds.

Relevance of the proposed project to program priorities.

Relevance to the collaboration between the U.S. and Brazil.

3. Anticipated Announcement and Award Dates

After the peer review of the application is completed, the PD/PI will be able to access his or her Summary Statement (written critique) via the eRA Commons. Refer to Part 1 for dates for peer review, advisory council review, and earliest start date.

Information regarding the disposition of applications is available in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

Section VI. Award Administration Information

1. Award Notices

If the application is under consideration for funding, NIH will request "just-in-time" information from the applicant as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

A formal notification in the form of a Notice of Award (NoA) will be provided to the applicant organization for successful applications. The NoA signed by the grants management officer is the authorizing document and will be sent via email to the grantees business official.

Awardees must comply with any funding restrictions described in Section IV.5. Funding Restrictions. Selection of an application for award is not an authorization to begin performance. Any costs incurred before receipt of the NoA are at the recipient's risk. These costs may be reimbursed only to the extent considered allowable pre-award costs.

Any application awarded in response to this FOA will be subject to terms and conditions found on the Award Conditions and Information for NIH Grants website. This includes any recent legislation and policy applicable to awards that is highlighted on this website.

Individual awards are based on the application submitted to, and as approved by, the NIH and are subject to the IC-specific terms and conditions identified in the NoA.

ClinicalTrials.gov: If an award provides for one or more clinical trials. By law (Title VIII, Section 801 of Public Law 110-85), the "responsible party" must register and submit results information for certain applicable clinical trials on the ClinicalTrials.gov Protocol Registration and Results System Information Website (https://register.clinicaltrials.gov). NIH expects registration of all trials whether required under the law or not. For more information, see http://grants.nih.gov/ClinicalTrials_fdaaa/

Institutional Review Board or Independent Ethics Committee Approval: Grantee institutions must ensure that the application as well as all protocols are reviewed by their IRB or IEC. To help ensure the safety of participants enrolled in NIH-funded studies, the awardee must provide NIH copies of documents related to all major changes in the status of ongoing protocols. Data and Safety Monitoring Requirements: The NIH policy for data and safety monitoring requires oversight and monitoring of all NIH-conducted or -supported human biomedical and behavioral intervention studies (clinical trials) to ensure the safety of participants and the validity and integrity of the data. Further information concerning these requirements is found at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/policy/hs/data_safety.htm and in the application instructions (SF424 (R&R) and PHS 398).

Investigational New Drug or Investigational Device Exemption Requirements: Consistent with federal regulations, clinical research projects involving the use of investigational therapeutics, vaccines, or other medical interventions (including licensed products and devices for a purpose other than that for which they were licensed) in humans under a research protocol must be performed under a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigational new drug (IND) or investigational device exemption (IDE).

2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

All NIH grant and cooperative agreement awards include the NIH Grants Policy Statement as part of the NoA. For these terms of award, see the NIH Grants Policy Statement Part II: Terms and Conditions of NIH Grant Awards, Subpart A: General and Part II: Terms and Conditions of NIH Grant Awards, Subpart B: Terms and Conditions for Specific Types of Grants, Grantees, and Activities. More information is provided at Award Conditions and Information for NIH Grants.

Recipients of federal financial assistance (FFA) from HHS must administer their programs in compliance with federal civil rights law. This means that recipients of HHS funds must ensure equal access to their programs without regard to a persons race, color, national origin, disability, age and, in some circumstances, sex and religion. This includes ensuring your programs are accessible to persons with limited English proficiency. HHS recognizes that research projects are often limited in scope for many reasons that are nondiscriminatory, such as the principal investigators scientific interest, funding limitations, recruitment requirements, and other considerations. Thus, criteria in research protocols that target or exclude certain populations are warranted where nondiscriminatory justifications establish that such criteria are appropriate with respect to the health or safety of the subjects, the scientific study design, or the purpose of the research.

For additional guidance regarding how the provisions apply to NIH grant programs, please contact the Scientific/Research Contact that is identified in Section VII under Agency Contacts of this FOA. HHS provides general guidance to recipients of FFA on meeting their legal obligation to take reasonable steps to provide meaningful access to their programs by persons with limited English proficiency. Please see https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-individuals/special-topics/limited-english-proficiency/index.html. The HHS Office for Civil Rights also provides guidance on complying with civil rights laws enforced by HHS. Please see https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-individuals/section-1557/index.html; and https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-providers/laws-regulations-guidance/index.html. Recipients of FFA also have specific legal obligations for serving qualified individuals with disabilities. Please see https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-individuals/disability/index.html. Please contact the HHS Office for Civil Rights for more information about obligations and prohibitions under federal civil rights laws at https://www.hhs.gov/ocr/about-us/contact-us/index.html or call 1-800-368-1019 or TDD 1-800-537-7697. Also note it is an HHS Departmental goal to ensure access to quality, culturally competent care, including long-term services and supports, for vulnerable populations. For further guidance on providing culturally and linguistically appropriate services, recipients should review the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health and Health Care at http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=2&lvlid=53.

In accordance with the statutory provisions contained in Section 872 of the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2009 (Public Law 110-417), NIH awards will be subject to the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) requirements. FAPIIS requires Federal award making officials to review and consider information about an applicant in the designated integrity and performance system (currently FAPIIS) prior to making an award. An applicant, at its option, may review information in the designated integrity and performance systems accessible through FAPIIS and comment on any information about itself that a Federal agency previously entered and is currently in FAPIIS. The Federal awarding agency will consider any comments by the applicant, in addition to other information in FAPIIS, in making a judgement about the applicants integrity, business ethics, and record of performance under Federal awards when completing the review of risk posed by applicants as described in 45 CFR Part 75.205 Federal awarding agency review of risk posed by applicants. This provision will apply to all NIH grants and cooperative agreements except fellowships.

Cooperative Agreement Terms and Conditions of Award

Not Applicable

3. Reporting

When multiple years are involved, awardees will be required to submit the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) annually and financial statements as required in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

A final RPPR, invention statement, and the expenditure data portion of the Federal Financial Report are required for closeout of an award, as described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement.

The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Transparency Act), includes a requirement for awardees of Federal grants to report information about first-tier subawards and executive compensation under Federal assistance awards issued in FY2011 or later. All awardees of applicable NIH grants and cooperative agreements are required to report to the Federal Subaward Reporting System (FSRS) available at www.fsrs.gov on all subawards over $25,000. See the NIH Grants Policy Statement for additional information on this reporting requirement.

In accordance with the regulatory requirements provided at 45 CFR 75.113 and Appendix XII to 45 CFR Part 75, recipients that have currently active Federal grants, cooperative agreements, and procurement contracts from all Federal awarding agencies with a cumulative total value greater than $10,000,000 for any period of time during the period of performance of a Federal award, must report and maintain the currency of information reported in the System for Award Management (SAM) about civil, criminal, and administrative proceedings in connection with the award or performance of a Federal award that reached final disposition within the most recent five-year period. The recipient must also make semiannual disclosures regarding such proceedings. Proceedings information will be made publicly available in the designated integrity and performance system (currently FAPIIS). This is a statutory requirement under section 872 of Public Law 110-417, as amended (41 U.S.C. 2313). As required by section 3010 of Public Law 111-212, all information posted in the designated integrity and performance system on or after April 15, 2011, except past performance reviews required for Federal procurement contracts, will be publicly available. Full reporting requirements and procedures are found in Appendix XII to 45 CFR Part 75  Award Term and Conditions for Recipient Integrity and Performance Matters.

Section VII. Agency Contacts

We encourage inquiries concerning this funding opportunity and welcome the opportunity to answer questions from potential applicants.





Application Submission Contacts

eRA Service Desk (Questions regarding ASSIST, eRA Commons, application errors and warnings, documenting system problems that threaten submission by the due date, and post-submission issues)

Finding Help Online: http://grants.nih.gov/support/ (preferred method of contact)

Telephone: 301-402-7469 or 866-504-9552 (Toll Free)

General Grants Information (Questions regarding application instructions, application processes, and NIH grant resources)

Email: GrantsInfo@nih.gov (preferred method of contact)

Telephone: 301-945-7573

Grants.gov Customer Support (Questions regarding Grants.gov registration and Workspace)

Contact Center Telephone: 800-518-4726

Email: support@grants.gov





Scientific/Research Contact(s)

Paul C. Pearlman, Ph.D.

National Cancer Institute

Telephone: 240-276-5354

Email: paul.pearlman@nih.gov

Tami Lu, MPH

Office of Global Research (OGR)

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

Telephone: 301-761-6859

Email: tami.lu@nih.gov

Melanie C. Bacon, RN, MPH

Division of AIDS (DAIDS)

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

Telephone: 240-627-3215

Email: mbacon@niaid.nih.gov

Conrad Mallia, Ph.D.

Division of Allergy, Immunology, and Transplantation (DAIT)

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

Telephone: 240-627-3491

Email: cmallia@niaid.nih.gov

Stephanie Coomes, Ph.D.

Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (DMID)

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

Telephone: 301-761-6855

Email: stephanie.coomes@nih.gov

Nahida Chakhtoura, Ph.D.

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

Telephone: 301-435-6842

Email: nahida.chakhtoura@nih.gov

Michael Humble, MD, MsGH

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)

Telephone: 984-287-3272

Email: humble@niehs.nih.gov

Christopher Gordon, Ph.D.

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Telephone: 240-627-3867

Email: cgordon1@mail.nih.gov

Claudia Scala Moy, Ph.D.

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

Telephone: 301-496-9135

Email: moyc@ninds.nih.gov

Natalie Tomitch, MPH, MBA

Office of AIDS Research (OAR)

Telephone: 301-451-0098

Email: tomitch@mail.nih.gov

Government of Brazil Contact(s)

Department of Science and Technology (DECIT) / Ministry of Health (MoH)

Telephone: +55 61 3315-7606

Email: utop.decit@saude.gov.br

National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq)

Telephone: +55 61 3211-9761

Email: cgsau@cnpq.br

Peer Review Contact(s)

Patrick Lai, Ph.D.

Center of Scientific Review (CSR)

Telephone: 301-435-1052

Email: pl177v@nih.gov

Financial/Grants Management Contact(s)

Crystal Wolfrey

National Cancer Institute

Telephone: 240-276-6277

Email: wolfreyc@mail.nih.gov

Adam Graham

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

Phone: 301-761-6260

adam.graham@nih.gov

Bryan Clark

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

Telephone: 301-435-6975

Email: Clarkb1@mail.nih.gov

Ashley Singh

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)

Telephone: 984-287-3323

Email: ashley.singh@nih.gov

Rita Sisco

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Telephone: 301-443-2805

Email: siscor@mail.nih.gov

Tijuana Decoster

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

Telephone: 301-496-9231

Email: decoster@mail.nih.gov

Section VIII. Other Information

Recently issued trans-NIH policy notices may affect your application submission. A full list of policy notices published by NIH is provided in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. All awards are subject to the terms and conditions, cost principles, and other considerations described in the NIH Grants Policy Statement .

Authority and Regulations

Awards are made under the authorization of Sections 301 and 405 of the Public Health Service Act as amended (42 USC 241 and 284) and under Federal Regulations 42 CFR Part 52 and 45 CFR Part 75 .As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQAccording to the AP, Shahidi has been sentenced to 12 years and nine months in prison, although little detail was disclosed about the charges against her or the evidence that was used in securing a conviction. But the likelihood of those charges being political in nature is demonstrated by the defendants status as a pro-reform journalist and her past run-ins with Iranian authorities.

Although the latest sentence is by far the longest that she has received, Shahidi has reportedly served a number of sentences in connection to her journalistic activities, beginning in the immediate aftermath of the 2009 Green Movement protests.

Those mass demonstrations in the capital city of Tehran constituted arguably the greatest challenge to Irans theocratic regime up to that point. Now, the country is in the midst of unrest that some pro-democracy activists have portrayed as even more significant, by virtue of its duration, its geographic diffusion, and the participation of a wide range of communities and demographics, including the rural poor as well as the traditionally more politically active urban middle class.

This unrest began at the end of last year with an economic protest in the city of Mashhad, before spreading to encompass every major city and town, as well as giving rise to unprecedented anti-government slogans such as death to the dictator.

Although the initial wave of protests was largely suppressed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Intelligence Ministry before the end of January, a number of protests sprang up afterward to repeat the same grievances and demands. In March, the leader of the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran, Maryam Rajavi, called for a year full of uprisings created in the image of the January uprising.

The PMOI and other opposition groups have subsequently worked to maintain some continuity among broad-minded anti-government protests and other, more targeted demonstrates such as labor strikes and acts of civil disobedience by opponents of hardline policies such as the forced veiling of Iranian women. One common feature of these various protests is their clear defiance of repressive measures  something that was highlighted last week by the PMOIs parent coalition the National Council of Resistance of Iran.

As part of a long series of updates about the Iran Uprisings, the NCRI reported that Ali Nejati, the former president of the Haft Tappeh sugarcane workers union, had been arrested and beaten by security forces as part of an effort to disrupt the weeks-long protest at that plant, where employees are demanding approximately four months of back pay.

According to the NCRI, workers responded to the arrest by gathering outside a government building and demanding the release of Nejati and other political prisoners. Protesters reportedly also clashed with the IRGC and shouted slogans to disrupt a speech by a member of parliament who visited in an effort to diffuse the situation.

Reports such as these are indicative of escalating tensions between the Irans government and its people, and these have not gone unnoticed by the international community. Reports of individual arrests such as that of Ms. Shahidi are one aspect of foreign attention to this issue, and they continue to prompt formal statements and calls to action in defense of protesters and other members of the activist community who have been targeted in Tehrans ongoing crackdown.

One such statement was issued by United Nations human rights activists last week. Jurist Legal News reported upon this on Thursday, noting that the statement emphasized the particular crackdown on those who have publicly protested forced veiling in recent months, and on those who have sought to defend such activism. We urge the [Iranian] Government to immediately release all those who have been imprisoned for promoting and protecting the rights of women, it read.

By virtue of her identity as both a woman and an advocate of comprehensive political reform, Hengameh Shahidi no doubt stands out as a feminist figure in the Islamic Republic, and her sentencing may be regarded as a symbol of Tehrans continued defiance of global criticism, coming in the wake of the UN experts statement. In that sense, it strongly suggests that more of the same arrests can be expected in the near future. But as other reports and statements underscore, womens rights activists are by no means alone in facing this continued danger.

EA Worldview sought to keep international attention focused on another such group last week, as it highlighted public comments by Iranian officials which indicate that the regime is not backing down from its repression of environmental activists. At least nine such individuals were arrested nearly a year ago and one, Kavous Seyed-Emami died in custody under suspicious circumstances. It was recently revealed that five of them are now facing charges of spreading corruption on Earth, which could result in the death penalty.

Fridays report quoted Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri as saying that the environmental researchers in question had been operating as agents of the United States and Israel. Montazeri insisted that documents showing their infiltration [are] all available, but although the defendants have been in pre-trial detention for nearly a year, no such documents or other evidence have been presented.

The allegations against them appear to consist of authorities assumption that the researchers camera traps were used to spy on missile sites and not to monitor the endangered Asiatic tiger, as reported.

It has been suggested that the allegations actually stem from frustration by the IRGC over criticism of the environmental impact of the paramilitarys land use, including its construction of new missile sites.

Additionally, the crackdown on environmentalists may be closely related attacks on another targeted group  Iranian-Western dual nationals  of which some prominent environmental experts including Seyed-Emami are (or were) a part.

Indeed, this possibility was underscored by Montazeris remarks, which reiterated regime talking points that have been prominent since nuclear negotiations were still ongoing between Iran and six world powers, including the US.

These negotiations spurred concerns among hardliners regarding the dilution of Tehrans identity as a bulwark against Western influence. As such, the IRGC and high-ranking officials including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei have repeatedly warned of foreign infiltration into Irans social, political, and economic life.

This supposed threat seems to be a motivating factor behind the crackdown on environmental activism, but in an editorial for the Washington Post, former Iranian political prisoner Jason Rezaian described the regimes vague claims of US/Israeli espionage both implausible and unsophisticated, adding that these are both characteristics of the approach used by the hard-line group behind the arrests.

Rezaian has unique authority to speak about this and about the Iranian governments attacks on dual nationals inside the country, having been held there for nearly two years on the basis of his role as a journalist with high-placed contacts in the West. And although he was released in a prisoner swap in January 2016, just as the Iran nuclear deal was going into effect, Tehran has continued its pattern of hostage-taking.

According to another Washington Post article, at least 20 persons with citizenship or dual national status in the US or Europe are currently being held in Iranian prisons. In total, at least 50 have been taken captive since 2007.

The Thomson Reuters Foundation recently issued a report on this situation, which concluded that the charges leveled against prominent dual nationals in recent years were clearly unfounded, and clearly designed specifically to extract concessions from foreign governments. This conclusion was reaffirmed by the families of those hostages in the form of an open letter that was published on Monday.

NBC News identified this letter as part of a larger, concerted effort by victims families to secure their release and to urge more serious international action on the matter. Among the measures recommended by these advocates is the cancellation of visas for the children and families of high-ranking Iranian officials. And speaking more generally last week, former Italian Prime Minister Giulio Terzi wrote in a US News op-ed that relations between the Islamic Republic and the West should be contingent upon substantial, tangible improvements in the Iranian governments human rights record, toleration of dissent, and so on.

Terzi noted that 150 Members of the European Parliament had recently joined in urging this shift in diplomatic strategy. But their statement to that effect condemned the silence of Western leaders. Similarly, the families of detained dual nationals expressed frustration with the approach that that leadership has taken so far. Even the Trump administration, with its comparatively hardline Iran strategy, declined to link recently-granted sanctions waivers to the release of the half dozen Americans currently in Iranian custody.

It remains to be seen whether pressure from families, lawmakers and other activists succeeds in generating more foreign pressure regarding Tehrans crackdowns on dual nationals, environmentalists, labor organizers, womens rights activists, and so on. But with unrest still escalating inside the country, proponents of greater pressure will likely argue that the stakes are increasing. Hinting at this conclusion, the BBC published an article on Sunday looking back at Irans chain murders  a far-reaching campaign of assassinations in the 1990s, which marked the clerical regimes response to a rising tide of domestic dissent.These two events are linked to Irans increased malign activity, including allegedly sending arms to Hezbollah on a plane to Beirut and the Regimes claims about a new cyber army, which shows that Iran is getting ready for an assault on sea, land, or even the internet; something that should worry the world.

On Saturday, the US State Department said that Iran has test-fired a new medium-range ballistic missile that was capable of reaching parts of Europe and anywhere in the Mideast, which means that the risk of escalation is growing.

According to the USs Iran-threat czar Brian Hook, Iran continues to prioritize missile development as a tool of the revolution, which it will use to take more power in the Middle East if allowed to.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted that Irans missile test was a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which enshrines the nuclear deal that Iran is still a party to, along with Britain, France, Germany, China, and Russia, and said that the US condemned the test.

While the US focused on the missile test, Iran launched a warship in Bandar Abbas on the Persian Gulf.

According to Iranian state TV, the Sahand destroyer is the most advanced military vessel which has radar-evading stealth properties and can sustain voyages lasting five months without resupply. It also has a flight deck for helicopters, torpedo launchers and surface-to-surface missiles.

Of course, this destroyer does not look that different to the US Arleigh Burke-class destroyers that were launched over 10 years ago. Iran is likely trying to appear as more of a threat than it actually is as tensions rise in the region. After all, earlier this year, Iran unveiled a new homemade fighter jet that turned out to be nothing more than an obsolete copy of a US F-5F

Last week, Iran was also accused of using a pseudo-civilian airlines used for arms smuggling by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to send an arms shipment to Hezbollah via Beirut airport.

But the other emerging threat from Iran came from Brigadier-General Gholamhossein Gheybparvar, the IRGC commander of the Basij force, who called on the young members of the groups cyber army to do more to attack Irans enemies, including opposition activists, the West, Saudi Arabia and Israel.The regimes strategy has been to set up organisations and local groups that work on a smaller scale but in line with the bigger picture. Discourse is used to influence local populations and, bit by bit, almost without anyone realising, it has a portion of control before anyone has a chance to react.

The regime has operated in this way for decades and has gained some degree of power in numerous countries including Syria, Yemen and Iraq. It exploits weakness and looks for opportunities to take advantage of.

It has spent billions in recent years on its adventures abroad and all but ignored the pressing issues that are destroying the lives of those living in Iran. Regime officials, of course, have no such worries. They ensure that their own pockets are lined.

Iran has invested considerably in Syria and it has propped up the countrys president  Bashar al Assad  and his regime.

The civil war would have no doubt ended years ago had Iran not got involved. Furthermore, the people of Iran have been calling for it to leave Syria immediately.

All of its investment in Syria  billions of dollars, weapons, troops, support, training, and so on  will likely end up a complete waste. It is becoming more and more likely that Syria will just want Iran out with no regard for the support it has given.

Iran is the number one threat in the Middle East and there is no doubt that the U.S. sanctions are essential if there is ever to be a resolution to the numerous conflicts that have been raging for years.

The purpose of the sanctions is mainly to cut the regime off from the funds that it used to spread chaos across the region. Millions of people have been displaced, many have been killed, many have lost their homes, livelihoods and families, and the regime has played a major role in all of this. It is time, once and for all, for the bloodshed to end. Finally, someone is holding the regime accountable for its actions.

The people of Iran have decided that they want change. They are the first victims of the regime and they are calling for regime change. Nothing will ever improve for as long as the mullahs are in power. The economy is declining and it is set to decline even further in the foreseeable future. Goods are becoming more expensive than the people can afford and more Iranians are falling under the extreme poverty line.

Even though the people are feeling the negative effects of the sanctions, they support them because they know the regime needs pressured. Until it collapses.The report added that these 70 sites collectively use 16 languages to target audiences in at least 15 countries, ranging from regional neighbors like Afghanistan and Egypt to more distant partners like Russia, and even to Western democracies. Many of the disinformation outlets rely on American web service providers, and many have been shared blindly via social media, by users who failed to recognize the dubious nature of the source before latching onto a given report.

This sort of sharing procedure has historically been helped by false social media accounts that are also located within the Islamic Republic and likely affiliated with the Iranian government. The Reuters report called attention to earlier reports about the discovery and closure of these accounts by Facebook and Twitter. Facebook took down 82 pages in October alone, but not before they had reached roughly one million users in the United States and the United Kingdom.

And despite these closures, Reuters indicates that such disinformation campaigns are difficult to effectively combat. Pages continue to be closed as they are recognized for their role in the campaign, but this generally takes time, and in any event more of the same will spring up as long as the underlying network remains in place. Dismantling that network is a more difficult problem, and even though dozens of fake websites have been identified, their closure depends on participation from authorities in a wide range of host countries.

The Reuters report gives the impression that there will be a long-lasting contest between Iran and its adversaries, to alternately erect and then sweep away disinformation networks. But targeted closures are not the only tools that Western governments have at their disposal to disrupt such networks. And as Irans tactics of cyber warfare become more sophisticated, there is more and more pressure to attack the very root of Iranian disinformation, cyber-espionage, and cyber-terrorism.

On Thursday, the National Council of Resistance of Iran published a report detailing some aspects of this effort. It noted that two Iranian had been indicted in a US court for a large-scale ransomware attack, and sanctions had been imposed on persons who contributed to the scheme by converting bitcoin ransoms into Iranian rials. The report simultaneously highlighted some of the means by which Iran may finance its further operations in cyberspace and some of the means by which the US and its allies might cut off that financing.

Of course, the announcement of these targeted sanctions came less than a month after the re-imposition of sanctions on Iranian banking and oil exports that had been suspended under the 2015 nuclear deal. To the extent that these broader financial penalties force the Iranian regime to tighten its belt, they may also weaken the financing and limit the reach of the regimes global propaganda network.

In fact, there were tentative signs last week that this trend was already underway. A report by Majalla indicated that the Iranian government was moving the foreign headquarters for its propaganda operations from Beirut to Damascus.

On one hand, this development points to the deeper infiltration that the Islamic Republic has achieved in places like Syria in recent years. But on the other hand, the shift away from an established headquarters seems to have been motivated largely by the need for cost-saving measures.

Following more than eight years of civil war, the cost of rent and infrastructure is naturally much lower in Syria than in Lebanon. But according to Majalla, the Iranian propaganda network had not been able to cover the costs of its established location for some time. Some of that networks reporters have apparently not been paid since May  the same month that US President Donald Trump announced withdrawal from the nuclear deal. Although sanctions only began to return to Iran three months later, many global businesses reacted to the news by quickly pulling out of the Iranian market.

The coincidence between this development and the lack of payment for Iranian propagandists may point to the early successes of American economic pressures. And this may in turn suggest that there is strong potential for those same measures to undermine Irans disinformation networks over the long term.- Jessy Mendiola celebrated her birthday on December 3

- Her beau, Luis Manzano has a touching message for her

- Jessy replied with a sweet response

PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed

Jessy Mendiola and Luis Manzano might have encountered a lot of challenges along with criticisms from bashers but their relationship is getting stronger as time goes by.

Yesterday, November 3, Luis Manzano greeted the Kapamilya actress with a sincere message for her birthday.

He said that Jessy's smile still makes him melt and aside from that, he has nothing but best wishes for her life.

"Happy birthday to the young lady whose smile never fails to melt me :) may you have your best year ahead as i am truly excited for what is in store for you, rest assured ill be with you every step of the way ;) i how you!! :)" the Kapamilya host wrote.

While Jessy didn't miss the chance to respond with a sweet message too.

"I love you very much," she reponded.

PAY ATTENTION: Using free basics app to access internet for free? Now you can read KAMI news there too. Use the search option to find us. Read KAMI news while saving your data!

In a previous report by KAMI, Luis Manzano slams a netizen who left a rude comment on Jessy's post.

Luis or Luis Philippe Santos Manzano in real life, was born on April 21, 1981. He is the son of multi-awarded actors Edu Manzano and Vilma Santos. He already starred in several movies including In My Life, This Guy's in Love with U Mare, and Moron 5.2.

Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news!

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Freely accessible local news is vital. Please power our reporters and help keep us independent with a donation today.

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California's building codes are not keeping up with the severe, wind-driven wildfires that are becoming the norm.

Ten years ago, the state passed strict new standards for homes built in high fire-risk areas.

But even homes built to those standards were destroyed in last year's massive Thomas Fire. Now, those burned out homes are being rebuilt in the same places, under the same codes.

In the Ventura foothills, four of the nine homes on Andorra Lane burned down in the Thomas Fire. Almost no one expected it. After all, the homes were brand new. They were surrounded by dozens of other homes. And most importantly, they met the state's building codes for areas at heightened risk of wildfires.

Nancy Bohman, who lives in one of the Andorra Lane homes that survived the fire, said she was, "totally shocked. Totally blown away, 'cause look," she said, slapping the sturdy outside wall of her house. "It's stucco and a concrete roof."

"VERY HIGH FIRE HAZARD SEVERITY ZONES"

I wrote "almost no one" expected homes on Andorra Lane to burn down, because at least one agency did: CalFire.

Andorra Lane is tucked into a fold of the foothills above Ventura, and the entire nine-home subdivision is in a "very high fire hazard severity zone."

CalFire's "very high fire hazard severity zone" map of the City of Ventura. Areas colored red have very high fire risk. Andorra Lane is in one such area. Map courtesy CalFire.

That's a technical term created by CalFire, and it applies to neighborhoods on the edge of undeveloped land, "the wildland urban interface" where severe wildfires are likely.

The term is important because, since 2008, all homes built in these zones have had to meet strict building codes designed to prevent them from catching on fire. They must have fire resistant roofs and siding; fine mesh screen on attic vents to keep embers out; decks and patios made of non-flammable material, and heat-resistant windows.

Built in 2016, the houses on Andorra Lane had all of those things. They were supposed to have a better chance of surviving a wildfire than older homes that didn't have those protective features.

"NOBODY EVER READS THE FINE PRINT"

When the first residents of Andorra Lane moved into their houses in 2016 and 2017, few realized their homes were located in a risky place. But buried in their closing documents was a small disclosure, telling them they were moving into a "very high fire hazard severity zone."

"We flipped through hundreds of pages, I'm sure nobody ever reads the fine print," said Phil Azer, one of the four homeowners on Andorra Lane whose house was destroyed. "I think I was probably more concerned about earthquakes."

His neighbors had similar experiences: only one recalled seeing the fine print.

"I don't think [the real estate agent] ever actually said, 'Hey, do you realize you're on a flood or fire zone, or anything like that?'" said Bohman.

The developer, Williams Homes, declined to comment.

THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD

So why did the houses burn?

Ventura city Fire Marshal Joe Morelli thinks topography played a role.

The narrow valley that Andorra Lane sits in may have acted as a wind tunnel, funneling embers towards the houses.

"Really what we had was something like a blow torch going through our city," Morelli said. "And even with the fire-resistant construction standards you can still have loss. They're not fireproof standards."

Researchers who study how houses burn down say it's embers that are responsible for burning houses down, not walls of flame.

Residences of Andorra Lane that survived the Thomas Fire and those being rebuilt after the damages, on Sunday, Dec. 2, 2018, in Ventura, Calif. (Photo by Morgan Lieberman/KPCC)

When embers land on ornamental mulch, pine needles built up at the base of a wall or wooden deck furniture, they smolder. And those little fires can eventually ignite the house itself, even a fire-resistant house, especially if no one is there to put them out, as is usually the case in an evacuation zone during a megafire where firefighting resources are stretched thin.

The current California wildland fire codes may also have weaknesses, according to Morelli. They don't cover wooden sheds, carports, or backyard play structures, which can ignite, sending embers towards the house. Nor do they cover skylights that open outwards. And garage doors aren't as fire-resistant as they could be, meaning embers can get sucked underneath them, igniting whatever is inside.

Being new, the houses on Andorra Lane were likely some of the most fire-resistant in Ventura. But many of the older houses that burned in the Thomas Fire also had some fire-resistant features.

According to CalFire data, 80 percent of houses destroyed in the Thomas Fire had fire-resistant exteriors. And 90 percent had fire-resistant roofs.

IT'S WHERE YOU BUILD, NOT WHAT YOU BUILD WITH

To fire ecologists like Alexandra Syphard with the Conservation Biology Institute, it's becoming increasingly clear that houses built in risky places are impossible to fire-proof.

"You can make a big difference in increasing the potential safety of your house but you can't guarantee that it's not going to burn," she said.

Her research has found that where you build your house, not what it's made of, is the biggest factor in determining whether it will burn.

The houses on Andorra Lane in Ventura, Calif., are among the first to be rebuilt within the city of Ventura following the Thomas Fire. City-issued signs celebrating the rebuilding are shown on Sunday, Dec. 2, 2018. (Photo by Morgan Lieberman/KPCC)

And approving new development is done by cities and counties, which often have a financial incentive to greenlight construction projects. The state tries to guide them to do the right thing, but "at the end of the day, it's up to the local jurisdiction to protect their citizens," said Pete Munoa, CalFire's deputy chief of land use planning.

He says it's really only academics who are discussing giving the state more control over where houses are built in fire prone areas.

"They talk about that all the time," he said. "'They shouldn't be building there, period,' is what I've heard a few of the professors state. That's easier said than done. Where do you put those folks? And how do you compensate them for that?"

"PERMITS ISSUED!"

In early October, workers were almost done framing Phil Azer's replacement house on Andorra Lane. A small yellow sign in the front yard read, "Permits issued! Construction starting soon! Ventura strong!"

"Financially it made the most sense for us to rebuild," Azer explained, because the insurance company would give him more money if he rebuilt than if he walked away and built a new house somewhere else.

Azer's experience -- rebuilding in the same place, to the same building codes, is quite common -- a study published earlier this year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found rates of home construction are higher in the footprint of wildfires than in surrounding areas.

"We are not changing our building patterns to become more fire resilient if we just put houses in the exact same places," said Volker Radeloff, an ecologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the lead author of the study.

"They may not burn a year or two later, but 10 to 20 years later, there will enough fuel for the next fire."

Flames from the Thomas Fire burn in the hills above Carpinteria, California, December 11, 2017. (Photo by Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images)

But city and state officials are reluctant to do anything that would increase the cost of new housing. Yolanda Bundy, the chief building official with the city of Ventura, said she's just not focused on changing local building codes or overhauling land use planning at the moment.

"Right now, all the efforts are concentrated on helping people rebuild their homes, not to create more rules or regulations or more processes," she told KPCC earlier this year.

The burned homes in "very high fire hazards severity zones" will be rebuilt according to the newest codes, and Bundy still considers that a big improvement since nearly all 777 of them were constructed before 2008.

Statewide, new building codes are adopted every three years. That means lessons learned from the Thomas Fire will not be incorporated into the next round of code changes.

"We're constantly playing catch up," said Munoa. "We're trying to be proactive to see how we can make homes more survivable by adding additional code requirements."

But, he said, regulators also have to balance safety with cost. "Depending on the pushback we get from industry, we may or may not be successful in getting codes that we believe are going to be effective."

WHAT YOU CAN DO

So, what should you do if you live in a high fire risk area, or are rebuilding your house in one?

Focus on the area 30 feet around your house, says Tom Welle with the National Fire Protection Association.

The first five feet out from your foundation should be nearly bare, or only covered with non-flammable plants or landscaping. Beyond that, Welle says to "think about where leaves and debris just pile up because of wind. That's where embers are going to go."

Courtesy IBHS

Also, when a Red Flag warning is called, bring patio and deck furniture inside, and move things like propane tanks away from the house.

Keeping your house from igniting is really important, because according to Ventura Fire Marshal Morelli, nearly 90 percent of houses that ignite, even brand new houses, eventually burn down.

This story is part of Elemental: Covering Sustainability, a multimedia collaboration between Cronkite News, Arizona PBS, KJZZ, KPCC, Rocky Mountain PBS and PBS SoCal.

Investigative journalism matters. Here at LAist, we believe Angelenos deserve hard-hitting reporting that holds officials accountable and shines a needed light on our government and public institutions. Now that we're part of KPCC, those stories are made possible by generous people like you. Independent, local journalism isn't cheap, but with your support we can keep delivering it. Donate now.Rep. Elijah Cummings Set to Become Powerful Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman in 2019

U.S. House of Representative Elijah Cummings (D-MD)

WASHINGTON (AP)  When the word of the Lord came to Elijah, it arrived on a slip of paper tucked in a strangers bra.

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In 2017, Congressman Elijah E. Cummings had been laid up in a Johns Hopkins hospital bed for two months, crippled by pain after a difficult recovery from a heart valve replacement, when an interloper came bursting through the door, calling his name.

She reaches into her bosom and pulls out a note, Cummings said recently. She says, The Lord has been waking me all night.  It was so important I thought Id write it down. It says: He dont mean you no harm, hes just trying to get your attention. He wants you to know he aint finished with you yet.

Cummings, 67, recalled this story in an interview from his district office in Baltimore. His head: freshly shaved. His eyes: puffy. His large hands: swollen by gout. He wore big-platformed Velcro sneakers, which he had been shuffling around in all day with the help of a walker.

If God was trying to get his attention, he wasnt being subtle about it.

This month, Democrats triumphed in elections across the country, winning back the House of Representatives. In doing so, Cummings returns to Congress hobbled physically but more powerful than ever. Armed with a gavel and subpoenas, he is the soon-to-be chairman of the House Committee on Oversight.

For Cummings, this is the culmination of two years riddled with painful moments, some beyond his control and others that he walked into himself. Hed tried to work with President Trump only to have it blow up in his face. Hed been ignored by his Republican colleagues on the committee time and again. And he just couldnt seem to stay out of the hospital.

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With a healthy heart, and in control, Cummings has limitless possible targets: hush money paid to a porn star on Trumps behalf, citizenship questions on the census, security clearances revoked from the presidents critics, and dozens of other oh-yeah-remember-thats that slipped out of the churning news cycle unanswered.

The difficulty wont be finding things to look into. It will be figuring out whats worth looking into. Cummings knows by now the risks that come with opening wounds voluntarily. After he recovered from heart surgery, he checked back into the hospital for another procedure  this time on his knee. But something went wrong. The knee got infected, and Cummings spent another three months at Hopkins.

He emerged more aware than ever that theres only a finite amount of time in this world.

It will be up to him to make the best use of it.

Elijah Cummings was in my office, Donald Trump told the New York Times in April of 2017. And he said, You will go down as one of the great presidents in the history of our country.

Its a prophecy that Cummings said he never actually offered, and one that, if he does his job well as Oversight Committee chairman, will almost certainly not come true.

But early in Trumps presidency, while many Democrats were angst-ridden, Cummings believed there was an opportunity for some good to come of it. He attended the inauguration and chatted with the president at the luncheon afterward about the need to lower prescription drug prices, an issue hed long championed.

These drug companies are getting away with murder, Cummings said the president told him. Weve got to do something about this.

Later, Cummings accepted an invitation to the Oval Office to discuss a bill he co-authored that would do just that, and he was heartened by Trumps continued enthusiasm.

As Cummings recalls, he offered the president advice: If you stop working to divide the country and work on issues that can unite them, then you could go down in history as a great president. He honestly believed it.

The president had his base locked up no matter what, if Trump really believed shooting someone on Fifth Avenue wouldnt make them stray, so then what would the risk be to work with Democrats? He used to be a Democrat, a little voice kept reminding Cummings.

Perhaps if I knew then what I know now, I wouldnt have had a lot of hope, Cummings said. He is a man who quite often calls the truth a lie and calls a lie the truth.

A week after their meeting, Trump called Cummings to let him know he hadnt forgotten about the issue and still planned to take action on it. Cummings never heard from Trump again.

Does Cummingss belief that he could work with Trump make him unbelievably naive or a man of unshakable faith?

Cummings grew up in Baltimore the son of two former sharecroppers from South Carolina who moved to Baltimore and became preachers. He didnt learn to dance until prom because his parents thought it was a sin. He still doesnt know how to play cards.

And it was his parents who drove him into public service, his own form of ministry. He rarely gives a speech without mentioning his mother and how she used to soak her feet in epsom salts, singing her prayers, each night after cleaning houses. When his father died of a heart attack, shortly after giving a sermon at a womens detention center, Cummings arrived at the morgue to sort through his belongings. He found in his fathers wallet a note that Cummings had written him years earlier, folded and refolded so many times over the years that it had holes in the paper.

Did you know that youre my hero, and everything Id like to be, the note said, quoting the song made popular by Bette Midler. I can fly higher than an eagle because you are the wind beneath my wings.

Cummingss spirituality can border on hokey like that, certainly earnest in a way that most politicians are not.

At an election night watch party this year, he quoted a Garth Brooks song (This aint comin from no prophet, just an ordinary man). His eyes well up when he talks about his favorite musical, The Lion King. He meditates before each committee hearing, he said, picturing himself running down a long road, people in need of his help alongside him.

There have been stumbles. Early in Cummingss political career, he faced financial strains. According to a 1999 Baltimore Sun article, he owed more than $30,000 to the IRS (which he paid), and five times creditors took him to court to get him to pay $24,000 in overdue debts. Cummings told the paper he lacked money partially because of a major surgery that drained his bank account and because he helped support three children: a daughter he had with his then-estranged wife and two children he had with other women.

I have a moral conscience that is real central, Cummings told the Sun then. I didnt ask the federal government or anyone else to do me any favors.

He remarried in 2008 (his second wife, Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, a policy consultant, withdrew a bid for Maryland governor while Elijah was in the hospital). He has lived in the same inner-city house for three decades and, before serving 22 years in Congress, spent 14 years in the Maryland House of Delegates.

He learned his moral code in the pews and, perhaps equally important for someone going into politics, he learned the art of public speaking there, too. The first testimony he remembers giving in front of the congregation was thanking God for the integration of a local pool, which came after numerous marches where he was beaten by segregationists. He couldnt have been more than 9.

He used to run home from Sunday church service to lie on the floor and listen to Martin Luther King Jr.s speeches on his transistor radio. Hes been thinking a lot about one of them.

It was on the interruptions of life.

What he was saying was, dont let yourself get distracted because you may never get back to what you were doing, Cummings said. After two years of Twitter tantrums from the president, wild news conferences, attacks on the media, and other smokescreens, the lesson, Cummings said, is clear.

Trump, apparently was listening to Martin Luther King, he said.

The president, he said, certainly knows the power of a good distraction.

Another excerpt from the Book of Elijah:

Were in a storm, he said from his office atop Capitol Hill. And its a rough one. Its not a question of whether the storm will end but when it will end. How much of our democracy will be saved?

Cummings had just finished his first Oversight Committee hearing since election night, one of his last as ranking member. For six years, he has sat beside the chairman, just out of reach of real power. Hes had his microphone cut off by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.). He was told he could not put a woman on a panel about contraceptives. In the past two years, he has had 64 subpoena requests ignored by Chairman Trey Gowdy of South Carolina.

The storm has been raging. But now Cummings can do something about it,

Im going to try and make people realize that in order to live the life they are living, he said, they need to have democracy, and its being threatened.

Hes no longer asking for answers; hes demanding. Of course, that doesnt mean the Trump administration will comply. Its officials have been known to be difficult, sometimes even with fellow Republicans.

I sent letters and subpoenas to the Trump administration and got no response, Jason Chaffetz, the Oversight Committees Republican former chairman told The Post this month. I was stymied every step of the way. What makes you think Elijah Cummings will get a response?

Cummings admits this is a concern.

He also knows that his best bet to get anything done is to be focused, not to, as he told George Stephanopoulos on ABCs This Week, hand out subpoenas like somebodys handing out candy on Halloween.

Cummings has been on the other side of high-profile hearings that felt to him like a sham.

There was Operation Fast and Furious, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives program that tried to track illegal weapons sales. He was the ranking member of the Select Committee on Benghazi, a Republican-led effort to investigate the 2012 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya.

Those investigations were derided by Democrats as politically motivated and, of course, Republicans will say the same about anything Cummings decides to investigate

Cummings says he wants to be judicious, but is that possible? How do you not try to peek at Trumps tax returns, or figure out who exactly has been staying at Trump International Hotel in Washington, or determine how former Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt was able to get away with buying so many first-class airline tickets on taxpayers dime?

I cant imagine anyone better qualified and more passionate about oversight than Elijah, Gowdy said in an interview.

But, even if Cummings is open and transparent and does everything by the book, theres at least one Republican who wont see it that way.

If the Democrats think they are going to waste Taxpayer Money investigating us at the House level, then we will likewise be forced to consider investigating them for all of the leaks of Classified information, and much else, at the Senate level, Trump tweeted recently. Two can play that game!

Is it possible that Democrats are getting carried away? Can Cummings really be the hero they need to stand up to Trump? After all, Cummings may want to maintain the moral high ground, but is that even possible in a fight with the president? Is it the best way to win  to bring a Bible to a knife fight?

Leana Wen, the new president of Planned Parenthood, said its not for her to say, necessarily, but she knows a fighter when she sees one. She worked with Cummings during her time as the Baltimore health commissioner. She loved him so much she named her first child after him.

When he was in the hospital, I tried not to think  about what could happen, she said. As a physician, I know a lot about the worst-case scenarios because Ive seen it.

The day she saw him for the first time out of the hospital, he looked and tired. She told him it was good to see him.

He said, Its good to be seen and not viewed, if you know what I mean, she recalled. To me, that meant he was back.

Cummings tends to downplay his time in the hospital. It was just a little shortness of breath. Then a simple heart procedure that should have him home within three days. Then a gout flare-up and rehabilitation to gain back muscles lost from weeks unable to move.

Yes, it was excruciatingly painful, hell say. But, no, he never really thought his life was in danger. He was always itching to get back.

If he were to slow down too much, his younger brother James Cummings said, it would probably kill him.

In that case, the next two years may be the healthiest of Elijah Cummingss life.Monday marked a return to school for thousands of children who lost their homes to a deadly wildfire in Northern California.

In Butte County, California, schools have been closed since November 8, when the wildfire now known as the Camp Fire started. It quickly moved through the towns of Paradise, Concow and Magalia.

The Camp Fire was the deadliest wildfire in the United States in a century. It killed at least 88 people. Many others are still listed as missing.

The Paradise Unified School District lost eight schools to the wildfire. District officials were not sure how many of their nearly 3,500 students will report to schools that will temporarily replace those destroyed in the fire. Some families have left California. Others are staying with nearby relatives or friends. It is too far for some of them to drive to one of the temporary schools every day.

But nearly all the teachers are returning to provide a calm, familiar face to the children who are able to make it to class.

Jodi Seaholms daughter Mallory is about to turn 9 years old. In October, Mallory had radiation treatment to remove cancer in her brain and showed no fear, Seaholm told the Associated Press. But this situation, with her house burning down, has absolutely devastated her, she added.

Its important that the kids are able to stay together and have some sort of normalcy in the crazy devastation that were having now, Seaholm said.

Two neighboring school districts have permitted children from Paradise to make use of available space in their school. Children who formerly went to Paradise Elementary School will go to school in nearby Oroville, California. Children from Ponderosa Elementary School will be at a school in Durham.

Paradise High School survived the fire. But the school building remains closed because officials have yet to let people return to the area.

The district does not yet have space for middle and high school classrooms. So for the 13 days before the start of the traditional winter break in the school year, students will learn through independent study. They will be given homework online and be able to visit a special drop-in center in Chico, California. Children going there can get help from teachers or visit other classmates.

Loren Lighthall, who heads Paradise High School, said studying will likely be less important than dealing with pain and reconnecting with friends.

They dont have their school, they dont have their work, they dont have their friends, they dont have any of that stuff and were asking them to write  essays? Lighthall said. Its just unreasonable at this point. Were going to do it, but were going to be super flexible with what we require.

Search crews have stopped looking for victims in burned cars and neighborhoods. But they remain available if people believe they find human remains when they are permitted to re-enter the community.

Forty-seven year old Marissa Nypl is living with her family at the home of her husbands coworker in West Sacramento until they can move much closer. That is 145 kilometers from her 10-year-old daughters temporary school in Durham. It is too far to drive every day. But Nypl wanted to be sure her daughter is there with the other children on the first day back. It will likely be an important part of the healing process.

Theyre going to need something that they feel like is still a normal part of life, Nypl said, noting just about everything in town is gone. The schools going to be the only thing they have  to feel like somethings still routine.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Jonathan J. Cooper reported this story for the Associated Press. Pete Musto adapted this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. How can officials help students recover from the effects of the wildfire? Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

_________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

district  n. an area or community; part of a territory

devastate  v. to bring to ruin; to wreck

kids  n. children

online  adj. connected to or involving a computer or telecommunications system

essay  n. a short piece of writing on a given subject

flexible  adj. easy to bend or influence

From VOA Learning English this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

The most dangerous place for a woman is not a dark street in a strange city. It is not in a war zone or a protest.

The most dangerous place for a woman is in her own home.

So says a new study from the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime. The study found that intimate partners or family members are responsible for the majority of female killings around the world.

The study explains that the majority of murder victims are men. But their killers are usually strangers. Women, the report states, are far more likely to be murdered by someone they know.

In 2017, about 87,000 women around the world were murdered. More than half of them, 58 percent, were killed by intimate partners or family members. Thirty percent of those murders were carried out by current or former lovers.

The report found that often these murders are not random. Rather, they are usually the result of past gender-related violence against the victim.

When an intimate partner murders a woman, the report states that jealousy and fear of abandonment are among the reasons.

However, it adds that women are also killed by fathers, brothers, mothers, sisters and other family members because of their role and status as women.

This kind of killing is often called femicide.

Where femicide is most likely

In 2017, Asia had the largest overall number, at 20,000, of women killed by intimate partners or family members. Africa followed with 19,000. Then came the Americas with 8,000 murders; Europe had 3,000 and Oceania had 300.

However, based on population, Africa and the Americas are the parts of the world where women are most at risk of this crime. The study found the rate in Africa is 3.1 per 100,000 female population.

In 2017, the intimate partner/family-related homicide rate was also high in the Americas, at 1.6 per 100,000 female population.

Europe is the area where the risk is lowest.

Solutions

The study shows that deadly violence against women is on the rise.

The U.N. study experts suggest ways to fight the problem. These include improvements to criminal justice systems and how they deal with violence against women. They suggest that severe punishment for acts of violence against women will help.

They call for greater cooperation between police and justice systems and between health and social services.

The experts also claim that men need to be included in the battle against femicide. Educating boys and teens, they say, is an important part of the solution.

And that is the Health & Lifestyle report. Im Anna Matteo.

Anna Matteo wrote this story. Caty Weaver was the editor.

_________________________________________________________________

Quiz - Home: Most Dangerous Place for a Woman Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz



_________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

intimate  adj. engaged in, involving, or marked by sex or sexual relations

murder  n. the crime of deliberately killing a person

random  adj. without definite aim, direction, rule, or method

gender  n. the state of being male or female

jealousy  n. an unhappy or angry feeling caused by the belief that someone you love (such as your husband or wife) likes or is liked by someone else

abandonment  n. the act of leaving someone and withdrawing protection, support, or help

role  n. the part that someone has in a family, society, or other group

status  n. position or rank in relation to others

femicide  n. the killing of a woman or girl, in particular by a man and on account of her genderThe Democratic Republic of Congo is experiencing its worst-ever outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease.

More than 420 Ebola cases have been reported in eastern Congo. Just under 60 percent of those infected have died from the disease.

This is the countrys tenth known Ebola epidemic, but this one is unusual because more than 60 percent of patients are female.

Among them is Baby Benedicte. She has been alive for only one month, and her short life has already been unimaginably difficult.

She weighs 2.9 kilograms. And she is alone. Her mother had Ebola, and died giving birth to her.

Baby Benedicte has spent the past three weeks of her life in a plastic isolation container without direct human contact. She developed a higher than normal body temperature at eight days old and was moved to a hospital in the town of Beni.

Tests show that Ebola has infected more than 400 people in Beni since the beginning of August. That makes this the second-worst Ebola outbreak in history, after the disease killed more than 11,000 people in West Africa between 2013 and 2016.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the poorest nations in the world. It struggles with civil and political insecurity as well as corruption. This is the 10th outbreak of Ebola to strike the country since 1976, when Ebola was first identified.

Guido Cornale is with UNICEF, the United Nations Childrens Emergency Fund. He says the size of this outbreak is clear.

It has become the worst outbreak in Congo, this is not a mystery, he said.

What is mysterious, however, is why more than 60 percent of cases are women, says government health official Ndjoloko Tambwe Bathe.

This epidemic is feminizedits true that the female cases are more numerous than the male cases," he said.

Bathe would not predict when the outbreak might end, but international health officials have said it may last another six months. Experts are still studying why this epidemic effects mostly women and children, Cornale said.

So now we can only guess. And one of the guesses is that woman are the caretakers of sick people at home. So if a family member got sick, who is taking care of him or her? Normally, a woman, he said.

Or a nurse. Many of those affected are health workers. Nurse Guilaine Mulindwa Masika spent 16 days in care after a patient gave the virus to her. She says it was the fight of her life.

The pain was constant," she said.

For the sick, the road to recovery is long and lonely. Masika and others who were infected cannot return to work until they are sure the risk of infection is gone. In the main hospital in Beni, families who have recovered live together in a large white shelter. They are kept four meters from human contact.

A nurse covered in protective clothes cares for Baby Benedicte. Her future is unclear. Medical workers are not sure where her father is, or if he is going to come for her.

She sleeps most of the day as the deaths around her continue.

Im Susan Shand.

VOA's Anita Powell reported this story. Susan Shand adapted this story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. _______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

outbreak  n. a sudden increase in the number of cases of a disease

isolation  n. the state of being in a place or situation that is separate from others

epidemic  n. the sudden spread, growth or development of something such as a disease

guess  v. to predict; to form an opinion about something without much evidence

constant  adj. happening all the time or very often over a period of timeMoana was a hit movie released in 2016. It was produced in over 40 languages and shown in theaters around the world.

Moana is unusual because it was the first Walt Disney Studios film ever to be re-recorded in the native language of Hawaii.

Now, the Hawaiian version is being provided to schools across the state in an effort to get students interested in the language.

English and Hawaiian are the two official languages of Hawaii. But for many years, Hawaiian has been in danger of disappearing.

The Hawaiian Islands were made by volcanoes. They lie in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, about 4,000 kilometers from the United States mainland.

Hawaiis native population came from Polynesia, a collection of hundreds of islands in the North and South Pacific.

In 1778, the British explorer James Cook and his men landed in what is now Hawaii. At the time, the local population spoke only the Hawaiian language. Later, Christian missionaries wrote the language down and produced books for the natives.

The area became a protectorate of Britain and was later ruled by a king. Over time, a large foreign influence over Hawaiis politics and economics led to English being declared the official language. In 1896, schools banned use of the Hawaiian language.

The United States annexed the territory in 1898 and Hawaii became a U.S. colony two years later. In 1959, Hawaii was admitted as the 50th state.

During the 1970s, a movement began to seek wider use of the Hawaiian language. Education officials again permitted the use of Hawaiian in schools. But today, the language is still not widely spoken on the islands.

The cultural agency of the United Nations  UNESCO  lists the Hawaiian language as critically endangered. Hawaiian state officials estimated in 2016 that only about 5.7 percent of people living in the state speak Hawaiian at home.

For this reason, officials in Hawaii decided to try a fun, new way to increase interest in the language among the younger generation.

The University of Hawaii launched the project to re-record Moana in Hawaiian. Officials said the production was a major effort involving the translation of about 10,000 words and new recordings of 4,000 pieces of audio.

The movie tells the story of Moana, a teenage girl from ancient Polynesia who decides she must act to save her people. She uses the help of a demigod named Maui, who guides Moana through a series of exciting, often dangerous experiences.

Auli'i Cravalho is a native Hawaiian actor who starred in the 2016 films lead as Moana. Her voice was used in the English version. But she also got the chance to re-record her parts in Hawaiian.

Cravalho said at the movies Hawaiian language launch that she believes the project will go a long way to help more people hear and study Hawaiian.

It is amazing to know that I'm making a difference in my community, that this language will be able to be heard around the world, that Hawaii, and Hawaiian, is on the map - that it's a proud culture.

Other native Hawaiians were chosen to voice other parts. Kaipu Baker provided the voice for Maui, the movies other main character.

Seeing us become native Hawaiian performers in our own language. That's really what this project is about for me.

Kalehua Kawa voiced the part of Moanas grandmother.

This is a nice showing not only to our students, but to everyone, that olelo Hawaii is here, it is an official language of Hawaii. Its out here, its in the community.

The University of Hawaii said in a statement the Hawaiian version of the movie is being given to all schools across the state for free. They are hoping the film can be a starting point to encourage students to learn the language.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

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Words in This Story

missionary  n. person who travels to another country to teach people about religion

annex  v. to add to something; to take for oneself

critically  adj. extremely serious or dangerous

translation  n. the act of taking spoken or written material in one language and putting it in another language

demigod  n. a person (in ancient stories) who is partly human and partly a god

proud  adj. feeling pleased and happy about ones self

encourage  v. help someone to feel confident and able to do somethingU.S. President Donald Trump wrote Monday of his "very strong and personal relationship" with Chinese President Xi Jinping. He added that a new trade deal between the two countries would help American farmers sell more of their products to China.

Trumps comments appeared on the news and social networking service Twitter.

Stock prices in Asia, Europe and the United States rose Monday following reports about talks between Trump and Xi last weekend.

The leaders of the worlds two biggest economies met face-to-face at the G-20 (Group of 20) meetings in Argentina. Each side agreed not to increase tariffs on the other's exports for the next 90 days while they negotiate details of a trade agreement.

Trump wrote on Twitter, "Relations with China have taken a BIG leap forward! Very good things will happen."

China's ministry of foreign affairs said Monday that the Chinese and U.S. presidents had agreed to work towards removing all tariffs.

Late Sunday, Trump tweeted that "China has agreed to reduce and remove tariffs on cars coming into China from the U.S. Currently the tariff is 40 percent."

The United States had a $335.4 billion trade deficit with China in 2017.

The two countries agreed to negotiate an end to their trade disagreements in the next 90 days. Experts say that is not a lot of time.

China's offers to buy U.S. agricultural, energy, industrial and other products are considered helpful to the negotiations. What will be more difficult are the other issues that U.S. officials said the two sides agreed on.



Those include the promises to immediately open trade talks on issues such as non-tariff barriers, services and agriculture. U.S. officials also want to talk about Chinese laws requiring the release of technology secrets by American companies that want to do business in China. They also want negotiations on issues like intellectual property rights and protection of cyber technology.

Raymond Yeung is an economist at the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group. He said that an end to trade war between the two sides would not come easily.



"Markets should not be too happy too early," he said, adding that the statement released by the Trump administration demanded a lot of changes from China for the U.S. not to increase tariffs.

Liao Qun is chief economist at China Citic Bank International. He said it was clear that both governments want to talk and work out their differences, but the agreement is only a ceasefire.

"There's still uncertainty that the trade war could be back on in three months," he said.

Both Yeung and Liao said the major issue could be what the Chinese government wants to do with its Made in China 2025 Initiative. That is a government policy that aims to end Chinas need for other countries technology and make the Chinese economy like that of industrial nations.

Both Yeung and Liao told VOA they do not think China will overturn the policy. But some small changes are possible, Liao said.

Maybe China can make concessions in other areas in exchange for keeping the plan Liao said.



Made in China 2025 is a 10-year campaign that China launched to help improve its technology. Many other countries worry the plan will only worsen trade problems.

The Made in China 2025 plan names 10 areas in which China seeks progress. They include information technology; robotics; medicine and medical equipment; and ocean engineering equipment.

An opinion piece in the Chinese Communist Party-supported Global Times said the meeting in Argentina had given both sides a chance to take important steps.

It added that the presence of White House trade policy adviser Peter Navarro at the meeting "was not necessarily a bad thing."

Navarro is one of the Trump administrations strongest supporters of tariffs against China. The article suggested that his presence shows the deal with China has wide support in Washington.

VOAs Bill Ide reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

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Words in This Story

tariff- n.a tax on goods coming into or leaving a country

networking adj. of or related to an exchange of information or services

leap n.a jump

intellectual property- n.something (such as an idea, invention, or process) that comes from a person's mind

cyber  adj.relating to online actions

uncertainty  n.something that is not sure; suspicion

initiative  n. the act of giving up something or doing something in order to reach agreement

concession n. the act of giving up something or doing something in order to reach agreementI am a Flag-Waving Everyman, also known as a patriot. I believe in freedom, apple pie, rooting for America at all times, and that God gave us a two-day weekend so we could enjoy football and NASCAR.3 migrants found frozen to death in the border of Turkey

The bodies of three people supposed to be illegal migrants have been found in distinct border villages in Turkey's northwestern Edirne province, security sources emphasized on Tuesday.

The body of one migrant  thought to be of Afghan origin  was found in the village of Serem, while the bodies of two other migrants were found in the villages of Akcadam and Adasarhanl, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

All the migrants are thought to have frozen to death, and their bodies were sent to the Istanbul Institution of Forensic Medicine to determine the causes of deaths.

THEY HAD ASKED FOR HELP FROM GREEK VILLAGERS

Afghan Jamalvddin Malangi, 29, who said he knew one of the migrants who froze to death, spoke with reporters in the province. Malangi, held by gendarmerie forces on the border with Greece, told how they got to Greece by crossing the Meric River but later were sent back to Turkey by Greek soldiers. We moved towards a village near the forest in Greece. We asked for help by knocking on doors of Greek villagers," he said.

"During that time, the Greek police came and caught us. First, they took us to the police station and then to the riverbanks. They made us get on the boat and sent us back to Turkey," he related. After fleeing hardship in Afghanistan, Malangi called the mistreatment they faced saddening. Greek soldiers have no mercy," he said but praised Turkish soldiers merciful attitude.

Turkey has been the main route for refugees trying to cross into Europe since the beginning of the civil war in Syria.By continuing to browse our site you agree to our Privacy & Cookie Policy. > Privacy & Cookie Policy I AgreeIf there has been a constant to President Donald Trumps tumultuous first two years in office, it has been that his foreign trips have tended to be drama-filled affairs  the president barreling through international gatherings like a norm-smashing bull, disrupting alliances and upending long-standing U.S. policies. But at this years Group of 20 summit, Trump appeared to settle in among his global peers.

A brisk two days in Argentina saw Trump reach a trade ceasefire with China and sign a three-

way trade deal with Mexico and Canada. With little public spectacle, he joined the leaders of the other member nations on the traditional group statement. He buddied up with traditional allies and largely avoided controversial strongmen. Faced with Russias spiking aggression in Ukraine, he canceled his sit-down with Vladimir Putin. And when former President George H.W. Bush died, Trump gave respectful remarks and canceled what would likely have been a raucous press conference.

All told, for the often-undisciplined leader, the whirlwind trip was an unusual moment of Zen.

Trumps election forced the world to reckon with sweeping populist movements and the impact of globalization. In the first two years of his presidency, he has brusquely rejected international engagement for what he views as a single-minded focus on U.S. national interests.

Public and private interactions with world leaders over his 48 hours in Argentina demonstrated Trump does have the capacity for restraint. And other world leaders, for their part, showed grumbling acceptance of Trumps untraditional stylings.

Its hardly as though Trump has suddenly abandoned his America First world view. But rather than challenge him at every turn, other leaders appear to be adapting to Trump, mindful that multilateral deals are weaker without the United States. Delegation sherpas worked through the night to revamp the joint communique so that it would be amenable to Trump, and allies knew to butter Trump up with over-the-top praise.

From the outset, I would like to congratulate you on your historic victory in the midterm election in the United States, declared Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the start of their meeting Saturday [Macau time]. He made no mention of the big electoral gains that Democrats notched in the U.S. House. Abe has long proved to be the world leader most adept at keeping on Trumps good side, but even more challenging relationships appeared to find firmer ground. Trumps meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel was outwardly all smiles, handshakes and praise.

The G-20 joint statement included U.S.-preferred language on reforming the World Trade Organization  something Trump demanded  and made note that the U.S. opposed the Paris climate agreement, which the president has announced plans to exit.

French President Emmanuel Macron called it a victory that the U.S. signed onto the statement at all, given the tensions going into the talks. He said, With Trump, we reached an agreement. The U.S. accepted a text.

American allies did express mild frustration with Trump at times. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, at the signing of the revised North American Free Trade Agreement, needled Donald over U.S. tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel.

But Trump, for his part, played the role of gracious victor, proclaiming that he and Trudeau, along with outgoing Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, were battle-tested friends. The new trade accord was a long-sought win for Trump, who as a candidate had promised to reform NAFTA, and he embraced its arrival as vindication of his abrasive negotiating tactics.

Most notably, Trump largely kept his distance from Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He made small talk with the two strongmen but toed the line on a Western freeze-out of the pair  the former over Russias recent seizure of three Ukrainian naval vessels and their crews, and the latter over the murder two months ago of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

In previous global summits, the shock factor invariably came from Trump. There was his speech lecturing NATO allies over defense spending in spring 2017. The surprise tete-a-tete with Putin at a G-20 dinner in Germany that summer. And the G-7 meeting earlier this year in Canada, where Trump agreed to a group statement on trade, only to withdraw from it on Twitter while flying to Asia, insulting Trudeau in the process.

This time, the viral moment of the weekend came when Putin and the crown prince, the two relative outcasts of the summit, exchanged an enthusiastic handshake.

Trump also showed control when word came during the summit of Bushs death. While Trump has struggled to strike the right tone during moments of national loss, he sought to meet this one with grace. He followed the scripted playbook for the state funeral he wishes for himself when that day comes, swiftly declared a day of national mourning and ordered American flags to be flown at half-staff for 30 days. He lauded Bush as a man of sound judgment, common sense and unflappable leadership.

For Trump, the Bush family has been a longtime punching bag. He dubbed Jeb Bush low energy when they faced off during the 2016 Republican presidential primary. He has been highly critical of George W. Bushs presidency. And he mocked George H.W. Bushs signature phrase about a thousand points of light during his campaign rallies just this year.

Those insults were put aside over the weekend as Trump spoke to reporters about his respect for the late president.

Well be spending three days of mourning and three days of celebrating a really great mans life. So we look forward to doing that, and he certainly deserves it. He really does. He was a very special person, Trump said.

The presidents decision to cancel the planned news conference in the wake of Bushs death helped keep him on a disciplined track. Those affairs can easily go off the rails, as did Trumps news conference after a July summit with Putin in Helsinki, where Trump drew widespread criticism for failing to publicly denounce Russias interference in the 2016 U.S. election and appearing to accept Putins denials of such activity.

The president arrived back in the United States yesterday [Macau time], with a week of mourning for Bush ahead, a government funding fight on the horizon and more to come from the Russia investigation. The question now, as always, is just how long can this moment last?Catherine Lucey & Zeke Miller, Washington, APChinas president signed new trade deals with Argentina yesterday [Macau time] as the Asian giant expands its growing role in Latin American economies.

Presidents Mauricio Macri of Argentina and Xi Jinping of China announced the more than 30 agriculture and investment deals during a state visit following the Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires. The deals include an agreement to export Argentine cherries to China and an expansion of a currency swap.

China is among Argentinas top export markets, especially for agricultural commodities that are the engine of its economy. It is also one of Argentinas biggest lenders, financing about USD18.2 billion in infrastructure and other projects, according to the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based think tank.

Chinas development benefits Argentina, our region and the world, Macri said during a ceremony at the presidential residence in the outskirts of the Argentine capital.

We have complementary countries. There are few countries in the world that can buy so many of the high-quality products that were capable of making, Macri said.

The visit comes after U.S. officials said they had reached a 90-day truce in the trade dispute with China that has rattled financial markets and imperiled global economic growth. That announcement followed a Saturday dinner meeting between Xi and President Donald Trump.

Argentina also granted Xi the top honor awarded to foreign politicians, and the Argentine polo association gave the Chinese leader a polo horse. The South American country is home to the worlds top polo players, and Macri said that he wants the sport to make a comeback in China.

Photos released by Argentinas presidency showed a smiling Xi petting the pony with one hand and holding the reins with the other. Macri also put a red polo helmet emblazoned with Chinas flag on Xis head.

Xi congratulated Macri on a successful summit and said both of their nations believe the G-20 spirit of solidarity must prevail in the firm defense of multilateralism and free trade to build an open global economy and foment the worlds prosperity and stability.

Xi then flew to Panama, which has been negotiating a free-trade deal with China after shifting its diplomatic recognition to Beijing from Taiwan last year, a move that led to complaints from U.S. officials.

Chinese companies operate ports on both ends of the Panama Canal, which for most of the 20th Century was seen as a symbol of U.S. influence.

Xi was met at the airport by Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela, and the two leaders planned a private working meeting today [Macau time]. The Chinese leader also planned to visit the Cocoli locks on the Pacific end of the canal. APJust how much is this 90-day truce worth in Asian stock markets? Roughly USD325 billion, yesterday at least.

Thats how much market value got added to companies in the MSCI Asia Pacific Index as the gauge rallied 2 percent. Asia stock bulls couldnt have asked for a better start to December. The Shanghai Composite Index and Hang Seng Index both soared about 2.6 percent each, and the Topix closed 1.3 percent higher. Early action in the yuan also pointed to an optimistic response from investors.

In fact, the last time the Asian benchmark reached a jump like this was a month ago, on news that the leaders of the worlds two largest economies talked, with Donald Trump saying Xi Jinping wanted to make a deal to end the escalating trade war.

Fast forward to yesterday, and it looks like alls well with global markets again after the U.S. agreed to postpone a planned tariff hike on Chinese goods for three months and China said it will boost purchases of farm and industrial goods to reduce the trade imbalance. Trump also said China has agreed to reduce and remove U.S. car import charges, while Chinas foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang declined to comment on any vehicle tariff changes. Futures contracts on the S&P 500 Index jumped 1.9 percent in the first minutes of trading and have stayed higher.

So, will investors see a solid rebound with four weeks left to the year? The jurys still out. To some market players, including CMC Markets Singapore analyst Margaret Yang Yan, this temporary cease-fire could set up the year-end rally, given that emerging markets have been suppressed most of this year. UBS Group AG strategists led by Niall Macleod say China and Korea have the greatest potential to re-rate as these two countries previously have been discounted too much on bad news ranging from trade tension to economic growth.

But others are staying cautious. In an interview with Bloomberg Television, Mark Tinker, head of Framlington Equities Asia at AXA Investment Managers in Hong Kong, said while some short covering is possible in the near term, hes still cautious to call a Santa rally as the trade war wasnt the only thing on investors minds this year and the truce is more like the removal of negatives rather than a huge positive. He pointed to the U.S. dollar as a key factor to whether investors will rush back into the market. Moxy Ying, BloombergEarly last year, a little-known Chinese researcher turned up at an elite meeting in Berkeley, California, where scientists and ethicists were discussing a technology that had shaken the field to its core  an emerging tool for editing genes, the strings of DNA that form the blueprint of life.

The young scientist, He Jiankui, saw the power of this tool, called CRISPR, to transform not only genes, but also his own career.

In visits to the United States, he sought out CRISPR pioneers such as Jennifer Doudna of the University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford Universitys Dr. Matthew Porteus, and big thinkers on its use, like Stanford ethicist Dr. William Hurlbut.

Last week, those shocked researchers watched as He hijacked an international conference they helped organize with an astonishing claim: He said he helped make the worlds first gene-edited babies, despite clear scientific consensus that making genetic changes that could be passed to future generations should not be attempted at this point .

U.S. National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins called Hes experiment a misadventure of a major sort  starring a scientist who apparently believed that he was a hero. In fact, he crossed every line, scientifically and ethically.

But nobody stopped him. How can that be?

To be fair, scientists say theres no certain way to stop someone intent on monkeying with DNA, no matter what laws or standards are in place. CRISPR is cheap and easy to use  which is why scientists began to worry almost as soon as the technology was invented that something like this would happen.

And there is a long history in science and medicine of researchers launching experiments prematurely that were met with scorn or horror  some of which led to what are now common practices, such as in-vitro fertilization.

Gene-editing for reproductive purposes is effectively banned in the U.S. and most of Europe. In China, ministerial guidelines prohibit embryo research that violates ethical or moral principles.

It turns out He wasnt exactly tight-lipped about his goals . He pursued international experts at Stanford and Rice Universities, where he had done graduate studies work, and elsewhere, seeking advice before and during the experiment.

Should scientists who knew of Hes plans have spoken up? Could they have dissuaded him?

The answers arent clear.

It doesnt fall into the category of legal responsibility, but ethical responsibility, said Collins. He said that not speaking up doesnt seem like a scientist taking responsibility.

Chinas National Commission of Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Hes own university have said they were in dark and have since condemned him .

But three Stanford scientists  Hurlbut, Porteus and Hes former fellowship adviser, Stephen Quake  had extensive contact with him over the last few years. They and other scientists knew or strongly suspected that He intended to try to make genetically edited babies.

Some confidantes didnt think He would follow through; others raised concerns that were never heeded.

Stanford has not responded to an interview request.

Quake, a bioengineering professor, was one of the first to know about Hes ambition. Quake said he had met with He through the years whenever his former student was in town, and that He confided his interest a few years ago in editing embryos for live births to try to make them resistant to the AIDS virus.

Quake said he gave He only general advice and encouraged him to talk with mainstream scientists, to choose situations where theres consensus that the risks are justified, to meet the highest ethics standards and to publish his results in a peer-reviewed journal.

My advice was very broad, Quake said.

Hurlbut thinks he first met He in early 2017, when he and Doudna, co-inventor of CRISPR, held the first of three meetings with leading scientists and ethicists to discuss the technology.

Somehow, he ended up at our meeting, Hurlbut said.

Since then, He returned several times to Stanford, and Hurlbut said he spent many hours talking with He about situations where gene editing might be appropriate.

Four or five weeks ago, Hurlbut said He came to see him again and discussed embryo gene editing to try to prevent HIV. Hurlbut said he suspected He had tried to implant a modified embryo in a womans womb.

I admonished him, he said. I didnt green-light his work. I challenged him on it. I didnt approve of what he was doing.

Porteus said he knew that He had been talking with Hurlbut and assumed Hurlbut discouraged the Chinese scientist. In February, He asked to meet with Porteus and told him he had gotten approval from a hospital ethics board to move forward.

I think he was expecting me to be more receptive, and I was very negative, Porteus said. I was angry at his naivete, I was angry at his recklessness.

Porteus said he urged He to go talk to your senior Chinese colleagues.

After that meeting, I didnt hear from him and assumed he would not proceed, Porteus said. In retrospect, I could have raised a hue and cry.

In a draft article about the gene-edited twin girls, which He planned to submit to journals, he thanked UC Berkeley biophysicist Mark DeWitt for editing the manuscript. DeWitt said he tried to dissuade He and disputed that he edited the paper. He said he saw the paper, but the feedback he offered was pretty general.

Hes claims, including that his work has resulted in a second pregnancy , cannot be independently confirmed and his work has not been published. He defended his actions last week at a gene editing summit in Hong Kong.

In contrast, another U.S. scientist said he not only encouraged He but played a large role in the project.

Michael Deem, a bioengineering professor at Rice University and Hes doctoral degree adviser, said he had worked with He since the scientist returned to China around 2012, and that he sits on the advisory boards and holds a small stake in Hes two genetics companies in Shenzhen. Deem defended Hes actions, saying the research team did earlier experiments on animals.

We have multiple generations of animals that were genetically edited and produced viable offspring, and a lot of research on unintended effects on other genes, Deem said. Deem also said he was present in China when some study participants gave their consent to try embryo gene editing.

Rice said it had no knowledge of Deems involvement and is now investigating.

So far most of the attention has focused on regulatory gaps in China.

But thats not the whole story, said Rosario Isasi, an expert on genomics law in the U.S. and China at the University of Miami.

Lets focus on how it happened and why it happened, and the way it happened, said Isasi. How can we establish a system that has better transparency?

Theres no international governing body to enforce bioethics rules, but scientific bodies and universities can use other tools.

If someone breaks those rules, scientists can ostracize, journals can refuse to publish, employers can refuse to employ, funders can refuse to fund, said Hank Greely, a professor of law and genetics at Stanford.

Greely expects Hes experiment will have ripple effects in academia, whether or not regulators act. Universities are going to take a harder look at whats going on. This incident will put everyone on alert about any related research.

Of course, sometimes bad beginnings can turn into better endings.

In 1980, University of California, Los Angeles, professor Martin Cline was sanctioned for performing the first gene therapy on two women in Israel and Italy because he hadnt gotten approval to try it at UCLA.

Cline announced his work rather than publishing it in a scientific journal, and faced criticism for trying genetic engineering on people when its safety and effectiveness hadnt yet been established in animals. Now gene therapy is an established, although still fairly novel, treatment method.

Two years earlier, in 1978, Dr. Robert Edwards was similarly denounced when he announced through the press the worlds first test tube baby, Louise Brown. The work later earned a Nobel Prize, and IFV has helped millions to have a child.

And this year, Louise Brown  mother of two sons, conceived in the old-fashioned way  turned 40. Marilynn Marchione & Christina Larson, Hong Kong, APOne of the biggest mysteries surrounding the arrest of Nissans former chairman Carlos Ghosn is over how he allegedly could have underreported his income by millions of dollars for years and why the company is going after the suspected wrongdoing now.

Ghosn, who headed the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Motors auto alliance, was arrested Nov. 19 on suspicion he underreported his income by USD44 million over five years, or about half of what he was really making. Nissan Motor Co. and Mitsubishi have ousted him as chairman; the board of Renault SA of France says its waiting for more evidence.

Nissan is among a growing list of top-name Japanese companies whose corporate governance has been found lacking in recent years.

Wait a minute. Who wrote the financial statements? The accountants. Who audited them? The auditors, Christopher Richter, auto analyst for CLSA Securities Japan Co., said of the case. How do you do this without other people being complicit?

Japanese prosecutors say Ghosn and another Nissan executive, Greg Kelly, an American suspected of collaborating with him, were arrested because they are considered flight risks. But the timing of the scandal, given the length and scale of the alleged wrongdoing, is raising questions.

Why did Nissan choose to come forward now, asks Eric Schiffer, chief executive of Reputation Management Consultants in the Los Angeles, California, area.

If Nissan knew about this all along and decided to pull the trigger, such Machiavellian tactics will significantly backfire on the brand, Schiffer said.

Japanese media have reported that two other company employees contacted authorities as whistleblowers and sought plea deals. Ghosn has not made any public statements about the case.

Kellys American lawyer Aubrey Harwell said his client, who was dismissed as a Nissan executive director after his arrest, did nothing wrong.

Kelly acted according to the law and according to company policy, Hartwell said. He had talked to people in the company and to outsiders, and he believed everything he did was done totally legally, he said in a telephone interview from his office in Nashville, Tennessee.

Only Ghosns attorneys and embassy officials from Lebanon, France and Brazil, where he has citizenship, are allowed to visit him. Yesterday, Imad Ajami, a Lebanese consultant in Tokyo who has spoken with people allowed to visit Ghosn, said he also was asserting his innocence.

Ajami said Ghosns visitors have bought him a mattress, clothing, cheese and other foods to make his stay under the frugal conditions in the detention center more comfortable. Detainees usually sleep on straw tatami mats and are fed mostly rice, soup and vegetables.

Prosecutors have released very little information about the case and neither man has been officially charged. In Japan suspects can be held for weeks for questioning without any charges.

A source familiar with an internal investigation by Nissan said the hidden salary was categorized as deferred income, meaning it was promised for later on, such as after Ghosns retirement, and the documents promising the money were kept secret from auditors and others. He spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to discuss such details.

One possible motive is that Ghosn was seeking to avoid public criticism over his multi-million dollar paychecks, which are a rarity in Japan even for top executives. Even the underreported amounts, about 1 billion yen ($9 million) each year, drew unwelcome scrutiny and commentary.

Ghosn was forced to defend his salary at shareholders meetings beginning in 2010, when Japan started requiring the disclosure of individual executive pay.

Pay packages in the west tend to be higher  Toyota Motor Corp.s Chief Executive Akio Toyoda earns less than 400 million yen ($3.5 million) a year. But many Japanese companies lack the sorts of systematic checks required for publicly listed U.S. companies. That includes periodically changing who checks financial statements instead of having the same people do it for many years.

Japan needs independent oversight for executive pay, said corporate governance expert Takuji Saito, who teaches at Keio Business School.

The problem here was that the pay was significant, in line with global standards, but the way it was decided was still so Japanese, he said of Nissans lack of transparency. Nissan deserves criticism for having allowed this to continue unchecked for so long.

Saito believes that failing to report deferred income is still a gray area in criminality in Japan, but a clear problem in corporate governance.

Its certainly turned out to be a big problem for Ghosn, 64. Hes being held at a Tokyo detention center pending his indictment or release and has hired Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP to represent him.

Japanese media say, without citing sources, that Ghosn is asserting his innocence, insisting he always wanted his income reports to be legal and denying he signed secret documents. Prosecutors have refused to comment.

Whether a suspect intended to commit a crime or did it unknowingly is important in determining criminality under Japanese law.

Nissan veteran Hiroto Saikawa, who took over from Ghosn as the automakers chief executive last year, has harshly criticized his former boss and vowed to instill greater transparency and accountability at Nissan. The company is setting up a panel of outsiders to come up with recommendations, including reviewing the companys executive compensation system.

The raft of scandals at many blue chip Japanese companies suggests managers are struggling to meet sometimes overly ambitious profit targets amid slowing demand, labor shortages, rising costs and intensifying competition. But they also highlight a rift between old-guard practices and an increasingly global business world in Japan.

 Major steelmaker Kobe Steel was charged with violating competition laws after massive faking over many years of quality data for products sent to hundreds of companies, including aluminum castings and copper tubes for autos, aircraft, nuclear power plants, appliances and trains. Kobe Steel said a zealous pursuit of profit, unrealistic targets and an insular corporate culture caused the wrongdoing.

 In 2016, Mitsubishi Motors Corp. disclosed it falsified mileage data. That followed a massive cover-up over decades of auto defects thought to have helped cause a fatal accident. In 2004 its president, Katsuhiko Kawasoe, was arrested. He was sentenced to three years in prison, suspended for five years, and did not serve time in jail.

 In 2015, electronics maker Toshiba Corp. said it had doctored its books in a systematic accounting cover-up that began in 2008 or earlier. The company declared bankruptcy, stricken by troubles in its nuclear business after multiple meltdowns in March 2011 at a power plant in Fukushima, northeastern Japan.

 Beginning in 2014, auto parts supplier Takata Corp. recalled more than 100 million defective air-bag inflators linked to 25 deaths and more than 180 injuries worldwide. Last year, Takata pleaded guilty to fraud in a U.S. court and agreed to pay more than $1 billion (109 billion yen) in penalties.

These scandals and more, from faked data to cutting corners, have driven calls for stricter corporate oversight. Reflecting widespread sentiments, Schiffer, the brand management expert, says he finds it hard to believe Nissan insiders werent aware of what was going on earlier.

Otherwise, they were incompetent, he said. Yuri Kageyama, Tokyo, APFormer U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged North Korean leader Kim Jong Un yesterday to take concrete steps toward complete denuclearization and gain the trust of the international community if he wants sanctions lifted.

Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister, said this is the time to achieve North Koreas denuclearization after nearly a quarter century of unsuccessful efforts, and that the North and the world should not lose this opportunity.

Id like to really advise the North Korean leader that the world is ready to help his country, Ban told The Associated Press, specifically citing South Korea, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia. He said denuclearization is important for a better future for the two Koreas, including reconciliation and reunification.

I hope this is the time  please do not lose this opportunity, he said.

Kim sharply raised tensions with nuclear and missile tests last year, but suddenly reached out to South Korea and the United States this year with a vague nuclear disarmament pledge.

North Korea is seeking security guarantees from the U.S. and relief from international sanctions.

U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in say tensions have eased significantly since then, but Ban, who is in Tokyo for an event organized by a business group, said the crisis is not over and that North Korea should fully disclose its nuclear weapons inventory to a trusted international organization such as the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The crisis is still continuing because of North Koreas development of nuclear, missile and weapons program and materials, Ban said. It is North Korea which should clearly state and show by taking actions, then I am sure that there will be no reason why the Security Council of the United Nations will continue to impose the sanction on North Korea.

Moon has facilitated a series of high-level talks between the U.S. and North Korea, including a summit between Trump and Kim in June, and has met Kim three times this year. After their third meeting in North Koreas capital of Pyongyang in September, Moon said Kim agreed to make a reciprocal visit to Seoul this year. If that happens, he would be the first North Korean leader to do so since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, though the plan is still unclear.

Trump recently said he is likely to hold a second summit with Kim in January or February. Ban said he hopes the summit will occur at a time when the international community feels confident about North Koreas commitment to denuclearization. Kaori Hitomi Mari Yamaguchi, Tokyo, APMacquarie Group Ltd. is in advanced talks to create a majority-owned securities joint- venture firm in China, according to people familiar with the matter, the latest international bank seeking to establish itself in one of the worlds biggest markets.

Sydney-based Macquarie is drafting a final agreement with two Chinese conglomerates, said the people, declining to name the companies. It plans to form a three-way venture in Shanghai, and will submit its application in the next couple of months, the people said, asking not to be identified because the plans arent public. Macquarie would take a 51 percent stake in the JV, the people said.

Allowing majority foreign ownership of securities joint ventures is a key part of Chinas financial opening. The closed nature of the countrys USD40 trillion financial sector has been a sore point for international firms and politicians, and one that policy makers in Beijing have been slowly working to address. On Friday, they granted UBS Group AG the first approval for overseas majority control of a securities JV. Nomura Holdings Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have also applied. A Macquarie spokeswoman declined to comment.

Macquarie officials decided to move ahead with the JV after rule changes earlier this year allowed foreign firms to partner with companies outside the brokerage industry, said the people. The new regulations removed concerns that overseas companies looking for JV partners might be forced to buy stakes from existing brokerages at high prices, one of the people said.

Foreign companies that team up with non-securities firms to start a joint venture need at least two local partners, according to the rules. Such a setup can make it easier for the foreign entity to exert greater control.

Macquarie operates an asset management business in China, working with local insurance companies and sovereign funds to help them invest offshore. It also works in the infrastructure and real estate sectors and advises on cross-border deals.

If the Australian firm finalizes its plans, it would be the second time its tried to enter Chinas securities industry. In 2008, it signed a pact with Hengtai Securities Co. only to cancel the agreement because of concerns over management control and prices, said one of the people familiar with the matter.

Macquarie also created a trust company in 2009, selling its entire 19.9 percent stake six years later. The venture, which had initial capital of 300 million yuan ($43.5 million), aimed to offer yuan-based products and arrange domestic debt and equity financing. Cathy Chan, BloombergScreen International is partnering with IFFAM to showcase the uniqueness that is Chinese cinema and introduce to the world the best contemporary Chinese-speaking directors. There is a total of six movies being screened in this segment.

Maren Hwans Xiao Mei tells the story of the disappearance of the protagonist while nine people, who are somehow connected to her, are interviewed for clues of her possible whereabouts.

Up the Mountain, directed by Zhang Yang, is a touching film about how an art teacher, Shen Jianhua, touched the lives of his pupils in a picturesque town in Yunnan Province.

The Pluto Moment by Zhang Ming, is a drama that was chosen to be screened at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival in the Directors Fortnight section. The film revolves around Wang Zhun, a film director who lived in Shanghai, and his travels to the mountains of China as he seeks inspiration for his next films.

Malaysian director Zahir Omars Fly by Night is a crime thriller about a gang of taxi drivers that rob their richest passengers as the police start to get suspicious of their illegal activities.

Dear Ex by directors Chih-Yen and Mag Hsu is a drama about Liu Sanlian, a woman whose husband dies unexpectedly but not before having changed his insurance beneficiary to an unknown man named Jay.

Liu Jies drama Baby tells of Jiang Meng, a cleaner in a childrens hospital, who tries to save a babys life from certain death.

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THIS SUPPLEMENT IS SPONSORED BY MGTOThe Macao Orchestra (OM) will present the concert New World Symphony, on Friday at St. Dominics Church. In this concert, under the baton of Italian conductor Julian Kovatchev, the works Overture to Nabucco by Verdi and Symphony No. 9 From the New World by Dvorak will be performed. Admission to the concert New World Symphony is free. Tickets will be distributed at St. Dominics Church one hour prior to the performance. Distribution is on a first-come, first-served basis and is limited to a maximum of two tickets per person. The concert will also be broadcast live on a screen installed outside St. Dominics Church.

UM, HKBU co-organize World Business Ethics Forum

The Seventh World Business Ethics Forum, co-organised by the University of Macaus (UM) Faculty of Business Administration and Hong Kong Baptist Universitys (HKBU) School of Business, with assistance from the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong (HSUHK), was recently held across Hong Kong and Macau. Titled Business Ethics, Leadership and New Economy, the event attracted nearly 100 experts, scholars, and postgraduate students from around the world. In his speech, UM Vice Rector (Global Affairs) Rui Martins said that the event aimed to promote innovative thinking and research in the field of business ethics. He encouraged postgraduates to participate in the forum in order to discuss topics related to business in a new economic era. A total of 21 presentation and discussion sessions were held in Hong Kong and Macau. Participants came from Japan, the United States, Canada, mainland China, the Philippines, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. Launched in 2006 by UM and HKBU, the World Business Ethics Forum is a biennial event that aims to provide an open platform for experts and scholars from around the world to share their views and latest research findings in the field of business ethics.An award-winning Philippine journalist who along with the online news service she heads has been sued for tax evasion has declared her innocence and was freed on bail Monday after turning herself in for arrest.

Maria Ressa, CEO of the Rappler website, said that taxes had been paid properly by her news service and the five tax charges were politically motivated. She was freed on 60,000 pesos (USD1,150) bail on the one charge for which an arrest warrant has so far been issued.

Rappler has been critical of the government of President Rodrigo Duterte, who in turn has accused several independent media groups in the Philippines of biased reporting, including on his crackdown on illegal drugs that has left thousands of mostly urban poor dwellers dead and drawn condemnation by Western governments and U.N. bodies.

We need to hold government to account, and part of the reason Im here is precisely that, Ressa said outside a Manila court. Im not a criminal, but Ive been fingerprinted like a criminal. We feel that we did not get due process.

Ressa, who has worked with CNN, was the winner of two prestigious journalism awards this year, a Press Freedom award from the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, and the International Center for Journalists Knight International Journalism Award.

I think the end goal of government is to try to make our team lose focus, affect morale, but in the end the mission of journalism, especially Rappler, has never been stronger, she said. We know we are doing something right, we know that what we are doing is critically important right now.

Duterte had already banned a Rappler reporter from his news briefings after the governments corporate watchdog found that the organization violated a constitutional prohibition on foreign ownership when it received money from an international investment firm. Rappler, founded in 2012, rejected the ruling.

The brash-talking Duterte accused Rappler last year of being owned by Americans in violation of the Philippine constitution and said the news outfit was funded by the Central Intelligence Agency. Rappler denied the allegations.

Arresting Maria will send a clear signal that the countrys democracy is fast receding under a feckless administration that cannot abide criticism and free expression and will go to ridiculous lengths to muzzle all those is does not agree with, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines said when news of the arrest warrant for Ressa was announced last week.The Canidrome land plot will be used for building new campuses for the Concordia School for Special Education, the Workers Children High School, the Escola Xin Hua, and the Escola de Santa Madalena, Secretary Alexis Tam announced yesterday at the Legislative Assembly, during the policy address presentation for the areas he supervises.

The SAR government, through a discussion and analysis between the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau [DSEJ] and other entities, has decided that these four schools are more suitable for using the land, said Alexis Tam.

The Secretary explained that the Escola de Santa Madalena must be moved from its current site, as both the Land, Transport and Public Works Bureau (DSSOPT) and the Transport Bureau (DSAT) are conducting road engineering works at said site.

Since there are road works being carried out over there, this school has to be moved to allow DSSOPT and DSAT to flatten the road and open a new one to the public, Tam explained.

The Workers Children High School has also been closed due to the aforementioned road project, which gives the government reason to move this school to the Canidrome land as well.

I [have] visited these three schools before. Their conditions were rather bad, said Tam, adding that we should build campuses [for the three schools] which have blue sky.

According to Tam, three of the four schools are within 250 meters of the Canidrome land. The Concordia special school is comparatively far from the Canidrome land compared to the other three.

We have already discussed. We all very much agree on the selection. The entities are also basically agreeing with the SAR government and DSEJ, said Tam. According to him, other local schools, which are in need of better campuses, are more interested in moving their premises to the New Urban Zone A than the Canindrome land.

Within this year, we will announce campus sites for these schools [in need of land], such as the New Urban Zone A. There are also a few [plots of] land saved for the education sector that will be given to schools [in need], said Tam.

We have had discussions with the Escola Dos Moradores de Macau [and others schools], but they [the schools] believe that moving the campuses to the New Urban Zone A is also a good choice, Tam added.

Moreover, Tam said that, within one year, plans for all these schools in urgent need of new campuses will become available.

In addition to new campuses, the Secretary was also asked by Chief Executive (CE) appointed lawmaker Pang Chuan about the enhancement of civil education.

The lawmaker enquired what the Macau SAR governments plan is in terms of ensuring that local students and youth will not be affected by Macaus neighboring region, which shows little national identity.

The lawmaker, citing survey results, highlighted that more than 80 percent of Macaus youth sense a strong national identity. However, he still argued that the sense of national identity among young people needs to be enhanced.

Responding to Pang, Tam noted that the local government will continue the national flag raising ceremony in local schools.

Besides this traditional patriotic education, which is fully adopted in all schools across mainland China and in many schools in Macau, Tam noted that the local government will organize more students to participate in camping activities on the mainland, among others, including military-style student training activities, in order to enhance young peoples national identity.

In the future, we will promote diversified patriotism education, said Tam.

Festivals blamed for leading youth into misbehavior

Lawmaker Fong Ka Chio has blamed festivals for creating greater opportunities for young people to behave improperly, for instance consuming drugs, having sex, or participating in online gambling.

Christmas is coming. Festival atmosphere easily leads to sexual behavior, drug consuming, said Fong, further clarifying that Im not discriminating [against] young people, but can the SAR government do more things [to prevent youth misbehavior]?

Does the government have specific measures to prevent youth from falling into these temptations? Fong asked.

Christmas is almost here. Underage misbehaviors might result in consequences that cannot be ignored. he added.

In addition to blaming festivals, Fong also suggested that Macau should have corridors to connect all casinos in Cotai.

The corridor, which is under a 24-hour supervision by the Macau government, can be used for local recreational products, local arts, and M-Pop, said Fong, adding I hope that the corridor can bring local recreational products to the 30 million tourists who come from different countries, and therefore create a development [opportunity] for these local recreational products.

In response to Fong, Alexis Tam said that the local government places specific focus on children.

We have also noticed deviations in behaviors. We pay special importance to education on drug consumption, sex and gambling, said Alexis Tam.

We hope that through the cooperation between the government, the schools, the families, and the community, we can teach the youth to know what is right. We provide preventive education, such as sex education, said Tam.

We also send SMSs, [] especially on holidays, and particularly during Christmas. We send messages to the schools in order to remind them [to educate children on misbehavior], said Tam.

On the SecretarysAgenda

EARLY CHILDHOOD INTERVENTION The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Alexis Tam has claimed that no place in the world has better early childhood intervention than Macau because they [other countries] ask for payment. The Secretary declared that Macau has the worlds number one early childhood intervention services because patients do not need to pay for services and because patients do not need to wait long before receiving the services. Our medical service takes its place in the front worldwide ranks [regarding vaccines]. Macau has the highest vaccination rates in Asia, said Tam. Our public hospitals services are not bad at all; not as bad as what is being said outside, he noted.

ILLEGAL TOUR

GUIDES The local government and the Guangdong provincial tourism department, as well as the Zhuhai cultural and tourism department, are discussing a solution for illegal mainland tour guides working in Macau. Lawmakers Si Ka Lon and Sulu Sou drew attention to the recent situation in which mainland tour guides conduct mainland package tours to Macau. The Secretary said that the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) has been following up on the issue. Tam also said that he pays a lot of attention to the illegal tour guide situation, and that he has ordered MGTO to follow the case and to protect the interests of the Macau tour guide industry.

EDUCATION SYSTEM Sulu Sou wants Macau to reform its education system, in particular the method of teaching to the test and the mechanical training students receive whereby they recite in order to memorize knowledge. The youngest students in tutoring centers are K2 students. [Some] pupils only leave the tutoring center after 10 p.m. or 11 p.m.. Some kindergartens force students to practice handwriting. More and more parents are criticizing recitation, said Sou. Secretary Alexis Tam did not reply to Sou, nor to many other questions posed by lawmakers, due to the shortage of time.A Saudi dissident has filed a lawsuit against an Israeli surveillance company, claiming its sophisticated spyware targeted him and helped lead to the killing of his friend, Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The suit, filed in a Tel Aviv court, follows others previously filed against the company. But because of the dissidents ties to Khashoggi and his high-profile killing Oct. 2 at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, it is likely to shine a greater spotlight on the Israeli company and the Israeli government, which licenses the export of the surveillance technology.

According to the lawsuit, Omar Abdulaziz, a sharp critic on social media of the Saudi royals and a resident of Canada where he has received asylum, said he was friends with Khashoggi and worked with him on a project meant to rein in pro-monarchy Saudi trolls.

The lawsuit says Abdulaziz received and clicked on a link sent to his phone in June 2018 that he argues exposed his mobile communications to Saudi authorities. It says Abdulaziz faced increased harassment by Saudi authorities after he clicked on the link, including against his family members in Saudi Arabia.

The spying that was directed against [Abdulaziz] and the disclosure of the content of the conversations and messages between him and Khashoggi through the system contributed significantly to the decision to assassinate Mr. Khashoggi by the assassins at the consulate, the lawsuit states, citing news reports and other sources claiming that NSO Group sold Saudi Arabia the technology in 2017 for USD55 million.

Abdulaziz is demanding 600,000 shekels  about $160,000  in damages from the company, as well as an order preventing it from selling its technology, known as Pegasus, to Saudi Arabia.

The NSO Groups smartphone-hacking technology has emerged as a favorite for authorities seeking to crush dissent across the Middle East and Latin America. The Israeli firms software is part of a larger family of malware that allows spies to take remote control of phones from anywhere in the world  turning the devices in targets pockets into powerful surveillance tools.

In a written statement, NSO Group said the companys technology enables governments and law enforcement agencies to fight terrorism and crime. It said it takes an extremely scrupulous approach to the sale of its products, which also undergo vetting and licensing by Israels defense ministry.

We do not tolerate misuse of our products. If there is suspicion of misuse, we investigate it and take the appropriate actions, including suspending or terminating a contract, it said.

There was no immediate comment from Israels defense ministry.

NSO has been under the spotlight for months after dissidents, journalists and other opposition figures have come forward to claim the companys technology has been used by repressive governments to spy on them. These include Mexican and Qatari journalists who have already filed lawsuits against the company and an Amnesty International employee who was allegedly targeted by the software. APChinese state media yesterday praised George H.W. Bush as a statesman of vision, recalling the late presidents role in helping end the Cold War and establishing the foundations of U.S.-China relations.

The China Daily newspaper said Bush, who died over the weekend in Houston at age 94, realized in the 1980s that China was different from the Soviet Union and recognized the potential for cooperation.

It is fair to say, Bush was a statement of vision, not only for being a co-founder of the U.S. dominancy in the post-Cold War era, but also his insightful observations on China, which were the key for the forming of the U.S.s China policies in the 1980s and beyond, the paper said in an editorial headlined, Old friend who helped set the course for ties.

Bush was Americas unofficial ambassador to China in 1974-75 as the two countries were moving toward establishing diplomatic relations amid tensions between Moscow and Beijing. Arriving just two years after President Richard Nixon opened direct contacts with China, Bush was a pivotal figure in building contacts prior to the establishment of full diplomatic relations in 1979. Over his 14 months in Beijing, he and his wife, Barbara Bush, became known for riding their bikes through the citys winding lanes and socializing with other members of the Western diplomatic community.

Bush is also remembered for smoothing over a rough patch in relations while president following the bloody 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protests centered on Beijings Tiananmen Square. Despite widespread condemnation and moves to isolate China in the West, Bush sent his national security adviser, Brent Scowcroft, on a secret mission to reassure the government of former paramount leader Deng Xiaoping that there would be no major rupture in ties.

Chinese President Xi Jinping offered his condolences at a meeting with President Donald Trump, saying Bushs passing left him greatly saddened and calling him someone who had made an important contribution to China-U.S. friendship and relations during his lifetime. AP* Xi starts visit to Portugal | Sino-Luso relations stronger than ever

* Alexis Tam announces schools selected for Canidrome land

* Need for quality over quantity

* Hainan wants to attract skilled workers from SARS

* Low drama on trip, signs of acceptance

DOWNLOAD PDF

Tuesday, December 4, 2018  edition no. 3184

III Intl Film Festival

* New Chinese cinema | The Seventh Generation

 Showing their commitment to highlighting the East-meets-West culture of Macau, IFFAM has inaugurated a new festival program: New Chinese Cinema.

 Putting the focus on China and the number of highly acclaimed films produced there, Mike Goodridge, the festivals artistic director hopes foreign guests will be able to see those films and understand more about the talent in China.

DOWNLOAD PDF

IFFAM 3184  New Chinese cinema | The Seventh GenerationUrban planning needs to focus less on quantity and more on quality, a United Nations-supported conference in Macau has found.

Architect Nuno Soares, organizer of the Macau Urban Thinkers Campus (UTC) conference, which took place last weekend, told the Times yesterday that event participants had reached a consensus regarding the need in Macau for a shift from quantitative views of urban development to those based on quality.

I was happily surprised with the consensus that emerged, [which was] that we need to move from a focus on quantity to quality, he said.

Too much focus in Macau has been put on quantitative analysis  how much the economy grew, how fast the population is growing  but what about the quality of life? We are not doing so well in terms of cultural facilities, healthcare and education, added Soares.

The UTC is an initiative of the UN-Habitats World Urban Campaign, conceived as an open platform for critical debate on how to tackle urbanization challenges and achieve more sustainable urban development. The conference was one of 27 such events held around the world this year, with the MSAR specifically selected by the United Nations as a participant- host.

Stakeholders, including those from academia and the government, gathered for the one-day event to discuss four principal topics under the overarching theme of density for the common good  namely, urban prosperity, innovation and sustainability; climate change and resilience; public spaces; and housing.

Macau is already the most densely populated jurisdiction in the world at almost 21,400 people per square kilometer (sqkm). According to government forecasts, population density will rise to 24,150 per sqkm by 2030, even after the inclusion of the reclaimed urban land projects.

High urban density is often considered an impediment to a high quality of life, as it usually entails a scarcity of supply. However, Soares says that Macau has a lot to teach the world about the benefits that a high population density city can deliver.

We want to share the positive side of our urban density with the United Nations campaign, he told the Times. For example, he said, we spend less energy in Macau in terms of transport, because we live in close proximity. We also all live close to a hospital and have many universities.

Moreover, Macau is largely without spatial segregation in that most districts of the city (with the possible exception of Cotai) are used for both commercial and residential purposes and house residents of different economic status.

The ideas that came from the one-day conference are currently being compiled in a document that will be delivered to the United Nations as well as the Macau SAR government. Soares expects the document to be ready for circulation in early January. DBXi Jinping commences a two-day visit to Lisbon today. Ahead of his visit, a signed article by the Chinese President, titled A Friendship across Time and Space, A Partnership for the Future was published yesterday on Portuguese newspaper Diario de Noticias.

The article begins with a quote by poet Luis de Camoes (Here, where the land ends and the sea begins), which, according to Xi, vividly depicts the superb location of his motherland.

Twenty years ago, I made my first visit to Portugal, and in 2014 I had a stopover in the Terceira Island. I am delighted to be coming back to your country for a state visit at the invitation of President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Xi wrote.

The Chinese president mentions in the article that there is an enduring friendship between the two countries and recalls the Handover of Macau to China: In 1999, through peaceful consultations, we properly resolved the question of Macau, an issue left over from the past, and ushered in a new era in the development of Macau, and in China-Portugal relations. In 2005, a comprehensive strategic partnership was established between our two countries. With frequent high-level exchanges, deepening political mutual trust, and fruitful outcomes in all areas, China-Portugal friendship and cooperation have embarked on a fast lane of development, he wrote.

In the article, Xi lists some points of bilateral cooperation, expressing his wish that Portugal will continue to play a positive role in the EU and contribute to the building of China-EU partnerships for peace, growth, reform and civilization. One of those points is the role of Lisbon in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI): As Portugal lies at an important intersection of the land and maritime silk roads, our two countries are naturally positioned to cooperate under the BRI. We should seize the opportunities provided by the BRI to expand and strengthen cooperation on existing projects, make good use of the China International Import Expo and other platforms, he wrote.

China-Portugal relations are now stronger than ever before, and China-Portugal cooperation promises broad prospects, the president concludes.Credit: University of Manchester

Antarctic researchers enter a state of 'psychological hibernation' to cope with the stresses of constant darkness, isolation and confinement, according to a new study.

Spending long periods of time in isolation and confinement in any environment has been shown to cause negative psychological reactions and changes in health. Station personnel in Antarctica have reported a variety of issues, ranging from disrupted mood and anxiety to more severe psychiatric reactions. These changes are particularly pronounced during the midwinter period, and have come to reflect symptoms known as the 'winter-over syndrome'.

With the support of the European Space Agency, researchers from The University of Manchester, University of Bergen in Norway and Tilburg University in The Netherlands examined the change in sleep quality, emotions and coping strategies during two winters in the harsh atmosphere of Concordia Station. The area has the driest desert climate on Earth, and a low air pressure and oxygen-poor atmosphere. It is completely cut off during winter, the mean temperature is -51C, and the lowest recorded temperature is -85C.

Using psychometric questionnaires, the researchers asked personnel to report on their sleep, emotional states and coping strategies across the winter. They found a pattern of deteriorating sleep quality and declining positive emotions as the winter progressed, which then recovered as the sun returned.

However, they also found that all of the coping strategies assessed declined during the winter period, and then returned after the dark winter phase had passed. This surprised the researchers, who had thought that active coping efforts  such as problem-solving and comforting self talkwould decrease, and more passive coping effortssuch as denial and depressive reactionswould increase in midwinter when personnel were truly cut off.

It is also important to note that Antarctic station infrastructure has developed, and personnel now live in relative comfort during their staythis is very different to earlier studies, where the risk of exposure was higher and the resources available to mitigate stress were more limited. As a result, the mechanisms that individuals use to deal with stress during long duration confinement in these isolated but more comfortable habitats is likely to reflect the conditions people find themselves in.

Overall, the research raises many questions as to how people maintain their health and cope with the environmental demands whilst living in these types of isolated and confined conditions.

The findings have implications for people spending long amounts of time in isolated and confined conditions, particularly at higher latitudes. Antarctic studies have been viewed as comparable to spaceflightso this research could also contribute to understanding how to keep astronauts well during long space missions.

"Our findings could reflect a form of psychological hibernation. Previous research has suggested that this is a protective mechanism against chronic stress, which makes senseif conditions are uncontrollable, but you know that at some point in the future things will get better, you may choose to reduce coping efforts in order to preserve energy." says Dr. Nathan Smith of the University of Manchester.

"Historically, this will have been dangerouswhile in this state you may be slow to react to changing conditions, which in extreme cold weather environments could result in serious injury or death. However, Antarctic stations are much more habitable nowadays, and provide high levels of protection against the elementsso detaching from chronic stress as a coping mechanism could be effective."

Explore further Eyes on ice  medical research from Antarctica

More information: Gro Mjeldheim Sandal et al. Psychological Hibernation in Antarctica, Frontiers in Psychology (2018). Journal information: Frontiers in Psychology Gro Mjeldheim Sandal et al. Psychological Hibernation in Antarctica,(2018). DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02235Adult-born granule cell (abGC) heterogeneity is depicted by cells in different colors with different dendritic arborization patterns. The colors and pointillist style represent single-cell sequencing data. The analysis delineates abGC heterogeneity, reflected by the organization of each abGC type into a colored line. Credit: Cover art provided by Patrick Hunt/ Tepe et al/ Cell Reports, Dec. 2018.

A team of researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, the Texas Heart Institute and Texas Children's Hospital has developed a powerful new approach to understand the formation of new neurons in the mammalian adult brain. Published in the journal Cell Reports, this work opens exciting new pathways that can be further developed to repair malfunctioning brain circuits.

"The mammalian brain is a complex tissue composed of diverse cell types. However, despite rapid advances in the field of neuroscience, only a limited number of cell types in the brain are known and well-characterized," said lead author Dr. Benjamin Arenkiel, associate professor of molecular and human genetics and neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine and investigator at the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital. "Identifying all cellular subtypes is crucial to unravelling how brain circuits function and will yield insights into brain activity under diseased and injured conditions."

In this study, Arenkiel and his colleagues described an innovative approach that identified novel cellular targets and genetic pathways involved in the wiring of adult-born neurons into existing brain circuits.

Researchers now know that the brain is not just composed of four or five cell types performing generic roles. Most circuits consist of unique subtypes of cells, many of which currently are uncharacterized, explained Arenkiel. For instance there are possibly thousands of functional subtypes within a particular class of neurons.

"Therefore, the first task to begin understanding brain circuits is to identify all the cellular players," said Arenkiel, who also is a McNair scholar at Baylor College of Medicine. "This would allow us to genetically probe them to reveal their biological functions, a necessary knowledge to fix these circuits when something goes wrong."

In most adult mammals, only two regions of the brain, the hippocampus and the olfactory bulb (OB), have been shown to integrate new neurons into existing brain circuits. Arenkiel joined forces with co-corresponding author Dr. James Martin, professor and Vivian L. Smith Chair in Regenerative Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and director of the Cardiomyocyte Renewal Laboratory at Texas Heart Institute. The team applied a relatively new technology, single cell RNA sequencing, to identify novel cellular subtypes in the OB.

To perform single cell RNA sequencing, Burak Tepe, a graduate student in the Arenkiel lab and one of the primary authors of this paper, and colleagues prepared a single-cell suspension by disassociating brain tissue using enzymes. This mixture was sorted in a microfluidic chamber in which every cell was co-encapsulated in microparticles (beads) with unique barcodes that kept track of the cellular origin of each mRNA transcript.

Using this profiling strategy, they painstakingly generated a library of mRNA transcripts for 50,000 cells in the OB. This information revealed that the OB comprises approximately 30 different cell types that included 18 different types of neurons, as well as many other non-neuronal cells such as astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, vascular and immune cells.

Additionally, the team uncovered genes and/or pathways that are chronologically turned "on" or "off" in these lineages during brain development. This study leverages the combined power of single-cell RNA sequencing analysis of adult-born neurons with bioinformatics to compare how gene expression profiles from different neuronal lineages progress over time.

This powerful method has allowed the researchers to recreate a putative developmental trajectory ("pseudo-timeline") of all the neuronal lineages in the OBfrom migrating neural progenitors to fully functioning mature neuronsalong with detailed information of when and where specific genes or genetic networks are turned 'on' or 'off.' Consistent with this, the researchers found specific subtypes of neurons were differentially enriched or depleted in response to distinct sensory cues.

"In addition to identifying key players and providing crucial mechanistic insights into adult neurogenesis in OB, we think this study has a broader impact because other researchers can now use this approach to identify and tease out the function of new neuronal circuits in other parts of the adult mammalian brain," Arenkiel said.

Explore further Scientists discover new mechanism of how brain networks form

More information: Burak Tepe et al, Single-Cell RNA-Seq of Mouse Olfactory Bulb Reveals Cellular Heterogeneity and Activity-Dependent Molecular Census of Adult-Born Neurons, Cell Reports (2018). Journal information: Cell Reports Burak Tepe et al, Single-Cell RNA-Seq of Mouse Olfactory Bulb Reveals Cellular Heterogeneity and Activity-Dependent Molecular Census of Adult-Born Neurons,(2018). DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2018.11.034Scanning electron micrograph depicting a mass of Yersinia pestis bacteria (the cause of bubonic plague) in the foregut of the flea vector. Credit: Rocky Mountain Laboratories, NIAID, NIH/Wikipedia

When many moderns think of the plague, the uproarious "Bring Out Your Dead" skit by Monty Python probably comes to mind. But in medieval Europe, the Second Plague Pandemic was no laughing matter: it was a particularly deadly series of disease outbreaks that began in the 14th century with the Black Death. The Black Death, which reached Europe in October of 1347, killed upwards of 30% of European populations and was responsible for far-reaching social, economic, and political consequences that likely changed the course of history. Now, in a truly fascinating multi-disciplinary study, a pan-European group of researchers has attempted to clarify several outstanding questions related to the spread of plague throughout Europe in the 14th century.

In their article recently published in PNAS entitled "Integrative approach using Yersinia pestis genomes to revisit the historical landscape of plague during the Medieval Period," Amine Namouchi and colleagues use ancient DNA (aDNA) evidence corroborated with historical, archaeological, and ecological data to shed light on the origins of and epidemiology surrounding the Second Plague Pandemic. Plague, while deadly to humans, is primarily a zoonotic disease, represented in this case by the bacterium Yersinia pestis (Y. pestis. As such, plague is maintained in so-called wildlife reservoirs where it is spread mainly among rodent species by fleas, and through which it is occasionally transmitted to human populations.

While plague reservoirs exist in the wild on all continents except Australia and Western Europe, it remains unclear whether or not plague reservoirs ever existed in Western Europe. If such a reservoirs did exist, their presence would support one existing hypothesis which supposes that plague, after its initial introduction at the outset of the Black Death, became endemic to the region for a time and was responsible for multiple later outbreaks in Europe, and possibly for the Third Pandemic which struck China centuries later.

A competing hypothesis holds that plague originated in wildlife reservoirs in Eastern Europe or Central Asia and was spread through human movement and trade routes by which it was repeatedly introduced to various European population centers. This second hypothesis rules out a Western European plague reservoir.

The burial excavated at the abbey of San Salvatore. Credit: Elsa Pacciani and Luisa Quaglia.

To better understand the details surrounding the timing and transmission of the Second Plague pandemic as well as the evolution of various strains of plague bacteria, the researchers collected and sequenced sections from five ancient plague genomes from four archaeological sites throughout Western Europe: The Abbadia San Salvatore in Italy; St. Laurent de la Cabrerisse in France; Bergen op Zoom in the Netherlands; and Oslo, Norway. These five genomes all date from the 14th century and constitute the focus of this study, though they have been analyzed alongside other aDNA strains from the Bronze Age, the First and Second Plague pandemics, as well data from modern plague DNA.

It is important to note that the Second Plague, in relation to the aDNA samples discussed here, is generally sub-classified into two more specific historical periods: The Black Death, which represented the initial disease outbreak in Europe and lasted from approximately 1346-1353, and the pestis secunda, which represented a second wave of outbreaks from the early 1360s.

By applying computational genomics methods and a variety of bioinformatics tools and systems to their data, the researchers were able to assemble a phylogenetic tree to provide both a graphical representation of the major evolutionary history of Y. pestis as well as a snapshot of each of the five newly analzyed aDNA strains in relation to other adjacent historical aDNA samples, for example, other samples from Second Plague sites in London, Barcelona, and Russia. While the phylogenetic tree forms the centerpiece of the study, archaeological, historical, and ecological evidence was also used to inform and corroborate genomic data. For example, historical records of death bed testaments from the Abbadia San Salvatore in Italy help to place the date of the plague outbreak there to a period spanning late June to early September of 1348.

So how does this research shed light on either of the two aforementioned hypotheses regarding plague transmission? By examining the genetic similarity of these five newly-sequenced plague samples in relation to each other and to existing aDNA samples, and with supporting archaeological and historical evidence, the study authors were able to conclude that two Y. pestis strains (St. Laurent de la Cabrerisse, France; and Oslo, Norway) were identical to two clones from London and Barcelona from the time of the Black Death. The genetic similarity here seems to indicate a common origin for all of these strains.

Introductions of plague involving different land and maritime trade routes. The two arrows starting from the region highlighted in dark color referring to the Land of Darkness, reflect the involvement of the fur trade route in the dissemination of Yersinia pestis into Europe. The blue arrow indicates the arrival of plague into Marseille in 1720 through infected ships from Sidon (Lebanon). Red circles: Black Death samples (1346-1353); Pink circles: samples from the so-called pestis secunda (1357-1366); Light Blue circle: sample from Ellwangen (1485-1627+); Blue circle: sample from Marseille (1720-1722). The black lines represent the Silk Road. Blue lines represent the maritime routes. The dashed lines represent the fur trade routes. The geographical regions highlighted in yellow correspond to natural foci of plague. Credit: Amine Namouchi.

On the other hand, the Y. pestis strain recovered from Abbadia San Salvatore in Italy, with two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in its sequence represents a more recent genetic derivate from the other Black Death samples. Historical evidence suggests this strain reached Italy via Mediterranean shipping through Pisa where it subsequently devastated the Italian countryside for a period of months before reaching the Abbadia San Salvatore in Siena. The authors suggest here that the long chain of overland transmission, possibly following a pilgrimage route, may be responsible for the additional SNPs, rather than the presence of a local reservoir or the possibility that they existed prior to arrival at Pisa.

While the researchers don't entirely rule out the possibility that a stable plague reservoir existed in Western Europeprobably in the Alpine regionthey find it more likely that the plague originated in areas around the Black Sea and further east. The final two Y. pestis strains gathered in their study from Bergen op Zoom in the Netherlands support this. These two strains show four additional SNPs compared with the Black Death strains previously discussed, however they are genetically very close to another, later strain from London of the pestis secunda period and a strain from the city of Bolgar in Russia.

The similarity between these plague samples suggests, as does historical and archaeological evidence, that plague was spread between these geographically distinct areas via a fur trading route that linked Russian cities such as Bolgar, Novgorod and others to Western Europe (via the Baltic ports of the Hanseatic League) as well as to ports on the Black Sea, with further contact with the Mediterranean.

Interestingly, this trading network was known to be sourcing fur from the "Land of Darkness," as it was then known: the West Ural region of present day Russia extending to the Caspian Sea, which is even today a known plague reservoir. The researchers go so far as to suggest that Black Death plague may have even originated with this reservoir, citing evidence from an Arab historian at Aleppo who himself died of plague in 1349. The historian noted that merchants from Crimea identified the "Land of Darkness" as the source of the original plague, which had been ongoing for 15 years there before spreading west.

Ultimately, the study authors find that the balance of evidence suggests multiple successive and repeated introductions of plague to Western Europe via trade routes rather than the existence of a Western European plague reservoir. They conclude, "All things considered, the hypothesis that Y. pestis reached Europe through multiple introductions during the Middle Ages through different routes, including the fur trade, appears very plausible, at least during the Second Plague Pandemic"

More information: Amine Namouchi et al. Integrative approach using Yersinia pestis genomes to revisit the historical landscape of plague during the Medieval Period. PNAS. PNAS published ahead of print November 26, 2018. Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Amine Namouchi et al. Integrative approach using Yersinia pestis genomes to revisit the historical landscape of plague during the Medieval Period. PNAS. PNAS published ahead of print November 26, 2018. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1812865115

 2018 Science X NetworkDana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists will present research marking significant advances against the hematologic cancer multiple myeloma at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting Dec. 1-4. Their findings provide new insights into the progression of the disease from precursor conditions and suggest approaches for novel treatments.

In related work, Dana-Farber investigators will also present a novel system for classifying patients with smoldering Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia by their likelihood of developing Waldenstrom's itself.

Here are some examples of this research:

Immune response may predict risk of progression to myeloma in patients with precursor conditions, study finds

Even before people with premalignant stages of multiple myeloma develop symptoms, immune system cells in their bone marrow undergo a variety of changes that affect the progression to myeloma, Dana-Farber scientists report in a new study. The findings, which offer the first detailed look at the interplay between malignant and immune cells in patients with myeloma precursor conditions, may lead to tests for predicting the advance of the disease and, potentially, to new strategies for treating it.

The study involved analyzing gene activity in individual plasma cells and immune system cells from the bone marrow of healthy people and patients with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) and smoldering multiple myeloma, which are precursor conditions of myeloma. The analysis was performed by sequencing the RNA in each cell, providing an indication of which genes are active.

Researchers found that even at the earliest, premalignant stages of the disease, the immune microenvironmentthe collection of immune cells in the bone marrowundergoes a dramatic shift from that of healthy people. They found, for example, an influx of immune system cells called natural killer cells, macrophages, and T cells in patients with precursor conditions, as well as changes in surface molecules on plasma cells that made the cells harder for the immune system to detect.

"For the first time, we identify changes in immune cells that are present in the bone marrow microenvironment of patients at early stages of the disease, even at the MGUS stage," said Irene Ghobrial, MD, the principal investigator of the trial and co-director of the Center for Prevention of Progression of Blood Cancers at Dana-Farber. "We also define specific changes in these immune cells that can be targeted in the future with immunotherapy to prevent or intercept disease progression, making myeloma potentially a preventable disease."

Researchers will present their findings at Session 602, on Sunday, Dec. 2 at 6:00 p.m. PST in Hall GH of the San Diego Convention Center.

Three-drug combination produces broad response in patients with high-risk smoldering multiple myeloma

In the vast majority of patients with high-risk smoldering multiple myeloma (SMM), a combination of the drugs ixazomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone can substantially reduce the extent of their cancer with minimal side effects, initial results from a phase 2 clinical trial led by Dana-Farber researchers suggest.

The interim findings of the trial, which involved 29 patients with high-risk SMM, will be presented at Session 653, on Monday, Dec. 3, at 4:00 p.m. in Room 6F of the San Diego Convention Center. Among the participants who received at least three cycles of the three-drug regimen, 89 percent responded to the treatment, meaning they had at least a 30 percent reduction of their disease. Five of those patients had a complete responsea disappearance of all signs of cancerand nine had a response characterized as very good. None of the participants, who began therapy between February 2017 and April 2018, have developed symptoms of myeloma.

The combination had minimal toxicities. The common side effects of the therapy were mild to moderate fatigue and rash. Severe (grade 3) hypophosphatemia (low phosphate levels in the blood) occurred in two patients, while grade 3 neutropenia (a reduction in the number of white blood cells) was found in only one patient.

Ixazomib is a proteasome inhibitor, which interferes with a structure in cells that breaks down unneeded proteins; lenalidomide kills cancer cells by a variety of mechanisms; and dexamethasone is a corticosteroid.

"Early intervention in patients with high-risk SMM has been shown to be a better approach to delaying or preventing progression of this cancer," said Dana-Farber's Mark Bustoros, MD, who is presenting the results of the trial at the ASH annual meeting. "We are expanding on that approach with this convenient drug combination. Patients with high-risk SMM have a higher chance of progression within a short period of time, yet they are asymptomatic and have their regular personal and professional lives. Providing this oral combination brings advantages of both efficacy and convenience."

"This is the first time we have seen a high response rate, including over 50 percent complete remission and very good response rates, in patients with high-risk smoldering myeloma using a well-tolerated combination of oral therapies," said Ghobrial. "We believe this could be a platform for therapy in the near future for patients with smoldering myeloma who are at high risk of disease progression and who benefit from early intervention."

Study identifies ID2-related pathways as potential drug targets in multiple myeloma

The search for potential drug targets in multiple myeloma has turned up a promising new candidate. In a study led by Dana-Farber scientists, researchers report that a protein called inhibitor of DNA binding 2 (ID2) helps suppress tumor cell growth and is significantly downregulated, or under-produced, in myeloma cells. By blocking proteins that keep ID2 production abnormally low, new targeted therapies could potentially restore the brakes on tumor cell proliferation.

By comparing the expression of ID2 (and the three other members of the ID protein family) in normal plasma cells and myeloma cells from 360 patients with the disease, researchers found that ID2 was sharply downregulated in the myeloma cells. When they overexpressed ID2 in myeloma cell lines, the cell proliferation rate dropped markedly.

Investigators next explored the mechanism that causes ID2 to be downregulated. In a series of experiments, they found that bone marrow stromal cellswhich give rise to a variety of skeletal components such as bone and cartilage, supportive tissue, and fat cellscan interact with myeloma cells to reduce ID2 production.

"This study identifies a new mechanism in which genes act as decoy to increase function of other target genes," said the study's lead author, Nikhil Munshi, MD, director of Basic and Correlative Science at the Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center at Dana-Farber. "It provides clues to some of the less understood molecular mechanisms in myeloma and may lead to new therapeutic interventions." The lead author of the study is Tommaso Perini, MD, of the LeBow Institute for Myeloma Therapeutics and Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center at Dana-Farber, and University Vita-Salute San Raffaele, in Milano, Italy.

Researchers will give an oral presentation of their findings at Session 651, on Saturday, Dec. 1, at 8:45 a.m. in Grand Ballroom 7 of the Marriott Marquis Sand Diego Marina.

Researchers launch screening study of individuals at high risk of multiple myeloma

Researchers at Dana-Farber are seeking participants in a new study, funded as part of the Stand Up To Cancer Multiple Myeloma Dream Team, to identify people with conditions that are precursors of multiple myeloma and track their health over time. The study, dubbed PROMISE, will help scientists track the molecular changes that occur as precursor conditionsmonoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) or smoldering multiple myelomaprogress to myeloma. This information will be critical in the development of drugs that prevent the disease from advancing and improve patients' survival.

The study is open to two groups of individuals between the ages of 45 and 75 who have been identified to be at high risk of multiple myeloma and its precursor conditions:

African Americans, who are three times more likely than Caucasians to develop MGUS;

People with a first-degree relative (a parent, sibling, or child) with a plasma cell disorder such as multiple myeloma.

Participants will complete an online health questionnaire, provide blood samples periodically for analysis, and submit updated health information periodically. Participants whose blood samples test positive for a myeloma precursor condition will be assisted in scheduling an appointment with a hematologist/oncologist. They will also be asked to submit health information and blood samples every 3-6 months and may be eligible for clinical trials exploring treatments to prevent progression. These samples will be analyzed for molecular signs indicating the risk of disease progression.

"Our hope is that by screening and identifying the precursor conditions early, we can understand the molecular signs of progression to myeloma, and develop therapies that will replace 'watch and wait' and make myeloma a preventable disease," said Ghobrial, the study's principal investigator.

Initial participation in the trial is online or by mail. Local travel for blood draw is required. Testing will be performed at each participant's local Quest Diagnostics laboratory. To sign up for the study, please visit http://www.promisestudy.org.

Researchers devise risk-based classification system for patients with smoldering Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia

By analyzing data from hundreds of patients with smoldering Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia (SWM), researchers at Dana-Farber have devised a risk model for determining whether patients with SWM have a low, intermediate, or high risk of developing Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia (WM).

Under this system, patients' risk is assessed using four measures: Bone marrow lymphoplasmacytic infiltration; serum immunoglobulin M levels; 2 microglobulin levels, and albumin levels. Stratifying patients into three risk groups based on these variables can improve patient monitoring and, importantly, identify high-risk patients who might benefit from early intervention, researchers say.

Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia is a low-grade form of non-Hodgkin lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma associated with overproduction of monoclonal IgM protein and is often preceded by SWM, an asymptomatic condition. "Patients with WM usually have symptoms of anemia, peripheral neuropathy, bleeding and other problems," said Bustoros, the study lead, who is presenting the final results at the ASH annual meeting. "Almost two-thirds of patients with SWM progress to the symptomatic stage. Higher values of the four biomarkers were associated with a significant risk of progression to symptomatic disease within few years. We will provide this model as an open access web application so it can help oncologists improve the care and guide the management of patients with this rare cancer."

"The model was generated based on 439 patients with SWM at Dana-Farber and was validated using two other cohorts, from the Mayo Clinic and University of Athens in Greece," said Dana-Farber's Romanos Sklavenitis Pistofidis, MD, first co-author of the study. "The model was a strong predictor in identifying high-risk patients, intermediate, and low-risk ones with high accuracy and precision."

"We hope this model will help in identifying patients at high risk of disease progression so they can be followed up closely or benefit from early treatment approaches through clinical trials," said Ghobrial, the senior author of this study.

Explore further Early treatment may prevent progression to multiple myelomaCredit: CC0 Public Domain

Fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid implicated in nearly 29,000 overdose deaths in the United States last year, most likely spread because of heroin and prescription pill shortages, and also because it was cheaper for drug wholesalers than heroin, according to a report on illicit US drug markets by researchers at UC San Francisco.

First synthesized in a Belgian lab in 1960, illicitly produced fentanyl has swept through U.S. drug markets in waves, the latest beginning in 2013, and has claimed an extraordinary number of lives. The researchers who wrote the report said having a better understanding of whether fentanyl's deadly spread is being driven by the economic imperatives of suppliers or the tastes of drug users would help policymakers find ways to curb it.

Made entirely in the lab, fentanyl is far more powerful and much cheaper to produce than heroin, which is derived from poppy opium. It is usually sold deceptivelyas heroin or brand name prescription drugs like OxyContin and Xanax. The researchers said drug users and street-level dealers, who may also be using the drugs, often don't know whether they are taking or selling drugs adulterated with fentanyl, since it is added to the supply higher up the distribution chain. Therefore, the researchers said, demand from drug users is unlikely to have played a role in its spread.

"Fentanyl is rarely sold as fentanyl," said Sarah Mars, Ph.D., a researcher in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at UCSF and the first author of the paper, published Tuesday, Dec. 4, in Addiction. "The dealers selling fentanyl directly to the users often don't know what's in it. Not only is this particularly dangerous, but it also means penalizing low level dealers isn't going to make any difference in the fentanyl poisoning epidemic."

The researchers sifted through the scientific literature on fentanyl use, pored over United Nations opium production data as well as data on heroin price and purity from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and analyzed results from their ongoing NIH-funded study, Heroin in Transition, which is led by senior author Daniel Ciccarone, MD, MPH, a professor of family and community medicine at UCSF.

"Our research has focused on talking to people who are using heroin and fentanyl-laced heroin, and asking them about their experiences," said Mars, who directs the study's qualitative research. "Most of the illicit fentanyl has been in the Northeast and Midwest, and we've been to places where the death rate is very high. We asked drug users how they detect it, if they canhow they try to prevent overdose."

Mars said users expressed opposing views on fentanyl, which causes a more sudden and powerful but usually shorter high than heroin. While some said they liked fentanyl, because it brought on the euphoria they had lost the ability to feel from tolerance built up by long-term heroin use, or because it broke through the opioid blocking effects of medications like buprenorphine, others said they feared fentanyl and disliked its harsh effects.

"Whether or not they prefer fentanyl, users don't have any influence over what drugs are being sold," Mars said. "Without accurate information about these drugs, they can't make an informed choice about what they are buying. Also, very little drug slang has developed to describe fentanyl, which lends support to the notion that this is not a demand-driven epidemic."

The researchers said users do try in various ways to detect fentanyl in the drugs they buy, but it's impossible for them to determine which synthetic opioid is present or how potent it is before they use it.

Different chemical versions of fentanyl, known as analogues, with wildly varying potency, appear unpredictably in different locations around the country. Some analogues are so new they have not yet been deemed illegal and some, like carfentanil, which was designed to tranquilize large animals, are incredibly powerfulas much as 10,000 times the strength of morphine.

"We believe it's the fluctuation in the potency of the drugs containing fentanyl that makes them so dangerous," Ciccarone said. "You might have one dose that had hardly any fentanyl in it or none at all. Then, you might have one with a different fentanyl analogue, of different potency, or even mixtures of multiple fentanyls and heroin."

The researchers said the data suggest that heroin shortages or 'supply shocks' occurred before the current and prior fentanyl waves struck in both Europe and the U.S. Prescription opioids were also becoming harder to obtain in the U.S. at the time. Fentanyl, which has also appeared in drug markets in many European countries, as well as Russia, Brazil and Canada, is an easy substitute for heroin since it can be produced in the lab year round and is not subject to blight, pests or climate conditions. It is about 30 to 40 times stronger than heroin and considerably cheaper to produce.

The full motives of wholesale suppliers still remain hidden, but there are significant incentives for them to shift over partially or completely to fentanyl, even though it often causes users to overdose. The researchers said it may just be a matter of time before fentanyl takes over more of the illicit U.S. and worldwide drug market, as has already happened in Estonia.

Explore further Fentanyl in more than half of opioid deaths in 10 statesTechnicians work in the ISO-certified cleanroom laboratory at Cincinnati Children's, where gene-correction therapies are tested and produced for clinical trials like the one for sickle cell anemia presented by Punam Malik MD, at this year's annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology in San Diego. Credit: Cincinnati Children's

After over a decade of preclinical research and development, a new gene therapy treatment for Sickle Cell Anemia (SCA) is reversing disease symptoms in two adults and showing early potential for transportability to resource-challenged parts of the world where SCA is most common.

Preliminary data from a pilot Phase 1-2 clinical trial testing the gene-addition therapy were presented Dec. 3 at the American Society of Hematology's (ASH) annual meeting in San Diego by principal investigator Punam Malik, MD. She is a physician-scientist at the Cincinnati Children's Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute and director of its Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center. Malik called the data promising.

"One year after treatment of our first patient, and six months after treatment of our second patient, both have seen a remarkable improvement in the quality of life due to remarkable reduction in disease symptoms. This includes near elimination of chronic pain and sickling events and improved anemia," Malik said. "Although it's still early post-treatment, these preliminary results are quite promising. If sustained this therapy will provide a transportable, safe and feasible gene therapy for all SCA patients."

SCA is a painful, inherited disease where blood cells become sickle-shaped and stuck in the vascular system. It can damage vital organs and cause death.

How the Therapy Works

The gene therapy developed by Cincinnati Children's uses a modified gamma globin lentivirus vector to transfer a healthy fetal hemoglobin gene into a patient's blood stem cells (hematopoietic stem cells, HSC). The lentivirus is modified so it does not cause illness.

The therapy comes from the observation that some adults never stop producing fetal hemoglobin (HbF). This prevents red blood cell sickling when sufficient quantities of HbF are present in the body.

Normally, the fetal hemoglobin gene switches off shortly after birth. The new gene therapy approach designed by Malik and team places a fetal hemoglobin gene in the bone marrow cells that cannot switch off.

Cells are collected earlier from the SCA patient and genetically reprogrammed in a clean lab facility with the modified lentivirus vector. Then the patient's bone marrow is preconditioned with one low-dose of chemotherapy, after which the gene-corrected cells are infused back into the patient. Patients recover their blood counts within a week to 10 days and recover from the chemotherapy effects by two weeks, Malik said.

A key feature of the treatment regimen is the reduced-intensity preconditioning for patients receiving the therapy for SCA. The method is less toxic and expensive than myeloablative preconditioning normally used in bone marrow transplants, according to the researchers.

Myeloablative conditioning uses high-intensity chemotherapy to prepare a transplant patient's bone marrow for healthy gene-corrected blood stem cells (HSCs). This typically results in low blood counts and other side effects. These can include severe infections and long stays in transplant units for one or two months.

This means transplants using myeloablative conditioning have to be performed at large and sophisticated medical centers in developed parts of the world. Malik said this limits access to people in underdeveloped regions where SCA is more common, like Africa, India, the Caribbean and South America.

Reaching High-Need Regions

One goal for Malik and her colleagues is that their therapy's reduced intensity conditioning will allow it to be offered at hospitals in places like Central Africa and other underdeveloped regions of the world.

SCA affects more than 90,000 people in the United States, and millions of people worldwide have the disease, according to the researchers.

Malik said additional data from the study will tell investigators of the consistent and long-term clinical benefit of this therapy to patients with severe SCA. The trial is scheduled to treat up to 10 patients with SCA. Preclinical studies by the research team suggested the treatment allows the body to produce normal red blood cells instead of the sickle-shaped cells that define the inherited disorder.

Improved Quality of Life

Both adult patients included in the ASH presentation are 35 and 25 years old who, respectively, had gene transfer therapy 15 and 12 months ago. In the year and a half prior to receiving gene-correction therapy, both patients had more than a dozen acute sickle events per year, according to Malik. These included acute chest and pain crises, chronic pain, and required the ongoing use of oral or injectable opioids on a regular basis.

Investigators report that one year following therapy, the first patient no longer requires daily oral opioids for chronic pain and has had one acute sickle cell event. The second patient no longer uses oral opioids and has no vaso-occlusive events, where blood cells become stuck in the vascular system.

Explore further Gene therapy for blood disordersCredit: Asociacion RUVID

Over 2 million people receive haemodialysis treatment worldwide. Their physical condition is affected by hours of forced physical inactivity while they receive the treatment several times a week, exacerbated by muscular atrophy derived from chronic kidney disease. This affects activities such as walking or standing up from a chair. Several studies have shown the efficacy of exercise during haemodialysis sessions. Now, a team headed by Professor Eva Segura has evaluated three physical condition tests that are typically used to study exercise during haemodialysis to determine their suitability for these patients.

The results have been published in PLOS One. This study is part of the reliability research conducted on physical condition tests for haemodialysis patients published in Physical Therapy in 2011.

This new research involved 71 patients of the haemodialysis units of the Hospital de Terrassa and the Hospital Universitario Doctor Peset in Valencia, who have been receiving haemodialysis sessions for at least three months. Their functional capacity and mobility levels have been assessed with three tests, the repeatability of which had never yet been tested in haemodialysis patients.

The first of the tests, known as the Short Physical Performance Battery, evaluates the functionality of the lower limbs with tests that measure balance, normal gait speed and the ability to rise from a chair. The One-Legged Stance Test measures the ability to remain standing on one leg, and the Timed Up and Go test evaluates the time needed to stand up, walk three meters, walk back and sit down again.

Physical condition and dialysis sessions

Lucia Ortega, author of the thesis, says, "No prior research had determined the reliability of these tests in patients subjected to haemodialysis to evaluate their functional mobility and the risks of low physical condition, the probability of falling. Nor had the minimum change values been established, which should alert doctors on functionality issues for this type of patient. Doctors could then apply measures to contribute to the improvement of their physical condition as soon as possible. We must not forget that these are patients who spend several hours lying down, both during the haemodialysis sessions, and during the recovery period afterwards, and several days a week, which affects their physical condition and can have consequences on their health."

The results of the research show the high reliability of these three functional mobility tests for patients undergoing haemodialysis sessions for a chronic kidney disease in the terminal stage, and establish values for detecting relevant variations in the clinical field.

Professor Eva Segura, who led the research, says, "These tests can help determine when it is necessary to intervene to preserve these people's physical and functional abilities as they are subjected to long treatment sessions. They are also useful for assessing the improvements in mobility that are derived from carrying out exercise during the dialysis sessions. This is a line of work that we have conducted at the CEU UCH for more than 10 years, and we currently apply virtual reality techniques with the help of video games to favour adherence to physical exercise. It is essential to have reliable, low-cost tests, that are widely available to any haemodialysis unit that has an interest in registering the evolution of their patient's functional capacity."

Explore further Novel inhibitor of vascular calcification tested in trial of haemodialysis patients

More information: Lucia Ortega-Perez de Villar et al. Test-retest reliability and minimal detectable change scores for the short physical performance battery, one-legged standing test and timed up and go test in patients undergoing hemodialysis, PLOS ONE (2018). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0201035 Lucia Ortega-Perez de Villar et al. Test-retest reliability and minimal detectable change scores for the short physical performance battery, one-legged standing test and timed up and go test in patients undergoing hemodialysis,(2018). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0201035 Eva Segura-Orti et al. Test-Retest Reliability and Minimal Detectable Change Scores for Sit-to-Stand-to-Sit Tests, the Six-Minute Walk Test, the One-Leg Heel-Rise Test, and Handgrip Strength in People Undergoing Hemodialysis, Physical Therapy (2011). DOI: 10.2522/ptj.20100141 Journal information: PLoS ONECredit: CC0 Public Domain

Conditions encountered in the wombwhen the embryo consists of only about 100 cellscan have life-long impact on health. Scientists previously assumed that this is because embryos respond to adverse conditions by programming their gene expression. Now an international team of researchers at the Leiden University Medical Center, Wageningen University and Research, Lund University, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York propose a radically different alternative. Rather than being programmed by the environment, random differences in gene expression may provide some embryos with a survival advantage, in particular when conditions are harsh. By studying DNA methylation, an important mechanism to control gene activity, the researchers found that a specific part of the DNA methylation pattern was missing among famine-exposed individuals. The findings are published in the journal Cell Reports.

The new research was motivated by the observation that people conceived during the Dutch Hunger Winter of 1944-1945 suffer from reduced cardiovascular health in their sixties. This can be attributed to persistent changes in how genes are expressed, through so-called epigenetic modification of the DNA. "We know that a lack of nutrition decreases the likelihood of an embryo to survive. Our new study indicates that surviving famine in the uterus hinged on having a DNA methylation pattern allowing continued growth of the embryo in spite of limited resources. But those same methylation patterns may have adverse health effects much later in life", says Bas Heijmans, epigeneticist at the Leiden University Medical Center.

To understand the interplay between epigenetics and survival of the embryo, the researchers took inspiration from evolutionary biology. In evolution, random genetic variation is filtered by natural selection, resulting in accumulation of variants that best 'fit' the environment. A computer model showed that random epigenetic variation between embryos is inevitable, just like genetic mutation. Some of the random DNA methylation variants may enhance an embryo's chance to survive on low nutrition. As a consequence, those epigenetic variants will become more common in cohorts that were exposed to a famine as embryos. "We have always struggled to explain how early embryos would be able to modify specific epigenetic marks in response to nutrition. It is fascinating that selective survival based on random epigenetic variation fits the data best", says Tobias Uller, evolutionary biologist at Lund University.

Some health effects of the Dutch Famine only show later in life and those exposed during early gestation seem to be most affected. "These findings have often been interpreted as conclusive proof of fetal adaptations in the womb that will lead to adult disease if the adult environment changes for the better. But our findings point to a different mechanism", says L.H. Lumey, MD, epidemiologist at Columbia Mailman School and principal investigator of the Dutch Hunger Winter Families study.

Explore further Prenatal famine drives DNA methylation and adult health six decades laterCredit: CC0 Public Domain

Real-world learning experiences, like summer camps, can significantly improve children's knowledge in a matter of just days, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that 4- to 9-year-old kids knew more about how animals are classified after a four-day camp at a zoo.

It wasn't that children who attended just knew more facts about animals, the researchers noted. The camp actually improved how they organized what they knewa key component of learning.

"This suggests organization of knowledge doesn't require years to happen. It can occur with a short, naturalistic learning experience," said Layla Unger, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral researcher in psychology at The Ohio State University.

"It highlights the enriching potential of real-world programs like summer camps. They aren't just recreation."

Unger conducted the study with Anna Fisher, associate professor of psychology at Carnegie Mellon University. Their study appears online in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology and will be published in the March 2019 edition.

This study is one of the first to show how quickly knowledge organization changes can occur in children.

"We didn't know if it would take months or years for children to accomplish this. Now we have evidence that it can happen in days," Unger said.

The study involved 28 children who took part in a four-day summer zoo camp in Pittsburgh. They were compared to 32 children who participated in a different summer camp in a nearby neighborhood of Pittsburgh, which was not at the zoo and didn't involve animals.

At the beginning and end of each camp, all children completed two different tests that measured how well they understood the differences between mammals, birds and reptiles.

The zoo camp consisted of lessons, interactions with preserved and live animals, tours of the zoo, games and craft sessions.

"Most of the themes at the zoo camp were not oriented toward explicitly teaching children biological taxonomic groups," Unger said. "So the children were not spending every day talking about the differences between mammals, birds and reptiles."

At the beginning of the camps, children in both groups had equivalent knowledge about the relationships between the three types of animals. But the children in the zoo camp knew significantly more by the end of their four-day camp, while the others did not.

Kids who had been at the zoo had a 64 percent increase in test scores on one assessment from the beginning to the end of camp, and a 35 percent increase in the other. Not surprisingly, there was no change in test scores for children in the other camp.

This study was not designed to test whether a four-day classroom lesson about animals could produce the same results as the four-day zoo experience, Unger said.

But other research suggests a class may not have the same positive effect, partly because it might not engage students as much as the real-world experience.

Unger said it was significant that the zoo camp improved knowledge organization, and not just facts about animals.

"Children didn't just learn piecemeal facts like 'ostriches are birds.' They learned how different birds such as ostriches and ducks are related to each other even when they may look very different or live in different habitats, and how birds are different from mammals and reptiles," she said.

"This kind of knowledge organization helps children retrieve what they have learned from memory, it helps them reason on the basis of what they learned and helps them integrate new information. It is a key part of learning."

Unger noted that both camps in the study charged parents for their children to attend and attracted mostly kids from middle-class families and above. That could be an issue for families who can't afford to send their children to camps.

"Our study showed that the zoo camp really did enrich the children who attended. It may help explain at least a part of the learning opportunity gap between children who have access to camps like this and those who don't."

Explore further Head lice outbreaks in camp settings cause substantial burden on kids, staffAs the All of Us initiative (previously known as the Precision Medicine Initiative) and the collection of DNA sequences of one million Americans begins this year, with at least 65,000 people already enrolled in the program, health care is transitioning from population-based approaches to individualized health care that focuses on the genetic makeup of each patient. Precision medicine will extend beyond prediction, diagnosis and treatment of disease to also include broader health initiatives, including prevention, nutrition and wellness. These new procedures raise novel legal, policy and ethical issues.

The symposium session at the 2018 Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) Annual Meeting will address cutting edge risk communication, risk assessment and risk management issues with respect to precision medicine, addressing issues such as trust, governance, tort liability and data access and quality.

Liability is a powerful risk management tool, incentivizing parties to take adequate precautions, but it can also potentially impede innovation and over-deter some individuals. Gary Marchant, Ph.D., J.D., MPP, Arizona State University, conducted a research study, "Genomic medicine and malpractice risks," that quantifies the medical malpractice lawsuits against doctors and other healthcare professionals relating to genetic medicine.

The study analyzed more than 300 cases in which healthcare providers were sued for allegedly applying genetic test opportunities or data in a negligent manner, referred to as "genomic malpractice." Most doctors lack training in genetics so many are struggling to properly handle and understand genetic information about their patients. The study revealed that there has been a significant increase in genomic malpractice lawsuits and that these lawsuits have a higher probability of success and result in larger awards than other medical malpractice lawsuits.

"Many patients are not getting the best healthcare in terms of applying new genetic findingsperhaps the increase in liability will help to improve the quality of care relating to genetic medicine," states Marchant.

Trust in precision medicine is required because of the many, potentially far-reaching, uncertainties and risk that come with its development. This includes, risks to individuals who participate in DNA collection schemes, to patients who benefit from new therapies, to insurers and payers or to industry. In 2017, the International Risk Governance Council and Center (IRGC) organized a workshop on the governance of trust in precision medicine. Marie-Valentine Florin, Ecole Polytechnqiue Federale de Lausanne, will present the main findings from the workshop in her presentation, "Trust in precision medicine."

Florin's presentation will focus on assessing and managing trustworthiness in the collection of genetic, medical and other personal data, and issues of consent regarding who can access this data; the analysis of data and provision of information for diagnostics that increasingly rely on artificial intelligence; and the provision of health and medical care by professionals to improve prevention and therapies, in ways that are safe, accessible and affordable for patients.

Explore further NIH funds study of malpractice risk, cardiac testing incentives

Provided by Society for Risk AnalysisAs more and more parents buy into the belief that vaccines cause autism and refuse to vaccinate their children, previously eradicated diseases are making their way back into society. These beliefs are part of "post-truth" politics in which authority figures are making public assertions without any proof or factual basis and are refusing to acknowledge factual rebuttals. The relationship between the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination and autism has perpetrated society despite having been debunked in numerous scientific studies, and the Human Papillomavirus vaccine has been targeted as well.

Members of the medical community are concerned with how they can make facts 'attractive' again and how trust in scientific information can be rebuilt, moving society towards a "post-trust" era. The Vaccine Communication symposia presented at the 2018 Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) Annual Meeting, co-organized by the Vienna Vaccine Safety Initiative, will explore concrete ways to improve vaccination policy moving forward in this "post-truth" era.

The World Health Organization (WHO) requires that each medical encounter between patient and professional be used to check vaccination status and catch up on vaccines, but in practice that is rarely happening. Barbara Rath, MD, Ph.D., Vienna Vaccine Safety Initiative, has been working with the ViVI Think Tank to develop digital tools aimed at improving communication between doctors and patients. Rath's presentation, "Human-centered infectious diseases and vaccine communicationBridging the gap," will illustrate the development of these tools.

The team has developed the VaccApp, a mobile app that helps parents better understand the immunizations given to their children. The ViVI Score allows health care providers to instantly measure disease severity in children and adults with flu-like illness. The team developed two additional mobile apps, the VACC tool and the ViVI health survey. The VACC Tool aids in the identification of adverse events at the point of care and the health survey was developed to assess health needs in vulnerable populations after evacuations from natural disasters or conflict zones.

Over the past four years, about two million Nigerians have become internally displaced persons (IDPs) due to armed conflict. IDPs live under poor conditions with minimal access to food, water and shelter, conditions that encourage the spread of infectious diseases. Winifred Ekezie, MPH, University of Nottingham, and her team of researchers explored the occurrence of infectious diseases, vaccine coverage and vaccine management perceptions among IDPs.

Ekezie's study, "Infectious disease prevalence and vaccination management among internally displaced people living in camp-like setting in Nigeria: A mixed method study," found that malaria, typhoid, diarrhea and cough were most prevalent among the IDPs. Self-reports showed that approximately 60 percent of the IDPs had received vaccinations, but only 15 percent had received them while in the camp. Two of the nine camps studied had no health service providers and four never had on-site vaccinations. The study also found that most IDPs did not know which vaccines they had received. Interviewed parties lacked knowledge of proper vaccination guidelines and most assumed it was the responsibility of non-governmental organizations.

"Proactive healthcare interventions, especially vaccination provision and communication, are required in any displacement conditions," states Ekezie. "This approach would help minimize the risks of infection spreading disease to the general population."

Measles incidences are on the rise in Europe and measles vaccination rates are dropping. Ruth Kutalek, Ph.D., Medical University of Vienna, and her team investigated this emerging vaccine hesitancy from an anthropological perspective by conducting interviews with 44 public health experts, vaccine hesitant professionals and vaccine hesitant parents in Vienna, Austria. Experts stressed that vaccine hesitancy is reinforced by the spread of myths and rumors from vaccine-critical platforms.

The study, "Measles vaccination and vaccine hesitancy in AustriaAnthropological perspectives" found that the most prominent reason parents chose not to vaccinate their child is the perception that measles do not pose a significant threat and they are anxious about side effects and are concerned about overloading the child's immature immune system. Vaccine critical health professionals suspected that vaccine information was biased and that there were not enough studies of the long-term effect of early vaccination and that measles complications were overexaggerated. The overarching theme was a lack of trust in the scientific information provided about measles and the vaccine.

Nigeria has made immense progress in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative with a decline wild poliovirus cases from 1122 in 2006 to just four in 2016 and zero to date. The country has started the countdown for WHO certified polio-free status until 2019. Isolated poliovirus cases in IDPs residing in the northeastern region in 2016 delayed the certification until next year. Chris Elemuwa, National Primary Healthcare Development AgencyNigeria, and his Nigerian team have been working to implement phase 1a of the Global Action Plan as a component of the Global Polio Eradication and End-Game Strategic Plan. In his presentation, "Building trust in polio surveillance and eradication policy in Nigeria," Elemuwa will discuss the steps taken to implement surveillance throughout the country, even in nearly inaccessible parts.

More information: These studies will be presented during the Vaccine Communication I and Vaccine Communication II symposia on Monday, Dec. 3 from 10:30 a.m.-12:10 p.m. and from 1:30-3:10 p.m. at the 2018 SRA Annual Meeting at the New Orleans Marriott in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Provided by Society for Risk AnalysisPostdoctoral research associate Mikhail Durymanov discusses the fluorescent images of the new 3D pancreatic tumor model with research scientist Liping Gu. This imaging confirmed that the spheroid tumors grown developed fibrous tissue. The new model will help researchers identify new drugs and drug delivery method to treat pancreatic cancer. Credit: South Dakota State University

Patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer face a poor prognosis because the tumor forms dense scar-like tissue that is difficult for chemotherapy drugs to penetrate, but a new model may help researchers develop new therapies.

"More than 85 percent of pancreatic tumors form this fibrous tissue," explained Assistant Professor Joshua Reineke of the South Dakota State University Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. However, most models used to test new drugs and drug delivery methods do not have this feature.

Reineke and his research team developed a 3-D pancreatic cancer model in which the tumor surrounds itself with the fibrous tissue, known as a desmoplastic stroma reaction, through funding from the South Dakota Board of Regents. In addition, the researchers compared the new model with tumor tissue donated by patients undergoing surgery for pancreatic cancer through collaboration with Avera Medical Group Oncology and Hematology.

"Every patient we met with consented, knowing the research would not help them, but future patients," Reineke said. "These patients have made a critical contribution." The study results are published in Translational Oncology.

"This model is a screening toolit's not the golden ticket, but it can be used to identify things that work or don't work at an earlier stage," said Reineke. Postdoctoral research associate Mikhail Durymanov, whose expertise is in molecular and cellular biology, developed and characterized the models tested, with assistance from postdoctoral research associate Anastasia Permyakova and pharmacy student Christian Kroll.

Low survival rate

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth-most common cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States with a five-year survival rate of about 8 percent, according to Liz O'Neill, a certified nurse practitioner at Avera Medical Group Oncology and Hematology, who coordinated the study for Avera.

According to the South Dakota tumor registry, 117 patients were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2015; this accounts for approximately 3 percent of the total number of cancers diagnosed. Nationally, pancreatic cancer diagnosis accounts for 3.2 percent of the total cancer diagnoses," O'Neill explained.

While doing cancer research about five years ago in Michigan, Reineke sought to develop nanoparticles to treat pancreatic cancer. However, he said, "The problem always came back to not having a way to prove the treatments could address the fibrotic issue because there were no good models to test that." That motivated Reineke, whose training included tissue engineering, to shift his work to developing a better model to evaluate potential therapies.

"We have not come nearly as far in [pancreatic cancer] research as we have with other cancers," O'Neill said.

Reineke agreed: "In the last 40 years, breast cancer went from a similar prognosis to a 95 percent survival rate, while pancreatic cancer has gone from 4 to 8 percent. A lot of what has worked in other cancers has not worked in pancreatic cancer and the unique scar tissue is one of the contributors to this poor prognosis."

Reproducible cancer model

To evaluate the model, Reineke and his team compared the protein makeup of the scar-like tissue in the model and in the Avera patients' pancreatic tumor tissue.

"We can do the exact same assays on our model and the human tumor tissue, comparing the types, amount and structure of the proteins," he explained. "We see that we have a very nice fitthey are very similar."

In the experiments conducted, all the spheroid tumors grown developed fibrous tissue. "This is very reproducible," Reineke explained. In addition, the researchers successfully transferred the tumor to a mouse model. "We can also do the animal study with the tumor and know it will have this robust scar tissue."

However, he noted, the model does not include an immune component that would account for the body's immune response to the cancer and the treatment. This may be an important limitation to the current model as some of the most significant advancements in cancer therapy have recently come from understanding and enhancing the involvement of a patient's immune system in regulating tumors, Reineke explained. He and his team will work with Avera scientists to address some of the model's limitations, including possibly using patient tissues, rather than cell culture lines.

"Interactions with Avera clinicians and pathologists are very helpful in enabling this translational work," he said. "I appreciate Avera Health Systems' willingness to invest in basic research."

O'Neill said, "We know the surrounding stroma contributes to reduced penetration of drugs into the tumor itself, so being able to mimic that in preclinical models is super important."

Reineke and his team are using the model to test therapies developed at SDSU and by other research groups across the nation and the world to find more effective ways to treat pancreatic cancer.

Explore further Suppression of DKK3 protein thwarts pancreatic tumor progression and prolongs survival

More information: Mikhail Durymanov et al. Subcutaneous Inoculation of 3D Pancreatic Cancer Spheroids Results in Development of Reproducible Stroma-Rich Tumors, Translational Oncology (2018). Journal information: Translational Oncology Mikhail Durymanov et al. Subcutaneous Inoculation of 3D Pancreatic Cancer Spheroids Results in Development of Reproducible Stroma-Rich Tumors,(2018). DOI: 10.1016/j.tranon.2018.10.003Zika virus particles (red) shown in African green monkey kidney cells. Credit: NIAID

Researchers at the University of Hawaii medical school have successfully developed a vaccine candidate for the Zika virus, showing that it is effective in protecting both mice and monkeys from the infection.

Demonstrating the effectiveness of their vaccine candidate in monkeys (non-human primates) is an important milestone because it typically predicts the vaccine will work in humans, enabling further clinical development.

A strong global initiative to battle Zika has produced more than 30 vaccine candidates since outbreaks in 2015-2016 in Brazil linked the infection in some pregnant women to severe birth defects in their newborns. Zika is spread by the bite of infected mosquitos and through sex.

There is no treatment or cure for Zika virus infection nor is any vaccine currently approved for public use.

The proposed vaccine reported by scientists at the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) in the journals Frontiers in Immunology and mSphere, via the open access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, is a recombinant subunit vaccine that uses only a small part (protein) of the Zika virus, produced in insect cells.

"We believe our vaccine candidate shows much promise particularly as it showed to require only two immunizations given three weeks apart and is a potentially safer alternative to other candidates already in clinical trials," said Dr. Axel Lehrer, JABSOM Assistant Professor of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease. Lehrer thinks the vaccine his team proposes might be safer that other candidate vaccines, especially keeping in mind that pregnant women constitute a significant part of the target population for a Zika vaccine.

The research team at JABSOM included two senior graduate students who served as lead authors of the scientific research papers. Liana Medina, whose early training was directly supported by a National Institutes of Health Diversity in Health-Related Research grant, and Honolulu native Albert To are the graduate student lead authors.

Honolulu-based Hawaii Biotech is a key partner in the vaccine development project with UH.

Two of their scientists, Dr. Jaime Horton and David Clements, contributed to the most recent publication demonstrating vaccine efficacy in monkeys, along with collaborators from Bioqual Inc. of Rockville, Maryland, and the Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology, Biosecurity Research Institute, College of Veterinary Medicine, at Kansas State University.

"The intense search for a Zika remedy since early 2016 has required us to be agile, and we believe our vaccine candidate research demonstrates that such quick-turnaround results can be achieved in academic and scientific partnerships here in Hawaii," said Dr. Lehrer. "It is incredibly gratifying that two of the scientists we are training to be the future of biomedical science played key roles in gathering, analyzing and reporting their conclusions. We hope Hawaii's citizens find that as inspiring as we do."

Graduate student scientist and research co-author Liana Medina said there were chances to develop new skills at every step along the way. "Having the opportunity to see the vaccine's development from its very first stages as Zika E protein being produced by Dr. Kenji Obadia, at the time also a student in our department, to a vaccine that is efficacious and safe in animal models was a unique learning experience. Being a part of the process allowed me grow as a student in this field," said Medina.

Fellow graduate student and co-author Albert To said the team's results "put us on the world-stage and highlight the talent we have here in Hawaii." He said, "Being involved with this project has given me a glimpse of the type of research and results needed to progress an idea to a potential preventative therapy used by thousands of people worldwide."

JABSOM scientists continue to work to understand the immune responses to the vaccine. They are collaborating with the UH Kapiolani Community College in an effort to create antibodies that can be used as treatments or for improved diagnostic tests for Zika virus. Other Zika-related research at JABSOM also focuses on understanding how Zika can hide undetected in the sex organs of men for an extended period.

Explore further Translational research leads to potential Zika virus vaccine

More information: Liana O. Medina et al, A Recombinant Subunit Based Zika Virus Vaccine Is Efficacious in Non-human Primates, Frontiers in Immunology (2018). Liana O. Medina et al, A Recombinant Subunit Based Zika Virus Vaccine Is Efficacious in Non-human Primates,(2018). DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.02464 Albert To et al. Recombinant Zika Virus Subunits Are Immunogenic and Efficacious in Mice, mSphere (2018). DOI: 10.1128/mSphere.00576-17Share Pin Email Reddit WhatsApp 34 Shares

Early Music Vancouver presents Bach Collegium Japan: Bach, Handel, Vivaldi on December 9th at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at UBC. Widely recognized as one of the worlds leading ensembles specializing in the works of J.S. Bach and his contemporaries, Bach Collegium Japan and acclaimed British soprano Joanne Lunn, led by music director Masaaki Suzuki perform a concert of music by J.S. Bach, Vivaldi, and Handel, as well as shorter works by Conti, Marcello, and Telemann.

When: Sunday, December 9, 2018 at 3:00pm

Where: Chan Centre for the Performing Arts (UBC, 6265 Crescent Rd, Vancouver)

Tickets: From $18, available online now or by calling (604) 822-2697

Pre-concert talk at 2:15pm in the Royal Bank Cinema with Masaaki Suzuki and Joanne Lunn hosted by Matthew White



Photo credit: Joao Messias Photo credit: Joao Messias

The highly anticipated Vancouver concert begins with a performance of Bachs Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B Minor  BWV 1067. Blending the elegance of French dance suites with the energy and brilliance of Italian composers like Vivaldi, Bach likely wrote this work featuring the flute during his time as kapellmeister to the Prince of Anhalt-Kothen. The ensemble then plays Vivaldis beloved Concerto in D Minor for Two Violins from his collection of string concertos entitled LEstro Armonico. Bach thought enough of this collection to transcribe six concerti from the set in various arrangements over the years.

Following these instrumental works, soprano Lunn joins the orchestra for a performance of Contis dramatic and virtuosic setting of an ecstatic sacred love poem, Languet anima mea. This work was included in Bachs personal library and is said to have been performed by his wife, Anna Magdalena. It demonstrates the extent to which Bach was influenced by Italys vocal music as he was by its instrumental music.

The orchestra then will perform shorter instrumental works by composers that Bach admired  Marcellos Oboe Concerto in D Minor and Telemanns Paris Quartet No. 1 in D Major.

The concert will conclude with a performance of Handels spectacular sacred motet, Silete venti  HWV 242. Praised by audiences as one of Handels most thrilling sacred works for solo voice and chamber orchestra, it is an early cantata written during his time in Italy as a young man.

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I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Thursday, December 6, 2018.

Update The winner is Kym!Ouachita Parish, LA - Ouachita Parish Deputies have arrested a woman accused of trying to set a man on fire, but then stabbed him in the chest instead.

Shaquita Brown, 19 of Monroe, was arrested on December 3, 2018.

According to the arrest report, Deputies responded to 171 Trichel Ln #48 around 12:20 a.m. in reference to a stabbing.

Once deputies arrived, they spoke with several witnesses who observed Shaquita Brown douse the victim with rubbing alcohol and attempt to light him on fire with a lighter.

When Brown was unable to get the fire lit, witnesses say they saw Desiree take a knife and stab the victim in the chest.

The victim tried to flee the area on foot, but was chased by Brown who was still armed with the knife.

The victim fell to the ground and Brown stood over him with the knife until it was taken away from her by one of the witnesses.

Witnesses advised they did not see the victim ever present a threat to Brown.

In an interview, Brown admitted to stabbing the victim but denied trying to set him on fire.

Brown said the reason for stabbing the victim was due to him trying to strangle her.

Deputies were unable to do an interview with the victim at the time of the arrest due to him being treated medically for his wounds.

Brown was booked into the Ouachita Correctional Center on one count attempted second degree murder and one count aggravated arson.

Her bond has not yet been set.Brotemarkle Davis & Co., LLP an accounting and advisory firm specializing in the wine and hospitality industries, announced the addition of three full-time accountants to its team.

 Heather Sprauve, the firms Global Gallivanter, is a seasoned tax professional and graduate of Pacific Union College. She is a former resident of the U.S. Virgin Islands where she worked for an accounting firm.

 Mattie Eagle, CPA, known as our Silver Spinner, joins us from New Mexico where she has applied her tax knowledge in working with both businesses and individuals.

 Lisa Akrawi, the firms Virtuoso, is a recent graduate of Walla Walla University (after also attending Pacific Union College) and will be working on diverse projects for both the tax and audit teams.The painting includes 15 scenes from the lives of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary, including the Annunciation and the Passion. Those depicted wear traditional Japanese clothes and items. Christianity arrived in Japan in 1549. Warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi issued an order to expel Christians in 1587. The Tokugawa shogunate, during the Edo period, banned the religion in 1612.

Tokyo (AsiaNews/Agencies)  Experts from the Yokohama History Museum have dated a rare work of art (pictured) that depicts Christian worship and prayers.

The scroll  created in sumi black ink on a piece of traditional washi Japanese paper 22 cm high and 320 cm long  dates back to the 16th century when Christians were persecuted.

The painting, part of a collection at the Sawada Miki Kinenkan Museum, in the town of Oiso, Kanagawa Prefecture, has been on display in the Yokohama museum since 23 November.

The piece depicts 15 scenes from the lives of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary, including the Annunciation and the Passion. It also includes descriptions in Japanese of Latin prayers.

People in the painting wear traditional hakama clothing, with some carrying what appear to be swords.

It was apparently based on a western religious painting and used as a devotional item by Japanese Christians of that time. Japanese characters written at the end of the painting suggest it was created by a believer in 1592.

By using radiocarbon technology to date the washi, the research institute found that the paper was made between 1556 and 1633.

[T]his is one of the oldest Christian paintings in Japan, said Osamu Inoue, deputy head of the Yokohama museum.

Yukihiro Ohashi, a professor in the history of Christianity in Japan at Waseda University, said the painting shows how people around the time devoted themselves to the religion.

Christian services were likely held, using these pictures and words of prayers, Ohashi said. The historic material vividly shows the atmosphere of the time.

After Christianity was introduced to Japan in 1549, Daimyo (feudal lord) Toyotomi Hideyoshi issued an order to expel Christians in 1587 and the Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo Period banned the religion in 1612.

Sawada Miki Kinenkan is known for its collection of items from hidden Christians. The museum found the Christian painting among its holdings but does not know where the work came from.

The latest finding adds another piece to the rediscovery of Japans Christian history. In July, some 12 hidden Christian sites in Nagasaki and Amakusa became world UNESCO heritage sites. They symbolise anti-Christian persecution in the Edo period (1603- 1867).

On 1 April, the Diocese of Nagasaki inaugurated a museum dedicated to the history of Japanese Christianity inside the old bishops residence.Millions of dollars in potential losses from the Camp Fire have ruined a small Merced County insurance company, providing another element of uncertainty for homeowners following the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in Californias history.

A judge declared Merced Property & Casualty Co. of Atwater insolvent during a brief court hearing Monday afternoon in Merced County Superior Court. The ruling by Judge Brian McCabe allows the state Department of Insurance to seize control of the busted company.

Merced Property is facing about $64 million in potential liabilities in Paradise, the state agency said in court papers. The monetary pain could go even higher: A financial statement the company filed with regulators said it had sold a total of $141 million worth of coverage in the area affected by the Camp Fire, although reinsurance policies will cover some of its losses. Reinsurance is coverage purchased by insurers to handle major disasters.

Policyholder claims will surely dwarf the companys finances, listed as more than $23 million in stocks and other financial assets.

Merced incurred significant losses as a result of the Camp Fire, Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones office announced. Based upon preliminary confirmation of multiple total losses and mounting claims, the financial condition of Merced deteriorated rapidly.

Besides killing 88 people, the fire destroyed more than 13,000 homes, mainly in Paradise.

With the state taking control of Merced Property, all of its policyholder claims will be turned over to the California Insurance Guarantee Association, an industry-funded group that pays claims when insurers go under.

Under state law, the association can pay up to $500,000 per claim, said the associations executive director, Wayne Wilson. Any policyholder with a claim in excess of $500,000 will become a creditor in a state-run liquidation of Merced Propertys assets, he said.

The median value of an owner-occupied home in Paradise is a little more than $200,000, according to Census estimates. About 3 percent of the homes are valued between $500,000 and $1 million. It is unknown how many Merced policies exceed the states $500,000 cap.

Some guy might have built a mountain cabin up there for $2 million, Wilson said.

All told, the property damage from the Camp Fire could exceed $7.5 billion, according to estimates by risk consultant RMS.

Merced Property officials told state insurance regulators Nov. 16, eight days after the fire started, that the company was headed toward insolvency, according to court papers. On Nov. 20 the companys board of directors approved a resolution saying Merced Property was prepared to consent to the imposition of delinquency proceedings, according to court papers.

It will take a while to retrieve Merced Propertys files from the companys Atwater offices and sort out payments to policyholders, Wilson said. Another complication: The Butte County Sheriffs Office has only just begun to allow claims adjusters into the burn zone to verify damages.

We dont know exactly what were dealing with until people can get in there and take some pictures, Wilson said.

Nancy Kincaid, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Insurance, said she didnt know how many claims Merced Property has received from Camp Fire homeowners.

The company was formed in 1906 by a group of farmers in Merced County who found it difficult to obtain fire insurance because the area had no firefighting abilities, according to the companys website. Although the business remained comparatively small, it grew from about 100 policies to underwriting property throughout the region.

The company confined its business to Merced County until 2013, when it was acquired by an Idaho insurance company called United Heritage Mutual Group. At that point the Merced company began expanding up through the Central Valley, Sacramento and the northern valley, Wilson said. I think it was this concentration of risk in Paradise that kind of tipped this over the edge.

The company lost $180,000 last year on premium revenue of $5.5 million, according to Department of Insurance records. Still, the company carried a solid A-minus rating from insurance consultant A.M. Best before the fire, Kincaid said.

Merced Propertys president, Kevin Lucke, couldnt be reached for comment. Jeffrey Neumeyer, general counsel with United Heritage in Idaho, referred questions to the California Insurance Departments liquidation office.

Kincaid said the parent company isnt on the hook for any of the claims. The company in California is responsible for the losses, she said.

Kincaid said her department has been reviewing financial records of other insurers with business in the Camp Fire region and they could not find another company in a similar situation. She said its rare for property-casualty companies in California to go insolvent; most failures engulf workers compensation insurers.

Consumer advocates and industry groups said the announcement is a sign that should serve as a lesson since rising insurance costs have pushed more homeowners into the non-admitted insurance market, where there is no guarantee fund to back up an insurers claims. Customers often buy coverage from non-admitted insurers, which dont have to pay into the guarantee fund, if they cant get insurance from a mainstream company.

This is a good example of why its so important to have this guarantee fund and what the risks are to consumers if they buy insurance through a company that doesnt contribute to the fund, said Amy Bach, executive director of United Policyholders.

This is scary and its unfortunate but we have a safety net in place for situations like this so that those victims who lost their homes in the Camp Fire and insured by this company will not be left with no coverage.

The move is only the latest sign of the underlying toll wildfires are having on the homeowners insurance market, said Rex Frasier, president of the Personal Insurance Federation of California.

It certainly wouldnt be surprising that a regional carrier that is concentrated in one these fire areas cant withstand the pressure from one of these major fires, Frasier said. Everyone just assumes that all will be well, but Californias wildfire risk is very hard to manage and it takes a lot of financial wherewithal.

Wilson said Merced Property policyholders can contact the guarantee association at (818) 844-4300.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.A mass brewing is underway across the country, with breweries from coast to coast working to churn out one beer in unison, all for wildfire relief.

The fundraising fermentations began with a November letter from Chico-based Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, inviting brewers nationwide to ply their trade in raising funds for victims of the Camp Fire, which has ravaged areas of Butte County since early November.

The invitation included a recipe for the Resilience Butte County Proud IPA and a request that all proceeds from sales of the beer go to the Camp Fire Relief Fund. So far, more than 1,000 breweries have hopped on the effort, agreeing to brew their own Resilience and donate the resulting beer money.

Joining the big brew is the latest addition to Napas growing beer scene, Stone Brewing Company. The Escondido-based company opened its Napa brewery and restaurant in the renovated Borreo Building downtown in May.

Steve Gonzalez, head brewer at Stones Napa site, recognizes the recipe for Resilience, at least in part. Its semblance to another Sierra Nevada beer, Celebration Ale, takes him back to the early days of his career and his first job as a brewer with Sierra Nevada.

Living in Chico while he worked at the brewery, Gonzalez had friends then in the nearby town of Paradise, which was destroyed by the Camp Fire in early November.

It definitely hits close to home, Gonzalez said Tuesday.

Stone Brewing will add to the relief effort with batches of Resilience from both their Liberty Station site in San Diego and its small brewery in downtown Napa.

Gonzalez plans to produce one batch from Stone-Napas 10-barrel system, starting on Dec. 10. The brewing should yield about 15 kegs that will be available around the start of next year, he said.

While calling on brewers to join the Resilience effort, Sierra Nevada has also sought out ingredient donations from malt, hop and yeast suppliers that will be forwarded to those making the beer. Some of those supplies will make their way to Napa, Gonzalez said, with Stones in-house hops making up the difference.

Gonzalezs only tweak to the recipe will be a lack of gypsum, which hes currently short on, meaning his beer may be slightly sweeter than those from other breweries making Resilience.

Lending their hand to fire relief efforts is a familiar step for Stone Brewing. The companys distributing division raised more than $70,000 in relief funds following last years North Bay fires.

Though the brewing of Resilience was prompted by the invitation from Sierra Nevada, before even receiving the letter, Gonzalez knew Stone would be aiding somehow.

We pretty much said, Its invite-only, and if we dont get invited, were going to do something anyway, he said. I felt strongly about doing something for the fire relief regardless.

While Stone is the only Napa brewery producing Resilience, other regional beermakers joining the effort include Napa Smith in Vallejo, Fieldwork Brewing Company at its Berkeley site, Russian River Brewing, Bear Republic, Fort Point, Anchor Brewing, 21st Amendment, and many others.

Napa Palisades Beer Company, while unable to brew its own version of Resilience, according to the companys Facebook page, has plans to release a beer dubbed Forecast: Hazy and donate part of the sales to the Camp Fire Relief Fund.

For most participating brewers, including Stone-Napa, Resilience will be offered only on site, while Sierra Nevada will debut the beer in stores in late December. Founded by Ken Grossman in 1980, the Chico brewery is Californias largest beermaker and is considered a key forerunner of the craft beer movement.

The business news you need Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.Outgoing Mayor Alan Galbraith zeroed out his campaign account last week, donating the remaining $7,746 to charity.

According to reports filed at City Hall, Galbraiths campaign received and spent $26,861, including the new donation. Galbraith had previously loaned $8,000 to his own campaign, but he forgave the loan and donated the remaining funds to the nonprofit St. Helena Preschool for All.

City Councilmember Geoff Ellsworth defeated Galbraith in the Nov. 6 election and will be sworn in as mayor at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 11, at Vintage Hall.

Ellsworths campaign hasnt filed any cumulative financial reports since the election. As of October his campaign had raised $46,471.99, spent $36,543.49, and owed $39,800.So many Christmas goings-on to report, my friends! Pour a glass of eggnog and read on ...

***

The St. Helena Junior Womens Club is adopting two needy families as part of its annual Christmas Family project. The club is providing necessities such as clothing, bedding and toys, plus $500 gift cards for holiday shopping. The club has teamed up with Wine Bid, a weekly online wine auction based in Napa, to raise money for the project. There are lots of good (and rare) local wines for sale, and proceeds will also fund other Junior Women projects such as the spelling bee, senior Thanksgiving luncheon, and vocational scholarships. To learn more, go to https://bit.ly/2QdtAVN.

***

My heart leapt at the news that two of my culinary passions  Gotts milkshakes and eggnog  have been united in holy matrimony. Through Dec. 31, Gotts is offering the Eggnog shake, a combination of Three-Twin Eggnog ice cream, hand-spun to order with Clover Eggnog. I dont care how cold it is  Im getting one! And starting Thursday, Dec. 6, Gotts is also offering a seasonal Dungeness Crab Sandwich and a Dungeness Crab & Bay Shrimp Louie. Ill leave the crab to you, Dear Readers, as long as you dont get between me and my eggnog  the king of all nogs! Long may he reign! (Or at least until Dec. 31.)

***

Speaking of delicious masterpieces, the St. Helena Public Library is hosting a Gingerbread House Workshop for Kids at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 13. Each family will get to decorate their very own house. All materials (plus sugar cookies) will be provided. Hats off to the Friends & Foundation, St. Helena Public Library, for sponsoring.

***

In the same festive vein, Pacific Union Colleges music department is offering two more free Christmas concerts on its Angwin campus. Choral and orchestra concerts will take place at 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 7, and 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, at the PUC Church. Peace is the theme of the concerts, which feature PUCs Chorale, Vox Pro Musica, Orchestra and Bell Choir performing traditional carols, congregational singing, poetry readings, selected choruses from Handels Messiah, and a candlelit Silent Night. Attendance is free, but donations will be collected to support those affected by the Camp Fire in Paradise.

***

Also this weekend, dont forget to check out a special holiday event at the Napa Valley Museums Walt Disneys Trains exhibit. From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, exhibit curator and Carolwood Pacific Historical Society President Emeritus Michael Campbell, a Disney train expert, will conduct (get it?) a tour of the exhibit, including a demonstration of a working steam engine. Admission is free.

***

If you, like so many illustrious members of our Washington political establishment, frequent the website Twitter, you might be intrigued by Karen MacNeils Twitter tasting series #SipWithKaren. The next live tasting at 5 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 13, will highlight great Napa Valley cabs. To join the tasting, just use #SipWithKaren and, if possible, have on hand cabs from Duckhorn, St. Supery, Cakebread, Chateau Montelena, Pine Ridge, Hall, Corison and Honig. Happy sipping!

***

The St. Helena Police Department is hosting another A Cup with a Cop from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 12, at the Napa Valley Coffee Roasting Company. Ask a question, swap a story, lodge a (polite) complaint about those infernal speed demons on Spring Street, or just chat with one of St. Helenas finest.

***

Jennifer Muhlner, coordinator of the Adopt-A-Family program at Grace Episcopal Church, advised on Tuesday that more generous people are needed to adopt 13 families for the Christmas holidays. So far, 62 families have been adopted and the effort to recruit families ends on Sunday. This year, gift cards in the amount of $50 per family member are being sought, so that families can buy what they need and want for Christmas. Donations in any amount also are being sought. To offer your help this holiday season, call Muhlner, 963-6166.Deadlines for getting your gifts in time for Christmas are here. Whether you're shopping for a child, grandparent, foodie, tech-lover or anyonSen. Kamala D. Harris, D-Calif., said Saturday that she plans to make the "very serious" decision about a potential 2020 presidential bid in the coming weeks.

"Over the holiday, I will make that decision with my family," Harris said in an interview with MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski at the Know Your Value conference in San Francisco.

Harris added that if she does decide to run against President Donald Trump, she is prepared for things to get "ugly," given that her candidacy would be a boundary-breaking one.

"When you break things, it is painful," she said. "And you get cut. And you bleed."

Harris is one of dozens of Democrats eyeing bids for the White House in 2020. Others include Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Cory Booker of New Jersey, former Vice President Joe Biden and billionaire philanthropist Tom Steyer.

A former prosecutor and state attorney general who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Harris has earned a reputation as one of the Democratic Party's most skilled interrogators. Yet Democrats' midterm losses have imperiled her committee seat, with liberal groups warning of a potential backlash if Harris, the panel's only African-American woman, is removed.

In a recent interview with The Washington Post's Dan Balz, Harris said she sees the phrase "identity politics" as one designed to marginalize the very real concerns of minority communities. Race, she said, is an unavoidable part of the country's political debate in the Trump era.

"(I)sn't that an interesting thing that one of our longest adversaries, the Russian government, figured out America's Achilles' heel?" she said, referring to Russian interference in the 2016 campaign. "One of the biggest ones is race, and they attacked us based on that. And we're not going to talk about it?"As ominous as the dark smoke that choked the Bay Area while California's most destructive wildfire raged 200 miles north, a second tragedy now is looming over the state -- the loss of thousands of homes in an already housing-starved region.

The deadly Camp Fire destroyed nearly 14,000 homes in Butte County, resulting in up to $9 billion in residential losses, according to a recent estimate by property data company CoreLogic. In a matter of hours, the fire wiped out the equivalent of nearly 18 percent of the roughly 80,000 new homes California produces in an average year.

The fire also killed at least 88 people.

As the state struggles to overcome a dire housing shortage that has driven up home and rental prices and forced many residents to move out-of-state, the property loss compounds an already critical situation. When coupled with the 1,500 structures destroyed in the Woolsey Fire in Southern California this month, the more than 5,600 structures destroyed in last year's Tubbs Fire in Napa and Sonoma counties, and the nearly 1,100 homes destroyed last year in the Carr Fire in Shasta County, it's devastating. And experts say Bay Area residents may feel its effects.

"It is so severe," said Amie Fishman, executive director of the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California, "that massive action is needed to address what was already an urgent crisis. There needs to be major federal and state investment in housing and affordable housing."

California has lagged behind its housing goals for years, according to an assessment published this year by the California Department of Housing and Community Development. To meet projected growth, the state needs to add 1.8 million homes to its housing stock by 2025, or 180,000 each year. But only about 100,000 homes were added in 2016, the most recent year the assessment tracked.

To keep pace with demand in the Bay Area's strong economy, the region needs to build 187,990 homes between 2015 and 2023, according to state goals adopted by the Association of Bay Area Governments. But earlier this year, 97.6 percent of California cities were failing to meet their state-mandated housing production goals.

As many as 50,000 people were evacuated as the Camp Fire swept through Butte County, and those displaced residents have flooded nearby towns already short on housing. As a result, cities such as Sacramento, a relative bastion of affordability for Bay Area residents fleeing a staggering cost of living, may see rents and home prices increase, said Sarah Karlinsky, senior policy adviser for urban planning public policy think tank SPUR.

Bay Area developers also will have to compete with a flood of demand for building materials and construction workers for Butte, Sonoma, Napa and Shasta counties as they rebuild, said John Protopappas, president and CEO of developer Madison Park Financial Corporation. The region already is experiencing a shortage of construction workers and rising building costs, and that increased competition may drive costs still higher, which could lead to higher rental and purchase prices, Protopappas said.

"I think the Bay Area's going to feel the impact," he said.

Meanwhile, in Butte County, the housing market has become as cut-throat as in Silicon Valley and San Francisco. There are no vacant rental properties left, and homes are selling for between $30,000 and $100,000 above asking price, with multiple offers, said Jennifer Morris, executive director of the nonprofit North Valley Property Owners Association, which launched the website campfirehousing.org to connect displaced residents with available housing. Shortly after the fire, evacuees set up a tent city in a Walmart parking lot in Chico.

"People are very desperate," she said. "It's a really large catastrophe that I don't think anyone has any great solution on how to handle."

By Monday, FEMA had yet to move any displaced residents into its signature trailers. The agency had moved two families into RVs, and planned to move in two or three more over the next few days, spokesman Michael Hart said. FEMA estimates about 2,000 people need housing help.

On a recent conference call with reporters, Tina Curry, deputy director of California's Office of Emergency Services, acknowledged that "when are people going to get housed?" is the big question.

"The answer to that, is as soon as we can," she said.

In the meantime, FEMA is putting evacuees up in hotels and offering them money to pay for rental housing. But that doesn't do much good when there's nothing to rent.

With no housing available, Michael Charvel, a guitar maker and musician who co-owns owns Wayne Guitars with his father, Wayne Charvel, has bounced from place to place ever since his Paradise home burned down. He stayed at a friend's rental property in Chico, then headed to Anaheim to stay in his best friend's uncle's house and finally booked a hotel in Irvine through Friday.

"It's kind of one day at a time," said Charvel, who eventually hopes to rebuild in Paradise.

Like Butte County, other communities hit by natural disasters also have seen the crises impact their housing markets.

After Hurricane Katrina devastated the New Orleans area in 2005, home prices in nearby Baton Rouge shot up, said Frank Nothaft, chief economist at CoreLogic. Rent prices also rose in Santa Rosa after the Tubbs Fire, in the Houston area after Hurricane Harvey and in the Cape Coral, Florida, area after Hurricane Irma last year, according to Nothaft's research. And mortgage delinquency rates spiked in all three regions after the natural disasters, as some residents lost their jobs or sources of income.

Randy Cloyd, 62, plans to rebuild on his 1-acre lot in Paradise. But he knows the process may take years, and in the meantime, he worried it would quickly become impossible to find a home nearby. That's why almost as soon as he and his wife confirmed that their three-bedroom home with a barn, fruit trees and bee farm had burned down, they began searching for a new home to buy. The market in Chico already was too hot, so they turned their gaze toward Oroville. About two weeks ago, they landed a three-bedroom house for $184,000 -- it was the third property they'd made an offer on.

It's a relief to have a stable place to go, Cloyd said. But most of his friends and neighbors from Paradise weren't so lucky and still are living in hotels.

"I tried telling them really early that you guys need to either find something, anything, to rent or get into or look at buying something very quickly," Cloyd said. "Because what I feared is happening -- and that's just that there is nothing."

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.A fight over expanding Syar quarry near the city of Napa is heating up in the courthouse two years after the Napa County Board of Supervisors approved the project.

The venue is different, but the players and concerns are familiar. Stop Syar Expansion on Nov. 16 filed a 50-page opening brief in Napa County Superior Court opposing a bigger quarry.

The project would emit harmful particulate matter and greenhouse gases and increase heavy truck trips, water use, blasting, oak woodland deforestation and the cutting of steep benches into rolling hills, the papers stated.

In 2016, Napa County looked at these issues in draft and final environmental impact reports totaling more than 1,600 pages. All concerns could be reduced to less than significant levels, the reports concluded and the Board of Supervisors agreed.

The Stop Syar Expansion lawsuit against the county argues otherwise. Just as during county hearings, opponents are raising such issues as cancer-causing diesel fumes and health-damaging respirable crystalized silica drifting from the quarry over neighborhoods.

It requires the citizens to get involved and urge or force the county to be reasonable in its oversight of a major polluter, said Kathy Felch, a member of Stop Syar Expansion who lives near the quarry.

In contrast, during the 2016 hearings Syar officials depicted the quarry as being a responsible neighbor with a robust and effective compliance program. Syar officials couldnt be reached to comment on the lawsuit, which is against the county.

Napa County and Syar are to file their responses to the Stop Syar Expansion brief by Jan. 16. A hearing is scheduled for April 5. The court will decide whether the countys environmental impact report is adequate or needs more work for the project approval to stand.

Syar quarry can be seen from south Napa in hills near Skyline Wilderness Park and Napa State Hospital. Various companies since the 1920s have mined this area for basalt and other rock for roads and construction projects.

The Board of Supervisors in October 2016 granted Syar a 35-year permit to expand the 497-acre quarry by 106 acres and increase production from 1 million tons annually to 1.3 million tons. Syar officials said the quarry needs to grow to avoid running out of basalt.

Among other things, the Stop Syar Expansion lawsuit claims that the countys environmental impact report failed to disclose crystalline silica emissions at the Syar quarry. Rather, the report based its estimate on data from other quarries, the recently filed brief said.

Stop Syar Expansion versus the County of Napa is one of two court cases involving the group and the quarry.

In 2016, Stop Syar Expansion, Napa Vision 2050, Felch and Susanne Von Rosenberg filed a separate lawsuit against Syar Industries. It alleged a constant stream of dust, particulate matter, diesel engine exhaust and toxic contaminants from the quarry impact health, safety and property values in nearby neighborhoods.

Proposition 65 requires businesses that expose people to carcinogens to provide a warning, such as posting signs and distributing notices. Syar has failed to do so since at least Aug. 25, 2013, the lawsuit said.

The plaintiffs agreed last summer to dismiss their complaint. That came after they demanded information from data through the court discovery process.

We realized after they had kept their production levels to such a low level they were not violating Proposition 65, Felch said. Our lawsuit was based on data they had provided for the EIR (environmental impact report).

Syar submits its production levels to the county, but the county treats this data as proprietary information, Felch said. The public cant review it.

The only way we can know what the production levels are is to file a lawsuit, Felch said, adding this is not a good way for citizens to monitor whats going on at the quarry. Stop Syar Expansion could file a another lawsuit if new facts arise indicating the quarry is violating Proposition 65 in the future, she said.

That dismissed Proposition 65 lawsuit came with a potentially expensive footnote for the plaintiffs.

During the legal wrangling, Felch, Vision 2050 President Dan Mufson and others were ordered by the court to provide years of their emails and correspondences involving Syar at Syars request. Syar was to pay the cost for Robert Half Legal to screen the voluminous materials, with plaintiffs saying the bill comes to $65,000.

But the plaintiffs subsequently reached and signed agreements with Syar to dismiss the case. Those agreements call for Syar to pay each plaintiff $5,000 in satisfaction of damages, penalties, costs, expenses, interest and attorneys fees.

Napa County Superior Court concluded the plaintiffs in these release agreements waived their right to recover costs from Syar for the use of Robert Half Legal.

In attempt to show that a decision against them would be unjust, the plaintiffs assert they do not deserve to be financially punished because they worked with Robert Half Legal as directed by court order, the court wrote. But the assertion ignores the plain language of the release.

That wont be the final word. The plaintiffs have appealed this part of the case to the First District Court of Appeal.

Its a huge bill for unnecessary work that we said all along is irrelevant, Felch said.

Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.Equity and logic would seem to dictate that state legislators should live in the districts they represent and thereby share their constituents daily experiences.

State law has said as much for many decades, and from time to time, individual lawmakers have been caught registering to vote in their districts but actually living somewhere else, either by their opponents or reporters.

Five years ago, for instance, a Sacramento Bee reporter shadowed Richard Pan, a Sacramento legislator, and found that after the boundaries of his Assembly district were altered by post-2010 census redistricting, he claimed a condo inside the new boundaries as his legal domicile but actually lived with his family outside the district.

As with most other such revelations, nothing happened to Pan. He went on to win a seat in the state Senate.

However, Rod Wright, a state senator from Los Angeles, was not so lucky. In 2010, a grand jury indicted Wright on eight counts of filing a false declaration of candidacy, voter fraud and perjury, alleging that he didnt live where he was registered to vote in his district. Four years later, he was convicted, sentenced to 90 days in jail (he spent just 71 minutes behind bars) and forced to resign.

Last August, in the dying moments of the 2018 legislative session, the Legislature approved a bill that would make future prosecutions of politicians for misstating their true places of residence almost impossible.

Building on a 1984 law with the same goal, the new legislation, Senate Bill 1250, basically said that wherever a politician registered to vote would be conclusively deemed to be his or her domicile. It specified a long list of factors, such as claiming a homeowners tax exemption for another home, that could not be cited to prove otherwise.

This bill is about allowing all legislators, who must travel and live in our state capital, to be effective leaders for our representative districts without the fear of being targeted by overzealous prosecutors or political adversaries, the measures author, Sen. Steven Bradford, a Los Angeles Democrat, wrote in a letter supporting the measure.

Gov. Jerry Brown not only signed SB 1250 but on the day before Thanksgiving included Wright in a long list of convicted felons granted gubernatorial pardons. Brown also pardoned Wright for a 1972 felony conviction for auto theft when he was 19.

Im elated, Wright said. It truly is a day of Thanksgiving for me. He had contended that the old law under which he was prosecuted was ambiguous.

Although he had to resign from the Senate, Wright is off the legal hook, joining other legislators, such as Pan, who have flouted the residency law without penalty.

It should be noted that while Democrats, including Brown, enacted SB 1250, their partys leaders tried this year to make residency an issue against Tom McClintock, a Republican congressman from the Sacramento area who lives outside his district, even though members of Congress are free to live outside their districts.

In 10 years, Tom McClintock has never voted for himself, because he doesnt live in our district, the narrator of an anti-McClintock video said as pictures of the congressman flashed on the screen.

The Legislature could have gone the other way, eliminating any ambiguity about residence in the previous law by making the requirement to live in ones district absolute.

Instead, Senate Bill 1250 is a virtual invitation for politicians to claim bogus residences as their official domiciles  effectively gaining the same dubious privilege that McClintock and other members of Congress enjoy.

CALmatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how Californias state Capitol works and why it matters. For more stories by Dan Walters, go to calmatters.org/commentary.For quite awhile this year, it seemed like open season on kidney dialysis patients, the more than 66,000 Californians who depend for life after kidney failure on getting their blood cleansed during sessions of three or more hours three times a week.

The most serious threat came from Proposition 8, which lost at the polls by a 6238 percent margin, but not before it became the years most expensive issue-oriented campaign in America, more than $120 million being spent on both sides.

There was also a threat this year from the Legislature, whose strong Democratic majorities are so much under the sway of labor unions that provide much of their campaign funding that they easily passed a measure threatening to throw dialysis patients off their health insurance plans if they accept third-party aid in paying their premiums.

Bear in mind, many dialysis patients are so exhausted and weakened by the constant blood exchanges they undergo that they cannot work, living on fixed disability payments and other forms of welfare. For many, premium assistance is the key to staying alive.

Fortunately for them, outgoing Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed this ill-advised measure sponsored by Democratic state Sen. Connie Leyva, whose Inland Empire district spans many miles between Pomona and San Bernardino.

This bill goes too far as it would permit health plans and insurers to refuse premium assistance payments and to choose which patients they will cover, Browns veto message said.

Spreading the alarm as the measure sped through committee after committee was the American Kidney Fund (AKF), largely funded by big dialysis companies that stood to lose under the measure. The AKF uses donations to give premium help for 74,000 dialysis patients in all 50 states, including almost 4,000 Californians.

Noting that the bill was largely backed by health insurance companies, a statement from the AKF called the Leyva bill a thinly veiled attempt by insurers to prevent kidney patients from being able to choose their own insurance plan if they accept charitable premium assistance.

The fund claimed the bills aim was to let insurance companies rid themselves of sicker and more costly patients. And make no mistake, dialysis is costly, often running more than $6,000 per month and sometimes more than $50,000.

That high cost was also the ostensible motivating factor behind Proposition 8, primarily sponsored by the Service Employees International Union, which would dearly like to recruit thousands of technicians and nurses working in Californias 550 dialysis clinics.

The measure claimed it would hold costs down by forbidding clinics from charging insurance companies for the work of physician medical directors vital to maintaining quality care. It also would not have allowed clinics to charge for the work of facility administrators, security personnel and professional services like accounting, payroll and legal expenses, all normally considered ordinary costs of doing business.

Cut those costs, the sponsors argued, and everyones health insurance premiums would drop. But the two largest owners of dialysis clinics in California, the German-based Fresenius Medical Care and Denver-based DaVita Corp. responded by saying the cuts would force them to close many clinics.

No one knows how many they would really have shuttered. But if they closed any significant number, the long rides many dialysis patients now endure several times a week before and after treatment would grow even longer and tax their depleted strength much more.

Fresenius and DaVita put their money where their mouths were by becoming the prime funders of the seemingly ubiquitous campaign against Proposition 8.

Had either of these proposals become state law, the lives of thousands of patients figured to become even more difficult.

So there was relief in the clinics when both measures ultimately failed. But there is no guarantee either wont be back, especially with a new governor taking office Jan. 3 and nobody quite sure how he might deal with similar measures if the Legislature puts them on his desk.

This means dialysis patients who are fit enough to track these developments  and many are not  cannot afford to relax completely even though the two immediate threats were not realized. They must remain wary and ready to respond again if and when similar dangers arise.

Thomas D. Elias writes the syndicated California Focus column. He is author of the book, The Burzynski Breakthrough: The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Governments Campaign to Squelch It.Baby boomers will most likely remember this hip 1968-1973 ABC crime drama produced by Aaron Spelling and Danny Thomas. The creator, Bud Buddy Ruskin, loosely based this ground-breaking cop drama storyline plot with his actual experience in the late 1950s as a police squad leader involved with young undercover narcotic agents.

The Mod Squad consisted of three young undercover copsone black, one white, and one blonde. Each of the three characters represented people involved with the counterculture youths of the Vietnam War era.

Michael Cole played long-haired Beverly Hills brat Pete Cochran. His wealthy parents evicted him from their home when he was arrested for stealing a car and put on probation. From a black family of 13 kids, Lincoln Linc Hayes (Clarence Williams III) was arrested at the Watts riots in Los Angeles. And finally, Julie Barnes (Peggy Lipton) was a flower child who ran away from her prostitute mothers home in San Francisco and was picked up for vagrancy.

As part of their probation, the outcast trio must report to police captain Adam Greer (Tige Andrews) and investigate criminal activity. Greer was responsible for forming the squad. He was a tough, but sympathetic, mentor to his unconventional unit. In return, they looked up to him as a father figure.

In many ways, this television program broke racial barriers between white culture and African-American. One white male, one black male, and a white blonde working together in the Los Angeles police department wouldve been considered taboo a decade earlier, with television programs like Amos n Andy and Beulah that depicted African-American characters with racial stereotype. This one brought ways to expanding our consciousness to new horizons about TV black characters into our living rooms at night.

In 1958, Bud Buddy Ruskin was given the green light by ABC Television Studios to write the script for The Mod Squad. A decade later, the 74-minute pilot, The Teeth of the Barracuda, was aired in the 1968 fall season, but it was edited to 50 minutes. However, the original unaired pilot has been fully restored and you can watch it in first season of the television crime drama series on DVD.

The three kids traveled around in Pete Cochrans old green Mercury Woody station wagon. At the end of the second season finale episode, The Death of Wild Bill Hannachek, the old Woody was burned up in a crash when the vehicle went over a cliff in a chase scene.

Weekly episodes dealt with counterculture issues. Soldiers returning from Vietnam with PTSD, abortion, student protest, illegal drug trade, racism, and other social issues brought the viewers back to watch the TV program each Tuesday night, then later it to changed to Thursday night.

Spelling intended the show to be about the relationship three young undercover agents shared with each other and Captain Greer. He promised viewers that the squad would never arrest a teenager or carry a gun.

In a particular scene, the script called for the black officer, Linc, to give a friendly kiss on the cheek of his Caucasian female partner, Julie Barnes. ABC Network executives were uptight about the scene and asked Spelling to cut it. He refused on the ground that an interracial kiss on television had already been seen by viewers in 1967 and fought them on the issue.

When push came to shove, he won. However, he was warned by the studio that hed receive angry letters from TV viewers. No letters came for Spelling on the kiss scene.

You may remember some famous slang words that came from the counterculture show. Keep the faithand solid were used by Linc. Other slang words from the program included: pad, dig it, or groovy.

The Mod Squad ran for five seasons, and earned six Emmy Award nominations. Four Golden Globe Award nominations also went to the ground-breaking police series. For her role as Barnes, Lipton won a Golden Globe nomination. A Directors Guild of American Award and four Logies were also given to the TV program.

On May 18, 1979, the ABC Network aired the TV reunion movie, The Return of Mod Squad, with the original cast. Lipton would act again with former Mod Squad cast member Williams III in another hit TV series. She was a regular on the short-lived 1990-91 Twin Peaks when she was reunited with Williams in two full episodes.

Carl G. White lives in Napa.Germany has repeatedly defended its participation in the Russian-European gas pipeline project despite criticism coming from the US, its European allies and Ukraine. After the recent incident off the coast of Crimea, when the Russian border control confronted Ukrainian ships, some conservatives in Germany claim this stance should be revised, Sputnik reported.

Germanys Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has spoken out against the countrys withdrawal from the venture project of Russias Gazprom and several European energy giants Nord Stream 2. He rebuffed criticism from lawmakers calling on the German government to drop out of the project in order to punish Moscow for seizing three Ukrainian ships in the Kerch Strait near Crimea late in November. Russia accused them of violating the Russian sea border and failing to react to legal demands to abandon dangerous manoeuvres.

The diplomat, representing the Angela Merkels Christian Democrats coalition partner Social Democrats (SPD), argued that the pipeline would be built even if Berlin pulled out. At the same time, in the case of leaving the project, Germany would lose its leverage to influence Russias energy policy, including gas transit via Ukraine.

"It would still be built, but there would not be anyone advocating for alternative gas transit through Ukraine. That is why we consider it important to remain engaged politically," Maas told journalistsPutin, Pashinyan and Aliyev making joint statement

Putin-Pashinyan meeting is underway

Meeting of leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia ends in Sochi

Armenia Fund's 24th Telethon helps raise nearly $12,351,000 in donations and pledges

Republican Party of Armenia: Capitulator didn't say a word about Karabakh's independence

Traffic is paralyzed in Verin Khotanan section of "Goris-Kapan" alternative road

Marketing Inecobank introduces BNPL, the latest trend in worldwide shopping, to Armenia

Azerbaijani SOCAR sets up petrol station on Armenia's Goris-Kapan motorway

Turkish court refuses to release Osman Kavala again

Erdogan: Armenia needs to appreciate the hand that is extended for peace

Armenia Liberation Movement initiative's rally kicks off at Republic Square in Yerevan

Armenia's newly appointed Deputy PM meets with Karabakh President

Russia's Putin: We are reaching agreement on demarcation and delimitation of Armenian-Azerbaijani border

NEWS am daily digest: 26.11.21

Armenia PM sends condolence telegram to Russia's Putin

Armenia President sends condolence telegram to Russian counterpart

Aliyev: Azerbaijan has offered the Armenian side to start working on peace treaty

Armenia Justice Ministry has new General Secretary

Armenia Parliament Speaker attends session of Council of CIS Interparliamentary Assembly

Putin: The aim of all our efforts is to create conditions for rebirth of region

Head of Armenia's Tatev village: During meeting with PM, I recommended creating self-defense forces in Syunik Province

CSTO Secretary-General sends congratulatory message to Armenia defense minister

Armenia ex-PM Vazgen Manukyan on Putin-Pashinyan-Aliyev meeting, possible outcomes

Turkologist: Aliyev is declaring Armenia's elimination, while Pashinyan still has doubts about that

Aliyev to Putin: It is important to work on a comprehensive settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations

Putin talks Russian-Azerbaijan strategic partnership development

Karabakh President sends condolence telegram to Russia President

Armenia Parliament Deputy Speaker receives China Ambassador

Putin: Russian peacekeepers play a positive role in Nagorno-Karabakh

Peskov: Putin-Aliyev talks underway in Sochi

Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia leaders' meeting kicks off in Sochi

Sochi: Moscow expects it will be possible to outline directions to normalize Yerevan-Baku relations

Six people were apprehended during Yerevan protests

Nikol Pashinyan arrives in Sochi

Armenia confirms reports that Azerbaijan transferred 2 POWs

Putin highlights importance of Russia-China cooperation in science

Pashinyan's second negotiator with Azerbaijan was Hrachya Tashchyan

Aliyev arrives to Sochi for talks with Putin and Pashinyan

Azerbaijan informs about transfer of 2 POWs to Armenia

675 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Armenia per day

PM Pashinyan leaves for Russia on a working visit

Zatulin: Last year's war in Karabakh caused tremendous damage to not only Armenia, but also Russia

Alexander Rahr: In regard to Karabakh conflict, West will support territorial integrity

Russian political scientist: Moscow not concerned about Pashinyan-Aliyev meeting in Brussels

Armenia acting commander of battalion arrested under criminal case of regarding Nov. 16 attack

Turkish aggressor declares that Armenia 'needs to assess extended hand for peace as a chance'

Armenian analyst says Iran is not interested in transfer of any sector of Armenia

Armenian official: MFA hasn't raised issue to review CEPA with regard to Karabakh

Deputy mayor of Armenia's Goris: I have deeper concerns after meeting with PM

Matviyenko: Borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan are precise on Soviet maps

Armenian analyst: Part of Armenia's Goris-Kapan motorway does not pass through Azerbaijani territory

Zatulin: Opening or closure of this or that corridor is the sovereign right of Armenia, not Baku

Zakharova: Russia sees good prospects for agreement on unblocking of transport links in South Caucasus

Russian MFA: Conversation of experts of Moscow, Yerevan and Baku is important

Azerbaijani planes still flying through Armenia's airspace (PHOTOS)

NEWS.am daily digest: 25.11.21

Armenia 2nd President: I have decided not to attend 30th session of Hayastan All-Armenian Fund's Board of Trustees

Armenian-Russian joint military exercise held, air force used (PHOTOS)

Czech President Milos Zeman discharged from military hospital

Armenian opposition party leader calls on people to free state institutions of 'Turks'

Beijing protested over US sanctions against Chinese companies

European Commissioner says EU will soon change its border crossing rules due to COVID-19

Armenian army's General Staff ex-deputy chief: War is very likely, but it is rare that there will be corridor

Armenian political party leader: There is a need for a national unity committee in Armenia

Armenian MFA: Coronavirus has decelerated course of implementation of Armenia-EU CEPA

Armenia Parliament Speaker meets with IFRC Europe Regional Director in St. Petersburg

Armenia Constitutional Court ex-chief of staff proposes to hold parliamentary hearings under non-stop regime

Armenia high-tech industry minister: There is no need to wiretap opposition members

Aram Vardevanyan: Armenia health minister was obliged to attend session of Constitutional Court today

Zakharova says she has no comment on upcoming meeting of Russian, Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders

Zakharova: Russia is interested in normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations

Latest developments in Artsakh among issues to be discussed during Turkish National Security Council's session

Armenian FM holds phone talk with Israeli counterpart

Protests continue in Turkey with demand for Erdogan's resignation

Armenia allocates AMD 1.44 billion to Karabakh

COVID-19 in Armenia: 42 new deaths

Russian peacekeepers ensure control in Nagorno-Karabakh

Parliamentary hearings on demarcation and delimitation being held in Yerevan

Ambartsum Matevosyan appointed Armenian deputy PM

EU, WHO provide Yerevan's Surb Grigor Lusavorich Medical Center with state-of-the-art X-ray machineYEREVAN.  Even though the already dissolved National Assembly (NA) of Armenia shall convene Tuesday for the last time for its regular session, there is no respective quorum yet.

Solely 12 MPs were registered at the start of the sitting, whereas 53 deputies need to be in attendance in order to kick off the session.

There are five matters on the sessions agenda. But the most noteworthy matter is with respect to whether the legislature will give its consent for launching criminal proceedings against former ruling Republican Party of Armenias NA Faction member Aram Harutyunyan, and for detaining him.

As reported earlier, Prosecutor General Artur Davtyan on Monday petitioned to the NA, and with a request to give its consent for launching criminal proceedings against Harutyunyan, and for remanding him in custody.

Aram Harutyunyan is accused of taking a $14mn bribe.

Armenia attorney general submits petition to parliament for consenting to remand MP in custodyThe My Step alliances MP candidates, led by acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, on Tuesday are meeting with voters in Tsaghkahovit community of Aragatsotn Province, and within the framework of their campaign rallies for the upcoming snap parliamentary election in Armenia.

Subsequently, the My Step team will continue their campaigning in Aparan, Ashtarak, Armavir, Metsamor and Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin) cities of this province.

Pashinyan has taken a leave until Wednesday, to take part in the election campaign of this alliance.

Nikol Pashinyan, as well as acting First Deputy Prime Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, and National Assembly Way Out (Yelk) Faction Head Lena Nazaryan are the top three, respectively, on the electoral list of My Step alliance.

Campaign season for the upcoming snap National Assembly (NA) election kicked off in Armenia on November 26.

The campaign season will conclude on Friday, whereas Saturday is election silence day, and Sundayelection day

Eleven political forcestwo alliances and nine partiesare running for parliament.

As a result of this election, the NA seats will be distributed proportionally among the political forces that have passed the respective minimum thresholds: 5% for parties, and 7% for alliances.YEREVAN.  The Criminal Court of Appeal of Armenia on Tuesday continues the consideration of the appeal on overturning the court decision on remandingand on the grounds of presidential immunitysecond President Robert Kocharyan in custody.

At Mondays court session, Hayk Alumyan, one of Kocharyans attorneys, filed an appeal, whereupon the prosecutionincluding Prosecutor General Artur Davtyanmade objections.

The consideration of the appeal on overturning the court decision on remanding Kocharyan in custody had started on November 27. Since then, six prosecutors, including the attorney generalwhich is unprecedented in Armenian judicial practicehave attended these court sessions.

Second President Robert Kocharyan has been charged within the framework of the criminal case into the tragic events that transpired in capital city Yerevan on March 1 and 2, 2008and under Article 300.1 Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code; that is, breaching Armenias constitutional order, in conspiracy with others.

On July 27, Kocharyan was remanded in custody for two months by a court decision. But on August 13, the Court of Appeal granted Robert Kocharyans legal defenders appeal to commute the first-instance courts decision on remanding their client in custody, and Kocharyan was released from courtroom on the grounds that he had presidential immunity.

But on November 15, the Court of Cassation overturned the Criminal Court of Appeal decision on remandingand on the grounds of presidential immunityRobert Kocharyan in custody, and the case was sent to the same court for a retrial.

On March 1 and 2, 2008, the then authorities of Armenia used force against the opposition members who were rallying in downtown Yerevan, and against the results of the then recent presidential election. Eight demonstrators as well as two servicemen of the internal troops were killed in the clashes. But no one had been brought to account for these deaths, to this day.Now a [political] force has come to Armenia, the Sasna Tsrer, who wants to work with Russia; but with pride, maintaining clear, negotiating, discussing; and Russia will respect.

Political scientist Stepan Grigoryan, who is second on the electoral list of Sasna Tsrer party, on Tuesday noted the aforementioned during their talk with voters in Tsovagyugh village, and within the framework of their campaign rallies for Sundays snap parliamentary election in Armenia.

Grigoryan stressed that that although Sasna Tsrer has not yet entered the next parliament, Russia already takes the existence of this political force into consideration.

Why was it that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin said, lets move the December 6? he asked, and responded himself. Since at the CSTO session [on that day], they would have rejected what Armenia wanted [selecting its representative as the next CSTO Secretary General]; thats not a big secret. Putin thought, If I reject, [Armenias Acting PM] Nikol Pashinyans positions will worsen. But Nikol Pashinyan is better for us than the Sasna Tsrer; its position is tougher.

Grigoryan added that the Sasna Tsrer party respects the peoples vote, and it aims to oversee ministers and provincial governors that they realize that they are servants of the people.Today the education system in Armenia is in a tragic situation.

Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who also heads the electoral list of My Step alliance, stated the aforesaid during their assembly with the residents of Tsaghkahovit community in Aragatsotn Province, and within the framework of their campaign rallies for Sundays snap parliamentary election in the country.

In his words, there are over 8,000 teachers in Armenia who receive very low salaries.

[And] the work motivation of a teacher getting such salary is completely lost, Pashinyan added.

He pointed to two reasons for this situation.

First, the school funding system where there are factors that are not taken into account, the acting PM stressed. [And] the second is the sinister corruption.

[But] we will improve, we will change this situation, Nikol Pashinyan stated.The Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU) reports that seven Australian Members of Parliament have spoken in favour of a motion that honoured the 70th Anniversary of the adoption of the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide.

The motion also honoured the author of the Convention, Dr. Raphael Lemkin, stating he coined the word genocide, informed by his study of the systematic extermination of the Armenians during World War I and the Jews during World War II.

The motion was introduced in the Australian Parliament's Federation Chamber on 3rd December 2018 by Liberal MP Tim Wilson (the Member for Goldstein)  who is of Armenian ancestry, and it was seconded by Labor MP Chris Hayes (Member for Fowler). Government MPs to join Wilson in speaking for the motion included Julian Leeser (Member for Berowra), Jason Falinski (Member for Mackellar) and Michael Sukkar (Member for Deakin). Hayes was joined by fellow non-Government MPs, including Michael Danby (Member for Melbourne Ports) and Tony Zappia (Member for Makin).

All seven MPs spoke in favour of the motion honouring the 70th Anniversary of the UN Genocide Convention, with most speakers using this debate as an opportunity to call on Australia  as one of the first nations to ratify the Convention  to recognise the Armenian Genocide.

This debate was a worthy tribute to the UN Genocide Convention, which was adopted 70 years ago, said ANC-AU Executive Director, Haig Kayserian. It honoured the Australians who played part in its process, led by President of the General Assembly Doc Evatt, and it also honoured Dr. Raphael Lemkin.

We thank all speakers in this debate who unanimously endorsed the motion, which signalled a clear rejection of the 'genocide' word games by Australia's House of Representatives, said Kayserian. This motion clearly articulates that the word 'genocide' and what happened to the Armenians are undeniably linked since the creation of the word itself.

Tim Wilson, who is of Armenian ancestry, began the process by stating his privilege to move the motion to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the UN Genocide Convention as a man of Armenian heritage, a representative of a large Jewish-Australian electorate and as an Australian with knowledge of the exemplary relief effort made to help Armenian Genocide survivors from down-under.

Wilson said: ... as the only member of this house of Armenian descent, I remain fundamentally disappointed that our national parliament doesn't fully acknowledge the horror and tragedy of the genocide against the Armenians. I would hope that we would acknowledge the genocide against all people where they occur.

He added: Healing is enlivened when you cauterise a wound, because you clean it and you recognise that the damage that has been done is a pathway to healing. Acknowledging and honouring those who lost their lives and making sure that those who committed the crime are held to account and no longer feel that they can get away with it without proper critique, criticism and condemnation from the international community are critical to stopping future genocides.There are people who have said that they have come to Armenia specifically for participating in these elections, and to vote for My Step; this means that our message has reached its destination, and we plan to organize an immense repatriation.

Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who also heads the electoral list of My Step alliance, noted the aforementioned during their assembly with the residents of Tsaghkahovit community in Aragatsotn Province, and within the framework of their campaign rallies for Sundays snap parliamentary election in the country.

In his words, major investments shall be made to develop cattle breeding in Armenia.

Armenias economy needs to be export-oriented, Pashinyan said. Our meat is highly valued [abroad], and we need to seriously think toward increasing the volume of meat exports from Armenia.

Pashinyan stated that, to resolve all these matters, an economic revolution should be carried out in the country.

We will never ever rig elections, even by one vote, the acting PM added. We will not debase the revolution of love and solidarity by way of keeping power with tooth and nail.Professor of Armenian studies at Clark University in Massachusetts Taner Akcam has launched a digital archive documenting the Armenian Genocide.

Taner Akcam, the Robert Aram and Marianne Kaloosdian and Stephen and Marian Mugar Professor in Armenian Genocide Studies at Clark Universitys Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, recently collaborated with Turkish experts and graduate students on a digital repository that makes Krikor Guerguerians vast collection of incriminating documents available to scholars worldwide, says the statement posted on the official website of the University.

The newly launched Krikor Guerguerian Archive comprises thousands of original Ottoman documents and Guerguerians extensive, unpublished writings. It includes the long-missing handwritten memoirs of Naim Bey, an Ottoman bureaucrat stationed in Aleppo who actively participated in the deportation and massacres of Armenians; documents from the Jerusalem Armenian Patriarchate containing first-hand information about the Armenian genocide; and critical papers from the Istanbul perpetrator trials held from 1919 to 1922 that were long assumed vanished.

Among the most noteworthy materials are ciphered telegrams that the Ottoman Interior Minister Talat Pasha, army commanders, and the chief of the governments paramilitary sent to governors throughout the Empire. Some of these telegrams, written on government letterhead stamped with the official Ottoman seal, clearly outline the Ottoman governments planning and execution of the genocide. These killing orders, considered the smoking gun of the Armenian Genocide, formed the basis of Akcams groundbreaking book Killing Orders: Talat Pashas Telegrams and the Armenian Genocide, released earlier this year.

Professor Akcam was granted access to the unpublished collection in 2015 by Dr. Edmund Guerguerian, nephew of Fr. Guerguerian, and he has worked diligently to ensure that other scholars of the Armenian Genocide have access to these important documents. He engaged his doctoral candidates Ani Ohanian, Anna Aleksanyan, and Burcin Gercek, and former students Umit Kurt, Ph.D. 16 and Emre Can Dagloglu in an effort to create and launch the digital archive. The group collaborated with others in Paris and Istanbul to translate materials into English.

Access to these materials has the potential to change scholarly and political discourse as well as to destroy Turkish denial, wrote Professor Akcam. It is my duty to make this evidence accessible for the world to see.

Funding for the creation of the Krikor Guerguerian Archive was provided by the Caloust Gulbenkian Foundation, the Jirair Nishanian Foundation, the Armenian General Benevolent Union, the Knights & Daughters of Vartan, and the Dadourian Foundation.YEREVAN.  A SU-25 military jet of the Armenian Armed Forces has been found in the mountains near the town of Maralik in northeastern Armenia.

The plane has crashed killing two pilots  Lieutenant Colonel Armen Babayan and Major Movses Manukyan, the spokesperson for the Defense Ministry Artsrun Hovhannisyan said on Facebook.

Earlier the ministry said the contact with the plane was lost at around 10:20.

The jet took off at 10:06 from the Gyumri airport for a regular training flight.STEPANAKERT.  The OSCE Mission conducted a planned monitoring of the ceasefire regime on the Line of Contact between the armed forces of Artsakh and Azerbaijan, to the south-east from Kuropatkino settlement of the Martuni region on Tuesday in accordance with the arrangement reached with the authorities of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh Republic).

From the positions of the Defense Army of the Republic of Artsakh, the monitoring was conducted by Field Assistants to the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office (CiO) Mihail Olaru (Moldova) and Ghenadie Petrica (Moldova), as well as staff member of the Office of the CiO Personal Representative Martin Schuster (Germany).

From the opposite side of the Line of Contact, the monitoring was conducted by Field Assistant to the Personal Representative of the OSCE CiO Ognjen Jovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Personal Assistant to the CiO Personal Representative Simon Tiller (Great Britain).

The monitoring passed in accordance with the agreed schedule.

From the Artsakh side, the monitoring mission was accompanied by representatives of the Republic of Artsakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defense.The My Step alliances MP candidates, led by acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, on Tuesday are meeting with voters in Armavir city of Armavir Province, and within the framework of their campaign rallies for Sundays snap parliamentary election in Armenia.

Subsequently, the My Step team will continue their campaigning in Metsamor and Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin) cities of this province.

Earlier in the day, they campaigned in Aparan and Ashtarak cities of Aragatsotn Province.

Pashinyan has taken a leave until Wednesday, to take part in the election campaign of this alliance.

Nikol Pashinyan, as well as acting First Deputy Prime Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, and National Assembly Way Out (Yelk) Faction Head Lena Nazaryan are the top three, respectively, on the electoral list of My Step alliance.The largest US oil company Exxon Mobil is preparing to leave a major oil and gas project in Azerbaijan, Reuters reported.

According to the source, Exxon hopes to raise up to $2 billion from the sale of its 6.8% in the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) field in the Caspian Sea.

Exxon Mobil spokesperson Julie King rejected to comment on the issue. We dont comment on market rumors or speculation.

A spokesman for Azerbaijans state energy company Socar said: The report is about Exxon and there is no need for Socar to get involved.EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, Federica Mogherini, hosted the acting Foreign Minister of Armenia, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, in Brussels on Tuesday.

They discussed the upcoming parliamentary elections in Armenia, which will take place on 9 December, and the need for them to be credible, inclusive and transparent.

They also discussed the implementation of the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement between the European Union and Armenia, one week after the first Partnership Committee meeting took place in Yerevan. Full implementation of the Agreement would help to accompany and support the reform and modernisation processes in Armenia. The High Representative and the Minister looked forward to a number of expert meetings ahead of the next EU-Armenia Partnership Council.

Federica Mogherini and Zohrab Mnatsakanyan discussed prospects for a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in accordance with the principles and norms of international law. They also exchanged on wider regional dynamics, and in particular the full and effective implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action  the Iran nuclear deal, as well as on the conflict in Syria.The European Film Festival award ceremony was held at Sergei Parajanov Museum in Yerevan on Tuesday.

New award-winning films from 11 European member states were screened in Armenia, four films were aired in Armenias Shirak and Dilijan provinces, discussions and trainings were organized by EU member states embassies. Four international specialists were brought to Armenia, who held meetings and discussions with the Armenian audience.

The awards have been broken in several categories: EU&Me photo contest, Screenwriting competition for the emerging talents and Documentary Storytelling with a Personal Voice.

Paul Fraser, a UK specialist in cinematography held the 5-day workshop on Screenwriting, the participants of the 5-day workshop presented their outcomes of the workshop to the jury. UK Ambassador to Armenia Ms Judith Farnworth handed over the awards to Harutyun Virabyan, Nairi Haghverdi and Artavazd Yeghiazaryan.

Johanna Bernhardson, a Swedish filmmaker specializing in short documentaries and essay-films, conducted a three-day training session for learners at TUMO as a tool for creative networking aimed at the improvement of their documentary storytelling skills.

The best piece of work was selected at the workshop. The award was handed over by Mr. Martin Fredriksson, Charge d' affaires of the Swedish Embassy to Vahe Sargsyan, Maria Sargsyan, Lia Karapetyan.

EU ambassador to Armenia Pyotr Switalski expressed his gratitude to the organizers for holding such an event in Armenia.

This is the first EU film festival after a long break. This festival has brought something new to the calendar of cultural events in Armenia and was very useful for the Armenian audience. As I promised at the beginning, European movies have a special grant and sometimes they were not so easy to digest, the EU envoy said adding the purpose of this festival is also to make the bridge between Armenia and the rest of us even stronger.

The event was also attended by EU member states ambassadors, guests of the festival and representatives of partner organizations.The agreed policy to regulate the Internet markets, the development of network technologies, the formation of common markets for oil, gas and petroleum products will be discussed at the upcoming meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in St. Petersburg on December 6, TASS reported.

The meeting will be chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.

The leaders will hear a report by the chair of the board of the Eurasian Economic Commission on the implementation of the digital agenda until 2025, which envisages the implementation of a coherent policy on Internet market regulation and network technology development by the countries. The program of forming common oil and gas markets by 2025 will be submitted to the Eurasian Economic Union leaders for consideration, he said.

According to him, during the upcoming meeting the distribution of fees among the Eurasian Economic member states, as well as possibilities for the further development of integration processes will be discussed.

According to the aide, the presidents of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia's acting Prime Minister as well as President of Moldova Igor Dodon will take part in the meeting.Two pilots were killed as a SU-25 military jet of the Armenian Armed Forces crashed in in the mountains in northeastern Armenia.

Lieutenant Colonel Armen Babayan and Major Movses Manukyan were killed.

The contact with the plane that was conducting a regular training flight was lost at around 10:20 am. An investigation has been launched.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and acting Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan discussed the upcoming parliamentary elections in Armenia during their meeting in Brussels on December 4.

They also discussed the implementation of the EU-Armenia agreement, one week after the first Partnership Committee meeting took place in Yerevan. The High Representative and the Minister looked forward to a number of expert meetings ahead of the next EU-Armenia Partnership Council.

The Karabakh conflict and other regional issues were on the agenda.

The session of the already dissolved Armenian parliament was not convened for lack of a quorum.

There were several matters on the sessions agenda, but the most noteworthy matter was with respect to whether the legislature would give its consent for launching criminal proceedings against former ruling Republican Party of Armenias NA Faction member Aram Harutyunyan.

Aram Harutyunyan is accused of taking a $14mn bribe.

Armenia is among ten countries that have the highest levels of militarization for 2017, the Global Militarization Index released by the Bonn International Center for Conversion shows.

The ten countries that have the highest levels of militarization for the year 2017 are Israel, Singapore, Armenia, Cyprus, South Korea, Russia, Greece, Jordan, Brunei and Belarus. According to the report, Armenia is also the most militarized country in Europe.

Azerbaijan is 12th in the list.

Seven Australian Members of Parliament have spoken in favour of a motion that honoured the 70th Anniversary of the adoption of the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide.

Most speakers used this debate as an opportunity to call on Australia  as one of the first nations to ratify the Convention  to recognise the Armenian Genocide.

The motion was introduced in the by Liberal MP Tim Wilson who is of Armenian ancestry.Four people have been killed since yellow vest protests began on November 17, said French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe.

According to Business Insider, over 260 have been wounded, while more than 400 have been arrested.

As reported earlier, the protests have been unfolded since November 17 against fuel price rises. Over 100 thousand people were participating in protests.

French President Emmanuel Macron has already said that the authorities understand the concerns of people, but will not change course. According to him, there are plans to increase the cost of renewable energy and reduce the share of atomic energy by 50% by 2035.Should We Leave Our Schools

and Churches Unprotected?

By Rob Morse. November 28th, 2018

Original Source

No one ignores the mass murder of children. We all have an opinion about how to protect our kids. Lets also face facts; we would have solved the problem of dead children in our schools and in our churches if the solution were easy. Unfortunately, lots of the opinions we see in social media are little more than shallow reasons to stop thinking about a hard and unpleasant problem. Lets get past that. Lets open our ears and work past our rationalizations.

What excuses have you heard people use so they dont have to think deeply about protecting people they love? What fantasies are people clinging to so that they feel safe in an unsafe world? This isnt a problem of deep thought, but of shallow words. Here are a few of the obvious examples, and Id like your help with the rest.

-We dont need guns in our schools because only the police should defend us.

You mean we need people like the School Resource Officer in Florida who walked away while a murderer was killing kids inside his high school? In other attacks, the murderers waited for the uniformed officer to leave campus or they attacked the uniformed officer first. Why do you think that is a good idea?

-Teachers shouldnt have guns in school because they are not trained like the police.

You are right; teachers and law enforcement officers are not trained the same. Would it change your mind that armed teacher training programs have higher shooting standards for school staff than for the police? ... .......

The reasons (excuses) given for not having armed teachers in schools and armed church attendees etc are many, and for the most part predictable. Can we say "broken record?" Rob Morse lays out many examples and requests comment input on his page for any he might have missed. When it comes to saving lives, most negative statements are pretty lame and yet if taken further with logical discussion can be usefully and easily exposed.

Back to Top

Armenia's acting Prime Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, who is in Belgium on a working visit, met on December 4 with Belgian Deputy Prime Minister - Foreign Minister Didier Reynders, the press service of the MFA Armenia reported.

Highly assessing the traditionally high level of bilateral and multilateral close cooperation, the Foreign Ministers of the two countries reaffirmed the readiness to take measures to further deepen and develop the cooperation in different spheres, particularly in the sphere of trade and economy. The interlocutors exchanged views on further enhancing partnership agenda, pointing out innovation, high technologies and creative education as priority directions.

Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Didier Reynders expressed satisfaction over the cooperation between the two countries and mutual support in international institutions. Armenia-EU relations were also touched upon during the meeting. Acting FM Mnatsakanyan emphasized that the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement opens new opportunities for Armenia-EU cooperation.

Mnatsakanyan presented to his counterpart the recent domestic political developments in Armenia. Referring to the upcoming parliamentary elections, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan emphasized the commitment of the Government of Armenia to hold them free and fair that will meet the international standards.

A number of regional and international issues were also touched upon during the meeting, including the situation in Syria and the recent developments over Irans nuclear program.

The acting Foreign Minister of Armenia presented the approaches and position of Armenia on Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement. In this context the sides highlighted that the conflict should be settled through exclusively peaceful means in the sidelines of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chair format, which is the only internationally authorized format.

At the end of the meeting Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Didier Reynders signed the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Armenia and the Kingdom of Belgium on the remunerated work of family members of diplomatic missions and consular officers.YEREVAN.  Informing about his telephonic conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding the election of the next Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Secretary General, Armenias Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said they had agreed that a CSTO session will not take place until 2019, and that the matter will be resolved in a working order, Hraparak (Square) newspaper reported.

What does that mean? we asked an [Armenian] MFA source. That is, you can resolve the matter in the period between the CSTO sessions, and the sessions take place once every half a year. Many matters are resolved with that order.

Will the new CSTO secretary be elected through working discussions? Its hard to say. [But] one thing is clear: this situation [negatively] affects the image of the CSTO, [and] which doesnt stem from Russias interests. And it seems Putin has taken upon his hand the resolving of the matter; his call to Pashinyan proves that, Hraparak wrote.

In November, Armenian authorities recalled the countrys representative Yuri Khachaturov from the office of CSTO Secretary General.

Khachaturov has been charged in Armenia within the framework of the criminal case into the tragic events that transpired in capital city Yerevan on March 1 and 2, 2008.

On March 1 and 2, 2008, the then authorities of Armenia used force against the opposition members who were rallying in downtown Yerevan, and against the results of the then recent presidential election. Eight demonstrators as well as two servicemen of the internal troops were killed in the clashes. But no one had been brought to account for these deaths, to this day.In todays fast moving and continuous news cycle, consumers are bombarded with stories, images, tweets, opinions and more each day. With new technologies, images and video can be easily manipulated to influence public opinion.

So can we accept news items on face value? How do people determine which news is real and which is fake? Several faculty in the University of Miami School of Communication explore the issue for News@TheU.

What is fake news?

Fake news is a term that is widely misunderstood and misused. Is it a deliberate lie? Is it propaganda? Is it motivated by money or a desire to mislead? Is it a good-faith mistake? It is not a good-faith mistake. Often it is a deliberate effort to mislead. Sometimes it is the work of an advocate who will not or cannot see with impartiality. The producers of fake news try to make their work look authentic, just as forgers have done throughout history. I think we should stop using the term fake news. If it is a lie, call it a lie. If it is propaganda, information slanted to achieve a goal, call it propaganda. Fake news is a muddled term. And it muddles our thinking.

- Joseph B. Treaster, professor in the Department of Journalism and Media Management, School of Communication

When current administration members  including the President  use that term, what do they mean?

When members of the current administration use the term, they are referring to real news they don't agree with. And their strategy is working  you say something enough and some people will begin to believe it's true. If Donald Trump calls a front page story about his mood since the midterms being bleak "disgusting fake news," his followers will say that the media is "disgusting." Ironically, it's the Trump administration that is releasing fake documents to support its positions. After CNN reporter Jim Acosta was banned from the White House, spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders knowingly tweeted a doctored video attempting to make Acosta look aggressive toward an intern. Side-by-side comparisons of actual video and the tweeted video show the latter had been sped up at times to make it look like the reporter was karate-chopping the intern when she was trying to take the mic away and the reporter's comment  "Pardon me, ma'am," had been edited out. That's pure propaganda that any reputable media outlet would never knowingly publish.

- Heidi Carr, lecturer, School of Communication

Is social media and the Internet an easy target to manipulate news? Why?

Social media and the Internet allows for easy creation and publication of unverified newsworthy content. Readers often fail to detect fake news and share it with their online network. Fake news can then reach more people more quickly than was possible in the past. The rapid and widespread sharing of false information online may cause considerable harm to individuals and society.

- Barbara Millet, research assistant professor, and Cong Li, associate dean for graduate studies, School of Communication



Social media is everything in the media world today  it's how someone creating a fake story in Macedonia or deep in the woods of Maine can write a made-up story and see it go viral within an hour. Its just let me see what the suckers will buy into today and poof, 10,000 clicks later people are calling Chelsea Clinton and Michelle Obama trailer trash on Facebook for giving Donald Trump the middle finger  which I hasten to clarify they did not do. How many times have we clicked "Like" on a post without really reading it? Or shared something that fit our beliefs?Certainly, there have been improvements since 2016, such as Facebook, Apple, Spotify and YouTube banning Alex Jones and other conspiracy content, but a lie going viral is just a click away.



- Heidi Carr, lecturer, School of Communication

How can we as consumers of news weed the wheat from the chaff?

Check the source. It is important to evaluate news credibility by inspecting the source. Is the news being provided by a legitimate publisher? Is the author a professional journalist?Inspect the quality of the content. Spelling and grammatical errors are red flags. Additionally, fake news headlines are often in all caps and tend to use excessive punctuation.Read beyond the headlines. Most people only read the headlines. But what is the whole story? Reading beyond the headline may reveal clues about the legitimacy of the story. Dont rely on solely social endorsements or commentary. A story being viewed, liked, shared, and commented by many online users does not necessarily mean that the story is real. Fake news may get large numbers of views, likes, shares, and comments on social media.Dont share fake news. Fake news spreads quickly and widely, mostly because people share it. A straightforward way of reducing the negative effect of fake news is not to share it with others.

- Barbara Millet, research assistant professor, and Cong Li, associate dean for graduate studies, School of Communication

To protect yourself against fake news, evaluate everything you read or hear. Does the information seem credible? Does the publication or broadcaster advocate a certain point of view? Look for a second and third source on the same report. People who devote their lives to journalism do not create fake news. They sometimes make mistakes. When they become aware of their mistakes they correct them. A few journalists have created hoaxes. When theyve been discovered, theyve been driven out of journalism.

To find out whats going on in the world, try to set aside your own biases. Absorb the facts in a story first, then think about the impact. Dont regard a story as going after someone. Regard it as a report on what happened to someone, or what someone did. Thats how traditional journalists report a story. They find out what happened and report that. They can be sued for libel if they set out deliberately to harm someone with a false report.

- Joseph B. Treaster, professor in the Department of Journalism and Media Management, School of Communication

What are the implications for our society if fake news is treated like real news?

There have already been repercussions. Trump's "enemy of the people" rhetoric is egging on foreign dictators to crack down on free expression. Earlier this year, Egypt passed a "fake news" law that allows the country to prosecute any journalist it accuses of writing false information and Singapore is now working on a similar law. Vietnam has begun fining news websites and shutting them down on charges that they were spreading false news about the government. Kazakhstan officials have raided a magazine's office. Russia passed a law that allows the government to shut down any website that posts defamatory information about public officials, like Vladimir Putin. Malaysia has convicted foreign journalists for criticizing the government on social media. Look at what happened to Washington Postcorrespondent Jamal Khashoggi. He was killed and dismembered after writing stories critical of the Saudi monarchy.

- Heidi Carr, lecturer, School of Communication

Distorted information is harmful to all of us. It complicates decision-making. It creates uncertainty, confusion, and frustration. Some people may decide they cant trust anything they hear or read and just dropout, cruise along in their own world. That is bad for democracy. It puts us all at risk.

- Joseph B. Treaster, professor in the Department of Journalism and Media Management, School of Communication

There is very little scientific evidence on the impact of fake news on society. However, it is widely believed that widespread disinformation causes considerable harm to individuals and society. Fake news has the potential to breed distrust and induce biased perceptions and behaviors.

- Barbara Millet, research assistant professor, and Cong Li, associate dean for graduate studies, School of CommunicationNew York Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is pushing hard on her demands that Congress pay its staffers and interns a living wage.

The Democrat, who has vowed to pay her interns at least $15 an hour, shared her concerns Tuesday in response to a viral tweet pointing out how lawmakers seeking unpaid interns are excluding everyone but those rich enough to work for free.

Gotta love the rich irony of Congressmen asking How are you going to pay for it? suddenly grow awfully quiet when called out on their expectation that part-time workers magically invent money to work for free https://t.co/303cx5DpvA  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) December 3, 2018

Her remarks on Tuesday follow similar concerns she raised the day before when she met Capitol Hill staffers and interns who said they were working second jobs at a restaurant to make ends meet.

It is unjust for Congress to budget a living wage for ourselves, yet rely on unpaid interns & underpaid overworked staff to help carry the workload, she wrote.

This week I went to dive spot in DC for some late night food. I chatted up the staff.



SEVERAL bartenders, managers, & servers *currently worked in Senate + House offices.*



This is a disgrace. Congress of ALL places should raise MRAs so we can pay staff an actual DC living wage.  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) December 3, 2018

It is unjust for Congress to budget a living wage for ourselves, yet rely on unpaid interns & underpaid overworked staff just bc Republicans want to make a statement about fiscal responsibility.



If thats the case, they can cut down on staff to pay them well. Or raise the MRA.  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) December 3, 2018

A study last year by the advocacy group Pay Our Interns found that only 51 percent of Republican senators offer paid internships and just 31 percent of Democrats do. Things are much worse over in the House, where just 8 percent of Republican interns are paid and a measly 3.6 percent of Democrats interns are.

Story continues

The Democrats have begun to make strides on this issue elsewhere, however. Earlier this year, the Democratic National Committee began paying its interns, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced it would do so too after its unpaid workers organized a joint complaint.

Members of Congress who choose not to pay their interns dont have much of an excuse going forward. In September, Congress approved a spending bill that set aside nearly $14 million for lawmakers to pay their interns, including $8.8 million for the House and $5 million for the Senate.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Sen. Bernie Sanders gathered the climate change faithful for a star-studded town hall meeting in Washington on Dec. 3. (Photo: Fortune)

WASHINGTON  Two years can be a split second in geological time and an eternity in politics, but it may also be just long enough for an issue ignored in one election to reach center stage in the next.

At least, thats the bet Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is making.

On Monday the Vermont senator packed two rooms of the Hart Senate Office Building for a star-studded town hall meeting on climate change, demonstrating a knowledge and urgency not yet seen from any Democrat likely to challenge President Donald Trump in two years.

Tonight we are dealing with what the scientific community tells us is the great crisis facing our planet and facing humanity, Sanders said in his opening statement. That is climate change.

Speakers included 350.org founder Bill McKibben, The Green Collar Economy author Van Jones, activist and Big Little Lies star Shailene Woodley, climate scientist Brenda Ekwurzel, activist and musician Xiuhtezcatl Martinez and Mayor Dale Ross of deep-red Georgetown, Texas, whose pragmatic embrace of newly cheap renewable energy has made him a poster boy for how Republicans could quit climate change denialism.

Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who has made championing a so-called Green New Deal her first priority since arriving in Washington, emerged as the fiercest voice on the panel Monday.

This is going to be the Great Society, the moon shot, the civil rights movement of our generation, she said. That is the scale of the ambition that this movement is going to require.

In the 2016 presidential election, Sanders staked out the most ambitious climate platform of any candidate, vowing to slash carbon dioxide pollution 40 percent by 2030, end fossil fuel subsidies and ban fracking. Despite stark policy differences with his chief rival in the primaries  former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton supported fracking and raised twice as much from the oil and gas industry as her Republican opponent  climate change remained a policy backwater in the election.

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Now Sanders seems bent on making climate change the central issue of a second White House run as his advisers openly speculate about when, not if, he declares his 2020 candidacy. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), another big-name progressive expected to run, outlined a climate policy in the form of a bill to require public companies disclose financial risk from warming or regulations to curb emissions.

The event on Monday  broadcast live on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter  was designed to propel the senator to the front of a crowded field of likely presidential contenders on an issue urgent to the young and to communities of color, who bear the brunt of increased air pollution and more extreme weather.

In 2016, Senator Sanders made addressing climate change a critical part of his bold plan for the United States, and has been talking about the very real threats presented by a changing climate for the past three decades, Dulce Anayasaenz, a co-founder of Organizing for Bernie, said by email. Trump is investing in the millionaire and billionaire class through a corporate welfare program that reduces their fair share of taxes, while Senator Sanders will invest in working families and frontline communities.

The effects of climate change became highly visible in the last two years. Records for everything from global temperatures to climate-related property damage were set and broken. Unprecedented storms deluged states from Texas to North Carolina and devastated Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. History-making wildfire seasons incinerated 3.2 million acres of California.

You have a diaspora in the country moving to other states, Ekwurzel said of the thousands displaced by wildfires and hurricanes over the past two years. They may be temporary, they may be long term. These people are on the move, creatures are on the move, adapting to climate change. But it doesnt have to be that bad.

The town hall meeting took place one day after the 24th United Nations Conference of the Parties, the leading international summit on climate change, convened in Katowice, Poland. That gathering was aimed at translating the October report from the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change into policy. The report warned that world governments must reduce global emissions by half within 12 years to avoid warming that could lead to $54 trillion in damage.

Sanders event also came amid a swell of grassroots support for Ocasio-Cortezs Green New Deal, a sweeping federal stimulus package to drastically scale up renewable energy infrastructure. More than a dozen sitting and incoming members of Congress have already backed a resolution calling for a House select committee to focus on the matter.

The climate crisis and burgeoning political movement calling for action to address it hasnt translated to coverage on the most influential medium in American political discourse.

Just 29 percent of major televised debates in the 2018 midterm elections mentioned the issue. Of the 107 news segments that ABC, CBS and NBC aired from Nov. 8 to Nov. 13 on the deadly wildfires that scorched California last month, just four discussed climate change. In 2017 the influential Sunday morning talk shows on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News aired a combined 260 minutes of climate coverage, 79 percent of which focused exclusively on Trumps personal beliefs on science and his decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Unlike commercial television, this event is not sponsored by Exxon Mobil, Sanders said. Nor is it paid or sponsored by the Koch brothers, who made most of their fortune in the fossil fuel industry.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.The UK should be allowed to unilaterally halt the Brexit process, a ruling says. Pic: Reuters

An advocate general of the European Court of Justice has said that the court should declare that the UK can unilaterally halt the Brexit process before it leaves the bloc in March.

Spaniard Manuel Campos Sanchez-Bordona said Article 50, the process by which a member state notifies the European Union of its intention to withdraw, can be unilaterally revoked.

The pound is spiking against the US dollar (GBPUSD=X) and euro (GBPEUR=X) on the news.

The pound spiked against the dollar. Pic: Yahoo Finance UK

Though Sanchez-Bordonas legal opinion is not binding, it will be considered by the court when it rules on the matter at a later date. The opinions of advocates general are endorsed by the court in a majority of cases.

His advice contradicts a submission made by the UK government, which argued that the question of an Article 50 revocation should be considered inadmissible because it is hypothetical and merely theoretical.

A statement from the Court of Justice said Sanchez-Bordona considered the dispute to be genuine and that it was not merely academic, nor premature or superfluous, but has obvious practical importance and is essential in order to resolve the dispute.

The opinion hinges on Article 68 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, an international convention that, he said, allows countries to revoke notifications of withdrawal from international treaties at any time before they take effect.

The pound also jumped against the euro. Pic: Yahoo Finance UK

The Advocate General emphasises, the court said, that withdrawal from an international treaty, which is the reverse of a treaty-making power, is by definition a unilateral act of a State party and a manifestation of its sovereignty.

The court, summarising Sanchez-Bordonas opinion, said that a unilateral revocation would be subject to certain conditions and limits. The UK parliament would have to approve such a revocation, considering it authorised the original notification, and principles of good faith and sincere cooperation must also be observed in order to prevent abuse of the procedure.

Story continues

Sanchez-Bordonas opinion came in response to a referral by Scotlands highest court to the top EU court last week. The court case was taken by a pro-EU, cross-party group of Scottish politicians seeking to determine whether Article 50 could be unilaterally revoked.

READ MORE: EU and UK join forces against Brexit legal challenge

The group raised close to 200,000 in donations to fund the case and was assisted by campaigning pro-EU lawyer Jolyon Maugham QC.

The opinion also rejects arguments from both the UK government and European Commission, which said that the Brexit process could only be stopped by unanimous agreement of member states.

While Sanchez-Bordona said that a revocation by mutual consent was possible, this would not prevent the UK from unilaterally revoking Article 50.

In a statement, Maugham said that the opinion puts the decision about the UKs future back into the hands of our own elected representatives  where it belongs.

On this critical issue Im sure MPs will now search their consciences and act in the best interests of the country, he said.

The UK government had argued that the group was using the case as political ammunition to pressure parliament, and should not risk opening Pandoras box.

That latter point was echoed by the EUs top lawyer, Hubert Legal, who said that if Article 50 could be unilaterally revoked, it might be triggered tactically by other governments who want to use it as leverage to win better terms of membership.

The opinion also comes on the same day that a report by the City of London warned that a no-deal Brexit could crash the UK economy. Brexit uncertainty, the report said, is pushing banks to move assets and jobs out of the UK, and could hit future tax revenues from the sector.

At the end of November, the Bank of England warned that a no-deal Brexit will be worse than the global financial crisis. The UKs central bank said that in its worst-case Brexit scenario, the UK economy could shrink by about 8% within a year. That fall would be the worst the country has seen since the 1920s.

The central bank considered the worst-case scenario to be a Brexit where the UK is unable to agree to a deal with the European Union and there is no transition period after March 2019.

READ MORE: No-deal Brexit could jeopardise financial stability as stats show finance pays 75bn in taxU.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Argentina. (Photo: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Its not yet clear whether the shady-sounding plan of President Donald Trumps company to give Russian President Vladimir Putin a $50 million penthouse during the 2016 election cycle meets the legal definition of a bribe  or is even illegal  experts tell HuffPost.

The Trump Organizations proposal to give Putin property in the planned Moscow Trump Tower  an idea Trumps personal lawyer Michael Cohen discussed with a Russian official, BuzzFeed reported  has elements that appear to be problematic under a U.S. federal anti-bribery law called the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Under the FCPA, it is a crime to promise or provide foreign officials something of value in exchange for influence or to secure any improper advantage.

With the proposal, Trumps company at first glance appeared to be considering giving an item of great value to a top foreign official in a notoriously corrupt country while the company was developing a major real estate project there. The FCPA also holds that a bribe doesnt actually have to be carried out to be a violation, only offered.

That a payment never occurred does not necessarily get Trump or his organization off the hook, said Andy Spalding, a law professor at the University of Richmond and expert on the FCPA.

But the news reports on Trumps Moscow projects are unclear on several key facts that would help determine whether the proposal definitely constituted an FCPA violation, experts say.

Its not clear the Trump Organizations plan involved offering Putin the penthouse in exchange for anything illegal or that it wouldnt already be entitled to by law, Spalding said. The notion behind the proposal, former Trump associate Felix Sater told BuzzFeed, was to lure other oligarchs to buy property in the tower so they could be near Putin.

If the only reason to give Putin the penthouse was as a marketing maneuver to drum up business from other wealthy Russians, it wouldnt be an FCPA violation, according to Richard Bistrong, CEO of the Front-Line Anti-Bribery consultancy, who was himself previously convicted on FCPA charges. There would need to be some improper benefit from the gift  such as tax relief, avoiding permits or skirting building codes  for it to break the law.

Story continues

Its also unclear whether Trumps company actually made the offer. Law enforcement officials told BuzzFeed that Cohen spoke with a Russian official about the idea of giving Putin the property, but its unclear whether any promise or offer was ever made. If this never progressed past the point of talk, Spalding says, it would be difficult to prosecute the company for violating the FCPA.

If it was discussed with Russian officials, there is certainly an investigation that needs to occur, Spalding said. But, giving a gift to an official without corrupt intent is not in and of itself a crime, he explained.

Although the presence of both an actual offer and corrupt intent are necessary to constitute an FCPA violation, there are some aspects of the Trump Organizations plan that are not a factor for the FCPA.

That Trump was a presidential candidate while this was going on is actually irrelevant as far as the FCPA is concerned, even if it involves broader political and ethical concerns. Reports from BuzzFeed and Bloomberg also state that its unclear whether Trump knew about the penthouse plan, but Spalding says that wouldnt automatically relieve Trump from any liability even if it were the case. The FCPA can also target companies that fail to investigate whether intermediaries are paying bribes when there would be a high probability thats the case, something the law calls deliberate ignorance or willful blindness.

As we learn more about the Trump Organizations activities in Russia, its possible new FCPA concerns may arise. But given the vague nature of the penthouse plan and uncertainty over how far the talks progressed, what we know now doesnt offer a strong case that it violated the anti-bribery law. Its possible special counsel Robert Mueller has more information.

Related Coverage

Trump Organization Considered Giving Putin The Penthouse In Planned Moscow Tower

Originator Of The Trump Penthouse For Putin Idea Says He Doesn't Know How Far It Went

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Divers explore Doggerland (Getty)

Doggerland  beneath the North Sea  is described as Britains Atlantis  and was swamped by rising sea levels when ice melted seven millennia ago.

Researchers believe that the area between Europe and Britain was once a landscape of hills and valleys  populated by Mesolithic hunter-gatherers after the last Ice Age ended 12,000 years ago.

But now hi-tech sonar mapping is revealing its secrets, and scientists, working with wind farm companies, have recovered samples from the sea floor.

Researchers hope that cores recovered by a wind-farm developer could offer insight into the lives of the people who lived there 7,500 years ago.

The area was covered by water, erasing the lives of the Stone Age Britons who lived there  but British academics are now to uncover their story using remote sensing and cores from the bed of the north sea.

Doggerland, named for Dogger Bank, is now beneath the North Sea off the east coast of England.

Claire Mellett of Wessex Archaeology told LiveScience said that 10 of the cores recovered by a wind-farm developer off the coast of Norfolk contained ancient peat deposits  from marshes on land.

The researchers hope that the cores from the Norfolk Boreas site, 45 miles from the shore, could shed light on the landscape and climate of doggerland.

MORE: Teens and children had 45,000 operations to remove teeth last year

MORE: Theresa Mays Brexit plan is a deal in name only, says latest minister to quit

Mellett said, The remote sensing provides us an image of the seabed, but no physical material, so when we get the cores, that gives us the actual evidence, Mellett told Live Science.

We can see where the old rivers are. We can see the peat lands, and we can see the extent of them, so we know how big they are. Were essentially reconstructing the geography of the North Sea around 10,000 years ago.

Mellett said that the teams ultimate goal is to produce maps of the area at different time periods, including just after the ice age.

She said, We expect it will be quite a sparse landscape without many trees, a bit like Arctic Canada today.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK6 dead in road accidents

Six people died in separate road accidents in Kailali, Kathmandu, Tanahun and Kavre districts on Sunday night and Monday.EU budget commissioner Gunther Oettinger (EFE)

The European commission has performed a major Brexit U-turn by confirming the UK will keep its budget rebate if it stays in the EU.

EU budget commissioner Gunther Oettinger has said previously that the 66% rebate on UK contributions negotiated in 1984 by then prime minister Margaret Thatcher is no longer appropriate.

The gradual exit from the rebate would still be kept, he said in October about the possibility that Brexit could be called-off.

But, in a huge boost to anti-Brexit campaigners, the German politician changed his position on Tuesday in light of an explosive legal opinion by the EUs advocate general which said the UK should be able to unilaterally revoke Article 50.

MORE: UK cant keep rebate worth billions if it abandons Brexit, says EU budget chief

Answering a question from Yahoo Finance UK, Oettinger said: The rebate which was negotiated by Mrs Thatcher  this is something which is permanent and needs to be respected.

Confirmation that the UK could remain in the EU on its current membership terms is another blow to efforts by the UK government to get the Brexit deal through the UK parliament on December 11.

Environment secretary Michel Gove has raised the rebate, which was worth 4bn ($5bn) in 2016, as a reason that MPs should back the deal.

Keeping the rebate? Forget about it, Gove wrote in an article for the Daily Mail which warned the UK would be forced to accept far tougher terms if Brexit is cancelled.

Michael Gove campaigning for the Vote Leave campaign during the 2016 EU referendum (Getty)

Labour MP Jo Stevens, who is backing the Peoples Vote campaign, accused Brexiteers of spreading falsehoods.

Oettingers comments prove the choice before Parliament is between the Brexit deal on offer and our current deal as full voting members of the EU with our budget rebate, she said.

The claim that our current deal would not be open to us if we decide to stay is nonsense and the opinion from the European Court this morning only underlines that, Stevens added.

MEP Philippe Lamberts, a member of the European Parliament Brexit steering group, also said the legal opinion reminds us that its still possible for the UK to step back from the brink.

Story continues

MORE: EU and UK join forces against Brexit legal challenge

UK MPs should know that there is a way out of this, should they wish to re-join the European family, added the Belgian.

But EU expert Fabian Zuleeg said the legal opinion makes little real difference to the situation.

The UK cant use this as a mechanism to buy time or suspend the process, said the chief executive of the European Policy Centre.

It would need a real, committed decision to stay by the UK, he pointed out, saying that was unlikely.

Oettinger said on Tuesday that the EU will proceed on the assumption that there will be a transitional phase that will follow Brexit if a deal is agreed by MPs.

As regards the discussion in London, should there be any fundamental change then we will have to look at that then, he said.



Katowice (Poland) (AFP) - Campaign groups representing citizens from across the world demanded Tuesday that big energy leaves coal in the ground as COP24 host Poland pushed for protections allowing it to continue burning fossil fuel.

With nations locked in UN climate talks aimed at heading off runaway global warming, many parts of the world are already dealing with the storms, floods, fires and droughts our heating planet will suffer.

Man-made emissions have increased annually since the landmark 2015 Paris climate accord was struck and with political progress slowing, people who will bear the biggest burden issued their clearest plea to date: end fossil fuels now.

"The urgency of the climate crisis is very real on the ground because our people are suffering the different impacts of extreme weather," said Lidy Nacpil, co-coordinator of the Asia Peoples Movement on Debt and Development.

"Crops will be destroyed not just by flooding and rain but also by droughts. Yet this urgency is not reflected in the actions of governments," she told AFP.

The People's Demands (https://www.peoplesdemands.org/) initiative has been signed by nearly 300,000 people from over 120 nations.

It calls on richer states -- who are responsible for most greenhouse gas emissions -- to honour their promises to help fund at-risk countries to adapt to climate change, and developed economies to be fully green by 2030.

They also want a ban on fracking and an immediate, worldwide moratorium on new fossil fuel exploration and extraction.

The UN's independent panel of climate experts in October issued its starkest findings yet: emissions from fossil fuels must be slashed by half within 12 years in order to hit the Paris goals of limited temperature rises.

But most Western economies remain heavily dependent on fossil fuels.

Poland, which gets roughly 80 percent of its electricity from coal, this week called for nations to weave measures into the UN climate framework that critics fear would allow it to keep polluting for decades.

Story continues

President Andrzej Duda used his address at the COP opening Monday to say Poland's dependence on coal "does not clash with climate protection and progress achieved in this vein".

Duda reinforced his message on Tuesday with a speech to miners in the southern town of Brzeszcze, where he said he would not allow "anyone to murder Polish mining".

He said while Poland was hosting the climate summit "we're also there to speak the truth without taking into account political correctness, which is often driven by foreign interests and not Polish ones".

Poland and other fossil-fuel reliant economies say they need a gradual and "just transition" towards renewables that protects miners and national energy security.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told officials at negotiations Tuesday that "the dialogue with industries is sometimes difficult and complex".

"But we believe that even in the oil and gas industry, there is a growing conscience that the present trend is not sustainable."

- 'Detached from reality' -

Paris committed countries to limiting temperature rises to well below two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) and to the safer cap of 1.5C if possible.

But a UN body warned last month that the gap between greenhouse gas emissions and levels needed to hit the Paris targets was bigger than ever before.

Air pollution alone is now estimated to kill as many as nine million people every year.

"More and more communities are understanding the need to transform our energy systems and their immediate reason is they can see how damaging coal plants or oil drilling are," said Nacpil.

"It's becoming a popular cry that there has to be a swift transition away from these kinds of energy."

Groups representing big energy are present at COP negotiations and environmentalists fear they may embolden nations to stick by old coal.

Jesse Bragg, of the Corporate Accountability group, told AFP fossil fuel influence at UN climate talks had "succeeded in making what goes on in those rooms very, very detached and different from the needs of the world."A body has been found in the search for a missing American tourist near the Airbnb property she was staying at in Costa Rica.

Carla Stefaniak has not been heard from since 28 November after she went to Central American country's capital San Jose to celebrate her birthday, along with her sister-in-law April Burton.

Ms Burton returned to the US the day before Ms Stefaniak, who dropped her to the airport on 27 November.

After doing some sightseeing the 36-year-old returned to her Airbnb and messaged Ms Burton to say the power was going out in the property. She added that the area she was staying in was unsafe.

Carla Stefaniak: Facebook/Finding Carla

Ms Stefaniak had a flight booked for 28 November and had checked in and scheduled an Uber.

She did not however board the flight but the owner of the Airbnb property said he saw Ms Stefaniak get into an unknown car with her luggage at 5am.

"None of us really believe this 5am story because it really doesn't make sense," Ms Burton told Fox News. "There's no reason for her not to contact anyone."

Authorities in Costa Rica said that tracker dogs had found the body partially buried in plastic bags, NBC News reported.

However, there has been no official announcement of the identity of the person who has been found.



Charles Venn and his professional dance partner Karen Clifton broke down on Strictly spin-off show It Takes Two last night.

The pair received the least votes from viewers on Sunday nights show, and finally said farewell to the show.

It had been a rough ride for the couple, who despite solid performances, found themselves in the dance off on several occasions.

But as Zoe Ball ran them through a montage of their best moments in the series, she had to offer out tissues as the pair began to blub.

(Credit: BBC)

Everyones in pieces! Ball added.

Casualty actor Venn said that he was proud of what he achieved on the show, adding: Its incredible, it doesnt feel like that was me. According to my kids I couldnt dance theyre eating humble pie now for sure.

Many viewers were furious that the couple got the axe this week, after they headed into the dance off with Ashley Roberts and Pasha, despite the latter couple having scored a higher 38 for their quickstep on musicals week.

A backlash has been brewing for the last two weeks over Ashleys place on the series, due to her previous dance experience, while the majority of the others competing are complete newcomers.

Stacey Dooley remains the odds-on favourite to win, with Joe Sugg as 7/4, Faye Tozer at 8/1, Ashley at 9/1 and Lauren Steadman at 16/1.

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Sir Cliff Richard cancels concert last minuteFormer FBI director James Comey will reportedly testify to Congress in a closed-door hearing on Friday.

The news comes after months of back-and-forth between Comey and the House Judiciary Committee, which had issued a subpoena requesting that Comey testify in a private hearing. The former FBI director expressed a wish to testify publicly and initiated a brief legal battle over the subpoena, accusing Committee Republicans of intending to mislead the public and to undermine public confidence in the FBI and the DOJ, by selectively leaking bits of testimony from his private testimony.

Im still happy to sit in the light and answer all questions, Comey wrote on Twitter Thanksgiving Day. But I will resist a closed door thing because Ive seen enough of their selective leaking and distortion. Lets have a hearing and invite everyone to see.

Comey apparently relented later, agreeing to testify privately in a voluntary hearing provided that he be allowed to talk about the hearing afterwards and that a transcript of his testimony be released publicly 24 hours later.

Grateful for a fair hearing from judge, Comey wrote Sunday on Twitter. Hard to protect my rights without being in contempt, which I dont believe in. So will sit in the dark, but Republicans agree Im free to talk when done and transcript released in 24 hours. This is the closest I can get to public testimony.

Goodlatte and other Committee Republicans want Comey to testify to shed light on the conduct of the Justice Department and FBI in the months leading up to the 2016 presidential election. The Judiciary and Oversight Committees have interviewed other senior Justice Department and FBI officials during their investigation into the agencies handling of probes into Hillary Clintons email practices and Russian meddling in the election.

There was no need to use baseless litigation in an attempt to run out the clock on this Congress, and I am glad that it was withdrawn, Goodlatte said in a statement on Sunday. Mr. Comey will join us for a closed-door transcribed interview later this week. We will release the transcript of his interview to the public as soon as possible after the interview, in the name of our combined desire for transparency.

President Trump fired Comey in May 2017, when the FBI chief was still in charge of the investigation into the Trump campaigns ties to Russia. After Comeys firing and the recusal of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the investigation was handed over to Special Counsel Robert Mueller.Lawmakers are playing a trillion-dollar game of chicken, pushing the deadline to avert a government shutdown back by two weeks without a clear sense of how to resolve the standoff.

Parts of the federal government run out of money at midnight on Friday, but rather than make sure the checks are good until the new fiscal year starts in October, lawmakers are debating just how far to kick the can down the road: one week or two? Per one appropriations aide, a two week delay is expected to be passed by unanimous consent later this week.

Per one appropriations aide, a two-week delay is in the offing.

One reason for the delay: the funeral of former President George H.W. Bush, whose casket was set to arrive at the Capitol Monday afternoon.

A two-week delay would push the deadline to Dec. 21, right on the eve of Christmas, a classic legislative maneuver meant to force a solution on recalcitrant members who would rather spend the holidays with their families instead of debating the budget.

For the time being, both sides were studying an issue central to their base: how to fund the Department of Homeland Security, which would be running the show on Trumps border wall. The House, where all funding bills must start, canceled its votes until next week. The Senate postponed its votes until after Bushs funeral on Wednesday at Washingtons National Cathedral. (Aides said some procedural jujitsu known as an unanimous consent agreement could offer a work-around for a short-term fix if everyone just goes along with the delay.)

The back-and-forth set up a contrast with Bush, who faced only a brief weekend shutdown over a bill that reduced the federal deficit and included a tax hike. That shutdown, which came after House Minority Whip Newt Gingrich rebelled against his own partys leader, was a preview of later shutdown fights under presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

The current shutdown threat is coming from the White House, however, with President Donald Trump arguing that the budget should include $5 billion for a wall on the border with Mexico.

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Fellow Republicans in Congress have offered to cobble it together, with money allocated earlier, new cash now and something of an IOU to come next September. The Presidents strongest allies are still holding out hope for a massive cash injection for the wall, while Senate Democrats seem to be holding steady at an offer of $1.6 billion to pay for border security, including a very limited section of the wall.

Right now, the differences seem irreconcilable, with both sides dug in. Everything is at a standstill, it seems, until Trump meets with the two top Democratic leaders, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and likely incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. (The three were supposed to meet on Tuesday, but that session was cancelled due to Bushs funeral. They are aiming to reschedule for next week.)

But Trump is an unreliable partner and an unpredictable negotiator. Which is why at the Capitol, senior lawmakers were careful not to lean too firmly into a skid. Its clear they risk plunging into a shutdown, but theyre completely blind when it comes to what the President may do. Earlier this year, Trump tweeted a veto threat of the massive spending bill only to hours later put his seal of approval on it  all the while wearing a sourpuss scowl. As senior lawmakers have said publicly, all they know is that the President has dug in his heels on securing $5 billion for a border wall, telling them it was a red line for approving a spending bill.

Has he signed onto anything? No. Hes talked about building the wall, said Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee thats responsible for the funding, of the President. Im trying to get to $5 billion, Shelby said, Get to yes and pass all the bills.Talitha and Michael Bainbridge, the designers behind ZWEI Design, are used to making compromisesat work and at home. Before they were a couple, they were raised in different parts of the worldTalitha in Southern Germany and Michael in the American Midwestand those backgrounds came with varying traditions. Take Christmas, for instance. Michael grew up with a fake tree, but it was typical for Talitha to have a real one. As a German and American couple, we were actually surprised at our differences when it came to decorating for Christmas, Talitha says. I would never put an artificial tree in my home for Christmas. For me its either a real Christmas tree or no Christmas tree at all.

Another reason why these two are familiar with meeting in the middle: They live in a 481-square-foot home in Southern Germany, and figuring out ways to maximize space is always an issue. That includes, of course, how to fit a Christmas tree in their living room.

In past years when we had a Christmas tree, our home felt cramped, Talitha continues. So to make it feel more spacious, we would temporarily remove valuable seating. However, this always seemed counterintuitive, especially during the holiday season, when we typically host more guests. After several years we decided to rethink the idea of a Christmas tree. Their idea? A vertical tree crafted of live evergreen boughs.

Photo: Dominik Villoz/Courtesy of ZWEI Design

"Think, Christmas garland on steroids," she jokes. "We chose to hang our new interpretation of a Christmas tree directly by our fireplace, to keep a singular focal point and make use of our limited space. The best part about using real evergreen branches is that they smell just like a traditional tree. Why go buy a pine treescented candle or room spray when you could have the real thing?"

But Michael and Talitha get that sometimes you just want a fake tree. If thats the case, you can still work evergreen boughs into your decor schemeeither by arranging them on a mantel or tablescapeor by simply doing both faux and real decorations. It will bring some beautiful life and smell into your home in an unexpected way, Talitha argues. And based on our own experience, we know that guests love the unique twist on a traditional holiday staple.

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If you also live in a small spaceor youre just tired of the same ol Christmas tree setupwhy not join Talitha and Michael? Here are the specifics on how to go about it:

Photo: Dominik Villoz/Courtesy of ZWEI Design

Photos: Courtesy of ZWEI DesignA long way to go

Before achieving Digital Nepal, the state must invest in ICT education throughout the countryA Florida woman who vanished while celebrating her 36th birthday in Central America sent an alarming message to a friend before she disappeared.

Carla Stefaniak of Miami was last seen while on vacation in San Jose, Costa Rica. Her sister-in-law, April Burton, accompanied her on the trip but left on Nov. 27 because of a prior commitment. Stefaniak, who stayed behind to enjoy an extra night, was scheduled to fly home the following morning but never made her flight, authorities said.

According to family members, Stefaniak hired an Uber driver the day Burton left and requested a tour of San Jose, the densely populated capital. Stefaniak then texted a relative that night and said she was back at her Airbnb in San Antonio de Escazu, a suburb of the city.

Around 8 p.m. ... she said it was raining crazy and [the] power went out, Burton wrote in a post on Facebook. She continued with, Its pretty sketchy here.

Burton told First Coast News her sister-in-law is really friendly, extroverted [and] has a ton of friends.

No physical descriptions of Stefaniak, such as her height or weight, have been made available, and authorities have not provided details of the clothing she was wearing when she was last seen.

We are all destroyed. We are trying to be strong, Caicedio told Fox 13 News.

Anyone with information in the case is asked to contact the Judiciary Investigative Police in Costa Rica at 800-800-0645 or through Whatsapp at 8800-0645.

Send David Lohr an email or follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

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Natalee Holloway, 18, from Mountain Brook, Ala., disappeared May 30, 2005, while on a trip to Aruba to celebrate her high school graduation. Holloway's classmates said they last saw her leaving Carlos 'n Charlie's nightclub with Joran van der Sloot, then a 17-year-old Dutch honors student living in Aruba, and his two friends, Surinamese brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe. All three young men would be arrested in the case, but they were released without being charged. On Jan. 13, 2012, van der Sloot, now 24, was sentenced to 28 years in prison for the slaying of Stephany Flores on May 30, 2010. The Peruvian business student was found dead in van der Sloot's hotel room in Lima that year. Van der Sloot was charged with first-degree murder and robbery in the case. Holloway's body has never been found.

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Jessie Foster has not been seen since March 29, 2006. According to her mother, Foster was living in Kamloops, British Columbia, in the spring of 2005, when she began traveling to the United States. In May 2005, the then 21-year-old ended up going to Las Vegas. While in Las Vegas, Foster met a man and the two were quickly engaged to be married. The man was reportedly wealthy and the two lived together in a million-dollar home. In 2006, Foster stopped calling her family. Concerned, they contacted her fiance and he allegedly said Foster had left him in April 2006. Foster's family promptly reported her missing to police, but with few clues to follow, the case quickly went cold. Foster is described as 5 feet 7 inches tall and 120 pounds, with blonde hair and hazel eyes. Anyone with information is asked to call Las Vegas Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477. Foster's mother also maintains a website devoted to the case, which can be found at jessiefoster.ca. According to the site, a $50,000 dollar reward is being offered for information in the case.

Jesse Ross

Jesse Warren Ross was a 19-year-old sophomore when he vanished on Nov. 21, 2006, while attending a mock United Nations conference in Chicago. According to police, Ross was last seen at about 2:30 a.m., leaving the Sheraton Hotel and Towers, where a conference dance was held. Surveillance footage from the hotel does not indicate Ross was intoxicated when he left. He was likely heading to his hotel, the Four Points Sheraton, about 10 minutes away. What happened to Ross after he left remains a mystery. For more information, visit Findjesseross.com.

Brittanee Drexel

Brittanee Drexel, 17, was last seen by friends on April 25, 2009, when she left the Bar Harbor Hotel in Myrtle Beach, S.C., to meet friends at the nearby BlueWater Resort. Surveillance footage shows Drexel arriving at the resort, then leaving roughly 10 minutes later. What happened to her after that is a mystery. For more information, visit Helpfindbrittanee.com.

Corrie Anderson

Corrie Anderson, a 36-year-old mother of three from Chautauqua County, N.Y., was last seen at about 1 p.m. on Oct. 28, 2008. Family members reported Anderson missing at about 3:45 p.m. that day, when she failed to show up at her son's school for a meeting. Two days later, a hunter discovered Anderson's car abandoned about 2 miles from her house. Authorities used ATVs, helicopters and dogs to search areas of interest in the case, but there's been no sign of Anderson. For more information, visit Findcorrie.com.

John James Morris

John James Morris, 38, was last seen on July 30, 2007, in the driveway of his ex-boyfriend's residence on Whites Ferry Road in Dickerson, Md. According to police, Morris' ex-boyfriend was out of town on the day John stopped by to pick up his belongings. Morris has not used his credit card or cell phone since and, according to his family, he did not have his ADD (attention deficit disorder) medication with him when he disappeared. For more information, visit Findjohnmorris.com.

Lakeisha Nichole Archie

Lakeisha Nichole Archie was last seen on Aug. 5, 2002. A family member dropped her off at a residence in the vicinity of Park Street and Buckeye in Sidney, Ohio, and she has not been seen since. Archie has a tattoo that reads "Lakeisha" on the right side of her neck, a tattoo of a black panther on her left forearm and tattoos of claws on each breast. For more information, visit Blackandmissinginc.com.

Ahren Benjamin Barnard

Ahren Barnard was last seen in Boise, Idaho, on Dec. 4, 2004. He dropped his young son off for the evening with the child's mother and presumably drove home. His car was later found parked in his driveway, but he has not been seen since. For more information, visit Helpfindahren.com.

Roxanne Paltauf

Roxanne Paltauf was 18 years old on July 7, 2006, when she disappeared from the Budget Inn hotel in Austin, Texas. According to Roxanne's mother, Elizabeth Harris, Roxanne had been staying at the hotel with her boyfriend. The couple had an argument and, according to the boyfriend, she left the hotel, leaving all of her belongings behind. For more information, visit Find Roxanne Paltauf.

William "Billy" Smolinski

William "Billy" Smolinski, was a 31-year-old resident of Waterbury, Conn., when he disappeared Aug. 24, 2004. Smolinski told a neighbor he was going out of town for a few days to look at a vehicle. He has not been seen since and his truck was later found in his driveway. His keys and wallet were found inside. Investigators searched Smolinski's home and truck, and conducted several interviews but found no clues suggesting what might have happened to him. For more information, visit Justice4billy.com.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The UN Security Council will meet behind closed doors on Tuesday at the request of France and Britain after they accused Iran of test-firing a medium-range missile at the weekend, diplomats said.

The United States said the missile launch on Saturday was a violation of a UN resolution that endorsed the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, from which Washington has withdrawn.

That resolution calls on Iran to refrain from testing missiles capable of carrying a nuclear weapon.

France said it was concerned by the test-firing with the foreign ministry describing it as "provocative and destabilising" and "does not conform" with UN resolution 2231 on the Iran deal.

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt called the missile test "provocative, threatening and inconsistent" with the resolution and said Britain was determined "that it should cease."

Iran has long maintained that its missile program is defensive in nature and not aimed at ensuring the delivery of a nuclear weapon, a stance supported by Russia at the Security Council.

Washington's Iran envoy Brian Hook urged the European Union to slap sanctions that target Tehran's missile program as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to Brussels for talks with European partners.

The United States decided in May to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions on Iran, to the dismay of its Europeans allies.

The nuclear deal provides for a lifting of sanctions against Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear activities.

The remaining five signatories to the nuclear deal -- Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia -- have backed an EU effort to set up a special payment system in a bid to maintain trade and business ties with Iran.An emphatic Sen. Lindsey Graham broke with President Trumps conclusion that we may never know whether Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had prior knowledge of the plan to kill journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey.

Theres not a smoking gun; theres a smoking saw, Graham, R-S.C., told reporters following a closed-door briefing of senators by CIA Director Gina Haspel on Tuesday. Turkish officials believe Khashoggis body was cut up with a bone saw and disposed of after his murder.

In a statement released last month, Trump proclaimed that U.S. intelligence agencies had not determined whether Crown Prince Mohammed had knowledge of the plot to murder Khashoggi at Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul. Maybe he did and maybe he didnt! Trump exclaimed, before citing the kingdoms commitment to buy U.S. arms as rationale for not punishing the Saudi government for the killing.

Trump said Saudi Arabia had pledged to spend and invest $450 billion in the United States, much of it on the purchase of military equipment.

Defense Secretary James Mattis told Senators last week that there was no smoking gun linking the crown prince Kahshoggis murder.

Graham made it clear Tuesday that he disagreed with both Mattiss assessment as well as Trumps moral calculus.

I cannot support arms sales to Saudi Arabia as long as hes in charge of this country, Graham said of the crown prince.

Russias President Vladimir Putin, left, and Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmanr wait for other heads of state for a group photo at the start of the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Friday. (Photo: AP/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., also left the briefing with Haspel more certain the crown prince had a role in the killing. Corker said there is now zero question in his mind that the crown prince directed the murder and he was kept apprised of the situation all the way through.

Let me just put it this way, Corker continued. If he [Crown Prince Mohammed] was in front of a jury, he would be convicted in 30 minutes.

In a Monday interview with CNN, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo continued to side with the president, saying that the intelligence assessment on Khashoggis death was inconclusive.

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I have read every piece of intelligence thats in the possession of the United States government, Pompeo said. And when it is done, when you complete that analysis, theres no direct evidence linking him to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

Graham scoffed at the notion that uncertainty remained as to whether the crown prince was complicit in the killing, saying one would have to be willfully blind to come away with the opinion that he might not have known about it in advance.

I went into the briefing believing it was virtually impossible for an operation like this to be carried out without the crown princes knowledge, Graham told reporters. I left the briefing with high confidence that my initial assessment of the situation is correct. I left the briefing being amazed by our CIA and intelligence communitys capability and their analytical reasoning. The CIA, in my view, rose to the occasion, in terms of informing the Congress about what happened on October the 2nd.

He also addressed the divergent conclusions reached by the CIA, Pompeo and Mattis on the crown princes role in Khashoggis killing.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., leaves a meeting at the office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday. (Photo: AP/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

As to Pompeo and Mattis, I have great respect for them. I would imagine if they were in a Democratic administration, I would be all over them for being in the pocket of Saudi Arabia, Graham said. But since I have such great respect for them, Im going to assume that theyre being good soldiers, and that when they look at the analysis, theyre being technical in their statement, but theyre not giving the assessment that I think the Senate will have. I would really question somebodys judgement if they couldnt figure this out.

Last week, the Senate rebuked Trump by voting 63-37 in favor of a resolution that would end U.S. involvement in Saudi Arabias war on Yemen. Many senators cited a canceled briefing by Haspel on the Khashoggi matter as rationale for their vote. Now that Haspel has briefed a select group of senators, however, opposition to Trumps stance on Saudi Arabia does not seem to be easing.

Saudi Arabia is a strategic ally and the relationship is worth saving, but not at all costs. Well do more damage to our standing in the world and our national security by ignoring MBS than dealing with him, said Graham.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:



If youve experienced a migraine, you know that its way more than just a headache. And when a migraine hits during the holidays, it often means missing out on some family fun.

Migraines can last anywhere from 4 to 72 hours, and the symptoms can make doing everyday activities nearly impossible. In addition to intense throbbing pain on one side of the head, migraine sufferers can also experience nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, and extreme sensitivity to light and sound.

One of the most frustrating things about migraines is that we dont really know what causes them. Old theories suggested that changes in blood flow to the brain triggered symptoms. However, new research shows this may contribute to pain, but its not the source. Today, doctors predict that an imbalance in brain chemicals, like serotonin, could irritate a major pain pathway called the trigeminal nerve, resulting in a migraine.

What we do know is that 36 million Americans live with migraines, and women are three times more likely to get them than men. One of the reasons women suffer more could be due to fluctuations in estrogen, especially during puberty, menstruation, and menopause.

While there is no cure, there are some helpful treatment options to manage symptoms. According to Nidhi Modi, MD, from Lawrenceville Neurology Center in New Jersey, many migraine sufferers are originally misdiagnosed with things like sinus headaches. So, the first step is to track symptoms with an app or journal.

As they start to track their headaches, theyll recognize what their triggers are and be able to minimize those and try to reduce their headache frequency, Modi tells Yahoo Lifestyle.

Common triggers of a migraine include certain foods, alcohol, stress, changes in sleep patterns, and even the weather. Caffeine is a trigger for some, but it is also included in some medications that help treat migraines. By pinpointing what is causing discomfort, this can help decrease migraine frequency and intensity.

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Tracking can also help people to better predict when a migraine is coming. Around 30 percent of people go through a telltale aura stage before or during an attack. An aura is characterized by visual changes, including flashes of light, blind spots, and wavy zigzag vision.

The next step is pain management. Most people start with acute or rescue therapy, which involves taking over-the-counter medications like acetaminophen, aspirin, or ibuprofen. If those are unsuccessful, doctors can also prescribe triptans, a class of drugs used to settle down overactive pain nerves.

Over-the-counter options can be helpful, but Modi warns that patients shouldnt use them more than two or three times a week.

Instead, people with frequent migraines should talk to their physician and discuss some preventive care. This category of treatment often involves doctors prescribing medications that were developed for other reasons, but can be helpful in migraine relief. Some common options include seizure medication, antidepressants, and blood pressure medication.

If you dont want to take a prescription, Modi suggests going another route: visiting a psychologist. They can sit with a therapist and do biofeedback or cognitive behavioral therapy, she says. We also have devices available that are placed on the head and provide stimulation and relief for headaches.

Doctors are still learning more about what causes migraines, but there is promising research centered around a protein called calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP). Researchers have found that high levels of this protein appear in the blood of those having a migraine attack.

There are many medications pending FDA approval at the moment that target CGRP, notes Modi. So patients should definitely ask their neurologist about those.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.US could see remarks as first sign of Europeans wavering support for nuclear deal

Brian Hook, the US special representative for Iran, alongside fragments of Iranian short-range ballistic missiles on display in Washington DC last week. Photograph: Carolyn Kaster/AP

France and the UK have echoed warnings by Donald Trumps administration that Iran may be in breach of United Nations obligations by testing medium-range ballistic missiles capable of carrying multiple warheads.

The remarks from Paris and London will be seen by the US government as the first sign that its key European partners may yet be persuaded to view Irans broader behaviour as so dangerous that their support for the 2015 Iran nuclear deal can no longer be justified.

The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, criticised Irans missile programme at the weekend and will be at a Nato foreign ministers meeting in Brussels over the next two days to underline his message about the threat to Middle East stability posed by Iran. He is also due to meet the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in Brussels.

In a statement issued on Saturday, Pompeo said Iran had tested a medium-range ballistic missile, violating a UN resolution. The missile, according to Pompeo, is capable of carrying multiple warheads and has a range that allows it to strike parts of Europe and anywhere in the Middle East.

He added: This test violates UN security council resolution 2231 that bans Iran from undertaking any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology.

Pompeo has been pressing Germany, France and the UK to join the US in withdrawing from the Iran nuclear accord signed during the presidency of Barack Obama in 2015. Trump unilaterally pulled out of the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in May, reimposing broad economic sanctions, with some exemptions, on any country or company that seeks to trade with Iran.

The UK foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said in a statement on Saturday he was deeply concerned by Irans test firing of a medium-range ballistic missile. Provocative, threatening and inconsistent with UNSCR 2231. Our support for JCPOA in no way lessens our concern at Irans destabilising missile programme and determination that it should cease.

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His remarks were backed up by the UK representative on the EUs political and security committee, Paul Johnston, who said it was important to address the breadth of the Iranian challenge, and added that important discussions would be held at the EU foreign affairs council on 10 December.

On Monday the French presidents office echoed the UK in saying it was deeply concerned and the tests were provocative and destabilising. It urged Iran to stop all testing of ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

The Iranian foreign ministry and many independent experts challenged the claim that the tests breached the UN resolution.

Irans foreign ministry spokesman, Bahram Ghasemi, said: Irans missile programme has a defensive nature and no UN security council resolution has banned Irans missile programme or missile tests.

The language of the UN resolution calls on rather than forbids Iran from testing its missiles, according to Trita Parsi, the president of the National Iranian American Council. The UN resolution cited by Pompeo is the nuclear deal the Trump administration withdrew from this year, Parsi added.

At a presentation on Thursday, Brian Hook, the US special representative on Iran, attacked the USs European allies, saying that since leaving the deal US officials had found freedom and leverage to tackle Irans regional influence, and he chided other nations for not getting on board.

The current international environment has created unacceptably low expectations for the regime in Tehran, he said. [If] the demands of ... the Iranian regime seem too many, it is because Irans malign activities are too numerous.The now-defunct Anglo Irish Bank in 2010. Pic: Reuters

The Irish cabinet has approved plans to bolster the state agency that investigates breaches of company law, such as white-collar crime.

Under the proposals, the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement will be renamed the Corporate Enforcement Authority, and will be given the autonomy to appoint its own staff. It will also get new powers allowing it to gather evidence that is held electronically.

The move follows the collapse of the 2017 trial of former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Sean FitzPatrick. A judge ruled that issues with the way the agency had conducted its investigation into FitzPatrick had the potential to unfairly tilt the balance of the trial.

Following a report by the agency into its own investigative failings, the Irish government had pledged to introduce a more powerful corporate watchdog.

A separate government report published on Tuesday concluded that the agency lacked the skillsets, experience and processes  such as in forensic accountancy  that would have been needed to properly investigate Anglo Irish Bank.

The bank, which crashed during the financial crisis, was eventually nationalised and broken up by the Irish government. FitzPatrick was arrested in 2012 and charged with 16 offences relating to his conduct in a scheme that was said to falsely inflate Anglo Irish Banks share price. Due to the collapse of the trial, he was acquitted of all charges.

The strengthening of the agency comes as Ireland increasingly becomes the base for large financial institutions. In the wake of Brexit, banks such as Barclays and Bank of America have moved their European Union headquarters to Dublin, the countrys capital.Jerusalem (AFP) - Israel's army said Tuesday it has discovered Hezbollah tunnels infiltrating its territory from Lebanon and launched an operation to destroy them, a move likely to raise tensions with the Iran-backed group.

The surprise announcement came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Brussels over regional dangers, with both having repeatedly warned about the activities of Israel's arch foe Iran.

Netanyahu said he discussed the operation with Pompeo and called the tunnels a violation of a UN truce resolution that ended a 2006 war between Israel and the Shiite militant group Hezbollah.

Later in a televised address, the Israeli leader also denounced what he called Iran's hand in the construction of the tunnels.

"We are acting with determination to prevent Iran from being rooted in Syria... we are also acting against Iran's terrorist actions in Lebanon," he said.

Netanyahu said he would discuss the matter with world leaders in the coming days and that he was seeking an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss Hezbollah's "aggression".

US President Donald Trump's White House gave its full backing to the operation, with National Security Adviser John Bolton saying "we call on Iran and all of its agents to stop their regional aggression and provocation".

Hezbollah did not comment in detail but published footage of Israeli soldiers across the border and described the activity as aimed at "discovering tunnels allegedly from southern Lebanon to settlements in northern occupied Palestine".

Israeli army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said the "attack tunnels" were not yet operational. He declined to say how many had been detected or how they would be destroyed.

The military said it had located one such tunnel dug from a home in the Kafr Kila area of south Lebanon that crossed into Israeli territory and was working to "neutralise" it.

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The tunnel runs some 200 metres (660 feet), at a depth of 25 metres, Conricus said, and stretches some 40 metres into Israel.

The area around the Israeli town of Metula has been declared a closed military zone, with the army distributing images of heavy machinery digging into the ground.

- Peacekeepers boost patrols -

Israel labelled the operation "Northern Shield" and said all its activities would take place inside Israeli territory. No tunnels from Lebanon include exit points within Israel, the army said.

A UN peacekeeping force which monitors the border region said it had increased patrols but noted the area remained calm.

Lebanon's army also said it was monitoring the situation closely.

According to Conricus, the tunnels were part of a Hezbollah plan from 2012 to "shift the battlefield to Israel" and "conquer the Galilee" in a future conflict by infiltrating its territory.

In 2013, the army acted on reports that Hezbollah was digging tunnels, but failed to locate any, he said.

Following the 2014 war between Israel and Gaza, in which the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas used cross-border attack tunnels, the army said it found "Hezbollah and Hamas share knowledge" and soon after began intensive work to prevent tunnels from Lebanon.

The military has used various means to collapse or fill in tunnels from the Gaza Strip.

Conricus said that while the army has boosted its presence in the north for the Lebanon operation, it has not summoned reserve soldiers.

He said the military "holds the Lebanese government responsible for all activities perpetrated in Lebanon towards Israel".

- 'Irresponsible' -

Netanyahu has spoken of a sensitive security situation without providing details, particularly after defence minister Avigdor Lieberman quit over a controversial Gaza ceasefire last month.

Lieberman's resignation threatened to trigger early elections, but Netanyahu has held his coalition together and is clinging to a one-seat majority in parliament.

The prime minister, who has since assumed the role of defence minister, said at the time that holding elections would be "irresponsible" due to the undefined security threats.

His comments were seen by some as an attempt to save his government, with polls showing wide disapproval of his handling of a Gaza flare-up in November.

Netanyahu is also facing further pressure after Israeli police on Sunday recommended he and his wife Sara be indicted for bribery, the third such decision against the premier in recent months.

Conricus rejected suggestions of politics influencing the announcement.

Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria against what it says are Iranian military targets and deliveries of advanced arms to Hezbollah.

However, a friendly fire incident in Syria in September that led to the downing of a Russian plane by Syrian air defences during an Israeli strike has complicated Israeli operations.

Russia subsequently upgraded Syrian air defences with the delivery of the advanced S-300 system.Israel said it had bolstered its forces on the northern border - AFP

Israels military has launched an operation to find and destroy a network of Hizbollah attack tunnels running underground from southern Lebanon into northern Israel.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said Hizbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group, dug the tunnels over several years so its fighters could ambush Israeli soldiers and civilians.

The IDF would not say how many tunnels it had found but said that several had already crossed from Lebanese territory into Israel. None of the tunnels were operational yet and there was no immediate threat to Israel, the IDF said.

Whoever tries to attack the State of Israel will pay a heavy price. We are taking determined and responsible action in all sectors simultaneously, said Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister.

Hizbollah did not deny building the tunnels, saying in a statement that Israel was targeting tunnels "allegedly stretching from south Lebanon to settlements in northern occupied Palestine".

Map released by Israel that purports to show the site of Hizbollah tunnels along Jewish State's border with Lebanon Credit: IDF

We see Hizbollahs activities as a flagrant and blatant violation of Israeli sovereignty and it again proves Hizbollahs complete disregard for UN resolutions, said Lt Col Jonathan Conricus, an IDF spokesman.

He said some of the tunnels had been dug under Lebanese civilian homes, putting civilians in danger.

There was no immediate response from Hizbollah to the Israeli accusations.

A spokesman for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) told the Telegraph that the border remained calm and that it was coordinating with both countries to avoid an escalation.

The Israeli claim is likely to raise tensions with Hizbollah. Israel bolstered its forces across its northern border ahead of making the announcement, the military said.

Hizbollah has built up its military capabilities in southern Lebanon Credit: AP Photo/Bilal Hussein

The Israeli announcement led to heightened tensions on the Israel-Lebanon border, where the IDF and Hizbollah fought a bloody war in 2006 but have maintained an uneasy truce since.

Israel bolstered its forces across the north while Hizbollah fighters and the Lebanese military were put on heightened alert. By sundown on Tuesday the situation remained tense but calm.

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Israel has repeatedly struck Hizbollah targets in Syria as part of its campaign to prevent the militant group and their Iranian backers from embedding in Syrian territory.

However, Mr Netanyahu and other Israeli officials have become more vocal recently about the threat from Hizbollah inside Lebanon.

In a speech to the UN in September, the Israeli leader said Hizbollah had built secret missile sites in Beirut, the Lebanese capital. Both the Lebanese government and Hizbollah strongly denied the claims.

Hizbollah is believed to have around an arsenal of around 150,000 rockets and missiles, some of which are long-range and capable of precision targeting.

Mr Netanyahu warned about Hizbollah weapons sites in Beirut Credit: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg

Both Israel and Hizbollah predict that a new conflict would be much bloodier than the 2006 war, which saw more than 1,000 Lebanese civilians killed along with 44 Israeli civilians.

The IDF said Tuesday that it had entered and was preparing to destroy one tunnel which ran from the Lebanese village of Kafr Kela, under the border, and into Israeli territory.

The tunnel was roughly 200m long with electricity lines, air vents, and communications systems, the IDF said. Israel said the tunnel began under a civilian house in Kafr Kela. Hizbollah is using civilian infrastructure for military purposes, the IDF said.

Israel has long warned that Hizbollah was hiding weapons caches in civilian areas in southern Lebanon, raising the risk that civilians would be killed by Israeli strikes if fighting broke out.

Israel also accused Hizbollah of violating UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war. The resolution forbids both Israeli forces and Hizbollah fighters from entering southernmost area of Lebanon between the Israeli border and the Litani River.

The White House backed Israels actions. The US strongly supports Israels efforts to defend its sovereignty and we call on Hizbollah to stop its tunneling into Israel, said John Bolton, the US national security advisor.

Hizbollah has a complicated relationship with the Lebanese government. The Shia militant group is allied with Michel Aoun, Lebanons Christian president, but is at odds with Saad Hariri, the countrys Sunni prime minister, who has openly criticised Hizbollah.

Israel has warned that it holds the Lebanese government responsible for any actions by Hizbollah from Lebanese territory.

Israeli opposition MPs accused Mr Netanyahu of timing the launch of the operation to distract from a corruption scandal swirling around him and his wife.

Israeli police said on Sunday that both Mr and Mrs Netanyahu should be charged in a major bribery case. They deny wrongdoing.

The IDF denied that there was any political motivation, saying that Israel had been monitoring the tunnels for years and set the date for the operation's launch some time ago.

Israel is confident that it is close to neutralising the threat of tunnels dug by Hamas and other militants in Gaza by building a vast underground barrier around the Gaza Strip.

The military said it had no plan for a similar barrier on the Lebanese border, where the terrain is rocky and dramatic.

But the military said it had begun a defensive obstacle project to thwart the tunnels, including building walls, digging cliffs, and clearing vegetation.The man said to be the new head of the Sicilian Mafia has been arrested by Italian police along with 45 associates.

Settimo Mineo, an 80-year-old jeweller, was seized by police following a dawn raid.

Police say he was made Cosa Nostra godfather at a mafia meeting on May 29 in Palermo.

They believe he took over the reins of the Mafia empire following the death of boss of bosses Salvatore Toto Riina, who died in jail last year.

The 46 suspects are accused of arson, extortion, firearms offences and other crimes.

Interior Minister Matteo Salvini called the raid an extraordinary operation.

Settimo Mineo, centre, who allegedly took over as the Palermo head of Cosa Nostra, was arrested in Palermo, Sicily, on Tuesday (Picture: AP)

Based on wiretaps, police determined that during a May 29 meeting of clan leaders in Palermo, Mineo had been elected head of the cupola, the mob leadership.

It was the first time clan leaders had gathered in such a forum for years, and followed the November 2017 death of Riina, prosecutors said.

Italys chief anti-Mafia prosecutor, Cafiero De Raho, said the election of Mineo was significant because it showed that the centre of power of the Sicilian Mafia had shifted to Palermo from Corleone, its longtime base that was made famous by novelist Mario Puzo, who used the towns name for the main character in his 1969 novel The Godfather.

MORE: Teens and children had 45,000 operations to remove teeth last year

MORE: Theresa Mays Brexit plan is a deal in name only, says latest minister to quit

Palermo prosecutor Francesco Lo Voi recalled that Mineo had already served a lengthy prison sentence for Mafia association and other crimes after he was swept up in the maxi-trials against the Sicilian Mafia in the 1980s and 90s.

As the eldest of the local clan leaders, he enjoyed particular respect, he said.

This is a sign that Cosa Nostra doesnt abandon its rules, Mr Lo Voi told a press conference.

And that despite the convictions, despite the trials, important people can take over the most important roles once theyre back in play.

After Riinas 1993 arrest, the Sicilian Mafia saw a degree of marginalisation compared with the Calabrian-based organised crime syndicate or the Neapolitan Camorra. But Italian officials said it continued increasing its financial and business activities.

Story continues

Mr Salvini said in a tweet that the operation had dismantled the new cupola of Cosa Nostra.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UKProvince 3 Assembly meet to decide state name and capital

An all-party meeting held in Hetauda, the provisional headquarters of Province 3, on Monday agreed to decide the name and the capital city of the province through the Provincial Assembly meeting on December 23.Jackie Chans new book, Never Grow Up, features a very personal section about a serious mistake he made in 1999.

That was the year that Chan had an affair with Elaine Ng, resulting in a daughter, although he was married to Joan Lin. Chan wed the Taiwanese actress in 1982.

When the news broke about an affair Id had that resulted in a love child, the media frenzy was like a bomb going off, Chan said. I wanted to phone Joan, but didnt know what to say. I wouldnt be able to explain this. It wasnt a mistake I could fix by saying, Im sorry.'

Jackie Chan attends a meeting during the Sichuan-Hong Kong Film & TV Cultural Exchange Day on Nov. 7, 2018, in Hong Kong. (Photo: VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

Chan, now 64, acknowledged that he screwed up royally and thought he and Lin would have to get a divorce. But his wife surprised him with her response when he called her from a faraway location just after the story broke. She was calm when he asked her if shed seen the newspapers.

You dont need to explain, she told him. I dont want you to hurt her, and I dont want her to hurt us. If you need me or our son to show up and stand by your side, well do that. I know you must be feeling awful now. Dont worry about me, Im fine. You go deal with this.

He began crying and, when the call was over, he had a chat with his reflection in the mirror.

Youre a real bastard, Chan told himself. All these years, you were so careful to close yourself off from her, and shes completely open with you.

He had a realization.

Id behaved abominably, and Id let her down badly. I had to turn this around.

Chan went home a couple of days later and called the familys first ever meeting, during which he apologized both to his wife and his son, Jaycee, whos now 36, for his unforgivable mistake.

That short meeting was the only time the three of us talked about the subject (although I was the only one doing any talking), he wrote. It was never mentioned again.

The next day, Chan wrote, he changed his will to leave everything to Lin.

When I started to empathize with her, I came to respect her more and more. She is a strong woman, stronger than I am in so many ways.

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In April, People reported that the international stars estranged daughter, Etta Ng, now a teenager, is homeless and living under a bridge with her wife.

He is not my dad, she told Britains The Express. I have no feelings for him. He is my biological father but he is not in my life.

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:Theresa May is hopeful her Brexit deal will be approved in the Commons but a poll has revealed just 26% of voters back it. (PA)

Theresa Mays deal is the least popular solution to the Brexit question, a poll suggests.

The ComRes poll, for the Daily Express, asked 2,035 people whether they support Mrs Mays Brexit deal with 42% of those surveyed opposing it and just 26% supporting it.

On December 11 the vote will go to the House of Commons where it could be defeated should there be a Tory rebellion.

The poll claims 40% of voters back calls for a second referendum and 44% of people would prefer NOT to leave the EU should Mrs Mays proposal be defeated next week.

Pro-EU supporters have repeatedly called for a second vote and organised a number of massive rallies in London (PA).

Mrs May, during a 66-minute speech during Tuesdays debate, said the only certainty would be uncertainty if MPs failed to back her Brexit deal.

The PM urged the Commons to vote it through, saying: And dont let anyone here think that theres a better deal to be had by shouting louder.

Dont imagine that if we vote this down another deal is going to miraculously appear.

The alternative is uncertainty and risk; the risk Brexit could be stopped, the risk we could crash out with no deal.

She said it would not be in the national interest to block the Withdrawal Agreement, adding: The only certainty would be uncertainty.

Finishing her speech, Mrs May told MPs: We should not let the search for a perfect Brexit prevent a good Brexit that delivers for the British people.

Jeremy Corbyn and Labour have said Mrs Mays deal will leave Britain in a worse economic position. (PA)

However, Mr Corbyn said the Prime Minister had achieved something extraordinary with her Brexit deal: Across this House it has achieved something  it has united both Conservative Remainers and Conservative Leavers and members of every opposition party in an extraordinary coalition against the deal.

Following the 2017 election, the Prime Minister could have attempted to build a consensus, recognising the new arithmetic of Parliament, and sought a deal that brought people together.

Instead, just like her predecessor  who called a referendum without preparing for the eventuality of a Leave vote  the Prime Minister has seen these negotiations only as an exercise in the internal management of the Conservative Party.

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Anti-Brexit demonstrators protesting in Westminster. (PA)

According to the poll the only issue with a definitive outcome is that when Brexit is complete two thirds of voters believe the UK should try to become the lowest tax, business friendliest country in Europe with 56% of 18-34 year olds, 60% of 35 to 54 years olds and 70% of over 55s backing the approach.

And despite Mrs Mays criticism just 21% of voters believe Jeremy Corbyn could have negotiated a better deal, though 45% of those who voted Labour in 2017 do back their leader.

But Mr Corbyns polarising tendencies do little for Tory faith in Mrs Mays leadership with four in 10 Conservative voters, and six in 10 general, expecting the party to lose the next election over Mrs Mays handling of Brexit should she remain in power.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UKKatie Price comes to an agreement with creditors to avoid bankruptcy (REX)

Katie Price has avoided bankruptcy once again after reaching a deal to pay off her debts.

The former glamour model had been given time to come to an agreement with her creditors following an earlier court hearing.

The case was previously adjourned in August to allow time for the consideration of an Individual Voluntary Agreement (IVA).

And lawyers have told the court on Tuesday (December 4) that her IVA proposal has been accepted, meaning that the petition to make her bankrupt has been dismissed.

Deputy Insolvency and Companies Court Judge Middleton said: This case has been dismissed after the parties concerned reached an out of court agreement.

The former Im A Celebrity star was once said to be worth more than 40 million

Speaking to the Press Association after her hearing in August, a representative for the reality TV personality said: Katie is aware of the hearing and is working with her advisers to resolve her current financial issues.

She hopes to be in a position to do so and reach agreement with her creditors.

The former Im A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! star was once said to be worth more than 40 million.

Price, formerly known as Jordan, has been married three times and has been in the headlines following the collapse of her most recent marriage to Kieran Hayler.

Katie Price reaches agreement to avoid bankruptcy

Back in October, she was Katie Price arrested on suspicion of drink-driving. She allegedly crashed her bright pink Range Rover into a bush in south east London on her return home from a party.

Police said the 40-year-old remained at a South London station after being arrested at approximately 2am.

Price also recently revealed that her mother, Amy Price, has been diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF)  the same disease that killed TV presenter Keith Chegwin.





Read more

Peter Andre says he is trying to protect his kids

Katie Price brands her own behaviour as disgusting

Katie Price arrested on suspicion of drink-drivingAfter 20 years and 18 Victorias Secret fashion shows, Adriana Lima hung up her angel wings at the 2018 event and was celebrated as the greatest angel of all time.

The producers put together a package celebrating Lima, the longest-running angel in the shows history. Every minute that I worked with Victorias Secret, it was the greatest time of my life, she said.

Such a bittersweet night watching Adriana Limas final #VSFashionShow. Ive been watching her since I was a child. Its truly the end of an era!  Laura Knock Out (@Laurako_o) December 3, 2018

This particular show also appeared to be the greatest time of Kris Jenners life. As Kris watched daughter Kendall Jenner walk the runway, the very enthusiastic mom could be seen waving to Kendall and recording her on the phone.

Twitter took notice of the moment, and many thought it was extremely cute. It was also surprisingly similar to Kriss performance in the music video for Ariana Grandes Thank You, Next.

Kris Jenner recording Kendall Jenner in the VS Fasion show is identical to her in the Thank U, Next music video #VSFashionShow pic.twitter.com/j88DXKjLKg  Kerigan Hunziker (@KeriganAnn) December 3, 2018

The Victorias Secret Fashion Show aired Sunday at 10 p.m. on ABC.

Story continues

Watch as Kim Kardashian and Kanye West return to Paris for first time since robbery:

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Tell us what you think! Hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, or leave your comments below. And check out our host, Kylie Mar, on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.Former first lady Michelle Obama admitted again Monday that she never believed her husband, Barack Obama, would win the 2008 presidential election.

I didnt believe America was ready for a black president, she told a sold-out crowd at the London Royal Festival Hall stop of her Becoming book tour. Let alone a black president named Barack Hussein Obama.

Obama repeated the claim she made in her best-seller, which was released last month, saying that she only went along with her spouses campaign because deep down, I was like: Theres no way hes going to win.

And we can just sort of get this out of the way and I can be that supportive wife going, Aw honey, you tried. OK, now lets go back to our lives as usual, she added. That was my whole plan.

Donald Trumps presidency and the rise of the far right has in some circles been seen as a direct response to two terms of progressive policies under Barack Obama.

But Michelle Obama told author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie that it was ridiculous to think her husbands administration was going to erase hundreds of years of history in eight years.

We are putting down markers, we make progress and going backward doesnt mean the progress wasnt real. It just means that its hard, what we are trying to do is shift culture, she added.

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Also on HuffPost

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.By Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ordinary Americans, generals and former Cabinet members paid respects at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Tuesday to the late U.S. President George H.W. Bush, who died last week at the age of 94 after a life of service as a World War Two hero, head of the CIA and wartime president.

Under the soaring Capitol dome, office workers and tourists walked in silence all day past a flag-draped casket that bore Bush's body.

They were joined by former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who led the U.S. military during the 1991 Gulf War, as well as U.S. generals from that campaign against Iraq.

Crew members from the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush were planning to pay their respects and the public was being admitted into the Rotunda throughout Tuesday night and until early Wednesday morning.

Bush, the 41st U.S. president, was remembered as a patrician figure who represents a bygone era of bipartisan civility in American politics.

National flags flew at half-staff on many foreign diplomatic buildings on Washington's "Embassy Row," past which Bush's coffin will be transported on its way to the Washington National Cathedral for a memorial service on Wednesday.

People lined up outside the Rotunda in near freezing temperatures. Inside, Bob Dole, 95, was helped out of his wheelchair, stood up and saluted toward the casket. Dole was defeated by Bush in the fight for the 1988 Republican presidential nomination.

President Donald Trump, a fellow Republican, visited with the mourning Bush family at Blair House, an official guest house near the White House. They were greeted by former President George W. Bush, the late president's son, and his wife Laura.

"The elegance & precision of the last two days have been remarkable!" Trump wrote of the Bush memorial events in an earlier tweet.

Bush's service dog, a young Labrador retriever named "Sully," also walked past the casket and sat near it briefly.

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LONG SERVICE

Bush was a World War Two naval aviator who was shot down over the Pacific in 1944 and a former director of the Central Intelligence Agency. He was elected president in 1988 after serving two terms as President Ronald Reagan's vice president.

During his four years in the White House, Bush ended the occupation of Kuwait by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's forces, steered the United States through the end of the Cold War and condemned China's 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

Im very proud of the way that this country conducted their affairs under his presidency. And hes (Bush) going to be sorely missed, said Donald Woody, 52, a government contractor in the Washington area who visited the Rotunda. Woody, who was dressed in a Native American outfit on Tuesday, served in the U.S. Army from 1986 to 1992, encompassing Bushs presidency

Bush was dogged by domestic problems, including a sluggish economy and the AIDS crisis. When he ran for re-election in 1992, he was pilloried by Democrats and many Republicans for violating his famous 1988 campaign promise: "Read my lips, no new taxes."

Democrat Bill Clinton coasted to victory, ending Bush's presidency.

A Connecticut Yankee from a wealthy family who moved to Texas to be an oilman, Bush has been eulogized as a president with a keen sense of civility and duty.

No ones ever been as qualified as he was, said mourner Jim Wood, 55, who was waiting in line at the Capitol.

Bush is the 12th U.S. president to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda. The first was Abraham Lincoln following his assassination in 1865.

Early in his political career, Bush served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1967-71. He lost bids in 1964 and 1970 for a U.S. Senate seat from Texas.

The federal government and some financial exchanges will be closed on Wednesday for a day of mourning. Bush will be buried on Thursday in Texas.

(Reporting by Richard Cowan in Washington; Additional reporting by Susan Heavey and Susan Cornwell; Writing by Alistair Bell; Editing by Jonathan Oatis, Matthew Lewis and Lisa Shumaker)Special prosecutor Robert Mueller is reportedly close to concluding his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election.

Suggestions the former FBI director is reaching the endgame of his near two-year investigation into possible collusion between Moscow and the Trump campaign come in a week where prosecutors are also set to publish memos on three key defendants.

The documents are likely to reveal to what extent Donald Trumps former national security adviser Michael Flynn, long-time lawyer Michael Cohen and campaign chief Paul Manafort cooperated with the probe.

Mr Muellers prosecutors have told defence lawyers in recent weeks they are tying up loose ends as they now prepare to bring the long-running investigation to a close, Yahoo News reported.

There had been a suggestion that prosecutors would file their memo on Manafort under seal to prevent details of further offences Mr Mueller believes the lobbyist may have committed becoming public.

However, it is understood details involving Manafort, who has already been convicted of several fraud offences as a result of the investigation, will now be published, albeit with some redactions.

Manafort, Flynn and Cohen all accepted plea deals for various offences uncovered by the investigation.

Cohen, who previously claimed he would take a bullet for Mr Trump, appears to have particularly annoyed the president by co-operating with Mr Muellers team.

The former lawyer pleaded guilty last week to lying to Congress about negotiations he had on Mr Trump's behalf for a real estate deal in Moscow.

Though he initially claimed talks about a potential Trump Tower in the Russian capital ended in January 2016, he later recanted his story and admitted they lasted as late as June  after Mr Trump had secured the Republican nomination and after Russians had penetrated Democratic email accounts for communications later released through WikiLeaks.

Cohen said he lied out of loyalty to the president, who insisted throughout the campaign that he had no business dealings in Russia.

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On Monday, Mr Trump attacked Cohen on Twitter following reports his defence were attempting to avoid a jail term, calling for the lawyer to serve a full sentence and claiming he makes up stories to get a GREAT & ALREADY reduced deal for himself.

You mean he can do all of the TERRIBLE, unrelated to Trump, things having to do with fraud, big loans, Taxis, etc., and not serve a long prison term? the president added.

Minutes later, Mr Trump lavished praise on his former campaign adviser Roger Stone, who Mr Muellers prosecutors are investigating over claims he had advance knowledge of WikiLeaks plans to release hacked emails detrimental to Hillary Clintons presidential campaign.

Mr Trump lauded Mr Stone for saying he would never testify against the president.

This statement was recently made by Roger Stone, essentially stating that he will not be forced by a rogue and out of control prosecutor to make up lies and stories about President Trump, he tweeted. Nice to know that some people still have guts!

I will never testify against Trump. This statement was recently made by Roger Stone, essentially stating that he will not be forced by a rogue and out of control prosecutor to make up lies and stories about President Trump. Nice to know that some people still have guts!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 3 December 2018

The presidents outburst drew concern in some quarters, including from Democratic senator Mark Warner, who claimed the tweet could amount to witness tampering.

The President of the United States should not be using his platform to influence potential witnesses in a federal investigation involving his campaign, Mr Warner said.

David Weinstein, a former justice department prosecutor in Florida, said he was surprised by Mr Trump's comments, but didn't believe the tweet alone constituted obstruction or witness tampering because it did not explicitly tell anyone what to say or what not to say.

What he seems to be saying is that people who continue to show support for him, in some way, may be rewarded for that support, Mr Weinstein said.

I don't think it rises to the level of obstruction yet, but it certainly would cause people who are conducting the investigation to start asking questions about whether or not the target has reached out to them.

Additional reporting by APNasas deep space explorer Osiris-Rex flew on Monday to within a dozen miles of its destination (NASA)

NASAs Osiris-Rex spacecraft is now just a few miles from a skyscraper-sized asteroid, Bennu, which has the potential to hit Earth in just over 150 years time.

The spacecraft is to investigate the asteroid, which is a third of a mile wide, and is thought to be rich in organic molecules dating from the start of the solar system.

Scientists believe that asteroids may have delivered the ingredients for life to the young Earth  and hope to analyse samples from Bennu to prove the theory.

Scientists estimate there is a one-in-2,700 chance of the asteroid crashing into Earth 166 years from now.

2016  9  Osiris-Rex  BennuOsiris-Rex

Mission spokeswoman Erin Morton said, By the time we collect the sample in 2020 we will have a much better idea of the probability that Bennu would impact Earth in the next 150 years.

If all goes well, scientists should get the samples in 2023.

Launched more than two years ago, Osiris-Rex used Earths gravity as a slingshot to put it on a path towards the asteroid Bennu.

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If Bennu hit our planet, it would explode with more force than all the nuclear weapons detonated in history, and could start fires across an area four times the size of Britain.

Professor Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona said that an impact with Bennu would release, three times more energy than all nuclear weapons detonated throughout history.

The impact would release energy equivalent to 1,450 megatons of TNT.

For comparison, the fission bombs used in World War II had an energy release of roughly 20 kilotons of TNT each and the most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated, the Russian Tsar Bomba, had a yield of 50 megatons.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UKAwestruck tourist

There are many places in Nepal that attract hundreds of thousands tourists from all over the world. Among all these places, Pokhara tops the list. There are many who are fascinated by Pokharas mesmerising beauty. I am one of them.JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Brussels on Monday to discuss Iran and other regional issues. Pompeo, like Netanyahu, is an outspoken critic of Iran's nuclear program and he condemned on Saturday the latest missile test by the Islamic republic. "I look forward to discussing with you how we can together curb Iran's aggression in the region, in Syria, in Iraq, in Lebanon and elsewhere and to continue our efforts to achieve peace and security for everyone," Netanyahu said at the start of the meeting, according to a statement from his office. Netanyahu often uses meetings with international officials to push his agenda of halting what he describes as Iran's nuclear ambitions. Israel also sees Tehran's moves to set up bases in neighboring Syria as a regional threat, along with the heavily armed Iran-backed militia Hezbollah in Lebanon. The meeting was arranged last week, his office said. (Writing by Ori Lewis; Editing by Paul Tait and Peter Graff)Nicole Richie is the definition of a golden girl. The California-based style maven just launched her lifestyle brand, Honey Minx, which is all about easy, accessible luxury and pampering. As you can see in the video above, Richie particularly loves her brands 24K Manuka Honey Facial Mask.

This is a very special mask and I dont share this one with anybody, she says in the video. Isnt this beautiful?

It truly is  and lucky for us, shes disclosing the secret to her flawless complexion. Richie uses this gilded, iridescent mask a few times a week to leave her skin plumped and glowing.

Shop it: 24K Manuka Honey Facial Mask, $48, workingsundays.com

The gold face mask feels and smells so good, says Richie. This is for somebody whos into skin care; maybe they wear a lot of makeup or they want to do something healing for their skin. If theyre traveling, thats a really good mask to travel with.

No kidding. The mask is infused with 24-karat gold to help firm and illuminate skin. Plus, its loaded with the moisturizing power of hyaluronic acid and soothing manuka honey. You put it on, you peel it off, and your skin is dewy and radiant.

Shop it: 24K Manuka Honey Facial Mask, $48, workingsundays.com

Richie realizes the importance of self-care and beauty rituals, which she weaves into her bedtime routine.

I take a shower every night, right before I go to bed, she says. I have an entire skin care routine that consists of a face wash, a toner, a mask, lotion and face oil.

Shop it: 24K Manuka Honey Facial Mask, $48, workingsundays.com

But shes not done yet. I step out of the shower, put on cute pajamas and then put on a robe over it. Thats my routine, says Richie.

Its this routine that inspired many of her creations for Honey Minx. The pajamas, sleep mask, robe and the satin pillowcase  I think theyre for everybody, Richie says. I cant think of somebody who doesnt want to unwind and feel good and look gorg at the end of the night. I dont know who that person is.

The Honey Minx 24K Manuka Honey Facial Mask, $48, is available on workingsundays.com

Story continues

This article was paid for by Working Sundays, the parent company of Honey Minx, and created by Yahoo Lifestyle. The editorial department of Yahoo Lifestyle did not participate in the creation of this content.

Shop along as Nicole Richie raps about the gifts she loves to wrap (in the video, below), and see more of the celebritys favorite products from her new line, Honey Minx, on our Style NowWith landing page.

About Honey Minx

Inspired by her love of California, Nicole Richies new lifestyle collection, Honey Minx, integrates Nicoles passion for living her true self and expressing creativity through fashion and beauty. This collection highlights her love of eclectic pieces, soothing textures and celebrates the energy that we are given by the sun.

Nicoles iconic style is translated into a full range of beauty and fashion designs, including bohemian-styled jewelry, gem-infused essential oils, dream-inducing sleepwear, luxurious skincare and, of course, accessories.

Never known to shy away from something a little wild, Nicole has artfully blended her unique expression of beauty, healthy living and L.A.s laid-back artistic fashion with the ultimate in cozy luxury and style.

Honey Minx is available on WorkingSundays.com.Linda Woolverton is apprehensive about The Lion King remake

The writer of the original Lion King movie is not looking forward to the remake.

Linda Woolverton penned the 1994 animated feature as well as the 1991 movie The Beauty and the Beast and its because of the latters remake that she is sceptical.

Woolverton explained on the It Happened in Hollywood podcast that she was unhappy with the changes they made to the script and frustrated that they shut her out of the writers room.

I wasnt totally thrilled with The Beauty and the Beast remake because I didnt think it was exactly true to the mythology of the storytelling, she said. And Im not happy that I dont get to participate. Who would be?





Specifically, the screenwriter  who also penned 2014s Maleficent and 2010s Alice in Wonderland  did not agree with the changing of Le Fou to being in love with Gaston as well as the new ability for Beast to escape the castle.

Was [Le Fou] in love with Gaston? No. He was just a toady and besotted with a person he could never be, Woolverton said before discussing Beasts magic mirror that let him out of his magical prison.

The castle is supposed to be impenetrable, she says. After that, the mythology didnt work for me.

And on the remake of The Lion King, penned by Jeff Nathanson, Woolverton said: I dont know how [it] is going to be.

Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro says hes lost over a decade of work on unmade movies, including Justice League Dark and Beauty and the Beast

The new movie is a shot-for-shot remake of the original animation using photorealism to make the characters look like the real animals.

Donald Glover takes over as adult Simba with Beyonce voicing adult Nala, Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen as Timon and Pumbaa while James Earl Jones returns as Mufasa.

The Lion King is expected for release on July 19, 2019, to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the original film.

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Good Morning Britains Piers Morgan threatened to skin a guest alive during a heated debate about trophy hunting on Tuesday (December 4).

Steve Jones from Safari Club International joined Piers Morgan and his co-host Susanna Reid on the show to discuss the campaign against trophy hunting.

Jones tried to argue that hunting is crucial to keeping species alive, stating: If you look at countries like Kenya, which banned hunting in 1977 and have since then seen a 70% decline in wild species, because its not being funded.

Activists have criticised the UK government for not carrying out a ban on trophy hunting. Hunter representative Steve Jones says hunting is crucial to keeping species alive.@piersmorgan | @susannareid100 pic.twitter.com/m6mtNOvkRK  Good Morning Britain (@GMB) December 4, 2018

However, Morgan was left furious when Jones said British people bring back dead lions and elephants from Africa because they enjoy it.

Morgan then went on rant, asking Jones if hed like it if he tracked him down, shot him in the back and then skinned him alive.

I might enjoy spearing you in the back and putting your body on the wall in the studio, said Morgan.

Would you like it if I tracked you down after you leave the studio, put a bow and arrow in you, skin you alive and put you on the wall here? Would you like that just because I enjoy it? Maybe I would enjoy it Steve! So why shouldnt I?

Viewers were overwhelming in support of the presenter, with one person writing on Twitter: I never thought I would see the day where I agree with piers Morgan practically giving someone a verbal abuse but this guy deserves it.. Trophy hunting is disgusting & should be banned!!!!

Story continues

For once I am fully in the corner of Piers Morgan on #GMB. Ban trophy hunting now. The people who support it are neanderthal barbarians.  Steve Jennings (@steve_jennings) December 4, 2018

I agree with @piersmorgan but I wish he'd let that tool speak! Hunting should only be allowed if the hunters have no weapons and are naked like the animals to make it a fair playing fields.#GMB  Scotty (@ScottWoodburn1) December 4, 2018

Another viewer wrote: When Piers Morgan fights on the ethical side hes a real boon for good. Game hunting is a scummy thing to do. Decks are always stacked and whats the payoff ? A trophy that wasnt earned with any real effort and one less beautiful thing in the world.

Read more

M&S window display sparks sexism debate on GMB

Piers Morgan describes gender fluidity as a farce

Piers Morgan kisses Peter Andre on the lipsPolice have been using new ramming tactics to tackle moped crime (Picture: PA)

A police crackdown on moped gangs has pushed crimes out of London and into the suburbs, it has been reported.

Police figures obtained by The Times showed that some areas outside the capital had seen an annual increase in moped crime of more than 700%.

In the past year, the Metropolitan Police has taken a tougher stance on moped attacks, tasking pursuit teams to ram riders and using stinger devices to stop offenders in their tracks.

At the weekend, prime minister Theresa May said she backed the new tactics in the battle against moped criminals, and Scotland Yard said moped crime had fallen by 36% in the past year.

A moped gang stealing handbags from a designer shop on Duke of York Square in Chelsea, west London (Picture: PA)

However, while it has fallen in some areas, others have endured a huge increase in moped attacks, The Times said.

The Metropolitan Police said crimes involving mopeds, including snatch thefts, knifepoint muggings, acid attacks and smash-and-grab raids, are down from 19,455 offences in the year to October 2017 to 12,419 in the year to October 2018.

But in the west London borough of Hillingdon, there have been 122 attacks this year, compared to just 15 in the previous period, an increase of 713%.

In Ealing, there have been 228 incidents this year, compared to only 44 last year, while in Sutton the figure has jumped from 38 to 171.

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MORE: Theresa Mays Brexit plan is a deal in name only, says latest minister to quit

In areas such as Harrow and Brent, the number of incidents have quadrupled.

Only 11 of the 33 London boroughs reported a drop in moped-related crime.

The figures indicate that criminals have shifted their activity from central boroughs such as Hackney, Islington and Westminster to the suburbs, particularly northwest London.

In Camden, the number of incidents has fallen from 3,608 to 1,564. But in Brent there have been 276 incidents this year, compared to just 52 in the previous period.

Metropolitan Police officers demonstrate a new stinger device aimed at combating moped enabled crimes (Picture: PA)

The number of incidents in Hounslow has increased from 69 to 237.

Story continues

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: Operation Venice is incorporated into all London boroughs.

We have made significant inroads into tackling moped/motorcycle crime as a result of working with our partners and using a wide range of tactics across the capital to tackle offenders and offending.

We are not complacent and realise more work needs to be done to reduce moped and motorcycle-related crime.



Mexico City (AFP) - Newly installed President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador launched his "transformation" of Mexico Monday with a return to presidential press conferences and a new commission to investigate the internationally condemned disappearance of 43 students in 2014.

The anti-establishment leftist known as AMLO, who assumed the presidency Saturday, got down to business with a 6:00 am meeting with his public-security team, followed by a 7:00 am press conference -- something his predecessor, Enrique Pena Nieto, habitually avoided.

He then signed a decree creating an investigative commission to unravel the unsolved case of the missing students, a stain on Pena Nieto's legacy.

"I promise you there will be no impunity, not in this terribly sad and painful case, and not in any other," Lopez Obrador said at a ceremony where the students' parents were present.

Mexico is still haunted by the disappearance of the 43 student protesters from the Ayotzinapa teachers' college in the southern state of Guerrero.

They were attacked and then detained by municipal police in the city of Iguala on September 26, 2014.

According to the official investigation, corrupt police then handed them over to hitmen from the Guerreros Unidos drug cartel, who killed them and burned their bodies at a garbage dump.

However, independent investigators found numerous holes in the official story -- including a lack of forensic evidence at the supposed crime scene and indications that many of the suspects were tortured into confessing.

- Trump's 'respect' -

Lopez Obrador's nearly hour-long press conference touched on a wide range of issues. But the biggest news may have been the event itself.

It was a dramatic departure from the style of Pena Nieto, who read out scripted statements to the press on a semi-regular basis but almost never took questions from journalists.

"We are going to guarantee the right to information," Lopez Obrador, 65, told a room packed with reporters.

Story continues

"We're at your disposal to answer your questions. There are no limits, no censorship... The media are instruments to keep the people informed."

The former protest leader and Mexico City mayor said both the early-morning press conference and meeting with his public-security team would be daily rituals, calling the record-breaking violence fueled by Mexico's drug cartels "the issue that most worries Mexicans."

He also repeated his statement that he has a "respectful" relationship with US President Donald Trump, and called for a deal in which the United States would invest in economic development in Mexico and Central America to stop the flow of migrants across the US-Mexican border.

Trump for his part is pressuring Mexico for a deal to keep asylum-seeking migrants on its side of the border while their claims are processed, a possible source of tension between the two leaders.

But they have gotten off to a warm start so far -- and Trump again tweeted his congratulations.

Lopez Obrador "had a tremendous political victory with the great support of the Mexican People. We will work well together for many years to come!" he wrote.

- Economic worries -

Lopez Obrador also touched on his controversial decision to cancel a new $13-billion airport for Mexico City that was one-third complete, saying bonds from the project would be repaid.

He said he would give further details in Tuesday's press conference after meeting with his finance minister, Carlos Urzua.

Criticized by opponents -- especially in the business world -- as radical and authoritarian, Lopez Obrador has triggered fears about the future of Latin America's second-largest economy after Brazil.

In the latest report from the central bank, a panel of independent economists revised down their forecast for Mexico's economic growth next year, from 2.2 percent to 1.9 percent.

Lopez Obrador won a landslide victory in the July 1 elections promising sweeping change in a country fed up with corruption and crime after 89 years of government by the same two parties.

Vowing to lead his anti-corruption, pro-austerity push by example, he has cut his own salary by 60 percent and forsworn the presidential residence, security detail and jet.

The latter was flown to California Monday to be refitted and sold.Theresa Mays Brexit deal will go to a Commons vote on December 11. (PA).

On December 11 politicians are set to vote on Theresa Mays controversial Brexit deal.

The vote, which is expected to be a closely run affair, will determine whether Britain proceeds with the prospective deal drawn up by the prime minister and announced last month.

If approved its set to be carried forward and set the terms ahead of Britain leaving the European Union on March 29  if not  then its back to the drawing board.

Here, we take a look at the arguments for and against Mrs Mays deal

How MPs could vote on Theresa Mays EU withdrawal agreement on December 11. (PA).

FOR: Mrs May and her supporters say the Withdrawal Agreement, coupled with the Political Declaration on future UK/EU relations, will:

Deliver on the result of the 2016 referendum by taking the UK out of the European Union;

End the right of free movement by EU citizens to live and work in the UK, allowing Britain to introduce a new skills-based immigration system;

End the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in the UK;

Stop the annual payment of vast sums into EU budgets;

Take the UK out of the Common Agricultural Policy and Common Fisheries Policy;

Pave the way for the creation of a new UK/EU free trade area with no tariffs, fees, charges, quantitative restrictions or rules-of-origin checks;

Preserve close relations with the EU on security, crime and terrorism;

Protect the integrity of the UK by ensuring there is no customs barrier between Northern Ireland and Great Britain;

Honour the Good Friday Agreement by ensuring there is no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic;

End uncertainty about the future and reassure business that there will be no abrupt cliff-edge transition to new trading arrangements by providing a 21-month transition period for them to prepare;

Allow the extension of the period by up to two years to allow a trade deal to be completed, without the need to trigger backstop arrangements to keep the Irish border open;

Allow the UK to negotiate trade deals with countries elsewhere in the world, to come into effect at the end of the transition period

Protect the rights of UK citizens living in the EU and Europeans in Britain.

Anti-Brexit demonstrators protesting in Westminster. (PA)

AGAINST:

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Attacks on Mrs Mays deal come from a variety of angles. Pro-Brexit critics of say it will:

Trap the UK in a customs union which Britain can only escape with the consent of the EU;

Prevent new trade deals with countries like the US, China or Australia from coming into effect until at least 2021  or 2023 if the transition period is extended, or even later if the backstop is then invoked;

Allow the European Court of Justice continued influence over the UK, as the final arbiter for the interpretation of EU law in disputes;

Require the UK to hand over 39 billion in divorce payments with no guarantee of a free trade deal in the future;

Force the UK to accept Brussels rules and regulations until the end of the transition period, without having any say in them;

Commit the UK to aligning with EU standards and rules in the long term;

Leave open the possibility of access to fish in UK waters for European vessels

Give Spain a role in deciding future arrangements for Gibraltar.

The latest opinion polls show the Lib Dems have made small gains while Labour have suffered over the course of 2018. (PA).

Pro-EU supporters have repeatedly called for a second vote and organised a number of massive rallies in London (PA).

Supporters of EU membership say the deal will:

Cost the UK billions of pounds a year in lost trade and additional bureaucracy;

Give up the power and influence the UK enjoys as a leading member of the EU in return for vague promises about future trade;

Undermine the fight against crime and terrorism by weakening Europe-wide co-operation;

Put environmental, food and safety standards at risk;

Subject the UK to the rulings of an unelected arbitration panel;

Plunge the country into years of uncertainty and negotiation, discouraging investment.

Jeremy Corbyn and Labour have said Mrs Mays deal will leave Britain in a worse economic position. (PA)

Labour says it will:

Leave Britain worse off economically and offer no say on future EU rules and no certainty about future relations;

Fail to meet their demand for customs union membership and a single market deal to protect jobs and industry;

Offer insufficient support for manufacturing and industry and fail to maintain workplace protections;

Leave the UK open to substantial additional payments if the transition is extended;

Put the UK in a position of weakness in negotiating a trade deal.

DUP leader Arlene Foster has warned Mrs Mays Brexit deal will undermine the Union. (PA).

The Democratic Unionist Party warns it will:

Undermine the Union by treating Northern Ireland differently from the rest of the UK;

Leave open the possibility of a regulatory border down the Irish Sea.

The Scottish National Party says it will:

Take Scotland out of the EU, the customs union and single market against the will of its voters;

Make it more difficult for Scotland to attract the migrant workers it needs for its public services;

Give Northern Irish fishermen and exporters advantages denied to their Scottish counterparts.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UKRobert de Niro Robert De Niro at the 17th annual Marrakech International Film Festival, in Marrakech (Credit: EFE/EPA/JALAL MORCHIDI)

Robert De Niro has been called on why hes worked with so few female directors during his five decade career on screen.

The movie legend was appearing at a masterclass event at the Marrakech Film Festival on Saturday night, led by the French actress and director Maiwenn.

According to Variety, a number of personal questions aimed at the notoriously difficult to interview De Niro fell flat.

At one point Maiwenn, who has made celebrated movies including Polisse in 2011 and Mon Roi in 2015, asked De Niro whether hed received enough love from his mother.

I should be in an analysts chair, he joked, adding: She was an artist, an academic.

But as for working with female directors, he appeared a bit stumped.

Goodfellas (Credit: Warner Bros)

I dont know, he said. I dont have a problem working with a woman. If its a good script Id do it.

De Niro has only worked with three female directors, French helmswoman Agnes Varda on One Hundred and One Nights, Penny Marshall on Awakenings, and Nancy Meyers on The Intern.

Other than that, nearly all of his 100-plus movie appearances have been directed by men.

He also spoke about his long-standing relationship with Martin Scorsese during the masterclass, who hes most recently worked with on the forthcoming Netflix production The Irishman.

Marty will let you go as far as you need to go and worry about it later, and hell use it, De Niro said.

Some directors dont think that way. If you offer this kind of a left turn or out-of-the-box type of thing, theyll just say lets move on. Marty just has that capacity to let you do what you want to do.

The Irishman is due for release next year.

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Shanghai (Gasgoo)- China-based NIO delivered 3,089 ES8s last month, achieving a significant month-on-month (MoM) growth of 96%. By the end of November, the EV startup handed over a total of 8,030 vehicles, according to local media.

NIO launched the presale of its second mass-produced BEV modelthe ES6 on December 1 with price starting from RMB370,000. The company is ready to officially unveil the ES6 at the NIO Day 2018 held on December 15.

On November 27, the company saw its 10,000th ES8 formally roll off the production line. It is expected that NIO's annual sales will exceed 10,000 units this year if everything goes well.

As the bellwether among BEV markers and NIO's target, Tesla saw a substantial sales plunge in the world's largest auto market. According to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), the U.S.-based EV marker's sales in China reached only 211 units in October, tumbling 70% year on year. To be specific, the sales of the Model S and the Model X sharply slid 82% and 62% over a year ago to 50 units and 161 units respectively.

To vibrate sales performance in China, Tesla announced on November 22 that it would cut the prices of the Model S and the Model X by 12% to 26% in China from November 22 on to reduce consumers' cost by absorbing more from the tariff caused by the trade friction between China and the U.S. People from automobile industry said the price may be further decreased after the Tesla's cars are locally produced in this country in 2020.Tika R Pradhan is a senior political correspondent for the Post, covering politics, parliament, judiciary and social affairs. Pradhan joined the Post in 2016 after working at The Himalayan Times for more than a decade.SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP)  Republican Brad Raffensperger won a runoff election Tuesday to become Georgia's next secretary of state, taking over the office at the center of a debate over voter access and election security in the Southern state.

Raffensperger, a state lawmaker from suburban Atlanta, defeated former Democratic congressman John Barrow to become Georgia's top elections official, the office vacated by Gov.-elect Brian Kemp.

At his victory party late Tuesday, Raffensperger told supporters he would faithfully carry out elections in Georgia.

"I'm going to make sure that elections are clean, fair and accurate," he said. "And that's the No. 1 priority as your next secretary of state."

A statement from Barrow early Wednesday said, "...we need to make sure that every voice is heard" and that he'll wait for the remaining ballots to come in and be counted.

The runoff campaign played out against the backdrop of Democratic accusations that Kemp used his position as secretary of state to suppress minority turnout and increase his own odds of victory. Kemp insists that's false, pointing to large increases in voter registration on his watch and record turnout in the Nov. 6 midterms.

Raffensperger finished the three-way general election race ahead of Barrow, but just shy of the 50 percent of the vote needed to avoid a runoff. Issues that dogged Kemp in the general election  Georgia's strict "exact match" policy for confirming voters' identities and reports that the state's aging electronic voting system was vulnerable to hackers  became the focus of the race to succeed him.

Both Raffensperger and Barrow promised to replace Georgia's voting machines with a system that produces paper records that could be used to audit elections if needed.

Meanwhile, Raffensperger pledged to continue Kemp's practices of strictly enforcing voter ID laws and pruning registration rolls of inactive voters to prevent voting fraud. Barrow said Georgia needed to make it less difficult to cast ballots.

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Casting their ballots for Raffensperger in Atlanta's Buckhead neighborhood, Julia Chabannes and her husband Jimmy Cook, both 69, said they were skeptical about Democratic assertions that voters were disenfranchised by Kemp's policies.

"If there was a million people disenfranchised, they've been disenfranchised a long time because they've been in a graveyard," said Cook.

President Donald Trump endorsed Raffensperger with a tweet calling the Republican "tough on Crime and Borders." The secretary of state oversees elections, professional licensing and business incorporation in Georgia. The office has no law enforcement role.

Kemp's Democratic rival for governor, Stacey Abrams, urged voters to support Barrow during the same speech in which she acknowledged defeat and announced she would sue to challenge the way Georgia runs elections. That suit was filed in federal court last week.

Barrow also won an endorsement from Smythe DuVal, the Libertarian candidate whose distant third-place finish in November forced the race into overtime.

Raffensperger served four years in the Georgia House before running for statewide office. He will take over as secretary of state in January from Robyn Crittenden, who was appointed to the office when Kemp stepped aside last month.

Barrow sought a political comeback after losing his U.S. House seat in 2014. He served a decade in Congress representing a large swath of eastern Georgia that included Athens, Augusta and Savannah.

___

Associated Press writer Kate Brumback in Atlanta contributed reporting.By Christine Murray

TIJUANA, Mexico (Reuters) - Central American migrants stuck on the threshold of the United States in Mexico breached the border fence on Monday, risking almost certain detention by U.S. authorities but hoping the illegal entry will allow them to apply for asylum.

Since mid-October, thousands of Central Americans, mostly from Honduras, have traveled north through Mexico in a caravan, some walking much of the long trek.

U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to stop the migrants, sending troops to reinforce the border and attempting a procedural change, so far denied by the courts, to require asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico while their cases are heard.

Frustrated and exhausted after weeks of uncertainty, many migrants have become desperate since getting stuck in squalid camps in the Mexican border city of Tijuana.

So a number opted to eschew legal procedures and attempt an illegal entry from Tijuana as dusk fell on Monday at a spot about 1,500 feet (450 meters) from the Pacific Ocean.

In less than an hour, Reuters reporters observed roughly two dozen people climb the approximately 10-foot (3-meter) fence made of thick sheets and pillars of metal. They chose a place in a large overgrown ditch where the fence is slightly lower.

Just before dusk, three thin people squeezed through the fence on the beach and were quickly picked up by the U.S. Border Patrol, witnesses said.

But along the border inland as darkness descended, more and more migrants followed, many bringing children.

Some used a blanket as a rope to help loved ones get over.

A mother and her children made it over the first fence and disappeared into the night.

The sight of them climbing the fence encouraged others, even as a helicopter patrolled overhead on the U.S. side.

Earlier, Karen Mayeni, a 29-year-old Honduran, sized up the fence while clinging to her three children, aged six, 11 and 12.

"We're just observing, waiting to see what happens," Mayeni said. "We'll figure out what to do in a couple of days."

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Ninety minutes later, she and her family were over the fence.

A number of the migrants ran to try to escape capture, but most walked slowly to hand themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol officials waiting under floodlights.

'STAND ON MY HEAD'

Some migrants are likely to be economic refugees without a strong asylum claim, but others tell stories of receiving politically motivated death threats in a region troubled by decades of instability and violence.

Applying for asylum at a U.S. land border can take months, so if migrants enter illegally and present themselves to authorities, their cases could be heard more quickly.

The Pentagon said U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis had approved a request to extend the deployment of troops to the U.S. border with Mexico till the end of January.

U.S. officials have restricted applications through the Chaparral gate in Tijuana to between 40 and 100 per day.

Some migrants may hope to defeat the odds and penetrate one of the most fortified sections of the southern U.S. border.

Those that made it across the fence in Tijuana still had to scramble up a hill and contend with a more forbidding wall to reach California. U.S. Border Patrol agents had the territory between the two barriers heavily covered.

"Climb up. You can do it! Stand on my head!" one migrant said, egging his companion on.

One child and his mother got over the fence and ran up the hill behind. They turned around and waved to those still on the Mexican side.

(Reporting by Christine Murray; Writing by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Nick Macfie and David Gregorio)President on Stone: Nice to know some people still have guts!



Tweet seemed to breach US code but case may be hard to prove

Donald Trump. The flow of information between the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks has emerged as a focal point for the special counsel Robert Mueller. Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP

Donald Trump heaped public praise on a potential witness in the Russia investigation on Monday in a manner that legal experts said could amount to criminal witness tampering.

Trump tweeted in praise of Roger Stone, his longtime political adviser, who allegedly made contacts with the WikiLeaks organization through an intermediary in an effort to help the 2016 Trump campaign. Stone has denied all wrongdoing but has said he expects to be indicted.

The flow of information between the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks, which published emails stolen by Russians from the Hillary Clinton campaign, has emerged as a focal point for the special counsel Robert Mueller, who has yet to interview Stone.

I will never testify against Trump, the president tweeted. This statement was recently made by Roger Stone, essentially stating that he will not be forced by a rogue and out of control prosecutor to make up lies and stories about President Trump. Nice to know that some people still have guts!

I will never testify against Trump. This statement was recently made by Roger Stone, essentially stating that he will not be forced by a rogue and out of control prosecutor to make up lies and stories about President Trump. Nice to know that some people still have guts!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2018

Prominent lawyers and analysts led by George Conway, the husband of counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway, said the tweet appeared to violate a section of the US code that makes it a federal crime to corruptly persuade a witness with intent to influence or prevent that witnesss testimony in a criminal proceeding.

The offense, which prosecutors said is common in organized crime cases, is not typically committed in public because it is illegal activity, lawyers said.

Story continues

Having prosecuted mob bosses, tweeted Daniel Goldman, a former assistant US attorney in the southern district of New York, its unfair to compare them to Trump. Mob bosses are far smarter and way more savvy and discrete than Trump.

Having prosecuted mob bosses, its unfair to compare them to Trump. Mob bosses are far smarter and way more savvy and discrete than Trump.  Daniel Goldman (@danielsgoldman) December 3, 2018

George is right, tweeted Neal Katyal, a supreme court lawyer and law professor. This is genuinely looking like witness tampering The fact its done out in the open is no defense.

This is witness tampering under 18 USC 1512(b), which makes it illegal to cause or induce any person to withhold testimony, tweeted Norm Eisen, a lawyer and former ambassador who has analyzed the question for the Brookings Institution.

But it would be difficult to prove a witness tampering case against the president based on the tweet alone because Trump could dispute that he praised Stone with a corrupt motive, other lawyers said.

The President isnt tampering if hes genuinely just saying hooray for Roger Stone telling the truth, said Ken White, host of Make No Law: The First Amendment Podcast, who tweets @popehat.

Though its very hard to prove this is witness-tampering, its absolutely norm-violating, and if a CEO or mob boss or other authority figure did it, the feds would absolutely crawl up their ass and look for a way to charge them for it.

/12 Though it's very hard to prove this is witness-tampering, it's absolutely norm-violating, and if a CEO or mob boss or other authority figure did it, the feds would absolutely crawl up their ass and look for a way to charge them for it.  ScottFreeHat (@Popehat) December 3, 2018

Former US attorney Renato Mariotti agreed that the Trump tweet alone would be difficult to prove as witness tampering because Trumps lawyers would argue that the purpose of his tweet was to influence the public, not Stone, and that they could have spoken to Stones attorney privately if Trump actually wanted to influence him.

Others noted that Trumps praise for Stone followed closely on the heels of a pair of tweets in which the president attacked his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, accusing Cohen of lying to win a reduced sentence on charges of making false statements to Congress, campaign finance crimes and other charges.

He lied for this outcome and should, in my opinion, serve a full and complete sentence, Trump tweeted about Cohen. The contrast between that tweet and the subsequent tweet praising Stone could represent an effort by the president to dangle a pardon to Stone if he is convicted of a crime in the future, analysts said.

Dangling a pardon in such a way is probably illegal, the Harvard law professor Alex Whiting wrote in March on the Just Security blog in discussing the cases of the former national security adviser Michael Flynn and former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, whom Trump praised in August for refus[ing] to break under pressure from Mueller. Manafort later reached a plea deal with Mueller, which fell apart last week.

If the dangle is found to be orchestrated with a corrupt motive, wrote Whiting, it should qualify as a potential act of obstruction of justice.

Trumps praise for Stone appeared to be prompted by an appearance by Stone on Sunday on ABC News.

Theres no circumstance under which I would testify against the president because Id have to bear false witness against him, Stone said. Id have to make things up, and Im not going to do that.Donald Trump is building a new liberal world older upheld by American leadership and democracy, his secretary of state has claimed in a speech which blamed Iran and China for global instability.

In a foreign policy address in Brussels, Mike Pompeo told diplomats: "In the finest traditions of our great democracy, we are rallying the noble nations to build a new liberal order that prevents war and achieves greater prosperity.

"Under President Trump, we are not abandoning international leadership or our friends in the international system.

Despite Mr Trumps America first mantra, Mr Pompeo rejected suggestions the president was acting without consideration for other nations.

"Even our European friends sometimes say we're not acting in the free world's interest, he said. This is just plain wrong.

"We are acting to preserve, protect, and advance an open, just, transparent and free world of sovereign states.

This project will require actual, not pretend, restoration of the liberal order among nations. It will require an assertive America and leadership from not only my country, but of democracies around the world."

Mr Pompeo said the US was pushing the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to reduce funding to countries such as China, who he said already had access to financial markets to raise capital.

He said his country would continue to call out "bad actors" that exploited loopholes in these institutions for their own gain.

The US secretary of state was speaking at a conference hosted by the German Marshall Fund of the United States think thank. He is in Brussels for talks among foreign ministers at Nato.

Mr Trump has repeatedly accused European members of the military alliance of failing to spend enough on their own defence and relying too much on Washington.

Nato, meanwhile, is pressing the US president not to go through with his vow to withdraw from a 31-year-old nuclear treaty with Moscow and instead to work to bring Russia into compliance with the arms control pact.Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump called Monday for a long jail term for his ex-lawyer Michael Cohen, who admitted lying to Congress about pursuing a real estate deal with Russia on Trump's behalf during the 2016 election campaign.

Trump also praised another former advisor, Roger Stone, for refusing to testify against him -- drawing accusations of witness tampering and illegally obstructing the Russia collusion investigation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Trump accused Cohen of fabricating stories about his Russia dealings to minimize his sentence on multiple counts of tax evasion, financial fraud and campaign finance violations that he has admitted in federal court in New York.

Last week Cohen also admitted to lying in testimony about contacts with powerful Moscow figures over building a Trump Tower in Moscow.

Those contacts, including with a top aide to President Vladimir Putin, continued throughout the first half of 2016 even after Trump secured the Republican nomination for president, Cohen admitted -- contradicting claims by Trump that there were no dealings beyond 2015.

In a pre-sentencing pitch to the court on Friday, Cohen's lawyers asked that he be given no jail time, noting his ongoing cooperation with Mueller's sprawling investigation.

Trump, newly returned from the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, unleashed his ire in a volley of tweets.

"You mean he can do all of the TERRIBLE, unrelated to Trump, things having to do with fraud, big loans, Taxis, etc., and not serve a long prison term?" he said.

"He lied for this outcome and should, in my opinion, serve a full and complete sentence," Trump added.

Once one of the real estate tycoon's closest allies and a top executive at The Trump Organization, Cohen has become a key witness in Mueller's investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russians in 2016.

His revelation in court that Trump and his family were kept informed about contacts over building a Trump Tower in Moscow has ratcheted up the pressure from the investigation on the US president.

Story continues

Trump has repeatedly labelled the probe an "illegal witch hunt" and accused Mueller Monday of forcing witnesses to make up lies damaging to the president.

"Robert Mueller... and his out of control band of Angry Democrats, don't want the truth, they only want lies. The truth is very bad for their mission!" Trump tweeted.

- Witness tampering via Twitter -

The president compared Cohen with Stone, who is also being investigated by Mueller over his possible role in colluding with the Russians during the campaign.

In an ABC News interview on Sunday, Stone, a veteran Republican political consultant, denied any impropriety and said he would never give evidence against Trump, with whom he has worked for four decades.

Trump tweeted that Stone's comments showed "he will not be forced by a rogue and out of control prosecutor to make up lies and stories about 'President Trump.'"

"Nice to know that some people still have 'guts!'" he said.

Legal experts said Trump was empowering the obstruction of justice case against him by using the power of his position to influence witnesses.

"This is genuinely looking like witness tampering.... The fact it's done out in the open is no defense," said Neal Katyal, a veteran constitutional lawyer and former acting solicitor general of the Department of Justice.Washington (AFP) - The remains of George H.W. Bush lay in state Tuesday at the US Capitol amid a groundswell of tributes honoring the 41st US president.

Since Monday evening Americans have been quietly filing past the flag-draped coffin in the Capitol rotunda to pay their respects to Bush, who died Friday aged 94 at his home in Houston.

His passing has led Americans to reflect on his life of duty and service to country as a leader of the so-called "Greatest Generation."

Only the second president to see his son follow him to the Oval Office, the Republican stalwart is being honored with four days of commemorations and services in Washington and in Texas, where he will be buried Thursday.

President Donald Trump is scheduled to attend a state funeral Wednesday at Washington National Cathedral -- the first presidential funeral since Gerald Ford died in 2006.

Late Monday, after Bush relatives and dignitaries had gone, the president was driven from the White House up to Capitol Hill.

With first lady Melania at his side, Trump saluted, and they stood at Bush's casket for about a minute. They exited the rotunda with little fanfare.

Bush never warmed to Trump, and he had let it be known that he did not vote for him in 2016. Trump himself has criticized the elder Bush on the campaign trail.

But on Monday, Trump wrote members of Congress to hail Bush as a man who "led a life that exemplified what is truly great about America."

"President Bush worked selflessly throughout his long life to bring about a world of justice and lasting peace," he wrote.

The White House also extended an invitation to Bush's family to stay at Blair House -- the president's guest house -- while they are in Washington for events surrounding to his funeral.

Bush was a decorated World War II fighter pilot, onetime ambassador to China, former head of the Central Intelligence Agency, and vice president to Ronald Reagan before winning the White House.

Story continues

Military pallbearers carried the flag-draped casket into the rotunda as a fiery sunset bathed Washington in a glow.

The somber ceremony was attended by his son George W. Bush -- the nation's 43rd president -- and other relatives, dignitaries and more than 100 members of the House and Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell lauded Bush -- who occupied the White House from 1989 to 1993 -- as a patriot who steered the country as straight as he had piloted his World War II airplane.

"He kept us flying high and challenged us to fly higher still. And he did it with modesty and kindness that would have been surprising in someone one tenth as tough and accomplished as he was," he said.

- Hands on hearts -

Bush was transported aboard the presidential Boeing 747 -- made available at Trump's direction -- from Houston to Joint Base Andrews, in Maryland.

In Houston, relatives including his presidential son stood with hands on their hearts as the casket was carried to the aircraft.

Bush is the 12th US president to lie in state in the rotunda. Just three months earlier, the honor was accorded to senator John McCain, a former Republican presidential nominee who died of brain cancer.

Hundreds of members of the public began quietly filing in to the Capitol late Monday to pay their final respects.

Among them was Kim Frinzell, a government employee who did not vote for Bush but grew to respect his accomplishments, including signing the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act.

"The fact that he could cross party lines, and did that so gracefully, especially after his presidency, to me is really inspiring and a lesson that our current administration can learn from," Frinzell, 56, told AFP.

Bush will be honored at a state funeral service at the cathedral on Wednesday, which Trump has declared a national day of mourning.

Bill Clinton will be among the living US presidents to attend, along with dozens of foreign leaders including Germany's Angela Merkel.

Former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney said he would deliver one of several eulogies, at Bush's request.

On Thursday, Bush will be interred at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library Center in College Station, Texas, next to his wife Barbara, who died in April, and their daughter Robin who died of leukemia at age three.

- One-term president -

Bush's political locus was foreign policy and America's place in the world, and he claimed successes including navigating the end of the Cold War and marshalling a global coalition to eject Iraqi troops from Kuwait in the first Gulf War.

But despite Bush's record approval ratings after "Desert Storm," he disappointed Americans on the domestic front. The US economy slid into recession in 1990, and recovery was sluggish, conditions which contributed to his 1992 election defeat by Clinton.

House Speaker Paul Ryan alluded to that political setback in his Capitol remarks and said Bush handled defeat with grace.

"He was the first president to teach me that in a democracy sometimes you fall short -- and that how you handle that is just as important as how you win," Ryan said.WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said he will visit the mourning family of former President George H.W. Bush on Tuesday at Blair House, near the White House. "Looking forward to being with the wonderful Bush family at Blair House today. The former First Lady will be coming over to the White House this morning to be given a tour of the Christmas decorations by Melania. The elegance & precision of the last two days have been remarkable!" Trump tweeted, referring to former first lady Laura Bush, the deceased Bush's daughter-in-law. Located across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House, Blair House is the official guest house for U.S. presidents. Trump will attend Wednesday's state funeral for Bush at Washington National Cathedral, but is not expected to speak. Trump did not attend the funeral for Bush's wife, former first lady Barbara Bush, who passed away in April and who had criticized him during his presidential campaign. Since competing with former Florida Governor Jeb Bush for the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential election, Trump has had a rocky relationship with the Bush family, a political dynasty that includes former President George W. Bush. Trump also did not attend the funeral of Senator John McCain, a one-time Republican presidential candidate, this year. (Reporting by Lisa Lambert; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jonathan Oatis)Government plans to hike export cash incentive to 5 percent

The government plans to hike the export cash incentive to 5 percent from 2 percent in a bid to promote exports of domestic products.Kiev (AFP) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko met Tuesday with families of Ukrainian sailors captured by Moscow, vowing to do everything in his power to bring them home.

"For me there's nothing more important than getting them out," Poroshenko told relatives of some of the 24 seamen taken by Russia last month.

"All of Ukraine is now proud of your loved ones," he said during the emotional meeting in his office, hugging the captives' family members, some teary-eyed.

Late last month Russia opened fire on and seized three Ukranian navy vessels as they tried to pass through the Kerch Strait from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov.

The 24 Ukrainian crew members, three of whom were wounded, were detained.

The incident was the most dangerous in years between the ex-Soviet neighbours, which have been locked in a confrontation since 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea and supported an insurgency in eastern Ukraine.

More than 10,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

Despite international calls for their release, the Ukrainians were sentenced to two months detention and are now held in Moscow.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the Ukrainian vessels crossed into Russian waters illegally and insisted that Moscow will not release the sailors as part of an exchange.

The seamen have joined a long list of Ukrainians held in Russia including filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, who refused food for 145 days in his Arctic penal colony earlier this year.

Kremlin critics have said Russia is preparing a show trial of the sailors.

The Ukrainians, charged with illegally crossing Russia's borders, face up to six years in prison, Nikolai Polozov, one of the defence lawyers in the case, told AFP on Tuesday.

He said it remains unclear who is in charge of the criminal case. Calls to the Investigative Committee and the FSB security service went unanswered on Tuesday.

Poroshenko insisted that the seamen's detention was illegal.

Story continues

"According to their status, according to the Geneva Convention, they are prisoners of war and cannot be tried in any Kremlin court," he said.

- 'No threat to health' -

In Russia, Moscow's top rights official Tatyana Potyaeva visited the three wounded Ukrainian sailors who are being treated for hand, arm and leg injuries in the medical unit of the Matrosskaya Tishina remand prison.

"There is no threat to their health," the ombudswoman said, adding they were receiving antibiotics and painkillers. Two of them also spoke to their relatives, she added.

On Tuesday the European Court of Human Rights, acting on a request from Kiev, called on Moscow to provide "appropriate medical treatment" to the wounded soldiers.

The other 21 are being held in Moscow's high-security Lefortovo jail.

Kiev last week imposed martial law for 30 days in 10 regions that border Russia, the Black Sea and the Azov Sea.

Poroshenko has warned of a build-up of Russian forces near Ukraine's borders, claims the Kremlin has dismissed.

European leaders have rebuffed calls from Ukraine for greater support against Russia, after Kiev urged NATO to send ships into disputed waters.

On Tuesday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin pressed NATO to come up with a "comprehensive answer" to Russian aggression in the Black Sea, as the alliance treads carefully for fear of further escalating tensions.

In Brussels for a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, Klimkin hinted that at least one member was ready to step up its presence in the Black Sea, without naming it.

The foreign ministers discussed the standoff but did not agree any concrete new measures to help Ukraine.

Ukraine has accused Moscow of blocking commercial vessels from entering and leaving the ports.

But Kiev said Tuesday that Russia had begun allowing some ships to enter Ukrainian ports on the Sea of Azov, in what could signal an easing of tensions in the flashpoint area.Windi Thomas, who is 300lb, right pleaded guilty to the third degree murder of Keeno Butler, left, after she sat on him crushing him to death. (Handout).

A 300lb woman has admitted murdering her boyfriend by sitting on him.

Windi Thomas, 44, pleaded guilty to the third-degree murder of Keeno Butler, in Erie, Pennsylvania, who weighs just 120lb, following an argument in March this year.

According to GoErie.com Thomas agreed to a recommended sentence of 18 to 36 years in state prison as part of her plea agreement with prosecutors.

Thomas killed Butler during a March 18 attack at the couples apartment at 1019 East Ave.

Thomas told investigators that she cut Butler in the hand with a folding knife struck him in the head with a table leg during a confrontation before sitting on him.

Windi Thomas, who is 300lb, pleaded guilty to the third degree murder of Keeno Butler after she sat on him crushing him to death. (Handout).

Investigators wrote in an affidavit the probable cause that Thomas weighs approximately 300 pounds and Butler weighed approximately 120 pounds.

Butlers death was ruled a homicide caused by respiratory insufficiency secondary to blunt force trauma to the neck and thoracic compression, exacerbated by blunt force trauma to the head, according to the affidavit.

Police said Butlers body was found on the living room floor at the residence after Thomas called 911 and reported she had killed an individual.

Her sentencing is scheduled for December 21.

Windi Thomas is led from the court room after striking a plea deal following the murder of Keeno Butler in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Erie County Judge William R. Cunningham accepted the plea shortly before 9 a.m. Assistant Erie County District Attorney Jeremy Lightner dropped charges of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and possession of the instrument of a crime in exchange for Thomas plea in the death of her boyfriend, 44-year-old Keeno Butler.

The recommended sentence of 18 to 36 years would cut two to four years from the maximum sentence of 20 to 40 years for third-degree murder, an unpremeditated killing with malice. Thomas had been scheduled to face trial in the case beginning Dec. 10.

Its a good result based upon the facts of the case, said Thomas court-appointed lawyer, Mark Del Duca, of Pittsburgh. I think its fair for both sides.

Sandra Butler, the victims sister, said she wanted to see Thomas serve more time than the agreed-upon sentence.

Story continues

I feel like she should have 40 or more, Butler said. She deserved life.

Thomas will remain in the Erie County Prison without bond while she awaits sentencing.

Sandra Butler said her family is still struggling to cope with her brothers death.

My mother, she calls for him every night, Butler said.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UKThe image was recreated by forensic artist Hew Morrison (PNAS)

This is the face of an 18-year-old woman who lived in the Early Bronze Age in the north of Scotland, and whose remains were found during road works in 1987.

Ava  named after Achavanich in Caithness  was reconstructed using cutting-edge DNA analysis of her genome.

She died 4,250 years ago, and had brown eyes, dark hair and was lactose intolerant, researchers from the Natural History Museum and Harvard Medical School said.

She was descended from Beaker people, European migrants who arrived in Britain a few generations before Ava was born.

MORE: Teens and children had 45,000 operations to remove teeth last year

MORE: Theresa Mays Brexit plan is a deal in name only, says latest minister to quit

Maya Hoole, archaeological researcher for the Achavanich Beaker Burial Project said,  I was amazed, absolutely amazed. It was really remarkable.

Archeologists rarely recover evidence that indicates hair, eye or skin colour but these new revolutionary techniques allow us to see prehistoric people like we never have before.

The revelation that her ancestors were recent European migrants is exciting, especially as we know that has no, or every few, genetic connections with the local Neolithic population who resided in Caithness before her.

The reconstruction was created by forensic artist Hew Morrison, based on DNA data.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UKFior Pichardo de Veloz was misgendered and transferred to an all-male jail after an arrest in Miami. (Photo: Miami-Dade Corrections)

A woman is suing employees within the Miami-Dade County Corrections Department after she was misgendered after an arrest and forcefully placed in an all-male jail, where she was humiliated and afraid.

Fior Pichardo de Veloz, now 55, was visiting family in Miami, Fla., for the birth of her grandchildren back in 2013 when she was taken into custody on an old drug charge that she didnt know was outstanding. According to the Miami Herald, Pichardo was listed as a female by the arresting officer before being properly booked and processed into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center (TGK) as a woman following a strip search. It wasnt until she was sent to the medical unit because of her history of high blood pressure that Pichardos gender was questioned.

The nurse, Fatu Kamara Harris, noted that Pichardo filed that she was taking hormone pills and asked if the inmate was in fact a man. Pichardo replied no, but she was still led to facility doctor Fredesvindo Rodriguez-Garcia, MD.

According to Judge Frank Hulls appeals court opinion, released on Nov. 21, Rodriquez-Garcia never directly asked Pichardo about her gender or why she was taking hormone pills, nor did he do a physical examination. Still, he decided to reclassify the inmate as a male. Harris subsequently marked Pichardos file, Transgender, male parts, female tendencies, leading to Pichardos transfer into the all-male Metro West Detention Center.

Every reasonable prison officer and medical personnel would have known that wrongfully misclassifying a biological female as a male inmate and placing that female in the male population of a detention facility was unlawful, Hall wrote about the nurses decision to allegedly ignore officers who questioned whether Harris had performed a physical examination.

Ultimately, Pichardo spent 10 hours in a cell with about 40 men. Jailers didnt notice the mistake until the inmates family showed up at TGK and demanded to know why she had been booked into an all-male facility. Nurses immediately recognized the mistake and transferred her back to TGK.

Story continues

Pichardo later sued the county and jail for being exposed to cruel and unusual punishment. A federal judge threw out the lawsuit because jail staffers were allegedly protected from a trial for negligence. But a federal appeals court reinstated the lawsuit this month against the jail doctor and nurse who stubbornly refused to confirm the inmates gender.

Representatives of Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center told Yahoo Lifestyle that they could not comment on the incident.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

 Couple has to prove New Mexico is a state when applying for marriage license

 15-year-old Syrian refugee and sister bullied and assaulted by classmates in horrifying videos

 Mans arrest after good deed captured on video, but police say it doesnt tell full story

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.



The number of new print magazines started in the U.S. fell by more than half in 2020 to 60, compared tShakya is the founder CEO of beed, an international management consulting and advisory firm. He is the author of Unleashing Nepal and Unleashing The Vajra.(Bloomberg) -- Russias space program took a step toward repairing its reputation for reliability after a failed launch added to concern over unprecedented foreign competition for getting into orbit.

On Monday, the Roscosmos agency sent the first crew into space on a Soyuz rocket since a booster failure on a similar model forced Russian Alexey Ovchinin and American Nick Hague to abandon their mission minutes after liftoff in October. They made the first emergency landing in the craft since 1975.

NASA Associate Administrator William Gerstenmaier was on hand for the launch at Kazakhstans Baikonur Cosmodrome to ferry Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, U.S. astronaut Anne McClain and Canadian David Saint-Jacques to the International Space Station. The crew confirmed that it safely reached orbit according to a live feed on NASAs website, and plans to link up to the ISS early Tuesday in Moscow.

The successful mission wont dispel the storm clouds on the horizon for Russias space program, however. Recent setbacks at Roscosmos, including a series of failed launches and accusations of misspending, have tarnished its Soviet legacy as the first manned space program. Adding to the woes, the program now faces the prospect of reduced revenue as a seven-year monopoly on ferrying people to the space station comes to an end.

They are obviously concerned about losing income from sending U.S. astronauts into orbit, Gerstenmaier said in an interview in Moscow before traveling to Baikonur. They share some of the same problems we do -- theres a finite amount in the budget in our countries and space flight is part of the discretionary budget.

Cheaper Rockets

Billionaire Elon Musks Space Explorations Technologies Corp. and Boeing Co. have contracts to deliver astronauts to the ISS starting next year under NASAs Commercial Crew project. A raft of start-ups around the world also use cheaper rockets to put slimmed-down satellites into space, presenting a challenge to Roscosmoss lucrative launch business.

Story continues

Roscosmoss press service declined to comment on the potential loss of revenue from NASA. It has earned some $2.6 billion from the U.S. for carrying astronauts and equipment to the ISS since NASA retired its fleet of space shuttles in 2011.

Russias market share for rocket technology worldwide fell slightly in 2017, which Roscosmos blamed on sanctions, the weak ruble and increased competition, according to its annual report published on Friday. It singled out SpaceX for allegedly undercutting the market thanks to U.S. government assistance.

Reliant on Soviet technology developed decades ago, Russia may find its increasingly overtaken in the new space race. While NASA has a contract to send astronauts to the ISS with Roscosmos until February 2020, it will stop paying for seats on the Soyuz after that if the Commercial Crew program goes to plan, Gerstenmaier said.

Basically Stolen

The windfall funding from the U.S. hasnt always been spent wisely. Alexei Kudrin, the head of the countrys Audit Chamber, told Russias lower house of parliament in June that he found 760 billion rubles ($11.4 billion) of financial violations in Roscosmoss books.

Several billion have been spent, basically stolen, that we are currently investigating, Kudrin said in an interview aired Nov. 25 on state-run Rossiya 24 TV. Roscosmos is the champion in terms of the scale of such violations.

Kudrins criticism related to a 2017 audit, Roscosmos told the Tass news service. President Vladimir Putin appointed Dmitry Rogozin, a former deputy prime minister, as the new head of Roscosmos in May this year.

The agency has faced a series of other problems. A critical defect was discovered on a launchpad of its newest cosmodrome, Vostochny, in Russias Far East, RBC newspaper reported. Separately, a commission is still studying the cause of a mysterious hole found on a Russian module of the ISS. A spacewalk is planned for Dec. 11 to investigate the issue further, though a final report isnt expected until February, according to Gerstenmaier.

Even so, the Soyuz remains the most-used launch vehicle in history and Roscosmos has had successful unmanned launches since the failure in October, which it blamed on a sensor that was damaged during assembly.

We see tremendous advantages in us working together and cooperating, Gerstenmaier said. If the two agencies also pursue dissimilar capabilities, or theres even a little competition in some areas, thats healthy too, he said.

(Updates with launch details from second paragraph.)

--With assistance from Stepan Kravchenko.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jake Rudnitsky in Moscow at jrudnitsky@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Torrey Clark at tclark8@bloomberg.net, Tony Halpin

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

2018 Bloomberg L.P.Fuck the whole show for doing a tribute to this murderer in the first place tbh. But its network TV so I dont expect anything less.

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Meghan is honestly so annoying with how she tries to dictate the conversation at the table



And no one feels comfortable arguing with her cause she brings up her dead father right after things get messy.





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Almost everything she starts is with MY FATHEEEEEEEEEEER or AS A CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN. Megan we know it's literally the only reason you're in that chair gorl.

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She knows if people forget or challenge her father's "legacy," her own relevance and pay checks dry up in an instant.

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The reverence for her father is kind of annoying, they definitely have discussed him much more critically in the past (ie. Keating Five, palin's idiocy, etc) but now they have to constantly kowtow to Meghan and her obsession with his legacy.

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Shes just such a NASTY person.

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when will meghan be gone?

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I forgot he died tbh until this morning when I drove past a billboard with his face on it that said "Great American"



These dudes really only have to do the least to be thought of fondly after they die.

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fuck him



the only funny thing is him dying on world aids day

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The longer they keep her on the show the more embarrassing it is for her

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meghan no matter how hard you try you'll always just be a thirsty social climber who got lucky thanks to nepotism. and we can't forget she's married to an oafish racist where in all the dc circles he *allegedly cheats on her all the time.

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lol wow

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*gasps in pretend shock*

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I LOVE these shots. Famewhore and fraudulent.

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ofc her husband cheats seeing as he called her fat and ugly before they dated.

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lmao, wow! How did I not know this??

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Lmao jfc

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wooooo lmao

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This is my first time seeing this. 

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It's so funny because she's trying SO hard to be relevant but she just looks like a child throwing her toys at things she doesn't agree with. Abbey is just a parrot at most points, and they take SO many breaks nothing gets finished ever. American TV is 3 mins show 5 mins ads lmao. Not the other way around.



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in this segment abbey literally repeated the exact same thing megan had just said. she is so useless and the one time she actually snapped Ana collected her so quick and with absolute ease she was shook beyond words.

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Abbey seems harmless maybe because she never does offer anything of interest?? lmao, but there's something like Startled Stepford Wife look about her sometimes, like she looks like 'how did I get here?!?' and idk why I find it funny.

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do you remember what episode that was? lol

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I find it so offensive people are acting like he was anything but a good ol' boy conservative who's opinions were largely offensive as fuck.

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I stopped watching this show, but when I did, I love how Whoopi always made sure to cut to commercial when she felt an argument needed to be stopped, but when she had something say, there was never a commercial break. I see things haven't changed.

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She does it every day, lmao. Whenever Whoopi wants to have the last word, she starts yelling at the people who tell her she's out of time and continues to talk anyway. I always laugh when she cuts to a commercial by saying "we'll continue this conversation after the break" when others are arguing and then it's an entirely new topic after the break.

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Old people circlejerking over a dead homophobic and racist Republican. yawn

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Life comes at you fast... pic.twitter.com/impB5XC9ZY  Jim Swift (@JSwiftTWS) November 2, 2017



never 4get how her husband once recoiled at the thought of dating her

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Ohh wow. He sounds like a pig. What a catch...

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This is one of the most embarrassing things ever. Does she have no dignity? (That's a rhetorical question)

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lmfao. Saw this last year and it's still soooo funny.

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This is so sad. I would've loved to have been the fly on the wall, when gave his explanation to her about this.

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Let the woman say what she wants about clean air and it being important to her. She's saying something that she felt improved during his time as President and there was no reason to interject.



My biggest voting issue is healthcare, everyone has a different issue they care about the most.



He was President when I was born, so I don't remember anything about him being in office and I really wasn't that aware of politics until the Bush vs Gore election when I was in Elementary school.

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Meghan McCain is such a nasty jackass.



Remember when the McCain family stretched out their patriarch's death to include "laying in State" in both Arizona AND D.C., at least 3 formal services and a cross country funeral procession?

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Really really tired of people waxing poetic about this dude.



The fucking USPS is suspending service for him on Wed!



Guy's been dying for like a decade, he's gone, move on. If I have to hear about what a gentleman he was...

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Wednesday?? No! Im expecting a package!

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I'm expecting a package, the fuck...

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All federal offices are closed bb

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Oh, I didn't realize because my local paper made it seem like a special circumstance they'd be closed.

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lmao thats so fucking extra

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State and Federal buildings are closed on Wednesday. Not just USPS.

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Aw don't tell me I have to go to the post office tomorrow instead :/ at least the workers get a day off?

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this ain't canada! bring me my fucking sheets, please.

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This is what they do for all Presidents of the USA who die, he's not getting special treatment, the closed government offices, the speeches, etc.

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i wonder how long meghan's contract is with abc. she was awful during the election special. she wasn't very insightful as an abc political analyst / pundit / whatever.



i wish they would just replace meghan and abby. but then i don't want tomi. why not get a male pundit on the table?







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I've always thought it would be nice to add 1 male. I get it, the show is for women, about women but it would be a nice twist like tyra banks did with america's next top model lol and if it doesn't work they can rehash it out

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LinkNepal Airlines, Kansai Airport chiefs discuss Japan flights

A visiting delegation from Japans Kansai International Airport, Osaka, has welcomed the Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC)s plan to resume flights on the airport and assured full cooperation to make things happen.A proposed U.S. legislation that could pave the way for suing OPEC for market manipulation is a big concern among the cartel and may weigh on the message from the meeting later this week and on some members incentive to continue being part of OPEC, Michael Cohen, the head of energy markets research at Barclays, told CNBC on Tuesday.

I think its something that could very easily weigh on the messaging of this meeting that is going to happen on Thursday and Friday, Cohen told CNBC, when asked to comment on the proposed U.S. legislation in light of the current divisions within OPEC, especially Qatar quitting the cartel.

The proposed U.S. legislationthe so-called No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels (NOPEC) Actcould pave the way to antitrust lawsuits in the U.S. against the cartel and its national oil companies, if passed.

Forms of antitrust legislation aimed at OPEC were discussed at various times under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, but they both threatened to veto such legislation.

In May this year, the NOPEC Act was introduced again. Such legislation would make OPEC subject to antitrust laws by removing a state immunity shield created by judicial precedent.

Given U.S. President Donald Trumps continued criticism of OPEC and the way the cartel manipulates the oil market and prices, OPEC members are concerned that the legislation may pass this time around.

It is certainly possible that a country that is looking to enhance or burnish its ties to the United States may look at the NOPEC legislation and say: Well, we dont want to be a part of this organization anymore, Cohen told CNBC today.

OPEC is also said to have urged all its members not to mention specific oil prices, and to instead stick to the market stability narrative in public comments about oil policies to avoid the risk of potential U.S. antitrust lawsuits for manipulating the market if the United States passes the legislation.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:Oil gained for a second day in a row on Tuesday, pushed up by a trade war truce, pending OPEC+ production cuts, and surprise mandatory output reductions in Canada.

(Click to enlarge)

(Click to enlarge)

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- Western Canada Select (WCS) prices crashed close to $10 per barrel over the last few weeks, the result of inadequate pipeline capacity out of Alberta. Refinery maintenance in the Midwest added to the regions woes.

- The provincial government of Alberta took the extraordinary step of requiring mandatory production cuts to narrow the discount.

- Alberta producers will be required to cut output by roughly 8 percent beginning in January, which will last until the inventory overhang is erased.

Market Movers

 Cenovus Energy (NYSE: CEO) said that it would stick to its capex plan of C$1.5 billion in 2019 after Alberta issued mandatory production cuts. The company said it would have slashed spending if the cuts werent issued in light of low prices.

 Groningen natural gas production will fall by at least 75 percent to below 5 billion cubic meters per year over the next five years. The Dutch government has been trying to ratchet down output because of seismic activity.

 ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) announced its tenth discovery in offshore Guyana on Monday. Its total resource estimate for the Stabroek Block now rises to more than 5 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

Tuesday December 4, 2018

Trump and Xi agree to truce. The U.S. and China agreed to delay their trade war, although both sides have sold the temporary agreement differently to their home audiences. Trump played up a lowering of Chinese tariffs on U.S. autos, something that China did not confirm they agreed to. Still, global markets welcomed the ceasefire, even if it only kicks the can down the road. The U.S. will hold off on the scheduled increase in tariffs from 10 to 25 percent that was set to take effect in January. The two sides now have 90 days to reach an agreement.

OPEC production steady in November. OPECs production was flat in November at 33.13 million barrels per day, down a slight 10,000 bpd from the month before. Saudi output exceeded 11 mb/d for the first time in history, but those gains were offset by a declines elsewhere, including 230,000 bpd from Iran and 160,000 bpd from Iraq.

OPEC+ gears up for production cut. Russian President Vladimir Putin said over the weekend at the G20 summit that Russia has agreed to go along with a production cut in Vienna. The size of the cut is undecided at this point. Saudi Arabia wants something more aggressive, but is also wary of angering Washington. Most analysts predict a middle-of-the-road production cut. Given Saudi Arabias need to balance a host of conflicting interests, our basecase scenario is a de-facto Saudi-led cut with Russian participation, but a flexible agreement that shies away from specific targets, Verisk Maplecroft said in a note to clients. Saudi oil minister Khalid al-Falih said on Tuesday that it was still premature to lay out the specifics of the deal. Related: Oil Jumps On Trump-Xi Trade Truce

Alberta issues mandatory production cuts. Alberta required its oil industry to lower output by 325,000 bpd beginning in January to erase the stockpile glut and ease the strain on the regions takeaway capacity. The move is intended to boost WCS prices  and by all accounts, the move seems to have worked. WCS jumped this week. According to Scotiabank, WCS discounts could average just $20 per barrel in the first quarter of 2019, down sharply from a more painful $29-per-barrel discount had the policy not been enacted.

Qatar quits OPEC. Qatar announced its withdrawal from OPEC on Monday, after nearly six decades inside the group. The Qatari government said it was for technical reasons; mainly to focus on natural gas production. But a member of the ruling family also criticized OPEC, which seemed to undercut the official reason for the countrys exit. The withdrawal of Qatar from OPEC is a wise decision, as this organization has become useless and does not bring us anything, said former prime minister Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani. It is just being used for purposes that harm our national interest. Saudi Arabia launched an economic blockade against Qatar last year, and most analysts believe the intense rivalry between the two countries drove Qatar to exit.

Libyan warlord finds international support. The Wall Street Journal profiled Khalifa Haftar, the warlord that controls the eastern half of Libya and stands in opposition to the internationally-recognized government in the western half of the country. Haftar has a bloody record of torture, extrajudicial killings and disappearances, but he has found growing support from Europe and elsewhere as his control has grown. Some Western officials now regard Mr. Haftar as indispensable to any future Libyan peace pact, the Wall Street Journal wrote. Many oil companies have investments in territory controlled by Haftar.

Iran threatens to blockade Strait of Hormuz if U.S. tightens sanctions. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani threatened to block all oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz if Washington follows through on tighter sanctions intended to zero out Iranian oil exports. The US should know that we are selling our oil ... and it is not able to stop Iran's oil exports, Rouhani said. And it should know if it intends to block our oil someday, no oil will be exported through the Persian Gulf. Its not the first time that Tehran has issued such a threat.

U.S. State Department to conduct environmental review of Keystone XL. In response to a court order, the State Department will conduct an additional environmental review of the Keystone XL project, after its route was been altered. The review will add further delays.

Shell to tie executive compensation to carbon reductions. In response to pressure from investors, Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) will implement carbon emissions targets and tie them to executive pay.

Related: Is This The Beginning Of The Next Bull Run In Oil?

AMLO criticizes energy reform. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took office on December 1, and in his inaugural speech he lambasted the energy reform instituted under his predecessor. They told us it was going to save us but it has only meant the fall in oil production and the excessive increase in gasoline, diesel, gas and electricity prices, he said of the reforms. Still, he vowed his government would respect the [energy] contracts already signed and ensure that investments will be secure. He also promised major investments in Mexicos refineries.

French government to delay fuel tax hike. After crippling protests, the French government has backed down on a planned hike in diesel taxes. After hearing (the) anger I am suspending for six months three fiscal measures including fuel tax increases, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said.

Exxon and Chevron to sell stakes in Azeri oil field. ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) and Chevron (NYSE: CVX) are looking to sell their stakes in Azerbaijans largest oil field, the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) field in the Caspian Sea. Exxon is hoping to raise $2 billion in the sale, according to Reuters. Both companies have been involved in the field for a quarter century, and the original deal was once nicknamed the contract of the century.

By Tom Kool for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:Crude oil exports from OPEC went up by 619,000 bpd last month, data from French shipping data tracking company Kpler showed, with Venezuela notable for a 358,000-bpd increase alone. In fact, the troubled South American country with the largest oil reserves in the world booked the third-largest increase in monthly exports.

Saudi Arabia came on top, with an increase of 791,000 bpd in its exports, followed by the UAE, whose crude oil shipments abroad rose by 470,000 bpd. Angola also exported more in November than October, with the increase at 238,000 bpd, Kpler said.

Not surprisingly, Iran booked the largest decline in its crude oil exports as U.S. sanctions entered into effect, despite the waivers granted by Washington; the effect of these will be felt later. For November, however, Irans exports were down by 854,000 bpd to a total 1.041 million bpd.

Irans neighbor, Iraq, also booked a substantial decline in oil exports, down 239,000 bpd from October, to 3.765 million bpd.

Saudi Arabia exported an average daily of 8.138 million bpd last month, with Iraq coming second, and the UAE third, with a daily export rate of 2.828 million bpd. Nigeria exported 1.876 million bpd, down by 81,000 bpd from a month earlier.

The figures will likely pressure prices, which had just begun to improve slightly after Russian President Putin said at the G20 meeting Moscow was prepared to continue its partnership with OPEC regarding production, which suggested it will join the cuts.

While the amount of oil that OPEC and its partners will remove from the market has not yet been settled, analysts saw it at between 1 million bpd and 1.4 million bpd. Reuters today quoted sources from the cartel as saying the number discussed would be 1.3 million bpd. The talks with Russia were still ongoing, they added.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads from Oilprice.com:Amid an inimical international situation, an economy that was bound to recover, but does so rather unconvincingly and a tense domestic atmosphere, Russia continues the construction of new gas pipelines that would boost its export conduit flexibility and largely eliminate the Ukrainian transit issue.

Already 200 km of Nord Stream 2 pipes were laid within the past two months, largely in German territorial waters and even if Denmark carries on its delay tactics, the project seems to be on track to be commissioned by end of 2019. The future of TurkStream, although its construction started significantly sooner  its offshore part was completed this November  was so far shrouded in mystery due to the difficulty of routing its second line.

The completion of TurkStreams offshore part is definitely good news for Presidents Putin and Erdogan  the first secures 15.75 BCm per year worth of gas sales in avoidance of Ukraine and any other transit obligations, the second gets a stable and discounted supply of natural gas. Yet TurkStream was intended to have two lines with an annual throughput capacity of 15.75 BCm  one to feed Turkey directly, the other to bring gas to Southeastern Europe. As soon as Turkey finishes the construction of required infrastructure around Kiyikoy, the town where the subsea sections meets the Turkish mainland, flows of gas can be kickstarted straightaway. However, the future of the second line  its destination, transit countries and exact route  were heretofore unclear, with two main itineraries having been discussed, lets call them the Bulgarian and Greek variants. Related: OPEC Oil Exports Jump Ahead Of Meeting

If transiting gas via Greece, the main export outlet would be Italy, doing it via Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary would be more even distributed between the three nations involved. A third option was also flaunted for quite some time  that Gazprom might join SOCAR and transport its volumes to European customers via the Transadriatic Pipeline to Italy, the so far only major achievement of the Southern European Gas Corridor project. This could even make sense logistically, as there is only Azerbaijan to fill the 10 BCm per year TAP pipeline and any effort to expand its throughput capacity would necessitate the inclusion of a third party as SOCAR simply does not have enough gas to export more than 10 BCm per year to Europe. This option, however, seems to have lost in actuality and relevance, most likely due to geopolitical reasons  it would be difficult to boast externally about the success of the Southern Gas Corridor were Russia involved in it, too.

The hesitation seems to have reached an end  according to Russian media outlets, Gazproms preference for the Bulgarian route has now moved into the active phase. Previously the only indicator pointing towards it were the words of Energy Minister A. Novak (the Bulgarian route has a higher priority) and a sudden rise in the number of Russo-Bulgarian top level meetings, an oddity considering that current Bulgarian Prime Minister has previously killed off the construction of the Belene nuclear plant and the SouthStream pipeline. Now, with several Open Season bids closed already and some coming the in the next few weeks, we can state that Gazprom is moving in to secure the Bulgaria-Serbia-Hungary-Slovakia-Austria route.

In October, a call for bids was announced for the projected HU-SK-AT pipeline which would reach the Austrian gas hub of Baumgarten (in tune with Gazproms pledge to do so). The total amount of volumes booked surpassed the 4.3 BCm per year threshold, the project passed all economic tests  confirmations of the booked capacities are expected to be granted in March 2019. If it is indeed Gazprom that is behind the capacity bookings, the Russian company has booked transportation capacities in Hungary, Slovakia and Austria for 7 years starting from 2022. The Bulgarian gas transportation company Bulgartransgas will, too, hold a transportation Open Season bidding this December, for transiting gas from Turkey to Serbia  the volumes will be allocated for a 20-year period. Related: Is This The Beginning Of The Next Bull Run In Oil?

More interestingly, the volumes which the Bulgarian company intends to receive on the Turkish border amount to 15.8 BCm per year  exactly the throughput capacity of TurkStreams second line. The throughput capacity reaching the Serbian border would be around 11 BCm per year. In another telling similitude to the now forgotten SouthStream project, Bulgaria intends to build a new booster station in Provadia, exactly where it wanted to do so ten years ago when SouthStream was still on the agenda. Many analysts foreordained Russias preference for the Bulgarian route, given how often the Bulgarian prime minister and president have met Vladimir Putin this year  the sides never really concealed that they did discuss TurkStream and its continuation into Europe, yet steered clear from any binding commitments.

Russia and all the relevant Southeastern European countries are still not in the position to call it a day and start working on the construction of their respective pipeline sections. There has to be some sort of official finalization of the project, preferably with some sort of involvement of the European Commission. Yet even considering the opaque nature of communication with regard to TurkStream, one can search for tiny little hints when navigating the murky territory of continental gas markets. In a couple of days, on December 7, the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will hold an official state visit to Moscow  if you do not hear anything specific from President Putin or Prime Minister Tsipras on the continuation of TurkStream on Greek territory, the odds of it happening will drop even further. They are already low as Greece is quite susceptible to EU/US pressurizing due to its debt crisis  something that Moscow keeps in mind to avoid any sort of reputational damage, similar to the one when it had to

call off South Stream for good.

By Viktor Katona for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:One truth eternally rears its head in global oil markets: When the current price for oil no longer clears the market, it will drop. The inverse is also true: When supply doesnt meet demand, the price will rise. Likewise, the markets perception of each condition, rather actual data can also influence prices.

That means we can take instruction from understanding past events that have impacted oil and apply them, with a timing caveat, to present day. Timing is critical because no one can really say exactly when the market will respond, one way or the other, to the larger forces influencing it. When you shoot a rocket at the moon, you don't aim for where it is now, you calculate the trajectory and aim where you think it will be. Calculating what will happen with oil and gas prices is a lot like that conceptually, although there are many more moving parts to the analysis that makes the 'timing' issue relevant.

Recently the endgame for the OPEC meeting has become clearer. A brief discussion follows.

Russia and KSA

This picture of a budding 'bromance' between Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman should dispel any doubt about the Russian dictator's intentions vis a vis the Middle East.

Source Putin warmly 'high fives' the Saudi Crown Prince in Buenos Aires.

You may have read in a recent article where I opined about what their likely response might be when confronted with the decision to retain their previous captive market in Europe with low prices, or whisper sweet-nothings in the ear of the Saudis. Here is a key quote from that article, if somehow you missed it.

Russia is harder to forecast because of the political elements influence, but on the balance, I think political goals will win the day. Putin would like to blunt U.S. influence in the MEA region and may use the price of oil to achieve this goal, even at the cost of some of their European sales. The Russians also have competing goals, maintaining their traditional European markets and buddying up to the Saudis. Trying to strike this balance will probably result in support for the oil price.

Events have over-taken and ratified the latter view- of filling a vacuum in current U.S.-Saudi relations, as evidenced by the display between the two men in Argentina. The current gnashing of American political teeth over MbS' little indiscretion in Turkey, creates an ideal opportunity for the old Russian spook. Ripping a page from what I would be willing to bet is lesson #1 in the KGB operations manual, Never waste a crisis, Putin is just making sure that MbS knows that if the Americans continue to snub him, he has a friend in Russia. There is no downside in this transaction for Putin, as there is in America. After all enemies of Putin has been known to occasionallybe taken off the board, so-to-speak. These guys have more in common than meets the eye. Related: Oil Output Cuts May Be Coming But Dont Bet on It

That said, as far as I am concerned there is no mystery left in the OPEC meeting next week. Not that they will skip it. Far from it, what sane person would miss a party in this legendary city? The party will go on as planned and an announcement of production cuts will be forthcoming. Saudi Arabia and Russia forming a swing bloc, once again.

A trip back to 2015-16

The world was awash in oil thanks to KSA's 2014 decision to flip 180 degrees on their multi-year tradition of defending oil prices and go instead for market share. Over the next year and half, they filled up every canoe, and tea kettle on the planet...and the price plummeted...and plummeted. With WTI bottoming in Feb of 2016 at $26 and change.

The Saudis were now getting so little revenue from their primary source of income that Imperial economic initiatives were being threatened. So, in late 2016, they called a meeting that resulted in the withdrawal of about a million barrels a day from the market. And, something also happened that hadn't happened since 2001. The Russians joined in.





Source

It took a little time after that, but by the middle of 2017 oil began a price ramp that continued largely unabated until October of this year. The reasons for the sharp decline have been discussed here and elsewhere. Waivers to the Iran oil sanctions (short-term though they are intended to be) have stripped the sanctions of any teeth, causing oil to enter its current sharp decline.

So, wrapping this section up. The warmth of the greeting between MbS and his best buddy in the entire world is more than symbolic. After buying off on the U.S. insistence that they must ramp up production in the face of the coming severe sanctions on Iran, only to have the rug and the oil price pulled out from beneath them...the Saudis can be forgiven for looking for a new set of friends.

One of the things that worries me about the nationalistic point of view so often expressed by our current president, is that we don't live in a vacuum. We need friends in the world (however grim they may be in reality), who feel they can rely upon us to consider their interests as well.

It is pretty well known that the Saudis need the price for Brent in the middle $80's to balance their books. We're a long way from there currently. This is a fact that gets no recognition seemingly from the Administration. We live in a connected world. This little trick we played on the Saudis will come back to haunt us in ways we can't really predict at this point. Related: Will Canadian Oil Producers Cut Output?

For the record, I think much of American trade policy as directed toward China, is right on target. I hope we stay the course we've set upon with them. Russia is a bad actor and has committed numerous misdeeds in recent years. Whether they will ever be truly called to account for Crimea remains to be seen. But, in terms of impact on the U.S. they pale in comparison to the economic and military threats posed by China.

Summing up this section: It is safe to say that the fabric of the trust that has existed between the U.S. and Saudi has been pretty well trampled by the waivers on Iran. I know how I'd feel in their position. If I was MbS, I might just be 'high-fiving' Vladimir Putin on the world stage to show my American 'friends' that perhaps it's "Time to see other people."

On the world stage as in personal interactions, that is never a good point in a relationship.

Where do we go from here?

I don't seriously expect the U.S.-Saudi relationship is going to be irreparably damaged. We have too much in common in terms of the stability of the Middle-East region for that to happen. I think cooler voices will prevail in terms of sanctioning KSA over the murder of Khashoggi. But the relationship will likely be different, perhaps a little more tense. We have opened the door to the Great Russian bear, and we're going to have to deal with the consequences of our actions.

Over the short run, assuming that I am correct, and we get a significant production cut next week, we will have to wait for the world to sop up some of the excess oil in floating storage. We have had 10 weeks of steady crude builds that will have to be worked off. Nor, do we yet know how quickly the cuts will be implemented.

We will also have to see how long it takes for the shale frackers modify their behavior in the face of $50 oil. We haven't seen any signs so far, with a few rigs continued to be added each week. At some point the frackers will wake up and determine that oil at $50 doesn't go as far as oil at $75 and tap the brakes just a hair. We are also due for a seasonal pause in some of the U.S. Northern areas, as winter takes a bite out of drilling activity.

In practical terms we will probably be well into the first quarter before we see any impact from OPEC production cuts. However, once we do, it will be like June of 2017 all over again, and the price of oil could strongly respond to the upside.

By David Messler for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:OPECs future is once again up in the air after the decision by Qatar to leave the oil cartel on January 1 2019.

Saad Al Kaabi, Qatars minister of energy, stated to the press that Doha will be leaving OPEC in order to concentrate its investment and political efforts on natural gas. Qatar's decision to leave OPEC is being painted as evidence of a new rift inside of the organization. This assessment, however, is built on wrong assumptions and does not take into account the nature of OPEC.

The future of OPEC is not in doubt, it could even be argued that the future at present is brighter than it has been for the last couple of years. The oil cartel always had to deal with internal discord or even outright clashes, such as the diplomatic rift between Iranian hardliner Ahmadinejad backed by Hugo Chavez and Saudi Arabia during the 3rd OPEC Heads of State Summit in 2007. The oil cartel survived these conflicts, and recovered. The Qatari decision to leave will not put a dent in the shiny armor of the group, as Dohas oil production is insignificant compared to some of its more influential peers within the cartel. Qatars future is natural gas, with a primary focus on LNG exports.

Most of Qatars crude oil is produced at the offshore Al-Shaheen field, developed in conjunction with Danish oil independent Maersk Petroleum. This oilfield, which for years has been a technological showcase due to its extended multilateral drilling, setting new world records, has been hit by technical challenges regarding scaling and slugging. The current owners are fighting an uphill battle, which might not yield the expected results. Qatars oil future was already very cloudy, and by leaving OPEC, Doha seems to be throwing in the towel. Related: Qatar Quits OPEC

Regardless of how significant one considers Qatar's decision, it is hard to view it as a very rational one. As one of OPECs most vocal members, Qatar had a say far beyond its real economic or military capabilities. By shaping OPEC's strategy, Doha played a pivotal role on the global stage. Leaving OPEC will immediately result in it losing this influence. Shifting focus from OPEC to maintaining its status as an LNG powerhouse is maybe economically rational, but it could end up costing Qatar geopolitical leverage. Except for Russia, gas geopolitics is not a real power factor taken into account by global powers or military strategists. Being part of the decision-making group within OPEC is most of the time the key to the White House, the Kremlin or Brussels. Having an insight and a say at the table of OPEC ministers grants nations a great deal of power.

Questions still remain as to why Qatar has made this decision. Until insiders give us the background and rationale for this decision, we will all be left to guess at the truth. In guessing however, we can infer certain factors that will have weighed on the decision. Since the start of the Saudi Alliance clash with Qatar, the minister of oil and his delegation have almost become outcasts at OPEC meetings. The last meeting in Vienna made it clear that the majority of OPEC ministers would not openly talk to their Qatari and Iranian counterparts. Walking through the rooms and corridors of the meeting hall in Vienna, the fallout of the clash was visible. This ongoing open conflict is most probably one of the reasons for Qatar leaving the cartel. And dont underestimate the negative effects of cultural pride in rational decision-making processes. After a long period of prominence (Al Attiya), Qatari ministers were removed from the spotlights.

Another reason could be a totally new strategy set in place after the reshuffle of the Qatari government, including the minister of energy position. So far we have only heard the usual diplomatic Arab standard phrases that have been used in the media. A possible reshuffle and power struggle in the Qatari power structures around the Emir could well have been behind it too. Related: Oil Jumps On Trump-Xi Trade Truce

In the coming days things will become clearer. Analysts should keep an eye on the position Qatar takes in Vienna at the OPEC meeting. Doha will still be a full member, which should give it a say in all matters. One of the most interesting things will be the relationship between Qatar and Iran, and whether this is a symbiotic relationship or perhaps somethinng more. Iran and Qatar are also linked strongly in a possible global gas power structure, currently called GECF.

The Qatari decision will certainly put some pressure on Tehran too. Losing another pro-Iranian power broker in the Saudi led oil cartel, which could even expect Egypt and others to join very soon, will put Iran fully into a corner. Improving Saudi-Russian relations is another major slap in the face for Tehran. Russias gas power politics, combined with OPEC interests, could be a deadly threat to Qatari LNG dreams in the future.

It is an overstatement to say that OPECs future is threatened, it seems instead that possible destabilizing factors have removed themselves from the cartel. The Vienna meeting however will still be very interesting, with Doha still part of the proceedings. Saudi Arabia and Russia, supported by the UAE will have no problem weathering the storm.

By Cyril Widdershoven for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:Much has already been written over the last 24 hours by pundits and analysts alike about Qatars decision to leave the Organization of the Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC) by January next year. Some have chimed in, claiming that its an irrational move, while others have, perhaps correctly, attributed it to toxic politics in the always volatile Middle East. The latter view has much credibility given Qatars ongoing geopolitical rift with many of its Arab neighbors over allegations of financing terrorist groups, which led to a regional economic boycott of the country last year.

Despite the tensions, Qatar is claiming that its exit from OPEC has no political overtones. Saad al-Kaabi, the countrys energy minister, told a news conference on Monday that the decision was not linked to the political and economic boycott imposed in June 2017 by Saudi Arabia and three other Arab states  the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt. The group also imposed a trade and travel embargo on Qatar over allegations of support for terrorism groups.

Ending 57 years of membership

Al-Kaabi added that the decision to withdraw had not been easy after 57 years of OPEC membership, but noted that the countrys impact on the cartels production decisions will be small. He stressed that Doha would continue to abide by its global commitments like any other non-OPEC oil producer. Related: Putin Looks To Capitalize On Waning U.S.-Saudi Relations

At the end of the day, Al-Kaabi is right. The exit of Qatar, an OPEC member since 1961, from the cartel will have scant impact on group since it represents just 2 percent of its total oil production. Qatar is the cartels 11th largest oil producer, producing only 600,000 barrels of oil per day. In context, Saudi Arabia just reached a historic record of pumping 11 million bpd. Moreover, its been gas that has made Qatar, per capita, one of the richest countries in the world, not its oil exports. Natural gas is the cornerstone of Qatar's economy and accounts for more than 70 percent of total government revenue, more than 60 percent of gross domestic product, and roughly 85 percent of export earnings.

OPEC cracks could deepen

The Qatari move could indicate, however, that cracks are growing within OPEC amid Saudi Arabias decision to forge both increased geopolitical and energy relations with Russia. Though Qatar is a tiny OPEC player, other cartel members, upset at Saudi Arabias willingness to bow to U.S. pressure to ramp up oil production as well as the Kingdom's willingness to go outside the cartel for oil market management could follow Dohas lead.

LNG ambitions

Al-Kaabi also said that the move to leave OPEC was related to its liquefied natural gas (LNG) ambitions, which should be taken at face value. Related: Alberta Intervenes To Halt Canadas Oil Crisis

Achieving our ambitious strategy will undoubtedly require focused efforts, commitment and dedication to maintain and strengthen Qatars position as the leading LNG producer, he said in a statement. I would like to reaffirm Qatars pride in its international standing at the forefront of natural gas producers, and as the biggest exporter of LNG.

Qatar is already the worlds largest LNG producer, with some 77 million tons per annum of liquefaction capacity, though that lead is not being challenged by Australia as it finally completes its massive LNG project expansion boom.

Yet, going forward, Qatar will far outpace any of its LNG exporting rivals, both Australia, Russia and even the U.S. as the country enters its so-called second phase of LNG project development. Last year, in a surprise statement, not dissimilar to Mondays statement that it would leave OPEC, Qatar announced that it would boost LNG production to 100 mtpa within the next five or six years - a remarkable decision given LNG development in other parts of the world that will all be vying for the same market share. The new additional volumes will be secured by doubling the size of the new gas project in the southern sector of the North Field, which Qatar Petroleum had announced earlier.

By Tim Daiss for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:It will be a busy few days for the oil market, and the week started off with a bang. Oil prices shot up on Monday on news that the U.S. and China has delayed the trade war, as well as on increasing odds of deal in Vienna.

A lot of news came out of Buenos Aires over the weekend at the G20 summit. President Trump met with Xi Jingping where they hashed out a deal on trade. Or, so it seems. The White House called it a highly successful meeting, and Trump was quick to declare victory.

Farmers will be a a very BIG and FAST beneficiary of our deal with China. They intend to start purchasing agricultural product immediately. We make the finest and cleanest product in the World, and that is what China wants. Farmers, I LOVE YOU!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2018

The meeting was widely hailed as a thaw in relations, with much of the press billing it as a truce. But the deal isnt so much a deal as it is a delay in the trade war. The U.S. has decided to hold off on hiking tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports from 10 to 25 percent, which had been scheduled to take effect in January. China, in turn, promised to increase imports from the United States.

However, China was careful enough not to get locked into specifics. By Monday, signs that there were some misunderstandings about what the two sides agreed to quickly became apparent. Trump boasted that tariffs on U.S. autos going into China would fall from 40 percent to zero. China did not confirm that, and by all accounts, that is a concession too large for Beijing to countenance, at least at this stage.

More to the point, the same issues that have divided the U.S. and China on trade  intellectual property issues, Chinas industrial policy, and more  remain. In fact, there has been very little progress on these overarching issues. For Trump, the decision to hold off on a trade escalation was borne out of political panic after the announced closure of several GM factories, growing unease from farm country, and sweeping losses in the mid-term elections. Related: Do Falling Oil Prices Help Or Hurt The U.S.?

So, the pause button allows the White House to buy some time on tariff hikes. But only 90 days. Many trade watchers find it hard to believe that Washington and Beijing can settle longstanding differences on trade in just three months, especially since there has been no discernible progress throughout 2018 amidst several rounds of tariffs, nor has there been progress over several years of on and off negotiations.

The Trump administration itself is also divided internally. The not-so-secret gulf between free-traders like Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin and Larry Kudlow on the one hand, and trade adviser Peter Navarro and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on the other, remains.

In fact, Trump has appointed Lighthizer to be the point person to lead the talks with China over the next few months, which makes it unlikely that the U.S. and China will simply back away from the cliff. He is very upfront about his hardline trade beliefs vis-a-vis China. There will need to either be a sweeping deal that results in major changes in trade practices, or the trade war will resume.

Nevertheless, judging by the reaction of global financial markets, Wall Street desperately wants to believe that the trade deal reached over the weekend was for real. Stocks soared on the news.

To be sure, the delay of the tariff increase is important, even if it is temporary. The scheduled increase of tariffs from 10 to 25 percent on Chinese goods will lessen the economic damage from Trumps trade war. It also increases the political cost of returning to a bellicose position on trade. Trump and Xi both want to end the trade war, even if its hard to imagine what a resolution might look like.

Oil traders also welcomed the news. Trade protections have slowed commodity demand, and have been a major headwind to the global economy, according to the IMF. The agreement between Trump and Xi, such as it is, is positive for oil prices. Related: Oil Jumps On Trump-Xi Trade Truce

Meanwhile, in what would normally be the headline news, Russia and Saudi Arabia apparently reached a deal to cut oil production at the upcoming OPEC+ meeting in Vienna. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia would go along with output curbs, although the specific levels have not been agreed to. We have an agreement to extend our deal, Putin said on Saturday after a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in Argentina. There is no final decision on volumes, not yet.

The comments suggest a deal is highly likely later this week. While no volumes or cut were specifically mentioned, we view this as the political agreement needed for the cuts to go through and reiterate our view that such a cut in production will be agreed upon this week in Vienna, Goldman Sachs wrote in a note.

In short, the G20 meeting in Argentina provided a lift to oil markets, even if some of the specifics still need to be hashed out.

By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:A month after the U.S. sanctions on Irans oil snapped back, the Islamic Republic continues to claim with defiant tone that the United States wont be able to choke off all its oil exports and that the Iranian government can manage the country even without relying on oil export revenues.

Reliance on oil revenues in Irans budget for the next financial year beginning in March 2019 is no more than 25 percent, Iranian Fars news agency quoted Irans First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri as saying on Tuesday.

We insisted that the (next year) budget be devised and sent to the parliament in due time to send this message to inside and outside the country that Iran can be managed without reliance on oil revenues, Jahangiri said.

Iran assumes in its budget bill for next year that oil exports will be above 1 million bpd, according to the news service of its oil ministry.

According to U.S. estimates, oil sales account for 80 percent of all of Irans revenues.

Iranian oil exports are set to drop off very soon, Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook said at a press briefing last week. The maximum pressure campaign of the U.S. is going after the money, as 80 percent of Irans revenue comes from oil exports, Hook said.



Related: NOPEC Act Is A Big Concern For OPEC Members

We have taken over 1 million bpd off Irans export list and many more barrels will be coming off very soon, the diplomat said.

Meanwhile, Irans President Hassan Rouhani reiterated on Tuesday that the U.S. cannot stop Iran from exporting its oil.

The United States said it would stop Irans oil export and business relations, making Iran isolated, but it could not do it and it wont be able to sever our relations with the peoples of the region, Rouhani said in an address on Tuesday.

We will sell our oil and they cant stop us from doing this, said Rouhani adding, If the US wants to stop our oil sales, no oil will be exported from the Persian Gulf, according to Rouhanis speech as carried by the official website of the Iranian President.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:Due to bad weather at its southern ports, Iraqs crude oil exports dropped to their lowest level in seven months in November, despite the fact that after a year-long hiatus, the federal government resumed exports at a much reduced rate from the north in mid-November.

According to a statement by Iraqs oil ministry, as carried by S&P Global Platts, Iraqs federal exports in November averaged 3.372 million bpd, the lowest level since April this year.

Iraqs exports in November dropped for a third consecutive month, after declines in September and October and following a record-high export level of 3.583 million bpd in August. Iraqs exports in October were also disrupted by bad weather at the southern oil ports.

In November, the southern ports exported an average of 3.363 million bpd and the Kirkuk-to-Turkey oil pipeline of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region saw federal Iraqi oil flows at around 9,000 bpd.

In the middle of November, Iraq resumed oil exports from the Kirkuk province, a year after it had stopped oil flows from the area due to a dispute with the Kurdistan region.

Around 300,000 bpd of crude oil previously pumped and exported in the Kirkuk province to the Turkish port of Ceyhan were shut in when the Iraqi federal government moved in October last year to take control over the oil fields in Kirkuk from Kurdish forces after the semi-autonomous region held a referendum that Baghdad didnt recognize. However, the only export outlet of the Kirkuk oil is the oil pipeline of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

Iraq and the KRG reached a deal on Baghdad using the pipeline for federal government exports, but last months bad weather at Basra and other southern terminals disrupted Iraqs loading schedules.

Yet, IraqOPECs second-biggest producer after Saudi Arabiahas been raising its crude oil production and exports this year, especially after the June meeting at which production cuts were relaxed.

Now that Baghdad has reached an agreement to export its Kirkuk oil via the Kurdistan pipeline to Turkey, it could be a headache for OPEC, which meets later this week to discuss a fresh production cut.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:Nepal, China to remove bottlenecks to aid projects

The first ever meeting of Nepal-China joint oversight mechanism concluded in Kathmandu on Monday with respective governments agreeing to put effort to remove the bottlenecks faced by the bilateral and joint venture projects including undertakings in which Chinese companies are involved.The French government has given in to widespread protests against a planned fuel tax that would raise further the cost of living in the country and announced a suspension of the increase, Reuters reports.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe declared that the higher fuel taxes will be suspended for six months. Whats more, members of the ruling party said the government was also considering an increase in the minimum wage starting in January next year.

More than 280,000 people took to the roads and streets in France over two weeks ago to protest higher prices at the pump caused by a higher taxes on fuels that are part of Emmanuel Macrons governments plan to fight the effects of climate change.

The so-called yellow vests blockaded 11 fuel depots, causing shortages at retail stations, with 75 shutting down for lack of product to sell. In Brittany, local government officials discussed fuel rations to avoid a shortage.

Three people have died, more than 100 have been injured, and some 400 have been arrested since the start of the protests. However, the government has maintained its position, with President Emmanuel Macron last week stating, What I've taken from these last few days is that we shouldn't change course because it is the right one and necessary. We need to change how we work because a number of our citizens feel this policy course is imposed on them from above."

Now, however, if Reuters source is accurate, Macron will have to face the first time he needs to go back on a decision. His popularity has suffered, too: the protest, as protests tend to do, has expanded from taxes and the high cost of life into a protest against government policies in general, with the protesters seeing them as favoring the richest segments of French society.

The French economy has already suffered losses of several million euros, Reuters notes.



By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:Royal Dutch Shell plans to set short-term emission reduction targets and link these targets with executive pay, the oil major said on Monday, yielding to growing investor pressure about establishing short-term emission goals.

Shell, which didnt specify targets today, plans to set the emission target each year for the following three- or five-year period, beginning in 2020 and subject to shareholder approval.

Shell intends to link these targets and other measures to its executive remuneration policy, which will be put to shareholder vote in the Annual General Meeting in 2020.

The announcement is part of a drive to increase transparency around the topic of climate change, and to create clear benchmarks for performance, said Shell, which has so far resisted investor calls to start setting short-term emission targets.

Earlier this year, Shell recommended that shareholders vote against a proposal to set and publish targets that are aligned with the goal of the Paris Climate Agreement to limit global warmingand the proposal was voted down at the 2018 annual meeting.

Now Shell and a group of institutional investors on behalf of Climate Action 100+, an initiative led by investors with more than US$32 trillion in assets under management, jointly announced the initiative.

Speaking as the Co-lead of the Climate Action 100+ dialogue with Shell, Adam Matthews, Director of Ethics and Engagement of the Church of England Pensions Board, and Board Member of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, said: Investors like ourselves will be able to track Shells performance through the Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI), an independent academic tool at the London School of Economics which is supported by funds with $11 trillion in assets.

As long-term responsible investors and shareholders in Shell, we will stay in discussion with the company and follow the progress with interest. We hope that other companies will follow Shell, said Corien Wortmann, Chair of pension fund ABP.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:BULACAN, Philippines  Complete with fire alarms and firefighters battling fire, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) conducted a fire drill simulation in Bocaue, Bulacan on Monday (December 3).

The BFP staged a burning store which supposedly exploded due to firecrackers.

Using a firetruck and water, the fires were brought under control.

This was followed by the response of the rescue team to the victims of the incident.

After the drill, BFP and Bulacan-PNP inspected retailers and wholesalers of firecrackers in the countrys fireworks capital.

Authorities checked whether they have business permits and the permit to operate issued by Camp Crame.

They also ensured if there are fire extinguishers inside the stores as well as sand and water drums for extinguishing fires.

BFP chief Leonardo Banago said that the safety of everyone is important.

Unang unang ipinagbabawal yung paninigarilyo, so dapat diyan no smoking. Yung pagtetesting ng ating mga produkto, diyan kasi madalas nagkakaroon ng insidente ng sunog, said the chief.

Dapat i-observe din yung distances ng mga manufacturing site natin at selling display area. Observe din natin yun para maiwasan din natin yun na pagkanagkaroong ng sunog ay walang madadamay na iba, he said.

Doon sa mga manufacturer, sundin natin kung ano yung naka-set na mga guidelines. Doon naman sa mga nagtitinda, sundin natin dapat mayroon tayong business permit, at yung tinitinda natin ay naayon doon sa mga nasabing regulation, said Bulacan-PNP Provincial Director PSSupt Chito Bersaluna.

Although no one has violated the laws, the fire bureau and the police have restated the ban on illegal firecrackers based on Executive Order 28 of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Several vendors are worried about low sales since consumers are now afraid to purchase firecrackers.

Ngayon po kasi malaki po ang pinagbago ng paputok natin. Marami pong pinagbawal ang ating president, kaya po yung mga seller ng paputok natin bumaba ng konte ngayon, said Ine Medrano, a fireworks vendor.

Story continues

In 2017, President Duterte has issued an executive order providing for the regulation and control of the use of firecrackers and other pyrotechnic devices.

Under this order, fireworks display are allowed only in designated areas in a community and must be under the supervision of a PNP-licensed and trained personnel.  Nestor Torres | UNTV News & Rescue

The post BFP, PNP holds fire drill simulation in Bocaue, Bulacan appeared first on UNTV News.CEBU Archbishop Jose Palma has urged the faithful to pray for the blessings they received in 2018 and for President Rodrigo Duterte.He appealed to the public not to cheer on the chief executives unflattering

APEC BUSINESS ADVISORY COUNCIL (Abac PH) member Guillermo Luz warned that 65 percent of Filipino children entering school today will hold jobs that dont currently exist.

Luz cited the RMIT University research project that was reported in this years meeting of Apec business leaders which looked at the impact of digitization on existing and future jobs.

The study further noted that one-third of present skill sets will be replaced by 2020, and 375 million workers will have new occupations by 2030.

Digital innovation is part of the councils four-point agenda which it pushed in Apec meetings in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

Harnessing digital innovation is the key to the future economy, and for the Philippines this means leveraging on our human capital through education and training, said Luz.

According to Abac PH, current and future workforce must be digitally literate and proficient.

This is critical for industries like information technology-business process management to remain competitive and help the sector gear up for higher value-adding services such as knowledge process outsourcing and big data analytics.

The advisory group also noted that students and workers must know how to work with current and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and blockchain to be able to take full advantage of the digital economy.

Abac PH showed how innovations in education and training such as micro-courses and virtual programs can provide the needed skills for tomorrow.

According to the council, these give students flexibility to learn and acquire competencies in trending and upcoming skill areas. (PR)Israel's army said Tuesday it has discovered Hezbollah tunnels infiltrating its territory from Lebanon and launched an operation to destroy them, a move likely to raise tensions with the Iran-backed group. The surprise announcement came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Brussels over regional dangers, with both having repeatedly warned about the activities of Israel's arch foe Iran. Netanyahu said he discussed the operation with Pompeo and called the tunnels a violation of a UN truce resolution that ended a 2006 war between Israel and the Shiite militant group Hezbollah. Later in a televised address, the Israeli leader also denounced what he called Iran's hand in the construction of the tunnels. "We are acting with determination to prevent Iran from being rooted in Syria... we are also acting against Iran's terrorist actions in Lebanon," he said. Netanyahu said he would discuss the matter with world leaders in the coming days and that he was seeking an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss Hezbollah's "aggression". US President Donald Trump's White House gave its full backing to the operation, with National Security Adviser John Bolton saying "we call on Iran and all of its agents to stop their regional aggression and provocation". Hezbollah did not comment in detail but published footage of Israeli soldiers across the border and described the activity as aimed at "discovering tunnels allegedly from southern Lebanon to settlements in northern occupied Palestine". Israeli army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said the "attack tunnels" were not yet operational. He declined to say how many had been detected or how they would be destroyed. The military said it had located one such tunnel dug from a home in the Kafr Kila area of south Lebanon that crossed into Israeli territory and was working to "neutralise" it. The tunnel runs some 200 metres (660 feet), at a depth of 25 metres, Conricus said, and stretches some 40 metres into Israel. The area around the Israeli town of Metula has been declared a closed military zone, with the army distributing images of heavy machinery digging into the ground. - Peacekeepers boost patrols - Israel labelled the operation "Northern Shield" and said all its activities would take place inside Israeli territory. No tunnels from Lebanon include exit points within Israel, the army said. A UN peacekeeping force which monitors the border region said it had increased patrols but noted the area remained calm. Lebanon's army also said it was monitoring the situation closely. According to Conricus, the tunnels were part of a Hezbollah plan from 2012 to "shift the battlefield to Israel" and "conquer the Galilee" in a future conflict by infiltrating its territory. In 2013, the army acted on reports that Hezbollah was digging tunnels, but failed to locate any, he said. Following the 2014 war between Israel and Gaza, in which the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas used cross-border attack tunnels, the army said it found "Hezbollah and Hamas share knowledge" and soon after began intensive work to prevent tunnels from Lebanon. The military has used various means to collapse or fill in tunnels from the Gaza Strip. Conricus said that while the army has boosted its presence in the north for the Lebanon operation, it has not summoned reserve soldiers. He said the military "holds the Lebanese government responsible for all activities perpetrated in Lebanon towards Israel". - 'Irresponsible' - Netanyahu has spoken of a sensitive security situation without providing details, particularly after defence minister Avigdor Lieberman quit over a controversial Gaza ceasefire last month. Lieberman's resignation threatened to trigger early elections, but Netanyahu has held his coalition together and is clinging to a one-seat majority in parliament. The prime minister, who has since assumed the role of defence minister, said at the time that holding elections would be "irresponsible" due to the undefined security threats. His comments were seen by some as an attempt to save his government, with polls showing wide disapproval of his handling of a Gaza flare-up in November. Netanyahu is also facing further pressure after Israeli police on Sunday recommended he and his wife Sara be indicted for bribery, the third such decision against the premier in recent months. Conricus rejected suggestions of politics influencing the announcement. Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria against what it says are Iranian military targets and deliveries of advanced arms to Hezbollah. However, a friendly fire incident in Syria in September that led to the downing of a Russian plane by Syrian air defences during an Israeli strike has complicated Israeli operations. Russia subsequently upgraded Syrian air defences with the delivery of the advanced S-300 system.Peace talks between Yemen's government and rivals aimed at ending four years of devastating war will open on Thursday in Sweden, the UN announced. No breakthrough is expected at the talks, which mark the first meeting between Yemen's Saudi-backed government and Huthi rebels, linked to Iran, since 2016 -- when more than 100 days of negotiations failed to end a war that has now claimed upwards of 10,000 lives and pushed 14 million people to the brink of famine. Analysts and UN sources have set a low bar for the talks, which they say aim for "confidence-building" between the two parties, at war since 2015. No end date has been announced. Sources close to the rebels say the Huthis are expected to request the reopening of Sanaa International Airport, which has been damaged by Saudi-led air raids and shut down by Riyadh and its allies, who control Yemen's airspace. A source in the government delegation said President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's camp is seeking maps detailing landmines planted by the rebels. Sources on both sides said they would demand a ceasefire -- initiated by their rival -- and the opening of humanitarian corridors. UN envoy Martin Griffiths flew to Sanaa in the days leading up to the Sweden summit after his plans to host talks in Geneva in September failed when the rebels refused to leave Sanaa, saying they feared they would not be allowed to return. "The (UN special envoy) would like to announce the restart of the intra-Yemeni political process in Sweden on 6 December 2018," his office tweeted. The government and Huthis on Tuesday agreed to a prisoner swap, to be overseen by the International Committee of the Red Cross, after the Sweden talks. Among the thousands expected to be released is President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's brother Nasser, a general and former senior intelligence official. Saudi Arabia and its allies also allowed the Huthis to evacuate 50 wounded rebels from Sanaa for medical treatment in Oman, a condition the rebels had set prior to the foiled Geneva talks. - Low bar - A 12-member team from the Saudi-backed government headed by Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani, arrived in Sweden on Wednesday, a day after rebel delegates landed in Stockholm accompanied by the UN peace envoy. Yemeni Information Minister Moammer al-Eryani confirmed their arrival via Twitter, saying the government team "carried with them the hopes of the Yemeni people for an end to the coup and the return of the state". The delegation had delayed its departure until the rebels arrived in Stockholm after they failed to show up for the last UN bid to convene peace talks in September, sources close to the government told AFP. The head of the rebel delegation, Mohammed Abdelsalam, said the Huthis would "spare no effort to make a success of the talks to restore peace and end the aggression" -- but called on rebel fighters to remain "vigilant against any attempt at a military escalation on the ground". On Wednesday, six members of the rebel delegation could be seen in the grounds of the venue for the talks, the Johannesbergs Castle -- a large estate with a golf course 60 kilometres (40 miles) north of Stockholm, now cordoned off by police. Analysts and diplomats have cautioned the talks could yield no breakthrough, with the two sides not actually due to sit down at the negotiating table together. "I would have very low expectations," a Security Council diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity. - Crisis deteriorating - The US State Department hailed the peace talks as a "necessary and vital first step". The United Arab Emirates, a key backer of the Hadi government with boots on the ground in Yemen, said the planned talks offered a "critical opportunity" to bring peace to a country in the grip of what the UN has described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis. "The hard work begins now," British Ambassador to the UN Karen Pierce told reporters outside the Security Council. Thousands of prisoners have been captured by both sides in the grinding war of attrition that has devastated Yemen at a cost of nearly 10,000 lives since the Saudi-led coalition intervened in March 2015, according to World Health Organization figures. Human rights groups put the death toll far higher. The humanitarian crisis, already the world's worst, will deteriorate in 2019, the UN said on Tuesday, warning the number of people needing food aid is set to jump by four million. Roughly 75 percent of Yemen's population will need humanitarian assistance in 2019, UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock told reporters in Geneva. Aid groups including the Norwegian Refugee Council and UNICEF on Wednesday called for the two sides to put a halt to the fighting. "Parties to the conflict must agree ways to reopen all ports and stabilise the nation's collapsing economy, while facilitating full and unfettered access for people in need of humanitarian aid," NRC said. The coalition has largely suspended its offensive on the rebel-held port of Hodeida in the face of US-led calls for a ceasefire and new peace talks. But fresh fighting flared this week, with a coalition spokesman confirming military operations were "ongoing". burs-abh-ac/po/ny/har(File photo)

MANILA, Philippines  US Embassy and its affiliated offices will be closed on Wednesday (December 5).

Based on the advisory of the embassy, this is due to the commemoration of National Day of Mourning for former President George H.W. Bush in the United States.

The operation is set to be back on Thursday (December 6).  UNTV News & Rescue

The post US Embassy, affiliated offices in PH to close for National Day of Mourning appeared first on UNTV News.Phuket, Thailand, November 2018  Continuing its run of special dinner events featuring high-profile guest chefs, Banyan Tree Phuket is delighted to announce the arrival of a celebrated chef from Bangkoks 80/20 restaurant, the proud recipient of a Michelin Plate. Together with Fine Dining Lovers by S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna, the guest chef collaboration series featuring Chef Napol Joe Jantraget, will prepare contemporary Thai cuisine for gourmet food lovers at Saffron restaurant on 14 and 15 December.

Mr Jantraget will lend his considerable talents to Saffron for two consecutive evenings, preparing a unique set of dishes that highlight the style and skill that have made 80/20 one of the hottest restaurants in Bangkok. Chef Napols focus on locally grown produce allows for a rich and flavourful culinary effect that takes full advantage of Phukets agricultural traditions, and cant be reproduced elsewhere.

Diners will enjoy a range of magnificent set menu combinations, featuring delicacies such as Silver Mullet cooked in herbal oil, concentrated turmeric broth, fermented hairy eggplant and local herbs.

These special dinners mark the third month in a row of world-class dining events at Banyan Tree Phuket. In October, the luxury resort hosted Australian New Age Chef Stuart Chant for a series of exclusive dinners at the Watercourt restaurant, as well as a masterclass on gourmet food preparation. November featured a 5-course champagne dinner from Japanese chef Shiga Takahiro, available to diners at Taihei for one night only.

Decembers guest chef event marks the second partnership of the year between Saffron and San Pellegrino, following a pair of unforgettable dinners by the innovative Chef Pom of Bangkoks Michelin-starred Saneh Jaan restaurant. Both San Pellegrino and Banyan Tree Phuket continue to introduce audiences to some of the top culinary talent from throughout Thailand and beyond.

Mr Jantraget joins Phukets fine dining connoisseurs in anticipation for his upcoming visit. In order for Thai Cuisine to move forward and become one of the greatest cuisines in the world, we cannot only focus on its traditions and its authenticity. It needs to continue its journey by involving different cultures and being innovative, like what was done in the past to make Thai Cuisine what it is today.

The Fine Dining Lovers Guest Chef Series is an original initiative by fine dining waters S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna that began in 2011, as part of their ongoing effort to bridge the best of the best in the culinary world. Aligned with their goal of encouraging culinary exchanges and the fine enjoyment of water, wine and other gastronomy, the series combines renowned chefs from top dining destinations around Asia to bring top-notched epicurean experiences to diners. It is promoted through finedininglovers.com, the eponymous global platform dedicated to exploring the finest taste and culinary culture from around the world by S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna. As producers of fine natural mineral water, San Pellegrino and Acqua Panna continue to demonstrate how the highest- quality water can enhance the greatest of dining experiences.

Saffron is the signature Thai restaurant at Banyan Tree Phuket, the islands finest 5-star villa resort. Set menus for the special dinner event begin at THB 2,500 net. For reservations or inquiries, contact Banyan Tree Phuket at +66 76 372 400, or send an email to: fb-phuket@banyantree.com.Credit: University of Montreal

Universite de Montreal, in collaboration with the Fonds de recherche du Quebec, today unveiled the Montreal Declaration for Responsible Development of Artificial Intelligence. This set of ethical guidelines for the development of artificial intelligence is the culmination of more than a year of work, research and consultations with citizens, experts, public policymakers and industry stakeholders, civil society organizations, and professional orders.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a major form of scientific and technological progress that can generate considerable social benefits. The development of AI, however, poses ethical challenges and social risks. It is incumbent on the various public and private stakeholders and policymakers, at the local, national and international levels, to ensure that the development and deployment of AI are compatible with the protection and fulfilment of fundamental human capacities and goals.

"Universite de Montreal has been at the heart of many scientific breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, and I am pleased that a vast network of researchers and leaders from the scientific, legal, economic and political spheres has now coalesced around the social and ethical challenges related to AI," said Universite de Montreal rector Guy Breton. "I invite everyone with an interest in the subject to read the text of the Declaration and to sign it, so that their voice can be heard."

Yoshua Bengio, a member of the Montreal Responsible AI Declaration Steering Committee, added: "As a scientist, I feel a great responsibility to see to it that the outcomes of my research and of developments across the AI spectrum are used for the benefit of as many people as possible. By integrating social responsibility principles at the outset of technological development in university and industry laboratories, we can have a truly positive and concrete impact. That is the distinguishing feature of this Declaration: it incorporates the concerns of all stakeholders in the field and rallies all of civil society around sound principles."

Said Remi Quirion, Quebec's chief scientist: "In addition to supporting the development of scientific expertise in artificial intelligence, it became important for the Fonds de recherche du Quebec to take into account the ethical and societal aspects of progress in this field of research. With that in mind, I salute the work that led to the launch of the Montreal Declaration for Responsible Development of Artificial Intelligence, developed in collaboration with civil society. The new International Observatory on the Societal Impacts of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technologies, announced yesterday, will most certainly be based on the principles contained in the Declaration."

10 principles

A key objective of the Declaration is to identify the ethical principles and values applicable to the fields of digital technology and AI that promote the fundamental interests of people and groups. These principles are:

Well-being: The development and use of artificial-intelligence systems (AIS) must permit the growth of the well-being of all sentient beings. Respect for autonomy: AIS must be developed and used with respect for people's autonomy, and with the goal of increasing people's control over their lives and their surroundings. Protection of privacy and intimacy: Privacy and intimacy must be protected from intrusion by AIS and by data-acquisition and archiving systems. Solidarity: The development of AIS must be compatible with maintaining the bonds of solidarity among people and generations. Democratic participation: AIS must meet intelligibility, justifiability and accessibility criteria, and must be subjected to democratic scrutiny, debate and control. Equity: The development and use of AIS must contribute to the creation of a just and equitable society. Diversity inclusion: The development and use of AIS must be compatible with maintaining social and cultural diversity, and must not restrict the scope of lifestyle choices and personal experience. Prudence: Every person involved in AIS development must exercise caution by anticipating, as far as possible, the potential adverse consequences of AIS use, and by taking appropriate measures to avoid them. Responsibility: The development and use of AIS must not contribute to diminishing the responsibility of human beings when decisions must be made. Sustainable development: The development and use of AIS must be carried out so as to ensure strong environmental sustainability of the planet.

8 recommendations

Based on these principles, recommendations have been developed for the purpose of suggesting guidelines for accomplishing the digital transition within the ethical framework of the Declaration.

Organization for independent citizen scrutiny and consultation: An organization dedicated to the examination of and research into the uses and social impacts of digital technology and AI should be established. SIA audit and certification policy: A coherent policy for the auditing and certification of AIS that promotes responsible deployment should be instituted. Empowerment and automation: There should be support for empowerment of citizens in the face of digital technologies, in the form of access to education that enables understanding, critical thinking, respect, and accountability, so as to promote active participation in a sustainable digital society. Education and ethics: The education of stakeholders concerned by the design, development and use of AIS should be rethought, with investment in multidisciplinarity and ethics. Inclusive development of AI: A coherent strategy should be implemented, utilizing the various existing institutional resources, to promote inclusive development of AI and prevent potential biases and discrimination related to development and deployment of AIS. Protection of democracy: To safeguard democracy against the manipulation of information for political ends, a containment strategy is required to prevent deception and political manipulation of citizens via malicious social platforms and websites, along with a strategy to combat political profiling, so as to maintain the conditions for healthily functioning democratic institutions and informed citizens. International development of AI: A non-predatory model of international development should be adopted that aims to include the various regions of the globe without abusing low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Environmental footprint: A public/private strategy should be implemented to ensure that development and deployment of AIS and other digital technologies are compatible with robust environmental sustainability and conducive to advancement of solutions to the environmental crisis.

Explore further German firm's 7 commandments for ethical AINew law set to seize assets of fugitive casino owners

The government has proposed legislation giving it sweeping powers to confiscate the personal property of tax defaulting casino operators.Example of a group with nautical technology: Yamana people in the Anglican mission of Bahia Tekenika (Tierra del Fuego), portrayed in the late 19th or early 20th century. Darwin lived with them during the second voyage of the Beagle. Credit: Ivan Briz i Godino courtesy of the archives of the South American Missionary Society (United Kingdom)

Argentine and Spanish researchers have used statistical techniques of automatic learning to analyze mobility patterns and technology of the hunter-gatherer groups that inhabited the Southern Cone of America from the time they arrived about 12,000 years ago until the end of the 19th century. Big data from archaeological sites located in the extreme south of Patagonia have been used for this study.

The presence of humans on the American continent dates back to at least 14,500 years ago, according to datings made at archaeological sites such as Monte Verde, in Chile's Los Lagos Region. But the first settlers continued moving towards the southernmost confines of America.

Now, researchers from Argentina's National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET) and two Spanish institutions (the Spanish National Research Council and the University of Burgos) have analyzed the relationships between mobility and technology developed by those societies that originated in the far south of Patagonia.

The study, published in Royal Society Open Science, is based on an extensive database of all available archaeological evidence of human presence in this region, from the time the first groups arrived in the early Holocene (12,000 years ago) until the end of the 19th century.

This was followed by the application of machine learning techniques, a statistical system that allows the computer to learn from large amounts of data (in this case, Big Data from characteristic technological elements of the sites) in order to carry out classifications and predictions.

Selk'nam people, an example of a more pedestrian group, without nautical technology, although the marine resources were intensely exploited by those who lived near the coast. Credit: C. W. Furlong (January 1908) courtesy of the End of the World Museum (Ushuaia, Argentina).

"It is by means of automatic classification algorithms that we have identified two technological packages or 'landscapes': one that characterizes pedestrian hunter-gatherer groups (with their own stone and bone tools) and the other characterizing those that had nautical technology, such as canoes, harpoons and mollusc shells used to make beads," explains Ivan Briz i Godino, an archaeologist of the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET) of Argentina and co-author of the work.

"In future excavations, when sets of technological elements such as those we have detected appear, we'll be able to directly deduce the type of mobility of the group or the connections with other communities," adds Briz.

The results of the study have also made it possible to obtain maps with the settlements of the two communities, and this, in turn, has made it possible to locate large regions in which they interacted and shared their technological knowledge. In the case of groups with nautical technology, it has been confirmed that they arrived at around the beginning of the Mid-Holocene (some 6,000 years ago) from the channels and islands of the South Pacific, moving along the coast of what is now Chile.

Technological landscapes of nautical mobility (red circles, with some blues that are less well classified by the algorithm) and pedestrian mobility (orange and purple circles) in hunter-gatherer groups that lived in the extreme south of South America. Credit: Briz et al. 2018 / Royal Society Open Science

"Traditional archaeology identifies sites, societies and their possible contacts on the basis of specific elements selected by specialists (such as designs of weapon tips or decorative elements), but here we show that it is more interesting to analyse sets of technological elements as a whole, using artificial intelligence techniques that allow us to work with large data volumes and without subjective prejudices," concludes Briz.

Remains of consumed fauna in a shell midden site on the Atlantic coast of Tierra del Fuego . Credit: Ivan Briz i Godino

Explore further New technology tells us which animal bones were used to make ancient tools

More information: Ivan Briz i Godino et al, Huntergatherer mobility and technological landscapes in southernmost South America: a statistical learning approach, Royal Society Open Science (2018). Journal information: Royal Society Open Science Ivan Briz i Godino et al, Huntergatherer mobility and technological landscapes in southernmost South America: a statistical learning approach,(2018). DOI: 10.1098/rsos.180906Artist's conception of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft collecting a sample of loose, rocky material from the surface of the asteroid Bennu. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

CU Boulder scientists have a front row seat today to observe a NASA spacecraft as it arrives at the asteroid Bennu, coming to within 4.5 miles of the space rock.

This close approach, followed by a flyby Dec. 4, is the first in a series of planned meet ups between the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) and Bennu. Today's encounter will be good practice for 2020, when the spacecraft will deploy its retractable arm to grab material from the asteroid's surface and return it to Earththe first time that a NASA mission will obtain such a sample.

Scientists from CU Boulder are playing an important role in that historic snatch-and-run. Over the next several days, a team led by Distinguished Professor Daniel Scheeres will take the first stab at calculating a simple, but critical, number: Bennu's mass.

Knowing the mass of this 1,600-foot-wide asteroid will reveal valuable information about not just Bennu, but other chunks of space debris, too, Scheeres said. That includes how they move and spin, what they're made of and how scientists might knock them aside if they're flying toward Earth.

"Once we get the first flyby and we nail the first mass, that's going to be hugely important," said Scheeres of the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences. "Because right now, there's a lot of uncertainty. Soon, those uncertainties are going to collapse down to show us what this body is like."

Top: Artist's conception of OSIRIS-REx in orbit around Earth; bottom: Measuring 510 meters, or more than 1,600 feet, in height, Bennu is taller than both the Empire State Building and the Eiffel Tower. Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona, University of Arizona

Solar system leftovers

He and his colleagues are also just excited to see Bennu up close for the first time from the operations center at the University of Arizona. "It's going to be a great partya lot of work, but a great party," Scheeres said.

The University of Arizona leads science operations for OSIRIS-REx, which was built by the Colorado-based Lockheed Martin Space. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland manages the overall mission.

OSIRIS-REx launched in September 2016 and has traveled more than one billion miles since, looping around the Earth's sun to rendezvous with Bennu. The asteroid has an orbit that brings it relatively close to Earth about once every six years.

This meeting will provide scientists with a rare window to look back at the beginnings of Earth's solar system, said Jay McMahon, an assistant professor in aerospace engineering at CU Boulder.

"One of the big draws for asteroids is that they're leftovers from the formation of the solar system," said McMahon, a co-investigator on the mission. "Bennu is a building block of the planets that didn't end up in a planet."

But to dive into that past, OSIRIS-REx will first need to get close enough to Bennu to snag a sample of the loose, rocky material from its surface in 2020. That's where the CU Boulder team comes in. McMahon explained that as OSIRIS-REx brushes past Bennu this time, the asteroid will exert a minute gravitational pull on the spacecraft. By precisely measuring that pull, his team can begin to map out the asteroid's gravitational field, essential information for any spaceflight operation.

"Once we have this data, we can plug it back in and that will help with planning out the trajectory for the rest of the mission," said Daniel Brack, a graduate student in aerospace engineering and a participant in the project.

Running the odds

The group's data will also put Bennu on the scale, giving scientists an estimate of its mass. Once the team knows how heavy Bennu is, OSIRIS-REx researcher Andrew French said, they can begin to guess at what it's made of on the insidepast the reach of OSIRIS-REx's arm.

"We're going to go and touch Bennu and get a sample, but that's only going to give us a look at the first couple of millimeters, or maybe centimeters, of the material on top," French said. "So you don't get a lot of insight to what it's made of underneath."

The researchers' sneak peek at Bennu could provide scientists with a wealth of information about how the asteroid formed and how its orbit might evolve over time. Researchers believe that it's possible, but extremely unlikely, that the asteroid could crash into our planet sometime between 2175-2199.

For now, this week's flyby will mark the culmination of a lot of hard work for the CU Boulder researchers.

"All of a sudden, it's here and it's really exciting," McMahon said.

Explore further NASA spacecraft arrives at ancient asteroid, its first visitorResearchers adapted the polymer sequence to spell 'LOLLOL' and 'LONDON'. Credit: Imperial College London

Researchers at Imperial College London have developed a new class of multi-functional sequence-defined polymers.

A team of chemical engineers and chemists in the Livingston Group have used liquid-phase synthesis coupled to molecular sieving to create a polymer of extraordinary molecular precision which open up new possibilities in drug delivery, nanotechnology, and information storage.

Published today in Nature Chemistry, this paper details a new method of synthesis known as Nanostar Sieving, which allows the researchers to have complete control over the sequence of monomers which make up the resulting polyether (polyethylene glycol, or PEG). This enables specific functions, such as the delivery of anti-cancer drugs to specific tumor sites in the human body, and the storage of information in the monomer order.

Sequences in nature

Biopolymers are composed of thousands of molecules or more that occur naturally in the human body; the most familiar of these is DNA. Nature is able to create these uniform sequence structures with a high level of precision, and they provide structural and functional diversity which is sufficient to perform a range of functions within the body. Proteins, as an example, are long chains of amino acids which are responsible for several functions such as growth and the production of antibodies.

Chemists have developed synthetic polymers that work by mimicking these natural sequences to deliver additional functions. Polyethers are favoured by doctors and surgeons because of their excellent water solubility and biocompatibility, making them perfect for use in medicines and surgery. However traditional methods have resulted in polymers which lack the same level of precision found in nature, due to the limited control scientists have over the production process.

Polymer PEGabet

Polymers can be understood as words, and monomers as the letters which make words. Regular synthetic polymers have only one 'letter', but can be 'words' of varying length, for example 'LL', 'LLL' or 'LLLL'. Sometimes additional letters are used such as LLO or OLL, but chemists have only loose control over the order and number of the letters.

Using Nanostar Sieving, the team at Imperial has been able to exert exact control over the sequence of 'letters' and have used 4 different PEG monomers to spell LOLLOL and LONDON, in a polymer alphabet or PEGabet. This full control over the final polymer structure opens the way to range of applications in drug delivery, nanotechnology and even information storage.

Next steps

Dr. Ruijiao Dong, lead researcher on the project, said: "It's an exciting piece of research because we're one step closer to creating a well-defined hierarchical structure which mimics that found in nature. By developing a universal strategy for precisely controlling sequence in polymers we're in theory able to do many things, as the sequence plays a crucial role in information storage and function expression, offering potential for a wide range of applications. We are excited to test the limits of its functionality with further research, and to further develop and automate the Nanostar Sieving."

The team will now explore the practical application of this new polyether and experiment with further polymers, with the goal of producing a biodegradable version, and controlling 3-D structure of the final polymers, as well as developing read/write methods for information storage and automating the polymer synthesis.

Explore further Chemists develop a new method for the synthesis of polymer nanoparticles of a given size

More information: Ruijiao Dong et al. Sequence-defined multifunctional polyethers via liquid-phase synthesis with molecular sieving, Nature Chemistry (2018). Journal information: Nature Chemistry Ruijiao Dong et al. Sequence-defined multifunctional polyethers via liquid-phase synthesis with molecular sieving,(2018). DOI: 10.1038/s41557-018-0169-6Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Over the next several decades as the global population grows, society will be faced with pressing challenges such as providing reliable supplies of food and water, diminishing climate change and adapting to its impacts, and building healthy, resilient cities. These challenges call for new and expanded roles for environmental engineers, says a new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. To address the challenges, the report recommends that the environmental engineering field evolve its education, research, and practice to advance practical, impactful solutions for society's multifaceted, vexing problems.

Environmental engineers design systems and solutions where humans and the environment intersect. The report notes that environmental engineers were instrumental in mitigating cholera and other once-prevalent waterborne diseases and in pulling the U.S. and other countries out of the depths of environmental crises such as urban smog and the massive environmental disaster at Love Canal. In early years, work focused on providing clean water and treating wastewater, drawing upon the field's roots in sanitation system design and public health protection. More recently, the field has expanded to address air pollution, hazardous waste, contaminated soil, and emerging contaminants and has involved activities such as green manufacturing and sustainable urban design.

However, the report points out, pollution and waterborne disease persist around the globe, and billions of people suffer from inadequate access to clean water, food, sanitation, and energy. Meanwhile, human pressures on the environment are accelerating. By 2050, the world's population is anticipated to increase by 2.6 billion people, and climate change and increasing urbanization are putting new pressures on the environment and existing infrastructure.

The five grand challenges identified in the report that environmental engineers are uniquely poised to help advance are:

Sustainably supply food, water, and energy

Curb climate change and adapt to its impacts

Design a future without pollution and waste

Create efficient, healthy, and resilient cities

Foster informed decisions and actions

"These challenges provide the impetus for evolving environmental engineering education, research, and practice toward broader contributions and greater impact," said Domenico Grasso, chair of the committee that wrote the report and chancellor at the University of MichiganDearborn. "Implementing a new model for the field will require innovations in the educational curriculum and creative approaches to foster interdisciplinary research on complex social and environmental problems."

In addition to the need for effective solutions to address these environmental challenges, the report also draws attention to the need for recognizing that implementing these solutions is in the best interest of our society. This would mean creating a community that is well-informed about how the environment affects human well-being and prosperity. It is also important that experts and stakeholders act in partnership to identify problems and consider alternative solutions. These elements provide a foundation for identifying and implementing policy, management, and regulatory approaches to advance results consistent with the priorities, to which environmental engineers can contribute, the committee said.

In order to evolve to best serve communities and address complex global challenges, the committee recommended adopting the following new strategies for environmental engineering education, research, and practice.

Environmental engineering practitioners should work collaboratively with stakeholders and other disciplines to more holistically analyze, design, and implement practical, systems-based solutions. To support these efforts, the environmental engineering field should cultivate a more diverse workforce, focusing especially on increasing the racial and ethnic diversity of the pipeline of scientists who enter this field.

Environmental engineering education programs should strengthen foundational knowledge in two areas: complex system dynamics and the social and behavioral dimensions of environmental challenges. In addition, programs should ensure that the scientific content of their curricula keeps pace with current and anticipated global challenges and the most promising tools for developing solutions.

To facilitate the collaboration necessary to meet future challenges, research universities and organizations should evolve to value and incentivize interdisciplinary work.

Funding organizations and research institutions can assist effective interdisciplinary collaboration through well-designed grant programs and by fostering environments where relationships and collaborations can develop organically.

The report emphasizes that this work must be carried out with a keen awareness of the needs of the people who have been historically excluded from environmental decision-making, such as those who are socio-economically disadvantaged, members of underrepresented groups, or otherwise marginalized.

This report was inspired in part by the National Academy of Engineering's (NAE) Grand Challenges for Engineering announced in 2008. The NAE effort is aimed at inspiring young engineers across the globe to address the biggest challenges facing humanity in the 21st century.

Explore further Can we save our urban water systems?

More information: Environmental Engineering for the 21st Century: Addressing Grand Challenges: Environmental Engineering for the 21st Century: Addressing Grand Challenges: www.nap.edu/catalog/25121/envi  ing-grand-challengesThe dire warnings are everywhere these days about catastrophic climate change, particularly the perils of overpopulation and the burning of fossil fuels.

UTM's Pierre Desrochers and Joanna Szurmak see it another way. In a new book, Desrochers, an associate professor of geography, and Szurmak, a research services librarian, caution that "population alarmism" and campaigns against carbon will stifle development, innovation and the creativity necessary to solve global problems.

Titled Population Bombed! Exploding the Link Between Overpopulation and Climate Change, the book's publication comes 50 years after The Population Bomb, by Stanford University biology professor Paul Ehrlich, caused a sensation by predicting imminent environmental collapse followed by mass starvation.

Debunking Ehrlich's theory started as a policy paper that the two were commissioned to write by a UK think-tank, timed to coincide with that book's 50th anniversary. Desrochers, who specializes in energy and food policy, expanded the paper into a book along with Szurmak, who is writing a dissertation on human creativity as a doctoral candidate in science and technology studies at York University.

Desrochers and Szurmak write in their book that the predictions of doomsters have not been borne out by reality, and this is not the time to listen to them.

Desrochers notes that "population-growth catastrophism" dates back thousands of years, although it is now mostly associated with the British economist Thomas Malthus, who wrote a book in 1798 warning that population growth would outrun the food supply. The most successful proponent of this theory in more recent times was Ehrlich, a charismatic speaker who fired up a generation of activists in 1968 with the best-selling The Population Bomb. Indeed, Desrochers says that Ehrlich was such a cause celebre that he appeared more than 20 times on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

On the other side of the equation was Julian Simon, whose 1981 book The Ultimate Resource decoupled population growth from resource depletion, food shortages and other barriers to progress. Desrochers recalls that after reading a magazine article profiling Simon's worldview, "I was hooked." His own research with Szurmak adds more interdisciplinary insights into Simon's discussion of creativity's role in reducing the negative impact of development.

"The more people there are, the more brains there arethe more brains there are, the greater combinations of things we can create and we can come up with [as] solutions to our problems," says Desrochers. The pessimists meanwhile feel that "people show up, use resources and don't give anything back," Szurmak explains, disregarding humanity's "generative capability," and the fact that population growth will bring a more diverse knowledge base.

Their book "challenges some sacred cows of the environmental movement," says Szurmak, who complains that assumptions by environmentalists are flawed, while she and Desrochers are "scrupulously honest about our data and our intellectual commitment to the truth."

Their support for the burning of fossil fuels is based on their findings that "the cost of energy rationing is greater than the benefit," Desrochers says, noting that "there are no real-world alternatives" to carbon use, which is the only way to bring one billion of the world's people out of grinding poverty. He's quick to say that he and Szurmak are not pandering to big business or in the pockets of the oil companies. "We're still waiting for our cheques, which have not materialized," he quips.

Szurmak, who has a graduate degree in electrical engineering, says that they are not climate skeptics or deniers but are "pro-science, pro-creativity and pro-economic development."

The authors are working hard to market Population Bombed! but Desrochers says "I think it's going to be a bit of a slow burn." They hope to provoke discussion about their theory that "stopping the use of carbon fuels now is about the worst investment we can make in our future," he says.

Once living standards are better in developing countries, science, technology and creativity will be harnessed to clean up the environment, Szurmak adds. "We are going to innovate out of it."Credit: CC0 Public Domain

A team of researchers from the University of Exeter and Fera Science Ltd, both in the U.K. has found evidence that implicates the insecticide fipronil as the culprit behind a massive die-off of honeybees in France in the 1990s. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes their study of two insecticides that were thought to be behind the die-offs and what they found.

France experienced a serious die-off of honeybees over the years 1994 to 1998. The die-off, which was tied to colony collapse, began shortly after farmers began using two insecticides: imidacloprid and fipronil. Many farmers and some environmentalists blamed imidacloprid, but it was never proven to be the cause. Farmers stopped using both of the products and the die-offs stopped. In this new effort, the researchers have reviewed the die-off and report evidence that fipronil, not imidacloprid, actually caused the honeybee colony collapse and the subsequent die-off.

To learn more about what actually happened, the researchers conducted mortality rate tests of the insecticides on honeybees in their lab and then set up simulations designed to show how the insecticides impacted the honeybees in the wild.

The researchers report their simulations showed 4,000 to 9,000 more deaths compared to a control group over just the first week of exposure during testing of fipronilcolony collapse followed shortly thereafter. They also report that they ran a similar test with imidacloprid and it showed far fewer deaths and no colony collapse.

The researchers also report that fipronil tended to bioaccumulate in the bodies of the bees while imidacloprid did not. Thus, prolonged or repeated exposure to fipronil was far more lethal. They suggest testing the impact of chemicals introduced into the environment for both mortality and bioaccumulation. They note further that because fipronil was never fingered as the cause of the die-off in France, insecticide makers around the world continue to use it to kill a variety of pests, likely putting bee populations at risk. Although fipronil is banned by the E.U., seeds treated with fipronil can still be sold across the continent.

Explore further Fipronil and imidacloprid reduce honeybee mitochondrial activity

More information: Philippa J. Holder et al. Fipronil pesticide as a suspect in historical mass mortalities of honey bees, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2018). Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Philippa J. Holder et al. Fipronil pesticide as a suspect in historical mass mortalities of honey bees,(2018). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1804934115

 2018 Science X NetworkCredit: Kleverenrique via WikiCommons

Why do people go to war when the consequences of warfare are so dramatic? Scholars have suggested that the motivations for participating in war either lie in the individual rewards warriors receive (to the victor goes the spoils) or because group members coerce them to participate for fear of punishment. Understanding the factors that motivate warriors to join war parties sheds light on some of the most fundamental aspects of human nature: How our ability to cooperate is linked to our most destructive tendencies.

In a new study, a team of researchers examined the social composition of raiding parties and their relationship to marriage alliances in an Amazonian tribal society, the Waorani of Ecuador. The Waorani formerly practiced lethal raiding, or small-scale warfare, as part of their social fabric. The anthropologists spoke in detail with tribal members about their raiding histories in an attempt to understand what drives individuals to participate in acts of war. Theirs is one of only a handful of datasets in the world with detailed information about what warfare looks like in small-scale societies prior to the intervention of the state.

They found that Waorani are actively joining raids with people who could provide access to ideal marriage partners for themselves as well as their children. Additionally, subtle coercion from in-laws appears to be a factor in joining raids. The relationships built through raiding resulted in meaningful bonds between the men, which could shed light on the evolution of friendship.

"A big debate in anthropology is what warfare and raiding groups look like in small-scale societies. Arguments have always been about this nice band of brothersliterally brothers, uncles, fathers all fighting side-by-side with one another," said Shane Macfarlan, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Utah and lead author of the study. "But sometimes, kin are not enough. Warfare is about alliance building, relationships with other people where there might be something else to gain by fighting with one anotherlike marriage partners."

The study published on Oct. 31, 2018, in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

The Waorani

The Waorani are indigenous Ecuadorians from the lowlands of the Amazon Rainforest made up of 2,000 individuals today. When people of Euro-American descentfirst made contact with members of the tribe in 1958, the population consisted of 500 individuals residing in four mutually hostile territories. Within the territories, Waorani lived in neighborhoods of longhouses, called nanicabo. Each neighborhood was separated by a one- to two-days walk, and each nanicabowas separated by a 30- to 60-minute walk.

For the Waorani, the ideal marriage partners are bilateral cross cousinsfor example a man's mother's brother's daughter or his father's sister's daughter. One of the ways to make alliances is through raiding. Lethal raiding was quite common amongst the Waorani; when an individual decided to raid, he would convince followers to join him.

"The benefit of making an alliance outside of your direct kin is that it expands your social universe for getting the things that you need, and one of the things that people need in all societies is mating partners," said Macfarlan.

Co-author Jim Yost (right) with a Waorani man discussing Waorani territory during the data collection component of the project. Credit: Jim Yost

Between 2000 and 2001, co-authors Jim Yost, Pam Erickson of University of Connecticut and Steve Beckerman of Pennsylvania State University interviewed almost all of the Waorani population aged 49 years or older65 women and 55 men. The researchers collected detailed genealogical information from multiple generations, and cross-referenced the data with existing Waorani genealogies. They also collected raid histories that included the men who participated, the organizer, the victims, and the rationale for the attack. The researchers used marriages and births to establish a timeline of the raids. From 1917 to 1970, there were 550 raid reports. The researchers consolidated them into 49 separate raids that involved 81 people.

In-laws, brothers and marriage

Macfarlan and senior author Stephen Beckerman analyzed the make-up of the raiding groups and the raiders' marriage histories. If the "bands of brothers" model holds, then the raiders should include mostly direct ancestors or descendants of each other, known as lineal kin. If the groups were strategic alliances, then the individuals should consist of men who can provide marriage opportunities for each othergenetically related, but outside of lineal kinship. Because the researchers needed to be able to distinguish cousins, they only used individuals for whom they had grandparents' information. They analyzed the social composition of the 49 raids, including the 1041 individual relationships that emerged from the 81 men who participated.

Although males had a plenty of lineal kin to choose from for forming raiding parties, they selectively raided with non-lineal kin. They also found that men raided more frequently with men who were generically related to them, but from different lineagesthe ideal marriage exchange partners. Indeed, the raiding alliances resulted in marriages for both the raiders, and for the raiders' children.

Yet another motivation to join raiding parties seemed to include some coercion. Macfarlan found that sometimes men got married first, then raided more frequently with his in-laws.

While scholars have typically assumed that warfare was either about individual rewards or coercion we find that this is a two-way street. "Sometimes people go to war to find alliance partners that gives them access to marriage opportunities, but other times guys get married first and then these marriage ties are leveraged to coerce people into warfare."

Evolution of friendship

Humans for the most part have three kinds of relationships: kinship, marriage and friendship. Traditionally, anthropologists only considered kinship and marriage as important. Recent interest has looked into the evolution of friendship itself. A common feature of friendship across cultures is that it promotes cooperation between people who are neither are kin nor our lovers, with our friends providing us with benefits that kin and lovers cannot. One context where friendship is extremely important is helping us deal with conflict from other people and groups, known as the Alliance Hypothesis.

The study's findings provide evidence for this hypothesis, Macfarlan said.

"The act of killing another human is a really traumatic act, which causes people to share something in common psychologically that establishes trust and fosters things like friendships," said Macfarlan.

Explore further Warriors do not always get the girl

More information: Shane J. Macfarlan et al. Bands of brothers and in-laws: Waorani warfare, marriage and alliance formation, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2018). Journal information: Proceedings of the Royal Society B Shane J. Macfarlan et al. Bands of brothers and in-laws: Waorani warfare, marriage and alliance formation,(2018). DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.1859Risk and benefit perceptions are crucial to people's acceptance of a particular technology and therefore their willingness to become a consumer. It has been suggested that, due to resource restraints, consumers' perceptions are frequently formed based on heuristics and biases, or other factors such as trust or affect. While some consumer behaviors may seem irrational, their actions are actually quite predictable based on heuristics.

Prior to the introduction of scientific risk analysis for the detection of toxicological risks, individuals relied on their senses to detect risks, a practice coined as 'intuitive toxicology.' Substances used in consumer products, such as food additives and cleaning products, are put through intensive risk assessment, but the processes are complex and there is some lingering controversy regarding the associated levels of uncertainty, with a lot of misinformation available on the internet on these allegedly dangerous chemicals. Consumers lack the resources necessary to judge the uncertainty and rely on heuristics and their trust in different potentially unreliable resources.

Angela Bearth, Ph.D., ETH Zurich, revisited work previously done on intuitive toxicology in her presentation, "Intuitive toxicology revisited: People's understanding of toxicological principles and implications for the risk perception of chemicals." Bearth related consumers' knowledge about toxicological principles to their risk perceptions and preferences for a variety of consumer products (e.g., cleaning products, medicines, foods). The study confirms that consumers have very limited knowledge regarding the processes undertaken to ensure the safety of consumer products. An area of particular concern was misconceptions held regarding man-made versus natural chemicals.

Food technologies such as gene technology or meat cultured from stem cells can be perceived as unnatural and thus evoke feelings of disgust which will divert individuals from accepting the product. Michael Siegrist, Ph.D., ETH Zurich examined whether different food technologies evoke different levels of disgust. Participants responded to questions about a variety of new food technology applicationsgenetically modified meat, edible nanotechnology coating films, artificial meat and synthetically produced food additives. The study, "The impact of disgust on risk perception and acceptance of novel food technologies," suggests that willingness to eat was negatively associated with disgust responses toward the technologies.

Gulbanu Kaptan, Ph.D., Leeds University, and her team of researchers examined the role of cognitive and affective judgements in food evaluations and eating decisions. Cognitive judgements were represented by concerns about food being nutritious and safe, whereas affective judgements were represented by ethics, craving and disgust. An online survey was conducted to determine how these attributes were related to food evaluations and eating decisions.

The results of the study, "The role of denotative and connotative judgements in food evaluations and eating decisions," revealed that affective judgements were more strongly related to these evaluations and decisions. People generally liked and chose to eat foods with high ratings on the positive connotative attributes even if they believed they were not very nutritious, whereas they avoided foods with negative connotative judgements even if they were deemed nutritious and safe to eat. The study's findings have implications for interventions that aim to change people's eating habits.

These studies will be presented during the Heuristics, Biases and Other Seemingly Irrational Factors in People's Decisions Regarding Innovative Technologies, Foods and Other Consumer Goods symposium, followed by a round table discussion, on Monday, Dec. 3 from 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. at the 2018 Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) Annual Meeting at the New Orleans Marriott in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Explore further Public perspectives on food risks

Provided by Society for Risk AnalysisAs with most crime, the highest rates of burglary occur in urban communities since large metropolitan areas generally boast more concentrated wealth. Big cities also allow burglars to maintain anonymity and evade authority while offering ample opportunities for discreet disposal of stolen property. Burglars observe their target cities with the careful attention of urban planners, taking note of public spaces, roadways, building architecture, behavior patterns, and tenant schedules. Although law enforcement is making concerted efforts to address and prevent burglary, frequent offenses in major metropolises continue to unsettle city-dwellers.

Existing mathematical models typically examine burglaries in residential, suburban environments, where similarly-structured houses with predictable lattice alignments are hotspots for repeated criminal activity. Some are agent-based, others utilize differential equations, and still others account for the effect of police presence. These models suggest that residential burglars prefer revisiting previously-burgled housesor those with similar architecturebecause they are already familiar with layout, security features, and availability of goods. Thus, if a home or its neighboring residence is robbed, repeat or near-repeat victimization heightens that home's attractiveness. While this phenomenonupon which most models are basedoccurs throughout the world, it is much more common in suburban districts. Flexible models that include alternate patterns of victimization are especially desirable when considering urban burglary.

In an article publishing tomorrow in the SIAM Journal on Applied Dynamical Systems, Joan Saldana, Maria Aguareles, Albert Avinyo, Marta Pellicer, and Jordi Ripoll present a nonlinear model of urban burglary dynamics that accounts for the deterring effect of police presence. Their model, which focuses on the Catalonia region of northern Spain, emphasizes timing of criminal activity rather than spatial spreading and location. "We first came in contact with the interesting field of mathematical modeling of burglaries during the 115th European Study Group with Industry," Aguareles said. "Pere Boque, a mathematician who works as an analyst for the Catalan Police Department, set out the problem of anticipating a burglar's movements using predictive models in the same way that mathematical models for fluid dynamics allow meteorologists to predict the weather. We found the topic fascinating."

Their work is inspired by age-dependent population models, which study a population's evolution in time based on the physiological ages of its individuals. "Our model puts the emphasis on whenrather than wherethe burglaries will take place and on the type of victimized houses, represented by their 'age,'" Avinyo said. A burglar's age is the amount of time since his most recent offense, while a house's age is the amount of time since it was last burglarized. The likelihood of robbery acts as a function of a burglar's age, and a house's susceptibility is a function of that house's age. When a burglar commits a crime, the ages of both the house and the burglar reset to zero. These details add a level of heterogeneity to the populations of houses and burglars.

"Our model focuses on the burglars' dynamics: their propensity to strike, their preference to act in groups, and different strategies to choose targets," Saldana said. "All of these aspects are linked to the age of a burglar in our formulation. This allows us to implement different behavioral theories and use particular information obtained directly from offenders, like the so-called 'individual offending frequency' considered in criminology."

Because behavioral hypotheses related to repeat and near-repeat victimization limit a model's customizability, Saldana et al. consider general functions for the recurrence rate (tendency of burglars to commit a crime) and victimization rate (rate at which houses are robbed). "Contrary to previous models where repeat and near-repeat victimization theories are widely considered, our model is compatible with different scenarios," Ripoll said. "Our age-structured model is a conceptually different approach in comparison with agent-based models where burglars are just seen as "particles" entering and leaving the system randomly. Less a priori assumptions are needed."

When preparing their model, the authors ignore demographic turnover and assume that both the total number of burglars and burgled houses remain constant, i.e., a closed population of burglars acts on a specific geographic area. They also presume that a house's victimization age directly correlates with its status as a desirable target. Other considerations include the belief that all burglars will eventually commit another robbery (as long as vulnerable targets still exist) and the possibility of burglars working together (co-offending). In the authors' model, a lower house vulnerability leads to a higher degree of co-offending. The aforementioned assumptions imply a predator-prey type relationship between burglars and vulnerable homes.

After establishing these fundamentals, Saldana et al. modify their initial predator-prey system to account for active police response to criminal activity. "The organization of police resources and the allocation of police units is one of the main concerns of police departments," Ripoll said. "Nowadays many police departments tend to allocate police resources to help citizens feel secure. They ask police patrols to move randomly around different areas so that people develop a (sometimes false) sense of security. But this has long been observed to be quite an inefficient way to employ police resources."

Introduction of dynamic deterrencein which police patrol reduces a burglar's intention to strikemeans that the system's dynamics are dependent on history and prior offenses. As a consequence, each burglar must wait longer between burglaries due to heightened police presence in targeted areas. "The big question lies in the optimization of police resources," Ripoll continued. "This is why it is of great interest to understand the particular effect of police presence on burglar activity." When law enforcement more heavily considers recent crimes in its patrol efforts, the resulting deterrence factor lowers the frequency of burglaries and eventually reduces the recurrence rate.

Ultimately, Saldana et al.'s nonlinear model of urban burglary offers more flexibility than traditional models based on spatio-temporal descriptions of criminal activity. "Our model is simple enough to provide some explicit formulae for relationships between different aspects of the dynamics," Pellicer said. "These can be contrasted with real datafor instance, the mean time between two consecutive burglaries of the same house and the mean time between two consecutive offenses committed by the same burglarunder different police strategies." When studying burglaries in a particular city, researchers must adjust their model's parameters and functions to correlate both qualitatively and quantitatively with real data.

Because this model is simpler than most previous models, it yields both numerical simulations and explicit results for further study. It also allows the authors to explore model adjustments, such as the introduction of space into the system via a meta-population approach or consideration of the burglars' physiological age or experience. Fundamentally, however, testing possible police configurations and strategies is of utmost importance. "Fitting the model with real data would definitely be relevant to police departments," Pellicer said. "We want to highlight the increase over the last few years in the association of mathematics with criminology to produce models that ultimately help with crime prevention."

Explore further Predicting burglary patterns through math modeling of crime

More information: Saldana, J., Aguareles, M., Avinyo, A., Pellicer, M., & Ripoll, J. (2018). An Age-Structured Population Approach for the Mathematical Modeling of Urban Burglaries. SIAM J. Appl. Dynam. Syst. To be published. Journal information: SIAM Journal on Applied Dynamical Systems Saldana, J., Aguareles, M., Avinyo, A., Pellicer, M., & Ripoll, J. (2018). An Age-Structured Population Approach for the Mathematical Modeling of Urban Burglaries. SIAM J. Appl. Dynam. Syst. To be published.Super-resolution image of fly gut crypts colonized by the native Lactobacillus (red) and Acetobacter (green) bacteria. Fly cell nuclei appear blue. Credit: Benjamin Obadia

The interactions that take place between the species of microbes living in the gastrointestinal system often have large and unpredicted effects on health, according to new work from a team led by Carnegie's Will Ludington. Their findings are published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The gut microbiome is an ecosystem of hundreds to thousands of microbial species living within the human body. The sheer diversity within the human gut presents a challenge to cataloging and understanding the effect these communities have on our health.

Biologists are particularly interested in determining whether or not the microbiome as a whole is greater than the sum of its parts. In other words, to what extent do individual species influence our health and physiology, and to what degree are these impacts determined by interactions between the species present in our microbiomes?

Ludington and his teamincluding molecular biologists Alison Gould, Vivian Zhang, and Benjamin Obadia of University of California Berkeley; physicists Eric Jones and Jean Carlson of University of California Santa Barbara; and mathematicians Lisa Lamberti, Nikolaos Korasidis, and Niko Beerenwinkel of ETH Zurich and Alex Gavryushkin of University of Otagoused the naturally simple microbiome of fruit flies to comprehensively reveal the gut ecosystem. The team found that the interactions between species in the gut microbiome impact fly health and even longevity.

"The classic way we think about bacterial species is in a black-and-white context as agents of diseaseeither you have it, or you don't," Ludington said. "Our work shows that isn't the case for the microbiome. The effects of a particular species depend on the context of which other species are also present."

It has long been known from fruit fly studies that populations of gut bacteria can affect their host's development, fertility, and longevity. In 1927, Helen Steinfeld of UC Berkeley found that by simply removing the gut bacteria from her laboratory's fruit flies, she could extend their lifespans by 14 percent.

Ludington's team repeated the experiment and found a similar 23 percent lifespan extension when they removed their flies' particular microbiomes. But it was unclear to them how much of this influence was due to the individual species that were present and how much was due to their overall microbial ecology.

Ludington and his team built off Steinfeld's work to dissect the fruit fly gut microbiome and better understand how these microorganisms shape the lives of their insect hosts.

They developed a system for mapping all the possible interactions between the five species of bacteria found in the fly gut in order to see how they affected an insect's development, production of offspring, and lifespan, which combine to determine its fitness. The analysis of the interactions required developing new mathematical approaches, which are based on the geometry of a five-dimensional cube, where each species is a new dimension.

The team found that the interactions that take place between the microbial populations are as important to the fly's physiology as which individual species are present. In terms of the 23 percent change in lifespan, individual species can account for only one quarter of the effect, while interactions account for the rest. These interactions are highly influential to some, but not all, of the factors that determine a fly's likelihood of passing its genetic material on to a new generation.

"As we examined the total of what we call a fly's fitnessit's chances of surviving and creating offspringwe found that there was a tradeoff between having a short lifespan with lots of offspring, versus having a long lifespan with few offspring," Ludington explained. "This tradeoff was mediated by microbiome interactions. That means that if we want to understand how the microbiome impacts our health, we need to develop a predictive understanding of how combinations of bacteria affect the host, not just the individual species."

Additionally, the measurement and analysis tools developed for this research project demonstrate that the fruit fly is a good model for understanding more complex microbiome interactions in humans and other animals, which will be important for future work.

Explore further At last, a simple way to solve the complex mysteries of the microbiomeProtestors obstruct highway in Nawalparasi demanding justice for Nirmala

Students obstructed vehicular movement along East West Highway in Nawalparasi on Tuesday morning demanding justice for Nirmala Pant.Arabidopsis Thaliana. Credit: Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 3.0

Scientists have turned to nature's own 'laboratory' for clues about how plants adapt in the environment to ensure their own survival.

A study led by researchers at The University of Nottingham has suggested that while plants evolve to adapt to their conditions, they also maintain a small degree of diversity to stay one step ahead of changing conditions.

The research, published in the journal PNAS, could help to further our understanding into how food crops of the future could be bred to be more resilient to keep pace with demand from a growing global population.

The study focused on the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, or thale cress, comparing plants growing in salty, coastal regions with those thriving inland.

It found a surprising result. The saltier the location, the more plants had a natural genetic variant that made them more tolerant of sodium  but strangely not all the coastal plants shared the gene.

The scientists believe that because the salinity levels in the soil are fluctuating, due to a combination of the seaspray and natural rainfall, the diversity of the population becomes more important to enable the plants adapt to the changes in their environment.

Rapid adaptation

Associate Professor Levi Yant, in the University's School of Life Sciences, was co-lead investigator on the study. He said: "It's fascinating that these populations rapidly respond to climate change by maintaining diversity which was brought in from elsewhere. In this way, this 'adaptability' of the population is not solely made from local innovation, but rather by holding on to diversity.

"This study shows that the sum is better than its parts: maintaining diversity in populations can allow rapid adaptation to volatile climate."

Dr. Yant has worked in collaboration with David Salt, Professor of Genome Enabled Biology in the University's School of Biosciences, as part of the Future Food research Beacon of Excellence, which is aimed at addressing the challenge of a growing population in a changing world.

Investigating natural evolution is not only fascinating but can also help us to develop future crops. The focus of recent research has been on understanding how plants adapt to landscapes. Landscapes have different properties at different locations, for example mountains versus coastal areas, and as plants are unable to move, they must adapt genetically over time to cope with changing conditions.

Genetic variation

Natural systems evolve over millions of years and the connection between the plant genetics and the landscape still exist, whereas agricultural plant production has interrupted the natural connection between genetics and landscape.

By looking at this natural 'laboratory', a biodiversity reservoir, it is possible to examine what makes them adaptable.

Previous lab-based experiments found evidence of a gene involved in controlling the accumulation of salt in the plants and established that this natural genetic variation occurs in coastal Arabidopsis thaliana.

For the latest study, experiments were set up in the field on the Iberian Peninsula to find out in what way the plants growing by the coast might be better adapted to their conditions. Corresponding experiments were established at an inland location within a 30 km range. Success was measured by the production of seeds from the plants.

It found that all the plants with the natural genetic variation grew less than 1.5 km from the coast and did not grow inland.

But surprisingly, it also found that those that grew very close to the coast  less than 500 m from the sea  did not have the gene. The variation was contained between 500 m and 1 km from the sea and the populations in that area were a mixture of gene variant plants and those without.

Thriving under stress

The population is more resilient by having both plants with the salinity regulating gene and those without, which bring up questions for agriculture  does maintaining mixed populations provide more resilience in the long term? And if we grow wheat of various types, does the population withstand changing climatic conditions better over time?

Learning about this could help us to develop crops that are better able to cope with environmental stressors like high salt levels in soil or drought conditions.

Dr. Yant added: "Here we see a hint of the extraordinary complexity and refined, adapted systems in nature. Next steps include massive-scale 'landscape genomic' sequencing efforts to expand this view, to reveal a deeper view of evolutionary adaptation."

The research, Fluctuating selection on migrant adaptive sodium transporter alleles in coastal Arabidopsis thaliana, also involved scientists from John Innes Centre, Nanjing Agricultural University and Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona.

Explore further Plants can adapt genetically to survive harsh environments

More information: Silvia Busoms el al., "Fluctuating selection on migrant adaptive sodium transporter alleles in coastal Arabidopsis thaliana," PNAS (2018). Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Silvia Busoms el al., "Fluctuating selection on migrant adaptive sodium transporter alleles in coastal Arabidopsis thaliana,"(2018). www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1816964115Examples of Upper Palaeolithic hand images, including some with missing phalanges. a Negative hand images from Grotte de Gargas (Hautes-Pyrenees, France). b Negative hand images on calcite draperies in Cosquer Cave (Calanque de Morgiou, France). Credit:  Jean Clottes, used with permission

A trio of researchers at Simon Fraser University in Canada theorizes that ritualistic finger amputation during the Upper Paleolithic explains the number of missing fingers in depictions from that time. In their paper published in the Journal of Paleolithic Archeology, Brea McCauley, David Maxwell and Mark Collard outline the reasons for their theory, even as they acknowledge more evidence is required to prove it.

Archeologists studying art on walls by early humans of the Upper Paleolithic have found a lot of pictures of hands with missing fingersmuch of the art consists of hand prints or outlines of hands. And a lot of those hands appear to be missing a finger or two, or even three or four. The researchers with this new effort note that rough conditions could account for missing fingers, particularly frostbite. But it seems like more fingers are missing than would seem likelypeople learn not to let their fingers freeze, for example. Also, the missing-fingered art appears in some places that are too warm for widespread frostbite. The sheer numbers suggest something else is going on.

In Grotte de Gargas, in France, for example, 114 out of 231 hand images have missing fingers. In another cave in France, the average is even higher, 28 out of 49. The researchers also note that hand paintings on the cave walls at Grotte de Gargas appear quite flat, ruling out the possibility that some fingers were simply held back as the print was being made. They also looked at history books and found that 121 groups of people living on different continents have been found to engage in finger amputation rituals.

The researchers note that finger amputation rituals could take many formssome early people might have done it as part of a religious ceremony or as a way to mourn the loss of a loved one. Others may have had it done to them as part of a punishment ritual. There is no way yet to prove that such rituals occurred, or that intentional cutting of fingers was carried out by people of the Upper Paleolithic, but the researchers contend that there is enough evidence to warrant further investigation.

Explore further Archeologist suggests much of Paleolithic cave art was done by women

More information: Brea McCauley et al. A Cross-cultural Perspective on Upper Palaeolithic Hand Images with Missing Phalanges, Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology (2018). Brea McCauley et al. A Cross-cultural Perspective on Upper Palaeolithic Hand Images with Missing Phalanges,(2018). DOI: 10.1007/s41982-018-0016-8

 2018 Science X NetworkCredit: CC0 Public Domain

Is it in our nature to go to war? Should we just accept the fact that humans have this innate tendency and are hardwired to kill members of other groups?

No, says R. Brian Ferguson, professor of anthropology at Rutgers University-Newark. There is no scientific proof that we have an inherent propensity to take up arms and collectively kill.

In a study published in Scientific American, Ferguson argues that war may not be in our nature at all. People might fight and sometimes kill for personal reasons, but homicide, he argues, is not war.

"There is definitely controversy in the field when it comes to this question," says Ferguson, who studies human nature, war and peace. "But it is the overall circumstances that we live in that creates the impulse to go or not go to war."

In his study, "War May Not Be in Our Nature After All. Why We Fight", Ferguson reached back thousands of years to look at the historical roots of warfare to shed light on whether humans have always made war or if armed conflict has only emerged as changing social conditions provided the motivation and organization to collectively kill.

It's a topic he's been studying since the Vietnam War, a period in history that sparked his interest. His research is an attempt to settle an age-old academic debate over whether humans are hardwired to fight wars or if war is a human invention. If war is not ingrained in human nature, that may help provide a basis for arguing against war as an option, he says.

Many scientists and scholars believe that humans as a species are aggressive, brutal and bloodthirsty and this behavior is part of our DNA. Ferguson argues, however, that there is no real indication or scientific proof that humans have been waging war for the entire history of the species.

"Warlike cultures in some places became common only over the past 10,000 years and in most place more recently than that," Ferguson says.

In his research, Ferguson looked at cases reported as violent deaths throughout the prehistoric record. He found that 15 percent to 25 percent of deaths that many anthropologists and archeologists say were the result of war may reflect cherry-picking the most violent cases, which are contradicted by broad surveys of all archaeological sites.

"Individual killing is not the same as war on social groups," says Ferguson. "War leaves physical traces that archaeologists can find. When and where it began is very different in different places around the world, but there are stretches of even thousands of years when there are no clear signs of war."

Part of the reason for the debate, Ferguson says, is that the evidence used to identify prehistoric warfare  weapons, art and cave paintings, defensive structures and skeletal remains  are often ambiguous and difficult to interpret. Careful examination of all evidence typically finds no strong indication of war in early remains, which changes to clear signs of war in later periods.

He disputes the belief of many scholars that humans may have inherited their genetic makeup from their chimpanzee cousins millions of years ago. After examining every reported chimpanzee killing, Ferguson, who is writing a book on the subject, believes that war among chimps was not an evolved evolutionary strategy but rather a response to human contact and disturbances.

So why did war become so common in more recent archaeological finds? Ferguson says that preconditions that made war more likely became far more widespread, including social hierarchy, a more sedentary existence, a growing regional population, valuable resources and the establishment of boundaries. These conditions have sometimes worsened with severe environmental changes, he says.

Ferguson, who also studies contemporary war, brutal civil wars around the world and U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, agrees with anthropologist Margaret Mead that "warfare is only an invention, not a biological necessity," but does he not see war ending.

"Anthropologists think about prospects for war in the long term," Ferguson says. "If the idea that war is part of human nature is not scientifically supported, alternative futures open up. If more people work for prevention, the eventual eradication of war is a definite theoretical possibility."

More information: Why We Fight. Scientific American, September 2018. Why We Fight., September 2018. DOI: 10.1038/scientificamerican0918-76The largetooth sawfish (Pristis pristis) is not only #1 on the EDGE sharks and rays list, but is also the highest ranking EDGE species across all the different animal groups ranked, including corals, reptiles, amphibians, mammals and birds. Credit: (c) Simon Fraser University

Sharks that use a whip-like tail to stun their prey, rays with saws on their faces, and river rays half the length of a bus are among the most unique species at risk of extinction according to the latest ranking from international conservation charity ZSL's (Zoological Society of London) pioneering EDGE of Existence programme.

The new list revealed today (4 December) ranks the world's 50 most Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) sharks, rays and chimerasknown collectively as Chondrichthyes.

These mythical-sounding (but very real) creatures have no bones in their bodies, only cartilage and appeared more than 400 million years ago, roaming the seas when dinosaurs lived. Each species on this list has few or no remaining close relatives, effectively representing distinct branches of the tree of life and making each of them truly irreplaceable. If they go extinct, we will have nothing like them left on the planet.

Topping the new list, at number one is the largetooth sawfish (Pristis pristis), which also holds the distinction of being the highest-ranking EDGE species in the world. Using an elongated snout (rostrum) lined with teeth on each side to slash at its prey, the large-tooth sawfish is facing threats from unsustainable fishing activities as it's often caught as by-catch in nets.

Despite the fearsome reputation of the great white shark and the well-recognised appearance of the hammerhead, sharks are one of the least-studied groups of animalssome so elusive they've never been captured on camera. Many of these species are threatened by targeted fishing, driven by a desire for shark fins or other body parts, as well as being unintentionally caught (bycatch).

Habitat degradation, due to coastal development, mangrove deforestation, water pollution and trawling, is also to blame for the steep decline in many of these populations. However, the new EDGE List gives conservationists another tool to identify and prioritise species where there is a most pressing need for action.

EDGE Sharks co-ordinator and marine biologist, Fran Cabada said: "Sharks, rays and chimerasmaking up the cartilaginous fish, have been around since the age of the dinosaurs, but due to human activities, their modern relatives are facing threats all over the world. They're found in almost every aquatic environment and as many are apex predators, i.e., at the top of the food chainthey're crucial to maintaining healthy ecosystems.

Representative phylogeny tree (taxon-complete) of Chondrichthyes. Taken from Stein and collaborators (2018): Global priorities for conserving the evolutionary history of sharks, rays and chimaeras. Nature Ecology & Evolution. Red dotes highlight nodes defining orders.

"Unfortunately, sharks have a bad image. This means people often can't see beyond the negative, and usually exaggerated stories, and don't understand just how threatened and important they are.

"The new EDGE Sharks and Rays list gives us the opportunity to highlight the most unique sharks and rays on our planet which are also the most endangered, so that we can target conservation efforts where it's needed most. Many are overlooked and poorly known, so conservation actions targeted at these survivors of ancient lineages should be prioritised."

ZSL's Marine and Freshwater Conservation Programme Manager, Dr. Matthew Gollock added: "The EDGE Sharks and Rays list comprises some of the most interesting and unique fish we have on this planet. The modern extinction of a single species from this list would cause the loss of millions of years of evolutionary history.

"Since 2013, we have been working in collaboration with partner organisations in the Canary Islands for the conservation of the angel shark (Squatina squatina), #5 in the EDGE list, increasing our knowledge of this species and working with divers, fishers and policymakers to improve management and policy.

"Our successes from this project have allowed us to expand our work to Wales, UK, where we have taken a similar stakeholder-lead approach to collect sightings and community memories of the angel shark in order to better understand and conserve this Critically Endangered species across its range."

First established in 2007, the EDGE of Existence programme has previously published lists for amphibians, birds, corals, mammals and reptiles. The EDGE lists provide conservationists worldwide with a scientifically rigorous method of focusing their conservation efforts on animals and plants that represent a significant amount of threatened evolutionary history.

ZSL's EDGE of Existence programme works with partners including the National Geographic Photo Ark and Fondation Segre to fund early-career conservationists striving to secure the future of EDGE species all around the world, through the EDGE Fellowship initiative. The first ever EDGE Fellowships on Sharks and Rays will begin in early 2019, implementing conservation actions for the largetooth sawfish and the pelagic thresher shark (Alopias pelagicus) in Asia.

Explore further Saving sharks with trees: researchers aim to save key branches of shark and ray tree of lifeWith news coverage being a constant cycle and information being amplified across social media channels, it can be difficult to discern between sound news and 'fake news.' As a result people's trust in scientific information has begun to break down. This is especially harmful to society when the mass dissemination of misinformation, especially as it relates to issues such as climate change, is problematic as it may contribute to the delay of much needed policy action to protect the public. In order to combat this issue, tools and practices need to be developed to help consumers and journalists filter the information they are constantly being fed.

Fake news has become a growing problem nationwide and its spread has been aided and exacerbated by social media, particularly Facebook. Lauren Lutzke, University of Michigan, and her team of researchers tested a simple intervention aimed to help people recognize fake climate news on Facebook.

In the study, "Structured introspection: Can a simple intervention help people identify fake news about climate change on Facebook?" online participants were presented with a post from a Facebook newsfeed containing false information about climate change and were placed in one of three treatment (T) groups. In T1, participants were asked to think carefully about the information they were about to receive and to evaluate its accuracy. In T2, people were asked to rate the importance of five attributes of online news, including credibility of the source and plausibility of the information, that may be indicative of whether the information is reliable or not, and T3 mirrored T2 except that participants were asked to propose between two and five diagnostic attributes of their own.

The researchers hypothesized that structured introspection, the T2 method, would help people identify fake news. This study will help build an understanding of what helps people reject fake news and could help combat its spread.

Previous research has suggested that in the wake of a terror attack, public fear and anger can each uniquely contribute to risk perception and risk-avoidance behaviors. However, this research has not sought to understand how physical and temporal proximity to the attack impact an individual's expression of fear and anger. Richard John and Matt Baucum, University of Southern California, conducted a study to better understand how a terror event can incite fear and anger at various locations, and how those feelings change with time.

Their study, "Gradients of fear and anger in the social media response to terrorism," examined 36,259 Tweets posted within seven days of the 2016 Orlando nightclub terror attack. They looked at how expressions of fear and anger varied with time and distance from the attack. The study revealed that use of fear and anger terms both increased following the attack, but anger increased much more drastically. Words indicating fear also sharply decreased over time, while words implying anger decreased slightly with time and increased with distance from Orlando.

These results show that individuals who are physically distant from the attack remained angry and fearful for a longer duration after the attack compared to those in and around Orlando whose feared dissipated more quickly. John and Baucum will discuss the implications for understanding the emotional landscape that results from highly publicized terror attacks.

News coverage of scientific and medical studies that provide convincing evidence about technological and health risks generally increase public concern, but research has shown that subsequent news coverage that criticizes these same studies or publicizes their retraction can reduce those initial concerns. Dilshani Sarathchandra, University of Idaho, and Aaron McCright, Michigan State University, conducted some follow-up research to determine if these retractions have broader impacts, such as reducing people's trust in the institutions and individuals (i.e., science and scientists) who are supposed to minimize environmental and health risks.

The study, "The effects of media coverage of scientific retractions on trust in science," examined how trust in scientists was shaped by exposure to news coverage of the retraction of a stem cell study. Preliminary findings show that being exposed to the news coverage does reduce trust and negative effects on trust are even larger for retractions due to "intentional misconduct."

The results suggest that journalists and publishers should be more aware of these effects when reporting on retractions and should clarify the reason for retraction (honest mistakes vs. intentional misconduct). Clarifying the reasoning can influence how journalists cover the stories, and how the public perceives the news. Making this distinction can also help destigmatize retractions due to honest mistakes which could increase trust in the scientific community.

Explore further Study sheds light on scourge of "fake" news in Africa

More information: These studies will be presented during the From AI to Fake News: Media & Emerging Risks session on Tuesday, Dec. 4 from 1:30-3:00 p.m. at the 2018 Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) Annual Meeting at the New Orleans Marriott in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Provided by Society for Risk AnalysisFarmers markets in larger cities are supporting a new, younger faction of American farmers. Credit: Purdue University/Mark Simons

If you've been to your neighborhood farmers market or seen a small "local" section pop up in your grocery store, you may have noticed a trend: People want to know where their food is coming from, and the agricultural industry is responding. The number of farmers markets in the U.S. has skyrocketed in recent years, but with an aging population of farmers, who's supporting this growth?

Enter the new American farmer. It's a term used by Andrew Flachs, an environmental anthropologist at Purdue University, to describe a movement of younger people new to agricultural work who do it for different reasons than the conventional farmer. They may be motivated through higher education, personal politics, disenchantment with urban life or in search of an authentic rural identity, he says.

In a new paper in the journal Rural Sociology, Flachs identifies several hot spots where this movement is really taking shape: the West Coast, central Texas and Oklahoma, central Florida and the Great Lakes region.

"We're seeing these hot spots pop up in the peripheries of hip cities," Flachs said. "Some of these places might seem obvious, like the West Coast and the northern Midwest around Madison, the Twin Cities and Chicago. But we also see some things that aren't totally expected."

Among the unexpected trends he found, east Texas and the southern Midwest are becoming increasingly important for this kind of agriculture. Appalachia, which has historically been a hub, essentially disappeared from the map.

In collaboration with Matthew Abel, an anthropologist at Washington University in St. Louis, Flachs built a model that counts how many traits associated with new American agrarianism appear in each county. With data from the USDA agricultural censuses from 1997 to 2012, they considered factors such as average sales per farm, number of certified organic farms, owners under age 34, number of farms selling directly to individuals, proximity to farmers markets and more.

The findings show that newer farmers appear to thrive on the outskirts of cities that provide high demand and purchasing power, a large population and healthy number of farmers markets.

The price of real estate is another important factor in determining where these markets can flourish. Rural developers have steadily increased farm real estate over the last few decades, which could deter newer farmers from settling down there. Concentrations of urban wealth drive up real estate costs in the city while simultaneously creating new niche markets, making space for younger farmers to exist between urban and rural landscapes.

Identifying where new and small farmers live and work will pave the way for further research on what's motivating this budding sector of the agricultural economy. New American farmers occupy an important intersection of niche marketing strategies, environmental politics and rural demographic change that could have a significant impact on food production and social life in agrarian landscapes, according to the paper.

Flachs points out that many new American farmers approach agriculture with hopes to embody a nostalgic past where food and environments were healthier, but others may be simply trying to make a living as farmers amid dissatisfaction with conventional agribusiness. Although it's easy to stereotype, it's unlikely that all new American farmers fit this description.

"Sometimes when we think about these farmers, we picture young people with liberal arts degrees looking for some kind of connection to the earth or wanting to work with their hands," Flachs said. "What we found is that that's probably not the most representative view of who these people actually are. I'm glad to have my stereotype broken up by the data."I was a teenager in 1957 when the Russians launched Sputnik. In the national reaction to it I was inspired to pursue science. I was all set to go to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology or the California Institute of Technology to become a physicist, when the Carnegie Institute of Technology offered me a full scholarship.

Since my father had just died, and I was my mothers only child, going to Carnegie Tech was a better choice. It was also better for my career, as it turned out.

Even though I could walk to Tech, I lived in a fraternity in order to have a semblance of college life. One fall day I was enjoying a beer and watching TV when one of my fraternity brothers said, The professor in my class said that anyone who was in the rat-race for grades could simply write the grade they wanted on the front of their exam paper, and theyd get it. I said, That sounds like a fascinating subject. What is it? The subject was computer programming, and the professor was Alan Perlis.

I enrolled in his spring programming course and joined hundreds of geeky students for the first class. Perlis had a striking appearance with no hair on his head and no eyebrows. In an enthusiastic, glib voice he started telling us how to program. But, for first of many times, I couldnt comprehend what he said. I learned that Perliss idea of lecturing was to talk about whatever was amusing or perplexing him that day.

The homework involved creating programs by punching holes in cards and putting them in a drawer. They would be carried into a glass-enclosed computer room. An operator, or sometimes Perlis himself, would feed the cards into the computer. Hours later, I would get back some sheets of paper, usually telling me my program had been rejected because of some niggling syntax error. Everyone else seemed to think this was fun.

Perlis assigned whimsical homework problems, such as Design a language for describing motel layouts, apparently because he had recently stayed in a motel. I thought all this was pretty stupid compared to understanding the physics of the universe.

My friends kept telling me that computing was the future, so I tried another course by a teacher whose instructions were more clear. He said, Write a program to solve any problem you like. I decided on a program to schedule an elevator. Perlis dropped by the class one day and suggested to me the possibility of kicking people off the elevator before they reached their floor, confirming my skepticism about him.

On the Wednesday afternoon before Thanksgiving, sitting in my dorm room, I started to write the program before heading out to meet my high school buddies. The next thing I knew it was 11 PM. I had finished a draft of the program, missed dinner, missed my buddies, and was hooked on programming, if not Alan Perlis.

In most universities, computers were a precious resource often sequestered in labs, like scientific instruments. Perlis, who ran the computer center and had been a student at Tech himself, made student computing his priority. He was like the Pied Piper, leading students to this new adventure. He had random, swashbuckling ideas. He seemed to be saying, Here is an open field that is going to grow, so do whatever you like. It will probably be useful. You dont have to be a genius; just go for it.

Perlis served on international committees that defined new programming languages. He was the president of computings first academic association. He was the first winner of the Turing Award, which became computings equivalent of the Nobel Prize. I began to think, If this doofus is a big cheese in computing, there cant be much competition, especially compared to physics with its Newtons and Einsteins. Computing looks like a good career choice. I spent the rest of my time at Carnegie Tech becoming a computer nerd. Many of my future colleagues, notably Butler Lampson and John Reynolds, who did great theoretical computer science here, had also bailed out of physics.

While I was in graduate school at MIT, Perlis, who had been an MIT graduate student, came to give a presentation. He talked about his programming language, Formula Algol, which combined algebraic manipulation with numerical computation. At one point, he bragged that the system could apply LHopitals rule, an obscure calculus trick. The room started to buzz, and someone asked how often it had to be used. Without missing a beat, Perlis said Once! and continued his presentation, which ended abruptly as he rushed out to catch a plane. I believe Perlis often tried to say the most unexpected thing he could think of.

Sputnik had also inspired the U.S. Department of Defense to create the Advanced Research Projects Agency, known as DARPA, which began funding professors at favored universities urging them to teach people about computers. The recipients of this largesse at Carnegie Mellon University, which Carnegie Tech became, were Perlis, Herbert Simon, and Allen Newell. Perlis became the head of a new computer science department because Simon and Newell much preferred concentrating on research. Actually, Perlis didnt appear to be managing anything either. He held no meetings. He simply made seat-of-the-pants decisions as they arose. His motto seemed to be, Ready, fire, fire, fire. The three of them built this great department without squabbling or even discussing much.

Perlis introduced the reasonable person principle, which says, We cant have rules to cover every situation, so people should do what they think is reasonable; and well worry about the consequences later. The DARPA grants allowed him support Ph.D. students without regard to what advisors they chose to work with. At an early stage, some students complained about the way the graduate program was organized. Perlis said, Okay, show me an alternative. They did, and he adopted it.

By the summer of 1971, I was married and teaching at University of California, Berkeley. While my wife, Susan, was introducing to Europe we attended a computer science conference in Bavaria. One of the organizers had been in the German Army during World War II and some people refused to participate. One might have thought Perlis, a descendant of Russian Jews from Pittsburgh, would be one of them; but he plunged in with great enthusiasm, bringing his wife and young daughter. We spent many evenings with them, drinking beer and kibitzing. He loved to tell jokes, many containing folk wisdom. Heres my favorite:

On a cold winter day a baby bird falls out of its nest and a passing peasant comes upon it. He carries the bird for a while and then happens upon a steaming cow pie. He pokes a hole in the feces and deposits the bird. The warmth revives the bird who begins to sing. A passing fox hears the bird, pounces on it and devours it. THE MORAL: Its not always your enemies that put you in it. Its not always your friends who get you out of it. But when youre in it up to your neck, dont sing!

The computer conference featured a recurring debate between Perlis and Edsger Dijkstra, a forbidding Dutch intellectual. Their differences about computer science were rooted in their outlooks. Perlis was a pragmatic optimist and believed in human progress; Dijkstra was theoretical, a pessimist and nasty. There was an ironic contradiction between their appearances and personalities. Perlis could pass for an extraterrestrial while Dijkstra looked warm and fuzzy with a beard and glasses.

Perlis resigned from Carnegie Mellon and moved to Yale University to head its computer science department. But he always considered Carnegie Mellon his home. He came back to celebrate our departments 10th anniversary. He gave an inspiring talk about keeping the fun in computer science.

Years later, in a hallway discussion with my colleagues at Xeroxs Palo Alto Research Center, I was talking about Perliss unique contribution:

Perlis realized, earlier than most, that programming was where the action was. Most computer science pioneers were just applying their previous specialtiesdigital engineering, mathematics, psychology, whateverto computing. Perlis had the vision of software as a new, world-transforming technology. He once remarked, Youre talking like mountaineers arguing how to climb Mount Everest most efficiently, when the real problem is how to transport thousands of people a day to the top of hundreds of mountains. Thats why he made programming languages a focus for computer science.

As I continued, I was interrupted by Perliss voice coming out of a nearby office that he was visiting: Do I hear my name being mentioned? Embarrassed, I said, Oh, hello Alan. Today, Im happy he heard my words that way. It would have been awkward to say them to his face.

At the 25th anniversary of the department he started, I gave a laudatory speech about him at a banquet attended by his wife and children, then organized a fund-raising drive to create an endowed chair named after him.

James H. Morris is a retired professor of computer science and dean of the West Coast campus of Carnegie Mellon University. In this series of blogs for Pittsburgh Quarterly he writes about some of the computing pioneers he encountered during his career.The Carnegie International is here again, the 57th in the series inaugurated by founder Andrew Carnegie in 1896. While international exhibitions have proliferated in the last 50 years, the Carnegie International remains one of the few based in a museum with its own identityone rich with diverse offerings ranging from a museum of art to a science center. And Carnegies Palace of Culture and the city it calls home form the cornerstone of this International.

The previous International had outposts around the city. This one remains within the museum and Curator Ingrid Schaffner seems to have shared her interest in the history of the institution, the exhibition and the city with the artists.

A perfect example of how the museums history uncovered by research became the foundation of a piece is Fruit and Other Things by Lenka Clayton and Jon Rubin. They scoured Carnegie records between 1896 and 1931 that listed both the accepted and rejected works. In alphabetical order, the titles of 10,632 rejected works are being hand painted in the gallery and displayed. As each new one is finished, one is placed in a bin for visitors to take home. Their endeavor reminds us of Christian Boltanskis Archive from the 1991 show, which was a three-dimensional list of all the artists who had shown at the International until then with dates of their appearances, typos and mistakes included.

Boltanski and Clayton/Rubin deal with the mash-up of fact and fiction, leaving the meaning up to the viewer, who tries to imagine what work was titled Arabs Weighing Potatoes. This collaborative piece addresses not only the exhibitions history, but the labor of art, an interest in systems, and the (mis)construction of history with an added bit of the absurd. Placed in the gallery in the art museum lobby, adjacent to work by Kerry James Marshall and Thad Mosley, it sets the tone for the show.

That approach continues in what is considered the first gallery, where Ulrike Muller requested the wall color, a window in a freestanding wall and the opening of the skylights, in the form of a discussion about abstract painting by Susan Crowner and Muller. Crowners color study on floor tiles also relates to the Sol LeWitt wall drawing from the 1988 show that graces the Scaife staircase leading to the gallery.

Conceptual and formal correlations provide a quiet and studious start to the show, in the very gallery that has in the past housed monumental works, such as Robert Thierriens oversized table and chairs (1995), Kutlag Atamans multiple monitor installation Kuba (2004), Mike Kelleys systems-based presentations of crocheted tchotchkes (1991) and Mark Bradfords big collaged, map-like paintings (2008). All dominated the space and provided a big start to the show. Now, the memory of past works in the gallery creates a different sort of localized knowledge, a different kind of site specificity.

The densest and most rewarding piece in the show is Dig Where You Stand, described as a visual essay bristling with objects that combines the local and the global, arguing that in order to understand your current situation, you must start with your own place and past. Led by Koyo Kouoh, an institution builder and exhibition maker, with the assistance of a group of University of Pittsburgh students, this curatorial exercise continues the investigation of the Pittsburgh museums themselves that was an important part of the 1991 International.

Residing in Africa, Kouoh has a particularly informed view of what she calls coloniality, a word coined to pinpoint the state rather than the process or history of being ruled by another country. The exhibition consists of three subcategories (coloniality and agency, speculative temporalities, and mobility and exchange) with research clusters: animality, elite/non-elite, imaging labor, industrial domestic, industrial refuse/reuse, and beyond natural worlds. This academic breakdown results in a quite enjoyable viewing, a trip through ideas and beliefs associated with the institution as revealed by its collections.

Old friends, such as images of Pittsburgh by photojournalists W. Eugene Smith and Teenie Harris and the closed-circuit system of a copy of Rodins Thinker watching himself on a TV monitor by Nam June Paik, are paired with hidden treasures, including the bald eagle killed on the battlefield of Gettysburg, a map marking where diplodocus carnegii, or Dippy the dinosaur, was retrieved for founder Carnegie, and a drawing of a dinosaur by Paul Thek, whose retrospective exhibition was presented recently at the art museum. These objects tease out various meanings, adding complementary ideas to our concepts and understandings of colonialism seen in the context of site specificity, which in this case is Pittsburgh. While this is truly a highlight of the show, it raises the question of whether it is too Pittsburgh-centric.

This intelligent approach continues in smaller doses throughout the show, including Beverly Semmes Feminist Responsibility Project (FRP), a body of work she started in 2000. It is installed in a corridor, forcing a linear reading of the interrelated works, moving from the soft-porn photos that are almost obliterated with child-like, surrealist-inspired drawings, hand-formed clay objects that seem to walk out of the drawings, and the video of a fashion show featuring wearable art made from Semmes work. As a well-known feminist, Semmes layers references to the body politic, saying, Think of me as a rogue censorship bureau. The politics here are apparent, but they are couched in theory and humor.

Another equally provocative approach to the body can be seen in the more traditional paintings contributed by Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, who took home the Carnegie Prize. Drawing upon the history of portraiture and the act of painting, she creates fictional characters. Her black figures, actually created with layers of brown over blue and orange, are usually completed in a day. The immediacy and mostly empty backgrounds allow the viewer to provide the narrative, a decidedly contemporary trend that also characterizes her short stories. In both painting and writing, she mixes her reality with fantasy, operating in an in-between space that encourages further imaginative meanings. These paintings, a highlight of the show, are not only mesmerizing for the viewers, but they stay in their memories.

A quick shift comes with the salon-hung wall of Mel Bochner paintings that follow Yiadom-Boakyes work. He wanted to create a subconscious for the show, so he presented banal phrases that mimic responses to contemporary art. Continuing his typical textual work, he stenciled phrases on monochromatic backgrounds, going against form by using thick, gooey paint rather than mastering the perfection achievable with this technique. From blah blah blah to seriously? the artist seems to poke fun at the pretentiousness of contemporary art while providing some comic relief. This conceptual strategy recalls works by several previous International artists, especially the irreverence of David Shrigley. These pieces also resonate with the Christopher Wool piece at the back door of the art museum, a stenciled piece that begins with The Show is Over from the 1991 show as well as the collaboration between Clayton and Rubin.

The placement of Bochners I forget over the hallway doors to the Hall of Sculpture adds another layer of meaning to an already loaded space. A scaled-down version of the Parthenon, this room introduces classical Greek culture into a New World museum, asserting a common heritage. For the 1988 International, Lothar Baumgarten added another layer by inscribing the Cherokee language, created by George Sequoyah in the 19th century, onto the glass ceiling, reasserting the presence of the Native American, which has, for the most part, been erased or forgotten. Again, an artist has added to or interpreted aspects of the Carnegie and its collections.

Inside the Hall of Sculpture is From Smoke and Tangled Waters We Carried Fire Home by Post Commodity, which references previous works and the history of Pittsburgh. Their stark arrangement of salvaged industrial materialssteel, coal and glass manufactured in Pittsburghechoes the work of Pedro Reyes from the last show, who contributed his music-making machines cobbled together from found objects. Like the music performed with those instruments, this inert composition comes alive with periodic rituals that resemble those enacted around Navajo sand paintings, the inspiration for the piece. Post Commodity, a collective of artists from indigenous nations, has found a connection between industrial Pittsburgh and the Navajos, but their vision of the city seems to be stuck in a past that has become so nostalgic, the dying dinosaurs of the steel industry. Like the sand paintings, the materials will be swept up at the end of the show and returned to the landscape, another disappearance of the past. But as one member of the group stated, when a door or portal closes, some residue remains, a thought appropriate to Lothar Baumgartens hope for the co-existence rather than the replacement of cultures.

The Hall of Sculpture with its plaster casts of ancient sculpture is such an interesting aspect of the Carnegies collecting philosophy, reflecting a time when copies of famous works sufficed for a cultural education. The Gilded Age ideas that influenced Andrew Carnegie can also be seen in the names inscribed at roof level on the outside of the institute. Those names have become more controversial as we have entered a more inclusive age.

Tavares Strachan updates the list with a patina of brightly colored neon, people who matter to him, including Tupac Shakur, the hip hop artist whose words represent another reality. Placing him in the company stresses the overlooked and marginalized who have contributed to our culture and history. The new names in The Encyclopedia of the Invisible relate to so many conversations of the last half-century and to questions of who is presented on the walls of art museums, which is also a subtext in the works of Yiadom-Boakye.

This site-specific work sits at the opposite end of the building from the magic carpet by El Anatsui made of his signature bottle caps, discarded printing plates from a local printer, and sheets of reflective aluminum. This long horizontal curtain takes on the formidable vertical thrust of Richard Serras Carnegie, made of the steel that made Pittsburgh famous that was commissioned for the 1985 International.

Another piece from a previous exhibition, Henry Moores powerful Reclining Figure from the 1958 show, also resides in the dark, formidable and not terribly welcoming plaza. El Anatsui responded to the space by opening it outwards with the reflective aluminumanother Pittsburgh materialbringing the neighborhood to the front door. The artist followed others who have taken on this space, including Phyllida Barlow with a playful, colorful piece (2013) that contrasted with the Serra, and Doug Aitken, who turned the plaza into a movie theater by projecting Migration on the facade after dark (2008). El Anatsuis intervention continues his interest in materials with recycled items in an attempt to soften the space and speaks to the Serra, providing even more views of the Serra that benefits from viewing it from all sides and the interior.

The time and effort involved in understanding the creation and placement of the El Anatsui work includes signals that this show takes time to unfold and that each viewing will yield a deeper understanding. It is a quiet and reflective offering rather than the spectacle usually associated with such shows, and it connects current thinking about how we process information and construct meaning with a decidedly Pittsburgh base. Looking at the Carnegie and its practices is Schaffners way of bringing the show back to the museum both literally and figuratively, a process that, in many pieces, mines local history, perhaps with the hope of connecting the local with the global.Will withdraw support to government after four days: RJPN leader Karna

Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal (RJPN) leader Laxman Lal Karna has warned that his party would withdraw its support extended to the government after four days.News highlights

HP commits over $20 million in technology, training, R&D and funding contributions to enable better learning outcomes for more than 100 million people between 2015-2025

HP will continue to bring education directly to people in underserved communities through programs like HP LIFE, HP World on Wheels and HP Learning Studios

HP is working with governments and policymakers to better map learning to employment

HAMBURG, Germany, July 6, 2017  Today, HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ) announced its commitment to enable better learning outcomes for more than 100 million people between 2015-2025 at the 2017 Global Citizen Festival in Hamburg, Germany. The Global Citizen Festival in Hamburg falls on the eve of the G20 Summit, where leaders of the worlds most powerful countries are congregating to address inequalities and promote sustainable development.

HPs pledge supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 and aligns with the companys goal to improve access to quality education and lifelong learning for all in the classroom and beyond, as outlined in the recently released HP 2016 Sustainability Report.

For the hundreds of millions of people across the globe who are not currently learning basic literacy and numeracy skills, a quality education can be instrumental in breaking the cycle of poverty. HP is reinventing the classroom in ways that engage students, empower educators, and build strong and vibrant communities. Furthermore, HP is bringing these classrooms directly to students who otherwise may not have access to a quality education.

HP is building innovative education solutions for millions of people, including those in underserved urban, rural and refugee communities, helping power global economies. This includes creating technology solutions designed exclusively for schools, scalable models that support digital inclusion and learning, and insights that help governments create effective human capital development policies and programs.

HPs efforts to advance quality learning and to support the Sustainable Development Goals are expanding social and economic opportunities for people all over the world, said Nate Hurst, Chief Sustainability and Social Impact Officer at HP. Im proud to work for a company that creates and invests in technology that can help teachers teach and students learn while building the skills needed for future success.

To increase the reach of HPs education initiatives by 2025, the company will expand programs like HP World on Wheels, which brings digital literacy to rural India through mobile learning labs. HP will also continue to provide refugees in the Middle East with access to personalized, blended learning experiences through six HP Learning Studios, equipped with hardware, software, and teacher training services that together inspires instructional innovation and next-generation learning experiences. HP Learning Studios also drive experiential learning at more than 60 schools in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United States, and seven countries in Europe. In addition, HP LIFE, a global e-learning program of the HP Foundation, aims to empower another one million aspiring entrepreneurs by enrolling them in HP LIFE between 2015 and 2025, in support of the broader HP commitment.

Through HP National Education Technology Assessment (NETA ) , the company is helping ensure that skills match between what schools teach and what employers require. Using a combination of macroeconomic analysis, hyper-local insights and predictive analytics, HP supports governments and policymakers around the world in creating effective human capital development policies and programs, including employer engagement programs.

Education has the power to spur innovation, promote the prosperity of communities and empower vulnerable and marginalized groups, said Sarah Brown, Executive Chair, Global Business Coalition for Education. We commend HPs commitment to enabling every person to unlock his or her potential and develop the talents and acquire the skills necessary for a better, brighter future.

Global Citizen Festival

The Festival, at Hamburgs Barclaycard Arena, includes headliners such as Herbert Gronemeyer, Coldplay with special guest Shakira, Ellie Goulding, Andreas Bourani and Pharrell Williams. Over 630,000 actions were taken by Global Citizen in support of their campaigns to earn free tickets to the event.

About the HP Foundation

The HP Foundation is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization that funds philanthropic programs for underserved communities where we live and work by supporting technology-related learning, charitable giving, volunteering, and disaster relief. Along with HP employees, the HP Foundation creates programs that make life better for underserved and underrepresented communities by providing technology-related learning experiences and opportunities.

Sustainability at HP

Sustainability serves as a guiding principle for how we do business at HPfueling our innovation and growth. We engineer with integrity, ensuring all products and operations are based on the highest ethical standards. We are committed to full-circle innovation that improves performance, reduces waste, and powers a circular and low-carbon economy. And we inspire impact, creating opportunities and enabling action to achieve a more just and inclusive society. To learn more about these efforts, visit the HP Sustainability website, and be sure to check out the newly released HP 2016 Sustainability Report, www.hp.com/sustainability.Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Some media reported on December 4 that FAW Toyota will locally produce Lexus branded models, based on an article released on October 20 by FAW Group's official WeChat account, saying that FAW Toyota plans to introduce Lexus luxury car brand as part of the joint venture's latest 10-year development planning. Yet, this report was denied by Lexus China and FAW Toyota on the same day.

Aside from introducing Lexus cars, there are another two steps mentioned in the 10-year development strategy. Over the next decade, the Sino-Japanese joint venture will introduce 4 new models including the IZOA and 6 NEV models and tries to sustain the 800,000-unit annual sales performance. In addition, the company plans to bring in B-segment SUVs and MPVs and strive to make its annual sales exceed 1 million units in 2023.

The Toyota-owned premium brand set a goal to have its China sales increased by 23% over the previous year to 160,000 units in 2018. By the end of November, Lexus has already delivered 148,967 vehicles in this country, the fifth month in a row that accomplished year-on-year growth.

The TNGA (Toyota New Global Architecture), the platform on which Lexus sales driver in Chinathe all-new ES based, has been introduced by FAW Toyota. The automaker has used the TNGA to manufacture the all-new Toyota Avalon full size sedan, which is almost same as the ES in size, powertrain and chassis.A new Virginia case presents one of the less-frequently-litigated issues in the realm of the First Amendment right to speak anonymously  when the identity of an anonymous blogger (or other Internet speaker) can be demanded not so that she can be served with a summons in a lawsuit alleging that her speech violated the plaintiffs rights (the so-called Dendrite issue that I have often discussed on this blog ), but rather so that the blogger can provide useful evidence bearing on somebody else's liability.

This case arises from a defamation suit pending in the northern Virginia suburbs, in which a high school principal filed suit against the then-chair of the Prince William County Board of Education and a couple of his local political supporters. The school board chair, a man named Ryan Sawyers, criticized the principal (Michael Bishop) and tried to get him removed; the chairman at first prevailed on a motion to deny an extension of the principals contract, but ultimately the majority of the board changed their votes; indeed, there was an effort to recall Sawyers, who ended up resigning from the Board before his term expired. A local political blogger called Sheriff of Nottingham PWC chimed in on the controversy, making the efforts against Bishop one of her many bases for attacking Sawyers.

One of the three defamation defendants, Guy Morgan, issued a subpoena to Google seeking to identify Sheriff of Nottingham PWC, who sought help protecting her anonymity. I was initially not inclined to take the case, but the responses from Morgans lawyers to my inquiries about why they had served the subpoena led me to conclude that their only reason was to punish the blogger for expressing views and opinions that they found obnoxious. And besides, it presented an important legal issue of first impression in Virginia.

These superlawyers admitted that they had no claim that Sheriff had defamed anybody on her blog; they said that Bishop was claiming in his suit that he had lost his job, and that they needed to depose Sheriff to learn the basis for Sheriff's blog post saying that the principal had retained his job (a fact that is reflected on the high schools web site). They also said they needed to take Sheriffs deposition because her blog had referred to Bishop as a popular and effective principal, and they claimed that they needed the jury to hear Sheriff testify about why she had said this because, they claimed, it would show that their allegedly defamatory criticisms had not actually harmed Bishops reputation.

The lawyers also told me that they would be glad to agree to a protective order limiting the extent to which Sheriffs name would be revealed, but when I pointed out that a protective order would do no good if Sheriff were testifying at trial (which would have to be in public), they suddenly changed their tune and said that they only wanted to take Sheriffs deposition rather than presenting trial testimony. This final exchange persuaded me that the lawyers were just making up reasons as they went along, and only wanted to identify Sheriff because they did not like what Sheriff had to say about the defendants. (The entire email exchange is attached to our motion to quash).

Our brief supporting a motion to quash argues that subpoenas seeking to identify anonymous online speakers in order to obtain evidence to be used in litigation to which the speaker is not a party is governed by the 2theMart test, named after an early case litigated by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the ACLUs Washington affiliate in federal court in Seattle. The 2theMart decision borrowed heavily from the standard applied by most courts around the country to decide whether a journalist can be compelled to identify her sources, looking to whether the subpoena was issued in good faith, whether the subpoena seeks evidence that pertains directly to one of the core claims or defenses in the litigation, and whether the party serving the subpoena needs the identifying information badly enough that they cannot make the proofs that they claim to need in some way that does not require taking away anonymity.



Our co-counsel barred in Virginia in this case are with Baker & Hostetler, which really brings my work on the issue of online anonymity full circle, because it was Megan Gray, then a young associate in that firm's Los Angeles office, who was the first to specialize in this issue back around 1999; her briefs provided some of the basic language that I was able to adapt in briefing Dendrite, Cahill, and the other early cases that set the national pattern in this area.1. Yes. Nonprofit youth organizations are underfunded in the city. Its a good decision.

2. Yes. In conjunction with city-run programs, it will provide needed opportunities.

3. No. The money should be used to benefit all residents, not just the citys youth.

4. No. The funds should be invested in the area where the project is being developed..

5. Unsure. Its hard to say whether its an appropriate use of the money.

Vote

View ResultsLast week, the U.S. Treasury Department of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) targeted two bitcoin addresses, announcing that the wallets associated Iranian citizens Ali Khorashadizadeh and Mohammad Ghorbaniyan had been added to the Specially Designated Nationals sanctions list.

The sanctions, which are the first of their kind, are part of a wider move to track and restrict movements in the digital space involving money laundering and cybercrime.

Additionally, the OFAC noted that the agency would be looking into exchanges who facilitated transactions by these individuals, stating We are publishing digital currency addresses to identify illicit actors operating in the digital currency space. Treasury will aggressively pursue Iran and other rogue regimes attempting to exploit digital currencies and weaknesses in cyber and AML/CFT safeguards to further their nefarious objectives.

The cause for the sanctions, according to the OFAC, was that Khorashadizadeh and Ghorbaniyan were involved in malicious SamSam ransomware attacks.

In addition to the sanctions placed on Khorashadizadeh and Ghorbaniyan, it is noted that two others, Faramarz Shahi Savandi, and Mohammad Mehdi Shah Mansouri had been officially charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit fraud related to computers, and other counts accusing them of intentionally damaging protected computers and illegally transmitting demands related to protected computers. Related: Maduro Triples Minimum Wage, Raises Price Of El Petro

The SamSam ransomeware has impacted over 200 victims to date, including hospitals, corporations, universities and government facilities.

In an interview with CoinDesk Ghorbaniyan explained, I didnt know the SamSam criminal activities were associated with the bitcoins I received from these two customers and Im honestly still not sure if these two people are behind the SamSam crimes. Adding, I do a standard know-your-customer (KYC) procedure. And theres no reason to be suspicious of my customers once they do KYC.

Sanctions Set a New Precedent

Though Khorashadizadeh and Ghorbaniyan were targeted for potential involvement in criminal activities, the U.S. Treasury Departments move sets a new precedent in the crypto-sphere.

With Iran currently reeling from wider economic sanctions from the U.S., and bitcoin usage on the rise in the Middle-Eastern country, it is possible that these actions could be the first of many. And the consequences for exchanges caught in the crossfire could be severe.

Related: What Warren Buffett Does With His Billions

As Iran becomes increasingly isolated and desperate for access to U.S. dollars, it is vital that virtual currency exchanges, peer-to-peer exchangers, and other providers of digital currency services harden their networks against these illicit schemes, explained Sigal Mandelker, Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Takes Aim at Privacy Coins

In addition to the push to crack down on illicit bitcoin transactions, authorities are also looking at ways to reign in privacy coins such as Monero and Zcash, according to a new PreSolicitation.

A key feature underlying these newer blockchain platforms that is frequently emphasized is the capability for anonymity and privacy protection. While these features are desirable, there is similarly a compelling interest in tracing and understanding transactions and actions on the blockchain of an illegal nature, the PreSolicitation states.

The notice suggests that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is considering the development of a forensics tool which will allow the agency to monitor, track and identify users of a number of privacy coins, much like Chainalysis has done with the Bitcoin blockchain.

By Michael Kern via Crypto Insider

More Top Reads From Safehaven.comShow details

Theresa Caputo LIVE! The Experience comes to Santa Ynez on Thursday, Jan. 17 at 8 p.m., Friday, Jan. 18 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, Jan. 19 at 8 p.m.

Purchase of ticket does not guarantee a reading.

Located on Highway 246 in Santa Ynez, California, the Chumash Casino Resort is an age 21-and-older venue. Tickets for the event are $69, $74, $79, $89, $99 and available at the Chumash Casino Resorts Club Indulge or online at www.chumashcasino.com.Thank you for reading!

Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.Education Reporter

Mathew Burciaga is a Santa Maria Times reporter who covers education, agriculture and public safety. Prior to joining the Times, Mathew ran a 114-year-old community newspaper in Wyoming. He owns more than 40 pairs of crazy socks from across the globe.When there are partisan disagreements and Congress is divided on how to fund the government, the threat of a shutdown looms. Learn what one could mean for you.

As featured on How a potential government shutdown could affect holiday plans A partial government shutdown wouldn't cancel Christmas, but some of the people making things run smoothly ahead of and after the holiday could be affected." " Scientists have found a way to measure all the starlight emitted for most of the history of the universe. George Rose/Getty Images

Here's a mind-blowing figure for you: 4,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

In case you're wondering what all those digits signify, that's the number of photons  more compactly expressed as 4 x 1084  emitted by all of the stars in the observable universe, going back to when the 13.7 billion-year-old universe had been around for just a billion years, according to a team of researchers headed by Marco Ajello, an astrophysicist in the College of Science at Clemson University.

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That's based on an analysis of data from NASA's 10-year-old Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, which enabled the researchers to compile a history of star formation over most of the universe's lifetime.

The scientists detailed their findings in a paper published on Nov. 30, 2018, in the journal Science, with Ajello as the lead author.

Here's a NASA video about the research:

Measuring starlight for most of the universe's history required considerable ingenuity. As Ajello explains in prepared remarks via email, the total amount of light emitted by stars is comprised of two types. "One is stellar light that survives absorption by dust," he writes. "This is what we measured. The rest is stellar light absorbed by dust and re-emitted in the infrared. We are not sensitive to that. It turns out half of the energy emitted by stars across the history of the universe is re-processed by stars at longer (infrared) wavelengths."

The sky is filled with photons emitted long ago by distant stars  this is called the extragalactic background light, or EBL. Nevertheless, except for the moon and stars from our own galaxy, the sky appears dark to our eyes. According to Ajello, that's because most of the starlight that reaches Earth from the rest of the vast universe is extremely faint  the equivalent of a 60-watt light bulb viewed in compete darkness from about 2.5 million miles away.

As this Science News article explains, to get around that problem, Ajello and his team perused 10 years of data from the Fermi telescope, and looked at the EBL's interaction with gamma rays emitted by distant blazars  black holes that can send powerful streams of radiation out into the universe. The researchers calculated the extent to which the gamma rays from those blazars had been absorbed or altered by collisions with the EBL's photons.

"Blazars emit light across the electromagnetic spectrum, but release most of their energy in the gamma-ray band," Ajello explains. "The Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board of Fermi is able to measure gamma-rays from blazars from 100 MeV (1 million times the energy of visible light) to 1 TeV (1 trillion times the energy of visible light). The pair production process (where two photons produce an electron-positron pair) which absorbed the gamma rays emitted from blazars starts only at energies of ~10 GeV (billion times the energy of visible light). So below this energy we observed the true, un-absorbed, blazar output, but above this 'threshold' more and more photons from the blazars are absorbed till the point (if you increase the energy enough) you don't see the blazar anymore."

"We look for this transition from zero percent absorption to 100 percent absorption as a function of energy," Ajello continues. "The energy at which the transition starts and how fast it goes from zero percent to 100 percent measure the energy of the EBL photons and how many of those are out there. The more there are the quicker is the zero 100 percent (absorption) transition."

Ajello describes tracking the EBL as the astrophysicists' equivalent of "following the rainbow and discovering a pot of gold. The EBL is the rainbow and its knowledge can finally disclose a lot of useful information."

Ajello explains that the total amount of light emitted by stars is comprised of two types. "One is stellar light that survives absorption by dust (this is what we measured). The rest is stellar light absorbed by dust and re-emitted in the infrared (we are not sensitive to that). It turns out half of the energy emitted by stars across the history of the universe is re-processed by stars at longer (infrared) wavelengths."

The researchers' technique enabled them to see the history of star formation in the universe, which they found had peaked about 3 billion years after the Big Bang and has slowed dramatically since then, according to a Washington Post article on the work.

The count doesn't include the amount of starlight emitted in the first billion years of the universe's existence. "This is an epoch we can't really probe yet," Ajello explains. That's one reason he and other scientists are looking forward to the 2021 launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, which NASA says will be sufficiently sensitive to detect the first stars.

Now That's Interesting While the creation of new stars has slowed, it's never completely stopped, according to this Clemson news release. The Milky Way, for example, creates about seven new stars each year.

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Originally Published: Dec 4, 2018 The faulty and foul thinking continuing to thwart a vote on the FIRST STEP Act | Main | Renewed talk in Ohio of exempting those with "serious mental illness" from the death penalty 

The title of this post is the title of this notable new report from the folks at Fair and Just Prosecution, Brennan Center for Justice, Emily Bazelon, and The Justice Collaborative. Here is its introduction:

Prosecutors are charged with addressing violations of criminal law and promoting public safety. In carrying out these responsibilities, they must also bear in mind their role as ministers of justice and consider the rights, needs, and interests of all members of their community  including victims and individuals who are charged with criminal conduct.

Prosecutors wield enormous influence at every stage of the criminal process, from initial charging decisions to the sentences sought and imposed Along the way, they often control decisions about plea bargains and whether mandatory minimum sentences will be triggered, and thus greatly impact whether (and for how long) defendants remain in jail and prison.

Over the last four decades, the total incarcerated population in the United States has quintupled, to 2.2 million, or nearly 1 out of 100 adults. About 10.6 million people cycle in and out of jail each year. While the causes are complex, its clear that punitive policies have contributed to the incarceration build-up. These policies have included the war on drugs, over-policing of poor and minority communities, and harsh directives from legislators, like mandatory-minimum sentencing laws. Putting so many people behind bars imposes great costs and burdens on them, their families, and our country.

In recent years, the role of prosecutors has received increasing attention. Given their powers, prosecutors are well positioned to make changes that can roll back over-incarceration. They can use their discretion to improve the overall fairness and efficacy of the criminal justice system and champion priorities that improve the safety and well-being of our communities.

Fairness is paramount It helps achieve the mission of public safety by building trust, which in turn aids police and prosecutors in solving crime The 21 principles below offer practical steps prosecutors can take to transform their offices, and collectively, their profession.

The principles include examples of innovative endeavors by prosecutors around the nation, not necessarily as endorsements, but as illustrations of new approaches. We recognize that prosecution is local, and some of these recommendations and examples wont be suited to all jurisdictions. We nonetheless hope that these ideas generate conversation, creative thinking, and change.

The central aspiration of these principles is at once simple and profound: that prosecutors will adopt a new and bold 21st Century vision for meting out mercy and justice. "21 Principles for the 21st Century Prosecutor" | Main | "What the Feds Can Do to Rein in Local Mercenary Criminal Justice" 

As reported in this local article, headlined "Should those with serious mental illnesses be exempt from the death penalty in Ohio?," there is renewed discussion in the Buckeye State of a task force proposal to carve out an exception to the death penalty for those with "serious mental illness." Here are the details:

If Ohio is going to execute convicted murderers, it shouldn't execute individuals with serious mental illnesses, a bipartisan group of lawmakers says.

That is the aim of House Bill 81 [available here], which would prohibit capital punishment for anyone with a clinical diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder or delusional disorder. The proposal has stalled for years in the Ohio House but could advance this week for the first time after gaining support from a handful of Republicans....

If a judge or jury finds the person was impaired at the time of the murder, the defendant could not be sentenced to death. They could still face life in prison. The idea came from a 2014 task force of judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys and academics who recommended several changes to Ohio's death penalty. It builds on U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

The bill, sponsored by Republican Rep. Bill Seitz of Green Township and Democratic Rep. Nickie J. Antonio of Lakewood, has bipartisan support. Groups such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Ohio and Ohio Psychiatric Physicians Association agree that certain people shouldn't face the death penalty. If we are going to have a death penalty, it should be reserved only for those who are the worst of the worst, not for those who are suffering from impaired judgment due to a severe mental illness," said Richard Cline, chief counsel with Ohio Public Defender's death penalty department, during a Nov. 27 hearing.

Convicted killers could be exempt from the death penalty even if they are found competent to stand trial and don't meet the standards for being found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Prosecutors and some GOP lawmakers aren't convinced that the changes are needed. Under the bill, those already on death row could ask a judge to take another look at their mental state at the time of the offense and possibly have their death sentence vacated.

Some worry that every inmate on death row would claim some mental illness to escape execution. It would be a substantial miscarriage of justice for someone convicted and sentenced to death years ago to be able to now claim that they had a serious mental illness at the time and should, therefore, be excluded from the death penalty, said Lou Tobin, executive director of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association.

Opposition from prosecutors has stalled the proposal once before. Still, the bill could get a vote in committee Tuesday. From there, the proposed law would need approval from the Ohio House and Ohio Senate before heading to Gov. John Kasich. The Legislature has only a handful of sessions remaining.V3s TWG Tea store at Terminal 4 in Singapore Changi Airport. Photo: V3

V3 Group, a specialty retailer of luxury lifestyle and wellness products in Asia, said investment firm KKR will invest up to S$500 million (US$366.5 million) for a significant stake in the company.

The investment comes at an enterprise value of approximately S$1.7 billion, V3 said in a statement on Tuesday (4 December). KKR is making this investment from its Asian Fund III.

Headquartered in Singapore, V3 owns and develops products and services through its leading luxury and wellness brands such as OSIM, TWG Tea and ONI. The company also owns Futuristic Store Fixtures, which supports some of the worlds leading retail brands.

The investment will position the company to start the next phase of growth, starting with the immediate expansion of TWG Tea in Japan and the USA, and of OSIM in China, said Ron Sim, the Founder, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of V3.

The transaction was advised by Evercore, the exclusive financial adviser to V3.KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Malaysia's Energy and Environment Ministry on Tuesday set conditions for future renewal for rare earths miner Lynas Corp's licences to operate in the country.

The ministry said in a statement that Lynas must remove radioactive residues from Malaysia and will need to submit an action plan for non-radioactive waste disposal for future licences or permission renewals.

In a report issued on the ministry's website, a committee commissioned to review Lynas' processing plant also recommended improvements to residue management, periodic health monitoring and studies to identify the source of heavy metals in areas near the plant. (Reporting by Liz Lee Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)From left: Data Republics co-founder Danny Gilligan, Singtel Innov8 CEO Edgar Hardless and Data Republics CEO Paul McCarney. (PHOTO: Data Republic)

Singapore Airlines (SIA) has acquired a minority stake in Australian startup Data Republic through the placement of news shares in a move to enhance its digital capabilities, according to a stock exchange filing statement on Tuesday (4 December).

George Wang, SIAs senior vice-president of information technology, said the carrier recognises the growing role of data in giving organisations a better understanding of customers preferences.

In a separate statement, Data Republic said it has raised A$22 million (S$22.1 million) in Series B funding, led by Singtel Innov8, Singapore Airlines and existing investor Qualgro. Singtel Innov8 is the corporate venture capital fund of the Singtel Group.

The round also included investments from existing investors ANZ, Reinventure and Ryder Innovation Fund.

Sydney-based Data Republic, a platform for secure inter-organisational data sharing, in September appointed Lynn Thompson as head of its new office in Singapore.Australia's two main parties struck a deal Tuesday to pass sweeping cyber laws requiring tech giants to help government agencies get around encrypted communications used by suspected criminals and terrorists. The laws are urgently needed to investigate serious crimes like terrorism and child sex offences, the conservative government said, citing a recent case involving three men accused of plotting attacks who used encrypted messaging applications. But critics including Google and Facebook as well as privacy advocates warn the laws would weaken cybersecurity and be among the most far-reaching in a Western democracy. The bill is expected to pass parliament by Thursday, which is the end of the sitting week. The opposition Labor party said the ruling Liberal-National coalition had addressed some of its concerns by agreeing to improve oversight and accountability, and beef up safeguards in the proposed bill. "Let me be clear -- this bill is far from perfect and there are likely to be significant outstanding issues," shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus said in a statement, national broadcaster ABC reported. "But this compromise will deliver security and enforcement agencies the powers they say they need over the Christmas period." Law enforcement agencies urgently need the measures to stop terror suspects and others from hiding their activities, the government argues. Under the planned laws, Canberra could compel local and international providers to remove electronic protections, conceal covert operations by government agencies, and help with access to devices or services. If companies did not comply, they would face multi-million-dollar fines, the government said in August. Government requests could still be challenged in court. The draft legislation expands obligations to assist investigators from domestic telecom businesses to encompass foreign companies, including any communications providers operating in Australia. This means social media websites and messaging services such as Facebook and Whatsapp, as well as gaming platforms with chat facilities, could be covered. The government has said it is not asking tech firms to build in backdoors to access people's data. But the Digital Industry Group Inc (DIGI) -- which represents major players such as Twitter and Amazon -- said in a submission to parliament last week that the bill as it is currently written would force them to create vulnerabilities in their operations which could be exploited by hackers. The proposed changes are based on the UK's "snooper's charter" surveillance powers passed in 2016.A US judge on Tuesday set bail at $1 million each for two sons of Panama's ex-president Ricardo Martinelli who, like their father, stand accused of collecting huge bribes in a wide ranging cash-for-contracts scandal. The pair, Luis and Ricardo Martinelli Linares, were arrested on immigration charges because their US visas were no longer valid, a US spokeswoman said. At a hearing at the Krome detention center, the judge set bail of $1 million each, according to ICE spokeswoman Amanda St. Jean. The judge ordered a hearing for December 27. But if the pair are released on bail, the hearing will be rescheduled. Their US visas had been cancelled in 2017, St. Jean said. The two sons are accused of collecting multimillion dollar bribes from Brazilian construction company Odebrecht to secure public works contracts such as highways and bay cleanup. Odebrecht acknowledged having paid $59 million in bribes between 2010 and 2014 to win the Panama bids. The trial of the ex-president, detained in Panama for allegedly spying on about 150 opposition members, starts December 11.Tokyo has lodged an official complaint with Beijing after a Chinese exploration vessel was identified operating in a contested part of the East China Sea, with analysts in Japan suggesting Beijing was testing Tokyos resolve.

The Chinese ship was sighted in mid-November apparently drilling test boreholes into the seabed in search of oil or gas deposits close to the median line Japan proposed should serve as the maritime border between the two nations.

The two countries Exclusive Economic Zones overlap in the East China Sea, leading to the dispute over precisely where the line should be drawn, while there is also concern in Japan that resources extracted on the Chinese side may actually be coming from deposits in the Japanese sector.

Tokyo has proposed the problem be resolved by jointly developing the resources in the region, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe approaching Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Argentina to repeat Tokyos call for the two governments to reopen talks.

An agreement reached in 2008 between the two nations to work together to extract any natural resources has been put on hold since tensions intensified over the sovereignty of the Diaoyu Islands  which are known as the Senkaku islands in Japan.

Abes request to Xi was likely prompted by the Chinese test drilling operation, which Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga criticised in a regular press conference in Tokyo on Monday.

It is extremely regrettable that China has continued its unilateral development activities in the waters, while the boundary [between Japan and China] has not been set, he said.

The best thing would have been for both sides to negotiate and keep to their agreements, but China does not seem to want to keep its word

Yoichi Shimada, Fukui Prefectural University

Story continues

Japan made an official protest through diplomatic channels immediately after the ships activities were reported, he said.

Yoichi Shimada, a professor of international relations at Fukui Prefectural University, said Beijing was exerting pressure on Japan to determine the resolve within the Abe administration to resist.

This is a typical tactic that we have seen the Chinese government use time after time and often you will see Beijing backtrack  just as they have in the trade war with the US  when they meet resistance, he said.

If they sense that their adversary is weak, they continue to push and I believe the problem in this case is that the Japanese government has made no effort to carry out similar exploration for resources. The best thing would have been for both sides to negotiate and keep to their agreements, but China does not seem to want to keep its word.

Shimada also said the test drilling was part of a broader Chinese plan to lay claim to larger areas of the East China Sea and boost its claim to sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands, in much the same way it has in the South China Sea.

The Senkakus are relatively close to the area where this ship is operating and I believe it is quite significant that exploration has already shown that there is little oil and gas in this area at all, he said. Chinas real intention is to get closer and closer to the Senkakus and to use their strong presence to bolster their claims.

Right now, they are testing the resolve of the Japanese government and waiting to see just how firm Tokyo is in response to this provocation.

This article Beijing may be testing Tokyos resolve with drilling missions in contested parts of East China Sea first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018.

More from South China Morning Post:Singapores Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong attends the plenary session at the G20 leaders summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 1 December. Also seen in Singapores Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat (right). (PHOTO: Reuters)

Singapores Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has indicated that a Cabinet reshuffle will take place only after the 2019 Budget debate set for March next year.

Speaking to Singapore media on Saturday (1 December) on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G20) Leaders Summit in Buenos Aires, Lee noted that the last Cabinet reshuffle took place April this year.

So next year around the same time, I think it is reasonable, he said.

The announcement ends weeks of speculation over an impending Cabinet reshuffle following the ruling Peoples Action Partys (PAP) Central Executive Committee (CEC) elections on 11 November and its subsequent appointment of roles with the partys top committee.

Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat, who was appointed as PAPs first assistant secretary-general, is widely expected to become deputy prime minister in the upcoming reshuffle.

Meanwhile, Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing was appointed as second assistant secretary-general following the CEC elections.

The deputy prime minister post was held by both Singapores second and third prime ministers  Goh Chok Tong and Lee, respectively. Prior to the CEC election, local and foreign media had tipped both Heng and Chan as being the most likely candidates to become Singapores next prime minister.

No surprises if all goes to plan at next GE

At the G20 Summit, Lee also said that he expected the nations fourth-generation (4G) leaders to be in the thick of things at the next general election despite still being there to lead the PAP.

They will do so by setting the partys agenda, working out its policies, preparing the manifesto, making the pitch to the public, actively campaigning, and organising the election, he said. Singapores next general election is due to be held before January 2021.

Im still the leader, so in the next election, I will be the leader and I will lead the party into the election. But the content of the policies and how they are presented, and what they want to do, I think the young ministers will have a lot to say about that, said PM Lee.

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While he did not confirm that Heng would take over his post, he said that the 4G ministers have decided that Heng is their leader, and that the PAP MPs have endorsed it.

So the partys position is clear, he said. First, we have to fight an election. We have to win the election and after that, if all goes according to plan, well, the succession happens within the PAP, there are no surprises.

Lee, 66, had previously said that he hoped to hand over his post to his successor by the time he turns 70 in 2022.

Younger ministers to meet in January

Heng, who was also in Buenos Aires, told reporters that the younger ministers will meet in January to discuss long-term issues that Singapore needs to address.

Following the discussions, the team will then consult Singaporeans on the topics that will shape the countrys future, in a planned series of discussions after next years Budget.

These sessions with different groups of people will build on the Our Singapore Conversation national feedback drive that Heng spearheaded in 2013.

We want to have some time to look at what are some of the fundamental, long-term issues that as a country, as a society, we need to address, he said.

Depth of experience going into next elections

Going into the upcoming polls, Lee believes that the PAP has a depth of experience  not just in terms of experienced leaders, but also a younger crop who possesses the capability and willingness to take Singapore into the future.

Its not just the present leaders, who are in their late 50s, early 60s  but also the next generation of leaders, 40s, 50s, ready to take over, he said.

I think thats a very strong message, which goes beyond any specific policies and manifesto items or promises, but the commitment is we are here to serve and not just for now, but to serve into the future and you can rely on us.

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I have made very good recovery from my stroke: Heng Swee KeatSeletar Airports control tower. (PHOTO: Yahoo News Singapore / Dhany Osman)

The current airspace arrangements have been working well and any proposed changes to them will impact many stakeholders, said Singapores Ministry of Transport on Tuesday (4 December).

In response to the Malaysian governments comments that it would reclaim its airspace from Singapore, MOT said in a statement that the airspace in the region is one of the most complex in the world and that air traffic growth is one of the fastest in the world.

The benefits to both our economies and our people have been tremendous. Consultations will therefore be required to minimise the impact on airlines and passengers, MOT said.

Earlier Tuesday, the Malaysian government said that it would reclaim its airspace from Singapore in phases between 2019 and 2023. The Republic has been allowed to use the airspace in southern Johor since 1974.

Putrajaya has also sent Singapore a protest note over the latters decision to operate its instrument landing system (ILS) for Seletar Airport near the border with Johor, despite objections from Malaysia.

Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke told Parliament that Putrajaya disallowed the Republic from broadcasting its ILS last month, in a bid to protect the sovereignty of airspace and development around Pasir Gudang in Johor.

Last month, Malaysian budget carrier Firefly said that it would be suspending flights into Singapore from 1 December, citing issues with the Singapore authorities plan to move turboprop operations from Changi Airport to Seletar Airport.

MOT said that it noted Lokes comments on the ILS procedures for Seletar Airport. It added that the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore informed the Malaysian transport ministry in 2014 of the move of turboprop operations to Seletar.

In December 2017, the ILS procedures were shared with the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM). MOT noted, However, despite repeated reminders, we received no substantive response from CAAM until late November 2018.

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MOT stressed that the ILS procedures were designed in line with the standards of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which CAAM has also acknowledged. They were published in line with Singapores responsibilities under the ICAO requirements and bilateral arrangements between the Republic and Malaysia.

In a media conference held in Malaysia on Tuesday, Loke spoke about the current ILS arrangements and their alleged impact on Pasir Gudang.

Loke said, Seletar Airport is very near to Pasir Gudang. Once they (aircraft) descend, the aircraft have to fly very low over Pasir Gudang airspace and that will have a negative impact on the future development of Pasir Gudang. We cant even build tall buildings if we allow that flight path.

MOT said in its statement, The ILS procedures were designed to align with the existing flight profiles into Seletar Airport, which have been used for decades. The ILS procedures have been designed to take into account existing structures at Pasir Gudang. The procedures therefore do not impose additional impact on other airspace users as well as businesses and residents in Johor.

In addition, there are procedures and equipment in place to ensure that shipping in the Straits of Johor would not be affected, MOT added.

Speaking to reporters at a doorstop interview at Seletar Airport, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan said, Despite repeated reminders (on the ILS procedures), they did not respond until very recently. At their request, there was a meeting between the two regulators. Malaysian side listed their concerns over the proposed procedures, which is kind of strange, because the procedures essentially just align with the existing flights.

At this recent meeting, CAAS was able to explain to them and show them that their concerns can be satisfactorily resolvedwe proceeded to publish the ILS.

Noting Malaysias desire to provide air traffic services for the airspace, MOT said any proposal should ensure that the safety and efficiency of airspace is not compromised and are in line with ICAO standards and procedures.

Saying that a win-win outcome is possible for the two countries, MOT said, Singapore and Malaysia are close neighbours, who have had a long history of cooperation and friendly competition. We need to work together to tackle our common challenges and find constructive ways to resolve our differences when interests diverge.

Khaw also stressed that any changes to airspace arrangements cannot be unilaterally introduced without the involvement of all stakeholders.

Airspace management has nothing to do with sovereignty. In fact, many countries have airspace, or at least part of their airspace, managed by other countries. But airspace management is very much about safety and about efficiency of the airspace, he said.

It is not a straightforward decision to just change the status quo. In fact, ICAO procedures and processes are quite clear. Any changes, there must be a reasonIf it doesnt improve on the status quo, then what is the point of changing?

Related story:

Malaysian government ships encroaching into Singapore waters for past 2 weeks: MOTChinas central bank has put a brake on liquidity injections over the last month as it struggles to optimise funding support for the economy by fine-tuning the system through which additional funds result in more lending to businesses.

The Peoples Bank of China (PBOC) has implemented a series of targeted liquidity injections so far this year to stabilise the economy by helping the agricultural sector and small businesses. However, these efforts have, so far, not resulted in a significant increase in new lending, leaving market liquidity levels higher than the central bank is comfortable.

To prevent liquidity from becoming excessive, the PBOC has maintained a neutral policy stance in its regular open market operations in the past month.

The PBOC did not add or drain liquidity from the interbank market again on Tuesday, repeating that overall liquidity remains at a relatively high level. It has not conducted an open market operation since October 26, the longest such stretch in three and a half years.

The central bank did not conduct a withdrawal or injection of funds in November after adding a net 460 billion yuan (US$67.21 billion) in October and mopping up 230 billion yuan in September, according to Bloomberg data.

The central bank hopes that the capital it injected into the market goes into the real economy rather than circulating the interbank market, said Qu Qiang, a researcher of the international monetary institute of the Renmin University of China.

While avoiding excessive liquidity in the financial system, the PBOC also aims to ensure lenders have sufficient liquidity to support private companies through other monetary policy tools.

Watch for another PBOC credit jolt to prop up economy soon

Analysts expect the PBOC is likely to roll over two medium-term loan facility loans to banks (MLFs) due this month, including a 288 billion yuan loan on December 6 and a 188 billion yuan loan on December 14.

To add liquidity, the central bank had also cut banks required reserve ratio  the amount of money they are required to hold at the central bank  four times this year, most recently in October, providing an additional US$110 billion in lending.

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Reflecting overall easing of banking liquidity conditions, short-term money market rates have been edging lower this year.

However, banks have remained reluctant to lend to firms with weak credit histories. Instead they have been investing the extra cash in the market to earn interest income amid rising corporate defaults.

New bank loans in October fell by about half to 697 billion yuan from 1.38 trillion yuan in September, according to data from the central bank. Aggregate financing, which includes bank loans, equity financing, bond sales, trust funds and banker acceptance bills, shrank by about two-thirds to 728.8 billion yuan.

The Chinese governments economic stimulus imperative to offset the impact of the trade war has collided with its continued effort to contain risks, leaving the PBOC with a dilemma it has not yet been able to solve.

In particular, small and medium-sized firms complain that lack of access to credit, or its high cost when its available, is preventing them from investing.

The macroeconomic fundamentals have actually bounced back a little bit from the worst-case scenario. The de-escalation of trade tensions will also give the central bank more leeway [to refine its monetary policy], Qu added.

Iris Pang, chief Greater China economist of ING Bank, said the central bank is also conveying the message that it has done its part in the economic stabilisation and no major monetary loosening should be expected in the period ahead.

Now its the turn of fiscal policy to carry the responsibility [for advancing economic stimulus], she said. Compared to monetary easing, the impact of fiscal stimulus would last longer.

China renews currency swap deals with UK, Japan to defend yuan

Still, analysts expect the PBOC to maintain its bias toward an easier monetary policy in the short term, with a further cut in the reserve requirement ratio possible in coming weeks.

Its tone of structural deleveraging wont change either, said ANZ China economist Raymond Yeung. But such issues like [improving the] monetary transmission mechanism cant be solved in two or three years.

The division among policymakers over the appropriate roles of monetary and fiscal policies became public in June, when Xu Zhong, head of the PBOCs research bureau, accused the Finance Ministry of not being aggressive enough in tackling deep-rooted financial risks among local governments that kept government spending below the level needed to lift the national economy.

Their row came to an end after the Politburo, Chinas top decision-making body, changed policy at the end of July to focus on stabilising the economy. From that point, the government loosened its purse strings to fund infrastructure spending and cut personal income taxes from October.

The federal government has been advancing money from next years budget to local governments after they breached the limit in October on the amount of bonds they can issue to fund additional spending.

To accommodate the additional spending, analysts now expect the government to raise its budget deficit target next year above this years target of 2.6 per cent.

This article China central banks dilemma: the extra cash its giving banks is not reaching the real economy first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018.Chinese and Singaporean police have cracked down on an international prostitution ring that trafficked mainland Chinese women into Singapores sex trade.

Thirty suspects have been arrested, while police found 144 women who were clearly deceived into sex work, Chinas Ministry of Public Security announced on Monday.

It said police in China and Singapore had discovered the gang in March and that the gang used WeChat and other messaging apps to trick more than a hundred mainland Chinese women into prostitution in Singapore.

Prostitution is technically legal in Singapore in government-approved red light districts, but is heavily regulated and policed. The city state forbids maintaining a brothel, soliciting for sex in public, advertising sex work online, pimping and recruiting women for sex work.

How Chinas market economy has fuelled a prostitution boom

There are about 80 to 90 licensed brothels thought to be operating in Singapores designated red light districts but also many prostitutes working illegally in unlicensed brothels or freelance, according to Vanessa Ho, director of the local sex worker advocacy group Project X.

Singaporean police have cracked down on illegal sex workers in the past, but women are still arriving from places such as Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and China, Ho said.

Prostitution is officially illegal in China, but the trade is widely flourishing underground.

During the investigation, Chinese police identified the main alleged organisers of the trafficking ring as two 27-year-old men, surnamed Zhou and Zhu, from the city of Lianyungang in Jiangsu province, eastern China.

11 Chinese labourers arrested as Japan probes human trafficking ring

Chinese and Singaporean police arrested the suspects on November 22 in a joint raid in both countries, Chinese police said.

Fourteen suspected gang members, including the two main alleged organisers, were arrested in Singapore, where the 144 suspected trafficking victims were also found. Sixteen suspected gang members were arrested in China.

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According to the investigators, gang members cooperated with criminals in Singapore to lure the women there with promises of highly paid professional work, and forged working visa application documents. The gang then illegally seized profits from prostitution, the police said.

The ministry advised the public to stay vigilant regarding suspicious offers of highly paid work overseas and be aware of possible fraud.

In April, Chinese police broke up another alleged international prostitution ring organised via WeChat and operating in mainland China and Malaysia, arresting 349 suspects in total.

This article Chinese women tricked into Singapore sex trade by WeChat prostitution ring first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018.An orphaned sun bear cub found in Laos is soon to be on her way to her new home, thanks to the animal rescue charity Free the Bears Fund.

Videos of the caged cub were shared by the Free the Bears Fund on Facebook, including an update on December 3. Shes not in great shape and we cant wait to get her back to our sanctuary, wrote the rescue organization. The videos showed that the bear was malnourished though still eating. The fund said the bears apparent age was six months, though its size was that of a cub half that age.

The cub will become the funds first sun bear, they said, and will join over 50 rescued moon bears. Credit: Free the Bears Fund via StoryfulKajayendran Krishnan was jailed 10 weeks after he pleaded guilty to one count of insulting the 44-year-old Malaysian womans modesty and one count of molesting her. (PHOTO: Getty Images)

While on a bus to Tuas Checkpoint, he harassed the woman seated next to him by caressing her arm and uttering vulgarities to her in Hokkien and Tamil.

When the woman tried to move away from him, the drunken man then blocked her way and continued to touch her.

For his actions, 50-year-old Kajayendran Krishnan was jailed 10 weeks after he pleaded guilty to one count of insulting the 44-year-old Malaysian womans modesty and one count of molesting her.

Another count of molest was taken into consideration for his sentencing.

Kajayendran, a Malaysian citizen and Singapore permanent resident, was working as a cleaner for SMRT at the time of the offences. Speaking through a translator, he said he had been fired since being charged over the incident.

Trapped victim on bus

According to court documents the woman boarded the bus from Boon Lay sometime between 6pm and 7pm on 7 May. She sat in the bus last row, next to the window.

A few minutes later, Kajayendran boarded the same bus and sat on her right. As the bus drove along Boon Lay Way, he caressed the womans right arm.

The woman told Kajayendran to stop touching her but he persisted. Kajayendran then uttered to her the word sarakku (a Tamil term for hot chick) as well as other vulgarities in Tamil and Hokkien.

The woman tried to leave her seat but Kajayendran blocked her path by extending his legs. After trapping the woman, Kajayendran then caressed and grabbed her right arm.

Outraged by Kajayendrans actions, the woman approached an Immigration and Checkpoints Authority officer when the bus reached Tuas Checkpoint. The police were then called.

Next time youre drunk, dont take the bus: judge

Deputy Public Prosecutor Mark Yeo sought a jail term for Kajayendran, whom he said had wrongfully restrained the woman while aboard public transport. He left the length of the jail term up to the court.

In mitigation, Kajayendran said he had lost his job as a result of his actions.

Im sorry for what Ive done. I seek forgiveness and apologise to the victim through the court for my actions, he said. He admitted that he had personal problems and to having been drunk at the time of the offences.

Story continues

District Judge Mathew Joseph pointed out that Kajayendran had sought to wiggle out of taking responsibility for his actions by first denying his offences. He only pleaded guilty after the prosecution said it had video footage of the incident.

The judge said that no women should have to look around her to see if shell be molested by anyone while aboard public transport.

Let me suggest to you that the next time you are drunk, you dont take the bus. You walk home. Lest you get into any mischief, he added.

More Singapore stories:

Woman who helped cheat engineering firm of over $10 million jailed

Man who separately attacked 2 men with machete and bottle jailed with caningCompetition between China and the US in artificial intelligence took centre stage at the Fortune Global Tech Forum in Guangzhou last week, as the worlds two biggest economies remain locked in a battle to develop AI applications to solve real world problems.

(Big companies) will benefit from a virtuous cycle of getting more data, better AI and therefore a better product that makes more money, and then they get an even larger market, said Lee Kai-fu, chairman and CEO of Sinovation Ventures, in a speech via Skype at the conference on Thursday.

So the Chinese companies will grow inside China and later outside China and the US companies will continue to expand their territories. Other countries are standing still relatively, so the wealth shift is one thing that is happening, said Lee, speaking before the US and China agreed a temporary trade war truce at the weekend G20 meeting in Argentina.

AI has assumed a key role in Beijings Made in China 2025 master plan, which promises to lift the countrys industries  from robotics and aerospace to new materials and new energy vehicles  up the value chain, replacing imports with local products and building global champions able to take on Western giants in cutting-edge technologies. AI became an important pillar of the plan in 2017.

Its time for the US and China to think about their leadership roles to help the world move forward, but also for each country to start mapping their approach, said Lee, noting continued wealth accumulation in both markets. The global race will depend on who can implement AI technology faster and better, rather than the invention of it, and Chinas huge population will be a key advantage to achieve better implementation, said Lee.

China urges AI elites to unite in global village  despite background of US-China trade war



Yang Yuanqing, chairman and CEO of Lenovo, echoed Lees remark on Chinas strengths while acknowledging the gap between the US and China currently.

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China is behind the US in many technologies such as chip, algorithm and large enterprise applications, and we still have a long way to go, said Yang. We should not be complacent, nor should we underestimate ourselves. We have strength in data generated from a huge population and as suppliers of internet of things devices drive into the world of intelligence.

Chinese internet giants Baidu, Alibaba Group Holding, Tencent Holdings and voice intelligence specialist iFlyTek, were appointed as AI national champions in 2017 to spur further development. Meanwhile, companies like Yitu Technology and SenseTime  added to the list of national champions this year  are already developing technologies to help screen for cancer and power driverless cars.



Sensing a threat to its global technological dominance, the US has seized on Beijings Made in China plan as an example of what it sees as unfair state intervention in China's economy. However, Gary Rieschel, a managing partner at Qiming Venture Partners, offered a different perspective, saying Chinas AI ecosystem was largely the result of private enterprise and not the state.

Develop and control: Xi Jinping urges China to use artificial intelligence in race for tech future



The real asset is not data but people. Its a terrible mistake for the US and Chinese governments to talk about AI policies because its not the government that will achieve success in AI but entrepreneurs on the ground, said Rieschel. Were sharply diminishing the contribution of Chinese entrepreneurs to the existing AI ecosystem and future success by saying the government is directing this.

Other investors agreed that private enterprise would make a big contribution to AI in future.

Ten years from now, the AI-enabled companies will be far more valuable than the current FAANG (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google) and BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent) stocks as a group, said Jim Breyer, founder and CEO of Breyer Capital and one of Facebook's first investors.

Therell be 18 to 20 companies  many of them might be trillion-dollar companies 10 years from now  and 18 of the 20 companies will be in the US and China.

This article Focus remains on US, China race for AI supremacy at Fortune tech event as investors eye future winners first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018.Galapagos giant tortoises possess genetic variants linked to DNA repair, immune response and cancer suppression -- providing clues into their longevity, according to a study published Monday. A team of international researchers sequenced the genomes of two such tortoises, including Lonesome George -- the last known member of the subspecies Geochelone nigra abingdoni, who died in captivity on the Galapagos's Santa Cruz Island in 2012. They detected "lineage-specific variants affecting DNA repair genes, inflammatory mediators and genes related to cancer development," according to the study published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution. The Pacific island chain off mainland Ecuador is famous for its unique flora and fauna studied by Charles Darwin as he developed his theory of evolution. Twelve giant tortoise species still inhabit it. Galapagos National Park director Jorge Carrion said uncovering the secrets of Lonesome George's longevity will help with efforts to restore giant tortoise populations in the archipelago. Giant tortoises, which can live for over 100 years in captivity, arrived in the volcanic Galapagos region three to four million years ago. It is believed that ocean currents dispersed them around the islands, creating 15 different species -- three of which are extinct. The second giant tortoise studied was a member of a species found on islands of the Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles.Hong Kong teen who skipped class begged teacher to forgive him moments before falling to his death

A student who faced being disciplined for skipping class begged a teacher for a second chance moments before he fell to his death from a Tin Shui Wai building, an inquest heard on Monday.

Leung Cheuk-ming, 17, was found lying near the back door of his residence on the evening of March 21, 2017, soon after being told he could get a major demerit for missing lessons at T.W.G. Hs Kap Yan Directors College, in Sheung Shui.

I beg you, please let me off, Leung reportedly said to teacher Po Chi-keung. I will change next time.

On a day of emotional testimony at West Kowloon Court, Zhang Xiulan, the teenagers mother, cried as she recalled hearing him begging Po for forgiveness over the incident, which began that afternoon.

Taking the stand, Po, who was in charge of discipline for all Form 4 pupils at the school, said he had been notified that Leung had gone missing, after attending classes in the morning.

The teacher called Leung, who told him he was feeling sick and had told the school office about leaving. Po said there had been no record of Leung doing that.

In a follow-up call with the family that evening, Po recalled Zhang telling him she believed it had been a test day, which was why the teenager was home early.

I asked him if he had lied to his mother, and told him what he did probably amounted to skipping classes, which would warrant a major demerit, Po said of his next conversation with Leung.

During her testimony, Zhang recalled how at that juncture, her son, who moved to Hong Kong from the mainland with her when he was little, begged Po for forgiveness.

I said I could not make the decision, Po said, when asked how he had responded.

Zhang said Leung then left home while she was taking a shower. She quickly called Po, who suggested she call police, but she did not want to make a scene at that stage.

Describing what happened next, a visibly distraught Zhang recalled going downstairs to look for him and running into a security guard who was investigating a loud noise made by a falling object.

Story continues

Immediately I wondered whether it would be my son, she said. I went over and checked it out, and it was him.

The teenager was rushed to Tuen Mun Hospital, but did not survive the fall.

The inquest continues before Coroner Stephanie Tsui May-har on Tuesday.

This article Hong Kong teen who skipped class begged teacher to forgive him moments before falling to his death first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018.North Korean leader Kim Jong Un could still visit Seoul for the first time in the next few weeks, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Tuesday, describing the possible trip as a major boost in efforts to make the peninsula nuclear-free. Moon and Kim have met three times in 2018 amid warming ties between the two Koreas, with South Korea hoping to host a first-ever visit by Kim to Seoul before year's end. But prospects of another meeting in coming weeks have dimmed as denuclearisation talks have stalled, prompting Moon to say that the planned visit's timing should not overshadow its historic nature. "There is a possibility that Chairman Kim Jong Un's visit to Seoul may be made within this year, but there's more important things than the timing," he said in translated remarks during a visit to New Zealand. "Whether it's this year or not isn't that important, what's important is that the North Korea leader's visit to South Korea will definitely accelerate the denuclearisation process in the Korean peninsula." Moon said a visit by Kim to the South would also improve US-North Korea relations as Kim and President Donald Trump look to follow up their June summit in Singapore. "I believe that our efforts will definitely give a positive impetus to the second US-North Korea summit meeting," he said. "President Trump and I share a view in that regard." Moon emphasised the impact Kim's presence in South Korea would have on the two nations. "This will be the first time that the North Korean leader will visit Seoul since Korea was divided into two countries," he said. "Although there's no timeframe set, that's still very meaningful. We can improve South and North Korean relations as well as attain permanent peace on the Korean peninsula and denuclearisation." North and South Korea have begun to remove landmines and destroy some military bunkers along their common border as part of the detente. However, Washington is taking a more cautious approach towards Pyongyang amid sparring over interpretation of a vaguely worded denuclearisation document signed at the Singapore summit. Trump said on Saturday that he hoped to organise a second summit with Kim in early 2019.Woodlands Checkpoint Causeway. (Yahoo News Singapore file photo)

Ships from the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency and the Marine Department Malaysia have repeatedly intruded into Singapores territorial waters off Tuas over the past two weeks, said Singapores Ministry of Transport (MOT) on Tuesday (4 December).

The intrusions come in the wake of a purported extension of the Johor Bahru port limits via a Malaysian government gazette dated 25 October, a port circular dated 11 November and a notice to mariners dated 22 November.

In a media statement, MOT said Singapore has lodged a strong protest with the Malaysian government over the purported extension of port limits encroaching into Singapore waters.

The ministry said the move along with repeated intrusions into Singapore waters by Malaysian government ships are a serious violation of Singapores sovereignty and international law.

These actions are unconducive to good bilateral relations, cause confusion for the international shipping community, and lead to increased navigational and safety risks for all parties, it added.

The Republic of Singapore Navy and Police Coast Guard are safeguarding the sovereignty of Singapore territorial waters and enforcing the security of these waters on a 24/7 basis, MOT said in its statement.

Singapore will not hesitate to take firm action against intrusions and unauthorised activities in our waters, the ministry added.

Singapore has requested that Malaysia amend its gazette Declaration of Alteration of Port Limits for Johore Bahru Port, Port Circular No. 88/2018 and Notice to Mariners No. 164/2018.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore has issued a Port Marine Circular on 30 November instructing ship masters and owners to disregard Malaysias gazette, port circular and notice to mariners, which impinge on Singapores sovereignty.

MOT said Singapore stands ready to engage with Malaysia to resolve the matters amicably, in accordance with international law.

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Cabinet reshuffle likely to come after 2019 Budget debate: PM LeeSingapores Transport Minister Khaw Boon addresses reporters at Seletar Airport on Tuesday, 4 December 2018. PHOTO: Nicholas Yong/Yahoo News Singapore

Repeated incursions by Malaysian government vessels into Singapores territorial waters off Tuas represent a violation of our sovereignty and also international law, said Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan on Tuesday (4 December).

Speaking to reporters at Seletar Airport, Khaw noted, And in fact, in the last two weeks, there have been repeated intrusions by Malaysian vessels and their enforcement agencyinto our sovereign space. So we of course, continue to issue (Third Party Notes) to Malaysia and hope that they would stop this escalation of actions.

On Tuesday, Khaws ministry said that ships from the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency and the Marine Department Malaysia have repeatedly intruded into the Republics territorial waters.

The intrusions come in the wake of a purported extension of the Johor Bahru port limits via a Malaysian government gazette dated 25 October, a port circular dated 11 November and a notice to mariners dated 22 November.

The Transport Minister said that he had raised the issue with his Malaysia counterpart Anthony Loke during the ASEAN Transport Ministers meeting in Bangkok last month. Loke said then that Malaysias foreign ministry would respond on the issue.

But while waiting for the response, which didnt come, in fact, they escalated their actions. They went on to publish a port circular and a few weeks later, a mariners note. So these are instructions to the shipping community about their new boundaries. So we issued a second TPN, said Khaw.

Earlier on Tuesday, Loke told the Malaysian parliament that his country intends to reclaim its airspace over southern Johor from Singapore.

MOT said in a statement that current airspace arrangements in the region have been working well and any proposed changes to them will impact many stakeholders.

Asked if he was concerned that the airspace and maritime issues might escalate, Khaw said, I certainly hope not. As I said, its certainly not conducive to bilateral relations. We have so many things that we want to work together. The potential for doing much more is huge.

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We hope that good sense will prevaillets sit down and lets understand each otherfind some common solution, common space which can be a win-win.

Related stories

Malaysian government ships encroaching into Singapore waters for past 2 weeks: MOT

Changes to airspace arrangements need consultations with stakeholders: Singapore MOT

Putrajaya to reclaim airspace from Singapore starting next yearPolice report that they have identified the body found lying in the streets of Kampung, Tabakang, Terengganu, on Malaysias east coast.

Yesterday afternoon, a male in his 40s was found dead behind a house, with two bunches of bananas next to his body. Photographs from the grisly scene have since gone viral on social media, showing the man, wearing a yellow t-shirt, motionless with blood pouring from his head next to two large bunches of bananas.

Many are claiming that the mans death was a result of having stolen said bananas from a nearby house, but no evidence or suspect has been brought forth by police to confirm this, nor a suspect named.

We here at Coconuts KL wonder, in addition to struggling with the depths of despair thinking about a human killing another person allegedly over some bananas: Why would you allegedly kill someone over bananas, and then leave them behind?

This article, Man found beaten to death next to allegedly stolen banana bunches, originally appeared on Coconuts, Asia's leading alternative media company. For more Coconuts stories, you can download our app, sign up for our newsletters, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.A meeting with Nee Soon GRC Member of Parliament (MP) Lee Bee Wah last night turned awkward, according to an activist representing the Ready4Repeal movement.

Edward Foo, a volunteer of the group that wants the contentious Section 377A of Singapores Penal Code abolished, wrote about his experience on Facebook after he attempted to speak with Lee yesterday during a Meet The People Session in Yishun. He brought along with him a petition containing 859 names of residents in her constituency who signed their support to repeal the colonial-era ruling that criminalizes gay men.

But the MP, according to Foo, had no interest at all in hearing him out, choosing instead to leave instead of engaging in honest, open discussion.

The rejection

Foo, along with his close friends and another volunteer of the Ready4Repeal movement, had arrived at the session venue in Yishun, ready to speak to Lee about their views on Section 377A. To be fair to the MP, the matter was sprung on her as the group did not declare their intentions to her assistants, but knowing how sensitive the topic is, the group might not even get some face time with Lee if she knew what they were planning to say.

Nonetheless, the group managed to have a sit down with the MP, who was said to have shooed everyone except Foo away. According to him, Lee stated that she had an inkling of what he was there for as she had heard her fellow MPs mentioning similar cases.

When asked for her views on the ongoing debate about Section 377A, she abruptly left the room, wrote Foo. But not before stating: I have other residents with real problems. Which is a perturbing statement to make if Foos account is true  it implies that the discrimination, shame, and the official refusal to accept the LGBT community are no real problems.

The MP returned after fifteen minutes but allegedly refused to entertain Foo, actively avoiding his table and ignoring the calls made by him and her assistant. Eventually, he got her attention and tried to pass her the petition.

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She gestured her hand away and asked me to pass it to the volunteers instead, noted Foo.

The MP has yet to respond to Foos post, which has since gone viral after he posted it last night. Weve reached out to her for her side of the story.

A firm stance

As much as Ready4Repeal remains hopeful that its volunteers can make their voices heard by Singapores politicians, the reaction hasnt been encouraging. Back in September, a petition urging for the law to be abolished signed by 44,650 citizens and permanent residents was submitted to the Home Affairs and Law Ministries, but an official spokesman informed The Straits Times that the government does not have any plans to repeal Section 377A.

The Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam himself has insisted that a majority of Singaporeans remained opposed to the removal of the controversial ruling, even after India abolished its own colonial-era ruling that outlaws consensual gay sex.

Religious groups here have also chimed in their opposition to the repeal, stating that decriminalizing consensual sex between men is a slippery slope that could lead to the utter devastation of Singapore.

While Foos attempt to bring the matter up to the MP was lauded, some pointed out that a Meet The People Session was not the right avenue to air his view.

This article, MP allegedly walks out of discussion with resident after being asked for her views on anti-gay law, originally appeared on Coconuts, Asia's leading alternative media company. For more Coconuts stories, you can download our app, sign up for our newsletters, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.The Covenant Car Company, Inc. (TCCCI), the exclusive importer and distributor of Chevrolet vehicles and parts in the Philippines, is set on reestablishing its presence in the largest city in Eastern Visayas with the recent groundbreaking ceremony for the new Chevrolet Tacloban dealership.

The new Chevrolet Tacloban dealership will soon rise on a 398.40-sqm lot at Citylink Compound National Highway, Marasbaras, Tacloban City. The future facility will house Chevrolets full lineup of vehicles, including the Chevrolet Trailblazer seven-seater SUV and Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck, and an expansive service center to cater to the current and new Chevrolet owners in the region.

Topcars Autoworld Corporation, an esteemed car dealer in Tacloban, is Chevrolets new partner in the region. This is the first Chevrolet dealership of the Topcars group.

Chevrolet Tacloban

Present during the groundbreaking ceremony were TCCCI executives and stewards, headed by its Executive Director, Selene L. Yu, together with Topcars Autoworld Corporation President, Willard L. Chan. Prior to the groundbreaking, the two groups had a contract signing at the Ironwood Hotel, Tacloban City.

The new Chevrolet Tacloban dealership will be fully operational by the third quarter of 2019. With 26 dealers in the Philippines, the opening of Chevrolet Tacloban will further strengthen the presence of the bowtie brand in the country, especially in the Visayan region.

The post Chevrolet PH Finds New Home in Tacloban appeared first on Carmudi Philippines.Qualcomm could still consider re-opening NXP bid despite ruling it out, says Taipei-based tech analyst

American chip maker Qualcomm could reconsider acquiring rival Dutch semiconductor maker NXP after China said they were open to approving the previously blocked deal at a meeting between the US and China at the G20 summit in Argentina, even though the US company has denied the possibility for now, said a Taipei-based analyst on Monday.

Buying NXP, which specialises in computer chips for carmakers, would enable Qualcomm to diversify growth engines at a time of weak demand for smartphones and lacklustre results, said C.Y. Yao, a Taipei-based senior analyst with research agency TrendForce. The US company is the worlds biggest supplier of mobile chipsets for Android phone brands.

2019 will not be easy for Qualcomm as smartphone sales are expected to be subdued. Restarting the acquisition of NXP will help Qualcomm effectively disperse future operational risks without betting fully on smartphones, said Yao, adding that he believes the restart of the NXP deal should still be under consideration at Qualcomm despite its assertion the deal had been terminated as the deadline had expired.

Qualcomm on Monday rejected a suggestion by the White House that its collapsed US$44 billion acquisition of Dutch peer NXP Semiconductors could be revived, after the White House said that China was open to approving the previously unapproved deal should it again be presented.

Qualcomm walked away in July from the proposed acquisition of NXP after failing to secure Chinese regulatory approval, becoming one of the most high-profile victims of the escalating US-China trade war at the time.

NXP is the worlds largest chip supplier to the automotive industry and unlike smartphone markets  which have become mostly saturated in the US, China, and western Europe  autonomous driving remains an area of rapid growth with bags of future potential as AI technologies are rolled out.

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A recent study by Allied Market Research expects the global market for autonomous vehicles to be worth US$54.23 billion by 2019, increasing to US$556.67 billion by 2026 with a compound annual growth rate of about 40 per cent.

In contrast, global smartphone shipments declined by 6 per cent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2018 as leading vendors, such as Samsung and Apple, and big markets including China, continue to face growth headwinds, IDC said last month.

Huawei Technologies, Chinas largest smartphone vendor, has started designing and making mobile chips to use on its Huawei and Honor-branded phones. Xiaomi has also spent billions of yuan developing chip designs for its handsets.

Qualcomm paid NXP a US$2 billion fee to terminate the deal and embarked on a US$30 billion stock repurchase plan to appease disgruntled shareholders after failing to obtain regulatory approval from the Chinese government in July.

While we were grateful to learn of President Trump and President Xis comments about Qualcomms previously proposed acquisition of NXP, the deadline for that transaction has expired, which terminated the contemplated deal, a Qualcomm spokesperson said in a statement on Monday.

Qualcomm considers the matter closed and is fully focused on continuing to execute on its 5G road map, it added.

California-based Qualcomm first offered to buy NXP for about US$38 billion in October 2016 and upped its bid to US$44 billion in February as the original offer faced resistance from some NXP shareholders. The deal eventually failed in July after a regulatory deadline passed without approval from Chinas State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), which oversees antitrust regulation in the country.

NXP did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment on Monday.

This article Qualcomm could still consider re-opening NXP bid despite ruling it out, says Taipei-based tech analyst first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018.By Benjamin Jumbe.

Former Executive Director of Supervision at Bank of Uganda Justine Bagyenda has apologized to Parliaments Committee on statutory Authorities and State Enterprise.

This follows her failure to appear twice before the committee probing the closure of 7 commercial banks.

Now appearing this morning before the committee Bagyenda apologized for any inconvenience cause by her absence on the two occasions further thanking the committee for extending her summons.

She expressed willingness to cooperate and assist the committee with the required information in its probe.

She is expected to answer reports that she smuggled vital documents out of the Banks premises.A boat carrying 20 Rohingya men landed in Indonesia Tuesday, authorities said, the latest group of the vulnerable Myanmar minority to reach the world's biggest Muslim-majority nation. They arrived in Indonesia's western Aceh province on Sumatra island in a rickety wooden boat, according to a local official. Most of the men ranged in age from 14 to 28, with one of them aged 50. "They are Rohingya from Myanmar. We asked them where they were heading and they said they were going to Malaysia," said Idi Rayeuk district navy commander Razali, who like many Indonesians goes by one name. "Maybe it's because of the currents that they've landed here instead." The group were all in good condition and authorities are trying to find them a shelter, Razali added. In recent weeks authorities in both Myanmar and Bangladesh, where around a million of the Muslim refugees are living in camps, have stopped boats filled with fleeing Rohingya migrants headed mainly for Malaysia. It has been rare for Rohingya to attempt the sea routes south since Thai authorities clamped down on regional trafficking networks in 2015, sparking a crisis across Southeast Asia as large numbers were abandoned at sea. That year, hundreds of Rohingya came ashore in Aceh, where they were welcomed in the staunchly conservative Islamic province. But there have been concerns the desperate community might start taking to the high seas again after mainly Buddhist Myanmar launched a new military crackdown last year that forced about 700,000 members of the Muslim minority to flee to Bangladesh. In April, about 80 Rohingya in a wooden boat landed in Aceh, just weeks after dozens more arrived in neighbouring Malaysia. Indonesia tends to accept asylum seekers but they are usually barred from working and often spend years in immigration centres.Singapore could soon get its goose as government looks to lift restrictions on imports of cooked meat from Hong Kong

Hong Kongs legendary delicacy flying roast goose could soon be allowed to parachute into Singapore as a symbol of a close bond between the two cities after a senior Singaporean minister promised to put existing restrictions on meat imports to the Lion City under review.

Senior minister of state for trade and industry Chee Hong Tat, who is on a four-day visit to Hong Kong since December 2, vowed on social media on Monday to break down barriers to importing flying roast goose.

The two cities, which are subject to constant comparison  from economic success to quality of life  have one common language: gastronomy.

Singapore and Hong Kong also share a close bond through something that is close to everyones heart  food! Chee wrote on his Facebook page. We each have our own respective delicacies and Singaporeans would be very familiar with those from Hong Kong. One example is their roasted meat products, including the famous flying roast goose.

He said the Pro Enterprise Panel, an advisory body which promotes a business-friendly environment in Singapore, and the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore, the citys agricultural watchdog, are reviewing existing import restrictions on cooked meat products. Such products from Hong Kong are banned from entering Singapore.

Yung Kee, a restaurant famous for selling roast goose in Central for 76 years, has welcomed the news.

The restaurants general manager Calvin Tong Sing-wing said flying roast goose has long been hugely popular with visitors to the city, many of whom take it back home with them.

Tourists have been calling it this for decades, he said. Its a favourite of tourists from Thailand, the Philippines, and Singaporeans too, even though Singapore restricts it.

On average, the restaurant sells about 20 flying roast geese a day, with each costing HK$750 (US$96), he added.

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A roast goose normally sits and cools for 15 minutes after coming out of the oven. Then it is wrapped in butter paper and sealed in a plastic bag, before being tucked into a paper pack to be carried on-board.

A source familiar with Chees tour in Hong Kong said he spent half a day in Central on Monday, visiting the renovated heritage site Tai Kwun, tasting herbal tea and sugar cane drinks in old-fashioned stores and walking through the older parts of the neighbourhood.

During his trip, Chee met government and business leaders, and Singaporeans studying and working in Hong Kong. He also met members of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, one of the citys biggest business chambers.

He is due to fly back to Singapore on Wednesday.

This article Singapore could soon get its goose as government looks to lift restrictions on imports of cooked meat from Hong Kong first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018.Trusource specialises in technical support for Internet of Things and help desk experiences for Apple users

Everise, a Singapore-based customer management services company, has signed a binding agreement to acquire US-based Trusource Labs, which specialises in technical support for Internet of Things (IoT) and help desk experiences for Apple users.

Transaction details were not disclosed.

With this deal, Everise aims to elevate and provide resources across multiple platforms in order to provide better customer services. Its goal is to combine the latest in technology, innovation and people to exceed the level of service needed in todays customer-centric environment and meet the customer service challenges brought by IoT innovations.

The acquisition is expected to close before the end of this calendar year.

Also Read: Thai VC firm Siri Ventures invests in Singapore startups Techmetics, Neuron

As part of the acquisition, Trusource will maintain its headquarters in Austin, Texas and its experience delivery locations in the US and Europe. The existing co-CEO, Alton Martin, will remain with the company, working closely with Everises sister companies C3, Hyperlab, and Globee (Malaysia).

Sudhir Agarwal, CEO of Everise commented: From our headquarters here in Singapore, we are able to connect things to make our lives easier, allowing us to shop, research, call, monitor, power and so on  even remotely  all in the name of convenience. This is a great concept until one device stops communicating with another, and the need for support arises. Everise is now uniquely positioned to support this explosive segment of the BPO market.

This is the third major expansion in 2018 for Everise and our second acquisition in two months. As one of the fastest growing BPO firms globally, we are bringing together the strongest talent that this industry has to offer, and we are transforming customer experiences globally. Trusource rounds out our delivery capabilities into product and help desk experiences, and Everise will strengthen these by infusing many of the technological innovations our teams have developed to benefit the end user ultimately, Agarwal added.

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According to Martin: Creating a good customer experience is the heart of any business. Every contact with our clients determines whether or not they will (or wont) come back. So, its imperative to exceed expectations every time and make every aspect of their experience better than expected.

Trusource provides technical support services to innovative companies worldwide. In addition to the traditional 24/7 help desk with the phone and chat support, Trusource employs self-service approaches like instructional videos, social media and knowledge base articles so end-users can get common issues addressed without having to pick up the phone. They can also help clients create a custom support experience while meeting privacy and security needs.

Trusource Labs employs over 500 team members in the US. This enhances the Everise footprint in the US, which currently employs approximately 7,000 team members under the C3 brand.

Everise  backed by Sunrise BPO Services, Everstone and ACPI  is a global experience company that provides, through its operating companies around the world, a range of customer contact management services for corporate from both US and international locations.

The post Singapores customer management company Everise acquires US-based Trusource Labs appeared first on e27.The corporate VC arm of Singtel led a US$16.2 million investment in the startup

Singtel Innov8, the corporate VC arm of telecom company Singtel, has led a AUD 22 million (US$16.2 million) Series B funding in Australian data-sharing platform Data Republic. Singtel will gain a seat on the board following its investment.

Other participating investors in the round include Singapore VC firm Qualgro, ANZ, Reinventure and Ryder Innovation Fund.

The move will enable Data Republic to expand its presence in Singapore; in June, it opened an office in the country. The partnerships will also help to facilitate the seamless and secure trading of data between the two countries.

For example, financial institutions using Data Republics infrastructure to exchange data will be able to conduct cross-border transactions quicker because they are able to gain ready access to each others customer data easily  essentially streamlining the Know-Your-Customer (KYC) process.

Also Read: StarFab and STSP: Empowering young startups in todays fast-paced market

In a separate announcement, Singapore Airlines (SIA) announced that it also made an investment in Data Republic, via a placement of new shares.

Singapore Airlines recognises the increasing importance that data plays in allowing organisations to have an enriched understanding of customers understanding, said George Wang, Senior Vice President of Information Technology at SIA.

Our investment in Data Republic highlights our commitment to data innovation through a platform which leverages technology to ensure data security and privacy and further enhance our digital capabilities, he added.

In recent months, the national carrier has been making strides to muscle up its tech capabilities. At the beginning of this year, SIA launched a three-year Digital Innovation Blueprint plan to improve all facades of its business  from customer service to aircraft maintenance  using innovative technology.

Just a month later, it said it will package its airline loyalty programme KrisFlyer into a digital wallet, powered by blockchain technology.

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And in October, SIA announced the launch of KrisConnect, an open platform initiative that will allow its travel partners to use its Application Programme Interfaces (APIs) to build solutions that will enhance the companys offerings.



Image Credit: Data Republic

The post Singtel Innov8, Singapore Airlines invest in Australias Data Republic appeared first on e27.A court in Sri Lanka suspended Mahinda Rajapakse's powers as prime minister on Monday and ruled his disputed cabinet could not govern the strife-torn island until it proved its legitimacy. The decision casts further legal doubt over Rajapakse's claim to lead Sri Lanka, which has been in turmoil since his controversial appointment a month ago. Rajapakse, who was installed after the country's president sacked Ranil Wickremesinghe as prime minister on October 26, has twice been voted out by parliament but has refused to step down. Rajapakse said he did not agree with the court's decision and would appeal on Tuesday, but cancelled a meeting with bankers in compliance with the ruling. "We do not agree with the interim order of the Court of Appeal," he said in a statement, referring to himself and his party. "We are preparing papers to go to the Supreme Court first thing in the morning tomorrow." He urged supporters to remain calm and join his struggle to press for a general election nearly two years ahead of schedule. President Maithripala Sirisena has been under pressure to prove his appointee Rajapakse -- a divisive but charismatic strongman who twice ruled Sri Lanka -- commands support. But the president acknowledged that he was left without a government following the sudden court ruling. Minority Tamil legislators who held talks with Sirisena on Monday evening said the leader had told them he would resolve the political vacuum "within 24 hours". The lawmakers, who command 14 seats and hold the balance of power in the legislature, met Sirisena to discuss the release of more than 100 Tamil detainees held in custody for several years without trial. However, there was no breakthrough in securing the release of the detainees, the Tamil MPs said. The Tamil MPs last week pledged support to sacked premier Wickremesinghe, further weakening the position of the Sirisena-Rajapakse coalition. - 'Irreparable damage' - Rajapakse has ignored parliament and doubled down, naming a cabinet and assuming duties at the helm of a disputed government even as his rivals frustrate his attempts. A majority of legislators asked the Court of Appeal last week to intervene, saying Rajapakse should not have remained in office after parliament passed motions against him. Their position "was that Rajapakse had no legitimacy after losing two no-confidence motions", lawyer and legislator M. A. Sumanthiran told reporters after the decision. The court gave Rajapakse until December 12 to prove to its judges his legitimacy to lead and the authority of his cabinet. Until then, it agreed that "irreparable or irremediable damage" could be done to Sri Lanka if Rajapakse was allowed to remain prime minister, said court chairman Padman Surasena. Wickremesinghe -- who was unceremoniously dumped by his former ally Sirisena in a late-night power swap -- says his sacking was illegal, and parliament supports his stake to lead the country. The two rivals had been neck and neck trying to cobble together enough backing, negotiating with key legislators and trying to lure defectors. The contest spilled over into outright brawling on the floor of parliament last month when Rajapakse loyalists broke furniture and attacked rivals with chilli powder. Rajapakse loyalists have since boycotted the legislature, accusing the speaker of bias. After Rajapakse lost his first no-trust vote on November 14, the speaker declared that the country was left without a government. Wickremesinghe's party described Rajapakse as an usurper. The latest court ruling is yet another setback for Rajapakse, who ruled with an iron fist for a decade before being defeated by none other than Sirisena in a 2015 election. Parliament last week voted to block Rajapakse's "rogue government" from spending any money, meaning he cannot finance his administration or present a budget for 2019. The Supreme Court this week is also expected to rule on whether Sirisena's decision to dissolve parliament in November was constitutional. The court intervened and restored parliament in November when Sirisena -- seeking to stave off a challenge to his new appointee -- suspended the legislature.A Sri Lanka court on Monday suspended Mahinda Rajapakse's powers as prime minister and ruled that his cabinet could not function until its legitimacy was established. The court of appeal said "irreparable damage" could be done to Sri Lanka if Rajapakse, whose controversial appointment as prime minister a month ago sparked a political crisis, was allowed to remain as head of government. Sri Lanka has been in crisis since October 26 when the president sacked Ranil Wickremesinghe as prime minister and appointed Rajapakse -- who was voted out twice by parliament last month but refuses to step down. A majority of legislators asked the court last week to intervene, saying Rajapakse remained in office despite parliament passing motions against him. "The position of the 122 MPs who filed the case was that Rajapakse had no legitimacy after losing two no-confidence motions," lawyer and legislator M. A. Sumanthiran told reporters. It further undermines Rajapakse's ability to govern after parliament cut off his ability to spend any state finances. President Maithripala Sirisena, who appointed Rajapakse, dismissed parliament last month but the Supreme Court intervened to restore it. The decision by the Court of Appeal on Monday is the latest setback to Sirisena and Rajapakse, whose attempt to take power nearly two years ahead of the next elections plunged Sri Lanka into crisis.GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations appealed for $21.9 billion on Tuesday to address 21 humanitarian crises worldwide next year, including $4 billion for Yemen, its largest aid operation.

The appeal to donor countries does not include the funding requirements for Syria, which are expected to bring the total up to $25 billion, it said.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; editing by Andrew Heavens)By Ritah Kemigisa.

Government is missing on a 60 million Euros grant from the European Union due to failure by officials to sign a partnership agreement.

The funds are meant to support reforms of the Justice, Law and Order Sector so as to strengthen equitable access to justice and increase accountability.

According to the EU ambassador to Uganda, Atallio Pacifici, the money, which amounts to 280 billion Uganda shillings that was supposed to be rolled out in three years, ending 2020.

He says the money is ready for dispersal adding that instead of government delaying and pro longing the whole process, a trustworthy person should be appointed to ensure accountability.

The Chief Justice of Uganda Bart Katurebe has also appealed to government to expeditiously sign the agreement with the EU given the fact that the Justice, Law and order sector is grappling with funding issues.DUBAI (Reuters) - Middle East ride-hailing company Careem said on Monday it had launched a bus-booking service in Egypt and would soon expand it into Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Users of the 'Careem Bus' app select their pick-up and drop-off location and track the bus along dedicated routes, the Dubai-based company said in a statement. It offers fixed rate fares between 60 percent and 70 percent cheaper than those on the separate car service, it added. The launch comes more than a year after Careem invested $500,000 in Egyptian tech start-up Swvl, which offers bus booking services on its own mobile app. Careem said it had since divested the stake. Swvl announced last month it was planning to expand to Southeast Asia after securing "tens of million of dollars" in its latest funding round. Careem competes in many major Middle East cities with San Francisco-headquartered Uber Technologies [UBER.UL]. Reuters reported last month that Careem has been working with investment bank Jefferies as an adviser on investment options and fundraising, including a potential merger and acquisition deal in the region with Uber. (Reporting by Alexander Cornwell; Editing by Andrew Heavens)Wounded Yemeni rebels were flown out of Sanaa on a UN charter flight Monday for medical treatment in Oman, an airport source told AFP, a critical step towards planned peace talks. The source said the flight had taken off at 6:00 pm (1500 GMT) carrying 50 wounded rebels, their escorts and a team of doctors. A UN source confirmed that wounded rebels had been evacuated from the Yemeni capital in what was a "confidence-building measure" aimed at pushing ahead with negotiations between Huthi rebels and a rival Saudi-led military coalition this month. UN envoy Martin Griffiths landed in Sanaa on Monday for talks with the rebels. The fate of wounded Huthis had been a stumbling block to the start of a previous round of aborted peace talks in Geneva in September, when the rebel delegation refused to leave Sanaa for the scheduled negotiations. The Huthis, who are linked to Iran, have said they will now attend the talks in Sweden if they are guaranteed safe passage. The United Nations has described Yemen as the world's worst humanitarian disaster, with at least 10,000 people killed since the Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 to bolster the embattled government. Rights groups fear the actual toll is far higher. The war and failing economy have pushed 14 million people, roughly half of Yemen's population, to the brink of famine.SANAA (Reuters) - A Houthi delegation left for Sweden on Tuesday for U.N.-sponsored Yemen peace talks, the first since 2016, as Western nations press for an end to the war and the United Nations warned of a looming economic disaster.

The nearly four-year-old conflict, which has killed tens of thousands and left millions facing starvation, pits the Iranian-aligned Houthi group against Yemeni forces backed by an Arab coalition loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The Houthi team left the capital Sanaa, which was seized by the group in 2014, on a Kuwaiti plane accompanied by U.N. special envoy Martin Griffiths. Before boarding, one delegate praised Griffiths for delivering on confidence-building measures like the evacuation of wounded fighters and a prisoner swap.

"Griffiths was true to his word ... We are certain he has put in place a general framework for negotiations in order to proceed with the political process," Abdelmeguid Hanash told reporters.

Hadi's government is expected to follow the Houthis, whose attendance was secured after the evacuation of 50 wounded Houthis for treatment in Oman on Monday. A previous round in September collapsed when the Houthis failed to show up.

The talks will be held in a renovated castle outside Stockholm to discuss further confidence-building steps and a transitional governing body, as the U.S. Senate is set to consider a resolution to end support for the coalition in the war.

Outrage over the Oct. 2 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul has intensified international scrutiny of Saudi activities in the region, potentially giving Western powers, which provide arms and intelligence to the coalition, more leverage to demand action.

Germany, Denmark and Sweden have suspended arms exports to Saudi Arabia over Khashoggi's killing and the Yemen war. The United States halted refuelling support for coalition warplanes, whose air strikes have been blamed for many civilian deaths.

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The Arab alliance intervened in the war in 2015 to restore Hadi's government, but has bogged down in military stalemate.

Residents in the port of Hodeidah, now a focus of the war, were fearful of renewed fighting if the talks failed as each side fortified their positions in the Houthi-held Red Sea city after a period of reduced hostilities.

"The situation here does not make us optimistic that we will avoid war," said 51-year-old government employee Mohammed Taher.

SEVERE HUNGER

The conflict, seen as a proxy war between Riyadh and Tehran, has left over 8 million Yemenis facing famine although the United Nations has warned this could rise to 14 million. Three-quarters of the population, or 22 million, rely on aid.

World Food Programme chief David Beasley said in Geneva that an upcoming food security report would show an increase in severe hunger rates in Yemen - where a child dies every 11 minutes - but not necessarily meet the criteria of famine.

U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock said Yemen's government will need billions of dollars in external support to fund core state functions, its 2019 budget and to avoid another currency collapse, in addition to $4 billion in aid.

UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said on Tuesday that the Sweden talks are a "critical opportunity".

"A sustainable Yemeni-led political solution offers the best chance to ending the current crisis. A stable state, important for the region, cannot coexist with unlawful militias," he said.

Sweden's foreign ministry has yet to announce the venue of the talks, which will focus on reopening Sanaa airport and securing a prisoner swap and a truce in Hodeidah, the entry point for most of Yemen's commercial goods and vital aid.

This would serve as a foundation for a wider ceasefire that would halt coalition air strikes that have killed thousands of civilians and Houthi missile attacks on Saudi cities.

The last available U.N. figure for the civilian death toll was in 2016 and stood at more than 10,000. The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, which tracks violence in Yemen, puts it at around 57,000 people.

(Reporting by Reuters team in Sanaa, Mohammed Ghobari in Aden, Aziz El Yaakoubi in Stockholm, Stephanie Nebehay and Tom Miles in Geneva; Writing by Ghaida Ghantous; Editing by Mark Heinrich)Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Lexus reported a year-on-year (YoY) sales jump of 24% with 148,976 vehicles delivered in China from January to November, which has already outnumbered the 132,864 units of aggregated sales last year.

As to the sales performance in November, the Japanese premium car brand saw its China sales substantially climb 28.6% over a year ago to 16,587 units, achieving positive YoY growth for 5 straight months. The monthly sales of hybrid models reached 4,673 units, accounting for 29% of the brand's total sales in this country.

Lexus possesses such car series as the CT, IS, GS, ES and LS and has deployed a number of SUV models including the NX, RX and LX. The popularity of the ES, NX and RX contributes significantly to the automaker's sound sales performance.

The UX, Lexus's all-new compact SUV, made its Asian debut at Chengdu Motor Show 2018 kicking off on August 31, which is expected to be imported in China next year. The UX retains the design language used in the previous concept model. Arrowhead-shaped clearance lamps situated closely above the headlights, which carries three LED bulbs, render an aggressive front face. The signature Lexus spindle intake grille with a block-style mesh delivers variable shapes based on different viewing angles.

The Lexus UX 200 is powered by a 2.0-liter direct-injection inline 4-cylinder engine that allows a brisk acceleration, while the UX260h is driven by a hybrid system that is comprised of a 2.0-liter engine and electric motors and is available with a four-wheel drive system. Meanwhile, the F Sport version will be offered to attract more young consumers.How did three weeks of protests over a gas tax culminate in the once-in-a-generation riot that engulfed central Paris on Saturday, leaving hundreds injured, more than 400 arrested, and the capitals central business district a mess of smoke, broken glass, and burned-out cars? Even the French are feeling a little confused.

On Tuesday, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced that the diesel fuel tax that kicked off the Yellow Vest movement would be suspendeda sign of how seriously the escalating unrest has rattled the administration of President Emmanuel Macron.

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Dont expect the Yellow Vests to stand down now. What began as an automobile-focused, cost-of-living protest undertaken by a coalition of the white, rural working-class and petite bourgeoisie has evolved into a Hydra-headed autumn of discontent, with many objectives, no leaders, and a base that encompasses a cross-section of French life from engineers to paramedics to Parisian high school students. International coverage has focused on the movements opposition to a proposed fuel tax increase that was part of Macrons plan to combat climate change. But that was only the spark. Spurred by everybodys favorite anti-governmental social network, Facebook, the gilet jaunes crisis is best understood as a revolt against all things Macron.

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Elected a few months after Donald Trump took office and just before the U.K. embarked on the geopolitical somersault down the stairs that is Brexit, the fresh-faced young president was supposed to re-ignite French pride and prosperity after the dismal tenure of his socialist predecessor, Francois Hollande, which was marred by terrorist attacks that plunged the nation into a long state of emergency. Macrons victory broke the French political system, long dominated by the center left and center right. He created a new centrist party, En Marche (On the Move), and then lead it to a huge majority in the French National Assembly.

But Macrons mandate was weaker than it looked: The legislative elections that En Marche dominated featured the lowest turnout in 50 years. The presidential election, in which Macron thumped the far-right, anti-immigrant candidate Marine Le Pen, had the lowest turnout in 40 yearsand many voters who didnt like Macron voted for him only to stop the unthinkable ascendance of Le Pen. In the contested April first-round, Macron took just 24 percent of the vote. So far, he has managed to overcome street protests against his reforms, but his popularity was down to 23 percent after the fracas in Paris this weekend. He is no longer seen as a reformer, but as a distant imperial figure working on behalf of the rich.

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On Saturday, tens of thousands of demonstrators faced off against tear gashappy police on the Champs-Elysees, and for a while, at least, had the run of the place. Yellow-vested protesters took over the Arc de Triomphe, looted stores, and set fire to hundreds of cars in the neighborhood. The confrontations sent French politics and media into a frenzy.

To make a direct comparison, what happened Saturday was as if marchers and cops had fought a pitched battle that combined widespread vandalism on Fifth Avenue with graffiti on the Washington Monument. But that is not an instructive parallel. French presidents are always unpopular, French people love to protest, and French cops love to beat people up. So in some ways Saturdays events were well within the traditions of French democracy, and you better believe the gilets jaunes saw it that wayand themselves in the tradition of 1968.

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They say were attacking the symbols of the Republic, one protester told Le Monde after slogans were scrawled on the Arc de Triomphe in black spray paint. But the Republic is the people in the streets, not a statue! Many regret the violence, few condemn it, and everyone can explain it, the paper concluded. (Others, including Le Pen, accused the police of letting events spiral out of control to discredit the movement.)

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The Macron administration had an explanation too: that the well-meaning gilet jaunes had been joined by riotous elements looking to make trouble. What is certainly true is that the gilet jaunes were only one element of the unlikely weekend coalition that included (among many other groups) ambulance crews, activists protesting the death of Adama Traore, antifa, and the anti-immigrant far right. Unlike the capitals frequent labor-organized marches, Saturdays events had few experienced marchers and little internal organization.

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If youre tired of the anecdote-based reporting that has characterized American media coverage of Trump supporters, youll hate reading about the gilet jaunes. Theres nothing to do but interview them. Whatever Trumpian currents have flowed through their movementthe whiteness, the claim to working-class status, violence against journalists, hatred of the urban elitethis movement has no Trump, and they assign blame for their struggles up the economic ladder, toward Parisian bankers and bureaucrats, rather than down it, toward the countrys impoverished immigrant neighborhoods.

Thanks to a vague, crowdsourced set of complaints about Macrons administration, the movement has widespread support: both Le Pen and left-wing leader Jean-Luc Melenchon (the French Bernie Sanders, basically) have tried to position themselves as fellow travelers and called for new legislative elections. The movement has generated lots of sympathy from Le Pen and Melenchon voters, as well as the center-left socialists, according to a Dec.

2 Harris poll. Even members of the Republicansthe right-wing party of the Catholic bourgeoisieare narrowly in favor.

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The diffuse, leaderless nature of the movement has made it difficult for the government to respond. On Friday, while Macron was in Argentina for the G-20 meeting, Philippe tried to meet with a group of self-appointed gilets jaunes leaders. Only two showed up. On Sunday, members of the group outlined a series of structural demands in a weekly paper, including regular referendums on big issues and proportional representation in legislative elections. They also asked for an immediate annulation of the new diesel tax and a halt to new auto regulations. But another planned meeting with Philippe, set for Tuesday, was canceled after those members said they had been threatened by their peers in the movement.

They got the diesel tax suspended. But other Yellow Vests say they wont stop short of Macrons resignation. Theres a burgeoning sense among political leaders that Macrons original sin was reducing taxes on Frances richest citizens by some $3 billion. The unemployment rate remains high. Theres a lot to complain aboutand a feeling that now is a time to air your grievances, whatever they are.

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Parisian high schoolers, for example, couldnt care less about a tax on diesel fuel. But on Monday, at the Maurice-Ravel High School in Paris 20th arrondissement, police used tear gas to disperse a student protest. A 16-year-old named Nathan summed it up to a reporter from Le Parisien: We want to profit from the chaos to make ourselves heard. People are fed up, its the time for all the struggles to converge. If we stay inactive, looking at the situation right now, we havent understood anything and well get nothing. We know we have a way to put pressure on the government.

For now, its working.Get More You Must Remember This Slate Plus members get extended, ad-free versions of our podcastsand much more. Sign up today. Join Slate Plus Subscribe to You Must Remember This Copy this link and add it in your podcast app. copy link copied! For detailed instructions, see our Slate Plus podcasts page.

Mae West was the biggest new star in Hollywood in 1933, thanks to two hit films she co-wrote and starred in as a sexually implicit, wisecracking broad who romanced a young Cary Grant. In the book Hollywood Babylon, filmmaker Kenneth Anger credits Wests abrupt decline in movies to a coordinated conspiracy organized by William Randolph Hearst and carried out by the Hays Office. Today well explore Wests background, her history of pushing the censors past the limits of legality, and the truth of her lightning-fast rise in Hollywood and somewhat slower descent back to earth.

You can email us at youmustrememberthispodcast@gmail.com.

Podcast production by Cameron Drews.On Saturday, former first lady Michelle Obama took to a sold-out stage at Brooklyns Barclays Center to promote Becoming, her new memoir. According to CNBC, the book is already the best-selling title of the year, with over 2 million copies sold within the first two weeks of the official release. In front of a rapt audience, Obama spoke about everything from the white flight that changed her neighborhood in the South Side of Chicago to the high school guidance counselor who told her that she wasnt Princeton material. When the conversation turned to work-life balance, Obama didnt mince words. Marriage still aint equal, yall. It aint equal. I tell women, that whole you can have it allmmm, nope, not at the same time, thats a lie, she said. Its not always enough to lean in because that shit doesnt work.

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The audience of 19,000 immediately went wild at the sound of Obama letting loose a curse word, and while she quickly apologized for the slip of tongue, she doubled down on her criticism of the philosophy popularized by Facebooks Sheryl Sandberg in 2013. I thought we were at home, yall, Obama said, according to Glamour. I was getting real comfortable up in here. All right, Im back now. Sometimes that stuff doesnt work. For the uninitiated, the lean in corporatized version of feminism suggests that women can have it all if they just act like men and assert themselves more aggressively in the workplace. It immediately drew criticism for seeming to blame women for male-dominated workplaces, and as of 2017, even Sandberg admits that women havent progressed much since she popularized the slogan.

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But lets return to Obama. When she stepped onto the national stage with her husband over a decade ago, she was touted as the titular modern woman. From her many career accomplishments to her beautiful family to her effortless style, Obama seemed to embody the idea that women could indeed have it all. As Anne-Marie Slaughter wrote for the Atlantic in 2012, Obama started out with the same resume as her husband, but has repeatedly made career decisions designed to let her do work she cared about and also be the kind of parent she wanted to be. Even though the former first lady said her priority in the White House was to be mom-in-chief and shepherd her two daughters through the trials of growing up in front of the country, it was abundantly clear that, as Slaughter put it, we should see her as a full-time career woman, but one who is taking a very visible investment interval.

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To women everywhere but specifically to black women like me, Obamas public persona was a physical manifestation of the idea that no matter who didnt believe in us, we could be smart, accomplished, and have the American dream of two kids and a dog to go along with it. But the reality she sketched out in both her remarks on Saturday and in her memoir speak to something much more important: that to be a thoroughly modern woman in America is to sacrifice.

Its not uncommon in my circle of young black twenty-somethings to hold up Michelle and Baracks marriage and their life together as a pinnacle of everything black love and ambition can accomplish. But Michelles frankness about the fact that her marriage is and never has been equal, that even she couldnt excel in both her family life and her career at the same time, is a bracing bit of honesty about the very real limitations that women continue to face. And to some, that candor might scrub away the glamorous veneer of Obamas life, exposing the realities of what it takes to juggle a career while sustaining a family with a man whose intellectual growth and career would always take top priority, as Christina Cauterucci wrote for Slate. To me, though, her candor only makes her all the more worthy of admiration.In January 2009, a pilot named Chesley Sully Sullenberger steered his struggling aircraft to a safe landing in the Hudson River and became a national hero. Almost 10 years later, a dog named for the pilot has become a beloved hero in his own right, and he did it for something much simpler: lying down.

On Sunday night, George H.W. Bush spokesman Jim McGrath posted a photograph to Twitter depicting a golden Labrador named Sully resting in front of the former presidents casket. The caption read Mission complete.

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Within hours, Sully the dog had become a bona fide celebrity. McGraths sentiment has been retweeted 61,000 times and counting, and Sully was trending on Twitter at various times on Monday. C-SPAN covered the dogs arrival at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Monday afternoon. The picture of the dog lying in front of the casket was covered by outlets from Fox News to NPR as the internet exploded with tributes to the pairs forever friendship. The photograph was submitted as evidence of Bushs character, of Sullys character, and as support for the idea that America should not elect a president who does not love and is not loved by pets. Heavy.com offered 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know about the dog. People magazine gushed that Sully was keeping the 41st commander in chief safe in death as he did in life, and even produced a slideshow of their special friendship. Many suggested Sully was heartbroken, and/or that they themselves were crying over the photo; conservative writer Dan McGlaughlin compared the dog to a Marine.

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Theres nothing wrong with applying sentimentality when it comes to family pets reacting to their owners deaths. Theres even some preliminary evidence from the small field of comparative thanatology that animals notice death, and that some may even experience an emotion we might compare to grief. But Sully is not a longtime Bush family pet, letting go of the only master he has known. He is an employee who served for less than six months.

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Sullys Instagram account, which has 147,000 followers as of Monday night, has been active since late June. Thats when he posted a photograph with a sign reading Walkers Point Here I Come, referring to the location of the Bush family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine. Sully arrived there over the summer to help the former president, who used a wheelchair because of symptoms of Parkinsons disease, with tasks like opening doors and picking up objects.

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Sullys Instagram account and several mainstream news outlets refer to him as Sully H.W. Bush. His bio also says he is making [his] forever home at Walkers Point. But Monday morning, just a few days after his owner died, Bushs son George W. Bush announced that Sully is heading to his next assignment: Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland.

The reason Sully has a new job lined up already is that he is an ambassador for a New Yorkbased nonprofit called Americas VetDogs. The agency trains guide and service dogs for military veterans and first responders with disabilities. It has a savvy public relations teamsee: Sullys Instagram accountand has placed a puppy with a purpose at NBCs Today show, as well. (The groups online press room caters to journalists seeking an uplifting tale with a happy ending or an inspiring tale of a veteran with a disability.)

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Its wonderful for Bush that he had a trained service animal like Sully available to him in his last months. Its a good thing that the dog is moving on to another gig where he can be helpful to other people (rather than becoming another Bush family pet). But its a bit demented to project soul-wrenching grief onto a dogs decision to lie down in front of a casket. Is Sully heroic for learning to obey the human beings who taught him to perform certain tasks? Does the photo say anything special about this dogs particular loyalty or judgment, or is he just  there? Also, if dogs are subject to praise for obeying their masters, what do we do about the pets who eat their owners dead (or even just passed-out) bodies?

The photograph, in other words, is not proof that Sully is a particularly good boy or that we dont deserve dogs, as countless swooning tweets put it on Monday. On its own, it says almost nothing other than the fact that Sully was, at one point in the same room as the casket of his former boss. This is simply a photograph of a dog doing something dogs love to do: Lie down. The frenzy around it captures something humans love to do, too: Project our own emotional needs onto animals.An independent autopsy of an Alabama man killed by police officers responding to a shooting at a mall on Thanksgiving has found that the victim was shot three times from behind, casting more doubt on the official justification for the shooting, an attorney for the mans family said Monday.

Police had originally said the man, 21-year-old E.J. Bradford Jr., was the gunman in a shooting that injured two people at a mall in Hoover late that night. After a heated argument among a group of young men, one of the men pulled out a gun and shot 18-year-old Brian Wilson, who remains in critical condition. Twelve-year-old Molly Davis, who was standing nearby, was also shot, but she has since fully recovered.

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An on-duty police officer who was working security at the mall for the holiday shopping season then appeared at the scene and shot Bradford. Its not yet clear if the officer saw Bradford with a gun or was told he had one. Some witnesses have said the officer gave no verbal commands to Bradford before shooting him. In the aftermath, Hoovers police chief praised the police at the scene for stopping the gunman.

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It wasnt until the next day that police, citing new evidence, announced that while Bradford may have been involved, he wasnt actually the gunman. Three days later, Hoover police gave a new statement saying Bradford was involved in the conflict and brandishing a gun, heighten[ing] the sense of threat to approaching police officers responding to the chaotic scene. Then later that same day, they said Bradford had a gun in his hand but was not threatening anyone with it. According to his familys lawyer, Bradford was legally allowed to carry a gun, and some witnesses have said he was trying to help at the time of the shooting.

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City officials later apologized for misidentifying Bradford, but his family has remained angry about the handling of their sons killing, the citys failure to quickly notify them, and the shifting narrative and statements days after the shooting portraying their son as in some way at fault for his own death.

According to the attorney for Bradfords family, the medical review of Bradfords body found that the 21-year-old had been hit in the back of his head, the back of his neck, and in his back, according to AL.com. He also had a wound around his right eyebrow, indicating that he fell forward when shot.

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We believe based on this forensic evidence that this officer should be charged with a crime, the familys attorney said at the press conference announcing the results. Theres nothing that justifies him shooting E.J. as hes moving away from him. Youre not a threat when youre running away.

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Hoover police announced Monday that, at the request of state law enforcement, they would not release any informationincluding body camera or mall surveillance videosabout the investigation into the shooting until its completion, despite the urging of some city leaders. We are trying very hard to take them at their word, the attorney for the family said, according to AL.com. But its very difficult for this father and this family after they were lied to before.

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On Thursday, authorities arrested 20-year-old Erron Martez Dequan Brown, who they allege to be the real shooter. Brown has been charged with attempted murder for shooting Wilson. Bradfords shooting sparked a number of protests in Hoover, and activists continue to call for release of the body camera footage. The officer who fired the shot has been placed on inactive duty, according to the Associated Press.

More than 1,000 people attended Bradfords funeral on Saturday. The civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson spoke, and friends and family remembered Bradford as a goofy and generous man who served as a caregiver for his father and was always on call to help his friends when they needed it.A Florida man born in Philadelphia has filed a lawsuit alleging Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained him for weeks and prepared for his deportation to Jamaica, despite numerous documented complaints that he was a U.S. citizen and had only been to the island nation once on a one-day stop on a cruise years ago.

Peter Sean Brown, who filed the lawsuit Monday, had turned himself in to the Monroe County Sheriffs Office in April for a probation violation after testing positive for marijuana. But rather than being released a few days later or given a court date, according to the lawsuit, he was handed over to ICE and mocked by agents who refused to listen to his protestations. When he was finally released 22 days later, he had lost his job at his job at a Key West, Florida, restaurant.

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According to the Washington Post, Monroe County is one of a dozen Florida counties that entered an agreement with ICE in which ICE promised to compensate sheriffs financially for holding criminal aliens already in their custody for ICE to pick them up. The ACLU, which with the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Los Angeles-based law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher has filed the suit for Brown, has contended that the agreement violates basic policing principles that will sweep up citizens like Brown and expose them to unjust and lengthy detentions.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, accuses Richard Ramsey, the sheriff of Monroe County, of unlawfully arresting and detaining a U.S. citizen.

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According to Browns lawsuit, when he was booked in the county jail, his fingerprints were sent off to the FBI to verify his criminal records. Those fingerprints reached ICE, which sent the sheriff a detainer request asking his office to hold Brown. Officers told a confused Brown that he was going to be deported to Jamaicaa country where he knew no oneand he protested that he was a U.S. citizen and offered to provide a birth certificate as proof. He had his friend call the jail to tell them they were holding the wrong person, but the jail told the friend to relay the information to ICE, and the officers told Brown they would hold him on retainer regardless of whether he produced a birth certificate. According to the lawsuit, the inmate file maintained by the sheriff would have confirmed that Brown was born in the U.S.

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Brown continued to plead with officers to look into his citizenship, but the officers mocked him, according to the lawsuit. He filed a series of written complaints, but a lieutenant told him, it is not up to us to determine the validity of the ICE hold, the complaint alleges. When he eventually went to court, the judge ordered the end of his detention for the probation violation, but the sheriffs office arrested him again and returned him to the jail for the ICE request, according to the complaint.

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More than three weeks after he was booked, Brown was transferred to ICE custody and taken to the Krome immigrant detention center in Miami. There, he told the agents he was a citizen, and they agreed to look at his birth certificate. His roommate emailed the document, and ICE finally released him, only after confiscating all the documents they had given him to do with his impending deportation, according to the lawsuit.

Earlier this year, the Los Angeles Times reported the case of a U.S. citizen who was held for more than a year in an ICE facility. The papers investigation found that ICE had released more than 1,400 people from custody since 2012 after investigating their citizenship claims.Despite what you may have heard, there will be no government shutdown at the end of this week. The death of President George H.W. Bush on Friday prompted the House of Representatives, in its grieving, to take the whole week off. Instead of arguing about funding for physical barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border at Bushs state funeral on Wednesday, congressional leaders have agreed to punt the deadline for a partial government shutdown two weeks. The new date, Dec. 21, is, not coincidentally, just four days ahead of Christmas, when lawmakers traditionally abandon their firm ideological principles and just vote for whatever they have to in order to make their flights home.

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The two weeks of additional brainstorming are unlikely to produce a new way to bridge the gap between $5 billion and $1.6 billion: That first figure is what President Donald Trump is requesting in wall money and the second what Senate Democrats are willing to give him in fencing money. The spending deal, which would lump together all seven incomplete appropriations bills, is just about entirely resolved except for that gulf. Expect Trump to cave.

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Trump loves to brag about how excited he is to shut down the government. He openly mused about shutting it down at the last spending deadline, in September, but congressional Republican leaders pleaded with him to kick the fight to December. They got their wish, and the president is once again blabbing publicly about how its a good time for a shutdown. But just as in September, theres no clear shutdown endgame for the president in sight. And hes in an even worse spot now, since his most loyal friends in WashingtonHouse Republicanswill be out of power in the very near future.

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The Democratic takeover of the House makes it more pressing for Trump that he get the wall money he wants right nowand less likely that he gets it. His chances of constructing the wall of his dreams will be shot once Democrats take control of the chamber. But if theres a protracted government shutdown that carries through the holidays, it will be resolved by that new House Democratic majority anywayand after the already unpopular president has taken a hit by shutting down the government over the unpopular issue of a border wall.

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In other words, congressional Republicans will be spending these next several weeks finding the president an out.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has offered the president a couple. In a floor speech last week, Schumer suggested that Senate Democrats would go along with either another continuing resolution to fund the rest of the government at previously authorized levels through the remainder of the fiscal year, or the bipartisan deal that the Senate Appropriations Committee struck earlier this year. That one would have included $1.6 billion for approximately 65 miles of pedestrian fencing in the Rio Grande Valley.

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Senate Democrats are already facing a lot of heat for offering that much. When Schumer announced last week that Democrats stood by their $1.6 billion position, he didnt seem to recognize that most people werent aware Democrats had already agreed to that figure over the summer. Schumer has taken incoming from both the Democratic base and House Democrats, who enjoy blaming their Senate counterparts for screwing everything up.

House Republicans could try, first, to pin the blame for a shutdown on Schumer by passing a spending bill with the $5 billion in wall funding that would have no chance of passing in the Senate. There are a couple of problems with this strategy, though. The first is that, well, Trump would still probably get blamed because his insistence on the unpopular policy is at the source of the logjam. The second is that House Republicans might not have enough votes to pass such a bill on their own: A good number of the suburban Republicans who wont be returning are thinking about running again, and theyll be less inclined this time to go along with all of Trumps whims.

So heres an endgame: Trump accepts the $1.6 billion with an immaterial tweak or two ahead of the Dec. 21 deadline, says thats what he wanted in the first place and that hell come back for more in the new year, perhaps through an immigration deal with Democrats (that never happens). Everyone goes off and enjoys the holidays, and by the time the new Congress convenes in January, nobody remembers any of this. And Trump, without enough money for his precious wall, still gets to run on building it.CIA Director Gina Haspel briefed senators from the Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees behind closed doors Tuesday on what the agency has learned about the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, and whatever she said only exacerbated congressional anger toward Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The briefing had generated conflict between the Senate and the White House. Last week, the Trump administration dispatched Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Capitol Hill to meet with senators ahead of a key procedural vote on a resolution that would invoke the War Powers Resolution to cut off U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen. The White House did not make Haspel available to discuss the latest intelligence on Saudi culpability in Khashoggis killing, which angered a number of senators and may have contributed to the overwhelming vote in favor of bringing the resolution to the full Senate for debate. Sen. Lindsey Graham, who is normally a staunch supporter of the administration but has been extremely critical of the Saudis since Khashoggis death, had said he would not vote for any GOP bills or nominees until he received the briefing.

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Newspapers have been reporting for weeks that the CIA believes, based on intercepts, that the crown prince ordered Khashoggis torture and murder. The leak of this information reportedly infuriated Haspel. (This is somewhat ironic given that she herself was allegedly involved in efforts to cover up evidence of torture by the CIA.) This intelligence has not swayed President Donald Trump, who has continued to say that its impossible to know whether the crown prince had advance knowledge of the killingmaybe he did and maybe he didnt!

But Haspels briefing today evidently left senators with little doubt. Graham said after the briefing today that he had high confidence and overwhelming belief that Crown Prince Mohammed was responsible for Khashoggis death. According to CNN, Graham said that there is not a smoking gun but a smoking saw, referring to the bone saw that was allegedly used to dismember the journalists body.

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Sen. Bob Corker, the outgoing chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was even more blunt, telling reporters, Let me put it this way. If the crown prince went in front of a jury, he would be convicted in 30 minutes.

So what are they going to do about it? Graham said, Saudi Arabia is put on notice that business as usual has come to an end for me. I will not look at the kingdom the same way that I used to look at it. I will not support arms sales until all responsible for the death of Mr. Khashoggi have been brought to justice. I will no longer support the war in Yemen as constructed.

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Both Graham and Corker voted for the resolution against the Yemen war, co-sponsored by Sens. Bernie Sanders, Chris Murphy, and Mike Lee, but still say they are unlikely to support the bill without significant amendments. Graham called it the wrong approach Tuesday.

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Corkers and Grahams concerns are somewhat valid. Cutting off support for the war in Yemen seems like an odd response to Khashoggis killing, and the resolution would raise the tricky legal question of whether U.S. support for the Saudi coalition constitutes hostilities as defined by the War Powers Resolution.

But if Graham is fed up with the Saudis and no longer supports the war, as he said Tuesday, the obvious question is what he plans to do about it. The Trump administration argues that it is Iranian support for the Houthi rebels, not the Saudi coalition, driving the devastating conflict in Yemen, and that cutting off U.S. support would be a gift to Tehran. Both Corker and Graham seem to share the Trump teams Iran-centric view of this conflict and the Middle East generally. Corker will be in office for only a few more weeks, but for Graham, the question going forward will be whether he can square his revulsion at the Saudis with his desire to confront the Iranians.Larry Krasner continues to build a reputation as the prosecutor who wants to keep people out of prison. Among other head-turning changes, Philadelphias district attorney has stopped prosecuting marijuana possession, instructed his 300 assistant district attorneys to stop seeking bail on low-level charges, and had his office begin plea negotiations below the low end of the states sentencing guidelines.

Krasner has unwaveringly pushed further left than his reform-minded prosecutor peers, a class that now encompasses state and county law enforcement officials in jurisdictions from Houston, to Chicago, to San Francisco. Recently he further broke into new territory by speaking out about the elephant in the room: violent crime, a classification that most state inmates are in for.

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Krasner has challenged the idea that every person convicted of killing should be sent away for the rest of their lives, which is the mandatory minimum sentence for first- or second- degree murder in Pennsylvania. He has mandated that he personally sign off on any deal offered that exceeds 15 to 30 years in prison. According to a recent Philadelphia Inquirer analysis, in six cases that were initially filed as murder generally Krasner sought third-degree or involuntary manslaughter charges rather than the first- or second-degree murder charges that would have been the norm under his predecessors. While comprehensive national comparisons are hard to come by, criminal justice experts view this willingness to lower murder charges as a first of its kind effort among prosecutors in major municipalities.

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We are not going to overcharge, Krasner told Slate of the new practice. We are not going to try to coerce defendants. We are going to proceed on charges that are supported by the facts in the case, period. The era of trying to get away with the highest charge regardless of the facts is over.

This promise represents a 180-degree turn from traditional prosecutorial practice, which is to charge as high as possible no matter the facts in the hopes of negotiating a lower plea deal. This is finally starting to change, and Krasner is leading the way. Inspired by works such as Michelle Alexanders seminal The New Jim Crow, those who have been in a position to institute some version of criminal justice reform have so far focused on the most sympathetic offenders: those who have committed nonviolent drug crimes. This, though, represents the tip of the iceberg. Even if the country released every single inmate convicted of possession or trafficking, it would only take a relatively small bite out of mass incarceration. Of the 1.3 million inmates held in state prisons in 2016, only about 15 percent were convicted of drug crimes, whereas more than half, 55 percent, were in for violent crimes, according to a Prison Policy Initiative report.

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This promise represents a 180-degree turn from traditional prosecutorial practice.

Violent crime has seemed a third rail in criminal justice reform discussions, said David Alan Sklansky, a Stanford Law School professor and former federal prosecutor. But its always a mistake to think that you can divide crime into two clean distinct categories: the criminals that deserve understanding and the criminals that are beyond redemption.

Because prosecutors are generally elected officials, they have been reluctant to risk votes by seeking a reform approach to violent crime. I think responsible prosecutors try to do the right thing even if they think there will be political costs, but they also try to be sensitive to the needs and concerns of their communities, Sklansky said.

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Which is just to say: By speaking publicly about not seeking the highest penalty for a killing, Krasner is going out on a political ledge. Though their position is to represent the state, prosecutors are also understood to be advocates for crime victims. And indeed, Krasner has gotten pushback from some victims families. He has seemed to be steadfast, though, in his position against overcharging.

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Part of the motivation for always charging the highest charge was the political management of victims. It became very easy to always say what aggrieved, traumatized victims want to hear, Krasner told the Inquirer. Then, when a jury or judge a year or two later has to straighten that out and knock it down to size, you just raise your fist and shake it at the judge or jury. Krasners approach, though, is to prosecute what can be proven by the facts.

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In Pennsylvania, the difference between first- and third-degree murder is intent. (Second-degree is felony murder, whereby if anyone dies during the course of a felony, say, a burglary, everyone involved is charged for the killing.) Again, Krasners approach has not been without controversy. Former Pennsylvania Gov. and Philadelphia District Attorney Ed Rendell argued that juries and judges were best situated to determine the facts of a case that might lead to a heightened sentence. The downside is that someone escapes the appropriate punishment, Rendell told the Inquirer. Youve taken the charge off the table, so neither the jury nor the judge has the right to impose it.

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While this way has been standard practice around the country, reformers have argued it should be considered antithetical to the role of a prosecutor. The prosecutor should only file charges he believes he can prove beyond a reasonable doubt, former federal prosecutor Chiraag Bains said. Just because youve got a big hammer in your toolbox, doesnt mean you should threaten to use it.

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Though Krasner has been the first to speak out about excessive murder charges, his colleagues in New York have also dipped their toes into changing punishments for violent crimes. Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez and Bronx DA Darcel Clark have allowed some violent felony cases to be diverted outside of the standard carceral state apparatus. The program, Common Justice, is the first restorative justice program in the nation to handle violent crimes in the adult courts. In certain cases, the perpetrator goes through an intensive violence intervention program, in lieu of incarceration, that includes at its center a dialogue process with the victim.

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Almost everyone comes back from prison, and they dont come back better for it, said Danielle Sered, executive director of Common Justice. Prosecutors have long cited justice for victims as the reason for seeking max penalties during campaigns and in the media. However, the only national poll of crime victims found that a strong majority would rather perpetrators receive rehabilitation than severe punishment. The Alliance for Safety and Justice surveyed more than 800 crime victims in 2016, including victims of violent crime such as rape or the murder of a family member: About 70 percent wanted more neighborhood-based rehabilitation and less prison. More than half thought prison made a person more likely to reoffend.

Sered believes that key to the election of reform-minded prosecutors has been that those candidates and the outside organizations mobilizing voters are in neighborhoods most affected by crime. People who live in neighborhoods where violence is are voting for change, she said. Its about being pragmatic.

The Common Justice program is groundbreaking, but Krasners approachif it continues and spreadsis potentially monumental.

Violent crime can have a devastating impact on communities and of course individuals, said Bains. But so can oversentencing for those crimes.Last month, when our government blasted tear gas at women and children seeking refuge at our Southern border, ostensibly in service of law and order, a very different picture emerged of other parts of the Trump administration. Even leaving aside the regular revelations about criminal activity by top Trump associates, the administration itself has shown its law and order mantra to be completely hollow in another crucial area: enforcement of white-collar laws.

Last week, the Financial Times reported that antitrust enforcement dropped to its lowest rate since Nixons presidency. At the same time, Senate Democrats put out a report on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureaus implosion, and a blog post from a Beltway employment law firm surfaced: Trump [Department of Labor] Focusing More on Employer Compliance Than Crackdowns. This was all in one day. Just a month earlier, the New York Times had reported on the steep decline in corporate prosecutions and penalties by the Trump Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Together, these reports of feeble enforcement against corporations belie the oft-repeated myth that the Trump administration and his Republican enablers have a commitment to law and order. Even on those terms, hes a complete fraud. Its worth considering the Trump administrations refusal to enforce corporate law in the context of its brutal immigration and criminal justice policies.

Firstly, the notion that migrants who have been so vilified by Trump are doing something illegal is wrong as a matter of law. Trump has made a series of end-runs around asylum protections, at one point attempting to unilaterally declare that migrants could not claim asylum outside of a port of entry. There is an entire section of our immigration law called Asylum; it starts like this: Any alien  who arrives in the United States (whether or not at a designated port of arrival ), irrespective of such aliens status, may apply for asylum in accordance with this section. Thats pretty clear! (A judge has temporarily halted Trumps executive action on ports of entry asylum, but it remains to be litigated by the courts.)

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The Trump administration is also terrifying immigrant communities through its no-holds-barred approach to enforcement, with arrests at courthouses, school drop-offs, and routine check-ins at immigration offices. Of course, frightening people doesnt ultimately lead to more law and order. It actually leads to greater lawlessness, as immigrant communities, afraid to seek help, hesitate to report domestic violence, sexual assault, workplace abuses, and other attacks.

The notion that migrants who have been so vilified by Trump are doing something illegal is wrong as a matter of law.

The Trump administration also uses its tough on crime pose as a justification for various criminal justice policy changes to make the system harsher for some. For example, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded an Obama-era sentencing memorandum instructing prosecutors to focus on serious, high-level, or violent drug traffickers. Instead Sessions directed these prosecutors to charge the most serious offense and seek the highest possible sentence in all of these types of casesregardless of mitigating circumstances like a lack of prior record or a nonviolent crime. This change was instituted despite sentencing guidelines that are widely viewed, even by some federal judges, as draconian and often unjust.

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Meanwhile, we see a different story in relation to a different set of players. No highest possible sentence. No charging the most serious offense. No tear gas. Instead, a white glove. A gentle touch, if any. Often, not even a slap on the wrist.

According to the Financial Times, the Department of Justice filed fewer than 20 criminal antitrust cases in the most recent fiscal year, the lowest level since 1972, and less than half the cases filed during President George W. Bushs first year. Penalties and fines have also plummeted.

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The Senate minoritys report on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau describes colossal backpedaling in the past two years. This has included the dissolution of the office that oversaw the student loan market, a decision to stop proactively reviewing potential violations of the law protecting members of the military service from financial fraud and predatory loans, and the stripping of powers from the office responsible for enforcing fair lending laws.

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As for the Securities and Exchange Commission, the New York Times compared the first 20 months of the Obama and Trump administrations, and found a more than 60 percent drop in penalties imposed and illicit profits ordered returned by the SEC. Also, during this period, the Justice Department brought only 17 cases against banks under Trump, compared with 71 under Obama. Even George W. Bush SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt, not famed for harsh penalties against corporate violators, noted that the Trump administrations current posture could embolden some to keep breaking the law.

The Department of Labor, meanwhile, implemented a new program that offers amnesty for wage law violators who self-report. And the Trump administration rescinded an Obama-era executive order that required large companies to disclose labor violations when applying for federal contracts.

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Trump and his team strike military postures when dealing with immigrants, the poor, or people of color. Theyre pliant as a pussycat, though, when dealing with businesses that swindle consumers, defraud veterans, exploit workers, or cheat investors.

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This administration, indeed, demonstrates the classic pose of a bully: beat up on those who dont have power, accommodate those who do.

Believing in law and order means that the crimes of large companies and their owners are treated with at least the same seriousness as the wrongdoings of everyone else. It means creating a culture of compliance. It also means taking steps that actually lead to more law-abiding and safe communities for everyone, not play-acting like a sheriff whos just entered the O.K. Corral. A true commitment to law and order means that everyone is subject to the lawthe powerful and the powerless alike.President Donald Trump racked up an estimated $17 million tab by flying on Air Force One to more than 40 political rallies in the lead up to the 2018 midterm elections, a Quartz investigation found.

Because Trump had been using the plane to stump for Republican candidates, the GOP or his re-election campaign is supposed to reimburse taxpayers for a portion of the cost. However, Quartz reports that the Trump campaign has thus far only paid the Treasury $112,667.90 in March and April for air travel expenses, or approximately 0.7 percent of the total cost. It is unclear when, or if, the campaign might issue additional payments.

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Trump was highly critical of President Barack Obama during the 2016 presidential election for flying with then-candidate Hillary Clinton to a rally in North Carolina. The Clinton campaign reimbursed the government for $37,000.

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Taxpayers are paying a fortune for the use of Air Force One on the campaign trail by President Obama and Crooked Hillary. A total disgrace!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 5, 2016

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Flying Air Force One, a retrofitted Boeing 747, costs $142,380 per hour in maintenance, fuel, onboard supplies, and other operating expenditures, according to figures provided by the Department of Defense.

Beginning on March 10, Trump relied on the plane for numerous trips to rallies throughout the Midwest and East Coast. His final rally was on Nov. 26 in Mississippi for Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith.

Trumps most expensive campaign-related flight cost about $1.3 million. He was traveling to Nevada in June in order to attend a rally for Sen. Dean Heller. Trump also spent $650,000 to travel to another rally in September for Heller, who would ultimately lose his re-election bid to Democratic challenger Jacky Rosen. Trump took his second-most expensive flight, at $1.2 million, in July to stump for Montana Senate candidate Matt Rosendale, who also lost his election. About half of the candidates that Trump personally vouched for ended up winning their races.

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Its not unusual for presidents to fly on Air Force One for rallies, especially because they are not allowed to travel on commercial or personal planes. However, the White House and the presidents party are supposed to ensure that taxpayers are not subsidizing travel that is partisan in purpose. Quartz reports that this may be particularly difficult with Trump, as he has been known to go off on political tangents during speeches at official events, thus blurring the distinction between partisan and nonpartisan.

During the midterm cycle, Trump used Air Force One not only as a vehicle, but also as a campaign prop. According to the Washington Post, the plane would often taxi to the rally stage and remain parked behind Trump as he spoke, serving as a visually and symbolically potent set piece. Though Presidents Obama and George W. Bush also relied on Air Force Ones majesty on occasion for rallies, the Post reports that Trump did so with particular frequency toward the tail end of midterm season.In late 2016, South Koreans took to the streets for months of massive protests against government corruption that became known as the Candlelight Revolution. At one point, crowds in Seoul were estimated at over 1 million. The overwhelmingly peaceful protests deposed President Park Geun-hye and landed her behind bars. The protesters achieved tangible results, garnering international praise for their organized, nonviolent political activism.

Now, hundreds of thousands of Koreans are back in the streets, and though they havent swelled to quite the same size as the anti-Park demonstrations, they are once again too large to ignore. These protests, which began in June, are against the presence of about 500 Yemeni refugees on the island of Jeju (the nations southernmost territory and a tourism hot spot billed as Koreas Hawaii). On an island with 660,000 residents, and in a nation of over 50 million, its a negligible amount of peopleespecially considering that South Korea has the 11th-largest economy in the world. But 500 is considered far too many in a country that accepts fewer refugees than almost any comparable nation. (Only about 4 percent of applicants are accepted.)

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More than 3 million Yemenis have been displaced by the brutal war between a U.S.-backed Saudi Arabialed coalition and the Houthi rebels, and tens of millions more are at risk of cholera and malnutrition. The U.N. has dubbed it the greatest humanitarian crisis in the world. But many Koreans are convinced that the Yemenis are somehow fake refugees because they have cellphones and clean clothes.

For a country intimately familiar with wartime refugees resulting from its own bloody conflict, the hostile attitudes can be difficult for foreigners to grasp. Since 1953, up to 300,000 North Koreans have fled the country, and over 30,000 defectors currently live in South Korea.

For a country intimately familiar with wartime refugees resulting from its own bloody conflict, the hostile attitudes can be difficult for foreigners to grasp.

The Yemenis began trickling in from nearby majority-Muslim country Malaysia (also featuring visa-free access, leading many Yemenis to seek refuge there initially) in December 2017, which is when budget carrier AirAsia began direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Jeju. Previously, the resort island waived visa requirements for many foreign travelers to promote tourism (which has resulted in legions of Chinese travelers drawn by its famous beaches; this is yet another sore spot for locals). The government has since slammed that window shut, removing Yemen from the list of accepted countries for visa-free entry in June. The move elicited international criticism and appeared to be a concession to the protesters.

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An anti-asylum online petition broke records last summer, drawing over 700,000 signatures and forcing President Moon Jae-in (himself a child of North Korean wartime refugees) to vow tighter screening and enhanced border control. The government has so far refused to grant the Yemenis official refugee status, instead giving them one-year residence permits and initially containing them to Jejuwhere they have received a frigid reception for a subtropical volcanic island.

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I suppose I have a negative viewpoint because Muslims have had a lot of criminals and terrorists in other places says Park Jong-hee, a 21-year-old college student. Im afraid of sexual violence against women.

Song Jae-hyun, a 38-year-old entertainer, is somewhere in the middle. Korea does need more policies to promote acceptance of different cultures. Yet there are also many foreign criminals in Jeju, and the people there are concerned about damage to their way of life.

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Widespread youth unemployment and economic disenfranchisement play a role in these sentiments, as does the monocultural countrys deeply ingrained xenophobia and racism. Like its neighbor Japan, South Korea is a country where the foreign population is below 5 percent. Some Jeju residents are so afraid of the asylum-seekers that they no longer allow their children to play outside. There is a widespread perception that the Yemeni refugees are potential job stealers, rapists, or terroristsor simply that they wont assimilate.

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The Yemeni refugees do not accept different cultures. My friends in Jeju have told me about this, Park Jong-hee adds.

The debate over the refugees comes at the same time as a controversy involving K-pops biggest act, the boy band BTS. Last month they were featured on Time magazines cover, after previously being named one of the 25 most influential people on the internet. In September, the group was invited to speak at the U.N. General Assembly, following in the footsteps of entertainer-activists like Emma Watson. But the group has also come under fire for several incidents, including one where a member was photographed smiling and wearing a Nazi-era SS Deaths Head hat, and another where they posed for a crass photo shoot at a Holocaust memorial. More recently, another member wore a T-shirt depicting two atom-bomb mushroom clouds and a slogan appearing to celebrate the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, leading to more friction between the always-tense relations between Japan and Korea.

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Lee Taek-Gwang Lee, a cultural critic and professor at Kyung Hee University in Seoul, told the Guardian these scandals are symptomatic of the nations struggle to reconcile nationalist sentiments with its growing global cultural presence: BTS insist they are a global brand, but their identity is rooted in Korean nationalism, as it is with many young South Koreans, he said.

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Bigotry and xenophobia cant shoulder all of the blameeconomic conditions and insecurity about the future are also driving these protests. Youth unemployment nationwide is close to 10 percent, and that likely contributed to an all-time low of marriages in 2017. Like their American counterparts, young Koreans are putting off marriage until they feel more economically stable. A popular internet meme among young Koreans is Hell Joseon, (meaning Hell Korea) which can refer to economic inequality, youth unemployment, the notoriously brutal Korean work culture that is literally killing people, and a host of other social issues. Predictably, President Moons approval rating has been falling as the unemployment rate has risen.

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Of course, the angriest voices are the loudest, but theres certainly no shortage of Koreans with more sympathetic views. Lee Jin, a 36-year-old academic director at a private academy (or hagwon) views the refugees through a historical lens. During and after the Korean War, we got a lot of international help from other countries. Its important to do something in return, and help these refugees, she says.

Racism does contribute, but this young generation doesnt have a clue about the past, and the favors our country was givenfavors that we need to return to others. A lot of people simply dont want to share even any little piece of the pie.

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Some Jeju residents have been welcoming, opening their homes to these asylum-seekers. Local civic groups, religious organizations, and expat teachers have teamed up to create the Jeju Peoples Coalition for Refugee Rights, working to provide food, housing, and Korean language classes for the Yemenis.

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Esmail al-Qublani, a 31-year-old Yemeni refugee currently still in Jeju, says that overall, it was a great welcome. Because this is a tourist island, we actually havent encountered much xenophobia. The hardest part for al-Qublani, a journalist in his home country, has been employment. Finding work on Jeju island has been very difficult, but now there are more opportunities since a lot of us have traveled to the mainland. So why are they being labeled fake by some Koreans?

Youd have to ask them, he says, his voice heavy with exhaustion. We are only humans. We are refugees from a war. If they can get to know us, they will come to understand our reality by getting to know us one by oneif they want. Were easy to make friends with.

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Lee Yu-lim, an unemployed 24-year-old woman, noted that they came to Korea because their life was so hard. I feel empathy for them. And not all Islamic people are terrorists. As far as the economic effects, Lee sees it as a positive: They can start businesses, create more jobs, and help to grow the economy. Indeed, a Yemeni restaurant opened in November: Wardah (Arabic for flower) already seems pretty popular with the locals.

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But the hostility remains. Lee Hyang, the leader of an anti-refugee activist group in Jeju, told a Bloomberg reporter the refugees are not only a threat to our people, but theyre also a threat to our future generation, because of our youth unemployment issue  theyre not even real refugees. If they were women or babies, I would believe them, but theyre able-bodied men. Theyre fake, like fake news.

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The bottom line is that even after months, South Korea has refused to grant even a single Yemeni refugee statusalthough in October, 339 were granted the humanitarian visa. This means they can finally leave the island and travel within the mainland peninsula, but their ability to seek employment is curtailed, and they wont receive rights that official refugee status would grant (among them health care, labor insurance, and the opportunity to bring their families into the country).

Though its one of the worlds richest countries, and one that was founded by a devastating war that sparked its own refugee crisis, many Koreans still arent ready to open their countrys door to others.

Benjamin Malcolm contributed reporting to this piece and Song Il-hong assisted with translation.The news that the personal data of 500 million Marriott customers was stolen broke less than a week ago, so its a good moment to be trying to capitalize on it to build support for more aggressive security policies. In a week or two, the Marriott breach will be old news and that momentum will almost certainly have evaporated, but in the meantime, Sen. Ron Wyden has released a discussion draft of a new bill, the Consumer Data Protection Act, aimed at ramping up the penalties imposed on companies, like Marriott, that suffer these types of massive breaches.

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The CDPA draft gets a lot of things right about cybersecurity breachesit is absolutely true that there are insufficient penalties for failing to protect customer data, that the Federal Trade Commission is not able to impose significant fines on breached companies and does not have adequate resources to investigate every major breach, and that the lack of clear-cut minimum-security standards for organizations storing personal information makes it all the harder to sort out these liability issues. But while Wydens office does a good job articulating the problems surrounding breaches like Marriotts, the proposed solutions are less promising.

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The most eye-catching piece of the proposed draft is a provision that would allow for executives who knowingly sign off on incorrect or inaccurate annual certifications of their companies data-security practices to face prison sentences of up to 20 years. In a largely sensible bill, this is a wild overreactionand one that in no way helps companies struggling to figure out how to do a better job protecting sensitive data.

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Security is not, and should not be, a companys only priority.

The presumption of the jail-time penalty seems to be that one of the big problems in security today is that executives are constantly lying about how good their data security is and they are not sufficiently fearful of the consequences of breaches to invest resources in better security. No doubt that is true at some companies, but more often we see companies cluelessly make terrible decisions about securityas Marriott may have done if it did indeed store the private keys needed to decrypt sensitive customer data alongside the encrypted data itself, as reporting suggests. Some companies may be lying, but many more simply dont know what they should be doinga problem the bill also takes steps to try to rectify by requiring the FTC to clarify what security and privacy measures it expects from companies. (This is, in many ways, easier said than donedifferent security measures may be better suited to different companies, and allowing for enough flexibility to meet everyones needs may mean that the standards end up being too vague to allow for much enforcement anyway.)

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Moreover, the notion that executives at most companies are not already concerned about data breaches seems ridiculous given how many top-level executives have lost their jobs in the aftermath of serious breaches at their firms. According to a study this year from Kaspersky Lab, 32 percent of data breaches in North America led to executives or managers losing their jobs at the targeted companies. After the Equifax breach last year, both the chief information officer and the chief security officer immediately retired. Yahoos general counsel resigned last year as well, after the company experienced a series of major breaches. Ubers chief security officer was also fired last year, along with an in-house lawyer, following a breach at the company. Perhaps in some very particular cases, where executives get away with deliberately lying about data security in ways that actually lead to devastating financial or physical harm, it would make sense to consider imprisonment. But that is simply not the case for most data breaches.

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Sending executives to prison is not the only new penalty proposed in the current CDPA draft. The bill would also allow the FTC to fine companies that suffer data breaches up to 4 percent of their annual revenuean excessive maximum fine borrowed from the European Unions General Data Protection Regulation. Like the prison penalties, this is a major overcorrection of the current state of affairs and way out of line with the amount of time and money we should expector hopeto see companies spending on security.

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It is entirely reasonable to say that the FTC should be able to impose larger fines on breached companies that take into account the noneconomic harms those breaches impose on customers. This would almost certainly spur companies to invest more resources in data security, especially since many companies face no fines at all from the FTC for their breaches. In October, for instance, Uber agreed to a settlement with the FTC that included several changes to its company policies but no financial penalty for its breaches in 2014 and 2016 that affected 57 million Uber drivers and riders. But a maximum fine of 4 percent of yearly revenue is a wild overreactionone that offers companies no realistic guidepost for how much they should be spending on security. Theyre certainly not all going to spend that much, nor would we necessarily want them to, so if companies are trying to weigh the costs of additional security against the costs of a potential breach, these fines are not necessarily helpful in that regard.

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Data security is important, and I would like to see organizations do a better job at it. I would also like there to be stronger incentives to invest in security and clearer guidance about how to do that well. The CDPA draft published in the aftermath of the Marriott breach ostensibly aims to do both those things, but it loses sight of the fact that security is not, and should not be, a companys only priority. The maximum penalties laid out in the draft seem to indicate that a company cannot spend too much on security or be too afraid of data breachesbut that is nonsense.

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If youve ever had to sit through an unhelpful cybersecurity training course or been forced to change a password every 90 days or been locked out of an email account for logging in from a new device, you know that it is entirely possible to spend too much money and waste too much time on cybersecurity without actually making anything more secure. It is entirely possible for additional security measures to prevent you from doing useful and worthwhile things because of the extra effort required. It is similarly possible for increased fear about breaches and their consequences to dissuade a firm from undertaking new projects that might involve a little more risk or data.

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Wyden is right to be concerned that we havent yet struck the right balance between security and all the other competing priorities firms face, but hes wrong to tip the scales so drastically in favor of security at the cost of all else. Figuring out that balance will require more measured, incremental steps of the sort outlined in the more levelheaded sections of the CDPA. These include providing clearer security guidelines for companies and more resources for policing and investigating security incidents. Its great that Congress is worked up about cybersecurity in the aftermath of yet another massive data breach, and its important to hold onto that energy even after the Marriott breach fades from the news cycle, but its also important not to get too carried away.Monika Filipova describes the numerous challenges civil servants in Slovakia have to face and explains what fueled her desire to change things from the inside through the Good Civil Servant initiative.

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Almost everyone has a story related to his or her experience with the civil service in Slovakia. Unfortunately, in most cases its not a story expressing satisfaction and appreciation. A few years ago Monika Filipova decided to take matters in her own hands and has been on a courageous path towards changing this situation ever since.

Could you describe your experience working in the civil service and the reasons that led you to start the initiative Good Civil Servant (Dobry uradnik)?

I have worked in the Civil Service for six years which I believe has provided me with a solid basis of experience within the office itself and in connection to other institutions and civil servants. As for my work, my reason for prevailing at the Ministry of Interior has been, and still is, the agenda I am responsible for, and the team which I work with. At the department which I manage we have a very versatile agenda including the coordination of local governments, state administration bodies but also foreign affairs. To translate it into practical language, besides managing the work of people, I have worked on the preparation of laws, analysis, strategic documents, organization of events, represented at conferences, worked in different working groups, etc. We work a lot with citizens, other public administration bodies at the local and regional level, NGOs but we also intensively cooperate with some European and international organizations. For me, it has been very important that I can actually utilize my education within my profession and gain practical experience. Another highlight of my experience is the team that surrounds me and the people I work with. Regardless their age, profession and views, we form a good team where freedom of different perspectives is welcome and solutions are achieved via open discussions.

Now that I described all the motivational factors that have kept me in the state administration, it is time to point out some of the drawbacks, which have led me and a dozen of other colleagues and enthusiasts to initiate the Good Civil Servant. Most people are convinced that being a civil servant means having a very comfortable job with little work and many advantages. My experience so far has been quite the opposite. We have always had sufficient workload and as an enthusiast of initiative work, I try to promote going beyond our regular duties and engaging in extra work, which gives us a broader understanding. However, I experienced times when even regular work was way beyond our capacities. The working environment and conditions were far from ideal and whatever we asked for, even the most basic things such as clean offices, printer or access to legal acts and comments, has been ignored. In addition, I often had to face the criticism of my friends and acquaintances who would not understand how I was able to work in such a corrupt environment under such a leadership. All these elements escalated and I decided not to be silent anymore and say out loud what I think: that there are some very qualified, ethical and good civil servants who work in the state and public administration because they believe that their job is important, but also that the system itself is bureaucratic, rigid and totally outdated, that we face criticism and often loath from the public but also complete disregard from our superiors.

In 2016 you published an open letter expressing the frustration youve experienced after four years in civil service, but also describing why you still find your work meaningful and why you admire and support your colleagues who dont give up. How was it received by your colleagues and the public?

To a great degree the letter originated in my frustration working in a very rigid environment with little focus on quality, progress and tangible results. However, its purpose was to support other colleagues, civil servants, who feel the same and often find it difficult to keep themselves motivated. In general, the reaction of the public was diverse  comments or feedback which I received included both positive messages and skepticism. Concerning my colleagues, there was very little reaction to my first letter and people were divided into two groups  those who said they completely understand the state of mind I created the letter in and those who stopped greeting me. It is not something that you dare to do publicly when you are a civil servant, so I understood both reactions, nevertheless I was sorry for those who did not understand that we are all responsible for what the public administration looks like today and such behavior only validates their lack of integrity.

Why is the current public image of civil servants in Slovakia not very positive?

I believe it is due to a number of reasons. First of all, the so-called professionalization of our civil service has never been introduced and carried out following the change of the regime. In order to ensure non-partisan, ethical and professional fulfilling of obligations, civil servants must feel secure and must have the confidence and also the responsibility to stand up for their work and views.

In addition, taking into account the population of our country, we have a vast number of civil and public employees in a huge number of various state and public institutions, which unfortunately does not ensure their quality and fair evaluation.

I encounter two extremes: civil servants who have a hardly bearable amount of responsibilities and work to carry out and civil servants who have very little work and meaningful contribution. Due to the rigidly set-up system, it is very difficult to move people from one position to help out another unit or department, even temporarily. There is no real human resources management within the system. People do not receive training on basic managerial or communication skills. Formally we do have educational courses, however, they are very unpractical and do not reflect the requirements of the 21st century. Last but not least, I see little commitment from the management when it comes to personal management. An organization should have a well-defined culture: from dress code to ethical standards, sharing of information, delegation of tasks, communication among people, etc. If you have no idea what the basic vision of your institution is you simply carry out ad hoc tasks which are not even in your responsibility.

Certainly, due to the financial evaluation offered in the state administration, becoming a civil servant is not attractive for everyone who is well-qualified and skilled. You have to be deeply interested in the area and be persistent in order to stay motivated.

Is this situation specific for Slovakia or is it similar in other countries of the region?

I have no professional experience from other countries in the region in this area. However, I believe that each country has its country-specific shortcomings, especially in our region. Based on some analytical documents, the problem of professionalization of civil service is very alike in the V4 countries and it is undoubtedly a great obstacle when it comes to changing the perception of the public on the added value and importance of civil servants.

What are the most pressing problems that civil servants in Slovakia face?

From my perspective what we lack most in Slovakia in this area is a certain level of culture and working environment. Not many people realize it, but it is to a great extent us, who form the external opinion on civil servants. The way we treat each other, the way we communicate among each other and with the public, the degree of responsibility we take, the depth of our interest in our area  these are all important factors for being a good civil servant. We must create a working culture focusing on these little details. Another issue is our working environment  it is very sad to complain about the equipment or lack of tools in the 21st century, however, in many offices this is the case. Certainly, when you do not get pens, you bring yours, that is not such a big deal, but if you are restricted to sources on the internet that you have been using for your work or even worse, when you as a lawyer do not have access to law journals, commentaries etc., it is a real obstacle to completing your tasks. Other problems include the training of people. How do you expect to motivate people to bring their best to the table if you do not provide them with proper education?

There are many more problems that we face on a daily basis which are being marginalized. Nevertheless, one that I would like to emphasize is the lack of well-selected, qualified management. Nepotism has been one of the flaws of the public administration regardless the government. But having people in managerial positions in the civil service who do not have interest in the area, who have no managerial skills and create chaos is the worst that can happen to people who are expecting clear guidance and well-argumented decisions.

All in all, I will refer back to the beginning of my answers - civil service must be professionalized in reality, not only on paper and with many exceptions.

One of the main pillars of the Good Civil Servant initiative states that you aim to reform the system from within. Do you believe that most of these problems can be solved in this way or would they require more radical changes of the system coming from the outside?

I believe that the reform itself shall be done from inside. You can pass any law or regulation, but unless civil servants themselves do not understand the need for change, these acts will stay formal. It is important to bring this issue to the public but also to civil servants and make them understand that times have changed and our working methods should change as well. We have to come out from our comfort zone and take responsibility for our work. Certainly, the whole system requires changes - number of offices, number of people working in the public administration - but all changes will be carried out by civil servants themselves. The most important element of a successful reform of the civil service are the people working in the system.

How would you describe the younger generation of civil servants? Is it different in any specific way?

I will start with the positive for a change. The younger generation, in my opinion, is able to bring new ideas and working methods into the civil service. Those who want to learn and are curious will keep asking questions and questioning the system, which is very important to show what works and what does not. What is also important is their connection with the more experienced generation. One has the drive and the other has the knowledge. If there is good chemistry between the two, it can help get things done efficiently but also with accent on the content and quality. Unfortunately, in many cases the younger generation looks at their job and place in the civil service with fear. Often they are instructed to carry out tasks that they are given without questioning and they get used to this method of work or get tired of questioning because they do not receive any back-up. Even if they see that something is wrong or irrational, many times they rather keep quiet because they are not encouraged to stand out. Young people should get more attention when it comes to training, taking responsibility, expressing views, trust, etc.

What would provide the right motivation for young bright people to pursue a career in public administration?

One of our goals is to educate young people about the benefits of public administration work for them and the country. One of the biggest advantages, in my opinion, is the fact that this work enables you to utilize what you actually studied. No matter whether you studied IT, law, economics, or environmental studies, the public sector offers an extremely big pool of various positions. You do not have to give up your field of study and interest and work in a corporation. You can gain first-hand experience, learn and after some time be useful in forming policies. Certainly, one has to have an authentic interest to learn and be persistent because working in the public administration is often not about immediate results but step-by-step work and patience.

Working in the public administration differs in some ways from working in the private sector. It has the character of service to people where your motivation and utmost goal is to satisfy peoples needs, assist them when they have problems and work on a better functioning of the state. Other motivational factors which I would mention include for example the chance to travel abroad, learn from the best practices of other countries and represent your country in various institutions.

What are the next steps the Good Civil Servant plans to take and what are your main goals for the near future?

Our initiative would, in the first place, like to keep this topic alive and demonstrate the importance of our profession. We are here to support all good civil servants and would like to create a virtual community of them  people working in the same profession, where we understand our problems and can discuss them, get support and motivation. Besides broadening our community we would like to put more stress on educating the young generation on the importance of this profession. We are planning discussions with university students to offer a practical look into what we do and how we use our education at work. We will certainly keep writing blogs on important issues, cooperate with other organizations and participate in discussions, seminars, etc. In addition, we work on concrete topics concerning civil servants and are preparing proposals for enhancement  currently we are working on the evaluation of civil servants. Also, it is important for us to make any kind of discussion in this area more evidence-based, therefore we are collecting various data. We would also like to initiate a prize for the best civil servant of the year to motivate people. It might not be the most attractive profession from the outside, but we, who work in the civil service and feel real commitment, can talk about the meaning of our jobs without hesitation.

The business community has repeatedly voiced its concerns regarding excessive bureaucracy or the effectiveness of public administration. It would surely welcome and support any initiative trying to deal with these issues. Do you see any potential for cooperation with the business sphere?

Surely, bureaucracy was identified in our early internal questionnaire as the most pressing issue for civil servants as well. We also struggle, on a daily basis, with our internal norms, processes, paperwork, which often presents an obstacle to our work. It seems that we can easily complicate a simple procedure, but it takes a real effort to simplify. One important element of our work, which I try to emphasize, is cooperation. Cooperation with citizens, NGOs, the academic sector, the private sector  be open to all ideas and listen carefully. The problems they voice are often very subjective and individual, but the only way a civil servant can learn about the deficiencies of the system is through concrete motions from people. As for the business sector and cooperation, we are open to everyone and as I mentioned we already have open cooperation with a number of institutions and NGOs.

10 Principles of a Good Civil Servant These ten principles should serve as a guide for all civil servants while carrying out their profession. SERVES THE CITIZENS - Public service is primarily service provided to citizens. You carry out this service helpfully within your daily working routine as well as throughout the process of public policy-making.

ACTS PROACTIVELY - You are open to new ideas and procedures. You bring in new notions and support those who strive to work better.

IS CAPABLE OF SELF-REFLECTION - You accept responsibility. You are able to indicate problems, admit your own mistakes and consider them as an opportunity to improve your work as an individual and as part of public administration as a whole.

WORKS EFFICIENTLY - You strive for creating the most qualitative outputs by meaningful use of resources and knowledge. While creating public policies and delivering public services, you rely on quality analysis and support the principle of value for money.

FOCUSES ON THE NEEDS OF THE SOCIETY - You perform your tasks rigorously, professionally and with an emphasis on the positive impact on citizens, the private as well as the third sector.

ACTS ETHICALLY - You consider transparency as a fundamental principle of state and public culture, not just a mere legal obligation.

COOPERATES - You willingly cooperate, help, support and exchange information with your colleagues within your workplace as well as other institutions.

ENGAGES THE PUBLIC - You apply a participatory approach, which truly involves relevant partners, experts and citizens in the decision-making process.

MOTIVATES - You are proud of your work. You act as an example and spread the good name of our profession to make it attractive for high-quality people.

IS A VISIONARY - You face challenges and co-create the best possible functioning of the state.

Monika Filipova is Chairman & Founder of Dobry uradnik

Originally published in Connection, the magazine published by AmCham SlovakiaComenius University and Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, alongside Pavol Jozef Safarik University in Kosice, have entered the rankings.

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Slovakia has three of its universities among the 1,250 best schools in the Best Global Universities rankings.

Comenius University (UK) in Bratislava placed the best. It ranked 533rd, while Pavol Jozef Safarik University (UPJS) in Kosice came 934th and the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava (STU) 1,121st.

Taking into consideration only European universities, UK comes in 241st, UPJS jumped to 378th, and STU to 442nd place, the SITA newswire reported.

Universities praise the results

Precitajte si tiez:

Precitajte si tiez: Comenius University in Bratislava will have a new rector Read more

UK did exceptionally well in the field of physics, coming 144th out of 600 universities ranked, said its spokesperson Lenka Miller, as quoted in a press release.

UK shares its place with the University of Genoa, Italy, and University of Lisbon, Portugal.

A good placement in prestigious rankings cannot be achieved without long-term quality work, commented Pavol Sovak, UPJS rector, as quoted by SITA.

The best school is Harvard

As the ranking suggests, Harvard University is the best university in the world, while Oxford has been named the best university in Europe, SITA reported.

Best Global Universities rankings evaluates 13 indicators, focusing on the research and their worldwide reputation. Universities from over 70 countries have been listed in the rankings.The far-right LSNS would have gained two more seats, as well as 9 Christian Democrats.

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If the general election had been held in late November, the clear winner would have been the ruling Smer party, supported by 23.4 percent of voters. This would bring it 38 parliamentary seats, as stems from a poll carried out by the AKO agency on 1,000 respondents.

Despite its victory, Smer would not be able to form a government with its current partners.

As stems from the poll, Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) would come second with 15.9 percent (26 seats), followed by Sme Rodina (We Are Family) with 10 percent (16 seats).

How do the other parties stand?

The Slovak National Party (SNS) came next with 9.3 percent and 15 seats. The same number of seats would have been occupied by the far-right Kotleba  Peoples Party Our Slovakia (LSNS), which would have won 9.2 percent of the vote and 15 seats.

The other parties that would have made it to the parliament include the Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OLaNO) with 7.7 percent and 12 seats, followed by the non-parliamentary Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) with 6.7 percent and 11 seats, Most-Hid with 5.7 percent and nine seats, and Progresivne Slovensko (Progressive Slovakia) with 5.3 percent and eight seats.

Precitajte si tiez:

Precitajte si tiez: AKO Survey: The current coalition would not form a government Read more

Compared with mid-November, LSNS has reported the biggest increase in support, by 1.4 percentage points, which won it two more seats. KDH also reported a growth at 0.8 percentage points, while the Progressive Slovakia and SNS rose slightly.

The rest of the parties reported a drop in their support, the poll suggests.

Coalition government - 62, opposition - 73

The results also show that the current ruling coalition would fail to form a government again. If Smer, SNS and Most-Hid joined forces again, they would only have 62 MPs in the 150-member parliament.

However, if the second strongest party in the poll, SaS, decided to form a government with Sme Rodina, OLaNO and Progressive Slovakia, they would be backed by 73 MPs. They would miss only three votes in order to have a majority in the parliament.This is due to the current price development on the global markets.

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Slovak households will pay more for energy next year, since the prices of electricity, gas and heat will increase next year.

The main reason is the current development of prices on the global markets, where the prices of electricity have increased by more than 27 percent, while natural gas has gone up by more than 24 percent, and emission quota permissions by 222 percent.

The prices on the markets have simply gone mad, said Lubomir Jahnatek, chair of the Regulatory Office for Network Industries (URSO), as quoted by the SITA newswire.

How much will the households pay for electricity?

The price for electricity in households will increase by 5.66 percent on average at the beginning of next year, while the price of gas for households will go up by 5.67 percent on average and the price of heat by 4.70 percent on average. Water and sewage fees will increase by 1.70 percent on average, the TASR newswire reported.

Read also:

Read also: Regulated electricity prices for households are going up Read more

If URSO accepted the proposals of electricity suppliers to the full extent, the electricity prices for Slovak households would increase by 13.86 percent, Jahnatek said, as quoted by TASR.

Households living in small apartments with a typical consumption of up to 1,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) will pay as much as 0.70 more. In households with higher consumption (about 2,300 kWh), the average price will increase by about 2 a month.

Gas will also go up

Regarding natural gas, the price for households will rise by 5.67 percent on average. If a familys consumption of gas for cooking and water heating is 14,000 kWh a year, the price will rise by 0.90 a month, Jahnatek explained, as reported by TASR.

Read also:

Read also: Slovakia is revamping support of renewable energy sources Read more

The price of heat for households will cost 4.70 percent more on average, or 1.85 a month next year.

The cost of water and sewage fees will increase by 1.70 percent, which for the average three-member family means an increase in expenses by 0.30 a month, TASR reported.Auckland

As we head in to summer we are looking for new members to join our roading team.If you have done it before, or just looking...



View or Apply on GoodWork.co.nzWith the winding down of military operations, many Syrians are starting to turn on Iran and their attempts to penetrate Syrian society writes Hussam Salah.

On Jun. 15, the Al-Watan newspaper, which is close to the Syrian regime, in a precedent which was the first of its kind, published an article titled, Sorry to Ali Akbar Velayati: The World Could Fall, and Syria Would Not. This was a response to repeated Iranian statements about the Irans role in saving the Syrian regime from falling. After this, voices followed from the heart of the regime from those who also sensed an Iranian threat to Syrian society. Maggie Khozam, a media figure who has thousands of loyalist followers on social media, published a video in which she indirectly attacked Iran, following the issuance of the controversial Religious Endowments Ministry Decree No. 16, saying at the time that, Bashar al-Assad may have been forced to sign this decree.

This trend, which has appeared inside the regime, has begun to sense an Iranian threat to Syrian society as a whole, given that military operations have been reduced and the regime has regained control over large parts of Syria. Loyalists across the entire spectrum welcomed the entry of thousands of fighters from Iran on a sectarian basis, and headlines glimmered in newspapers and on social media called Iran an ally and a strategic partner, without considering what the cost of this would be and what Irans compensation would be after the war.

After the Russian intervention in Syria, and the tightening of the economic noose with the additional sanctions imposed, Irans military presence in Syria might not last. The intellectual, social and religious penetration of Syria was, for Iran, the key to the solutiondespite the fact that no religious, cultural or social ties unite them with the Syrian street. Most of what Syrians knew in terms of the Iranian presence on their land was connected to religious tourism, and visits to shrines and for rituals which were carried out in specific places and times of the year. Today, there are parts of the Damascus countryside, Daraa, Homs, Hama, Aleppo and Deir ez-Zor which are almost entirely Iranian. They have built shrines there, as well as schools, universities, and religious outreach centers. The imposition of the Shia call to prayer in the Deir ez-Zor countryside a few days ago by Iranian militias and supporters may be in preparation to Shiify the residents of these areas entirely. Mohamed al-Deiri, a resident of al-Mayadin, said that, The Islamic State has come back in Iranian garb, now with the knowledge and the blessing of the regime.

Deiri adds, Iran is trying to establish its presence in these areas and to expand its popular base. It is focusing on social and service factors, as well as spreading Shia Islam among the areas residents, and mobilizing young men and bringing them into its militias by offering them generous packages of money and weapons. Many young men have begun to sense a threat, especially for their children in the schools theyve opened, which are far from Syrian societys culture and identity.

In Damascus, which is home to more than five million people, latmiyat and sectarian slogans and images of Khamenei have begun to spread in an unprecedented fashion. Old Damascus has become a center for the Iranian presence, through property and shop purchases, and the spread of loyal militias. Faced with this Iranian penetration, trends have appeared inside the regime calling for Syria to become closer with Russia rather than Iran, given that Russia is a more civilized and open-minded ally.

Saeed, an employee in a government department, says, Fatigue with the Iranian intervention in Syria has started, especially in Damascus. Traders and residents of Old Damascus are asking for the identity of the any buyer, before selling their property, and they are refusing offers if the buyer is Iranian or a intermediary for an Iranian. He said that, Many loyalist Syrians have begun hoping for an end to the Iranian intervention, in exchange for giving broader powers to Russia.

Raba, from the city of Lattakia, told Al-Hal, Of course Russia understands the nature of Syrian society better. The Iranians are trying to enter by way of religion and outreach, which many of us dont want. She added, After the Russian intervention in the coastal area, Irans role declined, and we noticed a difference in treatment. The evidence of that is that many Russians began to live in our area, and there have even been a number of marriages between Syrian women and Russian men.

Despite the Iranian presence and the major Shiification operations and purchasing of loyalties, as well as other policies they are pushing to penetrate the Syrian social fabric, many analysts believe that this presence will remain fragile. The militias and organizations Iran has built over the years of the war could break with the ending of their funding, which is what the United States is openly trying to do. Russia, the former ally, has often made statements in the context of the need for all foreign militias to leave Syria.

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.Peter Kassig had been working in humanitarian aid when he was captured and beheaded by the Islamic State reports Al-Araby al-Jadeed.

The US-led coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) said Monday, that it killed a senior jihadist involved in the executions of an American aid worker and other Western hostages.

Abou al-Umarayn was accused of involvement in the November 2014 beheading of Peter Kassig, a former US Ranger who was doing volunteer humanitarian work when captured in 2013.

He [Umarayn] was killed and more information will be available after a full assessment, Sean Ryan, spokesman for the US-led coalition, said in a statement issued after Sundays strikes.

Umarayn had given indications of posing an imminent threat to Coalition forces and he was involved in the killing of American citizen and former US Army Ranger, Peter Kassig, he said.

Ryan said the jihadist had also been involved in the execution of several other prisoners.

It is the first time the coalition, which has been hunting down ISIS fighters in Iraq and Syria since 2014, has announced the killing of a jihadist leader linked to Kassigs death.

At the time of the execution, IS released a video showing Kassigs severed head but did not publish footage of the decapitation, as it had done for other hostages.

The Syrian regimes official news agency, had earlier Sunday accused the US-led coalition of firing on Syrian army positions in remote eastern regions.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Coalition forces fired more than 14 missiles at a Syrian army convoy as it was passing through the desert.

The group was lost in the middle of the desert around 35 kilometres from the al-Tanf base, the Observatorys Director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

Coalition spokesman Sean Ryan denied that any strikes targeted the Syrian army.

False, the strikes were as the report stated and directed at ISIS, he said.

Kassig founded a humanitarian organization in 2012 that trained some 150 civilians to provide medical aid to people in Syria. His group also gave food, cooking supplies, clothing and medicine to the needy.

He took the name Abdul Rahman after converting to Islam.

His execution was part of a gruesome series of Western hostage beheadings that ISIS filmed and published to shock the world as it attempted to expand across the region.

This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.The Russian Foreign Minister has said that the US is refusing to restore infrastructure some territories reports Asharq al-Awsat.

On Sunday, Moscow accused Washington of trying to establish quasi-state structures east of the Euphrates River in northern Syria.

In an interview with local television, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, Unacceptable things are happening on the eastern banks of the Euphrates River. The US is trying to establish quasi-state structures.

They earmark hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild these areas, so that people could return to a normal peaceful life, but they refuse to restore infrastructure in the territories, which are controlled by the Syrian government, he added.

On the battlefield, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said several violations have been committed in the Russian-Turkish demilitarized zone, mainly in the provinces of Idleb, Hama, Aleppo and Lattakia.

Regime forces renewed shelling areas in the villages and towns of these provinces, the war-monitor said, adding that in return, the National Front for the Liberation of Syria launched missiles on areas controlled by regime forces.

It also documented that Bashar Assads forces sent military reinforcements, consisting of hundreds of members and dozens of vehicles to areas where they are deployed in Idleb and the demilitarized zone.

The actions further complicate a truce deal signed by Russia and Turkey in Sochi last September.

Lavrov said that in previous years, Moscow did not see Western involvement in the Syrian conflict as having offered any alternative constructive strategy to the one outlined by Russia, Iran and Turkey at Astana.

He said, Despite active and consistent steps by our Turkish colleagues, not all extremists have met the demand to leave the 20-km demilitarized zone.

This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.It has been reported that British and French experts have been aiding terrorists to convert the drones for use in chemical attacks writes SANA.

Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists have obtained 100 drones through a Turkish merchants, with the aim of carrying out chemical attacks from Idleb on civilians and Syrian Arab Army positions.

In a report published on Monday, Russian Sputnik Agency quoted local sources as saying that drones had been transported from Harem town, which is near the Turkish border, to one of the positions of Jabhat al-Nusra in Maar Masrin town, about 9 km to the north of Idleb City.

The drones were handed over to Moroccan and Libyan terrorists, the sources added.

Terrorists are working under the supervision of a British expert to make modifications to the drones to become lighter and to be able to carry small shells loaded with toxic chemical substances, according to the sources.

On Aug 30th, 2018, Jabhat al-Nusra transported 200 drones from the Sarmada area in the Idleb countryside to one of its positions in the al-Muhandisin neighborhood in Idleb city as Turkish and Chechen experts made technical and electronic modifications to them. The drones had entered Syrian territory earlier from Turkey.

On Nov. 25th, 2018, local sources and media reports revealed that Jabhat al-Nusra transported about 50 missiles, which were modified by French experts at one of al-Nusras positions near Idleb Central Prison, and the heads of the missiles became loaded with chlorine gas and they were distributed among terrorist groups in the countryside of Idleb and Hama.

This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.By Jhoo Dong-chan



KB Insurance is seeking an entry into Vietnam's insurance market through merger and acquisition (M&A).



The move came after Korea's leading insurers  Samsung Fire & Marine and Hyundai Marine & fire Insurance  have already been expanding their presences in the rapidly-growing Southeast Asian market.



A series of non-life insurers' moves to enter foreign markets are believed to be part of their efforts to overcome the nation's saturated insurance market.



Related regulations are another factor behind their exodus to the Southeast Asian country as the Moon Jae-in administration has barred the nation's non-life insurers from raising auto insurance premiums despite their worsening loss ratio.



According to industry sources and company officials, KB Insurance is reviewing its plan to acquire a local non-life insurer in Vietnam. The country's third-largest insurance firm Bao Minh Insurance is said to be the most likely candidate.



Bao Minh is a state-run insurer controlled by Vietnam's State Capital Investment Corp. with a 50.7 percent stake. It occupies an 8.2 percent market share.



KB Insurance allegedly plans to acquire a 17 percent stake in Bao Minh Insurance. If it does, KB will be the Vietnamese insurer's second-largest shareholder.



The net assets of Bao Minh Insurance are 107.88 billion won ($95.6 million) with original premium of 172.21 billion won.



KB Insurance first entered the Vietnamese market by establishing its first office in Hanoi in 1995. It opened an additional office in Ho Chi Minh in 2001, but didn't expand to such an extent as to set up a local subsidiary like those in the U.S. and Indonesia.



The sources said that KB Insurance is expected to hold a board meeting soon to discuss the stake acquisition plan.



"We can neither confirm nor reveal any details of the acquisition plan at this moment because it is a matter subject to public notice," said a KB Insurance official asking not to be named.



If KB Insurance acquires Bao Minh Insurance, it will be the largest M&A carried out by a domestic insurance firm in Vietnam.



In 2017, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance acquired a 20 percent stake in PJICO to become the Vietnamese insurer's second-largest shareholder. PJICO is Vietnam's fifth-largest non-life insurer with a 7 percent market share.



This was the first time a Korean insurer acquired a stake in a Vietnamese insurance company.



Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance announced in November that it will acquire a 25 percent stake in VietinBank Insurance. If the acquisition is completed, Hyundai will be the state-run insurer's second-largest shareholder.



"VietinBank Insurance occupies only 2 percent market share, but is a state-run firm. It has great potential for growth," said a Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance official.



According to the Financial Supervisory Service, Korean insurers' foreign branches in Vietnam posted $8.6 million earnings in the first half of this year, up $5.2 million from a year ago.

Seen above is the U.S. 7th Fleet's USS Blue Ridge amphibious command ship docked at Japan's Yokosuka naval base on Nov. 26. / Korea Times photo by Lee Min-hyung



By Lee Min-hyung



TOKYO/OKINAWA  The United States naval base in Tokyo was busy, continuing readiness preparations to counter possible military provocations by North Korea despite the ongoing peace momentum on the Korean Peninsula.



This does not mean that the U.S. and Japanese navies were holding a joint exercise by the time this reporter visited the base in Yokosuka, Tokyo on Nov. 26. Even if North Korea has not staged provocations this year, military officials from the U.S. and Japan were still working on the maintenance of their exceptionally large ships.



In the case of a contingency on the peninsula, the Yokosuka base will send its warships to Korea, including the nuclear-powered supercarrier the USS Ronald Reagan and the 19,600-ton USS Blue Ridge from the U.S. 7th Fleet.



Taking advantage of the absence of North Korean provocations, the navies of the U.S. and Japan were busy repairing damaged warships and vessels in use for non-combat purposes, such as networking and transportation.



The Yokosuka base is equipped with the world's most-efficient repair and maintenance facilities for military vessels.



The six enormous dry docks located inside the base were most interesting. When this reporter visited the base, the destroyer USS John S. McCain was also being repaired by skilled Japanese workers.



The vessel was damaged in August last year after colliding with a commercial vessel in the territorial waters of Singapore.



Aerial readiness for Korean Peninsula



Aside from the naval readiness, the 5th Fleet Air Wing in Futenma Marine Corps in Okinawa expressed confidence in its aerial readiness in the case of a contingency on the peninsula.



"The U.S. Marine Corps has enough capability to carry out joint military missions with about 20 countries in the Pacific area and conduct 200 annual drills with them," said a U.S. Marine Corps official on Nov. 30.



In particular, he underlined the strong security alliance between Seoul, Tokyo and Washington, saying that the base is serving as "strong war deterrence" for potential contingency on the peninsula.



The base can deploy combat forces in less than 12 hours in case of emergencies across the globe.



The military official also shared his views on the suspension of major joint military exercises on the peninsula.



"Even if Seoul and Washington suspend or cancel joint military drills due to North Korea's rare gesture for peace, the U.S. forces are maintaining a strong military readiness here in close alliance with Japan," he said.



Mountain Shadows in Wayanad is just the place for a dreamy vacationA middle school in the north-central province of Quang Binh, where a teacher last month asked classmates of a student to take turns in slapping him a total of 230 times for swearing in class, has stirred further public anger by asking those concerned to detail the event in a questionnaire.

A sixth grader at Duy Ninh Middle School in Quang Binh was hospitalized in late November after he was repeatedly slapped on the face by his classmates as a punishment from his teacher for allegedly using foul language in the classroom.

The math teacher, Nguyen Thi Phuong Thuy, asked the whole class to give the student ten slaps each after he was accused of swearing by another classmate.

In total, the boy suffered 230 slaps to his face, with the 231st coming from Thuy herself after he responded to the punishment by saying, I hate you, teacher!

Thuy has been suspended from work pending her final punishment, while Quang Binh police officers have launched legal proceedings against the case on torturing suspicion.

The incident triggered public anger and criticism aimed at Thuy not only for her encouragement of violence among young children but also for teaching them to be indifferent to the suffering of others.

Instead of addressing these issues, leaders of Duy Ninh Middle School on November 24 handed out a questionnaire to 23 students who participated in slapping their classmate, asking them to detail the event, the school headmistress Pham Thi Le Anh confirmed to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Monday.

Among the list of 18 questions are those such as How hard did you slap N.?, Did N. cry?, Did N.s cheeks turn red after being slapped?, Did N. bleed?, Did your classmates appear shaken or cry after slapping N.?

Students were also asked to write their name on the questionnaire.

After getting answers from the students, headmistress Anh compiled a report and submitted it to the local education bureau, where she said out of the 23 students 13 slapped N. slightly, eight slapped N. with medium strength, and only two slapped N. hard.

The report also pointed out that a cousin of the victim, who is one of his classmates, did not cry after slapping N., in an apparent attempt to undermine the severity of the problem.

The controversial questionnaire and report have attracted a universal rebuke from education experts and social media users, who agree that the insensitive move has only worsened the situation.

Some say the schools response has done little more than encouraging students to lie and not to take responsibility for their action.

Furthermore, such interrogation-like questions are not necessary considering the fact that police have already launched an investigation into the case.

I dont understand the schools purpose in handing out such a questionnaire, said Dr. Nguyen Tung Lam, president of the Vietnam Association of Psychology and Education in Hanoi.

That a schoolteacher asked students to slap their own classmate, whether it resulted in red cheeks and crying or not, is dead wrong.

The school should have spent time figuring out ways to improve the emotional health of its students instead.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!As Phu Quoc Island, off the coast of the southern province of Kien Giang, is drawing a large population of freelance construction workers from the Mekong Delta region, children who follow their parents to this Pearl Island have to suffer a loss of basic rights.

Some get no education, others start school six years later than their peers, and there are kids who do not even have their birth certificates.

Passion from the dump

More than 20 families, most of whom are Vietnamese Khmer ethnic people from the Mekong Delta, are making ends meet around the An Thoi garbage dump on Phu Quoc Island.

Danh Khangs parents took his whole family from their hometown in Phuoc Long District, Bac Lieu Province to Dong Nai Province, then Binh Duong Province and Ho Chi Minh City to make a living.

Four years ago, they ended up on Phu Quoc.

Khang, due to such mobility and insufficient livelihood, could not make it to school until he was 12.

Now 14, Khang is in grade 3 with classmates that look like his little brothers.

I dont want to be illiterate as my parents, the 14-year-old emphasized.

Danh Khang, 14, is quite popular with his eight-year-old classmates at An Thoi 2 Elementary School on Phu Quoc Island, off southern Vietnam. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Khang is currently enrolled in An Thoi 2 Elementary School, located one kilometer from the garbage dump where his family live.

According to his father, he has not skipped a single lesson for the last three years whatever the weather conditions.

At first it felt weird, but it was great fun learning how to read. Im no longer embarrassed. But Ill quit after grade 5, so I can find some work, Khang said.

It is the norm

Most of the students at An Thoi 2 Elementary School are children of Vietnamese Khmer ethnic people coming from other regions, so starting school late is absolutely the norm, according to Le Thi Thu Van, a teacher here.

Kids like Nguyen Thanh Dat, Nguyen Thanh Nhieu, or Danh Khanh enter their first grade at 12 years of age, six years later than their peers, she elaborated.

Children who [started school] two to three years late are just countless.

Children starting school at a later age than standard is prevalent in many schools on Phu Quoc, especially those close to large construction sites in Ganh Dau, Cua Can or Duong To Communes.

Nguyen Anh Khoa, principal of Cua Can Elementary and Middle School, informed that during the 2018-19 school year, the number of students enrolled rose by almost 150.

Nearly 50 of these start school two to four years late.

The children did not get any education before their families settled down on Phu Quoc, so it is no extraordinary to see siblings a few years apart sitting in the same classroom, he added.

Going without

Hundreds of children on this island are going without education, official household records, and even birth certificates.

Without such documents, children are deprived of access to formal education and public healthcare.

Many children now live in makeshift campsites around trash dumps on Phu Quoc Island, off southern Vietnam, as their parents eke out their living here. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Danh Hoang, 34, wracked his brain hard before he could finally, without certainty, say the ages of his four children.

The eldest is Danh Tri, who is 14, then Danh Hung, 12, Danh Tam, 10, and finally my daughter Danh Thuyen, who is four, he said.

None of his children have their birth documents.

Neither of us [Hoang and his wife] can read. We also lost all the birth docs, he explained.

This construction worker originally came from Rach Gia District, a mere three hours boat ride from Phu Quoc, but for years he has not been able to go back to his hometown to finish his childrens birth paperwork.

It may take a whole week for all the paperwork. I just cant afford to leave for one single day. My family wont get anything to eat.

More than 20 Vietnamese Khmer families from the Mekong Delta are dwelling around trash dumps on Phu Quoc Island, off southern Vietnam. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Similarly, Nguyen Be Ngoc has not completed her daughters birth certificate procedures, as the girl was born in the trash dump area.

"Maybe shes nine," Ngoc said about her daughter Nga.

To the perhaps-nine-year-old, having no birth certificate is such a big loss as she simply cannot get through the school gate.

As Nga was born on the island, paperwork should not be an uphill struggle, but somehow her parents did not even welcome outside help.

The perhaps-nine-year old girl named Nga does not have her birth certificate as she was born in the trash dump area. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!An annual festival paying tribute to the cultural space of the gongs, recognized by the UNESCO as an Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, took place last week in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai, reliving the daily life and uniqueness of Vietnams ethnic minority groups.

The Gong Festival welcomed visitors to Gia Lai to watch performances by more than 1,200 artists and thousands of young volunteers from November 30 to December 2.

Gong performances are always closely tied to community cultural rituals and ceremonies of the ethnic groups as the gongs are classified as a ceremonial musical instrument that sounds as a means to communicate with deities and gods.

The traditional ceremony that is often organized by ethnic people to celebrate new communal houses was also replayed at the festival to promote one of the most unique cultural features in the Central Highlands gong space.

Through these performances, the organizers wanted to emphasize the importance of the cultural space of the gongs, with a call for protection of such a beautiful culture.

Below are some photos of the gong festival in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai:

Artists dress up as beasts in a street parade - one of the activities at the Gong Festival in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai. Photo: Tuoi Tre

A little kid dances to celebrate new communal houses at the gong festival in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai. Photo: Tuoi Tre

A woman weaves brocade at the Gong Festival in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai. Photo: Tuoi Tre

A villager drinks Vietnamese fermented rice wine after the completion of a ritual before inviting guests. Photo: Tuoi Tre

A woman weaves brocade at the Gong Festival in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Young people parade at the gong festival in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Women weave brocade at the Gong Festival in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Artists play the gongs to celebrate new communal houses at the Gong Festival in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Young people parade at the gong festival in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Children dress up as beasts in a street parade - one of the activities at the Gong Festival in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!Thai Consul General to Ho Chi Minh City Ureerat Ratanaprukse announced her term will end in three weeks and bid goodbye to the local community, as she chaired a ceremony to observe the National Day of the Kingdom of Thailand (December 5) on Tuesday.

The event in Ho Chi Minh City was also held in celebration of the Birthday Anniversary of His Majesty the Late King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Thailands Father Day, the Royal Thai Consulate-General said in a statement.

Ho Chi Minh City deputy chairman Huynh Cach Mang, consul-generals, Vietnamese government leaders and provinces representatives were among more than 300 guests at the ceremony.

Speaking at the event, Consul General Ratanaprukse highlighted the milestones of bilateral cooperation between Vietnam and Thailand since she started her term in 2015.

During the past three years, the two countries witnessed frequent high-level visits, as well as increasing volume of two-way trade and investment, according to the consul general.

Ratanaprukses speech turned emotional midway when she announced that her term will come to an end by the end of this month.

[Despite that], I will keep watching the development of Vietnam  Thailand relations, she said, before underlining that Vietnam is "my second home".

Upon her ending of diplomatic post in Ho Chi Minh City, Ratanaprukse also thanked the continued support from the Vietnamese local government and reaffirmed her commitment to work with relevant Vietnamese authorities while advancing partnership for sustainability with Vietnam and ASEAN under Thailands Chairmanship of ASEAN in 2019.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!A tollgate on the National Highway 1 section passing Binh Tan District in Ho Chi Minh City was on Monday evening forced to stop collecting tolls after drivers refused to go past the station, causing heavy congestion.

Drivers argued that the station should have been shut down in May 2016, as it is licensed to collect tolls for only 145 months from its opening in April 2004.

The An Suong  An Lac Toll Station is operated by Vietnam Urban and Industrial Zone Development Investment Corporation (IDICO), a state-run corporation under the Ministry of Construction.

Under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) financing model, IDICO is authorized to collect tolls on the National Highway 1 section as payment for its development of the road.

On Monday evening, drivers staged a mass stoppage in front of the toll station, carrying a contract between IDICO and the transport ministry showing the toll collection duration as 145 months from April 2004.

The station has carried on collecting tolls 31 months after the contracts expiration, drivers claimed.

Its just plain wrong, Tuan, a driver from Dong Thap, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

This is a busy road. Imagine the amount of money they must have bagged in those 31 months. We wont agree to that.

The An Suong  An Lac Toll Station in Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City was forced to open its gates following drivers objection on December 3, 2018.Video: Tuoi Tre

As the incident caused severe congestion on the lifeline road, IDICO was forced to close down its tollgates and allow vehicles to pass the station without paying any fee on Monday evening.

Nguyen Hong Ninh, director of IDICO, said the drivers had mistaken the real toll collection term the developer is entitled to.

While the corporations initial contract with the transport ministry was mature in April 2016, IDICO was involved in additional projects to develop multiple overpasses on the National Highway 1 before this expiration date, which led to extension of the toll collection duration.

IDICO is now authorized to operate the toll station until January 2033, Ninh said.

The contract renewal process has undergone proper procedures as required by law and approved by authorities, he added.

While maintaining that the drivers had been mistaken, Ninh said the toll station had opened its gates to relieve traffic on the crucial road.

As of Tuesday morning, the An Suong  An Lac Toll Station has returned to regular operation.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!Two female Vietnamese reporters have received several death threat text messages, warning that they should stop their probe into an illegal group that has been collecting protection money from merchants at a market in Hanoi or their families will die.

Vietnam Television (VTV) reporter Nguyen Thi Lien and Thu Trang, a journalist of Ho Chi Minh City-based Phu Nu (Women) newspaper, exposed unlawful activities of a protection racket at Long Bien Market, located in Ba Dinh District, for their respective media outlets.

VTV and Phu Nu on Monday submitted separate documents to the Ministry of Public Security and Hanoi's police department, calling for an investigation to be launched into the case.

Both Lien and Trang received some text messages with the same content sent from the same phone number on Sunday night.

The sender, who appeared to be a member of the protection gang, asked the reporters to stop uncovering their operations.

I will say this only once. If you do not listen, your entire family will have to die for that, the text reads.

The first death threat was followed by a second text message with similar intimidating content.

The text messages Lien received on her phone

During an interview with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, Lien said she had been worried about the safety of her family as the threats appear to come from very dangerous criminals.

The VTV reporter hoped that authorities would soon deal with those behind this.

An official from the Hanoi police department has confirmed they will promptly verify and probe the case.

Lien's investigative report and Trang's articles were published in late September, which captured a lot of attention from the public.

The female journalists had to go undercover to shoot enough photos and videos of the illegal activities at the market.

Hanoi police launched a probe into the case in the wake of the exposes. The investigation remains underway.

According to Lien, she had planned to return to the market in mid-December and continue her investigation before receiving the death threats.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!Your browser does not support the audio element.

A Vietnamese man loves his late father so dearly that he broke with traditions of his ethnic community to keep mementos of the parent in a cabinet he himself designed as a posthumous act of gratitude.

Siu SoRir places objects his deceased father often used in a glass-fronted cabinet inside his homes worship room in the Ja Rai ethnic community in Gia Lai Province, located in Vietnams Central Highlands.

SoRirs father, Rmah Y Luong, died just about two months after retiring from farming and public service two years ago.

The white display case is emblazoned with words written in verse expressing the 30-year-old sons undying deep gratitude to his father.

The piece has three spaces for the fathers work clothes, neatly folded casual clothes, hats, ID card, insurance card, driving license, graduate degree, notebook, radio, belts, wrist watch, keys, pairs of glasses, loafers, sandals and less frequently used items.

One of them is a box of a dozen expensive South Korean pills that the father, with a frugal lifestyle, did not use all.

All the objects were expected to be buried with the late father in line with a long-established local custom but SoRirs family decided not to follow the practice.

He had devoted himself to work for years and passed away before he could receive his first pension. We as his children didnt have a chance to repay his love, SoRir said.

The whole family misses him.

I want to keep the mementos to show my children how their grandfather lived and how hard he worked.

The son SoRir also puts next to a memorial table the motorbike his father had used for uphill rides to work and farming fields for over a decade.

The motorcycle of Siu SoRirs father is placed next to a memorial table in his house in Gia Lai Province, Vietnam. Photo: Tuoi Tre

The object that gave SoRir the most poignant reading experience was a love letter his father sent to his mother a few months before they celebrated a wedding in 1978.

The letter, reading Dont look on one side, was penned in plain wording of genuine love that SoRir found amusing and touching at once, he said.

It also filled him with admiration for the fathers love for the mother.

My dad adored my mom. I once took him out for shopping. Hes busying choosing shoes for my mom and finally forgot to buy things for me, recalled SoRirs youngest sister, Siu Cuc Cu.

When the father stayed in Ho Chi Minh City, around 640 kilometers away from his rural hometown, for a short time to study and have medical examination, he tried to buy the wife sun lotion, cakes and clothing as gifts.

My mom complained the sunscreen was a waste of money. But she smiled very happily at the time, said Siu Cuc Cu.

The child said his parents went out of their way to pay all their children through college so that they would not tread the old-fashioned traditional path of dropping out of school, getting married and working as manual laborers.

As a public servant, the father used to advise his children to have integrity and learn to be good humans, not to simply accumulate material wealth, SoRir said.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!Prisoner veteran Val Lehman says the 40th anniversary reunion in February is purely for the fans, and will be the last she one she is mounting.

Im 75 now, so Im not going to do another one when Im 85. I promise you that, she told TV Tonight.

Im not having any media there. Its for the fans.

I have a grandson who is a cameraman and Ive asked him to put together a quote for a crew to come and shoot it to sell copies afterwards and raise monies for the charities. But Im not interested in having media there because they will want too much time and the fans are the ones who are paying to be there.

Its an historic event and an historic show, it really deserves peoples support.

The event has sold over 200 tickets with diehard fans jetting in from overseas to a Melbourne CBD event.

Lehman says attending cast includes Colette Mann, Fiona Spence, Anne Phelan, Paula Duncan, Maxine Klingibatis, Gerard Maguire, Patsy King, Jane Clifton, Amanda Muggleton, Betty Bobbit, Jacqui Gordon.

I did have Maggie Kirkpatrick but shes decided shes not well enough, she explains.

Were taking 300 bookings and Im over the 200. What really delighted me is my most favourite floor manager and two favourite cameramen contacted me and said Can we come? I said God yes of course you can. Too often our crews are left out which is always a great shame. We never left our crew out.

After event costs, profits will go to the Positive Womens Group my regular charity and this year, because I like animals more than I like people, Australias Zoo.

Tickets priced at $300 are available at [email protected]Stan has confirmed a swag of new and returning shows to screen across December & January including local productions Bloom and No Activity: The Night Before Christmas plus US titles I Am the Night, Black Monday,American Woman.

The Last O.G.

December 7

Created by Jordan Peele (Get Out) and John Carcieri (Eastbound & Down), The Last O.G. marks the welcome comeback of 30 Rock funnyman Tracy Morgan playing an ex-con who is released after 15 years in prison to discover the Brooklyn he left behind has been radically gentrified, and his wife (Girls Night star Tiffany Haddish) has moved on.

Season 2 coming in 2019, same day as U.S.

RuPauls Drag Race: Holy-slay Spectacular

December 8

Christmas Special

Same Day as U.S.

Who will slay the competition? In this holiday special like no other, former RuPauls Drag Race contestants Eureka OHara, Jasmine Masters, Shangela, Kim Chi, Latrice Royale, Mayhem Miller, Sonique, and All-Stars 3 champion Trixie Mattel compete against each other for the title of Americas first Drag Race Xmas Queen.

American Woman

December 14

Based on the life of Real Housewives star Kyle Richards, this timely comedy drama, set against the backdrop of the rise of feminism in the Seventies, stars Alicia Silverstone (Clueless) as a single mother struggling to bring up her two daughters. Co-starring Mena Suvari (American Pie).

No Activity: The Night Before Christmas

December 14

Available in 4K

The AACTA Award-winning and Logie Award-nominated series returns for a festive one-off special, and follows detectives Hendy and Stokes (Patrick Brammall, Darren Gilshenan) on their latest police assignment, this time with a seasonal twist. Tasked with a Christmas Eve stakeout, the pair monitor the scene from their parked car as a disgruntled Santa Claus holds a group of innocent Christmas shoppers hostage inside a suburban shopping mall.

RuPauls Drag Race: All Stars

December 15

Season 4

New Episodes Every Week

Same Day as U.S.

Get ready for 10 of your favourite queens to sashay back into the work room, in a brand-new season of All Stars! Monet X Change, Latrice Royale, Trinity Taylor, Farrah Moan, Valentina, Monique Heart, Jasmine Masters, Naomi Smalls, Gia Gunn, and Manila Luzon all go head to head for a spot in the Drag Race Hall of Fame. May the best all star win!

My Mad Fat Diary

December 21

Nominated for two BAFTA awards and winning Best Actress (for series star Sharon Rooney) at the British Academy Scotland Awards, My Mad Fat Diary, based on the novel by Rae Earl is a hilarious and emotional look at the troubled life of a teenage girl dealing with body issues, peer pressure and sex.

James Bond Collection in 4K

December 26

You know his name and you definitely know his number! Get ready to be shaken AND stirred by the worlds most famous spy, as all 25 James Bond films  available for the first time in 4K  set their sights on Stan. For your eyes only, from Dr. No to Spectre, nobody does it better than 007.

Bloom

January 1

Available in 4K

Bloom is a mystery drama about the scarcity of time and the choices we make, starring Phoebe Tonkin (The Originals) two-time Oscar nominee Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook), Bryan Brown (The Light Between Oceans) and Ryan Corr (Holding the Man). One year after a devastating flood kills five locals in an idyllic country town, a mysterious new plant appears with the power to restore their youth. Its a gift powerful beyond wildest imaginings. A phenomenon so formidable that attempting to harness its potency means re-evaluating everything thats important. Its a miracle some will kill to keep secret.

Acceptable Risk

January 11

Limited Series

Nominated for three Irish Film and Television Awards, Acceptable Risk stars Elaine Cassidy (The Others) as a widow who discovers that her husband was not who she thought he was, and she knows nothing about his past. What work did he do for a powerful global organisation, and why did he need to carry a gun?

Black Monday

January 21

New Episodes Every Monday

Same Day as U.S.

Travel back to October 19, 1987-aka Black Monday, the worst stock market crash in the history of Wall Street. To this day, no one knows who caused it until now. This is the story of how a group of outsiders ended up crashing the worlds largest financial system. The outrageous comedy series stars Don Cheadle, Andrew Rannells and Regina Hall, and comes from executive producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (Preacher, Superbad).

S.M.I.L.F.

January 21

Season 2

New Episodes Every Monday

Same Day as U.S.

This season finds Bridgette (creator, executive producer and showrunner Frankie Shaw) trying to move forward and focus on her future, while attempting to exorcise old ghosts and atone for past misdeeds. Viewers will also go back in time to witness the highly unconventional birth of Bridgettes beloved son, Larry. Meanwhile, Bridgettes mother Tutu (Rosie ODonnell) rallies from a heartbreaking setback. Season two guest stars Oscar nominee Melanie Griffith.

Detour

Date TBC

Season 4

New Episodes Every Week

Same Day as U.S.

After a bonkers road-trip, a disastrous move to New York City, and a run from the law in Alaska, the misadventures of the Parker family continue for a fourth season. The zany madcap comedy stars Jason Jones and Natalie Zea, and comes from executive producer and co-creator Samantha Bee.

I Am the Night

January Date TBC

New Episodes Every Week

Same Day as U.S.

Directed by Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman), and starring Chris Pine (Star Trek, Wonder Woman) and India Eisley (Underworld: Awakening), I Am The Night is a gripping mystery inspired by real events. Fauna Hodel (Eisley) is an adopted teenage girl who begins to investigate the secrets to her past, leading her on a sinister trail to Dr. George Hodel, an infamous Hollywood gynaecologist who was involved in the legendary Black Dahlia murders in 1947.In order to maintain this blog I have to pay for its upkeep including a hosting company, support services, virus and other malicious hackers. If you appreciate what I write please make a donation."Star Wars" movie followers loved Mark Hamill in his role as Luke Skywalker. Now, his namesake was arrested for allegedly stealing traffic signs, according to a report by News Channel 11 wjhl. Police from Elizabethton arrested the 21-year-old man from Johnson City, Tennessee. Later, actor Mark Hamill retweeted the story which was recycled by Fox News. He captioned the retweet with, "The real crime here is Mr. & Mrs. Walker saddling this poor guy with that name in the first place. #MisbegottenMoniker #AlsoTooShortForAStormtrooper." Many people reacted to the report on Twitter. Here are five of the funny ones.

 ALL RIGHTS RESERVEDFrance: A surge in fuel prices has caused violent clashes between anti-government activists and police officers in France, resulting in at least three deaths, 133 injuries, and over 400 arrests. French President Emanuel Macron called for an emergency meeting on Monday following a weekend of riots across Paris, the BBC reported.

As many as 8000 protesters known as the 'Gilets Jaunes' or the 'Yellow Vests' were engaged with 5,000 police officers wearing riot gear and wielding stun guns, tear gas and water cannons in the French capital. Vandalism has been rife with a famous statue of Marianne inside the Arc de Triomphe also smashed.

But despite this dystopian imagery, Macron's government have not yet declared a 'state of emergency' in the country. So why exactly is the French populace protesting?

French hike fuel prices

Approved in 2017, the French government introduced higher green taxes which raised the price of diesel by 7.6 cents per litre and petrol by 3.9 cents. This sharp hike in fuel prices was made in an effort to push people towards more environmentally friendly vehicles and thus slow down climate change.

But most people who live outside cities are heavily reliant on cars to get around. This has put an undue strain on the French people who believe that the government's policies can only cater to the privileged and the elite and not the needy.

Not alien to protests, Emanuel Macron faced severe criticism especially from the French working class who were hit the hardest. The majority of the protesters in Paris represent France's working class whose incomes are too high to avail full welfare benefits but too low to actually make ends meet. As more people grew disillusioned with the government's tax imposition, momentum gathered on social media where angry citizens vented their frustration with Macron.

Motorists in France, since 2008, have been required to keep these highly reflective yellow vests in their vehicles. This gave rise to the 'Gilets Jaunes' or the 'Yellow Vests' movement. A petition began to circulate on social media back in May 2018 to lower fuel prices and by mid-October, had 300,000 signatures.

The front-runners of this movement are the truckers who travel cross country for work.

A large group of truckers created a Facebook event in October to block all roads to Paris on November 17. As many as 200,000 people were 'interested'.

Aims of the protesters

The grievances do not end here either. The protesters also demand answers as to why a higher cost of living is not necessarily yielding a higher standard of living. Some protesters just want the government to show a bit of leniency in fuel tax while some want Macron to resign. Some far-right groups are demanding the dissolving of the national assembly.

Macron, who was in Argentina this weekend for the G20 summit, addressed the nationwide riots at a press conference in Buenos Aires. "I will never accept violence," he said. No cause justifies that authorities are attacked, that businesses are plundered, that passers-by or journalists are threatened or the Arc de Triomphe is defiled."

Whatever is the outcome of these protests, this movement will arguably determine Macron's legacy as the French President.FILE PHOTO:A logo is seen over the main entrance of the entertainment-to-telecoms conglomerate Vivendi's headquarters in Paris FILE PHOTO: A logo is seen over the main entrance of the entertainment-to-telecoms conglomerate Vivendi's headquarters in Paris April 8, 2015. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo

MILAN (Reuters) - A hearing in Milan over a failed pay-TV deal between Italian broadcaster Mediaset <MS.MI> and French media group Vivendi <VIV.PA> has been postponed, a lawyer said on Tuesday.

A date for a new hearing in the long-running case has been set for March 12, Mediaset's lawyer Andrea Di Porto said.

Mediaset, controlled by the family of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, is seeking 3 billion euros ($3.4 billion) in damages from Vivendi after it backtracked on a deal to buy Mediaset's pay-TV unit Premium in July 2016.

Vivendi has said the deal fell through when the French company realized the agreement differed from original discussions.

After pulling the plug on the deal, Vivendi made a hostile raid on the Italian broadcaster, taking a 28.8 percent stake.

Around 19.2 percent of that stake has since been transferred to a trust to comply with regulations given Vivendi also owns 24 percent of Italy's biggest phone group Telecom Italia <TLIT.MI>.

In addition to damages, Mediaset is also asking the judge to declare Vivendi's stake building illegitimate. Vivendi disputes this.

The hearing has been postponed to give the parties time to present documents, lawyers taking part at Tuesday's hearing told journalists.

"The idea of a possible settlement does not appear to be there," the Mediaset lawyer, Di Porto, said.

(Reporting by Francesca Landini and Giancarlo Navach; Editing by Edmund Blair)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.FILE PHOTO: A member of Afghan security force walks at the site of a car bomb attack in Kabul FILE PHOTO: A member of Afghan security force walks at the site of a car bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Nov. 29, 2018. REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail/File Photo

By Idrees Ali

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon's pick for the next commander of U.S. Central Command said on Tuesday the high casualty rate of Afghan security forces would not be sustainable even with the stalemate in the fight against Taliban militants.

"Their losses have been very high. They are fighting hard, but their losses are not going to be sustainable unless we correct this problem," Lieutenant General Kenneth McKenzie said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

The assessment comes as both Western-backed security forces and the Taliban have pushed to gain momentum as the United States has stepped up efforts to find a peaceful settlement to end the 17-year-long war in Afghanistan.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said last month that since 2015 more than 28,000 members of the Afghan security forces had been killed.

McKenzie said the United States would have to work with Afghan forces to improve how they recruit, train and carry out missions.

He added that Afghan forces were not capable of securing the mountainous South Asian country without help from the nearly 14,000 U.S. troops deployed there.

"If we left precipitously right now, I do not believe they would be able to successfully defend their country," McKenzie said.

He said he did not know how long it would take for Afghan forces to be self-sufficient and that Taliban fighters were estimated at 60,000.

U.S. President Donald Trump wants to end the conflict between Afghan security forces and the Taliban, who are fighting to drive out international forces and reestablish their version of strict Islamic law after their 2001 ouster.

McKenzie said he was unaware of any plans to significantly change the U.S. military footprint in Afghanistan.

Recent attacks underscore the pressure on Afghanistan's overstretched security forces, suffering from their highest-ever level of casualties, estimates from the NATO-led "Resolute Support" mission show.

Story continues

The Kabul government no longer releases exact casualty figures, but officials say at least 500 men are being killed each month and hundreds more wounded, a tally many consider low.

In November dozens of elite commandos were among the casualties suffered by Afghan security forces as the Taliban claimed to have taken a district in Ghazni province.

U.S. commanders have said they expect the Taliban to step up military efforts to better their position while they maintain contacts with U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad aimed at opening peace negotiations.

PAKISTAN

Trump recently asked for Pakistan's help with faltering Afghan peace talks in a letter to new Prime Minister Imran Khan, making clear that Islamabad's assistance was "fundamental" to the health of the two countries' strained relationship.

McKenzie said Pakistan was needed for long-term stability in Afghanistan and could play a key role in facilitating talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government.

"At this time, however, Pakistan does not appear to be using the full extent of its influence to encourage the Taliban to come to the table," McKenzie said in written responses to questions from lawmakers.

"We continue to see the Taliban being utilized as a hedge against India rather than as part of a stable, reconciled Afghanistan," he added.

(Reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by G Crosse and Richard Chang)Bryant Swenson was driving with his wife when a group of machete-wielding men charged their Toyota Land Cruiser near Maai Mahiu, Kenya, on November 30.

Once the machete-wielding men charged towards the vehicle, Bryant swung into reverse before driving forward and dodging them, as seen in this dashcam video belonging to Swenson and his wife, Lauren, who managed to get away from the scene unscathed.

The event shocked Lauren Swenson, she said, as she did not expect to encounter men with machetes in Maai Mahiu, a settlement in Kenyas Rift Valley, but she was happy with the way her husband handled the situation. Credit: Lauren Swenson via StoryfulJoshua with the Ark of the Covenant. From Hutchinsons History of the Nations, published 1915.(Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

In the Bible, the Ark of the Covenant is a chest containing the tablets of the Ten Commandments  and it was memorably sought by the Nazis in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

But the real Ark might have been located by American Biblical scholars, who claim that the relic is in Ethiopia, guarded by monks.

They admit that they are not 100% sure that its the real Ark, but its an entertaining yarn nonetheless.

The US-based Bible Archaeology Search and Exploration Institute (BASE) claim to have tracked the Ark to a church in Ethiopia

The investigators claim that a sect of Jews transported the Ark to Egypt, then up the Nile to Ethiopia.

Indiana Jones fought Nazis for the Ark (Getty)

The researchers arrived at the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in the city of Axum, where priests claimed the Ark was within, but that the investigators were not allowed to see it.

The researchers write, I was able to speak, through an interpreter, with the Guardian of the Ark, who told me that no other man besides himself could lay eyes on the Ark, that it was an absolutely holy object. He said that the world would not be allowed to pollute it by looking at it. He added that he and the villagers would protect the Ark with their lives, if necessary.

MORE: Teens and children had 45,000 operations to remove teeth last year

MORE: Theresa Mays Brexit plan is a deal in name only, says latest minister to quit

Interestingly, we were shown two silver trumpets that bore a remarkable similarity to the trumpets pictured on the arch of Titus in Rome, commemorating the Roman conquest of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. Trumpets like these were an essential part of the implements used in Temple worship.

Subsequent to this initial investigation, we located and interviewed two people who have claimed to have seen the object resting in St. Marys of Zion. The first was a 105-year-old priest who once was the Administrator at St. Marys of Zion. On two occasions, he said, when the Guardian of the Ark died and a new guardian was trained in the worship rituals, he was able to gaze upon the relic. He described it as a gold box with two winged angels on top.

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The BASE researchers wrote, At this juncture, we cannot say with certainty that it is, but neither can he say for certain that it isnt.

What we have concluded is that St. Marys of Zion church in Axum, Ethiopia, is the resting place either of an incredible replica of the biblical Ark of the Covenant, or, of the actual Ark of the Covenant itself.

Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UKYana Mavlyutova / shutterstock

The first International Polar Year, held over 18821883, was an important event for science. The year was the brainchild of Austrian explorer Karl Weyprecht who, after a few years on different research missions, realised that scientists were missing the big picture by not sharing information with each other.

In 1875, at the annual meeting of German Scientists and Physicians in Graz, Austria, he proposed the setting up of an observational network of research stations to monitor the Arctic climate. It was the beginning of collaborative research in the region. Today, data collected 134 years ago on temperature, air pressure, or wind speed is still freely available.

There have been two more International Polar Year events since that inaugural one, most recently in 20072008, along with numerous other collaborative expeditions and research missions aimed at understanding aspects of Arctic biology, ecology, climate or geology.

But these co-ordinated efforts are the exception rather than the rule. Instead, most research locations north of the Arctic Circle have developed via a range of particular historical contingencies (easy access by boat or road, for instance, or a stable and open political climate), many of which have had nothing to do with scientific considerations.

Since the Arctic covers some 14.5m square kilometers, and conducting research in remote locations is very expensive, time consuming and often dangerous, the result is an extremely uneven concentration of research effort.

The region is warming faster than anywhere else on Earth and its polar bears and melting glaciers have become a key symbols of climate change. But the Arctic, it seems, is not as well researched as we think it is.

Hard facts

We wanted to put some hard numbers behind this opinion, and to explore what these geographic gaps may mean in terms of broader scientific understanding. Thats what inspired our research project, carried out with colleagues and published earlier in 2018 in Nature Ecology & Evolution. We looked at 1,840 published studies across the Arctic dating back to 1951.

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These studies covered nine broad disciplines in the natural and physical sciences and contained 6,246 sampling locations. We also looked at a total of 58,215 citations that refer to the studies. Citations of a particular study signify the amount of times it has been mentioned in other studies and is one indicator of importance within its discipline.

We found that a third of all study citations originate from sites within 50km of two research stations: Toolik Lake in Alaska and Abisko in Sweden. Our results show that for two important variables, temperature and vegetation density, the present pattern of sampling locations in the Arctic represents the average conditions well, but does not represent extreme conditions that are widespread across the region.

The focus on Scandinavia and Alaska means that results from these sites are extended to other locations. The assumption that conditions in two well-studied sites are representative across the Arctic results in the under-sampling of more remote locations. These include vast regions that are relatively colder and warming more rapidly such as Russias northern coastline or the thousands of islands that make up Canadas Arctic Archipelago.

Its a substantial unknown. Although other parts of Canada and Russia are reasonably well sampled, they too have received considerably less citations, which leads to the poorer dissemination of the knowledge created in these studies. In this way, our understanding of the impact of climate change on the Arctic is biased in favour of sites that are well connected and well resourced.

It is important to note that we are not discounting the wealth of Arctic research conducted in Scandinavia and Alaska. Research at those sites has been, and continues to be, valuable and has enhanced our understanding of Arctic processes within their vicinity. For example, a wetland near Abisko has been studied for three decades during which time there has been an increase in methane emissions as the permafrost (frozen ground) thaws. Similarly, the discovery that the transport of carbon from land to water was much larger in tundra ecosystems than previously thought was uncovered by researchers at Toolik Lake back in the early 1990s.

Regardless of discipline, when looking for scientific evidence, it is habitual to cite research from well known and established locations. One way we could make our understanding of the Arctic more representative is to diversify our research citations by citing research that has been conducted in under-cited or under-sampled locations. Another way is to prioritise research at those under-sampled areas and (try to) convince funding agencies that research in those areas will fill gaps in our knowledge and result in more representative information about the Arctic. We hope our work will aid other scientists in making that point.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The Conversation

Hakim Abdi receives funding from the Lund University Centre for studies of Carbon Cycle and Climate Interactions, and the Lund University Strategic Research Area: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in a Changing Climate (BECC).

Daniel Metcalfe receives funding from Lund University strategic research areas BECC, European Research Council, Swedish Research Council Formas and VRA man holds a laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him in this illustration picture taken on May 13, 2017. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration

By Jason Hovet

PRAGUE (Reuters) - Russia's intelligence services were behind cyber attacks targeting the Czech foreign ministry last year, the Czech security service said on Monday in its annual report.

The BIS counter-intelligence service has long warned against Russian activity in the Czech Republic, a member of NATO since 1999 and of the European Union since 2004. Many other Western countries have issued similar warnings.

In its report, BIS said two separate attacks on the Czech foreign ministry were partly the work of the APT28 hacking group, which is linked to the Russian government and has been blamed for past attacks in Germany and the United States.

"All the findings make clear that it was the Turla cyberespionage campaign, originating from the FSB, a Russian intelligence service, and APT28/Sofacy, which is credited to the Russian military intelligence, the GRU," the annual report said.

In a hack of the ministry's information system, it said, attackers accessed more than 150 staff mailboxes, copying emails and attachments. "They thus obtained data that may be used for future attacks, as well as a list of potential targets in virtually all the important state institutions," it said.

The Czech foreign ministry said at the time it believed a foreign state was behind the cyber attacks on it but said no confidential material was compromised.

As in previous years, the report warned of Russia's continued use of undeclared intelligence officers acting under diplomatic cover as part of a general hybrid strategy against member states of the European Union and NATO.

The Russian government was not immediately available on Monday to comment on the BIS accusations.

BIS also reported increased activity by Chinese intelligence officers and a growing worry of espionage in the economic, scientific and technical domains.

Czech President Milos Zeman has vigorously promoted political and business ties with both China and Russia.

BIS said it had also detected several attacks against Czech military targets, with the most serious compromising several private email accounts of people linked to the Defence Ministry and army and also compromising an IP address by malware know as X-Agent.

(Reporting by Jason Hovet; Editing by Gareth Jones)Iran stealth destroyer

(Iranian Army via AP)

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's navy on Saturday launched a domestically made destroyer, which state media said has radar-evading stealth properties, as tensions rise with arch-enemy, the United States.

In a ceremony carried live on state television, the Sahand destroyer  which can sustain voyages lasting five months without resupply  joined Iran's regular navy at a base in Bandar Abbas on the Gulf.

The Sahand has a flight deck for helicopters, torpedo launchers, anti-aircraft and anti-ship guns, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles and electronic warfare capabilities, state television reported.

President Donald Trump pulled out of an international agreement on Iran's nuclear program in May and reimposed sanctions on Tehran. He said the deal was flawed because it did not include curbs on Iran's development of ballistic missiles or its support for proxies in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq.

Iran stealth destroyer

(Iranian Army via AP)

The United States has said its goal is to reduce Iran's oil exports to zero. Senior Iranian officials have said that if Iran is not allowed to export then no other countries will be allowed to export oil through the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf.

"This vessel is the result of daring and creative design relying on the local technical knowledge of the Iranian Navy... and has been built with stealth capabilities," Rear Adm. Alireza Sheikhi, head of the navy shipyards that built the destroyer, told the state news agency IRNA.

Iran launched its first locally made destroyer in 2010 as part of a program to revamp its navy equipment which dates from before the 1979 Islamic revolution and is mostly US-made.

Iran has developed a large domestic arms industry in the face of international sanctions and embargoes that have barred it from importing many weapons.

Separately, a naval commander said Sahand may be among warships that Iran plans to send on a mission to Venezuela soon.

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Iran navy submarine Bandar Abbas mini sub

(Rahbar Emamdadi/Mehr News Agency via AP)

"Among our plans in the near future is to send two or three vessels with special helicopters to Venezuela in South America on a mission that could last five months," Iran's deputy navy commander, Rear Adm. Touraj Hassani Moqaddam, told the semi-official news agency Mehr.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said last week Iran should increase its military capability and readiness to ward off enemies, in a meeting with Iranian navy commanders.

Iran's navy has extended its reach in recent years, launching vessels in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden to protect Iranian ships from Somali pirates operating in the area. Last week, Iran's navy said it launched two more mini-submarines, one of which had been overhauled. Mini-subs are used for short missions.

The chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces said in 2016 that Iran may seek to set up naval bases in Yemen or Syria in the future, raising the prospect of distant footholds perhaps being more valuable militarily to Tehran than nuclear technology.

(Reporting by Dubai newsroom; editing by Louise Heavens)

NOW WATCH: The world's first stealth fighter jet is being permanently retired  here's a look at the F-117A Nighthawk

See Also:

---Watch the latest videos from Yahoo UK---By Rami Amichay

METULA, Israel (Reuters) - Israel said on Tuesday it had launched an operation to "expose and thwart" cross-border attack tunnels from Lebanon dug by the Iran-backed movement Hezbollah and that their purpose was to send militants to attack Israel.

The Israeli military said its operations were currently confined to Israel and did not extend into Lebanon, where it said the tunnels originated.

The army released footage of tunnels and earth-moving equipment at work, carrying out what it said were "tactical preparations to expose Hezbollah's offensive cross-border tunnel project". Reuters could not immediately verify the footage.

The military said the tunnels were not yet operational, but posed "an imminent threat". Its Arabic media spokesman posted a message on Twitter warning the Lebanese army and Hezbollah to stay away, saying: "Your lives are in danger, you have been warned."

One tunnel originated under a house in the Lebanese border village of Kfar Kila and crossed the frontier near Israel's northernmost town, Metula, the Israeli military said.

There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah. The Lebanese army said the situation was calm on its side of the border, as did U.N. peacekeepers operating there. It said the military was "fully prepared to face any emergency".

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late on Tuesday the tunnels were a grave violation of Israeli sovereignty.

"Hezbollah's intention was to insert terrorists into our territory through these tunnels," he said.

"These cross-border terror tunnels were built by Hezbollah with direct support and funding from Iran. They were built with one purpose in mind - to attack and murder innocent Israeli men, women and children."

Netanyahu, who on Monday met U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Brussels to update him on the imminent operation, said it would continue for as long as necessary.

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IMMINENT THREAT

Throughout Tuesday mechanical diggers, drills and other heavy machinery could be seen from south Lebanon, working on the Israeli side of the heavily-guarded border.

Brigadier-General Ronen Manelis, Israel's chief military spokesman, described one video clip in which a man, who he said was a Hezbollah operative, was seen approaching a camera that Israel inserted into a tunnel. A small explosion scared him away and the tunnel was later blown up with a more powerful blast.

Mohammed al-Hadi, a school director in his 60s who has lived his entire life in Kfar Kila, said: "The current situation is not new for us. We are always living in a state of war and alert, worry and waiting."

Israel and Hezbollah have avoided major conflict across the Lebanese-Israeli border since their last war in 2006, though Israel has mounted attacks in Syria targeting what it said were advanced weapon deliveries to the Shi'ite Muslim group.

Israel's vulnerability to tunnels was laid bare during its war with Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza in 2014, when Palestinian militants used dozens of secret passages dug from Gaza into Israel to carry out ambushes.

In September, Netanyahu identified three locations in Lebanon where he said Hezbollah was converting "inaccurate projectiles" into precision-guided missiles - something Lebanon's government has denied.

(Reporting by Stephen Farrell, Ari Rabinovitch, Maayan Lubell and Ori Lewis in Jerusalem, Tom Perry and Lisa Barrington in Beirut; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Gareth Jones)By Steve Scherer

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's Interior Minister Matteo Salvini clashed with one of the country's most respected judges on Tuesday after sending a congratulatory tweet for the arrest of "15 Nigerian mobsters" before the operation was complete.

Salvini sent a tweet at about 9 a.m. (0800 GMT) lauding the police dragnet in the northern city of Turin. That prompted the city's chief prosecutor, Armando Spataro, to issue a statement admonishing the minister for speaking out of turn.

The news was given "while the operation was (and still is) underway, risking to undermine it," said Spataro, who has traded barbs with Salvini before. "One should hope that, in future, the interior minister will avoid similar communications."

Spataro also said Salvini got the number of arrests wrong and that only some of the suspects were sought on mafia charges.

Salvini, who takes a tough stance on immigration, suggested in reply that it might be time for the 69-year-old Spataro to retire and wished him "a serene future as a pensioner".

"No one should be free to say that the interior minister put a police operation at risk because he congratulated them for a brilliant operation," Salvini said later in a Facebook live video stream, adding that a phone call could have cleared up the issue.

Salvini has regularly highlighted crimes committed by foreigners since taking office in June.

A savvy use of social media, combined with a nationalist "Italians first" message, has made Salvini's right-wing League party, one of the two in the ruling coalition, the most popular in Italy.

Spataro is known for his investigations into international terrorism, and in 2003 he spearheaded a delicate investigation into the "extraordinary rendition" to Egypt of a Milan imam, Abu Omar, by U.S. and Italian secret services.

In July, Spataro criticized Salvini's move to close Italy's ports to migrant rescue ships, saying it broke international law. Salvini responded: "Maybe the Turin prosecutor thinks all of Africa can be hosted by Italy?"

(Reporting by Steve Scherer, additional reporting by Francesca Piscioneri and Illaria Polleschi; Editing by Gareth Jones)The First Minister announced extra funding to tackle the global issue ahead of attending the UN conference.

Nicola Sturgeon has announced extra funding of 200,000 to tackle climate change as she heads to Poland for a global summit.

The 24th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP) is taking place in Katowice until December 14.

During the opening ceremony of #COP24, @UN Secretary-General @antonioguterres called for urgent #ClimateAction to reach the goals of the #ParisAgreement. He had four central messages for leaders from around the  pic.twitter.com/iaAJZmpaw3  UN Climate Change (@UNFCCC) December 3, 2018

The First Minister said the money will support the work of the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action, which promotes collaboration between governments, businesses and investors to lower emissions.

She said: Scotland has been widely praised internationally for our work to tackle climate change and I am absolutely determined that there will be no let-up in our efforts.

It requires everyone in society  individuals, businesses and governments  to play their part in changing behaviours, and Im pleased that the Scottish Government is able to support the Marrakech Partnership for Global Climate Action in its work.Qatar's Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani arrives to attend the Paris Peace Forum as part of the commemoration ceremony for Armistice Day, 100 years after the end of the First World War, in Paris, France, November 11, 2018. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

DOHA (Reuters) - Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, has received a written invitation from Saudi Arabia's King Salman to attend an annual Gulf Arab summit being held in Riyadh on Dec. 9, the Qatar News Agency said on Tuesday.

Qatar is locked in a bitter dispute with Saudi Arabia that has fractured the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and it has not said what level of representation it will send to the gathering of heads of state seen by analysts as unlikely to bring a diplomatic breakthrough.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and non-GCC member Egypt have imposed diplomatic, trade and transport sanctions on Qatar since June 2017, accusing it of supporting terrorism. Doha denies the charge.

At last year's GCC summit, held in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain sent ministers or deputy prime ministers, rather than heads of state.

The invite from the Saudi king comes a day after Qatar abruptly announced it was quitting OPEC after 57 years to focus on gas in an apparent swipe at the oil-producing bloc's de facto leader Saudi Arabia.

Doha's exit from OPEC has deepened the sense among diplomats and analysts that any prospect for a near-term resolution to the Gulf row was unlikely to come at the summit in Riyadh.

"I'm sure this summit will not bring any change," said Mahjoob Zweiri, director of the Gulf Studies Center at Qatar University.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE have repeatedly said that the dispute was not a high priority for them, and Qatar's foreign minister said last month he saw no thaw.

At an Arab League summit in Riyadh last April Qatar did not send a senior official and its delegation was headed instead by its permanent representative to the Arab League.

The row has defied mediation efforts by Kuwait and the United States which sees Gulf unity as essential to efforts to contain Iran.

The GCC was founded in 1980 as a bulwark against bigger neighbours Iran and Iraq, but the protracted row has undermined its role in regional affairs.

(Reporting by Eric Knecht and Mohamed El-Sherif; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg)A view of Duke Energys Marshall Power Plant in Sherrills Ford, North Carolina, U.S. November 29, 2018. REUTERS/Chris Keane

Thomson Reuters

By Tim McLaughlin

(Reuters) - Champions of coal say the superabundant fossil fuel can be made environmentally friendlier by refining it with chemicals  a clean coal technology backed by a billion dollars in U.S. government tax subsidies annually.

But refined coal has a dirty secret. It regularly fails to deliver on its environmental promises, as electric giant Duke Energy Corp found.

Duke began using refined coal at two of its North Carolina power plants in August 2012. The decision let the company tap a lucrative federal subsidy designed to help the American coal industry reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides  also known as NOx, the main contributor to smog and acid rain  along with other pollutants.

In nearly three years of burning the treated coal, the Duke power plants collected several million dollars in federal subsidies. But the plants also pumped out more NOx, not less, according to data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency analyzed by Reuters.

The NOx emission rate at Dukes Marshall Steam Station power plant in Sherrills Ford, North Carolina, for example, was between 33 percent and 76 percent higher in the three years from 2012 to 2014 than in 2011, the year before Marshall started burning refined coal, the EPA data shows.

The utility also discovered that one of the chemicals used to refine the coal, calcium bromide, had reached a nearby river and lakes  raising levels of carcinogens in the water supply for more than a million people in greater Charlotte.Duke stopped using refined coal at the plants in May 2015 because of the water pollution problems, said spokeswoman Erin Culbert. Bromide levels in the regions drinking water dropped sharply several months later, said Barry Gullett, the citys water director, in a 2015 memo.

Dukes experience reflects a fundamental problem with the U.S. clean coal incentive program, a Reuters examination has found. Refined coal shows few signs of reducing NOx emissions as lawmakers intended, according to regulatory documents, a Reuters analysis of EPA emissions data, and interviews with power plant owners, scientists and state environmental regulators.

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Consumption figures compiled by the U.S. Energy Information Administration show that American power plants are on track to burn about 160 million tons of clean coal in 2018  a fifth of the U.S. coal market. That amount would generate about $1.1 billion in incentives at the current tax credit amount of $7.03 per ton.

But most of the plants receiving the subsidy failed to reduce NOx emissions by 20 percent  the threshold required under the policy  in 2017 compared to 2009, the last year before they started burning refined coal, according to a Reuters analysis of EPA data on power plant emissions.

Reuters identified 56 plants that burned refined coal in 2017 using data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and disclosures from energy companies and refined-coal developers.

Only 18 of that group reduced NOx emissions by more than 20 percent in 2017 compared to 2009. And 15 of those 18 only reported the improvements after installing or upgrading pollution control equipment or switching a portion of power production to cleaner-burning fuel, complicating the question of whether their pollution reductions are attributable to refined coal.

At 22 of the 56 plants, NOx emissions were higher in 2017 while burning refined coal than they were when using raw coal in 2009.

As a group, the fleet of U.S. power plants that burn refined coal also underperformed the rest of the industry in cutting emissions of NOx, the Reuters analysis found. NOx emissions rates declined 19 percent among the 56 power plants that reported burning refined coal in 2017. That compares with a 29 percent reduction by 214 other coal-fired power plants over the same period.

The analysis included U.S. coal-fired power plants with at least 100 tons in annual NOx emissions in 2017.

Investors in plants that failed to show substantial NOx emission cuts collected the tax credit anyway because the Internal Revenue Service allows them to prove emissions reductions with laboratory tests. The results of those tests  conducted for several hours a couple of times a year  often do not translate to real-world improvements at plants that burn millions of tons of coal annually.

The IRS, which approves applications for the tax credit, declined to comment on the design or effectiveness of the testing regimen.

Its hard to hang your hat on refined coal as the way to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions, said Ron Sahu, an environmental engineer who has consulted with utility companies, the EPA and the U.S. Justice Department on power plant emissions.

Sahu, who reviewed the data and methodology used by Reuters, said the analysis shows refined coal has little to no impact in reducing NOx emissions at actual power plants.

Its clear that any benefit from refined coal can easily be overwhelmed by modest changes in combustion conditions at power plants, Sahu said. Its debatable that a tax credit should be given for NOx reduction.

Reuters sent its analysis of EPA emissions data to every major utility operating power plants that burn clean coal, along with the leading U.S. investors who finance clean coal facilities in partnerships designed to take advantage of the subsidy. Most companies declined to comment or did not respond. The handful that did respond did not contest the findings of the analysis.

We do agree with the overall assessment that emission controls have a more measurable impact on emissions reductions over refined coal, DTE Energy, a Detroit-based utility that uses refined coal, told Reuters.

The Edison Electric Institute, which represents the U.S. electric utility industry, did not respond to requests for comment.

The law requires all refined coal producers seeking the subsidy to show that burning their product can lead to a 20 percent cut in NOx emissions. The producers also must show a 40 percent reduction in either mercury or sulfur dioxide. They are given the choice of which of those two pollutants to target.

Refined coal investors tend to target mercury as the second pollutant for cuts, according to disclosures by the corporations involved in the program. Thats because reducing mercury emissions with refined coal is a cost-effective way for plants to comply with other, relatively new EPA regulations governing the pollutant. Utilities already have spent tens of billions of dollars on equipment to filter out sulfur dioxide, making additional reductions of that gas more difficult.

The subsidy program has been more successful at combating mercury than NOx, the analysis found. The mercury emission rate at power plants burning refined coal product, for example, fell 75 percent between 2009 and 2017, more than the 40 percent cut required to qualify for the subsidy. Some of those cuts can also be attributed to other pollution control measures, such as the installation of scrubbers that filter coal plant exhaust, according to the EPA.

High exposure to mercury can damage the intestines, kidney and nervous system, according to the EPA. Sulfur dioxide and NOx can cause lung damage.

The refined coal subsidy was adopted by Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush as part of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004, alongside credits for generating renewable energy from solar and wind. The legislation had broad bipartisan support and generated little public debate. The subsidy is set to expire in 2021, and coal-state lawmakers, including North Dakota Republican Congressman Kevin Cramer, are moving to extend it for another decade.

The tax-credit program is bridging the divide to make coal clean and beautiful, said Cramer, borrowing President Donald Trumps two favorite adjectives to describe coal.

Trump has promised to advance the interests of the coal industry to support blue-collar energy jobs. His administration has argued coal provides a more reliable fuel for power generation than natural gas, solar and wind, which can be more easily interrupted by pipeline problems or uncooperative weather.

The White House did not respond to requests for comment.

TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE

In one of the industrys first refined coal ventures, power plant operator Associated Electric Cooperative Inc in 2010 signed a 10-year deal with affiliates of Goldman Sachs Group Inc to burn refined coal at the New Madrid and Thomas Hill power plants in Missouri.

As a tax credit investor, Goldman worked with Advanced Emissions Solutions Inc to build refined coal facilities next to the cooperatives power plants. A refined coal operation typically costs about $6 million to develop, featuring new conveyor belts and sprayers to move and treat the coal with chemicals, according to presentations to investors by Advanced Emissions. Silos also are installed to store the refined coal chemicals.

The deal called for the utility to sell raw coal to the Goldman-led investment group at cost, and then buy it back at a discount after it was treated, saving the utility millions of dollars, disclosures show.

Goldman and its investment partners collected about $63 million in gross tax credits from the program in 2017, based on an estimate in Associateds annual report that its plants used 9 million tons of coal that year. Goldman Sachs declined to comment.

Associated had no upfront cost for the refined coal facility and contributes nothing to its annual operating costs. It forecast the arrangement would bring in $7 million to $9 million in annual revenue through at least 2018. The project at first was questioned as simply too good to be true, the utility wrote in its 50th anniversary report released in 2011.

The money-making deal also illustrates how the potential benefits of refined coal on air quality can be erased by a variety of complex factors.

The New Madrid plant in southeast Missouri, for example, has seen its production of NOx soar to a higher rate than any other U.S. coal plant while burning refined coal. In 2017, the plants NOx emission rate was 298 percent higher than it recorded in 2009, before New Madrid started burning clean coal, according to the EPA. During the first quarter of 2018, the rate jumped even further, to seven times the 2009 level.

Associated Electric said the increase in NOx emissions at New Madrid was due in part to the cooperatives purchasing tradable pollution credits through the U.S. cap-and-trade system. The market-based system sets an overall limit on pollution, and allows power plants that cut their pollution to earn credits that can be stockpiled or sold to other polluters. When large volumes of credits are generated, the cost of buying them can be lower than the cost of running pollution control equipment.

At times during the last seven years Associated has met compliance with emissions rules by purchasing NOx credits from the cap-and-trade markets, rather than running the control equipment all year, the electric cooperative said in a statement, which it issued through Goldman Sachs spokesman Michael DuVally.

The National Mining Association, which represents the U.S. coal industry, supports extending the tax credit. It said the cap-and-trade system was the primary reason NOx emissions went up at many power plants in the Reuters analysis. The association said clean coal lowers emissions, but provided no data to support the claim.

Duke Energy said in a statement that routine changes in electricity demand can also make clean coal ineffective in reducing NOx by changing boiler temperatures and catalyst conditions in pollution control devices.

Sahu, the environmental consultant, said refined coal is most effective at reducing NOx emissions when a utility burns the fuel at a relatively low temperature, something that typically occurs when electricity demands on the plant are low.

But using low temperatures over an extended period can also damage power plant boilers by causing corrosion and soot buildup, he said. Conversely, burning the coal at a relatively high temperature  more common during high-demand periods  can reduce the risk of damage but limit the effectiveness of smog reductions.

The Grand River Dam Authority stopped burning refined coal at its Oklahoma power plant last year because corrosion and other problems outweighed any upside, said John Wiscaver, head of GRDAs corporate communications.

We had too many problems with refined coal, he said.

TROUBLED WATERS

Refined coal has also led to contamination of water supplies for more than a million people, according to regulators and utility officials.

In 2012, the South Carolina Department of Health & Environmental Control noticed elevated levels of bromides, the chemicals used to treat refined coal, in the Santee Cooper-Lake Moultrie public water system, said Tommy Crosby, a spokesman for the agency.

The South Carolina plants refined coal operation stopped spraying bromide on the coal burned at the Cross Generating Station out of concern for the elevated levels of cancer-causing trihalomethanes, Crosby said, and the levels decreased within six months. Trihalomethanes are created when bromide mixes with the chlorine in treated drinking water.

The plants refined coal facility was financed by global insurance firm AJ Gallagher, Boston-based mutual fund giant Fidelity and a U.S. subsidiary of Frances Schneider Electric SE. Fidelity declined to comment on the elevated TTHM levels and pointed out that federal limits were not exceeded. Schneider Electric and AJ Gallagher declined to comment.

The North Carolina town of Mooresville, downstream of Dukes Marshall power plant, saw its trihalomethanes surge as high as 127 parts per billion at times in 2015, after the facility discharged bromide used to treat coal into a nearby lake, according to the towns drinking water quality report.

That did not trigger a violation of federal clean water rules because the towns annual average of 54 parts per billion that year was below the maximum trihalomethane contaminant level of 80 parts per billion. The same was true of the South Carolina plant, where trihalomethane levels in 2012 rose to 67 parts per billion.

Over the past decade, however, many studies have shown that exposure to trihalomethanes at much lower levels than the federal limit raises the risk of cancer and of problems during pregnancy. Some people who drink water containing TTHMs in excess of the maximum standard over many years may experience problems with their liver, kidneys, or central nervous system, and may have an increased risk of getting cancer, according to the EPA.

In 2016, the EPA included bromide in the Safe Water Drinking Act as an unregulated contaminant to be monitored by public water systems.

Research by Jeanne VanBriesen, director of Carnegie Mellon Universitys Center for Water Quality in Urban Environmental Systems, found that bromide additives used to reduce mercury could significantly boost trihalomethanes in drinking water supplies downstream of coal plants. Her 2017 study focused on 22 drinking water systems serving 2.5 million people in Pennsylvania.

Once Duke Energy halted refined coal operations at the North Carolina plant, bromide dropped about 75 percent in the nearby Catawba River, Zachary Hall, director of environmental science at Duke, said in a February 2017 deposition given to the Southern Environmental Law Center.

Duke officials concede that bromide applications contributed to the elevated trihalomethane levels.

While bromides from our facilities were not the sole cause, Dukes Culbert said, we felt it was important to partner with downstream water utilities and suspend the program.

(Reporting by Tim McLaughlin; Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Brian Thevenot)

See Also:A school in Blagnac, outside Toulouse, in southern France, was set on fire during a second day of student protests on December 4, causing significant damage to the building.

The fire spread to the Lycee Polyvalent Saint-Exupery after several garbage bins were set alight during protests over plans to reform the education system, France 3 reported.

On the same day, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced the suspension of a planned fuel tax hike, which had led to weeks of violent protests from the yellow jacket, or gilets jaunes, movement. Credit: @troiscatalans via StoryfulThe US special envoy tasked with negotiating an end to the 17-year war in Afghanistan has arrived in Pakistan for a meeting with political and military leaders about bringing the Taliban to peace talks.

Zalmay Khalilzads visit to Islamabad comes a day after US president Donald Trump wrote a letter to Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan, seeking his cooperation.

The aftermath of a recent Taliban suicide bomb attack in Kabul (AP)

Mr Khalilzad will also travel to Afghanistan, Russia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Belgium, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in a renewed effort to bring about an end to the conflict.

The US and Afghanistan have long accused Pakistan of turning a blind eye to the Taliban, whose leadership is based in Pakistan.

Islamabad says it has little influence on the Taliban but it will play a role in finding a peaceful solution in Afghanistan.Photo credit: Getty Images

From Good Housekeeping

New Years Eve can be pretty special. Its a transition between old and new; a fresh start that deserves to be marked with good company and good fireworks. Lots of fireworks.

While its sometimes tempting to spend NYE on the sofa with a bottle of wine (and theres also nothing wrong that), there are some pretty spectacular celebrations going on around the world that should definitely be on your bucket list.

Here are seven of the best destinations to bring in 2019. Well see you there.

Hong Kong

Photo credit: Getty Images

Victoria Harbour is the window to all that glitters on New Years Eve in Hong Kong, and theres no shortage of ways to take in the fireworks display. Make your way on foot to Golden Bauhinia Square or the Hong Kong Observation Wheel, or hop on a ferry and watch from the water.

Where to stay: The Renaissance Hong Kong Harbour View Hotel sits a short distance from a number of top vantage points.

Barcelona

Photo credit: Getty Images

Placa dEspanya is an excellent place to be in Barcelona at midnight, watching a huge lot of fireworks be let off from Montjuic, a small mountain that makes the backdrop to the square. Or, get yourself inside a bar and partake in one of Spains stranger traditions  eating 12 grapes at midnight, one for every time the bell dongs. Its harder than you think.

Where to stay: Gran Hotel Calderon on La Rambla Catalunya is smack bang in the centre of everything, and has a rooftop terrace for less crowded viewing spot.

Sydney

Photo credit: Getty Images

You cant beat being one of the first cities to bring in the new year, so Australia is a definitely one for the New Years Eve bucket list. The firework display over Sydney Harbour attracts a million observers each year, and you can watch it by boat or by reserving a table at one of the waterfront restaurants  though you need to get booking sharpish.

Where to stay: The best place to stay has to be The Four Seasons, which overlooks the harbour itself.

Edinburgh

Hogmanay celebrations begin on 30th December with a torchlit procession through Old Town and continue through the evening of 1st January. With events ranging from concerts to a New Years Day polar plunge, travellers have no shortage of ways to spend their time-but the exquisite New Years Eve fireworks over Edinburgh Castle is the one must-see event.

Story continues

Where to stay: The Balmoral is famous for offering rooms just steps away from the Castles esplanade, offering easy access to the views of the fireworks and a walk home when the night is over.

New York

Photo credit: Getty Images

In the city that never sleeps, New Years Eve is one big party. The world-famous midnight ball drop on Times Square has to be done at some point in your life. Or if you want to do it like a local, head to Brooklyn and watch the fireworks from Prospect Park.

Where to stay: The Townhouse Elegance on 5th Ave is a walking distance of Central Park, and is the place to have a home away from home with friends.

Vienna

Photo credit: Getty Images

The entirety of Vienna is turned over to celebration for the New Year. The Sylvesterpfad (the New Years Path) begins at 2pm on 31st December and ends at 2am on January 1st, complete with concerts in the streets, all night restaurants and bars and of course, a stunning firework display. Or, you can go to the world famous New Years Ball at the Imperial Palace.

Where to stay: Melia Vienna is located in the tallest skyscraper in Austria, meaning the rooms provide sweeping views of the city and its New Years celebrations.

Rio de Janeiro

Photo credit: Getty Images

The New Years Eve celebration on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro boasts warm waters and stunning fireworks. Between 2 and 3 million people descend on the beach every year, and the decision to join them is a commitment, but one of the best parties on the globe.

Where to stay: Stay in a Luxurious Penthouse in the heart of Copacabana if the beach party isnt quite your thing - it will guarantee you a pretty good view from the rooftop, after all.

('You Might Also Like',)This past weekend saw a host of Krampus activity throughout Central Europe with more Krampus Nacht and Krampus Run events starting tomorrow and the coming weekend.

In recent years Krampuslauf (Krampus Run) and Krampusnacht (Krampus Night) celebrations and events have enjoyed a resurgence in many parts of Europe, the UK, and have become increasingly popular in North America. Krampusnacht occurs on the night of December 5, heralding The Feast St. Nicholas on December 6. The most common visual representation of the Krampus is an anthropomorphic goat, reminiscent of a satyr who has turned to the dark side.

In myth and lore alike, those who have been good can expect St Nicholas to visit and leave them a gift of some sort, but those who have been naughty hope Krampus loses their address. Folk stories tell us that Krampus brandishes a bundle switches, sometimes a large stick, or even a bag of ashes, with which to flog those who have misbehaved the previous year. Krampus, perhaps, may smear their faces with ash or cart them off to some dark place for a year or possibly forever. In all accounts the Krampus is a fearsome figure.

The specific origins of Krampus arent clear. In some accounts the Krampus is depicted as pre-dating Christianity and being a part of pre-Germanic Paganism, going so far as to claim the Krampus grew out of Norse mythology as the son of the Goddess Hel. There is no source material to confirm any connection to Norse mythology at all. The folklore on the Krampus varies widely depending on which country, what time period, and which author is sourcedmany depictions have St Nicholas and Krampus working together as a team.

Digging into the folklore of the Krampus, there are a number of characters in a variety of European countries that are similar in function. According to Al Ridenour in his 2016 book, The Krampus and the Old, Dark Christmas: Roots and Rebirth of the Folkloric Devil the Krampus tradition seems to have been most prominent in Austria and Bavaria, being the strongest in western Austria. Ridenour cites this region as the most probable provenance of the Krampus. There are other figures like Knecht Ruprecht (German), Pere Fouettard (Alsace region of France), Schmutzli (Switzerland), and even Zwarte Piet (Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxemborg) that bear a striking resemblance to the Krampus in function if not always in appearance. It seems more likely that rather being an individual, the Krampus could be category or type of entity.

There are quite a few misconceptions when it comes to the Krampus, even beyond its origin. Modern depictions of the Krampus in stories, cinema, and even television help to proliferate these questionable and likely incorrect ideas to the point that even the magazine National Geographic got much of it wrong in a 2013 article, which is widely quoted and linked in other articles. Smithsonian Magazine also gets some of the lore wrong and links to the National Geographic article. Add to the mix the confusion of St. Nicholas (Catholic) and Santa Claus (Protestant) being the same and it is no wonder that the Krampus has become the Christmas Devil.

At other points in history the Krampus tradition was popular enough to even generate postcards with its image on it. Austria in 1869 became the first country to deliver postcards and by the late 1880s, Krampuskarten (Krampus cards) began to circulate. The artists who created these images were fairly influenced by both Pagan ideals and Catholic rhetoric. This might be especially true when considering that the image of Pan likely became the model for the Christian faith.

One of the possible links that Ridenour reveals in his book is the Krampuss connection to the spirits of the dead. If you consider the origin of the word Krampus is likely derived from the Middle German word kralle (claw) and possibly in combination with the Bavarian term krampn which refers to something dried out, shriveled, and lifeless, it seems natural to draw a parallel between Krampus and the dead. In many of the stories of St. Nicholas he travels with an assortment of Krampus-like figures that appear dark and raggedy, and even mark those warranting it with ash or a mixture of ash and lard. Ridenour asserts a possible connection to The Wild Hunt, which is often composed of slain warriors or soldiers.

Whatever the origin of the Krampus, he seems to be quite literally the devil to get rid of. There are unconfirmed stories that the Catholic Church attempted to banish the tradition around the 12th century, if it even existed as such at that time. If it did exist, and the Church tried to discourage it, they were clearly not effective since the Krampus has endured. One factual account of the Krampus tradition actually being prohibited occurred in the mid-1930s in Austria under the Nazi Party. In the 1950s the Austrian government probably fueled by a religious faction, issued pamphlets proclaiming Krampus Is an Evil Man. That effort was short-lived since towards the end of the 20th century, the Krampus was back again and has been gaining popularity.Timothy Aubry in The Chronicle of Higher Education:

However inclined by their training to vacillate, scholars in the humanities are increasingly being asked to take sides. Should they support or oppose their students efforts to ban a reactionary speaker from campus? Should they defend the feminist philosopher who affirms the possibility of transracial identity or join those demanding her article be retracted? Should they remove an influential writer from the syllabus because of his fascist sympathies? Should they sign the petition urging their professional organization to join the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaign against Israel? So much of academic life seems colored by high-stakes political struggles, and so many decisions large and small are now treated as gestures of allegiance to particular ideological camps and as betrayals of others. Its difficult to even list these polarizing campus scenarios without attracting political labels.

Literary scholars will very likely regard this situation as nothing new. Their discipline, after all, has been insisting for decades that everything is political. As far back as 1968, a group of radical scholars sought to take over the Modern Language Associations annual conference. Louis Kampf was arrested for taping a poster to the wall of the conference hotel announcing that The Tygers of Wrath are Wiser than the Horses of Instruction, and Noam Chomsky led a Vietnam War teach-in with 500-plus attendees. Then, as anyone even glancingly familiar with the culture wars of the 1980s and 1990s knows, the emphasis on politics gave birth to an attitude of suspicion toward the canon. While authors like Shakespeare and Woolf were sometimes celebrated for their works subversive power, many others, like Conrad, were condemned for reinforcing dominant ideologies. The urge to dethrone literary heroes on the basis of their bad politics has persisted up to the present moment, gaining strength as the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements have emerged. The past year witnessed an especially heated debate about how to treat Junot Diazs work in light of allegations that he sexually harassed several women, with many now identifying conspicuous signs of misogyny in his fiction, while other scholars have maintained that he is being scapegoated because of his ethnic background.

More here.Along with cling-clanging cable cars, a certain Tony Bennett ballad, and tourists freezing in July thanks to Karl's foggy wrath, Zuni Cafe's roast chicken is an icon of San Francisco.

Food writers, Yelpers, and bloggers tend to be promiscuous in bandying about such words as essential and life-changing; but when it comes to the Zuni chicken, this particular legendary dish fits the billand is always worth the hour-long wait.

You could take it one step farther and contend (without much debate) that Zuni Cafe is singularly emblematic of SF diningin just the same way that Chez Panisse is synonymous with California cuisine; its employment of local, seasonal ingredients, the rustic wood-fired brick oven, bustling bar area, slight Mediterranean vibe, wide-ranging clientele, and prime location on the city's main thoroughfare have made Zuni the gold standard for restaurants here since the late chef Judy Rodgers joined as partner in 1987. And the roast chicken? Zuni's surprising signature.

Why surprising? We're talking about roast chicken here. Roast chicken! It's usually the most boring item on a restaurant's menuthe one reserved for diners who order plain vanilla ice cream at dessert. But thanks to Chef Rodgers, no San Franciscan will ever think about roast chicken the same way again. She created a recipe that changed how foodies think of roast chickenand one that is now the grand-mere to a host of modern riffs at some of the city's most popular eateries.

The famous Zuni Cafe roast chicken. (Trevor Felch)

There are just four ingredients required for making Zuni chicken magic (well, five if you count water): fresh sprigs of herbs (marjoram, thyme, rosemary, or sage), sea salt, ground black pepper, and the bird itself. That's all for the brine, which begins one or more days ahead of serving time. The rest is all about the brick oven, timing, and high heat that creates the brilliantly crispy, sweet-and-nutty-tasting (think aged Madeira and you'll recognize it) skin that is the Zuni chicken's hallmark. In three chicken-focused visits over the past two years, I've found the breast pieces to be slightly dry (so many chicken dishes are), but each serving has also come with perfectly moist wings and thighs with that signature texture-flavor combination of the skin.

Anyone who has enjoyed the roast chicken here knows that the accompanying chicken juice- and olive oil vinaigrette-saturated bread saladspecked with dried currants, pine nuts, scallions, and mustard greensis what really lifts the poultry onto a whole new plane from its peers. The duo just plain works, and Zuni gets even more bonus points for the visually beautiful presentation of a large platter with the salad in the center, seemingly spilling out over the chicken pieces like dry ice mysteriously cloaking the star attraction. The smokiness, the crunch, the tangy vinaigrette, the blast of fragrant herbs from the chicken skinit's just a glorious experience, and one perfect for group celebrations. That's rightthis chicken is a party.

No matter how many restaurants have clucked forward with their own roast chickens in recent years, none can replicate the experience at Zuni. But there's one giving it a run for its money in popularity, and that's RT Rotisserie, Evan and Sarah Rich's sophomore venture located just three blocks away from the venerable cafe.

RT Rotisserie's roast chicken and sides. (Kassie Borreson)

Think of how a dynamic herb rub can transform pork loin and pork belly into a beautifully fragrant porchetta and you'll have an idea of how RT Rotisserie is getting it done. Like Zuni's, RT's chicken is brined, but the 24-hour brine is buttermilk-based and then spiked with dried porcini mushroom umami powder, garlic, and Douglas fir. Typical? Hardly. Then the brined chicken is hung to dry out for two days allowing the brine's flavor to really concentrate in the meat and help the skin have a healthier crisp when it takes its spin in the rotisserie. The chicken is roasted first, followed by a little time in the broiler before serving so that each piece gets that coveted, crispy Zuni-like skin. Here is the difference between a rotisserie and a brick oven: the latter does all the work for you.

RT Rotisserie wraps up the preparation with a lemon wedge garnish, some fried garlic, and a fresh herb sprinkling that tends to be heavy on dill and mint. It's not exactly the Zuni bread salad in terms of excitement, but it does accomplish a similar feat of brightening up an otherwise homey dish. For the record, the Zuni chicken will set you back $63 (for two people) and a full hour of wait time; fast-casual RT Rotisserie spins out $10 half chickens and $19 whole chickens with dipping sauces (you can also order in sandwich form) in a matter of minutes.

So does the classic or the newcomer win? When it comes to value and even consistency, the young RT Rotisserie take the trophy. But when Zuni is on its game, and we have a bite of that bread salad with a perfectly moist chicken thigh (and maybe a martini), there is nowhere else we'd rather be in San Francisco.

// Zuni Cafe, 1658 Market St. (Mid-Market), zunicafe.com; RT Rotisserie, 101 Oak St. (Hayes Valley), rtrotisserie.com.Lunaticoutpost.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program , anaffiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.Amazon, the Amazon logo, MYHABIT, and the MYHABIT logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.Don't be a pest to the forum.No profanity in thread-titles or usernamesNo excessive profanity in postsNo Racism, Antisemitism + HateNo calls for violence against anyone..This website exists for fun and discussion only. The reader is responsible for discerning the validity, factuality or implications of information posted here, be it fictional or based on real events. The content of posts on this site, including but not limited to links to other web sites, are the expressed opinion of the original poster and are in no way representative of or endorsed by the owners or administration of this website. The posts on this website are the opinion of the specific author and are not statements of advice, opinion, or factual information on behalf of the owner or administration of LunaticOutPost.Com. The owners or administration of this website can't be hold responsible for content hosted on sites that posters link to in; including, but not limited to, posts, signatures, private messages and such. This site may contain content not suitable for minors and if you feel you might be offended by such content, you should log off immediately.This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Users may make such material available in an effort to advance awareness and understanding of issues relating to civil rights, economics, individual rights, international affairs, liberty, science & technology, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.In accordance with industry accepted best practices we ask that users limit their copy / paste of copyrighted material to the relevant portions of the article you wish to discuss (no more than 50% of the source material) provide a link back to the original articleIf you are a legal copyright holder or a designated agent for such and you believe a post on this website falls outside the boundaries of "Fair Use" and legitimately infringes on yours or your clients copyright please contact [email protected] This website is owned by :Marco ZwaneveldDrijfriemstraat 522516 XR The HagueNetherlands.I will not rent, sell, share or otherwise disclose your personal information to any third party.We might contact you from time to time regarding your purchases or the services (like forums and announcement lists) you have subscribed to.Some of the 3rd party advertisers on lunaticoutpost.com may use cookiesto track peformance and/or to serve relevant ads.If you wish to read more and/or opt out of such cookies, please visit: http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices/When enemies not enemies? And why we should be thankful for them?I first met the man who would become Americas 41st president in 1968. He was a Houston congressman, and I was a young reporter for a local TV and radio station. My first impression was how kind he was to this kid who had just moved to Texas from the Washington, D.C., area and was just starting to learn the language, like fixing to go and yall.

Everyone who worked for George H.W. Bush, or knew him, has a story to tell. I have several.

Mr. Bush was a letter writer like none other. I think I have an almost complete collection of his notes and letters, some typed, some handwritten, from every position he held in public life. These include congressman, Republican National Committee chairman, chief liaison officer to the Peoples Republic of China, U.N. ambassador, CIA director, vice president and president.

When he became president, I wrote him a congratulatory note and he responded on White House stationery. I later told him I was keeping the letter just in case you amount to something. He laughed.

One time we were scheduled to meet at Walkers Point, the Bush family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine, where they had vacationed for decades. Bush had to cancel due to an unexpected visit from an ambassador. Apparently concerned that my feelings would be hurt, he instructed an aide to get a phone number where he could call me. I gave him a payphone number at a local hardware store  this was before cellphones had become ubiquitous  and he called to apologize.

Our last meeting was two years ago at Walkers Point, and this time he didnt cancel. My youngest daughter was with me. We were told that the president sometimes appeared to doze off, but that he was listening. We had a wonderful visit, recalling Houston days. He asked questions, and seemed lucid and interested in talking politics and world events.

On one visit to the Oval Office when he was president, he sat behind the desk and I sat in a chair next to him. When I showed his son, the 43rd president, that picture some years later, he motioned me over to the same desk, we sat down and the picture was replicated. I have both hanging in my office.

Bush was not a favorite of conservatives, who believed he would be the third term of his predecessor, Ronald Reagan. When he promised a kinder, gentler nation, some thought he was being critical of Reagan. In fact, a case could be made that it wasnt Reagan who was unkind and ungentle, but his critics.

Bush faltered when he broke his read my lips, no new taxes pledge in exchange for a promise by congressional Democrats to cut spending. The Democrats got their tax increase, but didnt deliver on spending cuts. He also took heat for nominating David Souter to the Supreme Court. Souter was sold to him as a conservative by Chief of Staff John Sununu, but he turned out to rule with the courts liberal wing. Still, he gave conservatives Clarence Thomas, a solid constitutional originalist.

As president, Bush brought just the right attitude to the collapse of the Soviet Union, warning Americans they should not engage in triumphalism over the collapse of the communist regime  many celebrated, anyway  and the end of the Cold War because of the uncertainty of what might follow. He also ordered the military to oust Saddam Husseins forces after they had invaded Kuwait, a highly successful operation.

Any epitaph on the life of George H.W. Bush must include at least three words: character, honor and integrity. From his service in World War II to his political career and post-presidency, not to mention his faithfulness to Barbara, his wife of 73 years.

Perhaps one of the reasons he seems so attractive is his contrast with the current bitter and corrosive political climate. We are not likely to see his kind again, but we will have his memory and example to recall when considering the definition of the word gentleman.

Email: tcaeditors@tribpub.com. (c) 2018 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.A University of New Mexico neurologist has recently started a monthly clinic specializing in care for women with epilepsy during pregnancy so they can deliver healthy babies.

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder which can occur at any age. It is characterized by unpredictable seizures that can cause convulsions or loss of awareness. Roughly three to five out of every 1,000 births in the U.S. are to women who have epilepsy, according to Annapoorna Bhat, a doctor who launched the clinic during the summer.

Bhat, an assistant professor in the UNM Department of Neurology, said women with epilepsy are considered at high risk for obstetrical complications. A grand mal seizure, which causes loss of consciousness and violent muscle contractions, can compromise blood flow to the fetus. Milder seizures which result in a momentary lapse in awareness can leave a person confused for several minutes, leading to a risk in falls.

Thats the reason we want to control seizures during pregnancy, Bhat said.

She saw the need for the clinic after noticing that women with the seizure disorder often had to wait several months to see an epilepsy specialist, often putting them past their delivery due date.

She said it is important to ensure that the patient is on the right medication and taking the correct dosage to manage their symptoms during pregnancy. Bhat and her staff at the clinic at the Neuroscience Center at UNM Hospital see patients monthly. She said its important to monitor medication and adjust the dosage as the mother-to-bes body changes while her pregnancy progresses.

Bhat encourages women with epilepsy to work with their medical providers to get on the right medication before they become pregnant.

Studies show that if they did well on a particular medication before they got pregnant, they will continue to do well after they become pregnant, Bhat said. However, she said, many pregnancies are unplanned and staff at her clinic will work to optimize medication and adjust dosages as needed.

Once the mother has delivered her baby, she comes for a post-partum visit at the clinic to re-adjust the medication and check if breast feeding is going well. After that that they can go to a regular clinic.

Bhat said the clinic accepts Medicaid and private health insurance and is open to women from anywhere in New Mexico. Patients must be referred by their medical provider. The clinic can be reached by calling 505-272-3160. Referrals must be faxed to 505-272-9427. Bhat recommends sending records of any blood work and brain imaging.

Presbyterian Healthcare Services also offers specialized care for expectant women with epilepsy.

Dr. Tushar Dandade, medical director for the womens program at Presbyterian, said Presbyterian takes a multidisciplinary approach involving obstetricians, neurologists and neonatologists in planning the care and treatment of women with seizure disorders.

He said the Presbyterian team typically works with the patients personal provider in the ongoing care during pregnancy.

Patients who are on anti-seizure medications are screened to ensure they are on medications with the least side effects for mother and baby, he said.SANTA FE  Prominent New Mexico Republicans are picking sides in a state party leadership race.

In a Monday memo to state GOP central committee members, former House Speaker Don Tripp announced his endorsement of Albuquerque businessman John Rockwell, who is running for party chairman against outgoing U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce.

Meanwhile, Pearce has secured the backing of several current state GOP lawmakers, including recently elected House Minority Leader James Townsend of Artesia and Rep. Yvette Herrell of Alamogordo, who was defeated in her bid for the 2nd Congressional District seat that Pearce is vacating.

State Republican Party insiders will meet Saturday in Albuquerque to pick a new party chairman after an election in which Democrats won all statewide offices on the ballot and picked up eight seats in the state House of Representatives.

Pearce announced his candidacy shortly after being defeated by Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham in New Mexicos governors race. Despite running for the party chairman post, he has not ruled out a 2020 run for his current congressional seat, according to a campaign spokesman.

Pearce, a Hobbs resident, has said he would rebuild the state Republican Party, which has been roiled by infighting in recent years. After this years general election, several loyalists to Gov. Susana Martinezs political machine lashed out at current state GOP leaders.

However, Rockwell, who ran unsuccessfully for GOP chairman in 2012 and 2016, has said Pearce would represent a status quo choice at a time when Republicans should be seeking change.

In his endorsement memo, Tripp said Rockwell would implement a bottom-up strategy that would emphasize local elections. He also suggested Republicans have been focused on high-priced consultants at the expense of empowering candidates.

A Socorro resident whose wife, Rosie, is a Republican National Committee member, Tripp was speaker of the House from 2015 through 2016, when Republicans held a majority in the chamber. He resigned from the Legislature in January 2017 after Democrats reclaimed control of the House.

Whoever is elected to a two-year term as state party chairman will take over the partys reins from Ryan Cangiolosi, who is not seeking re-election. New Mexico Democrats are expected to pick a new party leader of their own next spring.

Dan Boyd: dboyd@abqjournal.comMayor Tim Keller released his administrations legislative priorities for the 2019 New Mexico legislative session Monday, focusing on public safety, childrens issues, addressing homelessness, and creating jobs.

Were setting our sights on tangible projects that can make a real difference in our communities, Keller said in a statement.

By topic, the mayor in a news release, proposed:

On public safety:

 Improved radio technology for better coordination between all emergency service providers in Albuquerque and the surrounding area

 DNA processing automation to help resolve the rape kit backlog and ensure timely processing

 Dedicated funding to support public safety, and infrastructure and equipment needs

 Money for electronic gunshot detection

 More support for the APD Gun Intelligence Center to solve gun-related crimes

 Updates to the police academy to better equip officers for community policing

 Anti-auto theft technology money to reduce and better solve auto theft crimes.

 Bunker gear to prevent risk of contracting cancer among first responders

On homelessness:

 Operating funds for expanded hours of operation for a 24/7 emergency shelter with crisis triage support

 Construction of two centrally located shelter facilities with onsite supportive services

On childrens issues:

 Money for two new child development centers on the West Side

 More support for pre-K programs

 Public library in the International District

On job creation:

 First phase of redevelopment at the Rail Yards

 Adding Balloon Fiesta Park access improvements

 Roadway improvements at Central and Unser

 Increasing job training funding for the film industry through JTIP

 KiMo Theater repairs to support Albuquerques creative economy.

 Full funding for Local Economic Development Act so that the city can expand economic opportunities

On inclusive Albuquerque:

 ADA updates to sidewalks and intersections throughout Albuquerque

 Animal welfare upgradesHere we go again.

The federal government is at the precipice of another shutdown, this time a partial one, if Congress cant reach an agreement soon on seven outstanding appropriations bills. The deadline to pass those bills is Friday at midnight, but the funeral for former President George H.W. Bush complicated that schedule, so the lawmakers have agreed to push the deadline back two weeks, until Dec. 21.

Lets take a quick look at all that is at stake this month.

  -Why would it be a partial shutdown?

Lawmakers were quite proud of themselves this year when they were able to pass brand new spending bills for important areas such as defense, education, veterans affairs and energy, so all of those related agencies and programs are securely funded for fiscal 2019. But Congress couldnt finish seven other appropriations bills before the midterms, so lawmakers packaged them together in a short-term continuing resolution that they set to expire Friday. Those include funding for the departments of Homeland Security, Commerce, State, Justice and Interior, among others. With limited time before the end of the year, all the bills will need to pass as one big omnibus, which means any sticking point could upend the whole thing. Which brings us to . . .

  -Whats the major sticking point?

Simply, the biggest issue is funding for President Donald Trumps border wall. Its his signature issue, one that hes been promising since the early days of his campaign (back when he said Mexico would pay for it), and now he says hed allow the government to shut down if the spending package doesnt include $5 billion for his wall. The Democrats have conceded to $1.67 billion for enhanced border security, but Trump isnt satisfied. Meanwhile, some Democrats wonder why a deal was made in the first place, especially one that didnt include protections for dreamers, the undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children.

  

Wait. You said the Justice Department would shut down? What about the Mueller investigation?

Just because the government shuts down doesnt mean everything grinds to a halt. Essential personnel keep working, and federal programs often have enough funds to keep operating. The special counsel currently investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election would continue its work. Special counsel Robert Muellers office is funded from a permanent indefinite appropriation and would be unaffected in the event of a shutdown, a Justice Department spokesperson told CNN on Wednesday. The appropriations bills before Congress do not touch the special counsels office.

  -So, what would shut down?

Thats hard to say. The agencies are all responsible for putting together shutdown contingency plans. But if prior government shutdowns are a guide, perhaps the most visible effect is the closing of national parks across the country. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers could be furloughed without pay (though Congress usually approves back pay). But most of the governments most pressing responsibilities continue, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget: In prior shutdowns, border protection, in-hospital medical care, air traffic control, law enforcement and power grid maintenance were among the services classified as essential, while some legislative and judicial staff had been largely protected. Mandatory spending not subject to annual appropriations, such as for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, also continues. Other examples of activities that continue are those funded by permanent user fees not subject to appropriations, such as immigration services funded by visa fees

  -Remind me what happened in the last shutdown?

There as a shutdown for two days at the beginning of this year, but the biggie was in 2013. It was fall 2013, and the major fight was over funding the Affordable Care Act. Republicans in the House refused to fund the government unless Obamacare was defunded. The idea to hold the rest of the government hostage to kill the health care law was spawned by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. You may remember his 21-hour filibuster, in which he famously read his daughter Green Eggs and Ham through C-SPAN. But as the shutdown wore on, some moderate Republicans realized that optically they were going to be blamed for it and started working on a plan to get the government running again. Slowly they peeled off enough Republicans to support reopening the government. The bill passed with all Democrats and 87 Republicans supporting it, a rare moment when the majority leadership let a bill come to the floor knowing it wouldnt receive majority support from its caucus.

  -Was there any political fallout last time?

Yes and no. Immediately after the 16-day shutdown, the public overwhelmingly blamed Republicans. But by next years midterms, Republicans expanded their majority in the House and took over the Senate, so they gained power. Now that is probably despite the shutdown shenanigans, not because of them, but voters didnt hold it against them for long. So, while its likely that Republicans would get blamed again if the government shuts down this time, its hard to say what the long-term electorate effects of that will be. (In other words, will anyone care by 2020?)

  -So what now?

Well, on Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and presumptive incoming Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., are headed to the White House for a private, no-Republicans-invited, sit-down with Trump to discuss funding the government. Trump seems to like Chuck and Nancy, and it wouldnt be unheard of that they emerge with a deal that is later scuttled by Republicans in Congress. The pressure is going to be on Pelosi not to make a deal, though, especially since she still needs her caucus support to secure the speakership in January. Whats likely to happen is that theyll agree to a continuing resolution (the technical name for kicking the can down the road) to keep the government funded until at least Dec. 21.

  -But its Christmas!

Yes, and theres nothing lawmakers hate more than spending the holidays at the Capitol. Their eagerness to get home could motivate them to get these bills done, but that doesnt solve the problem of Trump threatening not to sign anything without border wall money. And it wouldnt be unprecedented for Congress to work through the holidays. In 2009, the Senate stayed to vote on the Affordable Care Act and passed it on Christmas Eve. Then, in 2012, both chambers spent New Years Eve in the Capitol to negotiate a deal to avoid a fiscal cliff.

  -This seems like a really inefficient way to govern, no?

Yes, and its somewhat of a recent phenomenon, particularly this now-common occurrence of bringing the government right to the brink of shutting down because Congress cant get through the appropriations process. Its more than a little ironic that this battle is getting sidelined to memorialize Bush who, as president, worked with Democrats in Congress to balance the budget through tax increases and spending cuts and who said during his inaugural address, The American public did not send us here to bicker.



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Video: Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer on Nov. 27 said Democrats would not agree to President Trumps request for $5 billion to fund a southern border wall.(The Washington Post)A beloved former Rio Rancho High School science teacher who died on Thanksgiving Day at the age of 49 is being remembered by friends, family and colleagues for his compassion and ability to inspire students to get outside to experiment and observe.

Matthew Farley had been a science teacher, walking the RRHS hallways for 17 years until June 26, 2017, when his Volkswagen was rear-ended by a speeding, allegedly impaired driver while he was stopped for a red light at the intersection of Academy and Eubank NE in Albuquerque.

He was rushed to a hospital in critical condition and remained in a coma until eventually succumbing to traumatic brain injuries nearly 17 months later. He leaves behind his wife of 17 years, Karen, and the couples two sons, Collin and Gavin.

A 53-year-old Albuquerque woman has been indicted on multiple charges in connection to the crash.

Just 16 days before he passed away, Farley had been chosen by the Environmental Education Association of New Mexico to receive the New Mexico Outstanding Environmental Educator award for 2018.

That nomination was for the person many considered to be, as the award noted, a nature explorer extraordinaire, who inspired his students to get outside and experiment, measure, observe, examine, test, gather and play in the Rio Grande.

During his career at RRHS, he played a key role in the development of the successful series of Advanced Placement environmental science and zoology courses there.

Exceptional teacher. Great loss. A long-standing member of the SciMatics Academy family, texted Russ Fisher-Ives, a former science teacher at RRHS.

RRHS colleague Jennifer Miyashiro penned on the schools website: He originally came to New Mexico to work at the Albuquerque BioPark (aquarium) but then  to our great fortune  turned his sights to teaching. Many students remember him as the compassionate, patient, enthusiastic and relatable Zoology and AP Environmental Science teacher who kept a menagerie of animals in his classroom and who took his students on eye-opening field trips to the Rio Grande bosque.  He was an irreplaceable member of the science department and he is sorely missed by his Ram Family. 

The District Attorneys Office said Carol Sanchez, who was indicted in April on multiple charges connected to the crash, could face more serious charges in the wake of Farleys death.

She already is charged with great bodily harm by vehicle, driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs, possession of a methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia, and leaving the scene of an accident.

Sanchez was driving south on Eubank when she rear-ended Farleys vehicle, which then struck other nearby vehicles, causing a six-vehicle collision, according to a police report. Multiple people, including Farley and Sanchez, were taken to a local hospital after the wreck.

The police said in their initial crash report that Sanchez disregarded traffic signals and was inattentive. The police also said excessive speed was a contributing factor to the crash.

According to a court filing, Sanchezs attorney said she was having a seizure, which caused the crash.

A toxicology screen found traces of amphetamines, methamphetamines and antidepressants, and seizure medication in her system, according to court documents.

Prosecutors have been in contact with the family since opening the case and the plan was to not be in a rush to indict due to the condition of Matthew, said Michael Patrick, a spokesman for the District Attorneys Office. At the time, he was in a vegetative state and if he took a turn for the worse, it would impact how we would charge the case.

RRHS English teacher Leslie Keeney said she, Farley, and teachers Jennifer Miyashiro and Teresa Walker were a close-knit group for the past 17 years, eating lunch together almost every Tuesday, among other times we spent together.

Added her husband, Rob, also a longtime teacher at RRHS, Matt was the kind of person who always did things right. He was kind to his students, staff at the school, parents and everyone he met. And his concern was real. He was truly interested in how someones day was. Not just to be polite, but because he genuinely cared about them. He shared in their joys and their sorrows in a way so rare in this world of ours.

Matt Farley is one of the best teachers I have had the honor to work with. He loved what he taught and he loved that he got to teach it to the next generation, Miyashiro added.

One of his former students recalled Farley as outgoing and caring.

There are always many students in a school that have no place to go, and Mr. Farley seemed to have room in his heart for all of us, said Cole Holderman, RRHS Class of 2015 valedictorian who is due to graduate from Stanford University in May. After riding my bike to school early in the mornings, I would lay down in the hallway and try to get a little bit more sleep before the school day began. Without fail, Mr. Farley was always among one of the first teachers to arrive and many of my days started with a conversation with him.

Yes, he was a very popular teacher and is missed daily, RRHS Principal Sherri Carver said. Such a tragedy!

Journal staff writer Ryan Boetel contributed to this report.SANTA FE  The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a complaint with the New Mexico Human Rights Bureau on behalf of an African-American university student who was reported to Santa Fe police for being arrogant, because hes black by an Allsups convenience store employee.

People have a right to enter stores and other public accommodations without fear that they will be discriminated against or endangered because of the color of their skin, said Leon Howard, ACLU of New Mexico legal director, in news release.

What happened to our client is one of many recent incidents where people of color, especially black people, have had the police called on them for simply existing in public spaces. This kind of racist and illegal behavior puts people of color in grave danger, and we will not tolerate it in our communities.

On the night of Aug. 3, Jordan McDowell, a pre-med student at Xavier University in New Orleans, was visiting Santa Fe in connection with a class trip when he went to the Allsups at 650 Cerrillos Rd., near his hotel.

McDowell later shared a cellphone video he made with KRQE-TV that attracted national media attention. It shows the female Allsups employee presumably on the phone with the regional dispatch center after making a 911 call.

And I want him out of the store right now, she said. Because hes being arrogant, because hes black. A police dispatch log indicates the employee said there was a kid at the store who is black and she wanted him removed. It also says that he was being a jerk.

A police recording shows that she later told a police officer whom McDowell flagged down outside the store, Hes not the only one that I do that (expletive) to, because you see all the natives that walk in here, the drunks or whoever.

To date, no representative of Allsups has offered an apology for their employees racist behavior towards McDowell, the ACLU said in its Tuesday release. Allsups had no comment on the incident in August and no one from its corporate headquarters returned a call Tuesday.

Its frightening that, for people who look like me, a casual stop for snacks can end up with a confrontation with police, said McDowell in the news release. Its a terrible feeling to face discrimination like that. No person should ever be turned away or have the police called on them simply because of the color of their skin. Seeking a finding from the Human Rights Bureau is often a predecessor to civil ligiation.

Santa Fe police said in August that they did not dispatch an officer after the Allsups worker called 911 because no crime had been committed and there was no threat. When McDowell got the attention of an officer who was passing by, the resulting encounter was recorded by the officer.

McDowell told the officer he was in the store and bought some candy. But before he did, he said, the Allsups employee told him, Hey, youre looking sketchy, youre looking sketchy. Youre picking stuff up, youre putting stuff down; youre looking sketchy and told him to leave.LAS CRUCES, N.M.  An exhausted Alonzo Juan Jose sat still on a cot inside a shelter in southern New Mexico. For six days, the 24-year-old migrant from Huehuetenango, Guatemala, says he and his 5-month-old daughter, Allison Yajaira Juan Miguel, slept on a concrete floor while in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention.

Now they were moments away from a good nights rest following a nearly monthlong journey through Mexico, to an El Paso Port of Entry, to the refuge of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Cathedral in Las Cruces.

I just want her to sleep, Juan Jose said in Spanish as he rocked his daughter.

More migrants like the father and daughter duo are coming. Shelters run by volunteers in the U.S. say they are getting hit with an expected surge of new migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. who need temporary housing. Nonprofit groups and churches  especially along the U.S.-Mexico border  are racing to get donated clothes, diapers, cots and meals for Central American migrants as the holidays approach and resources begin to dwindle.

The move comes as Trump administration in recent weeks has been releasing detained immigrants from Central America at a quicker pace than previously, putting a strain on shelters from San Diego to South Texas.

Shelters say ICE is no longer helping migrants with travel plans and is now releasing them from custody whether the migrants have places to stay or not.

In some case, volunteers are picking up migrants from train and bus stations after getting dropped off by immigration officials. Other times, shelters are getting surprised by busloads of migrants at their front doors.

A temporary shelter in San Diego has housed more than 1,500 asylum seekers since opening in October for people who are released by immigration authorities pending the outcome of their cases in immigration court, Kate Clark, an immigration attorney at Jewish Family Service of San Diego, said last week.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement began releasing more people before they could arrange travel to family and friends in other parts of the country, she said.

One day last week, ICE released nearly 100 people, bringing the number of migrants staying at the shelter to 178.

We are responding to this crisis in real time, California Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom said alongside Clark at a news conference.

Church leaders in the Phoenix say ICE has released about 5,000 migrants in the last two months to local churches. They say they have had to scramble to find diapers, clothing and food at the last minute. Most of the migrants dropped off at churches or shelters leave within a day or two.

ICE spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa in El Paso said the agency doesnt have family detention centers in the city. She did not respond to questions from The Associated Press.

Previously, ICE officials have said the agency lacks the resources to house the growing number of migrant families crossing into ports of entries in California, Arizona and Texas, and they have begun releasing them to nonprofit shelters and churches in the area.

Sylvia Corona, one of the volunteer coordinator at Immaculate Heart of Mary, said the network of shelters in southern New Mexico and West Texas believes the demand will continue to grow in the coming weeks.

I think were going to see hundreds of families needing places to stay, Corona said. Were opening up two more shelters soon. Were letting them stay in our own homes if we have to, but well find something.

In the meantime, Immaculate Heart of Mary and others have set up Amazon.com registries to facilitate donations like baby clothes, paper plates and coats. Annunciation House, an immigrant shelter in El Paso, Texas, is asking for packets of underwear and socks.

The shelters house the migrants until they are able to make other travel arrangements.

The call for donations has hit communities far from the border and has used the migrant caravan to highlight the growing need, although not all migrants are connected to the caravan that has garnered international attention.

Last week, for example, the Berkeley City Council in Berkeley, California, voted to donate money to provide food, shelter and basic needs to caravan members detained at U.S. ports of entry or traveling to immigration hearings.

During a recent evening at Immaculate Heart of Mary, Cirila Alejandra Calelpu, 20, of Huehuetenango, Guatemala, selected donated clothes for her and her daughter Lucia Tojen Calel, 3. The pair had just been released from a ICE detention center following a monthlong journey north. Like Juan Jose, she was fleeing gang violence.

Im going to Florida tomorrow to be with my sister, Calelpu said while fighting off a cold. Children around her played with donated toys while other mothers combed through piles of free clothes.

Juan Jose was headed to Birmingham, Alabama, to join his brother. At least tonight, I get to take a shower, Juan Jose said before closing his eyes.

His 5-month-old daughter then fell asleep in his arms as the pair lied on a cot. She began to snore. Well, he said. Maybe I wont.

___

Associated Press writers Elliot Spagat in San Diego and Astrid Galvan in Phoenix contributed to this report.

___

Associated Press journalist Russell Contreras is a member of the APs race and ethnicity team. Follow Contreras on Twitter at http://twitter.com/russcontrerasUPDATE 3:31 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018 - The Butte County Sheriff's Office has released the identity of the man killed in a house fire in Palermo on Monday.

The victim has been identified as Michael Renwick, 63, of Palermo.

When firefighters arrived at the scene, the house was fully engulfed in flames and Renwick was trapped inside. They worked for more than an hour to extinguish the flames.

Neighbors say that Renwick had mobility issues. A dog was also killed by the fire. There is no official word on the cause of the fire yet.

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UPDATE 3:09 p.m. Monday, Dec. 3, 2018 - Cal Fire said that firefighters are continuing to work on extinguishing the fire. They have located a victim and requested the Sheriff-Coroner.

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PALERMO, Calif. - Cal Fire firefighters are responding to a structure fire in Palermo that has a victim trapped inside.

At around 2:33 p.m., Cal Fire tweeted that firefighters were battling a structure fire near Lower Wyandotte Road and Palermo Road in Palermo, south of Oroville.

According to officials, a home is fully involved in the fire and is trapping someone inside. Firefighters are attempting to make a rescue.

They are working to extinguish the fire and search for possible victims.

We have a reporter on the way. Stay with Action News Now for more updates as they become available.

#PalermoFire Fire located in the 6100 block of Upper Palermo. Firefighters working on knocking down fire in home and searching for possible victims.  CAL FIRE Butte Unit/Butte County Fire Department (@CALFIRE_ButteCo) December 3, 2018CHICO, Calif. - Erin Brockovich, the environmental activist and legal clerk who famously took on PG&E for contaminated water in Hinkley, CA, met with Camp Fire survivors at the Elks Lodge Monday night.

She and a group of North State attorneys are hosting community forums, to advise people not only their legal rights but to help them navigate the insurance process.

Linda Stratton-Foor and Kyla Awalt attended the meeting. They said their situation is unique because their homes were not destroyed by the fire, but they still need advice.

"Are we going to be forced to move back to Paradise before we have power?" Stratton-Foor said. "Before we have water? We have kids. We don't want to expose them to environmental hazards. They have a lot of good information about what we should be asking our insurance about."

Brockovich met with people individually after the meeting. She also posed with people for pictures.

"I was pretty surprised," Brockovich said. "I asked everyone who had lost a home to raise their hand. And out of hundreds of people, I think every hand came up."REDDING, Calif. - Fall River Brewing has released a new beer to raise money to rebuild areas affected by the Carr Fire.

The IPA is called Single Track Obsession and a portion of the proceeds goes toward rebuilding portions of the Sacramento River Trail that were affected by the fire.

"It's just beyond amazing how awesome the mountain bike trails are around here," said John Hutchings, owner of Fall River Brewing. "So we wanted to see how we could help out with rebuilding them."

The beer is available at Fall River's Tap House on East Cypress Avenue and their brewery on East Side Road in Redding.BUTTE COUNTY, Calif. - Thousands of students displaced by the Camp Fire returned to school on Monday, seeing students and teachers for the first time since the fire began four weeks ago.

It was an emotional day as more than 31,000 students returned to school. More than 5,000 students displaced by the Camp Fire returned to different schools and classrooms because the fire damaged or destroyed their homes and schools.

All schools in Butte County have been closed since Nov. 8.

"All of our kids are displaced, most of them are displaced," said Josh Peete, principal of Concow Elementary School. "They are now allowed to go back to their properties, but the majority do not have homes left.

The majority of Concow students are living in Oroville for the time being.

"We are transporting students from those areas into the school so they can be back with their teachers here today," Peete said.

The Concow school was saved during the Camp Fire.

"Unfortunately there were major systems that are damaged," he said. "We operate a public water system that was completely destroyed. It's just going to take time to rebuild."

Peete said that he's expecting about 30 students to come back on Monday for class, which is about half of the total school population.

The Butte County Office of Education held a press conference on Monday morning to discuss the process of getting students back into school and on the right track.

"Nearly every district and charter school in the county had staff that lost homes or were otherwise displaced from homes, about half from Paradise Unified," said Mary Sakuma, deputy superintendent for the Butte County Office of Education."

Sakuma thanked the community for its resilience during this time, using the hashtag #ButteSchoolsStrong.

"We're getting back on our feet," she said. "The Camp Fire knocked us down, but it didn't knock us out."

Peete said that he expects Concow Elementary to be using this space for the rest of the school year.TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - Three breweries in Michigan are teaming up with Sierra Nevada Brewery to sell Resilience Butte Strong IPA.

Sierra Nevada Brewery whipped up the recipe to raise money for those affected by the deadly Camp Fire and spread the word across the country to see if other breweries wanted to participate in the fundraising.

In Traverse City, MI, three breweries have decided to sell the IPA to fundraise for victims of the Camp Fire. Monkey First Brewing, Rare Bird Brew Pub, and the Filling Station Microbrewery are participating.

"I know it's yeah far away but I think it's great, the brewing community always comes together and tries to help out however we can," said Tina Schuett, co-owner of Rare Bird Brew Pub.

They all speak of a sort of comradery among breweries, and their want to help out victims even from across the country.

"We love to help out different communities in need," said Andy Largent, owner of the Filling Station Microbrewery. "The brewing industry is very collaborative and we all want to help each other out, we all want to help build community not just in town but throughout the nation."

The breweries say that they are donating all of the profits of those particular beers to wildfire survivors.Axis Bank, Indias third largest private sector bank, hosts Jobex  an exclusive mega job fair, to provide an employment platform for Delhi Polices retired personnel and children. The event was inaugurated by Mrs. Suchana Patnaik, President-Police Families Welfare Society (PFWS), Delhi. The event, organized at police training ground, Kingsway Camp, saw over 100 corporates interviewing and offering jobs to the applicants.

More than 8500 candidates were provided with registration forms by Delhi police officials. These forms were then uploaded on an online portal which the hiring companies could access, identify and select candidates for a potential job interview. In the second leg of the process, over 6500 candidates were selected for an interview. At this event, interviews were conducted and the selected candidates were given on the job offers. The event was co-sponsored by Max Life Insurance, one of the leading life insurers in India.

Mr. Amulya Patnaik, Commissioner of Police Delhi, remarked This is a great initiative by Axis Bank in collaboration with Delhi Police and Police Families Welfare Society (PFWS) to provide such kind of employment platform. I am excited to observe how this has helped the Delhi Police community by creating jobs for wards of serving and retired Delhi Police Personnel and also ex-policemen. The facet of conducting interviews and offering positions within a few hours is an interesting concept. I would like to wish the selected candidates all the best for their future.

Mr. Nuti Chakravathy, Regional Branch Banking Head, North, Axis Bank, at the event said We are happy to be of service to uniformed forces and Government institutions and we will continue to offer special and customized banking services catering their needs. The bank has been at the forefront to offer products and services that are exclusive to defence and police forces under Power Salute. The job fair is to further extend our gratitude to the forces by providing them with a platform for employment opportunities. We believe that a forum of this stature will symbiotically benefit interviewees to find ideal jobs and the corporates to find talent with the right skill-sets.

The Bank had also hosted Jobex fair for Mumbai Police in June, 2018 which was attended by over 1000 participants and 20 corporates.Mitsubishi Electric is a Global Leader in Electric and Electronic Equipment for Residential, Commercial and Industrial use. Mitsubishi Electric marked its presence in India in late 1950s with its first business for electric locomotives.

Since then it has been an endearing journey for Mitsubishi Electric to establish itself as a premium electric and electronic equipment manufacturer for a wide range of innovative and high-quality products which includes products and solutions for Air Conditioners, Automotive Equipment, Elevators & Escalators, Factory Automation, and Industrial Systems, Semiconductor & Devices and Transportation Systems.

Mitsubishi Electric realizes the potential of the growing India and the brand has created its new campaign PARTNERING INDIAS DREAM TO BE NO.1 to clarify the contributions, products and offerings of Mitsubishi Electric in India. The creative thought takes audience through the ambitions of the new India. India in making is relentless and is in a hurry to achieve its goals in ways bigger than before. Mitsubishi Electric resonates with the new Indias dream to be No.1 and is proud to offer it solutions that will take it to the pinnacle faster. The follow-up business films are aimed at engaging the viewer with stories representing the new Indias vision and how Mitsubishi Electrics businesses are contributing to this vision.

Shot in more than 50 Locations across the country with a crew of over 140 staff in 28 days, this integrated brand campaign which has 6 Films telling stories of the aspirations of common Indian and how Mitsubishi Electric is helping to achieve them. The brand film is a summary of all the 6 Films which has been released today. The 6 films will be released phase wise in December and January. The campaign song has been sung by Mohan Kannan and it has an essence of India classical instruments including the Sarangi which is played by Ustad Sabir Khan, son of Legendary Sarangi player and vocalist Padma Bhushan Late Ustad Sultan Khan.

Talking about the new Brand Campaign, Mr. Katsunori Ushiku, Managing Director, Mitsubishi Electric India Pvt. Ltd. said  The campaign resonates the brands strength as a premium quality electric & electronic equipment company and explains how as a brand we are ready to support India to grow further. As an integrated brand campaign, our purpose is to clarify our brand image and offerings. We will make extensive use of available digital technology to reach out to existing and new customers through this campaign and will support them in the best possible way.

By this campaign, the brand reiterates its commitments and tries to convey the message that how it is supporting the country in meeting its ambitions and fulfilling promises through disruptive technologies, solutions, and infrastructural support.Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp., the biggest tobacco manufacturing company in the country, asked the government to carefully study the impact of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law before imposing further increases in excise taxes on tobacco products. PMFTC, a joint venture of Philip Morris Philippines Manufacturing Inc. and Fortune Tobacco Corp. that controls over 90 percent of the domestic cigarette market, said its position on the issue submitted to Congress was unchanged. We believe any further increases in excise taxes on tobacco at this time is unwarranted, it said in a statement Tuesday. There is still a need to review the impact of the last increase under Train 1 in terms of tax collection, revenue utilization, on the livelihood of farmers, jobs in the manufacturing sector and the rise of counterfeit cigarettes, PMFTC said. Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said his agency would try its best to convince Congress to impose new sin tax rates on tobacco products because pricey cigarettes would discourage smoking especially among the youth. Dominguez said increasing the current tobacco excise tax rates to levels that would effectively curb smoking would help supplement funds for the Universal Health Care program, especially for the treatment of smoking-related diseases. Theres still the Senate. We will try our best. This thing doesnt end until the president signs it. Were there, were keeping at it. We hope that they will come up to what is good for the country, Dominguez said during a press briefing. Dominguezs statement was in reaction to the recent approval by the House of Representatives on third and final reading of House Bill 8677, which provides for an increase in tobacco excise tax rates to levels that did not go far enough to what the Department of Health and anti-tobacco and health advocates recommended.The House-approved bill aims to raise the current tax of P35 per pack of cigarettes to P37.50 beginning July 2019. The bill also calls for another increase to P40 in July 2020, P42.50 in July 2021, and P45 in July 2022. Thereafter, the rate would be raised 4 percent every July annually. The DoF proposal supports the position of Rep. Angelina Tan to raise the tobacco excise tax to P60 per pack in 2019 and increase it by 9 percent annually thereafter. The society has to agree what is more important: enough money for healthcare or favoring companies that produce products that damage health? Thats what society has to agree on, and thats what the representatives in the legislature ARE supposed to reflect, Dominguez said. Citing the testimonies of resource persons heard by the House ways and means committee during its deliberations on the proposed new tobacco tax rates, Dominguez said the higher excise taxes on cigarettes under the Sin Tax Reform Law led to a drop in the number of smokers by roughly a million people per year. He said fewer teenagers were now getting into the habit of smoking. Our revenues have to keep on going up because we are supporting a lot of people who are getting sick from smoking. That was all the testimony. I was reading the summary of the testimonies, its overwhelmingly in favor of higher taxes for health reasons, Dominguez said.WhatsApp is building on its efforts to educate people about misinformation in India by launching its first-ever television advertisement campaign, called Share Joy, Not Rumours. WhatsApp worked closely with Taproot Dentsu and filmmaker Shirsha Guha Thakurta to develop three 60-second films that each convey real scenarios about rumours that have spread on WhatsApp via spam as well as in family and school groups.

These ads smartly educate people how to use WhatsApp safely and responsibly. Each films protagonist teaches someone important in their lives to not spread rumours and to use WhatsApp controls such as the ability to block senders and leave groups where rumours are spread.

These TV ads are complemented by ads in print and on the radio.

WhatsApp has become an integral part of society in India  its how I stay in touch with my family and run our film production house. So, this project was special for us at various levels. We, of course, made a WhatsApp group for the project in the name of WhatsApp on WhatsApp. But WhatsApp is also being misused and can be a source of rumours and it is something that affects us all the time. We created these three films to help address the challenges we face in communicating online, explained Shirsha Guha Thaktura of Oink Films.



WhatsApp conducted extensive research with users in India and based each film on a real users experience. The three films will be available on TV, Facebook, and YouTube in 10 languages to reach the diverse population that makes up WhatsApp users. The advertising campaign is timed to start just prior to the elections in Rajasthan and Telangana and WhatsApp will build on this effort headed into the Lok Sabha elections next year.



We are humbled by the impact that WhatsApp has on peoples ability to freely connect with their loved ones. At the same time, we recognise that connecting people can also lead to the spread of misinformation, which has to be confronted. We hope this campaign will help educate people how to stay safe on WhatsApp, said Bosco Zubiaga, who led production of these films for WhatsApp.



Over the last several months, WhatsApp has made a series of changes, including placing a label on forwarded messages to inform users when they have received something not from their immediate contact and a limit on how forwarded messages can be sent. In addition, WhatsApp continues to build on anti-spam detection capabilities to ban accounts that engage in unwanted automated activity.



The three films tell the following stories:

Kavya moved to Delhi and its her first time living away from home, so she uses WhatsApp to stay in touch with her family. When her uncle shares fake news with her family, Kavya calls to explains he can leave the group where the rumour came from.

Rajat is a leader in his University and runs a WhatsApp group for his class. When he receives a shocking message from a classmate, he talks it over with the sender and asks him to think twice before sharing rumours again.

Geetha is a foodie who uses WhatsApp to stay up to date with local businesses and send recipes to her friend. One day she receives a rumour from an unknown contact so she talks it over with her mom and chooses to block the user that sent the message.Zenith has won the global pitch for the consolidated media business of dairy products corporation Lactalis. Zenith has been appointed Master Agency Partner, commanding 75% of Lactalis markets.

The win sees Zenith retain all its existing markets in EMEA, APAC and Lat Am and take on 11 new ones, including Canada, UK and USA.

Lactalis is a global leader within the dairy industry, with leading local dairy brands in each of its markets. The group is the number one cheese manufacturer in the world and the European leader in milk consumption, butter and cream.

As Master Agency Partner, Zenith will have lead media communications responsibility, with global coordination run from Zeniths HQ in London. Zenith will now work with Lactalis both centrally and locally to deliver against the companys growth targets.

Vittorio Bonori, Global Brand President, Zenith, said: We are absolutely delighted to become Lactalis Master Agency Partner. This is a testament to our strong relationship with Lactalis and to Zeniths approach to driving business growth as the ROI agency.Since the Committees creation in 2000, the number of American children with autism has increased 120 percent, from 1 in 150 in 2000, to 1 in 59 in 2014, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . The age of diagnosis has barely budged, and no new treatments have been identified. Autism is on track to cost up to $1 trillion by 2025 in medical, nonmedical and productivity losses, according to a University of California, Davis study.

According to its website , the IACC is a Federal advisory committee that coordinates Federal efforts and provides advice to the Secretary of Health and Human Services on issues related to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The IACC was originally established under the Childrens Health Act of 2000 . The current Committee was reauthorized through the Autism CARES Act of 2014 . Operating the IACC costs American taxpayers $1.38 million per year.

Baltimore, MD., November 28, 2018  The Federal advisory committee charged with coordinating all U.S. Government efforts on autism is failing to meet the needs of individuals and families affected by the disorder, according to a survey released today by several autism advocacy groups. The survey, primarily of parents and caregivers of individuals with autism, found that the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, or IACC , has failed to make a difference in the lives of people with autism. The autism advocacy groups are asking Congress to replace the IACC with a more effective Office of National Autism Policy Coordination when it considers reauthorizing the Autism CARES Act next year.

SafeMinds Board President Sallie Bernard, a RACC member, stated, the IACC has failed to produce a response to the current autism crisis commensurate with its scope and depth. Accordingly, our country now has many more Americans with autism, and less resources with which to address their needs. The autism crisis demands a more inclusive, proactive, and accountable response from the Federal government than the IACC has delivered.

Survey respondents commented on the following shortcomings:

Almost half of the survey respondents were unaware that the IACC existed before completing the survey.

When asked if the IACCs work was improving the lives of people with autism and their families, over 56 percent of respondents stated no and approximately 38 percent said that they did not know.

When asked if the IACC members represented their interests when it comes to addressing autism in the United States, nearly 60 percent of the 1,402 respondents answered no. While 33.38 percent of respondents said I dont know, only seven percent stated yes.

Approximately 94 percent of 1,392 respondents have not taken the opportunity to provide public comment at an IACC meeting. Commonly-noted reasons for not providing feedback were a lack of ability to travel to Washington, DC given the responsibilities of caring for a person with autism, difficulty in finding appropriate child care, and the cost of traveling to Washington, DC from other locations; and a lack of belief that the IACC members will take their comments seriously based on what they have seen while watching the IACC meetings online live streams.

John Gilmore, executive director of the Autism Action Network stated, The IACC is leading Americas charge to address autism. Yet, it has consistently demonstrated not only a lack of urgency, but also disenfranchisement of autism community stakeholders. Though it was reauthorized in August 2014, the IACC did not meet for over a year until November 2015. This is devastating when there are so many individuals and families suffering with autism and its many commonly co-occurring medical conditions.

The RACC is recommending the IACC be replaced with a small Office of National Autism Policy Coordination, led by a full-time Federal autism policy coordinator. Placed in the agency-neutral Executive Office of the President, the Office would be responsible for producing a National Autism Strategy, with measurable goals, objectives, and outcomes. The Office will report annually to Congress on its progress in addressing the autism crisis, as defined in the Strategy document. The Strategy will focus its policy and research on prevention, treatments, and services for people with autism and their caregivers.

Kim Spencer, vice president of TMR, stated, Since many families cannot travel to Washington, D.C. to share their experiences raising their children with autism, the use of interactive technology should be facilitated so all families facing autism have a chance to provide input on Federal autism policy. Finally, since the American taxpayers deserve more accountability, we are advocating for monitoring the effectiveness of federally-funded autism programs to ensure the best return on investment.

The RACC is requesting congressional hearings on the Federal Governments current autism response in early 2019. Hearings would aid Congress in understanding the urgent crisis of autism and the need to make changes to the Autism CARES Act prior to considering its reauthorization. More information on the RACCs recommendations, and the full 2018 IACC Stakeholder Satisfaction Survey Report can be found online at safeminds.org/reform-autism-cares.

###

ABOUT AUTISM ACTION NETWORK: Autism Action Networks mission is to be a strong and unified voice for people with neurodevelopmental and communication disorders so that each person will be provided with the support necessary to live a full and productive life. For more information, please visit autismactionnetwork.org

ABOUT SAFEMINDS: SafeMinds is a national 501 (c)3 nonprofit organization formed in 2000. Its mission is to end the autism crisis by promoting environmental research and advocating for effective treatments.

ABOUT TMR: Thinking Moms Revolution is a national 501(c)3 organization that provides real help to families struggling with medical, emotional, educational and financial hardship due to complex medical needs faced by their children diagnosed with autism and other developmental disabilities. Help comes via funds to defray costs for practitioner appointments, recommended treatments, travel-related expenses to meet with experts in their fields, materials to start homeschool or purchase an AAC device that helps facilitate communication, expenses related to autism conferences and legal expenses as applicable. For more information, please visit thinkingmomsrevolution.com and teamtmr.org.Would you like to receive breaking news notifications from The Post and Courier?

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Please enable notifications in your browser and reload the page.The House of Representatives on Monday night approved on second reading a bill renaming Clark International Airport in Pampanga to Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in honor of the late President Diosdado Macapagal. House Bill 8549, principally authored by Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr., said it is but fitting to name the airport in honor of former President Diosdado Macapagal, a Filipino with a sterling legacy and incomparable distinction as a respected leader, champion of the poor, true statesman, and a nationalist of unquestionable integrity. Stressing the primacy of the airport in aviation and the international air transportation community, Andaya said Clark International Airport is the most viable and convenient airport of choice for travelers from North and Central Luzon and the Northern Metro Manila area. On July 27, 2018, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Pampanga issued Resolution 5124 entitled A Resolution Urging His Excellency President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and both Houses of Congress to Issue a Presidential Proclamation and Appropriate Legislation, Respectively, Reverting or Renaming the Clark International Airport Located at the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga to Diosdado Macapagal International Airport. Meanwhile, on the occasion of the 108th birthday of the late former president last September, the present Board of Directors of the Clark International Airport approved a resolution renaming the airport as Diosdado Macapagal International Airport.Macapagal is the father of former President and now Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and considered as one of the great sons of the province of Pampanga. Macapagal, popularly known as the poor boy from Lubao, imbued in his family the same values that endeared him to the nation. He was the ninth President of the Philippines, serving from 1961 to 1965, and the sixth Vice-President, serving from 1957 to 1961. He also served as a Member of the House of Representatives and headed the Constitutional Convention of 1970. The bill mandates the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to place appropriate markers on the airport and its facilities and issue the necessary orders and circulars to implement the provisions of the Act.In a Sept. 5 interview with the Tunisian state paper Essahafa, Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi revealed in a surprise statement that he was disappointed with his Islamic allies in power. Speaking about his alliance with the Ennahda movement, he said, We thought we could at least draw Ennahda to the civic arena, but it seems that we were wrong in our assessment."

After a three-year alliance between Essebsis Nidaa Tunis party and the Islamic Ennahda, the president is no longer convinced that the movement has turned into a civic party.

Although Ennahda did not offer an official response to the presidents statement, the movements leader, Abdelkarim Harouni, said in a press statement reported by the local news website al-Jarida on Sept. 7 that Ennahda and Nidaa Tunis have chosen consensus and will remain on the same page.

This is why some observers might assume that the presidents statements, regardless of how important they were, might not really affect the future of the alliance between the two parties.

In this context, Karim Yahya, a correspondent for the Tunisian newspaper al-Ahram, told Al-Monitor, This consensus or alliance between Nidaa Tunis and Ennahda continues to grow stronger, as we have seen in the vote over the Administrative Reconciliation Act regarding employees and businessmen accused of corruption.

On Sept. 13, the Tunisian parliament ratified the Administrative Reconciliation Act, which grants judicial amnesty to dozens of senior state employees and businessmen who are associated with former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Alis regime and accused of administrative and financial corruption.

The act was approved by 117 votes, most of which were from the Nidaa Tunis and Ennahda blocs, while one member of parliament refused to vote and nine voted against.

Yahya added, It [the alliance] also seemed evident in the formation of [Prime Minister] Youssef Chaheds new government, which adopted a  program that is reflected in the economic and social programs of both parties and the long-term pragmatic nature of the conduct of both parties' leaderships.

Following the Cabinet reshuffle Sept. 11, Ennahda maintained the number of ministries it held in the government of national unity. It still has eight members of the government, including ministers and state secretaries, while Nidaa Tunis has 12 members out of 42 ministers and state secretaries in the Cabinet, as it was the winning party in the October 2014 legislative elections.

He added, In addition, there is US-European support for the so-called consensus path between the two parties that dominate the government, the parliament and the overall political life. There is a Western desire to integrate the so-called democratic Islam into the political game and governance of the southern Mediterranean.

Both the Nidaa Tunis and Ennahda blocs constitute the majority in parliament. The Ennahda bloc includes 69 deputies, while the Nidaa Tunis bloc comprises 56 deputies. The alliance between the two movements started to take shape in the wake of the 2014 legislative elections and, together with the two liberal parties, Afek Tounes and the Free Patriotic Union, formed a coalition government.

Yahya continued, It seems clear that the so-called conflict over issues regarding personal status, endowments and the relationship between religion and the state is not a priority [for now] compared to the alliance between the two parties. Ennahdas great dilemma is that it is keen on maintaining its alliance with Nidaa Tunis, although [Ennahda] considered [Nidaa Tunis] before the 2014 elections as nothing but a reproduction of the Democratic Constitutional Rally of former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Yahya noted, Ennahda is putting itself at stake in light of the economic, social and perhaps unpopular security policies, knowing that most people were negatively affected by the neoliberal policies and the legacy of the dictatorship that still exists to this day. Ennahdas keenness to remain part of this alliance, which guarantees it a position in power, seems to be justified by its fear of ending up like Islamists in Egypt.

Independent journalist Mohammed Baltayeb told Al-Monitor, The future differences between Ennahda and Nidaa Tunis will not be about passing laws in parliament or appointing ministers in the government; they will rather stem from the upcoming municipal elections. Ennahda is relying on an electoral audience that has an Islamic background and does not agree with Nidaa Tunis, its program and especially not with Essebsis views.

He added, Ennahda is so keen on showing itself as a political representative of the conservative class. The proof is it did not support the presidents initiative on Aug. 13 to pass laws regarding equal inheritance between men and women and allowing Muslim women to marry non-Muslim men.

Baltayeb further explained, On the contrary, a few days later on Aug. 29, Ennahda leader Rachid Ghannouchi launched an initiative aimed at re-establishing the religious endowment system, abolished in 1957. Despite separating religious work from political action during Ennahdas 10th conference in May 2016, it is still a victim of the Islamic identity discourse, from which it draws its popular power and voter strength.

Nidaa Tunis and Ennahda come from two different backgrounds. The Islamic Ennahda movement was founded in the early 1970s as a religious group and then developed into a political organization, inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood. After Ben Ali's departure in 2011, it started working legally and declared that it had abandoned its Islamic political references. Nidaa Tunis was founded in 2012 and brought together liberal supporters of former President Habib Bourguiba, including its founder, Essebsi, who headed several ministries between 1956 and 1987 during Bourguiba's reign, a bitter enemy of the Islamists.

Baltayeb pointed out that the future of the alliance between Nidaa Tunis and Ennahda will be subject to several objective factors, including the municipal and local elections scheduled for December 2017. It is also prone to the internal situation of both parties, which are divided by political and organizational differences. This is particularly true for Nidaa Tunis, whose division resulted in this alliance between a secular and an Islamic party.

It seems that a wedge has been driven between the Islamic Ennahda movement and Nidaa Tunis. Essebsis statements are nothing short of a representation of the differences between the two allies.

The upcoming local elections seem to have pushed both parties to get voters on each of their sides, after losing a big part of their popularity over the past three years, as their failure on the economic level caused a lot of damage for the middle class and the poor.

After founding his party in 2012 for the sole purpose of confronting Ennahda, Essebsi lost the bulk of his supporters after allying with the movement in 2014. Same goes for Ennahda, which made it as a ruling power in 2011 by claiming to be an extension of the January 2011 revolution, before many of its supporters gave up on it after it joined forces with those it believed to be more dangerous that extremist Salafists.

However, regardless of all disagreements between them, the consensus that holds Nidaa Tunis and Ennahda together will undoubtedly remain until the next legislative elections in the fall of 2019, the outcome of which will determine the ultimate fate of this alliance.CAIRO  The Egyptian ministries of religious endowments and water resources and irrigation collaborated Nov. 15 on an experiment whereby 108 water-saving nozzles were installed on the faucets at El Sayeda Nafisa Mosque in Cairo. At Yousif Al-Sahabi Mosque, 67 nozzles were installed.

This pilot experiment is financed and executed by the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation in preparation for the installation of water-saving nozzles in mosques throughout the country. It is part of the ministry's water consumption rationalization plan launched in December 2017.

During Cairo Water Week, organized by the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation on Oct. 14-18, Minister of Water Resources Mohamed Abdel Ati said that Egypt's per capita water supply decreased to about 570 cubic meters per year in 2018. (The United Nations sets a baseline figure of 1,000 cubic meters of water per person per year.)

In a statement issued by the ministry Nov. 15, Ati affirmed that the water-saving nozzles, which are available in different sizes to fit all faucets, are easy to install. He said that the nozzles automatically regulate the water flow and are expected to save around 75% of water and reduce waste.

The head of the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation telemetry unit responsible for assessing the experiment, Ayman al-Sayid, told Al-Monitor, We are assessing the experiment on the faucets at El Sayeda Nafisa Mosque by measuring the quantities of water used before and after the installation of the water-saving nozzles. We read the water meters on a weekly basis. The ministrys experiment targets places of worship, mosques and churches with large gatherings of worshippers. The experiment also aims to spread the culture of water rationalization to mosques and churches.

Sayid said that the ministrys water consumption rationalization plan includes the installation of water-saving nozzles at government departments, schools and universities. At a later stage, the nozzles would be made available to citizens at an affordable price to encourage the demand. This is not our only mechanism to rationalize the use of water in Egypt in light of the severe deficit in our resources. But we have a number of other mechanisms such as the use of modern irrigation methods to reduce water use in the agricultural sector, which consumes 85% of our water resources, he added.

Sayid noted that the experiment, if applied nationwide, would not only rationalize the drinking water quota in Egypt, which does not exceed 10 billion cubic meters of water per year, but it "would also reduce the cost of drinking water purification."

He added, "It would save on energy required to pump water to stations and then inject it in water networks to reach households.

Al-Monitor visited the ablution area for men at El Sayeda Nafisa Mosque and met Ismael Qorni, who has cleaned the mosque as a volunteer for 25 years.

Qorni said, The new water-saving nozzles were installed on 51 ablution taps and they reduce the quantity of water used in ablutions. They were also installed on 29 bathroom sink taps and three urinals. Twenty-five nozzles were installed in the womens bathrooms. But these new pieces affect the cleanliness of the toilets. Cleaning these places requires a strong water flow to eliminate germs. Toilet users have been complaining about the slow water flow, which affects the personal purity of the worshippers who perform ablution.

Adel Ahmed, the director of Fast Service Company that provides cleaning services to the mosque, told Al-Monitor, Only six employees from the company are responsible for cleaning the mosque. They work from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. This small number of cleaners assigned to the mosque is due to a large number of volunteers offering cleaning services. The company provides them with cleaning products.

He said, Cleaners use buckets filled with water and soap. This cleaning method does not waste water. They have been using these buckets before and after the installation of the water-saving nozzles.

Al-Monitor spoke to the imam of El Sayeda Nafisa Mosque, Ali Allah al-Jammal, who said, Although I am the imam of the mosque, I do not know the amount of the water bills so that I can assess the experiment. Water meter data is sent to the Directorate of Endowments in Cairo that pays the water bills.

Jammal added, The imams preaching functions cover prayers, donations, vows, the affairs of the shrine of El Sayeda Nafisa, the center of fatwas and memorization of the Quran, in addition to security matters. These functions prevent the imam from attending to other administrative matters at the mosque such as following up on water and electricity bills or maintenance of the building. The Ministry of Endowments has introduced the position of an administrative manager for large mosques. This allows the imams of these mosques to devote their time to preaching. This is the case at El Sayeda Zainab Mosque in Cairo. Soon this new position will be introduced to all large mosques across Egypt.

Jammal said, El Sayeda Nafisa Mosque serves 10,000 worshippers a day. This is mainly due to the large number of funerals. The mosque opens before the dawn prayer at 4 a.m. and closes afterward. It then opens at 8 a.m. and closes at 10 p.m. The large number of visitors leads to a substantial daily water consumption.

He stressed that the Ministry of Endowments pays close attention to the issue of water rationalization, as one sermon every four months and a weekly lesson are dedicated to this topic.

Abbas Sharaki, a professor of water resources at Cairo University, told Al-Monitor that the annual water consumption in households in Egypt is 10 billion cubic meters. I expect the nozzles to save about 10% of household consumption  equivalent to 1 billion cubic meters.

He said, Egypts agriculture sector consumes 65 billion cubic meters of water. The Egyptian governments success in providing technologies that save 10% of irrigation water will save 6.5 billion cubic meters of water. Five million acres of land are irrigated through surface irrigation in Egypt. Amid the poverty of many farmers, we cannot ask them to spend money on modern irrigation systems.

Sharaki pointed out that the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation has been trying for years to find solutions to provide financial resources for the development of the old irrigation networks. He called on the ministry to focus its efforts on ensuring the maintenance of pumping stations, reducing evaporation and ensuring the maintenance of canals to prevent leakage.

He also called on the ministry to develop crops of the same species cultivated in Egypt that consume less water and are more resistant to climate changes. In addition, Sharaki urged the ministry to direct farmers to grow crops that need no more than the available quantity of irrigation water.Amid the ongoing rift and faltering round of negotiations between rival Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas, the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA) is taking another step to crack down on Hamas activities in the West Bank.

In a not-unusual exchange of rhetoric, Hussein al-Sheikh, a member of the Fatah Central Committee, declared Nov. 27 that no reconciliation will take place unless Hamas ends its control of the Gaza Strip. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri replied the same day, pointing out that Hamas won the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) elections in 2006 and Fatah lost. He said Fatah must stop being so arrogant toward Hamas.

But five days earlier, the Palestinian Cabinet took more concrete action, approving the National Strategy for Combating Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing. The strategy was cultivated by the National Assessment Team set up by Palestinian officials in 2016. The team represents public and private institutions as well as Palestinian civil society organizations.

The Cabinet endorsed the plan to identify risks related to terrorism financing; enhance investigation, prosecution, arrest and confiscation procedures; identify bank transfer beneficiaries; boost domestic and international coordination; and strengthen financial oversight, integrity and transparency.

In their decision, the ministers did not refer to Hamas by name, but President Mahmoud Abbas has used the word terrorism on several occasions this year in association with Hamas armed operations against Israel.

Samir Abdullah, a former Palestinian minister of labor and planning in Ramallah and a senior researcher at the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute - MAS, told Al-Monitor, Implementing this strategy is important for the Palestinian economy. The authorities need to be aware of the purpose, source and beneficiary of every bank transfer, even if this might affect banking secrecy."

A bank employee told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, Every now and then, the PA provides Palestinian banks with blacklists that include names of individuals who aren't allowed to open bank accounts or whose accounts must be closed. These individuals are usually suspected of transferring funds from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank, especially in support of Hamas. When one of these individuals shows up at a bank to open an account, the bank employee apologizes for not being able to comply with their requests, based on PA instructions.

Hamas in recent years has repeatedly accused the PA of seizing millions of dollars belonging to the movement. In 2015, the PA confiscated funds deposited in bank accounts belonging to Hamas members in the West Bank on the grounds that the funds were transferred by Hamas members in Gaza.

Nazih al-Banna, an activist in the charity sector, told Al-Monitor, "The strategy reflects the PA actions against charities, which are facing tremendous difficulties transferring money from Gaza to the West Bank and vice versa. These difficulties have increased since June 2017, as banks started requesting the identity of bank transfer beneficiaries. They are also demanding invoices and documents detailing the charities bank transfers.

Palestinian charities face harassment from Israel and the PA, which accuse them of providing financial support to Hamas, despite the absence of any evidence. Since the beginning of the Palestinian division in 2007, and especially in recent years, Israel and the PA have been keen on cutting off any source of financial assistance received by charities.

In addition to the PAs efforts to confiscate Hamas funds, the Israel Security Agency, or Shin Bet, launched in September a large-scale campaign against the movement's funds in Jerusalem and the West Bank, seizing 300,000 Israeli shekels (roughly $80,600), along with jewelry and vehicles belonging to an undisclosed number of Hamas members.

In May, the Israeli army announced that in 2017 it had taken possession of 2.5 million shekels (roughly $672,000) in the West Bank. Officials said the funds had been sent by Hamas members from the Gaza Strip or abroad to other Hamas members in the West Bank.

Israel's Walla website reported in 2017 that Hamas' money smuggling techniques include using companies, associations, fake bank accounts and smartphone applications to carry out bank transfers to the West Bank.

According to the website, Hamas sends funds from Gaza to the families of Hamas prisoners and members killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank. Hamas, the website said, also exploits these funds to form military cells in the West Bank.

A Palestinian official close to Abbas told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, The PA is part of the international community and can't afford to [allow] any action that jeopardizes regional security  hence our ongoing crackdown on illegal money transfers within our lands.

Further showing that this is an issue of concern for the PA, Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah spoke in July at a Ramallah seminar on the risks of money laundering and terrorism financing. Hamdallah said that to address the crimes, Palestinians will face regional and international challenges and must keep up with international efforts to enforce UN Security Council resolutions on terrorism financing.

Yahya Moussa, a Hamas deputy in the PLC, sees an ulterior motive in the PA's efforts.

"The PA is moving within an international and regional system aimed at protecting Israel by drying up Hamas financial resources," Moussa told Al-Monitor. "This strategy is an extension of US security control over the PA security apparatus. The PA has adapted its agenda to the whims of Israel and the United States in a bid to fight what it calls terrorism  thus dashing any reconciliation hopes with Hamas.

Washington does seem to be involved in the PA's efforts to cut funding for armed groups. On Sept. 20, the US State Department confirmed that the PA was pursuing counterterrorism efforts and conducting investigations into financing sources. It noted that the PA laws criminalize the provision of any financial support for terrorism.

Islam Shahwan, a security expert and former spokesman for the Ministry of Interior in Gaza, told Al-Monitor, This strategy involves the PA in the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition in Saudi Arabia." Such involvement has been evident as the PA pursues associations, businesspeople and traders while closing their bank accounts and confiscating their funds. The PA, Shahwan said, is also leading investigations related to charges of providing financial support to Hamas and moving funds to the West Bank from Gaza and abroad.

Hamas is facing great difficulties in the West Bank as the PA and Israel lie in wait to quash any of the movement's efforts to secure a foothold there, especially by transferring funds  regardless of whether the funds are intended to provide aid to families of Palestinians who were wounded or killed while fighting against Israel, or to establish an organizational infrastructure.

Since these actions are keen to rein in any Hamas activity, they could compel the movement to seek ways to circumvent this strategy.Just a week after the Senate voted to advance a bill that would end US support to Saudi-led forces fighting in Yemen, President Donald Trumps nominee to lead American troops in the Middle East faced harsh questions from Congress today about the US role in the fight.

Marine Lt. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, who serves as director of the Joint Staff at the Pentagon, sought to bat back congressional fears that US involvement in the conflict is deepening as Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthis head to the negotiating table in Geneva for talks to end the war. McKenzie notably indicated that US-gathered information is not supporting Saudi airstrikes, which have been blamed for dozens of civilian deaths.

The intelligence were providing is not target-level intelligence, McKenzie told lawmakers on the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing to lead US Central Command (CENTCOM).

Yet McKenzies response and the Pentagons decision to end aerial refueling for the Saudi-led forces did little to quell the fears of lawmakers, as a smaller gathering quizzed CIA Director Gina Haspel about the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in a secure room in the Capitol building.

"We don't like being told we're not involved in hostilities" when US bombs are falling in Yemen, said Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who has pushed the US military on its legal justification for American troops fighting in the Middle East. CNN reported in August that a Saudi-led strike on a Yemeni school bus that led to the deaths of 40 children used a Lockheed Martin-made MK 82 guided bomb.

"Neither side is winning this proxy war, and the Yemeni people are suffering," Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., told McKenzie. Warren has challenged the sitting CENTCOM commander, Army Gen. Joseph Votel, on the notion that the United States was unable to track Saudi planes during the Pentagon-led refueling mission, which ended in November.

In written responses to the committees queries, McKenzie indicated that the Pentagon has significant concerns about Iran deploying improved missile technology in Yemen to get within striking distance of American forces.

US forces and civilians are present in the thousands at a number of locations within the ranges of Houthi missile and [drone] systems, McKenzie wrote. The risk to US personnel, citizens, partners and interests remains substantial.

McKenzie also wrote that the Houthis, using Iran-smuggled missiles, could hit targets up to 500 miles away, and that the Yemeni rebels continued to elevate threats against shipping lanes in the Red Sea with small explosive boat attacks that could hamper UN envoy Martin Griffiths effort to seek a negotiated peace.

And despite Trumps decision to withdraw the United States from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in May, McKenzie suggested that Iran had not retreated from the region with its support of proxies, such as Lebanons Hezbollah.

"Iranian destabilizing activities across the region have been occurring before, during and after withdrawal," McKenzie told Warren.

"So, no effect," replied Warren, a possible 2020 presidential contender and a proponent of the Iran deal.

Despite an overall reposturing of US forces away from the Middle East, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that the United States will return an aircraft carrier to the Gulf for the first time in months to deter the Iranian threat.Iraqi Kurdistans dominant clan announced today that it was nominating Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani to succeed his uncle Massoud Barzani as president of the Kurdistan Regional Government. A spokesman for the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) added that Massoud Barzanis son, Masrour Barzani, the head of the Kurdistan Region Security Council, had been nominated to take over as prime minister.

The post of the presidency has remained vacant since Massoud Barzani stepped down following the ill-fated referendum on Kurdish independence in September 2017. But the elder Barzani continues to rule from behind the scenes.

Why it matters: The nominations are meant to consolidate the KDPs power and maintain unity inside the party, which has yet to fully recover from the effects of the referendum. The referendum saw the Kurds lose Kirkuk and other disputed territories to the Iraqi army and Shiite militias. The nominations may also be calculated to gently diffuse a simmering rivalry between Nechirvan Barzani, a pragmatist who effectively controls the Kurdistan regions lucrative energy sector and is married to Massoud Barzanis daughter, and Masrour Barzani, the less flamboyant, Western-educated maestro of Kurdistans intelligence world. Massoud Barzani wants to avoid any potential confrontation between the family branches.

Who gets the better post? It depends on whether the newly elected Iraqi Kurdish parliament restores the powers of the president, which were trimmed after the referendum. It also depends on whether other Iraqi Kurdish parties that won seats in the October parliamentary elections agree to cede control of the two top positions to the Barzani family. The KDP won the Kurdish regional elections and feels it deserves to have both posts after Barham Salih of the rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which came in second, was tapped to become president of Iraq.

Whats next: A lot of horse-trading is in the cards as the PUK gears up to claim other plum positions in exchange for backing the Barzani nominations. Saadi Pira, a PUK spokesman, said his party welcomed the nominations, calling them a good step forward. This suggests that a deal between the traditional rivals has already been hatched. The KDPs foreign relations office declared that the presidency would be decided by a vote in parliament. The KDP and the PUK together hold 66 seats, giving them a comfortable majority in the 111-member parliament.

Know more: Read Amberin Zaman's exclusive interview with Masrour Barzani from earlier this year.

- Amberin ZamanThe Israeli military launched an operation Monday night to destroy Hezbollah tunnels from Lebanon into Israel, raising concerns of a wider regional conflict.

Why it matters: The last Lebanon war in 2006 was similarly sparked by a confrontation between Israel and the Iran-backed Shiite militia on the border. Since then, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has touted plans to take over parts of Galilee in northern Israel in a future conflict. The Israeli military for its part says it has long been aware that Hezbollah has been building attack tunnels stretching from Lebanon into Israel at several points along the border.

Cold war: The Israeli army announced the discovery of the tunnels this morning and said it has already started destroying them. The army also published photos of one of the tunnels near the Lebanese village of Kila. The military said it was assessing the situation to gauge Hezbollah's possible reaction.

Despite the inherent risks, Israels expectations for further escalation remain relatively low, mostly because the operation, for now, is constrained to the Israeli side and does not involve military attacks  at least not yet. Some observers argue that Hezbollah will have no justification for retaliation as long as the tunnels are only destroyed on the Israeli side of the border. Still, the Israeli army has warned farmers not to approach the border, while Hezbollah has put its forces on high alert. But on both sides of the fence, civilian life goes on for now largely unhindered.

US backup: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during a short visit to Brussels on Monday. The two discussed ways to "work together to block Iranian aggression in the region.

Suspicious timing: In Israel and Lebanon, critics of Netanyahus government are questioning the timing of the operation just as police have recommended that the prime minister be indicted on bribery charges.

What's next: Nasrallah is expected to give a speech in Lebanon this evening in response to the Israeli operation. He has previously warned Israel that Hezbollah will react strongly against Israeli targets in response to any Israeli attack. The Israeli war cabinet also meets today to decide if and how to expand the operation.

Know more: Read Ben Caspits description of how Iran is using Hezbollah in its shifting tactics against Israel.

-Danny ZakenUS withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal is reinforcing a trend that was already underway as doubts mounted about the Donald Trump administrations commitment to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA): Iran is looking east for its economic survival.

Under waivers announced by the Trump administration in November, eight countries are permitted to continue to import oil and condensates from Iran until March without falling afoul of US sanctions. Five of the eight are in Asia and of them, China is the biggest.

During a previous bout of sanctions in the lead-up to the JCPOA, China eclipsed the European Union as Irans major trading partner. It has vowed since Trump became president to continue this relationship with Iran for both economic and geopolitical reasons.

According to S&P Global Platts, China bought nearly 600,000 barrels per day of Iranian oil in October and may have purchased 650,000 barrels a day in November  considerably above its waiver quota of 360,000 barrels a day. Much of the crude went to refineries in Liaoning province that had not previously refined Iranian oil but where the National Iranian Oil Company has acquired storage capacity.

China is expected to pay for the oil with goods, services and investment. A bank that had previously been set up to facilitate China-Iran trade, Kunlun bank, is no longer doing so.

Iran is not a key issue between China and the US, but the US tried to make Iran a key issue between China and the US, Wu Bingbing, the director of the Institute of Arab-Islamic Culture at Beijing University, told Al-Monitor in an email. The US claims that Iran is a significant threat to US national interest, and asks China to reduce its economic cooperation with Iran. China insists that Sino-Iran economic relationship is a normal bilateral economic cooperation.

However, given the context of the ongoing trade war between China and the United States, Wu added; I think China would try to have a balance between China-Iran relations and China-US relations.  The waiver is a temporary solution, and a wait-and-see position is realistic to see what will happen when the 180-day term expires.

India, Japan and South Korea also received waivers from the Trump administration. Sara Vakhshouri, an expert on Irans oil industry and president of SVB Energy International, estimates that India will buy an average of nearly 300,000 barrels a day  only a slight reduction from the pre-sanctions period  while Japan will import 130,000-150,000 barrels and South Korea 180,000 barrels.

Taiwan was also granted a waiver but decided not to use it. Vakshouri told Al-Monitor that the island nation was not a regular costumer and its imports are very insignificant. Taiwan buys most of its oil from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Mikkal Herberg, research director for Asian Energy Security at the National Bureau of Asian Research, agreed with Vakhshouri that the small quantity of oil imported from Iran was easy for Taiwan to replace. He told Al-Monitor in an email that Taiwanese imports of Iranian oil averaged only about 16,000 barrels a day from January to September this year. He added that it was mostly bought on the spot market, not with more traditional longer 'term contracts.' Taiwans Formosa Plastics has turned to Iraq to make up for the shortfall, benefiting from improved loading facilities and more stable policies in Baghdad, he said.

However, banking was also a factor. Herberg said that Taiwan had been using SWIFT, the Brussels-based financial messaging service, for payment and noted that the United States has demanded that SWIFT disconnect most all of Iranian banks. So for Formosa Plastics it isn't worth the time and effort to set up a separate new payment arrangement with Iran.

A Taiwanese refiner told Reuters that the absence of a payment mechanism was the main reason for the decision. In addition, Taiwan, which fears absorption by China, may be more sensitive to Washingtons political demands than other Asian countries.

South Korea and Japan also value security ties with the United States but have bigger economies and long-standing economic relationships with Iran. Herberg noted that for bigger buyers of Iranian oil, Its more worth the effort of making new payment arrangements for the six-month waiver period.

Iran announced Dec. 1 that a means had been found for it to be paid for its oil exports to South Korea by trading oil for South Korean goods. Hossein Tanhayi, head of the Iran-South Korea chamber of commerce, told the Islamic Republic of Iran News Agency that a joint fund might also be set up linking the two countries central banks.

The US decision to quit the JCPOA in opposition to virtually the rest of the world has led to a variety of jury-rigged solutions for conducting trade with Iran that circumvent banks and the US-dominated international financial system.

France and Germany are believed close to creating a so-called Special Payment Vehicle (SPV) that will be used to balance imports to and exports from Iran without any money changing hands. European sources have told Al-Monitor that the SPV will be announced in January. It is likely that it will be used initially to facilitate trade in food and medicine and consumer goods to avoid attracting unwanted scrutiny from the US Treasury Department.

The Europeans have indicated that other countries may be welcome to join the SPV or that there may be multiple SPVs for different types of trade.

Iran has already worked out arrangements to do business with Turkey, India and Russia in local currencies, which translates to barter. This is the main way Iran survived sanctions in the past.

There are also new opportunities presented by shifting dynamics within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. The announcement by Qatar that it is leaving the oil cartel Jan.1 and focusing instead on natural gas could lead to more cooperation with fellow gas producers Russia and Iran.

Russia, which has managed to retain good relations with all parties in the Middle East and is under US sanctions for its intervention in Ukraine, has already announced that it will help market Iranian oil. And Iran itself has found some success selling oil to a private exchange in Tehran that then sells the crude to the highest available bidders.

To get around sanctions, Iran is using its own tankers and insurance as well as a variety of other coping mechanisms.

Still, Irans exports will still be cut by at least a million barrels a day from pre-sanctions levels. Vakhshouri estimates that Irans exports will average 1.1 million-1.3 million barrels a day for the duration of sanctions. Irans budget for the next year beginning March 21 assumes exports of 1.5 million barrels a day.

Brian Hook, the US special representative for Iran, predicted Dec. 3 that the United States would be able to force deeper cuts to Irans exports in 2019 when we expect a much better-supplied oil market, and that will put us in a much better position to accelerate the path to zero.

However, China and other Asian countries are likely to demand continued waivers. Wu told an event at the Atlantic Council earlier this year, Iran is an important partner for us in the region. Wu said China  unlike the United States, which has strongly sided with Saudi Arabia, the United Emirates and Israel in regional disputes  would not take sides with anyone in the region.

Correction: Dec. 5, 2018. This article has been updated to reflect that India is expected to import 300,000 barrels of Iranian oil a day.Smuggling in general and fuel smuggling in particular have continuously undermined the Iranian economy for a long time. Over the past few months, after the sharp devaluation of the Iranian rial, fuel smuggling has increased and it is estimated that 10 million to 20 million liters of fuel, i.e., 12-24% of Iran's daily consumption (especially diesel and gasoline), is smuggled out of the country. In an apparent bid to contain the runaway smuggling, Iranian authorities recently reintroduced fuel cards  a policy that had been introduced in 2007 as a prelude to introducing higher fuel prices and eventually removing fuel subsidies. The subsequent subsidy reform plan, which was initiated in December 2010, was relatively successful in curbing consumption but faced challenges in the later phases of its implementation.

In a Nov. 19 announcement, the National Iranian Oil Products Refining and Distribution Company (NIOPRDC), a subsidiary of the Oil Ministry, asked owners of cars and motorcycles to reactivate their old fuel cards or apply for new ones. The decision to reintroduce fuel cards had already been communicated in January this year but had not been implemented. In order to reduce the cost of issuing and managing millions of new fuel cards, the Central Bank of Iran declared that existing bank cards could also be used as fuel cards. The base data would be the national identity numbers of vehicle owners and the relevant information would be stored on the databases. It is expected that within the next few weeks the government will have the technical tools needed to make the use of fuel cards obligatory in gas stations.

Iranian officials have stated that there will be no fuel rationing. Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh has stated that the core objective of the program is to contain fuel smuggling. At the same time, he has also admitted that fuel cards alone wont stop smuggling but that they will rather reduce the volume of smuggling. According to Mohammad Reza Pour Ebrahimi, head of parliaments economic commission, The main objective is to manage consumption and not to increase fuel prices. Assadollah Gharakhani, spokesperson of the parliaments energy commission, stated that the main objective of the plan would be to counter smuggling by gauging whether gas stations are distributing their products to end users, and, if yes, whether cars are using a conventional amount of fuel.

Nonetheless, there is concern among ordinary Iranians that in due course rationing will take place, creating a domestic black market for heavily subsidized fuels, especially gasoline. Furthermore, many expect a price hike in the next Iranian year (beginning March 21, 2019)  a prospect that even officials view as a possibility. In a year in which Iranians had to endure many negative economic developments, such as the devaluation of the national currency, it is evident that the government is being careful not to allow the plan to negatively impact Iranian society. The question is whether the plan will be advantageous to the countrys economy as a whole.

There is no doubt that high fuel consumption has plagued the Iranian economy and energy sector for decades. Low fuel efficiency of motor vehicles, a lack of public transportation options and low subsidized prices have been the main causes of runaway consumption, with its negative environmental, social and economic consequences. It is also clear that the recent devaluation of the rial has made subsidized fuel in Iran very inexpensive, leading to lucrative opportunities for smuggling fuel into neighboring markets. So, the authorities need to address two interrelated issues: high fuel consumption and fuel smuggling.

Experts agree that pricing is the main tool that will contain consumption  a fact that was proven in the first phase of subsidy reforms in Iran in 2011, when the daily consumption of gasoline declined by 10 million liters, or 18.5%. That is why it is difficult to believe that the ultimate goal of fuel cards wont be a price adjustment, i.e., the introduction of a two-tiered consumption system, namely a low ration at a lower price and less restricted availability of fuel at a higher price.

Following the reintroduction of fuel cards, the moderate daily Ettelaat criticized the plan and stated that the introduction of fuel cards would not make sense unless the government introduced rationing and increased fuel prices. The article argued that the government could use the existing monitoring system of gasoline stations to identify which stations have high turnover of fuel to identify the sources of smuggling. The daily also quoted Reza Moussavi Khah, managing director of NIOPRDC, as saying that smuggling principally happens prior to fuel reaching petrol stations. Ettelaat has joined a large number of outlets questioning the governments intentions and demanding a transparent explanation of the program.

If the core objective of this plan is to introduce transparency into the current consumption of fuels, then the government has to present similar methods on how it is monitoring stages of production and distribution. In fact, in a vast country like Iran, smuggling activity could take place at various stages of fuel production and distribution, i.e., directly from refineries or from pipelines and storage units. If the government fails to present similar monitoring systems over those activities, it will fail to convince public opinion that the system will only address smuggling.

Assuming that the reintroduction of fuel cards will eventually lead to fuel price adjustments and two-tiered pricing, an assessment of the overall impact on the Iranian economy will have to wait until the next phases are implemented. However, past experience has shown that a two-tiered pricing system will also lead to corrupt practices, which should be avoided using more advanced technologies.

While no final judgment is possible at this stage, it is valid to point to two side phenomena: the technical possibility of using existing bank cards as a substitute for fuel cards  an approach that has in the past been used to distribute food packages to lower income families. This will gradually expand the governments database and information on its citizens and make a future rationalization of cash handouts more feasible. In fact, one reason for the failure of the government to only pay cash handouts to lower income families is lack of accurate data on income levels. Furthermore, the combination of bank and fuel cards will facilitate the processing of cash-free payments for fuel and reduce liquidity.

More importantly, the current plan compels various state institutions, i.e., the Ministry of Oil, the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, the Central Bank of Iran and law enforcement forces, to coordinate their efforts and connect their databases. In due course such coordination could be a platform for the expansion of cross-sector projects and the growth of e-government services  a phenomenon that is underutilized in Iran because of the lack of connectivity and information-technology infrastructure among state institutions.

All in all, the reintroduction of fuel cards has the potential of directly and indirectly increasing efficiency in Irans governance and economy. However, this is only one piece of a larger puzzle and it is important that the government pursues a more comprehensive plan to rationalize fuel consumption, fuel subsidies and, by extension, cash handouts.The Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, a national political party composed of key allies of President Rodrigo Duterte, has endorsed Anakalusugan party-list for next years midterm elections. Anakalusugan is the only party-list of Partido Federal, said Harvey Lauglaug, who is running for vice mayor in the municipality of Dumalinao, Zamboanga del Sur under the PFP banner. The endorsement was given during a meeting between local officials and candidates from Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga del Norte and Anakalusugan nominee Ower Andal, former general manager of the Philippine National Railways, as well as members of the health advocacy group in Pagadian City on Monday. According to James Adraincem, PFP provincial officer for Zamboanga del Norte, having a health-oriented partner like Anakalusugan in Congress will help ensure all Filipinos have access to medical services and products. After our discussion, the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas has decided to carry Anakalusugan party-list for the 2019 elections. We have committed our support for the group as we are impressed with its health agenda, Adraincem said.Our principles are aligned when it comes to taking care of the health of all Filipinos, especially those in marginalized sectors who have little to no access to health services, he added. Andal, for his part, thanked PFP for its invaluable support, adding this bolsters the position of Anakalusugan as the sole party-list running on a health platform in the 2019 polls. Health should be part of the agenda for next years elections. It is the Constitutional mandate of the state to adopt a comprehensive approach to health development and to make essential goods and health services available to all people at affordable cost. It is our right and duty as Filipinos to fight for our health, Andal said.Already in its third week, the civil unrest in France continues to make headlines in Iran, where many are questioning the government's violent response in quelling the public anger. The "yellow vests" have been protesting increased fuel taxes imposed by President Emmanuel Macron's government. The rallies have turned into France's worst turmoil in decades, with running street battles and intense scuffles between police and protesters amid burning tires and rubble from damaged public property.

Generally hailing France as the cradle of democracy, Iranians have long associated the French with the courage to vent anger on the streets. The response to the "gilets jaunes" is now making them question the French political system's claims about democracy and the right to public protest.

The current unrest has received nearly equal coverage from Iran's Reformists and hard-line media despite their starkly different political leanings. Kayhan, representing the most extremist layer of the country's conservatives, applauded the French protesters for forcing Macron into giving concessions. "Crisis at its climax," its headline read, describing the scenes as a street war. It speculated about whether the country's impoverished suburban dwellers will join the movement.

Moderate papers Donya-e-Eqtesad and Mardomsalari also highlighted the theme of retreat and the French president's decision to back off in the face of the protesters. Ebtekar, which pursues a Reformist agenda, predicted a spillover into Belgium and the Netherlands, explaining the unrest as a challenge to the Western liberalist system and a movement that is "reversing history." Similarly, moderate Hamshahri also deduced a historical pattern as it reported on "Paris stone pavers as witnesses to 200 years of war, revolt and protests" that have redirected the path of the French society. According to Javan, a daily close to the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the protests are spiraling out of control as "Macron's iron fist hits the heads of the French in the Paris war zone."

Typically attentive to world events, ordinary Iranians have also been reacting to the French mayhem. Infuriated by the level of force used against the protesters, they have widely reposted pictures of the police crackdown. "If the same picture came out of Iran, all the pseudo-intellectuals and worthless advocates of human rights would have deafened the world's ears," tweeted one, "but no worries. this is France, the dream land for many, [where even] if a woman is kicked on the street, well, she definitely deserved it!" Using the same pictures, others slammed defenders of the Western democracy for "painting it as an imaginary paradise."

The unrest has also served as a chance to remind the French president to mind his own business. "Mr. Rouhani, this is the right time to make a phone call to your French counterpart and urge him to  exercise restraint," read one tweet in a sarcastic reference to Macron's telephone conversation with Hassan Rouhani earlier this year, urging Iran to "exercise restraint" in the wake of Iran's nationwide protests.

The protests in Iran in late 2017 and early 2018 rocked nearly 100 towns and cities. The rallies, rooted in economic discontent, were met with a heavy-handed police crackdown.The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) nominated on Dec. 3 its picks to lead the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Erbil, Iraq, and will now enter into negotiations with the rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party to form the KRG government.

The KDP nominated Masrour Barzani for the KRG premiership and Nechirvan Barzani for the presidency. Masrour leads KRG intelligence and security and is the son of former KRG President Massoud Barzani; Nechirvan, the current prime minister, is Massoud's nephew.

The presidency has been vacant since Massoud Barzani stepped down last year, though he still is head of the KDP.

Parliament is expected to approve the prime minister nomination within a few weeks. The KDP won the largest number of seats in the Sept. 30 parliamentary elections, though not a majority. In an attempt to leverage its plurality of seats, the KDP wants control of both the Cabinet and legislature in the new government, but the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) wants several important positions for itself, including parliament speaker, deputy prime minister and two key ministries. The smaller Gorran movement wants three ministries, while other parties have their own demands and want a seat at the table as well. So, will the Kurdish parties be able to reach an agreement or will there be a prolonged impasse in Erbil?

The negotiations won't include minor parties such as the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) or the New Generation Movement, as both have announced they will join the opposition. Gorran and the Kurdistan Islamic Group (IGK) have said they will wait to see how negotiations play out before deciding whether to join the government. The KDP wants to hold on to the KRG presidency and to write a KRG constitution, and will work to extract concessions from the other parties.

In any case, the KDP will have the upper hand in the negotiation process and will have the final say on the shape of the new government. In the past, the KDP and PUK worked on relatively equal terms, splitting up positions 50-50. This time, however, KDP officials want the PUK to take the role of a junior partner, given that the latter won far fewer parliamentary seats. The PUK reportedly suggested that the KDP negotiate with all the other political parties collectively, an idea the KDP dismissed.

To further dilute its rivals influence in the new government, the KDP is only too happy to have Gorran participate in the Cabinet. By playing the two off each other, the KDP would be able to further control the process. Given that Gorran lost half of its seats in the election, it would probably accept a KDP offer.

The KDP appears to have grown tired of a grand coalition-style government. But while it doesn't want to share power with the PUK equally, it also doesn't want to give too much away to the smaller parties to gain their cooperation. So, in return for allowing the smaller parties to participate in the new government, the KDP wants to impose a number of conditions on them. For example, unlike before, KDP officials say the parties must fully support the government and commit to staying in a coalition until the end of the parliamentary term. Moreover, other parliament members shouldn't criticize the government in public. These demands are clearly influenced by KDP's firing of Gorrans ministers in 2015 and by both the KIU and the IGK withdrawing their ministers during the last government.

A KDP delegation recently visited the PUK and Gorran parties in Sulaimaniyah, but pointedly declined to meet with the IGK. By doing so, but including Gorran, the KDP is trying to divide and weaken opposition voices by rationing out patronage. Moreover, this move by the KDP could lead to the two Islamic parties becoming the public face of the opposition, making it easy for the KDP to limit opposition activities under the pretext of counterterror legislation. The KDP security apparatus has already initiated a number of terror cases against members of the IGK in Erbil.

The KDP wants to depict itself as the main representative of Kurds nationally, and the KDP-PUK competition extends from Erbil to the federal government. In Iraq, the three top federal government offices in Baghdad are divided among Shiites, who decide who fills the role of prime minister; Sunnis, who determine the parliament speaker; and Kurds, who select the president.

The KDP-PUK disagreed over which Kurdish party should hold the federal presidency in Baghdad. The PUK's nominee won that battle, and Barham Salih became president. Massoud Barzani vehemently opposed Salih's selection.

That fact pricked the PUK's distrust recently. Massoud Barzani visited Baghdad and Najaf on Nov. 22 where he met with officials from the federal government and leaders of Sunni and Shiite parties. After his visit, Barzani said the group discussed a number of issues between the KRG in Erbil and the federal government in Baghdad, including the status of oil-laden Kirkuk and disputed areas. He also noted, "We have reached a good understanding that we must solve those issues through dialogue and the Iraqi Constitution."

The PUK, however, viewed Barzanis visit with suspicion, believing that part of his agenda was to undermine the PUKs role in Baghdad. The visit came at a time when Salih was in Rome, meaning Barzani might have timed his trip to avoid meeting with Salih.

The PUK also thinks that the main purpose of the visit was to complete Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdis new Cabinet in a way that the KDP would achieve more political and economic gains at the expense of the PUK by getting another ministerial position in the federal government.During the holiday of Hanukkah, the town of Afulas municipal park will be off limits to Arabs. The park was already closed Nov. 24 to visitors from nearby villages. Only the Jewish residents of Afula were allowed to enjoy time with their families in this public space. This Hanukkah will be the first holiday in which access to the park is limited to Jews.

Racist phenomena such as this did not start in Afula with the passing of the Nationality Law, anchoring the Jewish nature of the State of Israel. It is the nature of laws like this one to have a particular impact on regions that already lean in a certain direction and are encouraged to continue following this path by the establishment. Afula, known as the "Capital of the Valley, was first founded in 1925 to provide services for the Jewish agricultural settlements that had been established in the Jezreel Valley in the early 20th century. There are also several Arab villages in the region, such as Nein and Sulam, and it is close to the West Bank and to Arab towns and villages across the Green Line. Terrorist attacks in Afula over the past few decades tended to originate across the Green Line. As such, they did little to foster any warm feelings between the people of Afula and their Palestinian neighbors.

When Israeli Arabs, who could not find housing in the neighboring villages, turned to Afula, they often encountered hostility and rejection. In 2015, a tender for 45 housing units in Afula was released, with all of the units going to Arabs. Local residents appealed to the District Court in Nazareth, which eventually overturned the tender, claiming that prices had been coordinated among the participants. In August 2017, the Supreme Court overturned the District Courts ruling. The incident, in which the tenders results were invalidated, only to be restored, exacerbated tensions between the Jewish population and local Arabs, whether they already lived in the city or wanted to join them there.

When tensions related to security abated, so did tensions between the communities. The city's residents were wise and pragmatic, dancing between the raindrops. They expressed understanding for the concerns of Afulas Jewish population, trying to ease tensions between the sides. It wasnt easy. I had quite a few discussions with them over the past few years and can testify as to how difficult the situation was for them. It was obvious back then that anyone who brought as much as a match to the city could end up lighting a major fire.

The mayoral elections Oct. 30 revolved around questions pertaining to the local Arab population. Avi Alkabetz, who already served briefly as mayor several years earlier, made no effort to hide the fact that he was promoting a decidedly anti-Arab agenda. He knew exactly what he was doing, too. Preventing Arabs from living in Afula and banning Arabs access to the park that he built as mayor were just about the only issues in his election campaign.

Throughout his campaign, there were already several violent clashes between Jews and Arabs over residency rights. When a Jewish resident dared to sell his apartment to an Arab last June, demonstrations immediately erupted against him. He soon announced that he withdrew from the sale, but that was not enough to placate the angry mob. They demanded that he appear in public to prove that he had pulled out of the contract. Only then did the demonstrators ease up on him.

Last September, just three months after that incident and in the heat of the election campaign, an Israeli Arab, who had purchased an apartment in the town, had Death to the Arabs! spray-painted on his door. It was just a few weeks after the Nationality Law had passed. It was soon learned that the 25-year-old Arab had served in the Israel Defense Forces Givati Brigade, participated in Operation Protective Edge in 2014, and upon his release, decided that he wanted to live in Afulas Givat HaMoreh neighborhood. But Afula believes that all Arabs are equal. It refused to discriminate against one but not the other.

Upon his re-election as mayor, Alkabetz swore in the members of his towns city council from his coalition, but also from the opposition. According to the law, the oath of office that they take includes a declaration of loyalty to the State of Israel and a commitment to fulfill their duties on the city council in good faith. But Alkabetz wanted more, and demanded that they add to the oath by committing to preserve Afulas Jewish character. Whenever anyone raised an eyebrow, the old-new mayor explained that there is nothing wrong with adding to the official oath as established by law.

I was sworn into the Knesset on five separate occasions. On three other occasions, I took the oath of office as a member of the government. In some cases, there were Knesset members  mainly from the ultra-Orthodox and Arab factions  who requested to add a word or two to the formula prescribed by law. In each case, the speaker of the Knesset announced that no one may add or remove a word from the official oath, and that anyone who failed to swear the oath of office as determined by law would be prevented from assuming office. A reasonable interpretation and application of the law could overturn the aforementioned innovation introduced by Alkabetz. However, when the town of Afula was asked about this by the Haaretz newspaper, it responded that adding words to a legally binding oath would not impinge on the legal commitment of the city council members. As if to bolster its position, the city then added that this legal position has the support of the Ministry of Interior. The newspaper then asked for the opinion of jurists. Some responded that the passing of the Nationality Law may be sufficient backing for this additional declaration, even though there was no basis for it before the law was passed.

Do you understand whats going on? The Interior Ministry is currently headed by a convicted felon, who is about to go back to court to face charges of fraud, violation of trust and money laundering. Yet he is providing moral support to a mayor who was elected to his position after inciting against the Arab population and waging a racist campaign against them. And the sun continues to shine, as if this is the way of the world.

Feigning innocence, Alkabetz said that he is absolutely shocked to hear himself described as a racist. In a conversation with Al-Monitor he said that quite a few Arabs work for the city, and that relations with them are good. On the other hand, he continued, Jews should not sell apartments to Arabs, because that could alter the Jewish character of the city. As for closing the park to Arab citizens, this is not the slightest bit racist either, he argued, since Jews, who do not live in Afula, will not have access to the park on Sabbaths and holidays either. Everyone will be required to show ID upon entering the park, and if they are not residents of Afula, they will be asked to leave.

When the Netanyahu government first passed the Nationality Law, its spokespeople argued that there was nothing new in it. It was simply a collection of clauses from existing laws intended to highlight the Jewish character of the country and the special relationship that the Jewish people have with it. There was no reason for the outcry, or so it was said, since the law did nothing more than reflect the existing situation, in terms of the official language and other matters. To anyone who didnt realize what the law was about and to all those who helped to get it passed, it should now be quite obvious what the law really means.They may both belong to the same political party  the Likud  but there is still a long history of personal differences, not to say animosity, between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin. It looks like Netanyahu isnt my friend, Rivlin said last February, describing the icy relationship between the two men.

This seems to be why Netanyahu is trying to pass legislation limiting the presidents right to decide which Knesset member will form the next government after elections. Netanyahu fears that Rivlin will use the criminal investigations he is facing  especially now, with Israel Police recommending that he be indicted for bribery in Case 4000  and hand over to another Likud Knesset member the task of forming the coalition. More specifically, he fears that Rivlin will task former Education Minister Gideon Saar with that mission. And so he initiated the so-called Gideon Saar Law, forcing the president to task only a Knesset member who is also party head with the composition of the coalition. The Ministerial Committee on Legislation is expected to approve this week the recent toned-down version of the proposed law, to that effect. Originally, Netanyahu proposed that only the Knesset member who has the most Knesset members support could be tasked by the president.

Interviews on the topic of European anti-Semitism, which both men gave recently to CNN, highlight the disagreement they have over Israels relationship to Europes rising far-right parties. For several years now, Netanyahu has developed close ties with some of those right-wing governments, and some of their leaders have even visited Israel this year. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz visited last June, as did Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in July.

In July 2017, Orban described Adm. Miklos Horthy, who ruled Hungary during the Holocaust, as an exceptional statesman. He went on to establish a historical museum that all but ignores the active participation of Hungarians in the massacre of the countrys Jewish population, and he used anti-Semitic tropes against the American-Jewish businessman of Hungarian descent, George Soros, who supported his rival. In a meeting with Netanyahu this past July, Orban spoke more moderately, saying, We are proud that in Hungary, self-identifying Jews who celebrate and preserve Jewish tradition can feel safe. Hungary has zero tolerance for anti-Semitism  it makes sense that a Hungarian patriot and a Jewish patriot find common ground.

In Austria, Kurz formed a coalition with the Freedom Party founded by racist Jorg Haider and now headed by Heinz-Christian Strache. As soon as the coalition was formed, Netanyahu decided that Israeli ties with Austrian ministries held by the Freedom Party would be kept on a professional level only.

In a speech to the Austrian parliament in December 2017 in which he laid out his governments objectives, Kurz said, Anti-Semitism has no place in Austria or Europe. We will fight all forms of anti-Semitism with full determination, both those that still exist and those that have been newly imported. Then, this past July, Strache  who is his deputy  proposed that Austria ban the kosher slaughtering of meat in the country.

Strache himself visited Israel in April 2016 after being invited to the country by certain members of the Likud party. This visit ran counter to the official position of Israels Foreign Ministry, but Straches hosts insisted that he came to Israel to learn and pointed out that he even paid a visit to the World Holocaust Remembrance Center at Yad Vashem. Nevertheless, then-President Shimon Peres refused to meet with him. Last February, Strache met with Likud Knesset member Yehuda Glick, despite Netanyahus position on the matter.

In October 2017, sources in the Likud invited Strache for another visit to Israel. President Rivlin condemned the invitation, saying, This is a strange attempt to link up with the far right in Europe.  Different groups are attempting to forge alliances and relationships with xenophobic and anti-Semitic parties and groups, who support the State of Israel, at least ostensibly. It is up to us, the generation closest to the Holocaust, to be loud and clear about this: No interest whatsoever could justify a shameful alliance with groups and factors that fail to recognize their responsibilities for the crimes of the Holocaust, who work to silence that history, and whose vision includes repeating the atrocities against every foreigner, refugee or immigrant.

A survey conducted by CNN last September in seven countries across Europe found that half of the respondents in France and Germany believed that anti-Semitism is a growing problem in their countries. Some 28% of all respondents answered that Jews wield too much influence on the global economy. Meanwhile, 34% said that they had never heard about the Holocaust or knew very little about it, while 32% believe that Jews use the Holocaust to advance their own agendas.

As a result of this survey, CNN conducted separate interviews with President Rivlin and Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Rivlin, who represents more liberal views, said in his interview on Nov. 29, Neo-fascist movements have a great influence on the hearts of people around the world. There are countries where it is returning, and it is very dangerous. And these same neo-fascist movements are movements that very much admire  the State of Israel. Rivlin went on to state unequivocally that he opposes granting legitimacy to these movements, even if they admire the State of Israel and support its policies. As he put it, Someone who is neo-fascist is truly a person who is against the spirit, the principles and the values of the State of Israel.  It is clear as daylight.  Anti-Semitism is a presence in society that corrupts society itself. We try to explain to the whole world that if you dont fight against anti-Semitism, it will hit your societies.

In Netanyahus interview with CNN, the prime minister claimed that European anti-Semitism is new anti-Semitism that comes from the extreme left and also the radical Islamic pockets in Europe. He added, The idea that Israel doesnt have a right to exist is the ultimate anti-Semitism today.

When asked about the dissonance between the struggle against anti-Semitism and diplomatic cooperation with governments that use anti-Semitic imagery, Netanyahu denied any anti-Semitic tones in the discourses of Orban and Kurz. He went on to say that Orban established a center to combat anti-Semitism in Hungary, while Kurz organized a conference on battling anti-Semitism. The real problem, Netanyahu repeated, is with those who deny Israel the right to exist. He called it the most severe form of anti-Semitism.

It seems as if Netanyahus position on the issue is based on the open support for Israel shown by leaders such as Orban and Kurz, and on promises (by at least some of them) to move their countries embassies to Jerusalem, just as US President Donald Trump did.

Speaking to Al-Monitor on the condition of anonymity, a senior official in the Israeli Foreign Ministry explained that Netanyahu wants to change the position of the European Union toward Iran. So far, the EU has stuck to the agreement and has even helped the ayatollahs regime in Tehran get around American sanctions. The official added that Netanyahu is walking a narrow tightrope, but also that he is prepared to pay the price of damaging the struggle against anti-Semitism among the neo-fascist European right in exchange for a chance to shift the EU's policies toward the Middle East.In recent weeks, the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement has logged several impressive achievements. The giant home-sharing Airbnb site announced Nov. 19 that it was removing listings of accommodations in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, claiming they were at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict  although the movement expressed disappointment that the decision did not cover listings in East Jerusalem.

Shortly after, on the Nov. 28th International Solidarity Day with the Palestinians, the Irish Senate moved forward with legislation boycotting products made in the Israeli settlements after Israels efforts failed to soften the language of the proposed bill. On the following day, Chiles Congress gave overwhelming approval to a proposal calling on the government to boycott the settlements in any future agreements with Israel, and to re-examine past agreements. Lawmakers also decided to issue directions to all Chileans visiting Israel or doing business there to ensure they will not support colonization or cooperate with the violation of human rights in the occupied territories.

The BDS movement recently issued a list of 18 extraordinary strides, as it described them, that it took in 2018 on behalf of Palestinian rights by exposing Israeli crimes and apartheid policy. The movement called on its supporters to donate money in order to turn the words freedom, justice and equality from an aspiration into reality.

Indeed, the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the settlements it established there constitute an ongoing violation of international law, reminiscent in large measure of South Africas apartheid regime. However, it is high time the leaders of the BDS movement took a clear look at the situation and asked themselves a simple question: Have their extraordinary strides brought the Palestinians an iota closer to realizing their desire for freedom, justice and equality than they were when BDS was launched in July 2005?

The BDS activists can find the answer to the question of the movements influence in the findings of a new study that examined the link between a sense of national coherence (SONC) and fear of the other  the link between identification with a consensual ethos and the rejection of other peoples or, in other words, how the desire of Israeli individuals to feel part of the Jewish nation affects their approach to non-Israelis/Jews and especially to Palestinians.

According to Shifrah Sagi, who directed the study, the findings indicate a negative link between the desire to identify with a national ethos and the willingness to accept as legitim the collective narratives of other peoples.

Sagi, a leading expert on conflict management, says that boycotts such as the BDS campaign against Israel actually mobilize Israeli society around the Israeli narrative and increase fear of the other. They distance the possibility and ability for reconciliation.

The boycotts strengthen Israelis national coherence, which is based to a large extent on victimhood and common threats, emphasizes Sagi. She says that one of her students found that the level of SONC after the summer 2014 war with Gaza known as Operation Protective Edge was significantly higher than before.

Ironically, Sagi, who has been active for years in various Israeli-Palestinian peace advocacy groups, was herself a victim of BDS recently. Under pressure from the movement, Stellenbosch University in South Africa canceled her participation and that of a half dozen Israeli researchers, among them Mohammed Dajani of East Jerusalem, in a Dec. 5-9 conference headlined Recognition, Reparation, Reconciliation: The Light and Shadow of Historical Trauma. In explaining their decision, organizers cited the Nationality Law adopted this past summer by the Knesset, among other reasons.

Ashraf Kagee of the Stellenbosch University did more than support the cancelation. He wrote to Sagi personally, saying, "This is absolutely not a personal issue against yourself or your colleagues. It is a political matter of not allowing the normalization of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict by means of discussions about reconciliation, empathy and forgiveness while Israel continues [in its path of occupation].

Sagi agrees. Its a political issue, she says, immediately adding, Its stupid politics." When it became known that the conference had disinvited the Israeli researchers, Sagi says the Foreign Ministry was quick to contact her and offer its help. I told them that I dont want them in the picture, Sagi recalls. If they were to become involved, The political right would also exploit the boycott for the sake of nurturing the sense of victimhood and threat, Sagi adds.

Indeed, the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has turned the boycott into a boomerang. In its campaigns, the BDS wages war not only against West Bank settlements but also against the State of Israel. By combining Jewish West Bank settlements and the State of Israel itself into one campaign, the movement is blurring the Green Line that has historically delineated Israel from the territories it occupied.

And so, the campaign has turned itself into an asset for the political right, arguing that it is attacking Israel and not the occupation policy. It portrays the BDS as an expression of anti-Semitism and uses it to nurture a sense of victimhood among the Jewish diaspora. Tourism Minister Yariv Levine even went as far as to compare the removal of several dozen accommodation listings from the Airbnb site to the Nazi selection of Jews in the death camps. The BDS tactics have not advanced the two-state solution nor returned a single Palestinian refugee to Israel; they did not stop the building of a single Jewish settlement outpost nor the razing of a single Palestinian home in the West Bank.

But while the movement failed as far as bringing results, for many people who wish to express their objection to the occupation, this is the right route to take.

On the other hand, a concerted effort by a handful of Israeli and foreign peace activists in the West Bank against the expropriation of Palestinian lands has been far more effective than all the BDS boycotts. The determined campaign waged by these volunteers against the evacuation of the Palestinian West Bank village of Khan al-Ahmar, for example, has resonated around the world  including the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague  far more loudly than all the BDS boycotts combined.

The chief prosecutor of the ICC, Fatou Bensouda, recently described the planned Israeli razing of the village to make way for Israeli settlers as a war crime. The prosecutors threat to use her authority to launch criminal proceedings against Israel under the Rome Statute seems to scare Netanyahu more than Education Minister Naftali Bennett and former Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, who are threatening to outflank him from the right (demolition has been suspended for now). Thats all he needs  as if he does not have enough criminal cases already piling up against him.Saying efforts to advance a Syria political process are at a stalemate, US Syria envoy James Jeffrey today proposed that the international community pull the plug on the Russia-led Astana process on Syria. But it is not clear that Washington has much support for the proposal even from the European and Arab allies that make up the Syria small group that US diplomats met with in Washington today.

Citing the failure of the Astana parties  Russia, Turkey, and Iran  to advance efforts for a Syria constitutional committee at a meeting last week, Jeffrey said the United States would propose getting rid of the competitor to the UN-led Geneva process when UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura departs at the end of the year.

De Mistura is due to give perhaps his final report to the UN Security Council on Dec. 14. Norwegian diplomat Geir Pedersen has been named to succeed him.

If de Mistura is unable to report that he can convene a constitutional committee in Geneva by the end of the year, Jeffrey said it would be the US view that Pedersen take a different approach.

Our suggestion would  [be]  we do not continue with the rather strange Sochi/Astana initiative, Jeffrey told journalists at a State Department press briefing today. The US view  is lets pull the plug on Astana.

The United States sees the convening of the constitutional committee as key to talks about a final document that would be the backbone of a post-conflict settlement.

Is it a stalemate? Yes, Jeffrey said.

But Jeffrey said he is somewhat more optimistic than six months ago.

It is very clear that the Damascus regime, the Russians and Iranians want to see  the three Rs, Jeffrey said. Refugees pushed back to Syria, reconstruction aid  and the [Bashar al-Assad] regime to be recognized as legitimate. None of those things are happening, and they are not going to happen unless the political process makes progress.

Jeffrey credited the parties to the Oct. 27 Istanbul summit  German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan  with having negotiated and sustained a de-escalation agreement for Idlib.The 11th round of Astana talks on Syria, held Nov. 28-29, turned out to be the shortest in the process thus far. The guarantors published a joint statement in the morning of the second day, contrary to the established tradition of doing so in the evening. The brevity of the talks clearly demonstrated that the sides had failed to achieve any significant results. In all fairness, however, few had expected a breakthrough in a round that stressed new priorities such as prisoner exchanges.

Shortly before the meeting, at a coordination council session of the Russian-French Trianon Dialogue, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed his hope that the participants take measures needed to finish the formation of the Constitutional Committee, which is supposed to draft a new constitution for Syria under UN auspices. Meanwhile, TASS, the Russian state news agency, reported that complex questions had been avoided within the summits agenda, and no decisions on the de-escalation zone in Idlib and on the Constitutional Committee were made.

The sides did not even agree on the committees membership because of issues surrounding the third list of civil society representatives that the United Nations must approve, although 142 out of 150 suggested representatives have been agreed upon. Delegates from the Syrian opposition linked the controversy to Russias attempts to impose certain names that Staffan de Mistura, the UN secretary-generals special envoy for Syria, had already rejected.

De Mistura, who has announced that he will be stepping down in December, expressed his regret at the lack of substantial progress over the past 10 months. He called the meeting a failed possibility, promised to succeed in forming the Constitutional Committee by Dec. 31 and joked about the lack of women in the delegations.

Nevertheless, Alexander Lavrentiev, the Russia presidents special envoy for Syria, said Russia considers the results of the summit to have been positive. We actually discussed a wide range of issues, from the situation on the ground around Idlib to the problems in other parts of Syria, as well as the general stabilization process, he said.

Ahmed Tomeh, head of the Syrian opposition delegation, also put a positive spin on the talks. He noted, The result did not meet our ambitions entirely, but the Astana formats advantage is that it is currently the only effective way to solve the problems. He added, Regarding the problem of Idlib, the negotiation has been successful. The opposition's reaction can probably be explained by the position Russia adopted at the talks.

On the one hand, the sides agreed to continue prisoner exchanges between the government and the opposition. The first such exchange took place Nov. 24, following a 10 for 10 formula. Lavrentiev hopes that the sides will manage to exchange 50 to 60 people the next time. The leader of the Russian delegation said that Damascus and the opposition have accused each other of illegally holding large numbers of people  the regimes list cites 16,000, the oppositions up to 15,000  but added that the allegations must be fact-checked.

On the other hand, Russias stance at the talks has grown increasingly open and less propaganda-based. Of note, Lavrentiev as well as Russian state media did not avoid mention of the moderate opposition in regard to the situation in Idlib.

Lavrentiev was quoted as saying, We do wish sincerely that the situation in the province stabilizes, that the moderate opposition actually succeeds in suppressing the radicals there. It is hard to estimate how soon the problem will be resolved, though certainly it should be done without delay, as civilians are suffering. He added that the number of militants associated with Jabhat al-Nusra stands at 15,000 people. Citing its own source, state-run RIA Novosti reported that the cleansing of the Idlib demilitarized zone of militants is lagging and that Russia is ready to support Turkey and the armed opposition in this work, if necessary.

This hardly reflects a shift in Moscow's official position. First, Russia realizes that support of the operation in Idlib will come at a price; thus its own interest lies in encouraging Turkeys efforts there and in northern Aleppo, which also helps it avoid strong criticism. Second, due to the opposition's fragmentation and the obvious weakness of its political delegation, the formation of the Constitutional Committee will greatly benefit Assad, who sabotages even the most glaringly decorative political reforms.

The Syrian governments delegation, as usual, accused Turkey of territorial annexation while ignoring the opposition's presence in Astana. The Syrian Arab News Agency emphasized that the summits objective was to wrap up consultations between the Russians and Iranians.

Considering claims by Ankara and its Syrian rebel allies about their intention to conduct a military campaign in northern Syria east of the Euphrates, it is noteworthy that the situation in Syria's northeastern provinces was highlighted for the first time within the Astana format. On the first day of the summit, Lavrentiev spoke about progress in the area.

The latest news is quite hopeful, Lavrentiev said. The government troops finished the eradication of [Islamic State] remnants in several areas of Syria, including Suwayda. He added, We are certain that the operation against the terrorists to the east of Euphrates and along the border between Syria and Iraq will be equally victorious.

Lavrentiev did not make a mistake by mentioning the prospect of taking action in the region controlled by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, as later on he said the Astana process guarantors question the extent of the need for the US military presence in the area given that the enemy there does not exceed 1,500, while the Kurdish groups fighting them stand at 60,000.

It is clear, however, that Moscow does understand the reason behind the international coalitions presence on the east bank of the Euphrates, but discussing the legitimacy of the actions by the United States and its allies allows it to emphasize the guarantors efforts at maintaining Syrias territorial integrity on the one hand while on the other showing diplomatic respect to Turkey, encouraging its (still fruitless) attempts to resolve its problems with the Kurdistan Workers Party and the associated People's Protection Units. The current dynamic in Russian-Turkish relations generally reinforces Russias negotiating position as concerns the Syrian agenda, but if Turkey decides to launch a limited-scale campaign in the northeast, pro-government forces will not hesitate to exploit the situation, launching an operation in another area simultaneously.

The 11th round of the Astana process saw a continued focus on refugee repatriation, a process as political as it is humanitarian, designed to demonstrate the stability of the Syrian regime. According to Lavrentiev, about 2.5 million refugees remain in Jordan and up to 1.5 million in Lebanon. He said the number of Syrians who have returned home from these countries is "less than several dozens of thousands." As Lavrentiev pointed out, Russia relies on the aid of international organizations when it comes to repatriation efforts.Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has traveled around the world to try to reboot his tarnished reputation. He has had some success with other despots but he has become a polarizing figure who is damaging the kingdoms brand. In the United States, the 75-year-old partnership is under great stress and risks losing its traditional bipartisan support.

The crown prince got an enthusiastic reception at the G-20 summit in Argentina only from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Even Donald Trump, his foremost protector, decided against a one-on-one meeting. Nonetheless the crown prince got the group photo he wanted, where he stood with the rest of the G-20 leaders, which is being used inside the kingdom to reassure Saudis that all is well.

The crown prince flew over Morocco, a long-standing Saudi ally, on the way home from Buenos Aires. King Mohammed VI was applauded by the Moroccan press for not meeting the prince. In contrast, the Algerian media criticized the government for receiving Prince Mohammed. The Saudis supported the brutal crackdown on the Islamic opposition in the 1990s, which still arouses strong critiques of the army. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika did not meet the prince, citing poor health, a well-worn excuse for Bouteflika. A planned visit to Jordan is getting considerable criticism as well.

The White House remains adamant that the Saudi leadership is the crucial American ally in the region: vital for arms sales, cheap oil and containing Iran. The administration has been under siege as new revelations about the communications between the assassins of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the crown princes office in Riyadh on the day of the murder have leaked out. The evidence of the princes complicity in premeditated murder is strong and getting stronger. Worse for the kingdom is that the Khashoggi affair has attracted more attention to the Saudis' disastrous war in Yemen, the worst humanitarian catastrophe in the world.

The Saudi alliance is now under more harsh scrutiny in the United States than at any time since the 1973 oil embargo. Unlike the 1973 strains, which involved matters of policy toward Israel, the current strains are more about a personality  namely the crown prince  than differences about policy. No one called for ousting King Faisal. The critics of Saudi Arabia today want a change in leadership in Riyadh, which is much harder if not impossible to achieve. Its the recklessness and brutality of the crown princes behavior that is turning traditional supporters of the kingdom in the media and Congress against the Saudis. Its hard to see how that will change: Its more likely another misstep by Prince Mohammed will further discredit him.

While members of both parties in Washington have been critical of the Saudi behavior, the Democrats are more united in their posture than the Republicans. Every Democratic senator voted to invoke the war powers act last week to end American support for the war in Yemen. Republicans are split between critics and the presidents loyalists. If this partisan divide deepens it will have negative consequences for the relationship. Saudi Arabia has never been popular in America, but presidents of both parties have recognized the importance of strong ties with Riyadh. This might not survive the accession of Mohammed to the throne.

The only sign of good news is in Yemen. The passage of injured Houthis to Oman and talk of a prisoner swap is movement in the direction of ending the war and the blockade. If talks between the parties start as promised in Sweden, they will be the first in two years. The United States should throw its weight behind this process, not try to protect the crown princes obstructionism.

The Saudi royal family is undoubtedly watching carefully each diplomatic encounter between the crown prince and foreign leaders for signs that the Istanbul murder is being swept under the rug. It is more important to gauge popular opinion in the United States, however, to measure whether the foremost bastion of Saudi national security for three quarters of a century is slipping away. The kingdom badly needs a capable and astute ambassador in Washington today, but unfortunately Khaled bin Salman is as toxic as his brother.ANKARA, Turkey  An appeals court upheld the conviction of Kurdish political leader Selahattin Demirtas today, endorsing his imprisonment for terrorist propaganda, causing his party to accuse the judiciary of kowtowing to government.

The decision came two weeks after the European Court of Human Rights had called for Demirtas release, saying his pretrial detention had been inexcusably long and driven by the aim of keeping him out of the political arena.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had promptly rejected the Strasbourg courts finding as nonbinding, adding: We have many things to do in response to this. We will take counter measures.

But Demirtas lawyers applied to a court in Ankara for his release, arguing that as a signatory to the Council of Europe, Turkey was obliged to respect the Strasbourg judgement. The Ankara court unanimously rejected the petition Friday.

In todays judgment, the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice upheld the verdict of a lower court, which found Demirtas and his colleague Sirri Sureyya Onder guilty of making propaganda for an armed terrorist organization through speeches they made at a Kurdish Newroz (New Year) festival in 2013.

The government arrested Demirtas, then leader of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), in November 2016 and charged him with terrorist-related offenses in numerous courts around the country. But it was only in September of this year, after 22 months in detention, that Demirtas was convicted. The court sentenced Demirtas to 56 months imprisonment and Onder to 42 months in jail for their Newroz speeches.

The appeals court confirmed the sentences today, meaning that two of the most effective opposition politicians in the country will be off the public stage for years.

The head of the HDPs foreign department, Nazmi Gur, condemned the appeal courts decision in an interview with Al-Monitor. Referring to Erdogans statement that he would take counter measures, Gur said, This case is very strong evidence of how the Turkish government can control the legal system.

Erdogan has often said that Turkish courts are independent. Gur told Al-Monitor that todays ruling means Turkish courts are not independent.

Observers have long questioned the motives for the prosecution of Demirtas.

His Newroz speech of 2013 was overshadowed by that of the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan, who penned a letter calling for peace. After Ocalans letter was read out to a vast crowd in Diyarbakir, the prospect of an end to the Kurdish war electrified the country. The speeches of Demirtas and Onder in Istanbul were forgotten.

They were forgotten by the prosecutors as well. It was only when the political climate changed, and the Kurdish insurgency resumed, that the prosecutors filed charges against Demirtas and Onder for speeches delivered three years earlier.

Observers also wondered why, after he had been charged, Demirtas could not have been released on bail pending trial. He was, after all, a well-known figure who could not easily go to ground, a lawyer-politician with a reputation to uphold and a family man.

However, Demirtas is arguably the best and wittiest public speaker in Turkeys opposition. He is certainly the most charismatic politician in country, earning the epithet "the Kurdish Obama." And the European Court of Human Rights alluded to these qualities in its judgment. The court said that by detaining Demirtas during the referendum of April 2017 and the election of June 2018 the authorities had pursued the predominant ulterior purpose of stifling pluralism and limiting freedom of political debate.There is only one country in the Arab world that has been classified as 'free.' That nation is Tunisia, slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi wrote in his final piece for The Washington Post, which was published posthumously on Oct. 17. It was an instance of macabre foreshadowing.

During Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmans regional tour last week ahead of the G-20 summit, Tunisia was the only Arab country in which citizens mobilized online and organized demonstrations in the street. As soon as people heard about the visit, which was announced Nov. 22, a Facebook event was organized  and it quickly went viral. A number of civil society activists and organizations from a range of political and ideological backgrounds threw their weight behind the protests, including the powerful Journalist Syndicate. Protesters nicknamed Mohammed "Abu Monsar" ("Abu Saw" in Arabic) and carried corresponding props.

[Mohammed] is unprecedented in his ways of oppressing his people, said Tarek Kahlaoui, a political activist and one of the main organizers of the protest. Never before [has] an opposition figure [been] killed and dismembered in an embassy, [which is] usually a safe haven.  His campaign in Yemen [is] similarly brutal  even though covered by anti-Shiite sentiments. [We remember] the way he treated members of the Saud family, and we cant forget the abduction of the Lebanese prime minister and forcing him to resign. Because hes unique in his despotism, many Tunisians felt the obligation to protest his visit. Saudi Arabia also played host to Tunisias former dictator, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, after he fled the country in 2011, a fact not lost on protesters.

Its been eight years since Tunisias 2011 Jasmine Revolution, which saw the country emerge as the only regional success story following the Arab Spring. But while freedom of expression might be one of the countrys biggest gains, its also clear that Tunisia  which has seen an economic slump, crippling IMF loans, high unemployment and a devalued currency  still has to play by the rules of its larger, richer neighbors. Highly publicized protests didnt prevent Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi from enthusiastically meeting with Mohammed, who during his four-hour visit offered Tunisia a low-interest $500 million loan. The international media might have paid attention to the protesters, but Essebsi  and a slew of other politicians  did not.

Mohammeds tour, which saw stops in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt (where paid supporters cheered on the royals arrival and the Egyptian press dubbed it a protest of love), was meant to show to the world that despite the Khashoggi murder, Saudi Arabia was open for business as usual. He strategically chose to visit close allies, which would ostensibly help ease his transition into the G-20 summit in Argentina. Its still not clear why Mohammed picked Tunisia.

Why Tunisia is a big question. Is it to show that he is open to Qatar's and Turkey's allies? Is it rather to score against Qatar and Turkey in their sphere of influence? Is it to show the West that even their spoiled democracy cannot resist him? I don't have a definitive answer, Tunis-based political analyst Youssef Cherif told Al-Monitor.

As Al-Monitor reported last year, Tunisia regularly finds itself in a precarious position with Gulf countries as it navigates its own democratic transition. Tunisia has tried to retain a level of political and economic balance  unwilling or unable to truly upset anyone  but it hasnt always been easy. Prior to the revolution, the UAE was Tunisias second largest Arab investor. In 2011, following the political victory of the moderate Islamist party Ennahda, the UAE halted investments; two years later they withdrew their ambassador and began openly supporting Essebsis secular party, Nidaa Tounes. When Nidaa Tounes allied with Ennahda in 2015, the UAE responded by denying visas to Tunisian businessmen. Last year, they temporarily banned Tunisian women from flying into the country.

For the past several years, Tunisias largest Arab investor has been Qatar  a staunch supporter of Tunisia since the revolution. In fact, Qatar has been investing in Tunisia since the 1990s. Unlike the UAE, Qatar was pleased when Ennahda took power and further expressed sympathy when they allied with Nidaa Tounes. When Qatar was effectively ostracized from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in June 2017, there was concern that other Gulf countries could retaliate against Tunisia.

Though Saudi Arabia led the charge against Qatar, their relationship with Tunisia is more conciliatory. Saudi Arabia  has continued to invest in Tunisia, pledging almost $1 billion in 2016 at the Tunisia 2020 conference. They have also strengthened military ties, forming a joint military commission in 2016 and hosting their first-ever joint air exercises in Tunisia in October, Sharan Grewal, a post-doctoral research fellow at the Brookings Institution, told Al-Monitor.

If, however, Tunisia is afraid a rapprochement with Saudi Arabia might upset Qatar, Cherif notes that both Qatars prime minister and Turkeys president were invited last year, so the visit of [Mohammed] can be portrayed as a continuation of Tunisia's balanced foreign policy, which avoids encampment.

But Tunisia, uneager to upset the delicate balance within the GCC, has not been as strong of a partner as Saudi Arabia might have imagined. Saudi Arabia has not received much in return for its investment. Tunisia remained relatively neutral during the GCC-Qatar spat and has not contributed much more than statements of support for the war in Yemen. Tunisia mildly criticized the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi but primarily emphasized that it wished to maintain strong relations with the kingdom, Grewal pointed out.

Analysts agree that Tunisias political and economic relationship with Saudi Arabia is one that is likely to continue this pattern. But Saudi Arabia, which is more at ease with countries that have a dictatorial grip on their citizens speech and movements, might have underestimated Tunisias democratic gains. The fact that no one was harassed or jailed for staging these protests and mocking [Mohammed] online and in the media shows how advanced freedom of speech has become in Tunisia, said Cherif. This has probably angered [Mohammed] and his regional allies and will be one more reason for their hostility toward Tunisia's democratic transition.

Organizers of the protests were not surprised that Essebsi followed through with his meeting with Mohammed, but they were pleased by one development: Following the Journalist Syndicates official complaint against [Mohammed], the Court of First Instance ordered an official investigation by judicial police. The complaint urges Tunisia to refer Mohammed to the International Criminal Court for war crimes. How much the judge was directly impacted by the protest is unknown, but, as Grewal notes, It shows that what Tunisia has  and other Arab regimes lack  is not just the freedom to protest [Mohammed's] visit. It's also the rule of law to be able to file such a complaint and the independent judiciary to act upon it.

Kahlaoui, one of the protests main organizers, agrees. It shows the importance of public protesting. It shows the power of journalists who called for the investigation. And it shows the increasing independence of the judiciary. Overall its just another indication of the survival of our young democracy.The word war between LTRFB chairman Martin Delgra and outgoing LTFRB board member lawyer Aileen Lizada had shifted to the Senate on Tuesday where they traded barbs over the falsification of the newly-opened Paranaque Integrated Terminal Exchange. In the public hearing on the PITX issue conducted by the Senate public services committee chaired by Senator Grace Poe, Lizada divulged that Delgra ordered her to get the third and last page of the first memorandum circular 2018-022. The first memo circular, which contained Lizadas signature, provides that all buses should have their terminal at PITX, the countrys first landport. To bolster her assertions, Lizada presented to the Senate panel a copy of the memorandum sent to the UP Law Center and the Philippine Star for publication during the hearing. She said her initials on the document were not there. But Delgra strongly denied the allegations hurled against him by Lizada, who was transferred to the Civil Service Commission. The revised memo mandates the exemption of some buses from using the landport along Roxas Boulevard in Baclaran. In the same hearing, Poe also questioned the failure of LTRFB to issue a fare matrix for provincial buses coming from the south which uses PITX. It was reported that several passengers had complained that there was no change in the amount of fare despite a reduction in the distance. The buses they were riding no longer brought them to their destinations either in Lawton, Manila or Edsa. Lizada also questioned the exemption given by LTRFB to some bus companies to have their terminal at the newly-opened PITX.The DOTR said 159 buses were given exemption, but this was countered by Poe who said 359 provincial buses were instead exempted from ending their routes at the newly-opened Paranaque Integrated Terminal Exchange. Because of this, provincial bus operators complained they failed to get passengers who opted to ride buses going directly to Lawton or Edsa. There was absolutely no meeting regarding Department Order 2018-025. It would not be fair to us to allege that there was consultation, said lawyer Omar Mayo of the United Cavite Provincial Bus Operators. They said the DOTR did not conduct a public hearing before implementing the order. PITX concessionaires have also disadvantaged only 20 percent of the expected influx of passengers go to PITX. Poe exhorted LRTFB to come out with a clear policy on bus exemption aside from holding a dialogue with all stakehokders before implementation of policies. The PITX is the first integrated and multi-modal terminal in the southwestern part of Metro Manila, serving as a transfer point among provincial buses from Cavite, Batangas, and in-city modes of transportation. The DOTR has noted that the terminal would reduce the number of buses traversing EDSA-Taft, Pasay and Roxas Boulevard, which will result in easing traffic in the metro. DOTR Undersecretary Mark de Leon earlier pronounced that buses should be required to use the PITX.The Birmingham episode of television food guru Andrew Zimmerns Travel Channel series The Zimmern List will air Saturday, Dec. 22, the Travel Channel announced today.

The episode will debut at 9:30 a.m. Central time that day and will be rebroadcast periodically, according to the shows website.

Zimmern came to Birmingham in May to film his show, and while here, he visited Eagles Restaurant, Miss Myras Pit Bar-B-Q, Highlands Bar and Grill, OvenBird, Saws Juke Joint and The Market at Pepper Place.

It is the third time in five years that the popular TV chef has featured Birmingham on one of his shows.

In 2013, he came here for a memorable episode of his show Bizarre Foods: America, and three years later, he featured more Magic City eateries on his Bizarre Foods: Delicious Destinations.

"The Zimmern List," which is in its second season on the Travel Channel, has been described as "a love letter of sorts" to Zimmern's favorite food towns and the places he likes to visit in them."

Previous episodes of the show have taken Zimmern to such dining destinations as New Orleans, San Francisco, San Diego, New York, Nashville, Seattle, Chicago, Las Vegas, Baltimore and Austin, Texas.

To find out more about The Zimmern List, go here.This is an opinion column.

Shot from behind.

No matter how many times you see the words.

No matter how many times you read them.

But especially when you say them.

It hurts.

Shot from behindthree times.

We still dont know everything that happened on that tragic, fateful Thanksgiving night.

We dont know who did what, and why in those frantic seconds before 21-year-old Emantic E.J. Bradford, Jr. lost his life when three bullets from a police gun pierced his bodyhis hip, his neck and brain, to be graphically specificfollowing a dispute at FootAction at the Riverchase Galleria in Hoover that escalated into gunfire.

But we do know this: Bradford was shot from behind. Three times.

And it hurts.

Unless youre not human. Or void of all humanity.

It hurts, mostly, for Bradfords family, of course; their pain did not end when they laid their son, nephew, son-in-law, grandson, or friend in the ground at Valhalla cemetery on last Saturdays overcast afternoon.

It hurts for those of us who are way beyond weary of seeing our people die. By anyones hand. Or weapon. But particularly at the hands of those sworn to protect and serve usan oath the vast, vast, majority of officers, it bears saying, faithfully uphold.

It hurts for all of us who want answers, transparency, and accountabilityand want it yesterday. For all of us who wantno, demandto see the mall and bodycam (if it exists) video.

It hurts, Im sure, even for the Hoover police officer who made the deadly, split-second decision to pull the trigger. Three times.

Who saw a man with a guna black man with a gunand did, well, we do not exactly yet know.

Yet we know Bradford was shot from behind. Three times.

Its hard to dispute science, although some will certainly try.

The Bradford family, desperate for answers, hired its own pathologist and on Monday shared his findings with us. Shared them with graphic specificity. With outlines of a body one man in the room knew had been his son.

Emantic Bradford, Sr., simmering in a controlled and understandable rage, said his son was murdered.

Three times my son was shot. That was wrong.

That aint trainingThats cowardice.

Youre a coward.

Now, we must wait to hear what Alabama Law Enforcement Association (ALEA) investigators have to say, investigators who made it clear to Hoover officials that they would not be pressured into releasing evidence before the investigation is complete.

And that they would deal harshly with anyone who did.

Investigators who have all but turned a deaf ear to the loud and incessant calls to release the dang videoto the family, to all of us.

As we seethe. As we hurt.

As our pain rises in precarious crescendowhen protesters are shutting down Hoover City Council meetings and confronting city officials face-to-face. And at their homes.

Something can be done, Hoover, and it must.

After admitting they initially misidentified Bradford as the shooter, holding a press conference at the mall and announcing it to the world, Hoovers leaders apologizedboth publicly less than 24 hours later and to the family one week ago today.

They also repeatedly promised transparency and accountability.

They have yet to deliver.

We still do not know how Hoover officials made the rushed and failed decision to blame the man lying dead on the cold floor of the Galleria mall for being the shooter in the dispute that sparked the chain of events that led to his death.

We still do not know who made that erroneous call.

Whoever is responsible must be held accountablenow.

And Hoovers leadersespecially mayor Frank Brocato and police chief Nick Derzismust assure us that the process, such as it was, that led to the ghastly call will be fixed so that it will never happen again.

We know crime investigations take time, that due diligence and the gathering of every possible shred of evidence are paramount. Just this week in Dallas, police officer Amber Guyger was finally charged with murder in the killing of Botham Shem Jean, a crime that happened nearly three months when she walked into his apartment, allegedly thinking it was her own, and shot him dead.

So ALEA will likely drag its feet, but Hoover cannot stand still.

Holding the personor personsresponsible for the misidentification accountable by announcing they are no longer employed by the City of Hoover will not in any way taint or interfere with ALEA.

However, it will tell those desperately seeking answers, transparency and accountabilitya group that, by now, certainly includes not just protesters but many Hoover residents, as wellthat its leaders are actually leaders.

That they are true to their words.

It just may ease a slight bit of our pain.

Roy S. Johnsons column appears in The Birmingham News, the Huntsville Times, the Mobile Register and AL.com. Hit me up at rjohnson@al.com or/and follow me at twitter.com/roysj or on Instagram at instagram.com/roysj/Controversial Florida election official Brenda Snipes has rescinded her resignation and said she plans to remain on the job.

Snipes, a native of Talladega, Alabama, submitted her resignation as the Broward County Supervisor of Elections last month after a series of problems involving recounts in the midterm elections. Her resignation was effective for January, but on Friday, Governor Rick Scott suspended her from the position shes held since 2012.

One day later, Snipes said she no longer planned to resign.

We will be fighting this, said Burnadette Norris-Weeks, Snipes attorney, said, according to a report in the Miami Herald. In addition to that, Dr. Snipes hereby rescinds her resignation which would have been effective on the fourth of January. She rescinds that resignation as we go forward and fight these...allegations that are frivolous.

The supervisor is being held to a standard that no other supervisor has been held to in the state of Florida, Norris-Weeks added. We are disheartened by the governors actions. We believe it is a malicious action that should not have happened.

Snipes has drawn heavy criticism for her handling of Broward Countys recount in Novembers midterm elections. Her office submitted results of a machine recount two minutes past the deadline and lost more than 2,000 ballots in the 2018 midterms that saw challenges over the election of Florida Gov. Rick Scott to the U.S. Senate and Ron DeSantis as Governor.

Both Scott and DeSantis as Republicans.

Snipes had previously faced allegations of election misconduct in 2004 and 2016.

The Florida Constitution requires the Senate to hold a hearing to remove Snipes from her office, with a three month deadline to begin proceedings. The Senate has not set a time for the hearings.In your face, Alabama.

You dont mean squat.

And that jury system Americans seem so fond of? Its garbage. A sham. It doesnt matter to people who  you know  matter.

Like the members of the Alabama Water Resources Commission, the group that advises top government officials on Alabamas water policy. They looked at their felonious former fellow David Roberson and decided he should be commended for his exemplary service on the board.

He should be lauded, they unanimously said. Before he goes to prison.

For bribery.

And wire fraud.

And money laundering.

And conspiracy.

For putting the profits of his employer  Drummond Co.  above the health and well-being of people who live in the fallout of the pollution its companies and others left behind.

Great job, David. Youre the best.

Roberson and Balch & Bingham lawyer Joel Gilbert were convicted in federal court, prosecuted by a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney. It was clear from testimony that Roberson and Gilbert worked to prevent the cleanup of a toxic Birmingham neighborhood to preserve company profits. They bribed former Rep. Oliver Robinson to convince residents not to let the Environmental Protection Agency test their soil for heavy metals.

So of course a commission set up to develop Alabama water policy would want to honor him. Of course it would praise all that.

Way to go David. You went to bat for the fattest of cats, without sympathy or empathy or compassion for those who live with lead, and arsenic, and God knows what else.

Congratulations! You live up to the high standard of those put in a position to guard Alabamas most precious resources.

Just like the Alabama Environmental Management Commission, whose longtime chairman contracted to help Drummond and Balch & Bingham  through Roberson and Gilbert -- foil the planned federal cleanup of North Birmingham and Tarrant.

Just like the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, which rolled over and played dead when state officials made it clear profits for businesses in the North Birmingham area were more important than the possible risk to little things like little people.

Just like the governor and other public officials who appoint the Alabama Water Resources Commission and the Alabama Environmental Management Commission, who disdain the notion of clean air and water and use it as a political tool to divide instead of a necessary protection of Alabama citizens and its greatest natural resources.

Because protecting Alabamas environment means allowing lawyers for polluters, like Gilbert, to write environmental policy.

Protecting Alabamas environment means vilifying  as regulators did in the North Birmingham case  those who would protect the air or the water or the soil.

Protecting Alabamas environment is all about protecting the profits of industry. It is not about the environment at all.

Even if Alabamas gifts  its waterways and natural beauty, its woodlands and shorelines and arable land  are the very essence of the Alabama soul.

Alabama politicians have intentionally turned those things into the enemy of jobs, jobs jobs. And they cannot fight back, for they will never have the financing or the ruthlessness of heavy industry.

Protecting Alabamas environment means nothing in this toxic political environment.

So good job, everybody. You made your statement. You made your point.

David Roberson did what he was supposed to do, by Alabama standards. He took one for the team.

Forget that jury of his peers. You guys at the Alabama Water Resources Commission know the truth.

You guys have no peers.

John Archibald, a Pulitzer Prize winner, is a columnist for Reckon by AL.com. His column appears in The Birmingham News, the Huntsville Times, the Mobile Register and AL.com. Write him at jarchibald@al.com.Protests over the death of Emantic E.J. Bradford Jr.s death continued in Hoover Monday night at the Hoover City Council meeting, Sams Club and the Riverchase Galleria.

The Hoover City Council meeting adjourned abruptly Monday night after protesters began chanting during the public comment portion of the meeting. Around 70 protesters attended the meeting.

Do I hear a motion? council president Gene Smith said when protesters started chanting No justice, no peace. If we dont get, shut it down. Say his name, E.J.

Alright I got a motion and a second. Yall asked for us to shut it down, Smith said. After the meeting adjourned, some of the protesters approached the city council members and Mayor Frank Brocato, asking questions and demanding Brocato resign.

City council meeting swifty adjourned after protesters chant shut it down, during the meeting pic.twitter.com/nI9ObpTRP7  Anna Beahm (@_AnnaBeahm) December 4, 2018

Some city council members responded to additional questions after the meeting.

Some people expressed their frustration that the city would not be allowed to release any information about the shooting.

Last week, city officials said they might release information if the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency did not release information by noon Monday. City officials say they received a letter this weekend from ALEA forbidding the city from releasing information.

Its important to realize that, the minute ALEA gets involved, the jurisdiction of the City of Hoover, as the investigated party, is over. We cannot step in and demand anything of ALEA. That is absolutely improper for us to do that. We cant step in and tell the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, youre going to do it this way. We want justice too, said Curt Posey, councilor for Place 6.

A statement from the city council regarding the events of Thanksgiving night was read aloud at the meeting. The full text of that statement is below:

We all want answers. Everybody in this community wants the entire truth about what took place on Nov. 22. We dont have that yet. And that truth will come and the conclusion of the ALEA investigation, said City Administrator Alan Rice after the meeting.

Protesters are still demanding police to release video footage of the incident and any other evidence about the officer-involved shooting that left 21-year-old Bradford dead on Thanksgiving night. A report from a private autopsy released today shows Bradford was shot in the back, family attorneys said.

Activist LeDarius Hilliard said protesters want three Hoover officials to resign: Mayor Brocato, Police Chief Nick Derzis, and Hoover police Capt. Gregg Rector. Theyre also asking for an overhaul of police policy on racial bias and discrimination and for the city to create a citizen review board with subpoena powers to incidents like the one on Thanksgiving night.

Protesters block the entrance to the SAMs Club in Hoover with shopping carts. They say they dont want people to spend their money in Hoover. pic.twitter.com/3r2IBc044l  Anna Beahm (@_AnnaBeahm) December 4, 2018

After the meeting, protesters continued to Sams Club off John Hawkins Parkway, where protesters blocked the entrance to the store with shopping carts. Shoppers approached the store, only to be turned away.

Protesters chanted not one more dime! Not one more dime! as they marched through the parking lot.

When police asked them to go across the street, protesters left and went to the Galleria and marched through the mall. The stores were still open, but shoppers began leaving and stores closed their doors as protesters entered the mall.

Stores are closing in the Galleria in response to protesters walking through and chanting release the video. #EJBradford pic.twitter.com/OOCsghNLbF  Trisha Powell Crain (@Trish_Crain) December 4, 2018

Protesters disbanded for the night around 9:30 p.m.

Monday nights protests mark the fifth time demonstrations have been held at Hoover businesses since Thanksgiving night.

On Nov. 24, protesters met outside Macys department store at the mall with signs and repeated multiple chants, including police lied, and they still lying, not one more time, and stop shopping here, AL.coms Ivana Hrynkiw reported.

On Monday, protesters blocked U.S. 31 in front of Hoover City Mall and marched to the mall. They entered the mall and marched to Footactionthe place where E.J. was shotwhile chanting Say his name, E.J., and stop shopping here.

Other shoppers stopped to watch and some took photos with their smartphones. Nearby stores closed their doors while protesters were inside.

On Friday, protesters staged a die-in at the mall and laid a wreath in E.J.s memory in front of Footaction. Stores were shuttered and some of the lights were off at the mall as protesters marched in.

Just under two dozen people protested in front of the AMC Patton Creek movie theater Sunday night, causing the theater to stop selling movie tickets for the evening.

Al.com journalist Trisha Powell Crain contributed to this report.Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, speaking to the Alabama Farmers Federation tonight in Montgomery, said President Donald Trump is making some mistakes as he learns the job but is mostly doing what his voters wanted, kicking over the table of the Washington establishment.

Youre watching a guy learn to be president, in public, under attack seven days a week, Gingrich said. And the truth is, every once in a while he doesnt do very well. But most of the time he does pretty well. And occasionally hes historic.

Gingrich, a longtime stalwart in conservative political circles, praised Trumps moves to cut taxes, reduce regulations and crack down on illegal immigration. The audience interrupted the former speaker with applause when he predicted Trump will decisively move the federal judiciary back to a constitutional, conservative mode with his appointees, something Gingrich said the last few Republican presidents have not done been able to do.

Gingrich, GOP presidential candidate in 2012, author and commentator on Fox News, spoke for about 45 minutes to about 1,200 people at the annual conference of the Farmers Federation, one of Alabamas most powerful political groups.

Gingrich talked mostly about Trump and traditional conservative themes. He closed by answering several questions from the audience. He did not take questions from the media.

Gingrich, who served as speaker from 1995 to 1998 after Republicans captured the House for the first time in 40 years, said the sharp political divide in Washington is driven by substance, not just style. He talked about what he said were radically different visions of America.

Gingrich said those on the political left are still trying to recover from the shock of election night in 2016 as swing states such as Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania propelled Trump to an upset win over Hillary Clinton.

Up till about 8 oclock that night, they were so happy they couldnt stand it, Gingrich said. Then they noticed, no matter which channel you went to, that things werent working quite right.

Gingrich said Democrats expecting a champagne celebration instead went to bed feeling like they were hit by a roadside bomb.

And they woke up the next morning, and Trump was tweeting, Gingrich said. "And they went, Oh my God, he really is going to be president. 

He noted that Trump has kept up the barrage ever since.

If you watch him, he is permanently on offense, Gingrich said. "Ive never seen anybody like him."

Gingrich also talked about how Trump jolted the establishment Republican candidates like John Kasich, Jeb Bush and Lindsey Graham with his upstart candidacy in 2015.

The Republican base, and many of you fit this, the Republican base was so angry at Washington, they had given up the hope of regular reforms. And they wanted somebody to kick over the table," Gingrich said.

An audience member asked Gingrich if he thought the never-Trumpers in Washington were coming around to supporting the president.

Gingrich said some of Trumps detractors are retiring instead, choosing not to run for reelection, such as Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake. But he said Trump is winning over some detractors.

There were two wings of never-Trumpers, Gingrich said. There were the wish he wasnt there wing. And the I hate him so much I cant stand myself wing. The I wish he wasnt there wing actually is coming around. There are a number of people now who will tell you hes been much better than I thought he would be. They are very prepared to work with him and help him.

The people who really hate him, they psychologically cant reverse themselves now.

Gingrich said he believes the investigation into whether there was illegal collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia would end without any substantive findings against the president. He said he expects Trump to be reelected in 2020 if the economy remains strong, although he cautioned that there are no certainties this far out.

Gingrich closed by urging the audience to engage in politics at every level and to make their voices are heard during what he said is a pivotal time for the country.

People like you are going to make a difference talking to your friends over Sunday lunch. Chatting over coffee on Saturday morning." Gingrich said.The Alabama Department of Corrections is planning to enter a $10 million contract with Hoar Program Management of Birmingham to help develop a long-range plan for the prison system.

The contract, which would run through February 2020, is on the agenda for Thursdays meeting of the Legislatures contact review committee.

The ADOC first hired Hoar Program Management in March to lead a project management team and do an assessment of the prison systems needs. The new agreement will be an amendment to that contract, which was for about $1.5 million.

The contract was part of Gov. Kay Iveys initiative to come up with a master plan to solve the states long-running problem with aging, crowded and understaffed prisons.

Former Gov. Robert Bentley had proposed building several large prisons and closing most of the existing prisons. The Legislature considered several alternatives to Bentleys plan but none were approved.

ADOC spokesman Bob Horton said Hoar Program Management and the team has completed the first phase of its assessment of the prison systems needs.

That included assessments of inmate population, current staffing levels and future staffing requirements, condition of the prison systems infrastructure and deferred maintenance costs, current operational costs and future operational cost savings.

The ADOC has not yet released any information on those findings. Horton said the release of that information is pending.

The contract amendment will allow the team to begin work on the second phase of the assessments, Horton said.

The contract review committee can raise questions about proposed contracts and can delay them temporarily but cannot block them.Rapper turned actor Common has reportedly acquired the rights to Barracoon, Zora Neale Hurstons novel based on the story of the Clotilda, the last ship to bring slaves to the United States.

Commons production company, Freedom Road Productions, in partnership with Lionsgate will produce what is being billed as a limited television event series.

It is unclear if Common will appear in the production, but he certainly has the acting chops after his acclaimed performance as freed slave Elam Ferguson in the Hell on Wheels television series. Attempts to contact Common were unsuccessful.

The story told in Barracoon was based largely on the life of Kazoola, or Cudjo Lewis, the last survivor of the 110 Africans captured and sold into slavery in 1858. Hurston interviewed and filmed Lewis shortly before he died in 1935 at age 94. Her footage of Lewis is the only film footage ever captured of someone who had been a slave in America.

Lewis was one of the founders of Africatown, a community in Mobile, Alabama, where most of the slaves brought aboard the Clotilda settled after they were freed at the end of the Civil War. Many of their descendants still live in Africatown today.

Lewis recounted the story of the Clotilda to Hurston, whose novel based on the account was published for the first time this year. Hurston refused to alter the dialogue or subject matter in her original manuscript and was unable to find a publisher. The novel sat for 50 years in the archives at Howard University.

I have been told by historians and several people in the publishing industry that Hurstons descendants tried to have the book published several years ago but couldnt come to financial terms with a publishing house. That apparently changed after efforts by AL.com to locate the Clotilda in 2017 made international news and brought the story of the Clotilda to the nations attention.

The true story of the Clotilda is sinister and ripe with adventure.

Though slavery was still legal in the U.S. at the time, it had been illegal to import slaves into the country for 52 years, since Thomas Jefferson signed an 1808 law forbidding the practice.

With the nation edging closer to civil war over the slavery issue, Alabama steamboat captain and plantation owner Timothy Meaher made an infamous bet that he could sneak slaves into the country, right under the noses of federal troops at the twin forts that guarded the mouth of Mobile Bay.

Meaher, the mastermind behind the scheme, was already a rich man, with a plantation and a steamboat that he captained up and down the Alabama River. He set out to bring slaves in for no reason other than to prove that he could do it.

He purchased the Clotilda, a two-masted schooner, for $35,000 and hired Captain William Foster to sail to Africa, purchase 100 slaves with about $9,000 in gold, and bring them back to Alabama. The ship's true mission was disguised by stops in Caribbean ports. The supplies needed to feed the captives on the return journey were carefully hidden beneath piles of lumber, to avoid discovery should the Clotilda be boarded by British, Dutch, or Portugese military vessels during the crossing. That lumber would later be used to build pens to house the captives.

Freed just five years after they were enslaved, thanks to the end of the Civil War, the captives, 110 strong, originally asked their captor, Meaher, to pay for passage back to Africa. After he refused, they appealed to the U.S. government, again to no avail. Ultimately, some members of the group bought a small piece of land north of Mobile from Meaher and created Africatown, where they lived a life apart from other freed slaves. The Africans spoke their native tongue, farmed using traditional African methods, and ran their own school.

Descendants of those brought to this country aboard the Clotilda are believed to be the only group of slave descendants who know precisely where their ancestors came from, when they arrived, and what vessel brought them here. Africatown was added to the national historic register in 2012.

Ben Raines specializes in investigations and natural wonders. You can follow him via Facebook, Twitter at BenHRaines, and on Instagram. You can reach him via email at braines@al.com.

You can watch Bens most recent documentary, The Underwater Forest, here on Youtube.Breaking with President Donald Trump, senators leaving a briefing with CIA Director Gina Haspel on Tuesday said they are even more convinced that Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman was involved in the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said he believes if the crown prince were put on trial, a jury would find him guilty in "about 30 minutes."

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who demanded the briefing with Haspel, said there is "zero chance" the crown prince wasn't involved in Khashoggi's death.

"There's not a smoking gun. There's a smoking saw," Graham said, referring to reports from the Turkish government that said Saudi agents used a bone saw to dismember Khashoggi after he was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Graham said "you have to be willfully blind" not to conclude that this was orchestrated and organized by people under the crown prince's command.

Trump has equivocated over who is to blame for the killing, frustrating senators who are now looking for ways to punish the longtime Middle East ally. The Senate overwhelmingly voted last week to move forward on a resolution curtailing U.S. backing for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

It's unclear whether or how that resolution will move forward. The vote last week allowed the Senate to debate the measure, which could happen as soon as next week, but senators are still in negotiations on whether to amend it and what it should say.

Haspel met with a small group of senators, including leadership and the chairmen and top Democrats on the key national security committees, after senators in both parties complained that she didn't attend an all-Senate briefing with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis last week.

Pompeo and Mattis tried to dissuade senators from punishing Saudi Arabia with the resolution, saying U.S. involvement in the Yemen conflict is central to the Trump administration's broader goal of containing Iranian influence in the Middle East. Human rights groups say the war is wreaking havoc on the country and subjecting civilians to indiscriminate bombing.

The two men also echoed Trump's reluctance to blame the crown prince. Pompeo said there was "no direct reporting" connecting the crown prince to the murder, and Mattis said there was "no smoking gun" making the connection.

After that briefing, Graham threatened to withhold his vote on key legislation until he heard from Haspel. "I'm not going to blow past this," he said. That afternoon, senators frustrated with the briefing and the lack of response to Khashoggi's killing overwhelmingly voted to move forward with consideration of the Yemen resolution, 63-37.

Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin said the briefing with Haspel "clearly went in to an evaluation of the intelligence" and was much more informative than the session with Mattis and Pompeo.

"I went in believing the crown prince was directly responsible or at least complicit in this and my feelings were strengthened by the information we were given," Durbin said.

Durbin joined Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer in calling for a full-Senate briefing from Haspel.

"Every senator should hear what I heard this afternoon," Durbin said.

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a critic of Saudi Arabia, said that excluding some lawmakers is "the very definition of the deep state" and that he suspected that the Trump administration is attempting to get some lawmakers to switch their votes on the resolution by giving them information.

Khashoggi was killed two months ago. The journalist, who had lived for a time in the U.S. and wrote for The Washington Post, had been critical of the Saudi regime. He was killed in what U.S. officials have described as an elaborate plot as he visited the consulate for marriage paperwork.

U.S. intelligence officials have concluded that the crown prince must have at least known of the plot, but Trump has been reluctant to pin the blame.

"It could very well be that the crown prince had knowledge of this tragic event," Trump said in a lengthy statement Nov. 20. "Maybe he did and maybe he didn't!"

The president has touted Saudi arms deals worth billions of dollars to the U.S. and recently thanked Saudi Arabia for plunging oil prices.

"They have been a great ally in our very important fight against Iran," Trump said in the statement. "The United States intends to remain a steadfast partner of Saudi Arabia to ensure the interests of our country, Israel and all other partners in the region."

While acknowledging the country's long relationship with Saudi Arabia, senators have said the murder can't be excused.

In a column for the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, Graham wrote that the killing and other moves by the Saudi regime showed "astounding arrogance entitlement" and disregard for international norms.

"We are a coequal branch of government exercising leadership to safeguard the country's long-term interests, values and reputation," wrote Graham, a frequent ally of the president, of the Senate. "After all, someone's got to do it."

Graham said after the briefing that he would push for a nonbinding resolution that the crown prince was "complicit" in Khashoggi's murder. Graham and Paul have also said they think Congress should block a pending arms deal with the kingdom.

Corker said senators are trying to figure out how to amend the resolution, which directs the president to remove most U.S. armed forces from hostilities affecting Yemen. He said finding a compromise will be difficult because some lawmakers don't want to tie Yemen to the Khashoggi killing.

Senators are "trying to figure out an amendment that a larger group of people could get behind that addresses this issue without undermining our national interests," Corker said.

Sen. Richard Shelby, the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said after the briefing that somebody should be punished.

"Now, the question is, how do you separate the Saudi crown prince and his group from the nation itself," he said.

This just confirmed what I thought all along: This all leads up to the crown prince, Shelby said of the briefing. It would defy logic to think someone other than Mohammed was responsible, Shelby said, noting that members of the princes own royal guard are believed to have been part of the team that killed Khashoggi.

Somebody said, Well, we dont have a smoking gun. Well, you dont have a smoking gun in a lot of criminal investigations, but we know what happened here.

While Senate passage of a resolution would send a strong message to Saudi Arabia, its unlikely it would become law before the end of the year. The House hasnt moved on the issue, and Speaker Paul Ryan last week said the Yemen resolution isnt the way to go.

The Washington Post contributed to this report.The words were a celebration for a city saying it has much to celebrate.

From a thriving economy to undeniable growth to points of pride on seemingly every street corner, Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle declared the state of the city to be good, great, spectacular, whatever positive adjective you want to use.

Even the state of the city speech could borrow one of those bright descriptions. A record 1,200 business and community leaders lunched at the Von Braun Centers North Hall to hear Battle deliver his annual perspective on the condition of the Rocket City.

They gave him a standing ovation when he finished.

The state of the city is great, Battle said afterward. Were in very good position. Weve looked at where weve been in the past 10 years, where weve been able to add jobs and economy-wise and weve looked at where we are today.

And one of the things about where we are today is weve got to make sure we make wise decisions about the future.

The speech hit all the familiar talking points about Huntsville with repeated references to the $1.6 billion Mazda Toyota Manufacturing USA plant that recently broke ground in Huntsville as well as other recent economic victories: Facebook, Aerojet Rocketdyne and relentless growth at Redstone Arsenal.

There were even more shout-outs  from educating 25 percent of the states family doctors through UABs residency program at Huntsville Hospital to city initiatives designed to enhance quality of life.

Theres no better time to be living in Huntsville, Alabama, Battle said.

Battle also mentioned James Brahm, a Grissom High graduate who went to the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado and was selected earlier this year as a Rhodes Scholar to study at the prestigious Oxford College in England.

These are the kinds of students that Huntsville city schools produce, Battle said.

Indeed, 41 percent of the citys residents hold a bachelors degree or higher and the city has created 25,000 new jobs during Battles tenure as mayor and the citys gross domestic product is growing three times faster than the states.

The mayor even poked fun at himself as he discussed his failed run for governor earlier this year when he finished second to Gov. Kay Ivey in the Republican primary.

After the governors race, it kind of feels like I have been all over the state to end up back here, Battle said. It was a trip that was well worth it. The people of Alabama, six months ago, elected me to come back to be the mayor of the city of Huntsville.

A chorus of laughter greeted that comment, followed by another ovation.

And let me say, Battle continued, being mayor of the city of Huntsville is the best (consolation) prize anyone could get. And Im honored to be here. This is home.

Preserving the prosperous present for Alabamas third largest city  which is on track to become the states largest in perhaps as few as five years  into the future is the daily motivation, Battle said.

We have a plan, Battle said. We have a strategy. And this plan and strategy takes us well into this century. The plan and strategy provides technology, jobs and education. It positions our city and our children, our grandchildren and great-grandchildren for a prosperous future.

Listen, serving with you in this endeavor has been one of the greatest honors I could ever have. I want to thank each of you out there for your support and for your partnership and for your continued support and partnership. Huntsvilles future, as the star of Alabama, is brighter than ever.Joint operatives of the Bureau of Immigration and Philippine National Police arrested five Chinese nationals suspected to be members of a kidnap for ransom syndicate victimizing Chinese tourists in the country and rescued a Chinese man they kidnapped. Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said agents from the BI Fugitive Search Unit and PNP-Anti Kidnapping Group arrested the suspects in a raid in Sampaloc Street, Casimiro Village, Las Pinas City. In the operation, the team rescued a Chinese man who was being held captive while awaiting payment for the ransom money, Morente said. Arrested were identified as Wang Rui, Li Ming, Ju Wenping, Liu Ming, and Li Sanjiu, while the rescued victims name was withheld to protect his family. Their hometown addresses were not disclosed. We received a request from the PNP-AKG to conduct joint operations against two Chinese nationals involved in the kidnapping of their compatriots last year, Morente said.The BI official said the foreigners had already victimized a number of Chinese who were released after paying ransom. During the raid, the gangs leader who had been wanted in China eluded arrest and continued to stay in their hideout with more victims, he said. BI FSU Chief Bobby Raquepo said the rescued victim, whose name had been withheld for his protection, arrived in the country as tourist. The suspects are now in the custody of the PNP-AKG and criminal charges will be filed against them.Thirteen people have submitted applications to be considered by the county judicial commission for a spot on the Jefferson County circuit court bench.

The Jefferson County Judicial Commission began taking applications last month for two judgeships that will be vacant in January-- Circuit Court Criminal Division Place 2 and Circuit Court Criminal Division Place 3. Place 2 is currently held by Judge Laura Petro, who will be retiring in January. Place 3 is held by Judge J. William Cole, who was elected to the Alabama Criminal Court of Appeals.

From now through Dec. 14 at 5 p.m., the commission is seeking public comments regarding the people who applied for the two spots. After receiving comments, the commission will select three names for each position and submit their recommendations to Gov. Kay Ivey.

The governor will then have 90 days to fill the positions.

Five people sit on the judicial commission: Jefferson County Circuit Judge Clyde Jones, LaVeeda Battle, Bruce F. Rogers, Cynthia Bonner, and Kevin Walsh. Anyone who wishes to comment on the applicants or contact the commission members should email jeffcojudicialcommission@gmail.com.

Here are the applicants, listed in alphabetical order with a short biography. Information about the candidates is from previous coverage and information provided on their respective websites.Birmingham police are investigating after a man was found dead early Tuesday morning, and one person is in custody.

Police received a call about 1:20 a.m. on an assault in the 1800 block of 15th Avenue North, Officer Rod Mauldin said. When officers from the north precinct arrived on the scene, they found an adult male unresponsive inside an apartment at that address.

The victim was pronounced dead on the scene, Mauldin said. He has been identified as 34-year-old Roland Gilmore.

Investigators have not released the cause of death, but Sgt. Johnny Williams said a person of interest is currently in custody. No charges have yet been filed.A pregnant woman was rushed to the hospital midday Tuesday after she was shot in the parking lot of a Pleasant Grove business.

The shooting happened about noon outside Dollar General on Park Road, said Pleasant Grove police Lt. Danny Reid. Officers were dispatched to the scene on a report of someone shot but arrived to find the victim had been picked up and driven to Fairfield. Police and paramedics then found the victim - an adult black female - at a Fairfield convenience store.

From Fairfield the victim was taken to UAB Hospital where she is undergoing surgery. Reid said she was five months pregnant and was shot in the stomach. The unborn baby did not survive the shooting.

A 23-year-old black female suspect - Ebony Jemison -has been taken into custody. Reid said the shooting followed some kind of altercation in the parking lot but police are still trying to piece together what led to the dispute.

Jemison is being held at the Pleasant Grove City Jail. Investigators have already discussed the case with the Jefferson County District Attorneys Office and formal warrants could come as early as Wednesday morning.

Investigators believe Jemison was in a vehicle and the victim outside of a vehicle when the shooting happened. This story will be updated as more information is released.Joel Stapler has been grumbling about a new hiking trail that runs below his home atop Bishop Mountain, among the Appalachian foothills in Northeast Alabama.

Its part of a walking trail improvement project that the nearby city of Guntersville received more than $1 million in grants to complete.

They cant just walk, they got to have a trail, dont they? joked Staplers neighbor, Joe Glover. They were sitting with a few other neighbors on the sunny back porch at Wayne and Becky Whitakers house, also on Bishop Mountain.

And paved, said Stapler. They could come up here and walk if they wanted to.

They might need a drink of water, said another neighbor, Larry Maples. Everyone laughed.

It was funny, because a lack of fresh water is what brought the tight-knit group of neighbors to the Whitakers porch for a discussion. Bishop Mountain is one of the last communities in the county  and possibly the region  that doesnt have access to a municipal water system.

All of the 20 or so families that live on the mountain have to drill wells for their water. Theyve watched as neighboring mountains were connected to public water systems over the past two decades.

Now its Bishop Mountains turn, they figure.

Theyve found an unlikely ally: developers looking to capitalize on the mountains proximity to popular Lake Guntersville and its stunning views of the water and the mountains surrounding. But thats the bargain: if public water comes to their mountain, it could change their secluded community forever.

Its kind of a double-edged sword, said Wayne Whitaker. People feel one way or the other about it. Even my own house is divided. I really like it the way it is, but my wife wants to see development so she can have water, better internet and all that comes with it.

For most residents, fresh water access has won out.

Bottom line is, we dont have water thats fit to drink, said Maples, whos lived on the mountain 15 years. Most of the wells go dry in the summertime. My well has iron in the water. Some of them have got E. coli.

Contamination

About one in five Alabamians rely on private well water, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health. Thats a little higher than the 15 percent of the U.S. population that still uses private wells.

Its a drink-at-your-own-risk situation. In Alabama, as in most states, residents are responsible for assuring their water is safe by testing and disinfecting their water. Its not regulated by the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act or by state law.

In 2017, the Marshall County Health Department tested well water at 15 homes on Bishop Mountain.

About half of the wells tested positive for coliform bacteria or E.coli, according to documentation provided to AL.com by Bishop residents. Coliform can indicate the presence of animal waste or sewage, and E.coli is a harmful bacteria that can cause illness.

Bacterial contamination is the most common water-quality problem in rural water supplies. Nearly a quarter of private wells tested in a national survey from the USGS had one or more contaminants at unhealthy concentrations.

After the Bishop Mountain wells tested positive for coliform and E.coli, the Marshall County Health Department environmental supervisor, Randell Bell, wrote a letter to North Marshall Utilities, recommending that the Bishop Mountain residents be provided with a safe water supply.

Development

Bishop Mountain and its two neighbors  Merrill Mountain to the northwest and Lewis Mountain to the southeast  all overlook the same bend in the Tennessee River, near Lake Guntersville.

Lewis Mountain got water access about 20 years ago. Its now home to an upscale 300-acre residential development called The Reserve, where lakefront lots have sold for as much as $450,000.

Access to public water could open the door for similar developments on Bishop, said Wayne Whitaker. From his back yard, the mountain slopes down to the water and Lake Guntersville beyond. Its a stunning view.

The views from Bishop Mountain in Marshall County have made it an attractive option for developers looking to build a planned lakeside community.

It is very doubtful that the Reserve development on Lewis Mountain would be going in without availability of public water that was extended to that area several years ago, he told the Marshall County Commission at its September meeting.

A Florida developer, Harrell Downey, has an LLC called Hambrick Hollow that owns about 560 acres on Bishop Mountain.

The company has already brought in logging equipment and begun clearing land and building a road.

A few months ago, Downey wrote a letter to the Marshall County Commission saying Hambrick Hollow LLC has a future planned community in the works on Bishop Mountain, with the hope that water service would be added.

The Bishop Mountain residents, for the most part, are hoping development could provide the influence needed to prod decision-makers to make water access a higher priority.

The Whitakers and their neighbors have spoken at Marshall County Commission meetings. They sent letters to Gov. Kay Ivey and to their Congressman, Rep. Robert Aderholt.

(Aderholt) claims there is money from grants to do this, said Wayne Whitaker, but Ive been told a different story by other folks in the system. I really dont know who to believe.

Still orange

Terry Bridges has lived on the mountain nearly 30 years, his family even longer. He said hes spent thousands of dollars drilling wells.

Every well drilled costs upwards of $1,500, and theres no guarantee youll find water. If you do find it, theres the cost of a pump, filters, tanks, maintenance.

And still, the water on Bishop isnt clear.

You could run a jug of water and it looked decent, he said. But let it sit overnight and itd be

Orange, Stapler said, nodding.

Orange, Bridges agreed. Couldnt even see through it at the bottom. Like a jug of rust.

Other residents describe having to dig sediment out of toilet tanks and washing clothes only to find they come out with an orange tint.

Joel and Alice Stapler have lived on the mountain 30 years, and she said she saves as much water as she can.

If I rinse my hands, Im catching that water and putting it in a jug to water the plants, she said. I make sure Im not washing clothes and dishes at the same time.

Jeff Sutphin, general manager at North Marhsall Utilities, left, met with residents of Bishop Mountain to talk about how the utility is applying for grant money to fund water access to the mountain.

Too big

In a twist, bringing water service to places like Lewis Mountain made it harder to get the kind of grants needed to bring water to Bishop Mountain, said Jeff Sutphin, general manager of North Marshall Utilities, which serves the area.

Back when North Marshall had a smaller number of customers, it qualified for the kinds of federal grants needed to subsidize connecting rural areas like Merrill and Lewis Mountains to its water supply, Sutphin explained. Utilities that serve under 10,000 people qualify for a wider variety of grants, he said.

But as North Marshall connected Merrill and Lewis Mountains and more people moved in, that increased the number of customers served. North Marshall now has about 4,300 customers, and the state uses a factor of three to calculate a population served  meaning North Marshall has around 13,000 customers. Theyve just missed the cutoff for those kinds of grants.

The estimated cost to bring water to Bishop Mountain is around $1 million. Its hard, Sutphin said, for a small system to take on that kind of debt when the initial number of customers would be so small.

He sat with the Bishop Mountain neighbors to explain it all. The system applied for a grant, but it could be March before they hear anything back.

Well apply for a grant for a walking trail, suggested Becky Whitaker, and all of us will get out there and build the walking trail. Then you can use the money for water, Jeff.

Everyone laughed. Sutphin said he wished it were that easy.

Last, not never

As theyve agitated for access to fresh water, the Bishop Mountain neighbors have encountered their fair share of online commenters who say they shouldnt complain. They knew when they moved to the mountain that theyd have to drill wells.

Several commenters asked: Why should the government have to pay for your water?

Correct me if Im wrong, but you dont have a water system anywhere that doesnt have government supporting it in some way, said Becky Whitaker. So they need to get off their high horse. Weve waited for our turn.

Its all in limbo right now. North Marshall Utilities has applied to the state for a grant but doesnt expect to hear anything definitive until March. So far, nobody else has stepped in to pay for the one thing that could open the mountain to development.

So the Bishop neighbors say theyre going to keep asking.

We dont want last to be never, Becky Whitaker said. Water systems dont just pop out of the ground.Fellow refugees are the only lifeline for men who wonder whether they will ever escape the remote Pacific island where they have been held for more than five years under Australias harsh offshore detention policies.

Manus Island, Papua New Guinea  Aziz Abdul Muhamat had agreed to meet me for an interview near the East Lorengau refugee transit centre at eight in the morning.

The 25-year-old Sudanese man is a nominee for a global human rights prize  the Martin Ennals Human Rights Defender Award  for his advocacy work on behalf of his fellow refugees on Manus Island.

He has been a refugee on this remote Pacific island, part of Papua New Guinea, for more than five-and-a-half years.

But Muhamat wasnt answering messages.

Later, I would learn that it was because hed been up until the early hours, giving words of hope to desperate men  men who have been self-harming.

Men have been dousing themselves in petrol. Men suffering from depression, grief and anxiety, marooned on an island and withdrawn deep inside themselves.

Transition centres

As of October, there were around 500 male refugees remaining on Manus. Perhaps another 100 were asylum seekers whose bid to be recognised as refugees had failed. Getting precise data on them  and whether they have moved to the capital, Port Moresby  from Australias government has been consistently hard for years.

Aziz Abdul Muhamat, a 25-year-old refugee from Sudan, has been held on remote Manus Island for more than five-and-a-half years, after trying to get to Australia by boat [Bill Code/Al Jazeera]

Luck was not on the side of these men when they tried to get to Australia from Indonesia, coming face-to-face with a new Australian policy to halt boat arrivals once and for all  and, according to the government, stop deaths at sea.

From 2013, authorities began intercepting boats and taking those on board to Australias Christmas Island. Eventually, the refugees were flown to Manus or the tiny republic of Nauru. With the agreement of the government in Port Moresby, it was decided that the men on Manus would be housed in an Australian navy base.

The detention centre was shut in late 2017  its last remaining men violently ejected and moved on to transition centres  after a large cohort spent several weeks resisting the power, water, food and medicine cuts, gaining a sizeable amount of media coverage.

I felt that people are calling my name, 'Aziz', instead of Q and K and Zero, zero, two. Aziz Abdul Muhamat

For many, though, the only transition was to a deeper state of despair.

Muhamat was at the forefront of the refusal to leave the centre, borne from a glimpse of freedom when the men were suddenly reminded of the power that came from being able to make their own decisions on when to shower or sleep.

I never felt that Im free in five-and-a-half years, except those 24 days, he said. I felt that people are calling my name, Aziz, instead of Q and K and zero, zero two.

Suicide attempts

Australia closed its main detention camp on Manus Island a year ago and the men now live in transition centres with only rudimentary support; those at the East Lorengau centre protested against the conditions last month [Al Jazeera]

Having been moved from the prison-like detention centre, the refugees are now in poorly-serviced camps which they are free to leave.

But most stay put. A much-vaunted US deal to allow these refugees to settle in the United States is their remaining hope, but for many, it is fading fast.

More than 400 people formerly held in Nauru  where Australia detained families and children  and Manus Island have already been resettled in the US.

The ones Ive spoken to have jobs, rented apartments, cars  in short, new lives. Of course, theyre still scarred from their time in detention, but theyre off the islands.

But many Iranians, Sudanese, Somalis and others are simply not being accepted by the administration of President Donald Trump under the deal struck by the government of his predecessor, Barack Obama. They have either been outright rejected, or have applied for resettlement and spent the year in vain waiting for replies.

A mental health crisis grips the remaining men. Suicide attempts and self-harm are rife.

As the stress and anxiety increase, men like Muhamat and the Kurdish-Iranian writer Behrouz Bouchani continue to work round-the-clock providing impromptu counselling to their grief-stricken friends and counterparts.

Australias government has repeatedly promised that these men will never settle in Australia, lest people smugglers begin selling their product once more. The hope that came with news of the so-called US deal has for some become an unbearable disappointment.

We want to keep them alive Aziz Abdul Muhamat

In the face of that, Im struck at the incredible strength of character on display by many of the young men I met.

We tell these men, we give them false hope for them to go and sleep, Muhamat said one afternoon as we sat in my hotel room.

We do it because we want to keep them positive, we want to keep them alive.

When asked if he needed to head back at any time to deal with the desperate messages coming up on his phone, he replied: Its OK, Behrouz is there.

Shift work in action.

Aziz Abdul Muhamat walks with friends on Manus Island [Bill Code/Al Jazeera]

The despair is as great as at any time in the past five-and-a-half years.

For Muhamat, the day-to-day ritual of helping others over the years  liaising with journalists and lawyers, teaching English to other refugees, talking friends out of self-harm and suicide  has been part and parcel of survival.

As long as what Im doing, people are getting a benefit out of it, I dont actually feel that pressure, Muhamat said.

At the time of writing, a newly-elected independent member of parliament from Sydney is attempting to get a bill through the parliament which would see the evacuation of psychologically or physically ill men from Manus.

But glimmers of hope come and go on Manus.

Later, I see a message from a refugee reporting a mans attempted suicide, his second in two days.

After he fails to hang himself, he tries another desperate act  overdosing on tablets and drinking shampoo.Al Jazeera speaks to several people, now in the UK, who say they were arrested, raped and tortured for protesting.

The names of interviewees in this article, except professor Cheeseman, have been changed to protect their anonymity.

London  It was the number of unidentified bodies bearing signs of torture arriving at the morgue that made Cherie*, a nurse at Kinshasas General Hospital, get involved in politics.

As part of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress Party (UDPS), the main opposition party in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), she handed out leaflets and took part in protests.

In December 2009, the 20-year-old was arrested after attending a memorial service for activists who had been killed.

For two weeks she was kept in the detention centre of the Rapid Intervention Police (Police dintervention rapide, PIR).

She says she was beaten and raped on four separate occasions, once by three policemen at a time.

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Its as if I lost a part of myself, she says quietly. She was released after signing papers promising to stop any political activism.

Cherie has been in the UK since 2013. She is a witness in a report compiled by the UK human rights organisation Freedom From Torture based on the accounts and medical examination of 74 Congolese men and women who escaped detention and fled to the UK between 2013 and 2018.

After the first arrest, she carried on protesting.

I was a target already, she says.

The second time she was arrested in 2011 and was held for 10 days. She says she was raped once and beaten with bayonets and pistols. I felt death within me.

Rape in our country, it's as normal as buying bread from Tesco. Cherie, former prisoner and torture survivor

The Freedom From Torture report exposes how ordinary men and women in Kinshasa, far from the well-documented Eastern conflict, are being imprisoned and tortured for low-level political activity. They are guilty of anything from simply being a member of an opposition party to handing out leaflets.

The report found that nearly all of the women and two-thirds of the men had been raped.

Rape in our country, its as normal as buying bread from Tesco, Cherie says.

Al Jazeera was unable to independently verify Cheries claims, but they were consistent with several other people who claimed similar abuse.

Were not talking about a small number of individuals who are beaten or abused, were talking about tens of thousands, says Nic Cheeseman, professor of democracy and international development at Birmingham University. This is characteristic of the state of politics in the DRC and, of course, its probably likely to get better rather than worse as we head towards the elections in December.

DRC goes to the polls to elect a new president on December 23 to replace 47-year-old Joseph Kabila, who has ruled since his father, president Laurent-Desire Kabila, was assassinated in 2001.

Protesters attempt to leave the safe haven of a church during violent protests that left five people dead and scores injured in Kinshasa in January 2018. The banned protest was against President Joseph Kabila after he stated that he would not step down at the end of his term in December 2018 [Robert Carrubba/EPA]

Pierre*s cousin had disappeared in 2014 on his way to hospital after a protest.

On January 19, 2015, Pierre participated in his first political protest when he was arrested, along with his twin and an older brother, a known political activist whom he has not seen since.

They were among the students in Kinshasa who were sprayed with tear gas after protesting against Kabilas claim that a national census was needed before holding elections.

Pierre and his twin were taken to the detention centre of the National Intelligence Agency (ANR).

For two months, he was kept in a cell with about 500 prisoners, in the basement of ANR headquarters.

Fellow prisoners fell sick and died, he says; their bodies would be thrown into a hole in the floor, to be washed away into the Congo river.

Detainees would be selected to clean the toilet using their bare hands. There were no washing facilities. They would eat once a day  a small can of tomato, rice and raw beans.

After two years, he finally escaped in May 2017 during a larger-scale break-out orchestrated by the political-religious Bundu Dia Kongo group.

He still does not know the whereabouts of his twin.

181124182518040

Pierre arrived in the UK in October 2017. During the day, he goes to English lessons.

I then come home. I eat if theres food. I read the news about Congo, he says.

Cherie has not seen her mother or two sisters since 2012. She knows she is a danger to them; her 12-year-old sister was beaten by security forces wanting information.

If my mother and sisters are dead, it is my fault, she says.

She now works as a youth leader at Congo Support, a London-based organisation which calls itself the diasporas leading opposition party.

In 2017, according to Home Office statistics, the UK resettled 210 refugees, including dependants.

The Congolese refugee population is one of the tenth largest in the world, and over half of the 780,000 people displaced are children.

Most Congolese refugees flee to neighbouring countries  the latest UNHCR figures show that over 60 percent reside in Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi  while 4.5 million people are displaced inside the DRC.

Attempts to delay elections and seek a third term as well as the DRCs economic difficulties have meant Kabila and his chosen successor Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary have lost popular support.

In the run-up to the vote, the ruling party will have to fight harder to retain power.

I think were likely to see greater use of coercion in order to maintain control, says Cheeseman.

Titis story

Titi*, 38, was also part of the Freedom From Torture report.

She realised how unequal society was when she lost her job as a personal assistant.

First arrested in 2013, during a peaceful rally for UDPS leader Etienne Tshisekedi, she spent two days in prison and says she was released on condition, like Cherie, that she sign a paper promising to stop her activism.

In 2016, she took part in a protest against Kabila standing for a third term. A young activist was shot dead beside her, she says.

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She was taken to prison and remembers being forced to kneel in the courtyard of the prison with the other protesters and ordered to stare at the hot sun for hours.

Titi spent two months in prison: after the second interrogation, they took her to another room.

There was one policeman in front and one behind. There was another in the room. They did everything they wanted to do.

After the rape, Titi changed. Before, I didnt have the same fear.

She escaped with the help of a family friend who worked in the government and arrived in the UK in November 2016. She is now a cleaning supervisor.

As she suffers from flashbacks, she attends regular therapy sessions at Freedom From Torture.

She has no sympathy for those complicit with state repression, including her family friend. They are monsters, she says.

Titi will only return when she thinks human rights are respected.

On the upcoming election, she says: Im frightened and I pray to God. I pray there isnt a bloodbath.The course George HW Bush set for US-Gulf relations after the Cold War is now being gradually abandoned.

Last Saturday, as world leaders and the international media reacted to news that George HW Bush had passed away, three landmark towers in Kuwait City were lit up with the portrait of the former US president and the US and Kuwait flags.

This was one of many tributes to a man Kuwaitis credit with liberating their country from Iraqi occupation in the early 1990s.

Bush was halfway through his one-term presidency when Saddam Hussein sent 100,000 Iraqi troops and 700 tanks into Kuwait in August 1990. Until then, the Middle East had not been a major focus of his administration, which was preoccupied with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of the Cold War, the re-unification of Germany and the disintegration of the Soviet Union.

That all changed with the Iraqi invasion of its much smaller and wealthier neighbour.

Bush later recalled that the first 48 hours after Iraqi troops crossed the Kuwaiti border were the most hectic of his presidency up to that point.

Over the next seven months, until the Iraqi surrender in late February 1991, the crisis was the top foreign policy priority of the Bush White House.

This had as much to do with the nature, location and timing of the crisis as it did with restoring Kuwaiti sovereignty or facing down a threat to decency and humanity, as Bush framed it in his January 1991 State of the Union address.

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It was, for example, the first time since Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev agreed to end the Cold War in December 1989 that a regional player had tried to swallow a small actor lacking military power.

This challenge to the evolving post-Cold War balance of power was all the more intolerable because it took place in a region that was home to 65 percent of the worlds proven oil reserves and 45 percent of its net oil exports.

Kuwaits oil-rich neighbours, in particular Saudi Arabia, were terrified that Saddam would turn on them next. He who eats Kuwait for breakfast is likely to ask for something else for lunch, the influential Saudi ambassador to Washington, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, is said to have warned.

The crisis also occurred at a time when an anxious world was still struggling to work out what the post-Cold War international order would look like and what role the US, as the only remaining superpower, would play in it.

Many speculated that in the absence of the Soviet threat, US leaders would lack the political will or the domestic support to continue to play a lead role in international affairs.

Some even argued that the US would now be eclipsed on the global stage by non-military powers like Japan, the European Union or even the United Nations.

In reality, the ease with which the US built a global anti-Saddam coalition and defeated his army in Kuwait put paid to such speculation.

At home, this helped Washington overcome the Vietnam Syndrome that had influenced public and elite opinion on military engagement overseas since the withdrawal from Southeast Asia in the early 1970s.

Abroad, it provided the opportunity to showcase to the world just how dominant US diplomatic and hard-power capabilities would be in Bushs evolving new world order.

It also sent an important message to would-be allies that the US would come to their assistance when needed and would honour its obligations as the dominant global player to promote and protect their interests, as well as their security.

In the post-war Gulf, this new US commitment was conceived primarily in military terms and expressed itself in new defence treaties with local partners and the stockpiling of enough military hardware and pre-positioned heavy equipment in the region to fight, or at least start, a war at a short notice.

A common joke of the time was that the US was settling into the region so well it should join the Arab League.

Bushs intervention in Kuwait failed to secure him a second term in the White House. He also faced criticism from various sides.





Some refused to accept the legitimacy of his war for oil as the peace movement of the day termed it or saw his intervention in Iraq as a classic case of neo-colonial aggression that would define the post-Cold War era.

Others accused him of being too cautious for refusing to go into Iraq and overthrow Saddam or for failing to provide support for anti-Saddam forces in Iraq who rose up in response to events in Kuwait.

He also faced criticism for being too beholden to the interests of Saudi royals, an accusation that would become even more pronounced during his sons presidency in the post-9/11 era and is very evident now in the Trump administrations handling of the Khashoggi affair.

During his two terms as president, Bill Clinton followed the Bush approach in the Gulf of pursuing US interests and those of local allies by using the threat of overwhelming force to keep Iran and Iraq in check.

In the decade and a half since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, Bushs successors in the White House, beginning with his own son, have all found it far more difficult to reach agreement with local Gulf partners on what the US security role should be than he did following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the successful resolution of the Kuwait crisis.

In part this is due to the changing nature of threats in an age when strong insurgencies, transnational non-state violent actors, popular revolt and intra-state clashes like the one that resulted in the June 2017 blockade of Qatar have all come to the fore.

But it is also a consequence of the erosion, during the presidencies of George W Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump, of three of the defining hallmarks of George H W Bushs international engagement and leadership: caution, reliability and predictability in using the massive hard and soft-power capabilities of the country to promote its interests and those of local allies.

This was Bush Seniors foreign policy legacy to the world and it was introduced in response to the Kuwait crisis.

Its erosion since then has led to rising scepticism over the effectiveness and legitimacy of US foreign policy choices. It has also been an important factor in the shrinking power gap between the US and its main international competitors.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.In Palestine, women have to struggle against gendered violence by their own society and by the Israeli occupation.

In late November, a 16-year-old girl called Yara Ayoub from the Galilee village of al-Jish went missing. A few days later, her mutilated body was found in a dumpster. Two suspects  a 28-year-old man and his father  were arrested on murder charges.

Thousands of Palestinians from the girls village and the surrounding areas attended her funeral. The outpouring of grief was palpable and people marched in the funeral procession wearing stickers reading Yara in our hearts.

Since news of the murder spread, many Palestinians across historical Palestine have been consumed by discussions on social media about violence against women and the harm inflicted by patriarchy. There have been demonstrations in Nazareth, Sakhneen, Haifa and Jaffa, all calling for an end to violence against women.

Patriarchy in Palestine exists, as it does elsewhere in the world, as a system that upholds male dominance and male hierarchies. It enforces gender binaries and stereotypes in order to preserve the current power structure. While the patriarchy affects everyone, its violent manifestations disproportionately affect women.

To paraphrase Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood, men are most afraid of women laughing at them and women are most afraid of being killed by men. This fear gets internalised  consciously or not  in our everyday behaviour.

In the streets, we often have to choose between putting headphones on and listening to music so we dont have to hear verbal harassment or staying alert in case someone tries to creep up on us. At night, we often hold keys in our hands as a weapon in case someone attacks us. Some of us also have to worry about abuse and violence within the family and our social circles.

According to a 2011 survey on violence conducted by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), some 37 percent of women were the victims of gender-based violence in the 1967 Palestinian territories. A November 2018 report released by the Arab Center for Social Media Advancement showed that sexual harassment is also pervasive online, with one-third of Palestinian women facing gender-based violence on social media networks.

The international community often likes to spin the issue with gendered violence in Palestine as if its an Arab problem and Palestinian women need saving from Palestinian men. Such orientalist discourse propagates colonial views and white saviour-complex urges that are used to justify humanitarian interventionism. It is a frequently overlooked fact that Jewish women suffer from similar rates of gender-based violence within Israeli society.

Racialising the discourse on violence against women in Palestine is obfuscating the larger context of violence Palestinian women suffer from. Patriarchy exists in Palestine not only in the form of problematic social dynamics and gendered violence among Palestinians, but also in the form of occupation and settler colonialism.

In this sense, fighting for our liberation comes with potentially dangerous consequences for us women. When we go to a protest, we know full well that our bodies maybe used as weapons against us. If we are arrested, we may be sexually harassed or assaulted.

Currently, there are 51 female Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli prisons who are subjected to various forms of harassment and torture. That said, women also suffer from the murderous campaigns of the Israeli army; their snipers and bombs do not distinguish between Palestinian women and men when they kill.

Indeed, Palestine is a perfect example of how colonialism, capitalism and patriarchy work together to keep women, as well as the poor and the marginalised, under a devastating system of oppression.

In this context, it is important to note that the case of Yara Ayoub is not an isolated incident, and although her murder prompted a lot of discussions and demonstrations, we cannot leave the issue at that.

We have to fight against patriarchy in all of its ugly manifestations, a fight that must not be left to women alone. Palestinian men must also be active participants in this process. It is simply not enough for a Palestinian man to call himself a feminist and call out his peers and family members for their sexist behaviour; he must also engage in self-scrutiny and recognise the toxic patriarchal norms that he himself embodies and practices.

Collectively we must work to create grassroots spaces for the Palestinian struggle to flourish which are free from toxic masculinity and patriarchal hierarchies. Womens rights and emancipation cannot and should not be compartmentalised into womens spaces; rather, they have to be part and parcel of our collective liberation struggle. This is the only way to defeat the patriarchal, capitalist and colonial occupation of Palestinian lands.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.Kamal Hossain, a former ally of Hasinas father, says his alliance with BNP is vital to restore democracy in Bangladesh.

A secular icon who drafted Bangladeshs constitution has emerged as the face of an embattled opposition seeking to end the decade-long rule of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has been accused of authoritarianism.

In a general election due at the end of this month, Hasinas ruling Awami League (AL) will be fighting to retain power against a new alliance led by Kamal Hossain, an Oxford-educated international jurist and a former foreign minister, whom Hasina grew up calling kaka, or uncle.

The 82-year-old lawyer activist joined hands with the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and two other parties to form the Jatiya Oikya Front (National Unity Front) in October.

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The BNP is hoping the alliance will help boost its support and move on after a series of setbacks, including the jailing of its leader former Prime Minister of Bangladesh Khaleda Zia for corruption in February and the sentencing of exiled acting leader, her son, in October.

BNP Standing Committee member Barrister Moudud Ahmed said his party joined hands with Hossain for strategic reasons.

Our [of Jatyio Oikya Front] goal is the same, to free the country of tyranny, he told Al Jazeera.

The octogenarian  a former comrade of Hasinas father in the countrys independence struggle  says his decision to forge an alliance with the BNP was critical to restoring democracy in the country.

Hasina, the daughter of independence hero Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, is the longest-serving leader in its short history.

Joined hands with killers

She began a second straight term in power in 2014 after an election boycotted by the BNP and shunned by international observers, with more than half the seats uncontested.

What has happened in the last five years is unprecedented, Hossain told Reuters news agency. We have never had a government for five years that was unelected.

Hasina and BNP chief Zia share a long and bitter rivalry and have alternated in power for most of the past three decades.

Siding with the BNP, though, sets Hossain up as a target for Hasina. The BNP has ties with the banned Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami, which opposed independence from Pakistan in 1971 and several of whose members have been sentenced to death for committing war crimes.

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Days after the new coalition was announced, Hasina declared that Hossain had joined hands with killers.

Jamaat has since been banned from participating in the elections, but analysts say many of its cadres are likely to back the BNP candidates.

AL praesidium member Faruq Khan dubbed the Jatyio Oikya Front an alliance of war criminals.

The Oikya Front is not a political alliance, rather it is an alliance of war criminals and militants who dont believe in the democratisation of the country, Khan told Al Jazeera.

He said the people of the country havent forgotten the last BNP-Jamaat government from 2001-2006.

The country was a failed state back then.

Hossain admitted some of the mistakes committed by the BNP in the past.

Yes, the BNP did a lot of things I never appreciate, said Hossain. They injected a degree of communalism into politics, which is very regrettable.

But he said the coalition would be secular and have nothing to do with groups such as Jamaat.

Alliance contradictions

Analysts have raised doubts about the future of the coalition as its main constituents come from different ideological backgrounds. Also, there is no clarity on who will be the prime minister if the alliance wins the polls.

When asked who will be the prime minister if Oikya Front emerges victorious, BNPs Ahmed said: Its a strategic decision which we, at this point, havent decided yet.

Hossain has already talked about the draft election manifesto of Oikya Front. All I can say that we dont believe in the centralisation of power any more, he said.

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He also said if elected, they would ensure that the same person could not be the prime minister for more than two terms consecutively.

The BNPs participation in the general election scheduled for December 30 was in doubt until last month, when it announced the formation of the new alliance, helmed by Hossain, who runs a group called Gano Forum, or Peoples Forum.

The AL said that the BNP was trying to use Hossains reputation to get back to power, but added that it will fail miserably.

AL Joint Secretary-General Mahbubul Alam Hanif said Hossains party Gono Forum had never managed to secure a seat in the parliament. It proves he is not a peoples person and his party doesnt have the support of a large population.

Hossain walks with a stick and says he is not seeking to become prime minister as he is too old.

But some in the coalition, he said, privately compare him with Mahathir Mohamad, the Malaysian prime minister who took power at the age of 92 in May, after defeating a predecessor mired in corruption allegations.

Maybe his health is better than mine, quipped Hossain.

Some political analysts predict a strong anti-incumbency sentiment in the election.

Media gagged?

Besides detaining scores of opposition members on charges the BNP terms politically motivated, Hasinas government has also gone after critics such as prominent photographer Shahidul Alam, who was arrested for comments he made on social media.

Hossains daughter Sara is a well-known lawyer who helped secure Alams bail last week.

Hasina has introduced laws that rights groups say give her sweeping powers to go after dissenters and gag the media.

The veteran leader called them a preplanned effort to create not even a one-party state, but a one-person state.

The real danger of having an authoritarian government like the present one is, God forbid if it survives the next election, many of us will not be able to remain in the country, said Hossain in reference to his fears that critics will be targeted by the government.

The AL has denied trying to curb free speech or media freedom and called cases filed against BNP members legitimate.

Hossain was born to a physician father under British rule in what is now Kolkata in eastern India. That was before the division into India and Pakistan, out of which Bangladesh was carved following a war in 1971.

He was jailed alongside Hasinas father and later served him as the countrys first law minister.

He went on to work in various roles at the United Nationsafter quitting the AL in the early 1990s to form the rival Peoples Forum.

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BNP insiders say his international standing and image as a freedom fighter were reasons behind bringing him into front the alliance.

But some question whether Hossain has the characteristics needed for the uglier side of Bangladeshi politics.

He is not a rebellious leader, he is a classic constitutional lawyer, said Shahdeen Malik, a Supreme Court advocate and a professional acquaintance. Intuitively, he would do things by the book, and in our politics that can be a disadvantage  that to me is his main weakness.

Political analyst Afsan Chowdhury told Al Jazeera that Hossains association with the alliance will benefit the BNP. I dont know how much it will improve BNPs vote bank but it certainly has uplifted BNPs image, he said.

Chowdhury said amid the incarceration of Zia, the BNP lacked a guardian to lead the election. So after aligning with Hossain, the BNP has got a formidable leadership.

Additional reporting by Faisal Mahmud in DhakaPetition was created after viral video of attack on 15-year-old Syrian youth in northern England.

More than 100,000 people have signed a petition calling on British Prime Minister Theresa May to launch an inquiry into rising hate crime and racist bullying in British schools.

The petition was started in the aftermath of an attack on a Syrian refugee boy known only by his first name, Jamal, at a school in the northern English city of Huddersfield.

A video of the incident went viral late November, sparking a huge outpouring of sympathy for the child and calls for authorities to do more to tackle hate crime.

Lawyers for the boy seen in the video said he and his sister were frequent targets of racist bullying and the school and local authorities had failed to address the issue.

The story could have ended very differently had it not received global coverage, wrote Dr Shameela Islam-Zulfiqar, a community doctor who first published the video of Jamal being attacked and started the petition.

Racial hate crime in schools is under-reported. Better training is needed for staff to recognise, address and escalate the issues to safeguard all children equally, she added.

Despite Jamal having had his arm broken and his sister attempting suicide by slashing her wrists, both siblings endured another five weeks of humiliation at the hands of their bullies.

Jamal had contacted his school, police, Local council to report hed been bullied for years:

They did nothing

Bullies broke his wrist

Attacked his sister

Still nothing They did only after a recorded video of him being water boarded went viral. Shameful https://t.co/OSBZbHjIVG  Rula Jebreal (@rulajebreal) December 2, 2018

Safeguarding measures

The petition calls for a review of current safeguarding measures, especially for children such as Jamal and his sister who have experienced war and displacement.

It additionally calls for monitoring of students at risk of far-right radicalisation.

In a tweet on Tuesday, Jamals family lawyer, Mohammed Akunjee, wrote: Our society had until last week failed Jamal, we feel privileged to have been part of a societal response to make good on that failure Let us hope we learn from this for the sake of ourselves.

As the petition was filed on a private site and not the governments own website, the government is not required to respond. However, British Home Secretary Sajid Javid said he had seen the video and reached out to Jamal and his family, noting he had experienced similar racist abuse as a child.

In late November, just before the video of Jamal being beaten went viral, a parliamentary committee report found pervasive Islamophobia in British society and described the phenomenon as a form of racism.Police say wooden boat was found off Misrata with two bodies on board, adding that 12 others were thrown into the sea.

A Libyan official said at least 14 refugees died off the North African nations coast while attempting to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe.

Colonel Hisham Aldwaini, a spokesman for Misratas security forces, said on Tuesday a wooden boat was found off the Libyan port city with two bodies on board. He added that 12 others had been thrown into the sea and died.

Aldwaini said 10 refugees were rescued from the boat, which was adrift at sea for days without food or water.

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An Egyptian survivor told Reuters news agency the refugees died after spending nearly two weeks without provisions.

We were 25 migrants on a boat We set off from [the western Libyan town of] Sabratah and we were at sea for 12 days without food and water, the survivor said, giving the number of dead at 15.

The owner of a beach chalet found the refugees washed up on shore near Misrata and called authorities, who brought them to the Red Crescent relief service and hospitals. Residents also said the 10 refugees appeared to be in extremely poor health.

Libyas western coast is a departure point for mainly sub-Saharan African refugees and migrants fleeing wars and poverty and hoping for new lives in Europe.

However, since last year, the number of them reaching Italy, located just across the Mediterranean, has fallen sharply as smuggling networks in Libya have been disrupted and the European Union has stepped up efforts to boost Libyan coastguard patrols.Robotic explorer Osiris-Rex is expected to go into orbit around diamond-shaped space rock Bennu on December 31.

After a two-year chase, a NASA spacecraft has arrived at the ancient asteroid Bennu, its first visitor in billions of years.

The robotic explorer Osiris-Rex on Monday pulled within 19km of the diamond-shaped space rock. It will get even closer in the days ahead and go into orbit around Bennu on December 31. No spacecraft has ever orbited such a small cosmic body.

It is the first attempt by the United States to gather asteroid samples for the return to Earth, something only Japan has accomplished so far.

Flight controllers applauded and exchanged high-fives once confirmation came through that Osiris-Rex made it to Bennu  exactly one week after NASA landed a spacecraft on Mars.

Hello, asteroid Bennu! Our @OSIRISREx spacecraft flew over 2 billion miles to meet you. Here, the spacecraft's camera captures a full rotation of the asteroid. OSIRIS-REx will study Bennu for almost a year & prepare to collect and return a sample to Earth. https://t.co/WG3vVeRoV1 pic.twitter.com/2itcL6qxtC  NASA (@NASA) December 3, 2018

Relieved, proud, and anxious to start exploring! tweeted lead scientist Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona. To Bennu and back!

With Bennu some 122 million kilometres away, it took seven minutes for word to get from the spacecraft to flight controllers at Lockheed Martin in Littleton, Colorado.

Bennu is estimated to be just over 500metres across. Researchers will provide a more precise description at a scientific meeting next Monday in Washington.

About the size of an SUV, the spacecraft will shadow the asteroid for a year, before scooping up some gravel for return to Earth in 2023.

To Bennu and back! https://t.co/i4i3564jZK  Dante Lauretta (@DSLauretta) December 3, 2018

Scientists are eager to study material from a carbon-rich asteroid like dark Bennu, which could hold evidence dating back to the beginning of our solar system 4.5bn years ago. As such, its an astronomical time capsule.

A Japanese spacecraft, meanwhile, has been hanging out at another near-Earth asteroid since June, also for samples. It is Japans second asteroid mission. This latest rock is named Ryugu and about double the size of Bennu.

Ryugus specks should be here by December 2020, but will be far less than Osiris-Rexs promised booty.

Osiris-Rex aims to collect at least 60 grams of dust and gravel. The spacecraft will not land, but rather use a three-metre mechanical arm in 2020 to momentarily touch down and vacuum up particles. The sample container would break loose and head towards Earth in 2021.

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The collection  parachuting down to Utah  would represent the biggest cosmic haul since the Apollo astronauts hand-delivered moon rocks to Earth in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

NASA has brought back comet dust and solar wind particles before, but never asteroid samples. Japan managed to return some tiny particles in 2010 from its first asteroid mission, also named Hayabusa.

Both Bennu and Ryugu are considered potentially hazardous asteroids. That means they could smack Earth years from now. At worst, Bennu would carve out a crater during a projected close call 150 years from now.

Contact with Bennu will not significantly change its orbit or make it more dangerous to us, Lauretta stressed.

Scientists contend the more they learn about asteroids, the better equipped Earth will be in heading off a truly catastrophic strike.

The $800m Osiris-Rex mission began with a 2016 launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Its odometer read 2bn kilometres as of Monday.

Both the spacecraft and asteroids names come from Egyptian mythology. Osiris is the god of the afterlife, while Bennu represents the heron and creation.

Osiris-Rex is actually a NASA acronym for origins, spectral interpretation, resource identification, security-regolith explorer.ABC presenters removal from parliament for revealing too much skin sparks outrage, forces government apology.

The Australian government has apologised for removing a female journalist from parliament over an objection to her attire, an incident that sparked outrage online as a violation of press freedom.

Patricia Karvelas, a presenter for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), said she had been kicked out of the chamber in the capital, Canberra, on Monday because her top allegedly revealed too much skin.

The attendant came up to me, she was very polite, she said she was essentially executing orders of her supervisor who said my clothes, what Im wearing, too much shoulder, Karvelas said.

Basically I needed to cover up more, I needed a jacket, she said, adding she thought her pant suit was in keeping with parliamentary standards.

I have just been kicked out of #QT because you can allegedly see too much skin. His insane #Auspol pic.twitter.com/51KipESXlG  PatriciaKarvelas (@PatsKarvelas) December 3, 2018

According to the Australian parliament website, the standard of dress in the chamber is a matter of individual judgement, but the ultimate decision of what is acceptable rests with the speaker.

The attire should involve good trousers, a jacket, collar and tie for men and a similar standard of formality for women.

Karvelas, who hosts a daily radio show for the national broadcaster, tweeted a photo of herself wearing a white half-sleeve top and black pants.

This is my controversial outfit, she posted on Twitter.

Right to bare arms

The incident sparked a discussion online about protocol, with one Twitter user accusing Karvelas of breaching existing dress standards.

Although the rules might be ridiculous, she has an obligation to comply with them, she wrote.

Apart from the fact she is breaching existing dress standards. Although the rules might be ridiculous, she has an obligation to comply with them. And we cannot expect Lisa to actually research something before ranting can we? pic.twitter.com/gMez3fiYzL  Vegemite Kid (@vegemite_kid) December 4, 2018

Meanwhile, others jumped to Karvelas defence and called the journalists removal a violation of press freedom and sexism all rolled into one.

Absolutely dreadful. Freedom of the press violations and sexism rolled into one. Australia, youre a hot country: whats going on?#ShowUsSomeArm The 'right to bare arms' in Australia's parliament https://t.co/SW0ZqHC9Fn  sparkyannc (@sparkyannc) December 3, 2018

Many also compared Karvelas outfit and the clothing choices with Australias former foreign minister Julie Bishop, who tends to wear short-sleeved or sleeveless dresses during parliamentary sessions.

If Bishop has worn sleeveless dresses in parliament without incident  then Karvelas is totally following the rules, said Lisa Wilkinson, executive editor at 10daily.

Women also came out in solidarity with the journalist online, sharing pictures of their arms, using the hashtag Show Us Some Arm (#ShowUsSomeArm).

Lucky my bare arms and I were only teaching teenagers today and not in the press gallery @PatsKarvelas pic.twitter.com/nAzSgDG8cV  Elizabeth Saunders  (@E_R_Saunders) December 3, 2018

Following the online furore, Defence Minister Christopher Pyne expressed regret over the incident.

I would like to apologise on behalf of this side of the House to Ms Karvelas for being ejected yesterday from the press gallery, he said in parliament on Tuesday.

Tony Smith, the House speaker, admitted that Karvelas should not have been asked to leave and called for a review of the parliamentary dress code for journalists.

The journalist in question was attired in a way which would be reasonably considered professional business attire, he said.

In the interim, Ive asked that the definition of the formal business attire for female journalists in the chamber be applied, having regard to the attire of members generally, Smith added.

Pleased that female journalists will be free to wear professional clothing that reflects what politicians wear. Sensible outcome. #auspol  PatriciaKarvelas (@PatsKarvelas) December 4, 2018

After the apology, Karvelas tweeted she was pleased that female journalists will be free to wear professional clothing that reflects what politicians wear and called it a sensible outcome.Middle East ride-hailing company Careem said it has launched a bus-booking service in Egypt and will soon expand it to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

Users of the Careem app can select a bus option as well as their pick-up and drop-off location and track the bus along dedicated routes, the Dubai-based company said in a statement.

It offers fixed-rate fares between 60 and 70 percent cheaper than those on its car service, it added. The company will use 13-seater buses at the start of operation in the country.

Communal ride-sharing options are not new in the country, where homegrown start-ups provide on-demand shuttle bus services for local commuters in Cairo. Careems rival Uber, too, has a significant market share in Egypt with its services.

But Careem said on Monday it hopes Cairo and the rest of Egypt will use more such solutions to ease mobility.

According to an international survey, quoted by the company, 40 percent of the Egyptian population is not being served by proper transportation that suits their need.

Expanding projects

The launch comes more than a year after Careem invested $500,000 in Egyptian tech start-up Swvl, which offers bus-booking services on its own mobile app. Careem said it had since divested itself of that stake.

Swvl announced last month it was planning to expand to Southeast Asia after securing tens of millions of dollars in its latest funding round.

Careem competes with San Francisco-headquartered Uber Technologies in many major Middle East cities.

Reuters news agency reported last month that Careem has been working with investment group Jefferies as an adviser on investment options and fundraising, including a potential merger and acquisition deal in the region with Uber.Reports come after Gina Haspel failed to take part in last weeks briefing by the secretary of state and defence chief.

CIA Director Gina Haspel will give a closed-door briefing to leaders of several US Senate committees this week on the killing of Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi, US media reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the briefing will take place on Tuesday.

Reuters news agency, citing a source familiar with the planned meeting, said Haspel will brief the Republican and Democratic leaders of the United States Senate Committees on Foreign Relations, Armed Services and Appropriations. The Reuters source added that the Senate Intelligence Committee already had been briefed by the CIA chief.

A Senate source also said Senate leaders would also participate in the briefing, which is scheduled for 11:30am local time (16:30 GMT).

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The CIA would not confirm or deny whether the briefing would take place.

The expected meeting comes after senators from both parties expressed anger that Haspel, who has listened to an audio tape of the killing and reviewed evidence assembled by Turkish authorities, was not part of a closed-door briefing last week by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on the issue.

The CIA has reportedly assessed that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as MBS, ordered the killing of Khashoggi.

The 59-year-old journalist, a critic of MBS, was killed on October 2 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to obtain documents needed for his planned marriage.

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After offering contradictory statements, Saudi Arabia admitted last month that Khashoggi was killed inside its consulate and his body was dismembered. The kingdom has repeatedly said Prince Mohammed had no knowledge of the killing, which Turkey said was ordered at the highest level of Saudi leadership.

At last weeks briefing, Pompeo and Mattis said there was no hard evidence the crown prince was behind the killing and urged senators not to downgrade ties with Saudi Arabia over the incident.

Hours after that briefing the Senate voted 63-37 to take up a resolution aimed at limiting US involvement in the war in Yemen, where a Washington-backed Saudi-UAE coalition launched an intervention in 2015 through a massive air campaign targeting Houthi rebels. The next vote on the bill could come as early as Thursday.

Trumps shockingly intimate relationship with MBS

Al Jazeeras John Hendren, reporting from Washington, DC, said Haspels expected briefing was due to Congressional pressure after senators felt they were getting a party line from the administration of President Donald Trump during last weeks briefing by Mattis and Pompeo.

Many of them pointed out that intelligence rarely comes to definitive conclusions but the CIA has reportedly concluded with a high degree of confidence that the killing was indeed ordered by the crown prince, said Hendren.

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They wanted to hear from Haspel; she, after all, is the only one of those three who actually flew to Turkey and heard the tapes that the Turkish government has of the killing.

Senators were very upset about the CIA chief not being present and they ended up demanding to hear from Haspel or they threatened to take action against Saudi Arabia  and that seems to be whats motivated the Trump administration to go ahead and allow her to testify.

Glenn Carle, former CIA officer, said he does not anticipate any new revelations from Haspel.

I dont expect that she would go any further than anything that we know  she will never reveal in a briefing like this the sources or the methods, but she will reveal the substance, he told Al Jazeera.

Carle said the appearance is an attempt by the Trump administration to get out from some of the pressure that is now under from the Congress and an effort by Congress to reassure its prerogatives.

Clearly, what Trump is doing is trying to relieve the pressure on him from Congress with gestures  his standard pattern is to deny and then to make a cosmetic change or backing down, to change the subject and then to move on. So he will do what he can to maintain his shockingly intimate relationship with MBS while Congress may pressure him some more, but the advantage in foreign policy always rests with the executive.Soldiers clash with rebels loyal to renegade general in South Kivu province as tensions rise weeks before polls.

At least 18 people have killed in clashes between the Democratic Republic of the Congos army and rebels loyal to a renegade former general in the countrys eastern region, according to military sources.

The latest round of violence comes less than three weeks before crucial elections to replace long-time President Joseph Kabila.

Fighting killed 14 rebels and four soldiers in Fizi, a region of South Kivu, a mineral-rich province which is prone to ethnic tensions, a military spokesman and other sources said.

Violence in the troubled eastern region is just one complication before the December 23 elections in DR Congo, which has not seen a peaceful transfer of power since independence from colonial Belgium in 1960.

Under international pressure, Kabila has agreed to step aside, but critics worry he will try to engineer a win for his handpicked successor, former hardline Interior Minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary.

The eastern clashes pit the military against rebels loyal to a former army general, William Amuri Yakutumba, whose militia is one of the armed groups operating in the region against Kabila.

The militia is allied to rebels of the National Liberation Front based in neighbouring Burundi, according to several regional sources.

In September last year, the Yakutumba rebels attacked the town of Uvira on Lake Tanganyika near the Burundian capital Bujumbura.

UN forces pushed them back with Congolese support.

In February, the military said they had wiped out the Yakutumba group with help from Burundi, where some of them had taken refuge.

Western powers are closely watching the presidential election in the nation, where a UN peace-keeping force, now with 16,000 troops on the ground, has been operating for two decades.

Kabilas second and final elected term finished nearly two years ago, but he has remained in office thanks to a caretaker clause in the constitution.Accounts of four top aides at the National Republican Congressional Committee compromised for months.

The Republican campaign organisation of the United States House of Representatives was the target of a major hack during the 2018 election that exposed thousands of sensitive emails, a news report says.

The email accounts of four top aides at the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) were compromised for months in an intrusion detected in April, Politico reported on Tuesday, citing three unidentified senior party officials.

The committee provided few details about the incident, but said the intrusion was conducted by an unknown entity.

The cybersecurity of the committees data is paramount and upon learning of the intrusion, the NRCC immediately launched an internal investigation and notified the FBI, which is now investigating the matter, spokesman Ian Prior said in a statement.

To protect the integrity of that investigation, the NRCC will offer no further comment on the incident.



However, senior Republican House leaders, including Speaker Paul Ryan and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, were not informed until contacted by the news site.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Russian state-aligned hackers organised the leak of more than 150,000 emails stolen from more than a dozen Democrats. The FBI later said the Russians targeted more than 300 people affiliated with the Hillary Clinton campaign and other Democratic institutions over the course of the presidential contest.

During the 2016 presidential election, WikiLeaks released hacked material damaging to Clintons presidential effort, and the US intelligence agencies have said Russia was the source of that hacked material.

Special counsel Robert Mueller is now investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, possible Russian ties to Donald Trumps presidential campaign, and whether anyone had had advance knowledge of WikiLeaks plans.French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has announced a six-month moratorium on planned tax hikes on fuel in response to weeks of nationwide protests against high pump prices and living costs.

Philippe said on Tuesday that he hoped the measure would bring calm and serenity back to France and enable real dialogue on the concerns of the so-called yellow-vest protesters.

The demonstrations, which began on November 17, sparked on Saturday Paris worst rioting in decades, with protesters clashing with police, setting fire to vehicles and looting shops around the capitals famed Champs Elysees avenue.

In his address, Philippe said the anger on the streets originates from a profound injustice: of not being able to live with dignity from ones work.

The French who have donned yellow vests want taxes to drop, and work to pay. Thats also what we want, he said, adding: No tax is worth putting the nations unity in danger.

He also announced that increases in the cost of gas and electricity, which were also set to take effect from January 1, would be suspended for three months during the winter months.

Philippe added that a tightening of the technical assessment for cars, which was set to penalise heavily polluting older vehicles, would also be halted for six months.

The yellow vest protests were originally spurred by a squeeze on household spending brought about by President Emmanuel Macrons taxes on diesel, which he says are necessary to combat climate change and protect the environment.





However, they have since evolved into a bigger, general anti-Macron uprising, with many criticising the president for pursuing policies they claim favour the richest members of French society.

First step

The concessions on Tuesday marked Macrons first significant U-turn on a major policy since he assumed office in 2017.

The demonstrations have been given the yellow vest tag due to the fluorescent jackets kept in all vehicles in France, and are estimated to have cost millions to the economy.

Benjamin Chaucy, one of the leaders of the protests, welcomed the move, saying: Its a first step, but we will not settle for a crumb.

Prominent Socialist figure Segolene Royal, a former candidate for president, lauded Philippes decision but said it came too late.

This decision should have been taken from the start, as soon as the conflict emerged, she said.

We felt it was going to be very, very hard because we saw the rage, the exasperation, especially from retirees. They should have withdrawn [the tax hikes] right away. The more you let a conflict fester, the more you eventually have to concede.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen lashed out at the decision as too little, tweeting that it was obviously not up to the expectations of the French people struggling with precarity.

French ambulance drivers hold blue, white, red smoke bombs during a demonstration at the Place de la Concorde in Paris, France, December 3, 2018. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Four people have been killed in the three-week-long protests, including an 80-year-old woman who died in hospital on Sunday after being hit by a tear gas canister in Marseille.

Protests in Paris on Saturday turned particularly violent, with the Arc de Triomphe defaced and avenues off the capitals Champs Elysees suffering damage. More than 100 people were injured in the violence.

Paris police said 412 people were arrested during the clashes in Paris on Saturday and 363 remained in custody, according to the latest figures.

Macron and Philippes approval ratings hit new lows in the wake of the crisis, according to an Ifop-Fiducial poll for Paris Match and Sud Radio that was published on Tuesday.

The presidents approval rating fell to 23 percent in the poll conducted late last week, down six points from the previous month, while the prime ministers rating fell 10 points to 26 percent.Heres all you need to know about the French protest movement that has rocked Emmanuel Macrons presidency.

Tear gas shrouded Pariss famed Arc de Triomphe on Saturday soon after the first yellow vest demonstrators began to gather.

The police fired hundreds of gas canisters and used water cannon and stun grenades in an attempt to control crowds of protesters early in the morning  but to no avail.

The Champs Elysees, where the Arc de Triomphe stands, became a battleground as the day wore on, with protesters setting fire to makeshift barricades and hundreds of vehicles. Shops were looted and vandalised and hundreds were injured in the clashes.

We are in a state of insurrection, Ive never seen anything like it, Jeanne dHauteserre, mayor of Pariss 8th district, said.

The protests, which began on November 17 over planned hikes in diesel taxes, have widened into an uprising against President Emmanuel Macrons policies and become the biggest challenge to his presidency.

On Tuesday, the government finally backpedalled on its initial policy decision and announced plans to halt the proposed increases.





Heres what you need to know about the yellow vest movement and what implications it has for France.

Who are the yellow vests?

The movement takes its name from the high-visibility jackets protesters have adopted as a symbol of their complaint. Protests sprang up spontaneously in November against hikes in car fuel taxes, with supporters donning the fluorescent safety vests that French law requires all motorists to carry.

Protesters are angry over record prices at the pump, with the cost of diesel increasing by about 20 percent in the past year to an average of 1.49 euros ($1.68) per litre.

Macron then announced further taxes on fuel, set to take effect on January 1, 2019, in a move he said was necessary combat climate change and protect the environment.

Initially backed by people in small towns and rural France where most get around by car, the protests snowballed into a wider movement against Macrons perceived bias in favour of the elite and well-off city dwellers.

Analysts say most of those joining the ranks of the yellow vests are workers on lower middle incomes who say they barely scrape by and get scant public services in exchange for some of the highest tax bills in Europe.

On Monday, the discontent spread to include ambulance workers and some high schools, with students upset about education reforms.

The movement takes its name from the yellow safety vests French law requires all motorists to carry [File: Benoit Tessier/ Reuters]

What do they want?

Supporters goals are amorphous. Some want to reverse tax cuts seen as favouring the rich while others want more measures to help the poorest.

Many have called on the business-friendly president, a former investment banker, to resign.

The fuel tax was the spark, said Thierry Paul Valette, a Paris protest coordinator.

If it hadnt been (that), it would have been something else, he told the Associated Press news agency.

People want fair fiscal justice. They want social justice, he added, as well as improved purchasing power.

How big is the movement?

Motorists began blocking highways across the country on November 17, setting up barricades and deploying convoys of slow-moving trucks. Nearly 300,000 protested in the streets across the country that day.





Less than half that number, about 106,000, took to the streets a week later, on November 24th, when a protest in Paris took a particularly violent turn.

Last Saturday, an estimated 75,000 demonstrators, were counted across the country in the afternoon, the interior ministry said.

Most protests across France were peaceful, but the one in Paris degenerated into the worst rioting the capital has seen in years.

What happened in Paris?

Shops were looted and cars torched in plush neighbourhoods around the famed Champs Elysees avenue, as protesters intent on causing as much damage as possible mixed in with the yellow vests.

The Arc de Triomphe was besmirched with graffiti and vandalized inside. The yellow vests will triumph, one scrawled slogan said. More than 400 were arrested during the clashes.

Anne Hidalgo, mayor of Paris, said on Sunday: Once we learn the costs of this destruction, I think everyone will be stunned at how huge it will be.

Some organisers of the protests have denounced the violence, saying those behind it were attempting to usurp the yellow vests.

Meanwhile, Jason Herbert, a representative of the yellow vests who met briefly on Friday with Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, said he and others had to bow out of talks with the government because of threats from fellow demonstrators. He said the movement was radicalising.

In all, four people have been killed and hundreds injured in clashes or accidents stemming from the protests.

Protesters torched scores of vehicles in Paris on Saturday [File: Stephane Mahe/ Reuters]

How have the protests affected the economy?

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told reporters on Monday that three weeks of protests have hit the French economy hard, with trade in shops, hotels and restaurants falling significantly.

Some sectors saw their revenues hit by between 15 and 50 percent, he said, without providing a precise breakdown.

The impact is severe and ongoing, Le Maire said, emphasising that it was felt nationwide.

Saturdays protest has decimated Frances image, Roland Heguy of the CAT tourism federation told AFP, warning that this Christmas season was at risk, if not already lost.

Meanwhile, Vinci Autoroute, Frances largest toll-road operator, has seen dozens of road blockades and forced openings of barriers since the protests erupted. Protesters have also damaged infrastructure, a spokesman said.





French oil company Total has said 75 of its 2,200 petrol stations have run dry because yellow vests were blockading fuel depots.

Trucking federations said they had suffered operating losses of 400 million euros ($453m) due to protesters blocking highways and toll stations as well as fuel depots.

What is the governments response?

Philippe, the prime minister, suspended the planned increases to fuel taxes for at least six months on Tuesday, saying no tax was worth jeopardising the countrys unity.

He also said that increases in the cost of gas and electricity, which were also set to take effect from January 1, 2019, would be suspended for three months during the winter.

The measures were the first major U-turn by Macrons administration since he took office in 2016.

His approval rating has hit a new low in the wake of the crisis, according to an Ifop-Fiducial poll for Paris Match and Sud Radio published on Tuesday. Macrons rating fell to 23 percent in the poll conducted late last week, down six points on the previous month.

Its not clear if the concessions will appease protesters.

Its a first step, but we will not settle for a crumb, said Benjamin Chaucy, one of the leaders of the protests.Police arrest two and launch special probe after an inspector was killed during mob violence over alleged cow slaughter.

At least two people have been arrested in connection with the killing of a police officer during a mob violence in Indias Uttar Pradesh state, officials have said.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted to probe the cause of the violence in Bulandshahr district, senior police officer Prashant Kumar told local ANI news agency.

Police have filed cases against at least 27 people, including a Hindu far-right leader, in connection with the violence that saw a police station torched by the angry crowd.

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Hundreds of paramilitary forces have been deployed in the area, said ADG Law and Order Anand Kumar.

Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and a 20-year-old man had died after a crowd of about 400 people, who were protesting against an alleged cow slaughter, turned violent in Bulandshahr, about 80km southeast of the national capital, New Delhi.

The officer died from gunshot wounds, district magistrate Anuj Kumar Jha told Reuters news agency on Monday.

The official vehicle of martyred cop Subodh Kumar Singh which was torched by the goons. During the attack Singh was cornered in a field next to Chingrawati police outpost in Bulandshahr. pic.twitter.com/KbP0eM7dZv  Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) December 4, 2018

We sent police teams to control the crowd after we heard protesters pelted stones and some even opened fire, Jha told DPA news agency by phone.

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It is not clear this was firing from the crowd or the police, he said, adding the protests subsided by early evening.

According to local media reports, the deceased officer had investigated the infamous 2015 lynching of Mohammed Akhlaq in Dadri town of the state before he was transferred.

Hindu vigilantes often roam the roads in northern India to protect cows, frequently resulting in assaults against Indias Muslim population  some 14 percent of the countrys 1.3 billion people.

At least 39 people have been killed in cow-related violence in India since 2014, when Prime Minister Narendra Modis Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power, according to data portal IndiaSpend.

Inspector Subodh kumar singh sacrificed his life to uphold law & order in the district.

With his demise, we have lost one of our finest officers who will always be alive in our hearts as our hero.

Our condolences for his family members & prayers for the noble soul. #UPPolice pic.twitter.com/8azl0Hzlk3  UP POLICE (@Uppolice) December 3, 2018

Modi has condemned the attacks and promised tough action against the perpetrators, but opposition leaders accuse the BJP governments  federal and in various states  of indirectly supporting the cow vigilantes.

Its a shocking state of affairs Who gives these people the authority to take law in their hands? Kapil Sibal from the opposition Congress party told ANI.

In July, Indias Supreme Court requested that the government enact new legislation to control the increasing mob violence and lynchings over alleged cattle theft, eating beef, child kidnapping and other crimes, often aided by fake news, in the country this year.A group of villagers comes up with sustainable plan to stop people from polluting their water channels  and it worked.

Irfah Satiri slightly bends down to drag a plastic bag out of the mud at the bottom of a waterway.

Maybe, its been here for years, he says.

The paddy fields that used to surround Satiris village in Bogor, south of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, have mostly been built over by housing. Only these irrigation channels remain.

Over the years, the waterways became a dumping ground for waste. Despite the foul smells, most of the villagers did not care, Satiri says.

I was really stressed about the garbage in the river, and how I would solve this problem.

Soon after, Satiri and his friends came up with an idea. They started with a 30-metre stretch of waterway. They cleaned it out and populated it with fish. When the other villagers saw that it could be a source of food and income, they joined in.

Nowadays, the fish farm is more than 300 metres in length, while neighbouring villages are thinking of doing the same.

Al Jazeera went to the village to find out more.

Filmmaker: Hassan Ghani

Producer: Surya FachrizalIsraeli army says it is destroying tunnels allegedly dug from Lebanon but that it will stay on its side of the border.

The Israeli forces have launched what they call an operation to expose and neutralise tunnels between Lebanon and Israel, allegedly dug by armed group Hezbollah.

The operation was announced by the Israeli military on Twitter on Tuesday.

Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus told Reuters news agency that the operation would only take place on Israels side of the border and that it would not extend into Lebanon.

We see the Hezbollah activities as a flagrant and blatant violation of Israeli authority, he told Reuters.

In a tweet, Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said the Lebanese government is responsible for the build-up of the tunnels, saying they are endangering Lebanese citizens.

Also on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country would continue to take action to ensure the security of Israel.

Whoever tries to attack the State of Israel will pay a heavy price, Netanyahu said in a statement.

We will continue with additional actions  open and covert  in order to ensure the security of Israel.

Hezbollah has not responded to the military operation yet, but the UN mission near the Israel-Lebanon border, UNIFIL, said in a statement it was notified of the operation on Tuesday morning.

The overall situation in UNIFILs area of operation remains calm and UNIFIL is working with all interlocutors in order to maintain the overall stability, the statement said.

UNIFIL peacekeepers have further increased their patrolling along the Blue Line, together with the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), to maintain the overall stability and avoid misunderstandings that could lead to any escalation, the statement added.

Lebanese online news portal Tayyar reported that the Israeli army was excavating areas opposite the Lebanese villages of Kfarkela and Adaisseh on the southern border.

According to Al Jazeera correspondent Natasha Ghoneim, the operation by Israel is a rare occurrence.

Israeli military spokespeople are saying they have discovered tunnels made by Hezbollah and that they are attempting to thwart any attack from Hezbollah from Lebanon into Israel, Ghoneim said from West Jerusalem.

Since Hezbollah had its war with Israel in 2006, we havent seen this kind of operation in the north as there has been a tense detente between Hezbollah and Israel, she added.

Last night, the Israeli prime minister travelled to Brussels unexpectedly to talk to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, briefing him on the operation that started on Tuesday morning.

The timing is important as well, because three days ago Israeli police have recommended that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu be indicted on charges of corruption that have been plaguing him, Ghoneim said.

She added that although Netanyahu has remained popular, those that are sceptical of this operation say this could be an effort by him to divert attention away from those legal problems.

Later on Tuesday, the White House announced its support for the Israeli operation.

President Donald Trumps national security advisor John Bolton said that the US strongly supports Israels efforts to defend its sovereignty.

More broadly, we call on Iran and all of its agents to stop their regional aggression and provocation, which pose an unacceptable threat to Israeli and regional security, Bolton said.

2006 war

In 2006, Hezbollah and Israel fought out a war in the border region in which more than 1,100 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and 159 Israelis, were killed.

During that war, the armed Shia group was able to overwhelm Israels ground invasion of southern Lebanon and attack military and civilian targets, undermining internal Israeli support for the war and spurring regional support for Hezbollahs military successes against a state army.

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Since then, Hezbollah has become one of the main supporting actors in the war in Syria and tensions with Israel have remained high.

Over the course of that war, Israel has targeted alleged Syrian and Hezbollah arms convoys on multiple occasions in an attempt to block any Iranian efforts to transfer weapons to the group.

Since the start of the Syrian war, more than 200 attacks were carried out by Israel, according to its military.

Israel has accused Iran of supporting Hezbollah with money and arms to continue fighting in Syria and retain its power in Lebanon.An international law firm hired by the United States State Department to investigate last years military crackdown on the Rohingya in Myanmar, says it has found evidence of genocide, urging the international community to establish a criminal investigation into the atrocities and ensure justice for the victims.

The Public International Law and Policy Group (PILPG) said on Monday that its findings, based on interviews with more than 1,000 Muslim-majority Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh as a result of the crackdown in Rakhine state, also found reasonable grounds to conclude that the army committed crimes against humanity and war crimes.

It is clear from our intense legal review that there is, in fact, a legal basis to conclude that the Rohingya were the victims of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, the PILPGs Paul Williams told a press conference in Washington, DC.

An aerial view of a burned Rohingya village near Maungdaw in Myanmars northern Rakhine state in November 2017 [Wa Lone/Reuters]

As such, we believe there is sufficient basis to bring international criminal proceedings against the perpetrators of the violence and recommend that the international community pursue legal accountability for the atrocity crimes committed in Rakhine state against the Rohingya.

Myanmar, a Buddhist-majority country with significant numbers of ethnic minorities, has denied accusations of genocide, insisting that the militarys actions were part of a fight against terrorism and were triggered by a series of attacks on police posts and border outposts by the Arakan Rohingya Solidarity Army (ARSA) armed group.

Convenient justification

More than 700,000 Rohingya fled the Myanmar armys crackdown, and human rights groups say thousands died.

The lawyers report documented more than 13,000 instances of grave human rights violations in the crackdown.

The Rohingya who did make it to Bangladesh left behind a place of terror, violence, and destruction, the report said. Yet, despite the horrors they faced there, it is a place that the Rohingya refugees still unfailingly call their homeland.

Of the 1,024 Rohingya interviewed in the PILPG report, 20 percent told investigators that they had been physically wounded in the attacks. Nearly 70 percent said they had watched their homes or villages being destroyed, while 80 percent witnessed the killing of a family member, friend or personal acquaintance.

The goal was not just to expel, but also to exterminate the Rohingya Public International Law & Policy Group

The Myanmar armed forces, led by the army who often worked in cooperation with other security forces, only targetted Rohingya civilians in the attacks, the law firm said.

The militarys actions were highly-coordinated and required both tactical and logistical planning.

Attacks by ARSA were simply a convenient justification for the crackdown in Rakhine, it said.

The scale and severity of the attacks and abuses  particularly the mass killings and accompanying brutality against children, women, pregnant women, the elderly, religious leaders, and persons fleeing into Bangladesh  suggest that, in the minds of the perpetrators, the goal was not just to expel, but also to exterminate the Rohingya, the report said.

In November 2017, the US called Myanmars campaign against the Rohingya ethnic cleansing.

Al Jazeeras Mike Hanna, reporting from Washington, DC, said that although the law firms use of the word genocide could add to the pressure on Washington to change its description of the attacks, it was doubtful the administration would change course.

The State Department continues to use the term ethnic cleansing, Hanna said. The reason? Using the word genocide would, in terms of international law, mandate the US to take immediate punitive action. After months of debate, this is something the Trump administration is clearly unwilling to do.

The US is competing for influence with China, which neighbours Myanmar, on the global stage.

Getting away with murder

The PILGP said that while some had argued the military only wanted to remove the Rohingya from Myanmar, the fact that members of the persecuted minority continued to be shot dead even as they crossed the border or waited to do so, and that people were attacked as they fled, suggested there was a specific intent to commit genocide.

The law firm said the crimes it had concluded took place, were the most serious under international law and that it was generally individual states that had the responsibility to protect people against such crimes.

But in this case, where the state itself is the one committing such acts against its population, the international community is obliged to take collective action to protect populations from those crimes, it added.

The firms report called for the urgent establishment of what it referred to as an accountability mechanism or an immediate referral of the situation to the International Criminal Court, and for the international community to ensure any mechanism was properly funded.

Campaigners said coordinated international action was crucial.

They believe that they can get away with these murders, said Tun Khin, of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK, referring to Myanmars military. They are not listening to anyone. It is important that the US government, EU countries and the international community must come to collective action to intervene to stop this genocide.

Muslim-majority Rohingya wait in a temporary camp outside Maungdaw in Myanmars northern Rakhine state to cross the border to Bangladesh in November 2017 [Wa Lone/Reuters]

UN diplomacy

The PILGP welcomed the UN Human Rights Councils recent decision to establish an independent investigative mechanism to collect and analyse evidence of the most serious crimes and violations of international law committed in Myanmar, including Rakhine state.

A UN report released in August found genocidal intent in the Myanmar militarys crackdown on the Rohingya, and recommended the commander-in-chief and five generals be prosecuted under international law.

It also urged the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo and targeted sanctions.

Myanmars government rejected the 440-page report, describing the investigation as flawed, biased and politically motivated.

Two months later, the head of the UNs Fact Finding Mission on Myanmar told the council that the Rohingya who remained in Myanmar, some of whom have been confined to grim camps since communal violence in 2012, faced an ongoing genocide and severe repression.

That briefing drew objections from six of the Security Councils 15 members, including China and Russia.Lion Air reviews Boeing plane orders in wake of the late October crash that killed 189 people, sources tell Reuters.

Indonesias Lion Air is reviewing plane purchases from Boeing Co and has not ruled out cancelling orders as relations worsen in a spat over who should take responsibility for a Boeing 737 plane crash that killed 189 people in late October.

Cofounder Rusdi Kirana is furious over what he regards as attempts by Boeing to deflect attention from recent design changes and blame Lion Air for the crash, while the airline faces scrutiny over its maintenance record and pilots actions.

Kirana is examining the possibility of cancelling remaining orders of Boeing jets from the next delivery, a source familiar with his thinking told the Reuters news agency.

Another source close to the airline told Reuters it was looking at cancelling orders.

No final decision has been made, but the discussion over the fate of $22bn of remaining orders highlights the stakes surrounding an investigation involving Boeings fastest-ever selling jet, the 737 MAX, which entered service last year.

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Lion Air has 190 Boeing jets worth $22bn at list prices waiting to be delivered, on top of 197 already taken, making it one of the largest United States export customers.

Any request to cancel could be designed to put pressure on Boeing and would likely trigger extensive negotiations. Many airlines defer orders, but industry sources say aerospace suppliers rarely allow much scope for unilateral cancellations.

Lion Air declined to comment. A Boeing spokesperson said: We are taking every measure to fully understand all aspects of this accident, and are working closely with the investigating team and all regulatory authorities involved. We are also supporting our valued customer through this very tough time.

The Boeing 737 plane crash killed 189 people in late October [Beawiharta/Reuters]

Maintenance, software

Kirana, who is now Indonesias envoy to Malaysia but still carries weight at the airline he cofounded with his brother in 2000, ordered the review in response to a Boeing statement focusing attention on piloting and maintenance, the spokesperson said.

Boeing released the statement after investigators last week issued an interim report focusing on maintenance actions spread over four flights in the run-up to the doomed flight on October 29.

Boeing is also examining software changes in the wake of the crash while insisting long-standing procedures exist for pilots to cancel automated nose-down movements experienced by the 737 MAX in response to erroneous sensor readings.

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It has come under fire from US pilots for not mentioning the MCAS system  a modification of existing anti-stall systems  in the manual for the 737 MAX, which began service last year.

Why are they changing [software] if there was nothing wrong? the person familiar with Kiranas thinking said.

Boeing has said all information needed to fly the 737 safely is available to pilots and that its workhorse model is safe.

Some financial sources say Lion Air and southeast Asian rivals over-expanded and would be comfortable with fewer orders.

But the dispute highlights an unusually polarised dispute over the causes of the crash. Experts say most accidents are caused by a cocktail of factors and parties rarely comment in detail before the final report, which often follows a year of analysis.

In its statement, Boeing recapped the interim report and listed questions on maintenance and pilot behaviour that it said remained unanswered in the 78-page document, but did not mention the MCAS modification covered in an earlier safety bulletin.

It is not the first time an airline has crossed swords with its supplier after a crash. Lion Airs rival AirAsia clashed with Airbus after its Indonesian subsidiary lost an A320 in 2014. It continued to take deliveries, but relations never fully recovered and it later toyed with buying 787s from Boeing.Lopez Obrador announces probe into disappearance of 43 students as he promises an end to culture of impunity.

Mexicos new President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has signed his first decree creating a truth commission to investigate the kidnapping of 43 students in an apparent massacre, which remains one of the countrys most notorious unsolved crimes.

Lopez Obrador announced the move during a press conference on Monday, two days after being sworn in as president, fulfilling a campaign promise made in September to re-examine the incident.

The student teachers from a rural teachers training college in Ayotzinapa disappeared after police intercepted them in the town of Iguala while on their way to a protest in September 2014.

Three were shot and killed by police in Iguala, while the others escaped in two buses. Both vehicles were later stopped by police, but while one group was let go, the others have not been seen or heard from since.

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Posing with the parents of the missing young people, who displayed photos of their loved ones, the 65-year-old president, popularly known by his initials AMLO, promised an end to impunity and a wide-ranging investigation.

The whole government is going to help with this plan and I can assure you that there will be no impunity either in this sad and painful case or in any other, he told reporters.

Hoy iniciamos las acciones para conocer la verdad y hacer justicia a los jovenes de Ayotzinapa https://t.co/XR6XrWhuYY  Andres Manuel (@lopezobrador_) December 3, 2018

TRANSLATION: Today we begin the actions to know the truth and have justice for the young people of Ayotzinapa.

I hope that we will soon know the truth. That theres justice and an example is set so never again human rights are violated in our country, so that no other Mexican suffers the disappearance of their children.

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The new commission will include the parents of the 43 students, their lawyers and representatives from the interior, foreign and finance ministries, along with experts and specialists required for the investigation.

Alejandro Encinas, Mexicos sub-secretary for human rights, said the commission would be the first step of many steps we will take in the process of reconciliation in the country.

The official story

The case cast a long shadow over the previous government of Enrique Pena Nieto, which was seen as complacent in its approach to the investigation.

Prosecutors have said the students  who have become collectively known as the normalistas de Ayotzinapa  were killed by a drug gang and their bodies incinerated, but conclusive evidence has never been presented and no high-level prosecutions have been made.

What happened to the missing 43 #Ayotzinapa students? New information casts doubt on the governments claims.https://t.co/JzM3s8oXZB  AJ+ (@ajplus) September 24, 2015

A later independent investigation refuted the official version of events and exposed gaps in the official investigations report, which was based partly on a confession obtained through torture and was prevented from scrutinising the movements of the Mexican army on the night of the attack.

The case caused outrage in Mexico and drew condemnation from abroad. The students became symbols of the tens of thousands of people missing in the country, while the slow-moving and deeply flawed government investigation reflected official indifference towards the disappeared.





Maria Martinez, the mother of one of the missing students said Lopez Obradors perseverance  he was elected in this third attempt to gain the presidency  gives hope to those whose children are missing.

There are families suffering because they have lost someone, its difficult to see an empty chair, an empty bed without a child. You need to win our trust, we dont trust anyone but we have a bit of faith, she said in an address to Lopez Obrador at the event.

We dont want to be made fun of, everywhere we go we are humiliated. You set an example of someone who perseveres, its a good example.

Justice and truth

The move has been welcomed by rights groups, with Amnesty International calling it an action [to] build a Mexico based on justice and truth.

During his campaign, Lopez Obrador said everyone including the army and federal police would be looked into and vowed to invite international investigators who claimed their research was blocked.

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While the students case continues to be widely publicised, it represents a tiny fraction of the total number of missing people in Mexico, which is embroiled in an ongoing security crisis.

The National Registry of Missing and Disappeared Persons has recorded 36,265 missing individuals as of April 2018.

Once seen as a tool of military dictatorships, disappearances now happen in every region in the world and in a wide range of contexts, according to Amnesty.

En su primera hora como Presidente @lopezobrador anuncia la creacion de una Comision de la Verdad para investigar la desaparicion forzada de los normalistas de Ayotzinapa. Saludamos esta accion para construir un Mexico basado en la justicia y la verdad #100DiasPorMexico pic.twitter.com/O07tbvM1NH  Amnistia Int. Mexico (@AIMexico) December 1, 2018

TRANSLATION: In his first hour as president, Lopez Obrador announces the creation of a truth commission to investigate the forced disappearance of the Ayotzinapa normalistas. We welcomed this action to build a Mexico based on justice and truth.Dohas announced withdrawal from OPEC comes at a critical juncture for the cartel and its de facto leader.

As ministers from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other major oil producing countries prepare to gather in Vienna for a crucial meeting later this week, the cartel is absorbing yet another hit to its waning influence.

The latest blow to OPEC was delivered on Monday when Qatar announced it is quitting the bloc next month to focus on liquefied natural gas (LNG) production.

Qatar is a relatively small oil producer and its decision to end its nearly six-decade-long membership in OPEC is not expected to have a major influence on energy prices.

Qatars Energy Minister Saad Sherida al-Kaabi dismissed the notion that the move was driven by Dohas ongoing feud with OPECs de facto leader Saudi Arabia. Riyadh has led a land, sea and air blockade against Qatar since June 2017.

Nevertheless, some analysts see Dohas break with the cartel as deeply symbolic, especially given the fact OPEC has in the past overcome major divisions to coordinate energy policy.

More than anything, we suspect that Qatars withdrawal from OPEC has been spurred by its ongoing dispute with Saudi Arabia and its allies, Jason Tuvey, Capital Economics senior emerging markets economist, wrote in a note to clients.

Amy Myers Jaffe, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said Qatars decision underscores how the blockade has added urgency to Dohas slow drift from Riyadhs sphere of influence.

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Qatar sought to reduce its exposure to Saudi oil policy and Saudi Arabia generally since the 1990s when the two countries first clashed over border disputes, she told Al Jazeera. Today, in light of the Saudi-led blockade against Doha, ensuring Qatars natural gas industry is independent of Saudi decision making on oil is all the more pressing.

Ellen Wald, senior fellow at the Atlantic Councils Global Energy Center, told Al Jazeera that Qatars decision to leave the cartel could be a harbinger, as oil policy becomes more concentrated in the hands of Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC member Russia.

It could signal that smaller producers are growing disgruntled with the cartels dominance by Saudi Arabia and Russia, said Wald. If a group of small producers decide to exit the cartel it will decrease OPECs influence in the market.

Diminishing sway

Global energy markets have undergone a tectonic shift in recent years as the rise of the United States shale oil has moved the balance of power away from OPEC, diluting Saudi Arabias market power.

In 2016, with oil sliding below $30 a barrel, OPEC entered an alliance with Russia and other non-members to curb oil production and boost prices.

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Shale has pushed Saudi Arabia and Russia together, Jim Krane, a fellow at Rice Universitys Baker Institute, told Al Jazeera. These two countries, enemies throughout the Cold War, are now making common cause in oil markets.

That common cause was on viral display over the weekend at the G20 summit in Argentina.

Russian President Vladimir Putin doubled down on his support for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), despite widespread condemnation over the murder of dissent columnist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Putin and MBS engaged in a headline-grabbing high five on the opening day of the G20 summit. On the closing day, Putin told reporters that Moscow had agreed to extend its production management pact with OPEC.

That announcement, along with news that Canadas biggest oil-producing province is slashing output starting in January, helped lift the global benchmark crude on Monday after a horrible stretch that saw prices slide from $85 a barrel at the start of October to around $60 by the end of November.

OPEC members Algeria Angola Ecuador Equatorial Guinea Gabon Iran Iraq Kuwait Libya Nigeria Republic of the Congo Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates Venezuela

But despite the Putin-MBS public bromance and pronouncements of further cooperation, its uncertain how things will unfold this week in Vienna.

It is not yet clear the pace at which Russia would be willing to reduce its output or the extent to which it will participate in cuts, said the Council on Foreign Relations Jaffe.

before the G20, Putin said that he was fine with oil trading around $60 a barrel. Russia also has a flexible currency that helps offset the pain of falling oil prices.

Meanwhile, according to the International Monetary Fund, Saudi Arabia needs oil to trade just above $73 a barrel next year to balance its budget.

The Trump factor

Most analysts believe OPEC and other major oil producers need to slash output by some 1.4m barrels a day to meaningfully boost prices.

Even if Riyadh can get the rest of OPEC and Russia on board with that kind of cut, the kingdom will be walking a tightrope in Vienna, balancing its budgetary need for higher oil prices with the political imperative to stay in US President Donald Trumps good graces.

The Trump administration has both publicly and privately expressed the view that $70 to $80 oil is too high, said Jaffe.

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Trump has stood by MBS, dismissing reports that a CIA assessment concluded the latter ordered Khashoggis murder. The need to keep the president on side could eclipse the kingdoms supply and demand considerations.

The Saudis cannot afford to be price hawks right now, said the Baker Institutes Krane. Trumps notoriously fickle friendship could evaporate with a rise in the oil price.

That balancing act has sparked speculation that any announcements out of Vienna on Thursday or Friday could be tempered.

We think that the group will decide to reduce production at the upcoming meeting but any move will be fairly modest, Tuvey, of Capital Economics, said.

Whether they announce the precise size of the cut is more difficult to call  OPEC tends to favour vagueness.Maria Ressa vows to fight tax evasion charges and calls out Duterte administration for weaponising laws against critics.

A Filipina journalist, who leads a news website that has questioned Philippine President Rodrigo Dutertes deadly drug war, has vowed to continue reporting on his administrations policies despite threats to arrest her and efforts to shut down her company.

Maria Ressa, CEO and executive editor of Rappler, said on Tuesday the filing of five tax evasion charges against the news site is a clear indication that the Duterte administration is using the law as a weapon against its perceived enemies and to weaken the countrys press freedoms.

The fact that these cases are filed against us, and there are so many of them, it is a clear indication that we must be doing something right, Ressa told Al Jazeera, a day after posting the equivalent of $1,100 bail on one of the tax evasion charges she faces.

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Ive always paid my taxes and in many instances overpaid them, she said, adding Rappler has also been ranked one of the top taxpayers in the country.

The arraignment of the case is set for Friday and Ressa said her lawyers will file a motion to dismiss, citing lack of jurisdiction.

The regional trial court does not have a jurisdiction on a tax case, normally, she said. The fact that they even touch this when it is already tried in the court of tax appeal shows you how irregular it is.

The four other tax evasion cases, which all carry separate arrest warrants, are still pending in a special tax appeal court.

The government maintained that Ressas company did not pay taxes when it sold bonds that netted an equivalent of $3m in 2015. It also charged Rapplers accountant, the Amsterdam-based KPMG.

Earlier, government lawyers also questioned Rapplers move to raise the bonds, resulting in the countrys securities watchdogs decision to cancel the news sites license. That case is still pending.

Impunity series

Despite facing numerous legal obstacles, Ressa said Rappler will continue reporting on the impunity series linked to the deadly war on drugs and raise questions on the number of deaths reported by the government.

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Human rights advocates and an opposition senator said the death toll in the governments war on drugs had already surpassed 20,000 since Duterte came to office in 2016.

The government, however, disputed that number, saying the death toll is much lower. According to the latest government report published on October 31, a total of 4,999 people were killed since the launch of the campaign in 2016.

In one of the most controversial killings, three police officers were convicted of murder on November 29 for the death of a 17-year-old high school student in August 2017.

Duterte has repeatedly verbally attacked politicians, senior clergy members of the Catholic Church and media outlets who voiced their opposition to his deadly drug war.

Aside from Rappler, the president has threatened not to renew the license of ABS-CBN, the largest media company in the Philippines. The owners of the countrys largest newspaper, Philippine Daily Inquirer, were forced to sell the publication to a Duterte ally after publishing news reports and editorials critical of the mounting deaths.

On Monday, Dutertes spokesman, Salvador Panelo, denied charges of political persecution against Rappler.

According to the government, a total of 4,999 people were killed in the drug war since July 2016 [File: EPA]

Its a question of tax evasion. You violate tax laws, then you will be prosecuted, he told reporters, adding the president will never interfere with the function of the judiciary.

Instilling fear in the press

But Carlos Conde of Human Rights Watch said the charges are politically motivated and part of the Duterte administrations campaign to harass, threaten and intimidate critics.

This is not surprising behaviour by the administration but is nonetheless abominable, Conde said in a statement to Al Jazeera.

He said the attacks on Rappler are consistent with the way the Duterte administration has treated other drug war critics.

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In a statement, the Manila-based Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility called the threat to arrest Ressa the most outrageous of the chain of threats and harassments against Rappler.

The president has succeeded to instill fear in the press community, especially among the owners of the media, it said.

Ressa warned that the changing landscape of journalism and social media will make journalists far more vulnerable, not just in the Philippines, but all around the world.

But she said Rappler would continue to hold the line and make the government accountable to the Filipino people.

We are asking for accountability, she said. We are just journalists doing our jobs. We want the government to do its job as well.Pompeo says US will suspend its obligations under the treaty if Russia doesnt dismantle missiles the US says breach it.

The United States delivered Russia a 60-day ultimatum on Tuesday to come clean about what Washington says is a violation of an arms control treaty that keeps missiles out of Europe.

NATO allies, led by Germany, pressed US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at a meeting in Brussels to give diplomacy one last chance before Washington pulls out of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), fearing a new arms race in Europe.

In turn, NATO foreign ministers agreed to formally declare Russia in material breach of the INF treaty in a statement in support of the US.

Russia denies undertaking any such development of land-based, intermediate-range Cruise missile, capable of carrying nuclear warheads and hitting European cities at short notice. The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that it strictly complies with the provisions of the treaty, and the American side is aware of that.

In October, President Donald Trump declared the US would pull out of the treaty and build up its nuclear stockpile until people come to their senses.

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But on Monday, the US leader said he wants talks with his Chinese and Russian counterparts Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin to head off a major and uncontrollable Arms Race.

The INF was a bilateral treaty between the US and the then Soviet Union, so it puts no restrictions on other major military actors like China.

Intense diplomatic push

Although NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said there would now be an intense diplomatic push to try to convince Russia to give up what Pompeo said were multiple battalions of the SSC-8 missiles, Washington is set to pull out of the treaty in February.

Its range makes it a direct menace to Europe, Pompeo said of the missiles, which also are called Novator 9M729, after a meeting with his NATO counterparts. He added that Russias actions greatly undermine Americas national security and that of our allies.

Pompeo said the US government had raised the issue at least 30 times since 2013 with Moscow but had faced what he said were denials and counter-actions.

He has signalled that Washington will be forced to restore the military balance in Europe after that period but declined to give more details, saying only that tests and deployments of new missiles were on hold until then.

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Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium are concerned about the deployment of US missiles in Europe, as happened in the 1980s.

The INF treaty, negotiated by the then President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and ratified by the US Senate, eliminated the medium-range missile arsenals of the worlds two biggest nuclear powers and reduced their ability to launch a nuclear attack at short notice.

US Cruise and Pershing missiles deployed in Britain and West Germany were removed as a result of the treaty, while the Soviet Union pulled back its SS-20s out of European range.Doha has yet to confirm the level of representation it will send to the Gulf gathering on December 9.

Saudi Arabias King Salman has invited Qatars Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to attend the upcoming Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit set to take place in Riyadh on December 9, the official Qatar News Agency reported.

The announcement on Tuesday follows Qatars decision a day earlier to withdraw from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), a move seen by some analysts as deeply symbolic given Qatars modest oil output.

Qatar News Agency (QNA) said in a tweet the emir received an invitation from the King of Saudi Arabia for the meeting.

The invitation was delivered by the Bahraini secretary general of the GCC, Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, during a reception by Qatars Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi.

QNA did not say if Sheikh Tamim would travel to Saudi Arabia.

A quartet of Arab states, composed of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, as well as non-GCC member Egypt, imposed a land, sea and air blockade on Doha in June 2017.

The Saudi-led bloc accuses Doha of abetting terrorism and contributing to instability in the region, allegations Qatar has categorically denied.

At last years GCC summit, held in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain sent ministers or deputy prime ministers, rather than heads of state.

Kuwait, which has been mediating between Qatar and the bloc, said last month all six GCC member states were expected to attend the Riyadh summit.

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I am optimistic that the level of representation is expected to be high and reflects the keenness of GCC leaders to maintain this pioneering experience, Kuwaiti Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Jarallah was quoted as saying at the time.

A political and economic alliance shaped after the European Union, the GCC took a hard hit after the quartet cut off relations with Doha.

The United States, a GCC ally, has also tried to mediate in the Gulf dispute, which it sees as a risk in its efforts to contain regional power Iran. Qatar is home to the largest US airbase in the Middle East.

But Saudi Arabia and the UAE have repeatedly said resolving the dispute was not a top priority for them.

The diplomatic crisis over Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi s killing, however, has put pressure on Riyadh.

Following Khashoggis killing, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) last month praised Qatars economy in a rare conciliatory remark.After briefing by CIA chief, top senators say US must send strong message to Saudi crown prince over Khashoggi killing.

After a closed-door briefing by CIA Director Gina Haspel on Tuesday, some top US senators have said there is zero chance Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) wasnt involved in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The views that I had before have only solidified, said Senator Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who has called for a strong reaction from the United States to Khashoggis death and backs legislation to end all support for the Saudi coalition waging war in Yemen.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told reporters, You have to be willfully blind not to come to the conclusion that this was orchestrated and organised by people under the command of MBS.

He added that it appeared the Trump administration does not want to recognise evidence of the crown princes complicity.

Republican Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, echoed the comments, saying he had zero doubt in his mind that Prince Mohammed ordered and monitored the killing of Khashoggi.

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He added that if Prince Mohammed were put on trial, a jury would find him guilty in about 30 minutes.

The comments come after Haspel briefed top Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Armed Services, Foreign Relations, Appropriations and Intelligence committees. Other senators were also present.

Yemen bill

Senators from both parties were angry last week that the CIA director did not attend a briefing by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense James Mattis. The Trump administration denied allegations it blocked Haspel from appearing.

At last weeks briefing, Pompeo and Mattis said there was no hard evidence MBS was behind the killing and urged senators not to downgrade ties with Saudi Arabia over the incident. The CIA has reportedly assessed, however, that Prince Mohammed ordered the killing of Khashoggi.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly avoided any assertion that Prince Mohammed was involved in the killing and said the CIA had feelings the royal was culpable but not a firm conviction.

I hate the crime, I hate the cover-up. I will tell you this: The crown prince hates it more than I do, and they have vehemently denied it, he said late November.

In an earlier statement put out by the White House, Trump had praised Saudi Arabia as a steadfast partner and claimed, We may never know all of the facts surrounding the murder of Mr Jamal Khashoggi.

The US president warned that any punitive measures against Saudi Arabia or its ruling family could force Riyadh to sign arms deals with Russia and China instead of Washington.

Hours after last weeks briefing, the Senate voted 63-37 to take up a resolution aimed at limiting the US involvement in the war in Yemen, where a Washington-backed Saudi-UAE coalition launched an intervention in 2015 through a massive air campaign targeting Houthi rebels. The next vote on the bill could come as early as Thursday.

Khashoggi was killed on October 2 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to obtain documents needed for his planned marriage.

After offering contradictory statements for several days, Saudi Arabia admitted that Khashoggi was killed inside its consulate and his body was dismembered. The kingdom has repeatedly said Prince Mohammed had no knowledge of the killing, which Turkey said was ordered at the highest level of Saudi leadership.US president had feuded with the Bush family, and the late president had let it be known he did not vote for Trump.

President Donald Trump paid his last respects on Monday to the late George HW Bush, setting aside his animosity to the former presidents clan, whose family members he had derided in the past.

Bush died on Friday at age 94, at his home in Houston.

Trump, accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, made a brief visit to the US Capitol rotunda, where Bushs flag-draped coffin was resting as part of tributes to honour the 41st US president.

Trump saluted, and they stood at Bushs coffin for about a minute. They exited the rotunda with little fanfare.

Trump had feuded with members of the Bush family, deriding the late presidents sons, calling George W Bush the worst president ever, and referring to Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida and rival in the 2016 Republican nomination, as weak.





Members of the Bush family and dignitaries had gone, when the president was driven from the White House up to Capitol Hill.

The elder Bush never warmed to Trump, and he had let it be known that he did not vote for him in 2016. Trump himself has criticised the elder Bush on the campaign trail.

But on Monday, Trump wrote members of Congress to hail Bush as a man who led a life that exemplified what is truly great about America.

President Bush worked selflessly throughout his long life to bring about a world of justice and lasting peace, he wrote.

The White House also extended an invitation to Bushs family to stay at Blair House  the presidents guest house  while they are in Washington for events surrounding to his funeral.

World War II veteran

Bush was a decorated World War II fighter pilot, one-time ambassador to China, former head of the Central Intelligence Agency, and vice president to Ronald Reagan before winning the White House.

Military pallbearers carried the flag-draped coffin into the rotunda as the sun set on Washington on Monday.

The sombre ceremony was attended by his son George W Bush  the nations 43rd president  and other relatives, dignitaries and more than 100 members of the House and Senate.





Bush is the 12th US president to lie in state in the rotunda. Just three months earlier, the honour was accorded to Senator John McCain, a former Republican presidential nominee who died of brain cancer.

Bush will be honoured at a state funeral service at the cathedral on Wednesday, which Trump has declared a national day of mourning. He is expected to attend that memorial.

Bill Clinton will be among the living former US presidents to attend, along with dozens of foreign leaders, including Germanys Angela Merkel.

Former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney said he would deliver one of several eulogies, at Bushs request.

Only the second president to see his son follow him to the Oval Office, the senior Bush will be buried on Thursday in Texas, next to his wife Barbara, who died in April, and their daughter Robin who died of leukaemia at age three.A court upholds four years and eight months in prison for former opposition leader on terror propaganda charges.

A Turkish appeals court has upheld the terror propaganda conviction of a former co-leader and presidential candidate of Turkeys pro-Kurdish opposition party.

Turkeys state-run Anadolu news agency said on Tuesday the appeals court in Istanbul had unanimously voted to finalise a September verdict against Selahattin Demirtas.

The former Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) co-chairperson was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison last September for a 2013 speech the court deemed was in support of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

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Demirtas, along with several other former HDP members of parliament, has been in jail for more than two years on the charge of having links to the PKK, which has been fighting the Turkish army for more autonomy since the 1980s.

The Kurdish politician and others were arrested after their immunity as MPs was lifted in 2016.

Demirtas denies the charges. His trial began in December last year and he faces up to 142 years in prison.

ECHR judgment

Last month, the European Court of Human Rights said Turkey violated Demirtas rights to a speedy trial and ordered that he be freed after more than two years of pre-trial detention.

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The judgment added that his imprisonment interfered with his right to freedom of expression as he could not take part in parliamentary activities as an elected MP.

Hours after the ECHRs November 20 ruling, Demirtas lawyers applied for his immediate release, saying keeping the politician in jail would amount to a restriction on freedom.

The application was rejected by a Turkish court in the capital Ankara 10 days later.

The Istanbul court on Tuesday also upheld the conviction and prison sentence of Sirri Sureyya Onder, a former HDP member of parliament. Onder was sentenced to three years and six months in prison, also on terror propaganda charges.Russia blocked the strategic strait last week and captured three Ukrainian ships and 24 crew members after a stand off.

Ukraine has said several ports in the Sea of Azov have been partially unblocked following a military standoff last week that led to 24 Ukrainian sailors being held by the Russian navy.

Ukraines Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan confirmed the minor easing of tension on Tuesday.

Yes, Berdyansk and Mariupol ports are partially unlocked. Vessels make their way to the entrance and exit through the Kerch strait towards Ukrainian ports  the movement is partially restored, Reuters news agency quoted the minister.

Last week, Russia blocked the Kerch Strait, which connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov, effectively putting the ports of Berdyanks and Mariupol under blockade.

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One has to be somewhat cautious because under the treaties that allow Russia and Ukraine to share the Azov Sea, the countries can inspect each others ships, Simmons said from Kiev. According to Al Jazeera correspondent Andrew Simmons, Tuesdays move does not mean the situation is solved.

Russia is using that by spending a lot of time checking these ships, he added.

As a result of the crisis, about 300 Ukrainian dockworkers were fired, Simmons said.

Russia had seized three Ukrainian ships that were travelling from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov through the Kerch Strait and captured the Ukrainian crew members who were later put under 60-day pre-trial detention and sent to Moscow.

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The deadlock led to a rise in tensions between the two countries, which have been at odds since Moscow-backed president, Viktor Yanukovich, was removed from power.

Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014 following Yanukovichs removal.

The Ukrainian government imposed a 30-day period of martial law  the first ever martial law in the countrys history  in 10 of Ukraines 27 regions after the standoff.

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Ukraine also urged NATO to deploy warships in the face of what it called Russian aggression. The measure, which affects the regions closest to Russias military bases, was condemned by the Kremlin, which said the move would escalate the conflict.

On Tuesday, NATO leaders will convene in Brussel to discuss the situation, among other things.

But according to Simmons, the international community, especially NATO, is not doing enough to solve the crisis.

Brussels is discussing this in great detail, but as far as Ukraine is concerned not enough is being done, Simmons said.Oxnard, California  Last months Woolsey Fire in southern California wasnt the first time Jacob* and his family witnessed the devastation a blaze can bring. They survived the Thomas Fire last December. And other smaller fires before that.

So when the smoke began to rise from Ventura County, they knew what kind of trouble was on its way.

The Woolsey Fire, like many of those that have ravaged California, destroyed houses, land and crops. It also destroyed the livelihood for hundreds of undocumented individuals, including Jacob, who work in the fields in and around the area.

Jacob and his wife pick strawberries in Ventura County.

Although its hard physical work, it gives them the possibility to offer their six children a good life.

But the wildfire smoke brought chemicals to the agricultural area, destroying the harvest Jacob and his family depend on for their livelihood.

Due to the wildfires, theres less work because many fruits went bad, Jacob told Al Jazeera.

This is difficult for us out in the field. The paychecks get a lot smaller which makes us feel cramped up. The bills dont wait  the rent, the telephone, the doctor.

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Jacob and his family dont have much in their savings. They also dont have a federal fund such as FEMA or disaster unemployment benefits to turn to like other victims of the fires do.

Instead, they must rely on the generosity of others, including a new fund that was specifically created to help undocumented individuals affected by the wildfires.

Most vulnerable are the hardest hit

The fund, called the Undocufund, was born out of the devastation caused by the December 2017 Thomas Fire and has since continued to help those affected by the Woolsey and Hill Fires last month.

Nayra Pacheco, Undocufund coordinator at the organisation MICOP (Mixteco/Indigina Community Organizing Project) based in the city of Oxnard, told Al Jazeera that at the time of the Thomas Fire and the following mudslides, they realised that many undocumented people didnt receive the help others were getting.

Agencies were putting out calls for relief aid, services for help and support, and a lot of that wasnt put out in Spanish, let alone in Mixteco, a native language in Mexico spoken by many farm workers, she said. For example, advice to boil the water because of health risks was put out only in English.

Together with other community organisations, MICOP started to register people affected while raising funds. By June 2018  more than six months after the fire began  the Undocufund had registered around 1,800 undocumented families who needed help.

The fund has been able to provide about $1,500 to families who applied.

There are, however, still 400 families. on the waiting list for help from the last fires, and more than 100 more, including Jacobs, have applied for aid due to this years blazes.

An undocumented woman wears a bandana she used to cover her nose and mouth to avoid inhaling smoke while working in the fields during the Hill Fire [Philip Cheung for The Washington Post/Getty Images]

In the office where Pacheco works, stacks of applications lined her desk. Behind her, a poster read, Rise up as one. In the back of the room, a woman answered questions in Spanish from an affected family.

The vast majority of the applications are from those in Ventura County who have found themselves without work.

Its difficult to determine the exact number of undocumented individuals in this area, but research by PEW research centre found that there were about 50,000 undocumented migrants in the Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura region in 2014. The Undocufund estimates that the number of undocumented immigrants living and working in the fire-hit areas Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties is closer to 126,000.

Although the Undocufund already raised almost $1.5m, they dont have the funds yet to help everyone in dire need.

Others who have applied complain of health concerns. Some workers have been pressured to keep working while smoke filled the fields.

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Organisers also witnessed people working in the fields without any respiratory protection during the Woolsey Fire.

Those of us who are most vulnerable, are hit the hardest, Pacheco told Al Jazeera. We hear stories of people developing health problems like asthma. They will get respiratory problems, which will last for a long time.

Fear of deportation

Applying for aid creates a lot of anxiety within immigrant communities due to the fear of undocumented individuals being handed over to federal authorities.

Miguel* sat in the Undocufund office with his wife, Maria*, and their four children last month.

We came to the United States 11 years ago to work in the fields, Miguel told Al Jazeera. We saw friends and family doing this and they started to make a living. In Oaxaca, there is not a lot of work, he added, referring to the Mexican state he fled more than a decade ago.

Last year, the family received some aid from the Undocufund, but the fires also brought on health conditions that have persisted for months.

Maria, who had dark bags under her eyes, had developed strong headaches.

The Woolsey Fire destroyed more than 49,000 hectares [Eline van Nes/Al Jazeera]

According to Pacheco, some of the families who contacted Undocufund continued working in the fields while they were full of smoke, developing more severe conditions like asthma.

The family said they have nowhere else to turn out of fear of being arrested and forced to leave the country.

There is always that fear of deportation, Miguel told Al Jazeera. We have heard about families who got deported. So now we stay inside a lot. We are always afraid: What will ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) do now? Will they come knocking on doors?

The new reality

After the family left the office, Pacheco sat down again at an old plastic camping table they use as a desk and started to discuss with one of the volunteers how to work through the stacks of applications.

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Pacheco is undocumented herself. She was brought to the US when she was six years old and is currently protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme, which President Donald Trump has moved to end.

I think its important for undocumented people who cant speak up that somebody takes a risk, Pacheco told Al Jazeera.

We see a lot of problems come together in a climate that is very hostile for immigrants, Pacheco told Al Jazeera. I hear stories of people whose husband, for instance, was just deported and now suffer from the fires. These fires dont happen in a vacuum, but in a community already struggling.

A burned lemon tree is seen in the backyard of house in Thousand Oaks, California [Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images]

For Pacheco, the wildfires are an intersection of everything that is currently happening in the US: the lack of action towards climate justice, the lack of labour rights or paid sick leave, the crackdown on immigration, racism towards people of different backgrounds.

Because these huge wildfires are becoming an annual event, we have to realize that this is the new reality, Pacheco said. For the long term, we will need to have a conversation with the state what this will mean for the immigrant labour community.

*Name has been changed to protect the individuals identitySome 132 million people in 42 countries will need assistance next year, with Yemen topping the list, UN says.

Some 132 million people in 42 countries will need humanitarian assistance and protection in 2019, with Yemen topping the list of most-desperate nations, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

Funding requirements next year will amount to $21.9bn with Yemen facing the worst humanitarian emergency followed by Afghanistan, Cameroon and the Central African Republic.

Presenting the Global Humanitarian Overview for 2019, Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock said the UN and its partner organisations aim to assist some 93.6 million of the most vulnerable with food, shelter, healthcare, emergency education, protection and other basic assistance in 2019.

Most of the humanitarian crises we have seen in 2018 will continue into 2019 because there has been little progress in addressing the root causes, Lowcock said while addressing the media in Geneva.

We need to make it a bigger priority to address the underlying causes: Conflicts, poverty, climate change, food insecurity, development programmes failure, he said.





Lowcock said the figure of $21.9bn needed for 2019 does not include the financial requirements for Syria, which will be confirmed upon finalisation of the 2019 Syria Humanitarian Response Plan in February.

He said it is expected total requirements, including those for Syria, will be comparable to current requirements of about $25bn.

Humanitarian funding has increased if compared to previous years, with donors providing a record $13.9bn as of mid-November 2018  about 10 percent more than at the same time in 2017, which was itself a record.

At least 10,000 people have been killed since the Yemen conflict started in 2014, according to the UN [AFP]

The UN official said the UN response will have to deal with a higher rate of displacement and increasing food insecurity than in the past.

Nearly 70 million people are displaced by conflict, more than ever before, Lowcock said. In addition, crises are exacerbating gender inequality with girls more likely to drop out of schools in areas affected by humanitarian emergencies.

The average humanitarian crisis lasts more than nine years, affecting three-quarters of the people the UN helped in 2018. Large, protracted crises have commanded the majority of resources. Between 2014 and 2018, war and conflict in Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Syria alone accounted for 55 percent of all funding requested and received.

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In 2019, the UN also foresees an 80-percent chance of an El Nino event affecting 25 countries with droughts, tropical cyclones and floods.

We dont project that it will be at the same level of impact as the 2016 El Nino, but it will be a significant event and we are planning for dealing with it, said Lowcock. Natural disasters affect 350 million people on average each year and cause billions of dollars in damage.

Cash-based aid

Lowcock said Yemen will face the worst crisis of all with 24 million people, 75 percent of the population, in need of humanitarian assistance.

The UN has made an appeal for $4bn to provide aid to 15 million Yemenis, out of whom 12 million would be receiving food assistance. In 2017, the UN was assisting three million Yemenis a month. In 2018, the number increased more than two-fold to eight million people.

Other countries where the humanitarian situation will deteriorate in 2019 are Afghanistan  because of the mixture of drought, instability and economic challenges  Cameroon and the Central African Republic, where there has been an upsurge in conflict and violence.

There will be an increasing number of countries where needs are reduced, such as Somalia  which has been recovering from the drought last year  Iraq, Burundi and Haiti.

UN response plans will no longer be needed next year in countries that have recovered from earlier crises such as Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Senegal. While, for the first time, the UN will set out a humanitarian plan to help countries neighbouring Venezuela deal with the large numbers of Venezuelans fleeing unrest at home.

There are places where needs will remain at exceptionally high levels, said Lowcock, including Syria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria and South Sudan.

Lowcock said the UN is also working on improving delivery methods.

Among the measures to be implemented more systematically, he said, is the use of cash-based assistance. Lowcock said cash-based aid is more effective in helping the poorest and most vulnerable, especially in areas of conflict.

We have witnessed cash-based assistance work in Somalia where, in 2017, we were able to prevent a famine. That didnt happen in 2011 when UN supplies were systematically pillaged and ravaged by al-Shabab fighters, he said.

The UN will also work to implement measures for the protection of people from sexual exploitation, abuse and sexual harassment, he said.Deal expected to cover up to 2,000 pro-government forces and 1,500 Houthis, as warring parties prepare for Sweden talks.

Stockholm, Sweden  Yemens government has said it has agreed to a large-scale prisoner swap with its adversaries, the Houthi rebels, as part of a confidence-building measure, suggesting the warring sides could come to a ceasefire agreement at peace talks in Sweden later this week.

Yemens foreign minister, Khaled al-Yamani, said on Tuesday that his government had come to an agreement with the Houthis after spending the past eight to nine months locked in negotiations.

When we head to the negotiations in Sweden, we will discuss the operational issues of this agreement, how it can be implemented, how to exchange the detainees, prisoners, abductees and the forcibly disappeared, he said.

Hadi Haig, a government official, told the AFP news agency that the deal covered between 1,500 and 2,000 pro-government forces and between 1,000 and 1,500 Houthi rebels.

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Abdul Qader al-Murtaza, the chairman of the Houthi administrations Committee for Prisoner Affairs, didnt specify the numbers involved but said the agreement marked the first step towards resolving Yemens humanitarian crisis.

The UN special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffith, communicated to us that coalition forces and the Yemeni government have also signed the prisoner exchange agreement that was signed in November by the Houthis.

We express hope that the implementation phase of this agreement will proceed smoothly.

The prisoner exchange is only the third to be announced since Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates launched a coalition that has fought against the Houthis for over three years.

Step in the right direction

Hoping to roll back advances made by the group, the alliance has carried out more than 18,000 air raids, with almost one-third of all bombing missions striking non-military sites.

Weddings, funerals, schools and hospitals, as well as water and electricity plants, have been targeted, killing and wounding thousands.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it welcomed the announcement and would oversee and facilitate the exchange.

This is one step in the right direction towards the building of mutual trust among Yemeni communities, spokesperson Mirella Hodeib told AFP.

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The announcement comes ahead of UN-sponsored talks expected to be held in Stockholm on Wednesday between Yemeni government officials and Houthi rebels.

A source familiar with the talks said that the UN was seeking to introduce a set of confidence-building measures, including a ceasefire in Hodeidah and an end to air attacks across the country by the Saudi-UAE alliance.

The source added that the Houthis would cease all rocket and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The talks are also expected to discuss the reopening of Sanaa international airport and the payment of salaries to civil servants in Houthi-held areas.

Maysaa Shuja al-Deen, a non-resident fellow at the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies, said securing prisoners was a major objective for the government as it headed into these talks.

There are a lot of [senior] people being held by the Houthis, such as the former minister of defence, General Mahmoud Al Subaihi, and one of Hadis relatives, his nephew, Nasser Ahmed Mansour Hadi, Shuja al-Deen told Al Jazeera.

The situation in Yemen is so complicated that they are going to schedule several rounds of talks after this initial meeting, that could take months or years to even begin addressing some these issues.

Biggest problem in 2019

The UN painted a bleak picture of the hunger crisis gripping the country, on Tuesday, warning that the number of people needing food aid was set to jump by four million.

The grim forecast for the country came as the United Nations humanitarian office (OCHA) released its projected needs assessments for next year.

The country with the biggest problem in 2019 is going to be Yemen, OCHA chief Mark Lowcock told reporters in Geneva.

He said that in 2017, the UN was providing food assistance to three million people a month, that figure rose to eight million per month this year and is expected to hit 12 million in 2019, Lowcock added.

According to the UN, the war has ravaged the countrys economy and caused the Yemeni riyal to depreciate 180 percent.

The cost of food has increased by 35 percent over the past 12 months, with more than 22 million Yemenis  a figure double the population of Sweden, needing humanitarian assistance.Israeli forces round up 24 Palestinians in predawn raids across occupied West Bank.

Israeli forces have killed a young Palestinian man during a predawn raid in Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank.

Mohammed Hossam Abdel Latif Habali, 22, was shot in the head and lower limbs with live ammunition early on Tuesday, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

He was rushed to Thabet Thabet Hospital in Tulkarem, where he was pronounced dead.

Wafa reported that Israeli forces raided a number of Palestinian homes in several neighbourhoods and that a crowd gathered in the area. Local sources said Israeli forces fired live bullets, rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas.

An Israeli military spokesperson said that while troops were operating there, a violent riot was instigated in which dozens of Palestinians hurled rocks.

Troops responded with riot dispersal means and later on with live fire, the spokesperson said.

Another young Palestinian man was reportedly injured by Israeli fire.

Israeli soldiers shoot dead #Palestinian Mohammed Habali (suffers from mental illness) in the West Bank today @PalestineChron pic.twitter.com/Acf4rksstJ  @palestinechron (@PalestineChron) December 4, 2018

Overnight raids

According to a Palestinian NGO, Israeli forces rounded up 24 Palestinians in overnight raids carried out on Tuesday across the occupied West Bank.

In a statement, the Palestinian Prisoners Society said 10 people were arrested in raids in the cities of Bethlehem and Hebron in the southern West Bank.

Nine more Palestinians, including two children, were detained in the cities of Nablus and Tubas and another five were arrested in the city of Ramallah and the town of Hizma, northeast of Jerusalem.

The Israeli military has yet to issue a statement on the arrests.

The Israeli army frequently carries out wide-ranging arrest campaigns across the occupied West Bank on the pretext of searching for wanted Palestinians.

It says its raids are necessary to detain violent criminals and potential attackers.

It's another night in the West Bank

Israeli forces are "erecting barriers + running through the towns of Jayyous and Azzoun, east of Qalqilya".

The night is still young https://t.co/CpAn5mvZxd  Marian Houk (@Marianhouk) December 3, 2018

Every single night. There are IDF raids, sometimes involviing arrests, between midnight and dawn, in various areas of the West Bank  every single night.  Marian Houk (@Marianhouk) December 3, 2018

According to Palestinian statistics, more than 6,500 Palestinians continue to languish in Israeli detention facilities, including six parliament members, 52 women and 270 minors.

The Palestinian Authority, which has limited autonomy in parts of the West Bank, says such raids are a breach of agreements Israel has signed up to under the Oslo II Accord.

Tulkarem is located in Area A, under full civil and security control by the Palestinian Authority.

During the month of November, Israeli forces killed 24 Palestinians (21 in Gaza and three in the West Bank). They also arrested 260 Palestinians, including children, and issued 33 deportation orders against Palestinian officials in Jerusalem.Fellow refugees are the only lifeline for men who wonder whether they will ever escape the remote Pacific island where they have been held for more than five years under Australias harsh offshore detention policies.Dzoel has no hands or legs but doesnt let that get in the way of his love of photography. Banyuwangi, Indonesia  Despite being born without hands and legs, Achmad Zulkarnain, known as Dzoel by his friends, didnt realise he was different until he was eight years old, when children at school began teasing him about []A United Nations chartered aircraft has transported some fifty badly injured Yemenis from the capital Sanaa to hospitals in Muscat, the capital of Oman, for treatment, the UN envoy for the war-torn country has announced.

In a tweet posted on Monday, UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, confirmed the evacuation and thanked parties for making the humanitarian gesture possible.

In his tweet, Mr. Griffiths urged all Yemenis to work together in pursuit of peace and stability in Yemen.

The evacuation comes ahead of a fresh round of peace talks to be convened by the Special Envoy in Stockholm, Sweden.

According to media reports, the evacuations are seen as a critical confidence-building measure, ahead of the meeting.

Meanwhile, top officials form UN and relief organizations, at their regular bi-annual humanitarian conference, called on all parties in Yemen to participate in the talks and engage seriously to agree on actions to ease the situation.

The group, called the Principals of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), voiced serious concern over the recent deterioration in the situation in Yemen, and called for sustained cessation of hostilities, especially for the key aid operation around the port of Hudaydah, which carries more than 70 per cent of all humanitarian assistance into the war-ravaged country, and the majority of all food imports.

IASC Principals also called for continued international support for aid operations in Yemen, in 2019.

Into its fourth year, the conflict in Yemen has devastated the local population and left more than three-quarters of the countrys people dependent on humanitarian assistance. The fighting also severely damaged the countrys water and sanitation systems, resulting in recurrent outbreaks of cholera and other deadly diseases.A valuable lesson for state and local officials in progressive jurisdictions who have been thumbing their noses at federal immigration law may be coming in Boston. The Boston Globe has learned from five different sources that a federal grand jury is Boston is investigating Judge Shelly M. Joseph of Newton (a very, very liberal mostly affluent suburb) for allegedly helping an illegal alien, accused of a crime in her court, evade capture by an ICE agent waiting outside her courtroom.



Newton District Courthouse (state of Masachusetts photo).

The Globe obtained a recording of this:

Minutes into the Newton District Court hearing for Jose Medina-Perez, his defense attorney asked the judge if he could approach the bench for a quick chat. There, in hushed tones and whispers, the attorney walked through his client's predicament with District Judge Shelley M. Joseph and a state prosecutor. They debated what to do with the defendant, who was in immediate danger of being deported. Medina-Perez, picked up by Newton police on drug charges, faced a fugitive warrant for drunken driving in Pennsylvania and a detainer from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to a courtroom audio recording of the bench conference. In fact, an ICE agent was in the courthouse, waiting to detain Perez and start the deportation process. "ICE is going to get him," the judge told the attorneys during the April 2 sidebar conversation. "What if we continue [the case]?" she suggested, before instructing a clerk to turn off the courtroom's audio recorder. Whatever was said during the next 58 seconds went unrecorded. Minutes later, Medina-Perez was escorted downstairs, released from custody, and allowed out a back door, according to two people briefed on the episode. He scaled a fence and took off, leaving the immigration agent behind, the people said.

The act of turning off the recording may be Judge Joseph's undoing, revealing a conscious attempt to obstruct justice. That, presumably, is what the grand jury is considering.

Former US attorney Michael J. Sullivan said it would be "shocking"  and possibly obstructing justice  if any court official helped a defendant flee from federal authorities. "There is a big difference between doing nothing and taking affirmative steps to prevent some authority from exercising its rights," he said.

Heavy.com specifies the Massachusetts legal issues for a judge in a sanctuary city like Newton:

Judge Shelley Joseph was not obligated to help the ICE agent detain Jose Medina-Perez. But by denying him access to the lock-up area, she may have hindered the agent's efforts. According to Massachusetts Trial Court guidelines, judges and other court staffers are prohibited from interfering when a federal official makes an arrest.

Bob Price of Breitbart reports on the reaction from ICE:

ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Field Office Director Todd Lyons would not comment specifically about the investigation. In a written statement provided to Breitbart News, ERO Director Lyons said, "It would be gravely concerning to us, as well as disrespectful to the men and women of ICE who put themselves in harms' [sic] way to protect our communities, if anyone, especially a representative of a court, were alleged to have taken deliberate actions to aid an immigration fugitive in evading the law."

Judge Joseph has been on the bench for a year and was appointed by Republican Governor Charlie Baker. Heavy.com reports on her background:

Shelley M. Richmond Joseph was appointed to the bench in September of 2017. She previously worked alongside her husband, Scott Joseph at a law firm they founded together in 2003 called Joseph & Joseph. According to her official bio on Mass.gov, she specialized in "criminal defense, hearings before the registry of motor vehicles, and restraining orders." Joseph does have prior experience as a prosecutor as well. She worked as an Assistant District Attorney at the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office in the Boston area during the 1990s. She also served as an Assistant Attorney General from 1993 through 2000. Joseph earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Boston College with a concentration in Spanish. She earned her law degree from the New England School of Law.

Here is a tweet from 2015, when Judge Joseph was a partner in a criminal defense law firm with her husband:

A state judge facing a federal criminal action would be huge matter and would draw the attention of officials across the country to their own potential liability in actively hampering federal immigration officials in their duties. Merely being indicted would focus their minds. A conviction and possible incarceration of a judge will be a shock to the system, if it happens, and might well change more than a few minds about the wisdom of obstructing the enforcement of immigration laws they disagree with.An inveterate fan of Christmas music, I added to my Sirius presets the Hallmark Radio Channel  Channel 70, if you are looking  the day after Thanksgiving. I have been rotating this channel, which plays standards from the American songbook, with a Christian station that features more traditional Christian music.

I was pleased to hear that the Hallmark Channel continues to play the slightly naughty 1949 call-and-response classic, "Baby, It's Cold Outside." Hallmark, in fact, may well play this song in its multiple versions more than any other.

Composed by Frank Loesser of Guys and Dolls fame, "Baby" tells the story in alternating voices of a young woman who wishes half-heartedly to head home to preserve her reputation and a young man who leans on her to remain with him. "I really can't stay," she sings. "Baby, it's cold outside," he replies as he wears down her defenses and ultimately persuades her.

I was aware that feminist Grinches do not much like the song. I had heard the drumbeat, which, Mary Nahorniak tells us in a USA Today article, has been "getting too loud to ignore." Like many other neo-Victorians in the feminist third wave, Nahorniak sees the song as a symptom of the "the systemic sexual predation that pervades every corner of society." We hear this argument every day. It is the kind of argument  one not without some merit  that got the French skunk Pepe Le Pew kicked off the Warner Brothers' lot.

What I did not know until a friend informed me is that feminists are not the only ones in the great, unwieldy multicultural coalition who object to "Baby." Indeed, it is not a stretch to trace the beginnings of the jihadist threat to this very song.

As British author Jonathan Raban notes in the New York Times, "The essential charter of the jihad movement  its Mein Kampf  is Sayyid Qutb's Milestones (1964)." As it happens, Qutb was visiting the United States in 1949, the year of the song's release. At a church dance in Greeley, Colorado, the pastor played the song for those gathered.

Qutb describes what happened next: "[t]he dancing intensified[.] ... The hall swarmed with legs[.] ... Arms circled arms, lips met lips, chests met chests, and the atmosphere was full of love." For Qutb, this was pure epiphany. He saw in this seemingly innocuous Colorado sock hop what Hieronymus Bosch imagined in Hell. From that moment on, he would dedicate himself to "purifying the filthy marsh of this world."

So hang in there, Hallmark. The jihadis seem to have forgotten, and the feminists are not likely to fly planes into your buildings.Following the death of President George H.W. Bush, the Dems and the media have bombarded us with the phrase that we need to "return to civility." They now praise President Bush as "civil" in contrast to President Trump, who is not "civil."

President Bush was a gentleman, a war hero, and courteous and civil to his political opponents. But his opponents, Dems and the media, were not civil to him, nor were they civil in their opposition to Bush's policies and nominees.

The media must have forgotten the vicious attacks upon Bush's nominee, Justice Clarence Thomas, led by those paragons of virtue and civility, Senator Ted Kennedy and Joe Biden, which attacks were worse, if possible, than the attacks by Kennedy and Biden upon Judge Robert Bork. The media have forgotten the vicious false attacks upon Justice Kavanaugh two months ago, which surpassed the attacks on Thomas and Bork. Civility is a one-way street in favor of the Democrats.

In 1992, the Dems nominated a lying, draft-dodging sexual predator, assisted by his corrupt wife, and proceeded to call President Bush a wimp. The Dems called President Bush's son, George W. Bush, stupid, evil, Hitler, a loser, etc. The Bushes were civil in that they did not reply in kind, and to show how "civil" they are, they said they voted for Hillary Clinton instead of President Trump. And they became friends with Bill and Hillary Clinton.

The Dems and their cheerleaders in the media have used President Bush's death as another opportunity to attack President Trump. President Trump is not "civil" because he fights back against the vicious attacks. The Dems and the media prefer and praise the Bush "civility," which means the Dems and media can attack without a response.

For example, Juan Williams, who is in a daily contest with Chris "Freddo" Cuomo for the most stupid political comments, said on the December 2, 2018 Chris Wallace Fox Sunday show that Bush was civil because he "crossed the aisle" to agree with the Dems to raise taxes. Further, Bush was civil because he attacked the National Rifle Association after a 1994 shooting and withdrew from the NRA. Trump has reduced tax rates and not blamed the NRA for shootings, so according to the Juan logic, Trump is not civil.

In sum, Trump is not "civil" because he replies to his opponents who viciously attack him. Bush was civil because he raised taxes, attacked the NRA, and did not reply to those who attacked him. The Dems and the media want to return to the "civility" where the Dems and media attack and destroy, and Trump does not respond to the attacks. The Dems and the media are not used to a Republican who fights back when attacked.

Trump fights back, while the "civil" Republicans lay down and took the abuse like good sports. How dare Trump be anything but civil?

Image: AJ Guel via Flickr.Trump Derangement Syndrome causes its victims to say stupid things and take stupid positions they wouldn't otherwise advocate, merely for the satisfaction of rebuking President Trump. An excellent example is this, via the Washington Post:

A neighborhood advisory panel in Washington that typically focuses on liquor license applications and other local concerns is inserting itself into the international furor prompted by the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last month at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2A, as the Foggy Bottom panel is known, is expected to vote Wednesday to rename the street outside the Saudi Embassy for Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributing columnist who resided in Virginia. Under the proposal, the east side of New Hampshire Avenue NW between F Street and Juarez Circle would become "Jamal Khashoggi Way." The Watergate complex is on the west side of New Hampshire Avenue NW.

Yesterday, on C-SPAN's morning show, Washington Journal, former deputy counselor to the president Sebastian Gorka economically and devastatingly pointed out the follow of this move:

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia  a regime that beheads religious dissidents and amputates the arms of thieves  does many things and holds many positions repulsive to our sensitivities and values. I wish it were a liberal democracy. But the best hope we have for its improvement seems to reside in Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has recognized Israel's right to exist (unprecedented in Saudi Arabia) and who is fiercely resisting Iran's announced plans to annihilate Israel and America.

Does anyone doubt that the Muslim Brotherhood friends of Khashoggi would be equally ruthless in attempting to bring him down? They did assassinate Egyptian president Anwar Sadat for bringing peace to that nation's relationship to Israel.

Image credit: C-SPAN screen grab.The campaign of the American left to silence conservatives on campus sustained a massive defeat yesterday, as the University of California, Berkeley reached a legal settlement (text here) to a lawsuit brought against it following cancelation of a speech by Ann Coulter. The co-sponsor of that speech (along with Berkeley College Republicans), Young America's Foundation (YAF) jubilantly announced, in an article by Spencer Brown:

Following more than a year of hard-fought litigation in the hostile Ninth Circuit, Young America's Foundation secured victory for free speech against the University of California, Berkeley. Through YAF's lawsuit and subsequent settlement agreement executed over the weekend, UC Berkeley agreed to the following terms set by Young America's Foundation: 1) Pay Young America's Foundation $70,000. 2) Rescind the unconstitutional "high-profile speaker policy." 3) Rescind the viewpoint-discriminatory security fee policy. 4) Abolish its heckler's veto  protestors will no longer be able to shut down conservative expression. This landmark victory for free expression means UC Berkeley can no longer wantonly treat conservative students as second-class members of its community while ignoring the guaranteed protections of the First Amendment. No longer can UC Berkeley place a 3:00 p.m. curfew on conservative speech. No longer can UC Berkeley ban advertisements for Young America's Foundation-sponsored campus lectures. And no longer can UC Berkeley relegate conservative speakers to remote or inconvenient lecture halls on campus while giving leftist speakers access to preferred locations. Further, the policy that allowed Berkeley administrators to charge conservative students $20,000 for security to host Ben Shapiro  an amount three times greater than the fee charged to leftist students to host liberal Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor  is gone. YAF and UC Berkeley agreed to a fee schedule that treats all students equally. Unless students are handling money or serving alcohol at an event, the security fee will be zero.



Sather Gate, University of California, Berkeley (photo credit: Picryl). Sproul Paza, beyond the gate, has been the scene of many riots since 1964, including the one that shut down Milo Yiannopoulos's speech.

The lawsuit was handled by the Dhillon Law Group, founded by superstar civil rights lawyer Harmeet Dhillon, who also represents James Damore, the Google engineer fired for posting a memo questioning progressive orthodoxy on sex. She issued a press release stating:

This landmark settlement means that all students at UC Berkeley now have the exciting opportunity to hear a variety of viewpoints on campus without the artificial tax of security fees selectively imposed on disfavored speech[.]

As is customary in such settlements, U.C. Berkeley and the other named defendants deny the allegations while agreeing to change policies and pay up $70,000, which presumably will be applied to the plaintiffs' legal fees.

The Daily Californian student newspaper features the statement of the University:

"Given that this outcome is all but indistinguishable from what a courtroom victory would have looked like, we see this as the least expensive path to successful resolution of this lawsuit," Mogulof said in the statement. "While we regret the time, effort and resources that have been expended successfully defending the constitutionality of UC Berkeley's event policy, this settlement means the campus will not need to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in unrecoverable defense costs to prove that UC Berkeley has never discriminated on the basis of viewpoint."

There is huge irony in this case in that in 1964, the University of California, Berkeley was convulsed with student demonstrations in the so-called Free Speech Movement that kicked off years of student unrest. At that time, the left demanded free speech, only to reverse itself half a century later following its hegemony on campuses and demand the silencing of dissident voices questioning its shibboleths. With elite academia captured by the left, universities have largely betrayed their mission of open inquiry and sided with the silencers.

This settlement represents a reversal of course  at least at the campus that has played the leading role in the left's assault on civil rights.A court in the Gaza Strip has pressed severe penalties against 14 people for collaboration with Israel, six of whom having been handed death penalty.

The court, linked to the Strip ruler Hamas, which is opposed to Israel, has convicted the defendants for collaborating with the occupation.

A woman is among the six who received death penalties and will be hanged. The woman, identified as Amal, was sentenced in absentia. She had allegedly encouraged her nephew in Gaza to collaborate with Israeli intelligence, The New Arab reports.

The court ruling came three weeks after a botched Israeli infiltration into the enclave. Hamas fighters confronted with fire a group of Israeli soldiers in plain clothes in Gaza.

Several fighters of the Hamas movement, including a senior commander, were killed in the fighting that ensued and air strikes by Israel air forces who tried to extract their members.

Hamas fired dozens of rockets in response to Israeli air strikes that destroyed some positions of the movement. An Israeli officer was also killed in the fighting. Hamas has fought three wars with Israel since 2008.

The spokesman of the interior ministry in Gaza welcomed the ruling noting that Israel cannot provide shelter for spies.

Collaborators must realize the (Israeli) occupation will not be able to protect them, Iyad al-Bozum was quoted as saying during a news conference.Twenty five years ago, one of the most brutal massacres in war history occurred in Iraq, along Highway 80, about 32 km west of Kuwait city. On the night of February 2627, 1991, thousands of Iraqi soldiers and civilians were retreating to Baghdad, after a ceasefire was announced, when President George Bush ordered his forces to slaughter the retreating Iraqi army. Fighter planes of the coalition forces swooped down upon the unarmed convoy and disabled the vehicles in the front, and at the rear, so that they couldnt escape. Then wave after wave of aircraft pounded the trapped vehicles for hours on end. After the carnage was over, some 2,000 mangled Iraqi vehicles, and charred and dismembered bodies of tens of thousands of Iraqi soldiers lay for miles along what came to be known as the Highway of Death. Several hundred more littered along another road, Highway 8, that leads to Basra. The scenes of devastation on these two roads became some of the most recognizable images of the Gulf War.

Photo credit: www.informationclearinghouse.info

The day before, Baghdad had radio announced that Iraq's Foreign Minister had accepted the Soviet ceasefire proposal and had ordered all Iraqi troops to withdraw from Kuwait in compliance with UN Resolution 660. President Bush, however, had refused to believe it and had responded that "there was no evidence to suggest the Iraqi army is withdrawing. In fact, Iraqi units are continuing to fight. . . We continue to prosecute the war."

The next day, the Iraqi President had himself announced over the radio that the withdraw had indeed begun on two highways and would be completed that day, to which Bush had reacted calling Hussein's announcement "an outrage" and "a cruel hoax."

Rather than accept the offer of Iraq to surrender and leave the field of battle, thereby risking a settlement that might not be favorable to the United States, Bush and the U.S. military strategists decided simply to kill as many Iraqis as they possibly could.

The bombing started near midnight. At first US and Canadian jets bombed the front and rear ends of the convoy to prevent it from moving forward or back, then attacked the trapped convoy by repeated bombing. The Commander-in-Chief of the United States Central Command had received instruction from Bush administration to "not to let anybody or anything out of Kuwait City." Consequently, any vehicle that diverted off of the highway was tracked, hunted and destroyed individually. Even disarmed Iraqi soldiers who surrendered were mowed down by gunfire. Not one Iraqi survived.

Demolished vehicles line Highway 80, on 18 April, 1991. Photo credit: TECH. SGT. JOE COLEMAN/Wikimedia

The cabs of trucks were bombed so much that they were pushed into the ground, and it's impossible to see if they contain drivers or not. Windshields were melted away, and huge tanks were reduced to shrapnel, wrote Lebanese-American journalist Joyce Chediac.

The massacre of withdrawing Iraqi soldiers violates the Geneva Conventions of 1949, Common Article III, which outlaws the killing of soldiers who are out of combat, wrote Joyce Chediac. The Iraqi troops were not being driven out of Kuwait by U.S. troops as the Bush administration maintains. They were not retreating in order to regroup and fight again. In fact, they were withdrawing, they were going home.

To attack the soldiers returning home under these circumstances is a war crime, Chediac added.

"Even in Vietnam I didn't see anything like this. It's pathetic," said Major Bob Nugent, an Army intelligence officer.

The most disturbing aspect of the incident was the secrecy involved, wrote Malcom Lagauche. When Newsday broke the story, many were taken by surprise. According to members of the U.S. House and Senate Armed Forces Committees, the Pentagon had withheld details of the assault from the committees.

The media was also given a different story. U.S. field commanders tried to portray that Iraqi forces were not voluntarily withdrawing but were being pushed from the battlefield.

Four years later, General Norman Schwarzkopf tried to justify what had happened on the Highway of Death:

The first reason why we bombed the highway coming north out of Kuwait is because there was a great deal of military equipment on that highway, and I had given orders to all my commanders that I wanted every piece of Iraqi equipment that we possibly could destroy. Secondly, this was not a bunch of innocent people just trying to make their way back across the border to Iraq. This was a bunch of rapists, murderers and thugs who had raped and pillaged downtown Kuwait City and now were trying to get out of the country before they were caught.

Photo credit: Staff Sgt. Dean Wagner/Wikimedia

Photo credit: o.canada.com

Photo credit: o.canada.com

Photo credit: o.canada.com

The charred remains of an Iraqi soldier as he attempted to pull himself up over the dashboard of his truck. Photo credit: Kenneth Jarecke

The burned-out truck, surrounded by corpses, on the Highway of Death. Photo credit: Kenneth Jarecke

The sole of a shoe left behind while fleeing Kuwait along the Highway of Death, taken on February 28, 2003. Photo credit: Christiaan Briggs/Wikimedia

Photo credit: PHC HOLMES, US Navy/Wikimedia

Photo credit: PHC HOLMES, US Navy/WikimediaDominating the central square in the city of Bologna is one of the worlds largest church with a unique mismatched facade that has been intriguing visitors for centuries. The upper half is made of bricks, while the lower half is made of marble with intricately sculpted scenes from both the Old and the New Testament.

They just ran out of money, is the usual reply tourists get when they ask what caused the church facade to be left uncompleted. But lack of funds was only part of the problem.

San Petronio Basilica. Photo credit: RossHelen/Shutterstock.com

The Basilica of San Petronio, dedicated to the patron saint of the city, Petronius, was begun in 1390. It was not intended to be a church, but rather a public spacea civic temple. The word basilica was originally used to describe any ancient Roman building where courts were held and official and public functions took place. These buildings usually had a door at one end and a slightly raised platform at the other, where the magistrate or officials sat. As the Roman Empire adopted Christianity, all major churches were constructed with this basic architectural plan, and the word basilica became synonymous with church throughout Europe and the New World.

The Basilica of San Petronio was planned as a grand monument, and in order to make room for its hulking body, several buildings in the square were demolished, including at least eight churches and towers. Construction went on for several centuries, until the beginning of the 16th century, when the city decided that the Basilica needed to be bigger in order to reflect the citys growing wealth and importance, which is still visible in the citys architecturenoticeably the numerous skyscraper-like towers.

Related: The Towers of Mediaeval Bologna

In accordance with the citys wishes, architect Arduino Arriguzzi designed a new model for the Basilica that resembled a Latin cross with a size that surpassed even the Saint Peter's Basilica of Rome, the greatest church of the Western Christian world. When news of the proposed Basilica reached Pope Pius IV, he became so jealous that he immediately ordered the construction of a new building just twelve meters away to prevent the Bolognese from realizing their dream. Completed within a year, this new building, the Archiginnasio, became the University of Bologna, and remained so until 1808 when the University was moved to another location.

Aerial view of San Petronio church. Photo credit: Claudio Divizia/Shutterstock.com

With no room to expand, Bolognas megalomaniac dream of building the biggest church on earth was shattered. Even the facade remained unfinished because they couldn't agree on how to finish it. The roof of the nave and apse were completed only in 1663.

Even while unfinished, the Basilica of San Petronio is a monumental church with a footprint 66 meters across and length twice as long. Its vault reaches 50 meters high. It is the tenth-largest church in the world by volume, and the largest church built of bricks.

The Basilica's half-finished marble facade is decorated with works by famous sculptors such as Jacopo della Quercia, Aspertini and Alfonso Lombardi. The central door features sculptures by Jacopo della Quercia depicting prophets and stories from the Bible, as well as a Madonna with a Child, Saint Ambrose and Saint Petronius. These sculptures would later inspire none other than Michelangelo, who spent some time in Bologna as a young man. The facade also features sculptures by Properzia de Rossi, one of the rare female sculptors of the Renaissance.

Photo credit: inhomogeneous orange/Shutterstock.com

Prophet Mohammed in Hell

The Basilica of San Petronio also hosts a controversial artwork. One of the chapels has a large fresco made by the 15th century painter, Giovanni da Modena, depicting Prophet Mohammed in hell being tortured and devoured by a demon. The unflattering depiction of the founder of Islam is based on Dantes Divine Comedy where the poet consigned Mohammed to the ninth circle of hell, a place reserved for religious schismatics. In the poem, Mohammad is portrayed as split in half, with his entrails hanging out, representing his status as a heresiarch.

The fresco in the Basilica has offended many Muslim fundamentalists. An Islamist terror group linked to al-Qaida even tried to blow up the Basilica in the 2000s, to erase the offensive fresco, but the plans were thwarted.

The prophet being devoured by the Devil.

Cassinis Meridian

The Basilica of San Petronio also boasts of the longest indoor meridian line in the world, measuring 66.8 meters. It was laid in 1656 by the famous Italian astronomer Gian Domenico Cassini. A hole on the roof of the Basilica allows the sun to shine through and make an elliptical spotlight on the meridian marking the passing of days and seasons.

Using the meridian line at San Petronio, Cassini was able to measure the change in diameter of the Sun's disk over the year as the Earth moved toward and then away from the Sun. He concluded the changes in size he measured were consistent with Johannes Kepler's 1609 heliocentric theory, where the Earth was moving around the Sun in an elliptical orbit instead of the Ptolemaic system where the Sun orbited the Earth in an eccentric orbit.

The meridian line inside San Petronio Basilica. Photo credit: Joaquin Ossorio Castillo / Shutterstock.comGoogle CEO Sundar Pichai will have a few more days to prepare for his appearance before the House Judiciary Committee facing questions about alleged liberal bias, the legislative body has now confirmed. The original hearing had been set to take place on December 5 but has been cleared off of the docket to make way for the state funeral of former President George H. W. Bush. The funeral will be held at the National Cathedral in Washington on December 5, which has been set aside as a national day of mourning. The current expectation is that Mr. Pichais appearance before the committee will be pushed into the following week.

Background: Several topics were and are expected to be covered at the hearing once the committee has re-set the schedule for Mr. Pichai to appear. Most prominent among those are expected to be questions regarding whether or not Google has been allowing a liberal bias to enter into its policies or consumer products. Policymakers have previously indicated that they are concerned by how much sway Google holds in terms of search, site discovery, and media as well as overall reach. In particular, the allegation has been made that the search giant is suppressing world views in a bid to drive public opinion away from the right-side of the political aisle. President Donald Trump is among those who have openly questioned whether or not conservative voices are being silenced or suppressed by the company. Those types of inquiries have typically been avoided by previous CEOs despite repeatedly being put forward by conservatives over the course of the last several years.

Secondary to issues about possible bias against oppression against rightwing ideals and content, the company is also expected to answer questions about its arguably more controversial Project Dragonfly. The project consists primarily of a new China-specific variant of the Google Search engine that has repeatedly cropped up in recent months with backlash across both sides of the political spectrum. Project Dragonfly would essentially be a heavily censored and intensely monitored version of Googles most lucrative and well-known product. That it would allow oversight  as well as likely enabling further oppression  by the Chinese government and has been largely kept from public view has stirred up plenty of controversies. Thats in addition to reports about the companys attempts to keep it secret with Google going so far as to suppress its own employees over the matter and ignore employee feedback.

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Moreover, the committee will have queries pertaining to the search giants cancelation of a deal between itself and the US military. That project was referred to as Project Maven and involved cooperation on the use of AI for military applications and was ended amidst a backlash from Google employees. However, that cancellation also happened to coincide with the revelations about Project Dragonfly, which could lead to serious scrutiny. Questions are expected to follow with regard to corporate transparency as well. Finally, the House Judiciary Committee will almost certainly grill the CEO about his companys general avoidance of hearings that it has been requested at in the past. The company has repeatedly opted to refuse to make appearances, most recently missing a Senate hearing on security during elections which saw the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee symbolically leave an empty chair for Google during the hearing. Executives from both Facebook and Twitter were in attendance for that session.

Impact: Although the expectation is that Google will make an appearance before the committee as early as next week, no date has actually been scheduled yet. Regardless, the session is likely to run for some time due to Googles decision to not appear at previous hearings. Some subjects raised or expected to be raised at those prior sessions are no longer necessarily pertinent. However, the panel may still be interested in attaining answers to those and to plenty of other questions that were prepared for those hearings.Chinas leading manufacturers, Huawei and Xiaomi are expecting to continue growing their respective reach into the global smartphone market in 2019, DigiTimes reports. According to sources who attended a recent supply chain gathering held by Huawei, the company has predicted that it will be able to increase delivery of its devices by as much as 25-percent. That would equate to around 200 million units moved over the next year. Xiaomi plans to ship as many as 160 million units  an increase of around 20-percent over 2018. Local competitors, Oppo and Vivo are similarly estimating further growth for their own brands but expect to be held back by the fact that their product lines are comparatively limited. Each OEM plans to grow its respective shipments by around 10-percent over the course of 2019.

Background: Despite the ambitious estimates made by top Chinese competitors and its own shortcomings over the past month or so, Samsung has continued to utterly dominate the smartphone market in terms of global shipments. According to the most recent report from IDC, the Korean tech giants global smartphone shipments for the third quarter of 2018 fell drastically by around 13.4-percent. In total, the company managed to move around 72.2 million units compared to the previous years third quarter count of around 83.3 million. Comparatively, Huawei and Xiaomi saw their shipments for that same period increased by 32.9-percent and 21.2-percent, landing at 52 million units and 34.3 million units for the quarter respectively. Those figures are in spite of stiff competition and market saturation in the two OEMs home region, in addition to an overall global drop in shipments of around 6-percent.

In Huaweis case, that growth has been further compromised by increasing distrust for the companys networking equipment. Huaweis position in the UK  its largest western market  is the most recent example of that, with officials expressing concerns relating not to its handsets but to its networking technologies. The perceived threat stems from the edge computing-based nature of 5G and associated cloud networks. Hardware isolation has previously been implemented to prevent problems from occurring in critical connected systems but that isnt necessarily a feasible solution with 5G. Conversely, the US has arguably been Huaweis most staunch opponent in the mobile networking arena, with government officials and agencies warning various heads of state to avoid contracts with the company. While neither example affects the sales or shipments of Huawei smartphones, they undoubtedly have a combined impact on public perception of the manufacturer and its hardware.

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Impact: Huaweis continued growth in spite of its struggle to convince some of its trustworthiness, and its outlook for 2019, are a testament to the companys resolve as well as the quality and value of its smartphones. Xiaomi has similarly continued to be a major world player too, although it hasnt faced the same level of scrutiny as Huawei. At the same time, neither company has any real presence or sales in the US. Both are expected to continue working toward that goal but that will almost certainly prevent them from surpassing Samsung in terms of shipments. Regardless, both companies already seem to be well on track to meet their respective goals for the coming year.Microsoft has a new browser project called Anaheim that will do away with its proprietary EdgeHTML rendering engine in favor of Chromiums Blink Engine in the Edge browser, according to a recent report citing unnamed insider sources. No clarification has been put forward with regard to whether or not the Edge branding will be kept once the project is finalized or what impact the change might have on Edge-related projects. The user-facing side of Edge isnt likely to change or at least wouldnt require big changes and neither would the functionality that loyal fans have come to enjoy. Rather than Microsoft replacing Edge with Chrome itself, only the Chromium rendering engine is said to be used.

Background: While Googles ongoing open-source Chromium project has been helping lead the way in standardizing the web and changing the face of the computing environment in general, Microsofts Edge hasnt been quite so fortunate. Initially launched in 2015, Edge hasnt been the top browser since at least 2016 following a shift from Microsofts Internet Explorer (IE) in 2016. Both Edge and IE collectively take just 41.4-percent of the overall market share in April of that year, slightly behind Google Chrome. One plausible reason for that is that many users preferred older versions of the browser but were directed by Microsoft to update or change browsers  primarily for security reasons. A significant number of those users chose to use a different browser instead of Edge due to inherent birthing issues with the newer browsers stability and compatibility.

Through Chromium, Google has spent the past several years consistently pushing web standards forward for both developers and mainstream users. Thats been helped by Chromes existence on nearly every platform and Chromiums use as the basis for many other popular browsers such as Opera. At the same time, Microsoft and Google have already apparently been working together on Chromium in the associated Gerrit code review, as recently as October. Those efforts have centered entirely around ensuring that Chromium works well on Windows ARM64-based computers. The code in question appeared to be built as close to from scratch as possible and as a result, the changes were initially thought to be tied to the Chrome Browser itself. Googles web browser had reportedly had a lot of speed and stability issues running on the Windows hardware in question. The latest reports may indicate that wasnt the only reason for work to be completed on Chromium for Windows 10 on those machines.

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Impact: Details about what exactly the Anaheim project is are still elusive but there has been some speculation about exactly what changes users of the current browser can expect once its ready and launched. It isnt unfeasible that the change will decouple Microsofts default browser from Windows OS updates, allowing the browser to receive security and feature improvements more regularly and without the hassle of restarting Windows. As mentioned above, the change is only occurring under the hood so there shouldnt need to be any major UI changes but it could alter Microsofts plans for progressive web apps. The current expectation is that the browser will be laid out publicly over the course of the first half of 2019.Samsung has now been called out for using at least one stock photograph in place camera samples on the Malaysia website for its Galaxy A8 Star, thanks to a recent DIY Photography post from photographer Dunja Djudjich. The photo was initially uploaded by the Ms. Djudjich to a stock photo site called EyeEm and was heavily edited prior to being used on Samsungs site. Originally, the image showed the subject goofing around outdoors in the fall, holding a red leaf up in place or her lips in front of a blurred background of yellow leaves. Samsungs edits effectively cropped out Ms. Djudjich, touched up her hair and eyes, and then placed a different image on a separate layer in the background. At the site for the Samsung Galaxy A8 Star, the background is portrayed as being representative of the bokeh background blurring effect the handset is capable of creating in portrait mode.

The edits themselves seem to have been well within the usage rights for the image, which was shot with a DSLR camera. Samsung seems to have simply kept the composite clean to represent a standard snap and then touched up the background layer for a second blurred shot. Samsungs use of the image was discovered by Ms. Djudjich entirely via happenstance. The photographer performed a reverse image search for her original shot and subsequent examples all seemed to point to Samsungs Malaysia site. Android Headlines also discovered the same photos in use at the Korean tech giants Hong Kong site for the same device using a secondary reverse image search. That indicates that Samsung has reused the same image on at least two of its Asia websites, hoping to pass them off as representative of the capabilities of the Galaxy S8 Star.

Background: The use of a stock image in place of sample photos isnt unheard of but it is rare and this actually marks the second time Samsung has been caught out in the practice within just the past few months. Prior to the use of misleading photos on the site for the Samsung Galaxy A8 Star (SM-G885), the companys official Brazil Twitter account was busted using stock imagery to advertise the Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018) in August. Those images were implied to have been taken using the devices portrait mode as well. In that instance, at least two separate stock photos were used and given captions highlighting the features merits. Each tweet included further explanation of the images themselves. In one, the company indicated that the image portrayed a selfie taken on a date while the other was said to show a girlfriend getting a piggy-back ride from her boyfriend. No details have been provided with regard to how much Samsung paid for Ms. Djudjichs photo but in that previous case, the company paid as much as $499 for each shot.

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Impact: In the previous incident, Samsung eventually came clean about its use of stock photos and removed the tweets containing the photos. At the time, it also released a statement at the time claiming that the images were meant to express the attitude of its target audience  as opposed to being representative of the devices camera. However, that could be a bit more difficult to claim in the latest instance than it was for the Twitter photos. The images uploaded to Samsungs site dont feature any specific statements about attitudes or real-world uses. Instead, the message touts how the portrait modes Live Focus feature couple with the camera sensors to help users get their desired level of focus for a shot. Each is additionally captioned with how much background blur has been applied.Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman (MbS) could not meet during his two-day visit to Algeria with President Abdelaziz Bouteflika who, according to his office, is suffering from acute flu.

The Saudi royal arrived in Algiers Sunday for a two-day visit, but his planned meeting with President Bouteflika was cancelled due to an acute flu.

This is not the first time that planned meetings between Bouteflika and foreign officials are cancelled at the last minute due to acute bronchitis or acute flu.

Bouteflika, in power since 1999, has made rare public appearances since he suffered a stroke in 2013.

The 81-year old leader has been glued to a wheel chair since then. His last public appearance with a top foreign official dates back to September 2018 when he met briefly with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Failure to receive the Saudi heir to the throne will swell speculations about the former army commanders ability to run for next year elections that his entourage and allies want him to stand for.

Several public figures and organizations have however urged him to renounce the move.BarcelonaTwo former Catalan ministers, Joaquim Forn and JxCat MP Josep Rull, have joined the hunger strike begun by Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Turull on Saturday December 1. On Monday afternoon they released a statement indicating that they would stop eating any food as of midnight.

In their statement the two Catalan leaders announced that we are joining the peaceful protest which our colleagues Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Turull have begun and we will refuse to eat any food starting at 00 h on Tuesday. With this action we aim to denounce the Constitutional Courts stalling tactics, which are arbitrary and unjust, and prevent us from turning to the European Court of Human Rights.

So the reason for their protest is the same: to put Spains Constitutional Court on the spot and urge its members to resolve, one way or another, all the appeals on the grounds of unconstitutionality which the prisoners legal teams have filed to date. The Catalan leaders claim that the Spanish court is stalling its decisions in order to prevent them from taking matters with the ECHR: it has agreed to see every one of their appeals, but has not made a decision on any of them. The lawyers that represent the Catalan leaders have pointed out that this is in stark contrast with the courts record so far: fewer than 2 per cent of all appeals on the grounds of unconstitutionality have ever been allowed.

Forn and Rull have stated that their decision is consistent and properly thought-through, as well as pondered during many hours of introspection and reflection, after which we concluded that we have no other way of claiming our basic rights but to use this extreme form of peaceful protest.

Political parties and grassroots groups in talks to carry out support actions

With Forn and Rull, a total of four political prisoners are now on a hunger strike, a non-violent form of protest. Three of the Catalan leaders are also JxCat MPs (former minister Forn gave up his seat in parliament at the start of this term). Ahead of the current scenario, on Friday evening Omnium Cultural released a group photograph of the seven male prisoners in the Lledoners facility, which sought to send a message of unity and their commitment to respect any form of protest they might choose prior to the trial against them over their role in the October 1 referendum.

As reported earlier by the Catalan News Agency, this newspaper has confirmed that ERC and JxCat are discussing actions in support of the hunger strike with the pro-independence grassroots groups. On Saturday Junts per Catalunya suggested a fasting chain to show solidarity and amplify the hunger strike by some of the prisoners.

Omnium Cultural president Jordi Cuixart, who is also in jail, sent Forn and Rull a support message on Twitter shortly after their statement came out: Two good men are joining the hunger strike. We have each other. At Omnium we solemnly vow to ensure that theyll never walk alone, no matter what, he wrote.Qatar Monday surprisingly announced it will give up its seat in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in January, explaining that the decision was not political.

Yet, it blasted the oil cartel for being dominated by Saudi Arabia that is currently leading a sea/air/ground blockade against the tiny gas-rich Gulf country.

Qatars Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi said Monday at a press conference in Doha that his country, which joined the organization in 1961, will leave next year in January.

The decision was not political, he said, in reference to the ongoing regional diplomatic isolation that Doha has been facing since June last year after Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt severed ties over Qatar.

A lot of people will politicize itI assure you this purely was a decision on whats right for Qatar in the long term. Its a strategy decision, Al-Kaabi said.

However, the Qatari minister said later the exit from the OPEC was due to the domination of the organization by a country that he stopped short to name.

We are not saying we are going to get out of the oil business but it is controlled by an organization managed by a country, al-Kaabi said.

Qatar with a production of 600,000 barrels per day is a minor exporter far away from Saudi Arabias 11 million barrels per day, which represents almost half of the 33 million barrels produced by the Vienna-based organization.

The Saudi kingdom, a founding member of the oil grouping, is the organizations de facto leader given its production share.

Kaabi also stressed that Qatar, the worlds largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) producer, is leaving OPEC because it was not practical to put efforts and resources and time in an organization that we are a very small player in and we dont have a say in what happens.

Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, Qatars former Prime Minister, backed Kaabis comments on Twitter noting that OPEC is only used for purposes that hurt our national interests.

Last month, Doha complained that Saudi Arabia and the UAE have neglected calls by the international community to end the diplomatic spat.The special handover ceremony at the close of ACI Airport Exchange 2018 saw Mohammed Al Katheeri, SVP Strategy and Communications at Abu Dhabi Airports officially receive the hosting rights and responsibilities to Abu Dhabi Airports.

Bringing together 1,500 airport leaders and hundreds of speakers, the ACI Airport Exchange is a major annual event that is hosted by airport groups around the world, with Abu Dhabi Airports being selected to host the November 2019 edition.

Bryan Thompson, CEO of Abu Dhabi Airports, said: This is a prestigious international event, during what will be a significant time for us as we near the unveiling of one of our most significant projects to date. Our selection to host the 2019 edition of ACI Airport Exchange is a source of pride for Abu Dhabi Airports. We look forward to welcoming the worlds airport industry and community to Abu Dhabi next year.

Thompson added: This major event is in line with our mission and vision of becoming the worlds leading airports group. It contributes to our mandate of bolstering Abu Dhabis status as a global hub for business and leisure travellers.

Hosting the event in the nations capital falls in line with Abu Dhabi Plan and UAE Centennial 2071. The announcement also follows Abu Dhabi Airports reception of a series of awards from the Airports Council International.Losberger De Boer provides wet lease technical support as part of its turnkey operational package, going as far as providing onsite staff who are available seven days per week to ensure utilities as well as maintenance requirements remain fully functioning - a first in the Middle East.

Confirmed orders have already been received and delivered for a major undisclosed Middle Eastern government organisation.

One of the challenges faced by defence forces is how to rapidly deploy fully self-contained camps with integrated utilities, ablutions and waste disposal in desert and other remote locations. A further challenge is how to deal with technical faults such as utilities and electricity going down during operations. Another common problem is how to relocate and redeploy the entire complex at short notice minimising impact on the environment.

Losberger De Boers design teams worked for over a year with specialist suppliers to develop an integrated solution to address these challenges. The result unveiled is its new product known as the Losberger De Boer Military Field Camp (MFC), which differs from standard military camps by integrating all the facilities and utilities that would be expected in an actual military operation, together with onsite technical support to troubleshoot and resolve issues.

Losberger De Boer is ISO 14001-certified according to the standardised norms for environmental management systems. Providing improved sustainability credentials, waste and garbage can be treated and removed or incinerated onsite with low impact on the local environment and the entire complex can be rapidly dismantled and redeployed in a new location at short notice.

The concept integrates over 70 different products, including inflatable self-erecting tents, metal frame temporary structures, modular half barrel buildings and sun screens. Containerised ablutions and utilities blocks are added together with portable waste disposal facilities. The entire complex is scalable and can be customised to the unique needs of any defence force. For example, temporary aircraft hangars can be added for air force users and vehicle and weapon storage for ground forces. All buildings can be temperature and humidity controlled, including storage areas and plant rooms, which can help extend the lifespan of the equipment stored and reduce their maintenance cost by up to 30 per cent.

Jim Muldoon, managing director of Losberger De Boer Middle East said: We believe our new integrated concept is a game changer in the temporary military camp space. When government and defence forces need to act quickly for training, regional deployment or on critical missions, we can now provide a rapid-build solution with improved, functionality and sustainability credentials.

The Losberger De Boer field camp solution unique is due to the constant onsite technical support, together with our ability to blend all our vast range of temporary structures together with containerised facilities into one cohesive and integrated camp. For decades, we have served as partners for domestic and foreign armed forces and have created numerous products for the comfort and protection of people and equipment  but nothing of this scale. Our objective has been to raise the bar and provide an industry-leading total solution, concluded Muldoon.The event will feature keynote presentations from HE Jamal Al-Hai, Deputy CEO of Dubai Airports and Badr Al-Olama, Head of Aerospace at Mubadala Investment Company; who lead the lineup of impressive industry names across the two days

Taking place from 11 - 12 December, the MEBAA Conference brings together industry thought leaders to drive discussions focused on the opportunities and challenges facing the business aviation industry. In particular, the sessions are designed to provide tangible value to attendees and address topics ranging from those specific to the UAE to global step-changes such as technological advancements and threats.

Claudio Camelier, vice president, sales at Embraer and Khader Mattar, vice president, sales, MEA and Asia Pacific & China at Bombardier will take part in a panel discussing the future of private aircraft design. Also speaking at the event will be Chris Fernandez, CEO and Founder of Block Gemini, who will discuss blockchain, examining how it is used in other industries and investigating the benefits it can offer business aviation.

Other speakers at the event include Ribhi Al-Husseini, Consultant, Kinza Aviation Support Services; Aoife OSullivan, Partner at the Air Law Firm and Josh Stewart, CEO and Founder of XJet. In addition, other companies represented on stage at the MEBAA Conference Dubai will Deloitte and UAS International Trip Support, plus many others.

MEBAA Conferences are a pivotal feature of MEBAAs mission to provide enriching experiences to our members, said Ali Alnaqbi, Founding & Executive Chairman of the Middle East and North Africa Business Aviation Association (MEBAA). He continued, The conferences across the Middle East and North Africa have always been the place for the industry to share knowledge and take part in useful discussions. The MEBAA Conference Dubai 2018 will certainly provide that, and we are proud to be bringing so many key industry leaders together for the event.

As the MEBAA Conference Dubai will this year be located within the MEBAA Show 2018, attendees will benefit from the opportunity to interact with the exhibitors and visitors at the show too.

In previous years we noticed increasing interest from conference speakers and delegates to attend the MEBAA Show, and vice versa, Alnaqbi continued. It makes sense for the conference to take place on the show floor to bring these two events together.American pop-star Beyonce on Sunday led an all-star line-up including Ed Sheeran, Jay-Z, Oprah, and Usher in Johannesburg at a concert to honor the life and legacy of late South African icon Nelson Mandela.

Mandela was jailed under South Africas apartheid regime for 27 years. After being released in 1990, he led the countrys transformation into a multi-racial democracy. He died on December 5, 2013, at the age of 95.

This years Global Citizen Festival held at Johannesburgs 94,736-capacity FNB Stadium marks 100 years since the birth of Mandela.

The festival also aimed to highlight the fight against poverty, gender inequality and hunger, causes that Mandela championed.

Global Citizen, an advocacy group, which campaigns for an end to extreme poverty, and other social plagues said many people won tickets to Sundays concert through charity work and petition-signing.

Sundays festival gave a platform to government leaders, CEOs and others who pledged more funding for healthcare and other social programs.

World Bank President Jim Kim who was among the political and business leaders attending the event announced a $1billion investment in health and education across Africa in 2019.

Kenyas President Uhuru Kenyatta appeared via video link and pledged to increase his countrys education budget to 30 percent of the total budget.

Richard Branson, also via a recorded video link, announced a $105 million commitment from donors including UK Aid, Virgin Unite and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Before the concert, co-host Oprah Winfrey hailed Mandelas goodness and integrity, describing him as her favorite mentor.

South African stars Trevor Noah and Bonang Matheba also made appearances, as the largely local crowd braved heavy downpours.YEREVAN, DECEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. Vice President of the Armenian Eagles: United Armenia political party Mher Yeghyazaryan, who also manages Haynews.am online media outlet, has been arrested by the National Security Service in suspicion of racketeering.

The man is suspected grand theft.

Authorities said he has extorted various amounts of money, ranging from 370$ up to 10,000 dollars, from several citizens, including military servicemen, with the pretext of forwarding the money as a bribe for different reasons, including for career promotion, employment, and solving various tupes of other issues.

Yeghyazaryan operated the scheme from 2014 to 2018, the National Security Service said.

He has been placed under arrest and an investigation is underway.

Edited and translated by Stepan KocharyanThe three-day event is organized by Iran's Civil Defense Organization, aims at providing the grounds for domestic players in the field of cyber security, electronic banking, industrial control systems, electronic security, and electromagnetics to showcase their latest developments and achievements. Platforms and conferences will also be held during the exhibition to help companies and aficionados meet and confer with investors. The event will continue through December 5.



Iran is believed to be the first nation to have come under a cyberattack. Operation Olympic Games was a covert and still unacknowledged campaign of sabotage by means of cyber disruption, directed at Iranian nuclear facilities by the United States and likely Israel (Illustration source: RevealNews)

The move comes in line with the governments push to promote the domestic manufacturers role in supplying the countrys needs in different fields, especially in the field of cyber security. Iran is believed to be the first nation to have come under a cyberattack. Operation Olympic Games was a covert and still unacknowledged campaign of sabotage by means of cyber disruption, directed at Iranian nuclear facilities by the United States and likely Israel. As reported, it is one of the first known uses of offensive cyber weapons. Started under the administration of George W. Bush in 2006, Olympic Games was accelerated under President Obama, who heeded Bush's advice to continue cyber-attacks on the Iranian nuclear facility at Natanz. In relevant remarks in October, Head of Iran's Civil Defense Organization Brigadier General Gholamreza Jalali said that former US President Barack Obama was the first-ever president who ordered and acknowledged the responsibility for the cyber-attacks against Iran's nuclear infrastructures.

As reported by Farsnews, Jalali told FNA that the former commander of the US cyber war proposed Obama to launch cyber-attacks against Iran's nuclear facilities, adding that Obama welcomed the idea and "for the first time a president admitted the responsibility for a cyber-attack against another country and then they attacked us". He, meantime, said that when the Americans studied the costs and benefits of the attacks after one year, they realized that the damage of the attack for themselves were more than what they had gained and therefore, they dismissed the commander.

In October 2014, General Jalali revealed that a US cyberattack on Iran's nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz failed due to his organization's tough defensive measures. "The first cyberattack, codenamed Olympic Games, was carried out on Natanz and was declared by the US President, but it met our heavy (defensive) response," Jalali told reporters in a press conference in Tehran.

Codenamed Olympic Games, the attacks were spearheaded by the US government under the Bush administration. Stuxnet targeted Siemens industrial equipment to spin hundreds of centrifuges beyond their breaking points and eventually disable Iran's nuclear efforts.

According to the report, Obama decided to speed up the attacks, even after the worm escaped from Iran's Natanz plant in 2010 and later ended up on the Internet.

During a meeting following the worm's escape, Obama even considered that the worm should be stopped thinking that America's most ambitious attempt to slow the progress of Iran's nuclear efforts had been fatally compromised. Should we shut this thing down? Obama asked members of the President's national security team.

However, he finally decided to go ahead with the cyber-attacks. What followed thereafter was the Natanz plant being hit by several newer versions of the worm. The report is said to be based on 18 months of interviews with current and former American, European and Israeli officials involved in the program as well as with outside experts, who provided contradictory assessments of how successful the attack was in slowing down Iran's progress of developing nuclear weapons.

While internal Obama administration estimates claim the effort was delayed by 18 months to two years, some other experts, both inside and outside the government, said that Iran's enrichment levels had steadily recovered. A year later, Iran enriched uranium to the 20-percent grade, way beyond the 5-percent purity level that was done in Natanz in 2012.Do it yourself if you can We accept  in principle  that private equity can deliver (somewhat) excess returns over most other asset classes. But there are a lot of qualifications attached to that, and most of them are very relevant to whether and how pension funds should invest in private equity.Were very excited to be hiring people of Bens calibre. With his appointment, we now have the management team we need to keep doubling every year and begin our international expansion, said Adam Long, Smarter Drafter chief executive.

Rosswick joins the start-ups management team, which also includes David Lipworth, the companys head of legal, and David King, its head of partnerships. Lipworth is a former Baker McKenzie and Clifford Chance M&A lawyer. King was responsible for growing his own firm from one person to a four-office organisation.

Working in banking for so long, I had endless interactions with lawyers and always wished there were ways for them to get their job done faster. When I first saw the Smarter Drafter technology, I knew this was going to change the legal sector and I wanted to be a part of that, Long said.

Smarter Drafters AI-powered document-creation tool is now used by more than 140 law firms spanning all states and territories of Australia.Having worked in the startup sector, I know from personal experience how challenging it can be to scale an early stage company. Skalata Ventures will help founders navigate this critical pre-venture capital stage, said Crowe. Norton Rose Fulbrights global capability and strategic focus on technology and innovation make us a natural partner for Skalata Ventures and we look forward to supporting the next generation of great Australian companies.

Global firm launches Women in Tech initiative

Linklaters has made a commitment to get more women working in its technology and innovation roles across its global network.

The firm, which includes a global alliance with Australian firm Allens, has launched its Women in Tech working group to drive change and tackle gender imbalance. For example, the group will review the recruitment process for tech roles to ensure they appeal to genders equally.

Technology in law is an exciting and important space to work, and greater diversity in this function will drive innovation and performance, said Bruna Pellicci, Chief Technology Officer. Its promising to see work on diversity across our technology teams already in motion at Linklaters, and that diversity and inclusion is so embedded in the strategy here.

The firm has also become the first magic circle firm to commit to the UK governments Talent Tech Charter which encourages companies to share best practice on achieving a gender and age-balanced approach to recruitment and actively collaborate with other organisations to create meaningful change.

By Monkey Business Images /Shutterstock.com) By Monkey Business Images /Shutterstock.com)

A new temporary sponsored parent visa is to be introduced in Australia in the first half of next year which the Immigration Minister said will provide new pathways for families to be reunited.The legislation tied to the new visa has now been passed through Parliament and paves the way for the visa that will allow parents to visit their families in Australia for a continuous period of up to five years.'This new visa will help families reunite and spend time together. It will provide a new pathway for parents and grandparents to visit their families in Australia, which will deliver great social benefits to the Australian community,' said Immigration Minister David Coleman.He pointed out that there will be no extra costs to taxpayers as measures have been put in place to strengthen the visa framework requiring Australian sponsors to act as a financial guarantor for any outstanding public health costs incurred by the visa holder whilst in Australia.'This new visa will ensure family reunions are possible for many migrant families across Australia, while protecting taxpayers with strict guidelines to ensure all public health debts including hospital and aged care fees are recovered by the Australian Government,' he explained.But the fees involved are likely to be high. Figures that have been mentioned include $5,000 for a three-year visa and $10,000 for a five-year visa with renewals also costing thousands of dollars.Concerns have been voiced about the costs with migration agents saying that few families would be able to afford the new visa and the mandatory health insurance costs will add to the financial burden.It is expected that the new sponsorship framework will involve a two-step application process where the sponsor is assessed first and only then can the visa application be lodged.Elizabeth McKeown, 46, has been charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action after she rammed her car into another vehicle and then into the driver, who got out to inspect the damage. Court documents obtained by the Springfield News-Leader reveal the flippant remarks she made to the cops about the accident she caused in a fit of road rage.McKeown was apprehended by members of the public after she tried to flee the scene of the crime, only to crash into another car farther down the road. When the police arrived, she told officers she became angry when Barbara E. Foster, 57, wouldnt move from her path  McKeown was in a hurry to get to the bank to make her car payment.Because Foster wouldnt move her car, she nudged it with her Ford Mustang , McKeown admitted to the cops. Then, when Foster got out of the vehicle to inspect the damage, she hit her with the car and dragged her for some distance. Fosters body was cut in half, court documents show.McKeown allegedly told police she tricked Foster into thinking she would be still and then she slammed into her and cut her in half. A witness allegedly told police he yelled at McKeown that she had hit someone, and McKeown responded by mouthing the words, I know, the publication writes.McKeown dragged her victim 58 feet before she crashed. She didnt seem sorry or shocked when the police arrived, but still angry at the delay.If found guilty, McKeown faces life in prison without the possibility of parole. She wont be making any car payments anytime soon, so she wont be in such a hurry ever again.After a series of meetings and official announcements from each of the three members of the auto industry's biggest triumvirate, there comes a joint statement: the alliance will hold.

Last November 19, Carlos Ghosn, the executive who was instrumental in bringing together the three automakers, was arrested in Japan after Nissan had informed Japanese authorities over irregularities pertaining to the executive's evasion of taxes. The strongly-worded speech by none other than Nissan's CEO, Hiroto Saikawa, against his now-former boss prompted worry that the alliance would crumble with Ghosn gone.

We can only imagine how busy things have been at the world's number one automotive alliance comprised of Renault, Nissan, and Mitsubishi, but for all the wrong reasons.

Despite the issues surrounding Ghosn and his subsequent ousting as Chairman of both Nissan and Mitsubishi, as well as the nomination of Renault's chief operating officer to temporary chief executive officer, all three companies announced that they would stay together.

Over the past few days, the Board of Directors of Groupe Renault, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation have all  individually and collectively - emphatically reiterated their strong commitment to the Alliance.

The Alliance has achieved unparalleled success in the past two decades.

We remain fully committed to the Alliance.

The Ghosn crisis is arguably the single largest threat to the Alliance since its inception in 1999 as the Renault-Nissan Alliance. In 2016, Nissan acquired a 34% stake in Mitsubishi Motors following a scandal over fuel economy numbers. The acquisition brought the embattled automaker into the fold, and the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance was born.

Beyond platform sharing, the Alliance has been a benefit to all three parties, as it affords them the stronger purchasing power of an entity that sells 11 million cars, as opposed to individual companies that sell a fraction of that. The synergies also pursued cost savings by shared facilities, storage, and logistics. The Alliance had turned around Nissan in the 2000's, and a revamp had allowed Mitsubishi to bounce back as well.

Earlier this year, the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance emerged as number one with 10.6 million units sold in 2017, exceeding that of the Volkswagen Group.Black Sheep Squadron

The National Aviation Hall of Fame has announced it will enshrine six aviators in a ceremony this September in Denver, Colorado. The NAHF Class of 2019 is a diverse group representing Americans who made enduring contributions to both the advancement of flight and the exploration of space. The new inductees are Colonel Guion Guy S. Bluford, USAF (Ret), who served as a fighter pilot in Vietnam, and later flew on four Space Shuttle flights as a mission specialist; Brigadier General Charles M. Duke, Jr., USAF (Ret), who served as capsule communicator on the Apollo 11 mission and was the 10th person to walk on the Moon, with Apollo 16; and Martha and John King, well known in the general aviation world, who have been CFIs for 40 years and are recognized by the NAHF as revolutionary pioneers of multimedia training programs that have instructed more than half the pilots now flying in the U.S.

The Hall of Fame also will induct two pilots well known to historyColonel Gregory Pappy Boyington, USMC, fighter ace and leader of the famous Black Sheep Squadron of World War II; and Katherine Stinson, founder of the Stinson School of Flying in 1915. She was also the fourthwoman in the U.S. to earn a pilots certificate and the first to carry airmail. The Hall of Fame was chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1964, with a mission to honor Americas aerospace legends to inspire future leaders. The nonprofit group is based in Dayton, Ohio, where it operates a 17,000 square-foot public learning center. Since its founding, 241 men and women have been enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame.Thousands of school children who lost their homes or classrooms in Northern California's wildfire last month returned to school for the first time in three weeks on Monday, the AP reports.

Why it matters: About 31,000 students have been unable to attend school since the Camp Fire, the state's deadliest wildfire, began to sweep through Paradise, California and surrounding neighborhoods in early November. The blaze, which is now contained, killed at least 88 people and destroyed nearly 14,000 homes in the northern part of the state. About 25 people are still missing.

The details: Some districts where schools have been damaged, ruined or are inaccessible have also created makeshift classrooms in other buildings, such as churches or malls, as well as made assignments accessible online.During meetings with Ecuador's then-incoming President Lenin Moreno in May 2017, Paul Manafort suggested he could help negotiate a deal that involved the South American country handing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange over in exchange for debt relief from the U.S., the New York Times' Kenneth Vogel and Nicholas Casey report.

Details: Manafort, who served as President Trump's campaign chairman during the summer of 2016, reportedly met two times with Moreno to try and make the deal, which could have resulted in a large commission for Manafort who was under mounting pressure to pay off debts and legal bills at the time.

According to the report, Ecuador wanted Assange out of its London embassy, where he's lived under asylum since 2012.

But the talks reportedly fell apart once Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel in the Russia investigation and it became clear that Manafort would be one of Muellers key targets.

The Times wrote that theres no indication Trump or other members of his administration were aware of the negotiations with Ecuador, but noted that Manafort was hoping to cash in on his ties with Trump.

Flashback: The Guardian reported last week that Manafort met with Assange at the Ecuadorean embassy in London in 2013, 2015 and 2016. Both men have denied the report. The Times noted that there's no evidence Manafort's discussions were motivated by WikiLeaks' role in Russia's interference campaign during the 2016 election.

Go deeper: Mueller investigation says Paul Manafort violated plea dealRep.-elect Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) plans to lead a congressional delegation to the occupied West Bank next year, breaking with the traditional visit to Israel for newly elected members of Congress sponsored by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), The Intercept reports.

The big picture: Tlaib, one of the first Muslim women elected to Congress, told The Intercept that she wants the delegation "to see that segregation and how that has really harmed us being able to achieve real peace in that region." She added, "I dont think AIPAC provides a real, fair lens into this issue. Its one-sided.  [They] have these lavish trips to Israel, but they dont show the side that I know is real, which is whats happening to my grandmother and whats happening to my family there."

Details: Last year, the Democratic members who traveled to Israel for the seven-day AIPAC trip had only one 75-minute meeting with a Palestinian official, The Intercept reports, instead meeting with Israeli officials and business leaders for most of the itinerary. Republican members also had one briefing with Palestinian officials during their trip.

The big picture: Rebecca Vilkomerson, the executive director of Jewish Voice for Peace, which supports an end to the Israeli occupation, told The Intercept: "Palestinian rights are being integrated into the broader progressive agenda. It's becoming also standard that if you support single-payer health care and climate justice, you'll support Palestinian rights."

That's reflected in a September Economist/YouGov poll, which shows that only a quarter of Democrats view Israel as an ally  compared to 59% of Republicans.

Tlaib also told The Intercept that she is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which uses economic boycotts of Israeli goods to show support for Palestinian rights.

She said that BDS is a way to highlight "issues like the racism and the international human rights violations by Israel right now."

Go deeper: U.S. downgrades its diplomatic mission to PalestiniansA potential recession, combined with increasing regulatory threats for some of the biggest tech companies, foreshadows a difficult 2019 for Silicon Valley.

Why it matters: The biggest tech companies have already raked in billions of dollars in profits and benefited from major tax cuts that aren't going to be repeated, so next year isn't likely to be better for them financially. They've also been dogged by scandals that have left many questioning their positive role in society, and if on top of that the economy starts to slip, 2019 could be worse.

Expand chart Data: Yahoo! Finance; Chart: Chris Canipe/Axios

"People look for scapegoats in a bad economy. And with big tech already on its heels, a downturn probably would feed arguments that the largest internet companies are too big and need to be reined in."

 Paul Gallant, an analyst with Cowen Washington Research Group

Big Tech is closing out a contentious year in Washington, and potential regulation will continue to haunt it well into 2019.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai has agreed to testify before Congress, and will likely be asked about whether the company is being transparent about its data privacy practices and any potential bias. By the year's end, the CEOs of Twitter, Google and Facebook will have been called to testified in front of Congress for the first time ever during 2018.

Lawmakers in the United States are pushing for a federal privacy law with an urgency likely to be exacerbated by more breaches like the one Marriott disclosed last Friday.

The Federal Trade Commission still has an open investigation into whether Facebooks conduct violated a previous settlement with the agency. Margrethe Vestager, Europe's aggressive commissioner overseeing competition, is still investigating aspects of Google's business and whether Amazon plays fair in the market for generic products.

President Trump has said his administration is seriously looking into monopolistic behavior of Facebook, Google and Amazon.

Some analysts predict an economic slowdown  even if it doesnt lead to a recession like the one in 2008  will be enough to change the global attitude around big American companies.

"So the really shocking thing this year is that the only major economy in the world where growth has actually accelerated this year is America. And this is because of the tax cuts, the deregulation, the other stimulus which has been put into work. And that has also helped the earnings of companies. My point is, from next year onwards, those effects begin to fade."

 Ruchir Sharma, chief global strategist at Morgan Stanley on Fareed Zakaria GPS on Sunday

The "FAANG" stocks (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google) that pushed the stock market to record highs have not been immune from this year's market rout.

"The mood has changed. Investors are asking a lot more questions right now," says Larry Glazer, a Managing Partner at Mayflower Advisors, which manages $3 billion. "Momentum has faded on these names."

Adding to potential concern: possible regulatory action could translate into higher costs, particularly for Google or Facebook.

"Facebook has been under such a dark cloud for so long that now everybody is expecting the worst," Paul Meeks, a technology portfolio manager at Wireless Fund, told Axios.

The other side: "I don't see a looming recession. And even if there was, people aren't going to target these companies if there is a recession," says Nicholas Economides, Professor of Economics at NYU Stern School of Business.

Economides argues that , even if there was a mild reduction in GDP growth, it wouldn't significantly impact the high tech sector.

, even if there was a mild reduction in GDP growth, it wouldn't significantly impact the high tech sector. For companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter, "their main revenue streams are from ads. They gain market share from brands converting traditional ad spend to digital ads. This conversion is not so dependent on the growth of GDP, because they are still in the process of converting ads of different formats to digital ads, and that's something that will continue, regardless of GDP growth."

The bottom line: Tech companies that have long been the darlings of investor portfolios will likely find themselves in much weaker positions.As President Trump enters a tough new phase in his hardline offensive against China, he now has allies he lacked in his other high-profile attacks on the status quo: the establishment.

The bottom line: Unlike his attacks on NAFTA, immigrants, climate science, and the Affordable Care Care  which triggered denunciation by critics both in and outside of the U.S.  Trump finds himself in the embrace, if conditional, of mainstream experts when it comes to China.

What's happening: It's not that Trump has moved to the center, nor that the establishment has embraced his America First mantra. Rather, in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere, senior China hands argue simply that Trump's instincts are right on this one. "I think Trump has a strange animal insight about these things. He has a keen nose for being taken," Orville Schell, director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at the Asia Society, tells Axios.

The shift of mainstream opinion comes as Trump emerges from the weekend G20 summit with a 90-day stand-down agreement with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The two leaders agreed to attempt to work out their policy differences by March 1, and meanwhile observe a timeout on higher U.S. tariffs due to take effect Jan. 1.

opinion comes as Trump emerges from the weekend G20 summit with a 90-day stand-down agreement with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The two leaders agreed to attempt to work out their policy differences by March 1, and meanwhile observe a timeout on higher U.S. tariffs due to take effect Jan. 1. If the two sides stay with their current agendas, getting to an actual deal will be hard. In remarks yesterday and today, Beijing made no mention of U.S. demands for a halt to the theft and forced transfer of U.S. technology to China, and the U.S. omitted any talk of reducing tariffs, which is a Chinese demand.

with their current agendas, getting to an actual deal will be hard. In remarks yesterday and today, Beijing made no mention of U.S. demands for a halt to the theft and forced transfer of U.S. technology to China, and the U.S. omitted any talk of reducing tariffs, which is a Chinese demand. But U.S. officials say China had agreed to immediately lift a 40% tariff on U.S. car imports and allow U.S. companies to own the majority of Chinese firms, write Reuters' David Lawder and Jeff Mason.

There is skepticism given the long history of unsuccessful U.S. attempts to move China on its policies, going back to the Truman administration. Last Thursday, a group consisting of senior Asia experts from the U.S. and across Europe released a Hoover Institution report explicitly distancing themselves from those prior efforts. They did not brand them wrong-headed, but said it's time to get tougher.

"The Chinese respect firmness and exploit the lack of it," Winston Lord, a former U.S. ambassador to Beijing and one of the most respected American experts on China, said at a presentation of the report in Washington on Thursday.

A main problem is a long-standing Chinese effort to influence the West, the group said. John Garnaut, former adviser to former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, says that in Australia, "all the major [political] parties were at threat of being dependent on Chinese money. That dependency had to be broken." A new law controls the cash flow, he said.

Chinese effort to influence the West, the group said. John Garnaut, former adviser to former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, says that in Australia, "all the major [political] parties were at threat of being dependent on Chinese money. That dependency had to be broken." A new law controls the cash flow, he said. The same goes with Chinese cash to U.S. universities and think tanks, says Larry Diamond, a professor at Stanford University. "The lure of money is just overwhelming," he says. "I cannot emphasize this enough, from the standpoint of universities in general and what I have found in terms of the prospect of funding for think tanks and in Hollywood."

A primary worry: A miscalculation that results in a trade tiff spiraling into war. That is where the establishment departs from Trump.

Sulmaan Khan, a professor at Tufts and the author of "Haunted by Chaos: China's Grand Strategy from Mao Zedong to Xi Jinping," tells Axios that the Trump administration contains "hotheads," and because of that "the risk of miscalculation goes up."

a professor at Tufts and the author of "Haunted by Chaos: China's Grand Strategy from Mao Zedong to Xi Jinping," tells Axios that the Trump administration contains "hotheads," and because of that "the risk of miscalculation goes up." "The historical phenomenon of a rising versus established power is greatly exacerbated by having two dangerous leaders in our capitals," Lord says.

a rising versus established power is greatly exacerbated by having two dangerous leaders in our capitals," Lord says. Trump "scared us to death when he won. He still scares us to death," says Schell.

Go deeper: Watch a presentation of the Hoover Institution report (video)An upcoming summit of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) has been cancelled at Armenias request, the Kremlin said on Tuesday, contradicting a statement made by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.

The leaders of Russia, Armenia and four other ex-Soviet states making up the military alliance were due to meet in Saint Petersburg on Thursday in another attempt to appoint a new CSTO secretary general.

The previous CSTO head, Yuri Khachaturov of Armenia, was dismissed last month after being charged by Armenian law-enforcement authorities in connection with a 2008 crackdown on opposition protesters in Yerevan.

Khachaturovs three-year tenure was due to expire in 2020. The Armenian government attempted to install another Armenian secretary general who would serve until 2020.

The presidents of Belarus and Kazakhstan objected to that at a November 8 summit held in the Kazakh capital Astana. They demanded that a representative of Belarus be named as new head of the CSTO.

The CSTO leaders said they will again try to reach consensus on the issue when they meet in Saint Petersburg.

Pashinian said on Sunday that in a recent phone call Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed to postpone the summit because of lingering differences between Russias ex-Soviet allies. I agreed to that because I think its better to solve that issue through working procedures, the Armenian prime minister told reporters.

A senior aide to Putin said on Tuesday, however, that it was Yerevan that initiated the summits cancelation because of parliamentary elections that will be held in Armenia on Sunday.

Russian news agencies quoted the official, Yury Ushakov, as saying: At their last meeting in Astana the [CSTO] leaders agreed on that [Saint Petersburg summit] but then decided not to hold the CSTO session [on December 6] given, in particular, a request from the Armenian side which cited the pre-election campaign.

This means, Ushakov went on, that the CSTOs acting secretary general, Russias Valery Semerikov, will continue to perform his duties for the time being.

Reacting to Ushakovs remarks, Pashinians spokesman Arman Yeghoyan insisted that the Armenian side never proposed the summit cancellation. Speaking to RFE/RLs Armenian service, Yeghoyan reaffirmed Pashinians December 2 statement on the issue.

Meanwhile, Pashinians most vocal election challenger, the Republican Party (HHK) of former President Serzh Sarkisian, seized upon the Kremlins claims to attack the premier.

Yet another lie by Nikol Pashinian has been quickly exposed, the HHKs deputy chairman, Armen Ashotian, wrote on Facebook. He accused the premier of sacrificing Armenias dignity and state interests.

HHK representatives have strongly criticized Pashinians handling of the CSTO issue during the parliamentary race. They claim that Armenia has lost the hard-won leadership position within the CSTO because of what they call reckless and politically motivated charges brought against Khachaturov.

Pashinian has brushed aside the criticism. He has also downplayed the significance of the CSTO post, saying that it has given Armenia few tangible benefits.

Moscow reacted angrily when the Armenian authorities charged Khachaturov as well as former President Robert Kocharian in July. A Kremlin official said the criminal case against the then CSTO secretary general dealt a colossal blow to the image of the whole organization.Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian insisted on Tuesday that he did not mean any crackdowns on dissent when he ordered Armenian security services to deal with his bitter opponents.

Speaking during an election campaign rally at the weekend, Pashinian decried false opposition claims about a government conspiracy against Karabakh and a suspension of Russian arms supplies to Armenia. They may amount to high treason, he said, adding that the countrys national security and military intelligence services must take action.

The remarks were denounced by top representatives of the Republican Party (HHK) and its former coalition partner, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun). A Dashnaktsutyun leader accused Pashinian of trying to stifle dissent ahead of Sundays parliamentary elections.

The prime minister dismissed such statements as he campaigned in the Armavir and Aragatsotn provinces.

What Im saying is that if people claim that the [Pashinian-led] revolution was part of a plan to hatch a conspiracy against Artsakh (Karabakh) or surrender Artsakh then they allege high treason, he told RFE/RLs Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).

Its a matter of national security, he said. Those people must be summoned and told: Give us your information. If there is such a thing then those conspirators must be identified and held accountable. But if it turns out that they simply make false statements, the public must at least know that they are provocateurs and liars. Thats all.

Pashinian spoke on Saturday of treacherous warmongers and some forces attempting to take subversive actions in our armys rear. They might be agents of foreign influence, he said without naming anyone.

In his latest campaign speeches, Pashinian turned on corrupt judges and other state officials. In Armenias judicial system there are numerous corrupt, thieving judges, he said. We will hold those judges accountable one by one.

Nobody in Armenia, no former, current or future official will digest what they have stolen, he pledged.By Narmina Mammadova

Azerbaijan and the United Arab Emirates enjoy strong trade and economic ties for more than 25 years already.

The event, dedicated to the 47th anniversary of the creation of the UAE was held in Baku on December 3.

Azerbaijan will send trade delegations to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on December 8-11, Azerbaijani Economy Minister, Shahin Mustafayev, said at an event.

"To promote our products under the 'Made in Azerbaijan' brand, we will organize the visits of trade delegations to Abu Dhabi and Sharjah on December 8-11, the minister said.

I would like to stress that Azerbaijans trade office launched its activity in UAE in 2017 and the establishment of Azerbaijans Trade House in Dubai is under completion," he added.

He said UAE invested $2.1 billion in Azerbaijan, of which $1.3 billion was invested in the oil sector, while $806 million - in the non-oil sector of the country.

Azerbaijan, in turn, has invested $330 million in the UAE, the minister said, adding that about 300 UAE companies operate in Azerbaijan.

According to the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee, the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and the UAE amounted to $28.457 million in January-July 2018, which is 67 percent more than in the same period of 2017.

At the same time, exports from Azerbaijan to the UAE amounted to $12.317 million (an increase of 58.8 percent), while imports - $16.139 million (by 73.8 percent).

Azerbaijan mainly imports high-tech products, electronics, industrial goods and building materials from the UAE and exports to the UAE fruits, juices, nuts, metal semi-finished products and so on.

The two countries enjoy good opportunities for mutual investments, joint implementation of various projects, including agricultural sector, as well as for the creation of joint ventures, especially in tourism sector. They agreed to establish a joint investment fund in 2016.

The UAE-Azerbaijan Joint Economic Committee previously said both countries were to focus on nine key areas for bilateral cooperation, including air transport, tourism, communications, environment, water, agriculture, renewable energy, modern technology and industry.

The UAE recognized the independence of Azerbaijan on December 26, 1991, while diplomatic relations between the sides were established on September 01, 1992.

The export missions of Azerbaijan continue to expand with the aim of promoting country's non-oil products abroad.

As many as 25 export missions are expected to be organized in 2019. Local entrepreneurs will participate in major trade fair in Russia, UAE and Germany in February. The new market at which Azerbaijan aims is South Korea, Azerbaijan will be participating in the food fair there in May 2019.

The export of non-oil products will stimulate the expansion of the Azerbaijani products and will further strengthen the non-oil sector's share in the structure of the GDP.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

The Data Processing Center (DPC) of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of Azerbaijan has signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation with Samsung, the DPC told Trend.

The memorandum was signed by the head of Samsung's local office, Jae Hun Lee and the director of the DPC, Elnar Asadov.

The DPC noted that according to the agreement, the parties will cooperate in innovation and software development for Samsung mobile devices.

The memorandum also provides for the development and implementation of an electronic document management system in Samsung mobile devices, the development of mobile security platforms, a platform for using electronic signatures, etc.

"Presently, as part of cooperation, work has begun to develop a special platform for the Azdoc electronic document management system, developed by local specialists. This solution is currently used within the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies, and in the future it can be used in all government agencies. It is possible to certify electronic documents using Azdoc," the DPC added.

--

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Laman Ismayilova

The 10th All-republican Creativity Exhibition-Fair of Physically Handicapped People has opened in the Icherisheher State History and Architecture Reserve on December 3

The event was dedicated to the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Population is the organizer of the event.

Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva attended the exhibitions inauguration, and viewed handicrafts being displayed there.

Leyla Aliyeva met with disabled people and children with restricted health condition  authors of the handicrafts, and had sincere talks with them.

The Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Population Sahil Babayev, informed the guests about the exhibition.

Over 1,500 handicrafts comprised of items of weaving, painting, plaiting, carpet-making, pottery-ceramics, wood-engraving, various examples of art and household, and embroidery by over 250 people with physical disabilities from various regions of the country are demonstrated at the event, which will continue for three days.

Sales of handicrafts have also been arranged at the exhibition, which aims at stimulating, in financial terms, the creative labour of disabled people and children with restricted health conditions.

In his speech, Sahil Babayev stressed that such events held to promote and support the talents and skills of people with disabilities in society, increase public attention to their creative potential, began to be initiated by national leader of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev back in the 1990s.

The special care of President Ilham Aliyev makes it possible to take meaningful steps to strengthen the social security of people with disabilities, expand their rehabilitation and integration into society.

Noting that the theme of this years International Day of Persons with Disabilities is "Empowering persons with disabilities and ensuring inclusiveness and equality," the minister said that today multi-vector work is being carried out to rehabilitate people with disabilities.

He stressed that the generous projects and initiatives of the First Vice-President of Azerbaijan, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva cover various vulnerable groups, including persons with disabilities.

Sahil Babayev also noted the importance of the activities of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation in supporting the social rehabilitation of persons with disabilities.

The Minister stressed that in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Azerbaijan, the relevant legislation has been improved. He said that the new law "On the Rights of Persons with Disabilities", adopted for this purpose, reflects the approach stemming from the progressive international experience in the field of persons with disabilities.

Speaking at the event, the UN Resident Coordinator in Azerbaijan, Ghulam Isaczai said that the main purpose of the institution, represented by the structure of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities is to increase public attention to people in this category. He noted that the work carried out in Azerbaijan, which joined the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, is aimed at fulfilling the obligations arising from this document and increasing the opportunities for people with disabilities to integrate into society.

Chairman of the jury for the assessment of handicrafts - head of the department of the Azerbaijan State Academy of Arts, carpet-making artist Mammadhuseyn Huseynov noted that each person with disabilities deserves a victory in the competition.

Then, participants distinguished by their special abilities were presented prizes.

Performances of dance groups comprised of inhabitants of the Vocational Rehabilitation Centre for the Youth with Restricted Health Condition No.1 of the State Social Protection Fund, under the ministry, and of child social service establishments took place in the framework of the exhibition-fair.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Laman Ismayilova

The works of Azerbaijani artist Vugar Muradov are showcased at Miami River Art Fair - 2018 on December 3-5.

Over the past years, Vugar Muradov has successfully participated at major international exhibitions and art fairs.

For example, last year his paintings were sent to the prestigious art fair in the United States. Muradov became the only Azerbaijani artist whose paintings were displayed at Art Basel Miami Beach 2017, the most extensive international exhibition of contemporary art in North America, Yenicag reported.

Last year, Art Basel Miami Beach attracted more than 77,000 art dealers, artists, collectors and art lovers. Art Basel is the only fair held at the Miami Beach Convention Center.

This time the works of the Azerbaijani artist are presented at the prestigious fair of modern art in Miami, which is annually visited by the most famous art dealers, art agents, gallery owners, art lovers and connoisseurs.

Art lovers can enjoy the works of national artist until December 5.

The talented artist born in 1967 is one of the iconic figures of modern painting of Azerbaijan.

Muradov usually says that he has everything that an artist could want: plentiful light suffusing the space through a glass wall and an open view across a bay in the Caspian to a cascade of oil derricks on the horizon. Standing guard over the district for more than a century, they evoke romantic thoughts and feelings.

His canvases "Mugham", "Adam and Eve", "Old Nodding Oil Derrick" are made up of many different faces contained in small squares and they gave rise to his cycle "Faces", which professionals have hailed as a new word in artistic craftsmanship.

Muradovs paintings are mainly bought by private collectors and the worlds most famous museums, including the Guggenheim Museum in New York and the same citys Museum of Modern Art, the Argentinean company Guevara Films, the Central and Eastern European Art Foundation in Washington, the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (Japan).

His painting "Garnet" was sold for $50,000 at Tokyo International Art Fair.

They embellish the offices of the Baltimore Sun newspaper (U.S.), Turkeys Ministry of Defence, the Lambri International company (Holland), the Peace Foundation, the French embassy in Azerbaijan and many private collections around the world.

Azerbaijani artist Vugar Muradov is also a member of the UNESCO International Federation of Art.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Laman Ismayilova

Lithuanian capital Vilnius hosts the 16th International Charity Fair under the auspices of Prime Minister's spouse Silvija Skvernele.

The event was attended by representatives of embassies and diplomatic missions of 35 foreign countries operating at Vilnius Ratus, Azertag reported.

The Azerbaijani Embassy in Lithuania was represented at the fair by two separate stands.

Delicious national dishes and sweets delighted the guests of the charity fair, Azertag reported.

Moreover, various types of fruit juices, wine dishes, silk bowls, handicrafts, souvenirs were showcased at Azerbaijan's pavilion.

The national stand caused great interest of Lithuanians and foreign guests.

Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Atesh Girkhiyev informed the Prime Minister of Lithuania Saulius Skvernelis about the national products.

At the same time, the participants of the fair were presented a special concert program featuring Azerbaijani music and dance prepared by young people living in Kaunas.

Azerbaijani group dance "Yalli", performed by the representatives of the Lithuanian and diplomatic corps, was met with great enthusiasm.

The fair was attended by the mayor of Vilnius Mayor of Vilnius Remigijus Simasius and the heads of diplomatic missions in Lithuania.

Each diplomat greeted the villagers in their own language. The event was broadcast live on the Lithuanian television and was widely covered by local media.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs must be more active in forcing Armenia into holding substantive negotiations with Azerbaijan for the problem to be resolved through a constructive dialogue of the sides, well-known Azerbaijani political analyst, former diplomat Fikret Sadikhov told Trend.

Sadikhov was commenting on the upcoming meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian ministers mediated by co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group.

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and Acting Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stephane Visconti of France and Andrew Schofer of the US) will meet on December 5 on the sidelines of the 25th OSCE Ministerial Council in Milan.

Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk will also participate in the meeting devoted to the discussion of the negotiation process on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

One of the reasons for the stagnation in the negotiation process is the crisis of the OSCE Minsk Group format, which for many years has demonstrated passivity in a mediation mission in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, Sadikhov said.

"None of the mediating countries in the OSCE Minsk Group format shows sufficient activity in the negotiation process, Sadikhov said. The results of visits of international mediators to the region, in particular to Armenia, Azerbaijan and the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region testify to that.

None of the mediating countries exert sufficient pressure on Armenia to force it to implement the resolutions of the UN Security Council, he said. I think that along with calls for the need for holding substantive negotiations, international mediators must come up with a specific package of proposals aimed at resolving the conflict.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

After the election in Armenia, Azerbaijan stands ready for substantial and intensive negotiations as proposed and supported by OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, Deputy Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration Hikmet Hajiyev said in an interview with EURACTIV Dec. 4.

On 11 November, the world marked the centenary of the end of the First World War, he said. Lessons learned from the First and Second World Wars are that the use of force against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of states have terrible consequences. Therefore, attempts to change the internationally recognized borders of states are inadmissible.

If Armenias new government intends to build a civilized state and provide a decent living for the Armenian population, it must comply with Armenias international commitments and withdraw its troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan as demanded by the four UN Security Council resolutions on this issue, he noted. Azerbaijani internally displaced persons (IDPs) should return to their homes and justice must be provided.

Armenia should learn to live in peace with neighboring countries without military aggression and territorial claims and cease its self-isolation, he added. Thereafter, the military risk factor can be eliminated, the status-quo of occupation can be changed and opportunities for a political settlement of the conflict may arise.

Hajiyev also commented on the talks held between President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan on the sidelines of the CIS heads of state meeting in Dushanbe in September this year.

As a result, Azerbaijan once again demonstrated its constructive position and strong determination to resolve the conflict through negotiations, Hajiyev said.

In Dushanbe, verbal agreement was reached to strengthen the ceasefire regime, to establish communications at low-levels and ensuring commitment to negotiations, he noted. After the election in Armenia, Azerbaijan stands ready for substantial and intensive negotiations as proposed and supported by OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. But, unfortunately, contrary to Azerbaijans goodwill and constructive position, Armenia continues its illegal activities in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, which are completely detrimental to establishing an environment conducive for negotiations.

Hajiyev went on to add that Armenia pursues the policy of annexation of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan with illegal activities and in this way attempts to strengthen the status quo of occupation.

Particularly disturbing is the settlement of Armenians from Syria to occupied territories and artificially changing the demographic situation in the seized lands, he said. According to the humanitarian law and Geneva Conventions, illegal activities in the occupied lands are forbidden. Exploitation of mineral resources of the occupied territories and their export without due diligence and transparency to OECD countries is yet another matter of serious concern. Armenia also destroys the centuries-old cultural heritage of Azerbaijani people in the seized lands. Some of them cannot be restored any longer.

He noted that Azerbaijan is a supporter of multilateralism and international cooperation.

We also are a staunch supporter of the reform and adaption of the universal institutions and tools to the realities of the modern times, he said. Baku will chair the Non-Aligned Movement in 2019-2022. [The Non-Alignment Movement is an international organization uniting 120 countries on the principles of non-participation in military blocs]. International peace and security issues are priority topics in the Agenda of the Non-Aligned Movement. Azerbaijan has strong will to contribute to the promotion of these goals during its chairmanship.

Azerbaijan today plays a role of global security platform where parties with completely different agendas find common ground, he noted. In this context, it is worth mentioning regular meetings of NATO and Russia and United States and Russia top military leadership in Baku.

He added that Azerbaijan was historically located on the ancient Silk Road.

The historical experience, the geopolitical location and the will to contribute global trade condition Azerbaijans active engagement and contribution in building different models of connectivity, he said. Today, Azerbaijan has the most up-to-date infrastructure in the region consisting of land, air, sea and railroad components of Silk Way. The recently commissioned Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad is a vivid example to this end. Since its inception, Azerbaijan supports the One Belt  One Road (OBOR) initiative of China, as well as it welcomes EUs concept of connectivity.

Establishment of transport corridors doesnt just mean freight, he noted.

Of course, it is more than that, he said. As the ancient Silk Road shows, it is the collaboration and mutual enrichment of civilizations and cultures. With its modern infrastructure and regional outreach capacities, Azerbaijan contributes to linking Chinese and European markets along East-West corridor within the shorter and efficient time frame. It will generate more jobs, prosperity and stability.

Hajiyev also touched upon Azerbaijans relations with the neighboring states and said that they are the priorities of Azerbaijans foreign policy.

Azerbaijan has friendly and partnership relations with both Turkey and Iran, he said. We cannot give advice. However, we can share Azerbaijans experience and lead by our own examples. Azerbaijan pursues a transparent, predictable and independent foreign policy. It does not interfere with the internal affairs of any state, and offers regional cooperation opportunities by finding common grounds between its interests and interests of its partners.

He added that Azerbaijans cooperation with Turkey and Iran, along with bilateral format, is developing on a trilateral basis and serves for the promotion of mutually beneficial regional partnership.

Last but not least, based on the reciprocal good will, shared interests and trust, it is possible to achieve successful models of bilateral cooperation, he said.

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There are strong relations between Azerbaijan and the UAE, Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to Azerbaijan Mohamed Ahmed Hamel Alqubaisi said.

Alqubaisi made the remarks at an event in Baku on Dec. 3 dedicated to the 47th anniversary of the creation of UAE.

Bilateral relations based on the principles of respect and cooperation, visits of the presidents, trade, economic and cultural relations, increasing tourist flow from the UAE to Azerbaijan testify to strong relations in various areas, the diplomat said.

The ambassador also stressed that an event dedicated to the three-year anniversary of the establishment of the Chamber of Commerce between Azerbaijan and the United Arab Emirates, which contributed to the expansion of ties, was held two weeks ago.

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Presdent of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation Konstantin Noskov.

Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation Konstantin Noskov thanked for inviting him to attend Bakutel 2018, the 24th Azerbaijan International Telecommunications, Innovations and High Technologies Exhibition in Baku. He highlighted a parallel meeting of the ministers of communications of the regional countries as part of the Regional Communication Union in Baku. The minister noted that this meeting and Bakutel exhibition will contribute to the expansion of international cooperation. Konstantin Noskov also hailed the successful cooperation between the relevant ministries of Russia and Azerbaijan. He said that the postal services of the two countries enjoy mutually beneficial collaboration, which allows to send large volumes of electronic trade products from China to Russia through Azerbaijan. Konstantin Noskov also pointed out ongoing talks on cooperation between mobile network operators of Azerbaijan and Russia.

President Ilham Aliyev praised the participation of Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation Konstantin Noskov in the 24th Bakutel exhibition, and stressed the importance of the gathering of communications ministers as part of the Regional Communication Union in expanding international cooperation. Emphasizing the growing international interest and the number of participating countries in Bakutel, which is traditionally held in Baku, the head of state underlined that this event creates good opportunity to get acquainted with achievements in the fields of telecommunications and technologies and conduct the exchange of experience.

It was noted that bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Russia are successfully developing in all areas, including in the field of communications. The sides expressed confidence that the visit of the Russian minister of digital development, communications and mass media will contribute to the strengthening of the bilateral ties.

The sides also exchanged views on cooperation in cyber security between the two countries` relevant authorities, exchange of experience and prospects for implementation of joint projects with neighboring countries.

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President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received a delegation led by Vice-President for Global Innovations at CISCO Guy Diedrich.

The head of state hailed CISCO's long-term successful cooperation with the government of Azerbaijan. President Ilham Aliyev pointed to the projects implemented by CISCO in a variety of areas in Azerbaijan, including in the field of transport, describing it as one of the priority sectors in the country.

Pointing out the creation of new infrastructure for regional cooperation, the head of state praised good opportunities for collaboration in other areas too.

Vice-President for Global Innovations at CISCO Guy Diedrich recalled his previous meeting with President Ilham Aliyev. He hailed the companys successful cooperation with Azerbaijan.

Saying he is pleased to be visiting Azerbaijan, Guy Diedrich noted that he came to discuss prospects for cooperation between Azerbaijan and CISCO. He noted the importance of maintaining this collaboration in compliance with Azerbaijan 2020: vision into the future Development Concept.

The sides underlined the importance of the Bakutel 2018, the 24th Azerbaijan International Telecommunications and Information Technologies Exhibition, saying that the event contributes to the strengthening of international cooperation.

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The OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, has received a letter from the State of Qatar giving notice of its intention to withdraw from its Membership of OPEC, pursuant to Article 8 of the OPEC Statute, with effect from 1 January 2019, said a message from the cartel.

The letter from His Excellency Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatars Minister of State for Energy Affairs, also expressed sincere appreciation to OPEC Member Countries, the OPEC Secretary General and all OPEC staff.



Every Member Country has the sovereign right to withdraw from the organization and this requires no approval from the OPEC Conference. The organization respects the decision taken by the State of Qatar.

The OPEC Secretariat expresses thanks to the State of Qatar for its support of the organization over the many decades of its membership, said the cartel.



In the past three years, OPEC has seen Gabon (2016) rejoin the organization and welcomed new members, Equatorial Guinea (2017) and the Republic of the Congo (2018). OPEC appreciates the continued interest of producers wanting to join the organization.



OPEC said it remains fully committed to achieving and sustaining balance and stability in the market, through the organization, and with the landmark Declaration of Cooperation, alongside 10 participating non-OPEC countries.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was founded in Baghdad, Iraq, with the signing of an agreement in September 1960 by five countries namely Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. They were to become the Founder Members of the Organization.

These countries were later joined by Qatar (1961), Indonesia (1962), Libya (1962), the United Arab Emirates (1967), Algeria (1969), Nigeria (1971), Ecuador (1973), Gabon (1975), Angola (2007), Equatorial Guinea (2017) and Congo (2018).

Ecuador suspended its membership in December 1992, but rejoined OPEC in October 2007. Indonesia suspended its membership in January 2009, reactivated it again in January 2016, but decided to suspend its membership once more at the 171st Meeting of the OPEC Conference on 30 November 2016. Gabon terminated its membership in January 1995. However, it rejoined the organization in July 2016.

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In the first eight months of the current Iranian year (started March 21), exports of Iran's Razavi Khorasan Province increased by 40 percent compared to the previous year, the acting governor general of the province, Ghorban Mirzaei, said, IRNA reported.

He noted that despite problems, exports of the province reached 1.919 million tons or $1.697 billion.

Meanwhile, imports of Razavi Khorasan amounted to 170,000 tons or $231 million, he added.

Thus, imports, compared to the same period of the previous Iranian year, decreased 12 percent in terms of weight, but increased 0.1 percent in terms of value.

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Uzbekistan invites investors to participate in a project to build a solar power plant with a capacity of 100 megawatts in the Navoi region, the State Investment Committee of Uzbekistan announced.

On Nov. 20, a conference was held in Tashkent for potential investors on the construction of the first solar power plant in the form of a public-private partnership (PPP). The event was organized by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the State Investment Committee of Uzbekistan and Uzbekenergo.

Representatives of the 22 largest energy companies and international financial organizations arrived in Uzbekistan to familiarize themselves with the technical features of this project and about the planned dates for the competitive selection.

Investors will be selected through a transparent and competitive tender, will have the opportunity to conclude a land lease agreement, a concession agreement and exploit and use the main assets of the power plant.

In May 2018, IFC signed an agreement with the Government of Uzbekistan to attract private sector investment in renewable energy in Uzbekistan.

IFC acts as a consultant to the government of Uzbekistan and Uzbekenergo on structuring PPPs, with the goal of mobilizing experience in attracting private investment for the construction and operation of a 100 megawatt solar power plant, which is planned to be built in the Navoi region.

This is only the first phase of the initiative to bring the total capacity of photovoltaic plants to 1,000 megawatts. The joint project aims to attract over $1 billion in private investment in the development of solar photovoltaic stations.

According to experts, this will allow not only to improve the energy supply of the country, but also to create a transparent and simplified mechanism for attracting investments, aimed further at the implementation of investment projects in other industries.

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In October 2018, 16,981 Belarusian tourists visited Turkey, which is 18.43 percent more compared to October 2017, the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry told Trend.

Belarusian citizens accounted for 0.45 percent of the total number of foreigners who visited Turkey in October 2018 compared to 0.48 percent in October 2017.

Some 237,172 tourists from Belarus visited Turkey in January-October 2018, which is 6.44 percent more than in the same period of 2017.

The ministry stressed that the share of Belarus citizens in the total number of foreigners who visited Turkey in January-October 2018 accounted for 0.67 percent.

The ministry noted that 3.8 million tourists visited Turkey in October 2018, which is 25.48 percent more than in the same period of 2017.

In January-October 2018, 35,571,419 tourists visited Turkey, which is 22.43 percent more compared to the same period in 2017.

In October 2018, 1,359,212 tourists visited Turkeys Antalya province and 1,230,070 tourists visited Istanbul.

In January-October 2018, 12,008,939 tourists visited Antalya, while 11,340,081 tourists - Istanbul.

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OPECs status will not be harmed as a result of Qatar's exit, Gal Luft, the co-director of the Washington-based Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, told Trend.

While the departure has political dimension having to do with its ongoing tension with the GCC a more important reason is that Qatar has long ago turned its focus from oil to gas, said the expert.

Luft pointed out that in oil it will always be a small fish in a big pond but when it comes to gas, and particularly LNG, it can play in the top league.

Therefore its investments will be more focused on the gas sector and I don't see it making huge investments in oil or ramping up production capacity. Gas is traded in long term contracts and it provides Qatar with long term fiscal stability unlike oil countries that have to endure the dramatic ebbs and flows of the oil market, noted the expert.

Furthermore, Luft believes that Qatar can divert more investments to gas-chemicals and other related downstream industries to maximize its gas profits. Simply put, it can afford to dump oil.

Qatar's departure would not mean much for the cartel, according to the expert.

After all it only contributes 2 percent of OPEC's output. The impact on the global oil market will also be negligible. Qatar did not want its membership in OPEC to be used to pressure it. Nor did it want to serve as a holder of the balance between the Iranians and the Gulf Sunni countries. It is a bold and forward looking decision, he said.

As for OPEC, its status will not be harmed as a result of Qatar's exit. Only this year the cartel admitted Congo Republic as a new member and its close coordination with Russia has boosted its status as a market maker.

Qatar has announced it will withdraw from OPEC on 1 January 2019, putting an end to its 57-year membership of the producers cartel. Qatar, which said it intends to focus on its gas production, made the announcement ahead of the 6 December OPEC meeting.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Kamila Aliyeva

Serious passions flare up in Armenia, where elections resemble the nagging of two opposing camps about each others bad behavior.

One side is represented by acting prime-minister Nikol Pashinyan with his My step party and the other is RPA  the party which had the power before the velvet revolution.

Both sides point to various mistakes of the opponent, criticize each other, and, of course, do not miss the topic of Karabakh in this regard.

Armenian authorities strive to reinforce their positions at the expense of the interests of Nagorno-Karabakh, David Shahnazaryan, member of the electoral list of the Republican Party of Armenia said, Sputnik Armenia reported.

He considers the initiation of a criminal case against the now former CSTO Secretary General Yuri Khachaturov one of the manifestations of such an anti-Karabakh policy.

A criminal case was initiated against him for overthrowing the constitutional order. The events of March 1-2, 2008, when opposition speeches after the presidential election were suppressed with the involvement of the troops of the Yerevan garrison, commanded by Khachaturov, are being taken into account. Many were killed and wounded. Nikol Pashinyan, who is now the Prime Minister of Armenia, took an active part in the riots.

This situation is clearly a failure of Armenia, as the country became an extra burden and problem for the CSTO.

In general, since the organization's establishment, there has been no other state than this that caused so much damage to the CSTO as Armenia. This defeat of Armenia mirrored its poor authority in international organizations and contradiction of its principled position to common interests.

The fact that a criminal case was initiated against the CSTO secretary general without consultations with other member countries is the biggest disrespect to the charter of the structure.

Shahnazaryan states that as a result of this policy, Armenia has lost such an important position in the conditions when Azerbaijan is clearly preparing for war.

Of course, the statement that Azerbaijan is preparing for war is unreasonable, as the country has always showed that it is interested in peaceful resolution of the long-lasting conflict.

However, the part of the statement that says that Armenia lost support of an important international organization is true and undeniable.

Shahnazaryan also considers that another failure is the actual removal of agreements reached in Vienna, St. Petersburg and Geneva from the agenda of negotiations.

Then it was about the introduction of confidence-building measures on the contact line in Nagorno-Karabakh, the use of mechanisms for investigating incidents and the exchange of prisoners. Now this agenda has been lost, the RPA representative is convinced.

With regards to prisoners exchange, Armenia has taken a wrong course by rejecting Azerbaijans offer to exchange all-for-all, and actually this step might make people of Armenia displeased with the current government. Armenian people are tired of lasting war, deep economic crisis and inability to return home.

While the political forces of Armenia look back in search of mistakes of their opponents, the problems will not resolve themselves.

What Armenia actually needs now is a leader who will bring the country to the path of constructive dialogue on the settlement of the conflict, as all other internal problems of the country might be fully resolved only after the end of the occupation of Azerbaijani territories.By Abdul Kerimkhanov

The first wine tourist route in the history of Azerbaijan may appear, head of the tourism product development department of the Azerbaijan Tourism Bureau Ilkin Javadov said.

The wine route will be fully developed by mid-2019, said Javadov, Sputnik Azerbaijan reported.

A new highly specialized tourist route will pass through the wineries of Azerbaijan. As Javadov said, the path will run through Absheron, then - through Ismayilli, Shirvan, Gabala, Sheki and Goygol regions.

Tourism experts intend to pave the route in such a way that within a few days foreigners would be taken from one region to another, giving them the opportunity to visit wineries where the legendary Azerbaijani alcoholic beverages are produced.

In addition, tourists will get the opportunity to personally taste wine drinks.

Then, the Tourism Bureau of Azerbaijan intends to connect it with the famous Georgian wine route, paving the way for tourists from Sheki to Kakheti, Georgian region.

Recently, a meeting of wine-making entrepreneurs with Executive Director of the Tourism Bureau Florian Sengstschmid was held. The parties agreed to begin an advertising campaign for new tourism products, after detailed study of the route.

It is possible that by the end of 2019, foreigners will come to Azerbaijan to not only visit Baku but also taste the wines directly from the cellars of the wineries.

Wine is a wonderful Azerbaijani alcoholic drink, which, according to reputable experts, can compete with products of European winemakers. In the Land of Fire, people learned how to do it centuries ago, as evidenced by various archaeological finds. Since ancient times, Azerbaijan has been growing its own, national varieties of grapes, which are not found anywhere else in the world. The most famous among them are Mattress, Ag Shany, Merendi, and Bayanshir. Today the area of vineyards in the country is more than 65,000 hectares, wine products are produced at 32 plants. The range of wines supplied from Azerbaijan includes ordinary, vintage and collectable red and white varieties. Their distinctive features are a pronounced national style, exquisite aroma and many-sided, velvety taste.

Winemaking is one of the profitable and historical spheres of the agro-industry. About 210 wineries operated in Azerbaijan in the 1980s, while over 151,000 workers and specialists worked in the winemaking system.

On the territory of Azerbaijan, both white and red wines are produced. In particular, most wines are produced at the Khachmaz factory. Hence the best white, red and pink wines are exported to Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States, Poland, France, Spain, Turkey and China.

Production of wine and wine-making products in Azerbaijan exceeded 1 million decalitres in 2017, of which 375,000 decalitres were exported. Thus, wine products from the country were mainly sent to Russia (338,000 decals) and China (27,000 decals). Wine exports increased by more than 80 percent over five months of 2018 compared to the first five months of 2017.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Abdul Kerimkhanov

The number of tourists arriving in Azerbaijan is planned to double until 2023, said Florian Sengstschmid, Executive Director of the Azerbaijan Tourism Bureau, speaking at the first General Assembly of the Azerbaijan Hotel Association in Baku.

He declared that one of the main tasks is to turn Azerbaijan into one of the attractive and successful tourist spaces.

Sengstschmid noted that the tourism strategy, covering the period up to 2023, is carried out in nine areas.

This is the accumulation of experience, education in tourism, innovation and technology, branding, marketing and other areas, he said.

The executive director added that for the development of tourism in the country, in particular, the hotel industry, the most important area is the cooperation between the state and business.

If the state cooperates with travel agencies, this sphere will develop faster, he added.

A new national star rating system will be applied for hotels in Azerbaijan in September-December 2019, and in December hotels will be assigned stars, said Executive Director of the newly-established Association of Hotels Gunay Saglam, speaking at the event.

She declared that for transparency in the system of national classification of hotels audit commissions will be brought in from outside.

At the next Assembly, we will tell you how and in what form the classification will be conducted. To ensure the neutrality and objectivity of the system, all inspections will be carried out by two experienced hotel professionals who have been trained and approved by the Azerbaijan Hotel Association, said Saglam.

Noting that already 36 hotels are members of the Azerbaijan Hotel Association, Saglam added that in 2019 the Association will not have to pay membership fees, and from 2020, membership fees will be established in accordance with various categories.

As she said, a commission on the hotel classification system will be created in May 2019, and training on star classification will be organized for hotels in June-August.

The new system will not be applied immediately; first, trainings will be held. There are 500-600 hotels in Azerbaijan. All of them will be informed about this, so we will gather all representatives of the hotel industry from Baku and the regions, she concluded.

Four Seasons Hotel hosted the First General Assembly of the Association of Hotels of Azerbaijan on December 4.

The main goal of the First General Assembly is to unite the hotel industry specialists and inform the assembly participants about the structure, charter, future activities, goals of the newly established Association of Azerbaijan Hotels.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzSelected as Schwarzman Scholars to earn masters degrees at Chinas Tsinghua University, students Veronica Chua and Elliot Shuwei Ji are also both Deans Achievement Scholars at Emory. Emory Photo/Video

Learn more about scholarships Students interested in learning more about the Schwarzman Scholars Program and other prestigious awards should contact Megan Friddle in the National Scholarships and Fellowships Program. Find more information or schedule an appointment through the National Scholarships & Fellowships Program website.

Emory College senior Elliot Shuwei Ji, Emory/Georgia Tech dual degree engineering student Veronica Chua and recent alumna Zhongyuan Echo Zeng have been selected as Schwarzman Scholars for the Class of 2020, for graduate study in China next year.

They are Emorys fifth Schwarzman Scholars in the programs four years and among 147 remarkable students from across the globe selected from more than 2,800 applicants. Enrolling in August 2019, they will earn masters degrees from Tsinghua University while getting exposure to Chinese culture, business networks and leaders.

The selection of three students for the Schwarzman Scholars program is a recognition of Emorys success in preparing students for global careers, says Joanne Brzinski, senior associate dean for undergraduate education.

All three students have used opportunities at Emory for research, internships and study abroad to gain practical, hands-on experience that was key to their success.

Each scholar will earn a masters degree in global affairs, with a focus in one of three disciplines: economics and business, international studies, and public policy. Combined with the cultural immersion, the program is designed to bridge academic and professional worlds to educate students about leadership and Chinas expanding global role.

Elliot Shuwei Ji: Exploring politics and policy

Ji is a Deans Achievement Scholar who will earn his bachelors degree in political science with a concentration in international relations in the spring, after just three years of study.

Going to Tsinghua University, one of Chinas leading universities, will be a homecoming of sorts. He was born in Beijing, moving with his family to New Jersey when he was 13.

Between high school and college, Ji worked at the 5th World Peace Forum at Tsinghua University, where he helped coordinate the arrival of speakers, including a former Japanese prime minister and Chinas vice premier. He also served as an interpreter for dignitaries who included the former foreign minister of Bangladesh and Australia during the forum event.

Thats what really got me thinking beyond politics into political science and policy, Ji says. There is a political perception of the two countries I call home, the United States and China, but it is how they see each other and their style of governance that has implications in diplomacy, trade and other relations.

Ji has conducted research in those arenas through an internship at the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution. He has also worked as a research assistant at the Carter Center and as a fellow at Emorys Center for Law and Social Science.

He credits political science professors Jennifer Gandhi and Eric Reinhardt, among other mentors, with providing guidance and support for his academic training and independent research project on China.

The Schwarzman Scholarship will give him a chance to further expand his research on his way to a graduate program in political science or law. It also provides a practical understanding of his work, with a chance to conduct field research in China.

Understanding China is vital to the future of the U.S., Ji says. Emory prepared me so well to think about policy, international relations and comparative governance. This is an option to explore those academic questions with the exposure and experience that makes it practical.

Veronica Chua: Cultivating global connections

Chua is a Deans Achievement Scholar who will graduate with Phi Beta Kappa distinction in December from a five-year dual degree program between Emory and the Georgia Institute of Technology.

On campus, she served as a mentor for the Multicultural Outreach and Resources at Emory (MORE) program. She also is the founder and author of Emorys first-ever guide for the dual degree program, which has been accessed and viewed by hundreds of students across the globe.

I want to encourage more students to combine the liberal arts and STEM, Chua says. Linking that kind of strategic thinking with technical thinking is what enables us to tackle the most pressing issues in society.

Regarding the inspiration behind writing her guide, Chua says, My undergraduate experience at Emory was everything I had imagined and so much more. I am eternally grateful for the unwavering support and guidance I received. My hope is that I am able to pay it forward and pave the way for the next generation.

Chua plans to harness her degree in mathematics and economics from Emory and her degree in industrial and systems engineering from Georgia Tech to develop a cross-border shipping model for small businesses. She specifically aims to establish partnerships between American and Chinese logistics providers, so delivery operations can be executed in a more time- and cost-effective manner.

Her mission is driven by her professional experiences, given Chuas internships with Nestle USA in supply chain and procurement, The Home Depot in e-commerce and Roark Capital Group in private equity.

Its also personal. Her parents moved from the Philippines to set up a medical practice in Miami. Her father is a cardiologist, while her mother is the accountant and business manager.

Being a Schwarzman Scholar means not only expanding my knowledge but also cultivating connections throughout the world, she says. Small businesses are the lifeblood of socioeconomic prosperity, but they need the tools to compete on the global scale. I believe the key is improving cross-border shipping, and you can only do that through international dialogue and collaboration.

Following her time as a Schwarzman Scholar, Chua will join McKinsey & Company as a business analyst in their operations practice.

Echo Zeng: Addressing urban poverty



As a Schwarzman Scholar,

recent Emory graduate Echo Zeng

plans to study public housing provisions

in Chinese cities.

A Beijing native, Zeng was starting to notice the social fragmentation in her hometown right before she arrived at Emorys Oxford College.

Later, serving as a student volunteer at Arrendale State Prison, where she helped conduct an English memoir class with female inmates, gave her an up-close look at problems that institutional discrimination and housing segregation could create.

Her concerns came together when, studying international business and marketing at Goizueta Business School, she took an urban planning seminar while studying abroad at the ESSEC Business School in Paris.

I saw there are so many things that policymakers can do to make cities more inclusive, Zeng says. I saw my own city grow at an unprecedented speed, yet with so many social groups left out in sharing such urban prosperity. More voices need to be appreciated as Chinas next wave of urbanization arrives.

Zeng graduated in 2017 with a business degree from Goizueta and a double major in political science. She will graduate from the University of Pennsylvania this spring with a masters degree in city planning  just in time to apply her knowledge as a Schwarzman Scholar.

Her focus will be on public housing provisions, the scarce low-rent housing for low- and middle-income residents, in Chinas first-tier cities, and on the renewal of urban villages, the substandard communities in cities where migrant workers live.

Zeng shadowed leaders in a Beijing urban village last year, providing her with the hands-on experience she hopes to supplement with her Schwarzman study. Her plan is to then remain in China, using her training and experience in public service, working to mitigate urbanization struggles.

I really appreciate the fact Emory gave me the opportunity to learn about urban poverty through the lens of American society and on a global scale, she says. I want to add the opportunities as a Schwarzman Scholar to that global experience to help my hometown and more China cities.Emory University President Claire E. Sterk has charged a search advisory committee with the recruitment and identification of the most highly qualified candidates for Emorys next university chaplain and dean of spiritual and religious life.

The search advisory committee has an outstanding opportunity to identify a slate of top-tier spiritual and religious life leadership candidates for our campus family, Sterk says. I see us becoming ever-greater stewards of our dynamic religious and spiritual history, and I know we will find creative new avenues to embolden and strengthen our work together.

The search advisory committee  chaired by Robert M. Franklin Jr., senior advisor to the president and the James T. and Berta R. Laney Professor in Moral Leadership  will work with the Emory community to identify a slate of leading candidates for Emorys university chaplain role.

More than 10 listening sessions have been scheduled with relevant stakeholders, and an open call session will provide opportunities for anyone in the Emory community to attend and provide input on the search process and the ideal candidate. More information about these sessions can be found at: http://executivesearch.emory.edu/universitychaplain/

Says Franklin, Were seeking an individual who can provide truly visionary leadership within the demanding context of a major research university. The university chaplain will offer a visible and effective presence, working across our community to foster interfaith engagement, to provide holistic and pastoral support, to steward the chapel, and to encourage the development of the spiritual lives and ethical awareness of our students, faculty, and staff.

The optimal candidate will be both a practitioner and a scholar who embodies the role of chief caretaker, and who brings an exceptional level of experience working with university and interfaith partnerships.

The search advisory committee will identify and interview applicants throughout the first quarter of 2019 and will present three finalists to the president, with the expectation that Emorys next chaplain will be identified during the spring semester.

Search Advisory Committee

Chair:

Robert M. Franklin Jr., Chair, Senior Advisor to the President, James T. and Berta R. Laney Professor in Moral Leadership

Members:

Lynell Cadray , Vice Provost, Equity and Inclusion

, Vice Provost, Equity and Inclusion Letitia Campbell , Director of Contextual Education I and Clinical Pastoral Education; Assistant Professor in the Practice of Ethics & Society

, Director of Contextual Education I and Clinical Pastoral Education; Assistant Professor in the Practice of Ethics & Society Jonathan Crane, Raymond F. Schinazi Scholar in Bioethics and Jewish Thought

Raymond F. Schinazi Scholar in Bioethics and Jewish Thought Deborah Marlowe , Emory University Board of Trustees

, Emory University Board of Trustees Judy Raggi Moore , Professor of Pedagogy, Director, Italian Studies

, Professor of Pedagogy, Director, Italian Studies Lobsang Tenzin Negi , Professor of Practice and Director, Emory-Tibet Partnership, Co-Director, Emory Collaborative for Contemplative Studies

, Professor of Practice and Director, Emory-Tibet Partnership, Co-Director, Emory Collaborative for Contemplative Studies Akshar Patel , Student Representative

, Student Representative Mathew Pinson , Associate Dean of Advancement and Alumni Engagement

, Associate Dean of Advancement and Alumni Engagement Mary Priniski , Interim Director of the Aquinas Center

, Interim Director of the Aquinas Center Anjulet Tucker , Director of Programs & Engagement, Search Liaison

, Director of Programs & Engagement, Search Liaison Isam Vaid , (93Ox, 95C, 99MPH) Alumnus Representative, Muslim Student Advisor, Religious Life Scholar

, (93Ox, 95C, 99MPH) Alumnus Representative, Muslim Student Advisor, Religious Life Scholar Khalia Williams , Assistant Dean of Worship and Music, Assistant Professor in the Practice of Worship & Co-Director of the Baptist Studies Program

, Assistant Dean of Worship and Music, Assistant Professor in the Practice of Worship & Co-Director of the Baptist Studies Program Theresa Milazzo, Interim Vice President, Human Resources, Search Advisor

The Office of Spiritual and Religious Life (OSRL) at Emory University provides varied and rich opportunities to enhance the religious and spiritual life of members of the Emory community in a variety of ways, including creating and sustaining community, encouraging multi-religious service and outreach, and supporting the Emory community in continuing ethical and spiritual formation. OSRL partners with a team of tradition-specific chaplains, religious life advisors, and campus ministers to support a wide range of student religious groups recognized by the university.

The OSRL provides oversight of Cannon Chapel, which was consecrated in 1981. Named for William Cannon, a former dean of Candler School of Theology and later a bishop in the United Methodist Church, the building houses the office of the University Chaplain, Candler School of Theologys offices, and academic space. The office works with religious life staff representing various religious traditions on Emory's Atlanta and Oxford campuses to develop an extraordinarily diverse religious life program on Emorys Atlanta and Oxford campuses. Hallmark programs include Journeys, the Inter-Religious Council (IRC), International Student Coffee Hour, and Off the Record.Bush house facts

Claim to fame: Two future presidents lived here briefly from June until September 1949: George H.W. Bush and his then-3-year-old son, George W., along with the elder Bush's wife, future first lady Barbara Bush.

Location: 2101 Monterey St., at the southeast corner of Wyant Avenue, just west of Mt. Vernon Avenue.

Year built: 1939

Square feet: 965

Layout: Two bedrooms, one bath, dining room, detached single-car garage.

Color: white

Potential use: Kern County planning commissioners granted the Abernathys a permit to turn the site into a museum in September 2005.

Fourth Bush: Barbara was pregnant during her time in Bakersfield with daughter Robin, who was born in Compton in December 1949 and died from leukemia in October 1953, two months shy of her fourth birthday.Birthday wishes

Call 281-422-8302 or email david.bloom@baytownsun.com to wish someone a happy birthday. We will print your birthday wish on Page 2 of The Sun.

Happy Birthday WishesPeople are clucking about a new billboard off Highway 101 in San Jose that claims feminism and egg consumption are incompatible. The message isn't sitting well with vegans or feminists (or vegan feminists).

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals are behind the new sign, which went up last week at 1221 Oakland Road, near the Burger King and Carl's Jr.

Featuring a blonde woman with an egg in place of her face, the billboard reads: "Face it  you can't claim to be a feminist and still eat eggs." In smaller print, it says, "Eggs and dairy are a product of the abuse of females."

PETA is not referring to abuses of women workers in the agriculture and farming industries, but the abuse of female animals. It should be noted here that the widely accepted definition of "feminism" is "the advocacy of women's rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes." Though "female" can be used to describe the sexes of animals, "woman" applies only to humans.

A new video PETA released alongside the billboard claims that consuming eggs and dairy products exploit "females' reproductive systems and therefore must be rejected by feminists." The video explains that dairy farmers keep their cows "almost constantly" pregnant by forcibly inseminating them, before separating them from their calves and harvesting their milk. It also claims that hens are slaughtered when they can no longer produce eggs. In 2016, PETA espoused a similarly controversial message in a video that compared animal food production to rape.

PETA spokesperson Marissa Price explained that San Jose is an ideal target for the billboard's message because it is a city full of "strong women" and students with the highest median income for women of all U.S. cities.

Price said the campaign was created on the heels of the #MeToo Movement.

"In this ad, we're asking people to go vegan in solidarity with female animals who are being sexually abused," she said. Price claims the billboard was in-part informed by intersectional feminism, which she defined as a "rallying cry to stand up to all kinds of systemic abuse."

The phrase "intersectional feminism" was first used by scholar and civil rights activist Kimberle Crenshaw in 1989 to call for a more comprehensive feminist movement that took into greater account the experiences of women of color. Intersectionality has since evolved to encompass the interplay of many kinds of discrimination, not just gender and race.

The billboard - like other PETA campaigns before it - has caused a splash on social media. Many people called the ad an attention-getting scheme with a muddled message.

"As a feminist and a vegan I hate this," wrote @julialovesbirds on a Reddit thread about the billboard with nearly 1,000 comments. "This makes veganism seem like a cult instead of a choice based on our personal ethics," she continued. "This just turns off people who are considering veganism/vegetarianism."

"You can be a vegan AND a feminist without linking the two. You shouldn't HAVE to be vegan to be a feminist," wrote @ihatenewaccts.

@sistersiren found the billboard compelling. "As a person who is vegan, I am fully on board with this sign," she wrote. "I think it needs a bit more explanation, but it could get some people thinking and curious, which is the point."

According to @PossiblyExcellent, the billboard accomplishes its goal of convincing folks to stop consuming egg and dairy products. "It's not an advertisement for PETA or feminism or even for veganism  it's an advertisement to convert people to veganism/vegetarianism," he wrote. "It's brilliantly utilitarian, like PETA has been for years  they are experts at getting maximum exposure for minimum cost."

Let us know what you think of the billboard in the comments.

Read Michelle Robertson's latest stories and send her news tips at mrobertson@sfchronicle.com.

Start receiving breaking news emails on wildfires, civil emergencies, riots, national breaking news, Amber Alerts, weather emergencies, and other critical events with the SFGATE breaking news email. Click here to make sure you get the news.A local trucking company hopes a $100,000 donation to the Southeast Texas Emergency Relief Fund will spur others in the business community to reinvigorate the Harvey relief effort.

Freightliner-Sterling-Western Star dealership general manager Michael McCormick presented the check on behalf of the dealerships parent company, SelecTransportation Resources, on Tuesday.

We realize the recovery from Hurricane Harvey is very much ongoing, Houston Freightliner Human Resources Manager Erin Ellis said, while encouraging other corporate entities to join in.

The Relief Fund plans to use the money for needs not met by government aid, board chairman Robert Edgar said.

That often means giving it to organizations that multiply funds by bringing in volunteer labor and using the money for materials.

Theyre leveraging their dollars to take $1 in materials and turning it into $8 of value, Edgar said.

Relief Fund co-founder Regina Rogers said Tropical Storm Harvey was particularly devastating because so many people lacked flood insurance and because state and national groups have focused so much attention on damage in the Houston area. This donation helps bring a focus back to Southeast Texas.

It re-emphasized the need in the area, she said, adding that, not everyone realizes the number of people who are still out of their homes and recovering from Harvey.

kaitlin.bain@beaumontenterprise.com

twitter.com/KaitlinBainThe requested page is currently unavailable on this server.

Back to [RTHK News Homepage]The Houston City Council approved a community improvement district to fund Houston, Mo.-based Texas County Memorial Hospital's proposed on-campus surgery center, the Houston Herald reports.

Here's what you should know:

1. The council fully approved the tax incentive Nov. 19, with a 3-2 vote. Property owners in the hospital area will now pay a quarter-cent sales tax to help fund the surgery center.

2. TCMH believes the on-campus surgery center is "key" for the hospital's financial health.

3. TCMH's financial health is improving. The hospital recently posted its sixth consecutive month with positive finances, but revenues remain low after a weak start to the year. TCMH has lost $180,018 for the year, to date.

4. TCMH recently added two surgeons to accommodate stronger-than-anticipated outpatient surgical growth.The Trump administration released a lengthy document examining the healthcare industry and making recommendations for changes going forward.

The document, titled "Reforming America's Healthcare System Through Choice and Competition," was created as a collaboration between the HHS, U.S. Department of Treasury and U.S. Department of Labor. It touches on several aspects of healthcare, including the insurance market, consolidation and the ACA's moratorium on physician-owned hospitals.

Since the moratorium took place in 2010, 37 planned physician-owned hospitals were not constructed, according to the report, but now the Trump administration recommends lifting the moratorium.

"These restrictions, which were favored by the American Hospital Association, were included to address potential financial conflicts of interest with doctors referring patients to their own hospitals and concerns that physicians may be referring the healthiest patients to their hospitals. Those concerns may have been overstated, considering that many studies suggest physician-owned hospitals provide higher-quality care and that patients benefit when traditional hospitals have greater competition."

The document goes on to cite a study published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons showing physician-owned surgical hospitals performed better in Medicare's value-based purchasing programs than non-physician-owned hospitals. Studies also show patients are less likely to experience complications at physician-owned specialty hospitals.

As a result, the report recommended Congress replace current restrictions. "Congress should consider repealing the ACA changes to physician self-referral law that limited physician-owned hospitals," the report states.

In addition to preventing new physician-owned hospitals, the moratorium banned existing physician-owned hospitals from expanding. As a result, physician-owned hospitals have found it challenging to grow and survive in the changing healthcare market. Last week, El Paso (Texas) Surgical Hospital, a physician-owned hospital focused on orthopedics, said it would close at the end of the year, citing financial and operational issues.Nashville, Tenn.-based Surgery Partners plans to hold a multifacility job fair Dec. 5 in Tampa, Fla., encouraging medical professionals to kickstart their careers before the New Year.

Here's what you should know:

1. Recruiters and hiring leaders will conduct interviews at Tampa-based Armenia Surgery Center and Tampa Pain Relief Center from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

2. Armenia Surgery Center is seeking to fill full-time registered nurse, surgical technician, radiology technologist, licensed practical nurse and patient care technician positions.

3. Tampa Pain Relief Center is looking to hire a full-time certified medical assistant, call center scheduler, patient retention specialist, receptionist and medical office coordinator at its Tampa and Palm Harbor, Fla., locations.ORHub plans to implement its Surgical Spotlight data analytics platform across three health systems in California and Florida.

Here's what you should know:

1. Surgical Spotlight is designed to replace trial-and-error and manual operational processes, helping perioperative managers make decisions that drive revenue and improve margins.

2. The analytics platform tracks key performance indicators affecting operating room productivity.

3. ORHub's data analytics platform can generate an estimated nine times return on investment, according to the company's internal research.

4. With a focus on the surgical business, ORHub aims to improve ASC, hospital and health system profitability. It has offices in Tempe, Ariz.; Newport and Laguna Beach, Calif.; Bellevue, Wash.; and Jacksonville, Fla.

"We are excited that the rapid market adoption of our Surgical Spotlight platform can yield measurable results as we understand that the OR is a key financial driver for most health systems," said ORHub CEO Colt Melby. "We now provide our clients with the tools to overcome operational deficits that affect their ability to deliver outstanding patient care, while still meeting volume, efficiency and cost goals."Knoxville, Tenn.-based Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, owned by Knoxville-based Covenant Health, has unveiled plans for its $115 million expansion, according to Knox News.

The expansion, first announced in April, also will renovate the hospital's emergency department and critical care units.

The hospital's ED will nearly double in size, growing from 28 beds to 45. The waiting area will expand to accommodate more than 50 people.

The new two-floor critical care unit will house more spacious rooms and 72 beds, up from 45 beds.

The project will add 250 parking spaces.Louisville, Ky.-based Jewish Hospital and St. Mary's Healthcare posted an operating loss of $17.7 million in the third quarter of 2018, which equates to roughly $1.5 million in losses per week, according to Insider Louisville.

The financial report was filed by Englewood, Colo-based Catholic Health Initiatives, the nonprofit that owns Louisville-based KentuckyOne Health, which runs Jewish Hospital. CHI noted the results were slightly better than the third quarter of 2017, where operating losses exceeded $20 million.

KentuckyOne Health revealed plans to sell Jewish Hospital in May 2017, citing "significant challenges" in the healthcare industry. In December 2017, the health system said it entered exclusive negotiations with BlueMountain Capital Management, a New York investment firm. However, the two parties have not reached an agreement.

Despite the stalled sale, CHI said it continues to expect the proposed sale of Jewish Hospital to be completed by June 30.

However, unnamed sources cited by Insider say the deal is in trouble and that affected parties are preparing for the facility's closure. In November, reports surfaced that The University of Louisville is making contingency plans to move several medical programs out of Jewish Hospital amid uncertainty about the hospital's future ownership.

CHI's financial report only provides performance for both of its Louisville facilities combined as a unit dubbed JHSMH. It is unclear whether both parties are losing money or if St. Mary's is offsetting the operating losses at Jewish Hospital.

Overall, the combined entity of JHSMH holds a value of about $20 million, but carry a debt load that is roughly four-times that amount, according to the report.The Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems has updated price information on OregonHospitalGuide.org, a website that offers cost estimates on common procedures.

The association said the new data, based on state reporting, displays the costs of the most common inpatient and outpatient procedures at Oregon hospitals and allows patients to compare pricing among facilities.

"Hospitals are dedicated to the concept that every Oregonian, whether insured, uninsured or out of network should be empowered with the financial information they need to make better healthcare decisions for themselves and their families," said Andy Davidson, the association's president and CEO. "We hope our communities find value in the new data we have posted this year."

On the website, patients can search hospitals by name. For each hospital, users can click on "procedure costs" to access the new data.

Access the website here.

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Fitch: Healthcare profit margins will face pressure in 2019Boca Raton, Fla.-based Cancer Treatment Centers of America laid off 50 employees in Atlanta, according to the Newnan Times-Herald.

One employee told the publication layoffs included physicians, licensed practical nurses and an acupuncturist.

Cancer Treatment Centers of America did not provide details about the layoffs, but its statement to the Times-Herald cited reimbursement issues.

"Like the vast majority of U.S. healthcare providers facing pressure to reduce costs, Cancer Treatment Centers of America has found it necessary to make certain organizational and staffing changes to align with declining reimbursement trends," the statement said

Two employees told the Times-Herald laid-off employees were given a month's severance pay.

Cancer Treatment Centers of America operates hospitals in Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Tulsa, Okla., as well as outpatient centers in Illinois and Arizona. It reportedly is laying off employees systemwide, including in Boca Raton.

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The Trump administration issued a 119-page manifesto Nov. 3 detailing more than 50 recommendations to promote choice and competition in the U.S. healthcare system.

Here are seven things to know about the report:

1. It is a product of a working group comprising members of HHS and the Departments of Treasury and Labor. It was created as a response to the Oct. 12, 2017, executive order from President Donald Trump.

2. The report describes how various stakeholders, laws and regulations affect the current state of healthcare competition. The conclusion is that healthcare spending is rising, and the administration believes certain regulations are suffocating choice and competition. Its recommendations to reverse course fall under four general areas.

3. The first area is the healthcare workforce. Several key recommendations to promote competition and choice in this arena include:

Broadening the scope of practice for practitioners like physician assistants and dental hygienists so they can be paid directly and require less supervision.

Providing better reimbursement for telehealth.

Enabling multistate medical licenses, and along with that, flexibility to provide telehealth across state lines.

Reallocating graduate medical education funding based on which hospitals train the most residents in in-demand specialties.

4. The second area addresses provider markets. Recommendations include:

Repealing or scaling back state certificate-of-need statutes that limit building new hospitals.

Reducing restrictions on physician-owned hospitals.

Allowing the Federal Trade Commission to monitor nonprofit healthcare entities.

5. The third area is insurance markets. Recommendations include:

Scaling back the ACA's employer insurance mandates.

Expanding the use of health savings accounts, potentially to all Americans, including Medicare enrollees.

Promoting association health plans and short-term, limited-duration insurance plans.

Promoting Medicare Advantage plans and others that "encourage value, competition and choice."

6. The last area aims to make healthcare more consumer-focused. Recommendations include:

Increasing price transparency.

Making it easier for patients to access their medical records.

7. The report was met with mixed reception from the hospital industry, particularly because it is so sweeping and many of the proposals are familiar. "Too many elements of the Administrations report resort to the same old bromides that got us here in the first place, and would reverse the progress hospitals and others are hard at work on," said Chip Kahn, president and CEO of the Federation of American Hospitals. Mr. Kahn said FAH does support the overall aim of the report, as well as specific recommendations, such as those that promote telehealth and streamline quality reporting.

American Hospital Association Executive Vice President Tom Nickels said, "Based on our initial read, we are pleased by several of the proposals put forth in today's report, such as those to broaden providers' scope of practice and expand access to telehealth, which will improve access to care for patients." Both groups opposed lifting restrictions on physician-owned hospitals.

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Democrats may consider more moderate alternative to 'Medicare-for-All' in 2019A nurse who was deported to Mexico last year and separated from her children after living in California for more than two decades will be eligible to return to the U.S., according to SFGate.

Maria Mendoza-Sanchez, RN, told the publication she received a call from the U.S. Consulate in Mexico City on Nov. 30 informing her that her visa was approved by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. She will return to her home in Oakland, Calif., in roughly two weeks.

Ms. Mendoza-Sanchez crossed the Mexican border without a visa in 1994 to join her husband, who at the time had been living in the U.S. for five years. She obtained work permits and studied nursing at two colleges in the Oakland area before landing a six-figure job as an oncology nurse at Oakland-based Highland Hospital in 2015.

The couple had been applying for legal status since 2002, but were ordered to be deported by an immigration judge in 2013. The Obama administration granted the couple two one-year stays and allowed them to renew their work permits every six months. However, an executive order signed by President Donald Trump forced their deportation back to Mexico. The couple was made to leave their three children in Oakland, two of whom are native-born citizens and one of whom is protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program.

Ms. Mendoza-Sanchez's journey back to the U.S. involved winning a visa lottery earlier this spring and receiving a series of approvals from agencies within the Trump administration, the report states.

Initial news of Ms. Mendoza-Sanchez's deportation sparked a protest by staffers at Highland Hospital in August 2017.

To access the full report, click here.After a 23-year joint operating agreement, Orlando (Fla.) Health will assume full control of South Lake Hospital, a 170-bed facility in Clermont, Fla., according to the Orlando Sentinel.

As part of the deal, Orlando Health will invest $128 million into a new foundation that will boost healthcare service offerings in the region and also pledged to commit $99 million for capital improvements in southern Lake County.

"This agreement represents a defining moment in South Lake County healthcare," John Moore, president of South Lake Hospital, told the Orlando Sentinel. "It allows us to strategically plan for the future with one of the top healthcare organizations in the region, while maintaining the culture of South Lake Hospital."

The two organizations created a joint operating partnership in 1995, with Orlando Health assuming control of day-to-day operations and 50 percent board representation.Registered nurses at New Bedford, Mass.-based St. Luke's Hospital voted in favor of unionization on Nov. 29.

The vote covers 722 nurses, who will join the Massachusetts Nurses Association.

"We're thrilled to be coming together as a union," said Deb Falk, a nurse in the emergency department at St. Luke's. "Those of us in the emergency department always felt kind of separated from the nurses on other floors, and I've loved getting to know so many great nurses throughout the hospital during our organizing. I really feel like we're a close family now."

Nurses filed notice with the National Labor Relations Board on Nov. 2 seeking an election to unionize. Amid the unionization push, the hospital's owner, New Bedford-based Southcoast Health System, hired a labor relations consulting firm.

Southcoast spokesperson Patricia Giramma told Becker's the system hired the Burke Group "to ensure that our nurses have all of the accurate and reliable information available to make an informed decision based on the facts, including what a union can and cannot do for them."

Keith Hovan, president and CEO of Southcoast Health, called the recent vote "unfortunate" but said the system is "committed to ongoing collaboration with our nurses to provide exceptional care and service to our patients."

The vote still must be certified. Meanwhile, Ms. Giramma said Southcoast is "committed to ensuring that the announced results are an accurate reflection of the votes cast and a fair process."

The Massachusetts Nurses Association represents 23,000 members statewide.

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Bus crash sparks concern over safety of Ohio State University medical staffIn September, Providence Health System in Washington, D.C., owned by St. Louis-based Ascension, announced it would close its emergency room Dec. 5 and all acute care services by Dec. 14. Now, part of that closure has been pushed back, according to a WAMU news report.

Providence Hospital will continue to operate its emergency department through April 30 to serve low acuity patients. In addition, the hospital will maintain 10 to 15 inpatient beds to support the emergency services.

"The District of Columbia Hospital Association, after discussions with both Providence Health System  Ascension and the District of Columbia Department of Health, can confirm that Providence Hospitals Emergency Department will remain open," the association told WAMU. "Specifics regarding other services that will be maintained to support the ED and the inpatient beds will be announced over the coming days."

The move to keep the ER open came just hours before Providence was expected to cease ambulance calls.An armed shooter pursued two individuals through Kansas City, Kan., and to the entrance of the Kansas City-based University of Kansas Medical Center on Dec. 3 before critically injuring one and fatally shooting himself, police said, according to The Kansas City Star.

Here are four things to know:

1. Kansas City police said on Twitter Dec. 3 that the incident appeared to stem from a domestic dispute. Police were first called to a shooting near the hospital around 11:30 p.m., then called to a second shooting at the hospital, a spokesperson told the publication.

2. Investigators said the two individuals  a man and a woman  were wounded in the shooting near the hospital and drove themselves to the facility while being pursued by the shooting suspect. At the hospital, police said the male victim tried to run into the hospital's main entrance and was shot again by the suspect by the ER doors. The shooting suspect then fatally shot himself, according to the report.

3. Both victims were rushed into the hospital's emergency department for treatment. The woman suffered minor injuries, but the the man was critically injured. Police said the man died Dec. 4, according to Fox 4 News. No hospital staff or patients were injured during the altercation.

4. Police said it is unclear if the three individuals knew each other. The University of Kansas Medical Center continued admitting patients throughout the shooting and the police investigation, which continued into the early morning hours of Dec. 4. The hospital and clinics will operate as normal, a spokesperson for the medical center told the publication.

To access the full report, click here.

Editor's note: This article was updated Dec. 4 at 4:10 p.m to include additional information.In negotiations with insurers to bring down healthcare costs, employers should side with their carriers, a Blue Cross Blue Shield executive recently told a group of business leaders in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, according to a Dallas Morning News report.

"If you're not getting ready for some pretty ugly fights with large healthcare systems, then you're saying to me, 'My company makes too much money, and I want to spend it on healthcare,'" said Paul Hain, MD, president of BCBS Texas' North Texas market.

Dr. Hain told about 500 gathered for the Dallas-Fort Worth Business Group's recent annual conference, which includes large employers providing health coverage for nearly 800,000 workers, that unless employers side with their insurers in negotiations with providers, they are resigning themselves to paying as much as health systems want with whatever restrictions they desire.

The disputes have less to do with reimbursement rates than restrictions over the insurer's desire to direct patients to lower-cost facilities, Dr. Hain said. Those restrictions, vehemently opposed by Blue Cross, would allow hospitals to charge more for all health plan members, he said.

"Stand with your carrier" in these arguments, Dr. Hain advised.

"If you cut and run, you're essentially saying, 'I dont care how much hospitals and doctors raise prices. My budget is gonna take it,'" said Dr. Hain. "I don't think anybody has that luxury anymore."

The Dallas area has some of the nation's highest health spending, according to the Morning News.Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare has sold Golden State Medicare Health Plan to a holding company affiliated with Connected Care Group in California.

Golden State, an HMO Medicare Advantage plan, has approximately 9,800 members across six counties in California.

Tenet began exploring the sale of the health plan several months ago, and the transaction closed within the timeline provided by Tenet Executive Chairman and CEO Ronald A. Rittenmeyer during the company's third-quarter earnings call in November.

Tenet ended the third quarter of 2018 with a net loss of $9 million on revenues of $4.49 billion. That was an improvement from the third quarter of 2017, when the company reported a net loss of $367 million on revenues of $4.59 billion.

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Walgreens CEO says he's open to expansion of Humana partnership on senior health clinicsKentucky health officials urge adults to receive the hepatitis A vaccine amid an outbreak hitting the northern part of the state, according to Cincinnati.com.

"Children, ages 1 through 18, are already required to be vaccinated against hepatitis A for school," said Lynne Saddler, MD, district director of health. "With the outbreak occurring, we are strongly encouraging the vaccine for all adults. In this way, your entire family can have protection against this infection and help eliminate the spread of hepatitis A in Northern Kentucky."

As of Nov. 29, there are 200 reported hepatitis A cases and two deaths. In 2017, there were no hepatitis A cases reported within the same time frame.

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UV disinfection linked to lower C. diff ratesEveryone has something that makes them unique! But then there are talents that are extremely bizarre. The ability to lick your own nose is undoubtedly an impressive feat. But what about reaching a bit higher to lick your own forehead?



35-year-old Yagya Bahadur Katuwal from Nepal has an extraordinary ability to lick his own forehead. Yagya, a school bus driver, has found himself becoming a bit of a local celebrity thanks to his bizarre talent, which has spread across social media in the past few weeks.



His talent is so bizarre that he's been warned not to do it while he's at work for fear of the scaring the kids. "Children never want to get close to me," he added. "Some even wet their pants! "Even adults can lose consciousness when they watch me in action."



He reckons he has the world's longest tongue and believes he is the only person in the world who can lick their own forehead. The man is now eyeing a place in the Guinness World Records.



Speaking about his unique talent, Yagya said: "I think I look great like this - I can cover my nose with my lips, lick my forehead and make the sound of bullet bike. "I want to set a Guinness World Record for being able to cover my nose with my lip while licking my forehead."

Watch the weird talent hereSuperstar Rajinikanth's third outing with Shankar, 2.0 has emerged with a tremendous opening day Chennai city figure, after its release on November 29th. This big-budget science-fiction has opened to highly positive reviews from all areas, which has helped the film's opening.



The film has been raking in the moolah from all sides, and at this point of time, the movie has been screened for school students. The film is already doing well there, and is set to break the record for the highest grossing film in Nepal.



2.0 had a starcast of Rajinikanth, Amy Jackson and Akshay Kumar, with Nirav Shah handling the cinematography and AR Rahman doing the music.The epic battle for Irish Distillers, then the monopoly producer of Irish whiskey, finally drew to a close 30 years ago this month with Pernod Ricard defeating GrandMet (now part of Diageo).

In 1988 Irish whiskey was very much the also-ran of the brown spirits market. After almost a century of decline, annual sales were down to about two million 12-bottle cases.

While the creation of Irish Distillers in 1966 had almost certainly saved Irish whiskey from extinction, the company lacked the heft to compete with the international drinks giants in overseas markets - more than 95% of Irish whiskey is exported.

What a difference 30 years can make. Under the ownership of Pernod Ricard, sales of Jameson hit 7.3 million cases in the year to June 30, 2018.

Scotch whisky producer William Grant purchased Tullamore Dew from C&C in 2010. Under its ownership annual sales of Tullamore Dew increased to 1.2 million cases in 2017 and are expected to hit 1.4 million cases this year, making it the second million-case Irish whiskey brand.

This year total sales of Irish whiskey are forecast to hit about 10.5 million cases, up 14% on 2017, and a more than five-fold increase on the 1988 figure.

At the same time as Irish whiskey sales have been soaring, Irish Distillers' previous production monopoly has been crumbling. First into the ring was John Teeling's Cooley Distillery in 1987. Tullamore Dew, which had previously been produced by Irish Distillers, opened its own distillery in Tullamore in 2014 and last week the Blackwater Distillery in Cappoquin, Co Waterford, became the 21st distillery to open its doors.

With its main focus on its Jameson mega-brand, now the fourth best-selling whisk(e)y in the world, Pernod Ricard has been gradually selling off its secondary Irish whiskey brands.

It sold Tullamore Dew to C&C in 1994, Bushmills to Diageo (which in turn sold it to Mexican spirits producer Jose Cuervo in 2014) in 2005 and Paddy to US drinks company Sazerac in 2016.

So with sales growing strongly, the number of distillers increasing and ownership of the major brands more widely spread, what could possibly wrong? The rapid growth in the number of distilleries has inevitably stoked fears that whiskey distilling is experiencing something of a bubble and that not all of the new entrants will survive.

Last month it was announced that the proposed 12m Quiet Man distillery in Londonderry would not now be going ahead. There have also been reports of other proposed distillery projects experiencing funding difficulties.

Whiskey distilling is extremely capital-intensive. Not alone do the investors have to finance the distillery itself, as Irish whiskey must be matured for at least three years, they then have to go out and get the money to fund their stocks.

What this means is that investors in even a modest-sized distillery will have to get their hands on at least 10m before they can sell a single drop of the hard stuff.

In order to bridge this gap many of the new distilleries, including Blackwater, also produce gin, which unlike whiskey can be sold within a few weeks of being distilled.

Cash-strapped distillers can also stop distilling temporarily, something which Cooley did for two years during the 1990s, secure in the knowledge that the value of their stocks is continuing to appreciate.

Blackwater co-founder Peter Mulryan says that his distillery already has a buoyant gin business, producing its own Blackwater gin and the Boyle's gin brand for Aldi. He believes that not alone will the gin business bring in revenue while Blackwater is waiting for its whiskey stocks to mature, but it also gives it the opportunity to develop relationships with customers who will also want to buy its whiskey three years from now.

Although any revenue from gin is welcome, the rationale for most of these new distilleries is, of course, whiskey. The new distillers are attracted by projections of continued strong growth in the Irish whiskey category.

At this year's 14% growth rate sales of Irish whiskey would more than double to 23 million cases by 2024. Even annual sales growth of "only" 10% would push annual sales up to almost 19 million cases.

Which of course begs the question: how realistic are these projections? While 10.5 million cases (126 million bottles) might seem like an awful lot of whiskey it pales beside other whisk(e)y producers such as Scotch (95 million cases), Bourbon (40 million) and Canadian (20 million). Even if these projections prove to be accurate, 2024 sales of Irish whiskey would still only reach those of Canadian whisky today.

Irish Distillers was taken by surprise by the very strong growth in the demand for Jameson over recent years. This surge in demand means that it is short of both the stocks of older whiskeys and the distilling capacity which it will need to meet continued sales growth. This was despite completing a 100m project at its Midleton distillery, that doubled production, in 2013.

With the expanded distillery now running at close to full capacity, Irish Distillers is refusing to comment on reports that it is planning to build a second distillery on a greenfield site somewhere in the south-east.

Tullamore Dew has already cranked up capacity at its new distillery. When it first opened in 2014 it had an annual capacity of 1.5 million cases. Following further investment at the site, production capacity is now "close to four million cases", according to brand ambassador John Quinn.

The United States remains by far the largest market for Irish whiskey with 4.1 million cases, 44% of the total, going Stateside in 2017. The island of Ireland is next at about 600,000 cases (6.5%).

Other big markets include Russia, France, the rest of the UK, Germany and South Africa, each of which took between 340,000 and 400,000 cases last year (a total of 1.84 million cases or 20%).

In an unwelcome compliment to its success, counterfeit Irish whiskey has begun to appear in a number of markets. William Lavelle, head of the Irish Whiskey Association, which polices the integrity of Irish whiskey, says that his organisation is pursuing legal action against counterfeiters in a number of countries.

With the exception of the French market, where Irish whiskey sales were flat in 2017, sales in all the major export markets grew strongly last year with sales in the UK up 12.5% and Russian sales jumping by almost 20%.

A note of caution may be in order. While Irish whiskey has so far remained unaffected by either the growing transatlantic trade tensions or tightening sanctions against Russia, how long can our run of good luck last?

"The future of Irish whiskey is in Africa and Asia," says John Teeling, who after selling Cooley to American spirits producer Jim Beam in 2012 has re-entered the Irish whiskey market with his Great Northern Distillery project.

With the exception of South Africa, Irish whiskey has virtually no presence on the African continent and has yet to make an impact in Asian markets.

Irish Distillers, still very much the 800lb gorilla of the category with a 70%-plus market share, remains optimistic about the prospects for Irish whiskey and unworried about the new arrivals.

"Irish whiskey is in the middle of a global renaissance that has seen the category become the fastest-growing premium spirit in the world," says Irish Distillers chairman and chief executive Conor McQuaid. "As an industry, we work together to promote and protect the reputation of one of Ireland's best-loved exports.

"We believe Irish whiskey's popularity has the potential to grow from a relatively small category globally and take market share from traditional competitors like Scotch and American whiskey, while giving more choice to consumers."As a senior director in Allstate NI, one of the biggest companies in Northern Ireland, I get some strange looks when I meet people and tell them my burning ambition is to find a unicorn and that I think Northern Ireland is the best place in the world to do it.

I can understand the confusion. For those not in the know, the idea of me searching through the streets of Belfast for a mythical horned-horse must seem quite odd. The looks of confusion tend to move to looks of excitement when I tell them what a "unicorn" is.

When I talk about a unicorn, what I mean is a start-up valued at $1bn or more. The looks of excitement tend to turn to scoffs of disbelief when I assure people that NI is the perfect place to find one. At first glance there isn't much similarity between Lagan Valley and Silicon Valley after all.

What a lot of people don't realise is that NI is perfectly placed to take advantage of a revolution that is sweeping the world.

Financial technology or fintech is the term for the apps, computer programs and other technologies that support and improve how we bank and access finance. It currently contributes 6.6bn to the UK economy and is only growing. Ever used online banking? You've used fintech. Shop online? You've used fintech.

The UK Government has recognised the potential of this industry and in the last budget, Chancellor of the Exchequer Phillip Hammond re-affirmed his commitment to ensuring the UK is at the forefront of this new technological revolution.

This commitment has been matched with the appointment of fintech envoys to promote the industry in different parts of the country. I was honoured to be chosen as envoy for NI and I've seen first-hand the incredible potential here.

One of the most exciting things happening in NI right now is the collaboration between large and small companies to innovate and drive the industry forward.

The recently opened Catalyst Belfast Fintech Hub at Danske Bank and the collaboration between Barclays and the Ormeau Baths are both examples of large firms providing resources and support to start-ups to help them develop.

Belfast has start-ups that are using these collaborative opportunities to help them compete on a global scale.

The fintech revolution has also been recognised by our fantastic further and higher education institutions. Collaboration between businesses and these has led Ulster University to begin developing the first fintech degree.

Ulster University and Queen's University Belfast are internationally renowned and the quality of our further education institutions such as North West Regional College make Northern Ireland incredibly attractive to investors.

Just last week the announcement of 100 new jobs at fintech firm Options in Belfast shows the confidence in this growing sector.

There are already dozens of unicorns in London and some in Scotland. Northern Ireland is already an internationally recognised centre of excellence in cybersecurity and the UK Government is committed to ensuring Northern Ireland takes full advantage of the opportunities fintech presents.

Our talented pool of workers, fantastic educational institutions, our vibrant and energetic start-up scene and the close collaboration between start-ups and big companies means Northern Ireland is the perfect place to find a fintech unicorn, or even start one yourself.

Georgina O'Leary is the director of innovation, research and development at Allstate and fintech envoy for Northern IrelandOne of the men behind Belfast's Ormeau Baths entrepreneurial tech hub has revealed that he originally wanted to become a missionary before making his mark on Silicon Valley.

Mark Dowds, who is also co-founder of tech insurance firm Trov Inc in California, said his parents' generosity inspired him to help others and undertake a degree in theology and divinity at Queen's University Belfast.

"My parents were very generous, not just to me, but everyone around them. My dad was very active in the community and gave most of his money away," said Mr Dowds.

After spending many years in Canada and California, he returned home in 2015 to discover a changed business world.

"Over the last decade, there has been an emergence of new companies that are taking our economy into a new age.

"I saw so many of these people meeting in different places, but what that community lacked was a tech hub in the centre of Belfast, which is why a few of us got together and decided to invest into setting up the Ormeau Baths."Two of the businesses which have reopened near the Primark building have voiced concerns over how they will fare in the Christmas period.

Representatives for Argento and Spar said they had reservations regarding the new walkway that links Royal Avenue to Donegall Place.

McDonald's, Argento and Skechers reopened yesterday for the first time since the blaze - with Spar set to start trading today.

But Zara, Tesco Metro and the British Heart Fountain remain closed.

Primark will open at Commonwealth House, Castle Street, on Saturday.

Peter Boyle, the CEO and founder of Argento, said: "We're pleased to be open, but really we expected the whole area to be finished more than this.

"As far as we're concerned as retailers, they should have shut down the site for the 20 days.

"We have 20 days to go until Christmas Eve, the most important 20 days in the retail calendar; we don't know why this construction work can't wait.

"Just no consideration for the retailers' needs at all."

He added: "It's really hard because we want to go with the positive message that we are open in Belfast and we're delighted to be open after 100 days closed, but we didn't intend trading on a building site either, you know."

Meanwhile, workers from Spar could be seen emptying stock into a skip.

Shop assistant Samantha Kane (30) said: "Literally everything in the shop has to be thrown away.

"All the chocolate and everything was melted, there was a bit of smoke damage on everything and there was goods out-of-date."

She added: "I'm absolutely gutted, like we're just out of everything. It's just a mess for everybody and a load of people have lost their jobs, but we can only start over again and hope for the best." Asked how she thought the walkway would help business, she said: "It could be slow I think, with all that outside and the tunnel, so we'll just have to take baby steps I think."

However, Rajesh Rana, who is the president of Belfast Chamber of Trade and Commerce, said that the reopening of the businesses in the area was "fantastic news".

He said: "Today marks a positive start to December for businesses throughout the city."Chris Hylen, president and chief executive of Imperva, with Jennifer Lovette, the firm's senior vice president for customer success

A US cyber security company has announced plans to create 220 new jobs as part of an expansion into Northern Ireland.

California-based Imperva, which has 54 offices worldwide, has said it will recruit the new staff in Belfast over the next three to five years, eventually generating 7.2m in salaries.

It's expected to bring the total number of NI cyber security jobs to over 1,500 for the first time, representing a 15-fold increase in the past 10 years. The new roles are expected to include product development, tech support and customer management, with average salaries of around 32,000.

Imperva, which will initially work out of Arthur House in Arthur Street, has said it will seek experienced staff as well as recent graduates.

Economic development agency Invest NI is offering the US firm 1.43m toward the expansion.

Chris Hylen, Imperva's president and chief executive, said the new Belfast office will help his firm "fuel the next phase of our global growth and expansion", adding that it is part of the firm's goal "to become the world's leading hybrid security company".

He said: "Our new office in Northern Ireland allows us to tap into the tremendous talent in the region, scale our business and continue providing customers with innovative solutions and support services.

"We're excited to be in Belfast and are looking forward to building a best-in-class team."

Imperva has taken on Roger Flynn as its director of customer success to oversee the Belfast operation.

Cyber security expert David Crozier, who is head of strategic partnerships at Queens Universitys Centre for Secure Information (CSIT), estimates that the sector is now generating more than 60m a year in annual salaries for the Northern Ireland economy.

Although the salaries at Imperva appear to be below the industry average here  believed to be 38,000-40,000  he believes the new positions will complement the existing jobs within the fast growing sector, helping to create a more balanced ecosystem.

From our perspective this is positive news and signifies once again that Belfast is a key centre for these types of cyber security-related jobs, he said.

Our own numbers would suggest that the cyber security industry in Northern Ireland has grown from about 100 people 10 years ago. This new announcement will bring that to over 1,500 for the first time.

Thats worth around 60-65m a year in salaries alone to the local economy. That has to be welcomed.

While cyber security specialists including Proofpoint, Whitehat and Rapid7 have been actively recruiting here, Mr Crozier said some of Northern Irelands largest employers, including All State and the major accounting firms, have also been recruiting heavily in the sector.

Theyre quite complementary to the jobs that are here and not necessarily competing head on for existing roles in the city, he said.

Imperva are a fantastic company with over 5,000 customers worldwide. Theyre a top-tier cyber security company which is great to have in the city.

Meanwhile, the UKs Digital Secretary Jeremy Wright urged Northern Irelands tech sector over the weekend to support the draft EU withdrawal agreement championed by Prime Minister Theresa May.

He described it as the best deal possible to protect our businesses and make sure our personal data is processed safely and securely.

Despite the uncertainty surrounding the future of the UKs data relationship with the EU after March 29 2019, Mr Crozier suggested the global demand for cyber security makes it almost Brexit-proof.

Theres such a demand for skills and technology in this area, he said. It sort of cuts through a lot of the concerns around Brexit, in that global companies will procure technologies wherever they can get it and employ good cyber security professionals wherever they can get them.It has been talked about in Ireland for many decades - if not centuries. Our little island may be sitting out on the edge of northern Europe but are we really more a southern European country?

In terms of culture, attitude, religion, outlook, lifestyle, the economy - and, of course, fiscal discipline - we have tended to have more in common with our Mediterranean cousins in places like Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece.

Whatever about those shared characteristics in the past, when it comes to forming new alliances at the EU table in the 21st century, we are now definitely a northern European nation.

This became 'official' earlier this year when we joined up with the grouping of seven other EU countries now referred to, with some irony, as the Hanseatic League 2.0.

It consists of ourselves, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

The name is a reminder of the Renaissance-era confederation of northern European cities that dominated trade in the Baltic and North Sea.

The original Hanseatic League represented an enormous trading and political alliance across nearly 200 cities in countries from Russia and Finland, to Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands from the 13th to the 16th Century.

The original league did not include Denmark and in fact the Danes went to war with the league over shipping routes in its waters. But that is all, shall we say, firmly in the past now.

Ireland was never in the mix back then. At that stage we were still more focused on getting one over on the boys down the road.

But the original league did include a city in Iceland, one in Norway and three in Britain.

The new club is being described in Brussels as a grouping of fiscally conservative countries.

We are the new fiscal hawks.

It all began over dinner in a Brussels steakhouse in 2017 after an EU finance ministers meeting. The group of eight is led by Dutch finance minister Wopke Hoekstra, and the countries are co-operating and clubbing together to find common cause on the future direction of the EU once the UK leaves. Britain has traditionally been a lead voice in free trade matters and its departure from the EU raises many questions about the future direction of European integration.

The group holds private dinners every month and has issued common position papers this year on three topics.

These include a paper on resisting attempts at creating more common eurozone spending tools, demanding more powers for the euro's bailout fund.

When Paschal Donohoe faced opposition from France and several other big EU countries on the introduction of a new digital tax on tech companies, he was supported by several of the Hanseatic group nations at a meeting of finance ministers.

The initiative, spearheaded by French finance minister Bruno Le Maire, was knocked back following this show of strength and the agreement of Germany.

To some extent Berlin has been encouraging the Hanseatic alliance while remaining part of the Franco-Germany axis, which some French politicians would argue is at the core of the European project.

German finance minister Olaf Scholz told the Financial Times recently: "I am from Hamburg - we are the traditional ancient Hanseatic League."

Last month Mr Donohoe met finance ministers from the Baltic States and the Nordic countries in Brussels. The Dutch and German ministers also called in for a coffee, according to the FT. Before that, Leo Varadkar met his Nordic and Baltic counterparts in the margins of an EU summit in Brussels in October.

Prime Minister Theresa May asked to attend but apparently was politely rebuffed.

Newspaper reports suggest that senior diplomats of these countries have been meeting regularly since the start of the year. Tensions about the group came to a head two weeks ago when Mr Le Maire berated Mr Hoekstra in front of two journalists while they were having post-dinner coffee at the French finance ministry.

According to the FT, Mr Le Maire went on a tirade against the so-called "closed clubs", accusing the alliance of threatening deeper eurozone integration and ultimately weakening the EU's ability to rival global powers like China and the US. Mr Le Maire's remarks highlighted the growing influence the Dutch-led alliance may be having in Europe.

For some though, it is still seen as a collection of relative minnows. It was once knocked as 'Wopka and the Seven Dwarfs'. Nadia Calvino, Spain's finance minister, annoyed some of the club's diplomats when she refused to respond to a recent position paper they had put forward on the grounds it was the work of "small countries with small weight".

So what are we getting into exactly, and why? After the financial crisis, its threat to the single currency and the subsequent bailouts for Ireland, Portugal and Greece, the EU has been divided on whether the solution should be more European integration or less.

The French have been spearheading a major push towards greater integration and centralised control.

To some extent Ireland has to be careful about that. Smaller countries could easily get squeezed out in a more homogeneous, centralised Europe. But we are not alone in thinking that way.

Clearly, these reservations are felt not only by other small member states but ones that have a reasonable level of collective clout if they can form joint positions on things.

The question is how like-minded are these countries and where does Ireland fit in? Not all eight members agree on everything but they share a common outlook on many economic questions.

They favour competition in the single market and they want to retain strong national budgetary responsibility within the eurozone.

It is somewhat ironic that Ireland should find itself in the company of the greatest fiscal disciplinarians so quickly after needing a massive multibillion-euro bail-out.

During the bail-out years, the Finns were very hawkish on burning bond holders. So, too, were the Germans. Now we are closer to having a shared view on how future bail-outs should operate and burning bondholders is a big part of it.

It has come too late for us.

But sitting at the Hanseatic table may be no bad thing.

The Irish Government wants to retain individual taxation powers especially when it comes to corporation taxes. Yet, it also wants to be, what Leo Varadkar described two weeks ago as "on the right side of history on the corporate tax debate".

It remains to be seen how Ireland will achieve that given that our very financially successful corporate tax structures have already facilitated many multinationals in paying so little tax.

There is another argument that says Ireland needs to work harder at pan-European relationships once the UK leaves the EU.

There is a natural space left at the table when the UK goes which could easily be filled by, or carved up by, France and Germany in particular.

Of course some might argue that a club of these fiscally conservative countries might in some way mark a shift to the Right in Irish economic policy. But the group contains some of the most successful social democratic states in Europe like Sweden and Denmark, with models of high taxation and high public spending.

Perhaps the most surprising thing is seeing Ireland referred to in the European press as a member of a "fiscally conservative" group of northern European countries.

All is changed, changed utterly - at least for now anyway.

Richard Curran is a journalist, broadcaster and authorAfter becoming parents themselves, Ryan Phillips (40) and his wife Julie-Ann (35) set up their own company to sell useful goods for mum and baby.

And their very first product - a manual breast pump - is one they hope will have an impact on Northern Ireland's poor breastfeeding statistics which are among the worst in the world.

The couple from North Down aim to develop a portfolio of useful baby merchandise after discovering as new parents that many of the items they bought were not fit for purpose.

But it is our poor figures on breastfeeding which have made the couple passionate about their new venture.

Ryan says: "We are one of the worst countries in the world for low rates of breastfeeding and the worst in the UK - and we genuinely would like to try in some small way to change that.

"We believe we have found a product which will make it much easier for mums to breastfeed and also help free up time for them.

"The benefits of breastfeeding are enormous and we are passionate about wanting to try and help.

"Most mums are using electric breast pumps and Julie-Ann tried one too. The electric pump is very loud and it would be difficult to express milk with it on one side while feeding the baby on the other.

"Julie-Ann had to go into another room to use it so as not to disturb anyone else in the house.

"Time is critical for mums and the time she spent expressing milk was wasted when the manual pump would have allowed her to do it while she was feeding the baby."

Expand Close The breast pump / Facebook

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Ryan says the hand pump they are offering has no wires and tubes - and makes no noise.

"It uses natural suction to draw out the milk so if you are feeding on one side you can attach it to the other side and do both at the same time," he says.

"We've worked with the manufacturer to tweak it and create a slight groove to make it easier to pour the milk straight into a bottle. It has been a lot of work getting it to market a year ago but since then we have sold thousands."

Current statistics show that just 37% of mums who leave NI hospitals are breastfeeding, one of the lowest rates in the world.

The World Health Organisation recommends that mums exclusively breastfeed for the first six months - however only 7% of mums here do this. That compares with 23% in Germany, 56% in Brazil and 98% in Sweden.

Concern about this low figure led last year to the Public Health Agency (PHA) launching a campaign highlighting the health benefits of breastfeeding.

Expand Close Blue sky thinking: pilot Ryan Phillips, wife Julie-Ann and daughters Autumn (7) and Florence (5) / Facebook

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Ryan and Julie-Ann's new company Blossoming Tots is just a year old but has already sold thousands of breast pumps across the UK.

But the sales figures reflect the statistics on breastfeeding here, with most sold to mums in England, Scotland and Wales.

Ryan says: "We have some sales here in Northern Ireland but not very much compared to the rest of the UK, which is why we have started a campaign to try and encourage more mums to consider breastfeeding.

"We've been approaching maternity units and local baby charities and found that most didn't even realise a pump like ours is available.

"We understand there are social barriers to breastfeeding but these are being knocked down and we really believe that our pump will be another tool in the mums' armoury to give them the confidence to make that decision to breastfeed and be able to do it for longer.

"The benefits are enormous. Not only does it increase a baby's immune system, but statistics show that mums who breastfeed for at least two months will halve the chance of cot death."

Ryan, who has been a pilot for 16 years, met Julie, who is an air stewardess, through work and the couple have now been together for 11 years.

They have two girls, Autumn (7) and Florence (5). The couple say they never dreamt they would be setting up a business and it is purely their experience as parents that led them to consider it.

Ryan explains: "Like all new parents we spent a fortune on baby things for our girls but we were surprised at how useless some of them were.

"We actually threw some of them in the bin. There were also some we found really useful.

"Instead of doing a blog which a lot of people do, we wanted to create a bit of a portfolio of products that people could easily find in the one place and save parents wasting their time and money.

"We did many months of research and we have products we will be adding, but we thought that because of the breastfeeding statistics the manual breast pump would be a good one to launch with."

Julie-Ann breastfed both of her babies using an electric breast pump.

The loud noise of the pump meant she couldn't express milk while her baby was feeding and had to go into a room alone to do it.

"It would have made my life a whole lot easier if I had the manual pump as I could have done the two at once," she says.

"Time is a real issue when you are breastfeeding a baby as you have to feed on demand. It is not a case of just feeding every four hours. Even getting to the dentist or the hairdressers is very hard.

"Being able to express the milk while feeding would mean you could leave a bottle for your husband or mum or whoever is minding the baby when you need to do something else.

"As a breastfeeding mum it is just great to have that freedom that someone else can step in and help out."

Julie Ann says the couple weren't even aware that the manual pump even existed because they couldn't find it in any of the shops.

"The electric one we bought was so hard to use it ended up in the bin. We just hope now to let other mums know there is an easier alternative available," she says.

"It latches on with suction and you can just leave it. The other benefit is that when you are breastfeeding, often milk is leaking out of the other breast and that is just wasted - and this means you are not wasting a drop."

Another huge benefit is the cost. The manual pump is selling at just 9.99 while electric pumps can cost over 100.

The couple say they have been amazed at the positive feedback from their many customers and are now getting ready to continue to build their portfolio of useful baby products with the addition of their next item early in 2019.

However, because they both work on the airlines they have had to run the gauntlet of cynics questioning their expertise on mother and baby products.

Ryan says: "I mainly fly domestic routes and into Europe and I love my job and didn't ever imagine I would be setting up a business like this, but we feel passionately about it.

"Because of our jobs, people have questioned our knowledge which is quite disappointing.

"Our jobs didn't come into the equation at all. What we are doing is - we've gone through it, we've experienced it and why wouldn't we help other mums?

"Not only as parents do we know first-hand what works, but we spend months researching each product.

"We believe so much in the breast pump that we have brought it to local maternity units. We were grilled for a substantial time about the pump at the Royal Victoria Hospital and the Ulster Hospital and they cannot endorse products but they were delighted by the pump and asked if they could have one for their antenatal classes.

"The feedback we have had from our customers has been fantastic as well. We just want to make life a bit easier for mums.

"While it is going well in England, Scotland and Wales we really want to push it here in Northern Ireland and give people the confidence of knowing that we are a local company."

The couple are excited about the future and while they continue to fly local people across the world with their work, the rest of their time is spent with their two girls.

Ryan adds: "We have two fantastic kids. There have been lots of sleepless nights and it has been an interesting journey but being a parent is absolutely fantastic."

You can find out more at www.blossomingtots.com or find the pumps on amazon.co.ukAttorney General Geoffrey Cox delivers a statement on the Governments legal position on the Withdrawal Agreement in the House of Commons yesterday

The DUP last night joined the opposition parties in a successful move to trigger historic 'contempt of Parliament' proceedings against the Government's top law officer Geoffrey Cox.

The party sent a joint letter with Labour, the Liberal Democrats, SNP and Plaid Cymru to House of Commons Speaker John Bercow urging him to bring the proceedings.

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Mr Bercow said there was "an arguable case" that a contempt of Parliament had been committed.

His decision will mean that MPs will today debate and vote on whether to refer the case to the Standards Committee and that is expected to delay the start of the debate on Theresa May's Brexit deal.

The DUP and the opposition parties condemned the Government for taking the unprecedented decision not to publish the full legal advice on the Brexit deal as demanded by MPs. "Parliament can not be ignored," said DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds.

The heaviest penalties for MPs found guilty of contempt - defined as those who obstruct or hinder the work of Parliament - are suspension or even expulsion from the Commons.

The Attorney General sparked fury among MPs as he published only a "legal position" yesterday, rather than the "full legal advice" they had demanded last month.

The DUP deputy leader called on Mr Cox to confirm that the system in the deal meant to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland could be "permanent in law", despite some Cabinet ministers arguing that it could not.

Mr Dodds told MPs: "He said this whole business was 'deeply unsatisfactory and unattractive', which makes me wonder why he's recommending it?

"And it seems to me a situation where we're now reliant on our learned friends to take cases in international court, rather than this sovereign parliament being able to decide when we can get out of these arrangements."

He said the Commons needed to see the full legal advice given to the Government, adding "that must happen".

Mr Dodds continued: "The overall context of this is as he has said - a deeply unattractive, unsatisfactory presentation - and he needs to therefore, rather than recommend this agreement, recommend that it be rejected."

However, in a statement, Ulster Unionist peer Lord Empey described it as "an awful mess" for which the DUP must share responsibility. He accused the party of having been "asleep at the wheel" on Brexit.

Defending the decision not to publish the full Brexit legal advice, Mr Cox told the Commons he firmly believed that doing otherwise would be "contrary to the public interest". He added: "There is nothing to see here."

The legal advice stated that the Brexit deal does not breach the Good Friday peace agreement - and does not "affect the principle of consent or any other provision ... in any way".

And it suggested that the Irish border backstop provision in the Brexit deal could continue indefinitely "unless and until it is superseded" by a new agreement,

Mr Cox said: "I make no bones about it - I would have preferred to have seen a unilateral right of termination in this backstop.

"I would have preferred to have seen a clause to exit if negotiations had irretrievably broken down.

"But I'm prepared to lend my support to this agreement because I do not believe that we're likely to be entrapped in it permanently."

Meanwhile Secretary of State Karen Bradley last night said the people of Northern Ireland "wanted the Government to get on with it" and deliver the best Brexit deal for them.

Ms Bradley said that was the "overwhelming message" she received after talking to "people from all walks of life".

She continued: "I believe this deal is the best possible way to do that. This week is hugely important as the debate in the House of Commons about the deal begins.

"I hope my colleagues take the time to listen to the businesses and people of Northern Ireland who support this deal ahead of the vote next week."

Mrs Bradley said the deal on the table would "protect vital jobs and investment and allow businesses in Northern Ireland to seize upon new opportunities as we strike new trade deals around the world".

Meanwhile, Mrs May called on Tory MPs to "hold their nerve" and back the deal.

The Prime Minister insisted she would still have a job after the crucial Commons vote on December 11.

She told ITV yesterday: "At the end of the line it is, I think, about holding our nerve and getting this over the line so we can deliver on Brexit and people can have that better future.

"My job is making sure that we do what the public asked us to: we leave the EU but we do it in a way that is good for them."The United Kingdom could still decide to revoke Article 50 and remain in the European Union, a European Court of Justice (ECJ) representative has said.

Manual Campos Sanchez-Bordona said the UK can "unilaterally" revoke Article 50 and decide to stay in the EU. However the opinion is not binding, though the opinion of the Advocate General is endorsed by the ECJ in the vast majority of cases.

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The decision came to light after the case was referred to the ECJ from Scotland's Court of Session. The case was brought by a group of people who wanted to establish that revoking Article 50 and remaining in the EU was an option for the UK government.

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In a statement the ECJ explained the reasoning.

"In answer to the question from the Scottish court, the Advocate General proposes that the Court of Justice should, in its future judgment, declare that Article 50 TEU allows the unilateral revocation of the notification of the intention to withdraw from the EU, until such time as the Withdrawal Agreement is formally concluded, provided that the revocation has been decided upon in accordance with the member state's constitutional requirements, is formally notified to the European Council and does not involve an abusive practice," the statement read.

The House of Commons is set to for a vote on Prime Minister Theresa May's Brext withdrawal agreement next Tuesday, December 11.

Pro-remain groups have called for another referendum if Mrs May's deal fails to gain support from the house.

The Prime Minister will need the support of at least 320 MPs to win the vote, but faces an uphill task with Labour, the SNP, Plaid Cymru and the DUP all coming out against the deal.

A total of 20 Conservative MPs have said publicly they will vote against Mrs Mays deal, 45 Cons MPs have said they will not vote in favour while 26 another Tory MPs have declared they are unhappy with the deal.Sinn Fein has hit back at the Irish Government after an internal government note claimed major electoral law changes would be needed to give people in Northern Ireland a vote in the European elections next year.

After Brexit, Ireland's total representation will rise from 11 to 13, while Northern Ireland will lose its three seats in the European Parliament.

Sinn Fein has called for the new MEP seats to be given to Northern Ireland and says independent legal advice contradicts what the Irish government is saying after it identified a series of obstacles.

A Sinn Fein spokesperson said: "GUE/NGL (European United Left - Nordic Green Left) European Parliamentary Group the group Sinn Fein sits with in the European Parliament, recently commissioned independent legal advice on this proposal which proved there is no legal or constitutional barrier to the Irish government allocating the seats to the north.

"The creation of an extra-territorial constituency of Northern Ireland in the EP elections would be consistent with international and comparative practice across the globe.

"The new constituency should be preferred to a system which allocated the votes of Northern Ireland residers to existing Irish constituencies.

"This can be achieved through the amendment of the current constituencies list. A new constituency of Northern Ireland can be created and allocated two seats."

The internal Irish government note has claimed, however, that major changes to Ireland's electoral laws would be needed: "From a practical franchise perspective, there would be a number of challenges associated with such a proposal given our electoral laws, as they currently stand, do not provide for voting from outside of the State, except in very limited circumstances," the note reads.

"Because of this there would be a need to set up an electoral register for such a purpose and to establish criteria around the eligibility to vote.

"Clarity would also be needed around who would maintain the register. Currently each local authority compiles and maintains a register of its own administrative area.

"Constituencies would have to be agreed, and it would also have to be agreed how a person would vote in practice, for example with a postal vote."

Last week, Ireland's Minister of State for European Affairs Helen McEntee confirmed the extra two seats would represent areas south of the border, though she declined to be drawn on the Sinn Fein demand for the extension of voting rights north of the border.

DUP MEP Diane Dodds has previously said that retaining representation for Northern Ireland residents in the European Parliament would violate the Good Friday Agreement's principle of consent.A Belfast bookshop has banned all DUP representatives from a new cafe they are planning to build on their first floor.

Belfast Books on the York Road has said that DUP elected reps will not be welcome in the new cafe when it opens due to their stance on same-sex marriage.

Same-sex couples are allowed to wed in England, Wales, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland, but it is against the law in Northern Ireland.

DUP oppose same-sex marriage and used a petition of concern to stop it being passed in the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2015.

Belfast Books are hoping to raise 15k through a crowdfunding campaign to open the cafe.

It is not the first time the store has taken a stand, they stopped donating to and purchasing books from Oxfam earlier this year and also refuse to accept Bank of England notes.

In a statement Managing Director John Junk explained the reasons behind the decision.

Ive had a good working relation with some local DUP elected representatives and grassroots members of the party, and work alongside them on various community forums - but the partys stance on equal marriage doesnt sit well with us, so their elected representatives will be banned from the cafe we're planning if we raise the money in our crowdfunder to open it," Mr Junk said.

For the avoidance of doubt, their elected representatives wont be banned from the bookshop as such a ban would have little effect. I think I'm right in saying that in over 4 years of us being open, not one of their elected representatives have darkened our door outside of election time.

The DUP has been contacted for comment.Irelands most senior Brexit negotiator Rory Montgomery speaking at a Brexit conference at the Aisling hotel in Dublin to examine how local authorities and their areas may be impacted by Brexit (Niall Carson/PA)

One of Irelands chief negotiators has said after the EU accepted the Brexit draft proposals there was a collective sense of melancholy in Brussels.

Rory Montgomery, Second Secretary General of the European Union Division, said the mood in the room last week was one of loss.

It was a very strange occasion, he said.

Nobody was pleased or happy about this, and was compounded by the huge uncertainty of where the politics of this is goingRory Montgomery on the draft Withdrawal Agreement

Ive been involved in a lot of negotiations over the years at EU level, its normal at a minimum, at the end of a negotiation to have a sense of relief, or a sense of contentment, or even elation in some cases, for instance, it took me five days to come down from the Good Friday Agreement.

There was no such sense in Brussels five days ago, it was melancholy, it was a sense of loss.

Nobody was pleased or happy about this, and was compounded by the huge uncertainty of where the politics of this is going.

Mr Montgomery was speaking on Tuesday at an event for Irish Local Authority representatives on how to prepare for the UK leaving the EU.

The one-time adviser to former Taoiseach Enda Kenny was standing in for an absent Minister of Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney.

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He added Brexit has already had a negative effect on Northern Ireland and an extraordinary destabilising impact on community relations and political structures.

These have been extraordinarily difficult negotiations, my colleagues, at times, have literally been in the next room as discussions were taking place, we were clearly the country most clearly concerned by this, Mr Montgomery said.

The Good Friday Agreement itself is premised on the fact that Northern Ireland of course is different.

The backstop of course would not be our first choice, but we, the EU, were extremely open to any negotiation of an alternative which would make it unnecessary, where the future relationship could solve theses problems, and that would be everybodys preference.

Across the board, its bad news, with a few bright spots.

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Mr Montgomery added the support from the EU and member states had been indispensable to Ireland, a sentiment echoed by Mr Kenny earlier.

Europe has been rock-solid in support of Irelands position here and in support of its own programme for the future of the European Union, Mr Kenny said at the Limerick Chamber Regional Leaders Programme.

The 27 members of the union are completely united in the agreement that has been put on the table and that has been accepted by the British Government.

The British have got to sort this out for themselves now.

A five-day debate on the European Union Withdrawal Agreement began in House of Commons on Tuesday before the the make-or-break vote on December 11.The incident took place in the Brookvale Avenue area.

Two men are recovering in hospital after a car mounted the pavement and ran into them in north Belfast.

A 37-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the incident. Police are appealing for information following the collision in the Brookvale Avenue area on Monday, December 3.

Shortly after 7pm, police received a report a car had mounted a pavement, colliding with two pedestrians and then a parked car.

The two pedestrians, who are aged in their 20s, were taken to hospital where they are being treated for their injuries, which are not believed to be life threatening at this time.

Chief Inspector Kelly Moore said: Police subsequently arrested the 37-year-old male driver of the car on suspicion of dangerous driving and possession of a blade or point and he remains in custody.

I am appealing for anyone who witnessed this collision, or who may have captured dash cam footage, to contact us on 101 quoting reference number 1087 of 03/12/18."The NSPCC NI says cases of child abuse and neglect in Northern Ireland have gone up (Brian Lawless/PA)

Cases of child cruelty and neglect in Northern Ireland have increased by almost 350% over the last five years, figures suggest.

The NSPCC said 579 child cruelty and neglect offences were recorded by police in 2017/18, up from 132 in 2012/13.

Reports to the police included extreme cases of when a parent or carer wilfully assaulted, ill-treated, neglected, abandoned or exposed their child to serious harm.

The amount of police offences is mirrored by the number of calls made to the NSPCC helpline  totalling 19,937 last year about children suffering neglect  with three quarters referred urgently to police or childrens services.

One NSPCC helpline practitioner, Tracey Hamer, highlighted that not all neglect may be wilful.

The police went out to do a welfare check, and later told me that mum had been found unwell and violently vomiting and unable to care for her little girl, who was three years old, she said.

The house was in a state of disrepair and the kitchen worktops were covered in dirty crockery with mould on them.

The washing machine was broken, and mum said that water would come up through the pipes when she tried to use it so she couldnt clean any clothes.

In 2017, 1,045 children from Northern Ireland were assessed as being at ongoing risk of significant harm from neglect.

Overall in the UK, neglect was the most common reason for contacting the NSPCC helpline, mentioned in 19,937 contacts, and last year there were 27,856 children in the UK on a child protection plan or register for concerns related to the issue.

A police recorded offence of child cruelty and neglect is where a parent or carer wilfully assault, ill-treats, neglects, abandons or exposes a child under 16 in a manner likely to cause them unnecessary suffering or injury to health.

Adults are urged to look out for common signs of neglect and abuse.

Thanks to @buildabear who donated 5,000 teddy bears to the @NSPCC's 29 service centres across the UK - including Belfast, Craigavon & Foyle. The soft toys will be given to children who have experienced abuse or neglect & are receiving bespoke treatment from @NSPCC practitioners pic.twitter.com/h86vuZZkfk  NSPCC NI (@NSPCCNI) September 7, 2018

Poor appearance and hygiene, having unwashed clothes, being left alone for a long time and untreated injuries, medical and dental issues, as well as poor language, communication or social skills can all be reflective of neglect.

The NSPCC Christmas Appeal is calling for donations to its helpline  which is open throughout the holidays  so they can be there for children suffering from neglect at Christmas and all year round.

Neil Anderson, head of NSPCC NI, said: Its unclear exactly why the number of child neglect and cruelty offences in NI has risen so dramatically.

It is concerning to see the increase in reported crime but it is encouraging that victims are prepared to come forward.

Whatever the reasons for the increase, child neglect is everybodys problem and we all need to be aware of vulnerable children and be ready to report it to the NSPCC or the authorities if we are concerned for their safety or well-being.

A contribution of 5 pays for the helpline to answer a call about child neglect, to donate visit the NSPCC website.

Adults concerned about a child can contact the NSPCC helpline seven days a week on 0808 800 5000, or email help@nspcc.org.uk.Police and forensics at the scene of a shooting incident on the Glen Road, west Belfast where a man has been murdered on December 3rd 2018 (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph )

Children could have been killed during a terrifying incident that saw a man shot dead outside a west Belfast school, the PSNI has said.

The incident took place on the Glen Road outside St Mary's Grammar and CBS schools shortly after 3pm on Tuesday.

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Chief Superintendent Jonathan Roberts, speaking from the scene, said: "Police are tonight investigating the disgraceful murder of a man who was shot dead on the Glen Road at around 3.15pm this afternoon. This man is believed to be aged in his 40s and he was sitting in his car when he was approached by a gunman who shot him several times, including at least once in the head.

"This is an absolutely disgraceful and reckless act. There can be no justification whatsoever. The act was carried out in the immediate vicinity of three schools where there was a large number of school pupils at the time.

"It is entirely possible we could have had a seriously injured or dead child or children as a result of this terrible act.

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"There is clearly going to be a significant impact on children in this area as a result of this incident. Children come to school and expect to be educated, not to leave school and see an incident of this nature.

MURDER - PSNI Chief Superintendent Jonathan Roberts briefs the media on this afternoons murder in west Belfast Posted by Belfast Telegraph on Tuesday, December 4, 2018

"I would imagine the children will be traumatised by this incident, there is no excuse for this whatsoever. It will also have an impact on the teachers in the schools and the wider school community"

The senior officer added the community of west Belfast "does not deserve this" and said officers will not be deterred from policing the area.

CSI Roberts made three appeals during the press conference.

He asked for anyone who saw the victims Red Porsche car, registration JDZ34, in and around the Glen Road to contact police.

For anyone who saw a man, who was wearing a high vis jacket with the word "security" written on the back, to contact police.

Anyone with dash-cam footage, or video footage, of the incident to submit it to the police.

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Mr Roberts said it is possible that dissident republicans are responsible for the murder but that it was too early to identify the victim.

Witnesses have said up to six shots were fired during the incident.

St Mary's issued a statement on Tuesday evening saying it will be closed on Wednesday.

"The thoughts and prayers of the Principal and all the staff are with our pupil and his family at this very sad time," the school's statement said.

"Ensuring that all pupils got home safely was our absolute focus following this tragic incident.

"The school will be closed on Wednesday 5th December 2018 due to the on-going investigation. The school will be providing pupils with counselling and support services."

Speaking from the scene, SDLP councillor Tim Attwood said the man was killed instantly.

It is absolutely sickening that a gun was fired in the vicinity of both a primary and secondary school in west Belfast today," the West Belfast councillor said.

A number of pupils witnessed this fatality and are understandably very disturbed and frightened after this reckless act occurred nearby the school gates. Tim Attwood

He added: There is absolutely no place for this in 2018; this madness belongs in the past and we cannot allow it to once again become our normality.

I cannot stress enough that any information relating to this incident must be passed to the PSNI immediately.

People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll said that he had been told a man in the area was shot multiple times.

"News that somebody has been shot several times on the Glen Road is horrible and deeply concerning and should be condemned by everybody," the West Belfast MLA said.

"It is especially worrying given the amount of children and young people in the area at that time, that somebody sees fit to pull a gun and open fire in the middle of the day. We need to get the guns off our streets".

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The Ambulance Service attended the scene after receiving a call at 3.15pm.

Two Paramedic Officers and one Rapid Response Paramedic were dispatched to the incident.

"No one was transported from the scene," an Ambulance Service spokesperson said.

Sinn Fein MP Paul Maskey condemned those behind the fatal shooting.

"This is a disgraceful and horrific attack," he said.

"A man has been shot dead while picking up a child from a local school in the Glen Road area."

It is deeply concerning that this killing was carried out in full view of hundreds of kids who were leaving school at the time. Paul Maskey

I unreservedly condemn this murder and my thoughts at this time are with the family and friends of the victim.

"Anyone with any information on the killing of this young man should bring it forward to the police.

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UUP MLA Doug Beattie also moved to condemn the gun attack.

"Nobody has the right to bring a gun onto the streets and act as judge, jury and executioner and there can be no justification for this brutal act," he said.

To murder a man as he waits to collect his son from school and in an area where many children were present, displays a particular callousness and recklessness. These children will have been terrified and traumatised at what they saw and heard at their school gates. It is simply shocking.

The entire community must get behind the police and give them all the support they need to catch the person responsible and help put this very dangerous individual behind bars for as long as possible.Community consultation around proposals to build a major gold mine in Co Tyrone was substantially flawed, the High Court heard today.

Lawyers for a residents group claimed the pre-application process around the largest project of its kind in Northern Ireland had failed to meet the required legal standard.

Canadian firm Dalradian wants planning permission to operate a mine in an area of the Sperrins.

Up to 3bn worth of gold is said to be deposited at the site near Greencastle.

If approved, the 25-year scheme could reportedly support 350 jobs, with the company predicting a massive boost to the local economy.

But the Greencastle, Rouskey, Gortin (GRG) Community is challenging the Department for Infrastructure's handling of preliminary consultation.

Mr Justice McCloskey was told the regionally-significant proposals comprise 997 hectares - 144 hectares of which involve surface infrastructure - at a sensitive location within an area of outstanding natural beauty.

With concerns over the use of cyanide in the extraction process, counsel for GRG stressed the scheme is significant and controversial.

The mine would include the largest processing plant and waste storage facilities in Northern Ireland, the court heard.

According to the residents group the Department failed to ensure the pre-application community consultation was robust and meaningful.

They argue that it should have declined to consider the application.

Gregory Jones QC contended: "There are significant and substantive flaws in what was done, and what was effectively approved by the impugned decision in respect of the pre-application consultation process.

"We say the Department erred in concluding that the requirements had been met, and then proceeding to process and consider the planning application which is ongoing."

With the submitted application running to 10,000 pages, counsel insisted it was both major and complex.

The residents group claim they were not given enough information before it was submitted.

On that basis, they argue, the Department has failed in its legal duty to ensure the pre-application community consultation was robust and meaningful.

Before the hearing got underway, Martin Conway of GRG said they had been left with no choice other than to bring proceedings.

"This Judicial Review is ground breaking on many levels," he said.

"However, first and foremost it is on the basis that we believe significant flaws exist within Dalradian's community consultation from start to finish, causing confusion to the local community.

"Our group believes that the Department for Infrastructure has fundamental questions to answer regarding their scrutiny of this consultation process, especially given that this is one of the most significant planning applications to have been submitted here, and the various conservation designations and considerations assigned to the proposed site."

The hearing continues.The devastating reality facing people waiting for appointments in hospitals across Northern Ireland is today laid bare.

Figures released by the health trusts have revealed waits of up to four years for a first outpatient appointment are not uncommon.

Alarmingly, some patients are enduring waits of more than two years after being referred as an urgent case.

Neurology, general surgery and gastroenterology are particularly struggling to cope with demand, according to official statistics.

It means patients suspected of having conditions such as MS or Parkinson's disease, potentially life-threatening bowel or liver obstructions, and inflammatory bowel disease are waiting years to be seen.

The figures have also highlighted a postcode lottery for patients, with the wait time for a first outpatient appointment in the same specialty varying by more than three years depending on where people live.

The situation is even more depressing as patients will go on to a new waiting list for diagnostic tests after they first see a consultant, and potentially a further waiting list for surgery.

West Belfast GP Michael McKenna said: "There is no one in the health service who thinks these waits are acceptable.

"If I think a patient has cancer they would be red flagged and should be seen within two weeks but I'm already aware of people who have been referred as urgent cases actually having cancer.

"For example, there was a man who seemed to be an urgent case and he was referred to gastroenterology and at the time, the wait was 10 months.

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"There were three letters sent and when he was finally seen it turned out he had bowel cancer."

The number of people waiting longer than one year for a first outpatient appointment is well documented.

The latest figures released last week by the Department of Health highlighted once again that hospital waiting times are continuing to spiral out of control.

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Over a third of patients - 94,222 people - had been waiting longer than 52 weeks for their first appointment at the end of September.

The number of people waiting longer than a year for their first outpatient appointment had risen by almost 6,000 in just three months.

However, while the departmental statistics show how many people are waiting longer than government targets, the figures revealed today lift the lid on exactly how long patients can expect to wait.

GPs have frequently complained that they are not made aware of how long patients can expect to wait so they can make informed decisions about how to treat people.

The chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) in Northern Ireland, Dr Grainne Doran, said the wait times are unacceptable.

She also said the figures have also highlighted the "differences and inequities for patients" depending on where they live.

Dr Doran said the wait times for people with painful and debilitating conditions is adding to the workload of already overstretched family doctors.

"As GPs, managing our patients' conditions is our central focus and referral for investigation or for treatment is an essential part of management for some," she said.

"Waiting for excessive periods of time for such investigation and treatment not only impacts on patients themselves but has significant bearing on capacity in general practice.

"The impact that waiting lists have on GP workload cannot be underestimated.

"As patients continue to suffer with various conditions and chronic pain while they await secondary care assessment, they need to access their family doctor for support.

"GP services have been stretched to their maximum.

"Despite current challenges, GPs feel additional responsibility to monitor patients and evaluate the status of their condition while on waiting lists."

She added: "Frustrated and worried patients will recurrently visit their GP looking for answers, medical treatment and support, but there is often little that the GP can do without secondary care input.

"This is frustrating for doctors as they witness ongoing conditions affect their patient's education, employment and relationships."

Dr Doran said the current model of healthcare in Northern Ireland is failing patients.

She said GPs have been working hard to develop alternative ways of treating patients in a bid to help address waiting times but said more needs to be done.

She continued: "We need to see effective, fundamental, strategic reform.

"These waiting times cannot be left unchecked or be allowed to get any worse."

Commenting on the most recent Department of Health figures last week, the Health and Social Care Board said the way the NHS currently operates, it cannot provide timely care.

A spokeswoman said: "The only sustainable solution to this is transformation."

She said additional funding is required to clear the backlog of patients waiting for treatment, on top of 30m announced earlier this year.

This money has been used to further the treatment of thousands of patients.

The spokeswoman said the development of elective care centres also have the potential to significantly improve patient access to care.

She continued: "From next month, new prototype elective care centres will undertake routine day surgery for cataracts and treatment of varicose veins.

"It is expected that the development of prototype elective care centres will have a significant impact on the number of patients treated.

"For cataracts, this could mean up to 2,000 additional treatments annually and for varicose veins this could mean up to 500 more treatments - an increase in productivity of up to 30% in both cases.

"The Department of Health has committed to moving all day case surgery to new elective care centres by December 2020."

Additional training places have also been provided from the additional funding to help address waiting lists, she added.The family of Eddie Doherty outside Belfast Coroners Court (left to right) Patrick Doherty, Kathleen McCarry and John Doherty (Rebecca Black/PA)

A former soldier has denied he embellished his account of an incident in 1971 to justify his decision to open fire.

The ex-Royal Engineer, who has been granted anonymity, was giving evidence at Belfast Coroners Court on Tuesday during an inquest into the death of Eddie Doherty, 31.

The father-of-four died after he was shot close to a barricade in west Belfast on August 10, 1971.

The former soldier, referred to as M3, has given evidence that he fired a single shot at a man who had thrown two petrol bombs at him and had been preparing to throw a third.

He has also claimed that he saw a man with a gun in the area, and fired a burst of four shots in his direction.

Counsel for the Doherty family, Fiona Doherty QC put it to M3 that he has embellished his evidence to justify opening fire, pointing to inconsistencies between a number of statements he has made over the years.

I am going to suggest to you that you are aware the more aggressive and belligerent this person seems to be from your account, the more support there will be for your decision to open fire, she said.

M3 denied this was the case.

The inquest previously heard M3 say it was possible the shot he fired had not hit the man with the petrol bomb, but a bystander instead.

It could be, M3 told the inquest.

Mr Dohertys family have insisted he was innocent and have spoken of their determination to clear his name.

On August 10, 1971 M3 had been tasked to clear a barricade on the Whiterock Road and arrived with a number of soldiers from the Parachute Regiment to a hostile crowd who he said threw missiles at him.

M3 was taken to hospital after the incident during which he received a blow to the head when a missile struck his tractor.

He was not seriously injured.

The incident came during several days of shootings from August 9-11 in the west of the city.

Ten people died in what has become known as the Ballymurphy Massacre.

The shootings took place as the Army moved in to republican strongholds to arrest IRA suspects after the introduction by the Stormont administration of the controversial policy of internment without trial.

Fresh inquests were directed into the deaths of 10 people at Ballymurphy following claims that the original coronial probes were inadequate.

They are the latest in a series of new inquests into incidents which took place during Northern Irelands troubled past.

The inquest continues.Prime Minister Theresa May speaks in the House of Commons at the start of a five-day debate on the European Union Withdrawal Agreement. (PA Wire/PA Images)

Theresa May has made a last-ditch attempt to rally MPs behind her Brexit deal after suffering the historic humiliation of seeing her Government found in contempt of Parliament.

In dramatic scenes at Westminster, the Government bowed to pressure to publish the final and full legal advice to Cabinet on the deal after MPs voted by 311 to 293 that its failure to do so amounted to contempt.

The Prime Ministers Democratic Unionist Party allies  along with Tory MPs Philip Hollobone and Peter Bone  joined opposition parties in the unprecedented move.

It is the first time in modern history that any Government has been found in contempt and means the highly sensitive advice provided by Attorney General Geoffrey Cox will be published, in contravention of long-standing practice.

Ministers are expected to set out tomorrow how this will be done.

The vote came shortly before Mrs May kicked off a five-day debate ahead of the December 11 meaningful vote with a speech lasting more than an hour in which she told MPs she had delivered the very best deal for the British people and backed it with my whole heart.

Before the Prime Minister appeared at the despatch box, her Government had gone down to defeat for the third time in an hour.

MPs backed a move that could put Parliament in the driving seat if the Brexit deal is rejected on December 11 by giving the Commons the power to amend a motion that Mrs May would be required to make within the following 21 days to set out the Governments next steps.

Some 26 Tory MPs  including former ministers Sir Michael Fallon, Damian Green and Sir Oliver Letwin  rebelled on the amendment tabled by ex-attorney general Dominic Grieve.

This could open the door for the Commons to throw its weight behind a Norway-style soft Brexit or even a second EU referendum, though prominent Leave-backing MPs questioned whether any such vote would be binding on ministers.

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Labours shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said the finding of contempt was a badge of shame for the Government, with huge constitutional and political significance.

By treating Parliament with contempt, the Government has proved it has lost its majority and the respect of the House, Sir Keir said.

The Prime Minister cant keep pushing Parliament away or avoiding responsible scrutiny.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable repeated calls for a second EU referendum, saying: Theresa Mays majority has evaporated and the credibility of her deal is evaporating with it.

Asked if Mrs May still felt she could command a majority in the Commons for the crunch vote next Tuesday, a Downing Street source said: Everybody knows the parliamentary arithmetic.

The fact is, during the course of this administration we have won the overwhelming majority of votes that have taken place on the floor of the House of Commons.

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Opening debate on the deal she struck in Brussels last month, Mrs May warned: Dont imagine that if we vote this down another deal is going to miraculously appear.

The alternative is uncertainty and risk  the risk Brexit could be stopped, the risk we could crash out with no deal.

She said it would not be in the national interest to block the Withdrawal Agreement, adding: The only certainty would be uncertainty.

MPs decisions over the next week would set the course our country takes for decades to come, she said.

Mrs May told them: I promise you today this is the very best deal for the British people, I ask you to back it in the best interests of our constituents and our country.

And with my whole heart I commend this motion to the House.

In a speech repeatedly interrupted by MPs attacking her deal, the Prime Minister pledged to give Parliament and the devolved administrations a greater and more formal role in forthcoming negotiations with the EU over trade  but declined to say whether MPs would get a vote on that deal.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Mrs Mays deal would make this country worse off.

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The drama in the Chamber came after:

 Bank of England governor Mark Carney warned a no-deal Brexit could result in shopping bills soaring by 10%;

 The European Court of Justices senior lawyer said Article 50, which started the Brexit process, could be revoked unilaterally by the UK;

 A senior Toyota executive warned a no-deal Brexit could result in stop-start production for weeks or months at the car giants UK plant;

 The BBC dropped proposals for a TV debate featuring Mrs May and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn followed by a discussion between eight panellists including politicians from different sides of the Brexit argument.

"I am satisfied that there is an arguable case that a contempt has been committed."

The Speaker has allowed MPs to debate a privilege motion on the #BrexitLegalAdvice in the Commons today. https://t.co/8wtHSTehlm pic.twitter.com/hEKhGuwdFZ  UK House of Commons (@HouseofCommons) December 4, 2018

The ECJs advocate general Manuel Campos Sanchez-Bordona said the UK could withdraw its notification to leave the EU before its exit in March 2019 without needing the approval of the other 27 states.

The guidance is not binding on the Luxembourg court, which is considering the issue in response to a request from British parliamentarians.

Meanwhile, Mr Carney told the Commons Treasury Committee that increased tariff prices, import costs and a collapse in the value of the pound after a no-deal Brexit would send food prices soaring quite quickly.

In the most extreme no-deal scenario, shopping bills could rise by up to 10% but even in an orderly no-deal withdrawal, with a transition period, grocery prices could rise by 6%, he said.

#Brexit - Case C-621/18 Wightman - AG Campos Sanchez-Bordona: Article 50 TFEU notification of the intention to withdraw from the EU can be revoked unilaterally under certain conditions https://t.co/NejvGoJJVi  EU Court of Justice (@EUCourtPress) December 4, 2018

Mrs May faces a battle to get her Brexit deal through Parliament and will deploy senior Cabinet ministers, with Chancellor Philip Hammond, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Home Secretary Sajid Javid all expected to appear at the despatch box over the coming days.Republic of Ireland player James McClean has paid for six people sleeping rough in his home city of Londonderry to sleep in a four-star hotel.

The Creggan-born star, who also plays for Stoke City, put the six Romanian natives, who had been sleeping in and around the city centre for a number of weeks, up for a number of nights in the Maldron Hotel within the city's historic walls.

James' sister Mary-Jane paid tribute to the kindness shown by her brother and his wife Erin on her Facebook page.

"My brother has a huge heart," she wrote. "We were just away collecting them now and taking them to the hotel. We already left a man to the hotel who lays at Foyleside Shopping Centre... You are a credit, James and Erin."

Bridget Donegan, from the Northwest Equality Crisis Campaign, which takes food, dry clothes and warm blankets to the homeless on the streets of the city, thanked the couple for the gesture, which will make a "huge difference" to those involved.

"If everyone could take a step back and strip away the stigma and see the conditions these men live in - on quilts and sleeping bags that weigh a ton due to rain water in the cold. One man on Thursday night was so cold and wet, he wrote us a note telling us all he wanted was to go home," she said.

"We spoke to two of them last night through our translator and they are so thankful."

A spokesperson for the Maldron Hotel said that it had no comment to make on the matter.

McClean has become well known for his acts of kindness in recent years, including last year donating 3,000 to help pay for 17-month-old Caleb Williamson, who was battling an aggressive form of eye cancer, to have specialist treatment in Switzerland.

He also made a considerable donation to the family of a three-year-old Derry toddler in desperate need of a heart transplant, as well as helping pay some of the funeral costs for Ronan McGavigan, aged two, who had been knocked down and killed near the Brandywell stadium.

McClean hit the headlines last month when he chose not to wear a poppy on his Stoke City kit while playing against Middlesbrough on the Saturday before Remembrance Sunday.

He called a section of opposition supporters "uneducated cavemen" after they hurled abuse at him for his stance during a match in Stoke's stadium.

As McClean made his way to the players' tunnel, Middlesbrough supporters booed and unleashed a stream of insults, as stewards pushed a number of fans back from the perimeter fence.

Later that night McClean, who was also booed by some home fans, responded by quoting IRA man and MP Bobby Sands, who died on hunger strike in 1981.

"They have nothing in their whole imperial arsenal that can break the spirit of one Irishman who doesn't want to be broken," McClean wrote, quoting Sands.A man was remanded into custody today accused of robbing a north Belfast chemist and being armed with a knife.

Jonathon Carville, 20, allegedly took quantities of pills during a raid on McKenzies Pharmacy on the Ardoyne Road on Monday.

He was arrested after police launched an investigation into the crime.

Carville, of The Demesne in Carryduff, appeared before Belfast Magistrates' Court charged with robbery and possessing an offensive weapon, namely a knife.

The alleged offences involved taking quantities of Pregabalin and Diazepam tablets.

A PSNI detective said he could connect Carville to the charges.

Defence solicitor Shane O'Neill did not cross-examine him during the brief hearing.

Mr O'Neill told the court his client may mount an application for bail next week.

On that basis District Judge Fiona Bagnall remanded Carville in custody to appear again by video-link on December 13.Police have appealed for information after a man's car was hijacked at knifepoint in Belfast city centre.

The male driver of a black Range Rover was pulled from his vehicle at knifepoint on Chichester Street at around 8.30pm on Wednesday 28 November.

The vehicle was subsequently recovered in the Glen Road area.

Detectives are asking for anyone who was in the area and who may have witnessed the incident to please get in touch by calling 101, quoting reference 1147 28/11/18.Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) arrived in the Algerian capital on Sunday night as part of a tour overshadowed by the murder of a dissident journalist.

Still, MBS sent at least 11 messages to his closest adviser - who oversaw the team that killed Khashoggi - in the hours before and after the journalist's death, according to a classified Central Intelligence Agency assessment seen by the Wall Street Journal.

It said that it was "highly unlikely" such...

The crown prince is on his first trip overseas since the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, which has strained Saudi Arabia's ties with the West and battered the prince's image overseas.

Saudi Arabia's prosecution has charged 11 people with involvement in the journalist's death, while Donald Trump's administration imposed penalties on 17 individuals last month over their alleged roles in the killing of Khashoggi.

Algerian Energy Minister Mustapha Guitouni said the prince "is welcome in his second country".

Abderrazak Makri, head of the Islamist Movement of Society for Peace, told reporters the Crown Prince's visit "does not serve Algeria's image nor its reputation".

It said MbS was "responsible for the death of a large number of children and civilians in Yemen" as well as that of Khashoggi.

"Qahtani supervised the 15-man team that killed Mr. Khashoggi and, during the same period, was also in direct communication with the team's leader in Istanbul, the assessment says", the Journal reported.

The visit is also due to boost various bilateral workshops emanating from the 13 meeting Algerian-Saudi Joint Committee held in Riyadh in April, which resulted in the signing of several cooperation agreements.The National Crime Agency (NCA) has confirmed it is assisting the PSNI in its investigation into abuse at Muckamore Abbey Hospital.

An investigation is under way after allegations of abuse by staff against vulnerable patients.

A spokesperson for the NCA was keen to point out that they would not be leading the investigation, but helping the PSNI with theirs.

Social workers are also assisting with the investigation at Muckamore Abbey.

The centre, just outside Antrim town provides inpatient facilities for those with learning difficulties and mental health issues.

An expert report was commissioned in September 2017, following reports of inappropriate behaviour and alleged physical abuse of patients by staff in two wards.

Reviewers raised concerns about the safeguarding of adults, provision of meaningful activities for patients and physical health care.

Since November 2017, 13 members of staff have been suspended after allegations of ill-treatment were made.

Between 2014 and 2017, 53 incidents of assaults on patients by staff were reported. Five of these were investigated and substantiated.

Some 4,546 incidents of physical abuse, assault or violence by patients on staff were reported during the same period and 193 instances of stress-related staff sickness.

A hospital whistleblower previously warned "someone is going to get killed" if issues at the facility were not addressed and made claims of "rampant" violent assaults on staff and a "dangerous work environment".

The NCA works to combat serious and organised crime across the UK. They provide specialist capabilities such as offender profiling and serious crime analysis to support police and law enforcement partners.

They currently have 4,200 officers based across the UK and around the world.A secondary school teacher has hit out at a suggestion by an education chief that pupils are suffering because of ongoing industrial action.

Catherine Nelson, who teaches history and politics at a secondary school in Craigavon, Co Armagh, has written an open letter to the chief executive of the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) rubbishing the claims.

It comes after Noelle Buick's biennial report revealed fewer than four in 10 schools in Northern Ireland have co-operated fully with inspections over the past two years.

Teaching unions are refusing to co-operate with school inspections in a dispute over pay and workload.

Ms Buick called the disruption "unacceptable" and said: "We are all entrusted with the care and education of our children and young people and have a responsibility to put them first above all else."

However, Ms Nelson, who is a Sinn Fein councillor, said comments made by Ms Buick in a radio interview on the matter had left her "deflated, defeated and insulted".

This prompted her to write an open letter to Ms Buick, which has so far been shared more than 2,000 times on social media.

Ms Nelson described her dedication to her job and her pupils and said teachers across Northern Ireland are struggling to cope in the face of massive budget cuts, growing class sizes, a reduction in staff and mounting paperwork.

"The needs of children are greater and society has altered significantly, but teacher training does not reflect that, my timetable does not reflect that," she wrote.

"I, like many of my colleagues, am working under immense pressure. Yet the situation is not of our making.

"Allow me to share with you my story - my experiences. It could be any teacher, we are all stretched, we play multiple roles, we go over and beyond.

"One of my classes has 33 children in it. Extra tables and chairs come out.

"We have whole class discussions, group and paired work.

"We debate, question, analyse. We test, assess, annotate, give feedback, do one-to-ones, set homework, mark.

"I teach them - they teach me. I stretch. I challenge. They learn. We set targets and goals.

"We review and revise. We guide and advise."

Ms Nelson, who has been a teacher for nine years, also revealed the pastoral role she plays in the lives of the children at her school.

In her letter, she described keeping food in the drawer of her desk to give to pupils whose parents cannot afford to feed them properly.

She also said she had glued on the sole of a child's shoe to shield the parent from the financial burden of having to buy a new pair.

She continued: "We pride ourselves in our relations with parents.

"We talk to parents daily. We lift the phone; they do, too."

Ms Nelson said she was delighted at the response to her letter and urged education chiefs to address teachers' concerns.

She added: "Ms Buick is right, pupils and parents are being failed at the moment, but it isn't by teachers who go above and beyond every day to do their very best for the children."In the run up to Christmas, police are urging homeowners to take steps to protect their property and reduce their risk of becoming a victim of crime this festive season.

Police are also asking people to look out for vulnerable neighbours and relatives during the festive period.

Chief Superintendent Simon Walls said: We as a police service will do everything in our power to tackle crime, however we also need the help of you, the community, to ensure that burglars do not get away with their crimes.

With Christmas approaching we would remind people it is not a time of rest for criminals; they too are doing their Christmas shopping, looking to gain advantage at your expense.

Dont make it easy for them, stay alert to your surroundings and report anything suspicious to police immediately. When you get home, keep your presents safe. Everyone likes to see Christmas presents around a tree, but make sure that no one can see them from outside. It is important to ensure you always lock your doors and windows at night and when out to secure those high value items you may have at Christmas.

We are encouraging everyone to report suspicious activity to us  no matter how insignificant it may seem, the report of a suspicious vehicle or people acting strangely in your neighbourhood can help us to prevent and detect crime.

Domestic burglary has been and will remain a priority for us. Talk to your family and neighbours about the top ten tips and the simple measures you can take to make your home more secure. If you have an older relative or neighbour help them to keep their homes safe and talk to them about home security."

Here are the Top Ten Tips to help remind people that they can take steps to reduce the likelihood of becoming a victim of crime:

1. Close and lock all doors and windows even if you are only going out for a few minutes.

2. Leave a light on if it will be dark before you get home. Consider security lights. To a burglar a dark house is an empty house.

3. Keep your valuables out of sight.

4. Cancel milk or other deliveries if you will be away from home.

5. Dont leave car keys near your door, letterbox or windows.

6. Always check who is at the door. Not sure? Dont open the door.

7. Set your alarm when going out and at night time. If you do not have an alarm consider installing one.

8. Ask a neighbour or a friend to check your property and to remove post from the porch/hallway.

9. Inform police if your house is to be vacant for any length of time.

10. Always keep sheds and outbuildings locked and secure ladders.

If you would like further advice on home security you can contact your local Crime Prevention Officer on the non-emergency 101.

Report any suspicious activity, no matter how trivial you may think it is to police, and If it is an emergency always ring 999. If you want to remain anonymous you can call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.Politicians have called for action to tackle the "crazy" traffic on Belfast's Glen Road after a boy was injured outside a primary school yesterday afternoon.

The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service received a 999 call at 3.43pm yesterday about the road accident outside St Teresa's Primary School in west Belfast.

A NIAS spokesman said initial reports indicated a boy who is 11 years old had been knocked down.

Paramedics were sent to the incident and, following assessment and treatment at the scene, the schoolboy was taken to the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children.

A PSNI spokesman said: "Police received a report of a road traffic collision on Glen Road in west Belfast shortly before 3.50pm this afternoon involving a car and pedestrian.

"The young male pedestrian sustained a cut above his eye as a result."

SDLP councillor Tim Attwood, whose children attend St Teresa's Primary School, said that the Glen Road is one of the busiest in west Belfast.

"My thoughts are with this child and his family," he said.

"There is a need for people to drive slowly and with due diligence.

"On the Glen Road you have St Teresa's Primary School, the Christian Brothers' secondary school, St Mary's Christian Brothers' Grammar and, further up, St Oliver Plunkett Primary School.

"That's four schools near a very busy road."

Mr Attwood expressed concern that the traffic situation could worsen due to development plans in the area.

"I have expressed concern about the volume of traffic to the Department for Infrastructure (DfI), as there is the potential for between 300 and 700 homes in that area as part of the Glen 10 plan," he continued.

"We have argued for an arterial route between Hannahstown and the Monagh Bypass to provide some relief to traffic, an alternative means of travelling parallel to the Glen Road.

"It's already very congested, and any further development could make it worse.

"It's absolutely vital to ensure children can go to and from school safely."

People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll described the traffic on the Glen Road as "crazy".

He said: "My thoughts are with the young boy and his family.

"It is worrying and I would ask the DfI to come up with a proposal for traffic management in that area.

"People have raised concerns about the size and scale of the Glen 10 plan, and the fact that they would be building it in an area which is already congested.

He added: "It's not clear at this stage how the congestion is going to be dealt with, and in light of yesterday's accident I would call on the DfI and agencies to sit down to ensure that a strategy is put in place to tackle congestion."

No response had been received from the DfI at the time of going to press.Police have urged the public to be vigilant after reports of two Northern Ireland women being scammed out of significant amounts of money.

In a case reported to police on Monday scammers claiming to be from British Telecom convinced a woman her account was being hacked from Amsterdam.

Read More

She was persuaded to download programmes, which gave them remote access to her account and allowed them to take money from her account.

In another case a woman had initially received an email on October 9 from a scammer claiming to be from the HMRC about a tax rebate. The woman had been expecting a rebate, and for around the amount stated in the email, so she replied with her details.

The next day having re-read the email the woman realised it was a scam due to the amount of spelling mistakes in it. She contacted her bank immediately who placed a flag on her account for suspicious activity.

On November 12, the woman received a call from a scammer claiming to be from her bank who said he noticed fraudulent activity on her account. He said he would close her account and open a new one but she would need to transfer her money to a different account, in amounts of 9,000 each day because that was the daily limit.

The scammer sent the woman details via text from a number that was the same as her bank. The woman subsequently made transfers of different amounts over a number of days. The woman subsequently lost all the money transferred.

"Unfortunately, these are just two examples of online scams where two people have been taken advantage of and lost a significant amount of their money," Chief Superintendent Simon Walls said.

"Scammers know all the tricks and can copy phone numbers to make it appear texts are sent legitimately when they arent, which is what happened in this case.

"Banks will never ask you to transfer money over the phone and, if they do, then this should raise your suspicions that something isnt right.

Chief Superintendent Wallis said that the public should be cautious when contacted.

"We are reassured that people are able to spot these scams, and they are picking up the phone to report them to us," he said.

However, we would continue to urge members of the public to always err on the side of caution with any text, call, email or letter asking for payment or personal details in order to release money, refund fees, pay lottery wins or supply a holiday, giveaway or service.

If you are at all suspicious about a call you receive, hang up and phone the organisation the person is purporting to represent to check their authenticity. Ideally, make the call from another telephone so you can be sure the original caller has not remained on the line. Never be pressured into a transaction over the phone.

Chief Superintendent Wallis said that guarding personal and banking details is essential.

"Never disclose them to any unauthorised person or allow anyone access to them via your computer," he said.

If you have received a call of this kind or are concerned by the intent of unsolicited calls, emails or letters then please report it to Action Fraud via their website www.actionfraud.police.uk or by phoning 0300 123 2040, or call police on the non-emergency number 101.

Further advice and information can also be obtained by visiting www.nidirect.gov.uk/scamwiseni or the ScamwiseNI Facebook page @scamwiseni

And remember if you can spot a scam, you can stop a scam.Ten babies were born to women living in refuge shelters here within a 12-month period, new figures have revealed.

The Women's Aid Federation Northern Ireland annual report states that 43 of the 717 women who were given refuge between April 2017 and March 2018 were pregnant upon arrival.

It also reveals that 485 children were admitted during the same period, but 285 women were turned away from existing facilities which were full to capacity.

The figures have been revealed as the charity prepares to mark 40 years of supporting victims of domestic and sexual violence with a fundraising gala in Belfast on Thursday.

Regional policy and information co-ordinator, Louise Kennedy, said the charity is seeking corporate backing, which has proved difficult in the past.

"We are not a cats charity," she said.

"But when we had our children's conference in February, we got corporate backing from Allstate and Bank of Ireland.

"It showed us the time is right for that corporate social responsibility and those type of partnerships to be developed."

The charity helps a wide range of people, including teenagers and the over-85s.

Women aged under 25 account for 25% of service users, with 16% aged over 55.

The Women's Aid-managed Domestic and Sexual Violence helpline (0808-8021414) handled a total of 26,547 calls during 2017/18.

Ms Kennedy said the nature of the calls and the needs of women are "becoming more and more complex" as time goes on.

The latest report also shows that ethnic minorities accounted for 182 of the women who were admitted to shelters, with 30 identifying as members of the Traveller community.

A further 6,385 women and 6,784 children accessed outreach support while staying in their own homes. Some 161 of these women were pregnant when they participated in various programmes.

Almost 55% of women in shelters said they had a disability or complex, whereas only 34% of women in outreach identified the same way.U.S. President Donald Trump attends a meeting uring the G20 leaders' summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on December 1, 2018.

President Trump took to twitter to celebrate the start of trade talks between the United States and China, but warned he would not hesitate to impose levies if talks fail, as "I'm a tariff man".

Trump said his team of trade advisers led by China trade hawk U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer would determine whether a "REAL deal" with China was possible. Targeting soybeans was widely seen as a direct attack on Trump's supporters, as the US' top soybean farming states voted for Trump in 2016.

There are several significant take-aways from this development, including the argument that Trump's hard line, even at times belligerent stance with Beijing, has caused them to blink first, particularly since economic growth in China has already started to feel the brunt of US tariffs, while USA economic growth, though not as robust as a few months ago, is still strong.

"President Xi and I want this deal to happen, and it probably will".

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin talks with reporters about trade negotiations with China, at the White House, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018, in Washington. "Unless extended, they will end 90 days from the date of our wonderful and very warm dinner with President Xi in Argentina", Trump said on Twitter.

Risk appetite returned across most markets on Monday as President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed to pause the introduction of new tariffs and intensify trade talks.

"We don't yet have a specific agreement on that", Kudlow said on a conference call with reporters.

Early Tuesday, Kudlow said the White House doesn't yet have a deal with China to reduce tariffs on USA -made cars, backtracking from a tweet by the president just two days earlier.

Earlier, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters it would start on January 1.

Also contributing to the decline are increased fears about future US economic growth.

Time is running out for the United States to ship soy before Brazilian farmers start their harvest, USA analysts said.

Trump has long accused China of unfair trade practices that hurt Americans and the USA economy.

"When people or countries come in to raid the great wealth of our Nation, I want them to pay for the privilege of doing so".

While Mnuchin said the president reserves the right to escalate tariffs should negotiations not pan out as planned, he cast the weekend's talks as a breakthrough in the administration's efforts to check China and said the discussion included everything from purchasing more U.S. goods to intellectual property, to currency manipulation.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is expressing optimism a trade agreement with China will soon be reached.Police cordon off the scene on Portstewart promenade

The family of a man whose body was found on rocks close to Portstewart harbour at the weekend have said he will "always be in our hearts".

Ballymoney man Adam Wilson, a cousin of Ballymoney UUP councillor Darryl Wilson, was found close to the promenade of the seaside town at around 11.15am on Sunday.

The PSNI have confirmed that they are not treating the death as suspicious, following the results of a post-mortem examination.

Posting on social media yesterday, Cllr Wilson said his family was "still trying to come to terms with this sudden and devastating loss".

He stated: "Unfortunately on Sunday past at around midday I received news that my cousin Adam Wilson had tragically passed away in Portstewart.

"The circumstances surrounding Adam's death are still unclear at this stage.

"The entire family circle are still trying to come to terms with this sudden and devastating loss.

"Adam will always be in our hearts, in our hearts he will remain alive."

Mr Wilson's cousin Lindsay Norton also paid tribute to him online, asking social media users to share the funeral details.

She wrote yesterday: "It is with a very heavy heart that I write this post.

"My big cousin Adam Wilson was the man found in Portstewart on Sunday morning.

"On behalf of his mum, dad and family circle, we would like to invite anyone who knew Adam to attend his funeral."

It is understood that Mr Wilson was a former pupil of Ballymoney High School and Northern Regional College, and worked as a customer adviser at Spar. As news of his death spread, hundreds of tributes were posted on social media.

Portrush UUP Alderman Norman Hillis wrote on Cllr Wilson's social media page: "Sincere condolences to you and all the family. It must have been a big shock.

"Thinking of you all at this sad time."

DUP Alderman Sharon McKillop added: "My deepest and heartfelt condolences to you and the family."

John Scade stated: "Very sorry to hear this Darryl. I went to tech with Adam and he was a good lad."

And Paula Campbell said: "Wile sorry to hear this. He was a lovely wee fella."

Mr Wilson's funeral will be held at his home tomorrow at 1.30pm.A farmer jailed for five years for killing his elderly neighbour in Co Kerry with the prongs of a teleporter could be released within two years.

Michael Ferris (63) "deprived Anthony O'Mahony of his life in appalling circumstances", said a judge during his sentence hearing, adding that the deceased man had suffered "horrific, horrible" injuries.

In October, Ferris, of Rattoo, Ballyduff, was found not guilty of murder but guilty of the manslaughter of Mr O'Mahony (73) at Rattoo on April 4, 2017, by a jury at the Irish Central Criminal Court sitting in Tralee.

Ferris had "snapped" over a crow banger, the court had heard.

Yesterday, Ms Justice Carmel Stewart imposed a six-year sentence, suspending the final 12 months for three years.

With remission and time already served, Ferris is likely to be out of prison by Christmas 2020.

Judge Stewart said it was of "profound regret", not just to the court, but to all residents of Rattoo, that the issue of the noise from the crow banger had not been dealt with in some other way.

The judge said that Ferris inflicted "horrific, horrible" injuries on Mr O'Mahony.

Judge Stewart said the "nature and duration of the attack was truly gruesome and horrific" and "defied belief and imagination".

She said that a small token of consolation for the victim's family was that, on the evidence of a pathologist that his death was instantaneous.

The judge also said the effect the killing had and continued to have on Mr O'Mahony's family was difficult to quantify.

She reiterated her sympathies to Mr O'Mahony's family and told them the court was constrained by previous cases and authorities.

"It does not diminish your grief and all I can do is hope you will come to some peace and happiness by way of getting on with your own lives," the judge said.A teenager has been charged with the murder of Eddie Meenan in Londonderry.

Ryan Walters (19), of Crawford Square in the city, appeared at a special sitting of Omagh Magistrates Court on Saturday.

No bail application was made and Walters was remanded in custody until December 20.

Walters is the third person to be charged with the murder of Mr Meenan, whose body was found in an alleyway in the Creggan Street area of the city on November 25.

Police said at the time that the 52-year-old father suffered significant injuries to his head and body.

There were emotional scenes at Londonderry Magistrates Court on Friday when two other men were charged with his murder.

The accused were Sean Ciaran Joseph Rodgers (31), from Little Diamond in the Bogside area of the city and Derek Cresswell, (26), of no fixed abode.

In reply to the charge, Rodgers denied the offence and the defendant Cresswell made no reply.

Both were remanded in custody until later this month.

Meanwhile, a 17-year-old man who was being questioned about Mr Meenan's death has been released on bail pending further enquiries.

Police have appealed for two men and a woman who were in the Creggan Street area at the time of the incident to come forward.Police will return to the site where Jade McGrath was last seen on Wednesday (David Cheskin/PA)

The family of a missing teenager has appealed for her safe return more than a week after she was last seen.

Relatives of 19-year-old Jade McGrath from Aviemore say they are increasingly concerned about her.

Miss McGrath was last seen in the Leachkin area of Inverness on the afternoon of Wednesday November 28.

A major search involving police dogs and helicopters has failed to trace the teenager.

Officers will return to the street where she was last spotted on Wednesday to speak to drivers who may recall seeing her.

The family said in a statement released by Police Scotland: As each day goes on, we are growing increasingly concerned for Jade and we just desperately want answers and to know where she is.

Anyone who was in the Leachkin area last Wednesday afternoon from around 1.45pm, please think back and if you think you might have seen anything please call the police.

She had no phone or money with her and she would most likely have been in a distressed state if you saw her.

We are grateful to everyone who has helped so far and are just desperate for news.

If Jade is reading this, we want you to know that we love you very much and we just want you home safe.

Miss McGrath is around 5ft 2in and petite, with long, bleached blonde hair with dark roots and faint wisps of blue in the ends.

She was wearing a khaki green parka-style jacket with a fluffy hood, black leggings and Nike trainers.

Please continue to check anywhere Jade could have sought shelter on your propertyInspector James Rice

The teenager has an Alice In Wonderland tattoo on one of her forearms, with diamond and club symbols from a pack of cards on her fingers and a small diamond tattoo on her hand.

Inspector James Rice said: We are very grateful for the continued support of the public and the numerous pieces of information which have been passed to us, you can be assured that everything passed to us is followed up.

Despite extensive efforts and the information received from the public, the last confirmed sighting of Jade remains in the Leachkin Road area almost a week ago.

We would continue to ask local residents to be watchful and let us know if you believe you have seen Jade last Wednesday or any time since.

Please continue to check anywhere Jade could have sought shelter on your property, review any dash-cam footage or anything else which you think may prove helpful.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 quoting incident number 1997 of November 28.Fisheries Secretary Fergus Ewing has written to Michael Gove calling for changes to the UK Fisheries Bill.

Although critical that Scottish Ministers only received the final version the day before it was laid in Parliament, Mr Ewing described the Bill as having broadly positive outcomes.

However, due to unresolved concerns, the Inverness and Nairn MSP has now urged the Environment Secretary to make several amendments to the Bill over seafood levies, fishing quotas and effort limits.

Mr Ewing is calling for the Sea Fish Industry Authority (Seafish) to be able to operate differently in different parts of the UK and also for Westminster to devolve control of levies imposed by Seafish to Scotland.

The existing Seafish levy is not fit for purpose, providing an inadequate level of support to the sector in ScotlandFergus Ewing MSP

In the letter to Mr Gove, he wrote: It is the long-held view of the Scottish Government that the existing Seafish levy is not fit for purpose, providing an inadequate level of support to the sector in Scotland and resulting in insufficient marketing and promotion of Scottish seafood.

On the contentious subject of quota and effort limits, Mr Ewing said: I remain unambiguously of the view that the Scottish Parliaments legislative consent is required, and demanded an amendment that any change should only be taken with the consent of the Scottish Ministers.

Referencing a pledge made during the EU referendum campaign that any lost funding would be replaced to ensure there is no detriment to the devolved administrations, Mr Ewing called on the Secretary of State to add an amendment committing the Government to matching the contributions from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF).

He added: Such an amendment would ensure that the vital contribution made by EMFF to supporting sustainable growth in Scottish fisheries and aquaculture, inland waters, the seafood supply chain, conservation of the marine environment and growth and jobs in coastal communities will be maintained.

A Defra spokesman said: The fishing industry is of vital importance to Scotland and that is why the Fisheries Bill, combined with our withdrawal from the EU, will give more decision-making powers to the Scottish Government.

This new Fisheries Bill will allow us to create a sustainable, profitable fishing industry for all of the UK.A gay pharmacist who plotted for years to kill his wife so he could start a new life in Australia with his boyfriend and a 2 million life insurance payout has been convicted of her murder.

Mitesh Patel, 37, injected his wife Jessica with insulin and strangled her with a Tesco bag-for-life at their Middlesbrough home, then staged a break-in to make it look like an intruder had attacked her and bound her with tape.

The couple ran a successful pharmacy together but their marriage was unhappy, with the husband repeatedly seeking sex with men he met on the Grindr dating app.

And he was secretly in a relationship with his soulmate Dr Amit Patel, who had emigrated to Sydney and with whom he hoped to bring up his and Jessicas IVF baby after her death.

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The husband was convicted of her murder at Teesside Crown Court after the jury heard Patel had made internet searches dating back years, including I need to kill my wife, insulin overdose, plot to kill my wife, do I need a co-conspirator?, hiring hitman UK and how much methadone will kill you?.

Mr Justice Goss told the jury a life sentence was mandatory and he will determine the minimum term Patel must serve behind bars on Wednesday morning.

He will hear victim statements from Jessicas grandmother, father and a joint one by her siblings and cousins before he sentences.

The jury unanimously found Patel guilty after deliberating for around three hours on the 12th day of the trial.

The judge told Patel: You have been convicted by the jury and you will be sentenced to life imprisonment and that will happen tomorrow morning.

I will also fix the minimum term you will have to serve before you can be considered for release in many years to come.

After the murder, police discovered syringes prepared with insulin in Patels laptop bag and one was empty.

Cleveland Police suspected he injected his wife to subdue her when she came home from work on May 14, then strangled her with the bag.

As she fought for her life, she scratched his neck.

He tried to blame the injury on an accident when he was working out at the gym that day.

He was planning to use that money to start a new life in Australia shared with the person he really loved ... another man named Dr Amit PatelNicholas Campbell QC, prosecuting

Nicholas Campbell QC, prosecuting, said: From various life insurance policies Mitesh Patel stood to profit from his wifes death to the tune of 2 million.

He was planning to use that money to start a new life in Australia shared with the person he really loved  another man named Dr Amit Patel.

Despite his repeated infidelity with men he met on Grindr and also being in love with Dr Patel, the killer desperately tried to persuade his wife to have a baby using IVF.

When she voiced her doubts about going through with the process amid concerns about his infidelity, the husband texted her: Ok then Im telling you this then we are parting ways.

But she did eventually go through three cycles of the fertility treatment and the last was successful, resulting in three embryos which now lie frozen in a Darlington clinic.

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Weeks before he carried out his plot, Patel told a neighbour his wife was very trusting and that one day she would end up getting murdered.

And during a family holiday to the Canaries only days before the murder, he messaged Dr Patel to say: You know this plan, do you think we will succeed?

Dr Patel replied: Only you know the answer.

The defendant got no reply when he responded: Do you think it is a bad plan?

After staging the break-in, Patel dialled 999 and said: Oh hiya, I think weve been burgled and my wifes been attacked.

During the call, despite knowing she was long dead, Patel implored her: No, Jess, come on baby, wake up.

During cross-examination, Patel said he had not tried CPR because he lost his bearings and panicked.

Mr Campbell replied: And you werent going to waste your time trying to revive the dead, were you?Police officers in two cities are being investigated by the IOPC (Joe Giddens/PA)

Police forces have been told to carry out urgent reviews into their volunteer cadet programmes after officers in two cities were accused of abusing their positions for a sexual purpose.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it had recently launched investigations concerning police officers involved with cadet programmes in Manchester and London.

A Greater Manchester Police constable was arrested and bailed following complaints about his conduct, and more potential victims have been identified, the IOPC said.

The watchdog is also investigating the conduct of a police sergeant at the same force and how they dealt with the reports of alleged abuse of power.

Meanwhile, the IOPC received a referral from the Metropolitan Police over potential failures by three officers involved in the running of a cadet programme in the London region.

We are sufficiently concerned by these two referrals to ask all police forces in England and Wales to urgently review their own Volunteer Police Cadet programmesIan Todd

The officers are being investigated for potentially failing to put in place immediate and appropriate safeguarding arrangements after being made aware that a volunteer cadet leader may have abused his position for a sexual purpose, the watchdog said.

A separate misconduct investigation is looking into allegations a Met officer abused his position for a sexual purpose at a London-based cadet training camp. He is also the subject of a criminal investigation.

The IOPC said the investigations, which are at an early stage, involve serious and sensitive allegations.

We are sufficiently concerned by these two referrals to ask all police forces in England and Wales to urgently review their own Volunteer Police Cadet programmes to ensure they have robust safeguarding procedures in place, said IOPC deputy director general Ian Todd.

Since we raised these concerns, the NPCC (National Police Chiefs Council) lead for safeguarding has confirmed that he has contacted all chief constables to make sure this is prioritised.

Volunteer police cadet programmes  also known as VPCs  are for young people aged 13 to 18 to learn more about policing.

The cadets usually meet once a week and also undertake social action projects in their community, such as fundraising for charity or taking part in road safety campaigns.

Mr Todd said the IOPC did not wish to alarm any cadets or their families, adding: I must stress that the two investigations are unconnected and we have no information to indicate this may be a wider problem.

However, some of the evidence emerging from these investigations indicates that there may have been opportunities to act sooner on the allegations that we are now investigating.

No young person involved in the police cadets should be subject to abuse of any kindShaun Sawyer

NPCC lead for police cadets, Chief Constable Shaun Sawyer, said a new national safeguarding framework was being developed and vowed to act on any lessons that could be learned from the investigations.

No young person involved in the police cadets should be subject to abuse of any kind and I urge anyone who has been, or anyone with concerns or information, to report it, he added.

Commander Mark McEwan, who leads on crime prevention, inclusion and engagement at the Met, said the force had carried out a full review of safeguarding and vetting in relation to the cadet programme.

Meetings have been held with all VPC coordinators and supervisors about their safeguarding responsibilities, and compliance with policy, he added.

Each Met borough has a dedicated Volunteer Cadet Programme coordinator assigned to it  something unique to the MPS  and all adults who work on the VPC programme have been subject to enhanced vetting checks, and receive additional safeguarding training.The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive at Kensington Palace, where they hosted a Christmas party for families and children of deployed personnel from RAF Coningsby and RAF Marham serving in Cyprus (Yui Mok/PA)

The Duchess of Cambridge has paid a heartfelt tribute to the military families coping with being apart from loved ones over Christmas.

Kate said she could not imagine the emotions they felt during the holiday period as she hosted a festive party with William for more than 200 wives, girlfriends, parents and grandparents holding the fort at home.

A Christmas grotto had been created in the grounds of Kensington Palace where dozens of children, who have a parent based at either RAF Coningsby or RAF Marham, ran around creating crackers, decorating stockings or making chocolate truffles.

The duchess told her guests: As someone whose husband served, I know how hard it feels when a loved one leaves home to do the job they trained for.

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She highlighted how she had some idea how they felt at this time of year as William, a former RAF search and rescue helicopter pilot, had served in the Falklands for six weeks in 2012.

Kate added: But I cant imagine how it feels when your loved ones are away on active service over ChristmasForeign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal later issued a formal statement giving further details.

Trump told Khan the Pakistan relationship was very important to Washington and to finding a solution to the Afghanistan conflict, Chaudhry added. The American leader went on to emphasize that the two countries "should explore opportunities to work together and renew partnership", the spokesman added.

He recently expressed hopes that a peace deal to end the war could be struck before the Afghan presidential election, scheduled for April.

Islamabad would help facilitate any talks "in good faith", the ministry added. "Peace and stability in Afghanistan remains a shared responsibility", Faisal concluded.

The ministry welcomed the US president's outreach, saying "Pakistan has always advocated a political settlement to end war in Afghanistan".

President Trump has also acknowledged that the war had cost both United States of America and Pakistan.

Last month, Trump had targeted Pakistan on Twitter and wrote, "We no longer pay Pakistan the $billions because they would take our money and do nothing for us, Bin Laden being a prime example, Afghanistan being another".

He further said that the USA president had lauded Pakistan's role and stressed over achieving peace.

The U.S. president wants to bring to a close the 17-year-old conflict between Afghan security forces and the Taliban, who are fighting to drive out worldwide forces and reestablish their version of strict Islamic law after their 2001 ouster.

The Pakistani leader insisted his country was being made "a scapegoat" for US military "failures" in Afghanistan. "They have said all along that the negotiations in Afghanistan have to be Afghan-owned and Afghan-led".

The increase brings the policy rate into double digits amid reports that the move is linked to the government's ongoing talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout package.

The State Department said Khalilzad will also travel to Kabul, Russia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Belgium, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, where the Taliban has stationed its political negotiators in a so-called "political office".

Trump has appointed Afghan-born USA diplomat Khalilzad as a special envoy for Afghanistan, tasking him with pushing through peace talks.President Donald Trump salutes as he and first lady Melania Trump pay their respects to George HW Bush (Shawn Thew/Pool via AP)

Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump have travelled to the US Capitol in Washington to pay their respects to former president George HW Bush.

The remains of the 41st president of the United States took their place in the Capitol Rotunda for three days of mourning and praise by the political elite and everyday citizens alike.

With Mr Bushs casket on top of the Lincoln Catafalque, first used for Abraham Lincolns 1865 funeral, dignitaries came forward to honour the Texan whose efforts for his country extended three quarters of a century from the Second World War to his final years as an advocate for volunteerism and relief for people displaced by natural disaster.

President from 1989 to 1993, Mr Bush died on Friday at the age of 94.

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In an invocation opening the ceremony, the US House chaplain, the reverend Patrick J Conroy, praised Mr Bushs commitment to public service, from Navy pilot to congressman, UN ambassador, envoy to China and then CIA director before being elected vice president and then president.

Here lies a great man, said House speaker Paul Ryan and a gentle soul.  His legacy is grace perfected.

Vice president Mike Pence and Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell also spoke.

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Mr Trump did not attend, but he and the first lady came to the Capitol later on Monday to pay tribute.

They stood in front of the casket with their eyes closed for a few moments, before Mr Trump saluted the casket.

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Political combatants set aside their fights to honour a Republican who led in a less toxic time and at times found commonality with Democrats despite sharp policy disagreements.

Past and incoming House speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, exchanged a warm hug with former president George W Bush and came away dabbing her face. Mr Bush himself seemed to be holding back tears.

Ms Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, placed wreaths in the short ceremony before the rotunda was to be opened to the public. It was to remain open overnight.

Sent off from Texas with a 21-gun salute, Mr Bushs casket was carried to Joint Base Andrews outside the capital city aboard an aircraft that often serves as Air Force One and designated Special Air Mission 41 in honour of Mr Bushs place on the chronological list of presidents.

Cannon roared again outside as the sun sank and his eldest son, George W Bush, stood with his hand over his heart, watching the caskets procession up the steps.

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Mr Bush was remembered just feet away from what he called Democracys front porch, the west-facing steps of the Capitol where he was sworn in as president.

He will lie in state in the Capitol for public visitation until Wednesday. An invitation-only funeral service is set for Wednesday at Washington National Cathedral. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump are to attend.

Although Mr Bushs funeral services are suffused with the flourishes accorded presidents, by his choice they will not include a formal funeral procession through Washington.President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump are greeted by former president George Bush and former first lady Laura Bush (Andrew Harnik/AP)

President Donald Trump has visited the family of former president George HW Bush who has died.

Mr Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrived by motorcade at Blair House on Tuesday.

It is the official government guest house across from the White House where Mr Bushs son former president George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, are staying for the elder Bushs state funeral this week.

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The Bushes descended a short staircase to greet the Trumps before everyone went inside for the private visit.

Mr Trump put his hand on George W. Bushs back a couple of times.

Mr Trump tweeted earlier on Tuesday that he was Looking forward to being with the wonderful Bush family at Blair House today.

Mr Trump has not always said the kindest things about the Bush family, and some of the Bushes have publicly criticised Mr Trump.Washington and Kabul have long accused Islamabad of turning a blind eye to the Afghan Taliban, whose leadership is based in Pakistan (Donall Farmer/PA)

The US special envoy tasked with finding a negotiated end to Afghanistans 17-year-old war has met with Pakistans foreign secretary, security and army officials.

Zalmay Khalilzad is in Islamabad for discussions on how to bring the Taliban to peace talks and his arrival comes a day after US President Donald Trump wrote a letter to Pakistans Prime Minister Imran Khan, seeking his co-operation.

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Mr Khalilzad is also expected to meet with Mr Khan.

The US Embassy did not share any details about the talks, and Pakistans Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mohammad Faisal, said that the two sides held detailed discussions on peace and a political settlement in neighbouring Afghanistan.

The US State Department said the special envoy will also travel to Afghanistan, Russia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Belgium, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in stepped-up efforts to find a peaceful end to the Afghan war.

Washington and Kabul have long accused Islamabad of turning a blind eye to the Afghan Taliban, whose leadership is based in Pakistan.

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Islamabad has always denied the allegations, pointing to its efforts to combat home-grown extremists who have carried out hundreds of attacks inside Pakistan.

On Monday, Mr Khan told reporters that his government will do whatever was possible to ensure peace in Afghanistan.A Cleveland, Ohio, Christmas radio station has banned the old chestnut Baby, It's Cold Outside because it is not in tune with these #MeToo times

A Cleveland, Ohio, Christmas radio station has banned the old chestnut Baby, It's Cold Outside because it is not in tune with these #MeToo times. Yes, that Baby, It's Cold Outside, the Frank Loesser classic covered by all and sundry, from Dolly and Rod, Lady Gaga and Joseph Gordon Levitt, Bette Midler and James Caan, to Tom Jones and Cerys Matthews and (blimey) Willie Nelson and Norah Jones.

The duet in which a man tries to dissuade a woman from leaving, in spite of her repeated protestations. Apparently, we should be concerned that the song is predatory. Indeed, 'Baby' has been called "rapey" and "coercive".

"People might say, 'Oh, enough with that #MeToo', but if you really put that aside and read the lyrics, it's not something that I would want my daughter to be in that kind of a situation," said Desiray McCray, midday host at Star 102, WDOK-FM. "The tune might be catchy, but let's maybe not promote that sort of an idea."

On the station's website, another host, Glenn Anderson, said he didn't initially understand why the lyrics were "offensive".

"Now, I do realise that when the song was written in 1944, it was a different time, but now while reading it, it seems very manipulative and wrong," he wrote.

So, it has come to this.

What's next for the chop? Rudolf the Rednosed Reindeer? After all, our eponymous hero is bullied and ostracised by his co-workers because of his 'difference'. His employer, Santa, turns a blind eye to these shenanigans, only to call on Rudolf one 'foggy Christmas eve' when old beardy is in a bit of a hole.

Or Hamlet? Where that crazy Dane blanks his girlfriend, Ophelia, until she eventually goes mad and drowns herself. Classic gaslighting. Jane Eyre? Where Mr Rochester locks Mrs Rochester up in the attic because she is  ahem  'mad'. Who says, Eddie? You? And isn't madness a social construct anyway 

Gone with the Wind with its sympathy for the Confederacy? To the wastebasket of history - both the book and the film. As for Abba... ? Does Your Mother Know? About an older man resisting the blandishments of a much younger woman. Hmmm. When I Kissed the Teacher. Ah, but was the kiss consensual? Still, maybe give them a bye ball. Swedish, you know ...

More on topic maybe is Slade's 1973 Skweeze Me, Pleeze Me: "And I thought you might like to know/When a girl's meaning yes, she says no."

In fact, to be on the safe side, let's ban everything in case someone somewhere takes offence. After all, it only took one caller to Star 102 to have them sharpening the blue pencils.

Of course, we should be worried about today's rape culture. In fact, it needs radically tackled with legislation. But is this trolling of old songs and long-dead songwriters and silly game-playing aspects of our culture to be the flagship campaigns of our time?

Baby, It's Cold Outside is not about 'blurred lines' in dating culture, some post facto excuse for sexual assault. As far as misogyny goes, it's not even close to the toxic levels of most contemporary R&B culture, with its hoes and bitches. It is not in any way comparable to the porn out there on the internet and the top shelf with its subgenres of 'forced' or 'non-consensual'. Those may be the real problems, right now, today, and managing those takes much greater levels of nuance and subtlety in policing than you need for simply banning the hummable tunes of yesteryear. It will always be much easier to beat up on an old song from eight decades ago and pretend that something has been done about rape or abuse or bullying or psychological coercion. Of course, what is actually going on is that a kind of historical dyslexia is setting in. Somehow, with contemporary trauma so ubiquitous and the causes for offence proliferating beyond anything any one person or group can hope to control, it is easier to consider it intolerable that the past had the sheer gall not to be like us; had the nerve to see things differently; the arrogance to be simpler, more innocent (oh yes) and (let's face it) much less creepy than we are.

Whatever about private morality in the past, the general public culture was much less crude, the behavioural protocols much more defined.

The paranoia we bring to the past is all of our own making and is very much due to the experiences of our own day, not theirs.

We find it difficult to imagine what the lives of others before us were like, or even that they didn't stand about waiting for 'today' to pass judgement on them. The folks in Cleveland certainly seem to suffer from this simple-minded literalism. The duet is about a woman dropping by her boyfriend's ('beau' would perhaps be more appropriate) house. As the evening wears, on the woman is torn between her desire to stay and fear of what society would say:

My mother will start to worry (beautiful what's your hurry?)

My father will be pacing the floor (listen to the fireplace roar)

So really I'd better scurry (beautiful please don't hurry)

But maybe just a half a drink more (put some records on while I pour)

The neighbours might think (baby, it's bad out there)

The man is not only saying he wants her to stay, but offering her possible excuses against the (undoubtedly condemnatory) gossip that would inevitably ensue: There's bound to be talk tomorrow (Think of my lifelong sorrow)/At least there will be plenty implied (If you got pneumonia and died).

In other words, it is about a man and woman inching towards a mutually desired event. (Whether that event is all night chandelier-swinging sex or relatively-chaste smooching is not even made clear.) Ah, ah, go the puritans, what about that 'Say, what's in this drink? (No cab's to be had out there)'. The prosecution rests - an open-and-shut case of rohypnol and date rape.

Except, of course, that old bugbear, history. The phrase 'What's in this drink?' is used over and over again in films and novels of the period. It was acknowledgement that people weren't acting the way they normally do or should - a kind of formal excuse, a protection from possible criticism. It didn't even have to be used in a sexual or romantic context. An indiscreet man could utter it while passing on work gossip to a work colleague, for example.

Moreover, the context is the Second World War. The song was written in 1944 and it reflects a little of the wartime opportunism as 'romances' came up against the reality of active service abroad. A little bit of reluctant persuasion, a little bit of lying to oneself 

The woman of Baby, It's Cold Outside is not victim. On the contrary, she is a bit of a taboo breaker. It's the mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and bitchy friends who want her to go out and face the storm. She is rather enjoying herself in the nice warm flat of her boyfriend and open to persuasion. But it's easier to misread things, to refuse to even try and understand. At heart, it is an exercise in societal solipsism, seeing the past solely in terms of how it comments on our own issues, hot spots, lines of cultural fissure. It is a self-serving exercise in closing down our own imaginations and patting ourselves on the back.

We would do well to remind us of that famous phrase from L.P. Hartley's 1953 The Go-Between: 'The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.'

Simply shouting it down doesn't achieve anything. It certainly doesn't change it.Outlook bleak. That is the doleful forecast around Westminster over the plight of Theresa May's Chequers plan for Brexit - and, indeed, for her own future as Prime Minister.

With yet another ministerial resignation at the end of last week, the prospects for its success seem to be dwindling as each day passes.

And the arithmetic for her getting the plan through parliament on December 11 continues to stack up ominously against her. Yet she refuses all efforts and blandishments for her to either withdraw it, or rework it drastically.

Have the Tory whips let her down? They should have seen right from the start, it is argued, that the Chequers plan was probably doomed to failure.

It is almost certainly too late now for those whips to indulge in offering perks, or threatening metaphorical arm-twisting, to those Tories, in considerable numbers, who have indicated they will vote against the plan.

Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer, the Shadow Brexit Secretary, has warned that he will set in motion procedures for contempt of parliament proceedings against the Government if ministers continue to refuse to make public the legal advice over Brexit.

You would think that things could hardly get worse for the Prime Minister. Yet she stubbornly sticks to her guns.

But she could surprise us all on December 11. She might just sneak home.

Stranger things have happened.

When the-then Prime Minister, David Cameron, denounced the incipient Ukip as "fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists, mostly", I thought he was going over the top.

I was wrong. If anything, when you consider what is going on now, he was understating the case.

No wonder former Ukip leader Nigel Farage is close to spitting blood over the present leader, Gerard Batten's decision to appoint the far-Right activist Tommy Robinson as his advisor.

Farage warns that this move could help to transform Ukip into the BNP. And he has called on Batten to resign as leader.

Farage also says that he himself will quit Ukip if there are marches ahead with Batten and Tommy Robinson at the forefront.

At one stage, it seemed that Ukip might be a comfortable new home for Tories, dissatisfied with their own party. And, indeed, a number of them did join Ukip, but they have mostly filtered back, while Ukip seems to be heading for oblivion.

Farage is the only Ukip member most people have heard of. He has kept the party on the map.

His departure would almost certainly spell curtains for the "fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists".

There are all sorts of reasons why the ludicrously overcrowded House of Lords should be slimmed down to manageable proportions.

It comprises no fewer than 800-plus members, many of whom do not bother to attend at all unless the whips order them to do so.

One reason to advocate a drastic cull of the bloated membership is that the supply of their lordships' robes appears to be running dry.

On big occasions, like the state opening of parliament, when robes are de rigueur, some peers can be seen dashing around to find out which of their colleagues are dying and unable to attend so they can beg or borrow their attire for the day - not a very dignified way to go about it.

On one occasion, it is said, the veteran broadcaster Joan Bakewell was reduced to going to a theatrical costumier to seek out something suitable which might resemble the official attire.

The costumier was, reportedly, thankfully able to fish something out from his repertoire of costumes. That was why, according to one witness, her ladyship entered the chamber on that day looking more like a character in a crowd scene in a Gilbert and Sullivan light opera than a legislator in the House of Lords.

Baroness Trumpington's death leaves a gaping hole in the heart of British politics.

While others immersed themselves in analysis and gravitas, often boring the pants off fellow members of the House of Lords with their verbosity, Jean Trumpington was always ready with a quip - or even shock tactics, which invariably introduced a welcome breeze to an otherwise stifling political situation.

Once when distributing prizes at a school speech day, she was so bored by the homilies that dominated this tedious occasion that she jumped fully clothed into the school swimming pool - to the delight of the pupils and alarm of the teachers.

She said her husband did not speak to her for some time after that.

My abiding memory of her is belting out Chattanooga Choo Choo, wearing a vast floppy red hat, at a parliamentary concert.

Once she was asked why she had chosen Trumpington - a village in her area of Cambridgeshire - as her title when she was made a peeress. She explained: "The alternative would have been Six Mile Bottom."

What a girl!Indonesian soldiers prepare coffins for construction workers believed to have been shot dead by separatist rebels in restive Papua province, Dec. 4, 2018.

Indonesian police said Tuesday they were investigating reports that separatist rebels had killed 31 construction workers in the restive eastern province of Papua.

Local police and officials said they had received information that as many as 31 workers who were building bridges in the Yall area in Papuas Nduga regency were killed on Saturday and Sunday.

We cannot confirm the figure yet, national police spokesman Muhammad Iqbal told reporters in Jakarta, adding that police and military personnel were sent to the regency to retrieve the bodies of victims and hunt the attackers.

Iqbal said the police had identified the rebel group who carried out the attack, but he declined to give details.

What is clear is that the police will pursue and crack down on this group, he said.

Jayawijaya regency police chief Yan Pieter Reba said he was informed that 31 workers had been killed.

He said the workers were attacked after one of them took photos of a ceremony held by a group of separatist rebels to mark what they considered as Papuas independence day.

They [the rebels] were angry and killed the workers in their camp, Reba told reporters.

He said 24 workers were killed in their camp, while eight others fled to a local councilors house but were chased by the attackers.

The information we received is that seven of them were also killed and one person managed to flee, he said.

President Joko Jokowi Widodo said the government was still trying to verify the information but emphasized that infrastructure projects in Papua would continue despite the incident.

We know Papua is, indeed, a very difficult region and there are still security disturbances like that, Jokowi told reporters in Jakarta.

I have ordered the police and military chiefs to investigate it. Things are still unclear because there is no cellular signal there, Jokowi said.

The alleged killings were first reported by a local priest, Wilhelmus Kogoya, said Papua police spokesman Ahmad Kamal.

Alimin Gwijangge, deputy chairman of the Nduga regional council, confirmed the killings to BenarNews in a phone interview and said the bodies had yet to be collected.

He said he was in Timika at that time but immediately returned to Nduga after hearing about the killings.

The OPM group led by Egianus Kogoya killed the workers, he said, using the Indonesian abbreviation for the separatist Free Papua Movement.

The group, according to Gwijangge, has been operating in the Yall area of Nduga.

Attempts by BenarNews to contact separatist rebels were unsuccessful.

At least 139 police and soldiers in 25 vehicles were sent to the Yall area to retrieve the bodies and hunt for the attackers, Jayawijaya deputy police chief Andreas Tampubolon said.

But difficult terrain and bad weather prevented the vehicles from reaching the scene of the killings, he said.

We anticipate the worst, Tampubolon said.

Col. Jonathan Binsar Sianipar, the local military chief, said another group of rebels attacked a military post in Nduga on Monday, killing a soldier.

Indonesias minister of Public Works and Housing, Basuki Hadimuljono, said he had ordered the suspension of construction work in the area, on recommendation from the provincial and military chiefs.

The speaker of the House of Representatives, Bambang Soesatyo, urged security forces to immediately arrest the perpetrators.

I strongly condemn the killings, he said.

Papua, located at the far eastern end of the Indonesia, is one of the archipelagos poorest regions despite its rich natural resources.

It has been the scene of a low-level armed separatist conflict since the 1960s. Human rights groups have accused security forces of committing rights abuses during counter-insurgency operations.

Foreign journalists have been largely banned from reporting from Papua, with the government citing concerns for their security for the restrictions.Police were to question a cabinet member under Malaysias Sedition Act, the home minister said Tuesday, after the government announced it was lifting a moratorium on that and other laws in order to preserve national security, order and race relations.

An aide to Waytha Moorthy, a cabinet minister in charge of a Unity division, confirmed that his boss was questioned at police headquarters, among other things, about comments he allegedly made about an upcoming rally by conservative Muslim groups who oppose a U.N. convention against racial discrimination.

Last month, Malaysias new prime minister backpedaled on an electoral pledge by saying his government would not ratify the convention.

Yes, the cops will be questioning him under the Sedition Act, Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin told reporters late Tuesday.

The nations police chief, Mohamad Fuzi Harun, said Waytha was called to police headquarters.

We have summoned him and we will record the statement today, Fuzi said without elaborating.

The police brought Waytha in for questioning about a week after a riot broke out at a minority Hindu temple near the capital, Kuala Lumpur.

Waythas aide, meanwhile, spoke to Benar on condition of anonymity.

The cops said Waytha is wanted for the speech he made on the ICERD rally that is to take place this weekend, the aide said, referring to the U.N.s International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

As far as I am concerned, Waytha did not comment [on] anything about the rally, the source added.

According to the aide, Waytha was also to be questioned about a 10-year-old video shot at a United Nations event, in which he spoke about discrimination against Malaysias ethnic Indian minority, and pointed out that many born as Hindus were forced to convert to Islam to get jobs and education in the Muslim-majority nation.

Because the video recently went viral, critics of the government have called for Waytha to step down from his post.

The police wanted to record his statement based on this two issues, the aide said.

Waythas questioning came days after Mahathirs cabinet last week reversed course on its moratorium against the Sedition Act of 1948, Prevention of Crime Act (POCA), Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), and Security Offenses (Special Measures) Act of 2012 (SOSMA). The reversal followed the riot that occurred at the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in Subang Jaya.

The decision has been made in consideration of these three areas of concern, Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo said on Monday, citing national security, public order and race relations.

Home Minister Muhyiddin, who said he and Gobind had suggested that the moratorium be lifted, spoke out in favor of the cabinets decision.

This gives full authority for police to act to ensure public safety is always maintained, he said on Sunday. The police were cautious before and some people took advantage of that because they thought the police were unable to act.

In July, Mahathir announced that his cabinet championed a return to the rule of law and vowed to rescind legislation including SOSMA, which allows for detention without trial.

Malaysias main opposition party, former Prime Minister Najib Razaks United Malays National Organization, warned that such action could threaten national security.

Despite lifting the moratorium, the cabinet is in the process of reviewing the laws, according to Muhyiddin.

Fuzi, the police chief, told reporters that officers had arrested more than 80 suspects in connection with the riot at the Hindu temple.

Violence erupted after 50 masked men stormed into the temple and attacked devotees. Authorities described the incident as an escalation of a dispute over the relocation of the house of worship and not race-related.

As of 8 a.m. today, a total of 83 men have been detained to assist investigations into the trouble at the temple, Fuzi told reporters at the police training college early Tuesday. We are still investigating and those who broke the law will be detained.

Saturday rally

Meanwhile on Monday, the Kuala Lumpur city council granted a permit for a rally to be staged on Dec. 8 by conservative groups that oppose the U.N. convention.

Malaysia, Myanmar and Brunei are the three Southeast Asian nations that have not signed onto the United Nations treaty.

On Nov. 23, Mahathir announced that his government would not ratify the treaty despite a campaign pledge to the contrary and a speech that he gave to the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September.

When he spoke at the U.N., the prime minister said, I pointed out that we are a multiracial and multireligious country. We will have problems with that. So now the problem that we predicted have happened, and we have to react to that.

The Ummah Defenders Movement and other Malaysia-based NGOs argue that certain provisions of the U.N. convention go against Malaysian constitutional provisions that guarantee certain privileges and incentives for ethnic Malays and other indigenous races, including allowing quotas in public institutions.Catholic priest Teresito Chito Suganob, who was held hostage by militants during the 2017 siege of Marawi, walks through a destroyed section of the southern Philippine city, Oct. 17, 2018.

The Philippine military chief said Tuesday that he had recommended extending martial law in the south by another year to suppress threats from militants linked to Islamic State (IS) extremists.

The militants still threatened the Mindanao region, said armed forces chief of staff Gen. Carlito Galvez, who noted several recent bombings carried out on Basilan island and Isulan city that left 14 people dead, including 11 killed in a car-bomb explosion.

Militants who escaped from southern Marawi city when the military reclaimed it in October 2017 were known to have joined forces with smaller groups in Mindanao, adding to the danger, he said.

We have recommendations already. We see that all security experts in the regions and also the local government units and other agencies are recommending for extension of at least one year, Galvez said.

Year-long martial law extension is recommended so that we can substantially make a significant dent against terrorism, he added.

Previously, President Rodrigo Duterte indicated that he was considering extending martial law in the south because, he said, military rule effectively kept IS-linked militants at bay.

The martial law that is in force is to expire later this month. It is an extension of military rule imposed in the south that allowed the military to defeat militants who took over Marawi during five months last year.

There is really a clamor for the extension considering the terrorists are still lurking in the area, Galvez said.

Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said Duterte had yet to approve another extension of martial law.

If the threat remains and there is still an ongoing rebellion, then, constitutionally, the basis would be valid for continuation of martial law, he said.

No constitutional basis: Opposition politician

Rep. Edcel Lagman, a congressman in the opposition, questioned the need to extend military rule again in the south, criticizing the military chiefs proposal for its wanton absence of constitutional basis.

Lagman said the constitution requires the presence of a rebellion and the need for public safety as a basis for martial law.

Rebellion does not persist in Mindanao and, consequently, public safety is not imperiled, he said. It is President Duterte who is vested with the initiative for the extension of martial law and he has not communicated to the congress his desire to prolong the martial law regime in Mindanao.

The justification of Galvez that there is public clamor for the extension is flawed because popular clamor is not a grounds for martial law or its extension. Moreover, the alibi that terrorists are still lurking in the area also is not a basis for extension because terrorism is not rebellion and the threat of terrorism, like the imminent threat of rebellion, is not a constitutional ground for martial law, Lagman said.There are few men who define an era, a school of thought or anything of the sort. There are even in smaller numbers those who, once dead, give us a feeling that along with them a whole era comes to an end. It seems to me that this is the correct reading of the death of the 41st president of the United States (1989-1993). With George H. Bush, we have lost not only a man but a style and a special kind of idea. We have an opportunity to assess the legacy of a man who, despite having served for only four years, is far more critical than a careless or naive person might think. For better or for worse, the country in which we live now was largely shaped by people who saw the world as Bush did.

The first thing to understand about President Bush, who passed away on Friday at the age of 94, is that he was a member of the Northeast coast elite; a group of men and women who has their origins, or believed to have, in the early Protestants who arrived in colonial America. The mission to erect the shining city upon the hill has always been their moral compass and the rule whereby they judged themselves guardians of US institutions. So President Bush was not an ordinary man. He was something like an American aristocrat, and especially a member of a dynasty. He had a historical sense that cannot easily be replicated.

President Bushs intellectual background was that of his father, Prescott Bush. He understood the meaning of social class and historical mission and so could easily be mistaken for a Burkean conservative or a traditionalist. However, in practice he was a pragmatic politician, a wonder boy to use the definition given to Hebert Hoover by Calvin Coolidge, someone who believes he has all the answers and the government is his instrument.

Prescott Bush (1895-1972), the patriarch of the family, was the archetype of New Englands high-class gentleman. He attended Yale and made a career in Wall Street as a successful banker before embarking on politics. The Republican Prescott Bush was neither a conservative nor an old-school progressive. Serving as a senator from Connecticut, he was a supporter of the major New Deal reforms and developed deep connections with the eugenic Planned Parenthood.

Prescott Bush was both an internationalist and a champion of social reformism without, however, having any sympathy for the blue collar class, a fundamental component of the FDRs New Deal coalition, which placed him on the Republican side of the political dispute. In the still very poorly understood US post-war political dynamics, he and the Connecticut GOP represented liberalism while the conservative leader was the Catholic Democrat Senator Thomas J. Dodd, a man who could not even hear of hippies and communists without showing his deep contempt for both.

The second thing that must be understood about the late President Bush is that he had always been a man of the political establishment for whom democracy is a small discomfort that needs to be bypassed or remodeled to never jeopardize high-class desires and designs.

Like his father, President Bush studied at Yale and, after serving in World War II, he migrated to Texas where he built a fortune for his own right. It was in Texas, too, that he entered politics by pursuing the career of an insider, a man of the Republican establishment, or, as this kind of politician will become known years later, a country-club Republican.

In the political contest in the much-democrat state of Texas, President Bush provided countless evidence of being above all a man of the system. He represented Houston in the House of Representatives, was President Fords special envoy to China, commanded the GOP National Committee, and was United States ambassador to the UN and director of the CIA. When, at Nixons request, he ran for the Senate against moderate-to-conservative Democrat Lloyd Bentsen in 1970, he contested the election with a shamelessly liberal platform.

In the Republican primaries of 1980, President Bush once again played the role of party machine man and was the spearhead of the Republican elites effort to bar Ronald Reagans nomination. His whole campaign was based on the argument that Reagan was too conservative, too vulgar, too much the common Joe to represent the GOP and defeat then-President Jimmy Carter. As we all know he was wrong. Not only did Reagan win twice in a resounding fashion he engineered one of the greatest political realignments in American history: the blue collar workers, the class scorned by Prescott Bush and other country-club Republicans, began to abandon the old Democratic Party to support Reagan in his triumphant victory.

The third thing to understand about President Bush is that he was never a conservative and never showed himself as one until it paid electoral dividends. He was not sympathetic to the old-guard conservatives, whose ideas were roughly speaking dismantling the federal administration and undoing the economic and social reforms that created the deep state and crony capitalism. He likewise did not like libertarians, who were considered very radical for country club GOP standards because they wanted solid money and a government that respected the individual liberties guaranteed by the constitution.

President Bush was a friend of the nanny state. As someone who made his career occupying positions of power and influence in the federal administration, it is difficult to imagine him otherwise. The Bush presidential candidate who needed the votes of the conservative populist coalition created by Reagan, the Bush read my lips: no new taxes quickly gave way to a Bush who preached the increase of the welfare state and, surprisingly, created new taxes.

However, the most disastrous thing about the Bush administration was its commitment to the political agenda of neoconservatives in international relations. President Bush, and Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Barack Obama after him, believed that taxpayers money and the lives of American soldiers should be spent and sacrificed in favor of the spread of liberal democracy throughout the world. Therefore, this produced an increased of the Militaryindustrial complexs power and brought chaos to all four corners of the world.

It is a truism in the classes of Foreign Policy Analysis to conclude that President Bush and his allies were extremely careless in conducting the events that led to the Desert Storm operation. First of all, because he never made it clear to Saddam Hussein that the United States was willing to go to war over Kuwait and, secondly because all diplomatic alternatives were immediately discarded in favor of the war. Its even funny to see how Saddam Hussein, a U.S. ally in the fight against Iran, was cast as an Islamic Adolf Hitler in such a short space of time.

Understanding these three faces of late President Bush  the elitist, the establishment man, and the non-conservative  is the best way to understand the modern United States and the post-Cold War world he helped to create. As we look toward Washington, we see a bureaucracy stripped of any democratic control and power-driven, growing every day with the support of Democrats and establishment Republicans. While in the world we can see a war promoted by the liberal international order against nation-states and national identities in favor of a global society. President Bush was a champion of both causes: the Leviathan state and the elitist liberal internationalism.

To a large extent, the worldwide populism and, in the United States, President Donald Trump, are responses to this world created by people like the now-deceased Bush. The systematic rejection that GOP voters have shown each electoral cycle toward Bush-style Republicans should be a signal to the liberal establishment that the time for change has arrived.

I believe that President Bush was a good man, a good husband, and a good father. He was a true patriot and someone who thought he was doing his best for his compatriots. In short, he was a person who can be a role model. Nevertheless, this should not serve as an excuse to overlook the flaws of his ideas and his presidency. There is much to learn from his mistakes. If the Republican Party wants to survive as a conservative party, it must leave Bush like ideas in the same place where the former president has now rested. May George Herbert Walker Bush, his class and his ideas rest in peace.

Homepage photo credit: Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, George Herbert Walker Bush, Ronald Reagan, and Jimmy Carter at the dedication of the Reagan Presidential Library (Left to right). Wiki Commons.On this exclusive, members-only event, Bill breaks down what you need to know about The Real Joe Biden. Who is he and how will he directly affect you and your family?

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesFor Immediate Release, December 4, 2018 Contact: Jenny Loda, (510) 844-7100 x 336, jloda@biologicaldiversity.org Critical Habitat Proposed for Endangered Arizona Mud Turtle TUCSON, Ariz. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today proposed critical habitat for the endangered Sonoyta mud turtle. These highly aquatic turtles are found only in Pima County, Ariz. and Sonora, Mexico. These turtles have been pushed to the brink as their aquatic habitats were degraded and destroyed, so this is a crucial step, said Jenny Loda, a Center for Biological Diversity biologist and attorney who focuses on protecting rare amphibians and reptiles. Im so happy to see the Fish and Wildlife Service moving forward with protections for these little guys. The proposed critical habitat consists of 12.3 acres in the Rio Sonoyta watershed of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Pima County. This area is currently occupied by the only known population of Sonoyta mud turtles in the United States. With webbed feet and an innate ability to swim, the Sonoyta mud turtle has evolved to be highly aquatic in one of the driest parts of the Sonoran Desert. Diversion of surface water and pumping of groundwater have led to the loss of much of the watery habitat the turtle needs to survive. The turtles habitat loss has been worsened by drought conditions that have persisted for the past 20 years. Long stretches of dry streams have isolated populations of the turtles, limiting opportunities for migration. Legal action by the Center forced the Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the Sonoyta mud turtle under the Endangered Species Act, which led to todays habitat proposal. With only one population in the U.S., the Sonoyta mud turtle is extremely vulnerable, especially as dry conditions worsen with climate change, said Loda. Protection under the Endangered Species Act are our best hope to save them. The Act has a nearly perfect record of preventing plants and animals from going extinct. Four populations are also currently known in Mexico, but the loss of the turtle has already been reported from an additional site. At all of these sites, the number of turtles has declined as aquatic habitat has been reduced. The public has 60 days to comment on todays proposed critical habitat.With annexation of Crimea and the war in Eastern Ukraine in 2014, many commentators have noted the unpredictability of Russia. This unpredictability seems to be confirmed in the latest episode in the Russia-Ukraine clash. However, there is a certain logic underpinning Russias actions against Ukraine.

When Russia annexed Crimea in the spring of 2014, it took control of the Ukrainian exclusive marine economic zone around Crimea. This included the Kerch Strait, the waterway connecting the Azov and Black seas. In May 2018 Russia completed the building of a bridge linking Crimea with mainland Russia, thereby gaining control of the sea traffic between the Black and Azov seas. Russia has used this control to de facto blockade two of Ukraines major ports (Mariupol and Berdiansk). Ukrainian ships have been subjected to major delays leading to economic losses resulting in dwindling commercial traffic. This has amounted to attempt to turn the Azov Sea into a Russian lake. Already in October, the European Parliament deplored the excessive actions of the Russian Federation in the Sea of Azov insofar as they breach international maritime law and Russias own international commitments.

In late November the Russian navy shot at and then seized two small Ukrainian military ships and a tugboat. After being blocked from entering the Kerch Strait, the ships were returning to port. Russias belligerent response is based on claim that they had illegally entered Russian territorial waters. This seems extraordinarily excessive, and is strongly suggestive of an alternative logic behind the response. This is confirmed by the subsequent detention of 23 Ukrainian sailors who were transferred to Moscow for trial.

Commentators interpret the latest episode as a continuation of the heightened state of tension that has existed between the two states after the annexation of Crimea and the ongoing undeclared war in eastern Ukraine which has claimed more than 10,000 lives. However, there are two rather profound aspects of this development.

Firstly, Russia feels confident enough to challenge the 2003 bilateral agreement which enshrined the right of Ukraine to share the Azov Sea with Russia. While de jure the agreement still stands, de facto Ukraine is now being prevented from accessing it. This suggests that Russia seems to still regard its land maritime borders as commensurate with those of the Soviet Union and thereby reserves itself the right to change what it perceives as internal borders, at will. In other words, it appears that Russia is discounting the legal status of Ukraine and ignoring international law in light of the Wests reluctance to respond.

Secondly, the Ukrainian sailors have been detained as criminals, rather than prisoners of war (POW) meaning that they are not subject to the Geneva Convention on POWs. This is particularly concerning as they were military personnel on duty when their ships were seized. Although denied access to Ukrainian diplomatic representatives, Russian independent lawyers are providing legal representation, at evident risk to themselves. This indicates that Moscows policy towards states of the former Soviet Union is regarded as its internal affair. Military personnel of a neighboring state have criminal cases instigated against them for illegal border crossing. Rather than comply with international law, Russian domestic law is used in an instrumental way, something which is referred to by legal scholars as legal nihilism.

These two aspects indicate that Russia follows a doctrine of limited sovereignty vis-a-vis the neighbouring states. This doctrine also shapes Russias interactions with other external actors: if a neighbouring state is not controlled by Russia, it is under the control of another power. Thus, any foreign policy decisions of neighbouring states, which are regarded as against Russian interests, are deemed to have been inspired by external (mainly western) interference. Any crisis is seen as the result of hostile forces that want to weaken Russia. Such was Russias conviction regarding Ukraines free-trade agreement with the EU which resulted in the annexation of Crimea. Russias aggression towards Ukraine is therefore framed as defense against the Western encroachment.

Clearly Russia sees itself as a rising power and a driver of a new world order. But it is perhaps more accurate to suggest that this doctrine of limited sovereignty harks back to the international relations of the nineteenth century, of exclusive spheres of influence in Europe. Might is once again becoming right, and anarchy in international relations is slowly but surely once again beginning to prevail. The international laws and norms which have painstakingly been built up since 1945 are being eroded on the European continent and as things stand there appears to be nothing in place to stop it. The new world order is not so new, after all.King Mohammed VI of Morocco visited Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon on Monday (Dec. 3), who has been recovering since November 29 at the Rabat military hospital.

The king inquired about the health condition of President Ali Bongo Ondimba, and wished him a speedy recovery.

The Kings call on the ailing president reflects the excellent relations and strong ties of friendship and solidarity binding the two countries.

Footage of the royal visit aired by the Moroccan TV networks was the first photo of the Gabonese President since his hospitalization in Saudi Arabia for almost a month and his coming to Morocco for convalescence on November 29.

The footage showed the two leaders sitting in armchairs around a small table and President Bongo drinking from a glass what seemed to be milk.

The photo should put an end to persistent rumors and speculations about the health of President Ali Bongo Ondimba.

Key government officials have already joined Ali Bongo in the hospital in Morocco to work on urgent issues.

The Gabonese presidency said little about the health of the Gabonese head of state, with the spokesperson of the presidency, Ike Ngouoni Aila Oyouomi, issuing only two statements in more than a month, raising speculations about the seriousness of the Presidents health.The round table on the Sahara, scheduled for Dec.5-6 in Geneva, offers the opportunity to promote confidence-building, said Monday the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Mounia Boucetta.

Security Council Resolution 2440, adopted on 31 October 2018, marks a significant step forward, especially as it stresses the need to open a new chapter in the settlement process with a view to reaching a political, consensual, realistic and lasting solution, said Ms Boucetta during the question time at the House of Representatives.

She recalled that the resolution confirmed Algerias involvement and role as a party to the regional dispute over the Sahara and as a main stakeholder in the process aiming to find a political, realistic, practical and lasting solution to the conflict.

She noted that the text dealt a serious blow to the liberated territories myth sustained by the Polisario as it urged the separatist front to abstain from transferring any structure to the east of the defense system, including in Guergarat, Tifariti and Bir Lahlou. The fact that these zones be cited for the first time in a Security Council resolution reveals the credibility of the Moroccan position, the Secretary of State said.

The same resolution reaffirms the parameters of the political process, as defined since 2007, and recognizes the pre-eminence of the autonomy initiative, while welcoming the Kingdoms serious and credible efforts to reach a political solution to this artificial conflict, Mrs Boucetta told MPs.

It is to be recalled that the resolution also stressed the need for all parties, including Algeria, to accept the invitation of the UN Envoy for the Sahara Horst Kohler to attend the initial round table in Geneva on December 4-5. It called upon the parties to demonstrate political will in order to advance the negotiations, emphasizing the importance of an enduring political solution based on compromise.

In his invitation to the initial round table to revive the talks on the Sahara, the UN envoy had underlined, It is time to open a new chapter in the political process.

Morocco immediately accepted the invitation and is dispatching to Geneva a delegation including Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita; Moroccos permanent representative to the UN Omar Hilale; President of Laayoune-Sakia El Hamra region Sidi Hamdi Ould Errachid; President of Dakhla-Oued Eddahab region Ynja Khattat; and Fatima Adli, an associative actor and member of the municipal council of Smara.

This round table is a preliminary meeting that would hopefully outline a roadmap for the future, knowing that the Sahara conflict threatens the stability and security of the entire region.

Actually, one may be upbeat that Horst Kohler would move the lines in Geneva, however, in view of the bad faith repeatedly shown by Algeria and its doubtful willingness to play its role as a stakeholder in the conflict, the glimpse of hope soon fades away.Reciba en su email: noticias de ultima hora, analisis tecnicos o el cierre de mercado

Email no valido Nombre requerido Recibira las informaciones mas relevantes del dia en tiempo real Que informacion desea recibir? Noticias de Ultima hora Boletin Cierre de Mercado Boletin analisis tecnico Boletin Fundsnews Debe seleccionar un tipo de boletin Acepto la Politica de privacidad Debe aceptar la politica de privacidad Responsable EMPRESAS DEL GRUPO WEB FINANCIAL GROUP Finalidad La remision de informacion, novedades y promociones Establecimiento o mantenimiento de Relaciones Comerciales. Legitimacion Consentimiento del interesado. Interes legitimo en el desarrollo de la relacion comercial Destinatario Empresas del Grupo WEB FINANCIAL GROUP Derechos Acceso, rectificacion, supresion, limitacion, oposicion y portabilidad Informacion adicional Politica de Privacidad de nuestra pagina Web + INFORMACIONPR Newswire

HERNDON, Va., Dec. 3, 2018

HERNDON, Va., Dec. 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- HawkEye 360 Inc. today announced the successful launch of the company's Pathfinder mission  its first cluster of three, formation-flying small satellites  aboard Spaceflight's SSO-A: SmallSat Express rideshare on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The satellites will deliver a unique source of radio frequency (RF) data that HawkEye 360 will use to create first-of-its-kind RF-based analytics.

"The successful launch of our Pathfinder satellites is the biggest moment in our company's young history," said John Serafini, CEO, HawkEye 360. "I am extremely proud of what our 30-person team has accomplished over the past three years. We combined our varied expertise in small satellites, signals processing and data analytics to bring a new source of RF information to the market. This is the first time a commercial company has utilized formation-flying satellites for RF detection."

Now that the Pathfinder satellites have reached orbit, the company will initiate system checkout and begin to maneuver the satellites into position over the next several weeks. The satellites will be able to identify and precisely geolocate a broad set of RF signals from emitters such as VHS push-to-talk radios, maritime radar systems, AIS beacons, VSAT terminals, emergency beacons and more.

"The core of our business is RF analytics, which is dependent upon high-quality, geolocated RF data," said Chris DeMay, CTO and founder, HawkEye 360. "Each of these small satellites is equipped with a software-defined radio that can tune to different frequencies and pick up different RF signals. When we see the same signal from all three satellites, we triangulate it and figure out where the signal is coming from. We'll continue growing our constellation to improve revisit rates with our next set of satellites already under development for launch later in 2019."

HawkEye 360 processes and analyzes signals using proprietary algorithms and machine-learning tools to deliver actionable insights. The company is developing foundational products that build global awareness of spectrum deployment, creating an RF data layer for the planet. The resulting analytical products will help customers assess suspicious vessel activity and risk, survey how frequencies are used, detect communication interference, evaluate communication outages during disasters and help rescuers search for people in distress.

More information about HawkEye 360 can be found at www.he360.com.

About HawkEye 360

HawkEye 360 is a Radio Frequency (RF) data analytics company. We operate a first-of-its-kind commercial satellite constellation to identify, process and geolocate a broad set of RF signals. We extract value from this unique data through proprietary algorithms, fusing it with other sources to create powerful analytical products that solve hard challenges for our global customers. Our products include maritime domain awareness and spectrum mapping and monitoring; our customers include a wide range of commercial, government and international entities.

Media Contact:

Adam BennettProduct Marketing [email protected]+1 (571) 203-0360

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SOURCE HawkEye 360 Inc.James A. Garfield, the only House member to ascend directly to the presidency. Photo: Apic/Getty Images

With all the talk about a potentially giant 2020 Democratic presidential field, its difficult to focus on any one subcategory of candidate thats oversubscribed. But one that really jumps out at you is this one noted by Roll Call:

Its unclear how many of these people would still be in the House as presidential candidates if they ran; the most luminous of them at present, Beto ORourke, is already on his way out of office in January.

For the record, though, the only sitting House member ever to be elected president was James Garfield, whose election victory (before a brief presidency ended by assassination) will have been 140 years old in 2020. Garfield also had a bit of pre-congressional distinction as a college president, preacher, and decorated Civil War general.

Two other presidents were former House members who never occupied a higher elected office before occupying the White House: Founding Father James Madison and the great liberator of slaves and savior of the Union Abraham Lincoln. Presumably folks like Eric Swalwell and John Delaney dont put themselves in that kind of company just yet.

Gerald Ford is hard to classify: He was a career House member (and Minority Leader) when Richard Nixon chose him to succeed the disgraced Spiro Agnew as vice-president, and then of course he ascended to the presidency when Nixon resigned due to his own, separate scandal. Ford subsequently won the 1976 GOP presidential nomination, but was never actually elected president.

No sitting House member has won a major-party presidential nomination since Garfields election, though two former members who had won no higher office, William Jennings Bryan (1896, 1900, and 1908) and James W. Davis (1924) won the Democratic nod. Two 20th-century Democratic House Speakers ran credible presidential campaigns that fell short of the nomination: Champ Clark in 1912 and John Nance Garner in 1932.

House members have with some frequency crashed and burned as presidential candidates. Longtime congressman Ron Paul ran for president as a Libertarian in 1988 and as a Republican in 2008 and 2012. House right-wing outlier Michele Bachman was the GOP presidential front-runner in 2012 for about five minutes. Jack Kemp, later a Cabinet secretary and vice-presidential nominee, was a House member when he underwhelmed everyone as a 1988 presidential aspirant. A House member did have an impact on the 1980 presidential general election, when former GOP candidate John Anderson ran as an independent, and at one point, was scoring in the 20s in general-election polls. And perhaps the quintessential modern House candidate for president was Mo Udall of Arizona in 1976, who ruefully called himself Second Place Mo after repeated finishing just behind Jimmy Carter in the Democratic primaries that year.

Now perhaps todays bumper crop of potential 2020 candidates from the House is full of pols secretly hoping to do well enough to take the second spot on the ticket. There have been a goodly number of House members chosen as vice-presidential nominees, most recently House Speaker Paul Ryan in 2012. Though nobody much remembers this, the most powerful vice-president (arguably) in U.S. history, Dick Cheney, was a former House member never elected to a higher office before coming to power with George W. Bush. The sky is theoretically the limit. But even at a time when Donald Trump has supposedly destroyed all the precedents about qualifications for office, theres still something about House members running for president that suggests premature, self-regarding grandiloquence. Its unclear what a junior House member has that your average billionaire or television celebrity doesnt have. But its the sort of comparison we may be making often between now and the Iowa caucuses.PR Newswire

HOLMDEL, N.J., Dec. 4, 2018

HOLMDEL, N.J., Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Serial Entrepreneur Tom Maoli seems to be the person you want to go to for business advice. Whether you are starting a business, thinking about franchising a business, investing in real estate, or just need some strategic recommendations on how to market your business or your brand.

Presently the Real Estate and Automotive Entrepreneur is highly sought out for his perspective on businesses and their internal processes, and is sought after for motivational speaking for fortune 500 corporations.

On November 29th, 2018 Mr. Maoli was asked to speak in Holmdel New Jersey to Comcast Spotlight's employees on how he did it. Mr. Maoli spoke on how he got into the automotive business, his success prior to the automotive industry, where he is now and where the automotive industry is going. This featured Mr. Maoli speaking on his motivational journey to success, the past present and future of the automotive industry and how to succeed in business by knowing your customer.

When asked how he sees the future of the automotive industry in 5 years Maoli states: "Everyone sees things through a different pair of glasses. I can see 5 years down the road but, I look farther down the road than 5 years from now. I see major changes 10 years from now."

When asked what the key to making a sale is in his eyes he replied "simple, know your customer and sell yourself not your product."

About Tom Maoli: Mr. Maoli is the President and CEO of Celebrity Motor Cars, LLC a luxury dealership group based in New Jersey and New York. These dealerships include: Lexus of Route 10, Maserati of Morris County, Alfa Romeo of Morris County, BMW of Springfield, as well as Mercedes-Benz of Goldens Bridge. In addition to his growing automotive empire; Tom is the president and CEO of Real Estate Opportunity Investments, LLC, a residential and commercial real estate company. Tom also hosts the "Go Big Or Go Home" radio show every other Sunday at 10 AM on iHeartRadio and is he host of the " Maoli Minute " every day at 8:00am and 5:00pm. Listeners may reach him via email him through his website at http://tommaoli.net/

MEDIA CONTACT:Melanie Borden (973)[email protected]

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tom-maoli-motivates-comcast-spotlight-automotive-employees-with-his-perspective-on-business-and-future-of-the-automotive-industry-300760236.html

SOURCE Tom MaoliPhoto: Alex Wong/Getty Images

The United States has been helping Saudi Arabia bomb and starve the Middle Easts poorest country for about three years now. One recent estimate suggests that 85,000 children under 5 years old have already died from malnutrition as a result of Riyadhs intervention in Yemens civil war. If the Saudis air strikes and blockade continue, Yemen is poised to face the worst famine that humanity has seen in 100 years, according to the U.N.

Eight months ago, the fact that Saudi Arabia was routinely dropping American-made bombs on Yemeni school buses and hospitals  and in the process of deliberately starving tens of thousands of children to death  was not enough to persuade the Senate that the United States should cease supporting the Saudi campaign. Back then, the upper chamber declined to even allow extended debate on a bill that would have ended such support.

But then, Saudi agents murdered and dismembered a U.S. resident who wrote for the Washington Post, and had personal relationships with influential people in our nations capital. And, for whatever reason, this convinced a critical mass of U.S. senators that not supporting war crimes in Yemen was, at least, an idea worth considering.

In a last-ditch effort to change their minds, the Trump administration sent Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary James Mattis to the Senate last week, to brief all 100 lawmakers on the case for maintaining U.S. support for the Saudi war in Yemen. But many senators were less concerned about the pros and cons of abetting war crimes than they were with whether Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman (a.k.a. MBS) had ordered the murder of Jamal Khashoggi (the Washington Post columnist who knew some people whom they also knew). They specifically wanted to hear from CIA director Gina Haspel on that subject, since her intelligence agency had been strongly suggesting that it had proof of the crown princes guilt, even as the Trump administration insisted that no such proof existed. But Haspel did not attend the hearing  and Pompeo and Mattis would only reiterate the White Houses position that the U.S. possessed no direct evidence that MBS was involved in the killing.

According to ABC News, several senators were so furious about Haspels absence, and unhappy with the administrations lack of answers and unwavering support for the Saudis despite the murder of Khashoggi, they decided to green-light debate on withdrawing U.S. support for starving Yemeni children, so as to send a message to the administration about the need for more information about Khashoggis death.

On Tuesday, as the Senate prepared to (finally) allow a vote on the Yemen resolution itself (as opposed to a vote on merely whether the bill merited debate), the White House sent Haspel to brief eight senior senators on what the CIA knew of the Khashoggi killing, in hopes that this would appease the lawmakers, and assure the resolutions defeat.

Republican senators emerged from that briefing so certain that MBS ordered the journalists murder, they might not want the United States to help him kill Yemeni children anymore.

I have zero question in my mind that the Crown Prince MBS ordered the killing, monitored the killing, knew exactly what was happening. Planned it in advance. If he was in front of a jury he would be convicted in 30 minutes. Guilty, Tennessee senator Bob Corker told reporters.

South Carolinas Lindsey Graham echoed that sentiment, saying, You have to be willfully blind not to come to the conclusion that this was orchestrated and organized by people under the command of MBS. Graham further said, in reference to the White Houses claims that the U.S. lacked direct evidence, Its not a smoking gun, its a smoking [bone] saw, and that if Mattis and Pompeo were Democrats, hed be all over them for their dishonesty (ostensibly admitting that he is a partisan hack who will ultimately let their dishonesty slide because they are Republicans).

It is unlikely that Corker will vote for the Yemen resolution  he voted to advance the bill to debate last week, but stipulated that he was only trying to send a message to the White House about his desire to see more information about Khashoggis killing.

Alabama Republican senator Richard Shelby, meanwhile, appeared to express a desire on Tuesday to find some way of sanctioning the Saudis murder of a U.S. resident with ties to D.C. elites, while still maintaining American support for the Saudis mass murder of Yemeni children. This is conduct that none of us in America would approve of in any way, Shelby told the New York Times. Somebody should be punished, but the question is: How do you separate the Saudi crown prince from the nation itself?

But Graham suggested that the Khashoggi killing had led him to conclude that America must withdraw military support for the war in Yemen. The senator stipulated, however, that he will be voting against the pending resolution that would actually do that, as he would rather rally support for a separate bill, which would include sanctions on those responsible for Khashoggis death.Latina celebrities and activists march to turn out the vote in Florida. Photo: Gaston De Cardenas/AFP/Getty Images

While there were a number of disappointments for Democrats in an otherwise outstanding 2018 midterm elections, perhaps the most surprisingly depressing were the two big statewide elections in the huge battleground state of Florida. In a review of his sites generally accurate projections of the midterm vote, FiveThirtyEights Nate Silver listed 11 races in which all his models were wrong. The third and sixth most surprising were the Florida gubernatorial and Senate races; Nates models gave ultimate Republican winner Ron DeSantis and Rick Scott less than a 30 percent probability of victory. The final polling averages at RealClearPolitics were off by 4 percent in the governors race and 2.6 percent in the Senate race.

This outcome was especially disappointing for Democrats because the solidly favored Gillum could have broken up a Republican redistricting trifecta in a state with a large House delegation. And trends in Florida will matter a lot in 2020; its a state Donald Trump must carry if he is to win reelection.

Its not too hard to find the smoking gun in Democratic underperformance in the Florida midterms. Exit poll showed Hillary Clinton winning 62 percent of the states large Latino vote in 2016. Losing 2014 Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist won 58 percent. But this year, Nelson and Gillum each only won 54 percent. And that was in a national political environment in which Democrats took 69 percent of the Latino vote.

An in-depth exploration of that outcome at Politico magazine by Michael Grunwald and Marc Caputo cited evidence that the states traditionally conservative Cuban-American electorate  and the more conservative older voters among it  turned out at significantly higher rates than other Latinos. Not coincidentally, both Scott and DeSantis chose Cuban-American running mates, and benefited from the active support of Cuban-American senator Marco Rubio. Meanwhile Nelson and Gillum were hurt by a long-standing underinvestment in Democratic get-out-the-vote infrastructure in Democratic-leaning Latino communities (notably Central Floridas enormous Puerto Rican population). And both Democrats had their own distinctive problems. Nelsons were long-standing:

[B]y just about all accounts, [Nelson] ran a uniquely lazy campaign that made laughably ineffectual attempts to engage with Hispanics. Back in June, a POLITICO story quoted Florida Latinos warning that the three-term senator was virtually unknown in their communities after 40 years in elected office, and had no Spanish-language website or ads to fix that. By contrast, Scott campaigned relentlessly to reduce Nelsons margins among non-Cuban Hispanics, especially the Puerto Ricans who were pouring into central Florida even before Hurricane Maria.

Gillums upset win in a very late (August 28) primary, based largely on a coalition of African-Americans and white progressives, gave him a late start in targeting Latino general-election voters. But theres also evidence that Republicans exploited the communal fear of socialism among Cuban, Venezuelan, and Nicaraguan exiles by drawing attention to Gillums democratic socialist supporter Bernie Sanders and Gillums own socialist agenda and record as mayor of Tallahassee. Sanders and like-minded 2020 Democratic presidential candidates should take notice of that development if and when they head to the Sunshine State.

Ultimately Democrats understand they will likely never do as well among Floridas Latinos as they do in states where Mexican-Americans are the principal Latino bloc. Long-established conservative political-refugee communities like the Cubans and native citizens like the Puerto Ricans are never going to be as sensitive to GOP anti-immigrant policies as Mexican-Americans. But the younger Cuban-American cohorts are much less wedded to their communitys built-in Republicanism than their elders. And Florida Latinos from every national background are attracted to Democratic economic, education, and health-care proposals.

In the context of 2020, having Trump on the ballot will be a problem for Republicans among Latinos, who cant help but notice his white nationalist stylings, and who isnt going to make the kind of effort Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis undertook to identify with the viewpoints of that portion of the electorate. Turnout should be up across the board. But Democrats are going to have to use some elbow grease and money, and effectively deploy surrogates, to achieve their potential among Florida Latinos. They probably cant win without it.The days of double-digit smartphone growth are over  and the next decade may start to see smartphone sales decline. Photo: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images

From roughly 2007 until 2013, the smartphone market grew at an astonishing pace, posting double-digit growth year after year, even during a global recession. They were the good years, the type that would inspire a Scorsese montage: millions and then billions of smartphones going out; billions and then trillions of dollars in rising company valuations; every year new models of phones hitting the market, held up triumphantly at events that were part sales pitch, part tent revival. (To nail the Scorsese effect, imagine Jumpin Jack Flash playing while you think about it.)

But just like every Scorsese movie, the party ends. Smartphone growth began to slow starting in 2013 or 2014. In 2016, it was suddenly in the single digits, and in 2017 global smartphone shipments, for the first time, actually declined  fewer smartphones were sold than in 2017 than in 2016.

Every smartphone manufacturer is now facing a world where, at best, they can hope for single-digit growth in smartphone sales  and many seem to be preparing for a world where they face declines.

The Smartphone Plateau

The idea of a smartphone plateau has been floating around since at least 2012, with the phrase entering common usage in the middle of this decade. It has a twofold meaning. One is the slowdown in smartphone innovation, which was once progressing at that same breakneck pace as smartphone sales. If you bought a new iPhone 3G in 2008, and then a new iPhone 4 in 2010, you were buying markedly different machines, with the iPhone 4 sporting a Retina display, a much better battery, a faster processor, and a sleek, sharp-edged design. If you bought an iPhone 6 in 2014 and then an iPhone 7 in 2016, that expected improvement was much harder to mark (except, perhaps for that fact the the iPhone 7 didnt have a 3.5mm headphone jack). The other meaning is the flattening of smartphone sales.

Were already fairly far along this plateau  from 2015 to 2017, global smartphone shipments have held firm at about 1.4 billion per year  but talking to analysts and reading the tea leaves of what the major manufacturers are doing, its looking like were reaching the end. Not because sales are picking up again, but because were heading toward the downslope. I think were well over the plateau, says Ben Stanton, senior analyst at Canalys. Well see little pockets of growth in the global market, but on the whole its a declining picture.

In 2017, per the International Data Corporation, global shipments of smartphones declined year-over-year for the first time in history. In 2018, IDC says the same thing happened in the U.S. market. We are at market saturation rates of 90 to 100 percent in many developed markets, says Ryan Reith, program vice-president at IDC.

Illustration: Jake Swearingen/Intelligencer

Illustration: Jake Swearingen/Intelligencer

Some manufacturers and analysts may hope that flat sales in the developed world could be offset by strong sales in other markets. Fat chance. The markets where smartphone saturation hasnt set in yet  such as India, Southeast Asia, pockets of Latin America, and Africa  are different than the markets that fueled the first decade of smartphone growth. In those markets, there are extremely competitive devices down near the equivalent of $200, says Stanton. Its becoming a real battlefield, but its a low-margin business and consumers down at the those price points tend to be not very brand-centric. That really plays into hands of a few really hyperaggressive brands of smartphones, most of which are coming from China.

The Artificial Replacement Cycle

If youve bought flagship phone in this year, you likely wont need to buy a replacement until the next decade. Most people have more phone than they can handle, or need, says Gartner senior principal analyst Tuong Nguyen. Its similar to what you saw in the PC market for while  people had really powerful PCs but they barely used it for anything. Its the same with phones.

Your smartphone camera is good to great, and you mainly share those photos on social media, where photo quality doesnt matter much anyway. Barring a few high-end 3-D games or technologies like augmented reality, your processor can handle everything you throw at it, and will for a while. Your screen is bright and sharp, and while there may be slightly better screens out there, youd only be able to tell by holding the two phones side-by-side. Durability has vastly improved; waterproofing is now standard on smartphones, so a brief dip in the sink or toilet doesnt mean you need a new phone, and the weakest links in smartphone hardware  batteries which tend lose their ability to hold a charge over time and screens that crack and shatter  have improved.

Still, we tend to replace our phone every two years, regardless. A lot of this has to do with how cell phones were sold in the U.S. for a number of years. Carriers signed customers to two-year contracts, and sold phones at a subsidy priced into the contract. Every 18 to 24 months, youd be able to upgrade to a new phone again. It felt natural, like the change of seasons or the migration of birds. But that cycle was artificial. Even as two-year contracts have died, carriers rarely talk about the flat price of a phone, but instead break that price out over 24 months, making it relatively easy to keep consumers buying high-end phones. A phone that costs an extra $100 total is only about $4 more per month on a financing plan  the price, as the saying goes, of a cup of coffee. The U.S. operators did a good job working in the transition, says Reith of IDC. Even though when you look at it objectively, it got worse for the consumer.

Illustration: Jake Swearingen/Intelligencer

The results of this are stark. Per IDC, 43 percent of phones sold in the U.S. in 2017 cost over $600 (and 19 percent of those cost more than $800). Another 40 percent of phones sold cost less than $200, nearly all of those prepaid phones sold through vendors like MetroPCS. Just 15 percent of phones sold cost between $200 and $600 dollars. The middle price band is nonexistent, says Reith. The current U.S. cell phone market could be compared to an auto market in which the majority of consumers either bought a Mercedes or a Kia, and brands like Honda essentially didnt exist.

Despite all this, theres no doubt that the replacement cycle for phones is elongating. Over the last five years, the replacement cycles of smartphones in the U.S. has has increased from an average of 20.6 to 24.1 months, says Jennifer Chan, global insight director at Kantar. More worrying for smartphone manufacturers is that desire for new technology doesnt really spur consumers to buy new phones. The number-one purchase trigger is My last device was broken, and this has increased year on year, says Chan. Triggers like I just wanted a newer model and I had the option to upgrade early have declined or remained flat.

Trying to Delay Commoditization

As the market reaches maturity, smartphones are verging on becoming a commodity  a fate the major smartphone manufacturers like Samsung and Apple desperately want to avoid.

Commoditization is the normal cycle for most products, says Willy Shih, a professor of management practice at Harvard Business School. When the first Xerox plain-paper copier came out, they were really cool and Xerox became a fabulously successful company. But then their patents expired, and other companies like Canon came in and introduced low-cost office copiers. Now, copier machines are a dirt-order commodity. Think very hard about your own office  can you name the brand of your office copier?

Or take televisions, another commodity where consumers show little brand loyalty, allowing for upstarts like Vizio, TLC, and Hisense to strip market share away from established players like Sony or Panasonic  which, of course, had displaced established players in television like Magnavox or RCA.

Once you get driven into the commodity space, you start to think, Oh, Ive just got gotta come up with the next great feature that will cause people to buy my product over the others, says Shih. But at some point, you way exceed what consumers need or are willing to pay for. And then you become a commodity.

Samsung is in the most danger of this happening. While the brand has loyalists to its Galaxy S and Galaxy Note series of phones, Samsung phones are, at the end of day, Android devices. And there are signs that desperation is starting to set in. The company plans to release a foldable phone this spring, possibly called the Galaxy Fold, with use case thats hard to discern and a price point rumored to be $2,000. Its the type of desperation move you saw from TV manufacturers in the beginning of the decade, where they hoped that first 3-D televisions and then curved TV sets would spur consumers to spend more. Both strategies failed for television manufacturers, and it seems likely that Samsungs foldable wont end up being much more than a tech curio.

Meanwhile, Samsung may be losing the battle in low-cost global markets. Samsung has been quite arrogant in the past 18 months, says Canalys senior analyst Ben Stanton. They believe their brand is strong enough to offset the impact of commoditization, and that has proved not to be the case if you look at the rapid expansion of [Chinese brands] across India, Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. These brands may be unfamiliar to American consumers  Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, and Transsion are all major players  but if there are countries where double-digit growth is still possible, it will likely be these companies that enjoy it.

How Long Can Apple Defy Gravity?

While the rest of the smartphone market worries about commodification and what each brand will need to do to gain or defend market share in a world where smartphones are like cars, Apple stands alone. Apple has a different set of options available to it, says David Yoffie, a professor of international business at Harvard Business School who also sits on the board of HTC. They have this extraordinary user base that allows them to do things other firms could never get away with.

The iPhone is uniquely positioned in two ways, one that works for it and one that works against it. In markets like the U.S. or some European countries, where the iPhone enjoys significant market share, iOS and its ecosystem are a true differentiator. If you want a phone that can use Messages and avoid the dreaded green bubble when texting people, theres only one manufacturer available: Apple. The same goes if you want to use a HomePod or an Apple TV, or want a phone that integrates easily with your MacBook.

But globally, iOS isnt as attractive. In the Chinese market, an app called WeChat is practically an operating system unto itself, allowing users to do everything from message someone else to pay their electrical bill or order food. And WeChat runs equally well on Android or iOS, meaning the iPhone has consistently struggled to find a foothold in the Chinese marketplace. In other markets, messaging apps like WhatsApp are dominant, and phone price is much more of a concern. The results are stark. In the U.S., about 40 percent of phones run iOS. Globally, that number is just 14 percent.

Still, Apple has a firm grip on a large and affluent share of the U.S. market, and Tim Cook and his executive team have a clearly developed long-term strategy to deal with a world where people buy fewer phones: Make the phones themselves more expensive (thus the iPhone X at $999, followed by the iPhone XS Max at $1,099), and attempt to boost services revenue (everything from Apple Music to iCloud storage to Apple Pay to the 30 percent Apple rakes in from any App Store purchase) as quickly as possible, with the goal of bringing in $20 billion a year by 2020.

But its strategy of slowly raising its average selling price while selling fewer phones has a natural limit. Thats a dangerous path, says Shih, because when you lose the volume, then you lose a lot of the manufacturing efficiencies and some of the cost benefits. Moreover, for Apple to be successful in replacing lost revenue with its services division, it still needs a large number of iOS users. Raising the average selling price is effective in the short term, but may backfire in the long term. Apple will exhaust that strategy, says Yoffie. When Apple is at an average selling price of $800, and the rest of industry is at $300, you can only defy gravity for so long.

There are already signs of investor worry. Apple surprised everyone during its earnings call in early November when it announced it would no longer release how many phones it sold each quarter. This news was taken as tacit acknowledgment by Apple that it doesnt anticipate ever selling more phones than it sold in a previous year, and its stock price plummeted since, taking the companys valuation back below a trillion dollars, part of the overall slump in tech stocks that has acted as a major drag on the stock market overall.

Its a good reminder of just how large the smartphone market is overall  global smartphone sales accounted for nearly $500 billion in revenue in 2017, and there are a host of ancillary businesses built out to support that market, from companies in the supply chain to operations that make smartphone cases. If we truly are entering a period of declining smartphone sales, the ripples of that decline will be felt on many shores.

Your Phone Is a Car Now

But what [local newscaster voice] does this mean for you?

With phones that are more reliable, have fewer changes every year, and are increasingly expensive, you should treat your phone like a car. If some jerk clips off your side-view mirror while youre parked and doesnt leave a note, you dont trash your car and get a new one  you get a new side-view mirror. If you crack your phones screen, dont get a new phone, get a new screen.

And when your phone truly does run its course, whether because you simply want something newer and faster, or your old phone has finally stopped working, consider avoiding the newest phone on the market. Relatively few people buy new cars, because it doesnt make much sense financially. Instead, most people, even those with who could buy new, buy a used car.

This doesnt mean turning to the secondhand market for smartphones, which is still developing and prone to problems (though its not impossible to see that market grow more over the next decade). Instead, consider buying a smartphone one year behind the newest model. A Google Pixel 3 is a fantastic phone that sells, as of this writing, for $799. A Google Pixel 2 is also an extremely good phone with slightly fewer features, and sells for $649. One year, $150 less for a phone that, unless you are a true gadget nerd, you will not notice much of a difference. The iPhone market follows much of the same rules  the iPhone XR, the cheapest phone Apple released this year, is a fantastic phone that costs $749. The iPhone 8, still a superb machine, can be had for $599.

Looking forward, there is no device that seems poised to replace the smartphone as the machine at the center of most of our digital lives. The wearables seem to be a niche market at best, smart speakers will likely remain only in our homes, and something like always-on wearable AR is decades away from being a reality. For consumers, this means a world where you hold on to your phone for longer and longer, which is good for your pocketbook and good for the environment.

For manufacturers, the next decade will likely be a great shakeout, with some old guard names leaving the market, some newer brands becoming ascendant, and the winners acquiring and stripping the losers for parts. But manufacturer loss is consumer gain; the main differentiator in a mature market where commoditization has fully taken hold is one that should be appealing to anyone who shops for a smartphone: price. Behind the scenes there may be a bloodbath, but youll simply notice that youre getting a lot more phone for a lot less money.Students and citizens protest in Budapest on December 1, the deadline for the Hungarian government to sign an agreement allowing the Central European University to remain in the country. Photo: SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Central European University announced on Monday that it is being forced to close down its campus in Budapest after the Hungarian government declined to certify it to continue operating in the country. CEU will live on with a new campus in Austria, but its departure from Hungary represents both a material and a symbolic blow to the European liberal order.

CEU was founded by Hungarian-American philanthropist George Soros in the aftermath of the fall of Communism to educate a new generation of leaders and champion freedom and democracy in a society that had never experienced it. Offering U.S.-accredited degree programs, it has earned a reputation over the past quarter-century as the best university in Hungary and one of the top graduate schools in all of Europe.

In recent years, however, it attracted the ire of Hungarys right-wing prime minister, Viktor Orban, who has steadily cracked down on independent institutions since coming to power in 2010. Orban, an unapologetic nativist and nationalist who champions a vision of what he calls illiberal democracy, despises Soros, whom he accuses of perpetrating a conspiracy to undermine Hungarys cultural identity through mass immigration from Muslim countries. Soross Open Society Foundations fled the country earlier this year, after Orban was handily elected to a third term with a campaign message that consisted largely of attacks on the billionaire financier.

As Orban continued to consolidate power over the past several years, the shuttering of CEU was really only a matter of time: The government began its campaign against the university last year by passing a law that would bar foreign-registered universities from operating in Hungary unless they also provided courses in their home country. CEU attempted to comply with that law by starting a program at Bard College, but Orbans government said that wasnt good enough. Of course, nothing would have been good enough.

The universitys effective eviction from Hungary is first and foremost an injury to academic freedom in Hungary and to the students who wont get to study there anymore. Its bigger-picture significance, however, is even more troubling.

CEU is the first university to be driven out of a European Union member state in the history of the bloc. As European Parliament member Guy Verhofstadt remarked, its also the first government closure of a university in Europe since 1943, when the Nazi occupation government in Norway shut down the University of Oslo. The E.U. had warned Orban against driving CEU out, but the warning was not heeded.

The closure is also the latest in a series of steps Orban has taken to silence any voices in Hungary that might challenge or speak up against his government or its nationalist ideology. In May, shortly after Orbans reelection, a suspicious number of judges stepped down in quick succession from the National Judicial Council, a key institution of Hungarys independent judiciary. Just last week, the owners of hundreds of private news outlets simultaneously donated them to a holding company controlled by close allies of Orban, further cementing his control over the media.

Orban has been careful not to make Soross Jewish heritage the explicit focus of his bromides against him, but his attacks on the philanthropist carry distinctly anti-Semitic overtones (other world leaders who engage in Soros-bashing are less subtle about it). Anti-Semitism is hardly a vanishing minority view in Hungary; an MP from the extreme right-wing Jobbik party, which came in second to Orbans Fidesz party in Aprils elections, resigned on Monday following the leak of a recording in which he bragged about verbally and physically assaulting a Jewish woman and made a series of anti-Semitic comments. Jobbiks discomfort with such invective has only emerged in the past few years as it has attempted to rebrand as a mainstream party and distance itself from its more overtly xenophobic and anti-Semitic roots.

The Hungarian government recently gave $1.7 million to a civil society group dedicated to combating anti-Semitism in Europe, but pro-government media still engage in inflammatory depictions of Jewish leaders. Orbans diatribes against Soros for attempting to destroy Christian culture, his rehabilitation of Hungarian Nazi collaborators, and his promotion of a nationalist ideology strikingly resonant of the 1930s are unmistakable in their effect of inciting and legitimizing hatred and suspicion of Jews.

So far, the E.U. has shown itself completely powerless to stop Orbans assault on democratic institutions. The European Commission is suing Hungary in the European Court of Justice over the higher education law passed last year, but the damage of that law is already done, and if it is overturned, Orbans party will simply find another excuse to keep CEU out. In September, the European Parliament voted to censure Hungary under Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union, which allows the union to revoke certain rights from a member state in breach of its core principles. That could lead to punitive measures including the suspension of Hungarys voting rights, but Poland would probably veto such a move.

Orban, sometimes described as a European analogue of U.S. president Donald Trump, is a hero of the European far right (and American fellow travelers like Steve Bannon) for his unapologetic stance against immigration, Islam, and liberalism. As right-wing parties take power in a growing number of E.U. member states, Orban envisions the neo-nationalist right taking control of the bloc in next years elections to the European Parliament, thereby overturning the cultural primacy liberalism and pluralism have enjoyed in Europe since 1968.

From our vantage point on this side of the Atlantic, perhaps the most disquieting detail of this story is that the U.S. was unable to stop Hungary from driving CEU into exile, which the State Department formally opposed. U.S. ambassador to Hungary David Cornstein, who was appointed to that post earlier this year, had said as recently as October that keeping the university open remains a priority for the U.S. government and has overwhelming bipartisan support in the United States. In an interview with the Washington Post last week, however, Cornstein blamed CEU for its own fate: The university is in another country. It would pay to work with the government. He also claimed the closure had nothing to do with academic freedom but was merely the result of a personal conflict between Orban, whom he described as a friend, and Soros.

The demise of CEU in Hungary is being reported as a failure of the Trump administrations honey-over-vinegar approach to influencing Orban, but it looks just as likely that the administration simply didnt try very hard to stop this from happening. After all, why would Trump, who is counts Orban as a friend and Soros as an enemy, take Soross side in this fight? The State Departments response to Mondays announcement was muted and noncombative, saying merely that the U.S. was disappointed that the government and CEU had failed to reach an agreement.

That the Trump administration could not muster a more forceful response to a NATO ally driving out a U.S.-accredited university in a transparent attack on academic freedom and democratic principles is hardly surprising at this point, but speaks to the degree to which Trump has torn the U.S. away from the Western liberal consensus. The E.U. may be incapable of stopping the reactionary forces currently sweeping the continent from taking over its institutions and destroying them or using them to illiberal ends. Furthermore, for at least the next two years, it can expect no help from Washington in that fight. If the new Democratic majority in the House of Representatives wants to mitigate the damage Trump is doing to our relationships with the rest of the world, Europe would be an excellent place to start.Death chamber gurney at the Huntsville prison in Texas. Photo: Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images

Texass death-penalty system is a travesty. It is racist; kills people who are probably innocent at an alarming rate; and has used drugs sourced from a pharmacy that, according to BuzzFeed News, was cited for scores of safety violations, forged quality control documents, and sent at least one child to the emergency room because it had improperly compounded their medication. Five of the 11 Texas inmates executed in 2018 said the drugs used to kill them felt like they were burning them internally, even though they were supposed to be pain-free  reflecting a nationwide pattern of excruciating deaths by lethal injection. Perhaps even worse is that Texas is not unique. These issues illustrate an ethical and logistical crisis facing the American death-penalty system as a whole, from Tennessee to South Dakota to Oklahoma.

Yet barring a miracle, December 4 will be business as usual. Joseph Garcia is set to be executed in Texas for his role in the Christmas Eve 2000 murder of Irving Police Officer Aubrey Hawkins, which occurred during a shoot-out after Garcia and six other men broke out of a maximum-security prison in Kenedy and robbed a sporting goods store. There is no proof that Garcia pulled the trigger. In fact, he was inside the store while the shooting unfolded outside, making his guilt unlikely. But Texass Law of Parties holds that he could be convicted of a crime his associates had committed simply because he was present.

Details from Garcias tragic personal story cast doubt on whether he should have been in the prison he escaped from in the first place. Sister Helen Prejean, a Catholic nun and prominent death-penalty abolitionist, outlined it in a Twitter thread on Sunday:

Texas plans to execute Joseph Garcia on Tuesday. The jury at Joseph's trial only heard bits and pieces of his life story. Juries should know the truth about a person's background before making a life-and-death decision. Here's the full story that Joseph's jury never heard:  Sister Helen Prejean (@helenprejean) December 2, 2018

The thread is worth reading in its entirety, but includes accounts of Garcias trauma-filled childhood, including several instances of sexual abuse and his first criminal conviction, for which he received a 50-year prison sentence. The conviction stemmed from a 1996 incident where he stabbed and killed Miguel Luna, an acquaintance with whom he attended a party one night. Luna  who had had a history of violence against women and, in Prejeans words, men who he perceived as obstacles to his access to women  had stolen Garcias keys and attacked him after Garcia separated him from a female partygoer Luna was trying to coerce into sex.

Garcias court-appointed attorney failed to note Lunas history or make a self-defense argument, but the systems failure to give Garcia a fair shake did not stop there. Four years later came the Irving store robbery that spiraled out of control, resulting in the death of a police officer for which there is still no proof of Garcias hands-on involvement. In 2003, his case was overseen by a judge named Vickers Vic Cunningham, who made headlines in May when the Dallas Morning News reported that his living trust rewarded his children for marrying white people rather than interracially. These injustices continued in the absurdity of Garcias death sentence. Participating in a robbery is not murder. Yet under Texas law, he was found guilty of killing Officer Hawkins  which he has maintained he did not do, and which nobody has proven he did  because the people with whom he was simultaneously committing a different crime may have. This is an unacceptable pretense on which to convict anybody of a crime, let alone sentence them to death.

But in a broader sense, Garcias case illustrates the fundamental illogic on which the death penalty is predicated. There is no proof that capital punishment deters crime. It is racist, as demonstrated locally by the 102 black inmates executed in Texas, as of July 2017, out of the 235 total  a rate of 43 percent, compared to black Texanss 12.7 percent population share. Every European nation has abolished it, save for Belarus, a dictatorship. It is such a contentious practice that its application is often subject to years of appeals, deferring closure to victims and leaving the convicted to languish on death row for decades, awaiting what can end up being an agonizingly painful death. The details of its implementation aside, the existence of the death penalty presumes that a country whose wealth was derived from black slave labor and indigenous-land theft, and seen thousands of racist lynchings, has moral legitimacy to be executing people in the first place.

Americas commitment to this horrific farce persists nonetheless. Capital punishment is cast often as the overwhelming province of former slave-holding states in the South, like Texas, but California houses one in every four death-row inmates. Its use is declining across the country, but efforts to do away with it entirely face severe opposition. After Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala  the first and only black elected prosecutor in Florida history  announced in March 2017 that she would not seek the death penalty in any case tried by her office, Republican then-governor Rick Scott personally reassigned several of her cases to another prosecutor. Hes taking away the authority that she was given by the people [who elected her], State Senator Randolph Bracy told the Orlando Sentinel at the time. Most of these national tensions converge at Garcias case, which illustrates vividly the dysfunction and immorality of a systemic atrocity masquerading as justice. Nobody is served by the death penaltys continued existence save its financial profiteers and those committed to the delusion it constitutes anything more than revenge. That a broken man like Garcia can be killed legally, here, in its name, for a crime he likely did not commit, is Texass shame, and ours as a nation.Sure, but what does it mean? Photo: Li Xueren/Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images

I think my colleague Ed Kilgore is right to describe President Trumps announcement about trade with China as more of a climbdown than a breakthrough. Trump had threatened to raise tariffs on Chinese imports if they didnt make concessions before the end of the year; now, by setting a 90-day negotiating window, hes delaying that threat to the end of February.

But Trumps record of trade climbdowns has been uneven to date. In spring of 2018, he appeared to climb down from his threat to impose major steel and aluminum tariffs, by temporarily exempting so many U.S. trading partners as to render the tariffs unimportant. But this reprieve actually proved temporary, and now the metal tariffs are real, broad, and important. Other threatened measures, such as global tariffs on auto imports, have remained mere threats  so far.

All of which is to say, the trade war with China is delayed, but I would not assume it is canceled, especially since the agreement Trump announced on Twitter doesnt appear to be much of an agreement, but rather some vague commitments. As White House National Economic Council head Larry Kudlow put it on Monday, commitments are not necessarily a trade deal, but its stuff that theyre going to look at and presumably implement.

Presumably you should not take this one to the bank.

Presidents who lose their legislative majorities tend to shift their attention to policy they can make through their own executive power. With no ability to pass additional tax cuts or seek the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, Trump is likely to be even more keen to pick trade fights over the next two years than he was before. This is a reason markets should temper their relief about the trade war delay.

But there is a key question: Will Congress give Trump as much leeway to set trade policy over the next two years as they did over the last two?

Broad, unilateral presidential authority over tariffs and trade does not come from the Constitution  Article I, Section 8 grants Congress the authority to set import duties. Over the decades, Congresses have passed laws that grant presidents a variety of authorities to impose tariffs on their own, and Congress can take those authorities back if they feel they are being abused.

The idea behind these laws was for presidents to respond nimbly to narrow trade disputes or address matters of national security, not to allow presidents to implement a broad policy of trade protection without consulting the legislature. Trump has particularly abused his authority to impose tariffs on grounds of national security even when his apparent policy purpose  sometimes disclosed in his own tweets  is unrelated to national security.

A new law could grant Congress the right to review and reject such national security tariff designations. This would interfere with Trumps hopes to impose unilateral tariffs  and with his efforts to win concessions from other countries by threatening to do so. Over the last two years, several members of Congress on both sides of the aisle introduced bills to do this.

Of course, Congress didnt pass any of those bills, because Republican leaders in Congress didnt want to pick fights with the president. The loudest pro-trade Republican voices tend to be in the Senate, and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to bring any of their bills on the topic to the floor.

But Iowa senator Chuck Grassley will be taking over as chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, and hes told Axios hed look favorably at bills to reduce Trumps trade powers. Grassley, like many of the most ardent Republican free traders, represents a farm state thats especially hurt by Chinas retaliatory tariffs on agricultural goods.

There may be two other key differences that motivate Senate Republicans on trade in 2019.

Trumps future actions, including possible auto tariffs, could be more economically damaging and more upsetting to the Republican donor class than those he has taken so far, making action more urgent. And given last months election results, a Senate vote on trade could mean more than picking a symbolic fight with the president, because there will be a Democratic House that is likely to cooperate on any bill to restrict Trumps powers.

House Democrats are divided on free trade, but a vote to supervise Trumps trade actions can be easily framed as anti-Trump instead of anti-tariff. In the theoretical case where Trump proposes specific, sensible, and sound tariff actions, Congress can always vote to sustain them later. And with the Democratic coalition shifting away from Rust Belt cities and toward the coasts and major service-oriented metropolitan areas, there are fewer Democrats in Congress likely to be attached to Trumps protectionism anyway.

There is another trade fight Trump may soon pick with Congress. Trump wants to secure approval of his lightly modified North American free trade agreement, and hes said he intends to secure it by announcing U.S. withdrawal from the existing NAFTA agreement, leaving Congress a choice between his new deal and no deal at all.

Many Republicans in Congress dont much like Trumps proposed changes to NAFTA, since they weaken certain protections for American investors in Canada and Mexico and impose mildly tighter restrictions on free trade in autos. They wont be eager to vote for the new agreement.

Trump probably does have the legal authority withdraw unilaterally from NAFTA. But without Congresss agreement, he could not force the repeal of implementing legislation related to NAFTA, which means many of its rules would remain law in the U.S. even after Trump took us out of the agreement itself.

A partially dead NAFTA would be enough of a mess, and the deviations from NAFTA in his new USMCA are minor enough, that I would bet on Trump successfully forcing congressional hands to approve the new deal.

In a way, Trumps move to scrap NAFTA in favor of an agreement very similar to NAFTA is a victory for free-trading forces, since it puts Americas leading protectionists seal of approval on Americas most important free trade agreement. So congressional free traders ought to be able to get themselves to think of this deal as a political win for the cause of free trade even if they dont like its rules of origin for auto parts.

But if Trump takes big actions to undermine the global trading system instead of sustaining it  for example, if he imposes global auto tariffs or greatly steps up the China trade war  that is when I would watch for Congress to step in and reduce his trade powers.Five Brandon-area illustrators have pooled their talents to give back to the citys arts community.

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BUD ROBERTSON/THE BRANDON SUN Illustrators (from right) Grace Buitenhuis, Merissa Mayhew, Jeremy Carter, Dakota Bicklmeier and Tim Brown autograph comic books they created to raise money for the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba's arts program during a fundraiser Saturday at the gallery.

Five Brandon-area illustrators have pooled their talents to give back to the citys arts community.

The artists  Tim Brown, Merissa Mayhew, Grace Buitenhuis, Dakota Bicklmeier and Jeremy Carter  created a comic book, called Wintergreen, to raise money for art education.

They manned a booth Saturday at the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba during the annual Gala of Gifts for an autograph session to sell the comics, which sold for $5 apiece.

"I like giving back to the community," said Brown, while he and the others autographed books as visitors paid their $5 and chatted with the artists.

"The community has given me a lot."

Not only does he love drawing, said Brown a visual artist who teaches adult classes at the gallery the project has been cathartic for him.

"My comic deals with the death of my mother, which happened this past January. Also, my first son was born in July," said Brown, so his is a story of both life and death.

"It was a great learning experience," said Buitenhuis, who hopes to attend art school in Toronto. "It was great to work with other people."

Being able to do something for a good cause also made the effort worthwhile, Buitenhuis said.

"Its really awesome."

The gift of giving is the overall theme of the comic book, illustrated with full-colour drawings by the artists.

"I suggested to these five geniuses that they try something together," said Curt Shoultz, who approached

the group with the idea of creating a comic book. "I know that they are as talented as they are committed, so I figured that at least with these five if I suggest something and they say theyre going to do it, it gets done," he said, " and it got done beautifully."

An anonymous donor put up the money to cover the cost of the printing, said Shoultz, who teaches at Brandon University as well as art classes at the gallery.

"But they (the illustrators) volunteered everything else," he said, adding they spent countless hours illustrating the books over the past two months.

Shoultz said about 500 copies were printed and will be available at the art gallery for purchase. Electronic copies of the book are available at sellfy.com/curtshoultz.

Shoultz noted the illustrators will also be at Friendly Neighbourhood Comic Shop on Pacific Avenue next Saturday to sign books from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

"Its amazing," gallery co-ordinator Kate Hill said.

The illustrators are all very accomplished and talented, Hill said, adding Shoultz is a huge asset to the gallery.

"Its a very typical Curt Shoultz kind of thing," Hill said. "He is, if anything, our greatest ambassador and he loves this gallery and were very grateful for him."

The money raised through sales of the comic book will go toward educational programs at the gallery.

"For example, if we find a child thats been recommended for a class but cant afford it (the money will pay for) scholarships," Hill said.

If a kiln breaks, or new equipment is needed, the money is also there to help pay for that, she said.

 brobertson@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @BudRobertson4The number of people in Manitoba living with HIV is expected to jump in the next year.

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Playing it safe Brandon University Students' Union president Justin Shannon looks away as nurse Carly Druwe prepares to take his blood. Druwe was on campus to help test students during an HIV clinic on Monday morning. See Page A2 for more. (Melissa Verge/The Brandon Sun)

The number of people in Manitoba living with HIV is expected to jump in the next year.

Syphilis cases have skyrocketed in the province by more than 400 per cent between 2013 and 2017, according to statistics being shared by the Government of Manitoba.

HIV rates will likely follow suit, said Mike Payne, executive director at Nine Circles Community Health Centre, adding that methamphetamine use is a probable contributor.

"A big part of the increase of our syphilis numbers  which are higher than we ever remember them being  is coming out of what were seeing with crystal meth," Payne said. "Why thats relevant is when we start seeing those new significantly higher syphilis numbers, weve also started to see a big increase in Hepatitis C numbers, and when we see big increases in those rates, its reasonable to assume that were likely to see increases in rates of HIV over the next year or two."

The two are linked because how they can be transmitted is the same  through sharing needles and drug use  although these diseases can also be spread through sexual activity.

The percentage of people who have contracted HIV in Manitoba from injection drug use has been increasing.

Brandon University Students' Union president Justin Shannon gets tested at an HIV clinic held at Brandon University on Monday morning. (Melissa Verge/The Brandon Sun)

In 2017, 18 per cent of people who tested positive for HIV in the province identified injection drug use as the primary mode of transmission, Payne said.

Thats up from both 2016, when it was 11 per cent of people, and 2015 when it was eight per cent.

It looks like for 2018, those numbers will continue their climb, he said.

"Theres lots of anecdotal information being provided from our clinical colleagues across the province that well see that number jump again, so its a great concern," he said.

"It tells us that people are sharing needles. It tells us people are having unprotected sex, and if thats happening its fairly likely were going to see many of those same individuals with HIV if we dont get a handle on the situation quickly."

In 2017, a report from the government of Manitoba found that there were 89 new cases of HIV in Manitoba. The rate of new cases in Manitoba females was 4.2/100,000 which was 31 per cent greater than the rate in Canada as a whole. In men, the rate was 8.9/100,000  slightly lower than the Canadian average of 9.9/100,000 people.

Prairie Mountain Health had six HIV clinics set up around Brandon on Monday to test people who might not normally get checked. Although Payne said the provinces HIV rates have been consistant for the past few years, theyre concerned the consistency might be because theyre failing to do adequate testing.

"Were not particularly great yet at testing individuals who are sometimes hard to connect with in terms of the health care system, so folks who are using drugs or folks who maybe have had negative experiences with the health care system," he said. "One of the things were trying to do in Manitoba is really push testing out into places where it might not have been available before."

On Monday, HIV testing sites were set up at Brandon University, Brandon Friendship Centre, Maple Leaf Foods, Westman Immigrant Services, 7th Street Health Access Centre and Prairie Mountain Health Public Health.

Many students who came through to get tested on Monday at Brandon University, including current Brandon University Students Union president Justin Shannon. This was the first time that he saw a clinic like this set up on campus, and he said it was beneficial to see testing brought to the students.

"I think its something a lot of students dont think about and dont get into the pattern of doing regularly, (but) its something that once youve done it once, you keep doing it."

By testing people who might not normally get checked, it will allow them to detect HIV early on, Payne said.

"Thats our best chance, not only to help those folks stay healthy, but its also our best chance to help prevent the spread."

 mverge@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @Melverge5WINNIPEG - A Manitoba man sentenced to life in prison for sending letter bombs wants to appeal and is making more accusations of a conspiracy in the justice system.

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WINNIPEG - A Manitoba man sentenced to life in prison for sending letter bombs wants to appeal and is making more accusations of a conspiracy in the justice system.

Guido Amsel, acting as his own lawyer, is asking the province's Court of Appeal to overturn his convictions on four counts of attempted murder and other charges.

Guido Amsel, 49, is shown in this undated handout photo. A Manitoba man sentenced to life in prison for sending letter bombs wants to appeal. Guido Amsel has filed a notice of appeal with the province's Court of Appeal, and he is listed as his own lawyer. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Winnipeg Police Service

Amsel is accusing one of the three lawyers who had represented him at various points in the proceedings of planting evidence with the Winnipeg Police Service.

"Implanting DNA evidence and exhibit numbers is not legal, it is unlawful," Amsel wrote in documents filed with the court this week.

Amsel, 52, was convicted in May of sending letter bombs to his ex-wife and two lawyers in 2015, as well as setting an explosive outside his ex-wife's home two years earlier.

One of the letter bombs exploded, causing severe injuries to Winnipeg lawyer Maria Mitousis, who had represented Amsel's ex-wife in a dispute over a company the couple had owned. The bomb was contained in a recording device, which exploded when Mitousis pressed a play button. She lost her right hand and underwent numerous surgeries.

The explosion led police to intercept two other letter bombs, one of which had been sent to a law firm that had represented Amsel in another dispute between the couple.

Amsel testified he was the victim of a setup  that his ex-wife and others were working to frame him.

He was convicted based on DNA evidence, handwriting analysis of the letters and other items. Provincial court Judge Tracey Lord said Amsel acted in a callous and vengeful way, refused to accept responsibility for his actions, and had conspiracy theories that led him to seek revenge on those he thought had wronged him.

Last month, Lord sentenced Amsel to life with no chance of parole for 10 years for the letter bombs, with an additional 12-year term for the earlier attempt on his ex-wife.

Amsel's notice of appeal again points to the DNA evidence.

"The learned trial judge committed overriding palpable error in her findings of fact pertaining to continuity and integrity of the exhibits determined to have the accused's DNA on them," the document states.

Amsel's appeal notice also says Lord erred in her analysis of the handwriting evidence, her analysis of the credibility of Amsel's ex-wife and other matters.

Amsel also says he is having trouble coming up with money for an appeal, and does not trust legal aid.

"I am not confident and comfortable with the idea of dealing with legal aid and the Manitoba defense lawyer (sic) again," he wrote.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version said Amsel testified he was set up by his wife.As our Acton Institute prepares for its Rome conference tomorrow, December 4, on the Dominican contribution to Freedom, Virtue, and the Good Society, extraordinary men and women from the Order of Preachers come to mind: Albert the Great, Catherine of Siena, and perhaps the most famous of all, the Angelic Doctor, Thomas Aquinas.

Together these medieval stalwarts of the faith, truth, and justice laid the groundwork for modern science, modern learning, and even modern politics.

The great Dominican heritage may have been lost completely in the modern era, especially in post-revolutionary 19th century France, had it not been for another hero of the same white and black ilk: Henri-Dominique Lacordaire, O.P.

It was Fr. Lacordaire who embraced some of the virtues of modernity while successfully restoring the traditional religious Order of Preachers in France, after Napoleon had banished all convents and monasteries from Catholicisms Eldest Daughter. And not before many of his fellow French friars, as well as those from other orders, were executed by the guillotine or chased out of France.

Why did Napoleon view the Dominicans as such a threat to the French State?

For one reason, the men and women in white habits and black capes  just like the other great medieval orders  established independent communities with their own councils and governing Rule. They acted as mini-private religious states within a gigantic secular state which had great difficulties controlling and monitoring them.

Secondly, the Dominicans had deep educational influence in France, and specifically in teaching the values and common good associated with the Kingdom of Christ, as opposed to the ends and purposes of the atheist-leaning Empire of Napoleon. In effect, the Dominican universities and schools served as base camps for Christian civil society to grow and flourish in France and throughout Europe.

Lastly, the Dominican religious communities were not only independent and influential, they were strong and resistant financially because of their vast private assets. Napoleon had to literally expropriate these private assets, mostly land titles and real estate, while impoverishing such orders for generations to follow and forcing Catholic priests later to rely on handouts and salaries from the secular French state.

Lacordaire, in order to help educate the Catholic public in important matters of religion and politics, launched a newspaper called LAmi de lOrdre (which later became LAvenir) with the famous motto/battle cry God and Freedom!. The newspaper promoted a classical liberal political philosophy that was compatible with Catholic magisterial teachings. In 1830 he published a statement calling for the separation of Church and State:

We firstly ask for the freedom of conscience or the freedom of full universal religion, without distinction as without privilege; and by consequence, in what touches us Catholics, for the total separation of church and state This necessary separation, without which there would exist for Catholics no religious freedom, implies, for a part, the suppression of the ecclesiastical budget, and we have fully recognized this; for another part, the absolute independence of the clergy in the spiritual order Just as there can be nothing religious today in politics there must be nothing political in religion.

Before he died, Henri-Dominique Lacordaire went on to fight for other types of modern civil liberties, including allowing private Catholic schools to form charters and teach what they wanted independently of state demands tied to state funding.

He also urged the reestablished ranks of French Catholic clergy not to take government stipends, so as to have no strings attached to the national regulations of the Catholic Church. In 1830, said: We are preyed upon by our enemies, by those who regard us as hypocrites or as imbeciles, and by those who are persuaded that our life depends on money Freedom is not given, it is taken.

Henri-Dominque Lacordaire passed away at the young age of 59 in 1861, only a few months after delivering a famous eulogy on one of the greatest defenders of liberty and modern democracy, Alexis de Tocqueville.

Before passing himself, he was recorded his famous last wish: I wish to die a penitent religious and unrepentant liberal.A woman wears a yellow vest reading Macron resign during a protest on the Champs-Elysees in Paris on November 24, 2018. Photo: BERTRAND GUAY/AFP/Getty Images

Emmanuel Macrons centrist policies may have made him popular with an international audience, but in his own country, they prove less popular by the day. The New York Times reported that three people were killed and at least 260 were wounded nationwide in street protests associated with the countrys burgeoning yellow vest movement. The demonstrations, which have unfolded in fits and starts since November, were ostensibly spurred by Macrons new fuel tax. Branded as a green policy, Reuters described the tax as an attempt to urge motorists to change behavior and protect the environment. Macron had previously promised to reduce Frances carbon output by 40 percent by 2023. Protesters, meanwhile, describe their actions as a demonstration against inequality. We just dont make it to the end of the month, Elodie Marton, a protester from the economically depressed town of Gueret told Times. Another Gueret protester, Olivier Depourtoux, criticized the governments response to the situation. The citizens have asked for lower taxes, and theyre saying, Ecology, he complained.

But the protests arent just a backlash against higher taxes. Nor do they appear to be motivated by some political commitment to the use of fossil fuels; in other words, communities are not rallying against the French version of a war on coal. Were not anti-environmental, one of the movements organizers said in a viral video, as reported in Jacobin. This is a movement against abusive taxation, period. As Jacobin notes, diesel costs have risen by 23 percent over the last year. Macrons fuel taxes stacked a new expense on top of that extant trend by raising diesel prices an additional 7.6 cents per liter.

Taxes help sustain welfare states, and the consumption of fossil fuels undeniably contributes to climate change  a trend that, unless reversed, will itself become a major drive of inequality. But the yellow vests occupy Paris streets in an age of austerity. According to Reuters, Macrons government has only earmarked 7.2 billion of the estimated 34 billion euros the fuel tax will raise for environmental measures. There is a discrepancy between Macrons progressive goals as stated, and the impact of his actual policy  and that problem is not unique to the fuel tax. Frances yellow vests may catapult Macrons presidency into a new crisis, but this is not the first time the French have taken to the streets in protest of Macrons pro-business policies.

Macron  hailed by some at the time of his election as a sensible moderate alternative to the further-left Jean Luc Melenchon and as a necessary obstacle to the French far-rights quest for greater power  has consistently pursued a reformist agenda marked by cuts to social spending. In May, thousands of high-school students joined unionists and civil servants to protest Macrons plan to cut 120,000 civil service jobs in addition to a reduction in benefits for Frances railway workers, who are unionized, public-sector employees. Macrons 2019 budget includes an 18.8 billion reduction in payroll and other business taxes to encourage hiring and investment, the Times reported in October. Thats a continuation of tax policies he premiered not long after taking office in 2017; a newly empowered Macron moved swiftly to cut taxes for corporations and for the wealthiest 10 percent of French households. The unrest that manifests itself in the yellow vest movement has built up over time, as a reaction against a president perceived to be favorable to corporations at the expense of the beleaguered French working class. Other controversies have only encouraged that perception. Alexandre Benalla, a former high-ranking security aide to Macron, now faces a Senate inquiry into his off-duty beating of a May Day protester. Macron fired Benalla a full six weeks after initial reports of the aides violence, a delay that sparked outrage at the time.

Amidst these failures, Macrons public favorability has plummeted. A September Ifop poll found that 29 percent of respondents surveyed approved of Macrons performance as president. According to another Ifop poll released in November, 30 percent of French voters support the nations furthest-right parties for upcoming elections to the the European Parliament; Macrons centrist En Marche party and Melenchons French Insoumise both lag well behind that total.

Macrons response does not suggest he understands the implications of the yellow vest movement, either as they pertain to his partys political chances or as they affect the centrist ideology hes promoted as president. On Monday, France24 reported that Macrons prime minister, Edouard Philippe, will meet with yellow vest representatives, though the government itself seems committed to seeing its policies through. We have said that we wont change course. Because the course is good, said Macron spokesman Benjamin Griveaux.OTTAWA - The federal ethics watchdog says he's concerned that Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer's office encouraged a Tory MP to violate the conflict-of-interest code for members of the House of Commons.

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Conservative MP Stephanie Kusie asks a question during Question Period in the House of Commons Wednesday May 3, 2017 in Ottawa.The federal ethics watchdog says he's concerned that Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer's office encouraged a Tory MP to violate the Conflict of Interest Code. Mario Dion says Conservative MP Stephanie Kusie contravened the code last March 29 when she posted on social media a letter she'd sent the ethics commissioner that day asking him to investigate Raj Grewal, then a Liberal MP. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

OTTAWA - The federal ethics watchdog says he's concerned that Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer's office encouraged a Tory MP to violate the conflict-of-interest code for members of the House of Commons.

In a written ruling Tuesday, Mario Dion says Calgary Conservative MP Stephanie Kusie contravened the code last March 29 when she posted on social media a letter she'd sent the ethics commissioner that day asking him to investigate Raj Grewal, who was a Liberal MP at the time.

Kusie was one of two MPs to ask Dion to investigate whether Grewal was in a conflict of interest when he invited a construction company executive  who was paying Grewal for legal services at the time  to official events with Justin Trudeau during the prime minister's trip to India early this year.

Grewal was kicked out of the Liberal caucus last week amid revelations that he was under police investigation after racking up enormous gambling debts.

Dion says he's imposing no sanction on Kusie because she posted her ethics complaint on the advice of the Opposition Leader's Office (the "OLO," in Parliament Hill jargon).

Indeed, Dion indicates he's troubled by the cavalier attitude Scheer's staff took toward a rule meant to prevent disclosure of an ethics complaint against an MP until that MP has been notified.

Under the code, an MP who requests an ethics investigation is prohibited from making any public comment on the matter until the commissioner confirms that the subject of the inquiry has received a copy of the complaint, or 14 days after the request is made, whichever is earlier.

He says Scheer's office first gave Kusie's letter to the National Post, several hours before the commissioner received it, and then urged her to post it on Facebook and Twitter.

"I am concerned that Mrs. Kusie received information and advice from the OLO encouraging her to make public comments once the OLO had made her request public as this clearly prompted her to contravene a provision of the code," he says.

Dion says Scheer's office urged Kusie to post her letter, despite knowing that other MPs  including Scheer himself  had previously run afoul of the code by prematurely disclosing their requests for investigations. He notes that in January 2017 the leader had been forced to apologize for public comments about a request for an investigation into Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's conduct.

Yet, Dion says both Kusie and an aide told him that in their dealings with Scheer's office on the matter, "they had never been informed of past incidents involving other members but instead were encouraged to post on social media."

Only after Dion informed Kusie a week later that she might have contravened the code did the leader's staff mention those past incidents.

And even then, Dion says an email to Kusie from her assistant summed up advice from the leader's office this way: "Staff in OLO did not think that the commissioner's concerns were 'a big deal,' had noted that other members had been 'similarly reprimanded' and had sought to obtain approval to 'leak out the letter (Mrs. Kusie) received confirming that the ethics commissioner is indeed investigating Grewal.' "

As well, the leader's staff proposed getting the National Post to correct its March 29 story to delete a reference to Kusie's sharing her letter to the ethics commissioner with the newspaper. The Post did update its story on April 5, specifying that it got a copy of the letter from "a Conservative staffer."

Dion concludes that Kusie's violation of the code "was an error in judgment made in good faith" and on the advice of the leader's office and consequently recommends no sanctions be imposed.Nearly half of southern British Columbia's chinook salmon populations are in decline, according to a science committee that monitors the health of wildlife populations.

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A 24-pound chinook salmon sits on the dock in Vancouver, B.C., on Saturday August 18, 2012. Scientists that evaluate the health of Canada's wild plants and animals have concluded that half of Canada's chinook salmon populations are now endangered. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Nearly half of southern British Columbia's chinook salmon populations are in decline, according to a science committee that monitors the health of wildlife populations.

The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife In Canada reported Monday that of 16 chinook populations studied, eight are endangered, four are threatened and one is considered of special concern.

Only one, located in British Columbia's Thompson River, is considered stable. The condition of two populations is unknown.

Southern B.C. has 28 chinook populations.

Endangered is the committee's most serious ranking, suggesting the population is in danger of being wiped out.

"There are some where there is thought to be fewer than 200 fish still remaining," said committee member and fisheries biologist John Neilson.

"At that level, there would be concern about those stocks. That's why we're sounding the alarm."

Chinook salmon are both a major fishery in British Columbia and central to the lives and culture of Indigenous people. Neilson said the new assessment is the most comprehensive the committee has ever done on the fish.

"From other studies and general knowledge on the state of salmon in B.C., there's a lot of concern," Neilson said. "These are populations that are at the high end of needing some attention."

Scientists believe the problem occurs during the part of their lives the salmon spend in the ocean.

Some believe growing numbers of seals and sea lions, which feed on the fish, are behind the declines. Others say the warming and acidifying ocean is starting to affect the food web the salmon depend on.

"It's a complex story," said Neilson.

It's time the federal government use its power to protect the fish and its habitat, he added.

"Our suggestion is that government act quickly."

The Species At Risk Act allows the federal government to issue emergency protection orders which allow Ottawa to control activity in critical habitat normally governed by the provinces.

The federal government has used the power twice before for the western chorus frog and the sage grouse.

Federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna said she hadn't yet seen the assessment but would follow up on its concerns.

"We understand that it is critically important to protect and conserve our native wildlife. We need to fulfil our obligations under the Species At Risk Act."

She said some measures have already been taken to protect and rebuild chinook salmon stocks.

Included among the 36 species the committee assessed were polar bears, which remain a species of special concern.

It also looked at the black ash tree, a common urban tree in civic parks in Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa. It found that over the last 20 years, an invasive species called the emerald ash borer has killed about two billion ash trees in the Great Lakes Region.

The black ash is now considered threatened, the committee found.

 Follow Bob Weber on Twitter at @row1960

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version said Canada had only 16 chinook salmon populations and that half of those were endangered. It also said Neilson works for Simon Fraser University.WASHINGTON - Liberal cabinet minister Scott Brison and ambassador David MacNaughton will join former prime minister Brian Mulroney in representing Canada at Wednesday's state funeral for former U.S. president George H.W. Bush.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 4/12/2018 (1088 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Visitors file past the flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush as he lies in state in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

WASHINGTON - Liberal cabinet minister Scott Brison and ambassador David MacNaughton will join former prime minister Brian Mulroney in representing Canada at Wednesday's state funeral for former U.S. president George H.W. Bush.

MacNaughton and Brison, the president of the Treasury Board, will round out the contingent along with Mulroney, a close friend of Bush who is scheduled to deliver one of several eulogies during the ceremony.

Federal officials say Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mulroney spoke by phone about the eulogy over the weekend.

President Donald Trump has declared Wednesday a national day of mourning in the U.S., part of a week-long state funeral that began Monday with a public visitation in the Capitol rotunda.

Bush will be buried Thursday at his presidential library in Texas, near his wife, Barbara, who died in April, and their daughter Robin, who died of leukemia at age 3.

An official in Ottawa says Trudeau will announce this morning that flags on all Canadian federal buildings in both Canada and the U.S. will be lowered Wednesday, similar to the tributes that marked the deaths of former presidents Ronald Reagan in 2004 and Gerald Ford in 2006.HALIFAX - A Nova Scotia Supreme Court decision says the province must consult with a Mi'kmaq community about how public money is provided to a pulp mill that has sent its effluent into an estuary near the band for five decades.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 3/12/2018 (1088 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Northern Pulp Nova Scotia Corporation mill is seen in Abercrombie, N.S. on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017. A Nova Scotia Supreme Court decision says the province must consult with a Mi'kmaq community about how public money is provided to a pulp mill that has sent its effluent into an estuary near the band for five decades. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

HALIFAX - A Nova Scotia Supreme Court decision says the province must consult with a Mi'kmaq community about how public money is provided to a pulp mill that has sent its effluent into an estuary near the band for five decades.

Justice Timothy Gabriel ruled Friday that if the province becomes a financial backer of Northern Pulp's effluent treatment plant, that raises questions on whether the level of funding will mean "upgraded safeguards" in light of the what the people of Pictou Landing First Nation have endured.

Gabriel said if the government consults on environmental aspects of the plant's construction, it should take a "holistic" approach and also consult on the financing it is willing to provide.

He said the two issues are linked, giving the example of how funding could be tied to a system of penalties based on whether emission and effluent discharge targets are reached by the new system.

The judge concluded the Crown has a duty to consult with the first nation, including on the issue of whether funding should be provided at all.

"The consultations between the parties must necessarily include ... whether the province should fund the construction and design of the effluent treatment plan and pipeline, and, if so, what form that financing will take," he wrote.

Provincial legislation requires the closure of effluent flowing to a facility at the heavily polluted Boat Harbour lagoon by Jan. 31, 2020.

The commitment was made by Stephen McNeil's government in 2015 to the Pictou Landing First Nation after five decades of the waste water flowing into the estuary on the edge of the Pictou Landing First Nation.

The province has also indicated it is in discussions with Northern Pulp regarding Crown funding for the treatment facility for effluent from the bleached kraft mill at Abercrombie Point, N.S., though the amount it may contribute remains unclear.

Brian Hebert, the lawyer for the Pictou Landing First Nation, said in an interview that the court decision means the band can demand information about how the money provided by the province would extend the life of the plant  and what impact that might have in terms of potential air pollution.

A spokesman for the Office of Aboriginal Affairs says the province is reviewing the judge's decision and "considering the direction from the court as we look at next steps in the ongoing consultation with Pictou Landing First Nation."

"Justice Gabriel's decision did dismiss the First Nation's claims of procedural unfairness and noted the novel nature of the issue raised, and that both parties sought guidance from the court in good faith," wrote spokesman Gary Andrea.Greencore shares fell over 3% yesterday as the Irish-headquartered convenience food group expressed near-term concerns from rising Brexit uncertainty. The now solely UK-focused business reported a near 13% rise in annual pre-tax profit to 17.8m (20m). Group revenue, for the year to the end of September, rose by 4.2% to just under 1.5bn.

The groups share price, which is down 17% in the past year, fell over 5% at one point yesterday before paring some of those losses.

Chief executive Patrick Coveney (below) said Greencores UK concerns are 100% Brexit-related and near-term. A no-deal Brexit would affect consumer confidence in the UK as well as putting pressure on the sourcing of some ingredients, he said.

Despite the short-term uncertainties of Brexit, our scale, depth and expertise in attractive and structurally-growing food categories mean that we are confident in the future growth prospects for Greencore, said Mr Coveney.

He said the company is well on top of workforce issues and that any labour concerns, arising from the UKs exit from the EU, would be a medium-term issue.

Half of Greencores employees come from the UK, with 35% non-British EU nationals and 15% coming from outside of the EU.

Greencore also said it will seek to get more clarity on tax implications for shareholders ahead of it returning around 570m to investors in the new year.

The convenience food group recently announced plans to return 509m in cash to shareholders as part of the $1.1m (950m) sale of its US operations. It has changed tack on how it plans to distribute the money  from a special dividend to a tender offer for investors shares.

Nearly 20% of shareholders voted against the special dividend plan, last month, many upset that the payments would incur income tax. Greencore said consultation with shareholders, since then, showed a preference for a choice regarding participation in the capital return. If the tender offer is not fully participated in, remaining proceeds of the 509m will be returned via a special dividend. The capital return is now expected to be completed during the second quarter of next year.

Greencores results bring closure to its US journey. Investor focus returns solely to its UK franchise, which is underpinned by its food-to-go platform, the sole driver of profit growth in 2018, said Davy.

Its qualitative outlook statement calls for continued underlying revenue and profit growth in 2019 against a more tempered revenue environment, productivity initiatives will take on greater significance, it said.

Greencore shares fell over 3% yesterday as the Irish-headquartered convenience food group expressed near-term concerns from rising Brexit uncertainty. The now solely UK-focused business reported a near 13% rise in annual pre-tax profit to 17.8m (20m). Group revenue, for the year to the end of September, rose by 4.2% to just under 1.5bn.British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), which employs 1,700 in Ireland, has agreed to buy US cancer specialist Tesaro for $5.1bn (4.5bn), while also selling its Indian Horlicks business to Unilever for $3.8bn.

Shares in GSK fell almost 8% as investors said the Tesaro deal was overpriced.

GSK has lagged rivals in recent years in producing multibillion-dollar blockbusters and it largely sat out a spate of dealmaking by rival drugmakers under previous chief executive Andrew Witty.

GSK employs 1,700 across sites in Dungarvan, Cork, Sligo and Dublin. More than six billion Panadol tablets are made in Dungarvan annually, exporting to 70 countries around the world.

Its Cork site produces active ingredients for a range of medicines for diseases such as childhood cancer, depression, diabetes, HIV, Parkinsons disease, and arthritis.

Sligo produces around 30 million skin medicines and products every year including Oilatum and Physiogel, exporting to over 65 countries.

The Dublin headquarters is home to its pharmaceuticals and consumer healthcare businesses.

The Tesaro purchase marks a major biotech investment by chief executive Emma Walmsley as she seeks to rebuild the groups pharmaceuticals business.

Boston-based Tesaro has long been seen as a potential takeover target, with other suggested acquirers in the past including Switzerlands Roche.

The definitive agreement to acquire Tesaro comes on the same day as GSK sold its India-focused Horlicks nutrition business to Unilever for $3.8bn, freeing up cash for pharmaceuticals investment.

Tesaro gives GSK a marketed product for ovarian cancer, Zejula, which belongs to the promising new class of medicines called poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors.

GSKs UK rival, AstraZeneca, sells the rival PARP drug Lynparza, while Clovis Oncology markets another called Rubraca.

PARP inhibitors work by blocking enzymes involved in repairing damaged DNA, thereby helping to kill cancer cells, and they are a growing focus for drug research, with potential for use beyond ovarian tumors in breast, lung and prostate cancers.

Ms Walmsley, who took over in April 2017, has made replenishing GSKs medicines cabinet her top priority.

This is an example of us executing on what we said we were going to do... to bring growth, pipeline, commercial capability and near-term catalysts We still will be open to other potential bolt-ons in business development, Ms Walmsley said.

Reuters and Irish Examiner staffShares of fashion designer and retailer Ted Baker lost about 130m (145m), or a sixth of their value, as the company said it was investigating an employee petition demanding chief executive Ray Kelvin stop hugging them.

The company said it appointed a committee of non-executive directors to look into allegations of a culture of harassment.

The claims are entirely at odds with Ted Bakers values and those of Mr Kelvin, the retailer said in a separate comment, confirming it had very recently been made aware of the petition.

The comments from Ted Baker followed a report on the employee petition. The CEO is also accused of making sexual innuendos, stroking peoples necks and other forms of verbal or physical harassment.

Mr Kelvin, who founded the company in Glasgow 30 years ago, greets many people he meets with a hug, with shareholders, investors, suppliers, partners, customers or colleagues potential recipients of the gesture, Ted Baker said.

Hugs have become part of Ted Bakers culture, but are absolutely not insisted upon, it said.

The slump in Ted Baker shares extended its year-to-date decline to about 42%.

Analysts have cut earnings estimates for the company after a slowdown in sales growth was blamed on unseasonable weather, Brexit risks and troubles faced by some trading partners such as department store chain House of Fraser. A sales update is due from Ted Baker later today.

Mr Kelvin had a fortune of about 284m based on his 35% stake in Ted Baker.

Hes the second UK fashion mogul to face harassment allegations in recent months after Topshop owner Philip Green in October. Green has denied the allegations.

BloombergLocal authorities face a number of uncertainties due to Brexit but are focussed on building resilience in their areas to prepare, a conference in Dublin heard today.

Addressing the conference Local Authorities - Implications for Local Authorities and their Areas, Jackie Maguire, Chair of the County and City Management Association (CCMA), said Brexit has been to the forefront of local authority considerations since the UK vote to leave the EU.

Preparing for the unknown is a huge challenge. In the local authority sector, our approach has been to consider all our plans and actions through the lens of Brexit, while maintaining close contact with Government and relevant departments throughout the negotiation period, she said.

Jackie Maguire Chief Executive Meath County Council opens #Brexit - Implications for Local Authorities and their areas at The Ashling Hotel - "Preparing for the unknown is a huge challenge" Local Authorities policies are focused through the Lens of Brexit pic.twitter.com/bOICBLUnhQ  Mary Ryan Tipp LEO (@tipp_leo) December 4, 2018

As well as the potential impact on local business and economic development, there are a number of practical implications for local authorities, particularly in border regions.

Citing the current arrangement, where the Northern Irish Fire Service provides first response to call outs in parts of Donegal and giving the further example of an ongoing cross-border greenway project, she said:

While both the Republic and Northern Ireland have been members of the EU, we have been able to work collaboratively on shared infrastructure development and shared service provision. We now face into an unknown situation as to whether that can continue.

The CCMA Chair also highlighted the impact Brexit may have on environmental standards, Currently we apply relatively consistent environmental policies north and south; this is the best way to achieve results.

The Water Framework Directive, for example, is implemented in both jurisdictions to manage river basins and improve water quality but rivers dont stop at borders.

Discussing local authorities role in enterprise development and tourism, Jackie Maguire said, Local authorities will do what we can to proactively mitigate against the worst impacts of Brexit and capitalise on any opportunities.

This will involve not only our economic development and tourism teams but teams across our organisations  in planning, roads, housing, infrastructure and other areas.

Jackie Maguire commended the work Local Enterprise Offices have been doing to support business in their areas.

He said: This is a very uncertain time for businesses.

The full and free access we have enjoyed to our closest market in the UK has meant it is the first market to which many local businesses and SMEs expand.

"Many companies need to be brought up to speed on the issues that may be involved when the UK becomes a third country and also need to be supported to help expand their markets.

- Digital DeskThe daughter of a convicted paedophile is pleading with people living in their area to stop vandalising their home.

Abdur Rashid was sentenced to a year and a half in prison for molesting a six-year-old girl while he was a teacher in a Dublin mosque. His sentence was suspended the final four months for a period of one year providing he follow the direction of the Probation Services and keep the peace and be of good behaviour upon his release.State-funded schools are closing the gap on fee-paying schools, with college entry rates at a historic high.

The annual Feeder School tables, published in the Irish Examiner, follow the transfer of pupils from around 700 schools to more than 30 third-level institutions.

It shows two-thirds of State-run secondary schools are sending 70% of students to college - with 50 non-fee-paying schools showing a 100% college transfer rate.

However, Tom Parlon, Director-General of the Construction Industry Federation (CIF), has branded the feeder school league tables "a ridiculous metric".

The college-feeder schools league tables are in and everyone is celebrating the fact that state schools are catching up with fee-paying schools at getting students into college. However, in championing this career path in isolation, our young people continue to be done a disservice.

"The practice of comparing schools based on the amount of children they get into college is a ridiculous metric that forces everyone down this path, regardless of their aptitude or interest. Especially when you consider that about one in every six young people drops out in the first year of college.

"We need to focus on equality of education and helping young people find the career path best suited to them."

"Allowing schools to continually compete to see what numbers they can get into college, reduces students to just that - numbers - and does not put their interests or their future first.

"Currently, we are finding that schools are not even considering or discussing other options such as apprenticeships with students, at a time when there are great career options available in the construction industry and we expect activity to grow here even further as we continue to become a more modern, innovative and diverse sector.

"Many of those at high levels in the construction industry now began through the apprenticeship route and it is worth noting that it is an approach to education, which also allows students to earn as they learn.

The tables also show schools in disadvantaged communities are sending many more students to college, but those in the most marginalised areas lag furthest behind.

Labour Senator Aodhan O'Riordan says we need to break the cycle.

He said: "What they did in Finland a generation ago was to examine this on a wide basis and they came up with some answers that sound quite challenging. They don't have competition between schools.

"You'll know around September, October time where you have these billboards up from local schools advertising their open night. Schools are in competition with each other and that means that trying to put your best foot forward, trying to get enrolment up is the fundamental objective."The OECD Observer online archive takes you on a journey through half a century of public policy and world progress.

Since November 1962, the OECDs experts and leading guests offer insights on the questions facing our member countries with concise and authoritative analysis, and provide our audiences with an excellent opportunity to understand policy debates and consider solutions.

Each edition of the OECD Observer reports on a core theme of the OECDs on-going work, from economics and society through governance, finance, and the environment, and articles are bolstered by tables and graphs.The public relations consultant who came up with the idea of comparing a politician to an 18th century highwayman in a press release told the High Court it was meant as a parody.

Neans McSweeney, whose McSweeney Media provides consultancy to Minister of State, John Paul Phelan, sent the press release which became the basis for an article in the Kilkenny People in January 2016 headed "Coffey the Robber".

The story quoted comments from Mr Phelan about Senator Paudie Coffey, then Waterford FG TD and junior minister, in relation to a row over moving the administrative boundary of Waterford into Kilkenny.

Mr Phelan said Mr Coffey had been "banding together" with then environment minister Alan Kelly to commit "daylight robbery."

He went on to say there was an 18th century highwayman in Waterford called "Crotty the Robber" and now "Coffey the Robber was trying to do the very same".

Mr Coffey says, among other things, the article falsely called him a criminal and meant he he was guilty of misuse of public office, a thief and of severe ill repute. Iconic Newspapers, publishers of the KilkennyPeople, denies the claims.

Ms McSweeney told Rossa Fanning SC, for Iconic, she came up with the idea "Coffey the Robber" because four months earlier she was doing PR work for Waterford City and County Council which had commissioned a play on the Comeragh mountains highwayman William Crotty and it was fresh in her mind.

Ms McSweeney said the reference to Crotty was "purely parody" and, in her press release the word "Coffey" in "Coffey the Robber" was in italics to reinforce the parody.

Under cross-examination, Richard Kean SC, for Mr Coffey, put it to her it might be parody or spoof to her but to the ordinary person on the street, it was highly offensive to call someone a robber. She replied malice was not intended.

The purpose of the release was to encourage Kilkenny people to make submissions to a boundary commission which was reviewing the matter, she said.

She also said in the context of the entire press release, it was a parody and was "not malicious in any shape or form". She also said the purpose was not to "take down anyone".

Earlier, Minister of State John Paul Phelan denied he was malicious in the press release. He also said the impact "would be a joke".

He was under continuing cross examination at the start of the third week of Mr Coffey's action against Iconic

Barney Quirke SC, for Mr Coffey, put it to Mr Phelan he was a member of the same party as Mr Coffey and he was calling him a criminal and saying there was serious wrongdoing in relation to the boundary issue.

The context was clear, Mr Phelan said, he was not calling either Mr Coffey or then Minister Alan Kelly highwaymen or accusing them of robbing anything.

He said he and Ms McSweeney, in preparing the press release, were "making a play on the name of the senator" by using the words "Coffey the Robber" and "Crotty the Robber".

Mr Phelan disagreed with counsel that a tweet during the 2016 election campaign by Sam Matthews, the journalist who wrote the article and who is a co-defendant with Iconic, was inappropriate.

In the tweet, Mr Matthews refers to Mr Coffey as "this divil". Mr Phelan said divil could mean anything from being complimentary to "giving out" about someone.

He agreed a replying tweet from Sean Keane, deputy editor of the Kilkenny People, saying "Is he (Coffey) Satan himself or a minion", was not appropriate.

The case continues.A Dublin city councillor is calling for those who use emergency accommodation to be charged for the service.

Independent councillor Ruairi McGinley says people who use hotels and B&Bs should have to pay between 20 and 50 a week.

Mr McGinley said: "They're putting people in hotels and B&Bs and not charging them a cent. What do you think is going to happen in that situation? Word gets out.

"If they find out there's free accommodation - now they're taking a chance, half the accommodation mightn't be what you like but half of it is. And if you find something suitable you get to stay there free of charge.

"A certain number are [scamming the system] and this has been going on for a number of years. I pointed this out at least three years ago to council officials when Simon Coveney was (housing) minister and the council officials were told by the department that they couldn't charge."

Councillor Christy Burke has called on him to withdraw his comments.

Mr McGinley said everybody should have to pay something.

He said: "I think it'll avoid a situation where certain accommodation is being charged for and another isn't, which is an inequity in the system.

"I think if there is no charge it will encourage some people who are financially vulnerable to accept accommodation on the basis that there is a significant cost saving, in particular if people are in accommodation for a period of between six months and two years."

- Digital DeskThe High Court has paved the way for the Criminal Assets Bureau to seize more than half a million euro held in an AIB account.

An international investigation, involving the FBI, found the funds to be the proceeds of an organisation that sold encrypted phones to criminals.A High Court judge has expressed her concern over the speed in which an independent assessment of an eight-year-old boy, who has been out of school for more than a year, is being conducted.

Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds voiced her concern in a case where the State disputes a diagnosis of the boy as having Asperger's Syndrome, which is a form of Autism.

In proceedings against the Minister for Education, Ireland and the Attorney General, the boy through his mother seeks various orders and declarations including a declaration that the Minister is in breach of the child's constitutional right to an education.

The boy, who has been out of school since late 2017, also seeks orders that he be placed in a local school that can adequately address his special needs and that he be properly assessed so that the supports he needs are put in place so he can have an adequate and effective education.

The case first came before the court in September but was adjourned arising out of a dispute between the parties concerning a diagnosis that the child has Asperger's Syndrome.

It had been agreed that the child would be assessed by an independent third party.

When the matter returned before the High Court today, Ms Justice Reynolds voiced her concern that the assessment had not yet been carried out.

The court heard the matter had been delayed because the person initially nominated to conduct the assessment works for the HSE and could not be deemed independent.

While an independent assessor had now been agreed the applicant's side had still to be furnished all the necessary details about the process, Owen Donnelly Bl for the child said.

Lawyers for the State defendants, who sought to have the matter adjourned, said that the delay was not all their side's fault.

The applicant's side had only agreed to the proposed assessor in November, the court heard.

Ms Justice Reynolds said that the assessment had been agreed in early September in a case involving a young child who has been "out of school" for some time.

The Judge said she was adjourning the case for a week.

When the case returned the judge said she "expected to be appraised" of all the details concerning the proposed assessment of the child.A Dublin man who has been on the run since he went missing during his trial for sexually abusing his cousin has been sentenced to seven years imprisonment in his absence.

The 24-year-old man had pleaded not guilty to 14 counts of sexual assault at two locations in Dublin, on dates between June 2008 and October 2011. The girl was aged between five and eight years old at the time, while he was aged between 14 and 18 years old.

A jury of four women and eight men found the man guilty on all counts by unanimous verdict after a four day trial at the Central Criminal Court last May.

The man, who cannot be named to protect the victim's identity, went missing just before the jury delivered the verdict and has been at large since.

Last May a local garda told Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy that he had made enquiries at all major Dublin hospitals, but the man had not been admitted in the previous 24 hours. Justice McCarthy issued a bench warrant for the man's arrest and ordered that he be sentenced in his absence on a later date.

The court heard that the victim's mother had taken the defendant, her cousin, into her home as he was constantly being asked to leave his own house. While living with them, the man babysat his cousin's children which was when the offending took place.

The abuse involved him touching the child's breasts, genital area and putting his head in her genital area.

Last week Anthony Sammon SC, prosecuting, told Mr Justice Michael White that gardai have not been able to execute the warrant since last May and the State wish to proceed to sentence in the man's absence.

The investigating garda told Mr Sammon, at that hearing, that a victim impact statement from the now teenager stated that she has been going to counselling every week for three years. She said she didn't go out for weeks, skipped school and often stayed in the school office with teachers rather than attend class.

She had trouble eating and sleeping and she said she was bullied for missing classes.

I still don't sleep the best. I get upset and angry very easily. I lost loads of friends. I cry a lot, the girl's statement said.

The garda told Mr Sammon that the man had moved from Dublin to Cavan where he lived with his two children and former partner. He was arrested in Cavan to investigate the allegations but made no admissions during interview.

The garda said the man is still at large and believed to be sleeping rough in Dublin city.

Today Mr Justice White noted that as the man is still on the run, the seven year jail sentence will not start until his ultimate arrest.

He noted from a garda statement, prepared by the now 15-year-old girl's mother, that she felt sorry for her cousin and let him stay with her out of kindness.

The judge said that the abuse of the girl therefore represented a breach of trust. He added that it was a fully contested trial and that the offences had been carried out over a number of years on a very young child.

It is obvious that his youth is the most mitigating factor, Mr Justice White said, noting that the man himself was a minor himself when he abused the child.The Nurses&Midwives4Life Ireland group have claimed that Minister for Health Simon Harris and FF leader Micheal Martin have refused to meet them and discuss their concerns over conscientious objection legislation.

The group today said that in three weeks almost 500 nurses and midwives on the NMBI register have signed a petition for Simon Harris calling on him to protect freedom of conscience and to support the amendments in relation to freedom of conscience.

"Nurses and midwives who do not want to participate in abortions are extremely concerned in relation to Section 24(3) of the bill which states *Section 24 (3) A person who has a conscientious objection referred to in subsection (1) shall, as soon as may be, make such arrangements for the transfer of care of the pregnant woman concerned as may be necessary to enable the woman to avail of the termination of pregnancy concerned.

"We are appalled that humane amendments in relation to pain relief for late abortions, resuscitation measures where a baby survives an abortion, the exclusion of disability, race or gender as grounds for abortion, parental notification and dignified disposal of remains have not been supported by any Fine Gael TDs.

In a statement today the group said they have repeatedly asked to meet with Minister Simon Harris and Deputy Micheal Martin to discuss their concerns but as yet have had no follow up in respect of our requests.

"There has been little or no consultation with staff as to what impact this legislation will have on clinical practice and the impact on health service delivery."

The group have also released the full text of a letter they have sent to the Minister for Health.

It reads:

***

Dear Mr. Harris,

We are dedicated, hardworking nurses and midwives who care for patients from conception to natural death. We have a conscientious commitment to life which accords with the values inherent in Our Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics. We respect and defend the dignity of every stage of human life and we have a responsibility to make every valid or reasonable effort to protect the life and health of pregnant women and their unborn babies.

We are extremely concerned that the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018, in particular, Part 3 Section 24 (3)*, will seriously impact on our ability to practise. In 2018 two Scottish midwives Mary Doogan and Connie Wood were forced to quit their jobs when they refused to oversee abortions. For the first time this legislation, which differs from the 2013 Act, will permit the intentional ending of the life of the unborn child up to birth. For us as nurses and midwives participation in termination of pregnancy defined in relation to a pregnant woman, as a medical procedure which is intended to end the life of a foetus, is morally objectionable and conflicts with our conscientious commitment to life.

Participation includes any supervision, delegation, planning or supporting of staff involved in termination of pregnancy. We do not want to be discriminated against by our employers or victimised as employees if we exercise our right to freedom of conscience.

We are in the midst of an unprecedented crisis in the Health Service and as yet there has been no effort made by you as Minister for Health to consult the nursing or midwifery professions on the clinical implications of this bill.

We are calling on you as Minister for Health:

(a) to consult our professions in relation to this legislation and

(b) to support the amendments that have been tabled to protect our right to freedom of conscience so we will not be forced out of our professions.

*Section 24 (3) A person who has a conscientious objection referred to in subsection (1) shall, as soon as may be, make such arrangements for the transfer of care of the pregnant woman concerned as may be necessary to enable the woman to avail of the termination of pregnancy concerned.

Yours sincerely,

Marie Donnelly RGN Chair, Margaret McGovern RGN Vice Chair, Catherina O'Sullivan RPN Secretary, Fiona McHugh Clinical Paediatric Nurse Specialist PRO and Nurses and Midwives for Life Ireland

Additional reporting - Digital Desk

National Women's Council of Ireland urges TDs to pass abortion laws by the weekend

Earlier: The National Women's Council of Ireland has urged TDs to pass new abortion laws through the Dail by this weekend - despite fears the existing bill does not go far enough.

By Fiachra O Cionnaith

National Women's Council of Ireland director Orla O'Connor.

In a letter to all TDs, NWCI director Orla O'Connor said acknowledged there are legitimate fears the existing bill does not decriminalise abortion or introduce buffer zones to prevent protests at facilities where abortions will take place.

However, despite the concerns, Ms O'Connor said the onus is on politicians to temporarily put these issues to one side and push the bill through the Dail this week to ensure the January 1 abortion services deadline can be met.

"The NWCI acknowledges the hard work that you are undertaking in passing legislation to give effect to the landslide Yes vote to repeal the eighth amendment last May," Ms O'Connor's letter, which has been seen by the Irish Examiner, read.

"As things stand, women and girls continue to travel to access healthcare or take abortion pills without medical supervision.

"While recognising this legislation does not do everything we have advocated for, such as decriminalise abortion and allow for safety zones to protect women from protestors, we urge you to ensure that women centred legislation is ready to progress to the Seanad this week.

"There is an enormous public mandate to ensure that abortion care services are available to all women and girls who need them from January 1, 2019," Ms O'Connor's letter read.

While a number of TDs have backed the NWCI call, it is understood some pro-choice TDs who want further amendments to the legislation have taken issue with any suggestion they should put changes to one side in order to ensure the bill passes this week.Homeless families with young children living in hotels are going to be thrown out on the streets this Christmas unless the Government finally brings in legislation that has been waiting on a shelf for more than a year.

Labour housing spokesperson Jan O'Sullivan also accused ministers of having "no sense of urgency" in addressing the housing crisis.

She was speaking after a Dublin city councillor said some homeless families should be charged up to 50 to stay in a hotel when seeking emergency accommodation.

Ms O'Sullivan said there is an attempt to "blame" homeless people for the crisis.

Highlighting a December 2017 Labour bill to make it mandatory to prioritise children's needs in homeless families, she said while the law change was accepted the bill enacting it has been lying on a shelf for more than a year.

"Families are under huge pressure this time of year, we have nearly 4,000 children homeless, over 10,000 people," said Ms O'Sullivan.

I was talking to a woman last week who told me she was in a hotel in Limerick with two school-going children, who have been told they have to get out of their hotel because the hotel is required for Christmas.

"While we passed a referendum on the rights of the child it simply hasn't been implemented when it comes to children who are homeless.

"This bill will oblige the local authority to ensure families with young children have somewhere to go [if they are evicted or asked to leave emergency accommodation]. At the moment, families are being sent to garda stations or are walking around streets, because there is no priority."

Ms O'Sullivan criticised Independent Dublin councillor Ruairi McGinley who told RTE's Today with Sean O'Rourke programme he wants to see some homeless families charged up to 50 for staying in hotels or B&Bs.

Labelling the comments as "entirely kite-flying" and designed to "stir up some animosity about people who are homeless", Ms O'Sullivan said: "If you are homeless in a hotel you haven't got anywhere to wash your clothes, you have to buy food you can't prepare for yourself, so there are extra costs imposed on those already at-risk families.

"I honestly think this [Mr McGinley's comments] is just an attempt to put some sort of blame on people who are homeless rather than ensuring something is done about it."An RNLI team from County Mayo is being praised after spending nearly 12 hours at sea to bring three fishermen to safety.

The volunteers from Ballyglass RNLI were requested to launch their all-weather lifeboat at 4am yesterday morning following a request from the Irish Coast Guard to go to the aid of three fishermen onboard a 10m vessel that had got into difficulty after fouling its propeller, 38 miles off the coast.

The lifeboat under Coxswain James Mangan and with four crew members onboard, launched immediately into the darkness and made its way to the scene and into Donegal Bay.

Weather conditions at the time were good and when the lifeboat crew arrived on scene they assessed that all onboard were safe and well before working with the fishermen to establish a towline and then begin the slow journey to Killybegs where they arrived at 10.30am.

Following a short break for breakfast, the lifeboat crew then began the return journey back to Ballyglass, arriving at the lifeboat station and preparing the lifeboat for service again at 3.30pm.

Speaking following the call out, Padraic Sheeran, Ballyglass RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager said: "The fishermen did the right thing raising the alarm when they got into trouble and we were delighted to be able to help them return to shore safely.

"This was an early morning call out for our volunteers who got out of their beds to respond to their pagers and make their way to the scene. Given where the boat had got into difficulty into Donegal Bay, by the time we reached the scene and towed the vessel safely into Killybegs and made the passage back, our crew had spent 11 and a half hours at sea.

"This is what they are trained for and prepared to do but their efforts today are commendable, and I would like to thank our volunteer team for their willingness, time and dedication."

- Digital DeskBy Louise Walsh

An off-shoot organisation of the Church of Scientology said it had expected its work at a planned rehabilitation centre in a Co. Meath village to be "welcomed with open arms".

In recent weeks, Narconon Trust's plans for the centre at Ballivor suffered a setback when An Bord Pleanala ruled that it needed planning permission to change an approved nursing home on the site to a residential drug rehabilitation facility.

Planning permission had been previously approved for a 54-bed nursing home on the site of the old national school.

Narconon began construction works at the centre last year after securing a declaration from Meath County Council that the building was an exempted development.

It is understood that works on the 5.6m facility are due to be completed later this week.

The appeals to An Bord Pleanala were taken by the Ballivor Community Group and the Trim Municipal District Council.

The planning board stated in its ruling: "An Bord Pleanala has decided that the change of use of the permitted nursing home to a residential drug rehabilitation facility is a development and not an exempted development

"The proposed use as a residential drug rehabilitation facility would be a factual change of use from use as a nursing home and such change of use would raise material planning considerations including different patterns of traffic, and pedestrian activity/movement, a different service to a different user group, including a population with a broader age profile and who are drug dependent and with limited interaction with the local community, and is, therefor a material change of use, and is development."

After the ruling, Narconon said it was "considering its position and seeking advice on the matter".

However, in an extended statement, Linda Alred, Narconon Coordinator for Ireland, said it was "shocking" to see that there were people who would object to drug and alcohol rehabilitation.

Locals protesting against the Narconon rehabilitation centre in Ballivor. Pic: Seamus Farrelly

She said: "Planning permission was received from Meath Co. Council in December 2014 to change the use of the national school building in Ballivor to a nursing home.

In August 2016, Narconon Trust requested Meath Co. Council to make a declaration in accordance with Part 1, Section 5 of the Planning and Development Act as to whether or not a change of use from a nursing home to a residential drug rehabilitation facility was an exempted development.

Ms Alred said: "The council issued a declaration on the 2nd October, 2016 that the change of use as outlined was an exempted development and therefore, would not require planning permission.

"It was on this basis that Narconon Trust concluded the property was suitable for its use and it purchased the property subsequent to that approval in December.

"Now over two years since Meath Co. Council issued that declaration, the building is nearly complete.

"In a country where nearly two-thirds (65%) of professionals report addiction experience themselves or of close friends and family, it is shocking to see that there are certain people who would object to drug and alcohol rehabilitation.

"The drug and alcohol statistics in Ireland are of serious concern and one would expect that drug rehabilitation efforts would be welcomed with open arms.

"Narconon is trying to salvage people from drugs and alcohol. Anyone who objects to this being done is clearly against saving people from these scourges.

"Narconon has successfully helped people in the UK for over 40 years where it is registered by the Care Quality Commission."Plans to build a new plastics factory in Skibbereen in Cork is facing fierce opposed from local campaigners.

The Save Our Skibbereen campaign is opposing the move, despite An Bord Pleanala approving the plans by Daly Products yesterday.

Residents who appealed a Cork County Council decision to grant planning for a 4,800 sq/km thermoplastics facility in Skibbereen yesterday received confirmation from An Bord Pleanala their appeal had been rejected.

Green Party Senator Grace O'Sullivan says the firm will have a fight on its hands from locals.

She said: "They will be campaigning hard and they will have the support of many politicians because this production of nurdles is not smart.

"It's a high-risk industry and I think they deserve their support and An Bord Pleanala really will come under pressure now from the local people."

She added the new plant is a huge step in the wrong direction.

Ms O'Sullivan said: "It's going to produce the plastic nurdles, small plastic compounds, it's just the wrong thing to do.

"We know the impact of plastic on our environment, particularly our marine environment, is causing huge stress to different species that are ingesting plastic."

- Digital DeskBy Ann O'Loughlin

The president of the High Court has struck off a solicitor after he was found guilty of professional misconduct over his failure to comply with two undertakings given by him concerning charges over properties.

Thomas O'Donoghue, who formerly practised as principal of O'Donoghue & Co Solicitors, Egan's Lane, Tuam, Co Galway, closed that practice in 2011 and has not taken out a practising certificate since, Mr Justice Peter Kelly noted.

For reasons including the importance of trust in solicitors' undertakings and because Mr O'Donogue had closed his practice in 2011 "leaving it to others to pick up the pieces", the Law Society sought the strike-off order.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT), noting an earlier order of June 2015 would prevent Mr O'Donoghue practising except under supervision, had recommended no additional sanction or strike off.

The matter came before Mr Justice Kelly arising from findings of professional misconduct made by the SDT earlier this year against Mr O'Donoghue who did not attend the SDT hearing and was not represented.

The president of the High Court, Peter Kelly.

The SDT found Mr O'Donoghue failed to comply with an undertaking of September 18, 2017, given to Bank of Ireland Mortgages concerning a property, a block of apartments. While the bank had its charge over the property, the title deeds have yet to be located.

It also found he had failed to comply with an undertaking of May 7, 2010, given to another law firm to assist in perfecting their client's security on a property. The SDT was told the relevant charges have never been registered.

The SDT also made findings concerning the solicitor's failure to respond to its correspondence concerning a complaint against him and that, when he closed his practice, he failed to provide an accountant's report for the year ended June 30, 2011, in breach of the Solicitors Accounts Regulations.

Professional misconduct was previously found against him over failure to comply with an undertaking dated February 3, 2009, and failing to respond adequately or at all to correspondence from that complainant and the Society.

When the matter came before Mr Justice Kelly on Monday, Mr O'Donoghue was not in court and was not represented

In his ruling, the judge noted the solicitor, unfortunately, had a previous disciplinary record before these complaints.

The Court of Appeal's description of solicitors undertakings as part of the "hard currency" of the profession, the honouring of which is core to ensuring that public trust in the profession is retained, is "not just good law but also good sense", he said.

In this case, Mr O'Donoghue has taken no steps to bring about compliance with the undertakings and had also failed to reply to the Law Society and Bank of Ireland Mortgages over a long period, he said.

This showed an "entirely wrong" attitude by the solicitor towards his regulator and did himself no good when it came to considering a penalty.

He did not believe the SDT was correct in deciding these two undertaking issues were just part of a pattern not meriting additional sanction, the judge said.

While the number of undertakings was small by comparison to other cases, it was still serious and the fact the non-compliance is still extant is relevant, he said. Mr O'Donoghue had also just closed his practice and left others to worry about the consequences.

The failure to honour undertakings is so serious as to warrant the court sending a message, because trust is the very cornerstone of the profession, it is necessary, with a view to maintaining the integrity of the profession, where there is a breach of trust, the appropriate penalty is a strike-off, he ruled.Refugees were framed as terrorists or rapists in a politicised far-right representation on Twitter that dominated more humanitarian approaches during the 2015-2016 refugee crisis, an academic study has suggested.

A study involving researchers at Dublin City University and in Greece goes on to suggest that even before receiving the Republican party nomination for the 2016 US presidential election, Donald Trump was prominent in hashtags used around the situation.

Their article, published last March in the Social Media + Society journal, points to the marginal role played by most Twitter users in the debate as the top accounts disproportionately influence the social media platform.

Eugenia Siapera, lead author of the research, and DCU Institute for Future Media and Journalism colleague, Jane Suiter, produced the study with two researchers from the University of Patras in Greece.

Their analysis of almost 7.5 million tweets and hashtags around three significant news stories related to refugees from November 2015 to March 2016 found that two main versions emerged on Twitter.

In one, a frame politicised from a far-right perspective, refugees were framed as terrorists or rapists following along the lines of representations that mobilise security and safety". A humanitarian frame, created by humanitarian organisations, activists and some mainstream media, revolved around human rights.

Despite the sampled tweets being skewed to the refugee-friendly part of the debate, the researchers found that they included a set of far-right hashtags associated with politicians with a clear anti-refugee stance, like Donald Trump.

It is worth recalling the dataset dates from before Trump gained the Republican nomination. While it is likely that overall a number of tweets will be positive or neutral, the debate seems to be politicised from a far-right Islamophobic perspective that associates refugees with terrorism and to some extent with sexual assault, they wrote.

Political views that link refugees to other forms of crisis and exploitation seem to be lost. Humanitarian concerns are there, but the relevant tags are fewer than the political ones, the article read.

The research also found that US-based far-right hashtags were prominent, such as #tcot (top conservatives on Twitter), #WakeUpAmerica and #PjNet (Patriot Journalist Network), and #Pegida used by supports of the far-right German political party.A woman has been found guilty of trying to claim money from the Department of Education by logging dozens of hours of home tuition for a girl that never took place.

Catherine Lydon OKeeffe of Coronea, Baltimore Road in Skibbereen pleaded guilty to the charge after the Department launched an investigation when it had noticed a discrepancy in home tuition hours submitted by the family and by Ms OKeeffe.

Det Garda James Keane told Clonakilty District Court that Ms OKeeffe had been appointed as tutor to a child for four months. He said to avail of the grants a payroll form must be completed monthly by the tutor and the parents.

For July 2016 the parents submitted 16 hours of home tuition and Judge Mary Dorgan heard that the parents had cancelled a number of hours because the child was sick.

The parents filled the form and passed it to the tutor. According to Det Garda Keane: The accused made some false entries into this payroll form.

He said Ms OKeeffe added 40 hours to the tally. The Department noticed the discrepancy and began an investigation and then made a report to gardai as it involved public money.

The 56-year-old mother of two made voluntary admissions about the false entries. The court heard she had 13 previous convictions including three for theft offences and 10 on road traffic offences.

Her barrister, Emmet Boyle JC, said she had immediately held her hands up when first contacted by the department. He said there had been a large number of texts between the childs mother and Ms OKeeffe and said in July 2016 a number of tuition hours had been cancelled at the last minute.

Mr Boyle said the texts indicated that his client would claim for the hours in July and then work them in September and not claim them.

He said while this was an unlawful arrangement, there had been no loss to the state.

Judge Dorgan convicted Ms OKeeffe and fined her 500 and bound her to the peace for two years.A woman who fell down the exit stairs of a Ryanair plane at Dublin Airport three years ago has lost a 60,000 damages claim for personal injuries against the airline and has been ordered to pay Ryanairs legal costs.

Judge Jacqueline Linnane said Sabrina Melloni was carrying two pieces of hand luggage and her handbag as she disembarked from a Boeing 737 and did not avail of the handrails on either side of the steps.

Andrew Walker, counsel for Ryanair, told the Circuit Civil Court that Ms Melloni, a 51-year-old multilingual customer care co-ordinator, of Beechfield House, Oulton Rd, Clontarf, Dublin 3, was exiting a London to Dublin flight at 11.30am on New Years Eve when she slipped and fell.

Mr Walker said she had brought the claim under Article 17 of the Montreal Convention on the basis the stairs, which were lowered from the body of the aircraft, were wet and slippery, and caused her fall.

Judge Linnane, handing down a reserved judgment, said a full defence was delivered by Ryanair and Mr Walker specifically pleaded that the claim or incident did not come within the provisions of Article 17 of the convention.

Ms Melloni was therefore precluded from maintaining any cause of action against Ryanair.

The judge said it was not disputed that Ms Melloni had fallen and been injured when using the stairs, but Ryanair denied they were wet. Ms Melloni fell on her face and suffered a bump to her forehead and soft tissue injuries that cleared up after some months.

Mr Walker told the court Article 17 of the Convention provided that the carrier is liable for damage sustained in case of death or bodily injury of a passenger upon condition only that the accident which caused the death or injury took place on board the aircraft or in the course of any of the operations of embarking or disembarking.

Judge Linnane said the Montreal Convention had been transposed into Irish law through the Air Navigation and Transport (International Convention) Act of 2004 and provided an exclusive cause of action and sole remedy against the carrier and restricted a claimant to proceedings against the carrier.

She said Ms Melloni was with her nine-year-old daughter at the time and they were disembarking from the front of the aircraft after up to 70 other passengers had disembarked ahead of them without incident using the same stairs.

Not 'an accident'

Judge Linnane said Ms Melloni was in front of her daughter and carrying both her own piece of hand luggage and that of her daughter, along with her handbag, and was not using the handrails when she fell down a number of steps, landing on the tarmac.

The judge said Mr Walker claimed that what had taken place was not an accident within the meaning of Article 17 of the Convention.

The judge said weather records for December 31, 2015, showed there was no rain recorded in Dublin until 4pm that afternoon, more than four hours after Ms Melloni had fallen.

She found her fall was not an accident within the meaning of Article 17 of the Convention.

The court concluded that Article 17 contemplated, by the term accident, a distinct event, not being any part of the usual, normal, and expected operation of the aircraft.Quantum physicist Michael Biercuk is launching a world-first software product this week, and while it's not targeted at the everyday consumer it could change their lives in the long run.

His startup Q-CTRL's Black Opal software package aims to help businesses that are working on quantum computing processes to eliminate errors and improve the strength of their hardware.

Michael Biercuk, founder and chief executive of quantum computing startup Q-CTRL.

Quantum computing moves beyond traditional computers that store information as "bits" represented by 1s and 0s, and instead harnesses quantum physics to process information more efficiently.

But as the world works to develop quantum computers that have practical uses, the hardware is vulnerable to breaking down.Energy lawyers say the federal government's decision to soften its plan to force power companies to sell assets could make it more difficult for the industry to challenge any decisions.

The government is pushing forward a bill to "prohibit energy market misconduct" but has removed the powers that allowed the Treasurer to make the final forced divestment decision instead passing it on to the Federal Court.

Gilbert + Tobin energy law expert Christopher Flynn said despite shifting the final decision from the Treasurer to the courts, it has actually made it harder for companies to challenge.

Energy companies have called the proposed legislation a "political sugar-hit' that harms industry in the long term. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The government always had these powers but they have had to pay just compensation to companies for forcing the sale of these assets, Mr Flynn said.Members of the Australian government allegedly had a whiteboard which was used in "planning ways to get" former federal parliamentarian Clive Palmer, the Supreme Court has been told.

The sensational claims were heard during a civil claim brought by the Queensland businessman and his company Palmer Leisure Coolum.

Businessman Clive Palmer arrives at the Supreme Court in Brisbane on December 4. Credit:AAP Image/ Dan Peled

The Supreme Court case comes after Mr Palmer and PLC were charged by the corporate watchdog.

The charges, levelled by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, relate to an unfulfilled 2012 proposal to buy shares of another company that owned properties at his Sunshine Coast resort.Brisbane ferry drivers will strike for two days this week in a move that will create chaos for thousands of commuters.

Ferry drivers will walk off the job early on Thursday, staging a 48-hour strike to express their anger over a lack of job security and low wages.

About 130 ferry workers were expected to strike on Thursday. Credit:Paul Kingsley / Alamy Stock Photo

They also accuse ferry operator Transdev of eroding maintenance and safety standards under the contract it holds to run CityCat and CityFerry services for the Brisbane City Council.

It was understood the strike would involve more than 130 people who work on the city's ferry network, with the action to begin at 4am on Thursday.A Brisbane cop accused of computer hacking has been stood down from offical duty and will face court later this month.

The 38-year-old male plain-clothes senior constable from the Brisbane Region was the subject of an investigation and has been charged with hacking.

The officer is due to appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on December 17.

"In keeping with our commitment to high standards of behaviour, transparency and accountability, we have undertaken to inform the public when an officer faces serious allegations of misconduct," a police spokesman said.

"This does not mean that the allegations against the officer have been substantiated."Brisbane City Council has accepted a final report into pedestrian safety across the city that recommends a host of changes for the city's foot traffic.

The report, commissioned as part of an ongoing review into the citys safety for pedestrians and cyclists after numerous fatal crashes in the past year, was debated at the council meeting on Tuesday afternoon.

Brisbane's safety for pedestrians has been reviewed in a final report prepared for the council. Credit:Michelle Smith

Recommendations include the removal or restructuring of slip lanes such as the lane at the intersection of Ann and Creek streets in the central business district, the phasing of traffic signals to favour pedestrians, and lowering speed limits on key roads around the city and its suburbs to 40km/h.

Lord mayor Graham Quirk said the final report was one of several produced in the Move Safe project for the city.Australia's three tiers of government should be entirely connected online, a new report recommends, with every citizen issued a digital identity to easily access services online.

The report was launched in Brisbane last week by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and ACS, detailing a vision for a fully connected future.

A new report champions the digitising of all levels of government for ease of access. Credit:Eddie Jim

Fergus Hanson, head of the institute's international cyber policy centre, pointed to on experiences from Estonia, which has a highly connected government with strong privacy controls for citizens.

He said an "e-government" would need to be customised to Australia but could sharply reduce costs and improve communication.Hundreds of residents forced to flee their homes when a bushfire tore through their small patch of central Queensland will be allowed to return home.

Fire crews are still battling more than 100 fires across the state but cooler, less volatile conditions have allowed firefighters to get the upper hand and let residents back into the area south of Gladstone.

Smoke rising from the Deepwater bushfire in Central Queensland Credit:QFES Media/AAP

Those who fled Deepwater, Rules Beach, Oyster Creek and Baffle Creek will be allowed to go home at midday on Tuesday via a police roadblock at Hills Road.

"We are now allowing restricted access, that will be related to owners and occupants of premises in that area," Inspector Darren Somerville said.Finding a snake in your bed could be one of the unanticipated consequences of climate change, animal experts warn.

A north Queensland man found himself with a strange bedfellow over the weekend, with an unknown snake biting him a number of times on the face.

Queensland's heatwave could see more snakes - especially venomous ones - attempting to enter homes. Credit:Kate Callas

Tony Kenwright, from Mackay, went to hospital as a precaution, but it's believed the snake that bit him was a non-venomous tree snake.

Mackay-based snake catcher and breeder Brett Modra said it was one of a number of erratic snake behaviours he's seen recently.Defence is investigating whether there are design problems with its latest multi-billion dollar warships after a sister Norwegian vessel foundered badly following a collision last month, prompting an urgent warning from Norways safety authorities.

Norwegian naval frigate the Helge Ingstad collided a month ago with an oil tanker and half-sank. In an interim investigation report published this week, the Accident Investigation Board Norway said it had identified some safety-critical issues that require immediate attention regarding the ships watertight compartments, designed to keep it afloat if the hull is breached.

The Royal Australian Navy took charge of HMAS Brisbane in a formal ceremony in Sydney in October. Credit:Katherine Griffiths

The boards report stated that it cannot be excluded that the same applies to vessels of a similar design delivered by [Spanish shipbuilder] Navantia.

The Royal Australian Navys latest, largest and most powerful warships, the Hobart Class guided-missile destroyers, are based on the same design. Costing $9 billion for three vessels, the destroyers have already been hit by delays and cost overruns.Cleaning up rubbish when tenants move out and maintaining ageing properties are pushing up social housing bills, with new figures showing expenses have soared 50 per cent in four years.

An audit report released on Tuesday revealed the state government's bill for maintenance of social housing properties had increased from $223 million in 2014 to $413 million in 2017-18.

The maintenance bill for social housing across the state has soared. Credit:Darren Pateman

The Family and Community Services report also found the department's unaudited data showed there was an increase in the number of children reported to be at risk of significant harm.

There were about 92,000 children at risk of significant harm in 201718, an increase of about 5600 from the previous year, the report found.Depending on whom you ask, France is embroiled in its worst unrest in a decade or perhaps even 50 years. Its President Emmanuel Macron returned to the country from the G20 summit on Sunday to find Paris burning, and protests in several other cities to boot. Here's a ready reckoner on the ongoing turmoil that has lakhs of French citizens taking to the streets.

Why is it called Yellow Vests movement?

According to New York Times, the ongoing protests in France are an extraordinary venting of rage and resentment by ordinary working people, aimed at the mounting inequalities that have eroded their lives.

The backlash erupted suddenly in November as a protest against Macron's fuel tax hikes to reduce emissions that are slated to kick-in from January. The protestors took to wearing the high-visibility fluorescent jackets that all motorists in France must carry in their vehicles, thus getting named the Yellow Vests protests. However, as the unrest gained steam over the past three weeks, other demands have been tacked on.

The grassroots movement, which had little organisational support but was spurred along by social media, is now protesting broader economic reforms unleashed by Macron, which many voters feel favour the wealthy and big business. The reforms list reportedly includes sore points like pensions and unemployment insurance. According to France's Interior Ministry, the protests this weekend drew 1,36,000 people nationwide, slightly down from the 1,66,000 who gathered last week. But the buzz is that the Yellow Vests movement has the support of three-quarters of the French public.

What do the protesters want?

With no clear structure or leadership, it is difficult to determine who represents or even spearheads the movement and, hence, the agenda is not clearly defined. While the demand for lower taxes and a better standard of living is pretty omnipresent, different factions of the Yellow Vests reportedly have different demands.

However, a group of 10 representatives recently wrote an opinion piece in a local newspaper, calling for negotiations with the government. Among their demands are an "immediate and unconditional freeze in the tax increase on fuel" as well as the cancellation of new and more rigorous vehicle inspection rules, which raise costs for drivers, the US daily reported. They further asked to change the electoral system to one of proportional representation, which would benefit smaller parties, including those on the far left and far right. Yet other protestors are asking for the minimum wage to be hiked and for Macron to resign.

What's the damage caused by the unrest?

Paris is not the only city left burning by the Yellow Vests - protests reportedly erupted in several towns and cities across the country, from Charleville Mezieres in the northeast to Marseille in the south. The unrest that had been building in intensity over the past three weeks, however, peaked on Saturday with rioters running amok in the capital. The protestors, many of them masked, torched over a 100 cars and at least 6 buildings, looted and damaged shops, and clashed with police that responded with stun grenades, tear gas and water cannons. The recently-inaugurated flagship Apple Store on the Champs Elysees found its windows smashed, as did the luxury boutiques of Chanel and Dior. Banks, too, were vandalised and the protestors left behind anti-government graffiti.

All around France, the protests reportedly left three dead and more than 260 wounded. In addition, more than 400 were arrested in Paris over the weekend. The financial cost of the damage is still being tallied, but it is clear that the economy has taken a hit. Parts of central Paris that should have been packed with tourists and Christmas shoppers resembled battle zones, the agency reported, while hotels and department stores in the capital stand to lose millions, and shelves have run empty in some supermarkets.

What does France plan to do to solve the crisis?

Government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux on Sunday said that the Macron administration was considering imposing a state of emergency - last imposed after the 2015 terror attacks - and ruled out any change the course of its policies.

On Friday, speaking at the sidelines of the G20 summit in Argentina, Macron said he understood the "legitimate anger, impatience and suffering of people who wanted to live better" and reportedly requested time to look into how to push the low-emission agenda without penalising the poor. "It will fall on me to take additional steps in the weeks and months to come, but they will never be a step backwards," the 40-year-old former investment banker-turned-president clarified.

Nonetheless, he ordered Prime Minister Edouard Philippe to meet with representatives of the "Yellow Vests" protest movement as well as Opposition party leaders, starting today. Hopefully, these talks will be more successful than Environment Minister Francois de Rugy's attempts last week.

With Reuters inputs

Edited by Sushmita AgarwalThe Greens are celebrating an election victory in the ultra-marginal Prahran electorate after fending off both Labor and Liberal challengers.

Incumbent MP Sam Hibbins will join two other Greens MPs in the Victorian Parliaments lower house, with the party now retaining the same number of seats as it had before the election.

Sam Hibbins campaigning on election day. Credit:Chris Hopkins

Prahran is among the last electorates where victory has been claimed due to the small number of votes separating the candidates. It was previously the most marginal seat in the state with the Greens holding it by 0.4 per cent before the recent election.

While the results are yet to be finalised by the Victorian Electoral Commission, Labor's Neil Pharaoh tweeted a concession on Tuesday.Labor is claiming a historic election victory in the once blue-ribbon Liberal seat of Hawthorn, sinking a star opposition MPs hopes of leading his party from the ashes.

Former shadow attorney-general John Pesutto was considered a front runner for the leadership of the Victorian Liberal Party, but the loss of his seat would force him out of contention.

Former shadow attorney-general John Pesutto. Credit:AAP

The Victorian Election Commission finalised a series of counts in close seats on Tuesday, confirming the Liberals had lost Bayswater but held Caulfield. It is expected to finalise the count in Hawthorn on Wednesday morning.

The Liberals will decide on a new leader for the parliamentary party on Thursday with shadow treasurer Michael OBrien tipped as the front runner.Washington: The yellow Labrador retriever appeared woebegone, his head slack over his front left paw, his muzzle resting on the ground. Yet he was also steadfast, still keeping watch over George H.W. Bush, the 41st president, who died on Friday at his home in Houston.

Sully, President George H.W. Bush's service dog, lies in front of his casket in Houston. Credit:AP

After accompanying the statesman and World War II veteran in the final months of his life, Sully, the late president's service dog, lay before the casket holding what remained of him.

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The display of instinctual, animalistic devotion captured the reaction to Bush's death in a way that the words spilled all weekend over the Internet could not. Dogs, wrote the poet Emily Dickinson, "know but do not tell."La Trobe Financials chief lending officer, Cory Bannister explains recent developments in the SMSF sector

Q: In the five years to 2017, SMSF-lending-based property assets (as a proportion of total assets) increased from 3.51% to 21.17%. According to your observations, what is driving this trend?

A: With more than one million Australians having turned to taking more control of their own super, the SMSF sector continues to grow. SMSFs continue to have a significant influence on the overall growth of the $2.7trn Australian superannuation industry, with SMSF assets increasing by $274.3bn or 65% in the five years to 2017. So with this in mind we can expect this sector to continue to be important in asset allocation debates in the retirement industry.

The majority of SMSFs are formed by self-employed business people who are astute and understand investment risk, having run their own businesses.

They have a bias towards asset classes with low volatility and assets that have longer-term investment horizons of 10 or more years. To this end, property is imminently recognisable and understandable for SMSF investors..

Q: How do you believe the trend will play out over the next five years?

A: Looking at growth in the number of SMSFs, it is on an upward trajectory, growing on average 5% year-on-year (over the five years to 2017), from 473,000 SMSFs to 597,000.

With a notable increase in the younger entrants, particularly in the 35 to 50 age bracket, and a gender shift in the SMSF landscape, combined with Australias penchant for DIY, we expect the numbers will continue to rise but at a lower annual rate than previously

Q: Has the withdrawal of major banks from SMSF lending caused any reputational damage among consumers?

A: We believe that the reason why the banks may be withdrawing from SMSF lending is simply to streamline their product range and concentrate more on the individual home loan type product. This will also assist the banks in the processing of simpler prime-type home loans, where automation is the key for them.

The SMSF loan product is a bit more complex in structure and more difficult to fit into their automated credit model. We also believe that the banks may be required to hold higher capital levels for these types of loans compared to a prime standard home loan for individuals.

Q: What are the underlying factors that have allowed La Trobe Financial to continue offering its SMSF products as the majors pull away?

A: We have been offering SMSF commercial and residential security mortgages since 2009, and our SMSF portfolio has demonstrated stellar performance outcomes with these high-quality super prime borrowers, who are saving and investing for long-term retirement purposes, proving to be low risk  contrary to some press reporting.

Our SMSF lending continues to be strong, and we expect it to get even stronger now that the majors have pulled out of the market.

Competition in the market will of course become more limited, and we believe that a number of non-bank lenders will continue to support this type of specialist lending. La Trobe Financials broader product range continues to support brokers in the SMSF and other underserved markets.

Q: In terms of the residential and commercial SMSF products on offer from La Trobe Financial, what are the pros and cons that brokers need to outline to their clients?

A: We would suggest that clients have an SMSF in place already, unless they are coming to a broker with advice from an adviser and are in the process of establishing their SMSF. Clients should not be encouraged to establish SMSFs unless they receive independent advice from an appropriate adviser first.

An example of when it may be appropriate to recommend that your client seek advice about setting up an SMSF is where they are self-employed and currently leasing their place of business. If they hold adequate funds in their superannuation to allow them to borrow funds to purchase a business premises through an SMSF, it might make commercial sense for them to purchase their business premises, as they can use cash flows from their business to pay their mortgage, as opposed to paying someone elses by way of rent.

It is a discussion your client might wish to have with their financial adviserLatest News CBA hikes fixed rates for third time in six weeks Third rate rise in just six weeks for major lender as market comes to terms with RBA uncertainty

Brokers 'stronger than ever' as trend towards leaving the industry reverses Optimism high in channel going in 2022 as challenges of past year have forced brokers to revisit their careers

An Australian financial services industry initiative to teach teenagers about money management and business skills could be adopted in New Zealand.

The School Entrepreneurs Program, which was started by the founder of Astute Ability Finance Group in conjunction with the MFAA, has been warmly received by NZ financial industry leaders.

It offers high school age students a course on improving their financial skills and running their own start up business.

Astute Abilitys founder and principal, Mhairi MacLeod, visited Auckland to meet with John Bolton, the director of industry body Financial Advice New Zealand (FANW) and boss of mortgage group Squirrel, as well as FANW CEO Katrina Shanks, to explain the program and other corporate social responsibility initiatives.

MacLeod said, It was great to showcase the program to John and Katrina and they are enthusiastic about getting on board this initiative and introducing it in their schools.

MacLeod and the MFAA recently relaunched the program throughout Australia, with a massive response from schools and brokers.

MacLeod added, Thousands of young Australians have benefited from taking part in the program and acquiring knowledge and skills which will make them more self-sufficient and better prepared for adulthood.

The School Entrepreneurs Program has received fantastic support from brokers and it enables them to give something back to the community and impart their financial skills and knowledge onto young people.

It would be wonderful to launch the School Entrepreneurs Program in New Zealand and the MFAA is keen for this to happen. The initial support from Financial Advice New Zealand has been very exciting.

The program involves finance brokers delivering a course of lessons voluntarily to high school economics classes or youth groups in their local community.

MacLeod said, Topics covered include setting up a business, developing business plans, product development, marketing strategies, human resources, strategies for profit, loss and future business direction.

Finance brokers are ideally positioned to deliver this program due to their financial literacy and competencies as well as their business management and administration experience.

How it works is they partner with a local high school or similar institution, and then work as business advisers alongside the teachers, helping students develop, launch and manage a mock start-up business.

The standard pre-designed program can be delivered over the course of six-to-ten weeks, for an hour each week. It is a fun way to engage students and get them thinking about business. Although the program has been pre-designed, brokers can easily tailor it to suit their students' needs, or their own style.

MacLeod said the need for the program was highlighted by the results of an OECD international student assessment report last year which found around 20% of 15-year-olds in Australia did not have basic financial literacy.Latest News CBA hikes fixed rates for third time in six weeks Third rate rise in just six weeks for major lender as market comes to terms with RBA uncertainty

Brokers 'stronger than ever' as trend towards leaving the industry reverses Optimism high in channel going in 2022 as challenges of past year have forced brokers to revisit their careers

Three finance brokers have been permanently banned for conspiring to defraud financial institutions.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) permanently banned Najam Shah, formerly of Glen Waverley, Victoria, Mohamed Ahmed of Hampton Park, and Aizaz Hassan of Truganina, from providing financial services and engaging in credit activities.

Shah, Ahmed and Hassan were each convicted of one charge of conspiring to defraud financial institutions.

All three men played a role in creating and using false documents to support loan applications, valued at around $170m.

The activity took place at former Footscray-based finance broking company, Myra Home Loan Pty Ltd.

ASIC determined that as a consequence of their criminal convictions, Shah, Ahmed and Hassan are not of good fame or character to provide financial services and are not fit and proper people to engage in credit activities.

Shah, who has appealed against his sentence, is currently serving a sentence of five years in jail in relation to the conviction. A minimum of three years and three months must be served before Shah is eligible for parole.

Ahmed and Hassan were each sentenced to a five-year community correction order in relation to the conviction, with special conditions, including 400 hours of community service.Latest News CBA hikes fixed rates for third time in six weeks Third rate rise in just six weeks for major lender as market comes to terms with RBA uncertainty

Brokers 'stronger than ever' as trend towards leaving the industry reverses Optimism high in channel going in 2022 as challenges of past year have forced brokers to revisit their careers

A non-bank lender has priced its third securitisation of 2018, ending what the group has called a fantastic year for the business.

Bluestones $350million Sapphire XX 2018-3 ends a year which saw its acquisition by Cerberus Capital Management in April and its recent achievement of $2bn in settlements since returning to the market in 2013.

The transaction marks Bluestones 27th residential mortgage backed security issuance and 20th under its Sapphire program in Australia.

It also marks the first calls of post-GFC issued securitisations issued by Bluestone on their first possible call dates, with the pools from both Sapphire XII 2013-1 and Sapphire XIII 2014-1 being refinanced into the transaction alongside newly originated loans.

Campbell Smyth, CEO of Bluestone, said, We are very proud of what the business has achieved in such a short time, and in particular since the investment by Cerberus.

We are focussed on writing loans responsibly for borrowers who dont meet the criteria of mainstream lenders, a space which is only growing with the pull back by the majors.

This is not however a time to be loading up on risk in portfolios. Although the Australian consumer continues to perform strongly we are seeing weakness in the underlying residential property market and are preparing for this to continue for some time.

Smyth said that as such, Bluestone is focused on continuing to make hard decisions that it will look back on in years to come and be thankful they were made.

He added, The conservative portfolios that we have been building give us comfort heading into a time of more price volatility.

Although tempting, we have resisted the lure of moving into some of the more risky areas, and have in fact been making the most of the opportunity to incorporate increasing volumes of prime and near prime borrowers at sensible LVRs.

The Sapphire XX portfolio exhibits a weighted average LVR of 65.64% with only 11.83% borrowers over 80%.

The transaction also shows a greater amount of seasoning due to the inclusion of loans refinanced from the called transactions, with a weighted average seasoning of 49.22 months.

The transaction was entirely placed with real money accounts without the need for bank support in any tranche.

Todd Lawler, Bluestones recently appointed CFO, said, It is great to see the level of investor demand for our transactions.

While it is comforting to know that banks are there to support us, it is great to see the whole capital structure being placed with real money accounts.

Going forward, the growth in origination will be supported by increased and diversified capital markets activity, with additional warehousing capacity, global risk retention compliant securitisations and other forms of term financing.

Bluestone is likely to return to the market in Q1 2019 with Sapphire 2019-1 and anticipates two to three transactions over the coming year.Latest News CBA hikes fixed rates for third time in six weeks Third rate rise in just six weeks for major lender as market comes to terms with RBA uncertainty

Brokers 'stronger than ever' as trend towards leaving the industry reverses Optimism high in channel going in 2022 as challenges of past year have forced brokers to revisit their careers

For the tenth consecutive time, La Trobe Financial has been awarded the title of Best Mortgage Fund.

Announced at Money magazines 2019 Best of the Best Awards, the company was praised for its delivered returns consistently above its peers and benchmarks.

Among the panel of independent fund ratings agencies, SQM Research pointed to the groups knowledgeable and experienced staff and diversification across geographical sectors and borrowers.

La Trobe Financials chief investment officer, Chris Andrews, said, La Trobe Financial has been managing other peoples money for almost seven decades.

We have seen the good times and the bad and have built a resilient investment strategy that targets capital stability and consistent monthly income across the economic cycle.

With the share market still down by over 15% a full decade after pre-GFC peaks, we continue to believe that we can deliver real value for investors through our transparent, time-tested approach to investment.

La Trobe Financials chief corporate treasurer, Martin Barry, said, La Trobe Financials retail credit fund is a key part of our overall group funding strategy.

It differentiates us from our peers and allows us to deploy our asset class expertise for the benefit of ordinary, mum and dad investors.

Our investment team brings considerable asset and liquidity management skills to the table and that has helped produce market-leading returns for our investors in times of considerable market volatility.

La Trobe Financials president & CEO, Greg ONeill, said, This achievement comes from sticking to our values and building a business based on a culture of others before self.

In the context of our investment operations, that means remembering that we are managing other peoples money and should treat it as we would our own.

It is an honour to lead a team who are inspired by this motto and who work so hard every single day to deliver consistently outstanding results for our investors.

In FY2018, that hard work has resulted in an extraordinary $104.4 million in interest payments to investors and now this record, tenth consecutive award.

Make no mistake, La Trobe Financial will not rest on its laurels but will remain completely focussed on delivering the best risk-adjusted returns for all of its investors, both retail and institutional.Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC

Cops on Tuesday cuffed a guy for terrorizing a Jewish man in Williamsburg on Friday evening.

Police slapped the 31-year-old suspect from Bedford-Stuyvesant with hate-crime and third-degree assault charges for allegedly punching the Jewish man wearing whats called a shtreimel  a fur hat often worn by Hasidic Jews on the Sabbath  in the head on Throop Avenue near Wallabout street around 6:40 pm, injuring him about two hours after Shabbat began at sundown.

The suspect hit the victim in the noggin just days after another punk clocked a Jewish kid, dressed in what authorities described as traditional attire, in the face on a nearby street on Nov. 25.

Authorities are still searching for that suspect, and for other reprobates who attacked another Jewish man on his way to a synagogue in Crown Heights on Saturday.

The brutes attacked the victim from behind at 6:30 am on New York Avenue between Albany and Troy avenues as he walked to the house of worship, beating him and injuring his hand, head, and neck, according to Police Department spokesman Det. Hubert Reyes.

Fortunately for investigators, the man didnt give in without a fight, and at one point he grabbed a pair of glasses off of one of his attackers, which cops are testing for DNA evidence they hope will lead them to a suspect, according to a report by local blog Crown Heights dot info that cites an anonymous police source.

The Friday and Saturday incidents occurred on the same weekend that another baddie urinated and damaged two statues outside of a Williamsburg Catholic church on Sunday, an act of vandalism cops are also investigating as a hate crime.

And the trio of incidents are the latest in a string of anti-Semitic and other hate crimes that have rocked Brooklyn over the past month.

Last week, prosecutors indicted another Bedford-Stuyvesant man and former city intern for vandalizing and setting fire to synagogues and Jewish schools in Prospect Heights and Williamsburg on in early November. And on Nov. 5, two teens turned themselves in for scrawling swastikas and racial slurs on the exteriors of several homes in Brooklyn Heights on the night before Halloween.

Anyone with information in regard to these incidents is asked to call the NYPDs Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com, on Twitter @NYPDTips or by texting their tips to 274637 then enter TIP577. All calls are confidential.Sign up for our PoliticsNY newsletter for the latest coverage and to stay informed about the 2021 elections in your district and across NYC

This agency needs to get in line!

The Department of Transportation must repaint a stretch of double-yellow lines dividing traffic along four blocks of Neptune Avenue, after laying down a squiggly set last month, according to Coney Islands councilman, who said the agencys failure to paint straight lines undermined residents trust in city government.

It was sloppy job that was disrespectful to the Coney community, Treyger said. It really calls into question the capacity of local government to do basic functions like painting the street.

Treyger first condemned the paint job on Nov. 29, demanding transit bigwigs correct the error in a Twitter post that included a constituents photo of the zig-zagging lines, which the pol said run along Neptune Avenue from roughly West 33rd to 37th streets. The slapdash squiggles are the latest in a series of less than perfect work done by the agency in the area, according to the councilman.

First they couldnt pave Neptune Avenue on time. Then they couldnt pave right since potholes developed literally days after paving. Now they cant paint straight, Treyger said in his tweet. This is an embarrassment to the city and completely unacceptable.

Transportation Department reps did not immediately respond to questions this newspaper sent following Treygers Nov. 29 allegations, but the agency did respond to the pol on Twitter a day after he criticized its work, sharing its own tweet that argued bad weather botched the paint job, which the department claimed is only temporary to begin with.

These are temporary markings, which can be affected by weather, the agency wrote in a Nov. 30 post. Permanent markings will be installed within the next week.

After the agency tweeted its reply to Treyger, a spokeswoman replied to this newspaper, explaining that workers finished painting the new double-yellow-line median  and repaving the stretch of Neptune Avenue it bisects  on Nov. 19, and noting that the department always paints temporary markings before installing permanent ones.

And such temporary markings can be affected by rain and cold temperatures, according to the rep, who then did not immediately respond to follow-up inquiries about when the work began, how exactly weather could affect the markings, how the squiggles would be removed, and what company did the work.

Treyger, however, didnt buy the agencys claims that the lines are meant to be impermanent, arguing if that is the case, then city transit officials should know better than to do such work ahead of a season known for its inclement weather.

I have not heard of temporary markings, and even if they were doing temporary markings, youre telling me they cannot have straight lines as temporary markings? the pol said. That is a laughable and unacceptable excuse. If they felt the weather was going to be a factor, then why did they paint those lines now?

The councilman also blasted those Transportation Department officials who signed off on the paint job, suggesting they should more thoughtfully review such projects before rushing to complete the next one.

This has been one error after another error here on the part of DOT, Treyger said. I just have to question, does someone review and oversee this work? How does any supervisor say this is a good job?Dear Reader,

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Digital EditorGlobal remote connectivity solutions provider has set up its first office in India and is aiming to double its revenues from the country every year, a top official said Monday.

The German technology firm already has 100 million installations in the country, which include 7,000 paying subscribers, who had a billing of 1.5 million euros last year.

"Our aim is to double the billing from India every year. We were serving India out of Adelaide office till now," Oliver Steil, chief executive officer, TeamViewer, told reporters in Mumbai.

This is the sixth global office for the company and it will have a team of up to 12 people who will focus on marketing, sales and customer support initially.

The company is on the lookout to open a third development centre after one each in Germany and Armenia, and Steil said India can potentially be one of the locations it can consider given the expertise on offer.

There are 1,100 data centres or routers through which the company carries out its operations at present.

When asked if the data localisation regulations in the financial sector are a worry, Steil said it does not keep any data with itself and passes the data in an encrypted format, hinting that it will not be impacted by it.Hundreds of employees of state-owned Tuesday staged protests across the country against the government's decision to privatise six profit-making airports, according to a union representative.

The protests were organised by the Airports Authority Employees Union.

Last month, the government cleared a proposal to manage six airports under public private partnership. They are Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram and Mangaluru.

The Union's General Secretary Balraj Singh Ahlawat told PTI that protests were held across the country against the planned privatisation of the six airports.

The employees are planning to go on hunger strike starting from December 10 and later they might also go on mass casual leave, he said.

There are around 15,000-16,000 employees at the AAI, he added.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) operates more than 100 aerodromes.The police inspector who died during the was killed in police firing, BJP MLA Surendra Singh claimed Tuesday, denying any role of members in the death.

Terming the incident "unfortunate", the Rohaniya legislator said police did not "murder" him deliberately.

Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, who had initially probed the 2015 lynching of Mohammed Akhlaq, and a 20-year-old local man died of gunshot injuries on Monday as a rampaging mob protesting alleged illegal cow slaughter torched a police post in Bulandshahr and clashed with cops.

"I suspect that the inspector was killed by bullet fired by police. activists might have engaged in brick batting but they did not open fire. They had not gone there with bullets," the MLA told reporters here.

Police officials, however, said the main accused in the case is Bulandshahr district convenor Yogesh Raj, who has not yet been arrested.

The MLA said the people indulged in stone pelting but police opened fire on them and the inspector was hit by their gunshot. "Police did not murder him deliberately," he said.

Twenty-seven people have been named in an FIR registered around 3 am following the Monday violence, while cases have been lodged against 50 to 60 unidentified people, officials said.

Of the 27 named, at least four are workers and functionaries of right-wing organisations, including the Bajrang Dal, they said.

Police said four persons were arrested.

Singh said, "The probe in the matter is on and it would be ascertained that bullet of which bore hit the inspector.The Tuesday asked Bihar and Kerala to set up special courts in each of their districts for the trial of pending criminal cases against present and former and

Earlier in the day, the top court was informed that there were 4,122 criminal cases pending, some for over three decades, against present and former members of Parliament and legislative assemblies.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph passed the directions for setting up special courts in every district of the two states and also sought compliance reports from the Patna and Kerala high courts by December 14.

The apex court directed the high courts to send back cases from special courts, which were already constituted, to jurisdictional district courts.

The has given the liberty of constituting as many courts as required in the districts of these two states for trial of cases against the legislators.

The apex court also said the special courts would take up life term cases on a priority while hearing pending matters against and

The court was hearing a PIL filed by lawyer and BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay seeking a life time ban on politicians convicted in criminal cases besides the setting up of special courts to expeditiously try cases involving elected representatives.

The apex court had sought detailed data on the pending criminal cases against the present and former legislators from the states and various high courts so as to enable the setting up of adequate number of special courts for expedited trial in these cases.

Senior advocate Vijay Hansaria who is assisting the court as amicus curiae in the matter along with advocate Sneha Kalita had filed the data received from states and high courts and submitted it to the apex court.

The data compiled had stated that in 264 cases, trial has been stayed by high courts. Further, the report said in several cases which have been pending since 1991, charges have not yet been framed.

In a previous hearing, the apex court had considered the submission of Hansaria that earmarking a particular court in each district both at sessions and magisterial level and directing them to treat the cases on a priority basis could be a viable option to ensure timely completion of proceedings.

The top court was also informed that 12 special courts set up to try lawmakers exclusively have not been constituted on a uniform pattern, and their number needs to be raised to 19 for trying cases at the sessions level.

It was also suggested to the apex court that another 51 such courts are required for magisterial trial cases.

The amicus had further said that special courts were constituted to exclusively deal with all cases including complaint cases against MPs, including the former ones, irrespective of the fact as to whether the same was committed when the concerned lawmaker was holding the said office.A small Indian non-profit funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies will not be allowed to carry out tobacco-control work in New Delhi after it failed to disclose its funding, according to a city government official and a memo seen by Reuters. Other foreign-funded organizations will need to seek prior approval in the future for anti-tobacco activities in the Indian capital, the official also said. The Delhi city government's decision comes amid similar moves by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's federal administration, which has since 2014 tightened surveillance of foreign-funded ...India and the US have agreed to accelerate defence and security ties as Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met her American counterpart James Mattis, who described India as a "stabilising force" across the Indo-Pacific and the globe.

US Defence Secretary Mattis welcomed Sitharaman to the Pentagon on Monday for the fourth set of talks the two defense leaders have held this year.

Sitharaman, the first woman defence minister of India, is currently on a five-day maiden trip to the US. From here, she will travel to California to visit the Defense Innovation Unit of the Department of Defense and the Indo-Pacific Command headquarters in Hawaii.

"The United States and India, in Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi's words, have overcome hesitations of history, carrying forward the legacy of friendship and making clear there is no contradiction between strategic autonomy and strategic partnership," Mattis said.

Sitharaman started her official visit here by visiting the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department, where she signed on the condolence book of former US President George H W Bush who died late Friday at his home in Houston.

From there, she drove to the Arlington Cemetery where she laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a gesture which did not go unnoticed at the Pentagon.

"On behalf of our department and all of our service members, thank you for paying your nation's respect at Arlington Cemetery this morning. We're grateful," Mattis said.

Mattis said Sitharaman's presence at the wreath-laying made clear that the US-India military relations were not "defined by brittle or empty words" but by the human aspect of partnership steeped in recognition of the two nations' respective sacrifices and the cause of peace, friendship and freedom.

The two largest democracies of the world, despite diverse histories and cultures, have shared principles, values and respect for the rules-based international order, Mattis said.

"The US-India relationship is a natural partnership between the world's oldest and the world's largest democracy," he said.

While this is her first trip to Washington DC, the two leaders have met four times in about a year, reflecting on the growing defence relationship between India and the United States.

"We have made meaningful progress in advancing US-India defence cooperation, most notably with your nation hosting September's inaugural 2+2 ministerial dialogue in New Delhi," he said.

The ministerial talks served as a tangible demonstration of "our shared vision for a safe, secure, prosperous and free Indo-Pacific, underpinned by respect for the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of all nations," Mattis said.

"Today, I reiterate US appreciation for India's leadership as a stabilising force in pursuit of that vision, promoting peace and security across the region and the globe," he said.

The defence secretary said the 2+2 ministerial dialogue also made clear the commitment of India and the US to further bolster their defence partnership.

"Today, we build on that momentum as we work to implement our agreement from September, Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA)," he added.

During the dialogue, the two nations signed the COMCASA that allows India to receive advanced US military hardware.

Describing the inaugural 2+2 meeting in September as a landmark event, Sitharaman said it set the stage for strategic consultations between the two countries.

The bilateral meetings during the dialogue in New Delhi and other meetings, including the one in Singapore in October, were "indeed positive and productive", she said.

In her remarks at the start of the meeting with Mattis, Sitharaman said the mutual trust and confidence in defence partnership between the two countries was growing.

The defence minister added that she was encouraged by the importance attached to the India-US defence relationship in the new US Security Strategy.

"A strong foundation has been laid for the India-US defence relationship over the years. India sees the US as an important partner in defence," Sitharaman said, adding that the two countries have good military-to-military cooperation, defence consultations, scientific collaborations and co-production and co-development and industry collaboration.

Exuding confidence that the bilateral talks would accord greater momentum to the dialogue and partnership between the two countries, she said the relationship continued to be very strong.

The recent meetings between the two countries, Sitharaman said, have underscored their mutual desire to move positively.

The high-level exchanges are an indication of the depth and the quality of bilateral ties as well as their mutual desire to work closely on a range of regional and global issues, she added.

Sitharaman appreciated the responsiveness of the Trump Administration to India's sensitivities.

At the same time, it is also indicative of the desire and the effort to have an even more robust relationship than before, she said.

"Especially over the past three to four years, we have made considerable progress. Our relations, based on common democratic values, enjoy strong political and popular support in both countries. There's a growing mutual trust and also the confidence in defence partnership, which augurs very well for the future," Sitharaman said.Discussion about wargaming and military history, primarily WWII in North Africa. Also discussion about AFV's and artillery.President will visit from December 10 to 14 during which he will hold talks with his counterpart U Win Myint and state counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, an official statement said Tuesday.

Several agreements are expected to be signed during the visit, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in the statement.

"Through this visit, the president will reaffirm India's commitment to developing its important partnership with This is a country where India's Act East and Neighbourhood First policies intersect. It is also the only ASEAN member state that is both a land and maritime neighbour of India," it said.

In the past three years, political, economic and defence ties with have been on upswing with the visits of top leaders to the respective countries.

The armies and navies of the two countries also participate in bilateral military drills.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited Myanmar last year, while visited India this January for the India-ASEAN commemorative Summit.The government does not want the next round of airport privatisation to go the Air India way. With that in mind, a high-level government committee has set conditions that are easier to comply with, a source close to the development said.

For instance, even a bidder with no prior experience in airport development will be allowed to participate in the privatisation process. While net worth of the companies will be among the key criteria, bidders will be asked to absorb employees of the airports for at least five years. Soon after the Union Cabinet cleared private management of six ...Even as five employees continue to remain in captivity of unpaid staff in Ethiopia, the local police have taken into custody three Indian officials of the infrastructure company over non-payment of taxes and workers' salaries, a source said.

Late last month, seven Indian workers of an subsidiary -- Transportation Network (ITNL) -- were taken hostage at three of its sites in Ethiopia's Oromia and Amhara states by unpaid local staff.

The source said IL&FS had 15 Indian employees in Ethiopia, seven of whom were held captive by the local staff. Of the seven, two were released last week on medical ground.



The three employees taken into custody after out of the eight employees who were not held captive, he said.

Local workers are allegedly holding them in captivity in protest for not having paid salaries since the past two months.

ITNL, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Elsamex SA, has been executing road projects across three sites in Ethiopia.



IL&FS Group and its various subsidiaries, including ITNL, are facing liquidity crisis and have defaulted on various debt payments.

As of October 8, 2018, the total debt of the group stood at Rs 942.156 billion.The Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program, funded by the National Science Foundation, returns to the Dauphin Island Sea Lab in the summer of 2019. The 10-week program gives undergraduate students the chance to dive deeper into the field of marine science and gain first-hand research experience.

The program offers a diverse range of research opportunities with internationally recognized faculty members.The opportunities for research as an REU at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab are vast. Research topics include benthic ecology, fisheries and marine mammal ecology, toxicology, and biological, chemical, and physical oceanography.

Students who complete the program come away with a strong knowledge base on how to design and conduct a research project, produce a scientific poster, and publish their results. From the field work to the lab work, REU participants learn the ropes with the help of a faculty mentor. Students also participate in a series of career building seminars that cover topics from how to prepare a CV and apply to graduate school to entering the workforce and managing work-life balance.

"The REU program at the DISL definitely gave me insight into what it's actually like working in a laboratory and doing research," saidMasters student Sarah Cole. "It was not something that I had experienced before, and it is a lot different than classroom labs and assignments."

Cole, who participated in the DISL REU program during summer 2015, worked with Dr. Kelly Dorgan and Dr. Bill Walton on a project to understand the mudblister worm infestation of oysters, which can negatively affect their marketability.. Upon completion of her undergraduate degree at Eckerd College, Cole leveraged her DISL REU experience into a graduate level research project at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab to continue her work on how to limit the infestation of mudblister worms on commercially farm grown oysters.

Sarah Cole, 2015 REU, presents research at 2017 Benthic Ecology Meeting.

"These worms are particularly a problem for the half-shell market. They not only look gross, but can pop when shucking, releasing anoxic mud," Cole explained. "The number of burrows can also make the shell brittle and break easily."

Cole completed her degree this fall and looks forward to the next steps in her scientific career.

The program also focuses on diversity among participants. A primary goal of the program is to provide research experiences for students who otherwise may not have these opportunities at their home institutions, including students who are underrepresented minorities or non-traditional. A major benefit of the program is that it covers room and board and provides a stipend for the participants, which enables participation by low-income students.

"We value diversity in the greatest sense of the word," said Ruth H. Carmichael, Senior Marine Scientist at DISL and Professor of Marine Sciences at University of South Alabama. Carmichael has been Director of the DISL REU program since 2015. "Research has shown that the best way to recruit and retain new students in science is to reach underrepresented and underserved groups. There are many students who attend community colleges or other universities with limited research opportunities. We want to work with these students."

The experience gives REU students insight into potential marine science careers while sharpening their research skills.

"I think the REU program is something students should apply to and be a part of because it gives you a learning experience you don't get from simply going to college classes. It's a lot of fun and a lot of work, but well worth the experience and the network that you build," Cole said.

Learn how to apply for this program by visiting https://www.disl.org/univ-prog/nsf-reu.The Ghana Palaver newspaper, which is affiliated to the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), has appealed to an Accra High Court to grant it permission to apologize to nephew of President Akufo-Addo, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, for publishing libelous story about him.



DAILY GUIDE has sighted court documents in which Ghana Palaver that is published by Revalap Publishers has agreed to pay the filing fees and other costs associated with the suit in question.



It would be recalled that in one of its lead stories, the paper inaccurately stated that the controversial Finance Minister and cousin of President Akufo-Addo, Ken Ofori-Atta, has packaged a juicy contract and given it to a law firm founded by his equally controversial nephew, Asare Otchere Darko, popularly called Gabby.



The story was headlined: Revealed: Ken Ofori-Atta gives Gabby Otchere-Darko $20m Review Contract.



It subsequently described the purported contract as another example of the obscene form of nepotism and cronyism that have characterised the Akufo-Addo government



Mr. Otchere-Darko, a legal practitioner, who was dissatisfied with the publication which was intended to tarnish his reputation and that of the Finance Minister, decided to sue the newspaper.



The prayer to the court to be allowed to apologize to Mr. Otchere-Darko has exposed the diabolic agenda of the newspaper.



Publishers and editors of Ghana Palaver Newspaper, represented by Revalap Publishers and Suppliers and Eric Amedjoe, agreed to render an unqualified apology and full retraction of the story that gave rise to this suit, giving it front-page banner headline in the Ghana Palaver within 14 days of the consent judgement.



The unqualified apology and retraction shall be carried by the defendants on the website of the Ghana Palaver on the same day of its publication in the Ghana Palaver, DAILY GUIDE has gathered.



The defendants shall reimburse the plaintiff of the filing fees for all the processes filed so far in the suit within 30 days of entry of this settlement as consent judgement.



Per the agreement, supervised by Justice Eric Kyei Baffuor, High Court Judge, and signed on 20th November, 2018, the plaintiff fully reserves the right to move against the defendants should they default.

Source: Daily Guide









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Featured VideoNASAs spacecraft OSIRIS-REx has finally reached the asteroid 101955 Bennu  which may be on collision course with the Earth  after travelling for just over two years since its launch in September 2016. This mission, which will bring grains back for us to study on Earth, is latest to return asteroid samples to Earth after the Japanese Space Agencys missions Hayabusa 1 and 2 and StarDust.

The data will help unveil more about the origins of the solar system and how to protect the Earth from possible asteroid impact. The spacecraft will spend the next year ...Opec and its allies are working towards a deal to reduce oil output by at least 1.3 million barrels per day, four sources said, adding that Russia's resistance to a significant production cut was so far the main stumbling block. Opec meets on Thursday in Vienna, followed by talks with allies such as Russia on Friday, amid a drop in crude prices caused by global economic weakness and concerns about an oil glut due largely to a rise in US production. The producer group's de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, has indicated a need for steep reductions in output from ...Governments must protect citizens from the killer effects of climate change, movie tough guy-turned-statesman Arnold Schwarzenegger has said, insisting the United States was committed to a greener future despite reneging on the

In an interview on the sidelines of a UN climate summit in this week, the Terminator actor and three-time Mr. Universe winner said he was on an "environmental crusade" and urged everyone to join in the climate fight.

Schwarzenegger added a sprinkle of stardust to Monday's opening session of COP24 climate talks in Poland, where nations must agree on a rulebook to limit global temperature rises and the devastating economic and health impacts global warming will bring.

"I think governments' responsibility is to protect people. That's why we have armies to avoid an attack. Well here is the biggest attack," he told AFP.

"Seven million people die every year because of (air) pollution, 25,000 of them die alone in America. If we don't want to fight that then there is something wrong with us." In his two terms as California governor between 2003-2011, Schwarzenegger helped shape America's richest state into a green powerhouse.

He signed legislation giving local and state officials the tools to bring down greenhouse gas emissions by reducing urban sprawl and promoting renewable energy and green technology.

The 71-year-old said the US was committed to act on regardless of President Trump's controversial decision to take the richest country in the world out of the Paris accord.

"Just because dropped out of the it doesn't mean that America dropped out," he said.

"All of our states that were always environmentally friendly are still going in the same direction. All of our cities in America are going in the same direction, they are still in the

"People are investing in green technology. It's a booming industry and people should understand that we all have to work together. America is in and our crazy leader is not, so be it."



During his presidential campaign Trump promised to protect the nation's coal workers and even reopen mines that had been mothballed.

The COP summit is being held in the Polish mining city of Katowice, and the Polish government is pushing for a "just transition" that gradually reduces coal usage while protecting the miners whose livelihoods depend on it.

Schwarzenegger said the idea that fossil fuel-dependent economies would suffer as they transition to renewables was a fallacy.

"Green technology creates a huge amount of jobs and the reality is that we don't have to choose between one and the other. You can protect the environment and protect the economy at the same time," he said.

The Advanced Energy Economy Institute said California employed more than half a million people in green energy in 2016 -- several times the amount of US coal workers nationally.

Schwarzenegger, who converted his prized Hummer truck to run on electric, said California's prosperity showed environmental and economic success were intrinsically linked.

"We have the number-one economy in the United States and we have the strictest environmental laws so you can do both," he said.President Trump cast his trade accord with President Xi Jinping of China as a huge victory for American farmers, automakers and other key political constituencies  statements that helped send volatile financial markets higher on Monday and seemed intended to calm worries about the economic toll of a protracted trade war. Yet 48 hours after the deal was struck, several big areas of contention remained unresolved and Mr. Trump appointed a veteran trade negotiator with deep skepticism toward China to lead the talks for the United States. Mr. Trumps choice of Robert ...The British government lost a vote in parliament on Tuesday that could force it to give parliament an increased say over the Brexit process if Prime Minister Theresa May's current exit deal is rejected by lawmakers. The government lost by 321 votes to 299 on an amendment put forward by a member of May's own Conservative Party. The defeat could neuter the threat May has been using to persuade lawmakers to back her deal: that if they don't, Britain could leave the block without any deal.Australian batsman Aaron Finch on Tuesday sustained a painful blow on his right hand after being struck by a bouncer by pacer Mitchell Starc while practicing in the nets ahead of their first Test of the upcoming four-match series against India.

The 32-year-old was, however, allowed to continue batting with hand straps on after Australia's team doctor assessed the injury.

Talking about the blow, Australia's batting all-rounder Mitchell Marsh, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, said, "A bit of mayo on that from Finchy."

The Australian batsmen sweat hard on the field as they face their quality pacemen in a net session. Marsh said that they have practiced "exceptionally well" and are prepared for the Test series.

"We've all trained exceptionally well. We've prepared as best we possibly can," Marsh stated.

When asked who would be the opening partner for Aaron Finch in the Test series, Marsh said, " I haven't spoken to 'Painey' (Tim Paine). I'm sure we'll find out soon."

India and Australia will kick-start their Test campaign from December 6 at the Adelaide Oval.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)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The number of workers who participated in the awareness campaign of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (ADJD) has increased by 35 per cent beyond the target set for the year 2018. The number of participants rose from 100,000 to 135,000 workers spread over 19 labour villages in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, and Al Dhafrah regions.

ADJD under-secretary Yousef Saeed Al Abri said, "Our awareness campaign, launched in 2018, has achieved its objectives, which is to promote the propagation of legal culture amongst workers and brief them about their rights and duties guaranteed by the UAE law."

The awareness drive has been initiated on the directives of HH Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, and Chairman of the Judicial Department, to achieve the strategic priority of contributing to maintaining security through sustainable participation with all components of the community.

Al Abri said the campaign has contributed to the decrease in the number of complaints and labour cases during the ongoing year 2018, by 42 per cent compared to the same period last year, as cases dropped from 16,897 cases in 2017 to 9,979 cases in 2018.

Head of the ADJD Awareness Committee Ahmed Al Marzouqi, unveiled the plan to expand the geographical scope of the Committee's work during the coming period to include all the workers' villages in the Abu Dhabi Emirate and the conduct of visits to employers to raise their awareness of their rights and duties of the employer and the worker.

He also said that awareness campaigns focussed on organising activities in labour villages to ensure access to a large segment of the target group, with keenness to provide the lectures in five languages including Arabic, English, Urdu, Pashto, and Bengali, to shed the light on the most important legal articles guaranteeing labourers' rights in the UAE.

"This is in addition to answering all questions and inquiries, which amounted to about 1000 questions and requests for legal advice, centered mainly on how to calculate the end of service gratuity and leave balance, and the complaints submission mechanism," he further informed.

Al Marzouqi pointed out the organisation of 24 lectures to explain the UAE labour law, the rights and duties of the worker and the mechanism to open a case as well as the prohibitions that must be avoided so as not to fall under legal liability and the procedures of safety and security in labour camps.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government has called for an all-party meeting on December 10, ahead of Winter Session of Parliament.

The meeting, to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been called for smooth conduct of Parliament which is slated to begin from December 11 to January 8.

The session usually starts in November but due to the Assembly elections, in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana, and Mizoram, it was delayed to December.

The Winter Session also holds significance since it would be the last full-fledged Parliament session before the Lok Sabha elections in 2019.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Apple takes people spreading hate speech and violence through its platform very seriously and the company CEO Tim Cook reiterated the stand during an award acceptance speech.

Cook, who received the Anti-Defamation League's first-ever Courage Against Hate award at an event in New York City, said that supremacists, conspiracy theorists, and those who seek to spread hate have no place on Apple's platforms, Cnet reported.

Earlier this year, Apple removed podcasts produced by far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' Infowars from iTunes and Apple's Podcast app.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)While glimpses from Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas' dreamy wedding are taking the internet by storm, looks like B-town celebrities, too, can't stop gushing about the stills and videos.

Chopra and Jonas took to their respective social media handles on Monday to unveil their wedding photographs and ever since, their fans and film industry friends are in awe of the sheer grandeur of the event.

Actor Esha Gupta, while sharing a photo of the newlyweds on her Instagram Story, wrote "So beautiful.." and tagged the much-in-love couple.

Meanwhile, Yash Raj Films' casting director Shanoo Sharma shared a series of photographs from the fairytale wedding, alongside a caption that read "How beautiful this looks".

"Congratulations Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas! Wish you both a forever filled with joy, beautiful memories and loads of magic!" wrote actor Dia Mirza along with a picture of the couple on Instagram.

Katrina Kaif, who took over from Priyanka as the female lead in Ali Abbas Zafar's upcoming film 'Bharat' also extended wishes to the couple on Instagram.

Alia Bhatt, too, seemed to be in awe of the stunning photographs, as she wrote "Just too beautiful. Congratulations you guys" along with a photo of the couple from their wedding on her Instagram Story.

Meanwhile, actor Sonam Kapoor-Ahuja took to Twitter to congratulate the newlyweds. "Oh god Priyanka what a fairytale and you look breathtaking ?? congratulations to both of you ??" she tweeted.

Priyanka's 'Bajirao Mastani' co-star Deepika Padukone also extended greetings to her.

Priyanka and Nick tied the knot on December 1 and 2 in two elaborate ceremonies at Jodhpur's Umaid Bhawan Palace. They first got hitched in a Christian wedding ceremony, which was even more special as it was officiated by Nick's father, Paul Kevin Jonas Sr. On the second day, they got married as per Hindu wedding rituals.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Pune Police on Tuesday registered a fresh First Information Report (FIR) in Shikrapur Police Station against five more accused in connection with the Bhima Koregaon violence that erupted beginning of the year. With this, a total of 33 FIRs have so far been registered by the affected people including villagers.

Earlier on Monday, the Maharashtra government told the Supreme Court that charges leveled against the accused in the case are very serious and therefore they cannot be granted bail. The apex court has adjourned hearing in the case till January 2019.

The accused named in the case included human rights lawyer Surendra Gadling and four other activists - Shoma Sen, Mahesh Raut, Rona Wilson and Sudhir Dhawale.

On November 15, the Pune Police filed a charge sheet against 10 people including five arrested activists - Roma Wilson, Shoma Sen, Sudhir Dhawale, Mahesh Raut and Surendra Gadling and five absconding accused - Commander Dipak Milind Teltumbde, Kishanda Prashant Bose, Prakash Naveen Rituoam Goswami, Commanders Deepu and Manglu.

The police, in its charge sheet, alleged that the "entire campaigning for Elgaar Parishad and speeches delivered at the Elgaar Parishad has aggravated the Bhima Koregaon violence."

During the course of the investigation, the police examined around 80 witnesses. Pahad Singh, a Naxal who had earlier surrendered, was also examined by the Pune police. During the interrogation, Singh revealed that Milind Teltumbde is the leader of Urban Naxalism.

The charge sheet further stated that a letter recovered from one of the arrested accused revealed that a conspiracy was allegedly being framed to plan a Rajiv Gandhi-like assassination of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Violence had erupted during the 200th anniversary celebrations of the Bhima Koregaon battle in January this year, leaving one dead and several others injured.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)In an attempt to tackle smuggling, the Central government has approved Anti-Smuggling National Coordination Centre (SCord) under the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).

All the border agencies like BSF, ITBP, Assam Rifles, SSB and Coast Guards would be the members of SCord, which will help India to formulate a national anti-smuggling policy. On a real-time basis, all these border agencies can share intelligence information in a coordinated manner.

DRI Director General D B Dash told ANI, "We have a huge coastline as well as large land area. Over a period of time, due to the opening up of the economy, lots of new airports have come up along with new airlines. Delhi alone handles about six crore international passengers. If you see the picture, CISF looks after particular aspects, and the Customs Department looks after particular aspects. Smugglers will attempt to smuggle goods and commodities if there is a little laxity by these officials. So, this initiative aims to bring all agencies together and work in a coordinated manner to tackle smuggling."

"If these agencies share intelligence information to us and whatever inputs they have, then you would know that no smuggler can attempt to sneak in India from any part, because the entire country is protected and safeguarded. There would be zero tolerance for smuggling in India," he added.

Stating that trade-based money laundering is one of the focus areas for DRI, Dash said: "Post-demonstration, cash transaction used for crime and black money has reduced. We find that the trade-based money laundering is a method adopted by smugglers nowadays to either transfer illicit money abroad or to bring money into the country."

He said that in Mumbai, the DRI had recently found one particular case pertaining to the import of rough diamonds where a group of smugglers had declared Rs 156 crore, but on expert evaluation, the diamonds were worth of just Rs 1 crore.

"So to that extent as against Rs 1 crore of real value, they had declared Rs 156 crore. That means Rs 155 crore has gone abroad illegally. We found that this group had imported about Rs 4,000 crore of a rough diamond in a period of just one year. This shows the magnitude of this type of modus operandi of transferring illegal money from across the border into India or from abroad," Dash elaborated.

He further said that the DRI for the first time did a joint operation with the Indian Army on the India-Pakistan border to combat the smuggling of the drugs. In this regard, Dash said that the India-Pakistan border is a very challenging border.

"We had specific intelligence about smuggling of narcotics into the country through the border. We joined hands with that Indian Army since our manpower resources are less. During the operation, a huge consignment of heroin worth Rs 106 crore was recovered. Later, we seized arms and ammunition after the Army had killed a terrorist during an operation there," he further said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Foreign Secretary of India, Vijay Gokhale, met with the Vice Foreign Minister of China, Kong Xuanyou, on Tuesday to review the progress made in bilateral relations since the high-level Wuhan Summit, between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, was held in April this year.

"Taking guidance from Wuhan Summit. Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale & China Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou held consultations in Delhi. Reviewed progress made in bilateral relations since Informal Summit between PM @narendramodi & President Xi Jinping," the spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs, Raveesh Kumar, tweeted.

They further discussed the agenda for bilateral engagement in the coming months, while exchanging views on regional and international issues of common interest during the consultations held in Delhi on December 4.

Prime Minister Modi had visited Wuhan in April this year to hold a two-day informal summit with President Xi, where one-on-one talks were held between the leaders. Both the leaders had underscored the importance of strengthening bilateral relations between India and China.

Prime Minister Modi had also emphasised on the concept of 'Panchsheel' - shared vision, strong relationship, shared resolve, better communication and shared thought process - through which he envisioned the bolstering of ties between the two nations.

President Xi had voiced his support for 'Panchsheel' and highlighted China's readiness in cooperating and working with India through the five principles.

Recently, Prime Minister Modi and President Xi met on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Argentina, along with participating in the BRICS Leaders Informal Summit at the Alvear Palace Hotel and holding the RIC (Russia-India-China) Informal summit.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday accused the Congress party of giving tickets to the family members of those leaders who are allegedly rape convicts, saying that India's grand old party had no respect for women and "all women voters must take a pledge to not vote for the Congress party" in the ensuing Assembly polls.

"The Congress party has no respect for women. The women of Rajasthan must take a pledge not to let the Congress party even enter this state," said Prime Minister Modi, while addressing an election rally here on Tuesday. "It is the BJP-led Central government that has made the law for capital punishment to rapists," he added.

"When Ashok Gehlot was the Chief Minister of Rajasthan, many of his ministers were accused of rape. Many Congress leaders are now in jail in rape cases. The Congress party has given tickets to their family members to contest the Assembly polls," added Prime Minister Modi.

He said that the "gender ratio" has improved drastically in the districts of Sikar and Jhunjhunu for which the women have contributed whole-heartedly. "Nearly 15 years back, the girls were killed in the womb of their mothers. Against 1,000 males, there were only 850 females in the state as 150 were girls were murdered in the womb of their mothers," he said.

Lauding the efforts of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje in promoting women's empowerment, Prime Minister Modi said, "Things have drastically improved on the front of female foeticide. Now 960 girls are born against 1,000 boys. Days are not far off when the birth rate of both boys and girls will be in proportion to ache other."

The assembly elections in Rajasthan are due on 7 December while the counting of votes will take place on December 11.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Bank on Monday pledged to commit as much as USD 200 billion from 2021 to 2025 towards fighting the threat of climate change during the 24th Conference of the Parties (COP 24) summit here.

Addressing the event, Bank President Jim Yong Kim highlighted the plight of the world's smallest and financially weak countries in the face of climate change, saying that they will bear the brunt of the impacts from climate change, CNN reported. He further called upon the international community to follow its footsteps and support the smaller countries.

"We are pushing ourselves to do more and to go faster on climate and we call on the global community to do the same. This is about putting countries and communities in charge of building a safer, more climate-resilient future," Kim said.

The meeting, which is being held from December 3 to 14, is taking place amidst calls for leaders to implement norms to curb the rising carbon dioxide levels and maintain temperatures below 1.5 degrees Celsius of pre-industrial levels. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) had in October issued a warning that the Earth could reach those temperature levels by 2030 if the current trend of greenhouse emissions continues.

In order to prevent that, by 2030, worldwide CO2 emissions would have to fall by 45 per cent from the 2010 levels and have to reach 'net zero' by 2050.

However, the UN Emissions Gap Report 2018 indicated last week that, "global greenhouse gas emissions," which reached a record high in 2017, "show no signs of peaking."

"While there has been steady progress in the number of countries that have peaked their GHG emissions or have pledged to do so in the future, the 49 countries that have so far done so, and the 36% share of global emissions they represent, is not large enough to enable the world's emissions to peak in the near term," the report stated.

A report published by the World Meteorological Organization confirmed that the last four years have been the hottest on record.

Addressing the COP 24, nature broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, who was representing "the people", said, "Right now we're facing a man-made disaster on a global scale, our greatest threat in thousands of years, climate change."

"I am only here to represent the voice of the people to deliver our collective thoughts, concerns, ideas and suggestions. The people have spoken. Leaders of the world you must lead. If we don't take action the collapse of our civilizations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon," he added.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres highlighted some of the key areas where efforts need to be directed.

"Climate change is running faster than we are and we must catch up sooner rather than later before it is too late. We need a complete transformation of our global energy economy, as well as how we manage land and forest resources. We need to embrace low-carbon, climate-resilient sustainable development," the UN chief said.

Remarking on the United State's decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, Hollywood star and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger stated that while the President Donald Trump-led administration is a "little bit backwards", the US' efforts to lower emission levels are led by the city and state-level governments.

"Every time you talk about America, you're right when you say that our leadership in Washington is a little bit backwards. But you're wrong when you say that America dropped out of the Paris agreement. Because if you look a little bit beyond Washington you will see that it is the states and the cities, it's local governments, that can draw 70 per cent of our emissions. And you will see all the extraordinary work that is going on a state and city level in America," Arnold said.

During the recently concluded G20 Summit in Argentina, a number of world leaders agreed on a statement, which included a segment on the climate issue. The statement said that the Paris climate agreement "is irreversible and commit to its full implementation, reflecting common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, in light of different national circumstances. We will continue to tackle climate change while promoting sustainable development and economic growth".

However, the United States stressed its decision to withdraw from the pact. A clause of the statement stated that the US, "reiterates its decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, and affirms its strong commitment to economic growth and energy access and security, utilizing all energy sources and technologies, while protecting the environment".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Pune-based woman employee, who was terminated by her company after being diagnosed with HIV, got justice from the Labour Court almost after three years.

The court on Monday ordered the company to reinstate her in the same post she was in, along with providing all the back wages.

The company had terminated her in 2015 after she submitted a medical document for claiming medical benefits which revealed that she was diagnosed with HIV, following which company asked her to resign on the same day.

Speaking to ANI she said, "I was asked to submit a document for the medical claim and when I did that, they asked me about it (HIV). I told them I got it from my husband and within 30 minutes, they forced me to resign. I was working there as a trainee operator for 5 years."

However, the victim has claimed that she was verbally told by the company that the reason behind her removal is HIV but the documents she was provided clearly mentioned "Absenteeism" as the reason.

The woman further claimed that she had joined the company after a leave of two months for her health issues and suddenly after working for about a week when she was found positive with HIV and was to resign by the company.

Advocate Vishal Jadhav, who appeared for victim told ANI, "An employee was terminated on the basis of being tested positive for HIV, however, the company claims that the employee resigned herself. The employee challenged the company order in a court in Pune. The court found that no employee can be terminated on being tested positive for HIV as the termination can only take place under the frame of law, which was not done in this case. As a result, the company was asked to reinstate her in the same post she was in, along with providing all the back wages."

The woman was found positive with HIV through her husband who died from the disease. She was also boycotted by her in-laws for her disease.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Setting an example worth emulating for all, as many as 20 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel went beyond their regular duties to help out a Kashmiri girl, which also befits Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' campaign.

They collected funds among themselves, purchased a sewing machine for the Kashmiri girl Sakeena and have also decided to bear all expenses her younger sister's education. The help poured in for Sakeena when she approached the CRPF for help for her sister's education, which moved the CRPF personnel to take the initiative of purchasing a sewing machine for her from their own contributions.

"All these personnel are part of the CRPF's Madadgaar team, a 24x7 helpline for Kashmiris residing within and outside J&K. This unit has been proactive in providing assistance of various kinds to the needy and poor since June 16, 2017, and has received more than three lakh calls for help from Kashmiris in the past one and a half years," the CRPF said in a statement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to look into complaints regarding the functioning of Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) and reply within four weeks.

The court expressed concern over a large number of vacancies in NDMA and NIDM. The matter will now come up for hearing on February 24, 2019.

Petitioner Gaurav Bansal, in his plea cited an RTI application which revealed that NDMA did not meet between 2014 and September 2018 and that post of Vice Chairman (VC) has been lying vacant.

The RTI application also revealed that NIDMA's governing body met only thrice since 2014 against a mandatory rule to meet at least four times every year. It also stated that the meetings were not chaired by NDMA chief.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Comedian Eddie Murphy and fiancee Paige Butcher have welcomed a baby boy - the actor's tenth child.

The 'Nutty Professor' star and the Australian model, who are already parents to a two-year-old daughter, have named their newborn Max Charles Murphy, reports E! Online.

He was born on Friday and weighed six pounds (approx. three kilograms). According to a statement from Murphy's publicist, Arnold Robinson, "Both mother and son are doing well."

The 57-year-old actor has been dating the 39-year-old model and actor since 2012.

Meanwhile, Murphy's oldest child, Eric, is 29.

On the work front, the new dad's next film is the Rudy Ray Moore biopic 'Dolemite Is My Name,' which also stars Wesley Snipes, Chris Rock, Craig Robinson and Keegan-Michael Key.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The European Foundation for South Asian Studies (EFSAS), in collaboration with the Center for International Criminal Justice (CICJ) and Enactus Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam, organised a day-long Seminar, 'Terrorism in South Asia' at the VU University on December 3, during which experts deliberated on the "development and future of terrorism" in South Asia.

The conference was moderated by Joris van Wijk, a professor at VU, and was comprised four speakers including Dorothee Vandamme, Paul Stott, Danielle DePaulis and Junaid Qureshi (the Director of EFSAS).

Stott, a lecturer at the University of Leicester and in the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy at SOAS, University of London, examined the links between Jihadism in Great Britain, Belgium, Netherlands, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

He took the example of a British health practitioner of Pakistani origins, Mirza Ali, who travelled Pakistan to fight for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Jamaatul Ahrar (TTPJA) to prove that extremist groups targetted young disenfranchised vulnerable young men, often first or second-generation migrants, in Western countries for recruitment.

"Stott said that there is ample evidence to demonstrate that Pakistan takes centre-stage in terms of jihadism in the West, which made Gordon Brown say in 2008 that, '75 percent of UK terrorist plots originate in Pakistan'," an official press release stated.

He also expressed his fears that Jammu and Kashmir could be seen as a possible next battlefield of the Jihadi movement by terrorists.

The second speaker, Vandamme, a research associate at the University of Louvain examined the ongoing radicalisation of young people in Pakistan. She divided the radicalisation process into three sub-categories based on factors which attract individuals - micro, meso and macro factors.

"In order to substantiate her theoretical framework, Vandamme used the example of Pakistan, demonstrating how the Pakistani identity is far from homogenous, thus creating tensions and conflicts between the different ethnic groups, which feel disenfranchised, rejected and humiliated by the Pakistani State, as argued that the State particularly benefits and favours those living in the Punjab province. Therefore, seeing those feelings of perceived social injustice triggered by the State, many radical groups across the country, especially in rural and remote areas have started preying upon and recruiting vulnerable individuals and luring them into joining their corrupt cause," the press release mentioned while referring to the speaker's work.

"On top of that, the current mainstreaming of extremist outfits into Pakistani by the Pakistani Military establishment has given even a bigger platform to those groups to promulgate their ideologies," the release further stated.

She also examined the role of the Pakistani Army in sponsoring terrorist groups and facilitating access of these radical outfits into

"Vandamme gave the example of the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which has been used by the Army as a strategic asset in its proxy war with India, while Pakistan continues fighting against the TTP, which imposes risks on its own integrity," the release mentioned while quoting Vandamme's work.

The third speaker DePaulis analysed the ongoing terrorism and violent conflict in Afghanistan.

The Director EFSAS, Junaid Qureshi talked about the terrorism and radicalisation taking place in Jammu and Kashmir. He mentioned that violent extremism "became a reality in the region of Jammu and Kashmir in 1947 during the partition of British India when the newly created State of Pakistan invaded Jammu and Kashmir, and still 70 years after, the people of Jammu and Kashmir are suffering heavily from it."

"The incursion of the Jammu and Kashmir State by frontier tribesmen under Pakistan's sponsorship, and assisted by regulars of its Army on 22 October 1947 resulted in the division of the State into two parts, one controlled by India and the other by Pakistan. The invasion led by Pakistan was against all canons of International Law and a clear contravention of the UN Charter," the press release quoted Qureshi as saying.

Qureshi narrowed down on the reason behind violent extremism in the region to the training of young Muslims from the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir by the Pakistani State and its military establishment after the Soviet-Afghan war.

"Qureshi explained how terrorism has changed the makeup of the Kashmir conflict since once the gun has started ruling, the conflict has lost any of its legitimacy, demands for justice and credibility in the eyes of the international community. He argued that in order to address political issues, it is of utmost importance that terrorism should be brought to a complete halt," the press release noted.

He concluded his speech by underscoring that the main objective should be an end to terrorism for peaceful long-term effects.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Four persons have been arrested in connection with the killing of a police inspector here yesterday in a mob violence over suspected cow slaughter, even as his family alleged conspiracy since the slain cop was investigating a lynching case.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed grief over the killing of Inspector Subodh Kumar and promised a speedy investigation into the matter, which has triggered a major outrage and political bickering.

The state government on Tuesday ordered a probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by an Inspector General of Police (IGP), to probe all aspects related to the incident.

Subodh Kumar was killed in the violence took place after the carcasses of 25 cattle were found in the forests close to a police post, with the locals alleging that those belonged to cows slaughtered illegally.

A local youth was also killed in the violence.

"Four people have been arrested. I don't know about the organizations (responsible for the violence) yet, but the main accused in the violence is Yogesh Raj who has not been arrested till now," Additional Director General (Law & Order) Anand Kumar said while addressing a press conference.

According to sources, post mortem conducted on Subodh Kumar confirms gunshot injury by .32 mm bore bullet on his head.

Additional DG (Meerut Zone) Prashant Kumar said an SIT has been formed under IG Range Meerut.

He said the SIT will probe different aspects, such as how the incident occurred, why the mob got violent, how many people were there with the Inspector and whether anyone flee from the spot. "Action will be taken if any laxity is found," Prashant Kumar said.

Police have lodged two FIRs, one into the alleged cattle slaughter and the other into the violent protests which followed.

At least 27 people have been named by the police in the FIR into the violent protests, It also mentions 60 unnamed people allegedly involved in the violence, the police said.

A bullet has been recovered from the body of local youth Sumit, who also died in the violence yesterday, Anand Kumar said.

The final post-mortem report will ascertain the bore of the bullet, the ADG added.

ADG (Intelligence) SP Shirodkar visited the violence-hit area on Tuesday and said "We'll submit a report tomorrow evening."

Meanwhile, Subodh Kumar's sister Saroj Singh Chauhan alleged a conspiracy behind the killing of her brother.

"My brother has been killed because he was investigating the Akhlaq murder case. This is a conspiracy," she told ANI.

Akhlaq was lynched by a mob in Dadri area of Uttar Pradesh in September 2015 over suspicion of cow slaughter.

"Why was my brother alone in his vehicle? Police are complacent in its role in the incident," Saroj charged.

The police vehicle in which Subodh Kumar was killed was charred in the incident.

Targeting Yogi Adityanath, Saroj Chauhan said, "What is this 'gai-gai' (cow protection) our Chief Minister keeps uttering all the time? Why doesn't he come onto the ground and serve the cause of cow protection? Today, I have lost my brother because of a cow!"

She demanded that her brother be declared a martyr and a memorial be built for him since he died in the line of duty.

"What good is the 50,000 or 50 lakh rupees for us? We will return it. We want a martyr memorial in our village. I need nothing except honour for my brother," she added.

She informed that the deceased cop's father too was a policeman and had died in a similar incident when he was shot dead.

The slain cop's wife said justice would be done only when his killers are killed.

"He worked with complete honesty and took all the responsibility on himself. This is not the first incident. He suffered bullet injury twice before. But now nobody is giving him justice. Justice will be done only if his killers are killed," the wailing wife said.

Governor Ram Naik described yesterday's incident as condemnable and said the Chief Minister has ordered a probe.

"Whatever may be the reason, such incidents can't be allowed," he added.

"I hope the truth will be out in 2 days as he (CM) said strict action will be taken against those who committed this crime," Naik said.

The Opposition parties used the incident to slam the Yogi Adityanath-led government.

"It's a shocking state of affairs how a mob killed a police officer investigating the Akhlaq case," Congress leader Kapil Sibal said.

Attacking the UP Chief Minister, the former union minister said, "Instead of taking care of his state, Yogi is going to Telangana and spewing venom."

BSP leader and former UP Chief Minister Mayawati alleged that there was "jungle raj" in the state.

Senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, on the other hand, alleged that there could be Congress party's hand in the Bulandshahr violence.

"This incident occurred because of some miscreants. We will find out whether they were Congressmen who are trying to give a bad name to Uttar Pradesh chief Minister Adirtyanath Yogi government or something else," Dr Subramanian Swamy told ANI.

Reacting to the Congress party's allegations that "Uttar Pradesh is burning and Yogi is busy in campaigning", Swamy said, "Wasn't India burning during 1984 anti-Sikh riots? In fact, nothing has brought us as bad a name as the genocide of 1984.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Sanatan Sanstha on Tuesday rubbished the Special Investigation Team's (SIT) allegations in connection with Gauri Lankesh murder case.

The Hindu right-wing group also vehemently denied the SIT's allegation that the book 'Kshatradharma Sadhana' published by the Sanatan Sanstha inspired the journalist's killing.

Sanatan Sanstha spokesperson Chetan Rajhans said, "Will the CBI and Karnataka SIT, which are ridiculously claiming that Gauri Lankesh was killed by reading some holy text of Sanatan Sanstha dare to explain which holy texts are read by Jihadis who are spreading terrorism in the entire world, before committing such horrendous crimes?"

Rajhans said that the efforts made by the SIT "reflects how low the investigating agencies can stoop to implicate Sanatan Santha."

"SIT displayed illegal behaviour by unlawfully arresting innocent devout Hindus, persecuting them inhumanely and denying them the judicial assistance. Similarly, a false information was spread that the accused were in possession of a 'hitlist'. When nothing came out of it, one of accused in the case, Parashuram Waghmore was lured with Rs 25 lakh if agreed to name Sanatan Sanstha," alleged Rajhans.

He further questioned, "If SIT claims that Gauri Lankesh was killed by reading holy text of Sanatan, will they explain on which holy texts jihadi terrorism and Naxalism are based for killing lakhs of people?"

The SIT, probing the killing of Gauri Lankesh, on November 24 named Sanatan Sanstha in its additional charge sheet filed before a city court. The SIT also said that the 18 accused in the case are active members of an organised crime syndicate.

According to the SIT, the members of the syndicate strictly followed the guidelines and principles mentioned in the book 'Kshatradharma Sadhana'.

Gauri Lankesh, a senior journalist was murdered in her residence in Bengaluru on September 5 last year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik on Tuesday threw his weight behind the employees of Jammu and Kashmir Bank, saying that safeguarding the autonomy and operational independence of the bank "remains a key objective of the state government."

"The board of the bank is the appropriate forum for taking and implementing all decisions of Jammu and Kashmir Bank. Safeguarding the autonomy and operational independence of the bank is the key objective of the state government at all times," said Governor Malik in a statement.

Last month, the State Administrative Council (SAC) headed by the Governor approved a proposal for treating Jammu and Kashmir Bank as a public sector undertaking (PSU), within the ambit of the Right to Information Act.

After meeting a delegation of the bank employees, Governor Malik reassured them that the bank is a premier institution of the state and its financial health and future growth is of utmost importance to the state. "Therefore, the state government will support all initiatives and take the necessary steps to make the bank a vibrant institution," he said.

The Governor, in a statement, underscored that the employees should not be concerned about their employment, future prospects or salary structure under any circumstances. "The board of the Jammu and Kashmir Bank is competent to take decisions in this regard and the powers vest in the board. No changes are being contemplated on this front," he added.

"As far as the PSU matter is concerned, the Jammu and Kashmir Bank is regulated by the RBI as an old generation private sector bank, by the Registrar of Companies as it is a government company under the Companies Act and by SEBI as it is a listed company. It will continue to be regulated by the RBI, SEBI and the Registrar of Companies. No changes are being made here or contemplated," Malik elaborated.

As a government company, Jammu and Kashmir Bank is a public authority under the Right to Information Act (RTI) and hence is automatically subject to the transparency provisions of RTI. "Nothing new is being imposed in this regard. Transparency is good for the bank in the long term," he was further quoted saying so in the statement.

"As far as the accountability to the legislature is concerned, all government owned/controlled companies, including Jammu and Kashmir Bank are accountable to the legislature in some respect. This is what has been stated in the SAC decision. This does not add any new element. However, in view of the concerns expressed, and to give comfort to employees, the government will re-examine the issue of accountability to the legislature," added the statement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The pictures from the much-awaited wedding of Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas have already released and they are overloaded with love. But there's more to it.

People TV has now released a video which perfectly captures the love between the duo and their families. The video is all about celebration, emotion, love, happiness and togetherness.

Our favourite top five moments from the awe-inspiring video are:

1. Special outfits for their special day

Priyanka and Nick tied the knot in two elaborate ceremonies. For their Christian wedding ceremony, Priyanka donned a hand-beaded and embroidered Ralph Lauren gown coupled with a beautiful 75-foot long veil. Making the dress one of a kind, the embroidery included eight significant words and phrases selected by the beautiful bride, including 'Family', 'Hope' and 'Compassion'.

Nick Jonas looked no less than a prince charming in a Purple Label double-breasted tuxedo with a piece of the bride's dress hand-embroidered with the Urdu words, 'My Jaan' at the interior lapel of the jacket, just over his heart.

This is even more special as Ralph Lauren has designed wedding outfits only three other times and all those were for family members.

PC looked like a vision in her 'desi girl' avatar for her Hindu wedding ceremony. The Bollywood's sweetheart opted for a custom red Sabyasachi lehenga. At the bride's request, the names of her fiance and her parents, Ashok and Madhu, were beautifully sewn into the waistband of her skirt in Hindi. She completed the ethnic look with minimal but traditional jewellery including a maangtika, nath and a heavy neckpiece.

Nick Jonas aced the traditional look in a hand-quilted silk sherwani with a hand-embroidered chikan dupatta and a chanderi tissue safa, paired with similar coloured footwear.

2. Walking down the aisle

Priyanka looks extremely emotional, nervous yet beautiful as she held her mother's hand while they walked down the aisle. As per Christian wedding tradition, the bride's father walks her down the aisle. However, breaking the norms, Priyanka's mother, Madhu Chopra escorted the stunning bride to the aisle.

Nick made his way to the aisle with his mother Denise Jonas by his side. The mother-son duo looks happy and excited for the big day. The mother of the groom looks beautiful in a yellow ensemble, while Nick looks absolutely dashing in the black and white tuxedo.

3. The emotional moments

Joe Jonas, Nick's older brother got emotional during the dreamy wedding and couldn't stop himself from hugging Nick. The video perfectly shows the love between the Jonas brothers.

Like any other bride, Priyanka too got emotional when she exchanged her vows with Nick.

The extravagant wedding concluded with a Hindu ritual 'Bidaai', where Priyanka's family blessed her new and happy life with Nick, and the moment was overloaded with sentiments!

4. The big day with families by the side

The couple exchanged their vows, in front of their family and friends, as Nick's father Paul Kevin Jonas, Sr. officiated their wedding, giving it a personal touch!

Except for some beautiful moments with their parents, the star couple also had some fun times with their groomsmen and bridesmaids.

Nick was joined by his brothers Joe Jonas, Kevin Jonas and Frankie Jonas as his groomsmen. They were also accompanied by the groom's friend Jonathan Tucker who seemed extremely happy for the couple on their union.

Priyanka's team of bridesmaids included Parineeti Chopra, Arpita Khan Sharma and Sophie Turner who seemed extremely excited for the power couple's union.

5. And, the happily ever after!

The video concluded with the much-in-love couple looking into each other's eyes, holding hands, and smiling their way to live happily ever after.

Priyanka and Nick exchanged vows in a Christian wedding on Saturday, a traditional Hindu ceremony took place on Sunday.

Looking back on their relationship timeline, they first appeared together at the 2017 Met Gala event, where both of them opted for Ralph Lauren outfits. However, they started dating in May 2018.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The first official pictures of the Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas' dreamy wedding ceremonies are finally out! And beautifully capture the different cultures and religions coming together for the union of the star couple.

People Magazine got their hands on the first exclusive pictures of the regal wedding and we can't take our eyes off the newly married bride and groom. The couple even feature on the cover of the magazine.

Priyanka and Nick tied the knot in two elaborate ceremonies. While they exchanged vows in a Christian wedding on Saturday, a traditional Hindu ceremony took place the next day.

Dressed in a hand-beaded and embroidered Ralph Lauren gown coupled with a beautiful 75-foot long veil, Priyanka looked like a princess straight out of a Disney fairy tale. Making the dress one of a kind, the embroidery included eight significant words and phrases selected by the bride, including 'Family', 'Hope' and 'Compassion'.

Priyanks's prince charming looked dapper in a Purple Label double-breasted tuxedo with a piece of the bride's dress hand-embroidered with the Urdu words, 'My Jaan' at the interior lapel of the jacket, just over his heart.

"Every girl dreams of being a princess on her wedding day. But I never had a plan about what I wanted it to be." Priyanka said in an exclusive interview with People.

She even revealed that it was Nick's idea to have not one, but two wedding ceremonies to celebrate the coming together of their respective cultures. "It melted my heart. Being able to have two big weddings, in India, with our closest family and friends was unbelievably special." she said.

While she looked fabulous walking down the aisle in a white dress, PC looked even more radiant in a 'desi girl' avatar for her Hindu wedding ceremony.

Wrists-full of bangles and gold kalire, hands covered in beautiful curls and swirls of henna designs, the Bollywood's sweetheart looked no less than a vision in a custom red Sabyasachi lehenga.

The dress took 110 embroiderers from Kolkata and 3,720 hours to create the hand-cut organza flowers, French knots in silk floss and layers of thread work. At the bride's request, the names of her fiance and her parents, Ashok and Madhu, were beautifully sewn into the waistband of her skirt in Hindi.

She completed the ethnic look with minimal but traditional jewellery including a maangtika, nath and a heavy neckpiece.

"I love that our wedding was a religious mash-up, we took beautiful traditions that we both grew up with and personalized them in a way that made sense for us. It's been incredible to find the commonalities between our beliefs and figuring out how to blend them in a respectful and meaningful way." the actor told People.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Commencing former United States President George H. W. Bush's funeral proceedings, the 41st President's body was on Monday brought to the US Capitol in Washington D. C., where he will lie in state until Wednesday.

Bush's body was brought to the US capital aboard the Air Force One, nicknamed 'Special Air Mission 41' in his honour, following a 21-gun salute in Texas, CNN reported.

In the Capitol Rotunda, House Chaplain Rev. Patrick Conroy started the ceremony with a prayer commemorating the former President's service in the Army, Congress and the White House.

Speaking on the occasion, House Majority Leader Mitch McConnell paid tribute by lauding Bush's "steady hand", keeping the US on course for decades.

"Through the Cold War and the Soviet Union's collapse, he kept us on course. When the rule of law needed defending in the Persian Gulf, he kept us on course. With his even temperament and hard-won expertise, George Herbert Walker Bush steered this country as straight as he steered that airplane. He kept us flying high and challenged us to fly higher still. And he did it with modesty and kindness that would have been surprising in someone one-tenth as tough and accomplished as he was," McConnell said.

House Speaker Paul Ryan said that Bush, apart from being a good leader, was a good father, husband, and displayed "the finest qualities of our nation and of humankind".

"He reached the heights of power with uncommon humility. He made monumental contributions to freedom with a fundamental decency that resonates across generations. No one better harmonized the joy of life and the duty of life... God bless the 41st president of the United States," Ryan said.

Vice President Mike Pence recalled Bush's time in the Army and his rise in politics, highlighting virtues such as kindness and modesty that stayed with him throughout.

"There was a kindness about the man that was evident to everyone who ever met him. All his years in public service were characterized by kindness, modesty and patriotism," Pence said.

Pence further recalled the signed picture and note that Bush had gifted him when his son, who is a marine aviator, completed his first tailed hook landing on the USSR George Herbert Walker Bush.

Following the conclusion of the memorial service, a number of Supreme Court Justices, including Justices Clarence Thomas, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, Brett Kavanaugh, Chief Justice John Roberts and retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, among others, paid their tributes to the former President.

President Donald Trump, along with First Lady Melania will visit the Capitol building later tonight to pay their respects. They will also visit the Bush family at the Blair House, the President's guest house located across the street from the White House on Tuesday.

Another memorial service will be held on Wednesday at the National Cathedral in Washington D. C., where friends and family are expected to be in attendance. Trump has declared Wednesday as a national day of mourning.

Bush's body will then be taken to the St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston on Thursday, where Bush earlier lived. Another memorial will be held on Thursday at the St. Martin's Episcopal Church.

The 41st President, who died on Friday aged 94, will then be laid to rest at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)New Delhi [India], Dec 4 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Income Tax department to continue with the tax re-assessment for the year 2011-12 of Congress President Rahul Gandhi, his mother Sonia Gandhi and Congress leader Oscar Fernandes but order will not be given effect to.

A bench headed by Justice AK Sikri asked IT department that an assessment order, if passed, cannot be given effect to till the final disposal of the case and posted the matter for hearing on January 8, 2019.

During the hearing, senior advocate Kapil Sibal and P Chidambaram told the top court that IT department is continuing with tax re-assessment and will pass an order by December 31.

"We must be protected," Sibal told the apex court bench also comprising Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice S Abdul Nazeer.

As the bench was not sitting post lunch, it posted the matter for hearing on January 8, 2019, and ordered that in the meantime IT department can go ahead with the assessment but restrained against any coercive action against them.

The bench made it clear that the validity of assessment will be subjected to final verdict of the apex court.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the IT department urged the court that the case should be heard urgently but the bench said it will not be heard before January.

Passing the order, the top court said it was not expressing any opinion on merit of the petitions filed by the Gandhis and Fernandes.

The Apex Court was hearing the appeals of Gandhis and Fernandes challenging the IT department's decision to reopen tax assessment related to the Herald and Young India transactions.

Rahul, Sonia Gandhi and veteran Congress leader Oscar Fernandes had challenged the September 10 verdict of the Delhi High Court after they failed to get any relief from the High Court.

High Court had dismissed their challenge on reopening of their tax assessments for 2011-12.

The IT department had told the High Court that the All India Congress Committee had transferred funds to the tune of Rs 99 crore to Associate Journal Ltd, the publisher of Herald.

Rahul had willfully chosen to not disclose the fact that he held the director's post at Young India, IT department had contended.

However, Rahul's counsel had asserted before the High Court that the Congress president did not receive any income from the source, and hence is not liable for any tax.

The Herald case is an ongoing case filed in 2012 by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy against Sonia, Rahul, their companies and associates.

In November last year, Rahul and Sonia stated that the application filed by Swamy was not bonafide and that its sole objective was to delay proceedings in a "lifeless case.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday denied allegations of illegally transferring a part of Pakpattan shrine land during his tenure as the chief minister of Punjab province in 1985.

The former Pakistan Prime Minister was accompanied by his defence counsel and senior Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) leaders, as he arrived at the country's Supreme Court. Sharif appeared before a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar in Pakistan's top court, reported Express Tribune.

In his response to the three-judge bench, the three-time Pakistan prime minister requested to refer the matter to anyone except a Joint Investigation Team (JIT). The Supreme Court, thereby, gave Sharif seven days and asked him to propose an alternative way of investigating the case.

Sharif is accused of violating a Lahore High Court (LHC) verdict of December 17, 1969 by alloting1800 kanals of Auqaf Department land attached to the shrine of Hazrat Baba Fariduddin Masud Ganj Shakar in Pakpattan to the Dewan Ghulam Qutab, the Express Tribune report further stated.

In 2015, former Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk, while hearing a related matter, had taken a suo motu cognizance of the matter pertaining to violation of order by the LHC.

"I am sure that Sharif does not even have an idea what the case is all about," Dawn quoted CJP Nisar as saying in the previous hearing of the case.

In his reply, Sharif had requested discharge of the notice issued to him, saying that it was a very old matter, about 32 years ago and therefore he himself couldn't recall whether he had passed any such orders.

The judge bench had termed Sharif's answer to be vague and therefore asked him to personally come and explain the matter before the court.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Tuesday issued notices to the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police of Uttar Pradesh seeking a detailed report in Bulandshahr incident within four weeks.

Two people, including a police officer, were killed during violent clashes over alleged cow slaughter in Bulandshahr on Monday.

Taking suo motu cognizance of the incident, the commission also sought details of action taken against the miscreants and relief and rehabilitation provided to the families of the deceased persons.

In a statement, the NHRC observed, "The incident is indicative of yet another incident of violent protest and rampaging by the unruly mob exposing lawlessness and failure of the administration to tackle the sensitive issues and situations. The contents of the media reports suggest that even the police officers do not appear to be safe and can be easily eliminated at free will of the uncontrolled lawless elements."

"'Right to Life' of the deceased persons have been grossly violated, which is a matter of concern. The safety of the public property and lives of its citizens is the prime duty of the state," the statement added.

The NHRC called for effective and prompt action from the state authorities in such situations so that a strong message could be given to the violators of the law.

Meanwhile, Amnesty India said that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath should take responsibility for the death of the police official while calling for the end of cow-related violence in the state.

Taking note of the incident, Adityanath has announced a compensation of Rs 40 lakh for the deceased police officer's wife, Rs 10 lakh for his parents and a government job for one family member. He has also called for a meeting with officials at his residence in Lucknow later today, over the law and order situation in the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Supreme Court on Tuesday slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh each on states of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Odisha and Jammu and Kashmir for failing to create an online link to monitor implementation of mid-day meal schemes in government-run schools. A fine of Rs 2 lakh has also been imposed on Delhi for failing to do so.

A bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur and comprising Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Hemant Gupta also took on the state governments for not complying with the directions of the top court on the issue yet.

The bench asked the states to deposit the amount with the Supreme Court Legal Services Authority within four weeks.

This direction came after counsel appearing for the petitioner told the apex court that these states have yet not created a link on their websites as asked by the apex court.

On March 23, 2017, the top court had asked state governments and Union Territories to upload information including the total number of students getting the benefit of the mid-day meal scheme within three months on their websites.

The top court was hearing a plea filed by NGO 'Antarrashtriya Manav Adhikaar Nigraani Parishad' on the issue of mid-day meals.

The petition has claimed that children receive free, cooked lunch every day in over 12 lakh government-run and aided schools across the country; however, there is a constant risk of food poisoning and related health hazards due to a lack of mid-day meal infrastructure and proper monitoring of the scheme.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Ministerial Monitoring Committee of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-cartel oil producers will be discussing on Wednesday the influence that Qatari withdrawal from OPEC may have on the oil output cut deal, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said here on Tuesday.

"We'll discuss it tomorrow," he told reporters on the sidelines of a forum.

On Wednesday, the 175th ordinary OPEC meeting will be held in Vienna, while the Austrian capital will also host meetings of the OPEC and non-OPEC Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee and of all signatories of the oil output cut deal.

On Monday, Qatar announced its decision to withdraw from OPEC on January 1, 2019, in order to concentrate on boosting its liquefied natural gas production.

OPEC and several non-OPEC oil producers reached a deal in Vienna in 2016 to cut oil output by a total of 1.8 million barrels per day in an effort to stabilize global oil prices. Non-OPEC states pledged to jointly reduce oil output by 558,000 barrels per day. The agreement, which came into effect in 2017, has been extended twice since then and is set to remain in force until the end of 2018.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)After being attacked in the Patna University, poll strategist and Janta Dal (United) vice president Prashant Kishor, hit out at the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) saying that they will not be able to get over with the fear of losing the Patna University Students' Union (PUSU) election by attacking him.

Prashant, took to his Twitter handle and also declined the reports of him suffering any injuries in the incident and added that "ABVP you need to do better than let few hooligans and antisocial elements become your face in Bihar. The possibility of losing the Patna University Students' Union election will not get over by attacking my car."

Kishor car was attacked yesterday, when he was in the Patna University to meet its Vice-Chancellor Rash Bihari Prasad Singh. A group of students surrounded his car when he was returning from the meeting.

"It was his personal visit. Some students had some misunderstanding about his visit. When he was going from the University, then a student hurdled stone at the car. We have detained the student and will question him if he is from the university or from somewhere else," a police official told ANI.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is in alliance with the JD (U) in Bihar, recently accused Kishore of trying to influence the ensuing elections in the University, that are due for December 5. A BJP delegation is scheduled to meet the Bihar Governor in this regard today.

On December 2, four leaders of the BJP in a statement, without taking any name said that "Some people related to media, advertising and event management are trying to influence the student union election and nobody has till now raised any objection to it.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Drawing a direct fight between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the poll-bound state of Rajasthan, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should chant names of businessmen and absconding defaulters of the country, instead of 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'.

While addressing a public rally in Vijaynagar district, Gandhi said: "Narendra Modi should no longer say 'Bharat Mata ki jai'. Instead, he should say 'Anil Ambani ki jai, Nirav Modi ki jai'." Taking a further jibe at the Prime Minister, he said, "If you talk of Bharat Mata then how can you forget about our farmers?"

He further took a dig at the Prime Minister saying that "India's richest industrialists invested and marketed Modi. They made him the Prime Minister and now Modi is paying their dues".

With no holds barred, the Congress president said: "Farmers have been given Rs 45,000 crore for crop insurance. Of this, Rs 16,000 crore has been pocketed by Anil Ambani. These crop insurance was not for the farmers but to benefit Ambani."

In his attempt to reach out to maximum number of voters, Gandhi scion said: "Modi ji has ignored commonman's issues by lying to them. However, people of Rajasthan know better to stay from these lies."

He promised that if Congress comes to power in the state, he will pave a path of rapid development for villages, rural areas and Panchayats. The basic reform work for irrigation will speed up, he assured.

Touching upon the Rafale deal, he accused that Prime Minister Modi is silent over the issue because he is afraid that the truth of the matter will brand him a thief.

"Narendra Modi ji never mentions about Rafale deal in any of his speeches, he is afraid that if he speaks on this then people will shout 'chowkidar chor hai'," he said.

The single phase legislative assembly election is scheduled to be held on December 7. In the last elections in 2013, BJP had won a majority and Vasundhara Raje was given the position of Chief Minister of the state. Out of the total of 75.20 per cent voters who cast the ballot, BJP got 46 per cent votes while Congress only bagged 34 per cent.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan has donated 50 wheelchairs to para-athletes on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

In September, the actor had attended Paralympic Committee of India's (PCI) send-off for Indian Contingent at Asian Para Games 2018 with Deepa Malik (first Indian woman to win a medal in Paralympic Games).

The 'Raees' star termed the cause virtuous and also heaped praises on Malik, while adding that it is a privelige to be associated with the Paralympian.

"It has been a privilege knowing and associating with Deepa Malik for a cause as virtuous as this. She is not just an inspiration to many but also a reflection of ourselves as we all are incomplete in one way or the other, it only depends on how we embrace our imperfections and achieve our goals. Felicitating the upcoming para-athletes is our step towards achieving the dream of representing India at the Paralympics," he said.

Deepa, too, has been a actively involved in motivating para-atletes. She is also the co-founder of Wheeling Happiness Foundation.

Sharing her thoughts on the association with SRK she said, "It is an extremely gracious step by Shah Rukh Khan's Meer Foundation to extend their support to Wheeling Happiness to enable the parathletes as it not only facilitates them but also motivates and boosts their confidence."

SRK has actively lent his support to those in need through his non-profit organisation, Meer Foundation. The foundation has also provided support to various acid attack survivors and extended aid to those affected by the deluge in Kerala.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik on Tuesday said that the state government would take stringent action against the culprits pertaining to the mob violence in Bulandshahr in which two persons, including a police inspector, died.

Naik told reporters, "The incident that took place yesterday, it is condemnable. The Chief Minister (Yogi Adityanath) has given orders for a probe. I hope the truth will be out in two days as he said. Strict action will be taken against those who committed this crime. Whatever may be the reason, such incidents cannot be allowed."

Echoing similar sentiments, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma said that the state government is taking proper steps and an order for investigation has been given.

"The (Uttar Pradesh) Government is taking up proper steps and an order for investigation has been given. Stringent actions will be taken against the culprits," Sharma said.

On Monday, Station House Officer (SHO) Subodh Kumar Singh and a local youth were killed in Bulandshahr when a mob went on a rampage after cattle carcass was allegedly found in the fields. The death of the cop in the violence raked up a controversy with various claims doing rounds how he died.

Following the incident, the administration deployed police forces to ensure peace and protection in the area.

Adityanath, meanwhile, has called for a meeting with officials at his residence in Lucknow on Tuesday at around 8:30 pm, over the law and order situation in the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj inaugurated the Gandhi-Zayed Digital Museum here on Tuesday along with Foreign Minister of UAE Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The launch marks the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi and the centenary celebrations of UAE's founding father Sheikh Zayed.

"Valuing Peace, Tolerance and Sustainability. EAM @SushmaSwaraj and Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan jointly launch the Gandhi-Zayed Digital Museum commemorating the 100th year of Founding Father of #UAE Sheikh Zayed and 150th year of Mahatma Gandhi #BapuAt150," the Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Raveesh Kumar, tweeted on Tuesday.

The EAM is on an official two-day visit to the nation, where she is slated to call on the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and interact with the Indian diaspora today, before emplaning for India.

She earlier co-chaired the 12the Joint Commission Meeting between India and UAE along with her Emirati counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, where discussions were held on cooperation in energy, security, trade, investments, space, defence & consular, among others, while two key agreements were signed between the sides.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Encouraged by the positive stimulus given to industry by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh led Congress government, Tata Sons is looking to expand its Taj Group of Hotels portfolio in the state in a big way.

"The company has identified 10-15 projects for expanding its business in the state. Its chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran informed Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh at a meeting here on Tuesday," said an official statement issued from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO).

The Chief Minister, during the meeting, asked Tata Sons to come out with a detailed project report (DPR) for its proposed project on rejuvenation of 'Chhoti Nadi' and 'Badi Nadi' river bodies in Patiala. He handed over to the company chairman a formal letter of mandate for the same. The preliminary cost of the project is estimated at Rs 550 crore, with a maintenance period of 10 years.

According to the statement, Tata Sons chairman also agreed to explore the Chief Minister's suggestion of setting up an auto plant in the state, and also evinced interest in expanding into food processing, retail and the IT sector, which Captain Amarinder said offered immense potential for growth in view of the various incentives given by his government and the ease of business promoted by the new industrial policy.

Chandrasekaran said with the retail and service sectors not requiring much gestation period, these were an attractive proposition for expansion in the state, an official spokesperson said after the meeting. The Chief Minister pointed out that Punjab not only had surplus power to support industry but also boasted of no labour problems of any kind.

The possibility of starting Air Asia operations from Amritsar was also discussed, with Chandrasekaran promising to look at connecting Amritsar through domestic flights of the company's aviation wing. Tata Sons had earlier shown keen interest in the efforts of the government of Punjab in dealing with the pollution and destruction of its water bodies.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday asserted that it is for the first time that his party and the Congress have formed an alliance for the benefit of the country.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu addressed a poll rally in Kukatpally as part of the campaign for the ensuing Telangana Assembly Elections.

Naidu said, "TDP and Congress flags are flying together for the first time, this is for the sake of the nation. TDP fought with Congress for 37 years. Now for the first time, we are working together at the state land central level."

Hitting out at the central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the state government led by Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), he alleged that both of them were working against the aspirations of the people and are dictatorial in nature.

"Modi government and KCR government in Telangana are working against peoples aspirations and acting dictatorial. In order to fight them, we joined hands. KCR held a meeting, where he kept on slamming me but did not speak anything about the development he would do. That is their shallowness. Modi was given a clean majority. But he cheated the entire nation. He achieved nothing except roaming in foreign countries."

Rahul Gandhi too hit out at the central and Telangana government as he spoke on the same lines as Naidu.

"In the past four and a half years, KCR and his government have cheated the entire Telangana and Hyderabad. KCR is a champion in corruption, next only to Modi. He kept on increasing the project costs, paid contracts, but did give a single penny to farmers. Modi too can do anything, but not waive off the loans of farmers of Telangana," said Gandhi.

Further sharpening his attack, he added, "TRS is the B Team of Narendra Modi. The real name of TRS is TRSS - Telangana RSS. KCR means Khao Commission Rao. KCR is the most corrupt person. Modi has CBI in his hand and that is why KCR has surrendered to Modi. A Team BJP, B Team TRS and C Team MIM. We will defeat BJP nationwide."

Telangana Assembly elections are due on December 7 while counting of votes will take place on December 11.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)In what is being touted as a major win for the conglomerate, The Dynamix Group announced that it has received the Occupancy Certificate (OC) for its flagship luxury residential project - Aldeia de Goa.

For over four decades, The Dynamix Group has been counted amongst India's foremost real estate developers. Now, with this latest development, it has the opportunity to extend its legacy further by adding to its 30 million sq. ft. footprint of residential and commercial projects delivered to its customers.

Issued by the local government, this certificate permits the occupation of any building with provision for adequate civic infrastructure such as sanitation, electricity, water, roads, etc. The OC certifies that a building/ apartment is fit for habitation by its owner, allowing them to move in and start living there.

Expressing its delight over this significant event, the Company stated: "We are delighted to share this exciting news with one and all. We continuously endeavor towards swift delivery and handover of our projects to our customers with all the necessary compliances - OC being the major one. The apartments at Aldeia de Goa are extremely special to us, and we cannot wait to hand their keys over to our customers soon!"

Nestled by the beach in Bambolim, North Goa, Aldeia de Goa is a secluded, serene and luxuriously-serviced gated community spread across 145 acres of lush green hilly landscapes. It has been designed to complement Goa's Indo-Portuguese architectural style, and offers dream homes in the form of Frangipani Signature Villas, plots and Vida de Aldeia Apartments.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Russia on Tuesday denied Ukraine's allegations that the recent seizure of Ukrainian naval ships exposed Kremlin's plans to take Ukrainian ports on the Sea of Azov.

Xinhua quoted Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov as saying, "This is an absolutely absurd statement. Actually, it is another attempt to somehow provoke tensions."

In the previous week, in an interview to a German media agency, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko had informed that Russia was allegedly planning to seize two Ukrainian ports to build a land corridor between the insurgent Ukrainian region of Donbass and Crimea, which was incorporated into Russia in 2014 following a local referendum, Xinhua reported.

Denying his accusations, the Russian Press Secretary added that the Ukrainian Prime Minister used the above statement in order to gain votes for the upcoming Presidential elections in 2019.

Peskov further rejected Ukraine's allegations of Russia blocking the sea traffic on the Kerch Strait, saying that the navigations continued smoothly apart from little disturbances due to bad weather.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Union Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Uma Bharti on Tuesday announced to take a break from active to focus on the issue of Ram temple and cleaning of Ganga river. She also said that she would not contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in 2019.

Speaking to ANI, Bharti said she has taken permission from the top party leaders for her decision. "I would only work for the Ram temple and Ganga for the next one and a half years," she added. She is currently a member of Lok Sabha from Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh.

Uma's decision comes days after Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj announced that she would not contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls due to her health issues.

Talking about the Ram temple issue, Bharti said that the agitation over the matter is going on due to delay in the court's judgment over the issue. She also blamed the Congress for vitiating the atmosphere in the country and added that a positive atmosphere has to be rebuilt for an ordinance to construct the Ram temple.

In her comment on the allegation of tampering electronic voting machines (EVMs), former Madhya Pradesh chief minister said, "It is the duty of the Election Commission of India to clarify everybody's doubt on the voting machines. However, there are a lot of countries who are much more technologically advanced but don't use EVMs for elections."

Speaking about the incident in Bulandshahr, she said that the state government should tackle the matter diligently. "I want the state government to deal with this in full compliance with the rule of law. It is good that an SIT probe has been formed to probe the matter. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath should have paid more attention when the gathering was so huge," she added.

Earlier on Monday, Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh was killed during clashes, which broke out between the police and a mob over alleged illegal cow slaughter in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr district.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath called for a meeting with officials at his residence here on Tuesday, over the law and order situation in the state.

The meeting is expected to take place at around 8:30 pm. This comes in the backdrop of an incident in Bulandshahr, where a police officer lost his life in violent protests in the town.

On Monday, Station House Officer (SHO) Subodh Kumar Singh and a local youth were killed in Bulandshahr when a mob went on a rampage after cattle carcass was allegedly found in the fields.

The death of the cop in the violence raked up a controversy with various claims doing rounds how he died.

Following the incident, the administration deployed police forces to ensure peace and protection in the area.

Adityanath declared a compensation of Rs 40 lakh for the deceased police officer's wife, Rs 10 lakh for his parents and a government job for one family member.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Alkem Laboratories rose 1.04% to Rs 1920 at 14:41 IST on BSE after closure of US drug regulator's inspection at the company's manufacturing facility at St.Louis in USA.

The announcement was made during trading hours today, 4 December 2018.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 131.03 points, or 0.36% to 36,109.97.

On the BSE, 7,607 shares were traded in the counter so far compared with average daily volumes of 1.92 lakh shares in the past two weeks. The stock had hit a high of Rs 1,950 and a low of Rs 1,899 so far during the day.

The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 2,468 on 10 January 2018. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 1,742 on 17 April 2018.

The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) issued an establishment inspection report (EIR) to the company's manufacturing facility located at St. Louis, USA which was inspected from 12 March 2018 to 16 March 2018.

In response to the Form 483 issued by the USFDA containing one observation, the company had submitted a detailed corrective and preventive action (CAPA) plan to the regulator within the stipulated timelines. The inspection has now been closed by the USFDA.

On a consolidated basis, net profit of Alkem Laboratories declined 20.47% to Rs 260.42 crore on 3.22% rise in net sales to Rs 1918.92 crore in Q2 September 2018 over Q2 September 2017.

Alkem Laboratories is a leading Indian pharmaceutical company with global operations, engaged in the development, manufacture and sale of pharmaceutical and nutraceutical products.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)HCL Technologies announced the opening of a new Delivery Center in Adelaide, signing a six-year contract with a leading agribusiness and iconic brand in Australia.

This Delivery Center and Office opening in Adelaide joins HCL's network of Global Delivery Centers across the world. As part of the contract, HCL will build an intelligent sourcing model with their digital transformation for the future.

HCL will work with Elders to achieve their vision of an agile IT environment that supports future business growth and delivers quality service to clients across Australia and internationally. Initially, HCL will help create 50 jobs in the region. At present, HCL employs 1600+ professionals in the Australia region.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)NMDC reduced prices of high grade iron ore (lumps) by Rs 300 to Rs 3550 per tonne for the current month. The state-run firm has also cut the prices for iron ore fines, which are inferior grade ore, by Rs 200 to Rs 3,110 per tonne for December 2018. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 3 December 2018.

GAIL (India) said that the CESTAT Delhi Vide order dated 30 November 2018 has allowed the appeal filed by the Department and held that the product manufactured by GAIL at its gas processing Plants is 'Natural Gasoline Liquid (NGL)' and not Naphtha, attracting additional excise duty of Rs 15 litre. Accordingly, the demand of differential central excise duty, penalty and interest totalling to approximately Rs 2822 crore (duty Rs 830 crore, penalty Rs 830 crore and interest Rs 1162 crore) has been upheld. The erstwhile jurisdictional Commissioner, Central Excise & Service Tax, Large Tax Payer Unit (LTU), Delhi had earlier passed a favourable order vide common order dated 24 July 2014 and the demand raised on GAIL on this account was dropped.

The company has made necessary disclosure in the Notes to Accounts under contingent liability for the aforesaid SCNS including penalty and interest during Financial Year 2017-2018. The company is of the view that the order passed by the CESTAT Delhi is not sustainable considering the merit of the case and well-reasoned order passed by the Commissioner while adjudicating the SCNS. The company is going to challenge the order at higher forum and is confident of favourable outcome in this matter. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 3 December 2018.

Axis Bank will be in focus. With reference to a news item titled "I-T dept probing Axis Bank staff for allegedly facilitating benami deals," the bank clarified after market hours yesterday, 3 December 2018, that the matter reported in certain sections of the media pertains to a complaint received by the bank in March 2018, referring to incidents of an earlier period. An internal inquiry in this regard has already been conducted by the bank. In case there are any queries from the income tax authorities in the said matter, the bank, as always, shall fully co-operate with the concerned authorities. The bank has always adhered to the highest standards of regulatory compliance and will continue to work towards maintaining a strict code of conduct in all spheres of business that it undertakes, it said.

Uflex announced that its global film manufacturing arm, FlexFilms, has been granted United States Patent covering entire categories of formable films that include one or more BOPET layers used in Alu Alu blister packaging. The patent was issued to Flex Films (USA) Inc on 20 November 2018 for a period of 20 years, lending a competitive advantage to the films business of the company over its opponents in cold formed pharmaceutical packaging industry. With the patent issuance, the company gets exclusive right of manufacturing and sale of this special BOPET film in US, Europe and India. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 3 December 2018.

NCC said it received two new orders totaling to Rs 220.20 crore (exclusive of GST) in November 2018. Out of this, one order of Rs 174.20 crore pertains to electrical division and one order of Rs 46 crore pertains to water division. These orders are received from state government agencies and do not include any internal orders. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 3 December 2018.

Welspun Enterprises announced that National Highways Authority of India and Welspun Sattanathapuram Nagapattinam Road (WSNRPL), a subsidiary of Welspun Enterprises, have executed the concession agreement on 3 December 2018 for four-laning of Sattanathapuram to Nagapattinam section of National Highway-45A (New NH -332) in Tamil Nadu under NHDP Phase-IV on hybrid annuity mode. WSNRPL will develop the project at a bid project cost of Rs 2,004.51 crore and first year O&M cost of Rs 5 crore. The construction period is 2 years from the appointed date. WSNRPL has received a firm sanction letter from lenders for this project. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 3 December 2018.

Omax Autos announced that its board approved the proposal for setting up a new industrial unit for manufacture and supply of 'long member' at or around Raibarelli, Uttar Pradesh. The project will cost approximately Rs 165 crore and the proposed capacity addition will be 144 thousand Long Member. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 3 December 2018.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)In Baghewala PML of Rajasthan

Oil India successfully commissioned the Cyclic Steam Stimulation (CSS) Technology in the well BGW - 8 in Baghewala PML of Rajasthan for extraction of heavy crude oil for the first time in India. The project was commissioned under the guidance of Dr. John Belgrave of Belgrave Oil & Gas Corporation, a Canada based consulting agency.

As part of the Pilot Project, CSS will be implemented in 2(two) more wells followed by field scale implementation and will also be applied to assess the potential of other similar reservoirs. This technique will ensure enhancement of production from this field.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Uttar Pradesh Police on Tuesday arrested two men and detained four in connection with a mob violence in Bulandshahr district that led to two deaths, including that of an inspector, police said.

According to the First Information Report (FIR), 28 persons have been named while 60 persons have been listed as unidentified in the Monday's incident.

The FIR also named Yogesh Raj, reportedly a senior Bajrang Dal leader who had earlier lodged an FIR alleging cow slaughter.

Inspector S.K. Singh was shot in the head, while one of the young agitators was killed as the police tried to tackle the berserk mob.

The violence had broken out after alleged recovery of some animal carcasses that right-wing organisations claimed were of cows, an animal revered by the Hindus.

Singh was attacked by the mob when he attempted to clear the traffic snarl caused by the vigilantes carrying the carcasses on tractor trolleys blocking a busy road.

The Station House Officer of Syana, who had probed the lynching of a Muslim man in the Dadri killling in 2015, also over allegations of cow slaughter, was shot at point blank range by the mob.

A large contingent of security forces have been deployed in Bulandshahr as the situation remains tense.

--IANS

md/in

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Ruling BJP members on Tuesday protested against Bihar Police's action against ABVP activists, and demanded the arrest of JD-U's national Vice President Prashant Kishor for breaking the model code of conduct ahead of the student union poll in the Patna University.

Their demonstration came a day after an Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad activist was arrested for pelting stones at Kishor's vehicle when he was coming out after a meeting with Patna University Vice Chancellor.

Kishor's vehicle was damaged in the attack.

A dozen activists of the Rashtriya Swayamseval Sangh students' wing ABVP, two Bharatiya Janata Party legislators -- Arun Sonja and Nitin Navin -- along with several party leaders staged the sit-in at Pirbahor police station on Tuesday.

They shouted slogans against the BJP-JD(U) government and demanded the arrest of Kishor, who is considered close to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

They said Kishor has tried to influence the Patna University Student Union polls, scheduled for Wednesday, by holding a four-hour long meeting on Monday night.

The arrested ABVP activists have been released on bail.

Nitin Navin, who leads a team of BJP Yuva Morcha on Monday night told Governor Lalji Tondon that Kishor has openly violated the model code of conduct.

Kishor's meeting with the vice chancellor was to aid the Chatra JD-U, student wing of the Janata Dal-United, they alleged.

Strongly reacting to the ABVP and BJP demands, Kishor wanted to know under what section of the Indian Penal Code his arrest was being demanded.

However, he said: "I will speak only after the student union polls."

An election strategist-turned-politician, Kishor joined the JD-U a few months ago and is spearheading the party's efforts to widen its network.

--IANS

ik/in/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad arrived here on Tuesday for meetings with Pakistan's political and military leadership about bringing the Afghan Taliban to peace talks.

Khalilzad's visit came after US President Donald Trump wrote a letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan seeking his help in achieving a negotiated settlement of the Afghan war.

"Trump asked Pakistan to play its role in Afghan peace talks aimed at catalyzing an end to the 17-year invasion of Afghanistan by US troops", Pakistan's Foreign Ministry had said in a statement.

In a stepped-up effort to find a peaceful end to the Afghan war, the special envoy will travel to Afghanistan, Russia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Belgium, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar during his 18-day tour till to December 20, Geo News reported.

According to a press release, Khalilzad will also meet Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and other stakeholders to coordinate closely on efforts to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table with the Afghan government.

Khalilzad last visited the region in November, where he met with members of the Afghan civil society and other government officials.

--IANS

soni/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Close on the heels of Union Minister Sushma Swarj announcing her decision not to contest the next Lok Sabha polls, Central Minister Uma Bharti on Tuesday said she too would not join the 2019 election fray.

Uma Bharti told the media that although she had decided not to contest the parliamentary elections, she was not taking 'sanyas' from active yet.

"I'll start work for the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and for the cause of holy Ganga from January 1," she said.

Uma Bharti now represents Jhansi-Lalitpur constituency in Parliament and is the Cabinet Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation. Prior to that, she was Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, an MP from Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh, has already declared she would not be contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha election.

--IANS

hindi-nir/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Christian Michel James, a British national and a middleman, has been extradited to India by the United Arab Emirates, a development that comes as a boost to Indian agencies investigating the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal case.

"Wanted fugitive criminal Christian Michel James who has been avoiding criminal proceedings in India in AgustaWestland case is being extradited by UAE Authorities to India. Under the guidance of Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor (NSA), the entire operation is being coordinated by interim CBI Director M. Nageswara Rao," CBI said in a presse note.

A team led by Joint CBI Director A. Sai Manohar has been to Dubai for the purpose, said the note.

Official sources said he had been taken to the Dubai International Airport for a flight to Delhi.

They indicated that James will land at the Indira Gandhi International Airport late in the night.

The action comes after the Court of Cassation in UAE had in November upheld a lower court order which said that James,57, could be extradited to India.

According to the report, James was kept under detention at the Dubai Police's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) as per the Indian government's request. The extradition is undertaken in coordination with the Interpol and CID.

James is one of three middlemen being probed in the case by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the scam.

In January, the ED had lodged a request with the UAE authorities for extraditing James. Both the ED and CBI had filed chargesheets in bribery cases in Indian courts and non-bailable warrants had been issued against the accused.

Last year, a Red Corner notice was issued against James by the Interpol on a request by CBI. RCNs were also issued against two Italians involved in the scam -- Carlo Gerosa and Guido Haschke.

According to Indian investigative agencies, James had received at least Rs 235 crore for ensuring that the chopper contract went to AgustaWestland. He was a frequent visitor to India, having undertaken 300 trips to this country between 1997 and 2013.

The ED officials earlier had said that bribes to James were paid through a web of companies located abroad and in India on the pretext of payment for consultancy work. James also used his Dubai-based firm Global Services FZE as a conduit for money.

In its chargesheet, the CBI had named former Indian Air Force chief S.P. Tyagi, his cousin Sanjeev Tyagi alias Julie, then IAF Vice Chief J.S. Gujral and advocate Gautam Khaitan as the four Indians involved in the scam.

The chargesheet mentioned Khaitan as the "brain" behind the deal.

The others named in the chargesheet included Giuseppe Orsi, the former chief of Italian defence and aerospace major Finmeccanica, and Bruno Spagnolini, former CEO of AgustaWestland, apart from middlemen Michel, Haschke and Gerosa.

On January 1, 2014, India cancelled the contract with Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the IAF over alleged breach of contractual obligations and on charges of paying kickbacks amounting to Rs 423 crore.

The CBI, which registered an FIR in the case on March 12, 2013, had alleged that Tyagi and the other accused received kickbacks from AgustaWestland to help it win the contract.

--IANS

rak-aks/prs

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Christian Michel James, a British national and a middleman, on Tuesday was extradited to India, a development that comes as a boost to Indian agencies investigating the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal case.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took him under his custody as soon as he arrived at the Indira Gandhi International Airport around 11 p.m. in a special aircraft. James, 57, was accompanied by some CBI, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Ministry of External Affairs officials. After the immigation procedure, he will be taken to the CBI headquarters at south Delhi's Lodhi Road area.

The central probe agency in a press note said the entire extradition operation was conducted under the guidance of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and coordination of interim CBI Director M. Nageswara Rao.

A team lead by Joint CBI Director A. Sai Manohar had been to Dubai to extradite James, who has been avoiding criminal proceedings in India in AgustaWestland case.

The action comes after the Court of Cassation in UAE had in November upheld a lower court order which said that Michel could be extradited to India.

According to the report, James was kept under detention at the Dubai Police's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) as per the Indian government's request. The extradition is undertaken in coordination with the Interpol and the CID.

James is one of three middlemen being probed in the case by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the scam.

In January, the ED had lodged a request with the UAE authorities for extraditing James. Both the ED and the CBI had filed chargesheets in bribery cases in Indian courts and non-bailable warrants had been issued against the accused.

Last year, a Red Corner notice was issued against James by the Interpol on a request by the CBI. RCNs were also issued against two Italians involved in the scam -- Carlo Gerosa and Guido Haschke.

According to Indian investigative agencies, James had received at least Rs 235 crore for ensuring that the chopper contract went to AgustaWestland. He was a frequent visitor to India, having undertaken 300 trips to this country between 1997 and 2013.

The ED officials earlier had said that bribes to James were paid through a web of companies located abroad and in India on the pretext of payment for consultancy work. James also used his Dubai-based firm Global Services FZE as a conduit for money.

In its chargesheet, the CBI had named former Indian Air Force chief S.P. Tyagi, his cousin Sanjeev Tyagi alias Julie, then IAF Vice Chief J.S. Gujral and advocate Gautam Khaitan as the four Indians involved in the scam.

The chargesheet mentioned Khaitan as the "brain" behind the deal.

Others named in the chargesheet included Giuseppe Orsi, the former chief of Italian defence and aerospace major Finmeccanica, and Bruno Spagnolini, former CEO of AgustaWestland, apart from middlemen James, Haschke and Gerosa.

On January 1, 2014, India cancelled the contract with Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the IAF over alleged breach of contractual obligations and on charges of paying kickbacks amounting to Rs 423 crore.

The CBI, which registered an FIR in the case on March 12, 2013, had alleged that Tyagi and the other accused received kickbacks from AgustaWestland to help it win the contract.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)"The Lord of the Rings" fame actor Andy Serkis has defended actress Scarlett Johansson, who got dropped from the film "Rub & Tug" in which she was going to play a transgender following backlash from the LGBT community.

In an interview to Variety, Serkis said: "Actors should be able to play anything, and that's why I love performance capture technology.

"What should be the point is that whatever colour your skin is, whatever shape you are, whatever height you are, whatever your make-up is as an actor, you should have the ability to play anything."

So, in the wake of the backlash, Johansson dropped out of the film and a replacement is yet to be announced, reported metro.co.uk.

It's not the first time Johansson has got into trouble with her casting in a role. She was earlier accused of the film "Ghost In The Shell" when she was controversially cast as Major Motoko Kusanagi, a character who was Japanese in the original series that the film was based on.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Nine days that could determine the future of Britain's relationship with the European Union (EU) kicked off Monday with angry exchanges in the House of Commons.

Members of Parliament (MPs) grilled the government's top legal officer, Attorney General Geoffrey Cox, over legal advice he has given to ministers on the Brexit agreement Prime Minister Theresa May has agreed with the EU.

At the heart of the wrangle is the refusal of the government to publish the full legal advice which details the risk that the border issue between Northern Ireland and Ireland could permanently tie Britain to an arrangement with Brussels.

In a dramatic speech Cox confirmed that Britain will not be able to cancel a so-called backstop clause on the Irish border question without approval from Brussels, reports Xinhua news agency.

Cox told MPs, "There is no unilateral right to terminate this arrangement," with the Daily Telegraph reporting that one MP listening to the debate shouted out: "It's a trap."

It emerged last night that opposition party politicians have called on Parliament to consider contempt proceedings against May's government over its refusal to publish all of the advice given by Cox.

Under the deal backed by the European Council, Britain will leave the bloc next March, with an implementation period starting the next day and continuing until the end of December 2020.

During that period nothing will change and the aim is to agree on a new permanent trade deal with Britain as a non-member of the EU.

But to avoid the return of a border between Northern Ireland and Dublin the EU has insisted on a backstop arrangement to prevent a return to a visible border on the island of Ireland.

The UK, EU and the Irish government have each said they don't want to see the return of a border, but if no deal is reached by the end of 2020, a backstop could be introduced that would keep Britain locked into a customs arrangement with the EU, with no unilateral power to withdraw from it.

The House of Commons Speaker John Bercow said he will issue a speedy ruling on the call for a contempt debate.

It was the latest twist in what is destined to be a roller coaster nine-day in British with nobody certain of the outcome.

MPs return on Tuesday for the start of what will be a five-day debate on May's Brexit deal, with a crucial vote taking place on December 11.

May is already on target for a humiliating defeat in a week's time, with politicians from all parties, including her own Conservatives, threatening to vote against it.

The big question in Westminster on Monday night was whether the statement delivered by Cox to MPs will make things better or worse for May, who has insisted the deal she has brokered with Brussels is the best for Britain.

In his statement, Cox admitted that May's deal was a calculated risk, but he believed that if the House of Commons votes down May's proposals next week there will be what he described as great and chaotic disorder.

Cox said he would have preferred to have seen a unilateral right of termination in the Northern Ireland backstop arrangement, but added he supported May's deal because he did not believe Britain would be willingly trapped in it permanently.

"It represents a sensible compromise, it has unattractive elements but these must be weighed up against the realities of the alternatives," he told MPs.

The main opposition shadow attorney general, Labor's Nick Thomas-Symonds responded: "Isn't the reality that the government does not want MPs to see the full legal advice for fear of the political consequences."

A contempt debate will be a political sideshow to the decision in the main debate starting Tuesday on the Brexit deal.

Geraint Johnes, Professor of Economics of Lancaster University, told Xinhua on Monday that it is very likely that the Brexit deal will be vetoed by the parliament on December 11, adding: "It is hard to predict what would follow."

Johnes said if the deal is rejected he believed Britain could either leave EU without a deal or seek a Norway plus model which he believed stood a better chance of support in the British parliament.

--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.)The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday alleged that names of about four lakh voters, out of the total of eight lakh voters of the Agrawal community in Delhi, had been deleted on the direction of the BJP ahead of the 2019 polls.

AAP Rajya Sabha member Sushil Gupta made the allegation a day after the AAP's east Delhi's Lok Sabha in-charge Atishi claimed that names of about 30 lakh votes - particularly those of Baniya, Muslim and Purvanchali community - were axed on the direction of the BJP.

"We believe the BJP's vote bank has shifted from the Baniya community in Delhi and may be that is why in Madhya Pradesh's Vidhan Sabha election the BJP did not give us even a single ticket," Gupta said.

"We are the second Muslim community as per the BJP," Gupta added.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was trying to play safe because the Agrawal community had been upset with the party.

"In Delhi, Agrawal community has a total of 8 lakh votes, out of which 4 lakhs votes have been deleted? Which constitutes 50 per cent of the votes. Until today, this community has been a loyal voter of the BJP. This time they are upset with GST and demonetization, so BJP deleted them from the voters' list? Extremely shameful," Kejriwal tweeted.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Addressing his final rally in Jaipur before Rajasthan goes to the polls on December 7, Prime Minister Modi on Tuesday said the BJP will snatch victory from Congress' hands.

Counting various scandals made under the Congress-led UPA tenure, Modi on Tuesday mentioned accomplishments made under the BJP tenure and asked people to vote a party that can give a promising future to their children.

"Before you go to vote, you need to think. Questions such as who should be voted, which candidate can win or which community should get more votes should not be the basis to vote. Your concern should be the party that can give better future for your children," the Prime Minister said.

Modi said in the last 65 years, Congress could make only 11 medical colleges while Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje gave 11 medical colleges in four-and-a-half years. "Now you should decide if you want a government who works in 65 years, or the one that works in 4 years," he said.

He said that under the 'Namdar' (alluding to Congress government), people stood in long queues in front of LPG agencies to get one cylinder. Within 65 years of independence, around 13 crore gas connections were given.

"However, during the last four years, 12 crore gas connections were distributed, out of which 6 crore were given to the poor free of cost," he said.

Recalling the UPA tenure, he said India was counted one among the "Fragile Five" economies. "Rajasthan was frequently counted among the BIMARU states. Vasundhara Raje brought the state out of this grip and now, Rajasthan is among the top five states. The credit for this change goes to 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas' policy of the BJP," he added.

He accused the Opposition of spreading lies in the state that power switches hands in Rajasthan in every alternate election. "However, they never mentioned that Bhairon Singh Shekhawat became chief minister twice in the state," he said.

"Their next lie was that BJP can't win elections. I have seen mood of the people and their response. Rajasthan will become a case study, where the BJP will snatch victory from the hands of the Congress," he said.

The Prime Minister further said that during UPA's times, one would frequently read news mentioning scam running into crores of rupees. "But, have you seen such headlines making news during Modi's working? Now you read is the Congress attacking Modi on his caste and his father's name."

He challenged the Congress to speak on "real issues".

Modi further accused Congress of grabbing a major chunk of subsidies distributed for the handicapped, old-age pension, midday meal and other such segments.

"It was surprising to find that 6.5 crore beneficiaries never existed," he said, adding that they were 'benaami' (dummies). "The question is: where was this money going? Soon after the formation of Modi government, we saved Rs 90,000 crore from such subsidies, which were distributed in the form of pensions, scholarships, schemes for widows and suchlike," he said.

"Now all such shops from where Congress could have minted money have been stopped. They are not getting a chance to do something wrong and hence are cursing and abusing me," said the Prime Minister.

He also accused Congress of looting banks from the year 2008 to 2014 and said that loans disbursed in these six years were equal to loans given in last 60 years.

The Central government has made stringent policies such as Bankruptcy and Insolvency Code. "That is the reason why the Congress keeps abusing me," said Modi.

The Prime Minister highlighted five main agenda of the BJP government; education for kids; employment for the youth; irrigation for farmers; medicine for old age people and grievance redress of each person.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Condemning the Bulandshahr violence in which a police Inspector and a civilian were killed, the CPI-M on Tuesday said it was planned to hike communal tensions ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

"We strongly condemn the brutal killing of police Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh by a mob in Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh. Along with him an innocent bystander was also shot dead," the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) said in a statement.

"The sudden eruption of violent protests took place on the pretext of cow slaughter due to carcasses found in dubious circumstances in a village in Siana area. This fits in with the pattern of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and other Hindutva outfits instigating communal tensions," it said.

"Such incidents are planned in view of the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. The communally provocative speeches being made by Chief Minister Adityanath have also created an atmosphere for the mobs to act with impunity," it added.

The party demanded "firm action" against the perpetrators of the Monday violence and steps to ensure that no communal incidents occur.

VHP activist Upendra Raghav, BJP city youth wing President Shikhar Agarwal and Bajrang Dal district coordinator Yogesh Raj have been named in the FIR (First Information Report) in the wake of the violence.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)China on Tuesday hailed US President Donald Trump's appeal to Pakistan to play a role in ending the dragging Afghan war.

Trump, who has gone hammers and tongs on Pakistan for not doing enough to fight terror, wrote to the country's Prime Minister Imran Khan, seeking his "assistance and facilitation in achieving a negotiated settlement of the Afghan war".

Beijing was positive on the development. "We welcome sound interaction between Pakistan and the US," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang.

"Sound and steady development of Pakistan-US relations is conducive to the realization of the reconstruction of Afghanistan as well as anti-terrorism endeavours.

"We are pleased to see the improvement of their bilateral relations, support their mutually beneficial cooperation and to step up communication on this issue," Geng said.

Strife-torn Afghanistan accuses Pakistan of making trouble by assisting the Taliban.

The militant group wants to recapture power in Afghanistan. Trump's letter came after Washington suspended all the military aid to Pakistan earmarked to fight terrorism.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Officials from Nepal and China have agreed to complete ongoing bilateral economic and development cooperation projects in a timely manner, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said here.

The consensus was reached during the first meeting of 'Mechanism for Facilitation on the Implementation of China-Nepal Cooperation Programs and Projects in Nepal' held on Monday at the Ministry, reports Xinhua news agency.

"The meeting made a comprehensive review of the progress made in programs and projects related to reconstruction, infrastructure, energy and airport, among others," an official statement said.

The meeting focussed on progress made on the China-supported several ongoing projects in Nepal, including Pokhara International Airport, Koteshwor-Kalanki section of Ring Road, reconstruction of Bashantapur Durbar Square in Kathmandu and schools in different parts of the country, among others.

The two sides also agreed to take appropriate measures to ensure smooth and timely implementation of the programs and projects through joint efforts.

During the meeting, leaders of the both sides expressed happiness over convening of the first meeting of the mechanism and emphasized on the timely completion of all bilateral economic and development cooperation projects.

The meeting was co-chaired by Foreign Secretary of Nepal Shanker Das Bairagi and Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Yu Hong.

Nepal and China established the joint oversight mechanism to resolve issues and expedite the projects developed with Chinese involvement during Nepalese Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli's visit to China in June.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)China on Tuesday said its President Xi Jinping's visit to Panama was a step forward to improve bilateral ties and turn the Latin American country into Beijing's gateway to Central America.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told reporters that Xi and his Panamanian counterpart, Juan Carlos Varela, on Monday reached broad agreements and achieved positive and productive results during their meeting at Presidential Palace in Panama City.

The spokesperson said Beijing would give the Panama Canal more importance in its trade as due to its strategic location, Panama could become the gateway and point of connection between China and Central America, Efe news reported.

He also stressed that Xi's visit -- the first by a Chinese leader to Panama -- had led to bilateral cooperation in economy, tourism, logistics, infrastructure, education and health.

China, with whom Panama was negotiating a free trade treaty, already has an important presence in the Central American country.

It is the second largest user of the Panama Canal after the US, and the main supplier to Panama's Colon Free Trade Zone, the largest free port to the Americas.

Xi's visit to Panama after attending the G20 summit in Buenos Aires was part of China's plans to expand its influence in Latin America, a region which has historically been in Washington's sphere of influence.

Since June, when Panama broke diplomatic ties with Taiwan and established relations with China, Beijing has increased its presence in the Central American country with its companies getting multi-million dollar contracts.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Gina Haspel is slated to brief a small group of lawmakers Tuesday on the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to a congressional source.

Haspel will brief the chairmen and ranking Democrats of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the Senate Armed Services Committee and the State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee, a senator, who will be attending the meeting, told CNN on Monday.

The meeting will take place at 11 a.m. in the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility in the basement of the Capitol Visitors Centre.

Last week, senators rebuked President Donald Trump's administration when they were denied a CIA briefing on Khashoggi.

Khashoggi -- who was a US resident, a Washington Post contributor and a frequent critic of the Saudi Arabian government -- was killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary James Mattis traveled to Capitol Hill last week without Haspel for a closed-door briefing on Yemen for Senate lawmakers at which they emphasized the strategic importance of the US-Saudi relationship and defended the administration's response to Khashoggi's murder.

Pompeo said after the briefing that there was "no direct reporting" that connected Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the killing.

But the CIA has concluded that the Crown Prince personally ordered Khashoggi's killing, despite the Saudi government's denials that the ruler was involved.

--IANS

ksk

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Alleging the BJP in "collusion with the local administration" was "attempting to tamper/replace" EVMs during the November 28 Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls, the Congress of Tuesday sought an EC probe into four such incidents, including where EVMs were being transported to a collection centre in Sagar after 48 hours of polling.

A Congress delegation led by former Union Ministers Kapil Sibal and Kamal Nath submitted a memorandum to the Election Commission, including video evidence of the four incidents, that occurred respectively in Sagar, Bhopal, Satna and Shajapur districts.

"A number of incidents in various districts of MP have been reported demonstrating the ruling BJP in collusion wih local administration tried to tamper/replace the EVMs used in the districts of Sagar , Bhopal, Satna, Shajapur and districts," the Congress said in the memorandum.

Citing the incident in Sagar where EVMs were transported in a vehicle without a registration number and reaching the collection centre 48 hours after the voting ended in the state, the Congress demanded a probe into all the EVMs to ascertain which authority directed the transport of the EVMs and whether any "foreign chip or any external device or component has been attached to the EVMs".

It also demanded a probe into an EVM strongroom facing blackout in Bhopal on November 30 with CCTVs not working during the blackout.

The EC had earlier admitted that that CCTV cameras and an LED display installed outside the strongroom did not function from 8.19 am to 9.35 am on November 30 due to the failure of electricity supply.

Pointing to two polling officers "found drunk" along with EVMs inside a hotel owned by a Bharatiya Janata Party functionary a day before the polls (Nov 27), the Congress asked for a probe to ascertain if those EVMs were used in the poll process and if yes, whether they have been tampered.

The two officers were subsequently suspended by the EC after a video of the duo with the voting machines went viral on social media.

Regarding the incident in Satna where a strongroom CCTV footage revealed "two people taking cartons inside the highly protected area", the Congress said the "security of the strongroom was compromised to benefit certain persons" and demanded that all the EVMs stored in the room be crosschecked in the presence of representatives of all political parties.

It also sought a detailed investigation as to how unauthorized persons with cartons were permitted to illegally enter the strongroom.--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Hitting back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for blaming the Congress for letting "Kartarpur Sahib go to Pakistan during partition", the party on Tuesday ridiculed Modi for speaking without knowing facts.

Campaigning for Bharatiya Janata Party in poll-bound Rajasthan, Modi accused the Congress of overlooking the sentiments of millions of Sikhs by letting Kartarpur Sahib -- the final resting place of Guru Nanak Dev -- go to Pakistan during partition.

Reacting to Modi's remarks, Congress veteran Kapil Sibal said the Prime Minister has a penchant for distorting facts and misrepresenting them to suit his own interests.

"Has Modi read history? It was because of the Congress that he was born in free India.

"He has a penchant for talking without knowing facts. Two years back while conversing with (Facebook chief Mark) Zuckerberg in California, Modi claimed India to be $8 trillion economy when we currently are just a $2.16 trillion economy," Sibal told the media here.

Sibal also cited Modi's faux pas at the World Economic Forum in Davos, when he claimed that "more than 600 crore voters in India voted for the BJP".

"Modi thinks being the Prime Minister he can say anything and people will believe it. In enthusiasm, people tend to go overboard but when talking about history, one should be aware of facts. Have you ever heard any Prime Minister talking like him," asked Sibal.

The Congress leader also attacked Modi for politicising the 2016 surgical strikes, saying the Prime Minister "should talk about the surgical strikes that his government has inflicted on the masses, farmers, traders and Dalits through its anti-people policies".

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday alleged that the Congress party is trying to stop him from raising "Bharat Mata ki jai' slogan in election rallies.

Addressing a rally here, Modi said the Congress party's "naamdar" (an allusion to Congress President Rahul Gandhi) has issued a "fatwa" against him to stop him from saying "Bharat Mata ki jai".

Modi raised the slogans multiple times before he began his speech.

"Who are they (Congress) to stop the youth of this country from hailing Bharat Mata? Soldiers did surgical strikes (across LoC) saying Bharat Mata ki jai. How dare naamdar stops me from uttering it?" Modi said.

Earlier, addressing an election rally at Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan, Gandhi said Modi shouts "Bharat Mata ki jai" in every rally but it sounds "hollow" coming from him.

He said Modi does not talk about the issues of farmers, women and youth -- who comprise "Bharat Mata" - and only raises slogans.

At Sikar, Modi commented on the ongoing leadership rift in the Congress state unit and said that the party is "dreaming" to win Rajasthan considering it to be a swing state.

"When a mediaperson asked Ashok Gehlot as to who would be the Chief Minister if Congress comes to power, he said 'Kaun banega crorepati'. Do you dream of becoming a crorepati on getting the chief ministership? This shows their real intentions," Modi said.

He further claimed that Congress has been insulting soldiers by asking for proof of the surgical strike.

"The Congress party has humiliated the jawans of this country. Soon after the success of surgical strikes, when the nation was rejoicing, there was a mourning inside the Congress headquarters. While Pakistan came to know of the surgical strikes, those who gave birth to Pakistan failed to believe this accomplishment," he added.

Speaking on One Rank, One pension (OROP) he said the kin of soldiers were demanding OROP for the last 40 years, but no one lent an ear to their demands.

"It was only after our government came to power that we disbursed Rs 600 crore for resolving the OROP issue," he said.

Modi also slammed the Congress on its claims on farm loan waivers.

He expressed his annoyance with a Congress veteran allegedly comparing the Army chief with a "sadak chhaap goonda" (a goon).

He lauded Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's efforts for improving the sex ratio in Sikar and Jhunjhunu.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)is becoming core to adopting digital technologies for enterprises to enhance their customer experiences and mitigate risk, said software major in a research study on Tuesday.

"Enterprises are deploying to enhance customer experiences and mitigate risk. Hence, analytics is becoming core to driving digital transformation," said the city-based company in a research study conducted by its Knowledge Institute.

The study revealed that allied technologies like (AI), (IoT) and Cloud were effective in delivering business outcomes when combined with

Titled "Endless possibilities with data: Navigate from now to your next", the study found that functions across an organisation were benefiting from data.

Finance and accounting, marketing and operations are key functions that leverage data analytics, which also enable new business models and maximize revenue and profits.

Among industry verticals, finance and accounting use analytics the most at 32 per cent, followed by marketing and operations at 20 per cent and 17 per cent.

"In terms of emerging technologies, AI is perceived to deliver better outcomes when combined with analytics at 37 per cent, followed by IoT and Cloud Technologies at 19 per cent and 16 per cent respectively," said the study.

Admitting that enterprises across verticals faced challenges that prevented them from implementing their analytics initiatives fully, the study found lack of expertise in integrating multiple data sets and failure of understanding in deploying the right analysis technology, hampering its early adoption.

"Majority of respondents in the US (32 per cent) and Europe (34 per cent) stated they would like to use analytics for experience enhancement whereas in ANZ (Australia and New Zealand) 31 per cent respondents consider it for risk mitigation.

According to company's data analytics head H C Satish, being data native is core for enterprises to being digital. As enterprises work with limitations of siloed systems, data integration issues, resources and skills and harnessing the data will be essential to navigating their next.

"Revenue and profit maximization through channel and enhancing profitability across processes, channels and stakeholder ecosystems are the analytics priority," said the paper.

The $11-billion outsourcing firm believed the study would help its clients to fast-track their journey into a data-native enterprise by industrializing their analytics capabilities and finally monetise data.

The IT major commissioned market research firm Feedback Business Consulting to study how companies are using data analytics and their expectations.

The study involved interviewing business and technology executives from enterprises with annual revenues over $1 billion and more than 1,000 employees across 12 industry verticals in Australia, Europe, New Zealand and the US.A Delhi court on Tuesday said the trial in the "Two Leaves" symbol bribery case will begin from December 17 after framing charges against sidelined AIADMK leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran.

Dhinakaran appeared before Special Judge Arun Bhardwaj and pleaded not guilty on charges framed against him.

The court listed the matter for December 17 for recording the statements of prosecution witnesses.

On November 17, the court framed charges under Section 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and 201 (destruction of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code and under Section 8 (bribes to influence public servant) of the Prevention of Corruption Act against Dhinakaran.

As Dhinakaran was not present in the courtroom on the last date of hearing, the judge listed the matter for December 5 for recording Dhinakaran's plea on the charges framed against him.

The court has also framed criminal conspiracy and under Section 8 (bribes to influence public servant) of the Prevention of Corruption Act against Dhinakaran's aide Sukesh Chandershekar and two others - T.P. Mallikarjun and B. Kumar - in the case filed and probed by Delhi Police.

The court has discharged five other accused -- Nathu Singh alias Naresh, Lalit Kumar K. Shah, Pulkit Kundra, Jai Vikram Haran and Narender Jain, observing that in the absence of grave suspicion, no charge for conspiracy can be framed against them.

Dhinakaran, now an independent MLA and heading the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK), is accused of having tried to bribe Election Commission officials to get the "Two Leaves" poll symbol for the faction led by his aunt V.K. Sasikala in the wake of the split in the AIADMK following the death of J. Jayalalithaa.

He was arrested on April 25 last year. He was granted bail on June 1, 2017. The bribe amount is said to be of the order of Rs 50 crore.

The Delhi Police on July 14 last year chargesheeted Chandrashekhar for forgery and more.

Later, in December 2017, police filed a supplementary chargesheet in the case naming Dhinakaran, his long-time friend Mallikarjuna, alleged middleman Chandrashekhar and others as accused in the case.

The police said a criminal conspiracy was hatched by persons including Dhinakaran to bribe Election Commission officials.

--IANS

akk/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The national capital's first parking policy, which will restrict free parking in residential and public spaces and will enforce strict fines and criminal proceedings against vehicle owners found in violation of its provisions, has been stuck for more than 10 months, apparently caught in a tussle between the city government and the Lt Governor.

Officials say the file is pending with Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot even after its draft rules, titled Delhi Maintenance and Management of Parking Rules, 2017, were published in January after a nod from both Delhi Lt. Governor Anil Baijal and the minister.

"The policy is pending with the minister since August. It has to go to the LG for notification," an official from the Transport Department told IANS on the condition of anonymity.

The minister, the official said, was not sending the file to the LG "because he claims it is not required" in view of Supreme Court's July 4 verdict stating that the Lt Governor does not have independent decision-making powers and is bound to act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers.

Soon after the verdict, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced that the files of the Delhi government "need not be sent to the LG for approval".

But a Transport Department official said that the officers "cannot issue a gazette notification without the LG's approval" and if the government does not send the file for LG's approval, "it can't be notified" and implemented.

"The parking rules are under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, and the competent authority is the LG. So, the LG's nod is not only important but essential in this case," the official added.

Despite repeated attempts, IANS could not contact Gahlot. His officials did not call back to comment on the development.

According to the notification, issued on January 29, "the said draft will be taken into consideration by the Delhi Government on or after the expiry of 30 days from the date on which copies of the draft rules, publish in Delhi Gazette, are made available to the public".

The 30-day time was given for raising objections or suggestions by the public in the rules to the Secretary-cum-Commissioner (Transport).

The policy, when implemented, will restrict free parking in residential and public spaces and the parking charges will be decided by civic agencies in consultation with the RWAs.

According to the draft rules, there will be an Apex Monitoring Committee, headed by the Delhi Chief Secretary, which will determine the Base Parking Fee (BPF). The committee -- also including Principal Secretary, Urban Development Department, Transport Commissioner, Principal Secretary, Public Works Department, among others -- will meet at least once in three months to ensure and review proper implementation and compliance of the rules.

"No surface parking of duration of more than one hour shall ordinarily be allowed within 500-meter of a multilevel/stack parking. The 500-meter radius of the multi-level facility will be designated as 'no-parking' zone for all streets," the draft rules read, adding that, "in case, some essential on-street parking has to be provided within the 500-meter zone, it will be priced exponentially, at least three times the on-street parking rates".

The policy will also restrict the construction of parking structures in green areas. It will identify roads and spaces for granting permission for overnight parking of Transport Vehicles.

"The parking of vehicles would be permitted during night hours only, upon payment, provided that such roads and spaces will be away from the residential areas and parking should not hinder the smooth flow of traffic. The civic agencies will manage the parking on these notified roads and spaces in an organised manner," it reads.

No night-time parking of heavy and medium Transport Vehicles will be allowed except on the notified roads and spaces, according to the draft rules.

Experts believe that this will improve decongestion of the roads in the national capital.

According to the government data, Delhi, as of January 2017, has more than one crore registered vehicles, which is more than the number of vehicles in other metropolitan cities in India. However, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) and East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) collectively offer space to 72,434 vehicles for parking, out of which 54,982 are surface parking while 17,452 are underground or multilevel parking.

The parking infrastructure to meet the demand of increasing number of private vehicles can be catered only upto a certain limit, according to the draft rule, which also added that several policy approaches were suggested since 2003 by various agencies, however, "a comprehensive policy framework to address this problem could not be evolved".

(Nivedita Singh can be contacted at nivedita.singh@ians.in)

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The family members of two prominent women's rights activists, who were injured in a mob attack in Meghalaya, on Tuesday urged Chief Minister Conrad Sangma to institute a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the incident.

Frontline women's rights activists Agnes Kharshiing and Amita Sangma, fighting against illegal mining and transportation of coal in the state, were brutally attacked after they photographed coal-laden trucks on November 8 at Tuber Sohshrieh area in East Jaintia Hills district.

The National Green Tribunal had ordered an interim ban on "rat-hole" coal mining in Meghalaya from April 17, 2014.

Welcoming the government decision for an independent probe, the family members requested the Chief Minister to allow and facilitate an independent investigation to be conducted by the CBI so as to apprehend and arrest all those miscreants including those who masterminded the attack and who are "indulging in unlawful activities in open connivance with administration authorities".

In their joint letter, the family members blamed the failure of the administration to address the issues of mining that has resulted in criminal and barbaric acts.

"Society has lost faith in a fair investigation or prosecution of the accused persons behind this attack if conducted by the state agencies," said the family members, further reiterating on a time-bound investigation by the CBI.

Home Minister James Sangma Ahad had said that there was no need for a probe by the central agency as the government had instituted an independent fact-finding inquiry.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A photo exhibition detailing the Cuban revolution through political icon Fidel Castro's life was opened by the Cuban envoy Oscar Martinez Cordoves here on Tuesday.

Titled "Fidel and the Foreign Policy of the Cuban Revolution", the exhibition is on view at the India International Centre (IIC) till December 9.

The year marks the 60th anniversary of the trimph of the Cuban revolution (1953-1959), and is only a few days away the Cuban liberation day, which falls on January 1, the ambassador said.

The exhibition has on view 14 posters and over a 100 photographs that summarise the foreign policy of the Cuban revolution through archival photographs and text about the late Cuban leader, who passed away in November 2016.

He governed Cuba as Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976 and then as President from 1976 to 2008.

Also on view is a poster dedicated to the relations between India and Cuba, which shows Castro's photographs with former PM Indira Gandhi and other major political leaders.

The poster in question, also has a photograph of President Ramnath Kovind paying tribute to Castro in front of the late revolutionary's memorial in Cuba.

The exhibition was inaugurated by the Cuban envoy Cordoves, along with IIC Director Air Marshal (retd) Naresh Verma, among the presence of ambassadors of Ethiopia, Dominican Republic, Iran, and Venezuela, among other countries.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Four people have been arrested in connection with the killing of Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and a young man in violence in Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh after cow vigilantes went on a rampage, police said on Tuesday.

The police, however, maintained it would be too early to conclude about the involvement of any organisation in the violence although local officials linked the mayhem to rightwing Hindu groups.

The police said the main conspirator behind Monday's mob violence was Yogesh Raj, who is on the run and is said to be a Bajrang Dal activist.

Additional Director General (Law and Order) Anand Kumar said those arrested were Chaman, Devendra, Ashish Chouhan and Satish, who have been named in the FIR, while the prime suspect was Yogesh Raj.

"Those arrested have been found to be leading the crowd after being identified in a video. About 40-50 others who are unidentified were involved in the incident and police is confident of identifying them with the video evidence," he said.

The official parried questions about the political links of the three key accused who are also said to include an activist each from the BJP and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

"Yes, Yogesh Raj is the main conspirator," he said, adding that he was yet to be arrested.

He said six teams have been formed to probe the incident and an SIT has been constituted to investigate the matter.

On allegations that policemen fled the spot leaving the slain Inspector alone, Kumar said the circumstances in which police personnel left the place would be analysed and till then no action would be taken against anyone.

He said the Inspector was first injured by a stone.

"He fell unconscious and was taken in a vehicle which was attacked by a mob with stones and gunfire," he added. Videos which went viral showed the Inspector dead with a bullet wound near the vehicle and several activists running around in circles.

A .32 bore bullet was found lodged in the head of Subodh Kumar Singh.

Earlier reports said the Inspector was killed when he tried to reason with the Hindutva activists blocking a busy road with carcasses of animals they claimed were of cows.

About the death of the youth, Sumeet, only a probe can reveal whether he was killed in cross-firing or police firing, Kumar said.

He said a bullet had been recovered from the body of Sumit.

The officer said the dead officer being treated as a "martyr" and full state honour was given to him in Meerut in the presence of the police brass.

The body was taken to his village in Etah where he would be cremated with full honours.

In his village, his family broke down on seeing the mortal remains. His wife rued that he had sought leave but it was not granted. If he had been given leave, he would have been alive, she said.

His two teenage sons paid glowing tributes to their father, saying he never discriminated people on the basis of religion.

The officer's elder son Shreya is studying MBA while his younger son Abhishek is a student of engineering.

The uncle of the dead Inspector said the family won't accept the compensation of Rs 40 lakh announced by the government and instead wanted the presence of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in the village.

The government has formed a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the violence, the circumstances leading to it and to identify the people and groups involved.

Meanwhile, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati blamed the state government for the violence in Bulandshahr, saying the "lawlessness" in the state was a result of its "faulty and wrong policies".

In a statement, the four-time Chief Minister said that government was now faced with the same mobocracy it inculcated to make political gains over the past many years.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe on Tuesday announced a six-month suspension of a plan to introduce a fuel tax hike which has led to weeks of violent protests.

The tax on petrol and diesel, due to increase next month in a move towards cleaner fuels, sparked protests that quickly escalated to reflect a range of grievances including the marginalization of rural areas, high living costs and general anger at President Emmanuel Macron's economic policies.

The demonstrations hit major French cities causing damage for the past three weekends. Three people died since the unrest began and resulted in violence and vandalism as statues were smashed at the Arc de Triomphe.

Philippe said that people's anger must be heard and the measures would not be applied until there had been proper debate with those affected, the BBC reported.

He said the six-month suspension would be applied to fuel tax increases as well as hikes in electricity and gas prices and strict vehicle emissions controls.

Philippe had earlier sought a compromise with the protesters, but they called off talks citing death threats from extremists in their ranks.

His announcement came in a TV address after he met MPs from the ruling party, La Republique en Marche, to discuss a response to rioting, looting and destruction in Paris amid the "gilets jaunes" (yellow vests) movement.

The movement is called "yellow vests" because the protesters took to the streets wearing the high-visibility yellow clothing that is required to be carried in every vehicle by French law.

"The French people who have put on yellow vests love their country," said the Prime Minister. "We share those values."

But he said the violence must stop.

"The main role of the state is to guarantee public order but we must fight against anything that endangers the unity of the nation," he said, adding that any future demonstrations should be declared officially and carried out peacefully.

The protest movement earlier broadened its demands to include Macron's resignation and the dissolution of the French Parliament.

Macron repeatedly vowed not to give in to street rule but was forced to reconsider after the worst violence in Paris in half a century. He accused his political opponents of hijacking the movement in order to block the reforms.

Nearly 300,000 people took part in the first countrywide demonstration. There were more than 106,000 a week later and 136,000 people last Saturday.

Macron had postponed a two-day visit to Serbia this week to deal with the crisis.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The gem and jewellery sector, hit by cash flow and facing hurdles in financing, is expecting that the growth in exports will be flat in dollar term by end of the current fiscal, an official said on Tuesday.

The industry is betting on the Christmas sales in the US to push up the exports.

"We are facing some challenges in financing. We are sorting out with the government and banks. Risk profile of our sector has increased and advancing to the sector is based on the profile. Banks are putting certain regulations and asking more collateral," Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) Executive Director Sabyasachi Ray said here.

"Collateral is around 20-25 per cent of total limit and we are ready to move it up to another 10-15 per cent depending on the scenario," he said.

Banks' exposure in the sector is around Rs 60,000 crore and cash flow still remained an issue, the council's Chairman, Pramod Kumar Agarwal, told the media after the inauguration of the first ever India Jewellery Buyer Seller meet.

Last year, total gem and jewellery exports stood at around $41 billion and during April-October period of the current fiscal the gross exports were down by 1.48 per cent in dollar term.

"Maybe in rupee term, we may clock growth. But in dollar term, exports are expected to be flat," Ray said. "Early indications are positive in terms of sales in the US and the industry is looking for Christmas sales in the US."

Devaluation of the rupee has also hit exporters in terms of credit limit.

"Credit limit is in rupee term. With the devaluation, every limit has gone down proportionately. This is a challenge that we are facing," Ray said.

Agarwal also said the council also wanted the government to reduce the duty on diamonds.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The casket bearing the remains of former President George H.W. Bush arrived at the Capitol on Monday shortly after being transported to Andrews Air Base on the outskirts of Washington.

The public will be able to pay their respects to the late president in the coming days as his body lies in state in the Capitol Rotunda, Efe reported.

A few minutes before 5 p.m., the casket arrived at the Capitol, where it was received by a committee comprised of the leaders of the House of Representatives and the Senate, both Democrats and Republicans, and headed by Bush's oldest son, former President George W. Bush.

The jet transporting the coffin landed shortly before 3:30 p.m. at Andrews, where it was received by air force and special forces personnel.

At the Capitol, the remains of the 41st president will lie in state and the public may pay their respects from 7:30 p.m. on Monday until 7 a.m. on Wednesday, after which a formal funeral ceremony for the former US leader will be held in the nation's capital.

Attending the funeral will be President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump, along with other former leaders and outstanding figures in US public life, including members of the Cabinet and the Supreme Court.

Afterwards, Bush's coffin will be transported to Houston, where his family members will be able to say their last goodbyes before he is interred at his presidential library in College Station, Texas, where his wife Barbara, who died in April, is buried.

On Thursday morning, a private funeral ceremony will be held at Houston's St. Martin's Episcopal Church, which Bush and his wife regularly attended.

The patriarch of the Bush family served as a fighter pilot during World War II, later being elected to Congress, serving as UN ambassador, CIA director, vice president under Ronald Reagan between 1981 and 1989 and finally being elected president and serving for one term from 1989-1993 during which time he presided over the end of the Cold War and launched the Gulf War to drive invading Iraqi forces under dictator Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Former US President George W. Bush is set to eulogise his late father, George H.W. Bush, at the Washington National Cathedral on Wednesday, the most high-profile event in a week of proceedings that will remember the remarkable life of the former leader who died last week.

George H.W. Bush will also be eulogised by former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, former US Senator and close friend Alan Simpson and historian Jon Meacham, the late President's biographer.

President Donald Trump will not speak at the funeral, informed sources told CNN on Monday, but has said that he will attend a memorial later on Wednesday.

Despite the fact that Trump's rise to power included lambasting former Presidents, including both Bushes, the President has responded to Bush Sr's death with repeated laudatory comments.

Trump will pay a condolence call to the Bush family on Tuesday at Blair House, according to the sources, a government house across the street from the White House.

Besides Trump, all other living Presidents -- Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter -- are expected to attend the funeral.

The casket bearing the late leader's remains arrived at the Capitol on Monday shortly after being transported to Andrews Air Base on the outskirts of Washington.

Bush will lie in state until Wednesday morning when his casket will then be transported to the National Cathedral for the first of two funeral services.

The German government press service announced on Monday that Chancellor Angela Merkel will fly to Washington D.C., to take part in the memorial service for the late President, who oversaw the end of the Cold War and the reunification of Germany.

On Thursday, Bush's casket will travel back to Houston, where he will be memorialised at St. Martin's Episcopal Church and eulogised by his grandson, Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, and former Secretary of State James Baker, a man who has been by Bush Sr's side since he failed 1970 Senate campaign in Texas.

The former President passed away in Houston on the night of November 30 at the age of 94.

The patriarch of the Bush family served as a fighter pilot during World War II, later being elected to Congress, serving as UN Ambassador, CIA Director, Vice President under Ronald Reagan between 1981 and 1989 and finally being elected President and serving for one term from 1989-1993 during which time he presided over the end of the Cold War and launched the Gulf War to drive invading Iraqi forces out of Kuwait.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Google on Tuesday announced eSIM wireless service on its Pixel 3 smartphone with Reliance Jio and Airtel telecom carriers in India.

Google was the first smartphone vendor to support built-in eSIMs with its Project Fi -- now called Google Fi -- network last year.

"Sprint in the US, EE in the UK, Airtel and Reliance Jio in India, and Truphone and Gigsky in various countries will also roll out eSIM support for Pixel 3 in the coming months," Kerrie Lenhart Hogan, Director, Partnerships at Google, said in a statement.

"If you're in Germany, look out for the ability to purchase Pixel 3 with eSIM functionality from Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone soon."

Pixel 2 was the first major smartphone with eSIM -- an embedded SIM that lets you instantly connect to a carrier network with the tap of a button.

With eSIM, users can connect across devices in the Google ecosystem -- from Android smartphones to Chromebooks to Wear OS smartwatches.

"To enable a consistent and simple experience across the ecosystem, we're also creating a programme that allows Android device makers to build eSIM-capable smartphones," said Google.

Launched in October, "Pixel 3" costs Rs 71,000 for the 64GB variant in India and up to Rs 80,000 for the 128GB storage variant.

The "Pixel 3 XL" is available at Rs 83,000 for the 64GB variant and up to Rs 92,000 for the 128GB model.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday voiced its unhappiness over the manner in which Telangana Police arrested state Congress working President Revanth Reddy from his house in the dead of night.

The court asked the state government what was the need for taking the Congress leader into custody. It heard thrice the habeas corpus petition filed by Congress leader V. Narender Reddy and in the evening summoned Advocate General to record his statement.

Advocate General B.S. Prasad sought time till Wednesday to submit evidence to justify Revanth's arrest.

Earlier, the police submitted to the court that they took him into custody as his call for a shutdown in Kodangal to protest Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao's visit could have created law and order problems.

The court observed that there was nothing wrong in Revanth calling for a shutdown and asked police to provide evidence to justify its action.

Revanth was arrested from his residence at 3 a.m ahead of KCR's election rally at Kosgi in Kodangal constituency, which was represented by the Congress leader in the dissolved Assembly.

After KCR's rally in the evening, police released Revanth Reddy. The Congress leader alleged that the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) had hatched a plan to create disturbances in Kodangal in the next 48 hours. He claimed that KCR was using police to suppress the opposition and using money to influence the voters.

Revanth had called for a shutdown in Kodangal to protest against police raids at his house last week.

The Election Commission had also issued a notice to Reddy over his threat. A police officer said a case was booked against Revanth Reddy on a complaint by the Electoral Officer.

The Congress party strongly condemned the arrest of its leader and lodged a complaint with the Election Commission. It said with just a day for the campaigning to come to an end, their leader was denied an opportunity to campaign.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi tweeted that Revanth's arrest is a proof of KCR's autocratic rule. In the comments in Telugu on his Twitter handle, the Congress leader said the arrest cannot stop the Congress' march. He further wrote that the time has come for the end of anti-people rule of TRS.

Senior Congress leader S. Jaipal Reddy condemned the manner in which police arrested Revanth. He said the fear of election defeat has gripped KCR.

State's Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumar, however, denied the allegations that they are biased. He said they treat all political parties equally.

Elections to the 119-member Telangana Assembly are scheduled for December 7.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Actress Hera Hilmar was finalised for "Mortal Engines" with just her audition tape, says writer Philippa Boye.

Hilmar will be seen as the protagonist Hester Shaw in the film.

"The audition tape was so strong that after a Skype call with Hilmar we cast her without meeting her in-person," writer Philippa Boyens said in a statement to IANS.

"Hera reminds me of Ingrid Bergman, a classic beauty and an old soul with a calmness about her-absolutely perfect for the role of Hester," Boyens added.

Director Christian Rivers also praised Hilmar.

"She was just perfect, relatively unknown, captivating, beautiful and fragile, and we knew we could put a scar on her," Rivers said.

Peter Jacksons' "Mortal Engines" will release in India on December 7, a week before its US release.

Based on Philip Reeve's book by the same name, "Mortal Engines" is set in a steampunk world where entire cities have been mounted on wheels and prey on one another. It depicts a world of predator cities existing thousands of years after current civilization has been destroyed by a cataclysmic event.

Universal Pictures International India is bringing the film to India. It will release in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)India and China have reviewed progress in the bilateral ties and discussed ways to strengthen them as Indian envoy Vikram Misri met Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou here.

Both of them took stock of positive developments since the Wuhan informal summit and exchanged views on further strengthening of India-China relations, the Indian embassy in Beijing said in a statement.

New Delhi-Beijing ties have been on the upswing after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Wuhan last April.

Meanwhile, a report in the Japanese media said that Xi might travel to India before the upcoming general elections to meet Modi in a Wuhan-like format.

The Nikkei Asian Review said in the report: "Xi intends to visit India as early as February in a move seen at countering Washington's increasingly antagonistic trade policy and aggressive Indo-Pacific

"Xi hopes to visit ahead of India's general elections due by May. An Indian source said the visit would be in February at the earliest, but a Chinese source said it will be after China's National People's Congress in March."

When contacted by IANS, a diplomatic source denied knowledge of such a meet.

Another official pleaded ignorance about the matter.

Earlier, a source told IANS that trade will be a major focus in the bilateral ties with New Delhi pushing for more access to Chinese markets.

Indian has a $57 billion trade deficit with China, which is its largest trade partner.

Although the festering border dispute is a key irritant between the two nations, China and India have pledged not to let it affect other aspects of their ties.

(Gaurav Sharma can be contacted at sharmagaurav71@gmail.com)

--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.)India and the UAE on Tuesday reviewed their entire gamut of bilateral ties during their 12th Joint Commission meeting here and signed two agreements, including one on development cooperation in Africa.

In the meeting, co-chaired by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and United Arab Emirates (UAE) Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, both sides reviewed the entire scope of bilateral ties and took stock of the developments in the region.

"Both ministers expressed satisfaction that our bilateral relation has gone from strength to strength over the last few years," said T.S. Tirumurti, Secretary (Economic Relations) in the External Affairs Ministry, following the meeting.

"They discussed several areas of mutual interest, including defence and security, counter-terrorism, trade, economic and investment relations, energy, science and technology, including space, cooperation in railways, civil aviation, food security, agriculture, education, capacity and skill development, Indian community and their welfare, youth, labour issues, cultural links and consular and extradition matter," Tirumurti said.

Both ministers also witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for development cooperation in Africa.

"In a significant development, an MoU on development cooperation in Africa was also signed as a symbol of South-South cooperation," Tirumurti said.

"The first project is expected to be taken up in Ethiopia in coordination and consultation with the Ethiopian government."

Another agreement on Indian rupee/UAE dirham currency swap between the UAE Central Bank and the Reserve Bank of India was also exchanged in the presence of the two ministers.

With nearly $50 billion bilateral trade, the two countries are one of the largest trade partners for each other and have made robust investments bilaterally.

The UAE is the sixth-largest source of India's oil imports and hosts a 3.3 million-strong Indian Community.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Sheikh Abdullah and Sushma Swaraj, accompanied by Noura bint Mohammed Al Kaabi, the UAE's Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, attended the unveiling of the plans for the Zayed-Gandhi Digital Exhibition at Manarat Al Saadiyat here, WAM news agency reported.

Scheduled to open its doors to the public in March 2019, the exhibition is being organised by the Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development in cooperation with the Mahatma Gandhi Digital Museums and is the first joint digital exhibition between India and the UAE.

It will mark the celebrations of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and centenary celebrations of the birth of Shaikh Zayed, founder of the modern UAE.

Sheikh Abdullah said that the Zayed-Gandhi Digital Exhibition would contribute to conveying the philosophy of the two world leaders to the future generations, enabling them to learn about their lives, achievements and deeds.

Sushma Swaraj said that the enunciation of peace, tolerance and sustainable living by Mahatma Gandhi and the UAE's founder Sheikh Zayed has been portrayed beautifully at the Gandhi Zayed Digital Exhibition.

"Both leaders with their love for humanity and indomitable spirit continue to inspire us," she said.

Nooura Al Kaabi said that the exhibition is designed in a way that goes beyond the concept of a traditional exhibition.

"It is a cultural forum that promotes cultural exchanges and dialogue among peoples and takes visitors on a journey entitled aLove, the Nation, and Wise Leadership, through the values of Peace, Tolerance and Fraternity'," Al Kaabi said.

She stressed that the exhibition is an opportunity to meet the two exceptional leaders through interactive content, photographs and videos representing their lives, which stand testimony to their achievements.

Sushma Swaraj also called on Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

"Both expressed satisfaction at the pace of our bilateral relations in a range of areas, attesting to our comprehensive strategic partnership," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted following the meeting.

Later, Sushma Swaraj also addressed members of the Indian community and appreciated their role in enhancing India-UAE ties.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Indian maritime forces on Tuesday was celebrated for their role in the 1971 India-Pakistan War as leaders from across party lines hailed its men and women on Indian Navy Day.

President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were among the firsts on Twitter to pay their tributes to the naval force.

"On Navy Day, my good wishes to all men and women of the Indian Navy. Nation is proud of your commitment to protecting our maritime frontiers, securing our trade routes, and providing assistance in times of humanitarian emergencies," their Commander-in-Chief tweeted.

"Navy Day greetings to all valorous personnel of the Indian Navy and their families. India is grateful to our Navy for protecting the nation and the commendable role the Navy plays during disaster relief," Modi said.

In the attack in 1971, the Indian Navy sank four Pakistani vessels and ravaged the Karachi harbour fuel fields killing over 500 Pakistani Navy personnel.

Three missile boats of the Indian Navy, INS Nipat, INS Nirghat, and INS Veer played a pivotal role in the attack. Navy Day is celebrated annually on December 4 every year to honour that maritime operation.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said Navy Day "serves as a reminder to our enemies, of our strength and valour when the hour beckons".

"Navy Day is celebrated to honour the victorious, martyrs and veterans of the Indian Navy. This day also serves as a reminder to our enemies, of our strength and valour when the hour beckons. My best wishes to all ranks of the Indian Navy. Jai Hind," he tweeted.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Minister of Railways and Coal Piyush Goyal and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also paid their tributes to the Navy.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Expecting high returns, Indians have invested hugely in Dubai realty in the first nine months of 2018, making them the largest chunk of all foreign investors in the sector, according to the latest statistics of the Department of Real Estate Studies & Research, Dubai Land Department (DLD), said a spokesperson on Tuesday.

Eyeing profits, Indian nationals have already poured a staggering Rs 16,800 crore in various realty projects in the emirate, which is also a global financial centre.

In fact, the DLD said Indian buyers have been consistently the highest foreign investors in the emirate's realty sector given its strategic location, high investment and rental yields, capital appreciation and regulations making it an attractive proposition.

"We expected these numbers to pick up further at the upcoming DLD's annual 4th Dubai Property Show (DPS) coming up in Mumbai from Dec 7-9. It will showcase exclusive Dubai real estate options with participation of renowned developers such as Nakheel, Falconcity of Wonders, Sobha Realty, Geminit Property and others," said the spokesperson.

On offer will be budget to luxury apartments, villas to beach properties, furnished homes and commercial properties. It will bring together Dubai's real estate experts, developers and consultants under a single roof for interaction with potential Indian investors.

Globally, the Mumbai event will the 10th edition of the exhibition which has travelled to London and China this year, said DPS General Manager Himanshu Gupta.

He said Indians have been living in Dubai for decades and contributed immensely to the business and economic growth of that country, with great optimism for the future.

Moreover, for Indian investors, Dubai is like a home-away-from-home given its familiar environment, close proximity to India, fantastic growth opportunities and increasing trust in the systems, Gupta added.

The DPS, to be held at the MMRDA Grounds in Bandra Kurla Complex, will have seminars, upcoming investment hot-spots, financing options, legal advice pertaining to existing and new UAE real estate laws.

Dubai is the largest and most populated city in the UAE, with a population comprises over 43 per cent Indians. It is ranked among the safest metros in the world.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Israel on Tuesday launched a military operation to destroy tunnels infiltrating its territory from Lebanon which were allegedly dug by the Hezbollah.

"We have just launched Operation Northern Shield to expose and neutralize cross-border attack tunnels dug by Hezbollah from Lebanon to Israel," the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) tweeted.

After the war with Lebanon in 2006, Hezbollah began developing extensive underground infrastructure and in 2012 launched operation 'Conquering the Galilee', IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus said.

Two years later, Israel detected that the group had shared information with Hamas - the Palestinian Islamist movement that governs Gaza - which also developed a powerful underground infrastructure at the border of the Gaza Strip with Israel and Egypt.

Israel then put together a joint force with the Northern Command, Israeli Combat Engineering Corps, Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure and the Military Intelligence to detect threats from the attack tunnels at the Lebanon border called the 'blue line'.

Conricus added that the tunnels represent a clear violation of Israel's sovereignty and demonstrate Hezbollah's indifference to the UN resolutions.

While the tunnels infiltrated Israeli territory, they were discovered before becoming operational and posed no imminent threat to the Israeli civilian population.

The tunnels were another example of Iran's "entrenchment" in the region, the spokesperson said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Rapper Kanye West was caught on camera 'stealing' an earring from a Versace fashion show.

The rapper and his wife Kim Kardashian West were sitting in the front row at the label's New York pre-fall fashion show December 2 when he noticed the piece of jewellery on the catwalk. Kanye decided to use the opportunity to claim it for himself, and was caught on camera by Kim, reports aceshowbiz.com.

"I'm about to steal this earring that dropped, it's just there," the 41-year-old said in the video uploaded to Kim's Instagram Story.

"They think they getting this back but I'm about to steal this," Kanye added.

Kim was wearing a silver sequinned minidress by Donatella Versace's brand, while Kanye wore a smart navy coat layered over a pair of tracksuit bottoms, and finished the look with a pair of his Yeezy trainers. The mother-of-three has yet to reveal whether her husband ever did return the earring.

--IANS

dc/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Paul Manafort, US President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman who awaits sentencing for lying to federal investigators in breach of a plea agreement, flew to Ecuador to help negotiate a deal for the handover of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to Washington, a media report said.

The New York Times report on Monday said that Manafort made the trip mainly to see if he could broker a deal under which China would invest in Ecuador's power system.

But the talks instead turned to a diplomatic point between the US and Ecuador: the fate of the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

In at least two meetings with Manafort, Ecuadorian Presidenr Lenin Moreno and his aides discussed their desire to rid themselves of Assange, who has been holed up in the country's Embassy in London since 2012, in exchange for concessions like debt relief from the US, informed sources told The Times.

They said Manafort suggested he could help negotiate a deal for the handover of Assange to the US, which has long investigated him for the disclosure of secret documents.

Within a couple of days of Manafort's final meeting in Quito, Robert Mueller was appointed as the Special Counsel to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 election and related matters, and it quickly became clear that Manafort was a primary target.

His talks with Ecuador ended without any deals.

According to the sources, there was no evidence that Manafort was working with or even briefing Trump or other administration officials on his discussions with the Ecuadoreans about Assange.

Manafort and WikiLeaks have both denied a recent report in The Guardian that the former campaign chairman visited Assange at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London in 2013, 2015 and 2016.

In response to the development, Jason Maloni, a spokesman for Manafort, said that it was Moreno who broached the issue of Assange and "his desire to remove Julian Assange from Ecuador's embassy".

Manafort "listened but made no promises as this was ancillary to the purpose of the meeting", said Maloni.

Manafort will tentatively face sentencing on March 5, a federal judge ruled last week.

The ruling came days after Mueller accused Manafort of repeatedly lying to federal investigators, breaching his plea deal he signed in September.

He is currently in jail in Alexandria, Virginia.

--IANS

ksk

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)While the global community displayed an unprecedented speed in ratifying the Paris Agreement, the same is not visible in meeting the climate finance obligations, an Indian discussion paper released at COP24 in Poland said.

From failure to meet commitments by developed countries and deviations in definition of climate finance to issues related to reporting and tracking of climate finance were some of the issues highlighted by the paper drafted by the Finance Ministry.

The paper, which examines the scope, scale and speed required in climate finance, said: "The present scope, scale and speed of climate finance are not only insufficient but also not even being discussed properly."

It added: "Though a quarter of a century has passed, climate finance discussions still lack a precise and adequate system of accounting modalities for financial resources."

The discussion paper prepared by the Climate Change Finance Unit, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance analysed the post-Paris Agreement developments, seriousness of discourse in the international climate finance arena, and the scope, scale and speed needed.

The paper, however, had a disclaimer saying it does not necessarily reflect the views of the Indian government.

On the scale of investment, the paper said the $100 billion quantitative commitment by developed countries at Copenhagen in 2009 "is a meagre amount in size in contrast to the actual needs assessed for developing countries in trillions of dollars".

"We have to be much more serious in this business. Climate finance targets need to be set high in order for climate justice to be delivered for poorer countries and future generations."

The paper finds serious concerns with the various numbers on climate finance reported by the developed countries. Definitions of climate change finance used in various reports were not consistent with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) provisions, it said.

"Methodologies used were also questionable," it added.

The highly critical paper said: "The global community displayed an unprecedented speed in ratifying the Paris Agreement. Meeting the climate finance obligations also deserves the same momentum."

--IANS

ravi-mgu/nir

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)No Central or state ministers will not be allowed to enter the counting centres in Madhya Pradesh on December 11, when the counting will take place in the state, said a top election official on Tuesday.

According to an announcement from the state's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO)'s office, the ministers will be allowed entry in the counting centres for those Assembly constituencies only from where are contesting the polls.

Citing the Election Commission directive in this regard, the CEO's office said the security personnel of the ministers will also not be allowed inside the voting centres.

Also, since the ministers have their armed security personnel with them, they will not be nominated as an election agent or calculation agent for any candidate.

The state went to polls on November 28 and the counting of votes will take place on December 11.

--IANS

hindi-mag/nir

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday alleged that the Congress party was trying to stop him from raising 'Bharat mata ki jai slogan in election rallies.

Addressing a rally here, Modi said that the Congress party's "naamdar" (an allusion to Congress President Rahul Gandhi) had issued a "fatwa" against him to stop him from saying 'Bharat mata ki jai'.

Modi raised the slogans multiple times before he began his speech.

"Who are they (Congress) to stop the youth of this country from hailing Bharat mata? This is a slogan jawans raise while conducting surgical strikes (across LoC)," Modi said.

He claimed that some senior Congress leaders stop people from raising such slogans in their meetings and instead ask people to say 'Sonia Gandhi ki jai'.

Rajasthan is due to vote for a new Assembly on December 7.

Earlier, addressing an election rally at Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan, Rahul Gandhi said Modi shouts "Bharat mata ki jai' in every rally but it sounds "hollow" coming from him.

He said Modi did not talk about issues of farmers, women and youth -- who comprise 'Bharat mata' - and only raised slogans.

--IANS

mak/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A former Indian American White House official has been recruited by Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal as her Chief of Staff.

Gautam Raghavan used to be the White House liaison to the LGBTQ community as well as the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community during former President Barack Obama's time.

He has also been the founding Executive Director of Indian American Impact Project and Fund that supports Indian Americans in politics. He has also served as the White House Liaison and Deputy White House Liaison in the Department of Defence.

The move was announced on Monday, the US media reported.

A first-generation immigrant, Raghavan was born in India, raised in Seattle area and graduated from Stanford University.

Under Obama, Raghavan also managed White House and inter-agency policy working groups and directed the administration's roll out and implementation of landmark accomplishments including the executive order prohibiting LGBTQ discrimination in federal contracting and marriage equality among other things.

"It's a whole new part of government, and I'm obviously excited to work with Congresswoman Jayapal. I've known her practically my whole life, being from Seattle, Washington," Raghavan told News India Times, a community newspaper.

"I have watched her establish herself as a bold, national presence, right from 9/11. She is certainly a very visible presence. She is not afraid to speak up," Raghavan said.

Jayapal is the first Indian-American woman in the US House of Representatives. She has been a longtime immigrationrights leader and founded Hate Free Zone -- later renamed OneAmerica -- dedicated to advocacy work including registering new immigrants to vote and lobbying for immigration reform.

--IANS

soni/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Delegates to the annual Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) jamboree, being held this time in Varanasi, will get to participate in the Ardh Kumbh Mela here, with Indian Railways drawing up plans for a special train that will also give participants a chance to relish the best of local cuisine.

The PBD event, which culminates every year on January 9 - marking the day Mahatma Gandhi arrived from South Africa in 1915 - has been shifted to January 21-23 this time to give delegates a chance to participate in the Ardh Kumbh (beginning on January 15) and Republic Day (January 26).

The Railways is making elaborate arrangements to carry the delegates -- who will arrive here from Varanasi for the Kumbh -- by special trains to the national capital in time for the Republic Day parade.

The visit of the delegates to the Sangam from Varanasi for a holy dip assumes significance as the annual convention of overseas Indians is being held in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency in an election year.

The Railways has earmarked at least four special AC trains for the 3,000 to 4,000 delegates who are expected to participate in the 15th edition of three-day global meet that is being held for the first time in the holy city of Varanasi.

Comprising mostly nonresident Indians (NRIs) and people of Indian origin (PIOs), the participants will take a dip at the confluence of the Ganga-Yamuna and the mythical Sarswati rivers -- a first-of-its-kind holy treat for the Indian They will also see bare-bodied Naga Sadhus smeared with ash, the joyous evening prayer (aarti) and experience the massive crowds the Kumbh attracts.

The Kumbh, which runs from January 15 to March 4, is expected to attract close to 120 million people this time - the equivalent of twice the population of Britain.

The national transporter on its part is making ready four AC specials to ferry PBD delegates on the evening of January 24, each leaving at intervals of 30 minutes to an hour.

According to the Railways, keeping the VIP guests' food habits in mind, IRCTC, the Railways' catering arm, will offer specially-made dishes onboard to make the train journey a pleasant experience for the visitors.

"The local cuisine, which includes kachori sabzi, aloo puree and sweets like Patisha, will be on offer for the delegates. While good quality tea and coffee will be served, there will also be continental, Chinese and tandoori food on offer for dinner.

Though the aim of the PBD is to attract investments and encourage the Indian to be part of India's "growth story", it is unclear how much investments these NRIs and PIOs have brought to the country since the PBD began more than a decade ago.

(Arun Kumar Das can be contacted at akdas2005@gmail.com)

--IANS

arundas/sac

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)President Ram Nath Kovind will pay a five-day visit to Myanmar from December 10 where he will interact with his Myanmar counterpart U Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, it was announced on Tuesday.

"Through this visit, the President will reaffirm India's commitment to developing its important partnership with Myanmar," the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

"This is a country where India's Act East and Neighbourhood First policies intersect; it is also the only Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member state that is both a land and maritime neighbour of India," it stated.

India has been increasing its engagements with Southeast Asia under New Delhi's Act East Policy.

India is also a key development aid partner of Myanmar and is working on some major infrastructure projects in that country, including the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway and the Kaladan multimodal transport project connecting Sittwe port with Mizoram.

"In the past three years, political, economic and defence ties with Myanmar have grown rapidly," the Ministry statement said.

It stated that Kovind's visit was expected to maintain the momentum generated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Myanmar in September 2017 and the visit of Suu Kyi to New Delhi in January 2018 for the India-Asean Commemorative Summit.

A joint statement will be issued during the visit and several agreements will be signed.

--IANS

ab/mag/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Preservation of cultural heritage is a promising sector and promoting cultural links is a priority for the strategic EU-India partnership, EU Ambassador to India Tomasz Kozlowski said on the sidelines of a two-day conference that seeks to strengthen EU-India collaboration in the fields of culture and heritage.

Organised by the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to India and the embassies of EU member states, the conference on "EU-India Partnership for Cultural Heritage Conservation" is being hosted by the National Museum Institute of Art, Conservation and Museology here on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Slated are discussions between 32 experts on cultural heritage and its relationship with socio-economic development, climate change, urban planning, conservation of monuments, technology and digitisation for accessibility, and mobility of students and researchers across borders.

"While building our partnership with different sectors, cultural heritage preservation is one of the most promising sectors. That's why we decided to bring experts from both sides and discuss it sector by sector. We don't have a roadmap as such, but we have good intentions, we have a fora for discussion and let's wait for recommendations from our experts.

"We're not starting from scratch. There have been cultural exchanges (between EU and India) for years and decades," Kozlowski told IANS.

"When European and Indian leaders met in October, 2017 in New Delhi, they designed a very forward looking, long-term vision for EU-India partnership, and said that EU and India are natural partners. The focus is very much on developing cooperation, based on common values and common principles, in fields like trade, investments, economic cooperation, climate change.

"But of course, to make our partnership more stable and sustainable, we thought it was very important to develop cultural links, people to people contact, through different means including through mobility of researchers, mobility of students, cooperation in cultural heritage preservation," he told reporters here.

Promoting cultural links between European regions and India is one of our priorities of EU-India strategic partnership, he added.

Adding the key figure of "4.2 per cent of European GDP being produced by culture and other creative sectors of the economy", the Ambassador said it not only helps in the cultural preservation but also becomes an integral part of our socio-economic development.

The envoy also referred to two culture-based development projects in Gujarat's Ahmedabad and West Bengal that served as examples for the EU-India partnership in the realm of culture.

Among a discussion on EU-India relations and the tangible and intangible aspects of diverse cultures, the conference was set in motion by Kozlowski, Culture Ministry Joint Secretary Nirupama Kotru and National Museum Director General B.R. Mani on Tuesday.

The conference marks in India the conclusion of the celebrations of the 2018 as the European year of Cultural Heritage, the objective of which has been to further cultural heritage as a bridge builder between the EU and its key partner countries, EU said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A court in Ayodhya on Tuesday sent sadhu, Paramhans, to 14-day judicial custody, officials said. He had threatened to set himself ablaze on December 6, the anniversary of the Babri mosque demolition, if the date for construction of Ram temple was not announced, police said.

Paramhans was picked up by the police in the morning and presented before the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court.

He had gone on an indefinite fast unto death last month too, but was persuaded to end it. But not before he was taken away by the police and admitted to the Sanjay Gandhi Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI). The Chief Minister had ended his fast by offering him juice.

This time, sources said, intelligence inputs forewarned the state government that the seer could pose a serious threat to peace in the temple town.

--IANS

md/prs

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Indian equity market snapped its six-day gaining streak on Tuesday amid caution ahead of the RBI's monetary policy announcement.

Investors were also cautious due to the ongoing state Assembly elections and expectations of a reduction in oil supply by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) at its meeting due on December 6.

The market closed with the S&P BSE Sensex shedding 107 points, after trading in a short range during most of the day's trade.

"Investors remained cautious ahead of the outcome of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) monetary policy meeting. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will conclude its two-day meeting on Wednesday," said Abhijeet Dey, Senior Fund Manager-Equities, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund.

"We understand that this time no change in rates is widely expected as the central bank would like to patiently watch," said Mustafa Nadeem, CEO, Epic Research.

Finance and banking stocks on the BSE traded over 0.50 per cent lower, while selling pressure was witnessed in telecom, auto and FMCG stocks.

In contrast, buying was seen on the S&P BSE IT index, which gained over 1 per cent. Oil and gas stocks also ended higher.

The Sensex settled lower 0.29 per cent, or 106.69 points, at 36,134.31, from its previous close of 36,241. It touched an intra-day high of 36,295.84 and a low of 36,036.39.

The Nifty50 lost 14.25 points or 0.13 per cent to close the session at 10,869.50.

However, in the broader markets, the BSE small-cap index closed in the green gaining 0.14 per cent, while BSE mid-cap traded lower by 0.07 per cent.

The crude oil prices surged on Tuesday on expectations of supply cuts by OPEC, the group of 15 of the world's top oil producers, which could further drive the prices up. The benchmark Brent Crude was trading higher at $63.19 a barrel when the markets closed.

The rupee closed at Rs 70.49 to a US dollar from its previous close of 70.45.

"Technically, the Nifty is consolidating in a tight range after the rally seen last week. Further upsides are likely once the immediate resistances of 10,903-10,941 are taken out.

"Crucial supports to watch for any weakness are at 10,845-10,833," said Deepak Jasani, head of HDFC Securities.

Provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors sold stocks worth Rs 55.89 crore on Tuesday while domestic institutional investors sold Rs 521.38 crore of shares.

Top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC, up 2.52 per cent at Rs 146.20; Infosys, up 2.18 per cent at Rs 684.45; Wipro, up 1.92 per cent at Rs 334.50; Vedanta, up 1.53 per cent at Rs 206.15; and Power Grid, up 1.38 per cent at Rs 187 per share.

The laggards were led by Sun Pharma, which lost 2.75 per cent, reflecting the concerns among the investors over the probe by the market regulator SEBI on charges of insider trading. It lost over 7 per cent on Monday.

It was followed by Mahindra and Mahindra, down 2.36 per cent at Rs 742.30; HDFC, down 1.92 per cent at Rs 1,939.20; and State Bank of India, down 1.64 per cent at Rs 282.30, and NTPC, down 1.41 per cent at Rs 143.05 per share.

--IANS

ravi/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Actress Taapsee Pannu says she is excited to take her films "Mulk" and "Manmarziyaan" to the festival audiences in Marrakesh and Florence.

Taapsee tweeted on Monday night: "After whirlwind like crazy weeks I am finally off to a work holiday. While I show my two beautiful gems of this year, 'Mulk' and 'Manmarziyaan' to the festival audience, I shall enjoy visiting the unticked cities of Marrakesh and Florence in my bucket list."

While "Mulk" is about a Muslim family trying to reclaim its lost honour, "Manmarziyaan" is a love story set in Punjab.

Taapsee will next be seen on the silver screen in "Badla" along with megastar Amitabh Bachchan.

--IANS

dc/rb/vm

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)OCEAN SPRINGS -- It appears the Mississippi Rising Coalition may be running out of options after the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously rejected its appeal of the dismissal of its lawsuit against the City of Ocean Springs over the flying of the Mississippi state flag.

The appeals court upheld a June ruling by U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola Jr. in which Guirola dismissed the lawsuit on the grounds the plaintiffs, which included the MRC, president Lea Campbell, Jackson County NAACP director Curley Clark and two Ocean Springs residents, lacked the standing to file the suit.

In his June ruling, Guirola wrote the plaintiffs lack the "standing" to file a lawsuit under either the Federal Housing Act or the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, insomuch as they had not provided any evidence of such violations. Simply displaying the Mississippi state flag, Guirola ruled, was insufficient grounds to plead injury in the case.

Simply put, the plaintiffs had failed to provide any evidence of having been damaged by the City's decision to fly the state flag, City Attorney Robert Wilkinson said.

There was one bit of bad news for the City Monday. The court of appeals, while upholding the dismissal of the lawsuit, declined to rule the appeal frivolous and award the City legal fees.

However, prior to the appeal being filed, the City had filed a motion with Guirola to have the lawsuit ruled frivolous. Once the MRC's appeal was filed, that motion remained pending until the appeal reached a conclusion. Now it will be up to Guirola as to whether or not to rule the lawsuit frivolous.

Legal experts, however, say it's unlikely Guirola would rule the lawsuit frivolous after the court of appeals had already declined to do so, leaving City taxpayers on the hook for some $16,500 in legal fees.

Mississippi Rising has only two options left at this point. One is to request the entire Fifth Circuit reconsider the appeal. The other would be to seek a review of the case by the U.S. Supreme Court.

"Your chances there are getting pretty close to zero," Wilkinson said.

The saga over the display of the state flag in Ocean Springs began in July 2017, when new Mayor Shea Dobson made the decision to fly the flag at City Hall after it had not flown for several years under a previous administration.

After Mississippi Rising and others protested, Dobson acquiesced and took the flag down. The board of aldermen, however, subsequently passed a resolution requiring the flag be flown not only at City Hall, but all municipal properties with a flagpole.

That decision prompted continued protests at aldermen meetings, along with two marches through downtown Ocean Springs, as well as the lawsuit.

Unsurprisingly, Dobson was pleased with Monday's court ruling.

"I'm glad to see that common sense is still common place," Dobson said. "It was frivolous from the beginning and I'm glad to have it behind us."

He was not as pleased that the City may not be recovering its legal costs.

"It's a shame this group decided to bully taxpayers in a publicity stunt," he said. "But it is what it is."

Attempts to reach Campbell for comment Tuesday were unsuccessful.Welcome Guest! You Are Here:

Home Regional News EastPolice in Telangana on Tuesday detained state Congress Working President Revanth Reddy ahead of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao's election rally in Vikarabad district.

He was picked up from his residence earlier in the day to prevent any untoward incident during Rao's rally in Kosgi, Kodangal, and was shifted to an undisclosed location.

Reddy, who quit the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to join the Congress earlier this year, represented Kodangal in the dissolved Assembly.

His detention came in view of Reddy's threat to disrupt the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief's rally. He had called for a shutdown to protest it.

The Election Commission had also issued a notice to Reddy for his threat.

The police has booked two cases against the Congress leader.

Tension prevailed in Kodangal following Reddy's detention. The police have already imposed prohibitory orders in the town to prevent any untoward incident.

Elections to the 119-member Telangana Assembly are scheduled for December 7.

--IANS

ms/ksk

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)In a pre-dawn action, police in Telangana detained state Congress Working President Revanth Reddy ahead of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao's election rally in Vikarabad district.

Police said he was taken into preventive custody from his residence at Kodangal at 3 a.m. to prevent any untoward incident during Rao's rally in Kosgi. He was shifted to an undisclosed location.

Reddy, who quit the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to join the Congress earlier this year, represented Kodangal in the dissolved Assembly.

His detention came in view of Reddy's threat to disrupt the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief's rally. He had called for a shutdown to protest police raids at his house last week.

The Election Commission had also issued a notice to Reddy over his threat. A police officer said a case was booked against Revanth Reddy on a complaint by the Electoral Officer.

Tension prevailed in Kodangal following Reddy's detention. The police have already imposed prohibitory orders in the town to prevent any untoward incident.

Reddy's wife condemned the police high-handedness and wanted to know his whereabouts. She lodged a complaint with the Returning Officer.

Congress workers at Jadcherla in Mahabubnagar district staged a protest, demanding immediate release of Revanth. One of the protestors attempted self-immolation.

A Congress leader filed a habeas corpus petition in Hyderabad High Court and the same is expected to come up for hearing later in the day.

Congress spokesman Manish Tiwari told reporters in Hyderabad that they will lodge a complaint with the Election Commission.

State Congress chief Uttam Kumar Reddy alleged that the police arrested Revanth at the behest of the Chief Minister. He said the TRS leader was misusing his power and the election authorities were biased.

Senior Congress leader S. Jaipal Reddy condemned the manner in which police arrested Revanth. He said the fear of election defeat had gripped KCR.

State Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumar, however, denied the allegations that they were biased. He said they treat all political parties equally.

Elections to the 119-member Telangana Assembly are scheduled for December 7.

--IANS

ms/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called upon the nations to redefine their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to mitigate climate effects and to achieve goals under the Paris Agreement that include disbursement of $100 billion per year for 2020-2025 by rich nations.

In his address at the UN climate negotiations, known as COP24, which saw world leaders and decision-makers getting to work on mitigating climate change in this Polish city, Guterres said: "We need clear moves not only by national governments but also by other actors such as sub-national governments, businesses and investors.

"Over the coming year, the UN Development Programme, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and my team will be supporting national governments as they redefine their NDCs and their long-term strategies," Guterres said while laying out his vision for the 2019 Climate Summit in New York.

Inviting all nations to attend his climate summit to review the Paris Agreement commitments, he said: "I call on all leaders to come to the summit prepared to address not only their progress towards achieving their goals under the Paris Agreement, but also to outline their plans and progress towards raising their ambition."

The Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, was an essential step to address climate change. It has the central goal of keeping global average temperature rise this century to well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to as close as possible to 1.5 degrees.

The Paris Agreement marked a historic turning point. World leaders from across the globe clinched a new, universal agreement under the umbrella of the UNFCCC.

In this UN climate change conference, governments are set to agree on the implementation guidelines of the Paris Agreement, thereby unleashing its full potential.

Agreeing that the climate mitigations were not on track, Guterres said the summit he will host next September in New York "will help put us on track".

Outlining its agenda, he said the summit would focus on delivering three key outcomes: Raising real ambition, transformative action in the real economy and an unprecedented citizen and youth mobilization.

On mobilization of finance to adapt climate mitigation plans, the UN Secretary-General said: "A central question in this will be dealing with finance.

"We are now starting a process that we hope will lead to a much stronger mobilization of the financial resources to make sure the Paris decisions, in relation to the mobilization of $100 billion, will be fully met.

"I have asked French President Emmanuel Macron and Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness to lead a process of mobilization of the international community," said the UN chief.

As Guterres spoke at the Katowice opening climate summit a day earlier, the World Bank Group announced a major new set of climate targets for 2021-2025, doubling its current five-year investments to around $200 billion in support for countries to take ambitious climate action.

The new plan significantly boosts support for adaptation and resilience, recognizing mounting climate change impacts on lives and livelihoods, especially in the world's poorest countries.

The plan also represents significantly ramped up ambition from the World Bank Group, sending an important signal to the wider global community to do the same.

--IANS

vg/soni/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)US Secretary of Defence James Mattis met with Indian Minister of Defence Nirmala Sitharaman here at Pentagon on Monday, highlighting security cooperation between Washington and New Delhi.

The US and India have made meaningful progress advancing bilateral defence cooperation over the past year, Mattis said in a statement issued by Pentagon, reports Xinhua news agency.

Mattis stressed the inaugural US-India "2+2" Ministerial Dialogue, which was held in September in New Delhi, "made clear our commitment to further bolster our major defence partnership."

Sitharaman said that India saw the US as an important partner in defence.

"We have good military-to-military cooperation, defence consultations, scientific and R&D work, defense trade, co-production and co-development, and industry collaboration," she said.

India, however, also traditionally enjoyed a close defence relationship with Russia.

In October, Indian and Russian leaders formally signed a purchase agreement for the S-400 air defence missile system worth more than $5 billion.

--IANS

vc

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)US Congressional leaders on Monday agreed to a two-week government funding measure that would push back a shutdown deadline to December 21.

Democrats and Republicans are deadlocked in negotiations over funding President Donald Trump's proposed border wall and have been facing a December 7 deadline to reach a spending deal to avert a partial government shutdown, reports The Hill magazine.

Trump has demanded $5 billion for the wall, while congressional Democrats are unwilling to provide more than $1.6 billion for border security that's included in a previous funding bill.

Following the death of former President George H.W. Bush, lawmakers postponed a series of votes for his memorials and funeral, leaving little time to hammer out an agreement.

The two-week stopgap measure, known as a continuing resolution, would extend current funding levels and make December 21 the new deadline for reaching a long-term spending deal.

--IANS

ksk

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad arrived here on Tuesday for meetings with Pakistan's political and military leadership seeking their cooperation in bringing the Afghan Taliban to peace talks.

During his meeting with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Khalilzad reiterated US President Donald Trump's desire to seek Pakistan's assistance for peace and stability in Afghanistan.

According to Geo News, Qureshi assured the US side of Pakistan's steadfast support for a negotiated settlement in war-torn Afghanistan.

Khalilzad also held a meeting with Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua in which officials from diplomatic, security and defence from both sides were present. "Peace and political settlement in Afghanistan were discussed," Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal tweeted.

The special envoy will travel to Afghanistan, Russia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Belgium, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar during his 18-day tour till to December 20, Geo News reported.

According to a press release, Khalilzad will also meet Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and other stakeholders to coordinate closely on efforts to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table with the Afghan government.

Khalilzad last visited the region in November, where he met with members of the Afghan civil society and other government officials.

--IANS

soni/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)US telecom carrier Verizon and Samsung have announced to jointly launch one of the first commercial 5G smartphones in the US in the first half of 2019.

The two companies are set to unveil a proof of concept, powered by the upcoming flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon Mobile Platform with the Snapdragon X50 5G NR modem and antenna modules, at the annual Qualcomm Snapdragon Technology Summit in Maui, Hawaii, this week.

"5G will usher in a new era of mobile connectivity, allowing people to connect to data, experiences and other in ways never thought possible," said Brian Higgins, Vice President, Wireless Device and Product Marketing at Verizon.

"Together, Samsung and Verizon have made huge gains in bringing 5G commercial services to consumers in several cities. Now, we are partnering to create a smartphone to put the power of 5G in the palm of your hand," he added.

5G mobility service will provide massive bandwidth, greater opportunities for connectivity and improved network reliability.

When fully implemented, it will offer capacity and download speed many times faster than today's 4G LTE network. Along with network latency that is faster than the blink of an eye.

"We're proud to work alongside innovative partners like Verizon and Qualcomm Technologies to deliver a smartphone that will fundamentally transform how people work and play," said Justin Denison, Senior Vice President, Mobile Product Strategy and Marketing at Samsung Electronics America.

Samsung, which is set to launch world's first foldable smartphone early 2019, has partnered with Verizon on its 5G Home offering since the beginning of 2018.

--IANS

na/in

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Willow Smith, daughter of Hollywood actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, says it took her years to forgive her father for how he handled her fame in music career.

In an episode of Facebook Watch's "Red Table Talk", the 18-year-old Willow, who released her debut single "Whip my hair" in 2010, said: "I definitely had to forgive you and daddy for that whole 'Whip my hair thing'. It was mostly Daddy because he was so, like, harsh at certain times.

"It was like a couple years, trying to regain trust for trying for not feeling like I wasn't listened to or no one cared what I felt during that time."

While she learned to forgive her parents, Willow added she also had to learn to forgive herself, reported people.com.

"And I had to forgive myself because I felt guilty because everyone is trying to make me better, trying to make my dream. But I didn't really understand what my dream entailed."

Earlier this year, Willow also admitted that she had cut herself during her song's success as a way to cope with the pressures of fame.

"It was after that whole 'Whip my hair' thing and I had just stopped doing singing lessons and I was kind of just in this gray area of, Who am I? Do I have a purpose? Is there anything I can do besides this?" Willow wrote.

--IANS

sim/dc

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Uttar Pradesh Police on Tuesday said that the main conspirator behind the mob violence in Bulandshahr which left a police officer and a young man dead was a Yogesh Raj, who is on the run.

Although the police refused to identity who Yogesh Raj was, informed sources said he was a Bajrang Dal activist who was part of a mob that attacked Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh on Monday, killing him instantly.

The officer was hit by blunt object and was also shot dead when he tried to reason with the Hindu activists blocking a busy road with carcasses of animals they claimed were of cows.

Additional Director General (Law and Order) Anand Kumar told the media here that "no action will be taken against any policemen till the probe into the incident is completed".

He also dismissed as speculation reports of intelligence failure as "premature" and said everyone should wait for the probe to conclude before arriving at any conclusion.

The state government has formed a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the violence, the circumstances leading to it and to identify the people and organisations involved in the mayhem.

The officer said that a .32 bore bullet was found lodged in the head of Subodh Kumar Singh.

He said a bullet had also been recovered from the body of the dead youth, Sumit, but added that only an autopsy would confirm further details.

The senior official parried questions about the political links of the three key accused who are also said to include an activist each from the BJP and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

"I am not aware of any linkages as yet. But yes, Yogesh Raj is the main conspirator in the whole case," he said, adding that he was yet to be arrested.

The police were raiding several places to nab the accused, the official said.

--IANS

md/mr/soni

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Nitin Nabin, Sanjiv Chaurasia and Arun Sinha, along with other party leaders, sat on a dharna outside the Pirbahore police station here, protesting the arrest of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists for vandalising the vehicle of Kishor on Monday night, after he came out of the university vice chancellor's residence.

The activists had alleged that Kishor's visit to the VC's residence violated the model code of conduct that was in force in view of the PUSU elections, and pelted his vehicle with stones.

Kishor later tweeted, addressing the ABVP, an affiliate of the BJP's parent body the RSS - "You need to do better than let a few hooligans and anti-social elements become your face in Bihar. The nervousness over the possibility of a defeat in PUSU polls will not go away by hurling stones at my vehicle".

The BJP legislators said that the poll strategist- turned-politician was "flouting" all norms to boost the prospects of Chhatra JD(U) and the administration, and police is "victimising" the to remain in the good books of the ruling party.

"We urge Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to take note... We demand all the activists be released and that Kishor hand himself over to the police by way of 'prayashchit' (repentance)," the legislators added.

Asked about their own meeting with Governor Lalji Tandon late on Monday night on the issue, the MLAs told reporters that they wanted to draw his attention to the alleged breach of regulations.

"The Governor is also the chancellor of all state universities. So, we had visited the Raj Bhavan to draw his attention towards the flouting of norms in students' union polls, which seems to have the tacit approval of the vice chancellor. The Governor has taken note of our complaint and assured that he will look into the matter," they said.

However, JD(U) spokesman Sanjay Singh said Kishor was at the VC's residence when a meeting on setting up of a disaster management centre at the Patna Science College was underway.

"He was accompanying a relative who was taking part in the meeting. Those jittery over the growing support base of the JD(U) are coming up with baseless allegations," Singh said.

Trouble has been brewing between the alliance partners ever since some Chhatra JD(U) candidates were roughed up near the Patna Women's College last week, leading to a police raid on the ABVP office in the city, which was strongly condemned by BJP legislators staging the dharna in a joint statement issued on Sunday.

The BJP lawmakers had at that time refrained from mentioning Kishor's name, referring to him in an oblique manner.

Meanwhile, the episode has also drawn criticism from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which alleged that members of its students' wing CYSS were rounded up as well on Monday night, for staging a protest outside the VC's residence.

RJD heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav attacked Nitish Kumar in a series of tweets and took potshots at Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi, a senior BJP leader, for keeping mum over the issue, even as MLAs of the party were staging a demonstration.

Rashtriya Lok Samata Party chief and Union minister Upendra Kushwaha, too, slammed the CM and his party, alleging blatant violation of Lyngdoh Committee recommendations for students' union elections.Union minister Tuesday said she won't contest the next Lok Sabha elections.

The senior BJP leader's announcement came days after her cabinet colleague said she won't contest the next LS polls.

Bharti said she will instead concentrate on the issues of Ram temple in Ayodhya and cleanliness of the River Ganga for the next one-and-a half years.

Bharti said she would "embark on a pilgrimage to devote time for Ganga river and Lord Ram by leaving power".

The Drinking Water and Sanitation Minister, however, clarified that she was not quitting

External Affairs Minister Swaraj, who represents Vidisha Lok Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh, had last month announced that she would not contest the 2019 polls due to health reasons.

When asked about Swaraj's announcement, the Jhansi MP said, "I am so sorry. I have said so (won't contest elections) one or two years ago. Sushmaji has said it now. Don't link both these things which are same, but the time and reasons are different".

Bharti announced that she would set out on a 2,500-km yatra (pilgrimage) along the Ganga river on foot from Makar Sankranti in January next year for nearly one-and-a-half years by "leaving power".

"I believe that one has to go to the banks of the Ganga river by leaving power and I am doing so for next one-and-a-half years. But I will be campaigning and would do till my last and that too with energy," Bharti told reporters at her official residence.

"I will not do anything for the next one-and-a-half years except (working) for the Ganga and Lord Ram," she said.

ALSO READ: Ayodhya Ram temple is my dream, ready to do anything for it: Uma Bharti

Bharti's statement came amid demands by the Sangh parivar to expedite construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya.

The saffron leader, who was a prominent face in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement of 1990s, said she is not retiring from

"I am not taking 'sanyas' (from politics). 'Sanyas' is a different thing. I will do politics till my end. Nobody can force me to leave politics. I will do it while being in the BJP only. But for one-and-a-half years, I need Ganga (river)," the Union minister said.A 20-year-old man was injured following a brawl between two groups over playing in a park in outer Delhi's Mangolpuri area, police said Tuesday.

The incident took place at around 8 pm on Monday, police said.

Rajiv was admitted to the Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital with six stab injuries, they said.

Two days ago, the victim's friend Rahul had a fight with a local group of men over playing in a park in their locality, they said.

On Monday, Rahul along with the victim and his two other friends went to the park to teach them a lesson, police said.

Eventually, a brawl broke out between the two groups following which Rajiv was injured. Two other people involved in the incident were identified as Bhola and Lalit, police said.

Rajiv sustained stab injuries on his leg, hips and chest, police said, adding that he was stated to be in stable condition now.

A case was registered in the matter and a probe was underway, Deputy Commissioner of Police (outer) Seju Kuruvilla said.

The exact sequence of events will be ascertained after the victim's statement is recorded, police said, adding that people involved in the incident are being questioned



However, no one has been arrested yet, another officer said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Gujarat police Tuesday arrested four persons in connection with the leak of a constable recruitment exam paper, a senior police official said.

A written exam for the recruitment of Gujarat police constables was Sunday cancelled hours before it was scheduled to commence after authorities learnt that the paper had got leaked.

As many as 8.75 lakh candidates were to appear for the exam, for 9,700 posts, which was to start at 3pm Sunday in 2,440 centres across Gujarat.

The total number of arrests in this connection now stood at eight, police said.

Gandhinagar Superintendent of Police Mayur Chavda Tuesday identified the four arrested persons as Arvalli resident Pritesh Patel, Narendra Chaudhary of Mehsana, Ajaysinh Parmar and Uttamsinh Bhati of Banaskantha.

He said the four accused were to appear for the Sunday exam and their questioning had revealed that a Delhi-based gang was involved in leaking the exam paper.

Chavda said the four, along with some 20-25 others, went to Delhi from Gandhinagar in four vehicles as directed by the Delhi-based gang, members of which are as yet unidentified.

"As directed by the gang, four vehicles left from Gandhinagar on November 29. Bhati aborted his journey midway due to ill health. The others reached Delhi on November 30 and then went to Gurugram in vehicles provided by the gang," the SP told reporters in Gandhinagar.

"The gang showed them a question paper and gave them two hours to go through it. The accused have told police the gang members took cheques of Rs 5 lakh from each candidate. All of them came back to Gujarat the next day either by air or by road" the SP informed.

The gang members told the candidates that the cheques would be deposited only if the exam question paper was the same as the one they had been shown, the official said.

One Yashpal Solanki, whose name had cropped up Monday during the probe, was also part of the group which went to Delhi, he said.

"After landing here on December 1, these accused shared the answers of the question paper to others, including those who were arrested on Monday. It has been established that the paper was leaked from Delhi," said Chavda.

Four people, including two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers and a sub-inspector, were Monday arrested in connection with the paper leak.

Two of the accused arrested on Monday, identified as BJP workers Manhar Patel and Mukesh Chaudhary, were suspended by the party.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Haydee Posadas had waited eight years for her son to come home. On the last night of her long vigil, she was too agitated to sleep.

Her son had fled Honduras for the US in 2010 in part because of gang threats, just as thousands are doing today in the migrant caravans headed north, including men from the same neighbourhood.

But en route in Mexico, again like so many others, Wilmer Gerardo Nunez disappeared into the vortex of drug violence that he was trying to escape in the first place.

Left in limbo, his anguished mother prayed for an answer. "I am between a rock and a hard place," she begged God through the years. "I know nothing about my son, whether he's dead or alive."



Nunez's story is part of the hidden toll of migration to the US through Mexico. In the past four years alone, almost 4,000 migrants have died or gone missing along that route, The Associated Press has found in an exclusive tally.

That's 1,573 more than the previously known number, calculated by the United Nations. And even the AP's number is likely low bodies may be lost in the desert, and families may not report missing loved ones who were migrating illegally.

These Latin American migrants are among about 56,800 worldwide who died or disappeared over the same period, the AP found.

While migrants everywhere face risks, the Mexico route holds the added danger of drug trafficking and gang violence.

More than 37,000 people have gone missing throughout Mexico because of this violence, with the highest number in the border state of Tamaulipas, through which many migrants cross.

The sheer numbers of the disappeared, along with crushing bureaucracy and the fear of gangs, makes it difficult for families to track what happened to their loved ones as Posadas found out.

Ciudad Planeta in San Pedro Sula looks like an ordinary working-class neighbourhood, with one-story concrete houses with metal roofs. Only the bars that hem in nearly every porch let on that it is one of the most dangerous neighbourhoods in one of the world's most dangerous countries.

This is the neighbourhood Nunez left for the first time in the 1990s to go to the United States at 16, when his mother lost her factory job.

"He did not say anything to me. One day he simply left," said Posadas, a diminutive 73-year-old grandmother known in the neighborhood as "Mama Haydee."



Nunez was not the oldest of the 10 children in the family, but he was the one who looked out for the others.

He sent money home, some of which Posadas used to build metal bars around the porch. And he called his mother almost every day. Nunez was deported twice but returned to the US each time.

In 2007, he fell in love with a Mexican woman, Maria Esther Lozano, now 38, and they had a child, Dachell. When Lozano was about to give birth to another child, in July 2010, Nunez was deported a third time.

Posadas was happy to have him back home. He would make lunch with her, stewing meat, kneading tortilla flour and frying up ripe bananas. "He cooked better than a woman," Posadas said, her face lighting up at the memory.

But the neighborhood had grown more dangerous, with organised crime moving in and frequent bloody raids. All of Posadas' children left except for one who stayed, and one who died of illness.

Once Posadas' daughter was handcuffed to the bars of the house, while men who said they were police went inside and shot her grandson because they suspected his involvement with gangs.

Other nights there were shootouts in the streets.

Sometimes Posadas awoke to the thunder of footsteps from someone fleeing across the metal sheet roofs of houses.

Posadas has a mantra for survival in Planeta: "If you saw it, you didn't see it. If you heard it, you didn't hear it. And everyone keeps quiet."



The third time Nunez was deported, in 2010, things were so bad he barely went outside the home. "He seemed very pensive," Posadas said. "'I'm afraid,' he told me." He was also anxious to get back to California and meet his new daughter.

After just a few days in San Pedro Sula and an apparent threat from gang members, he left earlier than planned. Nunez, his nephew, Joao Adolfo, and two neighbours hopped on a midnight bus that takes dozens of migrants daily to the Guatemalan border.

In the past, Nunez had crossed the US border in California. But this time he hurt his ankle while fleeing from the Zetas gang in Veracruz state, Lozano said. So he struck out for the border with Texas, a shorter but more dangerous route.

A day later, he spoke to Lozano, for nearly an hour. Rula Nunez's nickname seemed relaxed, making jokes, she said. They were in Piedras Negras, across from Eagle Pass in Texas.

Lozano was supposed to wait for a call to pay the smuggler half the money, about $3,000. Then she needed another call from Nunez's sister to confirm his safe arrival before paying the remaining $3,000.

The calls never came. Lozano never heard from Nunez. She talked to the smuggler a couple of times, who told her they were still waiting to cross. Then the phone went unanswered.

About two weeks after he left, when Posadas turned on the television news, fear suddenly seized her. Authorities had found 72 corpses of migrants on a ranch in San Fernando, Tamaulipas, across the border from Texas, the report said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Bombay High Court Tuesday granted anticipatory bail to a man accused of giving his wife instant triple talaq, saying it was not for the court to decide the matter at this stage.

Intekhab Alam Munshi, a resident of Vasai area in the neighbouring Palghar district, had approached the high court last month after his plea for anticipatory bail was rejected by a sessions court in Palghar on November 21.

The sessions court had rejected his plea on the ground that the investigating officer (IO) in the case needed Munshi's custodial interrogation to ascertain whether the divorce proceedings, initiated by him earlier this year, amounted to triple talaq, a practice banned under the law.

However, a single bench of high court presided over by Justice P D Naik held Tuesday that it was not for the court to decide at the stage of anticipatory bail proceedings whether Munshi's divorce proceedings amounted to triple talaq.

"This is a case of matrimonial dispute. The custodial interrogation of the applicant (Munshi) is not required as most of the probe at this stage depends on documental facts," Justice Naik said while allowing Munshi's plea seeking protection from arrest in the case.

The judge, however, imposed certain conditions on Munshi's bail, including a direction to him to report to the IO each Saturday for two hours for the next two months.

According to the FIR registered in the case, Munshi and his wife got married in 1998.

On September 22, while his wife was at her parents' house, Munshi sent her a divorce notice bearing his signature and the signatures of a lawyer and two witnesses, stating that he did not see any scope of reconciliation between them and therefore, was annulling their marriage.

The wife claimed that the notice was equivalent to instant talaq or triple talaq, also known as 'talaq-e-biddat' that is now prohibited under an ordinance.

The lawyer and the two witnesses who signed the notice have also been made accused in the case. The lawyer was granted anticipatory bail by a local court recently.

Munshi claimed before the trial court and the high court that he had not initiated any proceedings under triple talaq.

Instead, he had sent his wife three notices between July and September under the proceedings of 'talaq-e-ahsan', the legal marriage annulment process for Muslims that includes room for reconciliation, he said.

But advocate Amin Solkar, the lawyer for Munshi's wife, denied having received the previous two notices.

Solkar argued that since the ordinance banned instantaneous divorce, Munshi's divorce notice must be considered as illegal and void by the court under the new law.

Justice Naik, however, refrained from making any prima facie (on the face of it) comments on the nature of the divorce notices.

The Union Cabinet had in September approved an ordinance to ban the practice of instant triple talaq, with Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad saying there was a "compelling necessity" to bring the measure as instances of 'talaq-e-biddat' continued unabated despite the Supreme Court striking it down.

Instant triple talaq, also known as talaq-e-biddat, is an instant divorce whereby a Muslim man can legally divorce his wife by pronouncing 'talaq' three times in one go.

Under the proposed ordinance, instant triple talaq has been declared illegal and void and will attract a jail term of three years for the husband.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland chopper deal Christian James Michel is being extradited to India in an operation under the guidance of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, the CBI said Tuesday.

The operation is being coordinated by interim CBI Director M Nageswar Rao and a team of the agency's officers led by Joint Director Sai Manohar was in Dubai to bring him back.

The Dubai government had cleared the extradition of Michel after his appeal against the move was turned down by a court there.

Michel, 57, was behind bars in Dubai since he was arrested and sent to custody pending the legal and judicial procedure in the UAE.

The Dubai Court of Cassation dismissed the two objections filed by Michel's lawyers and upheld the appellate court's decision to consider the possibility of extraditing him to the competent Indian authorities.

"Christian Michel entered into criminal conspiracy with co-accused persons and in pursuance thereof, the public servants had abused their official positions by reduction of service ceiling of the VVIPs helicopter from 6000 metres to 4500 metres and a contract for an amount of Euro 556.262 million was awarded to AgustaWestland International Ltd (AWIL), UK by the government of India through Ministry of Defence on 08.02.2010 for the procurement of 12 VVIP/non VVIP helicopters," CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said here.

"Michel, who has been avoiding criminal proceedings in India in AgustaWestland case is being extradited by the UAE authorities to India. Under the guidance of Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor (NSA), the entire operation is being coordinated by in-charge Director CBI M Nageswara Rao," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)By N. S. Venkataraman

It is ironical that communist Government of China, which views religion as potentially destabilizing and contradictory to communist philosophy, has facilitated the organization of Fifth World Buddhist Forum in the city of Putian in east Chinas Fujian province in October,2018.





The forum is supposed to be Jointly proposed by Buddhist communities in Chinese mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao in 2005 and it is claimed that the World Buddhist Forum was established as a platform for Buddhists to communicate and cooperate. It was said that the objective of the Fifth World Buddhist Forum was to promote positive roles of religious people in economic and social development, the Belt and Road Initiative and the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.





It is surprising and even shocking that around 800 people including Chinese and overseas Buddhists were reported to have participated in the so called World Buddhist Forum facilitated by Chinese government, without realizing that Government of China is committed to negation of established religious philosophies and has no particular commitment to the philosophy and cause of Buddhism,





The fact is that the approach and policy of the communist government of China is oriented towards denial of individual freedom and liberty for Chinese citizens to follow religion of their choice in variety of ways. The revised communist party disciplinary rules demand that the party members who have religious beliefs should undergo thought education.





Freedom of religion in China is provided for in the Constitution of the Peoples Republic of China with an important caveat the government protects what it calls normal religious activity defined in practice as activities that take place within government sanctioned religious organisations and registered places of worship.





Though Chinas five officially sanctioned religious organisations namely Buddhist Association of China, Chinese Taoist Association, Islamic Association of China, Three-Self Patriotic Movement and Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association are afforded a degree of protection, they are subject to restrictions and controls under the State Administration for Religious Affairs. Unregistered religious groups  including house churches, Falun Gong, Tibetan Buddhists, underground Catholics and Uyghur Muslims  face varying degrees of harassment, including imprisonment, torture and forced religious conversion.





Several human rights bodies have criticised such practice as falling short of international standards for the protection of religious freedom.





It is well known that the Chinese government has been suppressing the practice of Islam religion It is reported that around one million Muslims have been held in Chinese internment camps, according to estimates cited by the UN officials. It is further reported that over the course of an indoctrination process lasting several months, muslims were forced to renounce Islam, criticize their own Islamic beliefs and those of fellow inmates and recite Communist Party propaganda songs for hours each day.





Given such ground reality, the communist China with a dictatorial regime is certainly an unfit location for organizing this forum, which is claimed to be a platform for Buddhists to communicate.





One can clearly see that organization of Buddhist forum in China is a clever attempt by Chinese government to give an impression that China is friendly towards Buddhist religion, which is not fact and cover its misdeeds in the Buddhist country Tibet.





China has ruthlessly invaded Tibet, a deeply religious Buddhist country, massacred thousands of Buddhists who protested against Chinese invasion and has been occupying the helpless Tibet for several decades now.





The very fact that the government of China refuses to permit any foreigner to visit occupied Tibet clearly highlights the fact that China has lot to conceal with regard to its militant administration in Tibet and the freedom suppressed conditions in which Tibetans live. Certainly, any government committed to the cause of non violence and truth, which Buddhism espouses ,cannot behave in such manner. Today, Tibet is an iron curtain as far as Government of Chinas Tibetan policy is concerned.





In this connection, one may recall that a bill is before US Senate for passing for the reciprocal access to Tibet act, which seeks to ensure the same access to American diplomats and journalists to visit Tibet as the Chinese have to all parts of US.





While India is the birth place of Buddhism and several holy sites for Buddhists are in India, Tibet under the guidance of the revered the Dalai Lama represent the heart and soul of Buddhism, adhering and practicing the concept and philosophy of Buddhism in letter and spirit and setting a Buddhist religious model for the entire world. Chinese government suppressing Tibet virtually amounts to suppressing Buddhism, with the respected the Dalai Lama now forced to escape from the Chinese military and live in exile in India.





Buddhists all the world should introspect about the role of Chinese government in Tibet which resulted in slow suppression of Buddhist culture and practices in Tibet.





It is not clearly known whether the Buddhists around the world have protested adequately against the act of the Chinese government in facilitating the Buddhist forum meeting in China and in the process trying to create a false image that China supports the cause of Buddhism.



Around 270 hoteliers in the city have stopped taking bookings from two major - and - alleging heavy commission and indiscriminate discounts offered by these platforms on room tariffs.

The decision to boycott the online booking platforms over commission and indiscriminate discounts was taken at a meeting of Gujarat chapter of the Hotels and Restaurants Association (HRA) last week.

"As decided, around 270 hotels in the city have stopped entertaining customers who had booked their rooms through these two portals," Abhijeet Deshmukh, spokesperson, HRA - Gujarat, said, adding the boycott came into effect from December 1.

He said that hotels in other cities in the state may also follow suit in coming days.

"There was a time when online booking portals used to charge only 15 to 18 per cent as commission. Now, these two portals are charging 40 to 45 per cent. Further, indiscriminate discounts offered by them on room tariffs is also a major threat to our business these days" said Deshmukh.

Hoteliers are now worried about their survival as they are heavily dependent on these portals for business, he added.

When contacted, a spokesperson said it's business as usual for the company.

"As always, all booking on our platform are being serviced without any hassle to the customer. We continue to operate our business as usual," the spokesperson said.

A response to the query sent to was awaited.

Deshmukh claimed as much as 50 to 55 per cent business comes from these portals at present, which is expected to go up to 70 per cent in the future.

"In such situation, we will be dependent on these portals only. A day will come when hotels will have to either accept each and every condition of these portals or shut their business," he said.

He alleged that the issues of high commission and indiscriminate discounting are with these two portals only.

Deshmukh, who also own a hotel chain, said that if the present practice continues, many hotels will go out of business, as hefty commission would eat up major chunk of their revenue.

He said due to the discounts these portals offer to customers, offline business is getting adversely affected, as walk-in customers complained that online platforms are offering same rooms at a much cheaper rate.

"Our demand is that the commission should be kept at 15 per cent. Discount should be zero. Portals can not dictate terms to us. With these demands, 270 hotels in Ahmedabad have stopped taking bookings from these two portals since December 1," said Deshmukh.

With this decision, customers who had booked a room in the city through these portals, will not be entertained at the hotel, he said, adding that the hotels will ask the customer to cancel the booking first.

"After he cancels his online booking, we will offer the room at the same rate that was offered by the portals. Our protest will not cause any inconvenience to customers. But, it will surely spread the word," he said.

Deshmukh added that around 550 hotels in Ahmedabad are listed on and Out of these, 270 hotels, having room tariffs ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 4,000, have decided to open its front against the portals.

"Our association has decided to start the boycott from Ahmedabad. Later, hotels in other cities will follow soon. In Maharashtra too, hoteliers have threatened to walk on the same path if the issue is not resolved," he added.Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Tuesday expressed concern over frequent fire- related incidents in the state, most of which he said were "man made".

In the latest such incident, 34 shops housed in a market shed were gutted on Monday night at Gandhi Chowk, Pasighat, causing huge loss to vegetable and grocery vendors, officials said.

The CM has sought a detailed report on it from the district administration, and directed officials to assess the damage and provide relief to the victims.

"Almost all fire accidents are man made and can be prevented with a sense of responsibility," he said.

Khandu emphasised on extra vigil during the winter season, as most homesteads light bonfires and use fire for cooking.

"We cannot douse a blazing fire without incurring huge loses, but we can sure douse a spark or prevent a kindle from spreading and save ourselves and our neighbours. With common sense and responsibility, we can use fire to our advantage, not for self-destruction. I fervently appeal to all to not neglect a spark," he said.

Meanwhile, Khandu also inaugurated the headquarters of Chubam circle in Longding district and said his government has introduced the staff selection board to ensure fair recruitment in government jobs, an official release said.

The chief minister assured that manpower shortage in the newly-created circle headquarters would be addressed soon.

Khandu said he would sanction funds for construction of a road along the Tissing and Tissa river bank this year, according to the release.

He said the road when completed would boost economic activities in the circle, which is the largest producer of betel nut in the district, along with high-quality production of agriculture and horticulture crops.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Assam is all set for the first phase of the panchayat elections on Wednesday in 16 administrative districts, that will see a contest between the coalition partners-- BJP and the AGP-- along with others.

Ruling allies--BJP and the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP)-- are fighting local bodies polls in the state separately and the campaigning witnessed high-octane war of words between them.

AGP, which has publically opposed the Citizenship Bill, 2016, used Citizenship Bill as one of their main campaign issue in the three-tier panchayat elections in the state.

The first phase of the elections will decide the fate of over 43,515 contestants for 15,899 various posts in rural bodies.

Polling will begin at 7 am and continue till 3 pm in the districts of Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Tinsukia, Dibrugrah, Sivasagar, Charaideo, Jorhat, Majuli, Golaghat, Nagaon, Biswanath, Sonitpur, Darrang, Morigaon, Kamrup Metro and Kamrup, which together comprise 27 election districts, Assam State Election Commission (ASEC) sources said.

Among the contestants, 796 are in fray for 251 zila parishad (district panchayat) member seats, 3,799 for 1,304 anchalik panchayat (intermediate panchayat) member seats, 4,155 for 1,304 gaon panchayat (village panchayat) president posts and 34,765 for 13,040 gaon panchayat member seats, the sources said.

Altogether 442 candidates have already been declared winners uncontested in the election districts going to polls Wednesday, they said, adding, 250 of them are from the BJP, 106 from the Congress, 15 from the AGP, three from the AIUDF, three from the BPF, besides 65 independents.

Over one lakh security personnel have been deployed for the smooth conduct of the elections during the first phase, with 1,56,255 civil servants also engaged in the poll process, the ASEC sources said.

Assam government employees engaged as polling officials on Tuesday fanned out to their respective assigned voting stations across the state with ballot boxes and other election materials.

Campaigning for the first phase of panchayat polls, which ended on Monday, saw the coalition partners voicing sharp words for each other.

AGP accused the BJP of attempting to impose the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, in Assam which they said threatened the existence and identity of indigenous people by settling Hindu Bangladeshis in the state, while the saffron party claimed the regional party piggy rode on its back to come to power during the Assembly elections.

The opposition Congress and the AIUDF also campaigned hard for votes.

The Wednesday elections for the local bodies would be the first after the state government introduced amendments in the Panchayat Act determining varied minimum qualifications at different levels, imposing two-child norm for the candidates and also introducing toilet at home a mandatory clause for the nominees.

As per the new norms for qualification under the Assam Panchayat (Amendment) Act, 2018, for general candidates, the educational qualification to contest polls for gaon panchayat member is to pass Class 6, for gaon panchayat president and anchalik panchayat member it is Class 10 and for zila parishad member it is Class 12, besides mandatorily having a toilet at home.

A person having more than two living children, with the third child born after commencement of the Act, cannot contest the polls.

The panchayati raj institutions in Assam is a three- tier one with a village, intermediate and district level comprising 21 zila parishads, 185 anchalik panchayats and 2,201 gaon panchayats.

Altogether 1,56,41,456 voters, including 7,51,76,21 females, are expected to exercise their franchise in the two-phased elections to be held on Wednesday and on December 9.

For both the phases, there would be 23,505 polling stations with 11,597 of them categorised as comparatively safe, 8,243 sensitive and 3,665 very sensitive, the sources said.

The counting of votes will take place on December 12.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Condemning the Bulandshahr incident, where two people, including a police inspector, were killed over an alleged cow-slaughter incident, the Opposition said Tuesday that attempts were being made to incite communal unrest in the western Uttar Pradesh city.

AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi alleged that those fuelling violence in the name of cow have been receiving full protection from the BJP and the RSS.

"A police officer is killed using his own weapon... This monster (violence) is their creation because they consider the life of a cow more valuable than of humans. Right to life is a fundamental right in the Indian Constitution," Owaisi said.

Describing the incident as "very sad and condemnable", Congress leader Manish Tewari claimed that attempts were being made to instigate communal violence in the society ahead of the polls.

"One thing is very clear that attempts are being made to incite communal unrest before the elections," he said.

A mob of some 400 people, including right-wing activists, fought pitched battles with police on Monday in Siana area of Bulandshahr district, apparently after right-wing activists were angered by the discovery of cow carcasses strewn in a nearby jungle.

They set fire to dozens of vehicles, hurled stones and also fired at police who retaliated with gunfire. In the violence, Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, the station house officer of Siana, and 20-year-old Sumit Kumar were killed.

Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik said the incident was very grave in nature and those involved in the incident must face severe punishment.

"Discussions on cow and cow slaughter keep on happening. There is a need to find a way out from this. It is also right that cows venture into farms of farmers and they suffer losses, but such acts cannot be justified and, therefore, I condemn it," Naik said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)An anti-terrorism special tribunal in Bangladesh has recorded the statement of the first witness in the 2016 terror attack case, three years after the country's deadliest attack killed 22 people, mostly foreigners, including an Indian national.

Militants of the banned Neo-Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (Neo-JMB) attacked the posh Holey Artisan restaurant in the Gulshan diplomatic enclave on July 1, 2016 in the Bangladesh capital.

Twenty-two people -- an Indian girl, nine Italians, seven Japanese and five Bangladeshis, including two police officers -- were killed in the attack.

"Police sub-inspector Ripon Kumar Das testified before the court as the first prosecution witness, being the complainant in the case," a court official said.

Six of the eight accused, who had earlier confessed to their involvement in the attack, appeared before the court on Monday amid heavy police security to face the trial. The other two accused are on the run, but were being tried in absentia.

All the accused belonged to the banned Neo-JMB.

The trial in the case began on November 26, when the court indicted them after reviewing the police chargesheet.

During the investigation, it was found that 21 people were involved in the assault, but police said 13 of them died in subsequent anti-terrorism clampdown.

They said only five militants staged the carnage and all of them were killed on July 2 in a raid by the military commandos.

The Neo-JMB, said to be inclined to the Islamic State or ISIS terror group, executed the carnage, sparking an uproar globally and signalling the strong presence of militants in the Muslim-majority country.

The outfit emerged as the revived chapter of the radical Islamist group.

Counter-terrorism unit chief of Bangladesh Police, Monirul Islam earlier said the police gathered 75 pieces of evidence for the trial and mobilised 211 witnesses to the carnage to testify before the court.

Investigators alleged that the militants staged the attack to announce their strong presence in Bangladesh and particularly show their brutality by killing foreigners and draw international attention.

They said that since late 2015, the Neo-JMB militants, led by Bangladeshi-origin Canadian Tamim Chowdhury, killed in a subsequent security clampdown, were carrying out small scale attacks on foreigners and non-Muslims.

The victims of the Holey Artisan restaurant were found with their throats slit when the commandos and other security forces entered the scene.

Assailants gunned down two police officers and injured over 20 others when they approached the restaurant.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)services company on Tuesday announced the expansion of its strategic relationship with

"As part of the deal, it is intended that approximately 460 employees in its operations centre in Lithuania will transfer to HCL, which promises to start a new era of technology centres in Lithuania. The agreement with HCL forms the basis of the Barclays' decision to conclude its operations in Lithuania, with remaining employees being offered redundancy," an HCL release said.

Apart from HCL being named as Barclays' preferred partner for IT infrastructure services, the two will commit to building the alliance globally, with specific opportunities in digital workplace services, a HCL statement said.

HCL will leverage its investments in AI (artificial intelligence) and automation, to transform the user experience for over 80,000 employees spread across 26 countries. HCL would also provide mainframe services to Barclays.



The contract between HCL and Barclays is yet to be executed pending banking regulatory notification, the statement said adding that both the hope to conclude the deal during the first quarter of 2019.

"This new agreement will see HCL deliver transformational services to both Barclays and other major clients from Lithuania. Many well-known brands have already established their centres in Lithuania and we see good potential here due to the attractive investment climate and specialist talent," Rahul Singh, president of Financial Services at said.Muslims and the "settlers" from the coastal and Rayalaseema regions of Andhra Pradesh are likely to play a crucial role in the electoral fortunes of the candidates in 24 constituencies falling under the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).

In the 2014 Andhra Pradesh Assembly polls, the (TDP) had won nine seats, Asaduddin Owaisi's All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) seven, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) five and Telangana's ruling party Rashtra Samithi (TRS) had won three seats.

The TDP and the were in an alliance in 2014. For the upcoming Assembly polls, the N Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP has struck an electoral pact with the

In the December 7 election, all the nine MLAs of the TDP, who had left the party subsequently, are contesting on tickets.

Naidu has been campaigning vigorously in the region for the candidates of the Congress-led "Praja Kutami" or the grand alliance, also comprising the TDP, the Jana Samithi (TJS) and the Communist Party of India (CPI).

Naidu has also addressed poll meetings along with president Rahul Gandhi in the GHMC areas, which have over 40 lakh voters.

The AIMIM, which counts the old city as its stronghold, has fielded eight candidates in the region and is supporting the in the remaining seats.

The K Chandrasekhar Rao-led has described the AIMIM as a "friendly party" and said it would have "friendly contests" in the seats where the Owaisi-led party has fielded its nominees.

AIMIM MLC Syed Aminul Hasan Jafri said Muslims constituted 12.7 per cent of Telangana's population and in the 24 constituencies in the GHMC areas, it was 30 per cent.

"The Congress's tie-up with the TDP, which was a ally until recently, may not gel well with the Muslim voters. Not only that, since the beginning, not many members of the minority community have voted for the TDP.

"Constituencies like Rajendranagar, Maheswaram, Serilingampalli, Kukatpally, Kutbullapur, Malkajgiri, Uppal and LB Nagar have large numbers of minority voters who certainly have a say," he told PTI.

Most of the constituencies located in the GHMC area have a large number of people from Andhra Pradesh, also called the "settlers", accounting for about 20 per cent of the total votes.

The TDP, which is being projected by the TRS as an "Andhra party", is contesting in some of the key constituencies in the area such as Serilingampalli, Kukatpally and Uppal.

Naidu's party, which largely banks on the votes of the "settlers", has fielded party founder NT Rama Rao's granddaughter Nandamuri Suhasini from Kukatpally.

Political analyst and former MLC Nageswar said the "settlers" would certainly play a decisive role in the electoral outcome in these seats, but they might not vote en masse for any particular party, given the "diverse social structure".

He pointed out that the TRS had won 100 seats in the GHMC polls largely due to the votes of the "settlers".

"They (settlers) may not vote for the TRS now, unlike the way they had done in the GHMC polls. At the same time, they may also not vote for the TDP en masse. A particular community, which has got the backing of the TDP, may vote for it, but there are other influential communities which may desist it," Nageswar said.

Telangana will go to polls on December 7 after Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had dissolved the 119-member Assembly in September and the results will be declared on December 11.Pune rural police registered one more case in connection with the January 1 Bhima Koregaon violence after a woman alleged that her house, shop and food stall were ransacked.

Mangal Kamble, a resident of Bhima Koregaon, filed a complaint Monday at Shikrapur police station stating that her food stall was ransacked when she was giving tea and snacks to people visiting "Jay Stambh" (victory pillar).

The victory pillar, situated in Perne village on Pune-Ahmednagar Road, was erected to commemorate the Bhima Koregaon battle between the Peshwas and East India Company forces in 1818.

The area had seen violence on January 1 this year when Dalit groups had organised a function to mark the bicentenary of the battle.

Kamble, in her complaint, said that at around 11am that day, some 15-20 motorcycle-borne people arrived at their stall, set up outside the family-owned shop, and ransacked it.

She said one of the persons in this group also hit her with a stick, adding that the incident left her family scared and they moved to Hadapsar in Pune.

"The next day, at around 2 pm, our neighbour called me and informed that our house, shop and the stall had been totally damaged after they were set on fire," her complaint stated.

While the case is being registered nearly 11 months after the incident, Kamble stated that police had carried out a 'panchnama' at the time but she could not give an estimate of her loss then.

"When I came to know that the government is giving compensation to the victims of the violence, I decided to file a police case," she stated.

A case has been registered against some 25 people, including four persons Kamble has named, police said.

Police identified the four as Sangram Dherange, Prakash Kashid, Mukund Gavhane, all residents of Koregaon Bhima and Vishal Gavhane, a resident of Digrajwadi.

Police inspector Sadashiv Shelar of Shikrapur police station said a case has been registered under sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly in persecution of common object), 427 (mischief), 436 (mischief by fire or explosives substance) and 323 (hurt) of the IPC.

Relevant sections of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act had also been invoked, he said, adding that no arrests had been made so far.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Bihar cabinet Tuesday gave its nod for charging a token fee of Rs 100 for registering ancestral properties after division, an official said.

The cabinet also decided to ban the use all types of plastic carry bags, irrespective of their size and thickness, in all gram panchayats of the state.

"The cabinet today gave its nod to Prohibition, Excise and Registration Department's proposal to charge a token amount of Rs 100 for getting the ancestral properties registered after division," Subhani said.

The nominal fee of Rs 100 consists of Rs 50 each for registration and Rs 50 for stamp fee.

Currently, 5 per cent of the total value of the properties are required to register divided properties, Additional Chief Secretary Amir Subhani told reporters here.

It is a welfare measure which help in reducing the number of cases arising out of the land disputes among legitimate shareholders, and also lessen the incidents of violence arising out of land disputes, he said.

Now it would be easier for anyone to get registered his/her share of property after the division of ancestral properties, he said.

In another important decision, the cabinet gave its nod for banning the use of plastic carry bags, irrespective of their size and thickness, in all gram panchayats of the state.

The production, import, storage, transport, sale and use plastic carry bags will be banned after 60 days from the date of gazette notification, Cabinet Secretariat Department's Principal Secretary Sanjay Kumar said while briefing the reporters on the issue.

All traders and manufacturers of plastic carry bags and shop-owners, vendors, vegetable sellers will have to dispose of their plastic carry bags within 60 days, failing which violators - common users or businessmen - will be penalised, he said.

It may be noted the state cabinet had on October 9 given similar nod to ban the use of plastic carry bags in all the municipal corporations, municipal councils and Nagar Panchayats of the state.

The ban in urban areas is likely to come into effect from December 14, official sources said.

The Patna high court had on October 1 directed the state government to completely ban plastic bags in urban areas of Bihar from October 25 and in rural areas from November 25 this year.

A total of 21 decisions were taken on Tuesday's cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Maharashtra Congress chief Ashok Chavan Tuesday attacked the BJP-Shiv Sena governments at the Centre and the state terming them as the "biggest crisis", and said his party would fight till they were ousted from power.

Speaking during the fourth phase of Congress' Jan Sangharsh Yatra in Kalamb in Yavatmal district, Chavan hit out at the governments over the issues of agriculture, Maratha reservation, employment, law and order, among others.

"The BJP-Shiv Sena governments at the Centre and in the state are the biggest crisis. The Congress has undertaken the yatra to tackle the crisis. And that fight will not stop till the governments are dislodged," a statement quoted Chavan as saying at a rally in Yavatmal.

He said the governments have miserably failed to carry forward the developmental works implemented by the erstwhile UPA government at the Centre and the Democratic Front dispensation in the state.

"No mentionable work has been carried out by these governments in the last four-and-a-half years and the people of the country are being deceived by them," Chavan said.

The number of suicide by farmers is growing due to the "anti-farmer policies" of the government, he alleged.

"Over 17,000 farmers in progressive Maharashtra have committed suicide in the last four-and-a-half years of the BJP-Sena rule," the Congress leader said.

Calling BJP and Shiv Sena as two sides of the same coin, he said they have betrayed the people through false assurances.

"Modi's 'Beti bachao, beti padhao' programme is a mockery as atrocities against women continue unabated across the country while the government remains a mute spectator," he said.

"Farmers, women and unemployed youths in the country were at the receiving end and the government is incapable of solving their problems," he added.

He also hit out at the BJP for allegedly trying to claim credit for the passage of a bill proposing 16 per cent reservation to Marathas in jobs and education.

"The credit goes to the entire community. Those who are boasting about giving reservation to Marathas should also explain about Muslim and Dhangar quotas," Chavan quipped.

Former Union minister Vilas Muttemwar, party leaders Balasaheb Thorat and Manikrao Thakre, All India Congress Committee secretary Ashish Dua and others also took part in the yatra.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)SAN PEDRO SULA, Hondurasm, Dec 4: Haydee Posadas had waited eight years for her son to come home. On the last night of her long vigil, she was too agitated to sleep.

Her son had fled Honduras for the U.S. in 2010 in part because of gang threats, just as thousands are doing today in the migrant caravans headed north, including men from the same neighborhood. But en route in Mexico, again like so many others, Wilmer Gerardo Nunez disappeared into the vortex of drug violence that he was trying to escape in the first place. Left in limbo, his anguished mother prayed for an answer.





I am between a rock and a hard place, she begged God through the years. I know nothing about my son, whether hes dead or alive.





Nunezs story is part of the hidden toll of migration to the U.S. through Mexico: In the past four years alone, almost 4,000 migrants have died or gone missing along that route, The Associated Press has found in an exclusive tally. Thats 1,573 more than the previously known number, calculated by the United Nations. And even the APs number is likely low  bodies may be lost in the desert, and families may not report missing loved ones who were migrating illegally.





These Latin American migrants are among about 56,800 worldwide who died or disappeared over the same period, the AP found.





While migrants everywhere face risks, the Mexico route holds the added danger of drug trafficking and gang violence. More than 37,000 people have gone missing throughout Mexico because of this violence, with the highest number in the border state of Tamaulipas, through which many migrants cross. The sheer numbers of the disappeared, along with crushing bureaucracy and the fear of gangs, makes it difficult for families to track what happened to their loved ones  as Posadas found out.





Ciudad Planeta in San Pedro Sula looks like an ordinary working-class neighborhood, with one-story concrete houses with metal roofs. Only the bars that hem in nearly every porch let on that it is one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in one of the worlds most dangerous countries.





This is the neighborhood Nunez left for the first time in the 1990s to go to the United States at 16, when his mother lost her factory job.





He did not say anything to me. One day he simply left, said Posadas, a diminutive 73-year-old grandmother known in the neighborhood as Mama Haydee.





Nunez was not the oldest of the 10 children in the family, but he was the one who looked out for the others. He sent money home, some of which Posadas used to build metal bars around the porch. And he called his mother almost every day.





Nunez was deported twice but returned to the U.S. each time. In 2007, he fell in love with a Mexican woman, Maria Esther Lozano, now 38, and they had a child, Dachell. When Lozano was about to give birth to another child, in July 2010, Nunez was deported a third time.





Posadas was happy to have him back home. He would make lunch with her, stewing meat, kneading tortilla flour and frying up ripe bananas.





He cooked better than a woman, Posadas said, her face lighting up at the memory.





But the neighborhood had grown more dangerous, with organized crime moving in and frequent bloody raids. All of Posadas children left except for one who stayed, and one who died of illness.





Once Posadas daughter was handcuffed to the bars of the house, while men who said they were police went inside and shot her grandson because they suspected his involvement with gangs. Other nights there were shootouts in the streets. Sometimes Posadas awoke to the thunder of footsteps from someone fleeing across the metal sheet roofs of houses.





Posadas has a mantra for survival in Planeta: If you saw it, you didnt see it. If you heard it, you didnt hear it. And everyone keeps quiet.





The third time Nunez was deported, in 2010, things were so bad he barely went outside the home.





He seemed very pensive, Posadas said. Im afraid, he told me.





He was also anxious to get back to California and meet his new daughter. After just a few days in San Pedro Sula and an apparent threat from gang members, he left earlier than planned.





I have to get out of here now, he told Lozano, without further explanation.





Nunez, his nephew, Joao Adolfo, and two neighbors hopped on a midnight bus that takes dozens of migrants daily to the Guatemalan border.





In the past, Nunez had crossed the U.S. border in California. But this time he hurt his ankle while fleeing from the Zetas gang in Veracruz state, Lozano said. So he struck out for the border with Texas, a shorter but more dangerous route.





He called Lozano every day, sometimes from the phone of the smuggler taking them across the border. He liked the guide but worried that the group was too big, with dozens of migrants in two trucks.





About a week after he left Honduras, he spoke to his mother for the last time, telling her to pray that everything would turn out well. A day later, he spoke to Lozano, for nearly an hour. Rula  Nunezs nickname  seemed relaxed, making jokes, she said.





They were in Piedras Negras, across from Eagle Pass in Texas. Lozano was supposed to wait for a call to pay the smuggler half the money, about $3,000. Then she needed another call from Nunezs sister to confirm his safe arrival before paying the remaining $3,000.





The calls never came. Lozano never heard from Nunez. She talked to the smuggler a couple of times, who told her they were still waiting to cross. Then the phone went unanswered.





At first Posadas and Lozano werent too worried. They were used to losing contact with Nunez, then 35, for a few days during his trips, for example when his cellphone failed.





But about two weeks after he left, when Posadas turned on the television news, fear suddenly seized her. Authorities had found 72 corpses of migrants on a ranch in San Fernando, Tamaulipas, across the border from Texas, the report said.





I started to weep like a crazy person. There were no names, but I was shaken, said Posadas.





It turned out that gang members in vehicles marked with the letter Z  the calling card of the feared Zetas drug cartel  had stopped two tractor-trailers with dozens of migrants in northern Mexico. They were taken to the ranch and asked to join the cartel. Only one agreed.





The rest were blindfolded, tied up on the floor and shot dead. An Ecuadorian managed to escape and alerted the navy.





A list of victims released days after the massacre included the names of Posadas grandson and the two neighbors who had been traveling with them. But there was no trace of Nunez, and authorities told Posadas that if he was not among the dead, he could be alive.





Posadas asked local prosecutors, the Honduran foreign ministry and Mexican authorities about her son, but no one had information for her. Her ex-husband, Nunezs father, offered a DNA sample to be compared with the cadavers that had not yet been identified. Photos of those cadavers did not include Nunez.





Hoping against hope, Posadas and Lozano worked to find Nunez. They tried jails, detention centers and hospitals. Nothing. Lozano gave the Honduran consulate names, photos and descriptions of Nunezs tattoos, including one of Dachell and another of the number 8. She went there every day.





Still nothing.





Then they heard that the Ecuadorian survivor said another man  a Honduran  also had escaped the massacre and helped him get away from the ranch. Honduran and Mexican authorities refused to give Lozano any more information because the man was under protection. They would not even confirm whether it was Nunez.





There was no luck with the Ecuadorian embassy, either, when Lozano asked to convey a photo of Nunez to the Ecuadorian survivor.





I didnt want to see him, or even talk to him, just for him to look at the photo and tell me if it was the same person who helped him, Lozano sobbed.





In Honduras, Posadas also ran up against hurdles. She went to the capital, Tegucigalpa, to consult with Honduran and Mexican officials, but nobody could even say what had happened with her ex-husbands DNA sample. She called and called for a year, until finally they stopped answering.





The only thing left was to go to Mexico. But how could a sick old woman do that? Lozano was in no better position to do so, with five children depending on her and no legal residence in the U.S.





Lozano hired a lawyer to help relatives search prisons in Tamaulipas. Thats when they thought they had a breakthrough: The lawyer said he saw a man resembling Nunez in one of the prisons. Posadas asked herself, Has God heard my pleas?





But that lead also vanished. They heard nothing more from the lawyer, and Lozanos brothers had to abandon the search because of threats from the Zetas.





Posadas told herself that if her son were alive, he would have called her. Yet without information or a body, she still held on to hope.





After three years of searching, that began to diminish. She spent nights awake in her small living room, decorated with knick-knacks and photos, including one of Nunez as a teenager. Days were just as desperate.





I felt like I was falling into a terrible depression, Posadas said. I would walk down the street and people would see I was smiling, but it was on the outside ... nobody knew how I was on the inside.





Posadas had no way to know, but she could have had her answer days after the mass killing.





The official report on the massacre stated that body No. 63 was a male with tattoos, including Dachell and the number 8. Documents note the finding of a Honduran drivers license in the name of Wilmer Gerardo Nunez Posadas, with a photo of a man with a moustache and beard. Yet nobody made that information public, and body No. 63 was eventually buried in a common grave.





In September 2013, the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team and other groups reached an agreement with Mexican prosecutors to identify more than 200 bodies from three massacres, including the one at San Fernando. All the bodies in the common grave were exhumed for new autopsies. In March 2015, Mexicos Attorney Generals Office sent a letter to the Honduran Supreme Court asking for help locating the relatives of two men, including Nunez.





When the Argentine team found out about Nunezs ID, they tried to track down the family, but did not want to set foot in Planeta.





I made it clear that I could not enter that area, said Allang Rodriguez, a psychologist with the Committee of Relatives of Disappeared Migrants of El Progreso, a group working with the Argentines.





The Catholic church helped in the search, and talked to nuns who worked with migrants. One woman, Geraldina Garay, knew a taxi driver who lived in Planeta. He offered to leave a scrap of paper with a phone number that Posadas could call in one of the neighborhoods oldest stores, behind her home.





A neighbor saw the message and brought it to Posadas late last year. Confused, she called the number. The voice on the other end wanted to meet to talk about her disappeared son.





Today I finally have hope, she thought.





When they met, the forensic experts told her about the drivers license and the tattoos. They arranged for DNA tests for her and for Wilmer Turcios Sarmiento, 18, who was thought to be Nunezs son from a teenage relationship before he left for the U.S.





In May, Posadas learned the DNA tests had come back positive  one of 183 matches for dead migrants found with help of the Argentine team since 2010.





My heart hurt so much ... most of all because of the death he suffered, not even knowing who killed him, with his eyes blindfolded, hands tied ... Posadas said, her voice trailing off, tears in her eyes.





The DNA tests also proved Nunez was Turcios father. It was like finding and losing a father at the same time, he told his grandmother.





One question continued to rattle around in Posadas mind, and it was what pained her the most: Why? Why, having the proof, did they hide it so long?





The report she was given spoke of errors and inconsistencies in the handling of the case, and called for an investigation into the delay. To date, nobody has been convicted for the killings, and nine people are still unidentified. Mexican officials did not comment.





On Oct. 31, Wilmer Gerardo Nunez came home to Honduras.





The coffin arrived at the airport in San Pedro Sula, packaged in cardboard with a thin black ribbon and Nunezs name, and was transported to the morgue. When it was opened, the odor of death filled the room, softened by chemical products.





Posadas, holding a small red towel to wipe away tears and sweat, approached with her husband, her sister and a psychologist. A forensic worker unwrapped the cadaver. By now the head was just a skull, but on the arms some of the skin remained, along with tattoos. Posadas didnt need to see any more.





About 20 people came to the brief wake at the house in Planeta, where the coffin took up most of the living room in the baking sun. After eight years, the final goodbye lasted about two hours. Posadas feared that if it went any longer, the gangsters who control the neighborhood would show up.





Then a bus from the Planeta Baptist Church took the family to a small cemetery with a motley collection of unkempt tombs.





I am finally sure. It is him. It is him. I give thanks to God, Posadas sobbed before collapsing next to the coffin.





Several mourners took cellphone video for relatives in the United States to see, but Nunezs children in Los Angeles still dont know he is dead. His younger daughter, Sulek Haydee, now 8, talks more and more to her grandmother online, and often asks: Where is my daddy? Why doesnt he come to see us?





He cant, mamita, Posadas answers with a knot in her throat. Hes working.





Nunezs son in Honduras dreams of going to the U.S. himself to seek a better life. Anything is better than this, Turcios said.





Eight years and three months after the last hug from her son, Posadas says she feels peace for the first time, although she still wants justice.





In her prayers now, she asks for her grandson not to migrate.West Bengal minister and prominent minority leader Siddiqullah Chowdhury on Tuesday accused the BJP of trying to flare up communal tension through its rath yatra programmes in the state scheduled to start this week.

Ahead of the parliamentary election next year, the BJP is organising three rath yatras in West Bengal this month, which would cover all the 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state. The first one starts Friday.

"The BJP's main target is to create a division among the people on religious line in Bengal. The rath yatras is being organised to serve that purpose. It should not be allowed in the state. They want to disturb the harmony in the state," Chowdhury alleged.

The president of West Bengal Jamiat-E-Ulama also claimed that the BJP government at the Centre is anti-Muslim and anti-dalit.

"All the steps taken by this government is against the Muslims. Under this regime, Muslims and dalits have been lynched," Chowdhury, the minister of state for library and mass education, said.

"India is secular country and every community has the right to perform his religious activities. The BJP does not have the right to dictate us on what we should do and what we should not," he said.

BJP president Amit Shah will kickstart three rath yatra programmes, the first of which will start from Coochbehar district in north Bengal on December 7.

The other two yatras would be from Gangasagar in the south on December 9 and from the temple town of Tarapith in Birbhum district on December 14.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to attend four rallies during the rath yatras, BJP sources said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday exuded confidence that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would get a comfortable majority in the just-concluded Assembly elections in the state.

"We will get a good majority. It's not correct to say a number. I don't lie. You will see on (December) 11th (counting day). The BJP will get a comfortable majority," Chouhan, who is here to campaign for his party in the Telangana Assembly polls, said.

Some individuals might have faced anti-incumbency at some places, but not against the government, the chief minister said, asserting that there was no anti-incumbency.

On the concerns raised by the Congress over electronic voting machines in MP, Chouhan said, "The speciality of the Congress is that it starts searching for reasons for loss even before the defeat and prepares a prelude to it. The Election Commission is a constitutional body and we all have faith in it."



"Can it happen in today's age that EVMs changed and power went off?" he asked.

When it was pointed out that the EC had itself said the electricity went off for two hours in a strongroom in Bhopal, Chouhan said the commission was responsible and it would look into it.

On the mob violence in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr district in which a police officer was one of the two persons killed in the incident, Chouhan said the BJP was against violence and action would be taken as per the investigation.

Alleging that the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in Telangana had disappointed people on various fronts, Chouhan said BJP was the alternative.

Describing the alliance among the Congress, the TDP, CPI and Telangana Jana Samiti for the Telangana polls as "opportunistic", he claimed that it was a failure".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Brexit firebrand Nigel Farage has resigned from the UK Independence Party which he co-founded and turned into an influential force in British as its leader for nearly a decade.

"With a heavy heart, I am leaving UKIP. It is not the Brexit party our nation so badly needs," Farage wrote in a column for the Daily Telegraph Tuesday.

Farage, who quit as party leader in 2016 but stayed on as a card-carrying member, fell out with the current leadership after it appointed a far-right activist and convicted criminal named Tommy Robinson as an adviser last month.

Farage, who has himself been accused of fomenting far-right views, said that at a UKIP conference this year he was confronted by "several angry young men... who all seemed to be obsessed with Islam and Tommy Robinson".

"The party of elections is quickly becoming a party of street activism, with our members being urged to attend marches rather than taking the fight to the ballot box," he wrote.

Farage co-founded the party and has represented UKIP on the European Parliament -- a job he will lose when Britain withdraws from the European Union.

He is also a radio host in Britain and a commentator for Fox News, building on a bond with President Donald Trump forged during the US election campaign.

Brexit has been the 54-year-old former trader's dream ever since leaving the Conservatives in 1992 following the signing of the Maastricht Treaty, which deepened European integration.

Farage has spent nearly three decades undermining European institutions and mocking its leading lights, a mission that culminated with the 2016 referendum to leave the EU.

He stepped down as party leader after the vote, explaining that "my political ambition has been achieved".

He will stay on as deputy chairman of Leave Means Leave, a pro-Brexit campaign group.

Voted "Briton of 2014" by The Times, Farage maintained a high profile before the referendum but was kept out of the official pro-Brexit campaign, which feared his brand was too divisive.

The Brexit vote helped vindicate some of Farage's methods, but came at a price. "During the referendum I said I wanted my country back ... now I want my life back," Farage said when he resigned as leader two years ago.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Britain's government suffered a stinging rebuke from MPs ahead of Tuesday's momentous Brexit debate, exposing Prime Minister Theresa May's lack of support in parliament.

The House of Commons voted 311-293 to censure the government for failing to publish its full legal advice about the divorce deal May struck last month with the European Union.

The outcome forced May's team to promise to release the full tome ahead of next Tuesday's vote on the contentious Brexit agreement.

"This house has now spoken and it's of huge constitutional and political signficance," said opposition Labour Party member Keir Starmer.

The rebuke underscores the struggles May faces as she tries to keep Britain from crashing out of the world's largest single market in March without any firm trade arrangements.

The government suffered another blow just one hour later when parliament also voted in favour of an amendment that will give greater decision-making powers to MPs if, as expected, May's deal is voted down next week.

May was set to kick off five days of debates later on Tuesday by saying her vision of a future apart from the other 27 EU member states reflected the wishes of voters.

"The British people want us to get on with a deal that honours the referendum and allows us to come together again as a country, whichever way we voted," May was due to say.

But that message of unity suffered a setback from Tuesday's parliamentary vote. Downing Street argued that May's government had a right to receive confidential opinions that were unhampered by political considerations.

"The government is upholding an important point of principle," the prime minister's spokesman said.

Yet the text's full publication is unlikely to impact a Brexit deal vote that faces resistance from all sides of a bickering House of Commons.

Pro-European MPs pressing for a second referendum on staying in the EU received a sudden boost from an opinion issued by a legal adviser to the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

Advocate General Campos Sanchez-Bordona stated that Britain could halt the entire process without the agreement of other EU countries.

"That possibility continues to exist until the withdrawal agreement is formally concluded," he said.

Downing Street reaffirmed on Tuesday that May has absolutely no intention of doing so -- and that the ruling was in either case only advisory.

"It does nothing, in any event, to change the clear position of the government that Article 50 is not going to be revoked," May's spokesman said.

But the Scottish National Party's Alyn Smith -- one of several MPs who brought the case -- proclaimed: "We now have a roadmap out of the Brexit shambles."



The vote next week has huge implications for Britain's future and that of May herself. Left-wing Labour said May's defeat next Tuesday would likely trigger a confidence vote to bring down her government.

She has also been constantly challenged by hardline eurosceptics in her own party and might face an internal leadership contest as well.

Hardline Conservative Brexiteers say May's compromise deal does not represent enough of a break with Brussels.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) -- the Northern Ireland party propping up May's government -- also objects to special provisions for the province. Many of May's critics want her to go back and renegotiate.

The EU Withdrawal Agreement covers a settlement of 39 billion pounds (43.7 billion euros, USD49.8 billion) that Britain will have to play for leaving.

It also sets out the rights of EU expatriates and plans for a post-Brexit transition period lasting to December 2020.

The extra time is intended to give both sides a chance to strike a new trade and security relationship.

Failure to do so would trigger a "backstop" arrangement that keeps Britain in an EU customs union -- with Northern Ireland also following EU rules on regulation of goods.

May insists this is necessary to avoid border checks in Ireland. Opponents say this risks tying Britain to the EU for years to come.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Opposition parties Tuesday united to corner the BJP over the Bulandshahr violence with the Congress wondering if this was the "change" Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised while alleging that attempts were being made to instigate communal tension ahead of the polls.

Two persons, including a police inspector, were killed on Monday in mob violence during protests by right-wing activists over alleged incidents of cow slaughter in the Uttar Pradesh town.

Promising to take stern action against those guilty, the state government has ordered an inquiry by a Special Investigation Team (SIT).

Attacking Modi and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Congress leader Kapil Sibal sought a probe, headed by a sitting high court judge, saying an investigation by state agencies cannot to be trusted.

At a press conference here, Sibal said,"Modi before the 2014 elections used to say we will usher in change... But from 2014 till now, we have seen not a change but revenge, not change but fear, not change but hidden corruption, not change but over Ram, over Hanuman."



"Is this the change that Modi ji had promised. Look what kind of a change he has got in Bulandshahr," Sibal added.

His party colleague Manish Tiwari termed the incident "very sad and condemnable", and alleged that "one thing is very clear that attempts are being made to incite communal unrest before the elections."



Alleging that there was a "jungle raj" in the state, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo and former UP chief minister Mayawati accused the BJP of "patronising" unscrupulous elements and stressed on the need to establish a rule of law in the state.

Amid an all-out attack by opposition parties, senior BJP leader and Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi termed the incident as "inhuman" and said stern action would be taken against accused.

"It is an inhuman act... Whoever is responsible for the criminal violent act, stern measures should be taken against them," the minority affairs minister said,



Naqvi's comments came even as some BJP leaders, including MLA Surendra Singh, defended Bajrang Dal and claimed that Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh was killed in police firing.

Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP), a BJP ally in the Uttar Pradesh, blamed the Bajrang Dal and the VHP for Monday's mob violence in Bulandshahr, saying the two organisations are creating a rift between Hindus and Muslims with an eye on the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The CPI(M) blamed Yogi Adityanath's "communally provocative speeches" for the Bulandshahr violence and alleged that it has been "planned" in view of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

"Such incidents are planned in view of the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. The communally provocative speeches being made by Chief Minister Adityanath have also created an atmosphere for the mobs to act with impunity," the CPI (M) said in a statement.

Sibal also slammed Yogi Adityanath over reports that he was watching a sound and light show in Gorakhpur with Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh while the violence spread in Bulandshahr.

Targeting the BJP and the RSS, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi alleged that those fuelling violence in the name of cow have been receiving full protection from the two organisations.

As the political attack on the BJP intensified, the slain inspector's family reeled under the trauma with his son Abhishek Singh wondering whose father will be the next to fall to violence after he lost his father to "Hindu-Muslim dispute". His father was against violence over religion, he said.

Taking cognizance of the matter, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) sent notices to the Uttar Pradesh government and the state's police chief over the killing of the inspector and the 20-year-old man.

Amnesty India, a human rights body, said a "culture of fear, hatred and impunity has spread across Uttar Pradesh".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Protection and encouragement to fringe elements was emboldening them to lynch even a police officer, Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi Tuesday said with regard to the flare-up in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr over a reported cow slaughter incident.

Violence broke out Monday in the UP city after villagers found some body parts of cows in a jungle in Mahaw village.

The animal parts were then taken to the local police station by members of various Hindu groups and villagers demanding action.

The situation soon got violent, resulting in people pelting stones and burning down Chingarwathi Police Chowki as well as several vehicles, following which police opened fire.

Inspector Subodh Kumar, who was posted at the Syana Police Station, died in the violence, and a youth succumbed to gun-shot wounds.

"The situation prevailing in Uttar Pradesh is unfortunate. People who are eager to kill others are not only given protection but are encouraged. Encouragement to such elements has emboldened them to lynch even a police officer, who was trying to maintain law and order," Chaturvedi said here Tuesday.

She was in Pune to inaugurate a poster exhibition, targeting the BJP, organised by former MLC and senior Congress leader Mohan Joshi.

Hitting out at the BJP, she said, "Today, some organisations associated with the ruling parties are feeling so emboldened that they think they can take law into their hands and no action will be taken against them. Such concession to these people is dangerous for the entire country."



Taking a swipe at UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who is the star campaigner for the BJP in states going to Assembly polls at present, Chaturvedi said he should go back to UP and set it in order first.

"Whatever is happening in UP, he is accountable and if he not ready to take responsibility, he should be relieved of his post," the Congress leader said.

She said those behind the violence should be brought to justice, warning that the Congress would start a nationwide agitation to ensure investigations proceed on the right track.

She said the BJP, since 1980 (when the party was formed) had used religious polarisation to gain votes.

"Unfortunately, it has now reached a point where they are creating a caste divide. They are now dividing even gods as per castes as they (BJP) have realised that they have no development record to show," she claimed.

The Congress spokesperson expressed confidence the voters of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram will reject the BJP in the current Assembly polls.

MP and Mizoram went to polls on November 28, Chhattisgarh on November 12 and 20, while Rajasthan and Telangana will vote on December 7.

The results of all the five states will be declared on December 11.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)a day after a mob torched the local police post and shot dead an inspector, a haunting silence prevailed in Chingrawathi village here.

"The people in the village are so scared after the incident that most of them have fled their homes, local resident Anil Kumar told PTI Tuesday.

Some, including children and women, have rushed to their relatives in nearby areas and some are camping in the fields, away from their village homes, the 46-year-old said.

It is the fear of the police," he said.

Police inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and a 20-year-old man Sumit died of gunshot wounds when a mob went on rampage over alleged cow slaughter.

Anil Kumar claimed that 30-32 cows were slaughtered and their heads strewn near Mahav village on the other side of Chingrawathi village.

Then people from both the villages gathered at Chingrawathi police post and obstructed traffic on the main road demanding that an inquiry should conducted by a senior official, such as the DM, and strict action taken against the culprits," said Anil Kumar.

"When the violence broke out, brickbats were hurled and the inspector opened fire, in which Sumit from my neighborhood suffered injuries and died," he said.

The inspector was injured in the mob violence and was attacked again when he was being taken to hospital, the police said.

He was shot in the head, they said.

"The entire village is being considered guilty," another villager said.

Sumit's mother and three of his sisters were at their home in the village and a neighbour said they had not yet been informed about his death.

Sumit's father Amarjit Singh (55) brother Vineet (22) and sister Babli were accompanying the body being brought home from Meerut, where he had been taken for medical treatment, neighbours said.

"Sumit was the youngest of the six siblings. He was preparing for competitive exams in Ghaziabad," his cousin Anuj Kumar, 20, said.

"He was a very soft-spoken boy. I never heard him utter anything other than Ram, Ram," Anil Kumar said.

Chingrawathi village head Ajay Kumar said the violence was unprecedented.

"There are three Muslim families in the village but there has never been any untoward incident so far," he said.

National Jat Mahasabha state president Rohit Jakhar demanded compensation for inspector and the villager killed in the violence, and government jobs for their kin.

"Those guilty must be brought to book and no innocent person should suffer," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Taking cognisance of an onion grower's act of sending his earnings to the Prime Minister after getting paltry returns for his produce, the Centre has sought a detailed report on the matter from the Maharashtra government, an official said Tuesday.

Sanjay Sathe, a farmer from Niphad tehsil in Nashik district, had claimed on Sunday that he fetched only Rs 1,064 for his produce of 750 kg onion this season.

In protest, the farmer said, he had sent a money order addressed to "Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India" of Rs 1,064 to the PMO's Disaster Relief Fund on November 29.

"We have been asked by the state government on behalf of the Centre to submit a detailed report about onion production in the region and the actual condition of the farmer who sent the money order.

"At present, the onion production has increased for sure in Nashik region. We have mentioned all these facts in the report and submitted it to the state government. We will wait for further instructions," Nashik's Acting Resident Collector Shashikant Mangrule told PTI.

Sathe said he was hopeful that the Centre will take some action for the benefit of all onion growers in the region.

"My act of sending the money order was merely to express the frustration and plight of my (farming) community," the cultivator said.

Nashik district in north Maharashtra accounts for 50 per cent of onion production in India.

Sathe, who was among the handful of 'progressive farmers' selected by the Union Agriculture Ministry for an interaction with then US president Barack Obama, when he visited India in 2010, had said on Sunday that he does not represent any political party, but was angry because of the government's "apathy" towards the farmer's woes.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Delhi Health Minister claimed on Tuesday that a charge sheet was filed to stop him from regularising unauthorised colonies in the city.

His remarks come after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Monday filed a charge sheet against Jain, his wife and a few others in a disproportionate assets case.

"This keeps happening and now it's a part of life. Nothing new," Jain said when asked about the charge sheet on the sidelines of an event at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences here.

"These people want that such (unauthorised) colonies should not be regularised. That's why it is being done, so let them do it," he said, without elaborating who they are.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had also reiterated the charge that the case was registered against Jain for making a scheme for regularisation of unauthorised colonies in the capital.

He alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has not got this case registered against the Delhi PWD and Urban Development Minister Jain, but against every person living in unauthorised colonies.The husband of a 34-year-old Indian-origin pharmacist found dead in her home in Middlesborough, northern England, earlier this year has been found guilty of her murder on Tuesday.

Mitesh Patel, 37, had denied killing his wife Jessica, whose body was found at their home in May.

His murder trial at Teesside Crown Court opened last month and on Tuesday a jury found him guilty of strangling his wife to death with a supermarket plastic bag so he could start a new life with his boyfriend whom he met on the gay dating app Grindr.

Justice James Goss told the jury a life sentence was mandatory and he would determine Patel's minimum term behind bars during a sentencing hearing on Wednesday.

The court was told how the accused had planned to claim a GBP 2-million life insurance payout and move to Australia with lover Dr Amit Patel, described as his "soulmate".

The jury heard the cheating husband met other men on Grindr and had made internet searches dating back years, including "I need to kill my wife", "insulin overdose", "plot to kill my wife, do I need a co-conspirator?", "hiring hitman UK" and "how much methadone will kill you?".

In July 2015, he told his Sydney-based lover Amit: "Her days are marked."



Mitesh Patel had insisted he was innocent and claimed he had returned home to find the couple's house burgled and his wife's wrists bound with duct tape.

But prosecutors presented evidence to the jury to show it was Patel himself who had tied her up after injecting her with insulin and strangling and suffocating her with a Tesco supermarket bag.

Jessica Patel's family made a statement at the end of the trial, saying they were "devastated" by her death.

The statement said "She had simple dreams, all she ever wanted was to fall in love, have a family of her own and live happily ever after.

"The man we welcomed into our family, who promised to look after and protect her, betrayed her in every sense of the word, cheating her of her dreams, robbing her of her life and robbing us of her."



The court heard that Mitesh Patel regularly chatted to men on Grindr under the pseudonym "Prince", using the gay dating app daily in front of employees at the pharmacy he ran with his wife. The jury was told that his gay double life became the pharmacy's "worst kept secret".

At the start of the trial, Justice Goss had said that it was agreed that the accused had been unfaithful to his wife with men, having used the dating app Grindr. He had therefore ruled out any jury member who had used the same dating app or visited the Patels' pharmacy in Linthorpe since 2011 to be included for the trial to ensure impartiality.

On Tuesday, the jury of six men and six women took three hours of deliberation to give their guilty verdict.

Jessica Patel was found at her home on The Avenue in Linthorpe suburb of Middlesborough with serious injuries and pronounced dead at the scene.

The victim, also known as Jess, ran the local chemist's shop on Roman Road in Middlesborough with her husband, whom she met while studying at university in Manchester.

The couple's home is close to their pharmacy, which they ran for around three years. Both the home and work premises were the focus of intense police searches in the days after the murder on May 14.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Eight-year-old Bella Maloney woke up next to her little brother in a queen-size bed at a Best Western hotel and for breakfast ate a bagel and cream cheese that her mother brought up from the lobby.

And then she was off to school for the first time in nearly a month.

For Bella, brother Vance and thousands of other youngsters in Northern California who lost their homes and their classrooms in last month's deadly wildfire, life crept a little closer to normal Monday when school finally resumed in most of Butte County.

"They're ready to get back," 31-year-old Erica Hail said of her children. "I think they're sick of Mom and Dad." At school, "they get to have time alone in their own space and their own grade and they get to just be by themselves."



Schools in the county had been closed since November 8, when the blaze swept through the town of Paradise and surrounding areas, destroying nearly 14,000 homes and killing at least 88 people in the nation's deadliest wildfire in a century. About two dozen people remain unaccounted for, down from a staggering high of 1,300 a few weeks ago.

About 31,000 students in all have been away from school since the disaster. On Monday, nearly all of them went back, though some of them attended class in other buildings because their schools were damaged or destroyed, or inaccessible inside evacuation zones.

Bella was shy and not very talkative but agreed she was excited to be going back. She wanted to see her friends.

The small, tidy hotel room with two queen beds has been home to the family of five for some two weeks. Since they lost nearly everything to the fire, there was little to clutter up the space. The Hails are booked there until February.

"Bella, what time is it?" Hail asked her daughter, waking her up in their hotel room.

"Seven dot dot three five," came the 8-year-old's sing-song reply. 7:35. It was time to brush her teeth, comb her hair and hit the road for a nearly hourlong drive to school in the family SUV.

A few minutes later, at seven-dot-dot-four-seven, they were out the door.

Some families driven out by the inferno have left the state or are staying with friends or relatives too far away for the children to go back to school in Butte County.

The Hails whose five-bedroom, two-bath home in Paradise was destroyed are staying in Yuba City, a long drive from their new school in Durham.

It was shortly before the 9 am start of the school day when they pulled up to Durham Elementary School, where Bella is in third grade and Vance is in half-day kindergarten.

Across the county, nearly all of the teachers are returning to provide a familiar and comforting face to the children.

"It's important that the kids are able to stay together and have some sort of normalcy in the crazy devastation that we're having now," said Jodi Seaholm, whose daughter Mallory is a third-grader.

Mallory underwent radiation in October to treat a recurrence of brain cancer and showed no fear, Seaholm said, but "this situation with her house burning down has absolutely devastated her."



Counselors brought in from around the country were in nearly every classroom Monday to help children who were distressed by their escape through a burning town and the loss of their homes, Paradise school Superintendent Michelle John said at a celebratory conference.

Many of the teachers lost their homes as well.

"Our kids are traumatised," John said. "Their families are traumatised." Most of Paradise High School survived but is inaccessible.

The district doesn't have space yet for intermediate and high school students whose classrooms were rendered unusable, so for the 13 days before the holiday break begins, they will learn through independent study. They will have access to online assignments and a drop-in center at a mall in Chico where they can get help from teachers or see classmates.

Schoolwork will probably be secondary to dealing with trauma and reconnecting with friends, said Paradise High Principal Loren Lighthall.

"They don't have their church, they don't have their school, they don't have their work, they don't have their friends. They don't have any of that stuff, and we're asking them to write five-paragraph essays?" Lighthall said. "It's just unreasonable at this point. We're going to do it, but we're going to be super flexible with what we require.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)China and India have created "golden opportunities" for tourism with the rapid economic progress and a fast growing middle-class, a top Chinese official said here, as the country's picturesque southwestern Yunnan Province launched initiatives to woo more Indian tourists.

China, one of the world's top receivers of international tourists, has been promoting Yunnan as a paradise for Indian travellers, highlighting its proximity to the country, dramatic landscape and breathtaking views.

The efforts by the provincial government came months after President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi held their first informal summit in central China's Wuhan city where they agreed to strengthen people-to-people exchanges.

Kunming, also known as 'the city of eternal spring' due to its spring-like weather, ideal to escape the summer and the frozen winter, is the capital city of the country's most ethnically diverse Yunnan Province.

To attract a large number of tourists from India, the Yunnan Provincial Tourism Development Commission signed an agreement with the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) and a three-day convention 'Tourism Beyond Boundaries' was held here in which nearly 500 delegates from India explored the tourism opportunities between the province and India.

According to Li Malin, Vice Governor of Yunnan Province, "both China and India are developing countries with rapid economic development, increased living standards of the people and a fast growing middle-class which have created golden opportunities for tourism development".

"India has emerged as an important source market for China, while China is the potential market to send travellers to India," she said.

Between India and China, there is a tourist market which is broad enough for both the sides to explore, Li said.

"Social and people-to-people exchanges with tourism included as one of its integral components play an important part in enhancing relations between India and China," Li said.

According to Kunming-based tourist guide Maria, Yunnan offers a host of tourist attractions which include the Stone Forest a notable set of limestone formations in Shilin Yi Autonomous County; Dianchi Lake also known as Kunming Lake; Yuantong Temple - the most famous Buddhist temple in Kunming; Green lake park - an urban park in Kunming which comprises a group of four small sub-lakes linked by bridges in the traditional style among others.

"Kunming is one of the most beautiful cities of China. It is also known as 'the flower city' as its unique weather conditions allow it to grow flowers across the year.

"The city's proximity to India, just a two-and-a-half-hour flight from Kolkata and a four-hour flight from New Delhi, makes it a must-visit tourist place for Indians looking to spend their vacations abroad," Maria said.

Li Malin said that her appreciation goes to those who are long committed in supporting and promoting cooperation between India and China, specially between India and Yunnan Province.

Yunnan is one of the most advantageous provinces in China, blessed with abundant tourism resources and endowments.

In 2017, the Yunnan Province received a total of 573 million domestic and foreign tourists, raking in a total revenue of 692.2 billion yuan ($101.1 billion), Li said.

In April in Wuhan, President Xi pointed out that China and India should jointly carry out comprehensive cooperation plans between the two countries and promote more extensive social and people-to-people exchanges, she said.

"Prime Minister Modi responded that the two sides should promote people-to-people friendship and raise bilateral relations to a new level," Li said.

He Ligui, Director General, Department of Culture and Tourism of Yunnan Province said that Yunnan, with the most nationalities in the country, has 26 nationalities as a whole.

Yunnan, which offers a lot of scenic beauty, natural wonders and excellent climate, is now focusing on Indian tourists, He told a group of visiting Indian journalists.

"There are plans to launch more flights to Kolkata and other Indian cities to boost two-way flow of tourists," He said.

Li Bijian, Minister-Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi, said Yunnan offers great tourism opportunities to Indians with its karst landscapes, beautiful mountains, red lands, dramatic landscape and breathtaking views.

"We think that India and China are the largest neighbours, the largest developing countries and the largest emerging economies.

"The decisions taken during the Wuhan summit are described as the Wuhan Spirit by your side while our side calls its Wuhan Consensus," Li said.

He also called for an increase in the inflow of Chinese tourists to India, saying there is a need for more Mandarin-fluent Indian guides holding official permits.

"Though there are many five-star and four-star hotels in India, there are very limited business hotels in India.

Also, there should be more Chinese restaurants in places like Kerala, Goa, Varanasi and Bodh Gaya among others, Li said.

President of TAAI Sunil Kumar said that TAAI is a vehicle for the governments to sit and ride on if they are seeking to promote a particular destination for tourism.

"Yunnan will be the most important household destination for every travel agency which is associated with TAAI. The tourists' arrival in Yunnan will rise significantly," he said.

Kumar said that there are several yoga institutes in Kunming and Yunnan. The visibility of Indians in the province will go up in the days to come.China announced Tuesday stiffer punishments for serious infringers of intellectual property -- including barring them from buying real estate or going on expensive holidays -- as Washington clamours for action on the issue following a trade war truce.

The National Development and Reform Commission, China's state planner, along with 37 government departments, released a joint policy to deal with serial IP infringers, who will face a raft of tough punishments and restrictions if blacklisted.

The crackdown comes days after US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed at a summit in Argentina to hold off on new tariffs while negotiators seek a deal.

Trump has imposed levies on billions of dollars worth of Chinese imports, in part as punishment over alleged IP theft, which the US says costs its companies as much as $600 billion a year -- which China has denied.

Following the trade war truce, the White House said the two sides had agreed to negotiate "structural changes" to enhance IP protection in China.

IP includes intangible creations like patents, trademarks and copyrights. Under the policy unveiled Tuesday, China will build a social credit-type system for the field, publishing a national list of serious IP offenders.

The national IP Administration will make it more difficult for firms and individuals who make the list to register patents.

Other departments will limit or prohibit offenders' access to government support and state procurement contracts. Their offences will be recorded in the firm's or individual's credit history.

Individuals would also be restricted from holding board positions at state-owned companies, buying property or going on extravagant holidays.

Banks are instructed to more carefully consider extending credit lines, while firms will be prohibited from issuing corporate bonds.

Qualifying for the "serious dishonest behaviour" IP list will require repeatedly infringing on patents, not abiding by past IP enforcement rulings, and providing fabricated documents while applying for patents, among other things.

"For those of us in the industry of protecting intellectual property rights, this is definitely a welcome measure," said Bob Jin, a partner at LexField law firm, focusing on intellectual property law in Beijing.

The measures takes protection a step further by using public power to punish serial offenders, he said. In situations with serious repeat offenders, "we don't have a good way to deal with it, so this is actually filling in some blanks," Jin said.

A recent report by US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer's office accused China of a campaign of state-backed cyber-attacks on American companies.

Seeking to shake its reputation for counterfeit goods, China has in recent years taken steps to improve IP protection, including establishing specialised IP courts to handle patent disputes, copyright and trademark infringement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)China on Tuesday welcomed US President Donald Trump's move to seek Pakistan's support for his efforts to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table to end the 17-year brutal war in Afghanistan.

Trump has written to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, seeking Islamabad's "assistance and facilitation in achieving a negotiated settlement of the Afghan war".

Commenting on the development, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said, "we welcome sound interaction between Pakistan and the US".

"Sound and steady development of Pakistan-US relations is conducive to the realisation of the reconstruction of Afghanistan as well as anti-terrorism endeavours," he said.

It is also conducive to regional peace and stability.

"We are pleased to see the improvement of their bilateral relations (and we) support their mutually beneficial cooperation and to step up communication on this issue," Geng said.

In the letter, Trump "stated that his most important regional priority was achieving a negotiated settlement of the Afghan war. In this regard, he has sought Pakistan's support and facilitation."



In Washington, a spokesperson of the US National Security Council told PTI that "the president recognises that Pakistan has the ability to deny the Taliban sanctuary on its territory...The letter also makes clear that Pakistan's assistance with the Afghan peace process is fundamental to building an enduring US-Pakistan partnership."



Since taking office, Trump has been very critical of Pakistan's lax attitude towards combatting terrorism.

Last month, Trump said Pakistan does not do "a damn thing" for the US, alleging that Islamabad had helped al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden hide near its garrison city of Abbottabad.

Ties between the US and Pakistan strained after Trump, while announcing his Afghanistan and South Asia policy in August last year, hit out at Pakistan for providing safe havens to "agents of chaos" that kill Americans in Afghanistan and warned Islamabad that it has "much to lose" by harbouring terrorists.

In September, the Trump administration cancelled USD 300 million in military aid to Islamabad for not doing enough against terror groups like the Haqqani Network and the Taliban active on its soil.

The Trump administration, in the recent months, has intensified its efforts to seek a negotiated settlement of America's longest war in Afghanistan where the US has lost over 2,400 soldiers since late 2001, when it invaded the country after the 9/11 terror attacks.

The Taliban are fighting to flush out US-led international forces and re-establish their regime in Afghanistan after their ouster in 2001.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the Rs 36-billion chopper deal, is being extradited to India from the UAE, official sources said Tuesday night.

They said he was scheduled to be brought back on Tuesday night from

Michel, a British national, is wanted in India in connection with the VVIP choppers scam.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), in its charge sheet filed against Michel in June 2016, had alleged that he received EUR 30 million (about Rs 2.25 billion) from

Michel is one of the three middlemen being probed in the case, besides Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa, by the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Both the CBI and the ED had notified an Interpol red corner notice against him.





On January 1, 2014, India scrapped the contract with Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the IAF over alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of paying kickbacks to the tune of Rs 4.23 billion by it for securing the deal.

The CBI has alleged that there was an estimated loss of Euro 398.21 million (approximately Rs 26.66 billion) to the exchequer in the deal that was signed on February 8, 2010 for the supply of VVIP choppers worth Euro 556.262 million.British national Christian Michel, wanted by Indian investigative agencies in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP choppers deal case, was taken to the Dubai International Airport on Tuesday, where he would take a flight to India, according to a media report.

The Court of Cassation had in November upheld a lower court order which said that Michel could be extradited.

Michel, 54, was taken to the Dubai International Airport on Tuesday, where he would take a flight to India, the Khaleej Times reported.

India officially made the request to the Gulf nation in 2017 for his extradition, based on the criminal investigations conducted in the case by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The ED, in its chargesheet filed against Michel in June 2016, had alleged that he received ?EUR 30 million (about Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland.

The money was nothing but "kickbacks" paid by the firm to execute the 12 helicopter deal in favour of the firm in "guise of" genuine transactions for performing multiple work contracts in the country, according to the chargesheet.

Michel is one of the three middlemen being probed in the case, besides Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa, by the ED and the CBI. Both the agencies have notified an Interpol red corner notice (RCN) against him after the court issued a non-bailable warrant against him.

The ED investigation found that remittances made by Michel through his Dubai-based firm Global Services to a media firm he floated in Delhi, along with two Indians, were made from the funds which he got from AgustaWestland through "criminal activity" and corruption being done in the chopper deal that led to the subsequent generation of proceeds of crime.

Michel denies the charges.

On January 1, 2014, India scrapped the contract with Italy-based Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the IAF over alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of paying kickbacks to the tune of Rs 423 crore by it for securing the deal.

The CBI has alleged there was an estimated loss of Euro 398.21 million (approximately Rs 2,666 crore) to the exchequer in the deal that was signed on February 8, 2010 for the supply of VVIP choppers worth Euro 556.262 million.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)British national Christian Michel, wanted by Indian investigative agencies in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP choppers deal case, was taken to the Dubai International Airport on Tuesday to be extradited to India, according to a media report.

The Court of Cassation last month upheld a lower court order which said that Michel could be extradited.

Michel, 54, was taken to the Dubai International Airport from where he will be extradited to India later in the day, Khaleej Times reported.

The extradition procedure happens in coordination with the Interpol and the CID.

The development comes on a day when External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj held exhaustive discussions with her UAE counterpart Abdullah bin Zayed in Abu Dhabi.

India officially made the request to the Gulf nation in 2017 for his extradition, based on the criminal investigations conducted in the case by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The ED, in its chargesheet filed against Michel in June 2016, had alleged that he received ?EUR 30 million (about Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland.

The money was nothing but "kickbacks" paid by the firm to execute the 12 helicopter deal in favour of the firm in "guise of" genuine transactions for performing multiple work contracts in the country, according to the chargesheet.

Michel is one of the three middlemen being probed in the case, besides Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa, by the ED and the CBI. Both the agencies have notified an Interpol red corner notice (RCN) against him after the court issued a non-bailable warrant against him.

The ED investigation found that remittances made by Michel through his Dubai-based firm Global Services to a media firm he floated in Delhi, along with two Indians, were made from the funds which he got from AgustaWestland through "criminal activity" and corruption being done in the chopper deal that led to the subsequent generation of proceeds of crime.

Michel denies the charges.

On January 1, 2014, India scrapped the contract with Italy-based Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the IAF over alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of paying kickbacks to the tune of Rs 423 crore by it for securing the deal.

The CBI has alleged there was an estimated loss of Euro 398.21 million (approximately Rs 2,666 crore) to the exchequer in the deal that was signed on February 8, 2010 for the supply of VVIP choppers worth Euro 556.262 million.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)American lender Citi Tuesday said it is eyeing a greater pie of the Indian wealth management business, concentrating both on the domestic opportunity as well as non-resident Indians (NRIs).

It has made two senior level appointments in pursuit of this in its private bank vertical, an official statement said, without quantifying the size of the market it aims to capture.

Quoting from a report by a consultancy, it said India has 263,000 high networth individuals HNIs, representing about USD 1 trillion in wealth, while there are 16 million India-born people living outside.

The bank said in the recent months, several prominent Indian families have acquired residential and commercial real estate properties in the United Kingdom through financing from Citi Private Bank.

"What we are witnessing is just the tip of the iceberg. Ultra high networth (UNHW) families, in general, think of wealth in a borderless way," Jyrki Rauhio, the south Asia head for Citi Private Bank, said.

On the diaspora end, the bank said Indian UNHW families are concentrated in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Australasia, the Gulf region, East Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada, where it has offices.

It has appointed Varun Chugh as the global market manager for the 'Global India business' and Puneet Sanwalka as the head of 'India onshore business', the statement said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Karnataka Chief Minister H DKumaraswamy Tuesday asked MPs from the stateto stand together against any opposition byneighbouring Tamil Nadu to Mekedatu project across the Cauvery river during the winter session of Parliament.

Tamil Nadu has demanded that the Centre withdraw its permission to Karnataka for preparing a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for a proposed balancing reservoir-cum-drinking water project at Mekedatu across the Cauvery.

The previous Siddaramaiah government had decided to implement the Rs 5,912 crore Mekedatu Multipurpose (drinking and power) project, which involves building a balancing reservoir with a capacity of about 66 tmcft, near Kanakapura in Ramanagaram district.

"Recently we have been asked to prepare a DPR with regard to the Mekedatu project, so during the session in parliament if Tamil Nadu raises the issue, our MPs forgetting their political differences should stand together with one voice in the interest of the state," Kumaraswamy said.

Speaking to reporters after a chairing a meeting of MPs from Karnataka ahead of the winter session, he said all information with respect to the project have been shared with the MPs during the meeting.

Kumaraswamy said he had twice petitioned the Prime Minister requesting that the central government bear the 50 per cent burden of the farm loan waiver and allegedthat there was "no clarity" from their end on the issue.

"Twice when I had gone I had asked and even petitionedstating that the central government should bear 50 per centburden of the farm loan waiver, we have asked MPs to request the same (to central government), but it is not that the stategovernment is waiting dependent on it."



Pointing out that data has been collected about farm loan from commercial banks, Kumaraswamy said about 21 lakh account holders have obtained loans.

"Final preparations are on," he said.

"Let there be no anxiety or confusion on loan waiver, the state government will keep up its commitment made to farmers, whether there is help from the Centre or not, but we are appealing to them (centre for assistance)."



Noting that "debt free" certificates would be given tofarmers from Sedam and Doddaballapura on pilot basis from December 8, Kumaraswamy said in January a large meeting of about ten lakh farmers would be organised, where certificate issuing process will be initiated on a large-scale.

He also lashed out at state BJP leaders, including itschief Yeddyurappa for criticising his government for not implementing the loan waiver scheme.

The chief minister informed the MPsthat proposals relating to about 15 departments were pending before the Centre and sought their support ingetting them cleared.

Expressing his reservation about National Disaster Response Fund guidelines and relief provided under it, while seeking changes, he also said MNREGA related amount worth over Rs 900 crorewas still to be released for Karnataka.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)After disrupting the Kerala Assembly for four consecutive days over the Sabarimala issue, the Congress-led UDF opposition Tuesday boycotted the proceedings, protesting against not discussing the nepotism charges against Local Administration minister K T Jaleel.

The UDF alleged that the minister had appointed his cousin, Adeeb K T, as general manager in the Kerala State Minorities Development Finance Corporation by flouting rules and changing the qualification criteria, which amounted to corruption.

But Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan categorically rejected the charges and said it was a "baseless allegation" and the appointment was made as per rules.

Vijayan said that the opposition was trying to create a "smokescreen" over an appointment which was made after following all mandatory procedures.

It was the first time that the Chief Minister was reacting to the charges against Jaleel, though the opposition has been on the warpath against the minister for the last several weeks over charges of favouritism and nepotism.

"The minister has not flouted any rule. As per the rule of business, the approval of the Cabinet is not mandatory for making an appointment in a state-run Corporation. It is also not necessary to make any change in the qualification," he said.

The Chief Minister said Adeeb was serving as the senior manager of the South Indian Bank and was appointed in the Corporation as he was qualified and eligible for the post.

"Other applicants did not meet the mandatory qualification or have desirable experience," he said.

Taking a dig at the opposition, Vijayan also said he had a detailed list of appointments made during the time of the previous UDF ministry, "flouting rules and norms".

However, seeking a notice for the adjournment motion over the issue, K Muraleedharan (Congress) criticised the Chief Minister for taking such a grave issue in a "very light manner".

He said there was enough evidence to prove that the minister had made the appointment by going against rules and after purposefully making changes in the requisite qualification criteria to get Adeeb into the institution.

Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala alleged that the Chief Minister was protecting the corrupt.

"What Jaleel had done was blind nepotism and favouritism and it amounted to corruption," he alleged.

In his reply, Jaleel reiterated his stand that the appointment was transparent and the allegations were "baseless".

As the Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan rejected their demand for a discussion over the issue, the Opposition later boycotted the House proceedings.

The UDF had been disrupting the assembly proceedings for the last four days, demanding the lifting of prohibitory orders and other restrictions in the Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa temple.

Three of their MLAs are continuing their satyagraha at the portals of the House, pressing the same demand.

Jaleel is the second minister of the Pinarayi Vijayan led LDF government who has been caught in the nepotism row.

In October 2016, just five months after coming to power, then Industries minister E P Jayarajan had to resign on a similar charge.

However, Jayarajan was reinstated as a minister in August this year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A day after an audio clip triggered fresh charges of attempts by BJP to topple the HD Kumaraswamy ministry, the state Congress Tuesday said it would lodge a police complaint over the issue while asserting all MLAs of the party and its ruling partner JDS were with the government.

On behalf of the KPCC, we are lodging a complaint to find out between whom the conversation took place... Conspiracies are being hatched, which must be investigated at the government level," Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president Dinesh Gundu Rao told reporters here.

He asserted that no MLA from the Congress or JD(S) was ready to switch sides. "We all are together."



The audio clip which surfaced Monday and went viral contained purported conversation between a confidant of BJP MLA B Sriramulu and a Dubai-based businessman discussing that at least 10 to 11 MLAs from the Congress and JD(S) were ready to switch sides with specific names being mentioned.

"They have been offered Rs 20 crore to Rs 25 crore and ministership. By the second week it has to happen," the confidant is heard purportedly saying in Hindi in the audio.

Sriramulu Tuesday rejected the charges and questioned the authenticity of the audio clip.

The former Ballari MP told reporters that his personal assistant never spoke in Hindi.

Meanwhile, Ballari-based mining baron and former BJP minister G Janardhana Reddy Tuesday visited the Jindal Naturecure Institute in the city, adding more fuel to the speculations since two Congress MLAs were undergoing treatment there.

However, both the MLAs denied any contact between them and Reddy.

The ruling coalition had in the past too accused BJP of attempting to poach its MLAs, a charge denied by the saffron party.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.): The Congress in Kerala continued its attack on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on the appointment of Loknath Behara as state police chief, demanding Tuesday that he explain the pressing hurry to appoint him to the post, disregarding the seniority of four IPS officers.

The Chief Minister should make it clear why a man removed from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) was appointed to the post, Kerala PCC President Mullapally Ramachandran told reporters here.

"Why was Behera appointed in a hurry? What was the pressing hurry for appointing him, disregarding the seniority of four IPS officers? Should not the official's credentials have been enquired into?", Ramachandran, a former minister of state for Home, asked.

Ramachandran had Saturday alleged that Behara was appointed state DGP at the behest of Modi after he, as senior NIA officer, gave him and BJP president Amit Shah a "clean chit" in the Gujarat riots and the Ishrat Jahan alleged fake encounter cases.

Ramachandran said he stood firm with the allegations he had levelled against Behera.

"I had made my views absolutely clear from the beginning. Immediately after his appointment, I made my stand clear. What more do you want?"



Vijayan Monday said he was not a person to dance to the "whims and fancies" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and hit out at the state Congress chief, who had alleged that Behera was made Kerala police chief by the Left government at Modi's behest.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A contempt plea has been filed in the National Green Tribunal, Eastern Bench, urging it to take action over the pollution caused to Rabindra Sarobar lake in Kolkata during last month's Chhath puja, which the petitioners said was organised in violation of an NGT order.

The petition, filed by Sumita Bandyopadhyay and signed by 1,178 other morning walkers near the lake, contended that thousands of people had assembled at the eco-sensitive zone on November 13 and November 14 and offered puja in violation of an NGT order.

The devotees threw flowers, fruits, sweetmeats and oily substances in the lake, burst crackers and played music in high volume near the 73-acre water body in the heart of the city.

The petitioners said such celebrations were in violation of the November 3, 2017 order of the NGT which had allowed Chhath puja to be performed in the lake that year only. They said the tribunal had refused to entertain a plea on November 12, 2018 to allow Chhath puja there.

The gathering of so many people affected the eco-system of the lake and surrounding areas which is rich in bio-diversity and caused environmental degradation, the petitioners said and submitted photographs of the post-Chhath puja condition of the lake to the tribunal.

The petitioners made the West Bengal government and the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority, which looks after the maintenance of the lake, parties to the case.

The NGT, East Zone, had allowed Chhath Puja at Rabindra Sarobar in 2016 and 2017 for the respective years following a plea by the Rashtriya Bihari Samaj.

The tribunal had issued directions on both occasions against bursting of crackers and use of loudspeakers. It had also asked state authorities to ensure that the lake is not polluted by puja offerings.

An FIR against unnamed persons was filed by police for violating the NGT order on Chhath puja on November 14 this year.

Rabindra Sarobar is covered under National Lake Conservation Plan of the Government of India.

The objective of the plan is to restore and conserve urban and semi-urban lakes degraded due to waste water discharge into the lake.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Delhi court has fixed December 17 for consideration of the chargesheet filed against Delhi minister Satyendar Jain for allegedly amassing assets of Rs 1.47 crore, disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Special Judge Arun Bhardwaj said he would consider on December 17 whether to take cognisance of the chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is likely to file additional documents on the next date of hearing.

The CBI, which filed the chargesheet Monday, alleged that Jain had amassed assets worth Rs 1.47 crore, which was "217.20 per cent" above his known sources of income between 2015-17.

According to the central probe agency, the "ill-gotten money" was allegedly routed to four companies controlled by Jain and his relatives through "accommodation entries" -- a term used for "hawala" transfers -- in Kolkata-based shell companies.

It alleged that Jain's wife Poonam was actively involved in the process and hence, she was made an accused in the chargesheet, along with the minister's business associates and relatives -- Ajit Prasad Jain, Vaibhav Jain, Sunil Kumar Jain and Ankush Jain.

The CBI claimed that Jain and his relatives had stakes in four companies -- Prayas Info Solutions, Akinchan Developers, Mangalyatan Projects and Indo Metal Impex Private Limited.

Jain, the minister for health, home, power, PWD, industries, urban development and flood and irrigation in the Delhi government of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), was a director in all but one -- Mangalyatan Projects -- it alleged.

Although he had resigned from the directorship before the 2013 Delhi Assembly polls, his family members continued to hold shares in these companies and his shares were transferred on February 10, 2015 to his wife, through whom he had kept "effective" control over the firms, the agency alleged.

It was alleged that three companies -- Prayas Info Solutions, Akinchan Developers and Mangalyatan Projects -- had received Rs 1.53 crore as accommodation entries from Kolkata-based shell companies.

The CBI alleged that there was no explanation for Rs 1.47 crore, which was 217.20 per cent over and above Jain's legitimate income between 2015 and 2017.

It alleged that Jain was assisted in routing this "ill-gotten money through shell companies" by chartered accountant JP Mohta and "hawala" operator Rajendra Bansal.

The agency claimed that Satyendar and Vaibhav Jain had sent money to Bansal, who in turn provided accommodation entries in the form of share application money in the said firms from the shell companies between 2010 and 2016 -- even after the former had become a minister in the Delhi government.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Delhi court on Tuesday said it would hear on May 8 next year the CBI's plea seeking a direction to allow it to go for further probe into the politically sensitive Rs 64-crore Bofors payoff case.

The plea came up before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ashu Garg who deferred the matter due to non-availability of original records, which were sent to the Supreme Court.

The records of the case were sent to the apex court which was seized of BJP leader and advocate Ajay Agrawal's plea challenging the May 31, 2005 verdict of the Delhi High Court quashing all charges against the accused.

The apex court had on November 2 dismissed the CBI's appeal against the high court's verdict discharging all the accused, including the Hinduja brothers, in the Rs 64-crore Bofors pay-off case but kept alive Agarwal's petition.

It had rejected the CBI's plea seeking condonation of the 13-year delay in filing the appeal against the 2005 judgement.

The court had earlier also deferred the matter due to unavailability of documents which had been provided to the apex court.

Agrawal, who had contested the 2014 Lok Sabha election from Rae Bareli against the then Congress president Sonia Gandhi, had filed the appeal in the top court after the CBI had failed to challenge the high court verdict within the mandatory 90 days period.

The CBI had on February 1 moved the trial court seeking permission for further probe in the matter saying it had come across fresh material and evidence.

A day later it had also filed an appeal against the high court decision in the Supreme Court.

After the CBI, the BJP leader had also moved the trial court supporting the plea of the probe agency in the case.

The agency had swung into action after the Attorney General had orally given it a go ahead to file the appeal in the case in which it cited the October 2017 interview of private detective Michael Hershman, alleging that the then Rajiv Gandhi government had sabotaged his probe.

Justice R S Sodhi (since retired) of the Delhi High Court had on May 31, 2005 quashed the CBI case in the Bofors pay-off scam.

Before the 2005 verdict of Justice Sodhi, another judge of the Delhi High Court, Justice J D Kapoor (since retired), had on February 4, 2004 exonerated the late prime minister in the case and directed the framing of charge of forgery under section 465 of the IPC against Bofors company.

The Rs 1,437-crore deal between India and Swedish arms manufacturer AB Bofors for the supply of 400 155mm howitzer guns for the Indian Army was entered into on March 24, 1986.

Swedish Radio had on April 16, 1987 claimed that the company had paid bribes to top Indian politicians and defence personnel.

The CBI had on January 22, 1990 registered the FIR for alleged offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating and forgery under the India Penal Code and other sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act against Martin Ardbo, the then president of AB Bofors, alleged middleman Win Chadda and the Hinduja brothers.

It had alleged that certain public servants and private persons in India and abroad had entered into a criminal conspiracy between 1982 and 1987 in pursuance of which the offences of bribery, corruption, cheating and forgery were committed.

The first charge sheet in the case was filed on October 22, 1999, against Chadda, Ottavio Quattrocchi, the then defence secretary S K Bhatnagar, Ardbo and the Bofors company. A supplementary charge sheet was filed against the Hinduja brothers -- S P Hinduja, G P Hinduja and P P Hinduja -- on October 9, 2000.

A special CBI court in Delhi on March 4, 2011, had discharged Quattrocchi in the case, saying the country could not afford to spend hard-earned money on his extradition which had already cost Rs 250 crore.

Quattrocchi, who had fled from India on July 29-30, 1993, never appeared before any court in India to face prosecution. He passed away on July 13, 2013. The other accused who died are Bhatnagar, Ardbo and Chadda.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Appellate courts including high courts should not interfere with verdicts acquitting the accused in criminal cases, merely on the ground that a "different view" was possible, the Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday.

A bench of justices L Nageswara Rao and R Subhash Reddy, referring to previous apex court verdicts, held that the trial court's acquittal should not be disturbed by the appellate courts unless there existed "very substantial and compelling reasons".

"Interference with an order of acquittal is not permissible on the ground that a different view is possible. If the acquittal is justified on a probable view taken by the trial court, it should not be interfered with," Justice Rao, writing the verdict for the bench, said.

The apex court's observation came in a verdict by which it set aside a Patna High Court judgement convicting accused in a murder case of 1984.

A man named Md Nadir Sah was shot dead in 1984 near Matihani at Begusarai district in Bihar and seven persons were listed in the charge sheet in the case.

The trial was conducted against five persons as one accused died and another absconded.

The trial court acquitted the five accused on various grounds including the delay in lodging the FIR, untrustworthy witnesses, improbability of identification of the accused and non-examination of independent witnesses.

The Patna High Court reversed the trial court verdict and convicted the five accused.

"The high court felt that apart from minor inconsistencies, the evidence of the eye witnesses was reliable and there was sufficient light to identify the accused.

"The accused shared a common intention of killing the deceased according to the high court. The delay in registering the FIR was found to be not fatal to the case of the prosecution. The evidence of interested witnesses was also held reliable by the high court," the apex court judgement said.

The top court set aside the high court verdict and acquitted two accused in the case.

Three other accused had died during the pendency of their appeal in the apex court and the proceedings with regard to them had got abated.

"Interference with the judgment of the trial court in this case by the high court is on a re-appreciation of evidence which is undoubtedly permissible.

"Though the high court was aware of the well-settled principles of law in matters relating to appeals against acquittals, it failed to apply the same in their proper perspective," the apex court said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A human rights watchdog Tuesday condemned the killing of a police inspector in Bulandshahr, triggered allegedly over cow slaughter, saying a "culture of fear, hatred and impunity has spread across Uttar Pradesh".

Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, who had probed the Mohammad Akhlaq lynching case in Dadri initially, and 20-year-old Sumit Kumar died of gunshot injuries Monday as a rampaging mob, protesting against alleged illegal cow slaughter, torched a police post and clashed with the men in uniform.

The attack was a consequence of the growing impunity that the perpetrators of cow-related violence had in Uttar Pradesh, the Amnesty India said in a statement.

"The Uttar Pradesh government has arrested four people so far in the death of police inspector Subodh Kumar Singh. But mere arrests are not enough. The disturbing truth is that cow-vigilante groups operate in many cases with the tacit approval of the state authorities," it added.

Singh was the first investigating officer in the case of the death of Mohammad Akhlaq, who was killed in 2015 by a mob at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh on the suspicion that he possessed and consumed beef.

The sad reality in Uttar Pradesh was that nobody was safe from the violence perpetrated by cow vigilantes, neither the police nor the marginalised communities "or in fact anyone", Asmita Basu, Programmes Director, Amnesty India, said.

"The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, must take responsibility for the death of the police inspector. A culture of fear, hatred and impunity has spread across Uttar Pradesh. Many more will be attacked by the cow-vigilante groups in the state if the government does not end the prevailing impunity and bring those responsible to justice," she added.

The increased religious divisions that the Uttar Pradesh government encouraged only put the ordinary people at the risk of discrimination, hostility and violence, Basu said, adding that this must end immediately and the government must commit to respecting the rights of all people.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The number of soldiers killed in a Boko Haram attack on a military base in northeast Nigeria's Yobe state has risen to eight, security sources said Tuesday.

Gunmen from Boko Haram faction the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) attacked the base on Saturday in Buni Gari village, 60 kilometres (37 miles) from Damaturu, the state capital.

Two soldiers and six insurgents were initially said to have been killed in the attack. But sources on Tuesday said eight soldiers were killed.

"The death toll is now eight. Six more bodies of soldiers were later recovered and moved to Damaturu," a military officer, who did not want to be named told AFP.

A civilian militia fighting jihadists in the area confirmed the recovery of six more bodies of soldiers.

"All the eight dead soldiers are now in the morgue at the specialist hospital in Damaturu," said a spokesperson for the militia, who asked not to be identified for fear of sanction.

Military authorities were not immediately available to comment on the new toll. The insurgents destroyed an armoured vehicle and stole a truck during the attack.

Sources said air support and reinforcements from a military base in the nearby town of Buni Yadi helped push out the militants from the base.

Buni Yadi district is a known ISWAP stronghold.

The Boko Haram faction has in recent months intensified attacks on military targets in Borno and Yobe states. The two regions, along with nearby Adamawa state, have borne the brunt of nine years of jihadist violence that has claimed 27,000 lives and forced 1.8 million people to flee their homes.

Since July, AFP has reported 19 attacks on military bases in Borno and Yobe and ISWAP has claimed responsibility for most of them.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray Tuesday said the Narendra Modi government was sleeping like "Kumbhakarna" on the Ram Mandir issue, adding that his party would hold a rally on December 24 to wake it up.

The rally will be held in the pilgrim town of Pandharpur in Solapur district, Thackeray told reporters Tuesday.

Thackeray announced his decision after holding a meeting with party officials, MLAs and MPs here to discuss issues related to rural regions of the state.

"For last 30 years, the Ram Mandir issue has been pending and before every election the issue surfaces as a political agenda. And eventually, it is forgotten once the elections are over," Thackeray said.

"This (Modi) government completed four and half years in the Centre with complete majority, but they could not resolve the issue of Ram Mandir. It means the government was in Kumbhakarna's slumber," Thackeray said.

Kumbhakarna is a character from the epic Ramayana mythicised for long sleeping spells.

"The government resolved other issues by bringing legislation or ordinances, then why not the same treatment for construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya," he questioned.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Delhi government will launch a special drive from next week to enforce payment of wages according to the minimum wages act, Labour Minister Gopal Rai said Tuesday.

Workers, who are not getting minimum wages, can file their complaints on the helpline number, 155214, following which it will be looked into by the labour department for taking necessary action, Rai told reporters.

Enforcement teams have been formed to inspect factories and firms to check whether they are paying minimum wages or not, the Aam Aadmi Party leader said.

The daily minimum wages applicable in Delhi from November this year are: Rs 538 or Rs 14,000 per month for unskilled workers, Rs 592 or Rs 15,400/month for semi-skilled workers and Rs 692 or Rs 16,962/month for skilled workers.

The labour minister said the 10-day drive from Monday would involve spreading awareness among the workers. The officials will hold meetings with employers and workers, apprising them about the increased minimum wages and punishments in case of violations.

Rai said stringent action would be taken against the violators according to the provisions of the Act, which mandates a fine of Rs 50,000 or a three-year jail term or both.

The employers have been ordered to pay wages and salaries to the workers in their respective bank accounts or through cheque, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The sudden move to demonetise a bulk of Indian in circulation and the deteriorating agrarian distress in the country have exposed the consequences of financial exclusion, said a report released Tuesday.

The Exclusion Report 2017-18, brought out by Centre for Equity Studies (CES), said people's ability to spend, receive wages and survive depended crucially on whether they were part of the system or not after 84 per cent of all cash in the economy was made invalid on November 8, 2016.

"The experience of as well as the further deterioration in the crisis in agriculture has brought to the forefront the consequences of financial exclusion in India," it said.

The report comes a nearly a week after farmers from across the country gathered in to highlight their issues. They marched peacefully in the national capital and demanded that the government ensure remunerative prices for their produce and the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission Report.

Following demonetisation, the agriculture sector was one of the worst hit as farmers usually deal in cash.

The CES report also viewed the abolition of the Planning Commission and discontinuation of Five Year Plans as having "adverse implications" for decentralised planning and social equity.

"Planning Commission was pro-actively engaged in developing Plan budgets, preparation of FYPs and overseeing the implementation of Scheduled Caste and sub-plans, on the other hand, the NITI Aayog has no direct involvement in planning and budgetary processes," it noted.

ALSO READ: Demonetisation a draconian, monetary shock, says Arvind Subramanian

On January 1, 2015, the socialist-era Planning Commission was replaced by National Institution for Transforming (NITI Aayog). It is headed by the prime minister and has all chief ministers as members in a broad-based Governing Council to involve states in evolving national development priorities.

The report comprises critical reviews of exclusion in terms of public goods including higher education, land, and credit, and access to justice for those on death row in the form of field based and analytical write ups.

ALSO READ: Demonetisation impact transient; economy now robust: RBI Guv to house panel

Releasing the report, Harsh Mander, CES director, said each chapter in it is best seen as evidence-based reflections striving to see the extent and ways in which the Indian State has succeeded or failed in fulfilling the constitutional mandate.A digital platform showcasing the finest of European cultural heritage items may be presented in India to explore local possibilities, said a top EU functionary Tuesday.

The digital platform, Europeana, showcases the cultural and scientific heritage of the continent with thousands of museums and archives from member countries contributing to it.

"We will present Europeana here and share our experience how we built it, and support it," said EU ambassador to India Tomasz Kozlowski at the inaugural of 'EU-India Partnership for Cultural Heritage Conservation' here.

He hoped with "India being a digitalised country" some version of Europeana that suits the country's need could be developed.

"I am sure India being such a digitalised country, very soon we will probably invent something that will meet India's requirement. But it's part of future," Kozlowski said.

Cultural heritage is a collective as well as an individual responsibility and it deserves to be recognised and preserved for future generation, he said.

The two-day conference organised by the 'Delegation of the European Union to India' and 'Embassies of EU Member States' in collaboration with the National Museum Institute of Art, Conservation and Museology, India, is being attended by experts from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany and other EU counties.

The sessions of conference will involve discussions on topics like cultural heritage as a catalyst for socio-economic development, effects of urbanisation of cultural heritage, climate change risks on cultural heritage, and new technologies adopted in the field, among others.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Likening Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena to Adolf Hitler, the country's toppled Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe Tuesday said he was not afraid of snap polls but was against the use of referendums by "dictators".

Sri Lanka is going through a major political crisis since October 26 when President Sirisena, in a controversial move, removed Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and installed ex-strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa in his place.

The president later dissolved the Parliament and called for a snap election on January 5. However, the Supreme Court overturned Sirisena's decision to dissolve Parliament and halted the preparations for snap polls.

On Monday a lower court temporarily barred Sirisena-appointed prime minister Rajapaksa from performing his duties.

In his strongest yet statement against the president, the United National Party (UNP) leader said the United National Front (UNF) was prepared to face elections and they are "not afraid of elections."



Speaking from Temple Trees, the official residence of the Sri Lankan Prime Minister, which he has refused to vacate since his sacking, Wickremesinghe said, "All of us who are here in government, has taken an oath to defend the Constitution.

"So we want them to defend the Constitution... Follow the Constitution.

"Don't be like Hitler and some of the other dictators who used the referendum," Wickremesinghe was quoted as saying by Sri Lanka Mirror.

"As far as the elections are concerned, we have only two concerns. First, it must be a lawful government. And only the UNF and I can command that majority. Secondly, all the parties must come to a consensus on the date of elections," he said.

"Those who talk of having elections without according to the Constitution are people who don't want elections. They are hiding under the cover of elections to try and hang on to the office..."



Wickremesinghe said that the UNF is not prepared to bypass the Constitution under any circumstances.

"A legal Government can submit a motion to Parliament and if there is 2/3rd majority we can hold an election before the 4 1/2 year term of the current Parliament ends," he was quoted as saying by Colombo Gazette.

He said the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) has already said that it is prepared to face early elections.

Wickremesinghe said that if everyone wants an early election there is no need for the UNF to oppose it.

Though Rajapaksa was made the prime minister in October, he has not been able to prove his majority in 225-member Parliament.

Ousted prime minister Wickremesinghe has the backing of 122 parliamentarians. Lawmakers of Wickeremesinghe's UNP, JVP and Tamil National Alliance last month filed a petition in the Court of Appeal challenging Rajapaksa's authority as the prime minister. The final verdict is expected on December 14.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The telecom department is likely to appoint at least 4-5 auditors by this month to conduct the planned special audit of private telecom companies for period FY12 to FY18, according to a source.

The bids are expected to be submitted by December 18 by interested auditors that are empanelled under Comptroller and Auditor General of India, and the appointment is likely to take place by the month-end, said an official familiar with the entire process.

The audit will be carried-out to check for any under-reporting of revenue by telecom companies, and is expected to be wrapped-up by middle of next year, the official added.

Audits will be conducted for all large private telecom companies as also those which have announced an exit or are in the process of merging with bigger rivals.

The work on auditing will start from January, the source said.

"The idea is to see whether there is any concealment of revenue... because our licence fee is based on their revenue. We want to ensure that the accounts reveal a fair and true picture of the revenue earned," the source added.

Telecom service providers pay licence fees and spectrum usage charges to the government on the basis of their income.

The telecom sector has been bruised by falling tariffs, eroding profitability, and mounting debt in the face of stiff competition triggered by disruptive offerings of Reliance Jio, owned by Mukesh Ambani. The industry has been seeking urgent relief measures entailing debt restructuring, cut in levies, and release of GST input tax credit locked up with the government.

Reflecting the financial stress of the industry, the gross revenue of telecom service providers and licence fee paid to the government declined by around 10 per cent to Rs 58,401 crore and Rs 2,929 crore, respectively, in April-June 2018 compared to the year-ago period, according to recent data by telecom regulator Trai.

"Gross revenue (GR) and adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of the telecom service sector for the quarter ended June 2018 has been Rs 58,401 crore and Rs 36,552 crore, respectively," Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had said in its Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator report released in October.

The GR and AGR declined by 10 and 8.11 per cent, respectively, on year-on-year basis. The decline in AGR -- which is revenue earned from sale of telecom services alone -- led to fall in licence fees paid to the government by around 10 per cent to Rs 2,929 crore.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Delhi Technical University students who have enrolled into BTech evening shift course demanded the course be converted into full-time, alleging the varsity did not inform them that it was part-time.

According to a varsity official, the evening shift course was earlier open to only diploma holders and candidates having work experience. It has been running for the last 40 years.

However, the norms were changed in 2017 after it was found that some candidates were furnishing fake work experience certificates or false documents, he said.

Students said they discovered about the nature of their course only after filing RTIs. They had filed an RTI in June in when they were informed it was a full-time course. But, in response to another RTI in September, it was stated that BTech evening was a part-time course of four-year duration.

The students said they will not get jobs after completing this course and their future is at stake. They have also met Delhi Minister Manish Sisodia in connection with the matter who assured them help.

They claimed the prospectus or any other documents did not mention the course was "part-time".

The varsity officials said they will talk to the students and sort out the issue amicably. They said the degree that will be given to the students will not have "part-time" written on it.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Amid the ongoing controversy over the efficacy of EVMs, Union minister Uma Bharti Tuesday said the Election Commission (EC) should let people secretly prove if the machines can be tampered with or not.

The former Madhya Pradesh chief minister, who herself once opposed the EVMs, added that many countries in the world, including the US, were not using Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) despite being much advanced technologically and scientifically as compared to India.

The statement comes in the wake of the Congress raising doubts over the security of EVMs which contain the votes cast in the November 28 election for the 230 Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh.

"Once the EC had invited all political parties to prove if EVMs can be tampered with. But it did this openly and nobody came forward."



"Therefore, if someone wants to share secretly with it (EC) (if tampering is possible), then it should maintain the confidentiality of that person," she told reporters at her official residence here.

"Because there are many countries in the world, like America, which are much ahead of us in the field of science and technology, but they are not using EVMs. We have experimented with the EVMs and if political parties have any doubts, then it is the duty of the EC to take everyone along and satisfy them," she said.

"Whatever the issues, they should be addressed. Otherwise, these doubts may escalate and threaten the country's democratic system," the Union Drinking Water and Sanitation Minister said.

"The EC should also understand what types of errors may take place. If there is an error and someone points that out in case of two-three assembly seats then the EC should look into it," Bharti said further.

After the recently-concluded Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls, the Congress had petitioned the EC alleging errors in the safety and security of EVMs.

However, the state's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) V L Kantha Rao had clarified that all the machines had reached the strongrooms by the morning of November 29.

"These strongrooms were locked in the presence of candidates, observers and other officials," he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, MP Congress chief Kamal Nath also met the CEC in Delhi over the issue and demanded that EVMs should be protected in a secured place and counting should be done in an impartial and fair manner.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)India's engineering exports are likely to touch USD 80 billion this fiscal on account of healthy growth in key markets, including the US and Europe, EEPC said Tuesday.

Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) also said the government should resolve issues related to credit availability and certain procedural matters to further boost the exports.

In 2017-18, the exports stood at USD 76 billion. The sector accounts for about 25 per cent of the country's total merchandise exports.

"In 2018-19, we are expecting that we would touch USD 78-80 billion as order books are good from the US and Europe," EEPC India Chairman Ravi Sehgal told PTI.

To boost the growth, he demanded that the manufacturers should get steel at global prices as domestic prices are quite high.

"Downstream players of engineering are impacted due to high steel prices," he added.

Further, the council has demanded more measures such as high incentive rates under the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS).

EEPC Executive Director Suranjan Gupta said the council has demanded increase in the MEIS rates from 5-7 per cent from the current 2-3 per cent.

He also asked for setting up of a shipping regulator, which should look at exporters' issues particularly the prices being charged by shipping lines, which are mainly foreign owned.

Shipments to North America and Europe account for about 40 per cent of the total exports from the sector.

Since 2011-12, India's exports have been hovering at around USD 300 billion. During 2017-18, the shipments grew by about 10 per cent to USD 303 billion.

Promoting exports helps a country to create jobs, boost manufacturing and earn more foreign exchange.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A top official at the European Union's highest court advised Tuesday that Britain can unilaterally change its mind about leaving the European Union, boosting hopes among to pro-EU campaigners in the UK that Brexit can be stopped.

Prime Minister Theresa May's government insists it will never reverse the decision to leave, but May faces a tough battle to win backing in Parliament before lawmakers vote next week on whether to accept or reject the divorce agreement negotiated with the bloc. Defeat would leave the U.K. facing a chaotic "no-deal" Brexit and could topple the prime minister, her government, or both.

Advocate General Manuel Campos Sanchez-Bordona told the European Court of Justice that a decision by the British government to change its mind about invoking the countdown to departure would be legally valid. The advice of the advocate general is often, but not always, followed by the full court.

The court is assessing the issue under an accelerated procedure, since Britain is due to leave the bloc on March 29. The final verdict is expected within weeks.

Britain voted in 2016 to leave the 28-nation bloc, and invoked Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty in March 2017, triggering a two-year exit process. Article 50 is scant on details largely because the idea of any country leaving the bloc was considered unlikely so a group of Scottish legislators asked the courts to rule on whether the UK can pull out of the withdrawal procedure on its own.

The EU's governing Commission and Council oppose unilateral revocation, arguing it requires unanimous agreement of the 27 remaining members of the bloc.

The court's advocate general said that Article 50 "allows the unilateral revocation of the notification of the intention to withdraw from the EU." The advice bolstered anti-Brexit campaigners, who hope the decision to leave can be reversed.

"That puts the decision about our future back into the hands of our own elected representatives where it belongs," said Jo Maugham, a British lawyer who helped bring the case.

May has repeatedly said the government will not seek to delay or reverse Brexit.

But the court's opinion is another headache for the Conservative prime minister as she battles to win Parliament's backing for the divorce deal she has agreed with the EU.

May was due to open five days of debate in the House of Commons on Tuesday, arguing that members of Parliament must back the agreement to deliver on the voters' decision to leave the EU and "create a new role for our country in the world." But her chances of winning majority backing for the deal when Parliament votes on December 11 look slim.

Politicians on both sides of Britain's EU membership debate oppose the agreement that May struck with the bloc pro-Brexit ones because it keeps Britain bound closely to the EU, and pro-EU politicians because it erects barriers between the U.K. and its biggest trading partner.

"The numbers in the Houses of Parliament look pretty formidable for Theresa May," said Alan Wager, a research associate at the U.K. at the Changing Europe think tank. "Over 100 Conservative MPs have said they are not going to back the deal, the Labour Party have said they are not going to back the deal.

So it looks like the deal won't pass next week." Leaving the EU without a deal would end more than 40 years of free trade and disrupt the flow of goods and services between Britain and the EU. The Bank of England warned last week that a no-deal Brexit could plunge Britain into a severe recession, with the economy shrinking by 8 percent in the months after March 29.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said Tuesday that British consumers could see their weekly supermarket bills up by 10 percent in a worst-case Brexit scenario that involves a 25 percent fall in the value of the pound.

Before the debate, May's government faced another showdown with lawmakers over the legal advice about the Brexit deal. Lawmakers were set to vote on a motion finding the government in contempt of Parliament for refusing to publish the full guidance from Attorney General Geoffrey Cox.

Cox could be suspended from Parliament if he is found in contempt.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Former Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu Tuesday alleged that the was facing threats of litigations filed against it by the government and sought President Ram Nath Kovind's intervention.

In a letter to the President, he highlighted a global trend of Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) and said it is a "type of frivolous lawsuit, not undertaken to be won, necessarily, but to intimidate the target into ceasing public activities such as speaking out against an organisation or a person".

He cited two orders related to the RBI to drive home his point.

"Here the target is the and the citizens. Unfortunately the government bodies are SLAPPing writ petitions right, left and centre against the Respondent No. 1 - and Respondent No. 2 - the Citizen who were asking for information as empowered by RTI Act," he said.

Acharyulu, who had delivered some path-breaking orders including directions to the RBI to comply with the Supreme Court orders in disclosing wilful defaulter, approached Kovind saying the RBI has filed a petition in the making the as a party in two separate cases.

He had also issued a show cause notice to RBI Governor Urijit Patel for defiance of Supreme Court upholding the orders of former Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi asking it to disclose wilful defaulters.

The RBI has also challenged another order of the CIC on July 4 in which CPIO of RBI was issued show cause notice by Information Commissioner Sudhir Bhargava for not disclosing details of foreign donors of local NGOs.

Government offices want their "rights" to be protected from the Information Commission created by the Union of as per the will of the Parliament, Acharyulu said.

"CIC is supposed to act as Information Tribunal to adjudicate second appeals without fear or favour. But I would like to bring it to your Excellency's notice that Information Commissioners are feeling 'legally' intimidated from discharging their legal duties," he said.

ALSO READ: CIC again asks PMO, RBI to disclose wilful defaulters' list, Rajan's letter

Citing example of notices being sent to him in three capacities--as individual, as Information Commissioner, and as a person representing the Central Information Commission-- by the Gujarat High Court on a plea of Gujarat University against his order of disclosing degree details of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said as he is respondent number one, two and three, how does he defend in three capacities.

"The Union of India, in which CIC is a part, challenges order of CIC saying that educational qualifications of a public servant as his private information and its disclosure will cause unwarranted invasion of his privacy," he said.

Is it not 'legal' intimidation against functioning of a statutory body created to enforce constitutional right to information, which is proclaimed to be part of fundamental right under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, he questioned.

"My only question is, when I, as CIC, was part of Union of India, and when Union of itself fights my order, who will defend me," he asked.

The Additional Solicitor General travelled all the way from Delhi to Ahmedabad, not to defend him, but to contest his order, he said.

"It appears to me as writing on wall- 'Mr Commissioner, don't order for disclosure of information: You will be slapped with case thrice for one order," he said.

Acharyulu said there are "around 1,700 writ petitions filed, most of them, surprisingly and sadly by government and its institutions like the RBI etc, impleading the Information Commission or Commissioner for acting under RTI Act".

"I agree that the constitutional courts do have authority of judicial review of the orders of the CIC. But can the government routinely make the CIC a respondent number one in every such writ petition," he said.

Taking a dig at the RBI, he said he had ordered disclosure of names of wilful defaulters as per the directions of the Supreme Court and in a separate case another commissioner had ordered disclosure of the list of foreign donors of local NGOs.

ALSO READ: CIC's RTI plea can't be implemented as BCCI is not a govt body: Vinod Rai

He said the RBI filed a suit against him and the Commission making them respondent number 1 to protect the names of those "rich men and bodies, who duped and to the tune of lakhs of crores of rupees" and giving details of foreign donors.

"For the RBI these are issues of security," he said.

He said there are several judgments of the Supreme Court that legality of a tribunal's order can be challenged but that tribunal should not be made a party.

A former professor of law, Acharyulu said he had never imagined a situation where a district court is made a party in an appeal before a high court and a high court or its judge is made respondent in an appeal before Supreme Court.

"I do not know why this constitutional point is missing by the luminaries in while making CIC a respondent in these slapped writs," he said.The French government announced Tuesday that it would suspend planned increases in fuel taxes for six months in a bid to quell fierce protests that have ballooned into the deepest crisis of Emmanuel Macron's presidency.

The concession was one of several made by Prime Minister Edouard Philippe in a rare televised address, after the country was rocked by intense street clashes and vandalism in Paris over the weekend.

"This anger, you would have to be deaf and blind not to see it, nor hear it," Philippe said after more than a fortnight of demonstrations by so-called "yellow vest" protesters.

"No tax merits putting the unity of the nation in danger," he added.

Increases in regulated electricity and gas prices will also be frozen during the winter, while stricter vehicle emission controls set to take effect from January 1 will be suspended for six months, he said.

"The French people who have put on yellow vests love their country, they want lower taxes and for their work to pay: That's also what we want," Philippe said.

Pressure has been mounting after protests degenerated into the worst street clashes in central Paris in decades, leading to scores of injuries and arrests.

The concessions, coming after an earlier 500-million-euro (570 million-dollar) relief package for poorer households, mark the first time President Emmanuel Macron has had to give ground in the face of public opposition.

It was a blow for the former investment banker who has styled himself as a determined economic reformer.

Mass street protests have repeatedly forced previous French presidents into U-turns, something that Macron had vowed to avoid in his quest to "transform" the French economy and state. But it was unclear if the measures would assuage the anger on French streets.

"The French don't want crumbs, they want the whole baguette," Benjamin Cauchy, one of the movement's organisers, told AFP earlier Monday when asked about the suspension of fuel taxes.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen, a vocal supporter of the movement, said on Twitter that protesters wanted the fuel tax hike cancelled, not just suspended.

Rescinding the increase was the main demand of the demonstrators, alongside a higher minimum wage and the return of a wealth tax on high-earners which was abolished last year.

Philippe said Tuesday that France's minimum wage was already set to increase three percent from January, "one of the biggest increases in the past 25 years." But the government is eager to avoid another day of running riots and burning cars, with some people already calling for fresh protests Saturday.

"If there is another day of protests, it must be declared in advance and must take place calmly," Philippe said.

The "yellow vest" movement, named after the high-visibility jackets worn by supporters, emerged on social media in October after months of swelling anger over rising fuel prices.

It quickly grew into wider protests against rising costs of living, especially among rural and small-town voters who accuse Macron of representing a Parisian elite with little understanding of their monthly struggle to make ends meet.

Macron has not spoken publicly about Saturday's destruction in Paris since his return from a G20 summit in Argentina on Sunday.

But he postponed a planned visit to Belgrade due to the "problems" at home, his Serbian counterpart President Aleksandar Vucic announced on Monday.

A 40-year-old centrist, Macron was elected in May 2017 on a pro-business platform that included measures to incite companies to invest to create jobs.

Immediately after coming to power, he pushed through tax cuts for entrepreneurs and high-earners.

Those measures stirred anger among the "yellow vests" who have blocked highways and fuel depots around the country over the past two weeks.

The protests have spread to around a hundred schools nationwide, which were still partially or totally blocked Tuesday by teenagers voicing frustration over university entrance reforms.

Four people have been killed during the protests, including an 80-year-old woman who died in hospital on Sunday after being hit by a tear gas canister in Marseille.

The unrest degenerated into arson and looting around the Champs-Elysees avenue and other tourist attractions on Saturday, leading to shocking images that were broadcast round the world.

Police said 412 people were arrested in the capital on Saturday. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said that more than 200 burned-out cars had been removed from the streets.

She also said damage to bus stops, benches and other street furniture alone on Saturday was estimated at three to four million euros.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Tuesday that France would stick to its EU commitments to slash public spending, despite a decision to suspend a fuel tax to quell fierce protests.

"There is a course set by the French President Emmanuel Macron, which is to respect our European commitments, reduce spending, reduce debt and reduce taxes, and that course will be maintained," Le Maire told journalists in Brussels.

Earlier, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe had announced the suspension for six months of an increase in fuel tax after the country was rocked by intense street clashes and vandalism in Paris over the weekend.

He will also freeze gas and electricity prices over the winter in a bid to resolve the "yellow vest" crisis.

According to a European source, these measures should lead to a shortfall of nearly two billion euros in France's 2019 budget plans, equivalent to 0.1 percentage points of gross domestic product (GDP).

But the French prime minister suggested that the tax freeze would not undermine the government's public debt objectives.

"If taxes go down, spending will have to go down, because we don't want to leave debts to our children. These debts are already considerable," Philippe warned.

The EU projects that France's debt will hit 98.7 per cent of GDP in 2018, far above the 60 per cent of GDP limit set by European rules and more than the Euro zone average, which stands at around 86.9 per cent of GDP.

France's deficit in 2017 finally made it under the EU's deficit cap of three per cent of GDP, after years of being above the limit.

Before the tax suspension, France was projected to have a deficit of 2.8 percent in 2019.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Tuesday announced it has raised Rs 5.2 billion in its latest round of funding led by global firm

led the equity round and acquired a minority stake in the company, the Delhi-based firm said in a statement.

"This is one of the biggest equity fundraisings by an NBFC-MFI in the country and is also Warburg Pincus' first investment in the microfinance sector in India," it said.

The investment round includes both primary fundraising and secondary sale by early-stage investors.

Creation Investment, an existing investor, also participated in this round. Early investors -- Incofin, NMI ,BIO and SIDBI -- have made successful exit.

"This investment would support our endeavour to develop into one of India's most preferred in the financial inclusion space," said Devesh Sachdev, chief executive officer and founder of

Managing Director Narendra Ostawal said Fusion has had a remarkable journey to become a leading microfinance company in a short period.

This fundraising follows an internal round that the company completed in February 2018 and significantly expands Fusion's capital base to support its high organic growth, the release said.

The company also intends to selectively evaluate potential acquisition opportunities and lead the potential consolidation in the industry.

Fusion had an outstanding portfolio of Rs 2,050 crore, as on September 30, serving more than 1.3 million customers in 18 states.An umbrella body fighting for those affected by the closure of the mining sector in Goa Tuesday claimed state Governor Mridula Sinha had assured them she would take up the issue of its resumption with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A delegation of the Goa Mining People's Front (GMPF) led by its president Puti Gaonkar met Governor Sinha Tuesday.

The state's mining sector came to a standstill after the Supreme Court, in February this year, quashed 88 mining leases and banned extraction of fresh ore from March.

"The governor has specifically assured us to take up the matter related to resumption of mining activity in the state with the PM," Gaonkar told reporters here Tuesday.

He said the delegation explained to the governor the amendment to mining laws that the GMPF has been demanding.

The GMPF wants Parliament to pass an amendment to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Bill, 1957 so that mining leases in Goa get an extension till 2037.

He said people dependent on mining would hold a four-day protest at New Delhi's Ram Leela Maidan and Jantar Mantar from December 10.

"Parties like the Congress, Goa Forward Party, Shiv Sena, Goa Suraksha Manch, Nationalist Congress Party, Aam Aadmi Party will meet the protesters in Delhi," Gaonkar claimed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)chief has claimed the central government was planning to stage riots on the Ram temple issue with the help of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen led by Asaduddin

Making the sensational allegation at a party rally in Mumbai on Monday night, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief said, "The central government may try to instigate riots with AIMIM over Ram Temple issue".

"I got a call from Delhi informing me that the Centre was planning some riots in the name of Ram Temple issue and it is seeking help from Asaduddin Owaisi, chief of AIMIM," he said.

"I think it is very serious. The Union government has no substantial work to show in its four-and-a-half-year long rule. They do not have any option but to instigate communal riots," he alleged.

Thackeray said, "Though I support construction of the Ram temple (at Ayodhya), I am not insisting that it should be built before the general elections due next year. I have no issues if the temple is built after the elections."

Thackeray did not disclose the name of the caller from Delhi.

Responding to Thackeray's statement, AIMIM MLA from Mumbai, Waris Pathan asked police to initiate action against the chief.

"The Mumbai police should take Thackeray into custody. If he has such crucial information, then he should share the details with the police," he said.

Pathan accused Thackeray of creating panic among people and threatening them from a public platform. Police should take appropriate steps against the chief, he said.

"It looks like Thackeray wants to regain lost ground and is using Owaisi's name for it," Pathan said.The government has rejected a long-standing demand of the armed forces for higher Military Service Pay (MSP) for around one lakh personnel including Junior Commissioned Officers, military sources told PTI Tuesday.

They said the Army is anguished over the decision by the Finance Ministry, and will seek its review.

Around one lakh service personnel including 87,646 JCOs and 25,434 personnel from the and the will be affected by the decision.

The MSP was introduced to the services recognising their unique service conditions and hardships.

"The proposal for higher MSP for JCOs and equivalent rank of the and IAF has been rejected by the Finance Ministry," said a source.

At present, the MSP has two categories -- one for officers and another for JCOs and jawans./ -- First time in history of GST, Indian businesses have to comply with Annual GST filing under GSTR 9. There is a lot of confusion amongst small business owners regarding compliance of GSTR 9. Entrepreneurs, Businessman and Taxation executives are unaware of the processes to be followed. Professional support system to MSMEs is fragmented and there is no established player who provides accessible guidance to MSMEs.

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Accusing the BJP government in Gujarat of using job openings as a "political tool" to lure unemployed youth when elections are round the corner, Congress leader Paresh Dhanani Tuesday demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.

More than 55 lakh applications were received for 23,755 different job openings advertised by the government in the last one year, Dhanani said.

He said the state government was delaying recruitments till elections were round the corner in order to garner votes, adding that it was playing with the future of Gujarat's unemployed youth.

"The BJP government lures them (youth) by advertising for government job openings when elections are round the corner. The model code of conduct comes into force even before the results are announced. They (BJP) create hindrance in recruitment until the election, and play with the future of the youth," Dhanani, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, said.

"Chief Minister Vijay Rupani should tender his resignation for leading a government where people from the ruling party take lakhs of rupees from unemployed youth at the behest of people sitting in the government and play with their future," he alleged.

Dhanani's attack comes against the backdrop of the leak of a question paper for a police constable recruitment exam that was scheduled for December 2.

The paper was cancelled hours before it was to begin. Police have so far arrested eight persons in this connection.

The Congress has also demanded a probe into the leak by a special investigation team under a sitting High Court judge.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Haryana's main opposition party, the INLD Tuesday complained to the State Election Commissioner alleging violation of the Model Code of Conduct by the ruling BJP in connection with the upcoming municipal polls.

The process of holding elections of Mayor and of the Corporations of Hisar, Rohtak, Yamunanagar, Panipat and Karnal and of Municipal Committees of Jakhal Mandi and Pundri is underway, the opposition party said.

The polls will be held on December 16.

"The BJP regime has brazenly tried to influence the voters in its favour by misusing the state machinery," an Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) release said here.

"As per provisions of Model Code of Conduct of the State Election Commission, Haryana, no grant for a scheme can be sanctioned or implemented from the discretionary funds till the election process is over," it said further.

"However, in a crude disregard for the Model Code, the Haryana Government has announced a scheme for the 'Khakhi Card Holders' granting a subsidy worth Rs 1600 per LPG connection," it added.

The INLD alleged that the announcement of the subsidy was a clear effort to influence the voters in favour of the BJP and the INLD demanded that the State Election Commission must look into the matter and initiate legal action against those involved in the "gross violation".

Both INLD and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are fighting the upcoming polls on party symbol.

Notably, the Haryana government has launched a new scheme to provide fresh LPG connection on subsidy of Rs 1,600 to Other Priority Households (OPH), which would be effective from January 26, 2019, an official statement said here Tuesday.

All OPH families holding 'Khakhi Ration Cards' with none of the members having an LPG connection in their name and if the head of the family in the ration card is a woman, will be eligible to avail the benefits under the scheme, it added.

The subsidy amount of Rs 1,600, which at present is the security cost of cylinder and regulator, would be provided by the state government and the remaining amount of about Rs 633 would be borne by the consumer, the state's Food, Civil Supplies and Consumers Affairs Department said.

Three years back, Haryana government decided that ration cards in the state would be made in four colours so that the beneficiaries do not face any problem or confusion.

The beneficiaries have been divided into five categories: Above Poverty Line (APL), Other Priority Households (OPH), State Below Poverty Line (SBPL), Central Below Poverty Line (CBPL) and Antodya Anna Yojana (AAY).

The colour of APL ration cards is green while OPH ration cards are made in Khakhi colour. The card for SBPL and CBPL are yellow in colour. Likewise, AAY ration cards are pink in colour.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Madras High Court Tuesday granted interim bail to the erstwhile directors of Disc Assets Lead India Limited in a Rs 1,137 crore cheating case against them.

A division bench comprising Justice M Sathyanarayanan and Justice N Seshasayee granted the relief to former managing director V Janarthanan and directors N M Umashankar and N Arun after they gave an undertaking to hand over the original title deeds of various properties to the court-appointed administrator Justice (retired) N Paul Vasanthakumar.

The bench also directed them to furnish a bail bond for Rs 25,000 each with two sureties and also with an assurance to extend co-operation with the investigating agency and to appear on every first working day of the calendar month until further orders.

The matter relates to alleged cheating of 12 lakh depositors of their investment to the tune of over Rs 1,137 crore by the Madurai-based Disc Assets, which was formerly into agricultural business, after offering farm land for purchase on instalment basis and assuring to maintain them.

The court had appointed Vasanthakumar, retired Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, as the administrator of Disc Assets for taking over the properties of the company to settle dues of the depositors.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Bombay High Court has upheld the conviction of two terrorists, Abdul Latif Abdul Rashid Shaikh and Riyaz Ali Abu Bakar Shaikh, who were sentenced in 2016 under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act for planning to carry out terror attacks in the city.

The two were arrested by the Mumbai Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) in 2010 and had been sentenced.

The special court had convicted Abdul and Riyaz to 12 years and 10 years respectively.

In a verdict pronounced Monday, Justice AM Badar rejected an appeal filed by Abdul and Riyaz challenging the special court's order.

The two had approached HC last year challenging the special court verdict on the ground that the prosecution had failed to follow the law in securing their conviction.

As per the plea, both the convicts were arrested by the ATS in March 2010 after the latter received "information that a person based in Pakistan was conspiring with his aides in Mumbai for carrying out terror activities and blasts at several places in Mumbai, including the ONGC building, and Mangaldas market."



In their pleas, the two claimed that most of the prosecution's case hinged on the information gathered by intercepting their telephonic conversations with each other as well as their other aides in India and in Pakistan.

The two argued in their plea that by intercepting phone conversations, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) had breached their right to privacy as guaranteed under the Constitution.

Therefore, such evidence must be considered as illegal and invalid, their pleas contended.

While Justice Badar agreed that a citizen of India did have a right to a private telephonic conversation, he observed that such right could be breached in the larger public interest.

He held that provisions of the Indian Telegraph Act hold that the concerned government or an authorised officer can issue directions for such interception if "due to occurrence of any public emergency,or in the interest of the public safety", it is satisfied that this mode of action is necessary or expedient in the interest of sovereignty and integrity of India.

"The material gathered by the prosecution in the form of the telephonic conversation shows that the appellants/accused persons were intending to execute the acct with the intent to strike terror in the people using inflammable substance for causing death and injuries to the people at large apart from mass destruction of property," Justice Badar said.

"The conspiracy to commit the terrorist act is writ large from the intercepted telephonic conversations," Justice Badar said.

"All requisite sanctions and due procedure under the UAPA were applied, there was application of mind by the authorities. The prosecution has established that the applicants were conspiring to commit terrorist acts," he said while rejecting the appeals.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Indian IT services company HCL Technologies on Tuesday announced the opening of a new delivery centre in Adelaide, with signing a six-year contract with Australian agri-business firm Elders.

"HCL will work with Elders to achieve their vision of an agile IT environment that supports future business growth and delivers quality service to clients across Australia and internationally," an HCL statement said.

Initially, HCL will help create 50 jobs in the region, the statement said, adding that the Indian major currently employs over 1,600 professionals in the Australia region.

"Our growing relationship with Elders over the past two years has brought us to Adelaide with the opening of our new office here. The opening of this office reiterates the strategic importance of South Australia in HCL growth strategy and restates our commitment to the region at large," Michael Horton, Senior Vice President, Australia, HCL Technologies said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Heavy rains are likely to lash parts of coastal districts of Tamil Nadu in the next two days following a trough of low over Bay of Bengal, the regional office said Tuesday.

In the last 24 hours ended 8.30 AM today, there were widespread rains in many parts in coastal Tamil Nadu and neighbouring Puducherry, Deputy Director General of Meteorology, S Balachandran told reporters here.

The trough of low over Southwest Bay of Bengal and neighbourhood now runs from Comorin area to southwest Bay of Bengal off south Andhra Pradesh coast, he said.

"Due to this, there were widespread rains in the last 24 hours in the coastal ares of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry," he added.

According to the rainfall data at 8.30 AM today, Ponneri and Cholavaram in Tiruvallur district recorded 13 cm and 8 cm, respectively, followed by Kelambakkam (Kancheepuram) at 7 cm.

The regional office further forecast heavy rains in one or two places in the coastal disticts of Tamil Nadu in the next two days, while light showers were likely in most places in the state and Puducherry.

There would be intermittent showers in and around Chennai and the neighbourhood during this period, it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)These are the top stories from the northern region at 5.50 pm



BULANDSHAHR DEL40 UP-3RD LD VIOLENCE



Bulandshahr (UP): Police arrested four people on Tuesday and were hunting for a Bajrang Dal activist in connection with mob violence in Bulandshahr that left an inspector and a passerby dead, as angry families demanded action amid criticism of the UP chief minister and suggestions of conspiracies.

BULANDSHAHR DEL32 UP-VIOLENCE-VILLAGE



Bulandshahr (UP): A day after a mob torched the local police post and shot dead an inspector, a haunting silence prevailed in Chingrawathi village here.

NEWDELHI DEL42 DL-AMNESTY-UP-VIOLENCE



New Delhi: A human rights watchdog Tuesday condemned the killing of a police inspector in Bulandshahr, triggered allegedly over cow slaughter, saying a "culture of fear, hatred and impunity has spread across Uttar Pradesh".

CHANDIGARH LGD17 PB-HC-JAGIR KAUR



Chandigarh: Akali leader Bibi Jagir Kaur was on Tuesday acquitted by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in the case of forcible abortion and abduction of her daughter, who had died under mysterious circumstances in April 2000.

LUCKNOW DES8 UP-BJP MP-HANUMAN



Lucknow: Bahraich BJP MP Savitri Bai Phule Tuesday claimed that Lord Hanuman was "a Dalit and a slave of 'manuwadi' people", joining a row which erupted over UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's statement that the deity was a Dalit.

HANUMANGARH ELX14 RJ-LD PM



Hanumangarh: Stepping up his attack against the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday alleged that Kartarpur went to Pakistan at the time of independence because the party's leaders of that time had no vision and they did not respect the Sikh sentiments.

JAMMU DES11 JK-BANK-GOVERNOR



Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik Tuesday allayed fears of J&K bank employees and said safeguarding the autonomy and operational independence of the institution would remain the key objective of the state administration.

SRINAGAR DES1 JK-POLL



Srinagar: Voting for seventh phase of the nine-phased panchayat polls began Tuesday at over 2,700 polling stations in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

SRINAGAR DES1 JK-POLL



Srinagar: Voting for seventh phase of the nine-phased panchayat polls began Tuesday at over 2,700 polling stations in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Congress president Rahul Gandhi Tuesday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his promise of providing employment to 2 crore youths during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Addressing an election rally, he sought to know why four youths committed suicide here recently.

"Narendra Modi in his elections speeches in 2014 had said he would give jobs to 2 crore youths. if you gave employment, why did four youths commit suicide in Alwar?" Gandhi said at a rally in Alwar district's Malakhera town.

Three friends died and another was injured after they allegedly jumped before a moving train in a suspected suicide pact in Alwar district last month. A primary probe revealed that they were depressed due to unemployment, police said.

The Congress president also accused the prime minister of filling the coffers of industrialists with public money.

"Modi says 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' in every speech, but he works for Anil Ambani. He should begin his address by saying 'Anil Ambani ki Jai', 'Mehul Choksi ki Jai', Nirav Modi ki Jai' Lalit Modi ki Jai'," he said.

The BJP has been denying the allegations.

Rajasthan will go to polls on December 7.Illegal immigrants cost the United States a whopping $250 billion every year, President said Tuesday as he made another case for building a wall along the Mexico border so as to prevent the people from entering the country.

He asked the Democratic Party, who will have control over the House of Representatives in the Congress, beginning January, to fund his plan to build the wall along the US-Mexico border.

It will cost $250 billion only which is just two months of the money that the illegal immigrants cost the American exchequer, the US President said.

Trump has clashed with Democrat lawmakers over his plans for an extensive and costly border wall that he has called necessary to combat illegal immigration and drug smuggling.

The opposition Democratic Party, which is all set to have a strong control over the lower house of the Congress or the House of Representatives beginning January, is against such a funding.

The Democrat lawmakers argue that Trump's policies towards illegal immigrants are inhumane and does not match American values.

"Could somebody please explain to the Democrats (we need their votes) that our Country losses 250 Billion Dollars a year on illegal immigration, not including the terrible drug flow," Trump said in a tweet.

"Top Border Security, including a Wall, is $25 billion. Pays for itself in two months. Get it done!" he said making a strong case for building a border wall.India and Sudan reviewed bilateral relations, including in areas of trade, defence and capacity building, during the eighth session of the Foreign Office Consultations, the Ministry of External Affairs said.

"During the bilateral Foreign Office Consultations, the entire gamut of bilateral relations that include political, trade, investments, defence and security, human resource development and capacity building, agriculture, Lines of Credit, culture, etc. were reviewed," the MEA said in a statement.

India reaffirmed its commitment to working closely with Sudan in these areas. The two sides also exchanged views on issues of mutual concern at regional and multilateral levels, the statement added.

The Indian side in the talks held Monday was led by B Bala Bhaskar, Joint Secretary (West Asia and North Africa), MEA, while the Sudanese side was led by Ambassador Mahmoud Fadl Abdel Rasoul Mohammed, Director General of Arab and Asian Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sudan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.):Seeking to leverage path-breaking design solutions in rebuilding flood-ravaged Kerala, the state government is organising a two-day "#Design Kerala" summit from December 11 in Kochi.

The summit forms the key segment of India's largest design festival, the six-day 'Kochi Design Week'.

The festival, which will be attended by leading design luminaries, architects and decision-makers from around the world, concludes on December 16.

The summit will have panel discussions, interactive sessions, debates and dialogues centering round designing of a futuristic and sustainable ecosystem for Kerala, a press release said.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will address the Summit on December 12.

The event, which will take place when Kerala is getting into a crucial phase of reconstruction, is helmed by the state Department of Information Technology.

"The event will showcase technology options which can be used during the rebuilding phase as installations so that various stakeholders can experience them.

Ideas emerging out of the event will be distributed to relevant departments for their reference," said M Sivasankar, Electronics-IT Secretary, at a press meet here on Tuesday.

"Building on the tempo set by the digital summit #Future held earlier this year, the Kochi Design week is meant for boosting innovative design and solutions in the state and equip it with futuristic technology and architecture to deal with natural calamities more effectively, Sivasankar added.

Rahul R, Managing Director, Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC), said that it was high time that the KTDC looked beyond traditional models.

"We are happy to associate with such events as the design elements could attract more tourists. The future of tourism hinges on these kinds of summits," he added.

KTDC is the official host of this event.

While the central theme of the meet is "design a sustainable ecosystem for the future", various sessions will take up for deliberation, topics like public infrastructure, technology infrastructure, tourism, handloom uplift and living spaces.

Experts from each area will innovate and outline models that ensure a sustainable ecosystem for a better Kerala.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Commencing her five-day official visit to the United States, Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Monday asserted that New Delhi sees the US as an important partner in the field of defence.

In her remarks at the start of her bilateral talks with the US Defence Secretary James Mattis at the Pentagon, Sitharaman said mutual trust and confidence in defence partnership between the two countries were growing.

The defence minister added that she was encouraged by the importance attached to the India-US defence relationship in the new US National Security Strategy.

"A strong foundation has been laid for the India-US defence relationship over the years. India sees the US as an important partner in defence," Sitharaman said, adding that the two countries have good military to military cooperation, defence consultations, scientific collaborations and co-production and co-development and industry collaboration.

Exuding confidence that the bilateral talks would accord greater momentum to the dialogue and partnership between the two countries, she said the relationship continued to be very strong.

The recent meetings between the two countries, Sitharaman said, have underscored their mutual desire to move positively. The high-level exchanges are an indication of the depth and the quality of bilateral ties as well as their mutual desire to work closely on a range of regional and global issues, she added.

Sitharaman appreciated the responsiveness of the Trump Administration to India's sensitivities.

At the same time, it is also indicative of the desire and the effort to have an even more robust relationship than before, she said.

"Especially over the past three to four years, we have made considerable progress. Our relations, based on common democratic values, enjoy strong political and popular support in both countries. There's a growing mutual trust and also the confidence in defence partnership, which augurs very well for the future," Sitharaman said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)India and the US have agreed to accelerate defence and security ties as Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met her American counterpart James Mattis, who described India as a "stabilising force" across the Indo-Pacific and the globe.

US Defence Secretary Mattis welcomed Sitharaman to the Pentagon on Monday for the fourth set of talks the two defense leaders have held this year.

Sitharaman, the first woman defence minister of India, is currently on a five-day maiden trip to the US. From here, she will travel to California to visit the Defense Innovation Unit of the Department of Defense and the Indo-Pacific Command headquarters in Hawaii.

"The United States and India, in Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi's words, have overcome hesitations of history, carrying forward the legacy of friendship and making clear there is no contradiction between strategic autonomy and strategic partnership," Mattis said.

Sitharaman started her official visit here by visiting the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department, where she signed on the condolence book of former US President George H W Bush who died late Friday at his home in Houston.

From there, she drove to the Arlington National Cemetery where she laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a gesture which did not go unnoticed at the Pentagon.

"On behalf of our department and all of our service members, thank you for paying your nation's respect at Arlington National Cemetery this morning. We're grateful," Mattis said.

Mattis said Sitharaman's presence at the wreath-laying made clear that the US-India military relations were not "defined by brittle or empty words" but by the human aspect of partnership steeped in recognition of the two nations' respective sacrifices and the cause of peace, friendship and freedom.

The two largest democracies of the world, despite diverse histories and cultures, have shared principles, values and respect for the rules-based international order, Mattis said.

"The US-India relationship is a natural partnership between the world's oldest and the world's largest democracy," he said.

While this is her first trip to Washington DC, the two leaders have met four times in about a year, reflecting on the growing defence relationship between India and the United States.

"We have made meaningful progress in advancing US-India defence cooperation, most notably with your nation hosting September's inaugural 2+2 ministerial dialogue in New Delhi," he said.

The ministerial talks served as a tangible demonstration of "our shared vision for a safe, secure, prosperous and free Indo-Pacific, underpinned by respect for the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of all nations," Mattis said.

"Today, I reiterate US appreciation for India's leadership as a stabilising force in pursuit of that vision, promoting peace and security across the region and the globe," he said.

The defence secretary said the 2+2 ministerial dialogue also made clear the commitment of India and the US to further bolster their defence partnership.

"Today, we build on that momentum as we work to implement our agreement from September, Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA)," he added.

During the dialogue, the two nations signed the COMCASA that allows India to receive advanced US military hardware.

Describing the inaugural 2+2 meeting in September as a landmark event, Sitharaman said it set the stage for strategic consultations between the two countries.

The bilateral meetings during the dialogue in New Delhi and other meetings, including the one in Singapore in October, were "indeed positive and productive", she said.

In her remarks at the start of the meeting with Mattis, Sitharaman said the mutual trust and confidence in defence partnership between the two countries was growing.

The defence minister added that she was encouraged by the importance attached to the India-US defence relationship in the new US National Security Strategy.

"A strong foundation has been laid for the India-US defence relationship over the years. India sees the US as an important partner in defence," Sitharaman said, adding that the two countries have good military-to-military cooperation, defence consultations, scientific collaborations and co-production and co-development and industry collaboration.

Exuding confidence that the bilateral talks would accord greater momentum to the dialogue and partnership between the two countries, she said the relationship continued to be very strong.

The recent meetings between the two countries, Sitharaman said, have underscored their mutual desire to move positively.

The high-level exchanges are an indication of the depth and the quality of bilateral ties as well as their mutual desire to work closely on a range of regional and global issues, she added.

Sitharaman appreciated the responsiveness of the Trump Administration to India's sensitivities.

At the same time, it is also indicative of the desire and the effort to have an even more robust relationship than before, she said.

"Especially over the past three to four years, we have made considerable progress. Our relations, based on common democratic values, enjoy strong political and popular support in both countries. There's a growing mutual trust and also the confidence in defence partnership, which augurs very well for the future," Sitharaman said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)An Indian-origin man in Singapore was sentenced on Tuesday to 10 weeks in prison for molesting a woman on a bus, a media report said.

Kajayendran Krishnan, a 50-year-old permanent resident from Malaysia, pleaded guilty to one charge of using criminal force intending to outrage the victim's modesty and another of insulting her modesty.

A third charge was taken into consideration for sentencing, the Channel Asia reported.

The court heard that Kajayendran boarded shuttle bus service CW6 from Singapore's Boon Lay estate heading towards Tuas Checkpoint and onwards to the Southern Malaysian state of Johore on the evening of May 7.

The victim, a 44-year-old Malaysian, was sitting on the left-most seat in the last row with an empty seat beside her, the report said.

Kajayendran, who was drunk, sat beside her and used his hand to caress her right arm with the intention to molest her, it said.

The victim quickly moved away and shifted her body towards the window, Deputy Public Prosecutor Mark Yeo told the court.

She asked Kajayendran to stop touching her but he persisted, calling her "sarakku", or "hot chick" in Tamil. He also uttered expletives in Tamil and Hokkien (a Chinese dialect).

The victim tried to leave, standing up in order to cross to the accused's right. However, Kajayendran extended his legs, trapping the woman in the corner of the bus and grabbing her arm, caressing it, the report said.

The victim approached an Immigration and Checkpoints Authority officer to report the matter once the bus arrived at Tuas Checkpoint.

The prosecutor asked for a custodial sentence, leaving the exact term up to the judge.

He pointed out that the accused had previous convictions for disorderly behaviour and that the current incident occurred on public transport and with wrongful restraint.

Kajayendran, who was unrepresented, told the court at first that he was not sitting down on the bus, but standing up instead.

However, after the prosecutor said he had video footage, Kajayendran told District Judge Mathew Joseph that he intended to go ahead with his plea of guilt.

Telling the court about his problems of being unemployed, divorce and supporting elderly mother in Malaysia, Kajayendran said he was sorry and wished to apologise to the victim.

Asked by the judge if he had been drunk, he admitted that he had indeed drunk alcohol as he had "some personal problems".

District Judge Mathew Joseph said: "Far from showing remorse, you are trying to wriggle your way out of responsibility of this by saying that you were standing up, then later when the prosecutor said there was video footage, you said it was accidental. To me it shows you are not remorseful."



The Judge added that no female passenger should have to look and see if she was about to be molested or harassed on public transport.

"Let me suggest to you that the next time you are drunk, you don't take the bus. You walk home. Lest you get into any mischief," the judge added.

The sentence was backdated to September 27 this year, when the accused was remanded.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Indian-origin lawyer Shamila Batohi has been appointed as the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), a statutory body that investigates high-level criminal matters in the country.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the appointment of Batohi, during a nationally-televised address at the government headquarters, the Union Buildings, on Tuesday.

Batohi, who shot to fame as the evidence leader during the King Commission that probed the Hansie Cronje match-fixing saga of 2000, was selected from a shortlist of 11 candidates who were interviewed for the high-profile position.

She will start her new role in February 2019.

She will replace the previous prosecutor, Shaun Abrahams who has been accused by the opposition and rights groups of shielding former president Jacob Zuma from corruption charges during his nine years in office.

Batohi started her public service as a junior prosecutor in the Chatsworth magistrates' court in 1986 and steadily rose through the ranks to become the Director of Public Prosecutions in KwaZulu Natal.

She was seconded to the Investigation Task Unit established by President Nelson Mandela in 1995 and later served as the first regional head of the Directorate of Special Operations based in KwaZulu-Natal.

Batohi has worked for the past nine years as a legal adviser to the prosecutor in the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Congratulating Batohi on her appointment, Ramaphosa highlighted that he was addressing the state of dysfunctionality and deficiencies in the NDPP that had been identified by the Constitutional Court.

Her predecessors in the era of Jacob Zuma's Presidency all had controversy-laden tenures.

The high-profile cases that Batohi will inherit include 16 charges of corruption, fraud, money laundering and racketeering instituted against former President Jacob Zuma.

"The President, and by proxy the people (of South Africa) have bestowed a lot of confidence in me," Batohi said, adding "the least I can do is reciprocate that confidence."



"My only obligation is to serve the country with humility and dedication to the best of my ability. Each one of us, no matter where we are, must be ready to sacrifice the necessary, to fight the good fight. Our country needs us," Batohi said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Congress on Tuesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Bulandshahr violence asking if "this was the change" he promised the country, and demanded an inquiry under the supervision of a sitting high court judge into the incident.

Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal also slammed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, alleging he was watching a sound and light show in Gorakhpur with his Chhattisgarh counterpart Raman Singh when the violence happened on Monday.

"Prime Minister Modi before the 2014 elections used to say repeatedly that we will usher in change and also politics of change. I don't know how much change has come," Sibal said at a press conference.

"But from 2014 till now, we have seen not change, but revenge, not change, but fear, not change, but hidden corruption, not change, but politics over Ram, politics over Hanuman...is this the change that Modi ji had promised. Look what kind of a change he has brought about in Bulanshahr," he said.

Sibal said state agencies and the CBI cannot be trusted for a probe and, therefore, an investigation under the supervision of a sitting high court judge should be conducted.

In Hyderabad, Union Minister and BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi Tuesday condemned the incident and termed it inhuman. "It is an inhuman act...whoever is responsible for the criminal violent act, stern measures should be taken against them."



A mob of some 400 people, including right-wing activists, fought pitched battles with police on Monday in Siana area of Bulandshahr district, apparently after right-wing activists were angered by the discovery of cow carcasses strewn in a nearby jungle.

They set fire to dozens of vehicles, hurled stones and also fired guns at police who retaliated with gunfire. In the violence, Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, the station house officer of Siana, and 20-year-old Sumit Kumar were killed.

Sibal claimed that UP government minister Om Prakash Rajbhar has himself alleged that people from the Bajrang Dal, VHP, RSS were behind the planned conspiracy and this resulted in the death of Singh.

Expressing grave concern over the law and order situation in UP, Sibal said, "Your police personnel is being killed by those people who are associated with you."



Sibal cited alleged growing shootouts and killings in UP to stress the "worsening" law and order situation in the state. He alleged that such things are happening wherever the BJP was in power.

Sibal also hit out at Adityanath for giving "poisonous speeches" in Telangana and Rajasthan during poll campaigns.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)(ISB) with campuses in Hyderabad and Mohali Tuesday said it witnessed a 29 per cent increase in the number of recruiters in the placement process this year for the Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) students of class-2019.

According to a press release, companies like Amazon, Bain, BCG, Deloitte, Flipkart, Google, HDFC Bank, LEK Consulting, McKinsey, Microsoft, Oyo Rooms, Reliance Industries, Rivigo, Samsung, Uber have reported their largest single-campus hiring from this season.

"When it comes to sourcing world-class talent in a growth market, is the preferred partner for many companies. In some cases, is the only campus where some of these companies visit for their India placements," said Professor Rajendra Srivastava, Dean, ISB.

The unprecedented number of offers, this early in the process, is a vote of confidence on the quality of ISB students, he added.

Of the total offers made, 35 per cent were for women candidates while the class of 2019 has 306 women students the highest so far, the release said.

The class size is 886 students.

The final placement report for the class of 2019 will be released in March 2019, it added.In a strong message to Pakistan, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis has said it is time for "every responsible nation" to support the efforts of the UN, Prime Minister and all those who are trying to maintain peace in

must take on a substantive role in peace talks with the Taliban if the war in neighbouring Afghanistan is to be ended, he said.

Mattis was responding to a question from reporters about a letter written by to Prime Minister Imran Khan, seeking his support in the peace process in Afghanistan. In his letter, Trump made it clear that Pakistan's full support over the issue "is fundamental" to building an enduring US- partnership.

"We're looking for every responsible nation to support peace in the sub-continent and across this war in Afghanistan that's gone on now for 40 years," he told reporters at the Pentagon on Monday as he welcomed Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for talks.

"It's time for everyone to get on board, support the United Nations; support Prime Minister Modi's, (Afghan) President (Ashraf) Ghani and all those who are trying to maintain peace and make for a better world here," Mattis said.

"We are on that track. It is diplomatically led as it should be, and we'll do our best to protect the Afghan people," he added.

Since taking office, Trump has been very critical of Pakistan's lax attitude towards combatting terrorism.

Last month Trump said Pakistan does not do "a damn thing" for the US, alleging that Islamabad had helped al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden hide near its garrison city of Abbottabad.

Ties between the US and Pakistan strained after Trump, while announcing his Afghanistan and policy in August last year, hit out at Pakistan for providing safe havens to "agents of chaos" that kill Americans in Afghanistan and warned Islamabad that it has "much to lose" by harbouring terrorists.

In September, the Trump administration cancelled $300 million in military aid to Islamabad for not doing enough against terror groups like the Haqqani Network and the Taliban active on its soil.

The Trump administration, in the recent months, has intensified its efforts to seek a negotiated settlement of America's longest war in Afghanistan where the US has lost over 2,400 soldiers since late 2001, when it invaded the country after the 9/11 terror attacks.

The Taliban are fighting to flush out US-led forces and re-establish their regime in Afghanistan after their ouster in 2001.Italian police have arrested new Mafia boss Settimino Mineo and dozens of other suspects in a major swoop, officials and media said on Tuesday.

Police arrested jeweller Mineo, 80, and 45 others in Sicily just before he was due to be officially anointed at a reconvened Mafia Commission or Cupola, the police said.

The suspects are accused of extortion, illegal gun possession, arson, Mafia association and other crimes, investigators said.

The Sicilian Mafia managed to rebuild the Cupola after it had not met for years, Italian media reported.

The Cupola was due to appoint Mineo official heir to notorious Mafia boss Toto Riina who died in prison last year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Stepping up his attack against the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday alleged that Kartarpur went to Pakistan at the time of independence because the party's leaders of that time had no vision and they did not respect the Sikh sentiments.

Referring to the recent opening of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor across India-Pakistan border, Modi said, "Correcting Congress's mistakes was my destiny."



Addressing an election rally here, Modi used the corridor issue to attack the Congress and said the party will have to answer why this was not done 70 years ago.

"They (Congress leaders) could not see anything beyond the 'Rajgaddi' so Kartarpura went into Pakistan. The credit of the Kartarpur corridor goes to your vote," he said.

The foundation stone for the much-awaited corridor linking Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur - the final resting place of Sikh faith's founder Guru Nanak Dev - to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Gurdaspur district was laid last week.

Modi said Kartarpur is in Pakistan today because the then Congress leaders had no idea about the importance of Guru Nanak Dev and had no respect for Sikh sentiments.

The prime minister said that the country was paying the price of the mistakes committed by the Congress for its greed of power.

"The then policy makers of the Congress in the country were in a hurry to come to power. Partition happened and in that too several mistakes were made for which Kartarpur Saheb went into Pakistan," he said.

"A little bit of wiseness and sensitivity at that time would have ensured that Kartarpur, which is just 3 km away (from India), would not have been away from us. It was their lack of vision and sensitivity that they did not respect sentiments of Sikh community," Modi alleged.

He said the Congress was in power for 70 years, during which the country fought and won wars, but it could not make arrangement for prayers to be offered at Kartarpur Sahib.

"Why did Congress leaders commit such big mistake and injustice? It has come to my destiny to correct their mistakes. Its credit goes to your one vote and not Modi. Don't underestimate value of your vote," he said.

Modi said that people of the country have elected a prime minister who lives for the people, remains awake for the people and bows down to the people.

Talking about surgical strike, he said terrorists used to enter army camps without any fear and kill the soldiers during the previous governments, but India has now given a befitting reply by conducting surgical strike.

"Army showed the courage and its strength," he said.

Talking about farmers and their problems, Modi said his government wants to make farmers "energy givers" and asked them to install solar panels, use drip irrigation and other modern methods of farming.

"The naamdar does not know the difference between red and green chillies," he said, hitting out at Congress president Rahul Gandhi, whom he often refers to as a "naamdar" (dynast).

"If you tell him that farmers are getting high prices for red chilli as compared to green chilli, he'll say farmers should grown red chillies," he said, alleging that the Congress was responsible for the pain of farmers.

"I am saying this with conviction that had a farmer's child been India's first prime minister, had Sardar Patel been the first prime minister, farmers would not have been in distress today. It was due to 70 years of sins committed by four generations of one family," he said.

Attacking Congress over its farm loan waiver promises, the prime minister said that they talk about farmers' issues only when elections are near.

He said the Congress leaders tell lies to deceive gullible farmers of the country for its greed of coming into power.

In 2008, total debts on farmers of the country was Rs 6 lakh crore, but they waived off only Rs 58,000 crore, he added.

"The CAG report found huge fraud in loan waiver done during the Congress regime. People who got benefits were not farmers... ," he said.

Modi said the Congress leaders sitting in air-conditioned rooms were misleading people by devising strategies to oust the BJP from power, but they should come to Rajasthan and see the ground situation instead.

He exuded confidence that the BJP will form the government once again in the state, which goes to polls on December 7.

The prime minister also offered greetings to the Navy personnel from the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)B K Birla group company Kesoram Industries on announced demerger of its tyre business in a major second round of restructuring in the wake of unsustainable debt of the company.

Kesoram, in a statement, said the company approved the demerger of the tyre undertaking into a new entity, Birla Tyres Limited.

"We are open for investors but will continue to be in the business of tyres,"



Kesoram CFO Radhakrishnan told PTI.

Two years ago, the company had sold off the Laksar tyre plant near Haridwar to JK Tyres for close to Rs 2,000 crore in a bid to control its debt of Rs 5,300 crore.

The company has been continuously paring debt which currently stands at Rs 3,500 crore, but was grappling to manage it.

The turnover of the demerged tyre division is Rs 1453 crores which is 39 per cent of the total company topline as on last fiscal. Approximately Rs 1000 crore debt will get transferred to the demerged tyre company.

Kesoram shareholders will get one share of Rs 10 each of Birla Tyres Ltd for each share held in the company.

Offering rationale for the demerger, the Kesoram management said, "Enabling a dedicated management for tyre will help focus and accelerate growth of both the tyre and cement businesses, unlocking significant value for Kesoram shareholders and accessing varied sources of funds for the rapid growth of both businesses."



The Proposed Demerger shall be subject to the approval by National Company Law Tribunal.

Post demerger, Kesoram will retain cement business in Andhra Pradesh with an installed capacity of 7.5 million tonne and rayon.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)JD(U) vice president Prashant Kishor's meeting with Patna University Vice Chancellor has raised eyebrows with ally BJP as well as adversaries accusing him of meddling in the students union elections, even as he attacked the RSS' student wing ABVP after his vehicle was vandalised allegedly by students outside the VC's residence.

Kishor, a poll strategist-turned-politician who was inducted into the party by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in September and catapulted to the top post within a few weeks, said he was unhurt in the Monday night incident but targeted the ABVP, saying it can't get rid of its nervousness over possible defeat in the students union polls by throwing stones at his car.

Chhatra JD(U), students wing of Kishor's party, is contesting the PUSU elections, for which voting is scheduled on Wednesday.

The BJP, meanwhile, lodged a protest with Bihar Governor Lalji Tandon, who is also the Chancellor of all state universities, and demanded that he either sack the VC or stop the election process with immediate effect. It also protested the detention of ABVP activists in connection with the attack on Kishor's vehicle



The JD(U), however, jumped to Kishor's defence, saying he had gone to the VC's residence along with a relative who was attending a conference on disaster management there.

Vice Chancellor Rash Bihari Prasad Singh too came out with a statement saying he was committed to hold free and fair polls.

All the current top leaders of Bihar including Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi and Union minister Ravishankar Prasad have their roots in the Patna University

On Monday night, Kishor visited the residence of the Vice Chancellor, leading to angry protests outside by supporters of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), an affiliate of the Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and the Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS), students wing of the Aam Aadmi Party.

As Kishor emerged from the VC's residence, the agitated students pelted stones on his vehicle, breaking its window panes. Police resorted to a lathicharge and rounded up a number of agitators who were lodged at the Pirbahore police station.

A BJP delegation headed by Bankipore MLA and state Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha president Nitin Nabin rushed to Raj Bhavan in the night itself and registered a protest before the Governor. This was followed by a five-hour dharna on Tuesday by Nabin and other BJP leaders including MLAs Sanjiv Chaurasia and Arun Sinha, which ended only after all the ABVP detainees were released from custody.

BJP spokesman Nikhil Anand posted tweets accusing "some political cartoons" of making the PUSU polls a prestige issue. He urged the Governor to either sack the VC or stop the election process with immediate effect.

The AAP's local unit also staged a demonstration at the Kargil Chowk, where its members set afire effigies of the Chief Minister and Kishor. They accused the JD(U) leaders of trying to influence the outcome of PUSU polls in collusion with the VC



As the controversy raged, the Vice Chancellor, Rash Bihari Prasad Singh, issued a press release urging students not to be swayed by "rumours".

"I am fully committed to holding free and fair polls. I appeal to students to come out to vote in largest possible numbers and do not get swayed by rumours," he said.

JD(U) spokesman Sanjay Singh said Kishor had gone to the VC's residence along with a relative who was attending a conference on disaster management there.

However, detractors of the Chief Minister, who is also the national president of the JD(U), trained their guns on the ruling party.

Union minister and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party chief Upendra Kushwaha, who shares an uneasy relationship with Nitish Kumar, came out with a flurry of mocking tweets, reminding the Chief Minister that he had been a student leader of the university and asking whether he thought winning the PUSU polls was going to help him realize his Prime Ministerial ambitions.

Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly Tejashwi Yadav tweeted: "Nitish Kumar is unabashedly muddying his hands in University politics, overlooking ethics and misusing CM residence and state machinery to bully rival student wings".

Congress MLC Prem Chandra Mishra, once a firebrand students leader, told PTI, "Kishor seems to be hell bent upon using PUSU polls as an opportunity to boost the prospects of his party. We wonder in what capacity he had gone to meet the VC. Under the current circumstances, free and fair polls are impossible and the same must be deferred".

Former chief minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha Jitan Ram Manjhi also issued a statement accusing the BJP of keeping silent over the "humiliation of its workers".

After the incident, Kishor tweeted, "The about my injury is false. I'm fine, thanks for the concern. @ABVPVoice u need to do better than let few hooligans & antisocial elements. The nervousness due to possible defeat in Patna University Students Union Polls won't be lessened by throwing stones at my vehicles."



The social media remained abuzz with posts on the controversy with the former poll strategist being trolled and hashtags like #ShamePKShame, #BhagPKBhag and #ArrestPK going viral.

Kishor was credited with ensuring the victory of the "Grand Alliance', comprising the JD(U), RJD and Congress, against the BJP-led NDA in the 2015 Assembly polls. The JD(U), however, returned to the National Democratic Alliance last year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)When hiring teachers, district leaders prioritize cultural fit above all else, including training and experience. But most are unable to measure what exactly that means.

Thats according to a new study from the Frontline Research and Learning Institute, which asked 594 school and district hiring managers from across the United States to describe their hiring preferences. Slightly more than half of the respondents were involved in recruiting and hiring decisions at the school level (like principals) and the rest served at the district level, mostly in human resources. Most of the respondents were from urban and suburban school districts. (The institute is a division of Frontline Education, which is a K-12 software company.)

Researchers from the institute have previously found that district hiring managers prefer candidates who are recommended to them via word of mouth , even though the majority of candidates come from sources like commercial job boards. The researchers were concerned that this could hinder teacher diversity and increase teacher turnover, if the personal connection is prioritized over fit.

In this new study, researchers learned that most district hiring managers who prefer the candidates referred by word of mouth also emphasized cultural fit in their decisionmaking.

The vast majority of hiring managers considered cultural fit to be at least somewhat importantmore so than any other hiring factor, including teacher training, teaching experience, racial and ethnic diversity, and geographic diversity.

But cultural fit is a nebulous term, and researchers learned that district managers cannot explain what exactly it means.

There is no common definition, said Elizabeth Combs, the managing director of the institute and a co-author of the report. There is no definition that even individual hiring managers have articulated [on] what cultural fit means, and therefore there are very few folks measuring the extent to which they believe a candidate is qualified based on cultural fit.

Hiring for cultural fit extends beyond the education sector, and experts have said the practice could contribute to a lack of diversity across different industries, since people gravitate toward others with similar backgrounds. The teaching workforce is about 80 percent white.

In an essay for Harvard Business Review , Patty McCord, the former chief talent officer at Netflix, urged employers to stop hiring for cultural fit and instead focus on peoples skills.

What most people really mean when they say someone is a good fit culturally is that he or she is someone theyd like to have a beer with, McCord wrote. But people with all sorts of personalities can be great at the job you need done.

Of course, districts have valid criteria that falls under the idea of cultural fit. For example, Combs said, one district wanted to ensure that all teachers who are hired have a growth mindset. But she said shes concerned that the overall emphasis on cultural fit could lead to unintentional bias that could undermine efforts to promote diversityincluding racial, ethnic, and geographic.

There needs to be a definition that is clearly articulated, and there needs to be some way of measuring candidates outside that definition, she said.

To that end, the institutes researchers recommend an information-rich hiring process, which could include things like sample lessonssomething only 30 percent of responding hiring managers say they require. And Combs said having a rubric in which hiring managers score candidates would lessen their dependence on practices that rely on gut feelings. Few respondents said they have a protocol to ensure that evaluations of candidate quality and fit are measured against a consistent standard.



See also: Getting and Keeping Good Teachers (Special Report)

Image via Getty; chart via FrontlineKosovo has declared Wednesday a national day of mourning for the late US president George H.W. Bush, who was seen as an early ally of the ethnic Albanians in the former Serbian province.

Passionately pro-US, Kosovo flies American flags in front of many government offices and businesses in a sign of gratitude for the US-led NATO intervention that helped severe it from Serbia in 1999.

On Wednesday, the day of Bush's funeral, Kosovo flags will be flown at half-mast across the country in his honour, President Hashim Thaci's office said in a statement Tuesday.

It will be a "sign of state and civic respect for (Bush's) contribution to the freedom of Kosovo", the statement said.

Morning classes in Kosovo schools on Wednesday will also be dedicated to the US leader.

"Bush has been engaged every time in promoting Kosovo's affairs" on the world stage, said education minister Shyqiri Bytyci at a press release.

In the 1990s, Bush's administration showed an early interest in the plight of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo who were marginalised under Serbian rule.

His government hosted Kosovo Albanians in Washington and in 1992 he warned then-Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic that the US would respond militarily if Serb troops started a war in Kosovo. Less than a decade later war broke out between Serbian troops and ethnic Albanian guerillas.

In 1999, a US-led NATO air campaign forced Serbia to withdraw, ending the conflict and paving the way for Kosovo to declare independence in 2008.

A main street in the capital Pristina is also named after the late Bush's son and also an ex-president, George W. Bush, whose administration lent key support when Kosovo declared independence.

Bill Clinton, who was US president during the NATO bombing, is also celebrated with his own boulevard and a statue on a Pristina street corner.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The body of 41st US president George H W Bush was placed in the US Capitol to lie in state Monday as mourners gathered to remember a hero who kept America "flying high."



Bush, a decorated World War II fighter pilot and former CIA chief who served as vice president to Ronald Reagan before winning the White House, died Friday at age 94, at his home in Houston.

"Through the Cold war and the Soviet Union's collapse, he kept us on course. When the rule of law needed defending in the Persian Gulf, he kept us on course," Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said in the first of several eulogies.

McConnell lauded Bush -- who occupied the White House from 1989 to 1993 -- as a patriot who steered the country as straight as he had steered his airplane.

"He kept us flying high and challenged us to fly higher still. And he did it with modesty and kindness that would have been surprising in someone one tenth as tough and accomplished as he was," he added.

Only the second president to see his son follow him to the Oval Office, Bush will be honored with four days of services and tributes in Washington and in Texas, where he will be buried Thursday.

Members of the military served as pallbearers, carrying the flag-draped casket from a hearse into the rotunda.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Fund III, an affiliate of private equity firm Lighthouse Advisors, Tuesday said it has invested over Rs 2.5 billion ($35 million) to acquire a minority stake in Aqualite Industries.

The company, however, did not disclose the exact size of the acquired stake.

The footware firm, which has a pan-India distribution network of 35,000 retailers, with significant presence in north and east, plans to use the capital for marketing, capacity expansion and growth plans, an official release said.

"We strongly believe in the growth story of footwear industry in the country with the current under penetration (per capita spend of only 1.8 pairs per annum vs 3.1 in China) and consumer preference shift towards branded wear," said Sachin Bhartiya, partner, Lighthouse.

The Aqualite investment marks the fourth investment for Lighthouse in the current year.

Last month, the fund had invested Rs 1.6 billion in Duroflex, a leading mattress brand in south India. In September, it had invested Rs 1.13 billion in beauty retailer Nykaa, while in June it had pumped in Rs 830 million in Tynor Orthotics, a leading orthotic soft goods brand.

Aqualite, which has two manufacturing units in Haryana and Rajasthan, is expecting a turnover of over Rs 8 billion in the current financial year, the release said.Popular author Paulo Coelho doesn't like to talk about what he is writing and locks himself in and practically speaks to no one while working on a book.

The master storyteller from Brazil has come out with his new book "Hippie", in which he tells the tale of Paulo, a young, skinny Brazilian man with a goatee and long, flowing hair, who wants to become a writer and sets off on a journey in search of a deeper meaning of his life.

Coelho says all the characters in the book are real but with the exception of two - whose names were changed due to the complete impossibility of finding them.

He took the episode from the prison at Ponta Grossa (in 1968) and added details from two others to which he was subjected to during the military dictatorship (in May 1974, when he was working as a songwriter).

"When I write a book, I lock myself in and practically speak to no one, and I don't like to talk about what I'm writing," he says.

"Christina Oiticica (his wife) pretends not to know, and I pretend to believe that she doesn't know," he adds.

In "Hippie", published by Penguin Random House, Coelho, drawing on the rich experience of his life, takes readers back in time to relive the dreams of a generation that longed for peace and dared to challenge the established social order.

Paulo's travels take him from South America to the famous Dam Square in Amsterdam filled with young people wearing vibrant clothes and burning incense, meditating and playing music, while discussing sexual liberation, the expansion of consciousness, and the search for an inner truth.

There he meets Karla, a Dutch woman in her 20s who has been waiting to find the ideal companion to accompany her on the fabled hippie trail to Nepal. She convinces Paulo to join her on a trip aboard the Magic Bus that travels across Europe and Central Asia to Kathmandu.

They embark on the journey in the company of fascinating fellow travellers, each of whom has a story to tell, and each of whom will undergo a personal transformation, changing their priorities and values along the way.

As they travel together, Paulo and Karla explore their own relationship: a life-defining love story that awakens them on every level and leads to choices and decisions that will set the course for their lives thereafter.

Incidentally, Coelho's wife drew the map of the entire Magic Bus route.

Coelho's books have been translated into 80 languages. His 1988 novel, "The Alchemist", has been cited as an inspiration by people as diverse as Malala Yousafzai and Pharrell Williams.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Mumbai Congress has launched a public outreach programme to raise funds for the party ahead of the 2019 general elections.

The campaign named 'Jan Sampark Abhiyaan' was launched on Monday under the leadership of city Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam, a party statement said.

Nirupam visited households and shops in Andheri west while kick-starting the programme as worked out by the All India Congress Committee, it added.

"Every booth across the city has been given 22,000 coupons of Rs 100, Rs 500 and Rs 1000. Congress workers will visit every division and go door-to-door to raise funds for the party," the statement quoted Nirupam as saying.

"We request Mumbaikars to help the party raise maximum funds, which will be in turn used for the people of the city in the longer run," he urged.

There are six Parliamentary seats in Mumbai. The Congress had drawn blank in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Former Rajya Sabha MP from Mizoram, Lalhming Liana, has been sentenced to three-year imprisonment by a Delhi court for forging air tickets to claim reimbursement of travel allowance.

Special CBI Judge N K Malhotra convicted Liana for the offences of cheating, forgery and using the forged document as genuine under the provisions of Indian Penal Code and criminal misconduct under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 11 lakh on Liana, a two-time MP.

He was granted statutory bail to enable him to file an appeal in the Delhi High Court.

Liana, who was associated with the Mizo National Front, was convicted on November 29 and the sentence was pronounced on November 30.

"The convict has forged the e-tickets on his computer and the tickets are for the period 2012-13. Convict also submitted the TA (travel allowance) bills on the basis of forged and fake tickets to the Rajya Sabha Secretariat and TA bills were submitted in the year 2012-13," the judge said.

The court also said it was proved that Liana had submitted TA bills amounting to Rs 11,19,926 which also included the travel by companion and the actual fare of companion free scheme (CFS) was Rs 81,373.

It said it has been proved that the convict cheated the Rajya Sabha Secretariat for an amount of Rs 10,36,533 approximately.

CBI had named Liana in a charge sheet alleging that during his second term as Rajya Sabha MP from July 2008 to July 2014, he submitted fake TA bills for reimbursement and claimed excess money than the actual amount paid by him for travel in CFS of Air India.

The agency had alleged that he had claimed excess of over Rs 10.3 lakh from Rajya Sabha.

The court had in August 2015, framed charges against him for the offences under the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Liana had plead not guilty to the charges made out against him and claimed trial.

CBI prosecutor Jyotsna Sharma Pandey contended that Liana, being the member of Rajya Sabha, should have maintained the highest level of integrity and honesty. She said if liberal sentence is given to the convict, a wrong message will be conveyed in the society.

At the time of sentencing, he sought a lenient view in sentencing saying that he was a senior citizen had suffering from various ailments and has to take care of his family.

He also said he was a member of Mizo National Front, a political party in Mizoram.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Paris Saint-Germain's home Ligue 1 game against Montpellier on Saturday has been postponed after a request from police in the French capital, the club said on Tuesday.

The match was due to be played at 4:00 pm (1500 GMT) at the Parc des Princes. No reason was given for the postponement but it is likely to be down to security concerns.

Paris has been the scene of protests for three weekends running from "yellow vest" demonstrators unhappy at planned fuel tax rises.

Demonstrations turned particularly violent last Saturday, with 412 people arrested after the worst clashes in central Paris for decades.

However, the French government backed down on Tuesday, with Prime Minister Edouard Philippe saying the planned increases in the price of fuel would be suspended for six months.

PSG are 14 points clear at the top of Ligue 1 after seeing their perfect record this season ended in a 2-2 draw at Bordeaux on Sunday.

They play Strasbourg away on Wednesday, but the postponement of Saturday's game gives them extra time to prepare for next week's crucial Champions League trip to Red Star Belgrade.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Senior Congress leader RC Khuntia Tuesday exuded confidence the party-led "People's Front" will win over 80 seats in the Assembly elections and form the next government in Telangana.

The Telangana AICC in-charge said party president Rahul Gandhi along with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party supremo N Chandrababu Naidu will address an election rally in Kodad in Suryapet district in the state on Wednesday.

Campaigning for the elections ends at 5 p.m on Wednesday.

Repeated visits by Rahul Gandhi and well organised meetings of the Congress and People's Front have created a sense of insecurity among the (Telangana) Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and his group and colleagues, he said.

"We perceive that the Congress party-led People's Front is certainly coming to power by getting more than 80 seats in Telangana and that's why KCR (Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao) is perturbed," Khuntia said at a press conference.

Alleging there were six to seven lakh bogus voters in the electoral rolls, the AICC leader said the party is going to lodge a complaint with the Election Commission on the issue.

ALSO READ: Congress-TDP threatens to topple TRS in Telangana: Here's how it got there

He also alleged that 'false' cases are being filed against Congress leaders and warned officials not to "bow down" to the "pressure" being put by the present government.

He said officials should "not cross the Laxman Rekha" (limits) and discharge their duties as per law.

ALSO READ: From loan waivers to free cows, promises galore in debt-ridden Telangana

Assembly elections are scheduled in the state on December 7 and counting will be on December 11.A petition was filed Tuesday in the Uttarakhand High Court against "Kedarnath" movie, accusing it of hurting sentiments of Hindus.

The PIL filed by Swami Darshan Bharti alleges the movie is an "ugly taint" on the Hindu shrine.

One of the allegations in the PIL is that Lord Kedarnath has been insulted in the film.

The PIL also claims that the movie trailer shows that Muslims have been residing in the area for ages while there are no residents from the community in the area.

The Sushant Singh Rajput-Sara Ali Khan starer is scheduled to be released later this month.

Made against the backdrop of 2013 Kedarnath tragedy, the film is about the love affair between a Muslim porter and a Hindu girl on a pilgrimage to the centuries old shrine.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Policymakers and experts on Tuesday expressed concern over contamination of surface water in rural areas of the West Bengal and emphasised on popularising cost-effective water purification projects to get rid of the problem and provide safe drinking water to the masses.

The issue was discussed at a day-long seminar "Sanitary Protection & up-gradation of traditional surface water resources in rural West Bengal for producing suitable safe water for drinking & cooking purposes" organised here by non-governmental organisation Sulabh International.

West Bengal minister for Panchayat and Rural Develoopment Subrata Mukherjee inaugurated the seminar.

The state's Power and Non-Conventional energy minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, founder of Sulabh International Bindeshwar Pathak, Gourishankar Ghosh, former chief of Water & Sanitation-UNICEF,former Director of Rajiv Gandhi Drinking Water Mission K J Nath and D N Guha Mazumdar,member of the West Bengal Task force on arsenic water were present.

Minister Subrata Mukherjee said that the state government was deeply concerned with the problem of contaminated ground water in many parts of the state and has initiated steps to get rid of it.

Pathak, who was recently awarded with Japan's prestigious 'Nikkei Asia Prize for Culture and Community' for his work in tackling poor hygiene and discrimination, said that the United Nations has declared that the access to safe water is a basic human right but unfortunately in India a large number of people are still exposed to the risk of drinking contaminated water.

He highlighted that Sulabh has initiated water projects at Madhusudankati and Iskcon-Haridaspur in North 24 Pargana District, Murshidabad in Murshidabad District, Mayapur in Nadia district and Suvasgram in South 24 Pargana district to provide safe drinking water to masses.

Another new project will be launched at Shantiniketan on Wednesday, he added.

He said the Sulabh in collaboration with 1001 Fontaines of France introduced "Sulabh Jal" project through which contaminated water of pond and river are converted into safe drinking water.

The project was introduced three years ago in the three districts of Bengal--North 24 Pargana, Murshidabad and Nadia.

Currently, villagers are operating the plants with support and technical assistance provided by Sulabh International, he added.

Talking about the project to convert contamiated surface water into potable water at Madhusudan Kanti village on Indo-Bangladesh border in North 24 Pargana of West Bengal, Pathak said the plant is producing 8000 litres of safe drinking water daily and giving them at a low cost of 50 paisa per litre to masses.

The cases of arsenic-related diseases have dropped within three years in villages of North 24 Parganas district following successful run of the water purification plant, he added.

Besides, in West Bengal, Sulabh has also launched such low cost water purification project in Darbhanga district of Bihar and plans to expand it to some other areas of Bihar too.

Various studies including the one by Central Water Commission has noted that water in almost 40 per cent of the districts of Bihar and West Bengal contain arsenic above permissible limits.

Pathak urged the West Bengal Rural Development and Panchayat minister to help spread the water purification project in other areas of the state.

In his address, K J Nath highlighted the magnitude of the contaminated ground water in West Bengal.

He said 11 districts of the West Bengal are affected with the problem of arsenic water putting a total of 1.79 crore rural and 1.41 crore urban population to risk.

Likewise, seven districts are affected by the problem of prevalence of fluoride in the surface water of West Bengal, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Union minister Uma Bharti Tuesday said a "positive atmosphere" should be created for bringing an ordinance on the Ram temple construction at Ayodhya and blamed Congress chief Rahul Gandhi for "vitiating" the atmposphere.

The BJP leader, who rose to prominence during the Ram Janmbahoomi movement in the 90s, said the Ram temple issue should be discussed with all political parties.

"This (Ram temple) matter should be discussed with all political parties as court said that it (construction of the temple) is a matter of a dispute of land and not a dispute of faith," she said.

On demands by Hindutva bodies for an ordinance on the Ram temple construction, Bharti said, "A positive atmosphere has to be created for bringing in the ordinance, but (Congress president) Rahul Gandhi has created too much of a negative atmosphere.

"(Congress leader) Kapil Sibal had intervened in the (Supreme) Court and said the case (hearing of Ayodhya title suits) should not be heard (till 2019 elections are over)," she said.

Bharti said the Congress has to take an initiative to create an atmosphere for bringing such an ordinance.

"The government would initiate a dialogue on the (ordinance) issue, but whether the people of the country would accept it, welcome it.....Now it is the responsibility of the Congress to create this atmosphere because it had vitiated the atmosphere," she said.

Bharti said she would be leaving for the Himalayas and embarking on a pilgrimage along the Ganga river for the next one-and-a-half years by "leaving power".

"There is no need for any agitation on the Ganga (river) and the Ram temple (as) we have (Uttar Pradesh chief minister) Yogi Adityanath in the state and Modiji (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) at the Centre.

Referring to the Allahabad High Court ruling, Bharti said, "In 2010, the three-judge-bench clarified that a dome situated in the middle (of other domes on the disputed site) belongs to Ram Lalla (infant Ram).

"On the day of that verdict, the agitation (the Ram temple movement) became successful. The verdict proved that the site was the birthplace of Lord Ram. The only question remaining now is the construction of the temple," she said.

The three-judge bench had ordered that the 2.77 acres of the disputed land in Ayodhya be partitioned equally among three parties: the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.

As many as 14 appeals were filed against the HC ruling in the Supreme Court, which fixed the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute cases for January next year before an appropriate bench, which will decide the schedule of hearing.

Bharti said she has been involved in work related to the Ganga river since 2011.

"In 2014, I was given the charge of Ganga Ministry. We have spent two years in preparing a plan because this ministry didn't exist earlier. In two years (after 2014), the plan became implementable with the help of the PMO and Finance ministry," she said.

Bharti said the Ganga river is among the 10 most polluted rivers in the world, especially the stretch in Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh which she said is "very dirty".

"We have established hybrid (water) treatment plants at Rishikesh, Haridwar, Varanasi and Mathura. By 2024, the Ganga river will become 'nirmal' (clean) and will flow smoothly," she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Tuesday accused BJP workers of blackening posters advertising a ceremony to award ex gratia to the kin of a slain fireman, and said they don't respect martyrs, a charge denied by the opposition party.

The Chief Minister's Office also issued a statement accusing "BJP goons" of insulting martyrs, saying they blackened the posters for the 'Shaheed Samman' event in Burari, where Rs 1 crore was given to the the kin of Vijendar Pal Singh, who died during a fire fighting operation in May 2017.

"The goons of Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday, December 4 blackened the official posters of Shaheed Samman event in Burari. The Chief Minister, Sh. Arvind Kejriwal had gone to Burari to hand over a cheque of Rs. 1 crore to the family of martyr fireman late Sh. Vijendar Pal Singh," the statement said.

"This is highly condemnable that the BJP disrespected someone who gave supreme sacrifice in the line of duty," it said.

In a tweet in Hindi, the Chief Minister, "The BJP blackened the posters of the programme (Shaheed Samman). I appeal to the people of BJP that they have a fight with me and they should at least not disrespect our martyrs."



The Delhi BJP rubbished the charge as "petty politics" by the AAP and accused Kejriwal of playing in the name of honouring martyrs.

"Blackening posters, putting up unnamed fake posters to insult others are the contributions to Delhi by the AAP. Delhi BJP keeps off petty You (Kejriwal) explore opportunities of politics in martyrs honour, not we," Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said in a tweet.

The Delhi government statement also said it is clear from the incident that the BJP doesn't care about anything except their political interest. This shows their level of respect for the martyrs and those who give their life for the motherland, it added.

Speaking at Burari, Kejriwal said the AAP government passed the policy for granting ex gratia of Rs 1 crore to martyrs but the BJP government at the Centre had blocked it.

"We were able to pass the policy again after we got back some powers from the Supreme Court recently. The powers which we got back enabled us to come here today and respect our martyr fireman," he said.

Fireman Vijender Pal Singh worked with the Delhi Fire Service and died during a fire fighting operation in May 2017.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Capital goods industry body PPMAI has urged the government to ban all non-standard being used for consumer ware in the country.

"PPMAI has requested the to modify the products quality control order to stop influx of seconds, and defective and non-standard products in all grades of from foreign and domestic sources," PPMAI Chairman Yatinder Pal Singh Suri said Tuesday.

These products are mostly being used for consumer utensils and low end industrial application, he said.

"It accounts for more than 60 per cent of the Indian market and surprisingly is not included in the quality control order," Suri said.

The non-standard grades of stainless steel are currently being used for consumer ware, including utensils in the country, he said.

Such grades are also used by small fabricators for critical smaller equipment in industrial applications which can lead to failures, accidents and fatalities.

Stainless steel is the top choice for cookware for its versatility, durability and safety.

Process Plant and Machinery Association of India (PPMAI) represents a pool of talent in engineering and management skills, having proven track record in basic design, multidisciplinary detailed engineering and manufacturing of plant and equipment.Reiterating that Tulsiram Prajapati was killed in a genuine encounter, the lawyer of an accused Gujarat Police officer Tuesday told a special CBI court here that his client fired on Prajapati in "self-defence".

Rajesh Bindra, lawyer of Ashish Pandya, said this while presenting his final argument before special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Judge S J Sharma.

As per the CBI charge sheet, which was filed earlier, Sohrabuddin Shaikh and Kausar Bi were abducted by the Gujarat ATS (Anti-Terrorism Squad) on November 26, 2005 when they were travelling, along with Prajapati, to Sangli in Maharashtra from Hyderabad in a private bus.

Prajapati, who was a witness to the incident, was allegedly killed by the Rajasthan and Gujarat Police a year later (2006) in another fake encounter, as per the CBI charge sheet.

Pandya, who was then sub-inspector with Gujarat Police, was part of the special task force to eliminate Tulsiram at Chapri village of Ambaji town in Banaskantha district.

Pandya had allegedly pulled the trigger on Prajapati.

"The encounter was genuine. Pandya fired on Prajapati in self defence," his lawyer said, adding he was discharging his official duty.

Following the encounter, Prajapati was taken to hospital where he was declared dead by doctors, Bindra added.

Bindra also told court that the injury sustained by Pandya during the encounter was not a "self-inflicted" wound as claimed by the investigating agency.

The prosecution has also failed to establish which bullet, of the three empty shells recovered from Prajapati's body, was fired by Pandya, he told court.

Bindra further claimed the prosecution had no evidence against Pandya, and, therefore, he should be discharged.

Wahab Khan, lawyer of Abdul Rehman, another accused charged with firing at Sohrabuddin, said the investigating agency had failed to connect the empty shells, recovered from the spot, to Rehman's weapon.

Khan also refuted the investigating agency's claim that Rehman had filed an FIR in connection with Sohrabuddin's killing.

The final argument of all the accused is likely to be completed on Tuesday.

At present 22 accused are facing trial in the alleged fake encounters of Sohrabuddin and Prajapati.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A custom-made Ralph Lauren gown complete with a 75-foot-long veil, Priyanka Chopra's wedding with Nick Jonas was a fairytale affair that could rival many a royal nuptials.

Just to give perspective, Princess Diana's wedding gown had a 25-foot-long train, which is said to be longest for a royal wedding, while Priyanka's friend former actor Meghan Markle, who married Diana's younger son, Prince Harry, had a 16-foot-long train.

Priyanka and Nick exchanged wedding vows on December 1 at Jodhpur's majestic Umaid Bhawan Palace in a Catholic ceremony officiated by the groom's father Kevin Jonas Sr. It was followed by an equally grand wedding as per Hindu traditions on December 2.

The couple shared a number of pictures from their Mehndi and Sangeet festivities but the veil on the final twin ceremonies was lifted by People magazine on Tuesday. The US-based publication had the exclusive access to the wedding ceremony.

"Every girl dreams of being a princess on her wedding day. But I never had a plan about what I wanted it to be," Priyanka, 36, told the magazine.

Nick, 26, was the one to suggest that the couple had both Christian and Hindu weddings to honour their faiths, she said.

"It melted my heart. Being able to have two big weddings, in India, with our closest family and friends was unbelievably special," she added.

After the magazine dropped the pictures, the couple shared the photographs with mushy messages for each other.

Tagging Nick, Priyanka wrote: "And forever starts now..."



While Nick shared the picture from the Hindu wedding and captioned it as: "Happiest day of my life."



Breaking away from the tradition of walking down the aisle with a male family member, the bride was escorted by her mother Madhu Chopra. The actor's father Ashok Chopra passed away in 2013.

Priyanka looked resplendent in the white wedding gown. She became the first actor to be dressed by Lauren on her wedding as prior to this he has created bridal gowns only for close family members including his daughter, daughter-in-law and niece.

The actor completed her look with her hair tied neatly in a bun and bold red lip. She carried a bouquet of hyacinths and tuberoses designed by Jenya Flowers (NYC), which created the floral arrangements for the entire wedding party.

Nick, who was also escorted by his mother, Denise Jonas, wore Ralph Lauren's custom Purple Label tuxedo.

The label, in a way, is said to have played cupid because Priyanka and Nick attended the 2017 Met Gala dressed in Ralph Lauren, which took place one week after their unofficial first date.

Priyanka and Nick's wedding parties were also dressed by the high-end designer label.

The Indian actor said it was an emotional moment for her and she was a bit "nervous".

"It was all tears. All tears. I could not hold it in. I think I was nervous and scared. But as soon as the curtains opened, and I saw his face it was just like everything settled and I knew I was making the best decision of my life," she said.

The "Jealous" hitmaker said it was a perfect wedding for him, a moment for which he had waited all his life.

"The emotions were running high during the ceremonies, I think especially during the Western wedding for me. You know you think your whole life about that moment. Honestly, I could not have imagined it would be as perfect as it was. It was highly emotional," Nick said.

While the first ceremony was all about subtle whites and pastels, the couple switched to bold red and gold for the traditional Hindu wedding.

Priyanka made for a stunning bride in a custom red Sabyasachi lehenga.

Hand crafted organza flowers, french knots in silk floss, delicate Siam - red crystals were embossed on the outfit. Hundred and ten embroiderers from Kolkata created the lehenga in 3,720 hours, the designer wrote on Instagram.

Uncut diamonds, emeralds and Japanese cultured pearls in 22k gold were used to put the bride's jewellery together.

Nick opted for a hand-quilted silk beige sherwani with a hand-embroidered chikan dupatta and a chanderi-tissue safa by Sabyasachi, who was also responsible for the groom's golden footwear, rose cut kalgi and syndicate diamond necklace.

The ceremony was followed by 'bidaai' before the couple flew to Delhi for their reception on Monday.

"I love that our wedding was a religious mash-up. We took beautiful traditions that we both grew up with and personalised them in a way that made sense for us. It's been incredible to find the commonalities between our beliefs and figuring out how to blend them in a respectful and meaningful way," Priyanka said.

The full wedding video of Priyanka and Nick is now streaming on PeopleTV.com.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)After their dreamy wedding, Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas hosted a reception here that was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, besides other prominent dignitaries, family members and close friends.

After spending the weekend in Jodhpur in Rajasthan, the newlyweds landed in the national capital on Tuesday. In the evening, Priyanka and Nick appeared for a photo-op at Hotel Taj Palace's Raja Baugh area.

Just like the wedding affair, the reception was also a fiercely- guarded event.

There was tight security around the luxury hotel and since the prime minister attended the event, policemen were also on their toes.

The background bearing their initials - NP at the centre - was reminiscent of the one that featured as the backdrop of the moment the couple announced their engagement in August.

Though they arrived late, the couple smiled for the paparazzi who waited for more than an hour to catch a glimpse of them.

While Nick looked dapper in a velvet jacket paired with matching black trousers and a bow tie, Priyanka opted for an beige lehenga with neatly tied bun with white roses.

After striking a pose for the shutterbugs, Priyanka smiled and told reporters, "Ab aapko family se milate hai."



The couple's families - Priyanka's mother Madhu Chopra and Nick parents Denise Miller Jonas and Paul Kevin Jonas Sr - joined the couple on stage.

Nick's elder brother Joe and his fiance Sophie Turner also turned up for the photo-op.

Sophie, who opted for Indian attires for the entire wedding weekend, continued her tryst with Indian traditionals. She opted for a peach lehenga while Joe donned a blue and black semi-formal suit.

The couple, who is next in line to tie the knot, posed for the shutterbugs sans the families.

Priyanka and Nick exchanged wedding vows on December 1 at Jodhpur's majestic Umaid Bhawan Palace in a Catholic ceremony officiated by the groom's father Kevin Jonas Sr. It was followed by an equally grand wedding as per Hindu traditions on December 2.

The couple shared a number of pictures from their Mehndi and Sangeet festivities but the veil on the final twin ceremonies was lifted by People magazine on Tuesday. The US-based publication had the exclusive access to the wedding ceremony.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Hike in property tax, levying professional tax, redeveloping an old mart and pedestrianisation of streets in market areas lacking parking facilities were proposed by the BJP-led South Delhi Municipal Corporation in its budget on Tuesday.

South Delhi Municipal Commissioner Puneet Kumar Goel said this while presenting the SDMC's revised budget estimates for 2018-19 and budget estimates for the year 2019-20 at the Civic Centre here.

"We plan to increase the earnings of the corporation through various avenues, and one of them is hiking of property tax, which we have proposed in the budget. There is also a provision to levy a professional tax for the year 2019-20, from which an income of Rs 30 crore is expected for that year," Goel said.

The proposed revised budget estimates for the current financial year stands at Rs 5,244.14 crore, while the budget estimates for the next fiscal has been proposed to be Rs 5437.97 crore.

In the budget 2019-20, it has been proposed to levy property tax on residential properties according to various category of colonies.

The proposed rates for residential properties falling under categories A and B is proposed to be at 14 per cent, instead of 12 per cent; for categories C, D and E, it would be 12 per cent instead of 11 per cent; and eight per cent instead of seven in F, G and H category colonies.

It is also proposed to charge property tax at the rate of 15 per cent of annual property value for special commercial non-residential properties and other non-residential properties.

Later, interacting with reporters, Goel said about 6.44-lakh properties were surveyed through a door-to-door survey from September 2017-May 2018. The exercise resulted in the identification of 1.83-lakh properties, which were out of property tax net, he said, adding that the idea was to bring them into the tax net.

Among other proposals, the commissioner also proposed to provide one-time rebate on payment of property tax at a rate of 10 per cent instead of 15 per cent. The budget has also proposed a one per cent education cess.

Other proposals include redevelopment of the Meherchand Market, an upscale commercial zone in Lodhi Colony, and pedestrianisation of streets in market areas which lack parking facilities.

"The redevelopment plan of the Meherchand Market has been sent to the technical committee of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA)," Goel said.

The focus in the budget this year is on education and public health, besides completing projects proposed earlier, including 20 new automated multi-level parking at different places, the commissioner said.

The commissioner added that 26 sentinel hospitals had been identified for monitoring vector-born diseases like dengue and chikungunya.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Names of chief ministers of Punjab and Karnataka -- Captain Amarinder Singh and H D Kumraswamy -- along with some former chief ministers found mention in the list of 4,122 criminal cases pending against serving and ex-legislators that was submitted before the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, also figured in the list along with serving Kerala minister M M Mani and sitting NCP MLA from Gujarat Kandhalbhai Sarmanbhai Jadeja.

A report containing the list said nine cases are registered against former Karnataka BJP MLC and mining baron G Jannardan Reddy. Of these, eight are punishable with life imprisonment while one is punishable with imprisonment with seven years.

The apex court, which is dealing with a PIL on the issue, was informed that FIR registered in 2017 with SIT Lokayukta against Kumaraswamy for offence punishable with life imprisonment is awaiting final report, pending probe.

The report said a corruption case against Captain Amarinder Singh is pending since 2007 and charge has not yet been framed.

The submissions were made in the report filed by senior advocate Vijay Hansaria, who is assisting the court as amicus curiae in the matter along with advocate Sneha Kalita.

It said Yeddyurappa has 18 cases against him out of which 14 are punishable with life imprisonment. In the case of Kerala Electricity Minister M M Mani lodged in 1982, charges have not yet been framed even though the charge sheet was filed on November 18, 2015.

The report said in Gujarat, six criminal cases are pending against Jadeja, out of which three offences were registered between 1994 and 1998 under TADA and/or Arms Act punishable with imprisonment for life or 10 years.

"In all these three cases charges have not been framed and matter is under stay either before the Supreme Court/ High Court," it said.

In Uttar Pradesh, it said, all the 992 cases have been transferred to the special court for MPs and MLAs at Allahabad, both triable by Sessions as well as Magistrate. The charges have not been framed in 395 of these cases, and the High Court has put a stay on 14.

It said 22 FIRs are registered against former Samajwadi Party MP Ateeq Ahmed, out of which 10 are for offences punishable with imprisonment for life or death sentence, and are pending at various stages.

Twelve FIRs are registered against former Shiv Sena MLA Pawan Kumar Pandey, between 1989 and 2017, out of which three are for offences punishable with imprisonment for life/ death sentence, and are pending at various stages, it said.

It said six FIRs are registered against former Samajwadi Party MLA Khalid Azeem, between 2003 and 2011, out of which five are for offences punishable with imprisonment for life/death sentence are pending at various stages.

Six FIRs are registered against sitting (BJP) MLA Upendra Tiwari, between 1996 and 2011, out of which three are for offences punishable with imprisonment for life/ death sentence are pending at various stages.

FIR was registered against former MLA Chote Lal Gangwar, in which charge sheet was filed on December 14, 1999 and the present status is not known, it said.

In Bihar, there are total 23 cases pending which are punishable with life term registered between 1991 and 2018.

The report said FIRs were registered against sitting legislators Shamim Akhtar, Anant Kumar Singh, Randhir Kumar Soni of JD(U) and Sarfaraz Alam of RJD, for offence punishable with imprisonment up to life but charges have not yet been framed.

The report said FIR was registered against sitting BJP MLA Shashikant Mohabat Ram Pandya in 1998 for offences, punishable with imprisonment up to life and the charges were framed in 2014 but the case is at the stage of recording prosecution evidence.

In Karnataka, there are total 58 cases pending against MLAs punishable with imprisonment for life most of whom are on the basis of SIT constituted by the Lokayukta.

"Out of these 58 cases, 34 cases are against 9 sitting MLAs and 24 cases are against 6 former MLAs. Most of these cases registered in 2015 and the final report is awaited," it said.

In Madhya Pradesh, all 168 cases have been transferred to the Special Court for MPs/ MLAs at Bhopal, both triable by Sessions as well as Magistrate, the report said, adding that there are total 36 cases pending which are punishable with imprisonment for life, registered between 1998 and 2018.

Three FIRs are registered against Congress leader Digvijay Singh all of which are punishable with imprisonment for life, it said.

In Maharashtra, 31 Magisterial trial cases have been transferred to Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Mumbai, who has been designated for cases of MPs/ MLAs in terms of the orders of this court and involve 23 sitting legislators but in 21 cases charges have not been framed.

Thirty-three criminal cases are pending against former Congress MLA Ramesh Chandra Jena in Odisha out of which five offences were registered under Section 302 IPC (murder) punishable with death sentence or imprisonment for life.

In Tamil Nadu, 321 cases are pending out of which only 71 are pending trial and in 188 cases even charges have not been framed.

While in West Bengal, out of 269 cases, 231 have been transferred to the special court for MPs/ MLAs, while 38 sessions trial cases of MP/ MLA have been transferred to special court in Andhra Pradesh.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)India vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane on Tuesday tagged Australia as the favourites ahead of the first Test and said the visitors will have to come up with long partnerships to win their maiden series Down Under.

Rahane cited the example of his 262-run partnership with at Melbourne in 2014-15 and said that the Australian focus on the India's star batsman helps other batsmen do their job silently at the other end.

"Each and every batsman's role will be to contribute for the team and I think for us it is important to get those long partnerships together (like last time). That will be really helpful in (winning the series) in Australia," said Rahane.

"Last time both of us really enjoyed that partnership at the MCG. Mitchell Johnson was going after and I was enjoying from the end as well as playing my own game. Virat at the other end was really aggressive and going after the bowlers, verbally as well.

"That really helped me focus on my game and I played my natural attacking game at the other end. But I was still batting completely opposite to Virat. As an individual you have to understand that everyone's role is completely different. This is a team sport and Virat also understands that."



The Indian batting line-up has come under immense criticism for their twin failures in South Africa and England, wherein Kohli was the only one to defy the opposition.

"People will criticise or appreciate, but for us it matters to stay together in difficult times. In England conditions were really challenging and even English batsmen struggled a lot. Apart from Alastair Cook's last Test innings, no one scored (big runs) for them. So it is important not to focus on criticism or even on people who appreciate," said Rahane.

"It is important to start fresh in each and every series. In England and South Africa, we learnt a lot and there are definitely areas to improve. When you tour abroad, in countries like England, South Africa and Australia, it is important to start well."



When asked about his personal growth as a batsman since he first came here as part of the 2014-15 touring party, Rahane said, "As a batsman in 2014, personally I thought I did really well but what the team's performance matters more. When you do well as a team, you feel really good."



His focus is on playing long.

"Personally I learnt a lot from last tour (in Australia). In South Africa, Johannesburg match was really crucial for me. I thought I did well.

"In England I got a couple good starts 80-odd in Nottingham and another half-century in Southampton. For me as a number five batsman, it is important to convert those starts into big hundreds rather than thinking about targets."



There is also intense spotlight on the Australian batting line-up and how they will cope in the absence of Steve Smith and David Warner. Rahane said that playing at home, Australia start as favourites.

"I feel any team that plays at home is really good and Australia are still favourites to win the series. Yes they will miss Smith and Warner but I don't think they are vulnerable. Look at their bowling attack they have really good bowlers. When you have to win Test matches and Test series you have to have a good bowling attack.

"Definitely Smith and Warner are quality players, and I will not take anything away from them. But on a given day anyone can score runs. Usman Khawaja and are equally dangerous in their conditions. They know how the wicket behaves and it is all about intent as batsmen."



After enjoying a day off on Monday, India got down to business in a bid to prepare for the first Test. All top-order batsmen had an intense work out in the nets, with the team management likely to go in with six full-time batsmen.

The new-ball bowlers Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma worked up intense pace in the nets and troubled the likes of KL Rahul and Murali Vijay.

Rahane said that irrespective of whether there is another specialist batsman after him or not, his role in the side is to bat as long as possible and convert his starts/half-centuries into tall scores.

"When you bat at number four or five, it is important to give yourself some time, first 15-20 minutes, and you should visualise the situation from dressing room. You cannot just sit around in the dressing room and keep thinking.

"Then, when you bat with lower-order batsmen, you perhaps know whether to attack or play a defensive game and have a partnership with those guys.

"Kookaburra ball, after 30-35 overs, is relatively easy to bat against. When you bat in England against Duke's ball, you know you are never set in those conditions. You have to go with a positive mindset whether you have a regular number six batsman or not. You have to have that intent, he signed off.chief Tuesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over ex- judge Kurian Joseph's claim about alleged interference in administration of justice by the apex court, alleging that the 'chowkidar' had made a judge his "court-puppet".

Gandhi further said it was the bad luck of the 'chowkidar' (watchman), a term he often uses for Modi, that there was no dearth of honest judges who do not allow "arrogance of power to prevail over truth".

The president's attack follows a sensational claim made by the recently retired judge Joseph that the previous Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra was "remote-controlled by an external source".

Justice Joseph, however, did not elaborate on who the "external source" was and which were the cases in which administration of justice was affected.

There was no immediate reaction from the government or the BJP, while Misra has also not reacted to the allegation.

"The chowkidaar had made a judge his 'court-putli' (court-puppet)," Gandhi tweeted.

"It's chowkidar's bad luck that there is no dearth of honest judges in the country for whom truth is always bigger than power and who do not allow arrogance of power to prevail over truth. The country is proud of such judges," Gandhi added.

Joseph was among the four senior judges of the apex court who had staged an open revolt against justice Misra by convening an unprecedented press conference on January 12 to flag their concerns about preferential allocation of sensitive cases to judges low down on the top court's hierarchy.

ALSO READ: Dipak Misra was 'remote-controlled' by an external source: Justice Joseph

Justices J Chelameswar, who has since retired, Ranjan Gogoi, the current Chief Justice and Madan Lokur were the other judges.

ALSO READ: Justice Joseph should explain allegations against Dipak Misra: Former CJI

The had on Monday said Justice Joseph's remarks proved its allegations against the government of interference in the highest levels of judiciary, and demanded separate parliamentary and judicial inquiries into the matter.Congress chief Rahul Gandhi Tuesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over ex-Supreme Court judge Kurian Joseph's claim about alleged interference in administration of justice by the apex court, alleging that the 'chowkidar' had made a judge his "court-puppet".

Gandhi further said it was the bad luck of the 'chowkidar' (watchman), a term he often uses for Modi, that there was no dearth of honest judges who do not allow "arrogance of power to prevail over truth".

The Congress president's attack follows a sensational claim made by the recently retired judge Joseph that the previous Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra was "remote-controlled by an external source".

Justice Joseph, however, did not elaborate on who the "external source" was and which were the cases in which administration of justice was affected.

There was no immediate reaction from the government or the BJP, while Misra has also not reacted to the allegation.

"The chowkidaar had made a Supreme Court judge his 'court-putli' (court-puppet)," Gandhi tweeted.

"It's chowkidar's bad luck that there is no dearth of honest judges in the country for whom truth is always bigger than power and who do not allow arrogance of power to prevail over truth. The country is proud of such judges," Gandhi added.

Later, at a press conference, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal also raised the issue, saying, "We want to ask the prime minister who was remote-controlling (the ex-CJI). If you know then tell the people and if you don't know then order an inquiry."



"It has been proved that our impeachment motion was based on facts," Sibal said.

In April, the Congress and six other opposition parties had moved a notice for the impeachment of then CJI Misra, accusing him of five counts of "misbehaviour" and "misusing" authority.

Vice President Venkaiah Naidu had rejected the 'impeachment motion'.

"They also alleged that I did not want that hearing should take place (in the Ram temple case), but they do not know that I did not appear in the case after December 2017...the hearing was continuing in the Supreme Court," Sibal said.

Joseph was among the four senior judges of the apex court who had staged an open revolt against former CJI Misra by convening an unprecedented press conference on January 12 to flag their concerns about preferential allocation of sensitive cases to judges low down on the top court's hierarchy.

Justices J Chelameswar, who has since retired, Ranjan Gogoi, the current Chief Justice and Madan Lokur were the other judges.

The Congress had on Monday said Justice Joseph's remarks proved its allegations against the government of interference in the highest levels of judiciary, and demanded separate parliamentary and judicial inquiries into the matter.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' was once again dragged into political discourse with Rahul Gandhi Tuesday taking a swipe at Narendra Modi, saying he should not use this salutation in his poll speeches but instead hail Anil Ambani, remarks that led the prime minister to hit back at the Congress chief asking who is he to issue a 'fatwa'.

In a sharp riposte hours after Gandhi said Modi should chant " 'Anil Ambani ki Jai', 'Nirav Modi ki Jai'....", the prime minister asserted he would utter 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' ten times in the presence of lakhs of people.

As the poll campaign for the Assembly polls in Rajasthan reached a crescendo, Gandhi said the prime minister says 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' in all his addresses, but works for industrialist Anil Ambani.

"In every address, he (PM) says Bharat Mata Ki Jai and works for Anil Ambani. He should begin his address by saying 'Anil Ambani ki Jai', 'Mehul Choksi ki Jai', 'Nirav Modi ki Jai', Lalit Modi ki Jai'," he told a poll rally in Alwar. Voting will take place on December 7.

Referring to the term 'Bharat Mata', Gandhi said it meant the "entire country, farmers, sentiments of crores of youths, women and labourers".

"If you talk about 'Bharat Mata', how can you forget about farmers?" he asked, adding bad debt worth Rs 3.5 lakh crore was written off, but not a single rupee of farmers was waived off by the Modi government.

Modi latched on to Gandhi's barb while addressing a rally in Sikar district.

"Congress has a 'naamdar'. That naamdar issued a 'fatwa'(decree) today that Modiji should not start addressing election rallies with 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'. And therefore, I, today in the presence of lakhs of people here, I crushed his fatwa and said Bharat Mata ki Jai ten times," Modi said.

"You (Gandhi) should be ashamed for this. Freedom fighters embraced death by saying 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'. Our soldiers carry out surgical strikes and say 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'. You are insulting Bharat Mata," he added.

Modi often refers to Gandhi as "naamdar" (dynast).

The prime minister also took a dig at Gandhi over issues relating to farmers.

"The naamdar does not know the difference between red and green chillies," he alleged at another rally in Hanumangarh.

"If you tell him that farmers are getting high prices for red chilli as compared to green chilli, he'll say farmers should grow red chillies," he said, alleging that the Congress was responsible for the pain of farmers.

The chanting of 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' had triggered a row in 2016 after RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said the new generation needs to be taught to chant slogans hailing mother India.

There is a need to tell the young generation to chant Bharat Mata ki Jai, Bhagwat said, breaking his silence on the issue of nationalism that had raged since the arrest of Jawaharlal Nehru University(JNU) student leaders accused of heading an event in which many allegedly chanted slogans criticising the country.

His comments drew a spate of reactions from across party lines, with the most controversial among those coming from AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi who said he will not chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' even if a knife was put to his throat. Among Owaisi's most vocal critics was the Shiv Sena, who told him he should go to Pakistan if he does not chant slogans hailing mother India.

AIMIM MLA Waris Pathan was suspended from the Maharashtra Assembly for refusing to chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'.

The Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly also unanimously passed a censure motion against Owaisi for his remarks that he wont chant 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'.

Senior RSS leader Dattatreya Hosabale said Owaisi was an anti-national, and that anybody who refused to say Bharat Mata Ki Jai' was also an anti-national.

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah was heckled during Eid prayers at the 17th-century Hazratbal mosque in Srinagar on August 22 this year, two days after he chanted "Bharat Mata ki Jai" during a prayer meeting in Delhi for late prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The National Conference leader remained unfazed and continued with his prayers, saying the jeering and booing were by his "own people" who were misguided.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Chairman M has called an all-party meeting on December 10, a day before the commencement of Parliament's winter session, with an aim to build a consensus for a smooth conduct of the proceedings in the Upper House.

On several occasions, Naidu has expressed concern over the deadlock between the ruling and the opposition sides that has halted the smooth functioning of the House.

The government will push for the passage of the "triple talaq" bill pending in the in the upcoming session. It had earlier promulgated an ordinance to make the practice of instant a penal offence.

The chairman has called a meeting of the floor leaders of all the parties in the Upper House at his residence on December 10, a source said, adding that this was aimed at developing a consensus for a smooth functioning of the House.

Among others, the meeting is expected to be attended by Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad and the Leader of the House, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

This will be the last full-fledged session before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government will be keen to make it productive.

For the Opposition, it will be the last chance to take on the government in the House.

The results of the in five states, in which both the ruling BJP and the Congress have high stakes, are bound to cast a shadow on the parliamentary proceedings.

The results of the Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram Assembly polls will be announced on December 11.Telangana Congress Working President A Revanth Reddy was taken into preventive custody early Tuesday ahead of TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao's public meeting in Kodangal assembly constituency.

He was arrested from his residence in Kodangal town of Vikarabaddistrict, police said.

Revanth, the Congress candidate for Kodangal constituency had called a protest rally and a bandh against Rao's scheduled meeting at Kosigi in the assembly segment this evening.

"He (Revanth) has been taken into preventive custody, in view of apprehension of disturbance of public order and breach of security," Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Jitender told PTI.

"He will be released (later) during the day," the official said.

Revanth's wife, Geeta accused the police of breaking open the doors of their house and forcibly taking away her husband to an "unknown location".

Many of his followers were also taken into custody from different locations.

On Saturday night, police had carried out raids at the Congress leader's residences following which he had given a protest call.

Prohibitory orders have been imposed in Kodangal town to prevent any untoward incidents in view of KCR's election rally.

Earlier, some TRS leaders had lodged a complaint with Telangana Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Rajat Kumar, alleging that Revanth was threatening to disturb Rao's campaign, following which instructions were issued to the police to ensure smooth conduct of the meeting.

Meanwhile, Telangana Congress Chief Uttam Kumar Reddy condemned the police action and alleged that the election officials and police were behaving in a "partial manner".

He also sought to know about the status of the complaint made to the Election Commission against TRS candidate of Kondal segment, Narender Reddy with regard to alleged recovery of cash from him last week.

In his reaction, Chevella MP Konda Vishweshwar Reddy, who had recently joined Congress from TRS, termed the preventive arrest as "murder of democracy," adding it exposes the panic in TRSahead of the December 7 Assembly polls.

"People will not tolerate such autocratic behaviour and will give a fitting reply by voting against the ruling party," Reddy said.

In September, the income tax department had conducted searches at the residences of Revanth Reddy here.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The road ministry Tuesday said interested players could bid for the second tranche of eight under the toll-operate-transfer (TOT) model till December 19.

After huge success of the maiden bundle of nine under TOT that fetched NHAI Rs 9,681 crore, the government has come out with the second tranche.

"The submission of bids for second bundle of TOT will close on the 19th of this month. This bundle consists of over 586 km of national highways, spread over four states Rajasthan, Gujarat, West Bengal and Bihar," the Ministry of and said in a statement.

The offer has 12 toll plazas across four

Minister had through a road show in Mumbai last month had invited prospective investors to be a part of the TOT projects.

TOT is a model for monetising operational national The investor makes a lump sum payment in return for long-term toll collection rights backed by a sound tolling system. The concession period is 30 years.

Up to 49 per cent divestment is allowed till two years of the concession period while up to 10 per cent change in ownership is allowed after two years.



"The investor is de-risked from undertaking any construction. If required, NHAI will conduct capacity augmentation at its own cost," the statement said.

The first TOT bundle of 9 projects, totalling approximately 681 km of roads in two states of Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, was awarded in 2018 after huge interest shown by foreign investors.

TOT Bundle-I was awarded to Macquarie for Rs 9,681 crore, which was 1.5 times the authority's estimate. The National Authority of India did a financial closure of this project with the India chief of Macquarie handing over a cheque for Rs 9,681.5 crore to Gadkari on August 29 this year.President Cyril Ramaphosa named a respected female lawyer on Tuesday to head South Africa's prosecuting authority which had been accused of improperly protecting former president Jacob Zuma.

His appointment of Shamila Batohi further distances him from Zuma's scandal-tainted rule during which several top jobs, including head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), were filled with loyalists.

"I am confident that the advocate possesses all the attributes of a capable National Director of Public Prosecutions... she has shown herself to be a fit and proper person," Ramaphosa told reporters in Pretoria.

Batohi's predecessor Shaun Abrahams was dubbed "Shaun the sheep" for his slavish loyalty to Zuma and repeatedly manoeuvered to protect him from facing a slew of corruption charges linked to a 1990s arms deal.

It was in the dying days of his tenure that Abrahams decided to reinstate the graft charges which Zuma is now seeking to have dropped. Abrahams was forced out after a court ruled that his initial appointment to the job was invalid.

"As we address matters that South Africans are most concerned about -- such as state capture, corruption and widespread crime -- our country needs a National Prosecuting Authority that is above reproach," added Ramaphosa.

Batohi, the first female to occupy the role, is a former prosecutions chief in KwaZulu-Natal province and has served as senior adviser to the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) since 2009.

In 1995, she was part of a high-level team appointed by Nelson Mandela to investigate apartheid-era hit squads.

"This is not just a political appointment. Perhaps it's a sign that maybe we, as South Africa, appreciate the ICC and are rethinking our position on the ICC," political analyst Ralph Mathekga told AFP.

Last year, the ICC's judges ruled that South Africa flouted its duties by failing to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir during a 2015 visit, but they declined to refer the matter to the UN Security Council.

South Africa subsequently notified the court of its intention to leave, although the International Relations Minister Lindiwe Sisulu suggested earlier this year the government might reconsider.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Welcoming the government's announcement to re-examine the issue of accountability of J&K Bank to state legislature, Peoples Conference chairman Sajad Gani Lone Tuesday said the institution must remain "totally autonomous".

Lone said government influence and control over the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Bank were against the very spirit of entrepreneurship.

The State Administrative Council (SAC) under the chairmanship of Governor Satya Pal Malik had on November 23 approved the proposal for treating the J&K Bank Limited as a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU), thus bringing it under the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) act, the Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) guidelines and the State Legislature.

Less than a fortnight after approving the proposal, the Governor agreed to rethink the decision after meeting a delegation of the bank employees on Tuesday.

"The premier bank has to be made free from any government encumbrances. In the context of Jammu and Kashmir, J&K Bank is literally the sole lender to the private sector," Lone said in a statement.

Lone said if the government had disproportionate influence over the bank, the political government of the day will get to decide who to lend to and who not to lend to.

"That virtually puts the private sector at the mercy of the political establishment. And this has suited the two dynasties which have made the J&K Bank the field of a selected elite," he said.

"If there are any misgivings about recruitment, it is the two dynasties which have done it. So all the better to free it from political control," added Lone.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Right-wing outfit Sanatan Sanstha Tuesday accused the SIT probing the Gauri Lankesh murder case of "framing" it and distanced itself from the 18 people named as accused in connection with the crime.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) which has so far arrested 16 people with two still at large, had named an organised crime syndicate inspired by the Sanatan Sanstha in its additional charge sheet filed before a court here recently.

Sanstha spokesperson Chetan Rajhans flayed the alleged attempt to "fix" the outfit and sought to know how the law enforcement agencies would react when a Jehadi or a Naxalite is caught.

"Attempts were made to fix us in the Malegaon (blast case) and we came out clean. This is Malegaon-2. If a group inspired by our book makes us answerable, then who should be accountable for 'Jihad' and Naxalism?" Rajhans said at a press conference here.

The SIT had said in the charge sheet that members of this organisation (crime syndicate) targeted persons who they identified to be inimical to their ideology and belief.

"The members strictly followed the guidelines and principles mentioned in the 'Kshatra Dharma Sadhana', a book published by the Sanatan Sanstha," the SIT said.

Rajhans said the book was published 23 years ago and was never brought out in the last 10 years for being unpopular.

He charged that the SIT still wanted to frame the organisation based on the statement by the accused persons (about being inspired by it).

Stating that the accused named in the case were never associated with Sanstha, Rajhans said, "We never believed in violence as our primary objective is Sadhana (spiritual practises) on the lines of Sanstha's philosophy."



Hindu Janjagruti Smriti spokesperson Ramesh Shinde conceded that Amol Kale, an alleged mastermind, was associated with the organisation, but had left it 10 years ago and had no more links with the outfit.

Shinde also alleged that the investigation into the killing of another rationalist Narendra Dabholkar was taking place in a "shoddy" manner.

Advocate N P Amruthesh, who fights cases for various Hindu organisations, said the SIT had failed to provide a copy of the charge sheet till now.

He vowed that he would fight for innocent Hindus "fixed on flimsy charges".

Known for her left-leaning and strong anti-Hindutva views, Lankesh was shot dead in front of her house here on September 5 last year, triggering a national outrage and widespread condemnation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The country's largest lender of (SBI) will cease to be a of retirement fund body by March-end, as a cannot function as an asset management company under the RBI norms.

"We have been told that SBI cannot work (as of the EPFO). We have not engaged (its arm) (as fund manager) because it was not there (as an applicant at the time of bidding) earlier," Labour Minister said.

He was addressing reporters after a meeting of the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation's (EPFO) apex decision-making body Central Board of Trustees (CBT), chaired by him here.

The minister also said: "We have given them (all five fund managers) time till March. We will discuss and take a call as to whom we can engage as a We had engaged SBI. But its job is banking and not this job (fund managing). SBI Mutual (Fund) was not enrolled with us as a fund manager. After March, if they (SBI's fund managing arm) come for this then we can engage them."



Currently, SBI, ICICI Securities Primary Dealership, Reliance Capital, AMC and UTI AMC are fund managers of the

The has separately engaged SBI Capital and UTI Mutual Funds as exchange-traded fund (ETF) managers. The SBI Capital manages 75 per cent of ETF investment of the EPFO, while the UTI Mutual Funds takes care of the remaining 25 per cent.

During the meeting, another proposal to increase the proportion of UTI Mutual Funds as ETF manufacturer came up for discussion which was referred to the EPFO's finance, audit and investment committee (FAIC). The body has invested about Rs 550 billion in ETFs so far, a senior official said.

On the issue of giving higher pension to employees contributing more towards Employees Pension Scheme-95 (EPS-95), the minister said: "This matter is sub-judice with the After the decision of the apex court, we will take a decision. We have sought an advice of an actuary on this issue. We will take a decision factoring in that advice. There were a large number of people who came here today on this issue. But the decision would be taken by the "



Asked about doubling the minimum monthly pension to Rs 2,000, he said: "There was no such proposal listed on the agenda for meeting today. The government has to make arrangement (provide funds) for managing existing minimum monthly pension of Rs 1,000. This is subject to government approval.

"We told (the Ministry) what would be the financial implication for keeping minimum monthly pension at Rs 1,000, Rs 2,000 and Rs 3,000 levels. This will be decided by them (the Ministry)."



The meeting Tuesday held by newly-reconstituted Board, approved the constitution of the FAIC, Pension & EDLI (insurance scheme) Implementation Committee and Exempted Establishments Committee (for PF trusts).

The ratified the proposal of appointment of CRISIL Ltd as Consultant to assist the EPFO in selection and review of portfolio managers.

The Board also mandated FAIC to select new fund manager for managing the corpus of the EPFO.

It extended the tenure of the current portfolio managers up to March 31, 2019 or till appointment of new portfolio managers, whichever is earlier. The Board also extended the tenure of CRISIL Ltd as consultant up to March 31 2019 or till appointment of new portfolio managers, whichever is earlier.The Supreme Court Tuesday allowed the Income Tax Department to reopen the tax assessment of top Congress leaders Rahul and Sonia Gandhi for 2011-12 in connection with the National Herald case.

The apex court, however, restrained the I-T department from implementing its order in the proceedings against Rahul, who is the Congress president, and his mother Sonia till the pendency of the matter before the court.

The court also said it was not expressing any opinion on the merits of the pleas filed by Rahul and Sonia Gandhi in the case



The tax matter is related to the National Herald case in which the Congress leaders are also facing criminal proceedings.

A bench headed by Justice A K Sikri posted the matter for further hearing on January 8 next year.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the I-T department, said the court should not restrain it from implementing the assessment orders against the Gandhis and others.

He said the court should hear the matter and pass appropriate orders.

The Gandhis and senior Congress leader Oscar Fernandes have challenged the Delhi High Court's September 10 verdict by which their plea against the re-opening of their tax assessments for 2011-12 was dismissed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Supreme Court told the West Bengal government Tuesday to follow the Centre's guidelines on management of human-elephant conflicts to ensure a smooth movement of the animals and reduce the possibility of their death or damage of crops.

A bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur said this after the counsel appearing for West Bengal said they were willing to abide by the "guidelines for management of human-elephants conflict" issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.

The West Bengal government also said it would consult the Wildlife Institute of India on using new or commonly used methods to reduce the number of incidents of human-elephant conflict.

"No technology is available today to guide elephants. Unlike in Africa, in India, we have not mapped the corridors (for the movement of elephants). The corridors are changing. As of now, we only have the old technology of using a 'mashal' (fire torch) to guide the elephants. We are serious that we do not want any injury or death of elephants," the state's counsel said.

He added that the migration season of elephants would start soon and they would train people so that no injury was inflicted upon the pachyderms.

The counsel appearing for the petitioner, who had raised the issue of the use of spikes and fireballs in some states to drive away elephants, said "mashal" or fire should not be allowed to be used in the process.

"The problem is that animals are sensitive to fire and heat. Heat might lead to chaos among elephants or any other animals," the petitioner's lawyer said, adding, "Fire is not a solution."



However, the state's counsel said if "mashal" was not used, then there would be "uncontrolled movement" of elephants and in that case, people might take the law into their hands.

He also made it clear that the state was not averse to any suggestion as it was not treating the issue raised as adversarial.

The lawyer said they had not used spikes to drive away elephants in the state.

He also said that according to the apex court's direction, they had placed before the bench the names and designations of the forest department officials, who would be held responsible for any accident due to the use of fire torch.

At the fag end of the hearing, the counsel appearing for the Centre told the court that a meeting was held on November 22 and the authorities had "in-principle" agreed to set up a high-powered committee to oversee adherence to the guidelines on the management of human-animal conflicts across the country.

The Centre said four weeks' time would be needed to form the committee.

The bench then posted the matter for further hearing in the third week of January.

On October 22, the court had observed that human-animal conflicts, especially involving elephants, were a "problem" and the Centre should consider setting up a task force to ensure adherence to the guidelines in this regard.

The top court had earlier termed the use of spikes and fireballs to drive away elephants "barbaric" and directed the states to desist from using such methods.

The directions of the court had come after it was told that these methods were allegedly being adopted in states, including Karnataka, West Bengal and Jharkhand.

The Karnataka government had earlier told the court that in July itself, the state authority had written to all the officers concerned for removing the spikes.

The counsel for West Bengal had said the state had issued guidelines that none of these harmful things would be used to drive away elephants.

Similarly, the Jharkhand government had also said it had not imposed any restrictions on the movement of wild elephants.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)To ensure effective trial of pending criminal cases involving former and sitting lawmakers in Bihar and Kerala, the Supreme Court Tuesday directed setting up of special designated courts in each district of these two states to try such cases.

The apex court was informed that there were 4,122 criminal cases pending, some for over three decades, against present and former members of Parliament and legislative assemblies.

The top court fixed the sequence for cases to be tried in these designated courts and said that cases against sitting or former Member of Parliament (MP) or Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) involving offences punishable with life imprisonment or death sentence, shall be taken as a first priority.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and K M Joseph said that creating designated courts in each districts will be a more effective step instead of concentrating all the cases involving former and sitting legislators in one special court.

"Instead of designating one sessions court and one magisterial court in each district we request each high court to assign/allocate criminal cases involving former and sitting legislators to as many sessions courts and magisterial courts as the each high court may consider proper, fit and expedient," the bench said after perusing the data of pending cases against the lawmakers.

Senior advocate Vijay Hansaria, appointed as amicus curiae to assist the court in the matter in his report pointed out that there are presently 4,122 number of pending cases against MPs/MLAs including former lawmakers.

The report said that out of 4,122 number of cases 2,324 number of cases are against sitting lawmakers both MPs/MLAs and 1,675 number of cases against former legislators (both MPs/MLAs).

He suggested to the bench that the designated special courts in each districts should hold trial for the cases against lawmakers on a day to day basis in a particular priority starting with cases involving offences punishable with imprisonment for life/death against sitting MPs/MLAs.

Hansaria along with advocate Sneha Kalita, who had filed the data received from different states and high courts, said that after the trial of cases involving sitting lawmakers, cases of former MPs/MLAs should be tried.

The bench, however, modified his suggestion and said that the designated courts should take up cases of both sitting as well as former MPs/MLAs involving offences which entail punishment of life term or death sentences as a first priority.

"The procedural steps indicated by the amicus curiae, will be followed by each designated court to whom work would be allocated in terms of the directions except that offences punishable with imprisonment for life/death against sitting MPs/MLAs as well as former MPs/MLAs would be taken up on first priority followed by sequential order without creating any distinction between cases involving sitting legislators and former legislators," the bench said in its order.

The bench said that at this stage, its direction shall be made applicable to cases involving former and sitting legislators in Bihar and Kerala.

The bench noted the submission of Hansaria which said that concentration of all the cases against former and sitting lawmakers in 12 Special Courts set up earlier would result in delay of trial on account of witnesses and accused being required to come from far away places.

The bench said, "The National Capital Territory of Delhi where the position is somewhat different and the difficulties of distance and territories do not come in the way the trial of cases by the Special Courts (both Sessions Court and Magisterial Court) will continue".

It directed that cases records pertaining to the matters involving lawmakers in Kerala and Bihar which were transmitted to the special courts, should be re-transmitted forthwith to the jurisdictional district courts.

"The registry of the High Courts of Kerala (State of Kerala) and Patna (State of Bihar) will initiate necessary action in this matter without any delay," it said.

The bench, however, made it clear that the rest of the special courts already set up by the earlier direction of apex court shall continue to work and try cases assigned to it until further orders.

It asked the designated courts in each districts of Kerala and Bihar to submit monthly report to the high court with regard to the cases where charge-sheets have not yet been filed, charges not framed with appropriate reasons and the progress of the trial.

The court directed the Kerala and Patna High Courts to place their action taken report before it on or before December 14.

Hansaria, in his report, said that in 1991 cases of sitting and ex-MPs/MLAs including some which are pending for nearly three decades, charges have not been framed.

He said that there are a total of 430 cases, which involve offences punishable with life term or death sentence, pending against sitting as well as former legislators.

The court was hearing a PIL filed by lawyer and BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay seeking a life time ban on politicians convicted in criminal cases besides the setting up of special courts to expeditiously try cases involving elected representatives.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Sheena Bora's biological father is facing a financial crisis and thus cannot travel to Mumbai to record his statement as a witness in his daughter's murder case, a special court was Tuesday informed.

"Today, Siddharth Das was supposed to appear as a witness. He stays in Kolkata, but he doesn't have money to travel to Mumbai and stay here. So the government will be taking care of his travel and stay," special public prosecutor Bharat Badami told special CBI judge J C Jagdale.

Meanwhile, another witness Kedar, an employee of the company that had originally purchased the car used allegedly in Sheena's murder, deposed before the court.

His company is into the business of buying and selling cars and it had sold the car to AM Motors which has a service station and had rented the vehicle out to Indrani Mukerjea, a prime accused in the case, he said.

Sheena (24) was allegedly killed by Indrani with the help of others in a car in April 2012.

The incident came to light only in August 2015 after Indrani's then driver Shyamvar Rai, who was arrested by police for possessing a firearm, disclosed it.

Mumbai police arrested Indrani, Khanna and Rai for allegedly killing Sheena. Later, Peter was also arrested for allegedly being part of the conspiracy to kill Sheena.

The CBI has claimed that a financial dispute was the cause of the murder.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Seguin, TX (78155)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this morning will become overcast during the afternoon. High around 60F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy skies with periods of rain late. Low near 45F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%./ -- Singapore-based Everise announced today that it has signed a binding agreement to acquire the US company Trusource Labs. The acquisition is expected to close before the end of 2018. Trusource Labs specializes in technical support for Internet of Things (IoT) and help desk experiences for Apple users. Trusource Labs joins the Everise family of companies, each focused on disrupting and elevating the delivery of customer experiences globally. With the explosion in internet-connected devices in the home and the workplace predicted to Gartner to reach more than 21 billion devices by 2020, this acquisition will uniquely position Everise to capitalize on this massive market opportunity by providing highly complex, fully integrated technical and customer support solutions.

As part of the acquisition, Trusource Labs will maintain its headquarters in Austin, Texas and its experience delivery locations in the US and Europe. The existing Co-CEO, Alton Martin, will remain with the company, working closely with sister companies C3, Hyperlab, and Globee under the unified Everise mission of fusing human and digital teams to transform how global firms deliver customer experiences.

The global IoT market is expected to growth significantly, and basic home appliances will require specialist customer support that has the technical abilities to provide fast, efficient service. Trusource Labs delivers this and has a proven track record of delivering service excellence in the IoT space from the initial Beta stages that products go through to mass adoption.

Sudhir Agarwal, CEO of Everise commented, "This is the 3rd major expansion in 2018 for Everise and our second acquisition in two months. As one of the fastest growing BPO firms globally, we are bringing together the strongest talent that this industry has to offer, and we are transforming customer experiences globally. Trusource Labs rounds out our delivery capabilities into product and help desk experiences, and Everise will strengthen these by infusing many of the technological innovations our teams have developed to benefit the end user ultimately."



"Becoming a part of Everise is an exciting milestone and opportunity for all Trusource Labs employees as this gives us the edge we need to transform our user experiences further," added Alton Martin, Trusource Labs Co-CEO and Co-Founder. "The near-term synergies we have identified will offer meaningful value to our prestigious client base, and we know this value will continue to grow exponentially over time.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Slovakia's prosecutor general said on Tuesday he had ordered the release of 12 Greenpeace activists who had been held "unlawfully" for staging a protest at the EU country's largest and oldest brown coal mine.

The campaigners from Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany and Slovakia were detained without bail last week after hoisting a banner saying "End coal age!" on the tower of a lignite mine in Novaky, central Slovakia.

Their detention and bail rejection sparked a protest in the capital Bratislava on Monday and criticism from Slovakia's top politicians including the president and prime minister.

Greenpeace had also called for their immediate release. "Today, I issued an order to release all 12 people," Slovakia's prosecutor general Jaromir Ciznar told local media on Tuesday, adding that "these people are detained unlawfully". He added that the district court, which had ordered their detention without bail on Sunday, had "improperly" defined their actions.

Slovakia's liberal President Andrej Kiska said in a statement Monday that he did not "understand how we can push activists into the role of criminals".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Forest officials in Chhattisgarh's naxal-hit Bijapur district Sunday thwarted an audacious smuggling operation in forests by seizing large quantities of teak wood from the Indravati river, a senior officer said Tuesday.

The wooden logs smuggled from neighbouring Maharashtra were being transported to Telangana through the river route.

The value of the seizure is estimated at Rs 12 lakh, the officer said.

Three forest personnel sustained minor injuries when smugglers hurled stones at them while fleeing in forest under the cover of darkness.

"Forest officials spotted the teak logs floating in the Indravati river in Bhopalpatnam area of the district, around 450 kms from here, on the night of December 2 during patrolling," Divisional Forest Officer (Bijapur division) Gurunathan N told PTI.

He said forest officials recovered 83 logs from the river.

"Three forest personnel sustained minor injuries in the incident," he said, adding that the Sunday's seizure was the biggest in the recent past, as several consignments of teak wood being smuggled through the river had been recovered in the last two-three months.

Efforts are on to trace the smugglers, he added.

The DFO said smugglers cut down teak wood trees in Gadchiroli forest in Maharashtra and smuggle the logs to Telangana via Chhattisgarh.

"They exploit flow of the Indravati river after monsoon to smuggle teak wood to Telangana," he said.

Explaining the modus operandi of smugglers, the DFO said they tie wooden logs in the form of rafts and throw them into the river which flows along the densely forested and insurgency-hit bordering areas of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Telangana.

"These logs are then picke up downstream," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The "huge amount of data" collected by the government and the NCPCR in their social audits on child care institutions across India needs to be analysed, the Supreme Court said Tuesday while hearing a matter related to abuse of children at orphanages and CCIs.

The "gaps" in the collection of data could be looked into while analysing it and the exercise needs expertise since it is a "continuing process", said a bench of Justices Madan B Lokur, Deepak Gupta and Hemant Gupta.

Advocate Aparna Bhat, assisting the court as an amicus curiae in the matter, told the bench that there were gaps in collection of data as children residing in CCIs were not asked anything during the audit conducted by the ministry and the NCPCR.

She said that in the past eight months, instances of abuse of children in CCIs in 11 states have come to light but none of the reports of either the ministry or the NCPCR talks about them.

There should be an oversight committee to deal with the issue, she added.

When Bhat referred to a provision of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, the bench told the Centre's counsel that this legislation was there since 2015 but the issue was of its proper implementation.

"It is failure of the executive," the Centre's counsel said.

The bench said there is a large amount of data running into thousands of pages that is collected by the Ministry of Women and Child Development and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). "Who is going to analyse these huge data? NCPCR can not analyse it as they do not have the expertise."



The bench further said: "This exercise (social audit) has been done for the first time. One thing required is to have these data analysed. In the process of analysis of data, the gaps can be looked into. It is possible that there could be gaps but whatever data is existing, let that be analysed."



The counsel appearing for the Centre told the bench that he had discussed the issue of having a committee to analyse the data with the authorities concerned and the joint secretary of the ministry already has a team to carry out the exercise.

The bench said it would hear the matter on Wednesday and told the Centre's counsel to request the joint secretary of the ministry to remain in the court during the proceedings.

The amicus had earlier told the bench that the apex court in its last year's verdict asked the Centre to get social audit of all such CCIs conducted through the NCPCR.

On May 5 last year, the apex court had passed a slew of directions including setting up of a data base of children living in orphanages and CCIs to ensure their safety and welfare.

It had directed the Centre, state governments and Union Territories to complete the registration of all child care institutions by the year-end.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Somali police officer says a journalist has been seriously wounded in a car bomb blast in Mogadishu.

Capt. Mohamed Hussein says Ismail Sheikh Khalif, also a media rights activist, was hurt Tuesday when the bomb concealed in his car was detonated remotely in Waberi district.

A former radio colleague says Khalif has substantial blood loss and is being treated at a local hospital.

The colleague spoke on condition of anonymity for safety concerns.

There is no immediate claim of responsibility.

Somalia is one of the world's most dangerous countries for journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists says 59 have been killed since 1992, soon after civil war erupted in the Horn of Africa nation.

Somali journalists frequently receive threats but police rarely investigate them or adequately protect reporters.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)An appeal was filed Tuesday in Sri Lanka's Supreme Court against a court order that barred Mahinda Rajapaksa from acting as Prime Minister.

The Court of Appeal in an interim order Monday temporary halted Rajapaksa and his Cabinet from functioning in their positions in response to a case filed by 122 legislators against his disputed government. The court set the hearing of the case for December 12 and 13.

MP Gamini Lokuge said the appeal was filed in the Supreme Court against the interim order issued by the Court of Appeal, Daily Mirror reported.

Rajapaksa had said on Monday that he would appeal against the Court of Appeal's interim order.

"We will not agree with the interim order issued by the Court of Appeal today suspending the Cabinet. We will appeal to the Supreme Court first thing tomorrow against it," Rajapaksa said in a statement.

He said that it was the Supreme Court which has the power to interpret the Constitution.

As many as 122 parliamentarians of Wickeremesinghe's United National Party (UNP), Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and Tamil National Alliance last month filed a petition in the Court of Appeal challenging Rajapaksa's authority as the prime minister.

The interim ruling was a major blow to both President Maithripala Sirisena and Rajapaksa after the former had appointed his ex-rival as the prime minister on October 26, plunging the country into a major constitutional crisis.

Sirisena later dissolved Parliament, almost 20 months before its term was to end, and ordered snap election. The Supreme Court overturned Sirisena's decision to dissolve Parliament and halted the preparations for snap polls.

The political crisis has crippled the government for more than a month.

Ousted prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Rajapaksa both claim to be the prime ministers. Wickremesinghe says his dismissal is invalid because he still holds a majority in the 225-member Parliament.

Prior to the crisis, Wickramasinghe's UNP had the backing of 106 parliamentarians while Rajapaksa and Sirisena combine had 95 seats.

Rajapaksa has, so far, failed to prove his majority in Parliament.

Wickremesinghe, with the support from the main Tamil party, claims to have the support of more than 113 legislators, required for simple majority.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has 16 seats in the house and JVP has six legislators.

The UNF has moved three no trust motions against Rajapaksa, who has refused to step down.

The Sri Lankan president has said that due to sharp personal differences with Wickremesinghe he would not reappoint him as the Prime Minister.

However, Wickremesinghe's UNP claims that Sirisena will be left with no choice as he would be the man who will command the confidence in the House.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Prime Minister has told UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres the motivation for his "strong commitment" to climate action is rooted in the ancient Hindu scriptures, the Vedas.

Modi and Guterres met last week on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where the two held discussions about and India's support for the Paris Climate Agreement.

The UN chief thanked Modi for his commitment to increase India's nationally determined contributions to the Guterres had also held discussions with Modi during his three-day visit to this year coinciding with Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary on October 2. During that visit, Guterres had presented the Indian leader with the United Nations Champions of the Earth Award for policy leadership for 2018.

"It's not only Christianity, I was speaking to Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi of recently and asking him what was his motivation for his very strong commitment to climate action and he said it's in the Vedas, the founding books of Hinduism. I think this is felt in all religions,"Guterres said at a press conference in Monday.

He was responding to a question on whether he thinks religions have a role to play in the field of The transcript of the Secretary General's joint press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda was issued by the UN spokesperson's office here.

Guterres is in the Polish city Katowice for the high-level UN COP24 Conference. The two-week 24th conference of the parties to the UN Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) marks the deadline for the 197 parties that signed the Convention, to adopt guidelines for the implementation of the historic 2015

In Paris, three years ago, countries collectively agreed to keep global temperature rises to no more than 2C above pre-industrial levels, and if possible, to limit the rise to 1.5C. Now, in Poland, they have to agree on how they will achieve this collectively.

Guterres was asked the question in a reference to Pope Francis' views on climate change.

"I do believe that if one is a believer and one believes that the world is created by God, it must be terrible to see human beings destroying God's creation. So I think it's perfectly normal that a religion that believes in the work of the Creator is totally against the destruction of the work of the Creator that human beings are [carrying out at present]. So I think it is perfectly normal that his Holiness the Pope, not only this Pope, it comes from the past, have a very positive position in relation to climate action," he said.

Pope Francis has in the past called for a "revolution" to combat climate change, saying the consensus was clear and "doomsday predictions can no longer be met with irony or disdain".

Kicking off the high-level event in Poland, along with several other high-level representatives, Guterres highlighted key messages for the thousands of representatives of the world's nations, non-profit organisations, UN agencies, and private sector companies gathered in Katowice.

The Secretary-General noted that climate change is already "a matter of life and death" for many people, nations and countries of the world, and that the science is telling us we need to move faster.

Citing various alarming UN reports including one on rising global CO2 emissions and another one on increasing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere he called on nations to pay attention to the science and step up their pace as well as their ambitions.A sub-inspector was abducted and assaulted by a group of hawkers after he objected to their snide remarks targeted at his wife, police said Tuesday.

The incident took place on November 24 near KEM Hospital in Parel when the sub inspector, posted at RAK Marg police station in Wadala, had come to visit his ailing brother, an official said.

"He had gone with his wife to buy a bottle of water in the hospital's vicinity when one of the hawkers passed a snide remark at his wife. He slapped the man, following which a group of 8-10 hawkers abducted him in a taxi and assaulted him," the official said.

A patrolling police beat marshal rescued him a little later following which a complaint was filed at Bhoiwada police station, he said.

"We have arrested six persons so far for the attack on the sub inspector. The search for the remaining persons is on," said Ramchandra Jadhav, senior inspector, Bhoiwada police station.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Tata Sons is looking to expand its Taj Group of Hotels portfolio in Punjab in a big way, officials said Tuesday.

The company has identified 10-15 projects for expanding its business in the state, its chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran informed Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh at a meeting here on Tuesday.

The chief minister during the meeting asked Tata Sons to come out with a detailed project report (DPR) for its proposed project on rejuvenation of Chhoti Nadi and Badi Nadi River Bodies in Patiala. He handed over to the company chairman a formal letter of mandate for the same, an official release said.

The preliminary cost of the project is estimated at Rs. 550 crore, with a maintenance period of 10 years.

The company chairman agreed to explore the chief minister's suggestion to set up an auto plant in the state, and also evinced interest in expanding into food processing, retail and the IT sector.

Chandrasekaran said with the retail and service sectors not requiring much gestation period, these were an attractive proposition for expansion in the state, an official release said.

The possibility of starting Air Asia operations from Amritsar was also discussed, with Chandrasekaran promising to look at connecting Amritsar through domestic flights of the company's aviation wing.

Tata Sons Ltd. had earlier shown keen interest in the efforts of the Punjab government in dealing with the pollution and destruction of its water bodies, and had made a representation for the "Rejuvenation of the Chhoti Nadi and Badi Nadi River Bodies in Patiala" to the Patiala Urban Planning andDevelopment Authority (PUDA).

The representation was taken to the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB) for further evaluation under the PIDB Unsolicited Proposal Bye Laws 2008 and, after preliminary examination, a decision was taken to issue the mandate to Tata Projects Limited for bringing a detailed project report at their expense for further scrutiny and international bidding as per the Swiss Challenge method.

The project envisages the rejuvenation of the Chotti Nadi, Badi Nadi and other water bodies of the Patiala city. It seeks to intercept all raw sewage or effluent entering the river, divert it to treatment plants, and release treated effluent to create a clean, pollution free, safe and perennial water body.

In this project, rubber dams are also proposed to be constructed at strategic locations to create a separate fresh water body which will ensure better flood management.

The riverfront is proposed to be developed with theme parks, walking avenues, sitting/functional spaces along the river, tree plantation landscape on both the banks of the water bodies, the release said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Entry of TDP founder N T Rama Rao's granddaughter Suhasini has added a new dimension to the political arithmetic in Kukatpally seat of Hyderabad, making it a battle of sorts between the Chandrababu Naidu-led party and K Chandrashekar Rao's TRS.

Parties opposed to the TDP in Andhra Pradesh have extended their support to the TRS in this seat, making it a prestige battle between the two, locals suggested.

Suhasini is locked in a keen contest against the ruling TRS nominee M Krishnarao, who won from there on a TDP ticket in the 2014 elections, but later switched sides.

Naidu has also held a road-show in her support two days back.

"N T Rama Rao used to say society is a temple and people are gods. Nandamuri Harikrishna (her father) followed the same path. I will serve people following the path shown by them," Suhasini said, addressing the road-show attended by Naidu.

Dismissing comments that she would not be accessible to voters, she asserted that she would make all efforts to address problems in the constituency. "There are many problems in Kukatpalle like roads, transport, traffic and street lights. I will strive to address them."



She added that she was born and brought up in Hyderabad and is a 'daughter of Telangana'.

TDP workers said Kukatpally is a sound choice for Suhasini considering that the seat has a substantial number of voters who hail from Andhra Pradesh. The party hopes that this vote will help them secure the seat given the image of legendary NTR.

A party leader said NTR family's ties with their native Krishna district are also expected to go in favour of Suhasini.

Krishna Rao, on the other side, is banking on the "popularity" of the TRS government. State minister and the Telangana chief minister's son K T Rama Rao has canvassed the length and breadth of Kukatpally for him.

Seeking to corner the TDP chief, K T Rama Rao claimed that Suhasini could have been made a minister in Andhra Pradesh just like Naidu's son Lokesh but is being made a 'scapegoat'.

"He (Naidu) tried to destabilise our (Telangana) government. He tried to stall our irrigation projects," Rama Rao said.

K T Rama Rao also tried to reach out to the Andhra native voters, saying that the TRS government do not discriminate among people.

The TDP pulled off a surprise by announcing Suhasini as candidate even as other names were doing rounds for Kukatpally.

Analysts said that her candidature is also likely to have a ripple effect among Andhra natives in other seats of Hyderabad in favour of TDP.

Suhasini is the daughter of NTR's son Harikrishna, who recently died in a car accident. Her brothers 'junior' NTR and Kalyanram are popular Telugu actors.

Suhasini, a law graduate, said she chose to contest drawing inspiration from her grandfather, father and uncle Chandrababu Naidu.

Though the BJP has also fielded a candidate from the seat, the contest is being seen as a fight between the TDP and the TRS.

Telangana will go to polls on December 7 and the results will be declared on December 11.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Former president on Tuesday appealed to the electorate in Telangana to vote for the grand alliance in the assembly election on December 7, saying those in power in Hyderabad had betrayed them and it is time for people to realise their aspirations.

She said the 'Praja Kutami' (people's alliance) comprising Congress, Telugu Desam Party, Telangana Jana Samithi and CPI was a grand alliance for all sections of the society.

"Four and a half years ago a separate state of Telangana was created. I too played a role in making that happen. But, you have been betrayed by those in power in Hyderabad," she said in a message posted on the Congress's official Twitter handle.

"Now is the time, wherever you are in Telangana, to fulfil your hopes and expectations, your desires and aspirations. I appeal to you personally to vote for Praja Kutami," she said.

She promised the people of Telangana a government that will stand with every section of the society and will represent the people of the state.Veteran actor Glenn Close has revealed that it took 14 years to get her film, "The Wife" made.

The actor stars in the title role of Joan Castleman, a woman who takes a back seat to her husband, Joe's success, born from her own work. Jonathan Pryce plays Joe in the film.

Close said finding actors who wanted to be in a movie called "The Wife" was a difficult task.

"It's two women writers, the novelist and screenwriter, and, you know, starring a woman. No one wanted to it and, most of the money, if not all the money, came from Europe," the 71-year-old actor told The Hollywood Reporter at the Actress Roundtable of her film.

She said playing Joan was "fascinating" for her as she had to get into the skin of the character "without any kind of judgement".

"I had never been asked to play a character like that, but also, I had a lot of questions. I knew I'd have to answer those questions in order to play her, and the big one was, why didn't she leave him? It was so much more complex than that..." she added.

Drawing parallels with Joan, Close said maternal instinct aside, women also feel the need to do things for "personal fulfilment".

"We have our children and all that, and the nurturing, natural thing that we do as women. Then we have the need for personal fulfilment.

"We need to feed our souls and our hearts, and I think that's what our work does. You can do both," the actor said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Online food ordering and delivery platform Foodpanda India Tuesday said smaller cities and towns are now contributing over 40 per cent to the company's business in the country.

The company is also looking to double the number of on-board restaurant partners from the present 60,000 by January 2019, Foodpanda said in a statement.

"We are thrilled about bringing the first online food experience for millions of customers in many of these tier 2 and 3 cities," Foodpanda India CEO Pranay Jivrajka said.

These markets are already contributing to over 40 per cent of the company's national business and we are confident that they will fuel a majority share of business in the near future, he added.

"Cities like Jaipur, Lucknow, Bhavnagar, Rajahmundry, Bikaner, Ajmer, Jodhpur, Ujjain are some of our fastest growing markets today and we are thrilled to build superior food experiences for our customers in India's 100 cities and beyond," Jivrajka said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A 22-year old trans woman police constable here has been hospitalised after she attempted suicide alleging harassment by three of her superiors, police said Tuesday.

R Nasriya, who joined the police force in August this year, shot a selfie video of her drinking rat poison and posted it on WhatsApp Monday night, saying she was taking the extreme step as the three superiors "misbehaved indecently" and 'teased' her.

After seeing the video, police rushed to her room here and admitted her to the local government hospital. After a stomach wash, her condition was now okay, they said.

District Superintendent of Police Om Prakash Meena ordered adepartmental inquiry by a DSP rank official into the trans woman constable's complaint.

In the video, she named the three police personnel and said "I am taking this extreme step becausethe three behaved indecently and made me suffer a lot by teasing and torturing. They are solely reponsible for my death. Friends please share this clipping with others and get the officials responsible for my death punished."



Police said the constable was recently shifted to the passport section in the SP office after she had complained about harassment in the Armed Reserve battalion.

However, she did not report for duty and resorted to the suicide attempt, they said.

She had abstained from work twice for over 20 days each while posted in the Armed Reserve battalion here and in Tiruchirappalli, police said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The poverty-stricken parents



of two minor girls in Jharkhand who were allegedly sold off to a brick-kiln owner in West Bengal have said that they left behind their daughters in the care of the businessman so that they could be looked after by his family, police said.

A section of the media had reported Monday that a tribal couple at Toranghatu village in Jagannathpur sub-division of the district had sold off their two daughters, both minors, for Rs 1,500 each to a brick-kiln owner of Howrah, three years ago.

A probe has been ordered by the West Singhbhum district administration.

Jagannathpur Sub-divisional Police Officer (SDPO), Prabhat Ranjan Barwar told PTI that a police team had met the parents at their village on Monday.

A team will be proceeding to Howrah on Tuesday to trace the girls, he said.

The SDPO said the parents, who used to work in the Howrah brick-kiln, told the police that they had initially kept one of the daughters with their employer so that they could be looked after properly.

After returning to their village, they decided to send their second daughter to the brick-kiln owner's family for her proper care.

The couple, however, denied having sold off their children to the businessman, the SDPO said.

The block development officer (BDO) concerned and the police have been directed to probe the incident and submit a report soon, Sub-Divisional Officer of Jagannathpur, Smrita Kumari had said Monday.

"I have also asked the Child Welfare Committee to look into the incident," she said.

Necessary action would be taken against the culprits on the basis of the findings, the officer had said.

"Though it is a three-year-old case, the incident came to our notice after a section of the media reported it on Monday," an official of the district administration said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Tripura Tea Development Corporation (TTDC) on Tuesday said it is contemplating to use the land between the fencing and the actual Indo-Bangladesh border for tea plantation to boost the industry.

This is being planned as a part of the initiatives to revive the state's tea sector and also to use land between the fencing and the border, TTDC Chairman Santosh Saha said here.

Tripura grows nearly 90 lakh kg of tea annually.

The fencing is erected 100 yards inside the border adhering to the Indira-Mujib pact of 1971 and an agreement between the border guards of the two countries, official sources said.

Some farmers have their agricultural land on the other side of the fencing and, as per rule, they can work there between 6 am to 5 pm, the sources said.

"The nod of the ministry of home affairs would be required for the project and we shall initiate dialogue with the ministry," Saha said.

As per norms of the bilateral agreements, tall plants and horticultural produce is not allowed along international border of the two countries.

Special permission would be required to start tea cultivation along the border, which would be taken up with the ministry of home affairs, the TTDC chief said.

He lamented that proper care was not given to develop the oldest industry of Tripura, which has a history of over 100 years, starting from the Hiracherra Tea Estate in North Tripura which started in 1916.

Saha also said that the incumbent state government has started to focus on developing tea industry.

A logo was designed to identify tea produced in the state and it is now waiting for approval from the Tea Board.

"We are trying to export tea in domestic and international market. Recently a delegation of Indian chamber of Commerce met Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and appealed for reducing export duty on tea exported from Tripura. The plea was accepted on principle," he said.

Most of the tea produced in Tripura is sent to auction centres in Kolkata and Guwahati.

Saha said plans were afoot to sent it to Srimangal auction centre in Bangladesh, which is only 5 km from Kailashahar, a town in Unakoti district of the state.

He said Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb has asked him to take up the issue with Union Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu.

TTDC is also planning to start an auction centre of its own at Agartala to contain the outflow of tea produced in the state.

Official sources said Tripura has 54 tea estates, 21 tea processing factories, and more than 4000 small tea growers. Among the 16 tea producing states in India, It is the the fifth largest.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.):Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis Tuesday accused the TRS, Congress and TDP leadership of practising dynastic and described them as 'private limited parties', who are only worried about their families.

Addressing election rallies at Vemulawada and Mandamarri in Telangana, he alleged that these parties have no concern for the people and are only worried about their families.

"On the other hand, Prime Minister Narendra Modiji's family is 125 crore people of the country...he only cares about their welfare and is working tirelessly for them", he said.

"In the TRS, KCR (Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief and caretaker chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao) is the chief and it is (his son) KTR, (daughter) Kavitha and other family members who all run the party.

A common worker cannot become the TRS chief and if he dreams to do so, they will be removed from the party," Fadnavis asserted.

Similarly, the Congress and TDP are also 'private limited parties' and there is no democracy in these parties, he said.

Fadnavis claimed that only the BJP has democracy and it is the one party in whicha tea seller could become the Prime Minister and a small-time worker could rise to become BJP's president.

He alleged that under the TRS regime, Telangana did not achieve development along expected lines in the last four-and-half years and said that KCR should be made aware that development should not be restricted only to Hyderabad.

Fadnavis slammed KCR on his promise of releasing Rs 100 crore every year for developing the ancient and historic Sri Raja Rajeshwara Swamy temple in Vemulawada, which is also called 'Dakshin Kashi', saying "Did he fulfil it...You lie to people and also to God".

He appealed to voters to elect BJP and assured that the Vemulawada temple would be developed.

The BJP, if voted to power in Telangana, would fulfil promises made to the people, Dalits, tribals, youth, women and farmers, he said.

Fadnavis claimed that only the Narendra Modi led government at the Centre was working for the poor and had launched several schemes for their upliftment.

The Modi government sanctioned funds to Telangana for construction of houses, but KCR 'failed' to utilise them, he alleged and accused the KCR-led government of not implementing central government funded schemes in the state, including the PMJAY health insurance scheme.

"Only because of vote bank politics, KCR kept people of Telangana deprived of many welfare schemes of the Modi government," he maintained.

Fadnavis criticised KCR for not celebrating Telangana Liberation Day, saying: "I am surprised (over the Telangana government not celebrating the day officially)... In Maharashtra,Marathwada Liberation Day is celebrated officially by unfurling the national flag and those who sacrificed their lives for liberating Marathwada are remembered".

Why are the martyrs not remembered in Telangana... why is Telangana Liberation Day not celebrated,?" he asked.

He assured that the BJP, after coming to power in Telangana, would celebrate Telangana Liberation Day officially in every village.

The Telangana Liberation Day is celebrated by different parties on September 17, as it was on that day that the erstwhile Nizam state merged with the Indian Union in 1948.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania paid their respects Monday to late president George H W Bush, whose remains lay in state in the US Capitol.

The Trumps made a brief visit to the Capitol rotunda, where Bush's flag-draped coffin was resting as part of tributes to honour the 41st US president and commemorate his extraordinary life.

Bush died peacefully Friday at age 94, at his home in Houston, a passing that led Americans to reflect on his life of duty and service to country as a leader of the so-called "Greatest Generation."



Only the second president to see his son follow him to the Oval Office, the Republican stalwart is being honoured with four days of commemorations and services in Washington and in Texas, where he will be buried Thursday.

Trump is scheduled to attend a state funeral service Wednesday at Washington National Cathedral -- the first presidential funeral since Gerald Ford died in 2006.

But late Monday, after Bush relatives and dignitaries had gone, the president was driven from the White House up to Capitol Hill.

With the first lady at his side, Trump saluted, and they stood at Bush's casket for about a minute. They exited the rotunda with little fanfare.

Bush never warmed to Trump, and he had let it be known that he did not vote for him in 2016. Trump himself has criticized the elder Bush on the campaign trail.

But on Monday, Trump wrote members of Congress to hail Bush as a man who "led a life that exemplified what is truly great about America." "President Bush worked selflessly throughout his long life to bring about a world of justice and lasting peace," he wrote.

Bush was a decorated World War II fighter pilot, onetime ambassador to China, former head of the Central Intelligence Agency, and vice president to Ronald Reagan before winning the White House.

Military pallbearers carried the flag-draped casket into the rotunda as a fiery sunset bathed Washington in a glow.

The somber ceremony was attended by his son George W. Bush -- the nation's 43rd president -- and other relatives, dignitaries and more than 100 members of the House and Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell lauded Bush -- who occupied the White House from 1989 to 1993 -- as a patriot who steered the country as straight as he had piloted his World War II airplane.

"He kept us flying high and challenged us to fly higher still. And he did it with modesty and kindness that would have been surprising in someone one tenth as tough and accomplished as he was," he said.

Bush was transported aboard the presidential Boeing 747 -- made available at Trump's direction -- from Houston to Joint Base Andrews, in Maryland.

In Houston, relatives including his presidential son stood with hands on their hearts as the casket was carried to the aircraft.

Bush is the 12th US president to lie in state in the rotunda. Just three months earlier, the honor was accorded to senator John McCain, a former Republican presidential nominee who died of brain cancer.

Hundreds of members of the public began quietly filing in to the Capitol late Monday to pay their final respects.

Among them was Kim Frinzell, a government employee who did not vote for Bush but grew to respect his accomplishments, including signing the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Turkish police on Tuesday detained nearly 140 people in nationwide raids over alleged links to the group blamed for the 2016 failed coup, state media reported.

Prosecutors across the country, including in Istanbul and Ankara, issued 267 arrest warrants, according to state agency Anadolu, as part of different investigations into followers of US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen.

Police launched operations in 24 provinces including Izmir and Mugla on the Aegean coast and Ordu and Zonguldak on the Black Sea.

By late Tuesday morning, 137 suspects had been detained including 55 in Istanbul as raids continued to capture others, Anadolu reported.

Ankara accuses Gulen of ordering the attempted overthrow of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 15, 2016 but he strongly denies the claims.

Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, and his followers stress that their movement is peaceful, promoting Islam and education.

The probes include one led by the Istanbul public prosecutor into the movement -- referred to as the "Fethullah Terrorist Organisation" (FETO) -- and businesses linked to Gulen. The prosecutor issued 96 detention warrants, Anadolu said.

Meanwhile, prosecutors in the Turkish capital sought the arrest of 48 individuals over their alleged use of an encrypted messaging application called ByLock, which Turkish officials claim was especially created for Gulen supporters.

So far, 35 people including engineers, civil servants and individuals working in the private education sector have been detained in Ankara, the agency reported.

The investigations that led to Tuesday's raids also focused on Gulen followers' presence and actions inside the military.

Some of the suspects wanted were soldiers on active duty or sacked military personnel. Another 16 suspects were charged by an Istanbul court of "being a member of an armed terrorist organisation", Anadolu reported on Tuesday.

Tens of thousands of people have been arrested over suspected Gulen links since 2016.

Despite criticism from activists and Ankara's Western allies expressing concern over the scale of the crackdown, the raids show no sign of slowing down.

Turkish officials insist that the operations are necessary to remove the "virus" that is the Gulen movement's infiltration of key Turkish institutions.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The has decided to shift around 600 students of the NIT-Uttarakhand to the institute's Jaipur campus, ministry sources said Tuesday.

The decision in this regard was taken by the ministry following protests by students of in Uttarakhand demanding a "safer" campus.

Sources said currently B-Tech students of first, second and third year will move to NIT-Jaipur, which will be NIT-Uttarakhand's satellite campus for three years.

Sources said the students moving to Jaipur will get their degrees from NIT-Uttarakhand.

Over 900 students of the institute in Pauri Garhwal's Srinagar had left en masse for their homes to press for their demand that the institute be shifted from its present "unsafe" location along the National Highway 58 to a permanent campus, officials said.

The institute's temporary campus in Uttarakhand comprises two clusters. The hostels and classes are located on the government polytechnic campus while the administrative buildings and laboratories are located at the government Industrial Training Institute (ITI) located 400 metres away.

The students have been agitating since October 4 demanding the institute be shifted from its present location along the NH 58 in the town which, according to them, was "unsafe".

Three B.Tech students had met with accidents while commuting from one cluster of the institute's temporary campus to another along the highway.

Two girl students of the institute were also badly injured after being hit by a vehicle earlier this month, sparking an agitation.The UK's lamb industry has bagged a lucrative export order to deliver sheep-meat to India, a promising new market for its product.

The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board's (AHDB) exports division said a range of different cuts of sheep-meat will be covered by the agreement, which is likely to be worth about 6 million pounds over the next five years.

According to Farmers Weekly', the new agreement follows a series of inspections and negotiations led by the UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) alongside AHDB, the Food Standards Agency (FSA), the UK Export Certification Partnership (UKECP), the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), the Animal and Plant Health Agency and other organisations.

"Despite India currently only representing a small market for our sheep-meat exports, it has the potential for future growth due to its growing population and income," said AHDB international market development director Dr Phil Hadley.

"Access to this new market is the result of ongoing work by government, AHDB and key industry stakeholders and provides us with another non-European market for our sheep-meat exports," he said.

AHDB described the announcement related to its India export order this week as a testament to the UK's high-quality produce and world-class standards. The UK currently exports 386 million pounds of sheep-meat overseas annually but just 3.8 per cent of this product goes outside of the European Union.

This deal is seen as a significant win for the sheep industry, which could be one of the worst affected in a post-Brexit scenario where the UK does not enjoy the same access to the EU single market that it currently enjoys.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A British judge has issued a hefty fine on an engineering polymer company after it pleaded guilty to safety breaches which led to the death of one of its Indian-origin workers in an industrial accident a few years ago.

Tarsem Singh died from a heart attack in hospital the day after sustaining injuries while removing a plastic rod from a casting machine at Leicester-based Nylacast Limited in April 2016. District Judge Tim Daber fined the company 293,000 pounds and also ordered it to pay more than 10,000 pounds in costs, Leicester Mercury' reports.

"On behalf of all parties I would like to pay tribute to the quiet dignity with which the family of Tarsem Singh have conducted themselves throughout these proceedings," Daber said at Northampton Magistrates Court on Monday.

"The failings in this case were not an isolated incident as the risk existed each time the machine was used. In this court's judgement this was an accident waiting to happen, he said.

The court heard that as Singh went to remove the rod from the machine, the metal retaining end cap and plastic rod were forcibly ejected, hitting the 52-year-old in the chest at an estimated speed of 81mph and with a force of up to eight tonnes. An inquest had previously heard that the force had the effect of fracturing Singh's chest and jaw.

The rod was secured in the machine by a pressurised piston, which should have been de-pressurised before the rod was removed.

"There was no engineering measure which prevented the ejection of the end cap before pressure in the mould had been released, the judge noted.

Nylacast Limited, which manufactures products for the construction and offshore industries, had pleaded guilty to two breaches of health and safety regulations at an earlier hearing in July.

"Nylacast deeply regrets the incident which occurred in April 2016 and wishes to reiterate its sincerest condolences to the family of Tarsem Singh, the company said in a statement.

"We continually strive to improve the safety results of operations by reducing physical risk through the design and innovation of process, equipment and work areas, applying high standards of safety performance each day, it said.

Tarsem Singh's widow Kulwender Kaur and his son, Kuldip, were present in court at the sentencing hearing this week.

"The pain is not going away at all. I don't think it ever will," Kaur said at the end of the hearing.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The will meet behind closed doors on Tuesday at the request of and Britain after they accused of test-firing a medium-range missile at the weekend, diplomats said.

The said the missile launch on Saturday was a violation of a UN resolution that endorsed the 2015 nuclear deal, from which has withdrawn.

That resolution calls on to refrain from testing missiles capable of carrying a nuclear weapon.

said it was concerned by the test-firing with the foreign ministry describing it as "provocative and destabilising" and "does not conform" with UN resolution 2231 on the Iran deal.

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt called the missile test "provocative, threatening and inconsistent" with the resolution and said Britain was determined "that it should cease." Iran has long maintained that its missile program is defensive in nature and not aimed at ensuring the delivery of a nuclear weapon, a stance supported by at the Security Council.

Washington's Iran envoy Brian Hook urged the to slap sanctions that target Tehran's missile program as US Secretary of State travelled to for talks with European partners.

The decided in May to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions on Iran, to the dismay of its Europeans allies.

The nuclear deal provides for a lifting of sanctions against Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear activities.

The remaining five signatories to the nuclear deal -- Britain, China, France, and -- have backed an EU effort to set up a special payment system in a bid to maintain trade and business ties with Iran.

(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.)The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes said Tuesday the American national killed by Sentinelese tribesmen in the Andamans last month was pursuing a "planned adventure".

Like the Sentinelese, there are many primitive tribes in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands contact with whom is prohibited for outsiders, the Commission's chairperson Nand Kumar Sai told reporters here.

"Preliminary investigations suggest that it was a planned adventure trip by the American national, John Allen Chau. Investigation is still on," Sai said.

Chau, 27, was killed by a protected and reclusive tribe, the Sentinelese, off North Sentinel Island after he reached there with the help of some fishermen.

Access to North Sentinel Island and its buffer zone is restricted under the Protection of Aboriginal Tribe (Regulation), 1956 and Regulations under Indian Forest Act, 1927.

Efforts are on to identify other people who assisted him in his journey, Sai said adding that so far, seven persons have been arrested in the case.

"Foreign nationals always had an eye on the primitive tribes of these islands and made several attempts in the past to make contacts with them. We need to protect such tribes and their habitat should be completely closed for outsiders," Sai said.

The incident, however, has no link to the Restricted Area Permit, the NCST chairperson said.

The Commission is taking action against photos and videos of these tribes posted on social media, he said.

The tribal communities of these islands are divided into two categories one is now part of the mainstream and the other resists contact with outsiders and there is need to preserve the second category, he said.

In view of the recent accident, the administration and the general public of these islands should become more vigilant, Sai said.

The Commission has suggested setting up of a university on these islands for development and education of the tribal communities here, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The White House gave full backing Tuesday to an Israeli army operation to destroy tunnels built under the border with Lebanon by the Iran-backed group Hezbollah.

President Donald Trump's national security advisor John Bolton said, "The US strongly supports Israel's efforts to defend its sovereignty."



"More broadly, we call on Iran and all of its agents to stop their regional aggression and provocation, which pose an unacceptable threat to Israeli and regional security," Bolton said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Coming down heavily on MDMK leader for threatening to wave black flags at Prime Minister Narendra whenever he visited Tamil Nadu, Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan Tuesday said he was making such remarks to "please someone."

" will definitely visit Tamil Nadu and is ready to face any sort of agitation, including black flag demonstration," he told reporters at the airport here.

was making the comments to "please someone" for "political favour," he said.

Taking a dig at Vaiko, Radhakrishnan said the MDMK supremo broke away from DMK, accusing it of conspiring against him and had vowed to teach a lesson to the party.

But he was now showering praises on DMK and wanted to make its leader (MK Stalin) the Chief Minister, he said.

Claiming that the MDMK wanted to remain in the DMK front, the senior BJP leader said many in the DMK considered as an "unwanted guest."

To a query on Mekedatu issue, Radhakrishnan said the Centre has given approval only to prepare a project report and not for construction of the dam.

Recently, the Central Water Commission had allowed Karnataka to prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the construction of a balancing reservoir cum drinking water project at Mekedatu across the Cauvery.

Last week, Chief Minister K Palaniswami had urged the Centre to withdraw its permission to Karnataka for preparing the DPR.

On relief measures in Gaja cyclone-hit areas in the State, he said additional quantum of funds would be decided after receiving the report from the central committee, whhich visited the affected areas recently.

The November 16 cyclone, which affected 12 districts in the state, had claimed 63 lives and left a huge trail of destruction, damaging houses, crops, disrupting electricity supply and uprooting lakhs of trees.: Vijayawada entered the international aviation map Tuesday when the maiden Indigo Airbus A320 flight took off for Singapore from the airport at Gannavaram.

Vice-President of India M Venkaiah Naidu flagged off the inaugural flight in the presence of Union Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha, state Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu and a host of other dignitaries.

"This is only a beginning and Vijayawada will have more international flights in the near future, Venkaiah Naidu said on the occasion.

The new air connectivity between Andhra Pradesh and Singapore would increase Indias reach in south-east Asia and the state would become an aviation gateway between the two prospering regions. It would also boost tourism, the Vice-President said.

He asked various state government to partner with the Centre in a true 'Team India spirit' for building a prosperous and inclusive 'New India' by creating the right ecosystem for the growth of various sectors.

The aviation sector, Venkaiah Naidu noted, not only played a key role in promoting connectivity and creating jobs, but also was an important driver of the economy.

"It indeed is the most vital sector for linking businesses, bringing people together and promoting tourism worldwide," he added.

Stating that infrastructure is vital for development, the Vice-President said that the Centre was bestowing special attention on the aviation sector, due to which public investments in infrastructure projects of aviation and other sectors increased substantially.

The Andhra Pradesh government set aside a sum of Rs 18.35 crore as viability gap fund for six months to operate the 180-seater Vijayawada-Singapore non-stop flight twice a week.

The state government has already paid Rs 3,05,87,220 to Indigo as advance for the first month flights.

The government set Rs 18,881 as 'indicative price' (return fare) per seat and the VGF was accordingly worked out.

The Indigo flight from Singapore landed at Vijayawada airport at 4.15 pm, carrying about 150 passengers.

The Vijayawada-Singapore flight had over 80 passengers flying to the City-State from Andhra Pradeshs capital region Amaravati.

The Vijayawada airport, which is the lone airport in the capital region, is now second in the state after Visakhapatnam to have international flights.

The Vijayawada-Singapore return flights will be operated on Tuesday and Thursday every week.

Meanwhile, the Vice-President conducted the bhumi puja for the construction of the integrated terminal building at Vijayawada airport.

The 35,000 sq m, Rs 611 crore building will have a peak passenger handling capacity of 1200 with 24 check-in counters.

Venkaiah Naidu said the new integrated terminal building was planned incorporating green building features like eco-friendly sustainable building material.

"I am happy to note this and appreciate the authorities for adopting eco-friendly infrastructure in constructing the new integrated terminal in the Vijayawada airport," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Christian Michel James, the alleged middleman in politically-sensitive Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland chopper deal, was brought to India late Tuesday night following his extradition by the UAE, the CBI said.

The ruling BJP said the extradition in the case from the UPA era is a diplomatic victory for India and could spell "serious trouble" for the Congress's "first family", referring to Gandhis.

It also asserted that the development was an unequivocal affirmation of the Narendra Modi government's "seriousness in fighting corruption".

Michel landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on a Gulfstream jet at 2235 hours, official sources said.

The operation code-named 'Unicorn' was carried out under the guidance of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and being coordinated by interim CBI Director M Nageswar Rao, the CBI spokesperson said.

A team of the agency's officers led by Joint Director Sai Manohar was in Dubai to bring him back, it said.

The agency said that Michel has been brought back to India after completion of the extradition process.

The UAE government had cleared the extradition of 57-year-old Michel after his appeal against the move was turned down by a court there.

His alleged involvement in the chopper deal surfaced in 2012 as a middleman for swinging the deal in favour of AgustaWestland and for making illegal payment of commissions or kickbacks to the Indian authorities, CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said.

Michel was wanted for investigation but he escaped and had avoided joining the probe, he said.

A charge sheet was filed against him in September last year.

"An open non-bailable arrest warrant dated September 24, 2015, was issued by the special judge, CBI cases, Patiala House Courts, New Delhi," he said.

On the basis of this warrant, a Red Corner Notice was issued by the Interpol which led to his arrest in Dubai in February 2017, he said.

It was not immediately clear whether Michel would be kept in a safe house or in the CBI headquarters itself for the night before being produced in a court.

"Michel, who has been avoiding criminal proceedings in India in the AgustaWestland case, is being extradited by the UAE authorities to India.

"Under the guidance of Ajit Doval, the National Security Advisor (NSA), the entire operation is being coordinated by the in-charge Director of CBI, M Nageswara Rao," he said.

Michel was behind bars in Dubai since he was arrested and sent to custody pending the legal and judicial procedure in the UAE.

The Dubai Court of Cassation had earlier dismissed the two objections filed by Michel's lawyers and upheld the appellate court's decision to consider the possibility of extraditing him to the competent Indian authorities.

It was alleged that he had entered into a criminal conspiracy with co-accused persons, which included the then IAF chief SP Tyagi and his family members, and the public servants had abused their official positions by reducing service ceiling of the VVIPs helicopter from 6,000 metres to 4,500 metres.

The reduction in ceiling made AgustaWestland eligible for contract worth 556.262 million Euros, which was awarded to it by the Defence Ministry on February 08, 2010, for procurement of 12 VVIP helicopters.

He has been alleged to be a "historical consultant" of the AgustaWestland helicopters in the UK with technical operational knowledge of the aircraft, the military bases and the pilots, the CBI spokesperson said in a statement.

Michel worked with the company since the 1980s and before that his father had also been a consultant of the company for the Indian territory, the statement said.

He was allegedly a frequent visitor to India and was operating as a middleman for defence procurement through a wide network of sources cultivated in the IAF and the Defence Ministry at different levels, including through retired and serving IAF officials, the agency said.

Michel allegedly shared the information collected from the IAF and the ministry with his associates, who used to transmit the despatches through fax to other counterparts sitting in Italy and Switzerland, the CBI said.

"...He was updating and informing the management of Finmeccanica and AgustaWestland, namely Giuseppe Orsi and Bruno Spagnolini and others, about his efforts in India for securing supply contract of VVIP Helicopters," the statement said.

In July 2006, AgustaWestland's commercial manager Renzo Lunardi had proposed that Michel will join other middlemen Ralph Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa in carrying out "scouting and monitoring activities" with regard to the acquisition of helicopters in India, keeping in view of his "knowledge of Indian military operational mechanism", it said.

During that meeting in Italy, they had negotiated a comprehensive fee equal to 7 per cent of the supply contract amount to cover the expenses and their payments.

Michel allegedly entered into 12 contracts through two of his firms -- London-based Global Trade and Commerce and Dubai-based Global Services FZE -- with Finmeccanica to camouflage and legitimise the alleged bribe received by him for clinching the deal, the CBI said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)According to the Associations figure, around 60 nutritional supplements of 15 exporters were marketed in 2000 but there have been approximately 6,800 kinds of 3,600 enterprises so far.

Walking through supermarkets, consumers will encounter a variety of foods that serve different purposes; the health supplement industry is extremely lucrative due to insane profit margins while buyers must keep their eyes open or they will buy substandard products mixed with good kinds in shelves.

Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Functional Food Dr. Tran Dang said the number of Vietnamese people taking nutritional supplement pills has increased from 500,000 people in 2000 to 5 million in 2010 and 15 million presently.

Demand increase has led to mushrooming of manufacturers. The number of functional food producers is 3,000 nationwide and thousands of so-called medicinal products are made; 70 percent of them are locally-made products.

Deputy Health Minister Truong Quoc Cuong didnt deny the benefit of nutritional pills adding that the effectiveness of these pills was exaggerated by businesses' employees or the advertising without assessment by health watchdog.

For example, the Vietnam Food Administration under the Ministry of Health issued fines of VND75 million ($3,223,612) each to An Nhien Pharmaceutical Company, Nam Phuong Cosmetic Pharmaceutical Company and Dong Do Pharmaceutical Company in Hanoi for their products over-adverting that will cause misunderstanding amongst consumers.

In October, 2018, 99 manufacturers had to paid VND5.5 billion administrative fines for falling foul of food safety regulations.

A leader of the Health Ministry worried producers will take advantage of the word nutritional supplement to define their products as functional pills causing misunderstanding for buyers. Accordingly, the Ministry has banned the claims to treat an illness or cure a medical condition.

Alarmingly, more firms have used nutritional supplement for multi-level business to earn unlawful profits, Mr. Cuong said.

Head of the Vietnam Food Administration Nguyen Thanh Phong said that the Ministry has ordered enterprises to enhance making research and standardize production procedure with the orientation towards sustainable development of the industry.

Competent agencies should strengthen supervision on quality and advertising content to avoid misunderstanding of nutritional supplements use amongst consumers because some firm employees boast that the pill can be used to treat diabetes and gout.

From October 20, violators in food safety will be fined up to VND70 million and forced to destroy all false advertising documents as per the governments decree No. 115. Moreover, they must publicize the rectification on media. Even they can be taken to the criminal court if they make counterfeit products.

By THANH AN, MINH KHANG - Translated by UYEN PHUONGDefence Secretary James Mattis has expressed confidence that India and the US would be able to resolve all issues related to India's purchase of the S-400 air defence systems from Russia that could draw possible US sanctions.

India risked US sanctions when it agreed in October to a $5 billion deal to buy Russian missile systems.

India's purchase is subject to potential US sanctions under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which deals primarily with countries having "significant transactions" with Russia, North Korea or Iran.

"We will work everything out. Trust me," Mattis told reporters Monday as a journalist asked the visiting Defence Minister about the missile deal and the possibility of US sanctions.

India needs a presidential waiver to get around the punitive sanctions.

"We'll work all this forward. This is the normal collaboration and consultation that we have with each other," Mattis said in response to a similar question.

"India has been spent many, many years in its nonaligned status, and it's drawn a lot of weapons from Russia," Mattis told reporters at the ahead of Sitharaman's arrival on Monday.

Russia's S-400 system, a mobile long-range surface-to-air missile system, made its debut on the world stage in 2007. The platform rivals Lockheed Martin's THAAD, or terminal high altitude area defense, system and Raytheon's Patriot system.

S-400 is known as Russia's most advanced long-range surface-to-air missile defence system. China was the first foreign buyer to seal a government-to-government deal with Russia in 2014 to procure the lethal missile system. Moscow has already started delivery of an undisclosed number of the S-400 missile systems to Beijing.The Akhil Bharatiya Tirth Purohit Mahasabha, an all India organisation of priests, has decided to give its support to the political party which will work for solving problems of seers and saints.

On December 1, the organisation passed a 14-point resolution in its two-day national working committee meet.

Quoting the resolution, national president of the Mahasabha Mahesh Pathak said neither state control of temples is acceptable nor the formation of Shrine board, as this will destroy the basic religious culture of the temples.

They demanded that all places of pilgrimage should be inter-connected with rail routes as most of the domestic pilgrims are senior citizens who face problems.

Pathak requested Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to declare Lord Krishna's birthplace Mathura as a 'Teerth sthal' (pilgrim centre) like its suburbs areas of Vrindaban, Goverdhan, Barsana and Nandgaon.

The latter four were declared 'Teerth sthal' by the UP government last year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Ahead of the December 7 assembly elections, BJP leader V Ram Madhav Tuesday asserted without his party there won't be the next Telangana government.

"Let me conclude by saying that we are fighting to win the election.

But, I can tell you one thing very clearly. Without BJP, there won't be next Telangana government," he said at the release of BJP's vision document titled 'Hyderabad for New India' here.

Asked to elaborate on his statement, he said: "Certainly after 11th" (counting of votes will be taken up on December 11).

Madhav expressed confidence that the Bharatiya Janata Party would return to power at the Centre.

"BJP is the present of India. We are building the future of India. When we talk about the vision for Hyderabad, city of the future, we are thinking in terms of building a new Hyderabad.

But, this is part of the greater, grand vision that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has, namely the vision for building a new India," he said.

Modi has declared from the ramparts of the Red Fort that he will build a "new India" by 2022 when the nation prepares to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Independence, he said.

"There is no force on the earth which can corrupt a leader like Modi. Corruption needs to be removed from the top," he said.

Data shows that 84 lakh jobs have been created in the last four years in the formal sector, he said.

The country has registered in the last two years 7.1 to 7.3 per cent growth and this year's projected GDP growth is 7.5 per cent, he said.

"IMF predicts by 2020, India's GDP growth will be above eight per cent. IMF also says India will be the only major economy in the world to register that kind of growth," Madhav added.

Union Health Minister JP Nadda, BJP's incharge for Assembly polls in Telangana, explained the government's initiatives in the health sector.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A woman police personnel Tuesday filed a molestation case against a senior Anti-Corruption Bureau official in Nagpur, police said.

Sadar police station inspector S S Bonde said a complaint had been received from a woman constable against ACB Superintendent of Police P R Patil.

A case had been registered under section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the IPC, he said.

Bonde, however, refused to divulge further details of the complaint.

Patil could not be reached for comments despite repeated attempts.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The dispute settlement body of World Trade Organisation (WTO) has agreed to set up a panel to assess if high customs duties imposed by the US on certain steel and aluminium products infringes global trade norms, an official said.

India had approached Geneva-based WTO for setting up of the dispute panel as both the countries failed to resolve the issue in a bilateral consultation process under the dispute settlement mechanism of the WTO.

"The dispute settlement body has agreed to establish a panel to rule whether additional duties imposed by the US on imports of certain steel and aluminum products comply with WTO rules," the official added.

Consultation is the first step of the dispute settlement process at the WTO. If the two countries are not able to reach a mutually agreed solution through consultation, a country can request for a WTO dispute settlement panel to review the matter.

Imposition of high import duties on these items by the US has impacted exports of these products by Indian businesses. India has alleged that the US move is also not in compliance with global trade norms.

Besides India, Russia, Norway, Canada, Mexico, Switzerland, and European Union have also dragged the US in the WTO on Washington's move to impose 25 per cent and 10 per cent import duties on certain steel and aluminium products, respectively, which triggered global trade tensions.

India has a significant export interest to the US on the steel and aluminium sector. India exports steel and aluminium goods worth about USD 1.6 billion a year to the US.

The US had imposed these duties on grounds of national security.

Biswajit Dhar, professor of economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, stated that the US decision would not only impact India's export of these goods but also affect global trade.

Some experts, however, said that dragging the US in the dispute over the issue is not in favour of India, as New Delhi has a trade surplus with Washington.

India's exports to the US in 2017-18 stood at about USD 48 billion, while imports were USD 26.7 billion.

Both the countries are also involved in several other disputes in the WTO. Those disputes are in the areas of poultry, export incentives, solar and steel.

In retaliation to the imposition of duties by the US, India has decided to increase customs duty on 29 American products such as almond, walnut, pulses and iron and steel items. The duties would come into effect from December 17.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Online travel firm com said on Tuesday it has entered into a partnership with global accommodation booking platform Agoda to offer inventory of its hotel rooms to the latter's global travellers.

Under the agreement, Agoda will have an access to com's inventory of over 100,000 accommodation options in over 1,300 Indian cities and towns, com said in a statement.

Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Dhruv Shringi said: "We believe this alliance will not only prove beneficial for Agoda's customers, but it will also be valuable for our hotel partners, by providing them incremental global traveller demand."



There is a strong interest from global travellers to visit India, and providing a wide choice of real-time hotel inventory helps ensure a seamless travel booking experience, he added.

"This partnership with Yatra will further enhance our hotel inventory offer in the fast-growing Indian travel market. We look forward to making this partnership a success," Agoda CEO John Brown said.FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Volkswagen's premium auto brand Audi said on Tuesday it would invest 14 billion euros ($15.9 billion) through 2023 in electric mobility, digitalisation and autonomous driving.Overall, the company's total projected expenditure for the next five years amounts to 40 billion euros, the company said in a statement. It also plans restructuring measures that will generate 1 billion in earnings uplift already in 2018."This planning round bears a clear signature: We are taking a very systematic approach to electric mobility and will be much more focused in future," said Audi's ...By Leigh ThomasBRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union finance ministers failed to agree a tax on digital revenues on Tuesday, despite a last minute Franco-German plan to salvage the proposal by narrowing its focus to companies like Google and Facebook .The European Union's executive arm proposed a 3 percent tax on big digital firms' online revenues in March, alleging the companies funnelled profit through states with the lowest tax rates.The tax requires the support of all 28 EU states, including small, low-tax countries like Ireland which have benefited by allowing multinationals to book ...BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union commissioner in charge of taxation urged on Tuesday EU countries to reach a deal on a common tax on digital revenues of large companies in March.After several attempts for a compromise failed in past months, Pierre Moscovici said at a meeting of EU finance ministers that there was still room for a compromise, along the lines of a new proposal made by France and Germany which postpones the application of the new tax and reduces its scope.He added however that the Commission could not make a new legislative proposal, as requested by Paris and Berlin. ...France and Germany sought on Monday to salvage a proposed EU tax on big digital firms by narrowing the focus to cover only companies' online advertising revenue, a European source said. The two countries will try to agree a text to put to other EU countries when finance ministers meet on Tuesday in Brussels to discuss a digital tax. In March, the European Union's executive arm proposed a 3 percent tax on big digital firms' online revenues accusing them of funnelling profits through member states with the lowest tax rates to keep their overall tax down. While ...For years, psychologists and neuroscientists have questioned the idea of learning styles the theory that students can process information best when teachers tailor instruction to students strengths. These frameworks often rely on grouping students into categories, like auditory, visual, or kinesthetic learners, or concrete versus abstract learners.

Now, a new study in Frontiers in Education offers further evidence that these designations may be unreliable: When it comes to an individual students preferred learning style, teachers and students dont agree on how students learn best.

Researchers at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in Greece and the University of Dundee in Scotland asked about 200 primary school students in Athens to identify themselves as either visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learners. Then, they asked teachers to classify the same students with the paradigm.

They found that the teachers and students answers didnt match up: Students self-assessments of their learning styles didnt correlate to their teachers perceptions.

The fact that we didnt find an agreement shows that assigning learning styles to students is more or less a hit or miss process, Marietta Papadatou-Pastou, a lecturer in neuropsychology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, and the lead author of the study, said in an interview. The mismatch highlights this frameworks unreliability, she said.

While all of the teachers surveyed said that they believed tailoring instruction to students learning styles would lead to student achievement, the study also suggests that how teachers define the term may vary. When asked in an open-ended question about the effect of learning styles, less than a quarter of the teachers mentioned the visual/auditory/kinesthetic structure.

At this point, many researchers consider learning styles to be a myth. Prior research has shown little evidence that learning-style theory holds up. A 2009 meta-analysis of thousands of articles published on the subject found that most didnt test the concept in an experimental setting. Of those that did, several offered results that contradicted the theory.

But the ideas popularity in education circles persistsin part, said Papadatou-Pastou, because there are, of course, real differences among learners. The intuitive appeal of learning styles rests on this reality, she said.

See also: Why Learning Styles and Other Education Neuromyths Wont Go Away

Everything from a students metacognitive skills to the language spoken at home to their motivation on a given day can influence how teachers need to approach instruction, Papadatou-Pastou said.

Indeed, teachers should recognize such differences and accommodate them in their teaching, she said. But its different to providing visual, auditory, or kinesthetic material to different students.

And Papadatou-Pastou said that learning styles arent only ineffectualthey can also have real consequences for students. Categorizing students by their perceived or self-reported strengths could discourage them from seeking new challenges, she said.

We shouldnt only work on the students strengths, but also try to work on their limitations. Because outside in the real world, theyre going to be facing all kinds of stimuli.

Image: GettySpecifically, the Japanese Ambassador has recently sent a letter to the Prime Minister and HCMC leaders, expressing concern over slow disbursement for the project.



According to the letter, payment procedures to contractors have made no progress and the unpaid amount has topped US$100 million. If the problem is not solved at the end of December, construction of the project will be halted.

The ambassador also proposed HCMC to assign relevant agencies, especially Urban Railway Management Board, to soon re-sign management consulting contract with NJPT joint venture because the contract has expired in April 2017. The consultant has worked without remuneration for the last 19 months. The late payment has amounted to US$20 million.

At a cabinet press conference last night, Minister Mai Tien Dung, chairman of the Government Office said that the project was approved in 2007 with the total investment capital of nearly VND17,388 billion including official development assistance (ODA) and reciprocal funds.

After the project was approved, HCMC has invited independant assessment consultants and got opinions of ODA sponsors, ministries, agencies and the Prime Minister about the project.

In 2011, the city approved total investment capital adjustment to VND47,325 billion.

According to the National Assemblys resolution, the project is listed as national special important with the capital increase so it must be reported to authorized agencies.

Hence the city has reported to the Government. Afterwards, the Prime Minister has tasked the Ministry of Transport together with relevant agencies to consider solving the proposal of HCMC.

Currently, the Transport Ministry is asking opinions of relevant ministries and agencies about the project.

Minster Dung said that in the letter the Japanese Ambassador expressed concern about the late payment to contractors. However disbursement has reached VND13,630 billion out of the projects total investment capital of VND17,388 billion. So the remaining amount is not too much.

By PHAN THAO  Translated by Hai Mien(Reuters) - Debt-laden Indian carrier Jet Airways Ltd is close to finalising a deal under which shareholder Etihad Airways will inject fresh funds, news channel CNBC-TV18 reported late on Tuesday, citing sources.Jet founder and majority shareholder Naresh Goyal has assured the airline's pilot union that the funding, which will likely result in route restructuring and more flights to Abu Dhabi, could take place as early as mid-December, the channel said.Goyal has also assured pilots that there will be no delays in salary payments from April 1, according to the channel.Jet Airways, which is ...ZURICH (Reuters) - Novartis said on Tuesday it was taking its experimental medicine ligelizumab to late-stage trials after the drug showed signs of outperforming existing product Xolair in treating severe urticaria, also known as hives.Xolair is sold by both Novartis and Roche, but has lost patent protection in Europe and the United States, leaving it exposed to rivals who are developing copies of the biological drug. None are yet on the market.Novartis said it now plans two Phase III studies for ligelizumab with more than 2,000 patients who suffer from chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU), an ...By David ShepardsonWASHINGTON (Reuters) - General Motors Chief Executive Mary Barra, facing growing criticism, will meet with Ohio's two U.S. senators on Wednesday about the Detroit automaker's plans to idle five North American plants and cut up to 15,000 jobs.Senator Rob Portman, a Republican, and Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, said in a joint statement they will "press" GM to save the Lordstown, Ohio, plant in the northeast part of the state. The announcement came as the United Auto Workers union on Monday sent a letter to GM formally objecting to the decision to end production in 2019 at ...LONDON (Reuters) - British supermarket group Sainsbury's proposed takeover of rival Asda would not be cleared by the competition regulator without the need for "extensive remedies" if precedent is followed, according to market leader Tesco.The combination of No. 2 player Sainsbury's and No. 3 Asda, which is owned by Walmart, could overtake Tesco.In its submission to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which is probing the deal, Tesco also questioned the economics of the 7.3 billion pounds ($9.4 billion) transaction, saying it provided few direct customer benefits.Last year the CMA ...WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Tuesday that possible tariffs on automakers are aimed at pushing companies to make more cars and other vehicles in the United States and the timing of any duties would depend on the success of ongoing negotiations. "It's a very, very important component of the European situation," Ross told CNBC in an interview. "If we don't fix the auto and auto part trade deficit and the Chinese trade deficit, we're not going to get anywhere.""The timing of this whole thing will largely be driven by what happens in negotiations," Ross ...By David ShepardsonWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Key U.S. senators are making a last-ditch effort to win approval of a bill to speed the use of self-driving cars without human controls, but face an uphill battle on Capitol Hill.Staff for Republican Senator John Thune and Democratic Senator Gary Peters circulated a draft of a revised bill aimed at breaking a legislative stalemate.The pair have been working for more than a year to try to win approval of the bill by the Senate and have said they may try to attach the measure to a bill to fund U.S. government operations.The U.S. House unanimously ...By Edward TaylorWOLFSBURG, Germany (Reuters) - The global system of international trade is in crisis, the World Trade Organization (WTO) warned on Tuesday, as German car bosses gathered in Washington hoping to stave off potential tariffs on U.S. imports of luxury cars. Top officials from Daimler, BMW and Volkswagen have been summoned to the United States to meet White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow to discuss U.S. efforts to rebalance global trade.The meeting comes after months of warnings from U.S. President Donald Trump that he might impose big tariffs on imported cars, and days after ...By David Milliken and Huw JonesLONDON (Reuters) - Bank of England Governor Mark Carney hit back at critics of the central bank's warnings of a potentially big Brexit hit to the economy, denying allegations of scare-mongering made by some lawmakers who oppose Prime Minister Theresa May's plans.The BoE said last week that Britain could suffer greater damage to its economy than during the global financial crisis under a worst-case exit from the European Union.Carney, speaking to lawmakers on Tuesday, denied a suggestion that the BoE's scenarios were rushed out to help May get support for her ...Business Airport International exclusively speaks to Avflight about its new hangar at Harrisburg International Airport, which is set to open in January next year.

Avflight is set to open its new 30,000ft (2,800m) hangar in Pennsylvania, next month, with the facility having capacity to accommodate ultra-long-range Gulfstream and Bombardier Global aircraft thanks it its 28ft-high (8.5m) door.

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The Avflight Harrisburg team worked with Bowers & Associates as its architect on the project, in addition to ECI Construction. The team started work on the hangar by collecting feedback from frequent users of the airport.

We asked customers about attributes that would be beneficial to our operations and visited other locations with newly constructed hangars to evaluate our options, says Joe Meszaros, director of operations at Avflight. Our architect then got to work on various designs. Once we agreed on a direction, the architect created everything from the site plan to full building construction.

The hangar is the second phase of the FBOs development. Avflight Harrisburg opened a 5,000ft (465m), state-of-the-art FBO building in spring 2018 that features a conference room, kitchen, pilot lounge, three private pilot rooms, office spaces, and a separate catering kitchen.

We needed the door dimensions of the hangar to fit aircraft as large as a Global, says Meszaros. Furthermore, the hangar needed to be built with modern considerations in terms of energy efficiencies, office space, security and fire suppression. The hangar features the latest technologies for security, internet access, and energy management and control.

The hangar has also been structurally designed to withstand winds of up to 90mph (145kph), helping to keep the structure sturdy during storms.

Carl Muhs, president of Avflight, comments, We are proud to be the gateway to central Pennsylvania and  with the new hangar along with Avflight Harrisburgs new FBO facility  were now a more attractive option for tenants.

This will result in more corporate traffic to Harrisburg, which in turn supports the vitality of the local economy. Avflight is, after all, a member of the Harrisburg community, so investing in its infrastructure is a priority for us.

The hangar is positioned next to the airports main terminal and directly opposite a new Marriott-property hotel, which is currently under construction. Avflight hopes the location will make arriving and staying in Harrisburg more convenient for pilots and crews, and better connect passengers to the business and offerings of the city and surrounding areas.Christian Michel, the British national accused in the AgustaWestland chopper scam, has boarded the flight to India along with the Indian authorities who were in Dubai to complete the extradition process. Earlier, the Dubai government passed an administrative order to extradite Michel to India. The CBI officials will now present him before a CBI special judge's court in New Delhi.

A top Dubai court had upheld a lower court's order to consider the possibility of extraditing Christian Michel on November 20. Michel, 54, was arrested in Dubai in August 2017 and sent into custody pending the legal and judicial procedure in the UAE.

Michel has been accused by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) of receiving about Euro 30 million (approximately Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland to influence the deal in its favour. The Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are both probing the case, in which a chargesheet was filed against Michel in June 2016.

The Indian agencies have accused Michel of receiving "kickback" from AgustaWestland -- in the guise of 'genuine transactions' for executing several work contracts -- to sway the 12-helicopter deal in its favour.

Michel is one of the three middlemen being investigated by the ED and the CBI. The other two accused by the agencies are Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa. An Interpol red corner notice (RCN) has also been notified against Michel after the court had issued a non-bailable warrant against him.

In its chargesheet, the ED had said the three middlemen "managed to" influence the Indian Air Force (IAF) officials to reduce the service ceiling of these 12 helicopters from 6,000 metre to 4,500 metre in 2005, which made AgustaWestland eligible for the deal. Michel also allegedly paid off influential people in India, who helped reject Russian and American choppers. He was allegedly also in touch with officials from the PMO, SPG, CVC and defence ministry.

India had scrapped 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers contract with Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland in January 2014 over the breach of contractual obligations and the charges of paying Rs 423 crore kickbacks. Former Air Force chief SP Tyagi was also arrested over the allegations of reducing the flying ceiling of the helicopter to put AgustaWestland in the race.Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam on December 3 had a meeting with Chinese Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Qu Dongyu, during which they expressed their delight at the sound collaboration between the two ministries across the fields of plantation, husbandry and aquaculture.



Discussing measures to develop agriculture and rural areas in both nations, they agreed to set up a ministerial dialogue mechanism every six months besides the annual meeting of the Vietnam-China joint committee on agricultural cooperation.

The same day, Nam had a working session with the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) which is responsible for supervising animal and plant quarantine and food safety.

During his talks with Deputy Customs Commissioner-General Zhang Jiwen, Nam hailed efforts made by both sides in opening the Vietnamese agricultural market, and affirmed that the Southeast Asian country always focuses on accelerating agro-forestry-fishery trade with China.

Vietnam is working to develop brand names for its agricultural products to ensure that more quality goods will be consumed in the Chinese market, he said, hoping that the GACC will create favourable conditions for more Vietnamese farm produce to enter the market.

The two sides reviewed the implementation of agreements on animal and plant quarantine, and seek measures to boost trade via border gates, ensuring mutual benefits of the Vietnamese and Chinese people.

They agreed to build a regular cooperative mechanism as well as support training and information exchanges between units of the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the GACC.Christian Michel, the British national accused in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland chopper scam, was extradited to India from UAE on Tuesday. He was brought in a private jet belonging to the UAE government from Dubai. The flight landed at the Delhi airport around 11:00 pm on Tuesday. He will be produced before a CBI special judge's court in New Delhi later today.

Christian Michel is the main accused in the VVIP chopper scam. He will be kept at the CBI headqaurters for tonight, where he is likely to be interrogated, suggest reports.

BJP Chief Amit Shah will hold a press conference regarding the arrest of the high-profile middleman at 10.50 am in Jaipur on Wednesday. The Indian government pursued the matter related to Christian Michel's extradition closely and worked with the UAE authorities to expedite the process.

Even as Christian Michel, 54, was extradited to India, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is still in Dubai. She was there to attend the 12th session of India-UAE Joint Commission meeting on Wednesday. The move to extradite Michel comes after the courts in Dubai said Michel could be extradited and upheld the lower court order, dismissing appeals filed by his defence lawyers.

Michel, who's a British national, has been accused by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) of receiving about Euro 30 million (approximately Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland to influence the deal in its favour. His involvement in the 12 VVIP helicopter deal surfaced in 2012 when he was accused of swinging the deal in favour of AgustaWestland and making illegal payment of kickback to the Indian authorities.

Initially, the investigation conducted by the Italian authorities indicted him for the offences of international bribery. After the CBI took up the case, he fled from India. Apart from Michel, the other two accused being probed by the agencies in the case are Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa.

An Interpol red corner notice (RCN) was notified against Christian Michel in November 2015 after the court had issued a non-bailable warrant against him. He was arrested by the UAE authorities in February 2017, following which the CBI filed chargesheet in the court in September 2017 against Christian Michel and 11 other suspects.

The CBI's request for his extradition was forwarded to the UAE authorities in March 2017.

India had scrapped 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers contract with Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland in January 2014 over the breach of contractual obligations and the charges of paying Rs 423 crore kickbacks. Former Air Force chief SP Tyagi was also arrested over the allegations of reducing the flying ceiling of the helicopter to put AgustaWestland in the race.Christian Michel, the British national accused in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland chopper scam, will be kept in a safe house and not a jail after he lands in India. He is being brought in a private jet, which belongs to the UAE government, from Dubai. He will soon be produced before a CBI special judge's court in New Delhi. He is expected to reach the Delhi airport by 11pm.

Reports say the Indian government pursued the matter related to Christian Michel's extradition closely and worked with the UAE authorities to expedite the process.

Even as Christian Michel, 54, is being extradited to India, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is still in Dubai. She was there to attend the 12th session of India-UAE Joint Commission meeting on Wednesday. The move to extradite Michel comes after the courts in Dubai said Michel could be extradited and upheld the lower court order, dismissing appeals filed by his defence lawyers.

Earlier, Christian Michel boarded the flight to India along with the Indian authorities who were in Dubai to complete the extradition process. Khaleej Times reported that Michel was taken to the Dubai International Airport and has boarded a flight to India.

Michel has been accused by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) of receiving about Euro 30 million (approximately Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland to influence the deal in its favour.

His involvement in the 12 VVIP helicopter deal surfaced in 2012 when he was accused of swinging the deal in favour of AgustaWestland and making illegal payment of kickback to the Indian authorities.

Initially, the investigation conducted by the Italian authorities indicted him for the offences of international bribery. After the CBI took up the case, he fled from India. Apart from Michel, the other two accused being probed by the agencies in the case are Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa.

An Interpol red corner notice (RCN) was notified against Christian Michel in November 2015 after the court had issued a non-bailable warrant against him. He was arrested by the UAE authorities in February 2017, following which the CBI filed chargesheet in the court in September 2017 against Christian Michel and 11 other suspects.

The CBI's request for his extradition was forwarded to the UAE authorities in March 2017.

India had scrapped 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers contract with Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland in January 2014 over the breach of contractual obligations and the charges of paying Rs 423 crore kickbacks. Former Air Force chief SP Tyagi was also arrested over the allegations of reducing the flying ceiling of the helicopter to put AgustaWestland in the race.The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet on Tuesday approved the appointment of AN Jha as the Finance Secretary of Ministry of Finance. Jha is currently serving as the Secretary in the Department of Expenditure.

The committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleared Jha's appointment to the post after incumbent Hasmukh Adhia, a 1981-batch Gujarat cadre officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), retired on November 30.

Ajay Narayan Jha, 59, is a 1982-batch IAS officer of Manipur Tripura cadre. An alumnus of St Stephens College from where he passed with first class in Graduation and post graduation in History, Jha is a recipient of World Bank scholarship to pursue Masters in Economic Policy Management from McGill University in Canada.

He is also an MPhil in public administration from Delhi University.

Former chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian said Hasmukh Adhia will be remembered for his critical role in implementing the GST (Goods and Servies Tax). "Today Dr. Hasmukh Adhia (@adhia03) retires from government. Not only was he a great colleague, history will & should remember his critical role-along with that of @arunjaitley & central & state tax officials-in implementing the transformational GST. Thanks & best wishes Hasmukhji," Tweeted Arvind.Driven to despair by being offered a meagre 20 paise per kilogram for his brinjal production, a farmer in Maharashtra destroyed the entire plantation on his land to save himself from incurring further losses. Rajendra Bawake, from Sakuri village in Rahata tehsil of Ahmednagar district, claimed he earned only Rs 65,000 after investing Rs 2 lakh and putting in all his energy to cultivate the brinjal crop.

Frustrated with the low income, the distraught farmer uprooted all brinjal plants from his field and threw them away on Sunday. "I had planted brinjal on two acres of land and laid pipes for drip irrigation. I used fertilisers, pesticides and modern mulching techniques to enhance the production. The total investment came to around Rs 2 lakh. In return, I earned only Rs 65,000," Bawake told PTI on Monday.

The cultivator said he now owes dues worth over Rs 35,000 to fertilisers and pesticides supplier. "I don't know how I am going to raise that money," he rued. Bawake claimed that when he tried to sell his produce at the wholesale markets in Nashik (Maharashtra) and Surat (Gujarat), he fetched merely 20 paise per kg.

"This frustrated me, so I decided to destroy the entire plantation to save myself from further loss," he said. As a routine practice, the cultivator had been selling his produce in cartons on a weekly basis. "But I never got better returns in the last three-four months and so, I decided to do away with the plantation," he said.

Bawake said he rears three cows at home and needs money to buy fodder for the cattle. "I had hopes from brinjal farming, but now I don't know how to take care of my cattle," he said.

Notably, an onion-grower from Nashik district, who had to sell his produce for little over Re 1 per kg and fetched only Rs 1,064 for 750 kg of the vegetable, sent his earnings to the prime minister last month to mark his protest.

Farmers from different parts of the country, including Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, had converged in New Delhi last Thursday in protest to press for their various demands, including debt relief and remunerative prices for their produce.

Several Social activists and political leaders had slammed the Union government on Friday, alleging it did not implement a "single major initiative" for farmers in the past four-and-a-half years and that demonetisation "worsened the agrarian distress" in the country.Guess what US sportswear brand Under Armour, UK's Dorothy Perkins and Italy's Replay have in common? Having tasted online success in India, all these foreign brands are now reportedly looking to set up brick-and-mortar outlets across the country.

Consider Under Armour, which has been selling on Amazon.in for the past two years and is now preparing to go solo with a fully-owned, single-brand venture. People in the know told The Economic Times that the Baltimore-based brand has hired former Adidas veteran Tushar Goculdas to spearhead its offline foray into India and the company plans to open 10-15 outlets in the next three years. The first outlet may open early next year.

Although Under Armour has risen to challenge established players such as Nike and Adidas in North America and is popular among youngsters in the US and Europe, it hit a rough patch in 2017. Betting more aggressively on India might help boost its falling sales figures. Research portal Statista predicts that India's clothing market will balloon to Rs 6 lakh crore by 2020.

Dutch apparel brand Scotch & Soda has already taken the lead in making the online to offline leap. After initially selling its products in the country through an exclusive deal with Flipkart's ecommerce platform Myntra, the brand decided to make its offline debut in 2016 by signing a long-term master franchise agreement with Reliance Brands, a part of Reliance Industries Group. As per the deal, Reliance Brands started setting up Scotch & Soda stores in India last year.

The idea to start out with an exclusively online presence makes sense when you factor in the challenges posed by the physical format, including rentals, logistics and scalability. In comparison, the online route provides a platform for labels to start out without risking much money. No wonder, many brands seek to open physical stores only after the web gives them a national identity.

"It's a good entry strategy to use for an untapped market like India where offline is too difficult while online gives you a foot in the door and it is also cost-effective," Harminder Sahni, founder of retail consultancy Wazir Advisors, told the daily. "Once you have created a pan-India demand for your products through online presence, then it's a good idea to open stores."

That is exactly what Replay is doing, following Scotch & Soda's lead. After a soft landing in the Indian market by selling through Myntra, it has also signed a deal with Reliance Brands. The Italian jeans brand plans to roll out its first standalone store in Mumbai early next year, and its India franchisee owner plans to follow it up with 20 outlets subsequently.

Not to be outdone, UK's popular fashion brand Dorothy Perkins is reportedly also eyeing brick-and-mortar stores, four years after it signed an exclusive deal to sell online on Jabong.

With PTI inputsFrance's Prime Minister met with opposition leaders on Monday as President Emmanuel Macron sought a way to defuse nationwide protests over high living costs that led to widespread rioting in Paris at the weekend and are hurting the economy.

The "yellow vest" revolt caught Macron unawares when it erupted on Nov. 17 and poses a formidable challenge to the 40-year-old as he tries to counter a plunge in popularity over his economic reforms, which are seen as favouring the wealthy.

Riot police were overrun on Saturday as protesters wrought havoc in Paris's fanciest neighbourhoods, torching dozens of cars, looting boutiques and smashing up luxury private homes and cafes in the worst disturbances the capital has seen since 1968.

The unrest is hitting the economy: hotel reservations are down, retailers are suffering, unsettling investors, and Total said some of its filling stations were running dry.

Tourism and transport stocks fell in an otherwise buoyant market.

Emerging from Prime Minister Edouard Philippe's office, opposition leader Laurent Wauquiez of the centre-right Les Republicains said the government failed to understand the depth of public anger.

"The only outcome from this meeting was word of a debate in parliament," Wauquiez told reporters. "What we need are gestures that appease, and these must be born out of the one decision every Frenchman is waiting for: scrapping (fuel) tax hikes."

SQUEEZE ON LIVING COSTS

The "yellow vest" movement, whose supporters cut across age, job profile and geographical region, began online as an impromptu rebellion against higher fuel prices but has morphed into a broader outpouring of anger over the squeeze that living costs are putting on middle-class household budgets.

The movement's members come principally from the hard-pressed middle class and blue-collar workers living outside the big cities, but it also has more radical fringe elements. It has no clear leadership, making talks all the more complicated for the government.

Their core demand is a freeze on further planned fuel tax increases - the next is due in January - and measures to bolster spending power. But they have also called for Macron to go, and many talk up the idea of revolution.

The government is struggling for a way to engage.

"Making a small gesture and then sweeping the problem under the carpet, just as has always been done for the last 30 years, does nothing to solve the deeper, structural problems," government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux told France Inter radio.

Public support for the "yellow vests" remains high, with seven in 10 people backing their protest, a Harris Interactive opinion poll conducted after Saturday's unrest suggested.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Macron says the fuel tax increases are part of his effort to combat climate change, wanting to persuade French drivers to exchange diesel-fuelled cars for less polluting models. He said on Saturday he would not deviate from his policy goals.

As governments from around the world began a two-week conference in Poland to try to pin down measures to avert the most damaging consequences of global warming, the protests highlighted how costly some of those actions are likely to be.

Christophe Chalencon, one of around eight semi-official spokespeople for the "yellow vests", told BFM TV he would not enter talks only to "negotiate over peanuts".

The hitherto uncompromising response of Macron, a former investment banker, has only reinforced a view among the hard-pressed middle-class and blue-collar workers that he is part of an urban elite contemptuous of their world.

The anti-establishment anger spurring the yellow vests on could spell trouble for Macron in next year's European elections. These are traditionally fertile ground for the far-right, led by Marine Le Pen, which already leads surveys of voting intentions.

Saturday's unrest was the worst in central Paris since a student uprising five decades ago. At times, riot police appeared overwhelmed. The Arc de Triomphe, a unifying national monument that houses the tomb of the unknown soldier, was defaced, and a bust of national symbol Marianne was smashed.04 Dec 2018, 9:32 PM

France fuel protests: President Macron looks for a way out of 'yellow vest' crisis

France's Prime Minister met with opposition leaders on Monday as President Emmanuel Macron sought a way to defuse nationwide protests over high living costs that led to widespread rioting in Paris over the weekend and are hurting the economy. The "yellow vest" revolt caught Macron unawares when it erupted on Nov. 17 and poses a formidable challenge to the 40-year-old as he tries to counter a plunge in popularity over his economic reforms, which are seen as favouring the wealthy. The unrest is hitting the economy: hotel reservations are down, retailers are suffering, unsettling investors, and Total said some of its filling stations were running dry.

WhatsApp to go 'dark' on both iOS and Android devices

Using WhatsApp at night will get easier on the eyes if Facebook owned messaging platform implements the 'Dark mode'. The rumours for such a mode have been doing rounds for a long time but the news has now been confirmed by WABetaInfo that the feature is under-development

and can come soon to all WhatsApp users. The dark mode has already found its way to Windows 10 PC's and notebooks. It is also available on Apple's iPhones with iOS 10 and its computers MacOS Mojave.

Jet Airways to stop free meals to most domestic economy class passengers

Jet Airways Ltd, India's biggest full-service carrier, will stop providing free meals to most domestic economy class passengers from January, in the debt-laden airline's latest move to cut costs and boost revenues. Passengers will, instead, have the option to buy meals on board, the airline said in a statement on Monday. Jet Airways has five categories of economy fares with different levels of benefits.

Hindustan Unilever to merge with GSK Consumer Healthcare

In one of the biggest deals across the consumer goods space, Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) on Monday said it will buy GlaxoSmithKline's India business, including the popular Horlicks, Boost and other brands, for around $3.8 billion. With this proposed strategic merger with GSK Consumer Healthcare India (GSK CH), HUL plans to expand its portfolio with great brands into a new category catering to the nutritional needs of consumers.

Farmer destroys brinjal plantation in despair after receiving 20 paisa per kg for produce

Driven to despair by being offered a meagre 20 paise per kilogram for his brinjal production, a farmer in Maharashtra destroyed the entire plantation on his land to save himself from incurring further losses. Rajendra Bawake, from Sakuri village in Rahata tehsil of Ahmednagar district, claimed he earned only Rs 65,000 after investing Rs 2 lakh and putting in all his energy to cultivate the brinjal crop. Frustrated with the low income, the distraught farmer uprooted all brinjal plants from his field and threw them away. The cultivator said he now owes dues worth over Rs 35,000 to fertilisers and pesticides supplier.

Delhi govt bars Bloomberg-backed NGO from tobacco-control work for failing to disclose funding

A small Indian non-profit funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies will not be allowed to carry out tobacco-control work in New Delhi after it failed to disclose its funding, according to a city government official and a memo seen by Reuters. Other foreign-funded organizations will need to seek prior approval in the future for anti-tobacco activities in the Indian capital, the official also said. The Delhi city government's decision comes amid similar moves by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's federal administration, which has since 2014 tightened surveillance of foreign-funded non-governmental organizations (NGOs), saying many of them work against India's national interests.

Modi making two 'Hindustans', one for Anil Ambani, another for farmers, says Rahul Gandhi

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi Monday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the issue of agrarian distress, saying he was making "two Hindustans" -- one for Anil Ambani and the other for farmers. He cited a media report which claimed that for 750 kg of onion, a farmer was given Rs 1040 in Maharashtra. "Modiji is making two Hindustans. One is the Hindustan for Anil Ambani -- who without doing anything, without making an airplane, will get the Rafale contract worth Rs 30,000 crore from Modiji. "The second is the Hindustan for farmers -- whose 750 kg of onion grown after four months of toil will get only Rs 1040 from Modiji," the Congress president tweeted.

Quora says 100 million users' email address, password, other data hit by security breach

About 100 million users of Quora were affected by unauthorized access to one of its systems by a "malicious third party," the knowledge-sharing website said on Monday. Account information, including name, email address, encrypted password and data imported from linked networks when authorized by users may have been compromised, it said. The company said it is logging out all Quora users who may have been affected to prevent further damage.Jet Airways Ltd, India's biggest full-service carrier, will stop providing free meals to most domestic economy class passengers from January, in the debt-laden airline's latest move to cut costs and boost revenues.

Passengers will, instead, have the option to buy meals on board, the airline said in a statement on Monday.

"(The move) reflects the fast-evolving nature of Indian aviation, where an increasing number of guests want the freedom and flexibility to make their own travel choices," Jet said.

Rising price warfare in India has hurt Jet which competes with no-frills, low-cost carriers like InterGlobe Aviation Ltd's IndiGo and SpiceJet Ltd.

Jet Airways has five categories of economy fares with different levels of benefits.

It had already started phasing out free meals on the two lowest categories of economy fares. And it will now stop providing meals for two more categories from Jan. 7.

The changes will not affect business class passengers in India nor all classes on international flights.

Jet Airways, which owes money to vendors and employees, is struggling to stay afloat and is seeking funds by raising equity and selling a stake in its loyalty programme. The airline is also cutting flights on some routes and increasing frequencies on others to boost profit.

The survival of 25-year-old Jet Airways, founded by entrepreneur Naresh Goyal, is crucial for the companies from which it leases over 100 of its fleet of 124 planes. The airline also has 225 Boeing Co 737 MAX jets on order.After a week-long drama and several agitated customers, HDFC Bank has pulled down its new mobile banking app. The Bank has already received a lot of flak for not being able to resolve the issue, with furious customers venting their anger out on Twitter. HDFC Bank has now been forced to restore its old mobile app on both Google's Playstore and Apple's App Store.

Earlier on 27th November at its annual Digital Innovation Summit, HDFC Bank had rolled out its updated banking app which showed-off several new features including biometric access. However, the app became inaccessible soon after the update for as many as 6.5 lakh customers of the bank. Several customers ranted on social media, including Flipkart Co-founder, Sachin Bansal who tweeted "In this day and age, how can the largest private bank of India do this!"

In this day and age, how can the largest private bank of India do this?! https://t.co/VUfmdAMJDN - Sachin Bansal (@_sachinbansal) December 2, 2018

Post the update, several customers of HDFC Bank were unable to carry out mobile banking operations. In its apology, HDFC Bank requested its users who had deleted the older app to use NetBanking, PayZapp, PhoneBanking and Missed-Call Banking.

HDFC Bank is now making the old mobile banking app available for download from 5 pm today i.e. December 4.

"We are restoring the old Mobilebanking app in the App Store and Playstore. This is to prevent inconvenience to customers. It will be available to download and use by 5 pm on December 4. Customers who are already using the old app can continue to do so without having to download it afresh", HDFC Bank said in a statement on Twitter.

The exact details of the problems with the HDFC Bank app are still unknown. The initial error messages that customers saw suggest that "high traffic" on the banks servers had caused the app to crash.

Edited By: Udit Verma[December 03, 2018] Petsky Prunier Advises GlynnDevins on its Investment from CIP Capital Petsky Prunier is pleased to announce it has advised GlynnDevins, Inc., the leading provider of tech-enabled and data-driven marketing solutions to senior living communities, on its investment from CIP Capital. GlynnDevins was previously a portfolio company of Falfurrias Capital. Founded in 1986, GlynnDevins helps senior living communities achieve occupancy and other key targets through its broad solution offering that includes market research, brand and communications management, lead generation and conversion strategies, marketing content development and distribution, sales enablement and training, and community engagement tools. The company is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, and has three additional locations in Virginia and North Carolina. In partnership with management, CIP Capital plans to significantly enhance GlynnDevins' ability to collect, synthesize, and utilize data across its solutions, as well as expand the company's digital marketing capabilities. Through greater and more efficient use of data, GlynnDevins will enable clients to adopt highly sophisticated and targeted omni-channel marketing campaigns to maximize returns on their marketing spend. CIP Capital is exclusively focused on investing in growh-oriented, middle-market companies across the Business Information and Tech-Enabled Services sectors in North America. The fund seeks to invest in proven, profitable businesses that provide their customer bases with critical information, data-driven insights, and value-added outsourced services. Founded in 2010, CIP Capital targets investments in sectors including business services, marketing services, and knowledge services.

Petsky Prunier, with a team led by Sanjay Chadda, Christopher French, Dylan Kearns, and Edin Trto, served as the exclusive financial advisor to GlynnDevins and Falfurrias Capital. "We were incredibly impressed by Petsky Prunier's fluency in the senior market segment of the healthcare industries and marketing services in general. Their experience enabled us to get the process off the ground quickly, and they crafted a compelling positioning strategy that highlighted key tailwinds and the unique aspects of GlynnDevins that support our continued leadership in the senior living market. The process generated an incredible amount of interest, and Petsky Prunier fostered competitive tension until the very end, which enabled us to complete a transaction quickly and focus on our next chapter of growth. We couldn't have done this without them and look forward to working with them again in the future."

Sue McClure, President & CEO

GlynnDevins "We had our choice of advisors - in the end, we hired the best firm for our portfolio company."

Ed McMahan, Managing Partner

Falfurrias Capital About Petsky Prunier LLC Petsky Prunier is one of the leading investment banks to the technology, media, marketing, information, e-commerce, and healthcare industries. Our firm's merger and acquisition and private placement advisory services reflect a unique blend of product specialization and industry expertise. Together with strategic consulting firm Winterberry Group, a Petsky Prunier company, our organization represents one of the largest industry-specific advisors providing strategic and transactional services. We offer global reach supplemented through our partnerships in China and India. Securities transactions are processed through Petsky Prunier Securities LLC, a member of FINRA, and an affiliated entity. For more information, visit www.petskyprunier.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181203005953/en/

[ Back To SIP Trunking Home's Homepage ]Tables have turned and bulls are back in business for Reliance Communications (RCom) after its real estate arm issued a Rs 1,400 crore corporate guarantee to the telecom department (DoT), paving the way for completion of the Anil Ambani-led telecom company's spectrum sale to older brother Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio Infocomm.

Continuing its momentum for the fourth straight session, shares of RCom climbed 2.89 per cent to close at Rs 17.10 apiece on the Bombay Stock Exchange, after opening higher at Rs 17.00 against a previous closing price of Rs 16.62. During the day's trade, scrip touched an intra-day high and low of Rs 18.60 and Rs 16.90, respectively.

Stocks of the telecom company settled trade at Rs 17.00, up 2.41 per cent, on the National Stock Exchange.

The catalyst behind the recent share price spike was the clearance of legal hurdle to complete spectrum trading transaction to Mukesh Ambani-led telecom company, Reliance Jio.

In the last four trading sessions, Reliance Communications shares had surged over 30 per cent after its subsidiary submitted corporate guarantee to Department of Telecommunications.

Earlier on November 30, the Supreme Court upheld the earlier order of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) and ordered the Department of Telecommunications to grant a No-Objection to Reliance Communications for spectrum trading within seven days. A two-judge bench of the SC headed by justice Rohinton F Nariman allowed RCom to furnish corporate guarantee worth Rs 1,400 crore via its sister firm Reliance Realty to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

RCom had announced exit from wireless business last year due to lack of profitability. The company has signed definitive binding agreements with Reliance Jio Infocomm for sale of wireless spectrum, tower, fiber and Media Convergence Node (MCN) assets.

The company, which intends to utilise the proceeds of the monetisation of this cash deal solely for pre-payment of debt to its lenders, expects the transactions to close in a phased manner between January and March 2018, subject to lenders' and other applicable approvals.

Edited by Chitranjan KumarLess than 14 months after homegrown cab aggregator Ola raised $1.1 billion in fresh funds from SoftBank Group Corp, and other investors, the Japanese conglomerate has reportedly offered to plough in another $1 billion. But the start-up is not exactly jumping at the opportunity keeping the shareholding structure in mind.

People in the know told The Economic Times that SoftBank's founder and CEO Masayoshi Son and Ola's co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal have "met multiple times" recently but the Bengaluru-based company wants to avoid the "imminent risk" of accepting such a big investment. After all, SoftBank already owns about a 26% stake in Ola at present.

"The possibility of giving SoftBank another 10-15% stake would be the reason why Aggarwal may not accept the offer in its current form," a source told the daily. In 2016, too, he had refused a $1-billion offer from SoftBank because he did not want to cede control to the group.

Significantly, the world's largest technology investor has made no bones about wanting to increase its ownership in the ride-hailing company. Last year, SoftBank had attempted to buy additional stake from Tiger Global, one of Ola's earliest backers, but the discussions had taken place without Aggarwal's consent. Hence, according to the daily, he has been adding allies to the company board ever since, along with proactively shoring up his rights to safeguard the company from a possible sale or merger.

But that's not to say that SoftBank's offer is being rejected outright. According to sources, Aggarwal may consider a smaller amount from the Japanese investor, or bring in other investors, too, for the new funding round. Ola could certainly do with more capital to bankroll its plans to aggressively grow its food delivery business, Foodpanda, as growth in the ride-hailing industry is slowing.

The biggies in the ride-hailing space, Ola and Uber, posted 20% growth on average in 2018 to 3.5 million rides across all segments, including taxis, autorickshaws, and shared cabs. But while they have been steadily increasing their absolute number of daily rides in the past two years, their growth has been sharply slowing down. According to the daily, in 2016, the duo had collectively posted a 90% growth to 1.9 million rides a day, but last year growth slowed to 57% to 2.8 million rides. Supply constraints courtesy falling driver incomes - which has resulted in frequent strikes by drivers - has made matters worse for the sector.

This has pushed both companies to expand into new areas, even as they strive to become profitable in the taxi aggregation business. Ola, for one, is looking to leverage its distribution platform in adjacent categories where the supply and demand requirements are similar to the taxi aggregation business. Like pharma retail, a high frequency category that boasts healthy margins even after discounting. In fact, Ola is reportedly close to finalising an investment in the fast-growing e-pharmacy sector apart from investing more funds in pushing Foodpanda, which it acquired last December.

To this end, Ola has already ensured funding from Flipkart cofounder Sachin Bansal and existing backer Steadview Capital. These infusions will total up to around $200-250 million, the daily claimed. Singapore's sovereign wealth fund Temasek is also likely to infuse primary capital in the company as part of the ongoing financing round.

The entry of Temasek, which has aligned its voting rights with Ola's founders, and Bansal will help Aggarwal protect his turf since they will together hold a 7-8% stake in OIa. Then there's Yuri Milner's DST Global, which reportedly owns about 6% stake, and had given its voting rights to Ola founders at the time of the investment in 2015. The start-up's cofounders, meanwhile, collectively own 10-11%, which means that Aggarwal stands to control about 25% voting rights.

"Because of the increase in voting power Aggarwal is likely to be more open to raising more capital from SoftBank than before," an investor in the company told the daily. After all, having an over 25-26% stake would allow Aggarwal to block special resolutions proposed by shareholders, including corporate actions like mergers & acquisitions.Ryanair on Tuesday announced it had reached a framework agreement with German pilot union VC on wages and benefits in a breakthrough in its efforts to bring a year-old staff revolt to an end.

VC was responsible for Ryanair's first ever pilot strike in December last year.

Ryanair, which has faced a series of strikes across Europe this year, has said it hopes to come to agreements with unions in its main markets before the end of March.

The four-year deal includes agreements on pay, pension, pilot allowances and annual leave and will be fleshed out in detailed documents to be signed by the end of February, Europe's biggest low cost airline said.

"While it is not a full CLA (collective labor agreement) yet, this is clear progress by Ryanair and the VC union, which has been one of the more troublesome unions to date," Goodbody airlines analyst Mark Simpson said in a note.

"Given the progress it looks as it fears over a German strike at Christmas are now unlikely," he said.

Ryanair shares were up 1.3% at 11.67 euros at 0810 GMT. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ieEuropean Union finance ministers failed to agree a tax on digital revenues on Thursday, despite a last minute Franco-German plan to salvage the proposal by narrowing its focus to firms like Google and Facebook .

The European Union's executive arm proposed a 3% tax on big digital firms' online revenues in March, alleging they funnelled profit through states with the lowest tax rates.

The tax requires the support of all 28 EU states, including small, low-tax countries like Ireland which have benefited by allowing multinationals to book profits there on digital sales to customers elsewhere in the European Union.

The setback is a blow to French President Emmanuel Macron, as his government had invested considerable political capital in the tax. It is also seen in Paris as a useful example of joint European action before EU parliament elections next year.

In the original European Commission proposal, the tax was intended to be a temporary "quick fix" until a broader solution could be found among OECD members.

But this was opposed by Ireland and some Nordic countries, leading French and German finance ministers to focus solely on online advertising revenues instead.

While this met with misgivings and outright opposition from at least four other ministers at a meeting in Brussels, they agreed to keep talking, Austrian Finance Minister Hartwig Loeger, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said.

A broader turnover tax on firms with significant digital revenues in Europe would have hit companies such as Apple and Amazon harder, but the Franco-German proposal would not cover data sales and online marketplaces.

"I continue to have strong principled concerns about this policy direction," Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe told his EU counterparts in a debate on the tax.

Companies with big online advertising operations like Google and Facebook would be most affected by the Franco-German proposal as they make up the majority of the market in Europe.

Under this proposal, the tax would not come into force until January, 2021 and only if no international solution has been found. Paris and Berlin also proposed that it expire by 2025 in a move aimed at appeasing concerns that it may become permanent.

The Austrian presidency has been trying to reach a deal on the tax by the end of the year, while the Franco-German proposal calls for a deal by March.

"Don't expect us to solve the challenge of a generation in a couple weeks or months," French Finance Minister Le Maire said, adding the Franco-German proposal could still yield a deal.

German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said tax receipts generate by the proposed Franco-German tax would be small, noting a similar tax planned by Britain was expected to raise around 500 million pounds. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ieForeign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang's Regular Press Conference on December 4, 2018

2018/12/04

At the invitation of State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Ri Yong-ho will visit China from December 6 to 8.

Q: President Xi Jinping just concluded his state visit to Panama during which the two sides signed a raft of cooperation documents. Could you offer more information on the outcomes of this visit? How do you comment on the current China-Panama relations?

A: President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to Panama from December 2 to 3, during which President Xi Jinping held talks with Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela and met with President Yanibel Abrego of the Panamanian National Assembly. The two sides had an in-depth exchange of views on bilateral relations and reached a wide range of consensus. The visit has achieved positive and fruitful outcomes.

The two sides spoke highly of the strong momentum enjoyed by the development of bilateral cooperation in various fields since the establishment of diplomatic ties, and reaffirmed that the one-China principle is a consensus shared by the international community and establishing diplomatic relations is a right choice which has brought tangible benefits to the two peoples. The two heads of state agreed that development should be people-centered, which will guide bilateral cooperation to realize common development and enhance people's well-being.

The two sides agreed to further synergize the National Logistics Strategy of Panama 2030 and the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, boost cooperation in such areas as finance, tourism, logistics and infrastructure construction, and effectively implement such key projects as railway, education and health care. China will make sure that the Panama Canal will be of greater effectiveness in China's deeper engagement in global trade. Panama is willing to fully leverage its advantages in geographic location and logistics, and become the gateway and bond between China and the Central and Latin America.

The two sides agreed to champion free trade, support the multilateral trading system, and commit themselves to reaching a comprehensive and mutually beneficial free trade agreement so as to lift bilateral trade cooperation to higher levels and usher in a new chapter for economic and trade relations between Latin America and Asia. China welcomes more Panamanian imports such as marine food products, meat and pineapples, and Panama welcomes the investment of Chinese enterprises and their setting-up of branches in Panama.

The two sides agreed to abide by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, the norms of international law and the principle of non-interference in domestic affairs. China respects Panama's sovereignty over the Panama Canal and Panama supports China's peaceful unification cause. The two sides also called for the building of a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect, equality, fairness and win-win cooperation as well as a community with a shared future for mankind.

Since the two countries established diplomatic ties in June 2017, bilateral relations have been growing with a strong momentum, with all-around cooperation yielding fruitful outcomes. China and Panama will work together and take the opportunity of President Xi's visit to elevate bilateral mutually beneficial cooperation to a new level, thus delivering benefits to the two countries and peoples and contributing to peace and development of the region and the whole world.

Q: According to reports, senior US officials including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White house Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow yesterday disclosed more details about the specific pledges they say China has offered on China-US trade issues. Can you confirm the remarks made by the US side? Can you give us relevant details?

A: Yesterday, I took many similar questions. As to the specifics, I may still refer you to the competent authority.

What I can tell you is that during the China-US summit on December 1, the two sides reached consensus and agreed to stop levying additional tariffs. The working teams from the two countries will follow the consensus reached by the two heads of state to step up consultations in the direction of lifting all additional tariffs, strive to reach a mutually beneficial agreement and endeavor to bring the China-US economic and trade relations back to the normal track as soon as possible.

Q: What are you expectations for DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho's upcoming visit to China? Will the two sides discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula?

A: During Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho's visit to China, the Chinese leadership will meet with him. State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will have an in-depth exchange of views with him on China-DPRK relations, the situation on the Korean Peninsula and other issues of mutual interest. We believe that Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho's visit will play a positive role in further implementing the consensus reached by the two top leaders, promoting the growth of China-DPRK ties and enhancing the communication and cooperation on the Korean Peninsula issue and other issues.

Q: The National Public Radio of the US in a recent report referenced a working paper by the Aid Data team at the College of William & Mary. This paper analyzed satellite images of the global distribution of night lights and found that China's infrastructure projects have brought more lights to the places where they're built, thus "lighting up" the development prospect of the region. It also said that China's infrastructure projects in developing countries, especially in Africa, have greatly boosted local economic growth. What is your comment?

A: You know that we usually do not directly comment in specifics on the viewpoints and reports by media, think tanks, experts and scholars.

To say something in principle, of course we welcome these objective and unbiased reports and comments made by media and research institutions on cooperation between China and Africa as well as between China and developing countries.

I want to point out that more and more data and evidence have shown that such mutually beneficial cooperation between China and the developing countries including those in Africa has provided a strong boost and made significant contributions to local economic and social development. The China-Africa cooperation outcomes have won the unanimous approval of African governments and acclaim from African people.

China and African countries will work together to advance the implementation of the eight major initiatives announced by President Xi Jinping at the FOCAC Beijing Summit. China also stands ready to make more efforts with other cooperation partners worldwide to advance Africa's cause for peace and development.

Q: According to a press release by the Pakistani Foreign Ministry on November 3, US President Donald Trump addressed a letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan, in which he stated that he has sought Pakistan's support and facilitation in negotiating a settlement to the Afghan issue and would like to improve the US-Pakistan relations. He stressed that Pakistan and the US should explore opportunities to work together and renew partnership. What is your comment?

A: We have noted the relevant development and welcome this positive interaction between Pakistan and the US. The sound development of Pakistan-US relations will contribute to the international counter-terrorism endeavor, an early realization of reconciliation and reconstruction in Afghanistan, and regional peace and stability.

China welcomes the improving Pakistan-US ties and supports the two countries in conducting equal-footed and mutually beneficial cooperation, enhancing communication and cooperation on the Afghan issue, and making joint efforts to promote peace and development in Afghanistan and the region.

Q: With regard to China-US trade issues, today, the US side confirmed that US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will be the representative of the US working team. What is your comment?

A: The US side designating the representative of their working team is their own business.

Journalist: Mr. Lighthizer takes a hard-line position on China.

Geng Shuang: The working teams from China and the US will follow the consensus reached by the two heads of state to step up consultations and strive to reach a mutually beneficial agreement at an early date.

Q: Yesterday, US President Trump tweeted that he will start talking about "a meaningful halt to what has become a major and uncontrollable arms race" with the Chinese and Russian leaders. What is your comment?

A: Peace and development are the themes of the times. China is committed to the path of peaceful development and pursues a national defense policy which is defensive in nature. China has never taken part in arms race of any kind or posed threat to any country.

Q: During DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho's visit to China, will the two sides discuss President Xi Jinping's visit to the DPRK?

A: I have no information to offer to you at this point.The gravity of the existential threat we face from Islamic Jihad is truly of epic proportions. It is essentially a battle pitting free-civilized man against a totalitarian barbarian. What is at stake is the struggle for our very soul - namely who we are and what we represent. The lives that were sacrificed for individual rights and freedoms that we've come to cherish are being chiseled away from right under our noses by the stealth jihadists. And many of us are in denial and totally clueless.



The left's appeasement and pandering to evil is nothing new. What makes their utopian delusions so infuriating and unpardonable is that it is not only they who will have to pay the consequences, and deservedly, so, they are thwarting and undermining our best efforts at resistance and are thus dragging us down in the process as well.







By Peter Lancz,, the head of the Raoul Wallenberg World Campaign Against Racism.December 1, 2018 - Ottawa, ON - Department of Justice Canada

The Government of Canada is committed to a fair, responsive and effective criminal justice system that protects Canadians, holds offenders to account, supports vulnerable people, and respects the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Today, on the 30th anniversary of World AIDS Day, the Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, announced that she will issue a directive related to the prosecution of HIV non-disclosure cases under the federal jurisdiction of the Public Prosecution Service of Canada.

In issuing the Directive, the Government of Canada recognizes the over-criminalization of HIV non-disclosure discourages many individuals from being tested and seeking treatment, and further stigmatizes those living with HIV or AIDS.

This Directive is a real step toward ensuring an appropriate and evidence-based criminal justice system response to cases of HIV non-disclosure. In so doing, it will harmonize federal prosecutorial practices with the scientific evidence on risks of sexual transmission of HIV while recognizing that non-disclosure of HIV is first and foremost a public health matter.

On December 1, 2016, Minister Wilson-Raybould committed to working with her provincial and territorial counterparts, affected communities, and medical professionals to examine the criminal justice systems response to non-disclosure of HIV status. A year later, on December 1, 2017, the Department of Justice issued its report, The Criminal Justice System's Response to Non-Disclosure of HIV. The Directive will draw upon the recommendations made concerning prosecutorial discretion. It will provide guidance to federal prosecutors in the three territories, ensuring coherent and consistent prosecution practices.

In its 2012 Mabior decision, the Supreme Court of Canada made it clear that persons living with HIV must disclose their HIV status prior to engaging in sexual activity that poses a realistic possibility of transmission; and the most recent scientific evidence on the risks of sexual transmission of HIV should inform this test.

The Directive to be issued by the Attorney General of Canada will reflect the most recent scientific evidence related to the risks of sexual transmission of HIV, as reviewed by the Public Health Agency of Canada, as well as the applicable criminal law as clarified by the Supreme Court of Canada. The Directive will state that, in HIV non-disclosure cases, the Director:

shall not prosecute where the person living with HIV has maintained a suppressed viral load (i.e. under 200 copies of the virus per millilitre of blood) because there is no realistic possibility of transmission;

shall generally not prosecute where the person has not maintained a suppressed viral load but used condoms or engaged only in oral sex or was taking treatment as prescribed unless other risk factors are present, because there is likely no realistic possibility of transmission in such cases;

shall prosecute using non-sexual criminal offences instead of sexual offences where this would better align with the individuals situation, such as cases where the individuals conduct was less blameworthy; and

must take into account whether a person living with HIV has sought or received services from public health authorities, in order to determine whether it is in the public interest to pursue criminal charges.

The criminal law will continue to apply to persons living with HIV if they do not disclose, or misrepresent, their HIV status before sexual activity that poses a realistic possibility of HIV transmission.

The Director of Public Prosecutions Act requires that directives from the Attorney General of Canada be published in the Canada Gazette. The Directive will take effect upon publication in Part I of the Canada Gazette on Saturday, December 8, 2018.Table of Contents

1.0 Introduction

This guide explains how you can apply for a short-term work permit under the International Mobility Program before submitting an application for permanent residence under the Start-Up Visa (SUV) Program. Only foreign nationals who have received a Commitment Certificate and Letter of Support issued by a designated entity may be considered for a short-term work permit. The designated entity must support the request for a work permit. If you meet the eligibility requirements, you can apply for a work permit. You do not need to apply for permanent residence first.

Note: Your Commitment Certificate is valid for six months from the day it is issued. You must submit your application for permanent residence before it expires, whether you apply for a work permit or not.

2.0 Eligibility requirements

To be eligible for a work permit, you must: plan to live in a province or territory other than Quebec

pay the employer compliance fee

have received a Commitment Certificate and a Letter of Support from a designated entity indicating that you are essential and there are urgent business reasons for your early entry to Canada (i.e. section 8.0 of the Commitment Certificate is completed) and

have sufficient funds to meet the low income cut off for your family for 52 weeks Before submitting an application for a work permit, you must submit your self-employed offer of employment, as well as pay the $230 employer compliance fee.

3.0 Submit your offer of employment and pay the employer compliance fee

If your business has registered for a Canada Revenue Agency business number, follow the instructions in section 4.0. If your business has not yet registered for a Canada Revenue Agency business number, follow the instructions in section 5.0.

4.0 Submit your offer of employment and pay the fee through the Employer Portal

If your business has registered for a Canada Revenue Agency business number, you must use the online Employer Portal to submit your offer of employment and pay the employer compliance fee. To do this, you must first enrol in the Employer Portal. For instructions on how to enrol, see the Employer Portal Enrolment Guide. After you have successfully enrolled in the Employer Portal, you can log in using your secure credential user ID and password (using a Sign-In Partner or GCKey). For more information on using the Employer Portal, please read the Employer Portal User Guide.

4.1 Create an offer of employment

When you log into your account, you will see the Employer Portal welcome page. Under What would you like to do today? select Submit an offer of employment.

You will then be directed to the offer of employment application page.

There are four forms you must complete: Business information

Foreign worker

Job details

Wage and benefits The business information form will only need to be filled out when you create your first offer of employment, unless the information changes. Beside each form name youll see a status symbol that shows if the form is not started, in progress, or complete.

4.1.1 Business information form

Business: The first three fields will be pre-populated with the information you entered when you enrolled in the Employer Portal. These fields cannot be modified.

The first three fields will be pre-populated with the information you entered when you enrolled in the Employer Portal. These fields cannot be modified. Enter the business telephone number where indicated and select  Next .

. Business address: This should be the physical address and mailing address (if applicable) of the main business location.

This should be the physical address and mailing address (if applicable) of the main business location. Type of business: Select No

Select No Business details: Complete these fields to the best of your knowledge. For example, choose less than 100 employees and gross income as less than $30,000.

Complete these fields to the best of your knowledge. For example, choose less than 100 employees and gross income as less than $30,000. Business primary contact information: Enter the contact information of the person who will be the main contact for the business. When you are done completing the form, validate the information, save and exit.

4.1.2 Foreign worker form

Enter your personal information exactly as it appears in your passport. This includes spelling, hyphens, accents, spaces and capitalization. When you are done completing the form, validate the information, save and exit.

4.1.3 Job details form

The first three fields will be pre-populated with the information you entered when you enrolled in the Employer Portal. LMIA exemption title: Select  Significant benefit  R205(a).

Select   R205(a). LMIA exemption code: This field will be automatically populated.

This field will be automatically populated. Explanation of how the job meets the requirements of the exemption being requested: Explain that you are an entrepreneur seeking to establish or operate your business in Canada and that you are essential to the start-up of your business as per section 8.0 of the Commitment Certificate.

Explain that you are an entrepreneur seeking to establish or operate your business in Canada and that you are essential to the start-up of your business as per section 8.0 of the Commitment Certificate. Job title: Indicate  Start-Up Visa Entrepreneur .

Indicate  . NOC Code: NOC 8888

NOC 8888 Physical job location: The physical job location is the address where you will be working.

The physical job location is the address where you will be working. Main duties of the job: Provide a brief description of the work you will be performing. Examples could include: setting up your business, registering for all permits, getting approvals as required.

Provide a brief description of the work you will be performing. Examples could include: Fee payment question: Select  Yes, I will be paying the employer compliance fee for this offer .

Select  . Enter the remaining details for the job and select  Next .

. Employer primary contact information: Enter the contact information of the person who will provide information about the offer of employment. This person can be the same or different from the business primary contact information. After completing the form, validate the information, save and exit.

4.1.4 Wage and benefits form

To complete this form, select the Type of wage as hourly from the drop-down list and input 0 in the following five boxes. In the box Alternate compensation scheme, indicate that you are a self-employed entrepreneur, and demonstrate that you have the minimum amount of funds to support yourself and any accompanying family members (if applicable) for 52 weeks. Indicate the amount of settlement funds available and what documents you can provide as evidence. Benefits: Leave this section blank. After completing the form, validate the information, save and exit.

Note: Make sure the information in these forms is accurate. Once you submit the offer, you will not be able to change it. If you make a mistake or enter incorrect information, you may have to withdraw the offer and start over with a new one.

4.2 Submit your offer of employment

When the status of all four forms shows complete, you can submit the offer of employment: On the LMIA-exempt Offer of employment page, select Continue. You will be directed to Your document checklist. Since you indicated Yes, I will be paying the employer compliance fee for this offer, you will not be required to upload any documents. Select Next. On the screen Your Declaration and Electronic Signature: read the employer declaration

select  I agree 

 type your name in the signature panel and answer the Security Question Click Sign.

4.3 Pay the employer compliance fee

You are required to pay the $230 employer compliance fee. After electronically signing your offer of employment: Select Transmit and Pay. Review the fees summary page and select Transmit and pay. You will be directed to the Receiver Generals online payment website. Complete the online payment form. Click Process Transaction. Review and print the transaction receipt. You will need to provide a copy of this receipt with your work permit application if you will be applying by paper. Select Return. You will be redirected back to the Employer Portal. Select Exit questionnaire to return to the portal Welcome page. Review Employment queue to retrieve the offer of employment number.

5.0 Submit your offer of employment and pay the fee outside of the Employer Portal

If your business has not registered for a Canada Revenue Agency business number, you will not be able to use the Employer Portal. Instead, email the Employer Portal and indicate that you are an entrepreneur. In your email, include your: full name

date of birth

citizenship

country of birth and

gender If your email request is approved, you will get an email back with: the Offer of Employment to a Foreign National Exempt from a Labour Market Impact Assessment (IMM 5802) form

instructions on where to return the completed form and

instructions on how to pay your employer compliance fee online

Note: You must pay your fee before completing the form. Your fee payment receipt number must be entered in Box 3 on the form.

5.1 Pay the employer compliance fee online (only if using IMM 5802)

You can pay your employer compliance fee using our Pay your fees tool.

Select the country where you are paying from. Select Employer compliance for the fee type (at the bottom of the list). Click on Get payment instructions. Read the instructions under Pay online and apply on paper. Click on Pay my fees online.

You will be directed to a new Online Payment screen.

Select Continue. Agree to the Terms and Conditions and select Continue once again. Select Immigration. Select Temporary Residence. From the list of Immigration fees, enter 1 under Number of Applications next to Compliance fee (employer) - $230.00. Click on Submit. Click on Login and pay.

To pay online, you will need to log into your account. If you do not have an account, click on Register. After you complete the three step registration process, you can log in with your email address and password and make your payment. After your payment is processed, take note of your fee receipt number, as you will need to include this on the IMM 5802.

5.2 Completing the IMM 5802

When completing the Offer of Employment to Foreign National Exempt from a Labour Market Impact Assessment (IMM 5802), refer to the instructions below for certain fields: Box 2 - Canada Revenue Agency business number (first 9 digits). Leave blank.

- Canada Revenue Agency business number (first 9 digits). Box 4 and 5  Business operating name and business legal name. If you do not have a business name yet, put New business and name of entrepreneur.

 Business operating name and business legal name. Box 17 and 24  Job title Enter Start-Up Visa Entrepreneur.

 Job title Box 21  Title of LMIA exemption being requested. Select Significant Benefit  R205(a)  (Box 22 will populate automatically).

 Title of LMIA exemption being requested. Box 23  Explanation of how the job meets the requirements of the exemption being requested. Explain that you are an entrepreneur seeking to establish or operate your business in Canada and that you are essential to the start-up of your business as per section 8.0 of the Commitment Certificate.

 Explanation of how the job meets the requirements of the exemption being requested. Box 25  National Occupation Classification (NOC) code. Input NOC 8888.

 National Occupation Classification (NOC) code. Box 29  Main duties of the job. Provide a brief description of the work you will be performing. Examples could include: setting up your business registering for all permits getting approvals as required

 Main duties of the job. Box 33  Wage in Canadian dollars and number of work hours. Leave blank.

 Wage in Canadian dollars and number of work hours. Box 34  Alternate compensation scheme (You must complete this section). Indicate that you are a self-employed entrepreneur, and show that you have the minimum amount of funds required to support yourself and any accompanying dependants for a minimum of 52 weeks. Indicate the amount of settlement funds available and what documents you can provide as evidence.

 Alternate compensation scheme Box 36  Benefits. Not required.

 Benefits. Declaration of Employer Complete this section and sign as the employer.



Important: Do not use the Submit by Email button. Instead, save the form as a PDF file and attach it to an email as per the instructions you received with your authorization email.

6.0 Apply for your work permit

You may apply for a work permit online or on paper. In most cases, you have to submit your application from outside Canada. However, you may be eligible to apply from inside Canada. Make sure you meet the eligibility requirements depending on where you plan to apply for your work permit.

Note: Do not submit your applications for a work permit and permanent residence together in the same package. These applications must be sent to different offices for processing.

6.1 Get your documents ready Before you apply online or on paper, gather your documents: your Letter of Support from a designated entity, which shows that youre essential and that you need a work permit

proof that you have enough money to support yourself and your family members for a 52-week period

your offer of employment number (this number is generated after you submit your offer of employment online through the Employer Portal and can be found in the Employment queue) or your completed IMM 5802 and your payment receipt for the employer compliance fee

your completed IMM 5802 and your payment receipt for the employer compliance fee your medical examination results, if needed

a valid police certificate, if needed

Do you want faster processing? If you apply online and include all the documents above, your work permit will be processed faster. If you apply on paper, we cant guarantee youll have faster processing.

6.2 Proof of funds To be eligible for a work permit, you must have enough money to meet the low income cut off (LICO) for your family size for 52 weeks. Make sure that you clearly show that you meet the minimum amount listed in the LICO table below. The funds must also be available and transferable, and not limited by debts or other obligations. This is a list of what we accept as proof of funds: cash

documents that show property or capital payable to you, such as: stocks bonds debentures treasury bills

documents that guarantee payment of a set amount of money, which are payable to you, such as: banker's drafts cheques travellers cheques money orders)



Size of family unit Minimum necessary income 1 person $25,338 2 persons $31,544 3 persons $38,780 4 persons $47,084 5 persons $53,402 6 persons $60,228 7 persons $67,055 More than 7 persons, for each additional person, add $6,827

Disclosure of funds If you are bringing more than CAN $10,000 across the Canadian border, you must tell a Canadian official when you arrive. If you do not, you may be fined, and your funds could be taken away. 6.3 Apply online To apply online, you must have access to a scanner or camera to create electronic copies of your documents for uploading and have a valid credit card for payment. Determine your eligibility by answering some questions. To properly identify you as a future applicant under the SUV program, make sure that you answer the following questions exactly as shown below.

Question: What would you like to do in Canada? Answer: Work

What would you like to do in Canada? Question: How long are you planning to stay in Canada? Answer: Temporarily - more than 6 months

How long are you planning to stay in Canada? Question: Do you have a written offer from an employer in Canada? Answer: Yes

Do you have a written offer from an in Canada? Question: What is the status of your job offer? Answer: Temporary  at least one year

What is the status of your job offer? Question: Do you plan to work in one of the following categories? Answer: No

Do you plan to work in one of the following categories? Question: Do you have any caregiver experience or formal training within the last 3 years? Answer: No experience.

Do you have any caregiver experience or formal training within the last 3 years? Answer the remaining questions according to your personal situation. Your results should state Foreign Worker - International Mobility Program. It will also tell you if you need a visitor visa or eTA. Click Continue to answer a few additional questions.

Question: Do you have a valid work permit or study permit, and need a visa to return to Canada? Answer: No

Do you have a valid work permit or study permit, and need a visa to return to Canada? Question: What type of work permit do you want to apply for? Answer: A work permit with a Labour Market Impact Assessment exemption.

What type of work permit do you want to apply for?

Answer a few more questions according to your personal situation.

Question: There are fees associated with this application. Will you be paying your fees or are you fee exempt? Answer: Yes, I will be paying my application fees.

There are fees associated with this application. Will you be paying your fees or are you fee exempt?

Answer the remaining questions. If you need help with a question, click on the question mark icon for more information. Once you are finished answering all the questions, you can review your answers and modify them if needed. After you have verified that the information is accurate, click on Continue to get to your personal document checklist. This page gives you step-by-step instructions on how to submit your application online. It will also list the required application form(s), supporting documents and fees. Make sure you write down your personal reference code found at the top of the page. You will need your personal reference code when you submit your application online.

6.4 Apply on paper

To apply on paper, see Apply for a work permit and follow steps 2 to 5.

Note: If you apply on paper, priority processing cannot be guaranteed.

6.4.1 Applying from outside of Canada

When completing the Application for work permit made outside of Canada form (IMM 1295) ( PDF , 465.84 KB ), under Details of Intended Work in Canada fill in the information as follows: Question 1a: What type of work permit are you applying for? Answer: Exemption from Labour Market Impact Assessment.

What type of work permit are you applying for? Question 2a: Name of Employer Answer: Enter the name of the new business (if known), or your own name.

Name of Employer Question 4: My occupation in Canada in will be: Job title: Entrepreneur. Brief description of duties: Starting up a new business with a designated entity under the SUV program.

My occupation in Canada in will be: Question 6: Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) No. or Offer of Employment (LMIA Exempt) No. Answer: Enter the number found under Employment queue in the Employer Portal or if authorized to use the IMM 5802 form, use the number A9999999 and include a copy of the completed form.

Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) No. or Offer of Employment (LMIA Exempt) No. Depending on your country or territory of nationality or your status in Canada, there are three ways to submit your work permit application: If you are in Canada as a visitor: send your application to the Visa Application Centre (VAC) in New York. If you are eligible to apply at the port of entry, present the following to the officer at the border: your completed application

a copy of your Letter of Support that states you are essential and that there are urgent business reasons for your entry into Canada and

a copy of your payment receipt for the employer compliance fee If you are outside Canada: you can submit your application to your nearest VAC. Let the VAC know that you are a SUV applicant so that your application is properly coded.

6.4.2 Applying from inside Canada

If you are eligible to apply from inside Canada, you must complete the Application to Change Conditions, Extend Your Stay or Remain in Canada as a Worker. When completing the application form (IMM 5710) ( PDF , 484.21 KB ), under Details of Intended Work in Canada fill in the information as follows: Question 1a: What type of work permit are you applying for? Answer: Exemption from Labour Market Impact Assessment

What type of work permit are you applying for? Question 2a: Name of Employer Answer: Enter the name of the new business (if known), or your own name

Name of Employer Question 4: My occupation in Canada in will be: Job title: Entrepreneur Brief description of duties: Starting up a new business with a designated entity under the SUV program

My occupation in Canada in will be: Question 6: Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) No. or Offer of Employment (LMIA Exempt) No. Answer: Enter the number found under Employment queue in the Employer Portal or if authorized to use the IMM 5802 form, use the number A9999999 and include a copy of the completed form

Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) No. or Offer of Employment (LMIA Exempt) No. Mail your complete application to the address in the instruction guide. Be sure to write Urgent: Start-up Business Class Work Permit on the outside envelope.

6.5 Work permit conditions and extensions

Your work permit allows you to work as an entrepreneur in the development of your business, as indicated on your Commitment Certificate. It is not an open work permit. Your work permit will only be valid for one year to allow you to begin working in Canada while your application for permanent residence (APR) is being processed. Most APRs will be processed within a year. However, if you need an extension, it will be considered on a case-by-case basis through the normal extension process. For any extension under this program to be considered, an APR must be in process.

7.0 Eligibility requirements for family members coming with you

If you apply for a work permit, you may be able to bring your spouse or common-law partner and your dependent children with you to Canada if they meet the requirements for temporary residence.

Spouse or common-law

If your spouse or common-law partner wants to work while in Canada, he/she may apply for an open work permit as the spouse or common-law partner of a high skilled worker.

Dependent children

If your dependent children want to study or work while in Canada, they must apply for a study or work permit.

Note: Young, non-school-aged children need to meet the same entry requirements as any other visitor. They may need an eTA or visitor visa to enter Canada.

Each family member must fill out a separate application form depending on if they need a: visitor visa or eTA

work permit or

study permit You can submit all applications for spouses and dependent children together with your work permit application and use one payment receipt for the total amount.

Note: If you are eligible to submit your work permit application at a port of entry, all family members must meet the same requirements as you to apply at the port of entry.news, crime

A captain of the Australian army was convicted in a Canberra military court on Monday of raping a fellow officer, after he inserted a beer bottle into the mans anus during a drunken incident at a work function. Prosecutors and the defence described the offence committed by Captain Rhiley Boyson against his friend as a prank, an act of tomfoolery gone too far". After a five-day court martial, and an hour and a half of deliberating, a panel of five male officers found 26-year-old Boyson guilty of one count of sexual intercourse without consent earlier this week. On Tuesday, the panel retired to consider the sentence they will impose and it is expected they will deliver it on Wednesday. It seemed likely Boyson will be kicked out of the army, either by the panel ordering a sentence of dismissal or through an administrative termination notice after the conviction, the court heard. The mans liberty also hangs in the balance, as a sentence of imprisonment is one of the punishments available to the panel. Any sentence to be imposed on Boyson must be voted on by the panel, and receive a majority of votes. The same applies to the verdict. Tuesdays hearing at the court martial facility in Fyshwick was told Boyson had been at an army social function in 2017 with the victim, who was a friend and fellow officer. The group's drunken bathroom horseplay ended with the victim in a vulnerable position on the floor frantically trying to pull his pants and underwear up. Boyson inserted a beer bottle into the mans buttocks in an incident that lasted a few seconds. The victim did not report the incident to Defence Force police until later that year. Boyson was suspended without pay while he awaited last weeks court martial. He pleaded not guilty, but another officer gave evidence that the victim had told her what happened soon after, and that Boyson later admitted it to her. The prosecution was launched in the military jurisdiction with the consent of the relevant state Director of Public Prosecutions. That consent must be obtained before a military prosecution when it comes to certain offences, including rape and murder. On Tuesday, prosecuting officer Squadron Leader Sarah Robin told the panel the offence was a prank gone too far. She said low-brow humour at the urinal had escalated out of control. "[It was] intended as a prank that simply went too far at the expense of the victim," she said. She read to the court a victim impact statement from the officer, who reported severe anxiety and difficulty interacting with his family since the incident. He had missed out on a dream job posting after being medically downgraded, and was slowly returning to Defence Force social functions where he once felt he was safe. As a prank or otherwise, the officers behaviour was completely unacceptable, Ms Robin said. She said Boyson has not shown remorse nor apologised to the victim. Boyson's defence officer, Flight Lieutenant Sophie Callan, called the incident a moment of madness that would have lifelong consequences. You would conclude this was very much an aberration, she said. It was "an act of tomfoolery that went too far". The offence was opportunistic and not premeditated, there was no malice involved nor sexual gratification, nor was there violence involved, she said. Boyson had an impeccable service record and no criminal convictions in his past. One of the man's senior officers told the court Boyson had impressed him with his dedication and work ethic. Ms Callan said Boyson had joined the army at 17, and flying was the officers life. The defence officer said the consequences of a conviction would extend beyond any imposed by the panel, including damage to his reputation. She told the court that for Boyson to continue his career as a pilot in civilian life would take six months and cost more than $100,000, likely beyond the mans reach given his poor financial situation. Ms Callan suggested the panel consider dismissing Boyson from the army but stop short of imposing a sentence of imprisonment. Chief Judge Advocate Michael Cowen QC gave the panel directions on the law around sentencing before he sent them out to consider the punishment. They will return on Wednesday to continue deliberating.

/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/1ced5c5f-742a-48b2-a4d9-e3f89016a42b/r0_103_2000_1233_w1200_h678_fmax.jpgnews, latest-news

The Department of Home Affairs secretary, Michael Pezzullo, is far from the typical Westminster-style mandarin, at least in his public persona. Instead of avoiding publicity and seeking anonymity wherever possible, he actively cultivates a high public profile, particularly through his wide-ranging speeches. Moreover, rather than pursue an image of political neutrality, he has not been afraid to speak out in support of controversial government policies. It might therefore appear ironic that his recent address to the Institute of Public Administration Australia should include an eloquent defence of traditional Westminster principles of an apolitical career public service working under democratically elected ministers. "Westminster principles", however, is a term of fluid meaning. If Pezzullo chooses to play down the importance of anonymity he does, at least, emphasise the core conventions underpinning the Australian Public Service. Moreover, he locates them historically in the context of our British-derived system of government based on the responsibility of ministers to Parliament and a merit-based permanent bureaucracy. None of this should be news to the average Informant reader, but it always bears repeating, particularly by senior members of the APS. Pezzullo believes, rightly, that worthwhile traditions need to nurture their defining histories, a view that has not always been evident in central agencies such as the Public Service Commission and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Cynics may see Pezzullo's manifesto as directed towards the leadership of the Labor Party, burnishing his credentials as a career public servant capable of loyally serving either side of politics. Whatever his motives, however, his arguments are welcome and worth taking seriously. His main emphasis is on the relationship between public servants and politicians, where he stresses the need for public servants to appreciate the political context in which they operate and to respect the right of elected ministers to determine policy directions. In making these points, he returns to sources that were well known to earlier generations of commentators on the APS. He quotes the famous remark of Paul Hasluck, long-standing minister in the Coalition governments of the 1950s and 1960s and later governor-general, in his Garran oration of 1968, that "the public service cannot avoid politics any more than fish can avoid the water in which they swim". Pezzullo also firmly rejects the view that public servants should set themselves up as "guardians of the public interest", wording that recalls the vigorous academic debates over managerialism in the late 1980s. At that time, critics of the new emphasis on managing for objectives saw it as undermining the public service's traditional role as defender of constitutional values and concern for the common good. Reformers, on the other hand, rejected any implication that public servants rather than elected politicians should decide what was in the public's interest or that public servants should see themselves as guardians of a greater good. By adopting this language, Pezzullo might appear to side with the reformers against the traditionalists. In spelling out the details of the relationship, however, he takes a balanced approach that gives due weight to the unique role of public servants as partners with ministers in the executive. While always acknowledging the right of ministers to decide major issues of policy, only apolitical career public servants can give ministers the benefits of accumulated policy experience and knowledge. They have a role as custodians of administrative continuity as well as being repositories of strategic policy capability and service delivery competency. In this way, they are crucial in helping ministers formulate a reasonable view of the public interest. Public servants are expected to act "in the public interest" in matters of process, including respect for impartiality, honesty, legality, avoidance of conflict of interest and so on. What they should not do, however, is usurp the politicians' right to determine the public interest. The phrase "guardians of the public interest" has outlived its usefulness. It indicates an extreme and untenable view of the public service's role in relation to ministers, a straw-man caricature that can be easily discredited. In practice, in a constitutional system of government with checks and balances, no single person or institution is in charge. Ministers certainly approve the policy framework within which public servants operate. But public servants independently protect important constitutional processes under the law, an obligation that can lead them into conflict with their political masters. Moreover, long-term responsibility for the public service as an institution, "stewardship" as it is now called (a term rarely heard a generation ago), has largely shifted from ministers to senior public servants. Some academic writers on public administration, following Harvard scholar Professor Mark Moore, now prefer to use the concept of "public value" rather than "the public interest" to describe the basic principle motivating public servants. Though etymologically equivalent to "the public interest", "public value" is understood somewhat differently to describe the benefits that public managers seek to achieve for their communities. In this pursuit, managers are required to deal with several constraints, including the need to satisfy the authorising political environment and relevant stakeholders and the need for adequate financial and administrative resources. The key contrast with the Westminster paradigm is that working towards the elected government's objectives is no longer front and centre but only one factor among many. The model works well in the United States, where the separation of executive and legislative powers means government agencies serve two political masters with divergent priorities. In Australia and elsewhere, it also fits situations where political direction is minimal and managers have considerable discretion in setting strategic directions. This is the case for most local government managers and many managers at the state level. In the federal government, however, particularly for departments under direct ministerial control, the mandate of ministers, reinforced by intense media and parliamentary scrutiny, tends to dominate. Managers still have discretion but it is severely constrained by the overriding imperative to serve the minister and government of the day. In this context, it makes sense to describe public servants as pursuing the public interest determined by ministers. Pezzullo's emphasis on political direction has no doubt been reinforced by his experience with immigration and border protection. His portfolio has been required to implement highly controversial policies, particularly on asylum seekers. Many of his subordinates have had misgivings about being required to act in breach of Australia's international obligations. They have needed to be reminded that, as loyal public servants, their duty is to implement government policy, however repugnant they may find it. Pezzullo's argument in this lecture, that those who are very strongly opposed should resign and stand for office themselves, is probably one he has advanced many times internally with colleagues. Immigration policy classically illustrates the Westminster conventions at work, with ministers taking clear public responsibility and public servants in the role of dutiful administrators. But the system requires both partners, ministers as well as public servants, to make their own contribution, a point Pezzullo is too discreet to insist on. Ministers should not expect loyalty from their departments unless they are prepared to front up and take their full share of responsibility. Too often, ministers are happy to devolve responsibility and accountability on to public servants, especially when things go wrong. The infamous home insulation ("pink batts") policy, the most thoroughly investigated recent example of policy failure, is a case in point. The overriding cause of failure was relentless political pressure from ministers determined to spend quickly without due attention to risk. In the aftermath, however, public servants, especially the hapless staff of the Environment Department, were left to bear the brunt of public criticism. Centrelink's robo-debt fiasco was another example where the general direction of policy was set by ministers seeking to reduce costs and punish welfare recipients, but bureaucrats were held publicly accountable. The most recent instance of ministers abdicating responsibility concerns the Agriculture Department. As part of his response to media reports of shocking conditions on ships transporting live sheep, the minister, David Littleproud, commissioned an independent report on the department's regulatory capability and culture in relation to live-animal exports. The report, by experienced consultant Philip Moss, was published in September and provides a devastating critique of where the department failed in its task of regulating the live-sheep trade. Too much trust was placed in the industry's capacity to self-regulate. The resources devoted to overseeing animal welfare were insufficient and inefficiently dispersed throughout the organisation. The department's culture gave excessive priority to promoting trade at the expense of animal welfare, and penalised officials who stood up for animal rights. None of this, however, happened in a political vacuum. The department's worst derelictions occurred after the National Party had returned to power in 2013 and its leader, Barnaby Joyce, took the agriculture portfolio. The party was (and still is) opposed to any restrictions on live-animal exports. Joyce approved the dismantling of the department's animal welfare branch and welfare strategy as part of the government's deregulation strategy. Departmental officials would have been expected to respond to the new government's change of emphasis. Moss provides evidence for sheeting home a major share of the responsibility to Joyce and his colleagues but is formally constrained from explicitly joining the dots. The new minister, Littleproud, for his own political reasons, is reluctant to have the finger pointed at his predecessor or his party. In the meantime, the department is exposed to full-on attack without any protective ministerial cover. If ministers want senior public servants like Pezzullo to advocate loyal partnership with the government of the day, they need to keep their side of the bargain and take their full share of responsibility for actions taken in their name. Richard Mulgan is an emeritus professor at the ANU's Crawford school of public policy. richard.mulgan@anu.edu.au

/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/0b7a86a9-9f0b-4622-84ad-4bdaf9fa0c70/r0_101_2000_1231_w1200_h678_fmax.jpgOur Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact.

Care2 Stands Against: bigots, racists, bullies, science deniers, misogynists, gun lobbyists, xenophobes, the willfully ignorant, animal abusers, frackers, and other mean people. If you find yourself aligning with any of those folks, you can move along, nothing to see here.

Care2 Stands With: humanitarians, animal lovers, feminists, rabble-rousers, nature-buffs, creatives, the naturally curious, and people who really love to do the right thing.

You are our people. You Care. We Care2.State Bank of India (SBI) has released an employment notification calling out aspirants to apply for the post of Internal Ombudsman. Those interested can check out the eligibility, salary scale, how to apply and the complete details of the government job here. The selection process comprises shortlisting and interview. Selected candidates can earn up to INR 31.50 lakhs per annum. The last date to apply for this government job is Dec 25, 2018.

BOB Recruitment 2018 For 913 Specialist Officers

SBI Recruitment 2018 Vacancy Details

CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Posts Internal Ombudsman Organisation State Bank of India (SBI) Educational Qualification Graduate degree in any discipline Experience 7 years of working in areas such as banking, regulation, supervision, payment and settlement systems or consumer protection Job Responsibilities Strengthen the grievances redressal mechanism and to reduce the complaints to Banking Ombudsman. He or she shall be the focal point for internal grievances redressal system of the bank. Skills Required Banking skills Job Location Mumbai Salary Scale INR 27 lakhs to INR 31.50 lakhs per annum Industry Banking Application Start Date December 4, 2018 Application End Date December 25, 2018

Maximum Age Limit: 65 years

Also Read: Syndicate Bank Recruitment 2018 For Housing Loan Counsellor

How To Apply For SBI Recruitment 2018

In order to apply for SBI Recruitment 2018, follow these steps:

Step 1: Log on to the SBI Careers official website.

Step 2: On the home page, against Whats New, click on a link that scrolls.

Step 3: The list of notifications will be displayed on the screen.

Step 4: Click the link that reads, Recruitment of Internal Ombudsman in SBI on Contract Basis.

Step 5: Select Apply Online.

Step 6: You will be directed to the IBPS website. Click the button that reads, Click here for New Registration.

Step 7: Read the instructions on the pop-up box and click CONTINUE.

Step 8: The registration form will open. Enter your details in the fields provided.

Step 9: Enter the captcha code.

Step 10: Click Save & Continue and follow the subsequent pages to complete the registration process.

Follow the link - https://www.sbi.co.in/webfiles/uploads/files/1543844807212_INTERNAL_OMBUDSMAN.pdf to read the detailed official notification.South Indian Bank is looking for eligible candidates to apply for the post of Probationary Officer. The recruitment is through a diploma programme conducted by the bank. It is a one year programme titled Post Graduate Diploma in Banking and Finance (PGDBF) in Manipal Global Education Services Pvt. Ltd. (MaGE), Bangalore. After completion of this course, candidates will be offered employment in scale I officers category. Applicants will be selected on the basis of a written test and an interview. The application fee is INR 800.

SBI Recruitment 2018: Become An Internal Ombudsman And Earn Up To INR 31.5 Lakhs

South Indian Bank Recruitment 2018 Vacancy Details

CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Posts Probationary Officer Organisation South Indian Bank Educational Qualification Class 12 passout Experience Desirable Skills Required Banking skills Job Location India Salary Scale INR 23,700 to INR 42,020 per month Industry Banking Application Start Date December 10, 2018 Application End Date December 16, 2018

Maximum Age Limit: 25 years

Also Read: BOB Recruitment 2018 For 913 Specialist Officers

How To Apply For South Indian Bank Recruitment 2018

In order to apply for South Indian Bank Recruitment 2018, follow these steps:

Step 1: Log on to the South Indian Bank official website.

Step 2: Click the Careers tab on the home page.

Step 3: Click the link that reads, Recruitment of Probationary Officers through PGDBF Programme.

Step 4: The application form will open. Enter your details in the fields provided.

Step 5: Submit your details and complete the application process.

Follow the link - https://www.southindianbank.com/UserFiles/file/Notification_Probationary Officers_Manipal_2nd phase.pdf to read the detailed official notification.(WC) A new book edited by professionals from Howard Brown Health aims to make information on transgender and gender nonconforming people as they age more accessible to healthcare providers.

Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Health and Aging, which Springer published in November, addresses the lack of educational resources for healthcare and research professionals about transgender and gender nonconforming ( TGNC ) people as they age.

"This book is the first of its kind, [gikving] providers who serve folks from the TGNC community a resource with holistic information on TGNC people who are getting older that is all in one place," said Cecilia Hardacker, director of education at Howard Brown Health. Hardacker co-edited the book with her colleagues Kelly Ducheny, director of behavioral health services, and Magda Houlberg, chief clinical officer.

The publication contains five chapters written by various interdisciplinary healthcare experts. Each chapter explores one of five critical topics relating to trans and gender nonconforming peoples' health, including foundational information needed to understand the experience of TGNC people, mental and behavioral health issues, social service considerations, concerns for nurses and long-term concerns for care providers.

Hardacker said most medical resources about transgender and gender nonconforming people are focused on younger populations, so this book aims to provide a resource for people who are looking to support TGNC people as they get older.

"The general belief is that for TGNC folks, especially trans women of color, the life expectancy is around 35 years old, but we're interested in being defiant of that notion and being able to support people as they grow older," Hardacker said. "We put this book together because we envision a world where people can live their healthiest and happiest lives well into their old age."

According to Hardacker, 10,000 people turn 65 in the United States every day, and that's expected to continue until 2030, but the country's healthcare and social service systems are not prepared to serve that many elderly people.

"All those issueshousing, social support, basic caregivingneed to be solved with LGBTQ and specifically trans communities in mind," Hardacker said. "This book is is just a tiny piece of that very big puzzle."

According to Hardacker, the book's primary audience is healthcare providers, including geriatricians, primary care physicians, psychologists, public health officials and social workers, but it was written in a tone that makes it accessible to TGNC community members who may also find the resource valuable.

"We wanted to make sure people who aren't well-acquainted with the community could pick up the essential information, but we also wanted to make sure people from the community could participate in writing it," Hardacker said. "My favorite part is the last chapter, where we invited trans and gender nonconforming people to write directly to healthcare providers about what's important to them. Those stories are powerful."

Stefanie Clark, a trans woman who describes herself as a "renaissance woman and activist," contributed a passage about her experiences in healthcare since coming out as transgender at 68 years old. In it, she details her journey from finding a new primary care physician to receiving transition-related services at Howard Brown Health and searching for a trans-friendly hospital when she needed knee-replacement surgery.

"Just putting the rainbow flag on your front door doesn't show that you're welcoming to transgender people," Clark said. "It just shows you've checked something off on your box that human resources sent."

Clark said when she was looking for hospitals to have her knee-replacement surgery, her main fears were potential discrimination from a roommate or staff member. The hospital was able to accommodate her with a semi-private room with no roommate, but she said she was still fearful of the staff potentially discriminating against her.

"Fortunately, the staff was very responsive," Clark said. "My records were marked with my preferred pronouns, and in the combined 12 days I was there, I was only misgendered once, which I think it was a heat-of-the-moment mistake or a new employee. That's a sign the hospital really cares."

Hardacker said she hopes readers will approach the book with an "open heart and open mind" to consider how they can incorporate its guidelines into their work.

"It's clear how much thought and care went into writing this book, and I hope readers see that and use this as a resource for their day-to-day practices," Hardacker said.

Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Health and Aging can be purchased online at WWW.SPRINGER.COM/US/BOOK/9783319950303 .Raysut Cement awards WHR contract to Sinoma

ICR Newsroom By 04 December 2018

Oman's Raysut Cement has awarded the contract for the installation of a waste heat recovery (WHR) system to Sinoma Overseas Development Co of China. The project is reported to be the first of its kind in Oman.



On behalf of Raysut Cement, CEO Joey Ghose signed the agreement with Meng Qinglin, CEO of Sinoma Overseas Development Co, in the presence of Shaikh Ahmed bin Yousef bin Alawi bin Abdullah Al Ibrahim, chairman Raysut Cements Board of Directors.



The new system will use waste heat from the cement plant to generate 9MW of power and able to reduce the current power cost by 30 per cent.



It is expected that the project will take at least 18 months to complete.

Published underFurther silo spill at INC Villeta

ICR Newsroom By 04 December 2018

A fault in the cement silos at the Villeta plant of Industria National del Cemento (INC), Paraguay, has caused the spill of 250t of cement, rendering the product unusable.



A similar spill occurred when a silo was closed, not helping cement supply in the country, which has a cement shortage. Two silos are currently out of use and the remaining two only work partly.



Domestic supply will also be reduced when the kiln at Vallemi is shut down for a month for maintenance, with the potential to leave the Villeta plant short of clinker for grinding.



INC dispatches 25,000-30,000 bags of cement per day, while demand exceeds 100,000.

Published underRaysut Cement to acquire stakes in Indian cement producers in 1Q19

04 December 2018

Raysut Cement of Oman plans to invest US$700m in the Indian cement market by 2022. The cement producer intends for approximately US$200m of this total to be invested in acquiring majority stakes in two Indian cement producers in 1Q19.

The investment is part of the cement producer's plans to expand its overall production capacity to 20Mta, while the Muscat Securities Market-listed firm is also scouting for acquisitions in Africa, according to the Hindu Business Line.



"We are in discussions to invest in two existing cement companies, one of them in Chhattisgarh and the other in Gujarat's coastal region. We will invest a total of US$200m in these two companies by the first quarter of calendar 2019 and acquire a controlling stake of about 75 per cent," said Joey Ghose, Raysut Cement CEO.



"Further, we will invest another US$400-500m to expand these companies businesses over the next four years, based on certain milestones," he added. Both of these are small firms with 1.2Mta capacities, and following the investments their capacities will be increased to 5Mta by 2022.



The company intends to sell its products from the Gujarat plant in the domestic market. In case there is surplus production, it may look to export to Sri Lanka. However, Chhattisgarh being land-locked, the produce will be sold only in the domestic market.



Global ambitions

Raysut Cement is also preparing to acquire a 70 per cent stake in Kenyas ARM Cement with an estimated US$100m investment. It is also in discussions to acquire various cement producers in Uganda and Djibouti, and is planning to build a 1Mt cement plant in Berbera, Somalia. The company also holds a majority stake in Pioneer Cement Industries Georgia.



With this expansion programme the company intends to more than triple its production capacity to 20Mta from the present 6Mta.

Published underWhen the LGBT community thinks back on the life of President George H.W. Bush, its view of the decorated war hero gentleman politician who spent years in the service of the nation is obscured.

For the LGBT community, Bush left a mixed legacy. He did not do all he had the power to do to save the lives in a community ravaged by a deadly epidemic. But he did not obstruct the enactment of important legislation to bring some help to that community. And, like with so many others in public life, his feelings evolved over time from a place of hostility and disinterest in the LGBT community to a kinder, gentler place of acceptance.

There will be many remembrances of former President Bush this week, as his national funeral takes place in Washington, D.C., and his remains are interred at his presidential museum in College Station, Texas. President Trump has declared Wednesday, Dec. 5, as a national day of mourning for Bush, who died Nov. 30 at the age of 94 from a form of Parkinsons disease caused by strokes.

During his years in power, first as vice president under President Reagan for two terms then as president himself for one term, Bush generally opposed equal rights for LGBT people and people with HIV.

As president, from 1989 to 1992, Bush was accused by many civil rights activists of trying hard to appease such anti-LGBT figures as U.S. Senator Jesse Helms and other members of the far right religious base of the Republican Party.

Urvashi Vaid, who headed up the LGBTQ Task Force during the same years Bush was in the White House, recalls Washington, D.C., as having a very hostile climate politically for LGBT people.

It was not as bad as the Reagan years, said Vaid, because we had a Democratic Congress we were able to work with legislatively. But the Bush administration was not our friend, it was not welcoming, and we did not have access, at least not at the front door.

And the Bush term ended so badly, recalled Vaid, with Bush giving Pat Buchanan a platform at the Republican National Convention even Log Cabin didnt endorse him.

Vaid and Jeff Levi, who was the first full-time AIDS lobbyist during the Bush years, said some people give Bush too much credit for having signed the Ryan White CARE Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the Hate Crimes Statistics Act. They note the legislation passed largely thanks to a Democratic Congress.

The CARE Act was totally driven by Congress and the AIDS community, Levi said. Its good he signed it, but there was no initiative coming from his administration for it. Congress, he noted, had to routinely increase the budget for AIDS that Bush proposed.

This reporter recalls the Bush administration touting an unusually high dollar amount as its AIDS spending proposal. But on further scrutiny, it became clear the proposal was inflated by counting funds spent through mandatory entitlement programs (for people on disability) as money spent on fighting AIDS.

As the ADA was winding its way through Congress, Bush spoke in favor of the law prohibiting discrimination against people with HIV.

Once disease strikes, he said, we dont blame those who are suffering.We try to love them and care for them and comfort them. We dont fire them. We dont evict them. We dont cancel their insurance.

But two years later, during a re-election campaign debate, he blamed AIDS on behavior.

Change your behavior! If the behavior youre using is prone to cause AIDS, change the behavior!

In an interview with the New York Timesthat same year, Bush bluntly stated, I cant accept as normal life style people of the same sex being parents. Im very sorry. I dont accept that as normal.I dont approve of that.

However he did appoint a lesbian, Anne Radice, to a prominent, albeit temporary, position, as chair of the National Endowment for the Arts.

But during the re-election campaign, the Bush campaign demoted a gay employee, Tyler Franz, after the employee criticized the Republican Party for its increasing hostility toward gay people. The campaign denied demoting him for being gay. And while Franz specifically did notblame Bush, he said senior campaign officials used crude anti-gay rhetoric and that he overheard anti-gay statementsthroughout the campaign.

As Democratic challenger Bill Clinton became more vocal in support of equal rights for gay people, Bush became more vocal about family issues, a code phrase at the time for opposition to gays.

Jon Meachams Bush biography Destiny and Power said Bush, in a 1988 audio diary entry, said he believed Americans dont want homosexual marriages codified. But in 2013, the former president actively solicited an invitation to the marriage ceremony of a lesbian couple in his summer residence town of Kennebunkport, Maine.

Helen Thorgalsen told New England Cable News, "When we were getting ready to get married, he kept asking where his invitation was. He was happy when he got his invitation." The couple not only sent Bush an invitation but asked him to serve as one of their official witnesses.

I always felt he was an honorable person, said Rich Tafel, who founded Log Cabin Republicans and still serves on its Board of Directors.

In the early years of his administration, I remember being hopeful as Bush signed the ADA which protected people with AIDS from discrimination. He also signed the Hate Crimes Statistics Act. Also, Barbara showed symbolic support when she lit a candle in the White House window for PFLAG and held a baby with AIDS.

But the Republican Partys embrace of such right-wing figures as Pat Buchanan and Pat Robertson during the re-election campaign triggered a significant shift for Tafel.

Sadly, the last period of the Bush presidency was marred by his outreach to hateful anti-gay forces, said Tafel. While Log Cabin had considered supporting President Bush for re-election, it instead found ourselves in aggressive opposition to the Bush-Quayle campaign's sell out to the anti-gay forces in the GOP.

I believe he was a decent man who found these issues new and challenging, but he sold out his principles by turning his campaign over to the Buchanan, [Jerry] Falwell, and Roberson forces, said Tafel. Had he remained a kindler, gentler president, I think he'd have been truer to himself.

During his presidency, Bush appointed Vaughn Walker as a federal district court judge. Many LGBT people and supporters criticized the nomination at the time because they believed Walker to be hostile to gays. Walker famously presided over the trial against Proposition 8, a ballot measure that repealed the right of same-sex couples to marry in California. Walker ultimately ruled the ballot measure to be unconstitutional. He retired one year later, in 2011, and acknowledged he was gay.Le Collectif Cheikh Yassine a organise un certain nombre dactivites et de festivites pour les enfants de Gaza sous le theme  La joie des enfants de Gaza pour lAid . Ces activites ont commence le premier jour de lAid et continue jusquau 4eme jour de lAid dans la bande de Gaza.



Plusieurs activites, ont ete organisees parmi lesquelles : des competitions recompensees par des prix, des jeux, des animations et des chants presentes par un groupe ainsi que des distributions de cadeaux et daides financieres.



Senator Bob Corker on Monday announced plans to support S.3649, the First Step Act, legislation to reform Americas criminal justice system.

This legislation is an important first step as we work to reform our nations criminal justice system, said Senator Corker. The First Step Act will allow us to better prepare offenders for successful reentry into their communities and makes important strides toward enhancing prison security and officer safety. I plan to support this legislation and am hopeful some of the changes being proposed to make this an even better piece of legislation are made before a vote on the floor.

The legislation, authored by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), endorsed by President Donald J. Trump, and cosponsored a bipartisan group of 28 senators, aims to reduce federal recidivism and crime, prepare inmates for successful returns to society, enhance prison security and officer safety, and reform federal criminal sentencing. The bill has been endorsed by a number of law enforcement groups, including the nations largest police group. It also is now supported by 172 former federal prosecutors, including two former Republican U.S. attorneys general, two former deputy attorneys general and a former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, along with sheriffs from 34 states across the country. The National Governors Association, which represents the governors of all 50 states, praised the bill last week, and a broad coalition of conservative, progressive, and faith groups also support the legislation.

The International Business Council of the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce invites the entire Chattanooga community to their International Holiday Celebration Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Camp House.

The IBC Holiday Celebration showcases holiday traditions from around the globe with speakers from various community organizations including the Chattanooga Chinese Association, Chattanooga Sister Cities, Chattanooga India Association and La Paz Chattanooga. This event will highlight customs from Israel, China, Japan, India, France, Pakistan, Latin and South America.

Tickets are $15 and include heavy hors doeuvres and one beverage; cash bar also available. Purchase tickets here or at the door.

The Chattanooga Chamber's 12 area Councils are the backbone of the Chamber's volunteer presence. The Councils support businesses in specific geographic areas within Hamilton County, providing opportunities for Chamber members to get involved in solving problems, discussing issues and supporting events and civic projects that benefit businesses, schools and other constituencies within the Council's footprint.

At monthly meetings, members enjoy networking opportunities and speakers.

Each Council serves the unique needs of its members with its own board, strategic plan, annual budget, programs and initiatives.

Learn more here.I am excited about the future of public education in Tennessee. Many critics like to point out some of the shortcomings of our system, and rightly so. A one size fits all system does not work for everyone. It never has, and never will. The system will continue to evolve, albeit slowly, and adjustments will always be needed. We should welcome debate on public education, which remains our greatest priority.

In order to attract and keep industries and business that we need for a global economy, we must build and develop a quality workforce. A quality education system ultimately provides economic mobility for all of our citizens. It is imperative that taxpayers understand that education is an investment for our states future, not merely an expense to bear. It is also a constitutional requirement in our state.

As a businessman, Governor-elect Bill Lee understands that higher salaries will encourage more people to join the teaching profession and hopefully entice current educators to remain in the field, resulting in better outcomes for Tennessee students. Lee has stated his three major priorities: 1) Getting our students ready to enter the workforce; 2) Strengthening the foundations of a quality system; and 3) Encouraging innovation. It is a K12 education agenda we should embrace.

Tennessees business community has expressed increased concerned about workforce development. In the future, people with solid, transferable skills that are open to continued learning will be critical for our workforce. To get our students ready for the workforce we must better link state and local efforts for economic development and job creation. This will also necessitate expanding post-secondary vocational training. Many occupations are developed through apprenticeships, on-the-job training, and vocational programs offered at community colleges. That does not always mean expensive, four-year degrees for which many students are not suited. In high school, Tennessee may want to consider giving students the option to use the ACT National Career Readiness Certificate examination, rather than the ACT/SAT in the 11th grade year.

Strengthening the foundations of our public-school system, begins with support for local control of public education. It is also critical to look at how we fund our schools. The methodology we use to fund our schools has constantly been litigated by school districts. These lawsuits prove we must incorporate and take into consideration the dramatically different cost of living and doing business in different counties across the state. We must update our school funding formula to reflect changing 21st century needs. At the state level we have to improve the teacher pipeline. This means we must identify and develop a community of well-trained, highly compensated educators who can flourish in the teaching profession. Any investment we make in education must be high quality, and position our children for success in the classroom, career and life. We have much work to do.



We need our new Governor, our new Commissioner and our new Tennessee General Assembly to listen to educators and continue to champion innovation in public education. Educators want that chance to be inventive, and they understand the need to challenge the status quo. The testing culture has killed the enthusiasm of many educators. Although we need testing to measure the progress of our students, we should recognize these tests are often unreliable in evaluating teachers and schools. We should pursue reliable standardized tests that provide accurate feedback for educators, parents, and students. No single test should be a determinant of a students, teachers or schools success. True measurement of progress should instead consist of several benchmarks, not just testing.

We must also break down the bureaucratic barriers that have kept educators and school districts from pursuing solutions to the unique challenges of their communities. Governor-elect Lee has promised to pilot innovative approaches that encourage our schools and their communities to work together and design solutions without bureaucratic hurdles. That is a wise strategy to pursue. Lee, like many other business and community leaders, understands that the solutions to many problems we face in our hinge on a quality public education system. Our future depends on that success. Lets all work to make that happen.



J.C. Bowman



Executive Director of Professional Educators of TennesseePaul Belcher will present the McKameys Final Chapter at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium on Feb. 9 at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets are $25 reserved; $20 general admission balcony and available here.Riley Green - US101's Concert for a Cause will be held at Walker Theatre on Jan. 9 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $52 and $32 (plus applicable fees) and available here on Friday.

Review for Riley Green:

Born in Jacksonville, Al., Riley Green was raised on the sounds of old traditional Country, Bluegrass, and Southern Gospel music. He learned the spirit of songwriting and performing at a young age while spending time with his grandfather, Bufford Green, who ran Golden Saw Music Hall. Riley shared the stage with him and other men of his generation, laying a foundation for the songs hed craft in the years to come, reflecting on the experiences of a young Southern man trying to find his place in the world. With a mixture of outlaw-rebellion and respect for tradition, Rileys original music has already tallied over 51 million streams to date. Currently on his headlining Outlaws Like Us Tour, Riley has built fierce support traveling the southeast for the last five years growing his loyal fanbase on social media.

Named one of Rolling Stone Countrys Artists You Need to Know, his recently released In A Truck Right Now EP on BMLG Records was produced by Dann Huff and features four songs he co-wrote: There Was This Girl, Same Old Song, Break Up More Often, and In A Truck Right Now.

For tour dates and more information on Riley Green visit https://www.rileygreenmusic.com/The Tennessee Court of Appeals has ruled for the buyer of property at a local back tax sale against a trust that made a claim based on paying the original owner $500 for a quitclaim deed.

Chancellor Pam Fleenor had ruled in favor of Basswood Revocable Land Trust and against the buyer, REO Holdings LLC. The Appeals Court reversed her decision.

The ruling written by Judge Charles Susano Jr. says: Darryl L. Patton and Kermetta J. Patton owed a total of $12,559.28 in property taxes to Hamilton County and the City of Chattanooga. Accordingly, the trial court entered an order directing the sale of the Pattons property in satisfaction of their unpaid taxes. In June 2015, the clerk and masters office for Hamilton County sold the Pattons property at a public auction. The highest bidder, REO, purchased the property for $20,000.

"On June 24, 2015, the trial court entered an order confirming the sale. Pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann.  67-5-2701, the order provided that the redemption period with respect to the Property is one (1) year, beginning on the date of the entry of this Order Confirming Sale. On June 21, 2016, the Pattons quit claimed their remaining interest in the property to the Trust in exchange for $500.

"On June 24, 2016, the Trust filed a motion to redeem the property and tendered $15,184.41 for the payment of the delinquent taxes plus interest and court costs. REO filed a motion to protest the redemption, setting forth two reasons that the redemption should be denied.

"First, REO argued that the Trust was not entitled to redeem the property because the Trust did not have an interest in the property as of the date of the sale, as required by Tenn. Code Ann.  67-5-2701(a)(3)(C). Second, REO argued that the motion to redeem was untimely because the property was abandoned and the redemption period should have been shortened to thirty days pursuant" to another section of state law.

Attorney Charles Walker of Nashville represented REO Holdings LLC.Federal Judge Sandy Mattice has signed an order giving TVA access to several farms along the route to a planned new $300 million power center in Meigs County.

Meanwhile, the farm owners have hired prominent Chattanooga attorney Roger Dickson to try to fight TVA access to the farms for construction of a high-voltage line.

The order says the farm lands "are deemed to be condemned and taken for the use of the United States" with compensation to be determined for the owners.

One suit is against Greg Vital, a well-known businessman who has raised objections to the line going across his Meigs County farm. His farm includes an old stone barn that is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Another is against John and Bridget Vantiegham, who also own property in Meigs County along the route to the power control center. Another is against the owners of Cornerstone Farm in Hamilton County.

The farm owners say they have only had a few months notice of the taking, but that TVA has been planning it for several years.

Magistrate Judge Susan K. Lee, who was also assigned to the case, has recused herself in a one-sentence order.

Here is the order signed by Judge Mattice:

Upon the filing of a Declaration of Taking and the deposit of the estimated compensation to which the landowner is entitled for the taking, the lands are deemed to be condemned and taken for the use of the United States and the right to just compensation vests in the person entitled. 40 U.S.C.  3114(b). The United States of America, by and through its agents, is entitled to immediate possession of property condemned by power of eminent domain. United States v. Miller, 317 U.S. 369, 381 (1943). The statutory and constitutional authority of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) under the TVA Act, 16 U.S.C.  831, as an agent of the United States, to construct electric transmission lines and circuits and acquire rights-of-way therefore by condemnation has long been established. Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority,297 U.S. 288 (1936); United States ex rel. TVA v. Russell, 87 F. Supp. 386 (E.D. Tenn. 1948); United States ex rel. TVA v. An Easement & Right-of-Way Over 1.8 Acres of Land, 682 F. Supp. 353 (M.D. Tenn. 1988). In this case, Plaintiff has filed a proper Declaration of Taking (Doc. 1-2) and has placed with the Court an estimate of the just and liberal compensation to be afforded to Defendants for the taking (Doc. 2).1 Accordingly, Plaintiff TVA shall have and be put into immediate possession of the real property specifically described in Plaintiffs Declaration of Taking to the extent necessary to allow, enable, and permit TVA to conduct surveys, core drilling, appraisals, title investigations, and related activities to determine what portion of said land or interest therein is necessary for the erection, operation, and maintenance of electric power transmission circuits. (Doc. 1 at 12). [T]he Plaintiff [will] remain liable for damage to annual crops and other actual property damage resulting directly from the operations of Plaintiffs forces in the conduct of such activities upon said land. (Id.). Accordingly, Defendants are ORDERED to immediately comply with this Order and to surrender possession of said real property to TVA pending further order of the Court.Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas A. Varlan of the Eastern District of Tennessee announced that court offices will close on Wednesday, the National Day of Mourning for President George H.W. Bush.

All offices and chambers of the court throughout the district, including the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, will be closed.

Chief Judge Varlan, who was nominated for the federal judgeship in 2003 by President Bushs son, President George W. Bush, expressed sympathy for the Bush family on behalf of the judges and employees of the court.

Chief Judge Varlan said, President Bush was the epitome of public service, including his time as President and in the humanitarian and charitable causes he championed in later years. It is fitting that a national day of mourning be declared in his honor and memory, and that all citizens, including those in the federal judiciary, pause and pay tribute to such a selfless leader.

The court likewise closed on mourning days that were designated upon the deaths of President Ronald Reagan and President Gerald Ford.The Rotary Club of Chattanooga Hamilton Place recently hosted Sgt. Victor Miller with the local Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 22, and presented Sgt. Miller with a $500 donation to the Fraternal Order of Police's Shop with a Cop Program. "

The Shop with a Cop program provides a fun filled day for a number of children in need while creating positive relationships with law enforcement," officials said.The Tennessee Supreme Courts Access to Justice Commission has released its annual report detailing the pro bono legal service reported by attorneys, bar associations, law firms, law schools, legal service providers, mediators, and other organizations. Pro bono is a Latin term meaning for the public good.

For the first time since the Tennessee Supreme Court began requesting attorneys to voluntarily report pro bono work, more than fifty percent of Tennessee Attorneys reported doing some pro bono service during 2016. This benchmark has been a long-standing goal of the Access to Justice Commission, arising out of its 2012 Strategic Plan.

"The Commission is extremely excited that Tennessee attorneys have donated their time and expertise to help us reach this level of pro bono service," said Gail Ashworth, chair of the Commission. "The commitment and dedication of our attorneys to better the lives of their fellow Tennesseans is truly amazing, and we will work hard to continue this growth."

As of Dec. 31, 2017, 51.50 percent of the 17,223 active attorneys licensed in Tennessee with a primary address in Tennessee reported participating in pro bono activity during 2016. The report relies on data collected in 2017 for work performed in 2016. Both the number of attorneys who reported pro bono and the number of hours of pro bono work performed increased from the prior year.

According to the Pro Bono Report, 8,869 attorneys practicing in Tennessee provided 652,555 hours of pro bono service, an average of over 73 hours per reporting attorney. The value of these services is estimated to be over $130 million. The majority of these hours (69.57%) were provided to persons of limited means without a fee or at a reduced fee. The 2017 Report marks the highest number of hours provided to persons of limited means without a fee or a reduced fee in five years. The second highest category of service was to nonprofit organizations serving persons of limited means without a fee at 13.06% of hours.

Tennessees annual Celebrate Pro Bono Month, spearheaded by the Tennessee Bar Association and other access to justice partners, is held each October. Focus is given to the significant need for pro bono services and to celebrate the outstanding work of those who volunteer. Pro bono opportunities and volunteer training took place throughout Tennessee during October.

The Tennessee Faith and Justice Alliance actively participated in Celebrate Pro Bono Month with Pro Bono & Faith Days, #PBFDays, from Oct. 14-21. The TFJA sponsored three faith-based trainings, Faith and Justice Universities, across the state in Memphis, Nashville, and Knoxville. Approximately 100 faith leaders participated in these trainings, which highlighted regional projects. The Tennessee Supreme Court hosted or partnered with organizations to hold recognition ceremonies across the state to celebrate Attorneys for Justice and Law Students for Justice. Each spring, the Access to Justice Commission, and its partners, also hosts HELP4TN Days, which focuses on free legal advice clinics from Memphis to the Tri-Cities.

For the 2017 Pro Bono Report, the surveys used to collect information from stakeholders were redesigned using questions modeled from prior Pro Bono Reports, partner feedback, and new questions were introduced modeled after the ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono & Public Services publication Supporting Justice: A Report on the Work of Americas Lawyers. The revised questions permitted certain questions to be asked of all or nearly all of our partners. The aggregate results indicate that the three most frequently reported types of pro bono activities were speaking at a non-legal event, providing training on legal issues, and participating in an outside legal clinic. The most frequently types of people who received help were single parents, ethnic minorities, and elderly persons.

Twenty bar associations from various parts of Tennessee and seventy-nine law firms of all sizes responded to the call for information for the 2017 Pro Bono Report. Twelve bar associations reported that at least 25 percent of their members participated in pro bono projects. The majority of bar associations reported that their members provided free or reduced fee legal services to persons of limited means and supporting a legal clinic as the two most popular types of pro bono service their members provide.

The law firms reported that over 675 attorneys participated in pro bono work, with seventy-eight attorneys in reporting firms recognized as Attorneys for Justice by the Tennessee Supreme Court. Forty-nine law firms reported that more than half of their attorneys provided pro bono service, and more than half of the respondents reported that 99 to 100 percent of their attorneys provided pro bono services. Providing advice, meeting with clients, reviewing or drafting documents, writing a letter, or speaking with other attorneys were the top five types of tasks reported through law firm pro bono programs in 2017.

The 2017 Pro Bono Report illustrates that Tennessee attorneys and other equal justice partners are uniquely situated to provide much needed legal assistance to those who are unable to afford an attorney to assist them, said Justice Cornelia Clark, the courts liaison to the commission. The Tennessee Supreme Court is committed to supporting the Access to Justice initiatives throughout Tennessee.

The Tennessee Supreme Court announced its Access to Justice campaign in 2008 and subsequently created the Access to Justice Commission, which is composed of ten members from across the state. The Access to Justice Commission provides collaborative leadership to create solutions and resources that address and eliminate barriers to justice for all.

See the full Pro Bono Report here. More information about the Access to Justice Commission and pro bono opportunities can be found here.Governor Bill Haslam, along with Deputy Governor Jim Henry and Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Commissioner Dr. Shari Meghreblian, on Tuesday released the statewide water availability plan developed by subject matter experts and led by a steering committee Governor Haslam appointed earlier this year.

TDEC is now seeking feedback from the public on the plan that assesses current water resources and makes recommendations for steps that can be taken to ensure Tennessee has abundant water resources to support future population and economic growth through 2040.



Tennessee is blessed with great sources of water today, but we should never take that for granted, Governor Haslam said.

As our state grows, we must maintain our capacity to meet our water needs. That takes a plan, and I am grateful for the amount of work that has gone into this issue.

Recommendations from the plan include the following:



 Address current and impending infrastructure needs. A mechanism should be established to address unserved areas, infrastructure repair/replacement issues, and funding shortfalls faced by rural systems.

 Develop a comprehensive water resources planning process and planning cycle based on good science and information (consistent monitoring, data collection, modeling, trending, and reporting) that includes all major users and stakeholders.

 Develop a campaign to help the public and decision makers understand the value of water and natural resources and complexity in managing them.

 Encourage greater collaboration and communication concerning Tennessees water resources.

 Evaluate existing laws to assess their implementation (e.g., Water Resources Act, Watershed District Act and Water Resources Information Act) and determine and enable proper jurisdictions for regional water planning and programs.

 Use the state water-resources task force or advisory committee and regional water-resources jurisdictions to facilitate intrastate and interstate regional cooperation.

 Identify sustainable funding for all TN H 2 O recommendations.

This plan will help inform our future leaders  inside and outside of government  on important steps they can take to ensure our abundance of water, said Deputy Governor Henry, who served as chairman of the steering committee. This plan will need continuous and close attention to keep our economy and quality of life thriving for future generations.



TDEC, which helped organize the development of the plan, is now looking for feedback from the public. The feedback will supplement the report for future decision makers to evaluate as they consider the recommendations put forth by the steering committee and working groups.



We want citizens to have the ability to comment on the report and have an opportunity to add to the discussion of how we move forward, said TDEC Commissioner Dr. Shari Meghreblian. TN H2O is truly Tennessees plan, developed by hundreds of citizens from diverse professional backgrounds across the state. Engaging the general public is the logical next step in the process.



Tennessees population is estimated to double in the next 50 years. This growth, along with recent concerns over the utilization of the Memphis Sands Aquifer, droughts that have impacted numerous Tennessee communities, failures of aging drinking water and wastewater infrastructure and interstate battles over water rights, stressed the need to develop a statewide plan for addressing water availability.



In January, Governor Haslam announced the appointment of a steering committee of leaders from federal, state and local governments, industry, academia, environmental advocacy groups and public utilities to develop a statewide plan for future water availability in Tennessee. Subject matter experts in various fields were then assembled into working groups to study the current state of water resources.



Working group members interpreted and assessed a wide array of data and information sources using various models and assumptions under a limited time schedule. The resources studied include surface water, groundwater, and natural aquatic systems; related topics included water and wastewater infrastructure, water law and recreation. From that, the volunteer teams synthesized, analyzed and identified gaps in available data and information to arrive at recommendations for key focus areas for achieving and maintaining water availability in the future.



The plan is available for viewing and commenting at tn.gov/environment/tnh2o through Feb. 28, 2019.

Since 2015, Friends fans and Netflix subscribers alike have streamed hours upon hours of the hit television series. But, sadly, 2019 could be the last year to binge-watch the show on Netflix. Is Friends leaving Netflix? Find out more about the series rumored departure, plus where you can watch Friends after next year, ahead.

Friends on Netflix

In 2015, Netflix purchased the rights to stream all ten seasons (236 episodes) of Friends to subscribers in the United States. Since then, the hit television series has become available to Netflix subscribers in various countries around the world, including the United Kingdom and Ireland.

How much did Netflix pay for Friends?

Prior to the Friends Netflix deal, the series was only available on select networks (as reruns), for purchase on iTunes, or via DVD at Walmart, Target, and other retailers. In order to receive the rights, Netflix had to drop a lot of money. The streaming service paid Warner Bros. a whopping $118 million for the entire Friends catalog.

Netflix didnt just purchase the exclusive streaming rights, it also paid to have the series remastered. In order for Friends to be available in HD and widescreen on Netflixs platform, Warner Bros. had to convert the original 35 mm film masters to HD and switch over the format from its original 43 aspect ratio to 169.

Is Friends leaving Netflix?

Rumor has it, Friends is leaving Netflix in January 2019. According to reports  and angry Twitter reactions  the streaming service added the expiration date to the television series details page over the weekend and Friends fans have already expressed their sorrows. Im canceling #Netflix if they remove Friends, wrote one Twitter user. Netflix is really removing Friends on January 1st and the only reason I have an account is to rewatch the same episodes of the show whenever Im bored so I guess its time to cancel my subscription, wrote another. Another Friends fan expressed their frustrations in a very relatable Ross Geller gif:

Me to netflix after finding out theyre taking off friends on Jan 1: pic.twitter.com/jH3XU4VrGq  Reagan Gonzalez (@regs6500) December 3, 2018

Netflix did not take the reaction lightly and worked with Warner Bros. to extend their streaming deal. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the platform agreed to renew their contract with the studio on a non-exclusive basis for 2019. The Holiday Armadillo has granted your wish: Friends will still be there for you in the US throughout 2019, Netflix posted on Twitter on Monday.

The Holiday Armadillo has granted your wish: Friends will still be there for you in the US throughout 2019 pic.twitter.com/Yd0VqRzk3r  Netflix US (@netflix) December 3, 2018

Where can I watch Friends after 2019?

The reason for Warner Bros. and Netflixs new non-exclusive agreement? WarnerMedias new streaming platform is set to launch in the last quarter of 2019, and will likely include the entire Friends catalog (along with other series from the studio).

After AT&T purchased Time Warner, the network made quick strides to change strategy across multiple sectors, including its new streaming service. In addition to Warner Bros. productions, the new streaming platform will include HBO series (as AT&T also now owns the network), too. With the future of cable at threat, the network is pining to be more like Netflix, which explains its removal of one of Netflixs most popular show offerings (and one of the most popular series of all time).

Those looking to watch Friends in 2019 can still do so via their U.S. Netflix subscriptions. However, it is unclear if the show will still be available in other countries. And, Friends will likely become available on WarnerMedias streaming service in late 2019. In addition, you can still access reruns on various cable networks, purchase episodes on iTunes, or buy the entire DVD catalog at select retailers.

Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook!Bravos Unanchored premieres on December 3, and its almost guaranteed to get you dreaming of your own luxurious yacht vacation. The all-new show follows a group of friends as they set sail on the catamaran Blue Ocean. Their destination? The island paradise of the Bahamas for BucketLust, one of the worlds most exclusive floating festivals.

What is BucketLust?

On Unanchored, the cast is joining 350 people on 35 other yachts for a huge floating party in the Bahamas called BucketLust. So whats the deal with BucketLust? Its a one-of-a-kind vacation for people who want something totally unique from their next trip.

Our mission is to deliver unique sailing events, in bucket list locations around the world, with like-minded adventurers, party lovers, brave souls, trend setters and trail blazers, per the BucketLust website.

Essentially, its an epic AF party on the high seas, according to BucketLust organizers. Basically, we want to redefine what mind-blowing means so that the next time you Google it, youre tickled by a photo of us in a hazardous amount of dayglow, a 30-strong flotilla of yachts docked in the middle of the ocean, lasers cutting through the stars, and an army of fists punching the sky as our resident DJ makes the high-heavens bounce, shake and goddamn quake.

In addition to the Bahamas, BucketLusters have traveled to Mykonos, Belize, Sardinia, and Lake Tahoe.

How you can attend a BucketLust event

If Unanchored has you itching to get off of dry land and onto the ocean, we have good news. You can experience BucketLust for yourself. The company has two future events on the horizon.

First up is the St. Martin route. The week-long trip heads to St. Martin, Anguilla, and St. Barts over the New Years weekend (December 29, 2018 through January 5, 2019).

The Dodecanese route starts from the Greek island of Kos and hits stunning islands in the Aegean sea. There are two sailings, one from June 29-July 6, 2019, and the second from July 6-13.

To join the BucketLust party, you and your friends need to book an entire yacht. Normally, that means a group of 8 to 10 people, half men and half women.

Yachts are sold out for the St. Martin route, but if you check the BucketLust crew finder page on Facebook, youll still find some people looking to fill spaces on their boat.

Yachts are still available for the Dodacanese route. Prices range from about $6,997 to $13,375 for an entire yacht, or $875 or $1,672 per person. That fee includes the yacht, the skipper, some meals, and access to BucketLust events. But youll need to pay for most of your food and drinks, marina fees, fuel, and transportation costs to and from the event. You can also book a chef for an additional $738.

How to experience BucketLust for free

To celebrate the premiere of Bravos Unanchored, BucketLust is giving away one cabin for two on the Dodacanese route. You can enter by signing up for the BucketLust email list, following The BucketLust on Instagram, or liking them on Facebook. Entries are open until January 15, 2019.Oak Island earned the nickname Money Pit for a reason. And, one of its financial backers, Marty Lagina often feels the repercussions of the dig  in his wallet. With so much money spent on the infamous treasure hunt, depicted on Historys hit reality series, The Curse of Oak Island, many fans want to know: What is Marty Laginas job?

Find out how The Curse of Oak Island star makes his money, plus what his net worth is, ahead.

Marty Lagina net worth

As one of the core financial backers of the Oak Island treasure hunt, many want to know: What is Marty Laginas net worth? Although there are a few claims out there  some believe hes worth around $40 million, while others think its much less than that  Celebrity Net Worth believes Marty Laginas net worth is somewhere close to $100 million.

What is Marty Laginas job?

While its unlikely that Marty Lagina is footing the entire treasure hunt bill, he has invested a significant amount of money into the project. Find out how The Curse of Oak Island star makes his money, below.

The Curse of Oak Island

Despite spending money on the shows premise, Marty Lagina likely gets a cut from History for his appearances and work on the show. In addition to starring on the popular reality series, Marty Lagina is also one of the shows producers.

Some suggest that since he is investing some of his own money into the project, he likely puts whatever he makes back into the treasure hunt, as the operation requires quite a bit of financial backing.

He owns a winery

Marty Lagina is worth millions  and much of his fortune comes from his businesses. The reality star started with a 3-acre winery called Row 7, but now owns a much larger operation called Mari Vineyards in Traverse City, Michigan. Although he spends much of his summers on Oak Island, Marty Lagina is dedicated to developing new growing strategies using green energy and providing grapes with extra sunlight and warmth via tunnels in the vineyard.

He also owns a wind turbine company

With a passion for green energy, Marty Lagina also owns a wind turbine company called Heritage Sustainable. Its the largest wind turbine business in Michigan and one of the largest in the Mid-West.

Prior to Heritage Sustainable, Marty Lagina owned another green energy company called Terra Energy in the 1990s. The business was one of the first to focus on extracting natural gasses from shale. He sold this business to CMS Energy for $58 million.

Investors

While the money details on Oak Island are unclear, many fans suggest Marty and his brother, Rick Lagina (along with the rest of the Oak Island cast) make money for the digging project via investors. According to several Reddit users, it is likely much of the project is backed by investments from others interested in the Money Pit and potential treasure.

Oak Island Tours

Marty Lagina is part owner of Oak Island. The Oak Island Tours Incorporated is a business partnership between much of the shows cast (Rick and Marty Lagina, Craig Tester, Dan Blankenship, and Alan J. Kostrzewa). And although he spends a lot of money on the operation, he also likely makes money from the tours that occur there every year.

Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook!We can't seem to find the page you are looking for.

You may have typed the address incorrectly or you may have used an outdated link.Media Buzz proved that hes not fake news when he stalked Classic Banker from the pocket, then shot the Lightning Lane to pull off the 8-1 upset in Mondays $20,000 Preferred Handicap Trot at The Meadows.

A closing second last week, Media Buzz generated lukewarm support stepping up to the Preferred Handicap. However, when Dan Rawlings gave him the perfect pocket trip, Media Buzz responded by downing the 1-1 Classic Banker by three-quarters of a length in 1:56.4. TSM Photo Bugger rallied for show.

Steve Bush trains Media Buzz, a four-year-old Explosive Matter-Lady Bar gelding who extended his career bankroll to $170,160, and owns with Alvira Fassett and Dennis Fassett.

Dave Palone collected four wins  including three for trainer Trent Stohler  on the 13-race card.

(The Meadows)The Ontario Standardbred Adoption Society (OSAS) has announced its support for Ontario Xtreme Cowboy, an exciting, competitive series that helps showcase the versatility of retired Standardbreds.

Starting in 2019, OSAS will sponsor the High Point Standardbred Champion and Reserve for those that compete in the sanctioned Xtreme Cowboy events. In addition, it will also organize clinics to be held at Karen Dallimores Sweet Grass Farm in Erin, Ont. These days will be specific to anyone wanting to try this new sport.

Becoming involved with Xtreme Cowboy will capitalize on the exposure of our breed to many people who may not be familiar with harness horses, explained OSASs administrator Joanne Colville. I look forward to this new venture and exposing our versatile breed to many others throughout the province.

Wed like to sincerely thank Liz and Ron Waples, who previously sponsored the Standardbred component of our events, noted board member Lori Ferguson. We appreciate OSAS coming on board and assisting us with exposing more people to Standardbreds. This seems a natural fit.

Ontario Xtreme Cowboy will host several events in 2019 at various venues across the province, a complete list will be distributed on their website when finalized.

(With files from OSAS)The Manitoba Great Western Harness Racing Circuit held its annual general meeting this past Saturday in Killarney, where Trevor Williams was voted in as the organizations new president, taking over from previous president Darryl Mason.

Darryl has put a lot of effort and dedication into the Manitoba Great Western. I am happy to grab the torch and help this important industry succeed, said Williams, the former vice president of the Manitoba Harness Horsemen Inc. (MHHI).

Hailing from Winnipeg, Williams, a bank manager by trade, has been an integral part of the industry, owning and training as well as sitting on the board of the MHHI.

This new role will utilize Williams vision and passion for the industry in Manitoba, and will allow him to keep continued focus on the stabilization of Manitoba harness racing. He added, We are in a transition period, and I believe that the time is now to push forward and build towards a better future, for not only the current horsemen and women in Manitoba, but future generations as well.

A recent study was released by the Manitoba Provincial Government indicating a solution that would see the Manitoba harness racing industry race in a larger market like Winnipeg and had made mention to the Red River Exhibition.

We are still very much looking at the option of a strong partner like the Red River Ex, stated Williams. They bring to the table creativity, business management, and experience that is unparalleled and we would be crazy not to explore that option.

Williams also added that industry participants, including the towns involved on the Manitoba Great Western Harness Racing Circuit, plan to meet with the Red River Ex in the near future to discuss plans.

A press release from the Manitoba Great Western Harness Racing Circuit appears below.

Newly Elected President for Manitoba Great Western Harness Racing Circuit Provides Leadership Through Transition

The Manitoba Harness Racing industry is pleased to announce that Trevor Williams has been elected president of the Manitoba Great Western Harness Racing Circuit (MGWHRC).

Williams takes the reins from past president Darryl Mason who had led the organization for many years. I am excited by the renewed sense of co-operation between all those involved in the harness racing industry and I look forward to developing plans as we work through this transition period, said Williams.

The election of a new president supports the efforts being made by this important industry as they work through the transition period and implement changes recently brought forward by Minister Eichler to ensure the sustainability and growth of the industry as a whole.

The Sustainability Review for the Manitoba Horse Racing Industry recently released by the Province of Manitoba states that the economic impact of horse racing in Manitoba is upwards of $142 million. In addition, this important industry provides hundreds of jobs for our province, generates direct tax revenue and is an important contributor to the economy of Manitoba  in both urban and rural settings.

To that end, in many rural towns throughout Manitoba, harness racing is an important activity both from the social and economic activity it brings to those communities.

We are very fortunate that harness racing comes through our town. The activity from those race days provides a significant economic boost to the local business community, said Jan Moody, Miami representative and board member MGWHRC.

As members of this important industry we support the changes taking place that ensure the longevity of our sport, said Roland Rey, president of the Manitoba Standardbred Sires and Breeders Association.

The breeding, training and racing of horses in Manitoba is a significant economic activity that supports agricultural linkages and attracts visitors to our province, said Eichler. We look forward to working with president Trevor Williams and the MGWHRC to ensure the sustainability of horse racing in our province for years to come.

The current harness racing circuit offers 10 race days per year, which are spread across four locations throughout Manitoba, including Miami, Killarney, Glenboro and Holland. The Sustainability Review suggests maintaining those 10 summer race days and adding up to six race days during the annual Red River Exhibition in June. The review goes on to suggest that this change will not only elevate the profile of the harness racing industry, but will provide stability and expansion of the circuit, which is imperative in order to realize the growth of harness racing in our province.

(MGWHRC)Longtime horseman and caretaker Nigel MacCharles of Guelph, Ont. passed away on Wednesday, Nov. 21 after a brief battle with cancer. He was 63.

Nigel worked most of his life with horses and worked with such trainers as Lloyd Gilmour and Dave Green.

Every horse no matter what caliber always received his full attention and was treated like they were the best. Nigel was a friend to every horse.

His family wishes to thank Guelph General Hospital for his care, and any support to the hospital would be appreciated.

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Nigel MacCharles.The Race Track Industry Program announced its annual award winners during the 45th annual Global Symposium on Racing Awards Luncheon held Tuesday (Dec. 4).

The 2018 Clay Puett Award was awarded to longtime director and CEO of Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, Joe Harper, for his outstanding contributions to the racing industry.

The 2018 John K. Goodman Alumni Award was awarded to Peggy Hendershot, NTRAs senior vice president of legislative affairs, for being one of RTIPs many distinguished alumni who have made an outstanding contribution to the industry.

The third, RTIPs 2018 Distinguished Student Award, was given to the RTIP student who the faculty feels best embodies the qualities and performance that represent the goal of bridging education with opportunity. This years recipient was Zachary Taylor. The Race for Education also awarded Zachary Taylor the 2018 XpressBet Scholarship.

The Turf Publicists of America (TPA) announced Alexander Sausville as the winner of their 2018 TPA Scholarship. This scholarship is given to a RTIP student with a strong record of academic achievement and an interest in journalism or publicity.

For the list of current and former RTIP award winners, please visit ua-rtip.org.

(RTIP)Farms run by Japanese Americans once numbered around 200 on the Peninsula. Now, Rancho Palos Verdes will evict the last such farm next summer.Verizon and Samsung announced their plan to bring one of the first commercial 5G smartphones to market in the first half of 2019. The companies will unveil a proof of concept, powered by the upcoming flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon Mobile Platform with the Snapdragon X50 5G NR modem and antenna modules with integrated RF transceiver, RF front-end and antenna elements, at the annual Qualcomm Snapdragon Technology Summit in Maui this week. This is the result of years of collaboration to deploy an end-to-end solution for commercial 5G services using Samsung network equipment and personal devices.

5G mobility service will provide massive bandwidth, greater opportunities for connectivity and improved network reliability. When fully implemented, it will offer capacity and download speed many times faster than todays 4G LTE network. Along with network latency that is faster than the blink of an eye.

Brian Higgins, Vice President, Wireless Device and Product Marketing at Verizon, said, 5G will usher in a new era of mobile connectivity, allowing people to connect to data, experiences and other people in ways never thought possible. Together, Samsung and Verizon have made huge gains in bringing 5G commercial services to consumers in several cities. Now, were partnering to create a smartphone to put the power of 5G in the palm of your hand.

Verizon launched the worlds first commercial 5G service in October when 5G Home went live in Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and Sacramento. Verizon 5G mobility service will go live in early 2019 and expand rapidly. Once available, Samsung 5G smartphone users will immediately benefit from the speed and capacity of Verizons 5G Ultra-Wideband network, and over time, experience all the new and exciting services, games and features that will be available.

Samsung offers end-to-end solutions that are accelerating the wide-scale adoption of 5G and help us realize our vision of truly connected living, said Justin Denison, senior vice president, Mobile Product Strategy and Marketing at Samsung Electronics America. Were proud to work alongside innovative partners like Verizon and Qualcomm Technologies to deliver a smartphone that will fundamentally transform how people work and play.

Samsung has partnered with Verizon on its 5G Home offering since the beginning of 2018 and has been a leader in the 5G space for even longer. Samsung has been an active contributor, with Verizon, to develop standards that make 5G deployment possible and was the first company to earn FCC approval for its 5G commercial products.

@Technuter.com News ServiceThe Undead Archives

I have finally salvaged my pre-Blogger TDR archives and added them into Blogger. They are almost totally in the form of one giant post for each month. And the formatting strayed from the originals. Sorry. But historians everywhere can rejoice that this treasure trove of my thoughts is restored to the world.We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

HELP IS AVAILABLE

The Womens Center of Brazoria County has two 24-hour hotlines where a trained specialist can help if you or a loved one were assaulted. Call 1-800-243-5788. For the northern end of the county, call 281-585-0902.

Anyone suffering PTSD can go to https://www.myptsd.com/, an online forum providing community support and a 24-hour chat room for those in need of immediate help.

If you are experiencing thoughts of suicide or know someone who is, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.Ross Ramsey is executive editor and co-founder of The Texas Tribune, a nonpartisan, nonprofit media organization that informs Texans about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. This analysis originated at texastribune.com. Contact Ramsey at rramsey@texastribune.org.The Duchess of Cambridge's mother has given her second interview in a week as she continues to speak publicly following a 15-year silence.

Carole Middleton, 63, broke personal protocol to speak to two publications - and pose for accompanying photo shoots - after declining media requests in an apparent bid to maintain the privacy of her daughter Kate, 36, son-in-law Prince William, 36, and their young family.

Well versed in living in the public sphere, Mrs Middleton spoke to Good Housekeeping about her company Party Pieces but seemed less inclined to talk about her children.

Speaking out: Carole Middleton, 63, broke personal protocol to speak to two publications - and pose for accompanying photo shoots - after declining media requests for 15 years. Pictured, the mother-of-three in the January issue of Good Housekeeping magazine

It comes days after her interview with Daily Telegraph journalist Lisa Armstrong, which was published in two parts over the weekend.

Speaking in Good Housekeeping's January issue, the mother-of-three told how she still turns to Kate, Pippa, 35, and James, 31, for business advice.

She said: 'My children have all worked for the business. Catherine started the First Birthday brand  she chose the products and looked after all the imagery and the catalogue production.

'Pippa set up the blog, as we didn't have one. James came up with the idea of personalised cakes and got them off the ground for us.

Support: Mrs Middleton told how she still turns to Kate, 36, Pippa, 35, and James, 31, for business advice. Pictured, with daughter the Duchess of Cambridge at Royal Ascot last year

Close bond: Mrs Middleton husband Michael, daughter Pippa and son-in-law James at Prince Louis' christening at St James's Palace in July

'Because they all grew up with me working, Party Pieces has been very much part of our lives and what we talked about. I still ask their advice and say "What do you think of this?"'

Carole, 63, who celebrates 30 years of success with Party Pieces this year, told how she started the company after she and husband Michael, 69, returned to the UK after living abroad.

'In 1987, I had two young children and was pregnant with my son, James,' she recalled. 'We had come back to the UK from living abroad and I was a full-time mum.

'I didn't want to miss out on my children growing up, so I considered starting my own business.'

In the public eye: Mrs Middleton with daughters Kate and Pippa at the Goring Hotel in London on the eve of the royal wedding in April 2011

The idea for Party Pieces came from her own personal need for supplies for her own children's parties. After putting a notice in her daughters' playgroup, she quickly found there was a demand for a dedicated business.

She continued: 'For the first year, business came through advertising in playgroups. Our big break came when I used a company called Red House Books to send out flyers about Party Pieces.

'We put out 10,000 leaflets, which gave a huge boost to our orders. I thought if we could do that on 10,000, why not send out 100,000? We could scale up.

Fourth grandchild: Pippa Middleton and her husband James Matthews, pictured at Princess Eugenie's wedding in October, welcomed their son Arthur just a few days later and he will be celebrating his first Christmas with the Middletons in Berkshire

'We realised we needed a warehouse, so we moved to a small start-up unit in Hungerford. In 1995, we moved to Child's Court Farm, where we've been ever since.'

Rare interview: Carole's interview appears in the January issue of Good Housekeeping, pictured

In her interview with the Daily Telegraph, Mrs Middleton, whose grandson Prince George is the future king, described herself as 'normal' and a 'hands-on' mother and grandmother, and said family comes first in her life.

The 63-year-old said her family is 'paramount', adding: 'They come first and that will always be the case, even when I have more me time.'

She added: 'My biggest fear (as her offspring grew up) was that I'd lose my family, but we've stayed close. '

Referring to William and her daughter Pippa's husband James Matthews, a hedge fund manager, she said: 'I have two lovely sons-in-law and I hope I'll have a lovely daughter-in-law.'

Mrs Middleton is grandmother to Prince George, five, Princess Charlotte, three, and Prince Louis, seven months. Her youngest grandson Arthur, the first child of Pippa and James, was born in October.

The full interview appears in the January issue of Good Housekeeping, on sale 5th December. For more exclusive content visit www.goodhousekeeping.co.uk/carole-middletonElizabeth Hurley is putting her trademark pout to good use, posing up a storm in the second annual CR Women calendar that serves as a tribute to 'strength and beauty' - while helping to raise awareness, and funds, for breast cancer research.

The 53-year-old actress and model leads a cast of stunning fashion stars in the 2019 edition of the calendar, appearing alongside the likes of Karlie Kloss, Carolyn Murphy, and Joan Smalls - all of whom work with her as Estee Lauder campaign stars - as well as a number of famous faces who were handpicked by the calendar's creator, CR Fashion Book editor Carine Roitfeld.

According to Carine, 2019's issue of the calendar - which follows on from last year's star-studded edition that saw A-listers like Gigi Hadid and Candice Swanepoel posing up for its pages - was about highlighting the 'personality and individuality' of the models, while paying tribute to the pink ribbon, which has long served as a symbol of breast cancer awareness.

Leading light: Elizabeth Hurley, 53, heads up a cast of stunning fashion stars in the second annual CR Women calendar

'I wanted to highlight the personality and individuality of these beautiful women tied to the strong symbol of breast cancer awareness,' the 64-year-old explained in a statement about the calendar, which will retail for $150, with 100 per cent of the selling price being donated directly to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF).

'The images showcase each models femininity with a ribbon incorporated into the looks.'

Speaking to DailyMail.com, she added: 'Each model was selected for her unique style, personality and energy.'

This year, Carine also partnered with Estee Lauder, which has long been at the forefront of fundraising for breast cancer awareness, working closely with actress Liz, who serves as the Global Ambassador for the Estee Lauder Companies Breast Cancer Campaign.

So it was only natural that Carine would choose some of the brand's most beloved spokesmodels to appear in the calendar alongside Liz - as well as some of the industry's biggest, and most outspoken, stars.

'Partnering Estee Lauders powerful campaign models with the four additional women we casted was a natural fit,' Carine told DailyMail.com of her decisions regarding who would be lucky enough to star in this year's calendar.

Strike a pose: American-Egyptian model Anok Yai also features in the 2019 issue of the calendar, which was described as a 'tribute to women's strength and beauty'

As well as Liz, Karlie, Carolyn, and Joan, the cast includes Hilary Rhoda, Grace Elizabeth, Fei Fei Sun, Anok Yai, Halima Aden, Danielle Herrington, Lakshmi Menon and Birgit Kos.

'We created a group of individuals that are pushing boundaries and using their voices to stand up for issues they believe in,' Carine added.

Through the calendar, the former Vogue Paris editor also hoped to celebrate the enduring strength of women around the world - a fitting aim in the wake of a year that has seen the rise of the #MeToo movement and an increasing focus on gender equality.

In its official release, the calendar is described as a 'tribute to womens strength and beauty', while the inspiration is explained as coming from 'the natural uniqueness and ethereality of flowers mixed with the iconic symbol for breast cancer awareness, the pink ribbon'.

Explaining why she chose to dedicate the 2019 calendar to the fight against breast cancer, Carine noted that she wanted to show her support for the millions of people who have been affected by the disease, and to help those who are working every day to treat and prevent it.

'Breast cancer is a universal issue that touches everyone  if not personally, then ones relative or friend,' she said.

'We wanted to show our support for the BCRFs dedication to help end the fight which has affected so many incredible individuals.

Flower power: Supermodel Fei Fei Sun models an incredible floral headpiece in the calendar, which was shot by Mario Sorrenti, and benefits the Breast Cancer Research Foundation

'My team is dedicated to creating positive change worldwide - last year with our calendar we supported The Special Olympics and this year [we will support] Breast Cancer Awareness.'

For Liz, the release of the calendar comes at a particularly poignant time; in October, she spoke out to reveal that one of her best friends is fighting late-stage breast cancer.

'I have a very good friend of mine [and] I've just discovered she found a lump and she didn't tell anyone,' she said in a tearful interview with British TV show This Morning.

'She sat on it, she finally went to the doctor and has been diagnosed. It's a late-stage breast cancer.'

Expanding further on the purpose behind the creation of the calendar, Carine added that she wanted to create a project that 'is both visually beautiful and charitable'.

She said: 'Closing 2018 on a meaningful note is very important for my team.

'With this project we are shining a light on the invaluable research the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) has accomplished and giving others the opportunity to show their support as well.

'Its an honor to partner with these passionate young women - like the ones in the calendar - and give them an opportunity to use their platforms and voices to advocate for the issues that deeply matter to them.

'Its important to give them an outlet to do that.'Crown Princess Mary of Denmark joined the Danish Prime Minister in Copenhagen to celebrate the United Nations International Disability Day on Monday.

The mother-of-four met with members of the 'Handicaporganisationernes Hus', or Disabled Person's House, in Taastrup, Copenhagen, and clapped warmly during the celebrations.

Wearing a $2,032 midi length Alexander McQueen tartan skirt and a demure long-sleeved black top to the inaugural event, Princess Mary shone standing next to dignitaries and Chairman of the Danish Association for People with Disabilities, Thorkild Olesen.

Crown Princess Mary of Denmark joined the Danish Prime Minister in Copenhagen to celebrate the United Nations International Disability Day on Monday

The charming mother-of-four met eagerly with members of the 'Handicaporganisationernes Hus', or Disabled Person's House, in Taastrup, Zealand

As a patron of the organisation her Royal Highness was always set to attend the event, with this year's focus on helping more young people with disabilities have access to an education.

Mary accessorised on the day with diamond drop earrings, red nail varnish and sky-high stilettos, keeping her almond-coloured hair long and sleek.

The UN launched Disability Day in 1992 with the aim of promoting the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities in all facets of the community.

As a patron of the organisation her Royal Highness was always set to attend the event, with this year's focus on helping more young people with disabilities have access to an education

Mary accessorised on the day with diamond drop earrings, red nail varnish and sky-high stilettos, keeping her almond-coloured hair long and sleek

Just last week the Crown Princess donned traditional African dress during a visit to the Kalama Conservancy in Kenya.

The royal was joined by Danish Minister for Development Ulla Toernaes on Tuesday, but husband Crown Prince Frederik did not accompany her on the trip.

Mary has taken several excursions to Africa in the past, including a visit to Burkina Faso in 2016.

Just last week the Crown Princess donned traditional African dress during a visit to the Kalama Conservancy in Kenya

Mary has had a busy month so far, joining husband Frederik, 50, in presenting the Crown Prince Couple's Prizes 2018

The trip was focused on promoting the importance of sexual and reproductive health of women and girls in the region.

Mary has had a busy month so far, joining husband Frederik, 50, in presenting the Crown Prince Couple's Prizes 2018.

The couple put on a loved-up display at the event, following suggestions of marriage troubles.Most women are familiar with the act of catcalling, with many falling victim to the immature behaviour themselves.

But in a bid to see how chronic the issue has become in Australia, a 22-year-old woman named Tyler took to the streets of a popular beach in Perth to see how many times she was accosted by passers-by.

For reference, her male counterpart Nathan stood in the same area and pretended to take a selfie on his phone as cars drove past.

Scroll down for video

A 22-year-old woman named Tyler (pictured) took to the streets of a popular beach in Perth to see how many times she was accosted by passersby

The social experiment, which is part of SBS' new series 'Is Australia Sexist?', saw producers set a timer for a little over 90 seconds and wait to see what the public reaction would be.

Tyler, who was wearing an off-the-shoulder yellow top and black shorts, was immediately yelled at by men driving past in their vehicles, with one group even shouting 'get your t**s out for the boys' as they hurtled along.

In total, she was verbally harassed an astonishing eight times, although the young woman admitted she wasn't surprised by the behaviour.

Tyler, who was wearing an off-the-shoulder yellow top and black shorts, was immediately yelled at by men driving past in their vehicles

In the video Tyler noted that there was no one age range that was hurling abuse at her

'It was what I expected unfortunately, which is quite disappointing,' she told SBS.

In the video Tyler noted that the abuse being hurled at her came from a variety of age ranges.

'They're older than my dad and they're tooting at me,' she said during filming.

'It's never when females are in the car. They're never doing it in front of their sisters and mothers.'

Perhaps unsurprisingly Nathan, who was wearing a muscle singlet and black shorts, wasn't wolf-whistled once

According to the series and an SBS-funded survey, 22 per cent of men believe wolf-whistling is a compliment to women

Perhaps unsurprisingly Nathan, who was wearing a muscle singlet and black shorts, wasn't wolf-whistled once, merely commenting that his arm might 'get a bit sore' in this position.

According to the series and an SBS-funded survey, 22 per cent of men believe wolf-whistling is a compliment to women.

But that's not how the women themselves feel.

'It just makes me feel a little bit anxious that people are shouting at me... it can be a little bit intimidating when you're by yourself,' Tyler said in response to her experience.

'Is Australia Sexist?' premieres on SBS tonight at 8.40pm. The show will also be available to stream on SBS On Demand.The Queen has given her Christmas trees a personal touch this year - with bespoke crown and carriage decorations.

Three impressive fir trees have been erected in the Marble Hall at Buckingham Palace, adorned with royal-themed hangings.

Some of the personalised decorations appear to have been inspired by the 92-year-old monarch's coronation crown, while others have the word 'Palace' embroidered on them.

Meanwhile, a traditional garland decorated with baubles has been put up along the grand staircase, in keeping with the festive spirit.

Three beautifully-decorated Christmas trees have been put up in the Marble Hall at Buckingham Palace (above)

The Christmas trees feature royal-themed decorations, including Her Majesty's crowns

A traditional garland decorated with baubles has been put up along the grand staircase at Buckingham Palace in keeping with the festive spirit

Footage shot inside the Queen's London residence showed three towering Christmas trees being put in place in the vast Marble Hall near the Grand Entrance.

The video, posted on the official Royal Family Twitter account, declared: 'It's officially Christmas at Buckingham Palace!'

Hundreds of white lights were added to the trees, which according to the video, have been decorated in 'royal style', using Royal Collection Christmas decorations.

The crown decoration featuring the word 'Palace' embroidered on it can be bought from the Royal Collection Trust's online shop, priced at 14.95, along with a matching decoration reading 'Buckingham'.

The Queen (above in November)will no doubt ensure that Buckingham Palace looks the part when she hosts members of the royal family as part of her annual Christmas lunch this month.

The decorations adorning the trees include a number of crowns, including one embroidered with the word 'Palace'

A royal carriage also features among the decorations, perhaps in nod to the two royal weddings we saw this year

Buckingham Palace shared a video showing the trees being erected on the official Royal Family Twitter page

In the footage shared by the Palace, staff were shown standing on a ladder to reach the top of the central tree, which stood 15ft tall on its white plinth, as they covered it with lights.

The trees were grown at Windsor and taken to the Palace at the start of December, with workers securing them firmly in place around the trunk on the plinths, with pieces of wood.

The Queen will no doubt want to ensure that Buckingham Palace looks the part when she hosts members of the royal family as part of her annual pre-Christmas lunch later this month.

The traditional lunch at the Palace usually takes place mid-week, shortly before the royal family head to Sandringham for the 25th.

The annual event provides the monarch with the opportunity to spend time with members of the extended family who will not be joining her at her Norfolk estate, as well as senior royals.

Members of staff were seen hard at work as they busily decorated the three fir trees at Buckingham Palace, using ladders to reach the top

The large fir trees, which were grown in Windsor, were unwrapped after being moved to the Marble Hall at Buckingham Palace

The festive garland decorated with colourful bauble has also been put up along the grand staircase at Buckingham Palace

The Queen and her family usually wait until the day before Christmas to decorate their tree at Sandringham House in Norfolk, gathering in the White Drawing Room on Christmas Eve to put the finishing touches to a 20ft tree cut from the estate.

This year, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, along with George, Charlotte, and Louis, will be celebrating Christmas this year in Norfolk, despite previous reports that they would be spending the day with the Middletons.

Insiders have suggested that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will again be staying with William and Kate at their Norfolk home Anmer Hall, which is a short drive away from Sandringham.

It comes amid rumours of a rift between the Cambridges and Sussexes, following the announcement Meghan and Harry will be moving away from Kensington Palace to Frogmore Cottage in Windsor next year.

Christmas preparations appear under way at all the Queen's residences, with a spectacular 20ft Nordmann fir was erected at St George's Hall in Windsor Castle last week.

The tree - decorated with golden baubles, pine cones and hundreds of fairy lights -is on display to the public in the run-up to Christmas.

The towering fir tree at Windsor was also decorated with miniature crowns, in a nod to the Queen.Bristol alumnus and NASA astronaut Anne McClain has donned astronaut boots and launched in the Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft yesterday [3 December], on her first mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

She launched from the Russian-leased Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 11:31 GMT with two other crew members. The launch was successful, and the Soyuz spacecraft docked with the ISS at 17:23 GMT.

The crew, which also includes David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency and Oleg Kononenko of Russian space agency Roscosmos, will man the ISS for six-and-a-half months.

During the mission McClain and crew, will conduct a muscle loss experiment and embark on a spacewalk to probe a hole that caused the ISS to experience a loss of air pressure in August.

McClain was born in Spokane, Washington and came over to the UK on a Marshall scholarship in 2002. She attended the University of Bath before moving to the University of Bristol and graduating with a distinction in her International Relations Masters in 2005. During her Masters, McClain researched the security burden in developing countries.

After completing her graduate studies, McClain returned to America and soon became a highly distinguished pilot in the USA Armed Forces. In June 2013, McClain was selected as a member of the 21st NASA astronaut class, completing her astronaut candidate training in 2015. This is her first visit to the ISS.

The mission was originally scheduled to launch on December 20, but officials brought it forward to avoid the ISS being left unmanned when its current crew return to earth.

This is the first Soyuz launch since the aborted launch in October, where the astronauts on-board were forced to conduct an emergency landing. According to Roscosmos, the problem was caused by a faulty sensor.

The crew will capture Space Xs Dragon cargo resupply aircraft in the next few days. Cargo will include the first UK-led experiment to head to the ISS. The experiment is using worms to understand muscle loss in space.Chanel has announced it will no longer use exotic animal pelts in its collections, making it one of the first major luxury labels to turn its back on crocodile and lizard skin.

In a move hailed by animal rights groups, Chanel's head of fashion Bruno Pavlovsky said the brand 'would no longer use exotic skins in our future creations', adding it was becoming more difficult to source high-quality pelts ethically.

The new policy will also see it ban fur from animals such as raccoon dog, mink and rabbit.

Handbags, coats and shoes made from snake, crocodile and stingray skin command premium prices, with vintage Chanel handbags made from pelts selling for upwards of 20,000 online.

Python skin bags were removed from Chanel's official website on Tuesday, although second-hand bags are still on sale for tens of thousands of pounds on vintage sites.

Chanel has announced it is banning the use of animal skin in its collections, although vintage handbags are still available to buy elsewhere (this stingray skin cross-body bag is currently on sale for 2,968.53 at 1stdibs.co.uk)

Karl Lagerfeld, Chanel's longtime creative director (pictured in Paris in October 2017) said that he used fur so rarely at Chanel that he couldn't remember when it last featured on the catwalk

Chanel's veteran designer Karl Lagerfeld told the website Women's Wear Daily that the French brand had chosen itself to drop exotic skins rather than it 'being imposed on us', adding: 'We did it because it's in the air.

'It's a free choice,' he added, insisting that he used fur so rarely at Chanel that he couldn't remember when it last featured on the catwalk.

Animal rights groups welcomed the move, with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) hailing Chanel as giving a lead to other luxury brands.

'There's nothing trendy about using stolen skins from tormented animals for clothing or accessories,' it said.

'It's clear that the time is now for all companies, like Louis Vuitton, to follow Chanel's lead and move to innovative materials that spare countless animals a miserable life and a violent, painful death,' PETA added.

This second-hand Chanel quilted chain bag, from the 1990s, is made from lizard skin and while animal pelt products have now been banned from the label's website this one is available to buy for 3,360.61 on 1stdibs.co.uk

This vintage Chanel 2.55 shoulder bag is cut from crocodile skin, now banned in the label's collections, and is listed for an eye-watering 22,000 on FarFetch

Although top fashion brands have been under heavy pressure to renounce fur, with Gucci, Armani, Versace and John Galliano all deciding to go fur free, Chanel's decision to stop using exotic skins came out of the blue.

Animal rights campaigns against the use of crocodile and snake skin products have not got the same traction with the public as similar crusades against fur, with some luxury brands even investing in reptile farms so they can guarantee that skins are sourced ethically.

Humane Society International (HSI) UK Executive Director Claire Bass said 'Fur is a bloody business that condemns millions of animals to miserable lives on fur farms, so HSI is delighted that Chanel has become yet another global fashion giant to drop fur from its collections.

A Chanel Grey Python Mini Flap Bag on sale from HardlyEverWornIt (HEWI) for 3,950. The value of second-hand pieces like this vintage number is now likely to soar

'The last two years have seen an unprecedented wave of the world's top designers forgoing fur, and every single one strengthens the message that fur is firmly out of fashion.

'Chanel is also turning its back on exotic skins, saving countless crocodiles, lizards, snakes and stingrays from suffering.

'The growth in fabulous luxury and eco-friendly fibres that don't involve animals suffering and dying is helping to drive forward this new era of ethical fashion.

'Fur-using brands such as Fendi, Dolce & Gabbana and Louis Vuitton need to take heed and embrace this fur-free future.'The Duchess of Sussex secretly attended Michelle Obama's talk in London on Monday night, it has been revealed.

Mother-to-be Meghan, 37, kept a low profile as she watched the former First Lady, 54, discuss her new autobiography with Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in front of a 2,700-strong audience at the Southbank Centre.

Following the event Meghan met Mrs Obama backstage, in what has been described as a 'power meeting'. The women are understood to have discussed a range of topics during the 'long private audience', including pregnancy, raising a family and their shared interest in promoting girls' education, the Evening Standard reported.

It is not known whether Meghan has met Mrs Obama before but the pair have not been seen together publicly.

However her husband Prince Harry, 34, enjoys a famously close relationship with both the former First Lady and her husband President Obama, whom he interviewed while guest editor of BBC Radio 4's Today programme in December last year.

The Obamas, who were notably absent from Harry and Meghan's wedding guest list, also get on well with Meghan's brother and sister-in-law the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Mother-to-be Meghan, 37, was among the 2,700-strong audience who turned out to watch the former First Lady, 54, discuss her new autobiography with Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie at the Southbank Centre. Pictured, the duchess at an engagement last month

Following the event (pictured) Meghan met Mrs Obama backstage, in what has been dubbed a 'power meeting'. They discussed a range of topics including pregnancy and raising a family

Mrs Obama even released a statement congratulating William and Kate, both 36, on the birth of Prince Louis in April, saying she hoped to meet their new arrival 'soon'.

The bond between the two couples was evident when photos emerged of the Obamas visit to Kensington Palace in 2016, during which Prince George memorably greeted them in a dressing gown.

Prince Harry has grown close to the Obamas over a number of years and spoke at a summit for the Obama Foundation in Chicago in November last year.

In turn, Mrs Obama has been a firm supporter of Prince Harry's Invictus Games, appearing in promotional material and joining him at the 2016 tournament in Florida.

Harry also invited President Obama to be one of his interviewees when he guest edited BBC Radio 4's Today programme in December last year.

The interview, President Obama's first since leaving office, took place in Toronto in September 2017 within days of Prince Harry making his public debut with Meghan in the city.

It is possible Harry took the opportunity to introduce the President to his then girlfriend.

Prince Harry, 34, enjoys a close relationship with Mrs Obama, pictured in 2016, who has been a firm supporter of his Invictus Games. He is also friends with former President Barack Obama

The bond between the Obamas and the royal family was clear when photos emerged of their visit to Kensington Palace in 2016, during which Prince George memorably greeted them in a dressing gown. Pictured, the Obamas with Kate, William, George and Harry in April 2016

Harry also invited President Obama to be one of his interviewees when he guest edited BBC Radio 4's Today programme in December last year. The interview, President Obama's first since leaving office, took place in Toronto in September 2017, pictured

President Obama and Mrs Obama were not invited to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's wedding at Windsor Castle in May.

However this is understood to have been linked to the couple's move to not invite any politicians, rather than seen as a reflection of their friendship.

Mrs Obama was in London to speak about her autobiography Becoming at Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall.

The interview was part of the former First Lady's book tour Becoming: An Evening with Michelle Obama.

More than 40,000 people had reportedly tried to get tickets online when the event went on sale, but just 2,700 were lucky enough to attend the event.

Prince Harry has grown close to the Obamas over a number of years. Pictured, the royal with Mrs Obama during a basketball game played by wounded veterans at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, in October 2015. The event was held to promote Prince Harry's Invictus Games initiative

Mrs Obama took tea with Prince Harry at Kensington Palace during a visit to London in June 2015

Those in the audience included actor Riz Ahmed, actress Michaela Coel, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and 300 school children from secondary schools across the UK.

The Duchess of Sussex's attendance was not reported at the time but reports emerged today and have since been confirmed by the palace.

Speaking at the event, Mrs Obama also recalled the controversy she caused when she touched the Queen on the back during another visit.

She said: 'I touched her. After all those protocol lessons, I was human.'

Recalling another time she broke protocol, Mrs Obama said: 'This is just how it feels to be at these high levels where people are talking protocol to protocol, that is how these big foreign exchanges are.

Michelle Obama told an audience she hopes to 'change the mindset of men' to boost girls' education when she spoke at the Southbank Centre on Monday evening

The former First Lady sat down with Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie at the Royal Festival Hall in London to discuss her bestselling memoir Becoming

Mrs Obama also told gave her audience an insight into her relationship with former US president Barack Obama

'People are talking to other people and then you're briefed and you're told "this is going to happen and don't stand there and don't touch there and this is precisely what is going on".

'This was on our last visit and we went to Windsor Castle and we took Marine One, the helicopter, and we landed in a field and we were going to be driven by the Queen and picked up in the car.

'Our Secret Service doesn't even let me ride around with Malia so up until that point we had never driven in a car driven by anyone else, so it was like 'this is what's going to happen, you're going to get out and sit here and this is what is going to happen'.

Earlier on Monday, Mrs Obama enjoyed an emotional return to a north London secondary school she credits with inspiring her to get involved in educational reform

'Of course your head is spinning because first of all I'm trying not to fall, which is a major thing that I think about in public. If you're thinking about my thoughts when I come out on stage it's 'don't' fall'.

'One of my primary goals for the eight years was to never become a meme.

'So I had all this protocol buzzing in my head and I was like 'don't trip down the stairs and don't touch anybody, whatever you do' and so the Queen says 'just get in, sit wherever' and she's telling you one thing and you're remembering protocol and she says 'Oh it's all rubbish, just get in'.

Mrs Obama added that her husband had always had a great affection for the Queen, saying: 'Barack is so incredibly fond of Her Majesty and I won't go into his fangirling but I think it's because she does remind him of his grandmother Toot, she's smart and funny and honest. He is a huge fan for sure.'One fierce mom has been wearing her severe burn scars like diamonds.

Alyssa McDonald, 27, from Stillwater, Oklahoma, was severely burned at two years old when she accidentally pulled a pot of boiling butter off the stove and onto herself.

She endured surgeries every other year until she was 17 and struggled to face her scars. But everything changed in high school when she woke up one day and decided enough was enough - she was going to learn to love her scars and 'wear them like diamonds.'

Before: Alyssa McDonald, 27, from Stillwater, Oklahoma, was severely burned at two. Pictured is the woman before the accident

Heartbreaking: When she was just two years old, Alyssa accidentally pulled a pot of boiling butter down on herself from the stove

Hard: Between the ages of seven and 17, Alyssa underwent multiple surgeries to help with the scaring and facial damage

Alyssa said: 'My burns and my scars don't limit me from doing anything. They don't stop me. I am unstoppable.

'If I could go back and change my scars, I would not. If someone gave me a magical pill that would change my scars, I would not.

Important: She wore a plastic facial mask as a child to help with the swelling

'If a genie gave me three wishes, none of those three wishes would have anything to do with my scars.

'I would ask for a bigger bank account, a bigger a** and that's about it, there'd be nothing with my scars because my scars have put me in positions where I could help other people.'

Although McDonald's scars cover over 60 percent of her body, including her face, shoulders, thigh and back, she says she 'wears her flaws like diamonds.'

Now raising her one-year-old daughter Alijah, Alyssa says it's like watching a mini version of herself grow up without scars.

She said: 'She's definitely my little twin. What's interesting is I will get to see what I would have looked like if I wasn't burned by watching her grow up.

Better than ever: Now, Alyssa wants to use her experience to help others with disfigurements

Cute: Alyssa has a daughter named Alijah and says she is like a mini version of herself

Love: 'What's interesting is I will get to see what I would have looked like if I wasn't burned by watching her grow up,' Alyssa said.

Moving on: Scars cover 60 per cent of Alyssa's body, but she has learned to embrace them

'I know that my child will be a lot more sensitive to people who are different because she has me.

Stunning: Alyssa said she will proudly wear her scars like diamonds

'I would basically tell her, the world is a big place and not everyone looks the same. Your mom looks different.'

As a child, Alyssa had to wear a plastic mask over her face to keep the swelling down and she endured countless operations to help her heal.

Her sister Fiavea McDonald said: 'I would say I realized Alyssa was different when I was about six or seven, when they bullied her or talked about her, I usually got mad.

'They would make fun of her because she had a patch, so they used to call her a pirate.

'If I could describe Alyssa in one word it would be strong, she knows that she's different but she knows that she can do whatever it is she wants and needs to do.'

The single mom, who is a certified nurse's assistant, faced bullies for most of her school life but her confidence transformed when she was in high school.

Twins: Alyssa revealed how she (left) and her daughter (right) look almost identical

Traumatic: Alyssa, pictured with her brother, experienced bullying for her appearance all through middle school

Beautiful: Then one day she woke up and realized she could never change her burns. So she decided not to let people bring her down

Confident" 'So one day, I was just like forget about it, I'm over it, completely over it,' Alyssa said

Positive: Alyssa now wants to be a motivational speaker to help others in similar situations

She continued: 'I had some rough times, because kids are blunt, school was difficult all the way up until middle school.

Happy" 'My proudest moment is getting up every day and conquering the world,' she said

'Then literally one day just woke, up, I would say between 15 and 16, I woke up like look, there's absolutely nothing in this world you can do about being burned, you cannot change it, so why dwell it? Why make it a problem?

'So one day, I was just like forget about it, I'm over it, completely over it.'

Now McDonald aspires to be a motivational speaker so that she can hep others embrace themselves, regardless of what they look like.

Alyssa said: 'My burns put me in a position where I had no choice but to be confident, I couldn't back down, I'm in the spotlight everywhere I go.

'So you know, I have to be confident because everyone's gonna see me, when I walk in the room, I'm the thing everyone is looking at.

'My proudest moment is getting up every day and conquering the world. That is my proudest moment, that I get up every day and do what I need to do.

'I would never change my scars, they make me who I am they really do.'Sophie Wessex put on a down-to-earth display at a dairy farm in Cornwall on Tuesday, donning practical leather boots to get up close and personal with some of the four-legged residents.

The royal, 53, was seen greeting inquisitive cows on her visit to the home of Cornish Gouda Co, an artisan cheese company run from a small dairy farm in Looe.

Dressed in sturdy brown boots and a navy coat, Prince Edward's wife was evidently unafraid to get her hands dirty, stroking cattle and picking up and examining handfuls of hay as she took in the workings of the farm.

Sophie of Wessex put on an animated display as she visited a dairy farm in Cornwall on Tuesday as she threw herself into the task of learning the farm's inner workings

It was a solo visit for Sophie, who is mother to Lady Louise Windsor, 15, and 10-year-old James, Viscount Severn, with Prince Edward.

Dressed in a navy wool dress, the royal colour-blocked with a coordinating coat to ward off the winter chill.

Livening up the ensemble, she added a silk patterned scarf to the look, injecting a splash of colour with her rose-coloured lipstick.

Wearing her hair in a low chignon, Sophie put on a touching display with the cows, smiling as she petted one on the nose.

Dressed in sturdy brown boots and a navy ensemble, the Countess was not afraid to get her hands dirty, and was seen stroking the friendly cattle as she admired their barns

And Sophie showed no fear as she crouched out to meet another cow, crouching down as she greeted the cautious creature

And Sophie showed no fear as she crouched out to meet another cow, crouching down as she greeted the cautious creature.

Later on Sophie was seen walking through the barns as she discovered how the family produce their cheese.

Chatting with the farm owners, she was then pictured admiring the finished goods at the end of her tour of the farm.

Dressed in sturdy brown boots and a navy ensemble, the Countess was not afraid to get her hands dirty and was even seen picking up handfuls of hay

Later on Sophie was seen walking through the barns as she discovered how the family produce their cheese

Sophie's appearance comes amid reports she has been cited as a potential role model to help Meghan Markle navigate the tricky territory of integrating with the royal family.

The Countess of Wessex experienced her own fair share of bad press in her early days.

She continued to work in public relations, following her marriage to Prince Edward in 1999, but things began to unravel following an indiscreet business talk Sophie had with a Middle Eastern man whom she believed was a potential PR client.

The family farm Cornish Gouda Cheese is located in Cornwall and creates hand crafted artisan cheeses

According to The Sunday Times, insiders have been using Sophie as an example of someone who endured a difficult beginning in the royal family, but is now one of its stalwarts after building a close bond with the Queen.

And sources say that the monarch is open to lending her support to pregnant Meghan.

'Her Majesty has seen it all and could offer the duchess some helpful advice at the moment,' an insider said.

'Meghan would do well to nurture that relationship and pop over for the occasional cup of tea with the Queen. That is what Sophie Wessex has quietly done so well.'In one of her many efforts to better the world, Angelina Jolie has made it her mission to end sexual violence and stop the social stigma that survivors face.

And while she is certainly doing that on a global scale, working with nonprofits and governments, the 43-year-old is also having those discussions right at home with her children  both the boys and the girls.

'I dont just speak to my daughters. I speak to them with their brothers,' she told Marie Claire in a new interview. 'That is maybe the first most important distinction. This is not just a problem for women, and the solution is working with women and men. And girls and boys.'

Tough talks: Angelina Jolie has made it her mission to end sexual violence and stop the social stigma that survivors face, and is starting with her kids

Big brood: She said she discussed the issue with both her daughters and her sons (pictured left to right: Shiloh, Angelina, Vivienne, Pax, Maddox, Zahara, Knox)

The actress, of course, has quite a few kids to share this serious discussion with.

Her eldest, Maddox  whom she adopted from a Cambodian orphanage when she was 26  just turned 17 this summer.

There's also 15-year-old Pax and 13-year-old Zahara, as well 12-year-old Shiloh and 10-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox, whom she had with Brad Pitt.

Angelina pointed out why it's so important to include men and boys in the conversation, both as victims themselves and as the overwhelming perpetrators of sexual violence

'Not only are men and boys also victims of these crimes, but those who are perpetrating these crimes need to have other men remind them what it really is to be a man,' she said.

'A man with a healthy relationship to women. And all societies need to be clear about not tolerating this behavior.'

In addition to starting the conversation at home, Angelina works with Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, a global initiative she co-launched with then-UK Foreign Secretary William Hague in 2012.

Doing something: The 43-year-old co-founded the global initiative Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict in 2012

Spreading her message: She recently attended the Fighting Stigma through Film event (pictured)

Putting good into the world: She spoke about the stigma that victims still face

'Not only are men and boys also victims of these crimes, but those who are perpetrating these crimes need to have other men remind them what it really is to be a man,' she said

The initiative is working to stop assaults, provide justice, and end the social stigma for survivors. They are working to make it easier to report crimes, get more funding for governments to protect people and provide psychosocial support, and to help survivors rebuild their lives.

'Sexual violence in conflict is still a taboo subject,' she said. 'Female and male survivors, and children born of this rape, are often treated as if they are the ones who have done something wrong.

'They are rejected and stigmatized, while their attackers go unpunished. Thats what has to change, and breaking the taboo is part of that.

'Our partners in this effort are victims speaking out, local NGOs and governments from around the world as well as militaries. We have to solve this comprehensively,' she said.

'We need to go to the heart of where there are abuses and make changes, and press for new practices and accountability.'

The star also listed several startling facts about sexual assault, including that 37 countries won't prosecute a rapists if they are married to their victims, or if they marry them after.

The star said: 'Sexual violence in conflict is still a taboo subject' (pictured addressing the UN about refugees on January 31, 2018)

There are also more than 60 countries that don't even address male rape survivors in sexual violence legislation.

'So we have to change laws as well as attitudes. And we have to find ways to have successful prosecutions, so that it is no longer a crime for which there is impunity,' she said.

Angelina has been speaking out about these issues for years. In 2017, she spoke about sexual violence at a United Nations conference in Vancouver, Canada.

'Sexual violence is everywhere  in the industry where I work, in business, in universities, in politics, in the military, and across the world,' she said.

'All too often, these kinds of crimes against women are laughed off, depicted as a minor offense by someone who cannot control themselves, as an illness, or as some kind of exaggerated sexual need. But a man who mistreats women is not oversexed. He is abusive.'

She addressed, in particular, the way rape and sexual violence is used in war zones and as a tool of control.

'It is cheaper than a bullet, and it has lasting consequences that unfold with sickening predictability that make it so cruelly effective,' she said.Queen Maxima of the Netherlands turned heads in a leopard print ensemble as she paid a visit to an organic fruit and veg firm in South Holland on Tuesday.

The Dutch royal, 47, looked upbeat as she arrived in Waddinxveen to visit Eosta, an international distributor of organic fresh produce, which has been awarded the Plaque for Sustainable Entrepreneurship by the King Willem I Foundation.

It was a solo outing for Queen Maxima, who beamed as she was presented with a pretty bouquet of flowers on arrival, with her husband King Willem-Alexander, 51, not present.

Queen Maxima of the Netherlands turned heads in a leopard print ensemble as she completed an official engagement on Tuesday before receiving a bouquet of stunning flowers

Maxima, who is mother to Princess Catharina-Amalia, 14, Princess Alexia, 13, and Princess Ariane, 11, with King Willem, put on a chic display for the occasion.

The royal opted for a shift dress which fell just above the knee, with an on-trend a leopard print pattern.

She teamed the frock with nude tights and matching court shoes embellished with a bow.

Coordinating her look, Maxima opted for a beige envelope clutch and a MaxMara coat of the same colour, which she wore draped over her shoulders in the 'shrobing' style beloved of fashion editors - and a certain Duchess of Sussex.

The Dutch royal, 47, looked upbeat during a working visit to Waddinxveen, in the province of South Holland, turning heads in a coordinated ensemble for the occasion

Maxima arrived at Eosta, an international distributor of fresh organic fruits and vegetables, which has been awarded the Plaque for Sustainable Entrepreneurship of the King Willem I Foundation

Coordinating her look, Maxima opted for a beige envelope clutch and a MaxMara coat of the same colour before taken them off when she got inside the venue

At one point a laughing Maxima was seen whipping a fabric cover from a plinth, to unveil a pineapple with a 2.85 (2.58) price tag beneath.

Eosta, an international distributor of fresh organic and fair fruits and vegetables which has a network of over a thousand growers in six continents, was awarded the plaque for the company most committed to sustainable innovations.

Maxima, who is mother to Princess Catharina-Amalia, 14, Princess Alexia, 13, and Princess Ariane, 11, with King Willem, put on a chic display for the occasion

Argentian-born Queen Maxima has had a busy month of engagements, attending the Erasmus Awards ceremony in Amsterdam last week, and hosting the Singaporean President and his wife on their trip to the Netherlands before that.

That's despite the royal being forced to cancel a string of engagements - including a scheduled trip to Tanzania - at the start of November with a suspected 'intestinal infection'.

But Maxima appeared on top form on Tuesday, smiling and chatting warmly with guests at the event.

Laughing, Maxima later joined the audience as she watched the companies being rewarded for their contribution to sustainability

The royal opted for a shift dressed which fell just above the knees, and was adorned with a leopard print patternHome Alone is one of the most beloved Christmas movies of all times, and nearly thirty years after its release in 1990, some fans are still baffled by the McCallister family's over-the-top holiday decor.

Claire Reilly, a news writer based in Sydney, Australia, took to Twitter on Monday to rant about the red and green furnishings, wallpaper, and tile that cover the inside of the red-brick home located in Winnetka, Illinois.

'Can we talk about the McAllister's [sic] house in Home Alone for a second?' she tweeted. 'Like, of COURSE you're going to be a target for Christmas bandits if your house is ENTIRELY Christmas themed! Okay, yes, they have a lot of Christmas decorations up, but that is JUST THE START...'

Ready for the holidays: Nearly 30 years after Home Alone premiered in 1990, fans are still talking about the McCallister family home's over-the-top red and green decor

Too much: In addition to the Christmas decorations, the inside of the home features red and green furnishings, wallpaper, tile, and homeware

They were asking for it! Claire Reilly, a news writer based in Sydney, Australia, took to Twitter on Monday to rant about the red and green decor in the home featured in the beloved movie

To prove her point, Claire shared a picture of Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) wearing a green bathrobe and red pajama pants while standing inside his living room, which has a green couch, green curtains, and a red and green patterned chair  in addition to the Christmas decorations.

The Twitter user continued her comical in-depth analysis by posting more photos from inside the home while sharing her disbelief over the excessive use of red and green.

'Look at that wallpaper. What kind of monster has red wallpaper next to a green wall? Offset with contrasting green house plant and red candles?' she captioned a second snapshot, which shows Kevin leaving the bedroom in the attic.

Claire posted a second, more close-up shot of the hallway, writing: 'Throw up a festive green tapestry in the green corridor on the way to your attic, why not!'

In the next picture, Kevin's mom, Kate McCallister (Catherine O'Hara), is on the phone in her bedroom.

Festive decor: In one photo from the film, Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) can be seen leaving the bedroom in the attic

Just look: Claire pointed out that there is red wallpaper next to a green wall

Check it out: Claire posted a second, more close-up shot of the hallway to point out the tapestry

Conspiracy theory: The Twitter user wondered if they cast Catherine O'Hara to play Kevin's mom, Kate McCallister, just because she had red hair

'Yes, it's the 90s, but who has a green LANDLINE PHONE? With red, white and green wallpaper? And red flowers hanging from the bed above red pillows?' Claire asked.

'Did they cast Catherine O'Hara purely because of her red hair? This goes all the way to the top...'

Claire also paired her commentary with funny captions as she imagined what the film's characters were really thinking inside the home.

When posting a snapshot of the burglar Marv (Daniel Stern) leaning over his partner Harry (Joe Pesci) with a crowbar in his hand, she wrote: 'Why is there so much Christmas theming, Harry?!'

Another photo, which depicts the moment Kevin's mother returns home, she tweeted: 'I have been here for three days by myself and I've finally worked out why you let them film a Christmas movie here...

Marv: Claire also paired her commentary with funny captions as she imagined what the film's characters were really thinking inside the home

Going beyond the decor! Kevin is wearing red pajamas and a green bathrobe when his mom returns home

Thinking about it: Claire joked about Kevin wondering it the decor was all an 'elaborate con' to leave him over the holiday

'Tell the truth. Did you just decorate this place as an elaborate con to leave me at Christmas time?'

Out of all the red and green rooms, there was one that offended Claire the most.

'But WORST of all is the kitchen,' she explained. 'Red pots, green tiles, red teapot, crimson floors, even a green rolling pin.

'Guys. We all go to the themed sections of IKEA and get ideas, but you're not supposed to do it in real life. Home Alone: Great movie. Decorator's nightmare. Fin.'

Although she claimed to finished, she couldn't resist sharing the picture of Kevin in his living room for a second time.

A lot going on: Out of all the red and green rooms, the kitchen was one that offended Claire the most

Opinion: Claire called the McCallister home a 'decorator's nightmare'

One more: She ended the thread with one of the lines from the film, writing: 'Merry Christmas ya filthy animals'

Impressive: The McCallisters' red brick home, which is located in Winnetka, Illinois, was also decorated with lights  even though they were spending the holiday in Paris

'Okay, one more, just for good measure. Merry Christmas ya filthy animals,' she tweeted.

Claire's rant inspired plenty of comments, ranging from people who agreed with her to fans who admitted that they never noticed the home's decor before.

'It's Hollywood...the whole point of the film was to load it with a Christmas vibe, even at a subliminal level,' Matthew Davies wrote. 'Change all the red and green to blue and yellow and the film loses its Christmassy cosiness. Of course red and green were going to be crow barred into ever scheme.'

A man named Paul joked: 'Kevin puts the Christmas decorations up himself. Go easy on the 8 year old Claire.'

'I love that this was retweeted into my feed, because I have been obsessing on this fact since I was a kid!' a woman named Erin responded. 'Did you notice the Xmas colours also extended to the wardrobe?

'Kevin is alone for 3 days - day 1 he wears a white sweater, day 2 green sweater, day 3 red sweater. Diabolical.'

TWITTER REACTS TO THE RED AND GREEN DECOR IN HOME ALONE Advertisement

Some people thought the decor was normal for that particular Chicago suburb in the 1990s.

'While correct, she has clearly never been to Winnetka,' one man wrote. 'It would not surprise me in the least to see a house decorated like that in that town. The people there are fine, traditional Americans, with money to spare.'

'Was coming here to say this!' Sarah Hayden added. 'I never blinked an eye at this decor growing up because this is just... what a subset of rich white people houses looked like in the 90s.

'Like, my aunt's house still looks like an upholstery store having a fire sale,' she admitted. 'My neighbors had ~cushioned walls~.'

Then there those who couldn't get over the fact that the McCallisters spent so much time decorating their home for Christmas when they knew they would be spending the holiday in Paris.

'Always wondered why they bothered with that much decoration, they were going away for Christmas!' one person noted.

'That bothered me, too  especially because they weren't going to be home for Christmas!' Meredith Hines-Dochterman commented. 'No Wonder they forgot a kid; they're exhausted from unnecessary decorating!'Gwyneth Paltrow is a powerful, ahead-of-her-time trendsetter  and don't you dare forget it.

The 46-year-old has built an empire thanks in large part to bringing wellness trends to the forefront, and she certainly thinks she deserves credit it for it.

In fact, speaking to the WSJ Magazine this week, the star revealed she'd had a bit of 'do you know who I am?' moment recently when a young yoga studio employee presumed to ask her whether it was her first time with the practice  since she practically invented yoga, after all.

DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? Gwyneth Paltrow had a snide remark after a young employee at a yoga studio dared to ask if it was her first time

Burn! 'I turned to my friend, and I was like, "You have this job because Ive done yoga before,"' she said

'Forgive me if this comes out wrong,' the star began, clearly not seeing the disclaimer as good reason to second-guess what she planned to say next.

'But I went to do a yoga class in L.A. recently and the 22-year-old girl behind the counter was like, "Have you ever done yoga before?"

'And literally I turned to my friend, and I was like, "You have this job because Ive done yoga before,"' she said.

The actress went on to reflect on when she first began doing yoga, around two decades ago, when she says people thought she was a 'crackpot' for practicing it and adopting clean eating habits.

'I remember when I started doing yoga and people were like, "What is yoga? Shes a witch. Shes a freak,"' she said.

Yoga has been around for thousands of years.

Old hat: Gwyneth has been doing yoga for decades and has promoted it in interviews and on Goop

'I remember when I started doing yoga and people were like, "What is yoga? Shes a witch. Shes a freak,"' she said

It's believed to have originated in the fifth or sixth centuries BCE, and has been practiced in India for millennia.

It was introduced to the western world in the 19th and 20 centuries, and experienced experienced some popularity in the US prior to Gwyneth's birth in 1972.

Gwyneth isn't even the first Hollywood yogi. When Bikram Choudhury popularized his hot yoga, called Bikram yoga, in the US in the 70s, he had several celebrity adherents including Shirley MacLaine, Candice Bergen, and Raquel Welch  who went on to put out a yoga-inspired workout video.

While practicing yoga is certainly more mainstream today than it was 20 years ago, it was hardly unheard of or outrageous when Gwyneth began practicing it.

Yet that doesn't seem to be how she remembers it.

'I remember when I started doing yoga 20 years ago, and people thought I was super weird and didnt know what I was doing,' she told The Cut in 2016.

On the forefront: 'I was always the one saying Hey, this is cool, and people being like, "Youre super weird,"' she said

Yoga body: Gwyneth takes credit for popularizing quite a few wellness trends and insists people always call her a 'freak' but then catch on

Pose: Gwyneth gave a length interview to to WSJ Magazine

'Its the same way with organic food or acupuncture. I was always the one saying Hey, this is cool, and people being like, "Youre super weird." And now, yoga is'

And speaking to USA Today in October, she said, 'I remember when I started doing yoga and acupuncture, people thought it was outrageous.

'Ive always been the person who introduces wellness ideas into the culture, and I can see by pattern recognition that people eventually come around... You can love or hate it, but Goop is building something thats changing the world, and its irrefutable that the world is coming along with us.'

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal this week, Gwyneth  who has an at-home yoga studio and is so close with her yoga teacher, Eddie Stern, that he officiated her recent wedding  continued to take credit for changing the world.

'Were trailblazers. Were going to write about s*** that people havent heard of,' she said.

Gwyneth also considered herself a bit of a trailblazer when it came to her 'conscious uncoupling' from ex-husband Chris Martin.

'Were trailblazers. Were going to write about s*** that people havent heard of,' she said

The first amicable divorce? Gwyneth also considered herself a bit of a trailblazer when it came to her 'conscious uncoupling' from ex-husband Chris Martin

That, too, received some backlash, though the star seems to misunderstand what that backlash was about.

'Its a lesson that I learned when we did the "conscious uncoupling' thing,' she said, adding that the public reaction was 'so vitriolic.'

'I was so raw. It was so hard to be getting a divorce and letting go of this dream, and the public stuff was super painful. I wanted to see if we could check our pain and egos at the door and remember what we love about each other and be a family for these kids.

'What I didnt understand at the time was, I think theres a message in that, which is, "If you dont do it this way, youre hurting your kids."

'I think people take that as: "She thinks she is better than me,"'she said.

In fact, though, much of the criticism at the time was aimed at the phrase 'conscious uncoupling' itself  which some found to be pretentious and contrived.

It also became that Gwyneth seemed to take credit for the idea that a divorce could be amicable, when critics pointed out that plenty of people had been doing that for decades.Prince Charles delivered a message of hope to Christians facing persecution in the Middle East as he attended a Westminster Abbey service on Tuesday evening.

The Duke of Cornwall, 70, insisted 'extremism and division are not inevitable' as he joined the Archbishop of Canterbury for the service celebrating the contribution of Christians in the region.

The prince said he was privileged to have met so many 'with such inspiring faith and courage' who were battling oppression and persecution, or who have fled to escape it.

It comes after the Archbishop called on the government to take in more refugees as he described the 'daily threat of murder' faced by Christians in Muslim-majority nations.

Prince Charles delivered a message of hope to Christians facing persecution in the Middle East as he attended a Westminster Abbey service on Tuesday evening

The Prince of Wales, 70, was seen putting on an animated display with the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby as he arrived for the special service

Delivering a speech, Charles said of the Middle East: 'Throughout history, in these lands which are the cradle of faith for Jews, Muslims and Christians, communities of different beliefs have shown that it is possible to live side by side as neighbours and friends.

'Indeed, I know that in Lebanon Muslims join Christians at the Shrine of our Lady of Lebanon to honour her together.

'And I know that there are Muslim faith leaders who have spoken out in defence of Christian communities and of their contribution to the region.'

The service was attended by more than 1,000 people including congregations from the Coptic Orthodox Church Centre, Syriac Catholic Church and Iraqi Chaldean Catholic Church, all visited by Charles in recent years.

Charles, pictured arriving, said he was privileged to have met so many 'with such inspiring faith and courage' who were battling oppression and persecution, or who have fled to escape it

Later on the royal, who attended without his wife Camilla, 71, paid tribute to Christians who remained true to their faith despite adversity in the Middle East

Charles' appearance comes after the Archbishop of Canterbury wrote an article warning that Christians in the Middle East are facing 'imminent extinction'. Pictured, the royal tonight

The prince added: 'Co-existence and understanding are not just possible, therefore; they are confirmed by hundreds of years of shared experience.

'Extremism and division are by no means inevitable.

'All three of the great Abrahamic faiths believe in a loving, just and merciful God who cares for creation, who cares for his creatures and who expects us to care for one another.'

Charles ended his address by saying: 'So in this season of Advent, as we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, who himself knew exile, injustice and suffering, I can only assure you of our steadfast support and most heartfelt prayers as you take forward your works of restoration, justice and healing, so that God's will might be done on earth as it is in heaven.'

Prince Charles, pictured, spoke out in support of Christians in the Middle East following a stark warning from the Archbishop of Canterbury

Charles' appearance comes after the Archbishop of Canterbury wrote an article warning that Christians in the Middle East are facing 'imminent extinction'.

Justin Welby said followers of the faith were subject to the 'daily threat of murder' and the situation was the worst 'since the Mongol invasions of the 13th century'.

The stark warning came as the Archbishop urged the Government to take in more refugees.

Figures suggest that just one in 400 Syrian refugees given asylum in the UK last year was a Christian.

Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr show ahead of a special service at Westminster Abbey, Mr Welby said: 'The plight of Christians in many parts of the Middle East has become more and more acute.

'As we approach Christmas, we need to pray for them and speak out for them.'Advertisement

The Duchess of Cambridge dazzled in a tiara that once belonged to Princess Diana at a glittering Buckingham Palace reception on Tuesday night.

Kate, 36, joined husband Prince William, 36, the Queen, 92, and the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall for the Diplomatic Reception, an annual white tie affair and one of the highlights of the royal calendar.

The royal mother-of-three looked breathtaking in an embellished off-white gown with a flattering cowl neck and capped sleeves.

The sparkling number, believed to be a new addition to the royal wardrobe, twinkled beneath the soft lights of the Buckingham Palace rooms as Kate greeted some of the roughly 1,000 guests in attendance.

The duchess, who hosted a Christmas party for RAF families at Kensington Palace just hours earlier, accessorised with a favourite pair of pearl drop earrings and finished the look with the stunning Cambridge Lover's Knot Tiara - a piece that she has worn on a number of previous occasions.

The Duchess of Cambridge, 36, glittered in an embellished gown as she joined husband Prince William, 36, the Queen, 92, and the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall for the Diplomatic Reception at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday night

The Duchess of Cambridge accessorised with a favourite pair of pearl drop earrings and proudly wore the yellow ribbon of the Queen's Royal Order pinned to her chest

The Queen, 92, looked regal in a white gown with delicate tiered lace overlay as she greeted the ambassador of Norway at the evening reception at Buckingham Palace. The monarch paired the dress with a metallic gold handbag and heels

The Duchess of Cornwall was resplendent in an oyster coloured satin evening coat, left, which she wore over a floor-length gown, as she arrived with the Queen and Prince Charles, seen left and right

The Duchess of Cambridge appeared in excellent spirits, beaming as she mingled with the guests at the lavish reception

The Duchess' embellished dress glimmered beneath the soft lights of the Buckingham Palace room where guests mingled

Radiant Kate appeared perfectly charming as she spoke to guests ahead of the lavish meal at the palace on Tuesday

As Kate charmed guests at the reception, the Duchess of Sussex joined her husband Prince Harry at a carol concert held in memory of a close friend of his, Henry van Straubenzee, who was killed in a car accident aged just 18.

Meghan delivered a reading to the congregation at St Luke's Church in Chelsea, which also included Pippa Middleton and her brother James, her husband James Matthews, and her parents, Carole and Michael Middleton.

The Cambridge Lover's Knot tiara, seen on her late mother-in-law the Princess of Wales in Hong Kong, has become a favourite of Kate's for formal royal occasions

Rumours of a rift between the two Duchesses have swirled in recent days, following the news that Meghan and Harry are preparing to leave Kensington Palace to set up home in Windsor, at Frogmore Cottage - 25 miles from William and Kate, who live at Apartment 1a with their children, George, Charlotte and Louis.

Last night's reception also called for a quick turnaround for Prince Charles, 70, who stepped out in white tie just hours after donning a suit for a special Westminster Abbey service celebrating Christians in the Middle East.

His wife the Duchess of Cornwall was the picture of elegance in a satin oyster coloured evening coat, which she wore over a dress of a similar material and slightly lighter colour.

The ensemble is very similar to one worn by Camilla, 71, to the Buckingham Palace state banquet honouring Queen Maxima and King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands in October.

Meanwhile the Queen put on a regal display in floor-length satin gown with a delicate tiered lace overlay.

Adding to the sense of occasion, Her Majesty swapped her favoured black handbag and leather shoes for metallic gold accessories.

Joined by her family, the Queen appeared in excellent spirits as she greeted some of the roughly 1,000 guests invited to the reception, including ambassadors and high commissioners posted in the UK.

The Duchess of Cambridge appeared animated as she spoke to guests at the Diplomatic Reception on Tuesday night

The Duchess of Cambridge, who has already appeared at an official engagement today, looked stunning at the royal reception

The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall greeted guests together as they supported the Queen at the annual palace reception

REVEALED: THE ROYAL ORDER WORN BY KATE The Duchess of Cambridge has been pictured wearing the Royal Family Order of Queen Elizabeth II, pictured, for the first time October marked the first time the Duchess of Cambridge has been pictured wearing the Royal Family Order of Queen Elizabeth II. The honour is bestowed by Her Majesty to female members of the royal family and is worn on white tie occasions such as state banquets and the annual Diplomatic Reception at Buckingham Palace. The order, which is also worn by the Duchess of Cornwall, Princess Anne and the Countess of Wessex, features a jewel encased image of the Queen pinned on a chartreuse yellow ribbon and worn on the left shoulder. The miniature portrait, painted on glass, depicts the Queen as a young woman in evening dress wearing the ribbon and star of the Order of the Garter. The image isbordered by diamonds and surmounted by a Tudor Crown in diamonds and red enamel. Its reverse, in silver-gilt, is patterned with rays and depicts the royal cypher and St. Edward's Crown in gold. The Duchess of Cambridge, 37, did not wear the order at the last state banquet she attended, during the visit of King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain in June 2017. However it is believed she received the order in December 2017 and would therefore have worn it to the Diplomatic Reception that month, although no full-length images of the duchess at the event have emerged. Advertisement

In keeping with the white tie dress code, the Queen and Camilla also wore tiaras for the occasion.

The Duchess of Cornwall sported a Boucheron tiara that once belonged to the Queen Mother while the Queen opted for another piece from the royal collection.

The Duchess of Cornwall and the Duchess of Sussex also sported the Queen's Royal Order, which features a jewel encased image of the Queen pinned on a chartreuse yellow ribbon and worn on the left shoulder.

The miniature portrait, painted on glass, depicts the Queen as a young woman in evening dress wearing the ribbon and star of the Order of the Garter.

The Queen was followed by the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, just seen, as she made her way into the lavish affair

The Queen looked animated as she spoke to the ambassador of Kuwait - one of the roughly 1,000 guests invited to the reception

The Queen greeted the ambassador of Honduras as the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall followed her down the line of guests

The Queen beamed as she was introduced to the esteemed guests invited to share in the festivities at Buckingham Palace

Queen Elizabeth II was also spotted as she greeted guests at an evening reception for members of the Diplomatic Corps at Buckingham Palace in London, putting on an even more dazzling display in her tiara, necklace and earrings

The image is bordered by diamonds and surmounted by a Tudor Crown in diamonds and red enamel. Its reverse, in silver-gilt, is patterned with rays and depicts the royal cypher and St. Edward's Crown in gold.

The Order is also worn by Princess Anne and the Countess of Wessex.

It is the only the second time Kate has been photographed in the honour, having previously worn it to the state banquet in honour of the Dutch royals two months ago.

In a tribute to her late mother-in-law, the Duchess once again opted for the Cambridge Lover's Knot tiara, which has become a clear favourite for white tie events.

Kate, 36, joined husband Prince William , 36, and hundreds of esteemed guests for the Queen's the Diplomatic Reception, an annual white tie affair and one of the highlights of the royal calendar

The Duchess of Cambridge dazzled in a tiara that once belonged to Princess Diana as she arrived for a glittering Buckingham Palace reception on Tuesday night, pictured

Though just a glimpse of Kate's outfit could be seen through the car window as she arrived, the duchess appeared to be wearing a sparkling white gown with metallic silver detailing on the shoulders

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrived at Buckingham Palace together in the back of a chauffeur-driven Bentley

KATE'S TIARA TRIBUTE TO HER LATE MOTHER-IN-LAW Diana in the Cambridge Lover's Knot Tiara in Hong Kong in 1989 The Cambridge Lover's Knot tiara is the one worn by the Duchess of Cambridge most frequently - and for very sentimental reasons. The tiara was made by Royal jewellers Garrard in 1914 to Queen Mary's personal design, from pearls and diamonds already in her family's possession. It was a copy of one owned by her grandmother, Princess Augusta of Hesse, who married the first Duke of Cambridge, seventh son of King George III, in 1818. In her will Queen Mary left the tiara to to the Queen who wore it frequently, including at an evening event in 1955. In 1981 she gave it as a wedding present to Prince William's mother, Diana, who wore it for the first time at the state opening of parliament that November. Diana also wore the tiara in 1985 on an official visit to Washington with Prince Charles. And since her death the glistening head piece has been worn by the Duchess of Cambridge who was most recently spotted wearing it at the state dinner during Queen Letizia and King Felipe VI's visit in 2017. It was also seen on Kate at last year's Diplomatic Reception. The Duchess of Cambridge most recently wore the Lover's Knot Tiara to the state banquet held in honour of Queen Maxima and King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands in October 2018, pictured. Right, Kate with Rear Admiral Ludger Brummelaar Kate wore the tiara for the annual Diplomatic Reception at Buckingham Palace in December 2016, left, and in 2015, right Advertisement

Kate also wore the tiara to the Chinese state banquet in 2015, and the Spanish state banquet and the Diplomatic Reception last year.

She most recently wore the piece to the state banquet held in honour of Queen Maxima and King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands in October.

It marks the second appearance for the busy royal couple today. Earlier they threw open the doors at Kensington Palace to welcome the families of RAF servicemen and women currently deployed overseas.

The white tie Diplomatic Reception is the main social event of the year in London for the diplomatic community and reflects the Queens importance in terms of the UKs international relations.

Earlier the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge threw a Christmas party in London for families and children of deployed personnel from RAF Coningsby and RAF Marham serving in Cyprus, with Kate looking suitably festive in a 1,500 tartan skirt by Emilia Wickstead

Ready for Christmas! Kate looked festive in a tartan skirt from Emilia Wickstead, which she teamed with a cashmere jumper from Brora. The mother-of-three wore her brunette locks in loose curls which fell around her shoulders

It is also the largest reception held at Buckingham Palace, requiring hours of intricate planning by the Master of the Household and the Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps, as well as the commandeering of almost every member of waiting staff.

More than 1,000 people from around 130 countries, including members of the British government, past Prime Ministers and the Archbishops of Canterbury and York attend the gathering.

Most notable, however, are the many hundreds of ambassadors and embassy staff officially accredited to the Court of St James, often in brilliantly coloured and eye-catching national dress.Tens of thousands of people will be hospitalised with a life-threatening asthma attack this winter, a charity has predicted.

Asthma UK used hospital data from the past five years to come up with the estimate that 26,000 Britons will suffer an attack over the cold months.

The charity warned the deadly combination of chilly weather, cold and flu viruses, and even dust makes it the most dangerous season for asthma sufferers.

Almost half - 45 per cent - of asthma deaths take place in winter, with the chilly season claiming the lives of 650 people last year.

Tens of thousands of people will be hospitalised with a life-threatening asthma attack this winter, Asthma UK has predicted based on hospital data over the past five years (stock)

Asthma sufferers have sensitive airways, which can become inflamed and tighten when they come into contact with winter triggers such as plunging temperatures, cold and flu viruses, and mould.

Colds and flu are the most common winter triggers, affecting an estimated 4.4million people in the UK.

Dr Andy Whittamore, clinical lead at Asthma UK and a practising GP, said: 'Winter is the deadliest season for people with asthma, with plummeting temperatures, and colds and flu putting them at greater risk of being hospitalised for a life-threatening asthma attack.

'Not only is it stressful for people with asthma to fend off these winter triggers but it is a huge worry for their friends and family, seeing them gasping for breath.'

WHAT IS ASTHMA? Asthma is a common but incurable condition which affects the small tubes inside the lungs. It can cause them to become inflamed, or swollen, which restricts the airways and makes it harder to breathe. The condition affects people of all ages and often starts in childhood. Symptoms may improve or even go away as children grow older, but can return in adulthood. Symptoms include wheezing, breathlessness, a tight chest and coughing, and these may get worse during an asthma attack. Treatment usually involves medication which is inhaled to calm down the lungs. Triggers for the condition include allergies, dust, air pollution, exercise and infections such as cold or flu. If you think you or your child has asthma you should visit a doctor, because it can develop into more serious complications like fatigue or lung infections. Source: NHS Advertisement

Asthma UK is urging patients to take their preventer inhalers as prescribed to avoid attacks, as well as to keep their reliever with them at all times in case they feel wheezy.

It is also encouraging people to know when they need urgent help.

For example, if someone's symptoms are so severe they need to use their blue reliever inhaler three or more times a week, it is a sign an asthma attack could be imminent.

This comes after a study released earlier this month by the Royal College of Physicians suggested that 56 per cent of the 1,737 medical staff questioned are worried whether they can keep patients safe this winter.

The NHS is set to face a bleak winter, with a report revealing more than 100,000 jobs are unfilled, trusts are 4.3billion in debt and 1,000 more patients are waiting a year for treatment than in 2017.

In the UK, one in 12 adults and one in 11 children are being treated for asthma. The condition kills three people a day, of which two thirds are preventable.

Symptoms include wheezing, breathlessness, a tight chest and coughing, which get worse during an asthma attack. Treatment usually involves inhaled medication to calm the lungs.

This comes after Asthma UK warned asthmatics of an inhaler shortage last Tuesday, which is expected to continue for the new few weeks.

Stocks are 'very low' of the Bricanyl Turbohaler, which may be used by more than half a million people, the charity said.THE PATIENT

My mum was putting me to bed at the age of seven when, for the first time, my heart started racing impossibly fast.

I was terrified, yet the GP said it was indigestion. When it happened again two years later, he used the same explanation  wind on the chest, as he called it.

From then on, I felt it at least once a week and came to accept it as normal. My heart would race and Id feel as if I was about to faint, so Id sit or lie down until it passed, about ten minutes later. I kept going back to the GP, only to be brushed off.

But one day when I was 16, I collapsed during an episode. It took me several hours to recover. My parents were now obviously worried and my mother found me a new doctor who immediately referred me to Southampton Hospital, a specialist heart hospital.

Ground-breaking: Rachael Hussey, 41, an architectural consultant from Basingstoke, has had a new pacemaker fitted which transmits readings using bluetooth on her phone

Tests showed my heart went into strange, fast rhythms several times a day, known as arrhythmia.

I was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome  a congenital condition caused by an extra electrical connection in the heart. The doctors tried to burn out the extra tissue, which was creating the short circuit, but this also damaged the atrioventricular node  cells that control electrical activity in the heart.

Signals were no longer being transmitted to the lower chambers of my heart, so it was beating too slowly. I was told I would need a pacemaker.

But even with the pacemaker, the problems continued: my heart no longer raced, but every few weeks would beat so erratically I felt I was about to pass out.

Doctors didnt understand why it was happening. They changed the pacemaker when I was at university, and again ten years ago.

During my 30s, I had to go to hospital five times with an erratic heartbeat. In the gym I felt my heart wouldnt beat strongly enough to let me exercise  it felt weak and fluttery. I was scared to swim alone, and when my husband, Neil, was away, Id stay with my mum rather than be on my own. It felt totally bleak.

Around once a day, Id feel my heart skip a beat. On June 18 this year my symptoms became significantly worse and I thought I was about to collapse. I lay on the floor and just had time to call 999 and Neil before I blacked out.

Traditional pacemaker: Heart rhythm disorders or arrhythmias are common. The most common, atrial fibrillation, affects 1.2 million Britons and is caused by faulty electrical signals

I spent five days in hospital where they discovered that my pacemakers leads were sending faulty signals (the leads had degraded) that my heart was beating too fast when it was actually beating too slowly.

I was referred back to Southampton Hospital, where I saw John Paisey, a consultant cardiologist. He said I could have a new pacemaker called Azure, the first to send information via Bluetooth to your phone and the hospital for monitoring.

I am one of the first patients in the country to have it. The operation was in July 6 this year, under local anaesthetic and sedation. After downloading the app, I just need to keep my phone on and within 3ft of me to receive readings. I find it a great comfort.

I havent had any dizzy episodes since: I finally know what normal feels like. Ive been surfing and can exercise properly. Its amazing.

THE SPECIALIST

John Paisey is a consultant cardiologist at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust and Spire Southampton Hospital.

Heart rhythm disorders or arrhythmias are common. The most common, atrial fibrillation, affects 1.2 million Britons and is caused by faulty electrical signals. A fast, irregular heartbeat means blood is not being pumped through the body properly, so it can pool, forming clots and potentially causing a stroke.

Patients can also experience palpitations, dizziness and fatigue.

We prescribe blood-thinning tablets to prevent clots and can also offer beta blockers to slow the heart.

Did you know? A fast, irregular heartbeat means blood is not being pumped through the body properly, so it can pool, forming clots and potentially causing a stroke

Little-known condition: Rachaels arrhythmia was caused by Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, where there is an extra electrical connection in the heart

Another option is catheter ablation, burning or freezing heart muscle to block the faulty signals by creating scar tissue around the area sending messages.

If this doesnt work, we can offer patients a pacemaker, which detects when the heart misses a beat and supplies an electrical impulse to make it beat properly.

Rachaels arrhythmia was caused by Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, where there is an extra electrical connection in the heart. Ablation to burn out the tissue that created this additional pathway caused damage, so she needed a pacemaker.

Traditionally we saw patients every six to 12 months to take readings. More recently, weve given them a monitor that reads their pacemaker and sends signals to the hospital down the phone line, to be monitored remotely.

But the latest Bluetooth technology means signals from the pacemaker can be transmitted via an app on the patients phone and at the hospital, so any problems are picked up much faster.

WHAT ARE THE RISKS? Pacemaker insertion risks causing a collapsed lung  the lung usually re-inflates itself, otherwise a chest drain will be inserted. Bleeding and bruising occur in one in 20 patients. In about one in 50 cases the pacemaker leads move, requiring a second procedure. Rarely, patients develop an infection, which would mean replacing the pacemaker. We have to wait to see how it performs in the real world, says Dr Steve Murray, a cardiologist at Freeman Hospital in Newcastle. But this has lots of attractive features, including its longer lifespan. Advertisement

At the hospital, the data will be looked at by physiologists who will pass on anything worrying to cardiologists.

The Azure pacemaker should last 14 years before the battery needs changing.

The procedure to implant it takes 30 to 60 minutes under local anaesthetic and sedation.

I make a 2cm to 3cm incision under the left of the patients collarbone, then create a pocket under the skin for the pacemaker, which will send pulses to the heart.

I insert a needle into a vein that runs just under the collarbone to the heart. Then using a guidewire and a catheter (flexible tube), and X-ray guidance, I feed a lead into the bottom right chamber of the heart.

The lead has a tiny corkscrew on the end that screws into the heart wall to anchor it and is attached at the other end to the battery that will deliver the impulses to keep the heart beating properly.

I fix the lead to the pacemaker itself, and place it into the pocket under the collarbone. The patient usually goes home that day.

The Bluetooth pacemaker is extremely exciting technology, making monitoring patients more efficient and accurate.

The procedure costs 8,000 to 10,000 privately and 4,000 to the NHS.Millennial men are more selfless, health-conscious and socially engaged than previous generations, new research suggests.

Researchers asked 630 men aged 15 to 29 what attributes men should have.

Traditionally 'masculine' traits - such as physical strength, independence, and competitiveness - were deemed less important.

Instead, being open, empathetic, healthy and generous were the highest-ranking traits.

The survey only included Canadian men, who have a reputation of good manners and being socially conscious, but the researchers told DailyMail.com that there does seem to be a general generational shift in men's values.

Researchers asked men aged 15 to 29 what traits men should have. Traditionally 'masculine' traits - such as physical strength and competitiveness - were deemed less important

MILLENNIAL MEN'S VALUES Researchers at the University of British Columbia and Intensions Consulting asked 639 men about male values. According to the results: A man should... ...help other people - 91% ...be open - 88% ...be intellectual - 87% ...be fit and healthy - 86.5% ...be emotionally strong - 83% ...give back to the community - 80% ...be autonomous - 78% ...be physically strong - 75% Advertisement

The study, published in Psychology of Men & Masculinity, was not just assessing how men feel these days. It was part of a broader attempt to understand what impacts men's health.

Men have always had a shorter life expectancy than women.

They, traditionally, engage in riskier activities and less healthy habits.

When it comes to healthcare, it doesn't figure.

Males of all ages - from teens to the elderly - are less likely than females to visit a doctor. In fact, a recent study found heterosexual men are also the least likely to check up on their partner's health (while women and gay men do habitually).

Basically, 'if you look at all the published literature on this, the answer is: men don't do health,' Nick Black, managing partner at Intensions Consulting, who co-authored the paper with the University of British Columbia, told DailyMail.com.

Getting to the heart of what men aspire to be, Black says, could shed light on why men's health is typically so poor, and how to get around it.

'These constructs of gender, and how you perform them, has a lot of influence on behaviors.' If we understand what those constructs look like, he says, 'we can have a big impact on health.'

The team recruited more than 600 men, and interviewed them. First asking them 'what does it mean to be a man?', before probing them to explain their answers.

Straight off the bat, their reactions weren't as Black and lead author John Oliffe, a nursing professor who leads the men's health research program at UBC, had expected.

'They actually kind of squirmed,' Black said. 'They were uncomfortable with [the question]. They were uncomfortable with splitting things into female and male.'

Once the researchers got past that, they found that the most important value for these men was to help other people, with 91 percent of men saying that is what men should do.

The second most important trait was openness (according to 88 percent of men), followed by intellect (87 percent) and being fit and healthy (86.5 percent).

'We were quite surprised,' Black said, 'particularly when it came to openness and wellness.'

Digging deeper on the subject of openness, the men they spoke to felt that assuming the 'macho' role of being stoiac and bullish put them at a disadvantage, both socially and professionally.

'They were talking about the importance of networks around them, caring for people and giving back to them,' Black said.

'In the past, you might be able to be kind of closed and rigid. But I think in order to thrive in this new working environment you need to be open.'

Wellness, too, was a surprise. Men cared more about feeling good, physically capable, and about looking desirable in order to meet a partner.

In a weird way, Black says, this seems to be intricately linked to money.

Many of the interviewees were not confident that they could achieve real financial success, and, regardless, weren't convinced that money could define success for them.

And unlike previous generations, they felt that if they wanted to date a woman, she would be interested more in their looks, intellect and emotional strength, rather than their bank account.

'Being fit and healthy was a status for them, to prove themselves as men,' Black said.

'As gender roles have become more equal, men [were more concerned] about taking care of themselves and being physically attractive.'

Black, who works with Movember and public health organizations in Canada, concedes that Canada, and particularly western Canada where they conducted the study, is a hub for the socially conscious, which impedes how much these results can be generalized.

What's more, they carried out the interviews in 2016, just before the #MeToo movement, which is regarded as having such a strong, global social impact that there's a chance results would be different if it was done now.

But the findings do slide neatly into the context of a growing swell of studies finding the same - that millennial men do not see eye to eye with the narrow definition of 'masculinity'.

A YouGov poll from 2016 found that younger American men are much less likely than their fathers and grandfathers to say they feel 'completely masculine'. Just 30 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds said so, compared to 45 percent of men aged 45 to 64, and 65 percent of men over 65. And British men feel even less masculine, with just 2 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds saying they felt 'completely masculine'.

Being masculine is no easy feat.

Compared to how we define femininity, masculinity is a narrow concept. Women can wear trousers and skirts, pink and blue, carry a bag or not. Men, by traditional standards, have half those options.

And most men feel that pressure acutely, according to a study by psychologist Jennifer K Bosson.

Bosson interviewed men about times they did something that was not masculine, and women about doing things that were not feminine. She found that women couldn't really come up with any answers, while men had a myriad of scenarios - from wearing a pink shirt to holding their girlfriend's purse for them.

'My collaborators and I argue that the male gender role itself is kind of conceptualized as a precarious status. Manhood is something that is hard to earn and easy to lose, relative to womanhood,' Bosson said in an interview on NPR's Hidden Brain.

Black agrees - and that's why he's heartened by the results of his study.

Embracing a shift in the idea of what counts as 'masculine' could have significant implications for men's health, both mental and physical.

'Especially in Western society, we tend to view things in binary ways, black and white, male and female,' Black said.

'I think it's important that we give young men permission to step into those roles.'Cancer patients' lives are at risk because red tape means it takes 14 years for cutting edge medicines to reach them after being patented, experts have warned.

New cancer drugs are taking longer to get to patients than they did a decade ago because of delays in the drug development and regulatory systems, according to a report by the Institute of Cancer Research.

Drugs that do come through are focused on a tiny minority of cancer types  with not a single new medicine introduced for bladder, brain or oesophageal tumours in nearly two decades.

Drugs are normally rejected on the grounds of cost effectiveness. Nice has tried to tackle this by starting appraisals earlier  often before licensing has been completed  but decisions have barely sped up [File photo]

The youngest patients are also missing out, with only 6 per cent of new cancer drugs since 2000 licensed for children.

Professor Paul Workman, chief executive of the Institute of Cancer Research, said a 'herd mentality' among drugs companies is slowing down innovation.

The companies are going after the same drugs in the search of profits, he said, meaning very few truly innovative treatments reach the NHS.

'Cancer patients do better when they are given access to the best treatments as early as possible,' Professor Workman said last night.

'Our analysis shows that patients are waiting longer than before for new cancer drugs to become widely available on the NHS. Cancer won't wait and patients shouldn't have to either.'

Drugs took an average of 16 months to go through Nice appraisal between 2009 and 2016, compared with 16.7 between 2000 and 2008. Of 175 drugs given a safety licence between 2000 and 2016, 64  more than a third  were for blood cancers such as leukaemia and lymphoma [File photo]

Between 2000 and 2008 it took an average 12.7 years for a cancer drug to go from getting a patent to being approved for NHS patients by drugs watchdog Nice  the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

Between 2009 and 2016 the time from patent to patient increased to 14.1 years, the report authors found.

'I don't think this is about being overcautious about safety  this is regulatory red tape,' Professor Workman said. He warned trials are taking longer because of new regulations over data use and the way studies are conducted.

And, even when they are complete, regulators take months to make decisions. Drugs are normally rejected on the grounds of cost effectiveness. Nice has tried to tackle this by starting appraisals earlier  often before licensing has been completed  but decisions have barely sped up.

Drugs took an average of 16 months to go through Nice appraisal between 2009 and 2016, compared with 16.7 between 2000 and 2008.

Of 175 drugs given a safety licence between 2000 and 2016, 64  more than a third  were for blood cancers such as leukaemia and lymphoma. Twenty-three were for lung cancer and 15 for breast cancer.

New cancer drugs are taking longer to get to patients than they did a decade ago because of delays in the drug development and regulatory systems, according to a report by the Institute of Cancer Research [File photo]

Only six were for prostate cancer and four for pancreatic cancer. There were no authorisations at all for brain, oesoph- ageal, bladder or womb cancer. Only ten of the 175 authorisations were for treating children.

Cost effectiveness is the usual reason for not licensing a drug.

Professor Workman said 'nobody is prioritising innovation', with pharmaceutical companies each trying to develop almost identical drugs.

Nice is not helping this tendency, approving only 38 per cent of drugs it assessed which work in a completely new way or for a new cancer type  compared to 53 per cent of drugs that are very similar to existing treatments.

Dr Olivia Rossanese of The Institute of Cancer Research, said: 'We need more drugs taking new approaches to targeting cancer, rather than more of the same 'me too' drugs.'A pair of Bangladeshi conjoined twins have finally gone home - a year-and-a-half after their 'groundbreaking' separation surgery.

Sisters Tofa and Tahura, now two, were born joined at the spine and rectum.

At just ten months old the siblings underwent nine-hour surgery at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital in August last year.

Formerly-conjoined twins Tofa and Tahura are pictured in August last year after surgery to separate them at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Bangladesh. Nearly a year-and-a-half later, the sisters went home yesterday after enduring two operations to restructure their organs

The girls, pictured in August last year before the surgery, were born attached at the spine and rectum. Their poor farmer parents traveled 260km (160 miles) for them to have the procedure. The sisters were only supposed to stay in intensive care for a few weeks

The grueling procedure involved two dozen doctors and was the country's first ever successful operation of its kind.

Once recovered, the twins then required a further two procedures to restructure their internal organs.

The girls were finally discharged yesterday - 16 months later - with their paediatric surgeon Dr Shahnoor Islam saying they can 'walk and play like any other normal babies'.

Speaking of the twins, Dr Islam, who led their surgery, said: 'They were released from hospital late Monday after their conditions improved.

'They can walk and also play like any other normal babies. They are on their way back home. But we'll observe them from time to time.'

Tofa and Tahura - who do not use a surname - were brought to Dhaka from the remote northern Gaibandha district - 260km (160 miles) from the capital, by their poor farmer parents in July last year.

After their surgery, which was described as being '100 per cent successful', doctors initially said the girls would remain in intensive care for just a few weeks to reduce their risk of infections.

Sixteen months later, their mother, Shahida Begum said: 'I have never thought they would be separated and live a healthy life.

'But thanks to Allah, we are now returning home with Tofa and Tahura no longer conjoined.'

The twins' parents almost gave up hope of their daughters ever being separated when local doctors told them there were no experts in Bangladesh who could perform the operation, with surgery in other countries costing too much.

Now the girls have defied all expectations, Mrs Begum is keen that they attend Islamic seminaries.

'I didn't go to school as I got married early. But I want them to learn Islam and be very good human beings,' she previously said.

Conjoined twins are rare, with about half of cases being delivered stillborn. Almost all Bangladeshi conjoined twins fail to survive their infant years, surgeons have said.

In 2016, twin boys, who were joined at the torso and had been abandoned by their parents at the same hospital, died due to severe infections and complications.

In November 2015, conjoined twin girls born with two heads, two hearts and a single body attracted crowds of thousands. They died when they were just one-week-old.A former grant writer credits her dog for saving her life after the pooch sniffed out her cancer three times.

Stephanie Herfel, 52, had been experiencing severe discomfort in her abdomen, which her doctor dismissed as a cyst.

Sent home with painkillers, Mrs Herfel made an appointment to see a gynaecologist when her Siberian Husky Sierra sniffed at her lower abdomen before running away and curling up in the wardrobe.

Mrs Herfel was diagnosed with stage three ovarian cancer just weeks later on November 11, 2013.

After undergoing a full hysterectomy, chemotherapy and having her spleen removed, Mrs Herfel thought she was disease-free until Sierra sniffed at her again in 2015 and 2016 - tests later revealed her cancer had returned both times.

Now free of the disease, Mrs Herfel believes she would not be here if it was not for Sierra. 'I owe my life to that dog,' she said. 'She's really been a godsend to me.'

Stephanie Herfel (pictured left with her dog Sierra in September last year) credits her Siberian Husky for saving her life after the pooch sniffed out her cancer three times. Pictured right in February 2016, she was first diagnosed with ovarian cancer on November 11 2013

Mrs Herfel (pictured with her husband Jim Herfel at a monthly hospital appointment in March 2017) was sent home with painkillers when she went to her doctor with abdominal pain. She was only diagnosed with cancer when Sierra sniffed at her tummy and then crawled in a ball

Ovarian cancer affects around 22,200 new women every year in the US, with one in 78 women developing the disease at some point in their lives, according to the American Cancer Society.

Around 70 per cent of women with ovarian cancer see their disease return, which becomes more likely the more advanced it is when diagnosed, the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance states.

In the UK, ovarian cancer affects around 7,200 new women every year. The chance of surviving more than a decade post-diagnosis is 35 per cent in England and Wales.

Sierra first sniffed at Mrs Herfel's abdomen shortly after they moved to Wisconsin from California. She adopted the pet from her son in 2011 when he left for overseas duty while serving in the airforce.

HOW DO DOGS 'SNIFF OUT' CANCER? Dogs have an extremely sensitive sense of smell and can pick up on 'volatile organic compounds', which are released from the early stages of many cancers, including ovarian, lung and colorectal. Scientific studies have shown pooches can separate between blood and tissue samples donated from ovarian cancer patients and healthy people by picking up on minute quantities of VOCs. Studies have also shown dogs can sniff out prostate cancer in a man's urine, as well as breast and lung forms of the disease from compounds in a patient's breath. If a dog detects this on their owner, they may try to alert them by paying them more attention, sniffing them, or 'comforting' them by gently licking their hands or feet, or laying beside them for no reason. If a person notices their dog is regularly acting differently around them, it may be worth looking out for other cancer symptoms, such as pain, fatigue and weight loss. Experts have said specially-trained dogs could particularly help women with ovarian cancer, which has no screening programme and is usually only diagnosed when advanced. Advertisement

'Spooked out', Mrs Herfel, who served in the US Marine Corps from 1984 to 1988, contacted her gynaecologist. The doctor then arranged for her to have blood tests and an ultrasound scan.

After being diagnosed, Mrs Herfel thought she had undergone her final chemotherapy session in April 2014.

But in 2015 and 2016, Sierra correctly identified that the cancer had returned, with tests later showing the disease had spread to Mrs Herfel's liver and pelvis.

Her primary cancer doctor David Kushner told Mrs Herfel this was not a fluke, with some dog breeds being able to detect cancer with 98 per cent accuracy.

Sierra also acted the same way when Mrs Herfel's friend, who was battling ovarian cancer, visited her, the Journal Sentinel reported.

Mrs Herfel, who married her husband Jim last year after they met online, is now cancer-free.

But she still takes a daily dose of chemotherapy tablets as part of a clinical trial to reduce the risk it may come back.

Whenever she comes home from a check-up at The University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center, Mrs Herfel is forced to change her clothes due to Sierra becoming anxious by the 'cancer smell'.

While worried her disease may return yet again, Mrs Herfel has already defied the five-year survival rate and remains positive that new treatments are being developed all the time.

Mrs Herfel, now retired from grant writing, recently joined the board of directors at the Wisconsin Ovarian Cancer Alliance and hopes to write a book about Sierra 'just to give the animals credit that they are pretty smart'.

Mrs Herfel has called Sierra a 'godsend' after she correctly identified when her cancer had returned in 2015 and again in 2016. This is despite her undergoing a hysterectomy, chemotherapy and having her spleen removed. The pair are pictured on May 4 last year

Although now disease free, Mrs Herfel takes chemo tablets every day to prevent her cancer returning. When it came back the second and third time, it had reached her liver and pelvis. She remains positive new treatments will be developed. She is pictured on August 8 2015

The former grant writer is now retired and on the board of directors of the Wisconsin Ovarian Cancer Alliance. She hopes to write a book about Sierra to show that animals are 'pretty smart'. Mrs Herfel, who is originally from California, is pictured with the pet on May 23 2015The computer system used to run England's breast cancer screening programme is outdated and riddled with problems, an investigation has found.

Faulty NHS computers and a 'lack of clarity' among staff about how the programme works were to blame for a blunder unearthed earlier this year that meant thousands of women weren't invited for vital tests.

Experts say the health service's IT systems must be replaced if the routine cancer testing is to work successfully.

The damning comments come as part of an investigation into why more than 450,000 women weren't invited to their final breast cancer screening appointment, in an error that dated back to 2009.

And they follow a scandal last month in which it emerged nearly 50,000 women weren't sent invites to cervical smear tests because of an admin error.

In May this year it was revealed up to 450,000 women didn't receive invites to their final breast cancer screening appointment, which is supposed to happen between the ages of 68 and 71, and an internal investigation has found ageing IT systems could be to blame

An internal investigation by Public Health England revealed 'complexity in the operation of ageing IT legacy systems' was partly to blame for the failure announced earlier in the year.

Then-Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said in May that an IT failure had meant nearly half a million 68 to 71-year-old women weren't invited to their final routine test.

The problem dated back to at least 2009, Mr Hunt said, but it later emerged it could have been going on since 2005  and it was only discovered by chance.

And Public Health England's investigation, the Health Service Journal reports, said failing computers were one of the main reasons for the scandal.

The same computers are still being used and 'require replacement to allow for better functionality and performance', PHE said.

A 'mismatch' between how the screening programme was designed and how it actually works was also to blame.

HOW WAS THE BREAST SCREENING SCANDAL DISCOVERED? The breast cancer screening scandal was only discovered thanks to an Oxford University trial into extra breast cancer screening for women. The AgeX trial was set up in 2009 to find out whether cancers could be diagnosed with extra screenings without undue harm in those aged 47 to 49 and 71 to 73. Around 65 breast cancer units across the country then recruited women from these age groups with the computer programme supposed to select half at random to be given the extra screening. But a computer glitch that was in the system from the start of the trial meant a large number of the older group had scans cancelled without ever knowing they were going to be arranged. Once the Oxford researchers discovered the error, it soon emerged that the same mistake had affected women in the entire screening programme. Advertisement

While NHS policy says women will be invited for their final routine screening appointment within 36 months of their 71st birthday, this didn't happen in reality.

Instead, some women were invited at the age of 67 and then never again because the computer algorithm wasn't accurate.

The breast screening programme invites all women aged between 50 and 70 for a free mammogram  breast scan  every three years to check for signs of cancer.

Only older women are invited to the routine tests because risk increases with age and 48 per cent of breast cancer cases are diagnosed in women over the age of 65.

Regular screening stops when women reach 70 because the harms are believed to outweigh the benefits.

Tests can cause false positives or detect cancers which would never cause a problem in a woman's lifetime, putting patients at risk of being given gruelling but unnecessary treatment.

The risk of any type of cancer increases with age because damaged cells build up in the body and can trigger the disease.

A third of the 450,000 women who missed out on breast screening invites died in the period between the start of the failure and it being uncovered in spring this year.

Those who were still alive were invited for urgent screening appointments to make up for that which they were never invited to. Mr Hunt admitted between 135 and 270 of them developed breast cancer that shortened their lives.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK, and there were more than 55,000 cases diagnosed in 2015.

PHE's report, which was obtained to HSJ, was written by its medical director Professor Paul Cosford.

He said PHE itself, the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England must share the responsibility for the fiasco.

The scandal was the first of two major issues with women's health screening programmes this year.

Invites for cervical smear tests, and in some cases results of the tests, were not received by almost 50,000 women in England between January and October because of an admin failure.

The private company Capita, paid 330million to provide admin services for the NHS, blamed human error for the failure to send out thousands of vital letters.

Experts said women's lives were put at risk by the blunder and called on the health service to cut ties with Capita. The scandal only came to light when the British Medical Association wrote to the NHS slamming the private firm.

The National Audit Office is now investigating all of the NHS's routine cancer screening programmes  for bowel, breast and cervical.More British women than ever are dying from alcohol-related diseases, figures revealed today.

Eight women in every 100,000 across the UK die every year because of conditions caused by boozing.

This figure is the highest it has been since records began in 2001 but still lower than the average of 12.2 deaths, and fewer than half the 16.8 deaths among men.

Hard-drinking baby boomers are also dying young because of their habit. Death rates are highest among women in their late 50s and men in their early 60s.

The biggest increase has been among people aged 75 to 79, whose death rate has increased by 53.6 per cent between 2001 and 2017.

Figures released today by the Office for National Statistics showed women (illustrated by the yellow line) are now dying in greater numbers than ever because of alcohol, although the figure is still half that of men (dark blue line)

Figures released today by the Office for National Statistics laid bare the scale of drinking-related deaths in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

And the death rates are rising in every country except Scotland, although people living there are still the most likely to die because of drink.

A total of 7,697 people died from alcohol-specific causes in the UK last year, of which 2,564 were women.

The number of women dying is comparable to 2008, when levels were at their highest ever among all groups  in that year 7.9 women died per 100,000.

Women in the north-east of England are most likely to die prematurely because of their boozing, while the figure is lowest in London  and the same is true for men.

Across both sexes, people aged between 50 and 69 have the highest proportion of deaths from alcohol-related causes, which include liver disease, brain damage, pancreatitis and poisoning.

In 2001, people aged 45 and 49 were more likely to die from alcohol-related problems than those aged 65 to 69, but this has now been reversed.

And the same is true for 40 to 44 year olds and people in their 70s  the figures show people currently aged between 55 and 79 have caused themselves more harm with drinking than those who were the same age at the start of the century.

'We know alcohol is an issue for over-50s and we need to do a lot more to reach this group in a way that works for them,' said Karen Tyrell of Addaction, a mental health, drug and alcohol charity.

Alcohol-related death rates have spiked in people aged between 55 and 79 since 2001  the biggest increase has been among those between 75 and 79 years old, who are 53 per cent more likely to die because of booze than they were in 2001

Scotland (darkest blue) is the only country in which the number of people dying because of drink is falling, but it continues to have the highest total death rate, followed by Northern Ireland (yellow), Wales (light blue) and England (dark blue)

In England, women in the North East and North West are most likely to die from alcohol-related causes, where as those in London and the South East are least likely  the biggest regional jump since 2001 has been in Yorkshire and the Humber

Men in England are also most likely to be killed by alcohol if they live in the north of the country and the biggest jump has been in Yorkshire and the Humber  there has also been a marked drop in alcohol deaths among men in London since 2001

'For older drinkers, alcohol often creeps up and gradually plays a more central role in day-to-day life.

'The people we work with frequently talk about alcohol as a way to deal with loneliness, isolation, and the sense of loss that sometimes comes with retirement and move into a new phase of life.'

Between the nations of the UK, Scotland is the worst affected by alcohol and has been for the 16 years since the data began.

There, 20.5 people per 100,000 die because of alcohol-related illnesses. This is almost double the 11.1 people in England, which has the fewest deaths.

Northern Ireland has the second highest number of deaths, at 17.4 per 100,000 people, and is the fastest rising  shooting up 40 per cent from 12.4 in 2001.

And deaths in Wales have risen a third in the same time period, from 10.1 per 100,000 to 13.5.

The chief executive of Drinkaware, Elaine Hindal said: 'These figures show a worrying increase in the number of alcohol specific deaths in the UK, particularly amongst women and 60 to 64-year olds.

'Our own research has shown that middle aged drinkers in particular are drinking in ways that are putting them at risk of serious and potentially life limiting conditions such as heart disease, liver disease and some types of cancer.

'The drinking habits of older adults are simply not changing as fast as other groups in the population.

'We must all do more to address the stigma that people feel in reaching out for support.'

Ian Hamilton, a drug researcher at York University told MailOnline: 'Alcohol is an effective way to self medicate  in the short term it helps with stress and social anxiety.

'It also has no waiting times or embarrassing questions to ask, unlike treatment services.

'But it is clear that women are now catching up with men in terms of alcohol related harm and paying with their lives.

'We know that a small proportion of drinkers consume more than a third of the alcohol consumed, this along with this new data means urgent action is needed if this rise in deaths is to be stemmed.'

Some experts suggest it is becoming more difficult for alcoholics to get the support they need to kick the habit.

'Put simply, more and more people will die from alcohol if their local council continues to slash budget cuts to free treatment services,' said Eytan Alexander, founder of UK Addiction Treatment Centres (UKAT).

'These people have died because they have become addicted and alcohol has taken over their lives, whilst at the same time, the places where they could be helped are closing at a rate of knots.

'It cannot be a coincidence that the areas with the highest mortality rates are the areas where budgets are cut the heaviest.

'Councils need to make better budget decisions next year to help those most vulnerable.'The killer Ebola virus could be transformed from a terrifying disease into an infection that can be managed at home by a pill, a leading scientist believes.

Dr Jeremy Farrar, chair of the World Health Organization's scientific advisory group, made the claim.

He said a landmark trial in the Democratic Republic of Congo could allow patients to be looked after in their own homes - and not cared for by nurses in masks.

The trial will test four drugs, including ZMapp, which was given to patients during the 2014 outbreak that decimated west Africa.

The medication works by preventing the lethal virus from entering cells and then spreading throughout the body.

The DRC's Ebola outbreak, which began in August, is showing no signs of slowing down, with 444 cases and 260 deaths

'You could turn Ebola from something that really is feared and horrific in communities to something that is preventable and treatable,' Dr Farrar told The Guardian.

The DRC's Ebola outbreak, which began in August, is showing no signs of slowing down, with 444 cases and 260 deaths.

And experts warned in November the epidemic may not be over for another six months.

The four experimental drugs will be randomly assigned to patients in an outbreak in a conflict-ridden region of eastern DRC.

As well as ZMapp, the other three drugs that will be given to patients battling Ebola are mAb114, Regenerons Regn-EB3 and remdesivir.

These have already been given to more than 160 patients on a compassionate basis - despite them not being approved.

Doctors will not know which drugs the patients have received until later when the medications will be compared for their effect on mortality.

This information will then be combined with evidence from future outbreaks in a five-year programme to create at-home pills or injections, Dr Farrar said.

A leading scientist has said Ebola could go from being treated by nurses in masks to at home. Medics are pictured in protective suits before entering an isolation unit at a hospital in Bundibugyo, western Uganda, where there was a suspected Ebola case, on August 17 2018

Because the data collected in the current outbreak will unlikely be in-depth enough to create a complete study, the trial will likely also cover epidemics in other countries.

Dr Farrar, who is also director of the biomedical research charity Wellcome Trust, told The Guardian people need to stop thinking of Ebola as occurring in 'discreet episodes' and urges the programme to be 'multi-epidemic, multi-country'.

A blue-print for the programme is close to being signed off by the WHO, as well as the National Institutes of Health in the US, Department for International Development in the UK and drug manufacturers, among others.

The design of the trial will be unusual in that it will allow the study to be adapted to bring in other medications if they seem beneficial and to rule out any that are ineffective.

During the Ebola outbreak in west Africa, the FDA argued a placebo must be included in trials to properly assess how effective a drug is before it can be approved for use.

Many doctors argued, however, it is unethical to give some Ebola patients a placebo and others a potentially effective treatment. The FDA's stance has since changed.

If the programme is effective for Ebola, the same model could also be used to treat other diseases such as Nipah and Lassa fever, which can also cause sudden deadly outbreaks.

To date, up to 36,000 people in the DRC have been vaccinated against Ebola, according to Dr Ferrar. Although not licensed, the jabs, owned by Merck, are routinely offered to a patient's family and neighbours.

In neighbouring Uganda, where experts worry Ebola may spread, 2,000 healthcare workers have also been immunised due to them often being the first to come into contact with the sick.

Dr Ferrar added Ebola outbreaks in the DRC cannot be prevented due to the virus naturally living in animals, primarily bats. 'You cant stop Ebola. We all know that. To stop the initial outbreaks is impossible,' he said.

A Congolese health worker is pictured preparing to administer an Ebola vaccine outside the house of a victim who died from the disease in the village of Mangina in North Kivu province of the DRC on August 18 this year. Jabs are routinely given to patients' families and neighbours

A healthworker in Beni - where the latest outbreak started - is pictured preparing a new jab on August 25 2018. Up to 36,000 people in the DRC have been vaccinated to date

This comes after news released last week revealed aid workers battling the Ebola outbreak in the DRC are also having to fend off a spike in malaria cases.

Experts say people suffering from Ebola and malaria are becoming mixed up, which is making it more difficult to control the fast-spreading virus.

Many children are catching the incurable fever when visiting medical centres with malaria - and half of people suspected of having Ebola actually have malaria.

'It will make things a lot easier if malaria is taken out of the equation,' Stefan Hoyer, medical officer for malaria control at the WHO, said.

Health workers in the city of Beni launched a four-day door-to-door blitz to try and stem the flow of malaria cases. They gave out mosquito nets and anti-malarial drugs to 450,000 people to stop them going to medical centres where they may catch Ebola.

The WHO thinks it can cut Ebola cases in half by separating the two groups of patients.

A health worker is pictured carrying a four-day-old baby, who was suspected of having Ebola, into a Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) supported Ebola Treatment Centre on November 4 this year in Butembo, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Health workers are seen treating an unconfirmed Ebola patient inside a MSF-supported Ebola Treatment Centre on November 3 2018 in Butembo, Democratic Republic of the CongoA six-year-old girl has died from the flu - bringing the total number of pediatric fatalities to five this season.

Allison Eaglespeaker, of Missoula, Montana, passed away on Saturday from influenza B and pneumonia, according to a GoFundMe page started by her aunt.

Montana's Department of Public Health and Human Services confirmed that the kindergartner's death is the first in the state this season.

With more flu cases and deaths expected to be reported in the coming weeks, health officials are now urging people to get vaccinated if they haven't already.

Allison Eaglespeaker, six (pictured), of Missoula, Montana, was taken to Community Medical Hospital on Friday after she was struggling to breathe

Doctors told her parents that she was suffering from 'a dangerous combination of influenza B, pneumonia and asthma'. On Saturday, Allison (left and right) passed away

Allison's mother, Crystal White Shield, told MTN News that her daughter suffered from asthma her entire life.

On Friday, Allison was struggling to breathe so White Shield took her to Community Medical Hospital in Missoula.

Allison was quickly rushed into the ICU. Doctors told her parents that she was suffering from 'a dangerous combination of the flu, pneumonia and asthma'.

WHAT IS IN THIS YEAR'S FLU SHOT? Strains of the flu virus are constantly changing, so a new vaccine is made each year. Scientists make the vaccine before the flu season starts by predicting which strains are likely to be the most common during the upcoming season. For the 2018-2019 season, flu shots protect against three or four strains of the flu virus. Trivalent vaccines protect against two influenza A strains, H1N1 and H3N2, and one influenza B strain. The quadrivalent flu vaccines protect against the same strains as the trivalent vaccine, as well as an extra influenza B virus. This season will be the first time in two yeas that the flu nasal spray is available. Advertisement

There are three main types of influenza that humans can contract: A, B and C. Type A is the most common form and type C is the mildest form.

Type B is very similar to type A, but can only spread from human to human and is highly contagious.

Both the trivalent and quadrivalent flu vaccines can protect against influenza B strains.

While most people with the flu recover within two weeks of contracting the virus, some sufferers can develop complications.

The flu inflames the body's airways, which prevents mucus and secretions from clearing.

This leads to a buildup of bacteria in the body, which it normally would be able to fight off but is unable to due to the flu weakening the immune system.

From there, the flu can easily develop into pneumonia.

Approximately one-third of all cases of pneumonia are caused by respiratory viruses, with influenza being the most common.

In the 2014-15 season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) named pneumonia combined with the flu as the eighth leading cause of death in the US.

Her parents, Crystal White Shield and Charles Eagle Speaker, are urging parents to have their children vaccinated - although it remains unclear if Allison (pictured) was vaccinated

A wake for Allison (pictured) will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday and a funeral is scheduled for Thursday morning. The family has created a GoFundMe page to cover remaining medical expenses and funeral costs

Last season, Montana was among the hardest hit states with more than 10,000 confirmed cases, 979 hospitalizations and 79 deaths. According to the CDC, the 2017-18 season was one of the most severe on record. Pictured, left and right: Allison

White Shield said that before Allison passed away, she told her mother she would be brave.

'I'll never forget the way she that she said that because, just by her saying that, it reminded me that I need to be brave, too,' White Shield told MTN News.

White Shield and Allison's father, Charles Eaglespeaker, are urging parents to vaccinate their children if they haven't done so - although it remains unclear if Allison was vaccinated.

A wake will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday and a funeral is scheduled for Thursday morning.

The family has created a GoFundMe page to cover remaining medical expenses and funeral costs.

So far, more than $10,300 has been raised out of a $15,000 goal.

Health officials in Montana said that, in the 2018-19 flu season, there have been 36 confirmed cases and six hospitalizations in the state.

Last season, Montana was among the hardest hit states with more than 10,000 confirmed cases, 979 hospitalizations and 79 deaths.

According to the CDC, the 2017-18 season was one of the most severe on record.

During the last full week of January, the agency reported that one of every 14 visits to doctors and clinics nationwide that week was for symptoms of the flu.

That made it the highest level since the deadly swine flu pandemic in 2009.

Across the US, 179 children died and thousands were hospitalized. The CDC said 80 percent of the children who died were not vaccinated.Fentanyl's rise in the US drug market is part of a much bigger, longer-term strategy from global trafficking groups, according to a new report.

The drug - 30 to 100 times stronger than heroin - is driving the rise in overdose deaths in the US.

It is sold straight, but it is also cut into all kinds of drugs, from heroin to Percocet, and there is no way of users detecting whether it's there until they try it.

Five years after the US declared an addiction epidemic, things are turning around, with prescription rates on the downturn and more education about the risk of addiction from prescription drugs.

But the one thing that still stumps health officials is fentanyl: how did it spread so far in the US, and why do Americans take it?

According to a new report, published today in the journal Addictions, there isn't (and never has been) significant user demand for fentanyl specifically among US drug users.

More importantly, it seems, fentanyl was the easiest and cheapest drug for manufacturers and traffickers to produce fast enough to meet America's rapidly rising demand for opioids.

CDC figures show fentanyl drove up the rate of overdoses in 2017. Donald Trump said on Monday that China will curtail supply. A new UCSF reports explores how fentanyl took off in the US

Questions surrounding fentanyl are not new, but reached new heights last week, when the CDC published new data showing another rise in overdose deaths in 2017, primarily driven by the synthetic drug.

According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, most of the supply is routinely traced back to wholesalers in China.

On Monday, President Donald Trump addressed that, promising (again) that China would curtail its supply, though offering few details on how that would happen.

But the fact remains that fentanyl is now ubiquitous in the US drug market (just last month two 19-year-old boys died after taking a Percocet that they didn't know was laced with fentanyl), and its not clear how to weed it out.

To explore the big question on everyone's lips, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, went to areas where fentanyl use and overdoses are highest - the Northeast and Midwest - to find out from users why they felt the market was thriving.

Some people said they did seek out fentanyl specifically. Those tended to be longer-term heroin or opioid users, who had built up a tolerance to the effects. Fentanyl's effects are shorter but stronger. They cut through the body's resistance to give them a feeling of euphoria.

But overall it seemed fentanyl was not high in demand.

There is no widely-used slang term for fentanyl, suggesting there isn't much 'hype' around the drug.

And many users they spoke to were more scared by its potency than enamored. Just two milligrams of fentanyl is enough to kill someone. And yet, there is no way of knowing whether a drug or prescription pill on the black market contains fentanyl, and if it does, how much. There is no consistency to how much fentanyl is cut into any given drug - it could be a pinch, it could be 50 percent.

In fact, even their dealers couldn't say how much fentanyl was in any given batch. It's all down to guess work.

'Fentanyl is rarely sold as fentanyl,' said Sarah Mars, PhD, a researcher in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at UCSF and the first author of the paper.

'The dealers selling fentanyl directly to the users often don't know what's in it. Not only is this particularly dangerous, but it also means penalizing low level dealers isn't going to make any difference in the fentanyl poisoning epidemic.'

Fentanyl, the synthetic opioid 100 times stronger than morphine, was the driving culprit, alone accounting for a 45 percent increase in deaths between 2016 and 2017

Those interviews left Mars and her co-author Daniel Ciccarone, a professor of family and community medicine at UCSF, confident that there is, actually, not much demand among users.

From a wholesaler's perspective, though, there are plenty of upsides.

As prescription rates skyrocketed in the US over the last three decades, demand for any kind of opioid soared. A classic scenario, documented across the country, was that patients would be prescribed highly-addictive opioids, but then wouldn't be able to afford more. So they would turn to heroin.

It was a dramatic shift in a very short space of time.

But heroin is timely and complicated to make. It is beholden to the poppy-growing season, and can be susceptible to pests.

Fentanyl, meanwhile, is entirely lab-made. It can be produced year-round at a much cheaper rate - and it's 40 times stronger.

'The full motives of wholesale suppliers still remain hidden, but there are significant incentives for them to shift over partially or completely to fentanyl, even though it often causes users to overdose,' the researchers said, adding: 'It may just be a matter of time before fentanyl takes over more of the illicit US and worldwide drug market, as has already happened in Estonia.'Shocking brain scans show the tip of a surfboard embedded in a man's skull when he tried to catch a wave.

The unnamed man, 45, dived under a wave on Manly beach, Sydney, not knowing there was a stray surfboard in it.

Doctors believe the experienced surfer was hit head on by a wave travelling at 10-to-18km/hour (6.2-to-11.1mph).

This caused the board to break up and left him with a 3x1x1cm piece of fibreglass debris protruding from his skull.

Shocking brain scans show the tip of a surfboard (circled) embedded in a man's skull when he tried to catch a wave on Manly beach, Sydney. He did not realise the wave had a stray surfboard in it, which broke up when it hit him head on in a wave travelling at 10-to-18km/hour

Scan shows the 3x1x1cm piece of fibreglass debris protruding from his skull at a different angle. The unnamed 45-year-old man was rushed into surgery when the doctors discovered blood was pooling in his brain, which had also shifted out of line during the collision

The man was rushed into surgery when scans revealed blood was pooling in his brain, which had also shifted out of line during the collision.

Doctors successfully removed the stray piece of board. He is now keen to get back out on the waves - but will be wearing a helmet from now on.

Speaking of the incident, the man said: 'During an early morning surf, I was paddling back out and just as I was about to duck dive under some white water I saw another surfer fall off a wave, approximately 1015metres ahead of me.

'Due to the distance between us I felt no sense of danger, but as I was coming up from the duck dive there was a large impact on the top, front right side of my head.

'When I checked the wound with my hand I could feel something hard and jagged.'

He managed to swim back to shore where an ambulance took him to Northern Beaches Hospitals, where he was initially classed as being non-urgent, according to the tale published in the BMJ Case Reports.

'I was feeling pretty shaken up, but when at first it seemed as though the wound just needed to be cleaned and sutured I started to relax,' he said.

But the man's calm disposition did not last long, with a nurse then calling in a doctor who suggested a brain scan.

'When I was wheeled into the resuscitation room and had a cannula - a thin tube in a vein to give medicine - inserted in my arm I knew I was in trouble,' he said.

The scan revealed the piece of surfboard that was protruding from his skull and showed it was lying close to the bone.

It also showed he was suffering from a life-threatening subdural haematoma, which occurs when blood collects between the skull and the brain's surface. His vital organ had also slightly shifted out of its natural centre line.

The man was given the anti-epilepsy drug Keppra (levetiracetam) to prevent him having a seizure and was taken into surgery.

'By the time I was wheeled into the operating theatre a few hours later I was terrified and just kept telling myself I was going to be okay,' he said.

Once the piece of board had been removed, the patient underwent a titanium cranioplasty, which repairs skull defects by using metal plates (circled) to replace the bone

The patient then underwent a craniotomy - surgery to cut an opening in the skull to access the brain.

Doctors removed the surfboard and a 3x3cm section of surrounding fractured skull to prevent a deadly infection.

This was followed by a titanium cranioplasty, which repairs skull defects by using metal plates to replace the bone.

With the surgery a success, doctors initially gave him IV antibiotics due to his high risk of infection but later switched to oral forms of the drugs.

Although still in recovery, the man is keen to get back to the sport he loves.

He said: 'I have to wait three months and then Ill give it another go. Ill be wearing a helmet though.'

Most surfing injuries include cuts, neck or back sprains, and broken bones, which are commonly seen in hospitals near beaches, the report's authors wrote.

They warn the man had a lucky escape, with his condition potentially getting much worse due to doctors initially underestimating his injuries.

The medics believe his case highlights the importance of protective headgear, despite many surfers thinking of helmets as 'kookie' - or crazy.

They reference a 2005 study by the Royal Melbourne Hospital, which suggested only 38 per cent of surfers consider the sport to have a moderate-to-high risk of head injury. And just two per cent of those questioned wore protective headgear regularly.Having a cough and being full of germs can be annoying, not only for you but for everyone around you.

And if you've ever been worried about how to manage your illness in public without offending others, you're not alone.

But here, in a piece for Healthista, a leading etiquette expert reveals her six polite ways to manage your germs.

Etiquette expert Jo Bryant reveals her six ways to manage your germs politely this winter to avoid spreading a cough, as a survey reveals half of commuters have been coughed on

We are rapidly approaching the beginning of January, which is peak cough season.

It's the month when, no matter how much vitamin C you've mainlined over the Christmas holidays, you'll likely be spluttering into your handkerchief just when it's time to go back to work.

And this is where you will face a typical dilemma of the coughing season: to soldier on spluttering in meetings, hacking into your handkerchief, or to stay home tucked up under your duvet only to lose hard-won brownie points with your boss.

If you'd rather not alienate work co-workers a day in bed could be the answer that is, unless, you live with a woman, in which case you risk putting your relationship under pressure, since one quarter of women (24 per cent) say their partner's cough annoys them.

Men, however, are more sympathetic, with more than one third saying they wait on their partner hand and foot when they have a cough and a quarter offering to take over all the household chores.

Public transport is another cause for coughing conflict, says the new research, with half of those surveyed complaining that coughing commuters splutter over them with little or no concern for their fellow passengers' health.

'Coughing season can be an absolute minefield,' agrees etiquette expert Jo Bryant, who has worked at the etiquette guide book Debrett's for over a decade.

'Year after year I see poor cough etiquette from spluttering through social occasions, to coughing over a colleague's desk. We have a very British attitude to coughing.

'We carry on, we still go to work and even to the gym and still go around shaking hands.'

Bryant now works advising foreign businesses on the nuances of English manners. If you're invited to tea at the Palace, she's your woman (you must stop eating when the queen does or risk a royal faux pas).

Here are her fail-safe tips for navigating the coughing season without losing friends and alienating people with your projectile germs:

1. Be aware

If you're the one with the cough don't splutter over your loved ones.

'Etiquette is really just about how we treat other people,' said Ms Bryant. With coughing etiquette, you have a duty of care to other people.

'If there's anything you can do to suppress the symptoms, like sucking a cough sweet, or washing your hands, that will stop the spread of germs.'

2. Cough into a tissue, not your hand

It's proven to be more hygienic. 'We're getting more germ aware,' said Ms Bryant.

'At school children are now taught to cough into the crook of their arm, rather than put their hand over their mouth, it looks a bit dramatic but it's a definite improvement from when I was at school and everyone coughed and spluttered everywhere.

'The main problem with coughing is the poor cough hygiene. It's about hand avoidance, cough into a tissue.

'As the government guidelines say, then "bin it".'

And be prepared - 'A well-mannered commuter has anti-bacterial hand gel,' said Ms Bryant.

3. Hold off on the handshakes

Funnily enough, 83 per cent of us will happily shake hands with someone with a cough, perhaps because we don't realise this puts us at risk of picking up germs.

But if you have a cough Ms Bryant claims it's better to be honest and keep your hands to yourself.

'If you're the person who is ill, have the confidence to say: "I've got a stinking cold, so, I'm going to keep my distance and I won't shake your hand"', said Ms Bryant.

4. Offer compassion (and a cough sweet)

If you're faced with a cougher who is spluttering in meetings or coughing over their keyboards, it might be tempting to glare at them or bitch behind their back, but this passive aggressive stance can lead to tension in the office, according to research by Jakemans.

The genteel thing to do is 'offer small acts of kindness,' said Ms Bryant. Like a packet of tissues or cough sweet perhaps?

'Acts of kindness can be instructive rather than telling people what to do,' said Ms Bryant diplomatically.

'The person that's hacking isn't doing it on purpose, so we should be showing some compassion and consideration.

'If someone is coughing at work you could say: "Have you tried this? It works for me I hope it helps".

'If someones cough is causing irritation, one should step back from them or move seat, rather than being confrontational or rude.'

Try offering people who are irritating you a solution that has worked for you, such as cough sweets, rather than being confrontational or rude, says Jo Bryant

5. Stay at home, unless it's a deal breaker

Whether you take the week off will depend on your job, said Ms Bryant.

'If you have a job where you can easily work at home it makes sense to work there,' she added.

'But if you're going to be signing a multi-million pound deal with someone who has just flown in from China, then it makes more sense to turn up.

'Just wash your hands and have a cough sweet to suppress the symptoms.'

And if you've taken time off don't come back to work until you've recovered or you still risk spreading germs. As long as you're coughing, you're infectious.

Don't be afraid to say "No" to Christmas drinks.

'Although it's tempting, battle on despite your symptoms. Dates and friends will not appreciate your coughing in company,' said Ms Bryant.

6. Try to suppress it

'If you can suppress your cough, then do,' said Ms Bryant.

The same goes for other bodily activities, like yawning, which other people might find offensive.

'With any kind of gesture you shouldn't be doing anything that is going to revolt others,' said Ms Bryant.

Ask yourself: 'Would you like to look down the back of someone's throat?'

The bottom line on coughing etiquette? Don't be revolting.

This article was originally published on Healthista and reproduced with its permission.A woman who survived cancer as a child is now a nurse at the hospital that helped save her life.

Jennifer Toth, of Vienna, Virginia, was diagnosed with hepatoblastoma - a cancer of the liver - when she was just two years old.

After a few years of treatment at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) in Pennsylvania, Toth, now 26, was declared cancer-free.

Now, more than 20 years later, Toth is working as a pediatric oncology nurse at that very same hospital and says her experience as a patient has shaped the way that she interacts with the children she treats.

Jennifer Toth, 26 (left and right), of Vienna, Virginia, was diagnosed with hepatoblastoma in 1995 at age two. Hepatoblastoma is a rare tumor that begins in the liver and is usually found in children up to three years old

Toth's tumor was too large to surgically remove so she went through six months of chemotherapy first. A few years later, she was declared cancer-free. Pictured: Toth as a patient with one of the nurses who cared for her at CHOP

There were no signs that anything was wrong with Toth until early 1995 when her mother felt a lump on her abdomen when she was giving her daughter a bath.

Her parents took Toth to their pediatrician, who referred them to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

It was there that scans showed she had a tumor the size of a softball on her liver and she was diagnosed with hepatoblastoma.

Hepatoblastoma is a tumor that begins in the liver and is usually found in children up to three years old.

Despite being the most common malignant liver tumor among young children, it is a rare form of cancer, affecting fewer than one in a million children, according to St Jude Children's Research Hospital.

The exact cause is unknown but children are at a higher risk if they were born prematurely; have hemihypertrophy, which is when one side of the body grows faster than the other; or have Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome, known as an overgrowth syndrome.

Symptoms depend on the size of the tumor and can include a swollen abdomen, abdominal pain, jaundice skin, fever, nausea and vomiting.

Hepatoblastoma is treated usually via chemotherapy first to shrink the tumor and stop it from potentially spreading and then surgery to remove the tumor.

If the entire liver is affected, then patients may need a liver transplant.

St Jude Children's Research Hospital says that the survival rate is 80 percent if the tumor does not metastasize, or spread, and can be removed following chemotherapy.

However, if the tumor does spread or encompasses the entire liver, survival rates can range between 20 percent and 70 percent.

Toth's tumor was too large to surgically remove so she went through six months of chemotherapy first.

Among the team that treated her during her time at CHOP, it was nurse practitioner Patricia Brophy, who has since passed away, whom Toth remembers the most.

A nurse practitioner on her care team is the person Toth remembers the most and made her want to become a pediatric oncology nurse. She is now in nursing and completing rotations in the inpatient oncology unit at CHOP. Pictured: Toth with the surgeon who treated her at CHOP, Dr Scott Adzick, left, and at a charity event, right

She told Fox News that she doesn't hide the fact that she is a cancer survivor, but she only shares her story under specific circumstances. Pictured: Toth as a patient at CHOP

'Thinking about the nurses who I had known made the decision to become a nurse, and hopefully someday a nurse practitioner, an easy one,' she told Fox News.

When she was applying for colleges in 2011, Toth learned of the Beyond the Cure Ambassador Scholarship from The National Childrens Cancer Society, which awards college scholarships to cancer survivors.

Toth was one of 58 recipients, which paid for all four years at the University of Pennsylvania, where she earned a Bachelor's of Science in Nursing.

She is now back at UPenn's School of Nursing and completing rotations in the inpatient oncology unit at CHOP.

'I always thought that it would be amazing to come full circle and work at the same hospital where I had been a patient,' Toth said.

She told Fox News that she doesn't hide the fact that she is a cancer survivor, but she only shares her story under specific circumstances.

One example she gave is when a patient noticed her hearing aids and she explained that hearing loss was a side effect of the chemotherapy she received.

'Even when I don't explicitly share my own diagnosis with my patients, I hope that my experience as a patient and a survivor shapes my nursing practice in a way that conveys deep empathy and understanding,' she said.Bickering decreases the longer a couple are married and is replaced by humor and understanding, scientists have found.

Rows that are typical of the early and middle years of a marriage, when children and finances cause a lot of strain, are only temporary, American psychologists concluded.

And as the husband and wife age, they crack jokes more and understand each other, ushering in a more forgiving time in their relationship.

The findings upend the stereotypical portrait of an older married couple as becoming set in their ways and arguing more with their partners.

Negative emotions like defensiveness decreased as the years went by, researchers found

TV series like One Foot in the Grave have portrayed older couples as barely able to stand each other with the flame of passion having long been extinguished.

The study involved tracking couples over a 13-year period who had been married between 15 and 35 years.

Couples were either in the middle-aged group, 40-50 years old and married at least 15 years, or the older group, 60-70 years old and married at least 35 years.

Each couple was analyzed in three sessions, each of which was five or six years apart.

During each session the couples engaged in 15 minutes of unrehearsed conversations about an area of disagreement in their marriage which was videotaped an analysed.

Their listening and speaking was rated according to their facial expressions, body language, verbal content and tone of voice.

Emotions were put into the categories of anger, contempt, disgust, domineering behavior, defensiveness, fear, tension, sadness, whining, interest, affection, humor, enthusiasm and validation.

The study, which was published in the journal Emotion, showed a rise in positive behaviors such as affection and humor.

Negative emotions like defensiveness decreased as the years went by.

Women were emotionally more expressive than their husbands, who tended to be less affectionate and more domineering, but that did not contradict the overall positive trend.

Study author Robert Levenson, a University of California Berkeley psychology professor, said: Our findings shed light on one of the great paradoxes of late life.

Despite experiencing the loss of friends and family, older people in stable marriages are relatively happy and experience low rates of depression and anxiety. Marriage has been good for their mental health.

Alice Verstaen, a pHD student who also carried out the study, said: Given the links between positive emotion and health, these findings underscore the importance of intimate relationships as people age, and the potential health benefits associated with marriage.

These results provide behavioral evidence that is consistent with research suggesting that, as we age, we become more focused on the positives in our lives.

The results are the latest to emerge from a 25-year UC Berkeley study headed by professor Levenson of more than 150 long-term marriages.

The participants, now mostly in their 70s, 80s and 90s, are heterosexual couples from the San Francisco Bay Area whose relationships they began tracking in 1989.Say what you like about President Trump, the Donald is predictable. In his book, The Art Of The Deal, published three decades ago, he wrote: My style of deal-making is quite simple and straightforward. I aim very high, and then I just keep pushing and pushing and pushing to get what Im after.

At first glance, Trumps style of pushing and pushing at China with threats of sky-high tariffs on trade looks as though it has paid off.

He got his way after a lock-down dinner in Buenos Aires at the G20 summit with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, when they finally agreed a 90-day truce in their trade war to allow more time for jaw-jaw.

Table talk: President Trump sits down with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at a lock-down dinner in Buenos Aires

The truce was enough of a victory to send US and European financial markets into spasms of relief, with some analysts predicting a pre-Christmas rally through December.

Trump as Santa is not what most people expect of the president. Yet he has agreed to defer his plan to raise the tariff on $200billion of Chinese imports from 10 per cent to 25 per cent, for 90 days so that talks can continue.

In exchange, Xi promised to buy a very substantial amount of US goods, including farm, energy and industrial products which will help reduce the big trade gap between the two countries.

This is just what Trump wanted, as boosting trade for US farmers and manufacturers was a pivotal part to his electoral pitch.

Theres another plus. Cracking down on China economically is perhaps Trumps only main policy for which there is support from the Democrats.

Whats not clear is whether his claim that Beijing will also reduce and remove tariffs below the 40pc level that it charges on the imports of US cars is correct.

For now, the truce gives both sides some claim to victory. But the truth is this agreement is a de-escalation of the trade war rather than any ceasefire.

Theres a much bigger battle at stake in Trumps war on China as the president has grander ambitions than cutting the trade deficit. He wants to throttle Chinas position as a rival superpower by shattering its industrial base and tearing up its recent Made in China 2025 programme.

He has made no bones about accusing China of stealing US intellectual property, and wants to put a stop to this alleged theft. He also wants to end Chinas dream of dominating industries such as car making. Chinas latest ambition is to be the worlds biggest electric car-maker.

China is already feeling the pain of a weaker economy. The Shanghai Composite Index has fallen almost a third since the start of the year. Xi, who faces criticism for miscalculating Trumps threats, is said to be willing do anything to avoid US tariffs as the countrys growth stalls.

And Trump? He will keep pushing.

Walmsleys bold move

Emma Walmsley also has the makings of a formidable deal-maker. By swapping a night-time drinks company for one of the most cutting-edge cancer drugs on the market, shes catapulted GSK to the forefront of cancer genetic research.

The GSK chief sold Horlicks for 3billion and is paying 4billion to buy the US cancer company Tesaro, all on the same day. Some swap.

Tesaro makes Zejula, an approved drug for treating ovarian cancer. Zejula belongs to a class of drugs called PARP inhibitors, which work by blocking enzymes involved in repairing damaged DNA, thus helping to kill cancer cells.

Its a bold move and precisely the long-term ambition that we hope for from companies like GSK.

If it turns out that Zejula can also be used to treat breast, lung and prostate cancers as GSK believes, then this could prove to be a master-stroke for Walmsley.

It also shows she does what she says, having promised to put GSK back on the drugs after years of lagging behind rivals in finding new blockbusters.

With big pharma like GSK behind it, Zejula could save more lives too.

Courgette wars

Waitrose is blaming the rioting in France by the gilets jaunes (yellow vests), who are protesting over fuel price rises, for a shortage of courgettes.

Trucks carrying courgettes from Spain cant get to the UK because of the protests.

We can cope without courgettes for a few days but has President Macron met his Waterloo?

He is getting close to a state of emergency and the street-fighting is spreading. But at least we wont be hearing from him about French fishermen invading the UKs waters for a while.Shares in troubled Thomas Cook crashed again amid fears over its 389million debt mountain.

The holiday group's stock fell another 21.5 per cent, or 6.46p, to a six-year low of 23.64p  taking losses since May this year to 84 per cent.

The slump has slashed the travel company's value from 2.2billion in May to just 364million  less than the size of its debt.

Rapid descent: Thomas cook stock fell another 21.5 per cent to a six-year low of 23.64p - taking losses since May this year to 84 per cent

And Thomas Cook looks likely to be ejected from the FTSE 250 index of mid-cap companies.

A fire sale by fund managers, who are only allowed to hold FTSE 250 stocks, is thought to have been partly responsible for the fall.

Berenberg analyst Stuart Gordon has downgraded the stock to a 'sell' rating and warned Thomas Cook shares are 'uninvestable'.

He said it may have to raise more cash on the stock market and that the price could fall as low as 12p, a further drop of almost 50 per cent.

Thomas Cook was pummelled by the summer heatwave, with many families choosing to stay in Britain rather than travelling abroad.

More concerning still is its mounting debt pile, which has ballooned from 40million to 389million in just 12 months.

Last week boss Peter Fankhauser said: '2018 was a disappointing year for Thomas Cook, despite achieving some important milestones in our strategy for transforming the business.'

Laith Khalaf of trading firm Hargreaves Lansdown said: 'It's clearly been a pretty horrible year for Thomas Cook investors. If you've got a business that has a fair amount of debt on the balance sheet, a trading slowdown can be particularly punitive.

'The Christmas trading season is going to be important.'

Thomas Cook is 176 years old, invented the package holiday and has around 22,000 staff selling holidays to getaways ranging from Lanzarote to Lapland.

But the company has been forced to issue two profit warnings in recent months and investors are concerned about its future.

There are fears that traditional tour operators could be swept away by internet disruptors as more and more people look for niche holidays online.

Internet travel agent On the Beach, which is also listed on the stock market, is now worth 180million more than Thomas Cook, despite only launching in 2004.

Thomas Cook swung to a 163million loss in the year to September 30, down from a 9million profit for the previous 12 months.

The business shut 100 shops in a battle to cut costs, just two years after buying them as part of a 55.8million deal with Co-op Travel.

The store closures are thought to have affected about 600 staff.

There are even calls to break the business up, with Barclays analysts suggesting its airline should be hived off from the tour operator arm.

Any money raised could then be used to pay down debts. The Barclays analysts added: 'With concerns around the UK economy, earnings may continue to disappoint.'Metal fatigue: Aristotelis Mistakidis is to step down as boss of Glencore's copper division

The boss of Glencore's copper division is leaving after more than two decades at the firm.

Aristotelis Mistakidis has announced plans to retire from the mining and commodities group amid a crackdown by watchdogs on parts of the business he used to run.

The 56-year-old owns a 1.4billion stake in Glencore and is a major player in global copper mining.

The US Department of Justice is investigating Glencore's operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Venezuela and Nigeria.

Chief executive Ivan Glasenberg, 61, said he hoped to give younger executives more senior roles in Glencore.

He said: 'He's [Mistakidis] decided to retire and pass the baton on to the next generation.'

Glasenberg himself is expected to retire in four years and said he has drawn up a list of four candidates who could possibly replace him.

Shares rose 3.7 per cent, or 10.65p, to 300.8p.Chinese telecoms firm Huawei is likely to face further restrictions on its work in the UK

China's Huawei is likely to face further restrictions on its work in the UK amid concerns Beijing could 'press a button and turn off' critical digital infrastructure, a cyber-security expert has warned.

Ian Levy, technical director of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), said officials were concerned about possible Chinese government interference in the telecoms giant's affairs.

The UK is reviewing rules under which firms can supply equipment for the roll-out of so-called 5G mobile technology due to security fears.

Levy told the FT: 'The thing we care about the most is availability of the networks. Can someone in Beijing press a button and turn off every piece of Huawei kit and what does that mean for the UK networks? That's the number one concern.'

Last week New Zealand became the latest British ally to bar Huawei from taking part in the roll-out of 5G.

It is joined by the US and Australia, with the UK and Canada yet to make a decision.

Huawei rejects claims its businesses in Western countries could be spied on.Empty, dilapidated homes can attract squatters, provide an ideal setting for vermin to live and breed or can become structurally unsound if they're not properly maintained, creating hygiene and safety issues for the surrounding communities.

They can also negatively impact the property prices around them. According to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, they can reduce the value of adjoining properties by as much as 18 per cent.

But there are many people that end up owning an empty home for various reasons.

Mainly it's because they are unable to renovate it to a habitable standard to sell, to live in or rent out as they don't have the funds in which to do so.

Empty homes can reduce the value of adjoining properties by as much as 18% according to Rics - but you could qualify for a loan from the council to fix it up

However, the good news is that there are initiatives offered by various councils that enable landlords and homeowners to apply for (and get) up to 25,000 to refurbish the empty home to then potentially rent out or sell on.

Lisa Webb, housing projects co-ordinator of Sevenoaks District Council highlights how one Kent-based family couldn't afford to refurbish the property themselves after an elderly relative was moved into care due to mental illness.

Due to his condition, the relative had neglected the home (see pictures below) and hoarded items making the property uninhabitable.

'It was empty because the elderly owner was rehoused into sheltered housing. The property couldn't be rented or sold due to its condition.

What is an empty property loan? Homes are defined as 'empty' after they have not been inhabited for six months or more. Some councils offer various schemes where money is loaned to the property owner to refurbish it so the empty home can be rented out or sold. Initiatives have been introduced in some parts of the country and some have operated for a number of years. These loans schemes offered by councils were initiated to deal with housing shortages and homes that have been unoccupied that pose a problem for communities.

'The owner's family, who were acting on his behalf, were provided with an interest free loan of 25,000 through the Kent County Council No Use Empty scheme.

'The family also contributed to renovation costs on top of this.

'Once the renovation was completed, the house was rented out privately through a letting agent to a local resident.'

Webb added that as the council weren't involved with the rental or the sale it couldn't comment on how much it was rented for or how much it was subsequently sold for.

However, This is Money found the sale information publically available on property website Rightmove, which showed that the property was sold for 495,000 in August this year.

How soon must you repay the loan?

Council loans are repayable after three years renting out the property or when the property is sold.

Webb explains: 'The loan would have been repayable after three years. However, because the house was sold before then it was repaid in full upon sale of the property and recycled back into the scheme.'

There are a lot of empty properties in Britain despite the fact that there's a housing shortage.

One Kent based family got a loan from the council to refurbish a home owned by a relative that hoarded items

The same property just before renovations began and after clearing the junk

In 2017, more than 200,000 homes in England sat empty for more than six months, according to government figures.

Unfortunately, some time has to transpire for a home to be classified as 'empty'.

Councillor Michelle Lowe of Sevenoaks Council explains: 'We define an empty home as one that is empty for six months or more.

The loan, once awarded, can be used in a number of ways to upgrade properties. Lowe said: 'This 25,000 loan generally covers things like electrics, plumbing, new kitchen and bathroom.

'Some do go over this budget and owners would then have to supply their own money or borrow against the value of their property.'

Why do properties stand empty?

Homes are left empty and in ruin for a number of reasons. Often it's a case of family members inheriting a property that they don't have the funds to refurbish in order to sell on or rent out.

Alternatively, many first time buyers that can't afford a 'move in ready' home, may opt for a 'fixer upper' believing they can manage their costs.

This may sound like a good idea initially but if they over commit financially they may not be able to refurbish the property to liveable standard.

How the property looked after renovations and before it was sold

The Kent based property was initially rented out and then sold for 495k

Besides individuals, developers, shop owners and businesses can also benefit from small loans of 10,000 or even hundreds of thousands of pounds, depending on what their needs are to convert the home or building and what the property will be used for.

For example, Dover District Council provides small grants of up to 10,000 to encourage regeneration of shop fronts in the town centre.

Meanwhile, small family run business Accommodation Yes, which provides supported housing for adults with learning disabilities and complex needs, were awarded a 400,000 loan (part interest free and part interest bearing) over four years to convert an office block into self-contained apartments in Maidstone.

Some councils are more successful at reducing the number of empty homes in their district than others.

Latest national data on empty homes has revealed that Kent County Council's (KCC's) No use Empty initiative, which was launched in 2005, is the UK's best-performing County Council returning 506 long term homes to use in 2017.

In total, it has returned over 5,500 homes to use through the provision of 25million in loans.

The county's largest reductions in empty homes were seen in Canterbury, Dover, Sevenoaks, Folkestone and Thanet.

While many don't have the funds to maintain properties or upgrade ones that have been left to ruin, it's a huge expense to leave empty homes in the state that they are in.

Lowe points out that homeowners are charged 150 per cent in council tax rates if they are empty for more than two years and there are plans to increase this to 200 per cent.

But there are other costs associated with keeping an empty home too.

Michelle Lowe adds: 'It's expensive to have an empty house because of the maintenance, insurance, council tax and other repercussions like break-ins and burst pipes.'

Overall, councils are one of the few 'lenders' willing to step in when homes are left empty and not maintained.

Steve Grimshaw, strategic programme manager, Kent County Council points out most banks are happy to lend when refinancing but adds: 'They become twitchy about being involved in financing properties of this nature.'Two women accused of murdering the estranged half-brother of North Korea's leader must have been trained to carry out 'an assassination' using a deadly nerve agent, Malaysian prosecutors said as they wrapped up their case on Thursday.

Kim Jong Nam's face was smeared with VX, a banned nerve agent developed as a chemical weapon, at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in February 2017.

Two women, Indonesian Siti Aisyah and Doan Thi Huong, a Vietnamese, have been charged with having common intent with four North Korean fugitives to kill Kim.

Both pleaded not guilty, saying they believed they were acting in a prank reality show and did not know they were handling anything lethal.

But prosecutors said pranks involve the 'element of humour' and video evidence showed the accused were not laughing during or after the attack.

Scroll down for video

Vietnamese national Doan Thi Huong (middle), one of the two women accused of murdering Kim Jong Nam, is escorted from court by Malaysian police

Indonesian Siti Aisyah (pictured) and Doan Thi Huong, both in their 20s, are the only suspects in custody and face the death penalty if convicted

Kim Jong Nam died after his face was smeared with VX, a banned nerve agent developed as a chemical weapon, at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in February 2017

Wan Shaharuddin said assassins would have to know the best route for VX to enter the victim's body, and know that they have to wash the VX off themselves within 15 minutes to avoid being contaminated.

'You have to be trained for it... there can be no room for error,' prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin said, likening the 'assassination' to something seen 'in a James Bond movie'.

The women, both in their 20s, are the only suspects in custody and face the death penalty if convicted.

Airport security footage screened in court showed both women heading to a washroom shortly after the assault on Kim.

Doan Thi Huong is driven away from court, where prosecutors claim the two women must have been trained to carry out 'an assassination'

Security is high at the Shah Alam High Court in Malaysia, where the two women stand accused of murdering the half-brother of North Korea's leader

'If it was a prank, why did you smear not only on his face or on his eyelids, but also in the eye itself?' Wan Shaharuddin said, adding that there was 'an element of aggressiveness' involved.

The prosecution made their closing arguments based on 34 witness testimonies.

Trial judge Azmi Ariffin will rule on August 16 whether to acquit the women or call for them to enter their defence.

Defence lawyers say the killing was politically motivated, with many key suspects linked to the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur, suggesting the women were mere pawns. Pyongyang has denied accusations by South Korean and US officials that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's regime was behind the killing.

CCTV footage purportedly shows the aftermath of the deadly assault on Kim Jong Nam at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in February 2017

Airport cameras appear to show what looks like Kim Jong Nam talking to security personnel after being accosted by a woman in a white shirt

Kim had criticized his family's dynastic rule of North Korea and his half-brother had issued a standing order for his execution, some South Korean lawmakers have said.

Lawyers for both women said prosecutors had erred in charging the women, with four men seen fleeing Malaysia on the day of the killing, given the presence of several other North Korean suspects named during the trial.

'How can there be a common intention between the accused and the four, when many others have escaped? There are other suspects who are still at large,' Gooi Soon Seng, Siti Aisyah's lawyer, said.

He described the prosecution's evidence against his client as 'flimsy and circumstantial' as it relied only on the security footage and traces of VX by-products found on the grey sleeveless shirt she was seen wearing. There was no clear footage showing Siti Aisyah smearing Kim's face.

Kim Jong Nam, left, was the estranged half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un

The recordings show only a blurry image of someone the prosecution identified as Siti Aisyah hurrying away from the scene.

Siti Aisyah's DNA was not found on the shirt recovered by police, while the VX by-products detected were commonly found in other substances apart from the poison, Gooi said.

Huong's lawyer Naran Singh said while his client was seen walking quickly to the bathroom after the killing, she did not seem to know that her hands were covered in poison.

'If someone knew the substance on their hands could kill and that they need to wash it quickly, they would run for their life, not walk.'Donkeys on the picturesque Greek island of Santorini are being crippled by carrying heavy holidaymakers - as locals resort to cross-breeding the beasts to produce mules so they can carry heavier tourists.

Between the peak summer months of May to October, up to five cruise ships a day bringing swarms of 1,200 tourists visit the small island to marvel at its idyllic white houses.

Santorini is known for its hilly terrain and donkeys have traditionally been used to transport people over the famously stepped areas which vehicles cannot access, such as in capital Fira.

Donkeys on the picturesque Greek island of Santorini are being crippled by carrying heavy holidaymakers

Animal rights activists claim with obesity on the rise, animals are being forced to carry ever-heavier loads. Some have been left with spinal injuries and open wounds from ill-fitting saddles (pictured)

'There should be a weight restriction. With donkeys it is should be no more than eight stone, but how would that be imposed and who would be there to make sure that happened?' a spokesperson said. Pictured, a donkey takes a tourist up the steps of Santorini

But animal rights activists claim with obesity on the rise, the animals are being forced to carry ever-heavier loads while they work long hours, seven days a week without shelter, rest and water - leaving them with spinal injuries and open wounds from ill-fitting saddles.

And charities say the explosion of overweight tourists even means locals who are keen to get the most out of their animals have been forced to cross-breed male donkeys (jacks) with females horses, or mares, to produce mules which are bigger and taller, have greater stamina and can carry heavier loads.

A spokesman for Help the Santorini Donkeys charity said: 'It's recommended that animals should carry no more than 20 per cent of their own body weight.

'The obese and overweight tourists, combined with the lack of shade and water as well as the sheer heat and 568 cobbled steps, is what is causing such a problem.

'There should be a weight restriction. With donkeys it is should be no more than eight stone, but how would that be imposed and who would be there to make sure that happened?

'Now they're having to resort to using cross-bred mules, because the donkeys just aren't strong enough.'

A spokesman for Help the Santorini Donkeys charity said: 'It's recommended that animals should carry no more than 20 per cent of their own body weight'

There is no appointed body to enforce regulations on donkeys, so owners often work the animal into the ground before casting them aside when they are no longer capable

In the last ten years, the number of overweight tourists from the US, Russia and the UK has trebled

Christina Kaloudi, 42, moved to the island from Athens 10 years ago and set up the Santorini Animal Welfare Association to help overworked donkeys.

She said in the last 10 years she has noticed the number of overweight tourists arriving on the island from America, Russia and the UK has trebled.

Locals claim every day the donkeys make four to five journeys up the white cobbled steps to the town of Fira with its iconic white building in temperature of up to 86F (30C), often with no rest, no protect from the sun, ill-fitting tack and no water.

A spokesperson for the donkey Sanctuary said: 'The Donkey Sanctuary does not actively promote the use of donkeys and mules in any form of tourism'

Witnesses claim every day the donkeys make four to five journeys up the white cobbled steps to the town of Fira

She said: 'The holiday season on islands is now a lot longer than it used to be, meaning that the donkeys are pretty much in work the whole year round.

'If they are not transporting tourists up the steps they are moving building materials or transporting heavy bags of rubbish.

'There are some good owners out there that follow the code but generally donkeys are worked into the ground and then disposed of when their working lives are over.

'They are made to work in terrible conditions without adequate water, shelter or rest and then I find them tied outside my shelter, barely alive.'

Santorini is known for its hilly terrain and donkeys have traditionally been used to transport people over the famously stepped areas which vehicles cannot access

One local said: 'The holiday season on islands is now a lot longer than it used to be, meaning that the donkeys are pretty much in work the whole year round'

In 2008 an international code of practice for working equines was signed by officials on the island, alongside the UK donkey sanctuary.

But with no appointed body to enforce the regulations, owners often work donkeys into the ground before casting them aside when they are no longer capable.

And Christina claims that when donkeys come to the end of their working life they are often abandoned and left to die or pushed over the edge of a cliff.

She added: 'Donkeys are very resilient animals and will keep going for as long as they can, so when they come to me in this state, I have the utmost respect for them.

One charity worker said: 'Donkeys are very resilient animals and will keep going for as long as they can, so when they come to me in this state, I have the utmost respect for them.'

In 2008 an international code of practice for working equines was signed by officials on the island, alongside the UK donkey sanctuary

'I have between 15 and 25 donkeys here, but I am glad that people bring them to me as they would normally be left to die or killed because owners don't want to pay to have them put to sleep. They know my shelter is here.

'For some their final walk is to the shelter because they are just hours from death.

'A lot of people just don't care about the welfare of the animals but with social media, it's a lot harder for the locals to hide the abuse.

'We don't want to stop the locals making a living or using donkeys on the steps but to look after them in a fair and humane way.'

Charities say the explosion of overweight tourists even means locals who are keen to get the most out of their animals have been forced to crossbreed donkeys with mules

The UK-based Donkey Sanctuary, founded in 1969, has also raised concerns about current working conditions for the donkeys.

A spokesperson for the Donkey Sanctuary said: 'The Donkey Sanctuary does not actively promote the use of donkeys and mules in any form of tourism.

'The Donkey Sanctuary has expressed concerns about the current working conditions and practices of many of the donkeys and mules working on the island of Santorini, with continued challenges around enforcement of regulations and issues such as lack of shelter from the sun, lack of water, excessive working hours and overloading.'The man who considers himself Kanye West's 'stepfather' has broken his silence for the first time to DailyMailTV to reveal he's concerned for the rapper, blaming the Kardashians for his controversial comments, claiming they have left him 'isolated' and feeling like a 'prisoner in solitary confinement'.

Ulysses Blakeley lived with West and his mother Donda throughout the musician's childhood, and was one of Donda's last true loves before she died after a botched cosmetic surgery operation in November 2007.

It was Blakeley who bought Donda and her son their first home on South Shore Drive in Chicago, which was recently purchased by the charity set up in his mother's name, Donda's House.

Blakeley has never spoken out until now and believes that most of West's meltdowns are because he's still mourning the loss of his professor mother - and having no real friends or family to turn to.

The 67-year-old, who works with the black community in south Chicago, claims West's only 'circle of trust' are his 'guards' - the Kardashians - and it must feel like he's a 'prisoner in solitary'.

Kanye West's 'stepfather' has broken his silence for the first time to DailyMailTV to reveal he's concerned for the rapper, saying the his troubles are due to the Kardashians, who've left him isolated and feeling like a 'prisoner in solitary confinement'

Ulysses Blakeley lived with West and his mother Donda (pictured with a young Kanye) throughout the musician's childhood, and was one of her last true loves before she died after a botched cosmetic surgery operation in November 2007

Blakeley has never spoken out until now and says that most of West's meltdowns are due to him still mourning the loss of his professor mother - and having no real friends or family

Speaking to DailyMailTV from his home in Chicago, Blakeley reveals: 'There's no question the erratic behavior and unfortunate statements he's making, to me, they are a response to her death, even now.

'My essential take is that he is kind of alone, I don't know who he's hanging out with apart from the Kardashians. I don't see anyone from before that time, confidantes or friends before he was successful, they're not there. It seems like he doesn't have that connection back to a trustworthy person, no circle of trust.

'If Donda was alive he wouldn't be married to Kim Kardashian because Donda would have interacted with Kim and Kanye, so as to expose the incompatibility of their relationship. I could imagine them all at the dinner table and how uncomfortable it would be.

Blakeley had a special relationship with West, as Donda reveals in her 2007 biography, Raising Kanye, which was published just before she died.

Donda wrote: 'Ulysses Buckley Blakeley Jr., or Bucky, was one. I thought he was going to be my last love. He and I had a great relationship.

'Kanye liked him a lot. He would take Kanye to the park for hours near his apartment building in Evanston [in Chicago]. Kanye used to call that park 'Bucky's Park.'

Blakeley was the first man Donda dated after divorcing West's father Ray, who moved to Maryland, and his son would only see him in the summers.

It was up to Blakeley to fill the vacuum of having no father around. Blakeley said: 'I kind of guess he saw me as a stepfather, I was there from three to around 11.'

The couple only split because West and his mother took off to China for a year, as she had been offered a teaching post at Nanjing University.

The pair remained friends when they came back and Blakeley attended her funeral, which is the last time he spoke to Kanye.

'The people he's created into a new family are the worst for him. They're not artistic, Kanye is artistic. I don't think it's the healthiest thing for him.

'What people are seeing is isolation, the lack of meaningful emotional and intellectual connection, there's no one who is remotely his peer.

'It's like he's a prisoner in solitary. You can talk to the guards, but it's you that's alone in the room. The guards don't love you.'

Blakeley said: 'If Donda was alive he wouldn't be married to Kim Kardashian because Donda would have interacted with Kim and Kanye, so as to expose the incompatibility of their relationship.' Donda (pictured in June 2007) died in November 2007 after a cosmetic surgery

Blakeley says Kanye's 'slavery is a choice' comment comes 'from not having the black experience. He added: 'I don't see the Kardashians as emotionally intelligent. Clearly he's not hanging around the south side of Chicago or with any black folk in general'

He also points out how Kanye drew backlash in May when he told TMZ: 'When you hear about slavery for 400 years. For 400 years? That sounds like a choice.'

Blakeley doesn't believe Kanye is bipolar, but that his actions stem from an outpouring of overwhelming grief and loneliness.

Blakeley said: 'Donda and Kanye were each other's family. No brothers, sisters, you're just with your mother.

'Anyone dealing with unresolved grief, is going to have some issues. I think that some of things he does that dismays, is just part of the incalculable loss he suffered [of his mother]. I don't think it's a mental health issue.

'He was extremely close to his mother, she died suddenly. I know, as I knew him then, it would effect him profoundly.

'The thing that I see is grieving that's not been resolved, not mental health, like bipolar or anything like that. I don't see that he'll do terrible things [like suicide]. I would be surprised.

'Does he seem like the person politically who would say George Bush doesn't care about black people and then say this about slaves? It doesn't seem like the same person.'

Blakeley said: 'He was extremely close to his mother, she died suddenly. I know, as I knew him then, it would effect him profoundly'. Pictured: Donda and Kanye in 2004

The 67-year-old said: 'Anyone dealing with unresolved grief, is going to have some issues. I think that some of things he does that dismays, is just part of the incalculable loss he suffered [of his mother]'. Pictured: Kanye at Donda's funeral in 2007

He added: 'So the only thing I can think of, with the loss of his mother, he's seeking to replicate a family circle thing, his [new] family may say stuff like: ''Slavery is a choice''.

'I believe the Kardashians are saying things like that even though they're claiming to be liberals. They're not well-founded intellectual people. I'm sure they have some of those moments.

'He'd start saying things like that, so he feels more accepted and likeable to that group. Clearly he doesn't believe what he said about slavery.

'When you are surrounded in a different social, economic and political environment, you tend to repeat and resonate what's in that world. Clearly he's not hanging around the south side of Chicago or with any black folk in general.

'Saying slavery is a choice, that would come from someone who doesn't have the black experience. I don't see the Kardashians as emotionally intelligent.'

Blakeley wraps up the interview with a story of West's artistic talent, using it as an example as to why he isn't compatible with the Kardashian family

Blakeley makes reference to Kanye's support of Donald Trump, wearing a red 'Make America Great Again' hat and his meeting with Trump at the White House

Blakeley wraps up the interview with a story of West's artistic talent, using it as an example as to why he isn't compatible with the Kardashian family.

'When he came back from China, he'd made a watercolor of a dragon, which an adult could have done. If you'd have framed it in an art gallery and said it was some Chinese artist from the 15th century, people would believe you.

'He was just ten,' he said.

'I don't know them [the Kardashians], but I can't imagine they have a particular fondness for the person who does Chinese watercolor paintings. The person who he is, is a Chinese watercolor guy.'More than 100 animal liberation activists stormed a piggery following claims of animal mistreatment.

The protesters put Glasshouse Country Farms, in Beerburrum, in lockdown on Saturday morning after they entered the pigs' enclosure.

The protest was a response to footage leaked by Animal Liberation Queensland (ALQ) from inside the farm several weeks ago.

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A 100-strong group of self-proclaimed animal liberation activists stormed a piggery following claims of animal mistreatment

The activists can be seen donning T-shirts with the words 'meat the victims'

Activists say the leaked footage shows pigletes being thrown across the room and an adult pig being killed in a laneway.

According to Animal Liberation Queensland, the footage was reported to authorities who replied they were 'unable to provide information regarding animal welfare complaints due to privacy laws.'

The activists can be seen donning T-shirts with the words 'meat the victims' during Sunday's protest.

A further 70 activists held a protest outside the farm while the lockdown took place inside.

Activist Leah Doellinger broadcast a live Facebook video from inside the piggery, during which she appears visibly upset and can be heard saying: 'We are in here with the victims and we're not leaving.'

Ms Doellinger also said: 'This kind of resistance aims to oppose oppressive systems that have seen other animals be enslaved, exploited and harmed.'

'This issue extends beyond animals who are used for food. We need to dismantle ideologies that have reduced animals to "things".'

Activist Riley Hawkin from Queensland was present during the protest and told Daily Mail Australia: 'Prisoners is the word that came to my mind when I saw the animals.'

'We want to show a side of the industry that is hidden from the public behind closed doors.'

No arrests were made following the lockdown.

The unorthodox protest copped mixed reactions online.

One Facebook user commented: 'SHARED. More people need to see the TRUTH!!!'

Others were less impressed. 'Go do something that actually matters,' one person wrote.

Daily Mail Australia have approached Glasshouse Country Farms for comment.Advertisement

George W. Bush, the 43rd president of the United States, and the former first lady, Laura Bush boarded an Air Force One plane Monday, a decade since it was their official mode of travel , for a somber flight to accompany Bush's father's remains to Washington DC.

The couple waved from the doors of the presidential plane, designated Special Air Mission 41, at Ellington Air Force Base in Houston, Monday.

The Bushes watched as the flag-covered casket of George's father, former president George H.W. Bush, was carried to the plane by a military guard to be transported to Washington DC for his state funeral. The 41st president will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda starting Monday evening.

The VC-25 is known as Air Force One when the president is on board. The Bushes' last flight as first couple was on January 10 2009, when they went to to Virginia for a ceremony to place a warship named after his father into active duty.

Ten days before leaving office, Bush took the plane to the commissioning of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier the USS George H.W. Bush, calling the vessel 'an awesome ship' that honored 'an awesome man.'

He and his father arrived on deck on Marine One and the 43rd president's return flight to Andrews Air Force Base was the last time the plane flew as Air Force One for the Bushes.

Since then they have twice flown on a VC-25 - the first time as Executive One when it took them to Midland, Texas, after Barack Obama's inauguration.

And the couple returned to Marine One in December 2013, when Barack Obama took the Bushes to Nelson Mandela's funeral in South Africa. Also on board were the Clintons, making the trip a unique moment in history.

 Slide me  Former President George W. Bush and wife Laura boarded one the presidential planes on Monday (right) for the first time since 2009 when the couple, then president and first lady, climbed the stairs for Bush's last trip in office (left), to commission the airfcraft carrier named for his father

Photos of them boarding the plane for the final trip in office show the couple giving an almost identical wave to the crowd below. Even Laura's black, high necked coat and George W. Bush's dark suit and blue tie look the similar. If not for a few extra grey hairs, and more windswept appearance, it could be the same photo.

Trump announced Saturday he was sending the plane to pick up George H.W. Bush's body.

'They're taking all of the seats out. We're sending the plane, this plane, to Houston. And it picks up the casket,' he said.

President Trump will pay respects to Bush family at Blair House, according to CNN.

With the flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush aboard at Ellington Field, Special Air Mission 41 prepares to depart Houston for Joint Base Andrews

President George H.W. Bush is to lay in state and be given a funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral after flying to D.C.

The younger Bush will be eulogizing his father at the national funeral rather than the sitting President Trump.

The move is unusual, but the 43rd president has been preparing to deliver the eulogy since the Obama presidency in an acknowledgment of the unusual situation of the dead president's senior family member also being a former president.

The Bushes left Ellington Air Force Base after a brief departure ceremony for the former president's remains.

An arrival ceremony is scheduled for when they arrive at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington.

Another ceremony Monday will mark the body's arrival at the Capitol before the public can begin paying their respects at 7.30pm.

George H.W. Bush's state funeral will be held at Washington National Cathedral, with Trump in attendance, before his remains are flown back to Texas to be buried beside Barbara Bush, his wife of 73 years, who died last year, and daughter Robin, who died of leukemia aged three, in 1953.

Former President George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush waved boarding the presidential plane to accompany the remains of George's father back to Washington

Then President George W. Bush and wife Laura wave from outside the doors of Air Force One on his last trip while still in office on January 10, 2009Smiling for the camera, this is the last known photo of Dubai's 'runaway princess' as she fled the country and her father's kingdom to begin a new life abroad.

Princess Sheikha Latifa posed for a 'selfie' just hours before she boarded a yacht in the hope of escaping the authority of her father, the billionaire ruler of Dubai.

But eight days after the photograph was taken the 33-year-old was seized from a chartered yacht off the coast of India - and forcibly returned to the Arab kingdom.

The selfie photo is the last time the Princess has been seen since her capture. She took it as she drove to Oman for the first part of her escape.

She was accompanied by her friend Tina Jauhainsen before they were met by former French spy Herve Jaubert on his yacht Nostromo anchored in international waters.

Princess Latifa (left) smiles as she takes a selfie alongside friend Tina Jauhainsen (right) as she is seen for the last time since fleeing her father's strict regime to start a new life abroad

Latifa recorded an emotional video before she left Dubai earlier this year explaining her reasons for wanting to escape her father Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum

Princess Sheikha Latifa posed for a 'selfie' just hours before she boarded a yacht in the hope of escaping the authority of her father, the billionaire ruler of Dubai

But eight days after the photo was taken, the 33-year-old, who used her passport to escape, was seized from a yacht off the coast of India - and forcibly returned to the Arab kingdom

The photo will be seen in a new BBC documentary chronicling her failed escape bid and questioning if the glitz and glamour of Dubai enjoyed by millions of tourists hides a more sinister country.

It reveals how the Dubai authorities spent millions on a security system developed by Israel that allows them to locate anyone in the country by tracking their phone.

The hour-long film 'Escape from Dubai  The Mystery of the Missing Princess' features unseen video footage of Latifa taking part in skydiving jumps.

An hour-long BBC documentary 'Escape from Dubai  The Mystery of the Missing Princess' chronicles the Princess's escape bid

Latifa planned to sail to India before flying to America where she would claim political asylum and start a new life.

As MailOnline first revealed last March Latifa was seized by armed coastguard and forcibly taken back to Dubai.

Finnish martial arts instructor Jauhiainen and Jaubert were also taken back to Dubai and interrogated for days and accused of kidnap.

Jaubert said they were only released after MailOnline revealed Latifa's capture.

Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and his Government have refused to make any comment about Latifa's whereabouts despite pressure from human rights groups and the United Nations.

Jane McMullen, director of the BBC documentary, said the treatment of Latifa showed another side of the country unknown to tourists visiting Dubai.

'The film takes a narrative about Dubai that we have in the UK as a place where lots of British tourists go on holiday but we show the other side and how the laws can affect people visiting, she said.

'We have known they have a camera system called Falcon Eye but they have increased their surveillance systems with the help of contractors from America, Israel, Russia, the UK and China. They increased all their surveillance capacity after the Arab uprising.'

Jane, who has made films on Harvey Weinstein and North Korea for BBC Current Affairs, said the whereabouts of Latifa remain unknown.

'No one has seen or heard from her since March 4 this year. None of her friends have had any messages. We just do not know if she is still alive or dead' said Jane.

Latifa planned to sail to India before flying to America where she would claim political asylum and start a new life. She met former French spy Herve Jaubert (pictured) on his yacht Nostromo anchored in international waters and headed towards the Indian coast

But just eight days after she tried to escape her father's kingdom, Latifa was seized by armed coastguards on board the Nostromo sailing yacht and forcibly taken back to Dubai

Finnish martial arts instructor Tina Jauhiainen (left) and Herve Jaubert (right) were also taken back to Dubai and interrogated for days and accused of kidnap. Jaubert said they were only released after MailOnline revealed Latifa's capture

The Dubai authorities refused to cooperate in the making of the film which will be screened in America and also distributed by BBC Worldwide.

It will not be shown in the United Arab Emirates whose justice system has come under criticism after British academic Matthew Hedges was jailed for life having been falsely being accused of spying. He was set free by a pardon and is now back in the UK.

The BBC film was made with the cooperation of the pressure group Detained in Dubai.

Princess Latifa had contacted the group and sent them a series of videos where she talked about her life in Dubai and desperation to flee the clutches of her father.

She said a previous escape attempt when she was a teenager saw her tortured and jailed for three years.

The Princess lived under a strict curfew and was accompanied by minders each time she left her royal palace, she claimed.

Latifa's father Sheikh Mohammed, 68, the patriarch is on close speaking terms with the Queen over their shared passion for horse racing and meet at Royal Ascot each year

Maktoum, pictured talking to Prince Charles, loves horse racing and he is the owner of the Godolphin stables, which has produced some of the leading thoroughbreds in the sport

Latifa is one of 30 children the Sheikh has had with his six wives.

David Haigh, from Detained in Dubai, said he hoped the BBC film would bring further pressure on the country to reveal what has happened to Latifa.

'It is over eight months since the Princess went missing. No one has heard anything from her and of course there are great concerns,' said Haigh.

Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained in Dubai, added: 'When the BBC2 documentary airs, Latifa will have been missing for 277 days. The UAE has refused to acknowledge their illegal attack on the American vessel from which she was abducted, and completely ignored a United Nations enquiry into her enforced disappearance.'

She added: 'After working on Latifa's behalf for nearly a year, we are very glad BBC2 has produced this film to bring her story to a global audience.'

Escape from Dubai - The Mystery of the Missing Princess will be shown on BBC2 Thursday December 6 at 9pm.Warning comes after 11 Bristol students believed to have committed suicide

Relatives complain they weren't informed of struggles due to 'data protection'

Education Secretary Damian Hinds says staff must do more to reach out

Universities must contact parents if students suffer a breakdown to help prevent suicide, the Education Secretary has said.

Staff must do more to reach out to families because they are often best-placed to offer support, said Damian Hinds.

It is especially important when youngsters have left home for the first time and may not have their friends and relatives around them, he said.

Education Secretary Damian Hinds said universities must contact parents if students suffer breakdowns to prevent suicide [File photo]

His warning comes after 11 students are thought to have killed themselves over the past two years at Bristol University.

Some relatives complained that welfare services knew their children were struggling but did not tell families for data protection reasons.

Mr Hinds said: Our universities are world leading in so many areas and I want them to be the best in the world for support and pastoral care as well.

Universities UK, which represents vice chancellors, will today hold talks on developing advice on consent to third parties.

It will seek to give students the opportunity to sign opt-in paperwork to allow their families to be contacted, bypassing data protection laws.SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket on Monday, sending an unusual payload into space - 64 satellites at the same time, a US record.

And the company headed by US tech billionaire Elon Musk marked another milestone in its bid to make rockets more re-usable, like airplanes: the blast-off used a recycled booster for the third time.

California-based SpaceX has landed more than 30 of these boosters back on Earth, and has begun re-using them on subsequent missions.

In the past, companies have typically allowed rocket parts costing many millions of dollars to fall like junk into the ocean.

Elon Musk owned SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket Monday in California

Falcon 9 rocket is flying on its third mission, a first because no SpaceX rocket has ever flown more than twice. SpaceX founder Elon Musk (pictured, November 2018) said the aerospace company is aiming for a 24-hour turnaround in 2019

Monday's landing of the first stage was flawless, like many before it.

The Falcon 9 blasted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 10.34am, arcing over the Pacific west of Los Angeles as it headed toward space.

The rocket was originally scheduled to be launched on November 19 but it was delayed to conduct further inspections. Another delay was caused by bad weather Sunday.

Several minutes after liftoff, the tall, white portion of the rocket - known formally as the first stage - separated from the second stage.

The booster then fired its engines and made a controlled, upright landing on a platform in the Pacific Ocean, video from SpaceX's live webcast showed.

Meanwhile, the second stage pressed deeper into space, carrying 15 micro-satellites and 49 CubeSats belonging to 34 different clients including public, private and university sources from 17 different countries including South Korea, France and Kazakhstan.

The launch was chartered by a company called Spaceflight, which specializes in space 'rideshares,' or putting multiple satellites on the same rocket.

Microsatellites weigh a few dozen pounds and CubeSats are even smaller.

The satellites will be placed into orbit over the next several hours.

SpaceX landed more than 30 of the boosters back on Earth for reuse, whereas companies typically allow rockets parts to fall into the ocean

The blast off sent 64 small satellites into orbit at the same time, a US record

Te Falcon 9 rocket lifts off while carrying a payload of 64 spacecraft during the Spaceflight

Not all the clients have scientific missions.

The Nevada Museum of Art sent up a sculpture called 'Orbital Reflector' by artist Trevor Paglen.

The reflective, inflatable sculpture is designed to eject from its satellite and orbit the earth 'for several weeks before disintegrating upon re-entry into Earth's atmosphere,' the museum said.

The launch is an attempt to prove that using many smaller and cheaper satellites can accomplish the same task as larger and more expensive satellites.

Some of the satellites are aiming to build an internet network that could support smart devices.

'Eight of the satellites on board a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Air Force Base will be from companies hoping to build a truly global Internet of Things by revolutionizing satellite communications,' Wired reported.

The satellite networks could aid companies tracking agricultural shipments, for example, which are moved without internet access.

'Most of the start-ups are planning to eventually have constellations of between 60 and 100 satellites,' according to Wired.

The other big first of this launch is that the Falcon 9 rocket is flying on its third mission. No SpaceX rocket has ever flown more than twice.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk said the aerospace company is aiming for a 24-hour turnaround in 2019.

That means that the same Falcon 9 booster could conduct two launches in the same day.Ice addiction has been labelled the key factor driving young Muslims in Australia to extremism.

The link was unearthed after families of extremists were interviewed as part of a new report by Deakin University and the Victorian Arabic Social Services (VASS).

The families believe some young men turned to religion in a bid to distance themselves from past drug use, and then became extremists.

VASS CEO Leila Alloush described drug addiction, and particularly ice, as the 'number one' factor driving young men to violent extremism.

Ice addiction has been labelled the key factor driving young Muslims in Australia to extremism, according to a new report

Brighton attacker Uacqub Khayre had allegedly used methamphetamine for more than a decade and it is understood that two of his four co-accused also had histories of substance abuse

Both the Bourke Street terrorist last month, and 2017's Brighton attacker, had histories of substance abuse, the ABC reports.

One interviewee claimed their relative had switched between strict religious behaviour and partying hard, believing they were doing 'a bit of good and a bit of bad'.

Authorities were urged to investigate this link between Islamic extremism and drug addiction last year after it emerged that Brighton gunman Yacqub Khayre had been a long-term drug abuser.

Khayre was said to have used methamphetamine for more than a decade and it is understood that two of his four co-accused also had histories of substance abuse.

Both the Bourke Street terrorist last month (left), and 2017's Brighton attacker (right, bomb squad police entering the apartment) had histories of substance abuse

Khayre was born in Somalia but moved to Australia aged three and began abusing drugs after dropping out of school in year 12 following the death of his grandfather.

He became addicted to ice and started committing criminal offences including burglaries, thefts, assaults and one armed robbery with a knife.

In 2017, Fairfax Media was told there were at least 10 others cases in the Melbourne area of extremists being linked to drug use.

Ice is thought to be the most common substance linked to extremists, but cases of heroin and prescription medication have also been reported.Footage has emerged on social media of two men brawling on the side of a busy city road in front of bewildered onlookers.

The dash cam vision, captured near Nundah in Brisbane's north-east, shows the men wrestling each other to the ground and throwing multiple punches.

A vehicle can be seen parked on a grass strip just metres from where the males were punching on.

Two men have been captured on camera brawling on the side of a busy Brisbane road

That vehicle had earlier been captured on the dash cam footage cutting through traffic as it raced down a roadway exit, closely followed by another car.

The vision was uploaded to the Dash Cam Owners Australia Facebook page on Tuesday.

'Two vehicles speed through traffic in a road rage incident, one is then reportedly run off the road before a fight ensues,' the caption accompanying the video read.

Social media users were concerned no one had stepped-in to break-up the fight.

One comment left in response to the video read: 'Twenty cars stop, not a single person tries to diffuse the situation. Problem or symptom?'.

Another comment read: 'And nobody steps in to help. I hope it doesn't happen to any of you just standing there and filming. What the hell is wrong with you people'.A severely autistic man lives in a boarded-up room with just two mattresses on the floor - in conditions psychologists have described as a breach of his human rights.

Reece Parkinson, 23, from Perth, has a mental age of an eight-year-old and suffers destructive outbursts, despite once being healthy.

He now lives in state-run accommodation, in a room with four locks on the door and an ice-cream bucket for a toilet.

Mr Parkinson's mother Karen Parkinson said her son could not go on living in the way he has done for a decade.

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Perth man Reece Parkinson, 23, (pictured right with mother Karen) was once healthy but now suffers from destructive outbursts, has the mental age of an eight-year-old and lives in a state-run room with four locks on it - according to his mother

Ms Parkinson said her son had not been able to feel sunlight on his skin for two years and does not exercise at all.

She told Channel 9: 'I cannot go on like this anymore. It's gone backwards not forwards.

'He's not achieving any of his NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme) goals.'

The young man is on a waiting list for state-provided accommodation - a robust purpose-built room that would prevent him from causing damage to the property.

In the last place he lived in, Reece caused $250,000 worth of damage as a result of his outbursts.

His mother said his kicking led to the integrity of the internal walls being 'compromised'.

Reece lives in a bare state-run room (pictured crouched down by his belongings scattered across middle of the floor) which his mother claims has four locks on it

Now forced to live in squalid conditions, the young man is only supervised from 9am until 7pm during the day and left to fend for himself at night.

Clinical pyschologist Wendy O'Connor said: 'If you had a sister or brother who chose to live in a darkened room and never come out would you accept that?

'You can say he's making that choice but I don't think it's one you can accept.'

Karen Parkinson, who recently filmed her son's dehumanising toilet arrangements (pictured), said her son could not go on living in the way he has done for a decade

The expert, who has worked with Reece, told WAtoday the way he was currently being forced to live was a human rights violation and that he had been 'written-off'.

She also described him as a 'young man with a lot of potential' who could be 'endearing' when in a good state of mind.

In a statement provided to Daily Mail Australia, the Western Australian Department of Communities said Reece's privacy rights prevented them from fully disclosing the full details of his situation.

But the department also disputed the notion Reece was locked in the room.A mother-of-two trapped in an abusive marriage has revealed how she used home security cameras to catch her husband wielding a hunting knife in the bedroom to convict the father of her children after decades of abuse.

Elizabeth Maclean's husband Colin - a Gold Coast motorhome mogul - was outwardly kind, caring and attentive.

But at home he wielded a desperate need to control and intimidate his wife - starting when Elizabeth became pregnant with their first child and continuing over the next 31 years.

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Elizabeth (right) and Colin (left) Maclean appeared to have it all: two loving sons, a sprawling Gold Coast home and a business that turned over $18 million a year at its peak

At home Colin (right) wielded a desperate need to control and intimidate his wife (left) and on one occasion threw a hunting knife into a mattress to remind her how sharp it was (pictured)

Elizabeth says she deeply regrets not walking out the first time her husband punched her in the head.

Elizabeth's son Ben (above) said: 'As kids we had a great life ... it's only been about the last three years that it's literally fallen inside out'

'He would try to make it up to me by being really attentive, or giving me things, so looking back now I kind of got trapped in that cycle and the control just sort of got deeper and deeper with him,' she told A Current Affair.

Outwardly, the couple had a perfect life: two loving sons, a sprawling Gold Coast home and a business that turned over $18 million a year at its peak.

Elizabeth kept the emotional and physical violence from her sons, her family and her friends.

Elizabeth's son Ben said: 'I'm kind of amazed really, that's probably the best way to describe it because as kids we had a great life, it was good, it has only been about the last three years or so that it's literally fallen inside out.'

The marriage declined when the couple's business went into receivership in March last year.

Vision of the attacks played in closed court showed Colin hit his wife across the head in the driveway and pour a drink over her head in the doorway (pictured)

Elizabeth set up CCTV around the house, installed an alarm system and turned her bedroom into a safe room complete with a panic button, kitchen and bolted doors.

'I had a fridge, microwave, full tea making facilities and fry pans ... it was almost like a miniature safe flat ... I could stay here overnight and not come out 'til the morning, until it was daylight literally,' she revealed.

Vision of the attacks played in closed court showed Colin hit his wife across the head in the driveway, throw a hunting knife into a mattress to remind her how sharp it was, and pour a drink over her head in the doorway.

After filing a police report, Elizabeth (above) knew her life would change forever. 'I actually felt like there were chains coming off the back of the car, as I was driving, it is the only way I can describe it,' she said

'I thought he was going to stab me, I thought he was going to stab me in the chest that's how volatile it was,' Elizabeth recalled.

In another chilling piece of footage, Colin slams the door and bolts it shut to trap her inside.

'Once he put the bolt up I was almost throwing up, I thought I can't get out,' she explained.

After filing a report at Mudgeeraba police station, Elizabeth knew her life would change forever.

'I actually felt like there were chains coming off the back of the car, as I was driving, it is the only way I can describe it,' she said.

Colin MacLean pleaded guilty to seven charges, including three counts of assault occasioning bodily harm, three counts of common assault and a count of threatening violence.

The 59-year-old was sentenced to two years prison which was wholly suspended after just six months.

It's a sentence Elizabeth believes isn't enough in the face of the many women who have lost their lives at the hands of domestic violence.n inmate described inmates walking around like zombies, high on spice at jail

Conditions at one of Britains biggest jails resembled a war zone with drug-addled inmates wandering around like zombies, a damning report has found.

Convicts and officers at crisis-hit HMP Birmingham lived and worked in fear as staff lost control, according to the assessment by HM Inspectorate of Prisons.

In August, ministers took the dramatic step of moving the jail  which was run by private firm G4S on a 15-year 30million contract  back under government control for six months.

Convicts and officers at crisis-hit HMP Birmingham lived and worked in fear as staff lost control, according to the assessment by HM Inspectorate of Prisons [File photo]

The HMIP report detailed a catalogue of violence, drugs, self-harm and squalor. An inmate described inmates walking around like zombies, high on spice.

Peter Clarke, Chief Inspector of Prisons, renewed his call for an independent assessment of how the jail was allowed to slip into crisis.

G4S said: We continue to work with the Ministry of Justice to urgently address the issues faced at the prison.Australians could unknowingly break the law if they snap a picture of the most romantic landmark in the world at night.

Millions flock to Paris every year to stroll the romantic Parisian streets, devour croissants and snap as many Instagram-worthy images as possible.

The Eiffel Tower is at the top of everyone's list when it comes to photos but an obscure clause in European copyright law means it can be a trap for tourists.

The twinkling lights against the night sky might be the most romantic image imaginable but taking and sharing it is fraught with danger.

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The twinkling lights against the night sky might be the most romantic image imaginable but taking a picture at this time is in fact illegal

Tourists scramble to Paris every year to stroll the romantic Parisian streets, devour croissants and snap as many Instagram-worthy images as possible

The Eiffel Tower was built in 1889 but fell into public domain in 1993 meaning tourists can snap away liberally during the day.

But it is at night time when matters get complicated.

The stunning lights that illuminate the attraction at night were installed in 1985 and are technically an art work, so 'reproducing' requires the permission of the artist.

Works are protected under European copyright law for the lifetime of the artist, plus another 70 years.

While the designer of the Eiffel Tower, Gustave Eiffel, died in 1923, artist Pierre Bideau created the sparkling display across the tower and they are held as artistic work and are still protected under copyright law.

But it appears French authorities are not going to send you to guillotine if you can't resist a romantic selfie.

Wannabe artists across the world have all tried to take creative snap of the Eiffel Tower over the years

No matter the time of day the iconic structure always has an air of romance about it, however, night time pictures have that extra sparkle

The Societe d'Exploitation de la tour Eiffel guidelines said only those using the nigh time image for commercial benefit should refrain.

'The shots of the Eiffel tower at night for individuals and for private use do not require prior agreement,' it said.

'Whereas, professionals must imperatively get closer to our teams who will tell them the operating conditions of the images.'

The Eiffel Tower was created for the World's Fair in 1889.

Other iconic structures created for World's Fair include the Arc de Triumf in Barcelona - not to be confused with the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

There is also the Seattle Space Needle, which was built in 1962 as a centre piece for the fair.The wipe found by doctors lodged in the windpipe of a baby boy, who nearly died from suffocation, 'could have gotten there accidentally,' according to the doctor for the defense in the case of a NYC nanny charged with attempted murder.

Dr. Lorraine Ronca was testifying for the defense in the case of Marianne Benjamin-Williams in Manhattan Supreme Court in New York on Monday.

Benjamin-Williams, 46, is accused of stuffing a baby wipe down the throat of 2-month-old Maxwell Blutreich, who was in her care, on May 18, 2017, inside the Blutreich family's Manhattan Waterside Plaza home.

Dr. Lorraine Ronca, (pictured above) said the wipe found by doctors lodged in the windpipe of a baby boy, who nearly died from suffocation, 'could have gotten there accidentally'

Dr. Lorraine Ronca who took to the witness stand, Monday, said the wipe may have been accidentally inhaled by baby Maxwell Blutreich (pictured above with his sister Ariella)

Williams was hired by a Manhattan doctor, Dr. Salomon Blutreich and his investment-banker wife, Meredith Sondler-Bazar, to care for their two children, a 14-month-old girl and their infant son.

Benjamin-Williams is charged with attempted murder and related counts, including assault, strangulation, reckless endangerment, possession of a forged instrument and endangering the welfare of a child.

She is charged with falsifying documents, which she used to get her job.

Marianne Benjamin-Williams (pictured above) is charged with Maxwell Blutreich's attempted murder and related counts

Dr. Lorraine Ronca, who took to the witness stand, Monday, supported the argument put forth by Benjamin-Williams' defense team that the wipe may have been inhaled by the baby or put there with the help of his 14-month-old sister.

Ronca did acknowledge it was possible that Benjamin-Williams was responsible. 'I believe that one of the ways (it could have happened) was from the babysitter shoving it down the baby's throat,' she said, as reported by The NY Daily News.

'... I also believe it could have gotten there accidentally,' Ronca added.

Ronca is a doctor who examines infants in the emergency room and in abuse settings.

'It could have been inadvertently left near the baby's mouth and sucked in,' she said.

Baby Blutreich was saved by surgeons who removed a 'balled-up baby wipe' from the child's throat, after emergency responders found him bleeding from the mouth and struggling for air. Doctors said the wipe was stuck so far down his throat it wasn't visible.

Williams was hired by a Manhattan doctor, Dr. Salomon Blutreich (pictured on the left in court) and his investment-banker wife, Meredith Sondler-Bazar (pictured right)

Prosecutor Nicole Blumberg cross-examined the doctor and suggested the baby's mouth was so small there was no room for a wipe to be 'sucked' in. 'There's not a lot of space, I would agree with that,' Ronca said

In court on Monday, Ronca said a possible explanation for the substantial bleeding in Maxwell's mouth were the 'finger sweep' attempts made by Benjamin-Williams and emergency responders.

Never do a blind finger sweep,' she said. 'You can push the object further into the baby's mouth and you can possibly cause trauma and bleeding.'

The emergency efforts could be 'why (the wipe) was where it was in the baby's mouth...Anything that went in the baby's mouth could potentially impact where that wipe ended up,' she added.

Two-month-old Maxwell Blutreich was found blue and barely breathing on May 18, 2017, in the Blutreich family's NYC Waterside Plaza home. He was in the care of Nanny Marianne Benjamin-Williams

Prosecutor Nicole Blumberg cross-examined the doctor and suggested the baby's mouth was so small there was no room for a wipe to be 'sucked' in because his tongue would block entry to a foreign object.

'Is it fair to say there's very little space left for an object to be in that baby's mouth?' Blumberg asked.

'There's not a lot of space, I would agree with that,' Ronca said.

Prosecutors have argued that Benjamin-Williams was a disgruntled employee who had complained about her salary and the baby's crying and fussiness, prior to the incident.

Baby Maxwell also had a fractured arm at the time. Prosecutors argue it was a sign he was abused by Benjamin-Williams.

Benjamin-Williams has pleaded not guilty to the charges.Looking like something from TV's robot wars, this is the Army's latest battlefield weapon.

The remote-controlled mini-tank carries a gun and can be used to attack an enemy without putting troops at risk.

Called Titan Strike, it has been undergoing initial tests on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, firing a laser beam to simulate live rounds of ammunition.

Remote-controlled mini-tank Titan Strike carries a gun and can be used to attack an enemy without putting troops at risk

It is controlled remotely by a soldier using a tablet computer to plot locations on a map and can also be driven remotely by joystick.

Cameras allow the operator to see down the barrel of the gun so they can decide when to fire.

Titan Strike works alongside Titan Sentry, an unmanned observation vehicle fitted with daytime and thermal imaging cameras and an extendable mast containing radar equipment.

The Sentry allows forces to identify enemy positions while remaining under cover. The Strike can then be dispatched to take out targets.

Cameras allow the operator to see down the barrel of the gun so they can decide when to fire

The weapons, developed by defence technology group QinetiQ, are being tested as part of a 5million exercise, Autonomous Warrior, involving more than 70 futuristic machines including 6in nano drones.

The exercise involves more than 200 people, including units from the Royal Marines, RAF, and the US Army. It is set to last four and a half weeks.

As part of the experiment, the Army is also testing the first driverless armoured fighting vehicle, the Warrior.

Brigadier Kev Copsey, the Army's head of future force development, said he believes Britain will never use fully autonomous robots that could use lethal force without a 'human in the loop'.Bob Lazar, who now lives and works in Michigan, told a Las Vegas television station in 1989 - initially speaking on condition of anonymity - that he had worked on alien spacecraft near Area 51 in the Nevada desert

The outrageous claims came from a shadowy figure who appeared on Las Vegas television, his face completely obscured, on an unassuming Friday in May of 1989. There were nine flying saucers out in the desert near Area 51, he said  flying discs being tested and flown and analyzed secretly by the US government. Hed seen them, this mystery man claimed; not only that, hed worked to reverse engineer the propulsion systems on aircraft that would have been totally impossible for US officials to have created themselves.

The propulsion system is a gravity propulsion system, the man  going by the pseudonym of Dennis  told journalists in the studio. The power source is an antimatter reactor. This technology does not exist at all.

In fact, one of the reasons Im coming forward with this information, its not only a crime against the American people; its a crime against the scientific community, which Ive been part of for some time, who are actively trying to duplicate these systems. Yet they are in existence now, basically, in the hands of the government.

And the government had gone to great lengths to keep him from talking, the scientist claimed. Hed been warned that hed be prosecuted for espionage; even his life  and that of his wife  had been threatened, he claimed.

Anything could happen; I dont know, said the man, sounding resigned. I havent the slightest idea.

It wouldnt be long before Dennis was unmasked as Bob Lazar, an infamous name that continues to cause controversy and ripples in ufology communities around the world to this day. Type Bob Lazar into Google, and almost every site, blog or thread mentioning him is niche, a playground for alien enthusiasts and conspiracy theorists. Theres not a lot about him in the mainstream media, particularly 30 years later.

But in November 1989, when he appeared again on television, this time unobscured, Lazars coke bottle-glasses and deadpan, bookish appearance became recognizable globally. His claims about working near Area 51 at a hangar called S-4  where he insisted hed seen alien aircraft fitted with tiny seats and constructed with a then-undiscovered material called Element 115  brought news crews from all over the country and the world, throngs of tourists hot on their heels.

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After his initial interview in May 1989, Lazar spoke on the record and on camera in November of the same year, revealing his identity to the world - subsequently unleashing huge waves of curiosity, support and criticism from various factions

Lazar stars in new documentary Bob Lazar: Area 51 and Flying Saucers, which features drawings he made of alien spacecraft he claims to have worked on - such as the above picture - in addition to interviews with his friends and family

Lazar's explosive 1989 claims attracted the interest of media from around the world, he descended upon the Nevada desert - along with throngs of tourist which continue to make the journey to this day, nearly 30 years later

While Lazar, left, now enjoys a low-profile and rarely speaks about his alleged work, he agreed to participate in the new film - directed by Jeremy Corbell, right - because he says he still receives 'emails from people wondering what happened to me and what direction my life took since releasing the information years ago. In addition, I have heard and seen so many fabricated stories and ridiculous versions of my life and experiences that it actually became entertaining. It seemed like there needed to be something on the record  something current

Listening at home in 1989, as Lazar steadfastly stood by his literally out-of-this world claims, was a curious 13-year-old named Jeremy Corbell. While Lazar faded from the public eye as time wore on, Corbell remained riveted by what hed heard  and now, nearly 30 years later, he has directed new documentary Bob Lazar: Area 51 and Flying Saucers, about the controversial figure  re-investigating Lazars assertions and following the scientist to his quiet home in small-town Michigan.

This concept that I heard on the radio was so transforming to me as a youth, as a kid at 13, that it weaponized my imagination, Corbell tells DailyMail.com. It weaponized my curiosity. It forced me to want to become an active participant in learning the truth about UFOs.

Filmmaker Corbell names as his mentor journalist George Knapp, who first introduced Lazar to the world and who has continued investigating extraterrestrial claims over the decades. Knapp features prominently in the documentary, and both he and Corbell exhibit similar personalities: animated but deliberate, drawn as much to unexplained phenomena as soundbites and flowery language. Corbell describes Lazar to DailyMail.com, varyingly, as like the Elvis, the Bigfoot, and the Messiah of ufology.

Lazar himself, however, displays the opposite demeanor. Hes matter-of-fact in the documentary; his glasses, his haircut, and his deadpan delivery havent changed in the slightest since his 1989 TV spot  and neither has his insistence that he saw what he saw, he worked where he worked, and the US government was absolutely studying alien aircraft more than 30 years ago. (The government denied the existence of Area 51 until CIA documents were released five years ago which listed the location as an aerial test site - though not for extraterrestrial spacecraft.)

Its changed my life a lot, Lazar says in the film, referring to his alleged part in those studies and his decision to go public. Its probably changed every aspect of it  for the most part, negative. I mean, its really difficult to find positive aspects of that. I mean, Im sure there are some here and there, but most of them were negative.

A major industry has built up in Nevada around Area 51 and alleged alien research done there, with businesses latching onto the theme to attract traffic and the state even renaming a 92-mile stretch of State Route 375 the Extraterrestrial Highway in 1996; journalist George Knapp says in the film that, after Lazar made his claims in 1989, 'every major news organization in the world beat a path to Area 51'

Lazar's claims were first revealed by Las Vegas station KLAS and reporter George Knapp, pictured, who maintained his relationship with Lazar for the past three decades and has remained committed to investigating extraterrestrial claims

The repercussions were so negative, he says, that he likely wouldnt make the same decisions if he were given the chance again.

At this point in my life, Id probably lean towards not saying anything, he says.

He agreed to participate in the documentary, however, to set the record straight about his life after 1989.

I constantly receive emails from people wondering what happened to me and what direction my life took since releasing the information years ago, he tells DailyMail.com in an email relayed by Corbell. In addition, I have heard and seen so many fabricated stories and ridiculous versions of my life and experiences that it actually became entertaining. It seemed like there needed to be something on the record  something current.

Hes made a life for himself in Michigan with his wife, Joy, and Lazar continued a career in science; he runs United Nuclear, which sells chemicals, lasers, lab materials and other scientific products. Surprisingly, however, he claims to have left the world of UFOs far behind.

I do not follow UFO stories or reports and am not interested in researching life outside of Earth, he tells DailyMail.com. My primary interest was, and still is, the incredibly advanced technology. I know if we can control and develop it, it can change the world.

Despite his low-profile lifestyle, however, he still maintains that the government hasnt forgotten about him. While he doesnt assert that the government is necessarily after him, he does believe hes being watched.

At the risk of sounding paranoid, I do always have a suspicion that someone is monitoring me  its something that is difficult to get out of my mind.

He says that a recent FBI raid  which is touched on in the film, though neither video cameras nor Corbell were present for it  pretty much cements it in my mind.

Lazar's cosmic claims Bob Lazar, known for his coke bottle glasses and bookish appearance, appeared on Las Vegas television in 1989 to air claims about alien research by the US government in the Nevada desert near Area 51. His allegations included: *He had worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory *He had worked at a secret hangar called S-4 near Area 51 *The government had nine flying saucers in the Nevada desert that it was analyzing and tested *The alien spacecraft were fitted with tiny seats, powered by an antimatter reactor and Element 115 - both of which were unknown to humans *He had studied at MIT and Caltech and had been vetted for government work by a man named Mike Thigpen *He'd seen a security device at secret locations that scanned employees' hands, presumably their bones *He'd been threatened with prosecution and death to scare him out of sharing what he'd seen Advertisement

And Lazar isnt the only one alleging big brother-type activity; journalist Knapp backs him up on it wholeheartedly, telling DailyMail.com in an email provided by Corbell that hed seen firsthand some strange events when the story first broke.

There were break-ins at Lazars home, he says. His vehicle also had break-ins. Mind games being played. Threats were issued. Lazar and others were bugged and followed, and it certainly seemed like someone wanted to frighten him into remaining silent, or maybe they wanted to drive him a little crazy.

I was present for many of these events. I saw them with my own eyes, and I witnessed the aftermath as well. I also know that I was followed for several months and that my phone at KLAS was tapped for a time. This became apparent after six different people who had spoken to me by phone were visited and threatened by persons who worked for federal agencies and/or defense contractors with ties to Groom Lake. The witnesses did not know each other and did not know me but had agreed to provide me with statements which generally supported the story told by Lazar. All six changed their minds about sharing information with me after they were visited  and threatened  by these unknown operatives.

As all of this alleged intimidation was going on, Knapp and many others were trying to verify many of Lazars claims  with little success. The whistleblower, who was born in Florida, claimed hed attended MIT and the California Institute of Technology, though there was no record of him at either school. His credibility was also damaged when, in 1990, he pleaded guilty to pandering in connection with the business of a prostitute  a charge wholly unrelated to science and ufology but detrimental to his reputation nonetheless.

Lazar also claimed to have worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory; this time, in fact, Knapp found Lazars name in the laboratorys 1982 phonebook  bolstering his claims.

I thought I set the record straight 30 years ago, Lazar says in the documentary. I dont know  what else can I say?  How can I prove anything else? Do you think Los Alamos just hired me out of high school?

He continues: I dont understand how everybody gets so caught up in the minutiae  because you can debate this stuff forever. We can go back before MIT, and you can start fighting [about] whether or not, where I lived in high school; that is not going to translate into answering the questions and the things that I brought into the public eye.

'Tens of thousands of people started showing up out there to see whatever it was that was flying around in the desert; they're still coming, all these years later,' Knapp says in the film

Lazar claims to have attended MIT and Caltech before working at Los Alamos National Laboratory and near Area 51 at a hangar called S-4; neither school has any record of him attending. He counters: 'Do you think Los Alamos just hired me out of high school?'

Phyllis Berliner, Lazar's mother, shares a story in the film about how her son outfitted a bicycle with 'a jet engine' as a boy; she adds: 'You believe him or not. Its a fearful thing to think that theres something out there that we dont know anything about. Are they dangerous? Can they hurt us? Will they attack us? You dont want to know, so you dont believe it. Youd rather not believe there might be other things out there, other things in the universe. There has to be. We cant be all by ourselves. We cant be'

While evidence was never uncovered to support many of Lazar's claims, his name was found listed in a 1982 Los Alamos phone directory and an article that pre-dated his TV appearances listed him as a scientist with the national laboratory

Lazar now runs United Nuclear in small-town Michigan, which producers lasers and other scientific materials and equipment; he leads a quiet life with his wife, Joy, who told filmmaker Cobell: 'I dont know about UFOs and all this stuff, but Ill tell you one thing  hes the most honest person that I have ever met, and Ive slept next to him for 18 years

Thats the important stuff. It almost seems like this is an intentional distraction. You need to pay attention to the bigger picture. If you really want to research all the other stuff, fine, go ahead and do it  but you really need to pay attention to what Im saying, because I have better things to do than coming up with this.

I dont like being in the public eye; I dont have money for doing this  and, quite frankly, I could make up a better lie. But I have no motivation to lie; this hasnt helped me out.

Corbell, for his part, went to great lengths to verify some of Lazars claims. The scientist had always described a security device which scanned the bones of employees hands at secret government locations; the filmmaker found one on the internet, and Lazar reacts with a mixture of amazement and satisfaction when Corbell points it out on camera.

Lazar had also described a man named Mike Thigpen who he said vetted him for government work; Corbell says in the documentary that he tracked the man down to the East Coast, and Thigpen confirmed the information via phone. But Thigpen, Corbell says, declines to appear on camera because he doesnt want to put a dark shadow on the work he did before  but personally conveyed that was his job, that was exactly what he did in Vegas in 1989.

And various outside developments over the years have also given more weight to Lazars story, many claim. Fifteen years ago, an Element 115 was added to the periodic table  moscovium, a radioactive synthetic element first synthesized by a joint team of Russian and American scientists. On top of that, just last year the Department of Defense confirmed for the first time that it had financed a UFO program  after officials denied for decades that any such research had ever existed anywhere within the government.

All of those developments  and likely the alleged verifications made by Corbell in his film  serve as a major boon for Lazars supporters. The documentary also interviews the people who know him best  his friend, his wife, a United Nuclear employee, even Lazars mother  in an effort to get to the heart of who Lazar really is and what he truly believes.

His wife, a trim, sharply dressed blond Lazar met more than a decade after his 1989 fame, is a godsend in his life; they share great moral strength and fiber and values, Corbell tells DailyMail.com.

He continues: Bobs wife doesnt care about UFOs; she didnt date Bob 18 years ago, get together with Bob  she didnt even know about the UFOs. They dont talk about UFOs. Thats not their life; thats not their relationship.

However, she did tell me one thing. She said something about Bob; she said, I dont know about UFOs and all this stuff, but Ill tell you one thing  hes the most honest person that I have ever met, and Ive slept next to him for 18 years."'

And whatever academic credentials Lazar may or may not have, his mother, Phyllis Berliner, paints the picture of a child gifted with a scientific mind from a very young age. She describes in the film being awoken by a huge bang at 6 oclock one Sunday morning when Lazar was a boy, after he outfitted his bicycle with a jet engine.

She felt scared out of my mind, Berliner says in the documentary. I didnt know what he was going to do next  was he going to blow up the house? Blow up the world?

She adds: I want him to be happy. If vindication is what he wants, fine. But thats up to him. You believe him or not. Its a fearful thing to think that theres something out there that we dont know anything about. Are they dangerous? Can they hurt us? Will they attack us? You dont want to know, so you dont believe it. Youd rather not believe there might be other things out there, other things in the universe.

There has to be. We cant be all by ourselves. We cant be, she says.

Lazar looks as if he has barely aged since his explosive television appearance nearly 30 years ago; his trademark coke bottle glasses and deadpan demeanor remain the same

In addition to the work he says he witnessed at Area 51, Lazar tells DailyMail.com: Im certain research continues involving the working of the alien craft and technology  somewhere in the USA, but I do have to wonder, what other projects government entities might be involved with along the same lines'

Lazar claimed that he he'd been threatened with prosecution for espionage and even death to scare him away from going public; he tells DailyMail.com now: At the risk of sounding paranoid, I do always have a suspicion that someone is monitoring me  its something that is difficult to get out of my mind

Corbell tells DailyMail.com: If this storys true, it is probably the most important UFO story in human history, because it reveals the truth: That we have not only been in contact with other extremely advanced, technologically intelligent [beings]  but that we have physical craft. We have machines from these other entities

By showcasing Lazars daily life  his day job, his friends and family, the overall ordinariness of it nowadays  Corbell says, he hopes viewers will get to the heart of who Lazar truly is.

If you have a profound message, if you have a deep idea, it is a tactic of warfare  do divert people from a message or divert people from looking at something important, the filmmaker tells DailyMail.com. You dehumanize the messenger, and that is precisely what people have done to Bob Lazar unchallenged, almost unchallenged.

He adds: For three decades, they tried to dehumanize him  fake news  and they tried to distort his story. What youre seeing in the film is his daily life; that is his life, thats his wife of 18 years. Does she believe him? Does he lie to his wife? Does he lie to his mom? Who are the people around him? This is a real guy with real people in his life.

Its a view shared by Knapp, an award-winning and well-known Nevada television reporter and personality.

What has always been missing is the human element, he tells DailyMail.com. That is what the new film provides. It allows us to see Bob Lazar as an actual person, instead of a UFO punching bag who has been subjected to nearly three decades of accusations and ridicule.

Corbell says: If this storys true, it is probably the most important UFO story in human history, because it reveals the truth: That we have not only been in contact with other extremely advanced, technologically intelligent [beings]  but that we have physical craft. We have machines from these other entities.

He adds: The most important part about all of this is that there are two generations of human beings who were born after Bob Lazar first came forward, and this is their chance to engage this material where they have never seen it before.

So millions of people, yes, will be introduced to the Bob Lazar story, but these millions of people are living in a different world than we lived in in 1989, he says, citing the DoD admission of UFO studies, which totally sheds a different light on the Bob Lazar story.

Corbell says: For the last three decades, Bob Lazars critics have been holding the mic  and its time to take the mic back.

And giving that mic to Lazar now broadcasts the same extraordinary yet insistent assertions he made nearly 30 years ago, delivered in the same steady, scientific voice of a man whos barely aged a day since he caused a media firestorm. It also gives him a chance to say a bit more with the benefit of hindsight and advances that have been made in the intervening years.

Im certain research continues involving the working of the alien craft and technology  somewhere in the USA, but I do have to wonder, what other projects Government entities might be involved with along the same lines, Lazar says.The city of Norfolk has agreed to pay $4.9million to four former sailors who were wrongly convicted of a woman's rape and murder based on intimidating police interrogations. The state also has agreed to pay $3.5 million.

The payments close out a decades-long case that drew widespread attention as the men's innocence claims were backed by dozens of former FBI agents, ex-prosecutors and crime novelist John Grisham.

'These guys can now put all this behind them and try to recoup their lives,' said Tony Troy, a lawyer who represented one of the sailors.

The men - Eric Wilson, Danial Williams, Joseph Dick and Derek Tice - were pardoned by then-Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe last year of the 1997 rape and murder of Michelle Moore-Bosko.

The city of Norfolk, Virginia has agreed to pay $4.9 million to the four former sailors, Joe Dick (top left), Eric Wilson (top right), Danial Williams, (bottom left), and Derek Tice (bottom right) who were wrongly convicted of rape and murder based on intimidating police interrogations

Moore-Bosko's husband found her stabbed and strangled body in their apartment in July of that year after returning from a week at sea.

Williams, who lived in the same building, was quickly identified as a suspect because a neighbor told police he had a crush on the victim. Williams admitted to her rape and murder - the first of a series of confessions that the men, then-sailors at the Naval base in Norfolk, say were forced by police.

But DNA evidence matched only one person: Omar Ballard, the fifth man convicted in the case.

Ballard, who pleaded guilty in 2000, acknowledged he was solely responsible and is serving a life sentence.

The Norfolk Four have said they cracked after they were threatened with the death penalty and repeatedly called liars. One of the men recalled a detective shoving him into a corner and showing him a picture of Moore-Bosko's bloody body.

The confessions conflicted with one another. Ballard's account was the only one containing information matching the crime scene.

The group were all convicted of being involved in the rape and murder of Michelle Moore-Bosk (left) in 1997

A police photo shows the apartment where Moore-Bosko's body was found in 1997

The detective who questioned them, Robert Glenn Ford, was convicted in 2011 of extortion and lying to the FBI in unrelated cases.

In vacating some of the Norfolk Four's convictions, a federal judge once declared that 'no sane human being' could find them guilty.

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam approved legislation earlier this year that gives the men $3.5million in state funds contingent on them resolving claims against the city.

Omar Ballard admitted sole responsibility for the killing and is serving a life sentence

Senator Scott Surovell, a sponsor the legislation, said he was pleased that the city agreed to settle rather than fight the men.

'Justice was long overdue for these four, what happened to them was outrageous and undermines faith in our criminal justice system,' he said. 'Hopefully this settlement will help ensure this never happens again.'

The settlement with the city was finalized a month ago but had not been previously made public. A city spokeswoman referred questions to the City Attorney Bernard Pishko, who did not immediately return requests for comment.

The false convictions took a heavy toll on the four men, including lengthy prison terms and years as registered sex offenders.

Wilson, who was wrongly convicted of rape, said it took an attorney and $10,000 to persuade a board to grant him an electrician's license and that he was blocked from working on certain properties, such as schools, and barred from city parks.

He also said his son was run out of his Cub Scout troop because other parents didn't want Wilson around.

Steve Northup, an attorney for Wilson, called the city's payout 'generous.'

'It doesn't restore the 20 years of his life that Eric lost ... but nevertheless it helps and we're pleased and our clients are pleased with the compensation we were able to secure for them,' he said.Fast trains have been promised before but NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian insists this time it's not an election stunt with an eye on the March poll.

The premier has appointed British rail infrastructure expert Andrew McNaughton to advise the government on the feasibility of building a fast rail network across four potential routes that include Canberra, Newcastle and Wollongong.

Ms Berejiklian said the plan was different to previous iterations of fast rail on the east coast because it was not looking at connecting Melbourne or Brisbane.

The NSW government has pledged to start work on a fast rail network that could slash travel time by 75 per cent (proposed rail network pictured)

The coalition government says travel times to Goulburn and Canberra could be cut down to just 30 minutes and one hour respectively if planned routes are delivered (proposed rail network pictured)

The coalition government said work will start by 2023 with an eye on upgrading existing rail corridors before new lines

While $4.6 million has been committed to develop a plan, how much the whole project or parts of it will cost is up in the air (proposed images of high speed rail trains)

Work will start by 2023 with an eye on upgrading existing rail corridors before new lines, she said.

'This isn't something we've just come up with now, we've been working on this for a long time,' Ms Berejiklian told reporters on Tuesday.

'This is a social issue, not just an economic issue.

'It's about giving our citizens choice about how they live, where they live and how they can be better connected.'

The coalition government says travel times to Goulburn and Canberra could be cut down to just 30 minutes and one hour respectively if planned routes are delivered.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian (left) has appointed British rail infrastructure expert Andrew McNaughton (centre) to advise the government on the feasibility of building a fast rail network across four routes

'It's about giving our citizens choice about how they live, where they live and how they can be better connected,' Ms Berejiklian said

The plan involves building a fast rail network across four potential routes that include Canberra, Newcastle and Wollongong

Labor's transport spokesman Anthony Albanese has also urged the government to set up a high speed rail planning authority, attempting to make draft laws setting up the agency a parliamentary priority.

Mr Albanese is attempting to move suspending orders in the lower house, to force the government to debate the legislation on Tuesday.

A vote on the issue will occur on Tuesday afternoon.

The former Labor government had put $54 million towards setting up the authority, which was then cut by the incoming coalition, Mr Albanese said.

An authority is needed to best coordinate state and local government concerns for the east coast rail network, he added.

Prioritising the legislation is unnecessary as the government is waiting for business cases on the proposed network, Special Minister of State Alex Hawke said.

'There is not a need today for us to do anything other than continue to pursue what all governments are doing at the federal and national level - that is invest in business cases, that is prioritise the experts in planning.'

Mr Hawke also took a swipe at Opposition Leader Bill Shorten.

'One thing we do respect is his (Mr Albanese's) passion for policy and issues,' Mr Hawke said.

'It's refreshing, it's a different style of leadership than the leader of the opposition.'

Prof McNaughton, who has worked on high speed rail in the UK, said he would look for the most practical option - not the flashiest or the fastest.

'If you make it the Concord for the rich, you've defeated the whole purpose of doing it,' he said.

'Whether you are the richest or poorest in the state you have one thing in common - how much time you have.'

While $4.6 million has been committed to develop a plan, how much the whole project or parts of it will cost is up in the air.

As is where the money will come from.

'We need to see what were dealing with in this first stage before we talk about that,' she said.

'Let's make those decisions at that point.'The #MeToo hashtag went viral in 2017 as a protest against sexual harassment

Psychologist Bettina Arndt has claimed that the global #MeToo feminist movement has granted women a license to 'destroy' men.

The psychologist and author controversially blamed the feminist movement for throwing false accusations of rape and violence at men on Tuesday.

The author went as far as to label feminism as a 'destructive force in our society'.

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Bettina Arndt (pictured) claimed on breakfast show Sunrise that the global #MeToo feminist movement has granted women a license to 'destroy' men

Ms Arndt discussed her upcoming book '#MenToo', which she claims highlights the problems that confront men today.

She went on tell Sunrise co-hosts Samantha Armytage and Natalie Barr that feminism has 'gone off the rails' and is 'all about rules and regulations to advantage women at the expense of men.'

Ms Arndt used as an example of this an incident in which a female Canadian MP was standing between two men, when one of them made the joke: 'This wasn't the sort of threesome I had in mind.'

The female MP took offense to the comment and Manitoba MP James Bezan later made a public apology, calling it 'inappropriate and flippant.'

She went on tell Sunrise co-hosts Samantha Armytage (right) and Natalie Barr (left) that feminism has 'gone off the rails'

Ms Arndt referred to the entire incident as 'madness' and a 'trivial' accusation.

Sunrise co-host Samantha Armytage agreed that the men she 'knows and loves' are 'scared at the moment.'

The #MeToo movement, which started going viral in October 2017, is a global action against sexual harassment and sexual assault.

It was started to give women the confidence to speak out about the sexual abuse and inappropriate behaviour they had to endure at the hands of the opposite gender.

The popular hashtag has flooded social media platforms with women speaking out about their often traumatising experiences.

The hashtag was sparked after the emergence of shocking sexual harassment allegations made against American film producer Harvey Weinstein, during which dozens of women came forward about Weinstein's sexual misconduct spanning three decades.Dog owners can expect hefty fines if their pet attacks, as the penalty more than doubles under new NSW laws.

The fine has risen from $550 to $1,320 for any incident where a dog rushes at, attacks, bites, harasses or chases a person or animal, whether or not an injury is caused.

The change is meant to improve community safety around dogs and discourage people from owning restricted or dangerous breeds.

Dog owners can expect a hefty fine if their pet attacks, as the penalty more than doubles under new NSW laws (stock image)

The fine has risen to $1,320 for any incident where a dog rushes at, attacks, bites, harasses or chases a person or animal, whether or not an injury is caused

There were 1,245 dog attacks throughout the state over a three-month period between April and June this year

Minor injuries were inflicted to 177 people, medical treatment was required in another 133 incidents and 31 people required hospitalisation.

Dog breeds involved in the most recorded attacks in NSW The dogs involved in the most recorded attacks between April 1, 2018 and June 30, 2018 in the state were: American Staffordshire Terrier (155 cases) Bull Terrier (Staffordshire) (110) Australian Cattle Dog (69) German Shepherd (68) Rottweiler (29) Mastiff (28) Labrador Retriever (27) Siberian Husky (27) Australian Kelpie (26) Advertisement

However, dog trainers argue an increase in fines may not reduce the attacks and some dog experts say education is just as important as punishment.

Wendy Ellis, chief instructor and vice-president at Denison Dog Training Club in Bathurst, said dog attacks can be prevented through education.

'Dogs must be socialised early and often in a safe, controlled environment for both handler and dog,' Ms Ellis told the Western Advocate.

'Children must be educated on how to approach a dog so the dog does not feel threatened.

'One needs to choose a dog breed wisely. If owners can't educate and exercise their dogs according to its breed, then they should not get that breed.'

Other dog trainers have encouraged local councils to help fund education programs for dog owners.Residents of a suburb in Perth have been drinking bottled water for almost three years because their water supply is contaminated with toxic chemicals.

More than 200 people in West Bullsbrook, an unassuming town next to an air base, haven fallen victim to the ongoing crisis.

A potentially carcinogenic chemical called P-FAS, which is used in firefighting foam, has been leached from the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Pearce air base and has contaminated the local water bores.

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For almost three years residents of the semi-rural conurbation of West Bullsbrook have fallen victim to a water contamination crisis stemming from the base which has no end in sight (pictured residents' sign publicising water crisis next to boxes of drinking water)

Residents who live in the small community have been forced to use bottled water for two and a half years to avoid the potentially carcinogenic material.

They use bottled water for drinking, cooking and bathing, with many parents not wanting to risk washing their children in tap water.

An inquiry said the local population should be compensated for the years they have had to shell out for drinking water.

The inquiry also found that the leaching problem would cost billions to repair.

'Communities are hurt, they're angered,' Inquiry Chairman Andrews Laming said.

'No family should be trapped on contaminated land'

At this stage it is not known who will foot the will cover the cost of compensation but Water Minister Dave Kelly wants the federal government to take responsibility.

Colin Butland, whose dream family home with wife Nicole has turned into a nightmare because of the crisis, has hit out at the lack of action on the part of his region's elected politicians.

While Mrs Butland told 7 News she is frightened to give her children a bath.

'It's been quite emotional, we don't like keeping our kids in the bath too long because you don't know what they're getting exposed to,' Ms Butland told 7 News.

Colin Butland (left), whose dream family home with wife Nicole (right) has turned into a nightmare because of the crisis, has hit out at the lack of action on the part of his region's elected politicians

Residents who live in the small community have been forced to use their own water (pictured) to avoid the potentially carcinogenic material

Mr Butland and his wife (pictured boiling bottled water), ironically, have had their lives restricted by the same bores they had moved to the area to take advantage of

Mr Butland and his family, ironically, have had their lives restricted by the same bores they had moved to the area to take advantage of.

Having access to the rural area's plentiful water bores meant his wife and two children, Duke, three, and Piper, one, would not have had to pay rates.

Speaking to the ABC in October, Mr Butland said: 'They've polluted our land. We need answers.'

The damning report released this week has also called for the Defence Department to be stripped of its right to oversee the ongoing situation.

Last month it emerged that as much as 4.5 per cent lead is allowed in Australian fittings nationally, compared to just 0.25 per cent in the US and Canada.

 Slide me  One resident of the small suburb posted a picture of one of her water filters new and three-months old to a local Facebook support group (pictured above)

The World Health Organisation has warned even low levels of lead poisoning can lead to serious neurological damage, particularly in children.

The government has urged Australians to run their cold water taps for 30 seconds or more before drinking to help avoid as part of a new 'guidance statement'.

The Daily Telegraph estimated that if each of Australia's 9.5 million households was to buy Bunnings' cheapest lead-free tap - costing $280 including installation - the total bill would reach $2.7 billion.Higher levels of parental wealth can boost childrens chances of going to uni

Young adults are three times more likely to own a home by 30 if parents own one

Bank of Mum and Dad is a key factor in getting on the housing ladder, study finds

Youngsters whose parents have wealth tied up in property are almost three times as likely to own a home by the age of 30, a study reveals.

The Bank of Mum and Dad is also increasingly a key factor in getting on the housing ladder, a report by the Resolution Foundation think-tank suggests.

Rising property prices and sluggish wages have seen the prospects of youngsters owning a home by 30 falling more quickly if their parents are not home-owners, the report found.

The Bank of Mum and Dad is also increasingly a key factor in getting on the housing ladder, a report by the Resolution Foundation think-tank suggests [File photo]

Between 2004 and 2017, one in four 30-year-olds with parental property wealth were home-owners, compared with less than one in ten of those without.

Between 1991 and 2003, two in five 30-year-olds with parental property wealth owned homes, compared with around one in five of those whose parents did not have property wealth.

The report also said higher levels of parental wealth can boost their childrens chances of going to university and getting a higher-paid job  both factors which can increase the chances of home-ownership.

Stephen Clarke, of the Resolution Foundation, said: These findings reinforce the need to think more broadly about what the barriers to social mobility are in 21st century Britain.

'Weve always known that who your parents are affects what education you get and job you do.

But increasingly the effect is continuing later into life by determining whether you are able to own a home of your own.Comes after report finds quitting fizzy drinks is like going cold turkey on drugs

ritics claim they fuel obesity and disruptive or risky behaviour in classrooms

The Prime Minister unveiled her proposal in August following concern from health campaigners and schools [File photo]

There is not enough evidence for Theresa May's plan to ban the sale of energy drinks to children and teenagers, MPs will say today.

Current statistics and science do not support a bar on the high-sugar and high-caffeine beverages for the under-16s, they add in a report.

However, it 'might be legitimate' to go 'beyond the evidence' and impose a legal limit based on the concerns of teachers, say the MPs.

The all-party science and technology committee backed the ban by some schools on the drinks and the voluntary bar by most supermarkets on their sale to the under-16s.

Chairman Norman Lamb MP said: 'We support voluntary bans by retailers, many of whom have recognised the negative impact associated with such products.'

He called for independent research on energy drinks to assess if they are more harmful than other soft beverages.

Critics claim they fuel obesity and disruptive or risky behaviour which harms learning and sleep.

The Prime Minister unveiled her proposal in August following concern from health campaigners and schools.Advertisement

Georgina Chapman and Huma Abedin enjoyed a moms' night out in New York City on Sunday.

The embattled exes met up for a two-hour dinner at Tamarind, the Tribeca eatery which is located just one block from the former offices of The Weinstein Company.

It was a solemn meal for the two according to one eyewitness, and DailyMail.com obtained exclusive photos of the moment the two said farewell after dinner before going on their separate ways.

Chapman was outfitted in a Gucci dress from the 2017 pre-Fall collection while Abedin carried a monogramed Dior bag.

Once they said farewell Chapman scurried off to her waiting SUV while her driver stepped out and waited with Abedin until her Uber arrived outside the restaurant.

Sisters are doin' it for themselves: Georgina Chapman and Huma Abedin were pictured grabbing dinner in New York City on Sunday night (pair above)

Standin' on their own two feet: The pair were spotted dining at the Indian eatery Tamarind in Tribeca, just one black from the former offices of The Weinstein Company

And ringin' on their own bells: After enjoying a two-hour dinner together, Chapman scurried into her SUV and left her driver standing with Abedin while she waited for her Uber

The conscious liberation of the female state: Chapman has yet to finalize her divorce from estranged husband Harvey Weinstein while Abedin and her jailed ex Anthony Weiner divorced last year

Mothers, daughters and their daughters too: The two have known one another for years due to Chapman's involvement in the Hillary Clinton campaign, and her son Dashiell, 6, would have plays dates with Abedin's son Jordan, who is the same age

The two have known one another for years due to Chapman's involvement in the Hillary Clinton campaign, and her son Dashiell, 6, would have plays dates with Abedin's son Jordan, who is the same age.

Their sons do not attend the same school, but the women used to live just a mile apart from one another.

Abedin also spent time in the Hamptons with Chapman back in 2014 and 2015 when her boss Hillary rented the mansion next door to the one that was owned by Weinstein.

The mogul has since sold the mansion, along with all his other properties.

And in a Vogue piece about Chapman earlier this year, Abedin was not shy to address the most well-known similarity between the women - their predatory husbands.

Weinstein is facing possible criminal charges for the alleged rape and assault of multiple women while Weiner is serving time on charges that stem from his sexual exchanges with an underage minor online.

The FBI learned of Weiner's unlawful actions after DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that the disgraced politician had been exchanging sexually-charged messages with a 15-year-old high school student for close to three months.

'This particular club, ironically, its not such a small one: women who have had to endure it in such a public way, women like Georgina and me,' explained Abedin of their husbands' misconduct.

'People dont feel sorry for us; you dont get that empathy. People think youre beautiful, youre thin, youre rich, youre photographed on the red carpet, and you get stuck in this category.'

She added: 'Theres so much more depth beyond all that with Georgina.'

Now we ain't makin' stories: Abedin also spent time in the Hamptons with Chapman back in 2014 and 2015 when her boss Hillary rented the mansion next door to the one that was owned by Weinstein

And we ain't playin' lanes: In a Vogue piece about Chapman earlier this year, Abedin was not shy to address the most well-known similarity between the women - their predatory husbands

'Cause a man still loves a woman: Weinstein is facing possible criminal charges for the alleged rape and assault of multiple women while Weiner is serving time on charges that stem from his sexual exchanges with an underage minor online

And a woman still loves a man: 'This particular club, ironically, its not such a small one: women who have had to endure it in such a public way, women like Georgina and me,' explained Abedin of their husbands' misconduct

Sisters: The two women are now both single mothers with full-time jobs, although Chapman is thinking about getting out of the spotlight and moving to a farm upstate

Are doin' it for themselves: Chapman is still laying low and focusing on her children during this tumultuous time

Abedin also noted that while Chapman may look flawless most of the time, she is more concerned with her kids and making a happy home than keeping up her appearance - or apperances.

'You look at her from the outside, if you dont know her, and you think, "Shes perfect. She could be a model for the clothes she designs,"' says Abedin.

'But when you go to the house, she opens the door without any makeup on, and shes stunning, and shes funny and goofy with her childrenwho are clearly the most important people in her life.'

Abedin continued: 'Shes at the stove making chicken fingers and French fries, and shes one of the realest people I know. Theres nothing entitled about her. You believe she is someone who works really hard at being a good and present mom, and doing her job really well.'

The two women are now both single mothers with full-time jobs, although Chapman is thinking about getting out of the spotlight and moving to a farm upstate.

Abedin seems intent on staying in New York City however, where she has been seen galavanting at a number of social events over the past six months.

Chapman meanwhile is still laying low and focusing on her children during this tumultuous time.A top female lawyer who fed police sensitive information about some of the underworld's biggest crime bosses has refused to go into police protection.

National Crime Authority former chairman Peter Faris QC, warned the police informer, known as Informer 3838, has put her life in danger as a result.

'Police have assessed it as being almost certain that she will be killed unless she goes into witness protection, which she has refused to do,' he said.

National Crime Authority former chairman Peter Faris QC (pictured), warned the police informer, Informer 3838, has put her life in danger as a result

New Attorney-General Jill Hennessy (pictured) on Tuesday confirmed the state government is looking outside Victoria to find two people to run the inquiry, so they do not have personal connections with people involved

Informer 3838 worked as a defence lawyer for Melbourne's crime figures and passed on sensitive information about them to Victoria Police.

The details not only helped to rein in crime kingpins like Tony Mokbel, but also tilted the gangland wars in Melbourne to the police's favour.

The Victorian Government has since announced it will launch a Royal Commission and see just how deep Informer 3838's involvement goes in the underworld.

New Attorney-General Jill Hennessy on Tuesday confirmed the state government is looking outside Victoria to find two people to run the inquiry, so they do not have personal connections with people involved.

'We're currently engaged in conversations with people outside the state of Victoria to be able to come and to be able to adjudicate,' she told ABC Melbourne.

'Bringing fresh eyes from interstate is certainly our objective.'

Ms Hennessy said the government was looking at two commissioners for the $7.5 million inquiry to get through the workload quickly.

Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton and now-Supreme Court justices might have to give evidence, Ms Hennessy said.

'This is a very awkward and frustrating set of circumstances we find ourselves in,' she said.

The lawyer, who cannot be named for legal reasons, represented many clients linked to Victoria's violent gangland era and the Director of Public Prosecutions has already written to 20 people about their convictions.

More cases dating from 2005 to 2009, when she acted as an informant, are being assessed.

The High Court labelled Victoria Police's conduct in managing the informer as 'reprehensible' and said every corrupted conviction will have to be re-examined.

Former homicide squad detective Ron Iddles said he raised doubts about what was happening nine years ago but many police turned a blind eye.

'There would have been maybe 10 to 15 very senior police who knew what was happening,' he told radio 3AW.

The Victorian Government has since announced it will launch a Royal Commission and see just how deep Informer 3838's involvement goes in the underworld

Informer 3838 worked as a defence lawyer for Melbourne's crime figures such as Tony Mokbel (pictured) and passed on sensitive information about them to Victoria Police

'They walked past the behaviour but still accepted it.'

Mr Faris represented drug lord Tony Mokbel after the supergrass lawyer did.

'If anyone had've told me she was a registered police informer, I would've said they were crazy, unbelievable for that to be the case,' he told ABC radio.

'It's absolutely unprecedented as far as I can see that a busy practising criminal lawyer is at the same time a registered police informer.'

Mr Faris said despite the gangland era being a bloody time in Melbourne's history, 'the ends do not justify the means'.

'This isn't Nazi Germany where the police can walk in, take someone off the street and shoot them,' he said.

'People, no mater how good or how bad they are are entitled to due process of the law and part of that due process is they can have the confidence in their lawyer anything they say will be confidential.'

Mr Faris said it's impossible to predict whether Mokbel and other serious criminals will be released.

He also said Mr Ashton should step aside.

'Absolutely. He was involved in this and he's got to stand down,' he said.

Mr Ashton said he was certain all officers linked to the informant acted in good faith.Driving examiners have been accused of racism and sexism after official figures revealed black women are far less likely than white men to pass their driving test.

Black female motorists had the lowest pass rate at 32 per cent, while white men had the highest pass rate at 56 per cent, figures released by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency show.

Overall, men are also significantly more likely to pass their test than women.

Driving examiners have been accused of racism and sexism after official figures revealed black women are far less likely than white men to pass (file photo)

According to the DVSA data covering 2008 to last year, 50 per cent of men passed, compared with 43 per cent of women.

And 2016/17 data from the UK's 347 larger test centres showed that black and Asian people had a pass rate of 39 per cent, compared with 54 per cent for white people.

The racial gap, highlighted by The Guardian, is biggest in Basingstoke, Hampshire, where 49 per cent of white applicants and 27 per cent of those from ethnic minorities passed.

Barnsley, York and Worthing have the next biggest discrepancies.

Jabeer Butt, head of the Race Equality Foundation, said the figures showed 'racism at play'.

'Even when a driving test should be an objective test, it's clear that subjective rules are being applied,' he said.

Black female motorists had the lowest pass rate at 32 per cent, while white men had the highest pass rate at 56 per cent (file photo)

'We know in other areas of life that black and minority ethnic women tend to do the poorest. We are now seeing this replicated in driving.'

Omar Khan, chief of the Runnymede Trust, a race equality think-tank, stressed that caution must be applied when interpreting the data.

But he said there appeared to be a bias in favour of white men, who also tended to be the examiners. The claims were rejected by the industry.

Speaking on behalf of the Driving Instructors Association, Karen Bransgrove said: 'The reason people fail their tests has nothing to do with racism or sexism or where they are from. It is down to the way they prepare for their test.'

Ian McIntosh, head of RED Driving School, added: 'Our mission is to teach safe driving and this is not affected by gender, religion, ethnicity or any other variable.'

And the DVSA's chief driving examiner Mark Winn said: 'All candidates are assessed to the same level.'Doctors and nurses believe hospital volunteers play a vital role in improving the experience of patients and staff, a landmark report concludes today.

They say volunteers make a hugely important contribution relieving pressure on frontline NHS workers, the research found.

In the study, the first of its kind, experts from Britain's most respected health think-tank The King's Fund, asked healthcare professionals how they perceived volunteers working in the NHS.

Alfie Williams, 13, is comforted by Rosie Perry as Sister Denise Hughes tends to his broken arm

They found that the overwhelming majority  90 per cent  felt volunteers improved patient experience by 'bringing human kindness' to busy hospitals.

Some 74 per cent of those surveyed  who included doctors, nurses and support staff  also said they help relieve pressure on staff.

The key findings come days after the Daily Mail launched a major volunteering drive, with more than 11,000 kind-hearted readers having already pledged their time to support the NHS.

There are already about 78,000 volunteers in hospitals but the ageing population and increasing complexity of health needs means they are in ever greater demand.

Today's report, commissioned by the Royal Voluntary Service and Helpforce, involved nearly 300 hospital staff in England.

Two thirds of the respondents said that volunteers made a difference by providing companionship and general stimulation to patients.

They are also important in practical roles, such as picking up medication and helping feed patients at mealtimes, which leaves pressurised doctors and nurses free to focus on medical care.

A whole host of celebrities have backed the Daily Mail campaign, including Chris Evans (left) and Gerri horner (right)

Richard Murray, director of policy at The King's Fund, said: 'We found that frontline staff clearly appreciate the human kindness volunteers bring into busy hospital life, provided they are not being used as a substitute for paid staff. We encourage NHS bosses to sit up and take note of the critical role their staff say volunteers play in enhancing patient experience.'

The authors also identified some of the challenges hospital staff face when working with volunteers, including clarity regarding the boundaries between the roles of staff and volunteers.

Some raised concerns about the potential to rely on volunteers too much in services that are increasingly under pressure.

The report makes a number of recommendations to NHS trust leaders to help them maximise the impact of volunteers in their hospitals. Catherine Johnstone, chief executive of Royal Voluntary Service, said: 'We know the difference our volunteers make, from improving patient experience to allowing more time for doctors and nurses to concentrate on clinical care.

'The report highlights both opportunities and challenges which we need to embrace and tackle if we want to successfully scale up voluntary service.'

Anna Chadwick, the lead dementia nurse at Mid Cheshire Hospitals, said RVS volunteers were greatly valued by staff, patients and their families.

'The impact of volunteers giving their time to offer meaningful support to people who are unwell and often lonely and frightened, is immeasurable,' she said.

'The hospital environment can be overwhelming and a friendly face and chat can make the world of difference to a person's experience.'

Sir Tom Hughes-Hallett, founder of Helpforce, said: 'I hope this report will galvanise the executive level support necessary to create a step-change in volunteering in our NHS.'

The Mail's Christmas campaign has also been backed by The Royal College of Nursing and Unison.

Now here's how you can give your hospital a helping hand

Why does the NHS need volunteers?

Volunteers can help provide better experiences for patients, and free up time for healthcare workers to focus on delivering the incredible work they've been trained to do.

And while there are thousands of volunteers carrying out vital work in the NHS, there is so much more we can do.

That's where the Join the Hospital Helpforce campaign comes in  the aim is to harness the power of dedicated and caring volunteers to create a more compassionate care system for all of us.

What is Helpforce?

It's a charity that works with the NHS, healthcare workers and the public to promote the benefits of volunteering  helping to expand the range and quality of volunteer roles, and the number of volunteers involved in our NHS.

Are volunteers replacing staff roles?

No. They provide extra help that wouldn't be covered by a staff role.

NHS Trusts need volunteers as they provide a valuable support role to busy staff and patients who are going through a difficult time.

Volunteers can make the difference to someone's day by providing simple but significant support. Many volunteers enjoy it so much they take up employment in the NHS, helping to fill the health service's 100,000 job vacancies.

Helping hand: Volunteer Max Whitfield, 18, with healthcare assistant Bryony McGovern at Frimley Park hospital in Surrey

What is the minimum number of hours I have to commit to?

Helpforce is asking people to commit to three consecutive hours a week for six months, or one day a month for six months.

NHS staff say that for volunteers to make a difference, they need to commit to at least this time as this gives them continuity and a reliable source of help.

You can, of course, ask to do more hours and for a longer period of time.

Do I need particular skills or qualifications?

No. NHS organisations are looking for volunteers who are willing to learn. While all your skills will be useful, you will be provided with training. If you have any specific skills, please note these on your pledge when you sign up.

Is there an age limit?

Join the hospital helpforce Whatever your skills or experience, you can make a valued and lasting impact. You will join the volunteers working in hospitals or with organisations that support the NHS, such as the Royal Voluntary Service, Marie Curie, British Red Cross, and others. Join us by pledging your time in 2019 at www.hospitalhelpforce.com and clicking on the 'pledge now' box. Thank you  and welcome aboard! Advertisement

Helpforce hasn't put a maximum age as there are many examples of older volunteers doing great work. The minimum age is 16.

However, not all NHS organisations are able to take volunteers until the age of 18 due to their own policies. If you are aged between 16 and 18, Helpforce will do its best to place you with a local NHS organisation but opportunities are more limited.

Youth groups #iwill and the Pears Foundation are together aiming to increase the number of volunteering opportunities for young people  visit iwill.org.uk for details.

I have mobility issues, can I apply?

Yes. The NHS can accommodate volunteers with mobility issues and/or long-term conditions.

Can I choose which hospital I work in?

In the first instance, Helpforce will try to match you with an NHS organisation near to where you live.

If your local NHS organisation doesn't have capacity, Helpforce will  with your permission  pass your details to organisations such as the Royal Voluntary Service, Marie Curie and the British Red Cross, as they bring volunteers to work across many parts of the NHS. Some trusts hold their own waiting lists and you could be added to those if you prefer.

Are all UK hospitals covered?

Not all NHS organisations are able to take volunteers. Helpforce will work with those that have volunteer schemes, and are recruiting.

Can I volunteer if I live in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland?

Yes  Helpforce is welcoming volunteers from across the UK.

Am I guaranteed a place?

Helpforce can't guarantee that every person who pledges will get a place, but will endeavour to place as many people with their local NHS organisation as possible.

The majority of the volunteer roles Helpforce expects to be filled through this campaign will take place in hospitals, but many volunteers will be placed in community healthcare settings to support NHS organisations.

How do I sign up?

Visit hospitalhelpforce.com and fill in the pledge form. Once you've completed it, you should hear back immediately with a thank you email, then again in late January or early February once Helpforce have matched you with an NHS organisation.

If you don't hear by the end of February, please go to the Frequently Asked Questions section of the website.

What will the hospital want to know about me?

Once you have been matched to an NHS organisation, you will be asked to meet its volunteer co-ordinator.

They will want to find out about you, your experience, interests and motivation to volunteer. You will be asked to fill in an application form.

If you both agree that you want to proceed, you will have simple health and criminal record checks  these are called an Occupational Health check and a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

An Occupational Health check helps to ensure that volunteers are safe and able to work in the healthcare environment  it is usually very simple and straightforward.

A DBS check enables employers to access the criminal records of current and potential employees to confirm whether they are suitable to work with vulnerable adults and children. It is a legal requirement and can take some time to complete.

You may also be required to provide a reference. Your data will be fully protected throughout.

What training will I get?

Volunteers can help provide better experiences for patients, and free up time for healthcare workers to focus on delivering the incredible work they've been trained to do

Training varies between NHS organisations, but all your training will help keep you safe, and give you the skills to make you feel confident when volunteering on a busy ward with staff, patients and their families.

A training session would typically include some or all of the following elements: health and safety, fire training, equality and diversity, safeguarding, conflict resolution, information governance, infection control. Training will vary based on the role you are taking up.

Are uniforms and expenses provided?

Volunteers usually wear T-shirts or uniforms, provided by the NHS organisation, that identify them as volunteers.

Helpforce recommends you discuss this with the volunteer co-ordinator when you have been placed.

Each NHS organisation has its own expenses policy  again, this is something you should discuss with the volunteer co-ordinator.

How long will it take to process my request?

Helpforce is keen that you start volunteering as soon as possible, but the process may take several months.

Once the charity has put your NHS organisation in touch with you it can take up to three months, and in some cases six months, before you start. This is mainly due to the time it takes to make the necessary checks, and complete the relevant training.

Is there a deadline?

You can choose to volunteer for the NHS at any time, but this campaign is being supported during December and will close at the start of January.

If it isn't a good time for you to volunteer but you may want to in the future, you can get in touch with your local hospital or other NHS organisation at a later date. You can also look at volunteering opportunities at do-it.org

I'm having trouble with the online form. How else can I make contact?

Due to the volume of pledges that Helpforce is expecting to process, it is encouraging everyone to make contact through the online form. If you are having problems with the form, it may be helpful to seek assistance from a friend or relative.

Who can I contact if I have further questions?

Please go to the Frequently Asked Questions web page (hospitalhelpforce.com/faqs). The 'speech bubble' icon will take you to one of Helpforce's ambassadors who will be happy to help.

I can't commit to a regular time. Is there another way I can help?

You can donate to Helpforce  the charity will use all the money raised to help support hospitals in the creation of new volunteering roles, and bring more volunteers to their wards.

There are two ways you can donate: via the donate button at hospitalhelpforce.com, or by sending a cheque. Please make it out to Helpforce Community Trust and post it to:

Helpforce, S90, South Wing, Somerset House, The Strand, London WC2R 1LA

www.hospitalhelpforce.com

Join our big-hearted heroes by volunteering to help in a hospital near you for as little as one day a month - or three hours a week - for at least six months. Read all you need to know here...

Why does the NHS need volunteers?

Volunteers can help provide better experiences for patients, and free up time for healthcare workers to focus on delivering the incredible work theyve been trained to do. And while there are thousands of volunteers carrying out vital work in the NHS, there is so much more we can do. Thats where the Join the Hospital Helpforce campaign comes in  the aim is to harness the power of dedicated and caring volunteers to create a more compassionate care system for all of us.

What is Helpforce?

Its a charity that works with the NHS, healthcare workers and the public to promote the benefits of volunteering  helping to expand the range and quality of volunteer roles, and the number of volunteers involved in our NHS.

Are volunteers replacing staff roles?

No. They provide extra help that wouldnt be covered by a staff role. NHS Trusts need volunteers as they provide a valuable support role to busy staff and patients who are going through a difficult time. Volunteers can make the difference to someones day by providing simple but significant support. Many volunteers enjoy it so much they take up employment in the NHS, helping to fill the health services 100,000 job vacancies.

What is the minimum number of hours I have to commit to?

Helpforce is asking people to commit to three consecutive hours a week for six months, or one day a month for six months. NHS staff say that for volunteers to make a difference, they need to commit to at least this time as this gives them continuity and a reliable source of help. You can, of course, ask to do more hours and for a longer period of time.

Do I need particular skills?

No. NHS organisations are looking for volunteers who are willing to learn. While all your skills will be useful, you will be provided with training. If you have any specific skills, please note these on your pledge when you sign up.

Is there an age limit?

Helpforce hasnt put a maximum age as there are many examples of older volunteers doing great work. The minimum age is 16. However, not all NHS organisations are able to take volunteers until the age of 18 due to their own policies. If you are aged between 16 and 18, Helpforce will do its best to place you with a local NHS organisation but opportunities are more limited. Youth groups #iwill and the Pears Foundation are together aiming to increase the number of volunteering opportunities for young people  visit iwill.org.uk for details.

I have mobility issues, can I apply?

Yes. The NHS can accommodate volunteers with mobility issues and/or long-term conditions.

Are all UK hospitals covered?

Not all NHS organisations are able to take volunteers. Helpforce will work with those that have volunteer schemes, and are recruiting.

Can I choose which hospital I work in?

In the first instance, Helpforce will try to match you with an NHS organisation near to where you live. If your local NHS organisation doesnt have capacity, Helpforce will  with your permission  pass your details to organisations such as the Royal Voluntary Service, Marie Curie and the British Red Cross, as they bring volunteers to work across many parts of the NHS. Some trusts hold their own waiting lists and you could be added to those if you prefer.

Can I volunteer if I live in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland?

Yes  Helpforce is welcoming volunteers from across the UK.

Am I guaranteed a place?

Helpforce cant guarantee that every person who pledges will get a place, but will endeavour to place as many people with their local NHS organisation as possible. The majority of the volunteer roles Helpforce expects to be filled through this campaign will take place in hospitals, but many volunteers will be placed in community healthcare settings to support NHS organisations.

How do I sign up?

Visit hospitalhelpforce.com and fill in the pledge form. Once youve completed it, you should hear back immediately with a thank you email, then again in late January or early February once Helpforce have matched you with an NHS organisation. If you dont hear by the end of February, please go to the Frequently Asked Questions section of the website.

What will the hospital want to know about me?

Once you have been matched to an NHS organisation, you will be asked to meet its volunteer co-ordinator. They will want to find out about you, your experience, interests and motivation to volunteer. You will be asked to fill in an application form.

If you both agree that you want to proceed, you will have simple health and criminal record checks  these are called an Occupational Health check and a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

An Occupational Health check helps to ensure that volunteers are safe and able to work in the healthcare environment  it is usually straightforward. A DBS check enables employers to access the criminal records of current and potential employees to confirm whether they are suitable to work with vulnerable adults and children. It is a legal requirement and can take some time to complete. You may also be required to provide a reference. Your data will be fully protected throughout.

Join the hospital helpforce Whatever your skills or experience, you can make a valued and lasting impact. You will join the volunteers working in hospitals or with organisations that support the NHS, such as the Royal Voluntary Service, Marie Curie, British Red Cross, and others. Join us by pledging your time in 2019 at www.hospitalhelpforce.com and clicking on the pledge now box. Thank you  and welcome aboard! Advertisement

What training will I get?

Training varies between NHS organisations, but all your training will help keep you safe, and give you the skills to make you feel confident when volunteering on a busy ward with staff, patients and their families. A training session would typically include some or all of the following elements: health and safety, fire training, equality and diversity, safeguarding, conflict resolution, information governance, infection control.

Are uniforms and expenses provided?

Volunteers usually wear T-shirts or uniforms provided by the NHS organisation. Helpforce recommends you discuss this with the volunteer co-ordinator when you have been placed. Each NHS organisation has its own expenses policy  again, this is something you should discuss with the volunteer co-ordinator.

How long will it take to process my request?

Helpforce is keen that you start volunteering as soon as possible, but the process may take several months. Once the charity has put your NHS organisation in touch with you it can take up to three months, and in some cases six months, before you start. This is mainly due to the time it takes to make the necessary checks, and complete the relevant training.

Is there a deadline?

You can choose to volunteer for the NHS at any time, but this campaign is being supported during December and will close at the start of January. If it isnt a good time for you to volunteer but you may want to in the future, you can get in touch with your hospital or other NHS organisation at a later date. You can also look at volunteering opportunities at do-it.org

Im having trouble with the online form. How else can I make contact?

Helpforce is encouraging everyone to make contact through the online form. If you are having problems with the form, it may be helpful to seek assistance from a friend or relative.

Who can I contact if I have further questions?

Please go to the Frequently Asked Questions web page (hospitalhelpforce.com/faqs). The speech bubble icon will take you to one of Helpforces ambassadors.

Are there other ways I can help?

You can donate to Helpforce  the charity will use all money raised to help support hospitals in creating volunteering roles, and bringing more volunteers to their wards. There are two ways you can donate: via the donate button at hospitalhelpforce.com, or by sending a cheque made out to Helpforce Community Trust to:

Helpforce, S90, South Wing, Somerset House, The Strand, London WC2R 1LA

www.hospitalhelpforce.comThe 'Monster of Worcester' who murdered three children before impaling their mutilated bodies on a fence outside their home has been cleared for release.

David McGreavy, 67, murdered Paul Ralph, four, and his sisters Dawn, two, and nine-month-old Samantha at their home in Worcester.

Paul had been strangled, Dawn was found with her throat cut, and Samantha died from a compound fracture to the skull.

David McGreavy (pictured left, during day release from prison in 2006) murdered Paul Ralph, four, and his sisters Dawn, two, and nine-month-old Samantha in their Worcester home. The children are pictured with their mother, Dorothy (right, in an undated photo)

McGreavy, a family friend and lodger at the home in Rainbow Hill, claimed he killed the children because one of them would not stop crying.

He was sentenced to life for the murders in 1973. But the Parole Board confirmed last night that a panel had directed his release following an oral hearing.

The children's mother Elsie Urry, also known as Dorothy, told The Sun: 'What this animal did to my children was every bit as bad as what the Moors Murderers did.

'But Ian Brady and Myra Hindley never left prison before they died so why the hell should he? He put my babies on spikes, for God's sake.

The children's mother Elsie Urry (pictured in 2016), who has also been known as Dorothy, said: 'What this animal did to my children was every bit as bad as what the Moors Murderers did'

'He mutilated them and they died in agony. I wanted him dead and to suffer like they had but was reassured after his trial that his crime was so terrible he would never walk free again.

'But despite begging them to keep him locked up, I have now finally been betrayed.'

He put my babies on spikes, for God's sake. He mutilated them and they died in agony Elsie Urry, mother

A document from the Parole Board about McGreavy's case referred to a victim personal statement from the victims' mother, 'setting out the devastating effect that these deaths had on her and still do have'.

The document said that over the 45 years in custody, McGreavy has changed 'considerably'.

It added: 'He has developed self-control, as well as a considerable understanding of the problems that he has had and what caused them.

'The psychologist identified a number of factors which make it less likely that Mr McGreavy will reoffend in future.

The Worcester house where the three children were brutally murdered by McGreavy in 1973

'These included his improved self-control and the fact that Mr McGreavy has learnt to remain calm in stressful situations.

'He has also shown himself to be compliant and co-operative with authority, which suggests that he will comply with licence conditions.

The children's mother compared the killer to Ian Brady (pictured in an undated photo)

'A network of supportive friends in the community was also identified as a protective factor.'

The Parole Board said: 'We can confirm that a panel of the Parole Board has directed the release of David McGreavy following an oral hearing.

'Parole Board decisions are solely focused on whether a prisoner would represent a significant risk to the public after release.

'The panel will have carefully looked at a whole range of evidence, including details of the original evidence and any evidence of behaviour change.

'We do that with great care and public safety is our number one priority.'

McGreavy has been eligible for parole for a quarter century but previous applications had been refused - most recently in 2016.

He is now set to be released from category C Warren Hill prison near Hollesley in Suffolk, to a bail hostel after Christmas.

The bodies of the children were found impaled on a neighbour's railings (pictured in 1973)

Justice Secretary David Gauke is unable to stop his release as he can only overrule a proposed transfer to an open prison.

The children's father Clive, who split from their mother soon after the murders, is not thought to have ever spoken out about his grief.

How the Parole Board decides which inmates are safe to be released The Parole Board assesses whether serving prisoners in England and Wales are safe to be released into the community or moved to open conditions, considering around 25,000 cases a year. The organisation came under intense scrutiny following the original decision to release black cab rapist John Worboys decision earlier this year - which was then overturned last month. After complaints that parole processes were shrouded in secrecy, ministers scrapped a rule banning the Board from disclosing information about the reasoning behind its panels findings. So far, more than 1,400 requests for decision summaries have been lodged. Advertisement

But his cousin John Nicholls, who now lives in Canada, told the Worcester News in 2016: 'My opinion is he should never be let out. He shouldn't be allowed any kind of freedom. To me, a life sentence should be life. How can you forget something like that that happened?

'It is as fresh in my mind today as it was 44 years ago. What happened I will remember it to the day I die.'

The news comes nearly a month after the Parole Board decided to reverse an earlier decision that black cab rapist John Worboys should be released.

The board sparked fury in January by ruling that Worboys was safe to be freed after around a decade behind bars.

He had been jailed indefinitely in 2009 with a minimum term of eight years after being convicted of 19 offences including rape, sexual assault and administering a substance with intent, committed against 12 victims.

In March, the Parole Board's release direction was quashed by the High Court following a legal challenge by two women.

As a result Worboys, 61, was kept behind bars until the case had been reassessed by a new panel. Their decision was announced on November 19.Liz Truss, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, was said to have been overheard yesterday in a London restaurant talking up the prospects of the Home Secretary

A cabinet minister has allegedly suggested that Sajid Javid has to prepare for a possible leadership challenge to Theresa May.

Liz Truss, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, was said to have been overheard yesterday in a London restaurant talking up the prospects of the Home Secretary by a political activist.

Zack Polanski also claimed Miss Truss had named Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt as another potential candidate but warned he was a 'game-player'.

Miss Truss, who has been tipped as a future Tory leader herself, was also said to have described Mrs May as a terrible 'pacifist' when managing people.

Mr Polanski, an actor and Green Party candidate for The Cities of London & Westminster constituency, posted claims on what he had heard on social media.

He also wrote that Miss Truss criticised Mrs May for not using Michael Gove more when negotiating her Brexit deal. But she is alleged to have said 'everyone hates him' for turning on Boris Johnson in the 2016 Tory leadership contest.

Mr Polanski took to Twitter to say he had overheard Miss Truss 'speaking loudly in a public restaurant at lunchtime'. He claimed she had predicted that Mrs May would either win the crucial Brexit vote next Tuesday or it would 'go to a no confidence vote'.

Miss Truss is said to have told her companion: 'Sajid needs to be really ready to deal with that. It's going to be Sajid or Jeremy for leader. The only one who could beat them with members is Boris.' She allegedly added: 'Jeremy Hunt is so charming. There's no consistency though.'

Mr Polanski defended his action, claiming: 'This is a public conversation of a very senior figure who says one thing on TV and clearly believes differently. We have a right to know.'

Miss Truss and Mr Polanski did not reply to requests for comment last night.State Trooper Mithil Patel, 31, was responding to a crash on Florida's I-95 in Hobe Sound when a car came barreling toward him and a citizen

A Florida State Trooper has suffered serious injuries after heroically pushing a man out of harm's way as a car came barreling toward them.

Shocking video shows Mithil Patel, 31, responding to a crash on I-95 near Hobe Sound.

As he speaks with the 65-year-old crash victim on the side of the highway, a black Audi comes spinning into frame.

The 31-year-old officer then pushes the man out of the way and takes the hit, sending him flying several feet into the air.

The footage was caught on camera by CBS12 Traffic Tracker.

Several workers who were cleaning the debris from the previous crash rushed in to immediatley help Patel.

The officer was then taken as a 'trauma alert' to St Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Florida.

According to Florida Highway Patrol, the trooper has suffered serious injuries but is expected to survive.

Video captured him speaking to the 65-year-old crash victim when the car came toward the men

Officials said that while Patel was speaking with the crash victim, a Chevrolet Express work van rear ended the black Audi.

This caused the luxury car to spin out of control and run into the officer.

The driver of the work van was identified as Clifford Perry, 43, and the driver of the Audi was identified as Jenna Baxter, 24.

It's unclear if anyone has been charged in the accident as it is still under investigation.

'It's always in the back of our heads. You turn your back and you don't know what might be coming, but we still have a job to do,' Corporal Kurt Blanc of Tequesta Police Department told CBS 12.

He stressed the importance of driver vigilance and noted the agency has safety protocols in place to prevent officers from being hit.

Patel pushes the man out of the way and takes the hit, sending him flying in the airNew information suggests that special counsel Robert Mueller is preparing his endgame in the long-running investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election.

Mueller's prosecutors have told defense lawyers in recent weeks that they are 'tying up loose ends' in their investigation, as reported by Yahoo News.

Significant new details on what cooperation Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn and Trump's ex- personal lawyer Michael Cohen provided to the Russia investigation are expected to come to light this week when the special counsel's prosecutors file memos about three of their most high profile defendants.

Mueller's prosecutors have told defense lawyers in recent weeks that they are 'tying up loose ends' in the long-running Russian probe

Flynn's sentencing memo is due Tuesday while memos about Manafort and Cohen are expected Friday.

Mueller is now expected to make a public filing about Manafort, suggesting he may no longer feel the need to withhold information about his case in order to bring additional indictments against others.

Peter Carr, spokesman for the special counsel, confirmed to Yahoo News on Monday that the Manafort memo 'will be public,' although he added there could be some portions that are redacted or filed as a sealed addendum.

The Manafort memo has been requested by the federal judge in his case so that prosecutors can highlight what matters they believe Manafort has lied to them about.

The special counsel's prosecutors are expected to file a memo on former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn (pictured above) on Tuesday

A memo relating to Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort (pictured above) is due Friday

Mueller's sentencing memo on Michael Cohen (pictured above) is also due Friday. Last Thursday Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress

It was thought that Mueller might file the memo in Manafort's case under seal in order to prevent public disclosure of the additional crimes his office believes Manafort committed when he allegedly lied to prosecutors and broke a plea deal after agreeing to cooperate.

If Mueller doesn't feel the need to file Manafort's memo under seal, this would give added weight to messages his prosecutors are said to have given defense lawyers in recent weeks, indicating that they are in the endgame of their investigation.

It could be indicative that Mueller may no longer feel the need to withhold information about the Manafort case in order to bring additional indictments against others.

President Donald Trump has submitted written responses to questions posed by Mueller's team in regard to the Russia probe

On Monday Mueller's office talked to congressional investigators as part of an ongoing discussion about whether new subpoenas for testimony by House and Senate committees might interfere with Mueller's investigation.

The response was that it would not, regarding matters relating to alleged obstruction by the White House in the Russia investigation itself.

It also seems unlikely that the special counsel will press for a face-to-face interview with President Donald Trump. The president submitted in Novemeber written responses to questions posed by Mueller's team in regard to the Russia probe.

Mueller's sentencing memo on Michael Cohen is due Friday.

Cohen pleaded guilty Thursday to lying to Congress, a charge that his lawyers said resulted in part from information he voluntarily provided Mueller's team in meetings governed by a limited-use immunity agreement.

He also admitted to making misstatements regarding the Trump organization's efforts to develop a branded property in Moscow to congressional committees investigating Russian influence on the 2016 election, including the House Intelligence Committee, according to court documents.

Mueller is believed to be focused on a matter concerning former Trump adviser Roger Stone and conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi

Cohen is due to be sentenced in federal court in New York next week and his lawyers are asking that he be spared jail.

Mueller is believed to be focused on a matter concerning former Trump adviser Roger Stone and conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi.

Stone emailed Corsi in July 2016, asking him to get in touch with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been living in Ecuador's embassy in London since 2012, according to the documents. Stone said he wanted Corsi to try to obtain emails the group possessed about Clinton.

Prosecutors from Mueller's office had offered Corsi a deal to plead guilty to a false statements charge, but he said he rejected the offer because he didn't knowingly mislead investigators

Both Stone and Corsi have denied any wrongdoing, and Stone has denied knowing Assange or being a conduit for WikiLeaks.

Corsi has said the email he sent Stone in reply  which accurately forecast that WikiLeaks would release derogatory information about Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta in October  was based on his own deduction and not the result of any inside information or a source close to the group.

Prosecutors from Mueller's office had offered Corsi a deal to plead guilty to a false statements charge, but he said he rejected the offer because he didn't knowingly mislead investigators.Sophisticated phone scammers are targeting taxpayers by impersonating the tax office and threatening arrests over outstanding tax debts.

A 'tsunami' of complaints about suspicious phone calls have inundated the consumer watchdog with the value of losses estimated at $830,000 last month alone.

In July of this year, there were just 4,000 reports of scam calls and by last month that number had surged to 27,100, the Australian Tax Office said.

Sophisticated phone scammers are targeting taxpayers by impersonating the tax office and threatening arrest over outstanding tax debts (stock image)

Monthly losses have also rocketed from $107,000 to $830,000 as 177 taxpayers were caught out.

'Scam phone calls are difficult to regulate because they represent criminal activity, often originating overseas,' an Australian Taxation Office spokesperson told the Sydney Morning Herald.

For this reason, stemming the number of calls is a challenge because the true origin of the calls is unknown.

The scammers are even faking tax office landline numbers - which the ATO warns is a sure sign of a hoax as when the ATO makes a call, a number doesn't show up on the caller ID.

'We can confidently say if there is a number on your caller ID it's not the ATO calling you,' a spokesperson said.

'There's a bunch of apps you can access that say, for a service free, you can pick a number that you want your number to look like. Almost all of these are based offshore,' professor Cyber Security at the University of the Sunshine Coast Dave Lacey said.

In July of this year, there were more than 4,000 reports of scam calls and last month that number hit 27,100

The amount lost has also rocketed from $107,000 to $830,000 as 177 taxpayers were caught out

Delia Rickard from the Australian Consumer and Corruption Commision told ABC Hack the calls are usually made from overseas call centres which fake local numbers so it looks like they're coming from Australia.

'Scams like this are organised crime, they have whole call centres overseas which are just constantly doing them,' she said.

'They say you owe the money to the tax department, there's a warrant out for your arrest.

'They say that if you pay it today and don't tell anyone about the call we can make this go away.'

The ATO first issued a warning over the scam in March but the methods have since evolved.

A warning was issued over ATO's Facebook page last month, saying: 'With tax time over, be on high alert for phone calls demanding the payment of fake tax debts.

'Be suspicious if someone contacts you demanding payment. Remember, we would never request the payment of a tax debt via prepaid gift cards, ask for direct credit to be paid into a personal bank account or via an ATM, or demand immediate payment, use aggressive behaviour, or threaten you with arrest or deportation.

'We have a team of dedicated staff that investigate scams, working closely with various law enforcement and telecommunications agencies to combat this form of organised crime'.

Scammers are even faking tax office landline numbers - which the ATO warns is a sure sign of a hoax as when the ATO makes a call, a number doesn't show up on the caller ID (stock image)



Malcom Turnbull's son Alex has been strongly condemned after he brought up a journalist's sex life when she called him out for being a 'sore loser'.

Janet Albrechtsen, a columnist for The Australian newspaper, called Alex Turnbull a 'very funny caricature of the sore loser' in a tweet on Monday after he publicly donated to an online activist group.

Mr Turnbull chose to hit back at Ms Albrechtsen by speculating about her sex life.

His comment was met with widespread outrage, with many people including 2GB radio hosts Ray Hadley and Ben Fordham saying that Mr Turnbull's tweet was 'disgusting' and 'disgraceful'.

Janet Albrechtsen (right with Tony Abbott), a columnist for The Australian newspaper, called Alex Turnbull a 'very funny caricature of the sore loser' in a tweet on Monday

Mr Turnbull (pictured) chose to hit back at Ms Albrechtsen by speculating about her sex life

His comment was met with widespread outrage, with many people including 2GB radio hosts Ray Hadley and Ben Fordham saying that Mr Turnbull's tweet was 'disgusting' and 'disgraceful'

'He needs to pull his head in and wake up to himself,' Hadley said.

'He's a young man saying dumb things and I've cut him some slack... but now he's entered the debate in the most unsavoury, disgusting way. And for that, he should be condemned.'

Fellow host Ben Fordham also criticised Mr Turnbull's comment.

'Using sex to publicly attack a woman. So woke,' Mr Fordham sarcastically tweeted alongside a screenshot of Mr Turnbull's tweet.

Others took to social media to slam Mr Turnbull.

One person called him a 'f**kwit and a weak dog', while another said he was a 'disgrace' and a 'disgusting person'.

Mr Turnbull later deleted his tweet and offered an apology to Ms Albrechtsen.

'Your personal life, much like your opinions on family values and judgements on the lives of others have no place in public discourse,' Mr Turnbull said.

Mr Turnbull's tweet to Ms Albrechtsen was met with outrage as many people including 2GB radio host Ray Hadley stepped in to defend the journalist

'Tabloid viciousness never leads anywhere good especially when it darkens one's doorstep.'

Earlier, Mr Turnbull defended his offensive tweet by saying that the fact his father was Prime Minister does not exclude him from responding to criticism, calling it an 'incorrect assumption'.

'Just because politicians' kids can't punch back while a parent is in office (doesn't mean) they never will,' he tweeted.

Ms Albrechtsen declined to comment when contacted by Daily Mail Australia.Desperate Australians are being targeted by blackmarket organ dealers through social media as demand for kidneys and livers outstrips supply.

With a significant shortage of organs available for transplantation in Australia, a parliamentary committee report is urging the government to act to prevent a boom in black market organs.

There were 1,423 people listed on organ transplant waiting lists in Australia in September, 1003 of which were waiting on a new kidney transplants.

Desperate Australians are being targeted by black market dealers organ through social media as demand for kidneys and livers outstrips supply

And while the number of Australians buying an organ overseas is not known, the gap between supply and demand continues to grow, increasing the appeal for desperate patients to travel.

There is currently no requirement for someone travelling overseas for the operation to report their intentions.

There also is no requirement for a medical profession providing post-operative treatment to a patient who received their transplant overseas to report that fact.

However, many Australians have the financial means to purchase an organ overseas, the report states.

And the report states Australian patients are being targeted by organ brokers from overseas through social media.

Figures show 654 hearts and 2,615 livers were sold for up to $394,000 each worldwide last year.

The chairman of the Human Rights Sub-Committee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, Liberal MP Kevin Andrews, told Parliament those often facing certain death without a transplant may travel to places such as Egypt, the Philippines or Pakistan, forking out tens of thousands of dollars for an organ transplant.

With a significant shortage of organs available for transplantation in Australia, a parliamentary committee report is urging the Government does not act to prevent a market boom

There is currently no requirement for someone travelling overseas for the operation to report their intentions

He said usually the donor is in dire financial straits, possibly exploited, and unable to give free and informed consent to donation.

The report made a number of recommendations, including that the government pursues a range of measures to strengthen the country's involvement in international efforts to combat human organ trafficking.

The report also said the government needed to thoroughly investigate reforms that would enhance Australia's domestic organ donation program.

There has been one case of Australians taking part in transplant tourism where a couple allegedly brought a Filipino woman back to Australia to have her donate her kidney in 2011.

The woman was allegedly promised money and a working visa in exchange for her organ.

During a pre-operative counselling session at a Sydney hospital the planned illegal exchange was discovered and stopped.

No one was prosecuted due to the limitations of the legislation at the time and the person who was intended to receive the kidney died.A man who allegedly had more than 1000 illegal fireworks in his car has been arrested and charged after trying to outrun police.

The 26-year-old driver and his 33-year-old passenger were spotted by police who were investigating a white Holden Colorado parked in a laneway in First Walk in Chester Hill, in Sydney's south.

The police officers from Bankstown initially approached the vehicle at about 7.30pm. but the vehicle sped away.

A 26-year-old man has been charged and arrested for possessing more than 1000 illegal fireworks

Bankstown police searched the vehicle of a white Holden Colorado where the items were seized

The two men were eventually pulled over by the officers and a vehicle search took place during which more than 1000 individual commercial fireworks were found stored in the boot.

The bulk supply of fireworks was seized. The men were arrested and taken to Bankstown Police Station.

The 26-year-old man was charged with possession of explosive for unlawful purpose.

He is due to appear in Bankstown Local Court on Wednesday January 16.

The 33-year-old man was released without charge.

New South Wales police have confirmed the the 26-year-old man was arrested and charged because he did not have a license to possess fireworks.

The 26-year-old is due to front Bankstown Local court charged with possession of explosive for unlawful purpose

Under NSW law, a pyrotechnicians licence and a fireworks single use license (FSUL) is required to purchase, use, store, manufacture and supply fireworks.

A pyrotechnicians licence authorises ground display fireworks, theatrical and indoor fireworks (close proximity), aerial shells up to 30mm and aerial salutes up to 75mm.

A fireworks single use licence can only be issued for ground displays, Chinese strings and theatrical and indoor displays for an event of up to three consecutive days.They have been at the centre of a decades-long tussle between Britain and Greece.

But the stolen Elgin Marbles were actually a gift, according to a descendant of the man who brought them to UK shores.

Lord Charles Bruce said the friezes, now on display in the British Museum, were handed by a Turkish sultan to his forebear Thomas Bruce, the seventh Earl of Elgin.

In return, the earl gave him a chandelier  and the smallpox vaccine.

The marbles were removed from the ruins of the Parthenon temple in Athens and shipped to England between 1801 and 1805. At the time, Greece was part of the Turks Ottoman Empire.

Lord Charles Bruce said the Elgin Marbles, now on display in the British Museum, were handed by a Turkish sultan to his forebear Thomas Bruce, the seventh Earl of Elgin

The legitimacy of their journey to the UK has been the subject of debate between Britain and the Greek authorities, who claim the marbles were stolen.

But Lord Bruce, 57, son of the current earl, has now come forward to defend the museums entitlement to the marbles, also known as the Parthenon Sculptures.

He claimed his ancestor was given permission to remove and conserve them by Turkish sultan Selim III as part of his role as the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.

He told The Times: The marbles were a diplomatic gift. Its a part of the story not clearly understood.

The British had cemented a military alliance with the Turks, and there was a personal friendship between Elgin and the sultan.

They exchanged gifts, and theres a beautiful chandelier from Elgin which still hangs in the Topkapi Palace [in Istanbul] in a room where Lady Elgin taught the sultans family to dance the eightsome reel.

We also gave them the smallpox vaccine, which prevented an outbreak in Smyrna [now Izmir in Turkey], and later went on to Baghdad and Bombay, and was used to inoculate a million Indians.

The marbles were removed from the ruins of the Parthenon temple in Athens and shipped to England between 1801 and 1805

Lord Bruce said the sultan also gave Lord Elgin four acres of land in Istanbul and 10,000 for Britains first purpose-built embassy.

The marbles were put on display in a temporary museum before moving to the British Museum in 1817.

Recently lawyer Amal Clooney, wife of actor George Clooney, and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn have backed returning them to Greece.

The British Museums website says Lord Elgin was passionate about ancient Greek art and removed the sculptures with the full knowledge and permission of the Ottoman authorities.

Their arrival in London promoted the high regard that the European Enlightenment already had for ancient Greek civilisation.Kate Osamor called the emergency services twice when reporters asked her to comment on inconsistencies in her accounts of her son's court case

A Labour MP has been accused of wasting police time after she called 999 when journalists arrived at her home to ask questions about her drug dealer son.

Former frontbencher Kate Osamor called the emergency services twice when reporters asked her to comment on inconsistencies in her accounts of her son Ishmael's court case.

Scotland Yard sent six officers in 24 hours in response to the calls, the Times reported.

A Conservative member of the London Assembly has now criticised the 50-year-old for 'shamelessly wasting police resources.'

Two officers arrived at Ms Osamors 700,000 north London property on Friday after a reporter queried when and what she knew about her sons conviction for intent to supply drugs.

The MP for Edmonton then allegedly threw a bucket of water over the reporter and called the police.

The questions came after it emerged on Saturday that Ms Osamor had sent letters of correspondence to the judge in her son's case requesting leniency before he was served a community order on October 19.

When approached by reporters at her house, Ms Osamor, who quit as Labour's International Development spokesperson at the weekend, reportedly said she 'should have come down here with a bat and smashed your face in'.

Ishmael, a parliamentary aide, had been caught at the Bestival music festival with 2,500 worth of drugs last year.

The news of Ms Osamor's intervention contradicted earlier accounts from Labour that she only heard about his case when she began being questioned by journalists on October 26.

Ms Osamor contacted the police again after another reporter called following the release of this story last week.

Scotland Yard sent six officers in 24 hours in response to Ms Osamor's (pictured with Jeremy Corbyn) calls

Four officers were dispatched in this case, but Scotland Yard refused to disclose what led to this many being sent.

Ms Osamor previously blamed the government for the loss of 100 police officers in her area.

Susan Hall, a Conservative member of the London Assembly, said: 'It's a bit rich of Kate Osamor to complain about police cuts and at the same time shamelessly waste police resources.'

A spokesman for Labour said: 'The Labour Party always provides information that we believe to be accurate.'

It comes after Ms Osamor found herself at the centre of a nepotism row when it was revealed she had made Ishmael her senior communications officer in April 2016.

She previously defended keeping him in his 50,000-a-year job by claiming she had been unaware of his crimes at the time.Advertisement

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump made an unannounced visit Monday evening to the Capitol Rotunda where the casket of former President George H.W. Bush lies in state.

Trump and his Secret Service detail were photographed near the Capitol building, CBS News reported.

The President will attend Bush's memorial service at Washington National Cathedral on Wednesday despite the years-long tension between Trump and the Bush dynasty.

News of the visit broke hours after Trump's Vice President, Mike Pence, delivered a stirring tribute to the 41st President.

Three months before his death, after he was no longer signing autographs, Bush made an exception for a marine aviator who was about to be awarded his golden wings after graduating from flight school, Pence revealed on Monday during a ceremony honoring the late U.S. president.

That young aviator was Marine 1st Lt. Michael Pence, the VP's son, who had landed his first tailhook earlier that summer on the U.S.S. George H.W. Bush.

'Congratulations on receiving your wings of gold, I know how proud you and your family are at this moment,' a letter from the 94-year-old president said, according to the elder Pence. 'Though we have not met I share the pride your father has for you during this momentous occasion, and I wish you many CAVU days ahead. All the best, G Bush.'

The acronym CAVU stands for 'ceiling and visibility unlimited' and has been used by naval pilots since WWII, Pence explained at a service for Bush in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington.

Bush told his children before his death that the term 'describes my own life as it has been over the years and as it is right now, ceiling and visibility unlimited.'

'Now that may well describe the essence of this man, and it may well have been his vision,' Pence said as he paid homage to the late president on behalf of the current administration. 'The vision he had for his life, for his children, his children's children and his country  no barriers, no boundaries, no limits.'

Three months before his death, after he was no longer signing autographs, George H.W. Bush made an exception for a marine aviator who was about to be awarded his golden wings after graduating from flight school, Vice President Mike Pence revealed on Monday during a ceremony honoring the late U.S. president

That young aviator was Marine 1st Lt. Michael Pence, the VP's son, who had landed his first tailhook earlier that summer on the U.S.S. George H.W. Bush. He's seen here at his winging ceremony with his father in September 2018

Bush wished Pence's son 'many CAVU days ahead' in a letter he sent him. The acronym CAVU stands for 'ceiling and visibility unlimited' and has been used by naval pilots since WWII, Pence explained at a service for Bush in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington

Pence said that Bush shared the same message with his own son in the letter that was dated August of this year and arrived in time for his son's winging in September after he wrote the former president asking for his autograph.

'I took the liberty of writing the ship's namesake to ask for a small favor. I didn't write him as a cice president to a former president, I just write as a proud dad of a marine aviator to a former navy pilot,' Pence explained. 'I asked him to sign a picture of the flight deck that I could give to my son.'

The vice president said that he was told by Bush's staff that the former president had long since ended the practice. 'And we understood that,' Pence said in his eulogy.

'But little to my surprise, just in time for my sons winging, there came not only a signed photograph but of course a letter, hand-signed as well August 2018,' said Pence, a former congressman from Indiana.

The remains of the late U.S. president arrived to lie in state late Monday afternoon as family members, senators, congressmen, cabinet secretaries, members of the Supreme Court, and distinguished guests, gathered in the Capitol Rotunda to honor the 41st President of the United State.

'We mourn with those who mourn and grieve with those who grieve. But we do not grieve like those who have no hope, for President George Herbert Walker Bush had that hope,' Pence said of the faith that he said 'sustained' the later president. 'And we pray that faith will be a source of comfort, for all those who mourn the loss of this good man and great American.'

Pence said: 'President George Herbert Walker Bush loved his family and he served his country. His example will always inspire and his lifetime of service will be enshrined in the hearts of the American people forever.'

Trump and his wife were not present for the procession where Pence, a former congressman, represented the current White House.

The sitting president ordered flags to fly at half-staff at the White House and declared Wednesday a national day of mourning.

He was expected to visit privately with the Bush family at Blair House, located across the street from the presidential office and residence on Pennsylvania Avenue, and to attend funeral services in Washington for the late president.

Trump has bad blood with the Bush family and did not attend the late first lady Barbara Bush's funeral in April.

His wife Melania was photographed with every living president, including George H.W. Bush, in her husband's absence.

U.S. Navy pilot George Bush sits in the cockpit of his torpedo bomber "Barbara III", named after his girlfriend and future wife Barara Pierce

Navy pilot George Bush sits in a VT-51 Avenger in 1944 in this photo provided by the George Bush Presidential Library

Both Trumps will go to the National Cathedral on Wednesday the White House has confirmed, where the late president will be honored in remarks by his ex-president son, George W. Bush, and not by Donald Trump.

In the 2016 campaign, the businessman harangued Bush's elder son for the Iraq War and called his younger son 'low-energy' as they traded barbs.

The former Republican president subsequently referred to Trump as a 'blowhard' and revealed after the election that he voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton.

On Wednesday, the former first lady and her husband Bill announced Monday that they would attend Bush's funeral in Washington but not the second service this week in Houston as Bush's flag-draped coffin was laid to rest on the catafalque built to rest the remains of Abraham Lincoln beneath the Capitol's Dome to lie in state until Wednesday morning.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell noted Bush made a similar journey to the Capitol 30 years ago, when came to be inaugurated as the 41st president of the United States.

McConnell recalled Bush's words from his inaugural address: 'He said we met on democracys front porch  a good place to talk as neighbors, a good place to talk as neighbors and friends.'

The remains of the late President George H.W. Bush are carried into the Capitol rotunda

The U.S. flag above the White House flew at half-staff in Bush's honor on Monday, along with flags at all other federal buildings

Trump has bad blood with the Bush family and did not attend the late first lady Barbara Bush's funeral in April. His wife Melania was photographed with every living president, including George H.W. Bush, in her husband's absence.

'Today this hero has returned to the Capitol a final time not on the front porch of democracy this time but here in its hallowed cathedral,' he said.

Bush's remains arrived at the U.S. Capitol on Monday after a 1,200-mile flight from Houston and a dramatic motorcade that grabbed the nation's attention with flashing lights and pealing sirens.

A military band played 'Hail to the Chief' and a four-cannon salute rang out as the sun was setting over the Capitol on an unseasonably warm December afternoon.

The afternoon pallbearers, military men all, hoisted the casket up the formidable Capitol steps in cadence, making their way up the marble stone staircase.

As 'A Mighty Fortress is Our God' echoed off the pavement, the setting sun seemed to bore into George W. Bush, the late president's eldest son who also shared his office.

The younger George stared ahead stoically as his father's coffin and its flag drapery passed. Members of the Bush family joined him atop the Capitol to watch their elder statesman's remains arrive to lie in state beneath its dome.

Shadows of men and women in military dress uniforms lengthened. Ceremonial honor guardsmen's sabers glinted in the late light. And with 55-degree temperatures holding on a December day, America began to say its goodbyes.

Inside, a list of dignitaries awaited just the ninth U.S. president to lie in state there. They included Gen. Colin Powell, the late President Bush's secretary of state, and James Baker, his lifelong friend who served him for decades in his political campaigns, at the White House, and across the globe.

The sun was setting as former President George H.W. Bush's remains were brought to the U.S. Capitol

His son, former President George W. Bush, blinked back tears as he stood atop the Capitol stairs to watch his father's arrival

Representatives of the various branches of the military carried his coffin up the Capitol stairs

The former president arrives atop the Capitol stairs, he will lie in state in the rotunda until Wednesday

Bush died Friday at the age of 94. He will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda until Wednesday morning, when the week's series of somber events continues with a memorial service at the National Cathedral.

Former White House Chief of Staff John Sununu, former Vice President Dick Cheney, and former Secretary of State Colin Powell were also on hand to honor Bush, along with Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday.

His he arrival ceremony on the Capitol plaza involved breathtaking views of a silent sunset that shone off the Supreme Court and Library of Congress, reflecting the sadness of a nation that senses the uncertainty of a page turning.

George H.W. Bush's casket reached an airbase near Washington aboard the plane that he and his son George W. Bush both used as Air Force One.

Former first lady Laura Bush, former President George W. Bush and members of the Bush family hold their hands over their hearts as they watch the former president arrive to lie in state

President George H.W. Bush's remains arrived at the U.S. Capitol on Monday afternoon, driven in a Cadillac hearse from the air base where they arrived from Houston

Military formations from all of America's armed services flanked the hearse on the Capitol plaza; Bush's casket will remain in the Rotunda for more than 40 hours

The U.S. flag flew at half-staff on Monday prior to the arrival of the casket of former U.S. President George H.W. Bush at the U.S. Capitol in Washington

Memebers of the Supreme Court including Justices Brett Kavanaugh (L), Neil Gorsuch (C), and John Roberts (R) waited in the Capitol Rotunda, where Bush he will lie in state until Wednesady morning

Bush, the 41st U.S. president, died Friday and will be laid to rest this week following four days of ceremonies and memorials

The chief upholsterer of the House of Representatives vacuumed the Lincoln catafalque as preparations for the arrival of the Bush's body

The late president's casket had a military escort on both ends of Monday's flight between Houston and Washington, with a group of eight pallbearers from a combination of the U.S. military services

The elder Bush spent four years in Congress, one at the helm of the CIA, eight as vice president and four in the White House.

'Special Air Mission 41'  the aircraft known as Air Force One when living presidents are aboard  touched down just before 3:30 p.m. at Joint Base Andrews, where a Cadillac hearse flying the U.S. flag and bearing the Seal of the President of the United States waited on an expansive tarmac.

Along with a military band and honor guards arrayed like parade-ground marchers without a commander to review them, a contingent of 114 crew members of the USS George H.W. Bush stood at attention while the jumbo jetliner touched down and taxied.

Aboard the plane with the former president's remains were his sons George W. and Neil and their families. George W. Bush was America's 43rd president. Former first lady Laura Bush also made the trip from Houston.

So, too, did Sully, the late president's service dog.

Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor who ran unsuccessfully for president in 2016, joined the extended family along with his wife Columba, on the tarmac.

'Special Air Mission 41,' the flight carrying the remains of the late former U.S. President George W. Bush, touched down Monday afternoon at Joint Base Andrews near Washington, D.C.

Former President George W. Bush (center) and former first lady Laura Bush (right) joined brother Neil Bush and his family deplaning from the jet that serves as Air Force One

A contingent of 114 crew members of the USS George H.W. Bush, a modern aircraft carrier, stood at attention while the jumbo jetliner touched down and taxied on Monday

Former President George W. Bush (left) emerged from the same plane that ferried him around the world from 2001 to 2009, with his first lady at his side

Jeb Bush (right of center, front row) joined the rest of the family at Joint Base Andrews from Florida; his wife Columba is to his left

Family and former staffers attended a brief departure ceremony Monday at Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base, a Texas Air National Guard base, watching as a contingent of eight soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines took Bush's flag-draped casket to the Boeing 747 for a last trip to Washington.

At Ellington and at Joint Base Andrews in D.C.'s Maryland suburbs, 21-gun salutes boomed and military bands played 'Hail to the Chief.'

At JBA, they also played 'America' as a color guard hoisting a yellow-fringed U.S. flag advanced in front of the pallbearers in a somber scene Americans see only a few times each generation.

Bush's casket on Monday occupied part of one cabin onboard whose seats were removed from the plane by a flight crew after Trump's return Sunday from the G20 summit in Argentina.

Specialized scissor-lift trucks at both airfields delivered and retrieved the casket with only stiff-blowing breezes as soundtracks.

'Bush 43' and Laura, the former first lady, climbed the plane's stairs in Houston and gave a somber wave, followed by the rest of of the extended family.

A few minutes later 'Poppy,' as the grandchildren of the man who was once the U.S. military's youngest fighter pilot called him, was airborne.

In Washington, the centerpiece of the week's remembrances will be a memorial service at the National Cathedral. President Trump will attend but will not speak.

The Bushes have little affection for Trump, who belittled Jeb Bush relentlessly during the 2016 campaign.

Sitting presidents have delivered eulogies at the last three presidential funerals. George W. Bush eulogized Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan. Bill Clinton spoke at Richard Nixon's funeral.

Sully, the yellow Labrador retriever service dog of former President George H.W. Bush, walked thorugh Joint Base Andrews after the arrival of 'Special Air Mission 41'

The level of ceremonial gravity on Monday is something Americans see only once or twice per generation

The remains of President George H.W. Bush traveled from Texas to Washington, D.C. on Monday aboard Special Air Mission 41, the temporary callsign of the plane that serves as Air Force One whenever the current president is on board

A group of eight pallbearers representing branches of the U.S. armed forces took Bush's remains from a hearse in Houston and carried it to the Air Force One jet at Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base

Former President George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush waved as they boarded the plane that once served as his Air Force One transport; on Monday they were aboard to accompany the remains of George's father back to Washington

Bush's casket wasn't loaded directly onto the plane; military pallbearers placed it on a truck that is normally used to carry food and water to the four-engine jumbo jet; the truck's cargo space is mounted on a scissor-lift that can reach an aft door

The Texas-based Bush clan including George Wl, Laura and Neil stood with hands on hearts during Monday morning's departure ceremony

Secret Service agents had carried the president's body out of the George H. Lewis Funeral Home in Houston, placing it in a hearse for a motorcade-drive to Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base, where the world's most famous aircraft awaited.

As the procession took up the southbound lanes of Interstate 45, motorists driving along the northbound lanes pulled over in a miles-long show of respect.

The departure ceremony featured a 21-gun salute and a U.S. Army Band contingent from Fort Sill, Oklahoma playing 'Hail to the Chief,' plus the four 'Ruffles and Flourishes' trumpet fanfares that precede it.

The late 41st president's son Neil also accompanied his body on the unique Boeing 747, renamed 'Special Air Mission 41' for the flight, as it travels to Joint Base Andrews in the Maryland suburbs of Washington.

Sully will be reassigned to a wounded warrior at Walter Reed Naval Medical Center near Washington. The dog was photographed lying in front of Bush's casket at the funeral home on Monday.

The pair of planes that serve as President Trump's 'Air Force One' jets were first placed into service during George H.W. Bush's time in office. They are scheduled to be retired in 2021.

The Lincoln catafalque, a wooden platform that once supported the coffin of America's 16th president, was placed in the center of the Capitol Rotunda on Monday in preparations for the arrival of Bush's casket

invited guests watched soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines carrying the flag-draped coffin on Monday morning

Pallbearers, all members of the U.S. Secret Service, brought Bush's casket out of a Houston funeral home Monday morning and loaded it into a hearse for a motorcade-drive to Ellington Field, where the presidential Boeing 747 awaited

Joint service members rehearsed on Sunday for the arrival of Bush's remains at the U.S. Capitol, where he will lie in state in the Rotunda

After a public viewing at an Episcopal church in Houston, Bush's casket will be placed on a Union Pacific train car and pulled 70 miles to the town of College Station, home of Texas A&M University, where his presidential library is located.

Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses Grant, Franklin Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower were honored in the same way, traveling to their final resting places on trains that Americans lined up to see as they passed.

The 41st President will be carried to his final rest wearing socks (left) that pay tribute to his lifetime of service, starting as an 18-year-old naval aviator; at right, Brian Blake, former communications director at the George H.W. Bush Library and Museum, paused Saturday in front of a statue of the former president

Neil Bush, right, and his family, walked out after the family service at the Lewis Funeral Home; Sully, the late president's service dog, exited with them

The locomotive chosen for his final journey was customized in Bush's honor in 2005 and painted with the number '4141' in his honor. He marveled at its unveiling that year and asked to take it for a ride.

On Thursday his casket will be in a train car with Plexiglas windows to allow people to see it during the trip.

The 41st president died at his Houston home on Friday night, seven months after his wife Barbara passed away.

After services in Washington, attended by President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump, there will be another funeral in Houston on Thursday followed by burial at the Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas.

Bush will be laid to rest alongside his wife of 73 years and Robin Bush, their daughter who died of leukemia in 1953 at age 3.

Trump tweeted late Monday morning: 'Looking forward to being with the Bush Family to pay my respects to President George H.W. Bush.'

After a public viewing at an Episcopal church in Houston, Bush's casket will be placed on a Union Pacific train car and pulled by this customized locomotive to his final resting place

The 70-mile journey to College Station, Texas will take about 2-1/2 hours on Thursday; College Station is home to Texas A&M University, where Bush's presidential library and his family burial plot are located

Sully, the late President Bush's service dog, lay in front of his casket at the funeral home in Houston on MondayThe glamorous lawyer who represented some of Australia's most notorious criminals during Melbourne's Gangland War has lashed out at her former colleague - known as Informer 3838.

Zarah Garde-Wilson, who was portrayed in the original and best Underbelly series by actress Kestie Morassi, became aware the lawyer had turned rogue years ago.

'I knew she was playing both sides back in 2006 - it just took a while for it to come out,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

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Zarah Garde-Wilson has lashed out at her former colleague known as Informer 3838, saying she knew she had turned 'dual agent'. Pictured arriving at court in 2005

Ms Garde-Wilson said the lawyer had 'absolutely' stitched-up some of her own clients over the journey.

Dozens of convictions in Victoria are now in doubt after the High Court raised concerns about the legality of the gangland lawyer being used as a police informant.

Premier Daniel Andrews has announce a $7.5million Royal Commission into the issue.

One of those clients was convicted drug trafficker Rob Karam, whom she acted as a solicitor for.

Karam's conviction is among a who's who of alleged villains whose convictions are now being questioned.

Zarah Garde-Wilson worked closely with the informer who has brought on a Royal Commission

Zarah Garde-Wilson leaves the Melbourne Magistrates' Court in 2007

Actress Kestie Morassi portrayed Zarah Garde-Wilson in the original Underbelly tv series

Ms Garde-Wilson said Informer 3838's clients were oblivious to the fact they were talking to a police stooge.

The bombshell revelations can finally be revealed after years of court-imposed gag orders protecting the lawyer were lifted.

The lawyer, who acted for gangsters including dead crime boss Carl Williams and Tony Mokbel, began working for police in mid-2003 when she met approximately six times with a Detective Sergeant of the Purana Taskforce, which was investigating gangland crime.

'Having worked with the lawyer on other cases, it came to my attention in 2006 she was a dual agent so I ceased working with her,' she said.

Others remained oblivious that there was rat among their ranks.

'It took other people a lot longer to realise,' Ms Garde-Wilson said.

Dozens of convictions against some of Australia's most notorious criminals such as Tony Mokbel are now in doubt

Ms Garde-Wilson's boyfriend Lewis Caine was shot during the Gangland War in 2004

No stranger to controversy, Ms Garde-Wilson became a household name in Melbourne when her boyfriend Lewis Caine became a victim of the Gangland War in 2004.

Then in 2011, her former partner, Lansley Simon, was charged with murdering Paul Thornell in Cockatoo.

The pair have three children together.

He was subsequently cleared.

During the Gangland War, she became the lawyer of choice for many of Melbourne's underworld figures.

Ms Garde-Wilson, who remains a regular sight at the Melbourne Magistrates' Court, said she had been critical of the lawyer behind the scenes.

'I've been pushing for a Royal Commission on this for the past four years,' she said.

'We've issued subpoenas and the like. We did everything we could do at the time to bring it to the surface but we were just hit with brick walls.'

Zarah Garde-Wilson in 2008 after being cleared of charges of giving false evidence

Ms Garde-Wilson said it was mind boggling as to how a criminal lawyer could ever have been allowed to have acted as a police informer.

'Like the High Court says, it's unprecedented. It's unheard of. It is not allowed to happen,' she said.

Her comments follow criticism of the scandal by former Homicide Squad detective Ron Iddles on morning radio.

Mr Iddles said he warned top brass almost 10 years ago using the lawyer as an informer would end in tears.

'I had a further conversation with senior police, including a superintendent, and I said: 'You don't get this. I can tell you now this will cause a royal commission',' he said.

'I was concerned about it and it was raised within the office about how a lawyer could be registered as an informer.'

Mr Iddles told 3AW radio's Neil Mitchell he was instructed by former Police Commissioner Simon Overland to take a statement from the lawyer in relation to the Shane Chartres-Abbott murder.

The case allegedly involved both serving and ex police officers, but no charges have ever been laid.

'It was clear if I took the statement this was going to expose 3838 as a police informer,' Mr Iddles said.

Zarah Garde-Wilson outside the Melbourne Supreme Court in 2005

The veteran detective contacted his superintendent, who spoke to Mr Overland.

'The message came back: 'you are directed to take a statement',' he said.

Mr Iddles did as he was told, but never got the statement signed.

'I was fairly firm in my conversation (with his bosses). I just couldn't get that they didn't understand the ramifications of deploying and registering a solicitor,' Mr Iddles said.

The former detective said Mr Overland was informed of his views by at least two of his superiors at the time.

A committee consisting of a superintendent and possibly an assistant commissioner authorised 3838 as being registered as an informer, Mr Iddles said.

'It's not going to withstand scrutiny and it's not ethical,' Mr Iddles said of the decision.

'So it's those senior members who need to be held to account.'



Travellers visiting the United States are urged to be aware of a little known visa law that could stop them boarding a plane and the scam websites that are trying to take advantage of them.

Australia is one of a handful of countries that are eligible for the Visa Waiver Program that allows citizens to enter the US for up to 90 days without needing to apply for a visa, however, there is still an application that must be completed in its place.

The Electronic System for Travel Authorisation, or ESTA, is an online form that, if not completed or filled out incorrectly, could block a person from entering the US.

Travelers who are visiting the United States should be aware of a little known visa law that could derail their plans  and the scam sites they should steer clear of to avoid being fleeced

Australia is one of a handful of countries that are eligible for the Visa Waiver Program

The form asks several questions, some controversial, to determine an applicant's eligibility to enter the United States.

One question asks applicants to give all names they use on social media, presumably for background checks.

Another question asks if travellers have been to a country such as Syria or Iraq in the last seven years and, if so, entry will likely be denied.

The official ESTA website charges a fee of US $14 to process the application of which $4 goes to administration and $10 goes to tourism agency 'Brand USA.'

The official ESTA website charges a fee of US $14 to process the application

Travelers are warned of lookalike ESTA websites that can rip-off users

Some users on social media, however, have complained they have been fleeced by lookalike ESTA websites than can charge anywhere upwards of $70 to process the form for you.

The ESTA is specifically an authorization to board a US bound plane or ship and travellers need to obtain approval 72 hours prior to boarding.

Once approved, however, the ESTA lasts for two years  although you will need to renew it if you renew your passport.

Some users on social media, however, have complained they have been fleeced by lookalike ESTA website than can charge anywhere upwards of $70 to process the form for you

One question asks if travellers have been to a country such as Syria or Iraq in the last seven years and, if so, entry will likely be denied

Since January 20 2010, airlines have been required to check passengers' ESTA application before boarding and can deny entry to the plane if there is a problem.

According to the Qantas website you will not be permitted to board a plane to the US if you do not hold a relevant visa or ESTA approval.

An approved ESTA does not guarantee entry into the United States and visitors will still be subject to assessment from border security.

If you are staying longer than 90 days you will need to apply for a relevant visa.

Those going to the United States are urged to apply for an ESTA through the official websiteA video has surfaced showing two New Hampshire students singing a racially charged version of Jingle Bells containing lyrics about the Ku Klux Klan.

The cellphone video surfaced over the weekend showing the students singing the song in history class at Dover High School, according to Fosters Daily Democrat.

The video shows the 11th grade high school students singing, 'KKK, KKK, Let's kill all the blacks,' to the tune of 'Jingle Bells.'

In the minute or so long video, the students sing the song to the class and elicit laughs.

School administrators in Dover, New Hampshire, say they are investigating the incident.

Superintendent William Harbron said in a letter to the school community Monday the incident was part of an assignment dealing with the Reconstruction period in American history, but said, 'the impact was harmful.'

The students did not know they were being recorded, Harbron said.

The class had been given the task of selecting a history event and creating a jingle for it. Two students selected the Ku Klux Klan, Harbron added.

They were recorded by classmate Chloe Harris.

I went to the teacher, she said. I said Im not really comfortable with these lyrics. I dont know why they need to sing it. I dont know why they need to present it in such an insensitive way.

Thought if I dont record this, this is going to be the only evidence that I have that this happened, said the 16-year-old, who spoke to NBC10 Boston.

The video shows the 11th grade high school students singing, 'KKK, KKK, Let's kill all the blacks,' and other racist lyrics to the tune of 'Jingle Bells'

The class had been given the task of selecting a history event and creating a jingle for it. Two of the 11th grade students selected the Ku Klux Klan

Harbron and Dover High School Principal Peter Driscoll said Monday they didn't believe the students had any malicious intent and were addressing the assignment as given to them.

Harbron said with the benefit of hindsight, the educator could have stopped the song in the vetting process, or stopped it when the students were singing it and talked about why it was not appropriate.

Whether the assignment was appropriate and whether the students work was vetted along the way will be part of a review process, school officials said.

A decision whether to discipline the students is yet to be made but the History teacher is 'suspended,' according to NBC10 Boston.The twin of an Australian cyclist who was killed when she was crushed by a rubbish truck in New York has received a sickening Facebook friend request from a troll pretending to be her dead sister.

Geelong woman Madison Lyden, 23, was killed while riding a bicycle along Central Park West on August 10 during a United States holiday.

She was forced to swerve into the path of an oncoming rubbish truck when Uber driver Jose Peralta veered into the bicycle lane.

Two weeks ago, Ms Lyden's sister Paige received a Facebook friend request from a troll purporting to be her twin.

Two weeks ago, Madison Lyden's (left) sister Paige (right) received a Facebook friend request from a troll pretending to be her twin

Geelong woman Madison Lyden, 23, was killed while riding a bicycle along Central Park West during a holiday to the United States on August 10

She was forced to swerve into the path of an oncoming rubbish truck when Uber driver Jose Peralta veered into the bicycle lane

Ms Lyden's other relatives also received an eerie Facebook friend request from the same account.

'It's so horrible that someone made a fake account in her name. We have no idea who did this,' Paige Lyden told Nine News.

'It honestly made me feel just sick to my stomach to think that someone out there went to the effort to set up an account in her name.

'And then they went to the trouble of searching her family and friends and adding them, why would you even do that? It's so messed up. What did they hope to achieve?'

The Lyden family reported the fake Facebook account and it was eventually deleted - but so was Madison's real profile.

The family wanted the real page to stay active as a legacy of her life.

The Lyden family reported the fake Facebook account and it was eventually deleted - but so was Madison's real profile

Madison's Facebook account also contained precious family photos which were lost.

Facebook has since confirmed it would reactivate a memorialised version of Madison's account.

Madison was riding a bike along Central Park West near West 67th Street when Uber driver Jose Peralta allegedly strayed into her bike lane.

The New York Police Department said Madison swerved to avoid impact, only to swerve into the path of a sanitation truck driven by Felipe Chairez.

Police allegedly found three empty beer cans in Chairez's truck and charged him with driving under the influence.A Muslim woman who chatted to jihadi brides online and had knowledge of a terror attack before it happened did not understand that she was a member of Islamic State, a court heard.

Zainab Abdirahman-Khalif, 23, appeared in Adelaide Supreme Court on Tuesday, after she was found guilty of membership of a terrorist organisation earlier this year.

The court heard how she had become a member of the Islamic State terror group after becoming disconnected with her peers.

Zainab Abdirahman-Khalif (pictured), 23, chatted to jihadi brides online and had knowledge of a number of terrorist attacks before they happened, but 'does not see herself as a member of Islamic State'

Dr Loraine Lim, a forensic psychologist, told the court Abdirahman-Khalif dropped out of university, became disconnected from her peers and turned to the internet as her only social outlet.

'Her interactions with her family were also breaking down around the same time,' she said.

During the trial, the court heard Abdirahman-Khalif was stopped by police at Adelaide Airport after she tried to board a plane to Istanbul in July 2016.

Carrying only hand luggage and less than $200 in cash, she told officers she intended to work for an aid organisation, and expected her living expenses and the cost of a flight home would be covered.

Abdirahman-Khalif was later released, but arrested at the Port Adelaide TAFE SA campus in May 2017, following a year-long investigation.

Abdirahman-Khalif had become disconnected from her peers and only socialised over the internet after dropping out of university. She was stopped by police at Adelaide Airport in 2016 and arrested nearly a year later

The Supreme Court heard she had been in communication with three young women and knew about their deadly terror attack on a police station in Kenya before it occurred

In evidence, a counter-terrorism police officer said 127 video files of 'investigative relevance' were found on her phone, and the jury was played a compilation of violent scenes.

The court also heard she had been in communication with three young women and knew about their deadly terror attack on a police station in Kenya before it occurred.

Her lawyer, Bill Boucaut SC, said on Tuesday she 'does not understand the legal concept of membership and does not see herself as a member of Islamic State'.

He said the court should consider what Abdirahman-Khalif had actually done.

'The whole nut of the offence was travelling on a one-way ticket to Turkey with a view to moving on to Syria, so said the prosecution, with a view to engaging in ISIS,' he said.

'Other than that, it was not suggested in any way, shape or form that she was going to engage in acts of violent terrorism.'

Abdirahman-Khalif will not give evidence during the sentencing process.The home where a young mother's body was found buried in the backyard after she was allegedly bludgeoned to death by her husband is up for sale.

The agent selling the four-bedroom home in the southern Perth suburb of Carlisle said some buyers were 'put off' by the property's grisly past, while 'others are fine with it'.

Police searching for the remains of Fahima Yusuf, 32, found her body in a shallow grave at the rear of the home 24 hours after she was reported missing in September.

Her husband Ahmed Dawood Seedat has been charged with her murder.

Selling agents were legally obliged to tell prospective buyers about the history of the home, Jared Rayner, from Pulse Property, said

Jared Rayner, from Pulse Property, told realestate.com.au agents were legally obliged to tell prospective buyers about the history of the home.

'Under the term, we do have to display the contract, which we have done during the campaign, and obviously that does disclose the material facts,' he said.

'But every buyer that has come through I've told them straight-out. I mean, it's common knowledge.'

The home is marketed as boasting a large theatre room, 'perfect to watch the big game or a Hollywood blockbuster'.

Police searching for the remains of Fahima Yusuf, 32, found her body in a shallow grave at the rear of the home 24 hours after she was reported missing in September

Piles of soil were dug up in the backyard of the home as part of the extensive police investigation

The agent selling the four-bedroom home (kitchen pictured) in Perth's south said some buyers were 'put off' by the property's grisly past

Potential buyers of the 'welcoming, family-sized home... will enjoy the space and privacy afforded at this quiet address,' according to the listing.

The property's most recent sale was in 2014 when it fetched $865,000, but Mr Rayner said the mortgagee hasn't set a reserve price.

'He hasn't really given us any anticipation on a figure yet... we'll have to wait and see what the market is telling us.'

The auction will be held on site on Saturday.

The home is marketed as boasting a large theatre room, 'perfect to watch the big game or a Hollywood blockbuster'Eric Trump launched a blistering attack against George Conway, the husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, for his tweets criticizing President Donald Trump.

Of all the ugliness in politics, the utter disrespect George Conway shows toward his wife, her career, place of work, and everything she has fought SO hard to achieve, might top them all, the Presidents son tweeted on Monday.

[Kellyanne Conway] is a great person and frankly his actions are horrible.

George Conway, a Washington, D.C. lawyer, has been a frequent critic of Trump.

He retaliated by throwing shade back at the President's son, retweeting three tweets critical of his father.

One of those tweets, by former CNN host Reza Aslan, asks: 'Did George Conway pay money to have sex with a porn star right after his wife gave birth?'

Aslan was referring to Stormy Daniels, who alleges she had sex with Trump shortly after his wife, Melania, gave birth to Barron Trump.

George Conway's Twitter feed has been active with retweets and posts in which Conway suggests that the President is guilty of federal crimes as it relates to the ongoing Mueller investigation.

Eric Trump launched a blistering attack against George Conway, the husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, for his tweets criticizing President Donald Trump

Eric Trump (left) accused George Conway of damaging his wife's career with his tweeting about President Donald Trump

George Conway (right) is the husband of Kellyanne Conway, White House counselor and a top adviser to the President

In response to Eric Trump, George Conway retweeted a number of tweets critical of the President, including Reza Aslan's tweet about Donald Trump's alleged relationship with Stormy Daniels

George Conway also retweeted a tweet by Ian Bassin who blasted President Donald Trump for the 'utter disrespect the Trumps show toward the rule of law'

He also retweeted a comment by Renato Mariotti, who asked: 'How does noting that your father engaged in witness tampering today disrespect Kellyanne Conway?'

Earlier on Monday, President Trump praised the 'guts' of longtime informal advisor and political trickster Roger Stone for refusing to testify against him in the Russia probe overseen by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

George Conway responded immediately by tweeting out the citation of a federal witness tampering statute.

Trump tweeted his praise for Stone Monday by beginning with a paraphrase.

'I will never testify against Trump.' This statement was recently made by Roger Stone, essentially stating that he will not be forced by a rogue and out of control prosecutor to make up lies and stories about 'President Trump,' the president wrote.

'Nice to know that some people still have "guts"'! the president concluded.

The tweet was conspicuous for how it sharply contrasted with his online comments about longtime lawyer Michael Cohen, who is cooperating with prosecutors. Trump called him 'weak' on Friday, and on Monday demanded he get a 'full and complete' stenece.

Trump accused Cohen of doing 'TERRIBLE' things, all 'unrelated to Trump,' saying he 'lied' and accused of of 'fraud' and said he should get a 'long prison term.'

Whreas Cohen entered into a new guilty plea on Friday, Stone, who was taking calls from Trump throughout the campaign, on Sunday told ABC's 'This Week' there was 'no circumstance in which I would testify against the president.'

President Trump tweeted about Roger Stone, Michael Cohen, and Robert Mueller on Monday

'Nice to know that some people still have "guts!"' wrote Trump

Lawyer George Conway responded by citing a section of the U.S. Code pertaining to witness tampering

MESSAGE DELIVERED: Trump earlier went after former lawyer Michael Cohen, who is cooperating with prosecutors

Trump praised Stone (above) for his stated refusal to testify against the President

'I'd have to make things up, and I'm not going to do that,' Stone added. Asked if he expected a pardon from Trump  who has not taken a pardon for convicted former campaign manager Paul Manafort off the table  Stone replied: 'I've had no discussion regarding a pardon.'

Stone has said he expected to get indicted by Mueller.

'File under '18 U.S.C.  1503, 1512,' wrote Conway, retweeted Trump's tweet about Stone.

That section of the U.S. Code states that 'Whoever . . . corruptly or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication, influences, obstructs, or impedes, or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede, the due administration of justice, shall be' guilty of an offense.

Although George Conway is well known among Beltway Republicans, he has made no secret of his disapproval of Trump.

Last month, he said in a podcast interview that he decided not to pursue a plum job in the Trump administration's Department of Justice when it became clear the president would constantly be crossing swords with the agency.

'I'm watching this thing and you know its like, the administration is like a sh*tshow in a dumpster fire,' he said.

'If I got this door prize, Im going to be in the middle of a department hes at war with. Why would anybody want to do this?'

Conway was under consideration to be director of the DOJ's civil division but withdrew his name last year.

'Im filling out the financial forms and its like  I forget what part time of year it was, it was like late April  "Man!" Im thinking,' he recalled.

He also remembered his reaction to 'the Comey firing, and then you got [Trump] going on TV saying, "I had Russia on my mind," and its like, "Oh, no." And then Im driving home one day from from New York and its like "Robert Mueller appointed special counsel," and then I realized, this guy is going to be at war with the Justice Department.

His comments came on the 'Skullduggery' podcast, produced by Yahoo News.

George Conway has been critical of Trump's attitude toward the investigation headed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller (seen above in 2017)

Conway, already a prominent critic of the president, formed an organization of right-wing lawyers this week whose goal is to push back against Trump.

Charter members of the group, called Checks and Balances, include former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, former acting Attorney General Stuart Gerson, former Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty and former Deputy White House Counsel Phillip Brady.

Missing from its mission statement is any mention of Conway's wife, who helmed Trump's White House quest and became the first woman to successfully bring a presidential campaign across a November finish line.

He told the podcast's hosts that he was immensely proud of her for rescuing a presidential campaign that was 'in the crapper' when she took its reins, even though the result is something he views with disgust.

'My wife did an amazing thing ... She basically got this guy elected. She steadied that boat. He was in the crapper when she took that campaign over,' he said.

Mr. Conway has become a visible Trump antagonist; his tweeted barbs become instant news because of a perception that they create friction with his more famous spouse.

'I dont think she likes it,' he said, 'But Ive told her, I dont like the administration so its even.'

'If I had a nickel for everybody in Washington who disagrees with their spouse on something that happens in this town, I wouldnt be on this podcast,' he added.

'Id be probably on a beach somewhere. And the fact of the matter is, when it comes down to things we disagree about, we agree on most policy things.'A former Muslim imam who performed a marriage between an underage girl and a 34-year-old man has lost his appeal to have his conviction overturned.

Imam Ibrahim Omerdic was convicted in 2017 for unlawfully solemnising a marriage between a 14-year-old girl and a Rohingya refugee at the Noble Park mosque, in south-east Melbourne.

He was sentenced to two months' prison for his 'serious breach of trust' but was released immediately on a two-year recognisance release order.

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Imam Ibrahim Omerdic (pictured) was found guilty of solemnising the marriage of a teenage girl and a 34-year-old man in 2017

Despite not serving jail time, he still decided to appeal the conviction in the Supreme Court in October last year, arguing he performed a religious blessing and had not intended to perform a marriage.

That appeal was dismissed in April.

Omerdic then escalated his appeal to the Victorian Court of Appeal to continue his fight to have the conviction overturned.

His claim was still that the October 2016 ceremony was not a marriage under the Marriage Act and the ceremony was not completed.

Arguing that Omerdic had intended to conduct a ceremony that qualified as the solemnisation of a marriage under Marriage Act, his appeal has voted down by the court's justices.

Justices Kim Hargrave, Terry Forrest and Karin Emerton found the solemnisation of a marriage had not been affected by the non-compliance with the formal requirements of the Marriage Act, The Australian reported.

'A celebrant can intend to solemnise a marriage while having no intention whatsoever of complying with the Marriage Act notice or certification requirements.

'They were a married couple in the eyes of the Muslim community,' the court said.

The case has been dismissed.

Omerdic was an imam of the Bosnian Islamic Society and Noble Park Mosque, but he was sacked after his November 2016 arrest over the wedding.The wife of a former investment director has won a $400,000 interim payment as one of New Zealand's biggest ever divorce battles continues.

Sophie Annabelle Biggs went to the Court of Appeal after a High Court judge had ruled she could not access crucial information which she claimed was paramount to her case, Stuff reported.

The court granted Mrs Biggs the $400,000 interim payment and access to some of the documents her legal team had requested, including any investments her husband made from 2011 to 2016.

Mrs Biggs claims her soon to be ex-husband, Stephen Timothy Biggs, was worth $20million when they married in 2011 and that his net worth upon their application for divorce was $59million.

Sophie Biggs claims her soon to be ex-husband, Stephen Timothy Biggs (pictured), was worth $20million when they married in 2011 and that his net worth upon their application for divorce was $59million

She also asserts that she worked long hours for her husband's business, Laguna Bay Pastoral, while also being a mother to their child and a homemaker.

Mr Biggs was the director of agricultural asset and investment firm during their marriage but the court heard he has since reigned.

Mrs Biggs sought the $400,000 from the future sale of their $8.6million Queenstown home, which is on the market.

Mr Biggs claims Mrs Biggs is taking advantage of the discovery process while also trying to undermine his position within the industry.

Mr Biggs said his industry relies very heavily on strict 'confidentiality' and alleges that Mrs Biggs was trying to embarrass him.

The pair both moved to Australia after their break down of their marriage.

Mrs Biggs sought the $400,000 from the future sale of their $8.6million Queenstown home (pictured), which is on the market

According to New Zealand law a couple must be separated for at least two years before they can apply for a divorce.

The division of property during or after a divorce can occur at any time after the couple as separated.

If a marriage or legal civil union in New Zealand lasts longer than three years then all property defined as 'relationship property' is to be divided equally between the parties.

This includes the family home, any income earned during the relationship, any property acquired during the relationship or any increase in the value of property owned by only one party prior to the relationship.People are advised to take shelter, not attempt to drive or walk during the storms

Cyclonic winds, thunderstorms and ensuing heavy rainfall could bring flash flooding to central and northern Queensland regions already being ravaged by bush fire.

A severe weather warning has been issued by the Bureau of Meteorology for damaging winds, heavy rainfall and large hailstones over the next several hours.

The severe weather comes as Cyclone Owen remains some 1000km off the coast of Cairns, bringing with it torrential rain and strong winds of up to 70km/h in some areas.

People are also advised to seek shelter during the storms and not drive, walk or ride through flood waters or use a telephone while the storm is ongoing

Nearly 10,000 residents from Central Queensland were ordered to evacuate their homes on Wednesday due to bush fire

The threat of flash floods could worsen conditions for firefighters who continue to tackle the region's savage bush fires.

The weather warning is in place for much of the Queensland region of Wide Bay- Burnett.

Severe thunderstorms are likely to produce damaging winds, heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding and large hailstones in the warning area.

Locations which may be affected include Gympie, Bundaberg, Gladstone and Rainbow Beach.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services are advising people to move their cars under cover or away from trees and secure loose outdoor items.

People are also advised to seek shelter during the storms and not drive, walk or ride through flood waters or use a telephone while the storm is ongoing.

Weatherzone meteorologist Tom Hough told Daily Mail Australia that the heaviest rainfall is likely to occur towards the end of the week, along the Queensland coastline north of Mackay up to Hideaway Bay.

Around 40-60mm of rain is expected to fall on that stretch of the coastline on Saturday.

Cyclonic winds, thunderstorms and ensuing heavy rainfall could bring flash flooding to central and northern Queensland regions already being ravaged by bush fire (stock)

A further 60-100mm will fall on the coastline on Sunday.

While cooler temperatures are welcome in a state which has seen over 140 wild fires over the past week due to a severe heatwave, Mr Hough told Daily Mail Australia that the potential flash flooding might prove detrimental to firefighters' efforts.

Nearly 10,000 residents from Central Queensland were ordered to evacuate their homes on Wednesday.

Early on Thursday, residents of two more communities - Campwin Beach and Sarina Beach south of Mackay - were woken by police and emergency text messages telling them they were in danger and to move to safety immediately.The Supreme Court has given up to 1000 women the green light to take class action against a cosmetic surgery which they allege operated like a 'fast food franchise'.

Justice Peter Garling ruled five women who received treatment at The Cosmetic Institute facilities in Queensland and NSW, could now continue the suit against the company and their ex-surgical director Dr Eddy Dona.

The ruling will also open the door to potentially hundreds of other claims.

The Supreme Court has given up to 1000 women - including Amy Rickhuss, 24 (pictured) - the green light to take class action against cosmetic surgery which they allege operated like a 'fast food franchise'.

The case began after two women, including Ms Rickhuss, 24 (pictured), had to be resuscitated on the operating table at the cosmetic company's Parramatta and Bondi Junction clinics

The ruling at NSW Supreme Court on Tuesday means up to 1000 women could take part in a class action, according to The Daily Telegraph.

All of the women had surgeries at places where TCI facilities were offered, including two Sydney clinics, two Sydney hospitals and one clinic in Queensland.

The case began after two women, including Amy Rickhuss, 24, had to be resuscitated on the operating table at the cosmetic company's Parramatta and Bondi Junction clinics.

Jessica Bruen, Kirsty-Anne Rowlands and Lily Knowland were the three other women so far involved in the case.

According to court documents, the five plaintiffs claimed their surgeries involved inadequate infection control procedures.

The claim added the two Sydney clinics were incapable of accessing sufficient medical assistance in the case of an emergency.

The 'one size fits all approach' was also alleged to have increased the risk of 11 complications including haemorrhage, scarring, local anaesthetic toxicity, leading to cardiac arrest, pneumothorax and death.

Dr Dona allegedly created the procedure and trained doctors to administer the same implants even if customers had different breast shapes.

Justice Peter Garling ruled five women who received treatment at The Cosmetic Institute clinics in Queensland and NSW could now continue the suit against the company and their ex-surgical director Dr Eddy Dona (pictured)

The case began after two women, including Amy Rickhuss, 24, had to be resuscitated on the operating table at the cosmetic company's Parramatta and Bondi Junction (pictured) clinics

The quality of training for the clinic's anaesthetists was also put under the spotlight, including whether they knew to only use local anaesthetic in all cases.

Summing up, Justice Girling said: 'I do not consider it is 'otherwise inappropriate' for the matter to continue as representative proceedings.

The case is now due to go to trial, while TCI and Dr Dona will have to pay the women's costs so far.

It has been adjourned until December 14.The results are in and Australia has been pipped at the post in the global ranking of best beaches.

Judged by a panel of more than 600 travel journalists, editors, bloggers and agencies, The Flight Network claims to have generated the world's 'most trustworthy and accurate list' of beautiful beaches.

And while Australia appears twice in this list, it has been edged off the top spot by the plush sands and sparkling waters of the Caribbean's Grace Bay in Turks and Caicos.

The plush sands and sparkling waters of the Caribbean's Grace Bay in Turks and Caicos earned it the top spot in the global ranking of best beaches

Cushioned by a colourful barrier reef just 1.6km off the shore, Grace Bay is described as one of the most ideal places to soak in warm Atlantic waters, with sunny skies roughly 319 days a year.

'Soft white sand and unbelievably clear blue water make Grace Bay the beach traveler's dream location,' said travel journalist Kelly Stilwell.

Unsurprisingly, Australia's Whitehaven Beach in Queensland has come in at a very respectable number two, scoring 10/10 across the board for sheer untouched beauty and remoteness, as well as sand and water quality.

Whitehaven Beach in Queensland came in at number two, scoring 10/10 across the board for sheer untouched beauty and remoteness, as well as sand and water quality

Anse Lazio in the Seychelles took third place and was labelled 'pure paradise' for its white sands, emerald waters, lush jungle and average water temperatures of 27 degrees

Sharron Livingston from The Travel Magazine praised its 'oh-so-white sands, deepest green rainforests and crystalline waters'.

'It's a wild island, part of the Great Barrier Reef, and is by far the most beautiful location to experience,' she said.

Anse Lazio in the Seychelles took third place and was labelled 'pure paradise' for its white sands, emerald waters, lush jungle and average water temperatures of 27 degrees.

The alluring pink sands of the aptly named Pink Sands Beach in the Bahamas saw the 'fairy-tale' beach secure its number four position

And Europe entered the top five as Navagio Beach on the Greek Island of Zakynthos won judges over with its 'gorgeous blue water' and scenic 'white cliffs'

The alluring pink sands of the aptly named Pink Sands Beach in the Bahamas saw the 'fairy-tale' beach secure its number four position.

And Europe entered the top five as Navagio Beach on the Greek Island of Zakynthos won judges over with its 'gorgeous blue water' and scenic 'white cliffs'.

Australia's second appearance in the list is at number eight and thanks to Hyam Beach in Jervis Bay.

Hyam Beach has long been known for having the world's whitest sand - according to the Guinness Book of Records - that many claim is too beautiful to be true.Paul Manafort reportedly met with Ecuador's President and offered to arrange Julian Assanges extradition to the United States in exchange for Ecuador receiving debt relief

Paul Manafort met in May 2017 with the President of Ecuador and offered to arrange Julian Assanges extradition to the United States in exchange for Ecuador receiving debt relief, it has been reported.

Manafort, the former head of Donald Trumps campaign, met at least twice with the Ecuadorian leader, Lenin Moreno, to discuss handing over Assange, The New York Times reported.

Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has been granted asylum in Ecuadors embassy in London. He has been there since 2012.

Assange took refuge at the Ecuadorean embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced sex crimes allegations.

But it now appears that Ecuador has grown tired of Assange.

Moreno met with Manafort and expressed a desire to have Assange removed to the U.S. in exchange for economic concessions.

Manafort, who in May of last year was trying to pay off mounting legal debts, flew to the Ecuadorian capital, Quito, to meet with Moreno.

Initially, Manafort wanted to broker an agreement whereby China would sink investments into Ecuadors energy sector.

Manafort would then receive a hefty commission.

At two of his meetings with Moreno, Manafort heard Ecuadors President express his wish to be rid of Assange.

Manafort then offered to help negotiate a possible handover.

But the idea never went anywhere. Just a few days after Manaforts last meeting in Quito with Moreno, Robert Mueller was appointed Special Counsel.

He was tasked with investigating alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential elections.

As it became clear that Manafort would be ensnared in the investigation, the talks with Moreno died without any agreement over what to do with Assange.

Manafort is reported to have met at least twice last year with Ecuador's newly installed President, Lenin Moreno

The Times notes that there is no evidence that Manafort discussed his contacts with Moreno with President Donald Trump or anyone else in the administration.

There is also no indication that Manafort wanted Assange jailed in the U.S. in order to potentially cover up any alleged crimes he or WikiLeaks may have been involved with as it relates to suspected Russian efforts to help Trump win the election.

Mueller has been investigating alleged ties between Assange, WikiLeaks, and people close to Trump, particularly longtime adviser Roger Stone and others.

Last week, The Guardian reported that Manafort visited Assange in the Ecuadorian embassy in London on three occasions - in 2013, 2015, and 2016.

WikiLeaks and Manafort both deny the story.

Manaforts denial came one day after Muellers office told a federal judge that Manafort had breached his plea agreement by lying repeatedly to the FBI despite pledging to cooperate with the probe.

In the same court filing, Manafort denied lying, but both sides agreed the court should move ahead and set a date to sentence him for his crimes.

Prosecutors said they plan to file a report before sentencing laying out the alleged crimes Manafort committed after pleading guilty in September.

The surprise development came as Mueller is working toward finalizing a report on his probe into whether Russia and Trumps campaign colluded in the 2016 presidential election.

Last month, the U.S. Justice Department accidentally revealed the existence of a seal indictment of Assange in a court filing in an unrelated case.

Assange is wanted by American authorities for allegedly being behind a massive dump of classified documents in 2010.

The exact nature of the charges against Assange which were revealed last month was not immediately known.

SCOOP: U.S. Department of Justice accidentally reveals existence of sealed charges (or a draft for them) against WikiLeaks' publisher Julian Assange in apparent cut-and-paste error in an unrelated case also at the Eastern District of Virginia, Wikileaks wrote on Twitter.

Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has been granted asylum in Ecuadors embassy in London. He has been there since 2012. Assange took refuge at the Ecuadorean embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced sex crimes allegations

The still unsealed charges against Assange were disclosed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kellen Dwyer as she made a filing in the unrelated case and urged a judge to keep that filing sealed.

Dwyer wrote, due to the sophistication of the defendant and the publicity surrounding the case, no other procedure is likely to keep confidential the fact that Assange has been charged, according to The Washington Post.

Later, Dwyer wrote the charges would need to remain sealed until Assange is arrested.

Ecuador continued in its efforts to free itself of Assange.

The South American country made an unorthodox attempt to extricate the WikiLeaks founder from his embassy hideaway in London by naming him as a political counselor to the countrys embassy in Moscow.

But the 47-year-old Australians 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 late Tuesday by Ecuadorean opposition lawmaker Paola Vintimilla, who opposes her governments decision to grant Assange nationality.

They largely corroborate a recent Guardian newspaper report that Ecuador attempted the elaborate maneuver to get Assange to Moscow just before Christmas last year.

Russian diplomats called the Guardians story 'fake news,' but the government files show Assange briefly was made political counselor to the Ecuadorean Embassy in Moscow and eligible for a monthly salary pegged at $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 Britains Foreign Office said U.K. officials 'do not consider Mr. Julian Assange to be an acceptable member of the mission.'A reporter was yesterday ordered to leave Parliament for supposedly showing too much skin, but that didn't stop Julie Bishop from wearing a sleeveless dress today.

Former Foreign Minister Julie Bishop wore a blue thigh high-split dress in the chamber on Tuesday, just a day after ABC reporter Patricia Karvelas was kicked out for baring her shoulders.

Parliament, the House, and the Gallery all comply to a dress code but there does not seem to be a hard and fast rule except that members should choose to dress in a 'formal manner'.

Only a day after the scandalous incident former Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has been spotted sporting a short sleeved pale blue dress with a thigh-high slit as she entered the chamber

On Monday a journalist was kicked out of the gallery for showing 'too much skin' a day later former Foreign Minister Julie Bishop showed up wearing wearing a short-sleeved dress

The dress code for the House of Representatives is a matter for the individual and is at the discretion of the Speaker, according to the Parliament of Australia website.

Staff in the advisers boxes, members of the press gallery and guests in the visitors gallery are expected to follow the same rules, the website says.

Prominent barrister Fiona McLeod has jumped to journalist's defence after she was reprimanded on Monday.

She shared on Twitter media rules indicate reporters have to wear what the majority of members of Parliament wear - 'a suit and trousers or similar standard'.

A debate over the female dress-code has been sparked after an ABC journalist wearing a short sleeved blouse was tossed from the gallery for showing too much skin

'She should NOT have been asked to leave,' she tweeted.

In the past, male journalists have been asked to leave the press gallery for not wearing a suit jacket.

Reporter Patricia Karvelas was wearing black pants and a white shirt with short-capped sleeves when she was asked to leave the gallery on Monday.

Speaker Tony Smith was called on by Labor to investigate the incident at the end of Question Time. He agreed and will return with a report.A close ally of Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been slammed as 'hopelessly out of touch' for charging $50 to speak at a long lunch about the Banking Royal Commission.

Assistant Treasurer Stuart Robert is the headline act in two weeks at a fundraiser for Liberal Party backbencher Andrew Wallace on the Sunshine Coast, north of Brisbane.

The Caloundra Chamber of Commerce describes the event at Birtinya's Lake Kawana Hotel as 'your opportunity to learn more about what ramifications may arise for the finance industry'.

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Assistant Treasurer Stuart Robert (pictured) has been slammed as 'hopelessly out of touch' for charging $50 to talk about the Banking Royal Commission as part of a Liberal Party fundraiser

The $50 cost includes a main course but only one 'house wine', beer or soft drink, as Mr Robert, who is based on the Gold Coast, helps fund-raise for Queensland's Liberal National Party ahead of the May federal election.

The Labor Opposition has slammed Mr Robert for being insensitive, following evidence about dubious lending practices that have left a trail of financial victims.

One of them included nurse Jacqueline McDowall and her truck driver husband Hugh who were duped by a Westpac financial planner into selling their Melbourne home so they could borrow $2 million, only to end up with nowhere to live.

Opposition frontbencher Clare O'Neil, who holds the financial services portfolio, said Mr Robert, a close political ally of the Prime Minister, was 'hopelessly out of touch'.

Mr Robert is the headline act next week at a fundraiser for Liberal Party backbencher Andrew Wallace on the Sunshine Coast, north of Brisbane

'I've met with bank victims around the country who have lost their homes and their farms, whose marriages have broken down, who suffer from lifelong mental health issues as a result of what the banks have done,' she told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday.

'And now Stuart Robert is using this as a chance to raise a few bucks for the LNP.

'Stuart Robert should spend less time making money out of banking misconduct and more time focusing on how to make sure these scandals never happen again.'

Mr Robert described Labor's criticism as 'a complete load of straw-clutching c**p'.

'I'm going to the Sunshine Coast for several reasons including a speaking at a seniors' forum on Labor's retiree tax and to meet with local financial planners, as well as lunch with local stakeholders at a very modest price,' he said in a statement.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten pointed out how the Turnbull Government had voted against the banking royal commission 26 times.

The Assistant Treasurer has been slammed for seeking to make money from the Banking Royal Commission that heard from financial scandal victims include nurse Jacqueline McDowall

'Now they're trying to make money off it. Unbelievable,' he said on Facebook.

The lunch, scheduled for 12.45pm on December 19, follows six months of royal commission hearings that uncovered how AMP had charged more than 3,100 customers about $922,000 in extra life insurance premiums despite being told they had died.

It also heard how AMP had charged fees for no service, with the scandal leading to the resignation of AMP chairwoman Catherine Brenner and chief executive Craig Meller.

Royal commissioner Kenneth Hayne, a former High Court judge, released an interim report in September and is delivering his full findings in February next year.

Mr Robert was sacked by former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull in early 2016 over his business dealings with a Chinese businessman but he was reinstated by Mr Morrison when he took over in August 2018.A member of the notorious 'Texas Seven' who escaped from prison nearly two decades ago and went on to commit a string of crimes and the murder of a police officer is scheduled for execution on Tuesday night.

In recent weeks, attorneys for Joseph Garcia have argued that the 47-year-old should be spared from lethal injection at a state penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas, by raising last-minute questions about his conviction.

Garcia and six other inmates brazenly escaped from a South Texas prison in December 2000 and proceeded to commit numerous robberies, including the one in which they shot 29-year-old Dallas-area police Officer Aubrey Hawkins 11 times, killing him.

Hawkins had just finished Christmas Eve dinner with his family when he responded to the call about the robbery at a sporting goods store and was ambushed.

Garcia's attorneys claim that he wasn't the one who killed Hawkins during the robbery 18 years ago, casting the blame on the other escaped inmates he was with.

Joseph Garcia, 47, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at a state penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas, on Tuesday night. Garcia was a member of the notorious 'Texas Seven' gang who escaped from prison in 2000 and went on a six-week robbery spree that included the murder of a 29-year-old Dallas- area police officer. He is pictured left in an undated mugshot and right in a booking photo from after his arrest in January 2001

Pictured: The state penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas, where Garcia will be executed Tuesday

The escaped inmates' six-week, cross-state crime spree came to an end when they were arrested a month later in Colorado, ending a six-week manhunt.

One of them killed himself as officers closed in and the other six were convicted of killing Hawkins and sentenced to death.

Garcia would be the fourth to be executed. The other two are on death row.

Garcia's attorneys have asked the US Supreme Court to stop his execution, arguing that he never fired his gun at Hawkins or intended to kill the officer.

One of his lawyers, J Stephen Cooper, said prosecutors didn't have any information that showed his client was one of the shooters.

'He didn't do anything violent or prepare or encourage anybody else to do anything violent,' Cooper said.

Dallas-area police Officer Aubrey Hawkins, 29, (pictured) had just finished Christmas Eve dinner with his family when he responded to the call about the robbery at a sporting goods store and was ambushed by the 'Texas Seven', who shot him 11 times, killing him

Garcia was convicted under Texas' law of parties, in which a person can be held responsible for another individual's crime if he or she assisted or attempted to help in the commission of that crime.

Toby Shook, the lead prosecutor who handled Garcia's case and those of the other five inmates, said that although authorities couldn't narrow down which inmate used which gun to shoot Hawkins, the inmates acted as a team to commit the robbery and to kill the officer.

Shook said Garcia's case is a clear example of why the law of parties is needed in certain cases.

'He was up to his ears in murder and mayhem out there. He was actively participating in everything,' said Shook, now a defense attorney in Dallas.

Shook said Garcia's execution will be another step to getting closure for Hawkins' family and law enforcement.

'Ultimately, we can finally close the book on them when the punishments are all completed,' he said.

Garcia was serving 50 years for a San Antonio-area murder when he and the other six inmates broke out of prison.

He would be the 22nd inmate put to death this year in the US and the 12th executed in Texas, which is the nation's busiest capital punishment state.

The leader of the Texas Seven, George Rivas, 41, took full responsibility for the shooting of Hawkins, telling a jury he deserved to die for the killing.

The 'Texas Seven' gang members are pictured: (top row L-R) Joseph C. Garcia, Randy Ethan Halprin, Larry Jame Harper and Patrick Henry Murphy, Jr. (bottom row L-R) Donald Keith Newbury, George Rivas and Michael Anthony Rodriguez

He was put to death by lethal injection in 2012 but prosecutors decided to try for the death sentence for all the gang members.

Hawkins' murder took place just 11 days after the seven escaped from a maximum-security south Texas prison. The fugitives overpowered 13 prison workers and three inmates and stole their clothing, broke into a prison armory to get guns, and fled in a prison truck.

They committed several robberies, including two in Houston, before killing Hawkins

Rivas planned the escape while serving life sentences for 13 counts of aggravated kidnapping, four counts of aggravated robbery and a burglary count, at Connally Unit.

'I wasn't going to die an old man in prison,' he said at his trial.

He testified that he handpicked some of his partners, gaining the trust of prison supervisors and then getting the inmates transferred to the prison maintenance area where he worked.

The fugitives were caught a month later in Colorado, where one of them, Larry Harper, 37, killed himself rather than surrender.Convicted murderer Chris Watts has been moved to a prison out of Colorado for 'safety and security' reasons, according to the Colorado Department of Corrections.

Watts, 33, was sentenced to life in prison on Nov. 19 for the murder of his pregnant wife, Shanann and his two young daughters, 4-year-old Bella and 3-year-old Celeste.

Watts, pleaded guilty to the charges against him on Nov. 6.

'It's for safety and security, not just for him, but for our staff, everyone,' said Mark Fairbairn, a Department of Corrections spokesman, as reported by The Denver Post.

Chris Watts has been moved to a prison outside Colorado for 'safety and security' reasons according to the Colorado Department of Corrections

The corrections department did not disclose where Watts has been transferred.

A Colorado Department of Corrections offender search still showed Watts' location as the 'Denver reception and diagnostic center' as of 10 p.m. Monday evening.

The center is described as an intake and classification facility that can hold up to 575 inmates.

A new mug shot shows Watts has shaved his beard and has dropped 30lbs to 190lbs.

The prison where Watts has been transferred to hasn't been disclosed.

The prison where Watts has been transferred to hasn't been disclosed. Watts is serving life in prison for the murder of his pregnant wife, Shanann (pictured) and his two young daughters, 4-year-old Bella and 3-year-old Celeste

Mark Fairbairn, a Department of Corrections spokesman said Watts (pictured with his wife and two daughters) was transferred for 'safety and security'

Family members of his victims and the Weld County District Attorney's Office, who prosecuted the case, have been notified of the development

The corrections department did not disclose where Watts has been transferred.

Family members of his victims and the Weld County District Attorney's Office, who prosecuted the case, have been notified of the development, Fairbairn added.

Watts, of Frederick, Colorado, strangled his wife, Shanann, and smothered his daughters and disposed their bodies in a Weld County oil field on Aug. 13.

Watts was sentenced on November 19 to five life terms in the Colorado Department of Corrections plus 84 years for the murders of his wife and their two daughters

The girls' bodies were found submerged in separate oil tanks on property owned by his employer. His wife's body was found in a shallow grave nearby.

He was sentenced on November 19 to five life terms in the Colorado Department of Corrections plus 84 years for the murders of his wife and their two daughters.

He also received the maximum sentence of 48 years for the charge of unlawful termination of a pregnancy, and 12 years for all three of the counts for abuse of a corpse.

In Colorado, those who receive a life sentence are not eligible for parole.Two men were arrested in Melbourne on Tuesday night after a four-hour standoff with police.

At 3.30pm, two men, 18 and 17, allegedly armed with a gun were reportedly seen entering a block of housing commission flats on Drummond Street in Carlton.

Nearby school Central Carlton Childrens Centre was placed on lockdown for hours, with police finally letting students leave about 5.30pm.

At 3.30pm, two men allegedly armed with a gun were reportedly seen entering a block of housing commission flats on Drummond Street in Carlton (pictured)

Residents watch on as police responding to alleged reports of two men with a gun

An 18-year-old Carlton man ran from police and was arrested on the corner of Drummond Street and Princes Street just before 7pm.

The second man, 17, was arrested on Rathdowne Street shortly after.

'No firearm has been located and police are not searching for anyone else,' according to a statement by Victoria Police.

Police evacuate a nearby child care centre (pictured)

Heavily armed police swarmed the area and no shots were fired during the lockdown.

Police yelled at workers on site to 'get down' as they attempted to flee the scene, the ABC reported.

A Victoria police spokeswoman confirmed to Daily Mail Australia the two teenage men had been arrested but no charges have been laid.

Earlier reports claimed three men were involved, but the police spokesman alleged only two men were involved.Advertisement

George W. Bush During became emotional Monday during a memorial ceremony honoring his late father George H.W. Bush.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in the tribute: 'He kept us flying high, and challenged us to fly high higher still.

'He did it with modesty and kindness that would have been surprising in someone one tenth as tough and accomplished as he was.

'We stand with you in mourning, but also in gratitude. Gratitude for lives well lived, and duties thoroughly fulfilled. Gratitude that God gave this country, George and Barbara Bush. They may now be reunited in the light of His grace.'

George W Bush reacts during a ceremony Monday for his father George H.W. Bush

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, former President George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush watch as the casket of former President George H.W. Bush arrives to lie in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in Washington on December 3, 2018

Neil Bush (L) and his family visit the Capitol Rotunda as former U.S. President George H.W. Bush lies in state on December 3, 2018 in Washington, DC

Stephen G. Leighton Jr. salutes while paying respects with his father Stephen G. Leighton Sr. as former President George H.W. Bush lies in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on December 3, 2018 in Washington, DC

Jenna Bush (L) stands with mourners during an arrival service for former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, her grandfather, in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda Former President George H.W. Bush lies in state, Washington DC on Monday

Laura Bush stood by her husband's side during the emotional ceremony. Vice President Mike Pence was also standing next to him.

Several hundred people gathered in downtown Houston for a memorial to former President George H.W. Bush, a beloved figure in his adopted hometown.

The ceremony Monday night took place in front of Houston's City Hall, bathed in lights of red, white, and blue.

Thousands of Americans were pictured as they held up their phones while Hallelujah played by Clay Walker.

People hold up their phones during the singing of Hallelujah by Clay Walker during a tribute to President George H.W. Bush at City Hall in Houston, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018 in Houston

Former President George W. Bush and family members watch as the flag-draped casket of former US President George H.W. Bush arrives at the US Capitol Monday, December 3, 2018 in Washington, DC

City organizers encouraged Houston residents to wear their boldest socks in a nod to Bush's well-known sartorial tradition.

Michael Meaux (moh), who worked in the U.S. State Department for Bush's son, former President George W. Bush, wore a pair of hot-pink socks that he laughingly said he had owned for a long time but had never worn before.

The Houston resident called Bush 'the last gentleman president that we've had.'

On Monday, the 41st presidents remains were taken on the presidential aircraft, known as Air Force One when the sitting president is on board, from Houston, to Washington where his funeral service will be held in the National Cathedral.Three speed limit signs posted within metres of each other has baffled Australian drivers.

Canberra motorists say they're confused after three different speed limit signs reading 40km, 60km and 70km were posted within close proximity on Flemington Road.

A picture of the confusing road was posted on Reddit on Tuesday and has sparked an online debate.

A road in Canberra left drivers confused as three different speed limit signs were posted within a metres of each other

Some users argued 70km/h was the right speed limit.

'I would argue 70km. It is the last visible speed sign and the construction bollards have been removed from that point onwards,' one user wrote.

'70 is the last one, so it's that,' said another user.

A number of users claimed the situation wasn't so complicated.

'It's 50 until you get to the 60 then 60 for 3 metres, slow to 40 for 20 metres then it's 70.. Jeez it ain't that hard,' a user wrote.

The Reddit user who posted the image claimed the signs were posted to deliberately confuse drivers so they could be fined.

The state of the confusing road sparked online debate about what the correct speed limit should be

A spokesperson for Australian Federal Police told Daily Mail Australia light rail construction had begun on Flemington Road, which explains the different speed limits.

The spokesperson advised drivers to adhere to the 40km speed limit to avoid being fined.

Drivers caught speeding 30km above the 40km limit will receive a fine of $420 and will lose three demerit points from their license.Seventy-nine years ago a Jewish woman named Lilly Cassirer surrendered her family's priceless Camille Pissarro painting to the Nazis in exchange for safe passage out of Nazi Germany during the Holocaust.

On Tuesday her great-grandson will walk into a U.S. courtroom for the latest round of what has been a nearly 20-year battle to get it back.

After years of appeals by both Lilly Cassirer's descendants and Spain's Thyssen-Bornemisza museum, where the painting has hung for 25 years, a trial to decide its rightful owner is scheduled before U.S. District Judge John F. Walter.

Priceless: Lilly Cassirer surrendered the Camille Pissarro called 'Rue St.-Honore, Apres-Midi, Effet de Pluie' to the Nazis in 1939 in exchange for safe passage out of Germany, and 20 years ago her family found it at the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum in Madrid

Neither side disputes that Cassirer handed the painting over to the Nazis in 1939 in exchange for safe passage out of the country for herself, her husband and her grandson.

But the Madrid museum has argued that she forfeited her ownership rights when she accepted $13,000 from Germany in 1958, after the German government concluded the painting was lost forever.

The museum also has argued that it acquired the work in good faith and has never tried to hide it.

'There's no dispute about the painting's complete history. The court examined all the evidence and determined that the museum is the rightful owner,' Thyssen-Bornemisza's U.S. attorney, Thaddeus J. Stauber, told The Associated Press in 2016 after Walter initially dismissed the case.

The Cassirer family successfully appealed last year and their lawsuit was returned to Walter for trial.

The family's attorney, David Boies, says the matter now boils down to Spain doing what's right and surrendering the painting.

'It's unusual for a modern liberal democracy to be trying to hold onto Nazi-looted art,' he said Monday as he prepared for trial. 'Every other civilized country in the world is committed to returning Nazi-looted art to the rightful owners.'

The painting, 'Rue St.-Honore, Apres-Midi, Effet de Pluie' has been valued at $30 million or more.

Pissarro created the stunning oil-on-canvas work of a rainy Paris street scene from what he saw out the window of a hotel room in 1897. Its title translates to English as 'Rue Saint-Honore in the Afternoon, Effect of Rain.'

Lilly Cassirer's father-in-law bought it directly from Pissarro's art dealer and left it to her and her husband when he died.

For more than 70 years her family believed it was lost. Then in 1999 a friend of Cassirer's grandson, Claude, who had fled Germany with her, saw a photo of it in a catalog and contacted him.

'And he was completely stunned because we thought the painting was gone,' Claude Cassirer's son, David Cassirer of San Diego, told The Associated Press in 2016.

It turned out the work had been sold and resold several times before Baron Hans-Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, one of the 20th century's most prominent art collectors, bought it from New York gallery owner Stephen Hahn in 1976.

Thyssen-Bornemisza, who died in 2002, sold the painting and hundreds of other works to Spain in 1993 and they now form the core of the museum named for him.Sam Walker, Dominic Walker as well as Benjamin Fitt faced court on Tuesday

Two brothers and a third man who allegedly stomped on and punched two men following an AFL finals match in Melbourne are set to face more serious charges.

Sam Walker, 25, Dominic Walker, 27, and Benjamin Fitt, 27, appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

The trio were all hit with four charges of recklessly and intentionally causing injury to two men on September 7, following the Richmond versus Hawthorn qualifying final at the MCG.

Dominic Walker (pictured) leaves the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday after he was charged for the alleged bashing of two men in September

Benjamin Fitt (pictured) is facing a raft of charges following the alleged bashing of two men in September

Sam Walker (pictured) after leaving court on Tuesday - he is facing a number of serious charges following the alleged bashing of two men in September

The three accused were also expected to be additionally charged with a count of recklessly causing serious injury and causing serious injury in circumstances of gross violence, as well as conduct endangering life and serious injury.

Police will allege the victims ran from the accused and waited on a side street, before returning to get a cab, where the incident unfolded.

The Walker brothers, whose father Tim is a leading QC in Victoria, and Fitt will re-appear in the Magistrates Court on February 12.

The maximum penalty the trio are facing is up to 15 years in jail.

Footage from the alleged assault in Melbourne where three men are facing a number of serious charges

Three men are facing a number of serious charges following an alleged assault in September outside the MCG

At the time his sons were charged in September, Mr Walker, QC, released a statement asking the media to respect his family's privacy.

'This matter is still under police investigation. We are not able to comment at this stage,' he said.

'We have every confidence Victoria Police will obtain all relevant evidence, including all available CCTV footage.'Advertisement

Central American migrants stuck on the threshold of the United States in Mexico breached the border fence on Monday, risking almost certain detention by U.S. authorities but hoping the illegal entry will allow them to apply for asylum.

Since mid-October, thousands of Central Americans, mostly from Honduras, have traveled north through Mexico toward the United States in a caravan, some walking much of the long trek.

President Donald Trump has vowed to stop the migrants entering, sending troops to reinforce the border and attempting a procedural change, so far denied by the courts, to require asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico while their cases are heard.

A group of migrants climb the U.S. border barriers to cross into the United States from Playas de Tijuana in Tijuana, Mexico on Monday

A migrant girl is photographed just moments before she is seen being helped over the fence into the United States on Monday

A migrant is seen above speaking with others on the U.S.-Mexico border after she crosses into the United States from Playas de Tijuana

A migrant boy looks to the others after crossing into the U.S. from Playas de Tijuana in Tijuana, Mexico on Monday

In less than an hour, roughly two dozen people were seen climbing the approximately 10-foot fence made of thick sheets and pillars of metal after sundown on Monday

The above image shows a migrant climbing the barrier separating the U.S. and Mexico

Migrants risked almost certain detention by U.S. authorities but hope the illegal entry will allow them to apply for asylum

A group of migrants are seen above after illegally crossing into San Diego County from Mexico late Monday

The migrants walk along the fence line after crossing into the United States late Monday

Since mid-October, thousands of Central Americans, mostly from Honduras, have traveled north through Mexico toward the United States in a caravan, some walking much of the long trek

Frustrated and exhausted after weeks of uncertainty, many of the migrants have become desperate since getting stuck in squalid camps in the Mexican border city of Tijuana

Frustrated and exhausted after weeks of uncertainty, many of the migrants have become desperate since getting stuck in squalid camps in the Mexican border city of Tijuana.

So a number opted to eschew legal procedures and attempt an illegal entry from Tijuana as dusk fell on Monday at a spot about 1,500 feet away from the Pacific Ocean.

In less than an hour, Reuters reporters observed roughly two dozen people climb the approximately 10-foot fence made of thick sheets and pillars of metal. They chose a place in a large overgrown ditch where the fence is slightly lower.

Just before dusk, three thin people squeezed through the fence on the beach and were quickly picked up by the U.S. Border Patrol, witnesses said.

But along the border inland as darkness descended, more and more migrants followed, many bringing children.

Some used a blanket as a rope to help loved ones get over.

A mother and her children made it over the first fence and disappeared into the night.

The sight of them climbing the fence encouraged others, even as a helicopter patrolled overhead on the U.S. side.

Earlier, Karen Mayeni, a 29-year-old Honduran, sized up the fence while clinging to her three children, aged six, 11 and 12.

'Were just observing, waiting to see what happens,' Mayeni said.

'Well figure out what to do in a couple of days.'

President Donald Trump has vowed to stop the migrants entering, sending troops to reinforce the border and attempting a procedural change, so far denied by the courts, to require asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico while their cases are heard

The image above shows a Central American migrant trying to enter the country illegally from Tijuana as dusk fell on Monday

A woman is silhouetted during sunset next to the border wall on the beach of Tijuana on Monday

Migrants like the one above normally have to wait weeks or months for U.S. officials to process their requests for asylum

A migrant helps another migrant scale the fence that separates Mexico and the United States

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection car is seen next to a border wall in San Diego County on Monday

Those that made it across the fence (like the two migrants seen above) in Tijuana still had to scramble up a hill and contend with a more forbidding wall to reach California, and U.S. Border Patrol agents had the territory between the two barriers heavily covered

Applying for asylum at a U.S. land border can take months, so if migrants enter illegally and present themselves to authorities, their cases could be heard quicker

Some of the migrants are likely to be economic refugees without a strong asylum claim, but others tell stories of receiving politically motivated death threats in a region troubled by decades of instability and violence

A number of the migrants ran to try to escape capture, but most of them walked slowly to where U.S. Border Patrol officials were waiting under floodlights to hand themselves in

Ninety minutes later, she and her family were over the fence.

A number of the migrants ran to try to escape capture, but most of them walked slowly to where U.S. Border Patrol officials were waiting under floodlights to hand themselves in.

Some of the migrants are likely to be economic refugees without a strong asylum claim, but others tell stories of receiving politically motivated death threats in a region troubled by decades of instability and violence.

Applying for asylum at a U.S. land border can take months, so if migrants enter illegally and present themselves to authorities, their cases could be heard quicker.

U.S. officials have restricted applications through the Chaparral gate in Tijuana to between 40 and 100 per day.

Some may hope to defeat the odds and penetrate one of the most fortified sections of the southern U.S. border.

Those that made it across the fence in Tijuana still had to scramble up a hill and contend with a more forbidding wall to reach California, and U.S. Border Patrol agents had the territory between the two barriers heavily covered.

'Climb up. You can do it! Stand on my head!' one migrant said, egging his companion on.

One child and his mother got over the fence and ran up the hill behind. They turned around and waved to those still on the Mexican side.A driver has filmed the dramatic moment he was nearly run off the road by two police officers allegedly speeding in a buggy.

Matthew Gibbons was driving along Wombeyan Caves Road in New South Wales' southwest on Saturday when he filmed the buggy heading in the opposite direction.

The video, which was uploaded to Facebook and has since been viewed more than 90,000 times, shows the vehicle with what appears to be police markings.

A driver has filmed the dramatic moment he claims he was nearly run off the road by two police officers speeding in a buggy (pictured)

Matthew Gibbons was driving along Wombeyan Caves Road (pictured) in New South Wales' southwest on Saturday when he filmed the alleged buggy in the opposite direction

As the buggy sped past Mr Gibbons and his passenger, the dashcam caught an image of what appears to be police markings

As Mr Gibbons travels along the narrow road, the off-road vehicle crosses its path at high speed and a woman's voice is heard saying: 'They're police aren't they?'

After the two vehicles narrowly miss each other, Mr Gibbons and his passenger are heard debating over whether the buggy could have been a police vehicle.

The driver later posted the video to his Facebook page.

'So the a**holes that almost ran us off the road were N.S.W police,' the caption claimed.

'Great use of tax payers money there were drift marks all the way down the gorge.'

A NSW Police spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia they were aware of the alleged buggy and video and were investigating the matter.

As Mr Gibbons travels along the narrow road, the off-road vehicle crosses its path at high speed and a woman's voice is heard saying: 'They're police aren't they?'

The video, which was uploaded to Facebook and has been viewed more than 90,000 times, shows the vehicle with what appears to be police markings

She said while police buggies are common, without knowing what is going on in the video, they were unable to comment on whether or not the drivers were officers.

'A lot of our beachside areas have them (buggies) and our rural crime investigators have them,' the spokesperson said.

After the video went viral, several Facebook users took to social media to share their thoughts on the matter - with many doubting the vehicle was a police buggy.

A NSW Police spokeswoman said police buggies are are common, but without knowing what is going on in the video, they are unable to comment on whether or not the drivers were officers

'Wow, emergency service vehicle driving fast to get to an incident ! Just doing their job buddy, get over yourself,' one person wrote.

'Could have been bad if the 44 was going any faster,' another person said.

A third person added: 'Its not Police, just some bogans with a Police vinyl wrap.'

Mr Gibbons also hinted the buggy may have been a fake, saying: 'It appears that it was not a police buggy but a member of the public impersonating a police buggy.'

The NSW Police spokeswoman said police are still making their inquiries, which will include taking to witnesses and looking at the alleged vehicle.

'They (police) are just trying to work out exactly who it possibly involved and whether it is or not,' she said.The government will soon be spying on your messages with new world-first national security laws dealing with encrypted communications expected to pass parliament this week.

Messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are secured with end-to-end encryption, meaning the app and third parties cannot read or listen to the content - but that is now about to change.

The spying powers are limited to only 'serious offences' such as preventing terrorism and tackling organised crime in Australia.

The government will soon be spying on your messages with new world-first national security laws dealing with encrypted communications expected to pass parliament this week (stock image)

Messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are secured with end-to-end encryption, meaning the app and third parties cannot read or listen to the content

Who is allowed to spy on you? Australian Secret Intelligence Organisation

Australian Secret Intelligence Service

Australian Signals Directorate

Australian Federal Police

Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity

Australian Crime Commission

State Police Advertisement

Under the proposed powers, companies would be required to build a new function to help police access the suspects' data, or risk a fine for not doing so.

They could be asked to install software or a modifying service on the suspects' device, and provide technical information such as the source code.

The suspect would not even know if they're being spied on because the company cannot tell anyone.

On Tuesday, Labor and the government came to an in-principle agreement on key parts of the bill after the ALP pushed for it to be amended.

'The changes include limiting the application of the powers in this bill to only serious offences,' Shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said.

'There are likely to be significant outstanding issues, but this compromise will deliver security and enforcement agencies the powers they say they need over the Christmas period, and ensure adequate oversight and safeguards.'

The proposed bill is yet to be signed off by parliament's intelligence and security committee.

'The changes include limiting the application of the powers in this bill to only serious offences,' Shadow Attorney General Mark Dreyfus said

For the proposed changes to go through Parliament quickly, Labor is required to back the laws

For the proposed changes to go through Parliament quickly, Labor is required to back the laws.

The bill is almost 200 pages and three of the key powers Australian government agencies would be able to issue have been heavily criticised.

Police would be given the authority to ask a company to 'voluntarily' help create a program so they could spy on their suspects.

The company is required to assist if they can decrypt a specific communication, or risk a fine for not doing so.

The company must build a new function to help police get at a suspect's data, or face fines.

Attorney-General Christian Porter accused Mr Dreyfus in parliament of dragging the chain

The laws were the subject of fiery debate in Parliament on Monday, with Energy Minister Angus Taylor accusing Labor of 'running a protection racket for terrorists' by refusing to rush through the laws.

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said Labor wanted terrorists to be able to communicate via WhatsApp, while Prime Minister Scott Morrison accused Labor leader Bill Shorten of being 'happy' for terrorists to plot attacks using encrypted messages.

Attorney-General Christian Porter accused Mr Dreyfus of dragging the chain.

'How much more constructive could the shadow attorney-general be if he put his considerable legal skills to reading the submissions, understanding what they say and acting on them appropriately and passing this counter-encryption bill this week,' Mr Porter said.

Alex Younger, speaking at St Andrews University, said agents have thwarted several atrocities which 'would have caused significant loss of life' over the last two years

British spies have died foiling ISIS terror attacks across Europe, the chief of MI6 has revealed.

Alex Younger said agents have thwarted several atrocities which 'would have caused significant loss of life' over the last two years.

Younger, who is known by the codename C, said the intelligence service has been working with the French and Germans to disrupt potential attacks.

In a rare speech at St Andrews University the MI6 boss said British spooks had paid the 'ultimate sacrifice.'

He said: 'This has involved exceptionally difficult and dangerous work.

'We have asked our agents to do extraordinary things and run great risks.

'And I will not hide from you that some have paid the ultimate sacrifice.

'Our country and our allies owe them a debt that they can never truly know and never fully repay.'

He said that Britain now faced a 'persistent and evolving threat from terrorism' in his wide ranging speech, his second public address in four years.

Younger said he was 'perplexed' over why the United Arab Emirates jailed British academic Matthew Hedges.

In a rare speech, his second in four years, Younger, known by the codename C, revealed British spooks had paid the 'ultimate sacrifice'

Alex Younger said he 'genuinely can't understand how our Emirati partners came to the conclusions they came to'.

Mr Hedges was accused of spying for MI6 and jailed in the UAE last month, but he was later pardoned.

He also used his speech to single out Russia and the flagrant hostile act of the Salisbury nerve agent attack against Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in March.

He said that MI6 will no longer take the state at its word, adding: Mr Skripal came to the UK in an American-brokered exchange, having been pardoned by the president of Russia - and to that extent we assumed that had meaning.

Younger, who is known by the codename C said the intelligence service has been working with the French and Germans to disrupt potential attacks from the like of ISIS. Pictured: An ISIS soldier in Raqqa in June 2014

'That is not an assumption we will make again.

His speech comes at a time of heightened tensions between the UK and Russia.

At the weekend Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson called on the public to report suspicious activity near military sites, after a Russian TV crew prompted an alert at an Army base.

Earlier this year, GCHQ chief Jeremy Fleming said Moscow posed a 'real' and 'active' threat to the international community in the wake of the Salisbury novichok attack.

Younger also raised concerns about Chinese companies building high-speed mobile internet networks in the UK.

He said Britain now needs to decide 'the extent to which we would be comfortable' with the Chines owning out future high speed internet networks.

China is currently a world leader in developing 5G, a next generation mobile internet technology that promises to deliver much faster download speeds which could revolutionise connectivity.

Mr Younger said: I think this is really interesting. Weve got some decisions to take.

This is about how 5G will, by and large, be based on Chinese technology.

Younger said Britain now faces a 'persistent and evolving threat from terrorism' in his wide ranging speech

We need to decide the extent to which we are going to be comfortable with Chinese ownership of these technologies and these platforms in an environment where some of our allies have taken quite a definite position.

'We need to have a conversation, it is not wholly straightforward.

Australia and New Zealand have both recently banned Chinese telecoms firm Huawei from providing 5G equipment on national security grounds.

The Australian government said there were concerns about the countrys internet networks being provided by companies likely to be subject to extrajudicial directions from a foreign government.

He said the UK must adjust to a new political reality as power, money and politics are going east.

Australia and New Zealand have both recently banned Chinese telecoms firm Huawei from providing 5G equipment on national security grounds

He also raised the prospect of a technological arms race, saying that the evolving threat from nation states comes largely from their increasingly innovative exploitation of modern technology.

So simply put, weve got to innovate faster than they can. Indeed, future generations would not forgive us if it were otherwise.

So we are evolving rapidly. Cyber is now our fastest-growing directorate. We are shifting our focus to the nexus between humans and technology.

But my organisation will need to adapt even faster if it is to thrive in the future. And that will require people with new perspectives, capable of harnessing their creativity in ways that we cant yet even imagine.

However, Mr Younger stressed that human intelligence - gathered by agents in the field - will become more, rather than less, important in the digital age.

He also said that, post-Brexit, Britain will continue to work with allies because our security ties in Europe are indispensable.

In August Jeremy Fleming, head of eavesdropping agency GCHQ, said fifth generation mobile services risk being hacked into by hostile states or terrorists.

He said new technologies will transform healthcare and create smart, energy-efficient cities.

But they also bring risks that, if unchecked, could make us more vulnerable to terrorists, hostile states and serious criminals, he wrote in the Sunday Times.

He added: The globalisation of technology is here and we need to learn to deal with it. Critical technologies  for example, in 5G  are increasingly likely to come from China.

Mr Fleming said the UK must take measures to limit the threat to national infrastructure.

A property developer has caused outrage after 'airbrushing' a prominent mosque out of promotional shots for its luxury new apartments.

Fairview New Homes have unveiled the marketing campaign for their new 395,000 properties in Hornsey, north London.

But worshippers have accused the developers of 'trying to pretend' that the nearby London Islamic Cultural Society and Mosque 'does not exist' by removing it from photos.

Fairview News Homes' advertising its 395,000 properties in Hornsey, north London

Worshippers have accused the developers of 'trying to pretend' that the nearby London Islamic Cultural Society and Mosque (pictured) 'does not exist'

This image shows the mosque, circled, just yards from the high-rise tower blocks

Photos advertising the plush new apartments show the tower block surrounded by leafy parkland along the river's edge.

But worshippers are furious that the London Islamic Cultural Society and Mosque has not been mentioned or pictured.

Mustafa Alloucha, 47, told The Sun: 'They are worried that by showing the mosque it may harm sales.

'They are trying to pretend it does not exist.'

Promoting the location of the complex - named 'Altitude' - Fairview describe Hornsey as 'home to a lovely growing assortment of independent retailers and eateries, a great choice of cafes and plenty of antique or bric-a-brac shops.'

The mosque, seen here from a Google street view, has been removed from pictures of the apartment block

Photos show the tower block surrounded by leafy parkland along the river's edge - with the mosque removed

The developer adds: 'The area also boasts a close-knit and friendly community with a good selection of schools and amenities.

'You will find banks, supermarkets and a post office, along with bars and restaurants such as The Three Compasses, Tomo pizzeria and the Great Northern Railway Tavern.'

Shakil Ahmad, 35, also told The Sun: 'They are pretending [the mosque] doesn't exist. It's unacceptable.'

A spokesman for Fairview New Homes said: 'Computer-generated images are created for all our developments to create a visual representation of how the completed development will look as a guide for buyers considering a purchase.

'As part of our plans for the Altitude development, which were approved by Haringey Council, we will be completing a full landscaping scheme, including planting trees on land between the development and the London Islamic Cultural Society and Mosque as is represented in the CGI.'

The London Islamic Cultural Society and Mosque has been contacted for comment.The future of Brexit was in the balance last night after Theresa May suffered a dramatic triple defeat in the Commons.

Amid extraordinary scenes, 26 Tory rebels sided with Labour to push through an amendment that would let MPs step in if her deal is defeated next week.

It could even halt the Brexit process completely. Dominic Grieve, the former attorney general, led the rebellion which effectively takes a no-deal exit off the table. He claimed it could lead to a second referendum, adding: 'MPs are tonight starting the process of taking back control.'

The Prime Minister also suffered a humiliating defeat over her bid to keep the Government's legal advice on the EU withdrawal agreement under wraps. Her administration is the first in modern history to be found in contempt of Parliament.

Theresa May (pictured leaving Downing Street today) suffered three humiliating defeats on Brexit tonight in the worst hour for a sitting Prime Minister in 40 years

Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer (pictured in the Commons today) said the Government had suffered an unprecedented defeat and demanded that the legal advice is published quickly

And in the blackest night for Tory whips since the dying days of John Major's government, a separate bid to kick the issue into the long grass was also defeated.

Last night, Mrs May tried to keep her plan alive with a rousing speech to the Commons, in which she warned 'Brexit could be stopped' entirely if it is voted down on Tuesday.

She acknowledged criticism of her 'compromise' deal, but said: 'We should not let the search for the perfect Brexit prevent a good Brexit that delivers for the British people.

'And we should not contemplate a course that fails to respect the result of the referendum, because it would decimate the trust of millions of people in our politics for a generation.'

Downing Street must now hope that the threat of Parliament blocking a no-deal Brexit convinces some Eurosceptic opponents of her deal to change their minds before the meaningful vote. However, a number of high profile, and previously loyal, Tory MPs rebelled during the series of defeats last night  including Michael Fallon and Damian Green.

And in a clear indication that the Prime Minister's 'confidence and supply' deal with the DUP is fractured beyond repair, the Northern Irish party warned her it did not fear another election.

Downing Street had hoped the threat of a general election would bring the DUP to heel, because it could bring the pro-Nationalist Jeremy Corbyn to power.

But the party voted against the Government last night, with Nigel Dodds, the party's Westminster leader, telling Mrs May his party was ready to spark another poll. He added: 'I'm certain we will be returned in greater numbers.'

Theresa May (pictured in the Commons today) suffered a string of humiliating defeats on Brexit tonight - dealing her authority a major blow just seven days before her deal is voted on

Attorney General Geoffrey Cox (pictured in the Commons today) had faced the prospect of being suspended from parliament after he refused to publish the legal advice

In other developments:

The PM promised to listen to Tory MPs worried about the so-called Irish backstop, saying she would 'consider how we can go further' to reassure it will not leave the UK in a customs union in the long term;

Mrs May also offered to give MPs a 'more formal role' in steering the trade talks with the EU after the UK has left next year;

Tory shop steward Sir Graham Brady said he accepted the need for compromise, but urged Mrs May 'in the strongest possible terms' to identify a clear route out of the backstop;

Boris Johnson was heckled by moderate Tories as he attacked Mrs May's plan and urged MPs to vote against it next week;

Eurosceptic Jacob Rees-Mogg insisted next week's crunch vote would be close and dismissed 'ridiculously inflated' claims about the scale of the rebellion;

A senior Toyota executive warned a no-deal Brexit could result in 'stop-start production' for weeks or months at its UK plant;

Bank of England governor Mark Carney warned such a course could result in food prices rising by 10 per cent;

The European Court of Justice's senior lawyer said Article 50, which started the Brexit process, could be revoked unilaterally by the UK;

The BBC dropped plans for a televised Brexit showdown involving Mrs May and Mr Corbyn on Sunday night;

Brexiteer Cabinet minister Chris Grayling publicly backed Mrs May's deal for the first time.

Geoffrey Cox (pictured in the Commons today) had issued a robust defence of the Government's refusal to publish the full advice at at the despatch box yesterday

Q&A on the latest Brexit developments By Jack Doyle What happened yesterday? The Government lost three votes in a day, the first time that has happened since 1996  an ominous date for the Tory Party which went on to face catastrophic electoral defeat the following year. The first two were on the Brexit legal advice given to Cabinet by Attorney General Geoffrey Cox. They were damaging, but not disastrous. The third, which is potentially much more significant, was on an amendment, proposed by leading Remainer Tory rebel Dominic Grieve, setting out what could happen if Theresa Mays deal is voted down next week. It could, in theory, give MPs vast leverage over the next steps on Brexit. Why is the legal advice vote significant? Last month the Commons demanded the full legal advice be published. Ministers refused. Yesterday MPs voted to declare this decision a contempt of Parliament  a serious form of legal admonishment. To avoid the prospect of ministers being suspended by the House, the Government rolled over and agreed to release the document today. No 10 fought tooth and nail to resist publishing, warning to do so would be against the national interest and breach historic conventions. To placate MPs, Mr Cox made a statement to Parliament describing what it said and published a summary. Much of the document will be familiar, but it will make plain the gravity of Mr Coxs warnings about the UK being trapped in the Northern Ireland backstop, potentially hardening opposition to the deal among rebel Tory MPs. What does the Grieve amendment mean? Following an earlier row this summer, Mr Grieve won a concession that if the deal falls, the Government will have to come back to the Commons within three weeks to set out what course it will then take. As a result of yesterdays vote, MPs will now be able to propose what alternative course of action the Government should take by making amendments to the motion and voting on them. Almost inevitably, the likely proposals will include the UK staying in a permanent customs union, or membership of the single market, or both  or a second referendum. For its supporters, this makes no deal impossible as the Commons  which is overwhelmingly opposed to crashing out  would immediately make clear its disapproval. Some hardline Brexiteers deny this, arguing that any amendment would not be legally binding on the Prime Minister. In theory this is true, but any such vote would heap huge political pressure on the Government to comply. Where does this all leave us? With nearly 100 MPs publicly expressing their doubts about the deal, its chances of passing on Tuesday already appeared slim. Losing a string of votes exposes just how weak Mrs Mays grip on a fractious and volatile Parliament has become. With this in mind, the Grieve amendment could be hugely significant. If it is seen to reduce the chances of a no-deal Brexit, could it yet convince hardline Eurosceptic rebels they should back Mrs Mays deal? Or will they press on, with the danger that the future of Brexit falls into the hands of a Remain-dominated Parliament which is flexing its muscles more every day and could yet find a way to sink Brexit altogether? Advertisement

In her speech last night the PM admitted that both Remainers and Brexiteers have been left dissatisfied by parts of her deal.

But she said the 'hard truth' is that the compromise she has thrashed out with Brussels is the only deal which delivers on the historic vote and protects jobs.

She said: 'I know there are some in this House and in the country who would prefer a closer relationship with the European Union than the one I'm proposing, indeed who would prefer the relationship that we currently have and want another referendum.

Who are the 26 Tory rebels who voted for Dominic Grieve's amendment? Here are the 26 Tory rebels who voted for Dominic Grieve's amendment which allows MPs to tell the Government what to do in Brexit talks if the PM's deal is voted down Heidi Allen Guto Bebb Richard Benyon NickBoles Kenneth Clarke Jonathan Djanogly Michael Fallon George Freeman Richard Graham Damian Green Justine Greening Dominic Grieve Sir Oliver Heald Jo Johnson Phillip Lee Jeremy Lefroy Sir Oliver Letwin Nicky Morgan Bob Neill Antoinette Sandbach Sir Nicholas Soames Anna Soubry John Stevenson Derek Thomas Ed Vaizey Sarah Wollaston Advertisement

'Although I profoundly disagree, they are arguing for what they believe is right for our country and I respect that.

'But the hard truth is that we will not settle this issue and bring our country together that way and I ask them to think what it would say to the 52 per cent who came out to vote Leave, in many cases for the first time in decades, if their decision were ignored.'

The PM added: 'There are others in this House who would prefer a more distant relationship than the one I'm proposing and although I don't agree, I know they're also arguing for what they think is best for our future and I respect that too.

'But the hard truth is also that we will not settle this issue and bring our country together if in delivering Brexit we do not protect the trade and security cooperation on which so many jobs and lives depend, completely ignoring the views of the 48 per cent.

Mrs May said the 'only solution that will endure' is one that addresses the concerns of both sides of the debate.

But she faced a fiery Commons session as leading Brexiteers lashed her plan, while the DUP - who are propping the Tories up in No10 - said they would be happy to have another general election.

Boris Johnson, who has become the PM's fiercest critic since quitting as Foreign Secretary over her Brexit plan, said the deal is a failure.

He told the Commons: 'I can't believe there is a single member of this House who sincerely believes that this is a good deal for the UK.

'You can tell that the government's hearts are not in it

'You can tell that they know it is a disaster because after two and a half years this deal has done an amazing thing it has brought us together  remainers and leavers in the belief that it is a national humiliation that makes a mockery of Brexit.

'There will be no proper free trade deals. We will not take back control of our laws and for the government to continue to suggest otherwise is to do violence to the normal meaning of words.

'We will give up 39bn for nothing. We will not really be taking back control of our borders.'

While Nigel Dodds, the DUP's Westminster leader has said he would be 'happy' to have another general election to prove the party has support in Northern Ireland for blocking the PM's Brexit deal.

Mark Carney admits his doomsday scenario for a no-deal Brexit meltdown is unlikely Mark Carney today admitted his doomsday scenario for a no-deal Brexit meltdown would be unlikely to come to pass. The Bank of England governor said the catastrophic consequences he laid out for a chaotic departure from the bloc - including a deep recession, plunging Pound and spiking unemployment - were a 'tail risk'. But he also doubled down on the warnings by saying prices of family shopping could rise by 10 per cent - and 6 per cent even if there is an orderly departure. And he delivered a withering verdict on the Norway-style option backed by some Remainers, saying it was 'highly undesirable' for the UK. The comments came as Mr Carney gave evidence to MPs on the Treasury Committee. Mr Carney refused to give percentage 'confidence bands' for the different scenarios the Bank set out in its dire warnings last week - saying that the committee was better placed to judge how Brexit would pan out. Advertisement

He said: 'We will happily go to the electorate and put our views to the people if needs be, and I'm quite certain we would be returned in greater numbers than today.'

A slew of MPs had condemned ministers for refusing to release the full Brexit deal legal advice in a fiery Commons showdown today.

It had pitted Mrs May's authority and support against the accumulated strength of her opposition - which spanned both Brexiteers and Remainers.

But admitting defeat and announcing the legal advice will be published tomorrow, Mrs Leadsom said: 'We have tested the opinion of the House twice on this very serious subject...

'We will publish the final and full advice provided by the Attorney General to Cabinet.'

The dramatic row erupted after the Government refused to publish the full legal advice despite losing a vote in the Commons last month requiring them to.

Instead they said published a 'full reasoned position' laying out a summary of the legal advice.

But critics accused ministers of keeping secret the most explosive parts of Mr Cox's advice.

Sir Keir warned that ministers were committing contempt of Parliament and used the arcane parliamentary tactics to heap pressure on No10.

If Mrs May had still refused to publish the legal advice then MPs would have debated how to enforce their contempt motion in a debate tomorrow.

They could have voted to hold specific named minsters responsible and to mete out punishments to them - including suspending them from Parliament.

Cabinet Minister Mrs Leadsom said the Government was defending an important principle that legal advice should stay confidential.

What is in the summary of legal advice on the Brexit deal? The Government has caved to demands to publish the full legal advice on the Brexit deal after losing an historic vote. It means fresh details about the legal advice will be published. But this is what we know about the advice so far: The Northern Ireland backstop lasts indefinitely 'unless and until it is superseded' by 'alternative arrangements'.

Agreement on 'alternative arrangements' to avoid a hard border is only possible by joint UK-EU agreement.

With no agreement, the UK must be able to show 'clear evidence' the EU is failing to negotiate in good faith to get a ruling in its favour.

The UK cannot unilaterally terminate the divorce treaty.

If transition is extended, the UK will have to pay an 'appropriate' amount more into the EU budget. This could run to billions.

During the transition period, the EU can choose to exclude the UK from 'security-related sensitive information' .

During the transition period, the UK must accept all new EU laws with no say on writing them. Advertisement

And she warned that while the Government will publish the full legal advice, they are very alarmed at the use of arcane parliamentary procedure to force them to publish secret information.

She said she has written to the Privileges Committee to ask them to investigate the phenomenon.

A government-backed amendment to kill off the attempt to hold Mr Cox in contempt by sending the matter to the Privileges Committee was defeated by 311 votes to 307.

Kicking off the constitutional clash in the the chamber this afternoon, Sir Keir accused ministers of ignoring a 'binding motion' passed by the Commons.

'That is contempt,' he said.

The standoff between the House and the government is thought to be unprecedented in modern times.

Ministers had insisted legal confidentiality is an important point of principle and revealing the material would hurt the national interest.

Instead they published a 40-plus page assessment of the package thrashed out with Brussels.

Mr Cox, who is the Government's chief legal adviser, had staunchly defended the decision to withhold the advice in a marathon appearance in the House - telling MPs 'there is nothing to see here'.

Mr Cox had asked MPs to suppose the advice included details on relationships with foreign states and arguments that might be deployed in the future, noting: 'Would it be right for the Attorney General, regardless of the harm to the public interest, to divulge his opinion.

'I say it wouldn't.'

But MPs are convinced that the most explosive parts of his legal advice has been kept secret.

The Sunday Times said in a letter sent last month to Cabinet ministers, he advised the only way out of the backstop - designed to prevent the return of a hard border with the Republic - once it was invoked was to sign a new trade deal, a process which could take years.

'The protocol would endure indefinitely,' he apparently wrote.

The letter was said to be so sensitive that ministers were given numbered copies to read which they were not allowed to take from the room afterwards.

How MPs could push for a Brexit 'plan B' The House of Commons passed an amendment making clear that it should be able to direct the government how to respond if the PM loses the crunch vote on her Brexit deal.

The amendment would allow MPs to table amendments that would reject the government's plans, and instruct ministers to do something different - such as extending Article 50, opting for a Norway-style deal, holding a second referendum r blocking no deal.

While not necessarily binding, such an expression of Parliament's will would have huge political force and might well be impossible to ignore. Advertisement

In a day of high political drama, Mr Grieve's amendment to hand power to MPs if the PM's Brexit deal is voted down next week was passed with the help of over two dozen Tory rebels.

If - as widely expected - the PM fails to get her deal approved she must return to the Commons within 21 days to give a statement on what she will do next.

The amendment allows MPs to amend this motion - effectively giving them the power to tell ministers what to do.

Critics insist that the instructions will not be legally binding, but it would pile so much pressure on ministers it may be politically impossible for them to ignore the demands.

And the BBC confirmed it had dropped plans for the televised Brexit head to head between Mrs May and Mr Corbyn after labour refused to sign up to it.

However, a rare piece of good news for Number 10, Tory Brexiteer and rebel ringleader Jacob Rees-Mogg predicted next week's crunch vote on the Brexit deal will be far closer than predicted.

Some 100 Tory MPs have indicated they will not back her divorce deal, but Mr Rees-Mogg said predictions this will not translate into a massive rebellion.

He told his weekly ConHome podcast: 'I think the numbers have got ridiculously inflated I think whatever happens, it will be a close result and I would not rule out the possibility of the Government winning.'

He added: 'But plus or minus five, I think is where it is likely to end up. Not minus a hundred or any of these silly numbers.'

Theresa May (pictured in Downing Street last night) has vowed to defend the 'important principle' that government legal advice is confidentialDr Alan James leaving his tribunal hearing in Manchester

An Oxford-educated surgeon beat up his future wife during a drunken argument after he accused her flirting with another doctor at a works Christmas party, a tribunal heard yesterday.

Dr Alan James, 48, pinned the woman onto a bed and slapped her in the face after they had a furious row during which she told him: 'I should have gone back with your colleague instead.'

James, a Consultant in Upper Gastrointestinal and Laparoscopic Surgery at East Surrey hospital in Redhill was later taken to a nearby police station where officers found him in possession of eight Ecstasy tablets.

The unnamed woman received injuries to the left side of her face and knee in the incident.

The father of two - a keen guitarist - said the drugs had been bought during a music festival but he had not taken any of them.

He admitted assaulting the woman saying the incident was a 'source of regret to him.'

He and his victim later rekindled their romance and subsequently married.

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service was told the assault occurred on December 3, 2016 after the couple and other medical colleagues had been out celebrating their annual festive outing.

Carlo Breen, lawyer for the General Medical Council told the Manchester hearing: 'She had been drinking and so had he, they had then argued. Dr James became violent, he pinned her to the floor and punched her to her left ear. At the police station, he was found to be in possession of a bag of eight pills.

'He admitted assaulting her and told officers that both parties had been on a work Christmas dinner. They stayed out for some drinks and he described an argument when they returned home. Words were exchanged that irritated Dr James.

'She says that Dr James dragged her upstairs, he manhandled her to the bedroom and held her on the bed. He says he was intoxicated but not hugely. He told police that he lost control and that both parties were physically fighting. He said the circumstances were a source of regret to him.'

The hearing was told James pleaded guilty to charges of assault by beating and possession of a class A controlled drug at Redhill Magistrates' Court on January 5 last year.

He was sentenced to a community order made up of 20 rehabilitation requirement days and 100 hours of unpaid work over 12 months. He was also fined 1,000.

The doctor who lives in Redhill now faces a fitness to practise medicine panel which could strike him off.

At the hearing James who read medicine at Kings College London before studying for an MA at Oxford confessed: 'I can recall the incident, I slapped her. It was hard once and then two further times which were not hard. I had had quite a lot to drink, probably two glasses of wine and around five pints of beer.

The surgeon went on to marry his girlfriend who he attacked after a row in December 2016. He accused his fiancee of flirting with another man

'I feel utterly dreadful about it. As soon as I had calmed down I felt like that. It was a confusing time having to deal with having done something like that, I think one looks for excuses as to reasons why, but there is no excuse.

'I don't believe that I have an issue with anger. She knocked over my guitar but it was not that that prompted it, it was what she said. The words were that she should have gone home with a colleague of mine.

'Earlier in the evening she had been flirting with a colleague, I interpreted that as a very provocative insult. I still work with that individual in the department, I supported them in their application for consultant. We have a good working relationship.

'I am not and never have been a habitual user of drugs. I have no intention of taking any drugs in the future.

'I had encountered ecstasy in the past at music festivals years ago. I put them in a tin at the festival and left them in my coat pocket from then until December. I did not think about them in that time.

'I still go to music festivals now, I have not taken any drugs. If offered any in the future I would just say no to them. Clearly it was not very intelligent for me to be carrying a packet of pills in my coat or for me to pick that coat up as I was arrested.'

Referring to his wife he added: 'There were problems with communication and the relationship and I have since undergone a process of reflection. This reflection episode and looking at the way we communicate in the relationship has been beneficial to us, aside from the awful cause for it.

'There were some aspects of my behaviour that needed addressing. Drinking alcohol was obviously a factor in that episode. I do enjoy drinking alcohol.

'There had been tensions in the relationship so this was the kick off of all these things. We have both been shocked and dismayed by this.

'The sessions that I have had with the probation service have made me calmer at work.

'There were some aspects of work and stress which had perhaps contributed to this. I immediately reported this matter to the trust and following my conviction I stepped down from my clinical leader role.

'I thought it was not right for me to be the clinical leader for trauma, having caused trauma myself.

'I have no history before the GMC before and have never been accused of malpractice. This process has been important to me. Looking further forward I would like to get through this process and continue working.

'I am more resilient, capable and aware in both my relationship with my wife and with work.

'Having learnt how awful it feels to have done this, it has been a powerful lesson. I did a course on domestic violence, I have attended a course on professional behaviour.'

The hearing continues.Advertisement

Numerous migrants stuck on the threshold of the United States in Mexico breached the border fence on Monday, risking almost certain detention by US authorities but hoping the illegal entry will allow them to apply for asylum.

Thousands of Central Americans, mostly from Honduras, have traveled north through Mexico towards the United States in a caravan, some walking much of the long trek, since mid-October.

President Donald Trump has vowed to stop the migrants entering, sending troops to reinforce the border and attempting a procedural change, so far denied by the courts, to require asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico while their cases are heard.

Frustrated and exhausted after weeks of uncertainty, many of the migrants have become desperate since getting stuck in squalid camps in the Mexican border city of Tijuana.

So a number - including women and children - opted to eschew legal procedures and attempt an illegal entry from Tijuana as dusk fell on Monday at a spot about 1,500 feet (450 meters) away from the Pacific Ocean.

Scroll down for video

A woman climbs the border wall, planning to surrender to border guards as she crosses from Playas de Tijuana, Mexico

Central American migrants look through to the United States before climbing the metal barrier separating Mexico and the US

A Central American migrant who has been travelling in a caravan hoping to get to the United States, smiles after climbing over the metal barrier

In less than an hour, Reuters reporters observed roughly two dozen people climb the approximately 10-foot (3-meter) fence made of thick sheets and pillars of metal.

They chose a place in a large overgrown ditch where the fence is slightly lower.

Just before dusk, three thin people squeezed through the fence on the beach and were quickly picked up by the US Border Patrol, witnesses said.

But along the border inland as darkness descended, more and more migrants followed, many bringing children.

Some used a blanket as a rope to help loved ones get over.

A mother and her children made it over the first fence and disappeared into the night. The sight of them climbing the fence encouraged others, even as a helicopter patrolled overhead on the US side.

A woman looks on as she waits for others climbing the metal barrier from Playas de Tijuana in Mexico into the US

A migrant family looks back at the border fence that divides the US and Mexico near Las Playas de Tijuana after jumping the fence

Honduran migrants react as they surrender to the US Border Patrol after crossing the border wall in to the United States

A migrant girl climbs over the U.S.-Mexico border fence into San Diego, California, from Tijuana, Mexico, on Monday evening

A girl is hoisted up as Central American migrants planning to surrender to US border guards climb over the border wall

Members of the migrant caravan climb over the U.S.-Mexico border fence in Tijuana, Mexico. Many making the crossing had planned to request political asylum in the United States

A group of migrants caught by US border patrol after they cross over the US border from Playas de Tijuana in Tijuana, Mexico

Earlier, Karen Mayeni, a 29-year-old Honduran, sized up the fence while clinging to her three children, aged six, 11 and 12.

'We're just observing, waiting to see what happens,' Mayeni said. 'We'll figure out what to do in a couple of days.'

Ninety minutes later, she and her family were over the fence.

A number of the migrants ran to try to escape capture, but most of them walked slowly to where US Border Patrol officials were waiting under floodlights to hand themselves in.

Some of the migrants are likely to be economic refugees without a strong asylum claim, but others tell stories of receiving politically motivated death threats in a region troubled by decades of instability and violence.

A man lowers a boy down from the border wall, as migrants planning to surrender to US border guards cross over from Playas de Tijuana, Mexico

Migrants traveling with children talk to a waiting US Border Patrol agent just inside San Ysidro, California, after they climbed over the border wall

Applying for asylum at a US land border can take months, so if migrants enter illegally and present themselves to authorities, their cases could be heard quicker.

US officials have restricted applications through the Chaparral gate in Tijuana to between 40 and 100 per day.

Some may hope to defeat the odds and penetrate one of the most fortified sections of the southern U.S. border.

Those that made it across the fence in Tijuana still had to scramble up a hill and contend with a more forbidding wall to reach California, and U.S. Border Patrol agents had the territory between the two barriers heavily covered.

'Climb up. You can do it! Stand on my head!' one migrant said, egging his companion on.

One child and his mother got over the fence and ran up the hill behind. They turned around and waved to those still on the Mexican side.Hogogo/iStock(WASHINGTON) -- President Donald Trump on Monday tweeted optimistically that relations between the United States and China have taken a BIG leap forward! and predicted that very good things will happen after he reached a temporary truce with Chinas President Xi Jinping in the ongoing trade war over the course of a three-hour-long dinner on the sidelines of the G-20 summit this weekend.

My meeting in Argentina with President Xi of China was an extraordinary one. Relations with China have taken a BIG leap forward! Very good things will happen. We are dealing from great strength, but China likewise has much to gain if and when a deal is completed. Level the field!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2018

President Xi and I have a very strong and personal relationship. He and I are the only two people that can bring about massive and very positive change, on trade and far beyond, between our two great Nations. A solution for North Korea is a great thing for China and ALL!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2018

The president tweeted directly to U.S. farmers, some of whom have suffered as a result of Chinese counter-tariffs, to say Farmers, I LOVE YOU!

Farmers will be a a very BIG and FAST beneficiary of our deal with China. They intend to start purchasing agricultural product immediately. We make the finest and cleanest product in the World, and that is what China wants. Farmers, I LOVE YOU!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2018

The presidents Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, told reporters Monday that there will be specific changes right away" to help the agricultural industry, even as the majority of the tentative agreement remains to be worked out over a 90-day-period agreed upon between the U.S. and China.



The president also declared in a tweet late Sunday night that China has agreed to reduce and remove tariffs on cars, though he didn't offer any further details.

China has agreed to reduce and remove tariffs on cars coming into China from the U.S. Currently the tariff is 40%.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2018

Despite the president's detailed claim, the president's top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, said Monday that there is no "specific" agreement on what level Chinese auto tariffs will drop to, while Mnuchin said the two leaders had specific discussions on where auto tariffs will come down to but said he wasnt in a position to publicly reveal what the numbers in the tentative agreement are, nor did he clarify whether tariffs will be completely removed or reduced.



Mnuchin cast the weekend dinner as a breakthrough in the trade standoff with China and said there were very, very specific items that the two leaders agreed to have incorporated into a broader agreement that has yet to be finalized.

Theres a specific understanding that were going to now turn the agreement the presidents have into a real agreement over the 90 days, Mnuchin told reporters during a gaggle outside the West Wing, while the president was busy tweeting on the topic and said he has a very strong and personal relationship with President Xi.



The negotiations for a final agreement have already begun, Kudlow said.



Stuff is happening today, Kudlow said. We want to move ... much of the credibility of this discussion will hinge on rapid movement and implementation of the Chinese commitments and they know that and this is something we specifically talked about.



While Mnuchin said the president reserves the right to escalate tariffs should negotiations not pan out as planned, he cast the weekends talks as a breakthrough in the administrations efforts to check China and said the discussion included everything from purchasing more U.S. goods to intellectual property, to currency manipulation.

This is the first time there was a commitment for an agreement from China that the agreement will contain specific dates, specific action items, Mnuchin told reporters. This is not going to be just kicking the can down the road.



Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.A boat captain who was smuggling cocaine for one of El Chapo's drug lords sank 20,000kg into the sea after he became paranoid and 'went crazy' snorting the narcotics himself, a court heard.

The haul of drugs was being sent to Sinaloa in Mexico around 300 miles along the Mexican coast for one of Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman's lieutenants, Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia, also known as 'El Chupeta' or 'Lollipop' in English.

But the boat's captain started taking the drugs himself and began 'seeing ghosts' and thought the American Coast Guard were closing in on the ship so dumped the entire stash of narcotics into the ocean, Ramirez told Brooklyn federal court yesterday.

The 55-year-old told the jury he was then flown in a helicopter with the help of the Mexican federal police to try and recover the missing drugs, but could see 'nothing other than sea'.

Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia told the Brooklyn federal court of the extent of the Sinaloa cartel's drug smuggling operation

A handcuffed Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman is made to face the press as he is escorted to a helicopter by Mexican soldiers and marines at a federal hangar in Mexico City in 2016

Colombian drug lord, Ramirez said: 'He [the captain] started to see ghosts everywhere and American Coast Guard everywhere, and he sunk the ship.

'When I saw all that sea, I became very sad. I was down. I said, 'They're never going to find it.'

The court did not hear any evidence about what happened to the ship's captain.

Amado Carrillo, another high-ranking member of the Sinaloa cartel, sent out divers to try to find the over-board cocaine, but it was only found a year later, the court heard.

After this incident a member of Ramirez's crew escorted the drugs to the destination.

In a separate voyage, a hurricane also sank a ship carrying 40,000kgs of El Chapo's cocaine - worth a around $42 million.

The boat, its crew and the drugs were never found, Ramirez told the court.

Ramirez was arrested in Brazil in 2007 and extradited to the United States after he attempted to disguise his appearance by undergoing a series of face-altering surgeries.

Colombia's Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia arrives to a federal police station after being arrested in Sao Paulo in 2007

El Chapo's son, Ivan Guzman, posted this huge stash of cash to his Facebook page

He pleaded guilty in 2010 to drug trafficking charges and is currently being held in a US federal prison.

During an earlier hearing he told the federal jury he used El Chapo's Sinaloa cartel to move more than 440 tons of cocaine.

Ramirez estimated that while leading the Norte de Valle cartel in Columbia, he ordered at least 150 killings.

He tried to hide his identity by surgically altering his eyes, cheeks, jaw and nearly every other facial feature.

Investigators were only able to confirm his identity using a voiceprint analysis of his taped telephone conversations.

Ramierez also told the court he had a cartel business model that included a division entirely devoted to using drug money to bribe authorities to 'not do their jobs' to enforce drug laws.

He testified that it was clear Guzman, 61, had similar arrangements when he flew planes loaded with Colombian cocaine to Mexico, where they were greeted by police officers who helped unload the goods.

El Chapo's son, Ivan Guzman, posted this picture of a gold-plated AK-47 in his Ferrari on Instagram

Alfredo Guzman, the son of El Chapo, posted this picture of his lion cub and his Bentley on social media

Another witness described how the Sinaloa cartel was smuggling tons of cocaine into the United States through tunnels dug under the border, in tanker trucks with secret compartments, even in fake chili pepper and jalapeno cans.

Workers packing the coke into the cans 'got intoxicated because whenever you would press the kilos, it would release cocaine into the air', former cartel member Miguel Angel Martinez told the court.

The court also heard El Chapo was so rich, he had a private zoo with big cats, bought a $10 million beach house, had three private jets and traveled to Switzerland for an anti-aging treatment.

During the trial at the New York City courthouse, Guzman pleaded not guilty to drug-trafficking charges that could land him in a U.S. prison for life if he is convicted.

Guzman was extradited to the U.S. last year from Mexico and has pleaded not guilty to drug-trafficking charges, with his lawyers claiming he is being framed by his former employees who have turned informants.Police searching for a British animal trainer who is missing in Tenerife have found a woman's body near the spot where she disappeared.

The remains were discovered in the sea opposite the lighthouse in the city of Puerto de la Cruz where 28-year-old Amy Gerard, who was originally from Grimsby, lived.

A police spokesman said: 'I can confirm a woman's body has been found in the sea.

'It is too early to say at this stage whether it is that of the missing Briton or not.'

Amy Louise Gerard, 28, (pictured left with mother Julie and sister Chloe) was filmed dancing inside an Irish bar in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, in the early hours of Friday morning

On Tuesday police discovered a woman's remains in the ocean, but say it is too early to know whether they belong to Amy

University-educated Amy describes herself on social media as a killer whale trainer at Tenerife marine theme park Loro Parque

The body was found around 11.30am local time, shortly after a land, air and sea search was resumed for missing Amy.

The remains are believed to have been spotted by a Civil Guard helicopter before being recovered form the sea by one of the boats involved in the search.

A source close to the inquiry said: 'The body was in a very bad state. A post-mortem will take place later.

'It is far too early at this stage to determine how death occurred and whether it was accidental or not.'

A witness said: 'A helicopter was hovering near the sea wall and a few moments later a boat involved in the search operation, a Red Cross rigid-inflatable boat, went out with its light flashing.

'Around 20 minutes it came back. The police had arrived in that time and taped off a section of the harbour wall by a fairground.

'Two police cars and a van turned up and officers were pushing people back. The boat pulled up against the side of the harbour wall and a diver got up, was handed some blankets and they put up a screen of blankets before removing the body.'

Amys loved ones, who have flown to Tenerife, are thought to have been informed of the development.

It comes after video was uncovered showing Amy singing along to The Pogues song Fairytale of New York in the Molly Malone Irish pub in Puerto de la Cruz in the early hours of Friday morning.

She can be seen holding hands with German boyfriend Dennis Kissling as she dances along with her colleagues before turning to the camera to blow a kiss, according to footage obtained by The Sun.

Brendan Reid Spencer, who owns the bar, said Molly arrived with six colleagues around 11pm on Thursday to celebrate a friend's birthday and listen to live music.

Moments after the footage was taken she left the bar with her boyfriend before they parted ways at the entrance, and she has not been seen since.

The remains were discovered close to the lighthouse in the town of Puerto de la Cruz (file image) and near to where Amy was last seen

Ms Gerard arrived at the bar around 11pm on Thursday last week to celebrate a friend's birthday and listen to live music

Minutes after the video was taken she walked outside the bar (pictured) with her boyfriend. The pair parted ways at the door, and she hasn't been seen since

Friends and loved ones have described Amy's disappearance as totally out of character and admitted they are worried.

A Spanish missing persons' association has also appealed for information about her whereabouts.

A spokesman for Tenerife's National Police, which is leading the hunt for Amy Louise, confirmed she had been reported as missing.

He said: 'An investigation is open and we are searching for her but I am not not in a position to specify what work is being done.

'She was officially reported as missing by a friend on Saturday morning.

'The information we have is that she was last seen just before 1am on Friday in Puerto de la Cruz.'

A well-placed source said a police force murder squad had been alerted, but described it as a 'routine move' in missing people cases and insisted it did not mean investigators had any proof the Brit expat had been the victim of foul play.

University-educated Ms Gerard describes herself on social media as a killer whale trainer at Tenerife marine theme park Loro Parque, which is home to orca whale Morgan.

Ms Gerard, who lives in Puerto de la Cruz and studied animal behaviour science at the University of Lincoln, has also worked as a marine mammal trainer at a zoo in France.

Ms Gerard, who is around 5ft 8ins tall, with curly blonde hair and blue eyes, was last seen outside Molly Malone bar in Puerto de la Cruz just after midnight on Thursday.

Ms Gerard's mother Julie and her sister Chloe, both from Grimsby, have flown out to Tenerife along with Chloe's finance Mike Dolan, 35.

Mrs Gerard was too upset to speak this afternoon.

But Mr Dolan said: 'We are extremely concerned as this is totally out of character for Amy.

'Because it is so out of character we flew out to Tenerife as soon as we could to speak to the police and friends.

'The barman at the pub she was last seen in said she left just before 1am on Thursday but we're still trying to piece together the events of that night.

'We're doing everything we can including trying to see if there's CCTV that could help and speaking to taxi drivers.

'We've spent the morning in the police station.

She described herself online as a killer whale trainer who worked at Loro Parque Sea World in Tenerife, where she met her boyfriend

Friends and family said the disappearance was entirely out of character for Amy and admitted they were worried for her safety

'Her friends thought something was amiss on Friday and went to the police station but were told that they should come back the following day if she didn't turn up at work as scheduled to officially report her as missing.

'That was what they did when she didn't show for work on the Saturday. She wasn't due in to work on the Friday.'

He added: 'Amy wasn't a big drinker. She had to be in good shape for her work so like her colleagues who work with animals, she just didn't do the party lifestyle.

'We've ruled out the idea she might have come out the pub the worse for wear and fallen somewhere on her way home because that was just not Amy.

'She was with a female friend as far as we understand but we haven't been able to speak to her yet.

'We would urge anyone who has seen Amy or has any information on what happened that night or where she might be to contact police.

'We're not exactly sure at the moment what police are doing but we know they're taking it seriously and are looking for her and trying to find out what's happened.'

Friend Tonette Smith said: 'Just so everyone knows this is a local lass.

'Amy Louise Gerard from Cleethorpes lives in Tenerife working with sea mammals.

'Amy has been missing since Thursday midnight. She loves her work and is grounded, she is not flighty.

'Amy is beautiful inside and outside.'

Ms Gerard is understood to be married to a British personal trainer called Ryan Docherty who is thought to be back in the UK.

The fitness fanatic, from Grimsby, Lincolnshire, has also used social media to urge anyone with information on her whereabouts to call police.

Ms Gerard has been using her maiden surname in recent months - the one featuring on the missing posters in English and Spanish - rather than her married name.

Laura Mumby said alongside a photo of Ms Gerard on a missing poster: 'If you or anyone you know is going to Tenerife or the Canary Islands soon, please keep an eye out for Amy who has been missing since Thursday.

Police had been appealing for information on Amy's whereabouts

'We are all very concerned. This is so out of character.'

Ms Gerard's university flatmate Natalie Taylor added: 'Please if anyone knows anything or has seen Amy Louise Gerard can they please get in touch.

'Friends and family are increasingly worried. Amy was my flatmate at uni and she is amazing.'

Pal Stacey Dawes said: 'This is not like Amy to go missing. We just want her home safe now.'

Ms Gerard's mum Julie, who is helping to publicise her daughter's disappearance, wrote on Facebook: 'Thanks to everyone for sharing this information.

'It's not like my daughter to go missing and not contact us.

'We're all very worried and need new information. Please contact the police if you've seen or heard anything from Amy since Thursday night. We want her found as soon as possible.'

A worker at Loro Parque confirmed Amy worked at the Tenerife marine theme park but said no-one was available for comment.

If you have information about Amy's whereabouts, in UK you can call 0800 098 8485, overseas call +44800 098 8485 or email ops@lbtrust.orgThe UK can unilaterally revoke Article 50 without EU member states' permission, an EU legal adviser said today in a significant boost to Remainers who say it paves the way for Brexit to be cancelled.

The legal adviser at the European Court of Justice has concluded Britain would not need approval from the 27 other states to halt the process - and could retain the same membership terms.

The opinion from Advocate General Manuel Campos Sanchez-Bordona comes after months of legal wrangling - with both the EU and the UK government trying to kill the case off.

The advice suggests if the PM's deal is voted down and the UK voted Remain in a second referendum before 29 March next year, Brexit could be stopped in its tracks.

Tory MP Dominic Grieve, who backs a second referendum, said the news was 'clearly significant'.

'It is certainly helpful as it removes one of the arguments that they would not allow us to change our minds,' he said.

Hitting back at the legal advice, the PM's spokesman said: 'The position of the Government has always been that it will not be revoked.'

The developments came as Theresa May prepares to open the Commons debate on her Brexit deal, with defeat looking inevitable in an historic vote next week.

With the threat of a constitutional crisis mounting and the formal date for leaving the EU just months away, politicians have been desperately casting around for options.

While the Advocate General's opinions are not binding, the court tends to follow them in its final rulings.

Theresa May (left in Downing Street today) is struggling to get her Brexit deal through the Commons, as Attorney General Geoffrey Cox (right, on his way to cabinet today) faces the threat of a contempt charge from MPs for refusing to publish his legal advice

Mrs May held a Cabinet meeting this morning as she faces the toughest week of her political career with just seven days until the crunch Brexit vote, which looks set to be defeated.

The advice piles fresh pressure on Mrs May as she faces one of the most testing days of her political career.

At home in the House of Commons, MPs will today mount an historic bid to hold Attorney General Geoffrey Cox in contempt of Parliament for refusing to publish all the legal advice given on the PM's Brexit deal.

How could revoking the Article 50 process 'cancel' Brexit? The ECJ's legal adviser has concluded that the UK can still legally choose to withdraw Article 50, and keep current membership terms of the EU without permission from other countries.

Article 50 was invoked by the government on 29 March 2017, and dictates that Britain will leave the union on 29 March 2019.

Revoking it would effectively cancel Brexit and render pointless the last two years of preparations - and Theresa May insists she has no intention of doing it.

If the power was ever used, it would most likely be under a new prime minister following a second referendum.

Parliament would still need to vote for withdrawal of Article 50 - which was triggered with a big majority in 2016.

Some observers have speculated that the government could revoke Article 50 and immediately invoke it again, giving Britain another two years to negotiate another Brexit deal.

But a caveat in the Advocate General's conclusions says the use of Article 50 cannot 'involve an abusive practice' - seemingly warning against it being used tactically to seek a better Brexit deal. Advertisement

It comes after Mr Cox dismissed demands to publish his private legal opinion to the Cabinet - and effectively dared MPs to suspend him.

Ministers insist legal confidentiality is an important point of principle and revealing the material would hurt the national interest.

Instead they published a 40-plus page assessment of the package thrashed out with Brussels.

But MPs complained the summary legal advice released did not comply with a Commons vote last month.

In extraordinary scenes in the chamber last night, Speaker John Bercow agreed there was an 'arguable case that a contempt has been committed' after Tory Eurosceptics, Labour, the DUP, the SNP and Lib Dems joined forces.

But if the motion is passed today, ministers held to be responsible could in theory be suspended from Parliament.

Today's advice from Luxembourg came after a group of British politicians brought the case.

The position was revealed in response to the question of whether an EU member state such as the UK can decide on its own to revoke Article 50.

Parliament would still need to vote for withdrawal of Article 50 - which was triggered with a big majority in 2016.

Some lawyers believe that primary legislation would need to be passed, as was the case when the Brexit process was invoked.

The opinion, which is not binding on the court, comes just a week after the case was heard at the ECJ following a referral from Scotland's highest civil court, the Court of Session.

Government lawyers had argued the case was inadmissible as it deals with a hypothetical situation, as the Government's policy is not to revoke Article 50.

Lawyers representing the Council of the European Union and from the European Commission argued that revocation was possible but would require unanimous agreement from all member states.

Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd (left) and Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay (right) were among the ministers at Cabinet today

But Mr Campos Sanchez-Bordona said the law 'allows the unilateral revocation of the notification of the intention to withdraw from the EU'.

'That possibility continues to exist until the withdrawal agreement is formally concluded,' the court's statement said.

To be valid, revocation must be 'decided in accordance with the constitutional rules' of the member state and be the subject of a 'formal communication' to EU leaders, the court said.

However, there was a caveat in the Advocate General's conclusions that the used of Article 50 by member states should not 'involve an abusive practice' - seemingly warning against it being used tactically to seek a better Brexit deal.

Ex Bank of England Governor Mervyn King savages May's deal Mervyn King (file pic) slammed Theresa May for signing up to the hated backstop plan, warning it gives the EU 'a veto on ending this state of fiefdom' The former Governor of the Bank of England today lashed the PM's Brexit deal - branding it the 'worst of all worlds'. Mervyn King slammed Theresa May for signing up to the hated backstop plan, warning it gives the EU 'a veto on ending this state of fiefdom'. He said the UK is confronting a 'deep political crisis' comparable to appeasement with Nazi Germany in the 1930s and the era of economic chaos of the 1970s. But he warned that the political class is hopelessly failing to live up to the challenge and refusing to carry out the kind of Brexit people voted for. In an article for Bloomberg, Lord King said: 'The Withdrawal Agreement is less a carefully crafted diplomatic compromise and more the result of incompetence of a high order. 'I have friends who are passionate Remainers and others who are passionate Leavers. 'None of them believe this deal makes any sense. It is time to think again, and the first step is to reject a deal that is the worst of all worlds.' Advertisement

The case was brought forward in February by a group of Scottish politicians - Labour MEPs Catherine Stihler and David Martin, Joanna Cherry MP and Alyn Smith MEP of the SNP, and Green MSPs Andy Wightman and Ross Greer, together with lawyer Jolyon Maugham QC, director of the Good Law Project.

Their request for the Court of Session to refer the question of whether Article 50 can be unilaterally revoked to the ECJ was initially refused, before that ruling was overturned on appeal.

Two attempts by the UK Government, which is contesting the case, to appeal against the referral to the European court were rejected.

In other developments in Brexit, Mrs May is set to launch a desperate appeal for MPs back her controversial divorce deal.

She is facing overwhelming opposition, with 101 mutinous Tory MPs indicating they will vote against it, while Labour, the DUP and the SNP are all vehemently opposed too.

The PM is widely expected to be defeated when the crunch vote is held on December 11 - and the question is how big and humiliating the defeat will be.

She will make yet another appearance at the Commons despatch box today to urge MPs to protect jobs and the economy by backing her deal.

Her words will kick start five days of fierce Brexit debate in the Parliament in the run up to next Tuesday's crunch vote.

But as Mrs May continues to desperately try to pick off Tory rebels, former Bank of England Governor Mervyn King unleashed a fresh attack on her deal, branding it the 'worst of all worlds'.

Mr King slammed Mrs May for signing up to the hated backstop plan, warning it gives the EU 'a veto on ending this state of fiefdom'.

He said the UK is confronting a 'deep political crisis' comparable to appeasement with Nazi Germany in the 1930s and the era of economic chaos of the 1970s.

But he warned that the political class is hopelessly failing to live up to the challenge and refusing to carry out the kind of Brexit people voted for.

In an article for Bloomberg, Lord King said: 'The Withdrawal Agreement is less a carefully crafted diplomatic compromise and more the result of incompetence of a high order.

'I have friends who are passionate Remainers and others who are passionate Leavers.

'None of them believe this deal makes any sense. It is time to think again, and the first step is to reject a deal that is the worst of all worlds.'

 A previous version of this article incorrectly referred to Manuel Campos Sanchez-Bordona as a 'judge' of the European Court of Justice. We are happy to clarify that he is in fact an Advocate General.

MPs slam ministers for refusing to release full Brexit deal legal advice as Attorney General faces being SUSPENDED from Commons - but May vows she WON'T back down

A slew of MPs condemned ministers for refusing to release the full Brexit deal legal advice today - as Theresa May vowed she will not back down.

Amid a crucial test of strength between the House of Commons and the government, Labour's Keir Starmer warned that ministers are committing contempt of Parliament.

Tory rebels, the DUP, the SNP and Lib Dems joined the attack amid threats that Attorney General Geoffrey Cox could be suspended as a punishment.

But, as Mr Cox looked on in the chamber, Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom said the government was defending an important principle that legal advice should stay confidential.

She also insisted MPs should not take it on themselves to rule on whether there had been a contempt - arguing that ministers should have 'due process' of an investigation by the Privileges Committee.

Attorney General Geoffrey Cox (pictured in the Commons with Leader of the House Andrea Leadsom today) is facing the threat of suspension after refusing to disclose legal advice

There was a ray of hope for the government as some Brexiteers including Jacob Rees-Mogg declared that they would be backing the government's amendment for a referral to the committee.

Kicking off the titanic constitutional clash in the the chamber this afternoon, Sir Keir accused ministers of ignoring a 'binding motion' passed by the Commons.

'That is contempt,' he said.

The standoff between the House and the government is thought to be unprecedented in modern times.

Ministers insist legal confidentiality is an important point of principle and revealing the material would hurt the national interest. Instead they published a 40-plus page assessment of the package thrashed out with Brussels.

But if the motion is passed today, the pressure to issue the full advice could become unbearable.A young boy from Victoria has been hailed as a hero for saving his father's life after noticing he was behaving strangely.

Phoenix, eight, woke up one Saturday morning to discover his father Marcus Pool couldn't move or form coherent sentences.

The eight-year-old, who was accompanied by his younger sister Winter Paget, four, called his mother Amalie Paget and told her 'daddy's not making sense'.

She urged her son to call Triple Zero for help.

'If Phoenix hadn't made that call he wouldn't have Marcus. He'd be dead,' said Ms Paget, according to Seven News.

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Marcus Pool (pictured) was saved when his eight-year-old son Phoenix made a triple zero phone call

Mr Pool can be heard in the background telling his son he was 'proud' of him for making the Triple Zero call

In a recorded phone conversation, paramedics urged Phoenix to ask his father to raise his arms above his head and smile.

'Dad, can you raise both arms above your head, like this?' Phoenix was heard saying.

'Watch me. Can you you do this?'

The young boy told the paramedics his father wasn't responding.

'Well the paramedics are coming as quickly as they can so hopefully they'll get there nice and soon,' emergency authorities said.

Mr Pool can be heard in the background telling his son he was 'proud' of him for making the Triple Zero call.

'He just said that I'm doing such a good job and that he's proud of me,' Phoenix told the paramedics.

Phoenix (pictured) made the life-saving phone call to ambulance when he noticed his father wasn't unable to move

'The fact that she, at three, was able to stand by him and provide him a lot of support and comfort and to provide such a beautiful, calm energy in that room was just fantastic,' Ms Doggett said

When paramedic Philippa Doggett came to Mr Pool's aid, she noticed four-year-old Winter had stayed by her father's side while Phoenix called for help.

'The fact that she, at three, was able to stand by him and provide him a lot of support and comfort and to provide such a beautiful, calm energy in that room was just fantastic,' Ms Doggett said.

The following Sunday afternoon, the family were told Mr Pool had meningococcal septicaemia - a deadly type of blood poisoning.

Mr Pool has not been able to leave hospital since being diagnosed with the infection three months ago.

Phoenix (left) and Winter (right) have been both hailed as heroes for their act of bravery

The father-of-two had his legs amputated last Wednesday.

'Still trying to get my head around that, obviously, from an adjustment perspective,' he told The Project on Tuesday.

Ms Paget said she was 'grateful' the father-of-two was still 'alive'.

Mr Pool said his son was his 'hero'.

'Hopefully I can pay him back over the years,' he said.

'I'm not sure how many Lego sets that will cost me though.'

The young brother and sister have been recognised for their bravery by Ambulance Victoria.Lawyers for US president Donald Trump have asked a court for nearly $800,000 in lawyers' fees and penalties from porn actress Stormy Daniels over a failed defamation lawsuit against him.

Attorney Charles Harder defended racking up a $390,000 legal bill for the president, and asked for an equal amount in sanctions as a deterrent against a 'repeat filer of frivolous defamation cases'.

At a Los Angeles court, Judge S James Otero did not immediately make a ruling.

Attorney Charles Harder has demanded that Stormy Daniels pay his $390,000 legal bill and an equal amount in sanctions as a deterrent against a 'repeat filer of frivolous defamation cases'

He noted that fees by Mr Harder's firm  as high as $840 an hour  were reasonable but the 580 hours spent on the case appeared to be excessive and might be trimmed in his eventual award.

Mr Harder had not put a dollar figure on sanctions he was seeking before the hearing, and Ms Daniels' lawyer Michael Avenatti objected vehemently, calling it 'absurd and outrageous'.

'You can't just pick a number out of thin air in an effort to put my client under Donald Trump's thumb and intimidate her,' Mr Avenatti said.

Ms Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, alleges she had a one-night affair with Mr Trump in 2006.

She sued him earlier this year seeking to break a non-disclosure agreement she signed days before the 2016 election about the tryst as part of a $130,000 hush money settlement.

Ms Daniels tried and failed to sue President Donald Trump seeking to break a non-disclosure agreement over their alleged affair

Ms Daniels' lawyer Michael Avenatti objected vehemently, calling it 'absurd and outrageous'

President Trump has denied the affair, but essentially acknowledges the payment to Ms Daniels.

Despite the deal to stay quiet, Ms Daniels spoke out publicly and alleged that five years after the affair she was threatened to keep quiet by a man she did not recognise in a Las Vegas car park. She also released a composite sketch of the mystery man.

She sued Trump for defamation after he responded to the allegation by tweeting: 'A sketch years later about a nonexistent man. A total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)!'

Judge Otero ruled in October that Trump's statement was 'rhetorical hyperbole' against a political adversary and was protected speech under the First Amendment.

Although the lawsuit did not get far before Judge Otero rejected it, he said it was a 'one of a kind' case that demanded a fair bit of legal work.

'Given a case of this magnitude, you have to err on the side of being thorough,' Judge Otero said.

Ms Daniels has appealed Judge Otero's decision and Mr Avenatti said he expects to prevail at a higher court.Italian police have arrested the new head of the Sicilian mafia - just before he was due to be officially anointed the 'boss of bosses' of the feared Cosa Nostra.

Pictures show 80-year-old jeweller Settimo Mineo being away after he was detained in the Italian island's capital, Palermo, this morning.

A further 45 other alleged mobsters were also rounded up in a powerful blow to organised crime on the Mediterranean island, Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Tuesday, adding that there was 'no more room for this type of scum in Italy'.

Police say Mineo was already head of the Cosa Nostra (Our Thing) mafia in the Palermo region but was also just about to be anointed the overall 'boss of bosses' at a reconvened Mafia Commission or Cupola.

Italian police have arrested the new head of the Sicilian mafia - just before he was due to be anointed the head of the feared Cosa Nostra. Pictures show officers leading 80-year-old jeweller Settimo Mineo (pictured today) away after he was detained in the Italian island's capital, Palermo, this morning

Salvatore 'Toto' Riina (pictured centre in Bologna's bunker-courtroom, escorted by Carabinieri, Italian paramiliary police, in 1996) died on November 17 after suffering from cancer

Police also arrested three other Cupola members in the swoop. The four senior Mafia leaders had all recently served prison time for their activities.

The previous godfather, Salvatore 'Toto' Riina, died in prison last year after spending almost a quarter of century behind bars for ordering dozens of murders, including those of two of Italy's most famous anti-mob magistrates.

Dubbed The Beast, he was one of the most feared leaders in the history of the Sicilian Mafia. He was buried in November last year in his hometown of Corleone, the real-life mafia hotbed made famous by the 'Godfather' films and book.

Riina had been serving 26 life sentences when he succumbed to cancer aged 87. His death fuelled speculation that it was the end for the Sicilian Mafia.

But a resurgent Cosa Nostra managed to rebuild the Cupola which met earlier this year for the first time since 1993 and was due to appoint Mineo official heir to the notorious mobster.

A police source said Mineo was elected boss at a meeting of provincial leaders of the Sicilian mafia on May 29.

Italian media reported that police obtained crucial information by tapping the phone of one of the senior arrested members, Francesco Colletti.

He reportedly told his driver about details of the Cupola meeting, describing it as 'a beautiful meeting, very serious, with country people, old people.'

Palermo prosecutor Francesco Lo Voi told journalists that the Cupola meeting was identified thanks to phone taps and that the main topic at the meeting had been 'rules'.

'The need to reestablish certain rules that Cosa Nostra had lost along the way, they were applied less because of the organisation's overall disorganisation,' Lo Voi said.

Police say Mineo had recently been named the overall head of the island's mafia, known as 'Cosa Nostra' (Our Thing). But he was also just about to be officially anointed the overall head of Cosa Nostra at a reconvened Mafia Commission or Cupola, the police said

Salvatore 'Toto' Riina, one of the most feared godfathers in the history of the Sicilian Mafia, was buried in November last year in his hometown of Corleone, Italy in a private ceremony. His coffin is pictured above

'We deduced that it was a Cupola meeting because important Cosa Nostra members... were not allowed to take part,' he said.

'These people, despite being heads of families, were kept outside because only regional bosses could take part.'

It is not known where the Cupola meeting took place, but Colletti's conversation with his driver implicated Mineo and others.

Colletti reportedly rejoiced in the resurrected Cupola, which was to be an improvement on Riina's 'tyranny'.

'We all got up and kissed,' Colletti reportedly said of the end of the meeting.

Once all-powerful on Sicily, the world's most famous crime gang has been squeezed over the past two decades, with many bosses put behind bars, businesses sequestered and locals increasingly ready to defy it.

Italian police in March arrested 11 suspected gangsters accused of aiding and abetting senior mob fugitive Matteo Messina Denaro

'With an extraordinary operation in the Palermo province, the police have dismantled Cosa Nostra's new 'cupola',' Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said on Twitter.

Mineo was sentenced to five years in jail for mafia-related crimes at the so-called 'maxi-trial' that ran from 1986-1992 and was spearheaded by prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino.

Both Falcone and Borsellino were murdered in 1992 on Riina's orders after verdicts were delivered. Following their deaths, the state poured resources into the fight against the mob and ground down Cosa Nostra.

Mineo survived a 1992 ambush that killed his brother Giuseppe, around six months after another brother, Antonino, was murdered outside the family jewellery shop.

Italian police in March arrested 11 suspected gangsters accused of aiding and abetting senior mob fugitive Matteo Messina Denaro.

Hunted by police since 1993, Denaro, 56, was also considered to be a successor to Riina and fellow boss Bernardo Provenzano, who himself died recently in prison.

A former Cosa Nostra hitman, Denaro, nicknamed 'Diabolik', has been sentenced in absentia to life in prison for multiple murders. The only photo of him dates back to the beginning of the 1990s.

Over the past two decades Italian police have increased arrests and seizures targeting his entourage, in a bid to isolate the notorious boss.

In 2015, police discovered that Denaro had abandoned modern methods of communication and was giving orders to his men via traditional 'pizzini': small bits of paper containing encoded messages.

Italian media reported that Mineo was a preferable new Mafia leader because he was not in hiding.

'The arrests ... represent one of the biggest blows inflicted on the mafia by the state.

'Mineo had been elected "heir" of Toto Riina after his death. There is no more room for this type of scum in Italy,' Di Maio wrote on Instagram.

The suspects are accused of extortion, illegal gun possession, arson, Mafia association and other crimes, investigators said.

Police are due to release more details about their operation later in the day.Nature fans all over the world now have the chance to choose the winner of the LUMIX People's Choice Award for Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2018.

Now in its 54th year, the competition has brought together the most visually stunning photographs taken over the last twelve months from Dominica to the Antarctic Peninsula.

The Natural History Museum narrowed down 45,000 entries from 95 countries to just 25 of the best images from this year's competition.

Last year the prestigious award was claimed by photographer Jo-Anne McArthur, who captured a connection between a man and a lowland gorilla in Cameroon, as the rescued animal was being moved between sanctuaries.

This year's entries feature penguins foxes, owls, seals and lions. All 25 are on display at the Natural History Museum in London until June 2019.

The winner will be announced after voting closes at 14.00 (GMT) on Tuesday 5 February 2019. Cast your vote here.A Dutch pensioner is set to appeal after losing his bid to be legally recognised as 20 years younger than he is.

Emile Ratelband, 69, had asked a district court to recognise him as 49 by law - the age he says he feels.

But Mr Ratelband, who cites a lack of success on dating app Tinder as one of his main motivations, was rejected and now says he plans to take the case all the way to the EU courts if needed.

'The judge gave us many things to prove that he made the wrong decision, so we will appeal,' he told Euronews on Tuesday.

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Mr Ratelband says reducing his age to 49 would mean getting work and attracting more women on dating websites and apps such as Tinder

Ratelband, 69, speaks with the press in Amsterdam after the court's ruling in his case

'I'm so convinced of myself and my reasons are well thought out,' he said. 'If I have to go to the EU court, I will.'

Last month, the self-styled 'positivity guru' asked the court in Arnhem to formally change his date of birth from March 11, 1949, to March 11, 1969.

Mr Ratelband believes his decision is the equivalent of changing gender or name

But his plea was rejected on Monday as Dutch lawmakers as they claimed 'it would cause 20 years of records to vanish'.

'If Mr. Ratelband's request was allowed, those age requirements would become meaningless.'

'Mr. Ratelband is at liberty to feel 20 years younger than his real age and to act accordingly,' Arnhem court added said in a press statement.

'But amending his date of birth would cause 20 years of records to vanish from the register of births, deaths, marriages and registered partnerships. This would have a variety of undesirable legal and societal implications.'

Mr Ratelband says he does not 'feel' like a pensioner, and that reducing his age to 49 would mean getting work and attracting more women on dating websites and apps such as Tinder.

He argued his request was consistent with other forms of personal transformation, such as the ability to change one's name or gender.

But in a written ruling Monday, the court said Dutch law assigns rights and obligations based on age 'such as the right to vote and the duty to attend school.

The self-styled positivity guru appearing on Good Morning Britain to talk to hosts Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid

The court said it acknowledged 'a trend in society for people to feel fit and healthy for longer, but did not regard that as a valid argument for amending a person's date of birth.'

It said Ratelband failed to convince the court that he suffers from age discrimination.

It adding that 'there are other alternatives available for challenging age discrimination, rather than amending a person's date of birth.'

In his claim, Mr Ratelband said that he should be allowed to change his date of birth because doctors said he has the body of a 45-year-old.

The Dutchman said it is proven that 'when you behave like a young man, your body takes the same shape'.

Mr Ratelband, who works as a consultant and self-proclaimed positivity and self-help guru, said that one of the main reasons to have his age lowered is that he will be able to pick up more girls.

Mr Ratelband said: 'When I'm on Tinder and it says I'm 69, I don't get an answer. When I'm 49, with the face I have, I will be in a luxurious position.'Around 180 gangs now operate in London and are recruiting primary school children to their ranks, the head of the Met Police has revealed.

The capital has seen a surge in the murder rate this year, with 127 homicides already recorded and some areas becoming battlegrounds of tit-for-tat shootings and stabbings.

Cressida Dick, the Commissioner of the Met Police, today insisted that increasing stop and search checks and deploying armed officers to some areas is 'turning the tide' on spiralling violence.

But she warned that rooting out 'entrenched' gangs around the capital will take 'a long time'.

She said: 'The police alone cannot do this. To stop five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, 11-year-olds being dragged into criminal gangs and becoming gangsters themselves is a big, big project and it may take a long time.

'We've got about 180 gangs in London and they are quite entrenched some of them and they are busy bringing children in.'

Cressida Dick, the head of the Met Police, said that there are 180 gangs in the capital 'working hard' to recruit young children

Researchers have attempted to map the 'territories' of London's many competing gangs

However, she insisted knife injuries among under 25s were starting to drop after police increased the use of stop and search powers and diverted road police officers to troubled areas.

Ms Dick said: 'I think we are beginning to see the tide turning in that we are putting more officers on the streets, we're doing more stop and search, we're seizing more knives, we're seizing more firearms, we're arresting more people for knife and gun crime.

'And we are begining to see, after three years of knife crime increasing and gun crime increasing, they are now not just levelling off, they are coming down.'

The Commissioner backed the use of 'tactical contact' by police, which has seen police drivers knocking into moped muggers who refuse to stop.

During a phone-in on LBC radio, Ms Dick was also asked about Joshua Gardner, who attacked a motorist with a zombie knife in south London, but walked free from court on a suspended sentence.

The Commissioner said police had referred the case to the Attorney General, who can bring appeals against sentences which are considered 'unduly lenient'.

Police have referred the case of Joshua Gardner, who walked free from court on a suspended sentence for wielding a zombie knife, to the Attorney General for a possible appeal

Ms Dick also defended the actions of acting deputy commissioner Craig Mackie, after he was criticised for being driven away from the scene of the Westminster terror attack.

Commissioner defends deputy over terror attack drive off Cressida Dick today defended the actions of acting deputy commissioner Craig Mackie, after he was criticised for being driven away from the scene of the Westminster terror attack. She said: 'It's very clear Craig Mackey could not have prevented, sadly, Keith Palmer being killed, nor would it have been helpful if he had got involved at that stage". She added: 'It's perfectly plausible that if he had got out of the car, he might have gotten in the way of the fantastic firearms officers which actually shot Masood, he certainly wouldn't have been able to save Keith's life, and I think that a lot of the comments about this are ill-informed.' Advertisement

Following a separate question, she said that people filming attacks on police and mockingly posting the footage online was 'absolutely awful'.

She said: 'Officers getting assaulted and people thinking that's funny and putting it on the internet - I think that's disgusting.'

Last month a video of two officers being attacked in Merton, south London, was shared thousands of times after a passing driver stopped to film the assault and posted it on Twitter with the caption 'south London at night...lol'.

The officers had stopped a car and were attempting to arrest the three occupants, but one ended up being dragged around in the road while the other took a flying kick to the chest and landed feet from the path of a moving bus.

Eventually they arrested one of the men with the help of a passing motorcyclist.

Ms Dick encouraged members of the public to step in if they see a police officer being attacked and feel they can help.

Ms Dick said she wants the public to get involved if they see an officer 'getting a kicking'. Her comments come after shocking footage officers being attacked in Merton

She said: 'I think I want to live in a society, and I think I do live in a society, where people are active citizens.

'People stand up and say 'that's not right, don't do that' and on occasion, if they feel able, get involved and do something physical.

'You have to look at the circumstances. If there's a man pointing a gun at you we don't want you running at the man pointing the gun, that would be crazy.

'If you see an officer getting a kicking and you feel able to assist, absolutely I want my public getting involved, and we see people getting involved, including in some of those videos. We don't want people taking crazy risks, we do want people getting involved.'

In the wake of the Merton attack, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation Ken Marsh warned that officers might be forced to let violent suspects go.

He said: 'Are we now in a society where, if we think we can't detain somebody, we just let them go? It's just not worth it.

'We're going to come to a point where we're going to start pushing messages out to our colleagues, 'Risk-assess it dynamically and, if you think you can't detain a person, just let them go'.

'We don't come to work to get assaulted, and if we're not going to be backed up in what we're doing then what is the point?'

The male officer suffered cuts and the female officer was left with head injuries after the assault.A woman trapped in Grenfell Tower ended a phone call with her mother so she would not hear her screaming as she died, an inquiry heard.

Emanuela Disaro received several calls from her daughter, Gloria Trevisan, 26, who was trapped on the top floor of the burning tower block alongside her boyfriend Marco Gottardi, 27.

As the fire worsened, Ms Trevisan, an architect, went through 'panic, terror, concern, awareness and then resignation' as she realised crews had 'stopped trying to go up', her mother said.

Emanuela Disaro, left, received several calls from her daughter, Gloria Trevisan, 26, right, as Grenfell Tower burned last June

Gloria Trevisan, 26, and boyfriend Marco Gottardi, 27, were architecture graduates and were captivated by the views over the capital they enjoyed from their 23rd floor flat

The last phone call she made was at 3.45am on June 14 last year and lasted for 22 minutes.

In a written statement to the public inquiry into the blaze, in which 72 people lost their lives, Ms Disaro said: 'I realised at this point that there was no hope.

'Gloria told me 'I'm throwing myself out of the window ... the fire is everywhere, we're just waiting'.'

She continued: 'At a certain point she told me fire was coming through the window.

'She wanted to stop the call. I told her I felt powerless. She continued to say she couldn't breathe.

Miss Trevisan was identified by her dental records and the cause of her death was given as 'consistent with the effects of fire' at a short inquest hearing in July

'She told me again what she felt for us and that we have to say goodbye and we had to be strong.

'At that point Gloria said she was cutting off the phone because she didn't want me to hear anything and she said goodbye to us.

'She wanted to cut off the phone because she didn't want me to hear her scream. She said she wanted to faint and she wouldn't feel anything.'

Gloria's mother told the inquiry that her daughter, pictured above, 'told me "I'm throwing myself out of the window ... the fire is everywhere, we're just waiting" '

Ms Trevisan and Mr Gottardi came to England from Italy in March last year. The couple had tried to escape via the roof of the tower but were blocked by a locked gate, Ms Disaro said.

She added: 'I don't understand how Gloria and Marco couldn't have got out in the hour-and-a-half they had from when they were woken up.'

Gloria's father, Loris Trevisan, agreed that 'there was enough time to get out'.

When Emanuela Disaro spoke to Italian daily La Repubblica earlier this year, she said her daughter said to her: 'I am so sorry I can never hug you again. I had my whole life ahead of me. It's not fair.

'I don't want to die. I wanted to help you, to thank you for all you did for me. I am about to go to heaven, I will help you from there.'

The 30 errors that resulted in the Grenfell tragedy Here are the 30 errors which resulted in the Grenfell Tore fire which left 72 people dead. 1 There is no statutory requirement for central alarm systems in tower blocks because it would conflict with the policy of residents staying put in flats. 2 No sprinklers. 3 Firefighters should have directed their hoses on or above the fire, but videos show they were being targeted below. 4 A pipe system to get water up the 24-storey block could not cope and was overloaded  leaving the upper floors, where most people died, vulnerable. 5 Water pipe failure meant fire crews had to pump their own water onto the fire. 6 The failure of the fire lift system delayed firefighters. 7 Advice for residents to stay put in the event of a fire was futile within half an hour of the blaze breaking out  but still slavishly adhered to for another 80 minutes. 8 Combustible cladding panels and insulation systems were ruled substantially to blame. 9 Two types of cladding and four different insulation layers did not comply with building regulations. 10 Two cavity barriers did not have the required fire performance certificates. 11 The cladding produced toxic smoke that slowed the firefighters as it forced them to wear breathing apparatus. 12 Designers and builders had no idea how the cladding system would perform in a fire as no tests were carried out. 13 Neither the London Fire Brigade nor Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation, which was responsible for Grenfell, carried out risk assessments of the cladding. 14 Flammable aluminium panels fixed to the tower and on more than 300 other blocks across England were never subjected to a full British Standard fire test. 15 Stairwell was too narrow and soon became impassable thanks to smoke, darkness, firefighters and distressed and dying victims. 16 An architectural feature called a crown at the top of the building caught fire and also helped the blaze spread horizontally. 17 Design of tower blocks is supposed to compartmentalise fires into individual flats  but this was not effective at Grenfell. 18 Ventilation system for removing smoke from lobbies failed. 19 Fire stops between each floor were not installed correctly, meaning nothing stopped the blaze leaping up the tower. 20 A culture of non-compliance appeared to exist in the maintenance of the tower. 21 Most of the fire doors leading to the 120 flats were relatively new but did not comply with building regulations. 22 Some doors failed within 20 minutes even though they should have blocked fire for an hour. 23 Doors were fitted with a variety of different locks, hinges and letter plates that could significantly reduce fire resistance. 24 Forty-eight doors had glazing that failed and allowed flames and smoke to pass directly through. 25 Fourteen of the doors to Grenfells flats were of unknown origin. 26 Some doors designed to self-close failed to do so, allowing the fire to spread more quickly. 27 Doors were left open by fire hoses and in one case, a body. 28 Defective windows installed in the 2012-16 refurbishment allowed the fire to spread from a single kitchen to the external cladding through gaps in frames. 29 Windows had no fire-resistant cavity barriers encasing them and these openings were surrounded by combustible material. 30 During refurbishment, the windows were fitted in an improvised manner that may have made them less safe. Advertisement

And Mr Gottardi had told his father Giannino: 'There's a lot of smoke but don't worry, we're waiting for the rescuers.

'We opened the front door but there was too much smoke to be able to leave. The lifts are blocked.'

Miss Trevisan was identified by her dental records and the cause of her death was given as 'consistent with the effects of fire' at a short inquest hearing in July.

The pair, both architecture graduates, moved to London three months before the fire to look for work.

Their location high up the tower would ultimately prove fatal, and as the flames rose towards their flat they both made horrifying final phone calls to their families.

Earlier this year Gloria' mother told Channel 4 News: 'You feel helpless faced with something like that.

'You don't know how to help that person, the person you love the most. A person who is part of you.

'How do you help that person, with words? You just can't believe what's happening, I couldn't believe what she was telling me.

'It was impossible that something like this was happening in London, that it was impossible to escape, to get down the stairs.

'And yet she told me right from the beginning that it was impossible to get out. It wasn't true. For us it wasn't happening. It was like a film, a nightmare, but it wasn't real.

'We couldn't get it into our heads that it was true. Then we saw the pictures live on TV. We saw Grenfell on fire, that it really was for real. Then we believed it.'

Yesterday's inquiry also heard that a 12-year-old girl who died in the fire begged 'come get me, come get me' in her last conversation with her mother, who said the local authority failed the family.

Jessica Urbano Ramirez called her mother, Adriana Ramirez, twice in tears while trapped on the 18th floor.

Ms Ramirez immediately booked an Uber back to the tower after being alerted to the fire by her older daughter.

In a written statement to the public inquiry, she said: 'The second call from Jessica was very brief, as the line soon cut off. I remember asking Jessica where she was and telling her to come downstairs.

'She was panicked and kept repeating, 'come get me, come get me'.

'She sounded terrified. I remember her saying she was on her way down. The phone then cut out.'

Ms Ramirez, who lived on the 20th floor, spoke of the pain she experiences when reliving the night she lost her daughter.

She said: 'I find it unbearably painful to relive the night I lost Jessica and my memories of the night are very blurry.

'I just can't cope with speaking about that night.'

The latest day of evidence in the inquiry also heard a father told his pregnant daughter to ignore firefighters and flee Grenfell Tower, believing it was better to 'die trying than just burning alive'.

Mohamed Yahya, who lived in Barandon Walk, a neighbouring block, said he was in 'complete disbelief and was petrified for my family' when he stood at the foot of the tower as it was engulfed by flames.

His daughter, Rabia Yahya, who was 21 weeks pregnant, was trapped on the 18th floor with her three children.

The public inquiry into the blaze has previously heard she was repeatedly told by 999 call operators to stay inside her flat, while friends and relatives outside the block urged her to leave.

In a written statement to the inquiry, the grandfather said: 'I kept shouting at her saying 'come out! Why aren't you coming out?'

'She said that she couldn't as the smoke was so bad and whenever she opened her front door she couldn't see anything.

'She also said that the firemen had told her to stay inside.

'I was shouting at her saying 'don't listen to the firemen. Come out!'

'I could see the fire from outside and I could see that it was approaching her flat and yet the firemen were telling her to stay inside. I just couldn't understand it.

'I just thought to myself it was better for her to die trying than just burning alive and not even trying to escape.

'I couldn't understand why she was being told to stay when I could see the fire moving to where she was.'These heart-warming young orangutans have been reintroduced into the wild after enduring the horrors of the illegal pet trade.

In the past couple of years, Leo, Aruna, Cut Iuwes and Ully were confiscated from the wildlife trade and brought to the Orangutan Reintroduction Centre of the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme (SOCP), in Jantho, Aceh province, Indonesia.

At the time of their confiscation, Leo had a terrible skin disease which affected almost his whole body, while Aruna was extremely malnourished and dehydrated.

As shown in the pictures and video taken by photographer, Sutanta Aditya, the youngsters have since undergone extensive medical treatment at the SOCP's Quarantine and Rehabilitation Centre and are now fit, healthy and ready to return to the trees

Leo, Aruna, Cut Iuwes and Ully were brought to the Orangutan Reintroduction Centre of the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme (SOCP), in Jantho, Aceh province, Indonesia

Doctors at the center administer treatments and medicines to bring the young primates back to full health at the center, where they are also allowed to walk through buildings

Last month, as this adorable footage shows, they were given a taste of their new home, as their caretakers took them to the Jantho forest to let them acclimatise to the new environment and unfamiliar food.

Dr Ian Singleton, Director of the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme, said: 'It's always a very special time when these orangutans graduate from the quarantine centre and move on to the next and final stage in the reintroduction process.

'When you remember the pitiful condition some of them first arrive in, it's really heartwarming to see them get this far, and even more rewarding when you meet them again later, living free in the forest.'

These orangutans are joining 109 other orangutans already reintroduced into the Jantho Pine Forest Nature Reserve, as the SOCP is gradually establishing an entirely new wild population of this critically endangered species there.

Conservationists have been able to release hundreds of orangutans back into the wild, although the illegal pet trade is still roaring

The orangutans were brought to the rehabilitation centers in shocking states, including one who was packaged in a cardboard box

An orangutan sits on the floor staring into a corridor of one of the treatment center's medical buildings

Dr Citrakasih, SOCP's Reintroduction and Quarantine Supervisor, said: 'Prior to us starting reintroductions in Jantho, there was no longer any wild orangutan population in the area, even though there had been some historically.

'By releasing orangutans like Leo, Aruna, Cut Luwes and Ully, we are gradually recreating a wild population of orangutan, as a kind of safety net in case anything happens to the remaining real wild populations South of the island.'

Testament to the fact that the new population is doing well are two recent births in 2017, both to orangutan mothers previously released in Jantho in 2012.

Mukhlisin, Manager of the Jantho Reintroduction Station for the SOCP, said: 'As wild orangutan females normally have their first infants when they're around 15 years of age, and as most of the orangutans we've released in Jantho were between five and ten years old at the time, we knew when we started reintroductions in 2011 it would be a few years before we could see new infants being born.

The orangutans are joining 109 other orangutans already reintroduced into the Jantho Pine Forest Nature Reserve

One of the orangutans being released was brought in with a skin disease which affected almost his whole body, while another was extremely malnourished and dehydrated

'But now that we are finally seeing them, the first generation of a brand new wild population, and we are of course looking forward to many more in the coming years.'

However, Sapto Aji Prabowo, Head of the Aceh Conservation Agency, says that despite the progress the SOCP is making, the issue of illegal trading remains a very serious one.

He said: 'Whilst the new population we're creating in Jantho is doing extremely well, we still need to deal with the root of the problem - the fact that orangutans like Leo, Aruna, Cut Luwes, Ully and many others like them are still being captured and kept illegally as pets in the first place.

'It's imperative that people are informed and understand that it is illegal to capture, kill, trade, own or even transport an orangutan in Indonesia, and prosecutions are on the increase.

'People need to be aware that they face prosecution, large fines and lengthy prison sentences if they are caught engaging in these criminal activities!'This is the moment a little boy vanished in around 20 inches of fresh snow after being playfully dunked by his father.

Adam Frisbee, from Jamestown, New York, was playing in the snow with his family when he thought it would be fun to throw his son in.

However, much to his horror, as the father throws his son onto the snowy ground, the baby is submerged in around 20 inches of the icy ground and completely vanishes.

Father Adam Frisbee from Jamestown, New York, rushes to pull out his baby son from underneath 20 inches of snow

In the video he dunks the baby into the layers of fresh snow without realising how deep it actually is or what will happen next

During the video, filmed on November 28, Mr Frisbee is seen lowering his baby son to the cold ground before dunking him completely into the blanket of snow.

The infant instantly sinks beneath the layers of snow and his father immediately rushes to pull him out.

Mr Frisbee later posted the video on his Twitter page under the caption: 'This is a few days late but I had my first #snowday as a @SWCSTrojans teacher this past Wednesday.

The baby completely vanishes from view after he is dunked by his father into the fresh snow

Mr Frisbee rushes to grab hold of the infant beneath the snow before breathing a sigh of relief

'We call this the lake effect baptism.'

Since it was posted on Twitter the video has received nearly six million views.

One user wrote: 'Gotta be an easier away to get rid of your problems man.'

While another commented: 'This is the first snow baptism I've ever seen.'Piers Morgan today branded the Duchess of Sussex a 'piece of work' and claimed she 'ghosted him when she met someone more important.'

The Good Morning Britain presenter launched a scathing tirade amid a myriad of reports about the 37-year-old's alleged behaviour towards palace staff.

Delivering his damning indictment, Piers said Meghan 'social climbed her way out of his orbit', and, 'seized her chance and acted her way to the top'.

Piers Morgan gave a damning indictment of the Duchess of Sussex's alleged behaviour on Good Morning Britain today

Piers added: 'I've had my own experience with her, which was not great to be honest. I knew her for about a year and a half.

'I got on really well with her and then 'bang' she met someone more important and immediately ghosted.

'I never heard from her ever again and the old slippery slope ladder had gone up and she social climbed her way out of my orbit.

'So my experience wasn't great, I've got to be honest with you. And everything I've seen since does slightly smack of an actress, a Hollywood actress, seizing her chance and acting her way to the top.'

Earlier this week it had emerged that the former Suits star had allegedly 'thrown a hissy fit' prior to her marriage to Prince Harry because she was 'unhappy with the musty smell' in St George's Chapel.

It was alleged that she had demanded air fresheners in Windsor Castle, but courtiers had rebuked her.

It has also been claimed that Meghan can be rather demanding of staff, and it has been rumoured that she emails requests to staff in the early hours of the morning.

Journalist Radhika Sanghani labelled Piers' comments 'absolutely ridiculous', adding Meghan and Harry were a 'great married couple'.

Fake friends: The presenter with waxworks of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex

Journalist Radhika Sanghani labelled Piers' comments 'absolutely ridiculous', adding Meghan and Harry were a 'great married couple'

Piers said Meghan 'social climbed her way out of his orbit', and, 'seized her chance and acted her way to the top'

The debate on Good Morning Britain comes amid a series of claims made about Meghan's behaviour

But Piers went on to compare Meghan with her sister-in-law, adding: 'Kate Middleton is very 'home counties' and safe, almost groomed for the role - it's much easier for everybody to have that kind of person.

'Meghan is from a very different background, a TV star, and probably finds the Palace system very suffocating and annoying.

'And the people around her like the formality of it and probably equally find her annoying.'

Piers added: 'She didn't inspire me, she sacked me like a sack of spuds. Take people as I find them, and I wasn't impressed.

'If you're watching Meghan  I'm not happy.'An Australian Army captain has been found guilty of rape after inserting a beer bottle into a colleague's rectum during a drunken work party.

Rhiley Boyson, 26, was convicted on Monday at a military court in Canberra after he assaulted a male colleague in the men's toilets during a work event in 2017.

The victim, who already had heightened social anxiety, was allegedly squirming on the floor trying to pull his pants and underwear up when the incident happened.

Despite the impact statements and evidence, Boyson's lawyer told the court that it was just a bit of 'tomfoolery gone wrong,' ABC News reports.

Australian Army captain Rhiley Boyson, 26, has been found guilty of rape after inserting a beer bottle into a colleague's rectum during a drunken work party (stock image)

Prosecutor Sarah Robin told the court the low-brow humour that occurred in the men's toilets quickly spiralled out of control, and will forever affect the victim.

Ms Robin then read a statement from the victim, highlighting the trauma and anxiety he had since suffered.

The victim, who is also a father, wrote about the sense of shame he felt and the impact it had on his young family.

He had had also had a great deal of difficulty because social events often triggered his anxiety.

'I know this is as a result of this incident  at a work function, with my work colleagues  where I thought I was safe,' his statement read.

When Ms Robin revealed there had been no remorse from Boyson, she wanted to make the message clear.

'A message needs to be sent to him that pranks that result in a violation of the person will not be tolerated.'

A panel of five officers will now deliberate on Boyson's sentence, which could include a term of imprisonment, dismissal and a fine (stock image)

Boyson's lawyer, Flight Lieutenant Sophie Callan, rebutted saying the actions of her client were a mere blip in judgement.

Flight Lieutenant Callan also made it clear to the court the attack was not made to assist in sexual gratification.

'This was an instance of momentary penetration, a few seconds long,' she said.

A panel of five officers will now deliberate on Boyson's sentence, which could include a term of imprisonment, dismissal and a fine.

Boyson had an impeccable service record and no criminal convictions in his past.

He is expected to be sentenced by a court martial panel in Canberra on Wednesday.A police driver is facing a criminal investigation after knocking a moped yob off his scooter following a chase through London.

The 17-year-old criminal suffered head and foot injuries when he was knocked off a moped in Erith, in the south east of the capital, last November.

The youth later admitted a series of offences, but the officer involved also faces a potential ABH charge, or an internal misconduct hearing, over the manner in which the criminal was stopped.

The case, which is being examined by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), will raise fears among police that they will not be protected from legal action when using the Met's new 'tactical contact' method of tackling scooter gangs.

Speaking on LBC radio this morning, Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick backed the use of the technique, insisting cases where complaints were raised are extremely rare.

A Met Police officer is being investigated for knocking a moped criminal off his bike. File photo

But Commissioner Cressida Dick has defended the method, insisting police are well trained and complaints are rare

Last month, police in London released footage showing 'tactical contact' in action

The officer in Erith has been interviewed under caution by the IOPC after the 17-year-old moped rider, who was not wearing a helmet, was knocked down last year, The Guardian reported.

The criminal, who had led police on a chase from Kent into south-east London, needed three days of hospital for treatment to a head injury and a broken foot.

He later admitted attempted theft, interference with a vehicle, driving with no licence, driving with no insurance and dangerous driving.

The IOPC said it will inform the officer whether they face charges 'within weeks'.

If the IOPC recommends a prosecution, it would then be up to CPS bosses to decide whether or not to press charges against the officer, which could include actual bodily harm and grievous bodily harm.

The Met would also make a decision on whether the matter amounted to a misconduct allegation, which could result in the officer leaving the force.

Moped robbers turn attention to suburbs The police crackdown on moped yobs may have pushed the gangs into the suburbs, crime figures suggest. Inner-city areas of London, such as Westminster, Islington and Camden, have seen cuts in moped-enabled crimes as police deploy new tactics including 'tactical contacts' and stingers. But suburban areas of the capital, including Sutton, Harrow and Ealing have witness dramatic increases in crime over the same period, analysis by The Times shows. The number of moped related crimes increased by more than 700% in Hillingdon and 629% in Harrow, in the north-west of the capital, 263% in Bexley and 191% in Greenwich in the south-east. Advertisement

The watchdog confirmed it is also investigating a second tactical contact case involving another Metropolitan Police officer, which featured an adult moped rider in Ealing, west London, in March.

The second case is not a criminal investigation.

Speaking about the issue this morning, Met Commissioner Ms Dick said: 'We have had 650 pursuits, 63 have resulted in tactical contact, of those a very, very small figure have resulted in either the person being injured and/or a complaint about the officer. Officers have been commended by judges for this.

'If someone complains about it, there will be an investigation... it's in the nature of policing that we take risks.'

Ms Dick said she had been shocked at how 'anarchic' moped gangs were 'sticking two fingers up at the police and having a lot of fun' during crime sprees when she first took the post.

She insisted that tactical contact and other methods had cut the problem, with 7,000 fewer victims of theft by moped robbers this year.

The Commissioner said police officers were prepared to take the risk in bringing down yobs in order to the protect the public and they were well trained to reduce the chance of injury.

An investigation was launched after moped yob was knocked off his bike in Erith last year

The method has been criticised by Labour's Shadow Home Secretary Dianne Abbott

What is police guidance on 'tactical contact'? Police said guidance on the use of vehicles in stopping mopeds is similar to that surrounding the use of force by officers on foot. Officers are told they can only use force when it is 'absolutely necessary, reasonable and proportionate'. Police car drivers have to keep this in mind when deciding whether to crash into a fleeing moped mugger. Whereas police may have been more reluctant to chase robbers without helmets in previous years, the spike in moped crime has concentrated the minds of Scotland Yard chiefs. More training for 'scorpion' drivers and the increasingly dangerous tactics used by muggers has led to the method being more widely used. Advertisement

An IOPC spokesman said: 'Ultimately no police tactic can ever be used with impunity in a country where we police by consent - be that tactical contact, the use of firearms or the use of restraint.

'It is always a matter of whether it's reasonable and proportionate in the circumstances.

'If it is - for example, as we saw at Westminster and Borough Market - then our investigations treat the officers as witnesses throughout and their conduct is not in question.

'But it would be wrong to offer guarantees in every case. Independent scrutiny is a vital part of public confidence in the way policing is done.'

Senior officers have defended the use of tactical contact, saying it was needed to stop dangerous chases and has helped reduce moped-enabled crime in London by more than a third.

The manoeuvre has also been backed by Prime Minister Theresa May, who said a 'robust' response was needed from police to what she described as a growing problem of people using mopeds to commit crimes such as bag- and phone-snatching.

But Labour has raised concerns about the approach, which shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said was 'potentially very dangerous'.Convicted fraudster Daniel Glasby, 45, lied on the marriage certificate for his second wedding, in Las Vegas. Then he married his third wife last year in Nottingham without divorcing his second

A bigamist appeared in court to 'face the music' after 'burying his face in the sand' over a Las Vegas marriage.

Daniel Glasby was given a suspended jail sentence after the judge ruled against his claim that the Nevada wedding was always 'null and void' because he lied on the paperwork.

The father of Daniel Glasby's second wife Elizabeth Wing, whom he married in Vegas, contacted police after she saw a photo of his third wedding, which took place in Nottingham last year while the pair were still married - although the couple had split up.

That led to 45-year-old Glasby, of West Bridgford, just outside Nottingham, being quizzed by police and being charged with bigamy.

Glasby's complicated love life was laid bare at Nottingham Crown Court after he pleaded guilty to bigamy on September 30, 2017.

He received a four-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, and 100 hours of unpaid community work. He was also ordered to pay costs of 2,000.

Judge Jeremy Lea, sentencing, said: 'Quite why you were not honest, I'm not entirely sure.'

He said it did not understand why he could not be honest to his second wife about his intended marriage to the third woman.

'You may have felt a loss of pride or loss of face,' he said. 'Now you have to face the music.'

Glasby married his third wife on September 30 last year at The Walton Hotel, The Park.

'The only problem, of course, he now accepts he was already married at the time,' said Alan Murphy, prosecuting.

Daniel Glasby was told he would 'have to face the music' at Nottingham Crown Court (pictured) yesterday

Glasby was divorced after his first marriage, then married Elizabeth Wing in Las Vegas.

Glasby, a convicted fraudster, never told his second wife he was a divorcee, and ticked a box on the marriage licence stating he had never been married.

After that second marriage ran into difficulties, leading to a split in 2014, his wife left the marital home but the pair stayed in touch.

By 2017 he was in a relationship with his future third wife and arrangements were made for the wedding.

He told the registrar about his first marriage and divorce but failed to mention his second marriage.

Daniel Glasby's second wife, Elizabeth Wing, above, discovered that her husband - from whom she had separated - had married for a third time when she saw a photo on Facebook.

Her father called the police to report the bigamist, who yesterday received a suspended prison sentence and ordered to undertake 100 hours of community work

Then his second wife was made aware of a Facebook photo showing he went through with the third marriage.

Glasby told police he had contacted a Nevada lawyer, who told him the Vegas marriage was 'null and void' due to his lie on the marriage certificate.

Glasby claimed the lawyer, whom he could not name, assured him he was legally free to marry his third wife.

'We say he must always have known,' said prosecutor Mr Murphy.

Mr Murphy referred to an alleged conversation Glasby had with his second wife, in which, Mr Murphy claimed, Mr Glasby had assured her he'd told his then third wife-to-be a formal marriage was not possible and they would instead have 'some sort of celebration'.

Mr Murphy said Glasby's third wife denies this conversation ever took place.

'He always knew and buried his head in the sand and went ahead with it anyway', he added.

Family members plainly think he had done something rather stupid, the court heard.

'In this case, it is plain they have a deal of affection for him,' added Mr Murphy.

Daniel Church, mitigating, said it was not the most flagrant example of bigamy.

Glasby was given advice that he could go back to State of Navada and go to the courthouse, he explained. He was told there would be a $8,000 penalty - around 6,250.

His client currently lives with the third woman, who was in court to support him, and is a self-employed air conditioner and refrigeration engineer.

Glasby has a 2012 conviction for fraud, over a 28,000 scheme in which he invoiced multiple companies for air conditioning equipment and then sought to blame innocent people.A former Hooters girl turned glamour model has been slammed for causing 'untold danger to the community' after she was found guilty of drink driving in Sydney.

Kristin Funke, 21, lost her licence after scoring a blood alcohol reading of 0.084 during a random breath test in Blakehurst on November 17, The Daily Telegraph reported.

The court heard Funke told officers she'd had two glasses of red wine in the two hours prior to being stopped by highway patrol officers on the Princes Highway.

A former Hooters girl turned glamour model has been slammed for causing 'untold danger to the community' after she was found guilty of drink driving in Sydney

Kristin Funke, 21 (pictured), lost her licence after scoring a blood alcohol reading of 0.084 during a random breath test in Blakehurst on November 17, The Daily Telegraph reported

But Sutherland Court magistrate Glenn Walsh said the 21-year-old must have known she was affected by alcohol when she decided to get behind the wheel.

'I give little weight to the assurances of having had two drinks,' Mr Walsh said.

'This is a prevalent offence that causes untold danger to the community - to take the risk of driving is taking a risk with other people's lives.'

Police documents provided to the court also state that Funke smelled of alcohol and her eyes were 'slightly glazed' as she was being breathalysed.

In addition to losing her licencee for three months, the 21-year-old was ordered to pay a $750 fine and will be required to hold an 'interlock licence' for 12 months.

According to the Transport Roads and Maritime Services website, drivers who are found guilty of mid-range drink driving offences must have the device installed.

'This ensures offenders separate their drinking from driving and do not re-offend,' the website stated.

Funke, who is originally from Missouri in the United States, has been living in Australia with her partner for three years and is currently studying to be a registered nurse.

Funke (pictured) is an aspiring model who has been photographed for the 2018 Hooters calendar

Funke (pictured right) was also a finalist in the 2017 Maxim's Finest lingerie modelling contest

The aspiring model has also been photographed for the 2018 Hooters calendar and was a finalist in the 2017 Maxim's Finest lingerie modelling contest.

But things weren't always so rosy for Funke.

In 2012, she was featured in the Emmy-nominated documentary series Beyond Scared Straight, where troubled teens were forced to visit American prisons.

'I'm Kristin, I'm 15, and I smoke weed and sneak out,' Funke said in the documentary at the time.

In 2012, Funke (pictured) was featured in the Emmy-nominated documentary series Beyond Scared Straight, where troubled teens were forced to visit American prisons

She told the camera, in addition to smoking marijuana, she had previously taken her mother's car outside of curfew and driven it without a licence.

Despite her checkered past, the police prosecutor acknowledged they had been unable to access Funke's history prior to her arrival in Australia.

The 21-year-old's defence lawyer also told the court, while there had been some degree of planning, the offending was outside of Funke's usual character.

'She accepts her responsibility for her stupid mistake,' her solicitor said.Yet another key filing is set for Tuesday in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe, this time in the form of a memo recommending an amount of prison time for President Trump's former national security advisor.

Flynn has been assisting Mueller's investigators since he pleaded guilty a year ago to lying to the FBI about his Russia contacts.

But absent any public declarations, it has been unclear how much he has been helping Mueller's team in their Russia probe.

Neither side has made public comments since his guilty plea. In the memo, where prosecutors often pitch for leniency by citing a witnesses level of cooperation, the nature of his help will be at least partly revealed.

Special counsel Robert Mueller's team is filing a sentencing document Tuesday regarding former Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn

However it was unclear whether or not the memo would remain under seal.

Flynn is a potential font of information, having had contacts with Russia's former ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak, during his time advising Trump and during a transition period.

Mueller's team also is examining potential obstruction of justice. Former FBI Director James Comey testified that during his tenure, Trump approached him about whether he could let the Flynn matter go.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that investigators also are looking into efforts by a now-deceased GOP activist to obtain Hillary Clinton emails. The activist, Peter Smith, was in touch with Flynn. Smith met with Flynn in 2015 in connection with the project.

The two were revealed to have discussed potential lifting of sanctions imposed by President Barack Obama.

The document may reveal new information about the extent of Flynn's cooperation with investigators

The development comes just days after former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to an additional charge of lying to Congress

The legal maneuvering comes after former longtime Trump attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress, and prosecutors revealed Cohen's extensive cooperation through multiple interviews. Cohen said in court during his earlier guilty plea that Trump directed him to make a payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, who claims she had an affair with Trump. Trump denies it.

Flynn, who held the White House job for only 24 days, pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia. He will be sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Dec. 18.

He is so far the only member of President Donald Trump's administration to plead guilty to a crime uncovered during Mueller's wide-ranging investigation into Russian attempts to influence the 2016 U.S. election and potential collusion by Trump aides.

Others who have also since been charged by Mueller include Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort and campaign deputy Rick Gates, as well as Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen who last week pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about a proposed Trump Organization skyscraper in Moscow.

Trump has called Mueller's probe a witch hunt and has denied colluding with Russia. Moscow denies trying to interfere in the elections.

Flynn's crime of lying to the FBI carries a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison. However his plea agreement states he is eligible for a sentence of zero to six months and can ask the court not to impose a fine.

Flynn, a retired army general, was forced to resign after he was found to have misled Vice President Mike Pence about discussions he had with Russias then-ambassador Sergei Kislyak.

Under a plea bargain deal, Flynn admitted in a Washington court that he lied when asked by FBI investigators about conversations with Kislyak just weeks before Trump took office.

Prosecutors said the two men discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia and that Flynn also asked Kislyak to help delay a U.N. vote seen as damaging to Israel.

Mueller's office has had varied degrees of success with the level of cooperation it has received from defendants who have pleaded guilty.

Recently, prosecutors asked for another delay in sentencing Gates, citing his ongoing cooperation in multiple probes.

But Manafort could be facing a tough sentence after prosecutors last month alleged he had breached his plea deal by lying repeatedly to the FBI.

They are due to file court papers on Friday laying out their case for why Manafort should lose any credit when he is sentenced for his alleged failure to accept responsibility for his crimes.Sir Terry Morgan (pictured), 70, could leave his role as head of both HS2 and Crossrail within days

The boss of HS2 who could be sacked in just days has admitted there is 'still a lot of work to do' to deliver the 56billion rail project on time and in budget.

Sir Terry Morgan, who is also the boss of London's troubled Crossrail, said that it will now be 'very difficult' to make sure the line is built within its price.

He said that rail bosses were confident the high speed line, on which trains will travel 250mph, would eventually be deliver - but it would be a 'big challenge' to hit government targets

Sir Terry Morgan has only been chairman of the controversial HS2 for four months but is expected to get the chop after his poor performance was flagged to Prime Minister Theresa May.

He is also in charge of the 15billion Crossrail project, which has been plagued by repeated delays and will nine months behind schedule.

His expected sacking from both projects comes following suggestions from both Chris Grayling, transport secretary, and chancellor Philip Hammond that Sir Terry be removed from his post.

And is just months after the transport secretary hailed Sir Terry as 'world-class' when he appointed him to the top position.

HS2 (High Speed 2) is a plan to construct a a new high-speed rail linking London, West Midlands, Leeds and Manchester. Pictured is an artist's impression of how the new line might look once up and running

Phase one, between London and Birmingham, is currently due to open to passengers by 2026. While phase two is scheduled for full completion in 2033

Sir Terry said: 'What is true is that the scope, the time and the cost has been predetermined,' The Times reported.

He added: 'What the team at HS2 is trying to do at the moment is to square those facts off.

What is HS2 and when did work first start on the project? HS2 (High Speed 2) is a plan to construct a a new high-speed rail linking London, West Midlands, Leeds and Manchester. The line is to be built in a 'Y' configuration. London will be on the bottom of the 'Y', Birmingham at the centre, Leeds at the top right and Manchester at the top left. 2009 The idea for a second high-speed line was proposed in 2009 by the Department for Transport under the Labour Government. It was to be developed by a new company, High Speed Two Limited (HS2 Ltd). 2013 Early in this year, the government confirmed the route the new line would take. It also announced that the work would be completed in two phases, from London to the West Midlands and from the West Midlands to Crewe. 2017 Work on Phase One began in 2017 after the project was given royal assent. The government plans envisage the line being operational by 2026. 2024 The first trains scheduled to be used on the project are set to arrive for testing. 2026 The first passengers are scheduled to travel on HS2. How much has the project cost? The project has a projected cost of 56 billion ($77 billion), up from the initial cost of 32.7 billion ($45 billion) in 2010. Last year's annual report showed that the company established by the government to build the railway spent 500 million in the year to March 31 - up almost 30 per cent from 352.9 million the year before. It takes the total amount spent by HS2 so far to more than 1.9billion since 2009. Separate accounts published by the Department for Transport also showed it had spent another 366 million on HS2. The bulk of this was on compensating individuals and businesses who own property and land near the planned line. Advertisement

'It's very difficult. It's not impossible but there is still a lot of work to do but it's too early to create crises around this programme. It is still at a very formative stage.'

Sir Terry also said that he was 'disappointed' by the way he had been treated by Mr Khan, who he said knew about the delay to Crossrail more than a month before it was publicly announced.

He said that problems with new trains were behind the delay and they were the mayor's responsibility.

He said: 'In my mind I am not leaving HS2 over anything that I have done in the context of HS2.

'I think personally, given the scale of the project and its importance to the UK, there was a concern that what's happened on Crossrail might in some way undermine the position on HS2.'

Main building work was due to start on HS2, which is Europe's biggest infrastructure project, this month but it has been put off until at least June to get spending back on track.

Sir Terry said that he had 'nothing against' Mr Grayling.

He said: 'When I took the HS2 job I didn't know about the scale of the problems we would have on Crossrail.

'So I respect the secretary of state's right to make the decision on whether he has got the right chairman or not.'

HS2 is set to create a new high-speed rail linking London, West Midlands, Leeds and Manchester.

It was initially estimated to cost 56billion, but several senior ministers are said to privately fear it could exceed 100billion.

It is to be built in a 'Y' configuration. London will be on the bottom of the 'Y', Birmingham at the centre, Leeds at the top right and Manchester at the top left.

Work on Phase One began in 2017 and the government plans envisage the line being operational by 2026.

It has prompted fears of potential cuts to infrastructure spending from unions and criticism from the Stop HS2 Campaign who branded HS2 as 'a mess, it's always been a mess'.

Sir Terry has been chairman on the Crossrail project since June 2009.

It was announced on August 31 that the capital's new east-west railway will open in autumn 2019 rather than December this year to complete infrastructure and testing.

Addressing the delay, a spokesman for Crossrail Limited said in August: 'The revised schedule is needed to complete the final infrastructure and extensive testing required to ensure the Elizabeth line opens as a safe and reliable railway.'

The project's budget was increased from 14.8 billion to 15.4 billion in July due to 'cost pressures'. It is being predominantly funded by Transport for London (TfL) and the Government.

Work is scheduled to continue on the Crossrail line until autumn next year, as bosses say extra time is needed for testing

The hugely complex ten-year project is bringing together multiple infrastructure contracts, new trains and three different signalling systems.

The Elizabeth line will add 10 per cent to central London's rail capacity, and the project is estimated to boost the economy by an estimated 42bn.

Once open it will allow journeys between Reading in the east and Shenfield in the west - all the way to Essex.

Another journey could take people from Heathrow Airport in the east to Abbey Wood in the west.

The autumn opening will only see the central section of the Elizabeth line open.

The focus remains on opening the full Elizabeth line, from Reading and Heathrow in the west to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east, as soon after the central tunnels open as possible.

The new Elizabeth line trains are already operating between Shenfield and Liverpool Street and between Paddington and Hayes & Harlington, in readiness for the full opening.Wales has gained a new mountain after ramblers re-measured it using sophisticated technology - and found it had been wrongly classified as a hill for years.

While Foel Penolau in Snowdonia has always been 16ft over the 2,000ft minimum height for a mountain, its drop of 85ft from summit to its closest ridge (col) meant it fell short of that status.

But hill-walkers Myrddyn Phillips and Aled Williams have used sophisticated GPS technology to double check the length of the drop - and found it 19ft bigger than thought.

While Foel Penolau in Snowdonia has always been 16ft over the 2,000ft minimum height for a mountain, its drop of 85ft from summit to its closest ridge (col) meant it fell short of that status

A graphic showing the height of the mountain

This takes it over the 98ft threshold to turn the peak into Wales' 136th mountain.

It has now been added to the list of Hewitts - Hills in England, Wales or Ireland over Two Thousand feet high.

It is the first time since the list was introduced in 1992 that a Welsh hill has been upgraded to mountain status because of the ridge (col) measurement.

Mr Williams, a 32-year-old scientist from Porthmadog, Snowdonia, said: 'The col of Foel Penolau is situated on a large boulder field, which makes it a difficult place to survey.

Hill-walkers Myrddyn Phillips (pictured) and Aled Williams have used sophisticated GPS technology to double check the length of the drop - and found it 19ft bigger than thought

'Some of the boulders are over 7ft high and finding the lowest point between Foel Penolau and its neighbouring higher hill was like finding a needle in a haystack.

'After a lot of work we were satisfied with our efforts and proceeded to visit the summit to gather further data from its two tops.'

The hill-walkers carried out the survey using sophisticated Trimble GeoXH 6000 equipment, which works in a similar way to a car's satellite navigation system as it collects data from orbiting satellites, making it capable of much more accuracy in both height and position.

Mr Phillips, 57, from Welshpool, mid-Wales, added: 'Foel Penolau is one of the most impressive mountains in Wales as it has a sheer south face forming an almost impenetrable cliff, and it is this cliff that has deposited the large boulders at its col.

The hill-walkers carried out the survey using sophisticated Trimble GeoXH 6000 equipment, which works in a similar way to a car's satellite navigation system as it collects data from orbiting satellites, making it capable of much more accuracy in both height and position

'I spent many hours during the second survey taking seven further data sets that give a good height spread for the land making up the boulder field.

'It is quite a find as this is the first time since the Hewitts were published in 1992 that a hill has been reclassified a mountain because of its col.

'It is a stunning mountain and a very worthy addition to the mountain ranks..'

The list of Hewitts has been compiled by Britain's leading hill list author, Alan Dawson.

Foel Penolau (614.4m) is one of the most distinctive features of the Rhinogydd mountain range in north Wales. Its name can be translated as 'top of the light bare hill' and its appearance has been described as something akin to a fortress out of a JR Tolkien novel

He hailed Foel Penolau's reclassification as a 'brilliant discovery' and has updated the online list with the new addition.

Mr Dawson said: 'This is a brilliant discovery and once again illustrates the vital role of satellite technology in determining the classification of hills.

'I'm very happy for Foel Penolau to be added to the Hewitts.

'The reason the Hewitts classify mountains using two criteria is because if you don't measure the drop between the summit and the col there's no way to tell one hill from another.

'Measuring by height alone is meaningless as any bump could be classified as a mountain, so you need two dimensions.'

Foel Penolau (614.4m) is one of the most distinctive features of the Rhinogydd mountain range in north Wales.

Its name can be translated as 'top of the light bare hill' and its appearance has been described as something akin to a fortress out of a JR Tolkien novel.Radio presenter Steve Allen has been rapped by Ofcom for mocking a blind journalist who used a guide horse because he is afraid of dogs.

The LBC host said: 'I've never heard of anything so stupid' when he heard how Mohammed Salim Patel was helped by a miniature horse called Digby.

The watchdog found that Allen's early-morning show, broadcast between 4am and 7am on weekdays, broke broadcasting rules with 'potentially highly offensive' comments about blind people.

Discussing a newspaper story on the BBC North West Tonight journalist, he said: 'Also the guide horse for the blind man who's afraid of dogs.

Ofcom found Allen's early-morning show broke broadcasting rules with 'potentially highly offensive' comments about blind people

'Well if he's blind, tell him it's a rabbit or something.

'I've never heard of anything so stupid.

'This is the blind man scared of dogs hoping that a horse will guide him on his commute. Where are you going to take that for goodness sake?

You can't take it on the train, can you?'

Allen added that if Patel is afraid of dogs, 'don't give him anything at all then. Just give him a white stick'.

Allen also compared it to the BBC hiring a blind cameraman, saying: 'He's blind  somebody's going to have to say to him 'little bit to the right, little bit to the left, little bit, oh, up, oh no missed it completely'. It just doesn't work.

Mohammed Patel with Digby, left, and with the guide horse and his trainer Katy Smith, right

'I can understand people going 'oh I want to be treated the same', but I mean, you know, a joke's a joke I think.'

LBC has previously been found in breach of rules on offensive content with comments Allen made about the Traveller community and Portuguese people.

An Ofcom spokeswoman said: 'Our investigation found that the presenter's comments about blind people were potentially highly offensive, and were not justified by the context.

'This is not the first time that LBC has broken our rules on offensive content, as a result of comments made by this presenter.

'We have issued LBC with a warning that any further breaches could result in a statutory sanction.'

LBC said that Allen was 'expressing genuine surprise' at the news story about guide horses' and 'his intention was not to treat the blind community with insensitivity'.

It said that it had made improvements to its compliance processes for Allen's programme as a result of this case.

Potential sanctions can include financial penalties and having to broadcast a statement of Ofcom's findings.A French ex-spy who helped a princess plot her escape from Dubai has revealed the pair spent seven years planning - only for the attempt to end in failure.

Herve Jaubert, a former Navy officer who escaped from Dubai himself after running foul of the authorities, also disclosed messages from Princess Latifa in which she explained her plight in the UAE and said she would 'rather die' than go back.

Latifa fled the country in February in an attempt to escape strict controls placed on her life by her father Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed Al-Maktoum, and made it to within 30 miles of the Indian coast on board a yacht before being captured.

She has not been seen or heard from since.

Herve Jaubert, a French ex-spy who tried to help Princess Latifa escape from Dubai, has revealed they plotted the attempt for seven years, starting in 2011

During that time they messaged each other every two or three days, including one message in which Latifa said: 'I have been mistreated all of my life'

Jaubert told new BBC documentary Escape From Dubai - which was previewed by The Guardian - that Latifa first contacted him 2011 after hearing about his own escape attempt and asked for help getting away.

In one email explaining her plight, she told Jaubert: 'I've been mistreated and oppressed all of my life.

'Women are treated like subhumans. My father ... can't continue to do what he's been doing to us all.'

At first he struggled to believe her story because Latifa is the daughter of one of the Sheikh's lesser-known wives - he has six in total - and had no public profile prior to her escape attempt.

But she eventually persuaded him of her credentials and then the pair swapped messages every two or three days for a period of several years.

In 2014 the final plan began taking shape when Latifa met Tiina Jauhiainen who came to the palace to teach her capoeira, a Brazilian martial art.

Tiina Jauhiainem, a Brazilian martial arts instructor brought in to teach Latifa in 2014, told of how she jumped at the opportunity to help her escape

Ms Jauhiainem (right) said that after the attempt failed she was taken to jail in UAE where she was beaten and threatened with death, while Latifa (left) vanished

Jauhiainen was quickly co-opted into the plans, saying that she agreed to take part without hesitation, and flew to meet Jaubert several times to pin down details.

The trio would not be together until the day of the escape itself, when Latifa and Jauhiainen went for an early breakfast - a routine they established years before to dull the suspicions of guards - before changing their clothes and getting into a car.

From the UAE they drove overland into Oman and then to the coast, where they used a combination of jet skis and dinghies to reach a yacht where Jaubert was waiting.

Before she escaped, Latifa said that if she failed she would likely be taken back to the kingdom and drugged, or else killed

Once on board the yacht they set sail for Goa, in India, where Latifa would claim political asylum in the hopes of making a better life in America.

Jaubert revealed that, while on their voyage, Latifa confided to him that 'she preferred to be killed on the boat rather than going back to Dubai.'

But just 30 miles from the coast their yacht was overtaken by armed men who blindfolded and tied up Jaubert and Jauhiainen, then seized Latifa.

All three were taken back to the UAE, where Jaubert and Jauhiainen say they were beaten, threatened with death, starved and dehydrated.

The pair were interrogated for up to 20 hours a day before finally being released when MailOnline broke Latifa's story because authorities could no longer keep their detention a secret.

Latifa had sent her story to multiple news outlets and organisations while on board the yacht, but details were slow to leak out because of the extraordinary nature of the allegations.

While Latifa has not been see or heard from since, the key to her fate perhaps lies in a story she once told about her older sister, who also tried to flee the family while they were on holiday in Sussex, England.

After going missing for two months she was eventually seized in Cambridge and spirited back to the UAE, Latifa claimed.

Latifa has not been heard from or seen since her failed escape, though Dubai Government sources confirmed she was back in the country 'with her family' and 'doing excellent'

Ms Jauhiainen (right) released images of herself with Latifa (left) in September in the hopes of forcing the UAE to release her

There, she was kept in a medical prison - drugged to stop her from protesting and escorted everywhere she goes by a team of nurses.

Latifa said she feared being killed or kept in the same state if her escape failed.

The BBC also interviewed three Filipino yacht crew for their documentary.

Amnesty has previously called on the United Arab Emirates to respect Princess Latifa's right to be allowed to leave the country.

In a statement the human rights organisation called on the UAE's international allies to pressure the Government of Dubai to cease holding the Princess.

The United Nations are set to discuss the enforced disappearance of the Princess next week in Geneva where they are expected to heavily criticise the Dubai authorities for their silence on the Princess whereabouts.

A spokesman for Amnesty said: 'Sheikha Latifa has been held incommunicado in an undisclosed location by the UAE.

'Amnesty International considers this incident to have entailed multiple crimes under international law by both India and UAE, including arbitrary detention, torture and enforced disappearance.

'The national Government of the UAE  a federal state of which Dubai is a constituent member  should act to ensure that Dubai respects its citizens' human rights.'

UAE ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed Al-Maktoum is a powerful international figure who is on speaking terms with Britain's Queen Elizabeth through a shared interest in horse racing

MailOnline told how the Princess left Dubai claiming she had been mistreated and had restrictions imposed on her by her father. Pictured: Her national identity card

Dubai Government sources only confirmed she was back in the country and that she was 'with her family' and 'doing excellent'.

But the NGO Detained in Dubai, who have led the campaign for her release, fear she might never be seen again unless international pressure can be brought on the Arab kingdom.

'It is nine months since anyone outside of Dubai has seen or heard from Princess Latifa, said David Haigh from Detained in Dubai.

'We do not know if she is even alive still. We are pleased that Amnesty has taken up her case and we are confident that the United Nations working party on enforced disappearance will have something to say next week when they discuss the case.'

MailOnline told how the Princess left Dubai claiming she had been mistreated and had restrictions imposed on her by her father.

In a leaked video she said she was not allowed to leave the country and was accompanied by a minder whenever she went out.

She also expressed fears that she would be silenced, saying: 'I'm making this video because it could be the last video I make.'

Escape from Dubai: The Mystery of the Missing Princess will air Thursday on BBC2 at 9pmA billionaire liquor heiress has been secretly paying the legal fees of her co-accused sex cult members, causing a possible conflict of interest, prosecutors allege.

Clare Bronfman, heir to the Seagram fortune, is said to have been funding the legal costs for her NXIVM co-defendant, group guru Keith Raniere, federal prosecutors have alleged in new court filings.

Bronfman, Raniere and other alleged cult members, are facing racketeering conspiracy charges and accusations of luring sex slaves into the group in Albany, New York State.

Another co-defendant, former Smallville actress, Allison Mack, is charged with recruiting women into a secret society within the cult, known as DOS, and enforcing discipline within the group.

NXIVM founder Raniere, allegedly coerced female members into acting as his sex slaves within DOS, in which many of the women were branded with Raniere's initials, prosecutors say.

Clare Bronfman leaving the Brooklyn Federal Court after being arraigned in connection with the NXIVM case in October

Group leader Keith Raniere meeting the Dalai Lama at Vanguard Week, an annual week-long celebration of the guru's birthday in 2009

Raniere is charged with racketeering, forced labor, wire fraud, sex trafficking, attempted sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit identity theft.

In an earlier court hearing it was revealed Raniere and another female member of the group allegedly locked a woman in a room for two years because she was affectionate towards a man who was not her 'master'.

A total of six defendants have currently been charged in relation to the case.

Bronfman, who has homes in New York, Fiji and California, is known as an equestrian show-jumper and philanthropist.

She is the youngest daughter of the billionaire philanthropist and former Seagram chairman, Edgar Bronfman Sr.

Currently the 39-year-old he is out of jail on a $100 million bond on money laundering and identity theft charges in the high-profile NXIVM case.

Seagram founder, Samuel Bronfman, made millions during the prohibitions era of the 1920s, making liquor in Montreal, Quebec, where alcohol production was still legal.

In a filing on Friday, prosecutors said they discovered Bronfman is 'the primary contributor' to an irrevocable trust fund that has been paying the legal fees of her co-defendants.

The NXIVM Executive Success Programs where women were said to have been inducted as sex slaves for leader Keith Raniere

Former Smallville actress, Allison Mack, is charged with recruiting women into the NXIVM cult

Mack was a popular child star in Canada thanks to her role on Opposite Sex, which also starred a young Chris Evans and Milo Ventimigli (above), and Smallville

The documents filled by state prosecutors state: 'The government has learned that the legal fees of multiple witnesses and potential witnesses are also being paid by Bronfman or the Trust, and that there have been efforts to pay the legal fees of other witnesses.'

Clare Bronfman's financial contributions to all of the cases raises questions because 'it may subject an attorney to undesirable outside influence; and raises an ethical question "as to whether the attorney's loyalties are with the client or the payor"', a Brooklyn federal court document said.

Marc Agnifilo, a lawyer acting for Raniere told NBC News today: 'As I informed the court at the inception of the case, an irrevocable trust has been created with an independent trustee and legal fees are paid from the trust.

'To the extent that Ms. Bronfman put some, most or all the money into the trust, she has absolutely no control over how the trustee pays out on the legal fees.

'The government is frustrated that no one has pleaded guilty, and it is blaming that on potential conflicts when the real reason no one has pleaded guilty is because no one is guilty.'

Bronfman is not accused of sex trafficking, but along with her sister Sara, she is said to have enticed Mack when she considered joining the group, in the hope she would become their Tom Cruise-like figure to raise its profile - much like the Mission Impossible actor had done with Scientology.

Raniere is charged with racketeering, forced labor, wire fraud, sex trafficking, attempted sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit identity theft

NXIVM founder Raniere, allegedly coerced female members into acting as his sex slaves, many of which were branded with his initials

In a previous statement to NBC News Bronfman's lawyer Susan Necheles, said: 'Clare Bronfman did nothing wrong. NXIVM was not a criminal enterprise but instead was an organization that helped thousands of people.

'The charges against Clare are the result of government overreaching and charging an individual with crimes just because the government disagrees with some beliefs taught by NXIVM and held by Clare. This is not how things should be done in America. We are confident that Clare will be exonerated.'

Bronfman is the youngest daughter of Edgar Bronfman Sr, the billionaire philanthropist who was formerly head of Seagram.

Her mother is Rita Webb, the British-born second wife of Bronfman, who would divorce and then remarry Edgar shortly after Bronfman's birth. Rita Webb - now known as Georgiana Bronfman - has since married British Chariots Of Fire actor Nigel Havers, making Clare is step-daughter.

Rita and Edgar's second divorce split the family, with the girls living in England and Kenya with their mother while their father stayed in thew United States.

They would visit him in New York City as well as his nearby home in Westchester, and even took him to a NXIVM meeting at one point.

When she was 17, Bronfman competed in equestrian events and continued her showjumping career for a decade.

She was ranked 12th in the country and 80th in the world at her peak until she gave it all up though for NXIVM.

Bronfman (left) daughter of the late billionaire philanthropist and former Seagram chairman Edgar Bronfman Sr, leaving the Brooklyn Federal Court for an earlier court hearing

Bronfman became involved in organizing Vanguard Week, the annual week-long celebration of Raniere's birthday.

The sisters were able to use their connections to attract big name guests like the Dalai Lama, who visited the group and made an appearance in Albany in 2009.

That was done through the charitable organization they founded with Raniere, World Ethical Foundations Consortium, funded by money from their grandfather, who founded Bronfman's Distillers Corporation.

Bronfman denies racketeering conspiracy and conspiracy to commit identity theft charges.

Raniere is currently in jail without bail and Mack is living with her parents in California and said to be going to school while awaiting trial.

The next hearing has been scheduled to take place on Wednesday.A 50-year-old man is suing a Florida sheriff's department after he was detained and threatened with deportation to Jamaica - despite being a U.S. citizen.

Peter Sean Brown was born in Philadelphia and raised in New Jersey and has only been to Jamaica one in his entire life - on a one-day visit during a holiday cruise.

Mr Brown was taken into custody in Monroe County, Florida and held on an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement request for three weeks in April this year, despite repeated attempts to provide proof of his U.S. citizenship.

Peter Sean Brown, 50, is a U.S. citizen - born in Philadelphia, raised in New Jersey and has been living in Florida for the past ten years - but was still threatened with deportation to Jamaica

Mr Brown had turned himself in at the Sheriff's office in Monroe County, Florida, at the start of April for a probation violation after testing positive for marijuana.

He was then detained and held for three weeks, with Monroe County sheriffs citing a request from ICE, telling him he was going to get deported to Jamaica.

'I am and have been a U.S. citizen,' Mr Brown says in a video released by the American Civil Liberties Union.

'I did not even realize what ICE was at the time, and reading through it I realized it had something to do with immigration.'

'Throughout his detention, Mr. Brown repeatedly told the Sheriffs officers that he was a U.S. citizen and could not be deported or held for ICE,' the lawsuit states.

Mr Brown was taken into custody in Monroe County, Florida and held on an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement request for three weeks in April this year, despite repeated attempts to provide proof of his U.S. citizenship

'He offered to produce his birth certificate. His friend and co-worker called the jail on his behalf to explain his citizenship.

'He filed multiple written grievances explaining that he was born in the United States.

'The Sheriffs own jail file showed that he was a U.S. citizen born in Philadelphia and had a valid Florida drivers license.'

Despite all his efforts, Mr Brown remained in jail for more than three weeks, and not until he was transferred to an ICE detention center and could speak to ICE agents did they agree to review his documents, the lawsuit states.

On Tuesday, The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Florida, Southern Poverty Law Center, and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP filed a federal lawsuit on Mr Brown's behalf to seek compensation for his ordeal.

The case has been brought against Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay, and filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.Advertisement

A rare job opportunity has arisen to escape the daily grind to become a warden and sole inhabitant of a tiny island that features a natural swimming pool.

Lihou, which boasts breathtaking views, will offer one lucky person the chance to live off-grid. Its current warden, Richard Curtis, 50, has announced he is leaving his post and moving off the island for the first time in 14 years.

His job is now being advertised and one applicant will get the chance to live in the only home on the island - which is located 300 yards off the west coast of Guernsey and is often cut off for days at a time.

Lihou island warden Richard Curtis, 50, who has decided to leave his post on the Channel Islands after 14 years

Lihou, which boasts breathtaking views, will offer one lucky person the chance to live off-grid

The island just off Guernsye is home to nesting seabirds, including gulls and waders, and a huge variety of seaweed types

The warden's job is now being advertised and one applicant will get the chance to live in the only home on the island

The States of Guernsey bought Lihou island in 1995 to ensure access for the people of Guernsey and visitors

Lihou House was completed during the 1970s, built on the footprint of the original granite farmhouse that once stood there

Mr Curtis has announced he is leaving his role as warden and moving off the island for the first time in 14 years

The successful applicant will live in the one house on the island - which is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean - be able to swim in the natural 'Venus Pool', and have a tractor for a company car.

The house was built in the 1960s but became derelict a few decades later, before being rebuilt and refurbished by the Lihou Charitable Trust in 2005. The job is currently being offered by the trust.

Someone... who likes driving a tractor as their company car Richard Curtis on the ideal candidate

Mr Curtis said: 'Emma, my wife, feels now is the right time for a new adventure. The children have left or are leaving for university, so now seemed like a new time to try something different.

'It will be good for the trust - a change of blood and fresh ideas.'

The trust was formed in 2005 and given a 21-year lease on the house. Mr Curtis was one of the trust founders and since then his life has centred around looking after the home and its occupants.

The successful applicant will live in the one house on the island of Lihou - which is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean

Mr Curtis said his wife 'feels now is the right time for a new adventure' and told how it was 'time to try something different'

Lihou is only accessible by walking across a causeway at low tide, and can be cut off for days at a time

The tranquil island of Lihou has a rich history, with monks from Mont Saint Michel the earliest known settlers

The tidal island is known for its reed beds, shingle banks and ormers, which are a seafood delicacy in the Channel Islands

Lihou is only accessible by walking across a causeway at low tide, and can be cut off for days at a time.

Mr Curtis estimates he has made the trip across the causeway more than 7,000 times, but said each time it still looks different. He added that it had been 'a privilege' to do the job for 14 years.

He plans to leave in September 2019. But first, Mr Curtis wants to make sure the warden job is in safe hands - and there has already been a number of expressions of interest.

Mr Curtis, who is moving to France, added: 'We want to find someone that will really want the job.

'We need to find the right person. Someone who wants to work with children, who can proactively work by themselves and who likes driving a tractor as their company car.'A female comedian has taken to the streets of an Australian city to catcall unsuspecting men as they go about their business.

Comedian Tegan Higginbotham doled out a series of pick-up lines on a handful of men wandering the streets of Melbourne in a bid to flip the lid on sexist remarks as part of an experiment for the SBS show 'Is Australia Sexist?'

'I like your suit, I'd like it better on my bedroom floor,' the 30-year-old says to a businessman walking pass her.

'Does the beard match the carpet?' she says to another surprised man.

Footage shows the comedian follow two men in matching suits down a busy street, before whistling at one of them when he turned around.

'Just admiring the view,' she said.

'It's cute that you've gone all matchy-matchy, have you two ever kissed?' she adds.

During one interaction, Tegan asks a man who is sitting next to her on a bench if he's texting his girlfriend.

She proceeds to ask if he's single, prompting the surprised man to awkwardly tell her he's gay.

Even though the lighthearted sequence delivers some laughs, the message behind it is much darker.

The pick-up lines delivered by the comedian are comments women report hearing from men on a day-to-day basis.

Tegan Higginbotham (pictured) wandered the streets of Melbourne with a microphone and camera and catcalled male strangers

The comedian calls out after men, complimenting them and following them through the streets of Melbourne

'Are you texting your girlfriend?': In one instance, the comedian asks a man sitting next to her on a bench if he is texting his girlfriend (pictured)

After the experiment, the comedian said she identified with some of the tactics the men used to brush her off, including ignoring her or trying to laugh it off.

However, she realised her experiences being catcalled as a woman were different because none of the men were actually scared of her.

'There's always going to be that difference, is that if there is a big man standing there yelling at a woman, you're not going to yell something back you're not going to joke because you're always worried about that thing that if well what happens next? How does this escalate?' she said.

The experiment was one in a series of provocative tests featured in the documentary.

In another test, a 22-year-old woman named Tyler (pictured) visited a popular beach in Perth to see how many times she was accosted by passers-by

Tyler (left) stood in the exact same spot as Nathan (right) , a male participant to see who would get whistled at the most in the same amount of time

In another test, a 22-year-old woman named Tyler visited a popular beach location in Perth to see how many times she was accosted by passers-by.

To assess both sexes' experiences, a male participant also stood in the same area, doing the exact same thing as Tyler.

Tyler, who was wearing an off-the-shoulder yellow top and black shorts, was immediately yelled at by men driving past in their vehicles, with one group even shouting 'get your t**s out for the boys' as they hurtled along.

In total, she was verbally harassed an astonishing eight times in 90 seconds.

Nathan, who was wearing a muscle singlet and black shorts, didn't experience the same treatment once.

According to the series and an SBS-funded survey, 22 per cent of men believe wolf-whistling is a compliment to women.

Tyler was harassed eight times in 90 seconds, with one group even shouting 'get your t**s out for the boys' as they hurtled along (pictured)



A married police officer guarding the royal family faces the sack after admitting to sending a 16-year-old girl 'lewd' messages after taking her number while she was visiting Buckingham Palace.

Royalty and Specialist Protection Police Constable Andrew Daly is accused of taking the girl's number while he was on duty in May 2016 and sending her 'disrespectful' text messages including asking if she was still a virgin.

The officer did not attend his misconduct hearing on Tuesday at the Met's Empress State Building, it is not clear why the incident has come to light now, but the panel heard he was not disputing the allegations.

A married police officer guarding the royal family faces the sack after admitting to sending a 16-year-old girl 'lewd' messages after taking her number while she was visiting Buckingham Palace (pictured). Andrew Daly is accused of taking the girl's number while he was on duty in May 2016 and sending her 'disrespectful' messages including asking if she was still a virgin

The Metropolitan Police said it would not be possible to identify whether the officer was attached to any Royal, however it is understood in his role Daly would guard gates and grounds with fellow Royalty and Specialist Protection Police constables.

Giving evidence, the woman, who has not been named, said she had been visiting Buckingham Palace with her mother and sister when an armed officer asked for her number.

She said that despite telling Daly she was 16 he said she was not underage and should take his number.

The woman said: 'It was the Queen's tea party that we went to see because there was a parade. I felt that people started tapping me. They started pointing back saying the officer wants to speak to me and that's when I went back.

'He was one of the armed officers and he was standing by the big gates. I noticed he was a policeman with a gun - I acknowledged that far, I wasn't really paying attention to him to be honest I was more looking at the band.

'The officer asked me can I have your number. I asked him how the law was about him talking to someone underage - I was under 18 if there was anything against that.

'I was close to 17 but I made sure I said I was 16. I clarified that because obviously I didn't really want to talk to him.

'He said that's okay, you're not underage - I'm guessing he meant because I was over 16 - take my number, if you choose to then message me. I tapped the number in, I gave him a ring.

'Afterwards it was very strange to me that an armed officer has asked my number, I just walked out of the crowd afterwards and told my mum everything that happened and she wasn't really happy because obviously he wasn't in his 20s, 30s whatever.

The woman told the hearing she was originally from Hungary and had lived in the UK for six years.

When asked why she had questioned him about why he wanted her number, the woman told the hearing in west London that she did not think to 'ask a policeman with a gun why he wanted something'.

The woman, who is now over 18, said he soon began sending her messages including asking if she was a virgin.

She said: 'I was disgusted, I felt quite violated. I had a random person talking to me and saying if I am a virgin.

'He was a police officer, he was someone I am supposed to trust while I am walking around the streets, that I am supposed to call when I am in trouble.'

Daly did not contest allegations that he breached professional standards by obtaining the woman's telephone number when he should have been performing his professional duty, giving the impression he wanted to pursue a relationship with her, and sent her disrespectful messages.

Charles Apthorp, counsel for the Met, said girl's age was an aggravating factor. He added: 'It's a serious consideration. But whether the young lady was 16, 17, 18, 19 or 30 doesn't really matter.

'A police officer in the position that this officer was in should not be seeking to initiate sexual relations in this manner.

'We are in a very different place from where it was acceptable for police officers to pick up women outside Buckingham Palace.'

Panel chair Akbar Khan said PC Daly had admitted misconduct the day before his three-day hearing over alleged breaches of professional standards under duties and

responsibilities, discreditable conduct, honesty and integrity and authority, respect and courtesy, was due to start.

The hearing continues.North Korea's iconic 'Pink Lady' newsreader is stepping down to be replaced by younger presenters - according to sources in the country.

Ri Chun-hee, 75, a stalwart of state-controlled channel, KCTV, was once a favourite of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and has appeared on TV screens across the globe for decades.

But under Kim's new direction, the state is attempting to overhaul its public image and Ri has been given less and less air time.

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The iconic 'Pink Lady' Ri Chun-hee has been presenting the news in North Korea for decades

Recently she has been replaced with new younger hosts in a drive to modernize the country's state network

'The main motto of Kim Jong-un's new era is to catch up with the new century and its trends,' Kang Dong-wan, a professor at Dong-A University in Seoul, told ABC news.

'We could say that change in direction has been reflected on to programme productions.'

Kang added that North Korean viewers are becoming exposed to outside networks and that traditional news formats 'don't sink in anymore'.

The American network says a younger generation of anchors, dressed in neon suits, will be introduced to try and lure in younger viewers.

Crowds of people gather in a city square in Pyongyang to watch Ri announce news about the nuclear tests

Experts believe Kim is trying to reform the culture of North Korea as citizens gain more access to outside networks

Ri is perhaps most famous for bursting into tears while announcing the death of Kim Il-sung in 1994 and Kim Jong-il in 2011.

She was instantly recognisable for her bright pink Hanbok dress and often delivered scathing criticisms of western nations during her time on the air.

In September, North Korea showed off their high-tech new studio equipped with a digital control room, advanced lighting system and a teleprompter.

Shows now feature computer graphics in the background of the studio. A jubilant anchor in a recent cultural program introduced ways to stay healthy by proudly grabbing an apple from a virtual moving screen.

News reports are still pre-recorded, but there are visible efforts to give them a sense of 'live' action.American fashion designer Ralph Lauren's son has shared a touching tribute to his grandfather-in-law George Herbert Walker Bush.

David Lauren, the husband of the former president's granddaughter Lauren Bush Lauren, took to Instagram to write that the family's beloved 94-year-old patriarch, who passed away on Friday, will never be forgotten.

'Thank you for showing us that wisdom, strength and leadership are really about kindness, integrity and love! We will miss you forever #41,' Lauren, 47, wrote on Monday evening, honoring Bush's service as the 41st U.S. president.

He shared the heartfelt post with a picture of George H.W. Bush touching foreheads with his great-grandson James Lauren.

American fashion designer Ralph Lauren's son has shared a touching tribute to his grandfather-in-law George Herbert Walker Bush on Instagram

David Lauren, the son of fashion designer Ralph Lauren, shared an Instagram tribute to George H. W. Bush on Monday with a picture of the former president touching foreheads with his great-grandson James and writing: 'Thank you for showing us that wisdom, strength and leadership are really about kindness, integrity and love!'

David Lauren smiles (right) with wife Lauren Bush Lauren (left), the granddaughter of George H.W. Bush (center) and their baby Max

Bush's granddaughter Lauren - one of Neil Bush's three daughters - also paid her respects sharing a picture of herself as a little girl in her grandfather's arms as he spoke at the presidential podium.

'My grandfather George H.W. Bush, who passed away peacefully last night, was the center of our family and truly a good and kind man publicly and privately. He is someone I always looked up to and his legacy of service lives on in so many ways,' the 34-year-old wrote on Saturday.

She included the contents of a letter Bush wrote to her three days after she was born in 1984.

'It's a funny thing - when you get older, even if you have an exciting life surrounded by interesting people and having a chance to meet all the world's leaders - even with all that - what counts is family and love. We love you already, more than tongue can tell. Devotedly, Gampy,' he wrote.

'Gampy, I love you and miss you more than tongue can tell!' she added.

Lauren Bush also paid tribute to her grandfather in a touching post on Saturday on Instagram sharing a picture of her as a little girl being carried in his arms

Lauren, 34, is the daughter of George H.W. Bush's son Neil Bush and his first wife Sharon Bush

George H.W. Bush pictured above holding the hands of his granddaughter four-year-old Lauren (left) and seven-year-old Jenna Bush Hager (right) outside of the White House

George H.W. Bush passed away on Friday at the age of 94. In 2012 he was diagnosed with vascular Parkinsonism, a rare condition that limited his mobility. He also had been hospitalized several times in recent months for pneumonia.

But on Friday Bush took his final breath shortly after 10pm CST time surrounded by family in his Houston, Texas home. He died eight months after his beloved wife Barbara Bush, who passed away on April 17 of this year.

George H. W. Bush led the Bush Dynasty in politics and saw his son George W. Bush lead the nation as the 43rd president.

He and Barbara Bush had six children George W, Robin Bush, Jeb Bush, Neil Bush, Marvin Bush and Doro. He is survived by five of those children and their spouses, 17 grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and two siblings.

Granddaughter Jenna Bush Hager shared a heartmoving tribute to her grandfather on Saturday on Instagram writing: 'Waking up missing this giant of a man who gave me everything.

'He taught me and my family about service, family, decency, the power of gentle words and a beautiful heart. I will miss him desperately but so happy he and my Grandmother are back together.'

The 94-year-old died on Friday evening surrounded by friends and family (pictured together in August 2018) after expressing that he was ready to say goodbye

Jenna Bush Hager shared a pair of touching tributes to her beloved grandfather on Saturday morning. In one photograph she and twin sister Barbara are standing on either side of Bush as all three of them flash wide grins

She shared pictures with her twin sister Barbara Bush standing outside of the White House as children, posing with their George H.W.

His eldest son George W Bush, the 43rd president, paid tribute to his father and the head of their political dynasty on behalf of his siblings, saying: 'Jeb, Neil, Marvin, Doro and I are saddened to announce that after 94 remarkable years, our dear Dad has died.

'George H.W. Bush was a man of the highest character and the best dad a son or daughter could ask for. The entire Bush family is deeply grateful for 41's life and love, for the compassion of those who have cared for and prayed for Dad, and for the condolences of our friends and fellow citizens,' the younger Bush added.

On Monday the former president's remains were carried up the steps of the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. where he will lie in state until Wednesday

With a single spotlight on his flag-covered caskets, the public and politicians gathered to pay their respects to the Houston-native and WWII veteran

George W. Bush and his wife Laura Bush were overcome with emotion as an American flag was draped over the former president's caskey on Monday on Capitol Hill

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania stopped by, despite their testy relationship with the Bush family, to pay their respects. Trump pictured above giving George H. W. Bush a salute

On Monday an emotional memorial ceremony took place in front of Houston's City hall, where the building was bathed in lights of red, white, and blue and thousands of Americans arrived to pay their respects.

Then his remains were taken on the presidential aircraft, known as Air Force One when the sitting president is on board, from Houston to Washington where his funeral service will be held in the National Cathedral.

The casket of the WWII veteran was brought to the U.S. Capitol rotunda and draped with an American flag on Monday.

There he will lie in state until Wednesday morning, when his casket will be taken to the Washington National Cathedral for a memorial service.

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania stopped by the rotunda to pay their respects before the space was opened to the public where well-wishers tearfully looked towards Bush's remains.This is the horrifying moment a New Jersey father and his former flight school student were killed after the small plane they were flying crashed into a Florida building and left the occupants running for their lives.

Pilot Eladio Marquez and his passenger perished in the incident took place Saturday 1.30pm at a Fort Lauderdale warehouse that housed an organization providing therapy to children with autism.

Video footage from a nearby electronics store surveillance camera shows the six-seater aircraft which took off from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport skidding along the road before bursting into flames on impact with the building.

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A Cessna 335 reported a fire in the left engine before it crashed in Fort Lauderdale

After leaving Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport it hit a warehouse on an attempt to return to the grass strip during rainy weather and burst into flames

Shortly afterwards terrified groups of people - including five children aged five to 10 years old - can be seen dashing away from the scene in the footage from H&J Electronics.

Witnesses describe hearing the engine pop three times as it passed over them, before seeing a lot of black smoke.

Marquez, 51, and his Cessna 335 passenger were bound for an airpark in the north Florida town of Hilliard but they reported a fire in the left engine seconds after taking off.

They intended to safely return to the grass strip but for some reason could not make it.

The pilot is reported as telling air traffic control: 'We're losing power in our left engine, we turning right back.'

Eight Positive Behavior Supports Corp. staff and five autistic children were inside the building

However the adults' quick-thinking made sure the children escape safely fire rescuers say

Eight members of staff at Positive Behavior Supports Corporation and the children were inside the West Cyprus Creek Road warehouse when the accident happened.

Of those people one teacher at the school for autistic children sustained minor injuries as she led youngsters away from the inferno but she was not required to go to hospital.

Regional director of Positive Behavior Supports Corp. Claudia Axelrod explained how the roof began to collapse when the explosion happened but the guardians had no idea they were involved in a plane crash.

However the adults' quick-thinking made sure the children escape safely.

'They felt the building shake, and they thought it was a car that probably hit,' Axelrod said. 'Quickly, the door began to catch on fire, so they grabbed each child. The person in charge started to shout, 'You have this one, you have this one,' to make sure that everyone was accounted for.'

Pilot Eladio Marquez and his passenger perished in the incident on Saturday

Marquez was a good father and brother his wife, Belkis Marquez, said. The name of the passenger was not shared

Marquez, from the Dominican Republic, owned two planes and opened his own pilot school

It took the Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue Department until 2.30pm to extinguish the flames.

Battilion Chief Steven Gollan said the large amount of jet fuel on the ground made efforts more complicated.

The fire department said the therapy school staff are the real heroes after the sad event.

'Our condolences with the families of the two people that passed away today in this tragedy,' ABC 10 News reports Axelrod said. 'Our prayers are with you.'

The Dominican Republic pilot came to the United States where he took flying lessons, became an instructor and eventually opened his own flight school.

It took Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue Department and hour to extinguish flames

Battilion Chief Steven Gollan said the amount of fuel on the ground made efforts to put the fire out more complicated

Investigators are also looking into whether the small plane had work done on it recently

They said a 'mechanic who was involved in some sort of inspection' will be questioned

Marquez owned two planes, had been flying 12 years and instructed for 10 years. He was known as a family man, his devastated wife said.

'He was a good husband, good father, brother,' Belkis Marquez.

An airport manager told CBS 4 that the aircraft may have struggled due to heavy rain.

Investigators are also looking into whether the small plane had work done on it recently.

'We have interviewed personnel at the airport for fuel and who interacted with the pilot or the occupant in the aircraft in the day or two before the accident,' the National Transportation Safety Board's Tom Monville siad. 'We have to go back and interview another mechanic who was involved in some sort of inspection.'Former FBI Director James Comey's moment on Washington's hot seat will come Friday when House Republicans from two committees grill him in a closed-door hearing that has been more than a year in the making.

Comey withdrew his legal objection on Sunday to a subpoena for his testimony, opening the door at the last minute for lawmakers to question him about a range of controversies with their last gasp of majority power.

He had asked federal judge Trevor McFadden to quash the subpoena, complaining that he feared selective leaking of his answers to questions from GOP members of a joint panel made up of members of the Judiciary and Oversight Committees.

They will ask him about the FBI's decisions in 2016 that determined the outcome of a investigation into Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's illicit use, while secretary of state, of a private email server where more than 100 classified documents were open to unfriendly governments' prying eyes.

Trump fired Comey in 2017. He responded by leaking information to the press from his private memos about a trio of meetings with the president, in the hope that insider news stories would result in the appointment of a special counsel to investigate Trump.

Comey got his wish, creating news cycles about the possibility that Trump obstructed justice by throwing him overboard as questions began to swirl about unproven claims that his 2016 campaign colluded with Russian agents.

Fired formed FBI Director James Comey blinked ahead of a Monday ruling expected to go against him, in a case where he asked a judge to quash a Republican congressional subpoena for his closed-door testimony; that hearing will happen Friday

Republicans agreed they won't stop him from releasing a transcript of his testimony, but TV cameras won't capture him delivering it

Representative Bob Goodlatte, a Virginia Republican who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, wants to grill Comey about his decision to end the Hillary Clinton email probe, and about leaks he made to media outlets that preceding the appointment of a special counsel to lead the Justice Department's Russia probe

The former FBI director's saga was to come to a head on Monday with a courtroom decision that was likely to force him to appear behind closed doors for a Republican grilling.

But he struck an agreement with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, a Virginia Republican, to allow him to publish a transcript within 24 hours, and for a promise that he wouldn't be prohibited from talking about his testimony.

'Grateful for a fair hearing from judge. Hard to protect my rights without being in contempt, which I dont believe in. So will sit in the dark, but Republicans agree Im free to talk when done and transcript released in 24 hours. This is the closest I can get to public testimony,' Comey tweeted Sunday.

Goodlatte made the announcement on Sunday, prompting Comey to issue his own, more pointed, version in a tweet

It's unclear what rights he was referring to. Subpoenaed witnesses aren't entitled to dictate the terms under which they deliver testimony on Capitol Hill.

Comey also had asked McFadden to put an immediate halt to the joint committee proceedings that led to his subpoena, a request of the kind that no judge in U.S. history has ever granted.

Goodlatte tweeted a more muted statement on Sunday.

'I have just offered to Director Comey that the Committees will publicly release the transcript of his testimony following the interview for our investigation. This ensures both transparency and access for the American people to all the facts,' he wrote.

Democrats have complained that the Republican-led inquiry is a partisan effort to undermine Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the Russia-related claims.

The clock is ticking for them to generate a result: Democrats will take over the House and its committees on Jan. 3, following a gain of 40 seats in last month's elections.

The Kremlin has denied meddling in the U.S. elections, and Trump denies colluding with Moscow, repeatedly calling the Mueller probe a political 'witch hunt' with no basis in fact.

Lawyers for the committee ridiculed Comey on Friday for his 'grandiose demand' to offer testimony in public, where TV cameras would turn his answers into endlesly replayde video clips.

The legal filing blasts Comey's 'grandiose demand' in personalized terms

A declaration by the general counsel and parliamentarian for the House Judiciary mafe a case for why Comey's testimony was fair to demand, while also spelling out how Republicans plan to use it to undermine the origins of the Russia probe as well as his decision to end the Clinton email probe during an election year.

The statement notes that Comey 'ultimately made the decision' and was the 'primary author of the press statement' announcing the decision not to prosecute Clinton. And it says he was 'personally involved' with the Russia probe and 'signed off' on the surveillance warrant for Trump advisor Carter Page, who came under scrutiny for his Russia ties during the campaign.

Comey's lawyers argued that a closed hearing would allow for 'selective leaks, is abusive to witnesses, and furthers no legitimate congressional purpose.'Alexander Samek, 45, was arrested in Palo Alto on Friday morning at 3.37am in his grey Model S Tesla

Police officers managed to stop a Tesla running on autopilot at 70mph while the 'drunk' driver was asleep at the wheel by getting in front of it and using its parking sensors to slow it down.

Alexander Samek was seen by California Highway Patrol officers early on last Friday morning at 3.37am in his grey Model S Tesla.

Cops followed his car after spotting the Tesla driving south on Highway 101 in Palo Alto at 70mph while it looked as if the driver was passed out behind the wheel.

Believing the electric vehicle to be running in autopilot mode, patrol officers initially pulled behind the car and sounded their sirens in an attempt to wake the 45-year-old up.

But when Samek was still unresponsive, the officers pulled in front of the Tesla and gradually slowed down, using the car's driver assist to bring it to a stop.

When officers peered into the car, the driver was still passed out.

Several miles from the first contact, the Tesla slowed to a full stop just north of the off-ramp at Embarcadero Road.

The officer who pulled the developer over said the driver appeared very drowsy and possibly sleeping, according to KTVU.

Alexander Samek was seen by California Highway Patrol officers early on last Friday morning at 3.37am in his grey Model S Tesla travelling at 70mph

After California Highway Patrol officers managed to bring Samek's Tesla to a stop, he was taken to a gas station where he was said to have failed a field sobriety test

The car was pulled into to a nearby Shell gas station where Samek, who chairs the planning commission for the city of Los Altos, allegedly failed a field sobriety test and was arrested, according to ABC.

Officers suspect the car was on autopilot mode, but a full examination of the vehicle will take place before this can be confirmed.

A statement on the California Highway Patrol (CHP) revealed on its Facebook page how officers managed to bring the 70mpg vehicle under control.

A spokesman said: 'The officers drove their patrol vehicle next to the Tesla and observed that Samek appeared to be asleep at the wheel.

'The officers then positioned their patrol vehicle directly behind the Tesla and using the patrol vehicle's lights and siren as they attempted to initiate an enforcement stop, however Samek was unresponsive.

Samek, who chairs the planning commission for the city of Los Altos, California, allegedly failed a field sobriety test and was arrested at the scene in Palo Alto

When officers peered into the Tesla car, the driver was still passed out despite police sirens being sounded

'Officers then positioned their patrol vehicle in front of the Tesla and began slowing directly in front of the Tesla in hopes that the "driver assist" feature had been activated and therefore the Tesla would slow to a stop as the patrol vehicle came to a stop.

'The Tesla came to a complete stop within the #3 lane of US-101 southbound, north of Embarcadero. Officers approached the Tesla and attempted to wake up Samek by knocking on the window and giving verbal commands.

'After Samek woke up and got out of the Tesla he was placed in the back of the patrol car and taken off the freeway to the Shell Station off Embarcadero Road.

'Officers conducted a DUI investigation and Samek was placed under arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol and was transported to San Mateo County Jail.

'We cannot confirm at this time if the "driver assist" feature was activated but considering the vehicle's ability to slow to a stop when Samek was asleep, it appears the "driver assist" feature may have been active at the time.'

Police followed his car after spotting the Tesla driving south on Highway 101 at 70mph while it looked like the driver was passed out behind the wheel

Tesla's website says that all its vehicles, including the Model S, 'have the hardware needed for full self-driving capability at a safety level substantially greater than that of a human driver'.

But this isn't the first time an incident like this has happened.

In January California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers pulled over a Tesla and found an allegedly drunk driver also passed out behind the wheel and was found to have a blood alcohol level twice the legal limit, according to CBS.

Officer Art Montiel says the autopilot function on the smart cars should only be used to assist driers while they're awake and sober and actively using the wheel.

Tesla hasn't commented on the incident.Andra Hilitanu was found dead at the London flat she shared with her boyfriend in May

A man stabbed his pregnant girlfriend to death with scissors after saying he did not want any more children, a court heard.

Ioan Campeanu, 44, is on trial for murdering Andra Hilitanu, 28, and the destruction of their unborn child.

The Old Bailey heard today that crack cocaine user Campeanu had previously threatened to eat his girlfriend's 'flesh' during violent domestic abuse.

Police found Miss Hilitanu's body in the bathroom of the couple's flat in Neasden, north-west London, on the night of May 31, after Campeanu called 999.

The court was told Campeanu told an call operator : 'She's dead, I killed her;' adding that he had used 'scissors'.

Officers were 'struck' by how relaxed the defendant appeared and 'was in no rush' as he led them into the flat, prosecutor Brian O'Neill QC told The Old Bailey.

Earlier that night, the couple's neighbour complained to their landlord that he could hear them fighting, the court heard.

Miss Hilitanu could be heard screaming and repeatedly saying 'da, da, da', which translates to 'yes, yes, yes', jurors were told.

A court heard her abusive boyfriend had previously threatened to eat her and had kicked her

Shortly after midnight, Campeanu phoned his daughter in London to say he had 'got rid of her'.

Ms Hilitanu's cousin, Roxana Dragoi, told investigators that she had previously witnessed the defendant telling his victim: I'll kill you Andra, I'll eat your flesh.'

Ms Dragoi had also seen Campeanu kicking her cousin in the groin, the jury heard.

Campeanu's daughter said she was aware her father and Miss Hilitanu were using drugs that were making him 'confused and destroying him', Mr O'Neill said.

She also said her father 'had not wanted any more children', the court heard.

Jurors were told the couple were both 'heavy abusers of Class A drugs', in particular crack cocaine.

A Romanian interpreter translated the trial to Campeanu, who appeared in the dock in a grey tracksuit.

Campeanu has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and child destruction. The trial continues.CIA Director Gina Haspel briefed a select group of senators this morning on Jamal Khashoggi's murder at the insistence of lawmakers demanding an assessment on the Saudi crown prince's knowledge of the death.

The rank and file were excluded, though, and Sen. Rand Paul is up in arms.

He accused bad actors in the Trump administration, 'the deep state,' of withholding information that could implicate Mohammed bin Salman in Khashoggi's murder.

The senator who sits on the Foreign Relations committee said he has a right to be briefed on matters that will affect his vote on the United States' military support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

'I think the time has come for the Senate to grab back foreign policy and say that you know what, the president, no president, this president or the previous president, has the power to take our country to war with Saudi Arabia and Yemen without the permission of the president,' Paul told reporters on Capitol Hill as the briefing with Haspel was being conducted.

CIA Director Gina Haspel briefed a select group of senators this morning on Jamal Khashoggi's murder at the insistence of lawmakers demanding an assessment on the Saudi crown prince's knowledge of the death

Sen. Lindsey Graham had threatened to withhold his vote on any legislation that comes to the upper chamber until Haspel, who was missing from a briefing for senators last week, came to Capitol Hill

Graham was invited to attend the briefing but the rank and file were excluded and Sen. Rand Paul is up in arms

Paul suggested the White House was hand-picking which lawmakers would hear from Haspel in an effort to change their minds about rolling back U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

'My theory is, they have selected people who wanted to hear from her, but also people who they think they may be able to get to change their vote if they have heard from the CIA on this,' Paul told CNN on Monday evening. 'I think we all should hear from her.'

He clarified on Tuesday that he was simply referring to the 'deep state' that has been claiming exists within the federal government. Paul said his gripe had 'nothing to do with Trump' and it's the intelligence community that is selectively disseminating the information.

Paul told reporters that if he had been in the briefing, he would be asking about media reports that there is communication between the killers and the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. He was referring to claims that bin Salman's phone records are a smoking gun.

A senior administration official told DailyMail.com that Paul wasn't invited to the meeting because it was it was limited to committee chairs.

'Senator Paul doesnt need the intelligence report to decide his vote. He made clear years ago that he opposes arms sales to the middle east and U.S. support for the Saudi coalition in Yemen,' the person said. 'He also does not serve as a Chairman of a national security committee.'

Paul is the chairman of a subcommittee that deals with national security, however, just like Sen. Lindsey Graham, who was included in the briefing.

Republican Sen. Rand Paul accused the White House of hand-picking which lawmakers would hear from Haspel in an effort to change their minds about rolling back U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen

A spokesman for Paul said in response that the point the senator is making is that 'everybody should be briefed on' on the Khashoggi killing operation.

'It's not just the chairman who are voting on Saudi Arabia,' the source told DailyMail. 'There's 90 others. That's not an argument. That's not how this place works. The last time I checked there were 100 people who vote here, not nine or 10.'

The argument received an endorsement from Graham, who said in a tweet: 'On this, I stand with Rand!'

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer also backed the GOP senator up in his call for a briefing for all senators.

'While I will not discuss the content of the Haspel briefing, it reinforced the need for a strong response to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. CIA Director Haspel should brief the full Senate without delay,' Schumer said in a statement.

Graham had threatened to withhold his vote on any legislation that comes to the upper chamber until Haspel, who was missing from a briefing for senators last week, came to Capitol Hill.

He was among the Republican and Democratic senators on national security committees who were briefed by Haspel on Tuesday.

Graham charged in a Monday night op-ed that Trump was engaging in 'willful blindness' when it comes to the Saudi crown prince and that he and 62 other senators were right to vote they way they did last week on Yemen.

'Given the evidence U.S. intelligence has gathered on Khashoggis killing, denying the crown princes involvement amounts to willful blindness. Failing to censure him would give authoritarians a green light to murder their critics,' he said. 'To borrow a Churchill phrase, inaction wouldnt only give the disturbing impression the U.S. has a price, but also that its price is quite low.'

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman deplanes at the airport in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Wednesday for the G20 Summit in this handout photo provided by the summit

President Trump has steadfastly supported the Saudi kingdom in spite of apparent ties between the death of Khashoggi, a former columnist for the Washington Post, and bin Salman.

He attempted to steer clear of bin Salman, also known as MBS, over the weekend at a conference in Argentina but was caught on camera briefly chatting with him.

'They exchanged pleasantries at the leaders session as he did with nearly every leader in attendance,' a senior White House official told DailyMail.com.

Trump has acted as Mohammed bin Salman's defender in the press, saying maybe he did know about Khashoggi's killing and maybe he didn't.

As he left the White House on Thursday for summit, the president shrugged off a meeting with MBS to discuss the journalist's murder last month at a Saudi consulate, telling DailyMail.com, 'It wasn't set up.'

'It only wasn't set up, I mean, I would have met with him, but we didn't set that one up,' Trump contended. 'I'm making about three or four meetings, we just didn't have time.'

Trump has been insisting for weeks that he is right not to condemn Saudi Arabian leaders for Khashoggi's murder and continued to claim Tuesday that the nation's crown prince may have been in the dark about the attack

Turkey gave the U.S. a recording of Khashoggi's death that is not public but has not had its authenticity disputed earlier this month. The audio reportedly makes it clear that Khashoggi was murdered but doesn't contain a smoking gun that would directly implicate bin Salman.

Trump and Erdogan discussed the murder during a dinner in Paris in mid-November the White House told DailyMail.com at the time.

Still, Trump claims he has not received convincing intelligence that the crown prince was pulling the strings.

'Maybe he did and maybe he didnt,' Trump told the Washington Post as he prepared for the Group of 20 summit. 'But he denies it. And people around him deny it.'

Trump danced around an assessment that bin Salman almost certainly knew about the assassination by saying, 'The CIA did not say affirmatively he did it.'

'Im not saying that theyre saying he didnt do it, but they didnt say it affirmatively,' he stated.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who last week briefed in Haspel's absence, says he told senators, 'There is no direct reporting connecting the crown prince to the order to murder Jamal Khashoggi.'

James Mattis, the secretary of defense, also said, 'We have no smoking gun that the crown prince was involved. Not the intelligence community or anyone else.'

Republican Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters after the briefing that none of the lawmakers believe that MBS is innocent, however.

'I don't think there's anybody in the room that doesn't believe he was responsible for it,' Corker stated.

Haspel was not at the briefing that the White House claims it didn't bar her from attending.

Graham, a key ally of Trump's, said that until he gets a briefing from the CIA, he wouldn't vote on any legislation, which would include a spending bill next week to keep the government open.

'I am not going to be denied the ability to be briefed by the CIA, that we have oversight of, about whether or not their assessment supports my belief that this could not have happened without MBS knowing,' Graham said.

President Donald Trump had an encounter with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman at the G20 on Friday as first daughter Ivanka Trump looked on but not a meeting, the White House said

Saudi King Salman presents President Donald Trump with the highest civilian honor, the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud, at the Royal Court Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, during a visit in May of 2017

The president had previously been called out for his claims about the MBS by Democrats, including the ranking member of the House Intelligence committee.

Rep. Adam Schiff said that Trump was being 'dishonest' when he claimed that the CIA offered no assessment on the crown prince's involvement.

Trump has been dogged by the claims that resurfaced at the White House during a briefing for reporters in advance of his trip to Buenos Aires.

His national security adviser admitted that he had not listened to an audio tape provided to the American government by Turkey that allegedly documents the Washington Post columnist's final moments.

'Why do you think I should? What do you think I'll learn from it?' John Bolton testily told a reporter. 'Unless you speak Arabic, what are you going to get from it?'

Trump has been insisting for weeks that he is right not to condemn Saudi Arabian leaders for Khashoggi's death and continued to claim last week that the nation's crown prince may have been in the dark about the attack.

'Our intelligence agencies continue to assess all information, but it could very well be that the crown prince had knowledge of this tragic event  maybe he did and maybe he didn't!' Trump said in a statement that irked Republicans and Democrats.

Trump claimed, 'We may never know all of the facts surrounding the murder of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi' and therefore the U.S. 'intends to remain a steadfast partner of Saudi Arabia to ensure the interests of our country, Israel and all other partners in the region.'

A Saudi hit squad murdered Khashoggi in the kingdom's Istanbul consulate on October 2. Saudi officials initially denied he was dead but later conceded Khashoggi had been killed.

They called it a 'rogue operation' that took place under bin Salman's nose. The kingdom has punished everyone known to have been involved.

The CIA has confidently assessed that couldn't plausibly be the case. It's unlikely that the de facto ruler of the kingdom was unaware of what was happening inside the consulate where Khashoggi was tortured and then murdered, intelligence sources have told various news publications.

That the information is leaking out and senators have not briefed has continued to irritate lawmakers like Rand Paul, who accused the White House of selectively doling out access to Haspel.

'I wasn't even given a classified briefing until I read about it in the newspaper. I'm only able to ask questions because of things I'm hearing that are revealed in the newspaper, and really in a representative democracy, intelligence should be shared with the representatives so we can make a level-headed decision about whether we should be at war,' he argued.

Also speaking to CNN, Schiff, who has been briefed, has said that while he cannot not disclose classified information on Khashoggi killing, 'I can say that I think the president is being dishonest with the American people.

'It would be one thing if the president were leveling with the American people and saying, OK, this is what happened, this is what we know, this is what took place, but, nonetheless, we need to maintain a relationship with the kingdom. But that's not what he's doing.

'And I just think that it causes our standing in the world to plummet. It telegraphs to despots around the world they can murder people with impunity, and that this president will have his -- their back, as long as they praise him, as long as they do business with him, potentially. And that cannot be the guiding principle behind our foreign policy,' Schiff said on 'State of the Union' as he lectured the president.

Donald Trump insisted he was right not to condemn Saudi Arabian leaders for journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder after harsh criticism of his pronouncement that the crown prince may have been in the dark, because of the low cost of oil prices

Trump has held the declining price of oil, of which Saudi Arabia is the top exporter, as a reason for maintaining a positive relationship with the kingdom without explicitly saying that's why he's letting bin Salman off the hook.

'Theyre keeping the oil prices low. I see that yesterday, one of the papers, I was blamed for causing traffic jams because I have the oil prices so low. Well, I have the oil prices low because Im jawboning them and others all the time to keep them low. Nobody ever did that,' Trump proclaimed on Thanksgiving Day.

The president claims that Russia and China would sweep in and take Saudi investments for themselves if America introduced tough new sanctions on the oil-rich nation.

'Theyre buying their equipment from us. And remember this: They dont have to buy it from us. They can buy it from Russia and they can buy it from China,' he asserted.

Trump's original position entirely ignored the CIA's findings that MBS had to be aware of the killing. His comments prompted an immediate backlash from prominent senators.

'I never thought I'd see the day a White House would moonlight as a public relations firm for the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia,' Corker tweeted.

But as Trump as has repeatedly said: 'It is all about America first - it is America first.

'We're not going to give up hundreds of billions of dollars of orders and let Russia, China, everybody else have them,' he argued.

The president has claimed a $110 billion investment from the Saudis in defense equipment that would disappear if the U.S. sanctioned the nation's military sector.

'If you think I'm going to let Russia have that money or those things, if you think I'm going to let China make the military equipment  hey, China and Russia would love to make a hundred billion dollars worth of military equipment from Saudi Arabia. We have the contracts. They wanted those contracts,' he said last Tuesday.

'That would be a big fat beautiful gift to Russia and China. They are not going to get that gift.'

If he were to act against the kingdom, Trump suggested there would be a global economic meltdown.

'Right now we have oil prices in great shape. I'm not going to destroy the world economy, and I'm not going to destroy the economy for our country by being foolish with Saudi Arabia.'

He added, 'I think the statement was pretty obvious what I said. It's about America First.'

The president says he is still open to sanctions that could be imposed by Congress in the lame duck session but would only support them if they were in the United States' national security interests.

He insisted, 'The crime against Jamal Khashoggi was a terrible one, and one that our country does not condone.'

Yet, the U.S. president said he would take no further action because the United States' relationship with Saudi Arabia is too valuable.

'That being said, we may never know all of the facts surrounding the murder of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi. In any case, our relationship is with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,' he asserted.

'They have been a great ally in our very important fight against Iran. The United States intends to remain a steadfast partner of Saudi Arabia to ensure the interests of our country, Israel and all other partners in the region.'

Trump claimed on Thanksgiving Day that the CIA has not 'concluded' the Saudi crown prince ordered Khashoggi's murder.

'Whether he did or whether he didn't, he denies it vehemently,' Trump said to reporters after he spoke by the phone with U.S. troops. 'The CIA doesn't say they did it. They do point out certain things, and in pointing out those things, you can conclude that maybe he did or maybe he didn't.'

Trump claimed: 'The CIA points it both ways. And as I said, maybe he did, maybe he didn't. I will say very strongly that it's a very important ally.'

Graham said Tuesday ahead of the briefing with Haspel that Trump's concerns are overblown.

'The fear that the Saudis will stop cooperating with the U.S. on terrorism or Iran isnt rational. Those threats pose as much of a danger to the Saudis as they do to America,' he said.This is the shocking moment a man and his accomplice steal a Poppy Appeal collection tin from a hotel reception.

The men enter the Renaissance Hotel on Nettleton Road, London, at approximately 11.30pm on November 9 before swiping the charity tin from the front desk.

Police are now releasing CCTV footage from the hotel in a bid to identify the two men wanted in connection with the theft.

This is the shocking moment a man and his accomplice steal a Poppy Appeal collection tin from a hotel reception desk in London

One man approaches the hotel's front desk and asks for paper in an effort to distract the receptionist

As the receptionist leaves, a second man approaches the front desk at the London hotel. The theft took place at the Renaissance Hotel on Nettleton Road, London, at approximately 11.30pm on November 9

In order to carry out the crime one of the men asks the member of staff behind the reception desk for some paper.

While the receptionist is away, and with no one looking, his accomplice approaches the desk and slowly places the Poppy Appeal collection tin underneath his jacket.

Hotel staff later noticed the charity tin had gone missing and alerted the police the following morning.

The Metropolitan Police tweeted a picture of the two men wanted in connection to the crime on their Twitter page and detectives from the Met's Aviation Policing Command are appealing to the public in an effort to catch the men responsible.

The man's accomplice approaches the front desk and swipes the charity tin underneath his jacket

He walks away from the front desk with the Poppy Appeal charity tin hidden from view. Police are now appealing to the public for help in identifying the men

Detective Constable Kris Latham, from Aviation Police, who is investigating the case said: 'I'd appeal to anyone who may know or recognise either of these men to get in touch with us.

'Stealing a Poppy Appeal charity tin, or indeed any charity donation, is a despicable act and we are determined to bring those responsible to justice.

'If you have any information, then call us on 101 or alternatively, call Crimestoppers, which is completely anonymous.'

Anyone with information can call police on 101 quoting CAD2123/14NOV, or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.An incredible video has emerged of a drunk woman speeding away from a traffic stop and taking the police officer on a wild ride through the streets of southern Ecuador as he clung to the hood of the car.

The driver finally stopped when she crashed through the garage of a nearby building and injuring the cop.

'This bi*** wanted to kill me,' traffic agent Klever Paez yelled.

Paez, who is assigned to the Transit Commission of Ecuador (CTE), was answering a 911 call on Saturday night in the the city of Milagros after an accident involving a motorcycle and the car driven by a woman identified as Lisseth Maily F.V.

Lisseth Maily became enraged when she was told she would have to join the motorist and the cops for a visit to a local police station.

She then refused to enter the squad car after one of the officers submitted her to breathalyzer test, which detected her impairment, before jumping into the passenger seat and putting Paez's life in danger.

Lisseth Maily F.V. is not in police custody after she drove a cop into a garage wall in Ecuador

Officer Klever Paez (left) was stuck between a garage gate and a car after a woman refused to turn off the engine and accelerated while he was climbed atop the vehicle's front hood

According to El Telegrafo, officer Klever Paez recorded the entire exchange with the woman on his cell phone at about 10:30PM local time.

Lisseth Maily refused to hand over her keys to the cops and have her car towed.

The Ecuadorean woman walked away from officer Paez and his partner, and then got inside her car and stubbornly refused to shut the engine after the cop kindly asked to remover herself from the driver's seat.

Lisseth Maily stood her ground and accelerated with officer Paez perched atop of the vehicle's front hood.

'Hey, stop. Hey, you're getting into trouble,' the scared cop screamed while amazingly recording the road rage episode.

'You are going to hit me. Hey, stop. You are going to make me crash. Stop! For God's sake, stop.'

Y aqui el descenlace del evento donde la ciudadana huye de los agentes de la CTE. Mire el video @UNSIONTV pic.twitter.com/8coBeVv1zL  Lipsia Alava Bernal (@Lipalava) December 2, 2018

A Ecuadorean traffic cop hangs for dear life on top of a car as its driver declines to stop

Paez continued pleas went unheard as he repeatedly mentioned that she was going to make him fall to the ground and injure his legs after he hung on to the car for dear life.

Lisseth Maily eventually came to a stop when she drove her car right into the gate entrance of a garage.

Paez's legs were wedged between the car and a wall.

A CTE agent places Lisseth Maily in the backseat of a squad card after she tried fleeing the accident site

The extent of his injuries were not reported.

Lisseth Maily tried to escape the accident as her male companion and another woman are seen on video trying to shove away a law enforcement agent, who then places the woman inside the backseat of a squad car.

Despite the CTE agents' attempt to prevent Lisseth Maily from abandoning the accident site, she was not arrested.

El Telegrafo reported both sides came to an agreement although the CTE is currently looking into working with the National Police of Ecuador and the office of the Attorney General of Ecuador to file charges.Residents in the western town of Cartago were reminded of their country's dark past when a mayoral candidate was shot in an assassination attempt - his second in six years.

Dr. Hugo Eduardo Cedeno Espinosa held an outdoor neural therapy event at a park when four gunmen hopped off two motorcycles and unleashed a hail of bullets as more than 100 attendees ran for cover on Saturday afternoon.

The attack at the health fair left two dead, including Dr. Cedeno Espinosa's mother-in-law, Luz Marina Urruego, and four more injured, including retired colonel Juan Miguel Maestre.

'I believe that the criminal hands behind this seek to end the political campaign that I am pushing forward,' the threatened candidate said according to Colombian news outlet El Pais.

Police investigators found 90 bullet casings, including 7.62 mm and 5.56 mm shells which would indicate that rifles were used as well a shells belonging to a 9 mm handgun.

WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES

Mayoral candidate Dr. Hugo Eduardo Cedeno Espinosa was shot in his foot during an assassination attempt in Cartago, Colombia on Saturday

Dr. Cedeno Espinosa suffered a gun shot wound in his right foot and was taken to a local hospital.

His near death experience definitely brought back memories of the late 1980s as a wave of terror was unleashed against politicians.

In 1987, presidential candidate Jaime Pardo Leal was assassinated. Another candidate for the Colombian presidency, Luis Carlos Galan, was murdered in 1989.

A woman appears in a video amidst all of the chaos screaming, 'why my mother'.

Various Colombian outlets believed that the emotional woman may have been the daughter of the candidate's mother-in-law.

'That my mother-in-law, who arrived three days ago from Spain, has found death here in such a vile and violent way, is cowardly,' the candidate said.

A man, one of the five shooting victims, gets assistance from a stranger at a health fair

Bodies are covered up at the site of a shooting in Colombia that killed two and injured five

The 51-year-old doctor from Ecuador has been living in Cartago for two decades and became a naturalized Colombian citizen a few years ago.

Dr. Cedeno Espinosa, who serves as the medical director at a hospital in the city of Ansermanuevo, said he had recently received a menacing phone call and a text message.

The 2019 mayoral candidate said he told authorities about it but that the security measures that were in place during and prior to Saturday's horrifying event weren't enough.

'They claimed that if I persisted in seeking the mayorship of Cartago, they would kill me, and I made the complaint to the National Protection Unit,' Dr. Cedeno Espinosa said.

Dr. Cedeno Espinosa also survived an assassination in December 2012.

Colombian authorities are offering a $16,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the individuals involved in Saturday's shooting.An 18-year-old Drake University student in Iowa is responsible for writing at least four racist notes on campus, including one she sent to herself, according to authorities.

Kissie Ram and another student reported receiving the racist notes on November 28 at Drake University, but Ram's story of victimization started changing.

'We started having a little different tone of a conversation with the two victims,' Des Moines police Sgt. Paul Parizek said.

'Unfortunately, one of them admitted that she was, in fact, responsible for the note that was written and reported to the police,' Parizek told KCCI8.

Kissie Ram, 18, a student at Drake University, was charged with a misdemeanor after she admitted to being connected to racist notes on campus- one of which she herself reported receiving to authorities

Ram faces disciplinary actions from the school which could ultimately lead to her expulsion

'I don't think the fact that it's bogus is going to take the wind out of the sail of the people who want to do the right thing and want to have the unity in our community,' Parizek said.

Jose Garcia-Fuerte, Drake student body president, said the notes caused students to fear for their safety.

Those 'fears should not be dismissed,' he said. 'People still feared for their lives even though it was a hoax.'

In mid-November 3,000 students celebrated diversity in a massive rally at the campus after racist robocalls were left on campus earlier in the month by a white supremacist group.

Des Moines Police tell the Des Moines Register that Ram received a misdemeanor summons Monday but was not booked into jail.

If found guilty, she could face a fine and be jailed for up to one year.

A total of five racist notes were found on campus on November 28.

Drake officials said they are confident four of the notes, which are now considered hoaxes, were connected to Ram.

Drake University students and faculty gather at the Helmick Commons for a rally to encourage unity after racist robocalls were left on campus

It is unclear the exact content of the notes that authorities say Ram is responsible for.

One student, Keith Walker, received the one note that does not appear to be connected to the other four notes.

While Ram is still enrolled at Drake University, she will be subject to the disciplinary process outlined in Drake's Code of Student Conduct.

According to university spokesperson Jarad Bernstein, she could ultimately be expelled.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Ram for comment but she has yet to respond.A Muslim man is locked in a bitter High Court fight with a council which he says is breaching his human rights by stopping him from building an edge around his father's grave.

Atta Ul-Haq, a practising Barelvi Muslim, wants to erect the edging to stop people walking across Hafiz Qadri's grave in Streetly Cemetery in Walsall, West Midlands.

He says Islamic law forbids people from stepping on graves and claims that the council's policy breaches his human right to exercise religion - a right enshrined in Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Atta Ul-Haq says the rules of Islam forbid people from stepping on graves. Stock image of the damage that was done to Muslim graves in High Wood Cemetery in Bulwell, Nottingham

But Walsall Council leaders say they cannot accommodate Mr Ul-Haq's wish without harming the rights of other Muslims.

They say regulations permit the 'mounding of graves' and mounding is the way Muslims normally inhibit people from walking on graves.

Bosses say their approach has been 'careful, sensitive and accommodating'.

Lord Justice Singh and Mrs Justice Carr began considering legal argument today at the High Court in London, and the hearing is due to end on Wednesday.

Mr Ul-Haq's lawyers say the case could have implications for the Islamic community.

Barrister Michael Fordham QC, who leads Mr Ul-Haq's legal team, told judges in a written case outline: 'He seeks a judicial review of the (council's) 'rules and regulations in respect of cemeteries and crematorium', by which it has and continues to refuse to permit him to erect a raised marble edging around his father's grave.

Walsall Council leaders say they cannot accommodate Mr Ul-Haq's wish without harming the rights of other Muslims. Pictured are file images of Muslim graves in Bulwell, Nottingham

'The request is borne out of a fundamental religious belief that the grave is sacrosanct and stepping on the grave is a deeply offensive religiously prohibited act.'

Barrister Jonathan Auburn, who leads the council's legal team, said Mr Ul-Haq's claim should be dismissed.

He said Mr Ul-Haq wanted a rule change which would be unacceptable to other Muslim groups.

'(The council's) approach has been careful, sensitive, and accommodating,' he said, in a written case outline.

Atta Ul-Haq has taken his fight against Walsall Council to the High Court in London

'The one accommodation which (it) has declined to make is the one which it is not possible to implement without harming the rights of other Muslims.'

But Walsall Council leaders say they cannot accommodate Mr Ul-Haq's wish without harming the rights of other Muslims.

They say regulations permit the 'mounding of graves' and mounding is the way Muslims normally inhibit people from walking on graves.

Bosses say their approach has been 'careful, sensitive and accommodating'.The best bang for your buck! This option enables you to purchase online 24/7 access and receive the Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday print edition at no additional cost * Print edition only available in our carrier delivery area. Allow up to 72 hours for delivery of your print edition to begin. Print edition not available for Day Pass option.A Florida college student has been arrested for tweeting a death threat at his professor for scheduling a final exam at 7am.

Florida Atlantic University student Rafael Decomas, 20, was arrested last week on a charge of sending a written threat to kill or do bodily injury.

On Tuesday November 27 he tweeted at 1am: 'Bey I gern f***ing kill dis professor bey this is my confession to a premeditated murder.'

Rafael Decomas, 20, was arrested on Wednesday November 28 after he tweeted a threat to kill his data structure professor Karl Weiss

He posted the tweet from the account '@Ashelaniqua, Cutie Claus' which FAU police traced back to him as the Twitter profile linked him to the Caribbean Student Association, according to Local10.

He was arrested by campus police the following day following the threat.

Decomas told officers he was upset that his data structure professor Karl Weiss scheduled a final exam for 7am on the Boca Raton campus, according to campus paper University Press.

After he was arrested he told police he didn't mean any harm and tweeted out of frustration as he'd have to wake up at 5am to commute to campus for the 7am final exam at the Boca Raton campus of Florida Atlantic University (above)

Because Decomas commutes from Riviera Beach, about 30 miles away, he would have to wake up at 5am. It takes about two hours to get to Boca Raton by train.

'Decomas stated he did not intend to harm anyone and tweeted the post out of frustration. Decomas advised that he deleted the post soon after publishing it,' the police report said.

He was taken to Palm Beach County jail and released on $5,000 bond.Wells Fargo has revealed a computer glitch is behind an error that led to more than 500 customers losing their homes when their loans were refused.

Last month the bank announced that an underwriting error had caused it to incorrectly reject some 870 home loan modifications, resulting in the bank foreclosing 545 homes.

The errors have left the banking community, legislators and, of course, the affected homeowners asking how this happened.

Scroll down for video

An underwriting error at Wells Fargo that led to the incorrect rejection of 870 loan modifications over an eight-year period and ultimately sent 545 homes into foreclosure has left customers, legislators and the banking community looking for an explanation

Jose Aguilar's home in upstate New York went into foreclosure three years ago after he was denied a loan modification as a result of the computer glitch. Wells Fargo sent the father an apology note and a check for $25,000 this September

Jose Aguilar's home in upstate New York went into foreclosure three years ago after the family found mold in the house and attempted to modify their loan to lower their monthly payment.

Speaking to CBS, Aguilar said: 'At first they told me: "OK, you know, you might be able to qualify for a loan modification."'

However, the process dragged along for months as Aguilar waited for a decision.

'Then the whole process just started all over again. And then it got to the point we were a year behind,' Aguilar said.

Wells Fargo ultimately turned down the modification.

'At that point I just gave up,' Aguilar said, adding that he and his wife split up as the house went into foreclosure.

Because of the damage done to his credit during the ordeal, Aguilar couldn't find anyone who would rent to him.

'At that point my son and I had to move to the basement of a friend's house and we stayed there for three months, and we had nothing. We had a couch and my son had a bed,' Aguilar said as he fought back tears.

Nearly three years later in September, Aguilar got a letter from Wells Fargo that read: 'We made a mistake we're sorry.'

The letter claimed that the decision on Aguilar's loan modification was based 'on a faulty calculation' and that it 'should have been' approved.

"It's just like, are you serious? Are you kidding me?' Aguilar asked.

'Like they destroyed my kids' life and my life, and now you want me to  "We're sorry?"'

Aguilar recounted the circumstances that led to him losing his home in an interview with CBS this week. He fought back tears as he described having to move into a friend's basement

Wells Fargo revealed the same 'calculation error' affected 870 customers over an eight year period. Those customers were either denied loan modifications or 'were not offered a modification in cases where they would have otherwise qualified'.

About 545 of those affected - including Aguilar - lost their homes to foreclosure.

Some of those people's apology letters came with a check from Wells Fargo. Augilar received one for $25,000.

However, his attorney Marc Dann argues that it doesn't begin to cover his client's total losses.

'So how do you think they came up with the amounts of money that they handed out to people?' CBS correspondent Anna Werner asked Dann.

'That's what we want to find out. We want to find out what went wrong, how it went wrong,' Dann said.

The question is, how did this happen? This is clearly more than just a simple computer mistake. - Alys Cohen of the National Consumer Law Center

Wells Fargo refused to disclose how much money it expects to pay out in remediation to affected customers, but said it plans to work with each of those customers to reach a resolution - even offering no-cost mediation.

Aguilar said that for him, money isn't the point.

'I want Wells Fargo to know that there's people out there with feelings and families that try hard to pay their bills and survive. We're real people, we're not just money,' Aguilar said.

Non-profit groups and legislators are probing for more answers about how the glitch came about and how it could be prevented in the future.

Alys Cohen of the National Consumer Law Center told CBS: 'The question is, how did this happen? Aren't they supposed to check their computer programs regularly to make sure they're accurate?

'This is clearly more than just a simple computer mistake.'American Airlines says a 67-year-old woman was not left stranded in a wheelchair for hours at a Chicago airport when her flight was canceled as her family had previously claimed.

Olimpia Warsaw, who has Parkinson's disease and diabetes, was due to fly out of Chicago's O'Hare International Airport on Friday night after attending her ex-husband's funeral.

Her flight to Detroit, Michigan was later canceled due to blizzard warnings in the Midwest.

Warsaw's son, Claude Coltea, told media outlets that the airport porter assigned to take care of his wheelchair-bound mother left her stranded in the airport for five hours because his shift had ended and he wanted to go home.

The family of Olimpia Warsaw, 67, had claimed she was left stranded at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport on Friday night after her flight was canceled. American Airlines has since released a detailed timeline of events that contradict the family's claims

American Airlines initially apologized to the family, refunded Warsaw's ticket and vowed to investigate the claims that she was abandoned in the terminal.

But after reviewing surveillance footage and multiple call records, the airline has since released a detailed timeline of events that contradict the family's initial story.

The footage, which the airline has not released publicly, apparently shows Warsaw using a walker to go outside the terminal twice to smoke while she waited for 45 minutes to be picked up by relatives.

Her son had earlier claimed that the family didn't know Warsaw was stranded until she failed to arrive in Detroit as scheduled.

Coltea said he had taken his mother to her airline gate on Friday night and her flight was still on time at that point. He left her at the gate and went to board his own flight home to Connecticut.

When her flight was canceled soon after, the airline printed Warsaw a hotel voucher and re-booked her on a flight scheduled for the following morning.

Her family claim that's when the porter left her stranded in the airport after refusing to take her to the hotel.

Warsaw's son had initially told media outlets that the airport porter assigned to take care of his wheelchair-bound mother left her stranded in the airport for five hours because his shift had ended and he wanted to go home

They claim they contacted American Airlines who supposedly couldn't locate Warsaw. The family said she was found by security officers several hours later.

However, the airline said phone records indicate that the wheelchair attendant spoke to Coltea at least twice as soon as his flight landed in Connecticut at 12.10am.

Records also show that Coltea then re-booked his mother on a flight leaving later on Saturday afternoon and said relatives would come to pick Warsaw up from the airport, according to the airline.

Surveillance video showed the wheelchair attendant dropping Warsaw off in a waiting area at 12.30am and a relative arriving at 1.13am to pick her up.

In that 45-minute time frame, the airline said surveillance showed Warsaw going outside with a walker twice to smoke a cigarette.

The airline said Warsaw was met outside by a female and male relative in a black SUV. The female entered the terminal while the male remained outside with the vehicle.

Minutes later, Warsaw also came back inside the terminal.

After reviewing surveillance footage and multiple call records from O'Hare airport (above), the airline has since released a detailed timeline of events that contradict the family's initial story

The female relative met Warsaw at the wheelchair waiting area about 30 minutes later and started pushing her towards the exit.

The woman then took a photo of Warsaw sitting in the wheelchair before leaving her alone again for several minutes as she flagged down a police officer.

After briefly speaking with the officer, the relative then pushed Warsaw to the waiting car and they left the airport at 1.53am.

In an interview with the Chicago Sun Times on Monday, Warsaw said: 'I was scared to death there was nobody.'

Her son told the outlet that Warsaw was found in a hallway near a restroom.

'She figured if she stays in one place there's more likelihood that someone would help her,' Colteau said.

'All I want is American to immediately reassess its processes for working with disabled people that have special needs. I doubt that someone would leave a 12-year-old child like that, but the truth is, an elderly person that has a disability has the same kind of needs.'President Donald Trump is expected to visit with members of the Bush family on Tuesday at Blair House, the U.S. president's official guest house, an intra-party walking-on-eggshells moment that holds the potential for a diplomatic disaster.

Former first lady Laura Bush was expected at the White House Tuesday morning for a tour of Christmas decorations from Melania Trump. She and the president will see Laura again later, along with George W. Bush  the former Oval Office occupant whom he once called the 'worst president ever.'

'Looking forward to being with the wonderful Bush family at Blair House today.' Trump tweeted.

'The former First Lady will be coming over to the White House this morning to be given a tour of the Christmas decorations by Melania. The elegance & precision of the last two days have been remarkable!'

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump will pay social calls on George W. and Laura Bush as tensions simmer beneath the surface of a dignified State Funeral week

Trump has called the younger George Bush the 'worst president ever,' making the Washington-centered memorials for the late President George H.W. Bush awkward

Former President George H.W. Bush died Friday at his home in Houston, Texas; his remains arrived in Washington on Monday and members of his family, including George W. Bush and Laura Bush, are in town to participate in four days of State Funeral proceedings

Trump invited the Bushes to stay at Blair House after George H.W. Bush's death on Friday. Ceremonies marking the first day of his extended state funeral gripped the nation Monday.

A long-running feud began in earnest during the 2016 Republican primary season when Trump branded Jeb Bush, George W.'s younger brother and a political rival, as 'low-energy Jeb.'

That characterization stuck as Trump made mincemeat out of 17 rivals including Jeb, who the Republican Party's establishment wing saw as the third rung in his family's dynastic ladder.

In response, Jeb Bush called Trump 'the chaos candidate.' But 'Saturday Night Live' showed Trump won the culture war, with Darrell Hammond in character referring to Jeb as 'Jebra.'

Trump tweeted Tuesday that he was 'looking forward to' a meeting that most political observers expect to be strained and stiff

Blair House, located across the street from the White House, is a Pennsylvania Avenue address that frequently houses visiting heads of state and other VIP presidential guests

Following Trump's inauguration ceremony in January 2017, George W. Bush was heard muttering: 'That was some weird s**t.'

Since then the current president has blasted him numerous times for incurring the financial debts and physical casualties associated with the Gulf War.

George W. Bush said in an interview Mark Updegrove's 2017 book 'The Last Republicans' that he wasn't a Trump fan.

'Wow,' he said. 'This guy doesn't know what it means to be president.'

The elder Bush told the same author during the 2016 campaign: 'I dont know much about him, but I know hes a blowhard. And Im not too excited about him being a leader.'

He later told Updegrove that he voted for Hillary Clinton.

President Barack Obama, right, joined former President George H. W. Bush, left, to present the 5,000th 'Daily Point of Light Award' in 2013, an award given to recognize American volunteerism

Trump mocked the Thousand Points of Light Foundation during a July 5, 2018 rally in Montana, saying he 'never quite got' the point of the slogan behind it

And he made a foray into smashmouth politics in July that was unusually caustic, even for him, bashing President George H.W. Bush's signature volunteerism charity program.

'You know all of the rhetoric you see? "Thousand points of light"  what the hell was that, by the way?' he said during a political rally in Montana. '"Thousand points of light"  what does that mean?'

'I know one thing: "Make America Great Again," we understand,' Trump continued then. '"Putting America first" we understand. "Thousand points of light"? I never quite got that one.'

'What the hell is that? Has anyone ever figured that one out? It was put out by a Republican, wasnt it?'

Trump's elevation at the 2016 Republican National Convention was, politically, a bare-knuckle repudiation of the GOP establishment that the Bushes represent.

President Trump steamrolled through a field of 17 Republican primary contenders in 2016 that included Jeb Bush (2nd right), a former Florida governor and son of the late president George H.W. Bush who was thought to be a shoo-in before the larger-than-life TV star came along

First lady Melania Trump will show off her East Wing Christmas decorations on Tuesday to Laura Bush, who held her position from 2001 to 2009

It's unclear how long this week's Trump-Bush detente might last. The president paid his respects to the late elder Bush on Monday evening, spending less than two minutes in the Capitol Rotunda in a pro-forma moment that was expected but seemed timed to limit the spotlight.

The truce has included Trump offering the use of his Air Force One plane to transport the late president's remains back and forth between Houston and Washington.

And the Bushes avoided an incident by inviting Trump to Wednesday's memorial service  although he won't speak.

Sitting presidents have delivered eulogies at the last three presidential funerals.

Trump was snubbed at the last State Funeral, pointedly not invited to attend when Republican Sen. John McCain was laid to rest three months ago.

The Bushes told the White House over the summer that whenever the 41st president passed away, Trump would be welcome.A former Texas teacher has been accused of having a four-year sexual relationship with a student that began when she was 15 and only ended after they lived together.

David Ziesmer, 26, has been charged with sexual assault of a child and improper relationship with a student.

Ziesmer met his alleged victim in a world geography class while working as a student teacher at Bellaire High School.

The woman told police she was 15 and in ninth grade when she and Ziesmer began their relationship in May 2014.

David Ziesmer, 26, has been charged with sexual assault of a child and improper relationship with a student after allegedly having a four-year relationship with one of his students

She claimed that the pair began having sex shortly after they first met and were even caught twice by her mother.

Ziesmer's alleged victim claims that the pair began having sex shortly after they first met and were even caught twice by her mother

The woman's mother allegedly found Ziesmer hiding under a blanket in bed with her after coming home from work early one day in February 2015. The girl told her mother she had met Ziesmer in math class.

A few months later, the victim's mother caught them sleeping in bed together in her home.

The woman told investigators she had sex with Ziesmer in 'several of his vehicles' and that she moved in with him and his parents after she turned 18 this year.

She said the long-term relationship ended in June, shortly after they began living together.

Ziesmer has admitted to being in a relationship with the woman, but told investigators that 'nothing was sexual until after her 17th birthday', according to the Houston Chronicle.

He also told police that he and the woman were caught having sex in a car at a 'random' apartment complex when she was 17.

The age of consent in Texas is 17.

Ziesmer was working as a teacher at Crosby High School when the district was notified in November that he was under investigation.

Ziesmer met his alleged victim in a world geography class while working as a student teacher at Bellaire High School (pictured) in 2014

The Crosby Independent School District said Ziesmer was immediately placed on administrative leave and reported to the Texas State Board for Educator Certification.

It also conducted its own investigation which 'revealed no misconduct related to Crosby ISD students', the district said in a statement.

Ziesmer has since resigned from the school.

Houston Independent School District said Ziesmer was never employed by the district, but did work as a student teacher at Bellaire High School in 2014.

The district said it had conducted a background check prior to assigning Ziesmer to a campus and that 'nothing was found'.

Ziesmer has since been released from custody after posting $40,000 bond. His next court date is in February.A Swiss village has failed to raise the money for a basic income system which would have seen residents paid 2,000 for doing nothing at all.

More than half the villagers in Rheinau, close to Switzerland's border with Germany, voted in favour of the controversial scheme earlier this year.

But after announcing the scheme would need to raise 6.1million francs (4.8million) to get off the ground, the organisers managed to cobble together just 2.5 per cent of their goal.

A crowdfunding campaign which would have underpinned the pioneering scheme yielded just 151,836 francs (120,000), according to Bloomberg.

The cost of living in Switzerland means 2,500 francs is not a large sum of money and would probably not have represented a sole income for most inhabitants

More than 50 per cent of inhabitants in the small village of 1,300 voted in favour, with over half needing to say 'yes' for the scheme to get approval.

The decision comes two years after a proposal for a nationwide unconditional state stipend in Switzerland failed to pass in a national vote.

Filmmaker Rebecca Panian was the organiser behind the basic income trial and had planned to document its results on the small screen.

She says she became fascinated by the notion during the national debate before up the 2016 vote, decided to select a village as a guinea pig, and make a documentary.

The scheme needed more than a 50 per cent vote to go through and achieved that mark in September this year

Earnings and social benefits would have counted against the 2,500 franc payment, which the Swiss government ruled out paying for.

Given the cost of living in Switzerland, the sum of 2,500 francs isnt very large. An entry-level grocery store cashier in the city of Basel working 42 hours per week is entitled to about 3,500 francs a month.

While the idea of paying people money no strings attached has been around for more than a century, it has gained some traction in recent years due to concerns in major economies about rising inequality and jobs losses due to automation.

Finland introduced a pilot project to examine the benefits of a universal basic income, while its also on the agenda of Italys populist government.

Residents in the small Swiss village of Rheinau, near the border with Germany, voted in favour of the schemeFormer Vice President Joe Biden hinted at how seriously he was considering a presidential run, calling himself 'the most qualified' person for the job during a stop on his book tour.

Biden, 76, who passed on a run in 2016, when he was President Obama's sitting vice president, said Monday night he was best suited to taking the fight to President Donald Trump.

'I'll be as straight with you as I can. I think I'm the most qualified person in the country to be president,' Biden told a crowd in Missoula, Montana, while promoting his book.

'The issues that we face as a country today are the issues that have been in my wheelhouse, that I've worked on my whole life,' he said, the Hill newspaper reported.

Former Vice President Joe Biden says he is the 'most qualified person in the country' to be president. Biden, 76, is considering a run against President Donald Trump. He spoke during a stop for his book tour in Missoula, Montana

Biden, who served in the Senate from 1973 until he was sworn in as vice president in 2009, stressed his experience  a pitch that Hillary Clinton made in her own unsuccessful 2008 primary campaign.

'No one should run for the job unless they believe that they would be qualified doing the job. I've been doing this my whole adult life, and the issues that are the most consequential relating to the plight of the middle class and our foreign policy are things that I have  even my critics would acknowledge, I may not be right but I know a great deal about it,' Biden said.

Biden once chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and carved out responsibilities dealing with Iraq and other trouble spots during the Obama administration.

Biden, who spent more than three decades in the Senate, points out a friend in the crowd at the Padua Academy to President Jimmy Carter during a fundraiser. Carter spent the evening in Wilmington campaigning for Biden during his run for a second term

Vice President Joe Biden takes his sunglasses off as he arrives for a campaign event with President Barack Obama at Strawbery Banke Field in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, September 7, 2012

ME TOO: Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Joseph Biden D-Del. holds up a copy of the FBI report on Anita Hill during committee hearings on Capital Hill as Biden questions the Oklahoma law professor about her allegations against Judge Clarence Thoma

U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden (R) and General Motors CEO Mary Barra look at the new Corvette C7 attend the North American International Auto Show industry preview at Cobo Hall on January 16, 2014 in Detroit, Michigan. Some Democrats believe Biden could perform better in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania than Hillary Clinton did in 2016 and provide a path to victory

At 76, Biden is younger than Bernie Sanders, 77. President Trump is 72

Biden began his Senate service in 1973

He also has a long career focusing on domestic topics such as the Violence Against Women Act, which he helped author. But it is unclear whether his role chairing the Clarence Thomas hearings at the Senate Judiciary Committee during Anita Hill's famous testimony will pose a problem during the '#MeToo' era.

'I'm ready to litigate all those things, the question is what kind of nation are we becoming? What are we going to do? Who are we? Biden said.

With a wide open field of Democrats, Biden pledged: 'Whether or not I run, whoever runs, I'm going to break my neck to make sure they win. We can't have four more years.

The 77-year-old Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders is already assembling a staff for a possible run.

'This time, he starts off as a front-runner, or one of the front-runners,' said Sanders' 2016 campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, the Associated Press reported.

California Sen. Kamala Harris, herself a Judiciary panel member, says she'll decide on her plans over the holidays.

Biden, passed on a run in 2016, citing the death of his adult son, Beau, in 2015, while facing a daunting primary against Hillary Clinton. Among those states Clinton lost to Trump were Pennsylvania, where Biden was born.

Biden invoked his grandchildren as one factor in his decision, saying he wants to be there to help care for them.

'We're going to make that decision in the next six weeks to two months, and that's the basis of the decision,' he said.A professor spent a decade getting drunk around the world to discover the best hangover cure.

Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall partied in 30 cities in 14 countries in his quest to find the perfect remedy.

The 44-year-old half-British half-Canadian tried every treatment from an intravenous drip to a so-called polar-bear swim in Canadian freezing waters as well as testing herbal concoctions from different cultures around the globe.

Bishop-Stall recorded everything he drank on a night out and assessed the severity of his symptoms the next day, then drank the same booze another night, but added in a hangover remedy and logged the results.

The Toronto-based writing professor and former bar owner found his favorite cure in Las Vegas, the setting for hit movie The Hangover, where he was hooked up to a saline IV drip.

Author Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall partied in 30 cities in 14 countries in his global quest to find the perfect hangover remedy

During his round-the-world drinking adventures, Bishop-Stall was hooked up to an IV in Law Vegas to help with the after-effects of his boozy session

During his inebriated odyssey, Bishop-Stall tried hundreds of so-called treatments including eels and pickled sheep's eyes, a dissolved cigarette in coffee, a wedge of lime under the armpit, as well as high-end cures such as expensive IV drips.

He also tried the classic 'hair of the dog' strategy, which he used regularly while drinking almost every day.

Often trying out the treatments on his own, Bishop-Stall sometimes called on friends to help his research, including a St Patrick's Day party involving 12 guests and six handles of Irish whiskey.

There was also a life-threatening episode in the US when he got so drunk at a party in Tucson, Arizona, he wandered off into the desert and nearly died from heat stroke and dehydration from his hangover.

But his wildest night came in Berlin when Bishop-Stall got so drunk he thought he had lost his passport and ended up being in the country for an extra week without any money, before eventually finding it at the hotel reception.

Bishop-Stall documented his ten-year world-wide drinking session in his new book, Hungover: The Morning After and One Mans Quest for the Cure

After years of searching the wonder ingredient he discovered is a 'high dose', at around 1,500 milligrams, of N-acetylcysteine (NAC).

The amino acid helps the body produce a powerful anti-oxidant called glutathione and is said to be a toxicity cure used in hospitals to treat overdoses of painkiller, Tylenol.

Along with NAC, Bishop-Stall recommends taking vitamins B1, B6 and B12, which are supposed to make NAC more effective, along with boswellia (frankincense), a supposed anti-inflammatory, and milk thistle, a herb that contains even more glutathione.

Bishop-Stall described NAC as a 'sort of a magic ingredient' that repairs liver damage.

He told the New York Post: 'These supplements are more for a chronic alcoholic with liver damage, not a casual drinker with a hangover.

'He says that milk thistle and NAC may help with alcohol-related problems, such as liver inflammation and damage, but he notes, 'The liver does not cause a hangover; dehydration does.'

Bishop-Stall says hangovers should not be viewed as as a punishment for a night of debauchery, but instead treated as a common condition that needs to be cured.

But all the constant drinking took a heavy toll on his body and mental health.

Bishop-Stall told the New York Post: 'I was getting ill a lot and my blood pressure went up a lot. My liver enzymes were also through the roof. A lot of health issues arose.

Bishop-Stall had a near-death experience in the Arizona desert and was stranded in Berlin after losing his passport on a night out

'Pretty much every facet of my health did take a real hit during those years. I gained weight, had problems with my circulatory system. My mental health took a whack too.'

But he added: 'The subject of hangovers proved far richer than I ever could have imagined.

'What first seemed just an incidental, uncomfortable given soon revealed a sort of mysterious connectivity among so many facets of human history, art, science, religion, warfare, psychology, philosophy and metaphysics.

'I went down those boozy rabbit holes for almost a decade, and came back with this book. Oh, and also a cure. That was an even greater surprise.'

While on his travels, he also found that, in moderation, wine can help stave off cardiovascular disease, colds, cataracts, macular degeneration, rheumatoid arthritis, dementia, diabetes, fatty liver, indigestion, insomnia and ageing.

Tequila helps prevent osteoporosis, Type 2 diabetes, dementia and obesity while beer can be good for kidneys, cholesterol levels and bone density, Bishop-Stall discovered.

Bishop-Stall, who also previously wrote a memoir about living in tent city, documented his ten-year world-wide bender in his new book, Hungover: The Morning After and One Mans Quest for the Cure.A university is to review its decision to name a lecture theatre after a BBC broadcaster who said transgender women aren't 'real women'.

Woman's Hour host Jenni Murray made the comments in a Sunday Times article last year under the title 'Be trans, be proud - but don't call yourself a 'real woman'.

The university said it is reviewing its decision following protests over her comments by outraged students, supported by Hull University Union, at a talk held there last night, the BBC reported.

Woman's Hour host Jenni Murray said transgender women aren't real women

The University of Hull is honouring Jenni by naming a lecture theatre after her. Pictured, Brynmor Jones Library, University Of Hul

A statement issued by the Student President team said: 'We oppose the naming of a lecture theatre after Jenni Murray.

'We do not believe that someone who holds these views should be presented as a role model to students.'

The university said Dame Jenni had been chosen in recognition of her 'distinguished career as a broadcaster and journalist'.

However, it added that as a university 'striving to accelerate our equality, diversity and inclusion agenda' it would take feedback from staff and students into account as part of a 'comprehensive review' of the decision.'

Others took to Twitter to slam the university for choosing to honour her.

Disabled student officer and transgender student Jess Clunan said: 'As a trans student, can I ask why I'll soon be forced to attend lectures in a theatre named after someone who doesn't believe I am a woman????'

A spokesman for the Hull University Union said last night: 'We are aware of comments on social media over the weekend about the naming of a lecture theatre after Jenni Murray and her attendance at a Women in Leadership event this evening.

'We stand with our trans students and the wider trans community in their right to identify however they wish.

'Trans women are women. Trans men are men. Trans rights are human rights.

'We oppose the naming of a lecture theatre after Jenni Murray and will no longer be supporting the event this evening.

'We do not believe that someone who holds these views should be presented as role model to students and are disappointed that despite being aware of Jenni's published views and our stance, the University are continuing with the naming event.

'We have all signed a motion to oppose the naming of the lecture theatre which has been submitted by a student to Union Council.

'We will be actively lobbying the university to reverse their decision.'

Jenni had been invited to speak at the talk but it is not clear if she attended.

A University of Hull spokesman previously said the decision to rename a lecture theatre after Dame Jenni Murray was in recognition of her career as a broadcaster and journalist.

People took to Twitter to slam the university for choosing to honour Jenni Murray

He added they would be inviting further feedback from the staff and student population with regards to the decision.

He said the event was to showcase inspirational woman who spoke about their experience of leadership in their diverse careers.

The spokesman added: 'In recent days, some of our staff and students have expressed concern about this decision, particularly in light of comments made by Dame Jenni in 2017 in relation to transgender issues.

'As a university striving to accelerate our equality, diversity and inclusion agenda, we will take these views into account.'

It comes after she pulled out of a recent University of Oxford event at Oriel College following backlash from students their about the same comments.

Representatives for Dame Jenni, who studied French and drama at the university, has been contacted for comment.

She said in the Sunday Times last year: 'It takes more than a sex change and make-up' to 'lay claim to womanhood'.

She wrote: 'I know that in writing this article I am entering into the most controversial and, at times, vicious, vulgar and threatening debate of our day. I'm diving headfirst into deep and dangerous waters.'A heroic pastor who headed into his burning apartment block in a bid to rescue neighbors after a deadly gas explosion killed seven people is in federal prison  and could be deported.

Eddie Macario, 28, fled his Flower Branch apartment in Silver Spring, Maryland, after an explosion sparked a massive fire in 2016.

But while others ran to safety, the Guatemalan native turned and headed back into the flames to search for survivors, the Montgomery County Sentinel reports.

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Eddie Macario (pictured) who headed into his burning apartment block to rescue neighbors after a deadly gas explosion killed seven people is in federal prison  and could be deported

But now, Macario  who has a one-year-old daughter who is an American citizen  is facing deportation.

A hearing is set for Tuesday at the George Fallon Building in Baltimore.

Macario's attorney Johanna Kelley told the Sentinel that she expects his fate will be decided by the end of the week.

Macario has been in federal prison since his arrest in August.

He fled his homeland in 2010 but was caught by the US Border Patrol and sent back to Guatemala.

But several years ago, he illegally entered the US.

Seven people were killed when a gas explosion sparked a massive fire at the Flower Branch apartments in Silver Spring, Maryland, in August 2016

Macario went back into the building to search for survivors, others who lived in the building said

Kelley told the Sentinel that he had stopped to grab coffee on his way to work when he was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

As he awaits the hearing, the community in Silver Spring is praying he can stay in the country.

Around 70 people gathered for a service at St Camillius Church on Thursday, where the pastor called on American leaders and citizens to welcome 'refugees with joy.'

Tanushree Isaacman, who visited Macario in prison recently, said he is grateful for the support from his neighbors.

The remains of a structure are seen after an overnight explosion and fire destroyed an apartment building in the Flower Branch Apartments complez

But she told the Sentinel that he is afraid of being persecuted for his beliefs is he has to return to Guatemala.

Others who survived the gas explosion recalled Macario's actions on August 10, 2016.

'In the explosion and fire, many of us ran to safety,' Elise Brun told the Sentinel.

'Our friend went back to look for survivors.'

Since the explosion, Macario was a pastor to his neighbors and translated for those who couldn't speak English.

'He loves this country,' she added.

The gas explosion and fire killed seven people  including two children - and injured dozens of others

The explosion, caused by a natural gas leak, shook homes more than a mile away.A pharmacist faces life in jail for strangling his wife to death so he could cash in on her life insurance and start a new life with his gay lover in Australia.

Mitesh Patel, of Middlesbrough, hoped to make 2million from his wife's death and use her frozen embryos to have the family with Dr Amit Patel, who had emigrated to Sydney.

Mitesh tried to pass off his wife's murder as a botched burglary of their home, which is not far from the pharmacy they ran together.

But his lies were undone when investigators examined his movements using the iPhone Health App, which both he and his wife used, in a legal first for the UK.

Mitesh Patel, 37, denies strangling his wife Jessica, 34, at their home in Middlesbrough

The court heard Jessica was aware her husband was having affairs with men behind her back

The app tracks a person's steps throughout the day and it disproved Patel's lie that Jess was murdered by an intruder.

In the minutes that followed her death Patel's phone monitored frantic activity, racing around the house as he staged the burglary, running and up and down the stairs, while hers stayed still.

Only after her death, her phone moved exactly 14 paces as her husband took it from her body and deposited outside to make it look as though the 'burglar' had dropped it as he left.

Jessica, 34, had suffered in silence for six years, aware that her husband was in love with another man and was also having casual sex with strangers he met on the Grindr dating app.

The killer planned to start a new life with Dr Amit Patel (pictured) in Australia

There were cries of 'yes!' from the public gallery as Patel was found guilty today. Mr Justice James Goss told him he faces a life sentence and will only be released 'in many years to come'.

Patel had also made a series of internet searches before her death, including 'I need to kill my wife' before strangling her with his bare hands and a Tesco plastic bag on May 14 this year..

His motivation had always been to escape his strict Hindu upbringing and flee to Australia to be with Amit Patel and for the couple to bring up a family.

Even while he and his wife were going through three unsuccessful rounds of IVF, he was planning to kill her and take the baby to Sydney, asking Amit Patel: 'Would you love it like your own?'

The fourth IVF cycle had resulted in Jessica's embryos being harvested and held in frozen storage in a fertility clinic in Darlington.

With access to the embryos Patel had no more use for her, prosecutor Nicholas Camopbell, QC, told the court and he brought forward his plan to murder her.

Patel ransacked their home after the murder to try to make it look like a burglary

He was snared after police discovered a step-counting app on their phones showed him frantically running around before calling 999, while her phone stayed still

Teesside Crown Court was read messages between Mitesh Patel and his wife which showed she was resisting continuing with IVF because she knew he was having sex with other men.

In some cases he was bringing them back to their home and having sex in their spare room, using lubricant and condoms he kept in the marital bedroom.

He also invited Amit Patel to the couple's previous home in West Yorkshire, leaving his wife in the middle of the night to be with his lover in the guest room.

Patel's Google searches also helped to give him away. In the weeks leading up to the murder he searched: 'Can 3mm of insulin kill?', 'How to complete a coroner's report,' and 'Hindu funerals for a murdered woman' and was looking at properties for sale and rent in Australia.

During the course of the trial Patel admitted: 'I should have been honest with myself and I should not have married Jess.'

He added: 'I cannot explain how I felt. It was the fear of being exposed as an Asian gay man, that was one thing and the other was that I was not going to let Jess down. I had married Jess and all her dreams were going to come to a crashing end.'

He even went to a pizza takeaway to make it look like he and his wife were having a night in

Cleveland police say that Dr Amit Patel, a GP who worked at a health centre, has only been spoken to as a witness, although the enquiry into all the circumstances leading up to Jessica's murder is ongoing and does not end with her husband's conviction.

DCI Matt Murphy-King, who led the investigation said: 'We have spoken to Amit as a witness. It would not be proper for me to go into any detail it could unduly prejudice any future proceedings should there ever be taken against him.'

Mr Justice Goss told the jury a life sentence was mandatory and he will determine the minimum term Patel must serve behind bars on Wednesday morning.

He will hear victim statements from Jessica's grandmother, father and a joint one by her siblings and cousins before he sentences.

The jury unanimously found Patel guilty after deliberating for around three hours on the 12th day of the trial.

The victim was pictured, in her final moments, returning home, before her husband killed her

A statement released by the family of Jessica Patel said: 'Jessica was a beautiful person both on the inside and out. Her soul was pure, her heart ever so kind and the love and generosity she afforded to everyone in her life was second to none.

'She had simple dreams, all she ever wanted was to fall in love, have a family of her own and live happily ever after.

'Losing Jessica has devastated our family. Over the last 6 months we have agonised over what could have happened and the truth we have learnt over the last few weeks is truly painful and traumatic.

'Never could we have ever imagined anything like this. The man we welcomed into our family, who promised to look after and protect her, betrayed her in every sense of the word, cheating her of her dreams, robbing her of her life and robbing us of her.

'No one in this world has the right to take someone else's life.Although even a maximum life sentence is not punishment enough, we are relieved at the outcome of the trial and this will help to bring us a little peace.

'We would like to thank everyone associated with this case who have worked tirelessly in aiding our fight to get justice for Jessica; the Family Liaison Officers and Cleveland Police, the CPS, QC Campbell and QC Perks.

'The amount of work that has been done has become very evident throughout the trial and we cannot express just how grateful we are.

'We would also like to thank all our family and friends who have supported us through this immensely difficult time.

All we really want is to have Jessica back in our lives; something we will never get but we hope now she is finally at peace.'

He wrapped duct tape around her mouth, which he claimed burglars had used to silence her

Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Matt Murphy-King, said: 'Jessica Patel was a wonderful daughter, sister and friend, loved and respected by many, who tragically had her life cut short by the man who should have been there to love, cherish and protect her.

'During the course of the murder investigation, significant evidence emerged which proved Mitesh Patel had researched and planned Jess's death for a number of years, which culminated in Jess's murder on 14th May of this year.

'In an effort to disguise his crime and seek to fool the murder investigation team into believing that Jess had been murdered whilst Mitesh was out walking, Miteshwent to the extreme of staging the murder scene making it appear as though Jess had been murdered during a burglary, something which the investigation categorically proved to be a lie - one of the many lies which Miteshspun to conceal his guilt and devious lifestyle.

'Whilst nothing can be done to bring Jess back or lessen the pain and suffering caused to Jess's family, I sincerely hope that by bringing Mitesh Patel to justice for his despicable crime it at least brings some solace to them.

'Today's conviction reflects the enormity of MiteshPatel's crime, who for his own devious reasons, which included pre-planning the murder for financial gain to the tune of two million pounds, took Jessica's life.

'Even when faced with overwhelming evidence, Miteshchose to inflict further pain and suffering upon Jess's family by not admitting his guilt, thereby exposing Jess's family to his deceitful, dishonest and wicked ways throughout trial.

'I'm very grateful to the CPS and prosecution team for their excellent work which has enabled the investigation team as a whole to present the best possible case for Jess, which has ultimately led to Mitesh Patel's conviction.'

The health app that snared the pharmacist: Detectives used steps to show he staged burglary The killer pharmacist's iPhone health app helped convict him in what was thought to be a legal first in the UK. After his arrest, police seized Mitesh Patel's handset and downloaded critical information about his movements, including when the phone moved and where. The health app uses motion processors in the phone to monitor a user's steps and when the handset is taken up a flight of stairs, and that evidence was used in court to show the killer's frantic movements around his home, going upstairs to ransack rooms to stage a break-in after he had strangled his wife in the living room. It also showed that after he returned from a trip out to buy food that night, he had gone upstairs after he pretended to find his wife's stricken body, dashing into a bedroom to hide the house's CCTV hard-drive in a suitcase full of clothes. Investigators used data from the couple's phones to show how the husband was frantically moving around after the killing as he staged the burglary His wife's phone was also analysed to reveal more evidence of Mitesh Patel's lies. Research of Jessica Patel's health app showed the handset moved 14 steps at 7.44pm - the exact time Mitesh Patel left her lifeless body and fled the house to create an alibi. He claimed his wife was still alive when he ventured out, but his story crumbled when the health app showed her phone remained motionless outside the couple's Middlesbrough home until 8.40pm that night. That was when a police officer picked it up near their front door, where it had been left by Patel, 37, to make it look like it had been dumped by an intruder. A legal source said it was thought to have been the first use of such in-depth iPhone health app analysis in a major UK trial. AdvertisementA seven-months-pregnant mother has stabbed her own father to death because he allegedly called her black boyfriend a racial slur, then gave birth to her baby the next day, two months early.

Jessica Keene, 24, stabbed her father Michael to death at his home in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, on November 17 after the pair got in an argument about her boyfriend Quahzier Bouie.

After attacking him, Jessica left her father's body in the home.

Jessica Keene, 24, was arrested after her father's body was found stuffed in a container and hidden behind his couch in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, last week

Jessica (pictured in August with her boyfriend Quahzier Bouie and their son). She gave birth to the baby she was carrying in this photograph the next day

She gave birth to her daughter prematurely the next day. It took days for Michael's body to be found.

He was discovered in a container that was hidden behind the couch after a relative went to the apartment and noticed a foul smell.

When police caught up with Jessica, she was in a hotel near the hospital where her premature baby was being cared for.

She admitted stabbing her father but said she only did so once in his leg despite telling police she knew he was dead.

Jessica, who has at least one other child, said her father came home in a drunken rage and that she was defending herself.

She insisted that she did not move his body into the container and place it behind the couch, claiming that she physically would not have been able to because she was so heavily pregnant at the time.

By the time police found Michael's body, it was stuffed in a container and hidden behind the couch in his apartment. Police caught up with Jessica in a hotel near where her baby was being cared for in hospital. She told them that she could not remember who gave her the knife but that her father came into the room, drunk, and called her boyfriend a racial slur. The boyfriend was questioned but released without charge

Quahzier Bouie, pictured with Jessica during a previous pregnancy. She told police she could not have moved her father's body alone because of her condition but no one else has been charged

Her boyfriend was questioned by police but was never charged nor has anyone else been.

Jessica's lawyer has tried to have her confession thrown out. In her arrest affidavit, the police say that the recording device they used malfunctioned and did not capture her full interview.

They started recording on another device but it remains unclear if her confession was captured by that device.

'After they finish the first interview where she allegedly confesses they learn the tape stopped after 4 minutes? I find that to be very strange.

'She maintains her innocence in the matter,' her attorney, Brian J. Woolf, told The Hartford Courant.

No one had heard from Michael since November 11. He was a construction worker who was originally from Florida.

For Kristen and Ryan Yaldor, what started out as a dream vacation to Zimbabwe to celebrate the wife's birthday ended with the woman's leg being broken by an enraged hippopotamus in the Zambezi River.

The Odessa, Florida, couple were canoeing with a pair of tour guides near Victoria Falls on Saturday morning when their vessels got too close to a hippo calf submerged in the water.

Before the Yaldors knew what was happening, the baby hippo's mother swam under their boat and threw it in the air, causing Kristen and Ryan to be ejected into the water.

Travel nightmare: Ryan and Kristen Yaldor were floating down the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe Saturday when an angry hippo protecting her calf overturned their canoe and bit the woman on her right leg, breaking her femur (pictured in the canoe just before the attack)

Dream vacation: The Yaldors traveled to Africa to celebrate Kristen's 37th birthday (pictured at Victoria Falls, left and right)

The Yaldors said there were hippos in the river, so their guides told them to move out of the way, but they were not aware there was a calf in the water (stock image)

The husband was able to swim to a nearby island, but the massive hippo clamped its powerful jaws down on the wife's right leg and pulled her under.

Kristen somehow managed to free herself from the animal's maw and make her way to safety despite sustaining a broken femur in her thigh.

According to the husband speaking to Tampa Bay Times, it took an hour for a medical helicopter to pick them up, and another 13 hours to airlift them to a hospital in South Africa, where Kristen remained in intensive care Tuesday.

Kristen, who works with her husband for a Florida telecom company (pictured), remains in intensive care at a South African hospital

Ryan's mother, Martine Yaldor, told the paper her daughter-in-law was fortunate that one of the hippo's massive incisors did not bite into her femoral artery, which would have caused her to bleed out.

Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority spokesperson Yinashe Farawo confirmed Saturday's incident and issued a reminder to all tourists to be 'extra careful' and stay away from wild animals.

Several local news outlets quoted an unnamed eyewitness claiming that the Yaldors came too close to the hippo, causing the animal to panic and attack their canoe.

But according to the Yaldor family, Kristen and Ryan did nothing wrong and followed their tour guides' instructions.

I almost felt like they were going, Ha ha, here's another stupid American tourist," Martine said of the press coverage in Zimbabwe.

Ryan's mother is a South African national and he has traveled to the continent multiple times. For his wife, it was her second trip to Africa.

The Yaldors, who both work for their family's Florida-based phone and Internet provider PBX-Change, booked the canoe trip down the Zambezi River through the Zimbabwe tour operator Wild Horizons.

Ryan told the Times that the tour guides did not warn them about the calf in the water.

As they were floating own the river, the guides noticed some hippos up ahead on the right and instructed the couple to move to the left.

An eyewitness claimed the tourists got too close to the hippos, by the Yaldors insisted they were followed their guides' instructions

The husband's uncle claimed the tour company alleged that the American tourists were told to swim to an island in the river, but Ryan said his wife was thrown directly in front of the adult hippo and immediately dragged under, giving her no time to swim to safety.

The husband also claimed that their guides' cell phone and radio did not work, which caused a delay in the arrival of the medical helicopter.

DailyMail.com on Tuesday contacted Wild Horizons and left a message for Ryan Yaldor, who is said to be traveling, seeking comments on the incident.This is the amazing moment a dog trapped in freezing water is saved by a fireman who crawls over breaking ice to reach it.

Footage filmed in Norton, Ohio, shows a white Pyrenees mountain dog getting into trouble after falling through the middle of a frozen pond.

The half-submerged dog can be seen desperately struggling to get back onto the ice.

A white Pyrenees mountain dog can be seen desperately struggling to stay on the ice as the firefighter crawls out across the frozen pond in Norton, Ohio

A firefighter crawls and slides out across the ice, attached to a rope, to pull the dog to safety.

The hero fireman, from Norton Fire Division, grabs onto the frightened dog which keeps paddling to stay afloat.

Relieved owners can be seen helping the fireman haul their soaked and shivering dog out of the pond.

Norton Fire Division. posted the heartwarming rescue mission to their Facebook page.

The fireman reaches the dog and carries it back towards the water's edge

The soaked and shivering pet is lifted onto the bank of the pond by its rescuer

In a Facebook post, the fire division wrote: 'Today we have already made a difference and that is why we do, what we do!'

Social media users were quick to praise the fire department for their heroic effort.

One user said: 'Your fire department employees are totally awesome. Thank you so much for saving that dog!'

Another user wrote: 'Thank you for all the rescues! Pets are DEFINITELY family. There is no such thing as a small job or stupid animals. You guys are heroes to all.'

'One user wrote: 'That is one lucky Pyrenees. Thank you to the rescuers'U.S. stock markets plummeted Tuesday as a series of tweets from President Donald Trump suggested a trade war with China could resume next year despite claims of a truce and work on a long-term deal between the two countries.

The Dow Jones closed almost 800 points down at 25,027, a loss of 3.1 per cent of its value, while billions were also wiped off the value of the Nasdaq and the S&P 500, the other two key indices.

The S&P 500 lost 90 points, or 3.2 percent, to 2,700. The Nasdaq fell 283 points, or 3.8 percent, to 7,158.

Trump said in morning tweets that he and Xi would 'probably' have a deal at the end of a 90-day timetable for talks that began on Saturday as he declared himself against free trade.

The declaration sent shockwaves through stock markets already nervous of a downturn and buffeted by fears of a tech slowdown which has seen Apple and other Silicon Valley firms lose billions off their value.

'Unless extended, they will end 90 days from the date of our wonderful and very warm dinner with President Xi in Argentina,' Trump asserted. 'China is supposed to start buying Agricultural product and more immediately. President Xi and I want this deal to happen, and it probably will.'

He then proclaimed himself to be a 'tariffs man' in direct contradiction to his own White House's assertions that Trump is a free-trader.

Plunge: The Dow Jones moved into freefall after Trump's intervention on trade and closed down almost 800 points

'We are right now taking in $billions in Tariffs. MAKE AMERICA RICH AGAIN,' Trump said in messages. 'Let the negotiations begin. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!'

Trump's tweets sent the market plunging. The Dow fell throughout the morning and was down by more than 700 points by early afternoon, then failed to regain any value.

A further fall in value could see the year's gain lost entirely.

Among the firms hit were Boeing and Caterpillar, two major exporters which would have much to lose of trade tensions don't ease.

Bond prices soared sharply, sending yields lower, as traders shoved money into lower-risk investments. The sharp drop in yields hurt banks because it makes it harder to earn money from lending. JPMorgan Chase sank 4.5 percent.

Investors had initially welcomed the truce that the administration said was reached over the weekend in Buenos Aires between Presidents Trump and Xi Jinping. The prospect of a deal sent stocks soaring Monday.

But on Tuesday, after a series of confusing and conflicting words from Trump and senior White House officials, stocks tumbled, with the Dow Jones sinking as much as 800 points.

White House aides have struggled to explain the details of what the two countries actually agreed on.

And China has not confirmed that it made most of the concessions that the Trump administration has claimed.

Trump's top trade adviser said Tuesday evening that 'hand-wringing' in the media wasn't necessary even as he admitted that the administration had sowed confusion.

'Maybe that's the fault of us not communicating,' Peter Navarro told Fox News in an appearance on Special Report. 'Maybe that's why I'm here.'

Among the conflicting assertions that White House officials made was over whether China had actually agreed to drop its 40% tariffs on U.S. autos.

In addition, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday on the Fox Business Network that China agreed to buy $1.2 trillion of U.S. products. But he added, 'if that's real' - raising some doubt - it would close the U.S. trade deficit with China, and 'we have to have a negotiated agreement and have this on paper.'

Many economists have expressed skepticism that very much could be achieved to bridge the vast disagreements between the two countries in just 90 days.

'The actual amount of concrete progress made at this meeting appears to have been quite limited,' Alec Phillips and other economists at Goldman Sachs wrote in a research note.

'The sense is that there's less and less agreement between the two sides about what actually took place,' said Willie Delwiche, investment strategist at Baird.

'There was a rally in the expectation that something had happened. The problem is that something turned out to be nothing.'

Other concerns contributed to the stock sell-off, including falling long-term bonds. That suggested that investors expect the U.S. economy to slow, along with global growth, and possibly fall into recession in the coming year or two.

Trump and White House aides promoted the weekend deal as an historic breakthrough that would ease trade tensions and potentially reduce tariffs.

The president's top economic adviser indicated on Monday that the trade truce with China would be called off if an accord doesn't begin to 'firm up' in the next three months as he insisted that Trump would prefer a deal to tariffs.

'At the end of 90 days, they have to show significant progress,' Larry Kudlow told reporters.

'He wants a world with zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers and zero subsidies...That's his goal,' the president's National Economic Council director said.

But Kudlow was left with egg on his face as his boss, Trump, slapped down the claim he wanted zero tariffs in a tweet saying: 'Remember I am a tariff man.'

The 90-day timetable started Saturday and will stave off a round of tariffs on Beijing that were scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 1, the White House said on Monday.

That was after Kudlow mistakenly claimed Trump would hold off on further action until April.

It's by March 1 that the White House has set as the deadline for the Chinese to act.

The president's top economic adviser indicated on Monday that the trade truce with China would be called off if an agreement doesn't begin to 'firm up' by a mutually agreed upon deadline of April 1

'At the end of 90 days, they have to show significant process,' Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, reaffirmed - one point of agreement he had with Trump

A statement from after a dinner between Trump and Xi announced a halt in the trade war for three months, with the White House stressing on Monday that it wants to see immediate action.

Kudlow did not outline the consequences of inaction but said, 'They've gotta move quickly on all fronts.'

'This is not going to be something where there is soft commitments that get kicked down the road,' Mnuchin said the same day.

Talks with China have fallen apart at other junctures, including a round of talks led by Mnuchin earlier this year. Trump imposed $200 billion in tariffs on China as a result that he pledged to raise to $500 billion at the beginning of next year unless there's a deal.

Negotiations on the U.S. side are being led by Robert Lighthizer, the president's trade representative, Kudlow said, offering a conflicting account from Mnunchin, who'd claimed earlier in the day that Trump is in charge of talks.

'Nothing will happen without President Trump,' Kudlow explained as he spoke to reporters on the White House's front lawn.

The White House says it is cautiously optimistic after a dinner between Presidents Trump and Xi over the weekend that a deal would come out of the new push.

'The story's always been disappointing,' Kudlow admitted during a press call. 'I'm just saying the history's not been great.'

However, he said, 'I hope it has a happy ending, truly. And we have a lot of things to do.'

Kudlow assessed during the White House call on Monday afternoon, 'We never ever got close to this.'

President Trump also said Monday that U.S.-China relations 'have taken a BIG leap forward' after he and President Xi agreed on the trade truce.

Trump used the name of a Communist Party of China farm reform program that killed tens of millions of people 60 years ago.

The Great Leap Forward was a cornerstone of Chairman Mao Zedong's move toward a socialist economy by requiring farmers to 'collectivize' their property and operations, and by forcing farm workers to take industrial jobs.

Upsetting centuries of agrarian tradition and moving farmers to factory work led to a famine that killed tens of millions of Chinese. Government officials tried to reverse the trend by instituting farm production quotas, executing some who failed to meet minimum targets. China's economy was devastated.

Trump appeared to be unaware of the significance of his words on Monday, tweeting: 'My meeting in Argentina with President Xi of China was an extraordinary one. Relations with China have taken a BIG leap forward! Very good things will happen.'

Trump appeared to be unaware of the significance of his words on Monday, tweeting: 'Relations with China have taken a BIG leap forward! Very good things will happen'

'We are dealing from great strength, but China likewise has much to gain if and when a deal is completed. Level the field!' he wrote.

Minutes later, the president specifically tied his self-congratulation to what he predicted will be a dramatic increase in farm exports from the U.S. to China.

'Farmers will be a a very BIG and FAST beneficiary of our deal with China. They intend to start purchasing agricultural product immediately. We make the finest and cleanest product in the World, and that is what China wants. Farmers, I LOVE YOU!' he tweeted.

Historians' estimates of the number of Chinese killed by the famine that resulted from the Great leap Forward range from 18 million to 55 million.

Buyers and analysts quickly pointed out on Monday that China's tariffs on U.S. farm produce are still in place, mostly 25 per cent duties on soybeans, corn, sorghum and wheat.

The so-called deal appeared on Monday to be little more than a cease-fire in what had become a protracted tariff war, with Trump and Xi agreeing pull back from an all-out trade war that was threatening world economic growth and had set global investors on edge.

Trump and Xi Jinping met for a bilateral meeting at the G20 Summit on Saturday in Buenos Aires, Argentina

This year Trump imposed an import tax of 25 percent on $50 billion in Chinese products, then hit an additional $200 billion worth of goods with 10 percent tariffs.

Those 10 percent tariffs were scheduled to ratchet up to 25 percent on Jan. 1 if the U.S. and China failed to reach an agreement to at least postpone that move.

In Buenos Aires, Trump agreed to delay the scheduled U.S. tariff increase for 90 days while the two sides negotiate over the administration's complaints related to how Beijing systematically steals trade secrets and forces the U.S. and other foreign countries to hand over sensitive technology as the price of admission to the vast Chinese market.

In return, China agreed to buy what the White House called a 'not yet agreed upon, but very substantial' amount of U.S. products to help narrow America's gaping trade deficit with China.

Trump also boasted Monday morning that China will 'reduce and remove' tariffs on U.S.-made cars

If the Chinese did eventually increase such purchases, it would be warmly welcomed in the U.S. Farm Belt, where producers of soybeans and other crops have been hurt by Beijing's retaliatory tariffs.

Trump tweeted late Sunday that 'China has agreed to reduce and remove tariffs on cars coming into China from the U.S. Currently the tariff is 40%.' There was no Chinese announcement about possible tariff cuts, and the Ministry of Commerce in Beijing didn't immediately respond to questions.

Beijing cut import duties on foreign autos to 15 percent in July but added a 25 percent penalty for U.S.-made vehicles the following month in response to Trump's tariff hikes.

Kudlow says that Xi indicated that 'large numbers of transactions' of agricultural, energy and industrial commodities would be accompanied by tariff reductions soon.

He put a ballpark estimate at $1.2 billion, although he noted they are private sector transactions.The wife of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has attended an education event in a headscarf after undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

Asma al-Assad vowed to tap into the 'determination' of the Syrian people when she started treatment for the disease in August after a malignant tumour was found in its early stages.

Yesterday, the British-born 43-year-old met children, viewed their art and posed for photos at a graduation ceremony of teachers from Damascus University.

In August, dictator Assad, whose regime has been accused of launching deadly chemical attacks during Syria's brutal civil war, posted an official photo to Facebook showing the couple smiling as his wife sat in hospital with an IV in her left arm.

Asma al-Assad, the wife of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, has attended an education event (pictured) in a headscarf after undergoing treatment for breast cancer

The British-born 43-year-old met children, viewed their art and posed for photos as they attended the event, run in collaboration with the University of Damascus

In August, Assad posted an official photo to Facebook showing the couple smiling as his wife sat in hospital with an IV in her left arm

'I belong to the (Syrian) people who taught the world steadfastness, strength and how to face difficulties,' read the caption in Arabic. 'My determination comes from your determination and strength in the past years.'

It was not specified where the first lady was being treated, but the word 'military' was printed on a blanket visible in the picture. State news agency SANA said later the first lady is undergoing treatment at a military hospital in the Syrian capital of Damascus. It gave no further details.

Such public health announcements are uncommon in the Arab world, where cancer is considered a taboo.

Asma Assad's parents, a cardiologist and a diplomat, are from the central province of Homs but she was born and raised in London before moving back to Syria after meeting the president.

Asma al-Assad vowed to tap into the 'determination' of the Syrian people when she started treatment for the disease in August after a malignant tumour was found in its early stages

Syria's First Lady Asma al-Assad (centre) poses for a picture during a graduation ceremony of future teachers of a Syrian Organisation for Persons with Disabilities, in Damascus yesterday

Bashar al-Assad's regime has been repeatedly accused of launching chemical weapon attacks during Syria's brutal civil war

The two have been married for 18 years and have three children, Hafez, Zein and Karim.

The couple's marriage was announced by state media six months after he assumed the presidency in July 2000 following the death of his father Hafez.

The former investment banker styled herself as a progressive rights advocate and was seen as the modern side of the Assad dynasty.

Since Syria's civil war broke out in 2011, Mrs Assad has mostly been seen in public receiving families of fallen soldiers, or hosting people wounded in the conflict, now in its eighth year, which has killed more than 400,000 people.

Before the crisis began in March 2011, she was the subject of flattering profiles in Vogue and other fashion magazines.

As Syria's conflict worsened, the first lady became a target of contempt for many opposition supporters who saw her as whitewashing atrocities carried out by the government.

When her husband faced calls to be tried as a war criminal, Mrs Assad was widely criticised for saying accusations against him were 'propaganda' against the regime.

She even used her Instagram account, where she regularly posts propaganda images of her husband with government forces, to accuse the west of lying over his use of Sarin gas on his own people.

On her Instagram account, she wrote in Arabic: 'The presidency of the Syrian Arab Republic affirms that what America has done is an irresponsible act that only reflects a short-sightedness, a narrow horizon, a political and military blindness to reality, and a naive pursuit of a frenzied false propaganda campaign that fueled the regime's arrogance.'

Asma al-Assad, wife of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, talks to a disabled child during the graduation ceremony yesterday

Mrs Assad's parents, both Sunni Muslims, moved from Syria to London in the Fifties so that her father, who is now based at the Cromwell Hospital and in Harley Street, could get the best possible education and medical training

Mrs Assad's parents, both Sunni Muslims, moved from Syria to London in the Fifties so that her father, who is now based at the Cromwell Hospital and in Harley Street, could get the best possible education and medical training.

Though a Muslim, she was educated at a Church of England school in Ealing before attending a private girls' day school  Queen's College, Harley Street.

After studying computer science and French literature at King's College London, Mrs Assad worked as a banker at JP Morgan in the Nineties when she met her future husband.

At the time, Assad was training at a hospital in London to become an eye surgeon.

Those who knew her said that, given that she spent the first 25 years of her life in London, Mrs Assad had liberal western values.

In 2012, she was banned from travelling to Europe and last year MPs called for her British citizenship to be revoked.

Nadhim Zahawi, a Conservative MP on the Commons foreign affairs committee, said: 'The time has come where we go after [President] Assad in every which way, including people like Mrs Assad, who is very much part of the propaganda machine that is committing war crimes.'This the British teaching assistant who died after undergoing a 'freebie' Brazilian 'bottom lift' at a clinic in Hungary.

Mother-of-two Tryce Harry died after suffering a 'fat embolism' despite CPR and advanced life support treatment at a clinic in Budapest on March 19.

Kirk Harry, the 49-year-old's husband from Hockley, Birmingham, said she paid 4,700 for a tummy tuck and breast lift and was offered the bottom lift as a 'freebie'.

Mother-of-two Tryce Harry (pictured with husband Kirk) died after suffering a 'fat embolism' despite CPR and advanced life support treatment at a clinic in Budapest on March 19

But things went badly wrong and she died just two hours after the cosmetic surgery.

The court heard the procedures were carried out by Dr Miklos Molnar at the Human Reconstructive Institute in Budapest.

A two-hour hearing at Birmingham Coroner's Court was told that Mrs Harry went into cardiac arrest an hour after the end of three procedures, including surgery to her tummy, and liposuction to transfer fat into her buttocks.

Kirk Harry, said he had supported her 'dream' of having cosmetic treatment.

In a statement issued following the inquest, Mr Harry urged others not to seek such surgery overseas.

The court heard the procedures were carried out by Dr Miklos Molnar (pictured) at the Human Reconstructive Institute in Budapest

He said: 'My wife had thought long and hard about having this procedure done. It was not a decision made lightly by either of us, but it was her dream and I supported her in it.

'We had no misgivings, no fear. We thought we had found the perfect place. We knew other people who had been to the same clinic and were very happy with their treatment.

'My wife was happy the last time I saw her. She was very happy to undergo the procedure and saw it as a new chapter in her life.

'She shouldn't have died. If I could turn the clock back, I would, and I would advise anyone considering this procedure to have it done here in this country where medical practices are expected to be better.

'Whatever the cost, one can't put a price on life. You only get one life.'

Mr Harry added: 'My wife was quite simply everything to me. To my children and I she was the most important person in our world, our greatest cheerleader.

'For me, she was the love of my life, the woman I loved more than anyone ever created, my childhood sweetheart and my first love, who I adored.

'We had been together for more than 27 years and we were looking forward to the rest of our lives together but now I am forced to go on without her love.

Lawyer Isabel Bathurst speaks to the media outside Birmingham Coroner's Court after an inquest was told Tryce Harry, 49, died in Hungary in March

'Tryce was such a wonderful wife and mum, who lived for her family, and her passing has changed all of our lives. We miss her dreadfully. We are learning to live without her but it's terribly hard.'

The inquest heard that Mr Harry was not informed about his wife's collapse and death until three hours later.

Coroner Emma Brown said: 'At 6.35pm her blood pressure deteriorated. CPR is clearly shown on the records.

'She was re-incubated. In conjuncture with Mr Molnar the death was recorded at 7.30pm.

'Fat embolism is a higher risk when fat is re-injected. She remained stable at 6pm and then a sudden decline at 6.35pm took place.

'I accept that if she was continuously observed then the decline would have been spotted earlier. She was monitored every 30 minutes.

'I will not rule that neglect played a role. Death was a result of a complication of elective surgery on March 19, 2018 at the human reconstructive institute in Hungary.'

Isabel Bathurst, a specialist travel lawyer from law firm Slater and Gordon, who is representing the family, said: 'This is a truly heartbreaking case which exposes the risks of travelling abroad for treatment.

'Clinics may have the expertise to perform these procedures but not always a plan in place for if something goes wrong.

'Mrs Harry's family know nothing can bring her back but hope that now, by speaking out, other people will think more carefully before undergoing procedures such as this in the future.'

Emma Brown ruled that neglect did not play a part in the death, concluding that Mrs Harry had died from 'complications of elective surgery'.A Spanish warship sailed through British waters off the coast of Gibraltar this morning in the latest incursion into UK territory.

Patrol vessel the Infanta Elena, which is stationed at Cartagena up the coast, was filmed being pursued next to Gibraltar's famous rock by a Royal Navy boat.

The Foreign Office confirmed the incursion but denied initial reports from The Sun that the vessel had been playing the Spanish national anthem.

Nicholas Karnani, a fisherman in Gibraltar, uploaded a video of Spanish warship Infanta Elena sailing through British waters

'We can confirm an incursion by the Spanish navy occurred this morning. As with all incursions, the Royal Navy challenged the vessel,' a Foreign Office spokesman said.

'When challenged, the Spanish navy vessel left British Gibraltar Territorial Waters.

'Incursions are a violation of sovereignty, not a threat to it. We have no doubt about our sovereignty over Gibraltar.

'The UK will never enter into arrangements under which the people of Gibraltar would pass under the sovereignty of another state against their wishes, nor enter into a process of sovereignty negotiations with which Gibraltar is not content.'

The spokesman added that the Royal Navy vessel which responded did not hear the national anthem being played.

It is thought the video was filmed some time on Tuesday morning, though the exact timing is unclear.

Ship tracking data shows a vessel with designation P76, which is linked to the Infanta Elena, did cross into British waters off Gibraltar this morning.

Karnani described the incident as an 'invasion of British Gibraltar territorial waters' and demanded the government 'take action in defence of its people'

Ship tracking data shows a Spanish patrol boat with designation P76, which indicates the Infanta Elena, entered British waters off Gibraltar today

The news comes amid wrangling between Britain and Spain over the future of Gibraltar and Brexit negotiations.

Madrid had threatened to boycott a meeting of European leaders to approve Theresa May's Brexit deal until she gave assurances that any future trade deal would not automatically cover Gibraltar.

Michael J Sanchez, founder of OpWest which monitors naval movements in Gibraltar and the Strait of Gibraltar, told Mail Online of his anger.

He said: 'People here are very irate that the government has not taken positive action to deal with scenarios like this.

'This is the 26th incursion into our waters so far this year.'Four men who formed a international serious organised crime syndicate specialising in money laundering and fraud have each been jailed for nearly five years each.

The Latvian men aged between 30 and 38 encouraged people from their home nation to come to Britain - offering to provide travel, accommodation and work.

But upon their arrival in the UK, the people were told they were 'in debt' to the gang - and were forced to open bank accounts before handing over their details and cards.

They were sent to work in locations across the UK, and the gang retained control over their earnings. Refusal to co-operate met with threats of violence and assaults.

Hardijs Langsteins (left), 37, of Salford, and Maris Kursis (right), 30, of Falkirk, were convicted

Hardijs Langsteins, 37, Maris Kursis, 30, Arvids Civkors, 30, and Aivars Dzagarjans, 38, have been convicted of carrying out illegal activity between 2012 and 2016.

But Langsteins, of Salford; Kursis, of Falkirk; Civkors, of Edinburgh; and Dzagarjans, from Northumberland, were acquitted of people trafficking charges.

Sheriff Thomas Welsh QC told the men they had all been convicted of very serious offences involving organised crime - and he did not accept an application for bail.

The judge gave the men jail terms of four years and 11 months each. He said: 'The offences were highly sophisticated and were executed with meticulous precision.'

Sheriff Welsh also spoke at Edinburgh Sheriff Court of the 'impact that it had on the individuals named on the indictment and the banking system in general'.

Arvids Civkors (left), 30, of Edinburgh, and Aivars Dzagarjans (right), 38, from Forth, Northumberland, were convicted of carrying out illegal activity between 2012 and 2016

Michael Anderson, defending Langsteins, said his client accepted that he would face imprisonment, but insisted that he had not greatly benefited from his life of crime.

Philip Cohen, for Civkors, said his client's involvement in the scam was minimal and that Sheriff Welsh could consider a 'direct alternative' to jailing him.

But the men were all jailed and now face actions under the Proceeds of Crime Act. The case against them under this legislation will be heard next month on January 15.

Detective Chief Inspector Stephen Healy said Police Scotland were 'pleased' with the sentences for the men who had 'exploited vulnerable victims for financial gain'.

Procurator fiscal Jennifer Harrower added that the men had played 'an integral role in a complex, large scale operation which facilitated the criminal activity of others'.Convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein agreed to settle ahead of jury selection for his trial in Palm Beach, Florida on Tuesday

Billionaire convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein reached a last-minute settlement on Tuesday just as jury selection was expected to begin for his trial in Palm Beach, Florida.

The 65-year-old hedge fund manager 'surrendered' and agreed to an undisclosed financial settlement with attorney Bradley Edwards, who represents several of Epstein's alleged victims.

Edwards had sued the financier alleging malicious prosecution and defamation after the billionaire filed a lawsuit attacking Edwards and his methods.

Epstein admitted today to making 'totally false allegations.'

The settlement means none of the women will testify against Epstein, who is accused of pimping out 80 underage girls to his friends from 1995 to 2005.

However, the dramatic climbdown has cleared Edwards' path in his bid to quash Epstein's controversial federal prosecution immunity deal over the sex victims.

Edwards' lawyer Jack Scarola told the court the agreement was 'not a compromise but a surrender' by the 'serial sex offender.'

'For the sake of Epstein's victims, Bradley Edwards would not and did not compromise his claims. He did not settle for anything less than a complete surrender by Jeffrey Epstein,' Scarola said.

In a statement read by his lawyer, Epstein (pictured in 2008) apologized to and admitted to making 'totally false allegations'

Brad Edwards was all smiles while speaking to Jeffrey Epstein's attorney's Scott Link and Jack Goldberger prior to a civil settlement announcement made in Palm Beach County Court Tuesday. Link read a written apology from Epstein to attorney Edwards, where Epstein admitted that the charges he leveled against Edwards were completely false

'While the financial terms of the settlement are required to remain confidential, there are important components that are not confidential.'

He revealed Edwards remains committed to continue with his challenge to Epstein's sweetheart 'non prosecution agreement' that allowed him to escape a possible life sentence and serve just 13 months in a Florida state facility.

He added: 'That will be followed through to conclusion.to set aside the non-prosecution agreement for Jeffrey Epstein and his named and unnamed co-defendants fully responsible for the crime that they have committed.'

Epstein was not in court on Tuesday but his attorney Scott Link read out his apology in which he admitted to lying.

'While Mr Edwards was representing clients against me, I filed a lawsuit against him in which I made allegations about him that the evidence conclusively proves were absolutely false,' he said.

JEFFREY EPSTEIN'S FULL STATEMENT 'While Mr Edwards was representing clients against me, I filed a lawsuit against him in which I made allegations about him that the evidence conclusively proves were absolutely false. 'The truth was that his aggressive investigation and litigation style was highly effective and therefore troublesome to me. 'The lawsuit I filed was my unreasonable attempt to damage his business reputation and cause Mr Edwards to stop pursuing cases against me. It did not work. 'Despite my efforts, he continued to do an excellent job for his clients and through his relentless pursuit, held me responsible. I am now admitting that I was wrong and that the things I said to try to harm Mr Edwards' reputation as a trial lawyer were false.. 'I sincerely apologize for the false and hurtful allegations I made and hope for some forgiveness or my acknowledgement of wrongdoing.' Advertisement

'The truth was that his aggressive investigation and litigation style was highly effective and therefore troublesome to me.

'The lawsuit I filed was my unreasonable attempt to damage his business reputation and cause Mr Edwards to stop pursuing cases against me. It did not work.

'Despite my efforts, he continued to do an excellent job for his clients and through his relentless pursuit, held me responsible. I am now admitting that I was wrong and that the things I said to try to harm Mr Edwards' reputation as a trial lawyer were false..

'I sincerely apologize for the false and hurtful allegations I made and hope for some forgiveness or my acknowledgement of wrongdoing.'

More than 60 girls have claimed they were turned into sex slaves by Epstein when they were teenagers and Edwards previously won $5.5million for some victims.

In this case, which has dragged on since 2009, Edwards was suing the financier for 'malicious prosecution' as the result of a long-running battle between the two men.

Epstein had tried to sue the lawyer claiming the civil cases involving three victims financed an unlawful Ponzi scheme run by Scott Rothstein, a partner at Edwards' former law firm.

Rothstein was convicted of financial fraud and got 50 years, but denied Edwards had been involved in the scheme.

Epstein then dropped his case, but Edwards then sued over his reputation.

As many as 60 other girls have come forward to claim they were recruited by Epstein into having sex with his coterie of friends and acquaintances while they were aged between 14 and 17. Many were from disadvantaged homes or had troubled childhoods.

Alleged victim Michelle Licata sheds tears as she recalled her sexual encounters with Epstein saying 'He had no repercussions and doesn't even believe he did anything wrong'

Virginia Roberts, pictured above, claimed Epstein abused her sexually at the age of 16

The underage girls were lured to Epstein's mansion in Florida with the lure of a couple hundred dollars to give him a massage- he allegedly sexually assaulted many of them

Despite what began as a full-blown FBI investigation into Epstein's alleged prostitution ring of young girls, he was eventually offered a 'sweetheart' deal in 2007 instead of facing a possible life sentence.

Victims were outraged at the court's treatment of the billionaire, who counted Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, and Prince Andrew among his rich and powerful friends.

He pleaded guilty to two prostitution charges in a Florida state court following an agreement that effectively kicked out a 53-page federal indictment.

The hedge-fund tycoon was sentenced to 18 months and served just 13 in Palm Beach County stockade, not a state prison. He was reportedly allowed out for up to 12 hours a day to visit his office and meet clients.

The 'non prosecution' deal with the state also meant he, his named co-conspirators and his unnamed co-conspirators were given immunity from federal prosecution.

The deal was also sealed from the public and the victims, meaning no one would ever learn the entirety of Epstein's crimes.

It was revealed last week that the deal was brokered by President Trump's Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta when he was US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida.

Trump's current Labor Secretary Alex Acosta (right) was the top federal prosecutor in Miami that brokered the deal to have Epstein serve just over a year behind bars instead of life behind bars

In the second case mentioned by Scarola today, his client Edwards is suing the US government on behalf of three victims in the sex investigation.

He alleges it violated the Crime Victims' Right Act, which states victims should be kept informed of possible hearings and 'reasonably heard' over pleas and sentencing.

Edwards wrote in a court filing that if the victims knew about the non-prosecution agreement 'they would have taken steps to object', according to the New York Times.

Epstein could be stripped of his criminal prosecution immunity if the case succeeds, possibly leading to a federal trial for the sex crimes.

Scarola had said earlier this week that the purpose of the second case is to 'invalidate Epstein's non-prosecution agreement' which also granted immunity to his co-conspirators.

At a press conference after the hearing, Mr Scarola re-emphasized the bid to quash Epstein's plea deal.

He said: 'We have tried for a long time to convey the injustice done to Bradley Edwards and the injustice that continues to be done to the victims of Epstein's abuse as a consequence of the plea bargain that not only resulted in immunity for Jeffrey Epstein, but handed out get-out-of-jail cards to his named and unnamed co-conspirators as well.

'That injustice needs to be addressed and will be addressed through the pro bono efforts of Bradley Edwards and his co-counsel.'

Mr Edwards told reporters: 'I am getting calls from my clients who have been hidden but pushed into silence, scared to death, finally saying thank you for standing up to him (Epstein) and sending him to the brink until he had to admit you win, he lost.

'They are willing to talk. They want to share their stories.'Charmaine De Souza, who runs a telecoms company, outside London's High Court yesterday

A millionaire entrepreneur could be jailed if he continues to live with his Playboy model girlfriend live in a multi-million pound house, a judge said yesterday.

Richard Rothschild, 43, and his ex-wife Charmaine de Souza, 44, had a 21-year relationship, marrying in 2005 and separating in 2016.

The wealthy pair led a lavish lifestyle in West London, with Mr Rothschild driving a Lamborghini and the couple owning an exclusive multi-million pound condo apartment on Miami Beach in Florida.

Now Mr Rothschild and Miss De Souza are fighting in court over possession of the flat which they bought in 2008 for about $2million (1.6million).

Mr Rothschild said the home belonged to him alone, but he was told by a divorce judge in London earlier this year that he had to split it 50/50 with his ex.

He promised to give up 'vacant possession' of the flat by the end of this June, to spend thousands of dollars repairing it and to put it up for rent.

But instead he continued to reside there himself and also let his new girlfriend - 27-year-old Playboy model Sherra Michelle - stay there, lawyers for his ex told the High Court yesterday.

Richard Rothschild lives with his Playboy model girlfriend Sherra Michelle (pictured together)

Mr Rothschild yesterday confessed to top judge, Mr Justice Mostyn, that he had breached the undertakings, or promises, he gave to the court.

And the judge warned him he will be 'sent to Pentonville prison for 28 days' if he has not cleared out of the condo and met all his other promises a week from yesterday.

Mr Rothschild is believed to have been formerly known as Richard Pierzchalo-Piasecki, and changed his name on a Companies House record in June 2016.

Miss De Souza is the boss of a telecoms company called BusinessMobiles.com which is based in Park Royal, West London, and claims to have worked with 24,500 customers in 18 years.

Mr Rothschild has previously been a director of two property companies called Ealing Estates Management and Vantage Property Management Services, as well as two other firms called Vantage Corporate Consulting and The Freefone Directory.

Mr Rothschild has let Miss Michelle stay at the property in Miami Beach, the court was told

Charles Hale QC, for Miss De Souza, told the judge he had evidence via social media posts from Ms Michelle, stating that she 'lives with Mr Rothschild in Miami'.

'The apartment hasn't been vacated by Mr Rothschild,' said Mr Hale. 'He continues to let his girlfriend and her friends stay there.'

The barrister demanded that Mr Rothschild be jailed for 28 days for contempt of court.

He admitted he and his girlfriend had stayed at the flat after the end of June, but added: 'I am the owner of the property, the sole owner.

'I vacated the apartment in July and moved the majority of my possessions. I have returned due to unforeseen circumstances.

The court heard there is evidence from Ms Michelle that she 'lives with Mr Rothschild in Miami'

'I have been resident at the apartment. Other people have also stayed there - my girlfriend, and her friends and others of my friends.'

Mr Justice Mostyn told him: 'You have effectively admitted all of the allegations. 'Vacant possession' means you vacate it.

'It is important for the rule of law that undertakings will be enforced.

'If it became known that undertakings could be given and then just ignored, that would be very damaging to the administration of justice.

'This is a fatal attack on the administration of justice and cannot be tolerated. I agree that a prison sentence of 28 days is the minimum that can be imposed.'

But, sparing him an immediate jail term, the judge went on: 'Mr Rothschild should be given one last opportunity to purge his contempt.'

Mr Rothschild has been living in an exclusive multi-million pound condo flat on Miami Beach

Mr Justice Mostyn suspended the jail term until December 11, but warned Mr Rothschild he will face jail unless he has matched up to his promises by then.

He told the millionaire he will 'be taken to HM Prison Pentonville at 4pm a week from today (Tuesday)' if he fails to comply in full.

He also warned him that, if he tries to avoid compliance by leaving the UK, 'he will go to Pentonville the moment he sets foot back in the country'.

A full hearing on the financial battle between Mr Rothschild and Miss De Souza is set to go ahead in the High Court next year.

It is not clear exactly how long Mr Rothschild and Miss Michelle have been together, but she has been posting about them on Instagram since at least January 2017.

After the case, Cara Nuttall, Partner at JMW solicitors which is representing Miss De Souza, said: 'It's a sad fact that in divorce cases there are always some litigants who consider themselves above the law and who fail - sometimes repeatedly - to recognise the authority of the court when it doesn't fit with their own personal ideal.

'This most recent decision, closely following three similar cases, makes it clear non-compliance will not be tolerated, with the court taking a dim view of spouses who fail to meet court orders and shun responsibility for their children. The severity of the consequences in this case reflect the extremely poor behaviour displayed.'A 12-year-old boy has been detained by police for stabbing his mother to death at home in south China.

The sixth-grader, identified by his surname Wu, was furious that his mother had hit him and thought she was being too strict, according to police in Yuanjiang, Hunan province.

The woman was found on Monday in her bedroom in a pool of blood with multiple stab wounds, police added.

The sixth-grader, identified by his surname Wu, was furious that his mother had hit him and thought she was being too strict, according to police in Yuanjiang, Hunan province

The woman was found on Monday in her bedroom in a pool of blood with multiple stab wounds

Horrified neighbours alerted the authorities at about 12:24pm after discovering the body of the 34-year-old woman in the flat.

Police confirmed the suspect as her son, who is currently under police detention.

Initial investigations show that Wu grew resentful towards his mother, surnamed Chen, who had hit him prior to the incident on Sunday night.

He then took a knife and stabbed his mother to death at about 9pm, according to officers.

Initial investigations show that Wu grew resentful towards his mother, surnamed Chen, who had hit him prior to the incident on Sunday night

Horrified neighbours alerted the authorities at about 12:24pm after discovering the body of the 34-year-old woman in the flat, according to police in a statement

After the incident, the boy reportedly sent a message to his teacher using his mother's phone to inform him that he will be absent from class 'due to a cold', according to Cover News.

Further investigations are being conducted.

The incident shocked many in China, with the incident trending on Chinese micro-blogging site Weibo on Tuesday.

'Such a tragedy! I feel sorry for both the child and the mother,' one comment read.

'This shows once again that our country's education system needs a change,' another said.

In December last year, a 13-year-old boy in Dazhou, Sichuan province was arrested by police after he allegedly decapitated his mother and posted a video of the murder online.A newlywed who lost his 700 gold wedding ring snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef was left stunned after discovering it was found by a scuba diver more than two weeks later.

Stuart Brown and wife Amie jetted off to Australia on their honeymoon after tying the knot and signed up to snorkel at the Agincourt reef in Port Douglas, Queensland.

But 29-year-old Stuart, from East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire was left devastated when his 700 gold band slipped off his finger just minutes after he entered the water.

Stuart Brown and wife Amie jetted off to Australia on their honeymoon after tying the knot and signed up to snorkel at the Agincourt reef in Port Douglas, Queensland. Stuart, 29, from East Kilbride was devastated when his 700 gold band slipped off his finger just minutes after he entered the water

The honeymoon of a lifetime quickly turned into a disaster when Mr Brown, a project coordinator, searched for the treasured trinket but it could be found

The honeymoon of a lifetime quickly turned into a disaster when Mr Brown, a project coordinator, searched for the treasured trinket but it could not be found.

Mrs Brown, 27, said: 'When the ring came off Mr Brown's finger and he told me I didn't believe him at first because he is a bit of a joker.

'And because the water over there is crystal clear he actually saw the ring going under but a fish swam past and he couldn't see it anymore.

'I was absolutely devastated, I knew it could be replaced but it wouldn't be the original ring. We mentioned to the tour company that we had lost the ring but that was only for insurance purposes.

'They just laughed at us because they knew we wouldn't be able to find it. We just had to fill out the lost property form.'

The couple, who were married at Lochside in New Cumnock, Ayrshire, on October, 6 flew out to Dubai and then Oz before returning from their honeymoon on October 31.

On November 15 the couple received an email from the cruise company Quicksilver saying the ring it had turned up on coral where they were swimming - 18 days later.

The email read: 'I have some good news for you. One of our divers found your wedding ring sitting nicely on coral under the pontoon.'

The couple, who were married at Lochside in New Cumnock, Ayrshire, on October, 6 flew out to Dubai and then Oz before returning from their honeymoon on October 31

Quicksilver Cruises posted the treasured ring back to the couple who were delighted to be reunited with it.

Mrs Brown, who works as a solicitor, added: 'We had an amazing honeymoon. It was sad to see that Mr Brown had a tan line from where the ring was before he lost it.

'But when we got the email saying they had found it, we were in absolute disbelief.

'Stuart came through and told me, I just couldn't believe it, all of Stuart's friends don't believe him they think he made the whole thing up. We got the ring back at the end of last week.'

The email read: 'I have some good news for you. One of our divers found your wedding ring sitting nicely on coral under the pontoon'

And although the ring has been returned to Mr Brown's finger, he now does not want to go and get it polished.

Mrs Brown said: 'It's a bit scratched now but he does not want to go and get it polished. He thinks the scratches have a good story to tell.

'He is notorious for losing things, he went on a night out on Friday and I was scared he could lose the ring again. But it's still here for now.'The BBC today dramatically dropped plans for a showdown between Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn over the Brexit deal.

The Prime Minister had signed up to a plan to take on the Labour leader on Sunday night.

But Mr Corbyn was pushing for a rival ITV proposal, and said he would only take part in the corporation's version if the format was changed to suit him.

Mrs May has so far been declining to take part in the ITV version.

A BBC statement this evening said: 'We are disappointed that we could not reach an agreement on the BBC's proposals for a debate on Brexit.'

It added: 'We believe ours was a fair and appropriate format for those taking part, and crucially for our audiences around the country, and it is a shame we will not be able to bring them this programme.'

Prime Minister Theresa May (pictured at No10 today) had signed up to a plan to take on the Labour leader on Sunday night

The debate on December 9 could have gone into the 8pm slot on BBC1, or the 7pm slot on ITV

The BBC had been under pressure to broaden out its debate, with leading Tory Eurosceptics warning a straight head to head would 'breach the concept of impartiality'.

Boris Johnson, Dominic Raab and other former Cabinet ministers wrote to BBC chairman Sir David Clementi to complain the views of the 17.4 million people who voted for Brexit would be 'nowhere represented' in the discussion.

They noted that both Mrs May and Mr Corbyn voted Remain in the referendum, adding: 'They are both wedded to slightly different models of staying in the customs union.'

There had been speculation the BBC would try to press ahead with a programme even if Mr Corbyn declined to join in - but it appears to have decided that would not be sustainable.

Earlier, Labour made clear Mr Corbyn was still insisting on any TV debate being a straight head-to-head with Mrs May.

A party spokesman said: 'When Number 10 told the media she wanted a head-to-head debate on her botched Brexit deal, Jeremy Corbyn immediately agreed. Jeremy Corbyn then swiftly accepted ITV's proposal for a straightforward head-to-head debate with Theresa May. But the Prime Minister has rejected it.

'Since then, the Prime Minister's team and their preferred broadcaster, the BBC, have put together a confused format which would limit head-to-head debating time, with a built-in advantage for the Government.'

But the BBC statement said: 'We have been clear throughout the whole of this process that, as well as a substantive head-to-head debate, any programme we broadcast would need to include other voices, including other political parties, to reflect the wide range of views the public and parliamentarians hold about Brexit.

'The final proposal we put to both of the main parties was for a head-to-head debate between the Prime Minister and the leader of the Opposition, followed by a discussion between eight panellists, including politicians, with a wide range of views on Brexit, and ending with further head-to-head debate and closing statements.

Mr Corbyn was pushing for a rival ITV proposal, and said he would only take part in the corporation's version if the format was changed to suit him

'We believe ours was a fair and appropriate format for those taking part and, crucially, for our audiences around the country, and it is a shame we will not be able to bring them this programme.

'However, we will keep our audiences informed with extensive news coverage and analysis around the vote, and with other programmes including a Brexitcast 'takeover' of The One Show tomorrow and a special half-hour programme on Monday December 10.'

Channel 4 is planning to steal a march by staging its own debate with other high-profile Brexiteers and Remainers.

Mr Johnson last week condemned the idea of a head-to-head showdown between Mr Corbyn and Mrs May, saying they were both Remainers.

However, friends of the former foreign secretary have made clear he is not interested in the 'second string' clash - and the Remain camp would be unwilling to field Mr Blair.Brianna Nicole Stanley, 23, was charged on Friday for allegedly having sex with the 12-year-old student at Carver Middle School in North Carolina

A North Carolina middle school teacher has been arrested for allegedly having sex with a 12-year-old student.

Brianna Nicole Stanley, 23, was charged on Friday with multiple sex crimes related to the student at Carver Middle School in Laurel Hill.

Stanley resigned from her teaching job on Thursday before she was arrested.

A parent had contacted the school last week with allegations that Stanley was having an inappropriate relationship with the child.

The gender of the child is not known.

The school immediately removed her from the classroom and Scotland County Sheriff's Office started investigating.

Stanley was charged with three counts of felony statutory sex offense against a child less than 13, five counts of felony indecent liberties with a student by a teacher, five counts of felony sexual activity by a teacher, and one count of felony third-degree child exploitation related to child pornography.

Authorities had posted about her arrest on the sheriff's Facebook account but later removed the post due to an influx of inappropriate statements about the child and teacher.

A parent had contacted the school last week with allegations that Stanley was having an inappropriate relationship with the child

Scotland County Schools issued a statement following Stanley's arrest, saying they were 'devastated' by the allegations.

'Early this week a parent contacted the Scotland County Schools administration with concerns about a potentially inappropriate relationship between a teacher and student at Carver Middle School,' the statement said.

'The teacher was immediately removed from the classroom and an investigation commenced. The school system also contacted law enforcement.

'The teacher submitted her resignation on Thursday, while the investigation was still ongoing. Also on Thursday, the school system received evidence of possible criminal misconduct by the teacher. This was immediately shared with the Sheriffs Department and we have been informed that on Friday morning, the teacher was arrested.

'The school system is devastated by the allegations of this serious breach of trust by an employee. Our focus now is on supporting our students and supporting law enforcement in their investigation.'

Stanley was given a secured bond of $2.5 million.Advertisement

George H.W. Bush's service dog Sully was among the dozens who gathered to pay their respects to the late president as his casket lies in the Capitol Rotunda on Tuesday.

The yellow Labrador was cast into the spotlight after he was seen lying by his late owner's American flag-covered casket in a photograph that went viral over the weekend as the nation mourns the passing of its 41st president.

The casket is now lying in state at the US Capitol before it will be transported to the Washington National Cathedral for a memorial service on Wednesday.

A steady stream of thousands of visitors - including President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania - flowed through the rotunda on Tuesday.

Dressed in an American Flag therapy vest, Sully was escorted into the rotunda by a woman who stood by the dog's side as cameras clicked away.

In attendance were a number of veterans, many of them in wheelchairs, and current military personnel standing at attention.

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO

George H.W. Bush's service dog Sully paid a visit to his late owner's casket in the Capitol Rotunda on Tuesday morning as dozens gathered to pay their respects to the late president, who will lie in state until Wednesday morning

The yellow Labrador gifted to Bush in June wore an American flag-themed service animal vest while visiting the Capitol

Sully laid patiently in front of the flag-draped casket as dozens of mourners looked on during the somber occasion

Also attending the rotunda gathering was the late president's son Neil Bush (center)

Neil Bush appeared to be fighting to keep his composure as he placed a hand on the casket of his late father

Among the visitors was former Senator Bob Dole, 95, who stood up from his wheelchair to salute Bush's casket

Cindy McCain, the widow of the late Sen. John McCain, stopped by to pay her respects.

It's believed to be her first visit to the Capitol Rotunda since her husband laid in state under its Dome in September.

McCain stood before the flag-draped casket, her head bowed, for a few moments.

Dressed in black with a single strand of pearls, the wife of the late senator's eyes were teary but she held her composure before the crowd of people visiting the late president's remains.

Before she left, she kissed her hand, walked to the coffin and touched it.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell escorted her from the rotunda.

Cindy McCain, the widow of the late Sen. John McCain, stopped by the Capitol Rotunda to pay her respects to the 41st president

It's believed to be Cindy McCain's first visit to the Capitol Rotunda since her husband laid in state under its Dome in September

Billy Bush - the nephew of George H.W. - gazes at his uncle's casket alongside members of his own family

Former NFL football quarterback Peyton Manning walks out of the Capitol Rotunda after viewing Bush's casket

Professional golfer Hale Irwin, Peyton Manning, PGA golfer Phil Mickelson, and Duke head basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski are seen (left to right) paying their respects to the late president on Tuesday afternoon

The casket sitting in the center of the Capitol Rotunda is seen from above as visitors circulated around it

The CIA also honored its old boss, the only spy chief to become president, with visits the rotunda Tuesday, joining members of the public who had lined up before dawn to pay respects to the 41st president.

CIA Director Gina Haspel and former directors John Brennan and George Tenet visited Bush's casket, as did Colin Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff when Bush assembled the coalition that rescued Kuwait from Iraq's invasion in the Gulf War.

Kuwait's Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, also arrived to pay respects to the former US president.

Members of the Bush family who attended the viewing on Tuesday included the president's son Neil and his wife along with the president's nephew Billy Bush and his family.

Journalists Brett Baier and Chris Matthews arrived in the afternoon shortly before famed NFL quarterback Peyton Manning, PGA golfer Phil Mickelson, Duke head basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski and professional golfer Hale Irwin.

Thousands lined up to pass through the Capitol Rotunda and pay their respects to the 41st president on Tuesday

Sully, who was cast into the spotlight when a photo of him lying by his late owner's casket went viral over the weekend, drew the attention of photographers as he waltzed into the rotunda

Sully visited with many of the veterans who had gathered to pay their respects to Bush, who was a key advocate for the Americans with Disabilities Act and himself a World War II veteran

Bush will lie in state until Wednesday, when his casket is brought to Washington National Cathedral for a memorial service

The pup wore a mournful look on his face at the somber scene, though witnesses around Washington, DC, say Sully has been cheerful during his visit to the capital

As he came into the room, Sully looked up at a photographer crouching on the ground to capture the pup's entrance

Former CIA directors George Tenet (left) and John Brennan (center) pause alongside current director Gina Haspel (right)

Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell (center) and US military Operation Desert Storm Commanders salute the casket

Former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stands over the casket with a serious expression on her face

Neil Bush (center in a red tie), his wife Maria Bush, center left, and members of his family greet visitors inside the rotunda

The late president's brother Jonathan Bush and his son Jonathan S Bush approach the casket during the emotional affair

Billy Bush appeared to wipe a tear from his eye as he exited the room filled with people mourning Bush's passing

Former personal aides to the 41st president are seen entering the rotunda to visit their late boss on Tuesday afternoon

An aide wheeled former Senator Dole up to the casket, where the 95-year-old received assistance in standing up to salute

Kuwait's Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (center) arrives to pay respects to the former US president, who was in office during the Gulf War that freed Kuwait from Iraq

Republican Representative of North Carolina Patrick McHenry and his daughter Cecelia pause in front of the casket

Journalists Chris Matthews and Brett Baier are seen behind the velvet rope surrounding the casket on Tuesday afternoon

President Trump's former press secretary Sean Spicer was photographed inside the rotunda on Tuesday afternoon

Hale Irwin, Peyton Manning, Phil Mickelson and Mike Krzyzewski lower their heads in respect for the late president

Golf legend Jack Nicklaus (left) golfer Fred Couples (second from right) and sportscaster Jim Nantz (right) after pictured with other members of the sporting community who came to pay their respects to 41 on Tuesday

After services in Washington, Bush will be returned to Houston to lie in repose at St Martin's Episcopal Church before being buried Thursday at his family plot on the grounds of his presidential library.

His final resting place will be alongside Barbara Bush, his wife of 73 years who died in April, and Robin Bush, the daughter they lost to leukemia in 1953 at age three.

Trump has ordered the federal government closed Wednesday for a national day of mourning. Flags on public buildings are flying at half-staff for 30 days.

Bush's passing puts him in the Washington spotlight after more than two decades living the relatively low-key life of a former president. His death also reduces membership in the ex-presidents' club to four: Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

A woman chokes back tears while admiring the casket during the emotional proceedings on Tuesday in Washington, DC

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, center, leads Desert Storm Commanders to pay their respect on Tuesday

Retired U.S. Army General Barry McCaffrey (left) and former Secretary of State Colin Powell bow their heads over the casket

Two members of the military stands watch over the American flag-draped casket of as Bush lies in state on Tuesday

Service members perform a changing of the guard in front of the casket midday on Tuesday

Former president George W Bush and wife Laura choke back tears as they walk past the casket on Monday

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania are seen standing over the casket on Monday after it arrived in Washington

After leaving the rotunda, Sully took a moment to pose with fans in Statuary Hall, including Former United States Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge (pictured)

Sully - named after the heroic pilot who successfully landed a damaged passenger jet on the Hudson River which saved the lives of 155 people in 2009 - was gifted to Bush by nonprofit organization America's VetDogs in June after the passing of former First Lady Barbara Bush.

The president had a form of Parkinson's disease, and Sully could open doors, pick up items and summon help.

The beloved pup accompanied Bush's remains aboard Air Force One as they were transported from Houston to the capital on Sunday.

The heartbreaking viral image of Sully lying next to the 41st presidents coffin in Houston on Sunday is pictured above

Bushs official Twitter account posted an image of Sully and former President, Bill Clinton, on June 25 after Sullys arrival. The tweet read: A great joy to welcome home the newest member of our family, "Sully," a beautiful - and beautifully trained - lab from Americas VetDogs'

Sully will soon go back to work alongside two other service dogs helping wounded military personnel at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Washington, DC.

He will assist with physical and occupational therapy to wounded soldiers and active duty personnel - a tribute to his late owner Bush - a decorated World War II veteran.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Bush family during this difficult time, said John Miller, President and CEO of America's VetDogs.

It was truly an honor to have provided service dog Sully to be by the president's side for the past several months.

As a true patriot and a visionary, President Bush will forever be viewed by people with disabilities and their families as a hero through his efforts to enact the Americans with Disabilities Act.

We are forever grateful to his service to the American people.Cohan Semple, pictured outside Ipswich Magistrates' Court today, received a one-year community order after he took a photograph of Janice Morris who was attacked by a group of youths with eggs and flour in July

A teenage boy who took a photo of a vulnerable woman who was pelted with flour and eggs as she sat on a park bench has been sentenced to a community order.

The image of 49-year-old Janice Morris was seen around the world after it was uploaded to social media by Cohan Semple, who turned 18 in October, an earlier hearing at Ipswich Magistrates' Court was told.

It showed Ms Morris cowering on the bench and covered in flour as four boys posed behind her in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.

Semple admitted a public order offence at an earlier hearing and was sentenced at the same court on Tuesday.

Declan Gallagher, mitigating, said Semple was 17 at the time of the offence on July 27 this year, had faced 'practically worldwide opprobrium' as the only defendant to be publicly named and was 'far from a ringleader'.

'There were three people present who took it upon themselves to go to the nearby Spar shop to buy flour and eggs,' he said.

'All of those have been dealt with by referral orders.'

Four boys who cannot be identified due to their age admitted a public order offence and were sentenced last month.

Presiding magistrate Michael Cadman, sentencing Semple on Tuesday, told the defendant: 'We were made aware that you were not the ringleader or the prime mover in this offence.'

He said he also took into account that Semple lost his job as a warehouse man as a result and had no previous convictions.

Semple shared this image of an attack on Janice Morris in Bury St Edmunds in July. The youths threw eggs and flour at her. Semple pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to using threatening, abusive and insulting words or behaviour to cause harassment, alarm or distress

Semple posted an image of the attack on his Snapchat which was later shared by a friend on Facebook, where it was passed around widely

Ipswich Magistrates' Court heard Semple was not the instigator of the attack and had lost his job in a warehouse as a result of publicity associated with his role in the incident

Semple from Bury St Edmunds, was sentenced to a year-long community order.

He was also ordered to complete 60 hours of unpaid work, pay 100 compensation to Ms Morris and pay 170 in costs.

Lucy Miller, prosecuting, said Ms Morris thought 'about five' young men were involved.

The victim's account describes how she was spat at, and some of the boys went to a shop and returned with eggs and flour which they threw over her.

'She did overhear someone saying they were filming it,' Ms Miller said.

She said that in police interview Semple admitted taking the photograph which he put on his own Snapchat, before a friend took a screenshot and posted it on Facebook.

It was then shared more widely.

A sixth boy, aged 17, denies a public order offence and was bailed to appear at Ipswich Youth Court on February 13 2019 for trial.Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen appears to have saved her head from President Donald Trump's chopping block and will remain in his administration - for the time being.

Nielsen, who was said to be on the way out in a Cabinet shakeup, is now expected to survive the cull.

It was a one-two punch of tough talk on the immigrant caravan and extravagant praise for President Trump that saved her, Politico reports.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen's position in President Trump's cabinet appears to be safe - for now

Nielsen has taken a strong, public stance on immigration, which is said to have impressed the president

Kirstjen Nielsen joined President Trump in the Oval Office when he signed the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Act in November

Nielsen has long been the subject of rumors of her imminent demise, particularly as Trump railed against the border problem and caravan of migrants from South America.

The president has even said changes are coming.

'I have three or four or five positions that I'm thinking about,' Trump told 'Fox News Sunday' in a November interview. 'Of that, maybe it's going to end up being two. Maybe. But I want - I need flexibility.'

And when asked if one of those would be his Homeland Security secretary, the president said Nielsen needed to get tougher.

'I like her a lot. I respect her a lot. She's very smart,' he said. 'I want her to get much tougher, and we'll see what happens there. But I want to be extremely tough.'

Nielsen did indeed get tougher - and in a public way.

She visited the border three times since October and hailed the president as a 'forceful' leader.

Trump was said to be impressed.

Although the tides in the Trump administration can change at any moment.

Nielsen's status is being closed watched as her exit could signal that of her mentor's: White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, who got her the Homeland Security job.

She's also said to have some stronger backers in her corner, including Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.

Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen visited the border three times since October

But her biggest moment may have come when she backed President Trump's unverified claim that migrants in the caravan were using women and children as 'human shields.'

'It appears in some cases that the limited number of women and children in the caravan are being used by the organizers as 'human shields' when they confront law enforcement,' Nielsen said in a statement posted on Facebook last week.

Trump made the accusation - calling the migrants 'grabbers' - on the campaign trail, in the run up to the midterms.

He used the immigration issue, both the caravan and his border wall, to fire up his base ahead of Election Day.

Republicans picked up four Senate seats in states Trump carried in the 2016 election.

Nielsen also praised the president for sending troops to the border.

'Instead of 'a political stunt,' as suggested by some, this was in fact the act of a leader concerned about the rule of law,' she wrote.

Her backing of the boss and forceful response have upped her credibility with the president.

She also appeared at a townhall on the opioid crisis with Melania Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen toured Base Camp Donna on the Texas/Mexico border in November

'The recent developments with Mexico and her strong Facebook post have helped subside the speculation on her future,' a source close to Nielsen told Politico.

She also made a very public appearance with first lady Melania Trump at a town hall at Liberty University last week focused on the opioid crisis.A man stranded for three days on a mountain after crashing an all-terrain vehicle has been rescued after setting a fire that grew to 20 acres to draw rescuers to his location.

It took volunteer firefighters about three hours to reach the man on Bluff Mountain in Sevier County, who was suffering from hypothermia, a broken ankle and broken ribs.

Crews initially responded on Monday evening to the report of a blaze, Waldens Creek Fire Chief Tim Baker said.

The injured man made it to an ambulance at around 6.30am Eastern on Tuesday.

A short video of late last night into the early morning today of the man down rescue on Bluff Mountain. Update: Play video for sound Posted by Waldens Creek Volunteer Fire Department on Tuesday, December 4, 2018

The man's current condition is not known at this time.

The report of the fire came in at around 7.30pm on Monday night, Baker told Knox News.

'They just saw a glow,' Baker said, of the people who reported the fire from about 6-7 miles away.

A man stranded for three days on Bluff Mountain in Sevier County, Tennessee after crashing an all-terrain vehicle has been rescued after setting a fire that grew to 20 acres to draw rescuers to his location

At least one Sevier County Rescue Squad member sustained injuries after being hit in the back by a falling tree limb while trying to get the man down from the mountain.

'It's a real treacherous, steep area,' Baker said.

The fire chief noted that he doesn't ever condone or advise setting a fire.

'But under the circumstances ... you do desperate things,' Baker said. 'Nobody was gonna wander through and find him.'

It took volunteer firefighters about three hours to reach the man on Bluff Mountain in Sevier County, who was suffering from hypothermia, a broken ankle and broken ribs

Crews initially responded on Monday evening to the report of a blaze, Waldens Creek Fire Chief Tim Baker said

State Division of Forestry crews battled the 20-acre brush fire in Sevier County, Tennessee (shown on the map) and had it under control by Tuesday morning

State Division of Forestry crews battled the 20-acre brush fire and had it under control by Tuesday morning.

Damp conditions and calm winds kept the flames from spreading faster, Forestry spokesman Nathan Waters said.

Both Sevier County and Waldens Creek Volunteer Fire Department responded, WVLT reported.

Damp conditions and calm winds kept the flames from spreading faster, Forestry spokesman Nathan Waters said. An update from The Waldens Creek Fire Department is shown

The Waldens Creek Fire Department posted the following update on Facebook on Tuesday morning:

'Bluff Mountain Fire Update: as you may have already heard on the news, the Bluff Mountain Fire was started by a young man who was trapped deep in Bluff Mountain under an ATV.

'He started the fire in hopes that someone would see it and rescue him. Kroger from Wears Valley has generously donated water & Kroger Protein bars for those that are still up in the mountain. A Sevier County Rescue Squad member was injured as well, after a tree fell on him.

'The WCVFD helped bring him off the mountain, as well as the young man that was trapped under the ATV. Thank you Kroger! And Thank you Forestry Service.'A man accused of throwing his five-year-old daughter off a bridge told doctors that voices urged him to kill the child.

Court records revealed the twisted perspective of John Jonchuck, 29, for the first time since he hurled his five-year-old daughter Phoebe from a St Petersburg, Florida bridge in 2015, killing her, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

'I was hearing voices saying that if me and Phoebe didn't die, everybody was going to go to hell,' Jonchuck said, according to the records.

Asked who was going to die, Jonchuck told a psychiatrist: 'Everybody in the world.'

Jon Jonchuck (left) told a psychiatrist that he threw his five-year-old daughter Phoebe (right) from a bridge in January 2015 because voices told him she had to die

'I think about her every night, in the mornings when I wake up,' Jonchuck told the psychiatrist, according to the records. He said he still has 'bad dreams' in which his daughter is 'laying there' and he can't 'get her to wake up.'

Jonchuck added: 'Because I was a really good father and she loved me so much and I always promised her that I'm not going to let anything happen, and I did.'

Asked why he cared about everyone else dying, he said: 'Because I felt like with that Bible that night I was telling everybody that I was the Creator.'

'Because I felt like the voices were telling me something that was real ... Because I didn't want anybody else to get hurt.'

After numerous delays, Jonchuck is set to go to trial on a charge of first-degree murder in the spring of 2019.

Jonchuck, seen in a January 2015 file image, was found competent to stand trial in March 2017

His lawyers will reportedly not debate whether he threw young Phoebe from the bridge, instead arguing that he cannot be convicted for reason of insanity.

Witnesses have said that Jonchuck carried around a Swedish Bible in the days before Phoebe's death. He spread salt around doors to ward off evil, his stepmother said.

A receptionist at a church said he talked of learning he was related to the Pope, and referred to Phoebe as a demon.

After police stopped Jonchuck's car as he drove away from the scene of Phoebe's death, they found two Bibles inside. One was open to the passage: 'You divided the sea before them, so that they passed through it on dry ground, but you hurled their pursuers into the depths, like a stone into mighty waters.'

Prosecutors say the father dropped the five-year-old girl into Tampa Bay off the Dick Misener bridge (pictured) after a trip to a lawyer's office

Jonchuck's statements about hearing voices were made to psychiatrist Emily Lazarou during evaluations in October 2017 and May of this year.

Another psychiatrist who has been hired to dispute Lazarou's methods quoted them in a deposition that was made public in a court filing.

Jonchuck's lawyers have argued that Lazarou, who will testify for the prosecution that he was not insane, is biased and should not be allowed on the witness stand.

After the issue delayed the trial once again in September, Lazarou commented on Facebook: 'The lengths opposing counsel will go to get me off of a case are astounding. Their tactics are despicable, but its part of my work.'

State prosecutors have elected not to pursue the death penalty in the case, and Jonchuck faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted.A father has been shot dead in front of stunned children while picking up children from school in Belfast.

The incident happened near St Mary's Grammar School in West Belfast. The victim pulled up in his 80,000 2017 Porsche Panamera when the gunman opened fire.

A man aged in his 40s wearing a high-visibility vest is sought by detectives.

The victim's Porsche car was covered in a tarpaulin and forensics officers combed the area for clues.

A man has been shot dead in West Belfast today after pulling up near a school driving this 2017 Porsche Panamera worth 80,000

The incident happened near St Mary's Grammar School in West Belfast

The victim is believed to have died instantly after the gunman opened fire

St Mary's issued a statement on Tuesday evening saying it will be closed on Wednesday.

'The thoughts and prayers of the Principal and all the staff are with our pupil and his family at this very sad time,' the school's statement said.

'Ensuring that all pupils got home safely was our absolute focus following this tragic incident.

'The school will be closed on Wednesday, December 5 due to the on-going investigation. The school will be providing pupils with counselling and support services.'

West Belfast MP Paul Maskey said: 'It is deeply concerning that this killing was carried out in full view of hundreds of kids who were leaving school at the time.'

The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) attended but transported nobody from the scene, a statement said.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) confirmed an incident had occurred and closed a number of roads nearby.

Detective Chief Inspector Peter Montgomery said earlier today: 'Police are currently at the scene of a shooting during which a man died this afternoon.

'I would like to appeal to anyone who saw a man in his 40s, wearing a high vis vest with the words Security on the back heading in the direction of Glen Road, as well as anyone who witnessed the shooting or was in the Glen Road area from 3pm today, to come forward and speak to police.'

An NIAS statement said: 'The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service received a 999 call at 15:14 on Tuesday 04 December 2018 following reports of an incident in the Glen Road area of Belfast.

'Two paramedic officers and one rapid response paramedic were dispatched to the incident.

'No one was transported from the scene.'

Forensic officers this evening attending the scene of a suspected shooting in West Belfast Glen Road close to St Mary's Grammar School

The Glen Road (pictured), usually a busy thoroughfare, was dominated by cordons, police land rovers and flashing lights

Tim Attwood, an SDLP councillor, claimed the victim of the shooting was killed 'instantly'.

'It is absolutely sickening that a gun was fired in the vicinity of both a primary and secondary school in west Belfast today,' he said.

'A number of pupils witnessed this fatality and are understandably very disturbed and frightened after this reckless act occurred nearby the school gates.

'There is absolutely no place for this in 2018; this madness belongs in the past and we cannot allow it to once again become our normality.

'I cannot stress enough that any information relating to this incident must be passed to the PSNI immediately.'

The Glen Road, usually a busy thoroughfare, was dominated by cordons, police land rovers and flashing lights.

Some children were unable to make their way up the road and received assistance from youth workers.

The area includes two post-primary schools and nursery schools.

A tall metal curtain has been erected to block a view of the scene of the shooting.

Transport operator Translink said its services had been diverted.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said: 'Due to an incident on the Glen Rd, west Belfast, drivers are advised the area between the Monagh bypass & Glen Rd junction up to Shaws Rd & Glen Rd junction is closed until further notice.

'Please avoid the area and seek alternative route if possible.'

Paramilitary-style shootings are a regular occurrence in Northern Ireland, 20 years after the Good Friday Agreement which largely ended violence, although most are not fatal.

Detectives have not yet commented on any potential motives for the attack or who may be responsible.A British zoo has had to put down a second Asiatic lion after it tested positive for bovine TB.

Zookeepers said they were heartbroken after six-year-old Maliya had to be euthanized - just months after the lion's mother, Indu, was also put to sleep.

Staff at Paignton Zoo in Devon said leading experts confirmed the bad news and they had to act quickly.

Six-year-old Asiatic lioness Maliya (pictured) was given contraceptive implants earlier this year in the wake of antelopes testing positive for TB last year

The big cat was part of international efforts to conserve the endangered Asiatic lion species

Zoo spokesperson Phil Knowling said they had done all he could for the animal, and staff were devastated by the news.

He said: 'We've done everything we can to be sure. Our in-house vets have spoken to the leading expert on felines and TB, someone who even helped develop one of the tests used.

'Maliya was found to be highly positive on two tests for the Mycobacterium complex group and the gamma interferon results point towards bovine Tb.'

Maliya and her mate, Lucifer, 15, were considered the most important breeding pair in Europe.

She was in February this year given contraceptive implants in the wake of antelopes testing positive for TB last year.

Mr Knowling said: 'Whatever else happens before we eventually get the all clear and the TB restrictions on the Zoo are lifted, we knew we couldn't keep her alive.

'So, for the sake of her family and the larger collection, we had to take the decision, as heart-breaking as it was.'

Asiatic lioness Maliya with her two cubs, daughter Arya and son Yali, in their enclosure at Paignton Zoo in Devon

Maliya was born at Paignton Zoo in 2012 to mother Indu and father Mwamba and became a mother herself in 2016.

Indu tested positive for the disease earlier in the year and had to be put to sleep in July.

Paignton Zoo's pride of rare Asiatic lions now consists of Maliya's two cubs, male Yali and his sister Arya, along with father Lucifer.

Senior keeper Helen Neighbour paid tribute to Maliya: 'She was the first cub born here that I ever worked with.

'She grew up into a loving mother, brilliant with her cubs, very caring and very protective. She could be strong-willed and she liked to have the last word.'Iain Cocks (pictured above arriving at Leeds Crown Court) was found guilty of two counts of misconduct in a public office between June 2015 and May 2017

A married prison officer who indecently assaulted or had sex with inmates and former prisoners now faces jail.

Iain Cocks preyed on the vulnerable inmates at New Hall Prison, where his wife Kirsty also worked.

The 51-year-old had a two year affair with a child killer, having sex with her over a washing machine in the laundry room, in her cell and on the comfy chairs in the Rivendell wing office.

The warder also had sex with another prisoner in the women only prison in West Yorkshire, and groped and molested two further inmates in their cells.

He also pursued two ex-prisoners on the outside and even invited one into his matrimonial bed at his home in Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

A jury at Leeds Crown Court today, Tuesday 4 December, found Cocks guilty of two counts of misconduct in a public office between June 2015 and May 2017 and guilty of one charge of sexual assault.

Judge Simon Phillips QC is set to sentence Cocks on 13 December after he receives personal statements from two of Cocks' prey.

Remanding him in custody, Judge Phillips told him: 'A sentence of immediate imprisonment is inevitable.'

Cocks slumped down in the dock and held his head in his hands after the jury returned its verdict.

Judge Phillips thanked the jury for their service and added: 'The expectations of the Prison Service have not been carried out in any fit or proper way by one individual.'

Cocks' barrister, Miss Rebecca Stevens asked that Cocks be placed in jail outside of Yorkshire, as he had previously worked in several of them, including a stint at HMP Leeds.

She said the warder had concerns regarding the jail he would be sent to.

Cock's name had been the butt of jokes with prisoners and the trial heard that he had enjoyed sex with a woman who had been jailed for the manslaughter of her young daughter.

The jury at Leeds Crown Court (pictured above) heard the Cocks had sex with one of the inmates over a washing machine

The pair had Little Mix's hit 'Secret Love Song' as their tune and she would get 'glammed up', doing her hair and make-up to meet him in cells.

The woman, who was released from jail nine months ago and cannot be named for legal reasons, told the jury from the witness box that she was a 'low maintenance' prisoner at New Hall and was given cleaning duties on Rivendell wing, a unit where inmates were afforded more freedom.

She was aware Cocks was married to another prison guard at New Hall and that he'd had a vasectomy.

She confessed to developing feelings for Cocks after they first had sex and said she had 'looked forward' to seeing him at work.

The jury heard that another female prison officer at the relaxed Rivendell unit used to get inmates to do her nails.

'It was not out of the ordinary on that wing for officers to be close to prisoners,' she said. She later learned that Cocks was having an affair with a former inmate.

Iain Cocks (pictured above) had told one inmate that he and his wife Kirsty were no longer having sex

'I was upset and hurt by it. I couldn't believe he was seeing me in prison and seeing her once she'd been released out of the prison.

'Because we have had sexual activity things felt real. I didn't want to leave him.'

The court heard they had sex a number of times in her cell, including on New Year's Day 2016. Rumours soon began to circulate about the relationship.

Despite Cocks carrying on with other inmates, the child killer tried to protect him by not giving police a full statement.

'I didn't want him to get in trouble and get sacked,' she said.

'At the time I still thought he was everything. I wanted to protect him and didn't want to get him into trouble.

'I did not know the extent of how many other girls were involved in this.'

She knew he was married to another warder but Cocks had told her they no longer had sex.

She considered the Little Mix track 'Secret Love Song' her and Cocks' tune.

'I used to sing it to him,' she said.

The jury also heard from a former prisoner, a 34 year old brunette, who Cocks picked up in a bar and had an affair with.

Cocks worked day shifts and his wife Kirsty worked nights, Leeds Crown Court heard.

Speaking from the witness box the woman said she was released on licence from New Hall in June 2016 and went to live in Royston, near Barnsley. Cocks lives in Cudworth, the neighbouring village.

Iain Cocks (pictured above) had previously appeared in court on November 27 2018

She said that in July 2016 she was enjoying a night out in Barnsley town centre when Cocks approached her.

'He came running up behind me, put his arms round my waist and picked me up,' she told the jury.

They spent the night together drinking in bars, talking and kissing and he took her mobile telephone number when they parted, meeting the following week in the Asda car park.

After going for a drive in his car they parked up in a field and talked as he held her hand.

'We just talked about what we had got ourselves in to, he described me as a one off,' she told the jury.

She said Cocks had told her his marriage to Kirsty was 'on the rocks', they were barely together and she wouldn't have sex with him.

'We talked about a future and that he was going to tell Kirsty about me,' she said.

The witness said she went to Cocks' home about four times, and said wedding photos were on display on the wall. Cocks told her he'd had a vasectomy and they had sexual intercourse in the spare room.

She said on another occasion they spent the night together on the matrimonial water bed. They drank alcohol and watched TV.

'We just talked and talked. Kirsty was due back early in the morning. I slept in the bed in my clothes.

He touched my breasts,' she said.

Another former prisoner told the jury how Cocks made unwanted advances towards her in the Rivendell Unit at New Hall.

She first encountered Cocks when he escorted her from the gym and he commented on her make up and asked if she was wearing it for him.

Iain Cocks (pictured above) would often comment on the appearance of inmates at the prison in Yorkshire

'I felt it was a bit familiar. I felt slightly uncomfortable with him talking like he had,' she told the jury.

On another occasion she was suffering with her appendix and needed Cocks' support whilst she walked.

'He said it was like we were walking down the aisle together,' she said.

Cocks would often comment 'you look beautiful today', the court heard.

He also told her 'your tits look good in that. You have got a nice arse and nice tits'.

She said that around Christmas time she and her cell mate where playing the parlour game charades.

Cocks had said 'I've got one for you' and wrote down the porn movie 'Debbie Does Dallas'. 'I didn't act it out,' she said.

She said that in her cell Cocks pulled her into the shower and tried to kiss her.

'I remember smelling his breath,' she told the jury.

On the final occasion she was revising for a gym instructor exam alone in a cell when Cocks came in.

'The last time I knew something was going to happen. I could tell by his breathing,' she said.

'I was sat at the desk. He touched my hair and he rubbed his groin against me on my right hand shoulder.

'I elbowed him straight away and then I started to cry.'

In ruling on a bad character application by the prosecution, Judge Phillips said there was a power imbalance between Cocks and the vulnerable inmates and former prisoners.

The judge said Cocks had a disposition towards reprehensible behaviour and his misconduct was sexually motivated.

The court heard Cocks had sex with Melanie Collins, a former inmate, in 2008 after her release from New Hall.

Judge Phillips said: 'He deliberately sought her out and visited her for sex.'

Cocks was not married to fellow jailer Kirsty when he had sex with Melanie Collins.

Leeds Crown Court also heard from probation officer Fran Wright who said Cocks had sex with Megan Hope inside New Hall.

'Megan Hope confessed that Iain Cocks had sexual intercourse with her,' stated Miss Wright.Federal investigators have concluded that pilot error following engine maintenance problems caused last year's helicopter crash in New Jersey that killed Montgomery Gentry star Troy Gentry.

The pilot, who also perished in the crash, cut the engine too soon as he tried an emergency landing, leading to an uncontrolled descent, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a final report issued Tuesday.

Instead of reaching the runway at the Flying W Airport in Medford, New Jersey, the helicopter crashed in woods nearby, killing both men on board.

Scroll down for video

The NTSB on Tuesday issued its final report on the September 2017 chopper crash that killed singer Troy Gentry, concluding that pilot error was to blame for the deadly accident

Gentry (left) and pilot James Evan Robinson (right) both died in the crash during a pleasure flight at the Flying W Airport in Medford, New Jersey

Federal officials have concluded that Robinson (pictured) cut the engine too soon before attempting an emergency landing maneuver after losing control of the engine

Gentry, 50, who was half of the award-winning country music duo Montgomery Gentry, was taking a pleasure and orientation flight before the concert at the airport's resort.

The other half of the duo, Eddie Montgomery, and other band members were at the airport at the time.

Several minutes after takeoff, pilot James Evan Robinson told experts on the ground that he couldn't control the engine.

They suggested a shallow, run-on landing, but he instead said he planned to cut the engine and try to glide in, a maneuver known as autorotation he said he had done before, most recently four months prior to the September 8, 2017, crash, the report said.

The experts stressed the need to wait until he was over the runway to turn off the engine, but investigators found the 30-year-old pilot instead did so a quarter- to half-mile out.

The NTSB said the maintenance crew's failure to rig the throttle control assembly before the flight contributed to the accident.

Gentry was born in Lexington, Kentucky, where he met Montgomery.

Montgomery Gentry had success on the country charts and country radio in the 2000s, scoring No. 1 hits that included 'Roll With Me' and 'Back When I Knew It All.' Some of their songs even cracked the Top 40 pop charts.

Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry met in Kentucky and former the duo Montgomery Gentry, had success on the country charts and country radio in the 2000s (pictured during a performance in Nashville in February 2017)

In February 2018, Gentry's widow, Angie (left), filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the manufacturers of the helicopter

The band mixed country music with Southern rock. It was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 2009. It released its debut album, 'Tattoos & Scars,' in 1999.

In February of this year, Montgomery released the duos 20th anniversary album titled Heres to You, which he and Gentry had finished recording together just two days before the crash, reported Rolling Stone.

That same month, Gentry's widow, Angie, filed a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of herself and her two daughters, 15-year-old Kaylee and 24-year-old Taylor, against the manufacturers of the helicopter.Michael Avenatti still loathes President Donald Trump, but he said Tuesday that he won't run to replace him.

The lawyer for pornographic actress Stormy Daniels said in a statement that his family told him not to take the plunge.

'After consultation with my family and at their request, I have decided not to seek the Presidency of the United States in 2020. I do not make this decision lightly - I make it out of respect for my family. But for their concerns, I would run,' he said.

Avenatti's decision to pull his toe out of the political waters comes two weeks after his arrest on suspicion of felony domestic violence.

The Los Angeles District Attorney's Office declined to charge him with the felony but referred his case for possible misdemeanor prosecution. Police booked Avenatti for allegedly striking his girlfriend Mareli Miniutti during an altercation at his apartment.

California lawyer Michael Avenatti said Tuesday that he won't run in the Democratic presidential primary, after members of his family told him he shouldn't

Avenatti loathes President Donald Trump but won't be the Democrat to unseat him

Avenatti said Tuesday in a statement that he will still be Stormy Danies' lawyer

Avenatti, 47, who has vehemently denied all allegations, released a statement saying he was 'grateful for justice.'

Miniutti, an Estonian actress who had been dating Avenatti since October 2017, filed for a restraining order in Los Angeles on Monday and submitted a court declaration with photos of her alleged injuries.

On Tuesday, Avenatti said he would still represent Daniels in her legal actions against the presdient, and he hopes Democrats nominate a 'fighter'  meaning a Trump antagonist like him  to run in 2020.

'I will continue to represent Stormy Daniels and others against Donald Trump and his cronies and will not rest until Trump is removed from office, and our republic and its values are restored. I will also continue with my nearly twenty years of speaking truth to power and representing those who need an advocate against the powerful,' he said.

'I remain concerned that the Democratic Party will move toward nominating an individual who might make an exceptional President but has no chance of actually beating Donald Trump. The party must immediately recognize that many of the likely candidates are not battletested [sic] and have no real chance at winning. We will not prevail in 2020 without a fighter. I remain hopeful the party finds one.'

Republican National Committee spokesman Michael Ahrens told DailyMail.com in reaction to Avenatti's withdrawal: 'For all of his flaws, Michael Avenatti has one thing right: the Democratic field is a disaster and the likely candidates "have no real chance at winning".'

Avenatti's reputation is based on his legal advocacy for pornographic actress Stephanie Clifford, whose stage name is Stormy Daniels

Avenatti raised eyebrows in Washington when he traveled to the Iowa State Fair in August to speak to voters, and told reporters that 'Im exploring a run for the presidency of the United States, and I wanted to come to Iowa and listen to people and learn about some issues that are facing the citizens of Iowa and do my homework.'

But aside from his association with Daniels, who was in Washington, D.C. on Monday performing at a downtown strip club and signing copies of her new book, Avenatti's biggest liability is the legal jeopardy he faces as a result of Miniutti's claims.

Miniutti said after Avenatti's arrest that he had said, 'Do not disrespect me. You don't get to sleep in my house tonight,' before reaching for her wrist in an attempt to pull her out of bed on night.

Avenatti, however, slipped and lost his grip and she used the opportunity to send texts to a friend, according to the documents.

In this September 2018 photo, attorney Michael Avenatti, right, poses with Mareli Miniutti for a photo at a party in New York; she accused him two months later of physically assaulting her

Miniutti has submitted photos to the court showing her injuries, which she says were caused by Avenatti hitting her in the face with pillows and dragging her across his apartment floor

'After a few moments, [he] yelled at me, and grabbed the phone out of my hand and screamed, "this is my phone!" and put it in his pocket.'

Miniutti said Avenatti remained close to her 'at all times' and she became 'afraid' for her safety and screamed for help towards a window.

That's when Avenatti allegedly tried to pull her out of bed again, this time succeeding and dragging her on the floor of the apartment and out to the hallway while she was only in her underwear and a t-shirt.Eleven people are still missing after the devastating wildfires swept through California.

Entire communities in northern and southern California were destroyed last month when deadly fires engulfed towns, buildings and roads.

The town of Paradise in Northern California, with a population of 27,000 was left pretty much destroyed by the raging wildfire that forced terrified residents to flee their homes clutching pets and babies and collapsing pillions fell across roads.

Around 95 per cent of Paradise was leveled, with its smaller neighbors, Concow and Magalia, were also all but destroyed in a matter of hours.

New aerial pictures of the devastation shows the outline of where resident's homes once stood and the charred rubble that was left in the inferno's wake.

The town of Paradise in Northern California, with a population of 27,000 was left all bust destroyed after last month's devastating wildfires

Charred rubble and damaged buildings were all that was left after the inferno sweft through areas of Northern and Southern California

Stairs and low walls are all that's left standing in front of a home leveled by the Camp Fire in Paradise

Butte County Sheriff's Office sent a drone over Paradise to capture aerial images of the fire-ravaged area, revealing the homes and businesses wiped off the map, when compared to images from Google Maps before the blaze.

The sheriff in a Northern California county where 85 people were killed by the deadly wildfire says only 11 people remain on a list of missing people.

The number of missing in Butte County at one point hit 1,300 amid the chaos and confusion after the blaze in Camp Fire which began on November 8.

Sheriff Kory Honea says officials will work to track down the remaining people in the coming days.

Yesterday he also revised down the number of victims, says 85 had died in the blaze, not 88 as previously reported.

Honea says DNA testing showed remains that had been separated belonged to a single person.

The Ridgewood Mobile Home Park retirement community in Paradise was one of many communities leveled by the deadly blaze

A burnt out vehicle left sitting in front of a home leveled by the Camp Fire in Paradise

The Camp Fire rages through Paradise devastating homes and businesses as it swept through the communities

The cause of the fires is still under investigation in what was the worst fires on record in the state.

In the Camp Fire blaze, 85 people were killed, and as of a week ago 196 were still missing as 153,336 acres of land was burned, leaving 18,793 structures buildings, including 13,972 homes.

The Woolsey in Southern California erupted the same day, killing three people as 96,949 acres was incinerated, destroying 1,500 buildings and damaging 341.

The search for remains got so difficult the sheriff's office encouraged relatives of the missing to provide DNA samples.

Sheriff Honea told CBS News the fire raged so fiercely it was like 'Hell on Earth'.

He said: 'I think the best way that I can characterize it is, it was outrunning us before we even knew we were in a race or what direction the race was gonna take us. It was dark.

'It seemed like it was nighttime because the smoke had blocked out the sun. Ash and embers were raining down. And as the fire grew closer, there was this real sense of it being Hell on Earth.'

'We were in a situation where there weren't enough fire engines and there weren't enough law enforcement officers.

Homes leveled by the Camp Fire line the Ridgewood Mobile Home Park retirement community in Paradise

Search and rescue workers searching for human remains at a trailer park burned out from the Camp fire in Paradise

'It's unprecedented. We have brought in search teams from all throughout California urban search and rescue, coroner's teams - forensic anthropologists to see if we can determine whether or not, there are human remains there.

'And if there are, of course we want to recover them and do what's necessary to return those remains to the family.

'Because this fire burned so hot and so intensely, those remains are often completely consumed or nearly completely consumed.'

Traffic is still banned in Paradise, although residents are beginning to return to Magalia and Concow.

Resident Eva Walker told CBS: The bushes were catching on fire. The trees were on fire. So you're moving to get away from the flames. But there's nowhere to move to.'This is the shocking moment a hit-and-run driver mounts the pavement and ploughs into a teenager as he races to move out of a car's way.

Security cameras capture the teenager, who miraculously escapes with minor injuries, as he walks with his friend by a road in Itapetininga, Sao Paulo.

The pair soon spot the car approaching behind them and dash to keep out of its way.

But the vehicle, which appears completely out of control, then swerves suddenly onto the pavement.

A teenager dashes across the road in an attempt to avoid a collision with a car which mounted the pavement in Brazil

At the last second, the driver dashes to the left - just as the teenage rushes in the same direction to avoid being hit.

The 17-year-old slams onto the bonnet and is propelled down the road by the car which appears not to slow down.

He is then thrown off to the side of the road by the car, tumbling into a strip of grass at the centre of the two lanes.

The motorist continues along the road, dashing past a parked car on the right before disappearing into the distance,

But the hit-and-run driver swerves to the left at the same time and hit the 17-year-old in the road

His friend stands on the pavement in shock as the car carries his friend into the central reservation

His stunned friend, who has been rooted to the spot in panic, then runs over to his friend.

But the teenager, who has asked not to be identified, miraculously only suffered cuts and bruises to his back, legs, feet and arms, and said he was lucky as the outcome could have been worse.

'It was very horrible, I could have died,' he told Globo News after being discharged from hospital.

'It's been very difficult to go through this, especially because the driver drove off without helping me. I want to know who did this because they should take responsibility for their actions.

'I'm in a lot of pain because of the accident, but I'm glad it was not more serious.'

Investigators said witnesses reported that the driver was a woman.

An investigation has now been launched to identify her.A man charged with murdering a woman when he drove into a crowd of counterprotesters at the Charlottesville white nationalist rally texted his mother a photo of Hitler just days before.

James Alex Fields, 21, sent a series of texts to his mother prior to the Unite the Right rally in Virginia in August last year.

A judge ruled on Tuesday that prosecutors could show the message exchange as evidence during Fields' murder trial.

Fields, who lives in Maumee, Ohio, is charged with killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring dozens when he plowed his car into a crowd of counterprotesters at the white supremacist rally.

During his trial on Tuesday, the jury were also shown copies of memes he posted on Instagram in the lead up to the rally that showed bodies being thrown into the air after a car hits a crowd of people.

James Alex Fields, 21, sent a series of texts to his mother prior to the Unite the Right rally in Virginia in August last year. He is pictured in a court sketch from his murder trial

The Hitler text that Fields sent three days before the rally was in response to his mother's plea to be careful after he told her he would be going.

'I got the weekend off, so I'll be able to go to the rally,' he texted her three days before the rally.

His mother replied: 'Be careful'.

Fields then sent the image of Hitler and wrote: 'We're not the one (sic) who need to be careful.'

His attorneys had argued that the image would prejudice the jury, but the judge said it showed intent or motive of violence.

Meanwhile, an FBI staff operations specialist who analyzed his Facebook and Instagram accounts testified Tuesday that Fields posted a meme publicly to his Instagram page and sent a similar image as a private message to a friend in May 2017.

It included an image of a car plowing into a group of cyclists and the message: 'You have the right to protest... but I'm late for work'.

That was three months before his car plowed into the group of people marching against white nationalists.

Fields' lawyers had argued that the memes were unfairly prejudicial to Fields, but prosecutors said they show his state of mind.

Fields sent a text with an image of Hitler in response to his mother's plea to be careful after he told her he would be going to the white nationalist rally

The judge also ruled last week that the jury could be shown two Instagram posts (pictured above) that Fields had posted in the lead up to the rally

The Charlottesville violence capped two days of confrontations over the removal of a Confederate statue that shook the country and became a symbol of the growing audacity of the far right under President Donald Trump.

Prosecutors are seeking to prove that the death of Heyer was premeditated.

Fields routinely promoted racist ideologies on social media, including expressing support for Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust, according to prosecutors.

Hours before driving into the crowd, Fields was photographed carrying a shield with the emblem of a far-right group, although the group later denied he was a member.

Fields' attorney, John Hill, in his opening statement last week said his client acted in self-defense after being 'scared to death' by the mass of people around his car.

A number of victims and witnesses have testified at the trial, including a rescue worker who tried to save Heyer's life after she was struck.

Charlottesville fire Captain Steward 'Nick' Barrell testified on Monday that Heyer was 'pulseless,' with no heartbeat or breath.

Two victims also took to the stand on Friday to detail their life-altering injuries.

Jeanne Peterson told jurors she finds it difficult to walk unassisted after her right leg was crushed by the impact of Fields' car.

She said she didn't see Fields' car coming.

Fields, who lives in Maumee, Ohio, is charged with killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring dozens when he plowed his car into a crowd of counterprotesters at the white supremacist rally

Fields faces 10 criminal counts, including first-degree murder and malicious assault over the car incident. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison

Hours before driving into the crowd, Fields (left) was photographed carrying a shield with the emblem of a far-right group, although the group later denied he was a member

'I just heard three bumps,' Peterson said, realizing only later that two were his vehicle running over her right leg, and one reversing back over it.

'I saw Heather Heyer up in the air and remember thinking to myself: 'That's what someone's eyes look like when they are dead'.'

Peterson, who said she used to be fast on her feet but only recently learned to be able to walk again without a wheelchair, and just for short distances, has had five surgeries and is scheduled for a sixth next year.

Meanwhile Wednesday Bowie testified that she almost bled to death when her pelvis was crushed in six places when she was struck with the car.

She said she has been left with a 'permanent gait' after it healed diagonally.

Her right eye socket was fractured and the bottom three vertebrae of her back bone and tail bone were all shattered.

'I am not able to walk long distances or sit long periods of time without pain,' she told the court.

'My pelvis healed on a diagonal so my steps are not even, which causes muscle pain and pain in my back.'

Fields faces 10 criminal counts, including first-degree murder and malicious assault. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.

He also faces 30 federal hate crimes charges, for which he could face the death penalty if convicted. He pleaded not guilty to the charges in July.The internet is mercilessly ridiculing Eric Trump after he directed a scalding attack towards George Conway for showing 'utter disrespect' for his wife White House counselor Kellyanne Conway when he criticizes the president.

Trump took to Twitter on Monday writing: 'Of all the ugliness in politics, the utter disrespect George Conway shows toward his wife, her career, place of work, and everything she has fought SO hard to achieve, might top them all.'

'[Kellyanne Conway] is a great person and frankly his actions are horrible,' he added.

But Twitter users are pointing the finger right back at Eric, saying his own family paints a poor picture of respect in a marriage saying, 'You do realize Donald Trump is your daddy, right?'

Twitter users are eviscerating Eric Trump for his tweet where he called George Conway disrespectful of his wife White House counselor Kellyanne Conway

Eric Trump exploded at Conway after he criticized the president. Trump said that Conway's stance was disrespectful to his wife Donald Trump's advisor Kellyanne Conway (above)

Eric Trump launched a blistering attack against George Conway on Twitter on Monday

Twitter users had a field day calling Eric's tweet ironic adding 'You do realize Donald Trump is your daddy, right?'

The heated Twitter exchange started on Monday when Donald Trump tweeted that Roger Stone, his longtime informal advisor, said he would never testify against Trump in the Russia probe.

George Conway responded by tweeting: 'File under "18 U.S.C.  1503, 1512,"' referring to a citation of a federal witness tampering statute.

That section of the U.S. Code states that 'Whoever . . . corruptly or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication, influences, obstructs, or impedes, or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede, the due administration of justice, shall be' guilty of an offense.

Eric then exploded at Conway, an American Attorney in D.C., for his comment bashing how Conway treats his wife, triggering a massive backlash online.

'Im sure the overwhelming irony of your tweet it utterly lost on you, given that your dad is, in every sense of the word, the ugliest thing in politics,' one Twitter user wrote.

This twitter user wrote: 'I'm sure the overwhelming irony of your tweet is utterly lost on you'

Take a look in the mirror! This Twitter user said Eric condones his father's actions yet remains critical of the people around him

Harsh critics bashed Eric Trump and pointed to Donald Trump's three marriages and rumors of his affairs and allegations of sexual misconduct

Oh, the irony: This Twitter user clapped back writing 'Ask dad about spousal disrespect'

Another Twitter users posted this gif of Eric Trump on SNL trying to put his tongue in a toy fan

This Twitter users said: 'You come from a line of the most disrespectful man'

Sounds familiar: Yet another Twitter user redirected Eric's attention towards his father

Many Twitter users cracked up over the heated Twitter exchage

This social media user summed up the tension between Trump and Conway as simply ironic

'I don't know if anything could be more ironic than the President's son calling someone out for ugliness and disrespect in politics as well as disrespect toward his wife while passively condoning the actions of his own father! But that's exactly how to make headlines,' Twitter user David Drovlaro wrote.

'Ask dad about spousal disrespect,' a third Twitter user said.

Many were quick to criticize Donald Trump's history with women as he's been accused of cheating on his three wives and of sexual misconduct by 19 women, which he's dismissed as 'false smears'.

Porn star Stormy Daniels also claims that she had an affair with Trump in 2006, which he vehemently denies.

'You do realize Donald Trump is your daddy, right? The man who cheated on all 3 of his wives, including your mother. The man who raped your mother. The man who said he would date your sister, who is his daughter,' one twitter wrote, touching on how Ivana Trump accused the president of raping her in 1989 in a court deposition.

George Conway also retweeted a tweet by Ian Bassin who blasted President Donald Trump for the 'utter disrespect the Trumps show toward the rule of law'

He also retweeted a comment by Renato Mariotti, who asked: 'How does noting that your father engaged in witness tampering today disrespect Kellyanne Conway?'

In response to Eric Trump, George Conway retweeted a number of tweets critical of the President, including Reza Aslan's tweet about Donald Trump's alleged relationship with Stormy Daniels

She can speak up for herself! This Twitter user called out Trump for hiding under the guise of 'defending' Kellyanne Conway

Leave them alone! Some Twitter users told Eric to stick to his own family affairs

The other side: Still some people took Eric's side saying Conway was indeed disrespectful to his wife Kellyanne as he constantly trashed her boss

'My dear child. I have heard about your dad long before you were born. You come from a line of the most disrespectful man. In other words your dad is the biggest a**hole that ever is,' one feisty Twitter user wrote.

'The Trump family is here to teach the American public about respect in marriage?' another said.

'Stay in your lane. His issue is with your father, not his wife. Hes an American and can criticize your father. Leave their family alone. Let them deal with any issues the may or may not have. Stay out of it,' another added.

While Conway didn't directly respond to Trump, he threw shade by retweeting three tweets critical of the president.

One of those tweets, by former CNN host Reza Aslan, asks: 'Did George Conway pay money to have sex with a porn star right after his wife gave birth?'

Aslan was referring to Stormy Daniels, who alleges she had sex with Trump shortly after his wife, Melania, gave birth to Barron Trump.

On Tuesday George Conway continued to retweet posts suggesting the President is guilty of federal crimes relating to the Mueller investigation and tweets bashing Eric.

Trump and Conway's Twitter war started after Conway responded to a tweet from the president on Monday

The tweet that started it all: Trump praised his informal adviser Roger Stone for refusing to testify against him in the Russia probe writing: 'Nice to know that some people still have "guts!"'Nigel Farage has quit Ukip after 25 years in protest over new leader Gerard Batten's 'obsession with Muslims' and his appointment of Tommy Robinson as an adviser on 'Muslim rape gangs'.

'And so, with a heavy heart, and after all my years of devotion to the party, I am leaving Ukip today,' he wrote in The Telegraph. 'There is a huge space for a Brexit party in British politics, but it won't be filled by Ukip.'

Speaking later on LBC, Mr Farage accused Mr Batten of 'turning a blind eye to extremism' and attempting to turn the party from an 'electoral' force into a 'party of street activism'.

Nigel Farage (seen speaking at the European Parliament on November 29, 2018) has long opposed the appointment of Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon

Mr Batten has described Islam as a 'death cult' and called for possible policies including Muslim-only prisons.

Ukip's national executive committee (NEC) met at the weekend to consider his future as leader, but it voted against a motion of no confidence in Mr Batten.

Mr Batten has previously defended his decision to give English Defence League (EDL) co-founder Mr Robinson a role advising him on rape gangs and prison reform, describing him as 'courageous'.

But Mr Farage said Ukip had been successful in the past because it had a policy of 'excluding extremists'. The ex-leader has previously the appointment of Mr Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, would turn Ukip into the BNP.

He wrote in The Telegraph today: 'Under my leadership of Ukip, the party banned former members of the BNP and EDL from joining. Many accusations of racism and extremism were thrown at us, but I strongly maintain they were untrue.

'Under Gerard Batten's leadership, however, the party's direction has changed fundamentally.'

He said the fact that Ukip was fielding 'very few candidates' in local council by-elections showed it was becoming increasingly irrelevant in the electoral sphere.

'Worse still, many of our very best organisers and activists on the ground have resigned their positions. This means we no longer have a professional campaigning team.

'The party of elections is quickly becoming a party of street activism, with our members being urged to attend marches rather than taking the fight to the ballot box.'

Mr Farage also discussed his resignation tonight on LBC, saying he believed Mr Batten had become 'obsessed with Islam, not just Islamic extremism'.

Farage: Ukip's flirtation with Tommy Robinson will turn it into the new BNP Mr Farage used an interview last weekend to condemn Ukip's direction under new leader Gerrard Batten and attack his decision to support an anti-Brexit demonstration in London on Sunday. He said the event, which Tommy Robinson will attend, is likely to feature 'absolutely calamitous' scenes of drunken thugs brawling outside Downing Street that will be used to discredit leaving the EU 'for years to come.' In an interview with The Mail on Sunday a 'depressed' Mr Farage pleaded: 'I know if that happens, that is the day that Ukip becomes the BNP, that's it, that is the moment.' Mr Batten has hired Mr Robinson as an adviser on 'Muslim rape gangs'. And he has vowed to flank him on the march just two days before the crucial Commons vote on Brexit on December 11. Mr Batten is the fourth leader to take the helm of the troubled party since Mr Farage stood down in 2016, but the former mouthpiece of the anti-EU group claims that his successor is turning Ukip into a poisonous 'cult'. Advertisement

'Mr Gerard Batten seems to be pretty obsessed with the issue of Islam, not just Islamic extremism, but specifically, Islam,' he said. 'Ukip was not founded to be a party based on fighting a religious crusade.

'He is also obsessed with this figure called Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.

'He is seen by some to be a great hero standing up and fighting for working class people but who has a pretty suspect record and who brings with him a group of people, I'm afraid, amongst with we see scuffles and violence. Many have criminal records  some pretty serious.

'And all of its been dragging Ukip away from being an electoral party into being a party of street activism this direction is catastrophic, particularly at a time when the great Brexit betrayal is upon us.'

Mr Batten tweeted tonight: 'I hear that Nigel Farage has resigned from UKIP. Nigel & I were founder members of UKIP in 1993.

'I have always given him full credit for his work in UKIP bringing about and winning the Referendum. However, I feel that he left UKIP in spirit after the Referendum.'

And Ukip deputy leader Mike Hookem was scathing about Mr Farage.

The Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire MEP said: 'Nigel has made some catastrophic political decisions recently and he knows his star is fading fast among the membership and the public alike.

'The loss of Nigel as a supporter will have an impact in sentimental terms, but in practical terms, he is no significant loss.'

Mr Hookem added that Mr Farage would be a hypocrite if he did not quit as an MEP.

'What I really want to know is when Farage intends to resign his seat as an MEP?

'In 2014, Nigel demanded all incoming Ukip MEPs sign a letter stating they would hand their seat back to the party if we were to leave. We all signed.

'Nigel even went as far as demanding Diane James hand back her seat on leaving the party in 2016.

'Therefore, he would be an utter hypocrite to keep his own seat on leaving the party, as have the others who have left.'

Gerard Batten appointed Mr Yaxley-Lennon as an adviser on rape gangs and prison reform. They are pictured in an undated photo

Mr Batten recently shared this photo of him next to Mr Yaxley-Lennon at a meeting. Mr Farage said this photo was the 'final straw'. An earlier uncropped version showed the ex-EDL leader next to Daniel Thomas, a convicted armed kidnapper

Responding to Mr Farage's resignation in a tweet, Mr Batten suggested he had 'left Ukip in spirit' following the Brexit referendum

Mr Farage's announcement is likely to prompt a further wave of departures from Ukip, which has lost three MEPs in recent weeks over its new direction.

Many of those who opposed Mr Batten's views had hoped that Mr Farage, who quit as leader after the Brexit referendum, could return if he was ousted.

On Monday Suzanne Evans, the former deputy chairman of Ukip, quit the party in protest at the leadership of Mr Batten and his association with Mr Robinson.

She said she had become 'increasingly alarmed in recent months by the perverse direction' Mr Batten had taken the party in.

MEPs including Patrick O'Flynn, Bill Etheridge and William Dartmouth have also all quit the party in recent months over the direction of travel within the party.

Ukip said the upcoming demonstration on Sunday (Dec 9) - at which Mr Batten is due to speak - has not been organised by the party, but a spokesman added: 'Members are free to attend should they wish.'

Mr Batten denied moving Ukip to the extremes or opening its doors to racists, and told the BBC that Mr Robinson would help him turn the party into a 'mass movement... a party for ordinary people'.

But in a statement released on Sunday, Ukip said it 'does not endorse the appointment of Tommy Robinson in any advisory role'. As founder of the far-right EDL, current rules prevent him from joining the party.

Mr Farage discussed his decision to resign the party he was served for decades on his LBC radio show this evening

'Tommy Robinson': A former football thug backed by Trump's attack dog Former BNP yob Stephen Yaxley-Lennon founded the hateful English Defence League in 2009. He goes under the pseudonym 'Tommy Robinson'. Born in Luton in 1982, the former aircraft engineer lost his job in 2003 after a drunken brawl with a police officer and drifted into becoming a central figure in British far-Right extremism. As a petty criminal he was in and out of prison for football violence and mortgage fraud, but claimed he was turning his back on criminality and violence in 2013 after being jailed for travelling on someone else's passport to visit EDL fans in America. Mr Farage has said the appointment of Robinson to Ukip signals the party has become a 'party of street activism'. Mr Yaxley-Lennon is pictured at an EDL rally in London on May 22, 2013 He dramatically quit his anti-Islam mob group, claiming he would be a peaceful activist with the help of counter-radicalisation group the Quilliam Foundation but instead stepped up his poisonous rhetoric against Muslims. He hit global fame after being locked up for contempt of court earlier this year  sparking an international 'Free Tommy' campaign backed by former Donald Trump strategist Steve Bannon, with a White House envoy lobbying the UK to release him. Bannon branded Robinson 'a solid guy' and the 'backbone' of Britain and campaigned for him to be released from jail  sparking a rift with his ally Nigel Farage. Robinson had been arrested outside Leeds Crown Court and jailed for 13 months after filming defendants on trial for rape while already on serving a suspended sentence for a similar offence. He was later released on appeal, despite warnings he had risked collapsing the trial into evil Huddersfield grooming gangs. But Robinson, 35, defended his actions, saying: 'If I believe I'm morally right then I'm not bothered about what your law says.' Last week hard-Right Ukip boss Gerard Batten sparked uproar by appointing Robinson his special political adviser on grooming gangs and prisons. Farage told The Mail on Sunday: 'I think if you had to find a working-class hero, this is not it. This is not it. Repeat prison sentences, etc.' Advertisement

He denied moving Ukip to the extremes or opening its doors to racists, and told the BBC Mr Robinson would help him turn the party into a 'mass movement... a party for ordinary people'.

He attacked Mr Farage on Monday, tweeting: 'Nigel Farage failed to get the UKIP MEPs to even have a vote of no confidence in me last Wed in Brussels.

'He failed to get a vote through at yesterday's NEC. Now he's reduced to doing the rounds in the MSM attacking me. My crime? UKIP isn't disappearing under my leadership.'

But MEPs including Patrick O'Flynn, Bill Etheridge and William Dartmouth have all quit the party in recent months over the direction of travel within the party.

Mr Robinson is expected to feature prominently in a Brexit march in London two days before the Commons votes on the UK's EU withdrawal deal at which Mr Batten is due to speak.

Ukip said the December 9 march had not been organised by the party, but added: 'Members are free to attend should they wish.'

From several brushes with death to achieving his dream of leaving the EU: Nigel Farage's astonishing career

Brexit has been the 54-year-old former trader's dream ever since leaving the Conservatives in 1992 following the signing of the Maastricht Treaty, which deepened European integration.

Mr Farage has spent nearly three decades campaigning against the EU, a mission that culminated with the 2016 referendum.

He stepped down as party leader after the vote, explaining that 'my political ambition has been achieved'.

He will stay on as deputy chairman of Leave Means Leave, a pro-Brexit campaign group.

Mr Farage was born in 1964 to an affluent family in Kent, southeast England. His father was a stockbroker and an alcoholic, and his parents divorced when he was five.

He was educated at one of England's top private schools, Dulwich College in London, before becoming a commodities trader.

Mr Farage's most recent scare came in 2010 when a light aircraft in which he was campaigning on election day crashed on take-off after a banner got caught in a propeller, but he escaped with broken bones and a punctured lung

He has had three brushes with death.

In 1985, he was hit by a car after a night out, suffered serious head and leg injuries. Months later, he had a cancerous testicle removed.

Once recovered, he married his nurse, and the couple had two sons. Following their divorce in 1997, Farage married second wife Kirsten Mehr, a German, with whom he has two daughters.

The couple has since announced they are separating.

Mr Farage's most recent scare came in 2010 when a light aircraft in which he was campaigning on election day crashed on take-off after a banner got caught in a propeller, but he escaped with broken bones and a punctured lung.

Mr Farage during a campaign event on June 2, 2017

His political destiny was cast with the co-founding of UKIP in 1993, and with his election to the European Parliament in 1999, aged 35.

He became UKIP's leader in 2006 before standing down in 2009 and then being re-elected the following year, stamping his charisma and anti-establishment humour on the party as it soared in popularity.

The party won the most British seats in European Parliament elections in 2014, although Farage himself never managed to get elected as a lawmaker at home despite repeated attempts.

With the party's image and Farage becoming intertwined, and with the Brexit vote achieved, UKIP faced a vacuum of leadership and identity.

Much of Farage's appeal lay with his 'everyman' image, the result of many hours spent swilling pints of ale down at the pub, cigarette in hand.

Voted 'Briton of 2014' by The Times, Farage maintained a high profile before the referendum but was kept out of the official pro-Brexit campaign, which feared his brand was too divisive.

The Brexit vote helped vindicate some of Farage's methods, but came at a price.

'During the referendum I said I wanted my country back... now I want my life back,' Farage said when he resigned as leader two years ago.Donald Trump used his Twitter account on Tuesday to spread a famous right-wing radio host's unproven claim that rioters in Paris have been heard shouting that they want the U.S. president to replace their own.

He retweeted a message from Charlie Kirk, president of the conservative Turning Point USA youth organization, that 'We want Trump' is 'being chanted through the streets of Paris.'

Kirk appeared to take that claim from a broadcast Monday of Rush Limbaugh, who said French President Emanuel Macron has seen a proposed fuel tax increase  a measure intended to fight global warming  generate riots larger than any 'since the student protests of May 1968.'

'You know whats been overheard in some of the cheering over there? I kid you not. I know friends who are there,' Limbaugh said. 'There are some people wearing the yellow vests chanting, We want Trump among the rioters in Paris! We want Trump! '

President Donald Trump spread an unfounded rumor on Tuesday that Freench anti-tax rioters were chanting that they want him to replace President Emanuel Macron

American conservative youth activist Charlie Kirk tweeted a claim that originated on the Rush Limbaugh talk-radio program, that 'We want Trump' was 'being chanted through the streets of Paris'

French President Emmanuel Macron caved in and suspended fuel tax hikes in a victory for the 'Yellow Vest' protesters, but clashes continued because leftist protesters want more taxes lowered

The French protests, which have turned parts of Paris into war zones, are a role reversal from American social justice movements that often demand more government taxing and spending

Despite a blanket of media coverage of the riots, video has not emerged of participants shouting for the American president.

One YouTube 'We want Trump!' video that parent company Google's search engine described as French on Monday was actually shot in Great Britain.

The video's title was changed on Tuesday.

Yet Kirk echoed Limbaugh's suggestion that 'the American media is doing its best to downplay all of this.'

'There are riots in socialist France because of radical leftist fuel taxes,' Kirk wrote. 'Media barely mentioning this. America is booming, Europe is burning They want to cover up the middle class rebellion against cultural Marxism.'

Macron made a U-turn hours earlier, caving to protests and suspending the fuel tax hikes that the French public opposed in huge numbers.

Trump applauded him in a set of tweets later on Tuesday that said he was glad that Macron and the protestors 'have agreed with the conclusion I reached two years ago' on the cost of protecting the climate.

'The Paris Agreement is fatally flawed because it raises the price of energy for responsible countries while whitewashing some of the worst polluters in the world,' he said. 'I want clean air and clean water and have been making great strides in improving Americas environment. But American taxpayers  and American workers  shouldnt pay to clean up others countries pollution.'

Rush Limbaugh, whose conservative talk-radio show has been a Republican mainstay for 30 years, said 'friends' of his heard the 'We ant Trump' chanting in Paris

Searching Google for 'We want Trump' and 'Paris' yielded a video (center, above) described as 'French' protesters chanting the slogam

By Tuesday the video's owner had changed the title to reflect that it was 'English people,' not the French; Google's search engine had not yet caught up

So-called 'Yellow Vest' protesters were mostly hard-leftists who objected to Macron, whom the French see as center-right, also proposing to increase regulated electricity and natural gas prices in addition to fuel at the pump.

They take their name from the reflective high-visibility yellow vests that every French driver is expected to carry in the trunk of his or her car, in case of an emergency breakdown.

In a role-reversal from typical American protests, activists in Paris who have turned parts of the city into war zones during the past two weekends, the liberal protesters said their demonstrations will continue because they want tax reductions.

The protests spread on Tuesday as students set fire to a barricade in Bordeaux and roadside revolts springing up on highways in Aix-en-Provence and outside Paris.

There has been no proof that rioters in France are chanting 'We want Trump!'

Some of the students mobilized in the demonstrations have clashed with police; they now say they want minimum wage hikes in addition to tax decreases on more than just energy

Macron (pictured) has not spoken publicly about Saturday's destruction in Paris since his return from a G20 summit in Argentina on Sunday

Macron's change of heart is 'a first step, but we don't want crumbs,' said Benjamin Cauchy, a spokesman for the movement.

'Demonstrations will continue as we fight for further demands,' Cauchy added.

In announcing the decision, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said anyone would have 'to be deaf or blind' not to see or hear the roiling anger on the streets over a policy that Macron has defended as critical to combating global warming.

'The French who have donned yellow vests want taxes to drop, and work to pay. That's also what we want. If I didn't manage to explain it, if the ruling majority didn't manage to convince the French, then something must change,' said Philippe. 'No tax is worth jeopardising the unity of the nation.'

Trump's passive-aggressive slap at Macron came just weeks after a war of words in Paris, where the French leader denounced the 'selfishness of nations only looking after their own interests' with nationalist policies like the ones his American counterpart has embraced.

'Patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism. Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism by saying, "Our interests first, who cares about the others? We erase what a nation holds dearest, what gives it life, what gives it grace and what is essential  its moral values,' he said in a speech with Trump sitting in the front row.Former Sen. Bob Dole paid his respects to the late President George H.W. Bush on Tuesday afternoon and was helped out of his wheelchair so he could stand and salute the coffin.

The 95 year old can no longer walk. An aide lifted him from behind so the former senator could be upright to salute Bush, a fellow World War II veteran.

Dole than sat in his wheelchair for a few moments, blinking back tears, as he stared at the flag-draped coffin containing the remains of his fellow member of the Greatest Generation.

Former Sen. Bob Dole paid his respects to the late President George H.W. Bush

Dole was helped up so he could stand and salute his fellow member of the Greatest Generation

Bob Dole and George H.W. Bush (with Barbara Bush) were together in December 2016 for the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbol

A steady stream of visits, both prominent figures and ordinary Americans, have been pouring through the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol to pay their respects to the 41st president, who died on Friday.

Bush and Dole ran against each other in the 1988 Republican presidential primary in a bitter battle, where Dole famously told Bush: 'Stop lying about my record.'

Bush ultimately won the nomination and Dole stayed in the Senate.

But the two men forged a working relationship.

Dole helped shepherd The Americans with Disabilities Act through Congress, which Bush signed as president.

At the signing ceremony, Bush paid tribute to his former rival who lost the use of an arm in World War II during a battle in Italy.

Dole was hit in his upper back and right arm by German machine gun fire and his recovery was compounded by blood clots and infection. His injuries left him with limited mobility in his right arm and numbness in his left arm. He minimizes the effect by keeping a pen in his right hand.

He was decorated three times with two Purple Hearts for his injuries and the Bronze Star with 'V' Device for valor for his attempt to assist a downed radioman.

'Bob Dole has inspired me,' Bush said at the time.

Bush, a Navy pilot, was shot down during the war in 1944. He was the last veteran to serve as president.

The two men first met when they both served in the House of Representatives and were assigned to the House Ways and Means Committee.

They were from different backgrounds - Bush a child a privilege from Greenwich, Connecticut, while Dole grew up in Kansas during the Great Depression - but had their lives tied together by their membership in the Republican Party.

Bob Dole sat in front of the coffin for a few minutes

Bob Dole and George H.W. Bush were together in 2016 to remember the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor

Dole was awarded the Bush library's award for public service in December 2016; both men were there in their wheelchairs

Bush campaigned for Dole in 1996 when Dole was the GOP presidential nominee

Bob Dole recovering from his wounds in World War II

They were together in December 2016 for a ceremony at the Bush Center in Texas, remembering the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Dole was given the library's award for public service at the time.

Both men sat in wheelchairs as Dole praised Bush's leadership, referencing their bitter GOP primary fight in 1988.

'Many people doubted I could serve the President since we had a rather rough campaign, but it wasn't true - because of the man he was, not because of me,' Dole said. 'I was proud to be his leader in the Senate because I liked what he stood for. He wanted to make America - well I won't say great again - I think that somebody else already said that.'

'The president and I are part of a disappearing generation,' Dole told Time magazine at the time.

The former president and former senator also had an amusing exchange on cocktails at their dinner with the magazine.

Bush, holding a martini, asked Dole what he wanted to drink.

'A Cosmopolitan,' Dole said.

'What's that?' Bush asked.

'Hell if I know,' Dole said. 'But they're good, I'll tell you that. Vodka and other stuff.'Zachary Burdick, 21, pleaded not guilty plea to indecent exposure and disorderly conduct on Monday in connection with the October 9 incident in Mandan, North Dakota

A wannabe rapper accused of stripping naked in a church and jumping in the holy water font before masturbating in front of the entire congregation has pleaded not guilty.

Zachary Burdick, 21, pleaded not guilty plea to indecent exposure and disorderly conduct on Monday in connection with the incident in Mandan, North Dakota, on the outskirts of Bismark.

It's not clear what his defense will be.

On October 9, shortly after 9am, police responded to a 911 call from the Spirit of Life Catholic Church, after a man entered the church and disrupted Mass by trying to bless the congregants.

After the man was escorted from the sanctuary, the priest told cops that the man, later identified as Burdick, stripped down, dipped his rear end in the baptismal font and 'splashed around a bit', according to a police affidavit.

Then, some 70 congregants looked on in horror as Burdick strutted nude down the aisle toward the altar, according to police.

One witness told cops that Burdick had his 'machinery' hanging out and was 'pumping' himself as he entered the sanctuary. Others corroborated this account.

Although there was a pre-school education program running elsewhere in the building, no children witnessed the lewd acts.

The Spirit of Life Church sanctuary is seen above in a file photo. Some 70 congregants were celebrating Mass when Burdick allegedly strutted naked toward the altar while masturbating

A spokesperson for the Spirit of Life church (above) says that Burdick was not a member

Burdick was detained, and investigators say he told a cop: 'I am tweaking'. Burdick told police he had been using meth.

A police sergeant advised Burdick that he was not allowed to masturbate in front of others, and the chastened Burdick responded: 'especially not in church.'

Asked why he had been masturbating in church, Burdick responded that he was 'trying to bust a nut,' according to the affidavit.

The priest told police that the church would have to thoroughly clean and sanitize the Holy Water font, at an estimated cost of $500.

Burdick (left and right) allegedly told police that he had been 'tweaking' on meth when he stripped nude in the Catholic church and was just 'trying to bust a nut'

The aspiring rapper was arrested on drug, criminal mischief and indecent exposure charges

A spokesperson for Spirit of Life tells DailyMail.com that Burdick was not a member of the congregation.

After his arrest, Burdick was released on a $5,000 bond. A judge ordered him to have no contact with Spirit of Life Church and participate in a drug rehabilitation program pending trial.

A preliminary hearing date in the case has not yet been set.

Burdick declined to comment when reached by DailyMail.com.

The felony charge against him carries a maximum punishment of five years in prison.

Burdick had been ejected from the Spirit of Life Catholic Church (holy water pictured) earlier that day for trying to bless people and hand out the Book of Mormon

Burdick's Facebook page suggests he's an aspiring rapper with a penchant for marijuana.

He performs under the stage name 'Unknwn', and with a band called 'Street Poetz'. A Soundcloud account for Burdick invites listeners to 'blow a cloud and enjoy the show'.

His social media is littered with memes about smoking weed and what appear to be rap lyrics about getting high.

The 21-year-old is father to a daughter, aged five or six.

The girl's mother, who is separated from Burdick, shared information about his arrest with friends on Facebook, remarking: 'Well, there goes child support'.

The church plans to drain, sterilize and re-bless the holy water.The mother of a Labour MP who resigned from the Shadow Cabinet after lying over her sons drugs conviction was sworn in as a peer yesterday.

Martha Osamor, 78, was handed the peerage by her friend Jeremy Corbyn.

Now Baroness Osamor, who was barred from standing for Labour in the 1980s because of her hard-Left views, can claim a tax-free daily attendance allowance of 305  which averages at 22,000 per member a year.

The Baroness Osamor (pictured) was sworn into the House of Lords today, just days after her daughter Kate resigned from the Labour frontbench

Jewish groups today labelled the appointment of Baroness Osamor (right) to the House of Lords a 'two-fingered salute' to their community

Kate Osamor's son Ishamel, 29, (the two are pictured together) had been found with drugs worth 2,500 at the Bestival music festival in Dorset in 2017 and was given a community sentence on October 19

Mr Corbyns decision in May to elevate her was controversial because the new peer, mother of MP Kate Osamor, had signed a letter of protest over the suspensions of party members for alleged anti-Semitism. Gideon Falter, of the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism, described her appointment as a two-fingered salute to the Jewish community.

Baroness Osamor wore ermine as she was introduced to the Upper House in a short ceremony yesterday. She chose not to pose for an official photograph  peers can opt to take this no publicity option when being sworn in.

Earlier this week, her daughter resigned as Labours international development spokesman over lies she told about her involvement in her son Ishmaels court case for drugs offences.

Miss Osamor was further accused of wasting police time by calling 999 twice when reporters attempted to question her. She had allegedly told a reporter she should have smashed his face in with a bat.

Kate Osamor (right) had voted for Jeremy Corbyn (left) to become Labour leader and was part of his shadow cabinet

Ishmael Osamor was sentenced earlier this year to community service after being found with up to 2,500 worth of Class A and B drugs

Miss Osamor, MP for Edmonton in London, had denied knowing about her sons trial before it was exposed by the Daily Mail. But a legal challenge by this newspaper and others proved she knew because she had written to the trial judge requesting leniency.

Ishmael Osamor, 29, was convicted after being caught with 2,500 worth of drugs at a festival in Dorset last year. He is still on a public payroll as his mothers chief of staff after being cleared by a Westminster probe into whether he should keep his Commons pass. Some MPs branded the inquiry a whitewash.

Baroness Osamor is the third member of the Osamors to benefit from public money. Ishmaels salary is provided by the taxpayer-funded Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority.

Miss Osamor lives in social housing in Tottenham.

Baroness Osamors Lords debut was delayed seven months while she applied to have Nigeria included in her title.

Officially, she is Baroness Osamor of Tottenham in the London Borough of Haringey and of Asaba in the Republic of Nigeria.Advertisement

A pregnant Meghan Markle tonight addressed a carol concert to remember a close friend of her husband Harry who was killed as a teenager.

The event, at St Luke's Church just off the King's Road in Chelsea, south-west London, was organised by the Henry van Straubenzee Memorial Fund. This was set up shortly after the 18-year-old died in a car crash in 2002.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were spotted leaving the church by a side-door, before getting into a car that was parked outside in the rain.

Earlier, Pippa Middleton arrived at the service with her partner, James Matthews. She opted for a 295 dress by favourite designer Kate Spade and han Aspinal of London Portobello Bag.

Meghan and Harry leave St Luke's Church, just off the King's Road, into a car waiting to pick them up in rainy conditions. The Duchess' baby bump was just visible

Meghan beams as she leaves the church in a car after giving a reading at the carol service, which was organised by the Henry van Straubenzee Memorial Fund

Pippa Middleton was pictured outside the event with her husband, James Matthews. She married the older brother of Made In Chelsea star Spencer earlier this year. Pippa was carrying an Aspinal of London Portobello Bag

Many of Prince Harry's old friends were expected to be among the congregation at the service. He is seen leaving with Meghan after it ended

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex share a quiet word before getting into a car to take them back to Kensington Palace

The Middletons walk together arm-in-arm (left) and Pippa with a friend who hid her face from the waiting cameras (right)

As Meghan addressed the congregation at the church in Chelsea, her sister-in-law Kate was dazzling guests at a diplomatic reception at Buckingham Palace.

The Duchess of Cambridge, who earlier yesterday hosted a children's Christmas party at Kensington Palace with Prince William, wore a tiara that once belonged to Princess Diana to join her husband, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, and the Duchess of Cornwall at the Diplomatic Reception, and annual white tie affair.

Rumours of a rift between Kate and Meghan have swirled in recent days, following the announcement that Harry and Meghan will move out of Kensington Palace to make their official home in Windsor, at Frogmore Cottage - some 25 miles from Harry's brother and sister-in-law.

At last night's church service, Pippa wore a long sleeved navy frock, which fell just below the knee, and featured a playful all-over fox print in a warming shade of burgundy.

The new mother wore the dress under a wine coloured knee-length coat with a fur effect collar and finished the look with navy suede pumps and a navy cross-body bag.

The service was attended by many friends of the princes, several of whom Harry has not seen since becoming engaged to Meghan. Harry wore an open collar white shirt and a dark suit - and seemed relaxed while he addressed old friends and guests.

The service started with Once in Royal David's City, O Holy Night, on to O Little Town of Bethlehem, The First Noel and finished with Hark the Herald Angels Sing.

A choir of young boys and a girl dressed all in white stood outside the church before guests filed in through the 20 foot courtyard where staff had set up two large tables full of red and white wine.

Harry and Meghan had entered through a back door of the church in west London - unbeknown to royal fans who waited outside.

James and Pippa Middleton arrived just before the start time of 7pm.

The inside of the church had large Christmas trees covered in white lights - while an usher dressed all in black guarded the front door.

A guest at the service told MailOnline: 'It was one of the best.' Another woman said: 'Meghan spoke very clearly, it was a fantastic service. They were both great.'

In a forward letter, Prince William wrote: 'My brother and I are proud to have been patrons of the Henry van Straubenzee Memorial Fund since it was established in 2007.

'Back in 2009, it was suggested that a Christmas carol service could be held to boost funds for projects in Uganda.

'This year marks the tenth annual carol service and, thanks to the support is given each year by many of you here tonight, the tickets have sold out everywhere within two weeks of going on sale.

'Since it's inception, the mission of the charity has remained the same to improve the quality of schools in impoverished rural Uganda by investing in buildings and resources.'

Harry and William remain close friends with the surviving van Straubenzee brothers, with both attending the 2013 wedding of Thomas van Straubenzee.

Prince Harry once described Henry as a 'Polzeath surfing legend and ladies' man with whom we shared so many special memories'.

He died instantly when a car in which he was a passenger hit a tree outside Ludgrove preschool in Berkshire, where he and the princes were once pupils

Henry was a classmate of Prince Harry's, while his older brother Thomas was a friend of the Duke of Cambridge. The foursome were said to be inseparable as they were growing up.

The foundation set up in his name is currently helping more than 28,000 children across 40 nursery, primary and secondary schools in Uganda.

Pippa opted for a 295 dress by Kate Spade for the occasion. The navy frock, which fell just below the knee, features a playful all over fox print in a warming shade of burgundy. She is seen outside St Luke's Church with her brother, James

The new mother (seen on the left with her brother, James) wore the dress under a wine coloured knee-length coat with a fur effect collar and finished the look with navy suede pumps and a navy cross-body bag

James Middleton (seen arriving at the service with a friend) has his own personalised marshmallow business

Pippa and James Middleton arrive at tonight's charity carol concert in Chelsea with a friend. The service started with Once in Royal David's City, followed by O Holy Night, on to O Little Town of Bethlehem, The First Noel and Hark the Herald Angels Sing

Carole and Michael Middleton outside the church. The Duchess of Cambridge's mother has recently appeared in a series of media interviews

Henry, 18, died instantly when the car in which he was a passenger hit a tree outside Ludgrove preschool in Berkshire, where all three boys were once pupils. This photo is undated

Tonight's carol service is being held at St Luke's in Chelsea, south-west London, just off the high-end King's Road shopping street. It is pictured todayAn Indian national has drowned in a river north of Perth.

The man was swimming with his girlfriend near the pontoon in Moore River Estuary in Guilderton on Tuesday when he sank below the water about 7.30pm.

The 29-year-old had desperately tried to stay afloat by grabbing his partner.

'He's tried to grab a hold of her, taking her under with him and she had to save herself as well,' Steve Kruger, who tried to rescue the man, told Nine News.

'People (were) screaming and screaming and pointing at the water.'

The man's body was recovered three hours later after an extensive search by members of the Police Air Wing and the Lancelin Volunteer Marine Rescue.

His death has sent shockwaves through the tight-knit community.

'We offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the young man,' Sam Collard, Shire of Gingin President, said in a statement.

'It is a tragic loss of a young life.'

There is no lifeguard on duty at the river and residents have reported an increase in inexperienced swimmers taking to the water.

An Indian national drowned in Moore River Estuary in Guilderton, north of Perth, (pictured) on Tuesday night

Police are urging swimmers to be extra diligent around water following the man's death (stock image)

Lancelin Police Sergeant Steve McCrae said the man's death was a reminder to take care when swimming.

'This terrible tragedy is a timely reminder to our communities to be extra diligent around water, whether swimming at a river, beach, pool or other water body,' he said.

'It is so important to know your limits when you're in the water, and use floatation devices if you need to. We extend our sincerest sympathy to the young man's family.

'This incident is now a matter for a coronial investigation.'Amanda Knox and her groom-to-be were all smiles as they headed to a Christmas tree farm in Seattle over the weekend to pick out the perfect fir for the holiday.

The recently engaged Knox shared a couple of photos on her popular Instagram page of her and Christopher Robinson hauling away a medium-sized tree on Sunday.

'Making off with our spoils,' read the caption accompanying a shot of the the loved-up pair pulling a cart with the tree, which Knox's fiance had cut down with a bow saw seen in his hands.

Festive fir: Amanda Knox and her new fiance Christopher Robinson on Sunday headed to a Christmas tree farm in Seattle to pick up a fir for their home

The loved-up pair posed happily with their new tree and the bow saw used to chop it down

In the other photo, Amanda, dressed in a cozy orange sweater, blue jeans and a beanie hat, is seen posing with her fiance showing off his saw for the camera alongside their newly purchased fir.

'The only kind of sport hunting we enjoy,' Knox wrote on her page, drawing more than 1,400 'likes.'

Knox, who was twice convicted and twice acquitted in Italy of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher, had recently traveled to New York City to film interviews for the VICE talk show series The Scarlet Letter Reports, which she was tapped to host in May.

Last month, the 31-year-old Knox announced her engagement to Robinson, the novelist whom she has been dating since 2015.

The couple met back in 2015, while Knox was engaged to another man

She said 'yes'! Robinson staged an elaborate proposal in November, which was recorded on video and shared on YouTube

The pair met and fell in love while Knox was engaged to another man.

Knox returned to the US in 2011 after having her murder conviction for Kercher's killing overturned.

She was retried in 2014 but never returned to Italy for that trial. She was convicted in that case too.

In 2015, Italy's Supreme Court overturned her second conviction and brought an end to her legal saga.

Since settling in Seattle, Knox has taken part in a Netflix documentary about her case and has written books and articles advocating for people wrongfully convicted of crimes.

Knox (pictured in custody in 2011, left) was twice convicted and twice acquitted of murdering English student Meredith Kercher (right) in Italy

Knox and her boyfriend at the time, Raffaele Sollecito (right), were accused of murdering Kercher during a sex-game-gone-wrong

In 2007, Kercher was found murdered in the villa she shared with Knox while the pair were both studying abroad in Perugia, Italy.

Knox and her boyfriend at the time, Raffaele Sollecito, were accused of murdering her in a sex-game-gone-wrong.

They were convicted of the murder in 2009 but were freed on appeal two years later.

Drifter Rudy Guede was also tried. He was found guilty and is still in jail. He was sentenced to 16 years behind bars in 2008.

Congolese bar owner Lumumba 'Patrick' Diya was also implicated in the murder by Knox. She claimed it was him who killed Kercher and was sued successfully by him for defamation for making the claim.Joseph Garcia is accused of posing as a girl on Snapchat to get a boy to send him nude images

A Florida YMCA counselor is accused of threatening to release nude pictures of a 16-year-old boy he met at camp, unless the teen had sex with him.

Police say 18-year-old Joseph Garcia posed as a girl called Kiki on Snapchat to lure his victim into sharing the naked photos.

But once he had possession of the images, Garcia used them to blackmail the minor into sending him more and more explicit pictures.

'Im gonna ask for kinky stuff and youre going to say Yes Mam,' Garcia texted, according to the arrest report. 'As many as I want, as frequent as I want,' the report states. 'And if you dont text meim gonna send(sic).'

He then demanded the boy have a threesome with 'Kiki', according to Miami-Dade cops.

The terrified victim reportedly begged Garcia to leave him alone but police say the counselor refused.

He wrote back, 'I won't, especially since I still have your mom's phone number, and you wouldn't want mommy to know, right? So you will listen to me.'

Garcia is being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, according to records

The Miami Herald reports the pair met at a camp and cops say Garcia later posed online as the 16-year-old girl nicknamed Kiki.

A YMCA spokeswoman cofirmed he has been suspended pending the investigation.

Detectives accuse Garcia of using Snapchat and text messaging to convince the boy to send the explicit images which he then threatened to send to his family.

Miami-Dade detective Jessenia Munoz said the alleged victim 'would do anything to make the defendant stop making him feel bad'.

The boy eventually went to police and a detective posing as the youngster agreed to meet Garcia at a McDonald's in West Kendall.

When he showed up Garcia was arrested and charged with extortion, traveling to meet a minor for sex, promoting sexual performance by a minor and possession obscene material harmful to a minor.

A YMCA pokesman said: 'The safety and well-being of all kids in our programs is our first priority.

'To ensure the safety of our students, the YMCA adheres to all background screening requirements by the Department of Children and Families and the School Board of Miami-Dade County. Upon arrest, the staff person was immediately suspended, pending further investigation.

'We are cooperating fully with Miami-Dade police as they continue to investigate the situation.'

Garcia remains behind bars at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center with $45,000 bond, according to records.The famous 'God letter' written by hand by Albert Einstein the year before he died sold for three times its expected amount on Tuesday in New York City.

The 'God letter,' which only became known as such in 2008, went for $2,892,500 including the buyer's premium to an unnamed purchaser, after being expected to sell for between $1-$1.5 million at Christie's in Manhattan.

Einstein penned the letter to religious philosopher Erik Gutkind in 1954 as a critical response to his book that by account challenged 'a disillusioned generation to "prepare the world for the Kingdom of God."'

In it, Einstein referred to religion, and Judaism specifically, as 'childish superstition' born out of 'human weakness.'

The famous 'God letter' written by hand by Albert Einstein the year before he died sold for went for $2,892,500 at auction on Tuesday in New York City

The letter was written in German by the famed scientist, in the year leading up to his death on April 18, 1955.

He wrote it in response to Gutkind's 1952 book, 'Choose Life: the Biblical Call to Revolt.'

Though Einstein was born into a Jewish family in Germany, he notedly lost his faith at a young age.

At times throughout his life, Einstein went so far as to refer to himself as agnostic, which is defined as 'believing that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God or of anything beyond material phenomena.'

Another way of putting it, according to Dictionary.com, is believing that 'human knowledge is limited to experience.'

In the letter, translated and transcribed by Christie's, he writes:

'The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weakness, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still purely primitive, legends which are nevertheless pretty childish.'

He adds: 'No interpretation, no matter how subtle, can (for me) change anything about this.'

The 'God letter,' which only became known as such in 2008, was expected to sell for between $1-$1.5 million at Christie's in Manhattan

In the letter written in German, Einstein called religion in general, and especially Judaism, 'childish superstition' born of 'human weakness'

The passage quoted above is the only time in the page-and-a-half document that Einstein uses the word, 'God,' in his parsing of religion in general, his Jewish heritage and his personal views on the meaning of life.

While the scientist continued to identify as Jewish throughout his life, he was critical of the faith, and the 'God letter' gave no exception to that.

'For me the unadulterated Jewish religion is, like all other religions, an incarnation of primitive superstition,' he wrote.

'And the Jewish people to whom I gladly belong, and in whose mentality I feel profoundly anchored, still for me does not have any different kind of dignity from all other peoples. As far as my experience goes, they are in fact no better than other human groups, even if they are protected from the worst excesses by a lack of power. Otherwise I cannot perceive anything "chosen" about them.'

Gutkind's book, however, had made the case that 'the Jewish soul is perfect intellectually as well as spiritually,' according to a review written in August of 1952 by Commentary Magazine, which was later published online.

And while Einstein took issue with that idea, he noted in the letter that he and Gutkind shared common views 'with regard to the factual attitude to life and to the human community.'

To this day, Christie's has described the so-called 'God letter' as remaining 'a definitive statement in the on-going debate between religion and science.'

The letter first became known to the public in 2008, according to the New York Times, when it was sold at auction in London for $404,000 after having been in the hands of Gutkind's heirs, following his death in 1965.

It was at that time that it became known as the 'God letter.'

It was listed for sale on eBay in 2012 for $3 million, though the results of that sale aren't known.

Christie's has said the person who bought the letter in London in 2008 is the person who sold it on Tuesday.The attorneys general of the District of Columbia and Maryland plan to file subpoenas Tuesday seeking records from the Trump Organization, the Internal Revenue Service and dozens of other entities as part of a lawsuit accusing Donald Trump of profiting off the presidency.

The flurry of subpoenas came a day after U.S. District Court Judge Peter J. Messitte approved a brisk schedule for discovery in the case alleging that foreign and domestic government spending at Trump's Washington, D.C., hotel amounts to gifts to the president in violation of the Constitution's emoluments clause.

The subpoenas target more than 30 Trump-linked private entities and the federal agency that oversees the lease for Trump's D.C. hotel. Subpoenas were also being sent to the Department of Defense, General Services Administration, Department of Commerce, Department of Agriculture and the IRS, all of which have spent taxpayer dollars at the hotel.

Other Trump entities that officials plan to subpoena include those related to his D.C. hotel and its management.

The Maryland attorney general's office confirmed the targets of the subpoenas to The Associated Press as they were being prepared Tuesday.

The subpoenas focus on answering three questions: which foreign domestic governments are paying the Trump International Hotel in Washington, where that money is going and how Trump's hotel is affecting the hospitality industry in the District of Columbia and Maryland.

In the spotlight: President Trump, seen with the First Lady, is now the target of subpoenas

Constitutional question: The District of Columbia and Maryland's attorneys general say that Trump is breaking the emoluments clause by profiting from his hotel

To help answer those questions, the subpoenas are asking for records of payments to Trump from state government and federal agencies that patronized the hotel.

They're also seeking information proving that hotel revenues are going to the president through his affiliated entities, including The Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust. Most of the records are being requested back to Jan. 1, 2015.

The Justice Department declined to comment. Neither the Trump Organization nor the White House immediately responded to a request for comment Tuesday.

Trump's Justice Department lawyers have previously argued that earnings from such business activity as hotels stays don't qualify as emoluments.

And in court papers last week challenging the judge's decision to move the case forward, Justice lawyers objected to any discovery on a sitting president in order to avoid a 'constitutional confrontation.' They also argued that any discovery would 'be a distraction to the President's performance of his constitutional duties.'

Trump's Justice Department lawyers filed a notice to the court Friday indicating it plans to challenge the Maryland judge's decision to allow the case to move forward in a Richmond, Virginia, court.

The president's notice that he may seek a writ of mandamus - to have the appeal heard by a higher court - is considered an 'extraordinary remedy' that's hard to prove and partly rests on showing Messitte's decisions to be clearly wrong.

Because Trump was also the first president in modern history to not release his tax returns, any responsive records would likely provide the first clear picture of the finances of Trump's business empire as well as his Washington, D.C., hotel.

There is no indication yet that Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh and District of Columbia Attorney General Karl A. Racine, both Democrats, would push for the president's tax returns, at least in this initial round of legal discovery, given the sensitive nature of such a request and likely additional delays it would cause.

But tax returns for some of Trump's business entities, including the state and federal tax returns for the Trump Organization, are also being requested.

Included in the litigation: Trump's daughter Ivanka, a senior White House adviser, has retained her stake in the hotel

There is a separate federal lawsuit involving the General Services Administration, which oversees the lease for the hotel with the Trump Organization. Democratic lawmakers last year sued demanding disclosures of records to determine how Trump was approved by the General Services Administration to maintain the lease of the Trump International Hotel in Washington after he became president.

The hotel is housed in the historic Old Post Office, which is owned by the federal government, and its lease has a clause barring any 'elected official of the government of the United States' from deriving 'any benefit.' Trump and his daughter Ivanka, a senior White House adviser, both retained their stakes in the property.

The plaintiffs' prior preservation subpoena filing requested documents that concern 'marketing to foreign or domestic governments, including members of the diplomatic community' for 23 Trump-linked entities, be saved. Other noted categories for preservation include documents that would identify guests of the hotel and those who have rented event space, details on all finances and 'operating leases, permits, licenses, tax payments or credits to or from foreign or domestic governments.'

Maine also received a subpoena, likely because its governor, Republican Paul LePage, stayed at Trump's hotel in Washington when he had official business to conduct, including discussions with the president. Representatives for LePage's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On one of those trips last year, Trump and LePage appeared together at a news conference at which Trump signed an executive order to review orders of the prior administration that established national monuments within the National Park Service. President Barack Obama had established a park and national monument in Maine over LePage's objections in 2016.

If there are no delays, legal discovery would conclude in early August.Senators left a briefing by CIA Director Gina Haspel on Tuesday convinced that the Saudi crown prince was involved in Jamal Khashoggi's murder, in spite of the president's claims that the evidence does not implicate Mohammad bin Salman.

'There's not a smoking gun, there's a smoking saw,' Sen. Lindsey Graham said after the invitation-only briefing that the intelligence agency provided to a handful of senators.

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker told reporters: 'I have zero question in my mind that the crown prince directed the murder  zero question.'

'To let it stand, in essence allows somebody like MBS to continue with immunity which is inappropriate,' Corker said. 'This cannot stand.'

Senators left a briefing by CIA Director Gina Haspel on Tuesday convinced that the Saudi crown prince was involved in Jamal Khashoggi's murder, in spite of the president's claims that the evidence does not implicate Mohammad bin Salman

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker told reporters: 'I have zero question in my mind that the crown prince directed the murder  zero question.' 'Sen. Lindsey Graham said, 'There's not a smoking gun, there's a smoking saw'

The rank and file were excluded from the briefing and Sen. Rand Paul went on the war path

The senators' assessment that bin Salman orchestrated a plot to assassinate the Saudi-born journalist who resided in Virginia puts President Donald Trump in an uncomfortable position.

Before Tuesday, only Democratic lawmakers and media reports had claimed that the CIA had determined that Khashoggi was murdered with the Saudi kingdom's assistance.

Republican senators had suggested that it wasn't plausible MBS was unaware but had not seen any evidence to support their claims.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wouldn't comment on the classified briefing after the fact.

Graham told reporters that it is 'virtually impossible that an operation like this could be carried out without the crown princes knowledge' and he believed Trump administration officials who said otherwise were paying the president lip service.

'Secretary Pompeo and Mattis are following the lead of the president,' he contended.

Corker urged the Trump administration to bring its stance in line immediately with the one that the Senate's vote last week to rebuke Saudi Arabia has created.

'Id much rather the administration speak to this. I know the regime in Saudi Arabia values that much more than Congress,' Corker said.

The president has spoken on the matter, but he claims the CIA found no evidence connecting the murder to the crown prince.

Haspel briefed a select group of senators this morning on Khashoggi's death at the insistence of lawmakers like Graham who had been demanding an assessment on the Saudi kingdom's direct involvement in the death.

The rank and file were excluded, though, and Sen. Rand Paul went on the war path.

He accused bad actors in the Trump administration, 'the deep state,' of withholding information that could implicate bin Salman in Khashoggi's murder.

The senator who sits on the Foreign Relations Committee said he has a right to be briefed on matters that will affect his vote on the United States' military support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

'I think the time has come for the Senate to grab back foreign policy and say that you know what, the president, no president, this president or the previous president, has the power to take our country to war with Saudi Arabia and Yemen without the permission of the president,' Paul told reporters on Capitol Hill as the briefing with Haspel was being conducted.

Sen. Lindsey Graham had threatened to withhold his vote on any legislation that comes to the upper chamber until Haspel, who was missing from a briefing for senators last week, came to Capitol Hill

Paul sits on the Foreign Relations Committee and said he has a right to be briefed on matters that will affect his vote on the United States' military support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen

Paul suggested the White House was hand-picking which lawmakers would hear from Haspel in an effort to change their minds about rolling back U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

'My theory is, they have selected people who wanted to hear from her, but also people who they think they may be able to get to change their vote if they have heard from the CIA on this,' Paul told CNN on Monday evening. 'I think we all should hear from her.'

He clarified on Tuesday that he was simply referring to the 'deep state' that has been claiming exists within the federal government. Paul said his gripe had 'nothing to do with Trump' and it's the intelligence community that is selectively disseminating the information.

Paul told reporters that if he had been in the briefing, he would be asking about media reports that there is communication between the killers and the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. He was referring to claims that bin Salman's phone records are a smoking gun.

A senior administration official told DailyMail.com that Paul wasn't invited to the meeting because it was it was limited to committee chairs.

'Senator Paul doesnt need the intelligence report to decide his vote. He made clear years ago that he opposes arms sales to the middle east and U.S. support for the Saudi coalition in Yemen,' the person said. 'He also does not serve as a Chairman of a national security committee.'

Paul is the chairman of a subcommittee that deals with national security, however, just like Graham, who was included in the briefing.

Republican Sen. Rand Paul accused the White House of hand-picking which lawmakers would hear from Haspel in an effort to change their minds about rolling back U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen

A spokesman for Paul said in response that the point the senator is making is that 'everybody should be briefed on' on the Khashoggi killing operation.

'It's not just the chairman who are voting on Saudi Arabia,' the source told DailyMail. 'There's 90 others. That's not an argument. That's not how this place works. The last time I checked there were 100 people who vote here, not nine or 10.'

The argument received an endorsement from Graham, who said in a tweet: 'On this, I stand with Rand!'

Graham had threatened to withhold his vote on any legislation that comes to the upper chamber until Haspel, who was missing from a briefing for senators last week, came to Capitol Hill.

He was among the Republican and Democratic senators on national security committees who were briefed by Haspel on Tuesday.

Graham charged in a Monday night op-ed that Trump was engaging in 'willful blindness' when it comes to the Saudi crown prince and that he and 62 other senators were right to vote they way they did last week on Yemen.

'Given the evidence U.S. intelligence has gathered on Khashoggis killing, denying the crown princes involvement amounts to willful blindness. Failing to censure him would give authoritarians a green light to murder their critics,' he said. 'To borrow a Churchill phrase, inaction wouldnt only give the disturbing impression the U.S. has a price, but also that its price is quite low.'

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman deplanes at the airport in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Wednesday for the G20 Summit in this handout photo provided by the summit

President Trump has steadfastly supported the Saudi kingdom in spite of apparent ties between the death of Khashoggi, a former columnist for the Washington Post, and bin Salman.

He attempted to steer clear of bin Salman, also known as MBS, over the weekend at a conference in Argentina but was caught on camera briefly chatting with him.

'They exchanged pleasantries at the leaders session as he did with nearly every leader in attendance,' a senior White House official told DailyMail.com.

Trump has acted as Mohammed bin Salman's defender in the press, saying maybe he did know about Khashoggi's killing and maybe he didn't.

As he left the White House on Thursday for summit, the president shrugged off a meeting with MBS to discuss the journalist's murder last month at a Saudi consulate, telling DailyMail.com, 'It wasn't set up.'

'It only wasn't set up, I mean, I would have met with him, but we didn't set that one up,' Trump contended. 'I'm making about three or four meetings, we just didn't have time.'

Trump has been insisting for weeks that he is right not to condemn Saudi Arabian leaders for Khashoggi's murder and continued to claim Tuesday that the nation's crown prince may have been in the dark about the attack

Turkey gave the U.S. a recording of Khashoggi's death that is not public but has not had its authenticity disputed earlier this month. The audio reportedly makes it clear that Khashoggi was murdered but doesn't contain a smoking gun that would directly implicate bin Salman.

Trump and Erdogan discussed the murder during a dinner in Paris in mid-November the White House told DailyMail.com at the time.

Still, Trump claims he has not received convincing intelligence that the crown prince was pulling the strings.

'Maybe he did and maybe he didnt,' Trump told the Washington Post as he prepared for the Group of 20 summit. 'But he denies it. And people around him deny it.'

Trump danced around an assessment that bin Salman almost certainly knew about the assassination by saying, 'The CIA did not say affirmatively he did it.'

'Im not saying that theyre saying he didnt do it, but they didnt say it affirmatively,' he stated.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who last week briefed in Haspel's absence, says he told senators, 'There is no direct reporting connecting the crown prince to the order to murder Jamal Khashoggi.'

James Mattis, the secretary of defense, also said, 'We have no smoking gun that the crown prince was involved. Not the intelligence community or anyone else.'

Republican Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters after the briefing that none of the lawmakers believe that MBS is innocent, however.

'I don't think there's anybody in the room that doesn't believe he was responsible for it,' Corker stated.

Haspel was not at the briefing that the White House claims it didn't bar her from attending.

Graham, a key ally of Trump's, said that until he gets a briefing from the CIA, he wouldn't vote on any legislation, which would include a spending bill next week to keep the government open.

'I am not going to be denied the ability to be briefed by the CIA, that we have oversight of, about whether or not their assessment supports my belief that this could not have happened without MBS knowing,' Graham said.

President Donald Trump had an encounter with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman at the G20 on Friday as first daughter Ivanka Trump looked on but not a meeting, the White House said

Saudi King Salman presents President Donald Trump with the highest civilian honor, the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud, at the Royal Court Palace, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, during a visit in May of 2017

The president had previously been called out for his claims about the MBS by Democrats, including the ranking member of the House Intelligence committee.

Rep. Adam Schiff said that Trump was being 'dishonest' when he claimed that the CIA offered no assessment on the crown prince's involvement.

Trump has been dogged by the claims that resurfaced at the White House during a briefing for reporters in advance of his trip to Buenos Aires.

His national security adviser admitted that he had not listened to an audio tape provided to the American government by Turkey that allegedly documents the Washington Post columnist's final moments.

'Why do you think I should? What do you think I'll learn from it?' John Bolton testily told a reporter. 'Unless you speak Arabic, what are you going to get from it?'

Trump has been insisting for weeks that he is right not to condemn Saudi Arabian leaders for Khashoggi's death and continued to claim last week that the nation's crown prince may have been in the dark about the attack.

'Our intelligence agencies continue to assess all information, but it could very well be that the crown prince had knowledge of this tragic event  maybe he did and maybe he didn't!' Trump said in a statement that irked Republicans and Democrats.

Trump claimed, 'We may never know all of the facts surrounding the murder of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi' and therefore the U.S. 'intends to remain a steadfast partner of Saudi Arabia to ensure the interests of our country, Israel and all other partners in the region.'

A Saudi hit squad murdered Khashoggi in the kingdom's Istanbul consulate on October 2. Saudi officials initially denied he was dead but later conceded Khashoggi had been killed.

They called it a 'rogue operation' that took place under bin Salman's nose. The kingdom has punished everyone known to have been involved.

The CIA has confidently assessed that couldn't plausibly be the case. It's unlikely that the de facto ruler of the kingdom was unaware of what was happening inside the consulate where Khashoggi was tortured and then murdered, intelligence sources have told various news publications.

That the information is leaking out and senators have not briefed has continued to irritate lawmakers like Rand Paul, who accused the White House of selectively doling out access to Haspel.

'I wasn't even given a classified briefing until I read about it in the newspaper. I'm only able to ask questions because of things I'm hearing that are revealed in the newspaper, and really in a representative democracy, intelligence should be shared with the representatives so we can make a level-headed decision about whether we should be at war,' he argued.

Also speaking to CNN, Schiff, who has been briefed, has said that while he cannot not disclose classified information on Khashoggi killing, 'I can say that I think the president is being dishonest with the American people.

'It would be one thing if the president were leveling with the American people and saying, OK, this is what happened, this is what we know, this is what took place, but, nonetheless, we need to maintain a relationship with the kingdom. But that's not what he's doing.

'And I just think that it causes our standing in the world to plummet. It telegraphs to despots around the world they can murder people with impunity, and that this president will have his -- their back, as long as they praise him, as long as they do business with him, potentially. And that cannot be the guiding principle behind our foreign policy,' Schiff said on 'State of the Union' as he lectured the president.

Donald Trump insisted he was right not to condemn Saudi Arabian leaders for journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder after harsh criticism of his pronouncement that the crown prince may have been in the dark, because of the low cost of oil prices

Trump has held the declining price of oil, of which Saudi Arabia is the top exporter, as a reason for maintaining a positive relationship with the kingdom without explicitly saying that's why he's letting bin Salman off the hook.

'Theyre keeping the oil prices low. I see that yesterday, one of the papers, I was blamed for causing traffic jams because I have the oil prices so low. Well, I have the oil prices low because Im jawboning them and others all the time to keep them low. Nobody ever did that,' Trump proclaimed on Thanksgiving Day.

The president claims that Russia and China would sweep in and take Saudi investments for themselves if America introduced tough new sanctions on the oil-rich nation.

'Theyre buying their equipment from us. And remember this: They dont have to buy it from us. They can buy it from Russia and they can buy it from China,' he asserted.

Trump's original position entirely ignored the CIA's findings that MBS had to be aware of the killing. His comments prompted an immediate backlash from prominent senators.

'I never thought I'd see the day a White House would moonlight as a public relations firm for the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia,' Corker tweeted.

But as Trump as has repeatedly said: 'It is all about America first - it is America first.

'We're not going to give up hundreds of billions of dollars of orders and let Russia, China, everybody else have them,' he argued.

The president has claimed a $110 billion investment from the Saudis in defense equipment that would disappear if the U.S. sanctioned the nation's military sector.

'If you think I'm going to let Russia have that money or those things, if you think I'm going to let China make the military equipment  hey, China and Russia would love to make a hundred billion dollars worth of military equipment from Saudi Arabia. We have the contracts. They wanted those contracts,' he said last Tuesday.

'That would be a big fat beautiful gift to Russia and China. They are not going to get that gift.'

If he were to act against the kingdom, Trump suggested there would be a global economic meltdown.

'Right now we have oil prices in great shape. I'm not going to destroy the world economy, and I'm not going to destroy the economy for our country by being foolish with Saudi Arabia.'

He added, 'I think the statement was pretty obvious what I said. It's about America First.'

The president says he is still open to sanctions that could be imposed by Congress in the lame duck session but would only support them if they were in the United States' national security interests.

He insisted, 'The crime against Jamal Khashoggi was a terrible one, and one that our country does not condone.'

Yet, the U.S. president said he would take no further action because the United States' relationship with Saudi Arabia is too valuable.

'That being said, we may never know all of the facts surrounding the murder of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi. In any case, our relationship is with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,' he asserted.

'They have been a great ally in our very important fight against Iran. The United States intends to remain a steadfast partner of Saudi Arabia to ensure the interests of our country, Israel and all other partners in the region.'

Trump claimed on Thanksgiving Day that the CIA has not 'concluded' the Saudi crown prince ordered Khashoggi's murder.

'Whether he did or whether he didn't, he denies it vehemently,' Trump said to reporters after he spoke by the phone with U.S. troops. 'The CIA doesn't say they did it. They do point out certain things, and in pointing out those things, you can conclude that maybe he did or maybe he didn't.'

Trump claimed: 'The CIA points it both ways. And as I said, maybe he did, maybe he didn't. I will say very strongly that it's a very important ally.'

Graham said Tuesday ahead of the briefing with Haspel that Trump's concerns are overblown.

'The fear that the Saudis will stop cooperating with the U.S. on terrorism or Iran isnt rational. Those threats pose as much of a danger to the Saudis as they do to America,' he said.Fynn Ajani Arthur, a 21-year-old black lacrosse player at Goucher College in Maryland, has been accused of scrawling racist N-word and swastika graffiti targeting himself and others in a campus dorm

A black student blamed his 'bottled up anger' for racist, threatening graffiti he admitted to scrawling in a bathroom on a Maryland college campus, according to a police report.

Baltimore County police on Monday filed hate crime charges against 21-year-old Fynn Arthur, a Brunswick, Maine, resident who was enrolled as a student at Goucher College in Towson, Maryland.

Police arrested Arthur last Thursday on misdemeanor charges of malicious destruction of property.

He was released from custody after a court hearing last Friday.

State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger said his office subsequently recommended the additional charges, which also are misdemeanors.

'We felt that with the message that was involved, there was sufficient evidence that the motive behind the message was race-related,' he told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Arthur told investigators he was responsible for the bathroom graffiti of a backward swastika and a death threat that included a racial slur against blacks and the numbers of dorm rooms belonging to black students, including himself, the police report says.

'When asked why he would do something like that, he replied that he has a lot of built up anger with no way to vent it on campus,' the report says.

Arthur, who was a member of the Goucher College men's lacrosse team, has been banned from campus pending disciplinary proceedings, college officials said in a statement.

Racist graffiti targeting black and Latino students was discovered on the Goucher College campus in Towson, Maryland on November 14 and again on Thursday

Video courtesy WJZ

The officials said they were 'shocked and saddened that these acts were committed by a member of our own College community.'

'These acts of hate have consumed our community, and we feel strongly that the suspect should receive the strongest charges, which reflect the seriousness of these crimes,' said their statement, dated last Friday.

Shellenberger said he doesn't know if Arthur has an attorney. Efforts to reach Arthur weren't immediately successful Tuesday.

The new charges that Arthur faces make it a crime to damage property because of a person or group's race, religious, sexual orientation or national origin.

Police began investigating after a student found the threatening graffiti written in black marker in a bathroom stall and on a bathroom wall on Nov. 14. Police interviewed Arthur that day since his room number had been in the message.

Arthur - pictured in his lacrosse team photo - has been banned from the Goucher campus pending a student conduct review

He said he was 'shocked that someone would target him in that manner because of his race,' the report says.

More racist graffiti, including the initials 'KKK' and the N-word, was found last Thursday in a different bathroom on another floor in the same building.

Investigators provided questionnaires to students named in the graffiti incident, and Arthur's handwriting was 'consistent' with the writing in both bathrooms, police said.

Arthur had scanned his ID to enter the building shortly before the graffiti was discovered last Thursday, according to the report.

He also had scanned his ID at several residential buildings just before similar 'bias-related graffiti' was discovered there in March 2017, the report says.

Arthur 'blamed his bottled up anger for the first incident on (Nov. 14),' the report says.

'When asked what caused him to commit the second graffiti incident, he replied he had been drinking and "just did something dumb".'A former California beauty queen has won her share of an Italian noble family's $34million estate after her stepson accused her of being a bigamist.

Johnine Leigh Avery, 72, was left a large share of the Colonna family inheritance after her husband, Prince Ugo Colonna, died in 2004.

But Colonna's son, Duke Oddone Colonna, claimed that Avery was still married when she wed his father in 1992 when the prince was in his seventies.

Duke Oddone claimed that a guest at a cocktail party told him that the former Miss USA had been married to a South African at the time of her wedding to Colonna.

Former California beauty queen Johnine Leigh Avery, 72, (left) has won her share of an Italian noble family's $34million estate after her stepson accused her of being a bigamist

Avery then produced a certificate issued by the Dominican Republic stating that she and the South African had divorced.

Duke Oddone wasn't satisfied, calling it a fake and arguing that Avery's share of the Colonna estate was rightfully his, according to The Sunday Times.

'If she never divorced her previous husband, then that means her marriage to Prince Colonna was not valid,' Duke Oddone's lawyer argued during the trial.

'So she can't inherit his wealth, and it all goes to his son.'

The Colonna family, which was powerful in medieval and Renaissance Rome, dates back to the 13th century.

It supplied one Pope as well as a slew of cardinals and leaders in both church and politics.

Avery, 72, was left a large share of the Colonna family inheritance after her husband, Prince Ugo Colonna, died in 2004

Prince Ugo Colonna also bequeathed Palazzo Colonna to Avery.

The palace, which is located in central Rome, has belonged to the family for over 20 generations and is said to have hosted the likes of Dante as well as Cardinals Giovanni and Giacomo Colonna.

It was also the home of Cardinal Oddone Colonal before he was declared Pope in 1417.

Now the palace will belong to Avery after the Italian court ruled in her favor.

'My client is extremely satisfied that she can no longer be considered a fortune hunter,' Avery's lawyer Pietro Nocita said after the verdict was read.

Prince Ugo Colonna also bequeathed Palazzo Colonna (pictured) to Avery. The palace, which is located in central Rome, has belonged to the family for over 20 generations

'Not only did she risk being reduced to poverty and sent to jail, but at her age it is not good to be considered a criminal.'

Duke Oddone was not satisfied with the verdict, arguing that 'something may be true but not legally provable'.

Avery, who was born in San Diego, represented USA in Miss World in 1968 before she launched an acting career and starred alongside Bob Hope in a number of comedies.

The former beauty queen moved to Rome and married Colonna, a widower, in 1992.A Pennsylvania teacher who is pregnant said she was fired from her Catholic school job because the Harrisburg diocese was upset she wasn't married.

Naiad Reich, 32, said she taught at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional School in Edgewood, Pennsylvania, for four years but was fired Friday after informing administrators she was expecting a child with her boyfriend.

'I feel like I'm a rewriting of "The Scarlet Letter" at this point, just minus the affair,' Reich, 31, said.

Naiad Reich, 32, was fired from Our Lady of Lourdes Regional School after telling nuns there that she was expecting a baby with her partner Matt Graboski (right together)

She was told she was fired because she had no immediate plans to marry, the News-Item reported.

Reich said she and her longtime boyfriend made the decision to start a family and planned the pregnancy.

Reich informed school administrator Sister Mary Anne Bednar earlier that week.

'She said it would be a problem, and she had to contact the diocese,' Reich said.

Bednar did not respond to requests for comment.

Reich said staff at our Lady of Lourdes Regional School in Edgewood, Pennsylvania, said it would be a 'problem' that she was unmarried. The school refused to comment

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg said in a statement that it does not comment on personnel matters for legal reasons.

Reich said the diocese's website lists 'immorality' as a cause for dismissal and said it was the reason for her firing.

The diocese did not respond Monday to requests for further information on the diocese's definition of immorality.

Reich said she plans to appeal her firing but wasn't sure if she would retain legal counsel.

She said she already misses her students 'more than I think they can ever understand.'The Iowa man convicted of the first-degree murder of his infant son found dead in a maggot-infested baby swing last year, was confirmed a life sentence without parole Tuesday.

Zachary Paul Koehn, 29, of Alta Vista, was convicted in under two hours in November and requested a retrial last week with his defense attorney arguing his specific action didn't cause the death of four-month-old Sterling Koehn in August 2017.

However a judge denied the claim the jury's verdict was not backed by evidence and pushed ahead with the mandatory prison sentence under state law.

Zachary Paul Koehn, 29, attended court for sentencing in Waterloo, Iowa Tuesday

Judge Richard Stochl sentenced him to life without parole, as was mandatory under state law

The Iowa father's infant son Sterling (pictured) was found maggot-infested in a baby swing after dying from diaper rash last year

'Every action the defendant chose to do in that apartment that did not involve caring for [Sterling] was a choice, an act, which lead to (Sterling's) death,' Assistant Attorney General Denise Timmins argued in challenge to the defense asking for a new trial, reports Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier.

'Choosing to let your child slowly die a painful death is no less unlawful than beating your child's head against a wall until the child dies.'

The blunt words came after lawyers Steven Drahozal and Les Blaire III tried to argue last week that Iowa's murder statute does not cover inaction.

It followed his October trial in Henry County after which Judge Richard Stochl's jury declared him guilty on account of neglect and murder.

'There is no evidence that the defendant intentionally starved, dehydrated, or otherwise caused S.K.'s death. At best, the evidence showed that the defendant neglected S.K.,' the defense said. 'In other words, at best, the state introduced evidence that the defendant's inaction rather than actions contributed to S.K.'s death.'

Father Zachary Paul Koehn, 29, of Alta Vista, was convicted in under two hours in November

Koehn's two-year-old daughter was also in the apartment at the time the baby was found dead

In November Koehn showed little emotion when the verdict was read.

Koehn's defense team had argued the child's mother, Cheyanne Harris, had the main responsibility for the baby as he had been working 70 to 80 hours a week as a trucker.

The 21-year-old will face a separate trial in January.

Timmins alleged that the father's motive may have been that he did not want the child.

He didn't believe he was his biological son initially due to his lighter complexion. It was later determined that the child was his.

Timmins also noted his drug habit that caused him to spend $140 to $280 per week on meth that he also gave to Harris.

'He trusted her, yet he's the one who gave her drugs,' Timmins added in response to Koehn's excuse he had trusted the child's mother to take care of the baby.

The four-month-old Sterling Koehn (above) had been in the same diaper for nine to 14 days when his body was found dead in the swing

Zachary Koehn (pictured October 30) was flanked by attorneys Les Blair III and Steven Drahozal, as he sat in court in Mount Pleasant, Iowa

Courtesy of KCRG

Koehn's trial had been moved from Chickasaw County to Henry County to counter pretrial publicity in the case.

His attorneys said the father didn't notice Harris was suffering from depression that prevented her from properly caring for the baby because he was busy providing for his family.

They attempted to use evidence Koehn had traded items for baby care products as proof he did not neglect his son.

However, Timmins told the jury that Koehn was home often enough in their small apartment to recognize the signs of neglect but did nothing about it.

The court had heard devastating testimony about how the boy's maggot-infested body was found after he died of extreme 'diaper rash' at the start of his father's trial for murder.

Sterling had been in the same diaper for nine to 14 days when his corpse was found in the swing August 30, 2017, at his parents' apartment.

In opening statements, McAllister said the baby's heavily soiled diaper had attracted bugs that had laid eggs, which had hatched into maggots.

The resulting diaper rash led to ruptured skin, and e.Coli bacteria set in.

'He died of diaper rash. That's right, diaper rash,' McAllister said.

Koehn and Cheyanne Harris' (pictured together) baby Sterling was found in the swing

The baby's father Zachary Paul Koehn (left) was convicted of first-degree murder and child endangerment. His mother, Cheyanne Harris (right), is also charged and faces a separate trial

A coroner's report showed the baby died of malnutrition, dehydration and the infection.

An autopsy found the infant was underweight at 7lbs. It also uncovered maggots on the child's skin and clothes, indicating he hadn't been washed, changed or removed from the swing in more than a week.

The medical examiner ruled the child's death a homicide by failure to provide critical care.

In opening statements, Koehn's attorney said the baby's death was a tragedy, but not a crime.

McAllister denied the defense's claims, saying Koehn was an experienced parent.

He noted that Koehn's two-year-old daughter was also in the apartment and was healthy, and that Koehn had money to buy food and baby supplies. He stated Koehn was a drug user.

Jordan Clark (pictured October 31), a former friend of Koehn's, testified he wasn't even aware the man had a baby

Assistant Iowa Attorney General Coleman McAllister told jurors on Tuesday that the couple's (pictured) child 'died of diaper rash'

Nurse and county rescue squad EMT Toni Friedrich testified that she was the first to arrive at the apartment after Koehn called 911 to report the baby had died.

Friedrich said Koehn showed no emotion when he led her to the dark, hot bedroom where the baby's body was.

The baby's 'eyes were open, and it was a blank stare,' she said.

Friedrich said when she touched the baby's chest, his clothing was crusty. When she moved his blanket, gnats flew up, she said.

According to reports, Koehn told police and medics that Harris fed the baby at 9am that morning and the child was fine.

But he claimed that when he checked on his son at around 11am or 11.30am, he found the baby dead.

Jordan Clark, a former friend of Koehn's, testified that he wasn't even aware the man had a baby.

Cheyanne Harris' (pictured) baby's heavily soiled diaper had attracted bugs that had laid eggs, which had hatched into maggots

After the couple's arrest in October last year, it emerged that both have a history of drug use including meth.

Department of Correctional Services reports indicated Koehn had just started a new job and was in substance abuse treatment.

He had last used methamphetamine about two months ago before his arrest.

Harris, who had moved to live with a relative in Riceville after Sterling's death, was also in treatment for substance abuse when she was arrested, the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier reported at the time.

She last used meth two or three weeks before her arrest, it was reported.

Harris told officials she was being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder.A carer has been acquitted of the sexual assault of a woman with cerebral palsy after denying the charge and claiming he was just 'cleaning her bum bum'.

The Nigerian man, 30, whose name was suppressed after a court heard he was assaulted in immigration detention, had recently finished a nursing course in Sydney.

The 41-year-old woman, who is speechless, gave evidence via a communication board after alleging she was penetrated by the carer in a shower, The Daily Telegraph reported.

The defendant told the court he was trained to ask those in his care for permission before washing their 'private parts and bum bum'.

A carer has been acquitted of the sexual assault of a woman with cerebral palsy after denying the charge and claiming he was just 'cleaning her bum bum' (stock image)

Judge Paul Conlon likened the case to former ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie, who complained she 'felt icky' when touched on the back by a colleague.

He said it was 'staggering' that the carer's employer, the Cerebral Palsy Alliance, didn't allocate carers based on gender.

'You may be of the same view that I am that someone like (this woman) should not be placed in the situation where she felt so uncomfortable,' he said.

The man, who is in Australia on a student visa, was acquitted of aggravated sexual intercourse without consent.Bruce McLaughlin Jr., 30, was shot dead Tuesday morning after he escaped from Pickens County jail in South Carolina and broke into a woman's home

An inmate who escaped from a South Carolina prison was shot and killed just minutes later by a woman after he kicked in the backdoor to her home.

Bruce McLaughlin Jr., 30, escaped from Pickens County jail near Greenville at about 3am on Tuesday.

The inmate was still in his orange prison jumpsuit when he kicked in the woman's door and grabbed a knife sharpening tool from her kitchen in Pickens.

Pickens County Sheriff Rick Clark said he was heading towards the woman's bedroom when she opened fire.

'This was a big guy. If she hadn't had a weapon there's no telling what would have happened,' Clark said.

'I gave her a big hug. I told her how proud I was of her.'

The woman was home alone and had gone through training to get a concealed weapons permit.

Pickens County Coroner Kandy Kelley said McLaughlin died from a gunshot wound to the head.

McLaughlin and a second inmate, Timothy Dill, beat up two guards at Pickens County jail (pictured above) in an escape they had planned for days

McLaughlin and a second inmate, Timothy Dill, beat up two guards in an escape they had planned for days.

The sheriff said Dill was recaptured by deputies without incident about the same time McLaughlin was shot, but the two were going in opposite directions.

Timothy Dill (pictured) was recaptured by deputies without incident about the same time McLaughlin was shot, but the two were going in opposite directions

The guards had bruises and one complained of a sore back, but they should recover, Clark said, adding that several other inmates came to help the guards as they were attacked.

McLaughlin had been in and out of the Pickens County jail about a dozen times on charges ranging from drug possession to assaulting a police officer to shoplifting.

He was currently awaiting trial on first-degree burglary and grand larceny charges, according to sheriff's office records.

Dill was awaiting trial on a criminal sexual conduct with a minor charge.

The sheriff said the homeowner was shaken by the shooting and asked him to help her maintain her privacy.

He did not release her name.

Clark said he thinks the shooting is justified, but will forward the case file to prosecutors once the investigation is finished.

The sheriff said 'this is the shining example' of why owning and knowing how to use a gun is important.

'She came out on the good on this end and the other guy, the bad guy, didn't,' Clark said.A man has been charged with allegedly making a hoax bomb threat to a Sydney business.

Police were called to the business at Sydney Airport about 5pm on Tuesday after staff received a threatening phone call.

Officers searched the building on Keith Smith Avenue but did not find anything suspicious.

Staff from Regional Express Airlines are understood to have received a threatening call from the man just before a flight was set to depart from Sydney for Griffith (stock image)

Following inquiries, police arrested a 36-year-old man at Darling Point about 6.40pm.

He was charged with using a carriage service to make a hoax threat and refused bail to appear at Central Local Court on Wednesday.

Staff from Regional Express Airlines are understood to have received a threatening call just before a flight was set to depart from Sydney for Griffith, in New South Wales' central west, Nine News reported.

Passenger Gino Gallo said the flight was delayed as police searched the cabin.

'We were there for about an hour, hour-and-a-half, on the tarmac and all of a sudden the plane stops and the federal police come in and pulled this fella out,' he said.

The man being removed from the plane is believed to be unrelated to the hoax bomb threat, a NSW Police spokesman told Daily Mail Australia.Home Secretary Sajid Javid said the bullying of a 15-year-old Syrian refugee reminded him of being targeted by racist bullies at school, as a former classmate reveals his tormentor.

Mr Javid said he was 'absolutely outraged' by the video of the attack on Jamal, which sparked a public outcry.

A former classmate of Mr Javid has now revealed the man who bullied him was called Terry Brine, who later served in the Navy during the Gulf War before running a plastering business, according to The Telegraph.

Upon witnessing the video Mr Javid said the assault brought 'memories flooding back' from his own schooldays in Bristol, when he was attacked for being Asian.

A former classmate of Sajid Javid's has revealed the man who picked on him was Terry Brine (pictured)

Mr Javid, told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme: 'It reminded me of an incident I had when I was at school,'

'I hated it.

'When I was 11 I had just started my comprehensive school.

'Those memories flooded back to me.'

He added: 'How can this kind of thing still be going on?

But Mr Javid, a second generation immigrant whose family came from Pakistan, said the response of the British public had showed the country's true nature.

'The general population was outraged,' he said. 'That says something really important about us as people.'

According to one of Mr Javid's classmates at Stockwell Hill, called Lee Churchill, the name 'Sajid Javid' elicited laughs in assembly.

Sajid Javid (pictured) has revealed he was targeted by bullies as a schoolboy (right). Mr Javid said the assault on a Syrian refugee brought 'memories flooding back' from his own in Bristol, when he was attacked for being Asian

Mr Churchill also said Mr Brine used to say the word 'p***', when he saw Mr Javid and in a playground confrontation, the young boys were seen 'pushing and shoving' each other.

But Mr Brine later came to regret his behaviour and apologised to Mr Javid.

Father-of-three Mr Brine died of cancer, aged 40, in 2010 and his widow Rachel said if the incident with Mr Javid happened, he never discussed it with her.

Mrs Brine, 44, described her late husband as a 'gentleman.'

'My husband never told me about it - how many of us can remember things like this that from when were 11?,' she said.

'My husband was a gentleman, not a bully of any kind.'

She added : 'I know he (Terry) was a bit of a git at school, but then he went to the Navy when he was about 18.

'He said it was probably the best thing he did, because it gave him authority and discipline and it sorted him out.'

Mr Javid has previously spoken of his tough experiences at Downend School on the outskirts of Bristol.

And revealed he bumped into the boy who abused him about 10 years later in Bristol, prior to becoming a politician.

'I bumped into him in a shopping centre lift.

He said: 'Sajid isn't it? I'm sorry for what I did,' and we shook hands.'

Jamal, 15, was pinned down and 'waterboarded' by a bigger child at Almondbury Community School in the footage that went viral

Mr Javid said he had sent a personal letter and hoped to meet Jamal and his family for a 'cup of tea' at some stage.

Jamal's family fled their home after being caught up in the civil war and spent six years as refugees in Lebanon before coming to the UK under a UN programme in 2016.

But both Jamal and his 13-year-old sister have suffered separate attacks.

He said in a TV interview that bullies had made their lives a misery - but also urged people not to retaliate. 'I was feeling unsafe everywhere. I woke up at night and just started crying,' he said.

Shocked members of the public have donated more than 130,000 to help give the family a fresh start.

They are said to be hoping to use the funds from the appeal to move away from Huddersfield.This is the dramatic moment two teenagers were arrested after a four-hour siege.

Vision captured in Carlton, in Melbourne's inner-north, showed police chasing the men before tackling them to the ground and placing them in handcuffs.

The males, aged 17 and 18, had fled in opposite directions from a block of housing commission flats on Drummond Street about 7pm on Tuesday.

Police were called after the pair, one allegedly armed with a gun, were seen entering the building four hours earlier.

Police arrested two teenagers in Melbourne's inner-north on Tuesday night after a four-hour siege. Pictured, one of the males being arrested

Officers chased after the two males through the streets of Carlton before making the arrests

A nearby school and child care centre were immediately placed under lockdown and residents were told to avoid the area during the siege.

Heavily armed police swarmed the area but no shots were fired.

Police were heard yelling 'get on the ground' as they closed in on the teenagers.

The 18-year-old was arrested on the corner of Drummond and Princes Streets just before 7pm, while the younger man was arrested on Rathdowne Street shortly after.

Both men were charged and will appear in separate courts on Wednesday.

The 18-year-old was been charged with home invasion, aggravated burglary and assault with a weapon.

Heavily-armed police had swarmed the area just before 3pm on Tuesday, before arresting the two males

Residents were ordered not to go near the block of housing commission flats during the four-hour siege

He has been remanded to appear at Melbourne Magistrates' Court.

The 17-year-old was also been charged with home invasion and aggravated burglary and the additional offence of using an unregistered hand gun.

He was expected to appear before a children's court.China will take enterprises' credit data into consideration in the approval procedure of initial public offerings as part of the effort to develop a national social credit system, the China Daily reported Tuesday.

China Securities Regulatory Commission. [File photo: VCG]

Enterprises with past records of untrustworthiness will be strictly examined by the securities regulator when applying for initial public offerings and the issuance of convertible bonds, according to a memorandum of understanding issued last week by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

Meanwhile, the government will pay close attention to the credit information of enterprises after issuing approvals.

"The new MOU does not represent a significant policy shift for the current approval procedure. It is expected to give warnings to market participants failing to obey the rules," an official with the CSRC told the newspaper.

The move is part of China's broader goal at developing a system aimed to build a culture of trust in society, collecting data in various fields.

The broad social credit system is expected to rank individuals and enterprises, and violators with unethical behavior will be punished according to the rules.

The system, which is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2020, will play a role in serving the non-financial sector and creating a fair business environment, Zhang Chun, an official with the NDRC, told the newspaper.

The commission has signed more than 40 memorandums of cooperation with different regulatory authorities, and has launched more than 100 measures, both rewards and punishments, Zhang added.A SWAT officer in Florida has been demoted after he was seen wearing a patch dedicated to the 'QAnon' conspiracy theory in a photo with Vice President Mike Pence.

Broward County Sheriff's Sergeant Matt Patten wore a patch reading 'Q - Question the Narrative' on Friday during a meet and greet with Pence, who shared the photo on his official Twitter account.

Pence's account quickly removed the photo and replaced it with another that did not show Patten - but that only fueled the certainty of devotees of the theory.

In short, the QAnon theory holds that a high-level government insider known only as Q has been anonymously dropping cryptic clues or 'breadcrumbs' on the messageboard 8chan, where fans known as anons spend countless hours piecing them together.

Broward County Sheriff's Sergeant Matt Patten (left) wore a patch reading 'Q - Question the Narrative' on Friday during a meet and greet with Pence

Patten's patch (left) has been identified as the one seen right, reading 'Question the Narrative'. Patten has been reprimanded and demoted for wearing the controversial patch

The theory maintains that President Donald Trump is locked in a secret battle with the forces of evil within the government and the Democratic Party, and at any moment is prepared to unseal tens of thousands of secret indictments.

One unusual feature of the theory maintains that special counsel Robert Mueller is secretly allied with Trump, and is using the Russia investigation as cover to prepare sealed indictments against the president's enemies.

When the photo of Patten wearing the patch emerged, Q himself seized on it, writing in a post: 'It's spreading.'

On Monday, the Broward County Sheriff's office said that Patten, a 31-year veteran of the department, had been reprimanded and reassigned to the Department of Law Enforcement.

'Sergeant Patten's actions of displaying unity with a controversial group not in alignment with the core values of the law enforcement and the Broward Sheriff's Office discredited the agency, the county and himself,' a sheriff's office supervisor wrote in a disciplinary report obtained by the New York Times.

Pence's Twitter account quickly deleted the picture and replaced it with this tweet

Patten (left) is a 31-year veteran of the Broward County Sheriff's office. He has been reassigned to the agency's Department of Law Enforcement

The QAnon theory has grown in popularity since Trump supporters were seen at rallies sporting signs and T-shirts touting Q this summer.

Some of the Facebook groups devoted to the theory number their membership in the tens of thousands.

Celebrities such as Rosanne Barr and retired MLB pitcher Curt Schilling have boosted the theory in online remarks.

The theory broke into the real world in June, when a man armed with a rifle and handgun drove an armored vehicle to the Hoover Dam, claiming he was on a mission from Q. He was arrested after a police standoff.Little Jorja Emerson yesterday became the first child in the UK to be prescribed medicinal cannabis.

Her parents desperately hope it will help the stricken two-year-old, who suffers up to 30 epileptic seizures a day.

Clutching the landmark prescription after it was issued by a doctor in London yesterday, Jorja's father Robin Emerson said: 'We have been fighting for over a year, so today has been a momentous day. Now Jorja has hope.'

Jorja Emerson's father Robin (pictured together) persuaded a neurologist at the private Portland Hospital in London to help his daughter claiming the NHS had 'turned its back'

Jorja (pictured) has now become the first child in the UK to be prescribed medicinal cannabis, but at a cost of 3,000 for a three-month supply. The cannabis oil is administered from a bottle using a syringe, with a few drops placed on the tongue twice a day

The cannabidiol (CBD) drug (pictured) will be imported from Canada. Mr Emerson will have to fly to London for every repeat prescription

Cannabis for medical use was made lawful on November 1, following the high-profile cases of two other young epilepsy sufferers, Alfie Dingley and Billy Caldwell, whose parents were given special permission by the Home Office to use products they had already been using abroad.

Despite being legalised, cannabis oil remains medically 'unlicensed' and doctors have been reluctant to actually prescribe it.

Earlier this week, former university lecturer Carly Barton, 32, became the first adult to be prescribed it, to alleviate pain.

And yesterday Jorja became the first child in the UK to receive a prescription after her father persuaded a neurologist at the private Portland Hospital in London to help.

He said: 'The NHS turned its back on us. But I knew when I first met this particular doctor, and she was finally telling me the same as doctors abroad, that Jorja is going to survive.' He said the Portland doctor had asked not to be identified.

Jorja was born with a rare chromosome disorder, which causes developmental delay.

Although not life-threatening, when she was ten months old, it triggered epilepsy  and now every seizure is potentially deadly. The little girl was labelled 'terminal' by doctors in Northern Ireland, where she lives in Dundonald, near Belfast.

Jorja (pictured) was born with a rare chromosome disorder, which causes developmental delay

Although not life-threatening, when Jorja (pictured) was ten months old, it triggered epilepsy  and now every seizure is potentially deadly

But Mr Emerson, 31, and her mother, Carly Emerson, 31  who are separated but devoted to caring for Jorja  refused to accept that nothing could be done. They consulted doctors in the US and Australia who recommended cannabis oil.

Mr Emerson, an entrepreneur, said: 'Jorja has had every drug going  but nothing is working. She is on six different medications and still has more than 30 epileptic seizures a day, any one of which could kill her. She is sick every night. I have done research after research, and I have seen the effects in other countries where cannabis is legal and how well it works.'

Mr Emerson is paying 3,000 for a three-month supply of cannabis oil for his daughter (the two are pictured together), and will have to fly to London for every repeat prescription

Yesterday he took his daughter's prescription straight to the hospital's pharmacy, to start the two-week process of having the cannabidiol (CBD) drug imported from Canada.

The cannabis oil is administered from a bottle using a syringe, with a few drops placed on the tongue twice a day.

Mr Emerson is paying 3,000 for a three-month supply, and will have to fly to London for every repeat prescription.

He said: 'It's a lot of money, but it's a choice between my daughter staying alive and dying.

'It will take a while to kick in, but after a few days we will hopefully see a drop in the seizures, and then we will gradually wean her off the other medication.

'I'm hoping that in about six weeks, she will be off all the other medication and not be having seizures.'

Portland Hospital said: 'Consultants can prescribe medication that is clinically appropriate for their patients' care.

'Our pharmacy department is working with the Home Office and national licensing departments to ensure we are able to follow the correct regulatory processes for the safe supply of medicinal cannabis.'Meghan (pictured in London on November 19) has been having secret briefings with a number of organisations, including CAMFED  the Campaign for Female Education

The Duchess of Sussex is to put education for women in developing countries at the heart of her public work, when she announces her first royal patronages next year, Mail Online can reveal.

Meghan, 37, has been having secret briefings with a number of organisations, including CAMFED  the Campaign for Female Education  which works in several African countries, including Zambia, which was visited by Prince Harry last week.

It is understood that she and Harry are keen to work together on the issue in their role as roving Commonwealth youth ambassadors.

Meghan is a passionate advocate of the work of charity CAMFED, which believes one of the best way to alleviate poverty and inequality is through education. It has already affected the lives of nearly three million girls and young women across sub-Saharan Africa.

Its CEO, Lucy Lake, who was with the sixth in line to the throne in Zambia, revealed to the Mail that she had briefed his wife privately at Kensington Palace earlier this year about their work in the country, as well as Zimbabwe, Ghana, Tanzania and Malawi.

The Duchess was also met with Zimbabwean-born Angeline Murimirwa, one of the first girls to go to secondary school with the organisations support and is now its African executive director. She was named last year as one of the BBCs 100 most inspirational women.

Lucy said: We had the opportunity to meet with the Duchess in the spring. As an organisation our team very much represents what we are working towards and that was why the Duchess was interested to meet with us and hear more about that.

The way both she and her husband have spoken about these issues in such a thoughtful and discerning manner has really helped the wider movement. Its exciting times.

We have been working for 25 years supporting girls through education and enabling those young women to make the transition in their communities into positions of leadership, to turn around and support the next generation.

Its wonderful that the Royal Family is engaging with the issue in this way. For the young people in Zambia to feel that Prince Harry was on a level with them and genuinely interested in what they are doing, left them very inspired and motivated, as was he. Thats a very powerful force. 

It is understood that she and Harry (seen at their wedding on May 19) are keen to work together on the issue in their role as roving Commonwealth youth ambassadors

It is hoped that the pregnant duchess will be able to travel out to Africa and see CAMFEDs work for herself after she has had her baby next spring.

Royal sources say the duchess has been having meetings with a number of organisations and is still finalising which areas to work in and what charities to support as she moves on with her public work.

It is understood that she is particularly keen to support issues where she can work alongside her husband.

Aides hope to make an announcement about her first patronages in the new year, eight months after she joined the Royal Family.

Although it is considered quite a long time to wait before announcing her patronages, it is understood that Meghan wishes to really get to know the organisations she wants to work with in order to make a real and lasting difference.A Los Angeles man has been arrested on felony child abuse charges a day after his four-year-old daughter died.

Charles Richard Lee, 23, is being held on $1million bail following the death of his daughter Zaraellia Thompson.

Authorities were called to Lee's home around 10.45am on Sunday and Zaraellia was rushed to Los Angeles County USC Medical Center in an ambulance.

She was reportedly found in the bathroom of her home 'with some type of trauma' but it did not appear that she had drowned, investigators told KABC.

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Charles Richard Lee, 23, is being held on $1million bail for felony child abuse following the death of his daughter Zaraellia Thompson. He is pictured here being taken into custody

Authorities were called to Lee's home around 10.45am on Sunday and Zaraellia was rushed to Los Angeles County USC Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead

Zaraellia was pronounced dead at the hospital at 11.34am. Her cause of death has not yet been determined but is being investigated as a homicide.

Hospital staff contacted police following Zaraellia's death and an investigation was launched on Sunday, according to the Los Angeles Times.

LAPD investigators were sent to Zaraellia's home on Sunday, where they reportedly spoke with her parents.

Zaraellia was reportedly found in the bathroom of their home (pictured) 'with some type of trauma' but it did not appear that she had drowned

Lee was taken into custody around 9.30am on Monday.

The case has been submitted to the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office for review.

Neighbors said Zaraellia lived at the home with her father. They believed she also had a brother, but that he may be living with his mother.

The neighbors said everything appeared to be normal at home and that Zaraellia appeared to be 'well taken care of'.A school has come under fire for charging male and female students different prices for their social disco.

Wairau Intermediate School in Auckland was asking boys to cough up $5 for their 1980s themed disco while girls were required to pay only $2 but also bring a plate of finger food.

A Facebook post about the Wednesday evening disco was met with criticism by users who argued the different conditions were 'wildly inappropriate'.

Wairau Intermediate School, Auckland, NZ, is asking boys to cough up $5 for their 1980s themed disco while girls are required to pay $2 and bring a plate of finger food

The school claimed the policy was not sexist as it alternated between genders each year.

In an email sent to the NZ Herald by an anonymous source, the price difference was labelled as 'appalling'.

'They decided it's appropriate, when it's nearly 2019, to charge girls and boys different prices and require the girls to bring in food for their social,' the email said.

'It's straight up sexist and they are essentially teaching children girls and boys are different in unnecessary and damaging stereotypical ways.

'It's appalling that a public school for children would pull this nonsense.'

The school disco had been organised for students who are in years 7 and 8 - who are between 12 and 14 years old.

Principal Grant Murray explained the price difference alternates each year and last year boys were expected to bring the finger food.

In a Facebook post about the Wednesday evening disco, which has since been deleted, the school was met with criticism by users arguing the price difference was 'wildly inappropriate' (pictured: Wairau Intermediate School)

Principal Grant Murray explained the price difference alternates each year and last year boys were expected to bring the finger food (stock image)

'Years ago we tried to charge the same and everyone brings finger food and we just had so much food,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'We explained to our students that's the way it's done, it's not done to be sexist, they quite willingly accept that.'

'I find it quite amazing that it's caused the fuss that it has.'

Intermediate schools in New Zealand host students in year seven and eight before they transition into secondary school.A man has had a finger sliced off after a vicious machete attack in his own home.

Police were called to a home in Carramar, western Sydney, about 5.20am on Wednesday, as the man was being treated by paramedics.

The 43-year-old man was reportedly attacked in his unit by a man armed with a machete.

Police were called to a home in Sydney's Carramar about 5.20am today, where the man was being treated by paramedics

As well as losing a finger, he also had a severe injury to his left arm and extensive cuts to other parts of his body.

The mans injuries were serious but not life-threatening, police said, and he was in a stable condition in Liverpool Hospital.

A crime scene was established and police were searching for the attacker.

It was believed the men knew each other and the incident was being treated as a targeted attack.The legal witch-hunt of Army veterans is 'very close' to an end, the Defence Secretary believes.

Gavin Williamson is expected to propose new laws to stop the 'absolute tragedy' of former troops being pursued through the courts.

A unit set up in the Ministry of Defence to examine the issue has found a workable solution, he signalled yesterday.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson (pictured above) has said the witch hunt is close to an end

Mr Williamson said there was no 'silver bullet' that could solve the problem. Instead, a combination of measures will be considered.

It is understood the solution will not include a statute of limitations  or time limit  on charges being brought, which has previously been proposed.

The Government is thought instead to be looking at raising the threshold for prosecution and strengthening presumption of innocence.

Mr Williamson said: 'I have no doubt that in the very near future we are going to be in a situation where we can put things in place  and this will require legislation to do  but we can start to put the things in place that end this absolute tragedy of British service personnel being chased through the courts.

'The thing that I just know in my heart and soul that is fundamentally so incredibly wrong is the fact that we continue to have so many ex-servicemen who continue to be in a situation where they are facing persecution.

'It is the thing I have constantly thought we need to find a solution for. And this is what we have been working towards  we think we are very close to landing a position where we can make those important steps forward in terms of finding a solution and making sure former and serving personnel will not go through the strain, the worry and the trauma of fearing a knock on their door.'

The Government is thought to be looking at raising the threshold for prosecution and strengthening presumption of innocence for troops

The Police Service of Northern Ireland has sparked anger by re-examining every Army killing between 1968 and 1998.

Hundreds of former soldiers  many now in their 70s and 80s  are potential murder or manslaughter suspects over their actions during the Troubles.

Mr Williamson said these veterans 'end up seeing the State as the thing chasing them'.

There have been warnings that Britain's fighting spirit could be undermined by vexatious claims over the historic deaths of IRA suspects at the hands of soldiers.

A unit set up in the Ministry of Defence to examine the issue has found a workable solution for troops

Separately, in 2010, a unit called the Iraq Historic Allegations Team (Ihat) was set up to investigate claims of murder, torture and wrongdoing by British troops.

Over seven years some 3,668 claims were made, costing the taxpayer 60million  but not one resulted in prosecution.

Mr Williamson said that new measures would help Northern Ireland veterans but also those who served in 'conflicts that have gone on since then, and also conflicts in the future'.

He added: 'We are often asking our service personnel to do the things that few other people would be either willing or capable of doing.

'It is really important that we look at how we provide those service personnel with protections.'

The Defence Secretary also announced yesterday that all soldiers will soon be able to use cyber weapons on the battlefield, saying: 'It is just going to be another weapon that they can use every single day.'They are two of the most recognisable women in the world, both renowned for their passionate activism  and with very high-profile husbands to boot.

So it is little surprise the Duchess of Sussex and Michelle Obama got along famously during a private meeting.

The pair discussed everything from female empowerment to pregnancy tips during their 15-minute chat in London.

Meghan, whose baby with Prince Harry is due in the spring, secretly met the former first lady on Monday.

Meghan, whose baby with Prince Harry is due in the spring, secretly met the former first lady on Monday (Meghan and Harry pictured at St Luke's Church, December 4)

Mrs Obama, 54, had just given a sell-out speech at the Royal Albert Hall to publicise her autobiography, Becoming.

Meghan slipped into the audience with an aide and low-key security to listen to the talk in a private capacity.

Afterwards she went backstage and had a one-to-one with Mrs Obama about supporting women globally, female education, pregnancy and raising children.

It is understood the women, who hadnt met before, formed a strong bond and plan to keep in touch.

Their meeting came after Mrs Obama had offered the duchess advice about coping with her public role in an interview with Good Housekeeping magazine.

It is understood the women, who hadnt met before, formed a strong bond and plan to keep in touch (pictured: Michelle Obama)

She had urged the 37-year-old to take some time and dont be in a hurry to do anything.

Harry is very friendly with the Obamas and last year interviewed former US president Barack Obama in his role as guest editor of BBC Radio 4s Today programme.

The Daily Mail understands Meghan plans to put education for women in developing countries at the heart of her public work when she announces her first royal patronages next year.

The Daily Mail understands Meghan plans to put education for women in developing countries at the heart of her public work when she announces her first royal patronages next year

She has been having secret briefings with a number of organisations, such as Camfed  the Campaign for Female Education  which works in several African countries, including Zambia, which was visited by Prince Harry recently.

The couple are said to be keen to work together on the issue in their role as roving Commonwealth youth ambassadors. Meghan is a passionate advocate of Camfed, which tries to alleviate poverty and inequality through education.

Its chief executive, Lucy Lake, who was with Harry in Zambia, told the Mail she had briefed Meghan privately at Kensington Palace earlier this year about their work in the country, as well as Zimbabwe, Ghana, Tanzania and Malawi.

The duchess also met Zimbabwean-born Angeline Murimirwa, one of the first girls to go to secondary school with the organisations support and now its African executive director.

Mrs Lake said: As an organisation our team very much represents what we are working towards and that was why the duchess was interested to meet with us.

The way both she and her husband have spoken about these issues in such a thoughtful and discerning manner has really helped the wider movement.Police in Costa Rica have arrested a security guard in connection to the murder of a Miami woman whose body was found outside the Airbnb she rented out.

Bismark Espinosa Martinez, 32, of Nicaragua, was taken into custody following the slaying of Carla Stefaniak, 36, who vanished from her San Jose vacation rental last Tuesday while celebrating her 36th birthday.

Director of the country's Judicial Investigation Department, Walter Espinoza, said she died from head trauma, had knife wounds over her neck and arms and investigators found blood inside the property.

He added that the suspect was staying next door to Stefaniak and gave contradictory statements during questioning.

On Monday, officials discovered her body in the back of the rental property, which Stefaniak described in a text message to her sister-in-law as being 'pretty sketchy' last Tuesday night.

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Police in Costa Rica arrested security guard Bismark Espinosa Martinez, 32, (left) in connection to the death of Carla Stefaniak, 36, (right) who vanished from her Airbnb last Tuesday while celebrating her birthday

Her remains had been partially buried and covered with plastic bags, reported NBC6.

According to the Spanish-language news site crhoy.com, specially trained K9 dogs participating in the search for Stefaniak led police to the body at around noon local time.

Stefaniak traveled to Costa Rica with her sister-in-law April Burton last week to celebrate her 36th birthday and was due to fly home to Hallandale Beach alone Wednesday, the day after she dropped April off at the airport.

Carla checked into her 1pm flight, but never showed up to the airport the next morning, November 28.

Her family and friends say they had not heard from her since Tuesday at 8pm.

That's when she texted her sister-in-law from the Airbnb to say it was raining and the power was going out.

Her family have been on the ground in Costa Rica, working with local authorities and questioning witnesses.

A spokesperson for the family said Carla, who works at a Miami insurance agency, dropped her sister-in-law off at the airport in San Jose on November 27 and returned the rental car.

Director of the country's Judicial Investigation Department, Walter Espinoza, said she died from head trauma, had knife wounds over her neck and arms and investigators found blood inside the property

Her sister-in-law April Burton (left, pictured together in Costa Rica) took a flight home the day before Carla (right) and they were last texting around 8pm on November 27

Carla was last seen online around 9pm the night before her flight, she is pictured (right) at the airport heading to Costa Rica and (left) enjoying her vacation days before her disappearance. Officials found her body outside the rental on Monday, and said Tuesday, it is likely her

She then took an Uber to an Airbnb about 30 minutes from the airport. It was the same Uber that drove Carla sightseeing and shopping for the afternoon.

According to family spokesperson Katie Gardner, Carla texted her brother's wife updates and photos throughout the afternoon until she got back to the Airbnb.

'Last time we heard from her was 11/27 around 8pm when she said it was raining crazy and power went out,' April said in an Instagram post in a desperate plea to find her sister-in-law.

'She continued with ''It's pretty sketchy here,''' April said.

April then said she texted Carla to wish her a happy birthday at midnight but received no response.

The next day, April got a call from Carla's friends saying they had wished her a happy birthday but also got no response.

That's when they discovered Carla had never boarded her flight back home.

The Stefaniak family is pictured - Carla with her mother and two brothers

Carla's brother and April's husband Mario Caicedo flew to Costa Rica where he's been working with law enforcement agency Organismo de Investigation Judicial.

'She never got back online to check all these birthday wishes,' he said. 'This is one more thing telling us that she was abducted.'

The Stefaniak family said they spoke to the Uber driver, Airbnb host and security guards who all say they saw Carla leaving the Airbnb with her luggage around 5am and getting into an unknown car.

'The Uber driver arrived around 8am to pick up Stefaniak but could not find her,' Gardner said.

'However, her family says the story does not make sense since her flight was not until that afternoon and the airport was only 30 minutes away.'

According to NBC News, Carla had a FaceTime call with a friend and mentioned that she might ask a security guard at the Airbnb to buy her water because of the storm.

She was last seen online on WhatsApp at 8.20pm before her phone died at 9pm. She has not been online or posted since.

Stefaniak moved to Tampa from Venezuela in 2000 and then settled in Miami in 2012.Advertisement

Donald Trump and Melania Trump visited with members of the Bush family on Tuesday at Blair House, the U.S. president's official guest house  an intra-party walking-on-eggshells moment that appeared cordial despite holding the potential for a diplomatic disaster.

Former first lady Laura Bush went to the White House Tuesday morning for a tour of Christmas decorations from Melania Trump, posing members of the presidential mansion's household staff.

She and former President George W. Bush, whom the current Oval Office occupant once called the 'worst president ever,' greeted the Trumps hours later and disappeared inside Blair House.

President Trump shook both Bushes' hands. Melania opted for kisses on both of their cheeks.

Trump waved to cameras when he and the first lady emerged 23 minutes later.

Despite Blair House's location about 200 feet from the White House's front gates on Pennsylvania Avenue, the Trumps opted for a brief motorcade ride to the other side of the building on a 40-degree afternoon.

Former President George W. Bush kissed first lady Melania Trump on the cheek as the two presidential couples met outside Blair House in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday

The two presidents met cordially during the late President George H.W. Bush's week of State Funeral ceremonies, despite longstanding bad blood between Trump and the Bush family

Former first lady Laura Bush was all smiles as she greeted first lady Melania Bush before the four went inside the home that serves as the president's guest quarters

The two first ladies met at the White House for tea in 2017, and reconnected on Tuesday; Laura Bush called Melania a 'wonderful representative for the United States' last year

President George H.W. Bush died Friday at his home in Houston, Texas; his remains arrived in Washington on Monday and members of his family, including George W. Bush and Laura Bush, are in town to participate in four days of State Funeral proceedings

The Trumps emerged from Blair House after a 23-minute visit, leaving without the Bushes

Trump tweeted in the morning that he was '[l]ooking forward to being with the wonderful Bush family at Blair House today.'

'The former First Lady will be coming over to the White House this morning to be given a tour of the Christmas decorations by Melania. The elegance & precision of the last two days have been remarkable!'

Trump invited the Bushes to stay at Blair House after George H.W. Bush's death on Friday. Ceremonies marking the first day of his extended state funeral gripped the nation Monday.

Laura Bush posted a group photo after her White House social call, saying it was '[a] sweet visit during this somber week.'

'Thanks to Mrs. Trump for inviting our family to the White House to see the Christmas decorations and our old friends, the residence staff.'

President Bush seemed to enjoy meeting Melania Trump, a pleasant distraction in a gut-wrenching week

All smiles: the two first couples met on the sidewalk outside Blair House

After you! George W. Bush motioned for Donald Trump to walk ahead of him up the Blair House steps, but the men walked side-by-side moments later

CNN noted that Mrs. Trump and Mrs. Bush have gotten together before at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. 'I've talked to Melania,' the former first lady said last year. 'I've been back and had tea with her.'

Mrs. Bush said at the time that she thought Melania had 'done a lovely job' and called her a 'wonderful representative for the United States.'

But a long-running family feud between their husbands began in earnest during the 2016 Republican primary season when Donald Trump branded Jeb Bush, George W.'s younger brother and a political rival, as 'low-energy Jeb.'

That characterization stuck as Trump made mincemeat out of 17 rivals including Jeb, who the Republican Party's establishment wing saw as the third rung in his family's dynastic ladder.

In response, Jeb Bush called Trump 'the chaos candidate.' But 'Saturday Night Live' showed Trump won the culture war, with Darrell Hammond in character referring to Jeb as 'Jebra.'

Former first lady Laura Bush (center, in green and pearls), posted a thank-you message on Instagram, calling her White House social call '[a] sweet visit during this somber week'

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump paid a social call on George W. and Laura Bush as tensions simmered beneath the surface of a dignified State Funeral week

Trump has called the younger George Bush the 'worst president ever,' making the Washington-centered memorials for the late President George H.W. Bush awkward

Trump tweeted Tuesday that he was 'looking forward to' a meeting that most political observers expect to be strained and stiff

Following Trump's inauguration ceremony in January 2017, George W. Bush was heard muttering: 'That was some weird s**t.'

Since then the current president has blasted him numerous times for incurring the financial debts and physical casualties associated with the Gulf War.

George W. Bush said in an interview Mark Updegrove's 2017 book 'The Last Republicans' that he wasn't a Trump fan.

'Wow,' he said. 'This guy doesn't know what it means to be president.'

The elder Bush told the same author during the 2016 campaign: 'I dont know much about him, but I know hes a blowhard. And Im not too excited about him being a leader.'

He later told Updegrove that he voted for Hillary Clinton.

Blair House, located across the street from the White House, is a Pennsylvania Avenue address that frequently houses visiting heads of state and other VIP presidential guests

President Barack Obama, right, joined former President George H. W. Bush, left, to present the 5,000th 'Daily Point of Light Award' in 2013, an award given to recognize American volunteerism

Trump mocked the Thousand Points of Light Foundation during a July 5, 2018 rally in Montana, saying he 'never quite got' the point of the slogan behind it

And he made a foray into smashmouth politics in July that was unusually caustic, even for him, bashing President George H.W. Bush's signature volunteerism charity program.

'You know all of the rhetoric you see? "Thousand points of light"  what the hell was that, by the way?' he said during a political rally in Montana. '"Thousand points of light"  what does that mean?'

'I know one thing: "Make America Great Again," we understand,' Trump continued then. '"Putting America first" we understand. "Thousand points of light"? I never quite got that one.'

'What the hell is that? Has anyone ever figured that one out? It was put out by a Republican, wasnt it?'

Trump's elevation at the 2016 Republican National Convention was, politically, a bare-knuckle repudiation of the GOP establishment that the Bushes represent.

President Trump steamrolled through a field of 17 Republican primary contenders in 2016 that included Jeb Bush (2nd right), a former Florida governor and son of the late president George H.W. Bush who was thought to be a shoo-in before the larger-than-life TV star came along

First lady Melania Trump will show off her East Wing Christmas decorations on Tuesday to Laura Bush, who held her position from 2001 to 2009

It's unclear how long this week's Trump-Bush detente might last. The president paid his respects to the late elder Bush on Monday evening, spending less than two minutes in the Capitol Rotunda in a pro-forma moment that was expected but seemed timed to limit the spotlight.

The truce has included Trump offering the use of his Air Force One plane to transport the late president's remains back and forth between Houston and Washington.

And the Bushes avoided an incident by inviting Trump to Wednesday's memorial service  although he won't speak.

Sitting presidents have delivered eulogies at the last three presidential funerals.

But Jeb Bush said Tuesday that his brother had 'dibs' in what was a 'unique situation': a former president speaking at the funeral of his father, another former president.

Trump was snubbed at the last State Funeral, pointedly not invited to attend when Republican Sen. John McCain was laid to rest three months ago.

The Bushes told the White House over the summer that whenever the 41st president passed away, Trump would be welcome.By Azernews





By Abdul Kerimkhanov

The first wine tourist route in the history of Azerbaijan may appear, head of the tourism product development department of the Azerbaijan Tourism Bureau Ilkin Javadov said.

The wine route will be fully developed by mid-2019, said Javadov, Sputnik Azerbaijan reported.

A new highly specialized tourist route will pass through the wineries of Azerbaijan. As Javadov said, the path will run through Absheron, then - through Ismayilli, Shirvan, Gabala, Sheki and Goygol regions.

Tourism experts intend to pave the route in such a way that within a few days foreigners would be taken from one region to another, giving them the opportunity to visit wineries where the legendary Azerbaijani alcoholic beverages are produced.

In addition, tourists will get the opportunity to personally taste wine drinks.

Then, the Tourism Bureau of Azerbaijan intends to connect it with the famous Georgian wine route, paving the way for tourists from Sheki to Kakheti, Georgian region.

Recently, a meeting of wine-making entrepreneurs with Executive Director of the Tourism Bureau Florian Sengstschmid was held. The parties agreed to begin an advertising campaign for new tourism products, after detailed study of the route.

It is possible that by the end of 2019, foreigners will come to Azerbaijan to not only visit Baku but also taste the wines directly from the cellars of the wineries.

Wine is a wonderful Azerbaijani alcoholic drink, which, according to reputable experts, can compete with products of European winemakers. In the Land of Fire, people learned how to do it centuries ago, as evidenced by various archaeological finds. Since ancient times, Azerbaijan has been growing its own, national varieties of grapes, which are not found anywhere else in the world. The most famous among them are Mattress, Ag Shany, Merendi, and Bayanshir. Today the area of vineyards in the country is more than 65,000 hectares, wine products are produced at 32 plants. The range of wines supplied from Azerbaijan includes ordinary, vintage and collectable red and white varieties. Their distinctive features are a pronounced national style, exquisite aroma and many-sided, velvety taste.

Winemaking is one of the profitable and historical spheres of the agro-industry. About 210 wineries operated in Azerbaijan in the 1980s, while over 151,000 workers and specialists worked in the winemaking system.

On the territory of Azerbaijan, both white and red wines are produced. In particular, most wines are produced at the Khachmaz factory. Hence the best white, red and pink wines are exported to Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States, Poland, France, Spain, Turkey and China.

Production of wine and wine-making products in Azerbaijan exceeded 1 million decalitres in 2017, of which 375,000 decalitres were exported. Thus, wine products from the country were mainly sent to Russia (338,000 decals) and China (27,000 decals). Wine exports increased by more than 80 percent over five months of 2018 compared to the first five months of 2017.Longtime Trump advisor Roger Stone is invoking the Fifth Amendment and refusing to hand over documents to the Senate Judiciary Committee, his lawyer wrote the panel.

In a Monday letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, Stone's lawyer, Grant Smith, writes that Stone 'will not produce' documents requested by the top Democrat on the committee.

'Mr. Stone decries secrecy. He will not subject himself to the innuendo of non-public proceedings. Nor will he confirm the existence of, or produce the documents of the request, for the purpose of being used in secret proceedings,' his lawyer writes  summoning an argument former FBI Director James Comey invoked in a failed effort to set the terms of his appearance before the House Intelligence Committee.

'Mr. Stone's invocation of his Fifth Amendment privilege must be understood by all to be the assertion of a Constitutional right by an innocent citizen who denounces secrecy,' according to the letter, which Feinstein sent out via Twitter.

Longtime informal Trump advisor Roger Stone invoked his Fifth Amendment rights and 'will not subject himself to the innuendo of non-public proceedings,' his lawyer told the Senate Judiciary Committee

His lawyer complained about the nature of the document requests that are part of the panel's ongoing inquiry into Russian election interference.

The letter was sent the same day Trump praised Stone for having the 'guts' for saying he wouldn't testify against Trump under any circumstance.

Stone's lawyer told Mother Jones the timing was a coincidence.

'The requests, as previously stated to staff, are far too overbroad, far too overreaching, far too wide ranging both in their all-embracing list of persons to whom the request could relate with whom Mr. Stone has communicated over the past three years, and the 'documents concerning' imprecision of the requests. For the additional reasons set forth below, Mr. Stone respectfully declines to produce any documents and declines the invitation for an interview.'

Stone has said he expects to indicted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Prosecutors have taken an interest in any contacts he had with WikiLeaks during the presidential campaign, when the site published hacked Democratic emails.

Stone hasn't been charged with a crime. He says he didn't have any advanced knowledge of WikiLeaks' plan to release hacked Democratic emails during the campaign.

Feinstein asked Stone for documents in November 2017. In a letter to Stone, she asked for information about his claimed backchannel to WikiLeaks and other matters.

Republicans run the Senate Judiciary panel, and Feinstein lacks the ability to force Stone to testify.

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein released a letter by Stone's lawyer

Feinstein is the top Democrat on the GOP-run Senate Judiciary Committee

Stone's lawyer, Grant Smith, responded to Feinstein

The letter's final paragraph invokes Stone's Fifth Amendment rights

After January, House Democrats could try to force Stone to appear again. Rep. Adam Schiff of California, who is set to lead the House Intelligence panel, has said he believes Stone may have committed perjury when he testified in the House.

He cited newly revealed emails between Stone and conservative conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi discussing WikiLeaks.

'The mere existence of those emails are inconsistent with his testimony before our committee,' Schiff told ABC's 'This Week.'

'That testimony really needs to be provided to the special counsel for consideration of whether perjury charges are warranted,' he added.A college student was killed by an impaired driver who smashed into his vehicle near a New Jersey college on Sunday.

According to a GoFundMe account, Michael Sot, 20, was the designated driver for four other students when the crash occurred about a mile from The College of New Jersey.

Police said a car driven by David Lamar V, 22, crossed into an oncoming lane and collided with the car Sot was driving.

The College of New Jersey student, Michael Sot (pictured), 20, was killed after an impaired driver smashed into his vehicle head-on, police said Sunday

Sot was the designated driver for four other students when the crash (pictured) occurred about a mile from The College of New Jersey

Lamar, who was in the car with one other passenger, was reportedly impaired at the time of the crash.

Sot was rushed to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. Details of Sot's injuries were not revealed.

Danielle DeFlores, 21, Matthew DeGenova, 21, Anthony Galante, 19, and Ryan Moore, 21, were all riding in Sot's vehicle.

All of the students suffered injuries in the crash. Some of those injuries include broken bones, a ruptured bladder and a brain injury, according to NBC.

Police said the crash occurred on Pennington Road, where Sot's father said his son had been driving back and forth to shuttle students to an off-campus party that night.

The College of New Jersey's president, Kathryn A. Foster, told NBC that news of Sot's death 'is heartbreaking'.

Danielle DeFlores, 21, Matthew DeGenova, 21, Anthony Galante, 19, and Ryan Moore (pictured), 21, were all riding in Sot's vehicle. All of the students suffered injuries in the crash. Some of those injuries include broken bones, a ruptured bladder and a brain injury

'Michael was an outstanding student, and a trusted and caring friend with a bright future ahead of him.'

'The TCNJ community is keeping his family, friends and loved ones in its thoughts during this tremendously difficult time,' she added.

The Mercer County Prosecutor's Office said Tuesday that Lamar is expected to be charged with vehicular homicide.

Money raised on GoFundMe will be split between those affected by the crash to help pay for medical bills and other fees.The ECJ's legal adviser has concluded that the UK can still legally choose to withdraw Article 50, and keep current membership terms of the EU without permission from other countries.

Article 50 was invoked by the government on 29 March 2017, and dictates that Britain will leave the union on 29 March 2019.

Revoking it would effectively cancel Brexit and render pointless the last two years of preparations - and Theresa May insists she has no intention of doing it.

If the power was ever used, it would most likely be under a new prime minister following a second referendum.

Parliament would still need to vote for withdrawal of Article 50 - which was triggered with a big majority in 2016.

Some observers have speculated that the government could revoke Article 50 and immediately invoke it again, giving Britain another two years to negotiate another Brexit deal.A NASA scientist says intelligent aliens may have already visited Earth - but claims humans would not have noticed due to their 'extremely tiny' size.

Silvano P. Colombano says the extra-terrestrials would have looked hugely different to the carbon-based organisms currently roaming our planet.

He says that 'super intelligent' aliens would posses technology that humans cannot even imagine, and may have capable of interstellar space-travel.

It comes as NASA scans the universe for civilisations as prat of its 'Search for extraterrestrial intelligence' (SETI) programme.

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Silvano P. Colombano, who works in NASA's Intelligent Systems Division, believes we could have missed alien life,as it could be very different from the traditional carbon based life humanity is used to. Pictured, a classic 'flying saucer.

Dr Colombano told Califoria's SETI-backed Decoding Alien Intelligence Workshop back in March that scientists need to broaden their idea of what an extra-terrestrial would like like.

'I simply want to point out the fact that the intelligence we might find and that might choose to find us (if it hasn't already) might not be at all be produced by carbon based organisms like us,' his report read.

He added that scientists must 're-visit even our most cherished assumptions', which has implications for everything from an alien's lifespan to its height.

'The size of the 'explorer' might be that of an extremely tiny super-intelligent entity,' he says.

He believes scientists are too focused on pursuing signs of modern human technology on other planets.

This could mean missing signals of a civilisation inhabiting a planet far older than Earth, Dr Colombano argues.

Our inability to comprehend how such a planet would look might even mean that we miss any signs of its existence.

A pair of Australian radio telescopes pointed at the same spot in the sky have revealed new clues on the nature of mysterious signals known as fast radio bursts. The ASKAP managed to detect several fast radio bursts during its observation (artist's impression). However, one expert warned that radio waves could be out of date.

He said: 'Considering further that technological development in our civilisation started only about 10K years ago and has seen the rise of scientific methodologies only in the past 500 years, we can surmise that we might have a real problem in predicting technological evolution even for the next thousand years, let alone 6 Million times that amount!'

He also warned that fast radio bursts currently being analysed could be out of date and called for 'speculative physics' grounded in solid theories but 'with some willingness to stretch possibilities as to the nature of space-time and energy' and to 'consider the UFO phenomenon worthy of study'.

The space expert also claimed not every UFO sighting can be 'explained or denied'.Climate change is being caused by sea levels rising unevenly around the world, scientists have found.

They also revealed the encroaching sea levels of the last 25 years are 'human-caused' and will be devastating if they continue to rise.

Experts predict that regions with rapidly rising sea levels, including the Eastern Seaboard of the United States and the Gulf of Mexico, can expect the trend to continue as the climate warms.

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As warm water expands to fill more space than cold water it has a dramatic effect on sea level rise in some areas based on currents and wind. Uneven sea level rise is also influenced by ice sheets, which lose mass as they melt (stock)

'By knowing that climate change is playing a role in creating these regional patterns, we can be more confident that these same patterns may linger or even intensify in the future if climate change continues unabated,' Dr Fasullo at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) said.

'With sea levels projected to rise a couple of feet or more this century on average, information about expected regional differences could be critical for coastal communities as they prepare.'

Dr Fasullo and Dr Steve Nerem at the University of Colorado Boulder, both members of the NASA Sea Level Change Team, analysed satellite data which measured sea surface heights stretching back to 1993.

They mapped global average sea level rise as well as how particular regions were affected compared to the average.

Areas near Antarctica and the West Coast of the US have lower-than-average sea level rise but some, including the US's East Coast and the Philippines and Indonesia, are suffering more.

Sea level varies according to region due to the thermodynamics of the water in the oceans.

SEA LEVELS COULD RISE BY UP TO 4 FEET BY THE YEAR 2300 Global sea levels could rise as much as 1.2 metres (4 feet) by 2300 even if we meet the 2015 Paris climate goals, scientists have warned. The long-term change will be driven by a thaw of ice from Greenland to Antarctica that is set to re-draw global coastlines. Sea level rise threatens cities from Shanghai to London, to low-lying swathes of Florida or Bangladesh, and to entire nations such as the Maldives. It is vital that we curb emissions as soon as possible to avoid an even greater rise, a German-led team of researchers said in a new report. By 2300, the report projected that sea levels would gain by 0.7-1.2 metres, even if almost 200 nations fully meet goals under the 2015 Paris Agreement. Targets set by the accords include cutting greenhouse gas emissions to net zero in the second half of this century. Ocean levels will rise inexorably because heat-trapping industrial gases already emitted will linger in the atmosphere, melting more ice, it said. In addition, water naturally expands as it warms above four degrees Celsius (39.2F). Every five years of delay beyond 2020 in peaking global emissions would mean an extra 20 centimetres (8 inches) of sea level rise by 2300. 'Sea level is often communicated as a really slow process that you can't do much about ... but the next 30 years really matter,' said lead author Dr Matthias Mengel, of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, in Potsdam, Germany. None of the nearly 200 governments to sign the Paris Accords are on track to meet its pledges. Advertisement

Climate change is being caused by sea levels rising unevenly around the world, scientists have found. They also revealed the encroaching sea levels of the last 25 years are 'human-caused' and will be devastating if they continue to rise (stock)

As warm water expands to fill more space than cold water it has a dramatic effect on sea level rise in some areas based on currents and wind.

Uneven sea level rise is also influenced by ice sheets, which lose mass as they melt.

Scientists were not surprised to find that the ocean rises unevenly as phenomena such as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and El Nino create natural shifts in ocean cycles.

'It turns out the sea level rise response to climate change in the Pacific resembles what happens during a particular phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation,' Dr Fasullo said.

'This explains why it's been so difficult to determine how much of the pattern was natural or not, until now.'

The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.A logic-defying material has been created by scientists that thickens as it stretches.

The liquid crystal has yet to be given a name by scientists and is the first synthetic material known to behave this way.

It is hoped it will have wide range of uses, including in body armour, architecture and medical equipment.

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The 'auxetic' stretching property, which is found in human tendons and cat skin, had only been recreated using conventional materials. This is the first synthetic example to be made (pictured)

The discovery by researchers at the University of Leeds marks a major breakthrough which has eluded material scientists for more than 30 years.

The 'auxetic' stretching property, which is found in human tendons and cat skin, had only been recreated using conventional materials.

The new material could pave the way for commercially viable products as creating it does not involve expensive, complex engineering processes such as 3D printing, according to the findings published in the journal Nature Communications.

Lead author Dr Devesh Mistry said: 'This is a really exciting discovery, which will have significant benefits in the future for the development of products with a wide range of applications.

'This new synthetic material is inherently auxetic on the molecular level and is therefore much simpler to fabricate and avoids the problems usually found with engineered products.

'But more research is needed to understand exactly how they can be used.'

He added: 'When we stretch conventional materials, such as steel bars and rubber bands they become thinner. Auxetic materials on the other hand get thicker.

'Auxetics are also great at energy absorption and resisting fracture. There may be many potential applications for materials with these properties including body armour, architecture and medical equipment.'

A Microscope Elastomer Stress-Strain Enclosure (MESSE) (pictured) was used to test and study the liquid crystal. The material could pave the way for commercially viable products as creating it does not involve expensive

HOW DOES A MATERIAL THICKEN WHEN STRETCHED? When we stretch conventional materials, such as steel bars and rubber bands they become thinner. Auxetic materials on the other hand get thicker. Auxetics are also great at energy absorption and resisting fracture. Auxetics are structures or materials that have a negative Poisson's ratio. They thicken because of their particular internal structure and the way this deforms when the sample is uniaxially loaded. The term auxetic derives from the Greek word  (auxetikos) which means "that which tends to increase". Auxin, for example, is a metabolite produced by plants and is responsible for the growth and direction of growth of the organism. Advertisement

He said the identification of a synthetic molecule displaying auxetic behaviour was a major step forward for physicists, materials scientists and development companies.

The researcher added that more research was needed to see how the liquid crystal can be scaled up and made into a marketable product.

He added: 'We have already submitted a patent and are talking to industry about the next steps.'

Liquid crystal elastomer are part liquid-part solid materials used in mobile phone and television screens.

They form completely new properties when they are linked with polymer chains - the building blocks of plastics.

Devesh Mistry and Helen Gleeson (pictured) have discovered the first synthetic material that becomes thicker as it is stretched. The liquid crystal, which is yet to be named, is hoped to have a wide range of applications including in body armour, architecture and medicine

Co-author Professor Helen Gleeson, Head of Physics and Astronomy at Leeds University, said: 'Our results demonstrate a new use for liquid crystals beyond the flat screen monitors and televisions many of us are familiar with.

'This new synthetic material is a great example of what physics research and exploring the potential of materials such as liquid crystals can discover.

'Collaboration between scientists with several areas of expertise and the extensive technical facilities we have at Leeds make this kind of exploration and discovery possible.'

The research team tested the material using the highly specialised instruments and experts from the Leeds Electron Microscopy and Spectroscopy Centre.

Professor Gleeson added: 'We wanted to be sure the material wouldn't break down or become porous when stretched to its limits.'Apple boss Tim Cook said hate speech has 'no place' on the company's platforms in a new swipe at Google and Facebook.

Speaking after being named the inaugural winner of the Anti-Defamation League's Courage Against Hate Award, Mr Cook said the technology company would not tolerate anyone trying to spread hate using the company's products.

Earlier this year Facebook, Google and Twitter were forced to delete more than 30 million posts in just three months following reports of illegal and offensive content.

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Apple boss Tim Cook (pictured) said hate speech has 'no place' on the company's platforms as he accepted an award from a campaign group fighting anti-Semitism

'We only have one message for those who seek to push hate, division, and violence: You have no place on our platform. You have no home here,' he said.

'From the earliest days of iTunes to Apple Music today, we have always prohibited music with a message of white supremacy. Why? Because it's the right thing to do.

'And, as we showed this year, we won't give a platform to violent conspiracy theorists on the App Store. Why? Because it's the right thing to do.'

The comments come as sites like Google and Facebook struggle to curb the spread of spam, hate speech, violence and terrorism on their sites.

Facebook has faced fierce criticism from governments and rights groups for failing to do enough to stem hate speech and prevent the service from being used to promote terrorism, stir sectarian conflict and broadcast acts including murder and suicide.

Facebook disclosed that it disabled 1.3 billion 'fake accounts' in the first half of this year, many of which had 'the intent of spreading spam or conducting illicit activities such as scams'.

Last year a shocking report revealed Google-owned platform YouTube only takes down less than half hate content that gets reported.

'At Apple, we are not afraid to say that our values drive our curation decisions', Mr Cook said.

'And why should we be? Doing what's right, creating experiences free from violence and hate, experiences that empower creativity and new ideas is what our customers want us to do,' he said.

'Technology should be about human attention. It should be about optimism. And we believe the future should belong to those who use technology to build a better, more inclusive, and more hopeful world.'

In September Apple banned the controversial Infowars app from its App Store following similar crackdowns on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Spotify

The Apple chief executive was speaking at the ADL's Never Is Now Summit in New York, where he said the company's products are meant to improve lives.

'Apple is a technology company, but we never forget that the devices we make are imagined by human minds, built by human hands and are meant to improve human lives,' he said.

'I sometimes say that I worry less about computers that look like people, and more about people who think like computers, without values and compassion, without concern for consequences. And so we try to stay rooted and to keep our devices connected to the humanity that makes us us.'

Earlier this year Apple was one of several technology firms to remove conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his Infowars brand from their platforms.

In September Apple banned the controversial Infowars app from its App Store following similar crackdowns on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Spotify.

The company said the app, which belongs to Jones, violated its rules against 'objectionable content'.

The move made Apple the latest tech company or social media platform to take action against Jones, a right-wing talk-show host based in Austin, Texas.

The 44-year-old has suggested on his shows that the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax, among other sensational claims.Robot brothels could soon be accepted by society after research revealed people think that sex with machines is morally acceptable - as long as you're single.

The University of Helsinki found that respondents to a survey are less okay with those in committed relationships having sex with robots.

It comes as manufacturers in China are using artificial intelligence to create 'smart' sex dolls capable of holding basic conversation using an embedded chatbot.

Academic Mika Koverol surveyed hundreds of people on their moral code when it comes to sex and relationships and will present his findings at the International Congress on Love and Sex with Robots in Montana.

Research has found that people think it's morally acceptable to have sex with robots as scientists develop 'smart' sex dolls in China

He asked respondents in two separate studies to judge the moral character and actions of characters in a science fiction scenario, New Scientist reports.

The story's main protagonist varied between male or female and single or married and the narrative was set in the year 2035.

He or she visits a European city and decides to visit a brothel, at which one of two signs would appear above the door.

In one version, the sign read: 'You cannot tell out robots from real humans.' The other said: 'All our workers are real humans.'

The character pays for unspecified sexual services in both scenarios and respondents were then asked about their feelings on the scenario.

Overall, people condemned the married character who paid for sex most harshly and singletons less.

Respondents who had more sexual experience were more permissive on the idea of going to a brothel, whether or not it featured robots. Women tended to be harsher in their condemnation of characters than men were.

Pictured: Heads of 'smart' sex dolls made in Dongguan, China, as scientists experiment with artificial intelligence in order to create robots that can hold conversation

A worker is shown assembling a stainless steel skeleton for a 'smart' sex doll in China made by Shenzhen Atall Intelligent Robot Technology

The study measured people's disgust levels with questionnaires on moral, sexual and germ-related disgust.

Respondents who scored highly on the germ disgust scale also tended to condemn the use of any paid sex worker - be they human or machine - but only when the character was married.

The study in Finland ran two surveys of 172 and 260 people. Tufts University researcher Thomas Arnold has also researched the topic and agrees that relationships seem to drive how people judge sex with robots.

'The more you start thinking about it as something that could compete against or interfere with your relationships, that seems to be what people morally object to,' he said.

Robot brothels could be the future of the sex industry as participants in a study found them to be morally acceptable for single people (pictured, a worker assembles a doll in Guandong Province, China)

His study found that respondents considered machine sex akin to using a sex toy.

Koverola's research did not define for participants what the robotic prostitutes would look like, leaving it open to their imagination as to whether they had human features.

Basic humanoid versions of sex robots are able to hold conversations, swivel their heads and present facial expressions.

A robot brothel was blocked from opening by Houston City Council in Texas but a similar facility is planned for California.

However the owners have raised only one per cent of the cash required with their crowd-funding campaign.Russia might have just put a new secret weapon into orbit as part of a scheduled launch, according to a new report.

The US military has raised concerns about the mysterious Russian launch after they found five orbital bodies leaving the rocket instead of four, as previously suggested.

The US Combined Space Operations Centre (CSpOC) believe that either the rocket's upper stage broke in two, or the Russians had kept part of the launch secret.

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Russia might have just put a new secret weapon into orbit as part of a scheduled launch, according to a new report (file photo, Soyuz)

The rocket, launched from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Western Russia, was set to launch three new communications satellites.

Along with the rocket upper stage, this would have made a total of four orbital bodies.

It's not uncommon for governments to want to put satellites into orbit without foreign competitors finding out about it, according to the in-depth investigation by News Rep.

However, this latest release is particularly worrying as Russia has been accused of releasing 'inspector satellites' on multiple occasions.

These satellites are believed to be weaponised and could pose a serious threat to the orbital operations of other countries.

They could destroy other satellites by nudging them into the Earth's atmosphere, experts say.

These satellites (stock image) are believed to be weaponised and could pose a serious threat to the orbital operations of other countries

Earlier this year a high-ranking US official has warned the United Nations (UN) that unusual activity in space by Russia may be proof the country is readying a 'combat laser system'.

Yleem Poblete, assistant secretary for arms control, verification, and compliance, told the UN that the United States is concerned by the behaviour of Russia's 'so-called 'space apparatus inspector' and its unusual activity.

The official went on to warn the gathering that Russia has taken delivery of a 'combat laser system' which could be capable of knocking American satellites offline.

Dr Poblete claims this is evidence of the difference between Russia's diplomatic rhetoric and the actions of its military.

Dr Yleem Poblete was sworn in as Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance on April 30, 2018.

She has previously voiced concern of the odd behaviour of the Russian satellite that was launched in October 2017, saying the behaviour was 'inconsistent with anything seen before'.

Dr Poblete, said this is an indication of Russia's intention to militarise space with offensive weaponry and said the disparity between the Russian's public appearence and their true intentions is growing.

'To the United States, these developments are yet further proof that Russian military actions do not match their diplomatic rhetoric,' Dr Poblete explained.

The US is working on a similar plan to take their military to space in an initiative that involves a US military branch dedicated to the final frontier.

US president Donald Trump has recently revealed his plan to include a Space Force plan in the 2020 budget request.

Despite the intentions of the US, the global superpower is growing increasingly worried with Russia's unusual behaviour.Advertisement

Archaeologists have been given fresh hope in the search for more Dead Sea Scrolls manuscripts after stumbling across 2,000-year-old pottery.

Evangelicals digging at the ancient settlement of Qumran, where the first scrolls were discovered in 1947, previously thought they had exhausted all discoveries at Cave 53 and had given up on unearthing any more parchments.

But more than seven decades since Bedouin goat herders peered into a cave and found the Jewish separatist texts, archaeologist Randall Price and his team have made a discovery that has encouraged them to keep searching.

Mr Price, a Texan theologian, shared the fruits of his Israeli team's labour with National Geographic as he ploughs on with Hebrew University work some regard as illegal as the site is in the occupied West Bank.

Oren Gutfeld is pictured at Cave 53 - where he has previously turned up blank parchment that has fuelled hopes for finding more Dead Sea Scrolls

Pictured: The storage room of an Israeli antique shop in Jerusalem's Old City as evangelicals fuel demand for relics

Digs for the scrolls have been a source of controversy since the 1967 Six-Day War and Israel's opponents argue that searches should not be carried out without Palestinian involvement.

It comes after dig director Oren Gutfeld came across blank rolls of parchment in Cave 53, prompting him to say: 'It was blank - but next time maybe it won't be.'

The initial find of seven parchments reveled that the scrolls were placed in the cave around AD70 but the oldest date back as far as 300BC.

After the Israeli government signed the Oslo Accords to transfer territories to Palestinian control in 1993, it launched an urgent survey of archaeological sites it stood to lose.

One of the sites they mapped was recorded as Cave 53, which caught Price's attention in 2010 and later Gutfeld, who described it as a 'juicy' cave

Cambridge University Library conservator Emma Nichols examines a Hebrew text. the centre houses 200,000 Jewish manuscripts

Father Jean-Michel de Tarragon studies archival photographs at Jerusalem's Ecole Biblique after his team led the search for the Dead Sea Scrolls

Two years ago archaeologists found blank parchment and broken jars, which they believe is evidence that it housed scrolls - but by January this year they were ready to walk away from the cave, which was looted 40 years ago.

However on Monday last week Mr Price said that a shallow dig unearthed evidence that his team could be close to finding their 'mother lode'.

'They didn't dig very deep,' he said. 'Our hope is that if we keep digging, we hit the mother lode.'

The diggers are responding to demand from US evangelicals as relics are shipped to Christian theme parks in Florida.

The Bedouins who stumbled on the first seven parchments are said to have sold them to two Bethlehem antiquities dealers.

This Wycliffe New Testament - which was pivotal in translating texts from Latin into common language - is displayed at The Holy Land Experience in Florida

This 1611 publication of the King James Bible is among the relics that are displayed for Christians in America. This is one of only two first editions in existence and is on display in Washington DC

Stunning images of relics were revealed in National Geographic following last week's finding in Cave 53

A Jerusalem scholar got hold of three of the scrolls after a clandestine meeting through a barbed wire fence.

Then dealer Khalil Iskander Shahin sold the four remaining scrolls to a Syrian archbishop in Jerusalem, who later smuggled them to the US when he feared for their safety during 1949's Arab-Israeli War

But after receiving no buyers at American universities, the scrolls were bought in 1954 by an Israeli archaeologist and they reside in the Israeli wing of the country's national museum in Jerusalem.

By by the mid-2000s, translators had published most of their findings. Scrolls ranged from apocalyptic treatises to accounts of daily life in the Qumran sect

There were remnants of 230 biblical manuscripts and among them was an almost complete copy of Isaiah from the Hebrew Bible.

Archaeologists have braved snakes, sandstorms and armed bandits to hunt for relics since the 19th Century.

German scholar Konstantin von Tischendorf journeyed through the Sinai desert in 1844 to the oldest continuously inhabited Christian monastery, St. Catherine's.

There he encountered the fourth century Codex Sinaiticus, one of the two oldest Christian Bibles.

He rescued the codex from a basket of old parchment that the monastery's monks had planned to burn.

The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered between 1946 and 1956 and date back 2,000 years Discovered between 1946 and 1956, the Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of 972 ancient manuscripts dating back to 2,000 years ago. The texts include tends of thousands of parchment and papyrus fragments and in rare cases entire manuscripts. They contain parts of what is now known as the Hebrew Bible as well as a range of extra-biblical documents. The scrolls were found by shepherd Muhammed Edh-Dhib as he searched for a stray among the limestone cliffs at Khirbet Qumran on the shores of the Dead Sea in what was then British Mandate Palestine - now the West Bank. The story goes that in a cave in the dark crevice of a steep rocky hillside, Muhammed hurled a stone into the dark interior and was startled to hear the sound of breaking pots. The Dead Sea Scrolls, which include tends of thousands of parchment and papyrus fragments (file photo), contain parts of what is now known as the Hebrew Bible. They also feature a range of extra-biblical documents Venturing inside, the young Bedouin found a mysterious collection of large clay jars in which he found old scrolls, some wrapped in linen and blackened with age. The texts have since been excavated by archaeologists, who are now racing to digitise their contents before they deteriorate beyond legibility. The texts are of great historical and religious significance and include the earliest known surviving copies of biblical and extra-biblical documents, as well as preserving evidence of diversity in late Second Temple Judaism. Dated to between 408BC and 318AD, they are written in Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Nabataean, mostly on parchment, but with some written on papyrus and bronze. The scrolls are traditionally divided into three groups. 'Biblical' manuscripts, which are copies of texts from the Hebrew Bible comprise 40 per cent of the haul. The Dead Sea Scrolls were found by shepherd Muhammed Edh-Dhib as he searched for a stray among the limestone cliffs at Khirbet Qumran on the shores of the Dead Sea Advertisement

The monks were not so willing to part with the parchment once they realised the scholar's excitement.

Eventually they 'donated' the codex to Russia, but it is disputed s to whether they were pressured.

Soviet leader Joseph Stalin sold it to the British Museum in 1933 for the equivalent of nearly half a million US dollars as his dictatorship faced famine.

Scottish twins Agnes Smith Lewis and Margaret Dunlop Gibson have also visited Mount Sinai and in 1892 discovered the Codex Sinaiticus Syriacus translation of the four Gospels, dating back to the 400s.

Lost Gospels that didn't make it into the New Testament were found in the Egyptian city of Oxyrhynchus in 1896 by Oxford University's Bernard Grenfell and Arthur Hunt.By Trend





The ceasefire monitoring at the contact line between the troops of Azerbaijan and Armenia, in the direction of Fuzuli district, held in accordance with the mandate of Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on December 4, ended with no incident, the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan said in a message on Dec. 4.

The Personal Representatives field assistants Ognjen Jovic and Simon Tiller carried out the monitoring from the territory of Azerbaijan.

The Personal Representatives field assistants Michael Olaru, Ghenadie Petrica and Martin Schuster carried out the monitoring on the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan occupied and controlled by the armed forces of Armenia.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.



Neuroscientists have finally worked out why time passes so slowly when we're bored.

They believe a region of the brain called the lateral entorhinal cortex (LEC) is responsible for recording events in time, generating mini 'time-stamps' every time we do something.

The LEC then fires these signals into the neighbouring hippocampus, where memories are stored.

If we do the same thing over and over again - such as travelling to work - these time-stamps are so similar they blur and become difficult to separate, giving us the impression time is passing slowly.

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Neuroscientists have finally worked out why time might pass so slowly when we're bored. They believe a region of the brain called the lateral entorhinal cortex (LEC) is responsible for recording events in time, generating mini 'time-stamps' for each one (stock image)

According to an in-depth feature by Ingfei Chen for the New Yorker, neuroscientist Albert Tsao first started looking at the LEC region of the brain back in in 2007.

Using experiments with rats, Dr Tsao - who is now a researcher at Stanford University - first suggested that neurons in the LEC could be recording the passage of time.

He found that the electrical spikes from neurons were more pronounced with rats on trips out to find food.

Each expedition was recorded separately with a different spike of activity.

However, when the rats ran in a continuous loop to find food (and were probably less stimulated), the LEC didn't separate one trip from the next.

Dr Tsao believes that when in the continuous track the time-stamps were 'so similar it's difficult to separate these sequences from each other'.

From this research, he suggested that the LEC measured time like 'encoding ongoing experience.'

The LEC is just next to the well-studied medial entorhinal cortex which scientists believe is responsible for locating our memories.

They believe that neurons in the hippocampus rely on inputs from both the lateral and medial entorhinal cortex.

It is in these two regions where the where and when of our memories are formed.

'The same cells, we imagine, get information both about space and about time, said Edvard Moser, professor of psychology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, who was also one of the researchers.

This encoding of time was not found in the medial entorhinal cortex or in the hippocampus, researchers wrote in the paper published in Nature earlier this year.

They believe a region of the brain called the lateral entorhinal cortex (LEC) is responsible for recording events in time, generating mini 'time-stamps' every time we do something. The LEC then fires these signals into the neighbouring hippocampus, where memories are stored

Researchers believe that neurons in the hippocampus (pictured, MRI scan) rely on inputs from both the lateral and medial entorhinal cortex which are nearby. It is in these two regions where the where and when of our memories are formed

However, other scientists are sceptical of these findings.

Gyorgy Buzsaki, a neuroscientist at New York University says that neural activity always correlates with time.

The fact that these researchers have found these spikes of activity does not mean they are measuring or marking time.

He argued that clocks are cultural constructions, with other human societies conceiving of time more in terms of 'change'.

'It has to be measuring something else, such as change or speed or acceleration, for which we do have sensors,' he said.

Researchers involved with the experiment say that the LEC shows changing sequences of activity.

In order to explore this region further, neuroscientists are set to block the activity of the LEC in a rat's brain to see how it remembers events.

Scientists also want to look at the brain of people suffering from Alzheimer's as the entorhinal cortex is one of the first regions to be affected.A highly sensitive airport scanner is set to be trialled at Cardiff Airport as part of a plan to slash waiting times at security.

The walk-through scanner uses sensors originally designed to detect astronomical activity in deep space and has applied the technology to assessing the human body.

It studies the faint light emitted by human bodies and spots hidden objects.

An operator see the outlines of these dark spots and a computer programme then identifies them from their silhouette to discern between a mobile phone and a gun, for example.

The walk-through scanner uses sensors originally designed to detect astronomical activity in deep space and has applied the technology to assessing the human body

Scientists from Cardiff University and QMC Instruments said the new scanner, which will be trialled at Cardiff Airport between December 4 and 7, would also no longer require passengers to remove jackets or items from their pockets at security.

Ken Wood, sales and marketing director of Sequestim, the joint venture between the university and QMC Instruments, said: 'Passenger numbers are expected to double in 20 years, putting airport security facilities under immense pressure.

'Our scanner combines a number of world-leading technologies developed by our team here in the UK. It uses the human body as a source of 'light', in contrast with existing scanners which process reflected and scattered millimetre-waves while the passenger is required to strike a pose.

'Our system only needs a few seconds to do its work. Passengers walking normally through security would no longer need to take off coats and jackets, or remove personal items such as phones.'

The project is one of eight to have received funding from 1.8 million ($2.3 million) made available by the Government through a defence and security accelerator competition

An operator see the outlines of these dark spots and a computer programme then identifies them from their silhouette to discern between a mobile phone and a gun, for example

The project is one of eight to have received funding from 1.8 million ($2.3 million) made available by the Government through a defence and security accelerator competition.

Aviation minister Liz Sugg said: 'We have a proud history of innovation here in the UK and passenger safety across all modes of transport remains an important priority for the Government.

'The Future Aviation Security Solutions programme demonstrates our support for pioneering projects that can help to reduce security threats in airports.

'I am pleased to see that the funding awarded to Sequestim has helped the team take space technology and trial it as part of a new passenger screening system at Cardiff Airport.'Googles private browsing options may not be as incognito as you'd expect.

New research into Googles filter bubbles, in which search results are personalized based on the data its collected about you, has found that logging out or switching to Incognito Mode does almost nothing to shield you from targeted results.

By comparing search results for controversial topics, including gun control, immigration, and vaccinations, the study (notably conducted by rival search engine, DuckDuckGo) uncovered significant variations in what different users were shown.

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New research into Googles filter bubbles, in which search results are personalized based on the data its collected about you, has found that logging out or switching to Incognito Mode does almost nothing to shield you from targeted results. File photo

Despite the common assumption that logging out or going Incognito provides anonymity, DuckDuckGo points out that this isnt really the case.

Websites use several other identifying factors to keep tabs on users activity, including IP addresses.

To highlight the issue, DuckDuckGo recruited volunteers in the US to perform a series of searches for the terms gun control, immigration, and vaccinations.

All were tasked to do this at the same time, at 9pm ET on Sunday, June 24, in Incognito, logged out, and then logged back in.

The study also controlled for location, DuckDuckGo notes.

This made for 87 sets of results in total, with 76 desktop users and 11 mobile users.

Despite the anonymized conditions, which would be expected to produce the same results across the board, most of the participants still appeared to see personalized results.

Private searches for gun control, for example, yielded 62 different sets of results for the 76 participants.

By comparing search results for controversial topics, including gun control, immigration, and vaccinations, the study (notably conducted by rival search engine, DuckDuckGo) uncovered significant variations in what different users were shown. This is illustrated above

DuckDuckGo recruited volunteers in the US to perform a series of searches for the terms gun control, immigration, and vaccinations. All were tasked to do this at the same time, at 9pm ET on Sunday, June 24, in Incognito. The study also controlled for location

Similar trends were seen in searches for the other two terms, with 57 variations in immigration results, and 73 variations in vaccinations results.

Users were shown links in different orders, and some were shown links that were not displayed to others.

News and Video infoboxes, in particular, demonstrated significant variation.

WHAT WEBSITES ARE MOST SECURE? Cybersecurity firm Dashlane looked at 22 different websites and ranked them based on how secure they are and their login protocols. One point was awarded for the presence of SMS/email authentication and a software token for of authentication but three points were awarded for the use of hardware tokens. The cybersecurty firm considered anything less than full marks and the presence of all three security measures to be a fail. 2018 UK Rankings 5/5 Points - PASS Facebook

Google

Twitter

Battle.net 2/5 Points - FAIL Amazon

Apple

Evernote

Instagram

Patreon

Slack 1/5 Point - FAIL Airbnb

eBay

Indeed

LinkedIn

Yahoo! 0/5 Points - FAIL Asos

Trip Advisor Advertisement

A search for immigration, for example, pulled up six variations from six different sources in the Videos infobox, while gun control led to 12 variations from 7 sources.

According to DuckDuckGo, the findings indicate that it's simply not possible to use Google search and avoid its filter bubble.

While the motivations behind the study are undoubtedly biased, the findings still stand as a reminder that true anonymity on the internet isnt as straightforward as it might seem.Security officers at Spain's busiest airport are threatening to go on strike after claiming they've been given insufficient clothing to keep them warm in the cold.

The union Alternativa Sindical has announced the call for a walkout from December 21 and over the Christmas period at the Adolfo Suarez Madrid Barajas airport.

The strike would affect all security officers who patrol inside and outside the airport, including around its borders.

Security officers at Spain's busiest airport, Madrid Barajas, pictured, are threatening to go on strike after claiming they've been given insufficient clothing to keep them warm in the cold

The union says 300 workers with Eulen, which runs the service, have also not been paid a bonus as promised during early negotiations.

It also claims the 'law of prevention of occupational hazards' is being contravened because the company is not providing the security officers, who have to stand in drafty areas or outside in the cold, with warm clothing during extreme weather.

Air traffic experts say the strike would cause inconvenience for travellers but they do not envisage the same kind of chaos and massive queues that formed during a similar strike 18 months ago at El Prat airport in Barcelona.

This is because the strike call does not currently include officers who inspect passengers before they board flights.

However, Alternativa Sindical says it cannot rule out these workers joining them in the strike in the next few days.

The strike would affect all security officers who patrol inside and outside the airport, pictured, including around its borders

The union claims Ilunion, which represents the security officers who inspect travellers, is also violating earlier agreements.

A spokesman for Alternariva Sindical warned: 'We would call the strike off if progress is made along the way and the conditions which ended the conflict in El Prat are agreed.

'But workers will not be satisfied by mere compromises and words.'

The strike action would continue until January 8 if it goes ahead.Shes been lighting up our TV screens for more than a decade with her talent and girl-next-door beauty.

But Holly Willoughby has admitted that it is only now she feels happy enough with her looks to leave the house without make-up on.

The ITV presenter, 37, currently hosting Im a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!, told the new issue of Red magazine she was once so insecure she wouldnt even go to the shops without at least applying mascara.

Confident: Holly Willoughby spoke to Red Magazine and admitted that it is only now she feels happy enough with her looks to leave the house without make-up on

I feel like now Im getting older, Im much happier with my face as it is now than when I was younger, she said.

There was a time where I wouldnt go out of the house without at least putting mascara on. Now I literally dont care. Im not afraid of how I look in the mirror.

She also revealed how she maintains a work-life balance despite presenting duties including early starts for This Morning.

The former model said she dedicates the weekends solely to her family  husband Dan Baldwin, 43, and their children Harry, nine, Belle, seven, and Chester, four.

In her own skin: The blonde beauty added, 'There was a time where I wouldnt go out of the house without at least putting mascara on. Now I literally dont care. Im not afraid of how I look in the mirror'

Insecure: Holly says she's grown more confidence about her looks over the years, since her early days on screen. Pictured presenting The Ministry of Mayhem in 2004

Before fame: Holly, pictured in 1999 in a modelling shot, started her TV career with CBBC in 2000, working as a runner and receptionist behind the scenes before gaining fame

I dont really see anybody, she told Red. I turn down a lot of stuff  even friend stuff  and because theyre friends, they understand that I just want to be able to sit at home, order a takeaway and watch telly with my family.

Despite juggling her successful career with raising three children under ten, she said it was a misconception that she wants to have it all.

The presenter has admitted that her family and work obligations forced her to pull out of a deal with Dragons Den star Peter Jones.

The pair had been due to launch lifestyle brand Truly this autumn, but Miss Willoughby dropped out in September, fearing the venture would affect her time with her family.

Happy as she is: Despite juggling her successful career with raising three children under ten, she said it was a misconception that she wants to have it all

She said the project would need total dedication but that with her many other commitments she could not do the role without ruining her work-life balance.

The biggest misconception about me is that people seem to think that I want it all and that I had it all, and I walked away from having it all, she said. That was never part of it. I never wanted it all.

The full interview appears in the January issue of Red, on sale 4th December

Holly received glowing reviews from fans for her role on Im A Celebrity alongside Declan Donnelly, who is hosting the jungle reality show without Ant McPartlin for the first time.

Her daily fashion choices in particular have caused a stir, with many of the pieces selling out online after she features them on her social media pages.

Im not completely straight up and down, Im curvy, so I think Im sort of a normal shape, wearing normal clothes, she said.

That makes people go, Oh yes, I might look like that in that.

But she insisted that her style has to be functional to cope with her busy family life.

She also revealed that her style inspiration is Cate Blanchett as 'shes really feminine but strong'.

On Sunday, Noel Edmonds denied claims of a feud with Holly and said they hugged and made up after his shock exit from Im a Celebrity.

The pair previously fell out during a heated debate over cancer on This Morning in 2016.

Noel, 69, was the first to be eliminated from the Australian jungle on Friday. On Good Morning Britain yesterday, he said: I respect Holly as a broadcaster. We had a spat on This Morning. We hugged. There is no feud.

The full interview with Holly appears in the January issue of Red, on sale 4th December.He shocked the nation when he was caught kissing his married Strictly Come Dancing dance partner Katya Jones.

And Seann Walsh put on a brave face for a night of laughter at Michael McIntrye's Christmas Special, held at the Eventim Apollo in London on Monday.

The comedian, 32, appeared at the event, which aims to raise money for Julia's House children's hospice and Comic Relief.

In high spirits: Seann Walsh put on a brave face for a night of laughter at Michael McIntrye's Christmas Special, held at the Eventim Apollo in London on Monday

He flashed a wave as he made his way to the theatre in a red blazer and matching trousers.

Last week, it was announced the former contestant would not be taking part in the Strictly live tour due to his infamous boozy kiss with Katya, who is married to Strictly's Neil Jones.

The Sun reported that Seann had been banned from the tour was because the scandal didn't fit with Strictly's 'family-friendly' brand.

Funny man: Micahel McIntyre put on the show, which aims to raise money for Julia's House children's hospice and Comic Relief

Brave face? Seann flashed a wave as he made his way to the theatre in a red blazer and matching trousers which he teamed with a black shirt

An insider told the newspaper: 'The Strictly tour is a really wholesome, family-fun event. It's all about good, clean fun and we don't think a man who snogs married women in the street fits that image.'

But this led to a host of fans questioning the show's 'double standards' as Katya, 29, was still allowed to partake in the live tour.

It has been seven weeks since Katya and Seann gave way to their passions and shared a kiss outside a pub on a night out.

Back together: Axed Strictly Come Dancing contestant Seann and his professional partner Katya are reportedly set to reunite on the BBC One series' finale next month

The duo faced a huge backlash after pictures surfaced of the pair locking lips on their booze-fueled night out in London.

The comedian issued a feeble apology in which he blamed his actions on alcohol, branding it a 'one-off' and a 'mistake'.

Katya echoed the sentiments, claiming she was sorry for the 'hurt' she had caused by her actions, but insisted her marriage to fellow Strictly Come Dancing professional Neil is 'absolutely fine'.

After the kiss came to light, Seann was publicly dumped by his ex-girlfriend of five years Rebecca Humphries online in a scathing statement in which she revealed she had left the star and took their beloved cat Winston.

Dilemma: The controversial pictures of the kiss have tested Katya and Neil's marriage

The controversial pictures of the kiss have tested Katya and Neil's marriage, but the pair have seemed keen to prove the scandal hadn't ruined their romance - with Neil choosing to remain silent on the scandal.

The married couple were recently seen putting on an overly-loved-up display at the Macmillan's charity gala; yet insiders have suggested things aren't so rosy behind closed doors.

A source told The Mirror: 'Things were clearly very awkward between them. They were avoiding each other whenever they were off-camera and Katya seemed like she was a completely different person when she wasn't with Neil.They have faced ongoing speculation about the authenticity of their romance ever since The Bachelorette finale aired last month.

And Ali Oetjen and Taite Radley raised eyebrows this week, after a body language expert suggested they were simply 'keeping up appearances'.

Louise Mahler told New Idea that footage of the reality TV couple arriving at Adelaide Airport on Thursday could be proof they 'have a deal'.

'They know they are being watched': A body language expert has claimed The Bachelorette's Ali Oetjen and Taite Radley may 'have a deal', after they displayed rather awkward body language at Adelaide Airport on Thursday

'Overall this behaviour says, 'This is a couple that know each other, have a deal, and know they are being watched',' Louise claimed.

She added: 'They do not necessarily look at each other mutually and when they do they do meet eyes there is no spontaneous reaction - no smile.'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ali and Taite for comment.

Leak: It comes several days after a leaked email, which was riddled with spelling errors, supposedly revealed the couple are looking for a manager

It comes several days after a leaked email, which was riddled with spelling errors, supposedly revealed the couple are looking for a manager.

Taite reportedly wrote: 'Being both into Heath (sic) and fitness, we're looking at getting some good management to help strengthen our brand.'

Meanwhile, Woman's Day claimed last week that the pair were only staying together 'for the sake of the franchise'.

Is it real love? Meanwhile, Woman's Day claimed last week that the pair were only staying together 'for the sake of the franchise'

An anonymous Bachelorette producer also previously alleged the couple will be over 'in less than six months' because Taite is only looking for fame.

'Mark my words, [the split] will be framed in such a way that Ali ended it and that [Taite] is the one who is devastated so he can still try to win public support and get The Bachelor gig,' the source told Who magazine.Her wardrobe is any fashionista's dream, bursting with designer items.

And Petra Ecclestone proved exactly why as she looked stunning while heading out for some Christmas shopping in West Hollywood, California on Monday.

The socialite, 29, rocked a 1,302 Amiri jumper with red jeans to showcase her lithe figure.

Big spender: Petra Ecclestone headed for some Christmas shopping in West Hollywood, California on Monday in a 1,302 Amiri jumper

She paired her outfit with black Chanel shoes and a matching quilted Chanel rucksack.

The mother-of-three piled her hair into a simple knot on her head and covered her peepers in large sunglasses.

She went make-up free for the outing and let her natural beauty shine through while drawing attention to her large gold hoop earrings.

The solo outing comes as Petra has been spotted cosying up to new beau art curator Sam Palmer a lot last month.

Covered up: She paired her outfit with black Chanel shoes and a matching quilted Chanel rucksack

Natural: The mother-of-three piled her hair into a simple knot on her head and covered her peepers in large frame sunglasses

Petra shares three children with her ex-husband James Stunt; daughter Lavinia, five, and twin boys Andrew and James, three.

The model tied the knot with her former partner, 36, in a lavish ceremony in Italy in 2011, and they divorced in 2017 after a bitter split.

Speaking about her new relationship with Sam to the Mail On Sunday's YOU magazine, Petra revealed that her life has not turned out how she expected.

New love? The solo outing comes as Petra has been spotted cosying up to new beau art curator Sam Palmer a lot in the last month

Date night: Petra with boyfriend Sam Palmer at the VIP preview of Empyrean by Raphael Mazzucco at the Maddox Gallery in Los Angeles last month

She said: 'It's very early-on dating. The whole thing is quite strange because my life didn't pan out the way I expected it to. I thought I wasn't the type who believed in divorce.

'I go to church and I got married thinking I would be with that person for the rest of my life. But things happen for a reason and, whatever that reason is, I've now got my three kids.'

Speaking to MailOnline, Petra told how she found becoming a single mother an 'isolating' experience.

She said: 'It was lonely. It definitely was an isolating experience. [Being a mother] takes over your whole day and life.'She is known for her incredible figure and for making waves on the dance floor with her beats.

But Chantel Jeffries was spotted enjoying a different type of waves on Monday as she was spotted in Miami Beach.

The 26-year-old model/DJ flaunted her bikini body as she splashed about with Instagram models Jocelyn Chew and Anastasia Karanikolaou.

Stunning: Chantel Jeffries was spotted enjoying a different type of waves on Monday as she was spotted in Miami Beach

Chantel sported a white, black, and red bikini that highlighted he ample cleavage and also brought attention to her sculpted stomach.

Her dark, wet tresses were pushed straight back behind her head and feel freely down her back.

She accessorized with two gold necklaces, and three different pairs of earrings, and painted her lips a soft pink.

Glistening: The 26-year-old model/DJ flaunted her bikini body as she splashed about with Instagram models Jocelyn Chew and Anastasia Karanikolaou

Beach life: Chantel sported a white, black, and red bikini that highlighted he ample cleavage and also brought attention to her sculpted stomach

Relaxing: She accessorized with two gold necklaces, and three different pairs of earrings, and painted her lips a soft pink

Chantel was spotted at the beach with fellow models, Jocelyn, 26 , and Anastasia, 21.

Jocelyn, who has been linked to Sean 'Diddy' Combs since his breakup with Cassie, looked stunning in a black bikini.

Anastasia, known for being one of Kylie Jenner's best friends, dazzled under the Florida sun in a turquoise two piece.

Friends: Chantel was spotted at the beach with fellow models, Jocelyn, 26 , and Anastasia, 21

Jocelyn, who has been linked to Sean 'Diddy' Combs since his breakup with Cassie, looked stunning in a black bikini

Beach trio: Jeffries hit the beach with Chew and Karanikolaou

Chantel recently returned from a trip to Mexico, where she did much of the same as she was doing in Miami - frolicked about the beach.

Prior to that she was in Jamaica alongside Vogue model Shanina Shaik and WAGS star Nicole Williams.

Earlier in November, Chantel was on hand to watch Shanina and the other models at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in New York City.

Chantel recently returned from a trip to Mexico, where she did much of the same as she was doing in Miami - frolicked about the beach

Hanging out: Prior to that she was in Jamaica alongside Vogue model Shanina Shaik and WAGS star Nicole Williams

Laying out: Earlier in November, Chantel was on hand to watch Shanina and the other models at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in New York City

Drink me! The model kept cool in the scorching sunshine when she sipped on her iced beverage while she lounged on the sunbed

Hot, hot, hot: Chantel ran her fingers through her dark haired locks when she relaxed with her pal under the sunshine

Sizzling: The beauty displayed her eye-popping assets in her skimpy bikini bralet

Leggy lady: Chantel showcased her model-honed legs in a pair of flirty thigh-grazing denim shorts when she hit the beach for the afternoonMelanie Griffith has revealed she desperately tried to seduce Alec Baldwin while filming Working Girl  but he turned her down.

The 61-year-old actress gave an Oscar-nominated performance as secretary Tess McGill, trying to scramble up the corporate investment ladder in the 1988 classic.

Alec, 60, played her cheating boyfriend in one of his first big roles.

'Hes a sweetheart': Melanie Griffith said she tried, but failed, to seduce Working Girl co-star Alec Baldwin in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter for the movie's 30th anniversary

Alec Baldwin is handsome and charming, and I just had such a crush on him,' she dished to The Hollywood Reporter in an interview to celebrate the movies 30th anniversary, published on Monday.

'But he wouldnt go there with me. I was like, Oh come on, have a romance with me! But no, Alec said, I cant do this with people I work with. Hes a sweetheart.'

Melanie said she ended up dating Axiom capital management CEO Liam Dalton after they were introduced by Working Girl director Mike Nicholls, who was 83 when he died in 2014.

'Mike came to me one day and said that there was this investment banker, a young guy named Liam Dalton, who he wanted me to work with, to teach me about mergers and acquisitions,' for her role.

Still a beauty: The actress, 61, seen out in Los Angeles last month, was Oscar-nominated as secretary Tess McGill trying to scramble up the corporate ladder in the 1988 classic

She 'had a crush on him'; Alec Baldwin, seen out in New York City, played the cheating boyfriend of Melanie's character in Working Girl and he turned down her advances in real life

'I was like, Oh great, I have to work with some dork from Wall Street. And then this guy walked in, and he was so gorgeous, so sexy. I was like, Yeah, tell me about mergers and acquisitions all you want. We had an incredible romance.

'He was my love for a long time after that too. Were still friends. He lives in New York, is married and has four kids.

'He actually managed some money for me for a while. Mike knew about it and thought it was great, but he wanted me to make sure I concentrated on the job.'

Dialling it in: Melanie as ambitious Tess, who wanted to be so much more than a secretary

Sweet talking him: Pretending to be her boss, Tess set up a major deal with an investment broker played by Harrison Ford, who also ends up as her love interest

She also spoke about now disgraced Kevin Spacey's role as a Wall Street scumbag who tries to seduce Tess in the back of a limo.

Melanie called it 'a strange coincidence that Kevins now ostracized because of his actions, his sexual proclivity or whatever.'

She continued: 'In Working Girl, I jump out of the car because of his [characters] sexual advances.

'There are millions of women who had that experience, and thats why so many women love that movie and to this day tell me how we changed their lives.'Bilfinger, the engineering and industrial solutions powerhouse has signed an agreement with California-based sour gas and sulphur management technology licensor RATE to establish a strategic co-operation that would position both companies to accelerate growth in the Middle East region.



The agreement, in harmony with the strategic focus of the national oil companies in the Middle East, aims at maximising the monetisation of gas resources and harnessing the growth opportunities in the oil and gas sector.



"The partnership is a great strategic fit, building on the two companies' complementary portfolio. We will together focus on delivering advanced solutions to our customers aiming at maximizing the value of their vast natural resources while creating unparalleled local value-add," remarked Ali Vezvaei, the president and CEO of Bilfinger Middle East.



A leading international industrial services provider, Bilfinger aims to enhance the efficiency of assets in the region besides ensuring a high level of availability and reducing the maintenance costs.



The portfolio covers the entire value chain from consulting, engineering, manufacturing, assembly, maintenance, plant expansion as well as turnarounds and also includes environmental technologies and digital applications.



RATE President and CEO Mahin Rameshni said: "We are pleased to establish such an important partnership with a globally recognised company like Bilfinger. We strongly believe that our technology coupled with the strong knowhow and capabilities of Bilfinger enable us to provide the market with cutting edge solutions, in line with the strategic focus of our customers."



A leading German group Bilfinger delivers its services in two business segments: engineering and technologies and maintenance, modifications and operations.



The company is primarily active in Continental Europe, Northwest Europe, North America and the Middle East regions. Its process industry customers come from sectors such as chemicals and petrochem, energy and utilities, oil and gas, pharma and biopharma, metallurgy and cement.



With a 36,000-strong work force, Bilfinger said it upholds the highest standards of safety and quality. the company had generated a revenue of 4.044 billion ($4.58 billion) in financial year 2017.-TradeArabia News ServicePriyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas have rankled PETA officials after using animals as part of their elaborate wedding, as images of animals decked out in ceremonial garb for the occasion were posted on social media, leading to push-back from animal rights activists.

Chopra, 36, and Jonas, 26, exchanged vows in a pair of ceremonies - a Christian service on Saturday, and a Hindu celebration on Sunday - with both taking place at Jodhpur, Rajasthan's Umaid Bhawan Palace.

Among the animal-involved portions of the wedding celebration included shots of a white horse that was draped with red and golden embellishments, which Jonas would ride into the ceremony.

Scroll below for video

Trouble in paradise: Priyanka Chopra, 36, and Nick Jonas, 26, have rankled PETA officials after using animals as part of their elaborate wedding over the weekend

Also seen on the premises of the nuptials was a white elephant that was saddled for two riders.

PETA India CEO Manilal Valliyate said in a statement released Monday that 'Priyanka was ill-served by not being advised of the firestorm that would be caused by participating in animal abuse.'

Valliyate added, 'It doesn't make a person look big or glamorous to promote cruelty to animals who have no choice but to serve.'

Valliyate said that the use of animals made the celebrity newlyweds 'look small,' as they tied the knot following a whirlwind four-month courtship.

Red flags: Among the animal-involved portions of the wedding celebration included shots of a white horse that was draped with red and golden embellishments

Upset: India's PETA chapter also took to social media to scold the couple for incorporating animals in their ceremony

India's PETA chapter also took to social media to scold the couple for incorporating animals in their ceremony.

'Dear @priyankachopra and @nickjonas. [Elephants for] weddings live [in] chains & horses [are] controlled [with] whips [and] spiked bits ... congrats, but we regret it was not a happy day for animals,' the organization said.

The chapter said people are passing on elephant rides and going without horses for their weddings, posting a YouTube clip depicting their 2014 inspection of captive elephants that revealed abhorrent conditions.Her ex-husband Karl Stefanovic is set to marry Jasmine Yarbrough in Mexico this coming weekend.

But Cassandra Thorburn looked like she didn't have care in the world on Tuesday while hosting a mother and baby pamper session at Sydney's Luna Park.

The 47-year-old former journalist cut a stylish figure as she chatted to a friend at the event, with Karl's nuptials seemingly the last thing on her mind.

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Business as usual! Karl Stefanovic's ex-wife Cassandra Thorburn (left) hosted a mother and baby event at Sydney's Luna Park on Tuesday - after her children flew to Mexico to watch their father marry Jasmine Yarbrough. Pictured with her friend Cara Campbell

Cassandra looked smart in navy cropped trousers, which she paired with a white blouse and flat shoes.

The mother-of-three completed her look with a black Prada handbag.

She appeared in high spirits on the day, smiling and laughing as she spoke with her friend Cara Campbell.

Not a care in the world! The 47-year-old former journalist cut a stylish figure as she chatted to a friend at the event, with Karl's upcoming wedding seemingly the last thing on her mind

Doing her thing: Cassandra looked smart in navy cropped trousers, which she teamed with a white blouse and flat shoes

Wedding bells! Meanwhile, it's believed Karl and Jasmine (pictured) are still in Los Angeles ahead of their wedding, which takes place this coming weekend in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico

Cassandra - who recently authored a children's book with Cara - was a special guest at the Justice Professional Mums Pamper Pop Up Event alongside journalist Elle Halliwell.

On the day, 100 signed copies of the book - titled Leo Lion's Big Bed - were given away to attendees.

Meanwhile, it's believed Karl and Jasmine are still in Los Angeles ahead of their wedding, which takes place this coming weekend in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico.

The couple are enjoying an extended stopover at the Beverly Hills Hotel with several members of their bridal party.

Good vibes only! Cassandra appeared in high spirits on the day, smiling and laughing as she spoke with her friend Cara

Moving on: Karl and Cassandra abruptly split in mid-2016 after 21 years of marriage. They share custody of three children: Jackson, River and Ava

The soon-to-be newlyweds landed in America earlier this week with friends and family, including Karl's children and Jasmine's sister Jade Yarbrough.

The couple will tie the knot at the One&Only Palmilla Resort as part of a luxury three-day affair.

They have booked two villas, one which costs approximately $11,600 per night, and another priced at around $15,000 per night.

Cassandra and Karl split in 2016 after 21 years of marriage. They share custody of three children: Jackson, River and Ava.Hours after walking in the Versace show, Irina Shayk bundled her daughter Lea De Seine in a pink knit beanie by the Italian designer for a Central Park outing with babydaddy Bradley Cooper in Manhattan on Monday.

The Russian 32-year-old's 20-month-old princess also wore a gold barocco-print coat as she perched on the shoulders of the Philadelphia-born 43-year-old, who sported an Eagles cap.

On Sunday night, the four-time Oscar nominee sweetly supported the leggy Lions Model as she strutted in Donatella Versace's first-ever pre-fall 2019 presentation in New York City.

Souvenir! Hours after walking in the Versace show, Irina Shayk bundled her daughter Lea De Seine in a pink knit beanie by the Italian designer for a Central Park outing with babydaddy Bradley Cooper in Manhattan on Monday

Piggyback ride! The Russian 32-year-old's 20-month-old princess also wore a gold barocco-print coat as she perched on the shoulders of the Philadelphia-born 43-year-old

Irina - who boasts 18.6M social media followers - wrote of the fashion show on Instagram: 'So happy to be a part of it!'

Cooper and Shayk (born Shaykhlislamova) are reportedly not engaged but they did celebrate their third anniversary of dating in April.

The A Star is Born helmer won best director alongside best actress and supporting actor winners Lady Gaga and Sam Elliott at the National Board Of Review gala happening January 8 in the Big Apple.

'My curiosity [in directing] seems to be a bit different than many other actors,' Bradley told NPR's Fresh Air on Monday.

Weee! Irina - wearing a grey beanie and skinny jeans - strapped into a swing beside little Lea

Work! On Sunday night, the four-time Oscar nominee sweetly supported the leggy Lions Model as she strutted in Donatella Versace's first-ever pre-fall 2019 presentation in New York City

Irina - who boasts 18.6M social media followers - wrote of the fashion show on Instagram: 'So happy to be a part of it!'

Driving her home: Cooper and Shayk (born Shaykhlislamova) are reportedly not engaged but they did celebrate their third anniversary of dating in April

'I would always spend all my time, as much as I could, in editing rooms and shadowing directors and asking crew members questions and learning about lenses and so on.'

The Georgetown University grad will next play DEA Special Agent Colin Bates in Clint Eastwood's cocaine-smuggling drama The Mule, which hits US theaters December 14 and UK theaters January 25.

The Mule marks the Avengers: Infinity War funnyman's third onscreen collaboration with the 88-year-old Oscar winner, and the flick also features Dianne Wiest, Laurence Fishburne, and Andy Garcia.

Congrats! The A Star is Born helmer won best director alongside best actress and supporting actor winners Lady Gaga and Sam Elliott at the National Board Of Review gala happening January 8 in the Big AppleReality stars from Married At First Sight, Love Island Australia and The Bachelor all attended the exclusive Christmas soiree at the Candyshop Mansion on Saturday.

But while their Instagram posts from the event may have suggested they were VIP guests, sources tell Daily Mail Australia this wasn't actually the case for some.

According to a well-placed insider, MAFS alumni Dean Wells and Telv Williams personally 'asked if they could attend', and then 'had to fill out a ticket application form like everybody else.'

Not so 'VIP' after all! Married At First Sight's Telv Williams (centre) and Dean Wells 'had to apply for tickets to the Candyman's wild party' over the weekend and weren't in fact special guests

Dean, 40, and Telv, 34, allegedly 'had to complete the lengthy online form' before they were chosen to receive the sought-after tickets, just like the rest of the general public.

The unusual method of distributing tickets requires each applicant to upload recent photographs of themselves, provide links to their social media accounts and state if they smoke.

It is unclear if the stars of Love Island Australia and The Bachelor also followed this strict application method or were personally invited by tobacco tycoon Travers Beynon.

Keeping it real: Dean (pictured) and Telv 'had to complete the lengthy online form' before they were chosen to receive the sought-after tickets, just like the rest of the general public

Before attending the party, Telv boasted about receiving an invite in a video shared to Instagram - but neglected to mention the supposed application process.

The invitation consisted of a black box featuring the words: 'Welcome to an event that no money nor status can buy.

'You have been personally chosen by Travers Beynon to be invited into our Secret Society and experience a party like no other of indulgence and debauchery.'

He's in heaven! Dean received plenty of female attention at the Candyman's party on Saturday

Following publication of this article, Telv claimed he had 'VIP entry' to the party in an email to Daily Mail Australia.

Dean also said they were provided with full 'VIP access' after contacting Travers personally via Instagram.

Travers Beynon, a.k.a. The Candyman, is renowned for his wild parties which are held each year at his palatial property in Helensvale, on the Gold Coast.

Telv and Dean were among the celebrity guests at Saturday's event.

Throughout the day, they posed with a variety of scantily-clad women - and Telv even shared footage to Instagram of a topless female dancing.

Making friends? Throughout the day, Telv posed with a variety of scantily-clad women

Meanwhile, Dean also spent time getting to know Love Island Australia contestant Kim Harnett - who is 18 years his junior.

The 22-year-old single mother wore a leather monochrome bikini and fishnet stockings for the adults-only party.

Other Love Island cast members in attendance included Teddy Briggs, 25, and Shelby Bilby, 24, who were seen partying by the mansion's pool.

New romance? Dean also spent time getting to know Love Island Australia contestant Kim Harnett - who is 18 years his junior

She certainly not shy! The 22-year-old single mother wore a leather monochrome bikini and fishnet stockings for the adults-only party

From one luxury villa to another! Other Love Island cast members in attendance included Teddy Briggs, 25, and Shelby Bilby, 24, who were seen partying by the mansion's pool

The Bachelor's Brittany Weldon, who was an 'intruder' on Nick Cummins' season, provided one of the raciest of looks of the evening.

In keeping with the sexually-charged theme of the party, the 25-year-old stepped out in lingerie and suspenders.

In a post to Instagram from the even, she included the hashtag 'drunk'.

Cheeky! The Bachelor's Brittany Weldon (right), who was an 'intruder' on Nick Cummins' season, provided one of the raciest of looks of the evening

The Honey Badger missed out! In keeping with the sexually-charged theme of the party, the 25-year-old stepped out in lingerie and suspenders

Wild child: Bachelor in Paradise's Elora Murger (right) also appeared to be having a great time

Stripping down: After arriving in a figure-hugging yellow dress, she took off the majority of her clothes throughout the night. Pictured with Love Island Australia's Eden Dally and two women

Bachelor In Paradise star Elora Murger, 30, also appeared to be having a great time.

After arriving in a figure-hugging yellow dress, she took off the majority of her clothes throughout the night.

At one stage, she was pictured getting close to Love Island star Eden Dally, 26, and two other female friends.The legendary Cher looked slim and fit at the opening night of her new authorized jukebox musical The Cher Show, which she produced for the Neil Simon Theatre in Manhattan on Monday.

The half-Armenian beauty easily defied her 72 years in an early aughts-era black velvet shrug, matching tube top, leggings, and thigh-high boots selected by stylist Marjan Malakpour.

Hairstylist Serena Radaelli coiffed the Mamma Mia actress' signature raven middle-parted curly mane.

Meet the producer: The legendary Cher looked slim and fit at the opening night of her new authorized jukebox musical The Cher Show at the Neil Simon Theatre in Manhattan on Monday

And make-up artist Francesca Tolot applied silver eye-shadow and a glossy pout on Cher's (born Cherilyn Sarkisian) suspiciously unlined face.

During intermission, the SoCal native sent a bouquet of orchids and other flowers to the dressing room of Jarrod Spector, who plays her first husband Sonny Bono.

Cher told the 37-year-old Tony nominee backstage after a November 18 preview, 'Sonny was in good shape, but not as good as you' - according to Page Six.

'It's hard to see your life portrayed onstage, but I couldn't have asked for a better cast to portray my life.'

Head-to-toe black: The half-Armenian beauty easily defied her 72 years in an early aughts-era velvet shrug, tube top, leggings, and thigh-high boots selected by stylist Marjan Malakpour

Sexy after 70! Hairstylist Serena Radaelli coiffed the Mamma Mia actress' signature raven middle-parted curly mane

Wrinkle free: And make-up artist Francesca Tolot applied silver eye-shadow and a glossy pout on Cher's (born Cherilyn Sarkisian) suspiciously unlined face

The Montclair College Prep drop-out is clearly after a Tony Award - which would complete her EGOT status - with the Broadway show based upon her successful six-decade career.

Three actresses - Stephanie J. Block, Teal Wicks, and Micaela Diamond - play different incarnations of Cher in Jason Moore's stage production featuring 35 of her hit songs.

The pop icon made sure to pose with Oscar-nominated screenwriter Nia Vardalos, who's best known for her two My Big Fat Greek Wedding rom-com flicks.

Personal attention: During intermission, the SoCal native sent a bouquet of orchids and other flowers to the dressing room of Jarrod Spector, who plays her first husband Sonny Bono

Crush: Cher told the 37-year-old Tony nominee (L) backstage after a November 18 preview, 'Sonny was in good shape, but not as good as you'

Cher said of the ensemble: 'It's hard to see your life portrayed onstage, but I couldn't have asked for a better cast to portray my life'

Curtain call: The Montclair College Prep drop-out is after a Tony Award - which would complete her EGOT status - with the Broadway show based upon her six-decade career

Bring it in! The I Got You Babe songstress gave Stephanie a bear hug onstage after the show

Legendary: The cast seemed thrilled to have their muse join them at curtain call and perform a song

The Believe hitmaker also struck the 'prom' pose on the red carpet with her longtime designer Bob Mackie, who's portrayed by Michael Berresse in the play.

The Cher Show has been panned by critics following its opening night on Broadway.

The musical, which originally opened in June in Chicago, Illinois, was lambasted by critics in early reviews for being a 'maddening mismash', as criticism was also levelled at the show's 'flat jokes', and favouring style over substance.

It follows Cher's epic rise to pop stardom over the course of six decades and will run at the Neil Simon theatre until May 2019.

It sees three lead actresses- Stephanie J.Block, Teal Wicks and Micaela Diamond- take on the role of the star at three different stages of her life, the kid with a dream 'Babe', the glamorous pop star 'Lady' and the icon 'Star'.

It takes in the star's six decades of stardom, including her rocky marriages to rockstar husbands Sonny Bono and Greg Allman, her fabulous fashion and scooping an Oscar, a Grammy and an Emmy - complete with 35 of her hit songs.

The Cher Show: What the critics said

'All gesture, no craft: dramatically threadbare and surprisingly unrevealing'- New York Times critic Jesse Green 'The Cher Show is not good. It's extravagantly, almost triumphantly not good' - Vulture critic Sara Holdren 'The lack of creative ambition and innovation is dispiriting' - Deadline critic Greg Evans 'Choosing to recreate the spirit of the television variety shows that Sonny and Cher headlined in the '70s is a choice that lands as flat as the jokes in Broadway's latest jukebox bio' - Variety critic Frank Rizzo '{The fashion} is so garish and delirious and literally show-stopping, that it highlights the lack of imagination elsewhere' - The Guardian critic Alexis Soloski Advertisement

Calling the show a 'maddening mishmash' New York Times reviewer Jesse Green said: 'Except for the dozens of eye-popping outfits Mr. (Bob) Mackie gorgeously recreates for the occasion, it's all gesture, no craft: dramatically threadbare and surprisingly unrevealing.'

He also hit back over the musical's mishandling of the star's backstory, writing: 'You can almost hear a groan on the laugh track when, later in the show, Cher asks Sonny's ghost, 'Are you really dead?'

Praise was however given to the show's musical numbers, and the show's actresses who play the three incarnations of Cher for their 'gleeful staging' of the star's hits.

Variety's Frank Rizzo criticised the show for relying too heavily on the television variety show format which shot Sonny and Cher to fame in the 1970s, which riddled the show with cliches.

Legend: The musical, which originally opened in June in Chicago, Illinois, was lambasted by critics in early reviews for being a 'maddening mismash', as criticism was also levelled at the show's 'flat jokes', and favouring style over substance

He said: 'Choosing to recreate the spirit of the television variety shows that Sonny and Cher  and then Cher sans Sonny  headlined in the '70s is a choice that lands as flat as the jokes in Broadway's latest jukebox bio.

'Its attempt to celebrate the resilience of its 'bad-ass' star and her half-century career of highs and lows rarely rises above that TV series' taste for cliches, corn and cheese.

Praise was given to the strength of the singers and the show's cast.

Adding to the negative reviews, Sara Holdren from Vulture said the show was 'not good' and criticised the spectacular for focusing on the sequins and glamour as opposed to Cher's backstory.

She said: 'The Cher Show is not good. It's extravagantly, almost triumphantly not good.

Panned: It sees three lead actresses- Stephanie J.Block, Teal Wicks and Micaela Diamond- take on the role of the star at three different stages of her life, the kid with a dream 'Babe', the glamorous pop star 'Lady' and the icon 'Star'

'It's such a garish, obvious pastiche, such an unabashedly soulless explosion of wigs and trite memoir wisdom, that somewhere in the midst of its overinflated two and a half hoursprobably during one of its dips into stodgy, life-lesson-y sentiment between showstoppersyou start to wonder: Is this gusher of shamelessness the only thing that could have happened here'.

Adding that the show feels stuck between 'blowout jukebox concert' and 'schmaltzy bio-play' Sara said she had more enjoyment from watching old Cher videos than the musical itself.

Greg Evans from Deadline also singled out the show's 'skimpy' story while saying the musical didn't push the boundaries as its namesake had done.

He writes: 'The Cher Show doesn't budge outside lines already drawn for other mediocre bio-musicals, dragging Cher where Donna Summer, Gloria Estefan and even Janis Joplin have already been.

Musical moment: New York Times reviewer Jesse Green said: 'Except for the dozens of eye-popping outfits Mr. (Bob) Mackie gorgeously recreates for the occasion, it's all gesture, no craft: dramatically threadbare and surprisingly unrevealing

Criticism: Variety's Frank Rizzo criticised the show for relying too heavily on the television variety show format which shot Sonny and Cher to fame in the 1970s, which riddled the show with cliches (pictured Jarrod Spector and Micaela Diamond as Sonny and Cher)

'The lack of creative ambition and innovation is dispiriting, especially when Jersey Boys, Beautiful and Lazarus have already proven these things needn't be dreadful.'

The work of Block as Cher was given high praise for her similarity to the Believe hitmaker's vocal register, along with her famous hair swish.

However Evans slammed the 'cartoonish' performances from the supporting characters, including Matthew Hydzik's 'silly' Gregg Allman and Michael Fatica's 'sillier' Phil Spector.

Giving the show three stars out of five, The Guardian's Alexis Soloski called the show a 'mixed bag' of pop excess, and outlined the difficulties of the musical jukebox genre.

Oh no: Adding to the negative reviews, Sara Holdren from Vulture said the show was 'not good' and criticised the spectacular for focusing on the sequins and glamour as opposed to Cher's backstory

She said: 'Mashing song and story together is the great problem of the genre. The Cher Show doesn't solve it.

Speaking about the emphasis of fashion in the show, she added: 'It's so garish and delirious and literally show-stopping, that it highlights the lack of imagination elsewhere and the show's need to gloss over  sequin over, brilliantine over  anything too uncomfortable or hard.'

Soloski singled out stellar performances from Emily Skinner as Cher's mother and Michael Berresse as an 'infectious' Bob Mackie.

Fans can catch Cher receiving the Kennedy Center Honors for her extraordinary contributions to culture when the two-hour ceremony airs December 26 on CBS.

'I actually never expected to win this,' the resilient contralto belter admitted to ET on Sunday.

Silver sequins: The pop icon made sure to pose with Oscar-nominated screenwriter Nia Vardalos, who's best known for her two My Big Fat Greek Wedding rom-com flicks

Embracing his muse: The Believe hitmaker also struck the 'prom' pose on the red carpet with her longtime designer Bob Mackie, who's portrayed by Michael Berresse in the play

Clapping: The 79-year-old costumer - who first worked with Cher in 1967 - also took a bow during the curtain call

'I'm not sure why, but I felt like, like Meryl [Streep] wins this kind of award and I just never thought I would win it.'

Also honored at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. on Sunday were Philip Glass, Reba McEntire, Wayne Shorter, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Thomas Kail, Andy Blankenbuehler, and Alex Lacamoire.

Cher will kick off the second leg of her 44-date, $12.1M-grossing Here We Go Again Tour on January 17 at Florida's Hertz Arena in Estero.

Airing December 26 on CBS! Fans can catch Cher receiving the Kennedy Center Honors for her extraordinary contributions to culture alongside Philip Glass, Reba McEntire, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and more (pictured Sunday)

The contralto belter admitted to ET: 'I actually never expected to win this. I'm not sure why, but I felt like, like Meryl [Streep] wins this kind of award and I just never thought I would win it'

Dazzling: Cher's sleeve cuffs were embellished with lots of beads which caught lots of glimmers of the light

These boots are made for walking! The singer sashayed out in her knee-high boots and little gems edged the top of her shoes

Wow: Cher wore her raven-coloured locks in voluminous curls when she attended her big Broadway night

Glamorous: Round her neck the songstress wore a string-style necklace and it had a silver pendant to draw attention to her chest

Commanding presence: Cher took centre stage when she belted out her incredible vocals for the star-studded crowdHabbs is back from Canada, Sams missed her every single day, hes splashed out on a bouquet from Interflora. But alas, he has also signed up for Celebs Go Dating for the 17th time.

This is one benefit of Made In Chelsea filming a few weeks in advance of the show airing on TV, the viewer gets to pretend they are clairvoyant and know whats happening in the future and that they have The Gift.

So anyway, every scene with these two is a foreshadowing of their ultimate demise as a couple.

Trouble at mill: After a year of will-they-won't-they Habbs realised she just wasn't that into Sam

It's over: Sam bought Habbs a Cartier necklace but it wasn't enough to win her affections

Sam is loved up, he tells Digby, paving the way for the future devastation. Habbs is inviting Louise to her gals night out, setting up a potentially forthcoming sister/girlfriend cat fight. Sams bought Habbs a Cartier necklace and shes already feeling as if its tightening around her throat and choking the life out of her slender windpipe.

Misery loves company though, guys. And Sam can find solace in the fact that Digby has been trampled on by Miles betrayal with Liv in Canada. So thats good, isnt it!

Mark Francis is at the cobblers, which is ironic because thats precisely what hes talking. Evidently you can get shoes made for just you. Who knew this?

Teary: Sam broke down as he was publicly dumped by Habbs at Ollie's book launch

Shocker: Liv found herself in hot water after a holiday fling with Miles leads to trouble with her ex Digby

Oh, Victoria did. She even has a saying for the whole scenario: If the sock doesnt come OTC, the man doesnt come anywhere near me.

Whats OTC? Anyone?

Digby heads to the curb outside Miles house to wait for him to pull up in a taxi from the airport, having presumably requested his flight itinerary from Canada Air.

They have a tiff on the street. Youve met my family! Digby wails, as if hes an heiress and Miles is his working-class lover.

Girl talk: Habbs confides in her pal Melissa that she is feeling unsure about her relationship with Sam

Emily has decided that she likes Melissa despite telling her last week to go and drown herself in the Atlantic. Theyre all having dinner for Habbs birthday but its girls only because Habbs doesnt want to prompt any more reasons to have to spend extra time with Sam than she has to.

Livs in Henley, obvs. Its where she goes when unfortunate stuff happens with a man. Her parents live there, its not just an excuse to go boating.

Sams buying a shirt to meet Habbs dad. He refers to Habbs family as The Mum, The Sister and The Dad.

Getting a grilling: Habbs' family invite Sam to dinner however her father fails to make an appearance

Special occasion: Sam even pushes the boat out and buys a new shirt for the fancy dinner

Sadly for Sam, The Dad pies him off and doesnt show up for dinner with Habbs and The Mum. The Mum is rather glam and looks more likes shes actually The Sister. Does this mean The Sister actually looks like The Mum? Or maybe The Dad looks like The Sister?

New girl alert: Eliza. Poor thing, shes wandering the streets with shopping bags without a clue how she got to there or who anyone is.

Shes an Anthropology student at Durham but has somehow descended down to London where everyone she knows is evidently away. So Sophie invites her to Ollies book launch at the Natural History Museum.

Stake out: Digby heads to the curb outside Miles house to wait for him to pull up in a taxi from the airport

Bromance is over! Digby wails at Miles in the street that he has met his family before snogging his ex girlfriend Liv

The problem is, thats not where the book launch actually ends up taking place so we dont see Eliza again during this episode, leaving us to wonder what the point of her was.

Ollie wanted to launch his book at the Natural History Museum because thats where the body of a dead whale from 2006 is being stored. Its really romantic and gives Sophie goosebumps but, ultimately, no one wants to launch a book under a giant Brontosaurs so Ollie does it in a cafe under a bridge somewhere instead.

Habbs cries when she has her hair done. Not because theyve given her a blue rinse, but because she doesnt understand why shes not that fussed about dating Sam anymore after the whole rigmarole theyve been putting each other through all year.

Rather than dump Sam in a quiet room somewhere, Habbs decides Ollies book launch is the best place for it instead.

Thank God it wasnt at the Natural History Museum because no one wants to be dumped under Dippy the Diplodocus!John Cho and Jacob Tremblay have been cast in an episode of the upcoming reboot of The Twilight Zone online TV series.

The 46-year-old Korean American actor and Jacob, 12, will be joined by Allison Tolman, 37, in The Wunderkind episode on CBS All Access, according to an article on Monday by Deadline.

Jacob's nine-year-old little sister Erica also will be in the episode.

Series reboot: John Cho, shown in October in San Diego, has been cast in an episode for the upcoming reboot of The Twilight Zone

Jordan Peele, 39, will host and narrate the reboot and is an executive producer with his Monkeypaw Productions.

The Twilight Zone was created by Rod Serling and originally ran on CBS from 1959 to 1964.

It was rebooted for television in 1985 for three seasons and again for one season in 2002-2003.

Rod died in 1975 at age 50 and his surviving wife Carol, 89, is serving as one of the executive producers of the reboot.

Young star: Jacob Tremblay, shown in September in Canada, also has been cast in the episode titled The Wunderkind

Talented actress: Allison Tolman, shown last month in Hollywood, will join John and Jacob in the episode

Adam Scott, Sanaa Lathan and Kumail Nanjiani also have been cast in the new web television series.

John is best known for his work on the Harold & Kumar films and for his portrayal of Hikaru Sulu in the Star Trek reboot film series.

Jacob rose to fame with his starring role in the 2015 drama Room.

Fifth dimension: Rod Serling, creator and host of The Twilight Zone, is shown in an August 1963 still from the CBS television series during its original run

Allison earned Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for her work in the first and second seasons of the FX television series Fargo.

The Twilight Zone will premiere in 2019 with 10 episodes on the CBS All Access streaming service.

Rod and Carol were married from 1948 until his death in 1975 and had daughters Jodi and Anne together.EastEnders showed viewers no mercy.

It instantly replaced the most ridiculous, revolting, couple in the series with one that we know from experience will almost inevitably be worse.

No mean feat.

The idea of anything less appetising than watching Sharon glowing more and more orange (with excitement) as she snogged poor pale Keanu was hard to imagine.

He's back! Alfie Moon returned to Albert Square to reunite with his ex Kat

But the writers/producer had thought of it.

Mind you, it cant have taken them long.

This was the 127th time they had played the Kat & Alfie card, or should that be Joker?

After all, the notion that their return/reunion would prove more popular than the other occasions was certainly a joke.

Why the soaps various producers have so much faith in the pair is bewildering.

One too many: Since her return to the Square Kat has battled with alcoholism

Jessie Wallace and Shane Richie have spent years away from the series without success and the only thing thats interesting about Kat & Alfie these days is deciding which of them is less appealing.

Older fans that loved Kat & Alfie as a couple when their storylines could make front page headlines inevitably saw them as just a pale imitation from their heyday.

God knows what younger viewers (the audience the soap is targeting) must make of them.

Good old Kat is the same, which is meant to be a good thing for some reason.

Leave: Jean declared that Alfie wasn't welcome in their home when he turned up

In fact shes a car-crash but a bigger mess than ever: a drunk, a diabolical mum, and a dated pantomime floozy who still acts as if shes gods gift to men because of her cleavage, even though none are ever interested.

The only way shed improved or matured was pursuing her new careers  veering between two ridiculous storylines about becoming a cabbie and running Walfords only cleaning business, despite still being better as a barmaid.

Alfie (and Shane Richie) hadnt changed either: still blathering frantically, trading off a gor blimey guvnor shtick that, happily, was put out of its misery years ago, as Richie should know after his embarrassing revival of Minder.

Naturally, when Alfie re-appeared in the Square we were expected to accept everyone was pleased to see him. Never mind precisely NONE of his so-called mates had been to visit him in Spain (or ever phoned/texted).

Drama: Stacey sat and watched the drama unfold with little Hope on her knee

Good old Alfie immediately started trying to flog them a dodgy funeral (his latest scam).

Surprise! he greeted Kat during Hayleys party.

It wasnt for us (let alone a good one), considering hed been standing there all weekend, since the end of Fridays episode.

Its not a wake is it?! he gabbled.

It is now youre here, we thought.

What do you want? asked Kat.

What do you want?: Kat asked Alfie why he had decided to come back

Us! Together! he grinned, gormlessly.

Why now?! demanded Mo.

Because they wanted the ratings and Shane needed the money, we assumed.

You are not welcome Alfie Moon! cried Jean, for once speaking perfect sense.

If even Jean could see this, you wondered why the producer couldnt.

After shed sent Alfie packing (only temporarily, sadly) in the kitchen Mo poured Kat a drink, barking: get that down you!

Surprise! Alfie discovers that he is the father to Hayley's baby

Hes bringing the boys over. I dont want to be smelling of wine! complained Kat.

Well they might not recognise you otherwise! pointed out Mo  a low blow, but not necessarily unmerited.

Kat had spent most of the time since her return in various states of inebriation (including running someone down on her Vespa), hardly ever bothering to ring her kids in Spain.

I just want you to know that they look at your photograph every morning! Alfie purred, turning on the charm.

Presumably they then thought: thank God shes not here, looking after us, anymore but gone back to Walford.

Shock: Alfie appears stunned as he puts two and two together and works out he is the babies' dad

One of them had been hospitalised after an accident with a pan of boiling water that occurred while Kat was upstairs having a wing-ding with a man known only as the Russian.

Kat referred to her kids as the boys so often you wondered if she actually knew what their names were.

The fact that even Kat spent the whole episode trying to avoid Alfie said it all. Jean meanwhile was more flustered than usual at the thought of Alfie encountering Hayley and her/his baby.

Eventually, inevitably, this happened.

Its like a creche in here! Alfie blathered, looking at the array of babies, and inadvertently summing up one of the problems with EastEnders nowadays.

The nippers on the sofa before him also reflected the type of plots the soap was producing.

Abi Branning junior was being raised by her granddad (Sex-Mad Max) and his wife (gold-digger/prostitute Rainie Cross) after the babys mother Abi herself had plummeted off the Queen Vic roof in a hapless attempt to stop Max from doing the same thing deliberately.

Stacey and Martin had little Hope (literally), although her father was actually Kush (perhaps surprisingly still Martins best mate).

And whos this little cracker?! Alfie cheered, assuming she was also Staceys, laughing when she corrected him: I cant keep up with you lot!

Not an unreasonable point, given all the kids on the Square these days.

Of course we all knew the babys mother - and the father. The truth soon sunk in as Hayley appeared in the doorway and muttered: its mine.

That shut Alfie up.

Admittedly it was only for a couple of seconds before the episode ended but that was more than we can expect from now on.Joel Edgerton and Christine Centenera's romance is heating up.

Just weeks after being spotted checking into a Hollywood hotel together with overnight bags, the actor and Vogue fashion director have popped up in London.

The hot new couple were pictured attempting to keep a low profile while making a swift exit from Scott's restaurant in the upscale area of Mayfair on Sunday night.

Date night! Actor Joel Edgerton and Vogue fashion director Christine Centenera keep a low profile during dinner in London

Braving the winter chill in England, Joel, 44, and Christine had wrapped up warm for their evening at the elegant establishment.

Christine was pictured climbing into a chaffuer driven car outside wearing a tailored black coat, with Joel immediately behind, with his flat cap firmly pulled down.

The couple had been joined by several actor friends of Joel's and another female for their night out, before they made an exit in the early evening.

Public outing! The loved-up pair had 'debuted their romance' at GQ Australia's Man of the Year awards in Sydney on November 14, where they had sat together despite arriving separately

The couple's appearance comes after they were pictured in LA on November 18.

Joel and Christine had cut much more casual figures in California while arriving at West Hollywood hot spot Chateau Marmont for a sunny overnight stay.

Days before this, the loved-up pair had 'debuted their romance' at GQ Australia's Man of the Year awards in Sydney on November 14.

The pair first sparked romance rumours in Sydney in mid-October, when they were pictured in an intimate embrace.

Loved-up! The pair first sparked romance rumours in Sydney in mid-October, when they were pictured in an intimate embrace. Pictured Christine in October 2018

It is believed that Christine has simply been joining Joel on the worldwide press tour for his new movie Boy Erased, which is receiving rave reviews.

While promoting the movie in Australia, Joel, who is mostly based in LA these days, told The Daily Telegraph that he intends to spend more time Down Under.

'My focus next is about what I can make at home that I can celebrate two of my favourite things.... Being at home and making stuff so that I am not always away.'

Aussie talent! It is believed that Christine has simply been joining Joel on the worldwide press tour for his new movie Boy Erased, which is receiving rave reviews

Prior to Joel, New York-based Christine was linked to fashion designer, Josh Goot, 38.

The brunette is no stranger to the spotlight, with Kim Kardashian previously hailing her as one of the most stylish people in the world in 2015.

Kim told Daily Mail three years ago: 'I really like Christine Centenera from Australia.'

Hailing her as a style icon because of her eclectic look, Kim explained: 'I like when someone's really put together but looks effortless.'

'She just knows every accessory to tie an outfit together. She puts different things together that you wouldn't think of.'Thomasin McKenzie stars in the independent film Leave No Trace featuring Ben Foster.

And on Monday, Jodie Foster moderated a special Q&A with the 18-year-old actress in Los Angeles.

McKenzie dazzled in a pale pink trench coat dress, while Foster donned a checkered blouse layered beneath a navy blue sweater.

Available now: Thomasin McKenzie stars in the independent film Leave No Trace featuring Ben Foster. And on Monday, Jodie Foster moderated a special Q&A with the 18-year-old actress

Thomasin paired her sleeveless ensemble with matching pink heels and a single silver chain necklace.

The New Zealand native wore her hair board straight and pinned away from her face with two silver barrettes.

As for Jodie, she teamed her casual ensemble with a patterned scarf and sneakers.

Actress pals: McKenzie dazzled in a pale pink trench coat dress, while Foster donned a checkered blouse layered beneath a navy blue sweater

Leave No Trace, based on the novel by Peter Rock, follows a military vet and his daughter who choose to live off the grid in Portland, Oregon.

The father-daughter duo are later discovered in the woods and forced to conform to societal norms.

The film was recently named one of the top 10 independent films of 2018 by the National Board Of Review.

Leading lady: Thomasin paired her sleeveless ensemble with matching pink heels and a single silver chain. The New Zealand native wore her hair sleekly straightened and pinned away from her face with two silver barrettes

In an interview with THR, lead actor Ben Foster explained that his six weeks filming in the forest became 'medicinal.'

'You spend enough time there and you say, "oh, I feel calmer, I can breathe, I can hear my own thoughts," he said. 'One can understand or at least imagine how you'd want to make a lifestyle out of that.'

Leave No Trace was written and directed by Debra Granik.

Indie film: Leave No Trace, based on the novel by Peter Rock, follows a military vet and his daughter who choose to live off the grid in Portland, Oregon. The father-daughter duo are later discovered in the woods and forced to adapt to societal normsGAC, a global provider of integrated shipping, logistics and marine services, is supporting the Dubai-based syndicate Row4Oceans attempt to complete an endurance-testing journey from Dakar in Senegal to Paramaribo in Suriname, whilst spreading an important marine preservation message.



Row4Ocean is the initiative of Patrick Bol, syndicate owner and skipper rower of the high-tech trimaran Year of Zayed, in collaboration with global trade enabler DP World, said a statement.



Bol will lead a team consisting of Andrew Ruinoff, Lewis Knollman and Matt Wilds as they row 2300 Nautical Miles across the Atlantic.



Through the challenge and along the way, they will raise awareness about ocean pollution by collecting daily water samples and sending them for analysis back in Dubai, it said.



They will also quietly attempt to break four world records: the first multihull to row across the Trade Winds 2 route continent to continent; the first to cross the Atlantic under 27 days; the fastest Atlantic crossing with an average speed over 3.7 knots; and most consecutive days rowed over 100 nautical miles a day, it added.



When asked about some of the dangers they might face during the crossing, Bol noted the unknown weather, perils of the sea, collisions with floating logs, objects and fishing nets and also whale and shark encounters and locust swarms near the African coast.



GAC is providing freight services for the boats journey from Dubai, where it was built, to the starting point at Dakar.



After the Year of Zayed's trans-Atlantic journey, GAC will again be at hand to provide logistics services for the journey back to Dubai.



Stuart Bowie, GAC Group vice president  commercial, said: The oceans and seas are GACs lifeblood, so we are always looking for ways to promote the preservation of the marine environment.



Thats why we are very keen to support Row4Ocean who aim both to do well and do good. We wish Patrick and his team all the best in their voyage, he added.



The Year of Zayed left Jebel Ali Port earlier this month and is due to arrive at Dakar on December 4. After customs clearance, unloading and trimaran assembly works, the rowing team will set off to cross the Atlantic on 14 December, due to arrive in Paramaribo on January 7, after rowing an average of 14 hours a day, it stated.  TradeArabia News ServiceThe Bachelorette's Ali Oetjen and Taite Radley recently returned from a well-documented romantic getaway in Queensland.

But on Monday, the couple didn't appear their usual loved-up selves as they kept their distance during an outing in South Australia.

The couple looked strained as they grabbed a coffee from a local Adelaide cafe in Mount Barker, before heading to a skin clinic that specialises in cosmetic injectables.

Is everything OK? Ali Oetjen and Taite Radley looked strained as they picked up coffee before heading to skin clinic that specialises in cosmetic injectables, in Adelaide on Monday

Both dressed casually in their activewear, they kept a notable distance as Ali charged ahead towards the clinic.

The blonde partially concealed her face with dark-lens sunglasses and a black cap, while Taite wore his cap backwards.

Despite Taite barely cracking a smile as he approached the clinic, he was pictured inside with Ali with a huge grin across his face as they posed for photos.

Going incognito? Ali partially concealed her face with dark-lens sunglasses and a black cap, while Taite wore his cap backwards

Taking it easy! Taite slowly sipped on his small drink as he kept a few meters behind Ali during the outing

While the clinic refused to disclose what kind of procedures the couple had on Tuesday, they shared a post on social media about The Bachelor stars' visit.

Stating that they'd treated Ali's skin for more than five years, they claimed the blonde had a naturally beautiful complexion from drinking 'green smoothies daily'.

The clinic also said her taut visage was a result of 'China Doll facials' and chemical peels administered by a staff member, named Rany.

Rany is a registered nurse, who is described on the company's website as a someone who has 'dedicated herself solely to the field of aesthetic and cosmetic medicine'.

She's a regular! The clinic shared a photo of the couple's visit and said they'd treated Ali's skin for more than five years

Is THAT her secret? The clinic said her taut visage was a result of 'China Doll facials' and chemical peels administered by a staff member, named Rany

Just last month Rany was seen personally responding 'thanks' to a fan who had tagged her in a post of Ali, asking: 'Did you do Ali's lips? They look amazing.'

Ali has previously come under scrutiny for her dramatically changing appearance, and has admitted to a breast augmentation and lip fillers.

In 2017, before being announced as The Bachelorette, her Bachelor In Paradise co-star Florence Moerenhout compared her looks to 'Malibu Barbie' and observed that her 'face doesn't really move'.

However, when questioned on whether she used Botox prior to her stint on BIP, she told Hit105's Stav, Abby and Matt: 'I hadn't even had Botox in my forehead before... Maybe my face isn't moving because I'm not reacting to the girls comments.'They are both blonde and both among Hollywood's top veteran movie stars.

And on Monday night, Goldie Hawn and Melanie Griffith were each other's date as they attended the annual Make Equality Reality Gala.

The two actresses looked fabulous as they walked the red carpet together at the fundraiser hosted by Equality Now.

Veteran blondes: Goldie Hawn and Melanie Griffith were each other's date as they attended the annual Make Equality Reality Gala in Beverly Hills on Monday night

Griffith, 61, was eye-catching in a stylish double-breasted red winter coat.

She wore it with a black turtleneck and black boots.

Her hair was worn in a ponytail and her lip color matched that of her coat.

Pals: The two actresses looked fabulous as they walked the red carpet together at the fundraiser hosted by Equality Now

Dressed for Fall: Griffith, 61, was eye-catching in a stylish double-breasted red winter coat. She wore it with a black turtleneck and black boots

Looking good: Her hair was worn in a ponytail and her lip color matched that of her coat

Old pros: The veteran Hollywood movie stars posed up a storm for photographers. The two seemed to be having a fun time as they arrived for the fundraiser

Hawn, 73, chose to bare a little skin in a low-cut black jumpsuit paired with a long black scarf.

The sleeveless outfit was gathered at the waist and she added peep toe black and white shoes.

Hawn wore her shoulder-length hair blown out in loose curls and accessorized with a stunning necklace and hoop earrings.

On trend: Hawn, 73, chose to bare a little skin in a low-cut black jumpsuit paired with a long black scarf. The sleeveless outfit was gathered at the waist and she added peep toe shoes

Age-defying: She wore her shoulder-length hair blown out in loose curls and accessorized with a stunning necklace and hoop earrings

Also on hand for the event was Black-ish star Tracee Ellis Ross.

The actress daughter of superstar Diana Ross looked sensational in a black gown decorated with a large colorful motif.

The plunging neckline revealed plenty of cleavage and she added a pair of gold and purple sandals.

Ross posed for pics with Amandla Stenberg, the recipient of the gala's Changemaker Award.

The 20-year-old also chose a colorful outfit for her big night, stepping out in a high-necked, long-sleeved, full-length gown.

Flashed some skin: Black-ish star Tracee Ellis Ross, 46, looked sensational in a black gown decorated with a large colorful motif that revealed cleavage thanks to its plunging neckline

Has moves: The actress daughter of superstar Diana Ross added gold and purple sandal heels and dark green eye-shadow

In the spotlight: Ross posed for pics with Amandla Stenberg, the recipient of the gala's Changemaker Award

Honoree: The 20-year-old also chose a colorful outfit for her big night, stepping out in a high-necked, long-sleeved, full-length gown

According to the nonprofit's website, the annual Make Equality Reality event has raised over three million dollars since 2012 'to help create a just world for women and girls'.

This year's gala was hosted by comedienne and 2 Broke Girls creator Whitney Cummings.

The evening gathering also honored The Handmaid's tale author Margaret Atwood and behavioral geneticist, writer and activist Susan Smalley.

In charge: This year's gala was hosted by comedienne and 2 Broke Girls creator Whitney Cummings, 36, who wore a figure-hugging black frock with semi-sheer patterned panels

Playing for laughs: Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In alum Hawn took to the stage to entertain the audienceGigi Hadid flaunted her taut midriff in the Marc Jacobs 1993 Redux Grunge $195 crop-top, $495 blazer, and $350 high-waisted pant for the designer's Madison store opening in Manhattan on Monday.

Unconsciously or not, the 23-year-old IMG Model appeared to emulate both Robin Thicke's striped pantsuit and Miley Cyrus' raver buns at the 2013 MTV VMAs.

The half-Jordanian, half-Dutch beauty black and white vertical stripes and black combat boots also made her resemble Michael Keaton's phantom Beetlejuice from Tim Burton's 1988 comedy.

Representing: Gigi Hadid flaunted her taut midriff in the Marc Jacobs 1993 Redux Grunge $195 crop-top, $495 blazer, and $350 high-waisted pant for the designer's Madison store opening in Manhattan on Monday

Blurred lines: Unconsciously or not, the 23-year-old IMG Model appeared to emulate both Robin Thicke's striped pantsuit and Miley Cyrus' raver buns at the 2013 MTV VMAs

But Gigi (born Jelena) was simply modeling the 55-year-old New York native's grunge-inspired new line, which is a direct nod to his 1993 collection.

Non-imaginative millennials have borrowed the bulk of their fashion trends from the nineties, with retro grunge, fanny packs, and scrunchies galore.

Hadid recently admitted that she 'took anonymity for granted' before become an internationally-known influencer model.

'When I first moved to New York, I loved walking down the street,' the Malibu-born socialite told W Magazine on Saturday.

'It's showtime!' The half-Jordanian, half-Dutch beauty b&w vertical stripes and black combat boots also made her resemble Michael Keaton's Beetlejuice from Tim Burton's 1988 comedy

Vintage: But Gigi (born Jelena) was simply modeling the 55-year-old New York native's grunge-inspired new line, which is a direct nod to his 1993 collection

Slow clap: Non-imaginative millennials have borrowed the bulk of their fashion trends from the nineties, with retro grunge, fanny packs, and scrunchies galore

'I stay in my house': Hadid recently admitted that she 'took anonymity for granted' before become an internationally-known influencer model

'Now when I do that, I wish I could be invisible. Sometimes, I think about wearing wigs, but I dont want to be seen in a pink wig and for people to be like, Oh, my God, shes going insane! So I stay in my house.'

The Victoria's Secret catwalker was last seen Sunday night hanging out with A Simple Favor actress Blake Lively after walking in the Versace fashion show.

Gigi strut her stuff for Donatella Versace's first-ever 68-piece pre-fall presentation in Manhattan on what would have been the late Gianni's 72nd birthday.

Hadid's 'favorite thing with cooking' is fixing new recipes for her on-again boyfriend of four years - former 1D boybander Zayn Malik - whom she prematurely 'split' from back on March 13.

Gal pals? The Malibu-born socialite was last seen Sunday night hanging out with A Simple Favor actress Blake Lively after walking in the Versace fashion show

Work! The Victoria's Secret catwalker strut her stuff for Donatella Versace's first-ever 68-piece pre-fall presentation in Manhattan on what would have been the late Gianni's 72nd birthday

The 25-year-old Englishman's second solo album Icarus Falls - dropping December 14 - features 27 tracks including Rainberry, Too Much, Fingers, Entertainer, Sour Diesel, and Let Me.

The nepotistically-privileged daughter of real estate millionaire Mohamed and RHOBH alum Yolanda will drop her six-piece Reebok footwear/apparel collaboration in 'late January/early February.'

Also rocking the $495 midi-sleeve blazer was Kaia Gerber beneath a Rolling Stones T-shirt with her similarly-clad brother Presley Gerber.

The nepotistically-privileged siblings just so happen to count nineties supermodel Cindy Crawford and Casamigos tequila co-founder Rande Gerber as their parents.

'Happy place': Hadid's 'favorite thing with cooking' is fixing new recipes for her on-again boyfriend of four years - former 1D boybander Zayn Malik - whom she prematurely 'split' from back on March 13 (pictured October 21)

Dropping December 14! The 25-year-old Englishman's second solo album Icarus Falls features 27 tracks including Rainberry, Too Much, Fingers, Entertainer, Sour Diesel, and Let Me

One of the evening's hosts Oscar winner Sofia Coppola - who's been an MJ muse since 2001 - looked sophisticated in her b&w dotted sleeveless dress and peep-toe heels.

The other hostess - British stylist Katie Grand - opted for a hideous denim skirt with a baggy blue jacket and pink Marie Antoinette-style mules.

Meanwhile, the man of the hour - Marc Jacobs - sported a Nirvana T-shirt beneath a khaki tranch coat as he took a selfie with fiance Char Defrancesco.

Among the cool riot grrrls mingling at the bash were Sonic Youth bassist Kim Gordon and comedian and Sirius XM host Sandra Bernhard.

Twinning: Also rocking the $495 midi-sleeve blazer was Kaia Gerber beneath a Rolling Stones T-shirt with her similarly-clad brother Presley Gerber

Famous folks: The nepotistically-privileged siblings just so happen to count nineties supermodel Cindy Crawford and Casamigos tequila co-founder Rande Gerber as their parents

Filmmaker: One of the evening's hosts Oscar winner Sofia Coppola - who's been an MJ muse since 2001 - looked sophisticated in her b&w dotted sleeveless dress and peep-toe heels

Folded up? The other hostess - British stylist Katie Grand - opted for a hideous denim skirt with a baggy blue jacket and pink Marie Antoinette-style mules

Smile! Meanwhile, the man of the hour - Marc Jacobs (R) - sported a Nirvana T-shirt beneath a khaki trench coat as he took a selfie with fiance Char Defrancesco (L)

Working it! Upping the style ante, the catwalk queen complemented her outfit with a Rolling Stones top and patent boots

Edgy: Meanwhile, brother Presley, 19, looked effortlessly cool in a biker leather jacket, ripped jeans and canvas trainers by Converse

Vogue's creative director at large Grace Coddington opted for sneakers at the fashionable festivities and she rocked her signature flame locks and red pout.

Stella Maxwell put on a sideshow in a black strappy LBD and Doc Marten boots selected by stylist Marc Eram.

The 28-year-old Lions Model is best known for romancing Twilight alum Kristen Stewart and pop star Miley Cyrus.

The Belgium-born blonde got up close and personal with transgender model Andreja Pejic looking chic in her baby-blue metallic pantsuit with white accessories.

So nice they wore it twice! Kaia cosied up to fellow supermodel Gigi, who was sporting a similar blazer to the brunette

Quirky: The model flashed a hint of her abs in a cropped tee and complemented her bold jacket with matching trousers

All in the details: The blonde wore ankle boots on her feet and swept her tresses into trendy space buns

Authenticity: Among the cool riot grrrls mingling at the bash were Sonic Youth bassist Kim Gordon (L) and comedian and Sirius XM host Sandra Bernhard (R)

Tastemaker: Vogue's creative director at large Grace Coddington opted for sneakers at the fashionable festivities and she rocked her signature flame locks and red pout

Sideboob alert! Stella Maxwell put on a sideshow in a black strappy LBD and Doc Marten boots selected by stylist Marc Eram

Kohl-rimmed eyes: The 28-year-old Lions Model is best known for romancing Twilight alum Kristen Stewart and pop star Miley Cyrus

RuPaul's Drag Race alum Miss Fame (born Kurtis Dam-Mikkelsen) emulated Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada in her Marc Jacobs ensemble.

Matek model Lindsey Wixson layered up her b&w maxi-dress while Kiwi model Lili Sumner flashed her white panties beneath sheer co-ords.

Also flashing her panties in a see-through dress was Priscilla Model Ruby Jean Wilson alongside her pattern-mixing pal Jamie Curran.

And Dinosaur Jr. frontman J Mascis kept it casual in denim and sneakers before taking the stage to perform with Kim Gordon.

Blonde ambition: The Belgium-born beauty got up close and personal with transgender model Andreja Pejic looking chic in her baby-blue metallic pantsuit with white accessories

Gives good face: RuPaul's Drag Race alum Miss Fame (born Kurtis Dam-Mikkelsen) emulated Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada in her Marc Jacobs ensemble

Attendees: Matek model Lindsey Wixson layered up her b&w maxi-dress while Kiwi model Lili Sumner flashed her white panties beneath sheer co-ords

Peek-a-boo! Also flashing her panties in a see-through dress was Priscilla Model Ruby Jean Wilson alongside her pattern-mixing pal Jamie CurranShe's an outspoken cultural activist and feminist and recently starred in the police shooting drama The Hate U Give.

And on Monday night, Amandla Stenberg was a special guest at the annual Make Equality Reality Gala in Beverly Hills.

The 20-year-old was the recipient of the Changemaker Award at the fundraiser for the nonprofit Equality Now.

In the spotlight: Amandla Stenberg was the recipient of the Changemaker Award at the annual Make Equality Reality Gala in Beverly Hills on Monday night

Stenberg chose a colorful outfit for her big night, stepping out in a long-sleeved, full-length gown.

The outfit had a ruffled collar and flared cuffs and was belted at the waist.

She wore a headband over her curls and added dangly earrings.

The rising star was made up with orange eye-shadow and red lip color.

Formal: Stenberg, 20, chose a colorful outfit for her big night, stepping out in a long-sleeved, full-length gown. The outfit had a ruffled collar and flared cuffs and was belted at the waist

Rising star: She wore a headband over her curls and added dangly earrings, and she was made up with orange eye-shadow and red lip color

Black-ish star Tracee Ellis Ross was also at the gala where she posed for photos on the red carpet with Stenberg.

The actress daughter of superstar Diana Ross looked sensational in a black gown decorated with a large colorful motif.

According to the nonprofit's website, the annual Make Equality Reality event has raised over three million dollars since 2012 'to help create a just world for women and girls'.

The evening gathering also honored The Handmaid's tale author Margaret Atwood and behavioral geneticist, writer and activist Susan Smalley.

Black-ish star Tracee Ellis Ross was also at the gala where she posed for photos on the red carpet with Stenberg

Firm friends: The two seemed delighted to be together

Shared stories: During the program, Ross did an onstage Q&A with Stenberg about her activism

Identity: Stenberg famously came out as bisexual in 2016, then pansexual in 2017, and finally declared herself lesbian in 2018

Stenberg has made it her professional mission to have her movies teach audiences to 'love black people as much as they love black culture.'

The biracial beauty told Glamour 's November issue: 'If we've done the job right, movies like The Hate U Give will be a tool in depicting that sort of cultural appropriation, why it's insensitive, why it's not cool.'

Stenberg famously came out as bisexual in 2016, then pansexual in 2017, and finally declared herself lesbian in 2018.

The Disney catalog child model first made headlines in 2015 by attending high school prom with Will and Jada Pinkett Smith's son Jaden, who famously wore a dress to the bash.

Activist: Stenberg wants her movies to teach audiences to 'love black people as much as they love black culture.' She recently starred in the police shooting drama The Hate U GiveShe's been busy promoting Mary Poppins Returns.

And Emily Blunt's whirlwind of publicity appearances continued Monday night with a special screening of the musical movie.

The British actress was spotted leaving the screening and heading to a SUV waiting for her outside the theatre.

PR drive: She's been busy promoting Mary Poppins Returns. And Emily Blunt's whirlwind of publicity appearances continued Monday night with a special screening of the musical movie

Blunt, 35, showed off her trim figure in a golden brown knit two-piece from Victoria Beckham.

The long-sleeved sweater had a turtleneck and the form-fitting skirt fell to below the knee.

She stepped out in bright red sandal heels with a black top strap and carried a light brown shoulder purse.

Her dyed blonde hair was worn in a ponytail and she was made up with lashings of black mascara and kohl, dark blush and glossy red lip color.

Heading home: Blunt, 35, showed off her trim figure in a golden brown knit two-piece from Victoria Beckham - a long-sleeved turtleneck and a form-fitting skirt that fell to below the knee

Stylish: She stepped out in bright red sandal heels with a black top strap and carried a light brown shoulder purse

Star power: Her dyed blonde hair was worn in a ponytail and she was made up with lashings of black mascara and kohl, dark blush and glossy red lip color

Starring role: Lin-Manuel Miranda, who plays lamplighter Jack in the movie, also attended the screening

Earlier in the day, the actress joined her co-stars Emily Mortimer, Ben Whishaw and Lin-Manuel to talk about Mary Poppins Returns at Sirius XM.

The star of Girl On The Train and The Devil Wears Prada has previously admitted that she didn't watch the 1964 original version of Mary Poppins starring Julie Andrews after landing the titular role in the sequel.

The actress revealed that she didn't want to feel 'intimidated' by Julie Andrew's iconic portrayal so decided to just put her own stamp on things.

She wasn't able to fully distance herself from the Disney classic, however, as she did watch the film in her childhood.

Even though Id seen the film as a child, I decided not to watch it when prepping. She was so clear to me from reading that I decided not to be intimidated by the iconic Julie Andrews in the iconic role, and just approached it as I would any other part,' she explained.

Group effort: Earlier in the day, the actress joined her co-stars Emily Mortimer, Ben Whishaw and Lin-Manuel to talk about Mary Poppins Returns at Sirius XM

Co-stars: They seemed to have fun talking about the sequel to the original 1964 family favorite that starred Julie Andrews in the title role

In the sequel, Mary Poppins returns to the Banks family in their time of need along with the lamplighter Jack (Lin-Manuel Miranda).

Mortimer stars as the adult Jane Banks, Wishaw as Michael Banks, with Julie Walters as Michael's housekeeper Ellen and Colin Firth as William Weatherall Wilkins, president of Fidelity Fiduciary Bank.

The all-star cast is rounded out by Meryl Streep as Mary's eccentric cousin Topsy, Dick Van Dyke as Mr. Dawes Jr. and Angela Lansbury as The Balloon Lady.

The story is set in 1930s London, the same time period used in the original novels by P.L. Travers.She's the gorgeous model who recently curated her 'dream clothing brand' Marli.

And ahead of the highly-anticipated launch on Monday, Madi Edwards flaunted her envy-inducing figure in a collection of striking pieces.

Posing up a storm in front of a tropical backdrop, the 22-year-old social media star showed off her Insta-famous derriere and slender stems in the attire.

Tropical beauty! Madi Edwards flaunted her sensational figure in this rainbow-hued bikini for breathtaking photo shoot ahead of the launch of her new label Marli

In one snap, Madi posed in a multicoloured bikini that featured blocks of yellow red and green.

Madi's bikini featured a high-cut thong brief and a triangular swim top that revealed more than a glimpse of skin.

The Maxim model kept her blonde tresses styled in loose waves for the photograph.

Wow! Posing up a storm in front of a tropical backdrop, the 22-year-old social media star showed off her Insta-famous derriere and slender stems in the attire

That's cheeky! In one snap, Madi showed off her derriere in a multicoloured bikini that featured blocks of yellow red and green

A pop of colour! Madi's bikini featured a high-cut thong brief and a triangular swim top that revealed more than a glimpse of skin

In a few other snaps, she was seen wearing a striking flower crown as she rested behind a palm tree.

Opting for neutral make-up, the stunner enhanced her flawless complexion with glossy lips and defined brows.

Swapping the crown for a rainbow-hued headband, Madi then offered passersby a view of her barely-covered derriere.

Candid: Madi kept her blonde tresses styled in loose waves

Colour your life: Proving her commitment to the colour theme, she also donned a rainbow-hued headband in one shot

All tied up! In one shot, the statuesque stunner posed while holding a long rope in both hands

Details: In a few other snaps, she was seen wearing a striking flower crown as she basked in the sunlight

Later, her flaxen locks were styled in a low ponytail as she rocked a long sleeve swim top for a walk on the beach.

The sun-kissed model then debuted her two-piece active wear set, which featured a similar tropical theme.

The midriff top sported a quirky cross-over at the back and was adorned with yellow, green and yellow bands.

Chic: She later donned a long-sleeve swim top for a walk on the beach

Beautiful: Opting for neutral make-up, the stunner enhanced her flawless complexion with glossy lips and defined brows

Work it: The sun-kissed model has also been pictured modeling her two-piece active wear set, which features a similar tropical theme to the beachwear range

Madi teamed this up with matching leggings that were also decorated with the trio of colours.

And Madi crafted a trans-seasonal collection with her new label, mainly designed to move with the wearer from intense gym workouts to tropical island vacations.

The collection consists of a bikini, a silk scarf and an activewear set, all designed in Australia.

Rainbow: The midriff top sported a quirky cross-over at the back and featured yellow, green and yellow bands

Active: Madi tmodelled a pair of matching leggings which featured tape bands in the familiar colours

Bold: Madi's trans-seasonal collection will no doubt become a regular go-to brand for the model's fellow Instagram influencers

Taking to Instagram on Monday, Madi gushed over the launch, penning a cheerful caption alongside an image of herself clad in the rainbow bikini.

'Today is the day @shopmarli FINALLY launches. Marli is my absolute dream brand and I'm so excited to share it with you all and to watch my baby grow!' she wrote.

Madi previously revealed she has been working on the brand over the past year.

Local: The collection consists of a bikini, a silk scarf and an activewear set, all designed in AustraliaSamantha Morton has given fans a first look at her shaved head as she prepares for a new role in long-running show The Walking Dead.

The British actress will make her debut as Alpha, fearsome leader of the primitive, ritualistic and highly dangerous Whisperers, when the post-apocalyptic shows ninth season continues in January.

And the bald head required to fill the role was on show as she made an appearance at the 21st British Independent Film Awards at London Old Billingsgate with daughter Esme Creed-Miles on Sunday evening.

New look: Samantha Morton has given fans a first look at her shaved head as she prepares for a new role in long-running show The Walking Dead

The celebrated actress, 41, showed off the distinctive look while presenting Joe Cole with the Best Actor Award for his starring role in A Prayer Before Dawn.

Morton's casting as Alpha, a character already familiar to fans of graphic novel series upon which The Walking Dead is based, was confirmed at San Diego Comic-Con in July.

The news ended months of speculation over who will play the head of the mysterious Whisperers, a terrifying group who master the art of survival by concealing themselves beneath masks made from rotting walker skin and blending in with the dead.

Quite a difference: Samantha new look, a prerequisite for her latest role, is in stark contrast to her usual appearance

In good company: The actress was joined by daughter Esme Creed-Miles as she attended the 21st British Independent Film Awards at London Old Billingsgate on Sunday evening

The Whisperers - described as a highly primitive group with a complete disregard for conventional social constructs - were introduced early in season nine, but Morton is yet to make her debut.

The mid-season finale saw Michonne, Eugene and Aaron surrounded by members of the mysterious group after helplessly watching show regular Jesus suffer a brutal, unexpected death.

Alpha and her group are expected to spark the show's latest all out war, several years after a prolonged confrontation with Jefferey Dean Morgan's Negan and his band of merciless Saviours.

In the graphic novels she is depicted as a fearsome leader to whom everyone defers, including her enormous, imposing and physically dominant lieutenant Beta.

All yours: The celebrated actress, 41, showed off the distinctive look while presenting Joe Cole with the Best Actor Award for his starring role in A Prayer Before Dawn

Welcome addition: Morton's casting as Alpha, a character already familiar to fans of graphic novel series upon which The Walking Dead is based, was confirmed at San Diego Comic-Con in July

Coming soon: The Whisperers - described as a highly primitive group with a complete disregard for conventional social constructs - were introduced early in season nine, but Morton is yet to make her debut

Speaking about Morton's impact since filming her first scenes, Andrew Lincoln - who left the show early in season nine - admitted she's already embraced the character's more terrifying personality traits.

'She's scared the bejeezus out of all of the crew, actually,' he told Digital Spy. 'Someone was doing an impersonation of a scene that she did, and even that scared me... I was like, "Oh my God, that's really scary."

'I saw her on set three days ago, and she was so wonderful and loving being here. She said it's a role of a lifetime.

'These kind of roles usually go to men, so that's why she's thrilled, and she's giving it extraordinary attention and care. So I think we're very, very fortunate to have her.'

Devastating: The mid-season finale saw Michonne, Eugene and Aaron surrounded by members of the mysterious group after helplessly watching show regular Jesus suffer a brutal, unexpected death

Can't wait: Morton is expected to make her debut when the show returns in 2019



After going public with her story of sexual abuse at the hands of disgraced Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, Rose McGowan has found herself at the centre of the #MeToo movement.

But after bravely speaking out against the 66-year-old in October last year, the 45-year-old actress revealed the year since the movement first kicked off has been somewhat harrowing for her.

'I've probably shaved a couple of years off my life,' she admitted during an interview on The Project on Tuesday.

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At the frontline: After going public with her story of sexual abuse at the hands of disgraced Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, Rose McGowan has found herself at the centre of the #MeToo movement

Rose said women have reached out to her in droves with their own devastating stories of sexual abuse.

'I receive a lot of stories, a lot of intense stories, and a lot of heartbreaking stories - especially in this last year - which is a really triggering year for a lot of people,' she confessed.

'It definitely felt like at some points I was a gatekeeper for a lot of that, but I can shoulder it, and I'm here to shoulder it.'

Taxing: After bravely speaking out against Weinstein in October last year, the 45-year-old actress revealed the year since the movement first kicked off has been somewhat harrowing for her

And while the movement has undoubtedly been revolutionary, it's also attracted a lot of criticism, particularly from some men.

But Rose maintains it's not an attack on men in general.

'Just behave like human beings and we'll all be okay,' she continued, saying it's simply about respect.

Confidante: Rose said women have reached out to her in droves with their own devastating stories of sexual abuse

'Men shouldn't be scared. This is just a cultural reset, and it's okay.

'We just need to stand back and, I think, just be 10 percent more human to each other, and realise that women aren't property, and we'll be okay from there.'

In an interview with The Guardian in June, Rose admitted it had taken months for her to process the enormity of what she had endured at the hands of Weinstein.

Cultivating change: 'Just behave like human beings and we'll all be okay,' she continued, saying the #MeToo movement is simply about respect

'I cried the other night, finally,' she told the publication.

'I was asked a lot when he was arrested: "How does it feel?" And I hadnt really had time to process how it felt.

'I went to Central Park - it was around midnight - and I just cried. I cried for the girl I was, I cried for her. But today I smile for me.'

Currently, Rose is lending her voice to the Walkout Oz movement, which will see women across Australia walk out of offices at precisely 3:50pm on Wednesday, demanding equal pay.

Speaking to The Project, Rose said she hopes men will support their female colleagues in the protest.She's not stranger to causing a stir after her Love Island 2016 appearance.

And Katie Salmon proved she hasn't lost her touch as she arrived at London's Mayfair Hotel bar for a friend's birthday party on Monday evening.

The reality star, 22, wasn't afraid to show some skin with her outfit, arriving at the exclusive venue in a plunging black vest top and denim hot pants that left little to the imagination.

Wild thing: Love Island's Katie Salmon turned up the heat as she arrived at London's Mayfair Hotel bar for a friend's birthday party on Monday evening

Adding to the look, the TV personality wore a black garter belt with cut-out suspender stockings, completing the outfit with a pair of high heels.

The reality star looked almost unrecognisable from her days in the Love Island villa with a bold new 'do.

Katie ditched her naturally brunette locks for an eye-catching pink wig for her night on the town.

She went for a dramatic smokey eye and nude lip gloss to accentuate her striking features.

Daring: The reality star, 22, wasn't afraid to show some skin with her outfit, arriving to the exclusive venue in a black vest top and denim hot pants that left little to the imagination

New look: Adding to the look, the TV personality wore a black garter belt with cut-out suspender stockings, completing the outfit with a pair of high heels

Katie is best known to viewers of the ITV2 show for pairing up with the late Sophie Gradon on the 2016 series.

Sophie was originally partnered with Tom Powell but later coupled up with Katie after he quit the show.

However, Sophie later dumped Katie and bowed out of the show to be with Tom again, leading Katie to pair off with Adam Maxted.

Their romance was short-lived, lasting just two weeks after the series drew to a close.

Katie's appearance comes weeks after she opened up about the abuse she received from the LGBT community, following her same-sex romance with late Love Island star Sophie.

Pretty in pink: The reality star looked almost unrecognisable from her days in the Love Island villa with a bold new 'do

Speaking on the Victoria Derbyshire programme in September, Katie admitted she was the subject of much fan uproar after her relationship with Sophie, who was tragically found dead in June aged just 32.

Katie explained that men seem to misinterpret her sexuality as being 'a woman who likes having threesomes,' and went onto admit she doesn't understand why she is made to feel 'ashamed' about being bisexual.

She said: 'In the villa I was so scared because I didn't know what the outside world was thinking, what my family was thinking, what my friends were thinking, so I was really upset that they'd not supported me from my own community.

'Why can't I be who I want to be? There's nothing to be ashamed of, there's nothing to feel bad about. You're completely normal, and there's so many people out there like you, just as long as you love you that's all that matters.'She is an acclaimed actress whose stellar performances have seen her net two Golden Globes and five Oscar nominations.

And Amy Adams was every inch the film superstar as she attended the SFFILM Awards in San Francisco on Monday.

The 44-year-old American Hustle actress, who received the Peter J. Owens Award for Acting at the awards, exuded elegance in a plunging black jumpsuit as she made her entrance onto the red carpet at the Palace of Fine Arts Exhibition Center..

Looking good: Amy Adams was every inch the film superstar as she attended the SFFILM Awards in San Francisco on Monday

The elegant jumpsuit teased at her cleavage with its daring neckline, with the star accessorising with a sparkling gold necklace.

The garment cinched in at her slender waist before flowing into tailored trousers.

She boosted her height with black peeptoe heels.

Gorgeous: The 44-year-old American Hustle actress, who received the Peter J. Owens Award for Acting at the awards, exuded elegance in a plunging black jumpsuit as she made her entrance onto the red carpet at the Palace of Fine Arts Exhibition Center

Taking the plunge: The elegant jumpsuit teased at her cleavage with its daring neckline, with the star accessorising with a sparkling gold necklace

Radiant: Her auburn tresses were styled in soft waves while her pretty features were enhanced with feline flicks of liner, peach blush and coral gloss

Tailored: The garment cinched in at her slender waist before flowing into tailored trousers

Her auburn tresses were styled in soft waves while her pretty features were enhanced with feline flicks of liner, peach blush and coral gloss.

Widows co-writer and director Steve McQueen received the Irving M. Levin Award for Film Direction; and Sorry to Bother You writer, director and songwriter Boots Riley received the Kanbar Award for Storytelling.

Amy has been busy with press for her new film Vice, which stars Christian Bale as President George W. Bush's right-hand man Dick Cheney.

Adams is already receiving high praise for the picture, in which she plays Lynne Cheney, the Vice President's wife.

Additionally, Steve Carell appears as Donald Rumsfeld and Sam Rockwell plays George W. Bush.

Giving thanks: The star looked emotional as she accepted the coveted award

Moment to remember: She looked at film producer Adam McKay as she took to the stage

Showbiz pals: The duo posed up on the red carpet

Honoured: Steve McQueen. who was honoured on the night, posed with Michelle Rodriguez

Happy: The acclaimed director looked dapper in a navy blue suit while Michelle wowed in silver

And it appears the actress is already poised for success during awards season.

While praising Bale for his performance, Variety noted that 'Adams ought to be along for much of the awards season journey with Bale as well.'

And the blog AwardsDaily also remarked on Adam's interpretation, writing: 'Adams has finally gotten to a point in her career where she can play a woman passing through middle and old age. Her Lynn is hard, loyal, and as cold as ice as her husband.'

Vice arrives in theaters December 25.

The star has been married to Darren Le Gallo since 2015 and the couple share one daughter Aviana, eight.

Talented: writer, director and songwriter Boots Riley received the Kanbar Award for Storytelling and posed up with a glam palThe UAE National Pavilion is participating in the International Defence Exhibition 2018 (Edex 2018), taking place in Cairo, Egypt from December 3 to 5, a media report said.



The participating delegation under the UAE National Pavilion included officials and members from Tawazun Economic Council and the Emirates Defence Companies Council (EDCC), reported Emirates news agency Wam.



Sultan Abdullah Al Samahi, acting general manager of the Emirates Defence Companies Council stated that the nation-wide participation from the UAE Pavilion reflects the deep and fraternal relations between the UAE and Egypt, under the wise leadership of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt.



Al Samahi explained that Edex 2018 represents a substantial opportunity for national defence companies to promote their products and services that have become comparable to their international counterparts in terms of quality and prices. Al Samahi additionally stated Tawazun goal of enabling the development of the industrial defence and security sector which in turn, contributes to the development of a suitable economy for the United Arab Emirates.



The National Pavilion of the United Arab Emirates welcomed 17 UAE-based companies specialising in the defence and technology industries, defence and security.



The national companies include: ADASI, one of the UAE's leading companies in the field of unmanned systems Barij Munitions, Barij Dynamics, Advanced Pyrotechnics (ATP), AMROC, Abu Dhabi Aviation, Maximus Aviation, Emirates Advanced Research & Technology Holding (EARTH), Calidus, Al Fattan Ship Industry, Siham Alkhaleej Technologies, International Golden Group (IGG), Rabdan Academy, Tawazun Industrial Park (TIP), National Shield Magazine, International Golden Group (IGG), Al Rumaithi Corporation, Ramah International Group and other national companies.



The Emirates Defence Companies Council is a notable initiative established by Tawazun Economic Council in support of their strategic partners, the Ministry of Defence and the GHQ of the UAE Armed Forces.



The EDCC aims to provide national defence companies an appropriate environment to develop their products and capabilities to an international standard which effectively contributes to the development of the industrial sector and the diversification of the UAEs economy.She's always been close to her family throughout her rise to worldwide superstardom.

So it was no surprise to see Victoria Beckham having a ball with her younger siblings, Louise and Christian Adams, at the Haig Club House Party held at Laylow members' club in London's Notting Hill on Monday night.

Stepping out to support her husband, David, the fashion designer, 44, cosied up to her sister, 42, and her brother, who is rarely seen in public, in sweet snaps posted to her Instagram stories.

Double act: Victoria Beckham with her younger sibling Louise at the Haig Club House Party held at Laylow members' club in London's Notting Hill, on Monday night

Sharing a sweet picture with Louise, Victoria wrote: 'Kisses to a very special person, I love u so much @louiseadams xxx fun night out! x,' while adding: 'Fun night! Love u @christianadams_79' along with a selfie of her and Christian.

Looking sensational in her casually chic ensemble, the fashion designer paired together a sheer turtle-neck blouse, that teased a look at her black lingerie underneath.

Victoria wore her brunette locks pinned back and left the front sections of her mane down to softly frame her face.

Siblings: Stepping out to support her husband, David, the fashion designer, 44, also cosied up to her brother Christian, who is rarely seen out in public

Family affair: The siblings turned out to support Victoria's husband of nearly 20 years David, who was being paid to party as he is a brand ambassador for whiskey company Haig Club

Keeping grounded: Victoria has always been extremely close to her family throughout her fame (pictured with her dad Tony and sister)

Dressing to impress, Louise looked equally stylish in an all-black ensemble and nude court heels, while Christian sported a formal blue shirt.

Adding some glitz to her ensemble, Louise sported a silver necklace that included a large 'L' initial pendant around her neck and finished off her look with glamorous make-up.

The siblings turned out to support Victoria's husband of nearly 20 years, David, who was being paid to party as he is a brand ambassador for whiskey company Haig Club.

Sartorially savvy: Victoria looked sensational in her casually chic ensemble that paired together a sheer turtle-neck blouse and dark high-waisted jeans

Man of the moment: David Beckham, 43, was dressed to impress in a fitted grey suit as he joined his family and pals at the lavish event

Stunning: Victoria's lookalike sibling Louise ensured she was dressed to impress for the evening in a stylish all-black ensemble and nude court heels

Stylish: Throwing a velvet corduroy jacket over her outfit, Louise sported a silver necklace that included a large 'L' initial pendant around her neck

Earlier this year it was revealed that Louise had to close down her Hertfordshire clothing store Hidden Closet as she is 'too busy with her four children' and struggled to find a third party to take over running the shop.

Louise followed in her pop star-turned-designer sister's fashion footsteps when she launched the store in Hoddesdon in November 2016, with items in the shop starting at just a few pounds and ranging up to around 60.

An insider told MailOnline: 'They are closing it down as her and friend that she opened it with are too busy with their kids .

'They tried out a couple of people to run it on their behalf but as I understand that didnt work out'.

Suited and booted: On Tuesday, David looked typically dapper as he arrived at the Bloomsbury Hotel in London

Suave: The former football star cut a sharp figure as he donned a glossy midnight blue suit, complete with a matching tie and crisp shirt

All in the details: The star opted for his signature sense of style as he donned a checked flat cap and patent shoesShe is in the midst of heartache after splitting from cheating fiance John Noble earlier this month.

And Vicky Pattison certainly showed her love rat ex what he was missing as she posted a sizzling Instagram snap on Monday, after seeking comfort from her former flame Mario Falcone.

After spending the day gushing over Mario's newborn baby boy Parker, the former Geordie Shore star, 31, stripped down to a plunge bra to enjoy a much-needed pamper session.

Racy display: Vicky Pattison certainly showed her love rat ex fiance John Noble what he was missing as she posted a sizzling Instagram snap in a plunging bra on Monday

Vicky flaunted her surgically-enhanced cleavage in the racy black lingerie as she pouted for the camera.

The former I'm A Celebrity jungle queen donned a pore strip and showed off her glowing complexion by going make-up free for the snap.

She captioned the sultry post: 'Been a long day so this pamper is muuuuuch needed.'

The best heartache remedy: Earlier in the day, the reality star visited her former flame Mario Falcone's newborn baby boy Parker

Besotted: The reality starlet looked enamoured with Parker, posting of snap of the pair bonding

Heartbreak: Vicky poked fun at her new single status, joking she was the 'third wheel' as she spent time with Mario and his fiance Becky

Earlier in the day, Vicky shared a slew of snaps during her visit to the Falcone household as she celebrated the birth of Mario and his fiancee Becky's son, Parker Jax.

The reality starlet looked enamoured with Parker, posting of snap of the pair bonding.

Vicky and Mario have managed to retain their friendship after enjoying a brief romance back in 2017. The pair were spotted out and about on a string of dates, however, it never blossomed into a full-blown relationship.

Doting parents: Mario and his fiancee Becky welcomed their beautiful baby boy Parker Jax into the world last month

At the time, Mario explained: We both tried to make it work. I'm busy away a lot and if you haven't got time for yourself, how are you going to make time for someone else?

We're such good friends. We get along so well. We had to make it a mutual decision, unless we can give it our all we're going to end up ruining our friendship. So we decided to just remain friends, and it could happen in the future but at the moment we'll stay friends.'

Vicky's latest post comes after she shared a sizzling bikini-clad snap on Sunday, before sharing an empowering message to her female Instagram followers.

In a throwback to her recent relaxing spa break with her mother at County Durham's Seaham Hall, the ex Geordie Shore star flaunted her toned curves in a tiny yellow string bikini.

Hot stuff: Vicky's latest post comes after she shared a sizzling bikini-clad snap on Sunday, before sharing an empowering message to her female Instagram followers

Following her skimpy bikini snap, the presenter shared an inspirational message with her 4.1million followers, admitting that while her 'soul aches' and 'heart breaks' she vows to 'fly even with broken wings'.

Vicky wrote: 'Just to let all you women out there know, you deserve more. Know your worth. I love you'.

Last month, John was pictured cavorting with three girls while on a boys' holiday to Dubai, leaving Vicky devastated.

'Know your worth': The TV personality, 31, told her 4.1 million followers her 'soul aches' and 'heart breaks', but vowed to 'fly even with broken wings'

The former couple first dated when the reality star was 20, but found their way back to each other in 2016.

The couple announced their engagement in July 2017 and after postponing their nuptials, were looking forward to planning their wedding in 2019.

Vicky confirmed they had split exclusively to MailOnline earlier this month, with a source saying: 'Vicky and John are officially over. She is concentrating on her busy work schedule and surrounding herself with positivity, friends and family.

'Its been a difficult couple of weeks but she is moving on with her life and looking forward to the future.'

Vicky was previously engaged to her Geordie Shore co-star Ricci Guarnaccio, 32, from 2012 to 2013.He slummed it in the jungle on I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! for 11 days.

But Noel Edmonds looked like he was enjoying being back to the good life as he tucked into a slap-up seafood buffet lunch with his wife Liz, 49, and their son Harrison, 15, at the Sheraton Gold Coast hotel in Australia on Monday.

The Deal Or No Deal host, 69, looked like he was relishing in post-jungle life as he reunited with his family.

Treat yourself! Noel Edmonds, 69, tucked into a slap-up seafood buffet lunch with his wife Liz, 49, and their son Harrison, 15, at the Sheraton Gold Coast hotel in Australia on Monday

The TV star was dressed casually for the day out, wearing a white, unbuttoned shirt with blue jeans and trainers, also donning a pair of shades and a wooden necklace.

His other half Liz also looked to be in high-spirits, wearing a black, patterned sun dress with a v-neckline.

She carried a silver bag on her back and tied her blonde locks into a ponytail for their family day out.

A holiday maker told The Sun: 'Just seen Noel Edmonds his wife and son having the seafood buffet at the Sheraton Gold Coast at 3pm today.

Back together: The Deal Or No Deal star looked like he was relishing in post-jungle life as he reunited with his family after his jungle stint

'The Sheraton is opposite the Versace hotel they are all staying.'

Noel is staying with Liz in the luxurious five star hotel on the Gold Coast until the show comes to an end.

The hotel opened in 2000 and has over 200 rooms, 72 privately owned apartments, a ballroom, a Versace retail store and a private marina.

Noel is the most expensive celebrity ITV has procured to take part in I'm A Celebrity.

Paradise: The TV personality and his family were said to be enjoying a well-earned buffet lunch after he survived on basic rations for 11 days

TV bosses forked out 600,000 to get him to take part in the series.

It was quite the pay day for the TV presenter who entered the jungle on day five and lasted 11 days before becoming the first celebrity to be sent home.

The fee for his stay in the jungle means Noel was paid 54,545 a day or 2,272 per hour.

Speaking after his elimination, he said: 'I'm disappointed and relieved in equal measure and so excited that I'm going to be back with Liz.

He said: 'Since I came in here I have said I was just going to be myself, just open and honest.

Fee: TV bosses forked out 600,000 to get Noel to take part in the series, which he only lasted on for 11 days

Happy: Speaking after his elimination, he said he was 'disappointed and relieved in equal measure and so excited that I'm going to be back with Liz'

'I haven't done anything for effect and I certainly haven't lied. I'm humbled and proud to have been part of it.'

The night before he left, Noel chatted to his fellow celebrities around the campfire and thanked them for making his late start on the show a pleasant one.

'It wasn't easy coming in late, so thank you for making it as easy as you can.

"Earlier today I was reflecting on how fortunate I am in my life, and thinking about true experiences, and I wasn't expecting this to get into the top 10 of all time.'She claimed Coronation Street had lost its sense of humour.

But Corrie's Maureen Lipman threw her head back with laughter inbetween scenes with her co-star Alan Halsall when they filmed on set on Tuesday.

The actress, 72, couldn't stop smiling and giggling while shooting scenes with her co-star who plays her grandson Tyrone in the soap.

Who said filming wasn't fun? Corrie's Maureen Lipman got the giggles with her co-star Alan Halsall on Tuesday after she claimed Coronation Street had lost its sense of humour

Maureen and Alan took a moment's relief from filming the storyline which saw Tyrone check in on his grandmother Evelyn after they lost her pet dog Cerebus.

Just moments before, the pair were seen looking tense as they acted out the lines for the latest hard-hitting storyline.

The leading lady wrapped up in a big red puffer jacket and she had a hot water bottle with a reindeer jacket to keep warm between the breaks.

Baby it's cold outside: The leading lady wrapped up in a big red puffer jacket and she had a hot water bottle with a reindeer jacket to keep warm between the breaks

Funny moment! The actress, 72, couldn't stop smiling and giggling while shooting scenes with her co-star who plays her grandson Tyrone in the soap

Maureen's hilarious day on set comes after the actress claimed she gets 'depressed' at the sight of her character.

She told The Daily Star: 'There isn't much comedy in the actual storyline by the very nature of what it is.

'But the lines are dry and in a way you have to put your own personality into it, and the writers start to respond to the way it is going so I can only wait and see.'

Hilarious gaffe: Maureen and Alan took a moment's relief from filming the latest storyline which saw Tyrone check in on his grandmother after they lost her pet dog Cerebus

Maureen isn't the only person on the Coronation Street set who thinks the soap is in danger of losing its sense of humour.

Soap producer Iain MacLeod explained they brought Maureen back to the show in August, but this time as Evelyn, to bring a 'fresh drop of northern humour' to Corrie.

He previously said: 'I am beyond thrilled that we are introducing such a great new character, played by someone of Maureen's pedigree.

Explained: She claimed Coronation Street had lost its sense of humour

Revealed: Just moments before, the pair were seen looking tense as they acted out the lines for the latest hard-hitting storyline

'Evelyn is eye-wateringly withering and will add a fresh drop of northern humour to the show as she turns Tyrone and Fiz's lives upside down.'

Elsewhere, Sally Dynevor voiced her concerns about the long-running soap losing its comedy roots as she insisted the show could do with more funny moments.

She told Metro.co.uk: 'I like the mixture of dark and comedy. I think when we lose the comedy that's the worrying time.

Sad: Maureen's hilarious day on set comes after the actress claimed she gets 'depressed' at the sight of her character

'I think some of these stories have been absolutely amazing. But I'd have liked to see a bit more comedy if I'm absolutely honest.

'The light and the dark is in there together.'

Maureen previously played relief manageress Lillian Spencer in 2002 when she first starred in the British long-running soap.He's known for his amazing skills on stage and screen.

And on Tuesday, Hugh Jackman was showcasing his singing chops as he took part in rehearsals for the Today show.

On stage at the Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the 50-year-old was insulated against the winter chill in a warm outfit.

Warm: A pair of thick track pants completed the ensemble, and although he was otherwise casually dressed, Hugh wore leather dress shoes

The actor looked cosy in a ribbed beanie which covered up most of his hair.

He added a warm hoodie to combat the low temperatures and wind chill at the Big Apple this time of year.

A pair of thick track pants completed the ensemble, and although he was otherwise casually dressed, Hugh wore leather dress shoes.

Song and dance man! Hugh Jackman looks cosy as he braves the winter chill in a black beanie and hoodie on stage during rehearsals for the Today show in Manhattan

Hard at work: The star leaned down to talk to people assembled in the audience for his performance, looking serious as he did

Owning the stage! Hugh pulled a variety of dramatic facial expressions while performing on the live program

Say cheese! The star posed for a group selfie on stage

Beaming despite the bad weather, the Wolverine actor looked cheerful as he held a cup a coffee in his gloved hands between songs.

A woolen scarf with tassels added some warmth, and at one stage Hugh was rugged up in a massive puffer jacket, which he later removed.

The star leaned down to talk to people assembled in the audience for his performance, looking serious as he did.

All smiles: Beaming despite the bad weather, the Wolverine actor looked cheerful as he held a cup a coffee in his gloved hands between songs

It comes after the Australian star paid tribute to his wife of 22 years on her 63rd birthday.

On Saturday, Hugh Instagram to post a heartwarming birthday message to his wife Deborra-lee Furness.

'Happy birthday to my smart, sassy, sexy bride. I love you with my entire heart,' Hugh captioned a photo of the pair.

The X-Men actor added the hashtag: 'My Debs.'Her wellness brand Honest is worth an impressive $1billion, but Jessica Alba's movie career doesn't quite reach up to that standard.

A new report has placed the actress, 37, in the unenviable top spot for actors in the worst-reviewed movies of the past 20 years.

With just one positively review over two decades, 2005's Sin City, Alba comes just ahead of Jessica Biel, 36.

Criticially panned: A new report has placed Jessica Albe in the unenviable top spot for actors in the worst-reviewed movies of the past 20 years

The report, whose results were compiled on behalf of British comparison-research site Go Compare, saw Alba average a Metacritic score of 39.0 for the movies she starred in during the preceding two decades.

Metacritic is the popular review site that assigns mathematical values first to a critic's review and then to a movie as a whole.

Alba's has starred in 35 films over the past twenty years, but has notched up a huge amount of flops including the critically panned Valentine's Day (2010) and Good Luck Chuck (2007).

Movie duds: Alba's has starred in 35 films over the past twenty years, but has notched up a huge amount of flops including Valentine's Day (2010) (left) and Good Luck Chuck (2007)

One hit: With just one positively review over two decades, 2005's Sin City (pictured), Alba comes just ahead of Jessica Biel, 36

But the actress isn't giving up on her acting. Alongside her billion-dollar wellness brand and being mum to her three children, Jessica has been working hard this year on NBC's Bad Boys spin-off LA's Finest.

It marks Alba's first small-screen role since Dark Angel, which ran for two seasons (2000-2002) on Fox, while her last big screen role was in 2017's El Camino Christmas.

Jessica Biel wasn't far behind on the list, earning an average of 41.6 percent - and an extra honour of the lowest percentage of outright positive movies than anyone on the list with just 4 percent. Along with Alba, Biel also stars in Valentine's Day.

Over on the male side of the list Next Friday actor and stand up comedian Mike Epps was in the top spot, averaging just a 38.3 score.

Negative reviews: Jessica Biel wasn't far behind on the list, earning an average of 41.6 percent

Panned: Over on the male side of the list Next Friday actor and stand up comedian Mike Epps (left) was in the top spot while Kevin Pollak (right) came in second

Kevin Pollak, who has appeared in 80 plus movies throughout his career including classics like A Few Good Men and The Usual Suspects, came in second place for the men.

Rounding out the list of males were Josh Duhamel, Robin Williams and Gerard Butler while for the women Heather Graham, Radha Mitchell and Kathy Bates took slots three to five.

While the late Robin Williams was an Oscar winner, much of his later work failed to live up to the acclaimed Good Will Hunting, with duds such as Bicentennial Man and Patch Adams littering his resume.

On the list: Robin Williams was in the top five for the men's list. While the late actor was an Oscar winner, much of his later work failed to live up to the acclaimed Good Will Hunting

Kathy Bates meanwhile has been nominated for an Oscar on three occasions, and won best actress, for Misery.

But in recent years she also has acted in such critically panned outings as P.S. I Love You, which also stars fellow list-maker Gerard Butler.

Verve also looked at the highest-rated actors with recent Oscar nominees and British talents Carey Mulligan and Sally Hawkins top among women with 72.8 and 69.2 Metacritic scores and Adam Driver and Leonardo DiCaprio, with 71.7 and 69.3, top for men.

To conduct the study, Verve looked at every actor who's had at least 20 live-action roles in the past 20 years and included only those who had were billed in the top 10 of a film according to IMDB. The Metacritic scores were then collated to come up with an average.

Acclaimed: Verve also looked at the highest-rated actors with recent Oscar nominees and British talents Carey Mulligan and Sally Hawkins top among women

Accolades: Leonardo DiCaprio (left) and Adam Driver came out top for male actorsHer ex-husband Karl Stefanovic, 44, is set to marry Jasmine Yarbrough, 34, in Mexico this coming weekend.

And Cassandra Thorburn appears to have taken a dig at shoe designer Jasmine ahead of her big day.

Speaking at an event in Sydney on Tuesday, the former journalist claimed she simply can't relate to women whose main priority is to appear stylish.

'Life is not a fashion show, it's not a competition': Karl Stefanovic's ex-wife Cassandra Thorburn (left) appears to take a dig at his fiancee Jasmine Yarbrough (right) ahead of lavish Mexico wedding

'[Life] is not a fashion show, it's not a competition... It is not a competition on going out and dressing up,' the mother-of-three said, The Daily Telegraph has reported.

'I have been judged on my appearance I don't agree with it,' she continued.

'How I turn up to pick up my kids from school that day depends on what I have been doing. I might have been cleaning toilets, we all do it,' Cassandra candidly added.

Her business! 'How I turn up to pick up my kids from school that day depends on what I have been doing. I might have been cleaning toilets, we all do it,' Cassandra candidly added

Karl and Jasmine are days away from getting married at the One&Only Palmilla Resort in San Jose del Cabo on December 8.

While they are already legally married in Australia, the couple will exchange vows in front of friends and family abroad.

The pair's guest list reportedly includes 60 people, ranging from family members to well-known public figures.

Soon-to-be newlyweds: Karl and Jasmine are days away from getting married in Mexico on December 8

Karl's side of the aisle will likely include his longtime friend and casino magnate James Packer, as well as the businessman's girlfriend Kylie Lim.

His Today show colleague Richard Wilkins will also no doubt make an appearance, bringing along his new partner Virginia Burmeister.

The soon-to-be newlyweds initially began dating in late 2016, months after the Today host separated from his ex-wife Cassandra.She's considered one of the most beautiful women in the world.

And Penelope Cruz proved worthy of the title as she was spotted looking fabulous arriving to JFK in New York City on Tuesday.

The 44-year-old stunner looked every inch the movie star as she draped her famous figure in a chic black jacket and denim.

Model traveler: Penelope Cruz, 44, was spotted looking fabulous arriving to JFK in New York City on Tuesday

Daring to impress, the Vicky Cristina Barcelona rocked a black turtleneck under the zip up jacket as she stomped the streets in black stiletto heels.

Meanwhile, Penelope is currently starring alongside her real-life husband Javier Bardem in new psychological thriller Everybody Knows.

Penelope and her husband have been busy promoting their new drama, directed by two-time Academy Award winner Asghar Farhadi.

In the layered, psychological film Penelope plays Laura, a mother who travels with her young son and teenage daughter to her sister's wedding.

Stunner: The stunner looked every inch the movie star as she draped her famous figure in a chic black jacket and denim

Having left her husband Alejandro (Ricardo Darin) in Argentina, tensions begin to rise as feelings for her old boyfriend Paco (Javier) resurface when they cross paths.

But things take a dramatic turn when the power cuts out during the wedding, and Laura finds that her daughter has gone missing when they come back on.

As for their own romance story, the couple fell madly in love with each other when they starred in the Woody Allen-directed Vicky Cristina Barcelona in 2008.

Penelope scooped an Academy Award for playing Javier's emotionally unstable love interest in the movie.

The married lovers tied the knot during the summer of 2010 in a private ceremony at a friend's home in the Bahamas.

They share five-year-old daughter Luna and seven-year-old son Leo.She revealed this week she has found love with property manager Andrew Parsons.

And Rebecca Adlington looked the picture of happiness as she treated her three-year-old daughter Summer with a trip to a festive fair in Manchester on Monday.

The Olympic medallist, 29, was joined by international swimmer Michael Gunner for the mother-daughter outing.

Sweet: Rebecca Adlington looked the picture of happiness as she treated her three-year-old daughter Summer with a trip to a festive fair in Manchester on Monday

Rebecca was casually-clad in black skinny leggings, converses and a neon pink jumper.

The I'm A Celebrity star accessorised the look with a red patterned scarf and wore her platinum blonde hair in a side french braid.

Little Summer looked the splitting image of her mother with her white blonde locks and bundled up in a cosy floral coat and pink leggings.

Doting mum: The Olympic medallist, 29, was joined by international swimmer Michael Gunner for the mother-daughter outing

Low-key: Rebecca was casually-clad in black skinny jeans, converses and a neon pink jumper

Like mother, like daughter: Little Summer looked the spitting image of her mother with her white blonde locks and bundled up in a cosy floral coat and pink leggings

Stylish display: The I'm A Celebrity star accessorised the look with a red patterned scarf and wore her platinum blonde hair in a side french braid

Rebecca looked every inch the doting mother as she carried her daughter on her shoulders as they set off for the Christmas fair.

Once they arrived at the festivities, Michael tucked into a hot dog, while Summer looked enchanted with her silver glittery heart wand.

The mother-daughter outing comes after the Olympic swimmer confirmed her romance with property manager Andrew Parsons, 28, marking her first relationship since her divorce from her ex, 26, in 2016.

Cute: Rebecca looked every inch the doting mother as she carried her daughter on her shoulders as the trio set off for the Christmas fair

The sportswoman spoke to OK! Magazine while at OBLU Select at Sangeli in the Maldives, discussing her new man and remaining on good terms with Harry.

The two-time gold medalist revealed that she and Andrew will be heading off for a bit of winter sun with Summer in the new year.

She said: 'I said to Andy: "Hopefully a nine-hour flight with a three year old wont put you off!" But hes used to her now and they really get on  its cute.

New love: The mother-daughter outing comes after the Olympic swimmer confirmed her romance with property manager Andrew Parsons, 28

Rebecca added: 'Summer doesnt really understand what husbands and boyfriends are but she says: Mummy and Andy kiss!'

Her romance with the property manager first hit headlines when they attended Tom Parker and Kelsey Hardwick's wedding together in July.

Despite not confirming their relationship at the time, the pair posed for a cosy snap at the idyllic nuptials in Surrey.

Earlier this year, the blonde admitted she found the dating world 'scary', but revealed she struck up a romance with a 'lovely man', hailing him as a 'delight'.

Family getaway: The two-time gold medalist revealed that she and Andrew (pictured) will be heading off for a bit of winter sun with Summer in the new year

This is the first time Rebecca has gone public with her relationship since splitting from her ex husband Harry in 2016.

The couple wed in Leek, Staffordshire, in August 2014 and lived in Stockport with their daughter Summer, who was born in June, before their shock split.

She previously admitted that motherhood put a lot of strain on her marriage and that she and Harry would argue regularly.

During an interview with The Mirror, she explained: 'Giving birth was harder than setting a world record. Being a parent is bloody hard work and anyone who says it's easy is flat out lying.

'Harry and I have had plenty of arguments... We're knackered. A lot of mums have six or eight months off', she added.As the Strictly Come Dancing stars show off their moves to win the Glitter Ball trophy, Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman compete to be the best dressed host.

Yet Tess shed the extravagance of her Strictly sparkle for the TK Maxxs Christmas Sock Day campaign in support of Cancer Research UK Kids and Teens.

The BBC show host, 49, drew attention to her limbs when she kicked her long legs in the air while only wearing a thigh-grazing jumper dress and socks.

Dramatically different! Tess Daly, 49, looked worlds away from her Strictly Come Dancing glamour as she wore a jumper dress and socks

Beads in blue and white were stitched into the top of Tess' jumper dress to bring a hint of dazzle to her casual ensemble.

In a festive mood, the blonde bombshell also posed on a bed surrounded by three huge presents as she puts on her Christmas-inspired socks.

While the presenter shunned her usual glamorous attire, the TV personality applied heavy make-up and styled her golden locks for a feminine feel.

Glitz and glamour: As the Strictly Come Dancing stars show off their moves to win the Glitter Ball trophy, Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman compete to be the best dressed host

So cute: In a festive mood, Tess also posed on a bed surrounded by three huge presents as she puts on her Christmas-inspired socks

TK Maxx and Cancer Research UK Kids & Teens are encouraging everyone to get involved and share a selfie with their socks, dubbed a socksie.

The clothing and home brand will donate 1 to the charity for every picture uploaded across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram with the hashtag #socksie on Thursday.

Of course it is Tess who brings the sparkle and personality to Strictly Come Dancing alongside her co-host Claudia.

Get on board: TK Maxx and Cancer Research UK Kids & Teens are encouraging everyone to get involved and share a selfie with their socks, dubbed a socksie

The pair hit it off so well on-screen ever since they were teamed up in 2004, so it's little wonder the duo have been BFFs off-screen too for 14 years.

Tess revealed she and Claudia love to tuck into Dominos and McDonald's after the BBC live show has wrapped up for the evening every Saturday.

The golden-haired beauty explained they indulge on the mouth-watering fast food because they are unable to have a break amid their jam-packed schedule all day.

She told A List: 'We don't have time on Saturday for a dinner break and lunch is on the go. We're ravenous by the end of the day so we're like "come on let's treat ourselves, pizza or Maccy D's?" We know how to live, all that glamour!'

Social media presence: TK Maxx will donate 1 to the charity for every picture uploaded across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram with the hashtag #socksie on Thursday

She's stunning: Of course it is Tess who brings the sparkle and personality to Strictly Come Dancing alongside her co-host Claudia

Despite being a high-flying TV presenter, Tess insisted she is of 'down-to-earth' nature and hopes to pass this onto her two daughters Phoebe, 14, and Amber, nine.

She explained: 'Ego isn't allowed to come into play and you take a lot of things with a pinch of salt. I like to think I've passed that on to my daughters.

'You can only lead by example and not by lecturing them. They're going to be their own women.'

Tess Daly is supporting TK Maxxs Christmas Sock Day on December 6th to help raise vital funds for Cancer Research UK Kids & Teens.Dubai is determined to turn the challenges into opportunities as it tackles global cybersecurity threats on its path to continued growth, said the emirates IT security chief at the recent Hack In The Box (HITB) Security Conference, in Dubai, UAE.



Speaking as he opened the two-day event, Dubai Electronic Security Center (DESC) director general, Yousuf Hamad Al Shaibani, explained that the Dubai Cyber Security Strategy launched by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Rule of Dubai, aims to strengthen Dubai's position as a world leader in innovation, safety and security in collaboration with the relevant partners.



Al Shaibani said: The bigger the challenges, the more determined we are to ensure that Dubai is the safest city in the digital world.



Promoting cyber security research and innovation is a pillar of the Dubai Cyber Security Strategy which will create new jobs and investment opportunities. Rather than viewing it as a challenge, we see it as an opportunity to call for greater collaboration with the private sector to ensure that Dubai remains a global centre of excellence  a cyber smart society with a free, fair and secure cyber space that is able to manage the risks it faces while maintaining flexibility and growth, he added.



The conference is organised by Hack In The Box in association with DESC and local partner DarkMatter Group, the regions first and only fully-integrated digital transformation, defence and cyber security consultancy and implementation firm.



Several prominent figures in the global cyber security industry also spoke at the opening, including Luta security founder and chief executive officer Katie Moussouris, an information security veteran who has been a consultant to both the US Government and European Parliament.



F-Secure chief research officer Mikko Hypponen, a worldwide authority on computer security, who is listed among Foreign Policy Magazines Top 100 Global Thinkers, will be presenting a keynote speech tomorrow.



DarkMatter Group senior vice president sales, business development and marketing Rabih Dabboussi said: This is a timely return to the Middle East for the HITB conference, as the region continues its rapid adoption of digital infrastructure and solutions.



The rise of smart cities, and the adoption of IOT and AI within many government entities and enterprises raises the demand for cyber security awareness and capabilities, Dabboussi said.



Our company partnered with HITB in the quest to empower the local professional community and pursue the common goal of creating cyber resilience for the entire region. To combat cybercrime, it is essential that we prepare the next generation of digital talent and equip them with the right technical training and skills. Hosting conferences such as this will make the UAE a focal point in the region for cyber experts, helping us attract the most skilled and ambitious in the field, Dabboussi added.



Among the various event highlights are a range of live hacking demonstrations, including a car hacking area in which experts will show participants how they are able to take control of modern vehicles remotely.



Alongside this, HITBs popular Capture The Flag (CTF) competition, sees several international teams competing in the kick off leg of the 2019 HITB CTF series.



In addition to the professional-level competition, HITB is also hosting an edu-level Capture the Flag for undergraduate and high school students aimed at motivating UAEs younger talent.



In parallel with HITB, DarkMatter Group is organising a business track called Beyond Cyber where senior IT and C-level executives are learning about Threat Intelligence, Digital Transformation and Cyber Transformation, it stated.  TradeArabia News ServiceShe hit headlines last week after she reportedly called the police on her former beau Mike Thalassitis.

But Megan McKenna appeared to brush aside the drama as she promoted her new album Story Of Me at the MTV studios in Camden, London, on Tuesday afternoon.

The former TOWIE star, 26, showcased her style savvy ways as she slipped her slender physique into a black shift dress, putting her enviable legs on display.

New project: Megan McKenna promoted her debut album Story Of Me at the MTV studios in Camden, London, on Tuesday afternoon

Putting her best fashion foot forward, the TV personality donned a navy textured coat with black ankle boots.

The reality star added touches of her trademark glamour into her look with a red clutch bag and gold watch.

She enhanced her stunning visage with a heavy smoky eye look and nude-toned lipstick.

Megan appeared in high spirits as she held onto a copy of her country album, set for release on Friday.

Legs for days: The former TOWIE star, 26, showcased her style savvy ways as she slipped her slender physique into a black shift dress, putting her enviable pins on display

The star's latest project features her debut single High Heeled Shoes, which hit number one in the country charts earlier this year.

The country music star's appearance came after she accused former Love Island contestant Mike, 25, of breaking into her home and filming her naked without consent.

Just hours earlier, Mike hit back after Megan called the police on her him and accused him of breaking into her house and filming her naked without her consent.

According to The Sun, Mike broke into her Essex home and threatened to release footage of her undressing, which he had secretly recorded during their seven month relationship.

Radiant: Putting her best fashion foot forward, the TV personality donned a navy textured coat with black ankle boots

Striking: The reality star added touches of her trademark glamour into her look with a red clutch bag and gold watch

Megan, who split with the Love Island hunk in July, is also said to have been bombarded with threatening text messages after he discovered she was going on Celebs Go Dating.

Megan's representative confirmed to MailOnline: 'Megan is pressing charges against Mike.

'Megan denies these allegations entirely and she is taking legal advice on any civil action she can bring.'

An Essex Police spokesman told MailOnline: 'I can confirm that we are aware of reports of allegations of domestic abuse in Loughton and our enquiries will begin once this has been handed over to us by the Metropolitan Police.'

Safety fears: The country music star's appearance came after she accused former beau Mike Thalassitis of breaking into her home and filming her naked without consent

However, Mike vehemently denied the claims and reduced the allegations to an 'unfortunate retort' by his ex following the demise of their romance.



A representative for Mike told MailOnline: 'Today the Sun Online has published a story accusing Mr Thalassitis of stalking and harassing Megan McKenna.

'There are further accusations of breaking into her house and filming her without her consent.

'Mr Thalassitis wants to make it absolutely clear that none of these allegations are true and are an unfortunate retort by his ex-partner following the breakdown of their relationship.'

Before Mike spoke out about the incident, an insider shared with The Sun that Megan had reportedly phoned the police after suffering harassment from her ex.

Claims: The TV personality claims the former Love Island star, 25, broke into her home and threatened to release footage of her naked, which he had secretly recorded during their relationship

A source told the publication: 'Megan has reported Mike to the police several times and has been told he is now facing arrest, she's told police that he has been stalking and harassing her.

'She also claims he has broken into her house several times. She's also told police that she's concerned that he has threatened to release footage of her naked.

'Megan thinks he's upset she's trying to find someone new on Celebs Go Dating, she has been dealing with this in private for a while now.'She's been busy filming scenes for the upcoming Amazon anthology, Modern Love.

And Anne Hathaway was back at it on Monday, spotted shooting in a cafe in Queens, New York City.

The 36-year-old beauty was all smiles as she rocked a flattering pantsuit combo.

Back to work: Anne Hathaway was spotted with a large smile on her face whilst filming scenes fro the upcoming Amazon anthology, Modern Love, in a Queens cafe on Monday

Anne had the power ensemble buttoned up just above her waist with the trousers grazing her ankles to elongate her physique.

She sported a white button-up shirt underneath and completed the dazzling look with a pair of nude patent pumps.

Keeping warm while on set, she was also see walking around the city wearing a long black puffy jacket.

She means business: The 36-year-old beauty was all smiles as she rocked a flattering pantsuit combo

Beauty queen: Anne's newly dyed red hair took centre stage and was styled into loose waves that effortlessly fell over her shoulders

Anne's newly dyed red hair took centre stage and was styled into loose waves that effortlessly fell over her shoulders.

The Oceans 8 star's makeup was kept simple with rosy cheeks, brushed out eyebrows and a nude lip.

Like many of the other scenes she's bee spotted shooting, the actress flashed her pearly whites and large smile.

Gorgeous: The Oceans 8 star's makeup was kept simple with rosy cheeks, brushed out eyebrows and a nude lip

Premise: The Amazon series is based on a New York Times column and will explore 'love in all of its complicated and beautiful forms'

Tina Fey, Dev Patel, John Slattery, Catherine Keener, and Andy Garcia are also set to star in episodes.

Other TV vets lined up include Cristin Milioti (Black Mirror), Brandon Victor Dixon (Power), Olivia Cooke (Bates Motel), Andrew Scott (Sherlock), Julia Garner (Ozark), Shea Whigham (Homecoming), Gary Carr (The Deuce), John Gallagher Jr. (The Newsroom) and Sofia Boutella (Fahrenheit 451).

The series is based on a New York Times column and will explore 'love in all of its complicated and beautiful forms.'

Ireland's Sharon Horgan, of Catastrophe fame, is set to write and direct one of the episodes; her's will star Fey and Slattery.

Emmy Rossum meanwhile, who directed two episodes of her hit show Shameless, has also been tapped to call the shots for an episode.

Puffy coat: The actress wore a puffy coat and sunglasses on her way to the set for filming

Oscar winner: Anne scored her breakout role with the Princess Diaries in 2001 and won an Academy Award for her work in the 2012 musical drama Les MiserablesShanna Moakler has undergone a tummy tuck and liposuction.

And now that it's been five weeks since the 43-year-old Playboy model had her surgery, she is showing off the results.

The ex of Oscar De La Hoya and Travis Barker took to Instagram to share a stunning photo where she looked slender in her undies. She said the recovery process was not easy, but she is feeling better than ever.

New look: Shanna Moakler has undergone a tummy tuck and liposuction. And now that it's been five weeks since the 43-year-old Playboy model had her surgery, she is showing off the results

More to her: In June the actress looker fuller when at the Ante Up For A Cancer Free Generation Poker Tournament And Casino Night at Sofitel Los Angeles

She was with boxer De La Hoya for several years and together they have Atiana.

In 2004 she wed Travis Barker and they have kids Alabama and Landon. They divorced in 2008.

'Alright guys I am 5 weeks post op! I am starting to see a difference still really swollen and some discoloration from bruising but all the lumps and weird pockets by my scar are gone and that makes me really happy, as that was what really bothered me, even though I hid it really well.

'I'm still wearing compression garment for another three weeks!

Her first big love: She was with boxer Oscar De La Hoya for several years and together they have Atiana. Seen in the Nineties

'It's been a long recovery but I feel a ton better. I have more energy and I can't wait till I get the ok to get back to the gym.

'I can also stand up straighter.

'I will be doing a while YouTube video on this and posting before and after once I'm fully recovered!

She also thanked Leif Rogers, MD of Beverly Hills.

The ex-factor: The blonde beauty has also dated Billy Idol and Dennis Quaid; seen in 2001

Moakler got her star as the winner of the Miss New York USA pageant in 1995 and was originally the first runner-up at Miss USA 1995.

She was eventually crowned Miss USA after Chelsi Smith won Miss Universe.

In 2001 she landed a Playboy magazine cover after Hugh Hefner approved of her.

Her second big love: In 2004 she wed Travis Barker and they have kids Alabama and Landon. They divorced in 2008. Seen in 2010

After signing with manager Robert Semon, she landed the USA Network television series Pacific Blue in 1998.

Then in 2005 she went on to star in the reality television series Meet the Barkers with Travis of Blink-182.

Then came E!'s Bridalplasty in 2010 and the VH1 reality series, Hollywood Exes in 2014.

The blonde beauty has also dated Billy Idol and Dennis Quaid.She recently revealed filming has wrapped for her new comedy series Brassic.

But ensuring all eyes are still on her, Michelle Keegan was seen making a very chic appearance in Manchester on Tuesday, enjoying some time to herself now her schedule has cleared.

The actress, 31, looked nothing short of stylish as she showcased her savvy sense of style by sporting double leopard and Balenciaga trainers, worth 615, for her outing.

Style savvy: Michelle Keegan was seen making a very chic appearance in Manchester on Tuesday, as she stepped out sporting double leopard print

Turning heads with her sartorial choice, Michelle looked sensational as she paired together statement leopard print flares and a black roll-neck jumper.

Showing her love for the stand-out print, Michelle chose to wear a cross-body bag featuring the same design in a slightly darker shade over her shoulder.

The beauty covered up from the cold in a dark tan tailored coat and channelled a '60s vibe as she accessorised her getup with huge gold earrings and a felt Baker's cap.

Michelle left her glossy brunette locks down in glamorous yet teased out curls that fell past her shoulders and she completed her look with her designer footwear and flawless make-up.

Fashionista: The actress, 31, looked nothing short of stylish as she showcased her chic sense of style with the clashing prints and Balenciaga trainers, worth 615, for her outing

Gorgeous: Michelle looked sensational as she paired together statement leopard print flares and a black roll-neck jumper

She appeared to be flying solo for her outing, as husband Mark Wright is back working in Los Angeles on Extra - with his family currently holidaying in the States to visit him.

Michelle's appearance in Manchester comes after she revealed she has finally wrapped filming for Sky1 comedy series Brassic in her hometown.

Taking to her Instagram story, the former soap star shared a snap of a piece of paper with her character Erin's name printed across it found on set. She told followers: 'That's a wrap on Brassic.'

Brassic follows the story of Lancashire native Vinnie, played by Joe Gilgun, who suffers from bipolar disorder and his best pal Dylan, who he has been inseparable from since childhood.

Delight: The beauty channelled a '60s vibe as she accessorised her getup with huge gold earrings and a felt Baker's cap

Beauty: Michelle left her glossy brunette locks down in glamorous yet teased out curls

Casual outing: Michelle appeared to be flying solo as she stepped out in her hometown

Michelle's character Erin, who is Dylans girlfriend, threatens the childhood comrades' friendship when she plans to leave town and start a new life for herself and her son, Tyler. The decision leaves Dylan choosing between his pals and love.

Despite playing a doting mother in the show, the acting talent appeared to reveal her true feelings when it comes to babies, as she hinted she is terrified at the thought of having children in a telling tweet earlier this month.

Michelle made the confession while asking fans whether they would be watching any horror films for Halloween - with a friend of Michelle's teasing the star with baby bottle emojis as they said: 'Iv got a horror film for you (sic).'

She was quick to reply to the tweet and agreed with her friend, as she shared a slew of crying laughing emojis in response and tweeted: 'You ain't wrong.'

Lovely: The soap star wasn't without her usual glamour as she sported a flawless make-up look

Expensive taste: She donned a pair of 615 Balenciaga trainers on her feet

Finished! Michelle's appearance in Manchester comes after she revealed she has finally wrapped filming for Sky1 comedy series Brassic in her hometown

Despite the remark, Michelle said in an interview with Women's Health last year that while falling pregnant is currently off of her radar as she is 'too busy' with work, she is hoping to start a family in the 'near future'.

She explained: 'We've not planned anything and realistically nothing can happen right now because I'm too busy, but I've always been broody. I love kids and I want four, so hopefully in the near future.'

Her playful tweet comes just weeks after former TOWIE star Mark revealed it is his 'dream' to become a father.

Family plans: Michelle is married to husband Mark Wright and has said she is 'too busy' to think about having babies with her beau just yet

Discussing his future with wife Michelle, Mark touched on the couple starting a family together and teased children could be on the way soon for the pair. He said: 'I can't wait to be a dad, I love kids.

'Hopefully for me that will be something that happens to me in my life in the future.'

He and Michelle have constantly been quizzed over their baby plans, since tying the knot in May 2015. They married in St Mary's Church in Bury St Edmonds, three years after initially meeting in December 2012.

Mark had proposed nine months after he and Michelle first met in Dubai, taking his love back to the holiday resort to pop the question in September 2013.They are talented actresses who are known for their edgy style.

And Lily Collins, 29,and Gwendoline Christie, 39, cut chic yet low-key figures in all-black ensembles as they arrived at the Vaudeville Theatre in London's West End on Tuesday, to support Kit Harington at the press night for his new play True West.

Love Rosie star Lily donned a high-necked black gown paired with a baggy matching overcoat, while Game of Thrones actress Gwendoline went for a tiered black mini dress and a three-quarter length coat.

Support: Lily Collins (L) and Gwendoline Christie, 39, cut chic figures in all-black ensembles as they arrived at the Vaudeville Theatre in London 's West End on Tuesday, to support Kit Harington at the press night for his new play True West

Showing support: Game of Thrones star Kit plays Hollywood screenwriter Austin in the play (Pictured) in a performance that has been praised by critics

Brunette beauty Lily paired her elegant ensemble with leather boots and accessorised with a quilted leather bag.

Her brunette tresses were styled in loose waves while her pretty features were enhanced with mascara, kohl liner and a berry lipstick.

The Blind Side star arrived at the press night with Harry Treadaway, 34, with whom she stars alongside in the up-coming film Halo Of Stars.

Harry kept his look casual, wearing a denim jacket, a thin silk scarf and a beanie atop his head.

Style: Love Rosie star Lily donned a high-necked black gown paired with a baggy matching overcoat

Glossy: Her brunette tresses were styled sleek and straight while her pretty features were enhanced with mascara, kohl liner and a berry lipstick

Off-duty: Actress Lily Collins, 29, arrived at the press night with Harry Treadaway, 34, with whom she stars alongside in the up-coming film Halo Of Stars

Fashionista: Brunette beauty Lily paired her elegant ensemble with leather boots and accessorised with a quilted leather bag

Kit Harington's performance in True West: What the critics said 'Harington is especially convincing in the later stages as Austin unleashes his inner fury' - The Guardian critic Michael Billington 'Playing against type, Harington brings a neurotic intensity to neat and finicky screenwriter Austin' - Evening Standard critic Henry Hitchings 'I was particularly impressed by Haringtons turn as the put-upon sibling... Harington beautifully conveys Austins panic'- Radio Times critic Ben Dowell 'That he (Harington) makes the transformation believable is more down to his impressive acting than to the script'- Daily Mail critic Quentin Letts 'Theyre both giving the finest stage performances of their careers to date, but you get the sense that theyre both having enormous fun too' - The Stage critic Fergus Morgan Advertisement

Stunning Gwendoline showed off her toned legs in sheer tights and added height to her statuesque frame with patent leather Mary-Janes.

The Star Wars actress covered up from the cold in a double breasted, A-line coat with oversized pockets and furry edging.

Her platinum tresses were teased into soft curls with her visage adorned with a radiant dusting of make-up.

Gwendoline was accompanied by her partner of five years, fashion designer Giles Deacon as she stepped out to show support for her former GOT co-star Kit.

She accessorised her outfit with a GilesxAspinal Mini Hat Box handbag in Green Moire, one of the bags from her partner's collab with the brand.

Looking good: Stunning Gwendoline showed off her toned legs in sheer tights and added height to her statuesque frame with patent leather Mary-Janes

Low-key: Gwendoline was accompanied by her partner of five years, fashion designer Giles Deacon as she stepped out to show support for her former GOT co-star Kit

Simple does it: The Star Wars actress covered up from the cold in a double breasted, A-line coat with oversized pockets and furry edging and clutched onto a GilesxAspinal Mini Hat Box handbag in Green Moire

Happy couple: Gwendoline and Giles looked smitten as they posed up at the theatre

Showing support: Kit's former Game Of Thrones co-star Jerome Flynn, 55, opted for a casual look, arriving in jeans and trainers, with a holdall slung over his shoulder

Making time for fans: The actor who played skilled and dangerous sellsword Bronn in the HBO series, stopped to sign autographs for fans outside the theatre

Famous friends: Actor Alfie Allen, 32, who portrayed Theon Greyjoy in Game Of Thrones also put in an appearance at the press night

Murder on the Orient Express actor Tom Bateman, 29, injected some colour into his theatre attire, with a khaki jacket and a knitted grey scarf paired with washed-out skinny jeans.

Stephen Fry, 61, appeared to be in good spirits as he arrived at the press night, with a wide smile plastered across his face.

The comedian sported a vibrant orange jumper atop a light blue shirt, and wrapped up in a smart mottled grey tailored jacket.

In his new play True West, Kit Harington plays Austin, a Hollywood screenwriter with a wife and children, while Johnny Flynn plays his older brother Lee, a drifter and a thief.

Early reviews for the star's performance have been positive, with praise given to Kit's interpretation of Austin's inner demons and his comedic ability, after years as the stoic Jon Snow in Game of Thrones.

Well done: Early reviews for the star's performance have been positive, with praise given to Kit's interpretation of Austin's inner demons and his comedic ability, after years as the stoic Jon Snow in Game of Thrones (with co-star Johnny Flynn who plays Lee)

Giving the play three out of five stars, The Guardian's Michael Billington said that Kit excelled on-stage, despite he and co-star Johnny Flynn having to work against their 'strong, highly sexualised charisma'.

He said: 'At their best, the two actors are very good. Harington is especially convincing in the later stages as Austin unleashes his inner fury aiming wild, drunken swings at the empty air and threatening to strangle his brother with a whipcord.'

Evening Standard critic Henry Hitchings labelled Kit's performance 'electrifying' and said: 'Playing against type, Harington brings a neurotic intensity to neat and finicky screenwriter Austin.'

Radio Times critic Ben Dowell gave the play four stars as he lauded Kit for his transformation into the troubled character.

He said: 'I was particularly impressed by Haringtons turn as the put-upon sibling. As Flynns Lee towers over him, lifting the cap off beer after beer with a growing menace, Harington beautifully conveys Austins panic about losing everything and the guilt he feels about his wayward brothers life story.'

Well done: Giving the play three out of five stars, The Guardian's Michael Billington said that Kit excelled on-stage, despite he and co-star Johnny Flynn having to work against their 'strong, highly sexualised charisma'

Quentin Letts for the Daily Mail called the play a 'suffocating, unsatisfying tale' but praised Kit for proving his stage credentials nonetheless.

Giving the play two stars, he said: 'That he (Harington) makes the transformation believable is more down to his impressive acting than to the script.'

The Stage critic Fergus Morgan also heaped praise on Harington and Flynn in the 'wickedly funny revival' saying the second half 'belonged' to the GOT star.

He said: 'Theyre both giving the finest stage performances of their careers to date, but you get the sense that theyre both having enormous fun too.

Stylish: Tom Bateman, 29, injected some colour into his theatre attire, with a khaki jacket and a knitted grey scarf paired with washed-out skinny jeans

Speaking about performing on stage again, Kit told The Standard: 'The final series of Game Of Thrones has been nine months of filming. To be back on stage and in front of an audience is a wonderful feeling.'

He added: 'It is such a different discipline, going from a cast of hundreds to a play focused so intensely on the relationship between two brothers.

'I have admired Johnny [Flynn, his co-star] for a long time now and have discovered a great love for Sam Shepard through this process. I am so excited for audiences to see this play.'

Happy chappy: Stephen Fry, 61, appeared to be in good spirits as he arrived at the press night, with a wide smile plastered across his face

Dapper: The comedian sported a vibrant orange jumper atop a light blue shirt, and wrapped up in a smart mottled grey tailored jacket

While he is unquestionable more famed for his role as Jon Snow in Game Of Thrones, Harington has more stage credits than he has TV.

He starred in War Horse (2008), Posh (2010) and The Vote (2015), as well as playing the lead in 2016's Doctor Faustus.

On the big screen he is next set to voice Eret in the third and final part of the How To Train Your Dragon trilogy  The Hidden World  in 2019.Kim Kardashian has a way of making a classy pinstripe suit look risque.

When opening her pop-up shop at the South Coast Plaza in Southern California on Tuesday the 38-year-old siren went shirt and bra free, showing off her tanned chest.

The wife of Kanye West has just returned from a trip to NYC which included front-row seats at Donatella Versace's fashion show and taking in Cher's new Broadway show.

So Kimmy: Kim Kardashian has a way of making a classy pinstripe suit look risque. When opening her pop-up shop at the South Coast Plaza in Southern California on Tuesday the 38-year-old siren went shirt and bra free

Boss lady: Kim went for the sexy business look on Tuesday as her blazer came in at the waist and had only one button therefore promising to show plenty of skin

Kim went for the sexy business look on Tuesday as her blazer came in at the waist and had only one button therefore promising to show plenty of skin.

The best friend of Jonathan Cheban pulled her raven locks back into a ponytail and wore heavy makeup that included black eye shadow and beige lipstick.

And the sister of Khloe and Kourtney had on barely any jewelry - she has sworn off flashing bling after her Paris robbery two years ago.

Glam gal: The best friend of Jonathan Cheban pulled her raven locks back into a ponytail and wore heavy makeup that included black eye shadow and beige lipstick

Her body on display: Kim's pop up shop will include several of her fragrances. Three of them come in a bottle that is the exact shape of her naked body

So much design: There were curvy shapes everywhere like this outline of her body

During the appearance she also acknowledged Kanye West being blasted by Broadway actor Jarrod Spector after the music superstar used his phone during a performance of The Cher Show on Monday.

'Hey @kanyewest so cool that youre here at @TheCherShow!' the 37-year-old performer said on Twitter. 'If you look up from your cell phone youll see were doing a show up here. Its opening night. Kind of a big deal for us. Thanks so much.'

Kim told E! News: He felt like s***, honestly. But he was actually taking notes because he loved the production of the show so much.

'He was the one right away who said, "Oh my God, Im gonna tweet. I just need to apologize. Theres no excuses. Like, who cares what my excuse is. It was rude and I need better etiquette."'

Diamonds are NOT a girl's best friend? And the sister of Khloe and Kourtney had on barely any jewelry - she has sworn off flashing bling after her Paris robbery two years ago

The Kim pose: The Calabasas, California native had one had behind her and another on her lap

Kim's pop up shop will include several of her fragrances.

Three of them come in a bottle that is the exact shape of her naked body.

The night before she wrote on Instagram, 'Come experience KKW Beauty pop-up at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa starting December 4.

'Doors open at 12:30 PM!

'Shop all Beauty and Fragrance products and enter for a chance to meet me! 50 participants will be selected at random to attend a private event with me on December 17, 2018, at South Coast Plaza. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. '

She also said that fans can enter by stopping by the shop between December 4 and 11.

In another post that shared photos of crystals inside the stores, she said, 'I cannot wait for you to experience the store and all of the surprises exclusive to this location.;

Bigger is better: There were also rows of oversized crystals; she has said friends gave her crystals after her Paris robbery so she could heal

Come n get it: The night before she wrote on Instagram, 'Come experience KKW Beauty pop-up at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa starting December 4. 'Doors open at 12:30 PM!'

The store looked very unusual with bright colors against deep sand beige. There were no images of the products.

Fans could be seen waiting outside the store as soon as it opened, causing a bit of mayhem.

Kim has been in New York City in recent days with husband Kanye West.

On Sunday they took in the new Versace show where Gigi Hadid, Hailey Baldwin and Kaia Gerber walked the runway.

Kim had on a silver dress that left little to the imagination as well as high heels and her hair partially up.

The Selfish author was very flirt with West as he lay his hand on her thigh.

Donatella put her up at a hotel where there was Versace everywhere - there were racks of clothes, a bed spread, eye pillow and slippers all in Versace.

Finally, the products: The ex of Kris Humphries posed near the rows of products

Popular: Fans could be seen waiting outside the store as soon as it opened, causing a bit of mayhem

And on Monday she took Kanye to a Cher show on Broadway where he was told to put his cell phone away.

This comes days after she promoted her new Cherry Blossom KKW Beauty line in her first behind-the-scenes look from the shoot.

Her caption read, 'BTS from my KKW Beauty Cherry Blossom shoot. Shop the collection now!'

The reality TV sensation had her long black hair cover her assets and she struck a dazed look.

The siren has launched Cherry Blossom in September.

The collection includes 10-shade eyeshadow palette, three blushes, eight lipsticks, and three lip liners 'in shades of pretty pinks and berries.'

No clothes needed: Kim promoted her new Cherry Blossom KKW Beauty line, the 39-year-old Mrs Kanye West sat naked for a photo shoot

On Sunday night her show KUWTK aired a teaser for this week's episode.

Kim comments on Kanye's TMZ Live rant where he suspicious comments about slavery and also talked Donald Trump and his MAGA hat.

She said when he starts going, he gets on a tear.

They have a bond: Kim has been in New York City in recent days with husband Kanye West. On Sunday they took in the new Versace show where Gigi Hadid, Hailey Baldwin and Kaia Gerber walked the runwayPrince William (pictured above) has apparently sought Tony Blair's counsel on the Middle East

Prince Charles is said to have privately condemned Tony Blair's role in the 2003 military invasion of Iraq and derided the Labour Prime Minister for behaving like the 'poodle' of then U.S. President George W. Bush.

Yet his son Prince William has apparently sought Blair's counsel on the Middle East.

I can disclose that William held private talks at Kensington Palace on Monday with the perma-tanned moneybags who stepped down as a special envoy to the Middle East three years ago.

'The Duke of Cambridge met with Mr Blair to discuss His Royal Highness's visit earlier this year to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories,' confirms a palace spokesman.

It's not clear why the future king felt the need to meet Blair, who was forced out of 10 Downing Street in 2007 and has since been lining his pockets by providing advice to despots around the world including Kazakhstan's Nursultan Nazarbayev.

He currently runs a think-tank self-aggrandisingly called the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change and campaigns against Brexit.

Tony Blair (pictured above) currently runs a think-tank self-aggrandisingly called the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change and campaigns against Brexit

Robert Jobson's explosive new biography, Charles At Seventy, which was serialised by this newspaper, details how the heir to the throne considered the Iraq war to be a bewildering mess.

'Charles was diametrically opposed to the Blair-Bush Iraq War strategy,' Jobson writes about the intelligence failings in the build-up to the invasion.

'With a heavy dollop of irony, he scornfully dubbed the premier 'our magnificent leader' whenever talking about him in private and derided him for ignoring the wealth of sound intelligence available to him at the time that contradicted the American view.'

Blair's resignation in 2015 as special representative of the Quartet of powers seeking a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians came as little surprise.

There has been growing disquiet in Britain, the U.S. and the EU over his extensive business activities in the Middle East  which have led to repeated accusations of conflicts of interest.

Joe and Katya: We're Strictly strangers now

Joe McFadden (pictured above) has said he has not remained close to former dancing partner Katya Jones

Actor Joe McFadden, who won last year's Strictly Come Dancing with professional partner Katya Jones, has not remained close to her, despite their intense connection.

'We haven't particularly kept in touch,' he says. 'We went through the show together and had a brilliant time, but we're not best buddies. I do get the odd message from her.'

Katya, who is married to hoofer Neil Jones, has of course been rather distracted this year after she was photographed kissing her new celebrity dance partner, comedian Seann Walsh.

Just A Minute, I need my nap!

Nicholas Parsons (pictured above) has been invited to play a show at the Edinburgh Festival

He may be 95 but the sun isn't setting on Nicholas Parsons's career just yet. In fact he has been invited to perform his 90-minute, one-man show 'Nicholas Parsons's Happy Hour' at the Edinburgh Festival for the 16th year next summer.

'I am having to pace myself these days though,' the Radio 4 Just A Minute host tells me without hesitation, deviation or repetition. He doesn't stand for the whole show any more  but takes little breaks perching on a bar stool.

'I also do about 15 minutes of stretching exercises every morning and have a sleep every afternoon between 3pm and 4.45pm. That way I have the energy to carry on.' A bit like Winnie the Pooh . . .

Pick of the parties: Mr Big's not in my league, sniffs Nancy

Chris Noth (left), Nancy Dell'Olio (centre) and Kelsey Grammer (right) attend The Vina Carmen Cigar Smoker Of The Year Awards 2018 founded by Boisdale at Boisdale of Canary Wharf

Putdown of the evening: Nancy Dell'Olio had no idea who fellow guest Chris Noth aka Mr Big from Sex And The City was at the Boisdale Restaurant Cigar Smoker of the Year Awards.

'I never watched the show but he is not that interesting to me. I hate to say it but he's just not in my league'.

Faux pas: Kelsey Grammer's stunning fourth wife Katye, 25 years his junior, mistaken by a party-goer for his third wife Camille. 'Whatever you do, don't let Kelsey hear you say that, he'll hate it,' said Katye.

Hands-on: Actor Jeremy Irons (inset right) cosying up to Katye for a photo with Kelsey. 'People who smoke cigars value the great things in life,' he mused. 'If you've got time to smoke a cigar then you're doing something right.'

Rant of the night: Lord Teynham's son and heir David Roper-Curzon wishes his brother Ben would stop advertising his swanky building company Roper-Curzon Ltd outside construction sites. 'People keep complaining, saying: 'You and your bloody basement conversions!'.He is about to embark on his first world tour, performing tracks from The Greatest Showman, Les Miserables and more.

And on Tuesday, Hugh Jackman, 50, gave audiences a taste of things to come with an incredible performance on the Today show in New York City.

Hugh took to the stage alongside a crew of back-up dancers before electrifying crowds at Rockefeller Plaza.

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He really IS the Greatest Showman! Hugh Jackman (pictured middle) performed on the Today show in New York City on Tuesday after announcing his world tour

With temperatures in NYC dropping below zero during the winter months, Hugh kept warm in a black longsleeve top and trousers.

He displayed incredible confidence on stage as he belted out The Greatest Show, from The Greatest Showman soundtrack.

The Australian-born star couldn't wipe the smile off his face during the performance and seemed very much in his element.

Preview: Ahead of his tour, Hugh gave audiences a taste of things to come with an incredible performance at Rockefeller Plaza

The audience joined in the fun, singing and clapping along to the music.

It was a spirited performance by Hugh and his dancers, and the stage looked fittingly festive adorned with Christmas trees and lights.

At one point, the Wolverine star walked down the platform to greet members of the crowd.

Showman: Hugh took to the stage alongside a crew of back-up dancers

All the right moves: The Australian-born star couldn't wipe the smile off his face during the performance and seemed very much in his element

Indeed, people working in the offices surrounding the plaza would have found it difficult to get any work done given the cacophony coming from the street below.

At one point, the father-of-two gathered his crew for a group hug during an emotional high point in the performance.

The show was clear evidence that Hugh is an all-round entertainer, able to rouse the spirits of a crowd practically frozen to the spot due to New York's chilly climate.

Come together! It was a spirited performance by Hugh and his dancers, and the stage looked fittingly festive adorned with Christmas trees and lights

Love in: At one point, the father-of-two gathered his crew for a group hug during an emotional high point in the performance

All together now! The show was clear evidence that Hugh is an all-round entertainer, able to rouse the spirits of a crowd practically frozen to the spot due to New York's chilly climate

Hugh had earlier revealed on the Today show that his upcoming tour - called 'The Man. The Music. The Show' - was a tick off his bucket list.

He also described it as 'a dream come true'.

'I've done it in Australia and now I'm going to go around the world. I'm going to cities all over America, we're going to Europe, we're going to the UK, we're going back to Australia. I'm singing, I'm dancing, I'm telling stories,' Hugh said.

Dream tour: Hugh had earlier revealed on the Today show that his upcoming tour - called 'The Man. The Music. The Show' - was a tick off his bucket list

Heartfelt: In a more solemn moment, Hugh performed Valjean's Soliloquy from Les MiserablesVictoria's newest international airport will welcome its first overseas passenger flight on Wednesday.

AirAsia X flight D7 218 from Kuala Lumpur is due to touch down at 8:20am at Avalon Airport, following the opening of the airport's new international terminal on Sunday.

The Malaysian budget airline will permanently move is its twice-daily Kuala Lumpur to Melbourne service from Tullamarine to Avalon.

Located in the suburb of Lara - a 20-minute drive from Geelong and about an hour from Melbourne's CBD - it is hoped the new airport will boost local tourism and give regional exporters easier access to Asian markets.

The airport estimates about 500,000 international passengers will pass through the terminal in its first year.

It has been built with room for more international airlines, which the airport hopes to attract.

The new terminal cost $48 million, with the federal government contributing $20 million and the state government also providing support.

The airport is owned by trucking magnate Lindsay Fox's company Linfox, with son and Linfox Airports Chairman David expected to be onboard the flight.The brazen assault in July 2016 saw young men armed with assault rifles and machetes lay siege to a cafe in Dhaka's well-heeled Gulshan neighbourhood

Eight alleged Islamist extremists went on trial in Bangladesh on Monday over a savage 2016 attack claimed by Islamic State that killed 22 people including 18 foreigners at a Dhaka cafe popular with Westerners.

Prosecutors say that the eight members of a homegrown extremist outfit were "associates" of the five attackers killed when police stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery cafe.

The eight, who face the death penalty if convicted, "helped mastermind the attack and supplied arms and ammunition," prosecutor Jahangir Alam Chowdhury told AFP.

Six defendants were present with two having absconded. More than 200 witnesses have been called in a special anti-terrorism court in the old part of the capital Dhaka under tight security.

The brazen assault in July 2016 saw young men armed with assault rifles and machetes lay siege to the cafe in Dhaka's well-heeled Gulshan neighbourhood.

In addition to 22 civilians, two policemen were killed. Military commandos took over the cafe after a 10-hour standoff and freed more than two dozen hostages.

The attack claimed by the Islamic State group fuelled tensions over Islamist extremism in the Muslim-majority nation of 165 million people in South Asia.

Police have said the aim of the attack was to destabilise the country and turn it into a militant state.

Eight others -- including the attack's mastermind Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury, a Canadian of Bangladesh descent -- were killed during raids in Dhaka and its suburbs months after the incident.

They included commanders of a new faction of the homegrown extremist group Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) that police blamed for the attack.

The government has repeatedly denied that international jihadist networks have a presence in Bangladesh.

The IS-linked news agency Amaq however published extensive details of the attack, including gory images from inside the cafe.

The hostage crisis marked an escalation from a spate of murders claimed by IS and Al-Qaeda of atheist writers, rights activists, gays, foreigners and religious minorities since 2013.

It was seen as a major blow to the country's image as a moderate Muslim nation.The Department of Economic Development (DED) and Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE), have jointly announced the 2019 Retail Calendar showcasing 18 events over 247 days, versus 12 events over 178 days in 2018.



Featuring even more city-wide events, activations and experiences throughout 2019, the calendar is strategically catered to provide active stimulus to resident and tourist consumer spend on shopping throughout the forthcoming year.



Additionally, aimed at prioritising wider and inclusive sector participation thereby extending the economic benefits of the initiative to a wider base, the 2019 Retail Calendar offers a reduction in fees for all small and medium enterprises to enable dynamic adaptation to the ongoing disruptions impacting retail, whilst retaining competitiveness in the global environment.



The Retail Calendar is reflective of strong and successful collaboration between both government departments (DED and DFRE), and the private sector, developed with significant input from 18 major retail and mall groups in Dubai, to create relevant activations that highlight the diversity and competitiveness of Dubais retail value proposition through a series of festivals and events suitably synchronised with the global and domestic retail and fashion cycles.



The year-long Retail Calendar will assure Dubais continued international standing as a must-visit shopping destination, enabling growth of the Dh128.45 billion ($35 billion) sector that is projected to grow a further 5.6 per cent from 2018, to reach Dh160.7 billion ($43.7 billion) by 2021.



The 2019 initiative, now in its third year of operations, will play a particularly crucial role in (i) ensuring acceleration across Dubais retail economy; (ii) supporting greater SME contribution; and (iii) enabling boost profitability with an increase in spend from both residents and tourists, propelled by a tactical schedule of sales and promotional shopping campaigns.



As a key pillar in Dubais destination offering, the health and sustained development of Dubais retail sector has a consequential impact on tourist experience and attraction, in addition to the direct economic contribution of the sector itself. Considerable progress has been made since the inception of the Retail Calendar in 2016-2017 to deliver critically enabling regulations, core infrastructure projects, and city-wide service enhancements, fine-tuned to meet market and segment priorities across tourist points of interaction with destination retail.



Through 2018, the number of international brands available in Dubai has continued to rise as has the portfolio of retail outlets and experience options, addressing a wider and more globally connected consumer, ultimately increasing the attractiveness of the emirate as a shopping destination.



Sami Al Qamzi, director general, Department of Economic Development (DED) commented: The retail sector is a key contributor to Dubais thriving economy and makes up a considerable volume of the emirates GDP. We are committed to consolidating efforts across Dubai to offer exceptional and high quality experiences in terms of infrastructure, initiatives and incentives in collaboration with the public and private sector, to continue to boost the retail industry. The DED, in collaboration with Dubai Tourism, will continue to build on Dubais already successful position as a favourable shopping destination, and provide fledgling SMEs with the opportunity to grow their companies here within the emirate.



It is our key priority to enhance greater competitiveness of the retail industry in Dubai, while ensuring a healthy bottom line for all participants to sustain growth. Combining retail with events and promotions has allowed us to streamline various activations across the year, to accelerate the success of Dubais retail model, whilst allowing us to collectively focus on increasing the GDP contribution of the sector to Dubai.



Helal Almarri, director general of the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) said: Dubai has been continually growing as a leader in global travel, with the highest average spend per tourist and ranked fourth most visited city in the world, according to the latest MasterCard surveys.



As one of the core pillars of our destination offering, the retail sector is a high priority for Dubai Tourism - in addition to increasing the number of international visitors to the emirate, we are also focused on significantly enhancing the economic value created (across all travel related industries) to our GDP. The strategic revisions made to the 2019 Retail Calendar mark a significant investment from Dubai Tourism to further enhance the wider domestic economy, and represent our continued commitment to making Dubai a leading retail destination and increasing overall spend per visitor.



Weve already seen great success with events such as Chinese New Year and Diwali, aimed at two of our top source markets and building on this, weve added Russian Holiday during Dubai Shopping Festival in January 2019 timed with their peak travel to leverage growing Russian traffic to Dubai and their affinity for shopping.



Our strong continued collaboration with DED and the industry, has been a critical enabler to the creation of this strategically aligned programme for 2019, that will strengthen the foundations for even greater acceleration towards 2022 and beyond, particularly in attracting more shopping enthusiasts to spend more within our economy, he added.



The 2019 edition is set to launch on December 26, 2018, the opening day of the Dubai Shopping Festival which this year has been extended for a further full week based on feedback from retailers. The 2019 Retail Calendar will showcase the annual schedule of anchor retail activities being conducted and promoted at a city-level including shopping-related festivals, promotions and seasonal offer periods, mega-sales and clearance events and exclusive retail experiences and activations.



Included in the 2019 Retail Calendar will be the following festivals and events: Dubai Shopping Festival, Russian Holidays, Dubai Shopping Festival Final Sale, Chinese New Year, Dubai Food Festival, Spring/Summer 19 Collection Launch, Home Festival, Ramadan in Dubai, Eid in Dubai (x2), Dubai Summer Surprises, Dubai Summer Surprises Final Sale, Back to School Season, Fall/Winter 19 Collection Launch, Diwali, Dubai Fitness Challenge, 3-Day Super Sale (x2) and Gifting Weekend.



The 2019 Retail Calendar has been developed in close partnership with 18 major retail partners who continue to contribute to the growth of the sector and the GDP of Dubai.



Ahmed Al Khaja, CEO of Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE), an agency of Dubai Tourism, said: We are constantly looking for ways in which to support and promote the retail sector within Dubai; from large retailers and mega global brands, to the smaller high-potential SME segment. Following detailed analyses and close coordination with our strategic retail partners, we have introduced noteworthy changes to the new Retail Calendar, and are confident in its ability to impact continued positive and sustained sector growth across Dubai.



We have worked with DED to design special incentive specifically for enabling startups and SMEs within retail to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the Retail Calendar, through significant reduction in participation costs.



Additionally, we have collaborated with all of our partners and key stakeholders to address industry needs in the design of the new detailed programme, to include even more retail events and promotions, ensuring Dubai stays at the forefront of global retail destinations, as well as being able to offer our partners increased opportunities to amplify their offerings.



Some examples include new Home Festival, as well as promotions across all homeware, home appliances and furniture, the event will draw inspiration from the popularity of home makeovers, and will encourage architects, interior designers and self-made decorators to enhance client and own homes and working environments with eye-catching and state-of-the-art, yet affordable styles.



Some of the citys most popular existing non-retail events will also be enhanced to involve the retail sector, such as Dubai Food Festival, the annual celebration of Dubais gastronomy scene, which in 2019 will feature additional layers of promotions and offers on related product categories thereby creating natural synergies across both industries and driving spend collectively, Al Khaja concluded.  TradeArabia News ServicePeople pay their respects as the remains of former US President George H. W. Bush lie in state in the US Capitol

The remains of George H.W. Bush lay in state Tuesday at the US Capitol amid a groundswell of tributes honoring the 41st US president.

Since Monday evening Americans have been quietly filing past the flag-draped coffin in the Capitol rotunda to pay their respects to Bush, who died Friday aged 94 at his home in Houston.

His passing has led Americans to reflect on his life of duty and service to country as a leader of the so-called "Greatest Generation."

Only the second president to see his son follow him to the Oval Office, the Republican stalwart is being honored with four days of commemorations and services in Washington and in Texas, where he will be buried Thursday.

President Donald Trump is scheduled to attend a state funeral Wednesday at Washington National Cathedral -- the first presidential funeral since Gerald Ford died in 2006.

Late Monday, after Bush relatives and dignitaries had gone, the president was driven from the White House up to Capitol Hill.

With first lady Melania at his side, Trump saluted, and they stood at Bush's casket for about a minute. They exited the rotunda with little fanfare.

Bush never warmed to Trump, and he had let it be known that he did not vote for him in 2016. Trump himself has criticized the elder Bush on the campaign trail.

But on Monday, Trump wrote members of Congress to hail Bush as a man who "led a life that exemplified what is truly great about America."

A sailor from the USS George H.W. Bush watches as the plane carrying the casket of former US president George H.W. Bush arrives at Andrews Air Force Base

"President Bush worked selflessly throughout his long life to bring about a world of justice and lasting peace," he wrote.

The White House also extended an invitation to Bush's family to stay at Blair House -- the president's guest house -- while they are in Washington for events surrounding to his funeral.

Bush was a decorated World War II fighter pilot, onetime ambassador to China, former head of the Central Intelligence Agency, and vice president to Ronald Reagan before winning the White House.

Military pallbearers carried the flag-draped casket into the rotunda as a fiery sunset bathed Washington in a glow.

The somber ceremony was attended by his son George W. Bush -- the nation's 43rd president -- and other relatives, dignitaries and more than 100 members of the House and Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell lauded Bush -- who occupied the White House from 1989 to 1993 -- as a patriot who steered the country as straight as he had piloted his World War II airplane.

"He kept us flying high and challenged us to fly higher still. And he did it with modesty and kindness that would have been surprising in someone one tenth as tough and accomplished as he was," he said.

- Hands on hearts -

Former President George H.W. Bush's coffin lies in state in the US Capitol rotunda

Bush was transported aboard the presidential Boeing 747 -- made available at Trump's direction -- from Houston to Joint Base Andrews, in Maryland.

In Houston, relatives including his presidential son stood with hands on their hearts as the casket was carried to the aircraft.

Bush is the 12th US president to lie in state in the rotunda. Just three months earlier, the honor was accorded to senator John McCain, a former Republican presidential nominee who died of brain cancer.

Hundreds of members of the public began quietly filing in to the Capitol late Monday to pay their final respects.

Among them was Kim Frinzell, a government employee who did not vote for Bush but grew to respect his accomplishments, including signing the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act.

A timeline of George H.W. Bush's life

"The fact that he could cross party lines, and did that so gracefully, especially after his presidency, to me is really inspiring and a lesson that our current administration can learn from," Frinzell, 56, told AFP.

Bush will be honored at a state funeral service at the cathedral on Wednesday, which Trump has declared a national day of mourning.

Bill Clinton will be among the living US presidents to attend, along with dozens of foreign leaders including Germany's Angela Merkel.

Former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney said he would deliver one of several eulogies, at Bush's request.

Former president George H.W. Bush will lie in state in the rotunda of the US Capitol

On Thursday, Bush will be interred at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library Center in College Station, Texas, next to his wife Barbara, who died in April, and their daughter Robin who died of leukemia at age three.

- One-term president -

This note was left in tribute to George H.W. Bush outside a gated community where the former US president lived in Houston, Texas

Bush's political locus was foreign policy and America's place in the world, and he claimed successes including navigating the end of the Cold War and marshalling a global coalition to eject Iraqi troops from Kuwait in the first Gulf War.

But despite Bush's record approval ratings after "Desert Storm," he disappointed Americans on the domestic front. The US economy slid into recession in 1990, and recovery was sluggish, conditions which contributed to his 1992 election defeat by Clinton.

House Speaker Paul Ryan alluded to that political setback in his Capitol remarks and said Bush handled defeat with grace.

"He was the first president to teach me that in a democracy sometimes you fall short -- and that how you handle that is just as important as how you win," Ryan said.The group of around 20 men believed to be Rohingya migrants landed in Aceh province on Sumatra island

A boat carrying 20 Rohingya men landed in Indonesia Tuesday, authorities said, the latest group of the vulnerable Myanmar minority to reach the world's biggest Muslim-majority nation.

They arrived in Indonesia's western Aceh province on Sumatra island in a rickety wooden boat, according to a local official.

Most of the men ranged in age from 14 to 28, with one of them aged 50.

"They are Rohingya from Myanmar. We asked them where they were heading and they said they were going to Malaysia," said Idi Rayeuk district navy commander Razali, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.

"Maybe it's because of the currents that they've landed here instead."

The group were all in good condition and authorities are trying to find them a shelter, Razali added.

In recent weeks authorities in both Myanmar and Bangladesh, where around a million of the Muslim refugees are living in camps, have stopped boats filled with fleeing Rohingya migrants headed mainly for Malaysia.

It has been rare for Rohingya migrants to attempt the sea routes south since Thai authorities clamped down on regional trafficking networks in 2015

It has been rare for Rohingya to attempt the sea routes south since Thai authorities clamped down on regional trafficking networks in 2015, sparking a crisis across Southeast Asia as large numbers were abandoned at sea.

That year, hundreds of Rohingya came ashore in Aceh, where they were welcomed in the staunchly conservative Islamic province.

But there have been concerns the desperate community might start taking to the high seas again after mainly Buddhist Myanmar launched a new military crackdown last year that forced about 700,000 members of the Muslim minority to flee to Bangladesh.

In April, about 80 Rohingya in a wooden boat landed in Aceh, just weeks after dozens more arrived in neighbouring Malaysia.

Indonesia tends to accept asylum seekers but they are usually barred from working and often spend years in immigration centres.Israeli soldiers stand by machinery near the border wall with Lebanon on December 4, 2018 close to the northern Israeli town of Metula

Israel's army said Tuesday it has discovered Hezbollah tunnels infiltrating its territory from Lebanon and launched an operation to destroy them, a move likely to raise tensions with the Iran-backed group.

The surprise announcement came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Brussels over regional dangers, with both having repeatedly warned about the activities of Israel's arch foe Iran.

Netanyahu said he discussed the operation with Pompeo and called the tunnels a violation of a UN truce resolution that ended a 2006 war between Israel and the Shiite militant group Hezbollah.

Later in a televised address, the Israeli leader also denounced what he called Iran's hand in the construction of the tunnels.

"We are acting with determination to prevent Iran from being rooted in Syria... we are also acting against Iran's terrorist actions in Lebanon," he said.

Netanyahu said he would discuss the matter with world leaders in the coming days and that he was seeking an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss Hezbollah's "aggression".

US President Donald Trump's White House gave its full backing to the operation, with National Security Adviser John Bolton saying "we call on Iran and all of its agents to stop their regional aggression and provocation".

Hezbollah did not comment in detail but published footage of Israeli soldiers across the border and described the activity as aimed at "discovering tunnels allegedly from southern Lebanon to settlements in northern occupied Palestine".

Israeli army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said the "attack tunnels" were not yet operational. He declined to say how many had been detected or how they would be destroyed.

Israel began intensive work following the 2014 Gaza war to prevent Hezbollah tunnels under the Israeli-Lebanese border

The military said it had located one such tunnel dug from a home in the Kafr Kila area of south Lebanon that crossed into Israeli territory and was working to "neutralise" it.

The tunnel runs some 200 metres (660 feet), at a depth of 25 metres, Conricus said, and stretches some 40 metres into Israel.

The area around the Israeli town of Metula has been declared a closed military zone, with the army distributing images of heavy machinery digging into the ground.

- Peacekeepers boost patrols -

Israel labelled the operation "Northern Shield" and said all its activities would take place inside Israeli territory. No tunnels from Lebanon include exit points within Israel, the army said.

A UN peacekeeping force which monitors the border region said it had increased patrols but noted the area remained calm.

Lebanon's army also said it was monitoring the situation closely.

Israeli soldiers stand by excavation machinery along the border wall with Lebanon on December 4, 2018 near the northern Israeli town of Metula

According to Conricus, the tunnels were part of a Hezbollah plan from 2012 to "shift the battlefield to Israel" and "conquer the Galilee" in a future conflict by infiltrating its territory.

In 2013, the army acted on reports that Hezbollah was digging tunnels, but failed to locate any, he said.

Following the 2014 war between Israel and Gaza, in which the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas used cross-border attack tunnels, the army said it found "Hezbollah and Hamas share knowledge" and soon after began intensive work to prevent tunnels from Lebanon.

The military has used various means to collapse or fill in tunnels from the Gaza Strip.

Conricus said that while the army has boosted its presence in the north for the Lebanon operation, it has not summoned reserve soldiers.

He said the military "holds the Lebanese government responsible for all activities perpetrated in Lebanon towards Israel".

- 'Irresponsible' -

Netanyahu has spoken of a sensitive security situation without providing details, particularly after defence minister Avigdor Lieberman quit over a controversial Gaza ceasefire last month.

Lieberman's resignation threatened to trigger early elections, but Netanyahu has held his coalition together and is clinging to a one-seat majority in parliament.

The prime minister, who has since assumed the role of defence minister, said at the time that holding elections would be "irresponsible" due to the undefined security threats.

His comments were seen by some as an attempt to save his government, with polls showing wide disapproval of his handling of a Gaza flare-up in November.

Netanyahu is also facing further pressure after Israeli police on Sunday recommended he and his wife Sara be indicted for bribery, the third such decision against the premier in recent months.

United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) military police cars drive past a concrete separation barrier between the southern Lebanese border village of Kfar Kila and Israel

Conricus rejected suggestions of politics influencing the announcement.

Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria against what it says are Iranian military targets and deliveries of advanced arms to Hezbollah.

However, a friendly fire incident in Syria in September that led to the downing of a Russian plane by Syrian air defences during an Israeli strike has complicated Israeli operations.

Russia subsequently upgraded Syrian air defences with the delivery of the advanced S-300 system.Saelem Mohammed Noman Al-Mughalles, a member of the Huthi rebel delegation, stands outside Johannesberg Castle in Rimbo, Sweden where Yemen peace talks are set to start

Peace talks between Yemen's government and rivals aimed at ending four years of devastating war will open on Thursday in Sweden, the UN announced.

No breakthrough is expected at the talks, which mark the first meeting between Yemen's Saudi-backed government and Huthi rebels, linked to Iran, since 2016 -- when more than 100 days of negotiations failed to end a war that has now claimed upwards of 10,000 lives and pushed 14 million people to the brink of famine.

Analysts and UN sources have set a low bar for the talks, which they say aim for "confidence-building" between the two parties, at war since 2015. No end date has been announced.

Sources close to the rebels say the Huthis are expected to request the reopening of Sanaa International Airport, which has been damaged by Saudi-led air raids and shut down by Riyadh and its allies, who control Yemen's airspace.

A source in the government delegation said President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's camp is seeking maps detailing landmines planted by the rebels.

Sources on both sides said they would demand a ceasefire -- initiated by their rival -- and the opening of humanitarian corridors.

No breakthrough is expected at the talks, which mark the first meeting between Yemen's Saudi-backed government and Huthi rebels, linked to Iran, since 2016

UN envoy Martin Griffiths flew to Sanaa in the days leading up to the Sweden summit after his plans to host talks in Geneva in September failed when the rebels refused to leave Sanaa, saying they feared they would not be allowed to return.

"The (UN special envoy) would like to announce the restart of the intra-Yemeni political process in Sweden on 6 December 2018," his office tweeted.

The government and Huthis on Tuesday agreed to a prisoner swap, to be overseen by the International Committee of the Red Cross, after the Sweden talks. Among the thousands expected to be released is President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's brother Nasser, a general and former senior intelligence official.

Saudi Arabia and its allies also allowed the Huthis to evacuate 50 wounded rebels from Sanaa for medical treatment in Oman, a condition the rebels had set prior to the foiled Geneva talks.

- Low bar -

A 12-member team from the Saudi-backed government headed by Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani, arrived in Sweden on Wednesday, a day after rebel delegates landed in Stockholm accompanied by the UN peace envoy.

Conflict in Yemen

Yemeni Information Minister Moammer al-Eryani confirmed their arrival via Twitter, saying the government team "carried with them the hopes of the Yemeni people for an end to the coup and the return of the state".

The delegation had delayed its departure until the rebels arrived in Stockholm after they failed to show up for the last UN bid to convene peace talks in September, sources close to the government told AFP.

The head of the rebel delegation, Mohammed Abdelsalam, said the Huthis would "spare no effort to make a success of the talks to restore peace and end the aggression" -- but called on rebel fighters to remain "vigilant against any attempt at a military escalation on the ground".

On Wednesday, six members of the rebel delegation could be seen in the grounds of the venue for the talks, the Johannesbergs Castle -- a large estate with a golf course 60 kilometres (40 miles) north of Stockholm, now cordoned off by police.

The Yemeni rebel delegation flew to Sweden aboard a Kuwaiti aircraft accompanied by UN envoy Martin Griffiths to allay security concerns which had led to the collapse of the last UN peace bid in Switzerland in September

Analysts and diplomats have cautioned the talks could yield no breakthrough, with the two sides not actually due to sit down at the negotiating table together.

"I would have very low expectations," a Security Council diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.

- Crisis deteriorating -

The US State Department hailed the peace talks as a "necessary and vital first step".

The United Arab Emirates, a key backer of the Hadi government with boots on the ground in Yemen, said the planned talks offered a "critical opportunity" to bring peace to a country in the grip of what the UN has described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

"The hard work begins now," British Ambassador to the UN Karen Pierce told reporters outside the Security Council.

A wounded Yemeni rebel is transported by ambulance to Sanaa International Airport, before being evacuated to the Omani capital Muscat for treatment, on December 3, 2018

Thousands of prisoners have been captured by both sides in the grinding war of attrition that has devastated Yemen at a cost of nearly 10,000 lives since the Saudi-led coalition intervened in March 2015, according to World Health Organization figures.

Human rights groups put the death toll far higher.

The humanitarian crisis, already the world's worst, will deteriorate in 2019, the UN said on Tuesday, warning the number of people needing food aid is set to jump by four million.

The Yemen war has left children severely malnourished and brought the country to the brink of famine

Roughly 75 percent of Yemen's population will need humanitarian assistance in 2019, UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock told reporters in Geneva.

Aid groups including the Norwegian Refugee Council and UNICEF on Wednesday called for the two sides to put a halt to the fighting.

"Parties to the conflict must agree ways to reopen all ports and stabilise the nation's collapsing economy, while facilitating full and unfettered access for people in need of humanitarian aid," NRC said.

UN Yemen envoy Martin Griffiths traveleld to the rebel-held capital Sanaa as he intensified his efforts to convene new peace talks

The coalition has largely suspended its offensive on the rebel-held port of Hodeida in the face of US-led calls for a ceasefire and new peace talks.

But fresh fighting flared this week, with a coalition spokesman confirming military operations were "ongoing".

burs-abh-ac/po/ny/harPresident Peter Mutharika has previously faced criticism from NGOs for alleged government corruption and incompetence

A Malawi court has blocked parliament debating a contested bill critics say would hamper charities and NGOs while giving government control over their work in the aid-reliant country.

Judge Charles Mkandawire ruled on Monday in favour of activists who had sought the injunction of the NGO Amendment Bill arguing the law would create a "monster regulator" and erode democratic freedoms.

The ruling is temporary pending a full hearing of the case, though no date has been set yet.

Malawi is one of the world's poorest and most aid-dependent countries and corruption is also rife.

Activists from the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation, Centre for the Development of People, and Youth and Society group also claimed the law was drafted without consulting NGOs.

"(The regulator) would have too much power... and would, in the long run, use these powers to intimidate and stifle the civic space within which NGOs operate," said the application to block the law.

The regulator's assessors would also have been appointed by a minister, handing excessive power to the government, the coalition of NGOs said.

"It is a bad and draconian law. It had bad sections that will suppress civil liberties such as the right to association," Centre for the Development of People director Gift Trapence told AFP.

Directors of charities and NGOs who did not comply with the law as drafted would have faced jail terms of up to seven years and fines.

Parliament spokesperson Leonard Mengezi said "parliament always complies with court orders".

- Upcoming election -

Meanwhile, the opposition United Transformation Movement (UTM), led by presidential hopeful and Vice President Saulos Chilima, said it supported NGO efforts to stop the new law.

"We are surprised by the speed with which government is pushing the bill. Because the standard procedure is that before you design a bill, you have a policy," said party spokesman Joseph Chidanti Malunga.

Aid-dependent, war-torn South Sudan sparked controversy in 2015 when it passed a law forcing aid agencies to ensure no more than one fifth of their staff were foreign born.

It was widely seen as an effort by officials to clamp down on the groups which were often critical of the government.

Malawi President Peter Mutharika has previously faced criticism from NGOs for alleged government corruption and incompetence.

Malawi goes to the polls in presidential, parliamentary and council elections on May 21 in which Mutharika will face off against former president Joyce Banda as well as his VP, Chilima.US ambassador Nikki Haley has told countries at the United Nations that the United States takes the vote on a US-drafted resolution condeming Hamas 'very seriously'

US Ambassador Nikki Haley is urging countries at the United Nations to back a US-drafted resolution condemning the Palestinian Hamas movement, warning in a letter that the United States takes the vote "very seriously."

The UN General Assembly is scheduled to vote Thursday on the draft resolution that would condemn Hamas for firing rockets into Israel and demand that it ends the violence.

If adopted, it would mark the first time that the assembly has taken aim at Hamas, the Islamist militant group that has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007.

In a letter sent to UN diplomatic missions, Haley warned that there could be attempts by some countries to introduce amendments to the text and urged ambassadors to vote against any such proposed changes.

"The United States takes the outcome of this vote very seriously," wrote Haley in the letter dated Monday and obtained by AFP.

"The resolution has been carefully-crafted to address a specific problem, and it reflects consultations with many stakeholders to ensure balance.

"That is why we are asking that you not only vote in favor of the resolution but that you also vote against any amendments or other efforts to undermine adoption of the text," she added.

Haley, who steps down as UN ambassador in January, has steadfastly supported Israel in its confrontation with Hamas in Gaza and chastised the United Nations for criticizing both sides.

The influential UN ambassador has not shied away from pressuring countries to support the US stance at the United Nations.

Arab countries are expected to put forward amendments to the resolution and push for a ruling at the General Assembly that would specify that the measure must be adopted by a two-thirds majority, instead of a simple majority.

The United States has won crucial backing for the measure from the European Union after it agreed to add a mention of relevant UN resolutions. The text does not however refer specifically to the two-state solution.

The European Union, like the United States, considers Hamas a terror group, but the 28-nation bloc is divided over how to support peace efforts.

The vote on Thursday follows the adoption in the assembly of about a dozen resolutions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that condemn Israeli settlements and call for progress toward the two-state solution.

Resolutions adopted by the General Assembly are non-binding, but they carry political weight and are seen as a barometer of world opinion.Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani's (pictured October 2018) invitation to Riyadh is significant as Qatar as been isolated by a group of countries led by Saudi Arabia since June 2017 in the worst political fallout between the Gulf powers

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani has received an invite from Saudi Arabia to attend this month's Gulf Cooperation Council summit, despite an ongoing diplomatic crisis, Doha state media said Tuesday.

The invitation to Riyadh is significant as Qatar has been isolated by a group of countries led by Saudi Arabia since June 2017, in the worst political fallout between the energy-rich Gulf powers.

Qatar News Agency said in a tweet that the emir had received "an invitation from the King of Saudi Arabia" for the meeting on December 9.

The tweet did not say if the emir would travel to the Kingdom.

Regional powerhouse Saudi and its allies the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt have suspended all relations with Qatar, claiming Doha supports terrorism and is too close to Riyadh's great rival, Iran.

Qatar denies the allegations, but the bitter dispute has dragged on for 18 months and has shown little sign of being resolved.

Earlier this week, Qatar announced it was leaving OPEC, a move seen by some as a calculated snub to Riyadh, one of the oil cartel's most dominant powers.Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad has called for Islamic State fighters to face trial for their crimes in Iraq

A UN team authorized over a year ago to investigate the massacre of the Yazidi minority and other atrocities by jihadists in Iraq will finally begin work early next year, the head of the investigation said Tuesday.

The UN Security Council adopted a resolution in September 2017 to bring those responsible for Islamic State group war crimes to justice -- a cause championed by Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad and international human rights lawyer Amal Clooney.

The team, led by British lawyer Karim Asad Ahmad Khan, was deployed to Baghdad in October, but has since focused on administrative and technical details to lay the groundwork for the probe.

"The investigative team now looks forward to continuing preparations in Iraq with a view to commencing investigative activities in early 2019," Ahmad Khan told the council during his first report.

The Iraqi government had resisted calls for the UN probe and the head of the investigative team stressed that much effort had been deployed to ensure cooperation from Baghdad.

Ahmad Khan told the council that "the realization of our investigative activities is dependent on securing the cooperation, support and trust of all elements of Iraqi society."

The United Nations has described the massacre of the Yazidis by IS jihadists as possible genocide and UN rights investigators have documented horrific accounts of abuse suffered by women and girls.

Nadia Murad is among thousands of Yazidi women who were taken hostage and held as sex slaves when IS fighters swept into Iraq's Sinjar region in August 2014.

The investigators will gather evidence on war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide for use in Iraqi courts that will hold trials for IS militants, according to the UN resolution.

More than 200 mass graves containing up to 12,000 bodies have been recently discovered in Iraq, providing evidence of war crimes by IS.

The United States announced it will provide $2 million to support the work of the investigative team, known as UNITAD, the UN investigative team to promote accountability for crimes committed by Daesh, an Arabic acronym for IS.

After being awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize, Murad said she wanted IS jihadists to face trial in a courtroom.

"For me, justice doesn't mean killing all of the Daesh members who committed these crimes against us," she said in October.

"Justice for me is taking Daesh members to a court of law and seeing them in court admitting to the crimes they committed against Yazidis and being punished for those crimes specifically," she said in October.BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan (AP) - The Latest on the launch of crews to the International Space Station (all times local):

1:45 a.m.

Three astronauts who launched into space aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft have entered the International Space Station after spending nearly eight hours in their tiny capsule.

NASA astronaut Anne McClain, David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency and Oleg Kononenko of Russian space agency Roscosmos were greeted upon arrival Monday by the station's current crew members, who had waited outside the capsule's hatch.

The hatch was opened at 1:37 a.m. (1940 GMT; 2:40 p.m. EST) while the station was flying over the southern coast of Yemen.

The three launched into space from the Russian-leased Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Monday at 5:31 p.m. (1131 GMT; 6:31 a.m. EST.) They docked with the station at 11:33 p.m. (17:33 GMT; 12:33 p.m. EST.)

U.S. astronaut Anne McClain, centre, Russian cosmonaut leg Kononenko, bottom, and CSA astronaut David Saint Jacques, crew members of the mission to the International Space Station, ISS, wave as they board the rocket prior to the launch of Soyuz-FG rocket at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Shamil Zhumatov, Pool)

The astronauts were the first sent to be sent to the space station since a crewed Soyuz launch was aborted in October after a booster rocket failed to separate properly, crippling the rocket.

___

11:45 p.m.

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying three astronauts has successfully docked with the International Space Station following a launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan six hours earlier.

NASA astronaut Anne McClain, David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency and Oleg Kononenko of Russian space agency Roscosmos docked with the station at 11:33 p.m. (1723 GMT; 12:33 p.m. EST) Monday.

The crew must wait up to two hours while the latches and seals of the docking port are checked and ground controllers confirm it is safe to open the spacecraft's hatch and join the astronauts already aboard the station.

Stakes were high for Monday's launch, the first to carry a crew since a previous mission to the space station in October was aborted two minutes into the flight after a booster failed to properly separate from the rocket.

___

5:30 p.m.

Three astronauts have successfully blasted off to the International Space Station from Kazakhstan, a perfect launch that follows October's aborted mission.

NASA astronaut Anne McClain, David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency and Oleg Kononenko of the Russian space agency Roscosmos lifted off as scheduled at 5:31 p.m. (1131 GMT; 6:31 a.m. EST) Monday from the Russian-leased Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Their Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft entered a designated orbit just under nine minutes after the launch and is set to dock at the space outpost in about six hours. NASA and Roscosmos said that all onboard systems were operating normally and the crew was feeling fine.

Space officials breathed a sigh of relief after observing the flawless launch, with October's rocket failure still on the minds of many.

The Soyuz-FG rocket booster with Soyuz MS-11 space ship carrying a new crew to the International Space Station, ISS, blasts off at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. The Russian rocket carries U.S. astronaut Anne McClain, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and CSA astronaut David Saint Jacques. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

The Soyuz-FG rocket booster with Soyuz MS-11 space ship carrying a new crew to the International Space Station, ISS, blasts off at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. The Russian rocket carries U.S. astronaut Anne McClain, Russian cosmonaut leg Kononenko and CSA astronaut David Saint Jacques. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

A police APC drives prior to the launch of Soyuz MS-11 space ship with U.S. astronaut Anne McClain, Russian cosmonaut leg Kononenko and CSA astronaut David Saint Jacques, members of the mission to the International Space Station at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

The Soyuz-FG rocket booster with Soyuz MS-11 space ship carrying a new crew to the International Space Station, ISS, blasts off at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. The Russian rocket carries U.S. astronaut Anne McClain, Russian cosmonaut leg Kononenko and CSA astronaut David Saint Jacques. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

The Soyuz-FG rocket booster with Soyuz MS-11 space ship carrying a new crew to the International Space Station, ISS, blasts off at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. The Russian rocket carries U.S. astronaut Anne McClain, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and CSA astronaut David Saint Jacques. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

The Soyuz-FG rocket booster with Soyuz MS-11 space ship carrying a new crew to the International Space Station, ISS, blasts off at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. The Russian rocket carries U.S. astronaut Anne McClain, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and CSA astronaut David Saint Jacques. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

U.S. astronaut Anne McClain, left, Russian cosmonaut leg Kononenko, centre, and CSA astronaut David Saint Jacques, members of the main crew of the expedition to the International Space Station (ISS), report to members of the State Committee prior to the launch of Soyuz MS-11 space ship at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, Pool)

U.S. astronaut Anne McClain, member of the main crew of the expedition to the International Space Station (ISS), speaks with her relatives through a safety glass prior to the launch of Soyuz MS-11 space ship at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, Pool)

Russian Space Agency experts help CSA astronaut David Saint Jacques, member of the main crew of the expedition to the International Space Station (ISS), during the inspection of his space suit prior the launch of Soyuz MS-11 space ship at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

CSA astronaut David Saint Jacques, member of the main crew to the International Space Station (ISS), interacts with his children from a bus prior to the launch of Soyuz-FG rocket at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, Pool)

U.S. astronaut Anne McClain, member of the main crew of the expedition to the International Space Station (ISS), gestures prior to the launch of Soyuz MS-11 space ship at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

CSA astronaut David Saint Jacques, member of the main crew of the expedition to the International Space Station (ISS), during an inspection of his space suit prior to the launch of Soyuz MS-11 space ship at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

CSA astronaut David Saint Jacques, member of the main crew to the International Space Station (ISS), interacts with his children from a bus prior to the launch of Soyuz-FG rocket at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, Pool)

CSA astronaut David Saint Jacques, member of the main crew of the expedition to the International Space Station (ISS), speaks with his relatives through a safety glass prior to the launch of Soyuz MS-11 space ship at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, Pool)

U.S. astronaut Anne McClain, member of the main crew to the International Space Station (ISS), interacts with her family from a bus prior to the launch of Soyuz-FG rocket at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, Pool)

David Saint Jacques, crew member of the mission to the International Space Station, ISS, waves as he boards the rocket prior to the launch of Soyuz-FG rocket at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Shamil Zhumatov, Pool)

U.S. astronaut Anne McClain, left, Russian cosmonaut leg Kononenko, centre, and CSA astronaut David Saint Jacques, members of the main crew of the expedition to the International Space Station (ISS), report to head or Russian space agency Dmitry Rogozin prior to the launch of Soyuz MS-11 space ship at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, Pool)

David Saint Jacques, crew member of the mission to the International Space Station, ISS, waves as he boards the rocket prior to the launch of Soyuz-FG rocket at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Shamil Zhumatov, Pool)

CSA astronaut David Saint Jacques, crew members of the mission to the International Space Station, ISS, walks to the rocket prior to the launch of Soyuz-FG rocket at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Shamil Zhumatov, Pool)

U.S. astronaut Anne McClain, centre, Russian cosmonaut leg Kononenko, bottom, and CSA astronaut David Saint Jacques, crew members of the mission to the International Space Station, ISS, wave as they board the rocket prior to the launch of Soyuz-FG rocket at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. (AP Photo/Shamil Zhumatov, Pool)

The Soyuz-FG rocket booster with Soyuz MS-11 space ship carrying a new crew to the International Space Station, ISS, flies in the sky at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. The Russian rocket carries U.S. astronaut Anne McClain, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, and CSA astronaut David Saint Jacques. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - South Korea's president said Tuesday no timeframe has been set for a historic visit to Seoul by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un despite both hoping it will take place this year.

President Moon Jae-in said more important than the timing of the visit is that it would accelerate the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and give impetus to talks between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump.

"Ever since South and North Korea were divided into two countries, this will be the first time that a North Korean leader will visit South Korea," Moon said through an interpreter. "So although there is no timeframe set for that, still, it's very meaningful."

Moon made the comments to reporters on the final day of a visit to New Zealand. Moon and his wife, Kim Jung-sook, arrived in the South Pacific nation late Sunday after attending the Group of 20 Nations summit in Argentina.

Moon said there still is a possibility Kim's visit could take place before the end of the year.

Moon has met Kim three times this year. After their third meeting in North Korea's capital, Pyongyang, in September, Moon said Kim agreed to make a reciprocal visit to Seoul in 2018.

In this image made from a video, New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, left, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in shake hands in Auckland, New Zealand Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018. Ardern says New Zealand will soon allow smoother immigration procedures for visitors from South Korea and plans to improve pension portability between the two countries. (NZ POOL via AP)

Moon has also facilitated a series of high-level talks between the U.S. and North Korea, including a summit between Trump and Kim in June.

Moon said he and Trump agreed that a visit by Kim to the South Korean capital would give a boost to plans for a second U.S.-North Korea summit, which Trump has said he hopes to hold with Kim in January or February.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern praised Moon's efforts after she met with him.

"Mr. President, I want to commend you again for your personal leadership over the last year to reduce tensions and establish dialogue with North Korea," she said.

Ardern said New Zealand and South Korea forged ties on the battlefields during the Korean War nearly 70 years ago. The two countries signed a free-trade deal in 2015.

Ardern said New Zealand will soon allow smoother immigration procedures for visitors from South Korea and plans to improve pension portability between the two countries.

She said that beginning next year, New Zealand would allow South Korean passport holders to enter through automated "eGate" immigration lanes.TAG Farnborough Airport, Europes leading business aviation airport, will showcase its services at the Mebaa Show in Dubai next week.

The Mebaa show will run from December 10 to 12 at the Airshow Site, DWC, Dubai.

TAG Farnborough Airport is a key gateway to London and the first business aviation airport in the world to be awarded carbon neutral status.

The airport offers bespoke services as well as state-of-the-art facilities and continues to set new standards in the business aviation market, said a statement.

TAG Farnborough Airport is a growing business aviation airport serving customers from around the world, including the Middle East which continues to be an important market.

The airport has seen significant growth throughout 2018. For the 11-month period of January to November 2018, air traffic movements were up by over 15 per cent compared with the same period last year.

TAG Farnborough Airport currently handles approximately 30,000 flights per annum with approval to increase this number to 50,000 and is equipped to cater for a wide range of aircraft types including Boeing Business Jets and Airbus Corporate Jets. As the only dedicated business aviation airport in the UK, it is specifically designed to offer a one-stop shop for business aviation operators and with 240,000 sq ft of climate-controlled hangar facilities and 1.2m sq ft of ramp space can accommodate both based and transient aircraft, it said.

Meanwhile, TAG Farnborough Airport has been chosen as the location for Gulfstream Aerospace Corporations London Area Service Centre with a state of the art, purpose-built facility expected to be operational by the third quarter of 2020.

The new maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility will include office space, customer areas, shop space and a hangar able to accommodate up to 13 large-cabin aircraft. Significant ramp space will also be included, along with a car parking area. The entire facility is projected to cover approximately 180,000 to 220,000 sq ft/16,723 to 20,439 sq m.

We are delighted that Gulfstream has selected TAG Farnborough Airport as the location for its new MRO. We welcome this investment which will benefit the regional economy and underpin the airports role in supporting jobs and economic development. As Europes leading business aviation airport and a London gateway, we are well placed to meet the specific requirements of Gulfstream and its customers, said Brandon OReilly, CEO TAG Farnborough Airport.

As TAG Farnborough Airport continues to see an increase in movements of the Airbus Corporate Jet series (ACJ), TAG Aviations Farnborough Maintenance Services Centre (TFMS) is now offering Line Maintenance support services for its Airbus A320 Corporate Jet series customers using the airport. TFMS will be able to provide customers with onsite support, ranging from daily and weekly maintenance checks, to undertaking ad hoc troubleshooting.

Carbon neutral: TAG Farnborough Airport has been awarded carbon neutral status, the first business aviation airport in the world to achieve this under Airport Carbon Accreditation run by Airports Council International Europe (ACI Europe). To achieve carbon neutral status, an airport must have mapped its carbon emissions, reduced CO2 emissions under its direct control, engaged with others on the airport site to reduce their emissions and invested in responsible and credible programmes to offset residual carbon emissions.

Over the past decade, TAG Farnborough Airport has reduced carbon emissions over which it has direct control by 42 per cent or 2,183 tonnes (2008 carbon emissions: 5,242 tonnes) and over the past 5 years alone has invested over 1 million into energy efficiency projects.

FBO polls leader: TAG Farnborough Airport has once again earned top honours in the annual Aviation International News (AIN) International FBO Survey for 2018, coming first in the Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific category. For the 13th year in a row, the airport was also named Best European FBO in the 2018 Pro Pilot PRASE Survey.

This result is a tribute to the high level of professionalism and dedication of all our staff at Farnborough, said OReilly. Following the significant investment to upgrade our terminal facilities, our focus continues to be on delivering the highest standard of service for customers and crew.

TAG Farnborough Airport will be on Stand 481 at the Mebaa Show. - TradeArabia News ServiceSAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras (AP) - Haydee Posadas had waited eight years for her son to come home. On the last night of her long vigil, she was too agitated to sleep.

Her son had fled Honduras for the U.S. in 2010 in part because of gang threats, just as thousands are doing today in the migrant caravans headed north, including men from the same neighborhood. But en route in Mexico, again like so many others, Wilmer Gerardo Nunez disappeared into the vortex of drug violence that he was trying to escape in the first place. Left in limbo, his anguished mother prayed for an answer.

"I am between a rock and a hard place," she begged God through the years. "I know nothing about my son, whether he's dead or alive."

Nunez's story is part of the hidden toll of migration to the U.S. through Mexico: In the past four years alone, almost 4,000 migrants have died or gone missing along that route, The Associated Press has found in an exclusive tally. That's 1,573 more than the previously known number, calculated by the United Nations. And even the AP's number is likely low - bodies may be lost in the desert, and families may not report missing loved ones who were migrating illegally.

These Latin American migrants are among about 56,800 worldwide who died or disappeared over the same period, the AP found.

While migrants everywhere face risks, the Mexico route holds the added danger of drug trafficking and gang violence. More than 37,000 people have gone missing throughout Mexico because of this violence, with the highest number in the border state of Tamaulipas, through which many migrants cross. The sheer numbers of the disappeared, along with crushing bureaucracy and the fear of gangs, makes it difficult for families to track what happened to their loved ones - as Posadas found out.

This Oct. 31, 2018 photo shows an undated family photo of Wilmer Gerardo Nunez as a young adult, at his mother's home in the Ciudad Planeta neighborhood of San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Eight years ago, at the age of 35, Nunez left Honduras for the United States, only to disappear in Mexico, leaving his anguished mother in limbo. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

___

Ciudad Planeta in San Pedro Sula looks like an ordinary working-class neighborhood, with one-story concrete houses with metal roofs. Only the bars that hem in nearly every porch let on that it is one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in one of the world's most dangerous countries.

This is the neighborhood Nunez left for the first time in the 1990s to go to the United States at 16, when his mother lost her factory job.

"He did not say anything to me. One day he simply left," said Posadas, a diminutive 73-year-old grandmother known in the neighborhood as "Mama Haydee."

Nunez was not the oldest of the 10 children in the family, but he was the one who looked out for the others. He sent money home, some of which Posadas used to build metal bars around the porch. And he called his mother almost every day.

Nunez was deported twice but returned to the U.S. each time. In 2007, he fell in love with a Mexican woman, Maria Esther Lozano, now 38, and they had a child, Dachell. When Lozano was about to give birth to another child, in July 2010, Nunez was deported a third time.

Posadas was happy to have him back home. He would make lunch with her, stewing meat, kneading tortilla flour and frying up ripe bananas.

"He cooked better than a woman," Posadas said, her face lighting up at the memory.

But the neighborhood had grown more dangerous, with organized crime moving in and frequent bloody raids. All of Posadas' children left except for one who stayed, and one who died of illness.

Once Posadas' daughter was handcuffed to the bars of the house, while men who said they were police went inside and shot her grandson because they suspected his involvement with gangs. Other nights there were shootouts in the streets. Sometimes Posadas awoke to the thunder of footsteps from someone fleeing across the metal sheet roofs of houses.

Posadas has a mantra for survival in Planeta: "If you saw it, you didn't see it. If you heard it, you didn't hear it. And everyone keeps quiet."

The third time Nunez was deported, in 2010, things were so bad he barely went outside the home.

"He seemed very pensive," Posadas said. "'I'm afraid,' he told me."

He was also anxious to get back to California and meet his new daughter. After just a few days in San Pedro Sula and an apparent threat from gang members, he left earlier than planned.

"I have to get out of here now," he told Lozano, without further explanation.

Nunez, his nephew, Joao Adolfo, and two neighbors hopped on a midnight bus that takes dozens of migrants daily to the Guatemalan border.

In the past, Nunez had crossed the U.S. border in California. But this time he hurt his ankle while fleeing from the Zetas gang in Veracruz state, Lozano said. So he struck out for the border with Texas, a shorter but more dangerous route.

He called Lozano every day, sometimes from the phone of the smuggler taking them across the border. He liked the guide but worried that the group was too big, with dozens of migrants in two trucks.

About a week after he left Honduras, he spoke to his mother for the last time, telling her to pray that everything would turn out well. A day later, he spoke to Lozano, for nearly an hour. Rula - Nunez's nickname - seemed relaxed, making jokes, she said.

They were in Piedras Negras, across from Eagle Pass in Texas. Lozano was supposed to wait for a call to pay the smuggler half the money, about $3,000. Then she needed another call from Nunez's sister to confirm his safe arrival before paying the remaining $3,000.

The calls never came. Lozano never heard from Nunez. She talked to the smuggler a couple of times, who told her they were still waiting to cross. Then the phone went unanswered.

___

At first Posadas and Lozano weren't too worried. They were used to losing contact with Nunez, then 35, for a few days during his trips, for example when his cellphone failed.

But about two weeks after he left, when Posadas turned on the television news, fear suddenly seized her. Authorities had found 72 corpses of migrants on a ranch in San Fernando, Tamaulipas, across the border from Texas, the report said.

"I started to weep like a crazy person. There were no names, but I was shaken," said Posadas.

It turned out that gang members in vehicles marked with the letter Z - the calling card of the feared Zetas drug cartel - had stopped two tractor-trailers with dozens of migrants in northern Mexico. They were taken to the ranch and asked to join the cartel. Only one agreed.

The rest were blindfolded, tied up on the floor and shot dead. An Ecuadorian managed to escape and alerted the navy.

A list of victims released days after the massacre included the names of Posadas' grandson and the two neighbors who had been traveling with them. But there was no trace of Nunez, and authorities told Posadas that if he was not among the dead, he could be alive.

Posadas asked local prosecutors, the Honduran foreign ministry and Mexican authorities about her son, but no one had information for her. Her ex-husband, Nunez's father, offered a DNA sample to be compared with the cadavers that had not yet been identified. Photos of those cadavers did not include Nunez.

Hoping against hope, Posadas and Lozano worked to find Nunez. They tried jails, detention centers and hospitals. Nothing. Lozano gave the Honduran consulate names, photos and descriptions of Nunez's tattoos, including one of Dachell and another of the number 8. She went there every day.

Still nothing.

Then they heard that the Ecuadorian survivor said another man - a Honduran - also had escaped the massacre and helped him get away from the ranch. Honduran and Mexican authorities refused to give Lozano any more information because the man was under protection. They would not even confirm whether it was Nunez.

There was no luck with the Ecuadorian embassy, either, when Lozano asked to convey a photo of Nunez to the Ecuadorian survivor.

"I didn't want to see him, or even talk to him, just for him to look at the photo and tell me if it was the same person who helped him," Lozano sobbed.

In Honduras, Posadas also ran up against hurdles. She went to the capital, Tegucigalpa, to consult with Honduran and Mexican officials, but nobody could even say what had happened with her ex-husband's DNA sample. She called and called for a year, until finally they stopped answering.

The only thing left was to go to Mexico. But how could a sick old woman do that? Lozano was in no better position to do so, with five children depending on her and no legal residence in the U.S.

Lozano hired a lawyer to help relatives search prisons in Tamaulipas. That's when they thought they had a breakthrough: The lawyer said he saw a man resembling Nunez in one of the prisons. Posadas asked herself, "Has God heard my pleas?"

But that lead also vanished. They heard nothing more from the lawyer, and Lozano's brothers had to abandon the search because of threats from the Zetas.

Posadas told herself that if her son were alive, he would have called her. Yet without information or a body, she still held on to hope.

After three years of searching, that began to diminish. She spent nights awake in her small living room, decorated with knick-knacks and photos, including one of Nunez as a teenager. Days were just as desperate.

"I felt like I was falling into a terrible depression," Posadas said. "I would walk down the street and people would see I was smiling, but it was on the outside ... nobody knew how I was on the inside."

___

Posadas had no way to know, but she could have had her answer days after the mass killing.

The official report on the massacre stated that body No. 63 was a male with tattoos, including "Dachell" and the number 8. Documents note the finding of a Honduran driver's license in the name of Wilmer Gerardo Nunez Posadas, with a photo of a man with a moustache and beard. Yet nobody made that information public, and body No. 63 was eventually buried in a common grave.

In September 2013, the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team and other groups reached an agreement with Mexican prosecutors to identify more than 200 bodies from three massacres, including the one at San Fernando. All the bodies in the common grave were exhumed for new autopsies. In March 2015, Mexico's Attorney General's Office sent a letter to the Honduran Supreme Court asking for help locating the relatives of two men, including Nunez.

When the Argentine team found out about Nunez's ID, they tried to track down the family, but did not want to set foot in Planeta.

"I made it clear that I could not enter that area," said Allang Rodriguez, a psychologist with the Committee of Relatives of Disappeared Migrants of El Progreso, a group working with the Argentines.

The Catholic church helped in the search, and talked to nuns who worked with migrants. One woman, Geraldina Garay, knew a taxi driver who lived in Planeta. He offered to leave a scrap of paper with a phone number that Posadas could call in one of the neighborhood's oldest stores, behind her home.

A neighbor saw the message and brought it to Posadas late last year. Confused, she called the number. The voice on the other end wanted to meet to talk about her disappeared son.

"Today I finally have hope," she thought.

When they met, the forensic experts told her about the driver's license and the tattoos. They arranged for DNA tests for her and for Wilmer Turcios Sarmiento, 18, who was thought to be Nunez's son from a teenage relationship before he left for the U.S.

In May, Posadas learned the DNA tests had come back positive - one of 183 matches for dead migrants found with help of the Argentine team since 2010.

"My heart hurt so much ... most of all because of the death he suffered, not even knowing who killed him, with his eyes blindfolded, hands tied ..." Posadas said, her voice trailing off, tears in her eyes.

The DNA tests also proved Nunez was Turcios' father. It was like finding and losing a father at the same time, he told his grandmother.

One question continued to rattle around in Posadas' mind, and it was what pained her the most: "Why? Why, having the proof, did they hide it so long?"

The report she was given spoke of errors and inconsistencies in the handling of the case, and called for an investigation into the delay. To date, nobody has been convicted for the killings, and nine people are still unidentified. Mexican officials did not comment.

___

On Oct. 31, Wilmer Gerardo Nunez came home to Honduras.

The coffin arrived at the airport in San Pedro Sula, packaged in cardboard with a thin black ribbon and Nunez's name, and was transported to the morgue. When it was opened, the odor of death filled the room, softened by chemical products.

Posadas, holding a small red towel to wipe away tears and sweat, approached with her husband, her sister and a psychologist. A forensic worker unwrapped the cadaver. By now the head was just a skull, but on the arms some of the skin remained, along with tattoos. Posadas didn't need to see any more.

About 20 people came to the brief wake at the house in Planeta, where the coffin took up most of the living room in the baking sun. After eight years, the final goodbye lasted about two hours. Posadas feared that if it went any longer, the gangsters who control the neighborhood would show up.

Then a bus from the Planeta Baptist Church took the family to a small cemetery with a motley collection of unkempt tombs.

"I am finally sure. It is him. It is him. I give thanks to God," Posadas sobbed before collapsing next to the coffin.

Several mourners took cellphone video for relatives in the United States to see, but Nunez's children in Los Angeles still don't know he is dead. His younger daughter, Sulek Haydee, now 8, talks more and more to her grandmother online, and often asks: "Where is my daddy? Why doesn't he come to see us?"

"He can't, mamita," Posadas answers with a knot in her throat. "He's working."

Nunez's son in Honduras dreams of going to the U.S. himself to seek a better life. "Anything is better than this," Turcios said.

Eight years and three months after the last hug from her son, Posadas says she feels peace for the first time, although she still wants justice.

In her prayers now, she asks for her grandson not to migrate.

In this Oct. 30, 2018 photo, Haydee Posadas sheds tears during an interview in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, as she talks about the frustrations she faced when trying to get information about her missing son Wilmer, who had left the U.S. for a fourth time. Nunez was deported twice but returned to the U.S. each time. When Nunez's wife was about to give birth their second child, in July 2010, Nunez was deported a third time. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

In this Oct. 31, 2018 photo, a driver steers a bus transporting relatives of Wilmer Gerardo Nunez to a small cemetery for Nunez's burial ceremony, in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Nunez was one of 72 migrants killed by members of the Zeta drug cartel in 2010 on a ranch in San Fernando, across the border from Texas. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

In this Oct. 31, 2018 photo, Haydee Esperanza Posadas talks on a mobile phone to a relative as she walks past the coffin that contains the remains of her son, Wilmer Gerardo Nunez, during a wake in her home in the Ciudad Planeta neighborhood of San Pedro Sula, Honduras. About 20 people came to the brief wake, where the coffin took up most of the living room. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

In this Oct. 30, 2018 photo, Haydee Posadas, 73, rides home after giving an interview, in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Posadas' son fled Honduras for the U.S. in 2010 in part because of gang threats. But en route in Mexico, Wilmer Gerardo Nunez disappeared into the vortex of drug violence that he was trying to escape in the first place. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

In this Oct. 31, 2018 photo, pallbearers carry the coffin that contain the remains of Wilmer Gerardo Nunez, in the Ciudad Planeta neighborhood of San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Nunez left for the U.S. the first time in the 1990's, at age 16. "He did not say anything to me. One day he simply left," recalls his mother Haydee Posadas. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

In this Oct. 31, 2018 photo, store owner Carlos Alfonso Garcia looks out from behind his iron gate in the Ciudad Planeta neighborhood of San Pedro Sula, Honduras. The bars that hem in nearly every porch let on that it is one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in one of the world's most dangerous countries. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

In this Oct. 31, 2018 photo, relatives hoist the coffin that contains the remains of Wilmer Gerardo Nunez onto a burial site at a cemetery in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Nunez was not the oldest of the 10 children in the family, but he was the one who looked out for the others. He sent money home from the U.S. and called his mother almost every day. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

In this Oct. 31, 2018 photo, relatives attend the burial of Wilmer Gerardo Nunez at a cemetery in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. An official report of the August 2010 San Fernando ranch massacre stated that body No. 63 was a male with tattoos, including one that reads "Dachell," the name of Nunez's older daughter. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

In this Oct. 31, 2018 photo, a Baptist minister reads aloud a prayer during a burial service for Wilmer Gerardo Nunez at a cemetery in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Nunez's story is part of the hidden toll of migration to the U.S. through Mexico: In the past four years alone, almost 4,000 migrants have died or gone missing on their journey north. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

In this Oct. 31, 2018 photo, a woman touches the coffin containing the remains of Wilmer Gerardo Nunez at the end of a wake inside his mother's home in the Cuidad Planeta neighborhood of San Pedro Sula, Honduras. After an eight-year wait, family and friends were able to pay their final respects for Nunez, who went missing when he left for the fourth time to the United States in July of 2010. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

In this Oct. 31, 2018 photo, Haydee Posadas shields her eyes from the sun as she leaves her home in the Ciudad Planeta neighborhood for the cemetery to bury her son Wilmer Gerardo Nunez, in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Cuidad Planeta is the neighborhood when Nunez left for the first time in the 1990s to go to the United States at 16, when his mother lost her factory job. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

In this Oct. 31, 2018 photo, relatives who attended the burial service of Wilmer Gerardo Nunez wait for a bus to transport them home, at a cemetery in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. About a week after Nunez left Honduras for the last time, he spoke to his mother, telling her to pray that everything would turn out well. A few weeks after that call Nunez disappeared. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

In this Oct. 31, 2018 photo, Haydee Posadas cries during the burial service for her son Wilmer Gerardo Nunez, at a cemetery in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Two weeks after Nunez left Honduras for the U.S, when Posadas turned on the television news, fear suddenly gripped her. Authorities had found 72 corpses of migrants on a ranch in San Fernando, across the border from Texas. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

In this Oct. 31, 2018 photo, Haydee Posadas takes a video call from a relative, during the burial of her son Wilmer Gerardo Nunez, at a cemetery in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Nearly eight years after her son went missing, an Argentine forensics team confirmed he was one of the 72 migrants killed in the 2010 San Fernando ranch massacre. "My heart hurt so much ... most of all because of the death he suffered, not even knowing who killed him, with his eyes blindfolded, hands tied..." Posadas said. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

This Oct. 31, 2018 photo shows a family photo of Wilmer Gerardo Nunez with his younger brother Mynor placed in a bouquet of flowers adorning the coffin that contains the remains of Wilmer during a wake at his mother's home in Ciudad Planeta neighborhood of San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Nunez' children in Los Angeles still don't know their father is dead. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

In this Oct. 31, 2018 photo, Haydee Esperanza Posadas, covers her face with a small red towel to wipe away tears and sweat, during the burial of her son Wilmer Gerardo Nunez at a cemetery in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Eight years and three months after the last hug from her son Wilmer, Posadas says she feels peace for the first time, although she still wants justice. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

In this Nov. 3, 2018 photo, Haydee Posadas shows the driver's license her son Wilmer Gerardo Nunez was carrying when he was blindfolded and shot dead on his journey north, at her home in Ciudad Planeta neighborhood of San Pedro Sula, Honduras. When an Argentine forensics team found out about Nunez's ID, they tried to track down the family. The Catholic church helped in the search since the team refused to set foot in Ciudad Planeta. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

In this Nov. 3, 2018 photo, Haydee Posadas leans against a wall inside her home in Ciudad Planeta neighborhood of San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Posadas has a mantra for survival in Planeta: "If you saw it, you didn't see it. If you heard it, you didn't hear it. And everyone keeps quiet." (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)ISLAMABAD (AP) - The U.S. special envoy tasked with finding a negotiated end to Afghanistan's bloody 17-year-old war met Tuesday with Pakistani officials, and a Taliban official said four members from the group's political office in the Middle Eastern state of Qatar were also in the Pakistani capital.

But the visit by the Taliban leaders, which included a former Taliban ambassador and a former governor who is also on a United Nations sanctions list, is "private," the official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media.

Pakistan routinely tells a grumbling Washington that its influence over the Taliban is exaggerated, yet in the past has exhibited sufficient sway over the insurgent movement to summon its leaders to Pakistan for quiet talks.

On this occasion, the Taliban official told the AP, the group's Qatar office sent Shaha-ud-din Dilawar, a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia; Zia-ur-Rahman Madani, former governor of Logar province who is on the U.N. sanctions list for providing funding for the Taliban; Suhail Shaheen, a former diplomat, and Sala Hanafi.

There was no indication who the four might meet or how long they would stay in Pakistan, but it was expected their visit would be a prelude to further discussions in Qatar when U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad visits later this month.

The resurgent Taliban, who ruled Afghanistan before U.S. forces invaded in October 2001, carry out near-daily attacks on Afghan army and police forces. They view the U.S.-backed government in Kabul as a dysfunctional Western puppet and have refused repeated offers to negotiate with it.

FILE - In this April 17, 2017, file photo, Pakistan's army spokesman Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor addresses a news conference in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Ghafoor told a briefing of foreign journalists Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018, that Pakistan's influence over the Taliban is overstated, yet he said Pakistan has repeatedly told the insurgent group to join the peace process. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed, File)

U.S. and NATO troops formally concluded their combat mission in Afghanistan in 2014, but still provide close support to Afghan forces and carry out counterterrorism operations. Some 15,000 American forces are currently serving in Afghanistan.

Since his appointment in September, Khalilzad has accelerated efforts to find an Afghan peace pact that would allow for the eventual withdrawal of the United States from its longest war, which has already cost Washington nearly $1 trillion.

Khalilzad will also travel to Afghanistan, Russia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Belgium, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in stepped-up efforts to find a peaceful end to the war.

In November, Khalilzad held three days of talks with the Taliban in Qatar, according to the Taliban. The United States has neither confirmed nor denied direct talks with the Taliban, a longstanding demand of the radical religious movement. Khalilzad, however, has said he has held talks with all Afghans, a sideways reference to include the Taliban.

On the eve of Khalilzad's visit to Pakistan, President Donald Trump a wrote a letter seeking Pakistani Prime Minister Imrah Khan's cooperation, even though he has been a harsh and often belligerent critic of Pakistan and even engaged in a Twitter battle with Khan. Khan told reporters Monday that his government will do whatever was possible to ensure peace in Afghanistan.

The U.S. soldiers still in Afghanistan are mostly in support and advisory roles, yet their mission continues to be deadly. Last week in eastern Afghanistan, an improvised explosive device killed four U.S. troops, the deadliest attack against U.S. forces in Afghanistan since June 2017. The Taliban claimed responsibility.

Washington's own Congress-appointed watchdog says the Taliban control or hold sway in nearly 50 percent of the country.

Still, Khalilzad said earlier this month in Kabul that he held out hope that a peace agreement, which he referred to as a "roadmap for the future," was possible between the Taliban and an Afghan government appointed team. Khalilzad even suggested it could be in place ahead of Afghanistan's scheduled presidential elections on April 20.

The spokesman for Pakistan's powerful military, Gen. Asif Ghafoor, told a briefing of foreign journalists Tuesday that Pakistan's influence over the Taliban is overstated, yet he said Pakistan has repeatedly told the insurgent group to join the peace process.

He said the release of senior Taliban officials from Pakistani prisons, including a co-founder of the movement, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, was part of the peace process. Prisoner releases were also long standing demands of the Taliban.

Ghafoor also cautioned against a hurried U.S. retreat from Afghanistan that leaves behind a vacuum, warning it would result in chaos. He said a peaceful Afghanistan was in the interest of Pakistan, saying Afghanistan is one of the few countries with which Pakistan has a trade surplus.

Ghafoor also said that until 2014 the Pakistan military, which has lost more soldiers than NATO and the United States combined fighting the anti-terror war, was focused on battling its own insurgents, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and ignored demands to widen the war to include Afghan insurgents, including the Haqqani network.

But after 2014, he said the Pakistan army launched its operation in the North Waziristan tribal area to rid the area of foreign insurgents, including Afghan Taliban and Uzbek insurgents, but when they fled across the border into Afghanistan the U.S. and Afghan forces failed to corral them.

Pakistan has begun construction on a 2,611-kilometer (1,622-mile) fence along its border with Afghanistan, a move that has infuriated Afghans, who still dispute the border known as the Durand line that separates Pakistan and Afghanistan.

But Ghafoor said the fence is the only answer to stop the relentless undocumented cross border movement.

___

Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.BANJUL, Gambia (AP) - Hundreds of Gambians were grateful for the jobs created by a Chinese-run fish processing plant that arrived in 2014. Then they were shocked when dead fish began washing up on a nearby shore.

Residents of the coastal town of Gunjur reported chemical residue on their skin after swimming that made them itch. Environmental activists blamed the Chinese-owned company, Golden Lead Import & Export.

After activists said the company had failed to remove a pipe accused of spewing toxic waste into the sea, local youth issued an ultimatum: Dig the pipe up, or we will. In March they did, storming the beach.

"We'll be willing to face any charges in defense of our community," their leader, Amadou Scattred Janneh, told The Associated Press. He is now out on bail facing criminal trespass charges.

For more than two decades, few in this tiny West African nation dared to speak out under the dictatorship of President Yahya Jammeh. Opposing voices were silenced by arrests and killings during his dictatorship.

A new era began when Jammeh was swept out of power and went into exile early last year. And as new President Adama Barrow's government has promised wider freedoms, Gambians are now speaking up as part of a nascent environmental movement.

In this photo taken on Thursday March 29, 2018, Amadou Scattred Janneh, second left, with other environmentalist activists celebrate his release on bail but facing criminal trespass charges, in Banjul, Gambia. Hundreds of Gambians were grateful for the jobs created by a Chinese-run fish processing plant that arrived in 2014. Then they were shocked when dead fish began washing up on a nearby shore. (AP Photo/Abdoulie John)

After the protest over the fish processing plant, Gambia's government ultimately allowed the company to reinstate the pipe but required waste water to be treated before being discharged.

The company's general manager, Bakary Darboe, denies causing marine pollution and has accused the activists of damaging property.

Janneh's arrest hasn't stopped other environmental activists in Gambia from holding regular demonstrations over the depletion of natural reserves along the country's coastline.

Such activism is long overdue, filmmaker and activist Prince Bubacarr Sankanu told The Associated Press.

"The pressure on our meager natural resources is getting higher and higher, thus making proactive environmental activism an inevitable tool for good governance," he said.

Another high-profile demonstration earlier this year ended in the deaths of three protesters who had demanded the end of sand mining activities by the Julakay Entreprise company in the village of Faraba Banta.

The sand is used in construction but the practice has been accused of damaging Gambia's coastline and local farming, which is often residents' only source of income.

Inspired in part by such confrontations, Gambia's president in September set up a land commission to look into the challenges of administering one of the country's most important resources. Nearly 80 percent of the population relies on agriculture for a living.

"As a country, we have been hurt because the foundation of our democracy had been shaken and corrupted," Barrow said during the commission's swearing-in ceremony. "The former government abused the rights of the citizens, and many communities lost their land for political or dubious reasons."

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Follow Africa news at https://twitter.com/AP_Africa

In this photo taken on Thursday March 29, 2018, Amadou Scattred Janneh, second right, with other environmentalist activists celebrate his release on bail but facing criminal trespass charges, in Banjul, Gambia. Hundreds of Gambians were grateful for the jobs created by a Chinese-run fish processing plant that arrived in 2014. Then they were shocked when dead fish began washing up on a nearby shore. (AP Photo/Abdoulie John)

In this photo taken on Thursday March 29, 2018, pipes belonging to Chinese owned company, Golden Lead Import & Export, are removed by activists following a protest in Banjul, Gambia. Hundreds of Gambians were grateful for the jobs created by a Chinese-run fish processing plant that arrived in 2014. Then they were shocked when dead fish began washing up on a nearby shore. (AP Photo/Abdoulie John)

This photo taken on Thursday March 29, 2018, shows Chinese-owned company, Golden Lead Import & Export, in Banjul, Gambia. Hundreds of Gambians were grateful for the jobs created by a Chinese-run fish processing plant that arrived in 2014. Then they were shocked when dead fish began washing up on a nearby shore. (AP Photo/Abdoulie John )KATOWICE, Poland (AP) - The latest on climate talks taking place in Poland (all times local):

2:10 a.m.

President Donald Trump says the French president's decision to delay an energy tax hike after massive protests justifies his own decision to withdraw from an international climate accord.

Trump says Emmanuel Macron's decision means Macron has reached the same conclusion as Trump, that the global agreement reached by nearly 200 nations in Paris in 2015 is "fatally flawed because it raises the price of energy for responsible countries while whitewashing some of the worst polluters in the world."

Trump says he wants clean air and water, but U.S. taxpayers and workers "shouldn't pay to clean up other countries' pollution." He has said the accord would damage the U.S. economy.

France's planned tax hike was aimed at weaning French consumers off fossil fuels, which are believed to contribute to climate change.

Smoke rise from a waste incinerator in Paris, France, Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018. The COP24 summit on climate change is taking place in Poland's southern city of Katowice from December 2 to 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

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11:40 p.m.

A commander of the International Space Station says he has seen the impact of climate change on Earth and hopes nations can work together to tackle it.

Addressing delegates at the U.N. climate conference, astronaut Alexander Gerst said in a video posted Tuesday that he has seen from space the planet's "beauty, its fragility and also the impact humans make."

The German geophysicist and astronaut said he was struck by how brown and dried out Europe looked this summer, which saw extended heat and little rain across much of the continent.

He urged countries that have signed the 2015 Paris climate accord "to turn those words into action and achieve the agreement's goals."

Gerst added he hoped negotiators gathered in Poland would be inspired by the same "spirit of collaboration" that exists on the space station.

___

8:40 p.m.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says her government is determined to reduce emissions to net zero "as quickly as possible" - and staying within the European Union would help.

Speaking on the sidelines of the U.N. climate summit in Poland on Tuesday, she noted that the oil and gas sector is a major employer in Scotland.

Sturgeon told The Associated Press that "we must make sure that as we transition to renewable energy people's jobs and skills are taken account of."

She backed the idea of a "just transition" for workers and those dependent on cheap fuel, saying without it the effort to curb greenhouse gases will run into more resistance.

Scotland has started the legislative process to achieve carbon neutrality by mid-century.

Asked about a European Union proposal to go a step further by having net zero emissions of all greenhouse gases by 2050, Sturgeon said she hoped Scotland would continue to be part of the bloc then.

Sturgeon opposes Britain's planned exit from the EU next year.

___

4:55 p.m.

Poland's prime minister says the country, which has some of Europe's most polluted cities, will invest between 3-4 billion euros ($3.4-$ 4.5 billion) in low-emissions public transport.

Mateusz Morawiecki said Poland is seeking to buy 1,077 electric buses.

His announcement came during a U.N. climate conference taking place in the southern Polish city of Katowice, which is at the heart of the country's coal mining region.

___

2:15 p.m.

Slovakia's prosecutor general has ruled that 12 Greenpeace activists who were kept in detention after protesting against a lignite mining company should be immediately released.

A county court in Prievidza ruled on Sunday that the activists would have to remain in custody until they are put on trial, saying they might continue illegal activity if released. But prosecutor Jaromir Ciznar says their detention was not justified.

The activists from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany and Belgium were arrested for displaying anti-coal mining banners on a mining tower in Novaky. They were detained as negotiators from around the world assembled in neighboring Poland for two weeks of talks on curbing climate change.

Greenpeace called their detention unacceptable.

___

11:10 a.m.

Miners are celebrating their patron saint in the southern Polish city that's hosting U.N. climate talks.

Musicians began the "Barboka" Miners Day, dedicated to Catholic Saint Barbara, with a traditional sunrise concert Tuesday in the streets of Katowice.

The procession later moves to church for a Mass in honor of the patron saint.

Katowice has been a center of coal mining for more than a century.

Scientists say the use of coal, one of the most polluting fossil fuels, needs to be radically reduced by the middle of the century to curb global warming.

___

10:50 a.m.

Five international banks are pledging to use the billions at their disposal to steer clients away from businesses that emit large amounts of greenhouse gases.

The banks, led by ING of the Netherlands, announced the plan Tuesday on the sidelines of the U.N. climate summit in Poland.

The Katowice Commitment, named after the city hosting the two-week summit, is also backed by BBVA, Standard Chartered, BNP Paribas and Societe Generale.

The banks, with a combined loan book of over 2.4 trillion euros ($2.72 trillion), say they want to support the Paris accord on curbing climate change.

Measures include developing tools to ensure lending is aligned with emissions-reduction goals and financing low-emissions technologies.

The banks say they won't exclude any clients but instead "work with them on their transition."

___

10:05 a.m.

Negotiators gathered for the U.N. climate talks in Poland are getting down to the nitty-gritty part of the two-week meeting.

Diplomats from almost 200 countries began holding a series of technical talks Tuesday aimed at finalizing the rules that define the 2015 Paris accord on curbing global warming.

Decisions on crunch issues are expected to be left to ministers when they return to the southern Polish city of Katowice next week.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made a dramatic appeal to governments Monday to confront the threat of unchecked climate change.

Scientists say manmade emissions of greenhouses gases must be reduced to net zero by 2050 to stop catastrophic warming this century.

____

Read more stories on climate issues by The Associated Press at https://www.apnews.com/Climate

A miner's orchestra march and play around the Nikiszowiec estate to celebrate Barborka Miner's Day, or St. Barbara's Day, in Katowice Nikiszowiec, Poland, Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018. Traditionally an orchestra of miners woke the mine managers at sunrise by playing in the street. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

A miner's orchestra march and play around the Nikiszowiec estate to celebrate Barborka Miner's Day, or St. Barbara's Day, in Katowice Nikiszowiec, Poland, Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018. Traditionally an orchestra of miners woke the mine managers at sunrise by playing in the street. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Visitors to the U.N. climate conference watch a speech by Arnold Schwarzenegger, in Katowice, Poland, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. The COP24 UN Climate Change Conference is taking place in Katowice, Poland. Negotiators from around the world are meeting for talks on curbing climate change. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres delivers a speech during the opening of COP24 UN Climate Change Conference 2018 in Katowice, Poland, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018.(AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

A miner's orchestra march and play around the Nikiszowiec estate to celebrate Barborka Miner's Day, or St. Barbara's Day, in Katowice Nikiszowiec, Poland, Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018. Traditionally an orchestra of miners woke the mine managers at sunrise by playing in the street. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

A miner's orchestra march and play around the Nikiszowiec estate to celebrate Barborka Miner's Day, or St. Barbara's Day, in Katowice Nikiszowiec, Poland, Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018. Traditionally an orchestra of miners woke the mine managers at sunrise by playing in the street. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

A miner's orchestra march and play around the Nikiszowiec estate to celebrate Barborka Miner's Day, or St. Barbara's Day, in Katowice Nikiszowiec, Poland, Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018. Traditionally an orchestra of miners woke the mine managers at sunrise by playing in the street. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

A bicyclists passes heavy industries in IJmuiden, Netherlands, Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018. The climate change conference, COP24, takes place in Katowice, Poland, from Dec. 2-14, 2018. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)KUALA IDI, Indonesia (AP) - Indonesian fishermen rescued a wooden boat carrying 20 hungry, weak Rohingya Muslims on Tuesday after it was found adrift off Indonesia's northernmost province of Aceh, an official said.

The group of men and boys was discovered on the rickety boat about 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) off the coast, said Syahrial, the head of East Aceh's local disaster mitigation office.

Syahrial, who goes by a single name, said it wasn't clear where the group had traveled from or where they were heading.

An outbreak of violence that began in 2012 prompted thousands of Rohingya to flee Myanmar by sea to Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. A fresh crisis last year sent hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fleeing by land to Bangladesh.

The people who were found Tuesday were brought ashore and placed in a navy shelter house in the Kuala Idi fishing port of East Aceh district while awaiting identification by Indonesian immigration officials.

The group, ranging in age from 14 to 28, were weak from hunger and dehydration after a 15-day voyage, Syahrial said, adding that villagers donated clothes, food and drinking water.

Rohingya men who were rescued by local fishermen sit on the ground in Kuala Idi, Aceh province, Indonesia, Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018. A wooden boat carrying the hungry and weak Rohingya Muslims were found adrift off Indonesia's northernmost province of Aceh. (AP Photo/Iskandar Ishak)

"We could not yet communicate much with them as none of them speak English or Malay," Syahrial said.

Some 300 Rohingya are still being sheltered in Aceh. Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation, is a strong supporter of the Rohingya cause.

Rohingya men who were rescued by local fishermen sit on the ground in Kuala Idi, Aceh province, Indonesia, Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018. A wooden boat carrying the hungry and weak Rohingya Muslims were found adrift off Indonesia's northernmost province of Aceh. (AP Photo/S. Yulinnas)

Police officers inspect a boat that was carrying Rohingya men who were rescued by local fishermen in Kuala Idi, Aceh province, Indonesia, Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018. The boat carrying hungry and weak Rohingya Muslims were found adrift off Indonesia's northernmost province of Aceh. (AP Photo/S. Yulinnas)GENEVA (AP) - The U.N. humanitarian aid chief says he doesn't expect an "easy or rapid process" in peace talks aimed at ending Yemen's devastating civil war, which are set to begin later this week.

Mark Lowcock, head of the world body's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, spoke to The Associated Press on Monday after laying out the organization's 2019 humanitarian appeal.

OCHA says $21.9 billion is needed next year for food, shelter, health care, education, protection and other assistance worldwide. It predicts nearly 132 million people in 42 countries will need assistance.

The worst humanitarian crisis is in Yemen, where the government and a Saudi-led coalition have been locked in a largely stalemated war with the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels since March 2015. The fighting has claimed tens of thousands of lives and pushed the country to the brink of famine.

The executive director of the U.N.'s World Food Program, David Beasley, meanwhile said an upcoming report on hunger levels in Yemen will show a sharp increase. "We're seeing the severe hunger rate spike from 8 million to 12 million (people)," he said.

"I've heard many say that this is a country on the brink of catastrophe," Beasley said. "This is not a country on the brink of a catastrophe. This is a country that is in a catastrophe."

Mark Lowcock, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, speaks during a press conference about the launch of the "Global Humanitarian Overview 2019" and "World Humanitarian Data and Trends 2018" flagship reports, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Dec 4, 2018. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)

"Let's hope that these peace talks that start tomorrow or the day after will yield to a path forward to providing some hope for the children of this country," he added.

OCHA's Lowcock said the "onus" in the peace talks is on Yemen's government and the Houthi rebels to "take this seriously and act in a responsible way."

The two sides are set to meet later this week following a series of confidence-building measures. Around 50 wounded rebel fighters were flown to Oman for treatment on Monday, meeting a key Houthi demand. On Tuesday, Abdul-Qader el-Murtaza, a rebel official, said the government and the coalition have agreed to a U.N.-brokered prisoner exchange approved by the Houthis.

Houthi delegates flew to Stockholm from Yemen's rebel-held capital, Sanaa, on Tuesday. Other rebel delegates were expected to travel to Sweden from Oman on Wednesday. The U.N. says both sides have agreed to attend the talks.

Sweden's deputy U.N. ambassador, Carl Skau told, reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York that the Houthi delegation arrived in Stockholm late Tuesday. He said the Yemeni delegation was due shortly, and talks would begin before the end of the week.

David Miliband, president of the International Rescue Committee, on Tuesday urged the U.S. and Britain to use their influence as military supporters of the Saudi-led coalition to "encourage meaningful dialogue in these talks."

"It's time for world leaders to listen to their constituents and help end the unmitigated suffering of the Yemeni people," he said in a statement.

A survey commissioned the IRC found that 75 percent of Americans oppose U.S. weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, a leading member of the coalition.

The YouGov survey showed that 82 percent believe Congress should vote to end or decrease arms sales to the two Gulf Arab countries.

YouGov surveyed 1,168 respondents online from Nov. 7 until Nov. 9. The poll had a margin of error of 3.3 percent, IRC said.

Mark Lowcock, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, holds a report during a press conference about the launch of the "Global Humanitarian Overview 2019" and "World Humanitarian Data and Trends 2018" flagship reports, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Dec 4, 2018. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)

Mark Lowcock, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, arrives for a press conference about the launch of the "Global Humanitarian Overview 2019" and "World Humanitarian Data and Trends 2018" flagship reports, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Dec 4, 2018. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)

Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), David Beasley, addresses the media on WFP operations and the food security in Yemen during press conference at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)

Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), David Beasley, addresses the media on WFP operations and the food security in Yemen during press conference at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018. (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP)SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras (AP) - Haydee Posadas had waited eight years for her son to come home. On the last night of her long vigil, she was too agitated to sleep.

Her son had fled Honduras for the United States in 2010, in part because of gang threats, just as thousands are doing today in migrant caravans, including men from the same neighborhood. But en route in Mexico, again like so many others, Wilmer Nunez disappeared into the vortex of drug violence that he was trying to escape in the first place, leaving Posadas in limbo.

"I know nothing about my son, whether he's dead or alive," she pleaded with God through the years.

In the past four years alone, almost 4,000 migrants have died or gone missing along the route through Mexico to the U.S., The Associated Press has found. That's 1,573 more than the previously known number, calculated by the United Nations, and even the AP's estimate is likely low. These migrants are among about 56,800 worldwide who died or disappeared over the same period, the AP found.

When Posadas lost her factory job in the 1990s, Nunez left for the U.S. He sent money home, and called his mother almost every day. He was deported twice but returned.

In 2007, he had a child, Dachell, with a Mexican woman, Maria Esther Lozano, now 38. In July 2010, Nunez was deported a third time. This time, his Ciudad Planeta neighborhood in San Pedro Sula was so dangerous that Nunez barely went outside the home.

In this Oct. 30, 2018 photo, Haydee Posadas sheds tears during an interview in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, as she talks about the frustrations she faced when trying to get information about her missing son Wilmer, who had left the U.S. for a fourth time. Nunez was deported twice but returned to the U.S. each time. When Nunez's wife was about to give birth their second child, in July 2010, Nunez was deported a third time. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

"He seemed very pensive," said Posadas, 73. "'I'm afraid,' he told me."

After just a few days and an apparent threat from gang members, he left earlier than planned.

"I have to get out of here now," he told Lozano, without further explanation.

Nunez, his nephew and two neighbors struck out for the Mexican border with Texas. Nunez, then 35, called Lozano every day, sometimes from the phone of the migrants' smuggler. About a week after he left Honduras, he spoke to his mother for the last time, and then a day later to Lozano.

After that, Lozano talked to the smuggler a couple of times, who told her they were still waiting to cross. Then the phone went unanswered.

At first Lozano and Posadas weren't too worried. But about two weeks after he left, when Posadas turned on the television news, fear suddenly seized her. The corpses of 72 migrants had been found on a ranch in Tamaulipas state, across the border from Texas, the report said. It turned out that they had been killed by gangs, and an Ecuadorian managed to escape and alert authorities.

"I started to weep like a crazy person. There were no names, but I was shaken," said Posadas.

A list of victims released days after the massacre included the names of Posadas' grandson and the two neighbors traveling with them. But there was no trace of Nunez.

Hoping against hope, Posadas and Lozano tried jails, detention centers and hospitals. Nothing. Lozano gave the Honduran consulate names, photos, and descriptions of Nunez's tattoos, including one of Dachell and another of the number 8. She went there every day.

Still nothing.

Then they heard that the Ecuadorian survivor said another man - a Honduran - also had escaped the massacre. But authorities refused to give Lozano any more information because the man was under protection.

Lozano even hired a lawyer to help relatives search prisons in Tamaulipas. The lawyer said he saw a man resembling Nunez in one of the prisons. Posadas asked herself, "Has God heard my pleas?"

But they heard nothing more, and Lozano's brothers abandoned the search because of gang threats.

Posadas spent nights awake, and days were just as desperate.

"I felt like I was falling into a terrible depression," she said.

Had she only known it, Posadas could have gotten her answer days after the mass killing.

The report on the massacre stated that body No. 63 was a male with tattoos, including "Dachell" and the number 8. Documents note the finding of a Honduran driver's license in the name of Wilmer Gerardo Nunez Posadas, with a photo of a man with a moustache and beard. Yet nobody made that information public.

In September 2013, the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team reached an agreement with Mexican prosecutors to identify more than 200 bodies from three massacres, including the one at San Fernando. When the Argentine team found out about Nunez's ID, they tried to track down the family, but nobody wanted to set foot in Planeta.

Through the Catholic Church, they found a woman who knew a taxi driver who lived in Planeta. He offered to leave a scrap of paper with a phone number that Posadas could call in one of the neighborhood's oldest stores.

A neighbor brought the message to Posadas late last year. Befuddled, she called the number. The voice on the other end wanted to meet to talk about her son.

"Today I finally have hope," she thought.

When they met, the forensic experts told her about the driver's license and the tattoos. They arranged for DNA tests for her and Wilmer Turcios Sarmiento, 18, thought to be Nunez's son from a teenage relationship.

The DNA tests came back positive.

"My heart hurt so much ... most of all because of the death he suffered, not even knowing who killed him, with his eyes blindfolded, hands tied..." Posadas said, her voice trailing off, tears in her eyes.

The DNA tests also proved once and for all that Turcios was Nunez's son, Posadas' grandson.

On Oct. 31, Wilmer Nunez came home to Honduras.

A forensic worker unwrapped the cadaver. By now the head was just a skull, but on the arms some skin remained, along with tattoos. Posadas didn't need to see any more. After a brief wake at home, the family went to a small cemetery.

"I am finally sure. It is him. It is him. I give thanks to God," Posadas sobbed before collapsing next to the coffin.

Eight years and three months after the last hug from her son, Posadas says she feels peace for the first time.

In her prayers now, she asks for her grandson, who wants to go to the U.S., not to migrate.

This Oct. 31, 2018 photo shows an undated family photo of Wilmer Gerardo Nunez as a young adult, at his mother's home in the Ciudad Planeta neighborhood of San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Eight years ago, at the age of 35, Nunez left Honduras for the United States, only to disappear in Mexico, leaving his anguished mother in limbo. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

In this Oct. 31, 2018 photo, a driver steers a bus transporting relatives of Wilmer Gerardo Nunez to a small cemetery for Nunez's burial ceremony, in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Nunez was one of 72 migrants killed by members of the Zeta drug cartel in 2010 on a ranch in San Fernando, across the border from Texas. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

In this Oct. 31, 2018 photo, Haydee Esperanza Posadas talks on a mobile phone to a relative as she walks past the coffin that contains the remains of her son, Wilmer Gerardo Nunez, during a wake in her home in the Ciudad Planeta neighborhood of San Pedro Sula, Honduras. About 20 people came to the brief wake, where the coffin took up most of the living room. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

In this Oct. 30, 2018 photo, Haydee Posadas, 73, rides home after giving an interview, in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Posadas' son fled Honduras for the U.S. in 2010 in part because of gang threats. But en route in Mexico, Wilmer Gerardo Nunez disappeared into the vortex of drug violence that he was trying to escape in the first place. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

In this Oct. 31, 2018 photo, pallbearers carry the coffin that contain the remains of Wilmer Gerardo Nunez, in the Ciudad Planeta neighborhood of San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Nunez left for the U.S. the first time in the 1990's, at age 16. "He did not say anything to me. One day he simply left," recalls his mother Haydee Posadas. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

In this Oct. 31, 2018 photo, store owner Carlos Alfonso Garcia looks out from behind his iron gate in the Ciudad Planeta neighborhood of San Pedro Sula, Honduras. The bars that hem in nearly every porch let on that it is one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in one of the world's most dangerous countries. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

In this Oct. 31, 2018 photo, relatives hoist the coffin that contains the remains of Wilmer Gerardo Nunez onto a burial site at a cemetery in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Nunez was not the oldest of the 10 children in the family, but he was the one who looked out for the others. He sent money home from the U.S. and called his mother almost every day. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

In this Oct. 31, 2018 photo, relatives attend the burial of Wilmer Gerardo Nunez at a cemetery in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. An official report of the August 2010 San Fernando ranch massacre stated that body No. 63 was a male with tattoos, including one that reads "Dachell," the name of Nunez's older daughter. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

In this Oct. 31, 2018 photo, a Baptist minister reads aloud a prayer during a burial service for Wilmer Gerardo Nunez at a cemetery in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Nunez's story is part of the hidden toll of migration to the U.S. through Mexico: In the past four years alone, almost 4,000 migrants have died or gone missing on their journey north. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

In this Oct. 31, 2018 photo, a woman touches the coffin containing the remains of Wilmer Gerardo Nunez at the end of a wake inside his mother's home in the Cuidad Planeta neighborhood of San Pedro Sula, Honduras. After an eight-year wait, family and friends were able to pay their final respects for Nunez, who went missing when he left for the fourth time to the United States in July of 2010. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

In this Oct. 31, 2018 photo, Haydee Posadas shields her eyes from the sun as she leaves her home in the Ciudad Planeta neighborhood for the cemetery to bury her son Wilmer Gerardo Nunez, in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Cuidad Planeta is the neighborhood when Nunez left for the first time in the 1990s to go to the United States at 16, when his mother lost her factory job. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

In this Oct. 31, 2018 photo, relatives who attended the burial service of Wilmer Gerardo Nunez wait for a bus to transport them home, at a cemetery in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. About a week after Nunez left Honduras for the last time, he spoke to his mother, telling her to pray that everything would turn out well. A few weeks after that call Nunez disappeared. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

In this Oct. 31, 2018 photo, Haydee Posadas cries during the burial service for her son Wilmer Gerardo Nunez, at a cemetery in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Two weeks after Nunez left Honduras for the U.S, when Posadas turned on the television news, fear suddenly gripped her. Authorities had found 72 corpses of migrants on a ranch in San Fernando, across the border from Texas. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

In this Oct. 31, 2018 photo, Haydee Posadas takes a video call from a relative, during the burial of her son Wilmer Gerardo Nunez, at a cemetery in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Nearly eight years after her son went missing, an Argentine forensics team confirmed he was one of the 72 migrants killed in the 2010 San Fernando ranch massacre. "My heart hurt so much ... most of all because of the death he suffered, not even knowing who killed him, with his eyes blindfolded, hands tied..." Posadas said. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

This Oct. 31, 2018 photo shows a family photo of Wilmer Gerardo Nunez with his younger brother Mynor placed in a bouquet of flowers adorning the coffin that contains the remains of Wilmer during a wake at his mother's home in Ciudad Planeta neighborhood of San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Nunez' children in Los Angeles still don't know their father is dead. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

In this Oct. 31, 2018 photo, Haydee Esperanza Posadas, covers her face with a small red towel to wipe away tears and sweat, during the burial of her son Wilmer Gerardo Nunez at a cemetery in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Eight years and three months after the last hug from her son Wilmer, Posadas says she feels peace for the first time, although she still wants justice. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

In this Nov. 3, 2018 photo, Haydee Posadas shows the driver's license her son Wilmer Gerardo Nunez was carrying when he was blindfolded and shot dead on his journey north, at her home in Ciudad Planeta neighborhood of San Pedro Sula, Honduras. When an Argentine forensics team found out about Nunez's ID, they tried to track down the family. The Catholic church helped in the search since the team refused to set foot in Ciudad Planeta. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

In this Nov. 3, 2018 photo, Haydee Posadas leans against a wall inside her home in Ciudad Planeta neighborhood of San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Posadas has a mantra for survival in Planeta: "If you saw it, you didn't see it. If you heard it, you didn't hear it. And everyone keeps quiet." (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)MOSCOW (AP) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has arrived in Russia, looking for support amid a spiraling economic crisis.

Maduro, who landed in Moscow Tuesday, is set to have talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin the following day.

The United States and some European nations have sanctioned Maduro's administration in an attempt to pressure Venezuela into making a return to democratic ways.

Putin's foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said Russia will express its support for a peaceful dialogue in Venezuela, adding that all of the country's "internal political problems must be settled through an open dialogue between political forces."

He emphasized that "any outside pressure on Maduro's government is counterproductive and won't help to calm the situation and establish stability."

Ushakov added that Putin and Maduro will also discuss cooperation in the oil sector.NEW YORK (AP) - A U.S. prosecutor told a jury Tuesday that a "cheating" Hong Kong businessman undermined faith in the international market by lining the pockets of two African presidents to secure oil rights for a Chinese energy conglomerate.

But a defense attorney for Dr. Chi Ping Patrick Ho called the prosecution "deeply flawed" and assailed the credibility of a Senegalese diplomat who had been indicted alongside Ho before agreeing to testify for the government.

Ho has pleaded not guilty to charges of money laundering, conspiracy and violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in a bribery case that cast a harsh light on several former United Nations officials.

"There's something rotten about Cheikh Gadio, the man who lied from that witness stand so that he could get a free pass," the defense attorney, Edward Kim, said in his closing argument, referring to the former foreign minister of Senegal and a critical government witness.

Gadio told jurors last week that Ho and his colleagues at CEFC China Energy paid a $2 million bribe to the president of Chad amid oil talks in 2014. He said the cash was secreted in gift boxes and that President Idriss Deby angrily rejected the money and ordered it removed from his compound.

Kim acknowledged the cash payment as well as others made to the president and foreign minister of Uganda. But he insisted the transactions were documented, charitable donations, and that Ho "made no attempt to hide what he was doing."

Kim told jurors it was Gadio who initially suggested the payment to Chadian leaders, pointing to an email in which Gadio suggested the energy company provide Deby with "secret or very confidential financial assistance" for his political campaigns.

"This was a man who thought politics was a for-profit business," Kim said, telling jurors that Gadio himself has accepted bribes.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Zolkind painted an entirely different picture of Ho during the seven-day trial, portraying him as a shrewd and calculating operator who had grown accustomed to throwing money at foreign officials to expand the portfolio of CEFC China Energy around the world.

He pointed to a recorded telephone call in which Ho could be heard discussing a "major contribution" to the late John Ashe, an Antiguan diplomat and former president of the United Nations General Assembly. Ho could be heard describing a practice of "give and take" he expected when making such contributions.

"It's classic, like something out of a movie," Zolkind said of Ho's tactics. "This is not how legitimate business is done."

Other United Nations ties to the case include the involvement of Ugandan Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa, who also served as president of the U.N. General Assembly when Ho first sought him out. Ho is accused of paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to Kutesa and his brother-in-law, longtime Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

Jurors also heard testimony from another former president of the U.N. General Assembly, Vuk Jeremic, a longtime diplomat and former foreign minister to Serbia. Ho befriended Jeremic during his tenure at the United Nations and later secured a consulting job for him at CEFC China Energy.

Jeremic told The Associated Press following his testimony last week that he never witnessed Ho do anything improper.Theresa May seems to have finally found a way to unite Remainers and Leavers  unfortunately for her it is in opposition to her Brexit deal.

Ahead of the crunch vote in the Commons, why do so many MPs loathe her deal?

 Brexiteers claim the deal risks leaving the UK a vassal state bound by Brussels rules without any say over them

Their concerns mainly focus on the backstop measures aimed at preventing a hard border with Ireland, under which the UK would be in a single customs territory with the EU, while Northern Ireland would remain aligned with many Single Market rules.

Prominent Eurosceptic Jacob Rees-Mogg said in some areas it will leave the United Kingdom with even less control than it currently has: the vassal state.

Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson said the UK would be a satellite state of Brussels.

Brexit (Victoria Jones/PA)

In his resignation letter, former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab said no democratic nation has ever signed up to be bound by such an extensive regime, imposed externally without any democratic control over the laws to be applied, nor the ability to decide to exit the arrangement.

Today, I have resigned as Brexit Secretary. I cannot in good conscience support the terms proposed for our deal with the EU. Here is my letter to the PM explaining my reasons, and my enduring respect for her. pic.twitter.com/tf5CUZnnUz  Dominic Raab (@DominicRaab) November 15, 2018

There are also concerns about the extent to which the UK will seek to remain aligned with the EU under the terms of any deal aimed at avoiding the need for the backstop  many Brexiteers would prefer a looser, Canada-style free trade agreement.

 The DUPs blood red line on avoiding a border down the Irish Sea

The 10 DUP MPs prop up Mrs Mays administration in the Commons but that support appears to have collapsed over the Brexit deal.

They will not accept any measure which effectively creates a trade barrier down the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Northern Ireland  something they believe the backstop does.

DUP leader Arlene Foster told her partys conference in November that as things stand we would be sowing the seeds of inevitable economic divergence from our largest market in the rest of the UK.

 Labour says the deal fails to meet its tests for a jobs-first Brexit

Jeremy Corbyn | Brexit Statement Two years of botched negotiations in which Theresa May's red lines have been torn up, Cabinet resignations have been racked up and Chequers has been chucked. Posted by Jeremy Corbyn on Thursday, November 22, 2018

Jeremy Corbyn said any deal would have to include a permanent customs union with the UK having a say over future trade agreements, a strong single market deal and guarantees on workers rights, consumer and environmental protections.

 The Opposition also sees the vote as a way to oust Mrs May and install Mr Corbyn in Downing Street

Labours official policy is to call for a General Election if Mrs May fails to get her Brexit plan through Parliament.

It is inevitable the Opposition would move a motion of no confidence in Mrs Mays government if she loses the vote, shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer has said.

 Pro-EU MPs hope for a second referendum

Some MPs hope by rejecting Mrs Mays deal, they can push for the final decision on Brexit being handed back to the public.

Former transport minister Jo Johnson quit the government in November as the finishing touches were being put to the deal and said the public should be asked to vote again in order to avoid the choice between vassalage of the deal and the chaos of a no-deal Brexit.The fall of Indian politics is in full bloom.

Promises made by the Modi government remain unfulfilled, the Opposition is insulted appallingly, the public interest is widely disregarded and religion-based politics is ripping apart the countrys once celebrated secular fabric.

But its that last part thats the most disquieting of them all.

The recent Kartarpur Corridor announcement is definitely a matter of glee, but it brings reasons to be worried too. While many Sikhs have welcomed this move to open a visa-free corridor to visit Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan, a majority of the population feels that this move tends to obscure the dire impact on the countrys security.

So, what might be an act of the BJP and SAD to please the domestic Sikh audience, could prove to be a disaster in the long run. The reason I have not mentioned the Congress here is because the Punjab chief minister has unequivocally criticised Pakistan and took a principled stand by boycotting the Kartarpur opening ceremony held across the border, though his cabinet Minister, Navjot Singh Sidhu has welcomed this initiative by Pakistan and attended the ceremony in his individual capacity.

Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu has welcomed the initiative by Pakistan. (Photo: PTI)

Many experts are weighing up this move as a trap set up by the Pakistan government to engage in a conversation with the Indian government which has been disregarding the need to improve bilateral ties with the former.

But can a corridor lead to peace between the two neighboring countries which have been at loggerheads for long? Absolutely not!

In retrospect, this move reminds me of the Delhi-Lahore bus which Atal Bihari Vajpayee took to Lahore in 1999. While it was meant to strengthen Indo-Pak relations, the bus service and the ensuing bonhomie between the two nations died in less than three months when Pakistan undertook a military incursion into Kargil in Jammu and Kashmir.

The present situation looks as grim as it was about two decades ago. Its a no-brainer that Indias current Pakistan policy is extremely flawed. But now when Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi suddenly believes that Islamabads offer of building a corridor from Gurdaspur in India to Kartarpur in Pakistan will act as a bridge to the neighboring country, it requires some serious introspection into the PMs motive.

All this has happened just a few months after New Delhi rejected Pakistans proposal to open the Kartarpur Corridor by saying that terror and talks cannot go together.

The Kartarpur Corridor move reminds one of the Delhi-Lahore bus which Atal Bihari Vajpayee took to Lahore in 1999. (Photo: PTI)

After pouring repugnant attacks on Punjab cabinet minister Navjot Singh Sidhu when he raised the Kartarpur Corridor issue with Pakistan earlier, the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal seem to be delighted over their new-found love for the corridor. Not to miss that Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who accused Sidhu of furthering his own agenda, ironically appeared quite glad to be a part of the ground-breaking ceremony of Kartarpur corridor in Pakistan.

In India, a poignant part of politics is playing the religion card.

And whats happening in Punjab in the name of Kartarpur Corridor clearly depicts the same.

But what we have forgotten is that our neighbour has been famous for its strategy to appease hardliner pro-Khalistani outfits. And that this corridor could pose a great threat to Indias sovereignty. This could not only lead to communal disharmony in Punjab but could also the revival of Khalistani terror in the state.

During my conversations with KPS Gill, he opined that Khalistan couldnt be revived. But having lived through the terror and realizing its enormity, I was skeptical.

Does the corridor open a way for Khalistani movement to return to Punjab? (Photo: PTI)

On November 18 this year, when a brazen grenade attack was carried out on the Nirankari Bhawan in Punjabs Amritsar district, I could feel my fear turning into reality. For this attack has been an alarming spectacle of explosives fuelled by the Khalistani terror. The blast that killed three and injured 20 people was carried out on the instructions by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)-backed Khalistani forces.

While every attack, and its number of casualties, is gut-wrenching, this attack has forced us to understand the cause of this continued threat of terrorism that the state of Punjab lives with and why is it important to be wary of Pakistans support to Sikh separatists.

Here is a timeline of events that have directly or indirectly led to recurring terror attacks on the land of five rivers:

1919

1919 was the year when Punjab witnessed the horror of bloodshed. In the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, around one thousand people breathed their last in the holy city of Amritsar.

1920

With the formation of Shiromani Gurudwara Prabhandak Committee (SGPC) on November 15, 1920, Akalis were in the moment of their greatest glory. However, soon the seeds of degeneration were sown. The Akali Dal, whose primary mission was the promotion and protection of the rights of the Sikh minority, quickly hardened into a fractious group pushing radical identity politics to dominate revered and wealthy Gurudwaras and to establish a permanent stranglehold over the SGPC.

1947

The same land that was sanctified with by the birth of several spiritual leaders had to face the miserable death of humanity with the Partition. Ostensibly, over two million people were killed in Punjab during the vengeful genocide that involved religions. The loss was huge and horrendous.

While Hindus got Hindustan and Muslims got Pakistan, Sikhs got nothing. Many from the Sikh community felt the need for their own nation  a place which belongs to them. And so, the partition didnt end the animosity, it furthered it.

The Partition left Punjab a divided mess. (Photo: IndiaToday)

The 1950s  1960s

After the partition, the campaigning for a Punjabi speaking state was instigated which gathered momentum in the late 1950s. The formation of a Punjabi-speaking autonomous state in India was strongly advocated by many. The need to draw borders was felt to safeguard the religious, cultural, and linguistic legacy of the Sikhs. Borders were again dividing Punjab, but this time along the linguistic lines. Strong protests were held by the Akalis.

What followed next was a series of passive resistance movements together with fasts-unto-death and self-immolation threats by the Akali leaders. Eventually, the Indira Gandhi-led Union Government agreed to the demand for the re-organisation of the boundaries of erstwhile East Punjab, and the Punjab Reorganisation Act was passed by the Indian Parliament on 18th September 1966.

1973

Even after getting an autonomous state in 1966, on 16 October 16, 1973, the Akalis issued a statement called The Anandpur Sahib Resolution. Their demands were many. Apart from asking for regional autonomy for Punjab, they also wanted Chandigarh back as a part of Punjab, a debate that is still continuing.

The Late-1970s

While Congress was a secular party, the Akalis claim to "represent Sikh interests" did not bode well with the former. The rising dominance and play of communal politics of the Akali Dal forced Congress to promote a Sikh fundamental Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale to protect the country against destabilization and mass criminality.

1980 - 1983

In the early 1980s, Bhindranwales followers turned Punjab into a hell. From demands of a separate country, Khalistan, to brutal manslaughter, they resorted to any and everything that could bring Bhindranwale on the top of the Sikh leadership.

It was when the saint turned monster took refuge in one of the holiest shrines of the Sikhs, the Golden Temple complex, that a crescendo of violence orchestrated. Two Indian Airlines planes were hijacked; there was an attempt on the life of the then chief minister, Darbara Singh; hand grenades were thrown at a Ramnaumi procession in Amritsar; police posts, government offices, residences, and inevitably, the Nirankaris, continued to be targeted for murderous attacks.

In the early 1980s, Bhindranwales followers turned Punjab into a hell. (Photo: IndiaToday)

1984

In 1984, the Congress government tried to convince Bhindranwale into abandoning the fanatic activities that he had then resorted to. Surreptitious talks went on between Bhindranwale and the government for a number of times. But every time the government failed.

The government could not delay the arrest mission of Bhindranwale anymore, as he was going to be more aggressive in his approach towards Hindu killings. And so, in June 1984, Operation Blue Star was carried out.

The Sikhs blamed Indira Gandhi for the operation. They blamed her decision to attack their most sacred site. But had it been Durgiana Temple instead of the Golden Temple, Indira Gandhi would still have carried out the same Operation to expel terrorists from Punjab.

In June 1984, Operation Blue Star was carried out under Indira Gandhi's order. (Photo: IndiaToday)

1986 - 1995

In April 1986, an attempt had been made by the National Security Guard (NSG), referred to as Operation Black Thunder  I, to clear the temple, but no one of note was caught. Later, between May 11 and May 18, 1988, in a near bloodless operation, the terrorists were brought to their knees, under Operation Black Thunder II, led by KPS Gill.

Between 1981 and 1995, the Khalistani terror resulted in the murder of 11,696 civilians and 1,746 security forces (SF) personnel, according to the authoritative South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) database. Significantly, some 65 percent of all civilian victims killed by the terrorists were themselves Sikhs, the very constituency whose interests the Khalistanis claimed to be representing.

The late 1990s  Current Punjab

Sporadic efforts to revive Khalistan terrorism in Indian side of Punjab, spearheaded by the surviving terrorist groups hosted by Pakistans ISI, and financially and ideologically supported by a number of diaspora groups located in Western countries, continue even today.

The Punjab police claim to have busted 17 terror modules, arrested 81 suspected militants, seized 77 weapons and assorted explosives, and intercepted 3 arms consignments in the past 18 months alone.

This year the Referendum 2020 has also been declared which aims at liberating Punjab from government rule. And now the pro-Khalistan group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) has even announced that it plans to hold a convention to espouse the secessionist 2020 referendum campaign at Kartarpur Sahib if the planned corridor becomes functional by then.

The Khalistani terrorist networks, moreover, are concurrently involved in Pakistans own opium wars, flooding Punjab with drugs, and creating a veritable epidemic of drug abuse in Indian Punjab with the overwhelming proportion of narcotics injected into the State from Pakistan.

With the resurgence of pro-Khalistan elements in the gurudwaras of Pakistan over the past few months, India has every reason to be suspicious of Pakistans "true" intentions behind the Kartarpur Corridor. In that sense, we must not forget that Pakistan has always wanted to weaken India, be it through the terror of arms and ammunition or through the terror of drugs.

Although the means and intensity of terror attacks in Punjab change repeatedly, what remains the same is the gruesome impact that they have on the state. The latest incidents in Punjab compel us to look back at the various jarring images of this states social and political cataclysm which became the budding ground for the seeds of terror sown over all these years.

That said, divisive politics can bring back Khalistani terror in Punjab. India must act wisely, for Pakistans past betrayals hint at a huge blunder in the offing.

Also read: Exposing the powerful and influential men behind 1984 anti-Sikh pogromsOn November 25, the Sangh Parivar organised simultaneous Dharm Sansads in Ayodhya and Nagpur which marked the presence of several sadhus and sanyasis in order to chalk out a programme to build fresh momentum to push for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

The Dharma Sansad, as the meeting was named, did not see the presence of a single farmer, labourer or industrial worker. The only people who attended the meeting were sadhus, sanyasis and Sangh Parivar members.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat with sadhus and sanyasis at the Dharma Sansad in Nagpur. (Source: Twitter)

The farmers and labourers stayed back not because they do not worship Lord Ram, but because they have no faith in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its affiliated organisations as the latter has never organised any rally or meeting on the issues concerning farmers and labourers. These organisations have never fought for the nations food producers, increase in wages of labourers or a casteless and egalitarian society.

Ever since it was founded in 1925, the RSS has organised hundreds of meetings of sadhus and sanyasis.

Interestingly, the sadhus and sanyasis consist only of the Brahmins and upper castes, who generally treat agrarian workers as shudras/chandals and treat their work as unworthy of respect.

It is for this reason that any movement to build a Ram temple fails to enthuse the marginalised communities.

The priests eat the food produced by the lower caste people  and still condemn them as unclean and untouchable. The spirituality of the marginalised is thus not considered valid in the Hindu fold.

The sadhus do not find it important to deal with the issues concerning farmers and labourers.

No system has been built in Hinduism that involves a gathering of all people of a given geographical area to share their social or spiritual experiences and beliefs. The Sangh Parivar has never worked towards the creation of such a system.

Arguably, they treat labouring masses as worse than mud.

This is in reality a very anti-national spiritual approach because it fails to see all people of this country as equals. This approach also flies in the face of the Constitution, which seeks to end caste-based discrimination.

World over, religions respect the food producers. God created all human beings as equals who are supposed to work and live, not to be exploited and treated as untouchables. The creation of untouchability is not Gods work, but the devils deed.

The RSS does not seem to think that farmers, workers and women are Indians. Hence it never raises the issues that concern the nation builders  tillers of the land, the grazers of cattle, the fishing folk, the artisans and umpteen others.

It repeatedly raises the issues that concern sadhus and sanyasis. It treats women between the age of 10 and 50 years as untouchables, a fact it has proven through the stand taken in the case of Sabarimala.

They are even defying the Supreme Court judgment in the Sabarimala case.

Around the time the Sangh was trying to build momentum around the Ram temple, a farmers rally was held in Delhi.

Farmers march towards the Parliament house during a rally to protest rising farm operating costs and plunging prices of their produce, on November 30. (Reuters)

The saffron BJP government at the Centre treated the meet with disdain.

Not a single sadhu or sanyasi walked with the farmers in support of their protest. They think that the national wealth should not be spent on the farmers but building temples across Indian. This is exactly what Talibani mullahs think in Pakistan, Afghanistan and other Islamic countries.

God for these forces resides only in temples and mosques, but not in the productive fields.

The RSS does not believe in intellectual reasoning. It believes in faith as the key to nation-building.

In this sphere, the organisation is competing with Pakistan. They do not want to compete with China, which is again a neighbouring country.

India defeated Pakistan in two wars  1965 and 1971  but lost the 1962 war with China.

The Mohan Bhagwat-led RSS army thinks that if the country was to fight a war with China even now, it will win the battle by going to the Himalayan border with vegetarian food stocks and Jai Sriram placards in the hands.

They think that they will do several hours of Yoga on the borders and then be able to defeat the Chinese. Perhaps Baba Ramdev, an exceptional OBC Yadav yogi, and Sri Sri Ravishankar, a pure Brahmin yogi, are expected to be the vegetarian Yoga commanders, who can easily defeat the Chinese army.

RSS expects the power of Yoga will help defeat the Chinese army if a war was to be faught between New Delhi and Beijing. (Source: India Today)

It is with this view that the RSS/BJP combination is installing sanyasis and semi-sanyasis as chief ministers of states.

If Yogi Adityanath is full, Narendra Modi himself is a semi-sanyasi, and so is Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

Probably the army protecting the Himalayan borders that eats both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food is not nationalist enough in RSS view.

We must understand that the RSS/BJP are vegetarian organisations with a view that the whole nation gradually should go completely vegetarian. They believe that once the Ram mandir is built in Ayodhya, India does not need agrarian cultivation.

Their concept of Ramrajya operates outside the framework of crop production.

The RSS seems to think that when the Arab nations can prosper without any real dependence on agrarian production, India too can do it.

They apparently think that since the Arabs could live without putting in much physical labour just because they built Mecca, they too could do so by building a Ram temple.

Arvind Panagariya of Columbia University and Arvind Subramanian of Oxford, Raghuram Rajan of Chicago University hardly understood the RSS economic theory before they worked with them.

To my mind, the central economic theory of the RSS is that agrarian production is anti-national. Hence the agricultural sector must be starved to death.

However, this is part of their sanyasi economics heritage. This heritage treated production as pollution and only vegetarian consumption as pure.

Even the great Hindu sociologist, MN Srinivas, certified this theory. Quite tragically, he too was from Oxford.

If RSS' dream was to be realised, India would turn into an Arab desert and the oil wells would shift here.

There would be no food, however, to feed us. Not even the vegetarian food, whose consumption the RSS propagates.

Also read: Yogi Adityanath is not the first: How Hindutva politics has always used Ramayana to woo the marginalisedForeign Secretary Vijay Gokhale Tuesday held talks with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou and reviewed the progress made in the bilateral ties since the Wuhan summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping.

The External Affairs Ministry said the two sides also exchanged views on regional and international issues of common interest.

"The two sides reviewed the progress made in India-China bilateral relations since the Informal Summit between the Prime Minister and President Xi Jinping in April and discussed the agenda for bilateral engagement in the coming months," it said.

The meeting between Kong and Gokhale took place 10 days after border talks between National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese State Councillor Wang Yi at Dujiangyan in China's southwestern Sichuan province.

In their informal summit in Chinese city of Wuhan, Modi and Xi decided to issue "strategic guidance" to their militaries to strengthen communications so that they can build trust and understanding.

The informal summit had taken place seven months after the Doklam standoff.

Troops of India and China were locked in a 73-day face-off in Doklam from June 16 last year after the Indian side stopped the building of a road in the disputed area by the Chinese Army. The impasse ended on August 28.The Centre faces contempt of court for not adhering to timeline for framing new guidelines in monitoring and controlling of foreign deep sea trawlers operating in India's exclusive economic zone. Recently, the Kerala High Court asked Department of Fisheries under Ministry of Agriculture to appear on December 5 for not implementing the order of June 2017 to study and frame new guidelines to prevent the deep sea loot by more than 1,000 foreign fishing trawlers by just paying Rs 10,000 per year for getting permit.

In June 2017, expressing shock on the Centre's apathy in keeping an eye on these foreign trawlers, the High Court ordered that the Department should conduct and expert study and publish the study report on the Ministry's website. The High Court order came on the public interest litigation filed by an activist MK Salim, exposing how foreign trawlers were taking the sea wealth to abroad in ships parked in deep sea. During the hearing, the CBI also filed its report about their probes and found that many fishing companies were registered as foreign though the owners were actually Indians. The petitioner also pointed out that many of these fishing trawlers were patronised by power full politicians in South India and Western India.

Interestingly, the Centre admitted to the Court that it didn't have the statistics on these foreign trawlers allowed to fish in the Exclusive Economic Zone even as the e Coast Guard's report pointed out that they had frequently found that these trawlers transshipped the fish to foreign vessels waiting in deep sea. Thousands of tones of sea wealth were looted by these fishing trawlers by just paying Rs 10,000 per year for past decades.

During the arguments, the Ministry assured that these lacunas will be settled in the forthcoming 'National Policy on Marine Fisheries' and will soon implement the fish catch data by Fishery Survey of India by obtaining from vessels. The Government said that as per the estimates around 500 to 700 tonne per year is expected to have caught by these vessels.

"There is no dispute about the fact that the issue raised by the petitioner is of great concern. Even according to the reports that had been filed fore this Court, the procedure adopted was not transparent enough to ensure proper accounting of the sea wealth that was being caught by Indian vessels having LOP. The fact that Government of India had decided to withdraw the LOP scheme by itself proves that the fact that they system of LOP Scheme was not successful," said the Judgment by Justices AM Shaffique and Anu Sivaraman.

The High Court ordered that Ministry of Agriculture "shall constitute a competent committee to conduct an enquiry into the loss suffered by Government of India on account of misapplication or non-implementation or lack or procedural formalities in implementing the LOP scheme and a report shall be obtained within a period of six months which shall b e published in the website of the Ministry and appropriate action shall be taken based on the said report."

In November 2017, the petitioner approached the High Court again pointing out that the Ministry has not yet moved an inch on this regard. The Petitioner alleged that the Centre was not acting due to the pressure from many lobbies involved in the deep sea trawling and ignoring the Court's order and not yet even appointed a study committee on the "deep sea loot." Initiating contempt of court procedures, the High Court has now asked the Ministry of Agriculture to appear before it on December 5.In a big diplomatic victory, the Indian Government on Tuesday night brought back AgustaWestland chopper scam prime middleman Christian Michel from the UAE.

On arrival at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, Michel was formally arrested and taken to the CBI headquarters. He will kept in a safe house before being produced in Patiala House Court on Wednesday. The agency will seek his custodial interrogation, said a senior CBI official.

The CBI press release said the deportation of Michel from the UAE was coordinated by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and CBI interim chief M Nageswar Rao.

According to senior officials, the UAE Government ordered Michels deportation on Tuesday afternoon and within hours Michel was handed over to Indian authorities, led by CBI Joint Director Sai Manohar, who were in Dubai for the past two days.

UAE Governments final order on the deportation came after Michel lost his appeal in the apex court there. Incidentally, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is in Dubai for high-level talks with her UAE counterpart.

The Modi Government had approached Dubai authorities in early 2015, demanding the deportation of Michel, who was the main middleman accused of bribing top Congress leadership for the controversial purchase of 12 VVIP helicopters from Italian firm AgustaWestland.

Michel entered into conspiracy with co-accused, including public servants, by altering the tender guidelines and downgrading service ceiling from 6,000 metres to 4,500 metres. Service ceiling denotes the operational height at which a helicopter can operate.

During the trial court proceedings in Italy, the prosecution produced documents and communications between Michel and his partner Guido Haschke and alleged that Michel paid around Rs 400 crore as a bribe to senior politicians and Indian Air Force officials in the Rs 3,600 crore deal.

The communications showed Michel claiming to Haschke that he (Michel) shared proximity with then Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her political secretary Ahmed Patel, who is named in the communication as AP.

The pictures of both leaders were shown to Haschke during the trial by Italian prosecutors and he confirmed that Michel was handling these politicians where as he himself (Haschke) was handling officials in Defence Ministry and Indian Air Force through agents.

The communication between Michel and Haschke showed that five per cent of the deal value was to be shared with The Family. In another communication, Michel said that the deal was through as Sonia Gandhi had communicated to Government that she will not at all fly in old Mi-8 helicopters.

Congress leaders alleged that Modi had made deals with foreign leaders to make Michel as approver to implicate top Congress leadership. After the scam broke out in late 2012, British citizen Michel fled to Dubai to escape from the Italian investigators. Two years ago, Michel came in front of the media and gave a series of interviews accusing the Modi Government for targeting him for the political gains.

According to CBI, Christian Michel is a historical consultant of AgustaWestland Helicopters with technical and operational knowledge of the aircraft. Michel worked with Westland Helicopters, UK since 1980. Michels father, late Wolfgang Michel, too had been consultant for AgustaWestland. Wolfgang was blacklisted by MoD and then his son took over his fathers role.

Michel was a frequent visitor to India and was operating as middleman for defence procurements through a wide network of sources in Indian Air Force (IAF) and Ministry of Defence (MoD) at different levels, including retired and serving IAS officers. He was tracking the movement of procurement process files and was sending periodical reports and dispatches on the developments on the accused persons in the case. He used to transmit the details through fax and other means to his counterparts sitting in Italy and Switzerland.

Wolfgang promoted three companies  Entra Corporation, UCM International Trading Limited and Ferro Imports Ltd. Entra Corp earned two million Euros from India.

Dubai police arrested Michel in February 2017 at the behest of Interpol notice against him issued on a request from the CBI and the ED.The Army is upset over the Governments decision to reject a long-pending demand for enhanced Military Service Pay (MSP) for more than one lakh personnel and will seek a review.

The MSP is given besides salary in recognition of the condition and hardship faced by the armed forces while performing their duties. This concept was introduced in India in the Sixth Pay Commission.

Many European countries have implemented MSP to boost the morale of its armed forces.

The armed forces this time round had sought a hike from Rs 5,500 as recommended by the Seventh Pay Commission in 2016 to Rs 10,000 per month in MSP for Junior Commissioned Officers (JCO) and other low-ranking officers in Army, IAF and Navy. The proposal was turned down by the Finance Ministry thereby impacting 1.12 lakh personnel, including 87,646 JCOs and 25,434 of the same ranks in IAF and Navy, sources said here on Tuesday. If the proposal had gone through, the financial spending would have amounted to Rs 610 crore, they added.

The MSP has two categories, including one for officers and another for JCOs and jawans. The Seventh Pay Commission had fixed Rs 5,200 as MSP per month for JCOs and jawans. This special allowance was fixed at Rs 15,500 for officers between Lieutenant-rank and Brigadier-rank.

Elaborating upon the Armys anguish over the rejection of hike in MSP for JCOs, sources said JCOs perform a crucial role in the overall command structure and are link between officers and men. Appreciating their relevance, the Government had granted JCOs the status of gazetted officers (Group B) last year. Officials said it was not the right thing to treat the JCOs on a par with the jawans as regards granting MSP since JCOs are gazetted officers with long years of service.

Pointing out that the Army had taken up the issue strongly with the Defence Minister, they said the matter was discussed also among the three services and the Defence Ministry were on the same page on the issue.

On the rationale for MSP, they said soldiers and their civilian counterparts in Central Government services cannot be compared given the fact the nature of duties performed by jawans and JCOs are more difficult. It is in this context that the armed forces for long were demanding a separate MSP for JCOs.

The MSP was introduced in India to provide special allowances keeping in view intangible aspects of military service.

Army operates in all kinds of terrain and weather conditions ranging from Siachen where temperatures range from minus 10 to minus 30, hot deserts of Rajasthan, inaccessible areas along the 750-km long Line of Control with Pakistan and 4,000-km Line of Actual Control facing China from Ladakh in the north to Arunachal Pradesh in the east. Similarly, Navy and IAF perform operational duties in tough conditions, they added.The fourth Industrial Revolution has brought so many possibilities for Jharkhand, said Rajya Sabha Member from Jharkhand Mahesh Poddar on Tuesday. He said that Prime Mister (PM) Narendra Modi has also said that with the help of fourth industrial revolution poverty could be minimised, improvement in the life of farmers and life of handicapped can be made easy.

Poddar was speaking as a representative of Bhartiya Janata Party at a conclave today in Pretoria, South Africa organised by BRICS - a group of five nations including India, China, South Africa, Brazil and Russia. Fourth Industrial Revolution is theme of present version of the conclave.

Speaking on the occasion Poddar said, There is goal to get 100 million extra jobs with the help of the PMs ambitious program -Make in India. He added Mahatma Gandhis non-violence satyagrah strengthened relation with South Africa and India. Unity under diversity is Indias biggest power and humanity our biggest identity.

The MP said, For the development and prosperity for whole society fourth industrial revolution is very necessary. There is need to make such kind of administrative system and policies that can fetch desired results. We have to accept it that technological development is related to social issues also not only with business issues. Through industrial revolution India can compete with developed countries. New technologies should be used properly to improve basic infrastructure and resources and which could make possible with better quality and reliable development.

Poddar further said, Artificial Intelligence should be used in all areas in which medical to justice, production and financial. The World Economic Forum has accepted Indias capability to give leadership to fourth industrial revolution. This is the reason the forum has inked partnership with India to open a centre in Mumbai. This centre will provide speed ongoing development in the area of science and technology. Related with fourth industrial revolution this centre with the help of state governments, private sector and civil societies will try to manufacture equipments which will speed up governments technological based works.

The MP said that the Indian government has already positively started in this direction with the launching of Start-up India and Atal Innovation Mission. The PMs famous slogan Sabka sath sabka vikas with development on large scale is taking shape at presentDemanding the renewal of liquor shops without imposing any condition, Lucknow Liquor Association (LLA) office-bearers on Tuesday warned of taking to the streets if their genuine problems were not effectively addressed by the state government.

The government is to decide the excise policy for the 2019-20 fiscal in mid-December. The Association held a meeting chaired by its president on Tuesday and passed the resolution to this effect.

Giving details, LLA general secretary KL Maurya said that 2018-19 fiscal was an unprofitable year for liquor businessmen as the new excise policy was implemented and it took time in settling the things.

In April and May, the portal was not functional and goods were not available in the market due to which the business was dull. Besides, the availability of beer and country liquor was minimal during this period causing heavy losses to traders. If the shops are not renewed, we will further incur heavy losses, he said.

Maurya said that the state government was planning to fix target of sale for liquor businessmen from the next fiscal. This will burden the businessmen as they will have to pay five times more money to run the business. Besides, the sale of liquor cannot be forced on customers. We are also getting lower margins out of sale as compared to traders of other states," he pointed out.

LLA vice-president Vikas Srivastava said that the sale of liquor beyond 40 per cent was not possible. Next year is an election year and businessmen will face a lot of hardship. It will not possible for them to sell liquor as per quota given and huge losses would be incurred if the products go unsold," he said.

Srivastava warned that liquor businessmen would take to the streets if their demands were not met. He said that businessmen purchased products, made huge investments and the government profited from that. But we are yet to sell out these goods. If the shops are not renewed or any condition is imposed on us, it will be practically very difficult for us to run the business," he pointed out.

LLA vice-president Neeraj Jaiswal and treasurer Suresh Pratap Singh said that the Excise department had to shut 330 shops in the current fiscal due to its faulty policies. We get a commission of 11 per cent on the sale of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), while in Uttarakhand, our counterparts reap a 25 per cent commission on its sale, they said.The Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board (CECB) in joint association with NIT Raipur will be offering Green Skill Development Programme (GSDP) under which Certificate Course on ETP/ STP /CETP Operation and Maintenance will be offered to skill enthusiasts as Master Trainers (MTs) and Specialists, a CECB press release informed on Tuesday.

This is in line with the Skill India Mission of Prime Minister, Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) which has launched the Green Skill Development Programme (GSDP).

The program involves holding theory and practical classes to strengthen the fundamentals and field visits and hands on training at the treatment plant sites for real-life exposure and practice.

There are prospective employment opportunities in the Effluent Treatment Plants, Sewage Treatment Plants, and Common Effluent Treatment Plants in industries, municipal corporations and councils, and pollution control boards.

The certificate course is proposed to start in December.

There is no fee for the course. The outstation candidates will be provided free lodging and boarding. The admission to the course will depend on the selection process that may involve a written test and interview.

Selection Process will be held at Training & Placement Office of NIT Raipur on December 6 from 11 am. .Day after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a charge sheet against Delhi Home Minister Satyendar Jain, the Minister claimed that the chargesheet was filed to stop him from regularising unauthorised colonies in the city. CBI had filed a charge sheet against Jain, his wife and few of others in disproportionate assets case on Monday.

"This keeps happening and now it's a part of life. Nothing new," Jain said when asked about the charge sheet on the sidelines of an event at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences here. "These people want that such (unauthorised) colonies should not be regularised. That's why it is being done, so let them do it," he said, without elaborating who they are. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had also reiterated the charge that the case was registered against Jain for making a scheme for regularisation of unauthorised colonies in the national capital.

He alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has not got this case registered against the Delhi PWD and Urban Development Minister Jain, but against every person living in unauthorised colonies.Visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping met Monday with Yanibel Abrego, president of the National Assembly of Panama, urging the two sides to step up legislative exchanges.

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Yanibel Abrego, president of the National Assembly of Panama on December 3, 2018, in Panama City. [Photo: Xinhua]

Xi stressed that the establishment of China-Panama diplomatic ties will produce long-term benefits to the two peoples, as evidenced by the fruitful outcomes in the robust bilateral cooperation during the past 18 months.

China will unswervingly develop its ties with Panama based on the one-China policy, Xi said, adding that he believes the two countries' friendly cooperation will be passed on from generation to generation.

The Chinese president expressed his appreciation of Abrego's and the National Assembly's support for establishing diplomatic ties with China, as well as of the setup of a parliamentary group to promote bilateral friendship.

Urging the legislative bodies to play a constructive role in bilateral relations, Xi said the Chinese side is ready to join hands with Panama's National Assembly, political parties and people from all walks of life to push forward the two countries' friendship and cooperation.

The two sides should deepen mutual understanding and trust through dialogue, and support each other on issues concerning their core interests and major concerns, Xi said.

He called for more experience sharing on governance and legislation, so as to provide legal support for and further facilitate the two countries' cooperation.

He also expressed his hope that the National People's Congress of China and the National Assembly of Panama, as well as its China friendship group, will carry out exchanges in various forms.

The 280,000 people with Chinese blood residing in Panama can help firm up the public foundation for developing the two countries' relations in the long run, Xi added.

For her part, Abrego said Xi's visit to Panama is warmly welcomed by people from all segments of Panamanian society.

She hailed the important contribution the Chinese have made to Panama's economic and social development since their first arrival for railway construction in the mid-19th century.

Establishing diplomatic ties with China is a consensus endorsed by all political parties in Panama, and has opened up bright prospects for bilateral cooperation, she noted, adding that she believes Xi's visit is of great importance to further consolidating the two countries' relations.

The National Assembly of Panama, she said, will advance exchanges with the Chinese side in the hope of contributing to bilateral friendship and cooperation.The two-day international event specialized in Adventure travel, one of its kinds in ASIA, successfully concluded by MP tourism from Tuesday at the new International Convention Centre here. It focused on adventure tourism by combining marketplace (chowk Bazar), meetings, networking opportunities, inspirational speakers and educational sessions together for national attendees as well as delegations from aboard.

The successful convention was witnessed by nearly 200 attendees including global buyers, international/national media representatives, sellers and office bearers of the Adventure Tour Operators Association and hotels, hospitality and tour operators who came to expand their knowledge spectrum and itinerary offerings. To grace the event, Suman Billa- Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism and Swadesh Kumar- President of ATOAI and Akshay Kumar- Chairman of Adventure NEXT committee were also present.

Speaking on the occasion, Principal Secretary Tourism and Managing director, Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board Hari Ranjan Rao said, Madhya Pradesh is truly honored and privileged for being the ever first host of AdventureNext in Asia. We thank ATTA and all the respected international buyers, felicitators, media and national delegates who came together to make this event a grand success. The AdventureNext not only brought together the networking sessions but it also gave a unique definition to the hidden treasures of adventure tourism in India. With this we focus to promote the adventure travel aspect with full pace in Madhya Pradesh as well.

Speaking on the same, Shannon Stowell, CEO of AdventureNext, Adventure Travel Trade Association said We were honored and proud to present the world AdventureNext'18 with MP tourism. The extraordinary variety of adventure travel Madhya Pradesh preserves is worth experiencing. Adventure NEXT captured Indias religious heritage, mythological, historical, wildlife, and beautiful architectural spots clubbed with physical activities and journals for the attendees. This is just the beginning, ATTA also plans to introduce more tours which are adventure driven panning across the unexplored exploratory destinations of India.

The event encapsulated the theme Pulse of Tomorrow indulging delegates to explore future-driven business opportunities from Madhya Pradesh, the heart of incredible India. The indulgent agenda featured trending topics such as economics of wildlife tourism and immersive technology while the educational workshops like traditional Gond Art show kept attendees engaged. For the prestigious event, the cultural programs included performances of popular Indian dances- Bharat Natyam, Mohini Attam, tribal folk dances.Gearing up for the high-stake municipal battle, the ruling BJP in Haryana on Monday released list of candidates for members of five municipal corporations, which goes to polls on December 16.

The list of candidates for mayor post of five Municipal Corporations including Hisar, Rohtak, Yamunanagar, Panipat and Karnal has already been released by the party last week.

The BJP which is contesting on its symbol, to test its popularity in Haryana, on Monday released entire list of candidates for members in Yamunanagar (22 wards) and Karnal (20 wards), constituency of Chief Minister Manohar Lal. Treading cautiously to finalize candidates names, the party released 17 names out of total 22 wards in Rohtak MC, 20 names out of 26 wards in Panipat MC and names on 13 wards out of total 20 in Hisar till the filing of this report. The election is for the seats of mayor and members of all wards of five Municipal Corporations including Hisar, Rohtak, Yamunanagar, Panipat and Karnal and of two Municipal committees including Jakhal Mandi (Fatehabad) and Pundri (Kaithal). The result will be announced on December 19.

It would be for the first time that direct election to the post of mayor would be held in five civic bodies in the state.

While the BJP, which has completed its four years tenure in Haryana will be contesting on its symbol for the post of mayor and members in MC, the Indian National Lok Dal will contest mayoral elections on its symbol.

The Congress and Aam Aadmi Party have announced not to contest MC polls on their symbol. As many as 1292 polling booths have been set up for 136 wards in the 5 MCs. Out of these, 14 wards are reserved for scheduled caste, 12 are reserved for scheduled caste women , 14 for backward class and 37 wards are reserved for women. The municipal elections would be a litmus test for the political parties to gauge the voters mood ahead of Lok Sabha and assembly polls scheduled to be held next year in Haryana. 1401157 voters including 746126 males, 655021 females and 10 transgender would exercise their franchise in these elections.

Ban imposed on posting and transfer

In view of the general elections of seats of Mayor and Members of all wards of 5 municipal corporations and 2 municipal committees, the Haryana Government has imposed ban on posting and transfer of officers or officials connected with the work of Municipal elections till declaration of election results. A spokesperson said that as per the notification issued by Haryana State Election Commission dated November 22, the general elections of seats of Mayor and Members of all wards of 5 Municipal Corporations and 2 municipal committees including Hisar, Rohtak, Yamuna Nagar, Panipat and Karnal and of 2 Municipal committees including Jakhal Mandi (Fatehabad) and Pundri (Kaithal) would be held on December 16 and the results would be declared on December 19. Accordingly, Haryana Government has put ban on posting and transfer of officers or officials connected with the work of these elections, till the declaration of election results. However in case, where it is considered necessary, the prior approval of Haryana State Election Commission would be obtained, he said.

A letter to this effect has been issued from the office of Chief Secretary to all the Additional Chief Secretaries, Principal Secretaries, Heads of Departments, Managing Directors, Chief Administrators of Boards and Corporations, Divisional commissioners and Deputy Commissioners of the state, the spokesman added.PNSThey have hardly any memory of their parents as they were separated from them a long time ago. However, they are not feeling the absence of the warmth they expect to get from their parents and other near ones in the place they have been staying and studying. Their home is now Matra Anchal Kanya Vidyapeeth where they are getting the warmth of affection and guidance from those running the orphanage cum school. The little girls have come from all parts of India, even from the far-off states like Nagaland and Tripura. Some of them had come when they were not even two- year- old. Now they are students of class VIII. Established by Sadhvi Kamlesh Bharti in 2000 in the holy city Haridwar, the orphanage cum school has a come a long way. It would soon be upgraded to class X after it gets affiliation from Uttarakhand Board.

The delight-tinged excitement is writ large over the faces of the girls who are mostly in their teens now as a new temple is being built in the ashram premises, modelled under the South Indian architectural style. A cosmetic company from SIIDCUL- Lotus- has taken the initiative of building the temple. There is a Lord Rama- Devi Janki temple. But now, a new one is coming up which would house idols of Lord Krishna, Hanuman ji and mother Durga. The temple is coming up in response to the demands of the students.

How can we celebrate Janmashtami, marking the appearance day of Lord Krishna, as the only temple we have here is dedicated to Lord Rama? asked Vani, one of the girls staying and studying here under the benign guidance of Sadhvi Kamlesh Bharti. The elderly lady who is like mother to the little girls was left thinking over what to do. Many came forward to contribute to the building of the temple and things started.

Housing 75 girls at present (17 married off till date), this Vidyapeeth has students studying from the nursery to class VIII. They also learn stitching, martial arts, handicraft. Once a visitor steps in the girls welcome him or her with a glittering smile. A cup of tea is served soon. The spirit of hospitality they show to the guests is really exemplary, said a visitor to the residential school.

It is learnt that a day school is being run at Kharkhari where nearly 95 students study. Those from the nearby villages also come. On Tuesday, an entrepreneur Arun Saraswat came to the school to distribute woollens among the students. The students welcomed him with a devotional song Achyutam Keshwam Krishna Damodaram sung in chorus. Such are the sanskars we are inculcating in the children, said the beaming school principal Mamta Agarwal. On special permission, visitors are allowed in the Matra Anchal, she added.

Asked whether the people residing in the colony would be allowed to visit the temple after it is completed, the founder of the residential school Sadhvi Kamlesh Bharti said, It is a bit difficult as the entry of the outsiders might pose a security risk to the girls. They are growing up here under our protection. The temple is being built here as we do not want the girls to go out to visit a temple outside during festivals, she added.

The students have been given their names by the Sadhvi, depending on their temperament, likes and dislikes.

A girl who was reticent when she came here was named Vani. Each child has a different story to tell behind her name. They are different from one another in their mental disposition. However, they all love Sheru, the dog. Sheru sits calmly when the girls pray and escorts them from the place where the prayer is held to their rooms. National days like the Independence Day and the Republic Day are celebrated through cultural programmes here. We are imbuing them with all types of sanskars so that they grow into ideal citizens of the great country, she added.Amid possibility of hung Assembly, Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC) Jogi (J) has convened an emergency meeting of party leaders and those from its alliance partners Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Communist Party of India (CPI) on Wednesday.

The meeting to be chaired by JCC (J) Supremo Ajit Jogi which would also be attended by the office bearers and candidates of alliance partners BSP and CPI.

The meeting would review the constituency-wise voters turn out and the feedback from the alliance candidates and would give necessary tips to them regarding counting.

JCC (J) is confident of playing a key role in formation of Government this time.Defending Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal in the Bulandshahr violence on Monday, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said that it would be premature to name a Hindu outfit for the fracas before the probe was completed. "I am deeply saddened by the incident in Bulandshahr where an inspector and a yoth were killed. The state government has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) which is probing the matter threadbare and will submit its findings in the next two days. Hence, it will be hasty to hold a Hindu outfit responsible for the incident," said Maurya in Lucknow on Tuesday.

"We should wait for the SIT findings and until the probe is completed it will not be proper to draw conclusions," he asserted. "What happened in Bulandshahr was deeply tragic and we are saddened by the incident. The locals should have shown restraint and the police should also have been careful in dealing with the development. Tragedy has struck the famlies of inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and 20-year-old Sumit, who died in the incident. I want to assure that those responsible for the incident will be brought to justice," said the DeputyCM.

Meanwhile, known for speaking through the hat, BJP MP from Bahriach Savitri Bai Phule targeted Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath saying: "His love for Dalits is only for public consumption. If he actually has love and affection for Dalits then he should honour them by appointing them as priests of temples. Brahmins, who are only three per cent of Indias population have monopoly over temples."The Moot Court was organized at Career College of Law here on Tuesday. The studnets discussed the Hemraj Double Murder Case during the moot court.

The defence lawyer was Chanchal Tiwari and the prosecution was Pramod Sharma. Moreover, Ragini Sharma was the judge at the court. During the Moot Court Gajanand Dubey as a CBI Officer and Sakshi Jain gave his testimony as a gynecologist.

The argument began with My lord Rajesh Talwar and Nupur Talwar are the main accused. This is clear from the investigations of the CBI officer, from the statements of the Bharati Mandal, who was the maid of the house, from the post mortem report and from the Medical Officer's report. Judge Ragini Sharma said that in view of all the evidence and witness and public prosecutor Pramod Sharma, the decision was taken to their side, considering all the evidences and arguments.

On this occasion, Ashutosh Mishra, Secretary, Bhopal, District Legal Services Authority was present as the Chief Guest in the programme,.

Addressing the students, Mishra said that the Bachelor of Law of India and the University of Law the Moot Court Practical has been declared compulsory for each student so that before the graduation of the law, the student becomes aware about how the courts work.

Mishra wished students for their bright future.

At the start of the programme, guests were welcomed by Prof. Professor of Career College of Law, P.N. Tiwari.

The programme was conducted by Prof. Sonam Jain while Prof. P K Gupta gave the vote of thanks. There were a large number of law students, including academic and non-academic staff.There is no proposal for counting of votes of any Assembly constituency in Chhattisgarh through the slip of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT), State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Subrat Sahoo said on Tuesday.

On December 11, in all district headquarters and the Assembly constituencies, counting is to be held based on number of postal ballot papers received and the votes registered in the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM), he said.

In each Assembly constituency, VVPAT machine slips will be counted to tally them with registered votes in EVMs, the CEO said.

Sahoo was countering a news matter published which claimed that in Dhamtari district at one or two assembly constituencies, the counting will be done through VVPAT slip.

The whole counting process will as per the directions handed over by Election Commission of India for the State Assembly Election-2018, he emphasized.

As per the directive, in each assembly constituency, the slips of VVPAT machine that has been randomly selected will be counted. It is to verify and tally the recorded votes of the EVM, the CEO said.

The selection of VVPAT machine will be done through lottery system. All the candidates and their representatives will be present when the lottery is taken out, he said.

Additional to it, in such control unit where the result of voting is not displayed, in such cases the counting will be done through the VVPAT slip, Sahoo said.

He said that Assembly-wise table have been kept where the counting of votes will be done. Each Assembly constituency has 14 tables. Additional table will be given for postal ballot paper counting.

During counting of postal ballots, one Assistant Returning Officer will be deputed. Each postal ballot table will have on additional counting agent, Sahoo said.Controversial Cabinet minister and BJP ally SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar accused the Vishwa Hindu Prishad of engineering the riot in Bulandshahr which claimed the life of an inspector on Monday.

Rajbhar said that the video circulating on social media had proved the involvement of VHP and Bajrang Dal activists and alleged that both outfits were fomenting communal frenzy for obvious political gains.

Earlier, ahead of the Dharma Sabha at Ayodhya on November 25, the VHP had demanded the dismissal of Rajbhar for his comment against the Ram temple at Ayodhya, charging him with stabbing the BJP in the back.

On Tuesday, Rajbhar claimed that among the three arrested in connection with the violence, one was from the BJP and one each from VHP and Bajrang Dal. He said that he would meet Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and complain about the activities of VHP and Bajrang Dal and demand stern action against both.

The UP minister alleged that the Bulandshahr violence was planned and people were instigated to indulge in violence. He said that the big question was as to why traffic on the highway was blocked for several hours.

Later, reiterating his opposition to Ram temple at Ayodhya, Rajbhar said: "Before Ram temple, we need temples of education like primary schools for the poor and downtrodden children. No one has the time to debate about issues of the common man and the BJP is pursuing the agenda of charging the Congress with creating hurdles in the path of the BJP government at the Centre."

Rajbhar also took exceptions to Yogi Adityanath's 'Lord Hanuman was Dalit' remark, saying that it was wrong to divide gods into castes and that the CM was creating a controversy with such statements.

While addressing a rally in Rajasthan's Alwar, Yogi had said: "Hanuman was a forest dweller, deprived and a Dalit. 'Bajrang Bali' worked to unite all Indian communities, from north to south and east to west." Due to the controversial statement, members of Dalit community are demanding to take over Hanuman temples, Rajbhar said.Senior Naval officer Rear Admiral Atul Khanna, VSM visited Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) on Tuesday, a BSP press release informed.

Upon his arrival at Bhilai Niwas, he was accorded warm welcome by senior officers of Bhilai Steel Plant. On this occasion, he planted a sapling in the campus of Bhilai Niwas.

Immediately after his arrival, he visited the Plant and had a meeting with PK Dash, ED (Works) at Sanyantra Bhavan. Thereafter, he attended a Corporate Presentation on Bhilai Steel Plant by the Business Excellence Department which was also attended by senior officers of the Plant.

Subsequently, he visited Blast Furnace-8 Mahamaya and Plate Mill.

He visited Ispat Bhavan, where he held discussions with AK Rath, Chief Executive Officer, BSP and senior officers of the Plant.Chief Minister Raghubar Das today said that a strong Government at the Centre and State has resulted in excellent work on the path of development in the last four years, and resultantly, Jharkhand is being recognised for becoming one of the leading States in economic progress. The CM was interacting with people at the Jan Chaupal programme organized in Bansbona village of Bilkandi Panchayat in Ranswar block in Dumka on Tuesday.

You gave a strong government and your government gave Jharkhand a new identity in the nation through development in just four years. The government wants your opinion on every step. The government will welcome every suggestion. This programme has been organized today to lessen the distance between the government and the people, he said.

Due to political instability for 14 years, development in Jharkhand was not visible to the people. You created a strong government that resulted in the establishment of new records for development in almost all areas in only four years. Today, Jharkhand is being recognized as an excellent State in the entire country. In the World Bank and many other surveys, Jharkhand has emerged in the list of top ten states. 3.25 crore people of Jharkhand want not only development but also fast development, said the CM.

Das said that the government has been working directly on the suggestions of rural people in remote areas. The government is working on your plans. There are still many more development works to be done in the State. The suggestion and cooperation of all of you is important for the development of the State, he said.

Talking about Chief Minister Sukanya Yojna he said that the scheme will be implemented in the State, which is very simple in implementation and on the birth of the daughter directly, the incentive money will be deposited in the mother's account. In the first 5th and 9th and 11th grade and also on remaining unmarried, the incentive money will be given directly to the beneficiary through the account.

Das said that the farmers have made a great leap in the field of agriculture. Jharkhand is the second State in the country after Gujarat, where the Global Agriculture and Food Summit was organized. In which the representatives of other countries also joined. Jharkhand can only strengthen agriculture based economy. To enrich Jharkhand, the village will also be enriched. The government is working for the all round development of the village.

The CM said, No matter how misguided you have been in the past 4 years, nobody saw that your land has not been taken off. I want to believe that no one will snatch your land from you. Be cautious of the misleading. Be self-aware and make people aware. The government is working in public interest, he said.

The CM said that to save the Santhal Paragana, intermediaries and middlemen need to be removed because they are like a termite for the society. If someone asks you for any kind of amount to avail the benefits of the government's plans then call on 181 without hesitation and inform it and take action against the concerned person and will be sent to jail. Cooperate in making corruption free Jharkhand, he appealed to the people.

Das said that keeping in mind the drought like situation in the State, demand has been made for the amount of Rs. 800 crore. Under Sujalam Sufalam scheme 5,000 ponds will be dug up across the State. Deep boring will also be done. For the affected people, a camp will be held in blocks. Under the Prime Minister's Crop Insurance Scheme, 17,809 farmers of Shikaripada have been insured. Farmers will be provided the amount of insurance through DBT.

Social Welfare Minister Dr. Louis Marandi also accompanied the CM on the occasion where the CM handed over the amount of Rs. 14.96 crore under the credit linkage to the Sakhi Mandal and Rs 24.75 lakh under the Revolving Fund. Das also gave away assets to beneficiaries from the Pump set supplied by the Land Conservation Department, Golden Card under Ayushman India, Gas Connection under Ujjwala Plan, Mini Rice Mill, and Prime Minister Housing Scheme, Soil Health Card.Opposing the Chandni Chowk redevelopment project, traders body will meet Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Traders are demanding that the Shahjahanabad Board officers are initiating campaign to destroy the commercial character of the area in the name of development of Chandni Chowk.

Traders body also claimed that local citizens, traders organisations were not taken into confidence by the Board; this impractical scheme is not acceptable to us.

The body also appealed to Delhi Government to develop all the three car parking at Dangal Maidan, Gandhi Maidan and Lal Quila and Chandni Chowk be declared as Zero Parking areas to help solve the problem.

Claiming Chandni Chowk a traders hub and not a tourist place, traders association said that in last two decades many schemes were framed but could not be implemented because the concerned officers framed scheme treating Chandni Chowk as a tourism centre.

It is a vibrant trade centre where thousands of citizens resides and everyday lakhs of people come for their trading. All of us want beatification but not such beautification which will make the lives of children, senior citizens living in the area difficult and destroy the trade, a trader said.

We were never consulted by the Shahjahanabad Board.

Initially we were called in a meeting but when we opposed no vehicle zone beatification scheme, then we were not invited in the subsequent meetings.

In this redevelopment project, BSES and DJB are the major agencies, in first phase - from December 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019  BSES will construct ducts and required infra for shifting of transformers and moving overhead cables underground.

As per the UTTIPEC plan, 5.5 m wide carriageway on the both sides with a central verge, there will be a footpath along northern and southern carriageway of 5.75 m and 12.75 m wide respectively.

In second phase  from December 15, 2018 to April 30, 2019  the DJB will carry out work of installation of water pipelines and sewer and after this construction of pedestrian zone and developmental of central verge will start.

According to Delhi Traffic advisory for the UTTIPEC project  the vehicles coming from Delhi Gate and intending to go to Chandni Chowk will be diverted on SP Mukherjee Marg.

These vehicles may be parked in the parking lots of Gandhi Maidan (HC Sen Marg), Dangal Maidan (SPM Marg) Church Mission road parking.Telangana Congress Working President A Revanth Reddy, who had given a bandh call to protest against TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao's public meeting in Kodangal assembly constituency, was taken into preventive custody early Tuesday.

"He (Revanth) has been taken into preventive custody in view of apprehension of disturbance of public order and breach of security," Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Jitender told PTI.

"He will be released (later) during the day," he said.

He was picked up from his residence in Kodangal town of Vikarabad district early this morning, police said.

Revanth, the Congress candidate for Kodangal constituency had called for a shutdown to protest against Rao's scheduled meeting at Kosigi in the assembly segment this evening.

Revanth's wife, Geeta accused the police of breaking open the doors of their house and forcibly taking away her husband to an "unknown location".

Many of his followers were also taken into custody from different locations.

The incident drew sharp criticism from Congress which alleged that the caretaker chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao was acting like a CM of a state "under emergency."

"The caretaker chief minister (KCR) is showing authority more than a regular chief minister. We are condemning the incident.

Though he is only a caretaker chief minister, he is performing duties as though it (state) was under emergency," AICC spokesperson S Jaipal Reddy told reporters here.

AICC In charge of Telangana RC Khuntia, who was present at the press meet said Rao was afraid of Congress leaders and foisted false cases against them.

"He (Rao) is creating an emergency like situation in the state. We are going to file case with the Election Commission on the incident," he said.

On Saturday night, police had carried out raids at the Congress leader's residences following which he had given a protest call.

Prohibitory orders have been imposed in Kodangal town to prevent any untoward incidents in view of KCR's election rally.

Earlier, some TRS leaders had lodged a complaint with Telangana Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Rajat Kumar, alleging that Revanth was threatening to disturb Rao's campaign, following which instructions were issued to the police to ensure smooth conduct of the meeting.

Telangana Congress Chief Uttam Kumar Reddy condemned the police action and alleged that the election officials and police were behaving in a "partial manner".

He also sought to know about the status of the complaint made to the Election Commission against TRS candidate of Kondangal segment, Narender Reddy with regard to alleged recovery of cash from him last week.

"Highly condemnable that Telangana Police arrested Congress Working President & Kodangal MLA Revanth Reddy at 3am today. This is what happens when you question Govt. For not implementing promises," TPCC said in a tweet.

In his reaction, Chevella MP Konda Vishweshwar Reddy, who had recently joined Congress from TRS, termed the preventive detention as "murder of democracy," adding it exposes the panic in TRS ahead of the December 7 Assembly polls.

"People will not tolerate such autocratic behaviour and will give a fitting reply by voting against the ruling party," Reddy said.

In September, the income tax department had conducted searches at the residences of Revanth Reddy here.Exelon Corp. operates as a utility services holding company, which engages in the energy generation, power marketing, and energy delivery business. It operates through the following segments: Mid Atlantic, Midwest, New York, Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and other Power Regions. The Mid-Atlantic segment represents operations in the eastern half of PJM, which includes New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, the District of Columbia and parts of Pennsylvania and North Carolina. The Midwest segment operates in the western half of PJM, which includes portions of Illinois, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee, and the United States footprint of MISO, excluding MISO's Southern Region, which covers all or most of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, the remaining parts of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio not covered by PJM, and parts of Montana, Missouri and Kentucky. The New York (NY) segment provides operations within ISONY, which covers the state of New York in its entirety. The ERCOT segment includes operations within Electric Reliability Council of Texas, covering most of the state of Texas.

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NextThe following companies are subsidiares of Franklin Resources: AdvisorEngine, AdvisorEngine Inc., Alumcreek Holdings LLC, Athena Capital Advisors, Balanced Equity Management, Balanced Equity Management Pty. Limited, Benefit Street Partners, Bissett & Associates Investment Management, Brandywine Global Investment Management Europe Limited, CCPF GP Holdco No.2 Limited, CCPF No.2 (GP) Limited, CCPF No.2 LP, CP Industrial Management LLC, CP Intermediate Holdco Inc., CRM Software LLC, Clarion Gramercy (Deutschland) GmbH, Clarion Gramercy (UK) Limited, Clarion Gramercy Limited, Clarion Partners Europe Ltd., Clarion Partners Holdings LLC, Clarion Partners LLC, Clarion Partners Securities LLC, Clarion REIM South America Holdings LLC, Clarion REIM South America Invsetimentos Imobiliarios Ltda, ClearBridge RARE Infrastructure (North America) Pty Limited, ClearBridge RARE Infrastructure International Pty Limited, Darby - Hana Infrastructure Fund Management Co. 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Ltd., Legg Mason Partners Fund Advisor LLC, Legg Mason Royce Holdings LLC, Onsa Inc., RARE IP Trust, RARE Infrastructure Limited, REDROSE Caesar S.a r.l., Random Forest Capital, Random Forest Capital LLC, Rensburg Sheppards plc, Riva Financial Systems Limited, Royce & Associates GP LLC, Royce & Associates LP, Royce Fund Services LLC, Royce Management Company LLC, TSEMF III (Jersey) Limited, TSEMF IV (Jersey) Limited, Templeton Asset Management (Labuan) Limited, Templeton Asset Management (Poland) TFI S.A., Templeton Asset Management Ltd., Templeton Global Advisors Limited, Templeton Global Holdings Ltd., Templeton International Inc., Templeton Investment Counsel LLC, Templeton Restructured Investments III Ltd., Templeton Restructured Investments IV Ltd., Templeton Restructured Investments L.L.C., Templeton Turkey Fund GP Ltd., Templeton Worldwide Inc., Templeton do Brasil Ltda., Templeton/Franklin Investment Services Inc., WHITEROSE Caesar S.a r.l., Western Asset Holdings (Australia) Pty Ltd, Western Asset Management (Brazil) Holdings Limitada, Western Asset Management (Cayman) Holdings Limited, Western Asset Management Company Distribuidora de Titulos e Valores Mobiliarios Limitada, Western Asset Management Company LLC, Western Asset Management Company Limited, Western Asset Management Company Pte Ltd., Western Asset Management Company Pty Ltd, and Winfield & Company.MAXIMUS, Inc. engages in the operation of government and human services programs. It operates through the following segments: U.S. Services; U.S. Federal Services; and Outside the U.S. The U.S. Services segment offers a variety of business process services, and appeals and assessments for state, provincial and national government programs. The U.S. Federal Services segment includes process solutions, program management, as well as system and software development, and maintenance services for various United States federal civilian programs. The Outside the U.S segment comprises of national, state, and county human services agencies with a variety of business process services, and related consulting services for welfare-to-work, child support, higher education institutions, and other human services programs. The company was founded by David V. Mastran in 1975 and is headquartered in Reston, VA.

Read More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.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.

Read More7 hours ago

Its Time For A Second Helping Of These Hot Stocks

Take Another Nibble Of These Three Hot Stocks Now the holiday feasting is over its time to get back to business. With the New Year just around the corner, the business at hand is preparing for the coming year.

Read ArticleThe following companies are subsidiares of Xerox: A B S Digital Limited, Acorn Business Machines (Holmfirth) Limited, Alloy Acquisitions Corp. LLC, Altodigital Networks, Altodigital Networks Limited, American Photocopy Equipment Company of Pittsburgh LLC, Amici, Arena Group, Arena Group Holdings Limited, Arena Group Limited, Arizona Office Technologies Inc., B 2 Business Systems Limited, Back2Business Limited, Bessemer Insurance Limited, Bessemer Trust Limited, Boise Office Equipment Inc., Bright Ceramic Technologies Inc., Bunch CareSolutions, Business Systems (North Wales) Limited, CPAS Systems, CREDITEX - Aluguer de Equipamentos S.A., CTX Business Solutions Inc., Capitol Office Solutions LLC, CareAR Holdings LLC, CareAR Inc., Carolina Office Systems Inc., Carr Business Systems Inc., Chicago Office Technology Group Inc., ComDoc Inc., Concept Group, Concept Group Limited, Connecticut Business Systems LLC, Consilience Software, Continua Limited, Continua Sanctum Limited, Conway Technology Group LLC, Copyrite Business Solutions (Holdings) Limited, Copyrite Business Solutions Limited, Copytrend Limited, Criterion IT Limited, Customer Value Group, Dahill Office Technology Corporation, Digitex, Digitex Canada Inc., Docucentric Holdings Limited, Document Systems, Document Systems, Eastern Managed Print Network LLC, Elan Marketing Inc., Electronic Systems Inc., Fovia (Innovation) Limited, G-Five Inc., GDP Technologies Inc., Global Imaging Systems, Global PR Corporation, Groupe CT, Gyricon LLC, Healthy Communities Institute, Heritage Business Systems Inc., ITEC Group, Image Technology Specialists Inc., ImageQuest Inc., Imagetek Office Systems, Impika, Impika SAS, Inland Business Machines Inc., Institute for Research on Learning, Integrity One Technologies Inc., Intrepid Learning, Invoco Group, Irish Business Systems, LRI LLC, LaserNetworks, LaserNetworks Inc., Lateral Data, Learn Something, Lewan & Associates Inc., Limited Liability Company Xerox (C.I.S.), M & S Reprographics Limited, MRC Smart Technology Solutions Inc., MT Business Holdings Inc., MT Business Technologies Inc., MWB Copy Products Inc., Mail A Doc Limited, Merizon Group Incorporated, Michigan Office Solutions Inc., Minnesota Office Technology Group Inc., Mitral Systems Limited, Mr. Copy Inc., Nemo (AKS) Limited, NewField IT, NewField Information Technology LLC, NewField Information Technology Limited, Northeast Office Systems LLC, Osprey Business Systems Limited, PARC China Holdings Inc., Pacific Services and Development Corporation, Palo Alto Research Center Incorporated, Platinum Digital Print Solutions Limited, Precision Copier Service Inc., Quality Business Systems Inc., Quilver Business Services Limited, R. K. Dixon Company, RRXH Limited, RRXIL Limited, RRXO Limited, RSA Medical, Rabbit Copiers Inc., Reflex Digital Solutions (UK) Limited, Reprographics Egypt Limited, Saxon Business Systems Inc., Smart Data Consulting, SoCal Office Technologies Inc., Stem Networks Limited, Stewart Business Systems LLC, Stewart of Alabama Inc., StrataCare, Talegen Holdings Inc., Tektronix - color printing, Text Comm Limited (in receivership), The Xerox (UK) Trust, The Xerox Foundation, Time Business Systems Limited, Triton Business Finance Limited, Una-Stem Limited, Veenman B.V., Veenman Financial Services B.V., WDS, WaterWare Internet Services, XC Asia LLC, XC Global Trading B.V., XC Trading Hong Kong Limited, XC Trading Japan G.K., XC Trading Korea YH, XC Trading Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., XC Trading Shenzhen Co. Ltd., XC Trading Singapore Pte Ltd., XEROX CZECH REPUBLIC s r.o., XESystems Foreign Sales Corporation, XFS Secured Borrowing 2020-1 LLC, XHC Acquisition Corp., XMPie, XMPie Inc., XMPie Ltd., XRI Limited, XRO Limited, Xerox (Europe) Limited, Xerox (Ireland) Limited, Xerox (Nederland) BV, Xerox (Romania) Echipmante Si Servici S.A., Xerox (UK) Limited, Xerox (Ukraine) Ltd LLC, Xerox A/S, Xerox AG, Xerox AS, Xerox Argentina Industrial y Comercial S.A., Xerox Austria GmbH, Xerox Bulgaria EOOD, Xerox Business Equipment Limited, Xerox Business Services Bulgaria EOOD, Xerox Business Solutions Inc., Xerox Business Solutions Southeast LLC, Xerox Buro Araclari Servis ve Ticaret Ltd. Sti, Xerox Canada Inc., Xerox Canada Ltd., Xerox Canada N.S. ULC, Xerox Capital (Europe) Limited, Xerox Capital LLC, Xerox Computer Services Limited, Xerox Comercio e Industria Ltda, Xerox Corporation, Xerox DNHC LLC, Xerox Dienstleistungsgesellschaft GmbH, Xerox Distributor Operations Limited, Xerox Egypt S.A.E., Xerox Equipment Limited, Xerox Equipment UK Limited, Xerox Espana S.A.U., Xerox Exports Limited, Xerox Finance AG, Xerox Finance Leasing S.A.E., Xerox Finance Limited, Xerox Financial Services B.V., Xerox Financial Services Belux NV, Xerox Financial Services Canada Ltd., Xerox Financial Services Danmark A/S, Xerox Financial Services Finland Oy, Xerox Financial Services LLC, Xerox Financial Services Norway AS, Xerox Financial Services SAS, Xerox Financial Services Sverige AB, Xerox Foreign Holdings LLC, Xerox Foreign Sales Corporation, Xerox GmbH, Xerox Health Care LLC, Xerox Hellas AEE, Xerox Holding Deutschland GmbH, Xerox Holdings (Ireland) Limited, Xerox Holdings Inc., Xerox Hungary Trading Limited, Xerox IBS Limited, Xerox IBS NI Limited, Xerox India Limited, Xerox International Joint Marketing Inc., Xerox Investments Europe B.V., Xerox Israel Ltd., Xerox Italia Rental Services Srl, Xerox Kazakhstan Limited Liability Partnership, Xerox Latinamerican Holdings Inc., Xerox Leasing Deutschland GmbH, Xerox Leasing GmbH, Xerox Limited, Xerox Luxembourg SA, Xerox Mailing Systems Limited, Xerox Manufacturing (Nederland) B.V., Xerox Maroc S.A., Xerox Mexicana S.A. de C.V., Xerox Middle East Investments (Bermuda) Limited, Xerox N.V., Xerox Overseas Holdings Limited, Xerox Overseas Inc., Xerox Oy, Xerox Pensions Limited, Xerox Polska Sp. z o. o, Xerox Portugal Equipamentos de Escritorio Limitada, Xerox Products Limited, Xerox Products UK Limited, Xerox Professional Services Limited, Xerox Realty Corporation, Xerox Renting S.A.U., Xerox Reprographische Services GmbH, Xerox S.A.S., Xerox S.p.A., Xerox Secured Borrowing 2020-1 LLC, Xerox Servicios Compartidos Guatemala y Compani Limitada, Xerox Servicos e Participacoes Ltda, Xerox Shared Services Romania SRL, Xerox Sverige AB, Xerox Technology Services India LLP, Xerox Technology Services SAS, Xerox Telebusiness GmbH, Xerox Trading Enterprises Limited, Xerox Trinidad Limited, Xerox UK Holdings Limited, Xerox XHB Limited, Xerox XIB Limited, Xerox Xf Holdings (Ireland) DAC, Xerox de Chile S.A., Xerox del Ecuador S.A., Xerox del Peru S.A., Zeno Office Solutions, Zeno Office Solutions Inc., Zoom Imaging Solutions Inc., and inVentiv Patient Access Solutions.6 Wall Street research analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Aphria in the last twelve months. There are currently 5 hold ratings and 1 buy rating for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street research analysts is that investors should "hold" Aphria stock. A hold rating indicates that analysts believe investors should maintain any existing positions they have in APHA, but not buy additional shares or sell existing shares.

View analyst ratings for Aphria or view top-rated stocks.Bank of Montreal provides diversified financial services primarily in North America. The company's personal banking products and services include checking and savings accounts, credit cards, mortgages, and financial and investment advice services; and commercial banking products and services comprise business deposit accounts, commercial credit cards, business loans and commercial mortgages, cash management solutions, foreign exchange, specialized banking programs, treasury and payment solutions, and risk management products for small business and commercial banking customers. It also offers investment and wealth advisory services; digital investing services; financial services and solutions; and investment management, and trust and custody services to institutional, retail, and high net worth investors. In addition, the company provides life insurance, accident and sickness insurance, and annuity products; creditor and travel insurance to bank customers; and reinsurance solutions. Further, it offers client's debt and equity capital-raising services, as well as loan origination and syndication, balance sheet management, and treasury management; strategic advice on mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, and recapitalizations, as well as valuation and fairness opinions; and trade finance, risk mitigation, and other operating services. Additionally, the company provides research and access to markets for institutional, corporate, and retail clients; trading solutions that include debt, foreign exchange, interest rate, credit, equity, securitization and commodities; new product development and origination services, as well as risk management advice and services to hedge against fluctuations; and funding and liquidity management services to its clients. It operates through approximately 1,400 bank branches and 4,800 automated banking machines in Canada and the United States. The company was founded in 1817 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft: 217-07 Northern Boulevard Corporation, ALPHABET (GB) Ltd., APD Industries plc, Alphabet Austria Fuhrparkmanagement GmbH, Alphabet Belgium Long Term Rental NV, Alphabet Fleetservices GmbH, Alphabet France SAS, Alphabet Fuhrparkmanagement, Alphabet Fuhrparkmanagement (Schweiz) AG, Alphabet Fuhrparkmanagement GmbH, Alphabet Insurance Services Polska Sp. z o. o., Alphabet International GmbH, Alphabet Italia Fleet Management S.p.A., Alphabet Luxembourg S.A., Alphabet Polska Fleet Management Sp. z o. o., Alphabet UK Ltd., Automag GmbH, BAVARIA-LLOYD Reiseburo GmbH, BLMC Ltd., BMW (GB) Ltd., BMW (P + A) Ltd., BMW (Schweiz) AG, BMW (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, BMW (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd., BMW (Thailand) Co, BMW (Thailand) Co., BMW (UK) Capital plc, BMW (UK) Holdings Ltd., BMW (UK) Investments Ltd., BMW (UK) Limited, BMW (UK) Ltd., BMW (UK) Manufacturing Limited, BMW (UK) Manufacturing Ltd., BMW (UK) Pensions Services Ltd., BMW (US) Holding Corp., BMW (US) Holding Corporation, BMW AVTOTOR Holding B.V., BMW Acquisitions Ltda., BMW Amsterdam B.V., BMW Anlagen Verwaltungs GmbH, BMW Asia Pacific Capital PTE, BMW Asia Pacific Capital Pte Ltd., BMW Asia Pte. Ltd., BMW Asia Technology Centre Sdn Bhd, BMW Australia Finance Ltd., BMW Australia Ltd., BMW Austria Bank GmbH, BMW Austria Ges.m. b. H., BMW Austria Leasing GmbH, BMW Auto Leasing, BMW Automobile Distributors (Pty) Ltd., BMW Automotive (Ireland) Ltd., BMW Automotive Finance (China) Co, BMW Automotive Finance (China) Co., BMW Bank, BMW Bank, BMW Bank OOO, BMW Bank of North America, BMW Belgium Luxembourg S.A. / N.V., BMW Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG, BMW Brilliance, BMW Brilliance Automotive Ltd., BMW Canada Inc, BMW Canada Inc., BMW Car Club Ltd., BMW Car IT GmbH, BMW Central Pension Trustees Ltd., BMW China Automotive Trading Ltd, BMW China Automotive Trading Ltd., BMW China Services Ltd., BMW Consolidation Services Co., BMW Coordination Center V.o.F., BMW Credit (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, BMW Danmark A / S, BMW Den Haag B.V., BMW Distribution S.A.S., BMW Drivers Club Ltd., BMW Espana Finance SL, BMW Espana Finance S.L., BMW Experience Centre Inc., BMW Extended Service Corporation, BMW FS Funding Corp., BMW FS Receivables Corp, BMW FS Securities LLC, BMW Facility Partners, BMW Fahrzeugtechnik GmbH, BMW Finance (United Arab Emirates) Ltd., BMW Finance N.V., BMW Finance S. N. C., BMW Financeira S.A. Credito, BMW Financeira S.A. Credito, BMW Financial Services (GB) Ltd., BMW Financial Services (Ireland) DAC, BMW Financial Services (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd., BMW Financial Services B.V., BMW Financial Services Belgium S.A. / N.V., BMW Financial Services Denmark A / S, BMW Financial Services Holding GmbH, BMW Financial Services Hong Kong Limited, BMW Financial Services Korea Co, BMW Financial Services Korea Co., BMW Financial Services NA, BMW Financial Services New Zealand Ltd., BMW Financial Services Polska Sp. z o. o., BMW Financial Services Scandinavia AB, BMW Financial Services Singapore Pte Ltd., BMW Financial Services de Mexico S.A. de C.V. SOFOM, BMW Finanz Verwaltungs GmbH, BMW Finanzdienstleistungen (Schweiz) AG, BMW France, BMW France S.A., BMW Group Benefit Trust Ltd., BMW Hams Hall Motoren GmbH, BMW Hellas Trade of Cars A. E., BMW High Power Charging Beteiligungs GmbH, BMW Holding B.V., BMW Holding Malaysia Sdn Bhd, BMW Hong Kong Services Limited, BMW Iberica S.A., BMW Iberica, BMW India, BMW India Financial Services Private Ltd., BMW India Foundation, BMW India Leasing Pvt. Ltd., BMW India Private Ltd., BMW Insurance Agency, BMW Insurance Services Korea Co. Ltd., BMW International Holding B.V., BMW International Investment B.V., BMW Italia S.p.A., BMW Japan, BMW Japan Corp., BMW Japan Finance Corp., BMW Korea Co, BMW Korea Co., BMW Lease (Malaysia) Sdn, BMW Lease (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, BMW Leasing de Argentina S.A., BMW Leasing de Mexico S.A. de C.V., BMW Leasing do Brasil, BMW M GmbH Gesellschaft fur individuelle Automobile, BMW Madrid S.L., BMW Malaysia Sdn Bhd, BMW Malta Finance Ltd., BMW Malta Ltd, BMW Malta Ltd., BMW Manufacturing (Thailand) Co., BMW Manufacturing Co., BMW Manufacturing Industria de Motos da Amazonia Ltda., BMW Manufacturing LP, BMW Melbourne Pty. Ltd., BMW Milano S. r. l., BMW Motoren GmbH, BMW Motorsport Ltd., BMW Nederland B.V., BMW New Zealand Ltd., BMW Norge AS, BMW Northern Europe AB, BMW Operations Corp., BMW Philippines Corp., BMW Philippines Corporation, BMW Portugal Lda., BMW Receivables 1 Inc., BMW Receivables 2 Inc., BMW Receivables Limited Partnership, BMW Renting (Portugal) Lda., BMW Retail Nederland B.V., BMW Roma S. r. l., BMW Russland Automotive OOO, BMW Russland Trading OOO, BMW SLP, BMW Services Belgium N.V., BMW Services Ltd., BMW Sverige AB, BMW Sydney Pty. Ltd., BMW Technology Corporation, BMW Tokyo Corp., BMW US Capital, BMW Vermogensverwaltungs GmbH, BMW Vertriebs GmbH, BMW Vertriebszentren Verwaltungs GmbH, BMW Verwaltungs GmbH, BMW de Argentina S.A., BMW de Mexico, BMW do Brasil Ltda., BMW i Ventures, BMW i Ventures B.V., BMW i Ventures GmbH, BMW i Ventures SCS SICAV-RAIF, BMW of Manhattan, BMW of North America, BMW Osterreich Holding GmbH, BPF Midrand Property Holdings (Pty) Ltd., Bavaria Insurance Company Limited, Bavaria Reinsurance Malta Limited, Bavaria Reinsurance Malta Ltd., Bavaria Wirtschaftsagentur GmbH, Bavarian Sky S.A., BiV Carry I SCS, Bmw Intec Beteiligungs Gmbh, Bmw Leasing (Thailand) Company Limited, Bmw Roma Srl, Burohaus Petuelring GmbH, Cobalt Holdings Ltd., Cobalt Telephone Technologies Ltd., Content4all BV, Designworks / USA, DesignworksUSA, Digital Charging Solutions GmbH, DriveNow, DriveNow Verwaltungs GmbH, Encory GmbH, Financial Services Vehicle Trust, Herald Hezhong (Beijing) Automotive Trading Co., Herald International Financial Leasing Co., Here, John Cooper Garages Ltd., John Cooper Works Ltd., LARGUS Grundstucks-Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, MINI Business Innovation, MW Osterreich Holding GmbH, Mini Urban X Accelerator SPV, Multisource Properties (Pty) Ltd., OOO BMW Leasing, Oy BMW Suomi AB, PM Parking Ventures GmbH, PT BMW Indonesia, Park Lane Limited, Park Lane Ltd., Park-line Aqua B.V., Park-line B.V., Park-line Holding B.V., ParkMobile, ParkNow France SAS, ParkNow GmbH, ParkNow Suisse SA, Parkhaus Oberwiesenfeld GmbH, Parkmobile (UK) Ltd., Parkmobile Belgium BvBa, Parkmobile Benelux B.V., Parkmobile Electronic Parking Solutions Canada, Parkmobile Group B.V., Parkmobile Group BV, Parkmobile Group Holding BV, Parkmobile Hellas SA, Parkmobile International B.V., Parkmobile International Holding B.V., Parkmobile Licenses B.V., Parkmobile Ltd., Parkmobile Montgomery County, Parkmobile Software BV, Parkmobile USA, Procar Automobile Finanz-Holding GmbH & Co. KG, ReachNow, Riley Motors Ltd., Rolls-Royce Holdings plc, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars GmbH, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd., Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Na, SB Acquisitions, Societe Nouvelle WATT Automobiles SARL, Swindon Pressings Ltd., The Retail Performance Company GmbH, Toluca Planta de Automoviles, Triumph Motor Company Ltd., U. T. E. Alphabet Espana-Bujarkay, and bmw manufacturing thailand.The following companies are subsidiares of Jones Lang LaSalle: 225 Fitness Inc., 360 Commercial Partners, ACREST, AGL, AMAS Limited, AVM Partners, Advanced Technologies Group Inc., Alaska UK (GP) Ltd, Alkas Consulting, Aoyama Holding Limited, Australian Valuation Solutions, Avenue9, BRG, BRG International LLC, BRG Resource Group ULC, BRG WORKPLACE MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS (EUROPE) LIMITED, BRG Workplace Management Solutions (India) Private Limited, BRG Workplace Management Solutions (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Beijing Dazheng Zhongheng Enterprise Consulting Co. Ltd., Beijing Guotai Zhongheng Enterprise Consulting Co. Ltd., Beijing Jones Lang LaSalle Property Management Services Co. Ltd., Big Red Rooster Flow LLC, Bill Goold Realty, Bradford McCormack & Associates, Brune Consulting Management GmbH, Building Services Network Inc., Business Products Group Inc., Business Resource Holdings Inc., CIG III Technoparc Nominee II Inc./Fiduciaire CIG III Technoparc II Inc., CMM Projekt & Office Solutions GmbH, COBERTURA - SOCIEDADE DE MEDIACAO IMOBILIARIA S.A., CTH, Capital Realty LLC, Carolyn House (General Partner) Limited, Charter Oaks Financial Services Inc., Churston Heard Ltd, Claygate Residential (General Partner) LLP , Claygate Residential (Nominee) Limited, CoR Advisors, Cobertura, Colliers Baltimore, ComRef LIM Co-Invest LLC, Corporate Concierge Services Inc., Corporate Concierge Services of Hawaii Inc., Corporate Realty Advisors, Corrigo, Corrigo Incorporated, Credo Real Estate (Singapore), Creston Residential (General Partner) LLP, Creston Residential (Nominee) Limited, DST International Property Services, Dalian Jones Lang LaSalle Services Limited, ECD Energy and Environment Canada, ECD Energy and Environment Canada Ltd., EID (General Partner) LLP, ELPF Lafayette Manager Inc., Eleven Eleven Construction Corporation, Environmental Governance Ltd, Europe Fund III Alberta GP Inc., Europe Fund III GP LLC, FACILITY ASSOCIATES RECRUITMENT LIMITED, FIVE D PROPERTY MANAGEMENT (NSW) PTY LTD, FIVE D PROPERTY MANAGEMENT (NT) PTY LTD, FIVE D PROPERTY MANAGEMENT (QLD) PTY LTD, FIVE D PROPERTY MANAGEMENT (SA) PTY LTD, FIVE D PROPERTY MANAGEMENT (TAS) PTY LTD, FIVE D PROPERTY MANAGEMENT (VIC) PTY LTD, FIVE D PROPERTY MANAGEMENT (WA) PTY LTD, Five D Holdings Pty Limited, Five D Holdings Pty Ltd, Five D Property Management (ACT) Pty Ltd, Fox RPM Corp., GFN Property Investments L.L.C., Guangzhou Jones Lang LaSalle Property Services Company Limited, Guardian Property Asset Management, Guardian Property Asset Management Limited, H Park Germany LP GmbH, H Park Germany Verwaltungs-GmbH, HALL AND KAY FIRE HOLDINGS LIMITED, HFF, HFF Holdings Limited, HFF InvestCo LLC, HFF Partnership Holdings LLC, HFF Real Estate Limited, HFF Securities L.P., HFF Securities Limited, HG2 Limited, HUB PROFESSIONAL SERVICES LIMITED, Halcyon Real Estate, Hall & Kay Fire Services Ltd, Harry K Moore, Hentschel & Company LLC, Hercules Property Manager (Jersey) Limited, Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P., Holliday GP LLC, Hunter Facilities Management (HFM), Huntley Mullaney Spargo & Sullivan Inc., Huntley Mullaney Spargo & Sullivan LLC, IFM Services Finland OY, INTEGRAL UK HOLDINGS LIMITED, Inmobiliaria Jones Lang LaSalle Limitada, Integra Realty Resources, Integra Realty Resources - Dallas, Integral, Integral Facility Services Limited, Integral UK, Integrated General Administration Services K.K., J P Sturge Limited, J.L.W. Nominees Limited, J.L.W. Second Nominees Limited, JLL 2002, JLL 2003 Limited, JLL CAMBRIDGE LTD, JLL CMG LLC, JLL Capital Markets AB, JLL Chile Asesorias Inmobiliarias Limitada, JLL Corporate Solutions - Servicos De Conservacao e Manutencao de Imoveis Ltda, JLL Corporate Solutions AB, JLL Corporate Solutions Holdings Inc., JLL Corretagen e Trasacoes Imobiliarias Ltda., JLL Expertises SARLAU, JLL Infrastructure Advisory Pty Ltd, JLL Ingenierie, JLL Investment Scottish Limited Partnership II, JLL Kapitalmarkand Holding AB, JLL Kapitalmarknad AB, JLL Ltd, JLL Macau Limited, JLL Mall Management K.K., JLL Marketplace LLC, JLL Morii Valuation & Appraisal K.K., JLL Mortgage Services Pty Limited, JLL Nevada Inc., JLL Properties LLC, JLL Public Sector Valuations Pty Ltd, JLL Puerto Rico Realty & Co. S. en C., JLL Real Estate Capital Pte. Ltd., JLL Scottish II G.P. L.L.C., JLL Singapore Capital Pte. Ltd., JLL Transaction Services AB, JLL Treasury Support AB, JLL Valuation & Advisory Services LLC, JLL/BWXT Naval Facility Experts LLC, JLLBRR LLC, JLLINT Inc., Jones Lang LaSalle & Compania Limitada, Jones Lang LaSalle (ACT) Pty Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle (B) Sdn Bhd, Jones Lang LaSalle (Barbados) Ltd., Jones Lang LaSalle (Beijing) Consultants Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle (China) Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle (Fiji) Pte Ltd, Jones Lang LaSalle (Geneva) SA, Jones Lang LaSalle (Luxembourg) Secs, Jones Lang LaSalle (NSW) Pty Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle (PNG) Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle (Philippines) Inc., Jones Lang LaSalle (Portugal) - Sociedade de Mediacao Imobiliaria S.A., Jones Lang LaSalle (Puerto Rico) Inc., Jones Lang LaSalle (QLD) Pty Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle (S E) Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle (SA) Pty Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle (Shenzhen) Commercial Consultancy Company Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle (VIC) Pty Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle (WA) Pty Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle (pty) ltd, Jones Lang LaSalle - Central Texas LLC, Jones Lang LaSalle - Front Range LLLP, Jones Lang LaSalle - Northeast Inc., Jones Lang LaSalle - Texas Inc., Jones Lang LaSalle -Sociedade de Avaliacoes Imobiliarias Unipessoal Lda, Jones Lang LaSalle 1. Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Jones Lang LaSalle AG, Jones Lang LaSalle Acquisition Corp., Jones Lang LaSalle Administration B.V., Jones Lang LaSalle Advisory Services Pty Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Americas (Illinois) L.P., Jones Lang LaSalle Americas Inc., Jones Lang LaSalle Arizona LLC, Jones Lang LaSalle Asia Holdings Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Asset Management GmbH, Jones Lang LaSalle Australia Pty Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle BV, Jones Lang LaSalle Bangladesh Private Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Beihai Holdings L.L.C., Jones Lang LaSalle Belgium Holdings LLC, Jones Lang LaSalle Billion Management Services Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Brokerage Inc., Jones Lang LaSalle Building Operations Private Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Bulgaria EOOD, Jones Lang LaSalle Capital Investments Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Charities, Jones Lang LaSalle Co-Investment Inc., Jones Lang LaSalle Co. Ltd., Jones Lang LaSalle Constructions K.K., Jones Lang LaSalle Corporate Appraisal and Advisory Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Corporate Finance Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Corporate Property (VIC) Pty Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Corporate Property Services Pty Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Dorchester Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Ecuador S.A. JLL ECUADOR, Jones Lang LaSalle Electronic Sarl, Jones Lang LaSalle Espana S.A., Jones Lang LaSalle Europe Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle European Holdings Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle European Services Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Expertises SAS, Jones Lang LaSalle Facility Services S.L., Jones Lang LaSalle Finance BV, Jones Lang LaSalle Finance Europe, Jones Lang LaSalle Finance Luxembourg Sarl, Jones Lang LaSalle Finland Oy, Jones Lang LaSalle French Co-Investments Inc., Jones Lang LaSalle Gayrimenkul Hizmetleri Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, Jones Lang LaSalle German Holdings B.V. & Co. KG, Jones Lang LaSalle Global Finance Luxembourg Sarl, Jones Lang LaSalle Global Finance UK Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Global Finance US LLC, Jones Lang LaSalle Global Holdings BV, Jones Lang LaSalle GmbH, Jones Lang LaSalle Great Lakes Corporate Real Estate Partners LLC, Jones Lang LaSalle Group Finance Luxembourg Sarl, Jones Lang LaSalle Group Holdings BV, Jones Lang LaSalle Group Holdings SNC, Jones Lang LaSalle Group Services spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Jones Lang LaSalle Guatemala Sociedad Anonima, Jones Lang LaSalle Gutland S.a.r.l., Jones Lang LaSalle Haiti S.A., Jones Lang LaSalle Holding AB, Jones Lang LaSalle Holding BV, Jones Lang LaSalle Holding SAS, Jones Lang LaSalle Holdings Cyprus Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Holdings Inc., Jones Lang LaSalle Holdings Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Holdings Y.K., Jones Lang LaSalle Holdings spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels (NSW) Pty Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels Participacoes Ltda., Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels S.A., Jones Lang LaSalle IP Inc., Jones Lang LaSalle Innovation Development L.L.C., Jones Lang LaSalle Insurance Services Ltd, Jones Lang LaSalle International Holdings Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle International Inc., Jones Lang LaSalle International Properties Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Investments LLC, Jones Lang LaSalle Israel Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Jamaica Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle K.K., Jones Lang LaSalle KFT, Jones Lang LaSalle Kenya Ltd, Jones Lang LaSalle LLP (Kazakhstan), Jones Lang LaSalle Lanka (Private) Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Laser Ltd, Jones Lang LaSalle Limitada, Jones Lang LaSalle Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Limited Liability Company, Jones Lang LaSalle Lithuania UAB, Jones Lang LaSalle Ltd (Ireland), Jones Lang LaSalle Ltd., Jones Lang LaSalle Ltda., Jones Lang LaSalle Luxembourg Star Sarl, Jones Lang LaSalle Malta Holdings Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Malta Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Management Services Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Management Services Taiwan Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Michigan LLC, Jones Lang LaSalle Midwest LLC, Jones Lang LaSalle Misr LLC, Jones Lang LaSalle Multifamily LLC, Jones Lang LaSalle Multifamily Member LLC, Jones Lang LaSalle New England L.L.C., Jones Lang LaSalle Northwest LLC, Jones Lang LaSalle Pension Trustees Ltd, Jones Lang LaSalle Procurement Funding Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Procurement Ltd., Jones Lang LaSalle Property Consultants (India) Private Ltd, Jones Lang LaSalle Property Consultants Pte Ltd, Jones Lang LaSalle Property Fund Advisors Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Property Management Pte Ltd, Jones Lang LaSalle Property Management Services LLC, Jones Lang LaSalle Real Estate Advisory Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Real Estate Brokerage Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Real Estate Services Inc., Jones Lang LaSalle Receivables Holdings LLC, Jones Lang LaSalle Residential Development GmbH, Jones Lang LaSalle Resources Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle S. de R.L., Jones Lang LaSalle S.R.L., Jones Lang LaSalle S.p.A., Jones Lang LaSalle SAS, Jones Lang LaSalle SE, Jones Lang LaSalle SEA Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle SSC (Philippines) Inc., Jones Lang LaSalle Sarl, Jones Lang LaSalle Saudi Arabia Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Secs, Jones Lang LaSalle Securities L.L.C., Jones Lang LaSalle Services (Jersey) Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Services (Malta) Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Services (Private) Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Services AB, Jones Lang LaSalle Services AS, Jones Lang LaSalle Services ApS, Jones Lang LaSalle Services B.V., Jones Lang LaSalle Services Bahrain S.P.C., Jones Lang LaSalle Services Gmbh, Jones Lang LaSalle Services LLC, Jones Lang LaSalle Services Lebanon S.A.R.L., Jones Lang LaSalle Services Limited (Nigeria), Jones Lang LaSalle Services Ltd, Jones Lang LaSalle Services S.r.l., Jones Lang LaSalle Services SA/NV, Jones Lang LaSalle Services SAS, Jones Lang LaSalle Services SRL, Jones Lang LaSalle Services Sarl, Jones Lang LaSalle Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, Jones Lang LaSalle Sociedad Comercial de Responsabilidad Limitada, Jones Lang LaSalle South Africa (Proprietary) Ltd, Jones Lang LaSalle Strata Management Pty Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Surveyors (Shanghai) Company Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Taiwan Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle Technology Services Pte Ltd, Jones Lang LaSalle Trinidad Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle UAE Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle UK FC, Jones Lang LaSalle UK Hanover, Jones Lang LaSalle Vietnam Company Limited, Jones Lang LaSalle d.o.o. (Croatia), Jones Lang LaSalle d.o.o. (Serbia), Jones Lang LaSalle de Venezuela S.R.L., Jones Lang LaSalle of New York LLC, Jones Lang LaSalle of Pennsylvania Inc, Jones Lang LaSalle s.r.o, Jones Lang LaSalle s.r.o., Jones Lang LaSalle sprl, Jones Lang LaSalle spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Jones Lang Wootton Ltd, Jones Lang Wootton Property Management Services Ltd, KHK Group Limited, Kensington CA LLC, Keystone Partners, King & Co Limited, King Sturge, King Sturge Holdings Limited, King Sturge Management SPRL, LAOF V (General Partner) LLP, LASALLE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT BV, LAVA (General Partner) LLP, LIC II (General Partner) Limited, LIC Lafayette Manager Inc., LIM Advisory Services S.a r.l., LIM Asia Co-Investments Pte. Ltd., LIM Associates L.L.C., LIM Consejeros S. de R.L. de C.V., LIM Management Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., LJPF Co-Investments GK, LMF Investments LLC, LPI (Australia) Holdings Pty Ltd, LRA MKP TRS L.P., LREDS II PF L.P., LREDS III Carry Partner L.P., LUKSS I Carry Partner L.P., LUKV Carry Jersey Limited, LUKV/CPP Co-Investment L.P., LaSalle (Shanghai) Industrial Co. Ltd. [ () ], LaSalle - VA Industrial GP LLC, LaSalle AIFM Europe S.a r.l., LaSalle Acquisitions Corp., LaSalle Asia Opportunity II GP LLC, LaSalle Asia Opportunity II Investors GP LLC, LaSalle Asia Opportunity III GP Ltd., LaSalle Asia Opportunity IV GP LTD, LaSalle Asia Opportunity Investors III GP Ltd., LaSalle Asia Opportunity V GP Ltd., LaSalle Asia Recovery L.L.C., LaSalle Asia Venture Co-Investment Trust, LaSalle Aureum Verwaltung GmbH, LaSalle Blooms General Partner Limited, LaSalle CAVA Industrial Carryco LLC, LaSalle CIG III GP Inc., LaSalle CIG IV GP Inc., LaSalle Canada Core Real Property GP Inc., LaSalle Canada Property Fund GP Inc., LaSalle China Logistics Venture GP Ltd, LaSalle China Logistics Venture GP S.a r.l., LaSalle China Logistics Venture SCSp, LaSalle Co-Investment L.L.C., LaSalle Co-Investment Management (General Partner) Limited, LaSalle Direct General Partner Limited, LaSalle EMEA (Scots) Investments GP LLP, LaSalle Euro Growth II S.a.r.l. , LaSalle European Co-invest (Scotland) LLP, LaSalle European Investments L.L.C., LaSalle European Recovery III (GP) LLP, LaSalle French Fund II Co-Investment GmbH, LaSalle French Fund II G.P. L.L.C., LaSalle Fund Management B.V., LaSalle Funds General Partner Ltd, LaSalle Funds Management Limited, LaSalle GPS Holdings LLC, LaSalle Genco G.P. L.L.C., LaSalle German Income and Growth G.P. L.L.C., LaSalle German Retail Venture GP L.L.C., LaSalle Global Partner Solutions Limited, LaSalle GmbH, LaSalle Income & Growth Fund VI Carry L.L.C., LaSalle Income & Growth Fund VI GP L.L.C., LaSalle Income & Growth Fund VI L.P., LaSalle Income & Growth Fund VII Carry L.L.C., LaSalle Income & Growth Fund VII GP L.L.C., LaSalle Income & Growth Fund VIII Carry L.L.C., LaSalle Income & Growth Fund VIII GP L.L.C., LaSalle Investment (Luxembourg) SARL, LaSalle Investment Limited Partnership II-A, LaSalle Investment Management, LaSalle Investment Management (Canada), LaSalle Investment Management (Canada) Inc., LaSalle Investment Management (Jersey) Limited, LaSalle Investment Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, LaSalle Investment Management Asia Pte Ltd, LaSalle Investment Management Australia Pty Ltd, LaSalle Investment Management Co. Ltd., LaSalle Investment Management Distributors LLC, LaSalle Investment Management Espana S.L.U., LaSalle Investment Management Hong Kong Limited, LaSalle Investment Management Inc., LaSalle Investment Management K.K., LaSalle Investment Management Kapitalverwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, LaSalle Investment Management Korea Yuhan Hoesa, LaSalle Investment Management Luxembourg SARL, LaSalle Investment Management SAS, LaSalle Investment Management Securities B.V., LaSalle Investment Management Securities LLC, LaSalle Italia SRL, LaSalle Japan Logistics II GP Ltd, LaSalle Japan Logistics III GP Ltd, LaSalle Japan Logistics Investors II GP Ltd., LaSalle Japan Logistik-Immobilienfonds GP SARL, LaSalle Japan Property Fund GP Limited, LaSalle LIC II A G.P. Ltd., LaSalle LIC II A UK LLP, LaSalle LIC II B G.P. LLC, LaSalle Land General Partner Limited, LaSalle Land Trustee Limited, LaSalle Logistics GP LLC, LaSalle Mariner Co-Investment Fund Carryco L.L.C., LaSalle Mariner Co-Investment Fund G.P. L.L.C., LaSalle Medical Office Fund III GP LLC, LaSalle Mexico Advisors Inc., LaSalle Mexico Fund I Investors A G.P. LLC, LaSalle Mexico I (General Partner) LLC, LaSalle Mortgage Real Estate Investors Inc., LaSalle North American Holdings Inc., LaSalle Paris Office Venture General Partner L.L.C., LaSalle Partners (Mauritius) Pvt Ltd, LaSalle Partners International, LaSalle Partners S. de R. L. de C. V., LaSalle Partners Services S. de R.L. de C.V., LaSalle Property Fund GP Holdings LLC, LaSalle Property Fund GP LLC, LaSalle Property Fund REIT Inc., LaSalle RECC GP LLC, LaSalle REDS GP Inc., LaSalle REDS III GP Sarl, LaSalle REDS TSA GP LLC, LaSalle REIT Advisors K.K., LaSalle Ranger Co-Investment Fund G.P. L.L.C., LaSalle Ranger Co-Investment Fund II G.P. L.L.C., LaSalle Ranger Co-Investment Fund III G.P. L.L.C., LaSalle Ranger II Carry L.L.C., LaSalle Ranger III Carry L.L.C., LaSalle Real Estate Debt Strategies II (GP) LLP, LaSalle Real Estate Investment Strategies GP S.a r.l., LaSalle Residential Finance Fund GP Inc., LaSalle Residential Fund III GP Inc., LaSalle Retail Japan-Immobilienfonds GP S.a r.l., LaSalle Salt River Carry L.L.C., LaSalle Special Situations Carry GP LLC, LaSalle Special Situations II Venture GP S.a r.l., LaSalle Student Housing L.L.C., LaSalle Transpennine GP (Scot) LLP, LaSalle UK Property Services Limited, LaSalle UK Ventures (General Partner) Limited, LaSalle UKSS I GP Ltd., LaSalle UKV Co-Investor GP LLC, LaSalle UKVA GP LLC, LaVA Carry (Scotland) L.P., LaVA Feeder (Scotland) LP, Lava II GP S.a r.l., Lead Fast Investments Limited, Lee & Klatskin Associates, Leechiu & Associates, Lexington MKP Management L.P., Light bluu Limited, LodgeTax, MSCI's Global Occupiers business, Maloney Field Services, Martin Potts & Associates, Means Knaus Partners, Merlin UK Property Venture GP Limited, Merritt & Harris Inc., Midosuji Management GK, Morii Appraisal & Investment Consulting, Neo-Swiat, New England - Jones Lang LaSalle LLC, Nextport, Nima Mountaineer AB, Oak Grove Commercial Mortgage, Office Blocks Pte. Ltd., Opex Consulting, Orchid Insurance Limited, Oxford General Partner Limited, P.1 Administracao em Complexo Imobiliarios Ltda., P.2 Administracao em Complexo Imobiliarios Ltda., P.3 Administracao em Complexo Imobiliarios Ltda., PDM International, PDM International (Beijing) Limited, PDM International (Chengdu) Limited, PDM International China Limited, PDM International HK Limited, PDM International Limited, PMX, PT Jones Lang LaSalle, PT. Procon Indah, Pacific Real Estate Partners, Peloton Commercial Real Estate, Primary Capital Advisors, Prime Property Consultants Limited, Procofin, Propell National Valuers Pty Ltd., PropertyLinx Pty Ltd, Quadrant Realty Finance, Rogers Chapman UK Ltd, SBR Continental Europe GP LLC, Sage Capital, Salt River Investors GP LLC, Sandalwood Mall Management Private Limited, Shelter Bay Retail Group, Sovereign Asian Properties Inc., Spaulding and Slye Federal Services LLC, Stessa Inc., Strategic Advisory Group, TETRIS ARQUITECTURA SL - SUCURSAL EM PORTUGAL, TETRIS Arquitectura S.L, Tansei Mall Management Co. Ltd., TeTriSolutions LLC, Tenzing AB, Tetris Amenagement SARL, Tetris Design & Build BV, Tetris Design & Build Romania SRL, Tetris Design & Build Sarl, Tetris Design & Build sprl, Tetris Design and Build (Pty) Ltd, Tetris Design and Build S.R.L (Italy), Tetris Design and Build Sarl, Tetris Poland spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Tetris Projects GmbH, Tetris Projects Ltd, Tetris SAS, Tetris Tasarm ve Insaat Hizmetleri A.S, The Apartment Group, The Horizon Management Services Limited, The Spargo Corporation, The Standard Group LLC, The Staubach Company, Travis Commercial Real Estate Services, Triangle General Partner Limited, Trinity Funds Management, Trussard Property Consultants, Tetris Design & Build Servicos de Arquitetura Ltda., Tetris Design & Build s.r.o., Utrillo Ltd, ValuD Consulting, Veronique Nocquet, W A Ellis LLP, Washington Partners, Whitetail GP LLC, Wilson Retail Group, Wonderment BV, YY Property Solutions, bluu City Limited, bluu Projects Limited, bluu Regions Limited, bluu Solutions Limited, and bluuco limited.Dougherty's Pharmacy, Inc. focuses on acquiring, managing, and growing community based pharmacies in the Southwest Region of the United States. Its flagship store is Dougherty's Pharmacy, a turn-key multi-service pharmacy located in Dallas, Texas. The company was formerly known as Ascendant Solutions, Inc. and changed its name to Dougherty's Pharmacy, Inc. in May 2017. Dougherty's Pharmacy, Inc. was founded in 1929 and is based in Dallas, Texas.

Read MoreCA, Inc., doing business as CA technologies, develops, markets, delivers, and licenses software products and services in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Mainframe Solutions, Enterprise Solutions, and Services. The Mainframe Solutions segment offers solutions for the IBM z Systems platform, which runs various mission critical business applications. Its mainframe solutions enable customers enhance economics by increasing throughput and lowering cost per transaction; increasing business agility through DevOps tooling and processes; increasing reliability and availability of operations through machine intelligence and automation solutions; and protecting enterprise data with security and compliance. The Enterprise Solutions segment provides a range of software planning, development, and management tools for mobile, cloud, and distributed computing environments. It primarily provides customers secure application development, infrastructure management, automation, and identity-centric security solutions. The Services segment offers various services, such as consulting, implementation, application management, education, and support services to commercial and government customers for implementation and adoption of its software solutions. The company serves banks, insurance companies, other financial services providers, government agencies, information technology service providers, telecommunication providers, transportation companies, manufacturers, technology companies, retailers, educational organizations, and health care institutions. It sells its products through direct sales force, as well as through various partner channels comprising resellers, service providers, system integrators, managed service providers, and technology partners. The company was formerly known as Computer Associates International, Inc. and changed its name to CA, Inc. in 2006. CA, Inc. was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Read MoreHow Did Sweden's Most Prominent Protestant Choose Catholicism? From Sweden to Jerusalem to Rome, the Ekmans' conversion is an inspirational and moving story of discovering the truth in the Catholic Church



Contact: Kevin Wandra, 404-788-1276,



SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 4, 2018 /



The uniqueness of the couple's path to the Catholic Church encompasses their innate desire for unity within Christianity, which they sought in all their travels and preaching. Growing up, both Ulf and Birgitta were taught that the Catholic Church is evil, that they should stay far away. But when the Ekmans met Catholic priests, sisters and lay people who turned their view of the Church upside down, they were forced to reconsider their entire worldview.



THE GREAT DISCOVERY is written from both Ulf and Birgitta's points of view. Even though they came into the Catholic Church together and experienced many of the same aspects of conversion as a couple, their journeys were different. Their curiosity in Catholicism initially began when Birgitta took an interest in St. Birgitta of Sweden, who was also married to an Ulf. Many saints, including Padre Pio, St. Faustina, St. John Newman and Maximilian Kolbe, and apparition sites in Lourdes and Knock all were key influencers in the Ekmans' conversion.



Ulf Ekman founded Word of Life and was its pastor for 30 years. He preached and traveled extensively, especially to the former Soviet Union. Birgitta Ekman founded a humanitarian organization for needy children in India. THE GREAT DISCOVERY reveals just how many obstacles the couple needed to overcome in their own world in order to convert to Catholicism.



"Ulf and Birgitta Ekman spent decades as evangelists," says Scott Hahn, Ph.D., author of Rome Sweet Home. "Ulf was known as 'Sweden's Billy Graham.' This book is their amazing story. You don't have to be Catholic to love it. If you're human, it will move you."



For more information, to request a review copy or to schedule an interview with Ulf and Birgitta Ekman, please contact Kevin Wandra (404-788-1276 or



Share Tweet Contact: Kevin Wandra, 404-788-1276, KWandra@CarmelCommunications.com SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 4, 2018 / Christian Newswire / -- Every Catholic convert has their own unique story of the journey that led them to the Catholic Church. For Ulf and Birgitta Ekman, theirs played out in public in secular Sweden, where they led an enormous, worldwide Protestant organization, Word of Life. The Ekmans' incredible journey to the Catholic Church is chronicled in the new book THE GREAT DISCOVERY: OUR JOURNEY TO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.The uniqueness of the couple's path to the Catholic Church encompasses their innate desire for unity within Christianity, which they sought in all their travels and preaching. Growing up, both Ulf and Birgitta were taught that the Catholic Church is evil, that they should stay far away. But when the Ekmans met Catholic priests, sisters and lay people who turned their view of the Church upside down, they were forced to reconsider their entire worldview.THE GREAT DISCOVERY is written from both Ulf and Birgitta's points of view. Even though they came into the Catholic Church together and experienced many of the same aspects of conversion as a couple, their journeys were different. Their curiosity in Catholicism initially began when Birgitta took an interest in St. Birgitta of Sweden, who was also married to an Ulf. Many saints, including Padre Pio, St. Faustina, St. John Newman and Maximilian Kolbe, and apparition sites in Lourdes and Knock all were key influencers in the Ekmans' conversion.Ulf Ekman founded Word of Life and was its pastor for 30 years. He preached and traveled extensively, especially to the former Soviet Union. Birgitta Ekman founded a humanitarian organization for needy children in India. THE GREAT DISCOVERY reveals just how many obstacles the couple needed to overcome in their own world in order to convert to Catholicism."Ulf and Birgitta Ekman spent decades as evangelists," says Scott Hahn, Ph.D., author of Rome Sweet Home. "Ulf was known as 'Sweden's Billy Graham.' This book is their amazing story. You don't have to be Catholic to love it. If you're human, it will move you."For more information, to request a review copy or to schedule an interview with Ulf and Birgitta Ekman, please contact Kevin Wandra (404-788-1276 or KWandra@CarmelCommunications.com ) of Carmel Communications.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).Reinsurance Group of America, Inc. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of traditional and non-traditional life and health reinsurance products. It operates through the following segments: U.S. and Latin America; Canada; Europe, Middle East, and Africa; Asia Pacific; and Corporate and Other. The U.S. and Latin America segment markets individual and group life and health reinsurance to domestic clients for a variety of products through yearly renewable term agreements, coinsurance, and modified coinsurance. The Canada segment offers individual life reinsurance, and to a lesser extent creditor, group life and health, critical illness and disability reinsurance, through yearly renewable term and coinsurance agreements. The Europe, Middle East, and Africa segment serves individual and group life and health products through yearly renewable term and coinsurance agreements, reinsurance of critical illness coverage that provides a benefit in the event of the diagnosis of a pre-defined critical illness and underwritten annuities. The Asia Pacific segment comprises individual and group life and health reinsurance, critical illness coverage, disability, and superannuation thr

Read MoreThe Iranian military says it will keep conducting missile tests despite U.S. condemnation of them. "Missile tests...are carried out for defense and the country's deterrence, and we will continue this," Brigadier-General Abolfazl Shekarchi, a spokesman for Iran's armed forces, was quoted as saying by the semiofficial Tasnim news agency.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports in its article Iran Says Will Continue Ballistic Missile Tests Despite U.S. Objections that Shekarchi said Iran will "continue to both develop and test missiles" and added that such activity "is outside the framework of [nuclear] negotiations and part of our national security, for which we will not ask any country's permission."

The statement comes one day after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned what he described as Iran's testing of a medium-range ballistic missile capable of carrying multiple warheads.

The missile has the ability to hit parts of Europe and any location in the Middle East, Pompeo said in a December 1 statement.

This test violates UN Security Council Resolution 2231 that bans Iran from undertaking any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons," the statement added, citing the UN Security Council's endorsement of the 2015 international nuclear agreement, which U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from in May.

Pompeo warned that Irans missile proliferation is growing and called on Iran to cease these activities." U.S. national security adviser John Bolton tweeted earlier on December 2 that "Iran just test-fired a...ballistic missile capable of reaching Israel and Europe. This provocative behavior cannot be tolerated."

Shekarchi did not confirm or deny that Iran had tested a new missile. The latest statement from Pompeo came amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington, which has reimposed tough sanctions on Iran that had been removed under the nuclear accord.

The sanctions are part of a broader U.S. campaign to pressure Iran over what the Trump administration describes as its "malign conduct" such as missile development and support for militant groups in the Middle East. Tehran has repeatedly rejected negotiations over its missile program and insists the missiles are only to be used for defensive purposes.

"Iran will not abandon its defensive weapons...including its missiles that make America so angry," Iranian President Hassan Rohani said in September.Smart Employee Benefits Inc., a technology company, provides business process automation and software solutions, and professional services in Canada and internationally. The company operates through Benefits and Technology segments. The Benefits segment offers software solutions, services, and products focuses on managing group benefit and wellness plans. The Technology segment provides solutions in the areas of supply chain management, integration, and energy, as well as resource provisioning; and technical infrastructure support services. The company offers its services in the area of managing group benefit solutions and healthcare claims processing for corporate and government clients. Smart Employee Benefits Inc. is headquartered in Mississauga, Canada.

Read MoreCoreLogic, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides property information, insight, analytics, and data-enabled solutions in North America, Western Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates in two segments, Property Intelligence & Risk Management Solutions (PIRM) and Underwriting & Workflow Solutions (UWS). The PIRM segment combines property information, mortgage information, and consumer information to deliver housing market and property-level insights, predictive analytics, and risk management capabilities. It also offers proprietary technology and software platforms to access, automate, or track the information and assist its clients with decision-making and compliance tools in the real estate and insurance industries. This segment primarily serves commercial banks, mortgage lenders and brokers, investment banks, fixed-income investors, real estate agents, MLS companies, property and casualty insurance companies, title insurance companies, government agencies, and government-sponsored enterprises. The UWS segment combines property, mortgage, and consumer information to provide comprehensive mortgage origination and monitoring solutions, including underwriting-related solutions, and data-enabled valuations and appraisals. This segment also provides proprietary technology and software platforms to access, automate, or track the information and assist its clients with vetting and onboarding prospects, and meeting compliance regulations, as well as understanding, evaluating, monitoring property values. It primarily serves mortgage lenders and servicers, mortgage brokers, credit unions, commercial banks, fixed-income investors, government agencies, and property and casualty insurance companies. The company was formerly known as The First American Corporation and changed its name to CoreLogic, Inc. in June 2010. CoreLogic, Inc. was incorporated in 1894 and is headquartered in Irvine, California.

Read MoreTurkey, through the Turkish Stream gas pipeline linking Russia to Turkeys European shores, is contributing to an essential element of Russias multi-pronged, long-term strategy of remaining Europes major gas supplier, former EU diplomat and Carnegie Europe scholar Marc Pierini wrote in an article published on Monday.

Ahval reports in its article Turkey gives Russian gas strategy a boost through Turkish Stream that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin last month participated in a ceremony in Istanbul marking the completion of the sea section of the TurkStream natural gas pipeline. The TurkStream, when completed, will consist of two lines with the capacity to transport 31.5 billion cubic metres worth of gas from Russia. The first line will carry 15.75 billion cubic metres of gas to Turkey while the second line will transfer Russian gas to Europe through Turkey.

The project is a vivid illustration of Moscows strategy to strengthen its position in supplying gas to Europe while reducing its reliance on the Ukrainian transit corridor, Pierini wrote, stressing that the project symbolises Turkeys independent decision making and of the countrys significance in the wider region for Ankara.

While celebrating the blossoming friendship between Turkey and Russia, Turkish Stream will undoubtedly increase Ankaras dependence on Moscow for its energy needs, he stressed.

The Turkish Stream is not part of the EUs Energy Union plans as it does not contribute to diversification of supplies, Pierini wrote, however, it will work to reinforce Russias market predominance in both Turkey and the EU.

Russia, however, is looking beyond the European continent to sell its gas, into the wider Eastern Mediterranean region, the article stressed.

Following the massive discoveries in the so-called Zohr field to the north and east of the Egypts fertile Nile River delta, Russia bought a 30 percent stake from the Italian energy group ENI in 2016. It is also interested in Lebanese waters and has made moves to control both the oil and gas sector in Syria , despite the ongoing war, Pierini wrote.

Russia is involved in pipeline deals in the Kurdistan region through a number of oil and gas companies, although the actual exports would have to take place through Turkish territory or possibly even through Syria in the distant future, he highlighted.

Russia is slated to keep dominating gas supplies to the EU, amounting to 40 percent of extra-EU imports in 2016 although new developments such as a rapid development of LNG exports to Europe from other sources could upset that balance.The following companies are subsidiares of Tyson Foods: APF Legacy Subs LLC, Advance Food Company LLC, AdvancePierre Foods, AdvancePierre Foods Holdings Inc., AdvancePierre Foods Inc., Aidells Sausage Company Inc., Allied Specialty Foods Inc., American Proteins Inc, Artisan Bread Co. LLC, Australian Food Corporation Pty Limited, Australian Food Corporation Trust, BRF, Barber Foods LLC, Bosco's Pizza Co., Bryan Foods Inc., C.S. Grain LLC, C.V. Holdings Inc., CBFA Management Corp., Central Industries Inc., Chefs Pantry LLC, Clovervale Farms LLC, Cobb (Hubei) Breeding Co. Ltd., Cobb (Shanghai) Enterprise Management Consulting Co. Ltd., Cobb Ana Damizlik Tavukculuk Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Cobb Columbia S.A.S., Cobb Europe B.V., Cobb Europe Limited, Cobb Peru (Andina) S.A.C., Cobb-Heritage LLC, Cobb-Vantress Brasil Ltda, Cobb-Vantress Inc., Cobb-Vantress New Zealand Limited, Cobb-Vantress Philippines Inc., Coominya AFC Pty Limited, Coominya AFC Trust, DFG Foods Inc., DFG Foods L.L.C., Don Julio, Egbert LLC, Equity Group - Georgia Division LLC, Equity Group - Kentucky Division LLC, Equity Group Eufaula Division LLC, Equity Meat Corp., Flavor Corp., Flavor Holdings Inc., Foodbrands America Inc., Foodbrands Supply Chain Services Inc., Gallo Salame Inc., Global Employment Services Inc., Grow-Out Credit LLC, Grow-Out Holdings LLC, Haimen Tyson Poultry Development Co. Ltd, Hudson Foods Company, Hudson Midwest Foods Inc., Hybro Genetics Brasil Ltda, IBP Caribbean Inc., IBP Foodservice L.L.C., IBP Inc., International Affiliates & Investment LLC, Jiangsu Tyson Foods Co. Ltd, Keydutch Finance B.V., Keydutch Holdings I LLC, Keydutch Holdings II LLC, Keydutch Investments B.V., Keystone CLJV Holdings Limited, Keystone County House Road LLC, Keystone Foods, Keystone Foods (AP) Limited, Keystone Foods Holdco LLC, Keystone Foods Intermediate LLC, Keystone Foods LLC, Keystone Foods Pty Limited, Keystone Management Inc., Keystone Trading (Shanghai) Company Limited, LD Foods LLC, M & M Express LLC, M&M Restaurant Supply (MI/OH) LLC, MFG (USA) Holdings Inc., Mac Food Services (Malaysia) SDN. BHD., Madison Foods Inc., McKey Food Services (Hong Kong) Limited, McKey Food Services (Shandong) Limited, McKey Food Services (Thailand) Limited, McKey Food Services Limited, McKey Luxembourg Holdings APMEA S.a.r.l., McKey Luxembourg Holdings S.a.r.l., McKey Luxembourg S.a.r.l., McKey VI Holdings Limited, Myung Seung Food Company Ltd., National Comp Care Inc., New Canada Holdings Inc., Oaklawn Capital Corporation, Oaklawn IT Solution Private Limited, Original Philly Holdings Inc., PBX inc., Pierre Holdco Inc., River Valley Ingredients LLC, Rizhao Tyson Foods Co. Ltd, Rizhao Tyson Poultry Co. Ltd, Rural Energy Systems Inc., Sara Lee - Kiwi Holdings LLC, Sara Lee Diversified LLC, Sara Lee Foods LLC, Sara Lee Household & Body Care Malawi Ltd., Sara Lee International LLC, Sara Lee International TM Holdings LLC, Sara Lee Mexicana Holdings Investment L.L.C., Sara Lee TM Holdings LLC, Sara Lee Trademark Holdings Australasia LLC, Saramar L.L.C., Shandong Tyson-Da Long Food Company Limited, Smart Chicken, Southern Family Foods L.L.C., Southwest Products LLC, TF 20 B.V., TF 5201 B.V., TFA Leasing LLC, TFA Opportunity Zone Fund LLC, TFI of California Inc., Tecumseh Poultry LLC, Texas Transfer Inc., The Bruss Company, The Hillshire Brands Company, The IBP Foods Co., The Pork Group Inc., TyNet Corporation, Tyson (Shanghai) Enterprise Management Consulting Co. Ltd., Tyson Americas Holding Sarl, Tyson Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Tyson Breeders Inc., Tyson Chicken Inc., Tyson China Holding 2 Limited, Tyson China Holding 3 Limited, Tyson China Holding Limited, Tyson Deli Inc., Tyson Europe Holding Company, Tyson Farms Inc., Tyson Farms QOZB LLC, Tyson Foods Brasil Investimentos Ltda., Tyson Foods Canada Inc., Tyson Foods Europe (Netherlands) B.V., Tyson Foods Europe GmbH, Tyson Foods France S.A.R.L., Tyson Foods Germany GmbH, Tyson Foods Group Limited, Tyson Foods Holland B.V., Tyson Foods Huadong Development Co. Ltd, Tyson Foods Iberia Alimentos S.L.U., Tyson Foods Italia S.p.A., Tyson Foods Korea, Tyson Foods Netherlands B.V., Tyson Foods Products Limited, Tyson Foods Scotland Europe Limited, Tyson Foods Scotland Sales (Europe) Limited, Tyson Foods UK Limited, Tyson Foods Wrexham Limited, Tyson Foods oosterwolde B.V., Tyson Fresh Meats Inc., Tyson Fresh Meats Sales and Distribution LLC, Tyson Global Holding Sarl, Tyson Hog Markets Inc., Tyson India Holdings Ltd., Tyson International APAC Ltd., Tyson International Company Ltd., Tyson International Holding Company, Tyson International Holding Sarl, Tyson International Service Center Inc., Tyson International Service Center Inc. Asia, Tyson International Service Center Inc. Europe, Tyson Mexican Original Inc., Tyson Mexico Trading Company S. de R.L. de CV., Tyson New Ventures LLC, Tyson Opportunity Zone Fund LLC, Tyson Pet Products Inc., Tyson Poultry Inc., Tyson Prepared Foods Inc., Tyson Processing Services Inc., Tyson Refrigerated Processed Meats Inc., Tyson Sales and Distribution Inc., Tyson Service Center Corp., Tyson Shared Services Inc., Tyson Storm Lake Holdings LLC, Tyson Warehousing Services LLC, Tyson of Wisconsin LLC, Uninex SA, Universal Meats (UK) Limited, WBA Analytical Laboratories Inc., Wilton Foods Inc., Xamol Consultores e Servicos, and Zemco Industries Inc..The US and China have agreed a 90-day ceasefire in their bitter trade war after Donald Trump met with Xi Jinping at the G20 meeting in Argentina. After the two-and-a-half hour discussion, a statement from the White House announced the US will leave tariffs on $200 billion (157bn) worth of Chinese imports at 10% at the beginning of the new year, agreeing not to raise them to 25% at this time. The Week in the article US and China agree trade war truce, writes that in return, China will agree to purchase a not yet agreed upon, but very substantial, amount of agricultural, energy, industrial, and other product from the United States to reduce the trade imbalance between our two countries, the statement read.

Calling the extended meeting friendly and candid, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the two leaders had agreed to open their markets to each other and to step up negotiations toward elimination of all additional tariffs.

A Chinese state media report said that the meeting had reached an important consensus, pointing out the direction for Sino-US relations in the near future.

Reuters reports that the two leaders also agreed to immediately start talks on structural changes with respect to forced technology transfers, intellectual property protection, non-tariff barriers, cyber intrusions and cyber theft, services and agriculture.

With the United States and China clashing over commerce, financial markets will take their lead from the results of the talks, widely seen as the most important meeting of US and Chinese leaders in years, says the news agency.

True to form, Trump hailed the agreement as one of the largest deals ever made, adding it will have an incredibly positive impact on farming, meaning agriculture, industrial products, computers, every type of product.

The BBCs Stephen McDonell reports that China has pretty much given up nothing in this deal because the future tariffs threatened from the Beijing side were retaliatory in nature and only to be applied if the United State escalated. For this it has gained a 90-day reprieve, during which time both sides have pledged to ramp up talks.

This is not a suspension of the trade war but a suspension of the escalation of the trade war, he writes and big questions remain about the preparedness of Beijing to allow international access to this enormous market to a level that would satisfy the Trump administration prompting a complete halt in the trade war.Ormat Technologies, Inc. operates as a holding company. The firm engages in the provision of geothermal and recovered energy power business. It operates through the following segments: Electricity, Product and Energy Storage. The Electricity segment focuses in the sale of electricity from the company's power plants pursuant to PPAs. The Product segment involves in the manufacture, including design and development, of turbines and power units for the supply of electrical energy and in the associated construction of power plants utilizing the power units manufactured by the company to supply energy from geothermal fields and other alternative energy sources. The Energy Storage segment consists of battery energy storage systems as a service and management of curtailable customer loads under contracts with U.S. retail energy providers and directly with large commercial and industrial customers. The company was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Reno, NV.

Read MoreAzerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov will arrive in Vienna to take part in the 5th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting, according to the Azerbaijani Ministry of Energy.

Shahbazov will pay a visit to the Austrian capital at the invitation of OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo on December 4-7.

The meeting will be held within the 175th meeting of the Council of Ministers of OPEC countries.Azerbaijans Army Corps conducted live-fire exercises at the combined-arms range, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said.

The exercises were conducted according to the 2018 combat training plan, approved by the republic's Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov.

According to the exercise scenario, the motorized rifle, artillery, armored and engineer units, involved in the exercises, conducted combat firing.EU finance ministers have agreed on steps to bolster the eurozone against future financial crises, striking a deal after negotiations that went through the night.

"We made it," Eurogroup President Mario Centeno said, describing the all-night talks as "a very intense and exhaustive negotiation."

The ministers will present the package to their leaders when they gather next week for the euro summit in Brussels.

The 27 ministers managed to grab what eurozone diplomats had long billed as the low-hanging fruit after almost two years of negotiations. That came in the shape of the eurozones bailout fund, known as the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), which will serve as the financial backstop to the EUs authority for handling failing banks.

A draft version of the deal said the backstop could come into force earlier than its scheduled date of 2024, if eurozone banks managed to reduce their stockpile of bad loans in the coming years, POLITICO reported.

The ministers also managed to update the credit lines that the ESM can offer to countries in economic difficulty  but only under strict conditions.

Eurozone countries are also set to reform the so-called "collective action clauses" in their government bond contracts by 2022 that would make it easier to delay debt payments in the event of a country bailout.

The deal is set to make some reference to plans to develop a eurozone budget under the insistence from French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who clashed with the Netherlands over the need for a stabilization function in the final text.A Su-25 military jet of the Armenian Armed Forces has gone missing this morning, the country's Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The jet took off at 10:06 from the Gyumri airport for a regular training flight. The contact with the plane was lost at around 10:20am (9:20 MSK), Sputnik Armenia reported.

The Defense Ministry's press secretary Artsrun Hovhannisyan said that the Su-25 crew consisted of two men.

After almost four hours of search operations the plane had allegedly been found in a gorge near the village of Bardzrashen in the Shirak Province.

Both pilots - Lieutenant Colonel Armen Babayan and Major Movses Manukyan - have died, the press secretary of the Armenian Defense Minister wrote on his Facebook page.Russia is interested in the unity and stability of the European Union, which is an important trade and political partner to it, Russia's Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said at a meeting with member of the European Parliament from Lithuania and Vice-Chair of the group Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD) Rolandas Paksas.

"We faced the accusations of Russia wishing to destabilize the situation in the European Union," she recalled. Matviyenko noted that if "chaos starts - God forbid that - in the EU", then "it will move on to negatively affect Russia." "Russia is not interested in it," TASS cited the Federation Council speaker as saying.

Matviyenko noted that the trade turnover between Russia and the EU grew by more than 20% in 2017 and after nine months of 2018 the growth was the same.

She also said that "there is understanding of mutual interest in cooperation". "Russia has always been and will always remain part of Europe," the Federation Council speaker stressed. "It is in the interests of both Russia and the European states to restore cooperation and interaction," Matviyenko concluded.Military police battalion of the Southern Military District that performed tasks in Syria has returned to its home base in Chechnya, head of the Southern Military Districts press service Vadim Astafyev said.

"About 400 servicemen of the military police battalion of the 58th combined arms army have returned to their home base in Chechnya from Syria," TASS cited him as saying.

Astafyev specified that since August the battalion has performed tasks to guard important facilities of the Russian army in Syria, ensure public order and security for civilians in the liberated communities and follow humanitarian convoys and ensure security when conducting humanitarian missions.

The police arrived by planes of the military transport aviation of the Russian Aerospace Force to the Mozdok airfield in North Ossetia.

The ceremony at which ministerial and state awards will be given to distinguished servicemen will be held on December 7 at the home station of the military unit.With the Republicans losing the majority in the state Senate, New York City tenant advocates are hopeful that the Democrats will go to bat for renters  and the real estate industry is bracing for the worst. Heres some of what lawmakers will be debating this session.

Universal rent control

This was the buzzy term of the Democratic primaries, with candidates like Cynthia Nixon saying they would push for the policy. Apartments have to meet certain criteria to be rent stabilized under current laws, such as being in a building with six or more units built before 1974, with rent below the current maximum of $2,734. There is no strict definition of universal rent control, but it broadly means legally capping how much landlords could raise any tenants rent during the lease renewal process  in any apartment.

Some legislators, such as state Sen.-elect Julia Salazar and Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, are all for it. We need to give tenants as much power as we can when the dynamics are so unbalanced, Rosenthal told City & State. But other Democrats, like state Sen. Luis Sepulveda, reflect the feelings of other legislators who are concerned about the policys potential effects, especially on small-time landlords, and are keen to see a bill in writing. I want to protect people that need rent regulations, Sepulveda told City & State. But lets see whats brought before us before we start deciding for it or not.

Ending vacancy deregulation

As long as state legislators dont enact universal rent control, perhaps the biggest question is whether to raise threshold for high-rent deregulation or cut out that option entirely. The last two times lawmakers extended rent regulations, they raised the upper limit of the monthly rent beyond which an apartment can be deregulated upon vacancy. The threshold is currently $2,734, up from $2,000 in 2011. Raising the so-called vacancy decontrol threshold is seen as a compromise measure to please landlords, but Salazar said tenant advocates  and she herself  wont accept that this year. The only acceptable thing is to end vacancy decontrol altogether, she told City & State.

This would mean that all rent-regulated apartments would stay that way, and some deregulated apartments would be brought back under the provision. This scenario seems likely, since a bill doing so passed the Assembly last session and state Senate Democratic Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins is the lead sponsor of the Senate version of the bill. Cuomo, notably, has also expressed his support. Asked on WNYC in November if he would sign a bill ending vacancy decontrol, the governor said he would. Reforming the rent regulation system  especially vacancy decontrol  can make a major difference, he said.

Ending the vacancy bonus

Even if apartments stay under rent regulation, current laws let landlords raise an apartments rent as much as 20 percent when a tenant leaves. Cuomo promised to limit or eliminate the so-called vacancy bonus in an August campaign questionnaire from the Metropolitan Council on Housing. Thats a bit stronger than his 2015 promise in a Daily News op-ed to further limit vacancy bonuses to ensure landlords arent rewarded financially for schemes to force tenants out. Eager to be seen as helping tenants, legislators are expected to favor elimination instead of higher limits. For years and years, empowered by the Republicans, the state Senate has given landlords a blank check, Rosenthal said.

Closing the preferential rent loophole

Newly empowered Democrats are also taking aim at the so-called loophole that allows landlords to raise the cost of rent at the time of a lease renewal far more than they would normally be allowed to in rent-regulated apartments by charging an initial rent below the legal maximum. These lower-than-allowed rents are called preferential rents  and though it sounds positive for tenants, the rent spikes are often used to encourage tenants to leave, which can ultimately net the landlord more money. The Assembly passed a bill last year that would prohibit such spikes, and the state Senate and Cuomo would be expected to sign on this year, since Cuomo pledged to the Met Council to make the preferential rent the rent for the life of the tenancy.

Ending major capital improvement bonus

Landlords can raise stabilized rents up to 6 percent to pay for major capital improvements to the building. Tenant advocates often accuse landlords of making cheap or superfluous changes as an excuse to hike the rent, which can then remain high long after the investment has been paid off. But to minimize the risk of disincentivizing landlords from caring for old buildings, state Sen. Michael Gianaris, Stewart-Cousins deputy, has a bill to pay for those improvements through tax credits instead of rent increases. Tax credits for landlords may prove controversial though, and a slight tightening of regulations on major capital improvements might prove more palatable for Cuomo, who hasnt said anything publicly on the issue lately.

RELATED: With Democrats taking the state Senate, real estate fears the worstThe OPEC+ monitoring committee will discuss Qatars withdrawal from the oil cartel on December 5, Russia's Energy Minister Alexander Novak said.

"(We will) discuss it tomorrow," TASS cited the minister as saying.

On December 5, OPEC+ ministers will also continue talks on reduction of crude oil output in 2019, Novak said, when asked, to which level Russia is ready to reduce production within OPEC+ in 2019.OPEC remains fully committed to achieving balance in the oil market through the OPEC+ deal, according to the statement posted on the organization's website.

"OPEC remains fully committed to achieving and sustaining balance and stability in the market, through the organization, and with the landmark 'Declaration of Cooperation', alongside 10 participating non-OPEC countries," the statement says.

The statement added that the organization appreciates the continued interest of producers wanting to join OPEC. In particular, OPEC has seen Gabon rejoin the organization and welcomed new members Equatorial Guinea and the Republic of the Congo in the past three years.

Yesterday Qatar said that it will withdraw from the OPEC on January 1, 2019.Also reports said that liquidity situation was better now than it was in October which is a good news for the NBFCs.

Mumbai: Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs) stocks, on Tuesday, made further gains expecting more liquidity improvement measures from the RBI in its December monetary policy review meeting to be announced on Wednesday.

NBFC stocks had rallied on Monday too after RBI last week relaxed guidelines on securitisation transactions for NBFCs.

Also reports said that liquidity situation was better now than it was in October which is a good news for the NBFCs.

A.P. Shukla, president, Joindre Capital Services said, NBFC stocks are in action as on Wednesday. RBI governor may announce some measures to further improve liquidity in the banking system during the media briefing.

Hemang Jani, head  Advisory, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas said, NBFC stocks remained in the limelight as last week after RBI relaxed guidelines on securitisation transactions for NBFCs.

The top NBFC gainers included Dewan Housing Finance (2.53 per cent), Indiabulls Housing Finance (2.68 per cent), Shriram City Union Finance (4.27 per cent), Edelweiss Financial Services (4.98 per cent) and Magma Fincorp (2.30 per cent).

An assessment of the liquidity scenario of the banking and financial system for the week ended Nov. 30 by Care Rating showed that the banking system continued to be faced with a liquidity deficit in the week ended Nov 30, making it the 8th consecutive week wherein the system liquidity has been stressed/above neutral.OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo received a letter from Qatar giving notice of its intention to withdraw from its membership of OPEC, pursuant to Article 8 of the OPEC Statute, with effect from 1 January 2019.

The letter from Qatars Minister of State for Energy Affairs Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi also expressed sincere appreciation to OPEC Member Countries, the OPEC Secretary General and all OPEC staff.

OPEC said on its website that it respects the decision taken by Qatar. The OPEC Secretariat expressed thanks to Qatar for its support of the organization over the many decades of its membership.Rajanikanths latest film 2.0 released to huge expectations. But the opening day did not exactly get the hysterical support it does from his fans in cinema theatres with the result that the film was almost written off by the industry.

Turns out critics of the film may have been too quick in making their judgement. After a lukewarm response on the first day, the film has rebounded, thanks to Rajanikanths personal charisma and is now galloping at a steady clip in both the Telugu states. Word on the streets is that the film collected nearly Rs 33 crore in the first weekend including Rs 15 crore just in the Nizam area. The distribution rights for both the Telugu states was bought for an estimated Rs 70 crore plus and while distributors will have to wait a while to recover that investment, they have gone the half way mark by now.

Interestingly, the films 3D version is more in demand from movie goers than the 2D version. On Sunday, it was packed houses everywhere, especially in multiplexes and the 3D version, a multiplex owner said.

What remains to be seen is how the film stands up to the coming Friday, December 7, when three big ticket Telugu films will release and multiplex owners release some screens for them. Will Rajinis charisma pull out yet another miracle?

We will wait and watch.As an active participant of PETA India's Compassionate Citizen program, Chavan has helped with school workshops aimed at giving children aged 8 through 12 a better understanding of and appreciation for animals.

Mumbai: In honour of International Volunteer Day on 5 December, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India has named Thane engineering student Prasad Suresh Chavan its 2018 Volunteer of the Year. Since joining PETA India as a volunteer two years ago for its youth outreach arm PETA Youth, Chavan has done everything from manning animal rights kiosks at popular events like Comic Con and Vivekanand Education Society's Institute of Technology (VESIT)'s Lit Festival to helping bring an animal protection message to children and more.

PETA Youth initiatives Chavan has helped advance include I, Chicken, a virtual reality experience that helps students consider what it feels like to be a chicken taken for slaughter and Save the Boy Child, which involves inviting students to watch a 60 second video about the routine killing of male calves and chicks by the dairy and egg industries since they can't produce milk or lay eggs.

As an active participant of PETA India's Compassionate Citizen program, Chavan has helped with school workshops aimed at giving children aged 8 through 12 a better understanding of and appreciation for animals. He has also helped with PETA India information tables at the Krazy Kids Karnival and Krackerjack Karnival in Mumbai.

"From encouraging scores of young people to ditch meat and dairy to helping children recognise it is cool to be kind, Prasad Suresh Chavan is always ready to lend animals a helping hand", says PETA India Youth Outreach Coordinator Shibani Mishra. "PETA India is thrilled to recognize him for inspiring compassion for animals in young people his signature positivity and dedication".

In addition to encouraging students across India to be kind to animals, Chavan has assisted PETA India in gathering information about the illegal use of spiked bits (or "thorns") to control horses used for weddings and rides; has rescued and treated many injured animals in his locality with the help of local animal welfare groups; and makes sure he gets all the strays in his area sterilised.

PETA India's motto reads, in part, that "Animals are not ours to abuse in any way."Bengaluru: Has former MP and AICC communication chief Ramya vacated her house in Mandya? The actor- turned- politician had rented the house on K R Road in the city after she lost to Mr C S Puttaraj of the Janata Dal (secular) in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, promising never to leave Mandya.

But according to sources, Ramya vacated her house, taking all her belongings in two trucks Sunday night. A video clip of two trucks leaving her house has since gone viral and the police security deployed at her house last week, fearing an attack by late actor M H Ambarishs fans, who were upset at her skipping his funeral, has been scaled down. Only a police constable and a home guard are still standing guard outside the empty house. As news of her leaving spread like wildfire, people of Mandya vented their anger at her for not caring to inform anyone about her decision. While Deccan Chronicles efforts to contact the actor/politician on her official Twitter account failed, a senior Congress leader, when contacted, said he was not aware of Ramya vacating her Mandya house as she was not in touch with the local leaders.

Only Ramya can tell you if she has really moved out. She may have done this as the Congress has already 'donated ' the Mandya seat to the JDS in the 2019 Lok Sabha poll, he reasoned. Ramya has fueled suspicion for a while about her growing indifference to the constituency as she only made a brief appearance during the campaign for the May assembly poll and failed to turn up to vote in that election or in the Mandya Lok Sabha poll.

More recently, she came in for some strong criticism when she did not attend the funeral of Ambarish , who was a former Mandya MP.'Govt had evidence to arrest them. But didn't because FM Jaitlie's (sic) daughter was hired as Choksi's lawyer,' Congress president Rahul Gandhi tweeted. (Photo: Twitter | @INCIndia)

New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday alleged that the government had evidence to arrest diamond trader Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi months before they fled the country but did not do so as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's daughter was hired as Choksi's lawyer.

He also demanded Jaitley's resignation.

"8 months before they were allowed to flee, the IT department wrote a 10,000 page report on Chota Modi & Choksi's massive fraud," Rahul Gandhi said on Twitter.

"Govt had evidence to arrest them. But didn't because FM Jaitlie's (sic) daughter was hired as Choksi's lawyer," he said, adding that the finance minister must resign.

Rahul Gandhi tagged a media report which claimed that IT report waved red flags eight months before the PNB scam broke, but was not shared with other agencies.

8 months before they were allowed to flee, the IT dept. wrote a 10,000 pg report on Chota Modi & Choksis massive fraud.



Govt had evidence to arrest them. But didnt because FM Jaitlies daughter was hired as Choksis lawyer.



FM Jaitlie must resign immediately. pic.twitter.com/31LwGM7b60  Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) December 3, 2018

No immediate reaction from the government was available, but both the government and Jaitley have rejected all such allegations in the past.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala also alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Jaitley allowed the jewellers to flee the country.

Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi are being pursued by central investigation agencies in connection with the multi-crore Punjab National Bank fraud case. The accused left India this January, a few weeks before the scam came to light.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley were aware about dirty dealings amounting to Rs 26,306 crore of fraudsters Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi eight months prior to their flying abroad, but it (the government) did not act," Surjewala said at a press conference in Jaipur on Monday.'Especially over the past three to four years, we have made considerable progress. Our relations, based on common democratic values, enjoy strong political and popular support in both countries,' she said. (Photo: File)

Washington: Commencing her five-day official visit to the United States, Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday asserted that New Delhi sees the US as an important partner in the field of defence.

In her remarks at the start of her bilateral talks with the US Defence Secretary James Mattis at the Pentagon, Sitharaman said mutual trust and confidence in defence partnership between the two countries were growing. The defence minister added that she was encouraged by the importance attached to the India-US defence relationship in the new US National Security Strategy.

"A strong foundation has been laid for the India-US defence relationship over the years. India sees the US as an important partner in defence," Sitharaman said, adding that the two countries have good military to military cooperation, defence consultations, scientific collaborations and co-production and co-development and industry collaboration.

Exuding confidence that the bilateral talks would accord greater momentum to the dialogue and partnership between the two countries, she said the relationship continued to be very strong. The recent meetings between the two countries, Sitharaman said, have underscored their mutual desire to move positively. The high-level exchanges are an indication of the depth and the quality of bilateral ties as well as their mutual desire to work closely on a range of regional and global issues, she added.

Sitharaman appreciated the responsiveness of the Trump Administration to India's sensitivities. At the same time, it is also indicative of the desire and the effort to have an even more robust relationship than before, she said.

"Especially over the past three to four years, we have made considerable progress. Our relations, based on common democratic values, enjoy strong political and popular support in both countries. There's a growing mutual trust and also the confidence in defence partnership, which augurs very well for the future," Sitharaman said.'Why can't we Dalits be considered humans?' BJP MP Savitri Bai Phule said. (Photo: FIle | PTI)

Lucknow: Bahraich BJP MP Savitri Bai Phule on Tuesday claimed that Lord Hanuman was "a Dalit and a slave of 'manuwadi' people", joining a row which erupted over Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's statement that the deity was a Dalit.

She alleged that Dalits and backwards were being called 'bandar' (monkey) and 'rakshas' (demon).

"Lord Hanuman was a Dalit and a slave of 'manuwadi' people. He was a Dalit and a human. He did all for Lord Ram then why he was given a tail and his face was blackened. Why was he made a monkey?" Phule said.

"When he did all for Lord Ram with devotion, he (Lord Hanuman) should have been made a human and not a 'bandar' (monkey). At that time also he had to face humiliation due to being a Dalit. Why can't we Dalits be considered humans? she told PTI over phone.

During a poll rally in Malakheda of Alwar district, Adityanath had said, "Lord Hanuman was a forest dweller, deprived and a Dalit. Bajrang Bali worked to connect all Indian communities together, from north to south and east to west."

After his statement, Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar asked members of his community to take over all temples belonging to Lord Hanuman.

"Dalits should take over all Hanuman temples in the country and appoint Dalits as priests there," Chandrashekhar had said.

When asked about the Ram temple issue, which is pending in the Supreme Court, Phule said the BJP is raking up the matter as it has no other issues.

"The country does not need a temple. Will it end unemployment and other problems of Dalits and backwards? The temple will benefit Brahmins, who are only 3 per cent. The money offered in temples are used by them for their gains and make our community (Dalit) their slave," she said.

"We want rights given to us in the constitution," the BJP MP said, adding that "Hamko adhikar chahiya warna kursi khali karo (Give us our rights or leave the government)".

Phule had earlier raised questions on BJP leaders dining at the houses of Dalits and had termed the founder of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah, "a mahapurush" (great personality), causing embarrassment to her party.

When asked to comment on the statement of Phule, BJP spokesman Chandra Mohan said, "It seems she didn't have much knowledge of Indian tradition." On her attacking the BJP on the Ram temple issue, he said he would not like to comment and people know what she was doing.Congress candidate from Kodangal and partys working president from Telangana, Revanth Reddy, was detained and taken into preventive custody earlier on Tuesday. (Photo: Facebook | @revanthofficial)

Kodangal (Telangana): Amid a high-octane campaign in Telangana for December 7 polls, Congress candidate from Kodangal and partys working president from Telangana, Revanth Reddy, was detained and taken into preventive custody early on Tuesday.

Reddy was picked up by the Telangana police around 3 am on Tuesday from his Kodangal home, hours before the scheduled meeting of caretaker chief minister and Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao in Kodangal.

Reddy had threatened to stop the public meeting of KCR.

A large team of police personnel arrived at Reddys house and broke open the door before taking him into custody.

Other MLAs were present with Reddy at that hour, strategising the protest before KCR's 3 pm rally in Kodangal. They argued with the cops, demanding they be shown ID cards of the authorities and also a copy of the arrest warrant.

After Reddy's protest call, the state election body had hinted there could be a probable law and order situation if his supporters tried to stop the rally, where KCR's party men would be present.

Reddy had appealed to people in his constituency to boycott the meeting of K Chandrasekhar Rao and hold widespread protests in the area.

Reddys arrest has sparked tension as he enjoys massive support.

Meanwhile, security has been tightened to avoid any untoward incident.

Talking to the media, Reddys wife Geetha said, "This is an attack on the people of Kodangal. Around 3 am, the police broke into our house and within a matter of five minutes, nearly 40 people forcefully took him (Reddy) away, the way they would take away a terrorist.

Geetha also said police personnel didn't even show them their ID cards. We don't know if they are the Task Force, Intelligence or state police. One of them said they have orders from higher officials, she added.

This is the second time during the state Assembly polls this year that Reddy has faced the ire of the Election Commission.

Reddy was among five politicians, who were served notices after the poll body received various complaints against them for allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct.United Nations: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has told UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres the motivation for his "strong commitment" to climate action is rooted in the ancient Hindu scriptures, the Vedas.

Modi and Guterres met last week on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where the two held discussions about climate change and India's support for the Paris Climate Agreement. The UN chief thanked Modi for his commitment to increase India's nationally determined contributions to the Paris Agreement.

Guterres had also held discussions with Modi during his three-day visit to India this year coinciding with Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary on October 2.

During that visit, Guterres had presented the Indian leader with the United Nations Champions of the Earth Award for policy leadership for 2018.

"[] It's not only Christianity, I was speaking to Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi of India recently and asking him what was his motivation for his very strong commitment to climate action and he said it's in the Vedas, the founding books of Hinduism. I think this is felt in all religions,"Guterres said at a press conference in Poland on Monday.

He was responding to a question on whether he thinks religions have a role to play in the field of climate change.

The transcript of the Secretary General's joint press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda was issued by the UN spokesperson's office here.

Guterres is in the Polish city Katowice for the high-level UN COP24 Climate Change Conference. The two-week 24th conference of the parties to the UN Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) marks the deadline for the 197 parties that signed the Convention, to adopt guidelines for the implementation of the historic 2015 Paris Agreement.

In Paris, three years ago, countries collectively agreed to keep global temperature rises to no more than 2C above pre-industrial levels, and if possible, to limit the rise to 1.5C. Now, in Poland, they have to agree on how they will achieve this collectively.

Guterres was asked the question in a reference to Pope Francis' views on climate change.

"I do believe that if one is a believer and one believes that the world is created by God, it must be terrible to see human beings destroying God's creation. So I think it's perfectly normal that a religion that believes in the work of the Creator is totally against the destruction of the work of the Creator that human beings are [carrying out at present]. So I think it is perfectly normal that his Holiness the Pope, not only this Pope, it comes from the past, have a very positive position in relation to climate action," he said.

Pope Francis has in the past called for a "revolution" to combat climate change, saying the consensus was clear and "doomsday predictions can no longer be met with irony or disdain".

Kicking off the high-level event in Poland, along with several other high-level representatives, Guterres highlighted key messages for the thousands of representatives of the world's nations, non-profit organisations, UN agencies, and private sector companies gathered in Katowice. The Secretary-General noted that climate change is already "a matter of life and death" for many people, nations and countries of the world, and that the science is telling us we need to move faster.

Citing various alarming UN reports  including one on rising global CO2 emissions and another one on increasing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere  he called on nations to pay attention to the science and step up their pace as well as their ambitions.Naidu said, 'TDP and Congress flags are flying together for the first time, this is for the sake of the nation. TDP fought with the Congress for 37 years. Now for the first time, we are working together at the state land central level.' (Photo: File)

Kukatpally: Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday said that it is for the first time that his party and the Congress have formed an alliance for the benefit of the country.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu addressed a poll rally in Kukatpally as part of the campaign for the ensuing Telangana Assembly Elections.

Naidu said, "TDP and Congress flags are flying together for the first time, this is for the sake of the nation. TDP fought with the Congress for 37 years. Now for the first time, we are working together at the state land central level."

Hitting out at the central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the state government led by Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), he alleged that both of them were working against the aspirations of the people and are dictatorial in nature.

"Modi government and KCR government in Telangana are working against people's aspirations and acting dictatorial," Naidu said.

"To fight them, we joined hands. KCR held a meeting, where he kept on slamming me but did not speak anything about the development he would do. That is their shallowness. Modi was given a clean majority. But he cheated the entire nation. He achieved nothing except roaming in foreign countries," he added.

Rahul Gandhi too hit out at the central and Telangana government as he spoke on the same lines as Naidu.

"In the past four and a half years, KCR and his government have cheated the entire Telangana and Hyderabad. KCR is a national champion in corruption, next only to PM Modi. He kept on increasing the project costs, paid contracts, but did give a single penny to farmers," he said adding that Modi too can do anything but not waive off the loans of farmers of Telangana.

Further sharpening his attack, Gandhi added, "TRS is the B Team of Narendra Modi. The real name of TRS is TRSS - Telangana RSS. KCR means Khao Commission Rao. KCR is the most corrupt person."

"Modi has CBI in his hand and that is why KCR has surrendered to PM Modi. A Team BJP, B Team TRS and C Team MIM. We will defeat BJP nationwide," he added.

Telangana Assembly Elections are due on December 7 while counting of votes will take place on December 11.Hyderabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday alleged the caretaker Telangana government is betraying the country and insulting the Constitution architect B R Ambedkar by proposing religion-based reservation with 12 per cent quota for Muslim minority while stealing the rights of Dalits.

Addressing an election rally in Hyderabad, he said that great leaders of the country, while framing the Constitution, had decided against religion-based reservation at any cost in the interest of the nation's unity and integrity and for its bright future.

Targeting caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, PM Modi said he was surprised that "these power-hungry people, to save their chair for their family, resorted to such a step".

"Minority ko aarakshan dene ka khel, yeh desh ke saath gaddari hai ki nahi? (Playing this game of promising quota to the minorities, is it not betrayal to the nation?)" PM Modi said and wondered how the promise will be met as the current Supreme Court's order does not permit it.

"Is it not an insult to the Constitution Assembly, is not an insult to B R Ambedkar...?" PM Modi asked.

"The Supreme Court has put a ceiling (of 50 per cent). You can't go beyond that. Does it mean that you would steal from the rights (quota) of Dalits, STs, and OBCs?," he asked.

"To save your chair, you are conspiring to steal their rights (Dalits, STs and OBCs) from the back door? Will you allow that sin to happen...should there be religion-based reservation?" he asked the crowd.

Referring to Congress president Rahul Gandhi's charge that the TRS is a "B" team of the BJP, PM Modi said it is in fact the KCR-led party which is the "B" team of the Congress.

The Prime Minister pointed out that before the Karnataka Assembly polls, "Naamdar (Gandhi) had described the JDS as 'B' team of the BJP but after the results were declared, they joined hands and formed the government."

"He (Rahul Gandhi) speaks so many lies," PM Modi said, alleging that the Congress was already engaged in "back door talks to somehow stop the BJP (from coming to power in Telangana)".

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that four of the five parties in contention in the Telangana elections -- the TRS, Congress, TDP and AIMIM -- perpetuate dynastic and family rule.

"They (these four parties) are becoming a threat to democracy," he said, adding that "there is only one party...BJP, which is democratic".

He said many people have sacrificed their lives during the struggle for creation of a separate state of Telangana.

Targeting the TRS chief, PM Modi said "nobody has given one family the right to loot".

The Prime Minister also recalled that Rao was earlier in the Youth Congress and also had his first "apprenticeship" in the TDP, noting that he was once with that party.

He said that Rao was also a minister in the UPA-I.

TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi were his "Gurus (mentors)", he said.

Slamming the electoral alliance between the Congress and the TDP, PM Modi said that NTR founded the latter in the name of "Telugu pride" and fought against the Congress.

He claimed that the two parties have come together "only for the sake of power".

The TDP has also become a dynastic and family-ruled party, he said.

PM Modi said that the Congress and the TRS are "two sides of the same coin". He said about Rs 30,000 crore worth of centrally-funded projects and Rs 8,000 crore worth railway projects are currently being implemented in the state.

The Prime Minister slammed Rao over his government's decision not to join the PMJAY health insurance scheme.

"He (KCR) says he does not want Ayushman Bharat scheme. If there is a government creating such hurdles, how can there be your (people's) welfare?" Over 1.25 crore families have been handed over keys of their house so far during the NDA regime, PM Modi said. Only 5,000 houses were built in Telangana.

"When the central government is providing funds, why is the state government not taking it up? PM Modi asked.The ceasefire monitoring at the contact line between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops in the direction of Fuzuli district on December 4 ended with no incident. The monitoring was held in accordance with the mandate of Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense said in a message on on its website.

On the Azerbaijani side, the monitoring was carried out by the Personal Representatives field assistants Ognjen Jovic and Simon Tiller.

On the opposite side, the monitoring was conducted by the Personal Representatives field assistants Michael Olaru, Ghenadie Petrica and Martin Schuster.VIJAYAWADA: AP BJP president, Kanna Lakshminarayana, alleged that the Telugu Desam (TD) was misleading the public about the allocation of funds to the State by the BJP-led Union government and hence, the BJP cadres were campaigning about the sanction of funds by the BJP for the past four years to the State through the Intintiki programme. He commenced the house-to-house campaign at Guntur on Tuesday and interacted with the masses.

Mr Lakshminarayana said that the special category status was not possible under any circumstances but the Congress, TD, YSRC and other political parties were misleading the Andhra public about SCS. He alleged that the TD government had turned into a corrupt government due to huge corruption and illegalities of TD leaders, including ministers and legislators, and asked the public to bring down the corrupt TD government from power with their vote power.

He said that the BJP-led Union government had sanctioned 90 per cent of funds for the Polavaram Project and was ready to pay the total cost of the project. He alleged that the TD government had diverted the funds sanctioned by the Union government to develop AP state to other causes and CM Mr Naidu was trying to throw mud on the BJP government.

Mr Lakshminarayana said the BJP-led Union government had implemented 125 social welfare schemes for the welfare of the public in the country after assuming power at the Centre He said the Union government had allocated maximum funds for AP for the construction of houses and toilets under different schemes. He said the people would give the fitting reply to the TD in the coming elections.

BJP leaders M. Sitamahalakshmi, D. Rammohan Rao, K. Venkata Prasad, K. Satyanarayana, A. Ranga and others participated.

Meanwhile, Union minister for civil aviation Suresh Prabhu claimed that BJP led Union government sanctioned funds to new capital Amaravati and further cooperated largely for the development of residuary AP State.

BJP AP published a book about questions posed to AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Mr Suresh released the book on Mr Naidu. He started BJP Vijayawada parliamentary convener Kilaru Dileep Kumar office at Patamata of Vijayawada city on Tuesday. He stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi cooperated with the AP government.Lucknow/Ballia: Yogesh Raj, the Bajrang Dals district coordinator in Bulandshahr, was named as the main accused in the killing of police inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and another youth Sumit in Mondays violence in Bulandshahr. ADG (law and order) Anand Kumar told reporters in Lucknow on Tuesday that three Bajrang Dal activists  Chaman, Devendra and Ashish Chauhan had already been arrested but Yogesh Raj was absconding.

The police said two cases had been registered  one for the murder of Syana police inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and Sumit, and the ransacking of the police post and damage to public property. The other case is about the wider conspiracy to create trouble over the alleged cow slaughter.

The FIR has 27 named as accused and another 60 as unnamed accused for Mondays violence.

The probe into the incident is being headed by ADG (intelligence) S.B. Shirodkar, who is expected to present his report within 48 hours. He is already in Syana for the probe.

Interestingly, immediately after the discovery of the reported cow carcass in the fields of a former gram pradhan in the village, Mahav Raj Kumar, the main accused, Yogesh Raj, had lodged an FIR naming five local Muslims all members of the local masjid committee.

However, preliminary investigations have revealed that none of those mentioned in his FIR were present in the village for the...

Lucknow: ...past few days as were participating in a three-day ijtema (congregation of Muslims for throwing light on the Holy Quran and its significance for achieving salvation) being held in Bulandshahr, where 25 lakh Muslims had gathered.

According to the Syana Nagar Palika chairperson Rais Malik, SO Subodh Kumar Singh was instrumental in thwarting a major conspiracy to create trouble on the last and concluding day of the ijtema when people were preparing to disperse.

Yogesh Raj and his accomplices had carried the remains of the cow in a tractor-trolley and blocked the main Bulandshahr-Garh road on which many people from the ijtema had already started returning. By not permitting blocking of the main highway, the SO had defeated the design of troublemakers planning to brew communal tension. But in the process he was targeted and first brutally injured in the brickbatting and then shot dead by the mob, said the chairperson. This theory has now been confirmed by the ADG.

The body of the slain inspector was taken to his ancestral district Etah on Tuesday for his last rites after the ADG (Meerut) and other colleagues paid him rich tributes in Bulandshahr. In a late-night decision, chief minister Yogi Adityanath announced compensation of `40 lakh for his widow and another `10 lakh for his aged parents, and a government job for a member of the family.

Speaking in Ballia on Tuesday, BJP MLA Surendra Singh alleged the inspector was killed in police firing and denied any role of Bajrang Dal members in his death. Terming the incident unfortunate, the MLA said, however, that the police did not murder him deliberately.

Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, who had initially probed the 2015 lynching of Mohammed Akhlaq, and a 20-year-old local man died of gunshot injuries on Monday as a rampaging mob protesting the alleged illegal cow slaughter torched a police post.

I suspect that the inspector was killed by a bullet fired by the police. Bajrang Dal activists might have engaged in brickbatting but they did not open fire. They had not gone there with bullets, the MLA told reporters in Ballia.

The MLA said the people indulged in stone-pelting but the police opened fire at them, and the inspector was hit by their gunshots. The police did not murder him deliberately, he said.

Twenty-seven people have been named in an FIR registered around 3 am following the violence on Monday.The extradition was carried out even as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was visiting the UAE where she met with her UAE counterpart, Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed al Nahyan. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: In what will be a major boost to the Narendra Modi Government, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Tuesday evening extradited alleged British middleman Christian James Michel to India in the Rs 3,546 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal case.

The extradition could see Michel make the political explosive revelations that name politicians and bureaucrats who may have been paid bribes to clinch the deal during the tenure of the previous UPA-2 Government. The country heads for general elections in less than six months.

The move also comes even as the main Opposition Congress---that led the previous UPA-2 Government---is turning the heat on the Modi Government over the Rafale deal with France.

The extradition of the 54 year old middleman in an operation under the guidance of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, was confirmed by the CBI on Tuesday after Michel had been put on a plane to India from Dubai, where he had been detained for several months.

"Christian Michel entered into criminal conspiracy with co-accused persons and in pursuance thereof, the public servants had abused their official positions by reduction of service ceiling of the VVIPs helicopter from 6000 metres to 4500 metres and a contract for an amount of Euro 556.262 million was awarded to AgustaWestland International Ltd (AWIL), UK by the government of India through Ministry of Defence on 08.02.2010 for the procurement of 12 VVIP/non VVIP helicopters," CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said here. "Michel, who has been avoiding criminal proceedings in India in AgustaWestland case is being extradited by the UAE authorities to India.

Under the guidance of Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor (NSA), the entire operation is being coordinated by in-charge Director CBI M Nageswara Rao," he said. A team of the agency's officers led by Joint Director Sai Manohar was in Dubai to bring him back.Chennai: The proprietor of a working women's hostel was on Tuesday arrested for allegedly fixing spy cameras in the bedrooms and bathrooms of the hostel, in Adambakkam.

Police arrested 48-year-old Sanjeevi, owner of the hostel, after receiving a complaint from the hostel inmates stating that there were hidden cameras kept in several parts of the accommodation, including the bathroom.

Police said, Sanjeevi alias Sanjay, resident of Ashthanapuram in Chromepet had in September posted details of the women's hostel he owned in Thillai Ganga Nagar, Adambakkam, on social media.

The hostel is just two-months-old, and six girls working in IT firms and one other working as a nurse, were staying in the hostel.

The inmates allegedly grew suspicious of the owner as he would come to the lodging area often in the guise of checking the rooms, and often carried out renovations in the building. This triggered a doubt as to whether he was fixing cameras under the guise of building renovation.

Meanwhile, on December 2, one of the inmates had downloaded a mobile app 'Hidden camera detector' in her Android phone, and began exploring if any spy cameras were fixed in the rooms.

To their shock, the app showed the presence of a hidden camera in the bathroom switchboard. Suspicious, she dismantled the switchboard and found a hidden camera there.

Following this, the inmates conveyed the matter to Mount DC, Muthuswamy, who directed the Adambakkam police to carry out a search at the hostel.

A complaint was filed with Adambakkam police on December 2.

Meanwhile, on Monday, police searched the hostel premises and found a total of nine hidden cameras around the house.

On a thorough check of the premises, police found three cameras hidden in light bulbs on the bedrooms, three on hangers in the dressing rooms and three cameras in the bathroom switchboards.

Reports suggest that the owner placed the cameras in the name of carrying out renovation work in the house. He reportedly kept changing the position of the camera, until he got a proper view of the particular area he wanted.

Searching his office in the hostel, police also recovered 18 android mobiles and two laptops, which contained video clips of the inmates.

Following this, Sanjeevi was arrested from his residence late on Monday night. Police are investigating.

The Third Eye

They're watching you: How to protect yourself from hidden cameras - install 'Hidden Camera Detector' app. The app 'hidden camera detector' provides you feature to detect hidden cameras around you. This app traces out hidden cameras on the android phone.Women's staying in unfamiliar places like hotel rooms, guest rooms, under shower, even at your own private rooms, public washrooms etc., can use the app

How the app functions

You just have to move your phone in your surroundings to detect the hidden camera and to find any unusual magnetic activity, which may be a hidden camera, spy camera, secret camera or a hidden device.

The mobile gives a beep sound and a red light alert if it comes in contact with the spy camera.Hyderabad: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan has alleged that the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has outbeaten the Congress party when it comes to family rule. Even after the Nizam rule was gone, the monarchy is being continued in Telangana, Mr Chauhan said.

Speaking to media persons in the city on Tues-day, Mr Chauhan said, The TRS has beaten the Congress in family rule, In fact, the Congress is better compared to the TRS, as five members in the family are working in the government. K. Chandra-sekhar Rao is Chief Minister, his nephew is a minister, his son is a minister, his daughter is a Member of Parliament and one more family member is a member of the Rajya Sabha. This shows what kind of family rule is being observed in the state. I havent seen this kind of family rule after Independence. TRS has outdone the Congress.

He added, The BJP will form the government in Madhya Pradesh, Chhatti-sgarh and Rajasthan. I have been the Chief Minister for 13 years and I was surprised and shock-ed after knowing that the Chief Minister of Telang-ana, Mr K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), does not go to the secretariat

He questioned TRS about what happened to water, funds and placements? The land for cultivation was not increased in Telangana but the projects were redesigned and the estimated cost increased. The government neither filled government jobs nor created private jobs. After all these agitations for separate state, the government failed to provide jobs too. I have not seen a Chief Minister who comes with these many lies,  Mr Chouhan said.

He added, The Congress party will search for the reasons before they get defeated. The Congress has joined hands with the Telugu Desam, which is against the interests of Telangana. The alliance made by the Congress is definitely a failure. The people of Telangana have more trust in the BJP, when compared to the Congress and TRS. One chance given to the BJP will result in showing development to the people of Telangana,Hyderabad: Congress working president Revanth Reddy on Tuesday lashed out at TRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao after he was released in evening from police detention. He challenged the trio  Mr Chandrasekhar Rao, Mr K.T. Rama Rao and Mr T. Harish Rao  for a faceoff and dared them to grow moustache.

Mr Chandrasekhar Rao tried to buy people of Kodangal with Rs 200 crore, but his dream did not come true. So he is following illegal practices to win the elections. He is using the police and returning officers to attack mandal-level leaders of the Congress. He is misusing the administration to distribute money and liquor. Caretaker minister T. Harish Rao stayed in Kodangal for two days and transported the money in police vehicles under police protection. Instead of winning the people's trust, Mr Chandrasekhar Rao is trying to threaten and attack me. By dissolving the Assembly for an early election, he has attempted a political suicide.

He added, Telangana state DGP Mahender Reddy and DIG (intelligence) Prabhakar Rao have deployed around 2,000 police in mufti to threaten the people of Kodangal and are distributing Rs 5,000 per voter.Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday asked the Telangana state government and the police department what made them detain TPCC working president A. Revanth Reddy during the early hours by entering his house. It directed the police to submit written records and procedure details of the detention of Mr Revanth Reddy by 10.15 am on Wednesday. It also asked the Telangana Advocate General what action should be taken if the court found that the detention was illegal.

A division bench comprising Justice Raghvendra S. Chauhan and Justice M. Satyanarayana Murthy was dealing with a habeas corpus petition filed by former MLA V. Narendar Reddy after the detention of Mr Revanth Reddy, alleging that the police did not follow the correct procedure. The court also observed that this is not the right way of handling dissent.

The bench said, In a democracy, every citizen has the right to express his dissent and the police has their own ways and means of maintaining law and order, like barricading to prevent people from reaching the venue and even using the water cannons to disperse an unruly mob.

Mr Revanth Reddy's counsel C.V. Mohan Reddy informed the court that the detainee was the working president of TPCC and was allowed by the Election Commission to campaign throughout the state for the elections, but he was illegally detained by police around 3 am on Tuesday by breaking into his house.

Sharath Kumar, special counsel on behalf of the police, submitted before the court that on Tuesday evening, there was an election campaign of caretaker Chief Minister at Kodangal where Mr Revanth Reddy had given a bandh call and made provocating statements against the TRS. He said Vikarabad police detained Mr Revanth Reddy under CrPC Section 151 and has kept him at Jadcherla Police Training College. He said the Congress leader would be released after Mr Chandrasekhar Rao's meeting was over.

The bench asked the police how a call for bandh became illegal. It said in case of a threat to law and order, the police have to take precautions. The court also rapped the police for not producing Mr Revanth Reddy before a magistrate after detaining him.

Justice Chauhan said, This is the third habeas corpus petition I am hearing after I took charge as a judge in this high court. These series of petitions are filed after elections are scheduled.

Commenting that this is the typical type of British rule, the court directed the Telangana state Advocate General (AG) to appear before it at 4 pm and produce the version of Telangana government.

Following the direction of the bench, advocate general B.S. Prasad appeared before the court and explained the reasons for the arrest Mr Revanth Reddy.

He informed the court that Mr Revanth Reddy would have released by 5.30 pm once CM's meeting was over at Kodangal. Mr Prasad also promised the court that he would submit all reports related to arrest.

After recording the AGs statement, the court posted the case to Wednesday.Hyderabad: Caretaker Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday appealed to the people of Telangana to show their gratitude to his party, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, which had achieved statehood for Telangana.

He said it is the right time for the people of Telangana to exhibit their gratitude for the TRS which had introduced scores of welfare schemes and development programmes.

Addressing public meetings in Alampur, the chief minister announced that the state will get its rightful share of 15.9 TMC water from the Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme which will increase the area under cultivation in the constituency from 85,000 acres to 1.25 lakh acres by making optimum use of water allocated to Telangana by the Bachawat Tribunal from the Tungabhadra River.

He recalled that during his first padyatra from Rajoli to Gadwal, he had noticed the woes of farmers in erstwhile Mahabubnagar district in cultivating their lands and even for getting drinking water, during the Congress and Telugu Desam regimes. When Congress leader Byreddy Rajashekhar Reddy threatened to breach canals using bombs and divert RDS water to Rayalaseema, not a single leader from Telangana opened his mouth, Mr Rao said.

He said that Congress leaders who are keen to criticise him did nothing to protect the rights of the people of Alampur.

He maintained that the TRS government undertook numerous projects including the Thummilla Lift Irrigation Scheme soon after formation of the new state.

Harish Rao took up the project on a war footing. Naidu objected to the project and lodged complaints with the Central government. Harish Rao immediately raised objections about the Machumarri project in AP which made Naidu and his colleagues shut their mouths.

The Chief Minister also addressed public meetings in Gadwal, Makthal and Kodangal constituencies.Hyderabad: Congress working president A. Revanth Reddy, who threatened to disrupt TRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Raos public meeting at Kosgi, was picked up from his home in the early hours of Tuesday and detained for 13 hours under preventive custody by the Jadcherla police.

The Congress leader, who was dragged out of his house hours ahead of Mr Raos rally in Mahbubnagar district, was released only after the TRS chief left the district.

In a pre-dawn raid, police personnel wearing protective body-gear broke into Revanth Reddys bedroom at 3 am, while his wife Geetha and daughter Nimishya Reddy were asleep. A troop of 100 cops surrounded his residence at Kodangal in Vikarabad, while a group of officers, including women, forced their way into the bedroom by breaking down the door.

Mr Revanth Reddy asked the police to produce an arrest warrant, but the cops told him to cooperate.

His wife and daughter asked the police party whether they were terrorists to be picked up in such a manner and a police officer replied that they were only following the orders of their seniors.

The Congress leader was dragged out of his house; the police also arrested his four brothers, 140 party workers and servants.

The group which claimed to be police forcefully opened the main gate and barged into my house and broke open the bedroom doors where my father, mother and I were asleep, said Mr Reddys daughter Nimishya Reddy.

Wife Geetha Reddy broke down after the arrest.

They tried showing us a paper which they claimed to be a search warrant but did not give us time to read it. When we asked questions, instead of answering, they dragged him away as if he was a terrorist or anti-social element, said Mr Reddys daughter Nimishya Reddy

This is being done to harass and create panic before the elections. We have serious doubts about the cops identity as they did not show identification. We haven't been informed about his whereabouts, who took him and on what grounds. We are hearing about my father only from media channels, Nimishya Reddy said.

Towards the end of the day-long drama, the Office of the Election Commission of Telangana issued a statement: Mr Revanth Reddy threatened to disrupt the TRS meeting, so he was arrested. The administration is functioning as per the law.

The statement was signed by Chief Election Commissioner Rajat Kumar. He later instructed the TS DGP to release the Congress leader.VIJAYAWADA: AP minister for IT and panchayat raj, Mr N. Lokesh, claimed that chances were bright for Praja Kutami to emerge as the winner in the Telangana Assembly elections and form the government. He stated that Telangana IT minister K. Taraka Rama Rao could campaign in AP without any hesitation and they would not object to it. He alleged that the TRS had totally failed to fulfil its election promises. Addressing a press at Amaravati on Tuesday, he predicted that results of the Telangana State elections would be positive for the peoples front on December 11.

Mr Lokesh said that Telangana caretaker Chief Minister, Mr K. Chandrasekhar Rao, had promised to give water tap connections to every house and stated that he would not ask for votes from the public if he failed to provide the taps. He alleged that the TRS government had totally failed to provide water taps and drinking water and hence, the TRS had no right to ask for votes. He said that the TRS had shown a movie to the public about making Hyderabad a Dallas and the construction of skyways and flyovers for the ease of traffic, but in vain. He claimed that AP CM, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, had developed Hyderabad as the CM of united AP but there was no further development of Hyderabad by the TRS government.

Mr Lokesh demanded that the Telangana minister for IT, Mr K.T. Rama Rao, reveal the names of the companies which had come to Telangana in the past four years and claimed that AP had brought Asian paints, Kia Motors, Hero, Foxconn and other prestigious companies due to the efforts of Mr Naidu. He claimed that Mr Naidu had not created any hurdles in the development of Telangana and challenged the TRS leaders to reveal the evidence if they had any.Four volumes of the 'Paris archive (1919-1940) by Alimardan Topchibashi was presented at ADA University in Baku today. The books were published by the Moscow publishing house Khudozhestvennaya Literatura with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.

The presentation was attended by rector of the ADA Hafiz Pashayev, compilers, authors of foreword and notes, translators Georgi Mamulia and Ramiz Abutalybov, as well as science editor Ismail Agakishiev.

The first volume tells about Topchibashi's activities in Paris in 1919-1921, The second volume contains information from Paris archival documents and materials about Alimardan Topchibashis political activity in the Azerbaijani diplomatic delegation, which he led during the Paris Peace Conference. The third volume contains documents and materials concerning the activities of Topchibashi as the head of the Azerbaijani diplomatic delegation in France and other Azerbaijani organizations during the immigration in 1924-1930.

The fourth volume contains documents and materials concerning last years of Topchibashi's life and activities of his successors in 1935-1940, when radical changes occurred in the life of Caucasian migrants in Europe due to non-aggression pact between France and the USSR and accession of the USSR to the League of Nations. Documents on the Azerbaijani delegation's work in Paris in 1935-1940 were preserved thanks to Alimardan Topchibashi's son, Alekper Topchibashi, who became secretary of the delegation in 1936.

As Georgy Mamulia noted in his speech, the four-volume book focuses on Alimardan Topchibashi's political work. "His archive is huge, we have published less than 3% of all Paris documents, based primarily on the need to show Alimardan Topchibashi as a political figure during the 1919-1920 Paris Peace Conference and as one of the leaders of the Azerbaijani emigration. The archive is interesting because of Topchibashi's personality," he said.

"We tried not to miss any significant political document. We made translations from French into Russian, deciphered certain texts. Nevertheless, we successfully completed our work and presented the Paris archive of 1919-1940 by Alimardan Topchibashi," Georgi Mamulia added.

"Alimardan Topchibashi was a leader who put the Caucasian unity on the forefront. He understood that Azerbaijan as one of the Caucasian republics is not able to keep independence apart from its neighbors. He had the best relations with Georgians and North Caucasians, it is evident from the published documents. He tried to do everything possible to attract Armenians to this cooperation, unfortunately, he didn't always succeed, but in any case, it is clear that he understood that the 1919-1920 conflicts could threaten the realization of his most cherished dream - the restoration of the independence of the Caucasus," the historian said.

"Once again, many thanks to the distinguished audience, especially I want to thank the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, which financed our research and did everything to return the heritage of Alimardan Topchibashi to Azerbaijan and the Caucasus," George Mamulia concluded.

Historian Sevinj Aliyeva stressed that the four-volume 'Paris Archive' has become a world treasure. "This work earned reviews in Poland, Great Britain and Russia. This is a colossal work, including more than 100 documents of strategic importance, indicating that our emigration sought to consolidate all the peoples of the Caucasus. It was not easy. They negotiated with Armenians, Georgians and highlanders. The unification of the Caucasus was the most important, because it was necessary to fight together with the common Bolshevik threat," she recalled.

"Alimardan Topchibashi honorably represented our country, defended its interests abroad. Each document is a whole separate story, which requires comments, long historical work. These are valuable sources that bear the indelible stamp of their era. Once again I congratulate everyone," Sevinj Aliyeva summed up.

Senior scientist at the History and Economy department of the ANAS Institute of Eastern Studies Solmaz Rustamova-Tohidi said that the life of Alimardan Topchibashi is Paris was hard. "It was one of the first statesmen who preserved the archive, understanding the importance of archives," the historian noted, praising the role of Ramiz Abutalybov and Georgi Mamulia in the publication of this archive.

"All the archives by Alimardan Topchibashi were translated from French to Russian by Georgi Mamulia. I want to emphasize the role of Ramiz Abutylabov, who, despite his age, continues to work and preserve the history of Azerbaijan. In general, these are not just books, but part of the sacred history of our country," Solmaz Rustamova-Tohidi said.

Alimardan Topchibashi was the Speaker of the Parliament of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, the first deputy of the Russian State Duma, an Azerbaijani politician and diplomat. After the February Revolution of 1917 he led the Azerbaijan National Committee.

After the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was proclaimed, he became the ambassador to Armenia, Georgia and the Ottoman Empire, and later became the minister of foreign affairs. He headed the delegation of the Republic at the Paris Peace Conference. But after the Bolshevik takeover of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic he decide to stay in Paris, where he died on November 8, 1934.

The compilers, the authors of foreword and notes, translators are Georgi Mamulia and Ramiz Abutalybov, science editor - professor Ismail Agakishiev. The authors expressed their gratitude to Solmaz Rustamova-Togidi, Adalat Tagirzade, Pavel Libere, Eldar Ismayilov and Omer Ozcan for valuable consultations and provided information.ANANTAPUR: Jan Sena Tarangam, an exclusive five day programme by the Jana Sena party will be launched on Wednesday to brief people about the party ideology and election manifesto at every doorstep across the state. Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan shared views live on Facebook on Tuesday and spoke about the Jana Sena Tarangam concept. He said that this programme was going to be launched to explain the ideology, issues in the manifesto and the ideals of the Jana Sena party, here on Tuesday. He called upon Janasainiks to tap the doors of each house and explain to the inmates, the ideology, ideals, issues included in the manifesto and the seven ideals of the party. Stating that the programme will be started at 11 am on Wednesday, Mr Kalyan disclosed that he would personally participate in the launching of the programme in any village of Singanamala Assembly constituency.

For all these years, development has been neglected under the mask of castes, religions, and areas. We must inform people as to the need of politics to transform and how our party will support the masses, he said and added that Jana Sena party exists not for 25 kgs of rice but for 25 years of a future.

Mr Kalyan said, This programme will be conducted for five days from December 5.

The Jana Sena Tarangam programme has been taken up to explain the partys ideology and the party manifesto in detail to the public . The youth, both male and female, by participating in this, should explain the new age politics beyond caste and religion adopted by the Jana Sena for the coming generations. All these years, under the mask of caste, religion and area, development has been neglected. He asked the cadres to inform the people of the need for politics to transform and how the JS stood in support of the masses.

We march ahead for Bangaru Andhra Pradesh, developed AP and healthy AP, he asserted.

Mr Kalyan asked cadres to keep the Facebook page live while explaining the policies of the JS to each household after tapping on the doors. I too will interact live with some of the participants, he said.

in this programme. Let us conduct this programme intensively for the coming five days. Let us explain to the people how development was kept at bay with corrupt politics. Let us make the people partners and get them involved in this process, said Pawan. He emphasised on the need for explaining the ideals of the JS to each and everybody. Mr Pawan asked the Jana Sainiks to ask the head of the house to give a missed call to 9010101170 with their permission to join the Jana Sena.Many species of birds fly long distances to avoid the cold weather and poor food availability in the higher latitudes in winter. They fly towards the equator and spend the winter in warmer climates. On the approach of summer, they fly back to the countries they came from, to make use of the longer days there to get access to food and breed. So bird migration is seasonal and India too sees huge numbers arrive every year.

Bengaluru is a city every corporate could be proud of only if its lakes wear a pristine and sparkling look devoid of sewage and stench. And if biotech major Biocon can bring the Hebbagodi Lake back to life with a generous infusion of funds, why cant others do their bit and bring back the winged beauties which once madethe IT citys water bodies their home? Aksheev Thakur reports

A recent report that the Karnataka Forest Department plans to partner with the Bombay Natural History Society to ring and collar migratory birds reveals what is perhaps the first of such efforts in the state. The initiative, which is expected to be taken in the backwaters of the Tungabhadra reservoir and Magadi tank in North Karnataka, should restore the focus on habitat conservation and humanitys role in bird migration.

Many species of birds fly long distances to avoid the cold weather and poor food availability in the higher latitudes in winter. They fly towards the equator and spend the winter in warmer climates. On the approach of summer, they fly back to the countries they came from, to make use of the longer days there to get access to food and breed. So bird migration is seasonal and India too sees huge numbers arrive every year.

Madivala Lake - Spotted Pelicans or Dalmatian Pelicans.

It is believed that by the Meiocene epoch - pegged between five and 23 million years ago- in earths history, bird migration was already in place. Considering that the Himalayas arose during the Meiocene epoch, bird migration is many times older than the advent of humans on earth.

Migratory birds generally start arriving in September-October to our part of the country and stay on till April before beginning their journey back. Fast flying birds like ducks and shorebirds come early, sometimes by the end of August.

But there are some long distance non- stop flyers too. Satellite tracking has shown that the Godwits, which fly between Alaska and Australia, cover some nine to 11,000 kms non-stop, without food, water or sleep over the Pacific. The young of the Common Swifts of Europe also keep flying continuously day and night for one-and-a-half to two years feeding, drinking and bathing on the wing till they come back to build their own nests and raise their young. In this time they also complete a migration trip to Southern Africa and back!

Kaikondrahalli Lake - Ibis

In this whole process of bird migration, we the humans as a species, play an important part. As the earths greatest invasive species, we are destroying natural habitats faster than ever before. If we destroy habitats, especially the staging and feeding grounds, these birds will be put at a very heavy disadvantage. Without building adequate fat and nutritional reserves, they will be at a loss, and their population will suffer. It is therefore our responsibility to ensure their survival.

 Dr Krishna M.B.

Tracking aerial journey of birds

For a very long time, our understanding of the endurance of birds during migration was largely through observations and a process of what is called ringing. A small ring bearing a number and address would be slipped on a birds foot. When this ring was recovered or the bird captured elsewhere, we would know about the movement and timing. The locations of the different sites and the dates of ringing and recovery would give an indication of the speed and distance of migration. In India, this work was largely done by the Bombay Natural History Society. All this changed with newer technology. The process of putting a small transmitter (technically called a platform terminal transmitter), whose signals would be received directly by orbiting satellites and relayed back to receiving stations, started throwing up real time information. Though it was quite revealing, but it is very costly. A via media between ringing and satellite tracking, and a more affordable technique, for large birds like bar-headed geese, would be the bold neck bands with very visible numbers. Our local photographers have done a remarkable job in photographing such marked geese in our lakes. By this information, the photographed birds are traced back to the place where they were banded. Apart from barheaded geese, other birds bearing bands like great knots have also been photographed in India.

More CSR initiatives needed to save the citys water bodies

On Sunday, as part of its efforts to clean up the city's environment, Biocon Foundation proudly announced that it had brought back to life the dying 35-acre Hebbagodi Lake.

And a few months ago, in April, an NGO, SayTrees joined hands with a private firm, HP Inc. to revive the 16 acre Vabasandra Lake and accomplished the restoration in July.

Kaikondrahalli Lake -Marsh Harrier

These are only two examples of an increasing number of corporates now coming forward to help restore the city's dying water bodies, which once took care of its water supply and groundwater table and contributed to its salubrious weather.

If Bengaluru owes its founding father, Kempegowda's foresight in building these inter-connected water bodies for the many lakes it still has today in its midst (despite losing several to so-called development), it has several corporates to thank for ensuring their survival despite the sewage that is constantly let into them from their surroundings.

Fortunately, some private firms seriously follow the diktats of The Companies Act of 2013 , which has made it mandatory for all listed companies with annual sales of Rs 500 crore or annual profits of Rs 100 crore to set aside two percent of their profit for their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects. Last week, Union Petroleum Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan too advised corporates to spend upto 10 per cent of their profits on socially relevant work.

This has come in handy for the city as the BBMP often blames a lack of funds for its failure to clean up its lakes. Over the last few years, several companies have joined hands with non-governmental organisations (NGO) to breathe fresh life into many dying lakes across the city and its outskirts.

Clearly happy with her company's involvement in the cause, chairperson and managing director of Biocon, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw says CSR can be directed to environmental issues like rejuvenation of lakes. "Companies should also concentrate on important things like ensuring clean air as this will help us go a long way in improving the lives of the people, she suggests.

Founder of SayTrees, Kapil Sharma, believes corporates not only need to fund the rejuvenation of lakes, but also support their year on year maintenance for their long time survival. "This will ensure that lakes neglected for long owing to shortage of funds survive for years to come, he explains.

The government-owned Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) seems to be doing just this as not only did it spend Rs 14 crore earlier this year on setting up a 10 MLD Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) to revive the Doddabommasandra Lake, but it has also taken on the responsibility of maintaining it for the next 20 years.

The corporates involved do need to get approval from the Karnataka Lake Conser vation and Development Authority (KLCDA) and other authorities to play good Samaritans, but it is not hard to come by as the government is only too happy to have them support it in a cause so dear to the city.Kochi: The high court on Tuesday slapped a fine of Rs 25,000 on BJP general secretary Sobha Surendran and warned her against using the judicial platform for cheap publicity.

The bench headed by the chief justice did not permit her counsel to withdraw her petition despite tendering an unconditional apology.

The court observed that she raised cheap allegations in the petition which was unwanted.

Stating that such petitions wasting the time of the court need not be entertained, the court observed that the fine had been imposed as a warning for those trying to misuse the court for cheap publicity. She should deposit the money with the legal services authority.

Ms Surendran later told reporters that she would approach the Supreme Court and would not pay the fine. The BJP leader also feigned ignorance about her counsel tendering an unconditional apology and sought its permission to withdraw the petition.

She filed public interest litigation questioning the police action in Sabarimala. Stating that courts above the high court exist in the country, she said police had been used to frame false cases against Ayyappa devotees in the past 40 days.

According to her, she was trying to bring this matter to the notice of the court through the PIL. The petition in the high court has alleged that union ministers and high court judges also faced a raw deal from the police in Sabarimala. She also alleged that the Supreme Court verdict asking for action against the investigating officials in cases in which the court freed the accused are not followed in Kerala.Addressing the press on Tuesday, Mr Somisetty said that both Pawan and Jagan were keeping away from the Telangana elections as they were more interested in protecting their assets in Hyderabad.

Kurnool: Telugu Desam district president, Mr Somisetty Venkateswarlu, slammed the Jana Sena (JS) chief, Mr Pawan Kalyan, for spreading half-baked truths and lies against the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu and challenged him to prove who brought the Krishna waters to the drought hit Anantapur district.

He said both Pawan Kalyan and Jagan Mohan Reddy were acting at the behest of Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi and were bringing disrepute to the State by attempting to portray Mr Naidu as a de-growth chief minister.

Addressing the press on Tuesday, Mr Somisetty said that both Pawan and Jagan were keeping away from the Telangana elections as they were more interested in protecting their assets in Hyderabad.

He said they knew what would happen if they uttered a word against PM, Mr Narendra Modi, and Mr K. Chandrasekhar Rao. That is why they were playing a soft ball with each other to divert the attention of the public.

He said as Jagans walkathon did not attract much public sympathy, he indulged in the Kodi Kathi drama which also fizzled out. Unable to reach out to the people, Jagan was trying all the tricks in his hat, and people would teach him a lesson, he added.Hyderabad: Caretaker Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao called the people bewakoof for making noise during his speech and asked if they lacked sense during a public address at Alampur on Tuesday.

He was speaking about the irrigation scenario , when the audience started making noise. A visibly irked Chandrasekhar Rao said, Why are you shouting? Are you bewakoof galu? Dont you have sense? You seem to have gone mad (pichollu). While asking if a leader was present to control the particular section making the noise, he also asked if other people shouldnt listen to my speech or not? Cant you be silent for 10 minutes?

Mahabubnagar TRS MP A P Jithender Reddy tried to control the situation on the dais by informing the CM that it was due to excitement Sir. A noticeably agitated Rao, termed it as useless excitement and added, Even excitement shouldnt be high as brainless excitement is of no use. He went on to say that this virtue had cost the state heavily.

The video has gone viral on social media platforms and is being shared extensively.

Mr.Chandrasekhar Rao lost his cool during the Alampur meeting when some party workers disturbed his speech by continuing to shout slogans despite his appeal to keep quiet and listen.

At first KCR tried a lighter approach, joking that that if they continued shouting slogans, water from the Thummilla project will be stopped. When this had no effect on the group, KCR told them to shut up and said if they continued to shout he would leave the meeting.

MP Jitender Reddy tried to calm things by telling KCR that they were just a group of enthusiastic youngsters, to which KCR replied, They are enthusiastic, I know, but its of no use to shout and it causes disturbance to others.Indigo chief commercial officer William Bowlder said that Singapore flight was the first international service from Vijayawada airport. (Representational Images)

Vijayawada: A cross section of the society welcomed the start of direct flights to Singapore from Vijayawada city.

Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu flagged off the first Indigo flight from Vijayawada airport to Singapore on Tuesday.

Shortly afterwards, the Vice-President said that there was vast scope for air cargo services from Vijayawada airport as surrounding regions are agri rich regions.

He said Nuzvid mango and other agricultural products could be exported to global markets directly from the airport providing value addition to the produce of farmers.

V. Saradhi, B. Srinivas and others said that the direct flight service will help students desirous of pursuing higher education in Singapore. They said that direct international flights from Vijayawada to other countries was needed as students in large numbers go to the USA, England, Germany and other countries for higher studies.

Indigo chief commercial officer William Bowlder said that Singapore flight was the first international service from Vijayawada airport.

He said that presently, the service is available twice a week and, with the cooperation of state government, Indigo will increase the frequency.Marine commandos demonstrate on safe landing from parachutes during the Indian Navy Operational Demonstration at the Navy Day celebrations at Ramakrishna Beach in Vizag on Tuesday.

VISAKHAPATNAM: On the occasion of Navy Day, Eastern Naval Command conducted an operational display at RK Beach on Tuesday evening. More than a lakh visitors turned up to witness the multi-dimensional warfare capabilities of the Indian Navy in protecting the vast maritime borders and offshore assets of the country.

State deputy Chief Minister N. Chinarajappa was the chief guest on the occasion while Visakhapatnam MP K. Haribabu was the guest of honour. Several dignitaries from Central and state administration, officers, sailors and Defence civilians from the Indian Navy, a large crowd of civil populace witnessed the event.

The Navys power demonstration began with a burst of water on the chief guest by elite marine commandos, spectacular descent by skydivers, display of helicopters landing and taking off from the moving column of Naval ships Ranvir, Satpura, Khanjar and Kadmatt in a taut formation.

The event also showcased Indian Navys search and rescue capabilities which had played a vital role in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations, both at national and international levels.

In a spellbinding display of covert operations, insertion of a team of marine Commandos in a slithering operation was undertaken from a mighty Sea King helicopter.

Along with beach assault and amphibious landing on the beach front by Naval vessels, the Commandos displayed a wide range of combat capabilities such as extraction by Sea King helicopter and clandestine sabotage operations by detonating explosive charges on a simulated oil rig.

A formation of various types of aircraft from the ENC, including IAF Su-30s took to the skies in a scintillating fly past, closely followed by a bomb burst manoeuvre by the hawk advanced jet trainers.

Beating Retreat ceremony was performed by Naval Band. The event concluded with a silhouette illumination by the Eastern Fleet ships.Ten years ago, the Group of Twenty, or G-20, was created to coordinate worldwide action to combat the global financial crisis. The old G-7 group of the worlds top industrialised nations created it by inviting the next 12, plus the European Union, constituting 85 per cent of worlds economic output. The just-concluded Buenos Aires summit on November 30-December 1 was held against the backdrop of the simmering tension between many nations over political or economic issues. They issued a Leaders Declaration, more declaratory than having concrete points of action.

Bilateral and trilateral meetings of leaders invited more attention than the summit speeches. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, with the Jamal Khashoggi assassination controversy hovering over his head, offered some distraction over who would or would not greet him. His high-five exchange with Russian President Vladimir Putin caused some merriment as indeed leaks that German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May had lectured him. Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi happily posed with him eyeing prospective Saudi investments in India and the three million-odd Indians working in Saudi Arabia, besides the Indian dependence on oil imports.

India figured in two trilateral sessions. One was with Japan and the United States (US President Donald Trump held no bilateral meeting with India) and another one with Russia and China, maintaining the old grouping RIC. The former was joyfully christened by PM Modi as JAI, explaining it as meaning victory in Hindi. Nomenclatures aside, this was continued Indian re-balancing that began earlier this year with Mr Modis outreach to Presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. Thus, India has one foot in each boat, which will have clear strategic divergences. JAI sought a free, open, inclusive and rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific region, which indirectly berates Chinese muscling of its neighbours in the South China Sea and the purloining of open seas within their fictional nine-dash line, including the fortification of islands created in breach of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Two other trilateral meetings were between the US, Canada and Mexico to sign USMCA (US, Canada, Mexico Agreement) to replace the old North America Free Trade Agreement (Nafta); and between the foreign ministers of the European Union, UN Secretary-General and Chinas President Xi.

The Trump-Xi interaction and the cancellation of the planned Trump-Putin meeting drew global attention. Russias forcible seizure of three Ukrainian vessels entering the Sea of Azov, taken as a freedom of navigation zone, and the indictment of former Trump lawyer Paul Manafort forced the US Presidents hand. The US-China meeting had implications for global trade as the two largest economic powers, having imposed tit-for-tat tariffs, sat down for what the two leaders later called a highly successful meeting. The United States postponed tariff hikes on $250 million Chinese products from 10 per cent to 25 per cent planned January 1 as China agreed to buy a substantial amount of agricultural, industrial and energy products and agreed, with a 90-day deadline, as well as to immediately begin negotiations on structural changes with respect to forced technology transfer, intellectual property protection, non-tariff barriers, cyber intrusion and cyber theft. China also endorsed the Qualcom-NXP deal, which plans to merge the US-owned worlds biggest chipmaker and its Dutch rival. China also designated Fentanyl, a precursor for drug production, as a controlled substance. This is far from a deal, as outcome is contingent on negotiation results, but President Trump got some wins.

The G-20 Declaration focuses on four themes  the future of work, infrastructure for development, a sustainable food future and gender mainstreaming. Each rests on recognising that strong global economic growth has been increasingly less synchronised between nations and transformative technologies present risks and opportunities. Nations need to train, educate and improve skills for inclusive, fair and sustainable Future of Work. Describing education as a basic human right, the leaders seek coordination between employment and quality education policies. Linked to this is the recognition that digitalisation and emerging technologies should promote micro, small and medium enterprises.

These are pious sentiments, unlikely to change the trajectory of developed powers, particularly the United States, as they confront the challenge posed by China announcing in 2014 a $150 billion investment fund to improve its domestic industry under the rubric Made in China 2025. Former US President Barak Obama recognised this in 2015 when he barred Intels sale of advanced chips to China. Moores Law dictates that the capacity of chips doubles every two years. In this race, China can be delayed but not stopped from rivalling US and Western prowess.

That leaves India, as was obvious at G-20, on the margins of the global redistribution of economic and technological power. It was said that the Indian Prime Minister sought a mechanism for the expeditious transfer of fugitives to combat corruption and economic crimes. The declaration calls for criminalisation of the bribery of foreign public officials but adds that the return of persons sought for such offences and stolen assets was possible only when consistent with international obligations and domestic legal systems. That isnt different from the situation now. India needs better crime prevention and investigation to succeed in extraditing fugitives.

On climate change, the differences were apparent as the US view is in a separate paragraph, while the signatories to the Paris Agreement re-emphasised that a strong economy and healthy planet are mutually reinforcing. But Trumpian exceptionalism and the endorsement of fossil-fuel lobbies weakens the fight that may leave poorer countries the worst affected. The winter smog in North India is an annual occasion for self-flagellation. But where the Narendra Modi government has failed is to position India at the forefront of finding cost-effective solutions to these problems, other than advancing solar energy use.

Jawaharlal Nehru, Indias first Prime Minister who is now reviled by the neo right-wing, paid obeisance at the temples of modern science and industry.

Regrettably, our national discourse has been diverted to building actual temples and statues. The real question is whether India, when it hosts the G-20 in 2022 coinciding with 75 years of Independence, return to that scientific temper and existential issues?After the amazing turn of events in the July polls, an anti-establishment leftist has taken office as Mexicos President. In a revolutionary twist, neither of the two major parties that ruled for 89 years could stem the popular tide behind Andres Manuel Lopez Obraodor and his fledgling party. Despite Central Americas socialist experiments, it was unimaginable that capitalist America would get a southern neighbour with such leanings. It will be interesting to see how AMLO gets along with Donald Trump at a time when the tricky migration issue had developed into the Trumpian call for a border wall. Astonishingly, one of the Mexican Presidents first acts was to sign pacts with three Central American nations on a plan to stem the migrant flow to the US, even as a caravan of Honduran migrants threatens to invade America.

The northern neighbour isnt Mexicos only problem. Its new President defied convention by participating in a formal anointing by indigenous groups at his oath-taking. Among the major tasks facing AMLO is to end the marginalisation of such poor communities. Also, he has to heal the wounds of a fractious election in which around 130 people were killed. He started on a bright note, winning brownie points by opening up the sprawling presidential palace Los Pinos, said to be 14 times bigger than the White House, to the public and the ostentatious lifestyle of past rulers was made immediately apparent. AMLO has already taken many decisions  like selling the presidential jet  to show how his administration will be closer to the people. But how the economy fares, amid his appeals to Mexicans to buy local, is yet to be seen.A new side of Congress president Rahul Gandhi came on view when he began visiting Hindu shrines in Gujarat while campaigning for the Assembly elections last year and subsequently temple-hopped in Karnataka earlier this year while on the stump in the state. He then went on a pilgrimage to Kailash-Mansarovar, deemed the abode of Lord Shiva, trekking high in the Himalayas on a thanksgiving trip after surviving a near air disaster in Karnataka.

And these days the Congress leader taunts Prime Minister Narendra Modi who, according to Mr Gandhi, may be a master of Hindutva politics but is innocent of even the basics of Hinduism, such as the teaching of the sacred text Gita, a fount of Hindu philosophy with which knowledgeable Hindus are expected to be acquainted.

Mr Modi and his party are definitely not amused, and have wondered aloud from where the Congress and its leaders have acquired their knowledge about Hinduism. Sushma Swaraj, assuming a posture of affront, has wondered how Mr Gandhi, of all people, could dare to lecture the BJP on Hinduism.

Thats just the rub. Leave alone Mr Gandhi, who we have on the authority of writer and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor is well versed in the philosophical aspects of Hinduism, and is even capable of engaging in disputations over it, most educated Hindus may be able to challenge the BJP-RSS leadership on the foundational aspects of Hinduism.

The BJP-RSS is not given to piety or spreading the light of Hindu philosophy. Its endeavour is Hindutva, which is playing politics behind the smokescreen of religion.

This is a venture to mobilise the mass of Hindu voters in the name of religion in order to further the BJPs electoral prospects.

This crucial separation is what Mr Gandhi evidently seeks to emphasise. But the question has been raised if this is the best way to advance the principles of his party.

It is no doubt important to advertise the bifurcation, for many gullible people think the BJP will look after Hindu interests  as yet undefined. To do so is, then, clearly a desirable political act. But the issue really turns on whether a leading political figure like Mr Gandhi, whose party and he himself avow the credo of secularism, should make religiosity overt by visiting temples.

The post-Atal Behari Vajpayee BJP, while grabbing the so-called Hindu mantle, has attempted to denounce the Congress as denigrating Hinduism by ignoring it while cosseting religious minorities.

The Congress A.K. Antony committee report had dilated on this. Mr Gandhi appears to be paying heed to this report for tactical and defensive reasons, expectedly rattling the BJP and upsetting high-minded liberals. But this cannot be construed as converting the Congress into a Hindutva party.Russian Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media, Azerbaijani Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies, Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure and Iranian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology have agreed to establish a consortium for further development of information and communication technologies, Azerbaijani Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies Ramin Guluzade said at the opening ceremony of Bakutel 2018, the 24th Azerbaijan International Telecommunications and Information Technologies Exhibition and Conference.

Guluzade noted that the sides are expected to cooperate in the fields of satellite communication, cyber security, the development of telecommunications infrastructure, etc.

According to the minister, the goal of the meeting is to create good conditions for the development of ICT in the countries of the region. Guluzade stressed that he discussed this issue with colleagues from Russia, Iran and Turkey.

"We decided to create a consortium consisting of four countries to develop this sphere together. We should more often hold discussions on these topics as this may rapidly resolve the emerging issues," Trend cited Guluzade as saying.

He also noted that he Azerbaijani side proposed to create a working group with the participation of representatives of the abovementioned structures of all the participating countries.Karma is the fuel that propels a being on the journey of the spirit, good karma takes one to higher dimensions, bad karma takes him to worlds below. Connection with the guru catalyses this process, that is, the speed with which you go up or go down increases manifold.

Krishna took birth to explain the path of karma only. If his purpose was just to kill the Kauravas, he could have done it from Vaikunth only, in a matter of seconds. What is difficult for Vishnu? But he took birth and also became a guru, to tell that if a being does good where he lands, and what happens if he does bad. Whoever had a connection with Krishna, whether good or bad, reached where they wanted to. If you are connected to a force (shakti), it is impossible that this doesnt happen. Even if a paap atma begins to improve his karma, he can pull himself up. Karma has to be performed, rest is the domain of Krishna.

There are two kinds of forces in creation  ones who work for the betterment of creation, and ones who work for destruction. It is on you, which of these you stand by and support. If you encourage a negative entity, it will first hold your finger, then your hand, and then the neck. And it wont strangle you after that it will jump into pits, which is assured by its karmas, and take you with it. At that time, you will not be able to let go of it.

And what lies beneath has been described at length in our shastras, and is being observed by modern science.

Russians dug a 12-14 km deep hole into the earth, the Kola borehole. They would hear funny sounds emanating from the hole, and as they went deeper, temperatures became unbearably hot, enough to cook people, and sounds converted into screams, the screams of millions of tormented people. On going deeper, a bat like figure emerged out of the hole flapping its wings, as if saying now I am free. The scientists admitted seeing it, but said they dont believe it! The project was halted, the hole shut permanently.

On another occasion, a team of American divers decided to explore the deepest trenches of the Bermuda Triangle. As soon as they reached the bottom, they signalled to be brought up immediately. Being revived from the shock, they revealed they had heard cries and screams of suffering humans. They got so scared that they left diving after that.

If Americans and Russians are agreeing on something, it has to be correct  and even our shastras describe it.

Hell is real, and a certainty unless one improves his/her karma. So start now, constantly improve karmas, be in the company of good (satsang) and leave the friends who have taken the downward path. If you do not do karma, reading this is futile, and even doing karma is of no use if you do not have a guru because karma gives energy for a good birth, the guru shows you the path. If you dont have energy, you cannot walk and even if you have energy but you dont know where to go, how will reach?

Every avatar of Vishnu gave the gyan of the period. Matsya avatar established the dominance of the creatures of the ocean, kurma avatar was the transition of power from the ocean to the earth, Varaha avatar established the power of earth. Vamana avatar taught that the entire brahmand is of Vishnu and the greater is the karma of a being, the more the lord will serve him. Vamana became the dwarpal of King Bali, such is the humility of the lord of three lokas. Narsimha established that no matter what is the level of evil, whatever it does, Vishnu has an answer for it. Punishment is inescapable. Parashuram showed us how a normal person has the capacity to do anything. If you are on the right side, Vishnu empowers you. Ram Chandra was born with all the sixteen powers, his name reverberates in all cultures. Ram means bestower of moksha, even Dashanan became entitled to moksha as he came in the sharan of Ram. Balram was the guru of Duryodhan, yet Duryodhan could not be saved, indicating that if you are a dushkarmi, then even if Narayan is your guru, you cannot be saved. Balram had to leave Duryodhan in an injured state. Krishna gave the gyan of karma.

And finally, in kalyug, the tenth avatar of Vishnu is awaited  Kalki, who is described as having a face of horse. If you look at gods, Lord Ganesh has an elephant head, Lord Hanuman has a monkey head. Kalki having a horse head indicates that gods themselves will descend in a particular form as man is doing neither listening, nor improving his karma. He going into agyan and encouraging agyan. So someone will be sent to restore order.

The beings of this yug have the opportunity to invoke his shakti, but this entitlement is only for those who have punya karma. So mend your ways, improve your karma. There is light and there is also darkness, the choice is yours. Do not stand on the side of asurs, because that would make you against Vishnu.Its taken an ethnic Ghanaian to remind the British that their country might be reduced to an isolated, impoverished and inconsequential cluster of islands off the coast of Europe if it unravels 40 years of close association with the European Union. British interests will be repeatedly and permanently hammered by the EU27 for many years to come, warns Sam Gyimah, the British-born, Oxford-educated Conservative who was minister for universities, science, research and innovation until November 30, when he became the 10th minister to resign since July when Prime Minister Theresa May presented her Chequers plan for leaving the EU.

Internationally, the loss will be of a model that inspired a fractured and warring world to seek cohesion. The Association of South-East Asian Nations, the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Gulf Cooperation Council and our own South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation all seek to follow in the footsteps of a trading bloc that is the nearest approach to a global community. That model is threatened now by the fanciful self-view of a disgruntled member that fancies itself as a global power centre, an illusion that is kept alive by the Commonwealth, whose trappings are more visible in London than in any Afro-Asian capital.

However, it is realised now that the June 2016 referendum, when 51.89 per cent of respondents voted to quit the EU against 48.11 per cent wishing to remain, and which Nigel Farage, leading the right-wing populist UK Independence Party, hailed as his personal victory, was not based on adequate knowledge of what is at stake. It was a knee-jerk response to racist fears that hordes of Europeans were sponging on Britains welfare services. That stand bears reconsidering as the December 11 vote in Parliament on the 585-page draft settlement agreed to by Ms May and the EU leaders draws near. The demand for another reference to the people is growing to ensure that the heady campaign to take back control does not mean social, political and  above all  economic damage on March 29, 2019, the deadline by when the divorce must be finalised.

Mr Gyimah, who has revived the referendum demand, edited a report by a Conservative think tank, titled From the Ashes: the future of the Conservative Party. As science minister, he was frustrated with arguments between Britain and the EU over the satellite programme Galileo. He doesnt think its in Britains interest to leave the EU. Promising to vote on December 11 against this happening, he says separation would leave the country poorer, weaker, and less secure. He wants the legal process of departure, Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, extended.

Seventeen MPs also want a second referendum because, they say, the impact of the Brexit vote has already seen Britain go from being the fastest growing G-7 economy to one of the slowest. Our constituents did not vote to put jobs at risk or to be worse off and they certainly did not expect to pay a 40 billion divorce bill without knowing what our future trading relationship with the EU would be, they say. Reneging on the obligation would be devastating for Britains international credibility.

US President Donald Trumps cavalier attitude proves that other countries wont be rushing to strike trade deals with a standalone Britain. They will insist on conditions like Indias demand for long-term visas for post-graduate students supposedly gaining work experience. Splitting trade quotas between Britain and the EU is one contentious issue. Fishing is another, with French President Emmanuel Macron arguing that European fishermen can continue to exploit British waters after Brexit. Fishing differences explained Greenlands exit and accounted for two Norwegian referendums rejecting EU membership. The proposed customs union excludes services which make up 80 per cent of Britains economy and 40 per cent of its exports to the EU. The EUs 10 per cent import tariff would ruin Britains car industry. Farmers would similarly find it difficult to sell across the English Channel. In fact, all protected sectors would wither.

Sorting all this out is bound to be messy, especially since trade agreements involving mixed competences, where some powers are exercised by the EU and others by individual countries, will need unanimous EU endorsement. Regional interests can arouse fierce loyalties. In 2016 the local parliament of Wallonia, Belgiums French-speaking province with under four million people, held up the EUs free trade agreement with Canada, which had been on the anvil since 2009. The 17 objecting MPs say: Far from a Brexit dividend, there will be a heavy penalty for the NHS, public health, social care, science and research. This is why the people  not only their MPs  must have a say on whether we go through with this.

Even John McDonnell, the Labour Partys shadow chancellor, says a second referendum must allow remaining in the EU. The terms of Brexit  whatever they are  should be put to the British people to decide whether to proceed on those terms or to keep the current deal we have as a member of the EU. Quitting without a settlement would leave Britain without rules to govern trading in radioactive materials, international electricity markets, financial-contract clearing, aviation, medicines regulation, immigration control and much else. Besides rupturing the corpus of EU-Britain legal arrangements, it would raise questions about the Ireland-Northern Ireland border and possibly jeopardise the Good Friday agreement that has ended the civil war.

Ms Mays defiant no deal is better than a bad deal slogan convinced the British  not that they needed much convincing  that they can still dictate terms. It didnt work for the simple reason that its no longer Rule Britannia. Britain has a weak hand and wont face up to it. Its all laughingly reminiscent of the old joke about Channel Frozen, Continent Isolated.US wireless carrier Sprint Corp is also working with LG Electronics USA to launch a 5G smartphone in the US in the first half of 2019.

Verizon Communications Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd on Monday confirmed long-held industry expectations they would seek to steal a march on Apple Inc by launching US 5G smartphones in the first half of 2019.

The two companies said in a statement they would unveil a prototype, using Qualcomm Incs modem chips, at the chipmakers annual Snapdragon Technology Summit in Maui, Hawaii this week.

While Verizon is leading the charge to trial 5G in some cities next year, industry analysts say the higher-speed networks are unlikely to be widely available until the middle of the next decade.

Apple is engaged in a legal battle with Qualcomm that has led it to stop using its modem chips, and the Cupertino, California company is widely expected instead to use Intel modems, which will not be ready for production until late 2019.

Citing sources familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported here on Monday that Apple would wait until at least 2020 to release its first 5G iPhones.

The delay could make it easier for Samsung and Verizon to win customers who are eager to connect to 5G networks, which will provide a leap forward in mobile data speeds, up to 50 or 100 times faster than current 4G networks.

Qualcomm has also partnered with other smartphone makers who have committed to 5G phones for next year.

US wireless carrier Sprint Corp is also working with LG Electronics USA to launch a 5G smartphone in the US in the first half of 2019.

Verizon launched its first commercial 5G service in October when its 5G Home offering went live in Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and Sacramento.

Verizon Chief Financial Officer Matthew Ellis said last month that the company plans to target a broader audience for its 5G home broadband product following the adoption of global standards for the technology.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.'We'll work all this forward. This is the normal collaboration and consultation that we have with each other,' Mattis said in response to a similar question. (Photo: File)

Washington: Defence Secretary James Mattis has expressed confidence that India and the US would be able to resolve all issues related to India's purchase of the S-400 air defence systems from Russia that could draw possible US sanctions. India risked US sanctions when it agreed in October to a USD 5 billion deal to buy Russian missile systems.

India's purchase is subject to potential US sanctions under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which deals primarily with countries having "significant transactions" with Russia, North Korea or Iran.

"We will work everything out. Trust me," Mattis told reporters Monday as a journalist asked the visiting Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman about the missile deal and the possibility of US sanctions. India needs a presidential waiver to get around the punitive CAATSA sanctions.

"We'll work all this forward. This is the normal collaboration and consultation that we have with each other," Mattis said in response to a similar question.

"India has been spent many, many years in its non-aligned status, and it's drawn a lot of weapons from Russia," Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon ahead of Sitharaman's arrival on Monday.

Russia's S-400 system, a mobile long-range surface-to-air missile system, made its debut on the world stage in 2007. The platform rivals Lockheed Martin's THAAD, or terminal high altitude area defence, system and Raytheon's Patriot system.

S-400 is known as Russia's most advanced long-range surface-to-air missile defence system.

China was the first foreign buyer to seal a government-to-government deal with Russia in 2014 to procure the lethal missile system.

Moscow has already started delivery of an undisclosed number of the S-400 missile systems to Beijing.With Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Deep learning taking centre stage, this is the right time to be in technology, and India provides bigger opportunities, said Amit Agarwal, Senior Vice President  India Consumer Business, Amazon on Tuesday.

Speaking at a fireside chat organised by Amazon India as part of the second edition of Amazon Women in Technology Conference AmazeWIT 2018, Agarwal said India contributes immensely as a delivery and tech hub along with its ecommerce business.

AmazeWIT provides a platform for women in technology to drive ownership of their career path through insights from technical leaders and thought leaders.

Agarwal said the company came up with features like deals, logistics facilitation, question and answer feature, and innovation around Kindle from India.

"Amazon is focussed single-mindedly on customer satisfaction, and the contribution from India is tremendous," he said, adding there are 3.70 lakh sellers on Amazon marketplace and during Diwali, Amazon delivered to 99.3% of India's pin codes.

Over 20 speakers spoke on varied topics like The Changing Marketplace & Our Diverse Customers and The workplace of the future at the conference, which was attended by over 300 delegates.

"One of the challenges working women in India face is that they not just do official work they also share the majority of responsibility at home. Men in India should also share the work of women," said Latasha Gillespie, Director of Diversity Programmes, Amazon.

At a panel discussion on the changing marketplace, Sweta Gupta, Director, Software Development- Prime Video and Katrina Lane, VP, Selling Partner Support, stressed the need to upskill oneself. "Upskilling yourself is very important and women should also take courses online," Sweta said.The Sun Pharma has not given satisfactory answers to some of the concerns pertaining to corporate governance raised in a research note by Macquarie, an Australian investment bank. Experts suggest that a lot of doubts are left in the minds of investors on the role played by the institutional investors and mutual funds.

"We can't blame market regulator for everything. Now the question is how much do the investors really dig into the publicly available finances of the company. Now the questions are coming up on why the mutual funds or institutional investors not asking these questions to the company. It's for the institutional investors to ponder," Shriram Subramanian of the corporate governance firm, InGovern told DH.

He also questioned the investor silence on the Fortis issue.

On December 1, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) initiated an inquiry into the affairs of Sun Pharma and reopened insider trading case on the basis of a whistle-blower complaint submitted in September.

The 150-page letter accused the company of committing corporate governance and tax-related lapses, besides other securities market-related violations.

Sun Pharma, its Managing Director Dilip Shanghvi, and nine others had settled the insider trading probe, paying Rs 18 lakh against the settlement charges in 2017.

However, in a detailed response filed to BSE, the drugmaker rejected all the charges. "As of now, we have not received any query related to this from SEBI," it said.

In a conference call, on Monday evening, Shanghvi said that the company had received no intimation from Sebi on the matter and announced steps to soothe investor concerns.

It all started with a research note by an investment bank last Tuesday. Macquarie, in its note on November 27 said that there were irregularities in the way Sun Pharma issued FCCBs (foreign currency convertible bonds).

Denying the allegations in the note, Shanghvi said, "The points raised in the note by the securities firm pertains to information that is sourced from the public domain and have been available to investors. Some of the issues are not related to the Sun Pharma, while some are factually incorrect while some issues are very old dating back to as old as 15 years."

However, according to Subramanian the company's response has not been adequate on the issue and, according to him, the company should come out more clear on the issue.

After the controversy broke out, the Sun Pharma stocks have taken a beating and have slid 10.1% on BSE in just two trading sessions this week. The company's stocks closed at Rs 442.8 per scrip on Tuesday.Environmentalists have expressed their objection to the four-laning of Mysuru-Bantwal National Highway 275 passing through Kodagu.

The greens fear that the project will be a threat to the rich flora and fauna of Kodagu.

A forum with the name Kodagu Maaraka Yojane Virodhi Samiti has also come into existence to oppose the project.

MP Pratap Simha had informed that a special officer and a supervising engineer have been appointed for the land acquisition and road widening respectively.

An exclusive office towards the project will be inaugurated on December 10 and all works are on for implementing the project, amid stiff opposition from the local residents.

Kodagu Wildlife Association president C P Muttanna said that the upgrading of the road from Ilavala (Mysuru)-Hunsur-Piriyapattanna-Kushalnagar-Madikeri will result in the destruction of hills along the stretch.

The coffee plantations will vanish and the massive deforestation will leave drastic impacts on the climate of the district. Landslides are likely to occur, he said.

He further said that a small district like Kodagu would not withstand the threat of too many development projects. In fact, 5,400 trees were felled for the Mysuru-Kozhikode 400 KV high tension power line in 2015. Since then, the district had been witnessing either excess rain or drought like-situation, said Muttanna.

Elephant-human conflict is also on the rise. Therefore, the projects which are detrimental to the environment should be shelved. The norms say that the road can be upgraded to four-lane only if there is a daily traffic of 10,000 vehicles per day. But the Madikeri-Kushalnagar Road does not have so much traffic. There is a hidden agenda behind the project. Currently, there is a 22 feet wide road in Madikeri, he added.

The new project intends to widen the Kushalnagar-Suntikoppa Road to 220 feet and Suntikoppa-Madikeri Road to 140 feet. Wild animals will be affected by the implementation of the project and there are more disadvantages than advantages, said environmentalists.Jammu and Kashmir Police on Monday claimed to have busted modules of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) militant outfits by arresting 18 of their over ground workers (OGWs) across the Valley.

A special team was constituted in view of the recent surge in militant attacks in Tral area of Pulwama (south Kashmiir). On the basis of material evidence collected, four persons identified as Younis Nabi Naik, Fayaz Ahmad Wani, Riyaz Ahmad Ganaie and Bilal Ahmad Rather were taken into custody, a police spokesman said.

He said that the investigation into the cases revealed their complicity in the attacks carried out in Tral.

The spokesman said that another module was busted in Khrew area of Pulwama in which six associates of the proscribed outfit JeM were arrested.

Those arrested, he said, were identified as Javaid Parray, Yasir Wani, Tahir Lone, Rafiq Bhat, Javaid Khanday and Imran Nazir.

Huge quantity of incriminating material was recovered from this module, including gelatin sticks, detonators, materials for making IEDs and grenades, the spokesman said.

He said that eight militant associates planning to snatch weapons from police personnel were arrested from Baramulla and Srinagar areas.

Based on a credible input that a criminal conspiracy has been hatched by some associates of militants to snatch weapons from on-duty police personnel, police detained eight militant accomplices, the spokesman said.

During the course of the investigation, he claimed, incriminating materials including arms and ammunition were recovered from them.

A police officer said that the militants move freely in cars from north to south Kashmir through a well-established network of OGWs.

For every active militant in Kashmir, there are 10 OGWs lined up by their mentors. OGWs are sustaining militancy and militants act on the advice and orders of their mentors and OGWs. If OGWs withdraw their support, militants will be sitting ducks. OGWs have been line up in such a manner that they help and guide the militants to our disadvantage," he said.In a significant development which could have wide political ramifications, the BJP on Tuesday demanded immediate arrest of JD (U) vice president Prashant Kishor, who is also a key aide of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

The ruling alliance partner  the BJP  is miffed with the election strategist PK (as Prashant is fondly known) since the latter is believed to have played a controversial role in the ensuing Patna University Students Union election, slated for December 5.

A group of BJP legislators including Arun Sinha, Nitin Navin, Sanjeev Chourasia and Suraj Nandan Kushwaha on Tuesday staged a dharna on the Pirbahore police station campus demanding the arrest of PK for violating the model code of conduct and trying to influence the students poll.

The election strategist is targeting ABVP, the students wing of the BJP. He (PK) is also trying to influence students union poll as he met Patna University Vice-Chancellor RB Singh on late Monday evening, alleged Nitin Navin, the BJP MLA, on Tuesday.

PKs car was attacked by student leaders soon after he came out of the VCs residence on Monday night. Though the PU VC and the City SP denied that PK violated any model code of conduct, a BJP delegation met Bihar Governor Lalji Tandon on Monday night demanding action against PK.

Why are you silent on the entire row, Nitish Chacha?, said Leader of the Opposition, Tejashwi Yadav. After lecturing everyone about high moral grounds and values, you have shown scant regard for students union elections as you have allowed your aide (PK) to misuse one of your official accommodation (7, Circular Road), said Tejashwi.

Prashant Kishor, on his part, attacked the BJPs student wing ABVP through his tweet: ABVP u need to do better than let few hooligans and anti-social elements become your face in Bihar. The possibility of losing the Patna University Students Union election will not get over by attacking my car.

The significance of PU Students Union election can be gauged from the fact that it is this university which has produced leaders like Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad, Upendra Kushwaha and Sushil Modi.Kolkata got its first Muslim Mayor since Independence with the victory of senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and the states Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim in the Mayoral elections on Monday. Hakim gained a thumping victory over his rival BJP candidate Meena Devi Purohit.

While Hakim secured 121 votes out of the total 144 members of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), Purohit managed to get only five votes. The 12 councillors of the Left Front and two councillors of Congress boycotted the election. The results of the election was declared by the Municipal Secretary Harihar Prasad Mondal.

Addressing the media after election results were declared Hakim took a swipe at the state BJP leadership who had claimed that there will be cross-voting from TMC in favour of the BJP candidate.

All 121 TMC councillors present today voted for me as per the partys whip. BJP claimed that cross-voting in favour of their candidate will be a moral victory for them. But since that did not happen it means that BJP has got moral defeat, said Hakim.

He also said that as Mayor his primary focus will be streamlining solid waste management and resolving waterlogging issue in the Behala area of Kolkata.

Hakims victory comes after several political twists and turns involving former Mayor Sovan Chatterjees resignation the post of Mayor as per the instructions of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The Chief Minister asked Chatterjee to resign as Mayor after he abruptly tendered his resignation as the Minister of Fire and Emergency Services and Housing Minister last month.



Last month TMC government passed the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (Second Amendment) Bill,2018 according to which someone who is not an elected member of KMC can become the Mayor on condition that he becomes a councillor within six months of getting elected as Mayor by other councillors. Hakim is yet to become a councillor.



Hakims election as Mayor faced another hurdle when a CPI(M) councillor approached the Calcutta High Court last week challenging Hakims candidature as Mayor because he is not a councillor.Turkey will take a census of Syrian refugees, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said.

The minister said that the presence of Syrian refugees in Turkey is a very complex issue and should be thoroughly examined, Turkish media reported.

Soylu also noted that 285,000 Syrian refugees returned to Syria after the Olive Branch and Euphrates Shield operations were conducted.

According to the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency of Turkey (AFAD), there are 3 million Syrian refugees in Turkey.The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) has filed a complaint with the Bengaluru city police commissioner against former chief minister B S Yedyurappa and BJP leader Sriramulu over operation Kamala, in which the BJP leaders reportedly attempted to poach 10 MLAs by offering them Rs 25 crore each.

In a complaint, Rizwan Arshad, MLC and chairman of the communication department, KPCC, said that, on December 3, there were reports telecast in the electronic media, with an audio clipping of 3.44 minutes, that reveals efforts to poach 10 MLAs belonging to the Congress.

MLAs Ramesh Jarkiholi, Sathish Jarkiholi, Anand Singh, Nagendra, Ganesh, Bheema Naik, B C Patil, Pratap Gouda Patil, were approached by Sriramulus PA and one of his friends, who is a businessman from Dubai.

The MLAs were told that they will be paid Rs 25 crore apart from the expenses towards the byelection being met, besides the offer of ministerial berth.

Yeddyurappa, Sriramulu and others were inducing the defection of Congress MLAs, it said. Sriramulu said in Hosapete that he had not made any effort to destabilise the government.

Those in the coalition government are spreading the rumours, he charged.

He said the government should order a probe and take action. There is no meaning in levelling allegations sitting in Bengaluru, he said.

BJP leader Jagadish Shettar said no leader from BJP was engaged in Operation Lotus. However, he said BJP will come to power if the coalition government collapses.There are three chief ministers in the state in H D Kumaraswamy, H D Deve Gowda and H D Revanna and that the Congress ministers have been reduced to being clerks, BJP leader K S Eshwarappa said on Monday.

Eshwarappa, who is leading a BJP drought assessment team, told reporters here, The coalition government has indulged in transfer business. More than 700 officials have been transferred. Public Works Minister himself has claimed that he was behind the transfer of 573 officials. Files sent by Congress legislators U T Khader and Ivan DSouza, seeking transfer of officials, are languishing in Chef Ministers Office, he charged.

The High Court of Karnataka has reprimanded the state government over transfer business. The court had warned the government of bringing the issue to the notice of the President, he said.

The Congress could not come to power on its own after 2018 Assembly elections because of the caste politics played by Siddaramaiah. He tried to divide Veerashaiva-Lingayat community and started Tipu Jayanti celebrations for votes. But those moves backfired for the Congress, Eshwarappa alleged.

He demanded the state government to release Rs 1,743 crore to compensate the crop loss suffered by the farmers in kharif season.MILLBOURNE  It looks like the end of the line for the borough fire department.

The Millbourne Borough Fire Department has been out of service for three and a half months with no hopes of restoring service due to a dispute between the fire company and borough over staffing and use of the building.

For now Upper Darby has been answering calls in the borough, but it has notified Millbourne that as of Jan. 1, that will come with a cost.

Fire Co. Chief Joseph Artmont and Assistant Chief Joseph Artmont Jr. say the future is dim for the 110-year-old department that has been protecting its citizens, given the deadlock situation.

According to the Artmonts, the fire department declared out of service (OOS) status at the Sept. 18 council meeting after unsuccessful efforts to talk to officials about staffing at the fire house.

Since then borough officials have contacted neighboring towns for estimates on cost to provide fire service to the tiny town  including Upper Darby, Philadelphia, East Lansdowne, Yeadon and Lansdowne.

Upper Darby Mayor Thomas Micozzie acknowledged the township has been responding to calls in the borough on a standard mutual-aid agreement.

Artmont Jr. says there were three fire calls in the borough that were handled by other fire companies since the OOS call.

Borough officials estimated the town averages 25 fires per year.

Upper Darby has not been paid at this point in time and that is due to my hope that they can work this out together, Micozzie said. If you may recall there was a similar situation in the 1990s. I am treating this currently as a mutual-aid agreement due to the fact they are out of service instead of out of business. This will come to an end Jan. 1, 2019, as I have instructed the solicitor to pen a letter to them advising we will bill per call beginning on that date. They have been advised in writing the cost of a call by the Upper Darby Township Fire Department.

The township will not be placed into a position of refusing a call however we will pursue payment through whatever means to cover the reimbursement of our apparatus, insurance and staffing. I am hopeful they come to some resolution on this matter. Upper Darby Taxpayers are not going to be burdened with the costs due to inaction of Millbourne elected officials.

According to Artmont Jr., the fire company was OOS from 1990 to 1992 because the borough did not have any money.

This time around, according to the Artmonts, the OOS is due to officials not addressing the manpower problem by hiring part-time firefighters and not keeping up their end of an agreement to provide a room for firefighters to meet and train.

Manpower is a problem for every fire department, Artmont Sr. said. Every fire company has a manpower problem. We wanted to put two people on the payroll budget because getting manpower out in the daytime is a problem. They wouldnt hear of it and said we would have to go out of service.

Artmont Jr. lamented the manpower situation.

The day of Millbourne Fire Co. having an all-volunteer fire company is over in Millbourne Borough, Artmont Jr. said. Theres not enough manpower.

The other gridlock for firefighters is access to a second floor room atop the borough hall. Officials ousted them several years ago when the room was declared unsafe due to a structural issue but never repaired.

We had no place to meet, no room to have classes, Artmont Sr. said. They received a grant to make repairs but did nothing. Now we want to take them to court for allegedly failing to abide to the terms of a century-old agreement to house the fire department.

The fire company owned the building (that housed the fire department and borough hall) and sold it to the borough in 1915 with the agreement to house the fire department for life, Artmont Sr. said.

According to Artmont Jr., the borough stopped paying the fire department in October what was budgeted to cover insurance and truck loan payments and other expenses.

Were using what money we have to pay for insurance and loans, Artmont Jr. said. They were giving us $35,000 a year. Weve been asking to meet with them since June. They would not meet with us. The meeting room has been condemned for five years and they havent fixed it. We sent out a flier to residents who came to council meetings but they would not talk to residents about the fire company.

Artmont Jr. expressed his gratitude to three fire departments for responding to the calls in the borough since September.

Millbourne Fire Co. thanks Upper Darby, East Lansdowne and Yeadon for covering the borough, Artmont Jr. said. We appreciate that. East Lansdowne did submit a $4,000 bill to Millbourne for the one call.

Borough Manager Nancy Baulis says council has taken a stand since the fire company reinstated a legal action against the borough.

Borough council and the fire company are at a standstill, Baulis said. Its because the fire company reinstated a suit filed because they didnt have use of the second floor.

Attempts to reach the council president and other council members were unsuccessful.

According to the Sept. 18 meeting minutes, the dialogue between Artmont Sr. and council President Justin Skariah included a disagreement about meeting with or without an attorney present.

Residents in attendance expressed concern about response time for emergencies from outside fire departments.

All residents should know to call 911, Baulis said but could not provide the length of time it would take for an outside company to respond.

Council voted to stop paying the fire company their monthly stipend if the fire company is out of business, effective in October."PINKALICIOUS THE MUSICAL," through Dec. 30, Salt Lake Acting Company, 168 W. 500 North, Salt Lake City (801-363-7522); running time: 1 hour

Editor's note: This is part of an ongoing Deseret News series highlighting Utah's community theater programs.

SALT LAKE CITY  There are many phrases I could use to describe Salt Lake Acting Companys production of "Pinkalicious The Musical": wonderfully silly, laugh-out-loud funny and every kids dream (pink cupcakes? Yes please!), but perhaps a phrase from the play itself sums it up best: pinkarific.

Based on the beloved childrens book series by Elizabeth and Victoria Kann, "Pinkalicious" was adapted into a musical in 2007 with music by John Gregor. The show follows the story of Pinkalicious Pinkerton who loves all things pink, but she especially loves pink cupcakes. After ignoring warnings from her parents to stop eating cupcakes, Pinkalicious is diagnosed with pinkititus, which has turned her whole body pink. With the help of her younger brother, Peter, Pinkalicious has to find a way to reverse her condition so she doesnt remain pink forever.

The energy and excitement swirling through the cozy theater at Salt Lake Acting Company was tangible. There were pink frosted sugar cookies for sale, little girls dancing in pink tutus, kids bouncing across the stage and nonstop giggles. But that was just the beginning  when the lights dimmed, two narrators came on stage to introduce the play and trained the kiddos how to clap during certain songs and had everyone yell "Pinaklicious" on the count of three to commence the play.

Fiona Hannan (Pinkalicious) was a delight and convinced everyone in the audience she was a little girl (not a young adult) with her high-pitched giggles, animated expressions, undying love for treats ("But  cupcakes" was a favorite line) and whiny distaste for greens in The Power of Antioxidants. With a continuous pep in her step, Hannan kept the kids engaged as she asked them if she should eat just one more cupcake, with little voices shouting "No!" But her breakout performance was during her duet with Seth Foster (Pinkalicious younger brother, Peter) in Green Food where her voice shined and her timely grunts showcased her vocal chops.

Foster was a star in his own right, playing the slightly ignored but loving Peter. His standout moment came in I Got the Pink Blues where he laments that he, too, loves pink, but his dad thinks he shouldnt. Fosters ballad was powerful and whiny in all the right places  the guy can sing. His loyalty toward Pinkalicious was an example of what all good brothers should be.

Pinkalicious parents, played by Alexis Baigue and Shannon Musgrave, were workaholics who never missed an opportunity to make a plug for the benefits of organic greens. Parents would appreciate their mealtime jingle "You Get What You Get" ("and dont throw a fit," they sing).

Baigue was convincing as a strict but loving father who ultimately wanted the best for his kids, which was showcased in the finale where his voice was big and commanding, yet kind. He brought comedy to his role despite being an uptight father. Musgrave portrayed a working, stressed out mother who was beside herself when Pinkalicious was diagnosed with pinkititus. Her acting was versatile as she went from a strict mother to a compassionate wife and friend. She brought a sensitivity to her role that was executed beautifully. Both actors outdid themselves when they portrayed a silly bee and butterfly in "Buzz Off."

One of the standout roles, however, was Micki Martinez, who played both Pinkalicious best friend, Alison, and Dr. Wink. While convincing as a sensitive, caring friend to Pinkalicious, Martinezs shining moment came as Dr. Wink diagnosed Pinkalicious with her condition in the song Pinkititus. Not only was her voice top notch and powerful, but she brought an attitude and sass to the stage that stood out from the rest. (Her dance moves were great, too.) She committed to both roles and played them effortlessly.

The costumes and props cant be left without a mention. Pinkalicious costume was perfect with a blindingly sparkly top, a tulle tutu and butterfly wings. The large fake pink cupcakes looked as appetizing as ever  and even the leafy greens and bowls of Brussels sprouts were glittering green and looked (almost) good enough to eat.

Bubbles fell from the ceiling as Mr. and Mrs. Pinkerton tried to scrub Pinkalicious skin clean of pink. Even pink confetti flew during the song Cupcake Dream where the cupcakes came to life. That was where the magic of this production lied  in the way the actors interacted with the audience to ensure the childrens voices were heard. This is a play all about love and accepting people for who they are, and Salt Lake Acting Company succeeded in making sure the audience felt loved. Kids will have a magical experience with this witty and heartwarming musical delight.A group of senators at the U.S. Congress sent an open letter to President Donald Trump urging against withdrawing the U.S. from the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. The relevant document was spread by the administration of Foreign Relations Committee of the upper chamber of the Congress.

"While we understand the challenges of getting Russia to reverse its violation of the INF Treaty, the Administrations sudden decision to withdraw unilaterally is a political and geostrategic gift to Russia," senators Bob Mendez, jack Reed and Mark Warner wrote.

According to them, such a step in particular "feeds a narrative that the United States is willing to shred our commitments unilaterally without any strategic alternative."

"Additionally, it allows Russia to expand the production and deployment of its intermediate range missile system, the 9M729, which will further menace Europe," they said.

They are convinced that the President, his administration should engage with Congress "on the implications of this step for strategic stability and our relations with European and Asian allies of the U.S. before taking action to withdraw or suspend the fulfillment of its obligations under the INF.If nothing else, the dinnertime agreement between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jingping over the weekend seemed to be a temporary vindication of the Trump administrations economic pressure through tariffs.

Whether such pressure brings about any lasting trade resolution in this complicated relationship, however, remains in doubt.

The agreement postpones an escalation of the tariff war until March 1 (higher duties were to take effect Jan. 1). But significantly, China agreed to restart purchases of U.S. agricultural products and some other goods in the meantime. The United States, on the other hand, made no discernible concessions.

Trump isnt the first president to express anger over Chinas unfair trade practices, its theft of trade secrets, its lax controls over the production of counterfeit goods or its subsidization of industries competing with private U.S. companies.

He is the first, however, to escalate tariffs as a means of forcing change, despite the threats this poses to the U.S. economy.

While the concessions agreed upon differ little from those China had offered a while back, they clearly put the Chinese in the position of appearing to blink first in the showdown. The president said Sunday that China also agreed to reduce tariffs on U.S. auto imports, although that couldnt immediately be confirmed.

While the concessions agreed upon differ little from those China had offered a while back, they clearly put the Chinese in the position of appearing to blink first in the showdown.

Markets hate uncertainty. The 90-day pause on escalating tariffs ignited a rally on Wall Street. However, it didnt do much to instill any permanent sense of order. And the president injected a further note of uncertainty as he told reporters on Air Force One he intends to tell Congress he is scuttling the North American Free Trade Agreement all together, according to an Associated Press report. With Democrats poised to take over the House in January, its uncertain whether Congress will ratify the replacement deal he negotiated with Canada and Mexico. Failing to do so would leave the three neighbors with no deal at all, bringing chaos to the supply chains that cross borders to produce a variety of products.

But while the president may muster the support to ratify that agreement (Democrats may be naturally disposed to support efforts to return jobs to the U.S.), a permanent deal with China would be much harder.

Chinas long-term economic plan, dubbed, Made in China 2025, intends to make China the worlds leader in global high-tech manufacturing. It would do this by acquiring intellectual property and subsidizing state-owned enterprises.

Some U.S. analysts say the plan relies on cyber espionage and the unfair treatment of foreign competitors.

These are precisely the sorts of tactics the United States has long protested. Resolving this dispute in a meaningful way would seem difficult to accomplish in 90 days. The cost to the U.S. economy of imposing further tariffs, meanwhile, may outweigh the benefits of trying to pressure Chinas leadership further.

However, no one should discount the value of having the leaders of the world's two largest economies speaking to one another and agreeing to postpone further hostile action.

Higher tariffs would threaten economic growth. If Trump and Xi can agree to one postponement, why not more, so long as progress is being made toward an eventual resolution? Pressing the pause button certainly is preferable to the alternative.SALT LAKE CITY  Utahs most popular holiday candy is more fitting for Halloween than Christmas.

What happened: Candystore.com recently unveiled its map of Americas favorite Christmas candies. The website surveyed customers and received more than 30,000 responses on the topic. The research team also spoke with candy manufacturers and distributors to see if the responses fit with distribution facts.

Utah: Reindeer corn  commonly known as candy corn  topped the list in the Beehive State. Hersheys Kisses and M&M's ranked as the second and third most popular candies in the state.

Other findings: Reese's made a huge jump this year in terms of popularity. Last year, Reeses Cup Minis led the way in three states. They led 10 states this year.

Pez nearly disappeared from the list. Last year, it was the top candy in eight states. But in 2018, the candy only led the way in three states.

Reindeer corn saw a surge this year, too. It finished in the top three for 13 states even though it only showed up thrice in 2017.

Flashback: Last year, I wrote about how reindeer corn and Hersheys Kisses were the top two candies for the state of Utah, followed by Skittles.

Bigger picture: The National Retail Federation forecasts consumers will spend $1,007.24 on average during the holiday season this year, which will be up 4.1 percent from the $967.13 spent last year.SPANISH FORK  A former Spanish Fork police officer has been charged with several counts of voyeurism.

Aaron Sam Foster, 38, of Springville, is charged in 4th District Court with forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony; sexual battery and voyeurism by electronic equipment, class A misdemeanors; theft and three counts of voyeurism, class B misdemeanors.

Foster is accused of taking inappropriate pictures of a woman without her consent while she was sleeping, charging documents state. In one incident, he went to the woman's house "looked through her blinds, and (took) videos of her through the blinds," according to charging documents.

Foster and the woman were previously acquainted prior to the allegations, according to court records.

Spanish Fork police were originally called on Oct. 28, but because "the suspect in this case is a former Spanish Fork police officer  the case was referred to the Utah County Sheriff's Office," according to a search warrant affidavit.

Spanish Fork police say Foster was an officer from July 2007 until his resignation in June of 2010. The department said Monday that his resignation was unrelated to the charges he currently faces.SALT LAKE CITY  Now that the Utah Legislature has approved a compromise bill legalizing and regulating the use of medical marijuana in the state, local employers are pondering how the new law will affect their work environments.

While voters last month passed Proposition 2 legalizing medical marijuana, the Legislature approved a compromise bill Monday that made multiple changes to the ballot initiative. It superseded Proposition 2 when Gov. Gary Herbert signed the bill into law as expected late Monday.

Ryan Nelson, Utah president of Employers Council, said the impact of the legalization of medical marijuana on local employers will be similar to a previous law enacted to govern how a protected class must be treated in the workplace. The law, he said, will work much like the Americans with Disabilities Act in that it will regulate how people "who have a mental or physical impairment that is a substantial limitation of a life activity" should be treated.

"The list of qualifying conditions under the Utah Medical Cannabis Act  all of those are disabilities," Nelson said.

In Colorado, lawmakers inserted language that allowed employers to regulate workplaces as they would if they were governing the use of legal substances like alcohol, he noted.

"The guidance said treat (cannabis) like you would treat alcohol," he said. "It's a legal substance, but if your employee shows up under the influence or in possession of it, the law doesn't restrict (an employer's) ability to manage the workplace."

Under the federal ADA, current users of a Schedule 1 substance are not protected by the law. In Utah, however, the state's version of the ADA doesn't actually say that, according to Nelson.

With medicinal marijuana being legal in Utah, some adjustments may have to be made, Nelson said, adding that employers with more than 50 workers will have to consider standards in the Family Medical Leave Act that typically deal with serious medical conditions.

"Is my employee, who has a medical cannabis card, are they also protected and covered under FMLA and, if so, what do I have to do with that?" Nelson queried rhetorically.

How employers will manage drug testing standards under the new law will also be of important consideration.

"If we legalize medicinal marijuana in the workplace, is that abuse? Probably not," he said. "If it's not, what is the impact on Utah's Drug Testing Act?"

He said special considerations will likely have to be given to people approved for medical marijuana use.

"There is a communication and branding issue that employers will have to deal with," Nelson said. "What I think would be extremely helpful is clarity in the bill that specifically addresses what an employer's rights are under this law in terms of managing drugs (or intoxication) in the workplace."

Nelson said the state will need to include specific language that provides clear guidance for employers and employees with prescriptions for medical cannabis that will protect the rights of both parties fairly and effectively.

"If I was an employer, the first question I would want answered is: How does this impact my ability to enforce standards in the workplace?" Nelson said.SALT LAKE CITY  A puppy named "Cookie" stolen last week from an animal adoption shelter has been found, according to the Humane Society of Utah.

On Thursday, security camera footage showed a woman "leaving the dog kennel area with what appears to be the puppy in her handbag and a white jacket over the top," the organization said.

The stolen puppy was a 2-month-old black and tan Cairn Terrier.

On Friday, according to a news release from the Humane Society of Utah, a woman was pulled over for driving under the influence in Meridian, Idaho. She had a dog with her, which animal control took to the Idaho Humane Society in Boise.

There, the puppy was scanned for a microchip and workers found that it was registered to the Human Society of Utah, the release states.

The driver who allegedly had the puppy with her, Jennifer Lyon, 43, was arrested for investigation of driving under the influence, according to the society. However, she did not match the description of the woman shown in surveillance camera footage, the release states.

"We were ecstatic when we heard the news that Cookie had been found safe," said Deann Shepherd, spokeswoman for the Humane Society of Utah.

"I spoke with a staff member at the Idaho Humane Society and got their story. We don't know if the person who took Cookie from us either gave her away to avoid being caught or had planned to transport her for some reason, we're just grateful to the Meridian police and animal control for finding her."

The Utah and Idaho humane societies are working together to bring Cookie back to Utah, according to the release. Shepherd said the puppy is "happy and healthy."

The Humane Society of Utah says it "has taken measures to increase security" after the incident.Cookie banner

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By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies.SALT LAKE CITY  Heres a look at the news for Dec. 4.

Whats next for religious freedom in 2019? Faith leaders and policymakers weigh in. Read more.

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert signed the medical marijuana compromise bill that the Utah Legislature passed Monday. Read more.

How will legal medical marijuana in Utah affect the workplace? Read more.

Utah lawmakers pass drivers license changes and $235 million for prison construction in special session. Read more.

The Utah Jazz are looking to build off their recent three-game road trip with a return home against the San Antonio Spurs. Read more.

A look at our most-read stories today:

Dont forget to read:

This look into religious freedom for 2019: What's next for religious freedom in 2019? Faith leaders and policymakers weigh in

Whats going on with education:

A look at national headlines:SALT LAKE CITY  Just weeks after President Donald Trump declared the migrant caravan an "invasion" of undocumented immigrants, a new report finds the number of immigrants in the U.S. without legal status actually fell to its lowest level in more than a decade.

There were 10.7 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. in 2016, down from a peak of 12.2 million in 2007, according to new Pew Research Center estimates based on government data.

The decline is almost entirely due to a sharp decrease in the number of Mexicans entering the country without authorization, says Mark Hugo Lopez, Pews director of global migration and demography.

The decline in Mexican immigration isnt a surprise, says Heide Castaneda, associate professor at the University of South Florida, as the numbers have been steadily falling for the last 10 years.

Economics played a major role in the decline, she said. There was a nosedive in Mexican migration in 2008 due to the recession, which wiped out millions of jobs that attracted undocumented immigrants to the United States.

With the recession, there was just no draw of the U.S. job market, and the migration of low-wage workers since 2008 never fully recovered, she said.

The Pew study showed that the number of undocumented immigrants working in the United States (7.8 million) and their share of the U.S. workforce (4.8 percent) fell steadily since their high points in 2007.

At the same time, the Mexican economy steadily improved, giving people from Mexico less of an incentive to migrate in the first place. Mexicos changing demographics was also a factor, with an aging population resulting in fewer young people who might choose to migrate.

In fact, a 2015 Pew study concluded that more Mexicans returned to their home country between 2009-2014 than entered the United States, a historic shift.

As a result Central Americans represent a bigger share of recent arrivals to the U.S. Many travel through Mexico to seek asylum in the U.S., a trend most powerfully exemplified by the migrant caravan.

The number of unauthorized immigrants from Central America increased by 375,000 between 2007-2016, according to the study, mainly from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

Mexicos changing role  from a country that produces a high volume of migrants to a country that receives migrants  could change the relationship between the United States and Mexico, said Theresa Cardinal Brown, director of immigration and cross border policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a think tank based in Washington D.C.

Now, the United States will increasingly look to Mexico as a partner in solving complex regional immigration problems, such as how Mexico can improve its asylum system in order to be able to receive Central American asylum seekers, she says.

Such efforts are already underway, with Trump currently negotiating his Remain in Mexico deal with the just-inaugurated Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, in which asylum seekers would be required to wait in Mexico while their claims move through U.S. courts.

Here for the long haul

The slowdown in illegal immigration means that undocumented immigrants living in America are more likely to be long-term residents, rather than recent arrivals. Two-thirds of adult unauthorized immigrants have lived in the country for more than 10 years, according to the study.

The population of recent arrivals is shrinking: only 20 percent of all unauthorized immigrants in 2016 had arrived in the previous five years, compared with 32 percent in 2007.

The composition of the recent arrival population is different than one might expect, says Lopez.

Recently arrived unauthorized immigrants are less likely to have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, says Lopez. Rather, immigration experts believe it's likely that a bigger share of the unauthorized new arrival population are overstays  people who arrive in the United States with legal visas, but then overstay their required departure date.

Higher overstay rates highlight a need for more interior enforcement of U.S. immigration laws, says Matthew Sussis, assistant director of communications for the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that favors low immigration numbers.

But, Sussis says, that doesnt mean the U.S. government should pare down border security efforts.

The fact that overstay rates are high doesnt mean you can ignore the border, Sussis says. Just because your back door is open doesnt mean you can forget about keeping the front door closed too.

Kids caught in the middle

The Pew study also focused on the children of undocumented immigrants, finding that about 5 million U.S.-born children under 18 live with unauthorized parents.

An undocumented immigrant of working age who came to the United States more than a decade ago is likely to have met someone and had children by now, said Castaneda. That results in what she calls mixed-status families, in which some members of household are undocumented and some are U.S. citizens.

Mixed status families are now a defining feature of contemporary immigration in the United States, according to Castaneda.

This means that families are being increasingly affected by the enforcement of U.S. immigration laws, Brown said.

Enforcement efforts against the undocumented are increasingly impacting children and mixed-status families, she said. When you look at enforcement actions, you are impacting an entire household and an entire family structure.

This can have devastating impacts on families, said Brown. Undocumented parents who are deported may have to choose between leaving their U.S. citizen children behind in the foster care system, or bringing their kids with them to countries where they may have difficulty adjusting  as they might not speak the language or be familiar with the local customs.

This is already happening, according to Brown. The deportation of undocumented adults is becoming a serious issue in Mexico right now, where the country is having difficulty integrating children of deported parents, some whom have limited Spanish language ability, into the Mexican school system, she said.

The impact on kids is a large and growing concern, as you have a very solidly entrenched undocumented population in a time when enforcement actions are being stepped-up, said Brown.

Overall, Brown said the findings of the Pew study may catalyze a re-evaluation of U.S. immigration policy.

This is a fundamental change in what has been a decadeslong historical pattern, she said. As a result, we may have to rethink a major portion of our immigration system.SALT LAKE CITY  Two 16-year-old boys were recently investigated in Cache County for creating an Instagram account that focused on school shootings, according to court documents.

The social media account created by the teens contained "multiple pictures and words making fun of and glorifying school shooters," according to four search warrant affidavits filed in 1st District Court.

The posts included Star Wars characters and Mickey Mouse making references to school shootings, the warrants state. The account had more than 50 followers, most of whom were identified as Mountain Crest High School students, according to the warrants.

The investigation into the boys began Nov. 10 when the SafeUT app received an anonymous tip from a student at Mountain Crest High School in Hyrum stating, "I don't know if it was a joke or not. I heard (a boy) joking about bringing a gun on the bus or to school and shooting people. I don't know if that was a joke or true," the warrants state.

The school resource officer began investigating and talked to a witness who was on the bus and also overheard the two teens "talking about plans to '(shoot) up the school bus then the school,'" according to the warrant. "The witness also heard them talking about wearing bandanas when they executed their plans."

A dozen bullets of various calibers were seized from the home of one of the boys, according to one of the affidavits.

It was not clear Tuesday if either boy was charged. Cache County School District spokesman Tim Smith said both boys were suspended for eight days. One boy has since been allowed to return to the high school while another now attends an alternative high school, he said.

Smith said the district took the threats seriously and immediate action was taken when officials found out.

Tuesday afternoon, the Cache County Sheriff's Office issued a prepared statement saying investigators "(do) not believe there is an actionable threat to the safety of our kids."

The sheriff's office stated that it conducted an "exceptionally thorough investigation" that was still ongoing on Tuesday, and that "resources and safety plans have been initiated for the safety of all the kids in our schools" through a combined effort with the sheriff's office, Cache County Attorney's Office, the school district and Bear River Mental Health.

Several students the Deseret News talked to said they had heard about what happened, and most said the students were posting memes about school shootings on the Instagram account as a joke. But students, like Dillon Smith, also agreed it was a "stupid" thing to do.

"I think he shouldnt joke around about it. Its something that should be taken a lot more serious, he said.

"Its sad to see that somebody would do that at Mountain Crest, added senior Jarin James.

The sheriff's office reminded the public on Tuesday that if they "see something, say something," and asked that they report suspicious activity to law enforcement.

The SafeUT Crisis Text and Tip Line is a statewide service that provides real-time crisis intervention to youth through texting and a confidential tip program. In addition to reporting threats, the app can also be used by students who want to report suspicious activity or potential threats, or for those looking for help with bullying, mental health or suicide-related issues.

Contributing: Mike AndersonSALT LAKE CITY  A West Valley man allegedly strangled a woman after she declined his sexual advances, court documents show.

Minh Dong Trinh, 41, was charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with murder and aggravated sexual assault, both first-degree felonies.

On Oct. 8, Trinh was in a room at the Main Street Motel, 1530 S. Main, with three other people when he began making advances toward Elizabeth Silver, 30, while they were on a bed, according to charging documents. One witness told police the two appeared to be "horse-playing around" but then noticed "the wrestling started to get rough," the charges state. The witness then noticed Trinh had "one arm on top of Ms. Silver's head and the other arm around her neck," according to court documents.

Trinh and Silver then fell off the bed, "hit the ground hard," and "continued to 'wrestle' on the floor," prompting the witness to ask "if they were playing around?" the charges state. "Neither individual answered."

Before he fell asleep, the witness saw Silver "in a seated position on the floor with her head slumped over," the charges state. When he woke up, she was in the same position.

When interviewed by police, Trinh said he offered Silver drugs or money for sex but she "repeatedly said no," according to court documents. Trinh claimed he left the room at that point.

But according to the Utah State Medical Examiner's Office, Silver died from asphyxiation "due to a physical altercation and neck compression and the manner of death to be homicide," the charges state.

In 2009, Trinh was charged with several felonies for allegedly beating and shooting at a man in Taylorsville. But the case was later dismissed when a state witness failing to show up to court to testify, according to court records.Vietnam has implemented 175 out of the 182 recommendations by the UN Human Rights Councils (UNHRC) second-cycle Universal Periodic Review (UPR) which it accepted in June 2014, heard a seminar in Hanoi on December 3__Photo: VNA

Vietnam has implemented 175 out of the 182 recommendations by the UN Human Rights Councils (UNHRC) second-cycle Universal Periodic Review (UPR) which it accepted in June 2014, heard a seminar in Hanoi on December 3.According to Vietnams third-cycle UPR national report which was announced at the seminar, the realization of the recommendations has exerted positive impacts across all aspects of society in Vietnam, especially in building human rights-related laws, ensuring social welfare, improving peoples living standards, and promoting cooperation and dialogues on human rights at regional and international levels.Since the 2014 UPR, Vietnams development achievements have been acknowledged by the international community, including its ahead-of-schedule completion of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the initial results of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).Vietnams per capita income has increased continuously and the income of poor households has risen from between 15-20 percent. Meanwhile, the multi-dimensional poverty rate dropped from 9.88 percent in 2015 to 7.69 percent last year.Vietnam is one of the countries worldwide witnessing the fastest internet development pace, with more than 50 million internet users, the report said.The report also pointed out challenges and limitations regarding the legal framework, resources and policies to promote and ensure human rights in Vietnam, especially those of disadvantaged groups.It also proposed priorities to the Vietnamese Government in order to ensure each residents improved access to fundamental rights and freedom.Addressing the event, Caitlin Wiesen, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Country Director for Vietnam, stressed the special significance of the implementation of the mechanisms to the UPR Working Group slated for January 2019.The UNDP will continue to coordinate closely with the Vietnamese Government to materialize mechanisms, thus contributing to better ensuring and promoting human rights in the country, she pledged.The third-cycle UPR national report, approved by the Prime Minister on October 17, 2018 and submitted to the UNHRC on October 22, 2018, was completed with the participation of 18 relevant Vietnamese ministries and agencies, said Dang Hoang Giang, chief of the foreign ministry office.The UPR is an inter-governmental mechanism of the UN Human Rights Council, aimed at reviewing issues related to the human rights of all UN member countries. Vietnam first implemented the UPR in May 2009.-SALT LAKE CITY  Last week, a man was charged with attacking two Hispanic men at random, allegedly targeting them because they are Mexican.

But Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said he didn't consider charging the case as a hate crime because he said he doesn't have that option.

"I dont have a workable hate crimes statute in Utah," he said. "In Utah, we have a facade of saying we have a hate crimes statute. But it's impractical and unusable by prosecutors."

Under Utah state law, only misdemeanor crimes can be charged as a hate crime.

On Friday, Alan Dale Covington, 50, who is homeless, was charged in 3rd District Court with aggravated assault, a second-degree felony, aggravated assault and possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, third-degree felonies, plus misdemeanor drug charges.

On Nov. 27, Covington walked into Lopez Tires, 1621 S. Main, stating he was "going to kill someone" before swinging a "four-sided metal pole," charging documents state. A daughter and sister of the victims said Covington uttered that he hates Mexicans and was there "to kill a Mexican."

Luis Gustavo Lopez, 18, and his father Jose Lopez, 51, were beaten with a metal pole. Luis suffered a shattered cheekbone, among his many facial injuries, and had to have a metal plate installed. His father suffered a deep cut on his arm and bruises on his back from trying to shield his son from the blows after he was knocked to the floor, according to the family.

A GoFundme fundraiser was set up by a friend to help pay for their medical expenses.

Veronica Lopez, Luis' sister, believes the incident was absolutely a hate crime.

"Theres no other way to describe it. This was a hate crime," she said. "I dont know how much more of a hate crime it has to be.

But Gill said his hands are tied. Although some cases have been moved to the federal level where people have successfully been convicted for violating federal hate crime statutes, in Utah, there hasn't been a successful hate crimes conviction on the state level for 20 years because there is no viable law, he said.

"This is not a loophole, this is a void, he said. "For the last quarter century we've been begging for some remedy."

The Covington case, Gill said, is one of "scores" of investigations his office comes across every year that illustrates how prosecutors "don't have a viable option."

"The fact were having this conversation in 2018  its almost shameful for us that we can't seem to find a statutory remedy, he said.

It's important for a community to prosecute hate crimes, Gill said, because a person who commits such a crime is also trying to send a message.

All hate crimes have three victims, according to Gill: the person directly affected by the attack, the group that person represents, and the community. A person who commits a hate crime is typically sending a message to a particular group, Gill said, and the attack has little to do with an individual person. If such a crime is committed without any measure of justice, then the entire community is victimized, he said.

That's why such crimes need to be met with a "measure of justice" in a "proportionate manner," according to Gill.

As an example, he said if there were a serial sexual assault suspect in the county who only targeted female missionaries because of their religion, he would not be able to prosecute the case as a hate crime.

In January, Sen. Daniel Thatcher, R-West Valley City, made another attempt to toughen the punishment for crimes targeting people because of their personal characteristics, including sexual orientation or gender identity. But the bill did not get anywhere this past legislative session, just as a similar bill failed to gain any traction in 2017. A hate crimes bill introduced in 2016 also failed.

This isn't the first time Gill has called out Utah's hate crimes law for its lack of teeth.

In 2014, two gay men were attacked outside a Salt Lake bar. Charging documents state one man suffered trauma to his head, a neck strain, a bruised rib and had several teeth knocked loose, while the other suffered a chin bruise and soreness to his face and neck.

The alleged attackers insulted the men about their homosexuality and called them by a gay slur, the charges state.

But when formal charges were formally filed in 2016, Gill said he was unable to charge the incident as a hate crime.

"Unfortunately, we do not have a hate crime statue that is workable for prosecutors," he said at the time.

Eric Levi Johnson, of Rock Springs, and Chad Ryan Doak, of Green River, were each charged in 3rd District Court in 2016 and warrants were issued for their arrests. But as of Tuesday, their warrants remained outstanding and the men have yet to stand trial.DURHAM, N.H.  New Hampshire officials are under fire for denying a 10-foot-tall (3-meter) menorah to be displayed next to a tree decorated annually at a local park.

Town Administrator Todd Selig said the local Chabad Jewish organization asked for the menorah to be put next to the tree, but town officials said no, citing vandalism concerns.

Selig said the area town officials were not "comfortable" leaving the menorah on display for the eight nights of Hanukkah.

The Durham Human Rights Commission is now deciding the next steps to take. Selig said the commission's perspective was that it should really be all or none.

The tree in Durham is decorated each year to celebrate the winter season, WMUR-TV reported .

"The fact that the city allows for some to publicly express their culture is a good thing, and we hope that continues," Rabbi Berel Slavaticki of the University of New Hampshire and Seacoast Chabad Jewish Center said in a statement. "To stop people from openly expressing their particular faith seems un-American and would be a terrible loss for our town and our country."

Slavaticki said the center is committed to working with the town administration "to create a path forward that will allow everyone to enjoy their constitutionally guaranteed rights.

"Not allowing a menorah for fear of anti-Semitism only emboldens and enables those who hate," he said. "After all, that's exactly what they'd want to see; our menorah not allowed."

___

Information from: WMUR-TV, http://wmur.comAfter Mouni, It's Now Time For Mohit Raina To Make His Bollywood Debut With Vicky Kaushal!

Television actor, Mohit Raina who is well known for his daily soaps is now geared up to set foot in Bollywood with URI.

URI comprises of an ensemble starcast showcasing Mohit Raina in a pivotal.

It will be a visual delight to with the handsome actress who has an immense fan following on the big screen.

The teaser of the film received an exceptional response from the netizens. The teaser showcased Vicky Kaushal's determination to avenge the death of his fellow soldiers. The actor who has carved a place for himself and has impressed the audience with his remarkable performances. With URI, Vicky is all set to deliver yet another impactful performance.

Uri is based on Indian Army's surgical strikes on terror launch pads across Line of Control (LOC). On September 18, 2016, 19 Indian soldiers were killed in an early morning attack by Pakistani terrorists at the 12 Infantry Brigade headquarters in Uri. In response, on September 29, the Indian Army's Special Forces carried out surgical strikes on terror launch pads across Line of Control (LoC)

Produced by RSVP movies and directed by Aditya Dhar, the film has Vicky Kaushal, Yami Gautam and Paresh Rawal in pivotal roles. The film is slated to release on 11th January 2019.Modernising regulation and policy reform will be crucial to boosting Nigerias digital economy and accelerating internet access for millions through increased mobile broadband penetration, according to a new report released by the GSMA.

The report, Spotlight on Nigeria: Delivering a Digital Future, was launched at a GSMA industry event held in conjunction with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). The event brought together leaders from across the mobile industry with policymakers to discuss future regulation and how to enable the next-generation of 5G connectivity.

In the world we live in today, mobile communication is a cardinal tool of economic development, growth and integration, and the mobile industry is a key enabler of productivity across economies and societies, said Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Office (EVC/CEO), NCC.

The mobile industry is not only a significant contributor to the economic activities of Nigeria, but also towards the growth of other sectors of the economy. The Nigerian Communications Commission has been, and continues to play a key role in the development of mobile communication in Nigeria, and I am delighted to be part of this event today. This provides an avenue for regulators, operators, investors, and other relevant stakeholders to examine, share and constructively exchange ideas.

Mobile connectivity has already improved the welfare of millions of Nigerians, opening the door to new digital possibilities and powering the countrys economic development, said Akinwale Goodluck, Head of Sub-Saharan Africa, GSMA. For Nigeria to take full advantage of the next phase of its digital transformation, its vital that collaboration between industry and government enables the right policy environment for millions more to benefit from ultra-fast mobile broadband. If policies dont keep pace with the needs of society and technological innovation, there is a risk that citizens will be left behind and productivity and competitiveness will suffer.

Mobiles Contribution to Economic Growth

GSMA research shows that the mobile market in Nigeria makes an important contribution to the economy. The mobile industry contributed $21 billion to GDP in 2017, representing 5.5% of Nigerias total GDP. In addition, the growth of Nigerias digital economy resulted in the creation of nearly 500,000 direct and indirect jobs.

Accelerating Mobile Broadband Adoption

Growth in the adoption of digital services by government, businesses and consumers is having a positive impact on daily life in Nigeria. For the majority of Nigerians, mobile broadband is the first and only technology for accessing the internet, enabling better access to health, education and commercial opportunities, amongst other public services. Smartphone adoption has already risen to over 53 million connections, and 49% of the population are currently connected by mobile technology, compared to less than 1% who have a fixed-line connection.

However, the report concludes that there is still broad scope for Nigeria to increase its mobile penetration. Although more Nigerians are getting access to mobile broadband, the country lags regional peers in 4G adoption. Helping to accelerate adoption would enable more advanced services and create bigger societal impacts.

With increased spectrum harmonisation and licensing reform, the countrys mobile penetration is forecast to rise to 55% of the population by 2025, with 70% having 3G connectivity and 17% having access to 4G networks. Currently, only 44% of mobile subscribers in Nigeria are using 3G technology and 4% are using 4G technology, compared to over 18% 4G penetration in South Africa and 16% in Angola.

Harmonised Spectrum, Licensing Reforms Critical to Nigerias Digital Future

The GSMA has identified support for and release of harmonised spectrum and a modernised licensing framework as fundamental building blocks for Nigerias digital future. The harmonisation of 1427-1518 MHz and 3.33.6 GHz makes them critically important bands for mobile operators seeking to offer new mobile services to consumers and businesses. Making these bands available for assignment to mobile operators will be a core component in reinforcing Nigerias position as Africas leading mobile market.

With active participation in the ITU World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 (WRC-19) process, Nigeria is hugely influential. With a year to go until WRC-19, leading the region in support of identifying new IMT bands that 5G will benefit from, especially the 26GHz, 40GHz and 70GHz bands, will be crucial.

Licensing Updates to Promote Market Growth

Changes in the market and technologies have resulted in a licensing framework and licensing conditions in Nigeria that could benefit from a review and update; left as is, they could pose an impediment to future growth. A future-fit licensing regime will help promote market growth, boost investor confidence and enable increased connectivity.

Building on the progress already achieved by the NCC, the GSMA recommends the following reforms in its report:Minister Cannon & the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland launch a new platform for Irish Designers

Press release

A new place for Irelands diaspora to buy

design and craft products from their native county

Unique gifts now easy to source direct from the maker through DesignIreland.ie

Irelands most talented designers and craftspeople to benefit from greater access to the Irish overseas thanks to this innovative initiative from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFaT) and Design & Crafts Council of Ireland (DCCoI)

The Minister of State for the Diaspora and International Development, Ciaran Cannon TD today announced a new initiative that makes discovering and purchasing the work of the very best craftspeople and designers just a click away for the Irish abroad.

Research has shown that Irelands diaspora are more and more seeking to find products from their native county. Up to now, this has been a challenge with no single place where this could be done.

DesignIreland.ie, the online selling platform presented by the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland, now offers an easy-to-use, by-county, searchable database to enable the Irish abroad to source unique products made in their home county and also to explore maker workshops they can visit on their next holiday to Ireland.

DesignIreland.ie is the definitive digital showcase for 180 of the very best designers and makers producing authentic jewellery, homewares, textiles, fashion, and giftware in counties across Ireland. Consumers can choose to buy online from trusted retail partners or direct from the makers studio in their home county.

As online sales grow internationally it is crucial that Irelands makers respond by making their work available to a global audience. DesignIreland.ie is a powerful tool to enable those abroad with an interest in Ireland to seek and discover the very best of what the country has to offer.

In addition, as part of this exciting cooperative initiative, DCCoI and DFaT have created a special log-in area on the site aimed at Irish Embassies abroad that will enable them to discover and purchase the work of these beautiful authentic Irish brands, direct from the makers.

Minister of State for the Diaspora and International Development, Ciaran Cannon TD, commented:

Connection with place is of immense importance, not only to our emigrants but to people of Irish heritage around the world. This website enables our diaspora to go to their county of heritage and find genuine Irish crafts, from local designers and makers, which represent in a real and tangible way that powerful sense of connection with home.

Karen Hennessy, CEO of the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland, also commented: Since its launch in November 2016 this online platform has been growing and developing steadily, linking consumers directly with Irish makers and designers both in this country and internationally. We are now also delighted to work with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to provide this additional service to embassies worldwide through DesignIreland.ie, and look forward to seeing these important connections continue to grow.

Some of the brands featuring on DesignIreland.ie this holiday season are:

From County Clare:

Artisan perfumer, the Burren Perfumery launches the The Winter Woods Eau de Toilette, inspired by the hidden woodlands of the Burren and by herbal notes inspired by the trees, ferns and mosses of the area.

From County Dublin:

Textile designer and maker Jennifer Slattery has been designing and creating textile products for the home from her studio in Dublin since 2011. Her cosy lined lambswool scarf launches this winter.

From County Galway:

Rowan Beg Design Studios: From her Connemara studio, Nicola McGuinness has designed and created three all natural soy wax candle collections and bespoke pebble art. All made of the highest quality with a real emphasis on sustainability.

From County Donegal:

Triona, a fifth-generation tweed clothing brand based in Ardara, County Donegal. Established in 1984, Triona is dedicated to maintaining the heritage of Donegal Tweed through modern, contemporary design.

From County Waterford:

Criostal na Rinne, the craft maker of hand-cut crystal, based in the Waterford Gaeltacht of An Rinn launches a new mouth-blown, hand-cut glass bauble that would make a wonderful addition to any home, at Christmas time hanging from a tree or all year round as a decoration inside a window where it reflects the light beautifully.

Full collections of gift ideas and featured makers can be viewed at DesignIreland.ie

ENDS

Press Office

4 December 2018

 Previous Item | Next Item It has been 10 days since the HDFC Banks mobile app was updated and mobile banking users are still unable to login to their accounts through the app. The bank has already announced that it will revert to the original app by December 4 evening and the new app has already been removed from the Apples App Store and Google Play Store. The problem is so serious that a disgruntled Sachin Bansal, Flipkart Co-founder, tweeted, In this day and age, how can the largest private bank of India do this?!

Those who had the app installed on their respective devices, and updated it, are currently seeing the new app logo and a refreshed welcome screen. They cannot go further due to glitches in the app. The bank also said that those who never updated the old app can access their accounts through it. We are extremely distressed by the inconvenience several of you have been facing while logging in our new MobileBanking app. While we're working to resolve it on priority, those customers still using the earlier version can continue to do so, whereas those who have moved to the version and deleted the old one will not be able to use the MobileBanking till further notice, the Bank said in a tweet.

HDFC Bank has requested its customers to use NetBanking, PayZapp, PhoneBanking and Missed-Call Banking for accessing regular banking services. It is taking us longer than anticipated, but we are confident we'll be able to fix the issue at the earliest and you'll be able to use the new app. Our sincerest apologies once again, it added. The bank has about 4.3 crore customers, of which about 6.5 lakh were unable to use the mobile banking app services due to a technical issue in its new app, notes The Economic Times. The bank has also clarified that there has been no data breach or any loss of customer data or security issues with the bank's mobile and net banking apps.

Cover Image: The MobileBanking app is missing from the Play Store (Left); the updated app installed on the phone (Centre); and error after we tried to sign-in to the app.Snapdragon 855 is the name of the next flagship chipset from Qualcomm that will power smartphones in 2019. The company unveiled the new chipset at its 3rd Annual Summit in Maui, Hawaii, same as last year when the Snapdragon 845 was announced. While the Day 1 Keynote focused heavily on 5G and how it will be transformative enough to be treated as a basic infrastructure like electricity, the Snapdragon 855 announcement came right at the very end. Qualcomm did not reveal the details of the upcoming chipset except for the fact that it will be faster than the previous generation with AI capabilties that is reportedly 3 times better.

The rumours are strong that the Snapdragon 855 is based on a 7nm manufacturing process, yet its still not confirmed. What we do know for sure is that the Snapdragon 855 will be the first mobile chipset to come with an integrated 5G modem. Qualcomm will also offer the chipset with 4G LTE capabilties for markets where 5G is far from being a reality (Read: India).

The Snapdragon 855 will have a 5G NR (New Radio) integrated to enable smartphones to leverage 5G connectivity across both sub-6GHz and mmWave frequencies. With features like adaptive beam forming and multiple antenna configurations, the 5G modem in the Snapdragon 855 is going to help smartphones make actual use of 5G networks. In that regard, both Verizon and AT&T, along with telecom providers from China, South Korea, Japan and Europe are ready to deploy their 5G networks commercially in 2019.

Qualcomm has scheduled a keynote address focused on the Snapdragon 855 on Day 2 of the summit, that is tomorrow, where it is likely going to outline the CPU microarchitecture, GPU improvements and other key details. Meanwhile, the company did announce some interesting features of the Snapdragon 855.

4th Generation AI Engine

The Snapdragon 855 will play host to the 4th generation AI Engine. At the keynote, Qualcomm said the AI Engine on it will rely on the Kryo CPU, the Adreno GPU and the Hexagon ISP to crunch through machine learning processes despite strong rumours suggesting that the flagship chipset will house a dedicated NPU. We are awaiting more details on the AI capabilties, but Qualcomm did hype it up by claiming it is two times ahead of a certain 7nm SoC thats Android compatible, a clear jab at Huaweis Kirin 980 that powers the Mate 20 Pro. The AI Engine also bring a 3X jump in AI performance over the Snapdragon 845.

Computer Vision capable ISP

The next-generation Spectra ISP on the Snapdragon 855 will have computer vision capabilities. Its the same technique that allows Google to provide features like Night Sight on the Pixel 3 XL, and by the looks of it, Qualcomm will democratise it and allow other OEMs to make use of computer vision techniques to recognise, understand and take actions based on the environment you are shooting. That should mean a big improvement in the way AI works in cameras. There will be further information on the new ISP in the keynote address scheduled for tomorrow.

3D Sonic Sensor

Qualcomm demonstrated its own take of in-display fingerprint sensor at MWC, Barcelona in 2018, and in the Snapdragon 855, the tech will be baked-in. Qualcomms take is different from the one that the OnePlus 6T uses, in the sense that it relies ultrasonic sound waves to create an accurate 3D image of your fingers unique ridge patterns. Qualcomm named it the 3D Sonic Sensor and claimed the technology will be the most secure biometric authentication among mobile devices. While that remains questionable, Qualcomm did say the technology will work even when your finger is wet or oily.

Snapdragon Elite Gaming

The Snapdragon 855 will not only have a more powerful Adreno GPU (again, no specific, technical details have been revealed yet), Qualcomm said its working with major mobile gaming companies to offer a service that it called Snapdragon Elite Gaming. It sounds a lot like Huaweis GPU Turbo with Qualcomm working to optimise popular mobile games to run best on the Snapdragon mobile platform. The company also promised console-grade graphics in a mobile device, which again sounds highly ambitious and Ill reserve my skepticism till I actually get my hands on the tech.

Nevertheless, the Snapdragon 855 will power most flagship and high-end devices in 2019, competing against Huaweis Kirin 980, the Samsung Exynos 9820 and of course, the Apple A12 Bionic. While Qualcomm will do its best to promote the chipset and its capabilities, it will have to face the reality of decreasing smartphone sales. New reports are claiming that people are choosing to stick to their existing devices for longer, with mobile performance saturating at its peak.

We will have more details to share about the Snapdragon 855 tomorrow, as Qualcomms Annual Summit hits Day 2, so stay tuned for updates.

Disclaimer: Qualcomm paid for the author's travel and stay at Maui, Hawaii for the 3rd Annual Snapdragon Summit 2018.Dinosaurs are charismatic megafauna that capture our imagination with their size and variety. The dinosaurs were wiped out along with 70 percent of all life forms at the end of the Cretaceous period, about 66 million years ago. Pterosaurs, which were flying reptiles and the mosasaurs, carnivorous aquatic lizards also died out at these events. Both of these are equally charismatic megafauna, but are not dinosaurs, although they lived during the same time. One of the biggest unanswered questions in science is what exactly led to their extinction. Over the years, there have been many proposed explanations.



The Pterosaurs

The ridiculous theories

In the Cretaceous period, angiosperms (flowering plants and hardwood trees) overran the landscape, replacing the ginkgos, cycads and conifers (roughly, ferns). According to some early extinction theorists, this onset of new genera of vegetation just a while before the extinction of the dinosaurs is no coincidence, it is the cause. The herbivores did not evolve fast enough to eat and digest the new plants, and because of this, they starved to death. As a consequence, the carnivores that depended on the herbivores as a food source also starved to death. The theory fails to explain the extinction of marine reptiles.

In 1962, an entomologist by the name of SE Flanders published a paper in the Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera suggesting that caterpillars killed the dinosaurs. In the middle of the Jurassic period, the caterpillars emerged, around the same time as the advent of flowering plants. For a brief time after their emergence, they had no natural predators. According to Flanders, without any external regulation, the caterpillars went on to consume all the plant matter. This left the herbivores without any food, and they starved to death. The death of the herbivores started a trophic cascade that ended with the extinction of all dinosaurs. However, the death by caterpillar theory has been discarded because of several reasons. It does not explain why small mammals also died off, and molluscs in the sea that were not part of the food pyramid that the caterpillars supposedly disrupted. The reptiles of the sea and air also went extinct at the same time.



Caterpillars can decimate forests, in the absence of natural predators

Ophthalmologist LR Croft proposed that the dinosaurs became extinct because they went blind. In the 1982 book, The Last Dinosaurs: A New Look at the Extinction of the Dinosaurs, Croft argued that a global rise in temperatures led to dinosaurs going blind. Even in human eyes, prolonged exposure to heat and light can cause cataracts. As supporting evidence, Croft argues that the structures around the eyes and heads of dinosaurs such as spines, ridges and bones were all there to protect their eyes from intense solar radiation. As the dinosaurs went blind en masse, they could no longer find the food, and thus starved to death. This theory does not adequately explain why the lizards, turtles and crocodilians survived the extinction event, or why the ammonites in the sea did not.

The methane from farting bovines is a significant component in the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere. If cattle can contribute so much to global warming, then the question arises about how much the giant plant-eating long-necked quadruped dinosaurs emitted. These are a group of dinosaurs called sauropods and included the brachiosaurus, the diplodocus, the apatosaurus and the brontosaurus. A 2012 study estimated that the global production of methane from sauropods was around 520 million tonnes per year, which is comparable to current levels. While the paper was a serious effort at estimating the amount of methane pumped into the atmosphere because of the sauropods, they did not go as far as to say that the resulting climate change caused the extinction of all dinosaurs. That leap in logic was taken by news sites in the quest for viral headlines.



The Sauropods

In S04E10 of the History channel TV series, ancient aliens have a wild proposition for what killed the dinosaurs. According to the theory, the dinosaurs died in an extermination event, and not an extinction event. Instead of the global iridium layer being caused by an asteroid impact, the layer was the result of nuclear explosions. Further evidence for this is the heavy lead painted on top of fossil skeletons of some dinosaurs showcased in museums around the world. This is because the remains are radioactive. The reason some fossils are radioactive is much more mundane than nuclear weapons by ancient aliens. The ground itself is radioactive, and if the bodies were deposited in the regions with a large amount of radioactive minerals, then the resulting fossils are radioactive. The episode uses a combination of science and pseudoscience to propose the ridiculous extinction theory and does not stop there. It even goes on to claim that some dinosaurs survived the extermination, walked the Earth alongside humans, and may even be alive to this day.

Alternative theories

Apart from the ridiculous, there are a whole bunch of other theories that are being investigated by a small number of these researchers. One of the theories that has almost been discarded by most scientists - is a global pandemic. Essentially, the idea is that diseases killed of the dinosaurs. A number of diseases have been pinpointed, including a plague, malaria, sleeping sickness, parasites, bone infections and cancer.

Roy Lee Moodie was one of the earliest practitioners of a field known as palaeopathology. The idea is to study the fossilised remains of the dinosaurs, and figure out if they were affected by any diseases. He wrote a book on the subject. Moodie noted that the number of broken bones and infections spiked around the time of the extinction of the dinosaurs. His conclusion was that the dinosaurs were killed by various diseases and that these diseases died off with them.

There are still a few palaeopathologists who are investigating the possibility of widespread diseases killing off the dinosaurs.



A fossil showing plasmodium, the malaria parasite

The work of George and Roberta Poinar inspired Jurassic Park. According to their theory, insects played a major role in the demise of the dinosaurs. They have found amber specimens with insects still trapped inside them - including mosquitoes and sandflies. Within the guts of the insects, are the blood sucked from the giant reptiles. The insects are studied by carefully cutting the amber away, until there is just a thin layer of it between the insect and the microscope. Among the blood cells, the researchers also identified microorganisms - parasites that spread diseases that are still around to this day. Additionally, coprolites - the fossilised dung of the dinosaurs show lines of burrows - which indicated that the stomachs of the beasts had worms within them. The dung from herds of sauropods would be extremely effective at harbouring and spreading disease spreading microorganisms.

Now conclusively proving widespread diseases among the dinosaurs is a monumental task, considering there is very little skin and tissue to work with. However, scientists holding on to the belief of a disease killing off the dinosaurs point out to an extinction by a disease that might be ongoing. Since the 1970s, hundreds of species of frogs and salamanders have gone extinct - all because of diseases. By and large, though, the wider scientific community does not believe that a pandemic wiped out the dinosaurs. The main reason for this is that the marine reptiles and the and shelled creatures are unlikely to be affected by the same vectors of spreading diseases. The sandflies and mosquitoes could not possibly have bitten them too.



A coprolite, called The Kraken

In 1971, Dale Russell and Wallace Tucker proposed that the dinosaurs could have been killed off because of a nearby supernova. The amount of radiation because of the supernova would be enough to directly cause radiation sickness to the dinosaurs. A stream of high energy neutrinos could cause genetic mutations and cancers. With an intense enough nova, the ozone layer could have been wiped off for a few centuries. This meant any surviving organisms would be subjected to a sustained period of global warming and exposed to intense cancer-causing radiation from the Sun. Unlike most of the proposed theories for dinosaur extinction, such a nearby nova would affect marine and plant life as well. At that time, Russell and Tucker did not identify a known source of the supernova that supposedly killed the dinosaurs. The remnant of the explosion would have been scattered across the galaxy and is difficult to identify 65 million years later anyway. Such evidence can potentially be found in the geological record.

Interest in the theory was revived in 1993, by researchers associated with NASA and CERN, John Ellis and David N Schramm. The theoretical physicists published a paper calculating the effects of a supernova, and if it could possibly cause a mass extinction event. The conclusion was that about once every 100 million years, there is a supernova within 10 parsecs of the Earth, which can wipe out the ozone layer for a few centuries. The paper points out that the dangers of supernova explosions have been underestimated so far, and that further study is required in the area.

The meteor strike

The first person to suggest that an asteroid impact could have wiped out the Earth was MW De Laubenfels in 1956. The starting point for the theory was the mysterious Tunguska event of 1908. Considering the damage caused by the unknown object, De Laubenfels calculated the consequences of a much a larger strike. According to the paper, the dinosaurs were wiped out by hot winds by a large meteor strike.

In 1980, a team of researchers led by Nobel Laureate Luis Walter Alvarez published a blockbuster paper. In the paper, the researchers announced the finding of a global layer of iridium in the geological record. Iridium is an abundant element in the bodies of the solar system, including asteroids. Most of the iridium in the Earth is expected to be deposited within its core, and very little is in the crust. The researchers concluded that the iridium layer, now called the iridium anomaly, was deposited by an extraterrestrial object - most likely an asteroid. The iridium layer also has shocked quartz. The substructures in the crystals were knocked out of place by seismic waves travelling around the globe. About 60 percent of the mass of the object would be injected into the atmosphere as dust. This dust would spread across the world, and eventually settle down everywhere. The dust would block out the sun, wiping out the bottom of the food chain - plants and phytoplankton in the oceans that produce oxygen. An asteroid about 10 kilometres in diameter striking the Earth would be able to cause such an impact. The impact would cause a crater about 100 kilometres in diameter.



Artists impression of the impactor

Unknown to the researchers, such a crater had been discovered just two years before the paper was published. Geophysicists surveying the Gulf of Mexico for possible oil drilling locations noticed a vast crater embedded deep within the continental crust. The crater was 150 kilometres in diameter, expected to be caused by an object between 10 to 15 kilometres in diameter, and was reliably dated to within five million years of the extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs, and 70 percent of all other species. The Chicxulub crater was the smoking gun for what is called the Alvarez hypothesis. The asteroid strike theory has since then grown to be the most widely accepted cause for the CretaceousPaleogene (KPg) extinction event, previously known as the Cretaceous-Tertiary (KT) extinction event.

The eruptions in the Deccan Flats

A link between volcanism and the K-Pg extinction event was first proposed by a 1978 paper by DM McLean. According to Dewey McLean, volcanic eruptions first put particulate matter into the atmosphere, which led to a period of global cooling. The organisms were adapting to the cooling when a runaway greenhouse gas effect led to a sudden period of global warming. The organisms could not evolve rapidly enough to survive this sudden development, which is why most of the life forms on Earth died out.

Since then, there have been a small number of scientists holding on to the volcanism hypothesis. In a 2003 paper, Vincent Courtillot and Paul Renne published a paper showing that most of the major mass extinction events are associated with increased volcanic activity. For example, the massive volcanic outpourings from the Siberian Traps are believed to be the cause of the PermianTriassic (PT) extinction event. It is the only known mass extinction event for insects, and about 90 percent of all life forms were wiped from existence. Life on Earth took ten million years to recover from the P-T extinction event. Courtillot and Renne proposed that increased volcanism was the general explanation for all mass extinction events.

While all the major extinction events are chronologically linked to known sources of increased volcanism, only the K-Pg extinction event is linked to an impact crater. Considering the rarity of the impact craters of a similar size, and the frequency of flood basalt plains, the authors show that periods of increased volcanism are more common than large asteroid strikes. The paper goes on to demonstrate that while the volcanism is sufficient to cause the extinction on its own, and the only clear evidence of an asteroid that could have caused a mass extinction is during a period with increased volcanism.



The Deccan Traps

One of the biggest opponents of the Alvares hypothesis is Gerta Keller, a palaeontologist from Princeton University. Keller, along with Ashok Sahni from Punjab University and Sunil Bajpai from IIT-Roorkee have published research linking the massive volcanic outpourings in the Deccan traps to the K-Pg extinction event.

The igneous rock that we read about in the boring geography textbooks are actually the remains of massive floods of lava. The Deccan traps, an igneous province that covers portions of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Northern Karnataka are one of the largest volcanic features in the world. The massive eruptions reached over 1000 km across India, and could well be the longest lava flows known to man. What remains of these layers of cooled down lava are the stratified rocks that we see in the Deccan traps today.

According to the volcanism theory, the massive eruptions pumped sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, over a period of a million years. The sulfur dioxide would have cooled the atmosphere, while the carbon dioxide would have heated it. The geological record shows mixed signals, with some rocks showing a period of cooling, while others showing a period of warming. One explanation is a period of cooling followed by a sudden period of warming, and a runaway greenhouse gas effect. The carbon cycle of the Earth was disturbed, and this led to the K-Pg extinction event. The volcanism also explains how the iridium got released into the atmosphere of the Earth and was deposited all over it.

The one-two punch

While the debate got murky at times, the two theories are not totally at odds with each other. Researchers have been trying to accurately date the Chicxulub impactor, and some findings suggested that the asteroid had struck slightly before the extinction event. The best dating techniques now show that the strike coincided almost exactly with the extinction. However, that does not mean that the Chicxulub event was the only cause for the extinction of the dinosaurs. It could be that the asteroid strike was the last straw. The fossil record shows that almost all the non-avian dinosaurs had been wiped out before the asteroid struck, which would make the volcanism in the Deccan traps the only available explanation.

Even in the 2003 paper, Courtillot and Renne did not consider that the Chicxulub impact as opposed to the volcanism hypothesis. Instead, they proposed that the perceived consequences of the strike were lesser than previously thought. The meteor was not the single reason that the dinosaurs died, but it did manage to wipe out species that were already stressed. The authors maintain that volcanism was the main agent for the K-Pg extinction event.

There are some questions still to be answered in the one-two punch or hybrid theory of dinosaur extinction. Essentially instead of just a single factor, it considers both the volcanism and the impactor as contributing factors. Out of the two, the volcanism could have finished off the dinosaurs on their own. The question now arises on how much the volcanism and the strike contributed to the extinction. While the volcanism was spread out over a million years, about 90 percent of the lava flows are suspected to have occurred right around the K-Pg boundary. A more precise dating of the layers in the Deccan Traps is needed to resolve the remaining questions.

Sources / Suggested reading

Dewey McLean: The Rancorous Asteroid Impact vs. Deccan Traps Volcanism Dinosaur Extinction Debate

The Scientist: Shootout At The K/T Boundary

The Atlantic: The Nastiest Feud in Science

UW: 2018 Provost Welcome LectureGoogle has announced eSIM support for the Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL smartphones in India. Both flagship smartphones from Google will be getting eSIM support from carriers Reliance Jio and Airtel in India, in the coming months, Googles Director of Partnerships, Kerrie Lenhart Hogan announced in a blogpost.

Previously, Reliance Jio and Airtel had lent eSIM support to Apples 2018 flagship smartphones - iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max in India. In case of the iPhones, Reliance Jio offers eSIM services for both prepaid and postpaid customers, however, Airtel is only offers the service to its postpaid users. We expect the two telcos to follow a similar strategy when extending eSIM services to the Pixel 3 phones in India.

What is eSIM?

An eSIM or electronic SIM card removes the need to place a physical SIM card in the phones SIM slot. Googles Pixel 2 also offered eSIM support, but the same was only extended in the US for Googles Project Fi, now called Google Fi. an eSIM is essentially a rewritable chip embedded within your smartphone. It can be activated with the network of your choice, one that supports eSIM services. So for instance if you have an eSIM connection from Airtel and are unhappy with the same, you could switch to eSIM services from Reliance Jio without having to physically obtain a SIM card or change one in your phone.

eSIM carriers and devices in India

Currently, only Airtel and Reliance Jio support eSIM services in India. Vodafone Idea still does not support eSIM services. The devices that support eSIMs in India include - iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR, Google Pixel 3, Google Pixel 3 XL, Apple Watch Series 4 and Apple Watch series 3. If you own any one of these devices, you could check with Airtel or Reliance Jio for eSIM support on the devices.

Alongside the announcement of eSIM services on Pixel 3 smartphones, Google also stated that it is working with other Android smartphone OEMs to build eSIM-capable smartphones. So, one can expect more Android devices to support eSIM services going forward. We look forward to continuing our work with our partners on the potential benefits of eSIMwhether thats getting you connected to a phone, watch, tablet, or laptopin the future, Google noted in its blogpost.Indian Navy to get first of 2 indigenous aircraft carriers in 2020

Indias first indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC-1) is expected to be inducted into the Indian Navy in 2020, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Naval Command, Vice-Admiral Karambir Singh said on Monday.

He said the new aircraft carrier will be based with the Eastern Naval Command based in Visakhapatanam and that the Navy was building the required infrastructure like berthing facilities and associated services at the ENC for IAC-1.

A MiG-29 squadron would also be positioned at the ENC once the IAC-1 was inducted, he said.

Addressing a press conference onboard the INS Sahyadri on the eve of Navy Day, Singh said IAC-1 was currently being built in Kochi under the Maritime Capability Perspective Plan.

While the refurbished INS Vikramaditya has already been inducted in line with this plan, IAC-1, the first of the two aircraft carriers planned, is under construction, he said.

"The case for IAC-2 is being progressed to meet all future requirements without any degradation in force levels," he added.

"In keeping with the country's maritime interests, the Navy has a requirement of two operational aircraft carriers. The Maritime Capability Perspective Plan envisages a force level of three aircraft carriers to ensure availability of at least two Carrier Battle Groups at any given time," the Vice-Admiral said.

Plans were also afoot to build a 10,000-ton ship-lift facility at the Naval Dockyard here. Once commissioned, this would be the second such facility in the country after the one at Karwar, he said.

Singh said orders were issued for building 27 warships and submarines under the Make in India initiative that would aid the capability building programme of the Navy.

"On an average, four to five warships, including submarines, are normally inducted in a year. So, the new ones are expected to be inducted in the next five or six years," he said, in reply to a question.

On the increasing positioning of rival warships in the Indian Ocean region, the ENC chief said they too enhanced deployment of ships, submarines and aircrafts.

"We have transitioned to mission-based deployments, aimed at maximising our time at sea with defined outcomes. We also have automatic identification systems in place, especially in 'choke points' like the Malabar Straits," he said.

"Having designated our role in the Indian Ocean Region as the net security provider, the aim of these deployments is to have presence in relevant areas so as to secure our maritime interests and also assure our friends in the region that we are available to assist in the event of a developing situation," the Vice Admiral said.Pakistan opens immigration centre at Kartarpur border for Sikh pilgrim

Pakistan has established an immigration centre at the Kartarpur border to facilitate Sikh pilgrimage from India to Darbar Sahib, the holiest of Sikh Gurudwaras, in Pakistans Kartarpur across the border.

The move comes after the groundbreaking of the landmark corridor for Sikh pilgrims that will connect Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Punjabs Gurdaspur district in India to Sikh faiths founder Guru Nanak Devs final resting place in Pakistans Kartarpur, fulfilling a long-pending demand of the Sikh community.

Since the border crossing could be an easy target for terrorists, human traffickers and drug dealers, a strong mechanism was required to keep the situation under control on both sides of the border, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Deputy Director (Punjab) Mufakhar Adeel said.

The FIA has set up an immigration office at Kartarpur border in Narowal (some 120 kms from Lahore) in connection with the opening of Kartarpur corridor, the Dawn quoted Adeel as saying.

The FIA officers will play the role of boarding officers and check the documents of Sikh pilgrims and identify them through biometric technology. Sikh pilgrims having visas will be allowed to enter the city while those with permits will be given access to Gurudwara Darbar Sahib only, he said.

On November 28, Prime Minister Imran Khan laid the foundation stone of the Kartarpur corridor.

On November 26, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh laid the foundation stone for the Kartarpur Sahib corridor in Gurdaspur.

Khan said that his government and the army wanted a civilised relationship with India, declaring that Islamabad would move two steps forward if New Delhi took one step.

Khan cited examples of France and Germany which fought many wars but eventually came closer for the welfare of their people.

Pakistan assured that it will keep improving the Kartarpur corridor and provide maximum facilities to the pilgrims when they visit in November 2019 to celebrate Guru Nanaks 550th birth anniversary.Bids for TOT highway projects across 4 states to close on 19 Dec

The centre has fixed 19 December as the last date of bidding for the second bundle of highway projects under the Toll-Operate-Transfer scheme. These include 12 toll plazas spread over four states, including Rajasthan, Gujarat, West Bengal and Bihar, across four highways.

The submission of bids for the second bundle of Toll-Operate-Transfer (TOT) will close on the 19 of this month, union minister for road transport and highways, shipping, water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation Nitin Gadkari had initiated the process at a road show in Mumbai on 15 November.

This bundle consists of over 586 km of National Highways, spread over four states  Rajasthan, Gujarat, West Bengal and Bihar:

Rajasthan:

The 160.50 km Chittorgarh - Kota & Chittorgarh stretch of NH 27 Bypass (3 toll plazas);

The 120.02 km Swaroopganj  Pindwara & Pindwara-Udaipur stretch of NH 27 (2 toll plazas);

Rajasthan / Gujarat:

The 45-km Palanpur / Khemana-Abu Road stretch of NH 27 (1 toll plaza);

Gujarat:

The102.26-km Jetpur-Somnath stretch of NH 151 (2 toll plazas);

Bihar:

The 36.30 Purnea-Dalkhola stretch of NH 31 (1 toll plaza);

West Bengal:

The 51.97 km Dalkhola-Islampur stretch of NH 31 (1 toll plaza);

The 44-km Islampur - Sonapur  Ghoshpukur stretch of NH31 (1 toll plaza); and

The 26.50-km Salsalabari - West Bengal Assam Border Section stretch on NH 31 (1 toll plaza).

TOT is a model for monetising operational National Highways projects. The investor makes a lump sum payment in return for long term toll collection rights backed by a sound tolling system. The concession period is 30 years. Up to 49 per cent divestment is allowed till two years of the concession period. Up to 10 per cent change in ownership is allowed after two years. The investor is de-risked from undertaking any construction. If required, NHAI will conduct capacity augmentation at its own cost.

The first TOT bundle of 9 projects, totalling approximately 681 km of roads in two states of Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, was awarded in 2018. Huge interest was shown by foreign investors.

TOT Bundle-I was awarded to Macquarie for Rs9,681 crore, which was 1.5 times the authoritys estimate. National Highways Authority of India did a financial closure of this project with the India chief of Macquarie handing over a cheque for Rs9,681.5 crore to Nitin Gadkari on 29 August this year in New Delhi.NCLT attaches properties of 9 former IL&FS directors

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Monday passed an interim order to attach all movable or immovable properties of nine former directors of IL&FS. The tribunal also directed them to disclose their securities and bank accounts within the country and abroad.

The tribunal has directed them to disclose movable and immovable assets and ensure that no one creates any third party rights on these properties.

The NCLT order comes on an interim report of the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) submitted by the ministry of corporate affairs to the NCLT Mumbai seeking to implead six former directors of IL&FS.

In a separate petition, MCA also sought the attachment of movable or immovable properties of nine former directors. The court accepted both the petitions.

MCA named chief investment officer of IL&FS Vibhav Kapoor, managing director of IL&FS Transportation Networks (ITNL) K Ramchand, managing director of IL&FS Financial Services RC Bawa, managing director and CEO of IL&FS Securities Services Rengarajan, director and member of committee of directors responsible for sanctioning loans Pradeep Puri, and executive director of ITNL Mukund Sapre.

Besides the six officials, the tribunal seized properties of three other former directors of the IL&FS group, including Ravi Parthasarathy, Hariharan and Arun Saha.

"IL&FS used a circuitous way to pay off loans of its own entities to meet RBI guidelines and used this method to obtain a high credit rating, and high managerial remuneration. On the one hand, percentage increase in the remuneration of Ravi Parthasarathy in FY18 was 144 per cent, while on the other, average percentage increase in salaries of employees in the same year was 4.44 per cent.

On 30 November 2018, SFIO submitted a report to the central government on IL&FS.

Counsel for former directors of IL&FS argued that the business model followed was project-specific and the board used to take decisions on that basis. While they might have erred in their decisions, the counsel said the accounts of all the years were fully audited.

"The old board took business decisions that may have gone wrong. The business model was followed in a project-specific subsidiary way and all the accounts of all the years are fully audited. Shareholders of ILFS (LIC, SBI) have approved all the activities. The downfall in Infrastructure sector ILFS was no exception. We tried to take steps to solve the debt situation through an asset sale and even got into a deal with a foreign company and Piramal that did not get through.

MCA counsel Sanjay Shourie raised concern on alleged wrongdoing in employee welfare trust (EWT) saying, "Of the Rs440 crore of welfare trust, only 1 per cent went to the employees. In 2014 - as part of restructuring, IL&FS merger with Piramal was contemplated. Employees trust held 15 million shares of IL&FS Ltd and trustees distributed 90 per cent of the EWT holding of 13.5 million shares to select employees. The SFIO investigation reveals EWT took loan to purchase shares of IL&FS and group companies despite knowing of no way to repay.

NCLT Mumbai will next hear the matter on 16 January 2019.Qatar to quit Opec in January, to focus on gas exports

Qatar, the smallest oil producer among the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), on Monday announced plans to quit the producer cartel in January and pursue its own independent policies outside the grouping, to establish its position as the worlds top exporter of natural gas.

Qatar has decided to withdraw its membership from Opec effective January 2019 and this decision was communicated to Opec this morning, Qatars minister of state for energy affairs Saad al-Kaabi told a news conference on Monday.

For me to put efforts and resources and time in an organisation that we are a very small player in and I don't have a say in what happens...practically it does not work, so for us it's better to focus on our big growth potential, Al-Kaabi said.

Qatar, the worlds largest exporter of liquified natural gas, plans to increase its exports from 77 million tons of gas per year to 110 million tonnes, he said, adding that Qatar also wants to raise its oil production from 4.8 million barrels of oil equivalent a day to 6.5 million barrels.

In light of such efforts and plans, and in our pursuit to strengthen Qatars position as a reliable and trustworthy energy supplier across the globe, we had to take steps to review Qatars role and contributions on the international energy scene, al-Kaabi stated.

Qatar, which is locked in a diplomatic dispute with the group's de-facto leader Saudi Arabia, said the move to exit Opec was not linked to the economic boycott of Doha imposed by some members of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC).

Although Qatar cannot claim to be a major oil producer, the country has been a member of Opec since inception 57 years ago and have played a major role as a member of the oil cartel.

Qatar discovered the offshore North Field in 1971, the same year it became independent. But its oil output is only 600,000 barrels per day (bpd), compared with the 11 million bpd produced by Saudi Arabia. Doha, however, continues to be a major player in the global LNG market with annual production of 77 million tonnes per year.

Qatar, a country of 2.6 million people with its citizens accounting for just 10 per cent of it, is facing an economic and political boycott from Opec members, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and fellow Arab states Bahrain and Egypt, since June 2017. The Gulf neighbours have accused the country of supporting terrorism, but Doha denies the charges.

Al-Kaabi said Qatar would abide by its commitments as a member of the cartel and would attend the group's meeting on Thursday and Friday this week.

The surprise announcement by Qatar cold further strain the Opec, which is being drawn apart by diverse forces and interests. The waning clout of the cartel was evident when Saudi Arabia sought Russian support to steady oil prices that have hit rock bottom in 2016.

Opec and other oil producers, including Russia, are expected to agree on a supply cut at this week's meeting in a bid to support crude prices that have slid almost 30 per cent since October.WhatsApp seeks RBI nod to expand payment service to all users

WhatsApp chief is reported to have written to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), seeking a formal nod to expand payments services to all its 200 million users in India.

The development comes at a time when competitors like Google have forged ahead with their payments offerings.

The messaging app, which has drawn government ire over spread of fake messages on its platform, is yet to receive regulatory clearance to launch full-fledged payments operations in India.

It may be noted that WhatsApp had during test runs amassed nearly one million users, and it is almost two years since it first began discussions with the government on its payments services plans.

WhatsApp is currently piloting WhatsApp payments, and its chief Chris Daniels has now written to the RBI urging that a formal approval be granted to take the payments product to all its users in the country.

"I write to request your formal approval to immediately expand WhatsApp's BHIM UPI (Unified Payments Interface) compliant payments product to all users in India, giving us the opportunity to offer a useful and secure service that can improve the lives of Indian people through digital empowerment and financial inclusion," Daniels said in the letter addressed to the RBI governor.

According to the letter dated 5 November, WhatsApp's partner banks have also submitted a request for formal approval.

WhatsApp said it is working closely with the Indian government, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), and multiple banks, including payment service providers, to expand the payment service to more people.

"Today, almost 1 million people are testing WhatsApp payments in India. The feedback has been very positive, and people enjoy the convenience of sending money as simply and securely as sending messages," the company's spokesperson said, responding to a specific email query on the recent plea to the RBI.

WhatsApp also stated that it has ensured that the payments data is stored in India, immediately after the RBI came out with a directive outlining the new payments data storage requirements in April this year.

"Today, (the) RBI has unfettered supervisory access to payments data as prescribed by the RBI circular," PTO cited the letter as stating.

The Facebook-owned company has also demanded a "level playing field" for all companies that offer payment services, including "a certain and transparent regulatory and operating environment".

WhatsApp has also made a case for scaling up its operations by citing the productivity gains that have accrued to Indian small business as a result of the digital tool, and expressed its deep commitment to the market.

"Based on feedback from NPCI and our bank partners, we are confident that we are fully compliant with the UPI checklist, have made all necessary submissions and have passed the security audits required to launch WhatsApp Payments," Daniels said.The following post was written by Beatrice M. Friedlander, JD, president of Attorneys for Animals.

Ask your Michigan State Senators to stand up for mans best friend

Most Michiganders, like most Americans, agree that it is unacceptable to raise dogs and puppies in cruel conditions. Yet many puppies offered for sale in this state come from puppy mills.

Take action now to prevent a proposal that would give cover to pet stores and their suppliers. Call your state senator today and ask her/him to oppose House Bills 5916 and 5917 if they come up for a vote. (Find your senator HERE.)

In puppy mills, breeding dogs, who often spend their whole lives in small wire cages, are treated as nothing more than reproduction machines. When they can no longer produce puppies, they are discarded like trash. Puppies are merely products and their health and well-being are of little concern.

Yet some members of our state legislature are working to protect puppy mills by ensuring they can continue to sell puppies to Michigan pet stores. House Bills 5916 and 5917 narrowly passed the Michigan House of Representatives last Thursday. Now, its up to our Michigan senators to stop these dangerous, ill-advised and cynical bills.

The primary backer of these bills is the Ohio-based corporation, Petland. Over 280 localities across the country have passed laws to prohibit the sale of puppies in pet stores, in order to protect animals and consumers. In response, Petland is going state-to-state, asking lawmakers to shield the corporation from local regulation. In the past two years, theyve been unsuccessful in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and Illinois.

Now theyre targeting Michigan.

The basic scheme is as follows: one bill seemingly sets up regulation of pet stores, currently not regulated by the state. But in exchange, local governments are banned under the other bill, from passing new laws or enforcing existing ones regulating pet stores.

The proposed regulations are essentially meaningless and unenforceable. They purport to regulate the sources of animals (puppies) from which pet stores purchase their inventory. These regulations are meaningless because they offer pet stores a choice of sourcing from completely unregulated breeders, regardless of the health and welfare of the dogs in their care, or from a USDA-licensed breeder, so long as the breeder hasnt received certain violations.

Unfortunately, USDA-licensed breeder gives a false sense of security to the puppy purchaser. It says nothing about the quality of the breeder. It means only that the breeder is large enough to require such a license and sells dogs wholesale. USDA-licensed breeders can legally keep dogs in stacked, wire cages only six inches larger than themselves for their entire lives and can breed dogs at every heat cycle. As if that is not bad enough, the USDA does a very poor job of enforcement.

And the regulations are unenforceable because the standards set forth in the bill rely on USDA inspection records. However, these records were deleted from public view in early 2017 and therefore are unavailable to the person who has fallen in love with a cute puppy at a pet store but wants to check the source of that puppy and the history of the facility where the puppy was born.

More than a dozen Michigan organizations in addition to Attorneys for Animals  including Michigan Humane Society, State Bar of Michigan Animal Law Section, Puppy Mill Awareness of Southeast Michigan, Michigan Pet Fund Alliance, Humane Society of Huron Valley, Humane Society of West Michigan; as well as national groups such as the Humane Society of the United States, Animal Welfare Institute and Animal Legal Defense Fund  all oppose these bills.

The bills stalled for months and eventually were amended so the versions that passed the House say local governments cannot arbitrarily ban pet stores. This is still objectionable. Make no mistake: the goal is to stop local regulation of pet stores, and the chilling effect of these confusing bills might just do that. And its clear that any local ban that does pass will be challenged as arbitrary, thus setting up lengthy and expensive litigation.

It is crucial that local governments retain the unequivocal right to regulate pet stores. Pet stores puppies are often sick, leaving consumers with thousands of dollars in veterinary bills. Sometimes the puppy dies, causing much heartbreak. Pet store puppies are also likely to have behavior problems because they were taken from their mothers too early and socialization is all but impossible in a pet store cage.

In fact, a lawsuit was recently filed against Petland Novi by a man who alleges he bought a puppy there who was infected with Campylobacter bacteria, which was passed to him and resulted in his hospitalization. This claim is consistent with a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control stating that puppies sold through pet stores were the source of a multistate, multidrug-resistant outbreak of Campylobacter that infected at least 118 persons in at least 18 states.

The people of Michigan deserve better than these bills. Protection of puppy mills and their pet store sales outlets does not represent the compassionate people of this state. After these bills were introduced in the House in May 2018, there was a public uproar, with constituents mobilized to call their representatives to oppose the bills. We need the same grassroots effort, and we need to be proactive. Call your senator today and urge a no vote on HB 5916 and 5917.

UPDATE: These two bills have been assigned to the Senate Agricultural Committee and they are scheduled to meet on Thursday. Contact information for the members of the Senate Agricultural Committee:

Joe Hune (R) Committee Chair, 22nd District  (517) 373-2420 or toll free 855-JOE-HUNE, [email protected]

Mike Green (R) Majority Vice Chair, 31st District  (517) 373-1777 or toll free at (866) 305-2131, email HERE

Wayne A.Schmidt (R) 37th District  (517) 373-2413, [email protected]

Darwin L Booher (R) 35th District  (517) 373-1725, [email protected]

Jim Ananich (D), Minority Vice Chair 27th District  (517) 373-0142, [email protected]

Photo by Anne C. Savage, special to Eclectablog.In the UK, it is unlawful for an employer to fire an employee based on their religion or belief. By the same token, is it ok for an employer to fire an employee if they are ethical vegans?

The question of whether vegans have the same anti-discrimination protections as religious people under UK law will be answered at an employment tribunal next Marchthe first case of its kind in Britain.

Jordi Casamitjana, 54, is an ethical vegan who claims he was dismissed in April by his former employer League Against Cruel Sports "after I blew the whistle that their pension fund was being invested in companies involved in animal testing," he wrote on his crowdfunding page.

In response, the animal welfare charity told CNN it is a "vegan friendly employer." A spokesperson said that Casamitjana was fired for "gross misconduct," not for his dietary preferences.

"The discussion about veganism being a 'philosophical belief' is a thought-provoking one which many of our staff will be interested inhowever this debate has absolutely no connection with why Mr. Casamitjana was sacked," the spokesperson added.

Vegans abstain from consuming animals and animal products, but there's a difference between those who do it for health reasons (dietary vegans), or those who do it for moral or environmental reasons.

"Some people only eat a vegan diet but they don't care about the environment or the animals, they only care about their health," Casamitjana, who has been an ethical vegan for 17 years, explained the BBC.

"I care about the animals and the environment and my health and everything," he added. "That's why I use this term 'ethical veganism' because for me veganism is a belief and affects every single aspect of my life."

Under UK law, veganism must adhere to the following points to qualify as a philosophical belief:

Be genuinely held,

Be a belief as to a weighty and substantial aspect of human life and behavior,

Attain a certain level of cogency, seriousness, cohesion and importance,

Be worthy of respect in a democratic society, not be incompatible with human dignity and not conflict with the fundamental rights of others,

Be a belief, not an opinion or viewpoint based on the present state of information available

Casamitjana's law firm, Bindmans LLP, said in a press release it was "bringing a landmark case."

"If successful, the case will protect ethical vegans from discrimination on the grounds of their belief," the firm said.

Interestingly, Casamitjana's case has legs. When Quartz presented this question to three philosophers, they all agreed that veganism met the requirements of a philosophical belief and deserved the same legal protection as religion.

"I think it's a sounder belief than any of the religions," Peter Singer, utilitarian philosopher at Princeton University, told the publication. "I think veganism rests on a strong moral foundation. It's clearly a deep belief, it affects your life and the way you behave and outlook on the world, and I think should count as philosophical belief."

If the tribunal also agrees, the discrimination claim will proceed to a full trial, according to the BBC. Casamitjana's hearing is set for March 13 and 14.

There was similar case in the U.S., in which a court rejected the argument that veganism was merely an eating habit. In Chenzira v. Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, a federal district court in Ohio found that the sincerely held belief of a vegan employeewho was fired for rejecting the flu vaccine because it was grown in chicken eggsmay support a religious discrimination claim and merited protection under the law. The case was ultimately settled out of court in 2013.In an age when the nation is deeply divided politically, those who teach about the U.S. Constitution are on the front lines of guiding their students to a deeper understanding of civics.

With my seniors, current events are an issue every single day, said Elizabeth Schley, an AP Government and Politics teacher at Basha High School in Chandler, Ariz. At the beginning of the semester, they thought they were just going to sit here and argue for the entire hour. But thats not what we do.

What Schley and her students do is analyze the issues, whether they be as old a concept as judicial review from the 1803 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Marbury v. Madison or as fresh as the headlines, which recently were President Donald Trumps criticism of a retired U.S. Navy Seal leader.

I tell them were not going to bash or praise the administration, she said. Were going to look at it as political scientists.

Teachers of civics and leaders of groups that facilitate such instruction agree that the current political climate may be doing as much to rekindle interest in the Constitution and its principles as lamentations over surveys showing that most Americans cannot identify the three branches of government. Some experts also make the case that studies of the document could also offer a path to finding common ground around the principles that undergird the country, even as historical debates simmer.

Because we live in a time that politics is very polarizing, the level of engagement is much higher, said Tim Rodman, a government teacher at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, Md., just outside the nations capital. Students really have an opinion.

See Also: How History Class Divides Us

Lawrence Paska, the executive director of the National Council for the Social Studies, said teachers do not see their role as telling students what to think about hot-button political issues, but to put things in context and relate political controversies to constitutional principles.

All students are walking around in the current world, he said. They are exposed to more sources of information than ever before. Were flooded with information, and it consequently becomes more urgent to put that information in context.

David Bobb, the president of the Bill of Rights Institute, an Arlington, Va.-based educational group that provides programs for teachers and students, said, Polarization has become a thing in high schools, but not in the same way as for those mired in the thick of politics.

About the Citizen Z Project U.S. public education is rooted in the belief by early American leaders that the most important knowledge to impart to young people is what it means to be a citizen. If America is experiencing a civic crisis now, as many say it is, schools may well be failing at that job. Look for more pieces from our Citizen Z project in the weeks and months ahead.

The kids feel the tension, he added. The teachers live it.

Tribal Territory

Some analysts worry about whether a form of political tribalism is damaging the constitutional ideal of a national identity. Writing in the Atlantic magazine in October, Yale Law School professors Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld said, When we think of tribalism, we tend to focus on the primal pull of race, religion, or ethnicity. But partisan political loyalties can become tribal, too. When they do, they can be as destructive as any other allegiance.

Americans on the left and the right now view their political opponents not as fellow Americans with differing views, but as enemies to be vanquished, Chua and Rubenfeld write. And they have come to view the Constitution not as an aspirational statement of shared principles and a bulwark against tribalism, but as a cudgel with which to attack those enemies.

Staci Garber, who teaches U.S. constitutional principles to high school students in her Global Studies class at Caravel Academy, a private school in Bear, Del., has been conscious of the threat of tribalism in recent years.

Our campus is deeply divided, she said. We have some very liberal students and some very conservative students. We have some Trump-type conservatives, and there are these deep divisions.

Like other teachers, she strives to keep classroom discussions civil. She teaches the Constitution in the context of the European Enlightenment era.

Its surprising the range of philosophies that come out, Garber said. Theyre always surprised when they find common ground on things.

In Garbers classes, recent topics have included the meaning of the right to bear arms under the Second Amendment and the reported questioning of the validity of the Marbury decision by Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker during a 2014 interview, when he was not in government.

In Rodmans AP Government and Politics class at Walter Johnson High, Whitaker figured in a different debate as students became engaged over Federalist Paper No. 70 and the role of the executive.

We looked at Article II [of the Constitution] and the role of the presidents powers, Rodman said. My students wondered how that translates to today and how the president uses executive privilege, and whether the presidents appointment of [Whitaker as] the acting attorney general over Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was proper.

Thats an issue dividing legal scholars, to say nothing of high school students. Rodman, like other teachers, stressed that his role was to guide students in how to learn about the Constitution, not to offer his own views.

I tell them this isnt about me, he said.

Nicholas Hegge, who teaches American government and American history at Logan View High School in Hooper, Neb., said he found it important to get students hooked on the Constitution. He does that, among other ways, by teaching about recent Supreme Court cases that may have relevance to their lives. One recent case he taught was Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Human Rights Commission, in which the court held that a state civil rights panel violated the rights of a baker who had refused to make a cake for a same-sex couple.

My students also really loved the Carpenter case from last term, about the Fourth Amendment and the future of digital privacy, Hegge said, in reference to Carpenter v. United States, in which the court ruled the governments acquisition of a suspects cellphone location data was a search under the Fourth Amendment and would generally require a warrant.

Some Supreme Court justices would likely be pleased that their own decisions are being used to rekindle interest in the Constitution.

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day OConnor, 88, recently announced publicly that because she is battling dementia, she must withdraw from public life, including from her passion since retiring in 2006: improving civics education.

It is time for new leaders to make civic learning and civic engagement a reality for all, OConnor said in a public letter on Oct. 23. It is my great hope that our nation will commit to educating our youth about civics, and to helping young people understand their crucial role as informed, active citizens in our nation.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor answered OConnors call by joining the board of the group OConnor founded, iCivics.

We are really taking Justice OConnors vision now a step further, Sotomayor said in a recent interview with Education Week. Justice Neil M. Gorsuch has also raised his profile in support of civics.

Kerry Sautner, the chief learning officer at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, said that at her institution, the running joke is that the Constitution hasnt been talked abut this much since 1787, the year it was drafted in Independence Hall, steps away from the center, which was created by Congress in 1988 to disseminate nonpartisan information about the founding document.

Civic education is going gangbusters, Sautner said.

The National Constitution Center is one of many groups, including the Bill of Rights Institute and the National Council for the Social Studies, that provide resources and workshops for teachers.

Exploring Historic Documents

Another resource is the National Archives, where the originals of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are on display, along with the Declaration of Independence and a bunch of other historical documents.

On a recent day, about 20 7th graders from the Center City Public Charter School-Capitol Hill campus, in Washington, arrived to participate in an hourlong educational program.

The students took their turns examining the founding documents in the classical rotunda.

The documents are so faded, you know theyve been around for a long time, said student Hasan Carter.

Carter and his classmates then went on a mission through the Archives exhibit hall, which highlights documents tied to one constitutional right or another, such as an old patent and a petition for womens suffrage.

For this program, were working with students who frequently feel disenfranchised and that their voice doesnt matter, said Christiana Hanson, an education coordinator at the Archives. They cant vote yet. But they live in D.C. Capitol Hill and the government are their backyard. We want them to become better-informed citizens.

Calvin Johnson, the teacher of these 7th graders, said he is just starting lessons about the Constitution, so having his students see the documents for themselves is a good way to frame the discussions to come.

Now well do a deep dive into the documents of the Constitution, he said. The Center City charter school network emphasizes advocacy, and he has already had discussions with his students about students free expression rights in the wake of the student activism that followed the February shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

They start out with an abstract view of current events, Johnson said of his students. Through discussion, we are able to make connections to their lives. They get excited when they realize that they are the people in We the People. San Salvador, Dec 4 (epa-efe).- Forty-two years after its discovery, El Salvador's Joya de Ceren archaeological site is a time capsule that contains finds and information regarding the pre-Columbian people who lived there, a site that has been preserved, as in Pompeii, by a volcanic eruption.

The main virtue of the site is its high level of preservation, which has enabled new generations to come to know and understand the architectural and agricultural development of the local inhabitants in the Mesoamerica of the seventh century A.D.

"Joya de Ceren provides evidence about the daily life of the late classic period. The findings are encapsulated in time," Michelle Toledo, a Salvadoran archaeologist who directed the most recent excavations at the site, told EFE.

Toledo said that among the latest discoveries are the "burial with ceremonial characteristics of a person," who, according to the examination of the remains, "did not die because of the eruption."

"The position of the skeleton indicates that it was a person of short stature, who was in a fetal position and whose body was surrounded by pieces of obsidian," a glassy material used to make spearheads, knives and arrows, the expert said.

Toledo said that the "prehispanic grave ... gives us more evidence about a burial pattern. It is possible that there could be more (burials) under the structures already discovered."

Besides the skeleton, there were human tracks and evidence of furrows (crop rows), which, according to previous research, "could be corn or cassava."

A tour of the archaeological park is a journey through time that shows us what the day-to-day life was like for the people who inhabited these lands.

The site also contains the remains of sophisticated houses made out of adobe (mud) and "bajareque" (a mixture of straw and branches), a meeting house, a ceremonial center and a "temascal" - a place to take a steam bath.

"I would think that Joya de Ceren has been here since A.D. 600 ... At least three generations lived (here) and the average life span was 35 years," the archaeologist said.

Joya de Ceren was discovered "by chance" in 1976 during work by a company that built silos for grain storage.Mexico City, Dec 3 (epa-efe).- Mexico's presidential jet was flown Monday to the Boeing facility in Victorville, California, where it will be housed until being sold by order of the new president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

The Boeing 787-8 took off around 11 am from the presidential hangar at the Mexico City International Airport.

The aircraft was acquired in 2012 by then-President Felipe Calderon, although it did not arrive in Mexico until February 2016, during the presidency of Enrique Pena Nieto, amid criticism for its $218.7 million price tag.

The Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville is home to Boeing AOG, where mechanics and other technicians perform specialized repairs, maintenance and modifications on Boeing aircraft.

It will remain there during the sale process, whereby the Mexican government will seek to "maximize the value of the aircraft," the Finance Secretariat said, making every effort to avoid taking a loss on the transaction.

Finance Secretary Carlos Urzua on Sunday personally reviewed the status of the plane, which can carry 80 passengers and is equipped with a full bathroom, a bedroom and an office for the president.

"Not Obama, not Trump ... not Lopez Obrador," the secretary wrote on Twitter, referring to the words of Lopez Obrador, who during his election campaign claimed that not even US presidents had such a luxurious plane.

Lopez Obrador has always said that he would not use the plane because its cost was "an offense to the public."

So far, the new president has opted to travel on commercial airlines as part of what he calls "republican austerity."

Other measures under that policy have included slashing his own salary by 60 percent and deciding to continue living in his home instead of moving into the presidential palace, which he says he plans to transform into a space for art and culture.Mexico City, Dec 4 (epa-efe).- President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Tuesday that he will ask the Senate to reform the Mexican Constitution to eliminate a provision barring criminal prosecution of the head of state for any offense short of treason.

"The initiative that I am sending to the Senate is to end this immunity. The impunity established by the constitution is over. The president will be judged like any other citizen for any crime," Lopez Obrador said during his morning press conference.

Lopez Obrador, who took office last Saturday, recalled that since 1917 the head of the Mexican state may only be prosecuted for "the crime of treason" and he said he disagreed with the fact that a president cannot be held accountable for crimes of corruption.

Also, he expressed confidence that lawmakers in the Senate and the lower house, where his leftist Morena party has a majority, will approve the initiative so that "the immunities and privileges are ended."

In his inaugural address, Lopez Obrador declared that he intends to put a "definitive end" to corruption, although he announced that his government will not push for investigations against his presidential predecessors.

The elimination - or at least reduction - of certain privileges for top public officials is one of his "republican austerity" measures, which also include selling the presidential jet and refusing to live in the Los Pinos presidential residence, as well as the decision to slash his own salary by 60 percent.BBC review on Erdogans Venezuela visit

Turkey is building its new political attitude on win-win policy in the international area. Now, its face turning towards Latin America.

President Erdogan and Venezuela leader Maduro on Monday attended the Turkey-Venezuela Business Forum, where the pair signed several deals which were followed by a joint news conference.

ERDOGAN: I AM WILLING TO STRENGTHEN TIES

Erdogan said his friend Maduro was facing manipulative attacks from certain countries and acts of sabotage from economic assassins. In response, Erdogan said he was willing to strengthen trade ties. Trade between the two countries has been growing, with Turkish data showing the country imported $900 million in gold from Venezuela in the first nine months of the year.

Without naming the United States, Maduro decried sanctions and said Venezuela had the right to sell gold. It is very petty to try to use an illegal sanction to prevent Venezuela from selling its gold to the world, Maduro said during a joint press conference later on Monday with Erdogan, who also visited Paraguay after attending the G20 in Argentina last weekend.

"MADURO IS IN AN UNUSUAL FRIENDSHIP WITH TURKEY"

President Erdogans official visit to Venezuela was added BBCs agenda. Venezuela's diplomatically-isolated president received a show of support from Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He is in an unusual friendship with Turkey. BBC said on Twitter over Erdogans offer to help Venezuela.Maduro picks up fallen Turkish flag from ground

President Recep Erdogan met with President Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela to discuss relations between the two countries.

President Erdogan was welcomed with an official ceremony with the Turkish national anthem performed by Venezuelan soldiers in Caracas, a memorable welcoming for the first-ever visit by a Turkish leader to the country.

Maduro presented Erdogan with a replica of the sword used by Venezuelas independence hero, Simon Bolivar, and also decorated him with a medal, called El Libertador, dedicated to Bolivar.

Footage shows Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro bending to pick up a fallen Turkish flag from the ground in a gesture of respect as he welcomes President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Caracas in an official ceremony.Turkey exports over 90,000 tons of hazelnut in 3 months

The country earns $493.4 million in hazelnut exports from September to November.

Turkey sold abroad over 90,337 tons of hazelnuts in the first three months of the export season, according to data from the Black Sea Exporters Association on Monday.

WORLD'S LARGEST HAZELNUT EXPORTER

The volume of hazelnut exports between Sept. and Nov. fell 10.6 percent compared to the same period last year. Turkey earned $493.4 million in hazelnut exports, down 24 percent during the same period.

The EU countries remained the top export market of Turkish hazelnut with purchasing nearly 77 percent, or 69,487 tons, of Turkey's total hazelnut exports. Turkey as the world's largest hazelnut exporter earned $1.78 billion with nearly 287,000 tons of hazelnut exports last season, from September 2017 to the end of August 2018.Scientists at The Australian National University (ANU) have found a chronic shortage of females in a critically endangered parrot species has led to love triangles, sneaky sex on the side, increased fighting between males and fewer babies.

The ratio of males to females among swift parrots was once roughly equal but it has increased over time to almost three to one, since the introduction of a tiny predator to Tasmania in the 1800s - the sugar glider.

Sugar gliders can access nest hollows and kill female swift parrots while they incubate their eggs. More than half of the females die each year at their breeding grounds in Tasmania.

Lead researcher Professor Rob Heinsohn said the research team studied the swift parrot mating system using molecular techniques and found more than half of the nests had babies with more than one father.

"This is remarkable for parrots because most species are monogamous," said Professor Heinsohn from the ANU Fenner School of Environment and Society.

The study, which is published in the Journal of Animal Ecology, found mate sharing was not beneficial for anyone in the menage a trois.

"The overall number of babies born fell whenever the sex ratio became more male-dominated and shared paternity went up," Professor Heinsohn said.

The researchers used population modelling to isolate the impact of lower reproduction due to mating in trios.

"Although most population decline was directly attributable to sugar gliders killing nesting females, the impact of conflict and lower success from shared mating reduced the population by a further five per cent," Professor Heinsohn said.

"We were aware of many nests where an extra male would hang around and harass the female, but were absolutely flabbergasted to find that the females were engaging in sneaky sex with them.

"We think the females are having sex with the other males for a range of reasons, but probably the main one is just to get them off their backs."

Professor Heinsohn said both sexes suffered whenever mate sharing occurred.

"The obvious costs to females are being harassed by too many males, while males are forced to fight for females to mate," he said.

"The overall population takes a hit, as a consequence, because they are having fewer babies."

Professor Heinsohn said the study was important because it teases apart how individuals in populations may be affected differently by introduced predators.

"Especially how the loss of so many females can change the balance of the sexes, as well as the whole mating and social system," he said.

Professor Heinsohn said swift parrots were not the only species where the fabric of society was threatened by too few females.

"It's happening in other birds, reptiles, and even humans in some parts of the world," he said.

Co-author Dr Dejan Stojanovic said now that the impact of sugar gliders was well understood, the ANU team had embarked on a major program to find innovative ways of limiting their impact on swift parrots.

Dr Stojanovic discovered the deadly impact of sugar gliders on swift parrots in 2014.

"Our methods for helping swift parrots include improving the habitat on small islands off Tasmania where sugar gliders do not occur, and devising clever predator-proof nest boxes for the birds to use elsewhere", he said.

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Journalists who want to link to the journal paper can use the following: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1365-2656.12922

DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12922The American Statistical Association (ASA) Board of Directors has issued a rare statement of concern regarding the US Department of Agriculture's plans for the Economic Research Service (ERS), a federal statistical agency. "Moving the ERS outside of the nation's capital and having it in the secretary's office undermines evidence-based policymaking in the food, agriculture and rural sectors of our economy and society," says ASA President Lisa LaVange. "If relocated, it is likely to take years for ERS to rebuild its staff and programs to the same high [level of] quality it is now."

"Moving the ERS from the information-providing arm of the USDA to a policy-supporting function in the secretary's office also jeopardizes ERS's reputation for providing policy-neutral reports, information and statistics," states ASA Executive Director Ron Wasserstein. "As a White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) policy directive states, 'It is paramount that federal statistical agencies and recognized statistical units produce data that are impartial, clear and complete and are readily perceived as such by the public. ... Accordingly, federal statistical agencies and recognized statistical units must function in an environment that is clearly separate and autonomous from the other administrative, regulatory, law enforcement or policy-making activities within their respective departments.' For ERS to meet this criterion as a federal statistical agency, it should be kept in the USDA research arm, fully insulated from the secretary's office."

The statement frames the concern for ERS as one of two USDA federal statistical agencies and 13 OMB-designated federal statistical agencies whose products are the foundation of US evidence-based policymaking and data-driven decision-making. The document punctuates their importance by quoting a National Academy of Sciences document, Principles and Practices for a Federal Statistical Agency: "The reason for a statistical agency to exist is to serve as a trustworthy source of objective, relevant, accurate and timely information for decision-makers, analysts and others--both inside and outside the government--to help them understand present conditions, draw comparisons with the past and guide plans for the future."

"Just as the US has a physical infrastructure supporting our commerce, security, health and everyday lives, we have a data infrastructure supporting decisions and policies across an equally broad swath," adds LaVange. "Because the data from the federal statistical agencies are the gold standard of objective, timely data in their respective sectors, they are the bedrock of the US data infrastructure. Weakening our data infrastructure weakens or forestalls decisions and policymaking. This is why federal statistical agencies play such a unique and vital role in our country and why we should be doing our utmost to protect their functioning and integrity."

The ASA Board has issued few such statements of concern over the past two decades, this one being the only one to relate to an entire federal statistical agency. In deliberating the issuing of such a statement, the board considered USDA's budget request for the current fiscal year released in February of 2018 in which it proposed to cut the ERS programs and activities by 60%, a clear sign of the department's low regard for ERS and its intent to dismantle its wide-ranging work.

The ASA Board's statement is the latest in a long line of broad opposition to USDA's plans by USDA stakeholders. Last week, USDA chief scientists under presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama spent two days lobbying Congress in a follow-up to a letter to Congress signed by them and 19 other current and former university agricultural heads. In October, 56 former USDA and federal statistical agency officials spanning five decades expressed their opposition to the plan in a letter to Congress. The chief statistician of the United States for 24 years, Katherine Wallman, was one of the letter's signers and commented, "The USDA's dismantling of the Economic Research Service is the biggest threat to a federal statistical agency in many years."

There have also been numerous letters sent to Congress by individual organizations and coalitions, the latest one dated November 13 and signed by 60 organizations urging congressional appropriators to prohibit USDA from using FY19 funding for the move and relocation.

As the oldest scientific society in the United States, the ASA has a long history of supporting evidence-based policymaking, starting with the first modernization of the decennial census in the 1840s. In this tradition, the ASA immediately recognized how detrimental USDA's actions would be to evidence-based policymaking in the food, agriculture and rural economies. It joined with the broader USDA research stakeholder community to oppose the USDA actions. As part of those efforts, the ASA released a document addressing the rationale provided by USDA for its upheaval of the USDA research arm. In it, ASA President LaVange states, "The USDA's case for moving and realigning the Economic Research Service fails to justify the uprooting and disruption of such an important, effective and well-run agency."

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See also the November 28 press release, Leaders in Agricultural Community Decry Proposed USDA Reorganization, and the November 14 press release, Widespread Concern Increases Over Lack of Evidence for Controversial USDA Upheaval of Research Arm.

Contact: Steve Pierson, pierson@amstat.org, (703) 302-1841.

About the American Statistical Association

The ASA is the world's largest community of statisticians and the oldest continuously operating professional science society in the United States. Its members serve in industry, government and academia in more than 90 countries, advancing research and promoting sound statistical practice to inform public policy and improve human welfare. For additional information, please visit the ASA website at http://www.amstat.org.

As part of ASA's commitment to support the importance of government statistics for evidence-based policymaking, ASA created Count on Stats. In partnership with over a dozen organizations, the initiative is designed to educate and inform the public about the critically important nature of federal data. Without federal agencies' data collection and analysis, we would not have key insights into nutrition, economic trends, community issues, public safety, agriculture, and countless other facets that are vital to our society. For additional information, please visit the Count on Stats website at http://www.countonstats.org.A team of researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, the Texas Heart Institute and Texas Children's Hospital has developed a powerful new approach to understand the formation of new neurons in the mammalian adult brain. Published in the journal Cell Reports, this work opens exciting new pathways that can be further developed to repair malfunctioning brain circuits.

"The mammalian brain is a complex tissue composed of diverse cell types. However, despite rapid advances in the field of neuroscience, only a limited number of cell types in the brain are known and well-characterized," said lead author Dr. Benjamin Arenkiel, associate professor of molecular and human genetics and neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine and investigator at the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital. "Identifying all cellular subtypes is crucial to unravelling how brain circuits function and will yield insights into brain activity under diseased and injured conditions."

In this study, Arenkiel and his colleagues described an innovative approach that identified novel cellular targets and genetic pathways involved in the wiring of adult-born neurons into existing brain circuits.

Researchers now know that the brain is not just composed of four or five cell types performing generic roles. Most circuits consist of unique subtypes of cells, many of which currently are uncharacterized, explained Arenkiel. For instance there are possibly thousands of functional subtypes within a particular class of neurons.

"Therefore, the first task to begin understanding brain circuits is to identify all the cellular players," said Arenkiel, who also is a McNair scholar at Baylor College of Medicine. "This would allow us to genetically probe them to reveal their biological functions, a necessary knowledge to fix these circuits when something goes wrong."

In most adult mammals, only two regions of the brain, the hippocampus and the olfactory bulb (OB), have been shown to integrate new neurons into existing brain circuits. Arenkiel joined forces with co-corresponding author Dr. James Martin, professor and Vivian L. Smith Chair in Regenerative Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and director of the Cardiomyocyte Renewal Laboratory at Texas Heart Institute. The team applied a relatively new technology, single cell RNA sequencing, to identify novel cellular subtypes in the OB.

To perform single cell RNA sequencing, Burak Tepe, a graduate student in the Arenkiel lab and one of the primary authors of this paper, and colleagues prepared a single-cell suspension by disassociating brain tissue using enzymes. This mixture was sorted in a microfluidic chamber in which every cell was co-encapsulated in microparticles (beads) with unique barcodes that kept track of the cellular origin of each mRNA transcript.

Using this profiling strategy, they painstakingly generated a library of mRNA transcripts for 50,000 cells in the OB. This information revealed that the OB comprises approximately 30 different cell types that included 18 different types of neurons, as well as many other non-neuronal cells such as astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, vascular and immune cells.

Additionally, the team uncovered genes and/or pathways that are chronologically turned "on" or "off" in these lineages during brain development. This study leverages the combined power of single-cell RNA sequencing analysis of adult-born neurons with bioinformatics to compare how gene expression profiles from different neuronal lineages progress over time.

This powerful method has allowed the researchers to recreate a putative developmental trajectory ("pseudo-timeline") of all the neuronal lineages in the OB - from migrating neural progenitors to fully functioning mature neurons - along with detailed information of when and where specific genes or genetic networks are turned 'on' or 'off.' Consistent with this, the researchers found specific subtypes of neurons were differentially enriched or depleted in response to distinct sensory cues.

"In addition to identifying key players and providing crucial mechanistic insights into adult neurogenesis in OB, we think this study has a broader impact because other researchers can now use this approach to identify and tease out the function of new neuronal circuits in other parts of the adult mammalian brain," Arenkiel said.

"The exciting thing about this study is the discovery of heterogeneity in the olfactory neurons and the observation that certain cell populations respond uniquely to environmental cues, in this case different odors," said Martin. "This work is an example of the power of the collaborative environment at Baylor College of Medicine. Combining the expertise of my lab, a cardiovascular research lab with single cell genomics capability, and Dr. Arenkiel's neurobiology lab resulted in important discoveries."

###

Other contributors to this work include Matthew Hill, Brandon Pekarek, Patrick J. Hunt, Thomas Martin and James Martin. The authors are affiliated with one or more of the following institutions: Baylor College of Medicine, the Texas Heart Institute, and the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital.

This work was primarily supported by funding from National Institutes of Health, Klingstein-Simons fellowship, McNair Foundation and the NRSA grant F31NS089411.CINCINNATI-- After over a decade of preclinical research and development, a new gene therapy treatment for Sickle Cell Anemia (SCA) is reversing disease symptoms in two adults and showing early potential for transportability to resource-challenged parts of the world where SCA is most common.

Preliminary data from a pilot Phase 1-2 clinical trial testing the gene-addition therapy were presented Dec. 3 at the American Society of Hematology's (ASH) annual meeting in San Diego by principal investigator Punam Malik, MD. She is a physician-scientist at the Cincinnati Children's Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute and director of its Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center. Malik called the data promising.

"One year after treatment of our first patient, and six months after treatment of our second patient, both have seen a remarkable improvement in the quality of life due to remarkable reduction in disease symptoms. This includes near elimination of chronic pain and sickling events and improved anemia," Malik said. "Although it's still early post-treatment, these preliminary results are quite promising. If sustained this therapy will provide a transportable, safe and feasible gene therapy for all SCA patients."

SCA is a painful, inherited disease where blood cells become sickle-shaped and stuck in the vascular system. It can damage vital organs and cause death.

How the Therapy Works

The gene therapy developed by Cincinnati Children's uses a modified gamma globin lentivirus vector to transfer a healthy fetal hemoglobin gene into a patient's blood stem cells (hematopoietic stem cells, HSC). The lentivirus is modified so it does not cause illness.

The therapy comes from the observation that some adults never stop producing fetal hemoglobin (HbF). This prevents red blood cell sickling when sufficient quantities of HbF are present in the body.

Normally, the fetal hemoglobin gene switches off shortly after birth. The new gene therapy approach designed by Malik and team places a fetal hemoglobin gene in the bone marrow cells that cannot switch off.

Cells are collected earlier from the SCA patient and genetically reprogrammed in a clean lab facility with the modified lentivirus vector. Then the patient's bone marrow is preconditioned with one low-dose of chemotherapy, after which the gene-corrected cells are infused back into the patient. Patients recover their blood counts within a week to 10 days and recover from the chemotherapy effects by two weeks, Malik said.

A key feature of the treatment regimen is the reduced-intensity preconditioning for patients receiving the therapy for SCA. The method is less toxic and expensive than myeloablative preconditioning normally used in bone marrow transplants, according to the researchers.

Myeloablative conditioning uses high-intensity chemotherapy to prepare a transplant patient's bone marrow for healthy gene-corrected blood stem cells (HSCs). This typically results in low blood counts and other side effects. These can include severe infections and long stays in transplant units for one or two months.

This means transplants using myeloablative conditioning have to be performed at large and sophisticated medical centers in developed parts of the world. Malik said this limits access to people in underdeveloped regions where SCA is more common, like Africa, India, the Caribbean and South America.

Reaching High-Need Regions

One goal for Malik and her colleagues is that their therapy's reduced intensity conditioning will allow it to be offered at hospitals in places like Central Africa and other underdeveloped regions of the world.

SCA affects more than 90,000 people in the United States, and millions of people worldwide have the disease, according to the researchers.

Malik said additional data from the study will tell investigators of the consistent and long-term clinical benefit of this therapy to patients with severe SCA. The trial is scheduled to treat up to 10 patients with SCA. Preclinical studies by the research team suggested the treatment allows the body to produce normal red blood cells instead of the sickle-shaped cells that define the inherited disorder.

Improved Quality of Life

Both adult patients included in the ASH presentation are 35 and 25 years old who, respectively, had gene transfer therapy 15 and 12 months ago. In the year and a half prior to receiving gene-correction therapy, both patients had more than a dozen acute sickle events per year, according to Malik. These included acute chest and pain crises, chronic pain, and required the ongoing use of oral or injectable opioids on a regular basis.

Investigators report that one year following therapy, the first patient no longer requires daily oral opioids for chronic pain and has had one acute sickle cell event. The second patient no longer uses oral opioids and has no vaso-occlusive events, where blood cells become stuck in the vascular system.

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Launch of Aruvant Sciences

In an effort to accelerate the development of the therapy, Cincinnati Children's has partnered with Roivant Sciences to create Aruvant Sciences. The joint venture is focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapies for hematological conditions. Aruvant's lead candidate is RVT-1801, the gene therapy used to treat both patients in Malik's ASH presentation of early clinical trial data. Aruvant Sciences will be based in Cincinnati. Additional information can be found here.The interactions that take place between the species of microbes living in the gastrointestinal system have large impact on health

Baltimore, MD--The interactions that take place between the species of microbes living in the gastrointestinal system often have large and unpredicted effects on health, according to new work from a team led by Carnegie's Will Ludington. Their findings are published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The gut microbiome is an ecosystem of hundreds to thousands of microbial species living within the human body. The sheer diversity within the human gut presents a challenge to cataloging and understanding the effect these communities have on our health.

Biologists are particularly interested in determining whether or not the microbiome as a whole is greater than the sum of its parts. In other words, to what extent do individual species influence our health and physiology, and to what degree are these impacts determined by interactions between the species present in our microbiomes?

Ludington and his team--including molecular biologists Alison Gould, Vivian Zhang, and Benjamin Obadia of University of California Berkeley; physicists Eric Jones and Jean Carlson of University of California Santa Barbara; and mathematicians Lisa Lamberti, Nikolaos Korasidis, and Niko Beerenwinkel of ETH Zurich and Alex Gavryushkin of University of Otago--used the naturally simple microbiome of fruit flies to comprehensively reveal the gut ecosystem. The team found that the interactions between species in the gut microbiome impact fly health and even longevity.

"The classic way we think about bacterial species is in a black-and-white context as agents of disease--either you have it, or you don't," Ludington said. "Our work shows that isn't the case for the microbiome. The effects of a particular species depend on the context of which other species are also present."

It has long been known from fruit fly studies that populations of gut bacteria can affect their host's development, fertility, and longevity. In 1927, Helen Steinfeld of UC Berkeley found that by simply removing the gut bacteria from her laboratory's fruit flies, she could extend their lifespans by 14 percent.

Ludington's team repeated the experiment and found a similar 23 percent lifespan extension when they removed their flies' particular microbiomes. But it was unclear to them how much of this influence was due to the individual species that were present and how much was due to their overall microbial ecology.

Ludington and his team built off Steinfeld's work to dissect the fruit fly gut microbiome and better understand how these microorganisms shape the lives of their insect hosts.

They developed a system for mapping all the possible interactions between the five species of bacteria found in the fly gut in order to see how they affected an insect's development, production of offspring, and lifespan, which combine to determine its fitness. The analysis of the interactions required developing new mathematical approaches, which are based on the geometry of a five-dimensional cube, where each species is a new dimension.

The team found that the interactions that take place between the microbial populations are as important to the fly's physiology as which individual species are present. In terms of the 23 percent change in lifespan, individual species can account for only one quarter of the effect, while interactions account for the rest. These interactions are highly influential to some, but not all, of the factors that determine a fly's likelihood of passing its genetic material on to a new generation.

"As we examined the total of what we call a fly's fitness--it's chances of surviving and creating offspring--we found that there was a tradeoff between having a short lifespan with lots of offspring, versus having a long lifespan with few offspring," Ludington explained. "This tradeoff was mediated by microbiome interactions. That means that if we want to understand how the microbiome impacts our health, we need to develop a predictive understanding of how combinations of bacteria affect the host, not just the individual species."

Additionally, the measurement and analysis tools developed for this research project demonstrate that the fruit fly is a good model for understanding more complex microbiome interactions in humans and other animals, which will be important for future work.

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This research was supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, the Royal Society of New Zealand Rutherford Discovery Fellowship, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies and US Army Research Office, the NIH Early Independence Award, and the UC Berkeley William Bowes Research Fellowship.

The Carnegie Institution for Science (carnegiescience.edu) is a private, nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with six research departments throughout the U.S. Since its founding in 1902, the Carnegie Institution has been a pioneering force in basic scientific research. Carnegie scientists are leaders in plant biology, developmental biology, astronomy, materials science, global ecology, and Earth and planetary science.Inside the microbial communities that populate our world, microbes are fighting for their lives.

These tiny organisms are in the soil, in the oceans, and in the human body. Microbes play several important roles - they can decompose waste, make oxygen and promote human health.

Within communities, microbes constantly compete with each other for space, nutrients and other resources. Their competitions can occur across multiple spatial scales, whether the microbes are close together or far apart.

When microbes are close together, they assemble a molecular device to inject toxins into their neighbors, suppressing their growth. When far apart, microbes release a small toxic molecule that travels through the community into other cells, causing their death.

Ting Lu, an associate professor of bioengineering at the University of Illinois and a member of the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, wanted to know if the varying distances of interactions affect the organization of microbial communities. Addressing this question can help researchers understand how these communities assemble.

Lu and his lab members --Venhar Celik Ozgen, Wentao Kong, Andrew Blanchard, and Feng Liu -- developed mathematical models and a set of synthetic microbial communities to study the role of varying distances during microbial battles. They created ecosystems that involved one-directional competition, where one microbe kills another, and ecosystems with bidirectional competition, where two types of microbes kill each other.

Their results, published in Science Advances, reveal an important reciprocal relationship between space and time.

In the community where one type of microbe kills another, the researchers found that long-range competition was more effective, as it took less time for the microbe to kill its competitor at a long range than at a short range.

Next, they studied the community where two types of microbes kill each other. Lu said their findings can best be understood by picturing two armies meeting in a battlefield, where one army has swords (contact-dependent molecular killing devices) and the other has arrows (diffusible toxic molecules that attack other microbes).

"When those two armies have a close fight, the sword is more potent because it can kill the enemy right away," Lu said. "However, if those parties are separated by a river, for instance -- although the sword is more lethal, it's out of their range."

At a close range, the contact-dependent devices were more effective. At long distances, diffusible molecules were more effective. That's why, in such two-way competitions, the density of the microbial population matters. If the population is dense, microbes are forced to compete at a close range, and those who use contact-dependent devices win. If the microbes are more spaced out, they compete at a long range, and those using diffusible molecules win.

The authors said that, to their knowledge, this is the first experiment to dissect the role of spatial interaction scale in the organization of microbial ecosystems. Lu said their results deepen their knowledge of how microbial communities assemble and function.

Their findings will also help with creating artificial microbial ecosystems, which can be used to treat diseases or increase plant growth.

"By learning the underlying organization . . . (it will) also help us design better ecosystems which can deliver functions more effectively and in more potent ways," Lu said.

Lu said the variation of interaction distances also frequently occurs in animal and plant cells, so their findings can provide insight into the organization of multicellular organisms as well.

"Although we focus on studying the spatial organization of microbe populations, we believe the knowledge that we learn for bacteria could be generalized and translated to other living systems," Lu said.

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This research was funded by the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, the American Heart Association, the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, and the NCSA at Illinois.Conditions encountered in the womb - when the embryo consists of only about 100 cells - can have life-long impact on health. Scientists previously assumed that this is because embryos respond to adverse conditions by programming their gene expression. Now an international team of researchers at the Leiden University Medical Center, Wageningen University and Research, Lund University, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York propose a radically different alternative. Rather than being programmed by the environment, random differences in gene expression may provide some embryos with a survival advantage, in particular when conditions are harsh. By studying DNA methylation, an important mechanism to control gene activity, the researchers found that a specific part of the DNA methylation pattern was missing among famine-exposed individuals. The findings are published in the journal Cell Reports.

The new research was motivated by the observation that people conceived during the Dutch Hunger Winter of 1944-1945 suffer from reduced cardiovascular health in their sixties. This can be attributed to persistent changes in how genes are expressed, through so-called epigenetic modification of the DNA. "We know that a lack of nutrition decreases the likelihood of an embryo to survive. Our new study indicates that surviving famine in the uterus hinged on having a DNA methylation pattern allowing continued growth of the embryo in spite of limited resources. But those same methylation patterns may have adverse health effects much later in life", says Bas Heijmans, epigeneticist at the Leiden University Medical Center.

To understand the interplay between epigenetics and survival of the embryo, the researchers took inspiration from evolutionary biology. In evolution, random genetic variation is filtered by natural selection, resulting in accumulation of variants that best 'fit' the environment. A computer model showed that random epigenetic variation between embryos is inevitable, just like genetic mutation. Some of the random DNA methylation variants may enhance an embryo's chance to survive on low nutrition. As a consequence, those epigenetic variants will become more common in cohorts that were exposed to a famine as embryos. "We have always struggled to explain how early embryos would be able to modify specific epigenetic marks in response to nutrition. It is fascinating that selective survival based on random epigenetic variation fits the data best", says Tobias Uller, evolutionary biologist at Lund University.

Some health effects of the Dutch Famine only show later in life and those exposed during early gestation seem to be most affected. "These findings have often been interpreted as conclusive proof of fetal adaptations in the womb that will lead to adult disease if the adult environment changes for the better. But our findings point to a different mechanism", says L.H. Lumey, MD, epidemiologist at Columbia Mailman School and principal investigator of the Dutch Hunger Winter Families study.

###

The study was a collaboration of the Leiden University Medical Center (The Netherlands), University of Lund (Sweden), Wageningen University and Research (The Netherlands) and Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health (USA).

The research was supported by The European Union's Seventh Framework Program IDEAL, Per-Eric and Ulla Schyberg's Foundation, and the U.S. National Institutes of Health [R01-HL067914 and R01AG042190]. Funding was also provided by the Royal Society of London, the John Templeton Foundation, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundations, and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research.

Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health

Founded in 1922, the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health pursues an agenda of research, education, and service to address the critical and complex public health issues affecting New Yorkers, the nation and the world. The Columbia Mailman School is the third largest recipient of NIH grants among schools of public health. Its over 450 multi-disciplinary faculty members work in more than 100 countries around the world, addressing such issues as preventing infectious and chronic diseases, environmental health, maternal and child health, health policy, climate change & health, and public health preparedness. It is a leader in public health education with over 1,300 graduate students from more than 40 nations pursuing a variety of master's and doctoral degree programs. The Columbia Mailman School is also home to numerous world-renowned research centers, including ICAP and the Center for Infection and Immunity. For more information, please visit http://www.mailman.columbia.edu.Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists will present research marking significant advances against the hematologic cancer multiple myeloma at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting Dec. 1-4. Their findings provide new insights into the progression of the disease from precursor conditions and suggest approaches for novel treatments.

In related work, Dana-Farber investigators will also present a novel system for classifying patients with smoldering Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia by their likelihood of developing Waldenstrom's itself.

Here are some examples of this research:

Immune response may predict risk of progression to myeloma in patients with precursor conditions, study finds

Even before people with premalignant stages of multiple myeloma develop symptoms, immune system cells in their bone marrow undergo a variety of changes that affect the progression to myeloma, Dana-Farber scientists report in a new study. The findings, which offer the first detailed look at the interplay between malignant and immune cells in patients with myeloma precursor conditions, may lead to tests for predicting the advance of the disease and, potentially, to new strategies for treating it.

The study involved analyzing gene activity in individual plasma cells and immune system cells from the bone marrow of healthy people and patients with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) and smoldering multiple myeloma, which are precursor conditions of myeloma. The analysis was performed by sequencing the RNA in each cell, providing an indication of which genes are active.

Researchers found that even at the earliest, premalignant stages of the disease, the immune microenvironment - the collection of immune cells in the bone marrow - undergoes a dramatic shift from that of healthy people. They found, for example, an influx of immune system cells called natural killer cells, macrophages, and T cells in patients with precursor conditions, as well as changes in surface molecules on plasma cells that made the cells harder for the immune system to detect.

"For the first time, we identify changes in immune cells that are present in the bone marrow microenvironment of patients at early stages of the disease, even at the MGUS stage," said Irene Ghobrial, MD, the principal investigator of the trial and co-director of the Center for Prevention of Progression of Blood Cancers at Dana-Farber. "We also define specific changes in these immune cells that can be targeted in the future with immunotherapy to prevent or intercept disease progression, making myeloma potentially a preventable disease."

Researchers will present their findings at Session 602, on Sunday, Dec. 2 at 6:00 p.m. PST in Hall GH of the San Diego Convention Center.

Three-drug combination produces broad response in patients with high-risk smoldering multiple myeloma

In the vast majority of patients with high-risk smoldering multiple myeloma (SMM), a combination of the drugs ixazomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone can substantially reduce the extent of their cancer with minimal side effects, initial results from a phase 2 clinical trial led by Dana-Farber researchers suggest.

The interim findings of the trial, which involved 29 patients with high-risk SMM, will be presented at Session 653, on Monday, Dec. 3, at 4:00 p.m. in Room 6F of the San Diego Convention Center. Among the participants who received at least three cycles of the three-drug regimen, 89 percent responded to the treatment, meaning they had at least a 30 percent reduction of their disease. Five of those patients had a complete response - a disappearance of all signs of cancer - and nine had a response characterized as very good. None of the participants, who began therapy between February 2017 and April 2018, have developed symptoms of myeloma.

The combination had minimal toxicities. The common side effects of the therapy were mild to moderate fatigue and rash. Severe (grade 3) hypophosphatemia (low phosphate levels in the blood) occurred in two patients, while grade 3 neutropenia (a reduction in the number of white blood cells) was found in only one patient.

Ixazomib is a proteasome inhibitor, which interferes with a structure in cells that breaks down unneeded proteins; lenalidomide kills cancer cells by a variety of mechanisms; and dexamethasone is a corticosteroid.

"Early intervention in patients with high-risk SMM has been shown to be a better approach to delaying or preventing progression of this cancer," said Dana-Farber's Mark Bustoros, MD, who is presenting the results of the trial at the ASH annual meeting. "We are expanding on that approach with this convenient drug combination. Patients with high-risk SMM have a higher chance of progression within a short period of time, yet they are asymptomatic and have their regular personal and professional lives. Providing this oral combination brings advantages of both efficacy and convenience."

"This is the first time we have seen a high response rate, including over 50 percent complete remission and very good response rates, in patients with high-risk smoldering myeloma using a well-tolerated combination of oral therapies," said Ghobrial. "We believe this could be a platform for therapy in the near future for patients with smoldering myeloma who are at high risk of disease progression and who benefit from early intervention."

Study identifies ID2-related pathways as potential drug targets in multiple myeloma

The search for potential drug targets in multiple myeloma has turned up a promising new candidate. In a study led by Dana-Farber scientists, researchers report that a protein called inhibitor of DNA binding 2 (ID2) helps suppress tumor cell growth and is significantly downregulated, or under-produced, in myeloma cells. By blocking proteins that keep ID2 production abnormally low, new targeted therapies could potentially restore the brakes on tumor cell proliferation.

By comparing the expression of ID2 (and the three other members of the ID protein family) in normal plasma cells and myeloma cells from 360 patients with the disease, researchers found that ID2 was sharply downregulated in the myeloma cells. When they overexpressed ID2 in myeloma cell lines, the cell proliferation rate dropped markedly.

Investigators next explored the mechanism that causes ID2 to be downregulated. In a series of experiments, they found that bone marrow stromal cells - which give rise to a variety of skeletal components such as bone and cartilage, supportive tissue, and fat cells - can interact with myeloma cells to reduce ID2 production.

"This study identifies a new mechanism in which genes act as decoy to increase function of other target genes," said the study's lead author, Nikhil Munshi, MD, director of Basic and Correlative Science at the Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center at Dana-Farber. "It provides clues to some of the less understood molecular mechanisms in myeloma and may lead to new therapeutic interventions." The lead author of the study is Tommaso Perini, MD, of the LeBow Institute for Myeloma Therapeutics and Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center at Dana-Farber, and University Vita-Salute San Raffaele, in Milano, Italy.

Researchers will give an oral presentation of their findings at Session 651, on Saturday, Dec. 1, at 8:45 a.m. in Grand Ballroom 7 of the Marriott Marquis Sand Diego Marina.

Researchers launch screening study of individuals at high risk of multiple myeloma

Researchers at Dana-Farber are seeking participants in a new study, funded as part of the Stand Up To Cancer Multiple Myeloma Dream Team, to identify people with conditions that are precursors of multiple myeloma and track their health over time. The study, dubbed PROMISE, will help scientists track the molecular changes that occur as precursor conditions - monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) or smoldering multiple myeloma - progress to myeloma. This information will be critical in the development of drugs that prevent the disease from advancing and improve patients' survival.

The study is open to two groups of individuals between the ages of 45 and 75 who have been identified to be at high risk of multiple myeloma and its precursor conditions:

African Americans, who are three times more likely than Caucasians to develop MGUS;

People with a first-degree relative (a parent, sibling, or child) with a plasma cell disorder such as multiple myeloma.

Participants will complete an online health questionnaire, provide blood samples periodically for analysis, and submit updated health information periodically. Participants whose blood samples test positive for a myeloma precursor condition will be assisted in scheduling an appointment with a hematologist/oncologist. They will also be asked to submit health information and blood samples every 3-6 months and may be eligible for clinical trials exploring treatments to prevent progression. These samples will be analyzed for molecular signs indicating the risk of disease progression.

"Our hope is that by screening and identifying the precursor conditions early, we can understand the molecular signs of progression to myeloma, and develop therapies that will replace 'watch and wait' and make myeloma a preventable disease," said Ghobrial, the study's principal investigator.

Initial participation in the trial is online or by mail. Local travel for blood draw is required. Testing will be performed at each participant's local Quest Diagnostics laboratory. To sign up for the study, please visit http://www.promisestudy.org. Researchers devise risk-based classification system for patients with smoldering Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia

By analyzing data from hundreds of patients with smoldering Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia (SWM), researchers at Dana-Farber have devised a risk model for determining whether patients with SWM have a low, intermediate, or high risk of developing Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia (WM).

Under this system, patients' risk is assessed using four measures: Bone marrow lymphoplasmacytic infiltration; serum immunoglobulin M levels; 2 microglobulin levels, and albumin levels. Stratifying patients into three risk groups based on these variables can improve patient monitoring and, importantly, identify high-risk patients who might benefit from early intervention, researchers say.

Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia is a low-grade form of non-Hodgkin lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma associated with overproduction of monoclonal IgM protein and is often preceded by SWM, an asymptomatic condition. "Patients with WM usually have symptoms of anemia, peripheral neuropathy, bleeding and other problems," said Bustoros, the study lead, who is presenting the final results at the ASH annual meeting. "Almost two-thirds of patients with SWM progress to the symptomatic stage. Higher values of the four biomarkers were associated with a significant risk of progression to symptomatic disease within few years. We will provide this model as an open access web application so it can help oncologists improve the care and guide the management of patients with this rare cancer."

"The model was generated based on 439 patients with SWM at Dana-Farber and was validated using two other cohorts, from the Mayo Clinic and University of Athens in Greece," said Dana-Farber's Romanos Sklavenitis Pistofidis, MD, first co-author of the study. "The model was a strong predictor in identifying high-risk patients, intermediate, and low-risk ones with high accuracy and precision."

"We hope this model will help in identifying patients at high risk of disease progression so they can be followed up closely or benefit from early treatment approaches through clinical trials," said Ghobrial, the senior author of this study.

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Researchers will present their work at Session 623 on Saturday, Dec. 1, at 1:15 p.m. in Pacific Ballroom 20 of the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina.

Complete details on Dana-Farber's activities at ASH are available online here.In a small study of infrequent cannabis users, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers have shown that, compared with smoking cannabis, vaping it increased the rate of short-term anxiety, paranoia, memory loss and distraction when doses were the same.

The findings of the new study, described in the Nov. 30 edition of JAMA Network Open, highlight the importance of dose considerations with the perception that vaping is a safer alternative to smoking cannabis, the researchers say. And they ask regulators of medical and recreational cannabis dispensaries to take note.

Vaping devices heat cannabis to a temperature in which the mind-altering compounds in the plant are released as a vapor that is inhaled. Vaping is thought to be safer for cannabis and tobacco use because it doesn't produce many of the harmful components of burning material such as tar and other cancer-causing agents.

But, the researchers say, their study suggests that at least for first-timers or others who don't use cannabis regularly, vaping delivers greater amounts of THC, the primary intoxicant in cannabis, which increases the likelihood of adverse reactions.

"In light of increased legalization of cannabis, we designed our study to be more representative of the general population's exposure to cannabis, namely someone who has never smoked it and wants to try it for medical or recreational purposes, or someone who does not use it regularly enough to understand or predict its effects," says Ryan Vandrey, Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "What our study suggests is that some people who use cannabis infrequently need to be careful about how much cannabis they use with a vaporizer, and they should not drive, even within several hours after use. It could be dangerous for themselves and others, and on top of that, they may experience negative effects such as anxiety, nausea, vomiting and even hallucinations," he adds.

For their study, the researchers chose 17 volunteer participants (nine men and eight women, average age 27 years), who hadn't used cannabis in the past 30 days, which was verified by a drug screen, and together on average hadn't used in over a year.

In a controlled setting at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center's behavioral pharmacology research unit, each participant either smoked or vaped cannabis containing 0, 10 or 25 milligrams of 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active component in cannabis that gives people the high, in single visits once a week over six weeks. The researchers say that 25 milligrams of THC is a relatively low dose, and much less than is typically found in pre-rolled cannabis "joints" sold in dispensaries where cannabis is legal. The participants either smoked preloaded pipes or inhaled vapor from a vaporizer. Neither the participants nor the researchers knew the doses of THC that were delivered in a given experimental test session.

During each of the six sessions, the research team observed and assessed drug effects in the test subjects, including for adverse reactions. They also measured vital signs such as heart rate and blood pressure and collected blood samples just after smoking, every 30 minutes for two hours and then every hour for eight hours.

Each participant also completed the Drug Effect Questionnaire--rating self-reported drug effects out of a score of 100--shortly after smoking and each hour for up to eight hours later. The survey assessed overall drug effect; feeling sick, anxious, hungry, sleepy and restless; and experiencing heart racing, dry mouth, dry eyes, memory impairment and coughing.

Results showed that a few minutes after smoking, those who vaped the 25-milligram THC dosage reported an average of 77.5 on the overall strength of the drug's effect, meaning how high they felt compared with the average score of 66.4 reported by those who smoked the same dose. Participants who vaped 25 milligrams of THC reported about a 7 percent higher score on average for anxiety and paranoia, compared with people who smoked the same amount of the compound. Those who vaped any dose of THC also reported higher levels of dry mouth and dry eyes than those who smoked it. For example, when vaping 25 milligrams of THC, the participants rated dry mouth at 67.1 on average compared with 42.6 for those smoking it.

Researchers say the participants also completed three computerized tasks designed to measure attention span, memory, physical reaction time and motor movement. One task required the participant to replicate the shape of patterns, another required them to add up strings of single-digit numbers and the third required them to follow a dot across the screen with the cursor while also tracking a dot that pops up in the periphery.

The tests are meant to represent skills needed for proper workplace performance, operating a car or other daily activities. Reaction times on average were slower by more than 120 milliseconds with both active test doses of THC, using either smoking or vaping, when compared with reaction time after smoking or vaping cannabis without any THC.

Next, the researchers compared the effects of vaping compared with smoking on participants taking the computerized Divided Attention Task, which required participants to track a square on the computer screen while also monitoring numbers in each corner of the screen. The amount of time participants accurately tracked the square on the computer in the Divided Attention Task dropped by an average of 170 percent after smoking 25 milligrams of THC compared with the cannabis without THC.

The amount of time they accurately tracked fell an average of 350 percent when vaping 10 milligrams of THC and fell 500 percent when vaping 25 milligrams of THC, compared with those smoking either dose.

"Our participants had substantially higher impairment on the tasks when vaping versus smoking the same dose, which in the real world translates to more functional impairment when driving or performing everyday tasks," says postdoctoral fellow Tory Spindle, Ph.D., a researcher in the behavioral pharmacology research unit at Johns Hopkins Bayview.

Other results showed that blood levels of THC were at their highest immediately after smoking or vaping cannabis. At 10 milligrams of THC, blood levels of THC reached an average of 7.5 nanograms per milliliter in vapers, compared with 3.8 nanograms per milliliter in smokers 10 minutes after they inhaled the drug. At 25 milligrams of THC, blood levels reached an average of 14.4 nanograms per milliliter when vaped compared with 10.2 nanograms per milliliter when smoked.

"There's a definite differences in the amount of drug making it into the blood when using a vaporizer versus smoking the drug, so considerations need to be made when dosing to ensure people are using cannabis safely," says Spindle.

The researchers note that they could only detect THC in the blood samples up to four hours after using, even though the participants reported the drug's effects lasted five or six hours. The researchers say this suggests that blood testing isn't an accurate way to tell if someone is high or perhaps driving under the influence.

Two participants vomited after vaping 25 milligrams of THC, and another experienced hallucinations. One person vomited after smoking 25 milligrams of THC.

Vandrey cautions that the study involved only a small number of younger adults and lasted only six weeks. "We still don't have a full look at the long-term effects of vaping, such as whether there is a risk for chronic bronchitis, and more work needs to be done on that front," he says. It is important to note that these effects were observed in individuals who don't use cannabis very often, and may not extend to people who use cannabis routinely; they may have developed tolerance to these effects and also may be better able to regulate their dose.

In recent years, Canada and several U.S. states including Washington, California, Colorado and Massachusetts have legalized cannabis for recreational use. Thirty-two states have made cannabis available with a doctor's prescription, including Maryland, where the research was performed.

###

Additional authors include Edward Cone, Nicolas Schlienz and George Bigelow of Johns Hopkins; John Mitchell of RTI International and Ronald Flegel and Eugene Hayes of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

This research was funded by SAMHSA.

COI: Vandrey has been a paid consultant for or received honoraria from Zynerba Pharmaceuticals, Insys Therapeutics, Battelle Memorial Institute and Canopy Health Innovations Inc.SAN DIEGO -- Mayo Clinic researchers have developed two new strategies that may improve the performance of chimeric antigen receptor therapy (CAR-T cell therapy) in treating cancer. They are presenting results of their preclinical research at the 2018 annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology in San Diego.

Reducing toxicity in CAR-T cell therapy

"While CAR-T cell therapy has proven successful in treating certain cancers, severe toxicities have limited its widespread application," says Rosalie Sterner, an M.D.-Ph.D. student working in the T Cell Engineering Laboratory of Saad Kenderian, M.B. Ch.B., a Mayo Clinic hematologist. Sterner says toxicities associated with CAR-T cell therapy include cytokine release syndrome, in which patients can experience fever, nausea, headache, rash, rapid heartbeat, low blood pressure, and difficulty breathing and neurotoxicity.

Sterner says some patients undergoing CAR-T cell therapy get sick during treatment and require a stay in an ICU. She also notes that deaths related to the side effects of CAR-T cell therapy have been reported. Sterner and her colleagues developed a strategy to reduce the severe toxicities associated with CAR-T cell therapy.

The strategy involves blocking the GM-CSF protein, which is produced by CAR-T cells and other cells using a clinical-grade antibody (lenzilumab).

"When we blocked the GM-CSF protein, we found that we could reduce toxicities in preclinical models, says Sterner. "We also were able to demonstrate that CAR-T cells worked better after the GM-CSF protein was blocked."

Next, researchers used a gene editing technology, called CRISPR, to generate CAR-T cells that did not secrete the GM-CSF protein. Sterner says these modified CART cells were more effective than regular CAR-T cells.

Based on their findings, the research team is proceeding with a phase II clinical trial of the GM-CSF blocking antibody during CAR-T cell therapy. If the trial results are consistent with earlier findings, the therapy could become a standard of care during CAR-T cell therapy at Mayo Clinic.

This research also is published in Blood.

mproving response rates for CAR-T cell therapy in B cell lymphoma

"In CAR-T cell therapy, physicians remove and modify a patient's T cells to recognize and fight cancer," says Reona Sakemura, M.D., Ph.D., a hematologist and a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Kenderian's laboratory. "Once modified T cells are reinfused into the patient where they seek out and ultimately kill cancer cells."

Dr. Sakemura says response rates for CAR-T cell therapy vary by disease. For example, in B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, response rates of more 90 percent have been seen, compared to response rates of 10 to 30 percent for treatment with conventional chemotherapy. In other blood cancers, such as lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, the response rates for treatment with CAR-T cell therapy remain low.

To improve the effectiveness of CAR-T cell therapy in these cancers, Dr. Sakemura and his colleagues developed a strategy to combine CAR-T cell therapy with a drug that targets a protein called "AXL." This protein is present on the cancer and within the cancer's environment. The drug, called "TP-0903," not only kills cancer cells, but also it enhances the potency of CAR-T cells in attacking cancer cells and potentially lowers the toxicity associated with CAR-T cell treatment.

While more research and clinical trials are needed, Dr. Sakemura says, "We believe the latter effect may eventually be utilized as an innovative approach to augment the efficacy of CAR-T cell therapy and extend its use to other B cell cancers."

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About Mayo Clinic Cancer Center

As a leading institution funded by the National Cancer Institute, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center conducts basic, clinical and population science research, translating discoveries into improved methods for prevention, diagnosis, prognosis and therapy. For information on cancer clinical trials, call the Clinical Trials Referral Office at 1-855-776-0015 (toll-free).

About Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to clinical practice, education and research, providing expert, comprehensive care to everyone who needs healing. Learn more about Mayo Clinic. Visit the Mayo Clinic News Network.For many patients, a doctor's visit can mean weeks long waits for an appointment, transportation issues and other inconveniences even for brief encounters that don't require a physical exam.

Increasingly, major health systems throughout the country are implementing telehealth programs in an effort to increase access and improve patient experiences. This move is made possible by more support from insurance payers, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, who recently announced a proposal to expand telehealth access for Medicare recipients. However, as a new report in the December issue of Health Affairs details, incorporating video visits and other forms of telehealth into current practice can be fraught with challenges.

Michigan Medicine's Chad Ellimoottil, M.D., M.S., assistant professor of urology and a team of experts describe some of the most common issues run into by large health systems implementing telehealth programs and approaches to overcoming them.

"Many health system executives, clinicians, staff, and patients understand the potential benefits of telehealth, but implementing it in a big health system is difficult to do and takes a lot of coordination," he says.

The paper outlines five challenges faced by four institutions, Emory Healthcare, Jefferson Health, Massachusetts General Hospital and Michigan Medicine.

The first challenge, engaging leadership, involves demonstrating for health system executives how e-health aligns with overall organizational strategic vision and long-term goals. It comes down to investing enough resources to make programs feasible, explains Ellimoottil.

"Enthusiasm alone is insufficient; you need full time employees who are devoted to implementing telehealth." He notes that Massachusetts General and Jefferson Health have made large, up-front investments knowing that return on investment may take some time. Yet, early evidence points to significant payoff. For example, Emory Healthcare saved the Medicare program $4.6 million over a fifteen-month period with its teleICU program.

As interest in e-health grows, teams put in charge of directing pilot programs can quickly become overwhelmed. Michigan Medicine addressed this challenge by assessing and prioritizing areas, specifically postoperative video visits, for more support across surgical specialties. The team recommends a similar prioritization approach for other health systems to manage requests for implementation assistance.

The sheer number of clinicians and administrative staff at large health systems, which can number in the hundreds to thousands, means a lot of people to persuade about the utility of e-health. The report offers several suggestions for obtaining buy-in, from engaging clinicians to brainstorm areas that can benefit from telehealth to rewarding staff members who participate.

Another crucial set of stakeholders are patients. Patients need to be educated about telehealth programs and the act of making an e-health appointment should be simplified. Michigan Medicine, Jefferson Health and Massachusetts General have addressed this by appointing e-health coordinators, and setting up online appointment systems for scheduling and answering questions.

The final challenge they identified is measuring telehealth outcomes. To that end, Ellimoottil directs the Michigan Telehealth Research Incubator, funded by the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, to study the cost, quality and patient access benefits of telehealth. His overarching message to health systems looking to implement e-health is to not be afraid of failure.

"The challenges that you're going to face are the challenges that everyone else is facing. You're not on an island; even major, forward-thinking health systems are running into the same issues. If you believe, like I do, that telehealth will be fully integrated into standard clinical care in the next 5-10 years, it's a worthwhile endeavor to be involved in."

###Fasting before getting your blood drawn for cholesterol tests is common practice, but new research from Michigan State University shows it is a contributing factor of low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia, in patients who take diabetes medications.

The study, published in the International Journal of Endocrinology, shows that people with diabetes are more likely to experience FEEHD - fasting-evoked en route hypoglycemia in diabetes - than they would if they hadn't fasted. The "en route" comes from patients who have an episode while driving to a lab for blood work.

Saleh Aldasouqi, an endocrinologist in the College of Human Medicine, explained that eating before a lab test does not alter the results of the pivotal components of the cholesterol test as previously thought. In fact, fasting for these tests can incite hypoglycemia in patients with diabetes.

"Hypoglycemia is an overlooked problem that we see from time-to-time in patients with diabetes who show up for lab tests after skipping breakfast," Aldasouqi said. "Patients continue taking their diabetes medication but don't eat anything, resulting in low blood sugar levels that cause them to have a hypoglycemic event while driving to or from the lab, putting themselves and others at risk. Our new motto is 'Feed not FEEHD', to remind patients of this danger and get them to eat."

Hypoglycemia happens when blood sugar levels drop below 70 mg/dl and can cause faintness, confusion and even a loss of consciousness. Severe hypoglycemia can cause acute harm to the patient or others, especially if it causes falls or motor vehicle accidents.

Aldasouqi said that routine fasting is based off guidelines from the 1970s and newer studies show it may not be necessary anymore. Canada and Europe have already changed their guidelines and no longer require fasting for lipid tests, the most commonly ordered fasting labs. Similar U.S. guidelines have not yet become mainstream. In view of the risk of FEEHD, Aldasouqi hopes for diabetes organizations to take a lead in disseminating these emerging changes on lipid testing.

The study showed proper education about fasting and diabetes also is lacking. Only 35 percent of patients surveyed indicated having received any FEEHD prevention instructions from their doctor prior to their lab visit.

"We encourage patients who receive orders for a lab test to ask their doctor if fasting is really necessary, and if so, how they should handle their diabetes medications during the fasting period to account for the changes in their blood sugar levels," Aldasouqi said. "FEEHD is overlooked in clinical practice, and we aim to bring this problem to light and further educate doctors and patients about the consequences of fasting while on diabetes medications."

The study involved 525 patients with diabetes and was conducted at two endocrinology practices in Michigan. Patients completed a two-page survey and were excluded if data was missing or they reported no fasting labs in the previous 12 months. Aldasouqi plans to conduct a larger, population-based study to determine the prevalence of FEEHD in the general population.

###

Other MSU co-authors include Gaurav Bhalla, Naveen Kakumanu, William Corser, George Abela, Kathleen Estrada, Jamal Hammoud and Cathy Newkirk. Additional contributors to the project are Samia Mora from Harvard Medical School, Mohammad Dlewati and Abdul Almounajed from University of Michigan-Flint, and Tarek Tabbaa from Wayne State University.BOZEMAN -- In an effort to prevent some of the world's most lethal diseases, an international research team spanning five continents and led by Montana State University will study bats in Australia, Bangladesh, Madagascar and Ghana.

Raina Plowright, assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology in MSU's College of Agriculture and College of Letters and Science, is leading a project to unravel the complex causes of bat-borne viruses that have recently made the jump to humans, causing concern among global health officials.

The research team -- which includes more than 20 scientists from Johns Hopkins, Cornell, Cambridge, UCLA, Penn State, Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Montana, Griffith University in Australia and five other universities and institutions -- is supported by a $10 million cooperative agreement with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, an independent agency of the U.S. Defense Department that funds ambitious and potentially groundbreaking projects.

"This research brings together one of the biggest teams in the world working on emerging bat pathogens," Plowright said, adding that the project will study how the viruses are transmitted at the cellular level as well as on the scale of whole landscapes. "Ultimately, what we're trying to do is find new solutions that can prevent people from getting sick."

Collectively called henipaviruses, the bat-borne pathogens were first identified in 1994 after an Australian outbreak of Hendra virus killed a dozen horses and their owner. Outbreaks of a related virus, called Nipah, have since resulted in hundreds of deaths in Malaysia, Bangladesh and India.

What most worries health experts, according to Plowright, is the potential for henipaviruses to cause future pandemics if human-to-human transmissions increase or new henipaviruses emerge that are more transmissible among humans. The diseases are highly lethal -- up to three-quarters of infected individuals die -- and there is no cure or vaccine for human infections.

According to Peter Hudson, Willaman Professor of Biology at Penn State University and the project's co-principal investigator, insights into how and why henipaviruses jump to humans could also help prevent outbreaks of other bat-borne diseases such as SARS and Ebola, which killed about 11,000 people in West Africa from 2014 to 2016. Even as health workers struggle to treat Ebola victims and contain human-to-human transmission, scientists haven't fully understood the human-bat interactions at the root cause of the problem, he said.

"I think we're on the edge of finding out," Hudson said.

Plowright's prior research indicates that ecological changes such as deforestation may play a significant role in causing henipavirus outbreaks. For instance, her team found that incidents of Hendra virus in Australia are linked to bats flocking to urban and agricultural areas in response to loss of food sources in native forests, where the flying mammals play an important role in pollination. Those periods of nutritional stress are thought to suppress the bats' immune systems and cause the animals to excrete viruses in urine and other body fluids. When horses eat contaminated grass beneath the trees where the bats feed, they become infected and pass the disease to humans. Similarly, Nipah virus in Bangladesh is transmitted to humans when bats feed on date-palm sap that is harvested and sold for human consumption.

"Henipaviruses are also found in bats across Africa and Asia, and we don't know how many are spilling over into other animals and people in places with poor surveillance," Plowright said.

Samples taken from the bats at the study locations will be sent to Rocky Mountain Labs, the National Institutes of Health facility in Hamilton, Montana, that is specially equipped to study emerging pathogens. Researchers there will inventory the viruses, document their genetic makeup and use controlled cell culture experiments to assess their ability to infect humans.

The team will analyze the bat samples for proteins that indicate the ability of the bat immune system to respond to viruses as well as environmental stress, potentially providing insights into how the diseases spread to humans. Meanwhile, field observations and satellite imagery will be used to track environmental variables such as changes in land-use. The changes will be studied for links to the bats' having closer contact with humans and to the animals' immune response as a result of nutritional stress, according to Plowright.

By putting together all of those pieces, Plowright said, the research team will develop mathematical models that predict outbreaks based on the presence of henipaviruses and environmental conditions that stress bat populations. That would give health officials information that could help them prepare for, or even prevent, future outbreaks, she said.

According to Plowright, one solution to these deadly diseases may be simpler than once thought: protecting bat habitat or even restoring native food sources such as flowering trees in areas away from people. "We think we might be able to solve this problem by solving the root cause," she said.

###The navigation system used by rodents is similar to that used by Pacific Islanders in finding their way through the open ocean without a compass, a team of neuroscientists has found.

Its findings, which appear in the latest issue of the journal Neuron, correct a common misconception: mammals' navigation systems operate like a global positioning system (GPS), which relies on a compass-like direction sense.

"These findings offer new, compelling evidence of how our internally organized sense of direction is registered to the external world so we can navigate effectively," observes Andre Fenton, a professor in New York University's Center for Neural Science and the paper's senior author. "Notably, how we orient in space is not akin to a GPS; rather, our direction sense is fundamentally subjective, internally organized, and intermittently registers to external landmarks."

While many have posited that humans navigate using a GPS-like system in their brains--one that relies on a compass-like direction sense--the intricacies of this process are not clear.

However, it has been well-established that the mammalian navigation system is centered in the hippocampus and entorhinal cortices --parts of the brain crucial for understanding space and memory.

Specifically, John O'Keefe, May-Britt Moser, and Edvard Moser shared the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of cells that signal location and distance moved--the latter of which are crucial for being oriented in space. Their work was supplemented by a finding by James Ranck, a professor at SUNY Downstate Medical Center and one of the Neuron paper's co-authors, who discovered neurons that signal direction.

To have a better understanding of how these neuronal pieces fit in order to navigate both stationary and rotating space, Fenton, Ranck, and their colleagues conducted a series of experiments using rats.

In it, they created a carousel-like structure that had both stationary and moving parts. The rats were trained on a navigation task that required them to know where they were in both the moving and stationary frames. During these tasks, the scientists monitored the rats' neurological activity, focusing on head-direction cells, which are most fundamental component of the navigation system.

However, the experimental results offered limited insights.

"The data were extremely clear and initially totally not understandable," says Fenton. "Despite excellent navigation, the head-direction cells stopped signaling direction in either of the stationary or rotating spatial frames."

The finding was not an uncommon one. For years, scientists have struggled to determine why laboratory rats could successfully navigate when activity in head-direction cells was quite restricted, raising questions as to how this process occurs in the brain.

Fenton then recalled the principles of etak navigation that he learned from a book, We, the Navigators: The Ancient Art of Landfinding in the Pacific, authored by New Zealand doctor David Lewis, and that Ranck had given Fenton in the early 1990s.

From the work, Fenton learned that etak navigation is practiced without a compass by Pacific Islanders as they move precisely between islands that are so small and far apart that they are mostly unseen during the journey, making small navigation errors deadly.

"Etak navigation is both very effective and subjectively conceptualized," explains Fenton. "The navigator uses knowledge of the stable locations of stars in the sky and a distant visible or imagined landmark like an island.

"Despite knowing better, the navigator imagines herself stationary and the earth moving below her boat as she travels. To navigate, the navigator orients to line up herself, the etak landmark, and a star. She then journeys so that the earth-attached etak landmark moves until it is co-linear with the navigator and the next orienting star. The navigator proceeds to the destination in a series of such etak stages."

Re-conceptualizing navigation in the etak framework, the researchers measured the directional tuning of each head-direction neuron relative to the activity of another head-direction cell in the rats. They discovered that head-direction cells signal direction by their activity in a manner that is internally consistent, no matter if the environment is stable or rotating.

In addition, this internal direction sense intermittently registers--every 10 seconds or so--to distinct landmarks in a particular space. Between registrations, the navigating rat, like the etak navigator, keeps track of where it is.

"These new findings line up with most people's sense that they can become intermittently disoriented and reoriented, especially in unfamiliar spaces," notes Fenton.

###

The paper's other authors included: Eun Hye Park, a post-doctoral fellow at NYU's Center for Neural Science, Stephen Keeley, a Ph.D. student at NYU's Center for Neural Science and now a postdoctoral fellow at Princeton University, and Cristina Savin, a professor at NYU's Center for Neural Science and Center for Data Science.

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation (IOS-1146822) as well as a National Institute of Mental Health Training Award in Systems and Integrative Neuroscience grant (T32 MH019524).

DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2018.11.019COLUMBUS, Ohio - There are many organizations monitoring endangered species such as elephants and tigers, but what about the millions of other species on the planet -- ones that most people have never heard of or don't think about? How do scientists assess the threat level of, say, the plicate rocksnail, Caribbean spiny lobster or Torrey pine tree?

A new approach co-developed at The Ohio State University uses data analytics and machine learning to predict the conservation status of more than 150,000 plants worldwide. Results suggest that more than 15,000 species likely qualify as near-threatened, vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered.

The approach will allow conservationists and researchers to identify the species most at risk, and also to pinpoint the geographic areas where those species are highly concentrated.

The study appears online today (Dec. 3, 2018) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"Plants form the basic habitat that all species rely on, so it made sense to start with plants," said Bryan Carstens, a professor of evolution, ecology and organismal biology at Ohio State.

"A lot of times in conservation, people focus on big, charismatic animals, but it's actually habitat that matters. We can protect all the lions, tigers and elephants we want, but they have to have a place to live in."

Currently, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature -- which produces the world's most comprehensive inventory of threatened species (the "Red List") -- more or less works on a species-by-species basis, requiring more resources and specialized work than is available to accurately assign a conservation-risk category to every species.

Of the nearly 100,000 species currently on the Red List, plants are among the least represented, with only 5 percent of all currently known species accounted for.

The new approach co-developed by Carstens and lead author Tara Pelletier, a former Ohio State graduate student who is now an assistant professor of biology at Radford University, aims to expand the number of plant species included.

The research team built their predictive model using open-access data from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and TRY Plant Trait Database. Their algorithm compared data from those sources with the Red List to find risk patterns in habitat features, weather patterns, physical characteristics and other criteria likely to put species in danger of extinction.

A map of the data shows that at-risk plant species tend to cluster in regions with high native biodiversity, such as southwestern Australia, Central American rainforests and southeastern coast of the U.S., where more species compete for resources.

"What this allowed us to do is basically make a prediction about what sorts of conservation risks are faced by species that people haven't done these detailed assessments on," Carsten said.

"This isn't a substitute for more-detailed assessments, but it's a first pass that might help identify species that should be prioritized and where people should focus their attention."

Carsten said the biggest challenge was collecting data on such a large scale, noting it took several months of quality-control checking to ensure the team was working with reliable figures.

The new technique was created to be repeatable by other scientists, whether on a global scale like this study or for a single genus or ecosystem.

###

The study was supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, DIVERSITAS/Future Earth and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research.

Other authors were Anahi Espindola of The University of Maryland and Jack Sullivan and David Tank of the University of Idaho.

CONTACT: Bryan Carstens, 614-292-6587; Carstens.12@osu.edu

Written by Denise Blough, Blough.24@osu.eduCOLUMBUS, Ohio - Real-world learning experiences, like summer camps, can significantly improve children's knowledge in a matter of just days, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that 4- to 9-year-old kids knew more about how animals are classified after a four-day camp at a zoo.

It wasn't that children who attended just knew more facts about animals, the researchers noted. The camp actually improved how they organized what they knew - a key component of learning.

"This suggests organization of knowledge doesn't require years to happen. It can occur with a short, naturalistic learning experience," said Layla Unger, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral researcher in psychology at The Ohio State University.

"It highlights the enriching potential of real-world programs like summer camps. They aren't just recreation."

Unger conducted the study with Anna Fisher, associate professor of psychology at Carnegie Mellon University. Their study appears online in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology and will be published in the March 2019 edition.

This study is one of the first to show how quickly knowledge organization changes can occur in children.

"We didn't know if it would take months or years for children to accomplish this. Now we have evidence that it can happen in days," Unger said.

The study involved 28 children who took part in a four-day summer zoo camp in Pittsburgh. They were compared to 32 children who participated in a different summer camp in a nearby neighborhood of Pittsburgh, which was not at the zoo and didn't involve animals.

At the beginning and end of each camp, all children completed two different tests that measured how well they understood the differences between mammals, birds and reptiles.

The zoo camp consisted of lessons, interactions with preserved and live animals, tours of the zoo, games and craft sessions.

"Most of the themes at the zoo camp were not oriented toward explicitly teaching children biological taxonomic groups," Unger said. "So the children were not spending every day talking about the differences between mammals, birds and reptiles."

At the beginning of the camps, children in both groups had equivalent knowledge about the relationships between the three types of animals. But the children in the zoo camp knew significantly more by the end of their four-day camp, while the others did not.

Kids who had been at the zoo had a 64 percent increase in test scores on one assessment from the beginning to the end of camp, and a 35 percent increase in the other. Not surprisingly, there was no change in test scores for children in the other camp.

This study was not designed to test whether a four-day classroom lesson about animals could produce the same results as the four-day zoo experience, Unger said.

But other research suggests a class may not have the same positive effect, partly because it might not engage students as much as the real-world experience.

Unger said it was significant that the zoo camp improved knowledge organization, and not just facts about animals.

"Children didn't just learn piecemeal facts like 'ostriches are birds.' They learned how different birds such as ostriches and ducks are related to each other even when they may look very different or live in different habitats, and how birds are different from mammals and reptiles," she said.

"This kind of knowledge organization helps children retrieve what they have learned from memory, it helps them reason on the basis of what they learned and helps them integrate new information. It is a key part of learning."

Unger noted that both camps in the study charged parents for their children to attend and attracted mostly kids from middle-class families and above. That could be an issue for families who can't afford to send their children to camps.

"Our study showed that the zoo camp really did enrich the children who attended. It may help explain at least a part of the learning opportunity gap between children who have access to camps like this and those who don't."

###

Contact: Layla Unger, Unger.114@osu.eduNhom nguoi trang bi sung nay tan cong oan canh sat voi muc ich giai cuu mot tu nhan.

Vu tan cong nay uoc xem la vu nghiem trong nhat ke tu khi Tong thong Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador len nam quyen tu hom 1/12, voi loi cam ket cham dut tinh trang bao luc tai Mexico.

Anh minh hoa

Tong chuong ly bang Jalisco, Marisela Gomez Cobo, cho biet nhom vu trang di chuyen tren ba chiec xe va tan cong oi tuan tra bang tai vi tri gan uong cao toc cua thi tran La Huerta.

Mot trong so nhung ke tan cong a bi thuong va bi bat, ngoai ra mot so si quan canh sat cung bi thuong.

Cac tay sung khac trong nhom tan cong tron thoat uoc a chan uong bang xe cua chung va ot xe e can uong. Cac bang ang buon ma tuy van thuong su dung cach thuc nay e tron khoi cuoc truy bat cua canh sat.

Hom thu Hai 3/12, tan Tong thong Lopez Obrador cho biet so vu giet nguoi a giam ngay trong tuan au tien ong nhan chuc.

Lopez Obrador cung a e nghi se su dung quan oi va to chuc oi ve binh quoc gia e tran ap cac bang nhom ma tuy va toi pham.

Truoc ay, cac nhom toi pham o Jalisco a oi au truc tiep voi luc luong canh sat va ca quan oi.

Attack by gunmen to free prisoner kills 6 police in Mexico

(AP)  Six policemen in western Mexico were killed Monday when a gang of gunmen attacked them in an apparent bid to free a prisoner they were transporting, authorities said.

The attack was the most serious by criminal gangs since President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took office Saturday, pledging to quell violence in Mexico.

The attorney general of Jalisco state, Marisela Gomez Cobo, said gunmen travelling in three vehicles attacked the state police patrol near a highway in the town of La Huerta.

She said one of the attackers was wounded and captured, and police officer was also wounded. The army and police sent in forces by helicopter to transport out the wounded.

The other attackers escaped, setting up two roadblocks with vehicles they commandeered and set on fire. Mexico's drug cartels often use such barricades to cover their escape.

The state is the home base of the Jalisco New Generation drug cartel.

At his first news conference Monday, Lopez Obrador said homicides were down in the first weekend he has been in office.

Lopez Obrador has proposed using the military as a base to create a National Guard to take on heavily armed drug cartels and other criminal gangs.

The Jalisco cartel has been willing to directly attack police and army units in the past. In 2015, cartel gunmen shot down a Mexican military helicopter, killing six soldiers.UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Young women who receive health and beauty information from their friends and through social media may be more likely to ignore the risks of indoor tanning, according to a team of researchers.

In a study, researchers found a link between women who received health and beauty information from friends and beliefs that indoor tanning made them look and feel better. They also said that young women who relied on social media for health and beauty information also tended to reject the immediate risks of indoor tanning.

According to Jessica Myrick, associate professor of communications, Penn State, most young women are aware of the risks of indoor tanning, but tan anyway. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has warned that exposure to UV radiation -- whether from the sun or from artificial sources, such as the sunlamps used in tanning beds -- increases the risk of developing skin cancer.

"We are really trying to find out why young women engage in this behavior when most are well-aware and knowledgeable about the link between indoor tanning and skin cancer, yet they persist," said Myrick. "We wanted to see if media use -- particularly how young women use media to get information about beauty and how they talk to their friends and family about beauty and health -- might influence those beliefs about the risks of indoor tanning."

The researchers, who report their findings in the current issue of the Journal of American College Health, said that when young women turned to their friends for health and beauty advice they were more likely to feel tanning made them look and feel better and, therefore, they were more likely to tan indoors.

When they went to their family for that information, however, the women were less likely to indoor tan. Family members may undermine the belief that tanning would make the women feel good, a strong pull for indoor tanning, added Myrick, who worked with Seth M. Noar, professor of journalism, University of North Carolina; Jennah Sontag, postdoctoral fellow in public health, Center for Tobacco Studies, Rutgers and Dannielle Kelley, cancer prevention fellow, National Cancer Institute.

"For a lot of people, if you think that indoor tanning will improve your mood -- that it's a good way to lift your spirits and feel better -- then you're more likely to tan indoors," said Myrick. "If they received information about health and beauty from their family, they were less likely to think that tanning is a good way to improve their mood and so, when you decrease that link between tanning and mood benefits, then you're less likely to tan."

Young women who received health and beauty information from news sites, rather than through social media outlets, were more likely to understand that tanning could negatively affect their appearance and understood the immediate risks of indoor tanning.

Myrick suggests that the difference between social media and news sites as sources of health and beauty information may be related to how that information is filtered in those channels. News sites may offer more critical coverage of indoor tanning risks and be less susceptible to industry manipulation compared to the less editorially stringent social media outlets.

According to the researchers, knowing how messages on indoor tanning are reaching young women may help shape skin cancer prevention efforts. Skin cancer prevention organizations may want to insert stories about indoor tanning's link to skin cancer in young women into national media and amplify these messages using social media, they added. Young women should also be educated about skin cancer risks to help them both resist pressure from their peers to tan and to help spread more helpful information to their own peers.

The researchers recruited 568 sorority members at a southeastern American university to complete an online survey about indoor tanning and health and beauty information sources. About 210 participants -- or 37 percent -- had tanned indoors. Of those 210 participants, 134 -- or 64 percent -- had tanned in the past year. In addition to tanning experience, the survey also asked participants about where they received health and beauty information -- the news media, social media, friends and family -- and how they assessed the possible negative and positive outcomes of indoor tanning.

###

The University of North Carolina's Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and the University Cancer Research Fund supported this work.There are perks to becoming a manager: higher pay, career mobility, and more authority and influence when it comes to making decisions. But there are also downsides: having too much work and not enough time to do it. A new study from Portland State University and University of Zurich researchers calls the transition a "double-edged sword" and found that a manager's ability to mentally detach from work during non-work hours can help reduce the increased exhaustion and work-family conflict that come with the new role.

The study, recently published in the Journal of Business and Psychology, examined more than 2,000 individuals and found that employees experienced so-called resource gains and losses when they became managers.

Charlotte Fritz, a co-author of the study and an associate professor of industrial and organizational psychology in PSU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said the increased authority and freedom that comes with a managerial role leads to an increase in job satisfaction.

But on the flip side, having to juggle a heavier workload means having to potentially skip breaks or work longer hours. As a result, managers experience higher levels of exhaustion and more work-family conflict, Fritz said.

The study builds on research that has shown that an employee's ability to detach from work during non-work hours is important for their well-being and results in lower burnout and higher life satisfaction.

Fritz recommends that companies not only restructure managers' work so they're not dealing with constant time pressure, but also incorporate strategies for detachment as part of management trainings.

"Organizations need to encourage managers to regularly take time to mentally let go of work -- to not check emails, to not be on calls at home, to actively engage with their families or hobbies -- so the impact on exhaustion and work-family conflict is not as strong," she said.

She said it's as much about employees' well-being as it is about the company's bottom line. The cost of sick leave or replacing employees who leave in search of a better work-life balance can be expensive.

"Supervisors are responsible for others and if they're burned out or not satisfied in their role and their work, that trickles down," Fritz said. "They're not only impacting themselves on an individual level; they're impacting a whole workgroup. Managers are highly influential in terms of employees' work experiences, so they need to be taken care of."

But she said there is a movement happening.

"There are organizations who are getting it," Fritz said. "They're creating flexibility for their employees about where and when to work, allowing them to create boundaries and encouraging supervisors to support their employees around creating work-life balance."

###

The study's other authors are Maike Debus and Michel Philipp from the University of Zurich. The work was supported by a grant from the Swiss Science National Foundation.SWOG Cancer Research Network members will share the results of three studies at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, an international gathering of breast cancer physicians and researchers that starts today, with an estimated 7,500 attendees expected from more than 90 countries.

SWOG is an international cancer clinical trials network funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In results they will share in posters presentations in San Antonio, all three SWOG researchers mined existing SWOG trial data to ask fresh, important questions about breast cancer.

"This work is creative and relevant, and shows breast cancers in all their complexity," said Julie Gralow, MD, the SWOG executive officer overseeing breast cancer research and an internationally acclaimed cancer researcher and physician. "Breast cancers and breast cancer patients present in multiple ways. In these three studies, SWOG researchers share results that better define subsets of patients and tumors with respect to treatment response, toxicities, and cancer recurrence. These are strong examples of our work."

Priyanka Sharma, MD, of University of Kansas Cancer Center and vice chair of the SWOG breast cancer committee, will present results of the first study to examine the long-term outcomes of patients with different molecular subtypes of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). Using samples from S9313, a SWOG breast cancer trial that banked hundreds of tumor tissue specimens, Sharma and her team conducted microarray profiling on these samples to generate specific TNBC subtypes - Basal Like 1 (BL1), Basal Like 2 (BL2), Mesenchymal (M), Mesenchymal Stem-like (MSL) and Luminal Androgen Receptor (LAR). Tissue samples were also tested for immunomodulatory status, or signs of immune system activation. Sharma and her team then looked at patient outcomes after S9313 patients were treated with adjuvant doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide (AC) chemotherapy to see what the prognosis was for each subtype. They found that patients with BL1 subtype (about 24 percent of the total) had the best outcomes; They remained free of disease the longest. On the other end of the spectrum, patients with the MSL and LAR subtypes (which made up about 21 percent of the total) were more likely to have their cancer return.

"This shows that TNBC isn't just one disease," Sharma said. "We're now beginning to understand the molecular diversity of this type of breast cancer - and we need to test different treatments on these different subtypes in clinical trials."

Darya Kizub, MD, of The Everett Clinic in Seattle, will present the answer to a question that has intrigued some breast cancer clinicians and researchers: Would statin drugs reduce the risk of cancer recurrence among post-menopausal women with early stage breast cancer? Results from laboratory and observational studies have suggested that these cholesterol-fighting drugs might have cancer-fighting benefits as well - particularly in combination with bisphosphonates, drugs that prevent the loss of bone density and are often prescribed to post-menopausal women after breast cancer treatment. Kizub mined data from S0307, a SWOG trial testing the effectiveness of bisphosphonates after breast cancer surgery, and analyzed outcomes for the women enrolled on S0307 who took statins (684 patients) and those that didn't (1,848 patients). Kizub and her team found no evidence that statins either reduced the risk of developing a second breast cancer tumor, or reduced the risk of breast cancer spreading to the liver, bone, or brain. In addition, despite promising pre-clinical data, there was no evidence that statins and bisphosphonates worked together to reduce cancer recurrence.

"Our results make it clear that there is no synergistic, cancer-fighting effect when statins and bisphosphonates are taken together," Kizub said. "It will take a clinical trial to settle the question of whether statins have an impact on cancer recurrence."

Lynn Henry, MD, PhD, of Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah and co-chair of SWOG's symptom control and quality of life committee, will present findings that show that obese patients get more benefit from duloxetine to treat symptoms of joint pain that plagues tens of thousands of postmenopausal women each year who are treated with aromatase inhibitors (AIs) for their breast cancer. Two years ago at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, Henry gave a special plenary presentation on S1202, her SWOG trial that showed that duloxetine, a drug typically used to treat depression and anxiety, can alleviate the pain caused by AIs, a common breast cancer medication used to treat postmenopausal women. This year, at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), her SWOG colleague, Sherry Shen, MD, presented findings that showed omega-3 fatty acid supplements can significantly reduce AI joint pain - but only for obese women, or those with a body mass index over 30. Henry wanted to look back at her own S1202 data to see if obesity was a predictor of response to duloxetine. It was, according to her analysis of 289 patients who enrolled in S1202 - 54 percent of whom were obese. Obese patients enrolled in the trial received more benefit from duloxetine compared to non-obese patients.

"We need more studies to understand the biological basis for these findings, but the clinical implications are clear," Henry said. "For AI symptom management, physicians should consider duloxetine for pain for their breast cancer patients, particularly women who are obese. The better women manage their pain, the more likely they are to continue their AI treatment, and get the benefits of better health and better quality of life that comes with that treatment."

###

Sharma's research was funded by the National Institutes of Health through NCI grants CA180888 and CA180819, and in part by Amgen, an ASCO Advanced Clinical Cancer Research Award, the Eileen Stein Jacoby Fund, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and the University of Kansas Cancer Center's Biospecimen Repository Core Facility through grant P30 CA168524.

Kizub's research was funded by the National Institutes of Health through NCI grants CA180888, CA180819, CA180820, CA180821, CA180868, CA180863, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Susan G. Komen, Berlex Laboratories, Inc., Novartis, and Genentech, a member of the Roche Group.

Henry's research was funded by the National Institutes of Health through NCI grant CA189974, a Damon Runyon-Lilly Clinical Investigator Award #C1-53-10, Lilly USA, and The Hope Foundation for Cancer Research.

SWOG Cancer Research Network is part of the National Cancer Institute's National Clinical Trials Network and the NCI Community Oncology Research Program, and is part of the oldest and largest publicly-funded cancer research network in the nation. SWOG has nearly 12,000 members in 46 states and six foreign countries who design and conduct clinical trials to improve the lives of people with cancer. SWOG trials have led to the approval of 14 cancer drugs, changed more than 100 standards of cancer care, and saved more than 3 million years of human life. Learn more at swog.org.DES PLAINES, IL -- Children and adolescents who survive assault, including by firearm, have increased long?term mortality compared to those who survive unintentional, nonviolent trauma. That is the primary finding of a study reported in the Proceedings of the 2018 AEM Consensus Conference: Aligning the Pediatric Emergency Medicine Research Agenda to Reduce Health Outcome Gaps, to be published in the December 2018 issue of Academic Emergency Medicine (AEM), a journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM).

The lead author of the study is Ashkon Shaahinfar, MD, MPH, attending physician and emergency ultrasound director, Division of Emergency Medicine, at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland

The findings of the study are discussed with Dr. Shaahinfar in the featured podcast of AEM Early Access, a collaboration between Brown University Emergency Medicine and the editors of AEM.

The study, by Shaahinfar, et al., highlights the disparities that black adolescent males and the socioeconomically disadvantaged face with regard to community violence and premature mortality. In light of the findings, the authors maintain that the need for prospective studies and the implementation of evidence?based programs and policies is urgent.

Commenting on the study are 2018 AEM Consensus Conference co-chairs Kurt Denninghoff, MD, distinguished professor and associate head for research at the University of Arizona Department of Emergency Medicine and Paul Ishimine, MD, director of pediatric emergency medicine at UCSD/Rady Children's Hospital.

"This study identifies socioeconomic characteristics of childhood victims of violence that are associated with disparities in the rates of premature mortality. In particular, the authors demonstrate the association between violent events early in life with an increased long-term risk of homicide. This represents a valuable opportunity for injury prevention research."

The 2019 SAEM Consensus Conference: Wellness for the Future: Cultural and Systems-based Challenges and Solutions, will take place at the Mirage, Las Vegas on May 14, 2019, in conjunction with SAEM19, the annual meeting of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.

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ABOUT ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE

Academic Emergency Medicine, the monthly journal of Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, features the best in peer-reviewed, cutting-edge original research relevant to the practice and investigation of emergency care. The above study is published open access and can be downloaded by following the DOI link: https://doi.org/10.1111/acem.13631. Journalists wishing to interview the authors may contact Stacey Roseen at sroseen@saem.org.

ABOUT THE SOCIETY FOR ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE

SAEM is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to the improvement of care of the acutely ill and injured patient by leading the advancement of academic emergency medicine through education and research, advocacy, and professional development. To learn more, visit saem.org.With news coverage being a constant cycle and information being amplified across social media channels, it can be difficult to discern between sound news and 'fake news.' As a result people's trust in scientific information has begun to break down. This is especially harmful to society when the mass dissemination of misinformation, especially as it relates to issues such as climate change, is problematic as it may contribute to the delay of much needed policy action to protect the public. In order to combat this issue, tools and practices need to be developed to help consumers and journalists filter the information they are constantly being fed.

Fake news has become a growing problem nationwide and its spread has been aided and exacerbated by social media, particularly Facebook. Lauren Lutzke, University of Michigan, and her team of researchers tested a simple intervention aimed to help people recognize fake climate news on Facebook.

In the study, "Structured introspection: Can a simple intervention help people identify fake news about climate change on Facebook?" online participants were presented with a post from a Facebook newsfeed containing false information about climate change and were placed in one of three treatment (T) groups. In T1, participants were asked to think carefully about the information they were about to receive and to evaluate its accuracy. In T2, people were asked to rate the importance of five attributes of online news, including credibility of the source and plausibility of the information, that may be indicative of whether the information is reliable or not, and T3 mirrored T2 except that participants were asked to propose between two and five diagnostic attributes of their own.

The researchers hypothesized that structured introspection, the T2 method, would help people identify fake news. This study will help build an understanding of what helps people reject fake news and could help combat its spread.

Previous research has suggested that in the wake of a terror attack, public fear and anger can each uniquely contribute to risk perception and risk-avoidance behaviors. However, this research has not sought to understand how physical and temporal proximity to the attack impact an individual's expression of fear and anger. Richard John and Matt Baucum, University of Southern California, conducted a study to better understand how a terror event can incite fear and anger at various locations, and how those feelings change with time.

Their study, "Gradients of fear and anger in the social media response to terrorism," examined 36,259 Tweets posted within seven days of the 2016 Orlando nightclub terror attack. They looked at how expressions of fear and anger varied with time and distance from the attack. The study revealed that use of fear and anger terms both increased following the attack, but anger increased much more drastically. Words indicating fear also sharply decreased over time, while words implying anger decreased slightly with time and increased with distance from Orlando.

These results show that individuals who are physically distant from the attack remained angry and fearful for a longer duration after the attack compared to those in and around Orlando whose feared dissipated more quickly. John and Baucum will discuss the implications for understanding the emotional landscape that results from highly publicized terror attacks.

News coverage of scientific and medical studies that provide convincing evidence about technological and health risks generally increase public concern, but research has shown that subsequent news coverage that criticizes these same studies or publicizes their retraction can reduce those initial concerns. Dilshani Sarathchandra, University of Idaho, and Aaron McCright, Michigan State University, conducted some follow-up research to determine if these retractions have broader impacts, such as reducing people's trust in the institutions and individuals (i.e., science and scientists) who are supposed to minimize environmental and health risks.

The study, "The effects of media coverage of scientific retractions on trust in science," examined how trust in scientists was shaped by exposure to news coverage of the retraction of a stem cell study. Preliminary findings show that being exposed to the news coverage does reduce trust and negative effects on trust are even larger for retractions due to "intentional misconduct."

The results suggest that journalists and publishers should be more aware of these effects when reporting on retractions and should clarify the reason for retraction (honest mistakes vs. intentional misconduct). Clarifying the reasoning can influence how journalists cover the stories, and how the public perceives the news. Making this distinction can also help destigmatize retractions due to honest mistakes which could increase trust in the scientific community.

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These studies will be presented during the From AI to Fake News: Media & Emerging Risks session on Tuesday, Dec. 4 from 1:30-3:00 p.m. at the 2018 Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) Annual Meeting at the New Orleans Marriott in New Orleans, Louisiana.

**Dilshani Sarathchandra, University of Idaho, Richard John, University of Southern California, and Lauren Lutzke, University of Michigan, will be available for media interviews at the 2018 SRA Annual Meeting. Please contact Melanie Preve at melanie@bigvoicecomm.com">melanie@bigvoicecomm.com for all interview requests. About SRA

The Society for Risk Analysis is a multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, scholarly, international society that provides an open forum for all those interested in risk analysis. SRA was established in 1980 and has published Risk Analysis: An International Journal, the leading scholarly journal in the field, continuously since 1981. For more information, visit http://www.sra.org.As the All of Us initiative (previously known as the Precision Medicine Initiative) and the collection of DNA sequences of one million Americans begins this year, with at least 65,000 people already enrolled in the program, health care is transitioning from population-based approaches to individualized health care that focuses on the genetic makeup of each patient. Precision medicine will extend beyond prediction, diagnosis and treatment of disease to also include broader health initiatives, including prevention, nutrition and wellness. These new procedures raise novel legal, policy and ethical issues.

The symposium session at the 2018 Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) Annual Meeting will address cutting edge risk communication, risk assessment and risk management issues with respect to precision medicine, addressing issues such as trust, governance, tort liability and data access and quality.

Liability is a powerful risk management tool, incentivizing parties to take adequate precautions, but it can also potentially impede innovation and over-deter some individuals. Gary Marchant, Ph.D., J.D., MPP, Arizona State University, conducted a research study, "Genomic medicine and malpractice risks," that quantifies the medical malpractice lawsuits against doctors and other healthcare professionals relating to genetic medicine.

The study analyzed more than 300 cases in which healthcare providers were sued for allegedly applying genetic test opportunities or data in a negligent manner, referred to as "genomic malpractice." Most doctors lack training in genetics so many are struggling to properly handle and understand genetic information about their patients. The study revealed that there has been a significant increase in genomic malpractice lawsuits and that these lawsuits have a higher probability of success and result in larger awards than other medical malpractice lawsuits.

"Many patients are not getting the best healthcare in terms of applying new genetic findings - perhaps the increase in liability will help to improve the quality of care relating to genetic medicine," states Marchant.

Trust in precision medicine is required because of the many, potentially far-reaching, uncertainties and risk that come with its development. This includes, risks to individuals who participate in DNA collection schemes, to patients who benefit from new therapies, to insurers and payers or to industry. In 2017, the International Risk Governance Council and Center (IRGC) organized a workshop on the governance of trust in precision medicine. Marie-Valentine Florin, Ecole Polytechnqiue Federale de Lausanne, will present the main findings from the workshop in her presentation, "Trust in precision medicine."

Florin's presentation will focus on assessing and managing trustworthiness in the collection of genetic, medical and other personal data, and issues of consent regarding who can access this data; the analysis of data and provision of information for diagnostics that increasingly rely on artificial intelligence; and the provision of health and medical care by professionals to improve prevention and therapies, in ways that are safe, accessible and affordable for patients.

###

These studies will be presented during the Risk and Precision Medicine symposium on Tuesday, Dec. 4 from 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. at the 2018 SRA Annual Meeting at the New Orleans Marriott in New Orleans, Louisiana.

**Gary Marchant, Ph.D., J.D., MPP, Arizona State University, and Marie-Valentine Florin, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, will be available for media interviews at the 2018 SRA Annual Meeting. Please contact Melanie Preve at melanie@bigvoicecomm.com for all interview requests.

About SRA

The Society for Risk Analysis is a multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, scholarly, international society that provides an open forum for all those interested in risk analysis. SRA was established in 1980 and has published Risk Analysis: An International Journal, the leading scholarly journal in the field, continuously since 1981. For more information, visit http://www.sra.org.As more and more parents buy into the belief that vaccines cause autism and refuse to vaccinate their children, previously eradicated diseases are making their way back into society. These beliefs are part of "post-truth" politics in which authority figures are making public assertions without any proof or factual basis and are refusing to acknowledge factual rebuttals. The relationship between the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination and autism has perpetrated society despite having been debunked in numerous scientific studies, and the Human Papillomavirus vaccine has been targeted as well.

Members of the medical community are concerned with how they can make facts 'attractive' again and how trust in scientific information can be rebuilt, moving society towards a "post-trust" era. The Vaccine Communication symposia presented at the 2018 Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) Annual Meeting, co-organized by the Vienna Vaccine Safety Initiative, will explore concrete ways to improve vaccination policy moving forward in this "post-truth" era.

The World Health Organization (WHO) requires that each medical encounter between patient and professional be used to check vaccination status and catch up on vaccines, but in practice that is rarely happening. Barbara Rath, MD, Ph.D., Vienna Vaccine Safety Initiative, has been working with the ViVI Think Tank to develop digital tools aimed at improving communication between doctors and patients. Rath's presentation, "Human-centered infectious diseases and vaccine communication - Bridging the gap," will illustrate the development of these tools.

The team has developed the VaccApp, a mobile app that helps parents better understand the immunizations given to their children. The ViVI Score allows health care providers to instantly measure disease severity in children and adults with flu-like illness. The team developed two additional mobile apps, the VACC tool and the ViVI health survey. The VACC Tool aids in the identification of adverse events at the point of care and the health survey was developed to assess health needs in vulnerable populations after evacuations from natural disasters or conflict zones.

Over the past four years, about two million Nigerians have become internally displaced persons (IDPs) due to armed conflict. IDPs live under poor conditions with minimal access to food, water and shelter, conditions that encourage the spread of infectious diseases. Winifred Ekezie, MPH, University of Nottingham, and her team of researchers explored the occurrence of infectious diseases, vaccine coverage and vaccine management perceptions among IDPs.

Ekezie's study, "Infectious disease prevalence and vaccination management among internally displaced people living in camp-like setting in Nigeria: A mixed method study," found that malaria, typhoid, diarrhea and cough were most prevalent among the IDPs. Self-reports showed that approximately 60 percent of the IDPs had received vaccinations, but only 15 percent had received them while in the camp. Two of the nine camps studied had no health service providers and four never had on-site vaccinations. The study also found that most IDPs did not know which vaccines they had received. Interviewed parties lacked knowledge of proper vaccination guidelines and most assumed it was the responsibility of non-governmental organizations.

"Proactive healthcare interventions, especially vaccination provision and communication, are required in any displacement conditions," states Ekezie. "This approach would help minimize the risks of infection spreading disease to the general population."

Measles incidences are on the rise in Europe and measles vaccination rates are dropping. Ruth Kutalek, Ph.D., Medical University of Vienna, and her team investigated this emerging vaccine hesitancy from an anthropological perspective by conducting interviews with 44 public health experts, vaccine hesitant professionals and vaccine hesitant parents in Vienna, Austria. Experts stressed that vaccine hesitancy is reinforced by the spread of myths and rumors from vaccine-critical platforms.

The study, "Measles vaccination and vaccine hesitancy in Austria - Anthropological perspectives" found that the most prominent reason parents chose not to vaccinate their child is the perception that measles do not pose a significant threat and they are anxious about side effects and are concerned about overloading the child's immature immune system. Vaccine critical health professionals suspected that vaccine information was biased and that there were not enough studies of the long-term effect of early vaccination and that measles complications were overexaggerated. The overarching theme was a lack of trust in the scientific information provided about measles and the vaccine.

Nigeria has made immense progress in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative with a decline wild poliovirus cases from 1122 in 2006 to just four in 2016 and zero to date. The country has started the countdown for WHO certified polio-free status until 2019. Isolated poliovirus cases in IDPs residing in the northeastern region in 2016 delayed the certification until next year. Chris Elemuwa, National Primary Healthcare Development Agency - Nigeria, and his Nigerian team have been working to implement phase 1a of the Global Action Plan as a component of the Global Polio Eradication and End-Game Strategic Plan. In his presentation, "Building trust in polio surveillance and eradication policy in Nigeria," Elemuwa will discuss the steps taken to implement surveillance throughout the country, even in nearly inaccessible parts.

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These studies will be presented during the Vaccine Communication I and Vaccine Communication II symposia on Monday, Dec. 3 from 10:30 a.m.-12:10 p.m. and from 1:30-3:10 p.m. at the 2018 SRA Annual Meeting at the New Orleans Marriott in New Orleans, Louisiana.

**Wolfgang Maurer, MD, Ph.D., Vienna Vaccine Safety Initiative, Barbara Rath, MD, Ph.D., Vienna Vaccine Safety Initiative, Ruth Kutalek, Ph.D., Medical University of Vienna, and Chris Elemuwa, National Primary Healthcare Development Agency - Nigeria, will be available for media interviews at the 2018 SRA Annual Meeting. Please contact Melanie Preve at melanie@bigvoicecomm.com for all interview requests.

The Society for Risk Analysis is a multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, scholarly, international society that provides an open forum for all those interested in risk analysis. SRA was established in 1980 and has published Risk Analysis: An International Journal, the leading scholarly journal in the field, continuously since 1981. For more information, visit http://www.sra.org.Harnessing nuclear fusion, which powers the sun and stars, to help meet earth's energy needs, is a step closer after researchers showed that using two types of imaging can help them assess the safety and reliability of parts used in a fusion energy device.

Scientists from Swansea University, Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, ITER in France, and the Max-Planck Institute of Plasma Physics in Germany paired x-ray and neutron imaging to test the robustness of parts.

They found that both methods yield valuable data which can be used in developing components.

The sun is a shining example of fusion in action. In the extremes of pressure and temperature at the centre of the sun atoms travel fast enough to fuse together, releasing vast amounts of energy. For decades, scientists have been looking at how to harness this safe, carbon-free and virtually limitless source of energy.

One major obstacle is the staggering temperatures that components in fusion devices have to withstand: up to 10 times the heat of the centre of the sun.

One of the main approaches to fusion, magnetic confinement, requires reactors which have some of the greatest temperature gradients on earth, and potentially in the universe: plasmas reaching highs of 150 million C and the cryopump, which is only metres away, as low as -269 C.

It is critical that researchers can test - non-destructively - the robustness of engineering components that must function in such an extreme environment.

The research team focused on one critical component, called a monoblock, which is a pipe carrying coolant. This was the first time the new tungsten monoblock design has been imaged by computerised tomography. They used ISIS Neutron and Muon Source's neutron imaging instrument, IMAT.

Dr Triestino Minniti of the Science and Technology Facilities Council said:

"Each technique had its own benefits and drawbacks. The advantage of neutron imaging over x-ray imaging is that neutrons are significantly more penetrating through tungsten.

Thus, it is feasible to image samples containing larger volumes of tungsten. Neutron tomography also allows us to investigate the full monoblock non-destructively, removing the need to produce "region of interest" samples"

Dr Llion Evans of Swansea University College of Engineering said:

"This work is a proof of concept that both these tomography methods can produce valuable data. In future these complementary techniques can be used either for the research and development cycle of fusion component design or in quality assurance of manufacturing".

The next step is to convert the 3D images produced by this powerful technique into engineering simulations with micro-scale resolution. This technique, known as image-based finite element method (IBFEM), enables the performance of each part to be assessed individually and account for minor deviations from design caused by manufacturing processes.

###

The research was published in Fusion Engineering and Design.

Notes to editors:

Read the research paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0920379618305374?via%3Dihub

Swansea University is a world-class, research-led, dual campus university. The University was established in 1920 and was the first campus university in the UK. It currently offers around 350 undergraduate courses and 350 postgraduate courses to circa 20,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students.

The University's 46-acre Singleton Park Campus is located in beautiful parkland with views across Swansea Bay. The University's 65-acre science and innovation Bay Campus, which opened in September 2015, is located a few miles away on the eastern approach to the city. It has the distinction of having direct access to a beach and its own seafront promenade. Both campuses are close to the Gower Peninsula, the UK's first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Swansea was named 'Welsh University of the Year' in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2017. The University is in the top 300 best universities in the world, ranked in the 251-300 group in The Times Higher Education World University rankings 2018.

The results of the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 showed the University has achieved its ambition to be a top 30 research University, soaring up the league table to 26th in the UK, with the 'biggest leap among research-intensive institutions' (Times Higher Education, December 2014) in the UK.

The University has ambitious expansion plans as it moves towards its centenary in 2020, as it continues to extend its global reach and realising its domestic and international ambitions.

Swansea University is a registered charity. No.1138342. Visit http://www.swansea.ac.uk

Media contacts:

Kevin Sullivan, Swansea University Public Relations Office 01792 513 245 k.g.sullivan@swansea.ac.ukStrategy could prevent clots in more than 50,000 cancer patients per year in the US and Canada

A Canadian clinical trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine provides the first approach for safely preventing blood clots (or venous thromboembolism) in people with cancer. About half of people newly diagnosed with a solid cancer could be candidates for the strategy, which involves a low dose of a direct oral anticoagulant called apixaban.

"Cancer increases the risk of blood clots, which in turn can cause pain, reduce quality of life and increase the risk of death," said senior author Dr. Philip Wells, a hematologist, senior scientist and Chief of Medicine at The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa. "Our study shows for the first time that we can safely prevent these clots in many people with cancer."

A key part of the study was the identification of cancer patients with a higher risk of developing blood clots. This was done using the Khorana score, which is based on blood tests results and other clinical factors. The researchers found that about half of all people starting cancer chemotherapy were in the higher risk group. They enrolled 563 of these patients from 13 Canadian centres in the trial and randomly assigned them to receive apixaban (2.5 mg twice a day for six months) or a placebo.

Of the 275 patients in the placebo group, 28 suffered a blood clot within six months (10.2 percent) compared to 12 of 288 in the apixaban group (4.2 percent). The researchers also looked at side effects related to bleeding, as these are known to increase with the use of anticoagulants. Three patients in the placebo group suffered a major bleed (1 percent) compared to six patients in the apixaban group (2.1 percent), but all bleeds were treatable.

"Anticoagulants are commonly used to prevent blood clots in other high-risk groups, but the traditional thinking has been that these drugs would cause too much bleeding in people with cancer," said first author Dr. Marc Carrier, a hematologist, senior scientist and associate professor at The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa. "Our study shows that if you select the right patients and use a relatively low dose of a direct oral anticoagulant, the benefits easily outweigh the risks."

With about 1.9 million people* diagnosed with cancer every year in Canada and the U.S., the researchers estimate that about half, or 950,000 could be considered for the blood clot prevention strategy tested in the study. In this population, the strategy would be expected to prevent clots in six percent, or 57,000 people. The preventative strategy would also save money, as treating blood clots can be very expensive.

This research means a lot to Harold Black, 76, who developed a cancer-associated blood clot in his lungs (pulmonary embolism) in September 2018. The large clot required two days of treatment and monitoring at The Ottawa Hospital, followed by ongoing daily heparin injections in the belly.

"I feel very lucky because I was told that the first sign of a pulmonary embolism is often death," said Black. "If this research prevents people like me from developing blood clots, that will make a big difference for a lot of people."

The blood clot (thrombosis) program at The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa is the largest and the most research-intensive in the world. With four publications in the New England Journal of Medicine since 2015, their research is transforming lives both in Ottawa and around the world.

"I want to thank the outstanding physicians, nurses, research coordinators and other members of our thrombosis team," said Dr. Wells. "But above all, I want to thank our patients for participating in our research and helping us improve care for them and others around the world."

This study was sponsored by the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, with funding primarily from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. The BMS-Pfizer Alliance also provided funding but had no role in designing the study or analyzing the results. The study was also supported by the CanVECTOR research network and the Ottawa Methods Centre. Research at The Ottawa Hospital is possible because of generous donations to The Ottawa Hospital Foundation.

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*American Association for Cancer Research + 10% for Canada.

Reference: Apixaban to Prevent Venous Thromboembolism in Patients with Cancer. Marc Carrier, Karim Abou-Nassar, Ranjeeta Mallick, Vicky Tagalakis, Sudeep Shivakumar, Ariah Schattner, Philip Kuruvilla, Danny Hill, Silvana Spadafora, Katerine Marquis, Mateya Trinkaus, Anna Tomiak, Agnes Y.Y. Lee, Peter L. Gross, Alejandro Lazo-Langner, Robert El-Maraghi, Glenwood Goss, Gregoire Le Gal, David Stewart, Timothy Ramsay, Marc Rodger, Debra Witham, Philip S. Wells, for the AVERT Investigators. New England Journal of Medicine. December 4, 2018. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa 1814468. https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02048865

The Ottawa Hospital: Inspired by research. Driven by compassion.

The Ottawa Hospital is one of Canada's largest learning and research hospitals with over 1,100 beds, approximately 12,000 staff and an annual budget of over $1.2 billion. Our focus on research and learning helps us develop new and innovative ways to treat patients and improve care. As a multi-campus hospital, affiliated with the University of Ottawa, we deliver specialized care to the Eastern Ontario region, but our techniques and research discoveries are adopted around the world. We engage the community at all levels to support our vision for better patient care. See http://www.ohri.ca for more information about research at The Ottawa Hospital.

University of Ottawa: A crossroads of cultures and ideas

The University of Ottawa is home to over 50,000 students, faculty and staff, who live, work and study in both French and English. Our campus is a crossroads of cultures and ideas, where bold minds come together to inspire game-changing ideas. We are one of Canada's top 10 research universities--our professors and researchers explore new approaches to today's challenges. One of a handful of Canadian universities ranked among the top 200 in the world, we attract exceptional thinkers and welcome diverse perspectives from across the globe. http://www.uottawa.ca

Media Contacts

Jennifer Ganton

Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

Office: 613-798-5555 x 73325

Cell: 613-614-5253

jganton@ohri.ca

Isabelle Mailloux Pulkinghorn

University of Ottawa

Cell: 613-240-0275

imaillou@uOttawa.caANAHEIM, Calif. (December 4, 2018) -- A quarter of chronic opioid users in Idaho were at risk for overdose from unsafe combinations of prescriptions for controlled substances in 2017, according to research presented at the ASHP (American Society for Health-System Pharmacists) 53rd Midyear Clinical Meeting and Exhibition. Forty-four percent of the dangerous overlapping prescriptions were written by more than one prescriber.

"Patients with chronic pain are often under the care of several different physicians to manage their different disease states," said Catherine Oliphant, Pharm.D., a professor of pharmacy practice at Idaho State University and faculty advisor for the study led by student pharmacist James Berain. "This co-management can lead to patients receiving unintentional prescription combinations that put them at higher risk for an opioid overdose."

Given that 56 percent of the dangerous combinations were intentionally written by the same prescriber, the results also suggest that continued education on appropriate opioid prescribing is warranted, Oliphant said.

Researchers from Idaho State University examined all prescriptions of controlled substances for 301,975 patients that were reported to the Idaho Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) in 2017. Anyone who dispenses these drugs, including pharmacists as well as some physicians and other clinicians, is required to report the action to a PDMP. PDMPs are now available in every state and the District of Columbia. Physicians and other prescribers can then access the records before writing new prescriptions to ensure patient safety, though review of the PDMP is not required.

In the Idaho study, a third of the patients receiving a controlled substance were identified as chronic users, meaning they have taken the drugs for more than 90 days without a break of at least seven days. Nearly a quarter of those chronic users were also prescribed a benzodiazepine or other central nervous system (CNS) depressants -- combinations the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns against because of potential overdose.

Pharmacists are in a prime position to intervene when identifying patients who are placed on both opioids and benzodiazepines or other CNS depressants, Oliphant said. Pharmacists can facilitate communication between prescribers, educate patients and prescribers on the risks of the dangerous drug combinations, and prescribe an opioid-reversal agent such as naloxone.

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About the ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting & Exposition

ASHP's Midyear Clinical Meeting and Exhibition is the largest gathering of pharmacy professionals in the world. Attended by more than 25,000 pharmacy professionals from across the globe, the Midyear meeting provides opportunities for professional development, networking, enhancing practice skills, and staying current with the latest products and innovations. Tag and follow ASHP and the meeting on social media, #ASHP18 and @ASHPOfficial.

About ASHP

ASHP represents pharmacists who serve as patient care providers in acute and ambulatory settings. The organization's 45,000 members include pharmacists, student pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians. For more than 75 years, ASHP has been at the forefront of efforts to improve medication use and enhance patient safety. For more information about the wide array of ASHP activities and the many ways in which pharmacists advance healthcare, visit ASHP's website, http://www.ashp.org, or its consumer website, http://www.SafeMedication.com.The RAF Museum announced a couple of days ago that their unique Hawker Typhoon Mk.Ib MN235 is now fully re-assembled and back on formal display at their London campus, the former RAF Hendon. The aircraft had been on loan for most of the past four years at the Canada Aviation & Space Museum. Although it arrived back in the UK in mid-April, it has taken a rather circuitous route back home to Hendon, where it arrived in a disassembled state in mid-October. While the fuselage has been on display in the main hall since it arrived, it wasnt until the end of November that a crew put her back together again. MN235 is the sole remaining original and complete Typhoon left in existence, and even that is due solely to the airframe having been transferred to the USA during WWII for testing. Every other example was either lost in a crash or scrapped by the late 1940s, although there are a number of partial airframes still out there, with at least two of these forming the basis for currently active airworthy restorations. MN235 never saw combat during WWII, but it still had an interesting service life. We have reproduced the RAF Museums aircraft history card here for our readers to learn these details. There are also remarks at its closing regarding the incomplete Typhoons still in existence.

Ordered by Air Ministry from Hawker Aircraft Ltd, contract no.943/SAS/C.23 (A). Sub-contracted by Hawker Aircraft Ltd to Gloster Aeroplane Co Ltd, sub-contract no.B.12148/39. Glosters built all but 15 of the 3,317 Typhoons built.

1944: Built by the Gloster Aeroplane Co Ltd at Hucclecote, Gloucester. Fitted with 2,180hp Napier Sabre IIA Engine. Given airframe No.153219. Part of Typhoon batch MN229  MN269 which formed part of the 5th production batch of 800 aircraft, delivered Dec 43 -Jun 44.

8 Feb 44: First flight at Hucclecote Aerodrome, Glos  a 40 minute flight flown by Squadron Leader Allan H Smith DFC, serving as a test pilot for the Gloster aircraft company on rest after completing his first operational tour with No 486 (NZ) Squadron. Squadron Leader Smith later commented that it must have been a good aircraft because he signed it off test for delivery to the RAF after 40 minutes flying without any faults that would require another test flight. See logbook copy DoRIS ref. MF10029/12.

16 Feb 44: Off contract and allocated to 51 MU Lichfield, Staffs for storage.

Mar 44: Allocated to USA for flight evaluation, in response to a USAAF requirement to investigate the Typhoons potential as a fighter-bomber and to increase its fuel capacity.

12 Mar 44: To 47 MU RAF Sealand, Cheshire for packing.

24 Mar 44: Shipped to New York on the `SS American Manufacturer.

16 Apr 44: Arrived in New York. Last entry on movement card.

6 May 44: To Wright Field, Ohio

After arrival in the United States the Typhoon was intended for fighter comparison and evaluation trials by the USAAF. On an unknown date it was issued with the Flight Test evaluation serial number T2-491/FE-491, though it is thought that it did not fly with this number applied. The `FE stood for `Foreign Experimental. The aircraft was evaluated at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio. Due to changing requirements the Typhoon did not undertake the test programme originally envisaged and following a minor accident after only nine hours flying was put into store.

Examination of the aircraft as part of the assessment of its condition after 21 years at Hendon revealed that on the starboard side of the cockpit there is a small wooden container marked `Airplane Defect Reports.

The aircraft also carries, on the reverse of a removable panel below the cockpit (port side) a `Data Case that has the following pencilled on it: `P38-G-3-LO, Aircraft 42-12791. If this is indeed from a P-38 Lightning then these would seem to be two small modifications made by the Americans during their brief evaluation of the aircraft.

Jul 44: Noted at Freeman Field, and photographed 6 Jul 44 after assembly. Photo assembled in USA  Aeroplane June 2004 p.82.

24 Jul 46: Again at Freeman Field. Engine prepared for storage. Total flying hours  nine.

03 Jan 49: Allocated to the National Air Museum and eventually placed in crated storage at the reserve collection of the Smithsonian Institute, Washington. Apparently never on public display whilst in USA.

On this date the aircraft passed from USAAF ownership but its location remained unchanged  Chicago Orchard Place Airport, Park Ridge, Illinois, used for storage of museum aircraft since late 1948. It appears to have been dismantled for storage by this date.

Also transferred was a spare Napier engine sent out with the aircraft in 1944  in 2016 this remained in store, complete and in good condition, with the Smithsonian Institution.

Aug 1953: Letter in Air Pictorial (page 249) from Keith Boyer, who had seen `a Hawker Aircraft serialled MN235  The Typhoon  at OHare International Airport, Chicago. Air Pictorial mis-identified the aircraft as a Hurricane, despite the correctly quoted serial number. The aircraft was stored for a future National Air Museum along with some 135 other aircraft.

In the late 1940s, General Henry `Hap Arnold, Chief of Staff of the US Army Air Force, collected together sixty WW2 aircraft from all over the world and had them stored in an unused Douglas Aircraft Company factory at Park Ridge, Chicago, Illinois. However the aircraft  presumably including the Typhoon  were evicted when the factory re-opened in1952 with the on-going Korean War. The factory site later became OHare International Airport. After a period of external store the aircraft were crated by the time Mr Boyer saw them, and they were moved to the newly acquired storage facility at Silver Hill, Suitland, Maryland by early 1955 from whence the Typhoon was extracted in 1967. This is now the Paul E. Garber facility of the National Air and Space Museum.

Apr 67: RAFM request to Smithsonian for Typhoon to be returned to the UK. Aircraft prepared for shipment.

Jul 67: Presented to RAFM by Smithsonian. Hurricane IIc LF686/5270M given in exchange by RAF 1969.

4 Jan 68: Shipped back to England from Baltimore to Liverpool Docks on S.S. Samaria. Taken by road to 71 MU Bicester for survey of work needed for restoration.

9 Apr 68: Transported by road by 71 MU to 27 MU Shawbury for restoration to display condition by a largely civilian team, restoration beginning 26 April 1968.

Arrived in UK missing one 20mm cannon, spinner, most engine cowlings, starboard aileron, undercarriage parts, radiator/oil cooler unit, side panels below cockpit and various inspection panels.

The missing cannon was replaced from RAFM stocks; the spinner was adapted from a HP Hastings spinner and other parts were made by 27 MU. The aircraft was in generally good condition with only slight corrosion.

Replacement engine cowlings were made from sheet aluminium, and the missing radiator was replaced by a cut-down Bedford lorry unit made to look like the original from the front at least. The incomplete state of the aircraft delayed the restoration team who had hoped to have the aircraft ready for the Royal Review of the RAF at Abingdon in June 1968; the intended display of the aircraft on Horse Guards Parade September 1968 also had to be postponed. See Form 700 issued at 27 MU 19 November 1968  DB351.

19 Nov 68: Restoration completed and aircraft formerly presented to Dr John Tanner of the RAFM by Wg Cdr D A Gifkins, CO of 27 MU. Aircraft remained in store at Shawbury. Photos: Aircraft Illustrated Feb 69 p.48; Aero Modeller Feb 69 p.63; Royal Air Force News 14 Dec 1968. Colour photos at Shawbury  Aircraft Illustrated Apr 71 p.151 and Wrecks and Relics  The album p.55; Hawker Typhoon Special Mach 1 (Thomas) p.13; Flypast May 2008 p.20.

Feb 1972: Repainted by 27 MU at Shawbury.

By Nov 1972: Moved to Hendon for Museum opening and displayed in Camm Hall area ever since. This area is now known as the `Fighter Hall.

1994: Centrepiece of `D-Day display  some repainting scheduled.

`Invasion stripes applied to wings and fuselage. Photos as latterly displayed  Aviation News February 2014 p.78; Flypast May 2014 p.10.

4 Nov 2013: Dismantling underway for move to MBCC RAFM Cosford for attention.

Removal of the cannon fairings revealed traces of the original wartime paint scheme on the wing leading edge  yellow leading edge band, upper surface grey and even clearly delineated black underside stripes  original Typhoon identification stripes to avoid confusion with Fw190.

7 Nov 2013: By road to MBCC at RAFM Cosford. Photos as delivered  Flypast January 2014 p.7 and April 2014 p.32; February 2014 pp. 90-91; Wrecks and Relics 24th Edition (2014). Repainted in representative markings of a Typhoon of No 440 Squadron RCAF, codes I8-T; fuselage repainted by 10 March 2014. Photos of fuselage and wings; Napier Heritage News 83 Spring 2014-cover; Flightpath Vol 25 No 4 p.27, 2014.

Nov 2013: Excavations by the volunteer Freeman Field Recovery team found the complete missing Typhoon Radiator core and at least one engine cowling amongst other buried aircraft parts, plus a complete Typhoon main undercarriage leg, propeller blades and other spares.

Photo of radiator  Britain at War Magazine Jan 2014 p.12.

8 May 2014: Despatched by road to RAF Brize Norton en route to Canada for loan to the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, Rockliffe, Ottawa. Flown out by RCAF C-17, 17 May 2014. Photo being unloaded  Classic Wings Issue 93 p.15.

4 June 2014: Following assembly, towed from conservation hangar to main display hall at Rockcliffe. Formal unveiling on 6 June 2014  70th anniversary of D-Day. Photos on display; Flypast August 2014 p.16; Aeroplane August 2014 p.8; Flightpath Vol 26 No 1 (2014) p.6..

12 Apr 2018: Arrived back in UK via Liverpool docks.

18 Apr 2018: Following its return from Canada, to temporary storage at RAF Museum Stafford.

23 July 2018: By road from Stafford  Temporarily on loan to BAE Systems/RAF Coningsby. Rolled Out at Coningsby on 27 July. Photos- Aeroplane September 2018 p.8.; Aviation News September 2018 p.22; Britain at War September 2018 p.6. For display in BBMF hangar.

18 Oct 2018: Returned by road from RAF Coningsby to Hendon

26-28 Nov 2018: Re-assembled at Hendon and placed back on public display

Incomplete Typhoon Survivors List:

MN235 is the sole surviving complete Typhoon. However, several cockpit sections survive and form a fluctuating and frequently moved pool of restoration projects that are quite difficult to keep track of:Whether young women picture themselves as the primary caregiver or primary breadwinner for their future families may depend on how they believe men's roles in society are changing - or not changing - according to a new study from the University of Arizona.

When unmarried young women believe that men are becoming significantly more active in childcare, they are more likely to imagine themselves as the primary breadwinners for their future families. On the other hand, when young women believe men are only becoming slightly more involved in childcare, they are more likely to imagine themselves as the primary caregivers for their future families, researchers found.

How women imagine their future selves could potentially impact the educational and career decisions they make years before they actually begin their families, suggests the study, published in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

"This shows how dependent women's role choices can be on their expectations of their future male partners," said lead study author Alyssa Croft, an assistant professor in the UA Department of Psychology. "Those expectations could have implications for what women are willing and able to do in their own lives."

Croft's findings are based on a series of experiments conducted in the United States and Canada, in which she and her collaborators asked single female college students, ages 18 to 25, to write about how they imagine their lives 15 years in the future. The researchers focused on young women who plan on one day getting married and having children.

Participants were told they were part of a study on how people are affected by statistics in everyday life. They were presented a fact sheet that included a series of graphs on a range of topics, such as smoking rates, precipitation trends, fruit and vegetable consumption, and how the percentage of stay-at-home dads has increased over time.

Participants in each experiment saw the same data - either from the U.S. Census Bureau or Statistics Canada, depending on where the experiment was conducted. However, the graphs on stay-at-home dads were presented differently to different participants.

Some saw the increase in stay-at-home dads represented as a steep line on a graph, which gave the appearance of a more rapid and dramatic shift. Others saw a flatter line, suggesting a more gradual change. Researchers merely tweaked the y-axis of the graph to get two different visual representations of the same data.

The researchers also manipulated the text accompanying the graphs. In the U.S. versions of the graphs, which showed that the percentage of stay-at-home dads in America increased from 4 to 12 percent over two-and-a-half decades, the graph was titled either "Rapidly increasing prevalence of stay-at-home dads" or "Low prevalence of stay-at-home dads." Text beneath the graphs either read, "These numbers are projected to continue increasing at a similarly rapid rate over the next two decades" or "These numbers are projected to remain relatively low in the next two decades."

After seeing the graphs, each study participant was asked to provide responses to a series of questions about how they imagine their lives in 15 years, including whether they see themselves as being the primary financial provider or primary caregiver for their family.

In both the U.S. and Canada, young women who saw the graph depicting a sharper increase in stay-at-home fathers were more likely to see themselves as breadwinners, while those who saw the flatter line were more likely to imagine themselves as caregivers. The researchers replicated the findings across a series of similar experiments.

The fact that this effect was seen in college students - whom one might assume are particularly career-oriented - is especially interesting, Croft said.

"These are the individuals who we would think might be most likely to balk at traditional gender stereotypes, and yet they're still showing this pattern of role expectations that is in direct response to what they believe men will be or will not be doing," Croft said.

Croft said the research was motivated by the fact that although gender roles have changed significantly, that change has been asymmetrical. An estimated 70 percent of U.S. families today have two working parents, and women are increasingly more likely to be the primary economic providers for their families. However, family responsibilities continue to fall disproportionately to women, Croft said.

"Women's roles are changing much more quickly than men's, but we wondered, could it be that there is a still a sense in which women's roles are restricted because of the way gender roles are intertwined with one another?" she said. "Could it be that women are picturing, before they're even in a relationship, a very stereotypic division of labor in their future families? And does that affect the education and career decisions they make when they're young?"

More research is needed to understand how and to what extent women's perceptions of men's roles affect the education and career choices they make early on, but the fact that those perceptions are shaping their future visions of themselves at all is significant, Croft said.

"This may be one reason we should care about the degree to which men's roles aren't changing as much as women's," she said.

More research also is needed to understand whether men's visions for their futures are similarly influenced by their perception of women's roles. Some men, for example, might welcome relief from the stereotypical expectation that men should be the financial providers, Croft said.

"Perhaps thinking about women changing their roles to relinquish some of the caregiving control would be appealing to men who want to be more involved with their children," she said. "But that's an open question at this point."

###Women who experience domestic violence and abuse (DVA) are more than twice as likely to seek emergency contraception as other women, according to a study by National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)-funded researchers at the University of Bristol and Queen Mary University of London, suggesting that requests for emergency contraception could be an important sign of abuse.

In the study, published in the British Journal of General Practice today [Tuesday 4 December], the researchers analysed medical records of over 200,000 women of reproductive age registered with a GP and found that those who had a record of DVA were 2.06 times more likely to have a consultation for emergency contraception compared to other women, rising to 2.8 times for women aged 25-39.

The researchers also found some evidence that abused women are more likely to seek emergency contraception repeatedly.

DVA is a major public health problem, with devastating consequences for the women who experience it and great financial cost to the NHS. It is known to have a significant impact on women's reproductive health, including an increased risk of unintended pregnancy and abortion, as abusive and controlling partners coerce women to have unprotected sex or rape them.

Although emergency hormonal contraceptive, also known as the morning-after pill, is available from pharmacies, women can also get it from their GP. Up to a third of all emergency contraceptives are prescribed by GPs.

The researchers are calling for this new evidence to be included in existing DVA training programmes for GPs and sexual health practitioners, and for the training to be extended to community pharmacists, to help them identify and refer women who have experienced DVA on to specialist support services. Such programmes are recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the World Health Organization (WHO) as part of a multi-sector response to DVA.

Joni Jackson, Research Associate from the NIHR Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research West (NIHR CLAHRC West) and co-lead author of the study, said: "We found a strong positive association between exposure to domestic violence and abuse and requests for emergency contraception. Our findings are in line with evidence from studies in other countries suggesting that women experiencing DVA use more emergency contraception than other women. GPs, pharmacists and sexual health practitioners are at the frontline responding to these requests, with community pharmacists dispensing 50 per cent of all emergency contraceptive pills. This presents an important opportunity to identify women experiencing DVA, signpost them to appropriate support services, and potentially save lives."

Dr Natalia Lewis, from the Centre for Academic Primary Care at the University of Bristol and co-lead author, added: "The negative impact of domestic violence and abuse on health results in higher use of healthcare services by abused women compared to the general population. This means that healthcare services are an important point of contact for DVA victims and survivors. We have already seen improvements in GPs' ability to identify and refer women experiencing DVA through the success of the IRIS (Identification and Referral to Improve Safety) programme. IRIS has recently been adapted for sexual and reproductive health services. Our findings support the case for adapting the IRIS intervention to the community pharmacy setting, although more research is needed to explore if and how this could be done."

###

The research was supported by NIHR CLAHRC West and CLAHRC North Thames.

Papers:

'Exposure to domestic violence and abuse and consultations for emergency contraception: nested case-control study in a UK primary care dataset' by Joni Jackson, Natalia V Lewis, Gene S Feder, Penny Whiting, Timothy Jones, John Macleod, Maria Theresa Redaniel in British Journal of General Practice

'Use of emergency contraception among women with experience of domestic violence and abuse: a systematic review' by Natalia V Lewis, Theresa HM Moore, Gene S Feder, John Macleod, Penny Whiting in BMC Family Practice

For help and support on domestic violence, these services provide free helplines:

National Domestic Violence 24 hr Helpline for women experiencing abuse: 0808 2000 247

Men's Advice Line for men experiencing abuse: Monday-Friday 9am-5pm: 0808 801 0327

National LGBT Domestic Abuse Helpline: 0800 999 5428

RESPECT Phoneline: Confidential helpline offering advice, information and support to help men stop being violent and abusive to partners. Monday-Friday 9am-5pm: 0808 802 4040Fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid implicated in nearly 29,000 overdose deaths in the United States last year, most likely spread because of heroin and prescription pill shortages, and also because it was cheaper for drug wholesalers than heroin, according to a report on illicit US drug markets by researchers at UC San Francisco.

First synthesized in a Belgian lab in 1960, illicitly produced fentanyl has swept through U.S. drug markets in waves, the latest beginning in 2013, and has claimed an extraordinary number of lives. The researchers who wrote the report said having a better understanding of whether fentanyl's deadly spread is being driven by the economic imperatives of suppliers or the tastes of drug users would help policymakers find ways to curb it.

Made entirely in the lab, fentanyl is far more powerful and much cheaper to produce than heroin, which is derived from poppy opium. It is usually sold deceptively -- as heroin or brand name prescription drugs like OxyContin and Xanax. The researchers said drug users and street-level dealers, who may also be using the drugs, often don't know whether they are taking or selling drugs adulterated with fentanyl, since it is added to the supply higher up the distribution chain. Therefore, the researchers said, demand from drug users is unlikely to have played a role in its spread.

"Fentanyl is rarely sold as fentanyl," said Sarah Mars, PhD, a researcher in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at UCSF and the first author of the paper, published Tuesday, Dec. 4, in Addiction. "The dealers selling fentanyl directly to the users often don't know what's in it. Not only is this particularly dangerous, but it also means penalizing low level dealers isn't going to make any difference in the fentanyl poisoning epidemic."

The researchers sifted through the scientific literature on fentanyl use, pored over United Nations opium production data as well as data on heroin price and purity from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and analyzed results from their ongoing NIH-funded study, Heroin in Transition, which is led by senior author Daniel Ciccarone, MD, MPH, a professor of family and community medicine at UCSF.

"Our research has focused on talking to people who are using heroin and fentanyl-laced heroin, and asking them about their experiences," said Mars, who directs the study's qualitative research. "Most of the illicit fentanyl has been in the Northeast and Midwest, and we've been to places where the death rate is very high. We asked drug users how they detect it, if they can -- how they try to prevent overdose."

Mars said users expressed opposing views on fentanyl, which causes a more sudden and powerful but usually shorter high than heroin. While some said they liked fentanyl, because it brought on the euphoria they had lost the ability to feel from tolerance built up by long-term heroin use, or because it broke through the opioid blocking effects of medications like buprenorphine, others said they feared fentanyl and disliked its harsh effects.

"Whether or not they prefer fentanyl, users don't have any influence over what drugs are being sold," Mars said. "Without accurate information about these drugs, they can't make an informed choice about what they are buying. Also, very little drug slang has developed to describe fentanyl, which lends support to the notion that this is not a demand-driven epidemic."

The researchers said users do try in various ways to detect fentanyl in the drugs they buy, but it's impossible for them to determine which synthetic opioid is present or how potent it is before they use it.

Different chemical versions of fentanyl, known as analogues, with wildly varying potency, appear unpredictably in different locations around the country. Some analogues are so new they have not yet been deemed illegal and some, like carfentanil, which was designed to tranquilize large animals, are incredibly powerful -- as much as 10,000 times the strength of morphine.

"We believe it's the fluctuation in the potency of the drugs containing fentanyl that makes them so dangerous," Ciccarone said. "You might have one dose that had hardly any fentanyl in it or none at all. Then, you might have one with a different fentanyl analogue, of different potency, or even mixtures of multiple fentanyls and heroin."

The researchers said the data suggest that heroin shortages or 'supply shocks' occurred before the current and prior fentanyl waves struck in both Europe and the U.S. Prescription opioids were also becoming harder to obtain in the U.S. at the time. Fentanyl, which has also appeared in drug markets in many European countries, as well as Russia, Brazil and Canada, is an easy substitute for heroin since it can be produced in the lab year round and is not subject to blight, pests or climate conditions. It is about 30 to 40 times stronger than heroin and considerably cheaper to produce.

The full motives of wholesale suppliers still remain hidden, but there are significant incentives for them to shift over partially or completely to fentanyl, even though it often causes users to overdose. The researchers said it may just be a matter of time before fentanyl takes over more of the illicit U.S. and worldwide drug market, as has already happened in Estonia.

###

Authors: Sarah Mars, PhD, of UCSF; Daniel Rosenblum, PhD, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada; and Daniel Ciccarone, MD, MPH, of UCSF.

Funding: National Institutes of Health and National Institute on Drug Abuse (Grant number DA037820).

Disclosures: None.

About UCSF: UC San Francisco (UCSF) is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. It includes top-ranked graduate schools of dentistry, medicine, nursing and pharmacy; a graduate division with nationally renowned programs in basic, biomedical, translational and population sciences; and a preeminent biomedical research enterprise. It also includes UCSF Health, which comprises three top-ranked hospitals - UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals in San Francisco and Oakland - as well as Langley Porter Psychiatric Hospital and Clinics, UCSF Benioff Children's Physicians and the UCSF Faculty Practice. UCSF Health has affiliations with hospitals and health organizations throughout the Bay Area. UCSF faculty also provide all physician care at the public Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, and the SF VA Medical Center. The UCSF Fresno Medical Education Program is a major branch of the University of California, San Francisco's School of Medicine. Please visit http://www.ucsf.edu/news.

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ucsf.edu | Facebook.com/ucsf | YouTube.com/ucsfGene therapy holds a lot of promise in medicine. If we could safely alter our own DNA, we might eliminate diseases our ancestors passed down to us.

Now, a team of University of Delaware researchers has demonstrated a major step forward in gene therapy by engineering microparticles that deliver gene-regulating material to hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells, which live deep in our bone marrow and direct the formation of blood cells. In a paper published in the journal Science Advances, Chen-Yuan Kao, a doctoral student in chemical engineering, and Eleftherios T. (Terry) Papoutsakis, Unidel Eugene du Pont Chair of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, describe how they used megakaryocytic microparticles, which circulate naturally in the blood stream, to deliver plasmid DNAs and small RNAs to hematopoietic stem cells.

With more development, this technology could be useful in treatment for inherited blood disorders that affect thousands of Americans. These include, for example, sickle cell anemia, a disease that causes abnormally shaped red blood cells, and thalassemia, which disrupts the production of the blood protein hemoglobin.

The methods developed by Kao and Papoutsakis could also be used to deliver personalized medicine, because these microparticles can be individually generated and stored frozen for each patient, said Papoutsakis.

This novel approach has advantages over other approaches under investigation.

"A lot of researchers are trying to deliver DNA, nucleic acids, or drugs to target hematopoietic stem cells," said Papoutsakis. "This is the right cell to target because it gives rise to all blood cells."

Alter those cells, and you could, in theory, ward off the genetic defect for most or all of the patient's life.

However, some previously developed methods to target these stem cells deliver genetic material with help from a virus, risking side effects to the patient, said Papoutsakis. Instead, the University of Delaware team developed a method that takes advantage of tiny particles that already float in the blood stream: megakaryocytic microparticles. Kao and Papoutsakis found that they could load these microparticles with gene-regulating material and that they would infiltrate only the desired stem cells, thanks to special properties on the surface of the microparticles.

###

Next up: Papoutsakis is collaborating with Emily Day, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at UD, to explore another way to deliver this material. Day, an expert in nanomedicine, won the NSF CAREER award earlier this year to study membrane-wrapped nanoparticles for gene therapy.The proposed vaccine is a recombinant subunit vaccine that uses only a small part (protein) of the Zika virus, produced in insect cells

Researchers at the University of Hawaii medical school have successfully developed a vaccine candidate for the Zika virus, showing that it is effective in protecting both mice and monkeys from the infection.

Demonstrating the effectiveness of their vaccine candidate in monkeys (non-human primates) is an important milestone because it typically predicts the vaccine will work in humans, enabling further clinical development.

A strong global initiative to battle Zika has produced more than 30 vaccine candidates since outbreaks in 2015-2016 in Brazil linked the infection in some pregnant women to severe birth defects in their newborns. Zika is spread by the bite of infected mosquitos and through sex.

There is no treatment or cure for Zika virus infection nor is any vaccine currently approved for public use.

The proposed vaccine reported by scientists at the John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) in the journals Frontiers in Immunology and mSphere, via the open access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, is a recombinant subunit vaccine that uses only a small part (protein) of the Zika virus, produced in insect cells.

"We believe our vaccine candidate shows much promise particularly as it showed to require only two immunizations given three weeks apart and is a potentially safer alternative to other candidates already in clinical trials," said Dr. Axel Lehrer, JABSOM Assistant Professor of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease. Lehrer thinks the vaccine his team proposes might be safer that other candidate vaccines, especially keeping in mind that pregnant women constitute a significant part of the target population for a Zika vaccine.

The research team at JABSOM included two senior graduate students who served as lead authors of the scientific research papers. Liana Medina, whose early training was directly supported by a National Institutes of Health Diversity in Health-Related Research grant, and Honolulu native Albert To are the graduate student lead authors.

Honolulu-based Hawaii Biotech is a key partner in the vaccine development project with UH.

Two of their scientists, Dr. Jaime Horton and David Clements, contributed to the most recent publication demonstrating vaccine efficacy in monkeys, along with collaborators from Bioqual Inc. of Rockville, Maryland, and the Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology, Biosecurity Research Institute, College of Veterinary Medicine, at Kansas State University.

"The intense search for a Zika remedy since early 2016 has required us to be agile, and we believe our vaccine candidate research demonstrates that such quick-turnaround results can be achieved in academic and scientific partnerships here in Hawaii," said Dr. Lehrer. "It is incredibly gratifying that two of the scientists we are training to be the future of biomedical science played key roles in gathering, analyzing and reporting their conclusions. We hope Hawaii's citizens find that as inspiring as we do."

Graduate student scientist and research co-author Liana Medina said there were chances to develop new skills at every step along the way. "Having the opportunity to see the vaccine's development from its very first stages as Zika E protein being produced by Dr. Kenji Obadia, at the time also a student in our department, to a vaccine that is efficacious and safe in animal models was a unique learning experience. Being a part of the process allowed me grow as a student in this field," said Medina.

Fellow graduate student and co-author Albert To said the team's results "put us on the world-stage and highlight the talent we have here in Hawaii." He said, "Being involved with this project has given me a glimpse of the type of research and results needed to progress an idea to a potential preventative therapy used by thousands of people worldwide."

JABSOM scientists continue to work to understand the immune responses to the vaccine. They are collaborating with the UH Kapiolani Community College in an effort to create antibodies that can be used as treatments or for improved diagnostic tests for Zika virus. Other Zika-related research at JABSOM also focuses on understanding how Zika can hide undetected in the sex organs of men for an extended period.

###

Funding for the most recent research for the vaccine project was provided in part by Pacific Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases Research (COBRE grant P30GM114737), by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), NIH/NIAID grant 1R01AI119185, and institutional startup funds.

Video broll and hi-resolution jpegs may be downloaded from https://spaces.hightail.com/space/poMgvoyjDGBALTIMORE, MD, Dec. 04, 2018 - The Institute of Human Virology (IHV) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) announced today the discovery that DnaK, a protein of the bacterium mycoplasma, interferes with the mycoplasma-infected cell's ability to respond to and repair DNA damage, a known origin of cancer.

Little or no mycoplasma DnaK DNA sequences were found associated with the tumor, which was fully developed, suggesting a hit-and-run or hide mechanism of transformation, indicating that the damage is done early, but the protein may not be needed once the cancer cells are formed.

The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and suggests that bacterial infections may contribute to far more cancers than previously thought. The announcement was made by Robert Gallo, MD, The Homer & Martha Gudelsky Distinguished Professor in Medicine and Co-Founder and Director, Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland School of Medicine and Davide Zella, PhD, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland School of Medicine. Drs. Gallo and Zella collaborated with Herve Tettelin, PhD, Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine.

"Currently, approximately 20% of cancers are thought to be caused by infection, most are known to be due to viruses," said Dr. Gallo. "Mycoplasmas are a family of bacteria that are associated with cancers, especially in people with HIV. Our work provides an explanation for how a bacterial infection can trigger a series of events that lead to cancer. Of particular importance, the infection did not need to persist and the protein did not need to be continuously present in all cancer cells. The study also provides a mechanism for how some bacterial infections can interfere with specific cancer drugs."

Researchers utilized immune-compromised mice as a model for analyzing the effect of mycoplasma infection on the development of lymphoma. They compared how quickly non-infected immune-compromised mice developed lymphoma compared to mycoplasma-infected immune-compromised mice. The mice were infected with a strain of mycoplasma from an HIV patient. The researchers found that mycoplasma infection caused the mice to develop lymphoma earlier in life than non-infected immune-compromised mice and that some, but not all, of the cancer cells had bacterial DNA. Finding only a small amount of bacterial DNA in the cancer cells suggested that the infection did not have to persist to trigger cancer.

"We focused on a protein called DnaK, which is part of a family of proteins that function as a 'chaperone' for other proteins protecting them from damage or helping them to fold," said Dr. Zella. "However, in this case, DnaK reduces the activity of important cellular proteins involved in DNA repair and anti-cancer-activities, such as p53. Thus, cells infected with mycoplasma would not be able to properly repair damaged DNA, thus, potentially increasing the risk for cancer development."

The scientists noted that the bacteria can release DnaK and the DnaK enters nearby uninfected cells. The study also demonstrates that by reducing p53, DnaK can also reduce the efficacy of anti-cancer drugs. Thus, mycoplasma infection could not only trigger events leading to the accumulation of DNA damage and oncogenesis in infected cells, but also trigger cancer-causing events in nearby uninfected cells that took up DnaK released from infected neighboring cells.

"We analyzed the amino acid sequences of DnaK from many bacteria and found that the DnaK proteins from bacteria associated with cancer grouped together were different DnaK sequences from bacteria that are not associated with cancer," said Dr. Tettelin. "This raises the possibility that other bacteria have the same cancer-promoting ability."

According to Dr. Gallo, "This hit-and-run, or hide, mechanism mediated by a protein common to many cancer-associated bacteria changes how we need to think about infection and at least some cancers. Furthermore, this provides a basis for understanding how infection can influence the effectiveness of some cancer treatments."

"This is fascinating science with important implications," said UMSOM Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, who is also the Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs, University of Maryland, and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor. "We are pleased to see a cross-collaboration between two disciplines here at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Our Institute of Human Virology's basic science laboratory research was aided by the School's Institute of Genome Sciences' sequencing expertise, bringing the research to full fruition."

###

This research was partially funded by the Maryland Cigarette Restitution Fund (CRF) Program. Morgan State University also participated in this study.

About the Institute of Human Virology

Formed in 1996 as a partnership between the State of Maryland, the City of Baltimore, the University System of Maryland and the University of Maryland Medical System, IHV is an institute of the University of Maryland School of Medicine and is home to some of the most globally-recognized and world-renowned experts in all of virology. The IHV combines the disciplines of basic research, epidemiology and clinical research in a concerted effort to speed the discovery of diagnostics and therapeutics for a wide variety of chronic and deadly viral and immune disorders - most notably, HIV the virus that causes AIDS. For more information, http://www.ihv.org and follow us on Twitter @IHVmaryland.

About the University of Maryland School of Medicine

Now in its third century, the University of Maryland School of Medicine was chartered in 1807 as the first public medical school in the United States. It continues today as one of the fastest growing, top-tier biomedical research enterprises in the world -- with 43 academic departments, centers, institutes, and programs; and a faculty of more than 3,000 physicians, scientists, and allied health professionals, including members of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, and a distinguished recipient of the Albert E. Laser Award in Medical Research. With an operating budget of more than $1 billion, the School of Medicine works closely in partnership with the University of Maryland Medical Center and Medical System to provide research-intensive, academic and clinically-based care for more than 1.2 million patients each year. The School has over 2,500 students, residents, and fellows, and more than $530 million in extramural funding, with most of its academic departments highly ranked among all medical schools in the nation in research funding. As one of the seven professional schools that make up the University of Maryland, Baltimore campus, the School of Medicine has a total workforce of nearly 7,000 individuals. The combined School and Medical System ("University of Maryland Medicine") has an annual budget of nearly $6 billion and an economic impact more than $15 billion on the state and local community. The School of Medicine faculty, which ranks as the 8th highest among public medical schools in research productivity, is an innovator in translational medicine, with 600 active patents and 24 start-up companies. The School works locally, nationally, and globally, with research and treatment facilities in 36 countries around the world. Visit medschool.umaryland.edu/

MEDIA CONTACTS

Nora Samaranayake (IHV), +1 (410) 706-8614, nsamaranayake@ihv.umaryland.edu

Joanne Morrison (UMSOM, +1 (410 706-2884, jmorrison@som.umaryland.eduResearchers from the University of Portsmouth have made vital contributions to the observations of four new gravitational waves, which were announced this weekend (1 December).

The new results are from the National Science Foundation's LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) and the European-based VIRGO gravitational-wave detector. The results were announced at the Gravitational Wave Physics and Astronomy Workshop in College Park, Maryland, USA.

Three years ago LIGO made the first observation of a binary black hole merger. Today, there have been observations of 11 gravitational-wave signals (10 stellar-mass binary black hole mergers and one merger of two neutron stars, which are the dense, spherical remains of stellar explosions).

These observations are revolutionising our understanding of the processes by which high mass stars (10 - 100 times as heavy as our sun) are formed, how they evolve, and the method by which black holes are produced.

The new events are known as GW170729, GW170809, GW170818, and GW170823, in reference to the dates they were detected. All of the events are included in a new catalogue, also released Saturday, with some of the events breaking records.

Researchers from the newly-formed Gravitational-Wave Physics Group in the University's Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation in the University of Portsmouth have played a significant role in the observation of the first 11 gravitational-wave events.

Dr Laura Nuttall, a senior lecturer in the ICG, made the initial observation of GW170729. This event, detected in the second observing run on July 29 2017, is the most massive and distant gravitational-wave source ever observed. Any theoretical work trying to understand the mechanisms by which black holes form, now must allow for black holes as massive as this one to be produced.

Dr Andrew Lundgren, a reader at the ICG, was one of the main developers of the noise subtraction scheme (described in https://arxiv.org/abs/1806.00532), which was necessary to increase the sensitivity of the LIGO observatories to be able to confirm that GW170729, GW170809 and GW170818 were genuine gravitational-wave signals. Without this work, we would only be talking about eight observed gravitational-wave signals today.

Dr Ian Harry, a senior lecturer at the ICG, is one of the two main developers of the PyCBC algorithm, which is responsible for searching for merging black holes and neutron stars in Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo data. This code made the first observation of many of the 11 gravitational-wave signals seen so far.

Dr Harry said: "I'm happy to see the vital contributions our researchers have made to the observation of the first 11 gravitational-wave events. Gravitational-wave observations offer us a way to observe astrophysical sources that have never been seen before, including the collision of two black holes. These observations allow us to begin to understand the processes by which black holes are produced and explore the environments in which they are formed.

"However, this is only the beginning of gravitational-wave astronomy, and as our observatories become more sensitive we expect to observe hundreds of sources in the coming years. My personal hope is that we observe something truly unexpected in the next years, which would help us to better understand the Universe that we live in. Gravitational-wave astronomy is one of the fastest growing fields in astronomy and collaboration between the new Gravitational-Wave Physics Group and existing ICG researchers offers tremendous possibilities for future world-leading research."

###Physicists at The University of Toledo are part of an international team of scientists who discovered a single material that produces white light, opening the door for a new frontier in lighting, which accounts for one-fifth of global energy consumption.

Physicists at The University of Toledo are part of an international team of scientists who discovered a single material that produces white light, opening the door for a new frontier in lighting, which accounts for one-fifth of global energy consumption.

"Due to its high efficiency, this new material can potentially replace the current phosphors used in LED lights - eliminating the blue-tinged hue - and save energy," said Dr. Yanfa Yan, professor of physics at UT. "More research needs to be done before it can be applied to consumer products, but the ability to reduce the power that bulbs consume and improve the color quality of light that the bulbs emit is a positive step to making the future more environmentally friendly."

The renewable energy research was recently published in Nature, the world's leading multidisciplinary science journal.

The equation to make the inorganic compound combines a lead-free double perovskite with sodium.

"Together, cesium, silver, indium and chloride emit white light, but the efficiency is very low and not usable," Yan said. "When you incorporate sodium, the efficiency increases dramatically. However, when sodium concentration reaches beyond 40 percent, side effects occur and the white light emission efficiency starts to drop below the peak of 86 percent."

Supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Frontier Research Center in Colorado known as CHOISE, Yan and Dr. Xiaoming Wang, UT post-doctoral researcher, conducted the theoretical calculations that revealed why the new material created through experiments by a team led by Dr. Jiang Tang at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China produces high-efficiency white light.

"It was a wonderful experience working with Dr. Wang and Dr. Yan. Their professional theoretical simulation helps to reveal the emission mechanism of this miracle material," said Tang, professor at Huazhong University of Science and Technology's Wuhan National Laboratory. "This lead-free all-inorganic perovskite not only emits stable and efficient warm-white light that finds itself useful for solid-state lighting, but also shows as an encouraging example that lead-free perovskites could even show better performance than their lead cousins."

"Their work is truly impressive," Dr. Sanjay Khare, professor and chair of the UT Department of Physics and Astronomy, said. "Emission of white light from a single material is likely to open a whole new field in opto-electronics."

###

Monash University, Jilin University, University of Toronto, Tsinghua University, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Wuhan University also contributed to the research.

The link to read the full research paper is https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0691-0#article-info.Why do people go to war when the consequences of warfare are so dramatic? Scholars have suggested that the motivations for participating in war either lie in the individual rewards warriors receive (to the victor goes the spoils) or because group members coerce them to participate for fear of punishment. Understanding the factors that motivate warriors to join war parties sheds light on some of the most fundamental aspects of human nature: How our ability to cooperate is linked to our most destructive tendencies.

In a new study, a team of researchers examined the social composition of raiding parties and their relationship to marriage alliances in an Amazonian tribal society, the Waorani of Ecuador. The Waorani formerly practiced lethal raiding, or small-scale warfare, as part of their social fabric. The anthropologists spoke in detail with tribal members about their raiding histories in an attempt to understand what drives individuals to participate in acts of war. Theirs is one of only a handful of datasets in the world with detailed information about what warfare looks like in small-scale societies prior to the intervention of the state.

They found that Waorani are actively joining raids with people who could provide access to ideal marriage partners for themselves as well as their children. Additionally, subtle coercion from in-laws appears to be a factor in joining raids. The relationships built through raiding resulted in meaningful bonds between the men, which could shed light on the evolution of friendship.

"A big debate in anthropology is what warfare and raiding groups look like in small-scale societies. Arguments have always been about this nice band of brothers--literally brothers, uncles, fathers all fighting side-by-side with one another," said Shane Macfarlan, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Utah and lead author of the study. "But sometimes, kin are not enough. Warfare is about alliance building, relationships with other people where there might be something else to gain by fighting with one another--like marriage partners."

The study published on Oct. 31, 2018, in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

The Waorani

The Waorani are indigenous Ecuadorians from the lowlands of the Amazon Rainforest made up of 2,000 individuals today. When people of Euro-American descent first made contact with members of the tribe in 1958, the population consisted of 500 individuals residing in four mutually hostile territories. Within the territories, Waorani lived in neighborhoods of longhouses, called nanicabo. Each neighborhood was separated by a one- to two-days walk, and each nanicabo was separated by a 30- to 60-minute walk.

For the Waorani, the ideal marriage partners are bilateral cross cousins--for example a man's mother's brother's daughter or his father's sister's daughter. One of the ways to make alliances is through raiding. Lethal raiding was quite common amongst the Waorani; when an individual decided to raid, he would convince followers to join him.

"The benefit of making an alliance outside of your direct kin is that it expands your social universe for getting the things that you need, and one of the things that people need in all societies is mating partners," said Macfarlan.

Between 2000 and 2001, co-authors Jim Yost, Pam Erickson of University of Connecticut and Steve Beckerman of Pennsylvania State University interviewed almost all of the Waorani population aged 49 years or older--65 women and 55 men. The researchers collected detailed genealogical information from multiple generations, and cross-referenced the data with existing Waorani genealogies. They also collected raid histories that included the men who participated, the organizer, the victims, and the rationale for the attack. The researchers used marriages and births to establish a timeline of the raids. From 1917 to 1970, there were 550 raid reports. The researchers consolidated them into 49 separate raids that involved 81 people.

In-laws, brothers and marriage

Macfarlan and senior author Stephen Beckerman analyzed the make-up of the raiding groups and the raiders' marriage histories. If the "bands of brothers" model holds, then the raiders should include mostly direct ancestors or descendants of each other, known as lineal kin. If the groups were strategic alliances, then the individuals should consist of men who can provide marriage opportunities for each other--genetically related, but outside of lineal kinship. Because the researchers needed to be able to distinguish cousins, they only used individuals for whom they had grandparents' information. They analyzed the social composition of the 49 raids, including the 1041 individual relationships that emerged from the 81 men who participated.

Although males had a plenty of lineal kin to choose from for forming raiding parties, they selectively raided with non-lineal kin. They also found that men raided more frequently with men who were generically related to them, but from different lineages--the ideal marriage exchange partners. Indeed, the raiding alliances resulted in marriages for both the raiders, and for the raiders' children.

Yet another motivation to join raiding parties seemed to include some coercion. Macfarlan found that sometimes men got married first, then raided more frequently with his in-laws.

While scholars have typically assumed that warfare was either about individual rewards or coercion we find that this is a two-way street. "Sometimes people go to war to find alliance partners that gives them access to marriage opportunities, but other times guys get married first and then these marriage ties are leveraged to coerce people into warfare."

Evolution of friendship

Humans for the most part have three kinds of relationships: kinship, marriage and friendship. Traditionally, anthropologists only considered kinship and marriage as important. Recent interest has looked into the evolution of friendship itself. A common feature of friendship across cultures is that it promotes cooperation between people who are neither are kin nor our lovers, with our friends providing us with benefits that kin and lovers cannot. One context where friendship is extremely important is helping us deal with conflict from other people and groups, known as the Alliance Hypothesis.

The study's findings provide evidence for this hypothesis, Macfarlan said.

"The act of killing another human is a really traumatic act, which causes people to share something in common psychologically that establishes trust and fosters things like friendships," said Macfarlan.

###

Pamela Erickson of the University of Connecticut, James Yost, Jhanira Regalado of the Museo de Historia Natural, Quito, Ecuador, Lilia Jaramillo of Cotopaxi, Ecuador, and Stephen Beckerman of Penn State University co-authored the study.Story Highlights

A mouse study shows that a single workout can activate neurons that influence metabolism for up to 2 days. Those effects last longer with more training.

The finding provides an avenue to explore potential treatments to improve metabolism in diabetes patients.

DALLAS - Dec. 4, 2018 - Lounging around all weekend may weigh heavy on the minds of the health conscious. But these sedentary stretches may not affect the waistline, provided they're preceded by a bit of exercise.

A new study from UT Southwestern Medical Center shows neurons in mice that influence metabolism are active for up to two days after a single workout. The research offers new insight into the brain's potential role in fitness and - in the longer term - may provide a target for developing therapies that improve metabolism.

"It doesn't take much exercise to alter the activity of these neurons," said Dr. Kevin Williams, a neuroscientist at UT Southwestern. "Based on our results, we would predict that getting out and exercising even once in a semi-intense manner can reap benefits that can last for days, in particular with respect to glucose metabolism."

The study, published in the December edition of Molecular Metabolism, measured the effects of short- and long-term exercise on two types of neurons that comprise the melanocortin brain circuit, which is shared by both humans and mice. One of the neuron types (POMC) is associated with reduced appetite, lower blood glucose levels, and higher energy burning when activated; the other type (NPY/AgRP) increases appetite and diminishes metabolism when activated.

The study found that a single bout of exercise can boost the activity of POMC neurons and inhibit the counterpart NPY/AgRP neuron for up to two days. Those changes last longer with more training.

The findings expand the scientific understanding of the melanocortin circuit, which previous studies showed could be altered through feeding or fasting but had not yet been linked to exercise.

The results also provide another avenue to research potential treatments to improve glucose metabolism in patients with conditions such as diabetes. More than 30 million Americans have diabetes, accounting for nearly 10 percent of the population. Another 84 million have prediabetes, which can lead to diabetes within five years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"It is possible that activating melanocortin neurons may hold therapeutic benefits for patients one day, especially for diabetics who need improved blood-glucose regulation," Dr. Williams said.

The study measured brain circuit activity in mice given training regiments that lasted from zero to 10 days. Scientists found that a single workout (consisting of three 20-minute treadmill runs) caused a decrease in appetite that lasted up to six hours. "This result may explain at the neural circuit level why many people don't feel hungry immediately after exercise," Dr. Williams said.

The longer-term effects of exercise were seen in the POMC neurons, which improve glucose metabolism when activated. These neurons remained active longer if they also expressed a protein called the leptin receptor.

Dr. Williams' lab is preparing a second study to establish the mechanisms by which exercise triggers changes in melanocortin neurons. The planned study will also record more data on how those changes correlate with biological functions such as glucose metabolism and energy balance.

"This research is not just for improving fitness," Dr. Williams said. "A better understanding of neural links to exercise can potentially help a number of conditions affected by glucose regulation."

###

Dr. Williams is an Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine. Other UT Southwestern researchers contributing to this study were first author Dr. Zhenyan He, a visiting senior researcher in Internal Medicine; Dr. Yong Gao, a former visiting graduate student in Internal Medicine; Dr. Carlos Castorena, Instructor of Internal Medicine; and Linh Lieu and Sadia Afrin, laboratory assistants in Internal Medicine. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania also contributed to the study, including Dr. Amber L. Alhadeff, a postdoctoral fellow, and Dr. J. Nicholas Betley, Assistant Professor of Biology. The study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health.

About UT Southwestern Medical Center

UT Southwestern, one of the premier academic medical centers in the nation, integrates pioneering biomedical research with exceptional clinical care and education. The institution's faculty has received six Nobel Prizes, and includes 22 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 17 members of the National Academy of Medicine, and 15 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators. The faculty of more than 2,700 is responsible for groundbreaking medical advances and is committed to translating science-driven research quickly to new clinical treatments. UT Southwestern physicians provide care in about 80 specialties to more than 105,000 hospitalized patients, nearly 370,000 emergency room cases, and oversee approximately 2.4 million outpatient visits a year.Advertisement

By West Kentucky Star Staff

Dec. 03, 2018 | PADUCAH

By West Kentucky Star Staff Dec. 03, 2018 | 03:56 PM | PADUCAH

A Muhlenberg County man was arrested Monday morning for allegedly soliciting sex on his phone with a person that he believed was a minor.



Paducah Police say on November 21, twenty-six-year-old Dustin Ray Stone of Greenville started communicating with an officer whom he believed to be a 13-year-old girl. Police say he sent text messages asking for nude photographs and sent photos of himself.



Stone allegedly arranged to meet Monday morning at a south side Paducah convenience store for sex, but when he arrived just before 9 am, he was met by police officers.



Stone was arrested for using an electronic communication device to procure a minor or peace officer for sex. He was taken to McCracken County Jail.



Police say Stone is on the sex offender registry because he has previously been arrested on the same charge.Vassal states do not go gently into that good night. They rage.  Ex BoE Gov. King

Hot on the heels of the current BoE Governor Carneys defence of the Brexit deal during a hearing of the Treasury Select Committee this morning, his predecessor, Baron King of Lothbury and BoE Governor from 2003 to 2013, Mervyn King has slammed the current deal, calling it a betrayal of Britain which will never be forgiven in a Bloomberg article.

Speaking with the experience of a man who held Governorship of the Bank of England through the financial crisis, King draws historic comparisons between the current dilemma and past instances where the UK government have seriously failed to act in the interests of the rest of the country, in the 1930s, with appeasement; in the 1970s, when the British economy was the sick man of Europe and the government saw its role as managing decline; and now, in the turmoil that has followed the Brexit referendum. In all three cases, the conventional wisdom of the day was wrong.

King goes on to point out that in both previous instances severe political upheaval ensued prompting radical changes in domestic politics.

The current crisis he says is not of an economic nature but is instead political, with internal conflicts threatening to undermine the whole Brexit process, in the case of the opposition he says , the opportunity to undermine the government outweighed their views on the issue at hand while a Tory split has led to an inability to rely on a majority to support any plan to deliver Brexit.

Whilst acknowledging the validity of arguments for both remaining in and leaving the EU, King proposes the deal currently on the table is an example of giving up the benefits of remaining without obtaining the benefits of leaving adding incredulity over the Governments support of a deal that hands over 39 billion, while giving the EU both the right to impose laws on the U.K. indefinitely and a veto on ending this state of fiefdom.

King comments that the Governments approach to Brexit negotiations were naive at best and preparations for future trade under WTO terms should have been started immediately after the referendum to provide the UK with a fall-back position rather than hinging the UKs economic future on an imaginary long-term deal .

Turning on the Bank of Englands recent Brexit assessment, King finds the assumptions therein which lead to the supposition of a 10% fall in GDP under the worst case scenario to be implausible. Quoting Paul Krugmans comments on the assessment, King agrees the assumptions held by the assessment are dubious and questionable.

Looking ahead, King sees continued division within politics as both pro and anti Brexit camps continue to argue their respective cases. With regards to the outcome of the Brexit turmoil, King predicts, If this deal is not abandoned, I believe that the U.K. will end up abrogating it unilaterally  regardless of the grave damage that would do to Britains reputation and standing.

In his final statement, Lord King speculates on the outcome of the UK ratifying and adopting PM Mays deal, If this parliament bequeaths to its successors the choice between a humiliating submission and the abrogation of a binding international treaty, it will not be forgiven  and will not deserve to be.Privacy Settings

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NOTE: These settings will only apply to the browser and device you are currently using.Tens of thousands of people took to the streets across France on Saturday to demonstrate against Emmanuel Macron's policies, but the turnout fell short of expectations and the president said nothing would stop his economic reforms.

Organisers had called for a popular tide of protest for the marches, which were organised by 60 unions, political parties and associations angry at Macrons policies perceived to favour the rich.

However, the turnout was well below previous similar marches and Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said it was a bit thin.

The ministry estimated that just over 93,000 demonstrated in 142 places throughout the country, while the left-wing CGT union put the number at 250,000.

In Paris, police reported just 21,000 protesters, while the CGT claimed 80,000.

Occurrence, an independent monitoring group working for media outlets including AFP, said 31,700 demonstrated in the capital.

That compared with a police count of 40,000 and the CGTs count of 100,000 for the last such protest in the French capital on May 5.

The CGT had claimed a national turnout of 323,000 on March 22.

Macron said Friday during a visit to Russia that the protests wont stop his progress.

I wont preside in light of the polls or demonstrations, because we have done too much of that, (in the past) he said.

Saturdays marches follow strikes on Tuesday when public-sector employees from street sweepers to teachers joined rail workers in walking out over what they called an attack against public services.

It was the third day of stoppages and demonstrations by public workers since last years sweeping election win by Macron, who has pledged to reduce spending, trim jobs and overhaul large parts of the vast French state.

 Power so arrogant 

PCF communist party secretary general Pierre Laurent addressed the crowds, saying: When we have power so arrogant, so authoritarian in his methods, if the country does not show its strength and unity, we will not be able to push the boundaries.

Forty-three people were arrested in Paris, most at the start of the demonstration at the Place de la Bastille.

Police said some carried weapons, while others were held for violent acts.

Several dozen hooded demonstrators pelted police with bottles and other projectiles. The authorities used teargas after seven officers were hurt, but the clashes were limited, AFP journalists reported.

Interior Minister Gerard Collomb earlier told AFP the authorities want to limit the activity of the ultra-leftwing blocs who attacked police and property during clashes on May 1.

I hope that this parade will be a calm parade, where people can express their opinion. We are in a republican state and those who want to break, loot, even attack the police force, are arrested in a preventive way, he added.

In the southern city of Marseille, left-wing leader Jean-Luc Melenchon urged protesters to form a popular front, which the people need.

The hard head of Emmanuel Macron must hear this message of the people, the France Insoumis (Unbowed) party chief said.

The country is rich, the country has to share. Weve had enough of the same people always having everything.

In the name of the poor, humiliated, homeless, abandoned miners, we tell you Enough! he said.

France has one of the biggest public sectors in Europe relative to the size of its economy. The country has not balanced its budget since the 1970s, leading to a public debt equivalent to nearly 100 percent of GDP.

The unions accuse Macron, a former investment banker, of wanting to destroy public services  a vital source of employment and a pillar of communal life in many parts of the country.

While the CGT took part in Saturdays protests, the two other main unions, the CFDT and FO, did not saying they were too politicised.

burs-bp/harCONTACT: Pamela D. Wilson 303-810-1816

Email: Pamela@PamelaDWilson.com



Survey Link: https://pameladwilson.com/caregiver-survey-cf

Golden, Colorado  December 4, 2018, Wanted: Caregivers of aging parents and older adults to complete a survey about feelings of "caregiving overwhelm."

Caregivers responding to the survey will receive a FREE article based on their response to the survey and an invitation to attend a FREE live online caregiver support group hosted by Pamela D. Wilson.

"Caregiving survey responses will be used to develop the basis for a live online support group to begin late January 2019, confirms," Pamela D. Wilson, caregiving expert. "Gaps in support for caregivers are significant."

 Emotional stress, physical stress, managing time, financial burden, lack of information about diseases, feeling isolated/alone, and being hesitant or afraid to ask for help are top concerns of family caregivers in an online survey by the Alzheimer's Association fielded April 2017.

 Only 1 in 3 family caregivers (32%) reported that a doctor, nurse, or social worker had ever asked them what was needed to care for their relative. Only 16% of family caregivers said a health provider asked them what they needed to care for themselves (AARP Public Policy Institute and NAC).

The focus of the healthcare system is medical care and treatment sometimes denied to older adults because of age. An attitude of "ageism" exists with the assumption that "these things happen as we age" when being proactive about positive aging should be the norm.

Pamela's twenty years of direct care experience as a court-appointed guardian, medical power of attorney, and care manager confirm additional challenges:

 Bias by the healthcare system refusing to treat older adults viewed as disposable because of "having lived a full life" or those diagnosed with dementia viewed as "unrepairable".

 Caregivers designated as medical or financial power of attorney unaware of their legal responsibilities.

 Caregiver role uncertainty about monitoring care, communicating with healthcare professionals, and advocating for the care of a loved one.

 Caregivers report learning by trial and error and are fearful of making mistakes.

 Most, if not all, caregivers felt they had no choice but to accept the role of caregiver.

Because of the time pressure of caregiving, physically attending an in-person support group is difficult. Caregivers increasingly seek information and support online. A live online support group allows greater participant interaction and sharing.The drama a Mexican telenovela actress faced at an upscale designer store in San Antonio is over.

Prosecutors have dismissed a misdemeanor theft charge against Daniela Castro, saying there was no probable cause for her arrest on Sept. 28, when a loss prevention officer at Saks OFF 5th at the Rim shopping center accused her of taking clothing items worth up to $700 without paying for them.

Castro, whose real name is Danielle Stefani Arellano, is one of Mexicos most well-known telenovela actresses and is married to a grandson of a former Mexican president, Gustavo Diaz Ordaz. She has starred in novelas that include Lo Que La Vida Me Robo (What Life Stole from Me), Me Declaro Culpable (I Plead Guilty), and Mujer, Casos de la Vida Real (Woman, Real Life Cases).

RELATED: Famous Mexican telenovela villain arrested in San Antonio, accused of theft

Castro, 52, was arrested outside the store and paid $815 bail to be released, but denied the charges and maintained it was a misunderstanding. Bexar County prosecutors filed a motion dismissing the case in County Court-at-law 14 on Thursday, some two weeks before her initial Dec. 14 court date.

Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHood said he wanted to make clear that Castro was not given any preferential treatment, adding that he had no idea who she was.

He said the dismissal was based on a thorough review of the case, and his office found insufficient evidence and a lack of intent.

We looked at everything, LaHood said. We have evidence she spends a good amount of money at this store. She was at the register about 10 minutes, paying. It does not appear she had any intent to steal this stuff.

Her lead lawyer, Michael Gross, said that in his 31 years of practicing law, hed never seen a case where a client paid thousands of dollars for items, yet got arrested, even after being rung up by not one, but two clerks.

Gross said details of the case  widely reported by the international media shortly after Castros arrest  were wrong to begin with. The loss prevention officer reported to authorities that Castro had put clothing items in her purse. She did not have a purse, but a fanny pack, Gross clarified, citing surveillance video he fought with Saks to obtain through a subpoena.

RELATED: 'Up to his neck in charges': Man's mug shot quickly goes viral

What transpired, according to Gross, was that Castro was making a return trip to the store with bags of clothes or accessories she planned to return or exchange and as she entered the store, she draped clothes she planned to buy over one of the bags, hangers and all, and put some inside the bag closest to her. She then proceeded to a cash register.

Gross said the video shows Castro spent 10 minutes at the register as two clerks processed the returns or exchanges and rang up the rest of her purchases.

Shes spending thousands of dollars, Gross said. After 10 minutes, now she has three bags, and the alarm never goes off when she leaves the store. Outside, a loss prevention officer told her she never paid for (some) items and shes arrested.

I think its a shame some news agencies reported she was stuffing items into her purse, Gross said. Im shocked and disappointed.

He commended the DAs office for quickly dismissing the case. He said he did not know if Castro will continue shopping at Saks OFF 5th, given what happened to her.

A manager at Saks OFF 5th declined comment Monday.

Guillermo Contreras covers federal court and immigration news in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | gcontreras@express-news.net | Twitter: @gmaninfedlandAmong thickets of prickly pear and pecan trees 20 miles south of downtown, a bizarre chapter in Texas water law involving a catfish farm and its infamously abundant well finally is being capped  literally.

In 1991, the owner, Ronnie Pucek, brought national attention to the regions groundwater politics  for years, a three-way tug-of-war between municipal, agricultural and environmental interests  when he fed his Living Waters Artesian Springs Catfish Farm with some 45 million gallons a day from the Edwards Aquifer.

The gusher was deemed the worlds largest artesian well  the water pushed to the surface by gravity-induced pressure  and yielded enough water to serve a town of 250,000, or nearly a fourth of San Antonios population at the time.

A decade of litigation led to an eventual $30 million buyout of Pucek and his partners.

Now, the San Antonio Water System has started work to seal off the 30-inch well with oil-field-type mud and concrete, a two-week project costing $1.4 million.

SAWS plans to return the site to its native brushland.

When you see it, it is just a water well, SAWS project coordinator Kevin Morrison said Tuesday, standing beside the wells darkened steel gate valve. But it all had such far-reaching consequences and was the catalyst for changing Texas water law.

Environmentalists and much of the general public were outraged by the catfish farm, but under Texas rule of capture doctrine and the supremacy of property rights in the Lone Star State, well owners still could argue they were entitled to as much water as they wished to pump.

Pucek was unavailable for comment Tuesday. Two years after he opened his 85-acre farm  it only stayed active one season  the Legislature created the Edwards Aquifer Authority, or EAA.

The action forestalled the legal threat of a federal takeover of the aquifer under the Endangered Species Act, which already had been invoked in litigation to guarantee the aquifers major springs as habitat for several protected species.

Then-U.S. District Judge Lucious Bunton pushed lawmakers toward more responsible water use regulations, and today the majority of Texas is under some form of water management  including about 100 underground water districts.

Steve Clouse, the chief operating officer for SAWS, said the impact of the catfish farm hardly could be overstated.

At the time, I thought San Antonios water was being stolen, Clouse said wryly. I was amazed that we were being told we couldnt just develop with no limits and would have to diversify our water resources. But I was 100 percent wrong.

The lawsuit and the EAA moved San Antonio toward more environmentally sound water policy, and secured our future water in a much more responsible way, Clouse said. The catfish turmoil was the tripwire that got us to limit our uses of the Edwards and recognize it is a limited and shared resource.

In hindsight, Clouse said, the decision by SAWS to spend $30 million buying the catfish farm and its water rights was brilliant, because those rights likely would cost more than $120 million today.

In 2013, SAWS sold the land to the San Antonio River Authority for $315,000, but maintained an easement so it could manage the infamous well.

SAWS is capping it permanently because the temporary cap it has used for some years eventually could deteriorate, making the well all but uncontrollable.

For a water engineer, said SAWS Morrison, working on the well site has been memorable. The well was 1,670 feet deep and was perhaps the luckiest shot in the world, producing a daily volume about 45 times what a San Antonio golf course would use on a summer day, he said.

Workers with Weisinger Inc., a Willis-based drilling firm, plan to kill the well by pumping a slurry of bentonite clay mud, the mineral barite and water into its depths to neutralize the artesian flow.

They then will dump tons of 3/4-inch washed limestone gravel into the well and a cavern at the bottom whose size is unknown.

Last, said Morrison, they will pour into the hole a cement mixture that contains 6 percent bentonite.

It should be hard and set in about 12 hours, he said, noting there are plenty of similarities between this job and oil field work.

But its also a whole different ball game, he said, referring to the amazing volume of water the well is capable of spewing. What do you think those oil guys would do if they had a well flowing at 37,000 gallons a minute?

Bruce Selcraig is a staff writer in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read his stories on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | BSelcraig@express-news.netThe second portion of the San Pedro Creek Culture Park could get commissioners approval this week, setting in motion a plan to extend the space to Nueva Street and build a new performance plaza.

Bexar County commissioners will decide whether to approve nearly $60 million for the project at their meeting Tuesday, seven months after the first segment opened to much fanfare in May.

That portion of the park runs between North Santa Rosa and Houston streets and includes walkways, a waterfall and a boardwalk overlook. The second segment  expected to be completed by 2020  would continue the development past Commerce Street and Dolorosa to Nueva.

County Judge Nelson Wolff said about $175 million has been spent on the project so far, beginning with $125 million from the county in 2013. Commissioners saw the plan as a way to revitalize the western portion of downtown and help control flooding.

On ExpressNews.com: San Pedro Creek not an ugly duckling anymore

The west side of downtown has always been neglected, Wolff said. Its never had the development that we would have liked to see.

Wolff said thats starting to change as the project continues to come to fruition. The University of Texas San Antonio is planning a major expansion in that area, and the San Antonio Independent School District is relocating its headquarters there as well.

The judge mentioned the San Pedro Creek initiative as one of his key priorities for the new term he won in November, and he said he hopes the full project will be completed in those four years.

According to county documents, the second segment will feature three prominent attractions: a large-scale tile mural behind the historic Spanish Governors Palace, a performance plaza near the Alameda Theater, and an impressive water wall.

The first segment was completed on time and roughly $8.5 million under budget, according to the county, though officials later had to close and modify part of the park when visitors  especially children  started swimming in the 2-feet-deep channel.

That created a health concern, as the San Antonio River Authority worried about potential exposure to bacteria. Officials had encouraged visitors to wade  but not swim  in the creek. The redesign made the water shallower, and the full park reopened in June.

On ExpressNews.com: NRP Group planning apartment complex on San Pedro Creek

Last December, the court authorized crews to continue demolitions and utility work for the parks new stretch while the design plans were finalized. Those plans were finished in August.

SARA is managing the project, but the county is its primary financial backer.

Of the $60 million under consideration Tuesday, about $48.5 million will go toward construction of the new segment; nearly $8 million is devoted to archaeological monitoring, materials testing and other construction services; and $3 million will go toward completing designs for the next phases of the project. Another $212,000 would be allocated to artist design and planning.

Wolff said there isnt an estimate for the full cost of the project yet, but these two segments would be the most expensive. The remainder of the creek will take a more natural layout, he said.

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An off-duty Bexar County deputy was arrested Monday on a domestic violence charge, according to the sheriff's office.

The deputy, Michael DeWitt, was arrested by San Antonio police at about 6:10 a.m. after he allegedly assaulted the victim by choking or strangulating them. He was booked into the Bexar County Jail on a $3,500 bond.A coalition of local business organizations Monday called on the City Council to repeal the mandatory paid sick leave ordinance it passed this summer after a group pushing the initiative collected more than 140,000 signatures supporting it.

Bolstering their argument by pointing to a 3rd Court of Appeals ruling last month that shot down Austins mandatory paid sick leave ordinance, North San Antonio Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Cristina Aldrete said her organization and several others want the council to reconsider its ordinance before it takes effect in 2019.

She suggested that businesses would be affected by the ordinance beginning Jan. 1, though enforcement of the law wouldnt begin until August.

It has been ruled unconstitutional by the courts; the 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin ruled earlier this month that it was an illegal ordinance, she said. The Austin ordinance is exactly like the San Antonio ordinance.

The local ordinance has not been litigated here, where the 4th Court of Appeals would handle an appeal. The issue likely would have to be decided by the Texas Supreme Court, though the Legislature may pre-empt it in its 2019 session, making the case moot.

Related: City Council adopts mandatory paid sick leave ordinance for San Antonio workers

The coalition of business organizations  which includes the Alamo Asian Chamber of Commerce, the South Texas chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors, the Greater San Antonio Builders Association, the Real Estate Council of San Antonio, the San Antonio Area Tourism Council, the SA Auto Dealers, the San Antonio Manufacturers Association and the South San Antonio Chamber of Commerce  sent a letter Friday to Mayor Ron Nirenberg and the council asking that they reconsider the ordinance.

In a prepared statement, Nirenberg appeared unmoved by the request.

San Antonios paid sick leave ordinance was brought forward by petition, and supporters gathered more than 140,000 signatures. City Council faced the choice of passing the ordinance or putting it on the ballot. The councils action preserved the flexibility to craft a San Antonio-specific policy before any business is required to comply, he said.

Nirenberg named a committee last month to gather input from those affected by the ordinance and make recommendations to the council for possible changes.

Its politically untenable for the council to repeal the ordinance, observers say, which was pushed by Working Texans for Paid Sick Time, a coalition of grassroots and labor organizations whose leaders expected the council to place their initiative on the Nov. 6 ballot.

The council voted 9-2 to adopt the measure instead.

Michelle Tremillo, executive director of the Texas Organizing Project, one of the key groups among the Working Texans coalition, urged Nirenberg and his colleagues to remain strong against the chamber forces.

No one should forget that the earned paid sick time ordinance was passed because San Antonians demanded it. The chambers shouldnt be able to undo what was clearly the will of the people, she said in a prepared statement. The mayor and council should also be reminded that the temporary stay by the 3rd Court of Appeals against Austins earned paid sick time ordinance has no bearing on San Antonio.

We believe that ultimately the courts will uphold Austins ordinance. And the business interests know this, too, which is why theyre asking the City Council to act now before the courts rule in favor of working Texans.

Related: Manufacturers nervous about tariffs, worker scarcity, Congress

Its widely expected that the Legislature will take up a bill pre-empting local mandatory sick leave ordinances.

Missing from the business coalitions list of supporters are the citys two most prominent chambers  the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce.

Richard Perez, president and CEO of the latter, said his group couldnt vet the coalitions letter through its process quickly enough for Aldretes timeline. She said it was important for the group to put the council on notice now because there are only a couple of council meetings left before years end.

Perez said the San Antonio Chamber is focused on defeating the ordinance at the Legislature.

The ordinance would apply to nearly every private-sector employee, even those at small businesses and nonprofits, working in San Antonio. Under the ordinance, workers would earn an hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours of work and accrue to a minimum of 48 or 60 hours, depending on the size of the company. For companies with five or fewer employees, the ordinance takes effect Aug. 1, 2021.

Aldrete said the coalition of business groups she represented didnt have plans to sue the city but that there could be a statewide group to push legal action if the council fails to act.

The ball is in their court, she said.

Josh Baugh is a staff writer in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | jbaugh@express-news.net | Twitter: @jbaughProject QUEST, the nonprofit workforce development organization created more than a quarter-century ago by the COPS/Metro Alliance, has been awarded a $1 million grant that the organization says will allow it to serve more San Antonians with expanded job training programs.

The award comes from the Rockefeller Foundation and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative as part of their Communities Thrive Challenge, which awarded $1 million each to 10 organizations across the nation, working to help low-income and financially insecure people find and retain well-paid, meaningful work, achieve financial security or build economically vibrant neighborhoods.

David Zammiello, Project QUEST president and CEO, said in a news release that the funding would have a meaningful impact on San Antonio families.

READ ALSO: Cybersecurity props start in high school, San Antonio conference-goers told

As a workforce collaborator and an economic resource to the San Antonio community, Project QUEST provides families with life-changing services, education and career skills training for long-term employment and self-sufficiency, he said. This funding will be integral as we open the door for more unemployed, underemployed and under-skilled residents in our community to launch new careers in exciting industries.

Project QUEST has a storied and at times controversial history in San Antonio. Its been held up as a local nonprofit doing good for families in need and chastised for financial troubles.

The organization currently receives about $2.2 million in annual funding from the city of San Antonio, including $200,000 for its Cloud Academy, an information-technology training program.

Mayor Ron Nirenberg applauded the organization for its efforts in securing the highly competitive grant.

READ ALSO: Youth in dropout-recover program building homes in San Antonio

(The grant) is a welcome boost to San Antonios workforce development efforts, he said. This new funding will help Project QUEST improve the lives of working San Antonians and the city as a whole.

The foundations behind the grant received more than 1,800 applications before selecting 20 finalists.

Project QUEST has been working on workforce development in San Antonio for 26 years.The timing of Mike Frisbies letter of resignation last week as longtime director of the citys Transportation and Capital Improvements Department would seem to make sense.

Coming one day before City Manager Sheryl Sculley announced her own retirement, Frisbies exit left the impression that one of her most loyal deputies, whom she recruited a decade ago from Phoenix, is jumping off a sinking ship.

More surprising is where Frisbie will land: the San Antonio Water System, where he was hired as the utilitys chief operating officer. Frisbie won the job despite his central role in the so-called soil-gate, an embarrassing communication breakdown between the city and SAWS about five years ago.

READ ALSO: San Antonio's head of capital projects moving to SAWS

In 2013, Frisbie oversaw the excavation of 150,000 cubic yards of dirt from the site of the downtown Convention Center expansion, soil that was then dumped on vacant, city-owned land across from the San Antonio Food Bank.

At the time, the city was negotiating with SAWS to swap the 12-acre lot for SAWS-owned property. The city, though, failed to tell SAWS officials that the soil it was dumping there contained heavy metals flagged by environmental consultants as potentially harmful.

Geo Strata had reported finding heavy metals that exceeded regulatory levels and recommended either reusing the dirt on-site or disposing of it at a landfill. The soil must be considered contaminated, the report stated, and should not be transported off-site and treated as clean fill material.

But taking the soil to a landfill would have cost the city $6 million. So the city sought a second opinion from Raba Kistner, which concluded the soil was safe and could be dumped at the city-owned site at Potranco Road and Texas 151.

READ ALSO: Sculley was bigger than the city she served

SAWS caught wind of the situation only when someone at the utility happened to drive past the property and saw the dirt being dumped.

The discovery killed the deal, despite a subsequent study that confirmed the dumped dirt posed no risk to the public. The city still has not sold the property.

They (SAWS) were concerned about the soil that was placed there, Frisbie said after the story broke. They just saw it as an obstacle to selling the property. For us, we dont see it as an obstacle.

SAWS CEO Robert Puente begged to differ.

Ultimately, we would have to turn around and sell these acres because we have no use for it, Puente said then. When these kinds of things happen, you have to disclose it to the new buyer. There are two reports that can be interpreted in two different ways.

Flash forward five years, and Puente can barely recall the imbroglio.

READ ALSO: After Sculley's resignation, who will replace her as city manager?

Frankly, I dont remember the details, he said Monday. But the issue was resolved.

Puente added that Frisbie did very well in his job interviews.

What really stood out is that he had really great relationships  relationships with regulators, with constituents, with council, with TCEQ (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality). In my opinion, he has the ability to explain whats going on to a diverse set of stakeholders, Puente said. And sometimes all people need to know is what is going on.

Perhaps part of what Puente forgot was that Frisbie had neglected to tell him what was going on.

Frisbie later acknowledged he should have volunteered the findings in Geo Stratas report to SAWS. For her part, Sculley pleaded complete ignorance.

Im somewhat new to this, the city manager said soon after the city-owned utility pulled out of the land swap. Im quite removed, actually.

If Frisbie fell on his sword for Sculley and allowed her to keep her hands clean, perhaps Puente admired the display of loyalty. In any case, Puente called the whole unseemly episode water under the bridge  especially now that Frisbie has crossed over to SAWS.

I do expect him to continue to communicate with the city, Puente said. And if city employees call him for information, I want him to be very responsive with the city. But at the same time, know that youre a SAWS employee now, and your first loyalty is to SAWS.It didnt take long Thursday for President Trumps tweeted complaint about the Robert Mueller probe  will it just go on forever?  to look like wishful thinking. Michael Cohens blockbuster court appearance made it clear that Trump is really going to hate the way the investigation ends.

Unless, of course, the president tries to end it himself with some sort of pre-emptive strike  which is why this is a dangerous moment. The walls are closing in, and by now we should know that Trump will put self-interest above such hindrances as the law and the Constitution.

With no advance notice, Cohen  who once was Trumps personal attorney and fixer  appeared in federal court in Manhattan and admitted lying to Congress about Trumps business dealings in Russia.

Trump insisted during his presidential campaign that I have nothing to do with Russia. Cohen originally claimed in written testimony to the Senate and House intelligence committees that his attempts to forge a deal for a Trump-branded skyscraper in Moscow ended in January 2016  before the first contest of the primary season, the Iowa caucuses, took place.

Court papers released Thursday tell a different story: Negotiating on behalf of the Trump Organization, Cohen continued to seek Russian President Vladimir Putins approval for the proposed Moscow tower at least through June of 2016  a fact that was hidden from voters by Trumps bald-faced lies.

By far the worst development for Trump is that the document charging Cohen with the felony offense of making false statements to Congress is signed, Robert S. Mueller III, Special Counsel. Cohens earlier guilty plea involving hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal was handled by prosecutors from the Southern District of New York. Now, the keeper of some of Trumps deepest and darkest secrets is singing sweetly to Mueller.

The second-worst thing for the president is Cohens acknowledgement that he regularly briefed Trump family members ... within the Company about the Moscow negotiations. This suggests that Donald Jr., Eric and Ivanka Trump may also be in Muellers crosshairs.

Trump gave the response he always gives when hes caught in a big fat lie: I didnt do it. But hey, if I did do it, it wasnt a crime.

Speaking to reporters on the White House lawn, Trump said that Michael Cohen is lying. But he added, I was running my business while I was campaigning. There was a good chance that I wouldnt have won, in which case I would have gotten back into the business. And why should I lose lots of opportunities?

For once, he let slip a nugget of truth. Running for president was just one of several angles he was pursuing at the time. Trumps candidacy was never about the country. It was always about the family business, and still is.

Cohens court appearance came just a day after Trump said he was considering a presidential pardon for another keeper of his secrets  Paul Manafort, the former chairman of his campaign, who was found guilty of a host of white-collar crimes and pleaded guilty to others. Why would I take it off the table? Trump asked, in a New York Post interview, about the possibility of pardoning Manafort, who faces a decade or more in prison.

Manafort had signed a deal pledging to cooperate with Muellers investigation, but it was revealed this week that Manaforts lawyers have been secretly sharing information with Trumps lawyers. That becomes something else for Trump to worry about. How long had Mueller known that Manafort was playing both sides of the street? When the Trump team met to exchange information with the Manafort team, were the presidents lawyers hearing only what Mueller wanted them to hear?

Mueller charged that Manafort has been lying to him. According to the Wall Street Journal, at least some of those lies involve Manaforts contacts with a Ukrainian associate who has ties to Russian intelligence.

Meanwhile, Trumps longtime friend Roger Stone and his associate Jerome Corsi have said they expect to be charged by Mueller over alleged contacts with WikiLeaks, which published emails embarrassing to Democrats and damaging to the Hillary Clinton campaign that were stolen by, get ready for it, Russian hackers.

All roads seem to lead to Russia, and they are beginning to converge. Each new move from Mueller comes out of the blue; no one can be sure how much he knows or what he might do next. Trump must increasingly feel cornered. The one thing I can predict confidently is that he wont go down without a fight.

eugenerobinson@washpost.comThe following companies are subsidiares of Jabil: AOC Technologies Co. Ltd., AOC Technologies Inc., Badger Technologies LLC, Celetronix, Celetronix India Private Limited, Celetronix USA Inc., Clothing Plus Hong Kong Ltd., Clothing Plus MBU Oy, Clothing Plus Zhejiang Ltd., Clothing+, Eco.logic Brands Inc., Ecologic Brands, F-I Holding Company, GET Manufacturing, Green Point Electronic Technology Co. Ltd., Green Point Precision Electronic Co. Ltd., Green Point Precision Sdn. Bhd., Green Point Technology Co. Ltd., Green Prosperity Co. Ltd., Greenam Electricity (Proprietary) Limited, JCI Funding Ireland Designated Activity Company, JCI Labuan Limited, JN Global Holdings C.V., Jabil AMS LLC, Jabil Advanced Mechanical Solutions Inc., Jabil Advanced Mechanical Solutions de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Jabil C.M. S.r.l., Jabil Canada Corporation, Jabil Chihuahua Holding S. de R.L. de C.V., Jabil Circuit Austria GmbH, Jabil Circuit Belgium N.V., Jabil Circuit Cayman L.P., Jabil Circuit China Limited, Jabil Circuit Co. Ltd., Jabil Circuit Financial II Inc., Jabil Circuit Holdings Limited, Jabil Circuit Hong Kong Limited, Jabil Circuit Hungary Contract Manufacturing Services Ltd., Jabil Circuit Inc., Jabil Circuit India Private Limited, Jabil Circuit Investment Co. Ltd, Jabil Circuit Italia S.r.l., Jabil Circuit Limited, Jabil Circuit Ltd., Jabil Circuit Luxembourg II S.a r.l., Jabil Circuit Luxembourg S.a r.l., Jabil Circuit Netherlands B.V., Jabil Circuit Pte. Ltd., Jabil Circuit SAS, Jabil Circuit Sdn Bhd, Jabil Circuit Technology LLC, Jabil Circuit Ukraine Limited, Jabil Circuit de Chihuahua S. de R.L. de C.V., Jabil Circuit de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Jabil Circuit of Michigan Inc., Jabil Consulting Limited Liability Company, Jabil DR S.R.L., Jabil Defense and Aerospace Services LLC, Jabil Denmark Aps, Jabil Dutch Mexico B.V., Jabil EMS Switzerland GmbH, Jabil Electronics Co. Ltd., Jabil Energy Ltd., Jabil Green Point Precision Electronics Co. Ltd., Jabil Green Point Technology Co. Ltd., Jabil Guadalajara Holding S. de R.L. de C.V., Jabil Healthcare DR S.R.L., Jabil Holding S. de R.L. de C.V., Jabil Holdings Ltd., Jabil Hungary LP Services Limited Liability Company, Jabil India Manufacturing Private Limited, Jabil Industrial do Brasil Ltda., Jabil International Holding S. de R.L. de C.V., Jabil International Treasury Pte. Ltd, Jabil Investment Pte. Ltd., Jabil Israel Ltd., Jabil Japan Inc., Jabil Korea International Limited, Jabil Limited Liability Company, Jabil Mexico Holding S. de R.L. de C.V., Jabil Mexico Investment S. de R.L. de C.V., Jabil Monterrey S. de R.L. de C.V., Jabil Nypro Holding LLC, Jabil Nypro I LLC, Jabil Nypro II LLC, Jabil Nypro International B.V., Jabil Optics Germany GmbH, Jabil Poland Sp. z.o.o., Jabil Precision Industry Co. Ltd., Jabil Science and Telecommunication Trading Co. Ltd., Jabil Sdn Bhd, Jabil Services Korea Limited, Jabil Silver Creek Inc., Jabil South Africa (Pty) LTD, Jabil Switzerland Manufacturing GmbH, Jabil Technology Co. Ltd, Jabil Technology and Trading Co. Ltd., Jabil Torres S. de R.L. de C.V., Jabil Tuttlingen Manufacturing GmbH, Jabil Umkirch Manufacturing GmbH, Jabil Vietnam Company Limited, Jabil do Brasil Industria Eletroeletronica Ltda., Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices, Kasalis, Kasalis Inc., Kuatro Technologies, Kuatro Ukraine LLC, Manna Renewable Energy Investments Two (Pty) Ltd, NP Medical Inc., NPA de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Nypro, Nypro Alabama LLC, Nypro Atlanta LLC, Nypro China Holdings Limited, Nypro DR LLC, Nypro Deutschland GmbH, Nypro France SAS, Nypro Guadalajara S.A. de C.V., Nypro Healthcare Baja Inc., Nypro Healthcare GmbH, Nypro Healthcare LLC, Nypro Inc., Nypro Iowa Inc., Nypro Limited, Nypro Monterrey Management S. de R.L. de C.V., Nypro Plastics & Metal Products Co. Ltd., Nypro Plastics & Molding Products Co. Ltd., Nypro Puerto Rico Inc., Nypro Research and Developments Limited, Nypro Spain Holding S.L.U., Nypro de Amazonia, Nypro de la Frontera S. de R.L. de C.V., NyproMold Chicago Inc., NyproMold Inc., NyproMold Investment Corp., PT Jabil Circuit Indonesia, Plasticast Hungary Kft., Plasticos Castella S.A.U., Radius Chicago LLC, Radius Hong Kong Limited, Radius Product Development Inc., Roosevelt Insurance Company Ltd., S.M.R. Metal Ltd., Shay Motion Ltd., Shemer Group, Shemer Motion (2009) Ltd., Taiwan Green Point Enterprises, Taiwan Green Point Enterprises Co. Ltd., Telmar Network Technology, TrueTech, Westing Green Plastic Co. Ltd, Wolfe Engineering, Wolfe Engineering Co. Ltd., and Yen Investments 140 (Proprietary) Limited.iShares MSCI Finland ETF's stock was trading at $31.15 on March 11th, 2020 when COVID-19 reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, EFNL stock has increased by 49.2% and is now trading at $46.48.

View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.The following companies are subsidiares of Mohawk Industries: A&S Energie NV, A&U Energie NV, Aladdin Manufacturing Corporation, Aladdin Manufacturing Of New York LLC, Aladdin Manufacturing of Alabama LLC, Alsace Logistique S.A., Avelgem Green Power CVBA, Avon Pacific Holdings Ltd, B&M NV, BGE Mexico S. de R. L. de C.V., Berghoef GmbH, Berghoef-Hout B.V., Bienes Raices y Materiales del Centro S. de R.L. de C.V., C.F. Marazzi S.A., Canterbury Spinners Ltd, Carpet Foundation Ltd, Cevotrans BV, Ceramus Bahia S/A  Produtos Ceramicos, DT Mex Holdings LLC, DTM/CM Holdings LLC, Dal Italia LLC, Dal-Elit LLC, Dal-Tile Chile Comercial Limitada, Dal-Tile Colombia S.A.S., Dal-Tile Distribution Inc., Dal-Tile Group Inc., Dal-Tile I LLC, Dal-Tile Industrias S. de R.L. de C.V., Dal-Tile International Inc., Dal-Tile Mexico Comercial S. de R.L. de C.V., Dal-Tile Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Dal-Tile Operaciones Mexico S. De R.L. De C.V., Dal-Tile Peru SRL, Dal-Tile Puerto Rico Inc., Dal-Tile Services Inc., Dal-Tile Shared Services Inc., Dal-Tile Tennessee LLC, Dal-Tile of Canada ULC, Daltile, Daltile, Dekaply NV, Durkan, Dynea NV, Eliane Argentina Sociedad Anonima, Eliane S/A - Revestimentos Ceramicos, Emilceramica India Pvt Ltd., Emilceramica S.r.l, Emilgermany GmbH, Emilgroup Asia Ltd, Explorer S.r.l., F.I.L.S. Investments Unlimited Company, Feltex Carpets Ltd, Feltex Carpets Pty Ltd, Feltex New Zealand Ltd, Fibremakers Australia Pty Ltd, Flooring Foundation Ltd, Flooring Industries Limited S.a r.l., Flooring XL B.V., Floorscape Limited, Godfrey Hirst & Co Pty Ltd, Godfrey Hirst (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Godfrey Hirst Australia Pty Ltd, Godfrey Hirst Group, Godfrey Hirst NZ Ltd, Hytherm (Ireland) Limited, IVC BVBA, IVC Far-East Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., IVC France S.a r.l., IVC GROUP LIMITED, IVC Green Power NV, IVC Group, IVC Group GmbH, IVC Luxembourg S.a r.l., IVC Rus OOO, IVC US Inc., International Flooring Systems S.a r.l., International Vinyl Company - Vostok OOO, KAI Group, KAI Keramica Ltd, KAI Mining EOOD, KERAMA CENTER OOO, Kerama Baltics OOO, Kerama Export OOO, Kerama Marazzi OOO, Kerampromservis (LLC), Khan Asparuh - Transport EOOD, Khan Asparuh AD, Khan Omurtag AD, Koninklijke Peitsman B.V., Kraj Kerama OOO, MG China Trading Ltd., MI Finance SRL, MUD (Holding) Brazil Ltda., Management Co EAD, Marazzi Acquisition S.r.l., Marazzi Deutschland G.m.b.H., Marazzi France Trading S.A.S., Marazzi Group, Marazzi Group F.Z.E., Marazzi Group S.r.l., Marazzi Group Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Marazzi Iberia S.L.U., Marazzi Japan Co. Ltd., Marazzi Middle East FZ LLC, Marazzi Schweiz S.A.G.L., Marazzi UK Ltd., Mohawk Assurance Services Inc., Mohawk Australia Pty Ltd, Mohawk Canada Corporation, Mohawk Capital Finance S.A., Mohawk Capital Luxembourg SA, Mohawk Carpet Distribution Inc., Mohawk Carpet Foundation Inc., Mohawk Carpet LLC, Mohawk Carpet Transportation Of Georgia LLC, Mohawk Commercial Inc., Mohawk ESV Inc., Mohawk Europe BVBA, Mohawk Factoring II Inc., Mohawk Factoring LLC, Mohawk Finance S.a r.l., Mohawk Foreign Acquisitions S.a r.l., Mohawk Foreign Funding S.a.r.l, Mohawk Foreign Holdings S.a r.l., Mohawk Foreign Investments Inc., Mohawk Global Investments S.a r.l., Mohawk Holdings International B.V., Mohawk Industries Inc., Mohawk International (Europe) S.a r.l., Mohawk International (Hong Kong) Limited, Mohawk International Capital N.V., Mohawk International Financing S.a.r.l, Mohawk International Holdings (DE) LLC, Mohawk International Holdings S.a r.l., Mohawk International Luxembourg S.a r.l., Mohawk International Netherlands B.V., Mohawk International Services BVBA, Mohawk KAI Luxembourg Holding S.a r.l., Mohawk KAI Luxembourg S.a r.l., Mohawk Luxembourg Capital S.A., Mohawk Luxembourg Financing S.a r.l., Mohawk Luxembourg Holdings S.a r.l., Mohawk Luxembourg Investments S.a r.l., Mohawk Luxembourg Pacific S.a r.l., Mohawk Marazzi International BV, Mohawk Marazzi Russia BV, Mohawk New Zealand Limited, Mohawk Operaciones Mexicali S. de R.L. de C.V., Mohawk Operations Luxembourg S.a r.l., Mohawk Pacific Investments S.a r.l., Mohawk Resources LLC, Mohawk Servicing LLC, Mohawk Singapore Private Limited, Mohawk Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Mohawk Unilin Luxembourg S.a r.l., Mohawk United Finance B.V., Mohawk United International B.V., Mohawk Vinyl Financing S.a r.l., Molber Beheer B.V., Monarch Ceramic Tile Inc., P.F. Onroerend Goed B.V., PF Beheer B.V., Pergo, Pergo (Europe) AB, Pergo Holding BV, Pergo India Pvt Ltd, Polcolorit S.A., Premium Floors Australia Pty Limited, RR Apex LLC, Rata International Pty Ltd, Recubrimientos Interceramica S. de R.L. de C.V., Riverside Textiles Pty Ltd, S.C. KAI Ceramics SRL, Sibir Kerama OOO, SimpleSolutions USA LLC, Soft Step (Australia) Pty Ltd, Spano Group, Spano Invest BVBA, Spano NV, Stroyagromekhzapchast ChaO, Stroytrans OAO Orelstroy, Summit Wool Spinners Ltd, The Flooring Federation Ltd, Tiles Co OOD, Unilin (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Unilin ApS, Unilin Arauco Pisos Ltda., Unilin BVBA, Unilin Beheer BV, Unilin Distribution Ltd., Unilin Distribution Ukraine LLC, Unilin Finland OY, Unilin Flooring India Private Limited, Unilin Flooring SAS, Unilin GmbH, Unilin Holding BVBA, Unilin Insulation BV, Unilin Insulation SAS, Unilin Insulation Sury SAS, Unilin Italia S.R.L., Unilin North America LLC, Unilin Norway AS, Unilin OOO, Unilin Panels SAS, Unilin Poland Sp.Z.o.o., Unilin SAS, Unilin Spain SL, Unilin Swiss GmbH, Unilin s.r.o., World International Inc., Xtratherm, Xtratherm Limited, Xtratherm S.A., and Xtratherm UK Limited.Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corp. engages in the provision of equipment, systems, and value-added services for the rail industry. It operates through the following segments: Freight and Transit. The Freight segment involves in the manufacture and offers services components for new and existing locomotives and freight cars; supplies rail control and infrastructure products such as electronics, positive train control equipment, and signal design and engineering services; overhauls locomotives; and provides heat exchangers and cooling systems for rail and other industrial markets. The Transit segments includes the manufacture and providing services components for new and existing passenger transit vehicles, including regional trains, high speed trains, subway cars, light-rail vehicles, and buses; supplies rail control and infrastructure products such as electronics, positive train control equipment, and signal design and engineering services; builds new commuter locomotives; and renovate passenger transit vehicles. The company was founded in 1869 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA.

Read MoreUsing technology such as blockchain could prevent global civil unrest triggered by volatility in commodity markets, according to technology experts.

Volatility in commodity markets is likely to increase over the next few months, and this could lead to greater civil unrest  especially in the developing world  which could require military intervention.

This recently happened in Tanzania over the pricing of its 2018 cashew nut harvest.

The warning comes from Unleashing the Wealth in Nations (UWIN), a blockchain business aiming to transform farming and commodity trading in the developing world.

Experts have frequently highlighted how the technology behind cyptocurrencies such as Bitcoin could revolutionise the food and farming industry by increasing transparency.

Julius Akinyemi, CEO of UWIN said: The current cashew nut price crisis in Tanzania, where the president ordered the army to buy the countrys 2018 nut harvest thereby diffusing a volatile stand-off between farmers and buyers, could be the start of more civil unrest in developing countries caused by growing volatility in commodity prices.

A slowing global economy and the US dollars relentless march upwards will only put more pressure on already low commodity prices. The price of crude oil, for example, has already fallen by over 20% since early October.

To help address this issue, UWIN says commodity markets and countries heavily reliant on the commodities they produce, need to make greater use of technology such as blockchain to bring more transparency and efficiency to their operations.

UWIN is currently in discussion with African governments on how they could use its new and unique technology proposition that for the first time will enable farmers in the developing world to properly register their commodities, mobilise them and efficiently trade their produce on a trusted platform.

Blockchain is a ledger where transactions are recorded and confirmed, acting as a record of events that is shared between many parties.

In a food supply chain, for example, a failed test and inspection on a product at any stage of the supply chain will be automatically traced to the origin of the failure.

Blockchain technology also monitors food supply chains because it is open to any participant and any type of information can be entered.

It also uses cryptography to protect commercially sensitive information as well as being able to use smart contracts - a set of automated rules governing a transaction - to provide extra security.Farmers in Cheshire and North Wales are being offered the chance to switch to more environmentally-friendly slug pellets to help improve raw water quality.

Slug pellets are seen as important for farmers to have an effective way of protecting their crops from slugs.

However, traditional pellets contain the chemical metaldehyde which can be harmful to wildlife and difficult to remove from raw water.

There are strict guidelines to follow when using metaldehyde which include no pellets being allowed to fall within a minimum of 10 metres of any field boundary or watercourse.

Farmers are also not allowed to use them when drains are flowing or heavy rain is forecast.

The Metaldehyde Stewardship Groups Get Pelletwise campaign aims to help farmers minimise environmental impacts.

However, United Utilities is taking a different approach by attempting to encourage farmers.

In three of its surface water safeguard zones, the River Dee, River Dane and the Llangollen Canal, farmers are now being offered an alternative type of pellet.

'Fifty percent off'

The North West water company is offering farmers money-off ferric phosphate slug pellets. Making the switch also simplifies slug pellet applications with just one product being used.

Dr Kate Snow, from United Utilities, explained: We support the Metaldehyde Stewardship Groups efforts to minimise the environmental impacts of metaldehyde slug pellets but were hoping to encourage more farmers to switch to ferric phosphate slug pellets which are just as effective as metaldehyde, and easier to treat.

Were offering farmers fifty per cent off the price of ferric phosphate pellets and, if theyve already bought metaldehyde, we can help them make the switch at no extra cost.

By controlling the amount of pesticides flowing into raw water we can reduce the need for costly treatment processes which is better for the environment and better value for our customers, she added.

James Huxley, of DJ Huxley (Farms) Ltd, has used the pellets, and insists they minimise risk to water quality.

Ive used ferric phosphate slug pellets exclusively over the last two seasons. Last year was particularly challenging being so wet. Im very pleased with the slug control ferric phosphate provides, he said.

Switching to ferric phosphate means I still control slug numbers, only have to calibrate the spreader for one product and minimise risk to water quality.An Irish farmer who drove a teleporter into his neighbour after a long feud over a noisy gas-powered bird-scarer has been jailed for five years.

County Kerry farmer Michael Ferris attacked his neighbour Anthony OMahony on 4 April 2017, described by the Central Criminal Court in Dublin as a gruesome and horrific attack.

Mr Ferris, 63, was sentenced on Monday (3 December) to five years in prison for manslaughter.

During the trial, Mr Ferris said his 73-year-old neighbour had used a gas-powered crow banger for three decades and had ignored requests to stop using it.

The device went off every four-and-a-half minutes. The trial was told that the noise from it would wake the dead.

On 4 April 2017, Mr Ferris used his teleporter and drove the prongs of the machinery into Mr O'Mahony's car, killing him.

'Deeply distressing'

Speaking outside the Criminal Courts of Justice on Monday, the victim's niece, Ann O'Carroll said her family believe that justice was not served.

The just outcome would have been a conviction for murder given that the crime was clearly deliberate and premeditated as outlined during the trial, she said.

The trial was a deeply distressing and painful ordeal for our family. Our brother, uncle and friend was taken from us in the most brutal and violent way possible.

This pain was made worse by the blackening of Anthonys good name and character during the trial when he was not there to defend himself. And now our pain has been exacerbated by the lenient sentence imposed today.

Ms O'Caroll added: The defence legal teams use of alleged provocation in this case allowed the jury to return a conviction for the lesser charge of manslaughter.

To our family it felt like they were using this for a justification for the killing of Anthony and, as a result, we believe it denigrates the value of Anthonys life. Victim blaming occurs daily in other courts cases in Ireland and this is clearly another example of it in our criminal justice system.

We would like to thank the guards, our neighbours, family and friends for their support during this difficult time. We are devastated at the loss of Anthony and we will never recover from this, she said.Increasing profitability for farmers through improved lamb and calf survival is the focus of a new project involving beef and sheep farms.

The initial stage of the project involves collecting data from farms on health measures in the neonatal period, with the target of improving productivity and responsible antibiotic use on-farm.

Funded jointly by the AHDB, Hybu Cig Cyrmu (HCC) and Quality Meat Scotland (QMS), the project is being run by Edinburgh, Liverpool and Nottingham Universities and will link to existing work at Bangor University.

Alexander Corbishley, Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, said: With the challenging economic climate and the need to reduce the environmental impact of ruminant production systems, there has never been a greater need to increase the sectors efficiency, whilst also promoting sustainable antibiotic use.

By carrying out this project we will be able to identify the key management factors that can be addressed by farmers to improve performance.

'Increase productivity'

With limited data currently availability to benchmark health status and antibiotic use, an online survey has been launched for levy payers across England, Scotland and Wales. The survey will run until 31st January.

The data will be collected anonymously and includes requests for estimates of survival, information on management practices and opinions on reasons behind medicine use.

Dr Lis King, AHDB Scientist said: This project will lead on to a control plan focussing on neonatal disease that could increase productivity and ultimately profitability for beef and sheep farmers.

Well also be able to understand current antibiotic use and look at options for reducing use on farm, which is key in developing a healthy and sustainable GB livestock industry.

Once developed, suckler herds and ewe flocks will be invited to pilot the control plan around the UK, alongside their veterinary surgeons, before wider release.Waitrose pledges to increase price it pays for pigs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.SHE GOT PROMOTED TO OUR 'PERMANENT REGISTER' THIS IS THE LINE OF THINKING OF YOUR 'FUTURE BLACK COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP'. She does NOT value "Black lives". She ONLY cares about RE-RATIONALIZING HER MIND - using a WHITE REFERENCE. I WILL RE-WATCH THIS VIDEO WHENEVER I BELIEVE THAT 'MY LOVED ONES' ARE SAFE FROM PSYCHOLOGICAL MOLESTATION - AS A WEAPON.









Black Inferiority / Progressive Nationalism



Foreign Colonization Is AMERICAN DOMESTICATION



RIZZO IS DEAD IN PHILLY. LONG LIVE FRAUD IN THIS GOD FORSAKEN CITY.



America: One Big INTEREST ONLY Loan



US Government USED Americanized Blacks' To Achieve Its African Goals Why Did You Hear This Admission About The US/NATO Actual Destructive Goals From 'WHITE TRiUMP', While The "We Are In The White House Negroes' Never Pushed President Obama To Admit That The Coup In Libya North Africa WAS NOT A 'Humanitarian Mission', As 'The Black Commander In Chief' Told The World?

What Is The 'American Containerized Black' Tribe GIVING UP In The Name Of PROGRESSIVE DISARMAMENT, Which Will Later Be Used Against Them Toward Their Destruction, That Will Be Called 'Social Justice'?

A Major Step In Protecting Black Valuables Investmented



We Are Now In The "Or Else WHAT" Stage



Slavery In Libya North Africa 2017 6 Years After The "Humanitarian Mission" - Not A Peep From "Black Grievance Studies" Professors

Perfect 1.0 'Spiritual Whiteness' Is No Respecter Of Skin Color



The "Blackest" Moment In American Jurisprudence

A Ninja Got Himself Kilt Last Night



Few Colonial Subjects Will Ask "Who Were They Fighting Against Between These Two Historical Points"



The Qualifications For Admission Have Increased



Street Pirate Adverse Community Experience Creator



When The Colonizer Becomes Aware Of The Need To Find A NEGRO CONFIDENCE MAN PARTNER



The Revenge Of LBJ After MLK "Stabbed Him In The Back" Over Vietnam



#BlackLivesMatter Is NOT A GOVERNANCE Movement It Is ONLY A POLIITCAL OPPORTUNISTIC Movement With Up To 75% Of The Homicide Victims In Philly Being Black This Means That About 126 Black People Murdered In 2015 Have Not Triggered More National Awareness Than The Cherry Picked Small Number Of Inductees In The "Black Civil Rights Homicide Victim Martyr Hall Of Fame" That Is Used As A Reference Of The Status Of Black People With Reference To White Americans

"#All Killers Of Black People Are Equal Street Pirates" The "#BlackLivesMatter" Movement Must Prove That It Is More Than The 'Ideologically Bigoted' Analog To "Police Racial Profiling" By Eliminating Its Propensity To 'Walk Past Dead Black Bodies That Don't Fit Their Agenda' On Their Way To The Protest Rally On The Downtown Public Square.



The Flag Of A New Colonizer Is Hung At Full Staff



Sudan - To-Damned-Day



The Manifestation Of Progressive Feminism As A Cultural Replacement Download Video: .mp4

CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK UNIVERSITY Agrees With Her Logic As A Logical Extension Of Her "Progressive Fundamentalist"/'Social Justice' Inference BUT It Is An Assault Upon The 'Functional Culture' That Is Needed For The Black Diaspora To Find Its Purpose From "My Queen" To "My Bitch" In A Few GenerationsCONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK UNIVERSITY Agrees With Her Logic As A Logical Extension Of Her "Progressive Fundamentalist"/'Social Justice' Inference BUT It Is An Assault Upon The 'Functional Culture' That Is Needed For The Black Diaspora To Find Its Purpose

THE NINJA WHO GOT HIMSELF KILT



YOU ARE A WITNESS TO A REVOLUTION IN "HAMSTERDAMN"



Thanks To The Progressives I Can Now Breath



Getting Your Ass Whipped In Prison Is Not A Choice. Silence In Public Reaction To It Is



Kermit Asks That You Be Consistent



A Friend Of "Black Community Development"



The Capture Of The Assassination Killer Of Kim Jones Of Philadelphia Should Be Top News Among Those Who Value "Black Lives"

Maybe You Are Being "Colonized" Today?



The Henry Dee & Charles Moore Martyr Hall Of Fame & Last Chance NIT Tournament



"Black Consciousness" Is NOT Proven By A Large Headcount



A Black Man Seeing Crying In Philly After A Loss At The Hands Of A Street Pirate



A Question Of Personal Values And Community Priorities And Black Media Agenda

I Want To Be Allowed To Develop Into Maya Angelou



Dr King's Pulpit Then And Now



The Americanized Negro Has Known No Rivers Beyond The Urban Water Supply Spigot



The Fire Hose As A GPS Coordinate Depicting Black People's Coordinates Upon "The Struggle"



If After 20 Years Of Observations I Am On To Them, The Fact That The Media Has Been Echoing Them For 50 Years Without Challenging Them About The DEVELOPMENT OF THE LEAST OF THESE UNDER THEIR CARE - Points To A Conspiracy

Converting "Safe Passage" From Municipal Street Sign To A Consciousness Within The People



The Embedded Confidence Man's Press Agents Blow Smoke Rings As Circular References



The SUPERIORITY Of White People's Thoughts



Material Access To Consumer Comforts Is Not Indicative Of A Greater Consciousness



Mayor Nutter's Lessons Learned



Gen Edmund Pettus C.S.A. - Thanks You



He Cracked The Code On Black Progressive Outrage



In This House We Still Believe In God!!!

Tavis-You Blacks Need To Fire The Negro Generals Who Have Failed & Get New Leadership



The Inside Threat That Lurks Outside Of The Window Of Community Consciousness



My Faith In Institutions That I Once Trusted To Indoctrinate My Children Will Forever Be Shattered



Regulatory Capture







The Black Racial Services Machine



A Miscalculation On The School Busing Program To Social Justice



Full Faith And Confidence Of The Office Of The President Of The United States

The First Black Man In World History Who Is Able To Execute The Foreign/ Military / Economic Policy In The Name Of The United States Of America And Not Get Arrested In Doing So Because He Runs The Federal Prison System. His Power Is So Venerated That "The Blacks" Have Even Stopped Protesting Against The Actions Of The US Government Because They Fear That Their Outward Expression Of Discontent Against The Government Might Hurt His Chances At Reelection. The First Black Man In World History Who Is Able To Execute The Foreign/ Military / Economic Policy In The Name Of The United States Of America And Not Get Arrested In Doing So Because He Runs The Federal Prison System. His Power Is So Venerated That "The Blacks" Have Even Stopped Protesting Against The Actions Of The US Government Because They Fear That Their Outward Expression Of Discontent Against The Government Might Hurt His Chances At Reelection.

Who Diverted The Community's Eyes Off Of The Prize In Pursuit Of Shortsighted Political Gains?



As I Increase The Scope Of My Sample For Observation It Is Becoming Clear To Me That The "Machine Effect" In Metro-Atlanta That Distorts And Disrupts The Development Of Black People Is Not A Geographic Phenomenon But Instead Is Rooted In Lack Of Conscious Awareness Beyond One's On Provincial Interests And, More Importantly, The Absence Of A GOVERNING OVERLAY That Can Push Back Against These Misappropriations Of "The Black Community Development Consciousness"

NYOil - Ya'll Should All Get Lynched

Why Haven't Those Who Claim To MANAGE Your Community Told You The Dimensions Of The Space?



The Rabid "Embedded Black Fox Confidence Man"



The Mayor Of Philly Learned What The Korean Merchants Already Know



A Black Man Is Not Equal Until He Can Commit A "Civil Rights Violation" With His Actions



The Elephants In Africa Are Not Republicans







Bishop Henry McNeal Turner



Obama - The First American President To Bomb Africa w/o Massive Protests From "The Blacks"



Prison Radio Speaks To BLAX News



A Foreshadowing In "The Motherland"



What About All Of The Black Executions That The Police Or The State Did Not "Sponsor"?



The Pathway Upon Which The Hijacking Occurs



With The Loss Of Black American Consciousness Comes This Detachment



With the failure of the institutions within the Black Community to develop ORGANIC COMPETENCIES domestically there is no chance that the interests of the diasporatic Blacks can be protected by American Blacks who are more focused in domestic political affairs. The main utility of this video will be to make the American Negro "angry", increasing his resolve in "VOTING HARDER" as his means of fighting against racism, this according to his present consciousness. :'(

The "Mission Accomplished" Banner Hung By The Black Progressive-Fundamentalist



A People's Consciousness Fused To An Agenda Not Of Their Own



My Relative Ideological Position



Malcolm X Called You A "Race Traitor". CF Calls You A "Racial Consciousness Misappropriator"` The "Racial Consciousness Mis-Appropriators Malcolm X Picture On Your Blog" Removal Project

Racism Chasing - The Ultimate Hustle



The Nationalization Of The Black Community Consciousness



The PPP&HWBC Blog Supports The BAOHPEH, Inc



Evaluate The Varacity Of The PROCESS Of Judgment Not Merely The Verdict Rendered



Community Management 101



Profiles In Community Consciousness



Make Black America Happy Once Again



When We Were Colored



Schuyler And X



The 10P's In The Pod Of The Black Establishment Progressive Politicians

* Perpetual Protesters (Civil Rights orgs)

* Policy Influencers (lobbyist groups, think tanks)

* Press Operatives (the Black Press - "The Progressives Town Criers")

* Performers (singers, rappers, actors)

* Preachers w/ and w/o Pulpits * Public Intellectuals (Humanities Professors)

* Public School Teachers

* Pro-Union Labor Forces

* Posters (Bloggers) (Civil Rights orgs)(lobbyist groups, think tanks)(the Black Press - "The Progressives Town Criers")(singers, rappers, actors)

Don't Shoot Me Street Pirate! I Am Attempting To Be A Positive Asset To My Community



Will The Black Comunity Recover From The Hijacking Of Its Consciousness?



The Use Of "Slave/Jim Crow Images" In Black Political Debate - Evaluate The Agenda The use of "slave imagery" is common in ideological discourse among Black people today. The best way to appraise the veracity of the agenda of the presenter is to distinguish between those images which are used to cajole Black people into "Ideological Unity" versus those images used to bring consciousness to the sad fact that in far too many cases today - the man holding the gun is a Black man, his disturbed consciousness allowed to fester because the balance of our community organizers are focused on external political affairs. They sell us on the notion that when our people assist their political/ideological external partners in their success that these individuals who suffer from BENIGN NEGLECT will be cured - no longer terrorizing us. In the circular reference that is their struggle - the more damaged individuals that matriculate through the local institutions that they now control per their struggle, the louder their call for continued UNITY and redirection lest our community's long time external adversaries start terrorizing us again. They successfully avoid community scrutiny of their stewardship of our key "Human Resource Development" institutions.

I Am A Man!!



The Photographic Negative Of The Black Progressive Blogs That Focus On What White Folks Are Doing Black Racism And Race Hatred Blog

Stuff Black People Don't Like

Chicago Lady 216 - The Crisis Of Consciousness WITHIN The Black Community You probably do not have the Flash Player ( Get Adobe Flash Player Here ) installed for your browser or the video files are misplaced on your server!

Consciousness Mission Accomplished



I Support The "Corporate Premise Security Equality Project"



New York Times Demographic Mapping



The Antidote For Fear And Ignorance Antidote to the use of the tactics of FEAR as propagated by 'confidence men' to prompt a people toward a certain direction that is against their permanent interests is the development within these masses a base of Knowledge. When this knowledge is applied to their daily lives this builds up their Competencies. As a result their "Standard Of Living" is increased toward the a favorable level.

Obama Commemorative Plate = "Mission Accompished - An Ensnared Black Community"



Black Male Un-Demployment Rates In "Mission Accomplished" Cities



The Conflict Between The Civil Rights Pharisees Vs The Neo-Progressive Establishment Players You probably do not have the Flash Player ( Get Adobe Flash Player Here ) installed for your browser or the video files are misplaced on your server!

From Reactionary Transactionalism To Management Of Our Community



Ideologically Polarized Vision



Ted Kennedy & Black Independent Consciousenss



People Who Aide & Abet Street Pirates Need To Hear These Words & Instead Pursue Absolute Justice

THe NAACP & Rachael Maddow See These Guns As INFERIOR To Guns Used By Right-Wing Militias ** No matter how many guns these Street Pirates gather and no matter how many Black people are killed - these "equal human beings" will never been EQUAL in the mind of Civil Rights Pharisees and their White Snarling Fox Liberal co-conspirators because there is no ideological and political advantage in going after them.

The Rallo Tubbs Fan Club



Blog Archive

Those Who Have Their Conciousness Focused "Within The Black Community"

Page Views - Last 7 DaysCategory Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release

SubCategory Select Sub-CategoryEarrings Made Of Gold & Diamond

The gold earrings are also studded with diamonds and are handmade with over 170 diamonds in them, says a report.

Here's What The Jewellery Makers Said On Their Website About The Earrings

"Sparkling with light, the Snowflake High Jewelry collection is inspired by flakes of snow - an inspiration for Van Cleef & Arpels since the 1940s. Round diamonds combine to form dazzling winter motifs."

Coming To Their Wedding!

Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas tied the knot on December 1 and 2 in both Christian and Hindu traditions at the Taj Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur. The wedding was attended by their near and dear ones and was a private affair.

Reception In Delhi Tonight!

The newly married couple Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas will throw a reception tonight on December 4, 2018 in Delhi which will be attended by their extended relatives, family members and close friends.

The Big Fat Bollywood Reception

Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas are expected to throw a grand Bollywood reception as well but the dates have not been confirmed yet.Armaan Made Unreasonable Demands

While talking to SpotboyE, fashion designer Nadia said, "Well, I have lodged a FIR against 3 people- Armaan, his friend Dilip Rajput and his servant Nitin. Armaan and Rajput made some unreasonable demands to me and I had no option but to complaint."

She Was Threatened Of Physical Abuse

Revealing further shocking details, Nadia said, "Armaan and Rajput had taken Rs 50 lakh from me, and they refused to return. When I insisted that I need my money back, they started threatening me and even hurt me physically."

Were They Lovers?

In a video that has been making rounds on the internet, Nadia is seen sitting on Armaan's lap. From what we can see, the duo seems to be under the influence of alcohol. When Nadia was asked if she had any romantic relationship, the designer said, "Well, you are asking some very personal questions. Okay, I would say that were friends for sure."

Police Is Looking The Matter

With regard to the issue, a police told the publication, "The FIR number is 509. She has said that she was cheated of a certain amount of money and Armaan uske saath phone par ashleel baatein karta tha."

Armaan Denies Allegations

Addressing the accusation made against him, Armaan told Mid Day, "It's a complaint against someone else and my name is being dragged into this. It will be cleared, it is not a big issue. Once it gets cleared, I will speak to you. I will give you my side of the story soon, just wait for the correct news."British pharmaceutical group GlaxoSmithKline secured the high price of 3.1 billion $3.97 billion for the sale of its Indian business, but the proceeds are mostly in shares rather than cash.

GlaxoSmithKline said on Monday that it would sell Horlicks and other consumer healthcare nutrition brands to Unilever as well as merge GSK Consumer Healthcare India with Unilevers Indian unit, Hindustan Unilever.

The assets fetched a high valuation at auction partly due to the growth of Indias consumer goods market and fierce competition from bidders.

Hindustan Unilever said on a conference call with analysts that it expects the health food...NEW YORK, Dec. 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of McDermott International, Inc. ("McDermott" or the "Company") (NYSE: MDR). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888-476-6529, ext. 9980.

The investigation concerns whether McDermott and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.

[Click here to join a class action]

On October 30, 2018, after the close of trading, McDermott reported financial results for third quarter 2018 that fell far below analysts' estimates. McDermott reported revenues of $2.29 billion, compared to midpoint estimates of $2.51 billion, and earnings per share of $0.20, versus midpoint estimates of $0.29. McDermott also reported a $744 million change in the value of certain projects it had acquired from Chicago Bridge & Iron Company, and disclosed plans to sell McDermott's storage tank business and its U.S. pipe fabrication business, advising investors that those businesses "are not core to the Company's long-term strategic objectives."

Following this news, McDermott's stock price fell $5.14 per share, or nearly 40%, to close at $7.73 per share on October 31, 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Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - December 3, 2018) - Andrew Thomson (the "Acquiror") has today filed an early warning report (the "Early Warning Report") advising of his acquisition of common shares (the "Common Shares") of Palamina Corp. (the "Company").

The Acquiror purchased 2,500 Common Shares at a price of $0.35 per Common Share and 575 Common Shares at a price of $0.37 per Common Share for an aggregate 3,075 Common Shares of the Company for gross consideration of $1,087.75, increasing the Acquiror's overall ownership interest in the Company to 12% of the outstanding Common Shares (the "Acquired Shares").

As indicated in the Acquioror's prior early warning report dated February 28, 2018 the Acquiror beneficially owned, or exercised control or direction over, directly or indirectly, 2,419,444 Common Shares (including Common Shares underlying the options and warrants (the "Prior Options and Warrants")), representing 10.1% of the outstanding Common Shares on a partially-diluted basis, assuming exercise of the Prior Options and Warrants. Immediately before purchasing the Acquired Shares, the Acquiror beneficially owned, or exercised control or direction over, directly or indirectly: (a) 2,687,294 Common Shares; (b) options to purchase 700,000 Common Shares (the "Options"); and (c) warrants to purchase 196,667 Common Shares (the "Warrants"), representing an aggregate of 3,583,961 Common Shares owned, controlled or issuable, or 11.64% of the outstanding Common Shares immediately prior to the acquisition of the Acquired Shares, on a partially diluted basis, assuming the exercise of the Options and Warrants.

After purchasing the Acquired Shares, the Acquiror beneficially owned, or exercised control or direction over, directly or indirectly, 2,690,369 Common Shares, 700,000 Options and 196,667 Warrants, representing 12% of the outstanding Common Shares of the Company on an undiluted basis.

The Acquired Shares were purchased for investment purposes. The Acquiror may, from time to time, take such actions in respect of its holdings in securities of the Company as it may deem appropriate in light of the circumstances then existing, including (i) acquiring, exercising, converting, exchanging, selling or otherwise disposing of securities of the Company or securities exercisable for, or convertible or exchangeable into, securities of the Company, and (ii) developing plans or intentions or taking actions which relate to or would result in one or more of the transactions or matters referred to in paragraphs (a) through (k) of Item 5 of the Early Warning Report filed on SEDAR.

This news release is being issued as required by National Instrument 62-104 - Take-Over Bids and Issuer Bids and relates to the Company, whose head office is located at 145 King Street West, Suite 2870, Toronto, Ontario, M5H 1J8, and to the Acquiror. A copy of the Early Warning Report can be obtained at www.sedar.com under the Company's company profile, or by contacting Andrew Thomson at 145 King Street West, Suite 2870, Toronto, Ontario, M5H 1J8, telephone: (416) 204-7536.CMI Energy awarded a contract for the Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum solar park in Dubai

After its commercial success in China for the design and supply of a thermal solar receiver at Haixi, CMI has just been awarded a new contract for engineering and supplying a receiver for the Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum solar park (Dubai).

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181203006035/en/

CMI Energy awarded a contract for the Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum solar park in Dubai (Photo: Business Wire)

This huge concentrated solar power (CSP) project named after the Emir of Dubai, is the centerpiece of Dubai's ambitious goal of generating 75% of the Emirate's electricity demand from renewable energy by 2050. When completed in 2030, the Solar Park will have an installed capacity of 5,000 MW from an investment of approximately 12 billion euros. Launched in 2013, the Solar Park's first three phases are dedicated to producing photovoltaic power (PV). Phase 4, known as the DEWA project for Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, is expected to cost over 3.3 billion euros. ACWA Power, one of the world's largest developers of CSP projects, won the development contract for Phase 4. ACWA Power has selected Shanghai Electric as EPC. CMI Energy was awarded the contract for the solar receiver in October 2018.

Phase 4 includes a 100 MW solar tower. Thousands of sun-tracking mirrors will spread over several square kilometers around a 260-meter high tower. They will focus the sun's energy onto a 30-meter-high CMI receiver installed at the top of the tower and that will heat molten salts above 560C. The heat transfer fluid may then be sent to energy storage tanks for later use or used immediately to produce high-temperature steam that will flow through a steam turbine to produce electricity.

Power around the clock

CSP and the use of molten salts have two significant advantages over conventional wind and solar PV projects. First, high-temperature molten salts permit energy storage, so power may be generated 24-hours a day. Second, the power output of a CSP plant is dispatchable, which means electricity production may be controlled to match grid demand, unlike wind and solar PV.

About Cockerill Maintenance Ingenierie

CMI, Cockerill Maintenance Ingenierie, designs, integrates, modernises and maintains equipment for energy, defence, iron and steel, the environment and industries in general. CMI Energy is an international supplier of HRSGs, industrial boilers and steam generators for CSP with thermal storage.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181203006035/en/

Contacts:

Laurence PETIT

CMI ENERGY

laurence.petit@cmigroupe.com

https://www.cmigroupe.com/PARIS, December 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

This year, Cointreau will add a touch of elegance and refinement to holiday shelves. Through a collaboration with the prestigious Design Laboratory at Central Saint Martins College, the iconic brand releases two specially designed bottles, just in time for the gift-giving season. Inspired by an excursion in the luxuriant Jardin des Hesperides, this collection is a magnificent celebration of orange in all its forms.

(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/788707/Cointreau_Logo.jpg )



(Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/788708/1L_Limited_Edition_HR_Front.jpg )

(Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/788709/Selective_Coffret_Open.jpg )



Inspired by the passion found within each bottle of Cointreau, we created a unique limited edition, inviting the audience to step into the recipe of the spirit itself and to celebrate the magic harmony of the ingredients.

Boris Thuery, Creative Director of the Design Laboratory at Central Saint Martins

TWO BESPOKE EDITIONS

The Limited Edition is a glass marvel. Featuring etched oranges, ribbed leaves and coiled roots interspersed throughout, the monochrome design lets the warm amber color of the bottle take center stage.

A true collector's item, the Selective Edition is an exclusive capsule release of only 1,000 bottles, featuring a gold iteration of the orange grove label. Topped with an ornate, perfume-inspired square cap and encased in an orange box with a fabric interior, it is the piece de resistance of the collection. The Selective Edition is the epitome of the holiday aesthetic.

Limited quantities

ABOUT COINTREAU

Since its creation in 1849, these words of Edouard Cointreau set the tone for Maison Cointreau. Embodied by the famous square bottle that bears the name of its creator, the brand expresses the same playfulness today, driven by the creative impulse that gave it life. Balance, moments, pleasure, style... even in its creation. The clear liqueur was born out of the inspired idea to combine sweet and bitter orange peels. This particular combination affords Cointreau its unique and delicate taste, the perfect balance of sweetness and freshness. The Cointreau recipe has retained its original authenticity over the years. Its character and excellence lie in the rigorous selection and assembly of the orange-peel essences, a meticulous task entrusted to Maison Cointreau's Head Distiller.

A star within cocktail culture, Cointreau has been featured in over 350 recipes since its creation. Signature recipe inspired by the Orange Limited edition

ORANGE BY COINTREAU

80ml Cointreau

200ml Fever Tree light tonic

2 Dashes Angostura orange bitters

2 Orange leaves

0,5ml Orange syrupMontreal, Quebec--(Newsfile Corp. - December 4, 2018) - Manganese X Energy Corp. (TSXV: MN) (FSE: 9SC2) (TRADEGATE: 9SC2) (OTC Pink: SNCGF) (the "Company" or "Manganese X") is pleased to announce that it has acquired a 100% interest in its flagship Battery Hill Houlton Woodstock Manganese property located in the top-tier global mining jurisdiction of New Brunswick, by making cash payments of $200,000, issuing 4.0 million common shares and spending $1.0 million on exploration over a 2 year period. The property is subject to a 3% Gross Metal Royalty on production, payable to Globex Mining Enterprises Inc.

The Battery Hill property includes the historical Moody Hill, Sharp Farm, Iron Ore Hill and Maple Hill manganese-iron zones located in central New Brunswick. The property is strategically situated 12 kilometers from the US (Maine) border, near existing power transmission lines, railway and road access that provide suitable transport to major shipping lanes on the Atlantic Ocean and Saint Lawrence Seaway.

The Company is currently focusing efforts on the metallurgical aspects of the Battery Hill mineralization, including a "cost-shared" research project in conjunction with the National Research Council of Canada titled "The potential of ore upgrading and purification techniques to produce battery-grade material (high purity: 99.999 per cent)". The aim of the project is to determine to what extent ore from the Battery Hill project could be upgraded and to explore the potential to generate a high-purity manganese product suitable for the battery industry.

On February 27, 2018 Manganese X announced a technical study completed by Mercator Geological Services which examined the results of confirmation drilling programs consisting of 25 holes totalling 5188 meters that were completed between November 2016 and June 2017. These holes assessed the potential magnitude of mineralization encountered in the "exploration target" and identified 6 target areas for further drilling. The "exploration target" (as defined by NI 43-101) for the Battery Hill project is indicated as 14 million to 31 million tonnes grading between 8% and 10% Mn and 12% and 14% Fe (Manganese X News Release dated Feb 27, 2018). As defined under NI 43-101, the potential quantity and grade of an exploration target is conceptual in nature; there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource.

Battery Hill Project Summary / Highlights

Property consists of 55 claim units totalling 1,228 hectares, located close to key infrastructure (road, power and railway);

The Company is exploring the property with the objective of assessing its potential for future development using low cost, open pit mining methods focusing on higher grade areas;

Confirmation drilling programs totalling 5188 meters in 25 holes have been completed;

Results indicate that the Moody Hill sector hosts higher grades such as 13.45% Mn over 23.6 meters (SF17-16) from 32.4m downhole, and significant amounts of "red/mixed" mineralization that is considered preferable with respect to metallurgical recovery of Manganese;

Potential quantity and grade range of the exploration target is 14 to 31 million tonnes grading between 8% and 10% Mn;

Mineralization remains open for expansion with 6 target areas identified for further drilling;

Metallurgical studies are in progress.

Qualified Persons and QA/QC

Roger Dahn, B.Sc., P.Geo. (New Brunswick), Manganese X Energy's Vice President of Exploration, is designated as the Qualified Person in compliance with National Instrument 43-101 with respect to this release and has reviewed the contents for accuracy.

About Manganese X Energy

Manganese X Energy's mission is to acquire and advance high potential manganese prospects located in North America with the intent of supplying value added materials to the lithium ion battery and other alternative energy industries as well as the steel industry. In addition, our company is striving to achieve new methodologies emanating with environmentally friendly green/zero emissions processes and producing manganese at a lower competitive cost.

For more information, visit the website at www.manganesexenergycorp.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Martin Kepman

CEO and Director

martin@kepman.com

1-514-802-1814

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release contains "forward-looking information" including statements with respect to the future exploration performance of the Company. This forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements of the Company, expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks, as well as others, are disclosed within the Company's filing on SEDAR, which investors are encouraged to review prior to any transaction involving the securities of the Company. Forward-looking information contained herein is provided as of the date of this news release and the Company disclaims any obligation, other than as required by law, to update any forward-looking information for any reason. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate and the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking information.The UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) will meet on December 11th to discuss a report it commissioned-and vowed to make public-on credible claims of sexual abuse among U.N. staff and the subsequent botched handling of the sexual harassment investigation of senior staff at the agency

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) today called on the governing board of UNAIDS to publicly release the report it commissioned in response to credible claims of sexual abuse among its staff and the senior management cover-up that followed.

On December 11, the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board will meet in Geneva to review the report. In a desperate attempt to suppress the report's findings, UNAIDS has refused to publicly release the report after it said it would make it public.

The so-called "independent expert panel" is supposed to present the report at the UNAIDS board meeting; however, the staff at UNAIDS is doing all it can to make sure it doesn't see the light of day.

"Sunshine is the best disinfectant, and UNAIDS needs to be disinfected from a culture that encourages sex abuse and the promotion of predators. AHF calls on the representatives of UN member states represented on the UNAIDS board which have access to the report to immediately release it prior to its next board meeting," said Michael Weinstein, president of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. "This cover-up has lasted long enough."

The Code Blue Campaign, a group working to end impunity for sexual abuse by UN personnel, offered this on the background of the twin scandals of sexual abuse and the subsequent cover-up by UN officials:

"The sexual assault investigation and cover-up that provoked public outcry about UNAIDS leadership remain outstanding. In April, Secretary-General Guterres, who appointed the top managers of UNAIDS, announced that the UN would undertake a new investigation into Luiz Loures, who has since retired. Nothing further has been heard about that reopened investigation in the more than half-year since."

For additional information, see this release from Code Blue Campaign: http://www.codebluecampaign.com/press-releases/2018/12/3

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to over 1,000,000 individuals in 42 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us on Twitter: @aidshealthcare and Instagram: @aidshealthcare

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181203006094/en/

Contacts:

MEDIA CONTACTS:

WASHINGTON

John Hassell, National Director of Advocacy, AHF

+1.202.774.4854 [cell] John.hassell@aidshealth.org

LOS ANGELES

Ged Kenslea, Senior Director, Communications, AHF

+1.323.791.5526 [cell] +1.323.308.1833 [work] gedk@aidshealth.orgWhether youre in UK, USA, Australia or Canada, SEOpaslaugos got you covered

Renowned SEO service provider in Lithuania SEOpaslaugos is proud to announce their company to the public. The company specializes in offering professional SEO services to assist businesses and individuals to leap to the top of the search engines with their innovative and transparent services. Despite the fact the company is a leading SEO marketing service company in Lithuania; they extend their top-notch services to UK, USA, Australia, and Canada.

Their services are tailored to helping your online business grow rapidly. Do you want a result driven SEO Campaign to increase your website traffic, leads, and Conversion? Or you want a quality white hat backlink service to increase your website ranking, look no further because SEOpaslaugos is your best choice.

Many Internet users browse the Internet to search for something; it may be information, a product or any type of service. And when the search results arrive, they will probably visit the top websites in the results. And this is exactly where you want your website to be positioned. In order to achieve this, you must implement an active search engine optimization strategy.

While talking about the company the spokesperson for SEOpaslaugos said The most effective way to help our clients reach their goals is by establishing a true partnership with them. You will never feel that the aims of your company differ from ours. he further stated while talking their approach to satisfy their clients, Our holistic approach creates a synergistic relationship with our customers that no other firm can replicate. No long-term contracts or steep penalties for an early withdrawal. All our relationships are based on trust and shared visions.

SEOpaslaugos standout among their competitors because their SEO services are cost effective and also designed to suit your business. And as a result of this: You dont have to break your bank to achieve your marketing goals.

For more information please visit https://seopaslaugos.com/ or send an email to info@seopaslaugos.com

Media Contact

Company Name: SEOpaslaugos

Contact Person: Eugenijus Mockaitis

Email: Send Email

Country: Lithuania

Website: https://seopaslaugos.com/4 December 2018

Early Equity Plc

("Early Equity" or "the Company")

AUDITED RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31 AUGUST 2018

CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT

I am pleased to present the financial results for Early Equity Plc for the year ended 31 August 2018. The total comprehensive loss for the year was 97,475 (2017 - 138,987). The loss per share was 0.01p (2017 - 0.02p). The loss before tax of 190,826 (2017 - 138,987) largely reflects the costs of maintaining a public listing, administration costs and the impairment of two investments.

On 8 November 2017, 128,333,334 new ordinary shares of 0.1p were issued at a price of 0.6p per share. This generated total cash consideration of 590,000 and a receipt of 60,000 shares in Yicom Global Sdn Bhd for 30,000,000 of the issued shares. Early Equity Plc now has a total interest in Yicom Global Sdn Bhd of 188,571 shares, representing 47.14% of its issued share capital.

On the 13thNovember 2017, 19,166,667 new ordinary shares of 0.1p were issued at a price of 0.6p per share. This generated a further cash consideration of 115,000 of working capital.

On the 15thDecember 2017 the Company invested 60,000 by way of subscription in TruSpine Technologies Limited a company that has developed minimally invasive spine stabilisation products. On the same day, the Company also invested 35,000 by way of subscription in Farina Investments (UK) Limited a boutique corporate finance and asset management company. These investments are still early stage and the board are monitoring the development of the respective companies.

At the year end, the value of our investment portfolio in unquoted securities (UK and Malaysia) stood at 983,704 (2017 - 600,320). The investment in Alpha Prospects Limited in 3,612,799 ordinary shares was reclassified to unquoted and the valuation of 0.055 per share has been based on recent share allotments that the company has recorded at Companies House. Quoted investments decreased in value by 15,033 which offset the increase in value of the unlisted investments by 108,834, resulting in net increase in available for sale investments of 93,351.

At the end of the year our investment portfolio stood at 1,010,762 (2017: 642,411).

FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS

The Company has continued to develop a closer relationship with Yicom Global Sdn Bhd following further investment within this Group in the current year. We have developed a strong working relationship which will be mutually beneficial to both Early Equity Plc and Yicom Global Sdn Bhd. On the 21stSeptember 2018 we were pleased to publish the results of Yicom Global Sdn Bhd that posted a major increase in its turnover (+508% on previous year) and a major increase in its profit (+530.4% on previous year). The balance sheet of Yicom Global also increased by 300.4%. The dividend payment received by Early Equity was proportionally lower as the Directors of Yicom Global retained a higher percentage of profit to facilitate the purchase of a new headquarter building and to reinvest into the business.

The Company is continuing with its application for a Standard Listing of the Company's Ordinary Shares on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange which the directors believe is an exciting opportunity and in the best interests of the Company and shareholders.

POST-BALANCE SHEET EVENTS

The Company continues to seek further acquisitions that meet its investment criteria and intend to raise additional funds in the future when suitable investment opportunities present.

The Company's investment strategy is to invest in early stage, small to medium high-growth enterprises around the world. The Directors will continue to evaluate suitable investment opportunities.

On behalf of the Board, I would like to take this opportunity to thank shareholders and professional advisers for their continued support of the Company.

Greg Collier - Chairman and Non-Executive Director

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2018

2018 2017 GBP GBP CONTINUING OPERATIONS Turnover 16,016 - Administrative expenses (203,118) (137,791) Finance costs (3,724) (1,196) ------------------- ------------------- LOSS BEFORE TAX (190,826) (138,987) Income tax - - ------------------ ------------------ LOSS FOR THE YEAR (190,826) (138,987) ========= ========= OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME Fair Value movement on available for sale assets 93,351 - TOTAL COMPREHENSIVE LOSS FOR THE YEAR (97,475) (138,987) ========= ========= BASIC AND DILUTED LOSS PER SHARE (PENCE) (0.01) (0.02) ========= =========

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

AS AT 31 AUGUST 2018

2018 2017 GBP GBP NON-CURRENT ASSETS Available-for-sale financial assets 1,010,762 642,411 CURRENT ASSETS Trade and other receivables 10,549 2,338 Cash and cash equivalents 437,326 22,018 --------------------- -------------- 447,875 24,356 CURRENT LIABILITIES Trade and other payables (14,309) (9,964) --------------------- ---------------- NET CURRENT ASSETS 433,566 14,392 --------------------- ------------------ NET ASSETS 1,444,328 656,803 ========== ========= REPRESENTING: Share capital 972,123 824,623 Share premium 1,496,090 758,590 Fair value reserve 142,382 49,031 Accumulated losses (1,166,267) (975,441) --------------------- ------------------ SHAREHOLDERS' FUNDS 1,444,328 656,803 ========== =========

This financial information has been extracted from the audited financial statements of the Group for the year ended 31 August 2018. The financial statements are prepared in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). A copy of the Company's financial statements for the year ended 31 August 2018 will be posted to shareholders and will be delivered to the Registrar of Companies.

The Directors do not propose to pay a dividend for the year.

The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for this announcement.

--ENDS--

Enquiries:

Early Equity Plc

Tel: +44 (0)7830 182501

Greg Collier

NEX CORPORATE ADVISER:

Alexander David Securities Limited

David Scott -Corporate FinanceJames Dewhurst - Institutional Sales Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7448 9820 http://www.ad-securities.com

49 Queen Victoria Street, London EC4N 4SAALIEN METALS

Trading Symbols

AIM: UFO

FWB: I3A1

4 December 2018

Nominated Adviser Status

The directors are aware of the proposed merger of its current nominated adviser ("Nomad"), Northland Capital Partners ("Northland") with SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP ("SP Angel").

It is the intention of the directors to appoint SP Angel as the Company's Nomad and broker.

Northland has voluntarily agreed to relinquish its Nomad status and will be removed from the register of Nomads with effect from 7am on 1 February 2019.

The proposed merger remains subject to regulatory approvals and final due diligence. In accordance with AIM Rule 1, if the Company fails to appoint a new Nomad by 1 February 2019 the Exchange will suspend trading in the Company's AIM Securities.

If the Company has failed to appoint a replacement Nomad by 4 March 2019 the admission of its AIM Securities will be cancelled.

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 596/2014.



For further information please contact:VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / December 4, 2018 / Casa Minerals Inc. is pleased to announce Airborne VTEM geophysical survey on its Arsenault property has outlined five VMS targets including the historic Arsenault VMS1 zone. Assayed rock as high as 1.74% copper, gold as high as 0.98 g/t and silver 24.1 g/t, along with copper in soil as high as 0.54% has confirmed the VMS1 zone. The Arsenault property is located 125 km east of Atlin in northern British Columbia. Work in 2017 and 2018 included prospecting, mapping, rock and soil geochemical sampling and a 228 line-km airborne geophysical survey.

Apparent resistivity data from an airborne VTEM survey confirmed the historic prospect area (VMS-1) and identified four previously unknown target areas (VMS-2, 3, 4 and 5) that were subsequently included in a 2018 field program of sampling and mapping. Figure 1 illustrates the distribution of target areas of low resistivity and copper anomalous areas and Figure 2, rock and soil analyses. Mineralization includes bornite, chalcopyrite and pyrite. Significant gold values accompany the copper.







First identified in 1947, Arsenault has been investigated by prospectors and several programs of technical surveys. Casa acquired a 75% interest in the property in 2008 and recently enlarged the land package to 9,672.5 hectares. The Company has applied for a drilling permit.

The Arsenault property is a volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) prospect situated in metamorphosed volcanic and sedimentary members of the Big Salmon Complex unit of Yukon-Tanana terrane that in Yukon are host to several VMS deposits, including Kudzze Kayah and Wolverine. Locally, mineralization is present in interbedded layers of micaceous and actinolitic schists, quartzites and altered limestone.

Listing on Frankfurt Stock Exchange

Casa Minerals Inc. has been accepted for trading on the German / Frankfurt Stock Exchange, ISIN CA14712X1078, WKN A2N8AG, symbol: 0CM. Casa's shares now trade on three international platforms: TSX Venture (Canada), OTC Markets (USA), and Frankfurt (Germany).

Casa's President and CEO, Farshad Shirvani, states "Trading of Casa's shares on international markets allows the Company to expand its European and American exposure and shareholder base, and provides enhanced liquidity for our shareholders".

About Casa Minerals Inc.

Casa Minerals Inc. (TSX-V: Casa; OTC: CASXF; Frankfurt: 0CM) is engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties located in Canada. The Company holds a 100% interest in the polymetallic Pitman and Keaper properties and an option to acquire a 75% interest in the Arsenault VMS property.

The Arsenault property comprises eight mineral tenures covering approximately 9,672.5 hectares located in Atlin Mining Division, British Columbia. The Company has conducted several exploration programs on the property and believes that an attractive volcanogenic massive sulphide exploration target is located within its limits. Further work is planned, leading to a program of diamond drilling to test several areas identified by geological mapping, prospecting, and geophysical and geochemical surveys.

The Pitman property comprises five contiguous mineral tenures covering 4,255.6 hectares located 20 kilometres north of Terrace, British Columbia. The property includes several historic prospects, including the Pitman copper-molybdenum-silver prospect, the Gold Dome/WoMo and Paddy Mac gold-base metals prospects and the newly discovered Golden Dragon and Golden Tale multi-metal prospects. Exploration by Casa has been on-going at intervals since 2005. Some parts of the property recently have become accessible as a result of retreat of glaciers and snowfields. Further work will include an airborne geophysical survey and programs of diamond drilling.

The Keaper property, located 20 km northeast of Terrace, British Columbia, comprises five contiguous mineral tenures with area 3,789.5 hectares. Numerous copper occurrences and a possible polymetallic, high grade silver zone are present. Field work is continuing and results will be released when available.

On Behalf of Board of Directors

Farshad Shirvani, M.Sc. Geology

President and CEO

For more information, please contact:

Casa Minerals Inc.

Farshad Shirvani, President & CEO

Phone: (604) 689-9523

Email: contact@casaminerals.com

https://www.casaminerals.com

Forward-Looking Statements

Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions as of the date of this news release. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations. They are not guarantees of future performance. The Company cautions that all forward looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's limited operating history and the need to comply with environmental and governmental regulations. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.

NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

SOURCE: Casa Minerals Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/529643/Casa-Minerals-Inc-Announces-Five-VMS-Targets-on-its-Arsenault-Property-Identified-by-Airborne-VTEMTM-Survey-and-Company-Stock-Now-Trades-on-German-Frankfurt-Stock-ExchangeGlobal Risk Solutions, Inc., a leading provider of a diverse range of claims adjusting and environmental risk management services, announced that claims industry expert Mike Reeves has joined the GRS team to lead development of a new business unit, Complex Claims Solutions (CCS).

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005110/en/

Mike Reeves Major and Complex Loss Executive (Photo: Business Wire)

Reeves comes to GRS following a distinguished career at a global adjusting firm, where he was executive vice president of global markets and played a key role in forming a division dedicated to providing loss handling services for large and complex organizations. He is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters and an associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute.

In his new role as Major Complex Loss Executive, Reeves will be based in London. He will work closely again with GRS Non-Executive Chair Jeffrey Bowman, who joined GRS in August 2018, and with CEO Kip Radigan, one of the firm's founding partners.

"Mike will be based in GRS' new London office. He and I have worked together for many years setting up similar operations to Complex Claims Solutions, and his renowned market knowledge and background will be invaluable in helping us attract top-class large claims adjusters and teams to GRS. He will be instrumental in developing a first-rate claim adjusting team for CCS clients. GRS has a fantastic claim adjusting culture that is continuing to attract many expert adjusters," Bowman said.

Reeves said: "I'm honored to join the team at GRS. They are a dynamic and ambitious company seeking to address the rapidly evolving environment in property and casualty claims. I am looking forward to helping GRS further establish itself as a market-leading business."

Kip Radigan, CEO of GRS, added: "Mike joins us at a very exciting time in our corporate expansion and brings a wealth of industry expertise to this new role. As a management- and adjuster-owned corporation, GRS is delighted to welcome him to lead the development of our major and complex claims team. Caring for our clients and their insureds is our main mission. Having the best-qualified staff is an intrinsic part of the value GRS delivers to all our clients."

Mike Reeves can be reached at mreeves@globalrisksolutions.com and +44 7802 590990.

About Global Risk Solutions

Global Risk Solutions enables corporate and insurance industry clients to quickly and effectively respond to property and casualty claims, natural catastrophes and environmental events by delivering people, process and technology to manage risk and contain costs. Headquartered in Miami, with global reach and offices in London and throughout the United States, we offer a diverse range of claims adjusting and environmental risk management services. For more information, please visit www.globalrisksolutions.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005110/en/

Contacts:

Kip Radigan

President and CEO

Global Risk Solutions, Inc.

941.907.4773

kradigan@globalrisksolutions.comTaiwanese Startups Showcasing Innovation and Passion

TAIPEI, Taiwan, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Taiwan is a major role player in the Asia-Pacific market and sees entrepreneurship as one of the most important national development policies. In additional to connecting startups with local resources, the Small and Medium Enterprise Administration (SMEA), Ministry of Economic Affairs of Taiwan is also leading nine outstanding Taiwanese startups selected to attend the December 2018 SLUSH event in Finland. SLUSH offers attendees with the chance to share their experience with thousands of startups from all over the world. These nine startup companies will not only be able to demonstrate their strength and leading technologies, but also expand their business opportunities on the global stage.

Standing on Shoulders of Giants at the Startup Dream Destination

SLUSH, since its inception in 2008, has become a dream destination for European startups every year. "SLUSH" means snow mixed with mud and it also symbolizes the fearless spirit of Finland. Ever since Nokia's exit from the world stage, Finland has been seeking new national growth by attracting startups and media from around the world through the annual SLUSH Startup Event. At SLUSH, startup teams are free to exchange their experience with others on equal footing through exhibitions, presentations, and Q&A sessions. Startups and major corporations invited to the event from all over the world are also able to discover new business opportunities among the new technologies and unique products. SLUSH is not only a platform for showcasing technology but also a global collaborative event for everyone involved.

Taiwan Government Takes Lead with Industry Support to Build a National Brand of Entrepreneurship in Taiwan

The SMEA became a SLUSH partner for the first time this year with an eye on the unique features and the potential for new business opportunities from around the world at the "Startup Terrace Taiwan" for SLUSH. In addition, SMEA will directly introduce the Taiwanese startups to Business Finland and Helsinki Business Hub to discuss new collaborative opportunities between Taiwan and Finland.

A total of nine Taiwanese companies including mit.jobs, Trade Wind Biotech, ID Water, Accupass, 3Egreen, TaoTaoXi, TenMax Ad tech lab, CHENG JIE TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD, and Taipei Sunny Hotel will be attending this year's SLUSH event. Among these startups, mit.jobs features the social networking employment platform that provides job seekers with open and transparent information. Trade Wind Biotech is focused on technology that enables synthetic genome designing tools. ID Water is the first professional water quality inspection company in Taiwan focusing on the public water utility, where customers can easily monitor their water quality through IoT-enabled products and services. Accupass is Taiwan's most trusted independent ticket platform that offers more ticketing options for consumers through its cloud registration and fully featured social media promotion. 3Egreen is focused on the research and development of smart power meters to monitor power consumption through Bluetooth connected digital devices. TaoTaoXi combines artificial intelligence and astrology to lead the forefront in fortunetelling for the masses. TenMax Ad tech lab utilizes big data analytics to enable more precise advertising. These startups can create new business opportunities through technology and artificial intelligence by identifying with local industry trends.

Interaction between startups and investors has intensified at SLUSH with extended exchanges of synergy to further create opportunities for cooperation. The Taiwanese delegation will also meet with the relevant agencies in the UK after the event to establish an international collaborative network, thus attracting greater international investment into Taiwan from major corporations and research institutes for the domestic industries to go global. In addition, SMEA surveyed the startups before the SLUSH event on their issues in the EU market to further focus on expanded business opportunities and markets in the region. By going directly to the source in Finland, the goal is to actively build Taiwan's new image, a location for entrepreneurs and promote Taiwan for the international market with new business opportunities.

Fides Corporate Sustainability Consultants Co., Ltd.

Supei Huang

+44 7882 245724Eutelsat has committed satellite resources and technical expertise towards emergency response efforts around the globe

Regulatory News:

The Space Satellite Professionals International yesterday recognized the signatories to the Crisis Connectivity Charter, including Eutelsat (Paris:ETL), with the Better Satellite World Award during a ceremony in London, which annually acknowledges the contributions of the satellite industry to the global economy, safety, security, governance, development and health.

The Crisis Connectivity Charter was signed in late 2015 between the Global VSAT Forum (GVF), the EMEA Satellite Operators Association (ESOA), the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Aid (OCHA) and the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC) to help the humanitarian community by enhancing their access to vital satellite-based communications when local networks are affected, destroyed or overloaded following disasters. It entered into its operational phase in May of this year through the signature of contribution agreements with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), on behalf of the ETC.

In the context of the Charter, Eutelsat has committed pre-allocated bandwidth on four of its satellites[1] across the globe, complemented on the ground by ready-to-deploy satellite kits, enabling emergency telecommunications services to be deployed in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas within 24 hours of a crisis.

Simon Gray, Vice President of Humanitarian Affairs of Eutelsat, commented on the award: "We are honoured to be receiving this award as a signatory of the Crisis Connectivity Charter. The resilience and quick deployment of satellite solutions place our industry in a unique position to support relief efforts and we are proud to be the first industrial sector to be undertaking such a unified effort to standardise disaster response on a global scale."

About Eutelsat Communications

Founded in 1977, Eutelsat Communications is one of the world's leading satellite operators. With a global fleet of satellites and associated ground infrastructure, Eutelsat enables clients across Video, Data, Government, Fixed and Mobile Broadband markets to communicate effectively to their customers, irrespective of their location. Over 7,000 television channels operated by leading media groups are broadcast by Eutelsat to one billion viewers equipped for DTH reception or connected to terrestrial networks. Headquartered in Paris, with offices and teleports around the globe, Eutelsat assembles 1,000 men and women from 46 countries who are dedicated to delivering the highest quality of service.

Eutelsat Communications is listed on the Euronext Paris Stock Exchange (ticker: ETL).

For more about Eutelsat go to www.eutelsat.com

[1] EUTELSAT 10A, EUTELSAT 21B, EUTELSAT 70B and EUTELSAT 65 West A

www.eutelsat.com - Follow us on Twitter @Eutelsat_SA

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005446/en/

Contacts:

Press

Marie-Sophie Ecuer, Tel: 33 1 53 98 37 91, mecuer@eutelsat.com

Christina Darvasi, Tel: +52 55 26 29 58 47, cdarvasi@eutelsat.com

Investors and analysts

Joanna Darlington, Tel.: +33 1 53 98 35 30, jdarlington@eutelsat.comVANTAA, Finland, December 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

RateGain today announced that they have been chosen by Aurinkomatkat, the tour operator of Finnair, to derive comprehensive rate intelligence for pricing its tour packages. RateGain's industry-first, big data solution, RevGain Packages, would aid Aurinkomatkat in predicting the overall demand of tour packages, & then optimize the prices based on the acquired competitive intelligence, historical & other correlated data.

Image: http://rategain.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/finnair.jpg

Commenting on the partnership, Apurva Chamaria, CRO, RateGain said, "We are happy to announce our association with Aurinkomatkat & support them in augmenting their Revenue Management Operations. RevGain leverages ML & is designed to enhance the pricing & forecasting abilities, so that Package & Tour operator companies can come up with the right suite of offerings. All the price recommendations are scientific & are based on smart algorithms & deep insights acquired from multiple data points. These price recommendations would help Aurinkomatkat optimize its revenue & trigger fast-paced growth."

According to Miika Rannikko, Head of Revenue & Trading, Aurinkomatkat, "The booking scenario is becoming uber-competitive with each passing day. Pricing & real-time pricing decisions, therefore, have become critical points of concerns. RevGain is the only solution we could find that addresses our concerns well. It empowers our decision capabilities with forecast intelligence on Demand, Pick-up, & unconstrained sales. We look forward to utilizing their capabilities and expertise and derive positive results."

RevGain - Packages has already been helping package holiday providers worldwide in taking profitable decisions with significant revenue lift. Easy on-boarding & RevGain - Package's intuitive usability are helping businesses bring down their Total cost of ownership (TCO) & gain market advantage in the quickest possible time

About Aurinkomatkat

Aurinkomatkat is the responsible tour operator of Finnair Holidays trips. Founded in 1963, Aurinkomatkat is a part of the Finnair Group, with Timo Kousa as its CEO. In 2017, Aurinkomatkat had 165 employees, of which 76 were working at the holiday destinations abroad. The company's turnover in 2017 was 195 million euros.

Please visit http://www.aurinkomatkat.fi

About RateGain

RateGain is a leading provider of cloud-based innovative solutions for the Travel & Hospitality Industry. RateGain provides the latest technology in rate intelligence, price optimization, seamless electronic distribution, & brand engagement. In 2018, RateGain acquired DHISCO to become the leading, comprehensive travel & hospitality technology distribution platform.

please visit https://rategain.com/

Media contact:

Aditi Bhandari, Senior Manager - Marketing

aditi.bhandari@rategain.com

+91-9560833220

Brand marketing teams can now easily distribute, update, and withdraw content across digital channels with Vault PromoMats and Vault MedComms

2018 Veeva European Commercial Medical Summit Veeva Systems (NYSE:VEEV) today introduced Veeva Vault Digital Publishing, a new digital asset management (DAM) capability in Vault PromoMats and Vault MedComms. For the first time, brand marketing teams can publish and withdraw approved assets from a central location to any digital channel for faster and easier publishing. Organizations now have greater agility in publishing regulated content and a single view of content performance across digital channels.

Life sciences companies are creating more digital assets and using multiple repositories to manage them. This makes it difficult to identify approved content and have visibility into where content is published, creating potential compliance issues.

Vault Digital Publishing allows users to distribute and update content with a single click from Vault PromoMats or Vault MedComms to any channel, including multichannel Veeva CRM, web, email campaigns, and other digital channels. Users can easily publish approved content, trace it back to the source, and withdraw obsolete content when it expires.

Brand marketing teams also have full visibility into the performance and use of digital assets. Vault Digital Publishing provides a consolidated dashboard of content across all channels, producing actionable insights that organizations can use to adjust their content marketing strategies.

"Vault Digital Publishing will give the life sciences industry an innovative way to publish and withdraw content to any digital channel," said John Chinnici, vice president of commercial content at Veeva. "Companies can finally have full visibility into the performance and usage of all their digital content from a single, central location."

Vault Digital Publishing leverages Amazon CloudFront (CDN) to ensure high availability and optimal performance of digital content regardless of physical location.

In other news, Veeva announced that Roche is adopting Veeva Vault PromoMats as their global content and digital asset management solution. Read today's press release to learn more.

Vault Digital Publishing is planned for availability before the end of the year as part of Vault PromoMats and Vault MedComms. Learn more about optimizing speed, control, and insight with Vault Digital Publishing, including visual examples of the dashboard on our blog.

Additional Information

For more on Veeva Vault Digital Publishing, visit: veeva.com/eu/PromoMats

Connect with Veeva on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/veeva-systems

Follow @veeva_eu on Twitter: twitter.com/veeva_eu

Like Veeva on Facebook: facebook.com/veevasystems

About Veeva Systems

Veeva Systems Inc. is a leader in cloud-based software for the global life sciences industry. Committed to innovation, product excellence, and customer success, Veeva has more than 675 customers, ranging from the world's largest pharmaceutical companies to emerging biotechs. Veeva is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, with offices throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. For more information, visit veeva.com/eu.

Forward-looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements, including the market demand for and acceptance of Veeva's products and services, the results from use of Veeva's products and services, and general business conditions, particularly in the life sciences industry. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon Veeva's historical performance and its current plans, estimates, and expectations, and are not a representation that such plans, estimates, or expectations will be achieved. These forward-looking statements represent Veeva's expectations as of the date of this press announcement. Subsequent events may cause these expectations to change, and Veeva disclaims any obligation to update the forward-looking statements in the future. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially. Additional risks and uncertainties that could affect Veeva's financial results are included under the captions, "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations," in the company's filing on Form 10-Q for the period ended July 31, 2018. This is available on the company's website at veeva.com/eu under the Investors section and on the SEC's website at sec.gov. Further information on potential risks that could affect actual results will be included in other filings Veeva makes with the SEC from time to time.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005409/en/

Contacts:

Roger Villareal

Veeva Systems

+1-

925-264-8885

roger.villareal@veeva.com

Kiran May

Veeva Systems

+44-796-643-2912

kiran.may@veeva.comCase IH and New Holland Agriculture announce innovation awards ahead of SIMA 2019

From state-of-the-art precision technologies to innovative new features, Case IH and New Holland Agriculture continue to enhance CNH Industrial's reputation across the whole of the agricultural machinery spectrum. This excellence has recently been recognized by the awarding of two Bronze Innovation Medals from the SIMA Organization; one for the XPower electrical weed control system to Case IH and the other to New Holland for its Dynamic Feed Roll Reverser on the CR Combine Harvester. SIMA hosts the bi-annual international farm machinery exhibition, of the same name, which will be held in Paris, France in February 2019.

London, December 4, 2018

Ahead of the exhibition, a jury of international agriculture professionals has declared Case IH and New Holland Agriculture, both global brands of CNH Industrial (NYSE: CNHI /MI: CNHI), Bronze Medal winners of the SIMA 2019 Innovation Awards.

The electrical weed control system with its 'electroherbicide' technology, developed by the Swiss firm, Zasso Group, is branded under the XPower name by Case IH. Developed in response to the need to find more sustainable solutions for weed control, it will be marketed as part of a suite of new Case IH precision farming technologies. Digital herbicide technology is at least as efficient as chemical herbicides in terms of controlling weeds, and is more efficient, economic, practical and crop-safe than mechanical weeding, in addition to which it does not disturb the soil nor encourage further weed growth. The system is as effective on larger weeds as smaller ones. At the same time, it is more practical, safer and cheaper than scorching or burning systems used for total weed control. Units can be adapted for different row crop systems, and can be controlled via ISOBUS Class 3 compatible tractors. The technology can be used with other systems in the growing suite of Case IH precision farming products.

New Holland's Dynamic Feed Roll (DFR) Reverser on the CR combine harvester range is an innovative feature which enables the operator to clear blockages of the Dynamic Feed Roll from the cab, saving considerable time and making the most of the productivity of the highest-capacity combine in the world. This new feature adds to the existing Header and Feeder Reverser and the Concave Overload Protection system, to provide even better protection from crop overload.

The benefits of the DFR Reverser for customers are not only the convenience of clearing blockages from the cab, but most importantly the dramatic reduction in the time it takes to complete the operation, from two hours to just 10 minutes. As a result, when harvesting with a high-capacity combine such as the CR9.90, together with a tractor and grain cart, this can save the operation between 600 to 800 per hour, based on an average of 5-6 hectares harvested per hour and an 8-10 tonnes yield per hectare. This means a significant benefit to the customer's productivity and profitability.

CNH Industrial N.V.

Sign up for corporate news alerts from the CNH Industrial Newsroom:



bit.ly/media-cnhindustrial-subscribe

Media contact:

Laura Overall

Corporate Communications Manager

CNH Industrial

Tel. +44

www.cnhindustrial.com

Attachments'A Quest for Excellence' - First Growth Bordeaux elegance married with Kavalan's signature fruitiness, smoothness and complexity

TAIPEI, Taiwan, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- To mark a decade to the exact day since the release of its inaugural whisky, Kavalan Distillery has today launched in Taiwan two limited 10th Anniversary special editions, "Kavalan Bordeaux Margaux" and "Kavalan Bordeaux Pauillac."

Each edition is bottled at 57.8% ABV at 1000ml encased in a deluxe gift box set with two Glencairn glasses and limited to only 3,000 bottlings each.

Celebrating its quest for excellence, Kavalan has placed First Growth Bordeaux wine casks from the Margaux and Pauillac regions at the heart of its 10th anniversary commemoration as it looks forward another decade.

Kavalan CEO Mr YT Lee said the occasion was about looking back on the achievements of the past decade and striving harder for perfection in the next.

"At Kavalan we have always sought excellence as a foundation for our whisky as we look into the future and work toward our goal of becoming, what in Taiwan we call a 'century-old distillery,' which is a brand capable of thriving even after hundreds of years," he said.

Master blender Mr Ian Chang said he and Mr Lee had traveled to the historic wine estates of France and handpicked the finest Bordeaux wine casks to age Kavalan's young, award-winning whisky within the subtropical climate of Yilan, Taiwan.

"We were intrigued by the distinctive flavours that might be possible from this unique marriage between Kavalan, where we pursue perfection daily, and these prestigious chateaux known for their centuries of excellence," he said.

Master blender Mr Ian Chang said the First Growth Bordeaux project had been an experiment in "how the spirit of these incredibly rare wines, through their splendid casks, could transform into a very special Kavalan whisky" and that innovation would continue to define Kavalan's next decade.

Kavalan's inaugural whisky, Kavalan Classic Single Malt Whisky, was released a decade ago on Dec 4, 2008, and went on to become the whisky maker's most popular expression.

Each 1000ml Limited Edition gift box set is priced at a RRP of NT$8,800(US$285). Global releases are in the planning for next year.

In Kavalan's past decade it has achieved entry into the World Whiskies Awards' (WWA) Whisky Magazine "Hall of Fame" for Mr YT Lee and his father Mr TT Lee; the WWA's 2015 "World's Best Single Malt" and 2016 "World's Best Single Cask Single Malt"; the 2017 "Distiller of the Year" and six "Producer of the Year" awards from the International Wine and Spirit Competition, as well as the 2018 "Distillery of the Year" from the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

TASTING NOTES:

Kavalan BORDEAUX MARGAUX WINE CASK MATURED SINGLE CASK SINGLE MALT

Magnificent, characterful, and extraordinarily smooth, the Limited Edition Bordeaux Margaux achieves exquisitely luxurious notes of warm caramel and buttery fudge, thick dark molasses, and the soft sweetness of creamy vanilla.

Colour: Deep Amber.

Nose: Beautiful aromatic caramel sauce infused with warming spices greets the nose. Thick, decadent dessert wine and simmering dark brown sugar emerge, followed by fresh fleshy fruit and gentle Cedarwood in the distance.

Palate: A warming sweet arrival leads to a melting of rich, buttery toffee that's studded with plump raisins. A beautifully light sour plum wine now appears with a faint, but assertive nuttiness.

Finish: Long and incredibly rewarding. The sweetness mingles with the gentle tart notes to reward the drinker with a delightful dance of flavours on the tongue.

Kavalan BORDEAUX PAUILLAC WINE CASK MATURED SINGLE CASK SINGLE MALT

Wonderfully opulent and subtly complex, the Limited Edition Bordeaux Pauillac bursts with sumptuous flavours of ripened fruits of the forest, delicious toffee apple, and gentle cumin, coriander and pepper spices.

Colour: Rich Mahogany

Nose: A beautiful nose of soft fruits, from ripe blackcurrants, to strawberries in syrup with a touch of apple. The wine influence is unmistakable. Smoked meat, cumin, ground coriander seeds, and finely grated pepper balance out the flavours.

Palate: Soft fruits drizzled with toffee, before an explosion of fruity flavours and accompanying spices. It is highly enjoyable at cask strength and develops a delicious vanilla creaminess as it is held in the mouth. It handles dilution extremely well at a variety of strengths.

Finish: Front of the mouth spiciness, cooked fruits, and throat-coating warmth.

About Kavalan Whisky

Kavalan distillery in Yilan country has been pioneering the art of single malt whisky in Taiwan and bottled its first single malt whisky in 2008. Our whisky, aged in intense humidity and heat, sources the meltwaters of Snow Mountain and is enhanced by cool sea and mountain breezes. All this combines to create Kavalan's signature creaminess. Taking Yilan County's old name, our distillery is backed by about 40 years of beverage-making under parent company, King Car Group. We have collected more than 280 gold awards or higher from the industry's most competitive contests, and are available in more than 70 countries. Visit www.kavalanwhisky.com

Contact:

Kellie Du

886-3922-9000 #7165

kellie@kingcar.com.tw

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/793326/Kavalan_10th_Anniversary.jpg





Thackaringa JV dilution triggered

Sydney, Dec 4, 2018 AEST (ABN Newswire) - On 24 October 2018 COB elected out of the Earning Period process of the Exploration Farmin Joint Venture Agreement with BPL (TJV Agreement). COB had concluded that the risk of attempting to fast track Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) work into a period of only 12 months, to meet the BFS timetable in the TJV Agreement, would significantly impair the project and pose undesirable risk.KEY POINTS:- Cobalt Blue Holdings Limited (COB), as [Interim] Manager of the Thackaringa Joint Venture (TJV) issued a Billing Statement and Called Sum to the Joint Venture partners, COB and Broken Hill Prospecting Limited ( ASX:BPL ).- BPL failed to pay the Called Sum as required by the TJV Agreement and then issued an Optional Dilution Notice.- COB has recalculated BPL's Joint Venture Interest and notified this to BPL as required by the TJV Agreement Dilution Provisions.- As a result of this recalculation, COB believes it now holds an effective 93.68% beneficial interest in the Thackaringa Cobalt Project and BPL an effective 6.32% beneficial interest.Subsequently, a TJV Management Committee meeting was convened (16 November 2018). At that meeting work programmes and budgets were discussed and approved by the TJV Management Committee. COB, as [Interim] JV Manager then issued BPL and COB with a Billing Statement (16 November 2018) specifying a Called Sum for payment within 7 days.When no monies were received from BPL, the JV Manager issued a Non Payment Notice to BPL (26 November 2018) following which BPL notified COB that it does not wish to contribute to Joint Venture Activities (29 November 2018). As this is an Optional Dilution Notice, the interest of BPL in the Joint Venture must be diluted and the JV Manager is required to recalculate and notify the Joint Venturers of their respective interests.BPL has been notified that as a result of this recalculation BPL holds a 6.32% beneficial interest in the TJV, with COB holding the balance of 93.68%. COB has also requested BPL to transfer a 23.68% interest in the Joint Venture to COB to give effect to this dilution.As BPL's Optional Dilution Notice means BPL has elected not to contribute to the current approved work programme and budget, COB believes BPL's Joint Venture Interest will reduce to below 5% once the drilling campaign expenditure for November and December 2018 has been incurred. COB expects this further recalculation to occur in late January 2019.The TJV Agreement also defines a minimum interest as 5% of the Joint Venture. Below this interest a Joint Venturer is deemed to have withdrawn from the TJV. Amongst other requirements, the withdrawing Joint Venturer, must, within thirty (30) days of withdrawal, execute and deliver all deeds and documents necessary for, and complete, the assignment of its Joint Venture Interest to Non Withdrawing Joint Venturers.COB has also served notice to BPL that it intends to pursue its rights, and failing appropriate actions, will enforce such rights with an expedited Court determination.Finally, while TJV Disputes have been initiated by BPL, the TJV Agreement specifies that disputes are not to interrupt JV activities or performance by the parties.Cobalt Blue believes it has the following beneficial interests in the tenements:EL 6622 - 93.68% beneficial interestEL 8143 - 93.68% beneficial interestML 86 - 93.68% beneficial interestML 87 - 93.68% beneficial interestAbout Cobalt Blue Holdings Limited

Cobalt Blue Holdings Ltd (ASX:COB) is an exploration and project development company focussed on green energy technology. Work programs are advancing to enable an upgrade of the Mineral Resource at the Thackaringa Cobalt Project in New South Wales to include Measured Resources.

Cobalt is a strategic metal in strong demand for new generation batteries, particularly lithium-ion batteries now being widely used in clean energy systems.

Potential to extend the Mineral Resource at Pyrite Hill, Big Hill, Railway and the other prospects is high. Numerous other prospects within COBs tenement package are at an early stage and under-explored.LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / December 4, 2018 / Nubeva Technologies Ltd. ("Nubeva" or the "Company") (TSX-V: NBVA), (OTC PINK: NBVAF), today announced that Chief Marketing Officer Steve Perkins will be presenting at the 11th annual LD Micro Main Event on Wednesday, December 5, 2018 at 3:00PM PST / 6:00PM EST. Mr. Perkins will also host investor meetings throughout the day.

'Since releasing Nubeva Prisms, our packet traffic acquisition-processing-and-distribution solution for the public cloud, the Company's subscriber base has increased from 20 at the end of July to 57 at the end of October,' said Mr. Perkins. 'Nubeva Prisms restores the essential network visibility and control capabilities found in most private datacenters, but that are lost as organizations migrate to the public cloud. Throughout November, we have seen continued accelerating growth of new subscriptions. We feel that now is the time to broaden the communication of our story to the U.S. investment community and are proud to attend LD Micro's Main Event.'

Nubeva Prisms was recently recognized by Microsoft Azure for its unique support for and enhancement of Microsoft Azure's new VTAP functionality. Nubeva Prisms is available for all public cloud providers and was also recently represented at Amazon's AWS RE:Invent conference.

The LD Micro Main Event will take place December 4th, 5th, and 6th, in Los Angeles at the Luxe Sunset Bel Air Hotel, will feature 250 companies, and will be attended by over 1,200 individuals.

View Nubeva's profile here: http://www.ldmicro.com/profile/NBVA.V.

Profiles powered by LD Micro - News Compliments of Accesswire

About LD Micro

LD Micro was founded in 2006 with the sole purpose of being an independent resource in the microcap space. What started out as a newsletter highlighting unique companies has transformed into several influential events annually (Invitational, Summit, and Main Event). In 2015, LDM launched the first pure microcap index (the LDMi) to exclusively provide intraday information on the entire sector. LD will continue to provide valuable tools for the benefit of everyone in the small and micro-cap universe. For those interested in attending, please contact David Scher at david@ldmicro.com or visit www.ldmicro.com for more information.

About Nubeva Technologies Ltd.



Nubeva Technologies Ltd. develops Software-as-a-Service ('SaaS') software and services that enable enterprises to run best-of-breed cybersecurity in public cloud environments. Nubeva's products provide enhanced visibility and control over network traffic and simplified automation and operation that is essential to run top-tier security technologies and services in the cloud easily and at low costs. With Nubeva, organizations can leverage existing policies, technologies and operations and accelerate their move to the cloud with confidence. San Jose, CA-headquartered Nubeva is committed to the vision of dramatically broader and lower cost availability of the world's best security to confront the rising cyber-crime threat. Visit www.nubeva.com for more information.



Forward Looking Statements



This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws relating to the Company's business plans and the outlook of the cybersecurity industry. Although the Company believes in light of the experience of its officers and directors, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered appropriate that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third-parties in respect of the Company, its subsidiaries, their securities, or their respective financial or operating results (as applicable).

Legal Disclaimer: Contents are provided for general informational purposes only and do not constitute an offering of securities in the United States or elsewhere. Our securities may not be offered for sale in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For further information, please contact:



Nubeva Technologies Ltd.

Steve Perkins

Chief Marketing Officer

1(844)538-4638



Marcel Valentin, Investor Relations

Marcel@SophicCapital.com

1(647)697-0498

SOURCE: Nubeva via LD Micro

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/529641/Nubeva-to-Present-at-the-11th-Annual-LD-Micro-Main-Event-MicroCap-Investor-ConferenceBERLIN, December 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

The 33 year-old incoming head of innovation is joining from "Welt" - "Perfect for the job"

Niddal Salah-Eldin will take over as deputy editor-in-chief and head of innovation and product at the German Press Agency (dpa) in Berlin starting May 1st 2019. In this role her primary task will be to drive the digital transformation of the agency. The 33-year old journalist is joining from "Welt," where she currently holds the position of Director of Digital Innovation within the editorial management team. She is taking over from Roland Freund (50), who is moving for family reasons to Munich and will take over as regional bureau chief there.

- Cross reference: Picture is available at AP Images (http://www.apimages.com) -

"With Niddal Salah-Eldin a digital visionary of the German media landscape is joining dpa, in order to lead the transformation from a news agency to a media intelligence company from a key position. She has a great personality and is a team player, knows the needs of dpa's clients and has a demonstrated sense for trends and developments. And Niddal Salah-Eldin puts things into practise. All these qualities make her perfect for the job, dpa and our clients in the media and society," Sven Gosmann, dpa's editor-in-chief said.

Gosmann stressed that in her future role she, "will be able to build on the good foundation that Roland Freund has established over the last three years. We thank him for his spirit and his energy and are looking forward to working with him in his new role in Bavaria."

"Technological development is the driver of all journalistic development," dpa's Chief Executive Officer Peter Kropsch stressed. "With Niddal Salah-Eldin a journalist is joining the editorial leadership of dpa, who lives this understanding professionally and personally. We are looking forward to the many impulses she will give dpa and its shareholders."

"I am very much looking forward to this special opportunity to take on responsibility within dpa's editorial management team for all things related to product and innovation," Niddal Salah-Edin said. "It's my mission to future proof journalism. I am looking forward to think editorial, tech and product comprehensively and in an international context, and shape it together with a great team. I thank the editorial management team at "Welt," the board of Axel-Springer and all colleagues at 'Welt', SPRING and Springer for the fantastic and successful time together, the trust and the opportunities."

As deputy editor-in-chief for innovation and product (head of innovation) Niddal Salah-Eldin will be in charge of important sectors of the future such as the development of dpa's editorial strategy and products for media as well as business clients, and innovation and change within the company. She will also lead a growing team of dpa product managers, who are in charge of developing media and content intelligence, diaries and services, sport data and data analysis. In addition to that she will be in charge of the development of editorial products and tools, and an ambassador of change for the agency globally, as well as towards dpa's clients and shareholders.

Niddal Salah-Eldin studied Politics and Journalism in Mainz and Washington, and is a trained social-media manager. After working at Medienanstalt Berlin-Brandenburg and Ketchum Pleon, she joined "Welt" as a social-media-journalist in 2014, where she was promoted to Head of Social Media, and later on Director of Digital Innovation. In 2010 she was part of the Bertelsmann Talent Pool, 2011 she was selected to participate in the Emerald leadership program of Boston Consulting, in 2014 she was elected to the "Top 30 Young Professionals under 30." In 2015 she was among the "Top 30 under 30" of Medium Magazin. 2018 she was selected by the editorial team of Kress Pro as one of the top 25 media managers under 30 shaping the media landscape in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

From May 2019 the editorial management team at dpa will be made up of editor-in-chief Sven Gosmann (52), and his deputies Niddal Salah-Eldin (33), head of innovation and product, Antje Homburger (55), head of news and Jutta Steinhoff (51), head of staff. Change manager Susanne Goldstein (45) is also part of the leadership team.

About dpa

The German News Agency (dpa) was founded in 1949 and is one of the world's leading independent news agencies. dpa supplies media outlets, businesses and other organizations with editorial content, including text, photos, videos, graphics, audio and other formats. As an international agency, dpa reports in four languages: German, English, Spanish and Arabic. The company has around 1,000 journalists in 160 locations in Germany and abroad. Its shareholders are 180 German media companies. Staff work according to the principles outlined in the dpa statute: independently from ideologies, businesses and governments. The central editing desk, under the leadership of editor-in-chief Sven Gosmann, is located in Berlin. The management team, headed by chairman Peter Kropsch, is based in Hamburg. The chairman of the Supervisory Board is David Brandstatter (Main-Post GmbH, Wurzburg).

Internet: http://www.dpa.com (German, English, Spanish, Arabic)

Contact:

dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH

Jens Petersen

Head of Corporate Communications

Telefon: +49-40-4113-32843

E-Mail: pressestelle@dpa.comvXchnge has designed its data centers with a focus on reliability and uptime, fitting them out with state-of-the-art design, infrastructure, and management technologies

SANTA CLARA, California, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Based on its recent analysis of the North American data center services market, Frost & Sullivan recognizes vXchnge with the 2018 North American Visionary Innovation Leadership Award. vXchnge has rolled out an innovative Data Center-as-a-Service that leverages next-generation data center design and power/cooling systems, a sophisticated intelligence platform, and industry-leading best practices to help clients manage their infrastructure, applications, and overall business. Its offerings include co-location, network interconnects to more than 70 network service providers, and remote management of on-site client infrastructure.

Click here for the full multimedia experience of this release- http://best-practices.frost-multimedia-wire.com/vxchnge/

"vXchnge's services and data centers make it easier for resource-constrained IT organizations to support their business' most critical business goals," said Lynda Stadtmueller, Vice President of Cloud and Data Center Services. "Unlike competitors that simply provide power and space, vXchnge's unique services and technologies address clients' top digital transformation challenges, such as application availability and performance. Its intelligent management platform presents granular visibility into infrastructure performance, allowing clients to identify and correct potential app performance issues before they occur. For instance, it sends an alert when a server begins to consume excess power, as this is indicative of impending hardware failure."

vXchnge designs and operates its data centers with a high level of precision, resulting in operational excellence. vXchnge's attention to risk and compliance standards enables customers to mitigate and reduce total costs of ownership. Furthermore, as human error is a top cause of data center failures, vXchnge has incorporated design and procedural elements aimed at making it easier for client technicians to perform their tasks without error.

vXchnge serves customers that range from the largest global German ERP provider to local and emerging brands with unmatched reliability, security and customer satisfaction. Its competitive pricing and terms allows its services to also be adopted by small and mid-sized firms. vXchnge's flexible contract terms enable clients to reserve and pay only for the racks they need, and only for the timeframe they need them. Platform access can be customized according to the role or user with dashboards presenting relevant data, so that key stakeholders do not have to go through IT intermediaries for each request.

"vXchnge's data center services not only augment the premises, but also optimize the client's business. Its data centers have a downtime of less than 3 seconds per year, made possible through a combination of resilient design and meticulous processes," noted Stadtmueller. "These client-focused and competitive data center services are proving highly valuable to customers and have positioned vXchnge for rapid growth in the North American market."

Each year, Frost & Sullivan bestows this award upon the company that demonstrates excellence in growth and customer value. It recognizes the superiority of the product/service as well as the overall customer, purchase, ownership, and service experience offered, which has resulted in the recipient company seeing above-market growth and greater share of wallet. The award lauds the growth, diversification, and sustainability strategies of the company.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.

About vXchnge

vXchnge is the leading data center-as-a-service provider dedicated to protecting global and emerging brands, while improving the business performance of its customers. Through its strategically sited, carrier-neutral colocation data centers across the US, vXchnge delivers unmatched reliability, scalability and security for its customers. vXchnge's broad geographic footprint puts its customers at "the Edge", where they can serve customers locally, and reach more businesses and more consumers in more markets. The company is headquartered in Tampa, Florida. For more information, visit http://www.vxchnge.com or connect on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants. For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector, and the investment community. Contact us: Start the discussion .

Contact:

Estefany Ariza

P: 210.477.8469

F: 210.348.1003

E: estefany.ariza@frost.comWorldcom Public Relations Group, the leading global partnership of public relations firms, continued building out its partnership by adding AF Communicacion (Dominican Republic), and JNL+ (Greece) Join Partnership, KGBTexas Communications (San Antonio), Tabua Digital (Portugal). The firms, which in addition to satisfying key geographic needs, are outstanding agencies that each bring a unique skill set to the partnership.

"Worldcom is very excited to welcome these new partners to our ever-growing network and we look forward to their collaboration and contributions," said Todd Lynch, managing director, Worldcom Public Relations Group. "We're constantly striving to add partners who not only help maximize our geographic presence but bring expertise and skills that reflect our industry today and where it's headed in the coming years."

Worldcom just completed its fall regional meetings including the Americas Region meeting in Lima, Peru, the Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA) meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark and the Asia Pacific meeting in Bali, Indonesia. Worldcom applies a rigorous recruitment process to ensure the agencies and organizations are compatible, able to work under the trust and collaborative nature expected among partners who openly share knowledge, best practices, utilize to meet expanding client roles and to collaborate on new opportunities scaled to the local, regional and global needs of any prospect.

"Trust, knowledge sharing and open collaboration are at the cornerstone of Worldcom's partnership," said Roger Hurni, Managing Partner of Off Madison Ave and Worldcom's Global Chair. "The time we take to vet agencies for partnership and advocating sharing and interactions among all our agency partners ensures we can effectively collaborate on current clients' business and pursuit of new opportunities. It also allows us to directly respond to global opportunities requiring the highest public relations counsel by firms with global perspective and local/regional insight."

New partners added:

AF Comunicacion Estrategica, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

AFCE is a boutique PR Communications agency that takes special care about its customer experience and fulfillment of its needs as its top priority. We have a team of highly qualified specialists in the areas of communication, marketing, advertising, public relations and event organization. The firm manages the public perception and projection of its clients before their target audiences, aiming to position its brands, services and solutions, to increase profitability and recognition of their organization by their different stakeholders.

The agency client base includes a broad selection of leading local and international companies in different industries, including wholesale, retail, education, finance, nonprofit organizations, technology, tourism and special focus and expertise in health tourism, healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. afcomunicacion.com

jnl+

jnl+ was established in 1941 by a woman, Fota Leoussis and is the oldest communication agency in Greece. Since 1941 it has been a pioneer of new technologies and communication solutions and it has worked for over 200 Greek and International brands, over 50 campaigns of social interest and numerous political campaigns. Today after three generations it remains one of the most successful companies in Greece and has worked with clients from almost all possible industries like telecommunications, airlines, banking, automotive, shipping, insurance companies, food companies, educational institutions, utilities, retail services, cosmetics, clothing, hotels, national services and many more.

JNL+ is fully integrated across all different communications media and the services they offer include PR, Event Management, Design Services like graphic design, packaging, web design and 3D design, Branding, Online Communication and Social Media campaigns, Media Management and Production.

www.jnl.gr

KGBTexas Communications

KGBTexas Communications has evolved from a single-person communications agency in 1994 to one of the largest woman-owned, full-service firms in Texas, with offices in San Antonio and Houston. KGBTexas' integrated team of almost 40 professionals provides marketing services that include public affairs, public relations, advertising, digital and social marketing, creative content development, and media planning and buying. KGBTexas has played an integral role in some of Texas' most visible and significant public- and private-sector initiatives that had significant consequence in their communities. To learn more about KGBTexas, visit KGBTexas.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Tabua Digital

Tabua Digital is a Portuguese PR and Digital Marketing agency where you will find a team of experts in Marketing that is divided into several areas of expertise. The knowledge accumulated over the years, in several sectors of activity, is the distinctive factor with which we focus on the goals of our clients. With an approach of proximity to customers and the adoption of Agile Marketing Methodologies, Tabua Digital team proposes to work creatively and result-oriented daily.

At the end of the day, we are marketers, communicators who combine their knowledge, experience and creativity to put at the disposal of each client. We are the wingman of our customers!

About The Worldcom Public Relations Group

The Worldcom Public Relations Group is the world's leading partnership of independently owned public relations firms, with 143 offices employing some 2,000 staff in 115 cities across six continents. In total, Worldcom partners reported combined revenue of US$288 million last year from 3,034 clients. Established in 1988, the group was formed so that the strongest, most capable independent firms could deliver immediate impact and sustained value through the intelligent use of communications wherever in the world a client needs support. Partners serve national, international and multinational clients, while retaining the flexibility and client-service focus inherent in independent agencies. Through Worldcom, clients have on-demand access to in-depth communications expertise from professionals who understand the language, culture and customs of the geographic areas in which they operate. www.worldcomgroup.com

Connect with Worldcom PR Group on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Learn more about Worldcom at www.worldcomgroup.com or call Todd Lynch at 1-800-955-9675.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005046/en/

Contacts:

Media contact:

Todd Lynch

(904) 233-0123

toddlynch@worldcomgroup.comRelease 1.1 specification adds support for new features and spectrum bands, including the 1.9 GHz unlicensed band

The MulteFire Alliance, an independent, diverse and international member-driven consortium that is defining and promoting MulteFire technology LTE technology operating in unlicensed bands today announced the completion of its Release 1.1 specification that is optimized for IoT. Adding support for eMTC-U and NB-IoT-U, as well as support for additional spectrum bands, the Release 1.1 specification delivers more robust wireless network capabilities for Industrial IoT and Enterprises to meet their specific requirements for performance, latency, security and mobility.

"The Release 1.1 Technical Specification is a significant achievement offering an optimized specification for IoT and support for additional spectrum bands," said Mazen Chmaytelli, president, MulteFire Alliance. "This milestone could not have been reached without the dedication and commitment of the Technical Specification Group members who have worked tirelessly to evolve MulteFire technology to meet the needs of industrial IoT and enterprise."

"MulteFire 1.0 is a novel technology that was designed to create new wireless networks by operating LTE-based technology standalone in unlicensed or shared spectrum bands," said Asimakis Kokkos, chair, Technical Specification Group, MulteFire Alliance and head of Industry Environment Strategy, Nokia. "MulteFire 1.1 takes the potential of this technology even further by improving on the performance of MulteFire 1.0 for the global 5 GHz unlicensed band, and by adding new capabilities and support for additional spectrum bands."

Specification Highlights

The MulteFire Release 1.1 specification includes the following features:

Added Additional Spectrum Bands Focusing on IoT and Expanded IoT Services with Low Power Wide Area Support Adds eMTC-U support for moderate data rate applications in the global 2.4 GHz unlicensed band Adds NB-IoT-U support for narrowband applications in the regional 800/900 MHz unlicensed bands Adds MulteFire 1.9 GHz support (for the unlicensed part in 3GPP defined Band 39), also known as sXGP in Japan, which is ready for commercial deployment in Japan with support from the XGP Forum and an ecosystem of TD-LTE devices in place that support Band 39 today

Enhanced MulteFire 1.0 Broadband Services in the Global 5 GHz Unlicensed Band Delivers more robust mobility in up to 50 km/h speeds with the addition of Autonomous UE Mobility (AUM) which performs autonomous handover without explicit network command Allows for faster uplink data transmissions with Grant-less Uplink (GUL), whereby the UE can start transmitting immediately Supports improved downlink coverage with Wideband Coverage Enhancements (WCE) Adds Self-Organizing Networks (SON) capabilities



A new white paper, Release 1.1 Technical Overview, provides more details and is available to download at www.MulteFire.org/white-papers.

The Release 1.1 specification will be published to MulteFire Alliance members in January 2019 and will be made available for download by anyone with an interest in MulteFire technology by mid-year. For information on joining the MulteFire Alliance, visit www.MulteFire.org/join.

About the MulteFire Alliance

The MulteFire Alliance is an international association dedicated to building a global ecosystem in support of the common interests of members, developers and users in the application of Long Term Evolution (LTE) and next-generation mobile cellular technology, such as 5G New Radio, in configurations that use unlicensed or shared radio spectrum. For more information about MulteFire, its benefits, or how to become a member of the MulteFire Alliance, visit www.multefire.org.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005090/en/

Contacts:

MulteFire Alliance

Lori Mesecke, +1-503-459-9150

press@multefire.orgVALLEY COTTAGE, New York, December 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

The prevalence of obesity and cardiovascular diseases is increasing due to modern-day sedentary life style, which is projected to surge the growth of the point-of-care cholesterol monitoring device market. Physical inactivity is the vital cause of cardiovascular diseases. It is almost affecting every section of the society. Wide spread incidence of cardiovascular diseases is expected to increase the demand for point-of-care cholesterol monitoring devices. The rising demand for point-of-care cholesterol devices is further expected to create enormous growth opportunities for the manufactures operating in the point-of-care cholesterol monitoring device market. People now prefer self-testing and daily monitoring of the condition of a disease, which has increased the adoption of point-of-care cholesterol monitoring devices.

(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/677274/Future_Market_Insights_Logo.jpg )



According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it is estimated that nearly 17.9 million people die due to cardiovascular diseases worldwide, which accounts for 31% of all the deaths worldwide. The growing incidence of cardiac arrest, high blood pressure and strokes is also a factor expected to surge the demand for point-of-care cholesterol monitoring devices

Request a Sample Report with Table of Contents and Figures: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-7773

Numerous awareness programs to control and prevent high cholesterol are organized by the governmental organizations these days. For instance, the National Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program and Lipid Standardization Program are conducted by CDC (Centre for Disease control and prevention) for creating awareness among population. These programs are conducting trainings and campaigns to spread awareness regarding the ill effects of cholesterol and they also are giving education to the staff of the hospitals. In the recent years, the trend of healthy living and eating has increased due to various government initiatives such as campaigns leading to higher adoption of the cholesterol self-testing devices resulting in the growth of point-of-care cholesterol monitoring device market in the forecast period. It is reported by CDC (Center for Disease control and prevention) that more than half the U.S population, i.e., 55% of U.S adults are taking medication for cholesterol-related health problems. Thus, rising incidence of cardiovascular diseases and complications due to high cholesterol is projected to trigger the growth of the global point-of-care cholesterol monitoring device market.

Point-of-care monitoring devices are helpful in critical situations requiring rapid turn-around time of test results for clinical decision-making. But there are many challenges associated with POCT, mainly related to quality assurance. The tests performed in laboratories are carried out by trained professionals under GLP (Good lab practices) and certain measures are implemented for delivering acute results for patient safety.

Point-of-care Cholesterol Monitoring Device Market Segmentation By Product Type- point-of-care cholesterol monitoring device instruments and testing kits; By End Userhospital, diagnostic centers & laboratory, ambulatory surgical centers and home care - https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/point-of-care-cholesterol-monitoring-device-market

The company has segmented the point-of-care cholesterol monitoring device market on the basis of product type, technology, application, end user and regions. Based on product type, the point-of-care cholesterol monitoring device market has been segmented into point-of-care instruments and testing kits. Testing kits segment is projected to hold large share in the point-of-care cholesterol monitoring device market. According to the company, the testing kits segment accounted for a revenue share of over 60% in the global point-of-care cholesterol monitoring device market in 2017.

Geographically, the global point-of-care cholesterol monitoring device market has been segmented across regions, namely North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific excluding China & Japan, China, Japan and MEA. North America, followed by Asia Pacific, is expected to hold substantial revenue share in the global point-of-care cholesterol monitoring device market. Many local players in Japan are focusing on increasing their market share in emerging regions such as MEA and APECJ.

Based on end users, the point-of-care cholesterol monitoring device market is segmented into hospitals, diagnostic centers & laboratory, ambulatory surgical center and home care sittings. The diagnostic centre & laboratory segment is expected to hold large share in the point-of-care cholesterol monitoring device market

Our advisory services are aimed at helping you with specific, customised insights that are relevant to your specific challenges. Let us know about your challenges and our trusted advisors will connect with you: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-7773

The company's report tracks some of the key companies operating in the point-of-care cholesterol monitoring device market, which include F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Acon Laboratories, Inc., Abaxis, Inc., Abbott Laboratories, SD Biosensor, Inc., Jant Pharmacal Corporation, DiaSys Diagnostic Systems GmbH, Bioptik Ltd., and Fitech UK Ltd., among others.

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Segmentation by Product type (Battery Operated, Electrically Operated); by End user (Hospitals, Ambulatory Surgical Centers): https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/ultrasonic-surgical-cutters-market Veterinary Forceps Market Segmentation by Product type (Haemostatic Forceps, Thumb Forceps, Tissue Forceps, Other Forceps); by End user (Veterinary Hospital, Veterinary Clinics, Others): https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/veterinary-forceps-market

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SpendEdge, a global procurement market intelligence firm, has announced the release of their Global IT Peripherals Category Procurement Market Intelligence Report.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005451/en/

Global IT Peripherals Category Procurement Market Intelligence Report. (Graphic: Business Wire)

While the growing penchant towards e-games and emergence of online gamers is augmenting growth opportunities in the IT peripherals market, factors like the extended lifespan of IT peripherals, declining IT expenditure, and stiff competition from the mobile computing devices industry will deter the category growth during the forecast period. Download the Free Sample of our IT peripherals market intelligence report to get significant insights into the supply cost structure.

This procurement market research report offers a functional analysis of the complex IT peripherals market in relation to the response of the consumer world. Our procurement experts believe that a procurement strategy that is strongly aligned with the dynamic behavior of the consumers can pave the way for a sustainable category growth for the long run. Talk to us to get guidance on creating a cost-effective procurement strategy that can be quickly adapted to the changing trends of the IT peripherals market.

"Buyers must adopt a single sourcing model instead of sourcing from different suppliers to strengthen their partnership with suppliers. This has been observed to reduce the supplier management complexities to a significant extent," says SpendEdge procurement expert Tridib Bora.

This procurement report has highlighted the following KPIs that have been tried and tested by the leading brands in the IT peripherals market to attain business continuity:

Buyers must have a clear understanding about their IT infrastructure prior to purchasing products.

The buyers are advised to enter into medium-term contracts with suppliers

Purchase the full report and unlock your full potential in the IT peripherals market.

SpendEdge is now offering limited-time discounts on report purchases. Buy two reports and get the third one for free

SpendEdge's procurement market intelligence reports for the information technologycategory offer information on category pricing strategies to help the buyers achieve significant cost-savings. The market intelligence reports also offer information on supplier performance benchmarking criteria to help buyers reduce spend and establish better SLAs. Additionally, SpendEdge's reports offer insights into the sustainability and procurement best practices for the category.

Report scope snapshot: IT peripherals market

Category ecosystem

Market favorability index for suppliers

Competitiveness index for suppliers

Threat of new entrants in the IT peripherals market

Interested to know more about the scope of our reports? Download a FREE sample

Category management enablers

Procurement organization

Category enablers

Want customized information on the IT peripherals market? Get in touch

Category definition

Category hierarchy

Category scope in the IT peripherals market

Category map

To view this report's table of contents, Download a FREE sample

Do you purchase multiple reports in a year? Our subscription platform, SpendEdge Insights, provides ready-to-use procurement research reports for multiple categories. Now access latest supplier news, innovation landscape, markets insights, supplier tracking, and much more at the click of a button. Start your 7-day FREE trial now.

Related Reports:

Global Big Data as a Service Category Procurement Market Intelligence Report

Global Interactive Whiteboards Category Procurement Market Intelligence Report

About SpendEdge:

SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions. To know more, https://www.spendedge.com/request-free-proposal

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005451/en/

Contacts:

SpendEdge

Anirban Choudhury

Marketing Manager

US: +1 630 984 7340

UK: +44 148 459 9299

https://www.spendedge.com/contact-usTILT increases capabilities and offerings to cannabis businesses and consumers through new acquisition and expansions

Today, TILT Holdings Inc., the dynamic infrastructure and technology platform for the cannabis industry, announced several company updates prior to its listing day on the Canadian Securities Exchange. These include the acquisition of Pennsylvania cannabis grower Standard Farms LLC ("Standard Farms"); a major facility expansion in Massachusetts; and additional "Letters of Intent" across Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Nevada, Ohio, and Europe.

"Our goal is to make TILT's technology and infrastructure platform the best to support the rapid growth of the cannabis industry and advance towards the completion of our company vision," said Alex Coleman, CEO of TILT. "We're excited to welcome Standard Farms in the TILT family and to expand our capabilities to support the growing demand in Massachusetts with the expansion in Taunton."

TILT company updates that continue to enhance unique business model:

Cultivation Expansion in Pennsylvania with Standard Farms Acquisition

TILT completes definitive agreement with Standard Farms, a multi-state medical cannabis operator focused on greenhouse cultivation and Co2 extraction. Standard Farms is in over 95% of the state's dispensaries and has shipped over 200,000 units of product. With over 18,000 square feet of canopy and a planned extension of 16,000 square feet, it will have one of the largest canopies in the state of Pennsylvania.

Vertical-Integration Expansion in Massachusetts to Support Adult-Use Demand

The Taunton City Council has approved a significant expansion of a cultivation and retail site operated by one of TILT's subsidiaries, Commonwealth Alternative Care ("CAC"). The 116,000 square foot facility will have 60,000 square feet of flower canopy, producing approximately 30,000 pounds of flower on an annual basis. The location will be one of the largest cultivation centers for cannabis in Massachusetts. It will feature state-of-the-art cultivation technology combining genetics and engineering while lowering TILT's carbon footprint by more than 60 percent via a proprietary design.

Vertical-Integration Expansion Across Emerging and Top Performing Regions

TILT has a significant pipeline of opportunities with several license holders across Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Nevada, Ohio, and Europe. With capabilities spanning across cultivation, processing, distribution, retail and delivery, TILT plans to expand its best-in-class products and services to support these regions.

As one of the cannabis industry's most holistic platforms, TILT provides technology-driven products and services across every stage of the cannabis supply chain. The company will officially be listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange as "TILT" on Wednesday, December 5.

About TILT

TILT Holdings Inc. is a vertically-integrated technology and infrastructure platform delivering the most comprehensive range of products and services across the cannabis industry. TILT strives to deliver the highest quality products and services through knowledge-based technology systems for both businesses and consumers. TILT technologies has a presence in more than 1,000 dispensaries across the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and Jamaica. For more information, please visit www.tiltholdings.com.

The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking information based on current expectations. Forward-looking information is provided for the purpose of presenting information about management's current expectations and plans relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. Forward looking information may include, without limitation, statements regarding the operations, business, financial condition, expected financial results, performance, prospects, opportunities, priorities, targets, goals, ongoing objectives, milestones, strategies and outlook of TILT, and includes statements about, among other things, future developments, the future operations, strengths and strategy of the Company. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. These statements are based upon certain material factors, assumptions and analyses that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making a forecast or projection, including TILT's experience and perceptions of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that are believed to be reasonable in the circumstances.

Examples of the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements contained herein include, but are not limited to those related to: the ability of TILT to obtain necessary financing in the future to pursue its business plans, the achievement of goals, the obtaining of all necessary permits and governmental approvals, as well as expectations regarding availability of equipment, skilled labour and services needed for cannabis operations, intellectual property rights, development, operating or regulatory risks, trends and developments in the cannabis industry, business strategy and outlook, expansion and growth of business and operations, the timing and amount of capital expenditures; future exchange rates; the impact of increasing competition; conditions in general economic and financial markets; access to capital; future operating costs; government regulations, including future legislative and regulatory developments involving medical and recreational marijuana and the timing thereto; receipt of appropriate and necessary licenses in a timely manner; the effects of regulation by governmental agencies; the anticipated changes to laws regarding the recreational use of cannabis; the demand for cannabis products and corresponding forecasted increase in revenues; and the size of the medical marijuana market and the recreational marijuana market.

Although such statements are based on management's reasonable assumptions at the date such statements are made, there can be no assurance that they it be completed on the terms described above and that such forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking information. TILT Holdings assumes no responsibility to update or revise forward-looking information to reflect new events or circumstances unless required by applicable law.

By its nature, forward-looking information is subject to risks and uncertainties, and there are a variety of material factors, many of which are beyond the control of TILT, and that may cause actual outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to: denial or delayed receipt of all necessary consents and approvals; need for additional capital expenditures; increased costs and timing of operations; unexpected costs associated with environmental liabilities; requirements for additional capital; reduced future prices of cannabis; failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the cannabis industry; delays in obtaining governmental approvals, permits or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities; title disputes; claims limitations on insurance coverage; risks related to the integration of acquisitions; fluctuations in the spot and forward price of certain commodities (such as diesel fuel and electricity); changes in national and local government legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments in the countries where the Company may carry on business in the future; liabilities inherent in cannabis operations; risks relating to medical and recreational cannabis; cultivation, extraction and distribution problems; competition for, among other things, capital, licences and skilled personnel; risks relating to the timing of legalization of recreational cannabis; changes in laws relating to the cannabis industry; and management's success in anticipating and managing the foregoing factors.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005364/en/

Contacts:

Media Contact:

InkHouse

Anne Baker, 415-299-6371

TILT@inkhouse.com

or

Investor Contact:

ICR

Scott Van Winkle, 617-956-6736

scott.vanwinkle@icrinc.com

or

Renmark Financial Communications Inc.

Melanie Barbeau: mbarbeau@renmarkfinancial.com

416-644-2020 or 514-939-3989

www.renmarkfinancial.comVancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - December 4, 2018) - Miramont Resources Corp. (CSE: MONT) (OTCQB: MRRMF) (FSE: 6MR) ("Miramont" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has received the required drilling permit for its Cerro Hermoso project in southern Peru. The Company anticipates drilling to begin early in the New Year.

Bill Pincus, Miramont's President and CEO said, "We are very happy to begin our drill program at this exciting prospect. Our geologists have worked long and hard to advance this project and surface exploration continues to yield more and more evidence of widespread mineralization. It's now time to test it with the drill rig."

"Miramont also knows that working with the local community is vital. Our team makes a substantial effort in this area and is fortunate to have a positive working relationship with all local parties. We are glad to have their support and will work hard to maintain it."

Cerro Hermoso is a large diatreme-hosted system with various styles of copper, gold and silver mineralization found in a four square kilometer area. It has many similar characteristics to other diatreme systems that are known to host large bulk-tonnage polymetallic deposits. Three priority drill targets have been identified by a combination of geologic mapping, geochemical sampling and geophysical prospecting. These are known as the Central Breccia Zone (Gold), the Stockwork Zone (Copper/Silver) and the Carbonate Replacement Zone (Copper/Silver). All three targets will be tested in the upcoming program. Further information can be found on the Company's website.

Miramont has contracted AK Drilling International to conduct the first-phase diamond-core drilling program and is now coordinating mobilization of the drill rig. The Company has also completed construction of a core-shack and related infrastructure.

National Instrument 43-101 Disclosure

The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. William Pincus, CPG, President and CEO of Miramont and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

About Miramont Resources Corp.

Miramont is a Canadian based exploration company with a focus on acquiring and developing mineral prospects within world-class belts of South America. Miramont's key assets are located in southern Peru. The Cerro Hermoso property hosts a 1.4km diameter breccia pipe targeting gold - polymetallic mineralization, while the Lukkacha property is targeting porphyry copper mineralization.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

MIRAMONT RESOURCES CORP.

"William Pincus"

William Pincus, President and CEO

For more information, please contact the Company at:

Telephone: (604) 398-4493

info@miramontrresources.com

www.miramontresources.com

Reader Advisory

This news release may contain statements which constitute "forward-looking information", including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of the Company, its directors, or its officers with respect to the future business activities of the Company. The words "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company, or its management, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future business activities and involve risks and uncertainties, and that the Company's future business activities may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, fluctuations in market prices, successes of the operations of the Company, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such information will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. The Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking information except as required under the applicable securities laws.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.A generational shift in attitude is evident as only half (50%) of those aged 18-24 believe pension saving should be compulsory. The jump to 78% supporting compulsory saving for adults aged 55 and over suggests regret at missed opportunities to save earlier in life and that, for Brits, the reality of retirement is biting late. Views varied regarding the level of savings considered adequate, but again there was a gulf between younger and older generations, highlighting the potential perception gap that exists between what people think is sufficient for a comfortable retirement, versus what may actually be necessary. When looking at combined contributions (from themselves and their employer) 21% of workers felt that the total amount that should be saved was at least 11% of their monthly salary. However, 11% of 18-24 year old workers thought that just 1-2% of their total monthly salary was enough to give financial security in retirement. The proportion who felt 1-2% of their monthly salary was adequate fell to just 2% for those workers aged 45 and over. Across all ages, a quarter (25%) of workers said they did not know what they thought the minimum combined contribution should be. If the UK were to fully embrace compulsion it could mirror the Australian model, a system of compulsory contributions from both employers and employees. Australian savers are also encouraged to supplement their compulsory contributions with further, voluntary contributions. Greater compulsion, possibly with a limited flexibility to opt down and not just opt out, would bring significant benefits and mean higher default saving levels for the UKs future pensioners. Bob Scott, senior partner at LCP, said: Our research suggests that people on the whole support compulsion in retirement savings to help them achieve greater financial security. Auto-enrolment has been hugely successful in getting millions more people saving for their retirement. But there is still some way to go. Auto-enrolment does not include low earners or the self-employed which means that there are still more than 10 million private sector workers who are excluded. Rates of opt-out have generally been lower than expected, which we hope will continue to be the case when contributions rise in April 2019. In the longer term, government should also plan for contributions to rise significantly above 8% of qualifying earnings. Whilst we were relieved that Chancellor Philip Hammond resisted the temptation in the Autumn Budget to tinker with changes to pensions taxation, we would urge the government to commit to policies that ensure meaningful levels of retirement savings. Making pension saving compulsory could move things forward. The survey also asked those who thought pension saving should be compulsory what the minimum employee contribution should be. 43% thought that the minimum someone should personally pay into their pension was 3-5% of their monthly salary, while around a quarter (26%) thought the minimum contribution should be 6-10%. The survey results, based on a representative sample of 2,008 British adults, are the latest in a series of insights released as part of the Future Pensioner campaign from LCP. The campaign seeks to shine a light on the state of pensions and retirement savings in the UK, and raise awareness of and debate around key elements of ensuring the pensioners of tomorrow make better decisions today.

The HPC-AI Advisory Council (HPCAIAC) and Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS) in collaboration with the HPCXXL Board today announced thecall for session proposals and sponsors for the 10th annual Swiss Conference and HPCXXL User Group in Lugano, Switzerland, 01-04 April, 2019. Proposals for contributed talks, tutorials and workshops must be submitted before the end of January. Marking ten years, the jointly organized forum combines thought leadership talks with immersive breakout sessions across HPC and AI domain and disciplines, breakthrough research, state-of-the-art technologies, advanced initiatives, Cloud, EuroEXA, OpenStack and more.

Hosting a recognizable lineup of industry leaders like annual supporters Atos, Docker, HPCXXL partners and numerous others, the conference draws renowned subject matter experts together to share insights on leading-edge innovations, disciplines and research. Reflective of its diverse audience, annual agendas address a broad range of interests and feature trending topics from the EU's decade long Human Brain Project involving hundreds of scientists, universities and research centers to the more than 6000 scientists, physicians and professionals supported by Novartis' Institute of Bioinformatics Research (NIBR) to enable life-changing discoveries worldwide.

"HPC and AI are driving major advances in every field and exposing entirely new approaches from how we work to the delivery of results," said Gilad Shainer, HPC-AI Advisory Council Chairman. "Whether developing interests, keeping pace, or to gain new knowledge, specialists from all over the world come to Lugano to delve into the newest learnings, technologies and techniques that can be applied to push boundaries even further."

"These conferences inspire truly advantageous outcomes," said CSCS' HPC System Manager, Hussein Harake. "Bringing multi-disciplined private and public professionals together to contribute experiences and expertise and explore works helps further our individual pursuits. It's also a great catalyst in surfacing opportunities for more cross-industry collaborations which benefits everyone."

In parallel to inviting sponsor and expert submissions, registration is open through 24 Mar., 2019, required of all participants and includes a nominal attendee fee. Open to all interested, the Swiss Conference (CHF 180.00) includes an evening excursion, daily break and lunch services. Participation in the HPCXXL meeting also requires a separate registration for all participants (CHF 90.00). Attendees must register before 10 Feb., 2019 to take advantage of Early-bird discounts. More information on the conference, key dates, submissions, etc., is on the HPCAIAC website

About HPC-AI Advisory Council

Founded in 2008, The HPC-AI Advisory Council (HPCAIAC) is a for community benefit organization with over 400 members committed to promoting HPC and AI through education and outreach. More: www.hpcadvisorycouncil.com

About Swiss National Supercomputing Centre

Founded in 1991, the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS) provides key capabilities to solve important problems to science and/or society. Operated by ETH Zurich, CSCS supports researchers globally from its state of the art centre in Lugano. More: www.cscs.ch

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005334/en/

Contacts:

Cydney Ewald Stevens

cydney@hpcadvisorycouncil.comSpendEdge, a global procurement market intelligence firm, has announced the release of their Global Network Cables Category Procurement Market Intelligence Report

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005423/en/

Global Network Cables Category Procurement Market Intelligence Report. (Graphic: Business Wire)

The growing need for high-speed internet services is driving the demand for the network cables market in regions like APAC, North America, and other regions. However, the manufacturing of such equipment calls for bulk investments, which inadvertently multiples during the production. This is creating a major challenge for investors to cater to the consumer's demand for low-cost but high-quality equipment. Read the free sample of our network cables market intelligence report to know what are the other critical drivers that are impacting the cost structure of the network cables market.

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View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005423/en/

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https://www.spendedge.com/contact-usCOEUR D'ALENE, ID / ACCESSWIRE / December 4, 2018 / Timberline Resources Corporation (OTCQB: TLRS; TSX-V: TBR) ("Timberline" or the "Company") today announced results of its 2018 Special Meeting of Stockholders, held on December 1, 2018 in Coeur d' Alene, Idaho. Proxies were solicited under the proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 22, 2018. The Company received overwhelming approval for all proposals submitted to stockholders as follows:





The Company's 2018 Stock and Incentive Plan which is subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval, allows that the aggregate number of shares that may be issued under all awards under the Plan shall equal 8,000,000 Shares, of which no greater than 7,000,000 Shares may be issued pursuant to the exercise of Options.

About Timberline Resources

Timberline Resources Corporation is focused on advancing district-scale gold exploration and development projects in Nevada. These include its 23 square-mile Eureka property, comprising the Lookout Mountain, Windfall, and Oswego projects which lie along three separate structural stratigraphic trends defined by distinct geochemical gold anomalies, as well as being operator of both the Paiute joint venture project with a subsidiary of Barrick Gold, and the Elder Creek joint venture with McEwen Mining. All of these properties lie on the prolific Battle Mountain-Eureka gold trend. Timberline also owns the Seven Troughs property in Northern Nevada, which is one of the state's highest-grade former producers. Timberline has increased its owned and controlled mineral rights in Nevada to over 43 square miles (27,500 acres). Detailed maps and NI 43-101 estimated resource information for the Eureka property may be viewed at http://timberlineresources.co/.

Timberline is listed on the OTCQB where it trades under the symbol "TLRS" and on the TSX Venture Exchange where it trades under the symbol "TBR".

Forward-looking Statements

Statements contained herein that are not based upon current or historical fact are forward-looking in nature and constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements reflect the Company's expectations about its future operating results, performance and opportunities that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. These include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the advancement of projects, and exploration potential. When used herein, the words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "upcoming," "plan," "target", "intend" and "expect" and similar expressions, as they relate to Timberline Resources Corporation, its subsidiaries, or its management, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to the Company and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause the Company's actual results, performance, prospects, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. There are no assurances that the Company will complete the earn-in on the Elder Creek project as contemplated or at all. Factors that could cause or contribute to risks involving forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, changes in the Company's business and other factors, including risk factors discussed in the Company's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2018. Except as required by law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For Further Information Please Contact:

Steven A. Osterberg

President and CEO

Tel: 208-664-4859

E-mail: info@timberline-resources.com

Website: www.timberline-resources.com

SOURCE: Timberline Resources Corporation

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/529640/Timberline-Announces-Shareholder-Approval-of-2018-Options-Incentive-PlanToronto, Ontario and Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - December 4, 2018) - Minera Alamos Inc. (TSXV: MAI) ("Minera Alamos" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update of its 2018 development activities at the Santana gold project located in Sonora, Mexico. Since the project was acquired as part of the merger completed in April this year with Corex Gold, the Company has aggressively advanced the Santana project.

"As the year draws to a close the Minera Alamos team has made excellent progress at Santana in anticipation of what we expect to be our first commercial mine in 2019. The consistent recovered grade from the bulk test work at Nicho Norte coupled with low cyanide consumption suggests the potential for a robust open-pit, heap-leach operation. As a result, discussions with mining contractors have been initiated in anticipation of approval of our commercial permit applications and making a final construction decision," stated Minera Alamos President Doug Ramshaw. "The recent approvals of the Company's permit applications at the La Fortuna gold project exemplify a core competency of our team and its experience of working within the permitting environment in Mexico. We expect that these efforts will be equally successful at the Company's Santana project and look forward to providing our shareholders with the news of those permits in near future."

Test Mining and Mine Development Activities

Over 50,000 t of mineralized material was mined from Nicho Norte and heap leach tested to evaluate grades, recoveries, reagent consumptions and the impact of crush size.

Cumulative overall gold production from the test mining now totals 1,040 oz and represents a recoverable gold grade approaching 0.65 g/t Au.

Crush sizes for the various leach test phases varied from coarse crushing (<3") to fine crushing (<1.2-5/8') and agglomeration. Ultimate gold recoveries from all tests were excellent and consistent with the overall cumulative average. Crush size will ultimately be fine tuned to maximize future profitability at a proposed commercial scale.

While the use of fine crushing/agglomeration appears to improve the gold leach kinetics, ultimate recoveries remained similar to those achieved leaching coarse material.

Cumulative reagent consumptions for the bulk test are low amounting to <0.20 kg/t for both cyanide and lime.

The application for commercial-scale operating permits was submitted (see news release dated July 26th 2018), and the Company anticipates positive notification in the near future.

Leaching from the test pad is winding down; however, the Company is still recovering residual gold and has recently shipped additional gold in concentrate totaling approximately 150 oz. One final shipment is anticipated as this residual leaching draws to a close.

Exploration Successes

A successful Phase 1 drill program yielded positive results from the Nicho Main area including 127.0 m of 0.81 g/t Au, 80.4 m of 1.05 g/t Au and 93.5 m of 0.65 g/t Au with mineralization extending from/near surface (see news releases dated October 11th 2018, October 17th 2018 and October 25th 2018).

The Phase 1 drill program resulted in the discovery of the Divisadero porphyry target located approximately 200 m north of the Nicho Norte zone, returning 95.7 m of 0.85 g/t Au, 9.8 g/t Ag and 0.33% Cu. Mapping and sampling has outlined a mineralized surface expression in excess of 200m x 300m (see news releases dated October 25th 2018 and November 15th 2018).

The Phase 2 drilling program will commence shortly to follow up on new discoveries made at Santana.

Ongoing Activities

As the Company awaits notification of its commercial-scale operation permit it has been active in developing strategy for a rapid shift to development and construction of a new mine including:

Contract negotiations with mining contractors

Water well drilling planning

Updating of the geological models based on results from Phase 1 drilling

Phase 2 drill program to follow up on recent discoveries

All these activities will contribute to a formal construction decision the Company anticipates making in the first quarter of 2019.

Figure 1 - Santana proposed gold heap leach operations site arrangement





To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4183/41438_86a843ece4fc7926_002full.jpg

Note: The Company is not basing any production decision on a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability. Minera Alamos acknowledges and advises there is increased uncertainty and that there are specific economic and technical risks of failure associated with any production decision. The Company believes the historic experience and track record of senior management with gold heap leaching and by advancing in careful prudent steps helps ameliorate possible technical risks.

For Further Information Please Contact:

Minera Alamos Inc.

Doug Ramshaw, President

Tel: 604-600-4423

Email: dramshaw@mineraalamos.com

Website: www.mineraalamos.com

About Minera Alamos

Minera Alamos is an advanced-stage exploration and development company with a growing portfolio of high-quality Mexican assets, including the La Fortuna open-pit gold project in Durango with positive PEA completed, the Santana open-pit heap-leach development project in Sonora with test mining and processing completed and the Guadalupe de Los Reyes open-pit gold-silver project in Sinaloa with mine planning in progress. The Company is awaiting the pending approval of permit applications related to the commercial production of gold at both the Santana and Fortuna projects.

The Company's strategy is to develop low capex assets while expanding the project resources and pursue complementary strategic acquisitions.

Mr. Darren Koningen, P. Eng., Minera Alamos' CEO, is the Qualified Person responsible for the technical content of this press release under National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Koningen has supervised the preparation of, and approved the scientific and technical disclosures in this news release.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may contain forward-looking information and Minera Alamos cautions readers that forward-looking information is based on certain assumptions and risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations of Minera Alamos included in this news release. This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements", which often, but not always, can be identified by the use of words such as "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "estimates", "may", "could", "would", "will", or "plan". These statements are based on information currently available to Minera Alamos and Minera Alamos provides no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements with respect to Minera Alamos' future plans with respect to the Projects, objectives or goals, to the effect that Minera Alamos or management expects a stated condition or result to occur and the expected timing for release of a resource and reserve estimate on the Projects. Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results relating to, among other things, results of exploration, the economics of processing methods, project development, reclamation and capital costs of Minera Alamos' mineral properties, the ability to complete a preliminary economic assessment which supports the technical and economic viability of mineral production could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements for many reasons. Minera Alamos' financial condition and prospects could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements for many reasons such as: an inability to finance and/or complete an updated resource and reserve estimate and a preliminary economic assessment which supports the technical and economic viability of mineral production; changes in general economic conditions and conditions in the financial markets; changes in demand and prices for minerals; litigation, legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; technological and operational difficulties encountered in connection with Minera Alamos' activities; and other matters discussed in this news release and in filings made with securities regulators. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of Minera Alamos' forward-looking statements. These and other factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on Minera Alamos' forward-looking statements. Minera Alamos does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by Minera Alamos or on its behalf, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - December 4, 2018) - Spanish Mountain Gold Ltd. (TSXV: SPA) (the "Company") is pleased to announce the assay results from its strategic 2018 drilling program for the Spanish Mountain Gold Project (the "Project") located in British Columbia, Canada.

The highly selective program targeted areas within the high-grade, near-surface First Zone of the Project's multi-million ounce gold resource as described in the news release dated April 10, 2017. The objective of the program is to increase the total number of gold ounces captured in a possible future mine plan by reclassifying certain Inferred Resources to the Measured & Indicated categories. By design, the 2017 Preliminary Economic Assessment only incorporated M&I resources in the mine plan and thereby treated the extracted Inferred Resources as "waste", which had the effect of artificially inflating the Project's strip ratio and operating cost. If the current drilling program is successful in upgrading the targeted ounces in a future resource estimate, it is expected to further improve the Project's robust economics as it effectively converts mined "waste" into mill feed and production ounces.

Highlights of the First Set of Drilling Results include:

27.43 metres (m) grading 1.76 grams per tonne (g/t), including 12.19m grading 3.62 g/t gold in hole 18SMRC-1221

67.06m grading 0.82 g/t, including 13.72m grading 1.22 g/t and 12.19m grading 1.86 g/t gold in hole 18SMRC-1224

16.76m grading 1.03 g/t, including 4.57m grading 2.28 g/t gold in hole 18SMRC-1225

41.15m grading 0.63 g/t, including 10.67m grading 1.32 g/t gold in hole 18SMRC-1226

Significant assay results are summarized in Table 1 appended to this news release.

The results of all six holes included in this first set of assays clearly indicate additional higher grade gold mineralization at shallow depths, most of which is at less than 100 metres from the surface. The holes are all located in areas that are proposed to be mined during the early years (Phase I) under the mine plan developed in the 2017 PEA.

As announced in the news release dated September 13, 2018, the Company has executed a number of work programs during the year in order to actively advance the Project in multiple technical areas. These programs were designed to fulfil the objectives of achieving higher feed grades, lower capital cost and a more robust resource than those assumed in the 2017 PEA. The initial results appear to support the distinct and welcome possibility for further scaling down from the 2017 mill throughput, which is expected to potentially reduce the initial capital cost significantly while maintaining the robust economics. In contrast with the previously assumed (2012 PEA) throughput of 40,000 tonnes per day for the Project, the 2017 PEA presented a 20,000 tpd scenario focused exclusively on mining the high-grade/ near-surface First Zone resulting in a reduction of initial capital by $257 million. The lower throughput case has materially improved all the economic metrics for the Project in spite of a significantly lower gold price assumption (US $1,250 vs. US $1,462). Please refer to the Company's website for a detailed comparison of these two scenarios at: www.spanishmountaingold.com/project/2017-pea-vs-2012-pea/

Management expects to report the remaining assay results as well as the results of the other programs over the next few months.

Larry Yau, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "We are delighted with this first set of assay results, which clearly sit well with our objective of converting 'waste' into mill feed in the next mine plan. Of note, this is the third consecutive drilling program over a number of years in which we have consistently encountered results with grades higher than 1 g/t over long intercepts at shallow depths, far exceeding the average grade for the entire resource. I believe that these results call for a comprehensive reassessment of the quality of our large resource as well as the economic model for its development. I look forward to reporting our progress on multiple fronts in due course."

Judy Stoeterau, P.Geo., the Company's Vice-President of Geology and the qualified person as defined under National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed the contents of this news release. All samples were assayed at ALS Global Ltd. in Vancouver, BC. The Company has retained Discovery Consultants of Vernon, BC, to independently monitor the quality control and quality assurance (QC/QA) data on the Spanish Mountain Gold Project. Analytical precision and accuracy are being measured and monitored by the use of duplicates, prep and pulp samples and by standards (reference material). Possible contamination during the sampling and processing procedures is being monitored by the insertion of blank samples.

On Behalf of the Board,

SPANISH MOUNTAIN GOLD LTD.

Larry Yau

Chief Executive Officer

Inquiries:

SPANISH MOUNTAIN GOLD LTD.

Phone: (604) 601-3651

E-mail: info@spanishmountaingold.com

Website: www.spanishmountaingold.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulations Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release contains forward-looking information, which involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual events to differ materially from current expectation. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations are disclosed in the Company's documents filed from time to time on www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The company disclaims any intention or obligation, except to the extent required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Table 1: Summary of Significant Assay ResultsRALEIGH, North Carolina, December 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

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"Although in my opinion the best functionality is the Procurement Community ("Thought Leadership and Peer Community"), where you can find active forums and discussions with procurement leaders that provide different points of view in each topic, and benchmarking data that can help the professionals with the decision making process," Mero said.

Beroe hosts hundreds of Thought Leadership articles across major spend areas. The Procurement community also gets access to the company's flagship magazine Procurement Espresso. https://www.beroeinc.com/espresso/

Overall, Beroe LiVE removes all clutter while enabling procurement professionals to:

Achieve trusted advisor status among your stakeholders

Deliver business value in a seamless manner

Make informed decisions; and excel at Negotiation

Create advantage in such a manner that Procurement will be perceived as a business enabler than a bottleneck

"Beroe LiVE hosts not only hard-to-find category intelligence, but also carries critical information on more than 140 million suppliers. The fact that more than 10,000 companies now use the platform shows how valuable data and information is to the procurement community - it is hard to make the right purchasing decisions without sifting through reliable data. Besides the increase in the number of companies, we have also seen the monthly engagement on the platform more than double to 36 minutes per user. We are expecting this uptrend to continue in the years to come," according to Rahul Devarakonda, VP and Head of Beroe LiVE.

Beroe is currently working on Beroe LiVE X - an upgraded version of the current Beroe LiVE product - which will offer real-time market information, category intelligence, price forecast, supplier intelligence, supplier compliance and risk ratings in a user-friendly dashboard format.

About Beroe

Beroe's unique business model involves providing market intelligence and analytics to the procurement teams of businesses across the globe. Beroe leverages its deep domain expertise in 300+ categories across 14 industries. It boasts of more than 80 of the Fortune 500 companies as its clients.

To learn more about Beroe Inc., please visit https://www.beroeinc.com

Media Contact:

Debobrata Hembram

debobrata.hembram@beroe-inc.com

Turin, 4 December 2018

CNH Industrial (NYSE: CNHI / MI: CNHI) has recently launched a new course on agricultural vehicles and engines at the Don Bosco Technical Center, a Salesian facility in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which is already home to the TechPro professional vocational program on industrial vehicles.

With the assistance of New Holland Agriculture, a global agricultural brand of CNH Industrial, it has been possible to build a workshop, which can be used both for theoretical study and practical training, dedicated entirely to the farming sector. Furthermore, New Holland has provided a tractor for teaching purposes, specifically a TT75 four wheel drive tractor, a model which is particularly suited to the area's operational environment.

The official opening ceremony for the courses, during which the new workshop was inaugurated, took place on November 28, and was attended by Moenco, the local New Holland dealer, who is also a partner in the project. Representing CNH Industrial were Yasin Seker, Business Manager for New Holland Agriculture EMEA, and Daniela Ropolo, EMEA & APAC Sustainability Development Initiatives Manager for CNH Industrial.

Launched for the first time at an international level by CNH Industrial in 2011, the TechPro program aims to involve local communities in advanced vocational training programs specifically tailored for young people, and to provide them with the skills and tools they need to build a successful future in the field of mechanics. The new TechPro course will see the participation of seven students, from the 40 currently enrolled at the Salesian facility. After a year of both theory and practical lessons, these students will have an internship opportunity at a local workshop of the relative Brand.

This initiative represents the most recent step in a path undertaken in 2008 and which continues in partnership with FCA. It is a project that has enjoyed extraordinary success, and which, over the course of ten years, has offered over 6,000 internships and has trained nearly 13,000 students in Italy, Brazil, China, Poland, Spain and other countries.

Sign up for corporate news alerts from the CNH Industrial Newsroom:

bit.ly/media-cnhindustrial-subscribe

CNH IndustrialN.V.

For more information contact:

Laura Overall

Corporate Communications Manager

CNH Industrial

Tel. +44

AttachmentsPartnership will enable Enterprises and developers to seamlessly leverage Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage and Packet Bare Metal Cloud

New York and Boston, Dec. 04, 2018, the leading bare metal cloud for developers, and Wasabi, the hot cloud storage company, today announced that the companies have joined forces to offer customers both "compute in the cloud" and "storage in the cloud" by integrating their respective platforms. The purpose of the collaboration is to improve the overall experience of companies leveraging the power of independent cloud services, including for users in SaaS, data security, machine learning, adtech and other infrastructure dependent businesses.

At an infrastructure partner event called IFX held in Las Vegas last week, Wasabi and Packet unveiled plans to provide joint services through their respective IaaS management consoles and APIs. The integrated console will allow Packet compute customers to easily leverage Wasabi storage and Wasabi customers to rapidly leverage Packet compute resources. The joint cloud services solution will connect over a high-capacity, low-latency fiber network with no transfer fees between compute and storage elements. The result is that customers will enjoy a unified public cloud experience with the superior performance, scalability and affordability that can be achieved through specialist vendors. The companies announced that they will expand the model to include other cloud solutions such as traffic management, security, file acceleration, etc. via an ecosystem model.

"We're entering a new phase of Cloud services adoption and innovation," said David Friend, CEO of Wasabi. "We've engaged with many customers who are looking to build customized clouds with 'best-of' providers, instead of being held captive to first generation clouds like Amazon. There is a movement afoot, almost a rebellion of sorts, to redefine what a cloud should look like, on the customer's terms instead of the vendor's terms. A Wasabi and Packet integrated cloud solution is the breakthrough that our customers have been asking for. They want choice when it comes to cloud services and they don't want to be locked into any one vendor."

"Packet is focused on helping the leading enterprises of the world use technology as a competitive weapon, and this means working closely with specialty providers who are the best in the world at what they do," noted Zac Smith, CEO at Packet. "This partnership is about empowering users to leverage truly cutting-edge technologies while providing the benefits of a single pane of glass, an amazing developer experience, a single bill and zero lock-in."

The two companies expect to integrate each others products into their respective management consoles and portals in Q1 2019.

Included in the Wasabi-Packet integrated solution is Wasabi's groundbreaking storage technology that's 80% cheaper, charges no additional data transfer fees, and is 6x the speed of traditional cloud storage suppliers. Wasabi removes data storage complexity by eliminating tiers and pricing tables with one flat rate for low cost, high speed storage. The solution pairs with Packet's fully automated bare metal cloud, which redefines performance and lowers costs by eliminating multi-tenancy and unnecessary abstraction layers. Packet deploys over 60,000 bare metal instances per month from its 18+ global locations, with provisioning times in as little as 60 seconds. The integrated joint offering allows developer-led Enterprises and SaaS companies to benefit from a superior economic/performance solution while having the power of choice in choosing from best-of-breed applications partners.

About Wasabi:

Wasabiis the hot cloud storage company delivering low-cost, fast, and reliable cloud storage. Wasabi is 80% cheaper and 6x faster than Amazon S3, with 100% data immutability protection and no data egress fees. Created by Carbonite co-founders and cloud storage pioneers David Friend and Jeff Flowers, Wasabi is on a mission to commoditize the storage industry. Wasabi is a privately held company based in Boston, MA. Follow and connect with Wasabi on Twitter, Facebook, Instagramand our blog.

About Packet:

Packetis the leading bare metal cloud for developers. Its proprietary technology automates physical servers and networks without the use of virtualization or multi-tenancy - powering over 60k deployments each month across 18+ global locations. Committed to automating infrastructure no matter what it is or where it lives, Packet also provides its infrastructure automation solution via on-premise and private deployment models. Learn more atwww.packet.com



2018 Wasabi Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved. WASABI and the WASABI Logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Wasabi Technologies, Inc. and may not be used without permission of Wasabi Technologies, Inc. All other brand names mentioned herein are for identification purposes only and may be the trademarks of their respective holder(s). The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. Wasabi shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein. All rights reserved.

Media Contacts:

Wasabi

Lindsay Levitts

Kel & Partners

lindsayl@kelandpartners.com

617-519-6551



Packet

Peter Moran

Indicate Media

peter@indicatemedia.com

347-880-2895Nano-Satellites from Hiber to power projects in the 90% of the world currently without connectivity

'NewSpace'* startup Hiber celebrated the lift-off of its "HiberBand" nano-satellite yesterday at 10.32am PST at the Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Dutch-government backed Hiber is the first truly global satellite solution, opening the door for the 90% of the world currently unable to use connected tech. The launch will be available to replay here: https://hiber.tv/

Less than 10% of the globe is covered by a connected-technology ready network. Existing networks (like WIFI) only work in urban areas and wealthier countries, while traditional satellites that provide wider coverage are expensive and power hungry. For these reasons, many connected-tech applications and services are currently unaffordable. For example, it is currently unviable to monitor soil moisture to improve production efficiency and crop quality in the third world countries that rely on farming the most. Hiber has launched into the orbit to change that.

Once fully operational, the nano-satellite will fly over earth's poles 16 times a day and the entirety of the equator twice a day, providing the planet with the ability to stream data to and from connected devices. Using a process that is up to 20 times cheaper than existing global solutions, it works by transferring data from modems and antennas owned by customers directly to the nano-satellites. Data is then sent back to earth via the two existing satellite stations in Spitsbergen in Norway and Delft in the Netherlands.

Hiber is collaborating with Amazon Web Services and was named the AWS Commercial Launch Startup of 2018 on the 25th November. Hiber has also partnered with IBM Watson and Actility for easy integration into existing cloud services, allowing customers to easily build unique applications with global data-streaming capabilities.

The network will be commercially operational from Q1 2019, serving more than 25 pilot customers. Hiber estimates there is a potential 3.5Bn opportunity for growth as potential IoT projects currently falter due to a lack of connectivity. One of its pilot customers, the British Antarctic Survey, will be using the network to transmit data from remote measurement stations currently without access to satellite communications. The ability to stream data from the stations will result in more frequent information gathering at a lower cost and the strain on the environment will be reduced as visits are lessened.

Other customers include a Dutch company which will be bringing climate stations to schools in rural communities in Peru, Tanzania and Sri Lanka to educate tomorrow's smart farmers and Blik Sensing, which helps manage water resources by providing insight into global groundwater levels.

"It is beyond exciting to be the first company bringing full IoT-connectivity to the globe as well as being the first ever commercial Dutch Satellite operator," said Laurens Groenendijk, Co-Founder of Hiber. "The commercial applications for Hiberband in the IoT-industry are limitless. We look forward to powering diverse projects, from tracking cattle to tackling climate change and more effectively growing crops."

Hiber celebrated the launch of its first satellite at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India on the 29th November, 20:28 PST. The startup expects to launch dozens of satellites in the next 12 to 18 months to meet the enormous demand for connected tech around the world.

-- Ends --

About Hiber

Hiber (formerly Magnitude Space) is a so-called 'NewSpace' startup. Founded and led by a dream team of satellite experts and tech entrepreneurs, these 'Hibernauts' are literally working on a moonshoot goal: to launch and own a nano-satellite constellation in space. Each nano-satellite will roughly be the size of a large shoebox.

To date, around 10 million in funding has been invested in the company. Thanks to subsidies, innovation loans and informal investors, on 19 November Hiber will take its first step towards realising its dream of becoming the Netherlands' first commercial satellite company. More than 40 employees work on the ground-breaking, patent-pending technology behind Hiber and Hiberband at its offices in Amsterdam and Delft.

(*) Definition of NewSpace from Wikipedia.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005609/en/

Contacts:

PR Contact Name: Alice Cornelius

Email: alice@clarity.pr

Phone Number: +44-(0)-20-3893-5015Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - December 4, 2018) -Jaxon Mining Inc. (TSXV: JAX) (FSE: OU31) (OTC: JXMNF) (the "Company") is pleased to announce it has received the assay results from diamond drill holes BB18-01 to BB18-03. The Company is still awaiting the assays results from holes BB18-04 and BB18-05 which were drilled at different angles, azimuths and depths from the same platform used by BB18-03.

All 5 holes targeted the Backbone gold-cobalt tourmaline breccia mineralization zones along strike at Red Springs. Located on the Company's 44,000 ha Hazelton property in the Skeena Arch area of northwest British Columbia, Red Springs is only 9 km away from BC Highway 16 (Figure 4).

Tourmaline breccia mineralization zones do not exist in isolation; orogenically tourmaline is associated with porphyries. The Company has determined these tourmaline breccia zones are distal to a large system of porphyries. Three porphyry targets have been identified using geophysics (long line ground IP and ground magnetic surveys), geochemistry, structural and alteration mapping following outcrop rock sampling.

The first three drill holes intersected gold-cobalt mineralization:

BB18-03 intercepts 1 m massive sulphide mineralization of 8.10 g/t Au equivalent consisting of 6.60 g/t Au and 0.10% cobalt contained within 4 m of 3.54 g/t Au equivalent consisting of 2.71 g/t Au and 0.055% cobalt contained within 12 m of 2.03 g/t Au equivalent consisting of 1.44 g/t Au and 0.039% cobalt from down hole 80 m to 92 m, and

1 m massive sulphide mineralization of 4.97 g/t Au equivalent consisting of 4.34 g/t Au, 0.02% cobalt and 0.22% copper contained within 4 m of 2.35 g/t Au equivalent consisting of 1.85 g/t Au, 0.015% cobalt and 0.074% copper from down hole 67 m to 71 m, and

1 m of 2.17 g/t Au equivalent consisting of 1.95 g/t Au, 0.014% cobalt and 0.127% copper from down hole 75 m to 76 m.

BB18-02 intercepts 1 m of 1.15 g/t Au equivalent consisting of 0.56 g/t Au and 0.039% cobalt from down hole 22 m to 23 m.

BB18-01 intercepts 1 m of 1.36 g/t Au equivalent consisting of 1.28 g/t Au and 0.01% cobalt from down hole 38 m to 39 m.

Significant assay results from each of the first three holes are listed in Table 1 below:

Table 1 - Backbone Gold-Cobalt Tourmaline Breccia Mineralization Diamond Drill Intercepts Holes 1, 2 and 3 *

Sample No. Hole ID From

(m) To

(m) Interval

(m) Au

(g/t) Co

(ppm) Cu

(ppm) EqAu

(g/t) A0010407 BB18-01 24 25 1 0.201 199 86 0.512 A0010408 BB18-01 25 27 2 0.475 44 22 0.544 A0010415 BB18-01 38 39 1 1.277 52 10 1.357 A0010421 BB18-01 48 49 1 0.527 51 9 0.605 A0010441 BB18-02 22 23 1 0.556 394 24 1.151 A0010464 BB18-03 42 43 1 0.175 23 2103 0.525 A0010478 BB18-03 67 68 1 4.343 198 2226 4.974 A0010479 BB18-03 68 69 1 0.02 7 16 0.033 A0010481 BB18-03 69 70 1 2.427 251 627 2.890 A0010482 BB18-03 70 71 1 0.593 125 100 0.796 A0010487 BB18-03 75 76 1 1.945 144 1266 2.351 A0010493 BB18-03 80 81 1 1.498 370 7 2.054 A0010494 BB18-03 81 82 1 0.679 255 8 1.063 A0010495 BB18-03 82 83 1 1.866 956 9 3.301 A0010496 BB18-03 83 84 1 0.234 135 13 0.438 A0010497 BB18-03 84 85 1 0.607 321 12 1.090 A0010498 BB18-03 85 86 1 1.191 224 16 1.529 A0010499 BB18-03 86 87 1 0.221 106 19 0.383 A0010501 BB18-03 87 88 1 0.149 140 14 0.361 A0010502 BB18-03 88 89 1 6.601 1000 16 8.104 A0010503 BB18-03 89 90 1 0.655 179 47 0.931 A0010504 BB18-03 90 92 2 1.784 512 42 2.558 A0010505 BB18-03 92 93 1 0.36 208 40 0.678

*EqAu is calculated using long term prices for gold at $1250 USD per ounce, for cobalt at $60K USD per tonne and for copper at $6K USD per tonne.

Other highlights include:

Cobalt grades from tourmaline breccia mineralization zone in BB18-03 are from 0.01% to 0.1% with an average grade of 0.039% for 12 m including 4 m with gold grade at 2.71 g/t and cobalt grade at 0.055%. This cobalt resource potential is exciting.

The Company has received the IP and magnetic surveys report for Red Springs from Simcoe GeoScience, which identifies a total of 32 IP and magnetic anomalous zones. The report will be released after evaluation by the Company's geology team.

Tony Guo, Jaxon's COO, commented: "It is an excellent discovery that we have intercepted a total thickness of up to 26 m gold-cobalt tourmaline breccia mineralization zone at BB18-03 which includes 12 m of 2.03 g/t Au equivalent and 2 one m high grade massive sulphide mineralization sections near both foot wall and hanging wall with gold equivalent of 8.10 g/t and 4.97 g/t Au, respectively. It confirms the shallow dip extension of high-grade gold-cobalt tourmaline breccia mineralization from surface outcrop to the down hole 70-90 m in BB18-03 (Figure 1), which has a reported 3.10 g/t Au equivalent for 13 m mineralization outcrop, as reported in the Company's news release dated September 20, 2018. BB18-01 and BB18-02 have intercepted a narrow mineralization at down hole 10 to 20 m near surface. The major mineralization at BB18-01 and BB18-02 have been weathered out considering the 100-m elevation difference between BB18-01/02 and BB18-03 (Figure 2). The Company plans to drill more holes in 2019, to the north of BB18-03, in close proximity to the Backbone tourmaline breccia centre or to the west of the current BB18-01 to BB18-03 connection line."









Figure 1: Cross Section Map of BB18-03 and Surface Outcrop Trench D and E with Gold Grade Graph (UTM, Zone 9 Coordinates)

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/881/41435_e53c61cbb4982b21_001full.jpg









Figure 2: Location Map of Drill Hole BB18-01/02 and BB18-03 and Backbone Tourmaline Breccia Mineralization Zone and Tourmaline Breccia Center

To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/881/41435_e53c61cbb4982b21_002full.jpg

Given the converging positive results, development of a field work program is underway. With the market's support, the Company intends to continue to drill the tourmaline breccia zones along the 1000 m strike and its west dip direction and to drill test the porphyry targets in spring and summer of 2019.

Sample Preparation and Analyses

Core samples were cut and collected in the core shack facility in Smithers, BC by an experienced, professional QP geologist. Numbered core sample tags were placed inside each bag, which were then securely closed for transport. The Vancouver laboratory of Bureau Veritas Commodities Canada received the Rice Bag shipments, after secure transport directly from Smithers. All samples have been prepared by crushing, grinding and pulverizing to a pulp with barren material washing between each sample at the crush and pulverizing stages. Then 30 g of pulp was used for the gold assay using Fire Assay code FA430, AAS finish in g/mt and over limit gold using code FA530, with gravimetric finish in g/mt. Tellurite assay using code MA270 (with Te turn on). Other elements assay used code MAQ270 (aqua regia digest with ICP_MS finish).

About the Red Springs Project

Located in northwestern BC, the Red Springs Project contains porphyry -related, sedimentary-hosted gold-cobalt tourmaline breccia mineralization with associated copper, bismuth and antimony (Figure 3). It is in a well-developed infrastructural area and only 10 kms away from major highway and 2 kms from a local forest logging road (Figure 4). It is a new discovery for this type of mineralization in BC.

Tourmaline breccia mineralization in the "Backbone" area of the Red Springs Project is partially controlled by a low angle thrust fault occurring as sill-like tourmaline-sulfide zones within the fault and along bedding planes and as discordant breccia zones in the hanging wall of the fault. Mineralized intervals display multiple phases of hydrothermal activity accompanied by strong silicification and tourmaline-sulfide mineralization.

Tourmaline-sulfide breccia zones and veins have been widely found in the Backbone, North Cirque and Northwest Cirque Prospects. At Backbone, breccia mineralization extends over a strike length of 1000 m and is up to 15 to 50 m wide on surface (Figure 3, 5). Gold grades from surface channel samples range from 1 g/t to 32 g/t Au, with cobalt and copper grades up to 0.36% and 8.33 % respectively.

The 2018 drilling program has confirmed continuity of mineralization over a strike length of 300 m from hole BB18-01 to BB18-03 and low angle (<30 degree) dip extent of over 100 m from surface channels to the west (Figure 1). Mineralized tourmaline-sulfide breccia zones in drill core extend discontinuously over lengths of more than 26 metres in BB18-03 at the down hole depth from 67 metres to 93 metres. It consists of different phases sedimentary breccia and tourmaline veins or metrics. The sulphide mineralization within tourmaline breccia zone consists of pyrrhotite, arsenopyrite, chalcopyrite and pyrite. The most intense mineralization is associated with strong silicification and sulphidation alterations. A set of late quartz-carbonate veins are concentrated within the tourmaline breccia mineralized zone and contain variable amounts of chalcopyrite and bismuthinite. The cobalt grade can be up to 0.36% on the surface outcrops and 0.10 % in the drill hole cores based on the current exploration data and is closely related to the gold, telluride and bismuth grade within tourmaline breccia mineralization within in both surface outcrops samples and drill hole cores.

Based on the 2018 IP survey and drilling program, the Company has identified a deep target for sulfide mineralization. IP anomalies extend from Backbone to North Cirque and North west Cirque areas and cover a 2 km2 area at depths ranging from 350 m to 430 m. Deeper drilling into one of these IP anomalies in the Backbone area intersected multiple thin sulphide mineralized felsic dykes and minor tourmaline-sulphide veining. Mineralization of this type was encountered intermittently over a drill length of up to 80 m in drill hole BB18-05.

The objective of the Phase One drilling program was to determine the width, continuity and grade of gold-cobalt tourmaline breccia mineralisation at depth. A further objective was to demonstrate the viability of IP geophysics as an exploration tool for the mineralisation at Red Springs and provided the opportunity for further down-hole geophysics to better define the geometry of any mineralisation intersected during the program (Figure 6). In addition, the results added to the Company's knowledge of the nature of the tourmaline breccia mineralisation and its controls.

The Company will provide further information as it becomes available and will release updates on the progress of assay and geophysical survey results over the coming weeks, including posting reports and photos on its website at www.jaxonmining.com.









Figure 3: Outline Geology Map of Red Springs Project area from Jaxon Mining Inc. in BC, Canada

To view an enhanced version of Figure 3, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/881/41435_e53c61cbb4982b21_003full.jpg









Figure 4: Location Map of Red Springs Project from Jaxon Mining Inc. in Smithers, BC, Canada

To view an enhanced version of Figure 4, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/881/41435_e53c61cbb4982b21_004full.jpg





Figure 5: Backbone High Grade Gold-Cobalt Tourmaline Breccia Zone at Red Springs Project from Jaxon Mining Inc. in Smithers, BC, Canada

To view an enhanced version of Figure 5, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/881/41435_e53c61cbb4982b21_005full.jpg









Figure 6: 2D IP Chargeability Anomalies and 2018 Drilled Holes at Backbone Tourmaline Breccia Zone

To view an enhanced version of Figure 6, please visit:

https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/881/41435_e53c61cbb4982b21_006full.jpg





Qualified Person

Yingting (Tony) Guo, P.Geo., COO for Jaxon Mining Inc., a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and prepared the scientific and technical information and verified the data supporting such scientific and technical information contained in this news release.

About Jaxon Mining Inc.

Jaxon is a precious and base metals exploration company with a regional focus on Western Canada. The Company is currently focused on advancing its Hazelton Project in north-central British Columbia and the More Creek Project (consolidating the Wishbone and Foremore properties) in British Columbia's Golden Triangle.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

JAXON MINING INC.

"John King Burns"

John King Burns, Chairman

For Capital Markets for Jaxon Mining Inc., please call 778-938-4459, for Investor Relations, please call 604-609-6152, and for Corporate enquiries, please call 604-398-5394.

This news release may contain forward-looking information, which is not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward-looking information in this news release may include, but is not limited to, the Company's objectives, goals or future plans. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, those risks set out in the Company's public documents filed on SEDAR. 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, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames, or at all. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law. Neither TSX Venture exchange nor its Regulations Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.December 11 panel will focus on the private debt market

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / December 4, 2018 / Am Law 100 firm POLSINELLI's Dan Flanigan, Managing Partner of the firm's New York office, Founder of the firm's Financial Services Department, and Chair Emeritus of POLSINELLI'S Real Estate & Financial Services Department, will moderate a panel titled, 'Private Debt & Special Opportunities,' at the 6th Annual Global Institutional Real Estate Investor Forum to be held December 11th-12th in New York.

Panel Date: Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Time: 11:20 AM ET

Title: Private Debt & Special Opportunities

Location: The Union League Club - New York, NY

The Global Institutional Real Estate Investor Forum, brings together 300+ investors, funds, and advisers for a two-day meeting to discuss sectors, due diligence, and real estate investment opportunities in the US and around the world.

Additionally, Brian Bullard, Polsinelli Shareholder, JV, Fund Formation & Operations, will participate in a December 11th panel discussion at the forum, titled, "Navigating Fund Operations & Formation Including Regulatory and Structural Considerations."

Flanigan said: 'We have been very active in the Private Debt arena for more than 20 years now and plan to continue to serve and grow along with this dynamic and disruptive sector. My role on the Private Debt panel results our extensive 'product' work (loans, workouts, enforcement actions) for private debt funds and other private lenders and Brian will showcase in his panel our fund formation and operations expertise.'

About POLSINELLI

POLSINELLI is an Am Law 100 firm with more than 825 attorneys in 21 cities coast to coast. Ranked #24 for Client Service Excellence1 and #10 for best client relationships2 among 650 U.S. law firms, POLSINELLI is also named among the top 30 best-known firms in the nation3 for the second consecutive year. The firm's attorneys provide value through practical legal counsel infused with business insight, and focus on health care, financial services, real estate, intellectual property, mid-market corporate, labor and employment, and business litigation. www.polsinelli.com | In California, POLSINELLI LLP

12018 BTI Client Service A-Team Report

22017 BTI Industry Power Rankings

32018 BTI Brand Elite

Contact:

Cathy Loos

cathy@adam-friedman.com

SOURCE: POLSINELLI

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/529667/POLSINELLIS-Dan-Flanigan-to-Moderate-Panel-at-the-6th-Annual-Global-Institutional-Real-Estate-Investor-Forum-in-New-YorkNew CFO will provide additional bench strength to management team heading into 2019

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - December 4, 2018) - Established medial electrocardiogram ("ECG") software and device manufacturer CardioComm Solutions, Inc. (TSXV: EKG) ("CardioComm Solutions" or the "Company") today confirmed the appointment of a new Chief Financial Officer ("CFO"), Ms. Anne Burpee.

Ms. Burpee is a bilingual Chartered Professional Accountant with more than 25 years of senior finance and executive experience in both large and small companies. She has held several corporate positions in enterprises ranging from private company start-ups to TSX and NYSE publicly-listed corporations and multinationals, where she led financial reporting, corporate governance, change management, administration, tax, legal and IT. Previous employers where Ms. Burpee has worked in a senior capacity include: AON Hewitt, Global Aerospace Underwriting Managers, South Western Insurance Group, Canadian Tire, and Sears Canada. Ms. Burpee is a graduate of McGill University and holds a CPA CMA designation in Ontario. In addition, she is a financial literacy volunteer for CPA Canada and a member of the Accounting Program Advisory Committee at Humber College.

The Company thanks its outgoing US-based CFO, Mr. John Overall, for his support during a restructuring of the Company's financial systems, planning and internal controls that started in 2016. Additionally, in the role of CFO, Mr. Overall led the Company through the completion of several phases of preparatory work in anticipation of new IFRS reporting requirements. With these changes in place the Company is now ready for a new phase of growth to be supported by its new Toronto-based CFO.

To learn more about the CardioComm Solutions' products and for further updates regarding HeartCheck ECG device integrations, please see the Company's websites www.theheartcheck.com and www.cardiocommsolutions.com.

About CardioComm Solutions

CardioComm Solutions' patented and proprietary technology is used in products for recording, viewing, analyzing and storing electrocardiograms for diagnosis and management of cardiac patients. Products are sold worldwide through a combination of an external distribution network and a North American-based sales team. CardioComm Solutions has earned the ISO 13485 certification, is HIPAA compliant and holds clearances from the European Union (CE Mark), the USA (FDA) and Canada (Health Canada).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Etienne Grima, Chief Executive Officer

1-877-977-9425 x227

egrima@cardiocommsolutions.com

investor.relations@cardiocommsolutions.com

Forward-looking statements

This release may contain certain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information with respect to the financial condition, results of operations and business of CardioComm Solutions and certain of the plans and objectives of CardioComm Solutions with respect to these items. Such statements and information reflect management's current beliefs and are based on information currently available to management. By their nature, forward-looking statements and forward-looking information involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future and there are many factors that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements and forward-looking information.

In evaluating these statements, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. The Company does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements and forward-looking information contained in this release other than as required by applicable laws, including without limitation, Section 5.8(2) of National Instrument 51-102 (Continuous Disclosure Obligations).

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Uncover the opinions of the UK General Public

LONDON, Dec. 04, 2018-premium quality data services firm-announces the launch of Maru Voice UK . Maru Voice UK is a global expansion of the Maru/Blue online market research panels, joining Maru Voice Canada and Springboard America ,will now provide people in the UK with the opportunity to voice their opinions on a variety of topics and issues.



Maru Voice UK partners with reputable organizations including household brands, government bodies, not-for-profit organizations, and the media in order to help them better understand their customers and stakeholders, and to ensure they uncover the opinions of the UK general public. This collective feedback will influence the brands, products, and services we all use every day.

"I am excited to be bringing such a high-quality community to the UK market," said Paul Williams, Managing Director, Maru/Blue UK. "We know what the people who do our surveys like and dislike and we treat them like people, not sample . That's how we have such quality that we can proudly call ourselves boringly reliable ."

"After a fast-paced first year of growth for Maru/Blue, we are excited to announce the expansion of the Maru/Blue family of premium panels to the UK, a key geographic market with significant opportunities for growth," said Rob Berger, Managing Director of Maru/Blue. "Paul's wealth of experience and knowledge of the local market makes him the perfect choice to lead and develop Maru/Blue's new UK panel."

To accelerate the growth of Maru/Blue in the UK, the company also recently hired two business development managers on the agency and enterprise sales team. Izzy Nurdin has 17 years of experience in building and cultivating client relationships within advertising, marketing and creative agencies across the country. His knowledge of market research and creative agencies will prove to be invaluable to the growing business in the UK

. Izzy is commercially focused, using analytics, trends and research and readily able to Identify new revenue streams.

Deborah Horrocks comes to Maru/Blue with vast experience as a business development professional, previously working within the eLearning, education & learning technology, and publishing sectors. Deborah has also worked for many years as an interpreter giving her an excellent understanding of different cultures and business environments. Both will be an integral part of expanding and growing our presence in the UK.

About Maru/Blue

Maru/Blue is a premium quality data services firm that provides reliable global data connections for brands, agencies, and market research. We create value for our clients by connecting them with expertly profiled known respondents. The result? Reliable, reproducible insights. We deliver instant access to the general population, specific markets, and your or your competitor's customers.

We began disrupting the market community industry in 2000. Our market communities broke new ground, adding depth and richness to clients' understanding of what motivates their customers and shapes their markets. Now, as part of the Maru Group , we continue to provide reliable global data connections for agencies, brands, and market research firms.04 December 2018

Panther Metals

("Panther Metals" or the "Company")

Board Changes

Panther Metals PLC "(Panther" or the "Company") (NEX:PALM), is please to announce the appointment of Kate Patricia Asling as a Non-Executive Director of the Company with immediate effect. The Company also announces the resignation of Manichelvam ("Mani") Subramaniam, Non-Executive Director of the Company, with immediate effect.

Mitchell Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Panther Metals commented: "Kate brings a wealth of experience to the Company having worked on numerous transactions in corporate finance and as lead reporting accountant on investments. Kate brings a dynamic that will be invaluable as Panther Metals continues its evolution into an exciting exploration focused company."

I would also like to thank Mani on behalf of the Board of Panther Metals for his many years' service to the Company. The help and support received during the smooth transition of the business during 2018 would have proven difficult without Mani's skills and focus. As Mani's business interests continue to develop across Asia we look forward to his continued contributions to the business as a substantial shareholder.

Panther Metals has now moved from the transitional period following the restructuring in February 2018 into a proactive resource exploration investment vehicle, fully focused on creating shareholder value into 2019 and beyond.

I look forwards to announcing further developments demonstrating the range and depth of our activities."

Kate Asling, aged 38

Kate Asling is a Fellow Member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. Kate began her career as an auditor, working on Small and Medium-sized enterprises before transitioning into Corporate Finance in 2006, first at PKF Littlejohn and later at RSM Corporate Finance LLP. Since then Kate has worked on over 30 transactions in a reporting accountant or as a due diligence provider capacity, across a number of different sectors including natural resources.

Current Directorships and Partnerships Past Directorships and Partnerships over the last 5 years KPA Consulting Limited None

There is no further information that is required to be disclosed pursuant to Paragraph 21, Appendix 1 of the NEX Exchange Growth Market - Rules for Issuers.

The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement.

For further information on the Company:

The Company

PANTHER METALS PLC

Darren Hazelwood, Non-Executive Director

Mitchell Smith, Chief Executive Officer

www.panthermetals.co.uk

+ 44 (0)7971 957 685

+ 1 (604) 209 6678

info@panthermetals.co.uk NEX Exchange Corporate Adviser

PETERHOUSE CAPITAL LIMITED

Mark Anwyl

Guy Miller

+44 (0) 7469 0930

Notes to Editors:

Panther Metal plc (NEX: PALM), the London NEX Exchange Growth Market listed investor in strategic natural resource opportunities, is focused on generating shareholder value through advancing high-quality exploration opportunities in stable and mining friendly jurisdictions.

The board has demonstrated capability in taking projects from early grassroots stage through the development curve to production, with a combined 40 years' experience in the mineral exploration and mining finance sectors.Company Becomes First in Industry to Offer Marketplace to Download Pre-Built Connections to Partner Solutions and Third-Party Systems

LONDON and NEW YORK, Dec. 04, 2018, the leading cloud-based platform for enterprise customer communications, today announced the release of the Conversation Cloud Marketplace. The first of its kind in the CCM space, this offering provides enterprises with a selection of pre-built adaptors and plug-ins to other market-leading CX technologies and applications, allowing for tight integrations, a reduction in internal silos and more complete customer views.



"When we unveiled our Conversation Cloud framework, our vision was a scenario in which our leading customer communications management platform could effortlessly connect with other important solutions in an enterprise's technology stack." said Simon Tindal, CTO of Smart Communications. "This launch is a key component to making this a reality and empowers our customers to deliver more meaningful, two-way communications at tremendous scale."

The Marketplace will focus on common technologies used by enterprises to communicate and engage across the entire customer lifecycle including connections to accelerators; automation, email, e-signature and social messaging tools; chatbots; fonts; and consulting partners. At launch, the Conversation Cloud Marketplace will offer 15 integrations, including those with partners Sapient, Xceptor, Litmus and Guidewire, among others.

"The Conversation Cloud Marketplace is a first and a game changer in the industry and will allow enterprises to transform their businesses in the digital world faster while extending the value of their investment in the Smart Communications platform," said Phil Devilleres, Director at Publicis.Sapient. "We at Publicis.Sapient are very excited to offer our Digital Transformation enablers in the Conversation Cloud Marketplace. Our deep expertise in Data Management, AI, Cloud and Salesforce.com allows us to offer pre-configured and pre-tested plugins for Smart Communications customers. We are looking forward to helping Smart Communications customers accelerate their Digital Transformation initiatives via the Conversation Cloud Marketplace."

"Since the beginning, Smart Communications has prided itself on offering open and incredibly robust APIs, and the launch of the Marketplace expands and enhances this exponentially," added Tindal. "The Conversation Cloud framework now provides the fabric and connective tissue between Smart Communications and other systems our customers rely on each day."

About Smart Communications

Smart Communications is the leading cloud-based platform for enterprise customer communications. As the only cloud solution ranked as a Leader in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Customer Communications Management, more than 350 global brands - many in the world's most highly regulated industries - rely on Smart Communications to make multi-channel customer communications more meaningful, while also helping them simplify their processes and operate more efficiently. This is what it means to scale the conversation. Smart Communications is headquartered in London and New York and serves its customers from offices located across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. The company offers a range of solutions including SmartCOMMTM, SmartCOMMTM for Salesforce, and SmartDXTM. To learn more, visit smartcommunications.com.

Contact:

Stacy Kirk

skirk@smartcommunications.com

+1 770-891-9285The global frac tree market is expected to post a CAGR of over 5% during the period 2019-2023, according to the latest market research report by Technavio

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005705/en/

Technavio has released a new market research report on the global frac tree market for the period 2019-2023. (Graphic: Business Wire)

A key factor driving the growth of the market is the growing investments in shale oil and gas. Shale is a low permeability sedimentary rock formation, which contains trapped oil and gas. The hydraulic fracturing process is used to harness oil and gas from shale rocks. By using a combination of water, sand, detergents, and other stimulating fluids, pressure is applied on these rock formations to fracture the rock and allow the oil and gas to rise to the surface where it is collected for processing.

This market research report on the global frac tree market 2019-2023 also provides an analysis of the most important trends expected to impact the market outlook during the forecast period. Technavio classifies an emerging trend as a major factor that has the potential to significantly impact the market and contribute to its growth or decline.

This report is available at a USD 1,000 discount for a limited time only: View market snapshot before purchasing

In this report, Technavio highlights the increasing applications of IoT in the oil and gas industry as one of the key emerging trends in the global frac tree market:

Global frac tree market: Increasing applications of IoT in the oil and gas industry

During the well drilling process, oil and gas E&P activities generate a large amount of data. The integration of automation in drilling activities is being applied to various parts of the drilling process to improve efficiency by integrating the latest technology into the processes. In order to meet the growing demands of the industry and reduce safety concerns, GPS, sensors, wireless communication, real-time data acquisition, and innovations in equipment are being implemented.

"Though safety aspect is the prime motive behind drilling automation, economic benefits of automation are also gaining popularity, leading to the increased adoption of automation. The incorporation of IoT in industrial operations for improved processing and automation provides an analytical as well as a calculated approach to oil and gas production. This decreases the risk, reduces non-productive time, and lowers the uncertainty in the process," says a senior analyst at Technavio for research on oil and gas.

Global frac tree market: Segmentation analysis

This market research report segments the global frac tree market by application (onshore and offshore) and geographical regions (the Americas, APAC, and EMEA).

The onshore segment held the largest market share in 2018, accounting for nearly 97% of the market. This application segment is expected to dominate the global market throughout the forecast period.

The Americas led the market in 2018 with a market share of nearly 91%. This region is expected to dominate the market until 2023.

Looking for more information on this market? Request a free sample report

Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report such as the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more.

Some of the key topics covered in the report include:

Market Landscape

Market ecosystem

Market characteristics

Market segmentation analysis

Market Sizing

Market definition

Market size and forecast

Five Forces Analysis

Market Segmentation

Geographical Segmentation

Regional comparison

Key leading countries

Market Drivers

Market Challenges

Market Trends

Vendor Landscape

Vendors covered

Vendor classification

Market positioning of vendors

Competitive scenario

About Technavio

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions.

With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 10,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005705/en/

Contacts:

Technavio Research

Jesse Maida

Media Marketing Executive

US: +1 844 364 1100

UK: +44 203 893 3200

www.technavio.comRuffer Investment Company Limited

(a closed-ended investment company incorporated in Guernsey with registration number 41996)

LEI Number:21380068AHZKY7MKN047

(The "Company")

4 December 2018

RESULT OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

At the Annual General Meeting of the Company held on, all Ordinary Resolutions set out in the Annual General Meeting Notice sent to Shareholders dated 2 November 2018 were duly passed.

Details of the proxy voting results which should be read along side the Notice are noted below:

Ordinary Resolution For Discretion

(voted in favour) Against Abstain 1 39,501,452 6,425 2,425 25,000 2 35,994,300 6,425 3,524,503 10,073 3 39,514,515 6,425 2,925 11,437 4 39,518,304 6,425 10,573 0 5 39,285,960 6,425 232,844 10,073 6 39,515,879 6,425 2,925 10,073 7 39,514,815 6,425 3,989 10,073 8 39,515,879 6,425 2,925 10,073 9 39,496,730 6,425 22,073 10,073 10 39,528,377 6,425 500 0 Special Resolution For Discretion

(voted in favour) Against Abstain 11 39,528,273 6,425 604 0 12 30,340,201 6,425 9,090,998 97,677 13 38,518,243 6,425 969,757 40,877 14 38,518,347 6,425 968,554 41,976 Ordinary Resolution For Discretion

(voted in favour) Against Abstain 15 38,518,847 6,425 978,127 31,903

Note -A vote withheld is not a vote in law and has not been counted in the votes for and against a resolution.

The Special Resolutions were as follows:

Special Resolution 1 (Resolution 11)

To consider and approve that the Company, be and is hereby generally and unconditionally authorised in accordance with The Companies (Guernsey) Law, 2008, as amended, (the "Law") to make market acquisitions as defined in that Law of its Unclassified Shares of 0.01p each ("Shares"), provided that:-

i) the maximum number of Shares hereby authorised to be acquired by the Company be no more than 14.99% of the Company's issued share capital at the date of this resolution;

ii) the minimum price (exclusive of expenses) which may be paid for a Share is 0.01p, being the nominal value per share;

iii) the maximum price (exclusive of expenses) which may be paid for a Share is an amount equal to the higher of 105 per cent of the average of the middle market quotations for a Share taken from the London Stock Exchange Daily Official List for the 5 business days immediately preceding the day on which the Share is acquired and (ii) the price stipulated in Article 5(i) of the Buy-back and Stabilisation Regulation (No 2237 of 2003);

iv) acquisitions may only be made pursuant to this authority if the Shares are (at the date of the proposed acquisition) trading on the London Stock Exchange at a discount to the lower of the undiluted or diluted Net Asset Value;

v) the authority hereby conferred shall expire at the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting of the Company in 2019 or, if earlier, on the expiry of 15months from the passing of this resolution, unless such authority is renewed prior to such time; and

the Company may make a contract to acquire Shares under the authority hereby conferred prior to the expiry of such authority which will or may be executed wholly or partly after the expiration of such authority and may make an acquisition of Shares pursuant to any such contract.

Special Resolution 2 (Resolution 12)

That the Board be and is hereby empowered under the Articles of Incorporation (the "Articles") to allot 17,973,841 equity securities (as defined in the Articles) being 10% of the equity securities in issue as at the latest practicable date prior to the date of this notice, excluding shares held in treasury for cash and pursuant to Article 7(2)(g) of the Articles. The right of Shareholders to receive a pre-emptive offer pursuant to Article 7(2)(b) of the Articles shall hereby be excluded in respect of the equity securities the Board is empowered to allot pursuant to this resolution, provided that this power shall expire (unless previously renewed, varied or revoked by the Company in general meeting) immediately prior to the Annual General Meeting of the Company to be held in 2019.

Special Resolution 3 (Resolution 13)

Conditional on the passing of Special Resolution 3 and 4, That in accordance with Section 42 of The Companies (Guernsey) Law, 2008, the Articles of the Company be, and hereby are, deleted in their entirety and the draft Articles of Incorporation ("New Articles") attached to this written resolution be, and hereby are, adopted as the Articles of Incorporation of the Company.

Special Resolution 4 (Resolution 14)

Conditional on the passing of Special Resolution 4 and Ordinary Resolution 11, that in accordance with Regulation 2(1) of the Companies (Transitional Provisions) Regulations, 2008, paragraph 6 of the Memorandum be, and hereby is, amended by replacing it with "The share capital of the Company is divided into 75,000,000 C Shares of 0.1p each, and an unlimited number of Unclassified Shares of 0.01p each".

The Board notes the significant votes against resolution 12 in relation to the allotment of shares and disapplication of pre-emption rights. The Board sought to engage with shareholders after the publication of the notice of meeting to explain why it was considered that this Resolution was in the best interests of shareholders; and it will continue to engage with shareholders in order to understand fully their views in relation to the specific authorities sought.



Enquiries:

Northern Trust International Fund Administration Services (Guernsey) Limited

The Company Secretary

Trafalgar Court

Les Banques

St Peter Port

Guernsey

GY1 3QL



Tel: 01481 745001



END

Halifax, Nova Scotia--(Newsfile Corp. - December 4, 2018) - Elcora Advanced Materials Corp. (TSXV: ERA) (OTCQB: ECORF) (FSE: ELM) (the "Company" or "Elcora"), is pleased to announce that it has been awarded an NSERC-ENGAGE grant with Dr. Heather Andreas at Dalhousie University.

The project will focus on studying Elcora's high-quality graphene as an electrode material for supercapacitors. Dr. Andreas has worked on carbon-based supercapacitors (SCs) for more than 14 years. Dr. Andreas has expertise in:

Evaluating supercapacitor materials

Graphene

Understanding charge movement/redistribution

Surface functional groups

Carbon reactivity during charge/discharge

The effect of impurities

Modifying carbon materials to achieve desired supercapacitor performance

The super capacitor market is expected to reach 2.18 Billion USD by 2022 at a CAGR of 20.7 % between 2016 and 2022 (https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/supercapacitor-market-worth-218-billion-usd-by-2022-2016-11-28). Factors such as high storage capabilities, need of power conservation, high performance supercapacitors for consumer and automotive applications, and additional capabilities such as moisture resistant, light weight and low equivalent series resistance are the key drivers for supercapacitor market (https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/supercapacitor.asp).

Elcora is a producer of high-quality carbon materials - specifically graphite and graphene - and has identified supercapacitors (SCs) as an important future application for graphite materials. Supercapacitors are energy storage systems (like batteries) that are typically used in applications where an almost instantaneous response is required (e.g. camera flashes, air-bag deployment, defibrillators AED's and airplane emergency chutes). In SCs, the charge is stored on a carbon electrode, meaning SC performance is incredibly sensitive to the carbon's morphology, chemistry, reactivity/stability and impurities. The common misconception is that carbon is a simple material and all carbons behave similarly - in fact, carbon is incredibly complex and subtle changes in the pore size, structure, degree of graphitization, surface area, chemical environment, etc. can strongly impact carbon performance. To understand graphene's SC applicability requires knowledge of all these parameters and vitally how these parameters impact the performance. Dr. Andreas is ideally suited to study and optimize Elcora's graphite-based products for supercapacitor applications.

According to Troy Grant, Chief Executive Officer, "This announcement is great news for Elcora. The funding allows Elcora to collaborate with one of the worlds top researchers in how to understand and optimize graphene/graphite for supercapacitor applications. We expect to demonstrate that Elcora's graphene and graphite-based products are ideally suited for supercapacitor applications. This research may help Elcora secure supply agreements for it's high-quality graphene and graphite-based products."

About Elcora Advanced Materials Corp.

Elcora was founded in 2011 and has been structured to become a vertically integrated graphite & graphene company.Elcora processes, refines, and produces both graphite & graphene.As part of the vertical integration strategy Elcora is securing high-grade graphite and graphene precursor graphite from operations in Sri Lanka and other countries which are already in production. Elcora has developed a cost-effective process to make high-quality graphite, graphite products and graphene that are commercially scalable. This combination means that Elcora has the tools and resources for graphite and graphene vertical integration.

For further information please visit the company's website at http://www.elcoracorp.com

For further information please contact: Troy Grant, Director, President & CEO, Elcora Advanced Materials Corp., T: +1 902 802-8847 F: +1 902 446-2001.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT:

The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. No stock Exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.This News Release includes certain "forward-looking statements". All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization and reserves, exploration results, and future plans and objectives of Elcora, are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties.There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Elcora's expectations are exploration risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by Elcora with securities regulators.

Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the filing statement prepared in connection with the transaction, any information released or received with respect to the transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon.VIENNA, December 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Cities demand better EU legislation

An investment gap for affordable housing of Euro 57 billion annually

City of Vienna as role model

What can be done to mitigate the current housing crisis in Europe's growing cities? How can investment in affordable housing be made to increase once more? Ways out of this tight situation are highlighted by the international conference "Housing for All - Affordable Housing in Growing Cities in Europe" held on 4 and 5 December in Vienna. The premises of Wiener Wohnen are set to host roughly 300 participants from 36 countries.

"Two thirds of the EU population live in cities, which are decisive for social cohesion and economic development. Therefore cities need adequate frame conditions to boost investment in affordable housing," as Vienna's Mayor Michael Ludwig affirms: "The 'Partnership on Housing' has developed concrete legislative proposals for the EU Commission, which will be presented in Vienna. Now Europe must take measures to combat undesirable developments in the housing markets."

There are over 220 million households in the EU - but fully 82 million Europeans have problems finding access to affordable housing, as housing prices and rents in cities have for years been rising massively. The EU "High-Level Task Force for Investing in Social Infrastructure in Europe" estimates the investment gap regarding affordable housing at around Euro 57 billion annually.

Effective measures are called for

In 2016, the "Urban Agenda for the EU" was launched by the EU Council with the objective of strengthening cities in the EU governance process. The conference "Housing for All" provides the conclusion to the EU Urban Agenda - Housing Partnership. The catalogue of measures now presented comprises numerous already implemented outcomes - e.g. studies on the housing situation in EU Member States or a database on effective housing projects. It also includes important recommendations addressed to the EU legislator.

The major share of funding for social, public and affordable housing stems from grants at the national and local levels and from users. But European legislation exerts a massive impact via EU state aid provisions and fiscal rules. It is therefore demanded that e.g. the target groups for subsidised housing should no longer be exclusively restricted to "disadvantaged citizens or socially less advantaged groups". Moreover, the indicator of the portion of a household's income which is spent on housing should be drastically reduced from currently 40% of the total household income to 25%, as the cost of living has increased, without incomes growing to a comparable extent.

The Vienna Model as best practice

The Austrian capital plays a pioneering role on an international scale: 62% of Vienna's inhabitants live in 220,000 municipal flats or over 200,000 subsidised flats. However, due to the continued real-estate investment boom, Vienna, too, is faced with major challenges. For this reason, Vienna's city government recently set a legal two-thirds quota by introducing a new land zoning category in the latest amendment to the Vienna Building Code, which met with positive reactions on an international scale as well. In the future, large-scale real-estate projects will have to comprise more subsidised dwellings than privately financed flats. "In this way, we prevent land speculation and reassure the citizens of Vienna that housing in their city will remain affordable," as Kathrin Gaal, City Councillor for Housing and Women's Issues, concludes.

www.housing-for-all.eu/

For inquiries

Paul Weis

Media spokesperson of Mayor Michael Ludwig

+43-1-4000-81846, paul.weis@wien.gv.at

Christiane Daxbock

Media spokesperson of City Councillor Kathrin Gaal

+43-1-4000-81869, christiane.daxboeck@wien.gv.atArtificial Intelligence Company Hires Jasmine Presson, Former Managing Partner at MediaCom, to Build Its Strategic Services Offering

Albert Technologies (LSE: ALB.L), the world's first and only fully autonomous AI-as-a-service platform for marketers, today announced the hire of Jasmine Presson as SVP, Strategic Client Services. Presson joins Albert after serving nearly five years at MediaCom-most recently as Managing Partner, Strategic Group Account Lead-with previous VP positions at Universal McCann and gfK Custom Research North America. At Albert, Presson will grow the company's strategic services offering, with an immediate focus on the company's enterprise consumer brand and agency clients.

Presson has spent nearly two decades transforming market research into insights and strategy for domestic and global brands across hospitality, apparel, CPG, QSR, pharmaceuticals, financial services and adult beverages. For the first 14 years of her career, Presson designed and managed large-scale market research initiatives at gfK to deliver brands guidance on everything from price optimization and market positioning to audience and channel identification. At MediaCom and Universal McCann, Presson led the strategic teams responsible for transforming audience insights into media choices. She also built frameworks for determining who and where audiences were globally for brands including Johnson Johnson, Anheuser Busch, Revlon, Subway and others.

Presson now joins Albert Technologies to redefine and grow the company's strategic services arm. In 2016, the company introduced the world's first and only autonomous marketing AI that works hand in hand with marketers to support their vision, strategy, and creative by managing all cross-channel decision-making, media buying and campaign optimization at unprecedented pace and scale. As Albert continues gaining traction among global consumer brands and grows its roster of advertising and marketing agency partnerships, the company has experienced increased demand for an evolved strategic offering to complement its technology.

Presson will borrow from her almost 20 years of experience working with brands to transform insights into strategy as she formalizes and expands Albert's existing client services offering beyond upfront onboarding and client management. Her immediate priority is building a team of strategists to complement the company's self-service technology. This new offering will allow marketers to react quickly to Albert's insights and recommendations, make and act on strategic decisions, and adapt to new processes and operational efficiencies introduced by the AI.

"We spent the last three years trying to stay out of brands' and agencies' way when it came to all things strategic and creative. What we've realized is that while clients and partners may not be looking to us to make decisions for them, they're eager for guidance in translating the machine's insights into strategic next steps," said Or Shani, CEO and Founder of Albert Technologies. "Jasmine is critical to our successful evolution from a sophisticated technology vendor to a true strategic partner that deeply understands clients' and partners' businesses and can guide them with the intelligence produced by Albert."

"Stepping out of the agency world after nearly 20 years, I can confidently say that agencies and brands, beyond the super early adopters, have no idea that something like Albert exists," said Presson. "As they begin to realize the possibilities, the entire ecosystem is going to change drastically-in only the most positive way-but it's going to require hand-holding from people who understand their specific challenges and needs. We're getting in front of that right now and will be ready when they are."

Presson added that she sees Albert's evolution as closely aligning with the narrative laid out in the Hero's Journey. "Our job is to make clients the hero. We are the thing that brings out their power, but they're the ones embarking on the adventure."

About Albert

Albert, created by Albert Technologies, LTD. (AIM: ALB.L), is the world's first and only fully autonomous marketing AI. The enterprise-level artificial intelligence platform drives digital marketing campaigns from start to finish for some of the world's leading brands. Albert enables businesses to master the data and technology complexities of digital marketing-not just by replicating their existing efforts, but by executing them at a pace and scale not possible by human teams. "He" accomplishes this by wading through mass amounts of data, converting this data into insights, and autonomously acting on these insights, across channels, devices and formats, in real time. Brands such as Harley Davidson, Natori, Cosabella and Dole Asia credit Albert with significantly increased sales, an accelerated path to revenue, the ability to make more informed investment decisions, and reduced operational costs. For more information, visit albert.ai.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005800/en/

Contacts:

Media Contact

Kieran Powell

Channel V Media

Kieran@channelvmedia.com

212.680.0179Article L. 238-8-II of the French commercial Code and article 223-16 of the AMF (French Financial Markets Authority) general regulation

Regulatory News:

Corporate name of the issuer: Veolia Environnement (Paris:VIE) 21, rue La Boetie 75008 PARIS FRANCE (ISIN code: FR0000124141-VIE)

Information

closing date Total number of

shares forming

the share capital Total number of voting rights November 30, 2018 565,593,341 Total number of theoretical voting rights (1): 598,472,159 Total number of voting rights that may be exercised (2): 585,799,228

Inclusion in the Veolia Environnement Articles of Association of a clause requiring a reporting obligation of the declaration of crossing a shareholding threshold, complementary to the one relating to the thresholds provided by the French law and the regulations in force (article 8).

(1) Number of theoretical voting rights after taking into account the number of shares with double voting rights as of November 30, 2018 (32,878,818 shares) and the number of treasury shares held as of November 30, 2018 (12,672,931 shares).

(2) Number of voting rights that may be exercised number of theoretical voting rights (or total number of voting rights attached to shares) shares without voting rights (number of treasury shares held as of November 30, 2018).

Veolia Environnement Siege social/head office: 21, rue La Boetie 75008 PARIS France Adresse postale/Correspondence address: 30, rue Madeleine Vionnet -

93300 AUBERVILLIERS France tel.: +33 (0)1 85 57 70 00 Fax: +33 (0)1 71 75 10 45 www.veolia.com A Public Limited Company (Societe Anonyme) with a share capital of 2,827,966,705 euros 403 210 032 RCS PARIS

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005936/en/

Contacts:

Veolia EnvironnementAcquisition of the Duddridge Lake Cobalt-Vanadium-Uranium Project

Boulder Samples with up to 1,460 ppm (0.146%) Cobalt

Boulder Samples with up to 5,500 ppm (0.55%) Vanadium

Claims also host the Duddridge Lake Uranium deposit

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / December 4, 2018 / Searchlight Resources Inc. ("Searchlight" or the "Company") (TSX-V: SRCH) is pleased to announce that Searchlight has acquired a 100% interest in the Duddridge Lake Cobalt-Vanadium-Uranium Project ("Duddridge" or the "Property") located approximately 75 kilometers northwest of La Ronge and 400km north of Saskatoon Saskatchewan.



"We have elected to bring this project into our portfolio as a 2012 exploration program on Duddridge identified high grade cobalt and vanadium results (see Table 1 below). With the increasing interest in battery technology utilizing both vanadium and cobalt the Duddridge project represents an excellent project for Searchlight's team to explore. In addition, Duddridge fits the company focus of quality projects in Saskatchewan with access by road," notes Stephen Wallace, CEO and President of Searchlight.

The Duddridge Cobalt-Vanadium-Uranium Project consists of 4 mineral claims totaling 3,051.6 hectares accessible by an all-season gravel road (Highway 910) to within 12 km of the project and with direct access to the project by winter road and ATV trail in summer.

To date, no exploration has ever focused on the cobalt or vanadium in this region of Saskatchewan. In 2007, Fission Energy Corporation ("Fission") announced a historical inferred resource estimate of 227,880 tonnes with a grade of 2.14 lbs/tonne U3O8 (see details below). Subsequently, during uranium exploration by Fission in 2012, a total of 39 boulder samples were collected and analyzed for a wide package of elements. The results of boulder analysis showed highly anomalous results for cobalt and vanadium, two elements that were not of widespread exploration interest in 2012. In addition, the sample results show anomalous copper, lead and uranium levels. At that time of exploration, the focus was primarily for uranium. Of note, sample DD12-HW-029 assayed 1,310 ppm Co and 1,560 V; sample DD12-SH-012 assayed 1,460 Co and 746 ppm V; sample DD12-WM-002 assayed 567 ppm Co and 5,550 ppm V plus 4,440 ppm Pb and 15,100 ppm U.

Location of Duddridge Lake claims in Northern Saskatchewan

Table 1below shows the cobalt, vanadium, copper, lead and uranium assays of the 39 boulder samples collected by Fission in 2012. The data was derived from Appendix 3 of the Saskatchewan Mineral Assessment report MAW00145 submitted on March 29th, 2013 by Fission Energy Corp. Titled "2012 AIRBORNE GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYING and OUTCROP, BOULDER & SOIL SAMPLING ON THE DUDDRIDGE LAKE PROPERTY".

These boulder sample results are historical in nature and Searchlight has not undertaken any independent investigation of the sampling nor has it independently analyzed the results of the previous exploration work in order to verify the results. Searchlight considers these sample results relevant as the Company uses historical reports to evaluate and historic sample results as a guide to plan future exploration programs.

Terms of the Acquisition Agreement

The Duddridge Project is being acquired from two arms-length individuals with the following terms of acquisition;

Payment of $4,000 in two payments

Payment of $2,000 on signing of agreement

Second payment of $2,000 on closing

Issuance of 500,000 shares of Searchlight Resources Inc. to vendors on closing

Under the terms of the Agreement, Searchlight will pay a 1.0 % Net Smelter Return royalty (the "NSR") to the Vendors on commencement of commercial production. Searchlight has the right, at any time prior to six months after completion of a feasibility study to purchase the first 0.5% of the 1.0% NSR for $1,000,000 and the second 0.5% of the 1.0% NSR for $1,500,000 for a total buyout of $2,500,000.

This Agreement is subject to approval by the TSXV and a 60-day due diligence period by

Searchlight.

Geology/ Exploration .

This region of Saskatchewan has been a target of uranium exploration since the late 1960's with a series of surface sampling, geophysics and drilling programs by companies including Noranda, SMDC and Fission.

The Duddridge Lake Property is described as stratabound uranium and copper mineralization with abundant polymetallic mineral occurrences associated with basal quartz conglomerate and carbonaceous- bearing lenses in red bed (hematitic ) arkose. The style of mineralization present appears to have ore bearing minerals consistent with both vein type and unconformity-type deposits with nickel and cobalt arsenides. The two styles of mineralization have similarities based on association with structures, including faults and unconformities.

The map below shows the area of boulder sampling in relation to known mineralization. The boulder samples represent potential up ice mineralization which will be explored by Searchlight in 2019. In addition, a second parallel 10 km long electromagnetic conductor needs to be explored.

Map showing area of Boulder Train relative to Duddridge claims

Duddridge Lake Uranium Deposit

The Duddridge claims host the Duddridge Lake Uranium deposit, a 43-101 inferred resource estimate completed in 2007 by Fission Energy Corp. The 43-101 technical report titled "Report on the Duddridge Lake Uranium Property Northern Saskatchewan NTS 73O/9 submitted by Stuart C. Fraser, P. Geol. on June 15, 2007 reports an inferred mineral resource of 227,880 tonnes with a grade of 2.14 lbs/tonne U3O8.

The Duddridge Lake Uranium deposit technical report was not commissioned or completed by Searchlight and therefore is being treated as a historical resource estimate under 43-101 disclosure. The historical resource estimate used "inferred mineral resource," which is a category of NI 43-101. As a result, Searchlight considers the historical resource estimate as reliable as well as relevant as it represents a key target for work to be done by Searchlight.



Searchlight has not undertaken any independent investigation of the resource estimates nor has it independently analyzed the results of the previous exploration work in order to verify the resources and the Company is not treating the historical estimate as a current resource.

This report is available on Sedar.

Qualified Person

Stephen Wallace, P.Geo., is Searchlight's Qualified Person within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release.

About Searchlight Resources Inc.

Searchlight Resources Inc. ("Searchlight" or the "Company") is a professional mineral exploration and development company listed on the Toronto Venture Exchange (TSXV). The company is active with mineral exploration projects in Saskatchewan, Ontario and Nevada, three of the top seven jurisdictions in the world for mining investment as ranked by the Fraser Institute. The Company holds a portfolio of gold, cobalt and base metal projects from grassroots stage to advanced exploration and NI43-101 resource development.

Saskatchewan - Gold and Base Metals



The Bootleg Lake project is 16,900 hectares of claims in Saskatchewan covering prospective areas of the Flin Flon Greenstone Belt. Exploration is being carried out at the past producing Newcor, Rio (Bootleg) and Henning Maloney Gold mines located approximately 5 kilometres from Creighton, Saskatchewan, less than 10 kilometres from the Hudbay 777 mine located in Flin Flon, Manitoba, and in the region of the four past producing base metal mines Flexar, Birch Lake, Amisk and Coronation.

Ontario - Copper, Cobalt and Nickel

The Munro Warden project is an early stage exploration prospect targeting VMS copper, nickel and cobalt within the Kidd- Munro assemblage of the Abitibi Greenstone Belt. The project covers 1,100 hectares including 9 mining leases and 11 claim-blocks located approximately 90 kilometres east of Timmins, Ontario.

The Cameron project is a grassroots cobalt exploration prospect located 25 kilometres southwest of Cobalt, Ontario within the highly prospective Cobalt Embayment.

Nevada - Copper



Searchlight's Nevada project New York Canyon, hosts two copper deposits in the Walker Lane Structural Belt located in western Nevada; the Long Shot Ridge skarn deposit with a 2010 NI43-101 resource estimate and the Copper Queen porphyry deposit drilled out by Conoco in the 1970's.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

"Stephen Wallace"

SEARCHLIGHT RESOURCES INC.

Stephen Wallace, President, CEO and Director

Contact: Searchlight Resources Inc.

Investor Relations

(604) 331-9326

info@searchlightresources.com

Forward-Looking Statements

Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions as of the date of this news release. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations. They are not guarantees of future performance. The Company cautions that all forward looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's limited operating history and the need to comply with environmental and governmental regulations. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.

NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

SOURCE: Searchlight Resources Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/529701/Searchlight-Resources-Acquires-Cobalt-Vanadium-Property-in-SaskatchewanVancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - December 4, 2018) - Seahawk Ventures Inc. (CSE: SHV) ("Seahawk") announces it has granted incentive stock options to certain consultants of the Company for the right to purchase up to an aggregate of 1,100,000 common shares of the Company, exercisable at a price of $0.40 per share for a period of 12 months. The stock options are granted in accordance with the Company's Stock Option Plan, which was approved by the shareholders at the Company's annual general meeting on November 17, 2017, and the policies of the Canadian Stock Exchange.

About Seahawk Ventures Inc.

Seahawk Ventures Inc. is a publicly traded Canadian resource exploration company trading in Canada (CSE: SHV), the U.S. (OTC Pink: SEHKF) and Germany (FSE: 7SR). Seahawk is now the 2nd largest land owner in the Urban-Barry Greenstone Belt in the Abitibi sub province of mining friendly Quebec, Canada, with 100% ownership of several mineral properties.

For more information please contact Seahawk Ventures Inc.

Giovanni Gasbarro,

CEO and Director at 1-604-939-1848

Mitchell E. Lavery, P.Geo.

President and Director at 1-613-298-1596

Neither the Canadian Stock Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Stock Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: This presentation contains forward-looking statements or forward-looking information (forward-looking statements). These statements can be identified by expressions of belief, expectation or intention, as well as those statements that are not historical fact. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based on our current estimates, expectations and projections, which the company believes are reasonable as of the current date. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements and as a result undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking information.

THIS NEWS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

OR FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICESBuilding services company the Johns Lyng Grouphas entered into an exclusive Master Services Agreement with Suncorp Group, for them to facilitate all domestic property repairs for insurance claims estimated at greater than $100,000.The Agreement is for a minimum two-year term, with provision for a further third.It follows a successful trial period conducted earlier this year, and covers both business-as-usual claims, and claims made during peak events such as storms and floods.The company has also signed a new contract with Yarra Ranges City Council in Melbourne, for a $26 million redevelopment of the Yarra Ranges Civic Centre.Shares in Johns Lyng Groupare up 12.88 per cent to $0.92.Nippon Steel is based in Tokyo and is engaged in the business of manufacture and sales of tubes and pipes and auto parts in India

New Delhi: Competition watchdog CCI has cleared Japan-based Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation's acquisition of 51 percent shareholding in Sanyo Steel.

Besides, the regulator has approved the transfer of 100 percent shareholding in Ovako to Sanyo Steel.

According to the CCI, Nippon Steel is based in Tokyo and is engaged in the business of manufacture and sales of tubes and pipes and auto parts in India and its presence in manufacture of these steel products is limited in the country.

In a tweet on Monday, the CCI said it "approves acquisition of 51 percent shareholding in Sanyo Special Steel by Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal; and transfer of 100 percent shareholding in Ovako AB to Sanyo."

Sanyo manufactures special steel and in India it has a presence through its two subsidiaries namely, Sanyo Special Steel India and Mahindra Sanyo Special Steel Pvt Ltd.

Mahindra Sanyo is a joint venture between Sanyo (51 per cent) Mahindra and Mahindra (29 percent) and Mitsui and Co Ltd (20 percent).

In June, Nippon Steel had announced acquisition of Sweden-based steel maker Ovako and made it a wholly-owned subsidiary.

Deals beyond a certain threshold are required to get clearance from the Competition Commission of India (CCI).Hindustan Zinc Ltd in a complaint had alleged that Coal India abused its dominant position by imposing unilateral and unfair conditions in the fuel supply agreements

New Delhi: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has dismissed a complaint against state-owned Coal India and its subsidiary, Western Coalfields, alleging unfair business practices regarding fuel supply agreements.

Udaipur-based Hindustan Zinc Ltd in a complaint had alleged that Coal India abused its dominant position by imposing unilateral and unfair conditions in the fuel supply agreements (FSA) and acted in a discriminatory manner during the supply of coal.

The complainant alleged that it violated Section 4 of the Competition Act which pertains to abuse of dominant position.

In a nine-page order dated 3 December, the CCI said that it has earlier, too, disposed of such cases against Coal India and its subsidiaries where similar allegations were found to be made.

Besides, the issues highlighted by the complainant regarding "sampling procedure, grade slippage/mis-declaration of grades" have been substantially addressed by previously issuing appropriate directions to Coal India and its subsidiaries, CCI noted.

In March 2017, the regulator asked Coal India to modify the FSAs and directed it to incorporate suitable modifications in the pacts to provide for a fair and equitable sampling and testing procedure.

Disposing of the complaint, the CCI said it "need not order investigations based on successive information which may be brought before it by different parties agitating the same issues".

Hence, the case stands disposed of in terms of directions issued by the Commission in the previous cases decided against Coal India and its subsidiaries, CCI said.At first glance, this deal looks expensive from the point of view of HUL, but the acquisition of Boost, Viva and Maltova would significantly boost its foods and refreshment business, going forward.

The race to grab a larger share of the daily Indian consumer basket is becoming increasingly apparent, and the long-term growth opportunities just cant be ignored by both multinational and Indian companies. On Monday, this trend had become visible once again visible with Hindustan Unilever announcing the merger of GlaxoSmithkline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH) with itself. The above development would bring the well-established and popular health food drinks like Boost, Viva and Maltova in the portfolio of HUL.

Earlier, in late October 2018, Heinz India, an unlisted entity, had also announced the sale of some its consumer brands including popular brands like the energy drink Complan and Glucon D, Nycil  the prickly heat powder and a ghee brand jointly to Zydus Wellness and Cadila Healthcare.

Meanwhile, in the case of the merger between HUL and GSKCH, it has valued the latter at Rs 31,700 crore or nearly 6.8 times sales for the year ended March 2018. Also, on a valuation metric, enterprise value to EBITDA (operating profit for the year ended March 2018), this deal has been announced at a steep valuation of nearly 26.4 times. However, GSKCH has operating margins of nearly 25.9 percent for the year ended March 2018, which is superior by industry standards.

In the case of unlisted Heinz India divesting certain brands recently, according to data available from media reports online, the transaction was done for approximately Rs 4,595 crore, or nearly four times trailing 12-month sales ending 30 June 2018. Also, on the valuation metric, EV to EBITDA, as per data available online, this transaction

was done at 20.4 times on a trailing 12-months basis.

At first glance, this deal looks expensive from the point of view of HUL, but the acquisition of Boost, Viva and Maltova would significantly boost its foods and refreshment business, going forward. And for HUL, the attractiveness of the health food drinks market with brands like Boost, Viva and Maltova is quite apparent.

Out of Indias 1.3 billion population at the end of the calendar year 2017, nearly 37 percent of the population is below the age of 19 years. In this segment of nearly 480 million school children and young adults, a large majority of the above have a deficiency in micro-nutrients and are undernourished, as per various studies and research reports.

Its no surprise that with increasing attention to the health and wellness needs of students and young adults, the market for health food drinks is set to boom over the next few years. And the market for health food drinks, which was estimated at Rs 7,700 crore during the calendar year 2017 is set to rise to Rs 11, 900 crore by the calendar year 2022, according to strategy consultants A C Nielsen.

Its no surprise that the HUL stock price was near 4 percent to close at Rs 1,825 on Monday.

HULs food and refreshment business include iconic brands like Lipton, Knorr, and Annapurna. The above division had sales of Rs 3,489 crore in the first half of the financial year 2019, and taking into account GSKCHs half-yearly turnover this financial year of Rs 2,564.6 crore, HULs food and refreshment combined business turnover could easily cross Rs 10,000 crore on an annual basis.

HUL also has one of the best pan India distribution networks, both amongst the unorganized khokha or neighborhood shops along with the fast-growing modern trade like malls and supermarkets. It does appear logical that once the regulatory approvals for this merger are received, HUL would be keen to scale up the volume and turnover of Boost, Viva and Maltova brands in its existing distribution network, in a bid to justify the valuations of this deal.

Slowdown in consumer expenditure

HULs latest move comes at a time when the countrys GDP had slowed to 7.1 percent in the September 2018 quarter versus 8.2 percent in the earlier quarter. Also, of concern was that growth in private consumption expenditure had moderated to 7 percent growth in the second quarter of the current financial year vis-a-vis a buoyant 8.6 percent growth reported in the first quarter.

Nevertheless, acquisitions/takeover of consumer brands is not dependent on just one-quarter of GDP growth, and the long-term growth prospects of the health food drinks market do look attractive for players like HUL.

(The writer is a senior columnist)In 2017-18, the exports stood at $76 billion. The sector accounts for about 25 percent of the country's total merchandise exports.

New Delhi: India's engineering exports are likely to touch $80 billion this fiscal on account of healthy growth in key markets, including the US and Europe, EEPC said on Tuesday.

Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) also said the government should resolve issues related to credit availability and certain procedural matters to further boost the exports.

In 2017-18, the exports stood at $76 billion. The sector accounts for about 25 percent of the country's total merchandise exports.

"In 2018-19, we are expecting that we would touch $78-80 billion as order books are good from the US and Europe," EEPC India chairman Ravi Sehgal told PTI.

To boost the growth, he demanded that the manufacturers should get steel at global prices as domestic prices are quite high.

"Downstream players of engineering are impacted due to high steel prices," he added.

Further, the council has demanded more measures such as high incentive rates under the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS).

EEPC executive director Suranjan Gupta said the council has demanded increase in the MEIS rates from 5-7 percent from the current 2-3 percent.

He also asked for setting up of a shipping regulator, which should look at exporters' issues particularly the prices being charged by shipping lines, which are mainly foreign owned.

Shipments to North America and Europe account for about 40 percent of the total exports from the sector.

Since 2011-12, India's exports have been hovering at around $300 billion. During 2017-18, the shipments grew by about 10 percent to $303 billion.

Promoting exports helps a country to create jobs, boost manufacturing and earn more foreign exchange.By Caroline Stauffer and Nicolas Misculin BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Many delegates from the world's 20 largest economies arrived at a summit in Argentina this week determined to clinch an agreement to reform the global trade system, pushed to a breaking point by tensions between the United States and China. To do so, they had to bow to U.S. and Chinese demands to drop some of the pledges that have become hallmarks of the Group of 20 industrialized nations, which represents two-thirds of the global population.

By Caroline Stauffer and Nicolas Misculin

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Many delegates from the world's 20 largest economies arrived at a summit in Argentina this week determined to clinch an agreement to reform the global trade system, pushed to a breaking point by tensions between the United States and China.

To do so, they had to bow to U.S. and Chinese demands to drop some of the pledges that have become hallmarks of the Group of 20 industrialized nations, which represents two-thirds of the global population.

But they left with a communique committing for the first time to reform the dysfunctional World Trade Organization (WTO), the body supposed to regulate global trade disputes.

"A number of words that we used to have always in G7 and G20 summit communiques became kind of taboos," a European official said on Saturday in the midst of the negotiations. "We have American taboos and Chinese taboos."

First among those taboos is "protectionism". The U.S. administration has become sensitive to criticisms after President Donald Trump has imposed tariffs not only on $250 billion of Chinese goods but also on steel and aluminum imports that hit several of his G20 partners.

As a result, for the first time since G20 leaders held their inaugural meeting in Washington in 2008, their communique did not contained a pledge to fight protectionism.

China, meanwhile, steadfastly opposed the inclusion of the usual calls for "fair trade practices," delegates said. Beijing rejects criticisms from the United States, Europe and Japan for dumping, industrial subsidies, abuse of intellectual property rights and technology transfers, amongst other practices.

Even the word "multilateralism" itself has fallen out of favor in a group designed to foster international cooperation.

Central to getting the United States to sign up to a phrase recognizing the importance of "multilateral trading system" was acknowledging that the system was falling short of its objectives, delegates said.

The United States is unhappy with what it says is the WTO's failure to hold Beijing to account for not opening up its economy as envisioned when China joined the body in 2001.

To force reform at the WTO, Trump's team has blocked new appointments to the world's top trade court, which is rapidly running out of judges, meaning it will be unable to issue binding rulings in trade disputes. He has even threatened to withdraw the United States from the global body.

"There was an attempt from a lot of the other countries ... to get the United States to commit to certain language with regard to the multilateral system," said one senior U.S. official.

"We commit to multilateralism where it works ... Is it achieving its intended objectives? In a lot of areas it's falling short," said the U.S. official, who asked not to be identified because of the confidential nature of the talks.

The final statement said the group supports the "necessary reform of the WTO to improve its functioning", allowing U.S. officials to claim a victory.

While there were no details of the proposed reform, many delegates hailed a breakthrough in committing Washington to global solutions.

"For the first time China and the United States agreed to engage on the WTO," said one delegate closely involved in drafting the communique. "Given Trump's earlier threats, to end up with the G20 saying it would work together on WTO reform is interesting."

CHINA WAS KEY

European Union officials said that a key step in clinching a deal was getting China and major emerging economies to commit to language on trade early this week.

"The idea was to bring the Chinese into the discussion almost immediately," said a second European official. "After APEC, we knew it would be important for the Chinese to feel there was no ganging up on them."

At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in mid-November, leaders failed to agree on a joint communique for the first time in the group's 30-year history.

After APEC, Washington and Beijing traded accusations of blame but, with global markets increasingly roiled by trade tensions, both sides appeared more ready for compromise in Buenos Aires.

After the G20 talks ended, Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed over dinner on Saturday to a ceasefire in their trade conflict, calling off higher U.S. tariffs that were to go into effect on Jan. 1.

"The spirit wasn't adversarial," said the delegate closely involved in the G20 drafting, adding that perhaps because of the fallout after APEC, officials at least tried to work things out.

Delegates worked until 6:30 a.m. on Saturday, the final day of the summit, watering down language on migration and refugees in the face of resistance from the United States and others, European and Argentine officials said.

And they still had not tackled one of the thorniest issues: climate change.

"That was what they discussed (Saturday) morning till noon," an Argentine government spokeswoman said, just hours before the communique was made public.

In the end, members agreed to disagree. The United States reaffirmed its commitment to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord - as it had at the previous G20 summit in Germany last year - while other members said they would fully implement it.

Veteran negotiators were phlegmatic about the difficulties in agreeing on a text.

"There is always at least one overnighter in sessions like these," said the delegate closely involved in the drafting, adding "sometimes it was tough to find the right word to stick to the middle ground."

(Reporting by Caroline Stauffer, Nicolas Misculin, Scott Squires, Roberta Rampton and Daniel Flynn; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Sandra Maler)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.'Based on an outreach conducted by the FTA, the initial assessment seems to indicate that currently, the group-level resolution option is unlikely to materialise,' the IL&FS board said in its second report on progress and way forward submitted to the NCLT.

Mumbai: The Uday Kotak-led board of Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) had informed the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Monday that a single group-level resolution for the crisis and the Rs 91,000 crore debt seems tough and it will focus on vertical as well as asset-level resolution.

Through the group-level resolution, the board was looking at a significant capital infusion from strong investors.

"Based on an outreach conducted by the FTA, the initial assessment seems to indicate that currently, the group-level resolution option is unlikely to materialise," the board said in its second report on progress and way forward submitted to the NCLT.

The board is engaging with financial and transaction advisors (FTAs) to assess the vertical and asset-level resolution options considering general economic and market conditions, market interest, maximisation of value and speed of execution, transaction-certainty and stakeholder engagement.

It has appointed Arpwood Capital Private and JM Financial Services as (FTAs).

While vertical-level resolution could involve exploring solutions involving all assets/companies/SPVs comprising a specific business vertical, on a combined basis, asset-level resolution would include asset-by-asset solution through capital infusion or asset monetisation.

The new board of the group also said it will soon initiate the process to divest its stake in IL&FS Education, IL&FS Technologies, ONGC Tripura Power Company and IL&FS Paradip Refinery Water.

It has already put two of its subsidiaries on the block - IL&FS Securities Services (ISSL) and ISSL Settlement and Transaction Services (ISTSL), and a few renewal energy assets.

In order to reduce cost, the board has taken various measures including manpower rationalisation, termination of guest houses leased by various group entities, closure of offices in various locations, and leasing out its office premises in its Mumbai headquarters to other companies.

The group expects to save nearly Rs 100 crore annually by salary rationalisation and separation of superannuated consultants, it said in the report.Manila (CNN Philippines Life)  Ito po yung anak ko, si Aldrin. Two hundred eighteen days na po na hindi ko siya kasama, says Nanette Castillo, pointing to a photo of her son that hangs from her neck, bearing the words JUSTICE FOR ALDRIN CASTILLO. She stands in the middle of a makeshift set  a square in the center of a room that is cordoned off by police tape, which also snakes around a wall of cemetery niches. We, in the audience, sit on either side of the scene.

Castillo is one of the three women that currently make up the cast of the documentary play Sa Digma ng Halimaw, which puts audiences right on the scene of the administrations war on drugs through monologues written from the perspectives of the victims relatives. In this iteration, we follow the stories of Castillo and Normita Lopez as they recount the days they lost their sons, and Kim, who lost both her mother and father on the same day.

But Castillo is not an actor; neither is Lopez. The only actor here is Cristina Diego Ponce, who reenacts Kims story based word for word off of an interview transcript. The nature of the production  run entirely by volunteers who have day jobs, and with no dedicated venue for performances  means that pulling off a show requires some improvisation. The actor meant to give Castillos monologue couldnt make it to tonights show, so she does it herself.

Nanette Castillo recounts the day she lost her son, Aldrin, who was shot five times by masked men on motorcycles. Photo by JL JAVIER

Castillo and Lopez are just two of the many relatives of drug war victims that have partnered with Rise Up for Life and for Rights, a network of advocates and families affected by the drug war. It was at a Rise Up event that Sa Digma director Edwin Quinsayas of Sining Kadamay (SIKAD), an organization that advocates for the rights of the urban poor through art, met the two.

Iniisip na namin talaga na kailangan nating i-reflect [ang programa ni Duterte na tokhang] sa isang pagtatanghal at kailangan dalhin talaga sa komunidad, says Quinsayas in a sit-down interview. Habang yung mga maralita mismo ang pinapatay, marami ding seksyon sa bahagi ng maralita ang pumupuri at sumusuporta [sa giyera kontra droga].

Nang nakilala ko na yung mga nanay [ng Rise Up], immediately I took interest. Sabi ko, ito na yung pagkakataon, he adds.

Normita Lopez, who lost her son Djastin in a police operation, reads a personal poem entitled Anak sa Sinapupunan ng Isang Ina. Photo by JL JAVIER

Tanghalang Mulong Sandoval, the performance arm of SIKAD, then studied the style of documentary theatre, which they decided was the best format for these stories. They interviewed members of Rise Up and restructured the transcripts into a narrative composed of several 20- to 30-minute monologues.

Pero lahat ng yun, ng nasa script, yun yung eksantong salita [ng mga kaanak ng biktima], says Quinsayas.

Lopez, whose epileptic son, Djastin, was killed on a railroad track during a police operation, is the only one whose story had not been developed for an actor to perform. Instead, they invited her to deliver the monologue herself as the ultimate expression of documentary theater.

Kasi yung iba [sinasabi na] hindi, kwento lang yan, sila lang may gawa niyan, she tells me. Kaya naisama ako sa palabas. Para malaman nila na totoo talaga [kami]. Na hindi ito gawa-gawa lang.

During her monologue, Lopez tells of how Djastin begged for mercy and how, despite suffering a seizure during the raid, he was shot and killed. Then through tears, Lopez reads a heart-wrenching poem that she penned herself. It is difficult to imagine what it must be like to relive your sons death over and over again in front of so many people.

Cristina Diego Ponce interprets the story of "Kim," a teen who lost both her parents in one night during an operation. Photo by JL JAVIER

At times during the play, Ponces body is puppeteered by a masked man, setting her up for an all too familiar scene. Photo by JL JAVIER

Hindi ko alam saan ako iiyak nung mga time na yun,  cries Ponce. Hindi ko alam kung sa nanay ko o sa tatay ko. Sa gitna na lang ako humiga, sa sahig, hinawakan ko yung dalawa. Photo by JL JAVIER

Though, in comparison to Castillo and Lopez, actress Ponce is merely interpreting Kims story rather than reliving it, her performance also requires a massive effort. She is frantic as she darts from every corner of the set searching for her parents who were taken away by men and later found dead in different locations. At times, Ponces body is puppeteered by a masked man, setting her up for an all too familiar scene, while at others it is pulled by invisible forces, contorting and writhing in frightening ways. She drops to the floor and cries, Hindi ko alam saan ako iiyak nung mga time na yun. Hindi ko alam kung sa nanay ko o sa tatay ko. Sa gitna na lang ako humiga, sa sahig, hinawakan ko yung dalawa.

Each performance is so visceral that for a moment you forget where you are, that you almost feel as if youre sitting right at the scene. And for the rest of this years stagings that becomes more than a feeling, as SIKAD plans on taking the show right to the very communities that have experienced these atrocities.

Last Nov. 25, the show was staged at Sitio San Roque in Quezon City, a community that is currently under threat of demolition by developers, and that has seen its own share of anti-drug operations. On Nov. 27, the play was taken to Pandi, Bulacan, where several people were killed in police operations in the last few months.

Each performance is so visceral that for a moment you forget where you are, that you almost feel as if youre sitting right at the scene. Photo by JL JAVIER

Director Edwin Quinsayas says that the play will be showed at urban poor communities first this year because they want to inspire the people living there to speak up. [Gusto namin] magpakita ng ehemplo ng mga pamilya, mga nanay, mga kababaihan, na napapangibabawan yung takot at gustong magsalita. Photo by JL JAVIER

Plano talaga namin ilibot siya sa mga urban poor communities, says Quinsayas. At first, I find it odd to bring the play to people whove already had similar experiences. But before I even get to ask why they dont take the play to those who may not even be able to imagine such an experience, Quinsayas explains that their main objective this year is to inspire those from urban poor communities to speak up.

Marami na rin naman talagang [mga maralita na] tumutunggali [sa war on drugs] pero ... takot, he says. Gusto muna naming dalhin talaga siya sa mga poor communities at magpakita ng ehemplo ng mga pamilya, mga nanay, mga kababaihan, na napapangibabawan yung takot at gustong magsalita. Para maengganyo yung mga tao sa komunidad na magsalita talaga at lumikha ng isang mass movement.

Quinsayas also says that, by next year, while they are doing these community performances, they also want to stage it in universities in order to tap the youth. The group hopes that through these performances, audiences, especially supporters of the drug war, will realize that the victims are more than just the stereotypical adik  that these are sons, fathers, breadwinners, people with hopes and dreams for a better life, who dont deserve to be killed whether or not they commit vices. Such as in the case of Aldrin Castillo, whose mother admits he was once a drug user, but had planned to move to Saudi to forge a new life. He was killed two months before his flight.

Towards the end of the play, Cristina Diego Ponce, Nanette Castillo, and Normita Lopez pass around pieces of paper bearing names of those killed during the war on drugs, encouraging the audience to join their call for justice. Photo by JL JAVIER

Gusto kong madurog sa mga sinsabi [ng mga trolls] na adik ka kasi, adik din yung anak mo, wala namang kwenta yang anak mo, says Nanette Castillo in her monologue, her voice unfaltering. Hindi nila kami kilala. Sana kilalanin nila bawat pamilya.

Kung nagkamali man, kung nag-bisyo man, sana tinignan nila anong dahilan. Bakit sila nag-bibisyo, bakit sila nagbebenta ng shabu? she shouts, her anger permeating the room with every heartbreaking plea. Bakit gumagamit ng shabu? Sana binigyan ng tulong! Hindi bala dapat ibigay!

Castillo passes around pieces of paper that list a few names of drug war victims. Pinapanawagan ko lang po yung pag-unawa ng mga tao, pag-damay, she says. She asks the audience to read each name aloud, to call for justice. Sisimulan ko, she says, Aldrin Castillo! The room erupts in a cacophony of voices.

It is at this moment that I find it impossible to hold back tears, and I cannot utter a single name from the list in my hands. Moments later and the room is silent. This marks the end of the play, and for a while Im relieved. But then I remember that for those who live in places under fire, for the likes of Lopez and Castillo, and for the very communities that will watch this play, there is no such relief.

***

Visit Sa Digma ng Halimaw on Facebook for show dates and announcements.ANI Technologies, which operates Ola, has raised well over $2 billion and counts among its investors names like SoftBank Group, Tiger Global and Sequoia India.

New Delhi: Cab aggregator Ola has received interests from multiple investors, including existing shareholder SoftBank, to pump in funds of up to $1 billion, according to sources.

Locked in a bruising battle for market leadership with US-based rival Uber in India as well as in markets like Australia, New Zealand and the UK, Ola has been aggressively ramping up its ride-hailing platform and food delivery operations.

Multiple sources, who did not wish to be identified, said the Bengaluru-based company has received interests from various investors, including existing shareholder SoftBank, to pump in funds between $800 million and $1 billion.

However, no formal discussions in this regard have started yet, they added.

Ola declined to comment on the matter, while an email sent to SoftBank did not elicit any response.

ANI Technologies, which operates Ola, has raised well over $2 billion and counts among its investors names like SoftBank Group, Tiger Global and Sequoia India. In October last year, Ola had announced raising $1.1 billion in funding led by Tencent Holdings.

According to reports, Ola had amended its Articles of Asociation and SoftBank and its affiliates would need the approval of Ola's founders  Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati  as well as the consent of the company's board to purchase any additional shares of the company from other stakeholders.

Also, Aggarwal and Bhati in September this year had sought the Competition Commission of India's approval for increasing stake (by less than 10 percent) in ANI Technologies. A notice with the CCI said the acquisition will be made through Lazarus Holdings, which is incorporated in Singapore, and is a special purpose vehicle which will be used as an investment holding company.

While ANI Technologies is not a publicly-traded company, according to regulatory documents, the company saw its consolidated total income rising over 70 percent to Rs 1,380.7 crore FY2016-17 as against Rs 810.7 crore in FY2015-16. However, its losses also widened to Rs 4,897.8 crore in FY2016-17 as compared to a loss of Rs 3,147.9 crore in FY2015-16.New Delhi: In a punitive action, the Navy has encashed a bank guarantee of Reliance Naval Engineering Ltd (RNEL) in the Rs 3,000-crore contract for five offshore patrol vessels due to long delays in their supply, and said on Monday that the deal is being examined.

"There is no preferential treatment being given to RNEL. Its bank guarantee has been encashed. Punitive action has been taken against it. The process is being taken forward," Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lamba said at a press conference.

The Navy chief was asked about the huge delay in delivery of the vessels by RNEL and whether the Navy is under any pressure to not initiate any action against the company.

Admiral Lamba said the deal is not being cancelled at the moment, but added that it is being looked into, indicating that government may take a call on the issue.

"It has not been cancelled at the moment but the contract is being looked at and is being examined and what we need to do with it," said the Navy chief.

The Navy chief also said that the company is undergoing corporate debt restructuring.

There was no immediate reaction from RNEL about the Navy chief's comments.

Anil Ambani's Reliance Defence has been at the centre of a controversy over the Rs 58,000-crore Rafale jet fighter deal. The Congress has accused the government of favouring the company.

The company as well as the government have rejected the charges.

The original contract for the five naval offshore patrol vessels (NOPVs) was won by Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering in 2011. The company was bought over by Anil Ambani group in 2016.

Sources said the bank guarantee was 10 percent of the size of the contract. According to the original contract, the first vessel was to be delivered by early 2015. However, the deadline was pushed several times.

Two patrol vessels  'Shachi' and 'Shruti'  were launched at the Reliance shipyard in Pipavav, Gujarat, last year.

RNEL was the first private sector company to obtain the licence and contract to build the patrol vessels. The vessels were to be armed with 76mm Super Rapid Gun Mount (SRGM) system.

The primary role of NOPVs is to undertake surveillance of the country's vast Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) besides operational tasks such as anti-piracy patrols, fleet support operations, maritime security of offshore assets and coastal security operations.Arun Jaitley said with the current level of investment in the next two decades, the infrastructure in rural areas will come at par with that in the cities.

New Delhi: Blaming the Congress for agrarian distress, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Tuesday said the policy of the NDA government to pump in more resources into rural areas has improved agricultural productivity and the quality of lives of the people in villages.

Jaitley said with the current level of investment in the next two decades, the infrastructure in rural areas will come at par with that in the cities.

The minister's remarks came in the backdrop of the opposition party's allegations of ignoring rural India and agriculture sector and the last week's massive protest in the national capital by farmers across the country.

"Removing the agrarian distress and improving the quality of life in rural areas cannot be done by slogans alone. From 1971 onwards, the Congress policy was slogans and not resources," Jaitley wrote in a blog titled 'India's rural sector'.

The NDA government has pumped in resources into the rural areas, which have improved infrastructure, the quality of life of people living therein and increased agricultural productivity, he said. The policy measures have been taken to ensure remunerative prices to the farmers, the minister added.

"The past four-and-a-half years is just the beginning. If this level of investment with its annual increase is continued in the rural areas for at least the next two decades, we will be close to providing a quality of life and infrastructure in rural areas which is more urban like," Jaitley said.

Listing out sectors, he said the government has already increased expenditure in animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries, besides providing more funds for agriculture research and education.

"The Narendra Modi government assumed office on 26 May, 2014. Stress in the agricultural sector was not born thereafter. It was inadequacy of the resources pumped into the agricultural sector by the Congress that had led to both an agrarian distress and an inadequate quality of life in the rural areas.

"The NDA government planned a multi-pronged strategy to improve the quality of life in Indian villages to enlarge quantum of investment and to make the Indian farmer self-sufficient and farming remunerative rather than be only dependent on state agencies," Jaitley said.

The government, he noted, has increased expenditure on rural roads, housing and healthcare as well as launched schemes like Swachh Bharat, rural electrification, JanDhan, Ujjwala Yojana and Mudra Yojana with an aim to improve the agrarian sector.The OPEC and its allies are working towards a deal to reduce oil output by at least 1.3 million bpd, OPEC sources have told Reuters,

London: Oil prices rose more than 2 percent on Tuesday, extending gains ahead of expected output cuts by producer cartel Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and a mandated reduction in Canadian supply.

Both benchmarks climbed around 4 percent on Monday after US president Donald Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping agreed at a meeting of the Group of 20 industrialised nations (G20) to pause an escalating trade dispute.

The market seems positively oriented following the G20 developments and heading into the OPEC meeting on Thursday, BNP Paribas commodities strategist Harry Tchilinguirian told Reuters Global Oil Forum.

A commitment by Russia to cooperate with Saudi Arabia and achieve an agreement at the next OPEC meeting has certainly lifted spirits, he added.

The Middle East-dominated OPEC will meet on Thursday in Vienna to agree future output and will discuss strategy with other producers outside the OPEC, including Russia.

The OPEC and its allies are working towards a deal to reduce oil output by at least 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd), OPEC sources have told Reuters, adding that they were still talking to Russia about the extent of its production cuts.

We expect OPEC to follow suit and agree to a production cut in Vienna this coming Thursday, US bank Goldman Sachs said in a note to clients.

A cut in OPEC and Russia production of 1.3 bpd will be required to reverse the ongoing counter-seasonally large increase in inventories.

It added that it expected a joint effort by OPEC and Russia to withhold supply to push Brent oil prices above the mid-$60 per barrel level.

Helping OPEC in its efforts to rein in emerging oversupply was an order on Sunday by the Canadian province of Alberta for producers to scale back output by 325,000 bpd until excess crude in storage is reduced.

OPECs biggest problem is surging production in the United States where output, mostly from its southern shale fields, has grown by around 2 million bpd in a year to more than 11.5 million bpd.

Barclays bank pointed out in a note to clients that oil production in the state of Texas alone reached 4.69 million bpd in September, compared with Iraqi output of 4.66 million by our estimates.

Iraq is OPECs second-biggest oil producer, behind Saudi Arabia.The task force set up to redraft Income Tax law will focus on removing the ambiguities, rather than suggesting dramatic policy changes and tweaking of tax rates, the panel's convenor Akhilesh Ranjan said on Tuesday

New Delhi: The task force set up to redraft Income Tax law will focus on removing the ambiguities, rather than suggesting dramatic policy changes and tweaking of tax rates, the panel's convenor Akhilesh Ranjan said on Tuesday.

Ranjan said the 6-member task force formed to redraft the over 50-year old I-T law will meet shortly to draft a new law which will be more comprehensible.

"Tax rate is prima-facie, not the main focus area of this task force.... (task force will focus on) simplification which can remove the ambiguities," Ranjan told reporters here.

He said there are clauses, provisos and explanations which have been added to the I-T Act, 1961 overtime which need to be streamlined in simple language.

"We have been adding provisions after provisions, explanations after explanations, they have become inconsistent, ambiguous. So let us clarify the real intent of the law. In that process, there may be some new policy initiatives while trying to make things clear.

"The focus is not on coming out with a new tax policy but the focus is on making the law more comprehensible," said Ranjan, who is member legislation in the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).

The task force was set up by the finance ministry in November last. Arbind Modi was made the convenor of the panel and he retired on 30 September.

On 26 November, Ranjan was appointed as the new convenor, who has been mandated to submit the report by 28 February, 2019.

Asked if the panel would submit any report before the interim budget on 1 February, Ranjan said it is unlikely.

The NDA government would be presenting its interim Budget for 2019-20 on 1 February. The full Budget would be presented after the general elections due sometime in the mid of 2019.

In September last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had said in an event that the Income-tax Act, 1961 needs to be redrafted.

Other members of the task force include Girish Ahuja (chartered accountant), Rajiv Memani (Chairman and Regional Managing Partner of EY), Mukesh Patel (practicing tax advocate), Mansi Kedia (Consultant, ICRIER) and G C Srivastava (retired IRS and advocate).

"I am having a meeting (of the task force) very shortly. I'm sure that they have done a lot of work and I would like to know what is the work that has been done till now and we will take it forward," Ranjan said.

The panel was tasked to draft direct tax laws in line with the laws prevalent in other countries, incorporating international best practices, and keeping in mind the economic needs of the country.

Former finance minister P Chidambaram had in 2009 proposed a direct taxes code (DTC) to replace the cumbersome IT law to embody the principle of keeping taxes low and removing exemptions.

The NDA government, since coming to power in 2014, has already implemented general anti-avoidance rules GAAR. In 2016, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also promised to lower corporate tax rate to 25 percent in 5 years.

Currently, income up to Rs 2.5 lakh per annum is exempt from tax for individuals.Qatar is not only a major-domo LNG supplier via Petronet LNG, but is also a major foreign portfolio investor (FPI) in Indian equities markets.

The oil markets are abuzz with Qatar's oil minister Saas-Al-Kaabi announcing a withdrawal from OPEC after 57 years of membership of the oil cartel. What does it mean for an average oil trader and more importantly, an average fuel buyer at the petrol pump? Let's take a sum of the parts look at the scenario.

Qatar, a tiny nation in the Gulf, has 2.1 percent of the global oil reserves. It produces 6,00,000 to 8,00,000 barrels of oil per day, making it a marginal player in the oil export sweepstakes.

However, the scenario changes when viewed from the LNG perspective. When oil and gas output is taken in toto, Qatar's output figures surge to 4.8 million barrels per day (bpd). This means Qatar exports over 4 million barrels of oil equivalent in LNG (liquefied natural gas). This figure makes Qatar a swing producer in the international LNG markets, and its output is slated to zoom 50 percent in the next 5 years.

Swing producers are nations whose output tweaks create ripples in the market prices, and in the LNG market Qatar is a big boy. The tiny nation is big on per capita income, which is the highest in the world (approximately Rs 97 lakhs per annum). Qatar employs 7 lakh Indians on its soil who repatriate a large number of oil dollars every month. India also sources a major chunk of its LNG from RasGas of Qatar via Petronet LNG, which is a listed entity on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE).

OPECan oil exporter's cartel that is a self-regulatory organisation, determines quotas for each country to export oil and gas per annum. In many ways, it is a strange organisation, probably doomed to unravel, thanks to its functional style. Member nations are allotted quotas based on claimed reserves as against proven reserves. Most Middle East nations do not permit third-party seismic audits of their wells. So OPEC members regularly exaggerate their claimed reserves to export more and muscle up their dollar reserves.

Secondly, quotas set by OPEC are flouted more often than respected. Veteran oil traders know that oil ministers of member nations flout export quotas as soon as they can access their cell phones after the OPEC meeting concludes. Oil, as I have written earlier on Firstpost is an extremely complicated commodity, involving business, politics, speculation, terrorism etc.

Third, OPEC is split right down in the middle. The traditional OPEC chief is Saudi Arabia, a Sunni-Wahabi nation. Unhappy with its domination are Shia countries led by Iran. Discontent has only risen over the years. What has kept OPEC cemented together over the years, inspite of religious, political and geo-political rifts ismoney. It was felt that a cartel could negotiate prices better than individual nations.

In many ways OPEC started unraveling after the ISIS captured oil wells in Iraq and started selling this oil at steep discounts in the black markets. Many unconfirmed reports in the global media point a finger of suspicion at Turkish strongman Erdogans son who facilitated these oil deals. Herein lie the seeds of strife between Turkey and Saudi Arabia. If you think about it, the Jamal Khashoggi murder has widened the rift further.

Fourth, Saudi Arabia needs big money, and fast. Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) has a vision (Vision 2030) that involves building new cities in the northern Saudi desert, reportedly at a cost of $350 to $400 billion. To raise this money, Aramcos IPO was announced and oil prices were boosted with the help of ever-willing Vladimir Putin.

The Saudi-Russia accord of 2017 was another nail in the OPEC coffin. Within weeks of this accord, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an accord with Iran, that precipitated the discontent in OPEC. Add a very distressed and unhappy Venezuela that is gearing for polls in 2019, Indonesia, and the cauldron called OPEC is being churned and stirred vigorously. That OPEC has been undermined time and again is an established fact. This time the cracks are noticeably bigger and may reach a tipping point.

The falloutsince the Saudis blocked Qatar in June 2017 with the aid of Kuwait, Egypt and the UAE, and the stand-off has been nothing short of weird. Saudi airspace is blocked for aircraft to pass over into Qatar. Access is blocked by land (Saudis are constructing an artificial canal to isolate Qatar totally) and supplies of essentials are stopped to Qatar. Turkey airlifts food, medicines and emergency supplies and sends to Qatar on a day-to-day basis. The UAE meanwhile continues to buy LNG from Qatar as it did before as if the political rift did not exist. This strange situation could not continue for long and something had to give.

Veteran Middle East political pundits are frankly surprised that Qatar took 18 months to announce its withdrawal from OPEC, after being assaulted by OPEC chief, Saudi Arabia.

In the real world, oil markets will now be dominated by US President Donald Trump (US is now the big daddy oil producer in the world, and exports for the first time after the Yom Kippur war of 1973) and Putin, the largest non-OPEC exporter of oil. Together they will carve up the OPEC, over the years of course.

Countries will take sides and align themselves with one of the two majors. So we will have two competitors in the market, who will be at times forced to cut prices to grab market share from the other. Under a unified OPEC, it was a state of a near-monopoly and output tweaks boosted prices whenever the members wanted it.

Indian energy scenario

India has been friends with both USA and Russia. So sourcing oil at friendly commercial terms from any of them should not be a problem. Where LNG is concerned (I consider gas to be a major factor in the Indian hydrocarbon footprint and economic progress), a fractionalised OPEC suits us better. We can wrangle out better terms from Iran, Qatar and Russia, all of whom have high calorific content yielding superior quality gas in their vast reserves.

Qatar is not only a major-domo LNG supplier via Petronet LNG, but is also a major foreign portfolio investor (FPI) in Indian equities markets. It has committed over Rs 40,000 crore to the Bharat Mala road building projects and is open to further investments in India. What is good for Qatar, is good for India. Our 7 lakh citizens will continue to send home gas dollars.

Why did the crude prices rise in the last few sessions then? Because the Saudis and Russians are planning an output cut. It has nothing to do with Qatar leaving OPEC. So relax, sit back with your coffee. Oil prices at the pumps are not likely to jump with Qatars exit. OPEC has left the building. Long live OPEC. RIP OPEC.

(The writer heads Bhambwani Securities Pvt Ltd and is the author of 'A Traders Guide to Indian Commodity Markets')Dilip Shanghvi, founder and managing director of Sun Pharma said the company will work towards re-establishing credibility and corporate governance

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries has said that the company is open to evaluating some of its past decisions which include $250 million loan to employees and others, a media report said.

Following the reports of a regulatory probe, Dilip Shanghvi, founder and managing director of Sun Pharma said the company will work towards re-establishing credibility and corporate governance, The Economic Times reported.

In an investors' call, Shanghvi said the company has not received any query so far from the markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) regarding a whistleblower's complaint regarding alleged irregularities by the company.

Shares of Sun Pharmaceutical dived 7.5 percent on Monday after reports that markets regulator SEBI might reopen an insider trading case against the firm and probe alleged lapses by some of its promoters.

In August 2017, Sun Pharmaceutical, its managing director Shanghvi and nine other entities settled an insider trading probe on payment of Rs 18 lakh towards settlement charges.

However, reports have stated that the regulator is likely to reopen the case as it has powers to reopen cases of a settlement related to insider trading on various grounds.

"We are following highest levels of corporate governance at Sun Pharma," Shanghvi said. According to the sources, alleged irregularities by the company's promoters and others in raising funds through Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds (FCCBs) are also likely to be investigated by the watchdog.

On Thursday, stock exchanges had sought clarification from Sun Pharma following a brokerage report that allegedly raised concerns about certain practices at the company.

In response, the company said the points raised pertain to historic events, some of which are dated as far back as 10-15 years. "Certain points raised in the said note are incomplete and have been presented in a negative manner.

"The supporting information to the points raised in the note has been sourced from public domain and hence this information/ data is already available in public," Sun Pharma had said in a filing on Thursday.

In August 2017, the regulator had not disclosed details of the case.However, it had appeared to be related to the acquisition of Ranbaxy by Sun Pharma from Japanese drugmaker Daiichi, as the settlement with the regulator has also been done by former Ranbaxy CEO Arun Sawhney, Daiichi's director Kazunori Hirokawa, its ex-Chairman

Takashi Shoda and its former senior executive officer Tsutomu Une.

Shoda is said to have led Daiichi's acquisition of Ranbaxy in 2008, though the Japanese giant had to eventually sell its stake in the company to Sun Pharma in 2014.

Besides, the settlement was done by Ranbaxy's former secretary SK Patawari; Sun Pharma's directors Sudhir V Valia and Sailesh Desai; and its company secretary Sunil Ajmera.

SEBI had agreed to settle proposed adjudication proceedings in the case, pertaining to violation of the "internal code of conduct for prevention of insider trading" framed by the company, after it was approached by these 11 entities with a plea under the settlement regulations "without admitting or denying the findings of fact and conclusion of law".

With inputs from PTIHDFC Bank pulled down its new mobile banking app six days after launching it.

Mumbai: HDFC Bank pulled down its new mobile banking app six days after launching it. After over four days of out-of-bounds for customers due to technical glitches, which created an online furore against the bank, the largest private sector lender on Monday pulled down its troublemaking new mobile banking app. As an alternative, HDFC Bank said the affected customers will be able to use the old app from 1700 hrs from Tuesday (today).

"The new app, since it is taking us longer to fix than anticipated, is being pulled down from the app store (for Ios users) and Playstore (for Android users) till further notice," the bank having 4.5 crore customers said on its official Twitter handle.

The trouble is believed to have begun last Thursday when the bank put out a Twitter statement saying the new app users are facing trouble logging in and will not be able to use it.

The issue was possibly triggered while updating the app when the older version of the app was overwritten and a lot of customers could use neither the old nor the new app, which was malfunctioned, media reports said.

Many users deleted the old app, leaving them with the only option of using alternatives like netbanking, phone-banking or missed call banking for their transactions. This led to a rash of voices against the bank, especially on the micro-blogging site Twitter. "In this day and age, how can the largest private bank in the country do this?!", wondered e-commerce giant Flipkart's co-founder Sachin Bansal.

In this day and age, how can the largest private bank of India do this?! https://t.co/VUfmdAMJDN  Sachin Bansal (@_sachinbansal) December 2, 2018

The timing of the app going down, during the time when salaries get credited and mobile banking transactions go up by at least a third of the average, led to many users feeling the pain because of the services being down. The exact details of the problem with the new app, or the time it will take for it to come back, are still not

disclosed.

The bank had launched the older version of the app last Tuesday billing it as simple and institutive, which had features like biometric access for extra security.The audit will be carried-out to check for any under-reporting of revenue by telecom companies, and is expected to be wrapped-up by middle of next year.

New Delhi: The telecom department is likely to appoint at least 4-5 auditors by this month to conduct the planned special audit of private telecom companies for period FY12 to FY18, according to a source.

The bids are expected to be submitted by 18 December by interested auditors that are empanelled under Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, and the appointment is likely to take place by the month-end, said an official familiar with the entire process.

The audit will be carried-out to check for any under-reporting of revenue by telecom companies, and is expected to be wrapped-up by middle of next year, the official added.

Audit will be conducted for all large private telecom companies as also those which have announced an exit or are in the process of merging with bigger rivals. The work on auditing will start from January, the source said.

"The idea of audit is to see whether there is any concealment of revenue... because our licence fee is based on their revenue. We want to ensure that the accounts reveal a fair and true picture of the revenue earned," the source added.

Telecom service providers pay licence fees and spectrum usage charges to the government on the basis of their income.

The telecom sector has been bruised by falling tariffs, eroding profitability, and mounting debt in the face of stiff competition triggered by disruptive offerings of Reliance Jio, owned by Mukesh Ambani. The industry has been seeking urgent relief measures entailing debt restructuring, cut in levies, and release of GST input tax credit locked up with the government.

Reflecting the financial stress of the industry, the gross revenue of telecom service providers and licence fee paid to the government declined by around 10 percent to Rs 58,401 crore and Rs 2,929 crore, respectively, in April-June 2018 as compared to the year-ago period, according to recent data by telecom regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

"Gross revenue (GR) and adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of the telecom service sector for the quarter ended June 2018 has been Rs 58,401 crore and Rs 36,552 crore, respectively," TRAI had said in its Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator report released in October.

The GR and AGR declined by 10 and 8.11 percent, respectively, on year-on-year basis. The decline in AGR  which is revenue earned from sale of telecom services alone  led to fall in licence fees paid to the government by around 10 percent to Rs 2,929 crore.1984 anti-Sikh riots: The Supreme Court on Tuesday accepted the Centre's suggestion and agreed to allow a two-member special investigation team (SIT) to continue the probe into 186 cases in connection to the violence.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday accepted the Centre's suggestion to allow a two-member special investigation team (SIT) to continue the probe into 186 cases in connection to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

ANI reported that the apex court modified its 11 January order of instituting a SIT of three members. India Today reported that retired IPS officer Rajdeep Singh declined to become a part of the team appointed by the Supreme Court in January, citing personal reasons.

In January, the bench headed by former CJI Dipak Misra had said that the SIT would comprise of a former Delhi High Court judge, a former IPS officer equivalent to the rank of an inspector general, and a serving IPS officer.

On Monday, the Centre told a bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta that the government has no objection if the remaining two members of the SIT  former Delhi High Court judge Justice SN Dhingra and serving IPS officer Abhishek Dular  continue with the work.

However, the bench had then observed that since the 11 January order constituting a three-member SIT was passed by a bench of three judges, they cannot modify it while sitting in a combination of two judges.

On 28 November, the Delhi High Court had dismissed the plea and upheld the conviction of all 88 accused in the case, and directed them to surrender. However, only 47 out of 88 accused are reportedly still alive.

Large-scale riots had broken out in the national capital in the aftermath of the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh security guards on the morning of 31 October, 1984. The violence had claimed 2,733 lives in Delhi alone.The order was awaited after a top Dubai court upheld a lower court's order in November to consider the possibility of extraditing Christian Michel.

The Dubai government passed an administrative order for the extradition of Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland chopper deal case.

The order was awaited after a top Dubai court upheld a lower court's order in November to consider the possibility of extraditing Michel. According to ANI, Michel is being led to India by UAE authorities.

CNN-News18 reported that Michel is likely to be brought to India by a 9 pm flight on Tuesday. After his extradition, he will be produced before the Patiala House court, the Prevention of Money Laundering Act court, and CBI court.

ANI quoted the CBI as saying that the entire operation is being coordinated by In-charge Director M Nageswara Rao, under the guidance of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. A team led by CBI joint director A Sai Manohar has been to Dubai for the purpose. The significant development comes just months ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha election. There have been allegations against former prime minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, and Congress leader Ahmed Patel in the case. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was in Abu Dhabi for the UAE-India Joint Commission Meeting. According to reports, Swaraj and UAE foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan discussed consular and extradition matters.

MEA: EAM Sushma Swaraj and UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan today co-chaired 12th India-UAE #JCM. Held exhaustive discussions on cooperation in energy, security, trade, investments, space, defence & consular, among others. pic.twitter.com/pwIrGz6IRM  ANI (@ANI) December 4, 2018

A UAE court in September rejected all the contentions raised by Michel's counsel opposing the extradition plea by the Indian authorities. Michel's counsel argued that he may be "exposed to inhuman treatment" and that the case against the accused was "political" in nature.

The court, however, said that "the extradition request had no objectives  political or racial or religious, but rather the purpose of which is to prosecute him for a criminal offense." and, therefore... "do not prevent the court from surrendering as long as it appears from the file of restitution that the extradition request is not related to reasons other than the crime committed by the wanted person."

The UAE government approached the court in August asking if Michel, a British national, could be extradited to a third country: India.

In January, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) lodged a request with the UAE authorities for extraditing Michel. Both the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had filed chargesheets in bribery cases in Indian courts and non-bailable warrants had been issued against the accused.

In 2017, a red corner notice was issued against Michel by the Interpol on a request by the CBI. Red corner notices were also issued against two Italians involved in the case  Carlo Gerosa and Guido Haschke. According to Indian investigative agencies, Michel had received at least Rs 235 crore for ensuring that the chopper contract went to AgustaWestland.

With inputs from agenciesMichel was taken into CBI custody upon landing and a non-bailable warrant was issued against him.

On Tuesday, alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland chopper scam Christian James Michel was extradited from UAE to India following an order by the Dubai government. Michel arrived in New Delhi late Tuesday night.

India Today reported that Michel was taken into Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) custody upon landing and a non-bailable warrant was issued against him. He will be quizzed by officials at the CBI headquarters of the (CBI), where he will also be kept for the night.

CNN-News18 reported that Michel will be produced before Delhi's Patiala House Court Wednesday. The CBI said that the operation was executed under the guidance of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

The UAE government cleared the extradition of 57-year-old Michel on Tuesday days after his appeal against the move was turned down by a court.

His alleged involvement in the chopper deal surfaced in 2012. Michel swung the deal in favour of AgustaWestland and made illegal payment of commission/kickbacks to the Indian authorities, CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal claimed. Michel was wanted for investigation but he escaped and avoided joining the probe, he added.

A chargesheet was filed against Michel in September, 2017. "An open non-bailable arrest warrant dated 24 September, 2015, was issued by the special judge, CBI cases, Patiala House Courts, New Delhi," he further said.

On the basis of this warrant, a Red Corner Notice was issued by the Interpol which led to his arrest in Dubai in February 2017. Michel was behind bars in Dubai since he was arrested and sent to custody pending the legal and judicial procedure in the UAE.

The Dubai Court of Cassation dismissed the two objections filed by Michel's lawyers and upheld the appellate court's decision to consider the possibility of extraditing him to the competent Indian authorities.

With inputs from agenciesThe Alliance For Media Freedom has condemned the 'illegal detention and harassment' of two Tamil Nadu journalists for helping two French reporters investigate illegal beach and sand mining.

In the field of journalism, the safety of reporters is at risk when they investigate cases of illegal activities  including mining  as they are often targeted by those involved in the crime. Such a case is unfolding in Tamil Nadu, where two journalists were "illegally" detained by the Kanyakumari Police on 28 and 29 November for helping two French reporters look into illegal beach and sand mining.

In response, the Alliance For Media Freedom on Tuesday condemned the "high-handed and illegal detention and harassment" of D Anandhakumar and M Sriram  both journalists from Chennai  calling it an attempt by the Kanyakumari Police "to peddle a false narrative on an issue involving media freedom".

Two French journalists of the Freedom Voices Network Team  deputy editor Jules Giraudat and investigative journalist Arthur Bouvart  were named in the FIR by the Kanyakumari Police on 29 November for allegedly trespassing government property. However, the Alliance For Media Freedom said in its statement that the neither Anandhakumar nor Sriram were aware that the French reporters had spoken to officials of Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL) at Manavalakurichi and taken photographs and videos in a restricted area.

IREL is the central government's beach sand mining agency. It falls under the purview of the Department of Atomic Energy.

Chairman of The Hindu Publishing Group N Ram, speaking at a press conference on behalf of the Alliance, also criticised the state for "uncritically swallowing" the official version of events as the authorities stated. On Twitter, he urged the "Editors Guild of India, organisations of working journalists, and others who value media freedom to speak up on this issue".

Condemn the illegal detention of two Tamil Nadu journalists & the false campaign by anti-democratic & communal elements on the issue. The Editors Guild of India, organisations of working journalists, and others who value media freedom must speak up on this issue.  N. Ram (@nramind) December 4, 2018

The Alliance noted that the journalists from Chennai had helped the French reporters "without any monetary consideration and purely in the spirit of extending fraternal courtesy and facilitation to professional colleagues", also urging the Tamil Nadu government "to ensure that the freedom of the news media in the state is protected in letter and in spirit".

This was not before the media action group put forth a list of questions for the Kanyakumari Police to answer:

- Why were the two Tamil Nadu journalists illegally detained for two days?

- Why did the Kanyakumari Police issue summons to the two Tamil Nadu journalists inside the DSP's office after two days of detention? Was it not to cover up the illegality of the detention?

- Why did the Kanyakumari Police insist that the Tamil Nadu journalists must not reveal to other agencies (IB, Intelligence, etc) that the journalistic inquiry concerned illegal beach sand mining?

- What is the reason for the contradictory statements and versions planted by the Kanyakumari Police in this case?

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) also came out in support of the Tamil Nadu journalists on Tuesday. "CPJ calls on Tamil Nadu Police to immediately stop harassing journalists reporting on illegal sand mining. Politicians also should not make baseless accusations against journalists for being 'spies'. Reporting is not espionage," it said on Twitter.

CPJ calls on Tamil Nadu Police to immediately stop harassing journalists reporting on illegal sand mining. Politicians also should not make baseless accusations against journalists for being "spies." Reporting is not espionage #India #JournalismIsNotACrime https://t.co/9IXDMnJjL9  CPJ Asia (@CPJAsia) December 3, 2018

Journalist claims police trying to implicate her in same case

Meanwhile, journalist Sandhya Ravishankar also told Firstpost that the Kanyakumari Police was "attempting to foist false charges" against her to arrest her "seemingly at the behest of S Vaikundarajan", chairman of VV Mineral, India's largest miner and exporter of rare earth minerals. She said the police were trying to "incarcerate" her in the case of the two French and Chennai-based reporters.

"The narrative that is being built by the Kanyakumari Police, especially by DSP Bhaskaran and SP Shreenath, is that I am an alleged 'criminal mastermind' of alleged 'French spies' who entered the premises of the Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL) in Manavalakurichi on 26 November, 2018, Ravishankar told Firspost.

Ravishankar reports widely on the illegal sand mining and is no stranger to threats and attempts at intimidation. The Chennai-based journalist has faced several instances of harassment, violation of privacy and stalking after her four-part expose on the sand mafia was published by The Wire early last year.

"The Kanyakumari Police are planting vicious and slanderous stories attempting to connect me with an alleged 'plot to steal national secrets'," she told Firstpost. "This is completely baseless and maligns my good reputation and is an attempt to intimidate, harass, threaten and incarcerate me without any basis and in a premeditated manner. I am afraid that I will be unfairly arrested under foisted charges.

Adding that the Kanyakumari Police had "illegally detained" two Tamil Nadu journalists on 28 and 29 November, she accused the force of spreading and planting rumours that "the French journalists were spies". "Kanyakumari SP Shree Nath and DSP Bhaskaran have both gone on record with a variety of contradictory versions, preferring to insist that the two Tamil Nadu journalists were with the French journalists when they entered the premises of IREL. This is very far from the truth," Ravishankar said.

"Now, the police are simultaneously attempting to connect me with Anand and Sriram in a bid to ensure that they can build a case and silence me by arresting me."IL&FS Group and its various subsidiaries, including ITNL, are facing liquidity crisis and have defaulted on various debt payments

Mumbai: Even as five IL&FS employees continue to remain in captivity of unpaid staff in Ethiopia, the local police have taken into custody three Indian officials of the infrastructure company over non-payment of taxes and workers' salaries, a source said.

Late last month, seven Indian workers of an IL&FS subsidiary  IL&FS Transportation Network (ITNL)  were taken hostage at three of its sites in Ethiopia's Oromia and Amhara states by unpaid local staff.

The source said IL&FS had 15 Indian employees in Ethiopia, seven of whom were held captive by the local staff. Of the seven, two were released last week on medical ground. The three employees taken into custody after out of the eight employees who were not held captive, he said.

Local workers are allegedly holding them in captivity in protest for not having paid salaries since the past two months. ITNL, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Elsamex SA, has been executing road projects across three sites in Ethiopia.

IL&FS Group and its various subsidiaries, including ITNL, are facing liquidity crisis and have defaulted on various debt payments. As of 8 October, 2018, the total debt of the group stood at Rs 94,215.6 crore.Followers of spiritual guru Bhaiyyu Maharaj Monday sought a CBI inquiry into his death six months ago even as the Madhya Pradesh police maintained it was a case of suicide and ruled out any foul play.

Indore: Followers of spiritual guru Bhaiyyu Maharaj Monday sought a CBI inquiry into his death six months ago even as the Madhya Pradesh Police maintained it was a case of suicide and ruled out any foul play. Bhaiyyu Maharaj, whose original name was Uday Singh Deshmukh, had allegedly fatally shot himself with his licenced revolver at his residence here on 12 June.

In the purported suicide note found at the spot, the 50-year-old spiritual leader had written that he was taking the step due to extreme stress in his personal life. Addressing a press conference here, Shyam Deshmukh, one of his devotees, claimed Bhaiyyu Maharaj was killed. "We feel that our guru was murdered. We want this case to be investigated by the CBI so that the truth can come out."

Deshmukh expressed lack of faith in the state police which is investigating the case. "We don't trust MP police. Police are preparing to present their final report in the court," he said. Devotees of Bhayyu Maharaj, who gathered here from different parts of the country, met with police officers here and handed them a memorandum demanding a CBI inquiry into the case.

Meanwhile, the police are firm in their conclusion, based on the investigation so far, that Bhaiyyu Maharaj had committed suicide for personal reasons. "We have not found any evidence in the investigation so far to prove that the deceased was killed," Indore Deputy Inspector General Harinarayanachari Mishra told PTI. "Our investigation in the case of Bhaiyyu Maharaj's suicide is almost complete and the statements of all the people concerned have already been recorded."By the way, if his devotees want, they can also record their statements," the senior officer said.

Bhaiyyu Maharaj hailed from a family of landlords in Madhya Pradesh's Shujalpur in Shajapur district. He set up a charitable trust in 1999 which runs various welfare programmes in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and other states with an emphasis in areas of agriculture and water conservation.The BJP has an opportunity to get cosier with Bengali Hindus, many of whom are eagerly waiting for the bill to become a law.

The fate of the Citizenship Amendment Bill ,2016, remains uncertain as the joint parliamentary committee failed to arrive at a consensus on the proposed legislation before the last session of the 16th Lok Sabha. We are trying create a consensus among the members of the committee to accept the bill in its present form. But if it does not become possible, we will proceed to a vote, committee chairman Rajendra Agarwal told Firstpost after the latest meet on 27 November. On account of the division within the joint parliamentary committee (JPC) over the bill, it is unlikely to submit its final report before the Lok Sabha's last session (beginning 11 December) after which the proposed legislation is supposed to be discussed in Parliament. But we will try to submit the final report before the session ends on 8 January, 2019, Agarwal added.

The bill, which aims to grant citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis, Buddhists, Jains and Christians who fled to India after facing persecution in neighbouring countries Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh  was a major poll promise of the BJP during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. After being discussed in the Lok Sabha, the bill was referred to the JPC in 2016. The committee will be dissolved after this session of the Lok Sabha.

A BJP source said that even if the committee submits the bill  as has been indicated by the chairman  it is unlikely the bill would be passed by the Lower House forthwith, because it has other important business to consider. Discussions on the triple talaq bill and eight other proposed legislations are likely to consume a good chunk of the time. So, the bill might not get tabled, said the source. The most contentious issue is the possibility of illegal Hindu immigrants from Bangladesh  residing in Assam  gaining citizenship. This is seen as in direct contrast with the Assam Accord, which makes detection and deportation of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh mandatory.

The proposed bill has caused much anger among the indigenous tribes and ethnic groups in Assam and other states of the northeastern region, who have vowed to fight against it "till the end". If this bill becomes a law, lakhs of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh living in Assam would get citizenship. This will not only turn indigenous tribes and ethnic groups into a minority, but also aggravate the state's socio-economic and political issues, said Samujjal Kumar Bhattacharya, a leader of the North East Students Organisation. On the other hand many organisations representing Assam's Bengali Hindu community welcomed the bill, seeing it as an antidote to the pains of immigrants who fled Bangladesh after facing religious persecution.

Shantanu Mukherjee, general secretary of Sadau Asom Bangali Oikyo Mancha, said, Why would not we welcome the Centres move? After all, the people who have been granted citizenship are victims of religious persecution in their countries. He asked, Where will these people go? If Hindus do not get citizenship in India, then where will they get?

BJP pins hope on 'game-changing' bill

The BJP is hoping that the bill, if it becomes law, will be a game changer for the party in Assam and transform West Bengal  a political terrain blocked by the ruling Trinamool Congress  into a level playing ground. West Bengal stood firm in the face of the massive 'Modi wave' that engulfed the nation during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The saffron party only won two seats (out of 42), while the Trinamool Congress bagged 34 seats.

The party is also hoping that gains in West Bengal would offset any possible losses in the upcoming Assam panchayat polls (in 2014, the BJP won 7 out of 14 seats). Significantly, the saffron partys pitch is likely to provide it an edge over other parties in a number of constituencies in t Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra. The Centre has ordered 16 district magistrates of these states to register Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis, Jains, Buddhists and Christians who fled to India in the face of persecution in neighbouring nations.

Win-win

What does the BJP lose if it fails to push through this bill before the 2019 polls? Nothing. In fact, the 'failure' hands the BJP the opportunity to weave a counter-narrative against the Trinamool Congress, which has been fanning Bengali sentiment both in Assam and West Bengal after the publishing of final draft of the National Register of Citizens. Significantly, soon after the NRC's final draft was published in Assam, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee played the Bengali Hindu card, dubbing the document "a ploy to drive Bengalis out of Assam". Of 4 million names deleted from the NRC, 3.8 million are those of Bengali-speaking people. And of these 3.8 million, 2.5 million are Hindus. The rest 1.3 million are Bengali-speaking Muslims, she told the media.

Her statement was seen as an attempt to consolidate Bengali Hindu votes in Assam in her partys favour and retain her constituency, which the BJP has long been trying to woo. Mamata also sent a group of leaders to visit the families of the five Bengali men slain by suspected ULFA (I) militants on 1 November in Assam. Interestingly, the party was seen taking a U-turn against the bill within the JPC. Professor Saugata Roy, a TCP member on the JPC said, Our party is against the bill. We have also suggested an amendment to the bill. According to this amendment, names of specific religions and countries should not be mentioned in the bill. Rather, we proposed that anyone who comes to India facing religious, ethnic or any other form of persecution should be considered for citizenship.

Though the TCP MP claimed the partys stand in the JPC will help Bengalis acquire citizenship, this stance is likely to provide the BJP an opportunity to get cosier with Bengali Hindus, many of whom are eagerly waiting for the bill to become a law.Manohar Parrikar has been in and out of hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, New York and Delhi for nearly nine months

Panaji: The Panaji bench of the Bombay High Court on Tuesday directed Goa Chief Secretary Dharmendra Sharma to file an affidavit specifying the health status of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday.

The direction by Justice R M Borde follows a petition by local politician Trajano D'Mello, who had sought to know the health status of Parrikar, who is suffering from advanced pancreatic cancer and has not attended any official meeting or function outside his private residence for more than a month now.

D'Mello in his petition filed earlier this month had asked the court to direct Sharma to evaluate the former defence minister's health by a panel of expert doctors and release a medical report in public domain.

Parrikar has been in and out of hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, New York and Delhi for nearly nine months.

He returned from New Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences on 14 October and has not moved out of his private residence for any official event since.

The Opposition as well ruling coalition allies have been demanding the resignation of the Chief Minister, claiming that the administration has come to a standstill due to Parrikar's absence.

Ever since Parrikar's health started deteriorating, there has been no health bulletin, as demanded by the Opposition, from the Chief Minister's Office, barring several informal intimations to the media from Parrikar's office, which suggested that he was suffering from "indigestion" and "mild pancreatitis".Bulandshahr murder: The autopsy report of Subodh Kumar Singh suggested he was killed from a gunshot injury of a .32 bore pistol. An FIR registered at the Siyana police station names 27 people apart from 50-60 other unknown persons as accused for the murder of Singh. The FIR mentions that the protesters also snatched a pistol and three mobile phones from Singh.

Lucknow: Subodh Kumar Singh, the Station House Officer (SHO) of Siyana police station in Bulandshahr district, was shot dead on Monday near Chingrawati village while trying to pacify a mob which had turned violent over alleged slaughtering of a cow that was found in nearby fields. A 21-year-old youth, Sumit, was also killed in police cross-firing.

The autopsy report of Singh suggested he was killed from a gunshot injury of a .32 bore pistol, according to District Magistrate Anuj Kumar Jha. An FIR registered at the Siyana police station names 27 people apart from 50-60 other unknown persons as accused for the murder of Singh. The FIR mentions that the protesters also snatched a pistol and three mobile phones from Singh.

The .32 bore pistol is a public bore and it comes under the non-prohibited category of arms. While social media posts from Bulandshahr suggested that Singh was killed from his own service revolver, the Uttar Pradesh police use either 9mm pistol or a .38 bore revolver, which come under the prohibited category of arms.

According to a Uttar Pradesh cadre IPS officer, who has worked several years in the Western region of the state which is prone to gang violence, the .32 bore guns are among the favorite of notorious elements in the state because its cartridges are easily available. Making a gun is easy as it does not require much material. The technology behind a country-made gun is very easy but making cartridges is almost impossible. The technology of making cartridges is very complicated which is why people who make country pistols stick to the .32 bore, the officer said on the condition of anonymity.

The .32 calibre means the internal diameter of the gun shaft measures .32 inches or 8.12mm. This is the most common non-prohibited ammunition available in India. People will make only that gun whose cartridges are easily available in the market and you will never find a 7.62 mm country made gun, he said.

It may be mentioned that in August last the Meerut police unearthed an illegal arm factory running in the Sardhana area and seized about 400 finished and unfinished country made pistols.

According to a police inspector posted with the Sardhana police station, there has been a spike in the demands of country made pistols due to the elections due next year. The haul included several .32 bore guns as well, he adds. According to Dilshad Ahamad, the owner of Janata Gun stores in Muzaffarnagar, a license holder of a .32 bore pistol can buy 200 cartridges in a year and 100 cartridges at once.

The rate of a .32 bore cartridge is Rs 130 in Muzaffarnagar and Rs 120 in Meerut. One cannot buy more than 200 cartridges in a year as per the new license rule, Ahamad said.

Another gun store owner from Muzaffarnagar on the condition of anonymity told this reporter that licensed gun holders usually sell off their remaining cartridges for at least Rs 200 to Rs 250 per piece in the black market and people buy them without negotiating the prices.

While agreeing that the .32 bore is popular among criminals because it is non-prohibited and easily available, Anand Lal Bannerji, former director-general of UP Police, emphasised that the incident of violence at Bulandshahr and the subsequent killings had nothing to do with criminal gangs of western .

It is something else. If the administration turns a blind eye towards cow vigilantism where a human life is of much lesser value than a cow, this is bound to happen. In case of any offence against human body, the law should come into effect automatically. The rule of law means that there shouldnt be any distinction, says Bannerji, adding: Here distinction is being made. The result is that people are taking law into their hands."

The author is a freelance writer and member of 101Reporters.comThe Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government has come under the scanner with increasing incidents of violence in the state, the latest of which occurred in Bulandshahr on Monday, when a police inspector was shot dead by a mob in an alleged case of cow slaughter.

The Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government has come under the scanner with increasing incidents of violence in the state, the latest of which occurred in Bulandshahr on Monday, when a police inspector was shot dead by a mob in an alleged case of cow slaughter.

Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, who was the head investigating office in the Dadri lynching case in 2015, sustained a gunshot injury above his left eyebrow when an angry mob belonging to various Hindu groups brought a cow's remains in a tractor-trolley to the Chingarwathi police post and demanded action against the culprits. They raised slogans against the police administration and blocked the Bulandshahr-Garh highway.

Apart from the cop, a youth named Sumit was also killed in the violence. He was about 20 years old and was allegedly killed in police firing.

The incident has caused an uproar, with several politicians and sections of the media condemning chief minister and demanding action against the perpetrators of the crime.

Singh's wife demanded the death of the murdered police inspector's killers, and said that "justice will be done" only then. She added, "He worked with utter honesty and took all the responsibility on himself. This is not the first incident, he had bullet injuries twice before. But now nobody is giving him justice."

Wife of Policeman Subodh Singh: He worked with utter honesty & took all the responsibility on himself. This is not the first incident, he had bullet injury twice before. But now nobody is giving him justice. Justice will be done only if his killers are killed. #Bulandshahar pic.twitter.com/YaMQ1eR26m  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) December 4, 2018

Singh's family alleged that he was killed because he was investigating the Dadri case. His sister claimed that the death was part of a "conspiracy by the police". She added, "He should be declared a martyr and a memorial should be built. We do not want money. The chief minister only keeps saying 'cow, cow, cow'."

Sister of Policeman Subodh Singh:My brother was investigating Akhlaq case&that is why he was killed,its a conspiracy by Police.He should be declared martyr and memorial should be built. We do not want money. CM only keeps saying cow cow cow. #Bulandshahr pic.twitter.com/ohILXKCj3w  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) December 4, 2018

The Congress condemned the deplorable law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh and said that the "growing hate" in the country was palpable. "It is tearing the very fabric of our nation apart. We must fight this hate and fight the perpetrators of this hate," the party's statement on Twitter said.

The party's chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said that after "handing over" Uttar Pradesh to "anti-social" elements, Adityanath is busy campaigning for the BJP party. "Absence of law and order and violence unleashed by mobocracy is the real identity of BJP governments," he tweeted in Hindi.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi, at a press conference on Monday, also slammed Adityanath for "telling other people" to follow his example. He said that the chief minister is campaigning across the country and such violence is happening in his own backyard. Singhvi said, "Here is the poster boy of the BJP in terms of good governance... He should first set his own house in order before gallivanting across the country campaigning and preaching to others. This is an utter failure of the law and order situation."

Kapil Sibal, another Congress leader and lawyer, questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's promise of change. Listing a series of situations, including retired judge Kurian Joseph's statement on former CJI Dipak Misra, Sibal said, "Is this the 'badlav' you promised, Modiji?"

When : Mobsters in Bulandshahr shoot a policeman Fake encounters are a daily phenomenon in UP while Yogi spreads venom in Telangana and Rajasthan Trials are being openly subverted A retired judge says ex-CJI was remote controlled Is this the 'badlav' you promised Modiji ?  Kapil Sibal (@KapilSibal) December 4, 2018

However, BJP MP from Bulandshahr Bhola Singh defended the Uttar Pradesh administration and directed blame at the Ijtema, the Islamic congregation event that had taken place in the area. He said, "Law and order is usually good here, but the police were kept in the dark about this Ijtema that happened here. It caused chaos. This was the cause of this violence."

CNN-News18 reported that Union minister Uma Bharti also blamed the Muslim congregation for the violence.

Adityanath, who has been campaigning in poll-bound Telangana over the past week has had a war of words with AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi whose party is a strong contender in the state. About the Bulandshahr violence, CNN-News18 quoted Owaisi as saying that Adityanath should stop his "pointless campaigning" and take note of the situation of law and order in his state "if there is any humanity in the chief minister". "People are being killed in his state and criminals are killing cops in Uttar Pradesh," he added.

Owaisi also said that "gau rakshaks" get "full protection" from the government. "Now a monster is created. This monster has been created by the government. Cow's life is more important than that of a human being; this is the BJP's responsibility," he said.

Uttar Pradesh minister OP Rajbhar called the murder a "planned conspiracy" by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal, and RSS. ANI quoted him as saying, "Now police is even naming some BJP members. Why did the protest happen on the same day as Muslim Ijtema event? It was an attempt to disturb peace."

Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi urged the public to be cautious of "elements" who are "creating unrest for their own interests". He added, "What happened in Bulandshahar has let down humanity. The state government has said that whoever is responsible will be brought to justice without any bias."

The IPS Association, condemning the "lethal attack" on Singh, said that the association "recognises his bravery". In a tweet, it said, "(We) recognise his bravery and risks police officers are exposed to because of disruptive mob mobilisations. We demand the strongest action against perpetrators and instigators."

Shah Faesal, an outspoken bureaucrat, said that he would support the implementation of the controversial AFSPA to combat cow vigilantism, or "terrorism". Faesal tweeted, "I support extension of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) to cow-belt of India for giving security forces a free hand to deal with gaurakshak terrorism."

I support extension of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) to cow-belt of India for giving security forces a free hand to deal with gowrakhshak terrorism.

 Shah Faesal (@shahfaesal) December 3, 2018

Faesal was the first bureaucrat from Kashmir to top the IAS exam in 2010. Earlier this year, Faesal was in the centre of a controversy when he demanded free speech and expression for Indian bureaucrats after his tweet regarding the rape and murder of an eight-year-old in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district was criticised.

However, Faesal had said that the notice for departmental action was "misplaced" and against the right to freedom of speech. He had said, "We are not mere pen-pushers here who have no business in participating in the larger debates around social issues just because our opinions can be misinterpreted as being critical of the government of the day."

Student activist Umar Khalid said condoled the police inspector's death and extended solidarity with his family. On Twitter, Khalid said, "Another glimpse of Modiji's New India, where a lawless mob kills an enforcer of law. This is what happens when leaders spread vitriol, leaders garland murder convicts, and a person accused of inciting riots is made the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh."

Another glimpse of Modi Ji's New India, where lawless mobs kills an enforcer of law. This is what happens when leaders spread vitriol, leaders garland murder convicts & a person accused of inciting riots is made the CM of UP Heart goes out to the inspector's family. #Bulandshahr pic.twitter.com/hkyZY161Tm  Umar Khalid (@UmarKhalidJNU) December 3, 2018

With inputs from agenciesImagine if the Congress continues to imitate the BJP, both the Sabarimala and Ayodhya agitation will dominate the body politic in the months to come

In a way, the lynching of Station House Officer Subodh Kumar Singh by a mob over alleged cow slaughter in Uttar Pradeshs Bulandshahr district completes a cycle that began with the lynching of Dadri's Mohammad Akhlaq in 2015 over rumours of beef eating: which sparked a chain of such violence in many parts of North India. Singh was first police officer to investigate Akhlaqs killing and he apparently did a good job by bringing in evidence quickly, leading to the arrest of the accused.

That Singh was immediately transferred and the chargesheet filed by another officer; that all 18 accused are out on bail and their trial is yet to begin seems like part of the same cycle of cynical political order seeking to normalise mob violence in the name of religion. It tears asunder any semblance to a syncretic and pluralistic culture or society that Indians boast of and presents a grave danger to the very idea of India governed by a secular Constitution.

It is bad enough that no one expects the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre and state to speak against such violence, let alone act decisively: after all, they are the ones tasked with governance by a popular mandate and are answerable to the people for such incidents. The main political Opposition, the Congress, seems to have abdicated its responsibility too. Not only has it turned Singhs killing to a mere law-and-order issue, as its spokesman did at a press conference, it adopted a similar strategy in its poll campaigns in Rajasthans Alwar  apparently the ground zero of cow vigilantism in Rajasthan with three such killings in 2017  Pehlu Khan in Behror, Rakbar Khan and Umar Khan in nearby Ramgarh.

A national daily said this morning: From its manifesto to public rallies, social media and posters, the Congress underscores public security and the rising crime rate in Alwar, but steers clear of mob violence fearing a Hindu backlash. This reluctance to stand up by both the main political players is akin to appeasement of the majority Hindu community and is evidently, undesirable in a pluralistic society. For, these are not isolated incidents of communal violence (the family members of Singh have alleged that his killing is linked to Akhlaqs killing in TV interviews today). There is a pattern to it all over the country.

In the Sabarimala case, both the BJP and Congress are opposing the entry of women into the temple, ironically in the name of upholding a Hindu tradition which goes against both constitutional values and morality. In the case of changing Muslim names, erecting a statue for Lord Ram or the ongoing rath yatra demanding a law to build a Ram temple even as the case is pending before the Supreme Court, the Congress remains silent. In the election campaigns in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana too, the BJP and Congress are indulging in competitive appeasement of the majority community on religious lines.

It would be foolish to dismiss such pandering as mere election gimmicks or that it would not lead to deep or permanent fissures in society or body politic: it would, sooner than later. The disaffection now caused will continue beyond the round of Assembly elections or 2019 general elections. Recall how Muslim appeasement became a big political issue in 1980s and 1990s, unleashed widespread violence (including a series of riots and bomb blasts in Mumbai and elsewhere in the country) and changed the political course.

If something similar were to happen again, it will be equally difficult to put the genie back into the bottle. Attempts to play down the impact of such disruptions or dismiss it as a temporary phenomenon arising out of either frustration due to growing unemployment or any such excuses will be self-defeating.

It is in this context that the grand old party has an obligation to fulfil. The BJP and its affiliates may do what they will, but what will prevent derailment of a pluralistic society or constitutional order? The political Left is now virtually confined to one state and its role in fashioning national politics is quite limited. Imagine if the Congress continues to imitate the BJP, both the Sabarimala and Ayodhya agitation will dominate the body politic in the months to come, providing excuses for not focusing on the real issues or governance: poor job creation, fears of economic slowing, and mob violence. The Supreme Court can only do so much; it cant establish a political order, make laws or run governments. What will happen if the Supreme Court is defied in the Ayodhya case, if its ruling is not up to the expectations of the BJP and its associated organisations with the Congress being a bystander?

It is indeed scary to imagine such an eventuality. The consequences of religion dictating or hijacking the political order are not unknown to our subcontinent.After the violence in Bulandshahr, it's clear that it's time for Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath to take care of his own state. Touring can wait.

Yogi Adityanaths mojo is his fabled 'tough' image. His supporters on Twitter say "Yogi roxx!" Under him, the police allegedly kill criminals in encounters, history-sheeters either get "reformed" or prefer a jail term to continuing with their thuggery.

In fact, soon after he had come to power, Adityanath had given the police force orders to clean up the streets of one of India's toughest states in terms of crime rate, and the police had responded with 'Operation Clean', as a result of which there have been 1,142 encounters in 10 months in Uttar Pradesh, involving the death of 34 criminals and the arrest of 2,744 felons.

Based on that 'tough' image and his ability to talk tough  not to mention his saffron-robed demeanor that appeals to the BJP's Hindutva base  the young Uttar Pradesh chief minister has become party's star campaigner. He tours the length and breadth of the country during elections and compares Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel with Lord Ram in Surat, tells AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi that he will have to "run away like the Nizams of Hyderabad if the BJP is voted to power in Telangana" and promises to bring "Ram Rajya" in Karnataka.

Going by what happened in western Uttar Pradesh on Monday, residents in Karnataka might be thinking it's a good thing they didn't vote the BJP to power in the state. In a "Ram Rajya", neither do courts issue notices to the government on alleged "fake encounters", nor do furious mobs cause the police to run for their dear lives.

It is bad enough when a rampaging mob kills a police inspector, but it is even more alarming when gun-toting hordes descend upon a police station, torch it and then put a bullet between the eyes of a Station House Officer (SHO).

Subodh Kumar Singh, the SHO at Syana Police Station in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr, was hit by a .32 bore bullet near his left eyebrow by an assailant, who was part of a mob that turned violent on rumors of cow slaughtering on Monday morning near Chingrawati village. Singh, who was the investigating officer in the Dadri lynching case, was killed while trying to disperse tractor-borne, angry villagers who had blocked the Bulandshahr-Garh Highway demanding action against culprits who, they claimed, had strewn bovine carcasses in the farms near Chingrawati village.

A report in The Indian Express says that the mob had turned so violent that aides had to abandon Singh and scamper away while he lay bleeding after being shot. Singh and his three staff members had reached the spot to try to disperse the protesters, but they had failed to pacify the violent mob that grew angrier after the police fired in the air to disperse them. It is not clear when Singh got shot, but Ram Ashray, who was driving the police vehicle, was quoted as saying: "We had to run for our lives since the stone-peters were coming after us. We tried to carry Subodh sir's body, but we had to abandon it due to the escalating unrest."

Apart from the gunshot wound, Singh's body also bore injuries from blunt objects, indicating that he was hit by stones. One 20-year-old civilian also died of gunshot injuries, while the mob "pelted stones at the police and indulged in arson, setting several vehicles and the Chingarwathi Police Chowki on fire".

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who prefers to rename places to solve governance problems, was quite prompt in announcing compensation of Rs 40 lakh for Singh's wife, Rs 10 lakh for his parents and a government job for one member of the family. He also ordered investigators to complete and submit the inquiry report in two days. But these steps may not be enough to dispel the impression that lawlessness still reigns supreme in the badlands of Uttar Pradesh, where a mob can take on the police if they belong to the right camp.

Reports say that members of the Hindu Yuva Vahini, Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad were among the agitating villagers who were outraged at the sight of dead cow at a sugarcane field. Incidentally, 10 lakh Muslim devotees had gathered in Bulandshahr on Monday to pray on the last of Ijtema.

However, the Uttar Pradesh Police has dismissed the "communal tension" angle, insisting on Twitter that the "incident is not linked to the Ijtema procession in any way". "The Ijtema concluded peacefully. The current incident happened 45 to 50 kilometres away from where the Ijtema was held. Some rowdy elements are the perpetrators of this incident," the police said.

Regardless of whether there was an attempt to create communal tension in the area, the point remains that the mob was audacious enough to shoot a police officer and then go after his aides.

This dents Adityanath's carefully built image of toughness. It is hard to argue that you are a good administrator and "tough on crime" when law enforcers become victims of mob violence. The violence in Bulandshahr also highlights the perils of cow politics. Adityanath must take the blame for enabling cow protection groups to take law into their own hands. When that happens, even legitimate grievances are weaponised for political ends. It is time for the Uttar Pradesh chief minister to take care of his own state. Touring can wait.Bulandshahr violence: Right-wing leaders, including one associated with BJP youth wing, were among the main accused who incited the mob to kill Subodh Kumar Singh on Monday in violence which broke out in Bulandshahr district in Uttar Pradesh.

Right-wing leaders, including one associated with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) youth wing, were among the main accused who incited the mob to murder Subodh Kumar Singh, the inspector who died on Monday in violence which broke out in Bulandshahr district in Uttar Pradesh. According to sources, leaders of BJP youth wing, Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad have been mentioned in the FIR. Yogesh Raj, one of the prime accused, is Bajrang Dal's district head for Bulandshahr. Apart from him, Shikhar Agarwal, who is also named in FIR, is linked with BJP's youth wing in Syana while Upendra Raghav is said to be linked with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. Raj was the primary complainant in the first FIR, lodged against unnamed suspects charged with cow slaughter, which is illegal in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

In all, the police have registered a case against at least 80 people in relation to the case of violence, vandalism and killing of the inspector and one 21-year-old man. The police has named 27 of the accused in the first information report, and booked around 50 to 60 unnamed accused. The Uttar Pradesh Police has arrested four people so far.

"Four of the named accused have been arrested," Circle Officer, Syana, Satya Prakash Sharma told PTI on Tuesday. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Bulandshahr, Krishna B Singh said police were probing the matter and raids were being conducted to arrest the other accused.

On Monday, a protest led by a Hindu mob against alleged cow slaughter in Bulandshahr district turned violent which led to the killings.

The FIR, accessed by Firstpost, revealed that the many villagers, who were part of the mob, were already carrying batons, sharp weapons and pistols when the police party reached at the scene of crime to pacify them. Recording the sequence of events, the FIR stated that a police party comprising Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh reached the Mahaw village in Bulandshahr and tried to pacify an agitated mob protesting the alleged killing of a cow. The report states that despite the police officials giving assurance of a strict action against people who killed the cattle, the mob turned violent around 1.30 pm on Monday.

The police has lodged two FIRs in the case: one FIR has been filed against the alleged cattle slaughter and the other against the violent protesters who murdered two people on Monday.

The people, who already came armed with various weapons, attacked the police party. The mob damaged the property of the local police station and started pelting stones on the police party. The FIR specified that all accused, including Raj, were inciting the mob to resort to violence.

Singh, who was trying to control the wild mob, was hit by a stone in the head when his driver bundled him into his SUV and tried to take him to hospital. However, a violent mob followed the car, cornered it in a field and shot the police officer. "They didn't let us reach the hospital. They were shouting, shoot him, shoot him. I ran for my life. I am not sure what the mob did when they reached the jeep," the driver told CNN-News18.

The mob also snatched the service revolver and three mobile phones from one of the police officers. The FIR said that the mob was continuously firing at the police party. The protesters included residents of Mahaw and neighbouring Chingrawathi village. Some reports claimed that the police officer was shot with his own service revolver, however, Firstpost could not independently verify this claim.

The report said that the people who were part of the mob fled after the killing of Singh and Chingrawthi resident Sumit in the violence. The post-mortem report of Inspector Singh, who was posted at Siana Police Station, revealed that he suffered a gunshot injury in addition to wounds from hard and blunt objects, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Anand Kumar told reporters. Singh was also the investigating officer in the Dadri lynching case in 2015, he said. Kumar said the ADG-intelligence has been asked to submit a report in 48 hours which will throw light on circumstances of Singh's death.

The violence started at around 10 am in Siana area in the district where a major three-day Islamic congregation had concluded this afternoon. The police warned against attempts to spread any misleading information, saying the incident was not related in any way to the congregation. "The incident occurred 40-50 km away from the congregation site. Some miscreants were behind the violence and action is being taken against them in accordance with law," the Bulandshahr Police tweeted in the evening. Akhlaq was lynched in 2015 by a mob that had barged into his residence in Dadri following rumour that he stored beef in his house after slaughtering a calf.

The accused have been booked under Indian Penal Code sections 147, 148, 149 (related to rioting), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 341 (wrongful restraint), 302 (murder), 307 (murder attempt), 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house), among others.

With inputs from 101 ReportersAn inspector and a 20-year-old civilian were killed in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr on Monday in an alleged case of illegal cow slaughter.

A police inspector and a 20-year-old civilian were killed in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr on Monday due to mob violence triggered by an alleged cow slaughter. A mob comprising of members of various Hindu groups found a cow carcass near Chingrawati village and brought it to the police post in the village and demanded action against the culprits. They also raised slogans against the police.

However, the crowd soon became unruly and became violent. In the violence that followed, Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh was shot at and sustained a gun injury near his left eyebrow. The autopsy report revealed that he was hit with a .32 bore bullet. Bulandshahr district magistrate Anuj Kumar Jha, said, In the post-mortem report, a gunshot injury has been confirmed to Late inspector Subodh Kumar Singh. A bullet entered near left eyebrow and is inside the skull.

The Uttar Pradesh Police condoled Singh's death and said that he "sacrificed his life" to uphold law and order in the district. "With his demise, we have lost one of our finest officers who will always be alive in our hearts as our hero. Our condolences for his family members and prayers for his noble soul," the department's official tweet said.

Inspector Subodh kumar singh sacrificed his life to uphold law & order in the district.

With his demise, we have lost one of our finest officers who will always be alive in our hearts as our hero.

Our condolences for his family members & prayers for the noble soul. #UPPolice pic.twitter.com/8azl0Hzlk3  UP POLICE (@Uppolice) December 3, 2018

Singh was posted as the station house officer (SHO) at Syana police station, after having held the same post at Bisada village in Dadri. Notably, he was the first investigating officer in the Dadri lynching case in which Mohammed Akhlaq was killed over rumours of cow slaughter and beef consumption in 2015. Singh was associated with the probe from 28 September 2015 to 9 November 2015.

Reportedly, Singh's prompt action in bringing evidence samples to the lab in time aided the arrest of the accused. Singh was later transferred to Varanasi, and the chargesheet of the case was filed by another investigating officer in March 2016. However, the start of the trial has been delayed as the city court is still hearing arguments against the 18 accused. All of the accused are currently out on bail.

A report by The Indian Express quoted Anurag Singh, a circle officer posted in Lucknow who had worked with Singh on assignments which "included raids where the police team had come under fire". About Singh, he said, "He was not one to run the other way. He always faced the challenge with bravery, head on. On at least three occasions, I saw him refuse to back down from such a situation." Singh, the son of a Uttar Pradesh policeman Ram Pratap Singh, reportedly regularly visited Dadri village to ensure peace and harmony among the communities even after the incident.

He is survived by his wife and two children, who live in Noida. ANI quoted his son Abhishek saying that Singh had encouraged his children to be "good citizens" who didn't incite violence "in the name of religion". He said, "My father wanted me to be a good citizen who doesn't incite violence in society in the name of religion. Today my father lost his life in this Hindu-Muslim dispute, tomorrow whose father will lose his life?"

With inputs from agenciesYogi Adityanath's call for a meeting comes in the backdrop of an incident in Bulandshahr, where a police officer lost his life in violent protests in the town.

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath called for a meeting with officials at his residence in Lucknow on Tuesday, over the law and order situation in the state.

The meeting is expected to take place at around 8:30 pm. This comes in the backdrop of an incident in Bulandshahr, where a police officer lost his life in violent protests in the town.

On Monday, Station House Officer (SHO) Subodh Kumar Singh and a local youth were killed in Bulandshahr when a mob went on a rampage after cattle carcass was allegedly found in the fields.

The death of the cop in the violence raked up a controversy with various claims doing rounds how he died.

Following the incident, the administration deployed police forces to ensure peace and protection in the area.

Adityanath declared a compensation of Rs 40 lakh for the deceased police officer's wife, Rs 10 lakh for his parents and a government job for one family member.4 December, 2018: Inquiry ordered into Bulandshahr violence which killed two people including a police inspector on Monday; Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi to campaign in Rajasthan on Tuesday; here are the top stories for the day.

Bulandshahr cow slaughter violence: Inspector died of bullet wound, finds post-mortem report

The post-mortem report of the inspector killed in the clashes in Bulandshahr has revealed that he died of a bullet wound in addition to injuries sustained by a hard and blunt object. RAF and PAC have been deployed in the area to ensure calm even as Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath assured a speedy probe in the case. The ADG Intelligence will submit a report in two days.

The police inspector, Subodh Kumar Singh, who had probed the Akhlaq lynching case initially, died on Monday after a rampaging mob protesting alleged illegal cow slaughter torched a police post and clashed with cops. A 20-year-old youth was also killed during the violence.

What happened:

Additional Director General (Meerut zone) Prashant Kumar said that the protestors from Mahaw village and nearby areas pelted stones on police and indulged in arson, setting ablaze several vehicles and the Chingarwathi Police Chowki, after some body parts of cows were found in a jungle near the village. This prompted the police to open fire. However, the police have said that there was firing by the miscreants also during the clash. Meanwhile, in Lucknow, the Uttar Pradesh government announced a total of Rs 50 lakh assistance to the kin of Singh.

Dadri lynching case

A small-time trader Mohammed Akhlaq was allegedly lynched in 2015 by a mob that had barged into his residence in Dadri following a rumour that he had stored beef in his house after slaughtering a calf.

Protests ahead of KCR's rally in Kodangal

Section 144 imposed was in the Kodangal constituency of Telangana on Tuesday ahead of KCRs public meeting. Congress candidate Revanth Reddy had protested the Telangana chief minister's meeting and called for a bandh on Tuesday. He had also said that the Congress workers and supporters will protest at the public meeting venue to stall it. However, according to the latest reports, Reddy has been detained.

Meanwhile, TRS has complained to Election Commission saying the rival Kodangal candidate is trying to stall the party chief's meeting.

J&K elections to be held with 2019 LS polls?

The Election Commission is considering to hold the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly election along with the Lok Sabha elections in 2019. Since the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly has been dissolved, the poll panel is bound to hold fresh polls within six months. Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh also go to polls alongside the 2019 General Elections.

Elections: Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi in Rajasthan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a public meeting in Jhunjhnu, Sikar and Jaipur on Tuesday as part of his campaigning itinerary in the poll-bound state. Congress president Rahul Gandhi will hold public meetings in Alwar, Udaipur and Jhunjhunu as part of his campaign schedule. Rajasthan votes for a new Assembly on 7 December. It has 200 Assembly constituencies.

On Monday, during his rally in Hyderabad, Modi had lashed out at Rahul for questioning his Hindu credentials saying that a "naamdar" is claiming to know all about Hinduism when even saints and seers dont make such claims.

National Herald case in SC today

The Supreme Court will hear the appeal by former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and the incumbent chief of the party Rahul Gandhi on the income tax status related to the National Herald case on Tuesday.

Fuel prices cut further

Petrol and diesel prices were slashed for the 12th straight day on Monday due to the fall in global crude prices and the rupee strengthening against the US dollar.

Petrol prices across metros were cut around 35 paise, according to data available on Indian Oil Corporation website. Petrol was retailing in Delhi at Rs 71.93, Mumbai at Rs 77.50, Chennai Rs 74.63 and Kolkata at Rs 73.94 per litre. Diesel prices too were slashed with the fuel retailing in Delhi at Rs 66.66, Mumbai Rs 69.77, Chennai Rs 70.38 and Kolkata Rs 68.39 per litre.

In view of the volatile crude prices, oil traders will eye a meeting by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on 6 December. At the meeting, the producer group, along with non-OPEC member Russia, is expected to announce cuts aimed at reining in a production overhang that has pulled down crude prices by around a third since October.

Oppo R17 Pro to be launched in India

Oppo's R17 Pro is finally launching in India today and the smartphone will be the first of the brand's R-series smartphones to be brought to India. The phone was launched in China back in August and is packed to the gills when it comes to features. The phone features a large display with a waterdrop notch, a dual-aperture enabled dual rear camera system, an in-display fingerprint scanner and super-VOOC charging capable. What remains to be seen is how competitive Oppo gets when it comes to pricing the smartphone since the company has been running losses of late.

Martin Scorsese's Netflix film, The Irishman, to be released in limited theatres: De Niro

Screen legend Robert De Niro has revealed that Martin Scorsese-directed The Irishman will get a limited theatrical release. According to The Independent, the Jimmy Hoffa disappearance film, which reunites the trio of De Niro, actor Joe Pesci and Scorsese after 22 years, will be released by Netflix next year. "We've talked about it with Netflix. They are going to do a presentation of our film the way it should be, in a theatre, in certain venues, the best theatrical venues there can be. "How they resolve it is, in the beginning, they will show it on the big screen, we're talking about big venues where it would play, where it should play, and what happens after that I'm not sure," De Niro said on the sidelines of Marrakech Film Festival.

Scorsese talked about his collaboration with the streaming giant, saying Netflix is "taking risks" with the movie. "The Irishman is a risky film. No one else wanted to fund the pic for five to seven years. And of course, we're all getting older. Netflix took the risk," he said.

Luka Modric wins 2018 Ballon d'Or

Luka Modric won the 2018 Ballon d'Or ending the 10-year stranglehold on the award by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. The womens Balon dOr was awarded for the first time with Lyon's prolific Norwegian striker Ada Hegerberg being its first recipient.

Ronaldo was second behind Modric, with France and Atletico Madrid striker Antoine Griezmann completing the podium. Paris Saint-Germain's teenage forward Kylian Mbappe came fourth, leaving Messi to settle for the fifth position.Asserting that Pakistan was serious to develop peaceful ties with all its neighbours, Imran Khan claimed India was not ready to hold talks with the country due to the upcoming general elections.

Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday said war is not a solution to the Kashmir issue, which can be resolved through talks.

In an interview to a group of television journalists in Islamabad, Khan said unless there was a dialogue, various options on resolution of Kashmir cannot be discussed.

When asked about the formula to resolve the Kashmir issue, Khan said there were two or three solutions, which have been in discussions.

He, however, refused to share more details, saying it was "too early to talk about them".

Khan claimed he was informed by late prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and former foreign minister Natwar Singh during a conference that Kashmir would have been resolved if the BJP had not lost the 2004 Lok Sabha elections.

"It shows that there is a solution of Kashmir and both countries were close to resolve it," the Pakistani prime minister insisted.

Ruling out the possibility of any war with India, he said two nuclear armed countries would not fight because "there are always unintended consequences".

Asserting that Pakistan was serious to develop peaceful ties with all its neighbours, Khan claimed India was not ready to hold talks with the country due to the upcoming general elections.

Replying to a query on his views on the military's role in shaping of foreign policy in every country, including the US, he said, "Advice from the establishment is taken in those issues where security situation is involved."

Khan said the Pakistan Army and his government "are on the same page" and his decisions are "backed" by the military.The significance of 4 December, which is celebrated as the Indian Navy Day, is unparalleled in independent Indias military history.

India is commemorating the 47th Navy Day on Tuesday. Like elsewhere in the world, Navy Day in India too is celebrated with much fanfare and gusto. The enthralling performances of navy men during the annual Beating Retreat and Tattoo ceremony at the Gateway of India is now synonymous with Navy Day. Nonetheless, the significance of 4 December is unparalleled in independent Indias military history.

It was on this day in 1971 that Indian Navy left its shores for the very first time to successfully attack Pakistan. Operation Trident, the codename for the naval attack on Karachi, is considered one of the most successful operations in the post-World War II era.

It all began when Pakistan launched pre-emptive airstrikes against Indias air bases on 3 December 1971. However, Pakistan failed to neutralise Indias air force, leading to Indias entry into the Bangladesh War.

The day Karachi burned

As Indian Air Force began bombing Pakistani bases, the Western Naval Command decided to attack Karachi  Pakistans economic hub and the headquarters of its navy. To incur minimal losses but inflict maximum damage on ships, it was decided that the Indian fleet will attack the harbour at night. This decision also stemmed from information that Pakistani aircrafts lacked night bombing capabilities.

A fleet, consisting of three Vidyut class missile boats  led by Commander BB Yadav, two Arnala class anti-submarine corvettes and a fleet tanker, left for Karachi on 4 December 1971. According to a report, the missile boats were armed with four SS-N-2B Styx surface-to-surface missiles with a range of 40 nautical miles (about 75 kilometres).

The fleet reached 250 nautical miles south of Karachi and stayed out of Pakistani radars for the entire day. According to Vice Admiral GM Hiranandanis book Transition to Triumph, PNS Khaibar was hit by the first missile at around 10.40 PM. After the second strike, the formidable destroyer sank. At 11.20 pm, PNS Muhafiz, was hit by another missile. The minesweeper sank after a massive fire engulfed it.

In all, three ships sank while one was badly damaged  PNS Shah Jahan. Nearly 300 Pakistan Navy men died as a result of the missile strikes.

At about 1 am on 5 December, I sent the message 'Angar' to the Commander-in-Chief signifying the completion of Operation Trident, Commodore Gopal Rao recollected in his 1990 article in the Indian Defence Review.

After the success of Operation Trident, the navy launched Operation Python on the night of 8/9 December. Both operations, along with the successful naval blockade of East Pakistan, jeopardised Pakistans war efforts. Pakistan unconditionally surrendered on 16 December 1971.

Significance of Operation Trident

For former chief of naval staff Admiral SM Nanda, the heroics of 4 December, 1971 meant that the side-lined Navy could finally gain its rightful place in Indias security matrix. Indias naval power had remained neglected as our political leaders envisioned threat only from across our Western land border, a 2015 Indian Defence Review article noted while commenting on navys minimal role until 1971 war.

A 2004 Tribune review of the memoir The Man Who Bombed Karachi captured Nandas thoughts, A misperception had gained ground (in the 50s and 60s) among the political and military planners that the Navy had only a marginal role to play in the armed conflicts India was forced into.

In the aftermath of the war, as Hiranandani noted in his book, the government finally realised the effectiveness of sea power. The navy, as the book stated, also rose in the eyes of Western and Russian navies for its professionalism and innovativeness. A cumulative effect was that Indias Navy managed to become the seventh largest in the world.

Fast forward to present day

The Indian Navy of the 21st century is emerging as a formidable force likely to influence the Indian Ocean Region. This is in tune with a CIA report, which pointed out Indias desire to maintain its dominance in the region.

In line with Indias huge global ambitions, the Navy is expanding and modernising  albeit bureaucratic hiccups remain.

Speaking on the eve of Navy Day, Admiral Sunil Lanba said, "Navy is looking at inducting 56 warships and submarines to enhance its strength. This is apart from 32 warships under construction.

In geopolitical dynamics, aircraft carriers are considered a sign of blue-water ambitions. Indias lone aircraft carrier is INS Vikramaditya. Accommodating 30 MIG-29Ks and six Kamov helicopters, the aircraft carrier is expected to be battle-ready by May 2019.

Among Indian Navys latest vessels are the Kalvari-class diesel-electric attack submarines. According to one report, INS Khanderi will be delivered to the Navy by the end of 2018. INS Kalvari, the lead submarine of the Kalvari-class, is already in service. Another submarine from the same class is expected to be commissioned sometime next year.

However, with just 14 conventional  some considered obsolete  submarines, India lags behind in the geopolitical race. On the other hand, China, its main rival in the region, already controls about 60 conventional submarines.

India, nevertheless, operates two nuclear submarines: INS Chakra and INS Arihant. On 6 November his year, INS Arihant competed its first deterrence patrol, helping India enter the exclusive nuclear triad club. This means India can now launch nukes from air, land and water. Currently equipped with K15 nuclear-tipped missiles having a range of 750 kilometres, INS Arihant is the lead submarine of Arihant-class ballistic missile submarines.

Another recent addition to Indian Navys firepower is the destroyer INS Chennai. Capable of being fitted with Brahmos as well as Barak 8 missiles, INS Chennai is the last of the three modern Kolkata-class vessels to be commissioned.

There is one common factor that binds INS Arihant, INS Kalvari, INS Chennai and the soon-to-be-commissioned INS Vikrant, Indias second aircraft carrier  all are indigenous.

In a bid to turn into a Builders Navy, the Indian Navy has focused on promoting indigenisation across various verticals. The navy's ambitious indigenisation plan ranges from producing the smallest spare part of a machine to building warships. Conveniently, indigenisation is now integrated with the Make in India programme. But we need to wait until 2030 to get a clearer picture of indigenisation in the navy.Residents of Maharashtra can now inspect government records in district-level offices and local bodies under the Right to Information (RTI) Act for two hours on every Monday.

Mumbai: Residents of Maharashtra can now inspect government records in district-level offices and local bodies under the Right to Information (RTI) Act for two hours on every Monday. A government resolution (GR) to this effect was issued by the General Administration Department (GAD) last week.

The move is aimed at increasing transparency and to cut down the number of RTI applications and appeals in the government offices. The GR would not be applicable to Mantralaya, the state secretariat. "This provision to allow inspection of records will not only ensure transparency, but it will also reduce the number of first and second appeals filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act," stated the GR dated 26 November. It referred to a similar initiative launched earlier by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC).

"Residents can inspect government records in district level offices and local bodies such as municipal corporations and councils between 3 pm to 5 pm every Monday. In case of a public holiday on Monday, the inspection will be allowed on the next working day," it stated. When contacted, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told PTI that the move was aimed at ensuring transparency and

reducing applications under the RTI Act.

RTI activists have welcomed this initiative of the government. "Citizens must use this facility extensively and consistently to ensure its implementation," former chief information commissioner (CIC) Shailesh Gandhi said Monday. Mumbai-based activist Anil Galgali said they were awaiting such a move. "Success of this much-awaited initiative depends on its smooth implementation by the state," he said. Another activist Manoranjan Roy said the order should have applied to all departments of the government. "Leaving out higher offices like the state secretariat would hardly serve its purpose," he argued.Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday asserted that New Delhi sees the US as an important partner in the field of defence.

Washington: Commencing her five-day official visit to the United States, Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday asserted that New Delhi sees the US as an important partner in the field of defence. In her remarks at the start of her bilateral talks with the US Defence Secretary James Mattis at the Pentagon, Sitharaman said mutual trust and confidence in defence partnership between the two countries were growing.

The defence minister added that she was encouraged by the importance attached to the India-US defence relationship in the new US National Security Strategy. "A strong foundation has been laid for the India-US defence relationship over the years. India sees the US as an important partner in defence," Sitharaman said, adding that the two countries have a good military to military cooperation, defence consultations, scientific collaborations and co-production and co-development and industry collaboration.

Exuding confidence that the bilateral talks would accord greater momentum to the dialogue and partnership between the two countries, she said the relationship continued to be very strong. The recent meetings between the two countries, Sitharaman said, have underscored their mutual desire to move positively. The high-level exchanges are an indication of the depth and the quality of bilateral ties as well as their mutual desire to work closely on a range of regional and global issues, she added. Sitharaman appreciated the responsiveness of the Trump Administration to India's sensitivities.

At the same time, it is also indicative of the desire and the effort to have an even more robust relationship than before, she said. "Especially over the past three to four years, we have made considerable progress. Our relations, based on common democratic values, enjoy strong political and popular support in both countries. There's a growing mutual trust and also the confidence in defence partnership, which augurs very well for the future," Sitharaman said.The government on Monday termed 'absolutely false' reports suggesting it was weighing options to appoint an Officer on Special Duty to look after the affairs at the CBI to end the alleged policy paralysis in the agency, and said it will take any call strictly in accordance with the decision of the Supreme Court.

New Delhi: The government on Monday termed "absolutely false" reports suggesting it was weighing options to appoint an Officer on Special Duty to look after the affairs at the CBI to end the alleged policy paralysis in the agency, and said it will take any call strictly in accordance with the decision of the Supreme Court.

Media reports have said that the government was considering to appoint an Officer on Special Duty of DG rank to look after the affairs of the CBI and to place a senior IAS officer in a supervisory role.

In a statement, the Ministry of Personnel said reports have appeared in a section of media that the government is considering the two options to end the alleged policy paralysis in CBI.

"The matter is sub judice before the Supreme Court and any action that is to be taken will be strictly in accordance with the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in the pending proceedings and not before the Hon'ble Supreme Court decides the matter," it said.

"What is stated in the reports are absolutely false," it said.

The government said it strongly refutes "this imputations" and clarified that it has taken the step of divesting the present Director and Special Director of the CBI of their powers under Section 4(2) of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 as an interim measure.

CBI Director Alok Verma, who has a feud with his deputy Rakesh Asthana, Special Director in the agency, had approached the apex court seeking stay on the Centre's order to divest him of all duties and send him on leave, contending that it was against the guidelines laid down by the top court.The decision came following Mitra's prayer to Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik to consider withholding sanction to prosecute him in certain criminal cases pending against him, a home department official said.

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government Tuesday decided to grant pardon to journalist Abhijit Iyer-Mitra, who is lodged in jail for allegedly making derogatory remarks against the state, its people and culture, officials said.

The decision came following Mitra's prayer to Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik to consider withholding sanction to prosecute him in certain criminal cases pending against him, a home department official said.

"He (Mitra) has appealed to the chief minister to accept his apology and contrition in having wounded the sentiments of people of Odisha without intention," the official said.

Mitra had further mentioned in his representation that in consideration of his unconditional apology in having hurt the sentiments of the people of Odisha "unintentionally without malice and mal-intent", the Odisha Assembly pardoned him on 17 November.

"Taking into account his representation, the government decided not to accord sanction of prosecution in cases where prosecution has been sought for and also decided to take steps to withdraw other cases pending against him by following laid-down procedures," the official said.

The Delhi-based journalist and researcher was arrested on 23 October after he posted a video on his Twitter handle, allegedly criticising Odisha, Lord Jagannath, Konark temple and the Odisha lawmakers.

Two cases were registered against Mitra at Saheed Nagar Police Station in Bhubaneswar and Konark Police Station in Puri district.

He was arrested under various sections of IPC, Information Technology Act and Ancient Monument & Archaeological sites & Remains Act.

In his petition to the state government, Mitra requested the chief minister and the chief secretary to withdraw the sanctions prosecuting him under Section 196 of the CrPC.

He also apologised for the video saying he didn't intend to hurt the sentiments of the people of Odisha.

The Odisha Assembly had on 17 November pardoned Mitra after he tendered an unconditional and unreserved apology for his statement against the lawmakers.

The assembly accepted the recommendations made by a House Committee which was set up to enquire into the question of alleged breach of privilege relating to the statement made by Mitra.

The committee was set up on 20 September following concerns expressed by MLAs cutting across party lines.

Mitra, who has been lodged at the high-security Jharpada Special Jail in the state capital, was admitted to a hospital in Bhubaneswar after he complained of illness on 2 December.The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Income Tax department to continue with the tax re-assessment for the year 2011-12 of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Congress leader Oscar Fernandes and no final order was passed.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Income Tax Department to continue to re-assess the taxes filed by Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, UPA president Sonia Gandhi and party leader Oscar Fernandes for the 2011-12 financial year. However, the court restrained the I-T sleuths from implementing its order in the proceedings until the final disposal of the case, scheduling the next hearing for 8 January.

The Supreme Court gave the orders after hearing the final arguments on petitions filed by Rahul and Sonia, challenging the Delhi High Court order refusing to give them relief in the case seeking to reopen their tax assessments for 2011-12. The Delhi High Court had rejected their pleas challenging the re-assessment notice on 10 September.

On 16 August, the high court had reserved its verdict on the pleas of the three leaders after the I-T department had contended that Rahul's tax assessment for 2011-12 was reopened as material facts were concealed. The bench had orally asked the I-T department to not take any coercive step against the Gandhis and Fernandes till it pronounced its verdict.

The income tax cases against the Congress leaders arose from the investigation into the private criminal complaint filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy before a trial court in connection with the National Herald case.

In his complaint, Swamy had accused Sonia, Rahul and others of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds by paying Rs 50 lakh to the Congress, through which the Young India Pvt Ltd had obtained the right to recover Rs 90.25 crore that the Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) owed the party.

In his complaint, the BJP MP claimed that Young India, which was incorporated in November 2010 with a capital of Rs 50 lakh, had acquired almost all the shares of AJL, which published Congress mouthpiece, The National Herald. In this process, Young India had also allegedly acquired AJL's Rs 90-crore debt.

The I-T Department had alleged that Rahul's tax assessment for 2011-12 was re-opened because the Congress president had not disclosed that he was the director of Young India since 2010, and therefore, his shares in the company would have earned him an income of Rs 154 crore, not Rs 68 lakh as was assessed earlier. I-T sleuths had already issued a demand notice for Rs 249.15 crore to Young India for the 2011-12 assessment year.

The department's move followed its investigation into Swamy's complaint alleging that the Gandhis had misappropriated AJL's assets while transferring their shares to the newly-formed Young India.

With inputs from agenciesIn his petition, the yoga guru had alleged that 'Godman To Tycoon: The Untold Story of Baba Ramdev' had defamatory content that could harm his economic interests and reputation.

The Supreme Court has issued a notice to yoga guru Ramdev, who was initially successful in raising a plea in the Delhi High Court against a journalist to restrict the sale and publication of a book that ostensibly delved into his private life. In his petition, Ramdev had alleged that Godman To Tycoon: The Untold Story of Baba Ramdev had defamatory content that could harm his economic interests and reputation.

The question this case evokes has confounded judicial minds for decades  this is the question of the interplay between an individual's right to privacy and another's right to freedom of speech and expression.

The jurisprudence over this issue developed significantly with the case of R Rajgopal versus the State of Tamil Nadu. In this case, the press had got their hands on the autobiography of serial killer Auto Shanker and had published it purportedly without his consent, claiming that it incriminated and showed how some government officials were hand in glove with certain criminals.

In this case, the court had held that public officials discharging official duties cannot claim a right to privacy because they act in an official capacity, in a personal capacity. However, outside the domain of their public functions, they have the right to privacy.

But what happens in cases of individuals who don't deal with any public functions but their life, in general, has a powerful impact on the minds of the public? Fortunately, the court had an observation on this perspective, too, in the R Rajgopal case.

The court had stated that an individual has the right to privacy, except in two cases  first, if the person who has been defamed has voluntarily put himself in that position by thrusting himself into the controversy, including through an act that could invite or raise a controversy; and second, if the defamed person has any record in the public domain.

What is acting against Ramdev in this case is the first exception. As he is a significant public figure in India, any of his dealings could be construed to be an act inviting controversy. This underlines the very problem with this exception  vagueness. It also affects those who may have been dragged into some sort of controversy. Lawyers who fight for a social cause and deal with high-profile cases, for example, can end up suffering the wrath of this exception.

Perhaps the court can revisit the order and consider changing the test from what could invite controversy to what information could be considered of public importance. But the problem with this test would be knowing where to draw the line between private and public life. What happens when the private details of an individual's life can be said to be of national importance? This, however, remains a question of fact that has to be decided on a case-to-case basis as these deal with blurred lines in the concept of privacy.

In such cases, what hold higher significance are the tools of pre-censorship that are used to restrict books and other material from being published when one believes they might defame them. For content that promote hostility in a tense environment, such a restriction seems justifiable. But in Ramdev's case, which merely involves the yoga guru feeling threatened that information in the book could harm his reputation, should pre-censorship be allowed?

In the Khushwant Singh versus Maneka Gandhi case, the Delhi High Court had held that in cases of privacy violations, no pre-publication injunctions can be issued as remedies, but the "aggrieved" party can file a suit claiming damages for defamation. The court justified its order explaining that when there are two private parties involved, it constitutes a tort (a private wrong), not an infringement of fundamental rights, and therefore, the correct remedy would be to claim damages.

However, different high courts have issued varying rulings on the same subject. The Madras High Court, for instance, had given a view contrary to that of the Delhi High Court and had granted an injunction against a publication on former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, which the judges deemed contained purely personal details unverified by sources.

It must be remembered that prior restraint often ends up having a chilling effect on the freedom of speech of an individual wherein the individual does not speak his mind out of fear of being punished and reprimanded. For a strong democracy to function well, freedom of speech and expression is of great importance as it is not just a tool to ensure free flow of information in a society, but is often a method of arriving at the truth that citizens of the country should know.

Raghav Pandey is an assistant professor of law at the Maharashtra National Law University in Mumbai, and Neelabh Bist is a fourth-year student at the instituteThe Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that it may not be necessary to substitute retired IPS officer Rajdeep Singh who has declined to be a part of three-member SIT supervising further probe into 186 cases of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots citing personal reasons.

New Delhi: The Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that it may not be necessary to substitute retired IPS officer Rajdeep Singh who has declined to be a part of three-member SIT supervising further probe into 186 cases of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots citing personal reasons.

The government told a bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta that they have no objection if the other two members of the special investigation team (SIT)  former Delhi High Court judge Justice SN Dhingra and serving IPS officer Abhishek Dular  continue with the work.

The bench said however that since the 11 January order constituting a three-member SIT was passed by a bench of three-judges, they cannot modify it while sitting in a combination of two judges. The bench has posted the matter for hearing on Tuesday.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Pinky Anand, appearing for the Centre, said she has no objection to the suggestions given by the counsel for petitioner that the other two members should continue with the work. On 11 January, the top court had constituted a three-member SIT headed by Justice (retired) Dhingra to supervise further probe into the 186 cases, in which closure reports had been filed earlier.

Large-scale riots had broken out in the national capital in the aftermath of the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh security guards on the morning of 31 October, 1984. The violence had claimed 2,733 lives in Delhi alone. On 5 February, the Centre had moved the court requesting it to include former DG-rank officer Navneet Rajan Wasan, who had earlier served as the Director General of Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), in the SIT to replace Singh.

Wasan, now retired, is a 1980-batch Andhra Pradesh cadre officer and had also served as Special Director General in the National Investigation Agency (NIA). During the hearing on Monday, the ASG told the bench that they have suggested the name of former IPS officer Wasan to substitute Singh. "You cannot choose your own judge. Give two-three names," the bench told the ASG, who said that the apex court could appoint anybody to substitute Singh.

Senior advocates RS Suri and HS Phoolka, representing the petitioner, said appointing a third member in the SIT might delay the process and the other two members should continue with their work. The top court had earlier appointed the three-member SIT after the Ministry of Home Affairs and counsel for petitioner SGS Kahlon arrived at a consensus with regard to the persons who could be appointed in the fresh SIT.

The court had earlier said the previous SIT did not carry out further probe into the 186 cases in which closure reports were filed, and had directed setting up of a fresh SIT comprising a former high court judge and two police officers. Justice Dhingra, who had retired from Delhi High Court, had dealt with several high-profile cases including the 2001 Parliament Attack case as a trial judge.

As the judge of the trial court, he had dealt with many of the 1984 riot cases, and his verdicts had resulted in conviction in 16 cases. On 16 August last year, the apex court had appointed a supervisory panel to examine the earlier SIT's decision to close 241 cases. The Centre had said that out of 250 riots cases which were probed by that SIT, closure reports were filed in 241. It said some cases were still being investigated by the SIT, and two by the CBI.

The earlier SIT was headed by Pramod Asthana, an IPS officer of 1986 batch, and had Rakesh Kapoor, a retired district and sessions judge, and Kumar Gyanesh, an additional deputy commissioner of Delhi Police, as its members.

Petitioner S Gurlad Singh Kahlon had earlier told the bench that a total of 293 riot-related cases were taken up for scrutiny by the earlier SIT which had decided to close 199 of them. Kahlon, a member of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, had sought the court's direction for setting up another SIT to ensure speedy justice to the riot victims.Three persons including a disc jockey (DJ) have been arrested in Delhi for opening firing at two persons after a fight broke out over song selection and requests to play a song repeatedly, police said on Monday.

New Delhi: Three persons including a disc jockey (DJ) have been arrested in Delhi for opening firing at two persons after a fight broke out over song selection and requests to play a song repeatedly, police said on Monday.

According to the police, the incident occurred on Sunday night around 10.24 pm at a family function in west Delhi's Palam Village. Shanky Bhardwaj and his cousin brother Tushar Bhardwaj were insisting Akshay, the DJ, to play the song "Tamanche Pe Disco..." repeatedly, which led to a fight between them, a police officer said on the condition of anonymity.

Akshay, 19, later informed his employers, Sanjay Sharma and Ashish Sharma. They came and fired at Shanky, 23, and Tushar, 16. The accused managed to escape, the officer said, adding that the victims suffered bullet injuries in their abdomen.

The police team reached the spot and found Shanky and Tushar Bhardwaj lying in a pool of blood, Deputy Commissioner of Police Devender Arya said. "They were taken to a hospital in Dwarka where they are still undergoing treatment. Their condition is out of danger as per the doctors," Arya said.

Akshay and his employers Sanjay, 29, and his brother Ashish, 23, were arrested on Monday from their hideouts in west Delhi in separate police raids, the Joint Commissioner of Police told IANS.Yogesh Raj, who has been untraceable since Monday evening, was also the primary complainant in the first FIR, lodged against unnamed suspects charged with cow slaughter, which is illegal in Uttar Pradesh

In yet another incident of violence over rumours of illegal cow slaughter, 47-year-old inspector Subodh Kumar Singh was shot dead during a clash at Siyana village in western Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr district. The 27 people named in the FIR for inciting the mob include several right-wing leaders like key accused Yogesh Raj, the Bajrang Dal's district head for Bulandshahr. Others include Shikhar Agarwal, who is linked with BJP's youth wing and Upendra Raghav, said to be associated with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).

Raj was also the primary complainant in the first FIR, lodged against unnamed suspects charged with illegal cow slaughter. He had given a statement to police earlier in the day, claiming to have witnessed cow slaughter in the fields.

Hindutva views much?

An active member of the Bajrang Dal for the past eight years, Raj's Twitter handle would seem to be a stark pointer of his affiliation to extremist right-wing ideology. In a tweet posted on 17 September, he boasts about doing "dadagiri" (someone who bosses around) in the name of "Hindugiri".

    ,    ,     ,

    !

# @adpraveenbhati

Days ahead of Eid-ul-Adha on 22 August, Raj had posted a tweet threatening to "destroy" the festival.

In another tweet, posted on 23 November, he wrote about waging a "war" if the Ram temple issue in Ayodhya is not solved.

      ..   - ,      ....         (@yogeshRajvhp) November 23, 2018

Bajrang Dal's general secretary Balraj Doongar described Raj as a "Hindu activist" who "comes from a good family". According to a report by News18, Raj is a resident of Naya Bans village in the district. He had worked at a private firm prior to joining the outfit, reported Navbharat Times.

Was Bulandshahr attack pre-planned? Monday's incident came amid Muslim itjema (a large gathering of the community) in the city in which around 10-20 lakh people have reportedly gathered, said a Financial Express report. The FIR, accessed by Firstpost, revealed the many protesters were already carrying batons and sharp weapons when the police party reached the spot. Recording the sequence of events, the FIR stated that a police party comprising Inspector Singh reached Mahaw village in Bulandshahr. The officers tried to pacify an agitated mob and assured them of strict action against those who killed the cattle. But the mob turned later violent. Accused of leading the mob, a News18 report had quoted Raj telling police that he was roaming in the jungles of Mahaw along with some "companions" around 9 am on Monday when he saw six men of a minority community slaughtering cattle. He had allegedly called them out but they escaped. A video shared by ABP News hours later shows Raj arguing with Circle Officer Satyaprakash Sharma and asking the latter to register a complaint sans which they would block a highway. Raj later accepted that he, along with other members of the right-wing outfit, were among the protesters but denied fuelling violence which eventually led to the death of two people. News18 quoted him saying, "We were at the spot....Our motive was not to stoke violence," he had said. A journalist has reported that Raj was never seen before in the area where the attack had occurred.

#Bulandshahr: According to residents of Mahav village, where the bovine carcasses were discovered, alleged Bajrang Dal activist/leader Yogesh Raj is a resident of Naya Bans and had never been seen before in any of the 3 villages  Jatin Anand (@JatinPaul) December 4, 2018

According to sources, VHP worker Shikhar Agarwal had also held a meeting with outfit workers on 2 December in Siyana.

Tehsildar Rajkumar Bhaskar, who was one of the first administrative officers to reach the spot, told News18, "Dead cow meat was hanging in a sugarcane field. Head and skin of a cow hung like clothes on a hanger. It is strange because anybody who would indulge in cow slaughter would not put it out for display knowing the situation in the state." He also added that as soon as news about the dead meat spread, members of Hindu Yuva Vahini, Shiv Sena, and Bajrang Dal appeared on the spot and started agitating.

Police have registered a case against 80 people for violence, vandalism and killing of the inspector along with a 21-year-old youth, identified as Sumit. In all, police have also booked around 60 unnamed accused in the incident and arrested four people so far.

With inputs 101Reporters and agenciesThe National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Monday sent notices to the Uttar Pradesh government and the state's police chief over a married woman being set ablaze allegedly by her tormentors, when she was going to lodge a police complaint against them.

New Delhi: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Monday sent notices to the Uttar Pradesh government and the state's police chief over a married woman being set ablaze allegedly by her tormentors, when she was going to lodge a police complaint against them.

The National Commission for Women (NCW) has also directed the Uttar Pradesh police chief to apprise it of action taken in the case.

On 29 November, the 26-year-old woman was allegedly molested by two brothers and when she tried to approach the police to get an FIR lodged, the duo allegedly caught hold of her, sprinkled kerosene on her body and set her ablaze.

The woman was admitted to the district hospital with 40-45 percent burn injuries, Inspector General of Police (IG), Zone, Sujit Pandey said.

"She appears to have fallen prey to police personnel's apathy and sheer negligence," the NHRC observed in a statement on Monday.

"The NHRC has taken suo motu cognisance of media reports that a woman, subject to molestation, was set ablaze by her tormentors, when she was going to lodge a written complaint with the police station about them as suggested by the Police Control Room van personnel in Sitapur district, Uttar Pradesh on 1 December," it said.

Reportedly, in her recorded statement before a magistrate at the hospital, the woman named the two accused and narrated the "inaction of the local police personnel," the NHRC statement said.

The Commission has observed that the content of the media reports, if true, amount to gross violation of human rights as the public servants appear to have "failed" to execute their duty to safeguard the victim woman from the rowdy elements.

Accordingly, the NHRC has issued notices to the Uttar Pradesh chief secretary and the director general of police, seeking a detailed report, including action taken against the alleged delinquent police officials.

"The Commission would also like to know about present condition of the victim and status of medical treatment being provided to her. The response is expected within four weeks," the rights panel said.

Meanwhile, the NCW termed the incident and the alleged police apathy "deeply disturbing" and sent a notice to the DGP directing him that the matter be fairly investigated and appropriate action be taken to avoid occurrence of similar incidents in future.

"The UP DGP has also been directed to apprise the Commission about condition of the victim and the detailed action taken in the matter," the NCW said in a tweet.

On 29 November, the woman, who is married, was allegedly molested by two brothers  Ramu, 32 and Rajesh, 28, the police said.

Reportedly, they made lewd remarks and tried to molest the victim on 29 November, but she somehow managed to escape and approached the police station, from where the police personnel sent her back without any action, the NHRC said.

The family members of the woman alleged that for two days, her complaint was not accepted by the police at the post concerned and also at the Tambore police station.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Prabhakar Chowdhury said three policemen, including Tambore Station House Officer (SHO) Om Prakash Saroj and outpost in-charge Manoj Kumar were suspended. Both the brothers were arrested, IG Pandey said.

"Had timely action been taken by them (the police), the woman could have been saved from the brutal attack by the miscreants, who seemingly gathered more courage to attack her due to inaction by the police personnel," the NHRC observed.A controversy erupted in the Aligarh Muslim University on Monday after a group of vegetarian students alleged that they were served food cooked in oil used to prepare non-vegetarian dishes, a charge denied by the university.

Aligarh: A controversy erupted in the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) on Monday after a group of vegetarian students alleged that they were served food cooked in oil used to prepare non-vegetarian dishes, a charge denied by the university.

Students at the Sir Syed Hall (North), in a letter to the Vice-Chancellor, alleged that they were served vegetarian food cooked in the same oil in which non-vegetarian meals had been made. They demanded action against the provost for negligence.

The matter came to light on Sunday when Bhartiya Yuva Morcha's city unit chief Nikhil Maheshwari issued a statement alleging that the incident was a "deliberate ploy" to hurt the sentiments of Hindus.

A written complaint was also filed at the Banna Devi police station on Sunday. The university authorities, however, vehemently denied the allegations. AMU spokesman Shafey Kidwai said preliminary inquiries conducted by the provost revealed that the allegation was "completely baseless".

He said respect for religious sentiments of all students was the hallmark of the university's secular traditions from the time of its foundation. Kidwai said four members of the cooking staff have confirmed to the university that "fresh cooking oil released by the kitchen stock was used for cooking the entire vegetarian meal".In a video that has gone viral, Bhagyashree Navtake, a probationary Indian Police Service (IPS) officer who was posted as an assistant superintendent of police in Majalgaon, over 400 km from Mumbai, purportedly said she had also beaten up Muslims in the last six months.

Mumbai: A woman police officer in Maharashtra Beed's district has been transferred after she allegedly bragged about thrashing as many as 21 Dalits by "tying their hands and legs" to vent her ire against the SC/ST Atrocities Act, a senior officer said Monday.

In a video that has gone viral, Bhagyashree Navtake, a probationary Indian Police Service (IPS) officer who was posted as an assistant superintendent of police in Majalgaon, over 400 km from Mumbai, purportedly said she had also beaten up Muslims in the last six months.

The clip shows the IPS officer seated in front of a group of five-six people in a closed place and talking about the "action" she had taken against Dalits and Muslims. Looking at a person seated in front of her, the officer says in Marathi, "I hit you just four-five times. But do you know how we beat Dalits? We tie their hands and legs and thrash them. "By thrashing Dalits, I gave vent to my anger against the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act," she says.

The context in which the officer is talking about "thrashing Dalits and Muslims" is, however, not known. Navtake can also be heard saying that she was unhappy because she had to become an IPS officer despite ranking 125 in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination.

"I am from the 'open' (general) category... A candidate from the OBC (Other Backward Classes) category became an IAS officer despite scoring 600th rank," she said in the video. A senior police officer said in Mumbai that the office of the director general of police had transferred Navtake after taking cognisance of the video.

"She was attached to the Aurangabad unit of the state intelligence department (SID) on Monday and an enquiry has been initiated against her," he said, adding that a special inspector general of police (IGP)-level officer would head the probe. When contacted by PTI for her comments, Navtake sent an SMS saying: "Enquiry is on. Don't want to comment."Michel is being extradited to India from the United Arab Emirates and scheduled to be brought back on Tuesday night from Dubai, according to official sources.

New Delhi: The BJP said Tuesday the extradition of Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal, was a diplomatic victory for India and could spell "serious trouble" for the Congress' "first family".

The ruling party also asserted that the development was an unequivocal affirmation of the Narendra Modi government's "seriousness in fighting corruption".

"Extradition of Christian Michel is a shot in the arm for the Narendra Modi government. Now that he will be available to the CBI, the 'real' bribe-receivers of the AgustaWestland bribes scandal will be exposed," Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao said.

Claiming that Michel was "known to be a Gandhi-family loyalist", Rao said "his extradition and custody could spell serious trouble for the Congress' first family".

The Congress has denied all allegations against its leaders in connection with the deal.

Michel is being extradited to India from the United Arab Emirates and scheduled to be brought back on Tuesday night from Dubai, according to official sources.

Terming it a "diplomatic victory" for the Modi government, BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli said, "The country is entitled to know the truth on who were the bribe-receivers in India. Certainly, we are closer to know the truth."

It is also a confirmation that the efforts made by the India side before the courts in Dubai were serious and based on sound legal arguments, Kohli said.

But, above all, he added, it was an unequivocal affirmation of the Modi government's "seriousness in fighting corruption".

On 1 January, 2014, India had scrapped the contract with AgustaWestland, a British subsidiary of Finmeccanica, for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the Indian Air Force over alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of paying kickbacks to the tune of Rs 423 crore by it for securing the deal.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), in its charge sheet filed against Michel in June 2016, had alleged that he received about Rs 225 crore from AgustaWestland.

Michel is one of the three middlemen being probed in the case, besides Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa, by the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Both the agencies had notified an Interpol red-corner notice against him.As the poll campaign for the Assembly polls in Rajasthan reached a crescendo, Rahul said the prime minister says 'Bharat mata ki jai' in all his addresses, but works for industrialist Anil Ambani.

Jaipur: 'Bharat mata ki jai' was once again dragged into political discourse with Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday taking a swipe at Narendra Modi, saying he should not use this salutation in his poll speeches but instead hail Anil Ambani, remarks that led the prime minister to hit back at the Congress chief asking who is he to issue a 'fatwa'.

In a sharp riposte hours after Rahul said Modi should chant " 'Anil Ambani ki Jai', 'Nirav Modi ki Jai'....", the prime minister asserted he would utter 'Bharat mata ki jai' ten times in the presence of lakhs of people.

As the poll campaign for the Assembly polls in Rajasthan reached a crescendo, Rahul said the prime minister says 'Bharat mata ki jai' in all his addresses, but works for industrialist Anil Ambani.

"In every address, he (Modi) says Bharat mata ki jai and works for Anil Ambani. He should begin his address by saying 'Anil Ambani ki Jai', 'Mehul Choksi ki Jai', 'Nirav Modi ki Jai', Lalit Modi ki Jai'," he told a poll rally in Alwar. Voting will take place on 7 December.

Referring to the term 'Bharat Mata', Rahul said it meant the "entire country, farmers, sentiments of crores of youths, women and labourers".

"If you talk about 'Bharat mata', how can you forget about farmers?" he asked, adding that bad debt worth Rs 3.5 lakh crore was written off, but not a single rupee of farmers was waived off by the Modi government.

Modi latched on to Rahul's barb while addressing a rally in Sikar district.

"Congress has a 'naamdar'. That naamdar issued a 'fatwa'(decree) today that Modiji should not start addressing election rallies with 'Bharat mata ki jai'. And therefore, I, today in the presence of lakhs of people here, I crushed his fatwa and said Bharat mata ki jai ten times," Modi said.

"You (Rahul) should be ashamed for this. Freedom fighters embraced death by saying 'Bharat mata ki jai'. Our soldiers carry out surgical strikes and say 'Bharat mata ki jai'. You are insulting Bharat mata," he added.

Modi often refers to Rahul as "naamdar" (dynast).

The prime minister also took a dig at Rahul over issues relating to farmers.

"The naamdar does not know the difference between red and green chillies," he alleged at another rally in Hanumangarh.

"If you tell him that farmers are getting high prices for red chilli as compared to green chilli, he'll say farmers should grow red chillies," he said, alleging that the Congress was responsible for the pain of farmers.

The chanting of 'Bharat mata ki jai' had triggered a row in 2016 after RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said the new generation needs to be taught to chant slogans hailing mother India.

There is a need to tell the young generation to chant Bharat mata ki jai, Bhagwat said, breaking his silence on the issue of nationalism that had raged since the arrest of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student leaders accused of heading an event in which many allegedly chanted slogans criticising the country.

His comments drew a spate of reactions from across party lines, with the most controversial among those coming from AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi who said he will not chant 'Bharat mata ki jai' even if a knife was put to his throat. Among Owaisi's most vocal critics was the Shiv Sena, who told him he should go to Pakistan if he does not chant slogans hailing mother India.

AIMIM MLA Waris Pathan was suspended from the Maharashtra Assembly for refusing to chant 'Bharat mata ki jai'.

The Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly also unanimously passed a censure motion against Owaisi for his remarks that he wont chant 'Bharat mata ki jai'.

Senior RSS leader Dattatreya Hosabale said Owaisi was an anti-national, and that anybody who refused to say Bharat mata ki jai' was also an anti-national.

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah was heckled during Eid prayers at the 17th-century Hazratbal mosque in Srinagar on 22 August, two days after he chanted "Bharat mata ki jai" during a prayer meeting in Delhi for late prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The National Conference leader remained unfazed and continued with his prayers, saying the jeering and booing were by his "own people" who were misguided.According to Modi, Kartarpur is in Pakistan today because then Congress leaders had no idea about the importance of Guru Nanak Dev and had no respect for Sikh sentiments.

Hanumangarh: Prime Minister Narendra Modi used the Kartarpur corridor linking Pakistan to India to hit out at the Congress on Tuesday and said the party will have to answer why this was not done 70 years ago.

Addressing an election rally in Hanumangarh ahead of the elections in the state on 7 December, he said Kartarpur went to Pakistan due to the lack of vision and sensitivity of then Congress leaders.

The foundation stone for the much-awaited corridor linking Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur - the final resting place of Sikh faith's founder Guru Nanak Dev - to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Gurdaspur district was laid last week.

According to Modi, Kartarpur is in Pakistan today because then Congress leaders had no idea about the importance of Guru Nanak Dev and had no respect for Sikh sentiments.

"The credit of the Kartarpur corridor goes to your vote. Correcting Congress mistakes was my destiny," he said at the rally.

The headlines five years ago were about corruption and scams, the prime minister said. "Have you seen any news of this kind in the last five years," he asked.

Focussing on farmers and their problems, he said his government wants to make farmers "energy givers" and asked them to install solar panels, use drip irrigation and other modern methods of farming.

"The naamdar does not know the difference between red and green chillies," he said, hitting out at Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who he has often referred to as "naamdar" (dynast).

"If you tell him that farmers are getting high prices for red chilli as compared to green chilli, he'll say farmers should grown red chillies," he said, alleging that the Congress was responsible for the pain of farmers.The popularity of Modi has been so all-pervading that the developmental works even done by the state government are being attributed to the prime minister.

Tekchand Prajapat is a small subsistence farmer in Alwar district's Bhindusi village in Tijara sub-division of Rajasthan. At age of 60, he otherwise appeared to be a cheerful man but has lost pitch in his voice. With a sickle hung around his shoulder, he was sitting over a cot with a group of fellow villagers in the fields listening intently to others' opinion on 7 December Rajasthan polls. Their opinions were tilted towards Congress, and they were rooting for a change.

But when asked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his campaign this time which started incidentally started from Alwar, Prajapat suddenly found his voice trying to raise his pitch. He was provoked because one among the group of seven people sitting there was a Modi critic. The sexagenarian farmer was barely audible but he was so charged that others had to ultimately yield and listen to him. No matter how unhappy he is with the Vasundhara Raje government in Rajasthan, Prajapat, however, displayed a completely different approach when he talked about the Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government at the Centre. Terming the prime minister as honest and sincere, the sexagenarian farmer, who belonged to an extremely backward caste, was not averse of having Modi as the prime minister again in 2019. All others except for one seated there were in agreement with Prajapat.

It was a little confusing as people wanted the Raje government to go but wanted the Modi government to return in 2019. The general opinion that emerged from the small gathering in Bhindusi was clear -- Congress in the state, BJP at the Centre.

Covering the distance across the state for four days and meeting various segments of people, it was obvious that Rajasthan may pretty much fit into the classic case of split voting (voting differently for state and Parliament). There was a belief that there could be a repeat of the 2014 results when the BJP had won all the 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state. In terms of popularity in the state, Modi still has his ratings high and if he can maintain that it would provide a much-needed fillip to the BJP. What was conspicuous is that people clearly demarcated between BJP and Modi.

Few kilometres away, a transporter turned dhaba and tenthouse owner in Tijara, Sunder Singh Chaudhary, who is a Jat by caste, is not happy with the BJP candidate who replaced the incumbent legislator. So much is his despondency that he has decided to vote for an independent. Again, what may prove to be a lifeline for the BJP in 2019, Chaudhary is a fan of the prime minister.

Modi must remain as the prime minister for another 10 years. In 2019, I will not even bother for the name of the Lok Sabha candidate, his caste, his credential but press the lotus button," he said. Chaudhary still reminisces about Modi's rally he attended in 2014 in Alwar.

Near Mahwa Kalan, 40-year-old Lekhpal who belongs to the Raigar (scheduled caste) community is angry with the Raje government if not with the prime minister.

"Only Modi is trying to deliver goods to the poor even in remote parts of the country. My point is simple. For the next five years we want a Congress government here and Modi government at the Centre. There cant be a better person to rule the country, Lekhpal said.

The popularity of Modi has been so all-pervading that the developmental works even done by the state government are being attributed to the prime minister.

At Gunsi village in Newai sub-division, Shiv Chand said Modi could have done more considering the kind of mandate and expectations people had from him.

Soon another individual Prakash Madi came to the prime minister's rescue.

"Modi has done whatever best one he could do in this system. He is fighting against a system which had become rotten. See the change that he has brought about in the country. If he could find 1,000 persons like him, he would have transformed the fate of the nation in five years. He needs time and must remain prime minister for another 10 years," Madi said.

Kajormal Saini joins the conversation, a man in mid-30s with an axe in his hand. Modi ek neta hai jo soo nahi jag raha hai, desh ke liye deen-raat kam kar raha hai (He is one leader who is not sleeping, he is awake, working day and night for the country). He is trying hard to bring communities which were left behind in the mainstream. He is to remain the prime minister for the next term so that our generation get a better future, Saini said.

Not only with the working class, but Modi also resonates well among the student community.

First-time voters Rahul Meena, Rahul Mehra and Ashok Gularia who are pursuing BSc in Jaipur National University are all fond of the prime minister although they have little opinion on the chief minister. All three of them think that under the given scenario Modi is the best choice for prime minister and no one from the opposition ranks could come close to him.

Megha Chaudhary from Jodhpur, a post-graduate student of history in the university, unabashedly endorses the prime minister.

"Give another five years to Modi and see where he takes the country. He is on right path, working overtime but not everyone is at the same pace. There is no challenge for him from the opposition. For Parliament, it's Modi from all of us. In the Assembly election, it's Congress," Megha said.Thackeray announced his decision after holding a meeting with party officials, MLAs and MPs here to discuss issues related to rural regions of the state.

Mumbai: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said the Narendra Modi government was sleeping like "Kumbhakarna" on the Ram Mandir issue, adding that his party would hold a rally on 24 December to wake it up.

The rally will be held in the pilgrim town of Pandharpur in Solapur district, Thackeray told reporters Tuesday.

Thackeray announced his decision after holding a meeting with party officials, MLAs and MPs here to discuss issues related to rural regions of the state.

"For last 30 years, the Ram Mandir issue has been pending and before every election the issue surfaces as a political agenda. And eventually, it is forgotten once the elections are over," Thackeray said.

"This (Modi) government completed four and half years in the Centre with complete majority, but they could not resolve the issue of Ram Mandir. It means the government was in Kumbhakarna's slumber," Thackeray said.

Kumbhakarna is a character from the epic Ramayana mythicised for long sleeping spells.

"The government resolved other issues by bringing legislation or ordinances, then why not the same treatment for construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya," he questioned.Congress worry is understandable. It may try to pose as the victim, but given its history of engaging in appeasement politics and playing the identity game, Rahul is hardly in a position to claim a seat on the moral high horse.

As Telangana gears up to vote on Friday, the jugalbandi between Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and the Owaisi brothers has generated the most headlines. It is interesting, because there is more to the virulent exchange than meets the eye. Sharp tongues, acerbic barbs and plain abuse from both sides left commentators pointing out how political discourse has taken a nosedive. By and large, the media has interpreted the Owaisi-Adityanath slanging match as an unfortunate, if entertaining, sideshow that will have little effect on the overall Assembly result. This interpretation likely misses the mark.

The BJP and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) are bitterly opposing forces, but there is a cold calculation at work between the Uttar Pradesh chief minister and the Owaisi brothers behaviour in a state that has a sizeable Muslim population  12.5 percent of Telanganas 3.12 crore residents. Muslims play a critical role in 29 out of Telanganas 119 Assembly seats with a population density of 15 percent or more, while in another 30 constituencies they have enough numbers to sway the result.

In other words, Muslims can either directly decide the outcome or be kingmaker in half of Telanganas seats, making main players such as the ruling TRS, Congress and even the AIMIM scramble for their support. In itself, the BJP is a fringe player in Telangana. Nobody seriously expects it to come to power in the southern state, but it does hope to increase its tally from five in 2014 (that was a Lok Sabha election, however) to at least 15 this time so that it has a say in the states power structure or use its numbers as a leverage in case of a hung Assembly.

Incidentally, the BJP had a pre-poll alliance with Chandrababu Naidus TDP in 2014, this time it has only the obscure Telangana Yuva Sena for company. As a senior BJP functionary is quoted as saying in Livemint: Realistically speaking, the party expects to win 12 to 15 seats We are expecting a close contest between the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and the Congress-led grand alliance

While the BJP has no major ambitions beyond being a bit player in Telangana, it would be interested in arresting Congress tally with whom it is locked in a fight for national dominance. The saffron unit has no alliance (tactical or otherwise) with TRS but it sees Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao as a powerful satrap with whom it can engage in a pragmatic relationship. KCR also shares a good rapport with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and media reports have speculated that TRS is open for a post-poll alliance with BJP in 2019. In contrast, the Telangana chief minister called Congress president Rahul Gandhi the countrys biggest buffoon.

Both Modi and KCR have been busy attacking each other to blunt Congress charges of a collusion during Assembly polls, but it doesnt take much to decipher that BJP would be happier to see TRS retain power than Congress making a comeback. In its mission to arrest the Congress tally, BJP found a handy tool in AIMIM. Asaduddin Owaisis party openly indulges in identity politics and makes no bones about targetting Muslim votes. Though the partys influence is restricted largely to the old city of Hyderabad that contains roughly 43 percent of the total Muslim population in Telangana, in recent years, AIMIM has been trying to extend its influence beyond its bastion.

AIMIM has a friendly relationship with TRS and is trying to eat into Congress traditional Muslim vote bank to increase its tally. Owaisis party got seven seats in 2014 and secured a sizable portion of votes in some other seats too, upsetting Congress plans. For instance, as Livemint points out in a report on the Nizamabad urban seat in 2014, the AIMIM candidate garnered 31,648 votes against the TRSs 40,947, while the Congress came at a distant fourth with 25,400 votes. It is possible that Congress would have won the seat had it not been for the AIMIM.

Now we begin to understand BJPs game plan. If it can polarise the electorate by instigating the Owaisis, it becomes easier for the AIMIM to focus even sharper on identity politics and consolidate its position among its targetted constituency. Conversely, a sharply polarised atmosphere may even translate into a few votes more for the BJP among its own targetted constituency. Its a cynical win-win possibility that may hit Congress the hardest.

Rahuls partys draft manifesto, a reported by News18, promises several schemes tailored for the minorities, especially Muslims and vows to make Urdu the second official language of the state and ensure that all government orders are issued in the language. It is in this backdrop that we should see Adityanaths tirade against the Owaisis, uttering at a public rally at Tandur in Vikarabad district of Telangana that: If BJP comes to power in Telangana Owaisi will have to flee from Telangana just the way Nizam was forced to flee from Hyderabad.

It takes two to tango, and the brothers have jumped right into the mix. AIMIM president Asaduddin asked Adityanath to take a history lesson and said that it is my religious belief that Prophet Adam, when he descended on the Earth from Paradise, came to India. Thus India is my fathers country and nobody can force me to flee.

His brother Akbaruddin went a step ahead to comment on Adityanaths appearance: One more came...what kind of an attire does he wear... he became a chief minister by luck and he is saying like the Nizam, he will make Owaisi run away. Who are you? What is your status? Like you, 56 (a reference to Modi's 56-inch chest remark, made during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls) came and went away. Leave Owaisi...Owaisis 1,000 (future) generations will stay in this country and fight it out with you. We will drive you away. We are not among those who run away.

As the Adityanath-Owaisi battle heats up, a panicked Congress started shooting in all directions. Rahul called KCR Khao commission Rao and claimed that TRS is the B team of BJP. KCR is the rubber stamp of Modi. Owaisi and his AIMIM are C team of BJP and its role is to split anti-BJP and anti-TRS votes.

Congress worry is understandable. It may try to pose as the victim, but given its history of engaging in appeasement politics and playing the identity game, Rahul is hardly in a position to claim a seat on the moral high horse. It remains to be seen which way the cookie crumbles in Telangana.Telangana Congress working president A Revanth Reddy was taken into preventive custody early on Tuesday ahead of TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao's public meeting in the Kodangal Assembly constituency. He was arrested from his residence in Kodangal town of Vikarabad district, police said.

Telangana Congress working president A Revanth Reddy was released on Tuesday evening after being taken into preventive custody earlier in the day. He was taken into preventive custody after threatening to obstruct Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's (KCR) public meeting in the Kodangal Assembly constituency. He was released after KCR's rally ended.

Moreover, a Hyderabad court has asked the Telangana Police to explain the grounds on which Revanth was taken into custody from his house in Kodangal town of Vikarabad district, reported CNN-News18. The police had also registered two cases against the Congress leader.

Revanth, the Congress candidate for Kodangal constituency, had called a protest rally and a bandh against KCR's scheduled meeting at Kosigi on Tuesday evening. "He has been taken into preventive custody in view of apprehension of disturbance of public order and breach of security," Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Jitender told PTI. "He will be released (later) during the day."

Revanth, who quit the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to join the Congress earlier in 2018, represented Kodangal in the dissolved Telangana Assembly.

Revanth's wife, Geeta accused the police of breaking open the doors of their house and forcibly taking away her husband to an "unknown location". Many of his followers were also taken into custody from different locations.

In September, too, the Income Tax Department had conducted searches at Revanth's homes. On Saturday night, the police had carried out raids at the Congress leader's homes, after which he had given a call for a protest.

Prohibitory orders have been imposed in Kodangal to prevent any untoward incidents in view of KCR's election rally. Earlier, some leaders of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) had lodged a complaint with Telangana Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumar, alleging that Revanth was threatening to disturb KCR's campaign. Instructions were then issued to the police to ensure smooth conduct of the meeting. The Election Commission had also issued a notice to Revanth for his threat.

Meanwhile, Telangana Congress chief Uttam Kumar Reddy condemned the police action and alleged that the election officials and police were behaving in a "partial manner". He also sought to know the status of the complaint made to the Election Commission against TRS candidate of the Kondal segment, Narender Reddy, with regard to alleged recovery of cash from him last week.

Moreover, Chevella MP Konda Vishweshwar Reddy, who recently quit the TRS and joined the Congress, called the preventive arrest a "murder of democracy", adding that it exposes the panic in the TRS ahead of the 7 December Assembly polls. "People will not tolerate such autocratic behaviour and will give a fitting reply by voting against the ruling party," he said.

Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari has demanded that the Election Commission "dismiss those responsible" for Revanth's arrest. He shared Karnataka minister DK Shivakumar's tweet condemning Revanth's detention and said that he would take up the matter at a press conference later in the day.

"I was informed about the detention by Reddy's wife. The police forced themselves in. They broke open the door. The TRS can't use police as a political tool. This is not the way to deal with a political opponent," Shivakumar said.

This is REVOLTING.Revanth Reddy MLA & Working President of TPCC picked up at 3 AM?Is he a terrorist ?EC should recommend dismissal of the people responsible. Will take it up in the Presser at 12 noon at PCC Office- Gandhi Bhavan Hyderabad @AICCMedia ,@INCIndiaLive @INCTelangana https://t.co/jqcD6ZfJBU  Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) December 4, 2018

KCR is losing his sleep with the growing popularity of the Prajakutami.Police arrested our Working President & MLA Revanth Reddy at 3am as KCR is holding a rally there.

The Telangana Congress said: "This is highly condemnable. The Election Commission must take necessary action and ensure the conduct of a free and fair election."

Congress leader GN Reddy said: "KCR is misusing the police. The manner in which police entered his (Reddy's) bedroom has never happened in India. Reddy is not an ordinary man. He is a Brahmos missile who is going to finish TRS."

Another Congress leader Nadeem Javed tweeted: "Telanganas dictatorial regime under KCR does not believe that free and fair elections are the essence of democracy.

Haryana MP Deepender S Hooda also expressed shock over Revanth's arrest. "Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee working president and Kodangal candidate Revanth Reddy's condemnable arrest is a black spot on governance. EC should intervene to stop this tyranny."

All India Congress Committee (AICC) spokesperson S Jaipal Reddy said as a caretaker chief minister, KCR was "showing more authority than a regular chief minister". "Although he is only a caretaker chief minister, he is performing duties as though it (state) is under Emergency,"

he said.

AICC Telangana in-charge RC Khuntia claimed KCR was afraid of Congress leaders and was foisting false cases against them. "He (Rao) is creating an Emergency-like situation in the state. We are going to file a case with the Election Commission on the incident," he said.

With inputs from agenciesCandidates in the Telangana Assembly polls have been using creative methods to get around the Election Commission rules on campaign expenditure and escape the vigilance of the police and other officials tasked with checking the use of unaccounted cash.

Hyderabad: Two more days of campaigning are left in Telangana  two more days to woo voters with speeches and promises in public and with money and liquor in private.

The Election Commission has capped a candidate's campaign spending at Rs 28 lakh and also audits candidates' account statements  a mandatory requirement under its rules  after polling. The poll panel has even enforced an item-wise cap  Re 1 for a packet of water, Rs 5 for tea, Rs 120 for chicken biryani, Rs 3,500 for 400-watt loudspeakers, Rs 1,100 for hiring a car per day, to name a few. Also, as per its rules, candidates have to maintain a day-to-day expense statement that is monitored.

These measures enforced by the Election Commission to check campaign spending during the Assembly polls have led to the seizure of some Rs 104 crore so far in Telangana, according to media reports.

Candidates use creative methods to get around the Election Commission rules and escape the vigilance of the police and other officials tasked with checking the use of unaccounted cash in campaigning. This includes using the birthday of a poor worker's son as a campaign platform, or getting local residents to perform lavish poojas, organise social get-togethers and functions that the party "sponsors". These events, attended mostly by local residents and people from surrounding villages who are brought to the location by bus, then become a platform for candidates and party workers to boast about their party's performance and make promises, such as financial assistance, for the future.

Telugu daily Sakshi reported two such incidents  one in Shivaru in Hyderabad, where a worker spent Rs 2 lakh for his son's birthday, and another in Karimnagar, where a teacher spent more than Rs 4 lakh on a pooja. Political leaders and local residents attended both in large numbers, with the latter returning home with gifts.

Monitoring effective only in urban areas

While the Election Commission monitoring the expenditure of candidates is more effective in urban centres like Hyderabad, distributing money and liquor to woo voters and paying them to campaign is common in rural and semi-urban constituencies.

"Daily-wage labourers and others who do not have regular employment are paid around Rs 200 to attend political rallies," said Raju, a college attendant in Bodhan.

S Kumara Swamy, a resident of Shakkar colony in Bodhan, said: "Recently, a Congress candidate spent almost Rs 50,000 for a meeting. He threw a party providing free food to all people in the area. But there is no one to report the event to the Election Commission with proof."

However, B Ganga Shankar, Congress MPP (Mandal Parishad President) from Bodhan, insists that all that party workers and candidates do is "door-to-door campaigning to tell people about the party's policies mentioned in the manifesto and how they help poor farmers and others".

And it does help that many of the candidates are personally wealthy.

"The Congress candidate here, Sudharshan Reddy, is very rich compared to us," said Mohammed Hamaz, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) party worker and father of Shakil Aamir, the current Bodhan MLA who is contesting from the constituency again. "Money and liquor might play a ,role but we are trying our best to reach out to people through the schemes that our chief minister, K Chandrashekar Rao, has implemented."

Yet, amid high-spending candidates and campaigns, there are a handful of independents spending the little money they can afford on campaigning. "My total campaign budget is just Rs 2 lakh," said R Anil Kumar, the independent candidate contesting from Malkajgiri constituency of Medchal Malkajgiri. "I am planning my campaign with the help of relatives, friends and social media. If I win, it will be great, but even if I lose, I would not lose much."

Bonus season in Bodhan

The town of Bodhan is famous for its now defunct 80-year-old Nizam sugar factory. Here, the sky is now dotted with over 20 air balloons displaying the TRS, BJP and Congress party symbols, each costing Rs 18,000, including the price of the gas cylinder needed to keep the balloons afloat.

Campaign vehicles with loudspeakers continuously roam the streets, broadcasting party songs and speeches. While TRS' mobile broadcasts focus on the schemes and programmes implemented by KCR, the BJP plays songs criticising KCR, and the Congress vehicles play songs in praise of its candidate.

On 30 November, the usually-empty site of the BR Ambedkar's statue in Bodhan was crowded with people there to attend a rally by Congress candidate Sudharshan Reddy. But the crowd really there to catch a glimpse of actress Vijayashanti, the Congress' star campaigner. As the campaign vehicles arrived, people erupted on seeing Vijayashanti. No one really paid attention once the speeches began. Only a few were listening, but the speeches were not audible to most of the crowd.

"All these people have come here to support the Congress, whose victory is inevitable," said an optimistic party worker busy recording the event on his mobile.

V Saidu, a roadside cobbler, said: "Women who work as daily-wage labourers attend rallies like these for money and are also drafted by party workers to canvas the streets. I see the same women attending a TRS rally one day and a Congress one on the next.

The reaction of women was straightforward: "Why should we lose an opportunity to make some money?"

Another Congress worker, Ajaz Hussain, claimed: "Shakil Aamir, the sitting TRS MLA, spent around Rs 1 crore on a public meeting in Bodhan that Chief Minister KCR attended."

At the same time, Shakil Aamir has people like Shaikh Rahim, a TRS worker who does canvassing in his pink cycle covered with TRS party flags. I cycle to all the villages in Bodhan constituency, telling people to vote for TRS. They pay me Rs 200 to Rs 300 per day and provide three meals," he said.

The author is a freelance writer and a member of 101Reporters.comtech2 News Staff

Apple fans are not going to like this new development one bit. With the onset of 5G telecommunications on the horizon and major smartphone makers such as Samsung, OnePlus, Huawei and LG announcing 5G-powered smartphones in 2019, Apple has said that it has no plans of introducing a 5G iPhone in 2019. For that people will have to wait till 2020.

This information comes from a report by Bloomberg which has stated that this is not the first time Apple has waited before unveiling an iPhone with the new generation of mobile connectivity. When both 3G and 4G were first announced, Apple released its iPhones with supporting technology only after waiting a year.

The report states that Apple had done this previously since new networks and the also the first versions of rival smartphones would come with problems related to call-drops, bad network coverage discouraging users from buying it. However, 5G is likely going to be a much bigger data speed upgrade which in turn would mean that Apple will be losing ground on its rivals.

Part of the reason for this delay, as per the report could also be due to the ongoing feud of Apple and Qualcomm, wherein the former has opted to use Intel modems in its device.

Samsung and Verizon have confirmed that 5G Galaxy smartphones will be coming in 2019 while Huawei had disclosed earlier this year that the first half of 2019 will see a 5G phone.

Apple has always been a laggard in cellular technology. They werent impacted in the past, but 5G is going to be much easier to market. But if they wait beyond 2020, then I think theyll be impacted. said Gartner Inc analyst Mark Hung in an interview with Bloomberg.Indo-Asian News Service

Google on Tuesday announced eSIM wireless service on its Pixel 3 smartphone with Reliance Jio and Airtel telecom carriers in India.

Google was the first smartphone vendor to support built-in eSIMs with its Project Fi  now called Google Fi  network last year.

"Sprint in the US, EE in the UK, Airtel and Reliance Jio in India, and Truphone and Gigsky in various countries will also roll out eSIM support for Pixel 3 in the coming months," Kerrie Lenhart Hogan, director, Partnerships at Google, said in a statement.

"If you're in Germany, look out for the ability to purchase Pixel 3 with eSIM functionality from Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone soon."

Pixel 2 was the first major smartphone with eSIM  an embedded SIM that lets you instantly connect to a carrier network with the tap of a button.

With eSIM, users can connect across devices in the Google ecosystem  from Android smartphones to Chromebooks to Wear OS smartwatches.

"To enable a consistent and simple experience across the ecosystem, we're also creating a programme that allows Android device makers to build eSIM-capable smartphones," said Google.

Launched in October, Pixel 3 costs Rs 71,000 for the 64 GB variant in India and up to Rs 80,000 for the 128 GB storage variant.

The Pixel 3 XL is available at Rs 83,000 for the 64 GB variant and up to Rs 92,000 for the 128 GB model.

Disclosure: Firstpost is part of Network18 Media & Investment Limited which is owned by Reliance Industries Limited that also owns Reliance Jiotech2 News Staff

The latest tech company to fall prey to a data breach is the question-and-answer website Quora which disclosed that a 'Security Update' left as many as 100 million people affected.

As per the blog post by Quora CEO Adam DAngelo, this security breach was a result of unauthorised access to one of Quora's systems by a malicious third party. The breach was discovered on 30 November and since then the investigation into this unauthorised access is continuing. Law enforcement authorities have also been informed about the breach.

Quora data breach: What kind of data was affected?

The Quora data breach has resulted in the compromise of the following data:

Account information (e.g. name, email address, encrypted password, data imported from linked networks when authorized by users)

Public content and actions (e.g. questions, answers, comments, upvotes)

Non-public content and actions (e.g. answer requests, downvotes, direct messages)

Quora data breach: How to know if you are affected?

Quora is letting affected users know via email if their accounts have been affected. Quora will also be providing relevant updates as and when they are available to affected users.

Quora says that this data breach will not result in any sort of identity theft as it does not collect sensitive personal information such as credit card or social security numbers.

Those of you who posted content anonymously, your data cannot be linked to any user account so you are unaffected.

In case you are paranoid about still being on the Quora platform after this data breach, head here to know how you can delete your Quora account.

Quora is currently in the process of notifying all the users affected by this data breach. All Quora users who may have been affected have also been logged out and passwords of these users are being invalidated. If you believe that your account has been affected by the data breach and you have specific questions that need to be answered then you can head over here.

I knew I'd get owned for having an account on this stupid website pic.twitter.com/Tro7ak4TRq  Chris Welch (@chriswelch) December 4, 2018

"We recognise that in order to maintain user trust, we need to work very hard to make sure this does not happen again. Theres little hope of sharing and growing the worlds knowledge if those doing so cannot feel safe and secure, and cannot trust that their information will remain private," said D'Angelo in the blog post.

While Quora isn't quite as big as say, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, but 100 million users being affected make it one of the biggest data breaches till date. Apart from normal users, high-profile people such as former President of the United States Barack Obama, current Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau and more are part of the website. The extent of the damage from this data breach is still to be determined, as Quora continues its investigation into the matter.tech2 News Staff

This year Samsung rebranded its Samsung Experience 10 UI to call it the One UI, which is based on the latest Android 9 Pie operating system. The UI comes with some major design overhaul and features like enhanced single-hand usability, and system-wide dark theme. While the new UI is scheduled to roll out to the public in January 2019, the UI's beta program is now live in India and Germany, according to a report by SamMobile. Its beta was rolled out to users in the US last week.

The build is part of the firmware version N960FXXU2ZRKQ, which comes along with the November 2018 security patch.

If you are looking to be a part of the One UI Beta program, you can register for the same from the Samsung Members app. There is likely to be a limit on the number of devices that Samsung would want to roll out the beta onto, so spots are not guaranteed even if you do register. This program is available for Indian users of the S9, S9 Plus and Note 9.

Like we have said it for any other beta program in the past, all beta software tend to be accompanied with some or the other bugs, so proceed at your own risk.

With the One UI, Samsung wants to redesign the user experience in a way that it puts less stress on our thumbs and fingers as we try to navigate large screen displays.

One UI has some additional visual elements, rounded corners, splashes of colour across apps, redesigned icons, among other things. A unique element of One UI is that it keeps the interaction elements near the bottom half of the display so that they are easily reachable. According to Samsung, it is the "most user-focussed smartphone UX," it has produced so far. For instance, the alarm app will have all the major menus at the base of the display and the toggles for switching on the alarm towards the bottom half.

Other areas of improvement include a system-wide dark mode, more focus blocks with large app icons which show more detail and are easier to navigate.tech2 News Staff

A new artificially intelligent system built by Cambridge researchers can search through piles of published research on cancer, serving any and all efforts in developing therapies for cancer through a publically-available online platform.

The system, called LION LBD, was developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge to assist scientists in searching for cancer-related discoveries. It is now the first literature-based discovery system aimed at supporting cancer research, according to the study published in the journal Bioinformatics.

Global cancer research attracts massive amounts of funding worldwide, and the scientific literature is now so huge that researchers are struggling to keep up with it: critical hypothesis-generating evidence is now often discovered long after it was published.

Cancer is a complex class of diseases that are not completely understood and are the second-leading cause of death worldwide, researchers said.

Cancer development involves changes in numerous chemical and biochemical molecules, reactions and pathways, and cancer research is being conducted across a wide variety of scientific fields, which have variability in the way that they describe similar concepts.

"As a cancer researcher, even if you knew what you were looking for, there are literally thousands of papers appearing every day," said Professor Anna Korhonen, Co-Director of Cambridge's Language Technology Lab.

"LION LBD uses AI to help scientists keep up-to-date with published discoveries in their field, but could also help them make new discoveries by combining what is already known in the literature by making connections between sources that may appear to be unrelated," Korhonen said.

The 'LBD' in LION LBD stands for Literature-Based Discovery, a concept developed in the 1980s which seeks to make new discoveries by combing pieces of information from disconnected sources.

The key idea behind the original version of LBD is that concepts that are never explicitly linked in the literature may be indirectly linked through intermediate concepts.

The design of the LION LBD system allows real-time search to discover indirect associations between entities in a database of tens of millions of publications while preserving the ability of users to explore each mention in its original context.

"For example, you may know that a cancer drug affects the behaviour of a certain pathway, but with LION LBD, you may find that a drug developed for a totally different disease affects the same pathway," said Korhonen.

with inputs from the Press Trust of Indiatech2 News Staff

India's biggest and most powerful communication satellite GSAT-11 has been successfully launched into orbit a few minutes past 2 am IST on Wednesday.

Arianespace confirmed a successful launch this evening after an on-target separation of the GSAT 11 and GEO-Kompsat 2A satellites for India and South Korea.

An #Ariane5 launch is a thing of beauty! Watch (and re-watch) today's liftoff with @ISROs GSAT-11 and GEO-KOMPSAT-2A for @kari2030, performed from the Spaceport in French Guiana. #VA246 pic.twitter.com/QGCFrKfcts  Stephane Israel (@arianespaceceo) December 4, 2018

In 2012, the Department of Space gave Indian Space Research Organisations plans a green light to build India's heaviest-ever communications satellite  the GSAT-11. In the six years since, GSAT-11 grew from being a 4.5-ton sketch to a 5.8-ton marvel with solar panels 4-metres long (almost the size of a small room).

Initially slated for a launch on 25 May, GSAT-11 was recalled by ISRO for further tests in India just days before its planned launch. After shipping the heavy hunk of metal and solar panels all the way to France, ISRO engineers decided to err on the side of caution and postponed the launch. This was to make time for some tests on GSAT-11 after a previously-launched communications satellite GSAT-6A went missing after what seemed a perfect launch to ISRO. ISRO engineers soon confirmed that there are no problems or glitches with GSAT-11, after which a new date for the satellite's third and possibly final launch on 5 December was set. Arianespace released GSAT-11 into the Earth's geo-transfer orbit (GTO) in a 33-minute flight on 5 December.

The satellite will soon be manoeuvred into its final place in the geostationary orbit using onboard thrusters operated by ISRO engineers to point towards India.

Why isnt GSAT-11 being launched in India?

What with GSAT-11 being ISROs heaviest satellite weighing close to 5.8 tons, the agency doesnt currently have a rocket capable of lifting the satellite to orbit in one piece. The GSLV Mk-III can carry a maximum of 4 tons in satellites as of today.

Instead, the French Arianespaces Ariane-5 rocket  a world reference for reliable, heavy-weight launchers  with a carrying capacity of 9.1 tons, was chosen as ISROs hired hand to launch GSAT-11.

What will ISRO's GSAT-11 do?

The Rs 1,174-crore GSAT-11 satellite is designed to boost the reach, speeds and capacity in India's commercial telecom sector. The satellite will help meet the countrys growing mobile and internet usage in households, businesses and public organisations, ISRO said.

Once launched, GSAT-11 will be India's most capable and top-of-the-line satellite in orbit (and ISRO's portfolio).

GSAT-11 is expected to bring far greater speeds (16 Gbps of it, no less) to meet the growing data demands of Indian telecom subscribers. It is also expected to bridge the communication gap between the country's urban and rural population. Large parts of rural areas still remain untouched by the scope of commercial telecom today  something GSAT-11 is designed to address.

Under Digital India's BharatNet project, GSAT-11 will boost access to voice and video streaming in most, if not all, of rural India, ISRO said.

With India moving fast towards implementing Smart Villages and Cities, they can be efficiently linked through a large communication satellite, K Sivan, chairman of ISRO, said in a curtain raiser.

GSAT-11 has a mission lifetime of 15 years.

How will GSAT-11 work?

In a first for an ISRO satellite, GSAT-11 will carry a next-generation I-6K bus (communication satellite hub) to provide services in two widely-used wavelengths for telecommunications: the Ku- and Ka-bands. Ku- and Ka-bands are different frequencies of microwaves in the electromagnetic spectrum.

GSAT-11 has 32 Ku-band transponders and 8 Ka-band hubs on board, making GSAT-11 three to six times more powerful than any of ISRO's (and India's) satellite roster today.

GSAT-11 is reportedly bringing bandwidths of 14 Gigabit/s in voice and video broadband services anywhere in the Indian mainland or islands over its 15-year lifespan. It will use 'spot beams' to cover the expansive area (see image above).

Four terrestrial gateways or 'hubs' located in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Ranchi, will connect the satellite to users.

Each of these hubs is also connected to each other through an optical fibre network to ensure the connectivity is seamless.Agence France-Presse

NASA's first-ever mission designed to visit an asteroid and return a sample of its dust back to Earth arrived Monday at its destination, Bennu, two years after its launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The $800 million unmanned mission, known as OSIRIS-REx, made a rendezvous with the asteroid at around 12.10 pm PST (10.40 pm IST), firing its engines a final time.

"We have arrived," said Javier Cerna, an engineer at Lockheed Martin, as his colleagues at mission control in Littleton, Colorado cheered and exchanged high-fives, according to a live NASA television broadcast.

Bennu is about 1,600 feet (500 meters) in diameter, about the size of a small mountain. It is the smallest object ever to be orbited by a human-made spacecraft.

A fragment of the early solar system, Bennu is also considered potentially dangerous. It poses a slight risk  a one in 2,700 chance  of colliding with Earth in 2135.

#WelcomeToBennu! After two years of travel  and more than a decade of planning and work by my team  Im here. But Arrival is just the beginning https://t.co/0bQPUwqUCp Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona pic.twitter.com/VyPG3gRRdw  NASA's OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) December 3, 2018



The carbon-rich asteroid was chosen from some 500,000 asteroids in the solar system because it orbits close to Earth's path around the Sun, is the right size for scientific study, and is one of the oldest asteroids known to NASA.

Scientists hope it will reveal more about the early formation of the solar system, as well as study

"With asteroids, you have a time capsule. You have a pristine sample of what the solar system was like billions of years ago," said Michelle Thaller, a spokeswoman for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

"That is why for scientists this sample is going to be far more precious than even gold."

Gentle high-five

The mission launched in September 2016. Over the past several months, OSIRIS REx has been creeping toward Bennu, and finally reached the space rock when it was about 80 million miles (129 million kilometers) from Earth.

"For the past several months, Bennu has been coming into focus as I approached," said NASA's OSIRIS-REx Twitter account.

"Now that I'm here, I'll fly around the asteroid and study it in detail."

For the past several months, Bennu has been coming into focus as I approached. Now that Im here, Ill fly around the asteroid and study it in detail. All the data I collect will help my team pick a spot to sample in 2020. #WelcomeToBennu  Details: https://t.co/9pYBuYxA8X pic.twitter.com/CnzVwwRz5n  NASA's OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) December 3, 2018

The spacecraft is equipped with a suite of five science instruments to study the asteroid for the next year and a half, mapping it in high resolution to help scientists decide precisely where to sample from.

Then, in 2020, it will reach out with its robotic arm and touch the asteroid in a maneuver Rich Kuhns, OSIRIS-REx program manager with Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver, described as a "gentle high-five."

Using a circular device much like a car's air filter, and a reverse vacuum to stir up and collect dust, the device aims to grab about two ounces (60 grams) of material from the asteroid's surface, and return it to Earth for further study.

NASA says it may get much more material, perhaps up to four pounds (two kilograms).

The US space agency hopes to use OSIRIS-REx to bring back the largest payload of space samples since the Apollo era of the 1960s and 1970s, when American explorers collected and carried back to Earth 842 pounds (382 kilograms) of Moon rocks.

Japanese space agency JAXA first proved sample collection from an asteroid was possible.

JAXA's Hayabusa spacecraft crash-landed into the surface of its target asteroid and managed to return a few micrograms of material in 2010.

Once the NASA mission has successfully collected its spacedust from Bennu, the sample will be kept in a canister and returned to Earth in 2023, touching down in the Utah desert in late September, NASA said.

OSIRIS-REx stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer.It will be no surprise to hear that one day all of the accused in the ongoing 26/11 case in Pakistan are acquitted, while we continue to debate whether Kasab 'was Indian or not'.

The 10th anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks has passed, with many events commemorating one of the most brazen and deadly attacks on Indian soil. Ajmal Kasab, the only one of the 10 terrorists to survive the attack, was tried and executed. His testimony in court that he was from Pakistan was key to establishing the link of elements in our neighbouring country with the attack. Yet in Pakistan, the trial of the accused in the case is meandering since 2009. One of the main accused, Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed, was not arrested in this case and the other  the LeT's commander Zakir ur Rehman Lakhvi  was released on bail in 2015.

A little before the 10th anniversary, a report from Uttar Pradesh (on 18 November) stating that Kasab was issued a domicile certificate in Bidhoona tehsil in Auraiya district, India, went viral in both countries. Clearly someone had played a prank, and it only exposed the ease with which once could get a certificate, no doubt for a small consideration. The sub-divisional magistrate of Bidhoona confirmed that it was based on fake documents submitted by an unidentified person. Later, the National Informatics Centre cancelled the certificate but the news made sensational headlines. It didnt matter that Kasab was secretly hanged on 21 November 2012 and evidence was produced in the trial to confirm his origins.

Some websites took the trouble to expose the facts and denounce the viral posts, but one place where the "news item" found resonance was in the weekly briefing of the Foreign Office in Islamabad on 22 November. Some reporters asked for comments based on this news. One of them construed this as new evidence that was gathered. Among the questions asked were, Considering the surfacing of this new evidence, will Pakistan take this as proof that the Mumbai attacks were a pre-planned drama orchestrated by India?" and another: In the matter related to Ajmal Kasab, India harmed Pakistans cause in the international community. Now that this new evidence has surfaced, will Pakistan counter the narrative built by India?

The spokespersons answer was couched in careful diplomatese but indicated the lay of the land. Happenings such as these lend further credence to the concerns already raised by several quarters in this context. Of course the fact that Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had proposed a meeting of both Foreign Ministers at the sidelines of the UN General Assembly (which India cancelled), formed part of his official reply  as also concerns of terrorism emanating from India as is evident by the confession of Commander Jadhav and other information.

The news that Kasab was given a posthumous domicile certificate from Uttar Pradesh sounds ridiculous, yet it was exactly what some in Pakistan has been propagating  that this operation was planned in India. Lahore-based 92 News aired a story with the headline, Ajmal Kasab is our citizen, admits India' on 20 November, with the anchor claiming in Hindi, India, which blames Pakistan for terrorism, has been caught in its own lies. According to Indian media reports, proof has been found that Ajmal Kasab was in fact Indian. He is a resident of Bidhoona tehsil in Uttar Pradesh and has been issued a domicile from there too.

Indian media outlets too claimed Kasab was an Indian as he had a domicile certificate. The certificate had been cancelled a few days after it was issued. however, the story fed into a popular narrative in Pakistan that he was indeed Indian, and that India is the one which constantly creates false flag operations which it blames on Pakistan. Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is facing proceedings of treason in court for giving an interview to Dawn newspaper on 14 May 2018, that the 26/11 trial should be completed (among other things): Militant organisations are active. Call them non-state actors, should we allow them to cross the border and kill 150 people in Mumbai? Explain it to me. Why cant we complete the trial?

That is a question many people are asking, including the Indian government. Every time, there is a barrage of counter questions as was evident during the 10th anniversary of 26/11 too. The issue of examining some 20-odd witnesses who have to be sent to Pakistan for further evidence has been pending for a while and suggestions of doing this through video conferencing have not been taken forward. Chaudhary Muhammed Azhar , the prosecutor of the case in Islamabad, at one time was pretty confident of establishing the guilt of the seven accused, including Lakhvi, and he had some crucial witnesses to examine. He was very forthcoming during my posting in Islamabad in 2013 (for The Hindu) and helped me with information on the trial at great length, but later asked me not to call him as he was getting into trouble because of my reports.

There is an unconscionable delay in the trial either by blaming Indias lack of cooperation or submission of evidence, when by all accounts the Pakistani Federal Investigation Agency has gathered evidence to show the role of terrorist groups and training camps in this attack. At the bottom of it all, there is little will to conclude it in a fair and transparent manner. In Mumbai, the trial was held in a high security jail with biometric identification to enter, and journalists were issued special passes and they could report on it.

In 2013 in Islamabad, the trial was held in the district and sessions court and no journalist was allowed. The trial is now being held in the guarded precincts of Adiala jail in Rawalpindi but the dates just keep getting extended. And it will be no surprise to hear that one day all of the accused are acquitted! And we can continue to debate whether Kasab was Indian or not.Donald Trump wrote to Imran Khan weeks the US president said Pakistan does not do 'a damn thing' for the US, alleging that Islamabad had helped al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden hide near its garrison city of Abbottabad.

US president Donald Trump has written to Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan to seek help over faltering Afghan peace talks and cooperation in bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table. The development came weeks after Trump said Pakistan does not do "a damn thing" for the US, alleging that Islamabad had helped Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden hide near its garrison city of Abbottabad.

In a letter to Khan, Trump "stated that his most important regional priority was achieving a negotiated settlement of the Afghan war. In this regard, he has sought Pakistan's support and facilitation," Pakistan's Foreign Office said.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson of the US national security council told PTI that Trump "recognises that Pakistan has the ability to deny the Taliban sanctuary on its territory... The letter also makes clear that Pakistan's assistance with the Afghan peace process is fundamental to building an enduring US-Pakistan partnership."

This indicates a pattern, and possibly a strategy, in Trump's handling of certain countries that his administration sees as difficult. Like Pakistan, leaders of North Korea and China, too, had first experienced severe criticism from the Trump administration over their policies before being given the option of reconciliation.

China

The US paved way for a trade conflict in July when it imposed import taxes on $250 billion worth of imported Chinese goods  25 percent on $50 billion worth and 10 percent on the other $200 billion. China, caught off guard, countered the move by targeting $110 billion in US imports.

Trump had planned to raise the tariffs on the $200 billion worth of goods to 25 percent if he couldn't get a deal with Xi. The tariffs on Chinese goods were scheduled to increase starting 1 January, 2019.

However, following a "highly successful meeting" in Buenos Aires on the sidelines of the ongoing G20 Summit, Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping on Saturday agreed not to impose the new tariffs from 1 January, 2019. They also pledged to continue negotiations to seek a way out of the ongoing trade war.

Under the agreement reached in Buenos Aires, the two countries have 90 days starting 1 January to resolve their differences over Beijing's tech policies. If they can't, the higher US tariffs will go into effect on the Chinese imports.

"It's an incredible deal," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, adding, "if it happens it goes down as one of the largest deals ever made."

North Korea

From the time he assumed office till early 2018, Trump was one of the strongest critics of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's possession of nuclear weapons.

His first year in office was marked by bitter exchanges with Kim as North Korea conducted several ballistic missile tests in defiance of international warnings.

The US president vowed to unleash "fire and fury" if Pyongyang kept threatening the US. He also referred to Kim as "little rocket man". In return, Kim called him "mentally deranged" and a "dotard".

Despite the White House's "maximum pressure" campaign, North Korea remained defiant and carried out its sixth nuclear test in September 2017. Soon after, Kim declared that his country had achieved its mission of becoming a nuclear state, with missiles that could reach the US.

But in early 2018, North Korea began attempts to improve relations with South Korea by sending a team and delegates to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. In March, Trump surprised the world by accepting an invitation from Kim  delivered via Seoul  to meet in person.

The path to the summit was rocky, with Trump at one point even calling it off completely. But after some diplomatic scrambling, the two leaders sat down together in June for a historic summit in Singapore during which Kim committed to denuclearise the Korean Peninsula.

Aboard Air Force One on his return to Washington from the G20 Summit, Trump announced on Monday that his next meeting with Kim will likely be held in January or February. While Trump's approach towards all the three countries  Pakistan, China, and North Korea  has been interestingly similar, it remains to be seen if his efforts will actually yield long-lasting positive results in any of the cases.

With inputs from agenciesWASHINGTON (Reuters) - CIA Director Gina Haspel will give a closed briefing to leaders of several U.S. Senate committees on Tuesday on the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to a source familiar with the planned meeting. Some lawmakers were angry Haspel did not participate in a Senate briefing by Trump administration officials last week on Khashoggi's death at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - CIA Director Gina Haspel will give a closed briefing to leaders of several U.S. Senate committees on Tuesday on the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to a source familiar with the planned meeting.

Some lawmakers were angry Haspel did not participate in a Senate briefing by Trump administration officials last week on Khashoggi's death at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

The CIA has assessed that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing of Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi government.

The Wall Street Journal first reported that Haspel would conduct a briefing.

At last week's briefing, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said there was no hard evidence the crown prince was behind the killing and urged senators not to downgrade ties with Saudi Arabia over the incident.

Haspel will brief the Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations, Armed Services and Appropriations committees, the source said, adding that the Senate Intelligence Committee already had been briefed by the CIA chief.

The CIA had no immediate comment.

(Reporting by Mark Hosenball; Writing by Eric Beech; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall and Howard Goller)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.US President Donald Trump on Monday called for 'a long prison term' after his ex-lawyer Michael Cohen admitted lying to Congress about pursuing a real estate deal with Russia on Trump's behalf during the 2016 election campaign.

Washington: US President Donald Trump on Monday called for "a long prison term" after his ex-lawyer Michael Cohen admitted lying to Congress about pursuing a real estate deal with Russia on Trump's behalf during the 2016 election campaign. He also repeated his accusation that Special Counsel Robert Mueller  who is investigating possible collusion between Russia and Trump's campaign  is forcing witnesses to make up lies damaging to the president.

"You mean he can do all of the TERRIBLE, unrelated to Trump, things having to do with fraud, big loans, taxis, etc, and not serve a long prison term?" the president said on Twitter. "He lied for this outcome and should, in my opinion, serve a full and complete sentence," Trump added.

Cohen, once one of the president's closest allies and a top executive at The Trump Organization, last week admitted lying in testimony about contacts with powerful Moscow figures over building a Trump Tower in Moscow. Those contacts, including with a top aide to President Vladimir Putin, continued throughout the first half of 2016 even after Trump secured the Republican nomination for president, Cohen admitted. Trump and his campaign have repeatedly denied talks on a deal after 2015, but Cohen told a court that Trump and members of his family were informed of the discussions which continued through the middle of 2016, just months before the presidential election.

On Friday Cohen, who had already admitted multiple counts of tax evasion, financial fraud and campaign finance violations, asked the New York federal court for a "time served" sentence. He hasn't spent any time incarcerated beyond the routine custody before each of his guilty pleas. Cohen's lawyers said he had fully cooperated with Mueller's investigation and would continue to do so, and deserved to avoid imprisonment. "Michael's decision to cooperate and take full responsibility for his own conduct well reflects his personal resolve, notwithstanding past errors, to re-point his internal compass true north toward a productive, ethical and thoroughly law-abiding life," the lawyers said in a court filing.

Trump meanwhile lashed out at Mueller, whom he again accused of forcing witnesses to make up lies damaging to him. "Robert Mueller... and his out of control band of Angry Democrats, don't want the truth, they only want lies. The truth is very bad for their mission!" Trump tweeted.

The president praised former political advisor Roger Stone, who has rejected allegations that he abetted Russian interference to help Trump in the 2016 election through contacts with WikiLeaks, which published stolen emails that embarrassed Trump's Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. Trump cited Stone's pledge to never testify against him. "Nice to know that some people still have 'guts!'" Trump wrote.The development came weeks after Trump said Pakistan does not do 'a damn thing' for the US, alleging that Islamabad had helped al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden hide near its garrison city of Abbottabad.

Islamabad/Washington: US President Donald Trump has written to Prime Minister Imran Khan, seeking Pakistan's help with stuttering Afghan peace talks and support in bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table to end the 17-year brutal war in the neighbouring country, Pakistani officials said on Monday.

The development came weeks after Trump said Pakistan does not do "a damn thing" for the US, alleging that Islamabad had helped al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden hide near its garrison city of Abbottabad.

Pakistan's Foreign Office (FO) said the President, in a letter, has sought Pakistan's help with faltering Afghan peace talks and cooperation in bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table. In the letter, Trump "stated that his most important regional priority was achieving a negotiated settlement of the Afghan war. In this regard, he has sought Pakistan's support and facilitation," the Foreign Office said.

The President also acknowledged that the war had cost both the US and Pakistan, and emphasised that both the countries "should explore opportunities to work together and renew partnership". Pakistan welcomes the decision to explore ways for a political settlement of the Afghan issue, the FO said.

"Since Pakistan has always advocated a political settlement to end the war in Afghanistan, US decision is welcomed," it said. Pakistan also reiterated its commitment to play a facilitation role in good faith, stressing that peace and stability in Afghanistan was a shared responsibility.

Meanwhile, in Washington, a spokesperson of the US National Security Council told PTI that Trump in his letter to Khan requested "Pakistan's full support for the US-led Afghan peace process and Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad's upcoming trip to the region".

"The president recognises that Pakistan has the ability to deny the Taliban sanctuary on its territory...The letter also makes clear that Pakistan's assistance with the Afghan peace process is fundamental to building an enduring US-Pakistan partnership," the spokesperson said. Last month, the Pentagon said that the US has suspended $1.66 billion in security assistance to Pakistan after President Trump's directive.

Ties between the US and Pakistan strained after Trump, while announcing his Afghanistan and South Asia policy in August last year, hit out at Pakistan for providing safe havens to "agents of chaos" that kill Americans in Afghanistan and warned Islamabad that it has "much to lose" by harbouring terrorists.

In September, the Trump administration cancelled $300 million in military aid to Islamabad for not doing enough against terror groups like the Haqqani Network and the Taliban active on its soil.

The Trump administration, in the recent months, has intensified its efforts to seek a negotiated settlement of America's longest war in Afghanistan where the US has lost over 2,400 soldiers since late 2001, when it invaded the country after the 9/11 terror attacks. The Taliban are fighting to flush out international forces and re-establish their regime in Afghanistan after their ouster in 2001.Former US President George W. Bush will deliver the marquee eulogy for his late father, former President George H.W. Bush, on Wednesday.

Former US President George W. Bush will deliver the marquee eulogy for his late father, former President George H.W. Bush, at Wednesday's funeral in Washington DC, according to latest reporting on the final journey of America's 41st president. Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, former Senator Alan Simpson and biographer Jon Meacham are others who are confirmed to speak during the events commemorating the United States 41st president, although the official line-up does not out the names of speakers. Former first lady Laura Bush will offer a reading, reports CBS News.

In capital city Washington DC, Bush is lying in state in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol until office rush hour on Wednesday. His casket will be transported by motorcade Wednesday morning to the National Cathedral, where a state funeral will be held at 11 a.m. EST - that's 9:30 pm IST. President Donald Trump, who ordered federal offices closed on Wednesday for a national day of mourning, is to attend with first lady Melania Trump.

A state funeral for George H.W. Bush will be held at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C on 5 December, followed by a funeral service in Texas where America's 41st President will be laid to rest.

A timeline of the final journey, all times EST.

Wednesday, 12:30 p.m: After the state funeral concludes, Mr. Bush's casket will depart for Joint Base Andrews and then return to Texas.

Wednesday, 5:45 p.m: A service is held at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston before Bush lies in state until Thursday at 6 a.m.

Thursday, 6 December, 11 am: Funeral service at St. Martin's Episcopal Church.

Thursday, 6 p.m: Bush is buried at his presidential library in College Station, Texas, after a private ceremony.

Bush will be buried at the gated family plot near his wife and their daughter Robin, who died of leukemia at age 3. Barbara Bush died on 17 April at their Houston home. The couple was married for 73 years, longer than any other U.S. presidential couple.India and the US have agreed to accelerate defence and national security ties as Defence Secretary James Mattis, at a meeting with Indian counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman, asserted that the Trump Administration sees no contradiction between strategic autonomy and strategic partnership.

Washington: India and the US have agreed to accelerate defence and national security ties as Defence Secretary James Mattis, at a meeting with Indian counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman, asserted that the Trump Administration sees no contradiction between strategic autonomy and strategic partnership.

Sitharaman, the first woman defence minister of India, is currently on a five-day maiden trip to the US. From here, she travels to California to visit the Defense Innovation Unit of the Department of Defense and the Indo-Pacific Command headquarters in Hawaii. "The United States and India, in Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi's work, have overcome hesitations of history, carrying forward the legacy of friendship and making clear there is no contradiction between strategic autonomy and strategic partnership," Mattis said on Monday as he welcomed Sitharaman at the Pentagon for a delegation-level meeting between the two leaders.

Having arrived in Washington DC Sunday, she started her official visit by visiting the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department, where she signed on the condolence book of former US President George HW Bush. From there, she drove to the Arlington National Cemetery where she laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a gesture which did not go unnoticed at the Pentagon.

"On behalf of our department and all of our service members, thank you for paying your nation's respect at Arlington National Cemetery this morning. We're grateful," Mattis said, welcoming the defence minister at the Pentagon, where she was given a red carpet welcome.

Mattis said Sitharaman's presence at the wreath-laying made clear that the US-India military relations were not "defined by brittle or empty words" but by the human aspect of partnership steeped in recognition of the two nations' respective sacrifices and the cause of peace, friendship and freedom.

The two largest democracies of the world, despite diverse histories and cultures, have shared principles, values and respect for the rules-based international order. "The US-India relationship is a natural partnership between the world's oldest and the world's largest democracy," he said. While this is her first trip to Washington DC, the two leaders have met four times in about a year, reflecting on the growing defence relationship between India and the United States.

"We have made meaningful progress in advancing US-India defence cooperation, most notably with your nation hosting September's inaugural two-plus-two ministerial dialogue in New Delhi," he said. The ministerial talks served as a tangible demonstration of "our shared vision for a safe, secure, prosperous and free Indo-Pacific, underpinned by respect for the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of all nations," Mattis said.

"Today, I reiterate US appreciation for India's leadership as a stabilising force in pursuit of that vision, promoting peace and security across the region and the globe," he said. The defence secretary said the two-plus-two ministerial dialogue also made clear the commitment of India and the US to further bolster their defence partnership. "Today, we build on that momentum as we work to implement our agreement from September, Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA)," he added.

Describing the inaugural two-plus-two meeting in September as a landmark event, Sitharaman said it set the stage for strategic consultations between the two countries. "The bilateral meetings during the two-plus-two dialogue in New Delhi" and other meetings, including the one in Singapore in October, were indeed positive and productive, she added.JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met U.S.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Brussels on Monday to discuss Iran and other regional issues.

Pompeo, like Netanyahu, is an outspoken critic of Iran's nuclear programme and he condemned on Saturday the latest missile test by the Islamic republic.

"I look forward to discussing with you how we can together curb Iran's aggression in the region, in Syria, in Iraq, in Lebanon and elsewhere and to continue our efforts to achieve peace and security for everyone," Netanyahu said at the start of the meeting, according to a statement from his office.

Netanyahu often uses meetings with international officials to push his agenda of halting what he describes as Iran's nuclear ambitions. Israel also sees Tehran's moves to set up bases in neighbouring Syria as a regional threat, along with the heavily armed Iran-backed militia Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The meeting was arranged last week, his office said.

(Writing by Ori Lewis; Editing by Paul Tait and Peter Graff)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.By Asif Shahzad ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan assured visiting U.S.

By Asif Shahzad

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan assured visiting U.S. special representative Zalmay Khalilzad on Tuesday that it would back a negotiated settlement with the Taliban to end the long war in Afghanistan, after President Donald Trump personally asked for Islamabad's help.

Khalilzad, an Afghan-born veteran U.S. diplomat who served as George W. Bush's ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq and the United Nations, was named by the Trump administration three months ago as a special envoy to negotiate peace in Afghanistan.

His visit to Pakistan came a day after Pakistani officials confirmed that Trump had written to Prime Minister Imran Khan seeking assistance in moving peace talks forward. Khan said Pakistan would do whatever possible to help Washington negotiate with the Taliban.

Khalilzad arrived on Tuesday in Islamabad and called on Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, a foreign office statement said. It said the envoy reiterated Trump's desire to seek Pakistan's cooperation for peace in Afghanistan.

"The foreign minister assured the U.S. side of Pakistan's steadfast support for a negotiated settlement," it said.

In his letter to Khan, Trump offered to renew the strained relationship, Pakistan's foreign ministry said on Monday. The overture to Khan came after an exchange of barbed tweets between him and Trump last month, and represents a sea change from Trump's frequently harsh rhetoric towards Pakistan.

It could also add to speculation in the region that the United States is seeking to withdraw from Afghanistan.

The United States, which had more than 100,000 troops in Afghanistan at its peak in former President Barack Obama's first term, withdrew most of them in 2014 but still keeps around 8,000 there aiding the Afghan security forces and hunting militants.

Trump wants to bring to a close the conflict between Afghan security forces and the Taliban, who were removed from power with the aid of American bombing after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, and have fought ever since to reestablish their version of strict Islamic law.

U.S. officials have long been pushing Pakistan to lean on Taliban leaders, who Washington says are based inside Pakistan, to bring them to the negotiating table. The United States and Afghanistan's government have long accused Pakistan of covertly sheltering Taliban leaders, which Islamabad vehemently denies.

Khalilzad said last month said he hoped to reach a settlement by April 2019 to end the war. But Afghan Taliban militants last month rejected the proposed target and said a three-day meeting in Qatar between their leaders and Khalilzad, to pave the way for peace talks, had ended with no agreement.

Islamabad has promised in the past to work to help bring the Afghan Taliban to the negotiation table, but this will be the first attempt for Khan's new government, in power since August.

Khan, who enjoys the support of Pakistan's powerful army, believes the Afghan Taliban have been motivated to fight by the foreign military presence in Afghanistan, and says a political settlement is the only solution.

(Writing by Asif Shahzad; Editing by Peter Graff)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.By Saad Sayeed ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's expulsion of 18 international aid agencies will hurt 11 million aid recipients in a South Asian nation grappling with perilously low standards of education and healthcare, two Western diplomats said on Tuesday. Affected NGOs include World Vision, Pathfinder, Plan International, Trocaire and Saferworld. Another group, ActionAid, last week said it was closing offices and laying off staff after the government told it to halt operations and leave

By Saad Sayeed

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's expulsion of 18 international aid agencies will hurt 11 million aid recipients in a South Asian nation grappling with perilously low standards of education and healthcare, two Western diplomats said on Tuesday.

Affected NGOs include World Vision, Pathfinder, Plan International, Trocaire and Saferworld. Another group, ActionAid, last week said it was closing offices and laying off staff after the government told it to halt operations and leave.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the United States "regrets" Pakistan's decision and noted that many of the 18 groups had worked in the country for years, employing thousands of Pakistanis and working to improve the lives of ordinary people.

Pakistan's interior ministry confirmed it had rejected appeals of 18 NGOs that had been allowed to continue operations while appeals were being reviewed. It declined to give further details.

Aid groups and western diplomats blasted a lack of transparency in the process of expulsion and review of appeals.

"It is as appalling as it is inexplicable that the government has decided to deprive 11 million of its own people of much-needed support with no apparent reason," a Western diplomat told Reuters, asking not to be identified.

The interior ministry did not immediately respond to the diplomats' comments. Instead it referred Reuters to a Nov. 15 statement in which Pakistan's foreign office said policies regarding international aid groups were "fully aligned" with nationally determined development priorities and needs, and that Islamabad appreciated the assistance provided by donor agencies.

"Representatives of all 18 INGOs were given the right to appeal and the opportunity to provide additional details and discuss mutual concerns," it added.

"As for shrinking space, the evidence is contrary to assertions. Out of 141 that applied for registration since October 2015, applications of 74 INGOs have been approved."

A total of 27 international NGOs received expulsion orders late last year, but 18 appealed. Most of the affected groups worked on human rights and advocacy issues.

Pakistani journalists have complained about growing curbs on media freedom. Islamabad has clamped down on foreign-funded aid groups for years.

"The international community is disappointed by the recent forced closures of a number of international NGOs," another Western diplomat told Reuters.

"We have consistently expressed our concern to the government and continue to urge a clear and transparent process to ensure INGOs can operate effectively in Pakistan or understand the reasons for their eviction."

(Additional reporting by David Alexander in Washington; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and David Gregorio)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.Pressure has been mounting after protests by the grassroots 'yellow vest' movement degenerated into the worst street clashes in central Paris in decades at the weekend, leading to scores of injuries and arrests

Paris: French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced Tuesday new concessions to "yellow vest" protesters, saying planned increases in the price of fuel would be suspended for six months.

"No tax merits putting the unity of the nation in danger," Philippe said in a televised address, adding that the anger on the streets "originates from a profound injustice: of not being able to live with dignity from one's work".

He added that any future protests should be declared in advance and "take place calmly".

"We need to calm the situation down to prevent it degenerating," Philippe told a meeting of MPs from the ruling majority on Tuesday, several people present told AFP.

Pressure has been mounting after protests by the grassroots "yellow vest" movement degenerated into the worst street clashes in central Paris in decades at the weekend, leading to scores of injuries and arrests.

The concession on fuels taxes slated for January is the first time that French President Emmanuel Macron has had to give ground in the face of public opposition, a blow for a leader who has styled himself as an inflexible and determined economic reformer.

But it was unclear if the measures would assuage the anger on French streets, with both "yellow vest" leaders and opposition parties saying they were not enough.

"The French don't want crumbs, they want the whole baguette," Benjamin Cauchy, one of the movement's organisers, told AFP, though he welcomed what he called "a first step" towards a "redistribution of wealth in France".

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen, a vocal supporter of the movement, said on Twitter that protesters wanted the fuel tax hike cancelled, not just suspended.

Rescinding the increase was the main demand of the demonstrators, alongside a higher minimum wage and the return of a wealth tax on high-earners which was abolished in 2017.

The "yellow vest" movement, named for the high-visibility jackets worn by supporters, emerged on social media in October after months of swelling anger over rising fuel prices.

It quickly coalesced into wider protests against rising costs of living, especially among rural and small-town voters who accuse Macron of representing a Parisian elite with little understanding of their monthly struggle to make ends meet.

Macron silent

Macron has not spoken publicly about Saturday's destruction in Paris since his return from a G20 summit in Argentina on Sunday.

His only message, published on his official Twitter account on Monday, has been about the need to help handicapped people and their carers, leading to more criticism that he is too aloof.

But Macron postponed a planned visit to Belgrade due to the "problems" at home, his Serbian counterpart President Aleksandar Vucic announced on Monday.

The 40-year-old centrist was elected in May 2017 on a pro-business platform that included measures to incite companies to invest to create jobs.

Immediately after coming to power, he pushed through tax cuts for entrepreneurs and high-earners.

Those measures stirred anger among the "yellow vests" who have blocked highways and fuel depots around the country over the past two weeks.

The protests have spread to around a hundred schools nationwide, which were still partially or totally blocked Tuesday by teenagers voicing frustration over university entrance reforms.

Truckers count losses

Four people have been killed during the protests, including an 80-year-old woman who died in hospital on Sunday after being hit by a tear gas canister in Marseille.

The unrest degenerated into arson and looting around the Champs-Elysees avenue and other tourist attractions on Saturday, leading to shocking images that were broadcast round the world.

Police said 412 people were arrested in the capital on Saturday and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said that more than 200 burned-out cars had been removed from the streets.

She also said damage to bus stops, benches and other street furniture alone on Saturday was estimated at three to four million euros.

Business leaders warned it could cause shoppers to flee during the busy end-of-year holiday period.

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Monday that hotel reservations had fallen by "around 15 to 20 percent" since the start of the protests.

With inputs from AFPPresident Ram Nath Kovind will visit Myanmar from 10 to 14 December during which he will hold talks with his counterpart U Win Myint and state counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, an official statement said Tuesday.

New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind will visit Myanmar from 10 to 14 December during which he will hold talks with his counterpart U Win Myint and state counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, an official statement said Tuesday.

Several agreements are expected to be signed during the visit, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in the statement. "Through this visit, the president will reaffirm India's commitment to developing its important partnership with Myanmar. This is a country where India's Act East and Neighbourhood First policies intersect. It is also the only ASEAN member state that is both a land and maritime neighbour of India," it said.

In the past three years, political, economic and defence ties with Myanmar have been on upswing with the visits of top leaders to the respective countries. The armies and navies of the two countries also participate in bilateral military drills. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited Myanmar last year, while Aung San Suu Kyi visited India this January for the India-ASEAN Commemorative Summit.Sri Lanka has been going through a major political crisis since 26 October when President Sirisena, in a controversial move, removed Wickremesinghe and installed ex-strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa in his place.

Colombo: Likening Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena to Adolf Hitler, the country's toppled prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe Tuesday said he was not afraid of snap polls but was against the use of referendums by "dictators". Sri Lanka has been going through a major political crisis since 26 October when President Sirisena, in a controversial move, removed Wickremesinghe and installed ex-strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa in his place.

The president later dissolved parliament and called for a snap election on 5 January. However, the Supreme Court overturned Sirisena's decision to dissolve parliament and halted the preparations for snap polls. On Monday a lower court temporarily barred Sirisena-appointed prime minister Rajapaksa from performing his duties. In his strongest yet statement against the president, the United National Party (UNP) leader said the United National Front (UNF) was prepared to face elections and they are "not afraid of elections."

Speaking from Temple Trees, the official residence of the Sri Lankan Prime Minister, which he has refused to vacate since his sacking, Wickremesinghe said, "All of us who are here in government, has taken an oath to defend the constitution. "So we want them to defend the constitution... Follow the constitution. "Don't be like Hitler and some of the other dictators who used the referendum," Wickremesinghe was quoted as saying by Sri Lanka Mirror.

"As far as the elections are concerned, we have only two concerns. First, it must be a lawful government. And only the UNF and I can command that majority. Secondly, all the parties must come to a consensus on the date of elections," he said. "Those who talk of having elections without according to the constitution are people who don't want elections. They are hiding under the cover of elections to try and hang on to the office..."

Wickremesinghe said that the UNF is not prepared to bypass the constitution under any circumstances. "A legal government can submit a motion to parliament and if there is 2/3rd majority we can hold an election before the 4 1/2 year term of the current parliament ends," he was quoted as saying by Colombo Gazette. He said the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) has already said that it is prepared to face early elections.

Wickremesinghe said that if everyone wants an early election there is no need for the UNF to oppose it. Though Rajapaksa was made the prime minister in October, he has not been able to prove his majority in 225-member parliament. Ousted prime minister Wickremesinghe has the backing of 122 parliamentarians. Lawmakers of Wickeremesinghe's UNP, JVP and Tamil National Alliance last month filed a petition in the Court of Appeal challenging Rajapaksa's authority as the prime minister. The final verdict is expected on 14 December.Google has announced that it will bring eSIM support to more carriers and more countries. Pixel 2 was the first major smartphone with eSIM, and now, on Pixel 3. In Germany, Google is supporting eSIM from networks including Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone soon.

In the U.S., Sprint will bring support for eSIM, EE in the UK, Airtel, and Jio in India. Truphone and Gigsky in various countries will also roll out eSIM support for Pixel 3 in the coming months. To enable a consistent and simple experience across the ecosystem, Google is also creating a program that allows Android device makers to build eSIM-capable smartphones.

Google says that it looking forward to continuing its work with partners on the potential benefits of eSIM whether you are connecting to a phone, watch, tablet, or laptop in the future.

SourceTwo consumer giants, Nike (NYSE:NKE) and Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS), just announced hikes to their dividends. The increases in their dividend payouts extend both companies' long dividend history and highlight their commitment to dividend increases.

For investors considering investing in either of these dividend stocks, here's a look at both companies' recent increases, as well as an overview of some key dividend metrics for each stock.

Nike

Footwear and apparel retailer Nike announced on Nov. 15 that it was increasing its quarterly dividend by 10% to $0.22. Payable on Jan. 2 to shareholders of record on Dec. 3, the higher dividend marks the company's 17th consecutive year of dividend increases.

This dividend, combined with the company's new $15 billion share repurchase program announced in June, "shows our continued confidence in NIKE's ability to deliver sustainable, profitable, capital-efficient growth over the long-term," said Nike CEO Mark Parker in a press release about the dividend increase.

Translating to $0.88 in dividends per share annually, this higher dividend gives Nike a forward dividend yield of 1.1%.

The dividend increase came less than a month after the company announced strong results for its first quarter of fiscal 2019, including an acceleration in both earnings per share and revenue growth. EPS and revenue during the period were up 18% and 10% year over year, respectively. With momentum like this, and considering that Nike is only paying out 28% of its free cash flow in dividends, the company will likely continue to increase its dividend in the years to come.

Walt Disney

Following a record fiscal 2018 that featured 24% earnings-per-share growth, it was no surprise when Disney announced another dividend increase last week. The company boosted its semiannual dividend from $0.84 to $0.88, translating to a forward dividend yield of 1.5%.

The new dividend is payable on Jan. 10 to shareholders of record on Dec. 10.

Notably, the 5% dividend hike is lower than the 8% increase in Disney's dividend last year. This is likely explained by the increased investment the company is planning for its new streaming services and its pending acquisition of Twenty-First Century Fox.

"[W]e are pleased to increase our dividend to shareholders, while continuing to invest for future growth with our pending acquisition of 21st Century Fox and the ongoing development of our direct-to-consumer business," noted Disney CEO Bob Iger in the company's press release about the dividend increase.

Given the company's strong earnings growth recently -- and the fact that Disney is paying out just 26% of its free cash flow in dividends -- there's good reason for Disney investors to expect more meaningful dividend growth over the long haul.ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) and its partners Hess (NYSE:HES) and China's CNOOC have found a treasure trove of oil off the shore of Guyana over the past four years. The companies recently unveiled the 10th discovery on their jointly held acreage position, which they now believe contains more than 5 billion barrels of recoverable oil. That reinforces Exxon's belief that the partnership can produce more than 750,000 barrels of oil per day (BPD) from the region by 2025.

It just keeps getting bigger

Exxon's latest discovery at the Pluma-1 well, when combined with further evaluation of previous finds, led the company to boost its resource estimate from more than 4 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) up to over 5 billion BOE. That's enough resources to support at least five floating storage, production, and offloading (FSPO) vessels capable of producing more than 750,000 BPD.

The company and its partners started the first phase of development last year, which they anticipate should start producing 120,000 BPD by early 2020. The companies are currently in the planning stages on two more projects, to which they hope to give the green light in 2019. That puts them on track to start up phase 2 -- which should produce 220,000 BPD -- by the middle of 2022, followed by a third one in early 2023. The companies hope to complete two more phases by 2025 to achieve their target.

What's worth noting about this oil is that it should have low production costs. Exxon estimates that the cost of supply is around $35 per barrel, which makes it quite profitable at current oil prices.

Meanwhile, with a total of 6.6 million acres to explore in the region, Exxon and its partners have the potential to find billions of additional barrels of low-cost oil, which could enable them to sanction more phases in the future.

The fuel for their growth plans

The current development plans for Guyana set up ExxonMobil and Hess to grow production and earnings at a fast pace over the next several years. Exxon, which owns a 45% interest in the partnership, expects its share of the output -- when combined with its position in the fast-growing Permian Basin -- to help expand its production rate from its current level of around 4 million BOE/D up to 5 million BOE/D by 2025. That increase in high-margin oil output from Guyana and the Permian Basin position Exxon to more than double its earnings and cash flow over that time frame without any improvement in oil prices from 2017's level. That expansion plan could enable Exxon to significantly increase the company's value even as production only expands 25%.

Hess also anticipates needle-moving growth from its 30% stake in these Guyana discoveries. The company expects that its production will rise at a 10% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from last year's base through 2023, supported by both Guyana and its position in the Bakken Shale. That fast-paced expansion in high-margin oil production should fuel a 25% CAGR in Hess' cash flow, assuming oil averages around $60 a barrel, which is about where it is these days. That strategy has Hess on pace to generate significant free cash flow by early 2023 without any further improvement in oil prices, which it could return to investors through a higher dividend or additional share repurchases.

A bright future for these two oil stocks

With each discovery, Exxon and Hess provide further affirmation that they can achieve their ambitious growth plans. Those strategies have the potential to create significant value for their investors over the long term even if oil prices remain low, with substantial additional upside if crude pricing improves. That makes them both great oil stocks to consider holding for the long term.With less than four weeks to go before the page turns on 2018, there's little doubt that this will go down as the most groundbreaking year in cannabis history.

To our north, Canada became the first industrialized country to legalize recreational marijuana, and in the U.S., the number of states to have given the green light to medical pot expanded by two to 32. We also witnessed two new states OK adult-use cannabis during the year (bringing the total number of recreationally legal states to 10) and saw the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approve its very first cannabis-derived drug.

Allegations rock marijuana stock Aphria

And yet, not everyone is seeing green. That's been particularly true for shareholders of Ontario-based Aphria (NASDAQ:APHA), which has lost more than half of its value over the trailing-four-week period. To be clear, there are very few pot stocks that have performed well in recent weeks, but Aphria has taken the cake, so to speak, for its underperformance.

The wheels really fell off the wagon on Monday, Dec. 3, when noted short-seller Gabriel Grego, the founder of Quintessential Capital Management, told members of a conference in New York that Aphria was a "black hole" and worth "zero." According to Bloomberg, which broke the story, Aphria made inflated acquisitions in Argentina, Colombia, and Jamaica in September. The all-share deal, which was announced in July at 193 million Canadian dollars, ballooned to nearly CA$300 million by its closing in September.

However, what really caught Grego's attention, and that of Hindenburg Research, a firm that's also shorting Aphria's commons stock, is that Aphria insiders have ties to these acquisitions.

Based on the report from Quintessential, the three acquisitions from Scythian Biosciences (now known as SOL Global Investments) had been acquired from three separate Canadian shell companies for a considerably lower cost than what Aphria paid for them. Furthermore, these shell companies can purportedly be linked back to the chairman of SOL Global Investments and advisor to Aphria, Andy DeFrancesco.

Following these allegations, Aphria shed nearly a quarter of its value.

For what it's worth, Aphria responded about an hour prior to market close on Monday, calling it a "malicious and self-serving attempt to profit by manipulating Aphria's stock price at the expense of Aphria's shareholders." Aphria's press release also notes that it received financial advice and a fairness opinion from a reputable firm prior to entering into the deal with SOL Global Investments.

This isn't the first time Aphria has been dragged over the coals for an acquisition

Aphria's primary suggestion to investors is to take Quintessential's and Hindenburg's report with a grain of salt, since both companies have a vested interest in seeing the share price of Aphria drop considerably.

Then again, Aphria sort of has a knack for getting itself into questionable situations when making acquisitions.

Back in March, Aphria completed its buyout of Nuuvera for what amounted to CA$425 million in cash and stock. The deal had been valued at well over CA$600 million when first announced, but being that Aphria's share price declined pretty significantly during the first quarter, the value of the deal dropped as well.

There were two oddities about this deal, though. First, with pot stocks in aggressive capacity expansion mode, the Nuuvera buyout didn't add any extra output. Rather, Aphria was merely buying the international infrastructure to move into eight new markets. It seems like a very steep price to pay in order to do so.

Perhaps even more damning is the fact that a few members of Aphria's management team disclosed stakes in Nuuvera just a day prior to the closing of the deal. This includes the CEO of Aphria, Vic Neufeld. Though it's not unheard of for the management team of one company to have a vested interest in the company that's being acquired, Wall Street and investors would sure as heck like to know about it more than a day in advance of the closing of the deal. It raises uncertainties that the Nuuvera deal may either not have been in the best interest of Aphria's long-term strategy, or that if it is a complementary business, Aphria grossly overpaid for it.

A compelling valuation with too many question marks

Should this latest report from Quintessential Capital Management be debunked, then there's little doubt that Aphria is a bargain.

Management has previously stated that the company has the potential to generate 255,000 kilograms of peak annual output, which would allow it to slide in as the third-largest grower by volume. It also has a nicely diversified product line, with a focus on high-margin cannabis oils and the ongoing construction of an extraction center that'll be geared at concentrate production. There's probably not a cheaper pot stock out there based on its annual production potential.

However, this is the second time in just over eight months that one of its deals has come under fire for potential insider ties. To boot, it's not as if Aphria is profitable on an operating basis at the moment, nor will it necessarily be profitable at any point in the near future.

As enticing as it might be from a value perspective, a wait-and-see approach is probably best for the time being.Domino's Pizza Opens First Store in Mauritius

Port Louis residents can now enjoy the Domino's delivery experience.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Dec. 3, 2018 // PRNewswire // - Domino's Pizza (NYSE: DPZ), the largest pizza company in the world based on global retail sales, is continuing its global growth momentum with the opening of its first store in Port Louis, Mauritius. This was accomplished through a partnership with local operator Island Living - the master franchisee for Mauritius.

Dominos Pizza is continuing its global growth momentum with the opening of its first store in Port Louis, Mauritius.

"We are delighted to bring Domino's to Mauritius, as it is the world's leading pizza brand," said Richard S. Stedman, chief executive officer of Island Living. "We are committed to winning the hearts and minds of those in the community with our freshly-made hand-tossed pizza, using only high-quality ingredients. We look forward to serving customers in-store, through carry out and via delivery using Domino's world-class online ordering system."

Domino's is on a mission to bring the great pizza and excellent customer service of a renowned international brand to neighborhoods throughout Mauritius. The first location is in the center of Port Louis - Mauritius' capital city - and features the new pizza theater design with an inviting and authentic interior, spacious seating, a kid's corner, as well as a front row seat to watch all the action of pizza-making. A second location will open later this year in the heart of the Beau Bassin community - a great food hub for Mauritians.

"Establishing ourselves in Mauritius provides an excellent opportunity for our brand to continue growing globally," said Joe Jordan, executive vice president of Domino's International. "Domino's, partnering with Richard and the Island Living team, has terrific potential to offer an unmatched pizza experience to the people of Mauritius."

Domino's now operates in more than 85 markets worldwide, with more than half of its global retail sales coming from international stores.

About Domino's Pizza

Founded in 1960, Domino's Pizza is the largest pizza company in the world based on global retail sales, with a significant business in both delivery and carryout pizza. It ranks among the world's top public restaurant brands with a global enterprise of over 15,300 stores in over 85 markets. Domino's had global retail sales of over $12.2 billion in 2017, with more than $5.9 billion in the U.S. and more than $6.3 billion internationally. In the third quarter of 2018, Domino's had global retail sales of nearly $3.1 billion, with over $1.5 billion in the U.S. and nearly $1.6 billion internationally. Its system is comprised of independent franchise owners who accounted for over 97% of Domino's stores as of the third quarter of 2018. Emphasis on technology innovation helped Domino's achieve more than half of all global retail sales in 2017 from digital channels, primarily online ordering and mobile applications. In the U.S., Domino's generates over 60% of sales via digital channels and has produced several innovative ordering platforms, including Google Home, Facebook Messenger, Apple Watch, Amazon Echo, Twitter and text message using a pizza emoji. In late 2017, Domino's began an industry-first test of self-driving vehicle delivery with Ford Motor Company - and in April 2018, launched Domino's HotSpots, featuring over 200,000 non-traditional delivery locations including parks, beaches, local landmarks and other unique gathering spots.

Order - dominos.com

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DisqusMetro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 3)  The left-leaning Makabayan bloc is planning to file a case against military officials for accusing ACT Teachers Partylist Representative France Castro of being a member of the New People's Army (NPA).

Anakpawis Partylist Representative Ariel Casilao said they plan to file the case before the Office of the Ombudsman.

"We will file a case sa (before the) Ombudsman for the military. This statement, this very dangerous and baseless statement, hindi pe-pwedeng palampasin ito eh (it cannot be disregarded)," Casilao said.

Castro, meanwhile, condemned Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff General Carlito Galvez's claim that she's an NPA member, saying the allegation puts her life in danger because the military goes after those whom they suspect to have communist links.

"Kinukundena ko ang statement na ito ni Galvez dahil ito ay magbibigay ng danger sa aking buhay," Castro said.

"Hindi ako miyembro ng NPA, Galvez, nililinaw ko lang sayo. Kung may mangyari sa akin, I will hold you accountable," the lawmaker added.

(Translation: I'm condemning Galvez's statement because it endangers my life. I am not an NPA member, Galvez. I'm clarifying it for you. I will hold you accountable if something happened to me.)

Martial law extension

The Makabayan bloc is also opposing AFP's recommendation to extend martial law in mindanao for another year.

Bayan Muna Partylist Representative Carlos Isagani Zarate warned that putting the military in control of Mindanao much longer will lead to more human rights abuses.

Extending martial law anew might embolden the AFP to ask President Rodrigo Duterte to widen its scope nationwide, Zarate warned.

"Malinaw na itong panukala na i-extend na naman ang martial law sa Mindanao, ito ay magbubunsod ng mas marami pang paglabag sa karapatang pantao. At sa katunayan, kung papabayaan natin ang militar at pulis, hindi na lang Mindanao ang gusto nilang ilagay sa batas militar kundi ang buong bansa na," Zarate said.

(Translation: It's clear that this recommendation to extend martial law in Mindanao will create more human rights violations. In fact, if we allow the military and police, they would place not only Mindanao, but the entire country under martial law.)

He cited the recent detention of Castro and former congressman Satur Ocampo for alleged kidnapping and human trafficking as proof that the military is abusing martial law.

Castro, Ocampo and 16 others were detained in Davao del Norte last week after 14 minors were found in their convoy. The activists denied the allegation, saying they were rescuing the minors from alleged military harassment. The police, however, claimed the children were taken without their parents' consent.Hundreds of people attended the public hearing at the Galveston Island Convention Center. The meeting was the first and only public hearing scheduled to be held on the island during the public comment period for the corps barrier plan.A battle of giants in the Namibian wilderness. Such a phrase gives the impression of an astonishing fight between two African mammals, and this is exactly what tourists were able to witness when they visited the Erindi Private Game Reserve, located in the south-east of Omaruru in Namibia.

In the ring, we have an elephant and a hippopotamus. Will there be a KO?

Calmly grazing away

You should never disturb a mastodon when theyre eating! Apparently, the male elephant, that was filmed by a group of visitors, definitely didnt expect to be interrupted mid-meal. While he was calmly grazing away on the grass a few meters from a herd of hippos, he suddenly stopped when one of the females approached him. And Madame Hippo, who didnt seem to want to pick a fight with the elephant, wasnt very well received. What bad luck!

For no apparent reason, the male charged at the hippo mother that only weighed about a tonne and a half, which was nothing in comparison to the elephant that weighed around 5 tonnes!

He then flipped her off the ground using just the power of his trunk and she went flying into the air. However, the hippo wasnt going to stand for that and got back up to defend her young that wasnt far away. Despite the violence of the fight, the female hippopotamus left with just a few cuts but definitely a bruised ego.

Not as zen as the hippo

Its worth mentioning as well that this herbivore isnt known for its vulnerability, nor its friendly nature. After the elephant and the rhino, the hippo is the 3rd heaviest land mammal on the planet and it can be very aggressive. And thats not forgetting the impressive canines that measure 50cm long and are able to run at 45km/h (around 30mph). They are very territorial and are able to fight to the death. In Africa, they are even considered the most dangerous animal.Lenovo introduces its ThinkShield solution to keep businesses secure News oi-Vishal Kawadkar Lenovo brings an end-to-end approach to safeguard business devices.

Lenovo, at an event in Delhi, launched ThinkShield - an end to end approach to securing business devices, data, online presence and identity throughout their lifecycle.

ThinkShield is basically a suite that claims to offer physical endpoint protection to a trusted supplier program and transparent supply chain management. It comes with features that are incorporated to deep levels to provide a high level of security for businesses.

The company has partnered with Bufferzone, Coronet, and Absolute to empower IT administrators and end users to secure their identity and data while being online. To get these ThinkShield solutions, users need to have Lenovo ThinkPads, ThinkCenteres, and ThinkStations that were launched in April 2018, and beyond.

The new suite features ThinkPad Privacy Guard security screens and industry-first webcam shutters. The company's strategic partnership with Intel has enabled them to align with the Intel Transparent Supply Chain, which allows customers to locate the source of each component of their new system.

A founding member of FIDO, Lenovo also offers the industry's first and only FIDO certified authenticators-plus match-on-chip fingerprint technology-to give companies safer, easier ways to protect their employees' identities.

The integration with Intel Authenticate offers high security and flexibility with up to 7 authentication factors. Its BIOS-based Smart USB protection allows IT professionals to configure USB ports to respond only to keyboards and pointing devices, keeping employees' PCs safer.

For users' online security, Lenovo's WiFi Security, in collaboration with Coronet, notifies users and detect threats when they are about to connect to unsafe wireless networks. The system uses the BUFFERZONE technology that isolates online threats before the whole organization falls prey to malware.

Rohit Midha, Director, Commercial Named Accounts, Lenovo India, says, "While Indian enterprises and SMEs are installing ThinkPads, ThinkCentres, and ThinkStations at their workplace, we wish to empower them for a smarter and more efficient workplace through Intelligent Transformation. With more than 75% organizations experiencing phishing attacks in today's hyper-connected world, we are dedicated to securing employee device lifecycle, data, identity, and their online presence. We are continuously improving ThinkShield via our in-house R&D innovation, secure processes and deeper partnerships to foster innovations that are changing businesses today."

Best Mobiles in India

Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow NotificationsGoogle Pixel 3 gets eSIM support in India with Jio, Airtel News oi-Abhinaya Prabhu Pixel 3 will soon get eSIM support in India.

Recently, Google announced that it is bringing the eSIM support for Pixel 3 with the support of more carriers all over the world. In India, Reliance Jio and Airtel will provide the eSIM support for the latest Pixel smartphone.

Google pioneered the eSIM technology with its yesteryear model - Pixel 2. Soon, it is expected to become common among several Android smartphones, Wear OS smartwatches and Chromebooks.

A couple of months back, Apple bet Google and introduced the eSIM support for its iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR and Apple Watch. Even Apple made this possible with Reliance Jio and Airtel. As of now, only these telcos provide eSIM technology in the country. Vodafone Idea and BSNL users cannot enjoy the benefit as of now.

eSIM support coming soon

Though Google announced the eSIM support for the Pixel 3, it hasn't mentioned any specific time we can expect the same. It was announced that this support will be brought in the coming months. However, users of Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL in Germany are likely to get this support soon.

In its official blog post, Kerrie Lenhart Hogan, Director, Partnerships at Google stated: "If you're in Germany, look out for the ability to purchase Pixel 3 with eSIM functionality from Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone soon."

With the support for eSIM, the company states that it can offer a consistent and simple experience to the users across the ecosystem. It added that they are creating a programme, which will allow Android device makers build eSIM capable smartphones in the future. Notably, Google is touted to be the first major smartphone maker to support inbuilt eSIMs with the Project Fi support.

Google Pixel 3 price in India

Google Pixel 3 was launched in two variants - a base variant with 64GB storage space and a high-end variant with 128GB storage space. These models are priced at Rs. 71,000 and Rs. 80,000 in the country. On the other hand, the Pixel 3 XL is available in 64GB and 128GB variants and is priced at Rs. 83,000 and Rs. 92,000 respectively.

Best Mobiles in India

Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow NotificationsLenovo Z5s launch confirmed for December 6, with in-display camera and more News oi-Karan Sharma Lenovo has confirmed that it is going to launch its Z5s smartphone on December 6 with an in-display front camera, triple rear cameras and more.

There are many smartphone manufacturers who are gearing up to launch their new devices this month. Lenovo is also planning introduced a new smartphone before the end this month. The company is holding a launch event on December 6, where it is going to unveil the Lenovo Z5s. Lenovo has confirmed the launch information by posting an invite on Weibo. The USP of the smartphone will be its in-display front camera.

According to reports, the Lenovo Z5s is said to come with the on-screen camera sensor. But this one will not like the one which is going to come with Samsung Galaxy A8s and Huawei Nova 4. The front camera sensor on both the smartphones is placed on the top-left corner. The Lenovo Z5s will have it on the corner where the notification bar appears.

One the optical front, the smartphone is said to sport triple rear camera sensors placed vertically. Lenovo Z5s already received the 3C and MIIT certification in China.

According to TENAA listing, the smartphone is said to launch with a 6.3-inch display with Full HD+ resolution. The screen also carries an aspect ratio of 19.5:9. The Lenovo Z5s use an LCD display manufactured by BOE. Under the hood, the smartphone is said to be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 octa-core processor.

The smartphone will be fuelled by a 3,210mAh battery with fast charging support. On the software front, the Lenovo Z5s will come with Android 8.1 Oreo-based ZUI 10 out of the box.

Apart from Lenovo, there are other manufacturers are also planning to an introduced a new smartphone in December. Meizu is planning to launch the Meizu 16th smartphone on December 5. Samsung will announce the Galaxy A8s on December, ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M2 launch date is set on December 11. The Vivo NEX 2 is also speculated to launch on December 11. The OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition will be announced in China on December.

Best Mobiles in India

Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow NotificationsFlipkart Big Shopping Days sale: Motorola One Power receives Rs 1,000 price cut News oi-Sandeep Sarkar The discount is being offered as a part of the Flipkart Big Billion Shopping Days Sale which will be live from 6th December to 8th December 2018.

Motorola's first Android One powered smartphone the Motorola One Power had received the latest Android 9 Pie update only a few days ago. Being an Android One backed smartphone the device comes first in line to receive the timely Android updates and security patches. The American multinational had released the notes of Android Pie update on its official website and had also dedicated an upgrade page for the smartphone where the update was scheduled depending on the carrier providers and different markets.

Motorola had launched the Moto One Power with an original price tag of Rs 15,999, now; the company is offering its mid-range smartphone at a discounted price. Motorola is offering a discount of Rs 1,000 on the purchase of its Android One backed Moto One Power smartphone. This means following the discount, you can grab the Motorola One Power for Rs 14,999. The discount is being offered as a part of the Flipkart Big Billion Shopping Days Sale. The sale will go live starting December 6th and will last till 8th December 2018.

Besides, Motorola is also offering an additional 10 percent cashback for the users who will be making the purchases using HDFC Bank credit or debit cards. There will also be No Cost EMI offer available starting at Rs 2,500 per month. Also, the users will be able to exchange their old smartphones for a brand new Motorola Moto One Power smartphone.

Motorola One Power specifications and features:

The Motorola One Power adorns an elongated 6.2-inch IPS LCD display panel which has an aspect ratio of 19:9. The display offers a screen resolution of 1080 x 2246 pixels and delivers crisp and bright output. In terms of optics, the Motorola One Power packs a dual-lens rear camera module comprising of a 16MP primary lens with a f/1.8 aperture and a 5MP secondary lens with a wider f/2.0 aperture. Up front, you get a 12MP camera that captures selfies. The front camera on the Motorola One Power is also accompanied by an LED flash.

The Motorola One Power makes use of a Snapdragon 636 processor clocked at 1.8GHz and paired with an Adreno 509 GPU. The device comes with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage which can be further expanded up to 128GB via microSD card slot. The device is fuelled by a humongous 5,000 battery unit which can easily last more than a day with one single charge.

Best Mobiles in India

Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow NotificationsSamsung Galaxy S10 Plus 3D render: Could be the last premium phone with 3.5 mm headphone jack News oi-Vivek Galaxy S10 Plus is expected to debut in early 2019

The Samsung Galaxy S10 and the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus are the two flagship smartphones that every tech enthusiasts are looking forward to. The Galaxy S10 and the Galaxy S10 Plus will be the first set of "premium" flagship smartphones that might launch in early 2019.

A concept creator named Steve H.McFly has come up with a fresh set of renders for the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus, which sheds some light on the design aspect of the upcoming flagship smartphone from Samsung.

Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus design and features

The Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus will have a curved full glass sandwich design, which is similar to the Samsung Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy Note 9. Unlike the current generation flagship Galaxy smartphone, the Galaxy S10 Plus will have a radiant back, which was introduced in the recently launched Samsung Galaxy A8 Plus.

With the Galaxy S10 Plus, the company will offer up to three cameras on the back and a dual selfie camera on the front. Considering the trend, the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus will have a standard sensor with a variable aperture, a telephoto lens, and a wide-angle lens.

The Galaxy S10 Plus is expected to be the first smartphone with a camera hole on display, which is a no-notch and no bezel solution from Samsung. The smartphone will have minimal bezels across the device to offer higher screen to body ratio.

With the Galaxy S10 Plus, Samsung will feature an in-display fingerprint sensor with Face Unlock. In-display fingerprint sensor is slowly making into the mainstream, as most of the smartphone brands like Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, and OnePlus have launched a phone with the aforementioned technology.

Lastly, the bottom portion of the Samsung Galaxy S10 has a USB type C port with a dedicated 3.5 mm headphone jack. This could be the last flagship smartphone with a 3.5 mm headphone jack.

Source

Best Mobiles in India

Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow NotificationsXiaomi Poco F1 receives a massive price cut: Now available for Rs 19,999 News oi-Vivek Xiaomi Poco F1 is the most affordable smartphone with the Snapdragon 845 SoC

The Xiaomi Poco F1 is one of the best Android smartphones under Rs 30,000 price mark, which offers top of the line flagship grade internals. From SoC to the storage module, the Poco F1 does not compromise on any hardware aspect, except for the build quality. Poco India has come up with an offer, where all four iterations of the Poco F1 are now available at a much lower price on Flipkart, Mi.com, and Mi Home.

Three masterstrokes

Xiaomi or Poco India has announced three masterstrokes, where the company will unveil different offers related to the Poco F1. In the first masterstroke, the company has brought down the price of the Poco F1, and here are the complete details about the same. These limited time prices are applicable from 6th of December to the 8th of December.

On top of these price reduction, HDFC is offering flat 10% on both credit and debit cards, which will further bring down the price of the Poco F1.

New prices for the Poco F1

The Xiaomi Poco F1 with 6 GB RAM and 64 GB internal storage is available for Rs 19,999 (Originally launched for Rs 21,999).

The Xiaomi Poco F1 with 6 GB RAM and 128 GB internal storage is available for Rs 21,999 (Originally launched for Rs 24,999).

The Xiaomi Poco F1 with 8 GB RAM and 256 GB internal storage is available for Rs 25,999 (Originally launched for Rs 30,999).

The Xiaomi Poco F1 with 8 GB RAM and 256 GB internal storage is available for Rs 26,999 (Originally launched for Rs 30,999) (Armoured Edition).

Poco F1 specifications

The Xiaomi Poco F1 is the flagship smartphone from Xiaomi India, powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC with 6/8 GB of RAM and 64/128/256 GB of internal storage with a micro SD card slot for additional storage expansion.

The Poco F1 has a 6.18-inch IPS LCD (HDR 10) display with a notch design on top, which houses the front-facing camera, earpiece (acts as a secondary speaker) and an IR camera for Face Unlock. The device has a dual camera setup on the back with a 12 MP primary sensor with an f/1.9 aperture and 1.4-micron pixel size and a 5 MP depth sensor with an f/2.2 aperture. The smartphone is capable of recording 4K videos and slow-motion videos with support for other camera-centric features like portrait mode and manual mode.

The phones comes with a big 4000 mAh Li-ion battery with support for Qualcomm Quick Charge 4+ via USB type C port. The Poco F1 is one of the last flagship device with a 3.5 mm headphone jack with a dedicated DAC to improve the overall audio performance of the smartphone. The Poco F1 offers MIUI 10 OS based on Android 8.1 Oreo and is expected to receive Android 9 Pie update by the end of 2018.

Best Mobiles in India

Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow NotificationsJioGigaFiber effect: Airtel comes up with different broadband strategy News oi-Priyanka Dua Jio has already started work on connecting 50 million homes across 1,100 cities

Despite the fact Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Jio has aggressive plans for its JioGigaFiber, India's leading telecom player Bharti Airtel will only focus on premium customers in the top 100 cities, Mint reported.

"Airtel's plan is clear...to stay focused on the top 100 cities... stay focused on the high income, stay focused on high-rise buildings rather than horizontal deployment, as this business model is more economical and logical," Mint quoted a person aware of the matter.

Meanwhile, the report said that the commercial launch of Reliance Jio GigaFiber is all set to disrupt the sector in a similar way it disrupted the telecom space.

Furthermore, Jio has already started work on connecting 50 million homes across 1,100 cities and it plans to work together with Hathway and DEN to offer a quick and affordable upgrade to a world-class line-up of JioGigaFiber.

For those who are not aware research firm India Ratings estimates that at the current monthly broadband tariff of Rs.500 to Rs.600 per household, the potential market size for 50 million households could be Rs. 300 billion to Rs.360 billion, a significant portion of which could be tapped by RJio. New service offerings in the enterprise broadband segment could provide additional market opportunities.

The impact of RJio's entry in the broadband and cable business would be varied across MSOs and DTH players based on (a) their geographical diversity with regard to subscribers, (b) the relative attractiveness of the market (e.g. densely populated cities with a large number of multi-story buildings and (c) current tariffs and service offerings.

During FY19-FY20, high-density markets are likely to witness stiff competition, as the overall ecosystem is already in place for RJio to start providing its offerings. Regional players operating in third- and fourth-tier towns may not be an immediate competition threat, albeit long-term risk beyond FY20 remains.

Best Mobiles in India

Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow NotificationsBritain warns Russia not to underestimate its intelligence capability

Iran Press TV

Mon Dec 3, 2018 02:29PM

The head of Britain's MI6 intelligence service, which is focused on foreign security threats, has warned Russia that it should not underestimate London's ability to deal with complicated sabotage cases, saying that the country is launching a new generation of espionage activities that could take the adversaries by surprise.

Alex Younger said in a speech to students at the University of St Andrews, in Scotland, on Monday that Britain and allies were not willing to allow Russia to believe that it can easily launch sabotage activities in the country.

"Russia or any other state intent on subverting our way of life not to underestimate our determination and our capabilities, or those of our allies," said Younger, adding that countries like Russia who regard themselves as being in a state of "perpetual confrontation" with the UK posed serious threats to the country.

Since March, Russia and Britain have been locked in a dispute over an alleged attack on a former Russian double spy in the southern English city of Salisbury. London believes Russia's military intelligence service GRU targeted Segei Skripal and his daughter.

Russia says the case was a fabrication by MI6 to enable the British government to pile more pressure on Russia and to undermine efforts for normalization of West-Moscow ties amid a conflict in Ukraine.

Younger said that MI6 played a huge role in exposing the poisoning attack on Skripals while it coordinated the expulsion of Russian diplomats over the case.

The top British spy said that in response to increasing threats from Russia and other countries, Britain was developing a "fourth generation" of espionage that was far more sophisticated in nature and used modern methods of spying on other nations.

"The era of the fourth industrial revolution calls for a fourth generation of espionage: fusing our traditional human skills with accelerated innovation, new partnerships and a mindset that mobilizes diversity and empowers the young," he said.

Further elaborating, Younger, who has led MI6 for the past four years, said the secret intelligence service was looking to recruit from the youth with different ethnic and religious backgrounds.

"I want to speak to young people who have never seen themselves in MI6," said Younger, adding, "It doesn't matter where you are from. If you want to make a difference and you think you might have what it takes, then the chances are that you do have what it takes, and we hope you will step forward."

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Czech Spy Agency Blames Russia For Cyberattacks On Foreign Ministry, Diplomats

December 03, 2018

The Czech spy agency said it is "obvious" that Russia was behind two recent cyberattack campaigns against the Foreign Ministry and the country's diplomats.

The agency, known as the BIS, said in its annual report on December 3 that the cyberattacks were part of the most serious wave of cyberespionage to target the Czech Republic.

It says 150 e-mail accounts were hacked in an attack by the Russian state that began in early 2016 and was not discovered until 2017.

It also says a separate Russian cyberattack began in December 2016.

The BIS report concludes that the attacks were part of the Turla malware campaign by Russia's FSB intelligence agency and the APT28 or "Fancy Bear" campaign by Russia's GRU military intelligence agency.

Other European countries have faced similar attacks.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said his government will discuss the agency's conclusions in January.

Based on reporting by AP and Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/czech-spy-agency- blames-russia-for-cyberattacks-on-foreign-ministry -diplomats/29634882.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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British Spy Chief Warns Russia Against Covert Activity After Nerve-Agent Attack

By RFE/RL December 03, 2018

The head of Britain's foreign intelligence service has warned the Kremlin "not to underestimate" the West following a nerve-agent attack on a retired double agent in England that he attributed to covert Russian activity.

Alex Younger, head of the Secret Intelligence Service known as MI6, made the remarks on December 3 in a rare public speech, saying that Russia was in a state of "perpetual confrontation" with Britain and the West.

The speech comes at a time of heightened tensions between the West and Russia over issues including Moscow's aggression in Ukraine, its alleged election meddling in the United States and Europe, massive international cyberattacks, and the poisoning of Russian former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in the city of Salisbury in March.

The Skripals survived the poisoning, in which a Soviet-made military nerve agent known as Novichok was used.

Russia has repeatedly denied evidence that its agents were behind the attack and accused British intelligence agencies of staging the attack to stoke anti-Russian hysteria.

Two other British citizens were exposed to the nerve agent in June, apparently by accident; one of them, Dawn Sturgess, died.

Addressing students at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, Younger said the Russian state "used a military-grade chemical weapon on U.K. soil."

"Our intention is for the Russian state to conclude that, whatever the benefits it thinks it is accruing from this activity, they are not worth the risk," he added.

Younger urged "Russia or any other state intent on subverting our way of life not to underestimate our determination and our capabilities, or those of our allies."

The expulsion of Russian diplomats from Britain and its allies following the Novichok poisoning in Salisbury had significantly reduced Russian intelligence capability, Younger said, emphasizing that "even as the Russian state seeks to destabilize us, we do not seek to destabilize Russia. We do not seek escalation."

The Russian Embassy in London rejected Younger's "unsubstantiated claims," which it said "sow a false atmosphere of fear and mistrust in British society," according to the Interfax news agency.

"It is only official London which is in constant confrontation with Russia, and at its own initiative," the embassy added.

In his speech, the MI6 chief also said that Britain's spies had thwarted multiple Islamic State (IS) plots originating overseas and that the country will fortify its intelligence ties with European counterparts even though the country is leaving the European Union next year.

In the most recent incident involving Britain and Russia, British Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson last week called on the public to report suspicious activity near army sites after a Russian TV crew prompted an alert at a highly sensitive military facility.

Williamson in October accused Russia of acting like a "pariah state," whose "reckless and indiscriminate" attacks had left it isolated in the international community.

And in an interview last month, the head of the British Army, General Mark Carleton-Smith, described Russia as a "far greater threat" to Britain's national security than Islamic terrorist groups such as the IS.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, the BBC, and AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/british- spy-chief-warns-russia-against -covert-activity-after-nerve- agent-attack/29634851.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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Luke AFB stands up new F-35A lightning II fighter squadron

By Airman 1st Class Aspen Reid, 56th Fighter Wing / Published December 03, 2018

LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. (AFNS) -- The 308th Fighter Squadron was reactivated in a ceremony at Luke Air Force Base, Nov. 30. The squadron will house the Royal Netherlands Air Force's and the Royal Danish Air Force's F-35A Lightning IIs, in a training partnership.

With Lt. Col. Robert Miller assuming command, the fighter squadron is scheduled to begin operations in December 2018.

"It's bittersweet to leave the 62nd FS, but fortunately I'll continue to fly and instruct at the 308th FS," Miller said.

Throughout the next two years, the Dutch and the Danish air forces will be sending their jets to populate the squadron and help Luke AFB's mission of training the world's greatest fighter pilots.

"The 308th FS is the fourth F-35 squadron at Luke, but the most important part of this activation is that we will be with two partner nations," said Miller. "In a few weeks, the Dutch will start their F-35 training followed by the Danes."

Before final arrangements were made, Lt. Gen. Dennis Luyt, Royal Netherlands Air Force commander, paid Luke AFB a visit. During the visit he was given a tour of the base and of the Academic Training Center where all of the F-35 pilots learn how to fly.

After thorough examination of the training facilities, Dutch air force members were given a walk-through of the new fighter squadron building.

Under Miller's watch, the 308th FS's goal is to train as efficiently as the rest of Luke AFB's fighter squadrons.

"As we stand up the 308th FS we will emulate the 62nd FS nation to the best of our ability," said Miller. "In time, we'll challenge to be the best F-35 organization."

Miller said challenging the status quo is the mindset at Luke AFB.

"The trust that we build at Luke with our partners is critical to our success on the battle field. The opportunity to train, learn and be together is unparalleled elsewhere," said Miller. "We are changing the way our Air Force and other nations prepare for war."

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Saudi airstrike kills 3 civilians in northern Yemen

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, Dec 3, IRNA -- Three civilians were killed in Saudi air attack on Saada Province, northern Yemen, Yemeni TV Channel 'Al-Masirah' reported.

Saudi choppers targeted Qamael and Baqim districts in Saada Province on Sunday evening, according to Yemeni media.

Meanwhile in another air attack on a car in Baqim District a civilian was killed.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating military campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the aim of bringing the government of Mansour Hadi back to power and crushing the country's Houthi Ansarullah Movement.

Some 16,000 Yemenis have been killed and thousands more injured since the onset of the Saudi-led aggression.

The assaults of the Saudi-led coalition forces have failed to stop the Yemenis from resisting the aggression.

Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in a message slammed the US complicity in war against Syria and Yemen.

'Complicity in Saudi & UAE war crimes with arms, intel & logistical support apparently not enough. The US also proliferating advanced weapons to extremists, incl Al Qaida & ISIS. First Syria; now in Yemen. Aim: Permanent instability to justify heinous policy,' Zarif said in a tweet.

9376**1771

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NATO Foreign Ministers to address key security challenges

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

03 Dec. 2018

NATO Foreign Ministers are meeting this week to address a wide range of security challenges, including Russia's destabilising behaviour, violent extremism in the Middle East and North Africa and continuing instability in Afghanistan.

On Tuesday (4 December 2018), Allies will meet with two of NATO's closest partners, Georgia and Ukraine. "They both face serious security challenges from Russia, and we will continue to give both countries practical and political support," said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. In view of Russia's use of military force against Ukraine near the Sea of Azov, NATO Allies have called on Russia to release the Ukrainian sailors and ships it seized, and to allow freedom of navigation and unhindered access to Ukrainian ports.

NATO Foreign Ministers will also discuss the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. "This Treaty eliminated an entire category of weapons, but it has been put in jeopardy by Russia," said the Secretary General. He noted that Russia has developed, produced and deployed a new missile, which "could reach European cities with little or no warning." Mr. Stoltenberg added that the United States is in full compliance with the INF Treaty. "There are no new US missiles in Europe, but there are new Russian missiles," he said.

Ministers will hold a separate session on challenges coming from the Middle East and North Africa. They are expected to discuss NATO's support to partners in the region. "We will discuss Iraq, where we are helping train local forces, and our experts are helping set up defence education facilities," said the Secretary General.

On Wednesday (5 December), NATO Foreign Ministers will hold a meeting on the Western Balkans, joined by European Union High Representative Federica Mogherini. They will discuss Skopje's progress towards NATO membership and the next steps in developing the Alliance's relationship with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ministers are expected to endorse NATO's readiness to accept Bosnia's first Annual National Programme. "This is an important tool, which can help the country implement political, economic and defence reforms," said Mr. Stoltenberg.

The Ministerial will conclude with a meeting of all nations contributing to the Resolute Support training mission in Afghanistan. "We must continue to ensure that the country never again becomes a safe haven for international terrorists," said the Secretary General. He noted that NATO has stepped up its support to Afghanistan, with more forces and funding.



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USS Thomas Hudner brought to life in Boston

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS181203-14

Release Date: 12/3/2018 3:37:00 PM

From Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet Public Affairs

Boston, Mass. (NNS) -- The Navy commissioned its newest surface combatant, USS Thomas Hudner (DDG 116), Dec. 1 during a ceremony in Boston.

Thomas Hudner, commanded by Cmdr. Nathan Scherry, a Peculiar, Missouri native, is the 66th Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, and the 36th DDG 51 class destroyer built by General Dynamics Bath Iron Works (BIW). It is the first warship named for naval aviator and Medal of Honor recipient Capt. Thomas J. Hudner, Jr.

Capt. Hudner, a native of Fall River, Massachusetts, received the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions during the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir in 1950. Hudner crash landed his plane in a selfless effort to save the life of his wingman and friend, Ensign Jesse Brown, the Navy's first African American aircraft carrier qualified naval aviator.

Among the distinguished guests and speakers at the commissioning, Thomas Hudner III, son of Capt. Hudner, gave a speech about his father's life and legacy.

"While many would say that my father's actions were an extraordinary act, my father never thought of himself or that action as extraordinary," said Hudner. "To the contrary, when he was asked through the years why he did what he did, he responded simply that it was the right thing to do and if he hadn't acted, someone else would have. Throughout military history there have been countless acts of unselfish heroism, in fact the history of the United States has been built upon these acts many of which went unseen and without recognition. However, it was Capt. Hudner's unselfish act in the service of his country, the United States Navy, and his friend and squadron mate that lives in the spirit of this ship."

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker delivered the principal address at the ceremony which was attended by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford, Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer, Mayor of Boston Martin Walsh, Congressman from Massachusetts 8th Congressional District Stephen Lynch, Vice Chief of Naval Operations Admiral William Moran, and others.

"Simply put, life was never about Tom Hudner," said Baker. "He was the consummate team player. The only way a person would know anything about what took place on that mountain top during the Korean War would have been to hear from someone else or to have read about it because he never talked about that day. It is my fervent hope that this ship is imbued with the humility, selflessness, patriotism, the commitment to one another, the kindness and decency that transcends our differences that made Tom so special."

The ship's sponsors, Mrs. Georgea Hudner, wife of Capt. Hudner, and Mrs. Barbara Miller, former Co-Chair of the Flag Officer Spouse Training, gave the traditional order to "Man this ship and bring her to life," signaling the Sailors to embark and officially begin service as a U.S. Navy ship.

For the ship's crew, the day was the culmination of a few years of work to get USS Thomas Hudner prepared for commissioning. The day was a special opportunity to bring the ship to life in Boston, where the legacies of great ships and great people are kept and revered.

In fall of 2015, the keel of Thomas Hudner was laid down. The ship was christened on April 1, 2017 during a snowy ceremony at the BIW Shipyard in Bath, Maine and launched several weeks later on April 23.

Next, the ship will make her way to homeport in Mayport, Florida.

Arleigh Burke (DDG 51 class) class destroyers are highly-capable, multi-mission ships that conduct a variety of operations, from peacetime presence to national security. These DDGs provide a wide range of warfighting capabilities in multi-threat air, surface, and subsurface environments. The ship's Integrated Air and Missile Defense radar will provide increased computing power and radar upgrades that improve detection and reaction capabilities against modern air warfare threats, as well as ballistic missile defense. The Aegis Combat System will enable the ship to link radars with other ships and aircraft to provide a composite picture of the battle space, and effectively increase the theater space. New ships in this class, such as Thomas Hudner, have anti-ballistic missile capabilities as well. The DDG's all-steel construction provides a survivable platform.

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USS Detroit Begins Operational Testing of LCS Surface-to-Surface Missile Module

Navy News Service

Story Number: NNS181203-03

Release Date: 12/3/2018 10:56:00 AM

From Program Executive Office Unmanned and Small Combatants Public Affairs

NORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- USS Detroit (LCS 7) began initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) of the Surface-to-Surface Missile Module (SSMM) Nov. 17, two months ahead of schedule.

The SSMM is the newest addition to the Littoral Combat Ship Surface Warfare Mission Package, designed to counter potential swarms of attacking armed small craft. The Navy's Program Executive Office for Unmanned and Small Combatants accelerated the package's operational testing following successful developmental and integrated testing off the coast of Virginia from July through November. The test and evaluation plan involves two fast inshore attack craft raid events that utilize the SSMM and Gun Mission Module (GMM), consisting of two 30mm guns, and 57mm weapons systems. IOT&E completion is planned for early 2019. The test and evaluation regime is the next step toward declaring Initial Operational Capability and fielding the SSMM with the Surface Warfare Mission Package. Included in the SSMM, are 24 Longbow Hellfire missiles, Gun Mission Module (GMM), Maritime Security Module, containing two 11-meter rigid hull inflatable boats, and the Aviation Mission Module, including an MH-60R Seahawk helicopter and a Vertical Take-Off Unmanned Air Vehicle, and was designed to complement the ship's organic weaponry to counter small-boat swarming threats and provide a visit, board, search and seizure capability.

The Gun Mission Module, Maritime Security Module, and Aviation Mission Module all achieved initial operational capability in November 2014 and have embarked on multiple deployments on both Freedom and Independence LCS variants, providing much-needed visit, board, search, and seizure and small boat defense capabilities in the dynamic and congested sea lanes, straits and archipelagos of South and Southeast Asia.

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Israel increased airstrikes, abductions, demolitions in November: PLO report

Iran Press TV

Mon Dec 3, 2018 06:35PM

There has been an escalation of Israel's aerial aggression against the besieged Gaza Strip, Israeli soldiers' attacks against Palestinians across the occupied territories, demolitions of Palestinians' properties in the West Bank, and abductions, a PLO report says.

According to a report by the International Relations Department in the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), cited by the Palestinian Ma'an news agency on Monday, a total of 24 Palestinians were killed and 232 others sustained wounds during attacks by Israeli troops in the month f November.

The report added that of the 21 Palestinians lost their lives in the blockaded sliver and the rest had been killed in the occupied West Bank.

It further said that the Israeli troopers shot dead seven Palestinians during a military attack in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, while another eight lost their lives during three-day-long airstrikes conducted by Israeli fighter jets in the impoverished enclave.

The remaining six Palestinian succumbed to their wounds received during protest rallies along a border fence, which separates Gaza from the occupied territories, where most of the injuries were sustained either from live ammunition or tear-gas inhalation, it added.

The report went on to say that three more Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli troops during alleged stabbing or car-ramming attacks against Israeli soldiers in the West Bank.

The report continued that Israeli army nabbed more than 260 Palestinians last month, mostly minors, adding that Adnan Ghaith, the Palestinian governor of Jerusalem al-Quds, and many activists of the Palestinian Fatah movement had been among those abducted.

Elsewhere in the report, the International Relations Department in the PLO said that Israeli authorities had also demolished dozens of Palestinian buildings, including 16 shops and a four-story building with 12 apartments in Shufat refugee camp in East Jerusalem al-Quds.

It added that Israeli authorities also demolished several other buildings and Palestinian-owned structures in different neighborhoods of East Jerusalem al-Quds as well as in Area C of the West Bank.

Furthermore, Israeli settlers uprooted and cut down a number of trees in the West Bank, mainly olive ones, which are a main source of livelihood for Palestinians, in November.

The Israeli military also ordered Palestinian farmers to uproot at least 260 olive trees in the village of Bardala, in the northern Jordan Valley, and seized 500 palm trees in Ariha (Jericho).

Tensions have been running high near the Gaza fence since March 30, which marked the start of a series of protests, dubbed "The Great March of Return," demanding the right to return for those driven out of their homeland.

The Gaza clashes reached their peak on May 14, the eve of the 70th anniversary of Nakba Day (Day of Catastrophe), which coincided this year with the US embassy relocation from Tel Aviv to occupied Jerusalem al-Quds.

More than 240 Palestinians have lost their lives and over 23,000 others sustained injuries by Israeli live fire during the protests since March 30

The territory has been under an Israeli siege since June 2007. The blockade has caused a decline in living standards as well as unprecedented unemployment and poverty.

Israel has also launched several wars on the Palestinian sliver, the last of which began in early July 2014 and ended in late August the same year. The Israeli military aggression killed nearly 2,200 Palestinians and injured over 11,100 others.

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Halting arms exports to aggressors facilitates Yemen peace: Iran

Iran Press TV

Mon Dec 3, 2018 04:11PM

Iran's Foreign Ministry says halting arms exports to parties involved in the aggression against Yemen will facilitate the achievement of peace in the war-torn country as belligerent sides are heading for renewed UN-brokered peace talks in Sweden.

In a statement on Monday, the ministry offered its support for the forthcoming Yemen peace talks while urging the international community to play a "key and serious" role, including by exerting pressure on the exporters of arms to the aggressors in order to "facilitate the peace process in Yemen."

Reiterating that the Yemeni people must be allowed to decide their country's fate free from the outsiders' interference, the statement said, "There is no way out of the Yemen crisis other than a political solution based on Yemeni-Yemeni talks."

Iran's Foreign Ministry called on all Yemeni sides to have "constructive and responsible" participation in the peace talks with the goal of putting an end to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

It also urged "all the Yemeni sides to take trust-building measures, preparing the ground for achieving a comprehensive agreement to put an end to the suffering of Yemenis and the brutal blockage imposed on them."

The statement pointed to the Islamic Republic's comprehensive four-point peace plan presented at the onset of the brutal aggression on Yemen to resolve the crisis, noting that the four-point plan included an immediate cessation of war, delivery of humanitarian aid, beginning of Yemeni-Yemeni talks, and the establishment of an all-inclusive government in Yemen.

In April 2015, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif submitted a letter on a four-point peace plan for Yemen to the United Nations in an attempt to end the bloodshed in the Arab country.

In a post on his official Twitter account on Friday, Zarif once again assessed the viability of putting an end to the ongoing Saudi-led crisis in Yemen only through the Islamic Republic's four-point plan.

"Today, after untold human suffering & war crimes by the Saudi coalition & its U.S. accomplices, & efforts to whitewash their crimes with absurd allegations against Iran, our four-point plan still remains the only viable option," the top Iranian diplomat said.

Elsewhere in the statement, the Iranian Foreign Ministry reiterated that the warmongers have not achieved any of their political and hegemonic goals after four years of the bitter war and destructive aggression against Yemeni people.

"The campaign has only led to the collapse of economic resources and infrastructures of Yemen, deaths of thousands of women and children and other oppressed but resilient people of Yemen and a total humanitarian catastrophe in the country," it said.

The ministry expressed its readiness to establish cooperation with the international community to immediately resolve the ongoing crisis in Yemen.

It also underlined the necessity of facilitating the process of delivering humanitarian aid to Yemen, saying, "It is the world's historic responsibility today to make efforts to end humanitarian crisis and catastrophe in the Arab country."

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating military campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the aim of bringing the government of former Yemeni president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, back to power and crushing the country's Houthi Ansarullah movement.

According to a new report by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, the Saudi-led war has so far claimed the lives of around 56,000 Yemenis.

The Saudi-led war has also taken a heavy toll on the country's infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. The UN has already said that a record 22.2 million Yemenis are in dire need of food, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger. According to the world body, Yemen is suffering from the most severe famine in more than 100 years.

A number of Western countries -- the US, France and Britain in particular -- are also accused of being complicit in the ongoing aggression as they supply the Riyadh regime with advanced weapons and military equipment as well as logistical and intelligence assistance.

The United States will continue backing the Saudi-led war on Yemen, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Saturday, despite a humanitarian crisis in the impoverished country and the global outrage aimed at Saudi Arabia in the wake of the murder of dissident journalist and The Washington Post columnist, Jamal Khashoggi, at the Saudi consulate in Turkey last month.

"The program that we're involved in today we intend to continue," Pompeo said, speaking from a Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires.

Yet, he acknowledged that the crisis in Yemen has reached "epic proportions."

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Saudi-led coalition continues to use banned munitions in Yemen: Military official

Iran Press TV

Mon Dec 3, 2018 03:55PM

The spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces says the Saudi-led military coalition continues to use internationally-banned weapons, particularly cluster bombs, in its aerial bombardment of residential neighborhoods in Yemen despite a global outcry against the use of such munitions by Saudi Arabia and its allies.

Speaking at a press conference in the capital city of Sana'a on Monday, Brigadier General Yahya Saree stated that the Saudi-led military alliance has carried out 350 air raids across Yemen, notably in the mountainous northwestern province of Sa'ada and the western coastal province of Hudaydah, over the past ten days.

He added that the assaults have resulted in the death and injury of dozens of civilians, and destroyed a number of houses  especially in the province of Hudaydah.

Saree further noted that the Saudi-led airstrikes have focused on the eastern and southern neighborhoods of Hudaydah city, causing considerable damage to factories and warehouses.

The senior Yemeni military official went on to say that the Saudi Arabia and its allies continue to target citizens with cluster bombs and internationally-banned arms in the northern province of Sa'ada and Hajjah, leaving 1,124 people dead and 1,665 others wounded.

Saree pointed out that most of the victims are children, and that most of the cluster bombs are made in American.

He said Yemeni army soldiers and allied fighters from Popular Committees have managed to thwart more than 50 border incursions over the past 10 days.

Later on Monday, four civilians lost their lives and nine others sustained injuries when Saudi-led warplanes targeted a vehicle as it was travelling along a road in the Rabaq area of Kitaf wa al-Boqe'e district in Sa'ada province.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating military campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the aim of bringing the government of former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing the country's Houthi Ansarullah movement.

According to a new report by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, the Saudi-led war has so far claimed the lives of around 56,000 Yemenis.

The Saudi-led war has also taken a heavy toll on the country's infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. The UN has already said that a record 22.2 million Yemenis are in dire need of food, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger. According to the world body, Yemen is suffering from the most severe famine in more than 100 years.

A number of Western countries, the US and Britain in particular, are also accused of being complicit in the ongoing aggression as they supply the Riyadh regime with advanced weapons and military equipment as well as logistical and intelligence assistance.

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In surprise move, Qatar says to quit OPEC in Jan.

Iran Press TV

Mon Dec 3, 2018 02:25PM

Qatar in a surprise announcement says it will leave the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) next month in a move that appears to have been meant to take a swipe at the group's de factor leader Saudi Arabia.

Saad al-Kaabi, Qatar's energy minister, told reporters in a news conference that Doha had informed OPEC about its decision on Monday morning.

Kaabi denied speculations that quitting OPEC was linked to the country's feud with Saudi Arabia and its allies.

The decision was "technical and strategic" and had "nothing to do with the blockade," he said.

In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, and Egypt severed diplomatic relations with Qatar, in a scheme generally believed to have been orchestrated by Riyadh. The four countries accused Qatar of sponsoring "terrorism" and destabilizing the region, an allegation strongly denied by Doha.

Several African countries have also broken ties with Qatar in support for the Saudi-led quartet.

Kaabi further emphasized that Qatar would continue to produce oil and seek deals in countries including Latin America's top oil producer Brazil.

Saudi Arabia, the United States and Russia are the biggest producers in OPEC "so is it really worth it to someone like Qatar to go to Vienna to meet with someone who will lead the meeting and who is your enemy?" Thierry Bros, a researcher with the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, was quoted as saying by AFP.

"In the end, perhaps you can do without it."

Kaabi said gas production would remain the top priority for Qatar, which is the world's the biggest exporter of liquified natural gas (LNG).

"We don't have great potential (in oil), we are very realistic," said Kaabi, who described himself as "Mr Gas" during the conference. "Our potential is gas.

"I think it's inefficient to focus on something that's not your core business and something that's not going to benefit you long-term."

In September, Qatar announced it planned to boost gas production to 110 million tonnes per year by 2024.

Qatar's oil production is around 600,000 barrels per day and it is the world's 17th largest producer of crude oil, according to specialist website, world data.info.

Doha's announcement came as OPEC is preparing to meet in Vienna later this week to discuss market policies and prices.

Kaabi said he would attend the meeting which he emphasized would be his "first and last" as energy minister.

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Nigeria's president rejects rumors of his death

Iran Press TV

Mon Dec 3, 2018 07:47AM

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has denied claims spread on social media that he has died and been replaced by a double.

"It's real me, I assure you. I will soon celebrate my 76th birthday and I will still go strong," Buhari told fellow Nigerians at a town hall gathering in Poland, where he was attending a conference.

It was widely rumored on videos posted on YouTube and Facebook that Buhari, who had spent five months in Britain last year being treated for an undisclosed illness, had died and been replaced by a lookalike from Sudan named "Jubril."

"A lot of people hoped that I died during my ill health," he said, adding that those who spread the rumor were "ignorant and irreligious."

Meanwhile, Takfiri militancy persists as a main security issue in the country. Attacks by the once-weakened Boko Haram militant group seem to have gained momentum in the country's northeast in 2018, pushing into towns and villages in the restive Borno and Yobe states northeast of the country it had previously lost to the Nigerian military.

Buhari, who rose to power in 2015 pledging to wipe out militancy, is running for re-election in February.

A former army general who became the first opposition candidate to defeat an incumbent at the ballot box, Buhari hails from the Muslim-dominated north of Africa's most populous country.

His critics say the 75-year-old is ill and unfit for office and his administration is not taking the necessary actions needed to restore security in the troubled northeast of Nigeria.

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Riyadh submits to Houthi demand to evacuate injured ahead of peace talks

Iran Press TV

Mon Dec 3, 2018 07:20AM

Saudi Arabia has submitted to Yemen's demands to evacuate 50 wounded Houthi fighters to Oman for treatment ahead of new UN-brokered peace talks.

A UN-chartered plane will arrive at Sana'a airport Monday to evacuate the wounded combatants accompanied by three Yemeni doctors and a UN doctor, Saudi military spokesman Turki al-Maliki said.

The evacuation of the wounded fighters has been a key condition of the Houthi movement to attend peace talks in Sweden this week.

Previous peace negotiations broke down in September after Saudi Arabia refused to allow a Houthi delegation to fly to Geneva to attend the meeting.

On Monday, Maliki said the kingdom had agreed to a UN request to facilitate the medical evacuation "for humanitarian considerations and as part of confidence-building measures" ahead of the talks.

Saudi Arabia has been leading a ferocious military campaign against Yemen since 2015 without any tangible achievement. The kingdom's latest push to seize Hudaydah ahead of peace talks hit a brick wall as the strategic port's protectors put up a fierce resistance.

The Houthi movement and the UN were not immediately available to comment on the Saudi military announcement.

The negotiations were expected to take place this week, but UN chief Antonio Guterres has played down the early December schedule and said he hoped talks would start "this year."

In recent days, the UN peace envoy Martin Griffiths has held talks separately with officials from both sides in an attempt to bring the warring factions to the negotiating table.

The fresh push for peace comes amid mounting pressure on Saudi Arabia over the high civilian toll and a serious deterioration of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. The kingdom is also under scrutiny over the assassination of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Most Western countries, the US and Britain in particular, are accused of being complicit in the ongoing aggression for supplying advanced weapons and military equipment in addition to logistical and intelligence assistance.

The UN aid chief warned on Saturday that Yemen was "on the brink of a major catastrophe" as he wrapped up a visit to the improvised country.

Saudi Arabia launched its devastating military campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the aim of bringing the government of former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing Houthis.

According to a new report by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, the Saudi war has so far claimed the lives of around 56,000 Yemenis.

The war has also taken a heavy toll on the country's infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. The UN has said a record 22.2 million Yemenis are in dire need of food, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger.

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Pakistan Says Trump Asks Khan To Help Bring Taliban To Peace Talks

By RFE/RL December 03, 2018

Pakistan said U.S. President Donald Trump has written a letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan to ask for help with Afghan peace talks.

Pakistani Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said on December 3 that President Trump has "asked for Pakistan's cooperation to bring the Taliban into talks."

Chaudhry said Trump's letter asked Pakistan to play a role in peace talks seeking to end the 17-year war in Afghanistan.

There was no immediate confirmation from the White House about Trump writing such a letter, which would be the first direct communication between the two leaders since Imran Khan came into power in August.

The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad also would not comment on Chaudhry's announcement.

Trump has consistently criticized Pakistan since he launched his South Asia and Afghanistan strategy, despite attempts by the two governments to fix problems that have damaged their relations.

In November, Trump said in an interview that Pakistan doesn't "do a damn thing" for the United States, despite billions of dollars in U.S. aid.

He also charged that Pakistani officials knew of former Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's location in Abottabad, Pakistan, before he was killed there in 2011 during a raid by U.S. special forces.

The Taliban has refused to deal directly with Afghanistan's government, saying they would negotiate only with the United States.

The militants have also said NATO forces must withdraw from Afghanistan before negotiations can begin.

U.S. diplomats in the past week have called for the Taliban to seize a "moment of opportunity" to begin formal peace talks with the Western-backed Afghan government and negotiate a settlement to end the fighting.

Zalmay Khalilzad, an Afghan-born former U.S. ambassador to Kabul and Iraq, was appointed in September to the U.S. State Department team that is pushing for reconciliation efforts and peace talks with the Taliban.

Khalilzad, who has held several rounds of preliminary talks with Taliban officials in Qatar, told reporters in Kabul in November that he was optimistic a peace deal with the militants could be reached before Afghanistan's next presidential election in April 2019.

Although contacts have started between Khalilzad and Taliban representatives, there has been no pause in fighting.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said last week that his government had formed a 12-member team to negotiate peace with the Taliban. But he warned that implementation of any deal would take at least five years.

He also said any deal must meet certain conditions, including respecting the constitutional rights of women.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, Dawn.com, AFP, and dpa

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/pakistan-says -trump-asks-khan-to-help-bring-taliban -to-peace-talks/29634597.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 Eyes Talks With Putin, Xi To Halt 'Uncontrollable Arms Race'

By RFE/RL December 03, 2018

U.S. President Donald Trump says he is certain that "at some time in the future" he, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Russian President Vladimir Putin "will start talking about a meaningful halt to what has become a major and uncontrollable Arms Race."

Trump made the remark on Twitter on December 3 after holding talks with Xi and a brief discussion with Putin during a G20 summit in Buenos Aires late last week.

Trump added that the United States spent $716 billion this year, suggesting that was the amount it had spent on weapons or the military, and adding, "Crazy!"

The tweet came amid tension between Washington and Moscow over Trump's announcement in October that the United States will withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

The bilateral 1987 pact prohibits Russia and the United States from producing, possessing, and deploying ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometers.

Trump said the United States would withdraw because of an alleged Russian violation and because of concerns that the treaty binds the United States to restrictions while leaving nuclear-armed countries that are not signatories, such as China, free to develop and deploy the missiles.

There is no sign that the United States has formally withdrawn from the pact as yet.

Speaking ahead of a NATO foreign-ministers meeting on December 4-5, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that the current impasse over the INF treaty was "untenable" and demanded Russia come into compliance.

"This treaty eliminated an entire category of weapons, but it has been put in jeopardy by Russia," Stoltenberg said in Brussels. "Russia has developed, produced, and deployed a new missile. It is mobile and hard to detect. It is nuclear-capable. And it could reach European cities with little or no warning time."

"Russia must take immediate steps to ensure full compliance with the INF Treaty in a transparent and verifiable way.... We seek dialogue with Russia and we aspire to improved relations, but to make this possible Russia must fully comply with its international commitments," he said.

The United States accuses Russia of violating the INF with its Novator 9M729 cruise missile, also known as the SSC-8. Russia denies it is in violation and claims that the United States has breached the pact.

Stoltenberg rejected that claim, saying that the United States "is in full compliance with the INF Treaty. There are no new U.S. missiles in Europe. But there are new Russian missiles."

With tension between Moscow and Washington persistently high amid an array of disputes, there is also uncertainty over the fate of New START, a 2010 treaty that put new limits on the Russian and U.S. long-range nuclear arsenals. The pact expires in 2021 but can be extended for five years.

The NATO meeting also comes amid tension over Russia's seizure of three Ukrainian naval vessels and 24 sailors near the Kerch Strait off the coast of Crimea on November 25.

Trump cited the fact that Russia was still holding the sailors -- who are charged with illegal border crossing and could be sentenced to six years in prison if tried and convicted -- when he canceled a scheduled December 1 meeting with Putin in Buenos Aires.

NATO ministers will discuss the issue, Stoltenberg said, adding that there was "no justification for this use of force" by Russia and calling for "calm and restraint."

"Russia must release the Ukrainian sailors and ships," he said. "It must also allow freedom of navigation and unhindered access to Ukrainian ports in the Sea of Azov. Ukrainian vessels -- military as well as civilian -- have the right to navigate through the Kerch Strait and the Sea of Azov."

The United States and the European Union have also called on Russia to release the Ukrainian sailors and ensure normal passage through the Kerch Strait to the Sea of Azov, where Ukraine has key ports.

The confrontation off Crimea has added to tension over Crimea, which Russia occupied and took over from Ukraine in March 2014, and a simmering war between Kyiv and Russia-backed separatists that has killed more than 10,300 people in eastern Ukraine since April 2014.

With reporting by Rikard Jozwiak in Brussels, dpa, and Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/trump-eyes -talks-with-putin-xi-to-halt-uncontrollable -arms-race-/29635142.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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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 4)  The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed on second reading its draft constitution that seeks to shift to a federal form of government.

Resolution of Both Houses of Congress (RBH) No. 15, penned by House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, was approved through viva voce or voice voting during the plenary session.

It is now one step away from being passed by the lower chamber. Arroyo earlier said the lawmakers would focus on charter change this week.

Arroyo's draft was controversial for a number of reasons, including the removal of term limits for members of Congress and the lack of an anti-political dynasty provision. It earlier removed the Vice President in the succession line for the transition to a federal government, but was later restored after some backlash.

Arroyo has conceded that Congress cannot pass charter change under her watch, but stressed that the lawmakers "will bring it as far as we can bring it," hoping that the next Congress will be able to pass it. The 17th Congress ends session in 2019.

Senators, meanwhile, said there is no more time to tackle charter change in the upper chamber because of deliberations for the 2019 budget, which they target to pass before the year ends.

Federalism was a campaign promise of President Rodrigo Duterte, with whom Arroyo is allied. After he called on the swift passage of charter change in his State of the Nation Address, the House of Representatives filed a resolution that supported a separate vote from the Senate on matter. This was among the contentious issues raised by the Senate.

But even with such compromise, some senators said charter change is "good as dead," as they suspect Arroyo would use it to stay in power, a claim the former President denied.

Vice President Leni Robredo hit the lower house for focusing on politicking instead of fixing the effects of the government's economic policies on the poor.

"Ang dapat tutukan ng ating Kongreso ay ang mga panukala na magpapababa sa presyo ng mga bilihin, at magbibigay ng trabaho sa ating mga kababayan. Unahin na natin ang ating mga kababayan, at mga alalahaning pinakamalapit sa kanilang bituka at pamumuhay, kaysa sa pamumulitika," she said in a statement.UN Chief Says Political Will To Fight Climate Change Has Waned

By RFE/RL December 03, 2018

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the world's political will to fight global climate change has waned since a 2015 conference in Paris that set ambitious goals for reducing carbon-dioxide emissions.

Speaking in Katowice, Poland on December 3 at the start of a two-week UN climate summit, Guterres said the realities of global climate change are "worse than expected, but the political will is relatively faded after Paris."

The Paris conference set a goal of keeping global warming below 2 degrees Celsius.

But a new study presented at the Katowice summit says U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement is restricting global efforts to cut carbon emissions.

The study by the International Institute of International and European Affairs says Trump's words and deeds are causing "very real damage" to the Paris agreement.

It concludes that the U.S. decision to withdraw from the Paris agreement has created the political cover for other countries to slow down their efforts to reach emissions-reduction targets.

Meanwhile, the World Bank announced on December 3 that it will invest about $200 billion from 2021 to 2025 with the aim of helping to fight global climate change.

Delegates from nearly 200 countries are gathering in the southern Polish city for the UN conference, known officially as COP24.

Under the Paris deal, richer countries responsible for the majority of greenhouse-gas emissions are expected to provide funds that developing countries can use to make their economies more climate-friendly.

The World Bank investment is seen as offering reassurance to countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

"A failure to act now risks pushing us beyond a point of no return with catastrophic consequences for life as we know it," said Amjad Abdulla, chief negotiator for the Alliance of Small Island States at COP24.

Much of the money for climate change is for installing renewable energy to replace fossil-fuel usage in poor countries.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, BBC, and dpa

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/un-chief- says-political-will-to-fight-climate- change-has-waned/29635299.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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Houthi Fighters Evacuated From Yemen

By VOA News December 03, 2018

Wounded Houthi fighters in Yemen's rebel-held Sana'a are being evacuated Monday before peace talks set to begin this month in Sweden.

The Houthi were taken in ambulances to the airport to board a U.N.-chartered flight.

The Saudi-led coalition said it had approved the evacuation of the wounded fighters.

The evacuation had been a stumbling block in peace talks in September.

The fighting in Yemen has brought the country to the brink of famine.

Intensified fighting around Yemen's port city of Hodeida has cut port operations by nearly half.

About 70 percent of the country's food and other essential goods are delivered through the port.

After more than three years of warfare, the U.N. calls Yemen the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.

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Qatar Quitting OPEC to Focus on Exports of Liquefied Natural Gas

By VOA News December 03, 2018

Qatar says it is quitting the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) from January 2019 to focus on exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Speaking to reporters Monday in Doha, the country's minister of state for energy affairs, Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, made the surprise announcement, saying that the world's largest exporter of LNG plans to increase its exports from 77 million tons of gas per year to 110 million tons.

"In light of such efforts and plans, and in our pursuit to strengthen Qatar's position as a reliable and trustworthy energy supplier across the globe, we had to take steps to review Qatar's role and contributions on the international energy scene,'' al-Kaabi said.

Qatar also wants to raise its oil production from 4.8 million barrels a day to 6.5 million barrels, he said.

The tiny, energy-rich Arab nation is locked in a diplomatic dispute with Saudi Arabia, which dominates OPEC, but al-Kaabi said that the move to leave the organization was not driven by politics.

Qatar, which has been a member of OPEC for 57 years, will still attend the organization's meeting on Thursday and Friday of this week, and will abide by its commitments, he said.

The Vienna-based oil cartel did not make any immediate comment.

Meanwhile, oil prices soared on Monday after Russia and Saudi Arabia renewed their agreement to cap output, while the United States and China agreed not to impose any new tariffs during a 90-day period during which the two sides are to negotiate a detailed agreement.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday he and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had agreed to extend the agreement to limit production as prices drop on global markets.

An existing deal between OPEC and non-member states on oil production quotas expires this year.

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Pentagon Working on Extending Deployment of Troops at Mexican Border - Mattis

Sputnik News

01:11 04.12.2018

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US Defense Secretary James Mattis said in a press conference on Monday that he has not signed off on extending US troops' deployment on the border with Mexico and expects to have a request on his desk within 24 hours.

"There is a request for extending [the presence of US] troops on our own southwest border, and no, I have not signed off on it," Mattis told reporters.

Mattis explained that the Defense Department is working on the issue of extending the presence of US troops on the border with Mexico in terms of military and policy factors.

"I expect that to be on my desk probably within 24 hours," Mattis said.

Last Monday, the Mexican authorities said that more than 8,200 migrants from Central American countries have reached Mexico, with around 7,400 of the migrants staying near the cities of Tijuana and Mexicali.

A group of around 500 migrants attempted to storm the US border from Tijuana and was reportedly throwing projectiles at the US border patrol, prompting the US authorities to use tear gas and rubber bullets.

The active duty military personnel were deployed to the US-Mexico border in October to assist the US border authorities in dealing with the arrival of the migrant caravans.

 Sputnik

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Chinese standby peacekeeping force passes U.N. assessment

People's Daily Online

(China Military Online) 11:11, December 03, 2018

A spokesman for the Chinese military on Thursday said that China's standby peacekeeping force had passed an assessment by the United Nations.

The result was announced by UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix, according to Ren Guoqiang, spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense.

Ren said at a regular press conference that China has also offered training for more than 1,500 peacekeepers from dozens of countries.

China will actively consider the UN's invitation to send more types of peacekeepers to fulfill missions, make more contributions to the cause of UN peacekeeping and safeguard world and regional peace and stability, Ren said.

Ren also said that the seventh China-India Hand-in-hand Army Joint Training Exercise will be held in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, from Dec. 10 to 23. Both sides will send 100 participants, Ren said.

"The joint drill will increase mutual understanding and trust between the Chinese and Indian militaries, deepen pragmatic communication and cooperation and enhance capacity of responding to terrorist threats," Ren said.

The spokesperson said that Chinese and Pakistani air forces will stage a joint training exercise from Nov. 30 to Dec. 23 in Pakistan. Code-named "Shaheen VII," the exercise is the seventh such drill between the two countries.

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Xi, Trump reach consensus, agree not to impose new additional tariffs

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 07:14, December 03, 2018

BUENOS AIRES, Dec. 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump held a "highly successful meeting" here Saturday, reaching important consensus and agreeing not to impose new additional tariffs.

The two heads of state had an in-depth exchange of views on China-U.S. relations and international issues of common concern in a friendly and candid atmosphere at a working dinner after the conclusion of the 13th summit of the Group of 20 in Argentina.

Sound China-U.S. relations, Xi said, are in line with the fundamental interests of the two peoples and the broad-based expectations of the international community.

He called on both China and the United States to handle the development of bilateral relations from an overall perspective and push for long-term, healthy and stable development of bilateral ties.

Trump said that he agrees with Xi on his evaluation of U.S.-China relations.

U.S.-China relations are very special and important, Trump said, adding that it is in the interest of the two countries as well as the world that the United States and China, both countries of significant influence, maintain a good cooperative relationship.

The U.S. side, he added, is ready to increase cooperation with China through consultations and actively seek mutually beneficial solutions to their problems.

The two leaders agreed to expand cooperation based on reciprocity and mutual benefit and manage differences based on mutual respect, so as to jointly advance China-U.S. relations with coordination, cooperation and stability as the defining features.

They also agreed to maintain exchanges in various forms to jointly chart the course for the development of China-U.S. relations, and pledged to hold further exchanges of visits at an appropriate time.

It was the first meeting between Xi and Trump since the U.S. president paid a state visit to China in November last year. The world, Xi said, has witnessed a lot of changes since then.

As two major countries with great influence, China and the United States shoulder important responsibilities in promoting world peace and prosperity, Xi told Trump.

Cooperation is the best choice for China and the United States, he said.

On economic and trade issues, Xi said that it is very normal that the two countries have some disagreements in the fields of economy and trade, adding that the key is to manage their differences properly and work out a solution acceptable to both sides in the spirit of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit.

They agreed not to impose new additional tariffs, and instructed the economic teams of both sides to step up negotiations toward the removal of all additional tariffs and reach a concrete deal that is mutually beneficial and win-win.

Xi also reiterated China's stance on the Taiwan issue and the U.S. side pledged to continue to adhere to the one-China policy.

The two leaders also exchanged views on the Korean Peninsula situation and other major international and regional issues.

The meeting lasted for two and a half hours, much longer than planned, said Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi at a briefing on the ly-watched Xi-Trump meeting.

"The meeting was very successful and produced important consensus. It provides direction for China-U.S. relations in the time to come," Wang said.

In a White House press release, Trump was quoted as saying that this was an amazing and productive meeting with unlimited possibilities for both the United States and China.

"It is my great honor to be working with President Xi," Trump said.

Experts said that the important meeting sends a positive signal in the development of China-U.S. relations, one of the most important bilateral ties in the world.

It suggests that cooperation is the key to the solution of problems, said Zhu Feng, a professor with the School of International Studies at Peking University, adding that given the differences between China and the United States in institutions, industrial policies and markets, Xi and Trump have demonstrated strategic courage and resolution at the dinner table.

Berthold Kuhn, a China expert with the Free University of Berlin, noted that the meeting was "a first step" toward the settlement of China-U.S. trade disputes and more time is still needed for negotiation.

"I am ... slightly optimistic," he said.

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Trump Boasts of Relations with Xi, New Trade Deal with China

By Ken Bredemeier December 03, 2018

U.S. President Donald Trump boasted Monday of his "very strong and personal relationship" with Chinese President Xi Jinping, declaring a new U.S.-China trade deal would immediately allow American farmers to sell more of their products to Beijing.

Stock markets in Asia and Europe jumped sharply after Trump and Xi, as leaders of the world's two biggest economies, agreed Saturday in Argentina to not impose any new tariffs on each other's exports for the next 90 days while they negotiate a detailed trade agreement.

U.S. stock indexes also opened sharply higher in New York at the start of a new work week.

"My meeting in Argentina with President Xi of China was an extraordinary one," Trump said on Twitter. "Relations with China have taken a BIG leap forward! Very good things will happen."

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said the United States won Chinese commitments to buy more than $1 trillion in American products.

The United States had a $335.4 billion trade deficit with China in 2017. Trump said, however, "We are dealing from great strength, but China likewise has much to gain if and when a deal is completed. Level the field!"

The U.S. leader said U.S. farmers "will be a very BIG and FAST beneficiary of our deal with China. They intend to start purchasing agricultural product immediately. We make the finest and cleanest product in the World, and that is what China wants. Farmers, I LOVE YOU!"

Late Sunday, Trump tweeted that "China has agreed to reduce and remove tariffs on cars coming into China from the U.S. Currently the tariff is 40 percent." On Monday, however, Kudlow said there was an "assumption" that China would eliminate auto tariffs, not a specific agreement.

Also Monday, China's ministry of foreign affairs said the Chinese and U.S. presidents had agreed to work toward removing all tariffs.

Trump said he and Xi "are the only two people that can bring about massive and very positive change, on trade and far beyond, between our two great Nations. A solution for North Korea is a great thing for China and ALL!"

Trump, at his political rallies and news conferences, often praises the increase in U.S. military spending during his nearly two years in the White House.

But he tweeted that "at some time in the future," Xi, Russian President Vladimir Putin of Russia, and he "will start talking about a meaningful halt to what has become a major and uncontrollable Arms Race. The U.S. spent 716 Billion Dollars this year. Crazy!"

The 90-day truce in the escalating trade war between the U.S. and China came during a dinner meeting between the two presidents following the G-20 summit of the world's biggest economies in Buenos Aires. For months, Trump and Xi have engaged in tit-for-tat increases in tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of exports flowing between the two countries.

Trump, speaking to reporters on Air Force One after the plane departed Argentina, said his agreement with Xi will go down "as one of the largest deals ever made.  And it'll have an incredibly positive impact on farming, meaning agriculture, industrial products, computers  every type of product."

Trump agreed he will leave the tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese products at 10 percent, and not raise it to 25 percent as he has threatened to do January 1, according to a White House statement.

"China will agree to purchase a not yet agreed upon, but very substantial, amount of agricultural, energy, industrial and other product from the United States to reduce the trade imbalance between our two countries," said White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders. "China has agreed to start purchasing agricultural product from our farmers immediately."

Trump and Xi also agreed to immediately begin negotiations on structural changes with respect to forced technology transfer, intellectual property protection, non-tariff barriers, cyber intrusions and cyber theft, services and agriculture, according to the White House statement.

"Both parties agree that they will endeavor to have this transaction completed within the next 90 days. If at the end of this period of time, the parties are unable to reach an agreement, the 10 percent tariffs will be raised to 25 percent," the statement said.

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Possibility for DPRK leader's visit to Seoul left open: Moon

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 13:58, December 03, 2018

SEOUL, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in has said that a possibility for the visit by Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), to Seoul was left open, local media reported Monday.

Moon made the remarks during a press conference with local reporters on a flight to New Zealand for his state visit after participating in the Group of 20 summit in Argentina.

Moon noted that whether Kim would make a reciprocal visit to Seoul within this year depended on his determination.

During the Pyongyang summit in September, Kim promised to visit Seoul at an early date in return for Moon's trip to Pyongyang.

If Kim travels to Seoul, he would become the first DPRK leader visiting South Korea since the Korean Peninsula was divided with an armistice agreement that ended the 1950-1953 Korean War.

Moon said the DPRK leader's visit to Seoul itself will have a significant meaning as it sends to the world his messages of peace and willingness to denuclearize the peninsula and improve inter-Korean relations.

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Logistic Sharing Agreement With Russia in the Offing - Indian Navy Chief

Sputnik News

16:22 03.12.2018(updated 18:21 03.12.2018)

If the agreement is concluded, Russia would be the fourth country with which India will have such agreement with. India has already signed militarily logistics sharing agreements with the US, France, Oman, and Singapore. Australia too has sent a draft agreement.

India and Russia are in the process of concluding a military logistics sharing agreement, Indian Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba said on Monday during the annual press meet in New Delhi.

"Draft agreement is being worked on to share military logistics with Russia. The draft will move forward soon," Admiral Sunil Lanba said on Monday.

Around 70% of equipment and platforms like warships, submarines, fighter jets and tanks being used by Indian armed forces are of Russian origin, hence, it is expected that a logistics sharing agreement will provide immense help in servicing of equipment at various locations in Russia.

The agreement will also do away with concerns among some of India's closest allies about defense relations with the US.

An official of India's Defense Ministry who did not wish to be named told Sputnik that the agreement will enhance manifold the operational flexibility of the Indian and Russian defense forces.

India and the United States had signed a Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) in August 2016. LEMOA is a facilitating agreement that establishes basic terms, conditions, and procedures for the reciprocal provision of logistic support, supplies, and services between the armed forces of India and the United States. It does not provide for the establishment of any bases or base arrangements.

Meanwhile, India has also started negotiations with Japan on an agreement along similar lines. In October during the Indo-Japan annual summit, India and Japan had initiated negotiations on the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) to enhance the strategic depth of bilateral security and defense cooperation. The ACSA is a mutual logistics support agreement which intended to allow the navies of the two countries to get access to each other's military bases.

 Sputnik

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US, India to 'Sort Out' Sanctions Waiver for S-400 Purchase - Mattis

Sputnik News

02:39 04.12.2018

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US and Indian officials in coming days will sort out all issues related to the United States possibly waiving sanctions against India for its purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems, Secretary of Defense James Mattis said at the Pentagon.

"We'll sort out all those issues here today, and in the days ahead we'll work all this forward," Mattis told reporters on Monday when asked if he expects New Delhi to get a sanctions waiver over the S-400 purchase.

Mattis also noted that India has spent many years in non-aligned status despite drawing a lot of weapons from Russia. The defense secretary said he would discuss a number of issues with his Indian counterpart who is now visiting Washington, DC.

In early October, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Sputnik that Russia and India had signed a historic agreement on the supply of S-400s to New Delhi. The United States voiced its concern over the Indian plans to purchase the S-400 systems, noting that sanctions over the deal could not be ruled out.

The Russian-manufactured S-400 Triumph is the next-generation mobile missile defense system which can carry three different types of missiles capable of destroying a variety of aerial targets at a short-to-extremely-long range, from reconnaissance aircraft to ballistic missiles.

 Sputnik

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Araqchi: JCPOA members compensate US withdrawal

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, Dec 3, IRNA -- Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Abbas Araqchi said on Monday that other members of the G5+1 are now planning to compensate the US withdrawal from the internationally-recognized Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) treaty.

According to the government website, he made the remarks after his meeting with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

The Islamic Republic of Iran with close cooperation with Europe, Russia and China along with other trade partners of Iran are mulling a plan to keep the routes open for expansion of cooperation between the two sides, he said.

Other members are doing their best to draw out a blueprint to thwart US unilateral sanctions on the JCPOA, Araqchi said.

The two sides also discussed the latest status of the Iranian border guards kidnapped and taken to Pakistan.

Araqchi also appreciated Pakistan for its efforts for release of five Iranian border guards and underlined that efforts will be continued until release of other border guards.

1430**2050

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Iran rules out talks on defense issues

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, Dec 3, IRNA -- Iran will not talk with any party on defense or domestic issues, the country's Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday.

'Our policy is clear as the issues have to do with our domestic policies, and the outsiders are not allowed to enter the sphere,' Bahram Qasemi said at his weekly press conference.

'Iran has repeatedly rejected West's suggestions about negotiation on missile and defensive issues, describing them as 'non-negotiable' affairs,' added Qasemi.

Echoing the recent statement by the Iranian ministry on the coming intra-Yemeni talks in Sweden, he also said that Tehran would welcome any effort to relieve suffering of the Yemeni people.

Yemeni warring parties have said they were ready to go to the negotiating table which was proposed by the United Nations. The talks are expected to be held in Sweden next week.

'We still believe that the four-article plan proposed by Iran's foreign minister will be a clear solution,' Qasemi said.

Iran supports any solution for ending the century big humanitarian plight that can turn into a black mark remembered in the history, Qasemi said.

9156**1771

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U.S. Urges EU Sanctions On Iran Over 'Escalating Missile Threat'

By RFE/RL December 03, 2018

The U.S. special representative for Iran has urged the European Union to impose new sanctions targeting Iran's ballistic-missile program, calling it a "grave and escalating threat."

Brian Hook made the call on December 3, two days after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned what he described as Iran's testing of a medium-range ballistic missile "capable of carrying multiple warheads" and striking parts of Europe and the entire Middle East.

The Iranian military has said it will keep conducting missile tests despite Western condemnation.

The latest statements from Pompeo and Hook come amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington, which earlier this year imposed tough sanctions on Iran's economy.

The move was part of a broader U.S. campaign to pressure Iran over what the President Donald Trump's administration describes as its "malign conduct" such as missile development and support for militant groups in the Middle East.

Tehran has repeatedly rejected negotiations over its missile program and insists the missiles are only to be used for defensive purposes.

Speaking aboard Pompeo's plane as he traveled to Brussels for a NATO meeting, Hook told reporters that Washington "would like to see the European Union move sanctions that target Iran's missile program."

The U.S. envoy said that Trump's campaign of "maximum pressure" on Tehran since withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers in May "can be effective if more nations can join us in those [sanctions]."

"It is a grave and escalating threat, and nations around the world, not just Europe, need to do everything they can to be targeting Iran's missile program," Hook said.

He also said that "progress" was being made on getting NATO allies to consider a proposal to target individuals and entities that play key roles in Iran's missile program.

European countries have criticized Trump's decision to withdraw the United States from the Iran nuclear deal and are working to preserve the accord that lifted sanctions on Tehran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear activities, even though they have also criticized Iranian positions on other issues.

In a December 1 statement, Pompeo charged that Iran's testing of a medium-range ballistic missile violated UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the Iran nuclear deal.

Pompeo warned that Iran's "missile testing and missile proliferation is growing," and called on the country to "cease immediately all activities related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons."

The French Foreign Ministry issued a similar call, condemning the Iranian missile test as "provocative and destabilizing."

Iran's military did not confirm or deny it had tested a new missile, but said it will "continue to both develop and test missiles."

"Missile tests...are carried out for defense and the country's deterrence, and we will continue this," the semiofficial Tasnim news agency quoted Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi, a spokesman for Iran's armed forces, as saying on December 2.

Shekarchi said such activity "is outside the framework of [nuclear] negotiations and part of our national security, for which we will not ask any country's permission."

With reporting by AFP, AP, and Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/u-s-urges- eu-sanctions-on-iran-over-escalating- missile-threat-/29635534.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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Iran Says Will Continue Ballistic Missile Tests Despite U.S. Objections

By RFE/RL December 03, 2018

The Iranian military says it will keep conducting missile tests despite U.S. condemnation of them.

"Missile tests...are carried out for defense and the country's deterrence, and we will continue this," Brigadier-General Abolfazl Shekarchi, a spokesman for Iran's armed forces, was quoted as saying by the semiofficial Tasnim news agency on December 2.

He said Iran will "continue to both develop and test missiles" and added that such activity "is outside the framework of [nuclear] negotiations and part of our national security, for which we will not ask any country's permission."

The statement comes one day after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned what he described as Iran's testing of a medium-range ballistic missile "capable of carrying multiple warheads."

"The missile has the ability to hit parts of Europe and any location in the Middle East," Pompeo said in a December 1 statement.

"This test violates UN Security Council Resolution 2231 that bans Iran from undertaking any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons," the statement added, citing the UN Security Council's endorsement of the 2015 international nuclear agreement, which U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from in May.

Pompeo warned that Iran's "missile proliferation is growing" and called on Iran to "cease these activities."

U.S. national security adviser John Bolton tweeted earlier on December 2 that "Iran just test-fired a...ballistic missile capable of reaching Israel and Europe. This provocative behavior cannot be tolerated."

Shekarchi did not confirm or deny that Iran had tested a new missile.

The latest statement from Pompeo came amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington, which has reimposed tough sanctions on Iran that had been removed under the nuclear accord.

The sanctions are part of a broader U.S. campaign to pressure Iran over what the Trump administration describes as its "malign conduct" such as missile development and support for militant groups in the Middle East.

Tehran has repeatedly rejected negotiations over its missile program and insists the missiles are only to be used for defensive purposes.

"Iran will not abandon its defensive weapons...including its missiles that make America so angry," Iranian President Hassan Rohani said in September.

With reporting by Reuters, IRNA, and Tasnim

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-says-will -continue-ballistic-missile-tests-despite- u-s-objections/29634292.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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US Scolds Iran for Violating UN Resolution Washington Breaches Itself - Zarif

Sputnik News

14:46 03.12.2018(updated 14:47 03.12.2018)

Earlier, Iran rejected accusations by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that Tehran conducting a ballistic missile test allegedly violates a UN Security Council resolution that bans all activity related to "nuclear-capable" weapons.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has lashed out at the US for hypocritically accusing Tehran of violating the "very same" UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution that Washington itself is breaching.

"'Surrealism' is now the US' modus operandi in its foreign affairs," Zarif tweeted, referring to UNSC Resolution 2231 which represented the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Zarif wrote that Washington even threatens to slap punitive measures on those who "don't wish to violate it [the resolution] in abiding with illegal US sanctions."

His remarks came after Brig. Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi, a spokesman for the Iranian military, denied Tehran breaching the UNSC Resolution 2231, saying that the Islamic Republic will continue ballistic missile tests in the future.

"Missile tests [] are carried out for defence and the country's deterrence, and we will continue this. We will continue to both develop and test missiles. This is outside the framework of [nuclear] negotiations and part of our national security, for which we will not ask any country's permission," Shekarchi stressed.

Earlier, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo argued that Iran tested a medium-range ballistic missile, in an alleged violation of the UNSC Resolution 2231, which he said bans Iran from undertaking "any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology."

Relations between Iran and the US deteriorated in early May when President Donald Trump announced Washington's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, also pledging to reinstate economic sanctions against Tehran.

The US has repeatedly accused Iran of continuing its ballistic missile program which Iran says is fully in line with the UNSC he Resolution 2231 that doesn't ban the Islamic Republic from undertaking any activity related to ballistic missiles.

 Sputnik

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Briefing on Iran

Special Briefing

Brian Hook

Senior Policy Advisor to the Secretary of State and Special Representative for Iran

en route to, Brussels, Belgium

December 3, 2018

MS NAUERT: Brian, go right ahead.

MR HOOK: Great. The Iranian Government claims that its missile testing is purely defensive in nature. How exactly is the world's leading sponsor of terrorism entitled to a claim of defense? In fact, Iran's security concerns are entirely self-generated. Was a plot to bomb Paris defensive? Was the assassination attempt in Denmark defensive? Is smuggling missiles to the Houthis in Yemen to attack Saudi Arabia and the Emirates defensive? Is harboring al-Qaida defensive? Is smuggling heroin through Italy defensive? Is overthrowing the legitimate Government of Bahrain violently  is that defensive?

And so for the last 12 years, the UN Security Council has been telling the Iranian regime to stop testing and proliferating ballistic missiles, and Iran continues to defy the UN Security Council, which is acting like an outlaw regime. Iran's continued testing and proliferation of ballistic missiles shows that the Iran deal has not moderated the Iranian regime as some had hoped. It was a mistake to exclude missiles from the Iran nuclear deal, and it is one of the principal reasons that the United States left it.

Let's take a step back for just one minute. Iran's defense needs would be entirely different if they had not decided to wage sectarian wars of choice for the last 39 years. It's the Iranian regime's foreign policy that has placed Iran into conflict with other nations. Iran today faces no natural threat from its Arab neighbors, Israel, or Afghanistan. Before the 1979 revolution, Iran enjoyed relations with these same neighbors. But today, Iran's military is the largest in the region. Its revolutionary forces are present in nearly every neighboring nation. Its militias spread like a cancer, eroding stability and threatening peace and global trade in both the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb, which allows them to choke the Suez Canal. So we condemn the launch, as have the Brits and others.

Just a few days ago, we unveiled new evidence of Iran's missile proliferation. Three days later, they test-launched another medium-range missile ballistic missile. We have been warning the world for some time that we are accumulating risk of a regional conflict if we do not deter Iran's missile testing and proliferation. Iran is on the wrong track, and our campaign of maximum economic pressure is designed to starve the regime of revenue it needs to test missiles and to proliferate missiles, for terrorism, conduct cyber attacks and make acts of maritime aggression and many human rights abuses. The Iranian people deserve a government that represents their interests and not just the interests of their violent and corrupt leaders.

MS NAUERT: Thank you. Assuming we aren't asked to sit back in our seats again, we can take some questions. Go right ahead.

QUESTION: What do you say about the fact that the UN resolution itself says it calls upon them to stop testing ballistic missiles?

MR HOOK: Refrain from  yeah. Well, it's  for the last 12 years, the UN Security Council has been consistent in telling Iran to stop testing and proliferating ballistic missiles, and they've said that in various versions over 12 years. They have been consistent, and Iran is defying the council.

QUESTION: If I may, you just mentioned Yemen. Is the  the U.S. (inaudible) for an immediate ceasefire in Yemen (inaudible) to proceed. Now, is this (inaudible)?

MR HOOK: Well we are calling for an urgent ceasefire in Yemen. We also recognize the right of nations who are attacked by Iranian-backed Houthis to protect themselves. And so I think Secretary Mattis and Secretary Pompeo have done a good job of explaining the various parallel tracks that we are advancing in Yemen. The United States and the coalition have provided billions of aid to the people in Yemen who are suffering humanitarian catastrophe. Iran has provided soldiers and weapons and missiles and funding and training of the Houthis, hundreds of millions of dollars over the last few years to organize and train and equip the Houthis, and this war has gone on longer than makes any sense, because in part  large part  the Iranians have made the Houthis much more effective than they otherwise would be. So any --

QUESTION: Okay, Brian. What are your  the remarks  are they prepared for anything in particular or just to come back, in fact, that you're outraged (inaudible)?

MR HOOK: No, no, the Iranian regime has said --

QUESTION: Well I understand that, but I mean, you talked about the quad meeting tomorrow and (inaudible) 

MR HOOK: Well this is a continuing discussion that the Secretary has had with his E3 counterparts about Iran's missile testing and missile proliferation and regional aggression.

QUESTION: Right. To what end? What are you looking to do on this trip related to Iran?

MR HOOK: Well, we are  we would like to see  we would like to see the European Union move sanctions that target Iran's missile program.

QUESTION: Brian, we've given several countries oil waivers, and I know we've talked about  you want to get those exports out of Iran to zero as quickly as possible. With the new missile tests, does that speed up that timeline?

MR HOOK: Well, we had to grant oil waivers to ensure that we did not increase the price of oil. Now that  in 2019 we expect a much better-supplied oil market, and that will put us in a much better position to accelerate the path to zero.

QUESTION: Brian, thanks so much. Everything you've said here is not new with the exception of this idea that you're going to push on the Europeans to propose new sanctions. Is that it? I mean, you said there could be regional conflict.

MR HOOK: No, no, no. What  well, no. What is new is that we are responding to Iran's claim that its missile testing is defensive in nature and that its missile inventory is defensive. It's not defensive in nature. So I laid that out at the beginning.

QUESTION: What specifics can you get into about the nature of the missiles? I mean, are these nuclear-capable type of ballistic weapons?

MR HOOK: Yes. Iran has launched missiles that are capable of carrying multiple warheads, including a nuclear weapon.

QUESTION: Is there anything that you can tell us about the discussions with the Europeans? Because they've resisted so far cooperating with you on Iran and missiles. Are you hoping to get anything beyond more talks and more --

MR HOOK: I wouldn't say that they have resisted cooperating. We have one difference of opinion with the E3 and it's over the Iran nuclear  it's on  over the Iran nuclear deal. We share the same threat assessment.

They  take a look at what Foreign Secretary Hunt said about the missile test. They all know that Iran is acting in defiance of the UN Security Council and their missiles are a threat to peace and security. The Europeans understand that fully and I believe that we are making progress toward getting a proposal tabled in Brussels that would designate the individuals and the entities that are facilitating Iran's missile program. It is a grave and escalating threat. And nations around the world, not just Europe, need to do everything they can to be targeting Iran's missile program.

QUESTION: What's the nature of the concern among the Europeans that kind of stops them from being closer to your side on the sanctions efforts?

MR HOOK: Well, they did  the French did take actions. We've seen the French take actions against the bomb plot in Paris. Denmark's taking action. So we are seeing  the Europeans are doing something.

QUESTION: Slowly (inaudible) --

MR HOOK: Yeah, and so  yes, I would say that they also see the expanding threat, and they also understand that over the last few years, Iran has expanded its threats to peace and security in a range of domains.

QUESTION: The proposal is looking at naming the people involved in the program with the Europeans and they do not necessarily have that (inaudible). Is there any --

MR HOOK: Could you speak a little louder?

QUESTION: What exactly would the proposal say? Would it be  is it  are you looking to identify the people responsible and this is exclusively about missiles or --

MR HOOK: Well, the  yeah, the United States has imposed sanctions on a number of individuals and entities who are supporting Iran's missile program. We think those sanctions can be effective if more nations can also join us in that effort.

QUESTION: Is there anything you can say about the Secretary's meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu today?

MS NAUERT: We're not confirming anything at this point.

QUESTION: The Israelis have put out a statement.

MS NAUERT: We're not confirming anything at this point. We'll let you know.

MR HOOK: I  yeah.

MS NAUERT: We'll let you know when we can about any additions to the schedule. Brian, I know one thing you've been following closely is a special-purpose vehicle.

MR HOOK: Yeah.

MS NAUERT: Do you want to  if there's anything you want to say about that?

MR HOOK: The United States still continues to see no to little demand for a special-purpose vehicle by any significant corporation. A special-purpose vehicle is like the reverse Field of Dreams; if you build it, they will not come. We just don't see any evidence that significant corporations want to make use of a vehicle. We have seen only support by major European companies for our sanctions regime because if you are the CEO of a European company and you are given the choice between doing business in the United States market or the Iranian market, that is the fastest decision you will ever make as CEO.

MS NAUERT: Any other questions?

QUESTION: Do you have a sense for how  as these sanctions come on line, how long will it take to get --

MR HOOK: Louder, what?

QUESTION: How long as these sanctions  the oil sanctions  come on line do you expect that it will take the Iranian oil sales to fall below a level --

MR HOOK: Well, we've already seen  yeah.

QUESTION: -- to fall below a level at which they'll stop being able to pay some of these bills in Yemen or Syria?

MR HOOK: Our sanctions have only been in place for a few weeks. The announcement of the President leaving the Iran deal had the effect of causing companies and nations to pre-comply with their sanctions. As a consequence, we have had nations importing Iranian oil decrease imports by over a million barrels. You will see further decreases in Iranian imports in the coming months. Because 80 percent of Iran's revenue comes from the export of oil, we know that if we can follow the money, which means following the oil, we are going to be able to make a material difference starving the regime of the revenue that it needs to destabilize the Middle East and Europe.

MS NAUERT: Anybody else? All right. Thanks, everybody.

MR HOOK: Okay. Thank you.

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US Urges EU to Enact Sanctions After Iran Missile Test

By Nike Ching December 03, 2018

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reaffirmed the strength of U.S.-Israel alliance and reiterated America's resolve in confronting Iran's threats through maximum pressure during a dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.

Pompeo arrived in Brussels late Monday for the NATO foreign ministerial meeting, where he had dinner after lighting a Hanukah candle with Netanyahu.

The meeting came days after the top U.S. diplomat slammed Tehran's testing of a medium-range ballistic missile.

Washington also urged European leaders Monday to enact sanctions on Iran after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tehran tested a medium range ballistic missile Saturday.

"We would like to see the European Union move sanctions that target Iran's missile program," Washington's special envoy to Iran, Brian Hook, told reporters traveling with Pompeo to the NATO meeting in Brussels Monday.

"The United States has imposed sanctions on a number of individuals and entities who are supporting Iran's missile program. We think those sanctions can be effective if more nations can also join us in that effort," Hook added.

On Saturday, Pompeo criticized Iran over what he described as Tehran's test-firing of a medium-range ballistic missile capable of carrying multiple warheads and has a range that allows it to strike parts of Europe and anywhere in the Middle East.

Iran responded by saying its tests were for defensive purposes.

"How exactly is the world's leading sponsor of terrorism entitled to a claim of defense? In fact, Iran's security concerns are entirely self-generated. Was a plot to bomb Paris defensive? Was the assassination attempt in Denmark defensive? Is smuggling missiles to the Houthis in Yemen to attack Saudi Arabia and the Emirates defensive," the U.S. special representative for Iran said.

At the semi-annual meeting of NATO ministers, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert says Pompeo will renew the U.S. call that allies "shoulder a fair share of the burden of responsibility to protect against common threats."

"This means living up to the pledge that all allies made in 2014 and reaffirmed at the 2018 Brussels Summit to spend 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense by 2024 and to invest 20 percent of that in major equipment," Nauert said in a statement Monday.

Esha Sarai contributed to this report.

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Trump Offers Khan to Renew US-Pakistani Partnership - Islamabad

Sputnik News

14:50 03.12.2018(updated 15:29 03.12.2018)

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Pakistani Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday that US President Donald Trump had offered Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan to renew the US-Pakistani partnership.

"US President Donald Trump, in his letter addressed to Prime Minister Imran Khan, has stated that his most important regional priority was achieving a negotiated settlement of the Afghan war. In this regard, he has sought Pakistan's support and facilitation. President Trump has also acknowledged that the war had cost both USA and Pakistan. He has emphasized that Pakistan and USA should explore opportunities to work together and renew partnership," the statement read.

Pakistan welcomes the US decision and reaffirms its commitment to "play a facilitation role in good faith," the ministry added.

"Peace and stability in Afghanistan remain a shared responsibility," the statement read.

During a November interview with the Fox News Sunday, Donald Trump claimed that Pakistan did not "do a damn thing" for the US in terms of countering the threat of terrorism, despite huge sums of money the US provides to Pakistan.

Trump alleged that Pakistani authorities and "everybody in Pakistan" were aware of Osama bin Laden's "nice mansion," which was located near a Pakistani military academy.

In response to Trump's comments, Pakistani PM Imran Khan fired back at the US president, calling his allegation a "tirade against Pakistan."

After the row, the two leaders had on Twitter, the US Department of Defence announced that Washington was suspending a total of $1.66 billion in security assistance to Pakistan.

 Sputnik

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Trump Writes to Pakistan's Khan to Seek Cooperation on Afghan Peace

By Ayaz Gul December 03, 2018

U.S. President Donald Trump is seeking Pakistan's cooperation in bringing the Taliban to the table for negotiating peace in Afghanistan.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said he received a letter Monday from Trump to inform him that U.S. special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, is traveling to Pakistan this week for further discussions.

"He [Trump] wants Pakistan to play its part and use its influence to bring the Taliban to talks. We have a very prime position in it [Afghan peace], and we will certainly make an effort. I have long advocated for it [peace talks]," Khan said in remarks aired on state-run television.

The prime minister noted his critics used to mock and call him "Taliban Khan" for opposing military operations and advocating a political solution to the Afghan war.

"Thankfully, today the whole world wants Pakistan to bring them [Afghans] together [for peace talks]. ... This is what our role should be and we can do it," Khan said. He reiterated that Pakistan would "benefit the most" if peace is restored to Afghanistan.

"In the letter, the President recognizes that Pakistan has the ability to deny the Taliban sanctuary on its territory. The letter also makes clear that Pakistan's assistance with the Afghan peace process is fundamental to building an enduring U.S.-Pakistan partnership," said a spokesperson for Trump's National Security Council.

Earlier, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mohammad Faisal separately issued a formal statement to share details of the letter.

Faisal said Trump acknowledged that the war had cost both the United States and Pakistan. The American leader went on to emphasize the two countries "should explore opportunities to work together and renew partnership," the spokesman added.

When asked about the letter Monday, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said, "We are looking for every responsible nation to support peace in the subcontinent. And we'll cross this war in Afghanistan that's gone on now it's approaching 40 years  40 years is enough.

"It's time for everyone to get on board, support the United Nations, support [Indian Prime Minister Narendra] President Modi, support [Afghan] President [Ashraf] Ghani and all those who are trying to maintain peace and make for a better world ... and we'll do our best to protect the Afghan people as the diplomats work to end the war," Mattis added.

The rare contact between the United States and Pakistan at the highest level comes as Islamabad's traditionally tumultuous relationship with the United States has deteriorated over allegations the Taliban continues to use sanctuaries on Pakistani soil for attacks inside Afghanistan.

Trump reiterated those allegations in a television interview and subsequent tweets last month, justifying his suspension of military assistance to Pakistan. The allegations prompted Khan to also take to Twitter and denounce the U.S. president for questioning Pakistan's counterterrorism efforts. The Pakistani leader insisted his country is being made "a scapegoat" for U.S. military "failures" in Afghanistan.

The 17-year Afghan war has intensified in recent months, with the Taliban inflicting heavy casualties on U.S.-backed Afghan security forces and bringing more territory under insurgent control. The U.S. military has lost more than 2,400 service members and spent nearly a trillion dollars since the war started in 2001.

The U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan peace, Khalilzad, has recently engaged the Taliban in direct talks to try to initiate Afghan peace negotiations.

The Taliban says it is discussing the withdrawal of NATO and U.S. forces from Afghanistan in talks with Washington.

Analysts increasingly believe Trump is considering pulling U.S. forces out of Afghanistan. Khalilzad last week said in a television interview that the president is in a "hurry" for peace in Afghanistan to end the suffering of the people in the strife-torn country.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg acknowledged Monday while speaking to reporters in Brussels that allied nations are paying "a high cost of staying in Afghanistan" in terms of financial and human losses. "But we have to compare the cost of staying with the cost of leaving," Stoltenberg noted.

Patsy Widakuswara and Carla Babb contributed to this report.

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S.Korea's air force launches 5-day drill

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 15:22, December 03, 2018

SEOUL, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's air force on Monday launched a five-day air combat readiness drill after the halt of the joint air combat training with the United States this year, local media reported citing Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

According to JCS, the air drill was aimed at maintaining the air force's combat readiness and enhance the operational capability of pilots.

Details on the drill were not known, including the number of soldiers and aircraft to be mobilized.

It came as South Korea and the United States decided to skip the Vigilant Ace joint air combat training this year in a bid to help talks to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula go smoothly.

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Standoff Over INF Treaty Enters New Phase As U.S. Reveals Details Of Russian Missile

By Mike Eckel December 03, 2018

The United States' top intelligence official has quietly revealed key new details about Russia's alleged violations of a bedrock Cold War nuclear treaty, an unexpected move that comes as U.S. officials push to build new support from European allies.

Congress, meanwhile, is gearing up for a new fight over U.S. arms-control policy, even as President Donald Trump's administration intends to withdraw from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and has signaled lukewarm support for another even bigger nuclear treaty.

Taken together, the developments mark a new phase in the fight between Moscow and Washington over the fate of their two nuclear arsenals, and highlight fears that the two countries are sliding into a new arms race.

Beginning in 2014, the United States publicly accused Russia of violating the INF, which eliminated, among other things, an entire class of intermediate-range missiles.

In a statement published November 30, Dan Coats, the U.S. director of national intelligence, for the first time revealed significantly more evidence from U.S. intelligence about the type of missile Russia tested and how it was tested. Coats said the Russia tested the missile from a fixed launcher and then a mobile launcher -- one within the range banned by the INF treaty.

"By putting the two types of tests together, Russia was able to develop a missile that flies to the intermediate ranges prohibited by the INF Treaty and launches from a ground-mobile platform," Coats said.

"It's a big deal," says Thomas Moore, a former staffer for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and longtime arms-control specialist who worked on multiple treaties. "Those are the relevant details you would need to say, 'Yes, they have violated the INF.'"

It wasn't clear why exactly Coats had decided to reveal more specific evidence now. The State Department did not respond to e-mails seeking comment.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis echoed the tough rhetoric toward Moscow, saying the Kremlin had undermined trust on the issue of missile treaties.

"We are dealing with someone that we simply cannot trust," Mattis said during a speech at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California. "There is no doubt the relationship has worsened.

"We are dealing with Putin's duplicitous violation of the INF Treaty," Mattis said. 

To Europe, With Evidence

Coats' announcement came as he headed to Europe to brief NATO allies on the U.S decision to withdraw from the INF. NATO foreign ministers, meeting in Brussels, are expected on December 4 to announce a stronger condemnation of Russia's alleged violations -- and possibly a stronger endorsement of the U.S. evidence of the violation.

Two days earlier, however, the Dutch ministers of defense and foreign affairs said in a letter to Dutch lawmakers that the Netherlands had obtained proof of the Russian missile violation.

"The Netherlands can independently confirm that Russia has developed and is currently introducing a ground-based cruise weapon," said the letter, published on the Dutch parliament's website.

There was no independent confirmation of the report, but if true it would be first time that a NATO ally has publicly corroborated the U.S. allegations.

And on November 30, the same day as Coats' announcement, the German news magazine Der Spiegel, citing unnamed sources, said that U.S. officials had shared raw intelligence about the Russian missile.

According to the magazine, U.S. officials have not only shared satellite imagery of a flight of the banned Russian missile, but also evidence of the Russian companies and entities involved in the design and manufacture of the missile and its launchers.

Enter Congress

In Congress, meanwhile, attitudes toward Moscow have hardened markedly since Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula in 2014 and the conclusions of the U.S. intelligence community that the Kremlin interfered in the 2016 presidential election.

Last year, lawmakers included several provisions in the annual defense-policy legislation aimed at forcing Russia back into compliance with the INF.

One included the development of a new ground-launched cruise missile that would ultimately be deployed in Europe, similar to what happened in the mid-1980s, in the years before the INF Treaty was signed.

On November 29, a group of several Senate Democrats, and the chamber's only independent, introduced legislation that would block funding of such a missile unless Trump administration officials met certain conditions, including identifying where such missiles would be deployed in the first place.

"Congress must not fund new ground-launched or ballistic missiles that will fuel a dangerous arms race across the globe," one of the legislation's co-sponsors, Senator Jeff Merkley (Democrat-Oregon), said in a statement.

Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, meanwhile, joined with Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney in linking the fate of the INF to that of the New START treaty, a larger, more comprehensive deal that limits the overall size of the U.S. and Russian nuclear stockpiles.

New START is due to expire in 2021, though there is a provision that allows for it to be extended by mutual agreement.

In a joint statement, Cotton and Cheney called New START deeply flawed and called for cutting off all funding for U.S. compliance unless the Trump administrations comes up with a better way to ensure Russia wasn't cheating on the treaty.

"Vladimir Putin has spent a decade cheating on existing treaties like the INF, building up his nuclear arsenal, and rewriting the rule book on the nuclear triad by introducing new ways of launching a nuclear attack," Cotton said. "It's clear the old START model isn't going to cut it. This bill ensures all, not some, of Russia's nuclear arsenal is on the table in the next round of negotiations."

Both bills "are just awful," former Senate staffer Moore says. "One thinks that Russia needs New START and so, in order to get INF compliance, we should kill chances of extension. The other penalizes the U.S. for Russian violations. Neither bill denies Russia any benefit of its INF violations and nor does U.S. withdrawal."

While Republicans continue to control the Senate, ensuring that Democratic-backed legislation will have an uphill battle to passage, the Democrats will take control of the House of Representatives, and much of its agenda, in January.

In an interview with the Arms Control Association, a Washington think tank, Adam Smith, the incoming chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said he opposed the Trump administration's withdrawal from the INF, as well as another proposal for a new series of small, low-yield nuclear weapons.

"I think we would benefit from greater dialogue with Russia. It's actually something that I do agree with the president on. I don't...necessarily agree with the way he's handled it, but as two of the greatest military powers, I think the whole world would benefit from us having more robust discussions and negotiations with the Russians on all of these issues," Smith said.

In Moscow, Russian officials have reacted sternly to the Trump withdrawal from the INF and signaled that Moscow would consider deploying its own missile on the territory of allies, such as Belarus, if the United States and NATO move to deploy similar weapons in Europe.

"We know all our weapons perfectly, and we know that none of them violates our treaty obligations, as we continue to insist," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters in Moscow November 26.

Washington's European allies, meanwhile, have voiced growing concerns about the U.S. nuclear plans, even as many are troubled by Russia's increasingly belligerent military actions in Ukraine and along the borders of some NATO member states.

"The onus is on Russia. NATO does not want a new Cold War or a new arms race, and we will do all we can to avoid them. But Russia, too, must play its part," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in an opinion article. "We remain ready to talk with Russia and to work together towards a better and more secure future."

Pavel Podvig, a Geneva-based arms researcher, said there were still possibilities to keep the INF from falling apart entirely.

"The situation is not totally hopeless, but it would require a fairly high level of trust, strong commitment to preserve the treaty, and probably Russia's willingness to take some corrective actions," he wrote. "Alas, all these are in short supply these days."

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/standoff-over-inf-treaty -enters-new-phase-as-u-s-reveals-details-of- russian-missile/29634906.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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NATO Supports Arms Control, Ready for Dialogue With Russia - Stoltenberg

Sputnik News

13:32 03.12.2018(updated 14:17 03.12.2018)

In late October, the Russian Armed Forces said in a statement that it had observed a noticeable increase in NATO reconnaissance activity on its borders in recent months.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday that the bloc supported the idea of arms control and was ready for talks with Russia.

"NATO is a strong advocate for arms control to make us all safer. We seek dialogue with Russia, and we aspire to improve relations. But to make this possible, Russia must fully comply with its international commitments," Stoltenberg told reporters ahead of the meeting of NATO foreign ministers.

The NATO secretary general said that the foreign ministers would discuss the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

Stoltenberg said that NATO was assessing the situation and would take measures to ensure the security of all the members of the alliance.

The statement comes two months after Stoltenberg said that the alliance was ready to continue a dialogue on the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with Russia.

On November 25, three Ukrainian Navy vessels, the Berdyansk, Nikopol, and Yany Kapu  entered Russian territorial waters that were temporarily closed and began moving toward the Kerch Strait, which serves as an entrance to the sea. The Ukrainian vessels and their 24 crew members were detained by Russia after failing to respond to a lawful demand that they stop.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called the incident a pre-planned provocation, saying that it seemed to be connected to Ukrainian President Poroshenko's low approval ratings ahead of next spring's presidential elections.

Russia and NATO are holding discussions on present-day issues via the NATO-Russia Council that was established on May 28, 2002. The council, however, was suspended in 2014-2016 over the situation in Ukraine. The latest NATO-Russia Council meeting was held in October at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

 Sputnik

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US missiles raid Syrian army in al-Sukhnah town

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, Dec 3, IRNA -- The US-led coalition carried out a missile attack on some of the Syrian army's positions in al-Sukhnah town in the central parts of Syria.

The attack was conducted at about 20:00 local time on Sunday in the southern parts of al-Sukhnah town, causing only material damage to Syrian Army, said Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) citing an informed military source.

US fighter jets have repeatedly attacked the positions of Syria's army in al-Tanf area, near the Syria-Iraq-Jordan border, killing army forces and incurring material damage to facilities.

Since 2014, US fighter jets have attended thousands of flights in Syria, yielding no results due to the lack of strong will to combat terrorism and Takfiri groups.

They have also committed tens of slaughters in al-Hasakah, Raqqah, Deir ez-Zor, and Aleppo to kill hundreds of civilians.

9462**1771

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Fateh al-Sham obtains 100 drones for chemical attacks in Syria: Report

Iran Press TV

Mon Dec 3, 2018 01:56PM

Terrorists from the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham Takfiri terrorist group, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, have reportedly gained access to 100 unmanned aerial vehicles through a Turkish merchant to use them in chemical attacks against Syrian government forces in the country's northwestern province of Idlib.

Local sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Arabic service of Russia's Sputnik news agency that the drones have transported from the city of Harem, which lies close to the border with Turkey, to a militant position in the town of Ma'arrat Misrin.

The drones have been handed over to Moroccan and Libyan terrorists, the sources added.

"Terrorists are working under the supervision of a British expert to make modifications on the drones to become lighter, and to able to carry small shells loaded with toxic chemical substances," the sources pointed out.

On November 22, Sputnik news agency reported that French experts had arrived in Syria's northwestern city of Idlib in order to upgrade missiles, which are in the inventory of foreign-sponsored Takfiri militant groups, and load them with toxic chemical agents.

Local sources, requesting not to be named, said the professionals aim to use the munitions in a fake chemical attack carried out by terrorists as a pretext for the United States and its allies to launch possible airstrikes on Syrian government forces.

Jabhat Fateh al-Sham terrorists transported 200 drones from Sarmada town al-Muhandseen neighborhood in Idib city as Turkish and Chechen experts made technical and electronic modifications on them. The unmanned aerial vehicles had entered the Syrian territories earlier via Turkey.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. The Syrian government says the Israeli regime and its Western and regional allies are aiding Takfiri terrorist groups wreaking havoc in the country.

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Syrian Army Kills Over 270 Daesh Militants During Al-Suwayda Province Offensive

Sputnik News

06:31 03.12.2018(updated 06:59 03.12.2018)

Syrian Army has killed over 270 Daesh terrorists during an offensive in Syrian Al-Suwayda province, the command of the Russian forces in Syria reported.

Russian Defence Ministry reported that Syrian Army has killed over 270 Daesh terrorists and seized a huge stockpile of foreign weapons, including 12 TOW missiles, during offensive in Syrian's Al-Suwayda province.

"During the operation, more than 270 militants were killed, a large stockpile of weapons of foreign production, munitions, shells, mines, including 12 [US-made] TOW anti-tank guided missiles, were seized," Oleg Makarevich said.

He noted that the majority of militants came to the province from the area of At-Tanf, where a US military base is located.

In August, heavy clashes between the government forces and jihadists were reported in the southwestern province of Suwayda. The Syrian Army reportedly advanced to drive Daesh* terrorists out of a desert in the province.

Previous year, Syrian government forces managed to liberate 1,300 square kilometres (500 square miles) of the country's territory from terrorists in Al Suwayda province, according to local reports.

*A terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries.

 Sputnik

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UK changes military leadership amid row over US jet import

Iran Press TV

Mon Dec 3, 2018 05:49PM

The British military has changed its top commanders amid a widening row over the import of F-35 fighter jets from the United States.

Reports on Monday said that four new senior chiefs had been appointed to lead the UK military forces, including the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy.

Air Marshal Michael Wigston will lead the RAF while Vice Admiral Tony Radakin would become Britain's first sea lord and chief of naval staff. All the commanders are approved by the Queen Elizabeth II, who is the commander of the British armed forces, and they will take up their posts next year, according to the Ministry of Defence.

The new commanders were appointed with a stated mission of improving the British army's capabilities in dealing with increasing threats.

However, the appointments come amid a widening row between the RAF and the Royal Navy over which type of US-made F-35 fighter jets the UK should prefer in its future purchases.

The RAF reportedly prefers jets that are known as type A and exclusively fly from land, while the Navy has repeatedly insisted that all the 138 jets being produced for Britain in the US should be of type B, which is also capable of flying from aircraft carriers.

The row is believed to have irritated US authorities as Washington expects the UK to have the F-35B in all of its purchases. However, senior officers in the British air force believe the plane is not as efficient as F-35A while it also incurs huge costs and is 20 million more expensive at a 90-million price tag.

"If the RAF go for the A variant at the expense of the carriers, which is effectively what they are saying, this will be perceived by the US as a major betrayal," a source told Sky News last week, insisting that the RAF is expected to drastically change its approach to the issue or face a backlash from a government which is unwilling to annoy the US, its main military ally, at a time when Britain is leaving the European Union and is struggling to reach a comprehensive trade agreement with Washington.

The Ministry of Defence told the Sky News last week that the policy for the F-35 fighter jets remained to be for British armed forces to receive the carrier-capable B variant.

A first batch of the stealth fighter jets, a total of 48 planes, is being delivered to the UK by the American company Lockheed Martin in a time-table that will continue until 2025.

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UK-US defence partnership to reach new heights in years ahead

The UK and USA will work closer together than ever before to tackle shared threats as Britain expands its horizons across the globe, the Defence Secretary has affirmed.

3 December 2018

Gavin Williamson was a panellist at the Reagan National Defense Forum, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California, where he discussed the importance of allies working collectively in the modern world.

Speaking at the Reagan National Defense Forum, Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said:

"The UK has been with the US through thick and thin  we share values and stand together in global leadership. The UK is not slipping back to our shores but is in fact stepping out."

"Our budget is rising year-on-year, boosted by more than a billion dollars to invest in Armed Forces, and in 2019 we are poised to take our great relationship to even greater heights."

During the conference, Mr Williamson also held a one-to-one bilateral meeting with US Secretary of Defense, Jim Mattis, to discuss how to combat emerging threats, both state-based and from extremist organisations.

He also visited Edwards Air Force Base, home to the US' Air Force Test Pilot School and NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center.

The UK is the US' only tier one partner on the F-35 programme, the biggest defence project in history. That partnership led to a historic moment in September, when the first batch of F-35 jets landed on the UK's new aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, off the east coast of the US.

Unmanned Air Systems and a Common Missile Compartment for UK-US Ballistic Missile Submarines are other recent examples of collaboration.

Both nations play leading roles in NATO, which is vital to our transatlantic partnership. Both countries have been calling for other nations to invest more in security and to increase the readiness of their forces. By the end of 2018, eight members are meeting the commitment of spending 2% of their GDP on defence, compared with just three in 2014.

An even closer bond is expected after Brexit, as the UK establishes new relationships and trade deals outside of Europe.

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May's Brexit Deal Appears Doomed in House of Commons

By Jamie Dettmer December 03, 2018

Embattled British Prime Minister Theresa May has just eight days before the House of Commons votes on a contentious deal that would have Britain locked in a customs union with the European Union for several years while it negotiates a more permanent, but vaguely defined, free-trade settlement with its largest trading partner.

In the temporary customs union, Britain would be unable to influence the rules, regulations and product standards it would have to observe. It would be unable to sign free trade deals with non-EU countries. And with Northern Ireland treated differently than other parts of Britain in order to avoid customs and immigration checks on the border with the Republic of Ireland, the province's pro-British Unionists fear their ties with London will be diminished.

As the December 11 vote draws closer, May's prospects of convincing the House of Commons the exit Withdrawal Agreement she concluded is "the best deal for Britain" look increasingly forlorn. She heads a minority government that for its survival relies on the support of a quirky, socially conservative Northern Ireland Party, the DUP, which is threatening to withdraw support.

Each of her several appearances before the House of Commons since the agreement was signed with EU leaders last month has encountered levels of hostility seldom seen toward a sitting prime minister, with the greatest fury coming from her own Conservative Party lawmakers.

'Bad outcome'

Monday's appearance was not helped by the leak of a letter from her chief and most trusted negotiator, Oliver Robbins, warning that her temporary customs arrangement with the EU, which is planned to kick in on March 29, would be a "bad outcome" for Britain. He cautioned the deal could lead to regulatory checks having to be introduced between Northern Ireland and the rest of Britain.

He added that Britain might be trapped in the transition deal indefinitely with no legal way out of the customs union if free trade negotiations subsequently fail.

"When even the architect of this agreement appears to be saying this is a bad deal, colleagues must seriously question how they can vote for this," said former Conservative minister Priti Patel.

On Monday, May was facing uproar in the House of Commons over her refusal to publish the full legal advice offered by the government's lawyers on her deal. Only a summary has been released, but the suspicion is the advice included considerable reservations.

Conspiracies and intrigues are in the air, with rebel Conservative lawmakers debating their Brexit tactics and strategy. The one thing uniting them, whether they are Euro-skeptic or pro-EU, is opposition to May's deal.

One group is preparing for the consequences of a no-deal vote by fashioning an alternative that would see Britain being half-in and half-out of the EU by adopting the Norway approach and joining the European Free Trade Association, a looser form of economic and political affiliation. Current EFTA members are Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland.

'Straight off the cliff'

May adamantly rejected Sunday the idea of EFTA membership as an alternative if her deal fails to get sufficient parliamentary backing. That prompted former Conservative minister Nick Boles to warn May the deal is bound to be voted down, and the only other option she seems to be entertaining is "to do a Thelma and Louise and drive straight off the cliff into the sunset."

EFTA membership is a non-runner for hardline Brexiters among conservatives, as it would require Britain to accept once again freedom of movement that allows EU and EFTA citizens to live and work in any member country.

But hardline Conservative Brexiters don't fear falling off the cliff. Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, David Davis, one of May's former Brexit ministers, the first of three who resigned in the past two years, said "if it happens, it isn't the doomsday scenario some are trying to paint," as it would allow Britain to "take back control and set ourselves on the path to reclaiming independence."

British businesses that rely on integrated EU-wide supply chains for parts and supplies don't agree. Neither does the Bank of England, which last week warned a disorderly no-deal Brexit would plunge Britain's economy into an economic contraction, with a possible sharp rise in unemployment, house prices plummeting 30 percent, and the economy shrinking by around 8 percent in a year.

Second vote?

Meanwhile, Labor Party leaders are debating whether they should push for a second Brexit referendum or try to trigger an election by offering a motion of no confidence in May's government, if the House of Commons withholds approval of her deal.

May is gambling the risk of a general election being triggered and of Labor winning under the leadership of the most far-left leader it has had since the 1930s will persuade conservative rebels and the DUP to hold their noses and approve her deal on December 11. But the DUP's leader said May's deal is a greater threat to Northern Ireland.

May's aides say if she loses next week's vote by a small margin, she could return to Brussels and ask for changes and seek a second vote on the deal.

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Kremlin rejects Ukraine's 'absurd' accusation about plan to seize Azov Sea ports

Iran Press TV

Mon Dec 3, 2018 03:42PM

The Kremlin has denounced as "absurd" a Ukrainian accusation that Russia is planning to seize major ports in the Sea of Azov in order to build a land corridor between the Crimean Peninsula and eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russia forces.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's statement about Russia planning to seize the ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk for a "corridor" from Donbass to Crimea was baseless and just another attempt to cause tensions.

"This statement is absolutely absurd; it is another attempt to somehow spark tensions. Unfortunately, it is clear that such attempts are likely to continue as the presidential election in Ukraine is nearing," Peskov said, adding, "Russia has never seized anything, or laid any corridors."

"That's why this is an absolutely ungrounded statement," the Kremlin spokesman stressed.

The Ukrainian president has previously accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of seeking to rebuild "the old Russian Empire" by what he claimed as seizing the whole Crimea.

Tensions over Ukraine further escalated on November 25 when Russian border patrols fired at three Ukrainian ships and then seized them along with their sailors because of illegal entry into Russian waters.

The incident took place in the Kerch Strait near Crimea, a former Ukrainian territory on the Black Sea that rejoined Russia in a referendum more than four years ago 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. Crimea decided to rejoin Russia in a referendum in March 2014 and two provinces in the east revolted by establishing self-declared republics.

Pro-Russians have turned the two regions of Donetsk and Lugansk in Ukraine's volatile east  collectively known as the Donbass  into self-proclaimed republics.

Washington and its allies in Europe have slapped rounds of economic and security sanctions on Russia over the so-called annexation of Crimea and Moscow's alleged interference in Ukraine, especially in Donbass where pro-Russia groups have been battling Ukrainian military forces for the past four years.

Russia has downplayed the sanctions as insignificant while denying the West's accusation of having a hand in eastern Ukraine.

Moscow blasted Kiev's move in the Kerch Strait as a dangerous "provocation," while the European Union and NATO called for a de-escalation of tensions.

Kiev has imposed a 60-day martial law across Ukraine since November 28, following a sharp escalation in tensions between the two countries.

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NATO Chief Demands Russia Release Ukrainian Ships, Sailors

By RFE/RL December 03, 2018

BRUSSELS -- The head of NATO has demanded that Russia release Ukrainian sailors and naval vessels it seized in a confrontation at sea, while Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman says concerns that Moscow could seek to create a "land corridor" linking Russia to Crimea are "absurd."

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov spoke on December 3 as Russia continued to hold the 24 Ukrainian seamen in Moscow jails on border-violation charges Kyiv rejects.

"Russia recently seized Ukrainian ships and sailors near the Kerch Strait. There is no justification for this use of force. We call for calm and restraint. Russia must release the Ukrainian sailors and ships," Stoltenberg said on the eve of a two-day meeting of NATO foreign ministers who will address that issue, among others.

Russia, he said, "must also allow freedom of navigation and unhindered access to Ukrainian ports in the Sea of Azov. Ukrainian vessels -- military as well as civilian -- have the right to navigate through the Kerch Strait and the Sea of Azov."

Russia has been holding the sailors -- crewmen from three Ukrainian naval craft -- since the confrontation on November 25 in which Russian Coast Guard ships rammed a Ukrainian Navy tugboat and fired on the boats before special forces boarded them.

The clash has added to tension over Crimea, which Russia occupied and took over from Ukraine in March 2014, and raised fears of a flare-up in a simmering war between Kyiv and Russia-backed separatists that has killed more than 10,300 people in eastern Ukraine since April 2014.

The Russia-backed separatists hold parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, including a piece of shoreline that lies between the Russian border and the Ukrainian Sea of Azov port city of Mariupol.

Peskov dismissed concerns that Russia could seek to gain access by land to Crimea by seizing or helping the separatists to seize territory on the Azov shore from Mariupol to the isthmus further west that links the Ukrainian mainland to Crimea.

"It's an absolutely absurd claim. It is another attempt to generate tension. Regretfully, attempts like this will most likely continue as we approach" the Ukrainian presidential election scheduled for March 31, he said.

Peskov claimed that "Russia has never invaded anything or created any corridors anywhere."

But in addition to occupying and taking over Crimea, Kyiv, NATO, and Western governments say there is ample evidence that Russia has given the separatists in eastern Ukraine major military support in the war.

Meanwhile, a lawyer for one of the Ukrainian sailors confirmed on December 3 that all 24 had been charged by Russian authorities with "illegal border crossing."

Nikolai Polozov, who is representing Denys Hrytsenko, said the sailors were formally charged on November 27.

Dzhemil Temishev, an attorney for another of the sailors, said on November 29 that 21 of the detainees were being transferred from Russia-annexed Crimea to the Lefortovo detention center in Moscow.

Russian authorities say three other Ukrainian sailors wounded on November 25 were receiving medical treatment at a different, unspecified detention center.

Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said on December 3 that the detained Ukrainian sailors had food, "clothes, and all the necessities."

In remarks that appeared aimed to portray the jailing of the sailors as a strictly legal issue and tell the world that they were not being mistreated, Moskalkova said on state-run Rossia-24 TV that rights monitors "have visited the sailors and spoken with every one of them."

She said the sailors "have no complaints about custody conditions or medical aid" and that lawyers had access to their clients. Her comments could not be independently verified.

The incident has raised tensions between Kyiv and Moscow to their highest point since Moscow seized Crimea.

Ukraine imposed martial law for 30 days in 10 regions, including all of those that border Russia or have coastlines on the Black Sea or the Sea of Azov.

Russia and Ukraine blame each other for the altercation. Russia closed the Kerch Strait to all sea traffic during the incident, and Kyiv says Russia has continued to deny passage to Ukrainian commercial traffic in and out of Mariupol and Berdyansk, another port on the Sea of Azov.

Western leaders -- including all members of the G7 leading industrialized states -- have called on Russia to release the Ukrainian crew and return the seized navy ships to Kyiv.

With reporting by Rikard Jozwiak in Brussels, TASS, and Interfax

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-reiterates -call-for-germany-allies-to-increase-presence -in-black-sea/29634278.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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Ukrainian Sailors Face Up to 6 Years in Prison for Border Crossing - Lawyer

Sputnik News

13:17 03.12.2018(updated 13:20 03.12.2018)

SIMFEROPOL (Sputnik) - All 24 Ukrainian sailors who were detained for illegally crossing the Russian maritime border in the Azov Sea have had charges brought against them by Russian investigators and now face up to six years in prison, lawyer Nikolay Polozov told Sputnik on Monday.

"The charges were brought on November 27 under Article 322, part 3 of the Russian Criminal Code [on illegal crossings of the state border]. However, this has only now become known to us. It seems that all this took place in Crimea and was done with the participation of state-appointed lawyers," Polozov, who represents Capt. 2nd Rank Hrytsenko, said, adding that the accused sailors faced up to six years in prison.

According to the attorney, he still has no access to the defendant, while other lawyers still do not know whether the case materials have been transferred to Moscow. It is also unclear who from the Federal Security Service (FSB) investigators is heading the investigation team.

Polozov noted that all the sailors were currently in Moscow.

On November 25, Ukraine's Berdyansk and Nikopol gunboats and the Yany Kapu tugboat illegally crossed the Russian maritime border as they sailed toward the Kerch Strait, the entrance to the Sea of Azov. The Ukrainian vessels were arrested by Russia after failing to respond to a demand to stop.

Following the incident, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a decree declaring martial law in several Ukrainian regions located near the Russian border and the coasts of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, which will be in place for 30 days.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the incident was a provocation prepared in advance as a pretext to introduce martial law in Ukraine ahead of the country's presidential election. The martial law would affect the campaign, set to start in late December, amid Poroshenko's low approval rating, Putin said.

 Sputnik

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NATO Set to Meet as Ukraine Seeks Support Against Russian Attacks

By Henry Ridgwell December 03, 2018

Russia's recent attack on Ukrainian naval vessels will likely top the agenda at a NATO meeting this week as the alliance searches for a robust response in the wake of the Kremlin's latest act of aggression on Europe's borders.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is scheduled to join other foreign ministers for the two-day meeting in Brussels starting Tuesday, where American demands for more military spending from NATO allies will also be discussed.

Kyiv has warned the likelihood of an all-out war with its neighbor is dangerously high after Russia fired on its vessels last week in the Azov Sea and detained several Ukrainian naval personnel. Moscow has blamed Ukraine for what it called a 'provocation.'

Attending a ceremony to mark the acquisition of new military hardware Saturday, Ukraine's president urged allies to step forward.

"This is an enormous threat and together, with our allies, we are searching for an appropriate response to it," President Petro Poroshenko said.

The Ukrainian leader wants NATO to send warships to the Azov Sea, which is supposed to be shared between Moscow and Kyiv under a 2003 agreement. Ukraine says Russian warships have blockaded the Kerch Strait off Crimea  the territory it forcibly annexed in 2014  effectively cutting off Ukrainian Black Sea ports.

NATO is under pressure to offer a robust response at Tuesday's foreign ministers' summit. But speaking last week, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg gave no indication that the alliance is prepared to risk a naval confrontation with Russia.

"We call on Russia to ensure unhindered access to Ukrainian ports and allow freedom of navigation for Ukraine in the sea of Azov and Kerch Strait," Stoltenberg told reporters.

Following the incident in the Azov Sea, U.S. President Donald Trump cancelled a planned meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit.

Writing on Twitter last week, Trump wrote, "The European Union, for many years, has taken advantage of us on trade, and then they don't live up to their military commitment through NATO. Things must change fast!"

Along with military spending, NATO foreign ministers will also discuss Ukraine and Georgia's ambitions to join the alliance. Georgia's new President-elect Salome Zurabishvili has already staked out a tough line on Russia, describing it as an "unpredictable occupying power"  and vowing to push forward her country's bid to join NATO.

"We can ask and we've been doing that - membership and that is our direction without any alternative - but on that road we can get much more concrete steps and I intend to be more demanding partner for Europeans as well as with our NATO partners," Zurabishvili told the Reuters news agency.

The West faces a balancing act in dealing with an increasingly unpredictable Kremlin, says Russia analyst Nicholas Redman of the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

"It's partly about exploiting some of the capacities that Western states have in order to defend themselves. That will require new approaches. It's also I think about deciding where the points of potential dialogue should come."

Foreign ministers are also due to discuss Operation Resolute Support in Afghanistan, in which about 16,000 personnel from 39 NATO member states and partner countries are involved in training and assisting Afghan forces.

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US Hasn't Yet Notified Russia About Withdrawal From INF - Kremlin

Sputnik News

19:47 03.12.2018(updated 20:11 03.12.2018)

Moscow has repeatedly called US plans to abandon the INF very dangerous, saying it might draw entire regions of the world into an arms race.

The US possible withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty would be a big mistake, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday.

"In any case, we would consider the move, let's say, a big mistake," Peskov told reporters.

He also noted the United States had not yet notified Russia about the withdrawal, adding that in case the withdrawal took place, Russia would not have to take similar steps to terminate the treaty.

When asked to comment on US President Donald Trump's statement about the possibility of talks with the Russian and Chinese counterparts on stopping the arms race, Peskov said Moscow would welcome real actions by Washington in that regard.

The INF Treaty was signed by the Soviet Union and the United States in 1987, and prohibited either country from possessing, producing or testing ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with a range of between 500 and 5,500 km.

The treaty was aimed primarily at reducing the threat nuclear war in Europe, specifically due to the short flight time of nuclear missiles launched from European countries, which it was feared might push some military planners to propose first strike decapitation attacks against the other side.

Russian officials have called the US plans to withdraw from the INF very dangerous, saying it might draw "entire regions of the world into an arms race," adding that they were prepared to clarify any possible problems the US had with the treaty.

 Sputnik

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Latest Headlines

LVR has worked but Auckland risks remain: ANZ

The Reserve Banks LVR restrictions have reduced household debt and risky lending, but it is too soon to rule out another surge in the Auckland market, ANZ economists have warned.

Tuesday, December 4th 2018, 11:39AM

Sharon Zollner

The RBNZ loosened LVR restrictions for owner-occupiers and investors last week, following a period of stabilising house prices, particularly in Auckland, over the past year.

In their weekly update to the market, ANZs economists, led by Sharon Zollner, say LVR has worked, with NZ household debt to disposable income levels at 167%, compared to near 190% in Australia. Despite this, the bank warns the Auckland market may not have been tamed for good: The Auckland housing market is behaving itself but history warns against ever ruling out a second wind.

ANZ economists say LVR will remain a key part of the Reserve Banks regulatory toolkit, but could be tightened again if lending runs out of control in key cities: All up we see the housing market remaining contained, with the LVR restrictions still tight at these levels, but the RBNZ wont hesitate to adjust them in either direction should it deem warranted.

The bank forecasts a relative period of stability in New Zealand, with competitive mortgage rates, population growth and availability of financing tempered by tougher regulation on landlords, the threat of capital gains tax, and the foreign buyer ban.

The economists predict Governor Adrian Orr will proceed to ease LVR restrictions further if the market remains stable: Whatever happens, the new RBNZ Governor has made it clear that he isnt the type to die wondering. If he judges that the LVR restrictions need to move in either direction, hell get on with the job, unapologetically. But if the housing market, lending standards and credit growth behave themselves, as is our central expectation, ongoing cautious easing will be the default path.

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Sign In to add your commentHow 3 Countries Are Controlling The Petrol Price You Pay? Business oi-Olga Robert

On Monday, Qatar announced that it will be withdrawing from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) starting 1 January 2019. The country's energy minister said that it wants to focus on its strength as the world's largest producer of liquified natural gas by increasing production from 77 million to 110 million tonnes annually. It only makes up for 2 percent of OPEC's annual output, which means that the Arab nation may not have much to lose but the decision will impact the group's waning relevance in the crude market.

While this news may not seem very significant to daily lives of Indians, we are one of the largest consumers of petroleum products in the world and as a consumer, you must be aware that fuel prices are linked to all the purchases you make. Here is a simplified understanding of how global oil prices are controlled by a few countries.

What is OPEC?

OPEC was founded in 1960 by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. It was started to "unify petroleum policies," maintain a regular supply of oil for consumer, income to producers and returns to those investing in the petroleum industry, as per the organization's website.

In reality, this union has been one of the most powerful players in the crude industry, controlling prices by an increase or decrease in their supply, despite making up for just a little more than one-third of the world's production.

The members meet twice a year to vote on any proposals. The next meeting is scheduled for 6 December 2018.

Price dominance

Until the middle of the 20th century, the oil prices were mainly controlled by the US as it was the largest producer of oil. After discovering oil in eastern Texas, the supply further increased, reducing the prices. Then around the time of the first World War, Saudi Arabia and Iran discovered oil and subsequently the OPEC was formed in 1960 to counter the dominance of the western oil companies on leveraging prices.

After the Vietnam war, America increased its reliance on imported oil and, OPEC turned the crude into a seller's market, which means that it controlled the price through its supply rather than through demand. The same is still relevant today. It still uses the world's lack of alternative sources of energy (hat are economically viable) as its pricing power.

You have already experienced it this year. After Venezuela's economic collapse and US sanctions on Iranian imports petrol and diesel prices in India hit all-time highs because there was a cut in supply from the OPEC. Then again when the US president showed his anger towards the increase in oil prices, America's important ally and the de-facto leader of the OPEC, Saudi Arabia promised to increase production and it delivered. That is what caused the fall in fuel prices that we have been seeing for the last two months.

Another player in the pricing is Russia. Though not an OPEC member, it is the organization's strong ally and also increased production in the last two months, just like Saudi Arabia did. In fact, in November, America and Russia pumped more crude than Saudi Arabia.

With its economy being highly dependant on oil exports, Russia has been highly compliant with the proposals made by OPEC and plays an important role in controling oil prices.Carl Beech is Nick: VIP paedophile accuser unmasked in court

Meet Carl Beech. You know him by his nom-de-plume Nick, the man who claimed child murdering VIP paedophiles were operating with impunity in and around Westminster. The Times revealed Mr Beech has been an exschool governor  you know, one of those adults who actually enjoy playing at schools. It was Nick who told us, often via the Daily Mirrors titles, about pedophile rings  child sex abusers always appear in rings because it satisfies our love for a conspiracy. Anyhow, Nick, sorry, Carls not in the news because hes a dad of one who formerly lived with his mother (spoiler: most of us did), is a Church of England priest and worked as an NHS nurse, rather the 50-year-old whose claims triggered Scotland Yard to launch Operation Midland is being tested in court. Mr Beech, faces 12 charges of perverting the course of justice and one of fraud after the collapse of one of the Metropolitan Polices most prominent inquiries. We know his real name because yesterday a judge at Newcastle Crown Court lifted an anonymity order.

He is accused of profiting from alleged lies about murder, abuse and torture by fraudulently claiming 22,000 from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. His identity can be revealed after legal restrictions were lifted Mr Beech is accused of deceiving detectives over four years with false claims of a historical paedophile ring made up of senior politicians, military members and other prominent figures. On the word of Nick, a desperate Scotland Yard blew 2.5 million (in the Sun it rises to 3m) on an inquiry that besmirched Lord Bramall, 94, a former chief of the defence staff, and Harvey Proctor, 71, a former Conservative MP. Both are entirely innocent. Two other former top Tories, Sir Edward Heath and Lord Brittan of Spennithorne, are also innocent. Although theyre dead  and one thing we know about corpses is that they unlikely to defend themselves and mud sticks. Like former PM Heath, Operation Midland is also dead. Sir Richard Henriques, a retired High Court judge, read the bilge and told us that it was littered with errors. Of course, if you love a conspiracy, well, it was all to be expected. Better to equip the police with flaming torches and thumb screws. For someone once so verbose, Mr Beech spoke only once in the dock. He answered I am when asked whether he was Carl Beech. the court will see him again on February 11 for a pre-trial hearings.

You might suppose the Mirror and its sister title The People would be all over this story. Youd be mistaken. There is a Nick on the papers front page. But its TV presenter Nick Knowles now appearing in ITVs Im A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! The otherNick  Carl Beech  is nowhere. Not a word. Nothing.

Not that the Sun goes large on Nick. Hes on page 22 and 23. The Mail slaps Nick all over Page 5. Beechs barrister tells us: We expect the matter will be fully contested. Itd be useful, too, if the role of the police was investigated. Why did they follow up Mr Beechs claims with such gusto?

Anorak

Posted: 4th, December 2018 | In: Broadsheets, Key Posts, News, Tabloids Comment | TrackBack | PermalinkSweden campaigns for standardised sex toys as hospital cases of objects stuck up rectums grows

The Swedish Standard institute is working towards increased security for users of sex toys. Anna Sjogren, project manager at SIS, Swedish Standards Institute, points to the peril of ineffective sex toys. The press release is informative:

The new standardization committee is working on a proposal for a global standard that will be sent to the ISO standardization organization hoping more countries will participate. The standard will benefit both consumers, manufacturers, retailers and purchasing managers. Today there are no standards that directly affect the design or quality assurance of this kind of products, either in Sweden or internationally. If the product has a battery, that particular part falls under the EU Low Voltage Directive, but it does not say much about the design or risk analysis made by the manufacturer in the design stage or demanding information for the consumer.

But what about those perils? Sjogren points us to a study in the International Journal of Colorectal Disease. It looked at the rectums arriving at Stockholm South General Hospital.

Retained foreign rectal objects may require surgical removal. To estimate the magnitude of this problem, we report the incidence and treatment of retained rectal objects at a large emergency hospital, and calculate incidence rates at the national level in Sweden. We show an increasing incidence in rectal foreign bodies in Swedish national data. The increase was most noticeable in menTo mitigate surgical cost and comorbidity, policies to decrease the risk of retained sex toys could be considered.

Objects like

Median age was 41 years (range 1592) and 65 (76%) were males. The majority of incidents were self-inflicted (72%) The objects were sex toys (dildos and butt plugs) in 41% of cases. The other 59% consisted mostly of cans, bottles, candles, and eatables. We admitted 63 patients (74%) where bedside retrieval was unsuccessful. In 3 patients, the object spontaneously ejected while awaiting surgery.

The solution?

We hypothesize that a safety string or adequate-sized stopper potentially could have prevented retaining the dildos, since a recurring problem was difficulty in grasping the objects endoluminally.

And lighting candles before digestion

Anorak

Posted: 4th, December 2018 | In: Key Posts, Strange But True, The Consumer Comment | TrackBack | PermalinkKate Osamor: Fiona Onasanya, a mothers love and Press freedom

Faced with journalists from the Mail and Times on her doorstep seeking answers to questions about her sons conviction for intent to supply drugs, including cocaine, Labour MP Kate Osamor dialled 999. The Times says Osamor, your parliamentary rep for Edmonton, told its journalist to fuck off, threw a bucket of water at him and then, in the presence of police, said she should have come down here with a bat and smashed your face in. Discuss.

The Times say Osamor has been accused of wasting police time, chiefly by Susan Hall, Conservative member of the London Assembly, whose given time and space to say: Its a bit rich of Kate Osamor to complain about police cuts at the same time as shamelessly wasting police resources. Dealing with media attention is all part and parcel of being a high-profile politician. If she is unable to cope with some probing questions from journalists, perhaps shes in the wrong job.

Michelle Stanistreet, the NUJs general secretary, is unimpressed by the language. Journalists, like any other workers, need to be able to go about their work without fear of threats or assault, she says. Its completely unacceptable to respond to legitimate press queries, however unwelcome they may be, with physical or verbal abuse. There is a disturbing and febrile international climate at the moment that is facilitating and legitimising the notion that it is open season on journalists  such insidious and dangerous beliefs, particularly when they emanate from public figures in positions of authority, have to be challenged at every turn. Watergate, eat yer heart out.

Back in the Times, we learn that Scotland Yard sent six officers over to Osamors home in just 24 hours to answer emergency calls about her son and parliamentary aide, Ishmael, 29, and what she knew of his arrest. Is that a lot? The Times smells the air:

The Times revealed on Saturday that Ms Osamor, 50, had written to the judge in her sons case to appeal for leniency before he received a community sentence on October 19. The disclosure of his mothers intervention contradicted earlier accounts from Labour that she had only heard about the case when the media began asking questions on October 26 Ms Osamors differing accounts of her sons case, her continued employment of him in her Westminster office and her threats to the journalist have led to questions about her fitness to be an MP.

Kids, eh. Whod be a parent? Its emotive stuff. The Press are excited. The Sun says Ms Osamor has denied wrongdoing in the row over her son and then values her home and questions her right to live in it. The i cant even be bothered to identify the MP correctly. Instead of Osamor, the paper used a picture of the Labour whip and Peterborough MP Fiona Onasanya, supplied by a news agency. Jeremy Corbyn with Kate Osamor, who is accused of threatening a reporter, says the i. Whoops!

Osamor has resigned her post as anyone..? Anyone? Yep. Shadow international development secretary.

Anyone know who her replacement is? And have they hired their kids..?

Anorak

Posted: 4th, December 2018 | In: News, Politicians Comment | TrackBack | PermalinkRolls-Royce and Finnish state-owned ferry operator Finferries have demonstrated the worlds first fully autonomous ferry in the archipelago south of the city of Turku, Finland.

The car ferry Falco used a combination of Rolls-Royce Ship Intelligence technologies successfully to navigate autonomously during its voyage between Parainen and Nauvo. The return journey was conducted under remote control.

During the demonstration, the Falco, with 80 invited VIP guests aboard, conducted the voyage under fully autonomous control. The vessel detected objects utilizing sensor fusion and artificial intelligence and conducted collision avoidance. It also demonstrated automatic berthing with a recently developed autonomous navigation system. All this was achieved without any human intervention from the crew.





The Falco is equipped with a range of advanced sensors which allows it to build a detailed picture of its surroundings in real time.

The situational awareness picture is created by fusing sensor data, which is relayed to Finferries remote operating center on land, some 50 kilometers away in Turku city center. Here, a captain monitors the autonomous operations, and can take control of the vessel if necessary.

During the autonomous operation tests in Turku archipelago, Rolls-Royce has so far clocked close to 400 hours of sea trials. The Rolls-Royce Autodocking system is among the technologies that have been successfully tested. This feature enables the vessel to automatically alter course and speed when approaching the quay and carry out automatic docking without human intervention. During the sea trials, the collision avoidance solution has also been tested in various conditions for several hours of operation.

Earlier this year Rolls-Royce and Finferries began collaborating on a new research project called SVAN (Safer Vessel with Autonomous Navigation), to continue implementing the findings from the earlier Advanced Autonomous Waterborne Applications (AAWA) research project, funded by Business Finland.

The Falco is a 53.8 meter double-ended car ferry, which entered service with Finferries in 1993. It is equipped with twin azimuth thrusters from Rolls-Royce.South Korea-based SK Innovation, a developer of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, will invest $1.67 billion to build a new electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing plant in Georgia.

SK innovation is fitted with the entire value chain for mid/large-sized battery production from electrodes and separators to battery cells and packs. SK Innovation has applied high energy density ternary materials to lithium-ion batteries for mass production. Based on these technological capabilities, SK innovation has signed supply contracts with major automakers including Hyundai Motor Group, BAIC Group and Daimler AG.

SK Innovation, which is part of SK Group, says that it is making the investment in Georgia to better compete in the growing global EV battery market. The company says that the new investment will provide opportunities for it to bring its products to additional automakers in the United States.

The new plant will be located in Jackson County, Georgia. Construction will occur in two phases, beginning in early 2019. The first phase will invest approximately $1 billion and employ more than 1,000 advanced manufacturing employees, making it the largest scale electric vehicle battery plant in the United States. SK Innovation leadership worked closely with federal, state and local officials to finalize the investment.

SK Group has been building relationships within the United States for decades. It already has significant investments in the US and currently employs nearly 2,000 US workers across 10 states.

Established as South Koreas first oil refining company in 1962, SK Innovation engages in diverse areas of business, including exploration and production (E&P), batteries, and information and electronics materials. It owns SK Energy, South Koreas N 1 refining company; SK Global Chemical, the leader in the domestic petrochemical industry; SK Lubricants, a global lubricants company; SK Incheon Petrochem, a refining and chemical company; and SK Trading International, a trader of crude oils and petrochemicals.(ANSA) - Vatican City, December 4 - At his morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta on Tuesday, Pope Francis spoke about how Christians can prepare for Christmas during Advent by building peace in one's soul, in the family and in the world through humility, according to Vatican News. The Pope said that peacemaking consists in not talking evil of and harming others, a bit like imitating God, who humbled Himself.

Pointing to the pastoral scene evoked by Isaiah in the first reading, where the wolf and the lamb, and the leopard and the kid live side by side harmlessly, the Pope said the prophet speaks about the peace of Jesus that transforms life and history, which is why He is called the "Prince of Peace".

Advent, therefore, is the time to prepare ourselves for this Prince of Peace by being at peace with ourselves, our soul, that is often in anxiety, anguish and without hope. For this, one needs to start with oneself.

The Pope said that today the Lord asks us whether our soul is at peace? If not, then we should ask the Prince of Peace to pacify our souls, so we can meet Him. The Pope said we are so used looking at the souls of others rather than our own.

After being at peace with our soul, it is time to be at peace at home, in the family, the Pope said. He noted much sadness in families with much struggle, "small wars" and at times disunity.

He urged Christians to examine themselves whether they are at peace or at war in their families or against others, whether there are bridges or walls that separate. The Pope then spoke about making peace in the world where there is much war, disunity, hatred and exploitation. Christians should ask themselves what they are doing about creating peace in the world by working for peace in the neighbourhood, in the school and in the workplace. The Pope urged Christians to ask themselves whether they find excuses to make war, to hate, to talk ill about others and condemn or are they meek and try to build bridges.

Children too can ask themselves whether at school they bully a companion they dislike because he is a little hateful or weak, or they make peace and forgive everything.

Peace, the Pope said, is never still but always moves forward. It starts with the soul, and after making its journey of peace, returns to the soul. Making peace is a bit like imitating God. When He wanted to make peace with us and forgave us, He sent His Son to make peace, to be the Prince of peace.

The Pope said to be a peacemaker one does not have to be wise and learned and study peace. Peace is an attitude that Jesus speaks about in the Gospel. Jesus glorifies God because he has hidden these things from the wise and learned and has revealed them to the little ones.

Pope Francis urged Christians to make themselves small, humble and be the servant of others. "The Lord will give you the ability to understand how to make peace and will provide you the strength to make it," the Pope assured.

The Pope said that whenever there is the possibility of a "small war" at home, in the heart, at school or at work, we should stop short and try and make peace. "Never, never wound the other. Never," he said, exhorting Christians to start by not speaking ill of others or firing the first cannon. This way, he said, we become men and women of peace, carrying peace forward.

ABC/Image Group LAFlorida Georgia Line's Tyler Hubbard is one of several country artists speaking out in support of TOMS shoe company founder Blake Mycoskie's campaign to end gun violence. In an Instagram video message, Tyler challenges others to support the campaign.

"I want to do a personal challenge to my friends, to my peers, to other artists," he says. "I know we've all been affected by gun violence directly or indirectly and I want to say it's our time to take a stand and join together."

He adds, "Let's join together with TOMS. We've got a lot of fans that need to continue to spread this word. Let's make a real change."

Tyler then urges everyone to visit TOMS.com to send a postcard to their representative and make their voices heard on the gun control debate and the desire to pass universal background checks. Last month, Mycoskie announced a campaign that includes a $5 million donation from TOMS to a coalition of organizations to help end gun violence.

"I think we can all come together and agree that something has to change. It's unacceptable. We shouldn't have to walk out of our house and live in fear anymore," Tyler says in another clip.(ANSA) - Ancona, December 4 - The ancient Greek Statue of a Victorious Youth by fabled sculptor Lysippos belongs to Italy, the supreme Cassation Court said Tuesday, saying the Getty Museum must hand it back.

The top court rejected an appeal by the US museum against a Pesaro judge's order to confiscate the fourth-century BC bronze statue.

"The Lysippos (as it is known in Italy) must return to Italy, it's the last word from Italian justice," Pesaro prosecutor Silvia Cecchi told ANSA after the long legal battle.

Culture Minister Alberto Bonisoli told ANSA "now we hope the US authorities will act as soon as possible to favour the restitution of the Lysippos to Italy".

He said he was happy that "this judicial process has finally ended and the right to recover an extremely important testimony of our heritage has been recognised.

"Let's hope the statue can soon return to be admired in our museums".

In June the Pesaro prosecutors announced that the order issued to seize the statue for years disputed by Italy and the Getty Museum in Malibu was "immediately executive".

"The Lysippos statue must return to Italy," prosecutors told ANSA, accompanied by Tristano Tonnini, the lawyer for the association "Cento Citta'", which has been fighting the legal battle for 11 years.

"We expect politicians to play their part," they said.

The Italian judge rejected an appeal by the Getty Museum, ruling that the fourth-century BC Greek statue - known as Lysippos or Lysippus after its creator and fished out of the sea off Pesaro in 1964 - must be seized wherever in the world it is.

Commonly referred to as the Getty Bronze and formally named Statue of a Victorious Youth, the statue is one of the best-known works in the Los Angeles-based museum.

The Lysippos has been contested ever since the Getty bought it for almost four million dollars in 1977 from German art dealer Herman Heinz Herzer, paying nearly 800 times the $5,600 that Italian dealers paid the fishermen for it in 1964.

Italy has long claimed the statue was smuggled out of the country and has demanded that the Getty hand it back.

Lawyer Tonnini said he was satisfied by the judge's ruling, but said he is also convinced that "the California museum always knew that it was buying a smuggled and illegally exported artifact".

Pesaro prosecutor Cristina Tedeschini said she expected a favourable ruling from the Court of Cassation.

"But the fact is that three different judges have reaffirmed that the statue belongs to the Italian state and that it must be given back," Tedeschini said.

In November 2007, a court in Fano, near Pesaro, cleared the Getty Museum of wrongdoing in the case.

But prosecutor Silvia Cecchi said the judge "affirmed that the statue was taken in Italian national waters and therefore belongs to Italy," which has been the sustained argument since 2007 to get the statue back.

"It must be very clear that the order is immediately executive and we will apply this principle by notifying the American authorities," Cecchi said.

The Getty said it would lodge an appeal at the Cassation Court to "defend our rights".

(ANSA) - Brussels, December 4 - European Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici on Tuesday welcomed what he described as a change of approach from Italy in talks over Rome's budget plan for 2019. "Dialogue with Italy is ongoing, it is becoming more intense," Moscovici said. "We can see a different tone, a different way to cooperate and we can see that Italy is willing to listen to our point of view to resolve the problems. "It is a step that we welcome and the investors feel the same way.

"Now dialogue has truly started on both the method and the substance.

"(At the G20 summit) in Buenos Aires, we had positive talks with (Premier Giuseppe) Conte and (Economy Minister Giovanni) Tria and we decided to continue... and we gave our teams the mandate to work in that direction". The Commission has rejected Rome's budget plan for 2019, which sees Italy running a deficit of 2.4% of GDP next year, saying it breaks EU rules. Conte's 5-Star Movement-League executive has said an expansive budget is needed to finance key pledges and boost sluggish growth. After initially ruling out make substantial changes to the package, the government has recently indicated it could amend it, amid reports it could be willing to bring the deficit down to around the 2% mark.

Moscovici said the Commission has "taken note" of Italy's intention to reduce the deficit.

"We are waiting for further details... because there must be a credible, concrete commitment within the framework of the rules," he said.

BRUSSELS - EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said that the debate on mandatory asylum-seeker relocation is "exhausted" and now "it's time to go further", speaking Tuesday on Dublin Regulation reform.

"Solidarity can come in different forms, but it has to come from all," he said.

Avramopoulos said that during moments of particular migrant pressure and when sufficient voluntary efforts on the part of member states are absent, there must be a security net in the Dublin system that guarantees true support to the affected countries.

He emphasised that it is still possible to reach an agreement on Dublin Regulation reform prior to the European elections in May.

In the meantime, however, he said that adoption of five of the seven asylum reform proposals could be a "temporary solution, a bridge in light of finalising the entire package".

ISTANBUL - The bodies of three migrants, who are believed to have frozen to death, were found in three villages of the north-western Turkish province of Edirne, at the border with Greece. At least one of them, an Afghan national, is believed to have died after he was forced to go back to Turkey by Greek border police, according to another migrant quoted by Turkish media.

The witness, identified as 29-year-old Jamalvddin Malangi, said he crossed the Evros river (Meric in Turkish) at the border between the two countries with one of the victims.

After travelling to a border village to ask for help, the migrants were reportedly stopped by Greek police and sent back on a boat along the same river, according to his testimony. Such a practice would be illegal and in violation of migrants' rights, even if they don't have regular documents. Turkish media denounced last year some 4,000 similar cases but authorities in Athens have denied the charges.

The bodies - retrieved in the villages of Serem, Akcadam and Adasarhanli - were sent to the Institute of forensic medicine in Istanbul for an autopsy.

The border between Turkey and Greece has been at the center of one of the main routes used by migrants travelling from the east to Europe.

In the first 10 months of the year, Ankara apprehended 59,675 people who were trying to cross the border without documents.

Most of them were from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria and Iraq.GREENWICH  When a contractor ripped out a hedge of tall bushes on Hamilton Avenue School grounds recently, the foliage came out even though a neighbor had objected in time for a hearing to be set up to potentially save the greenery.

But the neighbors emails were not received and a hearing did not happen, according to staff in the Department of Parks and Recreation Trees Division.

This is the first time the town tree removal process has not worked in 11 years, members of the Greenwich Tree Conservancy said. They attribute the break down to the retirement of Bruce Spaman as tree warden, and say it highlights the need for the town to replace him quickly, and with a candidate equally committed to listening to residents and protecting trees.

What happened is that the process broke down, Conservancy Executive Director JoAnn Messina said. Clearly someone sent in a protest, and that should immediately make a hearing happen. ... The fact that she said she didnt get a response is really interesting because they always respond.

Greenwich has not had a tree warden since September, when Spaman retired. He still works for the Trees Division twice a week as a consultant, and leaves a legacy of respecting objections from residents whove stepped up to defend neighborhood trees tagged for removal.

Historically, statewide, Bruce posted more trees in town than most other tree wardens, which is excellent, Messina said. He gave more of an opportunity for citizenry to speak to trees coming down.

The future, however, is more uncertain, Messina said.

We dont know who and what type of person will be taking this position, she said. Will they be focused on trees as they should be?

The town will have problems if the position remains vacant for long, or if it selects someone who is not committed to preserving trees, Messina warned.

Spamans departure has opened a communication gap between the public and the Trees Division that the conservancy is willing to fill, Messina said.

For right now, well do whatever we can to respond to citizens concern about trees being taken down, whether by the town, or a utility company, she said. We go to bat for our trees.

Unsafe trees

The town tree warden is responsible for all trees on public property, and must approve all tree removals. Before a tree can be removed, however, the warden must post signs inviting public objection for 10 days. Objections automatically trigger a public hearing. Officials from the Tree Division then decide the trees fate.

If no written objections are received, trees come down. Should a tree pose a safety hazard, the warden can issue a permit allowing the tree to be taken down.

In the recent Hamilton Avenue case, the Pecora Bros., a contractor based in Byram, requested permission to clear some of the limbs that hung over a property where Pecora is building 10 one-bedroom apartments, three of which are set aside for people who qualify for affordable housing, co-owner Sylvester Pecora said.

The particular greenery in question, arborvitae, cannot be trimmed back, however.

You trim an arborvitae and its bald, Messina said.

Instead, the town determined the trees should be removed due to safety concerns, Deputy Tree Warden Steve Gospodinoff said.

When I inspected the area I became very concerned for the safety of the children that may be playing in the playground, Gospodinoff said. These types of trees are perfect for someone with ill intent to hide in.

Greenwich does not have a policy forbidding the planting of arborvitae on school grounds, but there have been discussions about no longer planting thick evergreens because people can hide in them, Messina said.

I dont know how real that is, but it has been stated that people dont want evergreens on school property, Messina said. Its been discussion since the recent violence on school property, people think of whatever they can think of to make it safer.

Greenwich Public Schools staff did not initiate a request to remove or issue any concerns about the trees, said Kim Eves, director of communications for Greenwich Public Schools.

Gospodinoff posted the trees on Oct. 24. Trees are posted for 10 days, during which time any community member who objects must do so in writing.

A neighbor sent emails to Spaman on Oct. 29, Oct. 30 and Oct. 31, according to the date and time stamps on the emails. The neighbor declined to comment for this report.

Spaman said he didnt see any written objections within the 10-day period. Gospodinoff also said he did not receive any emails objecting to the removal of the posted trees.

I think everything was done above board, Spaman said. It was not done in the dark of night. It was properly posted and there were no objections.

The tree conservancy tries to help in situations like these, Messina said.

If people dont hear back, they ask me, Ill go through my avenue, thats part of what we do, Messina said.

Still, members defend large deciduous trees  those that lose their leaves in the fall  more fiercely than they do arborvitae. They also avoid planting such trees, Messina said.

Arborvitae, and evergreen trees in general, do not provide the same environmental and health benefits that deciduous trees do.

The root systems of deciduous trees are deeper than those of evergreens and are more effective at mitigating the effects of erosion and flooding, Messina said. The leaves of deciduous trees convert carbon dioxide to oxygen more efficiently than evergreen trees do, as well.

On Nov. 9, Gospodinoff issued a permit allowing Pecora to pay for the trees removal, according to a copy of the permit Pecora supplied. The permit obligated Pecora to replant new trees, in accordance with a town policy that requires new trees to be replanted one-for-one on town property whenever a tree on public land is taken down.

Pecora planted six ornamental cherry trees, but Messina said at least three more need to be planted, per a conversation with the Trees Division.

If the town does not replant, then the conservancy will, she said.

The loss of the arborvitae has not caused much outcry in the neighborhood. Resident Annie King on Monday said the overgrown bushes concealed illicit activity as much as they provided shade.

The arborvitae used to conceal people smoking marijuana, King said. Sometimes, she would find condom wrappers there.

Theyre planting new trees, she said. Itll be fine. Itll be better and cleaner than it was.

jo.kroeker@hearstmediact.comGone are the old days when companies were expected to keep a neutral silence on politics and social issues. Now, brands both big and small are taking a stand, just like Dicks Sporting Goods did when it joined the movement to ban assault weapons after a mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida.

Even so, many entrepreneurs and business managers fear that engaging in political and social action will inevitably offend someone. The U.S. appears to be an increasingly divided nation. Sometimes it feels like respectful, civil discourse between two people who disagree (or even agree!) on issues is simply no longer possible.

The reality is, of course, more nuanced. So how do you decide whether and to what extent you or your company should engage in social and political activism? Start by examining the issue through the lens of the five following considerations.

1. Realize taking a stand doesnt necessarily mean a loss of customers.

Its just not true that taking a political or social stand will cause definite harm to your business. In fact, the opposite may be true.

The founder of London communications agency Kin&Co, Rosie Warin, joined with others to create We are Europe to advocate for the benefits to the U.K. to stay in the European Union. Although people cautioned her the effort would cost Kin&Co both clients and employees, the opposite actually occurred.

That shouldnt be surprising. People are actually more likely to do business with companies that echo and model their own personal values. Thats especially true with younger generations. According to Nielsen, about 70 percent of all millennial and Gen Z consumers say theyll happily pay more for products or services when the brand involved stands up for social and environmental justice.

Related: What to Consider Before Your Brand Takes a Stand Politically

2. Understand the reputational, ethical and legal consequences of political activism.

No matter what your role, there can be blowback for political speech and action, and its important to know what those consequences might be before you decide to get involved.

If youre the business owner, your business will be judged by your actions. What you do inevitably reflects on your company, and vice versa, so its important to make sure youre comfortable with that fact.

If youre not the owner, you need to find out whether your job might be in jeopardy due to political involvement. Ive known a few startup founders who claimed to have negative opinions of certain employees because of those employees political/social views. Some states may prohibit firing or disciplinary action prompted by political speech or beliefs, while others dont. Its important to look carefully at the laws in your specific state.

Other legal restrictions may govern the extent or permissibility for political activities. For example, employers may be restricted by section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act from interacting with workers on the basis of their political beliefs, activities and affiliations.

Related: 5 of the Most Controversial Ads in Recent History

3. Reevaluate your corporate values.

Corporate values are really at the heart of this issue. If your support for various social matters aligns with the companys values, then youre simply putting those values into action. Anyone who becomes offended by that might not be in your target audience to begin with, so theres no real loss there.

Its important for your activism or political involvement to be tightly aligned with both your values and the companys values. If theres any gap there, consumers may perceive your political or social participation as a deceptive ploy to simply get them to buy from your brand, which can turn them off permanently. So make sure the steps youre contemplating taking to further some social or political issue support your values.

Related: 10 Ways to Make Your Business More Socially Conscious

4. Examine opportunities for taking action very carefully.

Once youve decided to become more active in social and political issues, do your research before jumping in with both feet.

Its especially prudent to know who youre partnering with and do some due diligence. After all, anyone can proclaim themselves a charitable organization. If youre not sure that youre being given enough access to feel comfortable about working with another group, trust your instincts and find another way to get involved.

Reputations are often tarnished by association, unfortunately. Thats why its almost always preferable to choose established organizations to partner with, whenever possible. Use online tools or platforms like Reward Volunteers, Bright Funds and Political Activism Meetups to locate positive opportunities for your involvement.

Related: 4 Ways Employers are Using Corporate Social Responsibility To Recruit Millennials

5. Look for ways other than active protest to get involved.

Politically active translates to marching in protests for many folks, but there are other ways you can get involved.

For example, Apple, Google, Facebook and 94 other companies all filed a joint brief to oppose the current administrations travel ban last year on the basis of a perceived common interest in attracting the best possible talent for technical companies.

Direct action in support of your cause can often do even more good, since it shows your company walking the talk instead of simply shouting a slogan or donating money. Look for community service actions that you and your workers can support, such as trash pick-up days along highways and in parks, or Habitat for Humanity work days.

Related:

5 Considerations You Should Take Before Declaring a Company Stand on Politics or Social Change

The EU's New Environmental Initiatives Present Opportunities for Brands

Young People Will Reward Brands That Take a Stand



Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reservedBEIRUT - The parents of missing American journalist Austin Tice on Tuesday said they have new information that bolsters their confidence that their son is alive and appealed to the U.S. and Syrian governments to work together directly to secure his release.

Debra and Marc Tice were speaking during their eighth visit to Lebanon to raise publicity about their son, who has been missing since being detained at a checkpoint in neighboring Syria over six years ago. He was working as a freelance journalist in a rebel-held area outside Damascus at the time.

With the war in Syria winding down and President Donald Trump taking an active interest in this case, there is more reason than ever to believe that conditions are ripe for their son to be freed by whoever is holding him, the Tices said at a news conference in Beirut.

They said they have always been confident that Austin is alive, but especially now. A $1 million reward offered by the FBI, which has since been matched by a coalition of media organizations, has prompted several new sources of information to come forward, said Marc Tice. He declined to specify the new information.

"It's not just the feeling in our hearts that Austin is alive. It's the consensus of all those working on his case," he said.

The best hope lies in direct talks between Washington and Damascus for his release, Marc Tice said, "because Austin is American and because he is detained in Syria."

The father stopped short of blaming the Syrian government for his son's continued detention. "We do not have 100 percent confidence of that," Marc Tice said. The Syrian government has promised to do all it can to find Austin, the father said, but has provided no information as to his whereabouts or well-being.

The Tices had been hoping to travel to Damascus to appeal directly to the Syrian government but have not been granted a visa.

However, Marc Tice added, "we do believe the Syrian government is best placed to help us get Austin back."

The Tices said they are particularly encouraged by Trump's personal interest in Austin's case and by his track record of bringing home other Americans detained overseas, including Otto Warmbier, who was freed by North Korea earlier this year but died days later, and Andrew Brunson, the pastor who was released by Turkey in October. In meetings with Trump and other senior officials in recent months, "they have each made a commitment to us that they are determined to bring Austin home safely," Marc Tice said. "And we continue to call for direct communication between officials of the two countries."

At the time of his disappearance in August 2012, Austin Tice had been reporting from the Damascus suburb of Darayya, which was under rebel control.

There has been no reliable claim of responsibility for his abduction, which occurred in a contested area, according to Mark Tice, though a video released shortly after Austin went missing purported to show a rebel group threatening to execute him. The authenticity of the video has not been confirmed.

Austin, a former U.S. Marine who had served in Iraq, has reported for the McClatchy news organization and The Washington Post, among others. His parents have sustained a tireless campaign for his release, and Debra Tice spent many months in Damascus in 2014 and 2015 in search of information.

She said there is still no clear indication what his captors may be seeking in return for his release. "Until we have contact with those holding him, we won't know exactly what is needed," she said.

But as the prospects for his release brighten, Debra Tice said she spends more and more time thinking about the moment he will come home. "I plan to make it very difficult for him to breathe because I'll be hugging him so tight," she said.Israel: first Hezbollah tunnel discovered, army Spokesman, from Kafr Kela to Metulla

(ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, DECEMBER 4 - The Israeli army has announced it ''located the first tunnel of attack'' of Hezbollah that crossed the border from Lebanon into Jewish territory to target ''Israeli civilians''. The gallery left from the southern part of Kafr Kela, a town in southern Lebanon, to arrive close to Metulla in northern Israel, the spokesman said.



''An operational and engineering process is ongoing to neutralize the tunnel'', said the spokesman.



The army then explained that the tunnel discovered on Tuesday was excavated from a home in the village of Kaft Kela and stretched for 40 meters inside the Jewish State.



Overall, explained the spokesman, it was over 200-meter-long, two-meter-high and two-meter-wide, much bigger than tunnels excavated by Hamas in Gaza. The same source said that it took over two years to build it due to the hardness of the terrain along the border. The tunnel had electrical and communication lines. (ANSAmed).



In anticipation of the Mueller report, political commentators and historians have drawn numerous parallels with Watergate and the impeachment proceedings against President Richard M. Nixon. A month after Nixon's resignation in August 1974, President Gerald R. Ford pardoned him. But history has forgotten the only other man granted a presidential pardon for his role in the Watergate crimes, and why the pardon was given.

Watergate burglar Rolando Eugenio Martinez was a veteran of more than 300 infiltration missions into Cuba for the CIA during the secret war on Fidel Castro in the early 1960s. He was also the only Watergate burglar still on the agency's payroll at the time of the break-in.

He was recruited for the Watergate operation by E. Howard Hunt, the former CIA liaison to the Cuban "government in exile" in Miami before the Bay of Pigs invasion. By the summer of 1971, Hunt had retired from the agency and taken up a new job as a security consultant for the Nixon White House.

Incensed by the publication of the Pentagon Papers, Nixon ordered a smear campaign against whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, so Hunt recruited Martinez and two other Cubans to break into the office of Ellsberg's psychiatrist in Beverly Hills, California. Their goal? To find embarrassing secrets that could destroy Ellsberg's reputation in the press. Hunt subsequently employed an expanded Cuban team to break into the Watergate offices of the Democratic National Committee in May and June 1972.

Amid rumors that Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern had financial support from Cuba, Hunt sent Martinez into DNC headquarters to find and photograph documentary evidence of collusion between Democrats and Castro. Martinez believed the Ellsberg and Watergate break-ins were "national security" operations being run through Hunt at the White House with the blessing of the CIA. After all, the agency was still paying Martinez a retainer of a hundred dollars a month to report on Cubans of intelligence interest arriving in Miami, and he had repeatedly told his case officer about his contact with Hunt.

After serving 15 months in jail for his part in the break-in, Martinez returned to Miami on parole in 1974 and was warned by former CIA colleagues that Cuban intelligence might try to recruit him. Three years later, in May 1977, the Cuban pitch came. Thinking Martinez was embittered by his Watergate experience, the Cuban intelligence service (Direccion General de Inteligencia - DGI) requested a meeting in Kingston, Jamaica.

Martinez, however, remained loyal to the U.S. government and reported the approach to the CIA through agency veteran Felix Rodriguez. He was told to contact the FBI, who approved a double-agent mission to infiltrate Cuban intelligence. After meetings in Mexico and Jamaica, Martinez sailed to Cuba on Castro's Bluebird yacht and met Interior Minister Jose Abrantes. He was debriefed for several days in Havana and given a sum of money. According to Rodriguez, the Cubans wanted Martinez to use his heroic status in the Cuban exile community in Miami to support the joint efforts of Cuban exile banker Bernardo Benes and the new Carter administration to reestablish diplomatic relations with Cuba.

Instead, Martinez shared the Cuban plans with the FBI, securing himself a presidential pardon from Ronald Reagan in 1983. Reagan denied similar requests from Hunt and Nixon's deputy campaign chief, Jeb Magruder, causing many to suspect that Martinez's pardon was a political move intended to strengthen Reagan's popularity with Cuban voters in Miami ahead of his 1984 reelection campaign.

Only those closest to Martinez in intelligence circles knew the role his secret mission to Cuba had played in Reagan's decision to grant clemency. And Martinez's mission had an intriguing subplot that threatened the CIA's very existence at the time. The agency initially suspected that the Cuban pitch to Martinez was part of a broader propaganda campaign to implicate the CIA in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and further damage its morale and reputation after a series of scandals.

Kennedy had initiated his own back-channel diplomacy with Castro in the final months of his life, and his death was being reinvestigated by the House Select Committee on Assassinations at the time of the Cuban approach to Martinez. One of the committee's key witnesses was Cuban exile leader Antonio Veciana, who told investigators that he and his CIA case officer, Maurice Bishop, had met Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas two months before the Kennedy assassination.

In April 1977, one month before approaching Martinez, Cuban intelligence had met another FBI double agent in Mexico City: Felix Zabala Mas, Veciana's close friend and business partner. Together, the Cuban exiles had previously mounted two unsuccessful assassination attempts against Castro - with a bazooka in Havana in 1961 and with a gun hidden in a camera in Chile 10 years later. Cuban intelligence thought they had "turned" Zabala Mas against his friend. They hoped that their former enemy could give them the inside track on Veciana's congressional testimony, Castro assassination plots and current anti-Castro terrorist activity.

Declassified FBI and CIA documents reveal, however, that the Cubans had been deceived by an elaborate plot, designed by Veciana to sabotage President Jimmy Carter's push to restore relations with Cuba. Veciana scripted Zabala's approach to Cuban intelligence and what he divulged in subsequent meetings, aiming to incite Castro to publicly rail against the CIA assassination plots, damage relations with the United States and establish Veciana's name as a CIA agent. Castro refused to take the bait, however, and while efforts at detente floundered in 1977, Castro lived to see the restoration of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba in 2015.

Veciana survived a Cuban assassination attempt in 1979, and both he and Martinez lived to see the death of Castro. Martinez is now 96 and rues that his covert operations failed to free Cuba and resulted in the "loss of two presidents" - the assassination of Kennedy, which he believes was an act of revenge by Castro, and the resignation of Nixon.

A genial character, Martinez refuses to discuss anything that didn't "come out" during his CIA-approved Watergate testimony, like the key to a DNC secretary's desk drawer that he tried to hide from arresting officers in the early hours of June 17, 1972. When I asked him recently why he had the key that night, he told me with a chuckle, "I don't remember and I don't want to remember. I want to be consistent with what I said before. I don't want it to come out, I'm sorry." His undiminished loyalty to the intelligence community has repaid the trust shown in him by Reagan 35 years ago. The file detailing who recommended his pardon remains classified, and beyond what he told Watergate prosecutors, his secrets remain sealed.

- O'Sullivan is a documentary filmmaker, senior lecturer in filmmaking at Kingston University, London and author of the new book, "Dirty Tricks: Nixon, Watergate and the CIA."The following editorial appears on Bloomberg Opinion:

The prospect of peace talks over war-ravaged Yemen is welcome, even if the chances of a permanent end to hostilities aren't good. The meetings in Sweden should mean a cease-fire and international aid to halt a famine that threatens to kill millions. They would also allow time for the governments beyond the region to pressure the combatants to find common ground.

That effort would be more promising if it were led by the U.S., which has the most leverage over the combatants with the greatest firepower: the coalition of Arab nations led by Saudi Arabia. The U.S. also has long-standing relationships with many Yemeni groups, developed over years of providing economic assistance and conducting joint counterterrorism exercises.

Regrettably, the Trump administration seems less interested in ending the hostilities than in blaming Iran, which backs the Houthi rebels in control of much of the country. To be sure, Iran is in the wrong, but the administration's position - and its unquestioning support of the Saudi-led coalition - won't help to end the fighting. The administration has gone so far as to block a resolution in the UN Security Council calling for a cease-fire and the resumption of humanitarian assistance.

The U.S. Senate is attempting to fill the vacuum created by the White House's inability to lead on this issue. It has advanced a bill to end all American military assistance to the Arab coalition. The measure has little chance of passing in the House of Representatives this year, but the Senate may try again early in 2019, when the Democrats will have a House majority.

Until then, the Senate should maintain pressure on the Trump administration to press the Saudis and their allies to stop their campaign and let relief reach the starving Yemenis. Hearings that draw attention to the humanitarian crisis would help, as would investigations of the war crimes alleged by human-rights groups.

The coalition responded to a previous halfhearted U.S. call for a cease-fire by halting its assault on the port of Hodeidah, a crucial entry point for aid - but only for a few days. After more than three years of trying, Saudis believe they might yet win decisively; and Iran, which has been shipping arms to the Houthis, benefits from keeping its Arab adversaries tied in endless conflict. This doesn't bode well for the peace talks - but it's worth a try, especially if the U.S. takes the lead.Gartner published its report on smartphone sales for the Q3 2018 period. The overall market grew merely 1.4% and reached 389 million units. While Samsung is ahead, Huawei is catching up, and if it werent for Chinese brands like Huawei, Xiaomi, and Oppo, the global market wouldve declined by 5.2%, compared with Q3 2017.

Company Q3 2018 sales

(in thousands) Q3 2018

Market share Q3 2017 sales

(in thousands) Q3 2017

Market share Samsung 73,360.1 18.9 85,605.3 22.3 Huawei 52,218.4 13.4 36,501.8 9.5 Apple 45,746.6 11.8 45,441.9 11.8 Xiaomi 33,219.7 8.5 26,853.2 7.0 Oppo 30,563.4 7.9 29,449.2 7.7 Others 153,960.0 39.6 159,742.0 41.6 Total 389,068.2 100.0 383,593.4 100.0

The analysts say Samsung experienced the most significant decline since the company is tracking smartphone sales. The Galaxy S9 and Galaxy Note9 devices could not help reduce the fall, and the Korean maker saw a 14% drop YoY. Combined with Huaweis massive increase in sales, the gap between the two manufacturers shrunk significantly.

One of the major reasons Huawei is so successful is its aggressive positioning of the affordable Honor devices. A testament for the success in sales are the shopping holidays in India, China, and the Western World, where Honor smashed various records.

Apples sales in Q3 2018 remained flat - only 0.7% growth, or just 300,000 smartphones. Anshul Gupta, Research Director at Gartner, said the company is facing fierce competition in China and is targeting an already saturated premium market across the globe. The data shows iPhone XS Max was the more desired smartphone than the iPhone XS.

While the global smartphone market is currently losing steam, technologies like 5G and foldable phones can boost user experience and offer new user value. 2019 will be a year for cautious testing, but 2020 is expected to see 65 million sales of 5G-enabled smartphones.

The foldable devices will arrive as early as next year, but they will be expensive, and it will take time for manufacturers to build an ecosystem around the new handsets, so we shouldnt expect them to have a major impact on sales volume.

SourceGoogle is moving forward with the eSIM technology that it embedded into the Pixel 2 (XL) and Pixel 3 (XL). eSIM is arguably a convenient solution for consumers fumbling around to try to place [a nanoSIM] into a small slot. But until the most recent security update, Pixel 3 support for eSIM is limited to one carrier in the US  Google Fi.

Google is expanding the Pixel 3s eSIM support to a few new countries and carriers with the latest December security patch. Google did also briefly mention in a blog post that it would begin a program for Android phone makers to use eSIM more easily and sets a standard across Android phones early on, which is great.

To enable a consistent and simple experience across the ecosystem, were also creating a program that allows Android device makers to build eSIM-capable smartphones.

Now that Apple has eSIM in the latest iPhones (XR, XS, and XS Max), we speculate that the transition to phase out SIM cards is in its infancy, but also represents the direction that the market is taking, especially with phone makers taking advantage of saving as much internal space as possible.

What do you think about the eSIM? Would you eventually like to see it replace the nano SIM or do you prefer to manually install a SIM between your devices? It has to potential to either simplify or complicate those who like to buy local data when traveling internationally.

SourceSpain continues to top Italy on migrant arrivals - ISMU Figures from 24th report on migration

(ANSAmed) - MILAN, DECEMBER 4 - Spain has overtaken Italy as the country with the most migrant arrivals in 2018, according to the 24th report on migration by the Foundation for Initiatives and Studies on Multiethnicity (ISMU), released on Tuesday in Milan.



Between January 1 to November 11 of this year, 55,000 migrants arrived in Spain, 49,000 of whom arrived by sea and 6,000 by land.



In Greece, 29,000 migrants arrived during the same period, with 22,000 in Italy. The slowing of migrant arrivals to Italy that began in the second half of 2017 continued into the first seven months of 2018, ISMU said.



There were 119,000 migrant arrivals to Italy in 2017, down 34% on 2016 figures.



"Unauthorised migrant flows by sea to Italy have dropped dramatically," the report said.(ANSAmed).



Global shipments of wearable devices were 32 million in Q3 2018, according to IDC. They were 21.7% more than the same period last year, thanks to new products from all major companies - Fitbit, Garmin, Huawei. Another driving factor was the growing demand for basic devices like smart bands that have an increasing number of features blurring the separation line from smartwatches.

Company Q3 2018 shipments

(in million) Q3 2018

Market share Q3 2017 shipments

(in million) Q3 2017

Market share Yearly Growth Xiaomi 6.9 21.5% 3.6 13.7% 90.9% Apple 4.2 13.1% 2.7 10.3% 54.0% Fitbit 3.5 10.9% 3.6 13.7% -3.1% Huawei 1.9 5.9% 1.6 6.0% 20.3% Samsung 1.8 5.6% 0.9 3.6% 91.0% Others 13.7 43.0% 13.8 52.7% -0.8% Total 32.0 100.0% 26.3 100.0% 21.7%

Xiaomi grabbed the top position thanks to the massively successful Mi Band 3, which we reviewed two weeks ago. The company usually sells over 80% of its products on the domestic market, but now only 61% of them were placed in China, the rest were all over the world - India, Europe, Middle East, Africa.

Apple also posted a massive increase from 2.7 million to 4.2 million shipments. The Series 4 Watch launch surely helped, but another major contributor were older wearables that got the latest Watch OS, making them more desirable for a bunch of users.

Fitbit, just like Apple, is trying to bank on the healthcare market, that is separating another niche the wearable brands aim to conquer. Jitesh Ubrani, senior research analyst for IDC, said that we should expect heavy regulation and greater scrutiny, meaning off-value brands will unlikely mix up the waters, letting market leaders cementing their lead.

Samsung and Huawei also increased their shipments, with the Korean manufacturer managing to sell twice the number of devices it did in Q3 2017. The company relies not only on the new Galaxy Watch products but also on the still reliable Gear S3 and Gear Sport products, that are more than 12 months old.

IDC said the stage is set for a strong holiday quarter when you combine the growing premium market in the United States with the increased demand for low cost options in emerging markets.

SourceThe Lenovo Z5s appeared on TENAA and 3C last month, giving us a sneak peek of its appearance. It will have three cameras on the back with a fingerprint scanner to keep it company, while the front has one shooter in the center.

Later we heard that this might not be a waterdrop notch, but an in-display camera, and today Lenovo confirmed we'll know for sure on December 6, when the official announcement will take place.

The company VP Chang Cheng posted the image on Weibo, to save the date for a new announcement. The Lenovo Z5s will have ZUI and is expected to be powerful and strong. We know little about the phone's internals, but some previous info suggested 6.3 display, a new Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset and a 3,210 mAh battery.

Source (in Chinese) | ViaQualcomm is having its annual meeting in Hawaii, the United States, where it usually announces the new version of its flagship chipset for mobile devices. According to Twitter leakster Roland Quandt, the platform will be called Snapdragon 855 and will be manufactured on the 7nm process by TSMC. The Snapdragon 8150 was the internal name of the new platform, but it will not be used for marketing purposes.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 it is! Internally called SM8150, but the official marketing name of the new high-end platform w/ 5G modem, Snapdragon Elite Gaming optimizations, built-in NPU + more, made in a 7nm node is Snapdragon Mobile 855 Platform. More info: https://t.co/CH3QO5yY4o  Roland Quandt (@rquandt) December 4, 2018

The Snapdragon 855 will have a Snapdragon X50 modem, built specifically to answer demands for 5G connectivity. The CPU will feature three clusters, the mightiest clocked at 2.84 GHz, while the GPU will be Adreno 640.

Snapdragon 855 will have an integrated NPU for improved AI performance. Qualcomm is also going to introduce Elite Gaming optimizations as a competition to Huaweis GPU Turbo and Oppos Hyper Boost. An official announcement with full details is expected by the end of the week.

Source (in German)Nokia 3.1 Plus and Nokia 5.1 Plus appear in Europe a day before global launch

HMD Global announced a Nokia launch party tomorrow, taking place in Dubai, UAE. The company is expected to announce Nokia 3.1 Plus and Nokia 5.1 Plus for the global markets, as well as introduce the international variant of Nokia X7, likely to be named Nokia 8.1.

The first two devices have just appeared at the Dutch retailer Belsimpel, revealing prices and memory combinations for European Union markets.



Nokia 3.1 Plus

Nokia 3.1 Plus has a 6 screen and regular tall screen. The Helio P22-powered smartphone will appear in Europe with 3 GB RAM and 32 GB storage for 179. The phone would be a great deal if it wasnt the micro USB port, charging the 3,500 mAh.



Nokia 5.1 Plus

Nokia 5.1 Plus is a smaller handset, but slightly more powerful due to its Helio P60 chipset. Belsimpel offers it with 3/32 GB as well, but the price tag here is 259. At least the small 3,060 mAh battery is charged through the USB-C.

Both devices come with Android Oreo 8.1 and are part of the Android One program, promising three years of monthly patches and fixes and two years of OS updates. According to the Dutch retailer, if you order them now, you will get them in 2-4 working days, meaning you might even get it before the end of the week.

Source 1  Source 2 | Via (all in Dutch)



Haiti - Politic : The Minister of Public Works announces the creation of 3,000 jobs





Monday Fritz Caillot, the Minister of Public Works has announced road works, sanitation and road rehabilitation for a period of 3 months, funded to the tune of 1 billion gourdes by Taiwan (Republic of China)



This work, including 28 km of road will involve 6 of the country's 10 departments, including West, North, North-West, North-East, Artibonite and Center. This project will allow to intervene in areas with a high concentration of people to create more than 3,000 thousand jobs, said Minister Caillot



With 37% of the funding the Ministry despite the difficulties encountered, was able to start this month the work in the towns of Tabarre, Carrefour, Delmas, Kenscoff, Croix-des-Bouquets via the national road #8, Les implemented in all targeted areas, says the Minister.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26234-haiti-politic-pm-promises-50-000-temporary-jobs-by-the-end-of-the-year.html



HL/ HaitiLibre





















Haiti - Mexico : Jovenel Moise receives the grievances of the Haitian diaspora





Saturday, December 1 at the Hyatt Hotel in Mexico City (Polanco zone), during a dinner organized at the initiative of the Ambassador of Haiti in Mexico City, Guy Lamothe, in which participated the President Jovenel Moise and his wife Martine, representatives of the Haitian community established in Mexico among others the doctors Kely Rely and Guerda Massillon, the community agent Romain Etienne, presented their grievances to the President.



Kely Rely, for his part, is the advocate of Pilate his hometown hard hit by the earthquake of October 2018, one of the few remaining green communes in Haiti and one of the leaders in production coffee, is still waiting for an emergency intervention by the Government. He asked in a document given to President Moise: the construction and paving of the Pilate / Plaisance / Gros-Morne road, electrification, support for farmers in the region. The Head of State has instructed his adviser, Zephirin Ardouin for follow-up to the demands made.



In his speech the fame Dr. in physics Guerda Massillon did not fail also to sensitize President Moise on the need to promote scientific research in Haiti and hoped that cancer research would be carried out in conjunction with the Vienna IAEA.



Romain Etienne, for his part, valued the work of young Haitians in Mexico in the field of support for immigrants and wished that the President be more attentive to leave behind some disadvantaged neighborhoods and finally underlined the support provided by the Embassy in carrying out certain Haitian community actions in Mexico City.



Frisnel Pastor Joseph of the Haitian Christian Community Church in Mexico raised the incidence of political instability in Haiti on the development of the country and finally the Catholic priest Fide Joujoute, Judge at the court of the Archdiocese of Mexico, made a vibrant plea for the reconciliation of the three powers in Haiti.



HL/ HaitiLibre





















Haiti - News : Zapping...





FLASH convocation of 30th promotion applicants

Wednesday, December 5, 2018 at 10:00 am, all the candidates of the 30th promotion of the National Police of Haiti are expected at the National Police School located on the Route de Freres, for an important communication.



Adonis Stevenson Health Report

Monday, the state of health of Quebec boxer Adonis Stevenson (41 years) of Haitian origin who was placed in an artificial coma after his fight on Saturday night https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26282-haiti-flash-the-haitian-boxer-adonis-superman-at-the-hospital-in-critical-condition-update.html is still stable, confirmed Monday the University Hospital of Laval University where Adonis was operated following a haemorrhage brain.



NOTICE French Guiana : Passports Available

The Consulate of Haiti in French Guyana would like to thank you for your patience and take the opportunity to inform you that the passports for the months of August and September 2018 are available at the Consulate. Thank you for returning your receipts and old passports for the recoveries during office hours: Monday to Friday from 8:00 to 13:00 and Saturday from 9:00 to 12:00.



Tabarre : Infrastructure Constructions

Nice Simon, the Mayor of Tabarre, in order to strengthen the infrastructure and road facilities of the commune announces the expansion to 4 lanes of several roads including that of Clercine leading the construction of roads : Rails, Sainte Philomene and Butte Boyer as well as that of the Tabarre Bridge. In addition, in order to prevent flooding at the "Carrefour Rita", runoff canalisation works will be carried out.



Martelly received by the Vice President of Vietnam

On Monday, December 3, former President Michel Martelly accompanied by his wife Sophia and Haiti's Charge d'Affaires in Vietnam Lesly Benoit paid a courtesy visit to Vice President of Vietnam Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh. In addition, the former presidential couple traveled to Vietnam's Hoa Binh province to receive a donation of agricultural equipment from the Haven Group for a project to support rural women in Haiti.



Brussels : Meeting "Entreprendre Haiti 2019" postponed

The Embassy of Haiti in Brussels regrets to inform you that the information meeting "Entreprendre Haiti 2019", scheduled for December 7, has unfortunately had to be postponed to a later date. The embassy is working now to find a new date as soon as possible.



HL/ HaitiLibre

















Yemen: TV, prisoners exchange between Houthis-loyalists Announcement before Sweden talks

(ANSAmed) - BEIRUT, DECEMBER 4 - An unprecedented exchange of prisoners will take place between pro-Saudi Yemeni forces and Houthi insurgents close to Iran, the sides involved said Tuesday ahead of talks in Sweden over the coming days.



Quoted by pan Arab media, sources from the Houthis and the pro-Saudi government based in Aden said that thousands of prisoners will be exchanged after UN-mediated talks.



According to the sources, the agreement between the sides to exchange prisoners was reached over the past few hours during the mission of UN mediator Martin Griffiths in Sanaa. Under the agreement, between 1,500 and 2,000 loyalist militants would be freed in exchange for 1,000-1,500 Houthi militants.



The International Red Cross Committee will be the third party charged with carrying out the exchange between the sides. This, the sources said, could happen after meetings scheduled in Sweden in the coming days. (ANSAmed).



Last updated 12/4/2018 at 10:46am

The Hill County Commission will hold its weekly business meeting Thursday at 10 a.m.

The meeting agenda includes:

 Indigent Cremation

 Montana Area Agencies on Aging AssociationThe entire nation will join people at the funeral for George H.W. Bush in Washington Wednesday in mourning the nations 41st president.

President Donald Trump has ordered the federal government closed Wednesday for a national day of mourning. Flags on public buildings are flying at half-staff for 30 days.

Montana Gov. Steve Bullock ordered all flags at public buildings in Montana flown at half-staff from last Saturday through Dec. 30.

All federal agencies will be closed Wednesday in observance of the national day of mourning, including post offices and U.S. Department of Agriculture offices.

The remains of Bush traveled from Texas to the Capitol Rotunda in Washington Monday, to remain in mourning until his invitation-only funeral Wednesday in the Washington National Cathedral.

He will return to Houston after the services and will be buried there Thursday alongside his wife of 73 years, Barbara Bush, who died in April, and Robin Bush, their daughter who died from leukemia in 1953 at age 3.



Information from The Associated Press was used in this story.Press release

The North Star speech and drama team traveled to blustery Shelby Saturday and placed well in the tournament.

As a team, they placed second in speech and fourth in drama.

Individually, the results are: impromptu  Garret Pedersen, fifth, Daniel Nerat, third; dramatic interpretation  Ashley Otto, fourth; spontaneous interpretation  Aubrey Welch, fourth; humorous interpretation  Hayden Massar, first, and in classical acting  Choral Wicks and Katie Berg, second.

This weekend, the team travels to Chinook to take on 10 other teams.Kadene Drummer, Ph.D., speaks with student Anfernee Standing Rock Monday at Stone Child College on Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation. Drummer and Standing Rock discussed the day's lesson plan prior to class starting.

Stone Child College at Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation is working to keep teachers not just in Montana, but on reservations like Rocky Boy with the addition of their newly accredited four-year teaching degree.

Teacher Education Instructor Kadene Drummer, Ph.D., said the accreditation process took about six years, but she's excited for the future of Rocky Boy Reservation schools with the new program.

Drummer said she and her staff asked for input from students, faculty and the community about what programs they wanted at SCC.

"Teacher education degree was just one of (the degree programs) that came up as a need for the community," she added.

Stone Child started by partnering with Salish Kootenai College in what Drummer called a "two and two" program.

Salish Kootenai College sent teachers to run classes at Stone Child, with Stone Child later using its own teachers in the classes, which were still part of the Salish Kootenai curriculum.

Eventually, Stone Child developed its own program and received accreditation from the Montana Office of Public Instruction and from the Board of Education.

In creating the program, Drummer said, they spoke with students to get an idea of what they thought of the curriculum and how to best mold it for them. She added they also worked with the University of Pennsylvania in regards to best practices for hands-on experience.

One of the ideas to come out of this collaboration is the use of "clinical rotations." Drummer said once students begin the actual teaching degree stage in their academic cycle, they are paired with an instructor who acts as a mentor.

Stone Child also has a partnership with the Montana School for the Deaf and Blind where SCC students who are pursuing their four-year degree can go and prepare a lesson plan about their culture and present it to the class, she added.

As the students progress through the program, they add to their e-portfolio. Drummer said by the time students graduate they will have sufficient experience documented in their e-portfolios.

Drummer said the first graduates from the four-year program will receive their degrees this coming spring.

Indian Education Professional Development Program member Susan Sutherland said Stone Child College still helps their graduates through its grant-funded induction program. She added that with the current grant, the college can offer these services for a year and with the second grant they are receiving, they can provide the service for two years.

"Our hopeful impact is that we will have more Native teachers in local schools as well as surrounding schools. And that is basically the goal of the grant is more Native American teachers, teaching Native American kids," she added.

Students are excited to be able to share their culture with the kids they will one day be teaching, Drummer said.

"It also has been an opportunity for them to meet the Montana requirement for Indian Ed For All and integrate information and knowledge about culture and tribes into the classroom," she added. "As well as encourage their fellow teachers who may not be Native or even those that are Native that are just learning some of them and getting comfortable to bring that mandate forward and to integrate that into the curriculum so that the children build a sense of self-identity and understand their own culture and their own language."

Stone Child College President Cory Sangrey-Billy said it is important that the community has teachers who are not only Native American, but from that same community.

"I think it gives them role models," she said. "It gives them, 'Oh, hey, I want to be a teacher. I want to do this. I can do that.' It gives them more of that, 'I see somebody that I know from my community doing something and I want to do the same thing.'"

Sangrey-Billy said enrollment did increase this year from last year with the addition of the bachelor's degree program for teaching. She added that the college is at capacity for its classrooms, but its focus remains on growing the bachelor's degree program for now.

She said tuition hasn't increased despite the new program.

"Right now if you go to school 12 to 15 (credits) you pay different after 15. To 21 it's the same, but we're looking at changing our rates so 12 to 18 costs the same," she said.

Sutherland said one of the issues that she had seen in her 32 years of teaching experience in the community was high teacher turnover.

"This program, when we're home-growing our own people from our community that are going to go out and hopefully teach in our local schools, there's a much better chance that that will reduce the teacher turnover rate which will be a huge win-win for both of our schools," she said.

All three women said they have received support throughout the Rocky Boy community.

Drummer said they receive assistance and feedback from local teachers about how to dress for the job, the importance of showing up on time and planning ahead, and ideas on what to add to the program.

Sutherland added that the Chippewa Cree tribal council has been supportive and they recently helped a group of students attend an educator's conference in Billings.

Sangrey-Billy said since the community is so small and close, they know what is going on at Stone Child College and are excited about it.

"It takes a lot of perseverance," Drummer said. "And we've persevered."

She added that one of the things she has learned after going through the accreditation process is that the process has many steps and some steps may take longer than others, but it will eventually come together. Even after the program is established, she said, the work is still not done.

Havre Daily News/Ryan Berry Desmond Parker follows along as a classmate gives a brief presentation at Stone Child College Monday, December 3, 2018 in Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation, Mont. Parker is in a class titled "Teaching Exceptional Learners," which focuses on how to teach students with unique learning abilities.

Sutherland said the most exciting part about all of this is seeing all her former students now starting the path to becoming teachers.

"I actually teach a class right now, and I've taught a class the past summer and previous semesters. I always have one or two students in my class that I had in school" she added. "So, to me, that's exciting because they're carrying on their education, furthering it. Hopefully then, they'll one day be out in the school systems."

Sangrey-Billy said watching how happy and engaged the students are makes her happy.

"Somedays they're frustrated, but they've been stepping up to the plate and doing everything that we've asked for. (Going from a two-year program to a third year), there's a huge step in expectations and requirements and they've met those demands," she added.

Drummer said the new teaching program is open to anyone and that Stone Child College does not require students to be Native American to attend.Mary Mildred (Huestis) Hutchinson passed away on November 30th, 2018, at the age of 63.

Mary will forever be remembered by her husband of 42 years, Darrold, and her children, Matthew, Tyler, and Michael. The fifth of seven children born to Roy and Betty Huestis of Hingham, Montana, Mary will be lovingly remembered by her sisters Bonnie Huestis, Peggy Huestis, and Cindy Keaster. Mary was blessed with seven grandchildren, Charles, Nora, William, Olivia, Bailey, Ben, and Luke; her beloved horse, Bette, and her ever-present Lab, Cash. Mary cherished being involved with her much-loved nieces and nephews, Kelsey and Morgan, Sam and Corbin, and Josh and Kava.

Mary was preceded by her father, mother, brother Ron, and sisters Diane and Deborah.

A native of Hingham, Montana, Mary attended Hingham High School and then studied dental hygiene at Sheridan College, Sheridan, Wyoming. Mary worked as a dental hygienist in Scotts Bluff, Nebraska, for two years while her husband, Darrold, taught vo-ag in Albin, Wyoming. In the summer of 1978, Darrold and Mary moved to Hingham, Montana. Mary worked as a dental hygienist in Havre and Chester for many years, where she met more of her lifelong friends. Mary also had an entrepreneurial bent, not only helping run and work the family farm, but also making custom crafts and putting on a "Victorian County Christmas" in Great Falls with a longtime dear friend.

Mary had a great love of family; being a mother and grandmother brought some of her life's greatest joys. She enjoyed spending time with her horses, whether riding them casually, training them, or taking them on a lengthy endurance ride. In the evenings one could often find Mary at the card table, playing Pinochle, Rook, or any number of other card games. All who knew Mary remember her ready smile, compassion, unwillingness to judge others, and perhaps most of all, her astonishing inner strength.

Mary's faith guided her through her entire life, helping her through her parents', brother's and two sisters' early deaths, ovarian cancer, Crohn's disease, and the perils of raising three boys. She was diagnosed with liver cancer in April and bravely lived with the disease for eight months, supported by her friends, family, and faith in God through the battle.

A memorial service will be held at the Calvary Evangelical Church in Rudyard on Saturday, December 8th, at 10:00 am.Employee engagement

The case was much the same in 2018  though HRDs undoubtedly imagined theyd have this problem solved by now. The issue at the heart of employee engagement is its seemingly immeasurable ROI. Theres no algorithm or rule book that shows how employee input negates organizational acceleration  however, that doesnt mean that you cant see the results in your workplace firsthand.

One way of tackling the problem is to invest more time and effort in developing an authentic rewards program. A study from Recruiter Box found that companies with embedded recognition programs have 31% lower turnover  with 90% of employees agreeing that their recognition programs positively impact upon their engagement at work.

One man who agrees is Tom Short, president and founder of Kudos. He told HRD: Organizations that are sticking to old methods and methodologies around employee recognition and who are afraid to invest in new systems and philosophies because they cannot measure the impact and ROI of a having a better culture, enhanced morale, or engaged team will find themselves at a disadvantage in the competition for talent in millennial era.

Recruitment

The second and third sources of anxiety for employers in 2019 are recruitment and reward  at 37% and 36% respectively. A competitive global market for talent means that employers cant rest on their laurels when it comes to sourcing those in-demand candidates.

One way of tackling this headache is to look outside the normal talent pools. Speaking to Nick Cromydas, CEO and co-founder of Hunt Club, he suggested that HR try recruiting older workers.Employees and volunteers in emergency services and the police force are more than twice as likely as the average Australian to have suicidal thoughts and three times as likely to have formed a suicide plan, the study showed.

More than half of respondents pointed to pivotal events in the line of duty that had become deeply traumatic for them. However, a poor workplace culture had been equally detrimental to their wellbeing, they said.

Among workers who claimed psychological injury, three in four on average believe the workers compensation process hampered their recovery.

Never before have so many current and former police and emergency services personnel and volunteers been surveyed in such depth about their individual or organisational mental health, said Georgie Harman, CEO of Beyondblue.

The results will arm everyone with unprecedented national data and insights from those who serve to protect us and keep us safe, Harman said.Park Ridge breaks ground on Arden urgent care practice

Leaders of Park Ridge Health (which becomes AdventHealth on Jan. 2) and AdventHealth Centra Care broke ground on an urgent care facility that will expand the health care systems network to better serve people across our communities in Buncombe and Henderson counties.

AdventHealth Centra Care Arden is an affordable alternative to the emergency room for urgent, non-life-threatening medical care. Its team of board-certified physicians, with advanced training in adult and pediatric care, will offer convenient, $30 flu shots, and treat broken bones, infections, allergies and pediatric concerns as well as orthopedic conditions and stomach problems. They provide x-ray and stitches onsite, most insurances are accepted, and will take walk-ins or online reservations available seven days a week.

We are pleased to add this new, convenient access to care for our friends, family and neighbors who live and work in this growing area of our region, said Jimm Bunch, President & CEO of Park Ridge Health. AdventHealth Centra Care Arden will bring you the same level of whole-person care  mind, body and spirit  you have come to expect from Park Ridge Health. And we are bringing it to you when and where you need it.

AdventHealth Centra Care Arden will provide instant access to quality physician care for newcomers, travelers, people without a primary care physician or who cant get an appointment with their physician. It is equipped with the latest urgent care equipment, we can treat urgent, non-life-threatening medical conditions for adults and children. It is slated to open in spring, 2019. AdventHealth Centra Care Arden will provide high-quality, comprehensive care for patients and is slated to open in spring, 2019.

AdventHealth Centra Care Arden will be located at 436 Airport Road, Arden, at the intersection of Airport and Rockwood roads.

Also coming to the new building along Airport Road is the newest PT Solutions practice, Park Ridge Health physical therapy group partner. The team delivers research-driven treatments to promote relief and help people experience a return to wholeness.Command staff will come from within agency, new sheriff says

Incoming sheriff Lowell Griffin says he plans to keep the command staff when hes sworn in tonight, although four captains are being reassigned to lead four geographic districts that he has formed and other positions "may be moved around a little bit."

Griffin, who defeated Sheriff Charlie McDonald in the Republican primary in May, promised that he had no plans to terminate deputies based on their campaign support for McDonald, who sacked Griffin and a handful of other deputies after he was elected in 2014.

Most of those people are friends of mine, Griffin said. Theyre not just a supporter of a politician. Theyre a supporter of the people of Henderson County. ... I want people to pledge their support to the citizens of Henderson County. If they do that, I do that, then were all supporting each other.  Just about all of the top level (personnel) within the agency are going to be folks that are already in the department, he added. There may be some pieces that are moved around a little bit.

Ahead of his swearing in, Griffin and his team have announced a restructuring and notified captains and lieutenants of their duties.

Its more than just changing the names on the doors. What were working towards is exactly what I campaigned on, he said. Im going to cut the county basically into quadrants and Im going to have a captain over each quadrant. These captains will be available, not only available but theyre going to become part of these communities. I want them to be available to do the community meetings, even homeowner association meetings. I want folks to know who their captain is so if theres an issue they know who it is thats in charge that they can go to to get answers.

His transition team included Mills River Fire Chief Rick Livingston, a key campaign supporter; and Blue Ridge Fire & Rescue Chief President Randy Stepp; Roy Perry, a minister; Don Bowen, former Fletcher fire chief, all also retired sheriffs deputies.

The department has four captains in administration, one who supervises the 911 center and one over the jail. He plans to keep the detention center and emergency dispatch captains. Captains over professional standards, investigations, patrol and support services have been reassigned to serve as district captains.

The few resignations that have occurred have been volutnary, he said.



There have been some reassignments within the department," he said. "Some of those folks werent happy with the assignments they were given but they were offered actual jobs with benefits and retirement. Theres been a few that have chosen to leave but we have not terminated anyone.

Theres a lot of folks still in positions that were supporters, rightfully so, of Sheriff McDonald, he said. He was the current sheriff, he was their boss, its right to support him. But just because they were loyal to him does not mean Im going to go in and just clean the slate because its about whats best for the people of Henderson County. As long as theyre willing to serve the people of Henderson County thats all I can ask.

Griffin said last week hell introduce his chief deputy when he is sworn in tonight.Archaeology: rare gold coins discovered in Caesarea Possibly hidden by locals who feared Crusaders

(ANSAmed) - CAESAREA, DECEMBER 4 - A small treasure hidden nine centuries ago by residents of Caesarea fleeing the advance of the Crusaders' army of Baldwin I were recently discovered by archaeologists and presented to the press. The rare cache of 24 gold coins and a single gold earring were discovered in a bronze pot between stones in the side of a well.



''The cache is a silent testimony to one of the most dramatic events in the history of Caesarea: the violent conquest of the city by the Crusaders'', archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority said.



The archaeologists said that, according to written sources, most of local residents were killed by the army of Baldwin I, who ruled the Crusader kingdom of Jerusalem between the years 1100 and 1118.



''It is reasonable to assume that the treasure's owner and his family perished in the massacre or were sold into slavery, and therefore were not able to retrieve their gold,'' said the directors of the excavation, Dr Peter Gendelman and Mohammed Hatar.



The 11th-Century coins were found between two stones in the side of a well at a house in a neighbourhood dating to the Abbasid and Fatimid periods.



Robert Kool, a curator of the numismatic department of IAA, said inside there were ''18 Fatimid dinars, a type already discovered in the past in Caesarea, as well as six Byzantine gold coins that were very rare here and add a new aspect on trade at the time in the port of Caesarea''.



At the time, a farm worker earned one gold dinar a month, Kool said.



Based on dates on the coins, Gendelman has reached the conclusion that those who hid the cache were in a situation of extreme emergency.



The discovery can therefore be connected to one of the city's most dramatic episodes, when it was conquered by the crusaders of Baldwin I in 1101 AD when, Gendelman said, most of the residents were massacred or reduced into slavery.



Over the coming days, during the Jewish festivity of Hanukkah (or lights), the coins will be exhibited to the residents of the Israeli port city. They will then go to the laboratories of the Department of antiquities to be studied. (ANSAmed).



THE River & Rowing Museum in Henley has been recognised for the quality of its education service.

It has won the Sandford Award, an independently judged quality assessment of education programmes at heritage sites, museums and collections across Britain.

Helen Cook, head of learning, and Sarah Posey, the museums director, accepted the honour from the Duke of Buccleuch at a ceremony at the Tower of London.

One of the judges highlighted the museums wonderful environment for schoolchildren to study and praised the interesting and imaginative resources and activities which supported hands-on family and informal learning.

Dr Posey said: The criteria for judging include all aspects of the programme, from booking procedures to delivery to evaluation, so I would like to thank the wonderful learning team for all they do to ensure the quality of experience for our education visitors.

Ms Cook said: We are thrilled to have received this award in recognition of the quality of the learning programme.

The Sandford Award process helps us to review what we offer to all visitors and ensure that we are meeting their needs.

The award began 40 years ago and has been given to attractions including the London Transport Museum, Blenheim Palace and the V&A Museum of Childhood.

It focuses on formal, curriculum-linked education opportunities offered to schools by heritage sites. The museum in Mill Meadows, which is a charity, opened in 1998 and is dedicated to the River Thames, the sport of rowing and the town of Henley. It attracts more than 114,000 visitors a year.

More than 200 schools visit annually and its learning team runs more than 20 different courses for school groups from Early Years Foundation through to a new PE GCSE course in association with Leander Club.

The museum also offers an informal learning programme of lectures, workshops and events.David Attenborough has iss-ued a stark warning that the collapse of civilisations and extinction of much of the natural world is "on the horizon" unless action is taken to tackle climate change.

The naturalist and TV presenter delivered a message from people around the world to United Nations climate talks in Katowice, Poland, calling for leaders and decision-makers to take charge on driving down greenhouse gas emissions.

Attenborough was speaking on behalf of the UN's People's Seat initiative to give ordinary people a voice at the talks by gathering their thoughts, ideas and concerns through social media and polling.

He said the world is facing its "greatest threat in thousands of years - climate change".

"If we don't take action, the collapse of our civilisations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon," he added.

"People have spoken, their message is clear: time is running out, they want you, the decision-makers, to act now.

Sacrifices

"They're supporting you in making tough decisions, but they're also willing to make sacrifices in their daily lives."

"The people have spoken: leaders of the world, you must lead, the continuation of our civilisations and the natural world upon which we depend are in your hands."

The UN has launched an "ActNow.bot", which helps people discover simple actions they can take to tackle the issue.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned negotiators at the meeting that the world was "in deep trouble" with climate change.

"Climate change is running faster than we are and we must catch up sooner rather than later, before it's too late," he said.

"For many people, regions and even countries, this is already a matter of life and death."

He added that "climate action is not just the right thing to do, it makes social and economic sense", pointing to how action to cut emissions will curb air pollution deaths and generate millions of jobs.Nicole Doonan had a problem with cannabis in the past

A young woman upset after she was not allowed on a bus slapped and pulled the hair of a woman who had tried to calm her down.

Nicole Doonan (22) slapped the woman in the face after the victim was knocked to the ground.

Judge Bryan Smyth ordered a probation report and adjourned sentencing to a date next month.

The judge said he would consider a suspended sentence if Doonan paid 250 compensation to the victim.

The defendant, of Manorlands, Trim, Co Meath, admitted before Dublin District Court to assaulting a woman.

The incident happened at Busaras on Store Street, Dublin, at around 9.40pm on November 13 last year.

A garda witness said Doon-an had been told she was not allowed on to a Bus Eireann bus, and the woman had been trying to calm her down.

The assault took place after the victim had been knocked over. Doonan pulled the victim's hair and slapped her on the jaw.

Apologise

The woman did not suffer any injuries during the course of the assault.

The court heard Doonan had six previous convictions, but nothing for this type of offence.

Defence solicitor Matthew de Courcy said Doonan wished to apologise for her behaviour.

He said she had no explanation for it and it should not have happened.

Mr de Courcy said Doonan had earlier been assaulted and she was trying to get home.

Doonan, who was not working and on social welfare, told the court she was "very sorry" for what she had done.

Mr de Courcy said Doonan's partner was in court to support her.

He said the defendant had developed a problem with cannabis in the recent past, but she was trying to deal with it and was looking at getting treatment.

Mr de Courcy said Doonan was of limited means, but was willing to pay compensation as she wanted to "make good her poor behaviour".

Ordering a probation report, Judge Smyth said Doonan's behaviour had been "unacceptable".A farmer jailed for five years for killing his neighbour with the prongs of a teleporter could be released in less than two.

Michael Ferris (63) "deprived Anthony O'Mahony of his life in appalling circumstances", said a judge during his sentence hearing, adding that the dead man had suffered "horrific, horrible" injuries.

Outside the Criminal Courts of Justice afterwards, Mr O'Mahony's family condemned the sentence, saying that "justice had not been served".

Ann O'Carroll said in a statement that her uncle's good name had been "blackened" during the trial, and he had not been there to defend himself.

It had been a "deeply distressing and painful" ordeal.

Mrs O'Carroll said the family strongly believed that justice had not been served, and given the "deliberate and pre-meditated" nature of the killing, as outlined during the trial, the just conviction was one of murder.

She said the family's pain had now been "exacerbated by the lenient sentence imposed" by the court.

Mrs O'Carroll said the defendant's legal team had introduced the defence of provocation. To the O'Mahony family, this was an attempt to "justify the killing" and it "denigrated the value of Anthony's life".

She said "victim blaming" happened daily in other court cases in Ireland, and this was "clearly another example of it".

In October, Ferris, of Rattoo, Ballyduff, Co Kerry, was found not guilty of murder but guilty of the manslaughter of Mr O'Mahony (73) at Rattoo on April 4 last year by a jury at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Tralee.

Snapped

Ferris had "snapped" over a device called a crow banger, the court had heard.

During the trial, the prosecution had argued that the killing had been deliberate.

However, the defence said there had been accumulated provocation because of the behaviour of the deceased.

Ferris told gardai that Mr O'Mahony had been using the noisy crow banger for 30 years and had paid no heed to anyone when asked to stop.

He used his teleporter to block a rural road and then drove the prongs of the vehicle into Mr O'Mahony's car, causing him "catastrophic" injuries.

Yesterday, Ms Justice Carmel Stewart imposed a six-year sentence, suspending the final 12 months for three years.

The judge also backdated the sentence to when Ferris went into custody, in April last year.

With remission and time already served, Ferris is likely to be out of prison by Christmas 2020.

Judge Stewart said it was of "profound regret", not only to the court, but to all residents of Rattoo, that the issue of the noise from the crow banger had not been dealt with in some other way.

She said the court had to look at the degree of provocation, though this was a subjective test.

The judge said that Ferris inflicted "horrific, horrible" injuries on Mr O'Mahony.

Judge Stewart said the "nature and duration of the attack was truly gruesome and horrific" and "defied belief and imagination".

She said a small token of consolation for the victim's family was that, on the evidence of Deputy State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster, death was instant.

The judge also said the effect the killing had and continued to have on Mr O'Mahony's family was difficult to quantify.

Mitigating factors in sentencing were the defendant's age and previous good character, that he had been described as "gentlemanly" and had co- operated fully with gardai.

He had also admitted unlawfully killing Mr O'Mahony, though that plea had not been accepted by the DPP.A homeless man who handed a threatening note into a shop demanding 20,000 with further weekly instalments of 2,000 has been jailed for three years.

Brendan Glynn (31) had acted in an "impulsive, bizarre and outlandish" way to attempt to get money, said Aoife O'Leary, defending.

Glynn, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to demanding money with menaces at Spar, The Stiles Road, Clontarf, on July 16 last year.

Burning

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard Glynn, who has 46 previous convictions, had no connection to serious criminality and had no way of carrying out his threats.

Gda Niall McDonnell told Fiona Crawford, prosecuting, that Glynn had entered the store with his face partially covered and handed in a typed note for the owner.

The note demanded 20,000 and 2,000 a week thereafter and contained threats including burning the shop down.

It warned the owner not to contact gardai and told him he was being watched.

The owner alerted gardai and Glynn was arrested two days later.

Ms O'Leary said Glynn had asked her to apologise to the victim.

She said the fact the note was typed showed some degree of effort, but said there had been no planning put into bringing it to fruition.

She said Glynn, originally from Sligo, had been staying with family in the Dublin area, but they were no longer able to accommodate him and he had been "on the street" at the time.

Ms O'Leary said drugs had been an issue for him since the age of 14, and he had been using heroin at the time of the offence.

Judge Melanie Greally said "the content of the letter was such that it would instil extreme fear in the most firm of persons by reference to the persons who were mentioned in the corres- pondence".

She gave Glynn credit for his guilty plea, said it was "not a sophisticated or particularly thought-out endeavour" and had been committed while in the throes of addiction.

Judge Greally imposed a four-year sentence, with the final 12 months suspended.

She ordered that Glynn follow all directions from the Probation Service, in particular to address his addictions.Gary Hanley was fired on while travelling in a car

Patsy Hutch was lucky to escape after a gunman opened fire on his car. Photo: Colin Keegan/Collins Dublin

A brother of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch was lucky to escape with his life after the car he was travelling in was fired on at point-blank range.

Shocking new details of Thursday night's botched double murder attempt can today be revealed.

Senior sources say that Patrick 'Patsy' Hutch (57) and Gary Hanley (28) are "extremely lucky to be alive" after the Skoda car they were travelling in was sprayed with gunfire.

The duo were targeted shortly after 8.30pm on Thursday after being "lured" to a meeting in the Belclare Grove area of Ballymun.

Sources have revealed that a "nervous hitman" pumped five bullets into the car from just four feet away but failed to injure either man.

Both men have been targeted on numerous occasions by the Kinahan cartel and gardai are treating the shooting as part of the deadly Hutch/Kinahan warfare.

"This was a planned attack and it was only over the weekend that gardai got a clearer picture of what actually happened last Thursday night," a senior source said.

Attacked

"This incident is being taken extremely seriously, but neither man has made a complaint to gardai," the source added.

The car that Hutch and Hanley were travelling in was attacked shortly after the men had left a meeting with another individual.

A window in the car was shattered and a number of bullet holes were discovered in the vehicle.

However, both Hanley and Hutch escaped from the car uninjured and are believed to have fled on foot.

The Skoda car was later found abandoned at nearby Belclare Terrace. No arrests have been made.

However, last night sources said gardai had "no doubt" that the gun attack was carried out by the Kinahan cartel which has attempted to murder both men in the past.

This was the third time that Hanley has escaped death since the deadly feud began and Patsy Hutch has also survived at least three attempts on his life.

They are not expected to be issued with fresh GIM forms, the garda document in which officers give formal notice that they are aware of a possible threat to a target's life or safety.

"Both these individuals know they were shot at, and both these individuals know that they are under threat from the cartel," a senior source said.

Patsy Hutch has been targeted a number of times as part of the Hutch/Kinahan feud and as a result has gardai posted outside his home around the clock.

Since Thursday night's gun attack, Hanley is said to be "lying low" amid fears of other murder bids.

In March, detectives foiled a suspected murder plot targeting Patsy after swooping on a number of men in the north inner city.

Several firearms were recovered during the operation, including a sub-machine gun which could have claimed multiple lives if it had been fired on the streets.

A number of people have been charged in relation to this incident and are currently before the Special Criminal Court.

Two more suspected hits were foiled in 2016 after gardai from the Crime and Security Section received intelligence of an imminent threat on Patsy Hutch's life.

Both incidents, just weeks apart, led to heavily armed gardai from the Emergency Response Unit flooding the north inner city where he lives.

One of the plots was "in the advanced stages", with a getaway car sourced and parked offside for the murder plot.

The hit team in this plot were identified, but no arrests were made and one of the would-be gunmen has since died.

Concerns have previously been raised among gardai that unarmed members are tasked with manning a protection post, despite the threat of an armed attack.

Sinister graffiti has also been daubed on walls close to Patsy Hutch's home, warning that the deadly dispute will not finish until he is dead.

However, despite the ongoing threats to his life, he has been spotted in public on several occasions, attending the funerals of his murdered relatives.

His brother Eddie (59), nephews Gareth (35) and Derek (27) and son Gary (35) have all been murdered as part of the Hutch/Kinahan feud which has claimed up to 19 lives so far.

Another son, Patrick Jnr (25), is currently before the Special Criminal Court in relation to the Regency Hotel murder in February 2016.

Last month, cocaine-snorting gunman Luke Wilson (23) was jailed for 11 years after he admitted to conspiring to murder drug dealer and Hutch gang associate Hanley between September 15 and November 6 last year.

Last November, as part of the massive undercover operation which led to Wilson being jailed, detectives saved Hanley's life when they arrested Wilson and three men suspected of being involved in an "active and imminent plot" to murder Hanley at his Marino home.

Three other Dublin men are due to be tried in the Special Criminal Court next October.

Over the past 18 months, Hanley has become one of the main targets for the Kinahan cartel because of his close links to many of the main players in the Hutch mob and the allegation that he "mouthed off" about the rival gang in the aftermath of the Regency Hotel bloodbath.

Before last Thursday's gun attack, the latest confirmed attempt on Hanley's life was foiled when gardai seized two weapons in west Dublin in March.

A convicted drug dealer and feared enforcer, Hanley first came to criminal prominence within the gang after being released from his latest jail sentence around two years ago.

This related to a four-year term he received in March, 2013, for possession of five bars of cannabis resin for sale or supply at the Alfie Byrne apartment complex on April 10, 2009.

Thugs with links to the Kinahan cartel are suspected of "amateur" attempts to burn out Hanley's car near his Marino home as well as a "heartless" attack on an innocent elderly north inner city man, who is well known to Hanley and who is suffering from cancer.CAIRO - A conference with entrepreneurs operating in the sector of renewable energy and high officials of the Egyptian government, focusing on the reduction of risks to finance a project, will be held today in Cairo. The event is organized by the association RES4Med&Africa.

The high-level B2G (business to government) organized together with law firm Bonelli Erede, according to the program, focuses on how to accelerate the development of renewable energy in Egypt and finds in the reduction of risks to fund the project a way to ensure and push for investments in renewable energy, accelerating the country's transition to clean energy.

Participants include the international private sector, in particular firms in the network RES4Med&Africa and ''relevant Egyptian counterparts'' for a total of some 90 people, according to sources with the organization. The aim is to share experiences and identify priorities to move forward to develop the great potential of renewable energy together with local institutions.

In the workshop, a study is presented on the Egyptian case of the mitigation of risks for project financing in the renewable energy sector carried out by RES4Med&Africa and Bonelli Erede with the support of Egyptian law firm Bahaa-Eldin, in cooperation with Poyry, Enel Green Power, Italgen, RINA Consulting, PwC, Siemens Gamesa and Enerray.

Egypt, according to the program's statement, has the objective of producing 20% of the electricity needed with renewable sources by 2022: a significant challenge, given it is now 1.5% although recent progress makes the medium-term target more realistic.

''Only a month ago we held our first B2G workshop in Morocco'', Roberto Vigotti, secretary general of RES4Med&Africa told ANSA. ''We believe that it is a good recipe given that putting together the private sector and the government helps a fruitful discussion and the exchange of points of view and ideas''.

'Classic Reloaded' at Bardo in Tunis features MAXXI works Link between classical tradition and modern research

TUNIS - An exhibition featuring works from Rome's MAXXI museum of contemporary art is currently on display at the Bardo Museum in Tunis, examining the links between classical tradition and contemporary artistic research.



The show, titled "Classic Reloaded. Mediterranea", was curated by Bartolomeo Pietromarchi, director of MAXXI Arte, together with Eleonora Farina.



It uses the MAXXI collection as an ambassador of dialogue among peoples and a tool for cultural diplomacy, showing how art can build bridges against closure and nationalism.



The exhibition is touring the Mediterranean and will run through January 31 in the spaces of the Petit Palais at the Bardo, following its first stop in Beirut at the Villa Audi Mosaic Museum.



The project is part of an integrated cultural promotion programme by the Italian Foreign Ministry titled "Italy, Culture, Mediterranean" for countries in the Middle East and North Africa.



Its sponsorship in Tunis came from the Italian Embassy in Tunisia and the Italian Institute of Culture in Tunis. The exhibition includes 20 works by 13 Italian artists depicting the culture of "the sea that lies between the lands" that has always characterised the countries of the Mediterranean, with their own cultural autonomy yet openness to others.



Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 4)  When President Rodrigo Duterte said he wanted to create his own death squad against rebels, he meant every word according to Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.

"He was serious. He was serious. I think he treats seriously the killing of the soldiers and policemen," Lorenzana told CNN Philippines' The Source.

However, Lorenzana clarified that they would not create assassination squads.

"We are not assassinating top officials of any government. But we are going to neutralize any NPA force or individual who are going to hurt our soldiers," Lorenzana said. "We cannot just stand by and watch our soldiers getting killed everyday by the NPA."

He said the government's "Anti-Sparrow Unit" would focus on intelligence operations against rebels.

Lorenzana said the President has been talking about the creation of a unit against the so-called sparrow unit of the New People's Army (NPA) "for quite some time already," as he is alarmed at the the number of policemen and military men being killed in "sparrow-like" operations.

The Defense chief has previously said they would "very carefully" study Duterte's proposal to create a hit squad, adding that there is "great danger of abuse or mistakes in these undercover operations."

Duterte's proposal has drawn criticism from lawmakers and rights groups, with Senate Majority Leader Migz Zubiri thumbing it down, saying the government should be "civilized."

But Zubiri also chalked up Duterte's proposal to his being "passionate" whenever talking about criminality.

Duterte has a penchant for cracking deadpan jokes in his speeches, which are often interpreted as serious pronouncements.

Last night, while complaining about the hectic schedules in international meetings with other heads of states, Duterte said he uses marijuana to keep himself awake. He later clarified in an informal interview that he was only joking.

"If i want to joke, I will joke. Joke-joke-in mo. Ngayon, kung maniwala kayo, eh g*go kayo. [If you believe me, then you're a fool,]" Duterte said.

CNN Philippines Senior Correspondent Ina Andolong contributed to this report.Spain Constitution 40th - the 'power of art' on display Organized by Reina Sofia museum in Madrid

MADRID - To mark the 40-year anniversary of the approval of the Spanish Constitution, the Museum Reina Sofia is hosting the show 'El poder del Arte. Conmemoracion del 40 aniversario de la Constitucion espaola', until March 2. Organized in cooperation with the Cortes Generales and Accion Cultural Spagnola, the exhibit focuses on the role of Parliament in the approval of the charter in 1978 and is developed along two parallel itineraries at the Congress of Deputies and Senate.



Organized thanks to funding from the Reina Sofia, the two itineraries allow visitors to imagine new uses and roles, both for art and the space it occupies, and reflect on the role of contemporary societies and relations between art and power. The show exhibited at the Chamber of Deputies focuses on an era of transition in Spain from the dictatorship to democracy, while the one at the Senate offers an insight into the evolution of art in Spain over the last 40 years.



Israel: military op against Hezbollah's tunnels 'Operation Northern Shield' at the border with Lebanon

(ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, DECEMBER 4 - The Israeli army started the 'Operation Northern Shield' to destroy tunnels used by Hezbollah to cross into Israel from Lebanon, a military spokesman said Tuesday.



''The construction of tunnels that Israel discovered before they became operational and an imminent threat for the security of Israeli civilians, constitutes a blatant and grave violation of Israeli sovereignty and is further proof of the lack of respect by terror organization Hezbollah of UN resolutions'', said the military spokesman, citing in particular number 1701.



Hezbollah's activities, he added, are carried out ''from villages in southern Lebanon, endangering the country itself and its civilians to set up these structures of terror''.



''The terrorist organization of Hezbollah, which is responsible for the construction of cross-border tunnels of attack - the spokesman noted - continues its activities supported and funded by Iran to establish this terrorist terrorist infrastructure against Israeli civilians''.



The spokesman then added that the army has increased its presence at the northern command and is prepared for ''various scenarios''. Some of the areas around the northern defensive barrier ''have been declared a closed military zone'', he said.



(ANSAmed).



UN says 132 mn people will need aid in 2019 Says 21.9 bn dollars in funding needed

(ANSAmed) - GENEVA, DECEMBER 4 - UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock presented the organisation's Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO) 2019 in Geneva on Tuesday, in which it is estimated that in 2019 nearly 132 million people in 42 countries will need assistance and humanitarian protection, many due to conflicts, the main cause for humanitarian intervention.



In 2019, the UN and its partners plan to aid 93.6 million people - the most vulnerable - by providing food, shelter, healthcare, education, protection, and other forms of assistance.



The funding needed for 2019 totals 21.9 billion US dollars, not including the financial requirements for Syria, which will be confirmed upon finalization of the 2019 Syria Humanitarian Response Plan. The total requirements, including those for Syria, are expected to be comparable to the current requirements of around 25 billion dollars, the UN said.



It said the situation in Yemen, which it defines as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, has worsened considerably. The UN estimates that in 2019 about 24 million people in Yemen will need assistance and humanitarian protection.



Humanitarian needs remain high in Syria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and South Sudan.



As of November 2018, donor contributions had reached a record high of 13.9 billion dollars, 10% more than the same period in 2017, which was also a record-breaking year.



Lowcock said, however, that despite the growing generosity, "each year we see a gap between what's needed and the funding received".(ANSAmed).



Parts of the Tri-State could see first snow of the season

Washington County, the Eastern Panhandle and Franklin County, Pa., is expected to see its first dusting of snow Saturday night into Sunday morning.ANSAmed - Today's events in the Mediterranean

(ANSAmed) - ROME, DECEMBER 4 - These are some of the main events scheduled for today in the Euro-Mediterranean area: ROME - Foreign Press, 11.30am. Conference titled 'Morocco in the enlarged Mediterranean, between economy stability immigration and security' with Ambassador Hassan Abouyoub who will meet the Italian and foreign press.



ROME - Signing of a memorandum of understanding between Israel and Confagricoltura, with the aim of strengthening scientific collaboration and technological innovation.



ROME - Visit by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.



MARRAKECH - Film festival continues (until 8/12).



CAIRO - The third edition of the Global Migration Film Festival continues (to December 18).



RABAT - 4th edition of the Festival of Theatre Academies, with the participation of over 200 artists (until 5/12). (ANSAmed).



Avramopoulos says debate on mandatory quotas 'exhausted' EU migrant commissioner says it's time to go further

(ANSAmed) - BRUSSELS, DECEMBER 4 - EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said that the debate on mandatory asylum-seeker relocation is "exhausted" and now "it's time to go further", speaking Tuesday on Dublin Regulation reform.



"Solidarity can come in different forms, but it has to come from all," he said.



Avramopoulos said that during moments of particular migrant pressure and when sufficient voluntary efforts on the part of member states are absent, there must be a security net in the Dublin system that guarantees true support to the affected countries.



He emphasised that it is still possible to reach an agreement on Dublin Regulation reform prior to the European elections in May.



In the meantime, however, he said that adoption of five of the seven asylum reform proposals could be a "temporary solution, a bridge in light of finalising the entire package".(ANSAmed).



Yellow vests: premier announces six-month moratorium Increase on light, gas also suspended

(ANSAmed) - PARIS, DECEMBER 4 - French Premier Edouard Philippe on Tuesday said it would be necessary to be ''deaf and blind not to hear or see'' the rage of the French, in an official message to the nation to allay the tension with the 'yellow vest' movement.



''No tax is worth endangering the unity of the nation'', he noted, confirming a six-month moratorium on a gasoline tax increase and urging to halt violence.



In a solemn speech, he then announced the suspension of ''three fiscal measures'', including ''tariffs on electricity and gas'' that will not increase this winter.



''The government does not accept violence against security forces, national monuments, public buildings, shops. I want to say in the clearest way possible that the perpetrators of these acts will be sought and punished'', continued Philippe. ''If a demonstration will be held Saturday, it needs to be declared and conducted with calm'', he noted. ''The government will do everything possible to respect the law and public order''. (ANSAmed).



Jaipur : Even though politics in India in the age of Narendra Modi is witnessing a Hindu narrative, not all Hindus are easily accommodated in the script. A large number of people from the majority community have come over to India from Pakistan where the Hindu minorities have been targeted by the majority force but have they been incorporated into the Indian scheme of things ?

According to a report in Ananda Bazar Patrika, Ramchandra Solanki had fled with his family from Mirpur Khas in Pakistans Sindh province on a night of 2014 after a young girl from his relative circle was raped by local landlords sons and the family was almost wiped out after the victim complained about her ordeal. Like Solanki, thousands of Hindu families have fled Pakistan in the last decade and half and taken shelter in Rajasthan across the border. Around 20,000 of these refugees live in temporary shelters in Jodhpur. Although there have been claims by the government time and again that Hindus fleeing from Pakistan and entering India will be given citizenship of this country, the process has not progressed as the refugees had expected.

In April, Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria said 5,000 Pakistani Hindus who are residing in Rajasthan will be given Indian citizenship but according to the ABP report, not much has been done on the matter since then. People like Solanki do not understand the complications and implications of law and governance but only that their lives will be saved if they are on the Indian territory.

According to the report, most of the Pakistani Hindus in India have come in the name of pilgrimage but stayed here to evade persecution at home where they are allegedly forced to convert into Muslims. There are social activists and NGOs who are fighting for the rights of these Pakistani Hindus and education for their children but yet things are far from being better.

Difficult to sustain in India

Apart from the citizenship issue, people like Solanki and others whose visa, too, have expired find it difficult to sustain as well. They dont get jobs easily because the local people do not trust them as they are dubbed as Pakistan. In fact, their temporary shelters on the outskirts are referred to as Pakistani Hindu camp which has an essence of derogation in it.

These people have received no government aid and have to make their own shelters of leaves and buy water. They do not get any government health benefit and have to depend on expensive private healthcare services. Their children have no minimum ambience of security to grow even though they studied in schools in Pakistan. And these people require proof of citizenship to get their children admitted in schools in India, the report added.

They are also Hindus. But for Hindu India, they perhaps remain an exception.

Source : One IndiaJordan launches its first mini satellite to space It was built for education, tourism promotion

(ANSAmed) - AMMAN, DECEMBER 4 - Jordan has launched its first ever small size satellite for educational research and promote tourism in Jordan, according to an official statement. Crown prince Hussein, son of King Abdullah announced the launch saying the initiative would be helping educational research and promote the kingdom internationally. The young prince has also broadcast a message from his voice to be aired by the satellite as a welcome note to visit the kingdom.



Named JY1-SAT, the cube satellite was launched in memory of the late King Hussein, named after His Majesty's radio call sign: JY1, said the statement today.



"The launch of the CubeSat primarily aims at implementing educational research objectives. The launching of Jordan's satellite mission is used to promote tourism in the Kingdom through broadcasting images of touristic places and heritage sites in Jordan," said the statement issued by the crown prince foundation. CPF's CEO Tamam Mango was quoted in the statement as saying: "We proudly announce the launch of the first Jordanian mini satellite, designed and built by Jordanian engineers.



The satellite was designed and built by 18 young engineering students, with support from five academics and consultants, in various engineering fields, from Jordanian universities. "Jordan has entered both the design sector and implementation of satellites, two elements in line with the Crown Prince Foundation's mission, providing Jordanian youth with pivotal skills and tools to branch into various sectors, enhancing their capabilities, simultaneously enhancing Jordan's position/status on various levels," Mango was quoted as saying.



A mobile application will be launched will enable users to track the mini satellite and communicate with it. (ANSAmed).



Shah Rukh Khan is a doting dad to his kids and often talks about them and shares their pictures on the social media. He is a proud dad and wants his children to finish their education before they think about following his path in Bollywood or pursue any other interest. His daughter Suhana Khan is the first of them to prove her acting skills. The actor recently visited London to witness her perform on stage in a college play titled Romeo and Juliet. A picture of the drama team surfaced on one of the fanpages and has Suhana in a white corset top and skirt. The 18 year-old plays Juliet in the play and looks pretty in her costume with her hair in curls.

Overwhelmed with his daughters performance on stage, Shah Rukh had shared his feelings on the social media along with a dad-daughter picture and a poster of the play. In it, the Raees actor can be seen planting a kiss on her forehead as the teenager is seen holding a bouquet of flowers, caught in the emotional moment. He captained the picture, With my Juliet in London. What a wonderful experience and exceptional performances by the whole cast. Congratulations to the whole team.

Suhana also made her magazine cover debut this year with Vogue. In an interview with the magazine, the teenager said, Moving away at age 16 was the best decision of my life. Living in a different environment and meeting so many new people helped me gain a lot of confidence. Its about being able to do the little things, like walk on the street or take the trainstuff that was so hard to do in Mumbai. But living away also made me appreciate home so much more.

She was last seen in India at the star-studded Diwali party hosted by her family at Mannat. When in Mumbai, she is often seen hanging around with her other industry friends Ahana Pandey and Shanaya Kapoor.

Follow @htshowbiz for moreThe problem leaders face in learning what is happening on the ground is an age-old one. Historically, emperors from Ashoka to Akbar would roam around their kingdoms in disguise to observe the true state of affairs. Today, measuring how well our major public programmes are implemented remains a core governance challenge. Lower-level officials have incentives to underreport problems and exaggerate their performance, which, along with the sheer scale of India, makes it difficult for senior leaders to get an objective picture of ground realities (Improving last-mile service delivery using phone-based monitoring, Muralidharan et al, 2018).

Technological advances may let us to do better than travelling in disguise. In particular, mobile phone penetration in India has grown from 1 mobile subscriber per 100 people in 2002 to 62 in 100 in 2017. While mobile phones have transformed everyday lives in many ways, their potential for improving governance and service delivery has not yet been realised. Many programmes have hotlines for inbound calls to record grievances, but we have found that beneficiaries rarely use them  and even if some did, this would not give us a true picture of the typical beneficiary experience. Instead, governments might do better by proactively calling people, and asking a random sample about their experiences with public programmes. Doing this regularly could provide real time data on performance to both inform policymakers and motivate policy implementers.

We recently tested this approach in Telangana in the context of the high-profile Rythu Bandhu Scheme (RBS). Under this scheme, the Government of Telangana (GoTS) provided Rs 4000/acre to farmers per agricultural season to help pay for key inputs like seeds and fertiliser. Payment was issued in the form of cheques distributed to farmers through the office of the Mandal (subdistrict) Agricultural Officer (MAO). The programme was a top priority for GoTS and was carefully monitored. Yet as usual there were various implementation risks, including cheques not issued, not delivered, delivered late, or delivered with a request for a bribe.

To improve programme implementation, we worked with GoTS to call over 20,000 RBS beneficiaries in a two-week span and ask a few basic questions: whether and when the beneficiaries received their cheque, cashed it, and whether they had to pay a bribe. Around 25% of MAOs were informed that this monitoring was happening and would be used to generate individualised performance reports for them and their managers. Importantly, these MAOs were randomly chosen, which allowed us to measure the impact of monitoring by comparing outcomes across areas with and without phone monitoring.

As it turns out, this simple announcement had a significant positive impact on implementation. Even in areas without phone-based monitoring, implementation was reasonably good: 83% of farmers received and encashed their cheques. However, farmers did better in areas with phone-based monitoring, where they were 1.5% more likely to receive and encash their cheques. The monitoring benefited the disadvantaged even more, with farmers in the bottom quarter of land holdings 3.3% more likely to encash their cheques. And benefits were similar for farmers with and without phones (though we could only call those with phones), suggesting that MAOs did not cater only to those with a phone. Overall, the call centres were highly cost-effective, delivering an additional Rs 7 crore to farmers at a cost of Rs 25 lakh  a lower administrative cost (3.6%) than in any anti-poverty programme for which we have data.

The benefits of this approach could be higher in other settings and in the longer run. Flagship programmes like the PDS or NREGS have significantly more room for improvement in many places than did the RBS in Telangana. Further, monitoring by phone could be paired with explicit rewards or sanctions to motivate implementing officials (something GoTS did not do in our experiment), and with public disclosure of statistics to also build bottom up democratic accountability. More broadly, regularly measuring performance will give managers objective metrics to guide personnel management (including increments, promotions, and postings), which global evidence suggests is the most important component of management.

India is already a leader in providing call centre services for the world. Why not leverage this powerful tool to improve governance at home? Mobile phones are widespread, and phone calls can measure anything that the human eye can observe, meaning that they can monitor a broad range of social programmes, ranging from receipt of PDS benefits or NREGS work to presence of teachers in schools. While further testing is needed to optimally use this approach in other sectors and states, our results suggest that the returns to doing so may be large.

The authors are economics faculty members at UC San Diego (Karthik Muralidharan and Paul Niehaus), University of Virginia (Sandip Sukhtankar) and the University of Southern California (Jeff Weaver)

The views expressed are personalThe Delhi government on Monday suspended two senior officials after eight women and a differently-abled minor girl were reported missing from a government-run shelter in northeast Delhi since Saturday night. The inmates were allegedly treated improperly at the shelter.

Earlier, the child welfare committee (CWC) had filed complaint with the department of women and child development (WCD) alleging that the shelters superintendent had assaulted the minor. No action, however, was taken in the matter.

According to police, except for the minor, all other missing inmates were aged between 18-20 years.

The inmates were reportedly missing since Saturday night. We got a call regarding the incident around 8.30 am on Sunday. The lock of the terrace door was found broken, said a senior police officer.

Shahdara DCP Meghna Yadav said that a case has been registered in the matter and an investigation is ongoing.

Most of those who are missing are either survivors of trafficking or sexual abuse. They were housed in the northeast Delhi shelter since May, on the orders of a court.

The government suspended the WCD district officer (northeast) and the shelters superintendent.

Trouble at homes  Last year, the deaths of 11 inmates in Asha Kiran, run by the social welfare department, brought the issue of shelter homes in focus. Over 600 deaths have been reported in the home since 2001.  According to the 2015 Comptroller and Auditor General report, the home is overcrowded with over 900 inmates living here against a capacity of 350.  Again, last year, at least 10 teenage girls in a state-run west Delhi shelter home have accused its staff of molestation, forcibly injecting them with unexplained drugs, and beating them into submission if they tried to resist or complain.  The ordeal at the shelter was exposed when a girl wrote to the Delhi Legal Services Authority about the human rights violations and torture. Last year, the deaths of 11 inmates in Asha Kiran, run by the social welfare department, brought the issue of shelter homes in focus. Over 600 deaths have been reported in the home since 2001.According to the 2015 Comptroller and Auditor General report, the home is overcrowded with over 900 inmates living here against a capacity of 350.Again, last year, at least 10 teenage girls in a state-run west Delhi shelter home have accused its staff of molestation, forcibly injecting them with unexplained drugs, and beating them into submission if they tried to resist or complain.The ordeal at the shelter was exposed when a girl wrote to the Delhi Legal Services Authority about the human rights violations and torture.

While ordering the suspension, Deputy Chief Minister Sisodia said the WCD had failed in its duty to provide a safe and secure environment for the women and the minor who were placed under protection of the state.

In a letter to the Delhi chief secretary Vijay Dev , he said that matter was extremely serious and raised serious doubt on the intention of the officers.

Despite multiple attempts, WCD officials and the superintendent could not be reached for comment.

The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), meanwhile, said that they had received at least two complaints from CWC about irregularities in the functioning of the home and improper conduct by the superintendent. The minor, it said, was severely abused.

The minor girl with special needs was subjected to severe abuse and corporal punishment by the superintendent of the home. The CWC had given a complaint against the superintendent of allegedly beating up the girl. Also, the Commission had received another complaint saying that the superintendent had also beaten up several other girls, read a DCW statement, adding that the CWC also wrote to the WCD regarding the matter but no action was taken.

Swati Maliwal, DCW chairperson, said, We hope the case is transferred to the Crime Branch for a high-level investigation in the matter, as there are chances that the girls again fall prey to the menace of trafficking.

Meanwhile, officials in the CWC said that there was a lack of sensitisation among the staff at the said shelter home and that even three years ago, four inmates had fled from the home.

The staff needs to be sensitised towards the inmates. Besides, many women in the age group of 18-20 try to escape, as the restoration process is delayed. The process of tracing the victims families from other states and even other countries takes years. The committee had several times written to the department to strengthen the process of rehabilitation, said a senior official, who did not wish to be named.The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday said it has filed a chargesheet against Delhi minister Satyendra Jain, his wife Poonam Jain and four other alleged business associates on charges of amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

The chargesheet was filed in a Patiala House special CBI court, said agency spokesman RK Gaur.

The CBI has charged Jain of amassing disproportionate assets to tune of Rs 1.47 crore.

The CBI said a case against Jain and other co-accused was registered on August 24 last year to probe allegations of acquisition of assets disproportionate to his known sources of income during the check period of February 14, 2015 and May 31, 2017. Searches were also conducted at the premises of the accused which led to recovery of certain incriminating documents.

Investigation has revealed that the said minister and his family members allegedly controlled or have stakes or hold shares in four companies based at Delhi. He was director in three companies and resigned from directorship of these companies before the 2013 election. His family members, however, continued to hold shares in all these four companies, said the agency in a statement.

The agency added that the three companies, in which Jain was director, had allegedly received Rs.1.53 crore as accommodation entries from Kolkata-based shell companies during the check period. It was alleged that the accused was assisted in routing money through shell companies by two other persons, said the CBI statement.

The agency alleged that Jains shares with respect to his three companies got transferred in his wifes name on February 10, 2015 and despite resigning from the directorship of the companies, he exercised effective control over them through his wife. The ministry of home affairs had granted CBI sanction to prosecute Jain last week.The Delhi High Court has allowed a 16-year-old rape survivor, who was 22 weeks pregnant, to terminate her pregnancy even after the medical board constituted at GTB hospital said abortion at this stage would carry a higher risk of mortality and morbidity.

Justice Vibhu Bakhru gave the permission to abort the foetus, noting that both the victim and her father had been explained the risks and they were adamant that the pregnancy should be aborted.

The court was hearing a petition filed by the teenager, who was allegedly raped for one year by a married man who claimed he was divorced and told her that he was like her husband.

On November 28, the court had directed the medical superintendent of Guru Tegh Bahadur (GTB) hospital to constitute a medical board to give its opinion on whether the pregnancy could be terminated.

In a special hearing on Saturday, the medical board comprising a gynecologist and a psychiatrist informed the court that the relative risk was much higher than an abortion at eight weeks.

....This risk has been explained to the petitioner as well as her father, both of whom are adamant that the pregnancy should be terminated, the court said in its order.

The single-judge bench noted that Sanjay Agarwal, director professor of psychiatry, had interacted with the rape victim and found that the unwanted pregnancy was causing considerable amount of distress to her.

He (Agarwal) is further of the view that carrying the pregnancy further poses a risk to her well being and would continue to cause much distress to the petitioner. This risk is enhanced considering the allegation that the conception was a result of a rape, the court said.

Following this, the judge allowed the minor to terminate her pregnancy, expeditiously and preferably before December 4. It said the tissue of the foetus would be preserved for further DNA test, if necessary.

The minor said she was raped repeatedly for a year by a man, who fathered the child. On November 3, an FIR was registered at Karawal Nagar police station against the man for sexually abusing her.

The girl was admitted to a hospital from November 22 to November 26 where it found that her foetus was 22 weeks old and could not be terminated in accordance with the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 (MTP), which put a ceiling of 20 weeks. She then moved court, seeking permission to terminate her pregnancy.The Delhi Police on Monday said it has unearthed an illegal firearms manufacturing and assembling unit, that was allegedly being run by a 41-year-old arms dealer from his two-storey rented house in east Delhis Shakti Vihar near Karawal Nagar.

A semi-automatic carbine, five pistols, six spare magazines and 16 cartridges, were seized along with raw materials and machinery used in manufacturing firearms.

Police said the accused, Iqbal Khan, is proficient in manufacturing carbines and semi-automatic pistols. They said Iqbal, a native of Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh, supplied carbines and other guns to several criminal gangs in Delhi-NCR and Uttar Pradesh. Police said Iqbals father, late Bundu Khan, ran a similar factory at their native village and he was known as Bandook Khan.

One of the receivers of Iqbals illegally manufactured firearms, Raj Kartik, a former associate of south Delhis jailed gangster Shakti Sharda, was also arrested.

Sharda and his accomplices were involved in the 2014 Moolchand robbery case wherein Rs 8 crore was looted at gunpoint from the occupants of a Honda City car.

Deputy commissioner of police (crime) G Ram Gopal Naik said it is for the first time that the Delhi Police has busted an illegal arms unit in the national capital.

DCP Naik said Iqbal was arrested on November 27, following a tip-off that he would come near Ramprastha Crossing bus stop near Anand Vihar railway station to deliver a consignment of firearms.

Our team caught Iqbal with a carbine, one semi-automatic pistol and four cartridges. His interrogation led to the arrest of Kartik from Chirag Dilli with a countrymade pistol and three bullets on December 1. Kartik had purchased the pistol from Iqbal for Rs 40,000, Naik said.

Iqbal used to sell semi-automatic carbines for Rs 1 lakh to Rs1.5 Lakh, semi-automatic pistols for Rs 30,000-40,000 and countrymade pistols for Rs 5,000 each, the DCP said.

DCP Naik said Iqbal was arrested with firearms in 2014 from Karawal Nagar but he never disclosed to the police the details of his factory.

Iqbal had sold a carbine and two pistols to Dheeraj and Neeraj, who were members of Yogesh Bhadoda gang of western UP and were killed in a police encounter in Meerut around nine months ago. A gangster from Meerut, Furkan, who was gunned down by the UP Police 10 months ago had also purchased a carbine from Iqbal, Naik said.Paris is burning, and everyone should be worried. Violent protests by the gilets jaunes, or yellow jackets, in Paris over the weekend should set alarm bells ringing everywhere. Some of the protestors sported the Anonymous mask made famous by the Occupy protests, and modelled after the one worn by the protagonist in Alan Moores graphic novel, V for Vendetta, and which itself was a stylised rendition of Guy Fawkes face. The ostensible reason for the protests, simmering for some time, was anger over green taxes and high fuel prices, and although the latter came down by the time of the outbreak last weekend, people are still unhappy with the lack of jobs, the failure of local administration to provide basic services in the French hinterland, and rising prices.

That this happened in France, the most socialist of all First World countries, is telling. It was inevitable, though. Since the financial crisis of 2008, it has become evident that the current model of global business and trade is flawed. Indeed, leaders of the worlds most powerful nations admitted as much at the recent G-20 summit at Buenos Aires. Over the past decade, real incomes have declined across many countries, and even in those countries that do not have an unemployment problem, there are significant numbers of underemployed (simplistically explained as PhDs flipping burgers). The result is a desire for change  the election of Donald Trump in the US and Brexit are both manifestations of this. The result is a wave of protectionism around the globe that threatens global trade. And the result is anger of the sort seen in Paris over the weekend.

India isnt wholly immune to a similar phenomenon. Sure, the economy has continued to expand over the past decade and incomes continue to increase, but farmers in many parts of the country are in the grip of an agrarian crisis  there have been at least four large protests by farmers in the past six months  and not enough jobs are being created (India needs 10-12 million new ones a year). And according to a recent report by Credit Suisse, the Gini coefficient, which measures inequality in a country, has gone up in India, from 81.3% in 2013 to 85.4% in 2018 (a coefficient of 100% means perfect inequality and 0%, perfect equality). Which is probably why India, and every other country, would do well to take note of events in Paris.Improving law and order was one of the key poll planks of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in its campaign for the 2017 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. It swept the elections, but on the law and order front, things never really improved despite a spate of encounter killings. Now, they have reached a nadir with a mob killing an on-duty police inspector in Bulandshahr district of the state on December 3, 2018.

The sequence of events suggests a premeditated design to create trouble. Cow carcasses were found in an isolated area. A mob gathered in no time in the name of demanding action against alleged killers. It went to a police post, indulged in rioting and arson, and killed two people including Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh. While a probe has been announced and one should wait for its findings, the state needs to answer some questions.

It has been clear for some time that there are organised groups in the state which are always looking to create trouble, even unleash lethal violence in the garb of protecting cows. Does the police and the intelligence machinery have any idea about their activities? If yes, what has been done to take pre-emptive action against them?

The illegality of cow slaughter notwithstanding, the issue has often been used to create communal polarisation. A local Bajrang Dal leader has been named as one of the accused in the Bulandshahr violence. Shouldnt the political arm of the state and those seen close to it try and defeat this tactic rather than encouraging it by using such rhetoric themselves?

Last, but not the least, is the issue of the preparedness of the police force in Uttar Pradesh. In retrospect, it is clear that the police party of which Inspector Singh was a part was overwhelmed by the mob. Why was adequate force not deployed in time to prevent this situation? That this is the same police force which has faced a lot of flak over many dodgy encounters, including that of a business executive in Lucknow, shows that it has been erring on both sides: applying unnecessary force where it is not required, and failing to defend itself when under attack. Does this not point towards a deeper institutional crisis within the Uttar Pradesh police?

Ensuring that the killers in the Bulandshahr incident are brought to book is the responsibility of the states criminal justice system. As far as the larger questions discussed above are concerned, the buck stops with none other than Yogi Adityanath, who heads the executive in Uttar Pradesh.The first official images of Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonass wedding are out and the brides looks take us back to Robert Frosts poem, Fire and Ice. Priyanka looked ethereal in a custom Ralph Lauren.

The veteran designer on his Instagram handle posted a beautiful image of the couple along with a message that stated that the brides strapless column dress embellished with pearlscent sequins was overlaid with a hand-embroidered, high-neck coat with scalloped sleeves and satin-covered buttons. The embroidery included eight significant words and phrases selected by the bride, including Family, Hope, and Compassion. The groom wore a Purple Label double-breasted tuxedo with a piece of the brides dress hand embroidered with the Urdu word My Jaan (meaning My Life) at the interior lapel of the jacket, just over his heart.

The bridesmaids, groomsmen, parents, flower girls, and ring bearer were all dressed in Ralph Lauren for the wedding at Taj Umaid Bhawan Palace on December 1 last week. The much talked about couple got married to each other in a Christian wedding ceremony yesterday at the Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur. The joyous and beautiful pictures from the Mehndi ceremony surfaced on social media last week and Priyanka did not disappoint us in a folksy, multi-hued organdy attire, inspired by a vintage Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla collection.

For the Indian wedding, Priyanka wore a custom red Sabyasachi lehenga with hand embroidered and hand-cut organza flowers, French knots in silk floss, delicate Siam-red crystals and layer upon layer of threadwork embroidery. 110 embroiderers from Calcutta, India took 3720 hours to create this modern masterpiece. As an ode to the resplendence of Mughal jewellery, the designer further shared that her wedding jewellery was crafted with uncut diamonds, emeralds and Japanese cultured pearls in 22 karat gold and had delicate tiny stars in uncut diamonds to give a sense of whimsy to an important traditional piece. Nick Jonas wore a hand-quilted silk sherwani with a hand-embroidered chikan dupatta and a chanderi tissue safa. His rose cut kalgi and Syndicate diamond necklace are from Sabyasachi Heritage Jewelry collection.

As we are loving the new images from the wedding, we cant wait for the upcoming reception looks.

Follow more stories on Facebook and TwitterRecently, a 26-year-old professional wanted to call off her engagement after she got to know that her fiance was hepatitis B positive. Meanwhile, a young man got engaged without divulging his hepatitis B positive status out of fear that he wont find a match.

Hepatitis B is a blood-borne infection and can be sexually transmitted, especially if multiple partners are involved.

More often than not, those infected chose not to reveal their status out of fear of being stigmatised and discriminated against. An estimated 60 million people are carriers of hepatitis B and C  responsible for liver cirrhosis (scarring) and even cancer.

Doctors say that as many as nine out of 10 young people have reservations about their spouses or would-be spouses knowing about their viral hepatitis status. However, they maintained, the fears in most cases are ill-founded.

People need to know that only one of 100 die of hepatitis B infection and only 10-20% of those carrying the virus will suffer from the disease, says Dr SK Sarin, director, Institute of Live and Biliary Sciences (ILBS).

Moreover, doctors asserted, the worry about contracting the infection is also baseless as people can protect themselves from the infection by getting vaccinated. While the disease may have no cure, chances of transmission can be severely cut by taking three shots in seven months (0-1-6), they maintained.

However, doctors explained that there is a difference between vaccination and immunisation. Taking vaccine shots does not mean youre immune. If a person has antibody levels of more than 10, then (s)he has developed adequate immunity against the infection and risk of sexual transmission has been cut, says Dr Sarin.

Moreover, cases of female to male transmission of virus have, so far, been extremely rare. The risk of transmission from mother to child is high but even that can be prevented by vaccinating the child at birth.

Doctors said that lack of awareness regarding the blood-borne infection among the masses is a major factor for people facing discrimination. It is almost similar to what people living with HIV face.

Over the years, the government has been aggressively trying to deter people from discriminating against HIV infected people and make life easier for them.

In September 2018, India notified the HIV and AIDS (Prevention and Control) Act that criminalises discrimination against HIV-positive people and those living with them. The law now bars from making a person undergo an HIV test to get a job or for education.

The list also include denial, termination, discontinuation or unfair treatment with regard to employment, educational establishments, healthcare services, residing or renting property, standing for public or private office and provision of insurance.

Moreover, it is mandatory for cases pertaining to HIV positive persons to be disposed of by the court on a priority basis while ensuring confidentiality.

This revolutionary law per se may not be applicable to those who are not HIV positive but it has set things into motion.

When we drafted the law we wanted it to be extended to other diseases, which didnt happen. However, since it retains the core that of anti-discrimination and maintaining confidentiality, it can over time change to a general medical law, says Anand Grover, senior advocate.

Till that happens, anyone who feels discriminated against by the state can rightfully approach a court for justice under Indias constitution.

Similarly, the ILBS has also launched a campaign called EMPATHY, an initiative to empower people against hepatitis. We are also trying to generate awareness in people that those discriminated against owing to their condition can go to court, says Dr Sarin.The Centre on Monday said it had no objection if the current special investigation team (SIT)  constituted to further probe 186 cases related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots  continues with its task with just two members.

Additional solicitor-general Pinky Anand informed the court that the three-member SIT had been reduced to two after retired IPS officer Rajdeep Singh declined to be a part of it citing personal reasons.

Anand, representing the Centre, said the government proposed substituting Singh with former DG-rank officer Navneet Rajan Wasan, who had earlier served as the Director General of Bureau of Police Research and Development.

The bench, however, said the government cannot choose its own judge. Give us two to three names, Justice Lokur said. At this, senior advocates HS Phoolka and RS Suri, appearing for the petitioners, suggested letting the SIT continue its probe with two members.

The team is already there. Non-appointment of the third member is halting the probe. We request the court to let the SIT proceed with two members, Justice Dhingra and Dular, Phoolka said. Anand said she had no objection to the suggestion.

Since the original order setting up the SIT was by a three-judge bench, the court said it would take up the matter again on Tuesday when a similar combination will sit.

The SC had on January 11 nominated a three-member to supervise a further probe into the 186 cases, in which closure reports had been filed earlier.

On February 5, the Centre had moved court, requesting it to include Wasan instead of Singh. Wasan, now retired, is a 1980-batch Andhra Pradesh-cadre officer and had also served as Special Director General in the National Investigation Agency (NIA).The young man, all of 22 years old, had just returned to his village, Shaharbanni in Khagadia district, after clearing the civil service examination in 1968 to attend family celebrations. He was selected for the Bihar police. At village roundabout he found a Dalit man, limbs tied, facing the local panchayat in front of a hundred people.

The charge: the man hadnt returned Rs 150 he owed to his master for medical treatment. A young police officer in waiting, Ram Vilas Paswan got the man released. He tore the accounts book that the complainant had brought along as evidence, and dispersed the crowd.

The young man became a local hero. Not long after, his community convinced him to contest the elections and gave him a ticket from the Samyukt Socialist Party for a by-election from Aloli in 1969. This was his first election and he defeated a Congress heavyweight with a margin of 700-odd votes.

Thats how the life of Ram Vilas Paswan, the Lok Janshakti Party chief who has completed 50 years in legislative politics, changed.

My father was upset at the thought of me leaving police service, Paswan chuckles.

I consulted a colleague from the Socialist Party who told me If you want to be government then become an MLA. If you want to be servant then join the police force. I decided to be the government, the union minister remembers.

The 72-year-old socialist veteran believes he has enough politics still left in him.

There is no end to politics for a politician, says Paswan. Any alliance government has its bounds and limitations, which stops one from speaking freely... But we do speak when there is an occasion.

Paswan was among the first, for instance, to demand the government pass an ordinance to restore the original provisions of the SC/ST Atrocities Act, which were diluted by a Supreme Court order.

From crossing two rivers to get to his village school, fighting with authorities to get proper facilities at the Prince of Wales higher secondary school hostel in Khagaria, or wearing sleepers for the first time in class 9, life hasnt been easy for this Bihar politician.

He is a nine- term MP who has been part of several governments. Chess is his favourite game, he says, and its hard to ignore the fact that he has always made the right moves.

He has been a founding pillar of third front governments, and a champion of social justice, he reminds this paper.

Mulayam Singh Yadav and I are the only two active leaders who are from real socialist background. Others such Sharad Yadav, Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad came much later.  Paswan says he recently suggested that his filmstar-turned-parliamentarian son, Chirag Paswan, take over the reins of the LJP and relive him. But he wants me to continue, Paswan says.

Paswan represents Hajipur, a seat next to state capital Patna, in Lok Sabha and there is speculation that he might not contest the next parliamentary election and become a member of the Rajya Sabha instead.The government has issued an order to shift 625 students of the National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Srinagar, Uttarakhand, to a satellite campus at the Malviya National Institute of Technology (MNIT) in Jaipur to decongest the campus in the hill state, officials familiar with the matter said.

The Union human resource development (HRD) ministry on Monday gave the go-ahead following complaints by students over the past year that facilities on the Uttarakhand campus  including laboratories, hostel rooms and washrooms  were not sufficient for all those on the rolls. There are at least 900 students in the institution, an HRD ministry official said.

There is a huge lack of space and infrastructure with as many as six students crammed in a single hostel room. There arent enough washrooms. Nor are facilities like laboratories adequate. So, the HRD ministry held discussions with the Uttarakhand government following repeated protests by the students. Consequently, it was decided that the campus would be shifted to Malviya National Institute of Technology, a senior HRD ministry official aware of the matter said.

According to the HRD ministry order, 625 students belonging to the first, second and the third years would soon be shifted to the MNIT Jaipur campus. No date has been specified as of now.

A former UGC member and educationist, Inder Mohan Kapahy, said, Over the last decade, many IITs, NITs, IIMs etc were established without creating the required infrastructure. Due preparation is required to start such institutions of higher education.The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday said Christian Michel, accused of bribery in VVIP chopper AgustaWestland deal, is being extradited to India.

The CBI in a formal statement said:

Christian Michel entered into criminal conspiracy with co-accused persons and in pursuance thereof, the public servants had abused their official positions by reduction of service ceiling of the VVIPs helicopter from 6000 metres to 4500 metres and a contract for an amount of Euro 556.262 million was awarded to AgustaWestland International Ltd (AWIL), UK by the government of India through Ministry of Defence on 08.02.2010 for the procurement of 12 VVIP/non VVIP helicopters.

Wanted fugitive criminal Christian Michel James who has been avoiding criminal proceedings in India in AgustaWestland Case is being extradited by UAE Authorities to India. Under the guidance of Shri Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor (NSA), the entire operation is being coordinated by Incharge Director/CBI Shri M. Nageswara Rao. A team lead by Shri A. Sai Manohar, Joint Director/CBI has been to Dubai for the purpose, said CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal .Come what may, dont let Congress enter Rajasthan: PM Mod

The states which saw the true face of the Congress, wont ever allow them to enter their state again. The country doesnt accept Congress casteism, appeasement and vote bank politics. Come what may, dont let Congress enter Rajasthan. This is your state, dont let anyone destroy it, said PM Modi.

Defaulters will not be spared: PM Modi

The Congress acquired thousands of acres of land from farmers and then gave it away to one of their relatives. They looted the banks. When I came to power, they started to flee. Whoever has looted my country, I will bring them back , they wont be spared, said PM Modi.

Congress ruined the banks: PM Modi

Congress ruined the banks. They got loans for their cronies cleared by making just a telephone call, alleged PM Modi.

I challenge Congress to debate with me on real issues: PM Modi

The Congress party is just concerned about Modis caste, Modis fathers name and Modis mother. What has happened to the Congress? I challenge them to debate with me on real issues, said PM Modi.

People will vote for us because they want development: PM Modi

Congress blunders arent the only reason why the people will vote for us. They will vote for us because they want development , said PM Modi

Dont vote for promises, vote for our work: PM Modi

Dont work for any poll promises, but evaluate us on the work we did in Rajasthan. When you will evaluate us on that parameter, you will see that this government (BJP govt) has achieved its aim of development for all, said PM Modi.

Its BJPs fours years vs Congress 65 years: PM Modi

What Vasundhara Raje government did in 4 years, Congress did in 5-6 decades. Now, its our (BJP) four years vs Congress 65 years. The Raje government built 11 medical college in Jaipur in 4 years, whereas Congress took decades to build 11 medical colleges, said PM Modi while addressing a rally in Rajasthans Jaipur.

Your vote will decide what kind of future you foresee for your children: PM Modi

Your vote will decide what kind of future you want to give your children. And, what will be the basis of this decision? Whenever we choose a government, we go for one, which alleviates our problems and troubles. It is the govts responsibility to develop facilities that make the common mans life easier, said PM Mod

PM Modi addresses public rally in Jaipur

PM Modi is addressing a public rally in Jaipur.

Rajasthan goes to poll on December 7.

Rahul Gandhi responds to PM Modi over Bharat Mata ki Jai jibe

Today, PM Modi spoke about how I am targeting him for his Bharat Mata ki Jai chant at every poll rally. But, I am talking about Rafale also at every poll rally, why did he never mention that?questioned Rahul Gandhi

Why did youths commit suicide if Centre provided them with jobs: Rahul Gandhi

Why did youths commit suicide if the Centre provided them with jobs. Why are the farmers committing suicide if the Centre gave them fair price for their produce?, questioned Rahul Gandhi

If elected to power, Congress will waive off farm loans within 10 days: Rahul Gandhi

If elected to power, Congress govt will waive off farm loans within 10 days, said Rahul Gandhi.

What does Bharat Mata mean to you? (PM Modi): Rahul Gandhi

Whenever the PM addressed the people, he made them chant Bharat Mata ki jai, but did anyone know what it meant? Farmers, youth, women and labourers are our Bharat Mata. In every speech Mr. Modi says Bharat Mata Ki Jai, but in reality, he works for Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, Anil Ambani, Rahul said. He said that the PM should refrain from beginning his rallies with Bharat Mata ki jai.

PM didnt keep his poll promises: Rahul Gandhi

PM Modi didnt keep any of his poll promises, said Rahul Gandhi. Nowadays, whenever he speaks, he doesnt speak about unemployment or corruption or farmers, said Rahul Gandhi.

Rahul Gandhi addresses rally in Rajasthans Jhunjhunu

Congress president Rahul Gandhi is addressing a public rally in Rajasthans Jhunjhunu.

Rajasthan goes to polls on December 7.

Congress is at root of every problem: PM Modi

The people of this country now know the true face of the Congress party. Dont let the Congress enter Rajasthan. The Congress is at the root of every issue in this country, said PM Modi.

Congress looted, ruined banks: PM Modi

The naamdar party got the banks lend loan to a shell company in the name of a steal company, which eventually benefitted one of the relatives of this party. The Congress looted the banks and destroyed them. The Congress ruined the banks. They got loans for their cronies cleared by making just a telephone call, claimed PM Modi

Congress leaders are in jail, serving time: PM Modi

I asked, why Congress never issues the criminal charges filed against their leaders? Many Congress leaders have been arrested on the charges of corruption, money laundering, and rape. They are still behind the bar, serving their time.

Congress leader had called Army chief a sadak-chhap goonda: PM Modi

Earlier, some Congress leader had called Army chief a sadak-chhaap goonda. They have no respect for our soldiers. I ask you, would you ever place your trust in such a party?

Congress had no file one rank, one pension, took me two years to get it on paper: PM Modi

Congress party is indifferent to the struggle of our officers. In 2014, everything changed. You led the BJP to victory and allowed me to serve you. When I opened the files, there was no record of one rank one pension. It took me two years to get it on paper and functioning.

Naamdar asked for videos as a proof of surgical strike: PM Modi

This land is a land of warriors, of fighters. And this naamdar party, they disrespect our warriors, our army. When the surgical strike happened, they were unhappy. Their faces had lost all the colours. Though the naamdar sat in Congress office, questioned the surgical strike, asked her for videos, proof but you had faith in us.

They spent a lot of money trying to create an air about BJP losing in Rajasthan: PM Modi

Those sitting in Delhi, did nothing when it came to Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, but when it came to Rajasthan, they tried to create an air about BJP losing. They spent a lot of money on it, too. But the people of Rajasthan know better.

Naamdar of Congress has issued fatwa to not say Bharat mata ki jai: PM Modi

PM Modi starts his speech by making the crowd chant Bharat mata ki jai after him for several minutes before he says, Being a party chief, your fatwa to Bharat mata ki jai is a shame on the great history of Congress. This naamdar of Congress, why is he opposing, restricting our youth from chanting Bharat mata ki jai? Its a matter of pride, emotions to say this out loud. So say it out loud! The strength reflects in our countrys progress, in the surgical strikes and this naamdar is against this?

PM Modi starts his speech in Sikar

By chanting Bharat mata ki jai, Bharat mata ki jai, Narendra Modi started his speech in Sikar.

Rahul Gandhi ends his speech

Congress chief ends his speech Rajasthans Jhunjhunu.

Mothers stood in queues, while the corrupt sat inside in AC rooms: Rahul Gandhi on demonetisation

The mothers standing here, have you forgotten how Modi made you stand in rows during demonetisation?

You stood in the bank, outside ATMs but did you see Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya, the corrupts standing outside? No, they were sitting inside, in an AC room, turning their black money into white.

Rahul Gandhi takes a dig at Achhe din ayenge slogan

Modis famous slogan used to be achhe din ayenge, they then came in power and now the slogan that people use for him is chowkidaar chor hai.

By asking Hollande to give the Rafale deal to Ambani, PM Modi told the world that chowkidaar chor hai: Rahul Gandhi

Have you heard of Hollande? Ex France president Hollande revealed how PM Modi had asked him to give the Rafale deal to Reliance. He asked Hollande to give the 60,000 crore deal to Anil Ambani, said the fighting jets will be built in France. With this, Modi proved to the world that chowkidaar chor hai.

Modi took 30,000 crore from your pocket and gave it to Anil Ambani: Rahul Gandhi

Anil Ambani has never made a plane in his entire life. I am sure, if you ask him to make a paper plane, he will fail at that. 10 days before, Ambani launches a company and Modi gives him the Rafale deal. Narendra Modi has taken 30,000 crore from your pocket and handed it to Ambani.

If Modi government fulfilled their promise, why did 4 men commit suicide: Rahul Gandhi

If Modi government, Vasundhara government did fulfil the promise of providing employment, then why did the 4 men commit suicide in Alwar? Answer this. Address this issue in your speeches.

Rahul Gandhi addresses public gathering in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi begins his public gathering in Rajasthans Jhunjhunu.

Rahul Gandhi ends his speech in Alwar

Rahul Gandhi concluded his speech in Alwar, Rajasthan.

Stills from Congress chief Rahul Gandhis Alwar campaign:

The people of Rajasthan have showered Congress President @RahulGandhi with love, respect & admiration throughout his campaign tour. #_ pic.twitter.com/4r7sy7IZaa  Congress (@INCIndia) December 4, 2018

Where are the jobs: Rahul Gandhi

PM Modi promised jobs to 2 crore youths every day. If employment was given, why did 4 men commit suicide in Alwar? There is no future in Vasundhara, Modi government. The youth is committing suicide because they see no future.

Modi sarkar stole the benefits: Rahul Gandhi

When the Congress was in power, the gas cylinder cost Rs 360? What is the current price in the BJPs rule? When Modi ji brags about cooking gas, fuel prices, he never mentions the prices the Congress government had during the rule. Why will he? After all, he stole those benefits from you.

Rich people made Modi the prime minister: Rahul Gandhi

Who made Modi jis sarkar? The big billionaires. Modi was made the prime minister with the help of big billionaires. The rich people made him the PM, people with money.

Rename welfare yojanas to Nirav Modi yojana, Ambani yojanas

Modi never speaks on Rafale, on corruption, on black money. Because the minute he utters a word, the crowd yells chowkidaar chor hai. Talking about welfare, what has he actually done? All the money went to the corrupts. Your money went to the corrupts. The people who looted the country and fled. So, rename welfare yojanas to Nirav Modi yojana, Ambani yojanas.

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi addresses crowd in Alwar, Rajasthan

The Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, without sparing a minute, started his speech by targeting PM Modi.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi begins his speech in Alwar

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi begings his campaign speech in Rajasthans Alwar.

PM Modi ends his campaign speech in Hanumangarh

Prime Minister Narendra Modi ends his campaign speech in Rajasthans Hanumangarh.

Did I rob the farmers, asks PM Modi

Were the houses made of gold? Did the farmers ever go out on vacations? So did the Modi come and rob them? Did I take their houses away from them? Did I take their money? Congress is full of lies. It just how to lie and act on those lies. How can kishan bhai believe Congress? How can farmers show faith in them?

Naamdar doesnt know cost of chilli: PM Modi

The Congress cleverly cheated farmers and this Naamdar, if someone tells him that the farmer gets different cost price for green chilli and red, he will go ahead and conduct a rally, speak on it for hours. How? When Naamdar has no idea of aloo or mirchi or farming.

Who gave Pakistan a fitting reply: PM Modi

Surgical strike gave a fitting reply to Pakistan. It showed Indian Armys strength. I ask, who gave Pakistan a fitting reply?:?PM Modi asked as the crowd cheered Modi, Modi. Thats where you are wrong. Modi didnt do it. Your power of vote did, he adds as the crowd cheers and applauds.

You voted for BJP, without you, Kartarpur corridor would not have opened: PM Modi

But the power to bring this change does not come from me, it came from you. If you wouldnt have voted for us, Kartarpur corridorwould have not been open to us.

It was BJP that got access to Kartarpur: PM Modi

This reflects how Congress did not think through in their quest for power. They gave away pure place of Guru Nanak. For 70 years, the Congress spoke a lot about various things but did nothing about this. It was when during our government that we got access to Kartarpur.

Politics can lure us: PM Modi

Today, be it in Hanumangarh or any other place, I feel very happy. I am proud of this Guruparampara. We can understand how politics can lure us, but when we lose our mental stability in the craze for power, we can see what all has taken place in the past because of that...they were so lost in the quest for power that they didnt see what all happened. The Muslims wanted a different nation,...division took place but the kind of blunders made during parittion, we are still suffering because of that. The gurudwara also went to Pak because of that.

Proud of 6 daughters of Make in India project: PM Modi

6 women left the country in a small Make in India ship, travelled the world and came back. Who wouldnt be proud of these 6 daughters?

India, country that talks of brave acts but then forgets: PM Modi

In our country, such things are talked about for a while and then forgotten. The brave acts that take place in our society should be remembered every day.

Rajasthan, land where water is out of bounds: PM Modi

Today is Bharatiya nawsena diwas. Here in Rajasthan, where water is out of bounds, people who have the will to change have shown what kind of miracles can happen. I salute this land.

PM Modi kicks off election rally in Rajasthan

PM Modi kicked off election rally for BJP in poll bound Rajasthan. Addressing a huge gathering in Hanumangarh, PM Modi greeted everyone on Navy day. He said, On the occasion of Navy Day, I send my greetings to our valorous Navy personnel from this land of bravery.Police arrested four men on Tuesday and booked 28 people for murder and rioting in connection with the violence that roiled Uttar Pradeshs Bulandshahr a day before and left a police inspector and a local resident dead.

Additional director general of police (law and order) Anand Kumar identified those arrested as Chaman, Ram, Satish (only first names were given) and Ashish Chauhan, and said the prime suspect in the Monday mornings violence, triggered by allegations of cow slaughter, is a man named Yogesh Raj.

The ADG said three others were taken into custody for interrogation and that raids were underway across the state to arrest Raj and others involved in the violence.

Those arrested were found to be leading the crowd after being identified in a video. About 40-50 others, who are unidentified, were involved in the incident and police is confident of identifying them with the video evidence, he added.

Police refused to confirm Rajs political affiliations, but the regional coordinator of the Bajrang Dal, the youth wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), Balraj Singh Dungar, said that Raj was the convenor of the Bulandshahr unit of the Dal. We are with our leaders and workers, said Dungar.

The violence began around 11am on Monday after protests against alleged cow slaughter spun out of control.

Mobs of so-called cow vigilantes went on a three-hour rampage, clashing with security forces and setting vehicles and a police post on fire in Bulandshahr, 130 km from Delhi. Five officials were injured in the scuffle.

In the melee, inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, who was part of the initial investigation into the 2015 murder of Mohammad Akhlaq in Dadri over allegations of cow slaughter, and a 21-year-old man, identified only as Sumit, died. Singh was first injured in the stone pelting by the mob and shot later, said the ADG. Sumit was part of the mob. The ADG also confirmed that the police had fired in the air to disperse the mob.

The list of 28 accused include the names of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Syana unit youth wing president Shikhar Agarwal and the VHPs ex-Syana town president Upendra Raghav. Syana is a hamlet near Bulandshahr.

BJPs western Uttar Pradesh president Ashwini Tyagi expressed his unhappiness over the inclusions of the names of Bajrang Dal, VHP and BJP leaders and demanded a fair probe into the incident, blaming the police for the violence. As per my reports, they [political leaders] were not involved in violence and police should have included their names after investigation, he said.

The VHP condemned the violence but said the police needed to carry out a thorough probe and demanded action against the alleged cow slaughter. Bajrang Dal members were at the police station complaining against cow slaughter when violence broke out. Why did the police not take action against those who had illegally gathered and were slaughtering a cow? said Vinod Bansal, spokesperson of the VHP.

The ADG said two first information reports (FIRs) had been lodged so far, one under the Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act related to the alleged recovery of cow carcasses and the second for the attack on the police force. No arrests have been made in connection with the alleged recovery of cow carcasses. Cow slaughter is banned in Uttar Pradesh.

A special investigation team (SIT) is probing the incident, including the discovery of the carcasses and the identity of those who may have been involved in killing the animals. The SIT will also probe the circumstances under which inspector Singh was cornered and shot, the ADG added.

In Bulandshahr, emotions ran high even as the police imposed section 144, prohibiting the assembly of more than four persons, and came down hard on isolated skirmishes. Singhs relatives demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe.

My husband was killed in a planned manner as part of a conspiracy. If the guilty go unpunished, I will commit suicide by shooting myself at the Bulandshahr police lines, said Rajni Rathore, Singhs widow. Amarjeet, Sumits father, demanded a payment of Rs 50 lakh, and a sub-inspectors job for his other son Vineet.

In Mahaw village, residents blamed the Bajrang Dal and other organisations for the violence, saying the situation was under control until the right-wing workers arrived at the scene.

After the cow carcasses were found, villagers were satisfied with a written complaint and agreed to end the matter. But suddenly, a mob led by the Bajrang Dal arrived on the scene... villagers and police tried to convince them to not escalate tension but they paid no heed, said Rajkumar, a farmer who is a former village chief.Two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmakers attempted on Tuesday to draw a link between the Bulandshahr violence and an Islamic congregation held nearby, drawing flak from Opposition parties that blamed the ruling party of fanning communal passions before the 2019 general elections.

Union minister Uma Bharti called the violence, which left two people dead, both worrying and serious.

The administration should have been alert to the fact that a huge crowd had gathered there for Ijtema and they should have found out from where the carcasses of cows, which were found dumped outside the village, came from, she said in Madhya Pradesh, referring to the Tablighi Ijtema, a three-day Islamic congregation that concluded on Monday.

Reports of alleged cow slaughter from Mahaw village, near Bulandshahr, on Sunday night had triggered the violent clashes a day later.

The state government should look into all the aspects of this case, she tweeted later.

Bulandshahr member of parliament (MP) Bhola Singh also said it was a matter of concern why a large number of alleged cow slaughter incidents were reported at a time when the Tablighi Ijtema was on. He also alleged that the organisers of the congregation kept officials in the dark about the number of people in attendance.

They informed officials that two lakh people will join the ijtema but people say over 20 lakh people attended it, the MP said.

He added that overcrowding kept officials and security people on their toes, giving troublemakers the opportunity to slaughter cows at Mahaw village.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appeared to distance itself from the remarks.

In Bulandshahr our government has taken quick steps. We cant talk on individual comments. The bigger picture is that the guilty, irrespective of who they are, would be dealt with as per law, said Uttar Pradesh BJP general secretary Vijay Pathak.

The ijtema began on Sunday and drew visitors from across the country. Police have already clarified that the venue for the congregation was 40km from the epicentre of the violence and that routes were diverted to allow the crowd to move peacefully.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati blamed the BJP for the violence, saying it was the result of the governments wrong policies. Violence in a district so close to Delhi was proof of BJPs jungle raj (lawlessness) in UP. The fact that now law keepers are also falling prey to this lawlessness is most worrying, she said.

Congress leader Kapil Sibal also blamed chief minister Yogi Adityanath for campaigning in poll-bound states instead of looking after the situation in his state. Instead of taking care of his state, Yogi is going to Telangana and spewing venom, he told news agency ANI.The men of the Jat-dominated Chingrawathi and Mahaw villages fled after the killing of inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, station house officer of Syana police station, in a clash between cops and villagers after alleged cow slaughter in Mahaw on Sunday night, a local activist said.

Bhartiya Kisan Unions district incharge Tejvir Singh, who is also a resident of Chingrawthi village, claimed that all men and elderly persons fled the village due to fear of raids at night. We are in contact with women through mobile phones and keeping an eye on police activities, said Singh.

Six PAC trucks, along with RAF and civil police, are patrolling the area. Villagers say they fear the police may do anything to avenge the death of the SHO.

Sumit, 21, a resident of Chingrawthi village also died in the violence. His body was sent to Meerut for post mortem. Singh said the villagers were apprehensive that police wont allow them to bring body to the village for last rites.

Read | Cop killed in Bulandshahr mob violence was shot in the head, UP sets up special team

He also said, Anything could happen if the police dare to misbehave with women in the absence of men in the village.

Chingrawathi has a population of over 3000 and Mahaw 2500. People here largely depend on agriculture. They are considered peaceful, but alleged cow slaughter at Mahaw angered them, he said. Activists of right-wing organisations also arrived in the village on Monday morning after receiving information about cow slaughter.

They blocked the Bulandshahar-Garhmukteshwar road with the carcasses.

Also read | Kolkata lawyers wife arrested for his murder, extramarital affair suspected

The SHOs driver claimed the mob had firearms and when they opened fire, a bullet pierced the left eyebrow of the police officer.

Ram Ashrey, the driver, and other police men tried to take him to hospital, but the mob surrounded them and compelled them to flee, leaving the injured SHO behind in the police vehicle, he said.

Bajrang Dals prant sanyojak Balraj Singh Dunger told HT he had directed his local leaders to submit a report of the incident and said it seemed the SHO died of shock after sustaining bullet injuries.

the villagers were apprehensive that police wont allow them to bring body to the village for last rites

Read | Cow vigilantism: Cop, villager killed in Bulandshahr clashes; UP sets up probe teamThe Canadian Prime Ministers Office (PMO) may have been responsible for inviting Jaspal Atwal, a man convicted of attempting to assassinate a Punjab minister, to official receptions during Justin Trudeaus visit to India in February. The invitation resulted in the rapid fraying of relations between the two countries.

The revelation is among the highlights of a 50-page special report prepared by the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) and tabled in Canadas Parliament on Monday. The report states that the Canadian high commission in New Delhi prepared the invitation lists for official receptions in Mumbai and New Delhi and provided them to the PMO.

On February 10, before Trudeaus arrival in India, the PMO added an additional 423 names to the list of invitees and instructed the High Commission to extend invitations to those individuals for both events, the report said. It added that included on the PMO list was Jaspal Atwal, who was convicted on terror charges related to the Khalistan movement when he attempted to assassinate a visiting minister from Punjab state in 1986.

Atwals presence at the Mumbai reception on February 20, where he was photographed with Trudeaus wife, triggered a controversy that led to the high commission rescinding his invitation to a second event in New Delhi. The damage was aggravated when then National Security and Intelligence Advisor Daniel Jean briefed Canadian reporters and alleged that rogue elements in the Indian establishment may have tried to sabotage Trudeaus visit.

Examining the charge that foreign interference was part of the parliamentary committees mandate, but its findings in this regard were all redacted in the report that was released. The panel delivered its report to Trudeau on October 12 and these redactions were undertaken on his instructions. The Prime Minister directed the Committee to remove information deemed injurious to national security and international relations from the document, a statement by the committees secretariat said.

The result may be that the report will do little to repair relations between India and Canada, which have been bedevilled by these allegations.

Indo-Canadian MP Randeep Sarai had in February owned responsibility for inviting Atwal, but later recanted from that position. The report states: Some of the issues raised by Mr Atwals appearance at the events in India should have been more properly addressed by the Prime Ministers Office, including failures to screen invitees.

There was no reaction from Indian officials to the report, given its sensitive nature and lack of details due to it being heavily redacted. In New Delhi, government officials declined to comment.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) had information that suggested that Mr Atwal was going with the Prime Minister on the official trip to India but did not validate it, and the agency recognises it had erred in not providing information about Atwals history of violent acts to the Prime Ministers Protective Detail, the report said.

While Jean briefed the media out of a concern that foreign actors were undermining the reputation of respected public institutions, he did not notify any senior official from the RCMP, CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) or Global Affairs Canada that he intended to brief journalists, and each of them denied that they had concerns about reputational damage at that time or thereafter, the report said. The committee that prepared the report consists of members from the two chambers of Parliament, the House of Commons and the Senate.YEREVAN, DECEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. The UN Security Council will hold closed-door consultations at the request of France and the UK over the recent missile tests by Iran, the representative of France told TASS.

On December 1 US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tehran has violated the UN Security Council Resolution 2231 by testing ballistic missiles. In response an official representative of the Iranian armed forces announced that Iran will continue the missile tests aimed at strengthening its defense.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanBritish businessman Christian James Michel, 57, the alleged middleman in the multimillion-dollar AgustaWestland helicopter deal, was on Tuesday extradited to New Delhi from Dubai, in a move that many see as a significant win for the Indian government.

After being brought back to India, Michel was taken to CBI headquarters following a medical checkup. He reached CBI headquarters at 1.38 am. Later in the day, he will be produced before a designated CBI court where the investigative body will seek his remand to interrogate him in custody.

The extradition coincides with a visit to the UAE by Indias external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj. Both the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) have filed cases against him. Michel landed in a chartered flights along with Indian officials at 11:05pm at the IGI Airport.

The move is even more significant because Michel is a British national being extradited to India from Dubai.

The extradition was anticipated as Dubais highest court on November 19 approved Indias request to extradite Michel, subject to the move being approved by the UAEs justice minister. Officials said Swarajs presence in Dubai for a meeting of the India-UAE Joint Commission helped push the process.

National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief Anil Dhasmana and Indias ambassador to the UAE, Navdeep Singh Suri, also played key roles, the officials said.

Rosemary Patrizi, the lawyer for the businessman declined to comment when she was asked if her client received a fair hearing. It is difficult to judgewe tried to convince the court but we couldnt. Now we have to wait, she said, adding that Michels legal team will look at options under Indian law.

Last month, the Dubai Cassation Court effectively ended the legal challenge to Michels extradition by upholding an appellate courts decision to extradite himthough he pleaded not guilty.

Michel is wanted for commercial fraud, bribery and money laundering in connection with the deal to purchase 12 helicopters for the Indian Air Force from the company then known as AgustaWestland. Michel has refuted the allegations.

Alleged irregularities in the AgustaWestland deal were repeatedly raised by the Bharatiya Janata Party during its successful 2014 general elections campaign. Michels extradition comes at a time when the Opposition has been targeting the government over a deal for the purchase of Rafale combat aircraft.

In February 2017, Indian authorities made a request for Michels extradition to the Dubai Public Prosecutor. He was arrested by Dubai Police and his passport seized before he was granted bail. On September 2, Dubais Court of Appeals ruled Michel could be extradited and he lost his bail conditions.

In 2010, India signed an agreement to buy 12 AgustaWestland AW101 helicopters to ferry the Prime Minister, the President and other VVIPs. In 2013, Italian officials arrested Giuseppe Orsi, the CEO of AgustaWestlands parent company, and said there were irregularities in the deal. Soon after, then defence minister AK Antony ordered a probe. In 2014, India scrapped the deal.

There were allegations the kickbacks for the deal were as much as ?423 crore and Michel was accused of facilitating the bribes. According to the charges filed against him by ED in 2016, he received ?225 crore from the firm.

Christian Michel James will be examined with respect to his involvement in the case and confronted with documents recovered during raids by Swiss Authorities and received by CBI through LRs indicating the bribes paid by Mr Christian Michel James to the Indian authorities for securing the contract for supply of VVIP helicopters from M/s AgustaWestland, CBI said in a statement.Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Monday demanded a CBI probe in the custodial death of a 22-year-old Dalit e-rickshaw driver, who according to police had hanged himself at a police station in Jhajjar five days ago.

The deceased, Rajesh Kumar, was allegedly called to the police station as a witness in a case of a missing person. However, few hours later his family was told that he had hanged himself using a wire.

Kejriwal, who called on Kumars family in Jhajjar, described the death of the Dalit youth as murder and demanded death sentence for guilty cops.

There was no FIR against Kumar. He was killed at the police station. Now, the police are cooking up a suicide story. Our demand is to hand over this case to CBI and those policemen who were involved in killing Kumar be given capital punishment to make it a deterrent for future, he said.

Read | CBI begins hunt for new chief as probe continues

The AAP convener has been making frequent trips to Haryana where assembly elections are due in 2019.

After failing to get the expected numbers in Punjab, the AAP has now raised their stakes in Haryana.

Rumours of Kejriwal forming an alliance with expelled INLD leader Dushyan Chautalas yet to be announced party have also been doing the rounds ever since the AAP leader described Dushyant, who is MP from Hisar, as an honest politician.

Dubbing Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar as anti-Dalit, Kejriwal said crimes against the backward classes have been on the rise in the state. He sought protection for the family of Kumar and demanded compensation and a government job for one of his family members.

Police denies their role in death

Meanwhile, the Jhajjar police have rejected the allegations of their hand in Kumars death.

Superintendent of police (SP) Pankaj Nain said In such cases, a magisterial probe is required but we have gone a step ahead by requesting for a judicial probe and the report of the same was awaited in two days.

He added, The postmortem of the deceased did not show any external injuries on the body. Further action will be taken in accordance with the judicial probe report.

Also read | 11 people get life sentence for burning Dalit man alive in GujaratAgro-forestry or farm forestry will be Indias key strategy to reduce its carbon footprint so as to meet its goals under the Paris climate agreement according to the submission the country plans to make at the COP 24 climate conference thats being held in Poland.

The forest conservation division of the union environment ministry has readied a document which will be presented during COP 24 underway at Katowice in Poland, as part of Indias Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) strategy.

India plans to partner with the private sector in scaling up its agro-forestry efforts. This is, however, a controversial subject because environmental activists are against India allowing any private or corporate forestry projects on forest land.

India, through various forestry projects including agroforestry, aims to sequester about 2.5 to 3 billion tones of carbon dioxide (CO2) by 2030.

This is our aim in our REDD+ strategy. One of the key strategies will be to go big on agro-forestry. There are many other strategies too like treatment and protection of forest catchments, said a senior forest division official who asked not to be named. The Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) has worked on the proposal of carbon sequestration from forests in India.

The agro-forestry aspect of the policy has three options.

It can be taken up in non-forest government land with intervention from the private sector; on degraded or not notified forest land under the government with equal partnership from the private sector; or on common land with the consent of local communities.

Profits from the projects will be shared with the community. Such projects will be taken up by private corporations only if local people agree. Its important because this strategy can help increase farmers incomes, the official added.

According to the United Nations, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) is an effort to value the carbon stored in forests as a way to create incentives for developing countries to protect their environment. India announced its target of creating a carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tones in its intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs) during the negotiations in Paris in 2015. The Paris Agreement was adopted and opened for ratification at the 21st Conference of the Parties (CoP) to the UNFCCC in December 2015. Other INDC focus areas include reducing emissions intensity of gross domestic product (GDP) by 33- 35% from 2005 levels and to achieve about 40% cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy resources, both by 2030.

Murli Dhar, director, sustainable agriculture, WWF India said: Its a good strategy which will help India adapt to climate change. But, there are certain concerns with its implementation. First is that the lock-in period of these plantations is a minimum of four years.

Secondly, India should do a trade-off analysis of how farm forestry will impact food security going forward. There should also be a buy back mechanism of timber from farmers. We are a timber deficit country and import in large quantities from Africa and East Asia, so the strategy makes sense.

The proposal has ticked off some environmental activists who think private engagement will undermine the rights of forest dwellers. The national REDD+ strategy is developed primarily from a failed model of colonial era forest management with adoption of legal and policy instruments such as compensatory afforestation fund (CAF) Act, Green India Mission, Joint Forest Management which undermine democratic governance of forests and legal rights of adivasis and forest dwellers. The REDD strategies promote massive mono-cultural plantations. The government should make a serious attempt to overhaul the country strategy to ensure its compliance to the forest rights act and governance of forests by gram sabhas, said Tushar Dash of Community Forest Rights-Learning and Advocacy (CFR-LA), a research group.

We need to explore community forestry for public lands. For private land, there is a need to explore both forest department and state agriculture department promoted agro- forestry, in addition to involving the private sector, said NH Ravindranath, climate and forestry scientist at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore.India and the UAE Tuesday signed two agreements, including one on currency swap, as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj held exhaustive discussions with her counterpart Abdullah bin Zayed to step up bilateral cooperation in areas like security, defence, counter-terrorism, trade and energy.

Swaraj, who arrived in Abu Dhabi on Monday on a two-day visit, was received by Abdullah ahead of the UAE-India Joint Commission Meeting in Abu Dhabi.

Advancing the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership...EAM SushmaSwaraj & Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan co-chaired 12th India-UAE JCM. Held exhaustive discussions on cooperation in energy, security, trade, investments, space, defence & consular, among others, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

This is the 12th session of the India-UAE Joint Commission Meeting for Economic and Technical Cooperation.

Institutional mechanisms guiding the multifaceted cooperation...Two documents signed during the visit of EAM SushmaSwaraj to UAE : Agreement on Currency Swap and MoU for Development Cooperation in Africa, Kumar tweeted.

Currency Swap is such a pact between two countries that allows trading in their own currency and payments to import and export trade at pre-determined exchange rate without bringing in a third benchmark currency like the US dollars.

The second agreement would enable both sides to undertake development projects in Africa.

Reinforcing the strong bonds of friendship...The ministers looked forward to continuing the trend to strengthen & seek partnership in new areas, Kumar tweeted.

Later, an MEA official said the two leaders discussed several areas of mutual interests including defence, security, counter-terrorism, trade, economic, energy, science and technology, and civil aviation among others.

They identified several new areas of cooperation, the official said.

Following the meeting, the two leaders signed and adopted the agreed minutes of the JCM, Kumar said.

Swaraj also called on Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Both the leaders expressed satisfaction at the pace of the bilateral relations in a range of areas, attesting to the two countries comprehensive strategic partnership, Kumar said.

With nearly USD 50 billion bilateral trade, the two countries are one of the largest trade partners for each other and have made robust investments bilaterally. The UAE is the sixth-largest source of Indian oil imports and hosts a 3.3 million-strong Indian community.

Swaraj and Abdullah also jointly inaugurated a digital interactive museum showcasing the life, works and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi and the founder of modern UAE Shaikh Zayed.

The Gandhi-Zayed Digital Museum, which will promote peace, tolerance and sustainability, is part of the celebrations by the two countries to mark 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and centenary celebrations of the birth of Shaikh Zayed.

Later in the evening, Swaraj interacted with the Indian community and appreciated their contribution in enhancing relations with the UAE.

UAE hosts a 33 lakh-strong Indian community  the largest number of Indians outside India.Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday invoked the Kartarpur corridor to hit out at the Congress party during an election rally at Hanumangarh in Rajasthan. Modi said that in 1947 when Partition took place, the Congress party was in such hurry to take charge of the country that it did not keep in mind the sentiments of the Sikh community and thus made the huge mistake of letting Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara go to Pakistan.

Speaking in Hanumangarh, Modi said that it seemed to be his destiny to fix the errors that the Congress had committed in its 70 year rule.

My destiny has been to fix Congresss wrongs. The holy work of Kartarpur corridor has also come to me. We should ask the Congress, why they had let Kartarpur go to Pakistan at the time of Partition. Had the Congress paid a little bit of attention, Kartarpur Gurdwara, which is just 3 kilometres away, would have been in India. We should also ask the Congress why they had not got the corridor built in the last 70 years, Modi said.

Also watch |

Read | Pakistans Kartarpur corridor project faces logistical hurdles

Modi said the simple reason that Kartarpur was in Pakistan was because the Congress leaders back in 1947 had no idea about the importance of Guru Nanak Dev for the Sikh community.

He also said that work on the Kartarpur corridor was being done now because of the people who had voted the BJP government into power.

The foundation stone for the much-awaited corridor linking Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib - the final resting place of Sikhisms founder Guru Nanak Dev - to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Indias Gurdaspur district was laid last week.

Modi continued his attack on the Congress, saying that till five years ago, the nation would wake up to news of some scam or the other. Have you seen any news of this kind in the last five years? he asked the crowd gathered there.

Also Read: Pakistan minister hits back at Sushma Swaraj over row on Kartarpur googly remarkA little more than 10 years after the blast that killed six and injured over 100 in Malegaon, the trial against the seven accused in the case, including Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit and Pragya Singh Thakur, began on Monday. The accused in the case have been booked under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and have multiple charges against them including murder, criminal conspiracy and promoting enmity between two religious groups.

Last month, the special court in Mumbai issued summons to 14 witnesses from a list submitted by special public prosecutor Avinash Rasal.

Rasal examined two witnesses on Monday.

The first was the doctor who had carried out the autopsies of four of the six victims who were killed on the spot after the explosives planted on a motorcycle went off on September 29, 2008. The doctor told the court that the deceased had multiple injuries due to the explosion.

The second witness is a local physician from Malegaon. He had examined one of the injured. The survivor had sustained injuries on his face as a result of which his hearing is impaired and he has lost his ability to speak. The doctor told the court that the damage to the injured persons hearing was due to the loudness of the explosion while the other injuries were also effects of the blast.

Rasal had earlier submitted that the prosecution was calling medical experts as witnesses because some of the accused had not accepted the medical examination papers of the injured and dead as evidence.

Cross-examination of witnesses was adjourned because the lawyer for Dwivedi, also known as Swami Amrit Anand, was not able to make it to the hearing. The court has directed the lawyer to pay a fine of Rs 2,500 to the first witness. The hearing will resume on Tuesday.

The investigation and trial of the Malegaon blast have seen delays at numerous stages despite state law enforcement making the 12 arrests by November 2008. The states Anti-Terrorism Squad said the attack was planned by right-wing Hindu groups and aimed at Malegaons Muslim population.

In 2011, the probe was taken over by the Centre-run National Investigating Agency, who would later allege the ATS had coerced and manipulated witnesses. The charge sheet was ultimately filed in 2016. There was also a legal battle over the charges with the accused challenging the applicability of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in this case. In December 2017, the special court ordered that the charges under MCOCA be dropped.

On October 30, 2018, the court had framed charges under relevant sections of the UAPA against Purohit, Thakur, Dwivedi, Sameer Kulkarni, Ajay Rahirkar, Major Ramesh Upadhyay and Sudhakar Chaturvedi. Purohit, who has been in jail since his arrest in 2008, appealed against the order before the Bombay high court, which did not grant a stay against the trial.After frantic efforts, the Saudi Arabian government has released two of the 12 men from Himachal Pradesh, lodged at the deportation centre in Riyadh.

Tanuj Kumar and Devender Kumar, residents of Mandi district, were released by the Saudi Arabian government, after the ministry of external affairs raised the issue, said a government spokesperson here on Tuesday. The spokesperson said that all the stranded men were safe.

The 12 persons had left for Saudi Arabia in July for jobs there. As per information shared with the state government by RV Prasad, director (Gulf), ministry of external affairs, the Indian embassy in Riyadh has informed that all the 14 Indians, including 12 from Himachal Pradesh were lodged at the Riyadh deportation centre, the spokesman said.

Of those detained in Riyadh, nine hail from Sundernagar and four are residents of Balh segment of Mandi district. The matter caught the attention of the government after the wife of one of the stranded persons approached the police for help.

Complainant Saroju Kumari had alleged that her husband Harjinder Singh along with 12 others came in contact with an agent Mohammad Asif of Sundernagar.

She alleged that Asif had promised high paying jobs in Saudi Arabia and charged Rs 90,000 for arranging travel documents. He sent 14 Indians, 13 from Himachal and one from Punjab, on a tourist visa for three months and said that the company, where they would be employed, will arrange for a working visa.

She said even though the tourist visa of all had expired, they were not provided working visas and forced to work overtime without incentives.

After the matter came to light, chief minister Jai Ram Thakur had requested Union external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj to take up the matter with Saudi Arabia authorities for their release.

Onkar Chand from Punjab has already been deported to India. Two citizens namely Tanuj Kumar and Devender Kumar, who belong to Mandi district have been released by their sponsor, he said.

The officials from Indian embassy in Riyadh also met the officials concerned of the deportation centre seeking their early repatriation to India. The embassy has informed that it seems all the citizens came illegally to Saudi Arabia in violation of the extant norms, he said.

The embassy has assured that it will continue to extend all possible help and follow up the matter for their safe repatriation to India.Sixteen-year-old Jody had big dreams when she left her remote village and came to Mizorams capital last year to pursue higher studies. But within a few months, her dream was shattered when her uncle, at whose house she stayed, raped her in the absence of her aunt.

The perpetrator was arrested and a trial is on. But Jody (name changed) had to discontinue her studies in Aizawl and go back to her parents home.

Her case is not a solitary one. Despite having a small population of just over a million, Mizoram has the dubious distinction of having one of the highest rates of sexual offences against children in the country.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) that bases its statistics on the rate of cases under the Prevention of Child Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act , the national crime rate of sexual abuse of children in 2015 was 3.3. Mizoram however, recorded a rate of 30.7 - the highest in the country-followed by Sikkim (26.6).

Also read | Pune Man arrested for sexually harassing children, unnatural sex with wife

A year later, the scenario wasnt much different. As per NCRBs figures for 2016, Mizoram (45.0) was a close second behind Sikkim (45.3) The national rate for that year was 7.8. The NCRB figures for 2017 are yet to be released.

Among the eight districts in the state which witnessed a total of 475 cases, Aizawl with 152 cases of child abuse recorded between April 2015 and September 2018 tops the list. With 21 cases during the same period, Lunglei is at the bottom.

Most of the cases were of penetrative sexual assault (162) followed by sexual assault (147) and aggravated penetrative sexual assault (86). Of the total 475 cases, 24 were of sexual abuse of minor boys. In most cases, the perpetrators were relatives, friends or someone known to the victims.

In January we had a case where a teacher had sexually assaulted at least 5 male students of class VIII inside the school and in their homes over a period of one year. He has been arrested and a trial is on, said C. Lalremruati, protection officer, district child protection unit (DCPU), Aizawl.

To bring down the incidents of abuse, SCPS has conducted over 2400 awareness campaigns and capacity building and sensitization workshops across the state, in which over 185000 people have participated.

Read | Madras high court acquits man in sexual assault case, terms police probe faulty

The rate of sexual offences against children in Mizoram is comparatively higher. But it is not because there are more incidents here, says Amy Lalrinpuii, program manager at the State Child Protection Society (SCPS).  Unlike in other states, Mizoram sees more than 90% of cases getting reported.

We have a close knit society and the presence of influential civil society groups like the Young Mizo Association and the Mizo Hmeichhe Insuihkhawm Pawl (Mizo Women Welfare Federation) ensures that most cases get registered. The police play a pro-active role as well, she added.

Mizorams literacy rate (91.58) is next only to Kerala (93.91) and the state is one of the most peaceful in the country, as the recently-concluded assembly polls showed.

Also read | Must protect teenage girls against daily harassmentTelangana Congress working president Anumula Revanth Reddy, who was arrested by the police in an early morning swoop on his residence in Kodangal of Vikarabad district on Tuesday, was released in the evening following a direction from the Hyderabad high court.

Reddy was taken into preventive custody on the directions of the Election Commission to prevent any untoward incident in Kodangal in the wake of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president K Chandrashekar Raos (KCR) meeting later.

The EC gave the orders following a report from the returning officer of Kodangal that his presence in the town might lead to law and order breakdown, as he had earlier threatened to stall the chief ministers meeting and called for a shutdown of the town to protest the alleged police raids on his associates in the town a couple of days ago to search for unaccounted money.

Local Congress leaders moved a lunch motion in the high court objecting to the arrest. They also petitioned chief electoral officer Rajath Kumar, seeking his release.

After questioning the police on the propriety of Reddys arrest, the high court directed Telangana director general of police M Mahender Reddy and the CEO to immediately release Reddy.

Soon after, the police escorted the Congress leader, who was lodged in the police training centre at Jadcherla, back to Kodangal amidst tight security.

The police, who also took his brothers, gunmen and even the watchman of his house into custody, released them later.

Reddys wife Geetha told reporters that police had broken the front door of their house at around 3 am, entered the bedroom and forcibly taken him away without even giving him a chance to change.

This is highly undemocratic. He had only asked the people to question the government for neglecting the constituency by the TRS government in the last four years and not implementing the promises. I appeal to the people not to indulge in any violence but to maintain peace and show their anger in the form of a vote against the TRS, she said.

Local TRS leaders led by party candidate P Narender Reddy on Monday lodged a complaint with EC authorities and also the DGP, alleging that Reddy was trying to instigate people and create law and order problems during the chief ministers meeting.

Following instructions from the election commission, the police imposed prohibitory orders under section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) on Monday and Tuesday.

The election to elect lawmakers for the 119 constituencies in Telangana will be held on December 7 and votes will be counted on December 11.YEREVAN, DECEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. 967 incarcerated people (943 men and 24 women) are entitled to vote in the upcoming general election, Colonel Artyom Mkhoyan  Director of the Department of Corrections (DOC) at the Ministry of Justice  told ARMENPRESS.

By felony disenfranchisement, people sentenced for deliberate serious crimes dont have the right to vote, he said. Those who are declared unable to perform employment functions by a court of law also dont have the right to vote.

Asked about the accessibility of prisoners to the campaigning, Colonel Mkhoyan said that imprisoned individuals follow the campaigning through the news media. In addition, the Central Electoral Commission has defined the procedure of submitting the number of registered voters in prisons and organizing the voting in the prisons, he said, adding that electoral officials send the campaigning materials of parties and blocs running for parliament, as well as other materials about the election to correctional facilities 10 days ahead of election day.

Asked if candidates running for parliament have the right to campaign in the correctional facilities, the Colonel said that the law doesnt envisage the conditions and specificities of holding pre-election campaigns at correctional facilities.

The early election of parliament will take place December 9.

Edited and translated by Stepan KocharyanTelangana Congress leader Anumula Revanth Reddy was arrested in an early morning swoop on his residence in Kodangal of Vikarabad district on Tuesday ahead of caretaker chief minister K Chandrasekhar Raos election rally in the town.

The police said the arrest was necessitated with a view to preventing any untoward incident in Kodangal in the wake of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president KCRs meeting later in the evening.

Reddy, who is contesting as a Congress candidate from Kodangal assembly constituency, had earlier called for a shutdown in the town to protest the alleged police raids on his associates in the town to search for unaccounted money. He also threatened to stall the chief ministers visit to the town.

The police also took his brothers, gunmen and even the watchman of his house into custody. But the gunmen and watchman were later let off at Parigi, about 30km from Kodangal. Unconfirmed reports said Reddy had been taken to Shamshabad police station on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

Reddys wife Geetha told reporters that police had broken the front door of their house at around 3am, entered the bedroom and forcibly took him away without even giving him a chance to change.

This is highly undemocratic. He has only asked the people to question the government for neglecting the constituency by the TRS government in the last four years and not implementing the promises. I appeal to the people not to indulge in any violence but to maintain peace and show their anger in the form of a vote against the TRS, she said.

Also Read: Telangana assembly polls 2018: Only Rahul Gandhi can unite the Opposition, says Congress leader Revanth Reddy

Local TRS leaders led by party candidate P Narender Reddy on Monday lodged a complaint with Telangana chief electoral officer Rajat Kumar and director general of police Mahendar Reddy, alleging Reddy was trying to instigate people and create law and order problems during the chief ministers meeting.

Following instructions from the Election Commission, the police imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) on Monday and Tuesday.

Kumar said the poll body was treating Kodangal as a politically sensitive constituency based on the contesting candidates. Kodangal returning officer K Aruna Kumari had also sent a notice to Reddy for violation of the model code of conduct.

The election to elect lawmakers for the 119 constituencies in Telangana will be held on December 7 and votes will be counted on December 11.Today, Madhumala Chattopadhyay, who is in her early fifties, has a desk job at the ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in New Delhi. But nearly 30 years ago, Chattopadhay, an anthropologist, was one of the first people to make friendly contact with the North Sentinelese tribespeople. In 1989, she received a fellowship from the Anthropological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct research in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Chattopadhyay, who lived there till 1996, has published a book and written papers on most of the six tribes, who have lived on the islands for thousands of years.

Currently, all six tribesthe Great Andamanese, Onges, Jarawas and Sentinelese on Andaman, and Shompen and Nicobarese on Nicobarlive on reserved land, and no one can visit them without permission from the authorities. The 50-odd km sq North Sentinel island is home to an estimated 80 to 150 people, according to last census figures.

The first friendly contact of the administration with the Sentinelese happened on 4 January, 1991although there are accounts of a salvage team making friendly contact with the Sentinelese after the MV Primrose ran aground near the island in 1981.

The concept should be clear. The trips [to make friendly contact] were organised by the Andaman and Nicobar administration. They would take a research team, with one senior and one junior researcher, explains Chattopadhyay.

The team was led by SA Awaradi, the then director of Tribal Welfare Department, and it hoped to gift coconuts to the tribespeople. When we set out, we didnt know that we would make friendly contact with the Sentinelese. From British times, attempts have been made, but no one had succeeded. Other kinds of contact like gift-dropping and observation from a distance was happening, says Chattopadhyay, talking about previous efforts by the island administration and ASI.

Also read: Why the Sentinelese, the Andaman tribe that killed US man, want to be left alone

Just six months prior to this, she says, a contact team was greeted by a hail of arrows by the tribe. So on January 4, when Awaradi and team docked their ship and waited for some tribespeople to visit the shore, no one could have guessed that the Sentinelese would wade into the water to take coconuts. The team reached early and anchored some distance away. As dawn broke, smoke began to rise over parts of the canopy. Some crew members took boats to the shore to drop off sacks of coconuts. They were watching us, she said. After some time, some Sentinelese came and took the coconuts.

The rest of the team, including Chattopadhyay, was on boats by now, and began floating coconuts towards the shore. Gradually, some Sentinelese began to swim towards them. Some of them touched our boat playfully. Some collected the coconuts and waded out. This interaction went on for hours.

As Chattopadhyay recounts her first meeting with the Sentinelese, she speaks of how she may have appeared to them: a lone woman in the team, speaking the Onge tongue, with thin skin and flat hair. One also sees her gaze: the tribal person as playful, intelligent, fierce. She recalls a Sentinelese woman directing a young man to aim his arrow towards the sand, she recalls beckoning to them saying, Nariyala, jaba jaba (A lot of coconuts), using the Onge tongue. The team was apprehensive, she remembers, but relieved because no arrows were fired.

The second friendly contact took place a month later. Trilok Nath Pandit, a senior researcher with ASI, who made his first foray into the island in 1967 (he didnt meet any Sentinelese then) and was part of several subsequent gift-dropping contact missions, accompanied them. Several leading papers at the time documented these friendly encounters, lauding the administrations efforts at bridging the gap between civilization and the worlds least known inhabitants. However, the administration eventually ended such contact missions to the island. Maybe they thought if they keep going, then other people will also do that, Chattopadhyay guesses.

In the light of American missionary John Allen Chaus death after transgressing into the North Sentinel Island in November, it is useful to examine the terms used to describe these encounters. A friendly contact, as the phrase suggests, is when the administration is able to meet members of the tribe without any hostility displayed by either party. There are other kinds of contact, like gift-dropping or reconnaissance from a distance. While it is clear that Chaus contact was not friendly, it also throws light on the presumption that any contact with the tribes is welcome, to begin with.

The colonial history of Andaman and Nicobar islands is replete with captured and displaced tribespeople, violent excursions into their territories, exposure to illness, attempts to civilize them in homes, and offer employment to some as working class persons in the houses of white colonial masters. Post-Independence, the state changed its tactics. All six tribes living in the islands were declared protected tribes, and their territory was declared a Reserved Territory. Intermittent gift giving operations were started.

In 1974, the government-commissioned Man in Search of Man documentary film showed footage of the different tribesthe Jarawas danced with the film crew; the Sentinelese aimed arrows and hurt a member. At one point, the narrator refers to the tribespeople as primitive, a phrase that echoes Chaus question in his journal, Lord, is this island Satans last stronghold where none have heard or even had the chance to hear your name?

Chattopadhyay wasnt clear by what we meant when we asked her whether anyone spoke of the risks of exposure such contact missions posed to the tribespeople. The big concern, she says, was non-tribe people making videos and sell(ing) them as blue films in the West. They misrepresented the community.

Her studying the tribes was for her, a way of dispelling myths about them. It was sanctioned by law: I had to take permission from the administration if we wanted to go and meet the non-hostile tribes such as Car Nicobarese, Shompen, or Onges. But her view of her own anthropological work is non-critical. If you ask me, if there is any natural calamity or epidemic breakout, then administration [can go]. You can go for knowledges sake, but [it must be done] with discipline.

Also read: Dont be angry if I get killed: American tourist killed by Andaman tribe wrote to familyFour people were arrested after multiple raids in connection with Mondays violence in Bulandshahr but the key accused was still at large, a senior police official said on Tuesday.

The situation in the western Uttar Pradesh district was tense but under control, additional director general of police (law and order) Anand Kumar said.

The violence over an incident of alleged cow slaughter in Mahaw village of the district led to the death of two men, including that of police inspector Subodh Kumar Singh.

The prime accused Yogesh Raj, who had earlier lodged a complaint alleging cow slaughter, is allegedly the convenor of the Bajrang Dal unit in Bulandshahr. He is said to have led the group which resorted to violence on Monday after the recovery of cow carcasses on Sunday night.

Raj is among the 28 people named by police in a case of murder and rioting after the violence in Mahaw and 60 are unidentified. The list of accused also includes the names of the Bharatiya Janata Partys (BJPs) youth wing president in Syana, Shikhar Agarwal, and Vishwa Hindu Parishads (VHPs) former president in the same town Upendra Raghav. Syana is a town in Bulandshahr.

Claiming that Raj is the outfits district convener in Bulandshahr, Bajrang Dals regional coordinator Balraj Singh Dungar said, we are with our leaders and workers.

But ADG Kumar refused to comment on the organisation Raj is associated with.

Also read : UPs Bulandshahr violence: 2 detained, FIRs naming 27 lodged in killing of police officer

Kumar said those arrested were Chaman, Ram, Satish and Ashish Chauhan. He also said three others have been taken into custody for interrogation and that raids were on to arrest Raj and others involved in the incident.

The senior police official said two FIRs have been lodged so far, one under the Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act related to the recovery of cow carcasses and the other for an attack on the police force. He said six teams were formed for the arrest of the accused.

No arrests have been made in connection with the recovery of cow carcasses.

Vehicles set on fire by a mob during a protest over the alleged illegal slaughter of cattle, in Bulandshahr, Monday. (PTI photo)

The special investigation team (SIT) was probing all aspects of the incident, including how the carcasses were found in the village and those behind it, he said. The SIT will also probe the circumstances under which inspector Singh was cornered and shot at, he added.

Inspector Singh was injured in stone-pelting and shot later, said the ADG. Twenty-one-year-old Sumit, who was also killed in the incident, belonged to the group of attackers. He confirmed the police had fired in the air to disperse the mob which had turned violent.

Meanwhile, chief minister Yogi Adityanath has called a meeting with officials later in the day to take stock of the law and order situation in the state.

Read | Bulandshahr violence: Fearing police retaliation, men flee villages after inspectors killing

Fair probe

The BJPs president of western UP unit Ashwini Tyagi expressed his unhappiness over inclusions of names of Bajrang Dal, VHP and his partys leaders in the first information report (FIR) along with villagers.

As per my reports, they were not involved in violence and police should have included their names after investigation, he said.

Demanding a fair probe, he held mishandling of the situation responsible for the violence. He alleged police lathi-charge and firing angered the villagers further. He also asked how a large number of cows were slaughtered in spite of strict orders from the state government to stop the practice.

Meanwhile, Singhs relatives said they would allow the cremation only if chief minister Yogi Adityanath came to their native village in Etah or at least talked to the wife of the policeman.

They also sought a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into Singhs killing. Manisha, one of Singhs cousins, demanded a memorial and an intermediate school in his name in the village.

Earlier, police officials and people paid their last respects to the inspector at the Bulandshahr police lines on Tuesday morning. Additional director general (Meerut zone) Prashant Kumar, inspector general of Meerut range Ramkumar, Bulandshahr district magistrate Anuj Kumar Jha and senior superintendent of police KB Singh carried his body on their shoulders.

Amarjeet, the father of the man killed in Mondays violence, demanded an ex-gratia of Rs 50 lakh, and a sub-inspectors job for his other son Vineet. He told BJPs Bulandshahr MP Bhola Singh to convey his familys demand to the chief minister.

Amarjeet said if his demands were not fulfilled he will stage a sit-in protest with his family.

He accused the police of not allowing his sons post-mortem examination at the Meerut hospital on Monday night and said the keys of the mortuary were taken away. He blamed the police for deliberately delaying Sumits autopsy.

BJP MP Bhola Singh said he would discuss the familys demands after the cremation of Sumit. My priority is now to get familys FIR registered, he said.

Also read | UP cop among 2 killed by mob protesting cow slaughter near DelhiA British plastic products manufacturing company has been fined nearly 300,000 (INR 2,70,08,773.38) for breaching safety standards that led to the death of its Indian-origin employee Tarsem Singh. The Indian-origin man died from a heart attack after sustaining injuries during a 2016 mishap at the companys plant in Leicester.

Nylacast Limited, which manufactures plastic products for the construction and offshore industries, was fined 293,000 (INR 2, 63, 78, 568.67) and also ordered to pay more than 10,000 (INR 9, 00, 292.45) in costs. It pleaded guilty in the Northampton magistrates court to two breaches of health and safety regulations.

District judge Tim Daber, handing down his sentence, said it was an accident waiting to happen. Singh, an experienced machine operator, was hit by a force of up to eight tonnes by a metal-retaining end-cap.

Singh, 52, died of a heart attack the following day in hospital due to his injuries caused by the blunt force impact which cracked his chest bone and jaw, knocking out several teeth, reported Leicester Mercury, a leading local daily.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the incident found that the company failed to undertake a suitable and sufficient assessment of the long length rod machine in order to ensure that all foreseeable hazards had been identified.

Singhs family, who were in court, said no amount of fine or compensation could ever replace the loss of a dearly loved father and husband. His 21-year-old son Kuldip said: I would like to express our great thanks to the paramedics and emergency Dr Matthew Woods who attended on the day of the accident.

Without them, my father would have died there and then, but, thanks to their efforts, we were given an extra day with him before he died.

Nylacast reiterated in its statement its sincerest condolences to the family of Singh, adding: Nylacast has co-operated with the HSE throughout the investigation and has pleaded guilty at the first opportunity to help minimise the impact of the court proceedings with the family members.

HSE inspector Alex Nayar said: Those in control of work equipment have a responsibility to undertake a suitably robust assessment in order to ensure that all foreseeable hazards have been identified.

Had this hazard been identified, suitable engineering controls could have been devised and implemented to minimise the risk, therefore this death could have been prevented.One of the most prominent faces of the Ram Mandir movement, Uma Bharti, announced that she will not be contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and concentrate on the Ram temple and the cleanliness of Ganga river for the next one-and-half years instead.

The announcement by the union minister for drinking and sanitation water resources on Tuesday, comes at a time when Hindu organizations are drumming up the demand for a legislative solution to the Ram temple issue and lends credence to the speculation that it will serve as a major plank for the BJP for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Uma Bharti had already announced her decision earlier this year, but had, at the time, cited health reasons. Interacting with the media, Bharti said, From January 15, 2019, I will go on a Ganga Yatra for one-and-a-half years, after taking permission from BJP national president , Amit Shah. I will spend the time on the banks of the Ganga. I will also work for Ram temple, which is an issue of faith and belief. She said that there was no need for protests and agitation as the solution will emerge with the consensus of all parties.

Also Read: Have made up mind, wont contest 2019 polls, says Sushma Swaraj

Bharti said her not contesting the election didnt mean that she was retiring from the politics.

I will continue to work for the BJP till my last breath and participate in the campaigns, she said.

MP Congress spokesperson Shobha Oza said, People are disillusioned with the promises of the BJP government. Its leaders have realized that and are therefore making lame excuses for not contesting the election.As far as the Ram temple is concerned, BJP has been contesting elections on this issue for the past so many years and have come back with the same this time too. People are not going to believe them.Chingrawathi and Mahaw villages in Uttar Pradeshs Bulandshahr district wore a deserted look on Monday hours after a police inspector and a local resident were killed when protests over alleged cow slaughter in the area turned violent.

Bhartiya Kisan Unions district in-charge, Tejvir Singh, said the men from the two villages fled after the killing of inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and Chingrawthi resident Sumit, 21, in the violence. He said they left fearing police raids. We are in contact with women through mobile phones and keeping an eye on police activities, said Tejvir Singh, who is a Chingrawthi resident.

Villagers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they fear the police may do anything to avenge Subodh Kumar Singhs killing.

Tejvir Singh said the villagers were apprehensive that the police would not even allow them to bring Sumits body to his village for last rites. Sumits body had been sent to Meerut for post-mortem.

Tejvir Singh warned anything can happen if the police dared to misbehave with women in the absence of men.

He said the two villages, which have a population of over 5,500 of mostly farmers, are considered peaceful and blamed the alleged cow slaughter at Mahaw for the violence.

Subodh Kumar Singhs driver, Ram Ashrey, claimed the mob that attacked the police had firearms and when they fired, a bullet pierced the inspectors left brow.

The driver and other policemen tried to take him to a hospital, but the mob surrounded them and compelled them to flee, leaving the injured inspector behind in the police vehicle, he said.

Balraj Singh Dunger, a Bajrang Dal functionary, told HT that he had directed his local leaders to submit a report about the incident. He said that the inspector seemed to have died of shock after sustaining bullet injuries.

Also read: Mob torches truck in J&Ks Kathua alleging cattle smuggling

In Lucknow, the Uttar Pradesh government ordered separate probes into the violence and rushed additional police forces to Bulandshahr fearing an escalation of violence amid the presence of lakhs of Muslims for a religious gathering.

Additional director general (intelligence) S B Shiradkar has been asked to file a report into the violence to the state government within two days. Inspector general of police (Meerut) led Special Investigation Team and a magistrate will probe the violence separately.

Officials said 11 companies of Rapid Action Force and Provincial Armed Constabulary had been rushed to Bulandshahr as a precautionary measure.

Around 15 lakh Muslims had assembled in Bulandshahr for a three-day Islamic congregation  Tablighi Ijtema  on Saturday. Officials said the event concluded on Monday and around six to nine lakh participants have since left the area. But until Monday evening, around five to seven lakh participants were still in the city. Officials said the police were extra cautious in view of the large Muslim presence.

Officials said 10 vehicles were attacked and five policemen were also injured in the violence that lasted for around two hours.

At around 11.30 am, the villagers recovered cow carcasses. The locals dumped the carcasses on a tractor trolley and blocked the Bulandshahr-Garh highway under the Syana police station, additional director general (law and order), Anand Kumar, told journalists in Lucknow. He said the attackers were from Nai Bash along with Mahaw and Chingarwathi.

Anand Kumar said inspector Subodh Kumar Singh reached the spot along with other police personnel and pacified villagers. Initially, the issue was resolved and villagers were pacified on the assurance of a thorough probe, he said.

The violence erupted when the police tried to clear the highway. Initially, there was heavy brick-throwing. When police resorted to cane charge, the villagers opened fire from country-made guns. In order to control the situation, the police fired in the air to disperse the mob.Sachin Pilot has been the face of Rajasthan Congress as its state president and has taken on chief minister Vasundhara Raje and Bharatiya Janata Party on several fronts over the past five years. In a conversation with Hindustan Times, he spoke about the failure of the Raje government, the challenging times for the Congress after its debacle in the 2013 election (when it won a mere 21 of 200 assembly seats), the turnout and his expectations.

Q. There are still a few days left for polling; are you confident that outcome will be in the Congress favour?

A. We are getting huge response from people across Rajasthan. Our connect with people is visible, as they are coming out in large numbers to our election rallies from all communities and in both urban and rural areas. My sense is that we are seeing a sweeping change all across Rajasthan.

Q CM Vasundhara claims she has delivered results for Rajasthan. Do you agree?

A. No. She has failed on all counts. She came with two-thirds majority on account of tall promises. Bur, right from the beginning of her term on every single political challenge  zila parishad, local bodies, and assembly by polls --- she has lost. The unrest that is so palpable is because of non delivery of promises. She promised so much and did not deliver.

Q. In your manifesto, you have all promised a lot, such as farm loan waiver, unemployment allowance and pensions to old farmers. How will you deliver on your promises?

A. No, we have been very clear. Our manifesto is not about giving money in everyones bank accounts. We have promised to invest in people. We will give every free education to every girl of Rajasthan from her first day in school to whatever level she wants to get educated. Education is not an expense but an investment. If the government or private employees can get pensions, why not a farmer who is old and has no social security? We have promised what is deliverable. We will generate resources and will distribute them equitably. Our promises are not outlandish.

Q. The BJP believes that banking on beneficiaries of its welfare schemes will deliver votes. Do you think that this is a right political strategy?

A. First thing is when Vasundhara (Raje) starts collecting people in grounds on public expenditure, it shows there is panic in the BJP ranks. The real beneficiaries of the BJP government are those living in London such as Lalit Modi, Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallaya. If she really wants to interact with beneficiaries, she should first get them back. When someone is getting pensions or scholarships or jobs, it is their right. They (the BJP) have created a weird demarcation for the first time in name of beneficiaries and divided the people to get them to rallies. Moreover, they did not allow them to exercise their democratic right to show dissent by preventing them from wearing black. I have never seen such a thing in Indian politics. They (BJP) is not doing favour to anyone by providing them facilities which they deserve. It is taxpayers money and it is their constitutional responsibility to provide them benefits. This is a new low.

Q. The BJP claims to have the data of 20 million families benefitting from Central and state government schemes. What do you have to say on this?

A. BJP has failed to differentiate between itself as a political party and the government. For them, it is interchangeable. A political party should do politics and not interfere in governance through political platform. Using government data and interfering in the government, does not bode well for our polity. They have started very bad precedent.

Q. Why do you think people will re-impose faith in the Congress?

A. Not only have we exposed the BJP, we have come to the people of Rajasthan with a blue-print, a positive development agenda and a future road map. We are not trying to give false promises . People have understood that it is the Congress which can look after weaker sections and create jobs. We hope to live up to their expectations.

Q. If the Congress loses, who will held accountable?

A. First of all, we are not losing. We have worked very hard for the last five years and we have done everything to keep alive peoples voices on streets of Rajasthan. When I took charge, the Congress had just 21 legislators and the cadre was demoralised. I am fortunate as party president to get support of every leader in the party. I did a 100 km yatra in CMs constituency (Jhalrapatan), faced police lathis and got arrested. We worked hard to expose the BJP. Hopefully, we will not come to situation where we will lose.

Q. The BJP is making the Congress not declaring a chief minister candidate an election issue and are saying the your party is a divided house?

A. We have not declared CM candidate in any of the poll bound state. In 70 years in Rajasthan, we followed philosophy of collective leadership and have gone by the decision of legislators. The BJP is trying to hide its failures by trying to make it (no CM candidate) an election issue. We are taking everyone together and fighting as a team.

Q. Many people say that the Congresss ability to manage rebels (those who did not get tickets to contest) is poor

A. The BJP had two to four ticket aspirants for each constituency. We had 20-40 and there will obviously be some heartburn among those who lost out. We did not deny tickets to our sitting legislators. BJP denied tickets to so many and the rebellion there is huge. To divert attention, the BJP is spreading rumours about the Congress rebels. People in Rajasthan are smart. The momentum is with the Congress.

Q. Jat leader Hanuman Beniwal has floated his own party and is contesting in about 60 seats. How will this hurt Congress considering Jats have been Congress voters?

A. Politics is never static. It is revolving and is fluid. Mr Beniwal is former BJP legislator. Rajasthan is a biopolar state and small parties have a marginal role. It is a contest between the Congress and the BJP. He will damage the BJP more than us.

Q A battery of BJP leaders is in Rajasthan and attacking the Congress. What do you think about their campaign?

A. They will pack their bags and leave on evening of December 7 and will not return. I want to ask where they were for the last five years when Rajasthan faced floods, drought, farmer suicides and there were atrocities on Dalits and Tribals. They are just offering jumlas.

Q. The big issue in Rajasthan is jobs. How will you deal with the issue if the Congress comes to power?

A. I think we need a meeting of minds of academia and industry. The curriculum should be in alignment with what the corporate sector needs. We need courses that make our youngsters employable. Investors felt that in wake of mob lynchings, caste clashes and high crime rates, the atmosphere is not conducive to invest. Longevity of peace will attract investment. We will also handhold and provide freedom from inspector raj for investors, especially those from Rajasthan and doing business outside the state.British national Christian Michel James, wanted in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP choppers deal case, is being extradited to India and has departed from Dubai airport on a private plane, according to a report in Khaleej Times.

Details of flight have not been disclosed due to the sensitive nature of the case, the newspaper said.

The move comes after the Court of Cassation in Dubai upheld a lower court order that stated that Michel could be extradited to India.

Michel, who was detained at Indias behest, is wanted in India for allegedly organising bribes in exchange for a 2007 contract for VVIP helicopters for the purchase of 12 luxury helicopters for use by top leaders, including the President, Prime Minister and former prime ministers.

India had cancelled the chopper deal after the bribery allegations had surfaced in 2014.

A CBI statement said a team lead by A Sai Manohar, joint director of CBI, has been to Dubai for the extradition process, which was being done under the guidance of national security advisor (NSA), Ajit Doval and coordinated by CBI director M Nageshwara Rao.

Earlier, Emirati lawyer Abdul Moneim Bin Suwaidan of Bin Suwaidan Firm for Advocates and Legal Counsels, who is representing Michel, had submitted documents showing that courts in Switzerland and Italy had ruled on not to extradite his client, Khaleej Times reported.

Contesting the lower courts ruling, the lawyer argued that the Indian authorities did not follow proper procedures when requesting the extradition. The request should have been filed by Indias ministry of home affairs rather than its ministry of external affairs.

He contended that the procedure was flawed and in violation of the clauses of the international treaty signed between the UAE and India.

Accordingly, the lower court order should be reversed, he argued.

The CBI has long suspected that Michel was the conduit to route bribe money to political contacts in India. There were two other middlemen in the deal who had allegedly influenced the bureaucrats to swing the deal in favour of AgustaWestland.

In September last year, the CBI had filed a chargesheet against former Indian Air Force chief SP Tyagi and eight others  Tyagis cousin Sanjeev alias Julie, Infotech legal advisor Gautam Khaitan, former Air Force vice-chief JS Gujral, former AgustaWestland chief executive officer Bruno Spagnolini, former Finmeccanica chairman Giuseppe Orsi and alleged middlemen Carlo Gerosa, Guido Haschke and Christian Michel  in the case.

Three companies  Finmeccanica, its UK-based subsidiary AgustaWestland, and Mohali-based IDS Infotech  were also charged.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigated the money-laundering aspect of the case and charged 34 Indians, foreign nationals and companies this July.

EDs investigation revealed that the kickbacks were paid by AgustaWestland for bagging the VVIP chopper deal in India through two different channels. One channel was handled by middleman Christian Michel James and the other channel was handled by Carlo Gerosa and Guido Haschke, an ED official had told Hindustan Times in July on condition of anonymity.

The CBI said Michel has been described as a historical consultant of AgustaWestland with technical operational knowledge of the aircraft, the military bases and the pilots.

The agency said that Michels father, Wolfgang Michel was also a consultant of AgustaWestland for India in the 1980s and had reportedly acted as a mediator in other countries too.

Wolfgang Michel promoted three companies Entera Corporation, UCM International Trading Limited and Ferro-Imports Limited. Between 1987 and 1996, Entera Corporation reportedly earned more than 2 million from India, said the statement.

The CBI said Michels mother Valerie Fooks is running a trust in the name of Queda Educational Foundation which is reportedly providing financial assistance to beneficiary students from India to advance their education in foreign countries.Wanted AgustaWestland middleman Christian Michel has been taken to the Dubai international airport to extradite him to India, a report in the Khaleej Times said on Tuesday.

The move comes after the Court of Cassation in Dubai upheld a lower court order which had stated that Michel could be extradited to India. Michel had been detained at Indias behest and kept in detention at the polices Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

Khaleej Times reported that Michel would be extradited on Tuesday night in keeping with the Indian governments request. The extradition will be carried out in coordination with the Interpol and CID, the report said.

A British national, Michel is wanted in India for allegedly organising bribes in exchange for a 2007 contract for VVIP helicopters for the purchase of 12 luxury helicopters for use by top leaders, including the President, Prime Minister and former prime ministers. He was detained in UAE this June at Indias request and granted bail later.

India had cancelled the chopper deal after the bribery allegations had surfaced in 2014.

With the Dubai government approving his extradition, he is likely to be brought to India some time next week.

The CBI has long suspected that Michel was the conduit to route bribe money to political contacts in India. There were two other middlemen in the deal who had allegedly influenced the bureaucrats to swing the deal in favour AgustaWestland.

In September last year, the CBI had filed a chargesheet against former Indian Air Force chief SP Tyagi and eight others  Tyagis cousin Sanjeev alias Julie, Infotech legal advisor Gautam Khaitan, former Air Force vice-chief JS Gujral, former AgustaWestland chief executive officer Bruno Spagnolini, former Finmeccanica chairman Giuseppe Orsi and alleged middlemen Carlo Gerosa, Guido Haschke and Christian Michel  in the case.

Three companies  Finmeccanica, its UK-based subsidiary AgustaWestland, and Mohali-based IDS Infotech  were also charged.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigated the money-laundering aspect of the case and charged 34 Indians, foreign nationals and companies this July.

EDs investigation revealed that the kickbacks were paid by AgustaWestland for bagging the VVIP chopper deal in India through two different channels. One channel was handled by middleman Christian Michel James and the other channel was handled by Carlo Gerosa and Guido Haschke, an ED official had told Hindustan Times in July on the condition of anonymity.British national Christian James Michel, wanted in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP choppers deal case, has been extradited from United Arab Emirates to India following an order by a court in Dubai.

Michel, who was detained in UAE at Indias behest, is wanted for allegedly organising bribes in exchange for a 2007 contract for the purchase of 12 luxury VVIP helicopters for use by top leaders, including the President, Prime Minister and former prime ministers.

He is one of three middlemen being probed in the case by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The other two are Carlo Gerosa and Guido Haschke.

How Michel got the deal for AgustaWestland

The CBI in its first chargesheet in the AgustaWestland scam, filed in September last year, alleged that Michel through his companies  Global Services FZE (Dubai) and Global Trade and Commerce Services (London)  received Euro 42.27 million in the garb of service and consultancy contracts in 2010-11.

The chargesheets says when the Agusta deal was being signed, Michel visited India 25 times and stayed in Hotel Ashoka and Claridges in Delhi and Windsor in Bengaluru.

According to investigative agencies, Michel had received at least Rs 235 crore for the chopper contract. He was a frequent visitor to India, having undertaken 300 trips to this country between 1997 and 2013.

On April 10, 2008, Michel sent a report from Mumbai to Giuseppe Orsi and other officers of AgustaWestland mentioning that Augusta had succeeded in flight trials distancing itself from the competition.

But, he warned that if commercial bids of Sikorsky (the competitor) were opened, then Agusta would be in trouble since Sikorsky would submit bids in Dollar rates.

He reported that he was consciously and deliberately trying to disqualify the competition at that stage only so that the financial bids of Sikorsky are not opened, says the charge sheet.

CBI probe revealed that Sikorsky was disqualified during trials and its unopened commercial bid submitted to the ministry of defence in February 2007 was returned.

According to the charge sheet, it was found that Sikorsky had quoted price amounted to Rs 2,228 crore for supply of 12 choppers whereas Agusta quoted Rs 3,966 crore which was approximately 80% more than the rate quoted by Sikorsky.

Michel procured confidential documents and secret information from the defence ministry and the Indian Air Force and sent them to Agusta executives through one of his associates in Mumbai.

The documents sent by him included evaluation report of S-92 chopper and the contents of a technical committee report of the IAF prepared in February 2007.

He also had information about movement of files of the deal in the ministry of defence and details of cabinet committee on security deliberations.

Personal details

A CBI statement said Michel has been described as a historical consultant of AgustaWestland with technical operational knowledge of the aircraft, the military bases and the pilots.

Michels father, Wolfgang Michel was also a consultant of AgustaWestland for India in the 1980s and had reportedly acted as a mediator in other countries too.

Wolfgang Michel promoted three companies Entera Corporation, UCM International Trading Limited and Ferro-Imports Limited. Between 1987 and 1996, Entera Corporation reportedly earned more than 2 million from India, said the CBI statement.

Michels mother Valerie Fooks is running a trust in the name of Queda Educational Foundation which is reportedly providing financial assistance to beneficiary students from India to advance their education in foreign countries.

The Accused

In September last year, the CBI had filed a chargesheet against former Indian Air Force chief SP Tyagi and eight others - Tyagis cousin Sanjeev alias Julie, Infotech legal advisor Gautam Khaitan, former Air Force vice-chief JS Gujral, former AgustaWestland chief executive officer Bruno Spagnolini, former Finmeccanica chairman Giuseppe Orsi and alleged middlemen Carlo Gerosa, Guido Haschke and Christian Michel - in the case.

Three companies  Finmeccanica, its UK-based subsidiary AgustaWestland, and Mohali-based IDS Infotech  were also charged.

Three companies  Finmeccanica, its UK-based subsidiary AgustaWestland, and Mohali-based IDS Infotech  were also charged.

On January 1, 2014, India cancelled the contract with Finmeccanicas British subsidiary AgustaWestland for the VVIP choppers.

(With agency inputs)Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 4)  Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Tuesday he believes that former Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo and ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro would use the children they allegedly kidnapped for propaganda.

"I can only surmise that these kids would be used again for propaganda purposes," Lorenzana told CNN Philippines' The Source.

Last Thursday, Ocampo and Castro along with 17 others were charged for illegally holding minors and transporting 14 children from Talaingod, Davao del Norte to a unknown location..

The 18 accused posted bail on Saturday totalling to 1.44 million. They deny the charges, saying they were on a humanitarian mission and decried the charges as "political persecution."

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teddyboy Locsin, who was Ocampo's colleague in Congress, also scoffed at the charges, calling them "bullsh*t."

But Lorenzana belied their allegations of abuse, insisting that the kids "were forcibly taken from their communities."

"What abuse are you talking about? Just because they were caught transporting minors illegally? That's not abuse. We're just trying to perform our mandate, the police's mandate to protect our people," he said.

"If they say it's trumped-up, then the Court will find out if it's really a trumped-up charge," he added.

In a chance interview with CNN Philippines, Lorenzana also said the group, dubbed as Talaingod 18, might have wanted to transport the children in time for the 50th anniversary of the communist New People's Army on December 29.

"They want to make it bongga ba. Madaming batang sumusuporta. [fabulous. Many kids would be supporting.] They will invite international media," Lorenzana said.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Carlito Galvez outrightly tagged Ocampo and Castro as "active members" of the NPA and the Communist Party of the Philippines.

"Hindi 'yan trumped-up charges, these are true ano, true realities...Dapat...we have to look for the truth, ito 'yung truth talaga ngayon na nakita natin," Galvez told reporters Monday.

[Translation:Those are not trumped -up charges, these are true, true realities...We have to look for the truth, this is the truth that we are seeing now.]

But Lorenzana said Castro and Ocampo are not active members of the communist rebellion, but are supporting activities of the CPP-NPA in Talaingod, Davao del Norte.

Castro condemned Galvez' allegation, saying she would hold Galvez accountable if something happens to her.

The leftist Makabayan bloc, of which Castro's ACT Teachers party-list is part, is eyeing charges against the AFP before the Office of the Ombudsman for "red tagging" Ocampo and Castro.

CNN Philippines' David Santos and Xianne Arcangel contributed to this story.YEREVAN, DECEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. Caretaker Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has denied media reports alleging that he has failed to submit asset declarations to the Central Electoral Commission.

Yesterday I saw an article in the press alleging that I havent submitted a declaration to the Central Electoral Commission. This claim surely has nothing to do with reality.

As required by law, Ive submitted the hardcopy declaration within the defined deadline. And if the digital information received by the media outlet didnt open on their computer, this, pardon me, is not my fault.

Below I am presenting my declaration, which was submitted to the Central Electoral Commission back on November 24, in the time period required by law, Pashinyan said on Facebook, posting the copy of the papers.

Edited and translated by Stepan KocharyanToday my father lost his life tomorrow whose father will lose his life? asks Abhishek Kumar, son of Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh who was killed on Monday in mob violence following protests over alleged cow slaughter in Uttar Pradeshs Bulandshahr.

Abhishek, a class 12 student had just finished writing his exams when he received the unfortunate news of his fathers death.

Recalling how his father always taught him to be a good citizen, Abhishek, one of the two sons of Singh said, My father wanted me to be a good citizen who doesnt incite violence in society in the name of religion. Today my father lost his life in this Hindu-Muslim dispute, tomorrow whose father will lose his life? ANI quoted him as saying.

Read more: 3 arrested for Bulandshahr cop killing, FIRs filed against 87 for rioting

Talking about his last conversation with his father he said, I had spoken to him one day before the incident. He was telling me to work on my weak subjects and advised me to focus more on the subject in which I received fewer marks during the last examination.

Watch: Bulandshahr violence: My father wanted us to be secular, says son of deceased cop

Abhishek also shared turn of events which led to his fathers death and said, There were reports of some stone pelting in the concerned police station area and when my father reached the spot he was hit by a stone on his head. He became unconscious. Later when the constables were taking my father, the police jeep came under attack. The constables went away from the place and my father who was unconscious was shot above the left eye.

In an outpouring of grief over Singhs death, his elder brother and an ex army man Atul Kumar Singh, sought martyr status for his slain brother. Other family members, who were present in village Chingrawathi in Etah when the slain cops body arrived, pressed for a CBI probe and wanted the government to promise jobs for both sons of Subodh Singh.

Read more: UP cop among 2 killed by mob protesting cow slaughter near Delhi

In Mathura, where Singh was in charge of the Sadar police station, residents have decided to hold candle March on Tuesday evening to pay tribute to him.

Singh, who had been the investigating officer in the Akhlaq lynching case of Dadri in 2015, and a 21-year-old villager died of gunshot wounds as a mob went on the rampage while protesting against alleged illegal cow slaughter in Bulandshahr district of western Uttar Pradesh on Monday, police and district administration officials said.Prime Minister Narendra Modi is sending Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath to participate on his behalf at the Bibaha Panchami ceremony at Janakpur in Nepal on December 12.

Janakpur is the birthplace of Sita and thousands of Hindus from Nepal and India are expected to take part in the grand religious function scheduled for December 12.

Nepal foreign minister Pradeep Gyawali said on Monday that Modi sent a message to his Nepalese counterpart KP Oli that Adityanath would represent him at the Bibaha Panchami ceremony, which marks the marriage of Ram and Sita of Jankapur.

We had invited Modi to participate in the Bibaha Panchami but he communicated he is unable to visit, said Gyawali. On his behalf, he is sending the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh to represent the government of India at the ceremony.

According to officials, Modi called off his visit because of commitments related to state assembly elections. The planned inauguration of the new cross-border rail link between Janakpur and Jayanagar, funded by the government of India, was postponed after Modi expressed his inability to visit.

Had Modi been able to visit, the railway line would have been jointly inaugurated by him and Oli but it has now been postponed until further notice, said a Nepal government official.

After receiving Modis communication, the Nepal government has to formally invite the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, which shares a long border with Nepal, to the ceremony.

We are going to make the event a grand success, Province No 2 chief minister Lalbabu Rauta told media recentlyThe Mumbai fire brigade took more than 14 hours to completely put out the fire that broke out near Aarey Milk Colony on Monday evening.

State officials said the fire started on a private plot of land, owned by a real estate developer, and later spread to the Aarey Colony land. The fire brigade said there were no human or animal deaths.

It was not clear if forest land was also affected, but for now, the states environment minister, Ramdas Kadam, has asked the police to conduct a probe. Maharashtras forest minister, Sudhir Mungantiwar, said land under the Sanjay Gandhi National Park was not affected. The state government has also asked the dairy development commissioner to submit a report, as Aarey Colony is owned by states dairy development department.

According to the fire brigade, the fire was first reported at 6.21pm on Monday. It spread rapidly by 8.05 pm and was finally doused only on Tuesday morning, at 8.48am. Although the fire had been brought under control by 10.30 pm on Monday night, ambers in the bushes posed a danger of the fire spreading again.

As fire tenders could not access the forest, firemen had to beat out the fire, that had spread over an area of about 3km to 4km.

As per the preliminary reports, the fire took place on land belonging to a private developer. The land owned by dairy development department has not sustained any losses. If the report submitted by the dairy development commissioner found any losses or foul play, we will order a separate inquiry into the fire incident, said a top official from the dairy development department, requesting anonymity. These types of cases of setting tall grass on fire to clean up land are reported in winter every year. It leads to losses to the ecology, but this time, it is not on our land.

Environment minister Ramdas Kadam said he has written to the Mumbai police asking them to conduct a probe. Was it just a stray incident or was the fire set on purpose? It needs to come out. As the environment minister, I am directing the Mumbai police to conduct a thorough probe. I will also ask the state dairy development department, which owns the land, to investigate,Kadam said.

Forest minister Mungantiwar said the land affected by the fire was owned by the dairy development department and they too will investigate the cause of the fire. A part of the plot where the fire broke out belongs to a private owner. Even if it is a case of sabotage, as alleged by activists, either the police or the department concerned must investigate.

While the Mumbai fire brigade has dealt with several minor and major fires in the concrete jungle, dealing with a blaze inside the Aarey forest fire was a challenge, said Chief Fire Officer, PS Rahangdale. It was definitely one of the biggest forest fires in the city. We could not use water deep inside the forest and so we used the beaters to beat the fire. We also cut down the shrubs and bushes to contain the fire and let it burn out,he said.

Deputy Chief Fire officer VN Panigrahi, who was on the field, said, In addition to no access, the wind was also a challenge. It was directing the fire towards the residential areas and so we immediately directed our fire appliances towards New Mhada Colony, Goregaon (East) where the fire was proceeding. We had to create teams of fire fighters and volunteers to beat the fire with the help of green bushes.

Panigrahi added the uneven terrain and hilly area was a challenge. We kept five fire engines and two jumbo tankers on standby near the residential area as a precautionary measure, although the fire was far away.

About 50-60 firemen, 20 volunteers from the forest department and local civic ward workers helped beat the fire. Ten fire engines, seven jumbo tankers and three quick response vehicles were used in the operation.Sheena Boras father and Indrani Mukerjeas former partner Siddhartha Das failed to appear before the special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Tuesday as a prosecution witness in the 2012 case of Boras murder as he has no money to travel from Kolkata to Mumbai. Before the hearing, the special public prosecutor Bharat Badami said, Siddharth Das was supposed to appear as a witness. He stays in Kolkata but he doesnt have money to travel to Mumbai. Hence, the government would be taking care of his travel tickets and stay in Mumbai, Badami informed the court on Tuesday.

According to the prosecutions case, Indrani and Das were in live-in relationship when she was in Guwahati. Sheena and Mekhail are their children, who were later adopted by Indranis father. Indrani later married Sanjeev Khanna, who too is facing charges of murder.

In the absence of Das, the prosecution examined another witness, Kedar Kankonkar. Kankonkar works with Auto Plaza, a company on whose behalf he purchased a car from AM Motors in July 2012. It was in this car Sheena was allegedly killed by Indrani, Khanna and driver Shyamwar Rai, who has now turned approver.

Later after the hearing, the court heard arguments on various applications filed by former media baron Peter Mukerjea, who with Indrani, had earlier filed a divorce petition. Peter has been suffering from acute backache owing to which his lawyers moved a plea for a bed and mattress.A delegation of 170 Chinese Buddhists which walked all the way from Nepal to Bodh Gaya in Bihar arrived in the pilgrimage town on Sunday to join special chanting sessions of the Tripitak, Buddhisms holiest scriptures.

The chanting has been organised by the International Buddhist Council (IBC) and the All India Bhikhu Sangh (AIBS) and was held at Kalchakra Maidan, but also under the Mahabodhi tree, where Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment.

The tree is on the premises of the Mahabodhi Mahavihara, a UNESCO world heritage site. IBC secretary Bhante Pragyadeep said the Tripitak chanting had been organised for world peace and concluded on December 12.

He said that the Chinese monks had made a brief stopover in Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha in Nepal  and then commenced the 15-day padyatra to Bodh Gaya. They were carrying the Chinese version of the Tripitak, originally written in Pali, and donated it to the AIBS before joining the chanting, he said. Tripitak was translated from Pali into Chinese almost a century ago.

The route taken by the monks is said to be the same that fifth and seventh century Chinese travelers, Faxian and Xuanzang, had chosen to reach India. Apart from the chanting, the Chinese visitors will also attend programs at the Chinese monastery, located close to the Mahabodhi Mahavihara.

Figures vary, but an estimate of the US State Departments 2016 International Religious Freedom Report places the number of Chinese believers of Buddhism, Catholicism, Daoism, Islam and Protestantism  the five permitted religions  at about 650 million.

Some 245 million Chinese  around 18% of Chinas total population, practice Buddhism, which had travelled to China from India, during the Han Dynasty (150 CE)s later decades of rule. According to Article 36 of Chinas constitution, Chinese citizens enjoy freedom of religious belief.

But US-based think-tank Council of Foreign Relations (CFR) points out that while the Chinese government in February 2018 passed laws liberalising rules for registered religious organisations, it also imposed greater controls upon them. The visiting monks declined to speak to the media directly but answered queries with the help of the IBC secretary and interpreters.

Earlier on Sunday, monks from different countries, including Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and Russia, had taken out a colourful procession from Thai Monastery to Kalchakra Maidan through the main roads of Bodh Gaya.

Chief monk of the Bodh Gaya Temple Management Committee, Bhante Chalinda, said after the chanting session, all foreign monks, including those from China, will visit Jeshthivan (Jethian), in Gaya district where Lord Buddha and Magadh King Bimbisara are believed to have first met.

From there, they will undertake a padayatra to Venuvan in Rajgir, where Bimbisara gave Buddha a bamboo grove. The Chinese monks will also visit Nalanda and Gurupadgiri, before returning to Bodh Gaya on December 13.The netting of a dead carnivorous fish native to North America in Pavana dam has put the state fisheries department on alert mode as its presence could adversely affect the bio-diversity of the water body.

Officials identified the fish caught in Pavana dam, about 17 cm in length and weighing 2.5 kg, as the alligator gar, which is called so due to its resemblance to the American alligator, particularly the broad snout and long, sharp teeth.

Upon being alerted about the catch last week by local fishermen, we took the view of fish experts who confirmed that it was the alligator gar. It is carnivorous and kills other fish in the water body it inhabits, said AM Gadwal, a section engineer at Pavana dam.

The experts told us that it is an exotic fish found exclusively in North America, Gadwal added.

Fisheries development officer Janak Bhosale confirmed the find and said the alligator gar can adversely affect the bio-diversity of the water body as it tends to kill other fish for survival.

He said that fishermen have been apprised of the issue and have been told to alert the fisheries department if they come across these fish again.

Speaking on how the exotic fish might have found its way into Pavana dam, Bhosale said, It is possible someone may have brought this fish to keep in an aquarium. He may have later released it into the Pavana dam. The fish, according to experts, can adapt to water bodies with different levels of salinity and is an ambush predator using stealth and strategy rather than speed to kill other fish.Narpat Singh Rajvi is a two-time BJP MLA who is contesting Rajasthan assembly election from the Vidhyadhar Nagar constituency. Pitted against first-timer Sitaram Agarwal who is contesting on Congress ticket, Rajvi, who is also the son-in-law of former vice-president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, is confident of beating his opponent by a margin of one lakh votes. Rajvi spoke to HT.

What are your major achievements in last five years?

Jhotwara flyover, elevated road, transfer of funds from the Centre for the satellite hospital, seven primary health care centres and development works worth Rs 833 crore in several areas.

What would be your priorities and what do you think are your biggest challenges?

My priority would be to improve the water infrastructure, to connect every house with the supply of Bisalpur Dam, better drainage system, to start satellite hospital as soon as possible, and to ensure best treatment facilities. There are no challenges as such. Basically there are only two institutions, Jaipur Municipal Corporation and Jaipur Development Authority(JDA) from where we can get funds for the development works. Traffic management was a big issue which we have already managed very well.

Your opponent says that once you won because of Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and another time under Modi wave. How do you react on this statement?

This time I am going to win the election with a margin of one lakh votes. My opponent has never become a sarpanch or councillor. I dont understand why he is dreaming of victory. Sitaram Agarwal is not in fight. I have honestly done good work for the people. I am confident they will vote for me again.

People of many areas complain of poor roads. How will you resolve this issue?

There are some colonies which have developed on the unapproved land and JDA doesnt spend money on them. This rule was created by the Ashok Gehlot government. Once these colonies are approved JDA can spend money on them through various types of taxes.

Click here for complete coverage of Rajasthan Assembly Election 2018Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi attacked each other over patriotism on the penultimate day of campaigning on Tuesday for the December 7 Rajasthan elections.

Gandhi said Modi speaks about nationalism and opens his speeches with Bharat Mata ki Jai [hail Mother India] but alleged the prime minister works for top industrialists. In every speech of Modi, he says Bharat Mata Ki Jai. What is Bharat Mata? It is our entire country it is the farmer it is the sentiments crores of the youth of the country women labourers and it is we all, Gandhi said at a rally in Alwar on Tuesday.

He questioned how Modi could forget the farmers if he talks about Bharat Mata. .you waived Rs 3.5 lakh crore of 15 people, but not a single penny of Alwar farmers. Are not they [the farmers] Bharat Mata does not their blood and sweat make Bharat Mata, should not they be having space in the country after so much sacrifice? he asked, reiterating his criticism of the Modi governments alleged neglect of the farmers.

Read more: Vote share in 2013

Modi hit back hours later at a rally in Sikar. He said the Congress namdar [dynast] has issued a fatwa [edict] that Modi should not start his speeches with Bharat Mata Ki Jai. Today, in the presence of lakhs of people, I have torn the fatwa to shreds and said Bharat Mata ki Jai, he said, urging the crowd to chant the slogan with him 10 times. Who are you to snatch the slogan from Indias sons?

Modi asked whether the fear of defeat had driven Gandhi to insult Bharat Mata. For us Bharat Mata is everything as a leader of a responsible political party, opposing Bharat Mata does not befit you [Gandhi]. Your words are a black spot on the Congresss 125-year-old history.

Modi and Gandhi had earlier got into a war of words over the Congress chiefs comment on Saturday that the prime minister did not understand the essence of Hinduism.

Modi responded on Monday, saying his knowledge of the religion was not an election issue. A namdar [Gandhi] appeared to be claiming to know all about Hinduism when even saints do not make such an argument because of the vast knowledge and heritage associated with Hinduism. Only the namdar can claim that but not a small kamdar [worker] like me, Modi said.

Read more: Win map of 2013

In his Tuesday election speech, Gandhi focused his attack on the BJP over farm distress and allegations of corruption in the Rafale aircraft deal. Modi-ji, the people of Congress are not afraid of you and will not step back even an inch. The loan of farmers has to be waived.

He reiterated the Congress promise of waiving all farm loans within 10 days of coming to power in three states including Rajasthan. He accused Modi of working for industrialists like Anil Ambani. He should start his speech by saying Jai Anil Ambani, Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi.

Later in the day in Jaipur, Modi said the people had seen the Congresss true face and rejected its culture of lies, dynastic politics, nepotism, casteism and communalism. the people would not accept the Congresss lies, its dynastic politics, casteism, communalism, and nepotism the youth want development, so do not let the Congress set foot here [Rajasthan], he said.

He spoke about Vikas ki Ganga [Ganga of development] and named its five tributaries: education for girls and boys, jobs for the youth, irrigation for the farmers, medicines for the elderly and public hearings.

For full coverage on Rajasthan assembly elections,click hereAcross Rajasthan, chief minister Vasundhara Raje suffers from a problem of perception that is proving the biggest challenge for her managers and her party in the run-up to the assembly elections in the state on December 7.

From being inaccessible to having done little (both popular refrains among voters), Raje, 65 continues to fight the reputation of being a maharani. Her name evokes sharp responses.

She has done nothing, argues 30-year-old Prakash, who sells cattle feed outside a gaushala (cow shelter) 20km away from Nagaur on the Jodhpur highway. Our pain and cries do not reach her.

Prakash rattles off his expectation of Raje: She could have given us government jobs, at least. he says. We read in newspapers that so many things have happened in last five years. But, it has not benefitted me.

Chaggan Nath runs a dhaba at Beawar town along the Jodhpur-Jaipur highway in Ajmer. He cites high electricity bills as a reason for not voting Bharatiya Janata Party this time. He received a bill of ~25,217 against a consumption of 2,620 units of electricity. This must be highest rate at which any state provides power. The bills are high during summer, he says. I heard it is very cheap in Delhi. Is it true?

Read more: Vote share in 2013

In Laxman K Bas village of Sikar, Sagar Dudi, a 40--year-old farmer explains that Raje could have changed Rajasthan with the kind of majority she got in 2013. Things havent moved an inch. Our problems remain where they were, he said, taking a brief break from chaupar, a board game that the Kauravs and Pandavs played in the epic Mahabharata.Rajes government was elected with a clear majority, winning 163 seats in the 200-member assembly.

Meanwhile, Rajputs, usually loyal to the BJP, are upset over the killing of gangster Anandpal Singh (a Rajput) in June last year. His family alleges senior government leaders played a part in his killing and have demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe. He might be a criminal, but even then his killing was unjust, Sher Singh, a taxi driver from Jaipur said. He shows his WhatsApp group, flooded with video clips of the crying family members of the gangsters family and several messages about Singh. The Rajputs account for around 8% of the population of the state.

Another dominant community, the Jats (accounting for around 15% of the population of the state), complain about poor representation in Rajes council of ministers. Rajes 29-member council of ministers has four Jats.

There is a gap between announcement of government schemes and delivery. Only a few have benefitted. The entire perception problem is because of this gap, said Dr Sanjay Lodha, head of the department of political science at Mohanlal Sukhadia University in Udaipur. Lack of jobs is going to be a single biggest issue that will determine the election.

Read more: Win map of 2013

Raje loyalists put the blame at the door of BJP legislators.

MLAs got their own work done, but when it came to pushing matters affecting larger people or party workers, the legislators blamed it on Raje, calling her inaccessible, one of her confidants claims. And, she did not care about it, until alarm bangs started ringing after the loss in by elections. In February, the Congress wrested two Lok Sabha seats and an assembly seat away from the BJP.

Rajes response, her associates say, has been to take control of the situation and prove her critics wrong.

She survived the leadership change clamour after BJPs defeat in the by-elections to the Ajmer and Alwar parliamentary and the Mandalgarh assembly seats. Next, she blocked BJP chief Amit Shah from appointing a new chief of his choice in Rajasthan. This round, too, went to her.

Closer to the election, and once a decision was taken that she would remain in the chief ministers chair, the BJPs leadership decided to let her have her say. She influenced the distribution of tickets, as well.

BJP spokesman Sudhanshu Trivedi claims party president Amit Shah has toiled hard to correct whatever was wrong in Rajsthan. A new organisational secretary (RSS leaders loaned to BJP) was brought in from western Uttar Pradesh in August last year to reorganize the party. It helped address organisational issues and improve coordination, Trivdei said.

For full coverage on Rajasthan elections,click here.Prime Minister Narendra Modi turned a stinging barb hurled at him by Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday into ammunition to attack the Congress president, alleging that Rahul Gandhi did not want him to begin his rallies with the salutation of Bharat Mata Ki Jai.

On Tuesday, speaking in Alwar, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said that whenever the PM addressed the people, he made them chant Bharat Mata ki jai, but did anyone know what it meant? Farmers, youth, women and labourers are our Bharat Mata. In every speech Mr. Modi says Bharat Mata Ki Jai, but in reality, he works for Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, Anil Ambani, Rahul said. He said that the PM should refrain from beginning his rallies with Bharat Mata ki jai.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, however, said that it is shameful that the Congress leader should say such a thing.

Congress has come up with a fatwa that I should not begin my rallies with Bharat Mata Ki Jai. How can they deny this? They must be ashamed of even saying such a thing. This shows their disrespect for our motherland, he said addressing a rally in Sikar in Rajasthan. (Live updates)

Continuing in the same vein, Modi said that when the Indian army conducted its surgical strikes across the border in Pakistan, the Congress party was shocked. He said that the faces of the Congress party leaders had lost all colour.

When our soldiers returned from the surgical strike, the entire nation was filled with enthusiasm but it seemed as if the Congress was in mourning. Their leader said that the government was lying. They demanded photographic and video proof of the strike. I ask you, did the soldiers go there with guns or with cameras?, Modi said.

Pakistan understood what a surgical strike is, but the Congress, which was instrumental in the formation of Pakistan, refused to accept it and still dont believe it, Modi said.

Modi cornered Rahul Gandhi on the issue of One Rank One Pension as well.

Our soldiers had been demanding OROP for the last 40 years. They asked for it during Rajiv Gandhis time, during Indira Gandhis time, and even when your mother remote controlled the government. But your party did not listen. The Congress did nothing for them. In 2014, the government changed in Delhi. You elected me as prime servant, and we began work on OROP. Youll be surprised to know that the Congresss work towards OROP was so sad that it took me 2 years to sort out the calculations and then we implemented OROP to the countrys soldiers. Now, Rs 11,000 crore will be distributed every year among our soldiers under OROP. Should this demand of the soldiers not have been fulfilled earlier? Your vote ensured that OROP is implemented, he said.

He said that the reason why the Congress did nothing for the soldiers was because the partys leaders did not respect them. Why else would a Congress leader refer to the army chief as a roadside goon?, Modi said referring to a previous incident.

Referring to the controversy ridden Ashok Gehlot government and the Bhanwari Devi case, Modi said the Congress party had given tickets to the relatives of those who are lodged in jail on rape charges and that it should not be allowed to enter Rajasthan for centuries.YEREVAN, DECEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. The session of the Francophonie Ambassadors accredited to the Netherlands was held in the Peace Palace in Hague on December 3 during which Armenian Ambassador Tigran Balayan introduced the results of the recent La Francophonie Summit in Yerevan and the adjacent events, the Armenian foreign ministry told Armenpress.

Ambassador Balayan said Armenia did everything for organizing and holding the Summit at a high level, and it can be noted that all guests in Armenia left Yerevan with a high mood and desire to again visit the country.

Tigran Balayan comprehensively touched upon the documents adopted based on the Summit results, as well as the road map which is based on the La Francophonie fundamental values and guides the activity of the organization for the upcoming five years.

Talking about the economic component of the Summit, the Armenian Ambassador said the Economic Forum, organized in Armenia in accordance with the La Francophonie economic strategy, provided an opportunity to establish partnership with regional and sub-regional economic spaces and create a network of ministers of the Francophonie countries on digital technology matters.

The Ambassador also introduced Armenias chairmanship priorities and initiatives in the International Organization of La Francophonie and informed that a number of events will be implemented jointly with the UNESCO and the Council of Europe.

Following his remarks Tigran Balayan answered to the questions of the Ambassadors.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanA recent study suggests that children tend to perform better when parents are involved in their school life. Many studies have proven that a parents income and education levels, that is, their socioeconomic status, impact their childs success. School children from families with a higher socioeconomic status typically have better academic performance and, as a result, end up going to college.

Conversely, children from lower income families have a lesser chance of getting education at the same level as their wealthier classmates. It is less common for such students to continue their education after graduating, and they ultimately become less qualified specialists in their field. A vicious cycle arises whereby inequality is reproduced.

This study, however, has shown that the cycle can be broken and a child can be given a better future. A lot depends on how involved the childs family is with his or her studies. The more active a parent is, the better a students performance will be. This means a broader educational opportunity.

The research suggests that a familys interest in a students school life helps the child overcome educational inequality. A high level of parental involvement offsets the difference in success among children from families with different economic statuses, the researchers write.

A familys activity level has an indirect impact so that a childs academic performance and opportunities are no worse than that of his or her peers from wealthier families, Mertsalova explains. The results of the research were published in the Journal of Educational Studies.

The attitude of a family towards school impacts whether a student pursues higher education. The socioeconomic status of parents determines not only opportunities but motives as well. Among families less involved in academics, 13.5% of wealthy parents said they did not want their children to go to college, while this figure was nearly 50% for lower income parents. At the same time, the percentage of teenagers not planning to continue their education was roughly the same for both lower income and wealthy families who took an interest in academics.

To analyse the link between a childs grades and family involvement in academics, the researchers identified several levels of parental activity. At the zero level - when a family does not care about academics - the child typically receives Cs and Ds.

The first, or basic, level presupposes nurture and communication -- that is, that the parent is in contact with teachers and pays attention to grades and events from class. In this way, upwards of 90% of families participate in school life. Children whose parents are involved in their education at this level have higher academic performance compared to those whose parents dont take part in their education, the authors noted.

Only a few parents demonstrate a high level of involvement, which is categorised by participation in the management of the school and educational policy at the local community level. Some 13.1% of parents take part in decision-making regarding the schools development . Lastly, 3.4% of families collaborate with the education authorities. They are typically parents with a higher socioeconomic status, many of whom hold PhDs or management positions. In these families, children achieve the highest academic results.

The average level of parental involvement involves parents helping children with homework, as well as volunteering to help organise different events at school. Roughly half of the Russian parents are involved with both, the authors note. The academic achievement of schoolchildren from such families is higher than that of their peers from families interested in schooling at only the basic level, the researchers conclude.The victory of the Maha Kootami or grand alliance of four political parties will help resolve issues between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the state from which Telangana was carved out in 2014, a spokesperson from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) said.

The Maha Kootami is an alliance between four political parties, including TDP and the Indian National Congress, to challenge caretaker chief minister K Chandrashekar Raos Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in the upcoming assembly polls on December 7.

KCR hopes to survive on promoting regional conflicts by projecting Andhra people as villains. We want to put an end to his drama in the current election by exposing his non-performance, said D Manikya Vara Prasad, TDP spokesperson.

K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR)s loss and Maha Kootamis win will make way for a positive climate for better coordination between the two states to address bifurcation-related issues, Vara Prasad said.

TRS member of legislative council Pathuri Sudhakar Reddy said that in its four years, the KCR government has treated all Andhra settlers as part of Telangana without any discrimination.

Also Read: Telangana elections 2018: KCR is an apprentice of Sonia Gandhi, says PM Modi

Its only the TDPs (Chandrababu) Naidu who is trying to gain mileage in the elections by projecting KCR as inimical to Andhra settlers, he said.

Andhra Pradesh chief minister Naidu left the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance earlier this year, stating that the Centre has not fulfilled its promise of granting special status to the state after its bifurcation. Both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are currently locked in many disputes, including sharing resources like the Krishna and the Godavari river water, besides distribution of assets and institutions under the IX and X schedules of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act (APRA) 2014, which came into effect after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.

There are 107 institutions (including state owned corporations) listed under schedule X and 91 listed under schedule IX. The Sheela Bhide committee, which was tasked with bifurcating assets under schedule IX, has submitted a report on only 77 till now. Both states have fought each other over bifurcation of institutions, such as the Andhra Pradesh Heavy Machinery and Engineering Limited, and the Andhra Pradesh State Council Higher Education.

Read More: Telangana assembly elections 2018: We neither believe in, nor practise communal politics: Cong on its poll manifesto

In the past, TRS, which spearheaded the separate statehood movement, had threatened to close educational institutions run by Andhra residents in Telangana, and stalled screening of movies made by the Andhra Pradesh film industry.

In 2010, Telangana Jagruti, an outfit headed by KCRs daughter K. Kavitha, stalled the screening of NT Rama Rao Junior (the grandson of former Andhra Pradesh chief minister NT Rama Rao) film Adurs.

However, both TRS and TDP have not got into the nitty-gritty of distribution of assets under APRA in their poll campaigns.

KCR is obviously not interested to demonstrate his largesse by making a case for AP vis-a-vis distribution of assets. (Chandrababu) Naidu cannot afford to raise issues pertained to his home state in Telangana as such utterances might hurt his Maha Kootamis electoral interests, political analyst K. Nageswar said.

Experts believe that the significant Andhra population in Telangana will decide the fortunes of political parties fighting the election in at least 20-25 assembly segments.

For full assembly elections coverage, click here.Hours after Telangana Congress leader Anumala Revanth Reddy was arrested from his residence in Kodangal of Vikarabad district, the Congress has reacted to his detention and called him the partys Brahmos missile.

Congress leader GN Reddy came out in support of Reddy and accused TRS leader K Chandrashekar Rao of misusing the police.

KCR is misusing the police, the manner in which police entered his bedroom, it has never happened in India. Revanth Reddy (Cong candidate detained by police) is not an ordinary man, he is a Brahmos missile and this missile is going to finish TRS, Reddy said.

Read more: Telangana election 2018: KCRs home seat of Gajwel is a study in contrast

The police said that they had arrested Revanth Reddy to prevent any untoward incident in Kodangal in the light of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president KCRs meeting later in the evening.

Reddy, is contesting as a Congress candidate from Kodangal assembly constituency, and had had earlier called for a shutdown in the town to protest the alleged police raids on his associates to search for unaccounted money. He had also threatened to stall the chief ministers visit to Kodangal.

Revanth Reddys brothers, gunmen and the watchman of his house have also been taken into custody. But the gunmen and watchman were later let off at Parigi, about 30km from Kodangal. Unconfirmed reports said Reddy had been taken to Shamshabad police station on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

Recounting the arrest, Reddys wife Geetha had said that police had broken the front door of their house around 3am, had entered their bedroom and forcibly took him away without even giving him a chance to change.

Read more: Telangana assembly elections 2018: Telangana Congress leader Revanth Reddy arrested ahead of KCR rally

This is highly undemocratic. He has only asked the people to question the government for neglecting the constituency by the TRS government in the last four years and not implementing the promises. I appeal to the people not to indulge in any violence but to maintain peace and show their anger in the form of a vote against the TRS, she said.Prime Minister Imran Khan has said Pakistan is looking at two or three different options to resolve the Kashmir issue, which, he added, can be settled only through dialogue in a phased manner.

Khan made the remarks during an interaction with a group of Pakistani TV anchors on Monday. However, he declined to go into specifics of the options being considered by Islamabad.

Pakistan is looking at two or three solutions to the Kashmir issue that can be implemented in a gradual way or in phases, but I cant speak about them in public till the dialogue [with India] starts, Khan said.

There are two ways for India and Pakistan to settle their issues  either dialogue or war. It is unimaginable for two nuclear-armed countries to go to war because it will have unintended consequences, Khan said.

Once it begins, war doesnt remain in your control. Neither they nor us can win a proxy war, he added.

Khan recalled that he met former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and former foreign minister Natwar Singh during a visit to New Delhi after the Bharatiya Janata Party lost in the 2004 general elections and they had told him that the two countries had come very close to a settlement on Kashmir during Pervez Musharrafs regime.

This means there is a solution. It cant be discussed openly because there are so many vested interests which will scuttle things, he said. Vajpayee told me if the BJP hadnt lost the election, they would have settled the issue.

Khan said Pakistans decision to launch work on the Kartarpur corridor reflects the future plans of his government. We want to improve relations with all our neighbours, he added.

The ground-breaking for the corridor, which will allow Indian pilgrims to visit the Kartarpur Gurdwara in Pakistan without visas, was done by Khan on November 28.

Khan acknowledged that an engagement with India is unlikely at present because the neighbouring country is set to go to elections. But he added, After Kartarpur, it will be very difficult for India to create hate against Pakistan.

The premier spoke on a range of matters during the interaction, including the state of Pakistans economy, civil-military relations, and governance. Replying to a question on the militarys role in shaping foreign policy, he said, Advice from the establishment is taken on those issues where the security situation is involved. He said the Pakistan Army and his government are on the same page and his decisions are backed by the military.Security forces tried to recover the bodies of 31 construction workers and a soldier who were killed in one of the worst separatist attacks in Indonesias restive province of Papua, officials said on Tuesday.

Papua police spokesman Suryadi Diaz said 24 workers were killed on Sunday when gunmen stormed a government bridge construction project in a remote mountainous village in Nduga district.

Eight other workers fled to the nearby house of a local parliament member, but an armed group came a day later and killed seven of them, Diaz said, citing reports from several witnesses. The eighth managed to escape and remains missing.

This is the worst attack launched by the armed criminal group recently amid intensified development by the government, Diaz told The Associated Press.

Indonesias government, which for decades had a policy of sending Javanese and other Indonesians to settle in Papua, is now trying to spur economic development to dampen the separatist movement.

Diaz said security forces were trying to recover all 31 bodies but they were scattered and guarded by gunmen in the district, a stronghold of separatists who have battled Indonesian rule in the impoverished region for nearly 50 years.

Separately, Papua province military spokesman Lt. Col. Dax Sianturi said an armed group attacked a military post in Mbua village in the same district late on Monday, killing a soldier and injuring another.

Basuki Hadimuljono, the minister of public works and peoples housing, told reporters in Jakarta on Tuesday that the victims were among dozens of construction workers from Sulawesi island who have been employed by PT.

Istaka Karya, a state-owned construction company, to build bridges along a 278-kilometer (174-mile) road project connecting the cities of Wamena and Agats. The workers are considered outsiders by the separatists.

Hadimuljono said work on all 35 bridges had been halted and would resume when security returns to normal.

Diaz said a number of motorcycle taxi drivers who were migrants from Java and other Indonesian islands also died recently in attacks by suspected separatists who viewed them as outsiders.

Papua, a former Dutch colony in the western part of New Guinea, was incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 after a UN-sponsored ballot that was seen as a sham by many. A small, poorly armed separatist group has been battling for independence since then.

The low-level insurgency has plagued the mineral-rich region, which is ethnically and culturally distinct from much of Indonesia.

Police said a witness had provided information that a worker had photographed a group of people attending a ceremony marking December 1, which many Papuans consider the anniversary of what should have been their independence. A declaration of independence from Dutch rule on December 1, 1961, was rejected by the Dutch and later by Indonesia.

Commemorating the day is prohibited in Indonesia, and the witness said the photography caused anger and could have triggered the attack. However, Diaz said it was unclear whether there was a connection.Sri Lankas Supreme Court on Tuesday began hearing petitions against President Maithripala Sirisenas decision to dissolve Parliament and call for a snap election after sacking prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that triggered a major constitutional crisis in the country. The country has been in a political crisis since October 26 when Sirisena removed Wickremesinghe and installed ex-strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa in his place.

Sirisena later dissolved Parliament, almost 20 months before its term was to end, and ordered snap election. The Supreme Court overturned Sirisenas decision to dissolve Parliament and halted the preparations for snap polls.

The apex court on Tuesday morning began the hearing on the fundamental rights petitions filed against Sirisenas gazette notification to dissolve parliament.

A seven member bench presided by the Chief Justice Nalin Perera began hearing oral submissions, court officials said. The court on November 13 issued an interim order annulling the gazette notification which made Sirisenas parliamentary sacking temporary illegal.

The submissions would be heard till Thursday. A court on Monday barred Rajapaksa from acting as Prime Minister. The Court of Appeal temporary halted Rajapaksa and his Cabinet from functioning in their positions in response to a case filed by 122 legislators against his disputed government.

Both Wickremesinghe and Rajapaksa claim to be the prime ministers. Wickremesinghe says his dismissal is invalid because he still holds a majority in the 225-member Parliament.

Prior to the crisis, Wickramasinghes UNP had the backing of 106 parliamentarians while Rajapaksa and Sirisena combine had 95 seats.

Rajapaksa has, so far, failed to prove his majority in Parliament.

Wickremesinghe, with the support from the main Tamil party, claims to have the support of more than 113 legislators, required for simple majority.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has 16 seats in the house and JVP has six legislators.

The UNF has moved three no trust motions against Rajapaksa, who has refused to step down.

The Sri Lankan president has said that due to sharp personal differences with Wickremesinghe he would not reappoint him as the Prime Minister.

However, Wickremesinghes UNP claims that Sirisena will be left with no choice as he would be the man who will command the confidence in the House. Violent scenes were witnessd in Parliament as it went on to approve motions which proved that Rajapaksa lacked majority.British Sikh girls being targeted by Pakistani-origin grooming gangs for sexual abuse and exploitation over the years have not received full attention of authorities due to political correctness, claims a new report released on Monday.

The Religiously Aggravated Sexual Exploitation of Young Sikh Women Across the UK report, collated by the Sikh Mediation And Rehabilitation Team (SMART) and Sikh Youth UK, received the backing of parliamentarians as it called for an investigation into the pattern of abuse dating back decades.

Since the early 1980s, evidence collated by British Sikh organisations has recorded cases of sexual abuse and exploitation against young Sikh females by grooming gangs populated by perpetrators of primarily Pakistani or Muslim heritage, the report noted.

Although not exclusively, offences are documented as regularly being committed within the structure of networks, including the nuclear and extended family members of offenders. This has in turn prompted questions surrounding whether young Sikh females are victims of opportunists or being targeted due to their religious heritage, it said.

Researchers are keen to highlight that the study was not undertaken as a witch-hunt against any individual, community, culture or faith but as a means to provide some clear understanding and acceptance of key factors contributing to the risk.

Among the factors influencing the trend, the report flagged that some early Sikh migrants claim the organised targeting of Sikh females was conducted, in part, as retaliation for the involvement of Sikh soldiers in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. It also documents a string of recent high-profile prosecutions of Pakistani-origin grooming gangs who targeted white British schoolgirls in areas such as Rochdale and Rotherham.

With the emergence of multiple similar cases across the UK, the perceived failure to act has now been attributed to the political correctness that inhibited authorities and agencies from addressing the racial and cultural dimensions understood as causative factors behind the abuse, the report noted.

It added: Many within the Sikh community have advocated that it is of the utmost importance that British justice operates on a level playing field. However, where it is clear that a child is at threat or targeted for abuse due to race or religion, it is essential that the recording and prosecution of cases reflects all aspects surrounding the abuse.

Veteran Indian-origin Labour Party MP Virendra Sharma welcomed the findings that would help tackle the wider issue of child abuse by ensuring that while police are sensitive, they act effectively to prevent any immediate risk.

Steps to end the stigma of reporting abuse and end the culture of silence, referred to in the report, are key but will require many years of difficult intervention. I will be pleased to support steps to end any systematic targeting and this report is a key step in that fight, said Sharma, who represents the west London constituency of Ealing Southall with a large British Sikh population.

His views were echoed by fellow Labour Party MP Sarah Champion, who has been very vocal over the issue of child sexual grooming as many Pakistani-origin men from her constituency of Rotherham were jailed for sexual abuse and rape of schoolgirls.

She said: When I first heard about the specific targeting of Sikh girls for abuse, I was shocked. Having met survivors, I know the long-term devastation to the girls, their families and the Sikh community as a whole. I support the call for an inquiry into this form of sexual exploitation and how it has been able to go on for so long unchallenged by government agencies.

The issue hit the headlines in recent weeks as six British Pakistanis were sentenced to a total of 101 years behind bars last month for sexually grooming and abusing young girls in the northern England town of Rotherham. UK home secretary Sajid Javid, himself of Pakistani origin, had taken to Twitter to condemn the sick Asian paedophiles and attracted some backlash for singling out a particular community.

On Monday, he defended his comments once again, saying: Any normal person looking at the recent convictions of gangs that abuse children would have noticed that a vast majority are from a Pakistani heritage and we cannot ignore that. If you do ignore that, if you sit in a position of power like me and you ignore that, what you actually end up doing is fuelling the voices of extremism that are out there that will then prey on that.

The UK Home Office said that child sexual abuse has been categorised as a national threat, with the government investing millions of pounds to enable officers to actively seek out and bring offenders to justice.

Group-based child sexual exploitation is a complex issue and the government is working to improve our understanding of how to prevent this heinous crime, a statement said.Indias relationship with Canada has been marked by an absence of engagement at the ministerial level in terms of bilateral visits in the nine months since Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus difficult and controversial visit to India.

A senior Indian official described the state of affairs as standstill, while another predicted the situation might not change for yet another year since Lok Sabha elections are due in India next year and just months later, federal elections will be held in Canada in October 2019. An Indian official added on condition of anonymity: It will be up to the new government to bring the relationship back on track.

That the relationship has been somewhat derailed is evident from not just the absence of bilateral visits in the past nine months, but the cancellation of expected visits. Commerce minister Suresh Prabhu was expected in Canada in September, but the trip never came through. That was also the case with the visit of minister of road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari.

The then minister of state for external affairs MJ Akbar was due in Canada in November for a visit that included participation in the Halifax International Security Forum but it had to be cancelled after he resigned from the government in the wake of a spate of sexual harassment allegations. His replacement at the Halifax Forum, VK Singh, also minister of state for external affairs, skipped the event and expected engagements in Toronto, though he did travel to the US.

More than one attempt to have a high-level bilateral meeting between external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and her Canadian counterpart Chrystia Freeland have come to naught, according to Indian officials.

Meanwhile, HT has learnt that a proposed visit to India by Canadas minister of environment, Catherine McKenna, is also off.

There was no response from officials in New Delhi to a request for comments.

Minister for mines Narendra Singh Tomar did visit in March but that had been arranged prior to Trudeaus trip.

Also, human resource development minister Prakash Javadekar travelled to Vancouver in July but that was to inaugurate and participate in the 17th World Sanskrit Conference.

Officials dont rule out bilateral meetings in the months ahead though nothing is planned at this time. Canadas parliamentary secretary for international development Kamal Khera is expected in India this week, but the sort of structured and continuous dialogue at the senior-most levels of government that marked 2016 and 2017 has been missing for the past few months.After eight years in the White House as the first lady and attending various high-level events during the presidentship of her husband, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama let out a secret on Monday evening: people at the top are not that smart.

A sell-out audience in the Royal Festival Hall gave her something of a rock-star reception at an event to mark the London launch of her memoir, Becoming (Penguin). Over 40,000 people tried to get tickets for the hall that accommodates about 2,700 people.

Billed as An evening with Michelle Obama, the event was marked by much wit, humour and frankness about her upbringing (we discussed sex at the dinner table), and issues such as demons in her mind about not being good enough, her informal encounter with Queen Elizabeth, and marital problems (trying to melt two lives together, that is hard).

In conversation with noted Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Obama, who turns 55 in January, spoke of life lessons, the art of re-invention and insisted that she is not here yet, much remains to be done, which explains the title of her memoir, Becoming.

Asked for advice to young black women on navigating life, she said: Its still hard out there We are demonised, we are too loud, we are too everything. I experienced that. Just having an opinion, how dare I have a voice and use it? It is a threat not just to white men but to women.

Some of my first pricks came from women journalists who accused me of emasculating my husband You have to start by getting those demons out of your head. The question I ask myself is, am I good enough. That haunts. It is set from the time we are little.

Heres the secret. Ive been at every powerful table that you can think of. I have worked in non-profits. I have been in foundations, corporations, Ive served on corporate boards, Ive been at summits, Ive sat in at the UN. They are not that smart.

After a prolonged applause, she added: They do a lot of things to keep their seats; they do not want to share their power. And that makes you feel that you dont belong. I am not saying that there are no talented people out there.

But I am here to tell you that their ideas are no more exciting. They dont solve problems any better. There is still a lot of brokenness in the hands of people in power who make us feel that we dont belong. They havent fixed it yet because they need our voices to make that happen.

Obama recalled the challenges her husband faced before being elected president but did not dwell on life under the current president, Donald Trump, except to say that she is hopeful. Change is not a straight line.

We mistakenly thought that Barack Obama was going to erase hundreds of years of history in eight years; thats ridiculous. We are putting down markers and we make progress. Going back doesnt mean that progress wasnt real.

It just means that it is just hard what we are trying to do, which is to shift culture. We are trying to overcome hundreds of years of racism and segregation borne out of slavery.

Recalling one of her first trips to London as the first lady, Obama said it was incredibly irritating that British journalists, including women journalists, focused on what she was wearing rather than on the work she was trying to do.

Obama recalled many protocol briefings before meeting Queen Elizabeth during a state visit, when the latter, driving her car, picked them up from their helicopter at Windsor and told them: Sit wherever  its all rubbish, just get in.President Donald Trump on Monday called for a full and complete sentence for his former lawyer Michael Cohen, accusing him of lying about Trumps business dealings with Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign to get reduced jail time.

Cohen, who is cooperating with a federal probe into whether Trumps campaign worked with Russia to sway the election, is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 12 after pleading guilty to tax evasion, making false statements to a bank, campaign finance violations, and lying to Congress.

In a court filing last week, Cohen said he had pursued a proposed Trump Organization real estate project in Moscow with Russian government officials well into the presidential campaign, with Trumps knowledge.

Cohen, once Trumps self-described fixer, admitted he lied to Congress when he said efforts to pursue the Moscow project ended in January 2016, when they actually continued until June 2016, after Trump had clinched the Republican presidential nomination.

Lawyers for Cohen asked a federal judge in New York on Friday not to sentence him to prison.

After the plea deal, Trump described Cohen as weak and a liar and said he himself did nothing wrong in relation to the Moscow project.

In a series of tweets on Monday, the president accused Cohen of cooperating with Special Counsel Robert Muellers Russia probe in exchange for a reduced sentence on the unrelated tax fraud and campaign finance charges.

Michael Cohen asks judge for no Prison Time. You mean he can do all of the TERRIBLE, unrelated to Trump, things having to do with fraud, big loans, Taxis, etc., and not serve a long prison term? Trump said. He lied for this outcome and should, in my opinion, serve a full and complete sentence.

Trump has described Muellers probe as a political witch hunt. Russia denies interfering in the U.S. election.

It is unusual for a U.S. president or any senior government official to comment on court proceedings. Trump has regularly opined on sensitive judicial proceedings from the special counsels case to federal appeals court rulings.

Several lawyers said Trumps tweet amounted to witness tampering.

PARDON ROULETTE

Trumps comments about Cohen contrasted with his expressions of sympathy for former associates caught in the web of Muellers investigation, including former 2016 campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who faces sentencing after being convicted of tax and bank fraud charges.

The Republican president has refused to rule out a pardon for Manafort.

On Monday, Trump praised longtime associate and Republican operative Roger Stone, who has been under scrutiny by investigators over his comments about leaked Democratic emails during the 2016 presidential campaign. Stone told ABC News on Sunday he would not testify against Trump and has not discussed a pardon with the president.

Nice to know that some people still have guts! Trump said in another Twitter post on Monday.

There was a strong case against the president for witness tampering because of his prior acts and statements, like dangling the possibility of a pardon for his Manafort, legal experts said.

George Conway, who is married to senior Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, retweeted Trumps tweet with a reference to a U.S. statute on witness tampering and obstruction of justice: File under 18 U.S.C.  1503, 1512.

I think it is both obstruction and witness tampering, said Lisa Kern Griffin, a former federal prosecutor and law professor at Duke University. He (Trump) is attempting to influence an ongoing investigation in an overt way.

Federal law makes it a crime to knowingly intimidate, threaten, or persuade another person to withhold testimony in an investigation.

It is highly inappropriate for a president to insert himself into a judicial process, said Jens Ohlin, a professor at Cornell Law School. Hes not just a regular person. Hes the head of the executive branch.The United States will not be able to stop Iran exporting its oil and any move to prevent Iranian crude shipments passing through the Gulf would lead to all oil exports through the waterway being blocked, Irans president said on Tuesday.

The United States has imposed sanctions on Iran and U.S. officials say they aim to reduce Irans oil exports to zero in a bid to curb the Islamic Republics missile programme and regional influence.

America should know that we are selling our oil and will continue to sell our oil and they are not able to stop our oil exports, President Hassan Rouhani said in a televised speech during a trip to the northern Iranian city of Shahroud.

If one day they want to prevent the export of Irans oil, then no oil will be exported from the Persian Gulf, he said.

Tensions have risen between Iran and the United States after U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from a multilateral nuclear deal in May and reimposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Rouhani said the United States would not succeed in cutting Irans economic ties with the region and the world.

Iranian Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri also said on Tuesday that U.S. sanctions were hitting vulnerable people in Iran.

When (Americans) say their target is the Iranian government and there wont be pressure on the sick, the elderly and the weak in society, its a lie, Jahangiri said, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).The new foreign minister of Mexico has held talks with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen as they seek ways to curb the flow of Central American migrants heading north.

Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard says he had a cordial and respectful meeting with Nielsen. But no agreement was announced following their talks Monday in Washington.

This was the first time Ebrard has met with Nielsen since the inauguration Saturday of Mexican President Andres Manual Lopez Obrador. The Trump administration is seeking Mexicos help with the wave migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. One possibility would be to make them wait in Mexico while their asylum claims are processed.

Mexico has called for increased U.S. investment in Central America to create jobs and make people less likely to leave.US defence secretary James Mattis expressed confidence on Monday, before and during his meeting with visiting Indian counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman, the two sides will work everything out regarding the threat of sanctions facing India for buying Russian S-400 missile defence systems.

Well sort out all those issues here today, and in the days ahead, Mattis told reporters when asked about the S-400 deal as he waited for the Indian defence ministers arrival at the Pentagon, and sought to portray discussions on the issue as normal collaboration and consultation.

Well work everything out, trust me, Mattis said in response to another specific question about the S-400 deal asked by a reported before the two officials went into closed-door formal talks accompanied by their military and diplomatic officials.

In her remarks, Sitharaman gave no explicit indication that the threat of US sanctions for S-400 purchases was an issue she wanted to raise. I look forward to spending some time on specifics of the issues that we have been engaged in, building on the discussions and outcomes of the 2+2 meetings, she said.

But, diplomatic sources on both sides warned India should be careful to not take one waiver as blanket waiver deals and feel encouraged to pursue more such deals.

Officials, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity, said these daily press leaks of arms deals with Russians as the kind of unnecessary provocation India and the US can do without.

India recently placed an order for five S-400 missile defence systems, for an estimated $5 billion, despite the prospects of the deal attracting secondary sanctions under a US law  Countering American Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (better known by acronym CAATSA)  that seeks to punish Russia for interfering in the 2016 elections and grabbing Crimea from Ukraine by scaring away their major importers, such as India.

India hopes, and is somewhat confident, it will get a waiver from the sanction given the state of ties between the two countries, but it has not received any specific assurance yet and is nervous about reports president Donald Trump is personally opposed to the proliferation of S-400s, which is also on the shopping list of NATO ally Turkey.

The administration recently sanctioned a Chinese military wing for buying these missile defence systems and went as far as to designate the official heading it, by name.

India has felt encouraged by the support it has received on this from Mattis, who has emerged as the staunchest supporter of stronger US ties with India among all of Trump administrations top officials. It was acknowledged by the Indian defence minister in her remarks at the Pentagon. We deeply acknowledge the warmth shown by you, and your responsiveness to Indias sensitivities, she said.

Mattis, backed by the secretary of state Mike Pompeo, publicly urged and lobbied US Congress in open hearings to grant expand the presidents waiver authority under CAATSA to exempt countries like India  and he had named it  that have long been clients of the Russian defence industry.

And he explained his reasons once again Monday.

India has spent many, many years in its non-aligned status. Its drawn a lot of weapons from Russia. We have a growing strategic confluence of interests with our country and theirs, the two largest democracies in the world.

In a press statement on Sitharamans meeting with Mattis, the Indian ministry of defence said that discussions were held on the growing partnership between India and the US in the defence sphere.

Views were also exchanged on a broad range of bilateral and international issues of mutual interest. The Ministers reviewed ongoing initiatives to further strengthen bilateral defense cooperation, as a key pillar of the strategic partnership between India and USA, it said.Rebranding

4 December 2018

Radisson Blu, the upper upscale hotel brand that delivers a positive and personalized service in stylish spaces, is proud to announce the opening of the Radisson Blu Hotel, Lund in Sweden. The 192-room hotel is a rebranding of the existing Park Inn by Radisson Hotel, Lund.

Sweden's second-oldest town, Lund is known for its rich, cultural history - including the Academy that has stood for centuries. Lund combines the ancient and the modern, more recently gaining recognition for its growing business sector where innovation flourishes.

The hotel has gone through a series of remarkable changes to prepare it for its new life as a Radisson Blu property. This includes a thorough review of all the guest rooms, communal areas and the services on offer at the hotel - most notably the development of a new lobby area that now features a co-working space and a bar.

Beyond its central location, within walking distance of the city center, the Radisson Blu Hotel, Lund allows guests to relax in style among impressive surroundings. It has 192 modern rooms and suites, with those on the highest floors offering beautiful views of Lund, Malmo and Copenhagen - as well as the Oresund Bridge. The hotel also features on-site parking and eight meeting rooms, able to accommodate up to 120 delegates.

The Radisson Blu Hotel, Lund is operated by Radisson Hospitality AB under a franchise agreement with Winn Hotel Group.Rebranding

4 December 2018

Hilton Birmingham at UAB, The University of Alabama at Birmingham's flagship hotel on campus, has completed its multi-million dollar renovation, officially converting from a DoubleTree by Hilton property to a Hilton Hotels & Resorts hotel.

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Birmingham was purchased by the UAB Educational Foundation in November of 2016. The hotel's renovations began in March 2018, with a comprehensive design and refurbishment plan culminating in a top-to-bottom transformation of the hotel.

Key highlights of the newly-renovated hotel, include:

Upgraded Common Areas

The hotel's lobby features new, original artwork, updated seating, tables, lighting and a sundries shop. A new Connectivity Station was also added, consisting of convenient, complimentary workstations equipped with Wi-Fi enabled computers, printers and ergonomic seating. Guest corridors and public areas were also upgraded with new wall coverings, detailed crown moulding and refinished guest room entry doors.

New Guest Rooms

The renovation has been conducted with subtle details that invite guests to enjoy the history of Birmingham and UAB while enjoying the latest in technology and comfort. Special attention was paid to work areas in the guest rooms and suites to include multiple USB charging ports and custom stone desks. All guest bathroom areas also underwent renovations to feature a new, modern design. The new look also pays tribute to the hotel's environmental programs by offering entirely LED-lit rooms and suites. Custom guest room carpets and public areas carpets finish out the upscale look and feel.

Completed in phases throughout 2018, the renovation included upgrading the hotel suites with more luxurious and contemporary furnishing and enhancing the Executive room categories. Each of the 295 modern guest rooms offer floor-to-ceiling windows, King or two Queen beds, mini-refrigerators and safes.

The hotel's top floor features guest rooms with full balconies and unbeatable views of Birmingham's downtown skyline and UAB campus. Exceptional corner King rooms have expanded working and living spaces with sweeping views of downtown.

Executive Lounge

The Executive Lounge on the lobby level has also been refurbished with floor to ceiling windows that offer a stunning and an expansive view of the redesigned pool terrace and cityscape, creating a cozy area for both leisure and business guests to relax when staying on the Executive floors and in suites.

The Executive Lounge offers a daily breakfast and a choice selection of alcoholic beverages, hot and cold drinks throughout the day. All Executive Room, Premium Executive Room and Suite Room guests, as well as Hilton Honors Diamond and Gold members, are invited to visit the Executive Lounge to enjoy these special services.

New Dining

Two dining options have been introduced with the hotel's conversion. The Lab Bar and Kitchen, now open on the hotel's ground floor, is a Southern-inspired, locally sourced bar and kitchen that complements Birmingham's thriving culinary scenes. Accessed via an entrance at the corner of University and 20th Street South, as well as directly through the hotel, The Lab Bar and Kitchen is purpose-built to serve the community and UAB's campus as well as hotel guests. At the center of the action is a 27-seat rectangular bar that serves a variety of local craft beers, specialty cocktails and a full menu. Featuring large fire pits and open patio seating, The Lab Bar and Kitchen is the vibrant spot where travelers can kick back, relax and cheers with locals. Helmed by Chef Matthew Comarato, the restaurant showcases its Southern roots through locally sourced ingredients prepared with a modern twist.

The second restaurant is a quick-serve cafe located next door to the Bar. The Lab Market Cafe, scheduled to open in January 2019, serves customers on the go, with seasonal, locally-sourced pastries and prepared foods. Made to order meals, gourmet salads and sandwiches will also be available, along with Hilton breakfast service and offerings at "Blaze" Coffee Bar.

Introduction of Fresh Connection

The Fresh Connection concept is a new takeout and delivery service that was created specifically to cater to guests, who are increasingly looking for greater convenience, value and variety. Guests who opt for in-room delivery will be greeted by a Fresh Connection runner, who will deliver their order to their door, take-out style. Guests can order favorites from the menu and savor some of the best flavors of Birmingham. Those who want to save the delivery fee and gratuity can opt for pickup in the Lab Market Cafe.

Transformed Conference Facilities

A grand spiral staircase leads from the hotel lobby to two ballrooms and meeting rooms of a variety of sizes. Hilton Birmingham at UAB boasts 17,000 square feet of high-tech meeting and event space. With a full in-house events team including event management, sales and in-house audio-visual services, by PSAV, the hotel is well equipped to host galas, weddings, conferences, reunions and events of all sizes.

"We took the opportunity with the transformation to honor some notable UAB graduates who made significant achievements and broke barriers," said Castagna. "The ballrooms and a large meeting space are named for early female and African American graduates of the medical program."

Hamilton Ballroom:

In 1946, Virginia Dare Hamilton was the only female in the Medical College of Alabama (precursor to the UAB School of Medicine), and became the first woman to receive the MD degree from the program.

In July 1968, Dr. Herschell Lee Hamilton received a clinical appointment in the Department of Surgery and became the first African American board-certified general surgeon at University Hospital.

Skipwith Ballroom:

In March 1969, Delois Skipwith became the first African American faculty member in the School of Nursing and the first tenure-track African American faculty member at UAB.

Montgomery Room:

In September 1923, Jimmie Ethel Montgomery entered the medical school in Tuscaloosa as the school's first full-time female student. In May 1925, she received a B.S. degree in Medicine from The University of Alabama, becoming the first female to graduate from the medical school.

"The renovation features a completely redesigned guest room and public area experience," said Jodie Mote, UAB Education Foundation. "When our visitors choose to stay with us, be it for business or pleasure, with their partner or their family, we want them to be inspired by their surroundings while enjoying all the services the hotel has to offer."

Hilton Birmingham at UAB is also part of Hilton Honors, the award-winning guest-loyalty program for Hilton's 15 distinct hotel brands. Members who book directly have access to instant benefits, including a flexible payment slider that allows members to choose nearly any combination of Points and money to book a stay, an exclusive member discount that can't be found anywhere else and free standard Wi-Fi. Members also enjoy popular digital tools available exclusively through the industry-leading Hilton Honors mobile app, where Hilton Honors members can check-in and choose their room. The hotel is also part of Hilton's Travel with Purpose corporate responsibility strategy, which fosters sustainable travel and tourism globally.Pipeline

4 December 2018

IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group), one of the world's leading hotel companies, today announces the development of the new-build, dual-branded Staybridge Suites and Holiday Inn Express Quincy hotel in Quincy, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston.

The 90-room Staybridge Suites and 90-room Holiday Inn Express will be owned by XSS Hotels("XSS") and Cathartes Investments. Colwen Hotels, the management company affiliate of XSS, will manage the new 180-room hotel. This property marks the second development between IHG and XSS. The first, the Holiday Inn Boston Logan Airport - Chelsea, successfully opened in August.

The five-story Staybridge Suites and Holiday Inn Express property will share public and back-of-house areas. The dual-branded hotel will feature a lobby bar and light fare evening food and beverage service, a market, 700 square feet of meeting space, a fitness facility, and onsite parking.

Located at 1 Arlington Street in Quincy, Massachusetts, the hotel is directly across from the North Quincy station of the MBTA subway system. The historic City of Quincy, located approximately eight miles south of downtown Boston, is the home of financial, insurance and retail corporate offices, academic institutions and a legacy industrial waterfront.

The dual-branded Staybridge Suites and Holiday Inn Express will incorporate the unique and special features associated with both brands, including a hot complimentary breakfast buffet with signature favorite offerings.

The spacious upscale Staybridge Suites guestrooms will include fully equipped kitchens with a full-size refrigerator, microwave oven, cooktop stove and a dishwasher.

The Holiday Inn Express guestrooms will feature a modern design providing a fresh, contemporary space including multi-functional seating, plush bedding and smart bedside charging outlets.

The dual-branded Staybridge Suites and Holiday Inn Express is expected to open in Q2 2019.Appointment

4 December 2018

Commonwealth Hotels LLC, is pleased to announce that Volker "VW" Wellmann, a native of Germany, has been appointed as the hotel's General Manager as of August 2018.

Volker's 35 years of Service and Hospitality industry experience includes Hotel Management of Select, as well as Full-Service, Branded, Boutique and Convention properties throughout the U.S. A graduate of Bradley University, who also attended the University of Madrid in Spain and Inlingua in Verona Italy, Volker resides in Northern Kentucky with his wife of 25 years and 15-year old daughter, while his son is attending the University of Louisville.

Commonwealth Hotels, LLC. was founded in 1986 and is a proven partner in providing hotel development and management services. The company has extensive experience managing premium branded full service and select service hotels.Appointment

4 December 2018

Hyatt Regency Trinidad , located in the Port of Spain International Waterfront Development, is pleased to announce the appointment of Richard Westell as general manager. A London-born, 20-year Hyatt veteran, Richard will oversee the day-to-day operations of the 423-room, 15-suite hotel that caters to business and leisure travelers.

Richard joins Hyatt Regency Trinidad with experience in various positions including food and beverage operations and executive management with a specialization in menu engineering, revenue management and guest and investor relations. In his previous role as General Manager at Hyatt Regency Merida in Mexico, Westell served more than 10 years overseeing all aspects of the property in accordance with Hyatt's mission and values.Supplier News

4 December 2018

The hotel websites do not have to resemble a leaflet from your hotel lobby. It may be a useful source of information as well as another way of benefiting from great hotel location and multitude of tourist attractions. However, the question is: how to make it real and permanent?

The innovative solution

Nowadays, a great remedy for high competitiveness and a desire to be unique is installing the Our.Guide widget. When the widget is available at the hotel website, the potential hotel guests are able to check the tourist attractions located in the hotel's neighbourhood. Moreover, the hotel guests may verify how far the given spot is located from the hotel, how to get there, when is it open and what the ticket price is.

At present, the widget is becoming more and more popular and it has become a standard in a hotel industry. Today, you may see the Our.Guide widget at more than 500 hotel websites where it is used by over 50,000 hotel guests monthly.

The Our.Guide's owners have just changed their business model. At the moment, the Our.Guide widget is available for free. Moreover, the hotel owners who sell the services and tickets using Tours and Activities widget will receive 5% cash-back of those sales. In this way, the hotels may gain additional source of incomes and hotel guests do not have to look for interesting ways of spending their free time.

Our.Guide widget has been integrated with the most popular OTA services that operate Tours and Activities, such as GetYourGuide.com, Tigets or Viator. The company also plans to integrate with other popular services in the nearest future.



Tour and Activities Sale

Currently, the online sale of admission tickets to popular tourist attractions has been developing very dynamically recently. Moreover, the specialists from the tourism industry predict that in a few years the popularity of buying the entrance tickets to local attractions and activities via the Internet will be the same as online booking of hotels or airline tickets these days.

This trend is also confirmed by recent media reports that say the most popular tourist website TripAdvisor has just bought a Tours & Activities platform for $200 million. Moreover, the TripAdvisor has become an owner of several different similar companies, including: Vacation Home Rental B2B platform, Oyster.com website that includes loads of hotel reviews, La Fourchette a website that allows to book a table in a restaurant and a few more.

Tour and Activities' sales platforms are also gaining more and more bailouts to ensure faster development of this particular industry. A great example can be GetYourGuide.com start-up located in Berlin that has already received a $170 million bailout and a slightly younger Tiqets situated in Amsterdam, has already raised $45.5 million bailout for development, including the latest November investment.



How to start making money on Tour and Activities?

Our.Guide software has been created for hotel managers who do not have time to update offers on their website constantly, describe the tourist attractions in their area or generate dynamic links to partner platforms. Our.Guide is a simple service: you just need to set up an account, set the location of your accommodation, then generate the HTML code and place it only once at your website.

The widget works on every website, the producer also includes installation instructions dedicated to the most popular CMS systems such as Wordpress, WIX or Joomla.

When the widget is installed on the website, the system will display a guide with the tourist attractions in your area, presenting for each of them the distance and estimated travel time from the hotel to the given attraction.

In the place where the given tourist attraction is described, there is a possibility to purchase an online ticket or an on-line trip to this place, the system will show it.

If the visitor (hotel guest) clicks on a link and purchases a ticket for the attraction, the hotel will automatically receive 5% cash-back of the transaction value.

The Our.Guide system is connected to many partner systems and you may be sure that only the best offers that can interest your guests will be presented.

It is worth adding the Our.Guide widget to your hotel website because every day is a chance to make money on your hotel guest's transactions. Nevertheless, your hotel will also provide your guests a sophisticated tool for planning their free time.Press Release

4 December 2018

New Headquarters Expected to Create 80 Jobs for Top Hospitality Professionals

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Timbers Resorts, one of the largest independent developers and operators of world-class boutique resorts, hotels and private residence clubs, today announced the opening of its new corporate headquarters in Winter Park, Fla. Timbers Resorts' move to Winter Park marks an exciting new chapter for the company and is in direct response to its growing portfolio of properties on the East Coast; its interest in expanding further into Florida, the Caribbean and Europe; and its desire to attract top industry talent for 80 job opportunities.

"We are very excited to join the Winter Park community," said CEO of Timbers Resorts Greg Spencer. "We feel that Florida provides a phenomenal platform for the Timbers Resorts brand and is a natural setting to launch new creative experiential vacation offerings. Moving our headquarters out of the Aspen area was a difficult decision, but we feel that Winter Park has a very similar spirit that our brand and employees will fit well within."

The relocation celebrates Timbers Resorts continued growth since its founding in 1999. The company's success has been based largely on their keen ability to recognize the most-sought out destinations and deliver a luxury product that is both unique and authentic focusing on family and experiences. This same careful consideration for location and the understanding of sense of place was also essential to deciding on the new headquarters. Spencer's top priority was finding a home for his team with comparable core values to Aspen and it was Winter Park's welcoming community and unique character that resonated with the brand's ethos and objectives.

"Winter Park has that special character and feel that resonates for Timbers," said David Burden, Executive Chairman & Founder of Timbers Resorts. "Having the corporate office on the East Coast is essential as we see more and more opportunities along the Eastern Seaboard and into Europe."

Centrally located in the Orlando metro area, Winter Park is proving to be an emerging epicenter for business in the Southeast, and along with its history as a resort destination, Timbers Resorts recognizes Winter Park an ideal location to fuel its future.

"There is no better place than the Orlando region for a global brand like Timbers Resorts to build its future," said Orlando Economic Partnership President and CEO Tim Giuliani. "As the most visited place in the U.S., this is the center of tourism and leisure activity, but more than that, our region is a place where companies can relocate their headquarters and find the resources and assets required for success."

Winter Park's high concentration of hospitality professionals and proximity to higher education was also important. The company expects to bring 80 jobs to the community, creating an exciting opportunity for individuals in the area who are looking to grow with one of the most reputable resort developers and operators in the country that is recognized for various world's best awards by Travel + Leisure, Conde Nast and TIME.

Governor Rick Scott said, "One of the most important things we can do for a family is give them a job. Florida'shardworking businesses have created more than 1.6 million jobs, and our unemployment rate is the lowest in more than 11 years because of our focus on job creation. I'm proud that this project will create even more jobs in the Orlando area."

Throughout this process, Spencer and his team have worked closely with the Orlando Economic Partnership, the City of Winter Park, the City of Orlando, the Government of Orange County and Enterprise Florida to make sure the move was a good fit for both the company as well as the community.

"We can't thank everyone enough for their true professionalism, their helpful nature and their welcoming hospitality," said Spencer. "The overall Orlando community should be very proud that this world-class group of professionals is focused on providing job growth in their respective communities."

"We know their presence will add to the vibrancy of Winter Park, and we look forward to welcoming the company and all of their team members to their new home," said City of Winter Park Mayor Steven Leary.

While the headquarters is moving, Timbers Resorts will still maintain its Colorado office as well as its satellite offices in Barcelona, Spain; Bluffton, SC; and Kauai, HI. Hiring for select positions is underway and the new office will open the first quarter of 2019. To view all open positions with Timbers Resorts and to apply, please visit this link.Supplier News

4 December 2018

VENZA has announced a new partnership with Chicago-based TraknProtect, a move designed to provide hotels with safety buttons and ongoing employee training in one easy-to-use system.

This development comes as legislation strengthening sexual harassment policies in the hospitality industry has become widespread and the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) and its major hotel members (including Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Marriott and Wyndham) have announced plans by 2020 to provide employee safety devices to all staff that directly interact with guests. The laws in New York, Seattle and Chicago are already in effect, with Miami Beach following in August 2019. Along with the need for better personal security solutions, hoteliers are realizing that they must integrate better staff training platforms, a solution now available to VENZA and TraknProtect clients as a more effective way to deliver employee training.

Utilizing a network of BLE & Wi-Fi gateways, the TraknProtect platform gathers real-time location data from the safety buttons once they are activated. The proprietary software (available via mobile app, web app and desktop) allows designated staff to receive alerts and respond quickly, knowing the exact location of their employees, even if they have moved since triggering the alert.

"Recognizing that both our companies were in alignmentempowering hospitality employees with our respective serviceswe decided to partner and better serve the industry," said Josh Bergen, VENZA President. "With this new partnership, VENZA will be utilizing PEAK,its proprietary learning portal to host training courses for TraknProtect clients." The partnership also assures hotel management that they are compliant while mitigating their liability and securing the safety of their staff, an issue taking on more urgency with the #MeToo movement and initiatives by many major hotel brands to strengthen sexual harassment awareness and training. By leveraging PEAK, clients will be better able to identify and address knowledge gaps and vulnerabilities in their employee training, access program information on how to use the safety buttons and instruct those responsible for responding to safety button alerts.

"Hoteliers are increasingly focused on the importance of creating safe environments for staff and guests, and we are especially pleased to develop our partnership with VENZA at a time when more hotel companies and more cities are developing stronger protection and security measures," said Parminder Batra, CEO & Co-Founder of TraknProtect.

About VENZA

Drawing on decades of experience, VENZA is a data protection company that can help organizations mitigate their vulnerabilities and ensure compliance, keeping guests and their data safe from breaches. By delivering a security solution for readiness, reassurance and response, VENZA offers 360-degree visibility for proactive management of risksso users can focus on guest service and building trust in their brand. Better visibility means better defense. Know the risks, protect the enterprise with VENZA.

More than 225,000 users in 100+ countries look to VENZA for tools, technology, and strategic security support. Founded in 2008 with a decade of service to the hospitality industry, VENZA is a privately held company with regional offices in Atlanta, GA and The Hague, Netherlands. For more information, visit VENZAgroup.com.

About TraknProtect

Based in Chicago, IL, TraknProtect is a real-time location technology company enabling hotels to integrate the power of location data into their safety and operations systems. TraknProtect offers the only safety button solution tailored for the hospitality industry and is premised on the fastest-growing Internet of Things (IoT) platform in the industry. TraknProtect endeavors to help hotels enhance guest satisfaction, increase employee efficiency, and improve employee safety throughout their properties.

Through its proprietary software (mobile app, web app, and desktop), a property's security team or designated staff have access to real-time location data of an employee during a distress call, as well as inventory, food & beverage ("F&B") room service trays and vendor or staff activity on property, all on one platform.Radisson Blu announced the opening of the Radisson Blu Hotel, Lund in Sweden. The 192-room hotel is a rebranding of the existing Park Inn by Radisson Hotel, Lund.

Radisson Blu announced the opening of the Radisson Blu Hotel, Lund in Sweden. The 192-room hotel is a rebranding of the existing Park Inn by Radisson Hotel, Lund.

Sweden's second-oldest town, Lund is known for its rich, cultural history  including the Academy that has stood for centuries. Lund combines the ancient and the modern, more recently gaining recognition for its growing business sector where innovation flourishes.

Tom Flanagan Karttunen, Area Senior Vice President of the Nordics region for Radisson Hotel Group, said: "We're rebranding the hotel to Radisson Blu as a result of the massive developments in the city. Our aim is to always provide our guests with the best possible hotel experiences, and  with this rebranding  we've updated our product to adapt to the changing needs of our guests as Lund develops."

The hotel has gone through a series of remarkable changes to prepare it for its new life as a Radisson Blu property. This includes a thorough review of all the guest rooms, communal areas and the services on offer at the hotel  most notably the development of a new lobby area that now features a co-working space and a bar.

Beyond its central location, within walking distance of the city center, the Radisson Blu Hotel, Lund allows guests to relax in style among impressive surroundings. It has 192 modern rooms and suites, with those on the highest floors offering beautiful views of Lund, Malmo and Copenhagen  as well as the Oresund Bridge. The hotel also features on-site parking and eight meeting rooms, able to accommodate up to 120 delegates.

The Radisson Blu Hotel, Lund is operated by Radisson Hospitality AB under a franchise agreement with Winn Hotel Group.

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 2021 Hotel News ResourceIntegration between Infor HMS and OpenKey to speed guest check-in

OpenKey, the industry standard for universal mobile key in hotels has announced a new alliance with Infor, a global leader in business cloud software for Enterprise and SMB companies. This alliance will allow customers to maximize OpenKey utility from within Infors HMS platform, utilizing the efficiency of automated mobile key delivery. OpenKey can be found in 50 countries on six continents and recently opened a second office in Shanghai, China.

Hotel properties across the United States are adding automated mobile key delivery to reduce guest check-in wait times, save costs on expensive RFID keycards and simplify the key issue experience for the front desk agent. The powerful new integration is a back-end feature that automatically issues a secure mobile key to a guests smartphone upon check-in at the hotel. The feature is triggered by the staff entering a mobile device number and requires no additional steps by the front desk agent. Capturing a guest mobile number is a standard aspect of most hotel check-in processes to facilitate any necessary communication with the guest while staying at the hotel. The mobile key is stored securely as an encrypted token on the guest smartphone and communicates with a digital door lock via the Bluetooth function on the device.

We seek to partner with industry leaders such as OpenKey on solutions that improve the guest experience and the bottom line, said Stewart Applbaum, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Infor. As competition in the hotel industry continues to tighten, creating competitive differentiation through guest technology is a must. Our goal is to deliver solutions that are simple and effortless.

Research shows that todays high-tech traveler does not want to wait at the front desk for check-in. In fact, a Cornell Universitys Center for Hospitality study found that just a five-minute wait at check-in causes guest satisfaction to drop by 50 percent. More hoteliers are putting technology solutions at the forefront to support their guest-centric strategies.

The efficiency and success that hotel properties are experiencing with automated mobile key delivery is exciting to be part of, said Brian Shedd, Vice President of Sales & Marketing for OpenKey. Our goal has always been to revolutionize the hotel industry and reshape the standard for guest service. We are pleased with the results to date and will continue to work with innovative partners like Infor to deliver seamless and convenient hotel guest experiences.

In 2014, OpenKey set out to perfect mobile hospitality. Its keyless entry technology has been elevating the guest experience while reducing hotel staff workload. In addition to empowering guests with a tap of a button on their smartphones, it also reduces waste, eliminating the need for plastic key cards.



About Infor

Infor develops business cloud software for Enterprise and SMB companies globally. With 17,000 employees and over 68,000 customers in more than 170 countries, Infor software is designed for progress. To learn more, please visit www.infor.com.



Media Contact for Infor

Christina Ledger

Christina.ledger@infor.com

312.662.2135

About OpenKey

Founded in 2014, OpenKey is reinventing the hospitality experience through its mobile access solution. The OpenKey app is the industry standard for universal mobile key technology and works with the majority of digital hotel locks. Hotels and their guests benefit from OpenKeys platform providing efficiency, convenience and cost savings. OpenKey is a privately held company located in Plano, Texas. The company has been funded by several of the largest hotel ownership and management companies in the world. The app is available for both iOS and Android devices. For more information, please visit www.openkey.co.



Media Contact for OpenKey

Juana Veliz

media@openkey.co

469.661.0841

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 2021 Hotel News ResourceIHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) today announced the development of the new-build, dual-branded Staybridge Suites and Holiday Inn Express Quincy hotel in Quincy, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston.

IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) today announced the development of the new-build, dual-branded Staybridge Suites and Holiday Inn Express Quincy hotel in Quincy, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston.

The 90-room Staybridge Suites and 90-room Holiday Inn Express will be owned by XSS Hotels and Cathartes Investments. Colwen Hotels, the management company affiliate of XSS, will manage the new 180-room hotel. This property marks the second development between IHG and XSS. The first, the Holiday Inn Boston Logan Airport  Chelsea, successfully opened in August.

Joel Eisemann, Chief Development Officer, The Americas, IHG, said: "We are enthused to be working with XSS Hotels on this dual-branded hotel. XSS is one of the preeminent hotel developers in the Northeast. They have an excellent reputation in greater Boston and an impressive track record of building artistically designed and operationally outstanding hotels."

The five-story Staybridge Suites and Holiday Inn Express property will share public and back-of-house areas. The dual-branded hotel will feature a lobby bar and light fare evening food and beverage service, a market, 700 square feet of meeting space, a fitness facility, and onsite parking.

Leo Xarras, Partner in XSS, said: "Our team is pleased to be working closely with IHG on multiple projects regionally here in Boston. We are very excited to offer two different accommodation types for travelers with an integrated check-in desk and first floor amenities."

Located at 1 Arlington Street in Quincy, Massachusetts, the hotel is directly across from the North Quincy station of the MBTA subway system. The historic City of Quincy, located approximately eight miles south of downtown Boston, is the home of financial, insurance and retail corporate offices, academic institutions and a legacy industrial waterfront.

The dual-branded Staybridge Suites and Holiday Inn Express will incorporate the unique and special features associated with both brands, including a hot complimentary breakfast buffet with signature favorite offerings.

The spacious upscale Staybridge Suites guestrooms will include fully equipped kitchens with a full-size refrigerator, microwave oven, cooktop stove and a dishwasher.

The Holiday Inn Express guestrooms will feature a modern design providing a fresh, contemporary space including multi-functional seating, plush bedding and smart bedside charging outlets.

The dual-branded Staybridge Suites and Holiday Inn Express is expected to open in Q2 2019.

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 2021 Hotel News ResourceThe Marriott data breach, however it ultimately plays out, should be a wake-up call for the hospitality industry. Owners, operators and brands need to create effective and comprehensive policies, procedures and systems to address an increasingly dangerous data environment.

Data breaches are back in the news, and this time, its a well-known hotel industry player: Marriott International. The company announced today that unauthorized access to their systems going back several years has exposed the names and other personal details of over 500 million guests. For hoteliers, this situation can be avoided by using the Global Hospitality Group Risk Assessment Audit, a comprehensive tool that combines your internal resources with our expertise in analyzing your risk profile, both for compliance purposes and to create effective data security strategies.

Bob Braun, senior member of JMBMs Global Hospitality Group and Co-Chair of the Firms Cybersecurity & Privacy Group, sums up what Marriott is facing and what lessons other hotels can learn from this incident, below.

Not a Good Day for Marriott - By Bob Braun

Its unlikely that anyone in the hospitality industry  perhaps anyone who watches the news  hasnt heard about the data breach at Marriott. Marriotts pre-eminent position in the hotel industry, and the very size of the breach, with an estimated 500 million individuals impacted (putting it second behind the Yahoo breach) make this noteworthy.

What Happened?

While some of the information is available, most of the details have yet to be filled in. However, there are some key takeaways that every hotel owner, operator and brand should consider:

First, this breach dates back more than 4 years, to 2014, prior to Starwoods acquisition by Marriott. This highlights a key problem with data breaches in general, and a particular problem for the hospitality industry: data breaches are difficult to discover, creating not a one-time problem, but a continuing issue. In this case, Marriott reported that the intruders encrypted information from the hacked database, possibly to avoid detection by any data-loss prevention tools when removing the stolen information from the companys network, further complicating the discovery and analysis of the breach.

Marriotts statement also detailed the information that was compromised, which it said includes some combination of name, mailing address, phone number, email address, passport number, Starwood Preferred Guest account information, date of birth, gender, arrival and departure information, reservation date and communication preferences. The theft of this information raises the possibility of creating significant damage to individuals, and its ramifications will be felt for a long time.

One concern that needs to be considered is that Marriott was aware of potential issues at Starwood. Just after Marriotts acquisition of Starwood, Starwood disclosed a breach involving more than 50 properties. According to Starwoods disclosure at the time, that earlier breach stretched back at least one year  to November 2014.

As we have noted earlier, while the size of this breach is breathtaking, Marriott is not alone. Virtually every major hotel company (and many smaller brands) have been impacted by breaches. This highlights that hotel companies are an attractive target, both for the vast amounts of information they collect, as well as systemic issues (multiple legacy systems, extensive use of vendors, and a variety of access points).

There will be a significant cost to this breach, including both direct costs (including breach notification and remediation, responding to regulatory and private actions) as well as reputational costs, translating into potential loss of business. And hotel owners operating under Marriott brands will undoubtedly bear at least part of the cost, as Marriott implements new policies, procedures and systems, and as consumers reconsider the security of Marriott systems.

Industry Challenges

This breach comes at particularly sensitive time, as privacy laws in the United States and abroad are becoming increasingly strict. Marriott will have to report and consider its obligations not only under United States laws  which are fragmented, and will include virtually every state, as well as the federal government  but also the impact of the European Union General Data Privacy Regulation, which itself is enforced by a variety of data regulators. Beyond this, other countries  ranging from India to Canada to China and Russia  have varying regulatory schemes which Marriott must address.

What Do Hoteliers Need to Do?

The Marriott data breach, however it ultimately plays out, should be a wake-up call for the hospitality industry. Owners, operators and brands need to create effective and comprehensive policies, procedures and systems to address an increasingly dangerous data environment. Existing processes  often a patchwork of uncoordinated documents  simply will not work in todays new environment, which demands attention not only to the ever-increasing sophistication of hackers, but also the adoption of new laws and regulations that impose greater responsibility, and impose greater potential liability, on the collection, retention and use of personal information.

The JMBM Global Hospitality Group has joined with the JMBM Cybersecurity and Privacy Group to offer a Risk Assessment Audit and cybersecurity protocols geared specifically to the hotel industry. The Risk Assessment Audit is a comprehensive tool that joins together your internal resources (including information technology, information security and corporate governance) with our expertise in analyzing your risk profile to create an inclusive suite of findings, recommendations and strategy, both for compliance purposes and to create effective data security practices. For more information, contact Bob Braun at 310-785-5331 or rbraun@jmbm.com.

Bob Braun is a Senior Member of JMBMs Global Hospitality Group and is Co-Chair of the Firms Cybersecurity & Privacy Group. Bob has more than 20 years experience in representing hotel owners and developers in their contracts, relationships and disputes with hotel managers, licensors, franchisors and brands, and has negotiated hundreds of hotel management and franchise agreements. His practice includes experience with virtually every significant hotel brand and manager. Bob also advises clients on condo hotel securities issues and many transactional matters, including entity formation, financing, and joint ventures, and works with companies on their data technology, privacy and security matters. These include software licensing, cloud computing, e-commerce, data processing and outsourcing agreements for the hospitality industry.

In addition, Bob is a frequent lecturer as an expert in technology, privacy and data security issues, and is one of only two attorneys in the 2015 listing of SuperLawyers to be recognized for expertise in Information Technology. Bob is on the Advisory Board of the Information Systems Security Association, Los Angeles chapter, and a member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals. Contact Bob Braun at 310.785.5331 or rbraun@jmbm.com.

This is Jim Butler, author of www.HotelLawBlog.com and hotel lawyer, signing off. Please contact us if you would like to discuss any issues or development that affect your hotel interests. We would like to see if our experience might help you create value or avoid unnecessary pitfalls. Whos your hotel lawyer?

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 2021 Hotel News ResourceRed Planet Japan Inc. (3350:JP) today announced the formation of a joint venture with funds managed by GreenOak Investment Management K.K., the Japanese arm of GreenOak Real Estate, that will develop Red Planet branded hotels in select city centres throughout Japan.

Red Planet Japan Inc. (3350:JP) today announced the formation of a joint venture with funds managed by GreenOak Investment Management K.K., the Japanese arm of GreenOak Real Estate, that will develop Red Planet branded hotels in select city centres throughout Japan.

GreenOak shall invest up to 5 billion yen into the venture, while RPJ shall invest up to 555,555,555 yen and, with non-recourse debt, the venture shall have total capital of approximately 22.2 billion available to finance up to six new hotels in Japan over the next two years.

Through the new venture, Red Planet Japan plans to build hotels across major Japanese city centres, commencing with a 160 room hotel in Hiroshima. Both parties expect to expand the scope of the venture over the following two years to keep pace with the rapidly-growing Japanese travel market.

Red Planet Japan's Chief Executive Officer, Tim Hansing, said, "This partnership enables major expansion of our hotel footprint across Japan's urban centres, solidifying our position as the leading Asian budget hotel chain to meet increasing demand from, above all, the booming tourism surge into Japan. We are particularly pleased to be be able to showcase our guest-facing technology which is transforming the stay experience. None of our competitors have been able to implement anything like this."

GreenOak has operated in Japan since 2010 and has USD 10.6 billion in assets under management worldwide. Tokyo-based GreenOak Partner, Dan Klebes, commented, "Through this venture, GreenOak seeks to invest in a sought-after asset class with a brand which appeals to the regional value-seeking traveller visiting Japan today. The Japanese hospitality market enjoys high occupancy rates and rising rooms rates, providing high yields and substantial asset appreciation. We believe our relationships will assist Red Planet in identifying new opportunities in Japan, and we hope to commit further funds to the budget hospitality sector in an ongoing partnership with Red Planet."

Simon Gerovich, Chairman of Red Planet Japan, commented, "Having created the brand, infrastructure, and technology platform to realise substantial increases in revenues, margin expansion, and profits, we are now accelerating the pace of our roll-out. We regard this venture as the first of a series of asset developments with GreenOak over the coming years. The market is substantial, and growing rapidly, and we are well poised to scale up our presence accordingly."

With the new hotels, Red Planet Japan shall operate 2,500 rooms across Japan and the Philippines, boosting the total number of rooms operating under the Red Planet brand in Asia to 7,452 over the next two years.

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 2021 Hotel News Resource2018 was a year filled with ups-and-downs in the rap game. 03 Greedo captivated hip-hop with the release of his album, Wolf Of Grapestreet. While he followed the project with God Level and his joint projects with Nef Tha Pharoah and Rappa Mourn, his career came to a screeching halt when he was sentenced to 20-years behind bars stemming from an arrest in 2016. Greedo may have stacked up on material before he goes in for 20-years, but according to reports, it seems as if he might be out way earlier than expected.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BqnuBUgAxId



Despite a 20-year sentence, Greedo might be coming out of prison as early as 2020. Per Greedo's inmate entry at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's website, the rapper will be eligible for parole on September 19th, 2020. The rapper's initial release date was slated for May 31st, 2038. Hopefully, Greedo will be back out by then.

Greedo was arrested in 2016 in Amarilla, TX after he and his friend were pulled over. Police said they discovered four pounds of methamphetamine along with two stolen guns.

Over the months since his arrest, his friends in the rap game have been making sure that he's not forgotten. Both his collaborative efforts with Nef That Pharoah and Rappa Mourn arrived after his sentencing. Greedo was also the sole rap feature on Freddie Gibbs' Freddie. The two rappers connected on the album's highlight, "Death Row."2018 has seen a multitude of mixtapes by artists such as Wiz Khalifa, Lil B and Joey Bada$$ finally hit streaming services after years of being trapped in the worldwideweb netherworld. In most cases, the samples and beats are fully restored. We get it: sample clearance fees and copyright laws are tough to navigate. The ubiquity and utter ease of streaming services comes with an asterisk as they are often wont to navigate the murky waters of mixtape distribution.

With that said, it got us thinking and we put together a list of tapes  old and new  we need on streaming services as soon as possible. Apple, Spotify, TIDAL  what are yall waiting for?

What mixtape would you like to see on your streaming service of choice ASAP?

Rich Gang - Tha Tour, Pt 1

In between his promise to never stop going in, remember when Rich Homie Quan promised us that Rich Gang would be the hardest duo out of Atlanta since Outkast? The thrill of hearing Rich Gang was watching those very boasts prove true as Thug and Rich, both outliers in style and rapping prowess, yielded such a compelling bond, flanked with Birdman at their side. Their chemistry felt almost alien: how could these two play off each other with their vocals so effortlessly? Its enough were still asking for a Rich Gang reunion; with a tape as kinetic as Tha Tour, Pt 1, how could you not?

Chance the Rapper - Acid Rap

Before the Kit Kat commercials and Kanye collabs, Chance the Rapper was a precocious Chicago teen, taking plenty of recreational drugs and recording music with his friends. Years later, his breakthrough tape Acid Rap still sounds like a defining document of the city he grew up in. While drill took to the mainstream, Chance and associates went in a wholly different direction; incorporating juke beats, choir samples, Midwestern soul, Twista verses and a lot of pain and joy.

Harlem swag and a Houston flair: thanks to the foresight of A$AP Yams and the charisma of a certain A$AP Rocky, LiveLoveA$AP is nowhere near the experimental try-hard dirge of Rockys later albums. Instead, its a fully fleshed out debut, confident in its post-regional tastes while showcasing one of Harlems brightest. I be that pretty motherfucker, Rocky proclaimed in Peso, keeping that concept hanging over the entirety of the tape while giving fans plenty of quotables and effortless rap flows. Besides laying the foundation for the A$AP Mob, this tape felt like the coming out party for Clams Casino and SpaceGhostpurrp, who provided some of cloud raps best production on LiveLoveA$AP.

Dipset - The Diplomats, Vol. 1

New York groups were supposed to be scary. G-Unit was hard, the Ruff Ryders damn near terrifying and the LOX formidable but there was something off-kilter with Dipset. Just how many rappers would willingly rap over the intro to the Facts of Life? What rap group would snag one of Just Blazes best beats, record it and get it sent to Hot 97 to premiere the very same day? That song, Oh Boy, which appears on The Diplomats, Vol.1, is top 5 in Dipset canon but the rest of the tape, featuring Juelz Santana, Jim Jones and Camron, holds up in how it showcases a rap crew with little reverence for how things should be in rap. Nothing was safe from Dipset; entire Jay-Z beats were jacked, Camron had no problem upsetting Ja Rule on his own song and previewing a good chunk of his upcoming album Come Home With Me on the tape at the same time. In hindsight, we cant blame Camron considering just how well Come Home With Me popped off  if the tracks nice, run it twice.

Chief Keef - Back From The Dead

How many people spearhead movements at only 16? Back From The Dead introduced the world to a Chicago teen who hardly raised his voice over rattling 808s, uttering threats and rattling off lists of grievances with the chilling energy of someone decades older. Its an approach that worked  songs like I Dont Like and My Niggas sound modern thanks to Chief Keefs vocals, equally capable of sounding calm and nihilistic. This tape was pivotal in bringing the sound of drill to ears outside of Chicago as Keef and other rappers like Fredo Santana, G Herbo, King Louie and Lil Durk sought to depict a Chicago in a more menacing light.

Wiz Khalifa & Curren$y - How Fly





In 2009, Curren$y was on a mad tear, free from YMCMB and on the cusp of leaving the blogosphere thanks to a shrewd tape with an upstart rapper named Wiz Khalifa. How Fly tapped into an kinetic chemistry between the two, allowing both rappers to relax and aim to craft comfortable music that sounded effortless and cool. There are no ambitious concepts to stick to, no drama or stakes to raise; just two dudes talking about cool shit over production courtesy of Monsta Beatz, lending itself well to many a summer play through. With a few notable Wiz tapes slowly being released onto streaming services, fingers are crossed this classic collab makes its way over sooner rather than later.

Earl Sweatshirt - Earl





Odd Futures first wave of music is getting harder to find nowadays. Tyler, the Creators debut Bastard is scarce and Frank Oceans Nostalgia, Ultra seems elusive. Thankfully the strongest reminder for OFs brightest success can still be found on YouTube. The viral clip for EARL manages to match the violent imagery of a 16-year-old Earl Sweatshirts raps, note for note. Despite being away during the initial success of Odd Future, Earls incredible talent, evident on the slapstick and macabre EARL, cast a long shadow over the group, prompting Free Earl chants at many a show.

Future - Monster

The further we are from the year 2015, the more we learn to better appreciate how impactful Futures mixtape run was. Coming off a major breakup and a muddled reaction to his second studio album Honest, Futures reaction was to dive deep into himself. The trio of Monster, Beast Mode, and 56 Nights redefined the Atlanta rappers modus operandi; instead of bright melodies, we got bleary boasts and turgid croaks, soaked in codeine and promethazine. Thanks to the production talents of Metro Boomin, Southside and Nard & B and others, Monster sounded like the brief 4 A.M. window where pain, bravado and vulnerability collide. The fact it yielded classic Future tracks like Fuck Up Some Commas and Codeine Crazy doesnt hurt, either.

Lil Wayne - Da Drought 3

If youre craving unfiltered Weezy at his zenith, look no further. Everyone has their favourite Wayne mixtape but Da Drought 3 was the one mixtape everyone remembers where Wayne called himself the best rapper alive and acted like it. Its two discs of sprawl, ambition and punchlines, setting up Tha Carter III and its world-conquering aims with the perfect assist. Wanna hear him freestyle over Walk It Out, asking people to call him Paul Bunyan? Or when he calls himself a pack of Orbit gum over the Throw Some Ds beat? Wayne frequently stole beats with his talent, rendering the original tracks void with each blackout remix.

J Cole - The Warm Up





J. Coles underdog status is probably the first thing you remember about his first three mixtapes. Between titling them Friday Night Lights, The Warm Up and The Come Up, the constant sports imagery, the stories about trying to get to Jay-Z and learning to produce  J. Cole didnt want you to forget just how hard he worked to get a footing in rap. Its this state of hunger that drew eyes to Cole prior to dropping his first album and its what keeps The Warm Up vital in his discography. Cole has a reverence for rap that courses through The Warm Up; his self-production indicate his tastes well but its choosing to rap over beats like "Dead Presidents," "'93 'Til Infinity," "Get By," and "Last Call" in a manner of different flows and patterns that show off just how badly he wanted to stand next to his influences and guideposts and what he was willing to do to get there.Captain Marvel will give fans a chance to get to know the hero that will undoubtedly fight Thanos. In the comic books, Captain Marvel (real name Carol Danvers) goes through a plotline where she is brainwashed. In the latest trailer for the next MCU film, Marvel makes it clear that they will be adapting that storyline. Originally, the plot was viewed as controversial because it involved a relationship while Danvers had her mind wiped (which is rape). Disney probably won't tackle something as dark as that, but it looks like they will at least dive into the brainwashing element.

Danvers barley remembers a life back on Earth, and in the new trailer, a mysterious "hero" explains how she saved Carol. Her blood is mixed with Kree blood, which in turn must lead to her powers. This sounds like the plot of Scarlett Johansson's ill-fated Ghost in the Shell. The people who claimed to have saved the hero, really set them up to experiment on them. Meanwhile, Samuel L. Jackson's Nicky Fury tags along with his first superhero. The film is based in the 90's, and Jackson is digitally de-aged to roughly thirty years old for the movie. I'm sure we'll get to see how he loses his eye, and also, how he formulated the idea to create a team of heroes. Check out the new trailer below, and catch Captain Marvel in theaters March 8.A few weeks back, Winnie Harlow paid a visit to Watch What Happens Live and discussed her come up as an international model. The Toronto-born beauty was on America's Next Top Model but according to her, it didn't launch her career. I really started after the show, cause that really didnt do anything for my careerwhich, it doesnt do anything for any models career, realistically," she said.

The creator of the show, Tyra Banks, humbly responded saying that she was the one who discovered her on Instagram and despite "the ones that act out" all former contestants are her babies.

Another ANTM beauty, who recognizes the show for her success in the industry has now spoken out, seemingly shaking her head at Winnie for not paying proper respects to where she came from. Third season contestant Eva Marcille caught up with Andy Cohen and shared some real thoughts on the matter.

It amazes me that people get opportunities and they totally forget who gave them these opportunities," she said, as seen in the clip below. Lets be clear  the world knows her, Drake knows her, Wiz Khalifa knows her because of Top Model.

Let us know what you guys think in the comments, as we know Wiz and Winnie have been boo'd up for some time now. Wonder if she'll respond to Eva's comments...Not long after dropping their recent Czarface Meets Metal Face, Inspectah Deck and 7L & Esoteric's group is back to expand on the crossover former. This time, Deck has dipped into his Wu-Tang contact list and tapped none other than Tony Starks himself, Ghostface Killah. Now, the trifecta has officially announced a full-length album called Czarface Meets Ghostface; is the formula ain't broke, don't fix it. In honor of the reveal comes "Iron Claw," the album's lead single.

It seems as if production tandem Czar-Keys will combine golden era elements with those of a more contemporary styling. The former seems evident in the stripped-down percussion, while the latter comes alive through a mysterious vocal sample. Either way, all three parties are formidable emcees, adaptable to all manner of production. Be sure to keep an eye out for the upcoming Czarface Meets Ghostface, dropping on February 15th 2019.

Peep the project's tracklist here:

1. Back at Ringside

2. Face Off

3. Iron Claw

4. Czarrcade 87

5. Powers and Stuff

6. Masked Superstars

7. Morning Ritual

8. Super Soldier Serum

9. The King Heard Voices

10. Listen to the Color

11. Mongolian Beef

12. (Post Credits Scene)

Quotable Lyrics

Got garlic for the vampires and fake n***as who came to gossip

You can't dress me with that bullshit, you ain't even my stylist

You actin' all big now, but you ain't Christopher Wallace

See your girl on her knees, she just doing a solid

- GhostfaceIt's been a crazy year for music and we're thankful to have received so much of it from our favorite artists. We got to discover a few rising talents that will likely strike gold in 2019, with J.I.D at the front of the pack. The Dreamville rapper was bubbling at the beginning of the year. We all recognized his potential. He was even one of the better performers at Miami's Rolling Loud, in my opinion. While he's been opening up for some talented acts this year, the DiCaprio 2 artist is getting his chance to shine as he's set to headline the Catch Me If You Can tour next year.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq0ChaQHkIE



J.I.D announced the news on his social platforms, encouraging fans to cop their tickets now. The first leg of the tour will be hitting markets around the United States before heading Down Under to Australia and New Zealand. A few days after returning to his home country, J.I.D will be right back to work in New Haven, Connecticut and other cities. So far, opening acts haven't been announced yet.

Tickets are available now here. If you haven't yet seen the rapper perform live, this is your chance to catch him before he blows up. Seriously, he has so much potential and 2019 will likely be a huge year for him.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq-W3iCnvT6

Rachael Ostovich vs Paige VanZant is officially back on for UFC Fight Night in Brooklyn on January 19.

It was believed that Ostovich would be unable to compete after reportedly suffering a broken orbital bone earlier this month at the hands of her husband, but she has since been cleared to compete. Speaking publicly for the first since the incident, Ostovich tells Honolulus KHON2:

Although this is a very difficult time for me and my family, I felt that this fight in January was important, she said. I felt that it was extremely important to me to follow through with it and not only for me but for my daughter and other people that might be going through similar situations. I want to take a stand against domestic violence and show others that its okay to come out and speak about it and not be quieted. I feel like I have to do this. This is something that cant be taken away from me. I want to use this big worldwide UFC platform to show people that dont let anyone or anything come between you and your dreams and your career.

https://twitter.com/_/status/1068292044865495040



Ostovich was hospitalized late last month with serious injuries, including a broken orbital bone. Ostovich's husband, MMA fighter Arnold Berdon, was later arrested on attempted murder charges. You can see the damage inflicted during the attack here.

Hawaii News Now reported that Ostovich described how Berdon punched her repeatedly on the head, face, and ribs during the attack which left her gasping for breath. Also in the temporary restraining order, obtained by Hawaii News Now, Ostovich wrote how she had to escape through the balcony and that she coughed up blood and vomited several times.

Despite all of that, she never wanted to pull out of the VanZant fight which is the biggest bout of her career. According to MMA site Bloody Elbow, Ostovich is currently 1-1 in the UFC, and 4-4 overall. VanZant, 24, has not fought since she broke her arm in a loss to Jessica Rose-Clark last January.

https://twitter.com/_/status/1067545873205256192

T.I. hasn't been shy in his criticism of Donald Trump. The King of the South continued his verbal assault of the current administration in America, and he brought some facts to the conversation. T.I. sat down with TMZ's Raquel Harper on her BET series Raq Rants, and explains how the world is viewing the current presidency. Although groups of Americans who have never left the country will most likely try to contest T.I.'s claims, who are you going to believe in that situation?

"Privilege, entitlement, hypocrisy," begins T.I. as he tries to sum up what he thinks of Trump. "The fact that people feel that the color of their skin makes them a better person, and more qualified and more eligible for opportunities." He then shifted gears and begins to use his worldly insight and experience to drive his statement home. "And we can't continue to call ourselves the greatest nation in the world if we continue to behave this way," he continued. "And on the world stage... it's a joke. How could you let such a thing happen to your country? How could you put the most prestigious office to be held in the free world... how could you let that fall into the hands of a madman?Across the site, it seems like the biggest news of the past week was the release of the now-incarcerated Tekashi 6ix9ine's album DUMMY BOY. That certainly shows in this edition of Top Tracks, where the Brooklyn rapper owns 30 percent of the top ten. Despite that, he couldn't secure the top spot, which belongs to the ever-potent combo of Offset and Metro Boomin.

Tekashi leads all artists with three appearances in the top ten this week. Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, and Lil Wayne all clock in with two to their names. New tracks barely missing out on spots this week include Meek Mill, Rick Ross, and Jay-Z's "What's Free" (#11), Skrillex's remix of Travis Scott and Drake's "Sicko Mode" (#12), Trey Songz, Chris Brown, and Fabolous' "Don't Say Shit" (#13), and Jay Rock and Tee Grizzley's "Shit Real" (#15).

----

10. Kodak Black - Calling My Spirit

It's been months since Kodak's release from prison without a full length, but that'll end on December 14 when he releases Dying To Live. Accompanying the announcement of the date was a new single, "Calling My Spirit," which debuts at #10.

9. Boosie Badazz Feat. Big Pokey Bear - Devil in My Room

Boosie's gritty Louisiana twang has long been compared to the bluesmen of years past, and for his most recent album, he decided to go all-in and makes an actual blues album. "Devil in My Room" is a highlight off of the accurately-named Boosie Blues Cafe, and in its second week out, it's up 14 places from #23 to #9.

8. Tekashi 6ix9ine Feat. Lil Baby - TIC TOC

For the first of his three entries in the top ten, Tekashi called upon one of his fellow hottest artists of 2018 (although one far less controversial than himself), Lil Baby. Their collab, "TIC TOC," debuts at #8.

7. Nicki Minaj Feat. Lil Wayne - Good Form (Remix)

Nicki definitely hasn't had the most graceful year of her career, but she's still guaranteed to dominate our newsfeeds. Her latest entreaty is this remix of Queen's "Good Form" featuring her longtime mentor, Lil Wayne. It debuts at #7.

6. Tekashi 6ix9ine Feat. Kanye West & Nicki Minaj - MAMA

Tekashi found his two most high-profile supporters this year in Nicki and Kanye, two people who apparently have no qualms about him sexually exploiting a 13-year-old. All three join up for "MAMA," which debuts at #6.

5. Meek Mill Feat. Drake - Going Bad

As we all know by now, beefs are a surefire recipe for chart success on HNHH, but what about squashing beefs? Meek Mill and Drake's "Going Bad," their first collab since 2015's "R.I.C.O." and their ensuing fallout over ghostwriting allegations, debuts at #5.

4. Mysonne - "Litty / ZEZE" Freestyle

Hey look, someone completely unrelated to a beef jumped in for a chance at boosting their signal, and it worked! Mysonne, for some reason, threw his hat into the Joyner Lucas vs. Tory Lanez ring with this freestyle, and gave himself his first top ten spot in years. His "Litty / ZEZE" freestyle debuts at #4.

3. Tory Lanez Feat. Lil Wayne & Rich The Kid - Talk To Me (Remix)

While not directly related to the ongoing Joyner Lucas beef, Tory Lanez's "Talk To Me" remix certainly benefits from the timing of its release. The Rich The Kid and Lil Wayne-assisted cut debuts at #3.

2. Tekashi 6ix9ine Feat. Kanye West - KANGA

A few months back, Kanye announced that Tekashi would be on his new album Yandhi, then repeatedly opted to push the project back. "KANGA," probably one of the tracks originally meant for Ye himself, debuts at #2.

1. Offset - Red Room

Boosted by its now-unavailable status (having been removed from streaming services shortly after its release), the first cut from Offset's forthcoming solo album rocketed to the top of our chart after being released on Friday. It easily debuts at #1. Will it be able to return to its position when it's released once again?President Trumps political pressure on Saudi Arabia and other foreign oil producers to keep crude prices low is harming the U.S. energy sector and the Texas economy, according to energy analysts and a new report.

Oil prices have cratered  falling by nearly one-third since early October  because of soaring output from the worlds top producers, especially the United States. Trump has called on OPEC and its allies to resist production cuts to push prices higher, a move aimed at keeping U.S. gasoline prices low. Many analysts predict that if OPEC, Russia and other producers meeting in Vienna this week fail to agree on output cuts it will push crude oil prices even lower.

Analysts say that Trumps insistence on lower oil prices appears to miss the changes in the U.S. energy industry and economy. As recently as a decade ago, higher oil prices were an unabashed drag on the U.S. economy. But today, the country is the worlds biggest oil producers and rapidly expanding exporting, selling about 2 million barrels of oil a day to foreign buyers.

The volatile and falling oil prices hurt the economy, especially the Houston energy sector, even more than low fuel costs help consumers, said Sandy Fielden, director of oil and products research at the investment firm Morningstar, in a new report. The recent drop in crude prices costs energy producers about $300 million a day, he said, versus about $275 million in daily savings from gasoline.

The current administrations policy of rejecting any OPEC move to cut production is driven by short-term pursuit of headlines, Fielden stated. The longer-term consequences for the U.S. oil industry of pushing Saudi Arabia to reject production restraint will be felt directly in states such as Texas and North Dakota.

The United States now produces more oil than it does gasoline, so the impact of falling oil prices on the economy is greater than it was in recent decades, he added. Energy companies retrench, many thousands of people lose their jobs and states with large energy sectors feel the pain. U.S. crude production is estimated at a record 11.7 million barrels a day, compared to gasoline production of less than 10 million barrels a day. The continued weakening of crude prices would scale back production next year.

Reduced drilling has a direct impact on employment and economic activity in the oil industry as well as a host of ancillary activities, Fielden said. Since the start of the oil shale boom these industries have been major engines of economic growth in Texas, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Colorado and Wyoming.

Falling crude production also slows the path to energy independence often touted by the Trump administration, Fielden added.

U.S. oil prices jumped by more than $2 a barrel on Monday on optimism that Saudi Arabia and Russia are willing to cut their oil production. The U.S. oil benchmark settled at $52.95 a barrel.

Trump didnt lower oil prices on his own, but his public statements and pressure on OPEC have contributed to the dip and exacerbated the recent concerns of oil and gas companies just after they started turning healthy profits again.

Although last years tax law helped energy companies and the administration has moved to cut regulations and expand oil and gas drilling, some of the presidents other policies have worked against the oil and gas sector, said Ramanan Krishnamoorti, the University of Houstons chief energy officer. Trump has worked to prop up the coal sector in ways that have hurt oil and gas and renewable energy like wind and solar, he said, even though coal remains in decline.

Steel tariffs have have cut into the profit margins of oil and gas companies, which use vast amounts of steel for piping for oil and gas wells and other equipment. The drop in oil prices come just as energy companies are deciding how much to spend developing oil and gas projects next year, analysts said That could lead to cutbacks, which which in turn would reduce hiring.

Houston-area gasoline prices, meanwhile, have plunged about 20 percent from more than $2.60 a gallon in early October to $2.10 Sunday, according to GasBuddy, a website that tracks prices nationwide.

Whats ideal for both energy companies and consumers is stability, said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, which tracks fuel pricing. The sweet spot for both is around $60 a barrel, a level where oil companies remain profitable and prices at the pump stay reasonable.

Gas prices it seems are always on the mind of any president, DeHaan said, and Trump appears to focus on the topic more than most, especially before the recent midterm elections and with Twitter at his fingertips.

jordan.blum@chron.com

twitter.com/jdblum23The health of the U.S. energy sector hangs in the balance as OPEC, Russia and others begin meeting Thursday in Vienna to consider cutting oil production after a recent collapse in crude prices.

Driven by Saudi Arabia and non-OPEC ally Russia, the so-called OPEC+ group will determine whether to stabilize the oil sector to avoid a global glut of oil. If no agreement is reached, analysts said, it could potentially trigger another oil bust.

"The repercussions will be felt in Houston boardrooms and wallets across America," said Matt Reed, vice president at Foreign Reports, a consulting firm focused on Mideast oil politics.

RELATED: Saudi minister says premature to say if OPEC+ to cut output

"Practically everyone is pumping as much as they can right now," Reed added. "The U.S., Saudi Arabia, Russia and Iraq are producing more than anyone thought possible even a few years ago. Why? Because the price is right and people keep buying it."

But surging worldwide oil production has contributed to the recent plunge in U.S. crude prices, $76 a barrel down to $51 near the end of last month -- a drop of more than 30 percent. Prices recovered to about $53 this week on hopes of a OPEC production cut.

Oil prices also received an extra boost this week from news that Canada will cut production from Alberta to help undo the deep discounts on its crude.

What needs to happen?

Most U.S. energy companies need oil closer to $60 a barrel than $50 to remain healthy. Anything above $60 is a boon for the vast majority of the industry.

Energy analysts believe OPEC and Russia will agree to cut production anywhere from 1 million barrels a day to 1.6 million barrels, with 1.3 million as a possible compromise. Determining how much to cut and which nations will carry the burden is, of course, where the specifics must be worked out. The world consumes nearly 100 million barrels of oil a day.

From HoustonChronicle.com: Trump's lobbying against output cuts could hurt energy sector

At the same time time, the lower oil price has caused Houston-area fuel prices to fall some 20 percent over the past several weeks to a 2018 low of about $2.10 on average for a gallon of regular unleaded.

There's the possibility that OPEC could reach a vague deal to reduce output without coming to terms on any specific numbers, and Saudi Arabia and other nations would simply adjust accordingly on a month-to-month basis to help keep supplies in check.

Nervousness over an ambiguous deal, however, could cause oil prices to further crater in the short term.

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih told Bloomberg Tuesday it was still premature to say what kind of cuts OPEC and Russia may or may not agree to later this week.

How did we get here?

The last time a global glut pushed oil prices down - in part because of the U.S. shale boom - was in the fall of 2014. OPEC couldn't reach a deal and the Saudis increased their output, triggering an oil bust that pushed prices to a low of $26 a barrel by early 2016.

Later that year, the world's two biggest producers other than the U.S. - Saudi Arabia and Russia -formed an alliance outside of OPEC, and the burgeoning OPEC+ group was formed. They agreed then to cut production, lifting prices and ending the bust and restoring.

With the market balanced, they again increased production this summer, in part to help offset falling production from struggling Venezuela and from the U.S. sanctions on oil exports from Iran. But the upticks in production have come faster and more furiously than assumed.\

CLIMATE: Shell links climate change goals to executive pay

And the White House unexpectedly issued waivers to several countries, including China and India, to keep buying Iranian oil.

Russia is churning out oil at a post-Soviet record of more than 11 million barrels a day, the Saudis are just below that volume, and the U.S. is pumping oil more quickly than expected at a projected record of 11.7 million barrels daily. Driven by West Texas' booming Permian Basin, U.S. outputs keep surprising on the upside.

At this weekend's Group of 20 meeting in Argentina, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman loosely agreed to keep the alliance going to stabilize prices. But there are no firm numbers. So that's where this week's OPEC meeting comes into play.

And who will join the Saudis and Russia in scaling back? The United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Kuwait and others may also have to agree because the top producers don't want to act on their own.

In fact, the Saudi-Russian alliance has begun to overwhelm OPEC to the point that Qatar, an enemy of Saudi Arabia, said it is pulling out of OPEC. Qatar, however, is primarily a natural gas producer that doesn't pump much oil, so the effect of global supplies should be minimal.

What about the U.S. and President Trump?

Because the U.S. doesn't control its oil companies as is the case in many other countries, the United States can't just decide to scale back production.

President Donald Trump, however, is a working against output cuts, arguing that lower oil prices mean lower fuel prices, which are good for Americans. The counter argument is that low oil prices cripple the energy sector and cost states like Texas many thousands of jobs and the U.S. economy billions of dollars that come into the country from growing crude exports.

AT THE PUMP: Gasoline prices plunge to lowest level of the year

Much to the chagrin of the Houston energy sector, Trump has repeatedly urged the Saudis to increase rather than decrease production.

Some analysts ventured that Trump might stop harping on oil prices after the midterm elections, but he was still bringing it up on Thanksgiving. So the Saudis must weight Trump's reaction into any agreement that is reached.

"Oil prices getting lower. Great! Like a big Tax Cut for America and the World. Enjoy!" Trump tweeted. "Thank you to Saudi Arabia, but let's go lower!"Eddie Seal / Bloomberg

WASHINGTON - More tankers laden with U.S. liquefied natural gas could soon be headed to Poland and other European countries, Energy Secretary Rick Perry said Tuesday.

"I was over in the Central European region, and there's going to be some countries over there buying our products," he said in a speech to the National Petroleum Council in Washington. "They understand cost is just one factor here, but I talked to them about the diversity of supply and suppliers."Three days after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sent crude prices surging with an agreement to extend cooperation on oil, the kingdoms top energy official made clear that the terms of a deal remain unresolved.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said he saw an oversupplied market, but cautioned that all the members of the OPEC+ group, which includes allies such as Russia and Kazakhstan, needed to come together for a cut to go ahead.

Moscow backs output curbs in principle, but its premature to say what they will agree in Vienna this week, Al-Falih said. He also walked back previous statements about the size of any supply reduction, saying the group is likely to cut but still needs to figure out what needs to be done and by how much.

RELATED: Oil gains as Saudi-Russia pact and Canada cuts ease supply fears

Oil prices pared gains after his comments, which were less bullish than previous statements and signaled that divisions with Russia remain unresolved. Crude was trading 1.8 percent higher at $53.88 a barrel in New York at 8:02 a.m local time, compared with an earlier increase of as much as 3 percent.

We need to get together and listen to our colleagues, hear about their views on supply and demand and their projections of their own countries production, Al Falih said in an interview while attending United Nations climate talks in Katowice, Poland. The next road to cross is whether all countries are willing to come on board and contribute to that cut.

Saudi Arabia is currently producing between 11 million-11.2 million barrels of oil a day, Al-Falih said.

Wait and See

His comments were less definitive than those made in Abu Dhabi last month, when he said the group should consider reducing production by 1 million barrels a day.

What we said in Abu Dhabi is that projections are that there will be 1 million barrels a day of oversupply, and that we will wait until we get to Vienna and are certain what that number is, he said.

OPEC, Russia and other allies meet in Vienna later this week to decide production policy for 2019. Theres consensus the so-called OPEC+ group needs to rein in production to prevent global inventories growing next year, but no agreement on the details.

From HoustonChronicle.com: Trump's lobbying against output cuts could hurt energy sector

United Arab Emirates Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazrouei told reporters in Vienna that hes optimistic all countries will join an OPEC+ agreement this week and that Qatars exit from the group will not have a large impact.

Im hopeful that everyone in and even outside the organization will be supportive to whatever requirements we need to do to balance the market, Al Mazrouei said. The objective is to balance the market and currently we have seen that theres a requirement for an adjustment.

Moscow Talks

Oil suffered the largest one-month drop in November since the global financial crisis in 2008. The 20 percent plunge was driven by a combination of rising supply from U.S. shale regions, Saudi Arabia and Russia, slower demand growth and American waivers on oil sanctions on Iran. Brent crude, which hit a four-year high above $86 a barrel in early October, traded on Tuesday at about $63 a barrel.

CLIMATE: Shell links climate change goals to executive pay

Saudi Arabia and Russia, the worlds two largest exporters, have agreed to continue their cooperation into next year, Putin said at the weekend after meeting Prince Mohammed in Buenos Aires. But Saudi and Russian officials still differ on how to share the burden of any cuts, people familiar with discussions said yesterday.

Moscow wants to reduce by a maximum of 150,000 barrels a day, but with OPEC estimating global oversupply at more than 1 million barrels a day, Riyadh wants the burden shared more evenly. Both countries are pumping near-record amounts of oil in excess of 11 million barrels a day each.

President Donald Trump is complicating deliberations. Hes waged a Twitter campaign against OPEC, demanding oil producers keep pumping to bring down gasoline prices for U.S. consumers. Saudi policy makers may be reluctant to go against Trump after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi unleashed a fusillade of criticism from American lawmakers, leaving the president as one of Prince Mohammeds few remaining allies in Washington.

--With assistance from Salma El Wardany.

2018 Bloomberg L.P.Nearly 20 years ago, while living and working in Montgomery County, a Conroe High School graduate made a reputation for himself by going a bit overboard with his Christmas decorations. That jolly man is now known as "Santa Nate."

"It's an honor, to me it's a calling," said Montgomery County Lifestyle Editor Nathan Arrazate. "A lot of people can try to be Santa Claus but I think only a few people can capture the true spirit of Santa Claus. I think I'm supposed to do it."

All the decorative enthusiasm paid off in 1998 when Arrazate heard the voice of a little girl exclaim to her father about how beautiful the decorations were. It was then that Arrazate said he told himself someday he wanted to be Santa Claus, standing in a suit outside, and waving at the children.

The dream became reality in 2007, when Arrazate stopped by a party store that was going out of business in Jacksonville, Fla., and found a Santa Claus suit on sale.

DAZZLING LIGHTS: The best spots around Houston to see holiday lights in 2018

Want to know more? For more information about Santa Nate, call 936-446-9545, find Santa Nate on Facebook or email n.arrazate@gmail.com See More Collapse

Soon after, he started "Drive-by Santa" with a goal to encourage a busy society to slow down from their lives to take time for the children and visit with "Santa Nate," in his driveway.

In 2013, Arrazate returned to Montgomery County where he now lives in Conroe. He works as an event promoter and marketer to help increase the visibility of events and community activities. He's involved with the Friends of Conroe, the Conroe Salvation Army and Montgomery County Fair Association, among other groups.

However, Arrazate most enjoys his Santa role, where he is able to visit children and families that are often facing hardship and could use a lift with a little holiday spirit.

Arrazate has ordered two new suits and is about to get one more this year. He has dyed his hair and grew a real beard for the first time as well.

This year, Arrazate made a special visit to a family in The Woodlands that is praying for husband and father Jason Stanfield. Despite his diagnoses with a skull-based, life threatening Angiosarcoma cancer that has spread throughout his body, Stanfield remains confident and positive he will defeat cancer. As the fight takes a toll on his body, he has become more homebound, which prevented him and his wife, Kristin, from being able to take their two young children to visit Santa Claus at The Woodlands Mall this year.

The family shared the visit meant everything to them to see the look on the faces of their 4-year-old Maddie and 6-year-old Derek as "Santa Nate" unexpectedly walked through the door of their home, where he sang Christmas songs and read holiday books with the children.

"It makes a world of difference in a place and a time where you have to cherish every moment," Jason Stanfield said.

DECEMBER TO DO LIST: Holiday themed events happening around Houston

Arrazate held hands with the family in prayer with a request for healing. He views his role of Santa is to share love for all.

"These are moments of honor that our hearts can never forget and could only be a gift from God," Arrazate said. "Little ones need the magic and hope that the Santa mystique offers and now more than ever, they need good old fashioned fun and simplicity. Kids are distracted and pulled in too many directions and are asked to grow up too fast. There are so many adults who need a simple Santa hug."

Arrazate is scheduled to be "Santa Nate" at no cost to a few folks such as nonprofits and school organizations, and for his stylist during the inaugural open house at Denise's Salon on Texas 105.

Santa Nate will be at the Conroe/Lake Conroe Chamber of Commerce Morning Mingle and Jingle at Incredible Pizza from 7:30-9 a.m. on Dec. 13.

mellsworth@hcnonline.comThe family of former President George H.W. Bush has planned a state funeral that will steer clear of the kind of anti-Trump sentiment evident at the recent funeral of Sen. John McCain, according to people familiar with the funeral planning.

The Bush family contacted the White House this past summer to say that President Donald Trump would be welcome at the funeral, scheduled Wednesday at Washington National Cathedral, and to assure him that the focus would be on Bush's life rather than their disagreements, according to one former administration official.

The truce with Trump allows the Bush family, and the nation, to honor the legacy of a president who guided the United States through the 1991 Gulf War and the breakup of the Soviet Union, without becoming mired in today's toxic politics. Trump in turn has been effusive in his praise of Bush since his death Friday, and was slated to pay respects Monday night at the U.S. Capitol, where the 41st president is lying in state.

But the detente also comes after Trump's long history of insulting and taunting the Bush family - calling his 2016 primary opponent "low-energy" Jeb Bush, saying the 9/11 attacks were partly due to President George W. Bush's failure to keep the nation safe, and mocking George H.W. Bush's signature "thousand points of light" volunteerism program. And it comes as Trump has fully taken control of the Republican Party, leading a bare-knuckle rejection of the traditional GOP establishment that the Bush family represented and helped build.

One person close to the funeral planning said the Bush family's overtures to Trump were at least partly pragmatic. Trump has the final say over important funeral details, this person said, including providing Air Force One to carry the former president's remains from Texas to Washington, D.C., on Monday for the funeral and back to Texas on Thursday for another service and burial.

While Trump will not deliver a eulogy, he will be seated in the front row alongside former Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter. Bush's son, former President George W. Bush, will deliver a eulogy.

Neither he nor the other eulogists - former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney, former Sen. Alan Simpson, and presidential historian and Bush biographer Jon Meacham - are expected to focus on the stark differences between the genteel and patrician Bush and the bombastic Trump.

"If you have a sensitivity for human feelings, you just don't get into that," Simpson said in an interview Monday. "It's not what a funeral is for."

Another Bush confidant said, "The comparisons are presenting themselves; we are not heightening them," according to a person familiar with the funeral preparations.

A third person, who like others close to the preparations spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly, said the tone of Wednesday's funeral will reflect the sense of propriety of Bush, who "wouldn't want anyone there to feel uncomfortable, including the incumbent president."

"It's interesting, though, that praising the Bushes or McCain risks sounding critical of Trump even when Trump's in no way part of the thinking," the third person said.

Three current and former administration officials said there had been deep frustration in the White House over the anti-Trump tone of the Sept. 1 funeral for McCain, which Trump did not attend. One senior administration official said Trump's reaction to the criticism was "almost paralyzing for a week," and officials have been assured that Bush's funeral would be different.

One official said first lady Melania Trump, who represented the White House at former first lady Barbara Bush's funeral in April, was struck by the Bush's family's graciousness toward her, which she conveyed to the president, who did not attend that funeral.

Two White House officials said Trump has had little interest in forging a better relationship with the Bush family, particularly in the first year of his presidency. He regularly said that his political supporters wanted a sea change from the Bush family.

But one former senior administration official said "there is no particular animosity at all toward the elder Bush."

The Trump White House has accommodated all the Bush family's requests for the state funeral, including providing Air Force One and permitting the Bush family to stay at Blair House, the official guesthouse across the street from the White House, said a person familiar with the planning.

The former president's remains will be transported from the U.S. Capitol to Washington National Cathedral in northwest Washington in a motorcade that will follow a route passing directly in front of the White House.

At the service, two of Bush's granddaughters, Ashley Bush and Lauren Bush, will give readings, according to the source. They are both daughters of Bush's son, Neil Bush.

The eulogists all knew the 41st president for many years.

Mulroney was Canada's prime minister from 1984 to 1993 and helped negotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Bush. He also gave eulogies at the funerals of President Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy Reagan.

Meacham, who wrote "Destiny and Power," a 2015 biography of Bush, also delivered a eulogy at Barbara Bush's funeral. "In hours of war and of peace, of tumult and of calm, the Bushes governed in a spirit of congeniality, of civility, and of grace," Meacham said. ". . . Barbara and George Bush put country above party, the common good above political gain, and service to others above the settling of scores."

Simpson said he met Bush in 1962, when his father, Milward Simpson, was elected to the U.S. Senate and took over the Senate office of Bush's father, Prescott Bush, who was retiring from the Senate.

Then, he said, when his father retired after one term, he sold his house in Washington to a recently elected congressman from Texas - George H.W. Bush.

"It was a handshake deal, no Realtors, no attorneys, nobody present," Simpson said. "Dad remembered meeting him, and he said, 'We have a nice house; you have children,' and they said, 'Just what we want.' "

Simpson said he and Bush worked together on much legislation over the next few decades.

"We got a lot done," he said. "It was all about friendship and doing something for the country, not for the party."

Simpson said he was asked by the Bush family several years ago if he would be willing to deliver a eulogy.

"This was years ago when George was failing. They said, 'Al, we want you to be part of the service.' Then, of course, George recovered beautifully, and I put the harps back in the closet," he said.

"I knew that on some unknown day I'd be asked to do this," he said. "It's a great honor, and I'm fully ready to go."

---

Video Embed Code

Video: President Trump and first lady Melania Trump paid their respects Dec. 3 to former president George H.W. Bush at the U.S. Capitol. (The Washington Post)

Embed:Nearly two decades after the brazen prison break-out and cross-state crime spree that landed him on America's Most Wanted and eventually on death row, Texas 7 prisoner Joseph Garcia was executed Tuesday night in Huntsville.

In his final words from the gurney, he offered a quick prayer.

"Dear Heavenly Father," he said, "please forgive them for they know not what they do."

He was pronounced dead at 6:43 p.m., 13 minutes after the lethal dose began.

In recent weeks, the 47-year-old convicted in the Christmas Eve killing of a North Texas police officer launched a slew of appeals, lawsuits, pleas for reprieve and requests for clemency. His last-minute legal moves raised questions about his initial conviction, the controversial "law of parties" and the source of the state's lethal injection supplies.

But on Friday, the parole board rebuffed the condemned man's request for clemency, and lower courts turned down appeal after appeal. By Tuesday morning, he still had a number of claims in front of appeals courts and the U.S. Supreme Court, and a long-shot bid for reprieve sitting on the governor's desk.

"I am on death row because of the actions and intent of others and because I am one of the Texas Seven, case closed," he wrote the Chronicle weeks before his scheduled execution. "Is it right that I should be murdered for something that I did not do?"

To some friends and family of the slain policeman  Officer Aubrey Hawkins  the answer is clear.

READ MORE: Texas 7 escapee fights death sentence as Dec. 4 execution nears

"Whatever participation he had, he went along with it," said Seagoville police Sgt. Karl Bailey, a long-time friend of the Hawkins family. "The whole thing was sparked by the escape from prison, the burglaries - it was a crime spree."

Though Garcia offered no apology in his final statement, he sent out a message of remorse through his attorneys.

"I want to offer my heartfelt apology to the family of Officer Hawkins, and the workers at Oshman's in Dallas," he said. "None of this was supposed to happen. I wish it didn't."

At the time of the breakout in December 2000, the Bexar County native was locked up in a prison south of San Antonio, serving a 50-year sentence stemming from a boozy fight that ended with one man dead. Garcia was convicted of murder, but he has long maintained that it was the other man - Miguel Luna - who attacked him, and that the fatal stabbing was only in self-defense.

Behind bars, he made friends with a charismatic thief named George Rivas. First, they bonded over a "poor man's spread" of prisoner-made food. Then, they plotted an escape.

Inspired by a book, their plan took months to prepare. They picked a crew, spread rumors among the guards, surveyed the grounds and gathered supplies.

On Dec. 13, they made good on their plot. Some of the men stayed back from lunch to wax the floors in the maintenance shop, according to trial testimony. Then, as guards, civilian staff and other inmates returned from eating, the men overpowered them and took them hostage one by one.

After gaining control of maintenance, two of the gang dressed up as prison workers to sneak into the armory and take control of the guard tower. Then they fled, driving out the gate in a prison truck.

They switched out vehicles at a nearby Walmart, where one man's father had left them a truck.

Once they realized the men were missing, authorities rushed to put up a roadblock - but the escapees missed it by about four cars. Headed toward Houston, Garcia looked out the back of the vehicle and watching police erect sawhorses in the road behind them, he told the Chronicle.

After pulling off a pair of robberies to load up with cash and supplies in the Bayou City, the fleeing prisoners left and headed north.

In the Dallas suburb of Irving, the seven escapees staked out an Oshman's sporting goods store. They got a copy of the newspaper and cut out the picture of a Scholastic Award winner, then glued his image to a WANTED poster.

Bearing their handmade sign and wearing security guard uniforms, two of the men went inside just before closing on Christmas Eve, aiming to bluff their way into the surveillance room to figure out how much of the store was on camera.

Once they did that, Rivas announced that it was a robbery. They took hostages and stole guns, money and supplies. But before they left, a lone police officer showed up.

Garcia says he was still inside the building when he heard the shots, but some of the other men offered different accounts.

In all, five men fired shots. Rivas admitted he was one of them  but the state never proved that Garcia was. He still maintains that he was inside the building when the shooting started.

Afterward, they fled to Colorado, driving straight into a blizzard. They stopped at motels along the way, then holed up in a trailer park near Colorado Springs. For a month, they posed as Christian missionaries before they were finally captured. One of the men  Larry Harper  killed himself rather than be taken back to prison.

READ MORE: Clemency denied for 'Texas 7' prisoner scheduled for execution

The other six were sent to death row, and three have since been executed. To the former prosecutor who handled all six of the trials, a fourth execution date comes as a welcome relief.

"It's been almost 18 years," attorney Toby Shook told the Chronicle earlier this year. "It's satisfying that the actual sentence will actually be carried out."

In his final weeks, Garcia has launched an array of appeals. In one claim, he argued that his original Bexar County killing was actually self-defense and not murder. If so, he said, it shouldn't have been used as evidence of future dangerousness  something the state is required to show to secure a death sentence.

In a separate appeal filed in Dallas County, Garcia and his legal team raised claims of earlier bad lawyering, an allegedly racist judge and the constitutionality of using the law of parties to execute someone the state never showed was a shooter or ever intended to kill anyone.

Among Garcia's other pending legal actions is a challenge to the state's lethal injection procedures in light of recent reporting about the alleged source of the drugs. In recent days, he'd also tried lobbing a lawsuit at the parole board, arguing the seven-member panel had too many former law enforcement members to be representative of the general public.

But as his lawyers fought for his life, Garcia spent his final weeks coming to terms with his own regrets and trying to live "day-by-day" till the end. He prayed, he paced in his cell and, during a death row interview, he expressed remorse for the now-grown man left without a father 18 years ago.

"Man, I don't even know his name," he said. "That's a shame."

Choking up, he paused.

"I don't think there's enough words in the world to say to him what he needs to hear."

He was the 12th Texas prisoner executed this year. Another death date is scheduled for next week.Lex Friedens first formal meeting with George H.W. Bush came about as an indirect result of the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion on Jan. 28, 1986.

Frieden, then director of the National Council on Disabilities, and three other colleagues were set to meet with President Ronald Reagan to discuss a report they authored which recommended a law that would later come to be known as the American Disabilities Act, or the ADA.

With Reagan focused on the Challenger, Frieden and his colleagues were instead invited to meet with then Vice President Bush. Frieden recalls Bush expressed his interest in the report, having reviewed it the night before with his wife Barbara. The vice president assured Frieden he would do more if he had the power to do so.

Bush later won the presidency, and on July 26, 1990, he kept his word, signing the ADA into law.

He will be remembered as the ADA president, Frieden said, the one that made America accessible to all.

Frieden, a professor at the School of Biomedical Informatics at UTHealth and prominent local disability rights activist, said the ADA was perhaps the most significant piece of legislation in Bushs one term. Within just a few years of its passing, the everyday landscape of the country transformed for Americans with disabilities. Public buses across the United States added ramps. Employers rewrote their hiring practices. Businesses, including restaurants and theaters, became more physically accommodating.

Seeing the changes meant the world to individuals like Frieden who said he suffered discrimination in a pre-ADA world. A car accident in 1968 left Frieden paralyzed from the neck down. When he applied to Oral Roberts University in his home state of Oklahoma, he said he was turned away due to his disability.

Those experiences were demeaning, gut-wrenching, he said. Unfortunately, we still see people making exceptions to what we know to be the rule.

Frieden cited the ride-sharing app, Uber, as an example of a modern-day company that has struggled to address accessibility. Since the company relies on drivers personal vehicles, wheelchair accessible options have been limited. On Nov. 20, Uber announced a partnership with MV Transportation to improve the number of modified vehicles available to customers.

Looking back at the ADAs consequences, Frieden acknowledged how in his later years Bush himself came to benefit from the laws passage. Frieden particularly calls a meeting in downtown Houston a few years ago when street construction prevented immediate access to the meeting site. So Bushs assistant had to help maneuver the former presidents wheelchair up and down sidewalk ramps to reach their destination.

He didnt do it for himself, Frieden said of Bush signing the law, he did it for others.

Yet in his final years, he said, Bush got a chance to see the world from Friedens perspective and got to witness firsthand the lasting impact of the ADA.

ileana.najarro@chron.com

twitter.com/IleanaNajarroHouston police are looking for up to four gunmen who broke into a south Houston home Monday and fatally shot both residents.

One resident, Darryl Wayne Brown, 49, was pronounced dead at the home in the 4500 block of Newberry Street in the Brookhaven neighborhood. The other, Corey Deandre Holmes, 32, died later at Ben Taub Hospital, police said.A woman was found shot to death Tuesday morning on a street in a southeast Houston neighborhood, police said.

She has not been identified, but police say she looks to be in her 30s. She was shot at least once , Houston Police Department Detective Shawn Overstreet said.

"We have no witnesses," he said at the scene near the intersection of Ney and Bronson, in the Edgebrook community. "No one has come forward"

DISMISSED: Texas district attorney tosses charge against telenovela actress

A neighbor initially reported seeing the woman's body around 1 a.m. Tuesday.

Police didn't find shell casings on the scene, and they haven't found any witnesses or neighbors who heard gunshots, Overstreet said.

Some nearby houses had security cameras, but investigators have not been able to review the footage, he said.

He didn't know how long the woman's body had been in the street. He speculated that she may have died at another location.

"Maybe she was brought over here and dumped," he said.

Julian Gill is a digital reporter in Houston. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | julian.gill@chron.com | Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text messageThis week with the passing of former President George H.W. Bush, his library and museum on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station is in the spotlight as the late commander-in-chief will soon be laid to rest on the site next to former First Lady Barbara Bush.

The state of Texas is home to three repositories of artifacts and papers related to three U.S. presidents.

TEXAS LEGENDS: George H.W. Bush, Barbara Bush and the other famous graves you can visit around Texas

Bush's son, former President George W. Bush, has his own library on the campus of Dallas' Southern Methodist University. The library of Lyndon Baines Johnson, the man who served as president in the wake of the death of John F. Kennedy, is located at the University of Texas in Austin.

In all there are 14 presidential libraries across the country, with former President Barack Obama's Obama Presidential Center is slated to open up in 2020 in Chicago, Illinois.

DEEP IN THE PAST: One of the most rare early maps of Texas debuts at Texas A&M

Every library holds the documents, where applicable, and artifacts that helped shape a president's tenure as the leader of the free world.

At the Bush library in College Station there is a presidential limousine, a restored 1944 TBM Avenger like Bush flew during his combat days in World War II, along with a restored Studebaker that the Bush family would have had in 1948. A 12-foot-tall section of the Berlin Wall is a particularly imposing exhibit.

There are also plenty of things related to the life of the First Lady, including a special family-friendly place for the whole family to read.

LOOK AGAIN: The best Texas Historical Markers hidden in plain sight in the Houston area

Patrons at Bush 43's library in Dallas are able to see the pistol that Saddam Hussein was found with in 2003, along with steel from the World Trade Center and the bullhorn he used at Ground Zero in the days after the 9/11 attacks. Just like his father's library, there is also a replica Oval Office for photo opportunities.

LBJ's Austin library, founded in 1971, honors the man's legacy of ushering in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and doesn't shy away from the tumultuous Vietnam War. It also has an extensive exhibit with artifacts related to the death of his predecessor JFK and his Nov. 22, 1963 assassination including the clothes that LBJ and wife Lady Bird Johnson wore that day.

MILESTONES: The first time everything happened in Houston, from hurricanes to highways

It also has a replica Oval Office, a must for any presidential library. Johnson's Oval Office has all of the small details one would expect right down to the old-fashioned television sets.

Unlike the other two presidents and first ladies, Bush 41 and Barbara Bush are the only two in Texas to be buried in the vicinity of their libraries.

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...State Reps. Carol Alvarado and Ana Hernandez have raised and spent far more money than the two other candidates seeking to replace Rep.-elect Sylvia Garcia in the Texas Senate, according to filings posted Tuesday by the Texas Ethics Commission.

Between the two Houston Democrats, Alvarado has proven the more prolific fundraiser, taking in about $115,000 and spending about $391,000 from Oct. 28 through Dec. 1, the period covered by her latest campaign finance report. During the same period, Hernandez raised about $66,000 and spent about $162,000.

The totals place Alvarado and Hernandez well ahead of Republican Martha Fierro, who has raised about $4,000 since Nov. 15, and Mia Mundy, a Democrat who did not report raising or spending any money.

Hernandez and Alvarado both announced their candidacies in March, after Garcia won her congressional primary, while Fierro and Mundy decided recently to run.

The district covers parts of East Harris County, Pasadena, Baytown and the Heights.

Alvarado, who entered the race with a sizable war chest, has been running an ad on cable television, and she says the spot will begin running on network stations in the lead-up to Election Day on Dec. 11. Alvarado's spending on those ads does not appear to be included in her campaign finance report.

During the late October to early December period, Alvarado received about $60,000 from "entities"  mostly political action committees, including those of other lawmakers, and limited liability companies  which accounted for a little more than half her overall haul.

Meanwhile, Hernandez received about $44,000 from entities, or about two-thirds of her fundraising, though some $4,300 of that total came from state Reps. Garnet Coleman, Mary Ann Perez and Armando Walle, who are backing Hernandez. Former state and U.S. Rep. Pete Gallego contributed $1,000 to both candidates.

Fierro received donations from Phillip Aronoff, Garcia's Republican opponent in the 29th Congressional District, and state Rep. Briscoe Cain. Fierro also lent herself $1,000.

Both Alvarado and Hernandez have invested heavily in direct mail, their reports show.

Hernandez's biggest contributions included $10,000 donations from the Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC and Houston's teamsters and plumbers unions. Alvarado received $10,000 from HillCo PAC, the political arm of the powerful HillCo Partners lobbying group. She also received $5,000 from AT&T and the Texas Oil and Gas Association Good Government Committee.

Dating back to July 1, Alvarado has raised $192,000 and spent $459,000; Hernandez raised $127,000 and spent $198,000 during the same period.

Early voting began Nov. 26 and continues through Friday. With four days to go, about 7,200 people have cast ballots. Roughly 16,000 people voted in the first round of a 2013 special election for the Senate District 6 seat.

The three Democrats are scheduled to debate Tuesday night at the University of Houston-Downtown.AUSTIN  The special prosecutors assigned to build a white-collar crime case against Attorney General Ken Paxton want the state's top criminal court to reconsider a ruling that they say jeopardizes their ability to proceed.

Houston attorney Brian Wice has argued the $300 per hour rate a North Texas judge agreed to pay him and three other attorneys is reasonable to take on the extraordinary case against the high-ranking state official. The Court of Criminal Appeals rejected that argument last month. In a 5-4 ruling, the court found the judge lacked authority to agree to pay the attorneys more than a total of $2,000 for pre-trial work because it exceeds a cap on criminal casework set by officials in Collin County, where Paxton was indicted.His guests were just about everything George H.W. Bush had never been and never could be: ideological, hard-edged and spoiling for a partisan revolution. It was spring 1989, and Newt Gingrich, a young congressman from Georgia, had been elected the House Republican whip, a key leadership post in the Washington of the 41st president. Bush, who was more comfortable in the fading moderate precincts of the Republican Party, didnt know Gingrich well, but the perennially hospitable president invited him and Vin Weber, the Minnesota Republican congressman who had managed Gingrichs whip campaign, down to the White House for a beer. The conversation was pleasant, but the visitors felt there was something Bush was not quite saying. Weber decided to put the question to the president directly.

Mr. President, youve been very nice to us, Weber said as they were preparing to leave. Tell us what your biggest fear is about us.

Well, Bush answered, Im worried that sometimes your idealism will get in the way of what I think is sound governance. In the most polite way possible, in a single sentence, Bush had summarized his anxiety that when politics and principle clashed, politics was going to win.

Weber recalled that he appreciated the presidents use of the word idealism  he hadnt said extremism or partisanship, though that was what he meant. The two congressmen represented a harsh new kind of politics that would, in five years time, lead to the first Republican takeover of the House in four decades. By then, Bush would be back in Texas, a one-term president done in by the right wing of his own party  a conservative cabal that rebelled against Bushs statesmanlike deal with Democrats to raise some taxes in exchange for spending controls to rein in the deficit.

George Herbert Walker Bush, who died Friday night, at 94, was the last president of the Greatest Generation, a gentleman who came of age in an ever-uglier arena, the embodiment of a postwar era of consensus that, in our time, seems as remote as Agincourt. He deserves our praise, but he also repays closer historical consideration, for his life offers an object lesson in the best that politics, which is inherently imperfect, can be.

Hed grown up in a world where politics was a means to serve the public good, not a vehicle for self-aggrandizement or self-enrichment. His father, Sen. Prescott Bush of Connecticut, spoke out against Joseph McCarthy earlier than most. And George Bush  known then as Poppy, a childhood nickname  signed up to serve as soon as he could, and never stopped.

As an 18-year-old, he volunteered for hazardous duty as a carrier-based naval aviator in World War II. As commander in chief, nearly half a century later, he, with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and building on the work of presidents of both parties down the decades, ended the tensest standoff in human history, the Cold War. Before he got to the White House, a nuclear Armageddon between America and the Soviet Union was always a possibility; after him, it was unthinkable.

On the home front, his 1990 budget agreement codified controls on spending and created the conditions for the elimination of the federal budget deficit under his successor, Bill Clinton. He negotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement, signed the Americans With Disabilities Act and passed historic clean-air legislation. Its virtually impossible to imagine a Republican president doing so much today.

Its an inescapable fact of history, though, that as Bush struggled to govern like Ike, the world around him was beginning to resemble a Joe McCarthy rally. In the Bush years, conservative Republicans girded for total war, talk radio was on the rise, cable news shows were busy turning politics into a kind of professional wrestling for wonks, and populists such as Ross Perot and Pat Buchanan  forerunners, in their way, of Donald Trump  were waiting for their chance to pounce. (Bush did think an overture from Lee Atwater, his campaign manager, to consider Trump for the 1988 vice-presidential nomination the most puzzling of notions. Strange, Bush told his diary. Unbelievable.)

Bush was a gentleman, but he was a politician, too, and therein lay the great tension of his life. Politics isnt a pure undertaking  not if youre going to win, its not, he once told me. Thats the way politics is, unfortunately.

Truth be told  and he always wanted history to tell the truth  it is also the case that Bush was an occasionally hard-knuckled politician. He presided over a presidential campaign that relentlessly attacked Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis liberal social views, ranging from furloughs for first-degree murderers to Dukakis veto of a bill requiring public school teachers to lead the Pledge of Allegiance.

Ferocious and gracious

To win office, Bush had to choose between two sets of deeply ingrained impulses; the Competitor had to be given provisional dominion over the Conciliator. As he privately observed when his mind turned to his own 1988 White House run: If you want to be President  and I do  there are certain things that I have to do.

To serve he had to succeed; to preside he had to prevail. For Bush the impulses to do in his opponents and to do good were inextricably bound. At the end of the 1988 campaign, he mused to himself, The country gets over these things fast. I have no apologies, no regrets, and if I had let the press keep defining me as a wimp, a loser, I wouldnt be where I am today: threatening, close, and who knows, maybe winning. He was at once ferocious and gracious  a formidable combination.

Bush never doubted that he was the best man on the ballot. Armed with this self-confidence  a personal assurance masked by his kindness and his thoughtfulness  he could justify adapting his principles and attacking his opponents as the inevitable price of politics. To Bush, such calculations were not cynical. They were instrumental to the desired end: the accumulation of power to be deployed in the service of America and of the world. What mattered to him was not what one said or did to rise to ultimate authority. What mattered was whether one was principled and selfless once in command. And as president of the United States, Bush was surely that.

For every compromise or concession to party orthodoxy or political expedience on the campaign trail, in office Bush ultimately did the right thing. In 1964, when he sought a Senate seat from Texas, he opposed the Civil Rights Act, only to vote for open housing once in Congress four years later, much to the fury of his conservative constituents. In 1988, he made an absolute pledge on supply-side economics  Read my lips: No new taxes  only to break that promise two years later, when he believed an agreement that included higher taxes was best for the country. And, after winning the hard-hitting 1988 race, he sought to bring about what hed called a kinder, gentler America, reaching out to Democrats and Republicans alike, seeking common ground on common problems.

The nation mourns him not least because we no longer have a president who knows that the story of the nation is not all about him. In the last years of his life, Bush was asked how hed like to be remembered. He didnt pause  and he avoided, as ever, the first-person pronoun, what his mother used to call the Great I Am  and replied: That we put the country first. That such words seem so quaint is one of the many reasons we already miss him as much as we do.

Meacham is the author of Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush. c.2018 The New York Times



iciHaiti - Justice : Opening of the 7th session of training in International Law





Monday opened the 7th training session in International Human Rights Law (December 3rd to 13th) at the School of Magistracy in Port-au-Prince organized by the French Embassy in Haiti in partnership with the European Union and the Civil Society Initiative (SAI), under the supervision of the Rene Cassin Foundation (Strasbourg International Institute for Human Rights).



The theme chosen this year is "The fight against discrimination and the promotion of equality in international human rights law". This training, organized under the supervision of the Rene Cassin Foundation (International Institute for Human Rights in Strasbourg), is provided by trainers from abroad and from Haiti: Yannick Lecuyer, HDR Certified Senior Lecturer, University Angers; Roger-Claude Liwanga, Associate Professor, Emory University School of Law, Researcher at the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard University, and Sebastien Gillioz, Human Rights Officer, Asia-Pacific Division, Cooperation Division technical and field operations, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.



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iciHaiti - Politic : New buses for public transit





Thanks to the support of a guarantee fund of 1.5 billion gourdes of the Government, unionists working in the public transport sector, grouped under the Alternative Investment Transport (AIT) were able to buy 15 buses that will be put into service in different circuits of the metropolitan area and provincial cities.



Paul Loulou Chery, the Deputy General Coordinator of the National Front of Haitian Trade Unions (FSNH) present at the delivery of buses to AIT, thanked President Moise for taking this initiative to contribute to the modernization of public transit in Haiti.



Changeux Mehu, the President of the Association of Owners Haitian Drivers (APCH), expressed his satisfaction with this presidential support, stating that it was not a donation and that the committed funds were repayable on a period of 5 years.



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Beche-de-mer tax in PNG upsets fisheries group

December 04,2018 | Source: RNZ

A tax on beche-de-mer in Papua New Guinea has been likened to "killing the goose with the golden egg".



The new tax is $US4.60 per kilogramme.



The Post Courier quoted the chairman of the Morobe Primary Producers' Cooperative Association, Reuben Yapi, as saying exporting beche-de-mer is an excellent economic platform.



He said government policies should support and inspire small fishermen on how to improve the activity, instead of ripping them off.



The association caters for 509 registered co-operative groups in the province, with 115,000 members involved in cocoa, coffee, fishery, fresh produce, poultry, cattle and piggery operations.



Mr Yapi said government policies should ensure primary producers were empowered.

 Copyright Radio New Zealand 2018

Theme(s): Fisheries Resources.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 4)  The Duterte Cabinet is set to meet Tuesday to discuss the economic managers' proposal to withdraw the suspension of the additional fuel excise tax under the tax reform law.

"So it's a collegial body so we have to arrive at a consensus on how it would impact on each and every aspect of the community and that can be articulated by the Cabinet members who handle a particular department in a certain area of governance," President Rodrigo Duterte told reporters Monday evening.

In a Thursday turnaround, the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC)  the Philippines' economic team  withdrew its support for suspending the fuel tax rate increase under the Tax Reform Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law, a decision met with criticisms from some senators.

The DBCC cited lower Dubai crude oil prices as reason for the change of heart.

Malacanang earlier said the President will look at the law to assess whether or not the tranche of tax increases will be suspended.

"I'm sure the economic managers have basis to make that recommendation. They are competent and able to explain themselves to the lawmakers," Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said.

Senators are calling for the suspension of the additional 2 tax on oil products next year amid steadily-rising prices of goods for the entire year.Imperial Valley News Center

Two Iranian Men Indicted for Deploying Ransomware to Extort Hospitals and Public Institutions

Newark, New Jersey - A federal grand jury returned an indictment unsealed Wednesday in Newark, New Jersey charging Faramarz Shahi Savandi, 34, and Mohammad Mehdi Shah Mansouri, 27, both of Iran, in a 34-month-long international computer hacking and extortion scheme involving the deployment of sophisticated ransomware, announced Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Departments Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito for the District of New Jersey and Executive Assistant Director Amy S. Hess of the FBI.

The six-count indictment alleges that Savandi and Mansouri, acting from inside Iran, authored malware, known as SamSam Ransomware, capable of forcibly encrypting data on the computers of victims. According to the indictment, beginning in December 2015, Savandi and Mansouri would then allegedly access the computers of victim entities without authorization through security vulnerabilities, and install and execute the SamSam Ransomware on the computers, resulting in the encryption of data on the victims computers. These more than 200 victims included hospitals, municipalities, and public institutions, according to the indictment, including the City of Atlanta, Georgia; the City of Newark, New Jersey; the Port of San Diego, California; the Colorado Department of Transportation; the University of Calgary in Calgary, Alberta, Canada; and six health care-related entities: Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles, California; Kansas Heart Hospital in Wichita, Kansas; Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, more commonly known as LabCorp, headquartered in Burlington, North Carolina; MedStar Health, headquartered in Columbia, Maryland; Nebraska Orthopedic Hospital now known as OrthoNebraska Hospital, in Omaha, Nebraska and Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc., headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

According to the indictment, Savandi and Mansouri would then extort victim entities by demanding a ransom paid in the virtual currency Bitcoin in exchange for decryption keys for the encrypted data, collecting ransom payments from victim entities that paid the ransom, and exchanging the Bitcoin proceeds into Iranian rial using Iran-based Bitcoin exchangers. The indictment alleges that, as a result of their conduct, Savandi and Mansouri have collected over $6 million USD in ransom payments to date, and caused over $30 million USD in losses to victims.

The Iranian defendants allegedly used hacking and malware to cause more than $30 million in losses to more than 200 victims, said Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein. According to the indictment, the hackers infiltrated computer systems in 10 states and Canada and then demanded payment. The criminal activity harmed state agencies, city governments, hospitals, and countless innocent victims.

The allegations in the indictment unsealed todaythe first of its kindoutline an Iran-based international computer hacking and extortion scheme that engaged in 21st-century digital blackmail, said Assistant Attorney General Benczkowski. These defendants allegedly used ransomware to infect the computer networks of municipalities, hospitals, and other key public institutions, locking out the computer owners, and then demanded millions of dollars in payments from them. As todays charges demonstrate, the Criminal Division and its law enforcement partners will relentlessly pursue cybercriminals who harm American citizens, businesses, and institutions, regardless of where those criminals may reside.

The defendants in this case developed and deployed the SamSam Ransomware in order to hold public and private entities hostage and then extort money from them, said U.S. Attorney Carpenito. As the indictment in this case details, they started with a business in Mercer County and then moved on to major public entities, like the City of Newark, and healthcare providers, like the Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles and the Kansas Heart Hospital in Wichitacravenly taking advantage of the fact that these victims depend on their computer networks to serve the public, the sick, and the injured without interruption. The charges announced today show that the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of New Jersey will continue to act to disrupt such criminal acts, and identify those who are responsible for them, no matter where in the world they may seek to hide.

This indictment demonstrates the FBIs continuous commitment to unmasking malicious actors behind the worlds most egregious cyberattacks, said Executive Assistant Director Hess. By calling out those who threaten American systems, we expose criminals who hide behind their computer and launch attacks that threaten our public safety and national security. The actions highlighted today, which represent a continuing trend of cyber criminal activity emanating from Iran, were particularly threatening, as they targeted public safety institutions, including U.S. hospital systems and governmental entities. The FBI, with the assistance of our private sector and U.S. government partners, are sending a strong message that we will work together to investigate and hold all criminals accountable.

Savandi and Mansouri are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit fraud and related activity in connection with computers, two substantive counts of intentional damage to a protected computer and two substantive counts of transmitting a demand in relation to damaging a protected computer.

According to the indictment, Savandi and Mansouri created the first version of the SamSam Ransomware in December 2015, and created further refined versions in June and October 2017. In addition to employing Iran-based Bitcoin exchangers, the indictment alleges that the defendants also utilized overseas computer infrastructure to commit their attacks. Savandi and Mansouri would also use sophisticated online reconnaissance techniques (such as scanning for computer network vulnerabilities) and conduct online research in order to select and target potential victims, according to the indictment. According to the indictment, the defendants would also disguise their attacks to appear like legitimate network activity.

To carry out their scheme, the indictment alleges that the defendants also employed the use of Tor, a computer network designed to facilitate anonymous communication over the internet. According to the indictment, the defendants maximized the damage caused to victims by launching attacks outside regular business hours, when a victim would find it more difficult to mitigate the attack, and by encrypting backups of the victims computers. This was intended toand often didcripple the regular business operations of the victims, according to the indictment. The most recent ransomware attack against a victim alleged in the indictment took place on Sept. 25, 2018.

This case was investigated by the FBIs Newark Field Office. Senior Counsel William A. Hall Jr. of the Criminal Divisions Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney and Chief of the Cybercrimes Unit Justin S. Herring of the District of New Jersey are prosecuting the case. The Department thanks its law enforcement colleagues at the National Crime Agency (UK), West Yorkshire Police (UK), Calgary Police Service (Canada), and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Significant assistance was provided by the Justice Departments National Security Division and the Criminal Divisions Office of International Affairs.

Victims are encouraged to contact their local FBI field office and file a complaint online with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). The IC3 staff reviews complaints, looking for patterns or other indicators of significant criminal activity, and refers investigative packages of complaints to the appropriate law enforcement authorities in a particular city or region.Former Correctional Officer Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Cover up Physical Assault of Inmates

Richwood, Louisiana - The Justice Department Wednesday announced that former Richwood Correctional Center officer Demario Shaffer pleaded guilty on Monday in federal court for his role in a conspiracy to cover up the physical assault of five inmates by himself and other correctional officers in violation of the Constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Shaffer, 33, of Delhi, Louisiana, pleaded guilty to conspiring to falsify documents with the intent to obstruct and influence a matter within federal jurisdiction. Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband for the Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana David C. Joseph made the announcement.

A correctional officer who uses excessive force against an inmate and then falsifies official reports violates the Constitution and its provision to protect all incarcerated offenders from cruel and unusual punishment, said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband. "The Justice Department will continue to prosecute aggressively any similarly disgraceful and unlawful misconduct to ensure the integrity of our civil rights laws."

Correctional officers are not allowed to abuse prisoners, said United States Attorney David C. Joseph. They must follow the law and not use their position of authority to assault those under their supervision.

According to his guilty plea, Shaffer worked as a Sergeant at the Richwood Correctional Center in Monroe, Louisiana, where on Oct. 30, 2016, he and other officers inflicted cruel and unusual punishment upon five inmates by spraying a chemical agent in their face and eyes while the inmates were handcuffed, compliant, kneeling on the floor, and not posing a physical threat to anyone. Shaffer admitted that he conspired with the other officers to hide their conduct by submitting a false story in their official reports concerning the incident.

The count of conviction carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a criminal fine of up to $250,000. Shaffer is scheduled to be sentenced on May 1, 2019, by U.S. District Judge Terry A. Doughty of the Western District of Louisiana, who accepted the plea.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Mudrick of the U.S. Attorneys Office of the Western District of Louisiana, and Trial Attorney Anita Channapati of the Civil Rights Division, Criminal Section, U.S. Department of Justice. The case was investigated by the Monroe Division of the FBI.Former Charter Airline Executive Sentenced to Nearly Eight Years in Prison for Orchestrating Multimillion Dollar Scheme

Newark, New Jersey - The former vice president of a now-bankrupt public air charter operator was sentenced to 94 months in prison today for her role in a scheme to steal millions of dollars in passenger money for future travel from an escrow account, announced Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Departments Criminal Division and Regional Special Agent in Charge Douglas Shoemaker of the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of the Inspector Generals (DOT-OIG).

Kay Ellison, 58, of Edenton, North Carolina, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton of the District of New Jersey, who presided over the trial. Judge Wigenton also ordered the defendant to pay $19.6 million in restitution. Ellison and her co-defendant, Judy Tull, 73, also of Edenton, were both convicted on March 28, after a seven-day trial, of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting financial institutions and to commit bank fraud, four counts of wire fraud affecting financial institutions and three counts of bank fraud. Ellison is the former vice president and managing partner of Myrtle Beach Direct Air and Tours (Direct Air), which was headquartered in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, with operations in Daniels, West Virginia, and Tull is its former CEO. Tull is scheduled to be sentenced at a later date.

Kay Ellison stole tens of millions of dollars of passenger money in a brazen scheme that put a veneer of success on a failing company, and left others holding the baguntil today, said Assistant Attorney General Benczkowski. Her sentence sends a powerful deterrent messageespecially to corporate executivesand demonstrates the commitment of the Criminal Division and its law enforcement partners to uncovering and vigorously prosecuting corporate fraud wherever it is found.

The sentencing in this investigation demonstrates that the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General is committed to stopping charter flight operators who intentionally mislead and defraud the traveling public for personal gain, said DOT-OIG Regional Special Agent in Charge Shoemaker. Together with the Department of Justice, we will continue to vigorously pursue and prosecute fraud that erodes consumer confidence in the integrity of transportation-related goods and services.

According to evidence presented at trial, from October 2007 through March 2012, Ellison and Tull engaged in a scheme to steal passengers money for future travel from an escrow account by artificially inflating the amount of money that the defendants claimed they were entitled to receive, and by sending this falsified amount in a letter to the escrow bank telling the escrow bank to release the money. The evidence further established that to cover up their fraud, the defendants falsified profit and loss statements to make the company look like it was making money rather than losing money, and sent these falsified documents to credit card companies and banks to trick them into continuing to do business with the company.

Testimony at trial established that two financial institutions incurred losses of nearly $30 million for having to refund thousands of passengers their money that should have been held for them in escrow, but was actually stolen by the defendants as part of their fraud.

Robert Keilman, 73, of Marlboro, New Jersey, Direct Airs former chief financial officer, pleaded guilty to charges stemming from his role in this scheme and will be sentenced separately.

This case was investigated by DOT-OIG. Trial Attorneys Cory E. Jacobs and Michael T. ONeill of the Criminal Divisions Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.

The Criminal Divisions Fraud Section plays a pivotal role in the Department of Justices fight against complex white collar crime around the country.Antoinette Jones was nine years old when her mother spoke to her in the kitchen to deliver two pieces of news: her parents were getting divorced and she had been born HIV positive. Her mother told her not to tell anyone.

I just remember standing in the kitchen with my mother, and her having to tell me and seeing the look on her face, she recalls. It hurt me more to see her so upset. It was not that I had to be an adult, its that I had a secret that I had to carry. And because of stigma, I was told I couldnt share the secret with anybody  it was a secret between myself and God.

Fourteen years later, Jones works to help others with HIV, performing diagnostic tests and sharing the message that in 2018, a positive result need not be a death sentence. It is a highly charged moment for both the patient and the counsellor.

Recommended The Independent launches Christmas charity appeal for HIV testing

This work helps to overcome the stigma still associated with HIV in the minds of some, and which led her mother to think she was protecting her from the bigotry of others.

Sometimes, she says, people can freak out after receiving a positive test result. There was an occasion when a patient said they planned to kill themselves there and then, after hearing the news.

I have to connect with them and let them take a couple of deep breaths, and let them come to some kind of peace, she says.

Sometimes, I have to tell my story  that I was born with HIV, and that Im continuing with my life. How Im continuing to fight HIV. I have to tell them HIV is no longer a death sentence and that the stigma is based on everything you were told in 1988, its not relevant today. Its not based on fact.

Jones, 23, is a so-called peer navigator with the Atlanta-based SisterLove, Inc, the oldest women-focused HIV and reproductive justice advocacy group in the southeastern US. It is one of the organisations supported by the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which The Independent and the Evening Standard are partnering with for this years Christmas charity appeal.

Independent campaign with the Elton John AIDS Foundation Show all 10 1 /10 Independent campaign with the Elton John AIDS Foundation Independent campaign with the Elton John AIDS Foundation Sir Elton John and Evgeny Lebedev The Independent has launched it's Christmas charity appeal for essential HIV testing around the world with the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Funds raised will pay for those at risk to be able to get tested, and will make sure they have access to the treatment they need. Sir Elton John and Evgeny Lebedev with their HIV test swabs at the Ponce Centre in Atlanta Jeremy Selwyn Independent campaign with the Elton John AIDS Foundation Elton John and Andrew Williams Andrew Williams had never heard of the word HIV when he tested positive. It was his mother who had forced him to go to the doctor where he got the diagnosis that he thought was a death sentence. At that time he was in a wheelchair. It was the unbearable itching of his back that finally got him to get medical help but, he discovered, he not only had HIV but diabetes, high blood pressure and kidney disease. That was two years ago. This week, as the 31-year-old joined Sir Elton John and Evening Standard and The Independent owner Evgeny Lebedev in Atlanta to witness the revolutionary new breakthroughs against the disease at the citys Grady Ponce De Leon Centre, there was no need for a wheelchair. Nor, he now knew, was there any need for fear Jeremy Selwyn Independent campaign with the Elton John AIDS Foundation Evgeny Lebedev and Andrew Williams Within two months of starting the latest antiretroviral drugs, the virus in his body had become undetectable in his blood. Not only is he now healthy, partly due to the drugs and partly due to the healthy lifestyle adopted for his other illnesses, but he can virtually not pass the infection to other people. He feels, he says, reborn. I have a reason to live, he explained, and that is to help people who were like me  and to show youre going to be OK. Jeremy Selwyn Independent campaign with the Elton John AIDS Foundation It was a message so stark in its optimism that it reduced Sir Elton to tears. He knows first-hand the realities of what, in the past, an HIV diagnosis can mean. When he started his Elton John AIDS Foundation in the US in 1992, it was because his friends were dying and he wanted to do what he could, anything that he could, to help. When we set up the Elton John AIDS Foundation we were delivering meals to peoples doors, he said. [The stigma meant] they would not go outside. We have come a long way. Jeremy Selwyn Independent campaign with the Elton John AIDS Foundation But part of the reason for his tears was not only happiness at Andrews story. It was also the knowledge that, despite all the advances that have been made, the fight is far from won  indeed, in some parts of the world, things are getting worse. Sir Elton John with everyone at the Ponce Centre in Atlanta Jeremy Selwyn Independent campaign with the Elton John AIDS Foundation It is why he and Mr Lebedev had come to Atlanta to mark the first day of our Christmas Appeal, for that city, sadly, is one place where the situation is not only getting worse but, as those at the centre made clear, dramatically so. Jeremy Selwyn Independent campaign with the Elton John AIDS Foundation Sir Elton John with Vic Mensa at the Ponce Centre Jeremy Selwyn Independent campaign with the Elton John AIDS Foundation Sir Elton John with his HIV test swab In Atlanta, one of Americas richest cities and the home of such international corporate giants as Coca-Cola and CNN, if you are a gay black man in 2018 then, unbelievably, you still have a one in two chance of being diagnosed as HIV positive during your lifetime. Jeremy Selwyn Independent campaign with the Elton John AIDS Foundation Elton John with the mayor of Atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms Jeremy Selwyn Independent campaign with the Elton John AIDS Foundation Elton John talks at the Ponce Centre Jeremy Selwyn

Sir Elton and Evgeny Lebedev, the owner of the newspapers, recently travelled to Atlanta to hear directly from people such as Jones. The city, where some of the worlds biggest companies including CNN, Coca Cola and FedEx are headquartered, has HIV infection rates comparable to a number of cities in southern Africa.

In the US today, a gay black man has a one in two chance of being diagnosed with HIV. In Atlanta, it is even worse  perhaps closer to 60 per cent. There are many reasons for this, but racism, homophobia, poverty and lack of education about HIV are central to allowing the virus to still be an epidemic for some communities, 31 years after the first antiretroviral drug, AZT, was licensed.

In a joint message, Sir Elton and Mr Lebedev said: As we write, 37m people globally are living with HIV. Last year alone, 1.8m people contracted the virus and 940,000 died of an Aids-related illness. This need not happen.

Todays medicines not only enable those living with HIV to have full and fulfilling lives, but also ensure they cannot pass the virus on to others. The challenge is that too many people still do not realise they are at risk, are too afraid of the stigma or are denied the chance of taking an HIV test.

 Elton John launches The Independent's AIDSfree campaign

Jones, who grew up in New York, was adopted by her aunt  the woman she calls and considers her mother  and her aunts husband. Jones was adopted along with all of her five brothers and sisters. One of Joness siblings is also HIV positive. After her parents divorced, she lost contact with some of her siblings, but earlier this year they reconnected on social media. She has also spoken to her biological mother.

SisterLove, Inc was formed in 1993 by Dazon Dixon Diallo to force the authorities to think about how Aids and HIV was affecting women. Diallo said there was a time officials did not even count infection rates among women. That changed in 1994. We used to say women dont get Aids, we just die from it, she said.

The group, which has long burned a proudly feminist flame, occupies a bright and airy 117-year-old property in Adamsville, a traditionally African American neighbourhood in the west of Atlanta. Sunshine fills many of the high-ceilinged rooms.

Diallo says if people test positive, they are encouraged to start treatment as soon as possible and they help arrange it. Some start medication the very same day.

Most of the people they help are aged 16 to 25, says Jones. Many of our clients know about us before they search for free tests for sexually transmitted disease, and we usually come up first.

The group aims to treat everyone they encounter with compassion and understanding. I try and make them feel very comfortable, Jones says.

She says several things in society made her job harder  social media, which spreads false information about HIV like a virus, and some music that still uses language from the 1980s.

The biggest change needed, she says, was in schools. She said most of them still did not have a comprehensive sex education programme. Such an education would include LGBT+ people and those living with HIV. I would change schools above all, Jones adds.The winner of the Turner Prize 2018 will be announced tonight, with four emerging artists competing for the honour and the accompanying 25,000 windfall.

Forensic Architecture, Naeem Mohaiemen, Charlotte Prodger and Luke Willis Thompson are this years entrants, all video-centric creators concerned with the most pressing political and humanitarian issues of the day, according to Tate Britain director Alex Farquharson.

Response to the nominations has mellowed considerably in recent years but in its 1990s heyday, when the accolade was regarded as a key event in the Cool Britannia calendar and provided a reliable source of controversy.

Damien Hirsts Mother and Child Divided, an art work comprised of a cow and calf bisected and suspended in formaldehyde, which won the 1995 Turner Prize, on show in the Tate Britain, London (PA)

The Turner was routinely picketed by the Stuckists, a protest group calling for a return to figurative painting, who would demonstrate outside Tate Britain dressed as clowns bearing placards dismissing it as a state-funded advertising agency for Charles Saatchi and arguing that it should be renamed the Duchamp Award for the destruction of artistic integrity.

The only artist who wouldnt be in danger of winning the Turner Prize is [JMW] Turner, they would rather pointedly argue.

The Guardian was moved to question whether Fiona Banners 2002 entry Arsewoman in Wonderland amounted to art or pornography, putting the question to adult film star Ben Dover (Porn is the new rock and roll and what this piece of art is, in my opinion, is verbal justification for it. It allows all the Islingtonites to get off on the sexy stuff without sanctioning porn).

Culture Minister Kim Howells dismissed the prize as conceptual b******t, to the glee of Prince Charles, that same year.

Damien Hirsts cows preserved in formaldehyde are undoubtedly among the most iconic and divisive spectacles to have featured, along with Tracey Emins My Bed (1998), which didnt actually win but was sufficiently notorious to inspire performance artists Yuan Chai and Jian Jun Xi to offer a riposte, staging a pillow fight among its sheets before being removed by security.

Tracey Emin (Getty) (Getty images)

Both were synonymous with the so-called Young British Artists movement and came to be closely associated with the cigarettes-and-Chablis spirit of the moment.

The Turner Prize may be maligned in some quarters as pretentious or willfully oblique but, like Trafalgar Squares Fourth Plinth, it provides a rare opportunity to put challenging, immersive contemporary art before the general public and for that service alone deserves to be cut some slack.

With that in mind, here's a brief look back at some of its many memorable winners.

Gilbert & George, 1986

The duo - famed for dressing alike and resembling cohabiting bank managers  won for one of their trademark stained glass-inspired psychedelic collages in the second year of the Turners life (painter Howard Hodgkin won the first).

They distanced themselves from the honour, however: We dont like prizes. We are apart from all that.

Rachel Whiteread, 1993

Whiteread became the Turners first female winner for House, a sculpture made by using a derelict house in east London as a mould, filling it with liquid concrete and stripping away the exterior cast to create a fossil.

Rachel Whitereads House 1993 (Sue Omerod) (Photo: Sue Omerod  Rachel Whiteread)

The divisive nature of the accolade was emphasised when she also won that years Anti-Turner Prize, naming her the worst artist in Britain, and saw her project dismissed as meritless gigantism by critic Brian Sewell, a staunch traditionalist who later argued that opening a gallery in the North East denied more sophisticated Londoners a chance to see new exhibitions.

Antony Gormley, 1994

Gormley, who felt so differently to Sewell he would later design the Angel of the North, won for Testing a World View.

The work was an installation of five identical cast iron figures, bent at the waist, arranged around the room in different positions to pose questions about architectural space and how human posture conveys mood.

Damien Hirst, 1995

Unquestionably one of the most famous works of art in the world, Hirsts Mother and Child Divided presented four glass tanks housing a cow and her calf severed in half, the carcasses suspended in formaldehyde.

The work developed an idea Hirst first put forth in 1991 when he embalmed a tiger shark in The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living.

Damien Hirsts 1991 work The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living (PA)

Punk rock Renaissance man Billy Childish, a former boyfriend of Tracey Emin and founding Stuckist, gave one of the most clear-eyed assessments of Hirst and his body of work in the song Art or Arse? (You Be the Judge): Damien Hirsts got his fish in a tank/Some say its art, others think its w**k.

Gillian Wearing, 1997

60 Minutes of Silence, Wearings film of actors standing still for an hour dressed as policemen, is perhaps best remembered as the subject of a live Channel 4 News discussion that Emin stormed out of while in a state of heightened refreshment, a defining controversy associated with the Turner.

Gillian Wearing (Immo Klink)

Wearing unveiled Parliament Squares first statue of a woman, suffragist Millicent Fawcett, at a ceremony in Westminster in late April this year.

Chris Ofili, 1998

When it comes to materials, Chris Ofilis portrait paintings comprised of elephant dung coated in polyester resin take some beating. His reaction was also refreshing: Oh man. Thank god! Wheres my cheque?

One, No Woman No Cry, quoted Bob Marley and poignantly depicted a black woman weeping for the murder of teenager Stephen Lawrence in Eltham, south east London, a crime that shocked Britain in 1993 and saw the victims mother Doreen spearhead a campaign calling for an inquiry into the subsequent failed police investigation.

Steve McQueen, 1999

McQueen, who would go on to become an admired Hollywood director and make Hunger (2008), Shame (2011) and 12 Years a Slave (2013), was the first filmmaker to win the Turner.

Steve McQueen, now an Oscar-winning director (Getty) (Getty Images)

Nominated for his 16mm black-and-white short films including Bear and Deadpan, in which he recreated a well-known Buster Keaton stunt from Steamboat Bill, Jr (1928), McQueen was somewhat overshadowed in the public imagination by Emins unmade bed.

Martin Creed, 2001

Work No. 227: The Lights Going On and Off did precisely what its title suggested, being an installation in which an empty room is intermittently plunged into darkness.

The piece confounded some and infuriated others, with fellow artist Jacqueline Crofton pelting it with eggs. Madonna added to the furore when she shouted Right on, m********s! live on TV, before the 9pm watershed, when announcing Martin Creed as winner.

Ben Dover liked it though.

Grayson Perry, 2003

Hailed as the first transvestite potter to the win the Turner (That we know of, he adds), Grayson Perry was honoured for his classically beautiful ceramic vases painted with satirical  and frequently sexual  contemporary imagery.

Grayson Perry with his work (Rex)

Accepting the award in the guise of Claire his teddy-sporting alter ego and wearing an exquisitely embroidered Victorian party frock, Mr Perry quickly became a national treasure.

Now primarily working in tapestry, he has since become a popular broadcaster, tackling themes related to social class and the changing face of masculinity on Channel 4.

Turner Prize 2018 shortlist: in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Turner Prize 2018 shortlist: in pictures Turner Prize 2018 shortlist: in pictures Naeem Mohaiemen Naeem Mohaiemen, Tripoli Cancelled, 2017, single channel film. Dimitris Parthimos Turner Prize 2018 shortlist: in pictures Naeem Mohaiemen Portrait of Naeem Mohaiemen Abeer Hoque Turner Prize 2018 shortlist: in pictures Naeem Mohaiemen Naeem Mohaiemen, Tripoli Cancelled, 2017, single channel film. Turner Prize 2018 shortlist: in pictures Naeem Mohaiemen Naeem Mohaiemen, Two Meetings and a Funeral, 2017, three-channel installation, Hessisches. Lanesmuseum, Kassel, cocumenta 14. Michael Nast Turner Prize 2018 shortlist: in pictures Charlotte Prodger Charlotte Prodger. Portrait 2017. Emile Holba Turner Prize 2018 shortlist: in pictures Charlotte Prodger Charlotte Prodger, a still from BRIDGIT, 2016. Single channel video with sound, 32 minutes. Courtesy of the artist Turner Prize 2018 shortlist: in pictures Charlotte Prodger Charlotte Prodger, a still from BRIDGIT, 2016. Single channel video with sound, 32 minutes. Courtesy of the artist Turner Prize 2018 shortlist: in pictures Charlotte Prodger Charlotte Prodger. Stoneymollan Trail, 2015. Single channel video with sound, 43 minutes. Courtesy of the artist Turner Prize 2018 shortlist: in pictures Forensic Architecture Collage by Forensic Architecture, 2018 Turner Prize 2018 shortlist: in pictures Forensic Architecture Counter Investigations: Forensic Architecture at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, Installation View. Mark Blower Turner Prize 2018 shortlist: in pictures Forensic Architecture Saydnaya_4: This corridor in the prison, known to be linear, was experienced by a survivor while he was tortured and the space was distorted by the traumatic conditions at the moment the memory was encoded. Forensic Architecture, 2016 Turner Prize 2018 shortlist: in pictures Forensic Architecture Saydnaya_1: Saydnaya prison, as reconstructed by Forensic Architecture using architectural and acoustic modelling. Forensic Architecture, 2016 Turner Prize 2018 shortlist: in pictures Luke Willis Thompson Portrait of Luke Willis Thompson Courtesy of the artist Turner Prize 2018 shortlist: in pictures Luke Willis Thompson Luke Willis Thompson, autoportrait, 2017. Installation view, Chisenhale Gallery. Commissioned by Chisenhale Gallery and produced in partnership with Create. Andy Keate Turner Prize 2018 shortlist: in pictures Luke Willis Thompson Luke Willis Thompson, autoportrait, 2017. Installation view, Chisenhale Gallery. Commissioned by Chisenhale Gallery and produced in partnership with Create. Andy Keate

He won huge plaudits for his 2013 BBC Reith Lectures Playing to the Gallery, as good an introduction to the often perplexing world of modern art as you could wish for.

Susan Philipsz, 2010

One of the most interesting recent winners was Scotlands Susan Philipsz, the first to win for an entirely aural work.

A recording of the artist singing the traditional sea shanty Lowlands Away under Glasgows bridges was played through speakers into the exhibiting gallery, conjuring an evocative sense of place and the past calling us back through time with ancient words.Jackie Chan has made personal revelations about his past in a new memoir, in which he refers to himself as a "nasty jerk" and recounts throwing his toddler son across the room on one occasion.

Never Grow Up was first published in Chinese in 2015 and became available in English on Tuesday.

The Chinese actor, 64, reflects on his rise to fame and his former habits in the book, saying that when he was younger, he spent a significant part of his money on "drinking, gambling and girls".

He mentions a woman he knew by the name Number Nine, whom he visited several times at a club.

"Every night, Number Nine and I would squeeze into her dingy little cubicle, the low ceiling right above us ... There were times when I'd notice people trying to peep through the cracks in the door at us," reads one of the quotes from the book transcribed by CNN.

"Yet this little cubicle seemed like paradise to me."

Looking back at his newfound stardom, Chan recounts: "I drunk drove all the time. In the morning, I'd crash my Porsche, then in the evening, I'd total a Mercedes-Benz. All day long, I went around in a haze."

Chan also remembers an incident that occurred when his son Jaycee Chan, now 36, was two.

"I picked him up with one hand and flung him across the room, and he crashed into the sofa," the actor states. "With the amount of force I used, if he'd hit the back or armrests, it could have been quite serious."

The honorary Oscar winner says he "immediately" regretted the gesture and never "threw" or "hit" his son again.

Chan, the fifth highest paid actor in the world according to Forbes's 2018 ranking, also mentions his affair with former beauty queen Elaine Ng, describing his wife Joan Lin, with whom he has been married since 1982, as a "strong woman".

He does not, however, acknowledge the daughter he fathered during the affair, named Etta Ng.

Ng announced on social media last month that she and her girlfriend, social media influencer Andi Autumn, had got married.The Marvel Cinematic Universe is adding another superhero to its crowded ensemble.

Shang-Chi will become the studio's first Asian protagonist, with Chinese-American writer Dave Callahan on screenwriting duties.

Created by Steven Englehart and Jim Starlin, Shang-Chi made his first appearance in December 1973 following the boom of martial arts films thanks to the success of Enter the Dragon. Hes the son of a China-based globalist who, after being raised in a reclusive compound, developed unsurpassed skills in kung fu.

Deadline reports that Marvel is already considering numerous Asian and Asian-American directors for the fast-tracked film bosses are hoping will emulate the success of Ryan Cooglers Black Pantherwhich tapped into African and African American culture and featured a nearly all-black cast.

With Avengers 4 set to end an era of Marvel films, a Shang-Chi film will be a progressive step forward for the MCU, which studio president Kevin Feige is curating. Diversity is evidently key for Marvel: alongside Callahan and Coogler, filmmakers to have been hired by the studios include Chinese director Chloe Zhao and the Australian Cate Shortland, wholl direct Black Widows first standalone film.

33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 Show all 34 1 /34 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 1. Captain America: Civil War Release date: 6 May 2016. Iron Man and Captain America are set to face off in this superhero blockbuster that will feature nearly all the Avengers but wont be an Avengers film. It will also mark the first time Spider-Man will feature in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Sony having made a deal with Marvel Studios. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 2. X-Men: Apocalypse Release date: 27 May 2016. Following the success of Days of Future Past, Apocalypse will follow the young X-Men team as the battle against Oscar Isaacs titular villain as he gathers his four horsemen; Magneto (Fassbender), Angel (Hardy), Storm (Shipp), and Psylocke (Munn). Expect carnage and no Wolverine. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 3. Suicide Squad Release date: 5 August 2016. The first supervillain film, Suicide Squad is also based in the DCEU (DC Extended Universe, where Batman and Superman live) and will introduce the world to Margot Robbies Harley Quinn and Jared Letos Joker. One of the more exciting upcoming DC films thats for sure. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 4. Doctor Strange Release date: 4 November 2016. Benedict Cumberbatch will debut in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe, where Captain America and Iron Man live) as the Sorcerer Supreme. The film already has an incredible cast, including Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachael McAdams and Tilda Swinton. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 5. Untitled Lego Batman film Release date: 20 February 2017. Kicking off 2017 is the Lego version of Batman, who will lead his own spin-off, having already featured in the amazing Lego Movie. Will Arnett voices the titular character, while Zach Garfianakis - from the Hangover - will voice The Joker. But will he better than Leto? 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 6. Untitled Wolverine film Release date: 3 March 2017. Having not starred in X-Men: Apocalypse, Wolverine will return to the big screen in a solo film which was recently made R-Rated following the success of Deadpool. It is expected to be Hugh Jackmans last outing as the titular character. Fox 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 7. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Release date: 5 May 2017. Chris Pratt and the crew are returning to space in the sequel to the surprisingly successful Guardians of the Galaxy. According to director James Gunn, the film will not feature Thanos, even though he will to play a major role in phase MCU Phase 3. Cast includes newcomers Kurt Russell and Pom Klementieff, as well as, rumour has it, Sylvester Stallone. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 8. Wonder Woman Release date: 23 June 2017. Gal Gadot is returning to the DCEU in her very own film, marking the first female-led superhero film on this list. Chris Pine is on board to play Wonder Womans love interest. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 9. Untitled Spider-Man reboot Release date: 7 July 2017. Yes, it is another Spider-Man reboot, having previously been redone with Andrew Garfield as the lead. However, this time it is part of the MCU, with Tom Holland as the titular character, and a heavily rumoured cameo by Iron Man could be in the pipeline. We can dream. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 10. Untitled Fox film Release date: 6 October 2017. In a strange announcement, Fox decided to withhold the release of Gambit until a future, as-yet unannounced date, which could be here, or this could be a completely separate project. Many suspect Deadpool 2 could nicely fit here, Fox capitalising on the success of the first film. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 11. Thor: Ragnarok Release date: 3 November 2017. Chris Hemsworth will be returning as the Norse God in his third solo MCU film. Flight of the Conchords Taika Waititi is on board to direct, and promises a fun adventure that will likely lead into Marvels next project, Infinity War. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 12. Justice League Part One Release date: 17 November 2017. Hot on the heals of Thor comes Justice League Part One, the first DCEU team-up flick which will see Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg work together to fight bad guys. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 13: Untitled Fox film Release date: 12 January 2018. Kicking off 2018 will likely be the second Deadpool film, but then again, this could very well be another X-Men team-up. Theres also talk of an X-Force film, with Deadpool and other mutants teaming up to fight evil. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 14. Black Panther Release date: 16 February 2018. The first non-white male-led superhero film in the MCU comes in the form of Black Panther, with Chadwick Boseman reprising the titular role, having also starred as the Panther in Civil War. Creeds Ryan Coogler is on to direct what could be a very exciting film. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 15. The Flash Release date: 16 March 2018. The Flash will be the first DCEU film since Justice League, and sees Ezra Miller take the lead. Phil Lord and Chris Miller were supposed to pen the film before Disney snapped them up for the Han Solo-film, leaving Seth Grahame-Smith to take charge. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 16. Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 Release date: 4 May 2018. And so, we finally get to the point of all these Infinity Stones! Thanos will be the big bad, with the Avengers needing to team up to defeat their biggest foe yet. It has previously been described as the end of the Avengers as we know it. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 17. Ant-Man and The Wasp Release date: 6 July 2018. Peyton Reed will be back to direct this surprise sequel to one of the better received MCU films. While the name is ridiculous, at least Marvel are finally having a leading female superhero. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 18. Untitled Fox film Release date: 13 July 2018. Again, not much word on this one except it is thought to be X-Men spin-off New Mutants, something Josh Boone has been hit up to write. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 19. Animated Spider-Man Film Release date: 20 July 2018. Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, and Amy Pascal - the team behind the live-action Spider-Man films - are producing this unrelated animated adaptation of the hero. Because you can never have too much Spider-Man, right? 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 20. Aquaman Release date: 27 July 2018. Another Justice League spin-off, Jason Momoa plays the leading man. Furious 7s James Wan is on to direct, but little else is known about the film. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 21. Captain Marvel Release date: 8 March 2019. Weve hit 2019, and the first confirmed superhero film will be the first proper female-led MCU film. No-one is confirmed to be in the titular role of Carol Danvers just yet. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 22. Shazam Release date: 5 April 2019. Dwayne Johnson stars as the villain in this DCEU film which will be somewhat separate to the other DC films. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 23. Avengers: Infinity War Part 2. Release date: 3 May 2019. The conclusion to the long drawn MCU saga. Expect a big finish with at least a few planets being destroyed. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 24. Justice League Part Two Release date: 14 June 2019. Soon after the Infinity War story reaches its conclusion, so will the Justice Leagues. Not much is known, except Darkseid will likely be the villain for at least one of the parts. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 25. Inhumans Release date: 12 July 2019. The concept of Inhumans (or Marvels mutants) has already been introduced in TV, through Marvels Agents of Shield, yet the film is expected to introduce the Royal Family who have yet to be seen in the show. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 26. Cyborg Release date: 3 April 2020. Having debuted in Justice League Part One three years previously, Cyborg will finally be making his own outing, with Ray Fisher as the titular character. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 27. Untitled MCU film Release date: 1 May 2020. The first of three untitled Marvel films. There are a couple of contenders, the first is a likely sequel to Spider-Man with Sony, or a third Guardians of the Galaxy film, thus finishing the trilogy. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 28. Green Lantern Corps. Release date: 19 June 2020. Before you start to worry, this has nothing to do with the Ryan Reynolds-starring flick that hit cinemas a little while ago. Instead, this will be another DCEU film that will likely spin-off from Justice League after the Green Lantern Corps cameo in one of the parts. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 29. Untitled MCU film Release date: 10 July 2020. As well as Spider-Man or Guardians of the Galaxy sequels, a Doctor Strange or Black Panther one could fit in nicely here. Or perhaps Black Widow may finally get the solo-film she deserves. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 30. Untitled MCU film Release date: 6 November 2020. Some speculators also think a Blade film could fit in here, marking over 20 years since the first Blade. But many believe the character may be better suited to a Netflix series, as with Daredevil and Jessica Jones. Theres also talk of a Runaways film reaching cinemas at some stage. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 31. Untitled Ben Affleck Batman film Release date: TBA. Now were onto the TBA release dates, the first of which is a Batman solo film, written and directed by Ben Affleck. When this is due, no one is quite sure but expect it sooner rather than later if Batman v Superman is a success. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 32. Suicide Squad 2 Release date: TBA (rumoured 2017). A sequel to Suicide Squad is expected to come in 2017 according to recent reports, but nothing has been confirmed. If the first is successful, it should come as no surprise for Warner Bros to rearrange their schedule to fit in this surefire hit. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 33. Venom Release date: TBA. This is an odd one, as it has been confirmed Sony are wanting to release a Venom film completely unrelated to the upcoming Spider-Man reboot. Venom, as you may know, is a Spider-Man villain, intrinsically linked to Spider-Man, so it seems odd they would release a film unrelated to the rebooted project and not linked to the MCU. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 Anything else? Well, now you mention it, theres also that sequel to Fantastic Four that has seemingly been dropped by Fox. Plus, theres the Gambit film which has been put on hold (but will likely fill an untitled Fox slot so we havent added it extra). Then again, it could be shoehorned in somehow Marvel

Zhao, the director behind acclaimed drama The Rider, will oversee The Eternals.

Screenwriter Callahan is considered hot property at the moment having worked on DC sequel Wonder Woman 1984, Zombieland 2 and will write the follow-up to Sonys acclaimed animation Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2. He also created the Expendables franchise.

The first trailer for Avengers 4 following on from the traumatic events of Infinity War is set to arrive this week.Netflix has released the trailer of Ellen DeGeneres's upcoming comedy special, which marks her return to stand-up after a 15-year hiatus.

In Relatable, which is set to be released on 18 December, DeGeneres questions whether her Hollywood fame and Emmy-winning talk show mean she's no longer accessible enough for stand-up comedy.

The two-minute trailer also sees the comedian and TV host reflect on the cancellation of her sitcom Ellen after she came out as a lesbian (as did her character) in 1997.

In the newly released trailer, DeGeneres explains she told one of her friends about her forthcoming stand-up comeback  and the announcement was met with a lacklustre reaction.

"He said, 'Well, do you think you're still relatable?'" the comedian recounts, eliciting laughter from the crowd.

She adds in a self-deprecating punchline: "Just then, my butler stepped into the library."

DeGeneres also jokes about how, because she has repeatedly urged her viewers to "be kind to one another", she cannot "do anything unkind, ever".

"I shouldn't even have a horn in my car," she says. "Like, if someone cuts me off in a dangerous way, if I honk, they're like: 'Ellen?'"

The comedian also recounts how a TV station manager once told her: "No one is going to watch a lesbian during the day."

"I said 'Well, they weren't watching me at night, what time of day is good for a lesbian?'" she continues.

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15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix Show all 15 1 /15 15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix 15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix The Christmas Chronicles The Christmas Chronicles, a holiday adventure from producer Chris Columbus (Home Alone, "Harry Potter") and director Clay Kaytis ("The Angry Birds Movie"), tells the story of sister and brother, Kate (Darby Camp) and Teddy Pierce (Judah Lewis), whose Christmas Eve plan to catch Santa Claus (Kurt Russell) on camera turns into an unexpected journey that most kids could only dream about. After staking out Santas arrival, they sneak into his sleigh, cause it to crash and nearly derail Christmas. As their wild night unfolds, Kate and Teddy work together with Santa - as you've never seen him before - and his loyal Elves to save Christmas before it's too late. Michael Gibson/Netflix 15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix The Princess Switch One week before Christmas, Margaret, the gorgeous Duchess of Montenaro, switches places with Stacy, a commoner from Chicago, who looks exactly like her. With the assistance of a magical Santa's helper, Margaret falls in love with Stacys handsome co-worker, while Stacy falls in love with Margaret's fiance, the dashing Prince. Netflix 15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix The Holiday Calendar A struggling but talented photographer inherits an antique holiday advent calendar, the contents of which seem to predict the future. Will this magical calendar lead her to love this holiday season? Netflix 15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix The Holiday Dumped and depressed, English rose Iris (Kate Winslet) agrees to swap homes with similarly unlucky in love Californian Amanda (Cameron Diaz) for a much-needed break. Iris finds herself in a palatial Hollywood mansion while Amanda navigates the lanes of a picture-perfect English village. Also starring Jude Law and Jack Black. YouTube 15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix Nativity! Paul (Martin Freeman), charged with directing the school nativity play, falsely boasts that his ex-girlfriend plans to turn the production into a film. YouTube 15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix Deck the Halls Neighbours Matthew Broderick and Danny DeVito face off in this holiday comedy co-starring Kristen Davis. YouTube 15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix Arthur Christmas At Santa Clauss super-secret toy-making facility, Mr Claus entrusts his son, Arthur, to carry out an ultra-important Christmas mission. YouTube 15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix A Christmas Prince Christmas comes early for an aspiring young journalist when she's sent abroad to get the scoop on a handsome prince who's poised to be king. Netflix 15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding A year after Amber helped Richard secure the crown, the two are set to tie the knot in a royal Christmas wedding - but their plans are jeopardized when Amber finds herself second-guessing whether or not she's cut out to be queen, and Richard is faced with a political crisis that threatens to tarnish not only the holiday season, but the future of the kingdom. Netflix 15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix Last Holiday Upon learning that about terminal illness, Georgia, a shy woman decides to sell off all her possessions and live it up in a posh hotel. YouTube 15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix Angela's Christmas Based on the beloved childrens book by Frank McCourt (author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir Angelas Ashes), Angelas Christmas is a funny, heartwarming and poignant story about the power of family and the innocent desire of a child to ensure everyone is safe, warm and loved at Christmas time. Netflix 15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix Christmas Inheritance Before ambitious heiress Ellen Langford can inherit her father's business, she must deliver a special Christmas card to her dad's former partner in Snow Falls. When a snowstorm strands her at the town inn, she discovers the true gift of Christmas. Netflix 15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix Love the Coopers For their annual Christmas Eve celebration, Sam Cooper (John Goodman) and his wife Charlotte (Diane Keaton) welcome four generations of extended family, including son Hank (Ed Helms), daughter Eleanor (Olivia Wilde) and Charlotte's father, Bucky (Alan Arkin). Sam and Charlotte are separating after 40 years of marriage, while Hank is in the middle of a divorce. As the guests reveal their respective problems, they also rediscover the importance of kinship and the spirit of the holiday. YouTube 15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix Christmas Wedding Planner A wedding planner is in the midst of planning her cousin's lavish and exclusive wedding when a devilishly handsome private investigator turns her world upside down. YouTube 15 Christmas films to watch on Netflix Once Upon a Holiday A princess visiting New York during Christmas escapes her royal entourage to experience the city. She is saved from muggers by a handsome man, and romance blooms when he shows her his side of the city. YouTube

The trailer also includes a bit about unexpected emotional support animals on planes.

"You're walking down the aisle to your seat, which is 10B or whatever it is, it's like Noah's Ark," she says. "There's a woman with a ferret, there's a man with a mongoose, there's a lady with a donkey..."

DeGeneres, who made $87.5m in 2018 according to Forbes, then jokes about her wealth, bringing it back to the overarching theme of her stand-up show  her relatability.

"You're walking to your seat, it's 10B or whatever it is. I say 10B. Does a plane go back that far?" she asks. "I've never been back there."A hotspot of bee diversity is under threat following Donald Trumps decision to drastically shrink two national parks in Utah.

The western state is home to a quarter of the nations bee species, some of which are unique and have never been closely documented by scientists.

Scientists have now examined how the reduction of the parks, set up by Mr Trumps Democrat predecessors, will affect the regions pollinators.

Of the 660 species found in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, the team discovered that 84 now live outside of the conservation zone and the protections it affords.

This includes some new, undescribed species, as well as morphospecies, which are unique individuals that dont match known species, said Professor Joseph Wilson of Utah State University, who led the study.

Mr Trump announced a year ago he was cutting the size of both Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments, by 47 and 85 per cent respectively.

Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges Show all 25 1 /25 Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges Demonstrators block Westminster Bridge in central London to show anger at government inaction on climate and ecological issues AFP/Getty Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges A pro environment protester is arrested by police on Lambeth bridge in London EPA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges Organised by Extinction Rebellion, the protest is part of many taking place this weekend to bring attention to political inaction on issues of pollution and climate change Reuters Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges AFP/Getty Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges Organised by Extinction Rebellion, the protest is part of many taking place this weekend to bring attention to political inaction on issues of pollution and climate change PA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges Demonstrators on Blackfriars Bridge PA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges Police with demonstrators on Blackfriars Bridge PA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges AFP/Getty Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges EPA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges A demonstrator is led away by police on Blackfriars Bridge PA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges Reuters Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges PA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges Reuters Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges AFP/Getty Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges AFP/Getty Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges PA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges EPA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges EPA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges EPA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges PA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges Reuters Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges EPA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges AFP/Getty Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges EPA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges Reuters

Bill Clinton created the Grand Staircase-Escalante zone while in office, and Barack Obama did the same with Bears Ears.

Though the researchers behind the study said the fate of the bees was now uncertain, they noted that the lack of protection placed them at immediate risk of habitat destruction.

Recommended Trump to shrink protected Utah national monument established by Obama

If development is allowed in the unprotected areas, say, mining, road development, more recreational development, then yes, pollinator habitat could be lost, said Professor Wilson.

He also noted that some of the vulnerable bees could be wiped out completely as the additional pressure of climate change made their desert habitat even hotter and drier than it is today.

With pollinators playing a vital role in sustaining natural biodiversity and agriculture, Professor Wilson said it was urgent for policy makers to take their survival into account.

Bees need to be a part of the management decisions, he said. People should be aware of their pivotal role in our ecosystems.

Since Mr Trump declared the shrinking of the two national monuments  a term denoting protected areas created from federal government-owned land  they have been a source of controversy.

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Native American tribes and conservation groups filed lawsuits against the president, arguing he had no legal authority to make such a massive change.

Since coming into power, Mr Trump has made a number of contentious environmental decisions, cutting back the US Environmental Protection Agency and stating his intention to pull his country from the Paris climate agreement.

The study of the parks bees was published in the scientific journal PeerJ.A journalist in Australia was informed that she had to leave the press gallery during a Question Time debate in parliament for wearing a short-sleeved top that showed too much skin.

Patricia Karvelas, a journalist for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, revealed on social media how shed been asked to leave a Question Time debate due to her choice of attire.

Sharing a photo of her outfit on Twitter, she wrote: I have just been kicked out of #QT because you can allegedly see too much skin.

She continued describing the incident as insane.

Speaking with ABC, Karvelas revealed exactly what happened when she was forced to leave the parliamentary debate.

I got kicked out of Question Time because of what I am wearing right now, I havent changed since, she said during the interview.

She explained how an attendant had come up to her under the orders of a supervisor to tell her that she needed to cover her shoulders with a jacket.

Karvelas opposed the notion that she needed to cover up at all, and so the attendant then told her that she would have to leave parliament.

The journalists original tweet about the incident has garnered more than 3,000 likes, with many people expressing their disbelief over the logic behind her removal.

Truly absurd. Not your outfit. The rule, former Australian government minister Craig Emerson tweeted.

High neckline, and definite sleeves. Its summer in Australia, thats a beautiful and professional work shirt, another person wrote.

Being removed from Question Time over short sleeves is absurdity.

A number of women have been sharing photos of their own short-sleeved work tops in solidarity with Karvelas.

Try this on for size then! one woman wrote alongside a photo of her wearing a sleeveless vest top.

According to the website for the parliament of Australia, decisions regarding the dress code within the Chamber ultimately fall upon the Speaker.

Following Question Time, Speaker Tony Smith stated that a review of the parliamentary dress code would be conducted and said, with regards to Karvelas, that she should, in hindsight, not have been asked to leave.

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Pleased that female journalists will be free to wear professional clothing that reflects what politicians wear. Sensible outcome. #auspol, she tweeted in response to his statement.China is heading to the dark side of the Moon, in a journey no spacecraft has ever made before.

The Change-4 mission will help illuminate some of the most shadowy secrets of our nearby neighbour, after landing on the far side of the world.

No spacecraft has made such a journey onto the distant part of the Moon. Doing so is difficult because it means venturing to a part of the Moon that is largely unknown to us, since we can never see its far side from Earth.

Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Show all 30 1 /30 Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Solar Flare An image from Nasa's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) shows a 200,000 mile long solar filament ripping through the Sun's corona in September 2013 Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Nasa Celebrates 50 Years of Spacewalking For 50 years, NASA has been "suiting up" for spacewalking. In this 1984 photograph of the first untethered spacewalk, NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless is in the midst of the first "field" tryout of a nitrogen-propelled backpack device called the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space A Hubble Cosmic Couple The spectacular cosmic pairing of the star Hen 2-427  more commonly known as WR 124  and the nebula M1-67 which surrounds it ESA/Hubble & NASA Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Veil Nebula Supernova Remnant Nasa's Hubble Space Telescope has unveiled in stunning detail a small section of the Veil Nebula - expanding remains of a massive star that exploded about 8,000 years ago Nasa's most stunning pictures of space The Soyuz TMA-15M rocket launch The Soyuz TMA-15M rocket launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Monday, Nov. 24, 2014, carrying three new astronauts to the International Space Station. It also took caviar, ready for the satellite's inhabitants to celebrate the holidays Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Earth from the ISS From the International Space Station, Expedition 42 Flight Engineer Terry W. Virts took this photograph of the Gulf of Mexico and U.S. Gulf Coast at sunset Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Black Hole Friday Nasa celebrated Black Friday by looking into space instead  sharing pictures of black holes Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space NuSTAR X-rays stream off the sun in this image showing observations from by NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, overlaid on a picture taken by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Cassiopeia A c A false colour image of Cassiopeia A comprised with data from the Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes and the Chandra X-Ray observatory Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Orion Capsule splashes down The Orion capsule jetted off into space before heading back a few hours later  having proved that it can be used, one day, to carry humans to Mars Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Earth Observations From Gemini IV in 1965 This photograph of the Florida Straits and Grand Bahama Bank was taken during the Gemini IV mission during orbit no. 19 in 1965. The Gemini IV crew conducted scientific experiments, including photography of Earth's weather and terrain, for the remainder of their four-day mission following Ed White's historic spacewalk on June 3 Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Frosty slopes of Mars This image of an area on the surface of Mars, approximately 1.5 by 3 kilometers in size, shows frosted gullies on a south-facing slope within a crater. The image was taken by Nasa's HiRISE camera, which is mounted on its Mars Reconaissance Orbiter Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Yellowstone from space NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman shared this image of Yellowstone via his twitter account Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Saturn This near-infrared color image shows a specular reflection, or sunglint, off of a hydrocarbon lake named Kivu Lacus on Saturn's moon Titan Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Worlds Apart Although Mimas and Pandora, shown here, both orbit Saturn, they are very different moons. Pandora, "small" by moon standards (50 miles or 81 kilometers across) is elongated and irregular in shape. Mimas (246 miles or 396 kilometers across), a "medium-sized" moon, formed into a sphere due to self-gravity imposed by its higher mass Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Solar Flare An X1.6 class solar flare flashes in the middle of the sun in this image taken 10 September, captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy An image of the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy seen in infrared light by the Herschel Space Observatory. Regions of space such as this are where new stars are born from a mixture of elements and cosmic dust Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Mars Rover Spirit Nasa's Mars Rover Spirit took the first picture from Spirit since problems with communications began a week earlier. The image shows the robotic arm extended to the rock called Adirondack Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Morning Aurora From the Space Station Nasa astronaut Scott Kelly captured this photograph of the green lights of the aurora from the International Space Station Nasa/Scott Kelly Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Launch of History - Making STS-41G Mission in 1984 The Space Shuttle Challenger launches from Florida at dawn. On this mission, Kathryn Sullivan became the first U.S. woman to perform a spacewalk and Marc Garneau became the first Canadian in space. The crew of seven was the largest to fly on a spacecraft at that time, and STS-41G was the first flight to include two female astronauts Nasa's most stunning pictures of space A Fresh Perspective on an Extraordinary Cluster of Galaxies Galaxy clusters are often described by superlatives. After all, they are huge conglomerations of galaxies, hot gas, and dark matter and represent the largest structures in the Universe held together by gravity Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Hubble Sees a Galactic Sunflower The arrangement of the spiral arms in the galaxy Messier 63, seen here in an image from the Nasa Hubble Space Telescope, recall the pattern at the center of a sunflower ESA/Hubble & NASA Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Pluto image Four images from New Horizons Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) were combined with colour data from the Ralph instrument to create this enhanced colour global view of Pluto Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Fresh Crater Near Sirenum Fossae Region of Mars The HiRISE camera aboard Nasa's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter acquired this closeup image of a "fresh" (on a geological scale, though quite old on a human scale) impact crater in the Sirenum Fossae region of Mars. This impact crater appears relatively recent as it has a sharp rim and well-preserved ejecta Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Hubble Peers into the Most Crowded Place in the Milky Way This Nasa Hubble Space Telescope image presents the Arches Cluster, the densest known star cluster in the Milky Way NASA & ESA Nasa's most stunning pictures of space An Astronaut's View from Space Nasa astronaut Reid Wiseman tweeted this photo from the International Space Station on 2 September 2014 Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Giant Landform on Mars On Mars, we can observe four classes of sandy landforms formed by the wind, or aeolian bedforms: ripples, transverse aeolian ridges, dunes, and what are called draa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Expedition 39 Landing A sokol suit helmet can be seen against the window of the Soyuz TMA-11M capsule shortly after the spacecraft landed with Expedition 39 Commander Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos, and Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan (NASA/Bill Ingalls) Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Jupiter's Great Red Spot Viewed by Voyager I Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system and perhaps the most majestic. Vibrant bands of clouds carried by winds that can exceed 400 mph continuously circle the planet's atmosphere Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Chandra Observatory Sees a Heart in the Darkness This Chandra X-Ray Observatory image of the young star cluster NGC 346 highlights a heart-shaped cloud of 8 million-degree Celsius gas in the central region

As well as the audacious landing on the planet, it will carry a range of scientific experiments. Perhaps most intriguingly of them all is a big container that includes seeds and insect eggs and hence create living things that will have been born on the Moon.

The countrys space agency will blast off in just a few days, after a series of successful tests. It sets off Saturday, 8 December, and is expected to drop onto the Moon early next year.

It will head up towards the Moon, fly around it and then drop down, into a specially selected region of the Moon that will become its home.

Once there, it will look to learn a whole host of things about that nearby but still largely mysterious world. It will measure the surface temperature, examine the chemicals that make up its soil, as well as looking up at the Sun.

But the mission is possible because it relies not only on the lander that will touch down on the Moon. It is also made up of a set of other hardware  chief among them the Queqiao satellite, which will serve as a bridge and relay information between the lander on the far side of the Moon and its engineers down on Earth.

Just as with the world it will explore, much of the mission remains murky and unknown. The Chinese space agency has stayed largely quiet about details of what will happen, including where exactly on the Moon it will arrive.

Its mission comes amid a new focus on the Moon  particularly as an important stepping stone on the way to other missions, deeper into the solar system. Nasa, for instance, has spoken about how keen it is to send humans back there, with the aim of eventually using it as a base for journeys to Mars.Michelle Obama has opened up about how she still experiences imposter syndrome on a regular basis, explaining that the feeling never goes away.

The former first lady was speaking with feminist author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie at a sold-out event at Royal Festival Hall in London when she made the remarks about how she never stops questioning her own abilities.

While we might assume that Obama is brimming with self-confidence, having been the first lady of the United States, launched the 'Let's Move!' initiative for children and written a bestselling book, shes revealed that this isnt actually the case.

"I still have a little impostor syndrome, it never goes away, that you're actually listening to me, told the audience at Royal Festival Hall, as reported by the BBC.

"It doesn't go away, that feeling that you shouldn't take me that seriously. What do I know?



I share that with you because we all have doubts in our abilities, about our power and what that power is.

"If I'm giving people hope then that is a responsibility, so I have to make sure that I am accountable.

Obama also shared similar sentiments while visiting a girls school in London this week that shed previously visited in 2009.

Speaking to an audience of 300 students, she said: It doesnt go away, that feeling of I dont know if the world should take me seriously; Im just Michelle Robinson, that little girl on the south side who went to public school, The Guardian reports.

A person who has imposter syndrome will often doubt their abilities and accomplishments, regardless of how successful they are.

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Approximately a third of millennials in the workplace are affected by the phenomenon, according to a recent study.

Furthermore, recent research of 3,000 UK adults commissioned by Access Commercial Finance found that men in the workplace are 18 per cent less likely to experience imposter syndrome than their female colleagues.

In a recent interview with Good Housekeeping, Obama discussed the advice that shed give to the Duchess of Sussex about how to cope with a marriage thats under such intense public scrutiny.

My biggest piece of advice would be to take some time and dont be in a hurry to do anything, she said.The Forbes ranking of the 100 most powerful women in the world for 2018 has been announced, with German chancellor Angela Merkel topping the list for the eighth year running.

The business magazine's list, which is in its 15th year, includes women who are deemed as being the most influential leaders across the globe today.

The publication notes that while Merkel's future remains uncertain, considering the fact that she's not running for re-election in 2021, the impact that she's had as leader of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000 and as chancellor of Germany since 2005 has been indisputable.

In second place comes prime minister Theresa May, who's spent the last two years in the headlines for her attempts to salvage negotiations with the EU with regards to Brexit.

Following on from May comes Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Lagarde has risen the ranks since last year's list, when she was placed as the eighth most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.

Also in the top 10 include Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube and Ginni Rometty, CEO of IBM.

Here's the list of Forbes' 10 most powerful women in the world for 2018:

1. Angela Merkel, German chancellor

Angela Merkel (Getty Images)

Angela Merkel has been leader of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000.

Shes been chancellor of Germany since 2005, during which time shes overseen the largest economy in Europe.

Merkel has been described as the de-facto leader of the free world due to her elevated position.

In October, she made a shock announcement in which she revealed that she would be stepping down as German chancellor in 2021.

2. Theresa May, British prime minister

Theresa May (Getty Images) (Getty)

Ever since taking on the mantle of prime minister and leader of the Conservative Party in 2016 following the resignation of David Cameron, the main focus of Theresa Mays role has been to engage in Brexit negotiations with the EU.

Prior to her position as prime minister, May served as home secretary from 2010 until 2016.

Earlier this week, when asked on ITVs This Morning about whether she had faith that she would still be prime minister following a parliamentary vote on Brexit on 11 December, she said: I will still have a job in two weeks time.

3. Christine Lagarde, managing director of the IMF

Christine Lagarde (Getty Images)

Christine Lagarde became the first female managing director of the IMF in 2011.

Shes held various ministerial positions in government in France in the past, including minister of economic affairs, finance and employment, minister of trade and minister of agriculture and fishing.

Last year, Lagarde placed eighth on the Forbes list of most powerful women in the world.

4. Mary Barra, CEO and chairperson of General Motors

Mary Barra (Getty Images)

Mary Barra was named CEO of General Motors in 2014.

Before taking on the role of CEO, Barra served as executive vice president of global product development, purchasing, and supply chain at General Motors.

Ever since Barra assumed authority at General Motors, the company has accumulated a profit of $21.5bn (16.8bn) from 2014 until the first quarter of 2018.

5. Abigail Johnson, chairman and CEO of Fidelity Investments

Abigail Johnson (Rex Features)

Abigail Johnson has been CEO and president of Fidelity Investments since 2014, as well as chairman of its sister company Fidelity International.

Two years later, she was named chairman of the US investment firm as well.

Johnson first joined Fidelity as an analyst in 1988. The company was founded by her grandfather.

6. Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Melinda Gates (Getty Images)

In 2000, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, originally named the William H. Gates Foundation, was created in an effort to support healthcare initiatives on a global scale.

By 2014, Bill and Melinda Gates, who met while Melinda was working at Microsoft, had donated approximately $28m (21m) to the foundation.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute is developing new medicines and vaccines for health issues that affect millions of people around the world, including malaria and tuberculosis.

7. Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube

Susan Wojcicki (Getty Images)

While working at Google, Susan Wojcicki oversaw one of the companys largest acquisitions when it bought YouTube for $1.65bn (1.29m) in 2006.

She later joined YouTube, being named CEO of the video-sharing website in 2014.

Described by Time as the most powerful woman on the planet in 2015, Wojcicki has worked to ensure that YouTube places greater control on any content on the site that may contain hate speech or extremist views.

8. Ana Botin, executive chairman of Santander Group

Ana Botin (Getty Images)

Ana Botin, a Spanish banker, was made executive chairman of Santander Group in 2014.

Before that, she was made CEO of Santander UK in 2010.

Shes the fourth member of the Botin family to be made executive chairman of Santander Group, following on from her father, grandfather and great-grandfather.

9. Marillyn Hewson, CEO of Lockheed Martin

Marillyn Hewson (Getty Images)

Marillyn Hewson is chairman, president and CEO of Lockheed Martin, an American global aerospace, defense, security and technology company.

In 2015, she was named the 20th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.

She first joined Lockheed Martin in 1983, assuming a variety of positions including executive vice president of Lockheed Martins electronic systems business area and president of Lockheed Martin logistics services.

10. Ginni Rometty, CEO of IBM

Ginni Rometty (Getty Images)

In 1981, Ginni Rometty joined IBM as a systems engineer.

Shes since risen the ranks, becoming president and CEO more than three decades after first joining the company.

During her time as head of IBM, Rometty has received a number of accolades, including being featured in Bloombergs 50 most influential people in the world and Times 20 most important people in tech.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that of the CEOs that run the companies included in the Fortune 500, only 24 of them are women.Forbes has unveiled its annual list of the 100 most powerful women in the world, which this year is topped by German chancellor Angela Merkel.

Theresa May, Melinda Gates and YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki are some of the other names included in the business magazines esteemed list, which celebrates the worlds most high-achieving women who are leading the way in terms of change and disruption in their respective industries.

But there are a number of notable names missing from this years roundup, including Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama.

Recommended Michelle Obama opens up about having imposter syndrome

Clinton, who ran for US presidency in 2016, was ranked number 65 in the publications 2017 list, but was left out this year because she is without an active political role or book tour to keep her in the political conversation, ForbesWomen editor Christina Vuleta explains.

Its possible that a similar explanation could be given for Michelle Obama being overlooked this year, given that she left the White House in 2016 following the election of Donald Trump.

However, she has recently come out with a memoir, titled Becoming, which some may argue brings her back into the political conversation, making her deserving of a place on the list.

In what seems like another oversight, Tarana Burke, who founded the #MeToo movement, is also not included in the list of 100 women.

Burke launched the campaign against sexual violence in 2006, but it became a global movement in October 2017 after allegations of sexual assault and harassment emerged against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein. The activist has been widely praised as a leading light in the world of womens rights, making her omission from Forbes list somewhat odd.

Several other female activists have not made the list, including Nimco Ali, who founded Daughters of Eve, the charity dedicated to ending violence against women with a focus on female genital mutilation. Caroline Criado-Perez has also been missed out, despite launching a campaign in 2017 to create a statue of women's suffragist Millicent Fawcett in Parliament Square, which was unveiled in April 2018.

Transgender rights activist and model Munroe Bergdorf is absent from the list, as is Paris Lees, who was recently appointed as British Vogue's first transgender columnist. Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani activist famed for being the youngest Nobel Prize laureate, is also not on the list.

As for female CEOs who should've been included, neither Janet Foutty, chairman and CEO of Deloitte Consulting nor Barbara Humpton, CEO at Siemens are named by Forbes.

Other names who seem to have been overlooked include Olympic medallist Simone Biles, US politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who recently won the Democratic primary in New York's 14th congressional district, and esteemed CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour.

In the celebrity sphere, while the likes of Taylor Swift (68) and Oprah (20) are on the list, Ariana Grande, Ellen DeGeneres and Natalie Portman have been missed, despite having global influence and widespread popularity.

As for the British royal family, just Queen Elizabeth II makes the cut at number 23 - neither the Duchess of Sussex nor the Duchess of Cambridge are included.

Forbes' methodology for compiling the list is based on four metrics: money, media presence, spheres of influence and overall impact.

Merkel, who recently stepped down as head of the Christian Democratic Union, has topped the list for eight years running. Despite announcing she would not be running for re-election as German chancellor in 2021, Forbes credits her as the defacto female leader of the free world due to her leadership of Europes largest economy.HM Revenue & Customs is once again in the dock over its pursuit of tax avoiders who were compensated for their services via employer loans that were never designed to be paid back.

The loan charge legislation, introduced last year, was drafted to crack down on what looks, on the face of it, like an open and shut case of tax dodging. Sorry, aggressive tax avoidance. Which often seems to amount to much the same thing.

HMRC said in a briefing paper published in July that the legislation would affect 50,000 people. Of them, 65 per cent were held to work in the richly remunerated business and services sector. Management and IT consultants, for example.

Reading it, you could be forgiven for thinking go get em. Thats what HMRC has done.

The trouble, as highlighted by the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee in a report entitled Treating Taxpayers Fairly, is that they werent all well paid IT people.

Highlighted in the report is the case of a social worker. She was made redundant only to be rehired by her county council the next day as a contractor, a familiar story in modern Britain, and encouraged to take part in the scheme.

The council stood to gain by avoiding the payment of employer national insurance contributions (NICs).

Five years later she was re-employed, but the legislation means she now faces a loan charge of up to a year and a halfs salary that she cant hope to repay. If she were to go bankrupt as a result of this it would crop up through vetting and prevent her from working, throwing her on the mercy of the benefits system.

Did she know what was going on? Could she have found out? Would she have been re-employed if shed made a fuss (unlikely). Could a person like her have realised they were engaged in a sophisticated tax avoidance scheme? Doubtful.

The report acknowledges that individual beneficiaries of these schemes, or at least some of them, bear some level of responsibility for the jams they now find themselves in.

Not all of those involved are deserving of sympathy. That should be borne in mind.

But the committee found cases where people declared their involvement in the schemes to HMRC, which didnt raise an issue, until the law was changed and it retrospectively became an issue.

And if they bear some responsibility for their plight, so do their employers. Yet the committee says that there has been little sign of them being taken to task.

As ever, HMRC seems to be targeting the low hanging fruit.

There is, however, a risk of doing the same in focussing on bashing it.

Our county council is not the only public body to have profited from these arrangements. HMRCs briefing paper also highlighted that a number of teachers, and members of the medical profession, would be caught by the new rules, which means their employers will have escaped paying employer NICs too.

Then there is the question of MPs culpability for whats been going on.

It should be remembered that while HMRC has a certain flexibility as regards how it implements the measures laid down by parliament; which people or bodies to be most aggressive in targeting, which to show forbearance too, it is still under an obligation to implement them.

It appears that there was very little scrutiny of those rules when the legislation was making its way through parliament.

In the Public Bill Committee of the Finance (No. 2) Act 2017, debate consisted of only three contributions  an introduction from the financial secretary to the treasury, a response from the opposition, and a further response from the minister. Concerns about retrospection and the impact on individuals were briefly raised by the opposition, but not followed up by further debate, the report says.

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That doest reflect at all well on the people who are supposed to represent us in the mother of parliaments.

Recently theres been a bit of a fuss raised, with an Early Day Motion signed by more than 100 MPs, and a backbench debate. But really, thats shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.

HMRC would do well to treat exceptional cases like that of the social worker with a degree of flexibility. If it cant, or wont, perhaps the MPs who failed to effectively scrutinise the legislation might like to organise a whip round.Protect your most valuable assets proclaims the website GiveLegacy.com, alongside a black and white illustration of a rugged young man in profile. With a name like Legacy, the business could be selling investment products, luxury watches or even legal services. Except the assets in question are of the flesh-and-blood variety. Legacy is a mail-order service for freezing sperm.

Khaled Kteily, the young founder of Legacy, came up with the idea for his business five years ago. But it wasnt until 2017 that researchers published a statistic that made men sit up and listen. A study found sperm counts in men from America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand had dropped by more than 50 per cent in less than 40 years. Other studies have suggested stress, smoking, obesity and exposure to pesticides and chemicals may all be at fault.

Allan Pacey, professor of Andrology at the University of Sheffield, says men are becoming more preoccupied with their fertility for another reason: In my opinion, more cases of male infertility are being seen because men and their partners are waiting until they are older before trying for a family. This flushes out cases of male infertility that would not have been seen if the couple had tried for a family at a younger age when they were more fertile.

Unlike women, men are not told that the clock is ticking nor are they bombarded with adverts for fertility clinics and apps from the minute they turn 30. Many men may not start thinking about their own fertility until they start trying to conceive. Yet, among infertile heterosexual couples, the man is the cause in roughly half of the cases. Pacey dislikes the idea of an infertility industry, but he accepts that greater awareness of male infertility has created a growing market for startups offering solutions.

Kteily says he founded Legacy to reshape the way that men and women think about family planning. Men are sensitive about talking about fertility, so we are focused on creating a brand for men to be proactive about fertility, he says. Kteily grew up in Lebanon, studied in Canada and the US, and established Legacy in Geneva, in part because he wants it to be seen as the Swiss private bank for sperm.

For a lot of the world, Switzerland has an association with quality. Think of Swiss banks, Swiss watches and even chocolate, he says. We have a strong emphasis on quality, privacy and security.

Kteily had never thought much about his own fertility, until a friend told him that he had to freeze his sperm after being told he had cancer at the age of 30. After this conversation, Kteily went into a clinic to freeze his own sperm but found the whole process awkward. He believes other men will also be sufficiently put-off by the prospect of attending a clinic to deposit their sperm over doing it at home and sending it to a lab.

Legacy offers three packages to clients, starting with the bronze package for $1000, which includes fertility analysis and storage deposit of sperm for one year. A third-tier platinum package is designed for the man who wants to preserve his healthiest genetic legacy in light of ongoing advances in healthcare. It costs $10,000 for up to six deposits, genetic testing, fertility analysis and indefinite storage at multiple sites.

Coolmen is a device that cools and maintains the temperature in the testicles to improve fertility in men (Courtesy Photo)

The website also contains a note about a research programme that plans to study the sperm of the worlds most successful men, which involves strict eligibility criteria and a charitable contribution. When asked for more details, Kteily says the idea to study the genetic makeup of some sperm is still in its early stages. But he agrees that Legacy was modelled in part on another genetic testing service, 23andme. This mail-order DNA testing service was valued at $1.1bn in October 2015, nine years after it was founded. Kteily makes one clear distinction between Legacy and 23andme, which has come under fire for profiting off the sale of customer data; Legacy would never sell customer data, Kteily says. It assigns a unique ID to each client to anonymise the process, just like a Swiss private bank.

The UKs Human, Fertilisation and Embryology Authority lists hundreds of private clinics in the UK charging on average between 175 and 450 to freeze sperm per year. But Pacey says some men may prefer to do a test at home if it means they dont have to go to a clinic.

He adds that the many attempts to develop male fertility products, from underwear, to mobile phone cases, to sperm-testing kits have often failed, perhaps because of male shame. I have never sensed that they have taken off, he says. I wonder if this is because men are too embarrassed to buy them, or whether or not they are simply not interested in this topic until fertility becomes an issue in their lives.

Recommended The hidden trauma of male infertility

One new device is hoping it will fare better than the competition. Coolmen was founded in 2016 in Poland. It promises to improve male fertility by cooling the testicles using a device held in place by a waist belt. According to the current studies, approximately 60 per cent of all male infertility is caused by too high temperature of testicles, which is the direct reason for inappropriate sperm quality, Dorota Partyka, programme manager for Coolmen, says. When we consider this condition, freezing sperm which is not good quality simply doesnt make sense.

The two businesses will meet at Disrupt Berlin, a startup conference hosted by TechCrunch, where they will be the only two male fertility startups in attendance despite a market that some analysts expect to reach $4.7bn by 2025.

The main issue with any kind of product or service like this aimed at male fertility will be whether or not it speaks to men, Pacey says. But, with sperm counts falling by an average of 1.4 per cent per year, startups like these may find an increasing number of men willing to have the conversation.Thousands of tech jobs have moved to Brussels from the UK due to Brexit with expectations of more to come once Britain leaves the EU, according to a sector leader.

As many as 3,500 roles have already been relocated to the Belgium capital, said Juan Bossicard, president of Microsofts Innovation Centre in the city.

The stream of tech workers leaving the UK began in the summer of 2016, Mr Bossicard told the New Statesman.

Since Brexit began, 3,500 jobs have moved here from the UK and we expect far more to come after Brexit officially happens, he said.

Mr Bossicard said Brexit offered a huge opportunity for Brussels, and added the city has a lot of offer UK companies, including single market access and good links to other European countries.

Ahead of the EU referendum, job losses linked to Brexit were forecast to be in the hundreds of thousands but since the vote these projections have been curtailed.

However, the Bank of England has said that Britain is set to lose 5,000 financial services jobs by 29 March next year, a prediction backed by the Treasury.

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MPs are set to begin debating Theresa Mays Brexit deal, with a vote on the agreement due to take place in the coming days.Four out of ten people with cancer in the UK are misdiagnosed at least once before their disease is identified, according to a report calling for more investment in early testing.

The report, by the All.Can cancer initiative, warns that one in five (21 per cent) of UK patients surveyed said they waited more than six months to get the correct diagnosis.

This failure to provide a quick, accurate diagnosis is costing patients their lives and the NHS money, the group warns.

Though the NHS and government have targeted earlier diagnosis, successive reports have found the UK is lagging behind other nations, with too many cancers being caught after theyve already spread.

Beth Purvis, 39, from Essex, is one of the many patients whose symptoms were misdiagnosed and only picked up much later.

She went to her GP in 2014 after noticing rectal bleeding and changes in her bowel movements.

Her doctor told her that a bit of IBS was responsible, but unless her symptoms became debilitating and interfered with her work then there was not any treatment to offer.

Tests were never mentioned, she told The Independent, and while she recognised that her young age was a factor in her GP not immediately suspecting something serious, she believed more tests should have been done when her symptoms persisted.

In 2016 I ended up in A&E with what I thought was rectal prolapse  but it turned out to be the cancer.

Final Say petition delivered to Downing Street Show all 30 1 /30 Final Say petition delivered to Downing Street Final Say petition delivered to Downing Street Today the Independent's Final Say campaign and People's Vote delivered to 10 Downing Street their respective petitions calling for a public referendum on Theresa May's Brexit deal The Independent/Lucy Young Final Say petition delivered to Downing Street L to R: Christian Broughton, Editor, The Independent, Justine Greening, Conservative MP for Putney, Labour MP for Streatham Chuka Umunna, Lara Anne Spirit from People's Vote, Caroline Lucas, Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion, Holly Baxter, Co-Editor Independent Voices and Christina Koci-Edwards from People's Vote hand in a petition to Downing Street The Independent/Lucy Young Final Say petition delivered to Downing Street Front row L to R: Christina Koci-Edwards from People's Vote, Caroline Lucas, Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion, Labour MP for Streatham Chuka Umunna, Christian Broughton, Editor, The Independent, Vince Cable Lib Dem MP for Twickenham, Lara Anne Spirit from People's Vote and Justine Greening, Conservative MP for Putney The Independent/Lucy Young Final Say petition delivered to Downing Street The Independent/Lucy Young Final Say petition delivered to Downing Street The Independent's editor Christian Broughton delivered over one million Final Say signatures and People's Vote spokesman Chuka Umunna MP delivered 300,000 signatures to Downing Street on Monday December 3 at midday The Independent/Lucy Young Final Say petition delivered to Downing Street A supporter of the second referendum helps Vince Cable Lib Dem MP for Twickenham out of the rain during a protest The Independent/Lucy Young Final Say petition delivered to Downing Street The Independent/Lucy Young Final Say petition delivered to Downing Street L to R: Labour MP for Streatham Chuka Umunna, Lara Anne Spirit from People's Vote, Christian Broughton, Editor, The Independent, Caroline Lucas, Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion, Justine Greening, Conservative MP for Putney and Christina Koci-Edwards from People's Vote on their way to hand in a petition to Downing Street The Independent/Lucy Young Final Say petition delivered to Downing Street Christian Broughton, Editor, The Independent, Justine Greening, Conservative MP for Putney and Labour MP for Streatham Chuka Umunna hand in the petition to Downing Street The Independent/Lucy Young Final Say petition delivered to Downing Street The Independent/Lucy Young Final Say petition delivered to Downing Street The Independent/Lucy Young Final Say petition delivered to Downing Street The Independent/Lucy Young Final Say petition delivered to Downing Street The Independent/Lucy Young Final Say petition delivered to Downing Street The Independent/Lucy Young Final Say petition delivered to Downing Street Caroline Lucas, Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion, Labour MP for Streatham Chuka Umunna and Justine Greening, Conservative MP for Putney hand in petitions to Downing Street The Independent/Lucy Young Final Say petition delivered to Downing Street The Independent/Lucy Young Final Say petition delivered to Downing Street The Independent/Lucy Young Final Say petition delivered to Downing Street The Independent/Lucy Young Final Say petition delivered to Downing Street The Independent/Lucy Young Final Say petition delivered to Downing Street The Independent/Lucy Young Final Say petition delivered to Downing Street The Independent/Lucy Young Final Say petition delivered to Downing Street The Independent/Lucy Young Final Say petition delivered to Downing Street The Independent/Lucy Young Final Say petition delivered to Downing Street The Independent/Lucy Young Final Say petition delivered to Downing Street The Independent/Lucy Young Final Say petition delivered to Downing Street The Independent/Lucy Young Final Say petition delivered to Downing Street The Independent/Lucy Young Final Say petition delivered to Downing Street The Independent/Lucy Young Final Say petition delivered to Downing Street The Independent/Lucy Young Final Say petition delivered to Downing Street The Independent/Lucy Young

Beth Purvis was diagnosed with bowel cancer after going to A&E in 2016, two years after her symptoms were written off as IBS

Last year, Cancer Research UK warned that 22 per cent of the 356,000 people diagnosed with cancer each year were only picked up at A&E.

In 71 per cent of these cases they had visited their GP at least once with symptoms linked to their cancer, meaning that opportunities to catch the disease early and minimise its spread had been missed.

In Ms Purvis's case, it took another three months before a full colonoscopy and the removal of a polyp in her colon led to her final diagnosis.

She underwent operations to remove the affected section of bowel and 12 rounds of chemotherapy, but a scan in November 2017 revealed the disease had spread.

I had 10 nodules across both lungs and at the time I was told it was inoperable and incurable, she told The Independent.

While they have since cleared the nodules from her lungs, the doctors have been clear that they expect the cancer to return and she is having regular check ups.

But speaking to The Independent before the school run, Ms Purvis is pragmatic about how her route to diagnosis could have gone differently and what could have been done better.

The faecal test may have picked it up  but theres no guarantees," she said. "A blood test is unlikely to have picked it up  the only real test for colon cancer is a colonoscopy.

She [the GP] didnt offer to refer at all, she was very clear she wasnt concerned. I think it was a lack of education, but I suspect theyre time pressured themselves and I suspect theyre aware that the diagnostic facilities are under pressure.

There is a lack of endoscopists at the moment. Its a national shortage, so even people who are being referred are struggling to get a colonoscopy in some parts of the country."

A 2015 NHS England and CRUK joint report warned of significant pressure in cancer diagnostic services. Despite a 2011 government pledge of 450m for improving early diagnosis by allowing GPs to access key tests directly, CRUK warned that much of that funding was absorbed through financial pressures elsewhere in the cash-strapped NHS.

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While the NHS adopted a target of diagnosing 95 per cent of cancers within a month of a GP referral by 2020, these shortages pose a significant barrier to achieving it.

Ms Purvis told The Independent this is where she would like to see any future investment for cancer services targeted.

I dont think youll ever have a perfect system, she said. Unfortunately, people present with all sorts of different symptoms and annoyingly those can be attributed to lots of different diseases.

"So just improving diagnostics, more staff in endoscopy, radiology and more smaller testing from the GP surgery would be really good to see.

The All.Can project is made up of international cancer experts, patient groups, policy makers and drug companies, and will be producing surveying cancer patients in 11 different countries as part of its review.

The findings from its first survey, of 322 UK cancer patients, are being presented at the Britain Against Cancer Conference in London on Tuesday.

A quick and accurate diagnosis is essential if patients are to receive treatment that gives them the best chance of surviving cancer, said Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients Association, which chairs All.Can UK. Only by working together to identify examples of waste and inefficiency in cancer care can we increase efficiency, improve outcomes and save lives.

NHS England said it had invested an extra 200m on transforming cancer care and was rolling out mobile diagnostic units in supermarket carparks and other sites around the country.

The NHS is now seeing 2 million urgent GP referrals a year, half a million more than in 2015 when NICE updated their referral criteria, with a record numbers of people receiving treatment, a spokesperson said.

Cancer survival rates are now at their highest ever and further work to ensure faster and earlier diagnosis  including the testing of new faster diagnosis where patients receive results within 28 days  is well under way.Irish is making a comeback. This might sound dumb, wrote Twitter user @dalteparin in August 2018, but...what if we all just start saying simple phrases like go raibh maith agat [thank you] to each other every day to normalise speaking irish and slowly reintegrate her into our day-to-day lives.

The tweet struck a chord, and quickly went viral. Within days, it appeared across Facebook and Instagram too. It tapped into something fairly unique about the native language of Ireland; while millions around the globe feel a patriotic responsibility towards its survival, most of us are guilty of its neglect.

Irish (Gaelic) enjoys a rich history, with texts dating back to the fifth century. It is believed that as late as 1800, it was still the main language for a majority of people on the island. It suffered a slow demise across centuries of British colonial rule, where it was stamped out through the changing of place names, discrimination and prejudice against speakers, and the promotion of English in public life. When the Great Famine of the 1850s saw millions starved and forced to emigrate, the number of speakers plummeted further.A skeleton at least 4,250 years old found in the north of Scotland in 1987 has surprised archaeologists after new analysis has revealed she was a migrant from northern Europe.

When the skeleton was first found, the remains were discovered alongside a beaker, flint artefacts and cow bones.

Early work revealed the skeleton  who has become known as Ava  belonged to a woman aged between 1825 who had been buried in an unusual grave cut into bedrock at Achavanich in Caithness.

A previous reconstruction of her appearance gave her blue eyes and red hair, but fresh DNA analysis has revealed she was more likely to have brown eyes and black hair, and was probably had a darker complexion than the local Neolithic population.

The genetic information also indicates Ava would have had an intolerance to lactose.

When we started to explore the ancestry aspect of her DNA, we realised that genetically she had no relation to the local population who were residing in Caithness before her, the studys lead author, Maya Hoole, told The Independent.

Her ancestors look like they moved into the Caithness area a few generations before she was born, suggesting she was a first or second generation migrant, with her predecessors most likely coming from somewhere in Northern Europe, such as the Netherlands.

The original find was made by archaeologist Robert Gourlay after the skeleton and the beaker  a clay pot  were found by two men quarrying rock for a nearby road  the A9 between Thurso and Latheron.

The DNA analysis was undertaken by a team working at Londons Natural History Museum and Harvard Medical School in the US. The scientists have produced a new facial reconstruction of what Ava may have looked like.

I get goosebumps every time I look at the facial reconstruction, Ms Hoole said. It is a little bit like time-travel. We now know so much about this young woman, we can recreate aspects of her life  and death  in remarkable detail.

For me, that is extremely rewarding because it is what I hoped to achieve when I first set out  but I never thought we would be able to find out so much.

The skull was first unearthed by two men quarrying rock for a local road in 1987 (Michael Sharpe)

Speaking about the irony of the skeleton being found with a cow scapula when Ava was lactose intolerant, Ms Hoole said: Today we primarily associate cattle with dairy farming, but in this prehistoric society they were perhaps more of a meat resource than a dairy resource. Having said that, she would have been able to consume some processed dairy products such as fermented milk, yoghurt or some cheeses. It looks like the majority of her population were in fact lactose intolerant.

The burial style is unusual. Bronze-age skeletons are more commonly found buried beneath cairns on in graves dug into soil.

The findings, published in the journal Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, suggest Ava was buried soon after her death and that the presence of the cow scapula was as a food offering  a shoulder of beef.

Unearthed after seven centuries the 'Black Death' pit skeletons that could unravel the medical mysteries of a pandemic Show all 5 1 /5 Unearthed after seven centuries the 'Black Death' pit skeletons that could unravel the medical mysteries of a pandemic Unearthed after seven centuries the 'Black Death' pit skeletons that could unravel the medical mysteries of a pandemic blackdeath.jpg PA Unearthed after seven centuries the 'Black Death' pit skeletons that could unravel the medical mysteries of a pandemic black-death.jpg Archaeologist and site supervisor Sam Pfizenmaier from the Museum of London's Archaeology department works in a grout shaft after a 14th century burial ground was discovered in Farringdon, London PA Unearthed after seven centuries the 'Black Death' pit skeletons that could unravel the medical mysteries of a pandemic black-death1.jpg PA Unearthed after seven centuries the 'Black Death' pit skeletons that could unravel the medical mysteries of a pandemic death4.jpg PA Unearthed after seven centuries the 'Black Death' pit skeletons that could unravel the medical mysteries of a pandemic farringdon.jpg PA

Ms Hoole said she came across the archive for the excavation when she was a graduate trainee working for the Highland Historic Environment Record in 2014 and has been working on the project independently and unpaid in her free time ever since.

It instantly interested me, and I couldnt believe that no-one else had undertaken any further studies on this site since it was uncovered in the late 1980s.

Ava was named after the research team abbreviated the place name Achavanich to Ava for the title of the project, but it began to be used interchangeably for the individual.

The studys co-author, Tom Booth, of the Natural History museum said: Our previous work looking at ancient DNA from hundreds of prehistoric British skeletons had already established that there was an influential movement of people from mainland Europe around 2500 BC which transformed the local population and their cultures. However, the reconstruction of Ava brings a sense of humanity to a story which can often appear as an abstract mass of bones, genes and artefacts.

Her ancestors arrived in the area only a few generations before she lived, yet the evidence suggests she was profoundly connected to the area in which she was found. She grew up there and when she died, her body was buried in a grave cut into the local bedrock.

That she perhaps looks slightly different from what people would expect from someone living in northern Scotland adds an extra level of intrigue and is testament to the difficulties in projecting modern assumptions onto the past, particularly prehistory, which is inherently strange.

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Ms Hoole added: What weve discovered highlights again how much movement there has been between the UK and mainland Europe throughout time. Caithness is often considered to be one of the most peripheral parts of Europe, but in fact, people have been moving there for thousands and thousands of years.

Scotland does have its own story to tell, but it is also a part of a much larger, wider narrative that has been written over many a millennia.Scientists plan to mimic the effects of a massive volcanic eruption in a bid to tackle global warming.

Plans to geoengineer the atmosphere by blocking out sunlight have been floated before, but an experiment launched next year by Harvard researchers will be the first to test the theory in the stratosphere.

The team will use a balloon suspended 12 miles above Earth to spray tiny chalk particles across a kilometre-long area, with the intention of reflecting the Suns rays away from the planet.

In doing so, they will attempt to replicate on a small scale the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991.

During this event, the volcano spewed 20 million tonnes of sulphur dioxide into the stratosphere, creating a haze that cooled the planet by 0.5C for around 18 months  returning the Earth to its pre-industrial temperature.

The scientists argue that replicating this effect on a large scale could provide the planet with respite from global warming, stopping sea ice from melting and protecting coral from bleaching.

As efforts to tackle climate change appear ever more desperate, geoengineering has emerged as an increasingly appealing prospect  albeit a controversial one that has drawn criticism from scientists and environmentalists.

Some have suggested that solar geoengineering could have profound complications, for example wiping out crops, while others argue it distracts attention from cutting fossil fuel emissions.

However, team member and experimental physicist Professor David Keith said their analysis suggests ultimately the benefits of such attempts may well outweigh the negative impacts.

Science news in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Science news in pictures Science news in pictures Pluto has 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen Pluto has a 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen that is doing strange things to its surface, Nasa has found. The mysterious core seems to be the cause of features on its surface that have fascinated scientists since they were spotted by Nasa's New Horizons mission. "Before New Horizons, everyone thought Pluto was going to be a netball - completely flat, almost no diversity," said Tanguy Bertrand, an astrophysicist and planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center and the lead author on the new study. "But it's completely different. It has a lot of different landscapes and we are trying to understand what's going on there." Getty Science news in pictures Over 400 species discovered this year by Natural History Museum The ancient invertabrate worm-like species rhenopyrgus viviani (pictured) is one of over 400 species previously unknown to science that were discovered by experts at the Natural History Museum this year PA Science news in pictures Jackdaws can identify 'dangerous' humans Jackdaws can identify dangerous humans from listening to each others warning calls, scientists say. The highly social birds will also remember that person if they come near their nests again, according to researchers from the University of Exeter. In the study, a person unknown to the wild jackdaws approached their nest. At the same time scientists played a recording of a warning call (threatening) or contact calls (non-threatening). The next time jackdaws saw this same person, the birds that had previously heard the warning call were defensive and returned to their nests more than twice as quickly on average. Getty Science news in pictures Turtle embryos influence sex by shaking The sex of the turtle is determined by the temperatures at which they are incubated. Warm temperatures favour females. But by wiggling around the egg, embryos can find the Goldilocks Zone which means they are able to shield themselves against extreme thermal conditions and produce a balanced sex ratio, according to the new study published in Current Biology journal Ye et al/Current Biology Science news in pictures Elephant poaching rates drop in Africa African elephant poaching rates have dropped by 60 per cent in six years, an international study has found. It is thought the decline could be associated with the ivory trade ban introduced in China in 2017. Reuters Science news in pictures Ancient four-legged whale discovered in Peru Scientists have identified a four-legged creature with webbed feet to be an ancestor of the whale. Fossils unearthed in Peru have led scientists to conclude that the enormous creatures that traverse the planets oceans today are descended from small hoofed ancestors that lived in south Asia 50 million years ago A. Gennari Science news in pictures Animal with transient anus discovered A scientist has stumbled upon a creature with a transient anus that appears only when it is needed, before vanishing completely. Dr Sidney Tamm of the Marine Biological Laboratory could not initially find any trace of an anus on the species. However, as the animal gets full, a pore opens up to dispose of waste Steven G Johnson Science news in pictures Giant bee spotted Feared extinct, the Wallace's Giant bee has been spotted for the first time in nearly 40 years. An international team of conservationists spotted the bee, that is four times the size of a typical honeybee, on an expedition to a group of Indonesian Islands Clay Bolt Science news in pictures New mammal species found inside crocodile Fossilised bones digested by crocodiles have revealed the existence of three new mammal species that roamed the Cayman Islands 300 years ago. The bones belonged to two large rodent species and a small shrew-like animal New Mexico Museum of Natural History Science news in pictures Fabric that changes according to temperature created Scientists at the University of Maryland have created a fabric that adapts to heat, expanding to allow more heat to escape the body when warm and compacting to retain more heat when cold Faye Levine, University of Maryland Science news in pictures Baby mice tears could be used in pest control A study from the University of Tokyo has found that the tears of baby mice cause female mice to be less interested in the sexual advances of males Getty Science news in pictures Final warning to limit "climate catastrophe" The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued a report which projects the impact of a rise in global temperatures of 1.5 degrees Celsius and warns against a higher increase Getty Science news in pictures Nobel prize for evolution chemists The nobel prize for chemistry has been awarded to three chemists working with evolution. Frances Smith is being awarded the prize for her work on directing the evolution of enzymes, while Gregory Winter and George Smith take the prize for their work on phage display of peptides and antibodies Getty/AFP Science news in pictures Nobel prize for laser physicists The nobel prize for physics has been awarded to three physicists working with lasers. Arthur Ashkin (L) was awarded for his "optical tweezers" which use lasers to grab particles, atoms, viruses and other living cells. Donna Strickland and Gerard Mourou were jointly awarded the prize for developing chirped-pulse amplification of lasers Reuters/AP Science news in pictures Discovery of a new species of dinosaur The Ledumahadi Mafube roamed around 200 million years ago in what is now South Africa. Recently discovered by a team of international scientists, it was the largest land animal of its time, weighing 12 tons and standing at 13 feet. In Sesotho, the South African language of the region in which the dinosaur was discovered, its name means "a giant thunderclap at dawn" Viktor Radermacher / SWNS Science news in pictures Birth of a planet Scientists have witnessed the birth of a planet for the first time ever. This spectacular image from the SPHERE instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope is the first clear image of a planet caught in the very act of formation around the dwarf star PDS 70. The planet stands clearly out, visible as a bright point to the right of the center of the image, which is blacked out by the coronagraph mask used to block the blinding light of the central star. ESO/A. Muller et al Science news in pictures New human organ discovered that was previously missed by scientists Layers long thought to be dense, connective tissue are actually a series of fluid-filled compartments researchers have termed the interstitium. These compartments are found beneath the skin, as well as lining the gut, lungs, blood vessels and muscles, and join together to form a network supported by a mesh of strong, flexible proteins Getty Science news in pictures Previously unknown society lived in Amazon rainforest before Europeans arrived, say archaeologists Working in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, a team led by archaeologists at the University of Exeter unearthed hundreds of villages hidden in the depths of the rainforest. These excavations included evidence of fortifications and mysterious earthworks called geoglyphs Jose Iriarte Science news in pictures One in 10 people have traces of cocaine or heroin on fingerprints, study finds More than one in 10 people were found to have traces of class A drugs on their fingers by scientists developing a new fingerprint-based drug test. Using sensitive analysis of the chemical composition of sweat, researchers were able to tell the difference between those who had been directly exposed to heroin and cocaine, and those who had encountered it indirectly. Getty Science news in pictures Nasa releases stunning images of Jupiter's great red spot The storm bigger than the Earth, has been swhirling for 350 years. The image's colours have been enhanced after it was sent back to Earth. Pictures by: Tom Momary

Despite all of the concerns, we cant find any areas that would be definitely worse off, he told Nature.

If solar geoengineering is as good as what is shown in these models, it would be crazy not to take it seriously.

Either way, the scientists hope their Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment (Scopex) will shed some light on how effective such a strategy would be in reality.

After releasing the chalk dust, the motorised balloon would then re-enter the cloud and measure how it disperses in the air and affects the chemistry of the stratosphere.

The team are currently searching for the ideal location in the southwest US in which to conduct the experiment, which has been partly funded by Bill Gates of Microsoft.

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In November, a separate study concluded solar geoengineering could be remarkably inexpensive as a means of offsetting humanitys greenhouse gas emissions.

However, with the potential knock-on effects to the ozone layer and local weather conditions still largely unknown, scientists have emphasised the need for careful experiments before any bold steps are taken.Pedestrians will be filmed as they cross a notorious junction in central London in a bid to reduce the number of accidents caused by people glued to their mobile phones.

Cameras will be installed at Ludgate Circus in order to understand how inattentive walkers allow themselves to step out in front of traffic on a busy road while distracted by smart devices.

The City of London Corporation, the governing body of the Square Mile in the heart of the capital, agreed to conduct the study of the junction, which connects Fleet Street, Ludgate Hill, Farringdon Street and New Bridge Street.

Notes from a meeting of the corporations planning and transport committee said the cameras would be used to collect data about the causes of pedestrian inattention.

Of the near 300 traffic accidents in the City of London between 2013 and 2017, Ludgate Circus saw more than 40 collisions, the most of any junction. Seven of the incidents left someone either dead or seriously injured.

The most common cause of traffic collisions across the entire Square Mile during that period was pedestrians failing to look properly, which led to 66 accidents  more than double that of the next most common factor.

Experts have increasingly expressed concern over so-called zombie pedestrians, who put themselves in danger by failing to pay attention to their surroundings while using mobile phones.

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A 2017 study by Aston University in Birmingham found as many as 17 road accidents a day in the UK are likely to be caused by people walking into traffic while distracted by their smartphones.

Of more than 24,000 drivers surveyed by the AA in 2016, 72 per cent said they regularly saw pedestrians checking devices as they stepped out into the road.

Some cities across the world have already taken action to prevent the problem, including Augsburg and Cologne in Germany, where traffic lights were installed on the floor near crossings to warn people looking down at their phones.Plans to build two large prisons have been called into question after a watchdog issued a damning report on how one of Britains biggest jails descended in just 18 months into appalling, chaotic conditions likened to a war zone.

Penal-reform groups said the deterioration at HMP Birmingham demonstrated the fragile nature of big prisons after the chief inspector of prisons warned ministers against failing to learn lessons in their rush to improve conditions.

Inmates walked around "like zombies" while high on drugs or locked themselves in their cells out of fear, the report by watchdog Peter Clarke revealed.

This summer, the jail became the first privately run prison to be taken back under government control when Mr Clarke invoked a rarely used urgent notification demanding action when it was found to be exceptionally violent and fundamentally unsafe.

Against all four tests of standards  safety, respect, purposeful activity and rehabilitation and release planning  outcomes were judged as poor, the lowest assessment.

This is only the second time we have made such judgments. Conditions at Birmingham were among the worst we have seen in recent years, Mr Clarke found at the time.

Publishing his full report on August's unannounced inspection, he has now renewed his call for an independent review of how the prison had gone downhill so badly.

Inspectors said conditions were among the worst they had seen in recent years. Drug-taking was barely concealed, they found, and the prison was found to be failing in its responsibility to protect the public by preparing prisoners adequately for release.

Mr Clarkes report also stated levels of violence were the highest for any local jail in the UK, with some inmates saying they felt unsafe even behind locked cell doors.

Inertia seemed to have gripped those responsible for monitoring and managing the contracts Peter Clarke

After he gave ministers 28 days to improve it, they took back control of it from private contractor G4S.

The previous inspection, in February 2017, had found a prison still reeling from a riot in late 2016 that caused at least 2m worth of damage but with a clear determination to recover and rebuild.

The contrast with findings of the inspection in August this year could not have been starker, Mr Clarke said.

Since 2016, reports have emerged of soaring violence, hundreds of assaults, low staff morale, rat infestations, a flood of the zombie drug spice and dirty living conditions.

When the jail was taken back into public control, a new super-governor was appointed, 30 more officers were sent in and the jail population reduced by 300.

Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: This is a prison that is failing to keep prisoners safe, failing to keep staff safe and failing to keep the public safe.

Large prisons are fragile, and every one of the large prisons in this country has proven to be problematic. If you have a massive, failing institution with thousands of men going through it, the damage it can do is beyond imagination.

This calls into question the governments decision to build two new big prisons, contrary to all the evidence.

The right approach is to reduce the prison population and prevent more people being swept into deeper currents of crime, violence and despair.

Mr Clarke said in his full report that he hoped the importance of understanding the deterioration and learning from it are not overlooked.

He said that in his urgent notification to ministers in August, he had made clear that he lacked confidence in the prison to make improvements. He had warned of the inertia that seemed to have gripped those responsible for monitoring and managing the contracts and those meant to be delivering action on the ground.

Why was it that those with responsibility for Birmingham either did not see these problems unfolding or seemed incapable of acting decisively when they did? Mr Clarke asked.

When they went in just four months ago, inspectors found:

the prison was exceptionally violent and fundamentally unsafe, with many prisoners and staff living and working in fear

many frightened and vulnerable prisoners self-isolated in locked cells but could not escape the bullying and intimidation as urine and faeces were thrown through their door panels

delinquency was rife and individuals could behave badly with near impunity

wings often felt chaotic and rowdy, and one prisoner described a war zone, inmates walking around like zombies, high on Spice

control in the prison was tenuous, with staff often not knowing where prisoners were

staff were poorly led and many lacked the confidence or the competence to set about retrieving this situation

many prisoners lived in squalor and little was done to adequately occupy them

Mr Clarke added: The challenges facing this prison are huge. Managers and staff need support if they are to turn the establishment around.

Prisons minister Rory Stewart said: We took decisive action at HMP Birmingham to urgently improve safety and living conditions, reducing the population and appointing governor Paul Newton, who is working tirelessly to drive up standards.

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We have conducted a full and thorough investigation of the situation at Birmingham to understand the causes, learn lessons and prevent it happening again.

We will keep a close eye on progress to ensure Birmingham returns to being a place of stability and reform, and we wont hand the prison back until we consider it is safe to do so.Britain can still cancel Brexit by revoking Article 50 without the consent of other EU member states, the European Court of Justice's advocate general has said.

The EU's top court has been considering the question of whether the UK can decide not to go ahead with Brexit at this late stage after a legal challenge by campaigners.

The formal legal recommendation cites Britain's "sovereignty" in treaty-making matters and says withdrawal "may be revoked at any time" during the negotiating period, as long as it is done in good faith.

The statement is significant because it would mean Britain would have the power to stop a no-deal Brexit from happening, even if Theresa May's deal is voted down next week.

UK government lawyers also have already conceded that parliament has the power to instruct the Government to revoke Article 50, meaning MPs worried about a no-deal would have powers to stop one from happening.

EU lawyers had argued that the UK needed a vote of other member states if it wanted to back out, while the British government had said the Court should not rule on the question because it was hypothetical.

Though the advocate general's opinion is not a final legal ruling, it is very unusual for the full court to overturn its recommendation. A final ruling by a panel of judges is due in the next few weeks.

The dispute is genuine, the question is not merely academic, nor premature or superfluous, but has obvious practical importance and is essential in order to resolve the dispute ECJ advocate general

The Government has been trying to convince MPs to vote for Theresa May's Brexit deal by warning that voting it down could trigger a no-deal.

The EU has repeatedly said the options available to Britain are the deal on the table, no-deal, or no Brexit. However it was legally disputed whether all EU member states would have to unanimously agree to let Britain stay.

Article 50 spells out clearly that the 27 countries would need to give their consent for an extension of the negotiating period, but is silent on the procedure needed to revocation.

The advocate general dismissed UK arguments that there should be no ruling on the issue, stating in his opinion that the "dispute is genuine, the question is not merely academic, nor premature or superfluous, but has obvious practical importance and is essential in order to resolve the dispute".

The top legal authority said the clause was revocable as long as a member state wishing to withdraw it was not acting in an "abusive" manner. It stated: "The Advocate General proposes that the Court of Justice should, in its future judgment, declare that Article 50 TEU allows the unilateral revocation of the notification of the intention to withdraw from the EU, until such time as the withdrawal agreement is formally concluded, provided that the revocation has been decided upon in accordance with the Member States constitutional requirements, is formally notified to the European Council and does not involve an abusive practice."

It argued that as a general principle of international law "withdrawal from an international treaty may be revoked at any time" before it takes effect.

The opinion adds: "Advocate General states that Article 50 TEU is an expression of the principle of respect for the national identities of the Member States, in allowing them to withdraw if they consider that that national identity is incompatible with membership of the EU. In his view, there is no reason that, conversely, that Member State may not link its identity to its integration into the EU."

A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Show all 65 1 /65 A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit An estimated 700,000 people marched through London to demand a final say on the withdrawal agreement Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Red smoke from a canister hangs in the air as around 100,000 demonstrators march through London during a People's Vote anti-brexit demonstration savings banners and placards Anti-Brexit People's Vote March for the Future in London Rex 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 Mayor of London Sadiq Khan takes 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 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

Jo Maugham QC, a top lawyer backing the legal challenge, said the legal opinion "puts the decision about our future back in the hands of our own elected representatives  where it belongs".

He added: "On this critical issue I'm sure MPs will now search their consciences and act in the best interest of the country."Theresa May has been dealt a major blow after MPs voted to allow Parliament to seize control of Brexit if the House of Commons votes down the prime minister's deal.

MPs backed a motion tabled by Dominic Grieve, the former attorney general, to allow the Commons to amend the government's plan for how to proceed if, as expected, Ms May's proposed agreement is voted down on 11 December.

Mr Grieve's amendment passed by 321 votes to 299 after a number of Tory MPs voted against the government.

The move means a no-deal Brexit is now highly unlikely, given a clear majority of MPs are opposed to such an outcome. Even if the government decides to pursue no-deal, MPs would now have the power to oppose it. While such a vote would not be legally binding, it would be almost impossible for ministers to ignore.

Mr Grieve's amendment was backed by MPs from across the Commons, including 26 Conservative rebels.

In addition to pro-EU Tories who have previously voted against the government, it also received support from MPs who have traditionally been loyal to Ms May.

Supporters included former cabinet ministers Sir Oliver Letwin, Sir Michael Fallon and Nicky Morgan, as well as Ms May's former deputy, Damian Green.

It was also backed by Nick Boles, who is garnering support among MPs for a "Norway for now" option that would see the UK remain in the European Economic Area (EEA) and customs union until a further arrangement was agreed with the EU.

Many of the Tory MPs who backed the amendment did so despite having already said they will vote for Ms May's deal.

The amendment will fundamentally alter the sequence of events that will follow if the prime minister's deal is rejected by MPs.

Under the terms of the EU Withdrawal Act, the government must publish a statement within 21 days of the deal being voted down outlining how it plans to proceed, and MPs must be given a vote on this within a week.

The vote, though, would only be on a "neutral motion" simply saying the Commons had considered the matter. Crucially, MPs would not be able to amend the motion in order to express a view on what action ministers should take.

A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Show all 65 1 /65 A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit An estimated 700,000 people marched through London to demand a final say on the withdrawal agreement Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Red smoke from a canister hangs in the air as around 100,000 demonstrators march through London during a People's Vote anti-brexit demonstration savings banners and placards Anti-Brexit People's Vote March for the Future in London Rex 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 Mayor of London Sadiq Khan takes 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 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

Mr Grieve's amendment changes that. It says parliamentary rules stating that neutral motions cannot be amended should not be applied to government motions on Brexit.

That means MPs will be able to order ministers to change tack, for example by extending Article 50, reopening negotiations with the EU or calling another referendum.

A similar motion has been tabled by the chairs of several parliamentary select committees, including Brexit committee chair Hilary Benn. However, their amendment explicitly rejects Ms May's deal, meaning it is unlikely to be supported by Tory MPs who are backing the prime minister's plan but want Parliament to be given greater control if the Commons rejects it.

Speaking in favour of his motion, Mr Grieve told the Commons: "The reality remains that we have an unsatisfactory procedure to resolve differences of opinion in this House if we come to a point where the government does not succeed on its motion. The opportunity exists this afternoon to cure that anomaly.

"It is contrary to all sensible practice, and I have to say slightly disrespectful of the role of this House, that we should end up with a situation in which we have unamendable motions for consideration at a time when Parliament ought to be fully focused on trying to find means of resolving outstanding issues."

He said his motion would ensure that "whatever the outcome next week, we have a means of continuing the debate thereafter if we need to".

Speaking for the government, Andrea Leadsom, leader of the Commons, told MPs it was "not the time to pre-empt whether or not further motions" are likely as a result of Ms May's proposed deal being rejected.

The amendment secured the guarantees Mr Grieve general initially tried to extract from ministers during debates on the EU Withdrawal Act in June.

Having tried to ensure MPs would be able to amend the government's motion in the event the Brexit deal is rejected, the former attorney general eventually backed down after claiming he had received assurances that ministers would respect the sovereignty of Parliament.

It comes as a senior adviser to the European Court of Justice said that the British Parliament could unilaterally revoke Article 50, thereby halting the Brexit process.

Launching a People's Vote report outlining how Parliament could block a no-deal Brexit, Mr Grieve said: All the evidence Ive picked up is that the EU would give us a reasonable period of time to hold a referendum if we wish to do so.

If Parliament expresses a view that it wishes to have a Peoples Vote then unless the government has taken complete leave of its senses, it is possible for us to put in place the necessary procedure to hold such a referendum. And, more over, to make the necessary changes to the EU Withdrawal Act very simply to make sure that we dont crash out on 29 March.MPs have found Theresa Mays government in contempt of parliament over ministers refusal to publish the legal advice they have received on Brexit.

In a unprecedented move, the Commons passed a motion accusing ministers of contempt for ignoring a previous vote of parliament that said the legal advice provided by Geoffrey Cox, the attorney general, should be published in full.

The vote was passed by 311 votes to 293 after the DUP, whose votes Ms May relies on to maintain her governing majority, backed the motion.

The text condemned the decision not to release the full and final legal advice and orders its immediate publication.

The government immediately responded by saying it would publish the full advice on Wednesday.

The vote came after ministers refused to back down and insisted it was against the national interest for the full legal opinion provided by to the cabinet to be made public.

Downing Street said Ms May had told the cabinet that there is a longstanding convention that neither the fact nor the content of law officers advice is shared outside government without their consent.

The prime ministers spokesman said it is an essential part of the functioning of government that cabinet ministers can have access to candid legal advice without the threat of it being published.

Last month, the Commons backed a Labour motion demanding that all legal advice provided to ministers on the proposed Brexit deal be made public.

Instead, ministers published a 43-page summary of the advice and took the unusual step of sending Mr Cox to the Commons to give a statement and answer MPs questions.

A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Show all 65 1 /65 A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit An estimated 700,000 people marched through London to demand a final say on the withdrawal agreement Angela Christofilou/The Independent A historic moment: thousands march to demand Final Say on Brexit Red smoke from a canister hangs in the air as around 100,000 demonstrators march through London during a People's Vote anti-brexit demonstration savings banners and placards Anti-Brexit People's Vote March for the Future in London Rex 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 Mayor of London Sadiq Khan takes 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 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

The government had tabled an amendment to the motion of contempt that would have referred the matter to the Commons Committee of Privileges  a move that is likely to delay the row beyond next weeks meaningful vote on the prime ministers Brexit deal. MPs voted down that amendment by 311 votes to 307.

Speaker John Bercow had granted an urgent debate on a motion alleging contempt of parliament after a request from all of the other Commons parties. Mr Bercow said he had deemed there was an arguable case that a contempt had been committed.

Opening the debate, Labours shadow Brexit secretary, Sir Keir Starmer, said it was not good enough for ministers to claim it was not in the national interest to release the documents.

He told the Commons: The government is willfully refusing to comply with a binding order of this House, and that is contempt.

Yesterday the attorney general as good as admitted it, when he said, I wish that I could comply with the request of the House, but if I did I sincerely believe it would not be in all our interests. Slightly later he said, Although the House says I should disclose, I believe the public interest compels me not to do so. Im sorry.

That is a plea of mitigation, it is not a defence.

 John Bercow backs Brexit contempt debate

Responding for the government, Andrea Leadsom, leader of the Commons, said: No honourable member could say in all honesty that the attorney general has done anything other than treat this House with the greatest of respect.

There can be no question that he or the government has acted in a manner which is contemptuous of this House.

But speaking moments after MPs had passed the motion of contempt, Ms Leadsom said: Weve tested the opinion of the House twice on this very serious subject. Weve listened carefully and, in light of the expressed will of the House, we will publish the final and full advice provided by the attorney general to cabinet.

But recognising the very serious constitutional issues that this raises, I have referred the matter to the Privileges Committee to consider the implications of the humble address.

Mr Bercow said it would be unimaginable that the advice would not to be made public before MPs vote on the Brexit deal next week, prompting Ms Leadsom to confirm the government would respond on Wednesday.A group of 200 current and former MPs has called for millions of pounds in fossil fuel investments to be cut from their pension fund, amid concerns about climate change.

The cross-party effort comes as world leaders gather in Poland for a major climate summit at which fossil fuel investment and the transition to greener energy sources are high on the agenda.

Among the investments in the House of Commons Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund (PCPF) are 7.3m in BP  the joint highest individual holding  2.9m in Shell and 3.7m in controversial mining company Rio Tinto.

In 2017 the funds were made public for the first time, revealing investments not only in oil giants but also tobacco companies and US tech firms like Amazon that MPs themselves have accused of avoiding tax.

These revelations came after years of pressure from a campaign to divest parliament was started in 2014 by a small group of MPs, including former Green Party leader Caroline Lucas.

With the recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change adding fresh urgency to efforts to tackle climate change many see divestment as a vital tool to help move away from fossil fuels.

Jeremy Corbyn became the 100th MP to back the Divest Parliament movement at the end of 2017, and the total number includes representatives from every major political party.

Were now a 200 strong cohort of cross-party MPs who believe it is morally indefensible for parliamentarians to be investing in companies which profit from wrecking our planet, said Ms Lucas.

MPs have a duty to take action to prevent the worst of climate change. One simple step we can take is ditching our investments in fossil fuels  and instead invest in clean, renewable energy, and low-carbon technologies.

If the fund was to divest from fossil fuels, UK parliament would join a growing list of British and international institutions choosing this path.

Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges Show all 25 1 /25 Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges Demonstrators block Westminster Bridge in central London to show anger at government inaction on climate and ecological issues AFP/Getty Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges A pro environment protester is arrested by police on Lambeth bridge in London EPA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges Organised by Extinction Rebellion, the protest is part of many taking place this weekend to bring attention to political inaction on issues of pollution and climate change Reuters Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges AFP/Getty Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges Organised by Extinction Rebellion, the protest is part of many taking place this weekend to bring attention to political inaction on issues of pollution and climate change PA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges Demonstrators on Blackfriars Bridge PA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges Police with demonstrators on Blackfriars Bridge PA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges AFP/Getty Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges EPA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges A demonstrator is led away by police on Blackfriars Bridge PA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges Reuters Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges PA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges Reuters Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges AFP/Getty Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges AFP/Getty Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges PA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges EPA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges EPA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges EPA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges PA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges Reuters Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges EPA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges AFP/Getty Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges EPA Extinction rebellion: Climate change protesters block London bridges Reuters

In July Ireland became the first country in the world to pull all money in its national investment fund from greenhouse gas emitters.

Large pension funds and insurers have also taken similar measures, as have the city of New York, the Church of England and two thirds of UK universities.

Recommended Climate talks begin after Attenborough warns of civilisation collapse

Preventing disastrous climate change will be the defining challenge of the next decade for world leaders, said Lord Deben, former Conservative MP and chair of the government's Committee on Climate Change.

The UK must show leadership by demonstrating that we are prepared to make the necessary choices. 

This includes moving investment out of fossil fuels and towards renewables that are already proving that they can be built at the scale needed to power our homes and businesses.

A PCPF spokesperson said: In common with most large diversified investors, the PCPF currently has financial exposure to a very large number of companies and sectors.

"The decision to hold an individual share or bond in a company is made by the investment managers engaged by the PCPF.

Money is high on the agenda at the COP24 climate summit in the Polish city of Katowice, specifically who is willing to provide it and how best to use it to combat climate change.

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Pressure is growing on wealthier countries to give more of their money to developing nations to fund their transitions to greener economies.

Meanwhile a coalition of banks including ING and BNP Paribas have pledged at the event to use the billions in loans at their disposal to steer clients away from businesses that emit large amounts of greenhouse gases.Nato has accused Russia of violating a landmark Cold War-era nuclear treaty, paving the way for the US to leave the pact.

US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said America would suspend its treaty obligations in 60 days over the alleged violations. The six-month withdrawal period from the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) would begin after this point.

Mr Pompeo said Russia had developed multiple battalions of the SSC-8 missiles, referring to the land-based, intermediate-range cruise missile which also has the name of Novator 9M729.

Recommended Russia proposes medals for border guards after Crimean sea incident

Mr Pompeo claims that Moscow has been testing the missile since the mid-2000s.

Its range makes it a direct menace to Europe, he told a conference after a meeting with his Nato counterparts.

Nato allies, led by Germany, pressed Mr Pompeo at a meeting in Brussels to give diplomacy one last chance before Washington pulls out of the treaty, amid fears over a new arms race in Europe.

In turn, the foreign ministers agreed to formally declare Russia in material breach of the INF treaty in a statement in support of the US.

Russia denies undertaking any such development of the SSC-8 missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads and hitting European cities at short notice.

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. 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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. 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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. 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While Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said there would now be an intense diplomatic push to try to convince Russia to give up the missiles, Washington is set to pull out in February.

Mr Pompeo said the world needed to face Russian cheating on its arms obligations. He said nations face a choice to stick our heads in the sand or challenge Moscow.

The secretary of state said Washington had raised the issue at least 30 times and faced baseless accusations from Russia in return.

In the light of these facts, the United States declares Russia in material breach of the treaty and will suspend our obligations ... effective in 60 days unless Russia returns to full and verifiable compliance, Mr Pompeo said.

Mr Pompeo said the actions over the missile cannot be seen in isolation from Moscows behaviour around the world  including the conflict in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea, the Salisbury poisoning and other incidents.

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The secretary of state has signalled that Washington will be forced to restore the military balance in Europe after that period but has so far declined to give more details, saying only that tests and deployments of new missiles were on hold until the US withdrawal from the treaty is confirmed.

The Russian foreign ministry denied the allegations. On Tuesday, spokesperson Maria Zakharova said: Russia strictly complies with the provisions of the treaty, and the American side is aware of that.

Russia has repeatedly insisted the SSC-8 missile system at the core of the allegations does not exceed ranges specified in the treaty.

The INF treaty was negotiated by then-President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. It eliminated the medium-range missile arsenals of the worlds two biggest nuclear powers and reduced their ability to launch a nuclear strike at short notice.

US cruise and Pershing missiles deployed in Britain and West Germany were removed as a result, while the Soviet Union pulled its SS-20s out of European range.

Reuters contributed to this reportA woman who sat on her boyfriend and suffocated him to death during a drunken rage is facing nearly four decades in prison after she admitted to his murder.

Windi Thomas stabbed Keeno Butler in the hand with a knife and battered him with a table leg before she smothered him with her body at their home in Erie, Pennsylvania, prosecutors told the Central Court at the Erie County Courthouse.

The 44-year-old pleaded guilty to the third-degree murder although her lawyers argued the she killed Mr Butler by mistake after collapsing on top of him while drunk.

Mr Butler's death was ruled homicide caused by respiratory insufficiency secondary to blunt force trauma to the neck and thoracic compression, exacerbated by blunt force trauma to the head.

After killing the 44-year-old in March, the court heard that Thomas dialled police and told a dispatcher: "I killed my boyfriend."

After arriving at property, investigators found a table leg with bolts protruding covered with blood.

She told police that she had been drinking and looking to purchase crack cocaine.

As a result of the plea deal, her recommended sentence will be reduced from 20 to 40 years in prison to 18 to 36 years.

Defence Attorney Mark Del Duca said it was a good result based on the facts of the case.

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Obviously, it's an unfortunate situation for everybody, but I think that this guilty plea and the recommendation we've made to the court will be beneficial for all parties involved," he told GoErie.com.

Sandra Butler, the Keenos sister, told the site that she wanted to see Thomas serve more time than the agreed-upon sentence.

I feel like she should have 40 or more, Butler said. She deserved life.After days of violent anti-government protests, the French government appears set to announce the suspension of fuel tax price rises in an attempt to defuse the situation.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe is due to halt the policy later today in an attempt to ease the crisis, government sources have suggested.

Members of the nationwide protest movement, the gilets jaunes, or yellow vests, after the fluorescent safety clothing that all French motorists are obliged to keep in their cars, have been protesting since mid-November against President Emmanuel Macrons proposals to increase taxes on diesel.

They argue it has resulted in a squeeze on households but the French leader says it is necessary to combat climate change.

The protests have since evolved into a bigger anti-Macron uprising, with many criticising the president for pursuing policies that they claim favour the richest members of French society.

More than 130 people were injured and over 400 arrested this weekend as protests turned violent in Paris. Protestors set cars alight and smashed up luxury homes and shops.

The unrest is the worst the capital has seen for almost 50 years.

Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Show all 29 1 /29 Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Water cannons are turned on the protesters Reuters Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Riot police detain protesters EPA Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures A car is set alight in the protests AFP/Getty Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures The Arc de Triomphe is graffitied with the slogan: 'he yellow vests will triumph' Reuters Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Protesters barricade themselves on the Champs Elysees as police line the streets Reuters Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures A protester fires at police with a slingshot AFP/Getty Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures A protester holds up a sign that reads 'your Europe ruins us' Reuters Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures A protester gestures amidst burning cars EPA Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Protesters walk amidst tear gas near the Arc de Triomphe Reuters Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures A protester runs amidst tear gas Reuters Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Protesters on the Champs Elysees amidst tear gas AFP/Getty Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Protesters in yellow vests gather outside the town hall in Bordeaux EPA Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Protesters gather on the Champs Elysees after the police deploy tear gas AFP/Getty Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Protesters stand by the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Paris AFP/Getty Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures A protester waves a French flag Reuters Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Riot police take formation AFP/Getty Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures A general view of the Champs Elysees in Paris today as protesters clash with police Reuters Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures A protester wears a jacket reading 'Macron, thief, lier, crook, go away, the people banish you' AP Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Protesters gather on the Champs Elysees AFP/Getty Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Protesters hold a French flag by a burning barricade AFP/Getty Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Protesters gather by a fire AFP/Getty Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Water cannons are turned on the protesters Reuters Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures A protester wears an adapted yellow vest reading 'Macron's cemetery: here lies your buying power' AFP/Getty Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Protesters gather by a burning car AFP/Getty Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Riot police advance through tear gas followed closely by their water cannon EPA Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Tear gas is deployed to deter the protesters Reuters Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures A protester waves a French flag amidst tear gas AP Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Protesters walk amidst tear gas by the Arc de Triomphe Reuters Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures A protester holds a sign asking for the reintroduction of ISF (an old French tax on wealth) AFP/Getty

The fuel tax was the spark, Thierry Paul Valette, a protest coordinator, said. If it hadnt been (that), it would have been something else. People want fair fiscal justice. They want social justice.

The Yellow Vest movement has no leaders but is trying to organise and choose legitimate representatives to negotiate with the government.

But earlier this week some members of the group that were set to meet the prime minister pulled out of a meeting with Mr Philippe because they said they had received death threats from hardline protesters warning them not to enter into negotiations with the government.

Agencies contributed to this reportThe French government has announced it is suspending a planned increase in fuel tax for six months in response to nationwide protests against the policy.

Prime minister Edouard Philippe confirmed the U-turn at Tuesday lunchtime after an escalation in the so-called gilets jaunes demonstrations over the weekend.

Setting the course and holding it is a necessity to govern France. But no tax deserves to jeopardize the unity of the nation, Mr Philippe said in a reconciliatory televised address.

Recommended French President Macron plans to reduce reliance on nuclear energy

The yellow vest protesters, named after the fluorescent safety clothing that all French motorists are obliged to keep in their cars, have been marching since mid-November against President Emmanuel Macrons proposals to increase the price of diesel.

Mr Philippe said the measure, which was to come into effect on 1 January, would now be delayed for six months  meaning it would land the summer. He additionally pledged that the price of electricity would not increase for the same period.

But he stopped short of scrapping the tax altogether, warning: "The French do not want any increase in taxes or new taxes. If taxes go down, spending will have to go down."

The government says the new policy is necessary to meet Frances international environmental obligations, but many of the protesters say they resent the increased cost of living the charges would bring.

No tax deserves to jeopardize the unity of the nation, French prime minister Edouard Philippe

In recent weeks the demonstrations have become about more than the tax rise, and morphed into general concerns about the cost of living. Slogans brandished by marchers in Paris this weekend castigated the centrist pro-business government, which is allied with president Emmanuel Macron, of being out of touch and in the pocked of the rich.

The prime minister said on Tuesday his government was facing the wrath of France that works hard, struggling to make both ends meet.

More than 130 people were injured and over 400 arrested this weekend as protests turned violent in Paris, with looting on the famous Champs Elysees and vandalism of the Arc de Triomphe.

In his address to the nation, the prime minister criticised the actions of the protesters.

Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Show all 29 1 /29 Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Water cannons are turned on the protesters Reuters Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Riot police detain protesters EPA Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures A car is set alight in the protests AFP/Getty Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures The Arc de Triomphe is graffitied with the slogan: 'he yellow vests will triumph' Reuters Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Protesters barricade themselves on the Champs Elysees as police line the streets Reuters Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures A protester fires at police with a slingshot AFP/Getty Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures A protester holds up a sign that reads 'your Europe ruins us' Reuters Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures A protester gestures amidst burning cars EPA Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Protesters walk amidst tear gas near the Arc de Triomphe Reuters Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures A protester runs amidst tear gas Reuters Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Protesters on the Champs Elysees amidst tear gas AFP/Getty Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Protesters in yellow vests gather outside the town hall in Bordeaux EPA Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Protesters gather on the Champs Elysees after the police deploy tear gas AFP/Getty Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Protesters stand by the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Paris AFP/Getty Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures A protester waves a French flag Reuters Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Riot police take formation AFP/Getty Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures A general view of the Champs Elysees in Paris today as protesters clash with police Reuters Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures A protester wears a jacket reading 'Macron, thief, lier, crook, go away, the people banish you' AP Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Protesters gather on the Champs Elysees AFP/Getty Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Protesters hold a French flag by a burning barricade AFP/Getty Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Protesters gather by a fire AFP/Getty Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Water cannons are turned on the protesters Reuters Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures A protester wears an adapted yellow vest reading 'Macron's cemetery: here lies your buying power' AFP/Getty Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Protesters gather by a burning car AFP/Getty Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Riot police advance through tear gas followed closely by their water cannon EPA Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Tear gas is deployed to deter the protesters Reuters Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures A protester waves a French flag amidst tear gas AP Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Protesters walk amidst tear gas by the Arc de Triomphe Reuters Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures A protester holds a sign asking for the reintroduction of ISF (an old French tax on wealth) AFP/Getty

"All French have the right to demonstrate, recognizes the prime minister. But all French people also have the right to security. The government does not accept violence," he said.

He added: "The perpetrators of these acts are wanted and will be punished. If there is another day of mobilisation on Saturday, it must be declared and proceed calmly."

Mr Macrons approval ratings dropped once again to new lows this week, with just 23 per cent approving, according to a poll published by Paris Match.Pope Francis has branded homosexuality "fashionable" while voicing his concerns about having gay people in the clergy.

The Argentinian pontiff made the remarks in an interview about religious vocations, saying the Church had to be "demanding" in choosing candidates for the priesthood.

Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera's website ran excerpts of the book on Saturday in the form of an interview that Pope Francis gave about religious vocations. Pope Francis was quoted as describing homosexuality within the walls of seminaries, convents and other religious places where clergy live as "a very serious question."

"In our societies, it even seems homosexuality is fashionable. And this mentality, in some way, also influences the life of the church," Pope Francis was quoted as telling his interviewer, a Spanish-born missionary priest, Fernando Prado.

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The book, based on four hours of conversations the two had in August at the Vatican, will be published in 10 languages next week. Its Spanish title is La Fuerza de la vocacion (The Strength of Vocation).

Pope Francis reiterated past Vatican pronouncements about the attention that must be given to selecting men for admission to seminaries, saying "we must very much take care of human and sentimental maturity" when training future priests.

 'I beg the Lords forgiveness' for child abuse 'betrayal' says Pope Francis at a service in Knock, Ireland

Separately, the Italian news agency ANSA quoted Pope Francis in the book as commenting on a clergyman who had told him having gay people in Catholic religious housing "isn't so grave" because it is "only an expression of affection."

That reasoning "is in error," Pope Francis said. "In consecrated life and priestly life, there is no place for this kind of affection."

He said candidates with "neuroses or strong unbalances" should not be accepted "to the priesthood nor to (other forms of) consecrated life."

Still, Pope Francis, as he has in the past, stressed that gay Catholics contribute to the life of the church. He said the church must always remember "they are persons who will live in the service of the church, of the Christian community, of the people of God. Let's never forget this perspective."

Pope Francis in his papacy has sought to stress that while obeying church teachings, the faithful must also be compassionate and open to others with different views.

Catholic teaching considers homosexual activity sinful, and teaches that everyone, except married heterosexual couples, should abstain from sex.

Associated PressAfter scenes of violence and burning buildings, smashed windows and torched cars in central Paris, the French government has been forced to pause some policy changes.

In a televised address on Tuesday morning, the prime minister, Edouard Philippe, declared: No tax deserves to endanger the Nations unity.

To avoid new civil unrest, the prime minister announced a six-month suspension of the unpopular planned rise in fuel taxes  the catalyst for the citizens protest movement known as the gilets jaunes (yellow vests). The increase in gas and electricity prices has also been suspended.

The government now leaves itself six months, during which no taxes can increase, to lead discussions. President Emmanuel Macron promised last week a large consultation, opened to all French people who wish to speak. This broad debate on taxes and public spending is scheduled to begin on 15 December and end on 1 March.

For the yellow vests, these announcements are very far from having answered their demands. They wanted the tax to be scrapped altogether, and a mere suspension does not seem to have appeased their anger.

It is too late to propose fake, small measures, said Benjamin Cauchy, one of the gilets jaunes spokespeople.

We are striving to make ends meet. We cannot live like this anymore. We need change now, not in a few months and certainly not at the end of Macrons five-year term, said Jean-Francois Barnabat, another spokesperson for the movement.

For him six months suspension is insulting. Others wonder: In six months, what will we do? Will we have to demonstrate again?

We are striving to make ends meet. We cannot live like this anymore. We need change now, not in a few months and certainly not at the end of Macrons five-year term Jean-Francois Barnabat, yellow vests spokesperson

For the political scientist Stephane Wahnich, even if Macron seems to have understood the seriousness of the situation, cancelling a scheduled trip to Serbia to stay in France to face the crisis, the answer is insufficient.

When you have such a movement in the streets and in the public opinion, you cancel everything, he said. He sees in this movement many similarities with the great student movement of 1986.

At that time, Jacques Chirac and his minister of education Alain Devaquet tried to establish a new selection process for getting into university, a bill which provoked the wrath of students.

A million took to the streets. But the movement degenerated into violent confrontations and a student, Malek Oussekin, died in clashes with the police. Today, the movement of yellow vests has the same characteristics.

An innovative movement and a government that does not understand what is happening, said Wahnich. And especially, he added, a movement that slips from the initiators control, to the benefit of the rioters.

But, he says, the yellow vests crisis is different in an important way, because unlike the very democratic student movement of 1986 with every representative elected by them, the yellow vests are not democratic, says Wahnich.

Yellow vests have self-appointed representatives, and some receive death threats to prevent them from negotiating with the government.

 Protesters set fire to overturned cars in central Paris after police pushed them away from the Arc de Triomphe in violent clashes

On the other hand, he adds, many yellow vests also took part in the riots, not just peaceful demonstrations, and gilets jaune were among those arrested in Paris on Saturday.

It is unfortunate to reach this violent climate, said Benjamin Cauchy, another gilets jaunes spokesperson.

He himself received threats against himself and his family. I condemn those violent riots, he said, but violence first came from the government failing to answer our demands for four weeks, he adds. He recognises that the gilet jaunes movement is being split in two: a majority fraction that wants to discuss with the government and a minority fraction of rioters who are just looking for street battles.

In 1986, to put an end to riots, then prime minister Chirac and Devacquet buried the law, allowing calm to return. But today, the government, by proposing only a suspension, has not put an end to the movement.

And the yellow vests are maintaining their call for renewed demonstrations, this coming weekend in the French capital.

Cauchy said: We must not fear demonstrations on Saturday in Paris, because they will take place.Yemens recognised government and the Houthi rebels have agreed to a massive prisoner swap to boost UN efforts for a ceasefire deal, as a rebel delegation flew to Sweden for a fresh round of peace talks.

The agreement was struck by UN envoy Martin Griffiths, who was in the rebel-held capital Sanaa on Tuesday to ensure the Houthis travelled to the talks which are expected to start in Sweden within the next few days.

Under the deal, thousands of prisoners from both sides of the conflict will be released as a key confidence-boosting measure ahead of the negotiations.

Yemeni government official Hadi Haig told AFP that between 1,500 and 2,000 members of pro-government forces and between 1,000 and 1,500 rebels would be released.

Among those who are due to be released is Yemens former defence minister Mahmoud al-Subaihi, who has been held by the rebels since before the start of the war. President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadis brother Nasser, a general and former senior intelligence official, will also be freed.

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The move was immediately welcomed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which will oversee the exchange.

ICRC spokesperson Mirella Hodeib said: This is one step in the right direction towards the building of mutual trust among Yemeni communities.

Rebel official Abdel Kader al-Murtadha confirmed the deal, adding that he hoped it would be implemented without problem.

Much hope is being pinned on the talks which, if they go ahead, will be the first to take place since 2016.

The three and half year war has sparked the worlds worst humanitarian crisis in terms of numbers and pushed the country to the brink of famine. The United Nations fear as many as 14 million people could starve to death if the fighting rages on and food prices continue to soar.

The conflict first erupted in the spring of 2015 after the Iran-backed Houthi rebels swept control of the country, ousting the recognised President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi. Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies quickly launched a bombing campaign to reinstate Mr Hadi, fearing the encroachment of Irans influence on its borders.

Little progress towards peace has been made until this week.

Attempts to hold talks were scuppered in September when the Houthis refused to attend unless their wounded were treated outside of Yemen, a request refused by the other side.

However, 50 injured Houthi fighters were finally permitted to fly to Oman on Monday for treatment in a goodwill gesture which paved the way for the talks.

Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Show all 17 1 /17 Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Doctors take some blood of Yemeni Yousef Abdullah Bakhit Ali, 13, suffering from severe acute malnutrition. With ongoing and unending conflict in Yemen, humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate across the country Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen A doctor weighs Yemeni baby Yahya Hamoud Ali Al Huzef, 9 months suffering from malnutrition Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Ali Mohammed Ahmed Jamal,12 years old and suffering from severe acute malnutrition. He arrives with his family at a Unicef supported treatment centre in a hospital in Sanaa Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen A doctor measures the arm of Yemeni Ali Mohammed Ahmed Jamal, 12, who is suffering from malnutrition at a treatment centre in a hospital in Sanaa Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen There are over 400,000 severely malnourished children in need urgent lifesaving assistance in Yemen Unicef/Abdulhaleem Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Ali Mohammed Ahmed Jamal is weighed Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen A doctor measures the arm of baby Yahya Hamoud Ali Al Huzef Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Unicef are currently working to reach 275,000 malnourished children with critical life-saving supplies and care for over 5 million people with safe and clean water to stop the spread of life-threatening diseases Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Yahya Hamoud Ali Al Huzef with his family in his house in the outskirts of the capital Sanaa Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen The country is on the brink of famine and children's chances of survival are becoming slimmer by the day Unicef/Abdulhaleem Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Ali Mohammed Ahmed Jamal has his arm measured Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Unicef are currently working to provide nearly 1 million children with vaccines and healthcare Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Unicef are working with partners around-the clock to save children suffering from malnutrition and disease Unicef/Abdulhaleem Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Unicef are currently working to provide 9 million people with emergency cash assistance to help families buy basic commodities so they can survive Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Ali Mohammed Ahmed Jamal is suffering from malnutrition Unicef Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Unicef/Abdulhaleem

The United Arab Emirates, which is a key backer of the recognised government, said the planned talks offered a critical opportunity to end nearly four years of devastating war.

Rebel spokesperson Mohammed Abdelsalam, meanwhile, confirmed the rebel delegations departure from Sanaa on Twitter, saying the Houthis will spare no effort to make a success of the talks to restore peace and end the aggression.

British foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt said he believed the mood has changed and said attendance for the talks looked positive.

He added: Whats bedevilled these talks to date is that both sides have thought that a military victory is possible, but this is the first time for two years that the parties have come round a table together and I do think the mood has changed, so I think we want to do everything we can to support it.

I do think the mood has changed, so I think we want to do everything we can to support it Jeremy Hunt, Foreign Secretary

The UNs humanitarian aid chief Mark Lowcock, however, was more cautious, saying he didnt expect easy or rapid process in the talks.

Mr Lowcock, who is head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said the onus in the peace talks is on Yemens government and the Houthi rebels to take this seriously and act in a responsible way.

He added that around 24 million people in Yemen  roughly 75 per cent of the population  will need humanitarian assistance in 2019.

David Miliband, president of the International Rescue Committee, urged the US and Britain to use their influence as military supporters of the Saudi-led coalition to encourage meaningful dialogue in these talks.

Its time for world leaders to listen to their constituents and help end the unmitigated suffering of the Yemeni people, he said in a statement.I must have checked the weather forecast in Lapland an average of 20 times a day in the run-up to our Christmas trip of a lifetime. For months, I had told my five-year-old that we were going to visit Santa in the North Pole (although, technically Finnish Lapland is nowhere near). Except, as the forecast and news articles kept telling me, there was no snow this year.

Recommended Trying out ice yoga in Swedish Lapland

Lapland has experienced the mildest November for 60 years. When my family and I touched down on the runway at Rovaniemi Airport last week, the city billed as Santas hometown, all we we saw was ice, salt and slush. The surrounding pine forests had a dusting of the white stuff, but the city of Rovaniemi looked modern, square and unprepossessing. It clearly needed a dollop of snow to soften its harsh contours.

Wheres the snow, mummy? my son asked. Hoping to avoid disappointment, we headed out to see the sights and discovered that, actually, theres plenty to do in Lapland with no snow.

A reindeer waits on last years stored snow (Matilda Battersby)

A 15-minute taxi journey from Rovaniemi brought us to a series of red-painted log cabins. They included Santas Post Office, which receives millions of letters addressed to Father Christmas year-round. Here was an opportunity to cross into the Arctic Circle (and take a selfie, of course) and visit Father Christmass House. An elf called Pinecone welcomed us, entrancing my son with a tour through the elves workshop. Father Christmas was huge and convincing, with a long, curly beard and commanding voice. (But what was he most impressed by? Father Christmass stripy rainbow socks.) Elsewhere in Santa Claus Village there was real snow. It was was last years stored snow, but we picked up and played with the icy chunks regardless.

Free entry

Get a husky ride on a summer sled

With no snow, Matilda and her family were pulled around on summer sleds instead (iStock)

Husky rides on snow were cancelled, but we had an incredible time being pulled by a team of dogs using summer sleds with wheels. Bundled up in whole-body ski suits, we sped through country lanes surrounded by yet more pine forest. Our son was delighted by the fluffy, high-energy huskies, with red booties on their paws, who howled like wolves and seemed desperate to run off with us.

129 per person

Despite having no snow, we learned all about Arctic conditions, Sami tribespeople and the animals that can survive in extreme temperatures at the Arktikum Museum and Science Centre. A huge domed glass building, the Arktikum is also a great place to see the Northern Lights on a clear evening. Much of the exhibition involves ancient theories about the phenomena and its influence on Lappish culture and religion.

Entry 13 per adult, 9 child

Desperate to catch our own glimpse of the Aurora Borealis, we kept our son up way past his bedtime and took him out into the countryside. Dressed in huge padded ski suits, we piled into traditional wooden sleighs pulled by reindeer. A network of snowy paths (the snow was stored under wood shavings last winter) gave us a taste of the frozen beauty of this landscape  although it was too dark to see much. A curious reindeer from the sledge behind ours kept bumping alongside us to say hello, his antlers coming perilously close. We looked up into the inky skies hoping the Northern Lights would appear, but it was too overcast. Finishing off with a campfire, coffee and a cinnamon bun, we agreed that the trip had been worth it nevertheless.

133 per person

Santa Claus in a shopping centre at Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland (Simon Calder)

In Lapland, there is no such thing as too much Christmas. Hoping for a glimpse of more elves, we visited Santa Park. More commercial than the neighbouring Santa Claus Village, it is less charming for adults but entrancing for little ones. It is also, mercifully, indoors. My son attended elf school, which involved a brilliant 20-minute lesson by elf professors. We decorated gingerbread biscuits, made our own tree decorations, visited an ice sculpture gallery and learnt about how Father Christmas sorts the naughty children from the nice ones.

218 for a family ticket

Travel essentials

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Getting there

Norwegian flies to Rovaniemi from 49 one way.

Staying there

Hostel Cafe Koti has family rooms from 219 a night.Airlines that cancel flights must book seats on rival carriers if they cannot find space on their own flights on the same day, the aviation regulator has said.

Under EU legislation which has been in effect for over a decade, known as Regulation EU261, if an airline cancels a flight  for any reason  stranded passengers are entitled to re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at the earliest opportunity.

If the cancelling airline does not have space on a suitable flight within a reasonable time, then it must buy seats on a competing carrier.

But the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) studied the re-routing policies of the 30 leading European airlines and concluded there was little clarity that customers may be entitled to be flown on another airline.

The Independent has had dozens of examples of passengers told that they must wait for up to a week for a flight on the airline that cancelled the departure, even though seats on other carriers to the destination are available.

Typically the stranded travellers end up paying a very high fare on a different airline and then struggle to recoup the cost from the carrier that cancelled the original flight.

The CAA has said that affected passengers are entitled to be re-routed on the next available flight to their final destination, in the same class of cabin, regardless of which airline is operating the flight.

Ryanair currently says: We will first try to accommodate you on the next available Ryanair flight on the same route. If this option is not available on the same day or next day then then we will try to accommodate you on the next available Ryanair flight from/to a suitable alternative airport within the same country.

If this isnt available on the same or next day then we will accommodate you to your end destination on airlines with whom we have a reciprocal agreement.

At present easyJets policy is to source flights on a different airline if it cannot get travellers to their destination within 48 hours of the cancelled flight.

But the CAA has made it clear that if the cancelling carrier, and any partner airline, is unable to provide a seat on the same day as the original flight and via the same route, the airline should next seek to identify re-routing options on the services of alternative airlines on the same day as the original flight and via the same route.

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Paul Smith, the CAAs group director, Consumers and Markets, said: We expect airlines to work towards making the necessary adjustments straight away.

We appreciate that it may take some time for airlines to make the necessary adjustments, in particular to IT systems, but also to train consumer facing staff and update passenger information.

He has demanded that airlines comply by 30 June 2019  just ahead of the main summer season.

Airlines are likely to face sharply increased costs, which they say they must pass on to passengers. But Mr Smith indicated that carriers would be given some leeway if their own flights would get the passenger to the destination only slightly later than a rival.

Depending on the cause of the cancellation and the delay in arrival, passengers may also be entitled to cash compensation of up to 600 (525).Well, what have they been hiding, then?

You have to wonder. The May government, routinely described now as the worst of modern times, tried  and predictably failed  to defy the House of Commons and risked inflicting another historic defeat upon itself.

And all for what? The attorney general, Geoffrey Cox, came to the House to give a flamboyant and apparently open assessment of the full meaning of the backstop. Legally  which is the point of legal advice from a government law officer  we are indeed in the EU customs union indefinitely, shackled to the radiator until such time as Brussels wishes to release the UK, to use emotive language. Politically, it may be that that wont last forever, but that is politics, not international law.

Yet if Cox has already owned up to the full grim horror of the backstop, why bother resorting to such extremes to keep the full legal advice secret? Had the Commons not roused itself it would remain under lock and key for decades.

It makes one wonder.

Could it be, for example, that Theresa May and the cabinet asked their solicitor, Cox, whether, under international law, the UK could actually just walk away from an EU-UK treaty? Would the EU be entitled to take legal action? Or retaliate?

There was some talk about this much earlier in the Brexit process. Could the British, in other words, actually unilaterally say that they want to break their treaty? Can it be done?

There is, indeed, an international treaty about international treaties. The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties was ratified in 1980 and no one has much heard of it. It did, though, attract the attention of a House of Lords select committee during the initial debates about triggering Article 50. The basic point about the Vienna Convention is that, yes, the UK could walk away from a treaty with the EU (eg the EU-UK withdrawal agreement or the forthcoming potential free trade agreement) if it wishes. Article 70 of the Vienna Convention, entitled Consequences of the termination of a treaty, provides: 1. Unless the treaty otherwise provides or the parties otherwise agree, the termination of a treaty under its provisions or in accordance with the present Convention:

a) releases the parties from any obligation further to perform the treaty;

b) does not affect any right, obligation or legal situation of the parties created through the execution of the treaty prior to its termination.

So, was Cox asked whether the UK could, in effect, just tear up its new EU treaties, and do so quite legally under this obscure international convention? If so, what did Cox advise?

Did he mirror the House of Lords committees view on the European Unions relationship with the Vienna Convention?

Importantly, the CJEU [European Court] has in the past relied on the Vienna Convention to interpret EU law. In a judgment in 2010 it stated that, while the Vienna Convention did not legally bind the EU, or all of its member states, provisions of the Vienna Convention that reflected customary international law were binding on the EU.

The court has held that, even though the Vienna Convention does not bind either the community or all its member states, a series of provisions in that convention reflect the rules of customary international law which, as such, are binding upon the community institutions and form part of the community legal order.

This is the kind of thing youd expect the law officers to offer advice on. If they havent, youd also wonder why not.

So, either way, it is potentially explosive, as it would mean the UK was open to a charge of operating in bad faith: effectively thinking about tearing up its EU treaties before they were even signed. That would not go down well in Brussels, or indeed in many pro-European quarters in the UK. Even if Cox and ministers claimed it was merely precautionary and they were obliged to explore very option, these excuses would be seen as incredible  precisely because ministers have gone to such extreme lengths to evade publishing the legal advice.

There have been many tussles between crown and parliament over the centuries. We even had a civil war to settle the issue of whos in charge. Rarely though can the House of Commons exercise its rights of sovereignty in such a way, and with such rich ironies attached to it.

The May government is used to knocks, defeats, U-turns and embarrassments. But this allegation of breach of faith  if that is indeed what it is trying to cover up  will be in an international league of its own.The pieces are falling into place. The prospects for a Final Say referendum have never been better, and the case is growing ever more compelling. Yesterday came two more developments that are helpful to the cause of democratic control and the right of British people to approve the final terms of Brexit now they have been agreed between the government and the European Union.

First, the government has been shamed in the House of Commons about its refusal to release the full, final legal advice by the attorney general on the withdrawal agreement. Ministers cite the ministerial code, freedom of information laws, Erskine May (parliamentary practice) and national security  but refuse, ironically, to accept that the will of parliament is in fact final and sovereign in this as in all other matters. So much, it might be said, for taking back control. The EU-UK withdrawal agreement does not threaten national security, it merely threatens Conservative politicians with embarrassment  these are not the same thing.

Precedent works both ways. When Britain engaged in an illegal and disastrous invasion of Iraq in 2003, political and constitutional lessons were drawn, and one of those was that in a matter of fundamental importance the attorney generals advice must be submitted to MPs so they can make an informed decision about the future of the country. It should not be suppressed.

The same, in the context of a peoples vote on the Brexit terms, applies to the electorate. Opposition MPs, and some conscientious Conservatives on all sides of this debate, are suspicious about what the government is up to because there have been so many broken promises and U-turns during the Brexit process. They are right to be wary about ministerial assurances; they are right, as a simple matter of principle, to insist on the power of the Commons to prevail over the historical Crown privilege (a principle of law preventing disclosure of evidence deemed to be damaging to the public interest).

Second, the legal advice emanating from Europe suggests that the British government, like any EU member state, can indeed unilaterally withdraw an Article 50 application to leave the EU if it so wishes. There would be, in other words, no veto to be applied by any awkward fellow member looking to gain some political advantage from a member state that has changed its mind.

Thus there is no legal impediment, it would appear, to Britain giving notice to the European Union that it wishes to reverse or pause the Article 50 proceedings. In reality, such is the weight of opinion in the EU in favour of retaining the UK as a member of the club, it was always unlikely that the application to set aside an Article 50 procedure would be opposed. The EU realises the UK leaving the union is neither in the British interest nor in the European interest, though it will be far more damaging to Britain than to any other member state.

If anything, the mess that Brexit was always going to be  it was inevitably going to be economically painful for Britain  has left the Leave cause with few arguments in its favour. For the prime minister is quite right in arguing that the only practical Brexit proposal is the one that she had managed to extract from Michel Barnier and his colleagues. Given the UKs red lines, no other deal is possible, with the exception of no-deal Brexit, which enjoys little support in parliament and not much in the country. That Brexit is in such jeopardy as it is today is not down to some establishment plot or ministerial treachery or incompetence, but rather to the brutal economic realities behind diplomacy  that the EU is 10 times larger, roughly, than the UK, and has the bargaining power to match. A Brexiteering dream team of Winston Churchill, William Shakespeare, Henry V and Margaret Thatcher could not have extracted better terms, in any substance, than Theresa May and her travelling circus managed to.

So, to borrow a phrase, Brexit means... the Brexit withdrawal agreement, plus the woolly political declaration attached to it. It is not an attractive option, to virtually anyone, and nor are any of the others. No deal is not an option many would stomach. Canada Plus, Norway and all its variants cannot be agreed by the EU because of the UKs own red lines  the Irish border, migration, the European Court of Justice. A general election is not going to be voted for by Tory MPs, who have also gone off the idea of replacing Ms May. Nor are the Tory benches going to meekly allow Jeremy Corbyn to form a minority Labour administration without a general election. Besides, a general election could not solve Brexit, even assuming a change of government (far from certain).

Mr Corbyn, Keir Starmer and Barry Gardiner can go to Brussels, enjoy a lavish lunch from Mr Barnier and Jean-Claude Juncker, and be politely informed that Ms Mays deal is, in fact, as good as it gets. The election would solve nothing, not least because Labours policy is as threadbare as the governments.

And so it remains the case that the only way to resolve the issue is to hand the mewling infant Brexit back to its absentee parents  the British voters who begot it. It is gaining a powerful momentum. A Final Say will be had, and probably in the spring. Given the chaos in parliament, it is time for the people to take back control.A French government capitulating to widespread rioting on the streets of Paris and other major cities and towns is nothing new. The modern republic is built on revolution, and street violence has long been viewed as an acceptable reaction to unpopular policies. What makes president Emmanuel Macrons U-turn on green surcharges on the price of fuel so humiliating, however, is that it happened so quickly.

The gilets jaunes  the yellow vests, named after the high visibility jackets that all motorists have to carry in France and which they now all wear with pride  only began demonstrating on 17 November. Now they have already forced what was once considered a young, dynamic French administration to run up the white flag. Not only that, but they have also given succour to similar movements across Europe, especially those rallying around issues, rather than political parties. Brexiteers frustrated by Britains stagnating process aimed at leaving the EU will certainly be taking notice of what the gilets jaunes have achieved in such a short space of time.

The French protesters were furious at the escalating price of petrol and diesel and accused the government of adding to their misery by preparing to impose an ecological tax on fuel on 1 January. This was a sacred policy of Macons, as he bid to reduce the nations reliance on cars, bringing carbon emissions in line with the Paris Agreement on climate change. A climbdown proved inevitable, however, when thousands rioted, desecrating national monuments, including the Arc de Triomphe. There were more than 400 arrests in Paris alone last Saturday, as upmarket buildings and cars burned and shops were looted.

Public order offences were the main tactics used by the gilets jaunes. They also blockaded roads and fuel refineries, destroyed speed cameras and toll booths and generally created mayhem. This generated an enormous amount of publicity for the cause, naturally, both in France and abroad.

For three weeks weve seen a deep anger that comes from afar, said Edouard Philippe, Macrons crestfallen prime minister, as he claimed to understand the anger and announced a six-month suspension of the green tax on Tuesday. There will also be a half-year moratorium on other fuel taxes, and on hikes in the price of gas and electricity. We must succeed collectively, he added, acknowledging that even those involved in violent affray have as much right to have an effect on the workings of government as anyone else.

Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Show all 29 1 /29 Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Water cannons are turned on the protesters Reuters Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Riot police detain protesters EPA Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures A car is set alight in the protests AFP/Getty Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures The Arc de Triomphe is graffitied with the slogan: 'he yellow vests will triumph' Reuters Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Protesters barricade themselves on the Champs Elysees as police line the streets Reuters Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures A protester fires at police with a slingshot AFP/Getty Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures A protester holds up a sign that reads 'your Europe ruins us' Reuters Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures A protester gestures amidst burning cars EPA Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Protesters walk amidst tear gas near the Arc de Triomphe Reuters Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures A protester runs amidst tear gas Reuters Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Protesters on the Champs Elysees amidst tear gas AFP/Getty Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Protesters in yellow vests gather outside the town hall in Bordeaux EPA Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Protesters gather on the Champs Elysees after the police deploy tear gas AFP/Getty Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Protesters stand by the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Paris AFP/Getty Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures A protester waves a French flag Reuters Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Riot police take formation AFP/Getty Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures A general view of the Champs Elysees in Paris today as protesters clash with police Reuters Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures A protester wears a jacket reading 'Macron, thief, lier, crook, go away, the people banish you' AP Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Protesters gather on the Champs Elysees AFP/Getty Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Protesters hold a French flag by a burning barricade AFP/Getty Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Protesters gather by a fire AFP/Getty Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Water cannons are turned on the protesters Reuters Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures A protester wears an adapted yellow vest reading 'Macron's cemetery: here lies your buying power' AFP/Getty Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Protesters gather by a burning car AFP/Getty Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Riot police advance through tear gas followed closely by their water cannon EPA Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Tear gas is deployed to deter the protesters Reuters Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures A protester waves a French flag amidst tear gas AP Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures Protesters walk amidst tear gas by the Arc de Triomphe Reuters Clashes at the Paris fuel protests: in pictures A protester holds a sign asking for the reintroduction of ISF (an old French tax on wealth) AFP/Getty

Crucially, neither Philippe nor Macron have had any significant dealings with the gilets jaunes, and nor have any other politicians. On the contrary, those who have tried to piggyback on its success have been told where to go. These include Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally (previously the National Front) and Jean-Luc Melenchon, the hard-left firebrand and former minister who runs La France Insoumise (France Unbowed).

It is this sense of grassroots non-affiliation  and, indeed, independence  that has helped to make the gilets jaunes such a powerful threat. Almost anyone with a grievance against the government can rise up against what they perceive as a corrupt and unresponsive Paris establishment. The vests themselves are a brilliant marketing tool: the brand garments were seen in large numbers in Brussels last Friday as Belgiums gilets jaunes braved tear gas and baton charges to take on riot police. When I trailed their Paris counterparts over three Saturdays, I spoke to supporters from Italy, Spain and Britain itself, as well as plenty of others from further afield.

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What is particularly worrying for Macron is that the suspension in taxes announced by his government is considered to be just the beginning by many gilets jaunes. One coordinator described his concessions  which were granted following emergency meetings  as crumbs, and said that far more tax cuts for ordinary workers were needed from the so-called president of the rich.

This is why the movement has pledged to rally on the streets of Paris again this Saturday, as their demands become more ambitious. Their wish list contains everything from the resignation of Mr Macron, to the destruction of the Fifth Republic itself, so that it can be replaced with a more democratic Sixth Republic. It may all sound fanciful, but judging by the fear that the gilets jaunes have clearly instilled in the very heart of the French state, activists across Europe, if not the world, may well start to think that anything is possible.Theres some old adage about shooting messengers and why you shouldnt do it, but a lot of Americans tend to ignore it. Thats why being the White House press secretary is pretty much the worst job on the planet  God, do you remember watching Barack Obamas old spokesperson, poor Jay Carney, squirm on-air like a lost puppy? You just wanted to give the little guy a bear hug.

But its difficult to sympathise with the presidents loyal lapdog when that mutt lies through its teeth and screams hysterically at journalists for asking simple questions. The inconceivably incompetent Sean Spicer absolutely deserved the red target that got painted on his back  and against all odds, his successor's even worse.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders is a ham-fisted disappointment guided by dogmatism and a mulish orange demagogue she defends using bonafide lies and doctored video clips. Huckabee Sanders deserves every ounce of flack shes ever received  which is why incoming congressional freshman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez got big laughs this week after invoking Sarahs deceitful reputation as part of a funny pop shot meant for her daddy.

If youre keen on a bit of context, Ocasio-Cortez was hitting out at former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee because he said the ambitious millennial was a looney for comparing her election win with the moon landing and the civil rights movement (she did). But to be honest, the guy kind of had a point.

Now, lets not mince words, here: Mike Huckabee is an out-of-touch conservative fart, while Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a brilliant role model who's hungry to make America a better place for us all. I mean, shes a 29-year-old woman from the Bronx whos won educator of the year awards, campaigns for human rights and publishes kids books for a living. Shes obviously a good person, and a real step in the right direction for American politics.

But if you dont mind shoving on your cynical hat for a minute or two, is it not fair to say shes also counting her chickens before theyve hatched when it comes to all that inspirational waffle? After all, landing on the moon, the civil rights movement and a Democrat getting elected in the Bronx arent really the same thing. Itd be weird if she hadnt been elected, and it wouldve been pathetic if the Democrats hadnt taken the House this year.

Lets get real: that proverbial blue wave we were all hoping for in November never really materialised  and although many of us can now take solace in knowing the fragmented but well-meaning Democratic Party will soon take ownership over the lower house of Congress, Donald Trump and his cronies are still large-and-in-charge.

So to argue Democrats have done the impossible in 2018 is a bit like finishing the first Harry Potter book and then assuming Voldemort is dead and gone forever. We all know there are going to be six more books  how naive could you possibly be?

Electing a bunch of freshmen politicians with a pocket full of dreams wont instantly rid America of its own Voldemort problem, and so by pulling out all of this self-righteous rhetoric, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has got to be doing one of two things: shes either exposing her pie-in-the-sky views on politics and proving to America that her perceptions are not grounded in reality, or shes trying way too hard to be the next young and inspirational personification of political change.

If its the former, Ocasio-Cortez had better pace herself  because two years worth of partisan spite and left-wing power struggles on the Hill just might smack all that optimism right out of her head. But if its the latter, and New Yorks newest congresswoman is simply digging deep with meaningless, motivational crap to try and toss her name in the hat for 2020 or 2024, she needs to check herself before she wrecks herself.

Sure, it worked in 2008 for that junior Illinois senator none of us had ever heard of (and boy, do we miss him). But America is in a very different place right now than it was 10 years ago, and if Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wants to be taken seriously as a political leader of the future, she should think a lot harder before invoking the spirit of the civil rights movement or trying to win us all over by taking easy shots at a national embarrassment and her politically irrelevant dad.

All that said (and cynical hat placed firmly back on its hook), it was a pretty sick burn.The humanitarian crisis in Yemen plumbs new depths each week. The World Food Programme has reported the halving in the past fortnight of food supplies through the main port, Hodeidah, from already pitiful levels. That means desperation is the abiding impulse as the UN seeks to convene consultations  not yet fully fledged peace talks  in Stockholm this week.

Hodeida is not just the source of 80 per cent of food supplies for the country. It is also the front line of fighting. But the fighting has spread in the month since the US secretaries of defence and foreign affairs called for a ceasefire.

In addition to the death and destruction it brings, the violence makes humanitarian work a nightmare. Fighting in northern al-Dhalee governorate has now closed the main north/south road in a country which has already recorded the worlds largest cholera crisis and now has 14 million people at risk of famine.

This all raises the stakes in Stockholm. The recent news that Houthi injured fighters are to be flown out of Yemen for treatment represents a small measure of progress. But trust is low, the factions in the fight are splintered, and the war economy means that not everyone is losing from the fighting.

UN special envoy Martin Griffiths has understandably wanted to establish clear expectations for the talks. He has outlined two objectives: first, an agreement on the future management of Hodeidah city and port; and second, a de-escalation of the violence. One theory is that each side takes turns ceasing hostilities: Houthis stop missiles, the Saudi and UAE-led coalition stops airstrikes.

The danger is that such micro measures are overwhelmed by intransigence or worse on the part of the warring parties. That raises the importance of further pressure from outside.

In the US the murder of Jamal Khashoggi has turbo-charged the debate about Saudi intentions. Last week 63 senators voted to move forward with debating War Powers Act to forestall American support for the war strategy. They are demanding a different US-Saudi relationship, not the end of the relationship.

Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Show all 17 1 /17 Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Doctors take some blood of Yemeni Yousef Abdullah Bakhit Ali, 13, suffering from severe acute malnutrition. With ongoing and unending conflict in Yemen, humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate across the country Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen A doctor weighs Yemeni baby Yahya Hamoud Ali Al Huzef, 9 months suffering from malnutrition Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Ali Mohammed Ahmed Jamal,12 years old and suffering from severe acute malnutrition. He arrives with his family at a Unicef supported treatment centre in a hospital in Sanaa Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen A doctor measures the arm of Yemeni Ali Mohammed Ahmed Jamal, 12, who is suffering from malnutrition at a treatment centre in a hospital in Sanaa Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen There are over 400,000 severely malnourished children in need urgent lifesaving assistance in Yemen Unicef/Abdulhaleem Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Ali Mohammed Ahmed Jamal is weighed Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen A doctor measures the arm of baby Yahya Hamoud Ali Al Huzef Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Unicef are currently working to reach 275,000 malnourished children with critical life-saving supplies and care for over 5 million people with safe and clean water to stop the spread of life-threatening diseases Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Yahya Hamoud Ali Al Huzef with his family in his house in the outskirts of the capital Sanaa Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen The country is on the brink of famine and children's chances of survival are becoming slimmer by the day Unicef/Abdulhaleem Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Ali Mohammed Ahmed Jamal has his arm measured Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Unicef are currently working to provide nearly 1 million children with vaccines and healthcare Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Unicef are working with partners around-the clock to save children suffering from malnutrition and disease Unicef/Abdulhaleem Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Unicef are currently working to provide 9 million people with emergency cash assistance to help families buy basic commodities so they can survive Unicef/Huwais Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Ali Mohammed Ahmed Jamal is suffering from malnutrition Unicef Children suffering from acute malnutrition in Yemen Unicef/Abdulhaleem

There is also, rightly, growing support for a unilateral end to the Saudi/UAE-led coalitions military campaign. The rationale is simple: when in a hole, stop digging.

The coalition was formed after the Houthi came to power in 2014, and takes legitimacy from a 2015 UN resolution that offered a carte blanche for the war strategy but no roadmap for peace. Yet 30 former Obama administration officials have now come out against that strategy, and its ill-effects are clear for all to see.

It is clear from my visit to the country that the Houthis are dug in; that retaking Hodeidah city by force is a non-starter; that the 18,000 bombing raids by the Saudi/Emirate coalition are fuelling defiance not surrender; that the fragmentation of the southern coalition is real, with separatists (favouring division of the country) as well as Salafist forces evidence of that. Furthermore, the ostensible project of the Saudi/Emirati led coalition is to take on Iranian influence, a point reiterated by US secretary of state Mike Pompeo last week. But the fact is that the war strategy being pursued by the Saudis, the UAE and the US has left the Iranians stronger not weaker.

The UK has a particular responsibility as pen-holder at the UN. The decision by Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, to press forward with a ceasefire resolution, however limited, was a welcome show of determination two weeks ago. But it needs to be carried forward, and supported by national actions, including the ending of all support for the war strategy.

In this human-made crisis there is no firewall between a political process to end the fighting and the humanitarian catastrophe that International Rescue Committee staff in Yemen witness day in, day out. The Stockholm talks are a long way off a nationwide ceasefire, or even a localised one in and around Hodeidah. That means that unless there is outside pressure of a substantial kind, civilians will continue to endure terrible suffering. While Saudi and Emirati airstrikes are the primary cause of civilian deaths, many more have died from the impact of the war: disease, starvation and preventable deaths.

Three steps short of a ceasefire could save lives. First, improved humanitarian and commercial access into and around Yemen, including the full functioning of all ports and Sanaa airport. Second, repair of public service infrastructure such as water provision and hospitals, which has been damaged during the war. Third, regular payment of all Yemens public sector workers who form the backbone of public service provision. I met doctors and nurses who told me that they were expected to treat the ill while they could not support their own families because they were not being paid.

Yemen is a complex society, but the choices facing the warring parties and their allies now are simple. Continue the war, see more people die, and watch malign geopolitical consequences grow. Or stop the war and give humanity a chance to make a difference.

David Miliband is CEO of the International Rescue Committee and former foreign secretaryA Fianna Fail senator has opened up about his experience of a serious fall in a bathtub.

Senator Ned O'Sullivan is calling for the Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy to tackle the problem of old-fashioned bath-shower combos in hotels and B&Bs.

The senator spent a month in hospital following his fall three years ago, and said he is now speaking out in a bid to bring some safety criteria to bathroom fittings.

Speaking to RTE Radio One's Today with Sean O'Rourke, Senator O'Sullivan described his fall as "helpless".

He suffered a fractured sternum, 13 broken ribs, a punctured left lung and lost the use of the lower lobe of his left lung in the incident. He said he was unconscious for a short time following the fall, and spent a month recovering in hospital.

"I was at a hotel for the weekend with my wife," Senator O'Sullivan said.

"I went to take a shower, and climbed into the bath which had a shower attachment.

"The bath was very high and narrow. I slipped badly, it was a helpless fall, I sustained very serious injuries including a fractured sternum, my chest bone and I broke 13 ribs, many of them multi-fractured.

"I punctured my left lung and lost the use of my lower lobe of my left lung. I fell backwards, I had my back to the shower head attempting not to slip," he continued.

"I knew I was in trouble the minute I got in. There was no non-slip surface or mat.

"I grabbed the curtain and brought it down with me, it was a helpless fall."

Senator Ned O'Sullivan said he fell back on an old-fashioned mixer tap.

"If I hit my head I wouldn't be talking to you, I hit between my shoulder blades," he said.

"My wife was out of the hotel, I know I was unconscious for a little period. She came back from shopping and found me, I wasn't able to breathe. I was in a bad way. She alerted and called the services."

The senator was rushed to the nearest hospital, and was then transferred to Cork.

He started his treatment in intensive care and was on a respirator for a period as wel.

"There was a lot of work done to try and save the lung," he said.

"There was a lot of pain involved. I spent a month in hospital and two months in recuperation."

Senator O'Sullivan said he is now raising the issue as he didn't want to be seen speaking about it "as a live issue, as part of a compensation claim".

"I didn't pursue a claim," he said.

"I was conscious of that. So I chose not to speak about it. Now the time period is up and I am in the clear to speak."

When asked why he didn't wish to pursue with a claim, the Senator said he "didn't want to be seen setting an example".

"I'm in public life," he added.

"I was approached by lots of people about it. When I spoke in the Seanad last week, I received a high number of mails, phonecalls, texts, it was unbelievable."

He said a large number of elderly people shared their similar experiences with him.

"Old baths are narrow and deep and that's not what you want when you're having a shower," he said.

"I do think hoteliers in the future, if they're doing a new build or a major refurbishment, should have walk-in showers."Theresa May's government was found in contempt of parliament on Tuesday for refusing to release its full legal advice on Brexit, underlining the depth of opposition among lawmakers to her deal on leaving the European Union.

The row threatened to overshadow the start of five days of debate in parliament on May's Brexit deal ahead of a crucial vote on December 11, when legislators will be asked to approve it.

Theresa May's Government suffered three humiliating Commons defeats in little more than an hour as she battled to keep her Brexit plans on track.

Mrs May also insisted at the start of the debate that the Brexit backstop was not a trap for Britain, claiming it gives the UK "important benefits of access to the EU's market without many of the obligations".

Meanwhile, opposition parties and the DUP are furious that it only provided an outline of the legal basis for its Brexit deal after parliament voted to be given the full advice.

They put forward a motion, which was backed by 311-293 in a vote on Tuesday, that found ministers in contempt of parliament and ordered the immediate publication of the advice.

"Today's finding of contempt is a badge of shame for this government. It is of huge constitutional and political significance," Keir Starmer, the opposition Labour Party's Brexit spokesman, said after the vote.

"Never before has the House of Commons found ministers in contempt of parliament."

The sanctions ultimately available include suspending a lawmaker, most likely Attorney General Geoffrey Cox. It was not clear whether the opposition parties would now push for that.

Such punishment is usually reserved for backbench lawmakers guilty of individual wrongdoing. In reality, Tuesday's vote was about putting pressure on a weakened government.

Catherine Haddon, senior fellow at the Institute for Government, said the opposition wanted to use "every opportunity they have to show the instability of the government".

So many lawmakers - from May's own Conservatives as well as from the opposition parties - have spoken out against the deal that the odds look stacked against her winning the December 11 vote.

Haddon said the contempt motion was a "show of force" which could foreshadow both the final vote on the deal and the various amendments lawmakers are trying to attach to it.

Read More

Cox gave parliament an outline of his legal advice to the government on Monday.

Andrea Leadsom, Leader of the House of Commons, said on Tuesday that this had been a "full and frank exposition", and that releasing the full advice would set a dangerous precedent.

She said the government, which had sought to slow down the process by referring the issue to parliament's Committee of Privileges, had fulfilled the spirit of the order to publish.

Earlier, sterling had steadied after a senior European Union legal adviser said Britain could unilaterally withdraw its Brexit notice, easing some concern among investors about Britain crashing out of the bloc in March without a deal.

The advice from a European Court of Justice advocate general is non-binding but the prospect of a route out of the Brexit process cheered the market, even as Prime Minister Theresa May pressed ahead with plans for a parliamentary debate on her divorce deal with the EU.

"Advocate General (Manuel) Campos Sanchez-Bordona proposes that the Court of Justice should declare that Article 50 ... allows the unilateral revocation of the notification of the intention to withdraw from the EU," the ECJ, the bloc's highest court, said.

"That possibility continues to exist until such time as the withdrawal agreement is formally concluded," it said in a statement.

While the advocate general's opinions are not binding, the court tends to follow them in its final rulings. It was not know when it would announce its decision.

The pound had spiked to a day's high of $1.2840 versus a broadly weak dollar before relinquishing its gains to trade flat at $1.2734. Against the euro it rose 0.1pc at 1640 GMT to 89.17 pence.

The growing chance of averting Brexit altogether -- potentially via a second referendum -- has led some investors to start pricing out the prospect of a damaging "no deal" departure from the EU, analysts said, lifting sterling.

But May's spokesman told reporters: "It does nothing in any event to change the clear position of the government that Article 50 is not going to be revoked."

Britain is due to leave the bloc on March 29, 2019, and May has agreed on an exit pact and an outline of the future EU-British ties with the other 27 EU states. But the proposed accord must yet be backed in the British parliament, where it faces stiff opposition.

The case was brought before the ECJ by Scottish politicians opposed to Brexit. They hope that if the court rules in their favour, it would pave the way for a potential second referendum, giving voters the option to remain in the EU.

"The decision is one that the UK can make unilaterally - without needed the consent of the other (EU) member states. That puts the decision about our future back into the hands of our own elected representatives," said Jo Maugham, one of the lawyers involved in the case.

The crucial December 11 vote is likely to decide the shape of Brexit. If, against the odds, May wins, Britain will leave the EU on March 29 on the terms she negotiated with Brussels - its biggest shift in trade and foreign policy for more than 40 years.

If she loses, May could call for a second vote on the deal. But defeat would increase the chances of a "no-deal" exit, which could mean chaos for Britain's economy and businesses, and put May under fierce pressure to resign.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney denied accusations of scaremongering after the bank said last week that, under a worst-case Brexit, Britain could suffer greater damage to its economy than during the financial crisis of 2008.Farm incomes were severely hit by the weather in 2018, with incomes estimated by Teagasc to be down across most sectors.

In its Annual Review and Outlook, it predicts that farm incomes will recover next year, assuming there are not extreme weather conditions.

Teagasc economists estimate that average farm income in 2018 fell by 15pc relative to the record level in 2017, with dairy incomes were worst hit in 2018, its figures show, down 22pc on 2017, while tillage incomes were up, on average, by 6pc this year.

It said that the long winter led to increased early season production costs in 2018 due to delayed turn out of animals to grass.

In turn, the extensive drought during the summer led to a collapse in grass growth and meant that farmers had to use additional concentrate feeding driving increased spend on feed.

Overall, Teagasc is predicting an 8pc increase in the average farm income in 2019, with income set to recover on dairy and drystock farms.

Teagasc Economist Trevor Donnellan said 2019 will see a return to a more normal level of feed and fertiliser usage on farms.

The income estimates, the head of Teagasc Gerry Boyle said present a realistic view of enterprise choice for farmers and the incomes they deliver. He also said the biggest issue is sustainability of the agri sector in the future.

"For continued expansion of our dairy herd, we need to be planting more trees."

Dairying and sheep have "strong positives" according to Donnellan, who said that net margins in the sheep sector are "quite respectable".

Dairy

Irish milk production is up 3pc this year, as the dairy herd cow numbers increased by 3.5pc to 1.48m, but milk prices were down 7pc, the Teagasc figures show and dairy farm incomes were hit by a drop of 22pc, but are expected to rise by 10pc next year.

Previous predictions of a 60pc fall in dairy incomes this year did not materialise, but the feed volume increase was not on average as high as expected.

On the typical dairy farm feed expenditure is estimated to have increased by almost 50pc this year, while feed prices were up 6pc and fertiliser prices were up 7pc, while fuel prices were up 10pc.

Nevertheless, dairy incomes remain head and shoulders above other sectors, even at the reduced 67,000 income estimate for last year.

Milk prices in 2019 are forecast to decrease by 5pc, year on year, but with feed input costs expected to be back at normal levels, margins are predicted to increase.

Cattle

Gross margins on suckler farms are estimated to be down 19pc this year at 11,670, while gross margins on finisher enterprises are estimated to be down 11pc at 16,902.

The Teagasc figures show that calf prices were down 10pc, while weanling and store prices were down 3pc and 8pc respectively. A very difficult spring and summer on cattle farms saw grass availability a problem for many farmers, while feed, fertiliser and fuel prices were all up.

Teagasc has predicted that calf, R3 steer, stores and weanling prices will increase in 2019, with gross margins predicted to increase by 20pc on suckler farms and 19pc on finisher farms.

However, it warns that exchange rates and Brexit will likely play a major bearing on the cattle sector here and a further weakening of sterling could lead to an even more pessimistic outcome for Irish cattle prices, while the ongoing profitability challenge faced by beef farmers here may be exacerbated by the impact of Brexit it warns.

Sheep

Sheep incomes for 2018 are estimated at 17,756, down 1pc on 2017. Lamb prices were up 6pc this year, but an increase in input costs saw gross margins down 3pc.

Feed concentrates, which accounts for around 40pc of input costs on sheep farms, were up 34pc this year.

While Ireland exports 72pc of sheepmeat, the majority to France, 70pc of sheepmeat traded internationally is from Australia and New Zealand.

Gross margins are predicted by Teagasc to increase by 10pc next year, with net margins predicted to increase by 37pc.

Tillage

Tillage farmers had serious difficulty with spring sown crops in 2018, with yields well down on normal. However, yields of winter crops were not affected to the same extent. Cereal and straw prices at harvest in Ireland increased substantially on 2017 levels due to limited supplies.

Winter wheat and winter barley saw prices and straw prices boost incomes as there was a "scramble to fill grain stores" this year, according to Fiona Thorne. The average specialist tillage farm saw an increase of 165/ha in net margins.

Some 78pc of tillage farmers, she said, had a positive net margin. However, she predicted that net margins will decline in 2019 with prices to decrease by 20pc and one third of tillage farmers will not have a positive net margin situation in the coming year.

Forestry

Over 770,000ha of forestry exists in Ireland, or 11pc, according to the Teagasc figures and 50pc is owned by 22,000 private owners with 83pc of these farmers.

Irish forestry sequestered 3.8m tonnes of carbon last year. Teagasc also said there is cautious optimism in the sector around the future of forestry and that forestry should not be seen as a competition to other farming sectors.

Pigs

While they did not have to face the challenges presented by the poor weather in 2018, pig farms saw margins squeezed by a severe drop in pig prices at a time of rising feed costs and pig farmers saw the lowest margins in years - down 44pc on 2017.13 farmers feature on the list in respect of the period 1 July 2018 to 30 September 2018.

Farmers are one of the largest groups to feature on the on the latest Revenue Defaulters list which details tax defaulters for the cases of failure to file a tax return, failure to remit tax, or delivery of an incorrect return.

13 farmers feature on the list in respect of the period 1 July 2018 to 30 September 2018.

One section of the list outlines persons in whose case Revenue has accepted a settlement offer instead of initiating court proceedings, or a settlement has been paid in full.

This list reflects the amount of a settlement that remained unpaid at the end of the period (30 September 2018). Unpaid amounts are subject to Revenues normal debt collection and enforcement procedures.

This section includes 10 farmers and six hauliers.

The farmer with the largest settlement on the list was Jeremiah O Connor with an address at Kilavoy, Banteer, Co Cork. He paid a total of 359,488 for under declaration of VAT, which included tax, interest and penalties.

Farmer Michael Vereker of Gorteen, Slieverue, Co Kilkenny was hit with a settlement of 239,978 for under declaration of Income Tax.

Farmer and vet John Moore of Adrvarragh, Clyduff, Rhode Co Offaly faced a bill of 50,080 for under declaration of Income Tax.

Forestry services provider The Emerald Forestry Company of Newtown Road in Wexford, which is now in liquidation paid a settlement of 152,217.09 for under declaration of Corporation Tax, VAT and PAYE/PRSI/USC.

Agricultural contractor Cormick Bourke of Carrowmore Lacken, Ballina, Co Mayo was landed with a settlement of 51,351 for under declaration of Income Tax and Vat.

Court fines

Another section of the list documents persons in whose case the Court has determined a penalty relating to a settlement, or has imposed a fine, imprisonment or other penalty in respect of a tax or duty offence.

This section includes two farmers, one farmer and vet, one JCB haulier, one food wholesaler and one agricultural contractor.

Farmer Robert Bradshaw with an address at Rathduff, Cullen, Co Tipperary was fined 10,000 due to failure to lodge tax returns, while other farmers on the list were charged between 1, 250 and 3,750.Outside of Co Wicklow, there was no evidence of deer being a source of spread of infection. Picture: Damien Eagers.

Proposals that would publicly identify animals from herds categorised as high risk for TB infection would stigmatise farmers and devalue stock, Department of Agriculture officials have been warned.

Farmers have vented their anger to senior Department officials at information meetings on the latest proposals to accelerate TB eradication by 2030.

"Stigmatising farmers in marts, by publicising their name on the board (as a high risk herd for TB) is a very dangerous road to be going down and farmers will not accept it," one farmer warned officials at the information meeting in Nenagh, Co Tipperary. A 200-cow dairy farmer who is facing into his second calving season with a locked-down herd pleaded with the officials for a solution to what he described as a nightmare situation of coping with the additional stock.

Several farmers spoke emotionally about the "trauma" of herd breakdown for families, the financial hardships experienced, alleged long delays in receiving payments under the scheme.

The Department officials confirmed that 2,400 farms are currently affected and the decline in infection rate has ceased with latest returns showing a 15pc increase to 13,933 reactors for 2018.Officials rejected claims that reactors were not being paid for at market value.

They said that of the 16,000 animals per annum taken out under the scheme, the vast majority are accepted with 1pc going to arbitration which is available to all farmers.

Compensation

They stated that compensation payment per reactor had increased in 2018 by 18pc to an average of 701.55 and the overall compensation is up 35pc to 9.774m for the year, with hardship fund payments up 60pc to 2.92m.

IFA Animal Health chair Pat Farrell said that farmers are not happy with the pace of eradication which has been "way too slow" and added payments to farmers are small relative to the overall cost to the sector in levies and testing fees.

Department official Philip Breslin gave a comprehensive informative presentation in Nenagh on the complexities of the tests used for detection.

An estimated 6,000 badgers are now being culled each year and 1,000 vaccinated, with plans to increase vaccination, and while it is accepted that badgers can be carriers, "there is no evidence that there's a link to foxes and TB."

Mr Breslin said that outside of Co Wicklow, there was no evidence of deer being a source of spread of infection.China and the United States agreed on Saturday to a ceasefire in a months-long trade war that has roiled global markets and halted sales of U.S. soybeans to the worlds top buyer.

China will need to drop steep tariffs it imposed on a range of American farm products earlier this year before it can fulfill its pledge to buy substantial volumes of U.S. goods, said Chinese traders on Monday.

China and the United States agreed on Saturday to a ceasefire in a months-long trade war that has roiled global markets and halted sales of U.S. soybeans to the worlds top buyer.

The United States agreed to put on hold a scheduled increase in tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods due to come into effect on Jan. 1, following talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at a gathering of world leaders in Argentina.

The White House said Beijing had promised to buy an unspecified but very substantial amount of agricultural, energy, industrial and other products, with purchases of farm goods to start immediately.

But no substantial purchases can happen with a 25 percent duty still in place on U.S. soybeans, corn, sorghum and wheat, said buyers and analysts.

How can you buy U.S. products if China does not reduce the tariffs? We havent made any move yet, said a trader with a major Chinese trading house. He declined to be identified as he was not allowed to be quoted by media.

Chinas tariffs on U.S. soybeans mean they are $60 per tonne more expensive than those from top global supplier Brazil, which is due to begin harvesting a record crop in a few weeks time.

Muted reaction in both the Chicago and Dalian futures markets on Monday underlined the lack of incentives for new purchases. [GRA/]

Chicago Board of Trade soybeans settled up about 1 percent while Dalian soymeal futures closed down less than 1.4 percent.

The market isnt impressed, said Darin Friedrichs, Shanghai-based consultant at INTL FCStone.

Removing tarrifs?

Some industry participants expected China to drop the tariffs soon after the Trump-Xi meeting.

Tariffs on U.S. soybeans might drop as the two sides enter a honeymoon period. It is expected that they will start sending out goodwill signals, said Tian Hao, senior analyst with First Futures.

Chinas foreign ministry said on Monday that the two presidents had instructed their economic teams to work towards removing all tariffs.

China has to do this, basically to get room to breathe, said an executive at a state-owned trading house.

Until then, the only buyers likely to make purchases of pricey U.S. grain will be state-owned enterprises instructed by Beijing to buy soybeans for state reserves.

If they have to buy something, then they can ask (state stockpiler) Sinograin to buy, the tariff is OK for reserves, said another China-based trader with a global trading firm.

Time is running out for the United States to ship soy before Brazilian farmers start their harvest, U.S. analysts said.

It takes time to get up and running again, said Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the Iowa-based Soy Transportation Coalition.

Soybeans would need to be transported by rail from the interior Midwest to Pacific Northwest ports, where some export facilities may have already booked space for other grains, Steenhoek said. Shipment to China takes about three weeks.

The window of doing bean business to China is getting really skinny, almost to the point where it is closed, said Roy Huckabay, of Linn and Associates, a Chicago brokerage.The case has gained international traction as Ms Killer says the animals are a Bavarian tradition as well as her livlihood.

A couple living in a rural village in Bavaria in Germany have sued a local dairy farmer due to the sound coming from her herd's cowbells which they say is keeping them awake and as a result is causing them "depression".

The married couple, who are not named, first complained to farmer Regina Killer about the sound of the cowbells, the smell of the animals' manure and increased insects caused by their manure in 2014.

The case has gained international traction as Ms Killer says the animals are a Bavarian tradition as well as her livlihood.

Ms Killer won her legal case against the husband last year, but he is currently appealing the decision to a court in Munich. His wife has now launched a second lawsuit against Ms Killer.

They are also suing the local town council of Holzkirchen for leasing the land to Ms Killer.

The couple also claim that the act of making cows wear bells is cruel and not necessary as the countryside where the animals graze is flat and open and argued that the cows could wear GPS trackers in order to locate them.

Speaking on the case the mayor of Holzkirchen, Olaf von Lowis, said: "What is at stake is whether cowbells can be considered an appropriate part of agriculture in our region.

"The other question in this context is how far should the keeping of animals be seen as an objective disturbance but grazing is a common practice in our area and is an important pillar of agriculture," he said.The Department of the Environment and other authorities receive complaints specifically over the use of crow bangers especially by people living in rural areas - however there is no legislation specifically to deal with the bird scarers, as they are also referred to.

Local authorities too are getting complaints and, using EPA legislation on noise, they can take action against a person causing nuisance noise.

However the approach of county councils differs and at times it is up to individuals to bring the matter to the District Court themselves.

In Kerry, 13 complaints have been made to the council specifically over crow bangers, the council has revealed.

The use of the crow banger on the late Mr OMahonys 100-acre tillage farm surrounding Rattoo Round Tower was central to the murder trial held in the Central Criminal Court in Tralee in October.

Anthony OMahony was on his way to take the crow banger from a shed and turn it on when he was killed by Ferris at around 8am on the morning of April 4, 2017. The spring wheat coming up had been sown the day after St Patricks Day.

The banger was needed to ward off crows and pigeons and had been switched on the previous Thursday.

The blue and red crow banger itself made an appearance and in a moment of drama was brought to the witness stand at the request of defence counsel Brendan Grehan as its workings were explained to the jury by a garda expert witness.

Evidence had also been given how Kerry County Council was contacted on Monday, the day before Mr OMahony was killed before by Rattoo dairy farmer Pat Walsh. He told the trial he had to wear ear protection to cope with the late Mr OMahonys banger.

Mr Walsh described the noise as horrendous with the banger going off every four minutes and 26 seconds. He said he rang the environment section of Kerry County Council.

Their advice to him was to keep a logbook, which they would send out to him.

It would follow you everywhere, Mr Walsh said of the echoing sound.

The advice on crow bangers in the Department of Environment guidelines on noise is also to approach whoever is causing the noise. However the trial heard from several witnesses there was no point in approaching the late Mr OMahony.

Swiss man Michael Schumacher who owns a second home near the ancient round tower of Rattoo told how he and his wife considered moving to a hotel in August 2016 to get away from the repetitive loud noise which caused ringing in her ears.

Michael Ferris himself, a dairy farmer, said the noise would wake the dead and had been going on for 30 years.

Garda expert witness, PSV inspector Garda Jim OBrien who conducted tests, found the late Mr OMahonys crow banger to be louder than a shotgun at close range.

But there was the additional effect of percussion from the crow banger as it pushed air in front of it, said Garda OBrien. He wore ear muffs to test it.

Frequency and positioning were other issues, the garda expert explained.

Complaints

Kerry County Council has confirmed this Monday it had recorded 13 noise complaints in relation to crow bangers in the period 2013-2017. This was out of a total of 112 noise complaints ranging from loud music, burglar alarms, and construction-related noise .

This year there have been two complaints about noise from crow banger use.

It is worth noting that apart from the option of making a complaint to a local authority, the public have direct recourse to the District Court under the EPA Act to abate noise nuisance, the council spokesman said.

Case study

In 2017 a civil case came before the District Court in Kenmare about a crow-banger in a valley near Kilgarvan going off with such frequency and duration it was annoying neighbours.

The landowner in the Kilbanow area of Kilgarvan, Eamon Horgan of Suiomh Alainn, Kilgarvan,had been issued with a civil summons under a section of the Environmental Protection Agency Act of 1992.

Complainant Tracy Barrington of Brook Cottage, Kilbanow, Kilgarvan lived near the crow banger and a number of neighbours in the valley were involved in the complaint, Conor Murphy, solicitor for Ms Barrington outlined to Judge David Waters when the matter came up again on the civil list at Kenmare District Court on on the first Friday in February 2018.

Mr Murphy had characterised the device as "a propane gun" and said the valley "reverberates with noise" and he claimed it was having a devastating effect on people who live near it.

Mr Horgan who did not live in the valley needed to protect his silage from crows - and one of the points he would make was that this was an agricultural area, his solicitor Eoin Brosnan had said.

The complainants said the fact the banger was in a valley exacerbated the noise.

The matter later settled on terms and conditions, handed into Judge David Waters, The conditions ran to two pages.

Solicitor for the complainants, Mr Murphy has said while there is no specific legislation, he found how some local authorities, such as Limerick County Council have recommendations about the use and positioning of "bird scarers.

In turn these are adapted from the UK National Farmer's Union, where bird scarers have been a matter of some contention.

The use of Crow Bangers has also been raised in the Dail.

Then Minister for the Environment Denis Naughten in a written reply to the Independent TD Michael Healy-Rae in May 2017, said any issues with crow bangers came under general noise regulation rules governed by the EPA. There were no plans for specific legislation, the minister also said.

The minister referred to the the Departments Guide to Noise Regulations, a four-page leaflet outlining what is open to persons complaining about noise, including the powers of a local authority.

Current legislation in the area of noise does not specifically address the use of bird scarers (also referred to as crow bangers), and I have no plans to introduce such legislation, Mr Naughten said.

A Guide to the Noise Regulations, on the legal remedies open to a person experiencing nuisance noise.

A significant portion of farmland in County Limerick is used for growing crops and it is understandable that farmers take measures to deter bird infestation.

However, it should be borne in mind that the use of scarers has the potential to cause perceived noise nuisance for the occupants of nearby dwellings, it said inviting submissions and also providing a link to

A Code of Practice published by the UK National Farmer's Union (NFU).

Limerick City and County Council would recommend that farmers using these devices, adhere to this Code of Practice, the main points of which is to avoid Causing a Nuisance.A substantial part of UK butchers chain Crawshaw has been sold to Irish meat entrepreneur - and former Westmeath senior men's Gaelic football manager - Tom Cribbin for 1.4m (1.57m), securing 240 jobs.

Crawshaw fell into administration in October after it failed to secure emergency funding.

Yesterday, the group said that its remaining 19 stores - and a Rotherham production and distribution facility - have been sold to a company called Loughanure, which is controlled by Mr Cribbin.

Through Cribbin Family Butchers, Mr Cribbin previously operated a chain of butchers stores in the Republic of Ireland, and sold a company called Gabbotts Farm to Crawshaw in 2015.

The rescue comes after Crawshaw closed 35 stores and one distribution centre in November, resulting in the loss of 350 jobs.

The collapse of the company came after several years of financial losses.

According to its latest set of results for the six months to July 29, the group posted revenue of 21.6m and a pre-tax loss of 1.7m.

Food mogul Ranjit Boparan held a near 30pc stake in the business and his 2 Sisters Food Group also supplies Crawshaw.

The 'Chicken King' - so-called because of 2 Sisters' large-scale involvement in the poultry trade - was also an adviser to the board.

Following the sale, administrators EY are set to assess how the proceeds of the sale are to be divvied up between creditors.

Shares in AIM-listed Crawshaw remain suspended and its stock will be cancelled following the deal.

The administrators are continuing to look to complete the sale of some of the closed stores and related assets.

"The joint administrators consider that the offer from Loughanure represents the best outcome for the creditors, employees and shareholders of the group," they said.

"Following the sale, the joint administrators will be assessing the dividend prospects for the unsecured creditors of the group and further details will be issued to the creditors of each company and the shareholders of the group in due course."

Press Association with additional reporting by Gavin McLoughlinDigital boost: KBC CEO Wim Verbraeken announced a plan to allow customers to manage accounts at other banks through a KBC app

KBC has completed the sale of a portfolio of mostly non-performing buy-to-let and corporate loans that were held by its Irish unit, to Goldman Sachs.

The loans had a face value of 1.9bn. The sale, first announced in August, will have a positive impact on KBC's profit and loss account, as well as its CET1 capital ratio. It will also reduce its non-performing loan ratio, according to the bank, which confirmed the completion of the sale yesterday.

The final details of the impact will be revealed by KBC when it releases full-year results next February.

Apart from loans to Irish customers, the loan portfolio also consists of some UK buy-to-let mortgages.

KBC previously said that as a result of the transaction, non-performing loan (NPL) levels at KBC Bank Ireland would fall by about 40pc, resulting in the NPL ratio reducing by roughly 11 percentage points to about 25pc.

The loans have been sold to entities established and financed by Goldman Sachs, including Beltany Property Finance, Tramore Funding, and Banna Funding.

When it announced the planned sale last August, KBC said there had been a "growing interest" from the international financial markets for non-performing loan exposures.

"The sale of the sub-portfolios fully fits within the bank's strategy and ambition," said KBC group CEO Johan Thijs as the time.

KBC made a net profit after tax of 113m in Ireland in the first half of the year. That was almost 33pc lower than the figure reported in the first half of 2017.

Last month CEO Wim Verbraeken said the bank will launch a new service that will allow users to manage accounts at other banks via the KBC app. European legislation means other banks have to co-operate, under rules designed to open up the provision of payment services. The bank hopes the app will encourage people to open accounts with it, Mr Verbraeken said.CCI has to decide the relevant market for 4G and the dominant player in that market.

New Delhi: With the telecom sector bleeding under falling tariffs, eroding profitability, and mounting debt in the face of stiff competition triggered by below-the-cost tariffs and disruptive offerings of Reliance Jio, state operator MTNL has for the first time sought intervention of the Competition Commission of India and the TRAI to keep a check on predatory pricing and ensure a healthy contest among operators.

I would blame the intensity and the nature of competition for the state of the telecom sector. Healthy competition is a must to keep an industry viable. But in telecom, competition has reached a level where everyone has forgotten what the term healthy stands for. The competition is taking place at below cost price and sub-optimal rates are being realised at the industry level which means there is a scope for revisiting by everybody. But this has to be seen by the Competition Commission, MTNL chairman and MD Praveen Kumar Purwar told Financial Chronicle in an exclusive interview.

Purwar said in a way echoed what Finance minister Arun Jaitley had said at a recent CCI event where the TRAI chairman was also present, Excessive competition at times can result in the pricing of nature that the sector of the economy itself feels stressed because everybody then tends to follow the leader.

In just over two years since starting 4G services, Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Jio has toppled Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel in terms of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) from access services making big revenue market share (RMS) gains for the quarter ending September. According to the financial data collated by TRAI, Jios adjusted gross revenue (AGR) from access services (which excludes national long distance, or NLD, services revenue) in the September quarter stood at Rs 8,271.86 crore, compared with Vodafone Idea Ltd.s (VIL) Rs 7,528.35 crore and Airtels Rs 6,720.91 crore.

Though the loss making MTNL is not a player yet in the 4G space for want of spectrum, below-cost tariffs havent spared its finances. Below the cost pricing is not a bad practice in competition laws, rather it is predatory pricing which is considered bad. There are various parameters which have been fixed globally  you should be a dominant player (where dominance has to be established) and the dominant player should not do the pricing with an intent to eliminate all competition. It is the CCI which has to decide the relevant market for 4G and the dominant player in that market. There is a case for the CCI to look into the 4G market at least.

According to Purwar, A fair market regulators job is to see that the market functions efficiently and the sectoral regulators (TRAI) job is to see that the development of the market takes place in an orderly and healthy manner. There are inefficiencies in the system from the operators side and the regulator has to see whether there is efficient competition or inverted competition. In the case of efficient competition, the regulator can choose not intervene but if there is a predatory scenario, then the regulator has to judge, said the top official. Asked if the regulator failed to judge the inefficiencies in the telecom sector, Purwar said, "No".

Last week, telcos including state operators BSNL and MTNL and private players Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Jio had met Trai chairman RS Sharma to discuss the next years agenda. MTNL is said to have raised the same issue with TRAI in that meeting.

Asked if he sees an arrest in MTNLs losses at some point, Purwar said, Today no operator can give an answer on the return to profits. Given the intensity of competition and the strength to survive in the market for marketshare, everybody is competing on the pricing front. The industry has lost 35 per cent of revenue in the last two years.

Though he didnt name RJio as the reason behind state of the industry, the time period he referred to inflicting the biggest damage was indicative of the entry of the Ambani company. However, Purwar was quick to add, "I wont blame anybody."Bumper corporation tax receipts pushed the overall taxtake in November to 631m ahead of target.

Department of Finance show that taxation receipts for the month of November were 938m higher than in the same month last year, boosted by very strong corporation tax receipts. November is the month when must businesses pay their tax, making it a key point for budget arithmetic.

Minister Paschal Donohoe welcomed the numbers, and said the latest higher than expected corporation tax income will not be used to boost increased spending.

These additional receipts are not being used to finance additional expenditure. Instead, all of the excess will be set aside to reduce  and possibly eliminate  the headline deficit, putting Ireland in a stronger position and better able to meet the challenges that may lie ahead, Minister Donohoe said.

Up to now, a surge in tax receipts has largely been eaten up by overspending at the Department of Health. Expenditure in November was marginally ahead of profile, the Department of Finance said.

Some of the increase in corporate tax receipts this year is due to one-off factors, which was signaled at Budget time and will not be repeated. For next year, my Department has taken account of this and has projected a decline in corporation tax receipts for 2019; expenditure plans have been set on this basis. Having said that, I am conscious of the increasing concentration of overall taxation revenue on corporation tax receipts and I intend to bring to Government in the new year a set of proposals on how this can be addressed, Minister Donohoe said.

The increase in the amount of corporation tax paid in Ireland this year is partly down to a rise in company profits  and in particular the profits booked in Ireland by some large multinationals. It is also due in part to one-off changes in global tax practice that mean around 700m of extra tax will be paid here this year, but its not expected to recur.Huawei has launched an app that aims to improve story time for deaf children and their parents.

StorySign, features an avatar called Star, who helps translate the story into sign language in real time.

Users can hold their phone up to the words on the page and Star signs the story as the printed words are highlighted. This allows parents and children to learn to read together, at their own pace.

Recent research carried out by Huawei showed that parents of deaf children in Ireland spend more time reading to their children each day than parents of hearing children.

But, as sign has no written form as there is no direct English word-for-word translation, this can pose a huge challenge to deaf children learning to read.

Available for free in Ireland now, and featuring the Wheres Spot by Eric Hill, StorySign has been launched in partnership with the Irish Deaf Society.

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Huawei worked with local charities under the European Union of the Deaf, publishing partner Penguin and animation specialists Aardman to develop the app.

Andrew Garrihy, CMO at Huawei Western Europe, said that the tech company believes that the power of AI can make a positive difference in the world.

"We created StorySign to help make it possible for families with deaf children to enjoy an enriched story time," he said.

"We hope that by raising awareness of deaf literacy issues, people will be encouraged to donate to or support one of the fantastic charity partners we are working with across Europe."

Mark Wheatley, Executive Director, European Union of the Deaf said that it is hoped that the app will help more deaf children learn how to read at the same level as hearing children.

"We also hope the launch of StorySign will support a wider conversation about ensuring equality in every aspect of their lives for deaf people across Europe," he said.

StorySign can be downloaded for free from Google Play Store and the Huawei AppGallery in ten markets across Western Europe.

Jo Campion at the National Deaf Childrens Society welcomed Huaweis launch of the StorySign app as "fantastic news".

"It shows the incredible potential technology companies have to transform the lives of deaf children. Too many deaf children face needless barriers in life  and this is such a simple step to make sure every deaf child who uses sign language can enjoy the magic of a good bedtime story."Danske Bank is being investigated by the US Justice Department. Photo: PA

Danske Bank has built a capital buffer of as much as $2.7bn (2.38bn) to absorb potential fines as it deals with the fallout of its role in one of Europe's worst-ever money laundering scandals.

Acting CEO Jesper Nielsen says the amount "significantly" exceeds what Denmark's regulator has ordered Danske to hold in connection with the laundering case. He also said the bank is continuing to build that reserve.

Mr Nielsen said that's because the bank wants to "basically do what it takes to create the confidence needed to show we are strong and well-capitalised."

Danske is being investigated by the US Justice Department after acknowledging its Estonian operations were a central causeway in Europe for illicit funds from the former Soviet Union. The case spans at least nine years into 2015 with about $230bn in flows under scrutiny.

Denmark's regulator told Danske to hold about $1.5bn in capital to prepare for potential penalties, prompting the bank to shelve its share buyback programme.

Investor anxiety about how much Danske may be facing in fines has driven the bank's share price down by about 45pc this year, wiping roughly $16bn off its market value.

Mr Nielsen, who became acting CEO after Thomas Borgen was forced out in October because of his role in the laundering scandal, says Danske will keep setting aside profits to build capital.

But the lender intends to maintain its dividend policy, he said in Copenhagen.

Denmark has already brought preliminary charges against Danske, focusing on its failure to adequately screen suspicious clients. Mr Nielsen said the bank is "not in a position to contest a lot".

"What we're doing right now is co-operating with authorities," he said. Mr Nielsen has been named as a possible permanent replacement for Mr Borgen.

Yesterday, he signalled he might consider the job.

BloombergPresident Donald Trump and the White House have prior form on trade deals with China. And given Mr Trump's obsession with stock markets, you could be forgiven for assuming all he cared about was Monday's market rally.

Over dinner at the weekend, President Xi Jinping agreed a three-month truce with Mr Trump that averted the threat of an increase to 25pc from the 10pc duties imposed on $200bn of imports from China.

So far, so good. The last thing the world needs at the moment as global economic growth heads south is a trade war between the world's largest economies, and one that American consumers will end up paying for via higher prices.

We have been here before, however.

In May, Mr Trump was touting a deal in which he said China had agreed to import an additional $200bn of US goods.

"They are meeting many of our demands," White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said after the meeting between officials from the two countries.

The problem was that no one had told the Chinese and within weeks the 'deal' was dead.

By October, the same Larry Kudlow was telling reporters that China's leaders "have made a decision not to do anything".

A three-month moratorium is simply too short a period of time due to the complexity of the talks - especially as there have been no meaningful negotiations between the two sides since the May deal collapsed in acrimony.

"Officials now face the difficult task of fleshing out a deal that is acceptable to the Chinese but also involves significant enough concessions not to be torpedoed by the China hawks in the Trump administration," said Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist at Capital Economics.

He may be understating the difficulties given Mr Trump's hodgepodge of advisers who lack a consistent approach.

Even in 'normal' times, it takes 18 months for the US to negotiate a free-trade deal and three-and-a-half years for it to implement one.

Trade deals are horribly complex. A US trade deal with Israel in 1985 was 7,000 words long. Twenty years later, a deal with Singapore was a whopping 70,000 words.The real Kylie, that petite Aussie who still looks 20, celebrates her golden jubilee this year with the Golden Tour and it is the most extravagant production Ive seen. I must say its also the most unusual dance troupe. Very flash boys. The stage extends into the audience and there is a vivid panoramic set, with an Australian wilderness desert scene backdrop. The cowboys flip their hips in line dancing moves and the rhinestone girl appears in her pink chiffon shift, and white cowboy boots, warming up the audience with Better the Devil You Know.

As the Nashville incarnation of Kylie takes over, with glittery men grinding around her, she seems quite suited to country and western, a sort of early version Taylor Swift. She disappears and is on screen singing one of my favourite songs, Blue Velvet.

The background scenes are historic 50s and 60s, immersing the audience in way more than a gig. It is a life story of Kylie  she returns in her white costume, singing Confide in Me' and is presented with a rose by a member of the audience, and we get a moment of Where the Wild Roses Grow, her memorable duet with Nick Cave. Her first concert in Dublin was 1990, two years after her first release, and she looks very happy to be here again, raising the audience to full singalong mode with In Your Eyes.

Depicting her early years, shes back on stage in 1980s high-waist jeans, floppy gold top, with a classic Shelby 68 on screen, her dads car. The costume pivot is a time zone, next comes 'Wow' from 2007, getting the audience to their feet again.

I became a big Kylie fan in 2001 when my then nine-year-old bought 'Fever' for my birthday. We played it in the car for years. She had changed from cute to raunchy after her relationship with Michael Hutchence. And now shes pounding out my little boys favourite, Cant Get You Out of My Head, with her leggy legend dancers.

Costume change No. 4 and Kylie is in biker mode, slinky black leather, very Emma Peel in The Avengers. She oozes into Slow ("Slow down and dance with me") and rocks into 'Kids'  her duet with Robbie Williams. The biker routine is all about Lovers United, with the troupe on full erotic mode.

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She goes back to her earliest recordings from Stock Aitken Waterman years, Especially For You, and Wouldnt Change a Thing'.

The entire event is like five shows in one. In the Studio 54 performance, she emerges in a chic golden dress, dancers include a Warhol figure, as she sings On a Night Like This from 2000.

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The glittery mirror ball spirals and shoots silver beams across the space, sparkly rainbow confetti flutters and golden ribbons fall over the audience, as if Kylie is embracing all in her own party. Then toot toot beep beep is in the background, Bad Girls turns into full-on Locomotion, the Little Eva song that Kylie released in 1988, and by now the packed auditorium is swinging on its feet. Her early songs have become rhythmically different, and in homage to Donna Summer, she mingles Love At First Sight with I Feel Love.

Her concert dates in Dublin were set for October but she became ill and had to cancel. When she mentions her sorrow at having to do that, she says, 'but it is December now', and sings her first Christmas song Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow. (Not yet please!)

Video of the Day

The Kylie kit is always effusive, those gold hot pants went viral before we even had an internet. She might seem a resilient woman of diverse motivation, ranging from country & western, biker rock, elegant sequin, chic Studio 54 and reverting to pop princess in her baby doll suit; but this woman has come through serious hard knocks from cancer to cheating cads. Her lyrics are often sad, she trills 'If I get hurt again, Ill need a lifetime to repair'.

As the life story moves on, her encore, 'Dancing', says it all When I go out, I wanna go out dancing, and she remains on stage alone, engaging with a thrilled audience.

Sitting high up in the auditorium, seeing the highly charged audience bopping beneath the stage, we have come a long way from comely maidens dancing at the crossroads, when our Taoiseach is down there with his friends.A former charity director due to be sentenced for stealing more than 1m from a voluntary organisation as well as friends and family has been rushed to hospital.

Greg Walsh (70), of Woodbrook Crescent, Castleknock, Dublin, signed guilty pleas to 119 thefts totalling 998,476 from various parties, including Carline Learning Centre in Dublin, between 2008 and 2016. He affirmed further signed guilty pleas to four thefts totalling 150,000 from Bank of Ireland on dates in February and March 2015.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard Walsh was rushed to hospital by ambulance on Sunday and was being examined by a cardiac team. Walsh was admitted to hospital around this time last year and remained there for 10 weeks.

Judge Pauline Codd requested a medical report and adjourned the matter, with a view that Walsh might be sentenced next week.

The Carline Learning Centre thefts of more than 280,000 came to light when a staff member noticed discrepancies on the accounts when signing off on them before retirement.

Detective Garda Padraig Jennings revealed Walsh had been director and treasurer of Carline Learning Centre, a Clondalkin charity for disadvantaged young people. The court heard he misappropriated funds to pay the charity's tax bills by lodging the cheques into his own account before making direct debit payments on Revenue's online system. The father of four has no previous convictions.

Det Gda Jennings told Diana Stuart BL, prosecuting, that Carline Learning Centre still had an outstanding bill to Revenue as a result. The detective said it had only managed to stay afloat through public support. He told the court gardai thought they would be investigating the Carline matter only, when Walsh revealed details of the other injured parties.

These included friends who gave Walsh money to invest on their behalf while he acted as their bookkeeper. In each case, Walsh repaid the parties what they thought were dividends on their investments.

Det Gda Jennings said in other cases Walsh acted as a tax agent to friends and his nephew, who would give him money for Revenue.

The detective revealed that in many cases the funds received from individuals were not forwarded to Revenue, but used to pay the tax bills of other injured parties.Ann OCarroll speaking outside the court after the sentence was handed down. Photo: Collins

The family of a farmer killed when his neighbour repeatedly drove a teleporter into him has said the trial was an example of "victim blaming".

Relatives of John Anthony O'Mahony (73) broke down in tears as his killer, fellow farmer and neighbour Michael Ferris (63), was yesterday jailed for five years for the pensioner's manslaughter.

Speaking outside court the victim's niece, Ann O'Carroll, said the pain of losing her uncle was made worse by the "blackening of Anthony's good name and character during the trial when he was not there to defend himself".

The court was told that Ferris "snapped" following a 30-year row with his neighbour over the use of a crow banger.

Ms O'Carroll said yesterday: "The defence legal team's use of alleged provocation in this case allowed the jury to return a conviction for the lesser charge of manslaughter.

"To our family it felt like they were using this for a justification for the killing of Anthony and as a result we believe it denigrates the value of Anthony's life.

"Victim blaming occurs daily in other court cases in Ireland and this is clearly another example of it in our criminal justice system. We would like to thank the guards, our neighbours, family and friends for their support during this difficult time. We are devastated at the loss of Anthony and we will never recover from this," she said.

She said justice was not served given the "deliberate and premeditated" nature of the killing, as outlined during the trial, and the just conviction was one of murder.

Ms O'Carroll said the family's pain has been "exacerbated by the lenient sentence".

Speaking from Co Kerry, Mr O'Mahony's sister-in-law Margaret said she knew him as an "honourable man" and said the family "can't understand" how Ferris was given a five-year sentence.

"I cannot believe it. It makes us feel that life is not worth anything any more in this country, that a person can do that to another person and get such a lenient sentence, I can't understand it," Margaret told RTE Radio One.

"He was 73, his health wasn't great. He was a very straight, honourable man. He would never ever harm anybody, and it was almost implied that he might harm children twice.

"He was the most honourable person, straightforward, and he knew what was right and what was wrong. He did what was right all the time."

When asked about the use of the crow banger, Margaret said her brother-in-law was "entitled" to use it during the day. "The use of the crow banger was well within the law, he only used it in daytime hours which he was fully entitled to do," she said.

Mr O'Mahony's brother, Seamus, previously said his brother's reputation was "shredded" during the trial.

"Every story has two sides and there was only one side of the story told during this trial," he said in his victim impact statement.

Ferris, of Rattoo, Ballyduff, Co Kerry, had denied the murder of tillage farmer Mr O'Mahony (73) at Rattoo on April 4, 2017.

During the trial, the prosecution alleged that Ferris "intentionally rammed" Mr O'Mahony's car with the prongs of a teleporter causing severe damage to the car and "catastrophic injuries" to Mr O'Mahony resulting in his death.

The prosecution had argued the killing had been deliberate. However, the defence said there had been accumulated provocation because of the behaviour of the deceased.

The court heard that Ferris told gardai he drove the forks of his teleporter through the car because there was no other way to stop Mr O'Mahony using the loud crow banger.

He told gardai after his arrest that the banger, a device used to scare away birds, would wake the dead and had been an issue for 30 years.

Strategy

Meanwhile, his solicitor Frank Buttimer has described the trial as "one of the most unusual and possibly unique" murder cases he has ever been involved in.

Asked for his reaction to the sentence yesterday, Mr Buttimer said: "My first thought would be with the family of the deceased, Mr O'Mahony, who have suffered a great deal".

The entire history between his client and the deceased was simply tragic, he said.

Having said that, and having dealt with Ferris throughout the trial, he said he knew he was remorseful for his actions.

"In my dealings with him, I have found him to be a very decent man," Mr Buttimer said of Ferris.

He will complete his sentence and hopefully will return to his community, he added.

Asked about criticism by Mr O'Mahony's relatives about the shredding of his character, Mr Buttimer said the intention was never to blacken the late Mr O'Mahony. The only strategy available to the defence was of provocation.

The case was of the kind where there were essential issues to be dealt with that went to the heart of the matter and if the defence had not raised those issues, they would not have acted well for their client. "It wasn't to blacken Mr O'Mahony in any circumstances," Mr Buttimer said.A man caught with two stolen rings stored inside of a sock has been sentenced to two years imprisonment.

William Connors (29) of Drumcairn Park, Tallaght, Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of two stolen rings at Dom Marmion car park, Dundrum, Dublin, on June 5, 2018.

Judge Cormac Quinn sentenced Connors to two years imprisonment and backdated the sentence to the day he first went into custody on this matter, June 5, 2018.

Garda Patrick O'Connor told Joe Barnes BL, prosecuting, that on the day in question he was told about a car that had been involved in a number of incidents.

When Gda O'Connor stopped the car, Connors got out and attempted to run away. He removed a sock from his pocket and threw it away before being caught by the garda in a car park.

The sock contained two pieces of jewellery, a 13 carat gold ring worth 2000 and a second ring worth 200. Both had been stolen from a house earlier that day.

In a victim impact statement read out in court, the woman who owned the rings said she was deeply shaken and distressed upon returning home to find her bedroom completely upended.

Connors has 62 previous convictions. These include convictions for burglary, possession of stolen property, criminal damage and road traffic offences.

Eoin Lawlor BL, defending, said his client received a phone call during which he was offered the opportunity to buy the rings. Connors was aware that the rings had to have been stolen due to the low price he paid.

Mr Lawlor said his client had lost a large number of family members to suicide. Connors is married and has two children.

Judge Quinn said the mitigating factors in the case where the early guilty plea, his personal circumstances, his tragic family background and his age. He said the aggravating factor was the effect the offence had on the victim.The then CJI was working under some influence of some external source. He was remote-controlled by an external source.

New Delhi: Days after he retired from the Supreme Court, Justice Kurian Joseph made a sensational claim on Monday that the previous Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra, was working under the influence of an external source, and added this had impacted the administration of justice. Justice Joseph, along with three of the most senior judges of the Supreme Court  Justices J. Chelameswar, who has since retired, Ranjan Gogoi, who is now the Chief Justice, and Madan B. Lokur  had staged an open revolt against Justice Misra by convening the press conference on January 12 to flag their concerns about the preferential allocation of sensitive cases to judges low in the Supreme Courts hierarchy.

The then CJI was working under some influence of some external source. He was remote-controlled by an external source. There was some influence of some external source that was impacting the administration of justice, Justice Joseph, who retired on November 29, said at a press conference on Monday.

Asked about the basis on which he was making his claim, Justice Joseph said this was the perception among judges who went public over issues dogging the court, as well as among other judges of the court. He refused to elaborate on who the external source was and the cases where there was a bias and justice had been affected.

Pressed again on whether the alleged influence was exerted by some political party or the government in any particular case, Justice Joseph said the judges were only of the view that there was some bias by the judge concerned. He said there was no need to make a reference to any particular case. I am sorry. I dont want to take it any forward, he said.

The retired judge said, however, that the January press conference had an impact and things started changing for the better during the remaining part of Justice Misras tenure as CJI and was now continuing under Justice Gogois stewardship.Residents of an apartment complex claimed a murder accused was "howling like a dog" as well as laughing as the body of a strangled father of one was thrown into a river.

The claim came at the opening of a Central Criminal Court trial in Cork, where Romanian national Ciprian Grozavu (44) denies the murder of Jonathan 'Dukie' Duke (27).

Mr Grozavu denies the murder of Mr Duke at Bridge House, Sean Hales Place, Bandon, Co Cork, on November 13 2011. The Romanian, whose nickname is 'Chippy', had been living at Bridge House in the west Cork town, which overlooks the River Bandon, in November 2011.

Tim O'Leary SC, for the State, outlined the prosecution case to Ms Justice Tara Burns and the jury of eight men and three women. He warned the jury aspects of the case would be "gruesome".

Mr O'Leary said two men living in Apartment No 2 at Bridge House, Aaron Nolan and Shane O'Driscoll, heard loud noises coming from Apartment No 3 which was occupied by Mr Grozavu.

"They heard a commotion -loud noises coming from No 3. It got to the stage where they (the residents of No 2) came out to see what was happening on the landing."

Mr O'Leary said it is the State's case that the body of Mr Duke had been dragged down the stairs, out the front door and then thrown into the river.

Evidence from Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster will indicate Mr Duke died from strangulation - and he was effectively dead when his body entered the water.

Gardai found the body of Mr Duke underneath Bandon Bridge, a short distance downstream from Bridge House in the River Bandon.

"They (the residents of No 2) were effectively listening to what went on. They heard what was happening... a bumping sound.

"They heard something that could have been something being brought downstairs. (You may) infer it was the body being dragged down stairs to the front of the house," Mr O'Leary said.

It is the State case that the defendant was at the front of the house accompanied by his on-off girlfriend, Catherine O'Connor. Mr O'Leary told the jury O'Connor has been convicted of Mr Duke's murder.

Mr Nolan told the trial he knew something was wrong.

"We were looking out the window - Chippy and Catherine. He had the top part and she had the legs. They literally threw him over the railings. When they came back in (to the apartment complex) they were shouting and cheering like an animal."

Mr O'Driscoll said he was sure about what he saw.

"I saw both Catherine and Chippy lift that body over the railing - 100pc it was Jonathan Duke. I knew the runners on his feet. What he was wearing. They lifted the body and threw it in over that (railing). I (then) heard screaming and roaring... howling like a dog. That is exactly what he was doing."

Gardai arrived and found blood marks in the stairwell.

The trial continues.A woman who fell down the exit stairs of a Ryanair plane at Dublin Airport three years ago has lost a 60,000 damages claim for personal injuries against the airline and has been ordered to pay Ryanairs legal costs.

Judge Jacqueline Linnane said Sabrina Melloni had been carrying two pieces of hand luggage and her handbag as she disembarked from a Boeing 737 and had not availed of the handrails on either side of the steps.

Barrister Andrew Walker, counsel for Ryanair, had told the Circuit Civil Court that Ms Melloni, a 51-year-old multilingual customer care co-ordinator, of Beechfield House, Oulton Road, Clontarf, Dublin 3, had been exiting a London to Dublin flight at 11:30 on the morning of New Years Eve when she slipped and fell.

Mr Walker, who appeared with Peter Lennon of Ronan Daly Jermyn solicitors, said she had brought the claim under Article 17 of the Montreal Convention on the basis that the stairs which had been lowered from the body of the aircraft had been wet and slippery and had caused her fall.

Judge Linnane, handing down a reserved judgment, said a full defence had been delivered by Ryanair and Mr Walker had specifically pleaded that the claim or incident did not come within the provisions of Article 17 of the convention and Ms Melloni was therefore precluded from maintaining any cause of action against Ryanair.

The judge said it had not been disputed that Ms Melloni had fallen and been injured when using the stairs but Ryanair had denied they had been wet. Ms Melloni had fallen on her face and had suffered a bump to her forehead and soft tissue injuries that had cleared up after some months.

Mr Walker had told the court that Article 17 of the Convention provided: The carrier is liable for damage sustained in case of death or bodily injury of a passenger upon condition only that the accident which caused the death or injury took place on board the aircraft or in the course of any of the operations of embarking or disembarking.

Judge Linnane said the Montreal Convention had been transposed into Irish Law through the Air Navigation and Transport (International Convention) Act of 2004 and provided an exclusive cause of action and sole remedy against the carrier and restricted a claimant to proceedings against the carrier.

She said Ms Melloni had been with her nine-year-old daughter at the time and they were disembarking from the front of the aircraft after up to 70 other passengers had disembarked ahead of them without incident while using the same stairs.

Judge Linnane said Ms Melloni was in front of her daughter and had been carrying both her own piece of hand luggage and that of her daughter, along with her handbag, and had not been using the handrails when she had fallen down a number of steps, landing on the tarmac.

The judge said Mr Walker had claimed that what had taken place was not an accident within the meaning of Article 17 of the Convention and had quoted American and UK legal authorities, in the absence of Irish authorities, to support his contention.

The U.S. Supreme Court had concluded that liability under Article 17 arose only if a passengers injury was caused by an unexpected or unusual event or happening that was external to the passenger, a definition that should be flexibly applied after assessment of all the circumstances surrounding a passengers injuries.

The U.S. Court held that when an injury indisputably resulted from the passengers own internal reaction to the usual, normal, and expected operation of the aircraft, it has not been caused by an accident and Article 17 could not apply.

Existing law had noted the importance of a uniform interpretation of the Convention being applied to all signatory states as adopted by Mr Justice Fennelly in the Irish Supreme Court 17 years ago when he outlined the desirability of the Convention being interpreted with reasonable consistency. Inconsistent decisions could, he decided, lead to forum shopping.

Judge Linnane said Ms Mellonis evidence was that it was raining and she had not been afforded assistance as she disembarked but had not asked either of the two cabin crew for help. On behalf of Ryanair a senior supervisor had stated it was not raining and the steps were dry.

The judge said weather records for December 31st 2015 showed there had been no rain recorded in Dublin until 4 p.m. that afternoon, more than four hours after Ms Melloni had fallen. She found her fall was not an accident within the meaning of Article 17 of the Convention.

The court concluded that Article 17 contemplated, by the term accident, a distinct event, not being any part of the usual, normal and expected operation of the aircraft.It was described by Pierce Brosnan as a place that was part of his "five-year-old's memory" - and now noted archaeologists have rowed in behind opposition to plans for a cycle route through a protected national monument.

Opposition is building against plans to fell 22 trees and demolish and relocate 300 metres of old stone walls near the 15th-century Athlumney Castle. The area also contains a 12th-century Norman motte, a 13th-century church ruins and a site where a Viking fleet is reputed to have landed.

'James Bond' star Brosnan posted a photo of the Athlumney Castle area in Navan, Co Meath, during a recent visit to his native town with his wife Keely Shaye Smith.

Now the former Keeper of Irish Antiquities Dr Eamonn P Kelly and Maynooth University's Dr Michael Potterton have joined the Save Navan Heritage Group with concerns over the plans.

Locals say they understand the need for better transport options and are very much in favour of cycle lanes but not at the expense of built heritage and well-established trees and eco-systems.

Navan's municipal councillors are due to vote on the plans in the coming weeks.

Dr Kelly, who undertook extensive excavations in Navan for more than 30 years from the 1970s, has called for a more comprehensive archaeological assessment for the area.

"I am very concerned that the proposed development may impact negatively on a location that is known to contain archaeological remains of national and international importance," he said. "There is clearly an important complex of archaeological sites and monuments at Athlumney, some of which are poorly understood and the overall scope and scale of which remains unknown."

Dr Potterton said: "These surviving structures are very significant - not just in isolation from each other, but as part of an archaeological complex, the integrity of which it is incumbent upon us, as custodians of this cultural heritage, to protect, preserve and promote.

"Any development that compromises these structures and their environment must be avoided."

After Brosnan visited his home place near the site, he said on Instagram: "On summers' evenings, my grandfather Philip Smith would walk up the lane hand in hand as the last slow rays of sunshine fell through the canopy of trees.

"This road that Keely and I stand on is a part of my five-year-old's memory. (My grandfather) was the only father figure I knew. He believed in me."

Navan-native and UCD archaeologist Clare Ryan, who is currently supervising the recent excavation findings at Dowth Hall in Meath, has expressed her "serious concerns" over the plans.

"Athlumney Castle is a national monument and has the same protective legislation as Newgrange and the Hill of Tara - no works can take place within this area without ministerial consent from the National Monument Service.

"I'm very much in favour of cycle lanes but not at the expense of built heritage and well-established trees and eco-systems.

"Felling 22 mature trees is surely environmental vandalism," she added.

Some locals said they were completely unaware of the scale of destruction proposed to accommodate this cycle lane.State-funded schools are closing the gap on fee-paying schools when it comes to sending students to third-level education.

Feeder Schools: Click here for the full breakdown of where Leaving Cert pupils have gone to college over the past 10 years

College entry rates are at a historic high with two in three post-primary schools now sending at least 70pc of their pupils to third-level.

More than 50 State-funded schools are showing the same 100pc college transfer rate, closely followed by large numbers of others at 90pc and above.

Higher education has become the norm for school-leavers across the board, with a considerable narrowing of the progression gap between fee-charging schools and others.

The annual Feeder School tables, published with the Irish Independent today, trace the transfer of pupils from about 700 schools to more than 30 universities, institutes of technology and other colleges.

College progression rates in the fee-paying sector have been at a peak for a number of years, with about half of the 51 schools showing 100pc of pupils going to higher education, and the remainder, overwhelmingly, as close as makes no difference.

Pupils in fee-charging schools are seen to enjoy advantages, such as a lower pupil-teacher ratio and better facilities, giving them the edge when it comes to garnering the high CAO points that pave the way to college courses of their first choice. But the story of 2018 is the rapid catch-up by about 680 other schools in the Free Education sector.

In well over 200 schools, over 80pc of Leaving Certificate candidates are now going on to college, while more than 400 schools have a 70pc transfer rate.

Within the State-funded sector, all-Irish schools have a strong tradition of college progression, which is also evident this year.

Schools in disadvantaged communities are also among those sending many more students to college than a few years ago, although those in the most marginalised areas lag furthest behind. Breaking the cycle of disadvantage and entering higher education can be a significant challenge for children in these communities, particularly in families where there may be no history of going to college.

However, individual schools in the Department of Education's DEIS support scheme for disadvantaged communities are pushing college progression rates to new highs every year. In Dublin's north inner city, 59pc of pupils in Larkin Community College are recorded as going to college in the 2018 tables.

Geography, coupled with the preference by Ireland to stick close to home when it comes to attending college, also plays a big role in "who goes where".

As in previous years, the tables show how students in south Dublin, which also has a heavy concentration of fee-paying schools, have a particularly strong presence in UCD, while on the northside, DCU is extremely popular.

Transport routes to the city centre, from all parts of the capital and beyond, gives Trinity a more even spread.

A similar pattern is seen in other cites, with, for instance, UCC holding sway with students in the immediate region.

In the same way, the biggest transfers to institutes of technology (ITs) are from schools in the local area, which goes as much for IADT Dun Laoghaire in south Dublin as for those in the regions, such as Galway Mayo IT and Letterkenny IT.

The tables can also give an insight into the particular strengths in some schools with, for instance, Loreto, Balbriggan, Co Dublin, continuing to send a large number of its pupils to the National College of Art and Design.

With all the universities in and around the cities, it means students in those institutions are doing "honours" degree programmes, including studying for elite professions such as medicine, which are their exclusive preserve, while institutes of technology offer degree programmes at both "honours" and "ordinary" level.

The annual tables come in for much criticism from schools, teachers and others for focussing on one measures of a school and its students.

Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) president Seamus Lahart said the 'Feeder School' lists promoted "a distorted and damaging view that educational success is dependent on students securing places on third-level courses that require high points".

Mr Lahart said they also suggested that immediate progress to third-level was the only choice worth valuing.

"Thankfully, a school's work has always been more generous and expansive than the tunnel-vision suggested by such a limited mechanism.

"These rankings ignore the colossal efforts of those students who have had the odds stacked against them because of, for example, various special educational needs, severe health issues, extremely challenging family situations or their first language not being English," he said.

Mr Lahart said school principals were always willing to engage with the parents of prospective students to provide balanced information on the school across a range of contexts.Anger: Robert Dunlop found out about the closure at his wedding

Shocked teachers are occupying a 2,000-a-year English language school after being told they have lost their jobs just weeks before Christmas.

Around 20 teachers took occupancy of the Grafton College building in Portobello last night and have demanded contact from the school's owner. They also want to meet Education Minister Joe McHugh.

Wages were not lodged in their bank accounts last Friday. Yesterday they got a letter from the managing director informing them the college has ceased to trade with immediate effect and they will lose a month's pay.

The workers have been unable to contact the college's London-based owner.

But up to 500 students will be able to transfer to other schools to finish studies under 'learner protection' measures.

One of the teachers, Robert Dunlop, was in the middle of getting married on Saturday when he found out. His wife Gisela is pregnant and due at the end of the month.

"I was getting married when I found out and hundreds of messages were coming in when I was literally waiting for the wedding march to start," he said. "I blocked it out until this morning and then reality bites. I still can't come to terms with it."

"With the baby on the way at the end of the month it just doesn't seem real," he added.

His colleague William O'Brien (31) had been working there for more than a year and a half. "Until this happened everything was fine. It was a very good school with lots of excellent teachers," he said.

"We never expected to be in this position at all," he added.

Mr O'Brien said all of the teachers will now be looking for work.

He said they were unsure how long they will be in the building. "We're here for as long as it takes," he said.

Trade union Unite has urged Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty to fast-track payments from the Insolvency Payments Scheme to help staff.

Meanwhile, a GoFundMe page was set up by students from the school.

A college spokesperson was unavailable for comment.A change in the way Trinity College Dublin selects high-achieving Leaving Cert candidates for special recognition has spread the joy to a greater diversity of schools and students.

The break with tradition in Ireland's oldest university meant students from 379 schools, including some in the DEIS scheme for disadvantaged communities, received an Entrance Exhibition Award this year, up from 245 in 2017.

The awards celebrate Trinity entrants who achieved the highest points, subject to a minimum 500 and including bonus points for maths, in their school.

Most schools had one awardee, but in the event of a tie between students from the same school, all received an award.

Previously, the awards were made to students receiving 560 or more points (excluding bonus points).

Under the old system, a small number of schools were predominant and there could be up to 20 students from one school, while other high achievers narrowly missed out. This year every county was represented.

Trinity provost Dr Patrick Prendergast said the university was committed to encouraging a more diverse student community. He said he believed that tweaking the criteria was a small change that would have a big social impact.

Students coming from other education systems, such as Northern Ireland or EU countries, must achieve the equivalent of 500 points as a minimum in their final exams.

There was an even gender balance between the recipients, with 51pc of the 438 awardees being female and 49pc male.Loneliness has become a thing of the past for the newest elderly tenants at a Dublin housing complex who say this Christmas will be special.

St Benedict's social housing complex in Malahide, Co Dublin, which is run by the Society of St Vincent de Paul, is home to 48 residents aged between 60 and 90 who come from a variety of backgrounds.

Following the completion of the second phase of the complex earlier this year, eight new units have opened, welcoming new tenants to the community they now describe as "life-changing".

Michael Hughes (85) was living in homeless accommodation until six months ago. The change in his life has been huge and tasks as simple as writing a letter are much less daunting now thanks to the help from the support officers nearby.

"There were about 40 rooms and people were mostly homeless in the place I was living. I was there for two years," Michael said.

"Now I'm living here six months. I go out most days and the neighbours are very good.

"You need to get out and meet people to have a cup of tea or a cup of coffee, and you get help writing and filling out any forms from them here," he added.

As Christmas approaches, many elderly people face loneliness and isolation, but at St Benedict's the noticeably warm environment has left residents looking forward to the festive season.

Meanwhile, coffee mornings, exercise classes and themed events keep tenants on their toes.

"It means everything, otherwise the walls would be closing in on top of you," 75-year-old Gabriel Christie said.

The Dublin native and his wife moved in six months ago and haven't looked back since.

"This will be the first year here and we are having dinner on December 16 and I'm looking forward to meeting everyone that I haven't met so far. The Christmas trees are organised and ready to go."

Support officer Muireann O'Gorman said residents were on the countdown to the Christmas dinner party.

"We're also going to have a huge Christmas party that is supported by St Vincent De Paul," she said.

"There is a group of residents that have already been very enthusiastic about getting the place decorated, so we will have a group do that.

"It will give them the dinner they may not have on their own, with a big group of people, lovely food and good craic.

"It'll go on all evening and into the night and a lot of them are looking forward to that."

To donate please visit www.svp.ie/donate

You can also call 01 8848200 or donate locallyFOUR illegal immigrants have been arrested after being discovered on a roadway in the Midlands.

The four Albanian nationals, who are all aged in their 20s, are currently being held for immigration offences after being detained near Ballacolla, Co. Laois.

They are now applying for asylum to remain in Ireland.

Gardai believe the stowaways hid in the back of a truck which travelled by ferry from Spain to Ireland.

The ferry docked in Ringaskiddy, Cork, before the truck made its way to service station in Laois.

Local officers discovered the men at around 10.30pm last night and after making inquiries, arrested them from immigration offences.

A source said: They were honest with gardai about how they got to Ireland, they simply put their hands up and explained their travel route.

They are now applying for asylum, the source added.

After being arrested in Laois they were brought to the Bridewell garda station in Cork where they are continuing to be held.

A garda spokeswoman said that investigations into the matter are ongoing.A total of 512 admitted patients are waiting for beds this morning, according to todays INMO Trolley Watch figures.

According to the figures, 357 are waiting in the emergency departments nationwide, while 155 are in wards elsewhere in the hospital.

The worst-hit hospitals today are:

University Hospital Limerick  47

Mid-Western Regional Hospital Tullamore - 44

University Hospital Galway  42

Cork University Hospital  39

These figures are recorded by the INMO members at 8am every morning.

The Tuesday morning figures come after it was reported on Sunday that this year has seen the worst-ever November on record for hospital overcrowding.

A total of 9,679 admitted patients were forced to wait on trolleys and chairs for beds last month, according to the INMO.

This is an 11pc increase on November 2017 and more than twice as bad as 2006, when the records first began.

Last week, the count for 2018 crossed 100,000 for the first time ever, already making 2018 the worst-ever year for overcrowding.

INMO General Secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha expressed concern as she said that 2018 is already the worst year on record, and there are still several weeks in the year to go.

"Behind each number is a vulnerable patient suffering in poor conditions, with overworked staff pulling out all the stops to provide the best possible care," Ms Ni Sheaghdha said.

"January and February are typically the worst months, so nurses and midwives will be looking to the new year with a sense of dread.

"But this isn't just a winter problem anymore, it's a year-round problem.

"The health service needs more beds. Extra beds require extra nurses, but the HSE simply can't hire enough on these wage levels," she added.

A total of five hospitals saw over 500 patients on trolleys in November:

Cork University Hospital: 932

University Hospital Galway: 676

Letterkenny University Hospital: 581

Tallaght University Hospital: 559

Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore: 549

The union claims that much of the overcrowding is down to understaffing, caused primarily by low pay levels in Irish nursing and midwifery. According to the HSE census, as of September 2018, Irelands health service has 227 fewer staff nurses than December 2017.The country's biggest union has disputed claims that Aer Lingus staff stole millions of euro of goods from the airline, customers and colleagues.

Siptu said a recent memo from chief operating officer Mike Rutter that said millions had been lost due to missing stock did not mean staff had stolen it.

It is understood that police and federal law enforcement authorities in the US were called in to investigate a number of "serious issues" in recent months.

CCTV cameras are being installed in Terminal Two at Dublin Airport and a security company hired to monitor staff in break areas and carts used to store duty free goods.

A Siptu spokesperson said the letter said there was millions of euro in missing stock but this could have been due to damage to materials.

In a statement, the union condemned "blanket character assassination" of staff and called on management to provide evidence to show there was a basis to the claims.

It has sought a meeting with chief executive officer Stephen Kavanagh to discuss the issues raised in a media report at the weekend.

An Aer Lingus spokesperson said the level of theft was "above the industry norms" despite investment in new technologies and "management processes" over the past few months.

She said "some more serious issues" have called for the involvement of law enforcement agencies. The airline believes a "tiny cohort" of staff are involved, but would not specify how many.

"However, we would not be pursuing the issue if the effect was small," she said.

She said the roll-out of CCTV cameras has begun at Terminal Two and staff representatives were consulted. CCTV is in line with industry norms, she said.

Most staff behave in an exemplary manner, and perform their roles impeccably, she said.

"However, we are understandably dismayed that there are those that do not behave in an exemplary manner.

"The unfortunate reality is that a tiny subset of our 4,500 colleagues behave in a manner that falls below the required standard. This is wholly unacceptable for those working in the airline, for management and for our valued guests."

She said workplace theft was not unique to Aer Lingus, but most other airlines have taken measures to counter such behaviour.

The airline has taken steps in recent weeks that are proportionate to the security required, she added.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 4)  The jeepney minimum fare is temporarily back to P9 in the National Capital Region, Central Luzon (Region III), and Calabarzon and Mimaropa (Region IV) starting Tuesday.

The order to lower the fares was issued on Monday and published on Tuesday.

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Resolution No. 91 said the provisional rollback of base fare from P10 to P9 was due to the "world price of diesel" going down, which resulted in the decrease of pump prices locally.

LTFRB Chairman Martin Delgra said, "After the prices of fuel have peaked some time in October, bumaba nang bumaba na ang presyo ng krudo. And for which reason, Secretary Tugade directed LTFRB to rollback the fare rate, and that is basically what we're doing."

Dubai crude oil has gone down by 14 percent to an average of $68 per barrel in November from $79 per barrel in October.

The fare cut comes only a month after a jeepney fare hike was implemented in parts of the country. In November, LTFRB made permanent the provisional increase of P1 that took effect in July, making the minimum fare P9. It also granted another P1 increase for the first four kilometers, hiking the minimum fare to P10.

Transport group reacts

Transport group Piston said they are amenable to the rollback, but they questioned the "unilateral decision" made by LTFRB officials.

"Nasa rules ng LTFRB na in any petition, whether increase o decrease, it should undergo public hearing," Piston President George San Mateo told CNN Philippines on Tuesday.

He added the transport regulatory board should refund the P610, which jeepney drivers paid for to secure the fare matrix in November.

"Isoli ang mga siningil P610 sa operators. Dapat isoli nila yung mga taripa na binayaran ng mga tao kasi wala nang silbi ngayon. Hindi lang yung 610, pumila pa sila ng ilang araw para makuha yan," San Mateo said.

Delgra is not in favor of Piston's call for refund.

"When they were able to apply for that, they were already able to make use of the benefit given to them by way of the fare adjustment," he told CNN Philippines.

Delgra clarified the hearing on the petition to reduce the jeepney fare to ?8 will continue.

On Monday, LTFRB met with the technical working group composed of the National Economic Development Authority, and the Labor and Trade Departments to come up with a formula that will pre-determine fare adjustments set by economic indicators.Congress Telangana working president, Revanth Reddy, had threatened to stop the public meeting of KCR.

Congress candidate from Kodangal and partys working president from Telangana, Revanth Reddy, was detained and taken into preventive custody earlier on Tuesday. (Photo: Facebook | @revanthofficial)

Kodangal (Telangana): Amid a high-octane campaign in Telangana for December 7 polls, Congress candidate from Kodangal and partys working president from Telangana, Revanth Reddy, was detained and taken into preventive custody earlier on Tuesday.

Reddy was picked up by the Telangana police in the early hours of Tuesday, hours before scheduled meeting of caretaker chief minister and Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao in Kodangal.

Reddy had threatened to stop the public meeting of KCR.

A large team of police personnel arrived at Reddys house and broke open the door before taking him into custody.

The MLAs argued with cops, demanding that they be shown ID cards of the authorities and also copy of the arrest warrant.

The state election body, in a notice to the Congress party, said that Reddy had given a protest call to stop KCRs campaign rally in Kodangal on December 2.

The election body hinted towards a probable law and order situation if Reddy's supporters try to stop the rally, where KCR's party men would also be present.

Reddy had appealed to people in his constituency to boycott the meeting of Chandrasekhar Rao and hold protest in the area.

Reddys arrest has sparked tension in the area as he enjoys massive support.

Meanwhile, security has been tightened in the area to avoid any untoward incident.

Talking to the media, Reddys wife, Geetha said, This is an attack on the people of Kodangal. Around 3 am, the police broke into our room and within a matter of five minutes, nearly 40 people forcefully took him (Reddy) away, the way they would take away a terrorist.

Geetha also said that the police personnel didn't even show them their ID cards. We don't know if they are Task Force, Intelligence or state police. One of them said they have orders from higher officials, she added.

This is the second time during the state assembly polls this year that Reddy has faced the ire of the Election Commission.

Reddy was among the five politicians, who were served notices after the poll body received various complaints against them for allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct.A suggestion from a Dublin city councillor that homeless people should be forced to pay a nominal charge for hotel accommodation has been dismissed as "kite-flying".

Independent councillor Ruairi McGinley has said a charge of between 20 and 50 per week should apply to emergency accommodation in hotels and B&Bs.

He claimed some people may be entering homelessness because they are provided with free accommodation.

"The idea youre paying huge rent one week and then youre paying zero rent the next. Its going to give perverse incentives, with the best will in the world," Mr McGinley has said.

However, speaking at Leinster House today, Labours housing spokesperson Jan OSullivan said the comments were "entirely kite-flying" and an effort to "stir up some sort of animosity towards people who are homeless".

"If youre homeless in a hotel, you have to go out and pay for the washing of your clothes. You cant cook food so you have to buy food. And we know around Dublin how much food can cost now. There are extra costs on those already helpless families.

"I think this is simply trying to put some blame on people who are homeless rather ensuring something is done about it," Ms OSullivan said.

She has also warned that some homeless families are set to find themselves on the street this Christmas as hotels prioritise ordinary business.

"I was talking to a woman last week who is in a hotel in Limerick with her two children who are finding it extremely difficult to even answer questions from their schoolmates about where they are living.

"They have been told they have to get out of their hotel for Christmas because the hotel is required for Christmas business. Thats happening right throughout the city of Dublin as well," Ms OSullivan said.FORMER Communications Minister Denis Naughten has warned innuendo and aspersions around the National Broadband Plan could collapse the entire process.

Speaking in the Dail, Mr Naughten said he did not discuss the procurement process for the significant State contract at private dinners with the businessman leading the sole remaining bid, David McCourt.

The Roscommon TD resigned from Cabinet after details emerged of a series of dinners he had with Mr McCourt. A recent report from Independent Auditor Peter Smyth found that the ex-minister has insulated the process from apparent bias by resigning.

Evaluation is continuing on the final bid for the contract. Mr Naughten urged deputies to let the evaluation team to do their job, describing them as some of the most capable people in Europe in respect of tender evaluation work.

There has been a theme emerging in recent months of innuendo and aspersions, inside this Chamber and outside, questioning the capability of the last remaining bidder to deliver.

Its not for any of us to determine right now. That is the job of the 80-strong expert evaluation team.

We have to ask what is driving this narrative and for what gain? To collapse the plan altogether perhaps? It may actually have that desired effect which will cause more heartache for the 1.2m people in rural Ireland.

Mr Naughten also referred to pressure that was brought to bear following the withdrawal of Eir from the process, referencing one contribution which called for emergency measures to address the situation.

"I acted accordingly to keep the remaining bidder at the table. At no time did I interfere or try to interfere in the process to benefit any bidder, he said.

As minister he was kept at arms length from the detail of the process he said, and did not have information that would not have been available to the bidders involved in the process.

I can state that the procurement process was not discussed at any of the dinner engagements with Mr McCourt, furthermore Mr McCourt did not at any time canvass my support or seek to lobby me or influence me in regard to the procurement process, he said.

I want to state that I did not give pref access to any bidder in the process.

Newly appointed Communications Minister Richard Bruton declined to be drawn on the approximate cost of the rollout of the National Broadband Plan.

Labour TD Sean Sherlock put the price tag of 3bn to him but Mr Bruton said he would not speculate on the final cost to the taxpayer and said evaluation is continuing on the bid and will be considered by Government who will then make a decision on whether to pursue the plan or not.

He said that should be very soon but did not offer a timeline.

The Dublin Bay North TD also said a Tweet posted by a senior official in his department should not have happened and will not happen again.

In a series of Tweets, Fergal Mulligan, one of the figures at the helm of the process, dismissed recent media reports regarding the roll out as "nonsense".

He also wrote: A decision on the only game in town will hopefully be made in the next couple of weeks.Ministers who lobbied Paschal Donohoe for extra expenses to cover their hotel bills have been described as "out of touch" and "self-serving".

A group of eight junior ministers met with the Finance Minister last week in a bid to convince him that they are being treated unfairly in comparison to ordinary TDs.

Backbench TDs from outside Dublin are entitled to claim between 25,295 and 34,065 in unvouched travel and accommodation expenses annually - but ministers are not.

Instead they must submit mileage claims to their department and cover their own hotel bills.

One minister told the Irish Independent he is paying up to 500 a week to stay in the capital while the Dail is sitting.

Mr Donohoe is understood to have been sympathetic to their complaint but ultimately said he could not change the regime.

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However, Fianna Fail's housing spokesman Darragh O'Brien said the ministers of state were "out of touch".

"They should look at the average worker who is paying 2,000 a month in rent and can't afford to buy a house. Those people would find this somewhat sickening," Mr O'Brien said.

"They really want to get their priorities right. I wonder how many delegations of junior ministers were in lobbying for affordable housing or more housing for our homeless.

"It's incredible, selfish and self-serving."

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Labour senator Aodhan O Riordain said the story in yesterday's Irish Independent shows Fine Gael are "absolutely losing the run of themselves and becoming more and more like Fianna Fail of old every day".

"Last week, homeless figures were released that showed many children and their parents are still without accommodation and today we read on the front page of one of our national newspapers that Fine Gael junior ministers are moaning that they have to fork out for accommodation for two nights a week.

"The lack of self-awareness from these Fine Gael lads, and they are all men, is absolutely stunning," Mr O Riordain said.

Sources said the meeting with Mr Donohoe was non-confrontational but the requests for change were rebuffed on the grounds that it would not be approved by a majority of the Dail.

It's understood the ministers who attended the meeting included Pat Breen (Clare), Ciaran Cannon (Galway), Jim Daly (Cork), Michael D'Arcy (Wexford), Sean Kyne (Galway), Paul Kehoe (Wexford), Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick), and David Stanton (Cork).

Others were said to be supportive of their position but were unable to attend.

A number of those who attended spoke to the Irish Independent on the condition of anonymity.

During the meeting, the ministers also reminded Mr Donohoe that they had foregone salary increases over the past two years under the public sector pay restoration deal.

The ministers said they were put under huge pressure to do so.

"In real terms, backbenchers are actually making more money than ministers of state," a source claimed.A REFERENDUM which would ease the wait period for spouses who wish to divorce is due to be held next May.

The Government plans to hold the referendum on the same day as the local and European elections.

It is planned to changed the constitutional restriction which mandates that spouses must live apart for four years out of five.

The options under consideration are to reduce that period or remove the reference to a time limit from the Constitution.

However a final decision on the wording of the referendum will not be decided until Opposition parties are consulted and there is further discussion among ministers.

The referendum stems from legislation proposed in 2016 by Culture Minister Josepha Madigan, who is a family law solicitor.

That Private Members Bill proposed to halve the wait period to two years.

However, concern was raised during debate on that bill as to whether there should be any reference to a time limit in the Constitution.

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan hopes to achieve a consensus on the wording of the referendum.

He will meet with the Justice spokespeople of Opposition parties tomorrow.

Detailed proposals will then be drawn up and brought to Cabinet in January.

It is also planned to hold plebiscites in Cork, Galway and Limerick on the subject of directly elected mayors and these could be held on the same day in May also.

A government spokesperson confirmed a planned referendum on affording presidential voting rights to the diaspora may also be held on that day, meaning voters in some parts of the country could be handed up to five ballot papers on polling day.Former health minister James Reilly is to officially open a primary care centre in the heart of his constituency that caused controversy during his term in office.

The selection of Balbriggan for the 10m facility caused uproar in 2012 after it was among a number of late additions to a HSE priority list.

The ensuing row contributed to the resignation of Mr Reilly's then-junior health minister, Roisin Shortall.

Ahead of the opening, Mr Reilly told the Irish Independent he is now lobbying his successor, Simon Harris, to provide funding for extra services including X-ray and ultrasound equipment.

"Some people saw it as controversial. It makes perfect sense to me. I make no apology for standing up for Balbriggan," the Fine Gael senator said.

Around 150 staff are already based in the centre, including eight GPs. It also houses occupational therapists, physiotherapists, dentists, speech and language experts, and mental health professionals.

Mr Reilly, who is himself a practising GP, says the centre is available to 67,000 people in the surrounding environs.

He is now canvassing Mr Harris for more funding to expand the services available.

"Patients with, for example, a suspected gall bladder problem, could be treated locally at the primary care centre after an ultrasound test.

"This would avoid forcing the patient to travel to Beaumont Hospital in congested traffic, queueing for an X-ray, ultrasound and undergoing a battery of tests by a team of doctors who do not know the medical history of the patient," Mr Reilly said.

Likewise, he said emergency departments in Dublin and Drogheda would see demand reduced if Balbriggan had an X-ray machine.

Mr Reilly cited Castlebar, where the instalment of an X-ray machine in a primary care centre dramatically reduced GP referrals to the local hospital.The Christmas before Lorna Hughes' second marriage, her daughter Sarah, then 25, asked if she could add another guest to the list.

The question puzzled her mother slightly, before Sarah thrust a picture into her hand and said: "I might bring this person."

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"I looked at Sarah and looked at the scan, and asked, 'Is this you?'" recalls Lorna.

"And then I realised my little girl is pregnant. Of course, there's a little bit of, 'I hope she'll be okay'.

"And then you think, Mother of Jesus, I'm walking up the aisle and I'm going to be a grandmother.

"I was thinking about my new husband, Martin, and thinking that he didn't sign up to be a grandfather and the slagging he would probably get.

"So, yes I was considering the repercussions," she says.

And so it was that, at 45 and just six months away from her wedding, Lorna, from Carrigaline, Co Cork, discovered she was going to be a grandmother.

At a time when the average first-time mum's age is now 31, being confronted with a young grandmother still gives us pause.

And so it was last week when the Coronation Street actress Kym Marsh, who is just 42, told OK! Magazine of her imminent grandmotherhood, as her 21-year-old daughter, Emilie, is expecting. She said: "I'm looking forward to being a young grandmother. We've both had time to get our heads around it and now we're over the moon."

For parents, the decision to have a child is a matter of deliberation. For grandparents, however, there is rarely a discussion.

Considering that in the collective consciousness, the word 'granny' can bring to mind blue rinses and twinsets, for younger women this is no small matter to digest.

Psychological Society of Ireland chief executive Terri Morrissey explains.

"There's a couple of things when you become a grandmother. There's your own sense of yourself, your identity and your self-worth. Women are defined by roles - mother, sister, daughter, wife, grandmother - so when your role shifts, your identity shifts with it, as does the expectation of society," says Morrissey.

"Biologically, you are now a grandmother whether you like it or not, so you have to work it out for yourself. This is a fascinating area because a whole cohort of women are going to move into this phase in the next few years and reshape grandmotherhood entirely."

And Lorna is certainly among that number. She became a wife to Martin and a grandmother to Jack, now four and a half, in the same year. As well as Sarah, she is also mother to Jamie, 25, and Ella, 11.

She says she has always had to wear different hats with her own children, and this was no different.

"Sarah was 20 when I had Ella, so I've always had to switch mindsets anyway - I always say that I had one on formula and the other one was on Blue WKD!" she laughs.

"I was having adult conversations with Sarah, who was working as a recruitment consultant, having exams conversations with Jamie and then playing hide and seek with Ella.

"As an insight into my mindset at the time, and probably a bit down to vanity, I researched all the different names you could call a grandmother that didn't have the word 'granny' or 'nanny' in it," she says.

"Because all of the children have gone to a gaelscoil, I went with Mhamo and I love that."

One of the corollaries of being a young grandmother is the mother or father being a young parent. However, this did not concern Lorna unduly.

"When she told me, I did think back on myself having Sarah at 19 and I felt that she was just in a much better position than I was," recalls Lorna.

"We didn't have time for much reflection because after she told me we were straight into my hen and my wedding.

"I was focussed on being a bride and being a mother and a grandmother. I am able to compartmentalise who I'm supposed to be and when I'm supposed to be that person."

It's difficult to establish the average age of first-time grandparents get older, as this data is not recorded officially but to their daughters and daughters-in-law, the benefits of a young granny are obvious - a parenting consultancy and nursery rolled into one.

According to 2015 research from TILDA (The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing), 60pc of grandparents had looked after the grandkids in the past month, with 15pc putting in more than 60 hours. That was certainly the case with Lorna and Martin.

"Sarah and Jack lived with us until he was a few months old and myself and my husband did the night feeds so that Sarah could recover more quickly and I really loved doing that," she says.

However, Lorna says there are boundaries for young grandparents to observe.

"I supported her as much as I could but I had to challenge myself not to interfere. No matter what you're doing, you always feel like you can do it best," she says.

"I needed to let her be a mother in her own way. In general, I'm there as a support and she uses my experience as a mother to help her.

"There's times when she'd say, 'How would you do this?' in relation to a punishment."

Sarah says she has always been close to her mother, but says that having Jack has brought them much closer together. She does admit that she was nervous telling Lorna about the pregnancy.

"I told Mum first, straight after coming from the doctor's appointment," she recalls.

"I said, 'I need a plus-one for the wedding'.

"And I think she thought, 'Great - a boyfriend!' And I said, 'No - a baby!'

"But she's been really supportive, especially living with them until Jack was three months old. She came to all the appointments with me. And I did rely on her for advice a lot.

"She's definitely not your typical granny - people always comment on how young she looks. Nobody believes she's a grandmother."

Lorna says she now loves being a young grandmother.

"It's a joy. It's a joy for me to have him and I'm still young enough to do the fun things. I've booked to take him to the panto. I love all the stages of childhood. I loved him being a teeny-tiny baby and doing the feeds; now I love him because you can have proper conversations with him.

"We still take him quite regularly, so Sarah can have the normal life of a 30-year-old and so that she can achieve what she wants to achieve.

"I am young. I was 50 in October and even at that, my brain hasn't caught up with my body. I'd love loads more grandchildren.

"When I thought of my grandmothers, they were the old dears with the cardigans and the twinsets and the permed hair, but we have evolved."

For parenting support visit https://www.cuidiu.ie/Irish cafes should consider not using avocados or at least reducing the amount they use for their menus because of their impact on the environment, according to Michelin star chef JP McMahon.

Avocados are a popular health food in Ireland, which the Irish Heart Foundation says can help lower the amount of LDL (bad) cholesterol in your blood and reduce your chances of heart disease and stroke.

But McMahon, who owns two Michelin star restaurants, Aniar and Tartare, says avocados are "the blood diamonds of Mexico".

Drug cartels are increasingly controlling the avocado trade, and in some areas, farmers are thinning out mature pine forest to plant young avocado trees, which require huge volumes of water to grow.

"I don't use them because of the impact they have on the countries that they are coming from - deforestation in Chile, violence in Mexico. For me, they are akin to battery chickens. I think Irish restaurants should make a conscious effort to not use avocados or at least reduce the amount they use. You can get Fair Trade avocados but most are not produced this way.

He adds: Change won't happen unless consumers avoid them. We don't use any in our restaurants. There are plenty of alternatives. We have Jerusalem artichokes (as an alternative to avocados) with hollandaise in our brunch menu in Tartare at the moment.

In Limerick, Pat O'Sullivan, managing director of the Copia Green cafe in Limerick says the fruit has never featured on its menu because of the air miles travelled to import it into Ireland.

Nothing that travels that far features on our menu, down to the wines, theyre all European and organic, Mr OSullivan says.

Other cafes however, have decided to keep the health food on their menus. The Fumbally Stables in Dublin decided to keep avocados on its menu after nearly two years of debating the issue. The production of meat and almonds, for example, also need to be considered, not just avocados.

Aisling Rogerson, co-owner of the Fumbally, tells Independent.ie: We have debated among ourselves many times in the cafe. Should we take the avocado off the menu...?

I think when it comes to notions of sustainability though, if you have meat on your menu then this argument is almost void. The intensity of rearing just one cow for slaughter is far greater than shipping a box of avocados across the world. I know there are serious issues surrounding water in the growing of these fruit and the political impact it is having in Mexico and Peru, but then we also need to be talking about almonds from California [almond trees demand lots of water] and all those gluten free cakes that people love, and the ever growing popularity in nut milks.

And we need to be talking about green beans that are flown in from Kenya and grown intensively with very poor workers rights and water scandals of its own.

Rogerson added: There is so much in the food world today that is unethical and unsustainable. You pick your battles.Maire-Anne and her father Brian who is living with dementia

Every evening Maire-Anne Doyle goes to the whiteboard in her father's bedroom, and writes down what day 'tomorrow' will be, along with details of any planned activities such as hospital appointments.

It's a very necessary explana-tion for her 88-year-old father, Brian Doyle, of what the day ahead holds for him.

Five years ago, Brian, a former merchant banker and one of the co-founders of An Bord Bainne, was diagnosed with vascular dementia, a condition which results in severe impairment of the short-term memory.

As a result, Maire-Anne explains, her father constantly asks what day it is, or whether he's had lunch or dinner yet.

"His long-term memory is phenomenal, but the short-term memory loss Dad has suffered means that if he goes into hospital, for example, he forgets why is in there or where he is, and anxiety and agitation slip in.

"The whiteboard is in his bedroom, so that when he wakes up during the night or in the morning, he's reminded what day it is and what 'he' has planned for the day," she explains.

A former HR recruitment specialist, Maire-Anne (62) lived and worked in Toronto before returning to Dublin two years ago, and moving back into the the family home in Mount Merrion to act as a full-time carer for her father.

Although Brian has regular hospital appointments for the treatment of his skin melanomas, he is often unable to recall why he's in hospital, she explains.

"It's all about what he's doing right now, so he needs to be guided in terms of what's going on," she explains, adding that hospital staff don't always understand Brian's specific needs as a person with dementia.

It's patients like her father, Doyle believes, who will benefit most from the launch of a new booklet, Supporting The Person with Dementia in Hospital - A Handbook for Staff, which is to be launched today.

The booklet will then be available both to hospital staff nationally, and to the general public.

Research shows that people with dementia on average spend 22.7 days in acute hospitals. However, busy staff don't always have a good insight into their needs.

"Dementia is the largest obstacle to independent living for elderly people - and one of the areas where it is particularly problematic is in the acute hospital setting, explains Consultant Psychiatrist and Director of the Memory Clinic at St. James's Hospital, Dublin, Professor Brian Lawlor.

Lawlor, who has been researching dementia for the past 35 years, says studies carried out at St James's have revealed that between 28pc and 30pc of people over the age of 65 in acute hospital settings have cognitive impairment of some kind.

"When you have people coming in with significant health problems - and with dementia as well - the challenges it poses to the medical care and to staff in dealing with the patient are very significant."

Launched as part of the DemPath Project at St James's Hospital - the project seeks to improve the care journey of persons with dementia in hospital - the booklet is the result of qualitative research carried out at the hospital.

"It is a short, simple guide, which provides staff with practical information on how to care for people with dementia in a medical setting," explains Professor Lawlor.

Available as a PDF file to download from dementia.ie and from understandtogether.ieMy friend's brother came around to put up her new bedroom shelf. Normally, she'd have asked her boyfriend to do it, but he'd dumped her the week before. Later, down at the pub, she was passing around photos of the beautiful new shelf in situ. "Is that the shelf you've been left on?" someone asked.

The shelf looked great though.

It was painted in the same colour as the rest of the room and arranged with carefully curated items: a pile of books, a ceramic vase, a trailing plant, and an old silver candlestick. The display was a piece of art in its own right, but the shelf also fulfilled a practical role. Because the bedroom is very small and the bed is pushed up against the wall, it made use of an otherwise inaccessible corner.

"Never underestimate the power of shelving!" says Natasha Rocca Devine, interior designer. For her, the most important thing about shelving is choosing an arrangement that suits the architecture of the room and her advice is to think carefully about the space that it's going in to.

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A tall shelving unit, for example, is a dominant piece of furniture, especially if the shelves are chunky. It could look statuesque in a large room with high ceilings. But then, it might also make a low-ceilinged space feel claustrophobic. "If the ceiling is low, I'd recommend a thin, linear shelving, possibly even glass." Bespoke shelving - like tailored clothing - is always going to fit the room better than something that you buy ready-made. But measure carefully before you commit.

Off-the-peg shelving ranges hugely in price. At the higher end, options are often customisable, with the option of LED lighting. If you can't afford built-in lighting, a five-metre strip of LED lighting costs 78.80 from Eames Lighting (or Lidl is currently selling it at 10 for two half metre strips). Moderately priced shelving units include the straightforward Ford bookcase from Harvey Norman (185cm high) which costs 149, or the asymmetrical Frida bookcase (same height, same price).

For serious shelving installations, the modular Regal system from Cubit is incredibly versatile. It comes in great colours, units cost between 26 and 70, but you have to order from Germany (delivery is free if you spend more than 2,000). For smaller items, Ikea's Sammanhang range of shelves, stands, and cabinets are designed for people who want to display their collections. Prices range from 10 to 125. But, as Rocca Devine points out, it doesn't really matter how much you spend on shelves - it's what you put on them that counts.

Natasha Rocca Devine describes herself as a "design nerd" (her initials do seem to fit the claim wonderfully) and one of her main activities is staging homes before they go on the market.

"When I'm staging a house, I imagine three different clients and design with those characters in mind. Is it a space where they could relax? Would it make them happy? My job is to create emotion within a space. Otherwise, what's the point?" Shelving, she finds, is a useful tool for creating an imagined lifestyle. "You might not have a budget for art," she says. "So the shelving - or what you put on it - has to become art."

This is easier said than done, especially in a real home where shelving will probably have a storage function as well.

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There are a couple of ways of styling a shelf. One is based on the traditional Irish mantelpiece with a clock in the middle, a candlestick at each end, and a couple of ornaments lined up between them. It's a symmetrical way of thinking.

Kate Watson-Smyth, author of Mad About the House, suggests a different approach. First of all, she writes, make sure that there is variation in height. Put some books upright and leave others on their sides; include a short candlestick and, unless the shelf is very narrow, create a layering effect. "Try not to have everything in a straight line. Put the candlestick in front of the postcard that's propped up at the back. Let the necklaces hang down from the jewellery stand and pool on the book below." Then, she gives some very interesting advice. Group things in odd numbers. "Generally speaking, things group better in threes or fives. If you can mix the height within the group, you're already halfway there."

I've tried this, and it works! And, unlike most interior design advice, it's something that can be practiced at home and it doesn't cost a thing.

Another tip is to include some random items. "This is the perfect place for that fabulous stone you brought back from the beach last summer, or that shell that you haven't been quite sure what to do with," Watson-Smyth writes. For me, it would be the wooden horse that my son made, aged seven, from a few sticks and a bit of firewood. In fact, it currently has a shelf to itself. One is an odd number!

A final tip. Don't be afraid of empty space. "Allocate three or four shelves for your books, but leave some of the shelves almost empty so that you can create a balance between the busy shelves and the quiet ones," Rocca Devine suggests.

I found this one counter-intuitive. An empty shelf? The world is ending! But I gave it a go. At first, the empty shelves looked as weird as a face with a missing tooth but, when I came down in the morning, my belongings looked as though they appreciated the elbow room.

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See theinteriorsnrd.com, eameslighting.com, harveynorman.ie, cubit-shop.com, and ikea.com/ie. Mad About the House (2018) by Kate Watson-Smyth is published by Pavilion and costs around 20

Must haves

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Pigs might fly

Carolyn Donnelly Eclectic is playing a blinder with this year's Christmas decorations for Dunnes. This flying pig (5 from dunnesstores.com) is sure to become a family favourite. The range also includes a festive octopus, a flamingo and a mermaid.

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Caught napping

The Theodore Daybed was designed for Vogue Williams and her new baby, Theodore, as part of a nursery range by Ventura Design. At 1,400 (fabric not included) it's a bit on the pricey side, but breastfeeding and naps are important. See babyventura.ie.

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Pure bananas

Candles are great in the long dark evenings and, if you can have a candle stick in the shape of a gilded banana peel, why wouldn't you? The Banana Candle Holder (12 cm high) costs around 28 from audenza.com and would make a great stocking filler.

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These Japanese shades (from 35) come all the way from Cork. They're the work of up-and-coming designers Jade Hogan and Jo Slevin of Mr Kite Designs. You'll can track them down on Facebook, Etsy or meet them in person at dublinchristmasflea.ie.

Cliff hanger

Aisling McElwain is the rising star of Irish ceramics. You'll find this set of Green and Gold Pottery (80) at cliffhome.ie and at Pop Up Pottery and Craft shop, which runs at Cleo, Kildare Street, Dublin, until Sunday (see aislingmcelwain.com).On June 11, 2004, then-US president George HW Bush walked slowly down the centre aisle of Washington National Cathedral to eulogise my father, former president Ronald Reagan. Eulogies are difficult to compose. The best ones are a fine mingling of heart, humour and poignancy. Bush spoke about the man who had touched his life. He spoke about my father's gentleness and humour, about his strength and his deep, abiding love for America.

At one point, his voice broke as he fought back tears.

"As his vice-president for eight years, I learned more from Ronald Reagan than from anyone I encountered in all my years of public life. I learned kindness - we all did. I learned courage - the nation did," he said.

The tears he fought against brought my family and me to tears. It was one of those moments when you know that the person who is speaking is stripping his soul bare and letting you in.

He also did what is so difficult to do in eulogies - he turned everyone's tears to laughter with humour. He recalled that when asked how his meeting with South African Bishop Desmond Tutu went, my father - playing on the bishop's name - responded, "So-so".

America will lay to rest a man who served his country. We will pause, and mourn, and reflect. We might also want to mourn the loss of dignity that we have long associated with the office of the presidency and that is no longer there. No matter what you thought of George HW Bush's time in office, he never attacked or abused people or institutions. He was never crude or dismissive of people who were hurting. And he had reverence for the constitution and the pillars of democracy that built the American nation - the pillars that are now being chipped away, crudely and casually.

He understood that peace is a fragile thing, and that to maintain it, nations have to work together, employ diplomacy and treat one another with respect. That tone is set by leaders.

He spoke of "a better America... an endless enduring dream and a thousand points of light". President Donald Trump once mocked that vision, but his mockery cannot diminish the importance of Bush's words.

What a beautiful image, encouraging people to aim for the heavens instead of grovelling in the shadows, inspiring people to leave a mark that lights up the darkness.

My wish for the Bush family is that they look into the night sky and see 1,001 points of light.

Patti Davis is the author of, most recently, 'The Earth Breaks in Colours' and is the daughter of Ronald and Nancy Reagan. (Washington Post)'We're looking for every responsible nation to support peace in the sub-continent,' US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said.

Washington/ New Delhi: Asserting that 40 years is enough for every responsible nation to get on board with the south Asia peace process, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, in a strong message to Pakistan, said it is time for everyone to support the efforts of the UN, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Afghanistan in this regard.

"We're looking for every responsible nation to support peace in the sub-continent and across this war in Afghanistan that's gone on now for 40 years," he told reporters at the Pentagon on Monday as he welcomed Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for talks.

"It's time for everyone to get on board, support the United Nations; support Prime Minister Modi's, (Afghan) President (Ashraf) Ghani and all those who are trying to maintain peace and make for a better world here," Jim Mattis said.

"We are on that track. It is diplomatically led as it should be, and we'll do our best to protect the Afghan people," he added.

Mattis was responding to a question from reporters about the letter written by US President Donald Trump to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, seeking his support in the peace process in Afghanistan.

In his letter Donald Trump has made it clear that Pakistan's full support in this regard "is fundamental" to building an enduring US-Pakistan partnership.Achieving consensus is difficult, never more so than when dealing with almost 200 different parties, all with different priorities.

But that is exactly what diplomats and negotiators will attempt to do at the UN climate talks which started yesterday in Katowice, a city in the heart of Poland's rust belt and home to one of Europe's largest coal producers.

The stakes are high. In 2015, almost 200 countries signed up to the Paris Climate Accord and pledged to reduce emissions and prevent catastrophic climate change.

But how that agreement, which comes into force in 2020, will work - and, crucially, how emissions cuts will be verified, which will be outlined in the so-called 'Paris Rulebook' - will be the subject of discussions running late into the night.

Decarbonisation will have a profound impact on places like Katowice, on Middle East oil producers and the US fracking industry, among others.

That said, the impacts of climate change will be felt globally, so rapid cuts are required, and time is running out.

There is also the vexed issue to be discussed of getting countries to ramp up their ambitions in cutting emissions.

Science tells us average global temperatures cannot rise more than 2C, and ideally no more than 1.5C, if catastrophic change is to be avoided.

As of now, national pledges - called nationally determined contributions (NDCs) - put the world on a warming path of more than 3C. That means greater ambition is needed. "Those are the two big-ticket items," one source said. "The review of the rulebook is the major one because it brings in action on finance, mitigation (reducing emissions) and technology transfer (giving developing countries the technology to cut emissions).

"The EU already has detailed reporting and accounting rules, but the rulebook should be applicable to everybody. Ideally it should be a common set of rules."

That poses its own challenges. While the European Union takes the approach of reducing emissions from all sectors, with outside verification from the Commission, other countries do things differently.

China, the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, doesn't talk about emissions cuts, it refers to carbon intensity. That means reducing emissions per unit of economic activity.

India, also a big emitter, takes a similar approach, with further complexity around creation of carbon sinks by planting forests to absorb emissions.

Others include 1990 as the reference year, meaning emissions will be cut by a certain date against the level of emissions in 1990, while others use 2005. "The rulebook is trying to capture all of them in a quantifiable manner," the source adds. "You should be able to come up with a statement at the end of, say, 10 years, and say how they have achieved reductions."

The trick with the Paris rulebook will be ensuring it is transparent, understandable and that, crucially, emissions reductions can be accurately measured and verified.

There are compelling reasons why this must happen. Global efforts are way off track, and emissions are rising again for the first time in four years. To meet the Paris goals, they must peak by 2020. As of now, that's not likely even by 2030.

In addition, greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere continue to set new record highs, and the impacts are being felt - 2018 is on course to be the fourth hottest year on record. Twenty of the hottest years on record have been in the last 22 years. The climate is changing.

The second challenge for COP24 negotiators will be delivering a clear political signal to increase ambition. This is being facilitated under what's called the Talanoa Dialogue. Talanoa is a word used in Fiji and across the Pacific to reflect a process of inclusive and participatory dialogue, allowing wise decisions to be made for the collective good.

Three questions are asked: Where are we? Where do we want to go? How do we get there?

Almost 500 stories and 280 written inputs were submitted to the dialogue by governments, NGOs and other interest groups. These will be presented to politicians at the talks, called the 24th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 24).

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on achieving 1.5C is integral to guiding that process. Getting a rulebook will be crucial - if negotiations fail on this point, countries will not commit to greater action.

There are other issues too. Countries have committed to providing $100bn (88bn) a year in climate finance for developing nations. The OECD says finance totalled $56.7bn (50bn) last year, up from $48.5bn (42.7bn) in 2016.

But given Donald Trump's attitude to climate change - he doesn't believe his own government's report on its likely impacts - it is a real concern that the US financial commitment will not be realised. What will that mean? Will others make up the shortfall? Will that gap be filled?

Politicians, including Climate Action Minister Richard Bruton, will travel to Poland this week, with sources suggesting the idea is to "rally the troops" at the start of the process, and give guidance to negotiators.

To highlight the extent of the challenge, it's notable that while the EU NDCs take into account all member states, there are divisions. Understandably, given its reliance on fossil fuels, Poland has deep concerns about rapid decarbonisation.

It's likely to seek a declaration on how to achieve cuts under a 'just transition' process - that means protecting workers in the fossil fuel industry. That could translate to calls for giving some countries a longer timeframe to decarbonise.

There will be no easy wins. But the science is very clear. The climate is warming, and how we heat our homes, fuel our transport and power our economies needs to change. That's a challenge not just for negotiations in Poland, but for us all.'Leaving Cert results are not the chequered flag for many students these days: they are the key to a door' Stock image

A well-educated mind will always have more questions than answers.

Helen Keller's aspiration for a child emerging from an education ought to be high bar for the system.

Unfortunately, it's often the case that pupils emerge from our secondary school system having memorised large chunks of information to regurgitate in exams.

On reaching third-level, students can find themselves unable to adapt to the wider range of learning required.

Leaving Cert results are not the chequered flag for many students these days: they are the key to a door.

The Leaving Cert qualifies a student for higher education, and most importantly, if their school has given a child every chance to go on to what he or she really wants to do, then they have done a good job.

The Feeder Schools list in today's Irish Independent shows going to college is the dominant focus of our schools.

Two in three post-primary schools are now sending at least 70pc of their pupils to third-level, amid historically high college entry rates.

Admirably, without all the benefit of extra resources, State-funded schools are closing the gap on their fee-paying counterparts.

Today's tables tell us our schools work hard to support students to get into universities, institutes of technology and other third-level colleges.

One shoe does not fit all in education. College is suited to many, but not every student.

There are now other routes to a qualification of high standard that students, parents and schools need to concentrate upon, such as apprenticeships.

The fixation on the CAO form as the be all and end all of a second-level education is too narrow a view and fails to acknowledge the value of a blue-collar trade and new white-collar career entry points.

Competitive schools will quote their Leaving Cert results and colleges entries selectively. But this doesn't give you a broad picture of the school and its contribution to the development of children, particularly those who put up no social, learning or economic barriers to entry.

A school's commitment to treating all students equally, regardless of their background or learning level, says far more about their philosophy than any list of grades.

New schools admission legislation aimed at levelling the pitch and creating a fair education system in a number of areas is now enacted, but not all features have commenced. It is aimed at reducing the advantage enjoyed by groups who can afford the lavish fees associated with the private fee-paying sector.Lindsay Lohan, designer Karl Lagerfeld and Paris Hilton pose at the International Launch of Dom Perignon Rose Vintage 1996 Champagne by Karl Lagerfeld on June 2, 2006 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Paris Hilton and actress Lindsay Lohan pose for pictures at the Evening with an Icon - Happy Birthday Marilyn Monroe auction at Meson G on June 1, 2005 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images)

Lindsay Lohan is seen at the Maria Ke Fisherman show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Madrid Spring/Summer 2018 at Ifema on September 15, 2017 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Eduardo Parra/Getty Images)

Cast your memory back to 2004: Lindsay Lohan was freeing herself from the rigours of child stardom, on the brink of adult success and, without question, possessed undeniable talent.

But, addiction, myriad DUIs and the lure of celebrity culture would prove too much for Lohan, who, at 32, has been to rehab six times and is responsible for a number of failed comebacks.

Her errs are well-documented and in the early noughties, her antics all but kept TMZ in business. She is now a running joke, a sad Hollywood punchline and perhaps, at its saddest, an easy target. So why is it, in the most forgiving industry in the world that Lindsay Lohan cant catch a break?

You could argue its rooted in sexism: after all, Robert Downey Jr.s 2001 comeback was a risk for producers of Ally McBeal and he is now one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood; Mel Gibsons racist, sexist and violent meltdown in 2010 has been all but wiped from public memory and Johnny Depp had little to do on his redemption tour after he was accused of domestic violence by ex-wife Amber Heard in 2016.

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In comparison, it seems that Lindsay's biggest victim has always been herself. It's just as plausible to say that frankly she doesnt deserve a redemption tour, this, despite the fact that most of her fans, who have grown with her, are still rooting for her. 2014 was supposed to be the big Lohan-comeback, she returned to the spotlight under the encouragement and mentorship of Oprah and her eponymous docu-series, meant to shed light on the 'real' her, instead was an eight-episode record of the crew trying to get her to agree to film a reality show instead of providing actual content.

She was given the golden ticket and she ripped it up then lit it on fire.

The next number of years were just as upsetting as much of her early life had been. Instead of an absent and sometimes violent father and forceful stage mother, there was an an abusive relationship with her Russian ex-fiance Egor Tarabasov. Disturbing pictures emerged of them fighting on the beach in 2016 and a video circulating of her screaming for help at an apartment in London was genuinely upsetting to watch.

According to Lohan, this was the tipping point. Soon after, she up and moved to Dubai, a random spot to settle down in, but one that would prove to be the best fit for her - privacy laws there mean she can't be followed by paparazzi, which was one of the biggest causes of stress for her.

This year, she was, and is, finally ready to dip her toe back in. Her last major film was five years ago and save for bit parts in movies and television, much of the attention around her has been around her personal life fuelled by her social media activity.

In September, she met a Syrian refugee family who were homeless, living on the streets of Moscow, and accused them of trafficking children, via an Instagram Live.

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This time around the the focus is on her latest venture, this time, launching a new type of reality show Lohans Beach House, in the vein of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Lisa Vanderpumps Vanderpump Rules. Lohan is the boss bitch and her staff are the story. Its the smartest thing she has done in years.

A New York Times profile earlier this year shed insight into life for Lindsay now that shes no longer an it girl and instead, a cautionary tale. It was nearly all positive and gave honest insight into her day-to-day life, but still, old habits die hard and signs of the old Lohan were there. She had originally agreed to pose for corresponding pictures the next day, until she didn't.

Ms. Lohan would have had her hair and makeup done, and well make something work, Nichola said, the article reads.

But the next day, as reporter and photographer waited under the sun dappling the stained wooden deck through the sand-colored canopy, Nichola delivered some news: There would be no photo shoot unless Ms. Lohan, who was currently in Athens anyway, was paid for it.

She shoots for magazines like W and likes to do fashion, Nichola said. We can give you exclusive photos, but she only does paid shoots. And if you want to have that discussion, you can, and maybe shell consider it. (The New York Times does not pay photo or interview subjects.)

It's clear the writer was taken with her and instead of jumping on her flaws, defended her as a savvy businesswoman. That was just five months ago and now, Lohan covers Paper magazines digital Break the Internet edition, taking on the role of dark-sided and seductive Disney princesses. Its...interesting.

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But it was noted - at the request of her PR - that she arrived on time for that photoshoot. Perhaps, things will be different this time around?

Who knows. Lohan was quick to point out that she is longer the party girl, pictured falling out of clubs - now, she just owns one.

"I would love to know why I get constantly clobbered in the press," she said. "I could do 99 things right and one thing wrong, but it's that one thing that will be focused on. Behind the scenes I do what I can to be the best version of me, which never gets mentioned. I am also human. I make mistakes. That's all that seems to get reported."

"There's always going to be things that have happened," she said, "and things people have said in the past that you can't control. But the past is in the past."

It's a convincing turnaround, but we're still afraid to hold our breath.Mel B meets fans and signs copies of her new memoir "Brutally Honest" at Waterstones Bluewater on November 28, 2018 in Greenhithe, England. (Photo by Mark Milan/Getty Images)

Mel B attends the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards at The Forum on August 27, 2017 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images)

Always the outspoken member of the Spice Girls, Melanie Brown has once again been thrown into the spotlight amid sensational headlines charting her relationship with her ex-husband Stephen Belafonte, sexual encounters with men and women, cocaine and alcohol abuse and attempted suicide.

The latest stories have been sparked by her memoir, Brutally Honest, which has already attracted huge publicity over her claims that ex-husband Belafonte physically and mentally abused her during their 10-year marriage  claims he strongly denies  and her attempted suicide in 2014, when she downed 200 aspirins.

Today, her clear skin, swept-back short hair and toned figure indicate that the woman known as Scary Spice is recovering, having divorced TV producer Belafonte last year, but she says the healing is an ongoing process.

Ive taken my power back and my life back. I get up in the morning and I decide my life now, which was not the case for 10 years, she says.

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Brown and Belafonte (both 43) share custody of their seven-year-old daughter Madison. She also has two other daughters, Phoenix (19), from her marriage to Spice Girls backing dancer Jimmy Gulzar, and Angel (11), from her relationship with comedian Eddie Murphy. She says she still has therapy and has just taken a course in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing), a technique used to relieve psychological stress.

I get lots of flashbacks. A friend came in and gave me a hug the other day and I said Dont touch me! because I was so used to being launched at, she says.

Because of therapy, because Im talking about it, because Ive written about it so intensely in my book, that in itself is very therapeutic for me.

She has had surgery since the relationship ended with Belafonte, showing me the scar from having Belafontes name cut from the tattoo down her ribcage which used to read Stephen, till death do us part, you own my heart. She says: I wanted to get rid. I never wanted to get the tattoo in the first place, he made me do it. I wanted the scar to be big and ugly as a reminder. I have the skin in a little jar in my house, which my friend still thinks is very strange. I will burn that piece of flesh or bury it when Im ready.

The skin has healed. Im still healing. I still have a long way to go.

It was the death of her father last year that was the catalyst for her to divorce her husband.

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When my dad was on his deathbed, it brought my whole family back together, she says.

Her fellow Spice Girls have also been hugely supportive since her revelations.

I made them all read the book, she says, and they were like, Why? What happened? Why werent we there for you? Emma couldnt stop crying the other day. She said she felt so bad that I went through all that and she didnt even realise. But I was really good at hiding it.

Shes certainly not looking for love at the moment and says her experience with Belafonte has made her hesitant about future relationships.

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Im not dating anybody. Im happy just raising my kids and working and getting my life in order and thats it, she says. "Im not looking for a relationship and I think thats healthy for me to be in that mindset. Im not chasing something thats a rebound. Im still very much in my own healing process. Im damaged, clearly.

I feel vulnerable and Im OK with that. I should feel a mess some days when I just want to cry because what Ive been through is horrendous.There are days when I dont want to get out of bed, but what I make myself do is have a bit of a cry, Ill meditate and then Ill watch comedy and force myself to laugh. Im one of the lucky ones  I escaped.

Family therapy has helped, she reflects, saying: You have to talk with your kids and communicate. For me, it was really important that Angel has a really healthy relationship with her father, Eddie Murphy.

When I left, I was able to reinstall that. Shes at Eddies right now. Shes spending good, quality time with him.

Brown, who lives in West Hollywood, still calls Murphy the love of her life.

Ive a large amount of fondness for him, I always will have, she says. We have a beautiful daughter together. Hes now in a very happy relationship, hes on his second baby with his lovely lady, and its nice that me and Eddie can communicate for our daughters sake. mI did send the chapter about him to him and he said, I didnt know you felt that strongly about me. It was like two ships that missed each other.

You cant regret what happ-ens to you in your life. I always like to take things, however bad or traumatic, and somehow turn them into a positive and learn from it. Im not embarrassed to say that we had an amazing and beautiful relationship and I was and still am madly in love with him and what he showed me in life and showed me that a relationship can be built on trust and respect and love. We go to school plays, not together, but were there. We do chat, but mainly about Angel. I keep it to our daughter out of respect for his relationship.

Brown has a busy year ahead with the Spice Girls tour and has also become a patron of Womens Aid. She recently visited a womens refuge in her home town of Leeds.

I was asked to be a patron for Womens Aid, which was very validating and self-assuring, she says. Their campaign is about helping women in situations that Ive been in and to give them the tools to know its wrong. Belafonte has strongly denied Browns allegations, saying: Everything that she said in that book, I can disprove.

He said he didnt want to give a quick response but would be willing to have a more complete conversation when he could present his own evidence.

This article first appeared in The Herald.

Brutally Honest by Melanie Brown is out nowNigeria's president took the extraordinary step of denying rumours that he died and was replaced by a body double, telling the country that he is alive and well.

"It is the real me I assure you," President Muhammadu Buhari said to a group of Nigerians during a visit to Poland, where he is attending the United Nations Climate Conference.

"A lot of people hoped that I died during my ill health," the 75-year-old, who was elected in 2015 and will run for his second term in February despite recent ill-health, said. "I am still going strong."

The government has been tight-lipped about Mr Buhari's health throughout his presidency.A church is trialling the use of a live voting smartphone app during sermons to help engage its congregation.

Worshippers at Aylsham Parish Church in Norfolk are asked to take their phones to services and use their handsets to answer questions which are displayed behind the vicar on a projector screen.

They can also rate hymns they like or dislike to help make future services more enjoyable, and the app has also been used to display a word cloud of things the congregation is praying for.

The more people type a particular word, the larger that word is displayed on the screen.

Revd Canon Andrew Beane said it has given us an opportunity to be much more interactive in our worship.

I would like to think its pioneering, he said. Were holding on to the traditional but embracing new technology to make it more relevant to society today.

The church already offers its congregation free internet access through a scheme called WiSpire, and has TripAdvisor, Facebook and Twitter pages.

It has used the voting app, developed by Swedish company Mentimeter, in three services to date and plans do so at future special events.

Revd Beane said: Sometimes you can ask a question and people are shy, but by using the app, everybody joins in.

He said it had not brought extra people into the church, but encouraged greater interaction between older and younger members of the congregation.

He added that the congregation are very generous in what they embrace.

The app is more commonly used in business meetings.

Revd Beane said he is considering asking his congregation How was my vicaring? via the app.

Sometimes people will say Oh, thank you, vicar and you dont always get that honest opinion, he said. This time people can say I found that really challenging or difficult.

He said he has already had inquiries from other churches about the technology.Weddings in China are a way of showing off wealth. Photo: AFP/Getty

China is calling for the end to increasingly lavish weddings, claiming they go against the country's socialist values.

The ministry of civil affairs has condemned the practice of holding extravagant ceremonies and giving expensive gifts.

Weddings, instead, should "integrate core socialist values and Chinese traditional culture into the construction of marriage and family," the ministry said.

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Officials at a conference on wedding reform also said it is "necessary" to incorporate "Xi Jinping Thought", the Chinese president's oft-heard political ideology, into wedding and marriage planning.

Local authorities will also now be asked to come up with more specific "wedding etiquette" rules.

Read More

In China, weddings are a way for people to show off wealth. In a culture where the concept of "saving face" is incredibly important, families from all socio-economic classes prioritise keeping up appearances.

The more lavish the wedding, the more expensive the gifts must be from the guests.

Authorities have for years been trying to rein in extravagance at traditional ceremonies, first going after excessive funerals - some families go into severe debt to hold elaborate rites, even hiring strippers and professional mourners - and now cracking down on opulent weddings.

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Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]The primary objective was to secure financial stability and health of global economy through coordination of economic policies.

G-20, a unique group of 19 industrialised nations and emerging economies (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States) and the EU (European Commission and European Central Bank) founded at G-7 finance ministers meeting on September 26, 1999 held its inaugural meeting on December 15-16, 1999 in Berlin hosted by Germanys finance minister Hans Eichel and chaired by Canadas finance minister Paul Martin. It was initially triggered off by the crises of Mexican peso, Asian financial crises (1997), Russian financial crises (1998) and the collapse of US Long Term Management Fund (1998) and the realisation that the G-7 and International Monetary Fund couldnt address such global financial crises without involving growing economies and creating a broader and permanent group with greater voice and responsibilities.

The primary objective was to secure financial stability and health of global economy through coordination of economic policies. While Paul Martin, who later served as the PM of Canada, is credited with conceiving the idea, US treasury secretary Lawrence Summers and Germanys finance minister Hans Eichel were the key architects of transforming it into reality. Their respective deputies namely Timothy Geithner and Caio Koch-Weser picked up the members of G-20 at their discretion. After the financial crises of 2008, the level of discussion was raised to the summit of the heads of the state or government who have been meeting annually since 2011. The scope of the discussion of G-20, which has no headquarters and no secretariat and is run by a troika, the past chair, the current chair and the incoming chair, and has expanded over the years.

Now, besides the finance ministers and the heads of central banks, the ministers of foreign affairs, trade and agriculture and others also meet. Evidently, the G-20 accounting for 85 per cent of the worlds GDP; 80 per cent of world trade, two-third of the worlds population and half of landmass on the globe is an organisation with enormous political, financial and military resources capable of providing the global leadership. Alas, it doesnt. Though it offers opportunities to leaders of feuding nations to meet on the sidelines and defuse tensions and explore prospects for accommodation.

The 13th G-20 summit, first time held in South America, took place in Buenos Aires on November 30-December 1, 2018. Argentinean President Mauricio Macri had invited several countries as special guests. The host had put forward three themes of direct interest to the developing countries: the future of work, infrastructure for development and sustainable food future.

Unfortunately, US President Donald Trump buoyed by the signing of United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) on November 30, which replaces North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), loomed large and hogged the limelight.

Mr Trump played a Hamlet in wanting to meet or not meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. Neutral observers suspect his approach was more attributable to the investigations of Robert Mueller in Russian meddling in the last presidential election in the US and allegation that he was negotiating a business deal with Mr Putin when he was already a presidential candidate rather than to the Russian blockade of Crimean ships.

The G-20 has serious divisions. The US and the EU have imposed sanctions on Russia. Mr Trump threatens to increase the tariffs on Chinese exports worth $200 billion to 25 per cent after freezing the current level for 90 days (result of Donald Trump-Xi Jinping face-to-face meeting). Its Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) against countries doing business with Iran and Russia impacts negatively on a host of friendly countries, including the EU and India.

French finance minister Bruno Le Maire had a harsh message for the US: We refuse to negotiate with a gun to the head. The US must rescind its tariffs on steel and aluminium imports before European countries discuss overhauling aspects of global trade. Mr Trump has no interest in the climate change agreement nor does he stand for globalisation. China continues to have territorial dispute with Japan. And India has serious reservations about Chinas blind support to Pakistan and its role in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Maldives.

Narendra Modi has the distinction of attending two trilateral: the first with the US and Japan and the second with Russia and China. So, away from the dust of election campaign and the controversy surrounding the Rafale deal and revision of GDP rates under the UPA government, India was courted at the G-20 summit as never before. Obviously the US, Russia, China and Japan have contentious issues with each other but each the four wanted India on its side. Isnt it the Non-Alignment Movement-2 though the NDA government wont admit this publicly? Mr Modi underlined the win-win situation in Japan, America and India (JAI), but this trilateral causes some concern in China. The trilateral of Russia, India and China (RIC) after 12 years underlines the desire of Russia and China both target of Mr Trumps tough talking to keep India on their side to counter American domination. The population and economic strengths of China, India, Russias defence prowess and nuclear arsenal and energy resources can make the RIC a powerful counterweight. They stressed the need for strengthening the WTO reforming the UN; this finds mention in the joint statement without any reference to American protectionism.

Mr Modi flagged his favourite public welfare schemes and the menace of terrorism. While Lalit Modi, Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi are sitting pretty abroad, Mr Modis nine-point plan for dealing with economic fugitives/offenders will be hailed on the election trail. He sought cooperation in legal processes such as effective freezing of the proceeds of the crime, early return of offenders and efficient repatriation of the proceeds of the crime and urged his counterparts not to offer safe havens to economic fugitives.

Mr Modi claimed that ties between India and China have made huge strides in the last one year. Xi Jinping was more circumspect, he said: It was necessary for India and China to deepen pragmatic cooperation, expand bilateral trade, strengthen cooperation in investment, medical, poverty reduction, environmental protection...

Mohammad Bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, emerged as the biggest beneficiary of the summit. He wasnt treated as a pariah notwithstanding allegations about his involvement in the killing of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Apparently, when chips are down, money and oil matter more than idealistic rhetoric. Mr Trump doesnt want to lose contracts worth $110 billion and Mr Modi wanted to secure supply of Saudi oil to make do for the reduced imports from Iran.

The writer is a former diplomatForeigners who have moved to Austria but have not yet picked up the language are to be penalised under controversial reforms to the country's social welfare system, as the right-wing government steps up its efforts to deter immigration.

The Austrian government plans to penalise the unemployed by cutting 300 from their monthly benefits if they do not fulfil certain language requirements.

The far-right Freedom Party (FPO) reforms would target immigrants and ethnic minorities in several ways.

A sizeable cut in welfare payments to families with more than two children is likely to hit migrant families, while local authorities will also be compelled to tell the government how many welfare recipients are from ethnic minorities.

Previous attempts at legislation have fallen foul of EU law, which requires EU citizens to be treated equally to citizens of the member state.

However, Vienna believes the new legislation will be given the green light by the European Court of Justice, as it also applies to Austrian citizens.

"Reform of the benefit system is urgently required because we have massive immigration into the system," Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said.David Attenborough has issued a stark warning that the collapse of civilisations and extinction of much of the natural world is "on the horizon" without action to tackle climate change.

The naturalist and TV presenter delivered a message from people around the world to United Nations climate talks in Katowice, Poland, calling for leaders and decision- makers to take charge on driving down greenhouse gas emissions.

Mr Attenborough was speaking on behalf of the UN's "people's seat" initiative to give ordinary people a voice at the international talks by gathering their thoughts, ideas and concerns through social media and polling in the past two weeks.

He said the world is facing its "greatest threat in thousands of years: climate change".

"If we don't take action, the collapse of our civilisations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon."

And he added: "The world's people have spoken, their message is clear, time is running out, they want you, the decision-makers, to act now.

"They're supporting you in making tough decisions but they're also willing to make sacrifices in their daily lives."

Climate Action Minister Richard Bruton, who is in Poland for the talks, said he fully endorsed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's comments about the need to take action.

"The decisions we take now will define the next century," Mr Bruton said. "I recently received government approval to develop an all-of-government plan to make Ireland a leader in responding to climate change. Mr Guterres's comments underline what we are seeking to do and highlight the urgency of this work.

"Ireland is fully committed to the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Over the next two weeks, we will work with countries all over the world to put together a rulebook to make sure we all fulfil our commitments."

The UN has launched an 'ActNow.bot', which helps people discover simple everyday actions they can take to tackle climate change.

At his address at the climate talks yesterday, Mr Attenborough said: "The people have spoken: leaders of the world, you must lead, the continuation of our civilisations and the natural world upon which we depend are in your hands."

Mr Guterres warned negotiators at the meeting that the world was "in deep trouble" with climate change.

"Climate change is running faster than we are and we must catch up sooner rather than later, before it's too late," he said. "For many people, regions and even countries, this is already a matter of life and death."

He also said that "climate action is not just the right thing to do, it makes social and economic sense", pointing to how action to cut emissions will curb air pollution deaths and generate millions of jobs and trillions of dollars.

The speeches come after four former presidents of the annual UN climate talks warned the "world is at a crossroads" and decisive action in the next two years would be crucial to tackle the threat of climate change.

In a joint statement, France's Laurent Fabius, Frank Bainimarama from Fiji, Salaheddine Mezouar from Morocco, and Peru's Manuel Pulgar Vidal said: "The challenges are there, as are the solutions.

"We require deep transformations of our economies and societies to build a better world for all. This must be powered by multilateral co-operation."

They called for ambitious decisions which are sufficiently detailed and comprehensive to enable the effective operation of the Paris Agreement, secured three years ago in the French capital to curb global warming.

A process to enable countries to announce efforts by 2020 to ramp up their domestic ambition on cutting greenhouse gas emissions must be launched, they said, as current efforts are not enough to prevent dangerous temperature rises.

And there needs to be progress on the goal of mobilising $100bn (88bn) a year for poorer countries to drive clean growth, they urged.

The World Bank has announced it is doubling investments in climate action with $200bn (176bn) for 2021-2025, including $50bn (44bn) towards helping countries adapt to the impacts of global warming.

Negotiators at the talks will hear details of a global review on climate change-tackling efforts, and the pressure is on to work towards increasing commitments from countries by 2020.

The talks in Poland also aim to draw up the rulebook for making the Paris deal operational, and poorer countries will be looking for a boost to the finance being made available to help them develop cleanly.The ultra-conservative and anti-immigration Vox has stormed into the Andalucian assembly, marking the first time a far-right party has achieved parliamentary representation on any level in Spain's recent history as a democracy.

The party, which favours the end of autonomy in Catalonia and the expulsion of all immigrants who entered Spain illegally, won 12 out of 109 seats in Andalucia's parliament with 11pc of the vote in the regional election.

"Vox was the party that led the political debate," said the party's secretary general, Javier Ortega. "We put on the table the need to control our borders and end illegal immigration, end abusive levels of taxation and put an end to ideological laws on gender."

Despite running out the narrow winner in the region it has ruled continuously for 36 years, the PSOE Socialist party of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez suffered a hugely disappointing result in Andalucia. The party's all-time low of 28pc and 33 seats mean it will not be able to govern with a majority, even with the support of the left-wing coalition Adelante Andalucia.

Spain's main conservative opposition force, the Popular Party (PP), also lost ground, sliding to just under 21pc, while the liberal Ciudadanos was the only winner among the established parties, doubling its share to 18pc.

Ahead of European and possibly a general election in 2019, Spain's political scene appears more fractured than ever after the dramatic emergence of Vox on the extreme right.

Despite having seen its number of seats shorn from 33 to 26, the PP's candidate for the presidency of the region, Juan Manuel Moreno, said it was a "historic day" on which "Andalucia had chosen change", saying he wants to lead a right-of-centre coalition including Vox and Ciudadanos.

"Ahead of this election we proposed change, now we guarantee change," Mr Moreno told PP members in Seville.

Ciudadanos' leader in Andalucia Juan Marin echoed the PP's message. "There is a majority in the parliament for change; change has arrived in Andalucia," Mr Marin said.

Andalucian President Susana Diaz blamed a low turnout of 59pc for her Socialist party's small margin of victory, and said: "I call on all the other political parties who consider themselves defenders of our democratic constitution to brake the extreme right." ( Daily Telegraph, London)A terrified daughter trapped in the Grenfell Tower fire ended a final phone call with her mother so she would not hear her screaming as she died, an inquiry heard.

Emanuela Disaro received a series of calls from her daughter, Gloria Trevisan, who was trapped on the top floor of the high-rise with her boyfriend Marco Gottardi, 27.

As the fire worsened, the 26-year-old architect went through "panic, terror, concern, awareness and then resignation" as she realised crews had "stopped trying to go up", her mother said.

Her last phone call came at 3.45am and lasted for 22 minutes, Ms Disaro said.

In a written statement to the public inquiry into the blaze, Ms Disaro said: "I realised at this point that there was no hope.

"Gloria told me 'I'm throwing myself out of the window, I swear to you the fire is here, it's in the sitting room, the fire is everywhere, we're just waiting'.

Ms Disaro recalled how Gloria told her: "I don't believe it's ending like this, I don't want to believe it."

She continued: "At a certain point she told me fire was coming through the window. She wanted to stop the call.

"I said: 'No, I don't want you to, I want you to pass me Marco'.

"Gloria said 'Marco is on the phone with his dad'. I told her I felt powerless. She continued to say she couldn't breathe.

"She told me again what she felt for us and that we have to say goodbye and we had to be strong.

"At that point Gloria said she was cutting off the phone because she didn't want me to hear anything and she said goodbye to us,

"She wanted to cut off the phone because she didn't want me to hear her scream. She said she just wanted to faint and she wouldn't feel anything and said 'I just want to stay with Marco now'."

Gloria and Marco came to England from Italy in March 2017, moving into the top floor of Grenfell Tower the following month.

They were among 72 people who died as a result of the fire on June 14 last year.

The couple had attempted to escape via the roof of the tower, but were blocked by a locked gate, Ms Disaro said.

At one point, she recalled advising her "extremely afraid, really terrified" daughter to put her documents in her pocket so the emergency services would be able to identify her if she did try to go down the stairs.

She said: "In this day and age, I don't understand how Gloria and Marco couldn't have got out of the building in the hour-and-a-half they had from when they were woken up."

Gloria's father, Loris Trevisan, agreed that "there was enough time to get out".

Mr Trevisan said he considered suicide when he first saw footage of the burning tower on Sky News.

He said: "I was devastated. I wanted to die, if I had a gun, I would have killed myself."

Gloria's body was flown home to Italy on July 18, with the funeral taking place the following day.

Her father added: "My life stopped there. I do not live anymore."The Israeli military says it has launched an operation meant to expose and thwart tunnels built by Hezbollah (AP)

The Israeli military has launched an operation meant to expose and thwart tunnels built by the Hezbollah militant group and stretching from Lebanon into northern Israel.

The military says the tunnels are not operational and that its work to expose them, which began on Tuesday, was taking place in Israeli territory.

Officers did not disclose how many tunnels snake into Israeli territory from Lebanon or how long the operation would last.

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Israel views the Iranian-backed Hezbollah and its vast weapons cache as a major threat. The two fought an inconclusive, month-long war in 2006.

The Israeli operation comes hours after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a last-minute trip to Brussels to meet US secretary of state Mike Pompeo.

Lt Col Jonathan Conricus, an Israeli military spokesman, said: We see Hezbollahs activities as a flagrant and blatant violation of Israeli sovereignty and of UN resolutions.

This activity is another example of the negative effects of Iranian entrenchment in the region.

Israel has spent years attempting to tackle a network of tunnels from the Gaza Strip into Israel and has used a variety of methods to destroy tunnels and prevent them from being rebuilt.

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A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops and military intelligence agents, along with UN peacekeepers deployed in southern Lebanon, were observing the border on Tuesday.

Israel has been using bulldozers and other large machinery to build a massive wall along its northern border, saying the barrier is needed to protect civilians from Hezbollah attacks.

While the construction has prompted complaints from the Lebanese army, Hezbollah has not responded, an indication it could remain restrained amid the new operation.

Israel, meanwhile, gave no special orders to residents of northern Israel, signalling that it was not expecting an immediate response from Hezbollah.

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The existence of the tunnels did not appear to have surprised Israel. Lt Col Conricus said Hezbollah has been developing an offensive plan against Israel that would shift the battleground into Israel.

The group would use firepower and ground units and the surprise component of that plan was supposed to be tunnels that would allow infiltrators into Israel.

He added that Israel has investigated the possibility of underground Hezbollah tunnels since 2013 and launched a task force which has been working for the last two years searching for them.

Israel has long voiced concern about Irans growing military presence along its northern border, warning of an Iranian corridor that could assist in the transfer of weapons to Hezbollah. Israel has generally refrained from engaging in Syrias civil war, though it has carried out scores of air strikes against what Israel says were Iranian shipments of advanced weapons bound for Hezbollah.

The operation comes weeks after Mr Netanyahu faced a major crisis in his governing coalition over the handling of a ceasefire with Gaza militants.

Amid the crisis he took on the defence portfolio from his resigning minister and promised to pursue a hard line against Israels enemies during what he described as a complex security situation.Russian President Vladimir Putin is unruffled by the refusal of US President Donald Trump to have a meeting with him on the sidelines of the G20 summit, the Kremlin has insisted.

The two leaders had been scheduled to have talks during the summit in Buenos Aires but Mr Trump abruptly cancelled the encounter following Russias seizure of three Ukrainian naval vessels and their crews.

Mr Putins foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said the Russian leader did not feel insulted, but added that the Kremlin regrets the cancellation in view of the numerous issues that require discussion.

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No, we didnt feel hurt, but we express our regret, he told reporters.

Mr Ushakov noted that Mr Putin and Mr Trump spoke informally for about 10-15 minutes during a G20 dinner, discussing the November 25 naval incident and the broader situation in Ukraine.

He added that the possibility of Mr Putins future trip to Washington was not discussed.

Russia-US ties have sunk to post-Cold War lows over the Ukrainian crisis, the war in Syria, the allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election and other irritants.

Mr Ushakov pointed out that Moscow and Washington maintained a dialogue even at the height of the Cold War.

That didnt impede having a serious talk and achieving serious results in the strategic stability and security sphere, he said.

Mr Ushakov said that it is up to Washington to organise a possible future meeting.

The Russian side is ready for dialogue and considers the high-level contact very important, but we arent going to beg the US side and obtrude, he said. Now everything depends on the Americans.President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump are greeted by former president George Bush and former first lady Laura Bush (Andrew Harnik/AP)

President Donald Trump has visited the family of former president George HW Bush who has died.

Mr Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrived by motorcade at Blair House on Tuesday.

It is the official government guest house across from the White House where Mr Bushs son former president George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, are staying for the elder Bushs state funeral this week.

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The Bushes descended a short staircase to greet the Trumps before everyone went inside for the private visit.

Mr Trump put his hand on George W. Bushs back a couple of times.

Mr Trump tweeted earlier on Tuesday that he was Looking forward to being with the wonderful Bush family at Blair House today.

Mr Trump has not always said the kindest things about the Bush family, and some of the Bushes have publicly criticised Mr Trump.US senators leaving a briefing with CIA director Gina Haspel have said they are even more convinced that Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman was involved in the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker said he believes if the crown prince were put on trial, a jury would find him guilty in about 30 minutes.

Senator Lindsey Graham, who demanded the briefing with Ms Haspel, said there is zero chance the crown prince was not involved in Mr Khashoggis death.

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Theres not a smoking gun. Theres a smoking saw, Mr Graham said, referring to reports from the Turkish government that said Saudi agents used a bone saw to dismember Mr Khashoggi after he was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Mr Graham said you have to be wilfully blind not to conclude that this was orchestrated and organised by people under the crown princes command.

But President Donald Trump has equivocated over who is to blame for the killing, frustrating senators who are now looking for ways to punish the longtime Middle East ally.

Senators overwhelmingly voted last week to move forward on a resolution curtailing US backing for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

It was unclear whether or how that resolution will move forward.

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The vote last week set up debate on the measure, which could happen as soon as next week, but senators are still in negotiations on whether to amend it and what it should say.

Ms Haspel met with a small group of senators, including the chairmen and top Democrats on the key national security committees, after senators in both parties complained that she did not attend a briefing with US secretary of state Mike Pompeo and US defence secretary Jim Mattis last week.

Mr Pompeo and Mr Mattis tried to dissuade senators from punishing Saudi Arabia with the resolution, saying US involvement in the Yemen conflict is central to the Trump administrations broader goal of containing Iranian influence in the Middle East.

Human rights groups say the war is wreaking havoc on the country and subjecting civilians to indiscriminate bombing.

The two men also echoed Mr Trumps reluctance to blame the crown prince.

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Mr Pompeo said there was no direct reporting connecting the crown prince to the murder, and Mr Mattis said there was no smoking gun making the connection.

After that briefing, Mr Graham threatened to withhold his vote on key legislation until he heard from Haspel.

Im not going to blow past this, he said.

That afternoon, senators frustrated with the briefing and the lack of response to Mr Khashoggis killing overwhelmingly voted to move forward with consideration of the Yemen resolution, 63-37.

Mr Khashoggi was killed two months ago.

The journalist, who had lived for a time in the US and wrote for The Washington Post, had been critical of the Saudi regime.

He was killed in what US officials have described as an elaborate plot as he visited the consulate for marriage paperwork.

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US intelligence officials have concluded that the crown prince must have at least known of the plot, but Mr Trump has been reluctant to pin the blame.

He has touted Saudi arms deals worth billions of dollars to the US and recently thanked Saudi Arabia for plunging oil prices.

In a column for the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, Mr Graham wrote that the killing and other moves by the Saudi regime showed astounding arrogance entitlement and disregard for international norms.

We are a coequal branch of government exercising leadership to safeguard the countrys long-term interests, values and reputation, wrote Mr Graham, a frequent ally of the president.Mr Gehlot made the remark when media asked him who would be the chief minister if the party won.

New Delhi/Hanumangarh: Stepping up his attack on the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday alleged that Kartarpur went to Pakistan at the time of Independence because the partys leaders of that time had no vision and did not respect Sikh sentiments.

Addressing election rallies in Rajsathan, Mr Modi accused the then Congress leadership of lacking in vision and sensitivity towards one of the holiest Sikh shrines, and said the Congress was in power for 70 years but made no arrangements for prayers to be offered at Kartarpur Sahib, which is barely three kilometres from the Indian border.

Referring to the recent opening of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor across the India-Pakistan border, Mr Modi said, Why did Congress leaders commit such big mistake and injustice? Correcting Congress mistakes is my destiny. But the credit for this goes to your one vote and not to Modi. Dont underestimate value of your vote.

They (Congress leaders) could not see anything beyond the Rajgaddi so Kartarpura went into Pakistan. The credit of the Kartarpur corridor goes to your vote, he said.

The Indian government recently approved development of the Kartarpur corridor and the Pakistan government responded almost immediately, saying that it too had decided to open the corridor that will connect Dera Baba Nanak village in Gurdaspur to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Pakistan.

The Prime Minister also latched onto Congress president Rahul Gandhis Bharat Mata Ki Jai barb at him, saying he would recite the slogan 10 times in the presence of lakhs of people.

Congress has a naamdaar. That naamdaar iss-ued a fatwa today, that Modiji should not start election rallies with Bh-arat Mata ki Jai. Ther-efore, I, today in the presence of lakhs of people here, crushed his fatwa and said Bharat Mata ki Jai ten times, he said at a rally in Sikar district of poll-bound Rajasthan

You (Gandhi) should be ashamed for this. Freedom fighters embraced death by saying Bharat Mata ki Jai. Our soldiers carry out surgical strikes and say Bharat Mata ki Jai. You are insulting Bharat Mata, he said.

Earlier in the day, during a rally in Alwar district, Mr Gandhi said the PM recites Bharat Mata ki Jai in all his election rallies, but works for industrialist Anil Ambani.

In every address, he says Bharat Mata ki Jai and works for Anil Ambani. He should begin his address by saying Anil Ambani ki Jai, Mehul Choksi ki Jai, Nirav Modi ki Jai and Lalit Modi ki Jai, Mr Gandhi said.

Mr Gandhi added that Bharat Mata means the entire country, farmers, sentiments of crores of youths, women and labourers.

Mr Modi also hit out at former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlots reported remark of who knows who will become crorepati, saying it reflected the real intention of Congress party.

Mr Gehlot made the remark when media asked him who would be the chief minister if the party won.

Holding Congress responsible for all the problems prevailing in the country, the Prime Minister said people should not allow the party to enter Rajasthan for centuries.

He also said that the Rahul Gandhi-led party gave tickets to family members of those lodged in jail in rape cases and women and girls should not give vote to Congress.

He was apparently referring to Mahipal Maderna, who was a minister in Mr Gehlots Cabinet, and former MLA Malkhan Bishnoi. They are facing trial in the notorious Bhanwari Devi abduction and murder case in Jodhpur.

The Congress has given ticket to Madernas daughter Divya Maderna from Osian and Bishnois son Mahendra Bishnoi from Luni seat in Jodhpur for the upcoming state polls.

Cornering the Opposition party on the issues of farmers, Mr Modi said the UPA dispensation had promised loan waiver and returned to power in 2009 Lok Sabha polls, but only Rs 58,000 crore out of the total loan amount of Rs 6 lakh crore was waived off.

Alleging that the Congress looted and destroyed banks, the PM said a loss-making steel company was given loan after a call by Naamdaar and the money went to a fake company that existed only on papers, and that fake company purchased land in Rajasthan and transferred them to a relative of Naamdaar.

The rates of the land increased seven times in just two years, he said.

The comments apparently hint at the land purchased by the company of Priyanka Gandhis husband Robert Vadra in Bikaner.

Rajasthan goes to polls on December 7.The Quapaw Nation continues to move forward with plans for a commercial casino in Arkansas.

The tribe's Downstream Development Authority has been endorsed as the operator for a new facility in Jefferson County. The area was once home to the Quapaw people and Chief Saracen was laid to rest there in 1832 at the age of 97.

As the original homeland for the Quapaw Nation, we believe we have an obligation to the region to be good corporate citizens, Chairman John Berrey said in a press release on Monday. This casino resort will be a source of pride for the community. It will create hundreds of jobs and generate millions of dollars in taxes that will help improve the city's and countys infrastructure and quality of life.

The Saracen Casino Resort would be named after the late chief. Though the Arkansas Racing Commission must still award the license for the project, Berrey believes it could be open by late 2019.

The casino in Jefferson County was authorized by voters through Issue 4 on the November 6 ballot. The initiative passed with 55 percent of the vote.

The Quapaw Nation and the Cherokee Nation were the two primary financial backers of the Driving Arkansas Forward campaign. They spent nearly $6 million on the effort.

Issue 4 authorized a total of four casinos in Arkansas. Two would be located at existing racetracks.

Both tribes operate casinos in neighboring Oklahoma.

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Related StoriesUnited States Amicus Brief in Supreme Court Case Admits Genocide Efforts Against Native Nations

By Peter dErrico

Of all the legal briefs filed in the current U.S. Supreme Court case of Carpenter v. Murphy , the most startling is the United States amicus brief in support of Oklahoma

The brief argues that Native reservation lands no longer exist in the territory that became the state of Oklahoma. As the basis of this argument, the brief presents a history of intentional genocide actions against Native Nations by the federal government.

In short, the U.S. amicus brief not only admits historical attempts at genocide but argues that the results of genocide are legal today and should be extended!

Carpenter v. Murphy raises the question whether Creek Nation reservation lands still exist under U.S. federal Indian law. Patrick Murphy argues that they do, and that Oklahoma has no jurisdiction to try him for murder committed on Creek lands.

Murphy relies on Supreme Court precedents to argue that the Major Crimes Act requires federal prosecution of murder on Indian reservations. Oklahoma state penitentiary warden Mike Carpenter says the state has to have jurisdiction over Creek lands because they include half the area designated as the state of Oklahoma.

One might expect the U.S. to support the Native position as part of its so-called federal Indian law trust responsibility. But the U.S. amicus brief in this case supports Oklahoma. It argues that the Five Tribes (Creeks, Cherokees, Chickasaws, Choctaws, and Seminoles) lands were incorporated into the state.

The brief describes the history of federal actions against these Native Nations in a series of sentences that start with the notion of transformation and move through dismantle to abolish and extinguish: Congress undertook the transformation of the Indian Territory through a series of statutes passed between 1890 and 1907. [which] clearly demonstrate congressional intent to dismantle the Creek Nations historic territory. The congressional intent was abolishing, if possible, the tribal organizations, and allotting the land in severalty.  Congress envisioned that the [statutes] would overthrow  the communal system of land ownership and extinguish the tribal titles.

The U.S. brief goes into detail about the attempted disestablishment of the Creek Nation: Congress broke up the Creek Nations territory, substituting individual for communal ownership and distributing the proceeds to individual Indians; made members of the Creek Nation citizens of the United States; eliminated the Creek Nations tribal courts; provided for the dissolution of the tribal government, divestment of tribal property, and distribution of tribal funds. Congress determined that change was imperatively demanded and that it required breaking up the Creek Nations lands and establish[ing] a government over [non-Indians] and Indians of [the Indian] Territory in accordance with the principles of our constitution and laws.

Lets be clear here. My use of the word genocide to characterize these U.S actions follows the precise meaning of genocide, as defined by Raphael Lemkin, the international lawyer who coined the word and brought it to bear in international law. Lemkin was later an advisor to Nuremberg War Crimes Chief Prosecutor (and U.S. Supreme Court Justice) Robert H. Jackson, to guide the trials of Nazis accused of genocide. In short, Lemkins work on genocide is of major significance.

Lemkin began developing the concept at a 1933 conference in Madrid, in a special report titled, Acts Constituting a General (Transnational) Danger Considered as Offences Against the Law of Nations. He said these offenses include acts of extermination directed against the ethnic, religious or social collectivities whatever the motive (political, religious, etc.). He said such acts include not only massacres and pogroms, but actions undertaken to ruin the economic existenceof a collectivity.

Lemkins 1944 publication for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace was the first place where the word genocide appeared in print. There he wrote, By genocide we mean the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group.  genocide [means] a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves. The objectives of such a plan would be disintegration of the political and social institutions, of culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the economic existence of national groups. Genocide is directed against the national group as an entity.

He added: Genocide has two phases: one, destruction of the national pattern of the oppressed group; the other, the imposition of the national pattern of the oppressor. This imposition, in turn, may be made upon the oppressed population which is allowed to remain or upon the territory alone, after removal of the population and the colonization by the oppressor's own nationals.

The Muscogee (Creek) Nation held the 15th Annual Trail of Tears Commemorative Walk in Mt. Juliet and Woodbury in Tennessee in September 2018. The tribe was removed from its homelands in the southeast U.S. by the federal government in what is known as the Trail of Tears. Photo: MCN Public Relations

The definition of genocide thus applies to both the original U.S. removal of Creek and other Native Nations from their homelands and subsequent U.S. efforts to extinguish them as Nations and force them under the domination of an outside power. The U.S. brief in Carpenter v. Murphy admits to all these actions.

The brief says, Congresss goal was not simply to open Indian lands to non-Indian settlement, but rather to clos[e] the history of these [Indian] nations. The object of Congress from the beginning has been the dissolution of the tribal governments, the extinguishment of the communal or tribal title to the land, the vesting of possession and title in severalty among the citizens of the tribes, and the assimilation of the peoples and institutions of this Territory to our prevailing American standard.

You must remember that after the Creek Nation were forcibly removed from their homelands under the U.S. Indian Removal program, the Creek Treaty of 1833 specified that the Creek Nation would hold their new lands in fee simplewith the right of perpetual self-government.

In other words, the Treaty guaranteed they would hold the lands permanently and absolutely; they would never be subject to the laws of a state and their lands would never be part of a state. In violating that Treaty, the U.S. compounded the first genocide effort with a second.

The amicus brief admits that the Creek Nation understood the U.S. statutes as attempts at genocide: The Creek Nation recognized that Congress intended to disestablish its historic territory. In 1893, a Creek Chief observed that Congresss unwavering aim was to wipe out the line of political distinction between an Indian citizen and other citizens of the Republic so that the tribal governments could be absorbed and become a part of the United States.  The Creek Nation objected to Congresss proposed disintegrating of the land of our people so that it could be transformed into a State of the Union, which would mean the civil death of the Muscogee Nation. The Creek sought  to preserve unimpaired their chief safeguard, the national title to the land patented to us.

At least one U.S. political figure also understood what was going on. The brief quotes Tennessee Senator William Bate as saying the U.S. was sweep[ing] all the laws of the Indians away, all their courts of justice, all their juries, all their local officers, and all the rights they have under [their] treaties.  [W]e go along and encroach upon them inch by inch, Congress after Congress, until at last you have got to the main redoubt, and here it is destroyed.

We shall see in Carpenter v. Murphy whether the U.S. Supreme Court will accept and approve of U.S. genocide. The U.S. amicus brief sets up the question.

Indian Country Briefs in Carpenter v. Murphy

10th Circuit Court of Appeals Decision

Peter dErrico graduated from Yale Law School in 1968. He was Staff attorney in Dinebeiina Nahiina be Aghadiitahii Navajo Legal Services, 1968-1970, in Shiprock. He taught Legal Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1970-2002. He is a consulting attorney on Indigenous issues.

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Related StoriesRanveer Singh and Deepika Padukone's Mumbai reception was a Bollywood-Gala night with almost everyone from the industry present there to celebrate love!

The night also turned out to be a night of reunions for many stars. From Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi's Mini Munnabhai reunion to Madhuri Dixit and SRK's sweet reunion, the night turned out to be an epic one for innumerable reasons.

One picture that has started doing rounds on the internet and is getting a lot of love is of SRK, Madhuri Dixit and their Devdas Director Bhansali.

Pinterest

The trio had teamed up for 2002 film Devdas and the team met again at the DeepVeer reception, where they posed for a picture.

Madhuri took to her social media account to share the picture. She wrote,

"My Favourites in single frame"[sic] The picture is full of warmth and everyone smiling and enjoying the reunion.

This picture turned out to be pure-gold and fans started pouring a lot of love. Now everyone wants the trio to team up again for a film and we want to echo similar thoughts!Films with social messages become a great source of inspiration for many and we have seen a lot of instances.

And now, Akshay Kumars film Padman which raised awareness about menstrual hygiene inspired a 13-year-old Dubai-based girl to do something really phenomenal. According to agency reports, the Dubai teen has adopted 250 girls from rural Maharashtra and donated sanitary napkins to them.

Twitter

Riva Tulpule, whose family hails from Maharashtra, managed to collect funds for the cause in Dubai in the last couple of months.

Screengrab

Reports further claim that she flew down to India last week and distributed about one-year stock of sanitary pads to girls from schools in Sahapur taluka on Saturday.

She was quoted in a PTI report as saying,

Amar Ujala

I saw Padman some months back and came to know about problems faced by girls during the days of their periods. I immediately decided to do something for girls living in villages in India, especially Maharashtra."

The Class 8 student said she also discussed her idea with Konkan Graduates constituency MLC Niranjan Davkhare during his visit to Dubai, and he encouraged her to take it forward.

Talking about the same, Riva added how around Diwali time, she appealed to people in Dubai to donate money for the cause and within a short span. She managed enough sum to buy sanitary pads for 250 girls, she said. The napkins were distributed by the teenager at a function organised by Davkhares NGO Samanvay Pratishthan, which works for social causes.

Davkhare appreciated the girls efforts to raise awareness about menstrual hygiene. The report was confirmed after a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator said in a tweet,

Riva Tulpule a 8th Standard student from Dubai, this Diwali decided to do something special & took up an initiative to adopt 250 girls from rural Maharashtra and support them with a full year of Sanitary PadsAn epitome of grace, tolerance, and positivity, Sonali Bendre is a woman who has inspired many of us with her zeal.

Bendre, who was in New York for cancer treatment since five months managed to put up a brave fight. From embracing the uncertainty of life to being patient, her traits are definitely aspirational and inspirational.

PTI

On Monday, Bendre landed back in Mumbai and was accompanied by her husband Goldie. She posed for paps as they welcomed the actress with a smile on their faces. Navbharat Times report also quoted Goldie as saying,

PTI

Sabhi ka bahot bahot shukriya. Kareeb 6 mahine ho chuke hain, main sabko batana chahta hoon ki ab Sonali theekh hain, woh achchi tarah recover kar rahin hain. Main unke sabhi fans aur chaahne walon ka shukriya karta hoon, jinn ke pyar, prayer aur support se woh swasthh ho gayin hain (Thank you. After six months, I would like to mention that Sonali is doing fine and is recovering well. I want to thank all her fans and well-wishers, whose love, prayers and support have been critical to her path to good health.)

After returning back home, Sonali's friends came to meet her. But one reunion that will warm the cockles of your heart is how she reunited with one of her furry friends.

Sharing it as an Instagram story, Sonali wrote: Reunited, Little Miss Joy.

Instagram Screengrab

Before leaving for home, Sonali wrote a heartwarming note from New York, where she mentioned how distance indeed made her heart stronger and long for her loved ones even more.

In her note, Sonali also mentioned how her battle with cancer is yet to be over but she will be resilient and strong, as always. More power to her.

(Also read: Sonali Bendre Returns To India With A Brave Smile, Says Battle With Cancer Is Not Over Yet)If you suffer from diabetes or know of someone suffering from it, you know by now how hard it is to digest the fact that you wont be allowed to eat the things that you may love so much including foods such as sweets and carbs. Well, heres a little bonus every diabetic patient will enjoy.

Turns out, alcohol consumption may attenuate long-term weight loss in adults with Type 2 diabetes.

Verywell Mind

It was earlier noted that losing weight can help prevent or delay the onset of diabetes. While the best practice for weight loss often includes decreasing or eliminating calories from alcohol, few studies examined whether people who undergo weight loss treatment report changes in alcohol intake and whether alcohol influences their weight loss.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania suggested that while alcohol consumption is not associated with short-term weight loss during a lifestyle intervention, it is associated with long-term weight loss in people with overweight or obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

Healthline

The study also revealed that heavy drinkers were also less likely to lose too much weight in the long run.

"This study indicates that while alcohol consumption is not associated with short-term weight loss during a lifestyle intervention, it is associated with worse long-term weight loss in participants with overweight or obesity and Type 2 diabetes," says lead investigator Ariana M. Chao, PhD, CRNP, Assistant Professor of Nursing in the Department of Biobehavioral Health Sciences.

"Patients with Type 2 diabetes who are trying to lose weight should be encouraged to limit alcohol consumption." adds Chao.

pharmacy2u

"Patients with Type 2 diabetes who are trying to lose weight should be encouraged to limit alcohol consumption." adds Chao.Mr Ranes family, including Congress MLA Nitesh Rane, was also present.

Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar met senior leader and member of Parliament Narayan Rane at the latters residence in Kankavali, Sindhu-durg. Mr Pawar is on a two-day visit of Sindhudurg, where he met Mr Rane over lunch. Although both sides are claiming that the meeting was non-political, there is buzz about Mr Rane joining hands with the opposition parties ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Mr Ranes family, including Congress MLA Nitesh Rane, was also present.

Mr Rane left the Congress a year ago and formed his own party, Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksha. He was eyeing a cabinet ministry in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led state government. But another partner and Mr Ranes former party, Shiv Sena, opposed his induction. Finally, Mr Rane was given a Rajya Sabha seat from the BJP quota.

It was assumed that the Sena and BJP would contest Lok Sabha polls independently, given the formers strong anti-BJP stand. In recent times however, the patch-up between the ruling allies is in the works. In the event BJP and Sena had contested independently, Mr Rane was looking to contest the LS elections, which is not possible if the two parties form an alliance.

On the other hand, the Congress and NCP do not have a strong candidate to field in Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha constituency So, Mr Pawar is trying to bring Mr Rane into his camp ahead of the general election. The Monday meeting is being perceived as part of this strategy.Uttar Pradesh has often come under fire for crumbling law and order situation where miscreants have created a ruckus that involved lynchings, protests, firing and damaging public property.

Cow slaughter in India is a sensitive issue and from time to time Hindu fringe groups have targeted labourers or anonymous men on suspicion of trading or transporting beef. In another disturbing incident, a police inspector and a protester was killed in a clash in Bulandshahr's Syana on Monday.

A furious group of people were protesting against illegal cow slaughter and when the police tried to disperse them, inspector Subodh Kumar Singh was injured with a blunt object due to which he later succumbed to his injuries. In a coincidence, Singh was also the investigative officer in Mohammad Akhlaq lynching case and was instrumental in getting meat samples to the lab on time, DNA India reported.

Photo: Twitter/ Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh who was killed in a protest in Bulandshahar

Press Trust of India reported that locals came across the remains of a cow and its progeny in a jungle in the Mahaw village. Enraged by this incident villagers loaded the animals carcass onto a trolley and took it to a police station demanding action. They had also blocked the Bulandshahr-Garh highway.

Inspector Subodh kumar singh sacrificed his life to uphold law & order in the district.

With his demise, we have lost one of our finest officers who will always be alive in our hearts as our hero.

Our condolences for his family members & prayers for the noble soul. #UPPolice pic.twitter.com/8azl0Hzlk3  UP POLICE (@Uppolice) December 3, 2018

Senior police officers reached the site of protest to take control of the situation however, the protesters instead started attacking the police officers with stones.It was also reported that the men even fired bullets at the officers.

Chilling murder of Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh caught on camera. His vehicle was cornered in the middle of a field in Syana area in Bulandshahr and was attacked by angry protestors. @Uppolice pic.twitter.com/m17P4FtAfr  Piyush Rai (@PiyushRaiTOI) December 3, 2018

A police van was also set on fire. In the melee that ensued, a young protester got killed. The civilian was identified as a 20-year-old Sumit, the Indian Express reported. Uttar Pradesh Police's Additional Director General (ADG) of law and order, Anand Kumar also said that a probe was underway to find out who had shot him.

Meanwhile, the driver of Subodh Singh said that he made every effort to take his officer to the hospital but indiscriminate firing from a group of men forced him to abandon the jeep and seek his own safety, TOI reported.

BRK: Driver of the police jeep says he first tried to save his boss and injured inspector Subodh Kumar Singh by taking the vehicle near a tree but indiscriminate firing by assailants forced him to run for a cover in #Bulandshahar incident pic.twitter.com/cW7OHrQ1FH  Rohan Dua (@rohanduaTOI) December 3, 2018

My boss was lying unconscious near a boundary wall. I lifted him up and put him inside the police jeep. But moments after I began driving, a group of men started pelting the jeep with stones and began firing at us. said Ram Ashray, the driver.

Further adding that he had to abandon the jeep to save himself. The U.P government has set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to look into the matter.

BRK: @Uppolice ADG (law and order) Anand Kumar on post mortem(PM) of cop Subodh Kumar who died in #BulandshaharViolence #BulandshahrRiots

PM has confirmed gun shot to Singh in addition to injuries sustained by hard & blunt object. Bullet near left eyebrow. As per PM, .32 bore pic.twitter.com/mP3iiH0gDM  Rohan Dua (@rohanduaTOI) December 3, 2018

The Indian Express reported that U.P Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath had announced an assistance of Rs 50 lakh for family members of the inspector, who died in the violence in Bulandshahr. Out of these, while Rs 40 lakh would be given to his wife, Rs 10 lakh would be given to his parents.

Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, a proud Hindu, a dedicated police official, a loving family man has been murdered in cold blood by Right Wing saffron terrorists in a planned ambush. #RIP#Bulandshahr pic.twitter.com/ey8mA2txcu  Anti Fascist Ranga (@RangaSiyaar1) December 3, 2018

#Bulandshahr: Wife of martyred @bulandshahrpol

SI Subodh Kumar Singh crying inconsolable after his dead body reached the home, 2 people killed for what????? Two families lost their love ones for what??!? pic.twitter.com/Q5c26ZKGGh  Irony Of India (@IronyOfIndia_) December 3, 2018Kerala High Court has imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on BJP state general secretary, Sobha Surendran, for raising baseless allegations in the petition. In the PIL, Sobha alleged that the state police were harassing the devotees in Sabarimala.

She later apologised in the court and withdrew the petition.

The court observed that the petition was "baseless" and for "seeking publicity".

The court even asked Sobhas lawyer if the petition was filed as a publicity stunt.

Drawing ire from the bench of chief justice, Surendran's lawyer expressed desire to withdraw the petition.Uttar Pradesh police inspector, Subodh Kumar Singh who was killed by an uncontrollable mob in Bulandhshahr on Monday has left his family members inconsolable.

Singh who is survived by his two sons and a wife was killed using a blunt object by one of the protesters over alleged cow slaughter. Singhs driver told TOI that he tried to take his master to the hospital but the moment he was put inside the car, the protesters started pelting stones and he had to flee the location to save himself.

Abhishek one of the brothers told news agency ANI, My father wanted me to be a good citizen who doesn't incite violence in society in the name of religion. Today my father lost his life in this Hindu-Muslim dispute, tomorrow whose father will lose his life?

In the last conversation he had with his father Abhishek said that he was advised by him to work on his weak subjects and asked him to focus more on those in which he had scored low marks, NDTV reported.

Abhishek, son of deceased policeman Subodh Kumar Singh: My father wanted me to be a good citizen who doesn't incite violence in society in the name of religion. Today my father lost his life in this Hindu-Muslim dispute, tomorrow whose father will lose his life? #Bulandshahr pic.twitter.com/zpFJoI4O2R  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) December 4, 2018

Her wife said that her husband worked with utter honesty and took all the responsibility on himself. This was not the first incident and that he had suffered bullet injury twice. However, nobody was giving him justice. Justice will be done only if his killers are killed, she further added.

Sister of Policeman Subodh Singh:My brother was investigating Akhlaq case&that is why he was killed,its a conspiracy by Police.He should be declared martyr and memorial should be built. We do not want money. CM only keeps saying cow cow cow. #Bulandshahr pic.twitter.com/ohILXKCj3w  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) December 4, 2018

While Singhs sister was quoted as saying to ANI, My brother was investigating Akhlaq case and that is why he was killed,its a conspiracy by Police.He should be declared martyr and memorial should be built. We do not want money. CM only keeps saying cow cow cow..

Mortal remains of Police Inspector Subodh Singh(who died after being attacked by people protesting over alleged cow slaughter) brought to his residence in Etah. #Bulandshahr pic.twitter.com/0gLqt6xJsp  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) December 4, 2018

Meanwhile, the inspectors remains were brought to his residence in Etah where family and police personnel paid their last tribute to him. ADG Law and Order, Anand Kumar further said that four persons had been arrested in this case and the main accused has been identified as Yogesh Raj who hasnt been arrested until now.The Syrian conflict has been often described as the worst man-made disaster since World War II, and the uprising-turned global war in its seventh year is far from over. Seven years of violence has killed more than half a million children, women and men.

The United Nations has estimated that the war has forced close to five million people flee the country. An entire generation of Syrian children has either been pushed out of school or forced to cope with broken up curriculum, make-shift classrooms or unqualified teachers.

According to UNICEF, 2016 was the worst year yet for Syrian children. Nearly three million children - the UN estimated number of the Syrians born since the crisis began - know nothing, but war.

The healthcare system in the country is in tatters and more than four-fifth of the population now lives in poverty. All of this and theres no end in sight.

To raise the awareness about the war-ravaged lives in Syria, an Istanbul-based artist Ugur Gallenkus created a digital collage series, showing the blunt disparity between the lives in destructive and chaotic Middle East and Western Countries.

Describing himself as one of those politicians dont like, Gallenkus says the world has lived centuries of oppression, war and hunger due to varied reasons.

The dismal condition of refugees, who fled the Syrian war and went to Europe in search of peace and security drowned in the Mediterranean Sea, moved me to produce my first series of artwork. Four million refugees from Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria live in Turkey and they all want to reach Europe, Gallenkus told Indiatimes.

For long, art has been used to communicate sensitive issues around the world. Gallenkus' thought-provoking work offers an insight that how different are our lives from those who are in constant search for shelter and making every effort to stay alive.

Turkey is located next door to one of the most dangerous regions of the modern world. The contrast between these two territories reflect two different worlds.

Instagram/UgurgAllen

The lives of children are immensely affected by war. In one split image, you see a girl dressed as Wonder Woman and in the other, a girl is covered in blood and bandages, the symbols of her traumatic life.

Instagram/UgurgAllen

Earlier Journalism had a key role to play in spreading the word about problems of the world, Gallenkus told Indiatimes. The forms of communication have changed now. Social media and visual media have helped in quick and effective communication. Art gives you the message that may not be as impactful in words. Art is the master of language. It will not solve problems but it will raise awareness that will lead communities to awakening.

Instagram/UgurgAllen

The images, as disturbing as they are, reflect the true picture of the war and the suffering that people endure. As an artist, Gallenkus believes it is important to raise consciousness of whats going on in other parts of the world.

Citing a quote by the founder of modern Turkey Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Gallenkus believes in 'Peace at home, peace in the world. I wish a world of peace'.

You can find more of Gallenkus work on Instagram.Dutch motivational speaker Emile Ratelband may feel like a 49-year-old but according to Dutch law he is still 69.

A Dutch court on Monday rejected Ratelband's request to shave 20 years off his age in a case that drew worldwide attention.

"Mr. Ratelband is at liberty to feel 20 years younger than his real age and to act accordingly," Arnhem court said in a press statement . "But amending his date of birth would cause 20 years of records to vanish from the register of births, deaths, marriages and registered partnerships. This would have a variety of undesirable legal and societal implications."

AFP

Ratelband went to court last month, arguing that he didn't feel 69 and saying his request was consistent with other forms of personal transformation which are gaining acceptance in the Netherlands and around the world, such as the ability to change one's name or gender.

But in a written ruling, the court said Dutch law assigns rights and obligations based on age "such as the right to vote and the duty to attend school. If Mr. Ratelband's request was allowed, those age requirements would become meaningless."

AFP

The court said it acknowledged "a trend in society for people to feel fit and healthy for longer, but did not regard that as a valid argument for amending a person's date of birth."

It said Ratelband failed to convince the court that he suffers from age discrimination. It adding that "there are other alternatives available for challenging age discrimination, rather than amending a person's date of birth."With the rise in adoption of electric scooters around the globe, several associated drawbacks have also emerged over time. Weak, breakable and fire prone models as well as the lack of safety of the riders have been some of the reasons for constant criticism of electric scooters. These problems only escalate if the scooters are used under a shared mobility plan.

A Cambridge-based micro mobility firm seems to have come up with solutions to these issues. Superpedestrian, which makes electric bicycles, claims that its upcoming e-scooter will be able to self-diagnose any of such mechanical problems and there on put a stop to its use from shared riding.

Founded at MIT, Superpedestrian now claims to have tied up with major mobility firms across the globe and within 6 years of its inception, will be bringing the e-scooters to the global roads, by the first half of 2019.

The claim has been made by Assaf Biderman, the companys founder and CEO, who also states that the e-scooters will feature a backup of several days and will have a lifespan of as long as 18 months, as opposed to 3 months, the average lifespan of e-scooters.

Reuters

A major plus that the company aims to bring with its e-scooter is the rigidity and the corresponding reliability to the rider. Biderman understands that, When it comes to mechanical design, theres no magic bullet.

In an interaction, he states how the only way to be assured of this is to test out the device in every scenario before bringing them to the markets. As for the companys own e-scooter, Biderman hails the larger wheel size and rider base for improved safety. He also has no doubts in mind about the scooters performance in extreme weather.

The USP of the Superpedestrians e-scooters is supposed to be different though. In November, Lime, a major e-scooter player, had to recall its faulty e-scooters twice within a month. The scooters were reportedly breaking in half and some also had the potential to catch fire through faulty batteries. As per Biderman, Superpedestrians e-scooters come with self-diagnosing capability which the company calls vehicle intelligence. Through this, the scooters are able to monitor battery voltage, temperature and their own motor.

In case of a mechanical failure, the scooters will first try to perform automated maintenance. If the issue is not resolved, the scooters will raise a support ticket and take itself offline, essentially meaning that no faulty scooter will be able for customers to ride on in a shared mobility plan. The faulty scooter will then be repaired on the ground by a human mechanic.

This is not Biderman's first attempt at an innovative concept. He also founded the 'Copenhagen Wheel', a self-contained rear wheel electric bicycle system and has the exclusive license to commercialize the Wheel through his later founded company.

The Copenhagen Wheel (Superpedestrian)

As the e-scooter culture spreads, such automated monitoring of the devices can come as a game changer and not just for the commuters but for a citys micro-mobility as a whole. If everything goes as Biderman says, it wont be a surprise if major ride hailing firms appoint the companys self-healing scooters in their mobility plans.On the night of December 2-3, one of the worlds worst industrial disasters hit the city of Bhopal, India. The Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant in Bhopal developed a leak. Over 5,00,000 people were exposed to highly toxic Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) gas over the course of the night. Thousands died immediately after exposure to the gas in their sleep, while thousands more suffered slow deaths.

Reuters/A network of pipes rust at the abandoned former Union Carbide pesticide plant

Amidst this tragedy, two pet cats emerged heroes and the owner lives to tell the tale. Fahmida Sayeed was sleeping alongside her daughter and her five-month old cat, Polly, on a double bed. Their home is in Ameer Ganj, about 6-km from the now abandoned Union Carbide Plant.

According to The Times of India, when the toxic leak turned the areas around the plant - including Ameer Ganj - into a gas chamber, Polly started to get restless.

Picture For Representation

Speaking to the publication, Fahmida says, On that fateful night, my daughter Faiza and I, and our five-month old cat Polly slept cozily under blankets. It was rather cold so fortunately, I had closed all doors and windows, leaving one ajar near my head for fresh air. Had I left them open, it could have been certain death for all of us.

It was at the time that strange hoarse cries from Polly woke her up from her deep sleep. In the dimly lit room, the cat started jumping on the bed, growling, coughing and foaming at the mouth.

Reuters/A child holds a poster during a protest demanding rehabilitation measures for the victims of Bhopal gas tragedy and legal action against Dow and Union Carbide

Sayeed, who has a poor vision, as a result of the tragedy, says, It was suffocating in the room. When I looked up, I saw thick white clouds curling inside the room through a window I kept ajar. By this time, Faiza also got up coughing. Polly woke both of us and suddenly dived under a thick lehaaf (blanket). This was indication that we must do the same as animals have strange instinct of self-preservation. Faiza followed suit and hid herself under the blanket and slept.

Also Read: Bhopal Gas Tragedy: Veteran Photojournalist Raghu Rai Describes How Corporate Crime Looked Like 34 Years Ago

Fahmida too should have done the same, but the gut-wrenching cries of people from outside, running across the streets, coughing and hastily moving cars, pushed her to do otherwise.

It appeared as if the Day of Requital had dawned. I opened the door leading into a drawing room with the intention of opening the front door to look around. I was not able to breathe and thought my last moment had come. Was it a case of clear atmosphere or poisonous cloud dissipated? As I was on verge of collapse, a strange thing happened. I heard a sound of someone scratching at my bedroom door. In a flash, there was meow meow.

Reuters/Bhopal gas victims y in a demonstration during the hearing of the Bhopal gas tragedy

While she thought it was Polly yet again, she was confused as to how the cat got out in the thick smoke. She rushed to the door to open it. And there was a gush of fresh cool breeze that revived her from the verge of collapse. It wasnt Polly though.

I saw my sisters cat Shanu looking up at me. She had saved my life. My sister Farida aapa told me afterwards the cat woke them up in time. Shanu was jumping, coughing and frothing at the mouth just like Polly, she told TOI.

Faiza, Fahmida and Farida continue to remember the furry heroes who saved their lives,

Also Read: 33 Years On, Bhopal Gas Tragedy Survivors Challenge Union Carbide's Meager Compensation In SCIIT Madras faced fire after a hostel office allegedly put the details of a students used condoms on a notice board. The incident which took place last week has annoyed the students who call it a violation of their privacy and dignity.

During a check at the Brahmaputra mens hostel, authorities named several banned items like- egg boiler, electric kettle, mini fridge, iron boxes, water heater rod, water cooler and also 20 cigarette butts, matchboxes and used condoms which they found in a dustbin.

Reddit

Not only did the authorities impose a fine of Rs 5,000 but also publicly shamed the student for possessing condoms. Students also complained that the vigilance officers just barged into their rooms allegedly, clicked pictures without consent and insulted them.

Meanwhile, Sriram K Kompella, Student General Secretary, appealed the students to bring grievances before the Student Legislative Council (SLC). "Vigilance staff have been sensitized about being polite and to make sure the privacy and dignity of the student are maintained. Photos, if taken, are only for proof of violation. At no cost, Dean, Students Office, or hostel management office has and would indulge in insulting any student," he said.

The Dean Students' denied the incident and said, "No hostel office has done this act of publishing student details on the notice board. The institute will enquire further about this deviation if any at all."Three people were arrested including a DJ in New Delhis Palam Village for firing at two teenagers after they requested the DJ to play Tamanche pe disco song repeatedly. The incident took place on December 2 at a family function.

Shanky and his cousin Tushar Bhardwaj were insisting that Akshay - the DJ - play the song Tamanche Pe Disco repeatedly, which led to an argument, a police officer said. Akshay later told his employers, Sanjay and Ashish Sharma about the incident and they came and fired at Shanky and Tushar.

The victims suffered bullet injuries in their abdomens while the accused managed to escape. After the police reached the spot, they found Shanky and Tushar lying in a pool of blood, Deputy Commissioner of Police Devender Arya said.

"They were taken to a hospital in Dwarka where they are still undergoing treatment. Their condition is out of danger as per the doctors," Arya said.

Akshay, Sanjay, and Ashish were arrested the very next day - December 3 - from their hideouts in West Delhi.Actress Kareena Kapoor Khan during the world premiere of "Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle" at Yashraj studios in Mumbai. The actress has lent her voice to the character of Kaa in the film. (IANS photo)HC has directed him to report to the investigating officer each Saturday.

The police have also registered a case against the lawyer and two witnesses who signed the notice. (Representational image)

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Tuesday granted anticipatory-bail to Vasai resident Intekhab Alam Munshi who was facing arrest after his wife had registered FIR against him claiming that he divorced her against the ordinance that banned triple talaq.

Munshi had approached the high court after the trial court in Palghar district on November 21 rejected his pre-arrest bail application on the ground that the investigating officer needed applicants custody to verify if this is a case of instant triple talaq.

Justice Prakash Deu Naik while granting pre-arrest bail to Munshi held that it was not for the court to decide at the stage of anticipatory bail proceedings whether Munshis divorce proceedings amounted to triple talaq.

Justice Naik observed that this is a case of matrimonial dispute and the custodial interrogation of the applicant is not required as most of the probe at this stage depends on documental facts.

While granting bail to Munshi on PR bond of Rs 15,000, HC has directed him to report to the investigating officer each Saturday for two hours for the next two months.

Following this complaint, the police have also registered a case against the lawyer and two witnesses who signed the notice and the lawyer recently secured anticipatory bail from the court.

The Union Cabinet in September had approved an ordinance to ban the practice of instant triple talaq also known as Talaq-e-Biddat.

According to the complaint, the lady on September 22, this year received a notice of Talaq (divorce). It was mentioned in the notice that two notices were already served to her and hence this is Talaq-e-Ahsan which is legal. However, according to the complaint filed, she didnt receive any notice before and hence it was Talaq-e-Biddat that is prohibited as per the law and is in breach of the provision of the ordinance.

According to Munshis lawyer Vincent Dsilva, appropriate procedure was followed in giving divorce but the lady accepted the third notice and filed complaint on the basis of it.Lower lithium prices than a year ago have led to differing price expectations between producers and consumers of lithium compounds in their negotiations for 2019 supply contracts.

In light of lower spot prices in China, lithium consumers are seeking to lock in lower contract prices for 2019 by referencing the Chinese spot market price in their deals. But lithium producers are trying to keep prices unchanged year on year due to expectations of strong demand for lithium compounds over the coming years.



"Lower Chinese prices are being used by consumers to obtain lower prices for next year," a lithium producer told Fastmarkets IM. "It is undoubtable that Chinese prices affect the rest of the world prices we will [therefore] start next year with softer prices than the ones achieved in 2018."



"The Chinese domestic spot price has an important influence on rest-of-the-world prices," an Asian lithium distributor said. "Despite the expected huge increase in demand for lithium compounds for 2019, global contract prices are going down and that is mainly because consumers with business partners in China are aware of the lower prices in China."



Chinese spot prices have fallen further than US and European contract prices from this time last year.



Fastmarkets IM assessed the battery grade lithium carbonate min 99.5% (Li2CO3) contract price on a cif China, Japan and Korea basis at $13-16 per kg on Wednesday November 28, down by 21.62% from $17-20 per kg on November 29 last year*.



The battery grade lithium hydroxide min 56.5% (LiOH.H2O) contract price cif China, Japan and Korea was $16-18 per kg on November 28, down by 15% from $18-22 per kg on November 29, 2017.



The European and US battery grade lithium carbonate min 99.5% (Li2CO3) contract price on a ddp basis was $13-16 per kg on November 28, a drop of 19.44% from $17-19 per kg on November 29 last year.



In the same comparison, the battery grade lithium hydroxide min 56.5% (LiOH.H2O) contract price at $16-18 per kg ddp Europe and US was down by 8% from $17-20 per kg.



While some market participants cited lower spot prices in China and a supply glut as the main reasons that contract prices should fall, lithium suppliers are adamant that China has a limited influence on prices in the rest of the world.



"Until now, the market dynamics observed in China have not spread to the rest of the market, except India perhaps [for lithium hydroxide]," a second lithium producer told Fastmarkets.



"Japanese and Korean cathode manufacturers have strict qualification procedures so we only see a reduced number of Chinese producers supplying those markets and still at reduced quantities," the producer added. "This will probably change in the medium term only, not in the coming months."



Slow spot consumption and excess supply have pushed down the battery-grade lithium carbonate spot price in China by 55.14% to 74,000-83,000 ($10,638-11,932) yuan per tonne as of November 29 from 180,000-170,000 yuan per tonne on November 30 last year.



The battery grade lithium hydroxide spot price in China has fallen by 24.65% to 105,000-115,000 yuan per tonne from 142,000-150,000 yuan per tonne over the same period.



Since the demand shock at the end of 2015, lithium contract prices had trended higher toward the level of spot prices in China (see graph below) until the fourth quarter of this year.

Source: Fastmarkets

But contract prices have softened recently, falling month on month throughout the fourth quarter of 2018. This highlights Chinas influence on prices elsewhere and especially in contracts signed with companies that have direct relationships with Chinese battery makers.

While market participants believe the Chinese spot market has become overheated, lower spot prices there and excess supply have progressively pushed down contract prices elsewhere - they are following the trend a year later.



Contract prices across the globe should soften slowly and catch up with spot market trend, reflecting growth both in Chinese production and consumption of lithium compounds. This makes the Chinese spot market a decent indicator of the direction in Chinese contract prices.



Lithium producers and consumers have since 2015 increasingly signed quarterly, half-year or annual contracts that use the trend in the Chinese spot price and market fundamentals as reference points to determine the lithium price for those contracts.



Volumes are typically locked in but the formulae can include floor and ceiling prices subject to spot market movements; or fixed prices throughout the term of the contract. Before the price spike in 2015, contracts were typically for more than one year at a fixed price.



Still, some larger producers and consumers - with contracts of at least 300 tonnes per year - have retained the longer-term approach by locking volumes for between one and three years.



Another growing trend - mainly in Asia but increasingly in Europe and the US - has been a willingness to mix thing up, buying both on spot and on contracts.



"We could save up to $8 per kg if today we buy material in the spot market in China compared to our current contract prices," the Chinese cathode maker said. "We have increased the amount of material purchased on a spot basis and this could be an increasing trend if prices in China remain low."





*All lithium carbonate, hydroxide and spodumene prices are available in our Battery Raw Materials Market Tracker. Get a sample of the report here.Graphite miner Syrah Resources is targeting a 2018 production level of 101,000-106,000 tonnes of graphite concentrate at its Balama mine in Mozambique, further reducing its forecasts after a fire in October halted operations for over a month.

This is Syrah's second annual graphite production guidance reduction this year.A dispute such as Kashmir may have to become irrelevant before it can be resolved.

With the opening of the Kartarpur Corridor, Prime Minister Imran Khan has been handed a diplomatic victory in his first 100 days, which beats his domestic score card hollow. But there are few who are willing to see this as a game changer in the stalemate that has been India-Pakistan relations in recent years.

The PM, of course, put a more optimistic spin on it. In his speech at the ceremony, he brought up the old rivalry between Germany and France to illustrate that hope springs eternal.

In this, he is not alone. The European Union is an example used by many an optimist to suggest that a rosy future awaits Pakistan and India. But can the subcontinent follow the European example? The European Community as we see it was a long time coming, and continues to remain a work in progress. It is important to recall how it began.

The first effort after the Second World War came in the shape of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951 and included six countries including France and Germany. And while it did expand trade between the member countries, it is not seen as a complete success. Its greatest achievement is seen as laying the foundation for greater cooperation and the Treaty of Rome, which established the common market for the member states.

Still, even the ECSC cannot be seen in isolation. It went hand in hand with Nato and the Marshall Plan which also encouraged European cooperation. But more than that, perhaps the world wars were the biggest motivating factor behind the ECSC.

Washington made it clear at the end of the Second World War that its aim was an independent Germany. For France, this meant that it had to rethink its past policies of invading German territory to ensure French security as had been done after the First World War. It now needed a new strategy  the alternative was the ECSC to ensure Germany could not use its steel and coal to build another war machine. In fact, after the end of the Second World War, the coal-dominated German region had been placed under an international body established by the allied powers, which was later replaced by the ECSC.

In other words, the idealistic idea of a united Europe was born of the necessities of realpolitik. There was some domestic opposition  Charles de Gaulle was an opponent of the ECSC. In Germany, political parties which aimed at a united Germany were against the community as they felt it pushed West Germany towards Europe.

And lets not forget the biggest realpolitik reason of all  the threat from the Soviet Union, which is also seen to have provided an impetus to bringing the European countries together.

In the subcontinent, at present, there are few parallels to draw  no outside external threat; no superpower assistance for larger cooperation; and, especially, no debilitating war which could have put paid to aggressive ambitions against one anothers enemies.

Here perhaps we have a slower process at work  an increasing realisation (especially on the part of Pakistan) of the need for peace for economic growth.

A dispute such as Kashmir may have to become irrelevant before it can be resolved. This is to say that perhaps we shouldnt look for a repeat of the Musharraf approach  to address Kashmir first.

As for the baby steps that can be taken, the film and cinema industry is a case in point. The cinema theatre industry in Pakistan would not have revived had the exhibition of Indian films not been allowed. Once the Indian films were exhibited, investors found it profitable to establish cinema theatres. The availability of cinema theatres in turn allowed local film-makers to make films. And this led to the rebirth of the Pakistani film industry.

In fact, when Indian films were banned from cinema theatres towards the end of 2016 due to Pakistan-India tensions, it didnt last long. The losses the cinema theatre owners faced necessitated a change within months. This is one example of a peace constituency.

Is it wrong to assume that there can be more such examples of cooperation and trade? Small and unnoticed ones that quietly build up constituencies of peace? (Ideally, even Kartarpur should have been a quiet step so that it didnt turn into a point-scoring exercise between the two rivals.) The power of quiet should never be underestimated.

By arrangement with DawnSeven other similar charges were considered by the court during sentencing.

In 2002, Sim became an insurance agent with AIG, but was suspended in 2010 over several issues regarding remitting premium payments to the insurer. His employment was then terminated in September 2011. He was concurrently employed by AIA, but was also fired in 2012.

According to court documents, Tay had been buying insurance for both himself and his company through Sim since 2008. In 2011, Tay gave Sim a cheque worth SG$8,445 as payment for renewal of his companys work injury compensation policy. However, Sim did not renew the policy.

The following year, the same thing happened. Sim, who had already been fired by AIG, made away with SG$7,787. As proof of payment, he gave Tay a forged letter containing the letterhead and logo of Chartis Singapore Insurance, AIGs name at the time.

Meanwhile, from 2010 to 2013, Sim also defrauded Tay of the premiums for his companys medical group insurance policy for foreign workers with AIA. Sim has since made full restitution.

According to Deputy Public Prosecutor Thiam Jia Min, Sim abused his position of trust and friendship with Tay, who had been his client since 2008.

Cheating carries a maximum sentence of three years. Meanwhile, forgery could lead to up to four years in jail. Both offences also have monetary fines.This years edition contains in-depth, structured interviews with 41 insurance executives across all 10 ASEAN member countries. It focuses on the regions protection gaps and explores ways to narrow the gap between total economic disaster losses and the small fraction of those which are insured. It also presents an overview of the current state and prospects of the regions US$28 billion non-life insurance sector.

ASEAN Insurance Pulse 2018 pools together the regions insurance wisdom and insights to identify the root causes of protection gaps and solicits the participants for pragmatic solutions, said Zainudin.

To most of the senior executives interviewed, non-life protection gaps are a severe threat to their respective countries economic growth and societal progress.

To close the gap between economic and insured losses, recommendations range from enhanced public-private partnerships, the introduction of subsidised schemes, the provision of tax incentives and compulsory insurance requirements to awareness and education campaigns.The organisation provides a range of support services for people with complex disabilities and their families.

At GB, we value giving back to our community and helping those during a difficult time in their lives, McNamara said. Our Gentle Bear is a symbol of this, and we hope the bears will comfort those who receive it.

GBs Gentle Bear has been very busy this year, expanding into Queensland, touring the Northern Territory to support NT Police, Fire and Emergency Services, and even visiting the Jane Goodall Chimp Rehab Centre in South Africa.It was Navjot Singh Sidhus presence at the Pakistani ceremony which really became contentious.

Through the last 40 years or more, driving positivity into India-Pakistan relations has been a harrowing task. Far too many imponderables, both from the external and internal dimensions, combine to prevent any traction towards lasting peace. That is why small steps which could be taken to the next level incrementally never get realised. In the midst of such an environment, the Kartarpur Corridor initiative is actually a pleasant surprise; whose initiative it was should always have been irrelevant. Pakistan having painted itself into a corner on the economic front and international perception about its seriousness to overcome support to trans-national terror as a strategic weapon is the one which has far greater stakes in normalising relations. India, as a longtime sufferer of trans-national terror, would be happier to see removal of potential triggers which keep it on tenterhooks with public demand to be more proactive in response. Such an initiative needs to be initially seen as something non-political and handled as such, combining it with further small steps to progressively build the political stakes for peace. Reading too much in a single small non-political step is the surest way of preventing a process from being built.

The problem with the Kartarpur Corridor initiative has been that no one has allowed it to remain where it should have remained, just a good people-to-people non-political contact. The Pakistani leadership jumped too early into it without being mindful of the fact that it was unnecessarily riling its Indian counterpart, which was giving peace a chance much against the existing political environment. Pakistan claiming credit for this should have very quietly done by its projections to those who mattered. With its well-known ability to spin and play the information game, silence was the far greater weapon, and positives emerging from the Indian media would have contributed to that strategy to achieve a better name. Both the Pakistan Army and the political leadership felt excited by the fact that despite all the warnings of potentially no traction in Indian-Pakistan relations till well after Indias general election in April-May 2019, they had managed to pressure the Indian leadership to accept the initiative.

The temptation to showcase this was far too great. What the Indian side did, in terms of the ceremony on November 27, 2018, apart from the highly inexplicable choice of the date, was actually the display of the right balance. The vice-president was the best choice for the inauguration, accompanied by the Punjab chief minister, with presence of junior ministers and relevant legislators. In many ways Punjab jails minister S.S. Randhawas rather strong response to the alleged politicisation of the event went far in ensuring that the Indian ceremony was seen as nothing but cultural-religious. It should have sent an appropriate message across the border, which Pakistan should have been smart enough to replicate to keep the initiative in the cultural-religious domain. The Indian governments deputing of two ministers from the Sikh faith to attend the Lahore ceremony was again the right gesture. But the person who really got it all correct was the Punjab chief minister, Capt. Amarinder Singh. On a personal level, his keeping away from the Pakistani ceremony despite the invitation to attend it sent the appropriate message. His attendance so soon after the terrorist grenade attack near Amritsar, allegedly sponsored by the Deep State in Pakistan, would have sent some very negative signals within India. His absence conveyed that while the Sikh community appreciated the Kartarpur Sahib initiative, the government was also aware that Pakistan was looking at opportunities to use this against India and against Sikhs in particular through the psychological targeting of pilgrims.

It was Navjot Singh Sidhus presence at the Pakistani ceremony which really became contentious. On the face of it there was nothing wrong with Mr Sidhus attendance at the invitation of Prime Minister Imran Khan. In a way he was making up for the absence of the Punjab CM and could have actually ensured such a balance that none could have faulted him; in fact he would have walked away with all the accolades. He should have coordinated with the two Indian ministers for them to briefly speak as per protocol and then perhaps taken the stage to thank the Pakistan leadership on behalf of the Sikh community and resolving to keep the initiative apolitical. Knowing fully well what the outcome was of his last visit to Pakistan during the inauguration ceremony of Imran Khans government, lessons should have been learnt from that. Mr Sidhu is such an outstanding communicator and crowd-puller that little does he realise how much he can do for the nation in such circumstances, if he has the right advisers. Every time he steps across the border to Pakistan or lands at a Pakistani airport, he should consider it a strategic mission to facilitate better relations without being hijacked by different agendas.

Unlike the Indian ceremony, the Pakistani ceremony was far more high profile with a large presence of the Indian media at a Pakistani event after a long time. Yet the optics, the choice of words and the sequencing was all wrong. Imran Khan could not help speaking in a sermonising way. He should know that Indian sensitivities are all about the hundreds of Indian lives lost due to Pakistans proxy war. If he is doing some serious talking, he should also know that despite persistent demands in India for responding in kind through clandestine operations this option has never been adopted, although nothing stops India from doing so. However, through a subtle propaganda and denial strategy, the Deep State appears to have convinced the Pakistani public and the civilian leadership about Indias sponsorship of terror within, to try and gain a moral edge over India.

If the Kartarpur Corridor initiative flounders it will be because of the inability to treat it with nimble fingers as just a cultural-religious measure to deliver the aspirations of a faith. I do not foresee any further ceremonies before the Indian general election. If it is inaugurated on the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev or before, both sides must be mindful of what the ceremony must involve and what is to be spoken there. Otherwise, another spate of exchange of barbs will only contribute to a potential failure and a huge tragedy for the Sikh community and indeed for India.Wilbys comments come in the wake of a successful Series A round of funding for Huddle, which managed to raise $19.2 million  much of which will be leveraged to enable further growth.

While the company currently provides personal insurance worth $1 billion to customers across Australia, its yet to branch out into the SME space  however, Wilby says hes noticed some areas of commercial insurance which could potentially benefit from a fresh perspective.

The nature of work is changing so much, we have many people who are suddenly finding themselves as a small business owner, perhaps taking risks, and I wonder whether traditional products built to serve the commercial market are really meeting the needs of these small business owners, he said.

While the firm currently only offers policies direct, Wilby also said Huddle would be open to working with the broker channel in the future.

I would love to see a role for brokers in the future, he told Insurance Business. Some areas of insurance are quite complicated and we often forget that  but the very fact that brokers exist highlights that there is a whole bunch of folk who need extra support.

While Huddle is yet to engage the broker community, Wilby says that, if it were to happen, the structure would likely be adapted in some way, to suit its unique business model.

Id love to see how we can reimagine that model so the incentives align to drive great outcomes for our members, he said. Wed love to explore that  there is definitely a need for a segment of people who need additional help but its about how we can do that more transparently and not based on commissions.The scholarship will enable Brown to travel and study in Japan.

An active champion of NCP's cause since 2014, QBE supports the program by hosting interns, providing student-development opportunities, and participating in the programs interview panels over the last four years. The company will be providing a range of professional-development opportunities for Brown and other NCP scholars in 2019.

We recognise the importance of providing students with opportunities to learn new skills within a professional environment, and appreciate interns are a valuable source of talent and fresh thinking, Debelle said. The program also provides a much-needed opportunity for participants to develop a deep understanding of the Indo-Pacific and develop the cross-cultural skills needed to succeed in a region that is crucial to Australia's prosperity.

The NCP will support 125 scholars from across Australia to live, study, learn a language, and gain work experience in 24 locations throughout the Indo-Pacific in 2019.The last known sighting of Stefaniak was at a villa in San Antonio de Escazu outside the capital of San Jose on Tuesday, November 27. A missing person investigation was launched by Thursday, November 29.

#DesaparecidosOIJ: La persona de la fotografia se encuentra desaparecida pic.twitter.com/xx4FaC2171  OIJ Organismo (@oij_Organismo) November 29, 2018

On Monday, December 03, Costa Ricas Judicial Investigation Department (OIJ) reported finding a body buried in a mountainous area at the back of the Airbnb property where Stefaniak had been staying.

OIJ director general, Water Espinoza, said: The body was in a state of decomposition, but the preliminary observation does verify the body is a woman. According to a UPI news report, investigators also revealed that biological fluids consistent with blood were found in the Airbnb. They will be tested in order to determine the identity of the woman in an autopsy.

NBC News reported that Stefaniak dropped her sister-in-law, April Burton, at the airport in San Jose on Tuesday before returning to her Airbnb rental in an Uber. That evening, she allegedly posted a message on WhatsApp saying there were heavy rains and that the power went off  super sketchy.

Stefaniak, who sells insurance for Progressive in Hallandale Beach, was last on WhatsApp at 8:20pm on Tuesday. She has not been online since and a number of text messages sent to her after midnight on Tuesday were not returned, her family said.

Family members started a Finding Carla Facebook page, using the hashtag #FindingCarla to try and raise awareness about her disappearance.

The family is reportedly frustrated by the lack of urgency among US and Costa Rican officials. However, a US state department spokeswoman told WTLV-TV it's actively looking for Stefaniak.

The US Department of State and our embassies and consulates abroad have no greater responsibility than the protection of US citizens overseas, the official said. When a US citizen is missing, we work closely with local authorities as they carry out their search efforts. Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment.Brokers are custodians who manage the risks of their clients. Today, a true risk custodian simply cannot ignore cyber. Its a ubiquitous exposure thats non-discriminatory of industry or business size, and its a risk brokers shouldnt be ignoring, said Matt Sherman, senior vice president of specialty reinsurance and programs division, NAS Insurance Services. Taking complex information around cyber risk and being able to explain it in lay-terms to an insured or a customer is going to be one of the great big challenges brokers will face in the next couple of years.

Cyber liability insurance is still a relatively immature product. Its in the early stages of development and uptake, which means the majority of work for insurance brokers revolves around education and risk management. Its incumbent to get commercial entities up to scratch with their cyber hygiene, standards and governance practices.

About 10-years-ago, cyber liability insurance was purchased primarily by large organizations with huge amounts of data and a public brand to protect, Sherman told Insurance Business. Big splashy events like the Equifax data breach and the Sony Pictures hack are the things we read about in the news every day, but in the last 5-7 years, weve seen data breach infiltrate the small business community in America.

Large corporations have got their heads around protecting their businesses from cyberattack for a decade or more, but small businesses in the US are only now waking up to the risks theyre facing. Selling cyber to small business clients is about getting the rate right, the limits right, and articulating the product in such a way that they can understand it. Small business owners will easily shy away from a product if they dont truly understand what theyre buying and how it works.

NAS Insurance Services has over 40 years of experience as a long-standing Lloyds coverholder with financial backing from leading Lloyds syndicates. The firm has been writing cyber liability insurance for about 15 years and also provides cyber liability reinsurance solutions to help insurance carriers and program administrators insurance provide bolt-on cyber liability coverage without additional R&D costs, overhead, and assumption of risk.

A lot of carriers, program administrators and brokers still dont feel completely comfortable getting into the cyber space, Sherman said. They may not have the subject matter or the underwriting expertise, and, most importantly, they may not have the claims expertise to confidently offer cyber. Thats where NAS Insurance comes in. Were able to offer the product, as well as the support and the services around it. Its important for insureds to know that no matter who is writing the cyber coverage and providing the services, theres subject matter expertise every step of the way.An Essex County, N.J., man has pleaded guilty in a scheme to obtain $74,000 in disability payments by submitting dozens of forged documents to his insurance provider.

Major Smith, a former teacher in the East Orange school district, pleaded guilty to second degree insurance fraud during a hearing before Superior Court Judge Alfonse J. Cifelli in Essex County on Monday.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, the state will recommend that Smith be sentenced as a third-degree offender and receive a three-year prison term. Smith is scheduled to be sentenced in March 2019.

Smith, who was employed by the East Orange Board of Education until June 2012, admitted filing more than two dozen claims for disability with American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus (Aflac) that contained forms purportedly filled out by his doctors and/or his employer. Smith filed the allegedly fraudulent claims between February 2012 and October 2015 in connection with injuries he allegedly sustained in several accidents.

This kind of exploitation of the insurance system is a prime example of why were calling on New Jersey residents to report fraud when they see it, said New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal in a press release issued by the New Jersey Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor (OIFP). Insurance fraud drives up the cost of premiums for everyone. By actively working to shut down insurance thieves, honest policy holders can finally stop paying the price for crimes they did not commit.

The OIFP investigation revealed that Smith impersonated his doctors in claim forms documenting treatments he allegedly received on various dates for injuries he claimed to have sustained in several slip and fall accidents. Smith also pretended to be a representative of the East Orange Board of Education in claim forms verifying his employment in the district, even after he no longer worked there.

Disability insurance is meant to serve as a financial safety net for individuals who have fallen on hard times, not a source of easy cash for criminals, said Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Tracy M. Thompson in the release. The prison term this defendant is facing as a result of his actions is proof that insurance fraud is a serious crime with serious consequences.

Deputy Attorney General Jennifer L. Menjivar represented the State in the plea hearing. Detectives Wendy Berg and Grace Proetta coordinated the investigation.

Source: New Jersey Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor

Topics Claims Fraud New JerseyEuropean Union finance ministers struck a deal on a major reform of banking rules on Tuesday, addressing some of the loopholes exposed by the global financial crisis.

The overhaul, proposed by the European Commission in November 2016, sets the level of buffers banks must raise to absorb losses and introduces new capital requirements to strengthen financial stability.

Under the reform, European banks will have to abide by a new set of requirements aimed at keeping their lending in check and ensuring they have stable funding sources.

Some technical details need to be finalized by the end of the year, with talks due later on Tuesday with the European Parliament, Austrian Finance Minister Hartwig Loeger said.

The agreement came after two years of talks and adapts EU rules to deals reached at a global level with U.S. and Japanese regulators, although the draft agreed text includes tweaks to global standards and a large number of waivers.

About 90 percent of the text is agreed but there are all kinds of minor issues that need to be tidied up, an EU official said at the end of a meeting in Brussels.

The 28 EU states had reached a compromise in May, but changes made by the European Parliament required further talks.

In a public session, several ministers raised doubts about tweaks to the rules made by parliamentarians but said they were confident the final text could address these.

EU lenders will be required to hold a 3 percent leverage ratio to increase their financial stability and meet a funding ratio aimed at limiting reliance on the type of short-term financing that contributed to the global financial crisis.

TOO BIG TO FAIL

In a bid to end the too-big-to-fail paradox that has guaranteed public support for the largest banks in the event that they get into trouble, the EU is set to apply new global rules that force systemic lenders, like Deutsche Bank or Societe General, to hold sufficient financial buffers, the so-called Total loss absorbing capacity (TLAC).

The reform will also introduce a new binding standard on loss-absorption for large banks, the Minimum Requirement for own funds and Eligible Liabilities (MREL).

This is set at 8 percent of banks total liabilities and own funds, although it could be raised by EU supervisors.

Banks buffers should also be made of riskier, subordinated debt that would be wiped out in a crisis and therefore is likely to be more expensive to sell to investors.

Supervisors could require higher levels of junior debt for banks in trouble, a discretionary power that the Italian Finance Minister Giovanni Tria said was excessive.

In a bid to shield smaller investors, caps are imposed on the amount of junior debt that can be held by a retail client.

SWEETENERS

In an attempt to sweeten the pill, EU governments and parliamentarians added several waivers and concessions.

Foreign large banks are required to set up intermediate parent undertakings (IPUs) that would bring their EU operations under a single holding company, possibly increasing their costs. But in a tweak favorable to large U.S., Japanese and post-Brexit British banks, only lenders with assets of at least 40 billion euros in the EU would fall under the new rule. The threshold was raised from the 30 billion euro level proposed by the Commission. In exceptional circumstances, some banks could set up two, rather one, holdings.

Banks were also offered an extension of a favorable treatment for capital allocated to insurance subsidiaries, which would continue to contribute to their required regulatory capital until the end of 2024.

Those saddled with bad loans could benefit from a temporary window to sell large chunks of stock under better conditions. Banks which sell more than 20 percent of their non-performing loans (NPLs) would face lower capital requirements, offsetting the losses caused by the revaluation of their assets. The easier terms, meant to favor the offloading of 800-billion-euros ($909 billion) of soured loans still burdening EU banks, would be possible from Nov. 23, 2016,  which is when the EU Commission published its proposal  until three years after the new rules enter into effect.

But European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos warned that this may not be compatible with global rules.

The reform will also allow supervisors to freeze deposits for a maximum of two business days at banks being wound down. Insured savings below 100,000 euros and deposits of small firms could also be frozen, although certain payments could be authorized, a draft document says. This is meant to prevent bank runs at failing lenders and give authorities the time to find a buyer or sell its assets, but critics have said it could further erode trust in banks and in the worst cases trigger a liquidity crisis or bank runs.

(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio; Editing by Alison Williams and Alexander Smith)

Topics EuropeA federal jury has convicted a Chicago doctor on fraud charges for billing insurance companies for purported chiropractic manipulations that were never performed, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Northern District of Illinois reported.

Dr. Paul Madison, an anesthesiologist and pain management specialist, owned Watertower SurgiCenter LLC, an outpatient surgical center on North Michigan Avenue in Chicago.

The U.S. Attorneys Office reported that from 2005 to 2009, under Dr. Madisons direction, Watertowers billing staff submitted false bills to insurers for manipulation-under-anesthesia of body parts that chiropractors at Watertower had not actually performed.

Dr. Madison and others falsified patient records to support the fraudulent health insurance claim forms and submitted the claims to patients insurance companies for payment. Evidence at trial revealed that Dr. Madison disguised Watertowers fraudulent billing by creating false medical and billing records. In at least two instances, Dr. Madison included in the fraudulent billings the names, addresses and dates of birth of patients without their knowledge.

The jury in federal court in Chicago convicted Dr. Madison, 65, of Chicago, on all 11 counts against him. The conviction includes six counts of health care fraud, three counts of making false statements in connection with the delivery of health care services, and two counts of aggravated identity theft. U.S. District Judge Robert M. Dow, Jr., set sentencing for March 25, 2019.

Each count of health care fraud is punishable by a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, while the false statement counts each carry a maximum penalty of five years. Each aggravated identity theft count carries a mandatory consecutive sentence of two years. The Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The verdict was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Jeffrey S. Sallet, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and James Vanderberg, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of Labors Office of Inspector General in Chicago. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Edward G. Kohler and Jennie Levin.

Source: U.S. Attorneys Office

Topics Carriers USA Fraud Abuse MolestationU.S. Supreme Court justices on Monday appeared reluctant to further limit the scope of who can be held liable for violating laws that protect investors from securities fraud as they weighed an appeal by a New York investment banker who had been banned from the industry.

Only eight of the nine justices were present to hear arguments over a ruling by a Washington-based federal appeals court that found Francis Lorenzo liable for participating in a scheme to defraud investors when he sent misleading emails about a financially-troubled clean energy company.

Most of the justices seemed to agree with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which had enforced the securities laws against Lorenzo, while Chief Justice John Roberts and fellow conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch, seemed sympathetic to him.

The court has a 5-4 conservative majority. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a conservative appointee of Republican President Donald Trump, did not participate in the case because he was part of the three-judge appeals court panel that previously reviewed the dispute. Kavanaugh joined the high court in October.

Kavanaugh dissented in the appeals court ruling that upheld most of the SECs liability findings against Lorenzo, and would have sided with the banker.

The high court must rule in the case by the end of June.

The dispute centers on whether a person who did not personally make fraudulent statements but merely passed them along can be found liable for engaging in a fraudulent scheme. Anti-fraud provisions of U.S. securities laws prohibit false statements and other conduct categorized as acts, devices, practices or schemes.

On Monday, all four liberal justices and conservative Justice Samuel Alito appeared to approve of Lorenzos liability in the deceptive scheme.

Lorenzos attorney Robert Heim said that sending emails was not inherently deceptive, but liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg noted that the emails contained a succession of untruths. Justice Stephen Breyer said, Maybe he didnt make the statement, but he was sure a big deal participant.

Alito wondered why Lorenzos actions would not fall squarely within the language of the SECs rules.

In 2011 the Supreme Court narrowed the scope of who can be liable for false statements to those with ultimate authority over the statements.

Lorenzo, who served as the investment banking director at a broker-dealer called Charles Vista, sent the emails in 2009 seeking investors for a startup companys debt offering even though its energy-from-waste technology did not work.

The SEC in 2015 found that he made false statements and participated in a deceptive scheme by sending the emails. The commission fined him $15,000 and barred him from working in the industry for life.

Citing the 2011 Supreme Court precedent, the District of Columbia U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year threw out Lorenzos liability over the false statements, saying they were made by his boss, but agreed with the fraudulent scheme charges because he knowingly produced and sent the false statements in the emails. It ordered the SEC to reconsider the penalties against Lorenzo.

Lorenzo said the SEC is trying to paint people who might be liable at most for aiding and abetting fraudulent schemes as the primary violators of securities laws.

On Monday, Gorsuch seemed to agree, noting that Lorenzo did not make the false statements in the emails he sent.

Lorenzo, who had the support of the powerful U.S. Chamber of Commerce business group, said that if the appeals court is not overturned it will lead to a swarm of abusive lawsuits, harming financial markets and the economy.

(Reporting by Andrew Chung; editing by Grant McCool)

Topics USA FraudCoverWallet, a technology company that has been on a mission to reinvent insurance for small business customers, is now offering its platform for insurance agencies, the company revealed today.

With 16 agencies already using the platform, another 100 are on a waiting list to jump on board, according to chief executive officer Inaki Berenguer.

During an interview at the companys New York headquarters early last month, Berenguer demonstrated the ease with which insurance shoppers could understand, buy and manage small business insurance policiesranging from simple business owners policies to more complicated directors and officers liability covers. He also revealed that demand from agents to have the same simple and efficient way to access quotes from multiple carriers, and ultimately bind policies in real time prompted Berenguers team to design CoverWallet for Agents, which is being officially launched today.

Many of them came to us [asking], Can I use this?' Berenguer said, pointing out that the existing CoverWallet direct-to-customer platform includes a Partner With Us link through which interested potential partners could submit ideas about working with CoverWallet. This was not for other agencies, Berenguer said, envisioning partner requests from carriers and providers of non-insurance services to small business. But agents were completing this before we even had the product, he said, scrolling through emails CoverWallet received with messages like, We are a new startup insurance brokeragelooking for additional markets and would like to be appointed as one of your producers. Please advise what is the procedure, or simply, I am seeking an agency appointment with CoverWallet, or I am licensed and I would like to have this.

Inaki demonstrated the quote process on the original direct-to-customer platform that spawned agents interest, taking seconds to get a quote for a full-service restaurant with Queens, N.Y. ZIP code. Accessing the Advice section of the CoverWallet website first, he input the industry, number of employees and revenuesabout a 20 second processand instantly saw the average premium paid by similar businesses for a range of small business coverages and indications of popular purchases (100 percent buy general liability, 80 percent buy BOPs instead, etc.) Going on to check off the GL coverage for free quotes prompted some more questions, many with pre-filled answers, generating actual quotes from three carriers just over one minute later. Then, he selected a carrier and limits, answered a question about how he wanted to payin full or in monthly payments from a credit cardand the system returned a policy, certificate of insurance and proof of payment.

For agents, everything is paper-based, Berenguer said. Now, they say, It is unfair that for you it is so simple and for me its so complicated. Why dont you allow me to do this? After hearing the Can I use your platform questions enough times from agents, Berenguer and his team asked themselves, Why not build it? and decided to respond to the need.

Agents are an integral part of small business insurance, and we are making it easy for them to leverage technology without needing to build their own complex integrations or to have direct relationships or appointments with carriers, said Aman Khaira, vice president of product at CoverWallet, in the statement.

Hally Peck, director of communication at CoverWallet, explained that agents who are onboarded to CoverWallet for Agents will be acting as subproducers of CoverWallet and get access to all the carriers that CoverWallet has on the platform, including the likes of Chubb, Starr, CNA, and AmTrust. As a result, they will be able to generate quotes and bind policies without needing direct appointments from the carriers. In order to be onboarded, they are required to be licensed in the state(s), sign an agreement with CoverWallet, and have $1 million in E&O coverage, she said.

CoverWallet itself employs 70 agents, according to Berenguer. Theyre very efficient in how they talk and use tools to sell to customers, he said, stressing that the direct-to-customer process already in place is not just high-tech but high-touch as well. As a buyer or shopper inputs information, each screen displays the photo and contact information for a personal adviser. We call our insurance agents insurance advisers because what they are doing is advising customers. Theyre not doing the data entry. They are not doing the back office because everything is done digitally for them.

Everything in the insurance industry is full of PDFs, real paper documents going back and forth via email. It takes time to download, to upload it to another place, key in the information. [Here], all that is done digitally.We use software and machine learning to replace what humans do and then we put the humans [in the position] to only provide advice instead of doing things that dont add value.

Berenguer continued: In the U.S., there are 40,000 agencies, and half a million agents that unfortunately dont have access to the same tools that we have. And they dont have the resources to invest in technology. Registering with CoverWallet for Agents can change that. We give you a login and password, and then every time that you talk to a customer, you can use our platform to sell faster, simpler, quicker, he says, addressing would-be users.

They can get multiple quotes from one quick application, buy [coverage] online, full end-to-end experience, no cost for them, access to top carriersVery simple.

Asked specifically about the no cost part, Berenguer said that if an agent sells a policy, CoverWallet keeps a part of a commission amount that is highly competitive with the industry, with the agent keeping the majority.

While CoverWallet employs its own licensed insurance agents serving customers online, more than half of the 170 employees are engineers, data scientists, user experience designers, or digital marketers. This is related to the DNA of our company, Berenguer said. We compliment that with knowledge of insurance, but we say that we are an engineering and a product-driven organization. In essence were a technology company. Were not an insurance company. I think some other competitors are insurance companies that are trying to tech-enable business, he said, noticing that experience in data, design and technology are some of the things that differentiate CoverWallet from Insureon, CoverHound and other competitors among InsurTechs serving the small business market.

Since launching the direct-to-customer site in 2016, CoverWallet has received more than $30 million in funding from investors including Union Square Ventures, Index Ventures, Two Sigma, and Foundation Capital, as well as Zurich Insurance Group and Starr Companies. In June, CoverWallet unveiled what it said was the first API (Application Programming Interface) for commercial insurance, allowing non-insurance small business service providers, such as real estate companies, financial institutions, payroll service providers, lenders, and accounting software providers, to directly and easily integrate insurance services into their websites and apps. In September, CoverWallet also launched a separate initiative called CoverStartups to provide high-growth companiesfrom Seed and Series A to Series B and beyondwith dedicated resources to help them get the insurance coverage they need in minutes, including D&O insurance, typically required by investors, which might otherwise take weeks to secure.

Editors Note: This article was first published by Carrier Management. In the Jan/Feb 2019 edition of Carrier Managements print magazine, Berenguer talks about the launches, the impetus for creating the CoverWallet startup in the first place, and his career path from Cambridge scientist and academic to tech entrepreneur.

Related:

Topics Carriers Agencies InsurTech Commercial Lines Tech Business Insurance Small BusinessSitting in a Boston courtroom in a dark, pinstriped suit, the former top sales executive at Insys Therapeutics Inc., Alex Burlakoff, listened as federal prosecutors read out crimes he and the company had allegedly committed.

Insys had bribed doctors and their employees with payments for sham medical events that often turned out to be parties. Physicians who didnt write prescriptions for the companys powerful opioid were cut off from the companys money. There were lavish dinners, strip-club visits and gun-range outings, all of which led to booming sales of one of the worlds most powerful  and dangerous  pain drugs.

Burlakoff was prepared to plead guilty, his lawyers told the judge on Nov. 28  there was even more evidence that prosecutors hadnt listed, they said. Hes one of the first drug-company executives charged in the mounting legal backlash to the U.S. opioid crisis, which was tied to about 50,000 deaths last year. Burlakoff faces as many as 20 years in prison, though he has a cooperation agreement with the government as other former Insys executives go to trial in January.

The company, meanwhile, could become the first corporate casualty of the opioid epidemic. Its sales have plunged as it spends millions of dollars on legal defenses of its former executives, including billionaire founder and ex-chief executive John Kapoor.

In a desperate bid to save itself, Insyss new managers are trying to sell off its main pain drug to a corporate buyer to raise money. They hope to use the proceeds to pivot out of the opioid business into something slightly less controversial  cannabis-derived drugs.

We havent found a buyer  and we might not.

Insyss main product is Subsys, a spray version of the ultrapowerful opioid fentanyl. When it was introduced in the U.S. in 2012 with a price tag ranging between $3,000 and $16,000 a month, depending on the dose, it was subject to a tightly controlled distribution system. The Food and Drug Administration allowed the company to market it to cancer patients, to help relieve their pain.

It didnt sell well, at least at first. That changed, federal prosecutors have alleged, when Kapoor and other executives essentially bribed doctors to prescribe it for everything from chronic pain to back aches, and defrauded insurance providers who were reluctant to approve prescriptions for off-label use. In some cases, doctors were paid more than $200,000, prosecutors said at the Nov. 28 hearing where Burlakoff pleaded guilty.

Attorneys for Burlakoff and Kapoor didnt respond to separate requests for comment.

Business boomed. Subsys sales grew from $8.6 million when it launched in March 2012 to $329.5 million in 2015  making up all but a sliver of the companys revenue. At the drugs peak in 2015, Insys had a market valuation of more than $2 billion.

Then in June 2015, a Connecticut nurse pleaded guilty to federal charges of accepting more than $83,000 in kickbacks from the company. There were indictments of doctors, nurses, sales representatives and, eventually, Insys executives. In August, the company agreed to a $150 million settlement with the Department of Justice to resolve a civil and criminal probe, with the potential for as much as $75 million more due.

Sales plunged, as well, falling 80 percent from their 2015 peak. Subsys accounts for more than 95 percent of the companys revenue. The company is short on cash, with $113 million in the bank, and has said it needs substantial funds to stay afloat.

Theres no guarantee the process will yield any results, Insys spokesperson Joe McGrath said in an phone interview. We havent found a buyer  and we might not. He called the decline in Subsys sales an over-correction.

Now Insys is trying to find a new line of business by becoming a cannabinoid pioneer, said McGrath. Its one of the hottest areas in medicine, and investors have flocked to tiny companies promising to win the race for a new class of marijuana-derived therapies.

Insys already produces one of a few drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration made from synthetic cannabinoids, marijuana-inspired compounds that have become promising treatments for an array of medical conditions. Insyss drug, Syndros, treats loss of appetite in people with AIDS and nausea caused by chemotherapy.

Its a meager commercial product, bringing in only $976,000 in the third quarter, according to a company filing. The company is developing more cannabidiol, or CBD, drugs for infantile spasms, childhood absence epilepsy and a rare genetic disorder called Prader-Willi syndrome. Its also developing an overdose-reversal product that uses naloxone, a powerful anti-opioid medicine.

This pivot may be forced, but CBD and opioid dependence are hot spaces with a lot of interest from investors, said Curt Wanek, a pharmaceutical equity analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence. Itll cost money to bring these drugs to market, but all it takes is positive data to raise more funding, Wanek said. The company has said in anticipates spending heavily to bring the products to market.

Time Running Out

Insys is also paying for the legal-defense costs of its executives under an agreement, common at many large companies, that forces it to cover any investigation, defense, settlement or appeal-related expenses. Kapoor is scheduled to face criminal trial in Boston federal court along with other executives in January, where Burlakoff is expected to be a star witness. Kapoors defense has cost the company more than $28 million in indemnification fees through the 12 months through Sept. 30.

A third-quarter filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission said that Insyss existing and future legal insurance coverage may be inadequate. In some cases, it may not have any insurance coverage at all and which may entail settlement payments or litigation judgments that could individually, or in the aggregate, have a materially adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

New management is figuring out a way to rationalize and minimalize the legal costs, said McGrath, who said the company is disputing the indemnification fees. Its an unsustainable trajectory.

Insys isnt alone in facing opioid-related legal issues. Hundreds of cases have been filed against pharmaceutical companies and distributors. But no companys troubles may be more acute than Insyss.

Theyre fighting a losing battle, said Robert Valuck, a professor of pharmacy at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and director of the Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention, which works with lawmakers to address the opioid crisis. Whether they keep trying to defend or sell Subsys, theres going to be some amount of perception that this is the product that got them sued.

Copyright 2021 Bloomberg.

Topics Cannabis DrugsTeamViewers Mumbai office will act as a sales, marketing, and support centre to provide best-in-class remote connectivity solutions

TeamViewer, a global leader in secure remote connectivity solutions, has announced the opening of its first India office in Mumbai as a key driver for its long-term growth initiative in the South Asia region. TeamViewers Mumbai office will act as a sales, marketing, and support centre to provide best-in-class remote connectivity solutions for a dynamically growing local user base on the subcontinent with more than 100m installations to date.

Opening an office in India is an integral part of our APAC growth ambitions with a strong focus on going multi-local to be closer to our existing customers and even better understand the market, client, and partner needs, said Oliver Steil, CEO of TeamViewer, speaking to the media in Mumbai. With our strong commitment to India, we aim to address the substantial opportunities of work-style reform and the strong demand from businesses of all sizes for secure remote connectivity solutions at scale. We are very excited to further strengthen our footprint in one of the fastest growing economies in the world that is at the forefront of digital transformation.

We aim to support Indias agile SMB, large enterprises and government space through secure and reliable remote access, remote support, and collaboration in one integrated solution, said Konstantin Ebert, Vice President Sales EMEA, APAC, and Global Channels at TeamViewer. Our cutting-edge yet easy-to-deploy solutions address the use-cases of modern organizations looking for the ability to connect anything, anywhere, anytime. TeamViewers solutions could also help the Indian government with its Digital India and Smart Cities programs as their essence is transparency and interconnectedness between government and citizens.

With the growth of Indias digital footprint, more and more industries in the country are developing and implementing IoT, AR, and AI innovation. TeamViewer offers best-in-class connectivity enabling our customers to securely tap into these megatrends, said Krunal Patel, TeamViewer Head of Sales India and South Asia. Our channel partner fraternity will play a pivotal role in driving this growth with sector-specific solutions. We already have Ingram micro signed up as our first distributor in India and are quickly expanding our existing reseller network.

(Source)USG has hired Kim Steinmetz as producer/broker to its branch in Tampa, Fla.

Steinmetz joins the USG team with 16 years of experience in the industry, specializing in large commercial property. She most recently held the position of assistant Vice President at AmWins in Jupiter, Fla.

In her new position at USG, Steinmetz will work to develop both her book of business, as well as USGs large brokerage property division.

This move is the most recent change that USG has implemented in its plan to expand operations nationwide and continue to provide services for the risk management industry.

USG Holdings, Inc. has five divisions; USG Insurance Services, Inc. a national wholesale/MGA operation with 21 offices writing in all states; BFS: Brokers Financial Services, a premium finance company; BFS Inspections, an inspection company operating in 25+ states; AAU: Allied American Underwriters, a program manager and specialty division offering commercial, personal lines, and surety; and Into Innovations a full service marketing, advertising, and technology provider for the industry.

Topics FloridaWells Fargo (WFC) is among the top five banks in the United States, ranking in the third sport as of mid-2020, after JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America. According to the company, it has more than $1.97 trillion in assets. The bank serves more than 70 million customers across the country and has more than 266,000 employees. The bank had a market capitalization of $97.4 billion as of Aug. 21, 2020. Wells Fargo reported net income of $19.55 billion earnings for the 2019 fiscal year.

Banking is the ultimate intangible industry, moving assets from lower-valued to higher-valued uses in the most impalpable of ways. But that still leaves plenty that distinguishes Wells Fargo from its major U.S. competitors starting with its size and its reach. So how does the bank make money? One way is by lending out money at a higher rate than it borrows. But there's more to it than just earning money in interest. This article looks at how Wells Fargo earned its spot among the other big banks in the country.

Key Takeaways Wells Fargo is among the top five banks in the United States.

In simple terms, the bank makes money by lending out at a higher rate than it borrows.

Wells Fargo operates three divisions including Wealth and Investment Management, Wholesale Banking, and Community Banking.

The company's Wholesale Banking unit is the most profitable, bringing in more money than the other two divisions.

Big, Regional Acquisitions

Wells Fargo was created by the merger of large super-regional banks. Founders Wells and Fargo created their namesake in 1852 to cater to the growing population of gold miners and related hangers-on in California, which back then was in the early stages of its transition from distant backwater to most populous and economically powerful state in the union.

After close to a century and a half of steady growth, Wells Fargo merged with Norwest Corp. in 1998. A decade later, Wells Fargo bought out East Coast giant Wachovia. Add them all together, and Wells Fargo can now claim over 70 million customers from coast to coast.

Today, Wells Fargo officially divides its operations into three categories for management reporting purposes.

Wealth and Investment Management

This segment services business clients and high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) by offering them wealth management services, as well as investment and retirement products. Some of these services include financial planning, credit, and private banking.

Wholesale Banking

Wells Fargo's wholesale banking division tends to the financial needs of U.S.-based and global businesses. There are 13 different business lines that fall under this category including business banking, corporate banking, commercial real estate, insurance, and credit risk.

Community Banking

This part of the bank's operations services retail and small business clients with their everyday banking needs. Some of the services include checking and savings accounts, loans, mortgages. The bank serves these clients in its branches and by way of its automated teller machines (ATMs).

Serving the Rich and the Mass Market

Wealth and Investment Management means financial services for rich people. This end of Wells Fargos business doesn't just dispense advice, it also helps in other ways such as setting up foundations or solving inheritance issues before they arise. Every rich person knowsat least in the United Statesthat preserving ones affluence can be almost as much work as it was to get wealthy in the first place. All told, Wells Fargo reported $2.7 billion of net income from wealth management, brokerage, and retirement in 2019. If that sounds substantial, its easily the least lucrative of the banks three areas of operations.

The word wholesale has a slightly different meaning in banking than it does elsewhere. Plenty of banks dont even use the term. But at Wells Fargo, its a catch-all for underwriting and selling asset-backed securities along with other types of banking for large corporations and even other banks.

Not Just Retail Banking

Actually, that doesn't even begin to cover it. Wholesale Banking includes, for instance, equipment financing. If you want to buy a dragline for your surface mining project and dont have the $35 million or so on hand to pay for it with cash, Wells Fargo can front you the money.

Wells Fargo also handles crop insurance, commercial real estate, energy syndicated loans, and more. Many of the Fortune 500 companies do at least some wholesale banking with Wells Fargo. Thats when theyre not transferring their risk.

You'd need annual revenues of at least $5 million in order to become a Wells Fargo wholesale customer.

When a multinational with tens of millions of dollars in cash on its balance sheet needs somewhere to store that cash, Wells Fargo's wholesale division is where they do business. To be a Wells Fargo wholesale customer, you need annual revenues of at least $5 million. Wells Fargos wholesale operations have even greater reach than its community operations do. The bank has wholesale offices in 42 states that are manned by more than 30,000 employees. Thats to say nothing of its wholesale offices across the globe, from Santiago to Seoul, Calgary to Cairo, and Sydney to St. Helier. All told, net income from wholesale banking totaled $10.7 billion in 2019far more than wealth, brokerage, and retirement operations.

Community Banking, Above All

Now let's look at the community banking section. Community banking net income was $7.4 billion in 2019 on total annual revenue of $85 billion. That margin might seem high, but it really isnt. If youve ever been skeptical of how you can possibly be so big a profit center to a bank, what with your modest checking account balance and your restrained use of your debit card, understand that community banking is more than just ordinary people depositing their paychecks and maybe buying the occasional mortgage.

According to the company, the community banking segment includes "checking and savings accounts, credit and debit cards, and automobile, student, mortgage, home equity and small business lending," in addition to "the results of our Corporate Treasury activities net of allocations (including funds transfer pricing, capital, liquidity, and certain corporate expenses) in support of other segments and results of investments in our affiliated venture capital and private equity partnerships."

Scandals

The Federal Reserve imposed a cap on Wells Fargo's assets worth more than $1.95 trillion due to its "widespread consumer abuses." The cap caused the bank to lose hundreds of billions of dollars in stock market value. Wonder why? Here's a long, but not exhaustive, list of the company's scandals.

In December 2013, the L.A. Times reported that desperate branch employees opened fake accounts and credit cards in order to meet their sales quotas. At the time of the story, the bank denied all the claims. It was only three years later in 2016 that the company admitted that over 3.5 million unwanted accounts were opened.

Here's why. In order to get bonuses, Wells Fargo employees needed to hit huge sales goals that many felt were unrealistic. Instead of finding real customers, employees just created accounts for existing Wells Fargo customers unbeknownst to them. The employees even used fake email accounts and personal identification numbers (PINs) to sign them up, seemingly hoping no one would notice. Small amounts of money were even transferred to these accounts to make them look real.

Wells Fargo promised to refund customers who had improper fees as a result of this business practice and fired 5,300 employees. Even the bank's chief executive officer (CEO) stepped down. According to the New York Times, Wells Fargo paid "more than $1.5 billion in penalties to federal and state authorities and $620 million to resolve lawsuits from customers and shareholders."

On April 20, 2018, it was announced that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency fined Wells Fargo $1 billion for the mistreatment of its auto loans and mortgage consumers.

In June 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed an investigation found Wells Fargo supported active trading by brokerage clients on high-fee debt products that were supposed to be held to maturity. Without admitting or denying guilt, the bank settled by agreeing to repay $1.1 million in ill-gotten gains and interest as well as $4 million in penalty.

In August 2018, the company paid a penalty of $2 billion for allegedly misrepresenting the quality of residential mortgage loans a decade earlier.

Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan, who spent 31 years at the company and was trying to restore trust in the brand, stepped down unexpectedly in March 2019. "It has become apparent to me that our ability to successfully move Wells Fargo forward from here will benefit from a new CEO and fresh perspectives," he wrote in a statement. Sloan faced pressure to resign from regulators and critics who saw him as too much of an insider to reform the bank's culture.Investopedia and our third-party partners use cookies and process personal data like unique identifiers based on your consent to store and/or access information on a device, display personalized ads and for content measurement, audience insight, and product development. To change or withdraw your consent choices for Investopedia.com, including your right to object where legitimate interest is used, click below. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page. These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data. List of Partners (vendors)December 4, 2018 (Investorideas.com Newswire) For the second time, Medellin is chosen to host the General Assembly of the Organization of American States - OAS. The decision was made by Resolution of that same entity, after Colombia stated its intention to host the meeting between June 26 and 28, 2019.

"It will be a great honor to receive the 35 delegations of the member countries and other special guests in this summit on June of next year. With the warmth of our people, our city infrastructure and the support of the institutions, we will carry out one of the best meetings in the history of the Organization of American States," said the mayor of Medellin, Federico Gutierrez Zuluaga.

The celebration of the 49th edition of the OAS Assembly joins other events of great international relevance that will be held in Medellin next year, such as: the World Cities Summit , the Meeting of UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities , the World Avocado Congress , the Concordia Summit, among others that will make: "Medellin the epicenter of major meetings in Latin America and the world in 2019" added the local leader.

Information for journalists

Ana Maria Villa Zapata

Communications Senior Professional / avilla@acimedellin.org / 3203430 Ext 103

Sandra Milena Ospina D'Alleman

Director of Communications / sospina@aciMedellin.org / +57 3185285705

More Info:

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Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.aspDecember 4, 2018 (Investorideas.com Newswire) The Colcap index closed at 1,406 points, equivalent to a daily change of 1.91%, total turnover reached USD 50.01 mm. The best performers were Fabricato (+8.50%), BVC (+7.22%) and Ecopetrol (+5.96%). On the other hand, the worst performers were Corficolombiana (-2.67%), Exito (-1.65%) and Nutresa (-1.23%).

Today in Colombia

Avianca

The company reported that: i) United disbursed a loan of USD 456 million to Sinergy, who offered 100% of its 516 million of Avianca common shares as collateral; ii) United obtained the option to acquire up to 77.4 million Sinergy common shares; iii) United made an agreement with Kingsland, which holds 21.9% of the common shares, where it committed to purchase its ordinary shares until the fifth anniversary of the loan at a price of USD 12/ADR. Source: SFC

CLH

Cemex Latam Holdings, corresponding the request of the Financial Superintendency of Colombia to Cemex Colombia, and complementing its communication of November 21, 2018, it clarified the information published in the media during the week of November 21 to 25. "CEMEX Colombia" and "CLH" have no knowledge or certainty regarding possible collaborations with the US justice system of the persons mentioned in the press releases. These people, two of them ex-employees of "CEMEX Colombia" who were untied since 2016, are subject to investigation, linked to the process and have preventive detention by the Prosecutor Office, following the complaints filed by "CEMEX Colombia" and "CLH" against it since 2016. In relation to the Contract that is currently negotiated with the Sociedad de Activos Especiales (SAE), "CEMEX Colombia" ratified its transparency with the information it supplies to the market which is part of its Financial Statements, in which the information regarding this matter has been included. However, the matters related to the negotiation between the parties and their positions are confidential and will be published to the market once the negotiations are completed, in any sense. "CEMEX Colombia" and "CLH" have been cooperating with all the investigations, but to date the aforementioned authorities have not concluded that the companies, their subsidiaries or their employees have violated the law. Source: SFC.

Additionally, CLH informed that on September 5, 2018, "CEMEX Colombia" received a special request from DirecciAn de Impuestos y Aduanas Nacionales ("DIAN") (Tax authority in Colombia) through which the administrative entity presented rejections to certain deductions included in the income tax declaration for the taxable year 2011 of "CEMEX Colombia". In this document, the DIAN has determined an increase in taxes to be paid on those declared of "CEMEX Colombia" for a total amount of COP 85.2 billion, equivalent to USD 27.58 million, and a fine of COP 85.2 billion, equivalent to USD 27.58 million, any payment of a higher tax and of the fine referred, would only take place at the time when the court decides adversely to "CEMEX Colombia", for which a considerable time would still have to continue. "CEMEX Colombia" presented the response to the requirement referred today, within the legal deadline, categorically rejecting the comments of the DIAN. In this preliminary stage "CEMEX Colombia" does not expect an adverse resolution to occur, however, as of today it is not possible to determine the probability of the result, whose administrative and judicial process can take up to eight years, in accordance to previous instances. Source: SFC.

On the other hand, the board of Cemex Colombia, confirmed that the legal representative Ricardo Naya and his deputies will remain in their positions. In addition, the members of the audit committee will remain in their positions. Source: SFC.

Fabricato

Fabricato SA informed that the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism issued Resolution 270 of November 26, 2018, in which it revokes Article 2 of Resolution 212 of August 14, 2018 and imposes the application of the anti-dumping duties to the imports of Denim fabrics originating from the Republic of China, consisting of a value corresponding to the difference between the FOB price of USD 4.12/kg and the FOB price declared by the importer, provided that the later is lower than the base price. The anti-dumping duties established in Article 2 of Resolution 270 of November 26, 2018, will take effect from the effective date until August 28, 2020. Source: SFC

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Corredores Davivienda S.A. Comisionista de Bolsa does not assume any responsibility for any investment decisions made that may be derived from the information and analyses presented herein. The investor is exclusively responsible for these decisions, their effects and consequences. Published data are for informative purposes and were obtained from reliable sources, but Corredores Davivienda S.A. does not ensure that they are free from errors. Total or partial reproduction of this document is not allowed without prior express authorization from Corredores Davivienda S.A.

In addition to the above, we inform you that: i) Corredores Davivienda is an affiliate (related party) of the Issuer Banco Davivienda; ii) Corredores Davivienda is one of the companies that are part of Grupo Empresarial Bolivar; iii) In line with its Risk and Investment Policies, Corredores Davivienda might purchase or keep for itself the financial assets or securities referred to in this report at the moment of its preparation or disclosure.

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GET INFORMED ...

IRELAND: GSOC is investigating after a man was injured and a dog killed during an incident in Granard in County Longford yesterday.

IRELAND: The first ever abortion pill has been approved for use in Ireland. The Health Products Regulatory Authority confirmed to the Irish Examiner last night that it has received and approved Mifepristone for termination of pregnancy.

IRELAND: The man accused of murdering a Cork man in Bandon seven years ago was described by neighbours as howling like a dog and cheering after the body of the deceased was thrown in the river.

IRELAND: An RNLI team from Co Mayo spent nearly 12 hours at sea rescuing three fishermen after their boat broke down.

WORLD: MPs are to debate and vote on British Prime Minister Theresa Mays Brexit deal. But what will happen?

ANALYSIS: The Garda Representative Body was subjected to intense criticism over the one million fake breath tests  a year on, little appears to have changed, writes Michael Clifford.

BUSINESS: FBD Hotels and Resorts  owned outright by investment holding company Farmer Business Developments  is eyeing further luxury hotel deals after acquiring the Heritage Hotel and Spa in Co Laois for approximately 9m.

SPORT: Rob Kearney is keen on the prospect of Stuart Lancaster teaming up with Andy Farrell.

SPORT: A criticism weve made before about Eamonn Fitzmaurices Kerry reign was his fascination with Dublin, writes John Fogarty in his weekly column.

... SOME DISTRACTION

SHOWBIZ: Eddie Murphy and his fiance Paige Butcher have a new baby boy, the 10th child for 57-year-old Murphy.

FEATURES: Making Cents: Check your home before severe storms hit.

CULTURE: New one-off drama Care tells the story of a single mum who becomes her mothers carer after she gets dementia. Georgia Humphreys finds out more about a programme inspired by the real-life experiences of one of its writers.

FEATURES: Being spontaneously charitable on a street level has become difficult in a cashless society, but technology could also solve the problem it created, says Eoin Weldon.

CULTURE: Sylvester Stallone has officially handed over Rockys crown to Michael B Jordan, and the young star is taking it all in his stride, writes Gemma Dunn.The Government may be heading for another huge haul from corporation tax receipts in 2019, a possible election year.

The latest exchequer figures show the Government collecting another bounty in taxes paid by multinationals.

With a 2.7bn haul from corporation tax receipts in November alone, the Government took in 470m more than it expected last month from the booming profit taxes.

The haul from a single tax source has echoes of the Tiger era, said Alan McQuaid, chief economist at Cantor Fitzgerald Ireland.

Only last week, the budget watchdog, the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, in its strongest rebuke yet, criticised Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe for allocating possible one-off corporation tax receipts to plug a 700m gross spending overrun in healthcare this year.

Days before his budget in early October, Mr Donohoe announced he would likely collect 1bn more from corporation tax receipts this year.

This was due to multinationals bringing forward payments of tax liabilities and paying more tax to the exchequer amid the global shake-up in the taxation driven by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

The latest figures show that just over eight weeks after Mr Donohoes statement, the corporation tax bounty has already surpassed his 1bn figure. It is bringing in over 1.5bn more in the first 11 months than anticipated by his department.

Mr Donohoe has insisted his budget was prudent. These additional receipts are not being used to finance additional expenditure, he said in a statement following the release of the latest exchequer figures.

Instead, all of the excess will be set aside to reduce  and possibly eliminate  the headline deficit, putting Ireland in a stronger position and better able to meet the challenges that may lie ahead.

Mr McQuaid said that clearly, we do not know what is going on as it appears that the dark arts are in play.

For the exchequer, the flow of corporation tax receipts is a good thing, but it has echoes of the Tiger era with no Plan B, he added.

Davy chief economist Conall Mac Coille said the exchequer will easily bring in over 10bn in corporation tax revenues for the first time this year.

He said that in recent years multinationals had transferred intellectual property rights on their technology and the related profits into Ireland, meaning the exchequer is now tapping revenues that were once held offshore.

Corporation taxes have for a while been above trend but that is not an argument for spending it, said Mr Mac Coille, adding that there could even be a larger haul next year.

The November returns suggest that the coffers are in good shape and would be a good backdrop for any election next year provided there is no crisis, said Austin Hughes, chief economist at KBC Bank Ireland.

These things can change. In other words, the Government should be cautious. It may well run a budget surplus but that doesnt mean it is being fiscally prudent because of the unexpected corporation tax receipts.

At 9.27bn, the exchequers tax receipts in November were over 7% above profile, mostly thanks to the corporation tax revenues.Enterprise Ireland is accelerating its focus on the Eurozone market, which represents a potential export market of 38bn.

The agency which has set targets to increase Irish exports to the Eurozone by 50% by 2020, is hosting Ambition Germany on Friday, December 7, to support more Irish companies to start and scale in Germany.

Germany is the largest economy in the EU and Irelands largest export market in the Eurozone.

Ambition Germany is part of Enterprise Irelands push to accelerate the Eurozone as a priority market for Irish exporters and support Irish companies to diversify into new country markets as a response to the challenges of Brexit.

The one-day event in the Sheraton Hotel 9in Athlone will hear from Irish companies including Aerogen, Western Automation, Irelands Eye Knitwear, Kooba, and Burnside Eurocyl, as well as advice from experts on online selling, legal, tax & recruitment issues relevant to the German market.

Liam Ryan, MD of SAP Labs Ireland will also share insights on the German business landscape, while the German Ambassador to Ireland, Deike Potzel, will give insights on the political and economic outlook for Germany.

Enterprise Ireland client exports to the Eurozone region, which account for 20 per cent of all exports, saw strong growth of 9 per cent to 4.61bn in 2017.

Enterprise Ireland supported 89 Irish companies to export to the Eurozone for the first time in 2017.

Almost 300 new contracts were secured for Irish companies in the Eurozone with Enterprise Ireland assistance

In 2017, Enterprise Ireland client exports to Germany increased by 14 per cent to over 1.1bn with industrial, life sciences and construction seeing a 19% increase and software and services exports increasing by 22%.

If your company is considering expanding to Germany this event should be your first stop. The @Entirl German team will be there along with market experts and other Irish companies who have successfully made the move to Europe's largest market already. https://t.co/cYBHH6NGfW  Roisin (@RoisinGreening) November 26, 2018

Germany offers a range of benefits for exporters such as zero currency risk, unfettered access, regulatory alignment and close geographic proximity to Ireland.

Enterprise Ireland Manager for Germany, Eddie Goodwin commented:

The German market has been one of the most resilient export markets for Irish companies and was one of the fastest to recover from the last global financial crisis. Since then increasingly more Irish SMEs have recognised the potential across all major sectors and Brexit has certainly accelerated the trend of Irish companies targeting and winning new business in Germany.

There are now over 500 Irish companies exporting to the market and their exports grew 14% at last count. We would see this interest increasing further as Irish industry looks more and more to the largest economy in the EU.

"German business culture while different to Irish, with some recognition of the differences, can be complementary and German business is certainly open to working with Irish companies. There has never been a more opportune time for Irish companies to take advantage of the massive market of the largest EU neighbour.

- Digital DeskAn unaccompanied minor was referred to Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, almost every second day last year, according to latest figures.

There were 175 unaccompanied minors referred to Tusla last year, up from 97 in 2014.

Many wait years for clarity on their protection or immigration status.

A report from the ESRI found that most unaccompanied minors in Ireland do not have a clear protection or immigration status.

An unaccompanied minor is a child under the age of 18 who arrives in Ireland without a parent or responsible adult.

There was a 39% increase in the number of unaccompanied minors referred to Tusla over the last two years  from 126 to 175.

The increase reflects the global rise in people seeking protection and Irelands commitment to accept minors as part of dedicated schemes.

However, the number of applications for international protection decreased from 34 in 2016 to 30 in 2017.

The study found that when unaccompanied minors turn 18 without status, they are often transferred from care to direct provision as asylum seekers.

Sarah Groarke, lead author of the ESRI report, said the system works very well for children who secure an immigration or protection status before their 18th birthday.

However, the vast majority face numerous challenges when they leave the care of the State and go into direct provision without resolution of their status, said Ms Groarke.

Tusla is responsible for making an application on behalf of unaccompanied minors but some social workers delay submitting applications for international protection.

It may be considered that the application is not in the childs best interest or the child might not be ready. There is also the fear that negative decisions would lead to children going missing.

The Childrens Ombudsman, non-governmental organisations, and lawyers are concerned about the practice of delaying applications.

There were 22 unaccompanied minors who arrived under the EU Relocation Scheme and 41 as part of the Calais Special Project  most were granted refugee status on arrival or shortly afterwards.

Most of the children had come from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iraq, Syria, and Ethiopia. More than half of unaccompanied minors are aged between 16 and 17.The two companies said in a statement they would unveil a prototype, using Qualcomm Incs modem chips.

US wireless carrier Sprint Corp is also working with LG Electronics USA to launch a 5G smartphone in the US in the first half of 2019.

Verizon Communications Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd on Monday confirmed long-held industry expectations they would seek to steal a march on Apple Inc by launching US 5G smartphones in the first half of 2019.

The two companies said in a statement they would unveil a prototype, using Qualcomm Incs modem chips, at the chipmakers annual Snapdragon Technology Summit in Maui, Hawaii this week.

While Verizon is leading the charge to trial 5G in some cities next year, industry analysts say the higher-speed networks are unlikely to be widely available until the middle of the next decade.

Apple is engaged in a legal battle with Qualcomm that has led it to stop using its modem chips, and the Cupertino, California company is widely expected instead to use Intel modems, which will not be ready for production until late 2019.

Citing sources familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported here on Monday that Apple would wait until at least 2020 to release its first 5G iPhones.

The delay could make it easier for Samsung and Verizon to win customers who are eager to connect to 5G networks, which will provide a leap forward in mobile data speeds, up to 50 or 100 times faster than current 4G networks.

Qualcomm has also partnered with other smartphone makers who have committed to 5G phones for next year.

US wireless carrier Sprint Corp is also working with LG Electronics USA to launch a 5G smartphone in the US in the first half of 2019.

Verizon launched its first commercial 5G service in October when its 5G Home offering went live in Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and Sacramento.

Verizon Chief Financial Officer Matthew Ellis said last month that the company plans to target a broader audience for its 5G home broadband product following the adoption of global standards for the technology.The first ever abortion pill has been approved for use in Ireland.

The Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) confirmed to the Irish Examiner last night that it has received and approved Mifepristone for termination of pregnancy.

The tablet was authorised on November 30.

The tablet is taken as a single 600 mg oral dose, followed 36 to 48 hours later by the administration of prostaglandin analogue.

The Nordic Group BV, with an address in the Netherlands, is listed by the HPRA as the marketing authorisation holder.

The Irish Examiner asked if the HPRA was confident that the company will have supplies available in time for the January 1 deadline from which the Health Minister Simon Harris has promised an abortion service will be available for the first time in Ireland.

The HPRA said it could only comment that the application has met the sufficient quality, safety and efficacy standards for a marketing authorization and not on the precise availability of this medicinal product.

In a statement, the HPRA said our understanding is that the company is working with relevant stakeholders with a view to have the necessary product available in time for this scheme.

Last night, Dr Peter Boylan, former chair of the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, who was appointed by the Government to help implement the new abortion service, said he believed it could be introduced by January 1, if the legislation, currently working its way through the Dail, is passed.

Family doctors have expressed concern that this date is not achievable.

However Dr Boylan said he expects it can be done, although it is likely to have teething problems.

I dont think people should have undue expectations. People should anticipate that there will be difficulties because it takes time to get used to a new service, he said.

However Mary Favier, vice president of the Irish College of General Practitioners said family doctors have yet to see the evidence that systems will be in place to allow the delivery of an abortion service from January.

Its a deadline constructed by the minister [Simon Harris] and its his deadline. There is a huge amount to be put in place, such as referral pathways. The minister has assured us it will happen, but we have yet to see the evidence. We are concerned, Dr Favier said.

Separately a meeting organised by Start, the Southern Taskgroup on Abortion and Reproductive Rights, a group of up to 80 doctors drawn from general practice, obstetrics, and gynaecology and psychiatry in Munster, may not now go ahead tonight due to security concerns.

Mike Thompson, a GP member of Start, said the educational meeting is due to take place in Limerick. However its understood a high ranking staff member within the University of Limerick hospital group has been sent posters labelling them a serial killer.A brain-injured Irish woman sent to a specialist UK unit last February for a three-month assessment of her needs with a view to placing her here is still in the UK with no certainty about when a suitable place will be provided here, the High Court has heard.

The woman, a ward of court aged in her late forties, does not want to be in the UK unit and wants to be in Ireland, the court was told.

Her family are also anxious she returns here so they can visit her more regularly.

The president of the High Court, Mr Justice Peter Kelly, directed the HSE to speed up its "self-imposed" objective of identifying a suitable place here for the woman, who has an acquired brain injury and pervasive developmental disorders.

In the interim, it is in the woman's best interests to remain in the UK unit where she has made some progress, he said.

For reasons including uncertainty about what Brexit means for wards of court placed in the UK, the judge said he would review the matter in February and would view "very unsympathetically" any application then to extend the UK detention further.

He had a clear recollection about how distressed the womans mother, aged in her seventies, was when he granted the HSEs application last February to send the woman to the UK unit for diagnosis/assessment with a view to providing an appropriate placement here.

That assessment/diagnosis was expected to take about three months but has taken longer for reasons including lack of co-operation by the woman, he said.

He reviewed the matter in July when he continued orders for her detention in the UK subject to further review in December, with liberty to apply earlier.

During Tuesday's review, the judge was told, from the time a suitable healthcare provider was identified to provide the necessary placement here, it could take another six to eight months to put that in place.

The family were unhappy about this and also had concerns related to her welfare and safety in the UK unit which had recorded a number of assaults by other patients against her and her own involvement in assaults.

The general solicitor for wards of court, who visited the woman recently, reported her condition has improved but her clear wish was to be back home in Ireland. The general solicitor considered a return in the absence of an appropriate place being available now was not in the woman's best interests.

Peter Finlay SC, for the HSE, said the evidence is the woman has made progress. When she says she wants to come home, she means her family home but, given her serious disabilities, she cannot return there in the foreseeable future, he added.

Concern over woman's assessment

Ciaran Craven, for the family, said they had several concerns, including about her personal hygiene and safety, but were not seeking orders for her immediate transfer to Ireland without a suitable placement here being available now.

He asked the court to consider permitting the bringing of proceedings on behalf of the woman aimed at securing orders directing the HSE to provide an appropriate place here.

The judge was not convinced as of now such proceedings are necessary for reasons including he would be reviewing this matter again in February.

He said he had a number of concerns about the woman's situation, including the number of assaults on her and incidents where she was the perpetrator. While recognising the unit cares for people with various disabilities, the number of assaults was of concern.

He was also concerned she had come under the care of three different psychiatrists during nine months in the UK unit when consistency of psychiatric care was important. While her condition has improved, no one is seeking her discharge, he added.

A relative who represents the woman's interests had voiced legitimate concern the assessment has elongated into a detention almost a year-long which was never intended, he said.

It seemed to him all the components identified as necessary to meet the woman's needs are provided by existing services here but there may have to be some adjustments, he added.An LGBT group is set to be established in Leinster House to organise conferences, campaigning, and social events. In addition it will provide a supportive space for staff and politicians. Ceann comhairle Sean O Fearghail has told Cork senator Jerry Buttimer he supports his proposal for the special forum and models in other parliaments are being examined.

Mr Buttimer, who recently married his partner Conchobar O Laoghaire, told the Irish Examiner he is delighted and hopes the group would be set up early in the New Year.

Members and staff will co-ordinate legislation and efforts to support the health and rights of the LGBTQ+ community, he said.

The forum is also backed by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Minister for Children Katherine Zappone as well as leading gay rights campaigner senator David Norris.

It is important the Oireachtas builds on the success of the marriage referendum. The aim is to create a parliamentary forum, an opportunity for people to discuss matters, said Mr Buttimer.

Mr O Fearghail told Oireachtas members by letter last week that he as ceann comhairle, as well as the cathaoirleach of the Seanad Denis ODonovan, and the clerk of the Dail, Peter Finnegan, all support the initiative.

Oireachtas staff and politicians have now been asked for their views on the proposed forum and to come back with ideas about how it might function in Dublin.

The group could, for example, organise seminars, social events, lectures and so on, and we would very much appreciate early suggestions from all working in Leinster House, Mr O Fearghail said in his letter to TDs, senators and staff.

Similar groups in other parliaments are now also being studied, he said.

Mr Buttimer says the forum could examine how to help support the wellbeing of the LGBTQ+ community, including accessing health services such as PrEP  drugs for people who may be at risk of getting HIV.

The Cork South Central candidate added: We would be a general group, not a government one. We have work to do on gender recognition and the availability of services where people feel vulnerable.

Mr Buttimer also travels to Washington this week for an international LGBT conference at the Victory Institute where the senator a nd members of a new international caucus for the gay community will address guests.A contractor company has been fined 4,000 after pleading guilty to allowing high concentrations of silt into a river in West Cork.

Daytona Contractors Ltd of Gullane in Clonakilty pleaded guilty to two charges in a prosecution brought by Inland Fisheries Ireland.

IFI officer Patricia OConnor said on March 30 last she received a call about discolourisation of the Argideen River near Timoleague.

She found a small stream contaminated with silt and traced it upstream to a site covered by a waste permit issued by Cork County Council.

She said material such as gravel and cement were being brought there, where they were to be in-filled and the area levelled off.

However, she said the material was being dumped on a slope and a stream of water was flowing through this slope, bringing silt with it.

Signage at the entrance outlined how the site was being managed by Daytona and Ms OConnor said she contacted the companys managing director who arrived there shortly afterwards.

Ms OConnor said effectively there had been a landslip, with the water flowing into the Argideen which has sea trout and salmon in it. She also said the small stream where she first noted the silty content was a spawning stream.

She took samples: one, from above the site, was clear; another, at the site, showed a suspended solids level of 680mg per litre of water and the third sample 300 meters downstream had a suspended solids level of 993 mg/L.

It was highly contaminated with silt, Ms OConnor said.

The company pleaded guilty to causing or permitting polluting matters to enter waters contrary to the Local Government (Water Pollution) Act and also to permitting or causing deleterious matter to fall into waters contrary to the Fisheries (Consolidation) Act. Another charge was withdrawn.

Barrister for Daytona Contractors Ltd, Mahon Corkery, said the activity on-site on the day was in compliance with the licence that had been issued and that two issues had been at play.

The first was the gradient was too severe and this has been rectified to change it from a 45 degree slope to a 30 degree slope. The second issue was the drainage of the surface water and the concrete pipes that were in place that day had simply failed to carry the rainwater.

Mr Corkery said the issue on the day was inadvertent rather than intentional and 40,762 in remedial works had been carried out since.

Judge Mary Dorgan said it was a serious situation. She fined the company 2,500 on the first charge and 1,500 on the second charge. The company was also to pay agreed costs of 3,447.A TD has called for the privatisation of bus routes to be frozen for five years.

It comes after the National Transport Authority gave notice of its intention to put a number of Bus Eireann routes out to tender.

Unions have hit out at the plans saying they may undermine workers' rights.

Fianna Fail's Transport Spokesman Robert Troy wants it stopped.

Mr Troy said: "What we want to see happening is, effectively, a pause button being pressed and no further privatisation of any additional routes for a minimum of five years until we get a full picture.

"What we'd also like to see the Government do is get real about public transport and have a significant investment in public transport."

Deputy Troy has called for an open and transparent analysis of the impacts of privatisation on bus services.

He said: I am very concerned by the fact that the NTA have unchecked powers when it comes to privatising further bus routes. The buck stops with Minister Ross and yet he is standing idly by as this happens.

"The effectiveness of privatisation can only be assessed after it has commenced and a period of consultation has occurred. We cannot have a situation whereby privatisation that is proving inadequate is allowed to continue.

"I have introduced the Dublin Transport Authority (Amendment) Bill 2018, which is currently before the Dail. The Bill is designed to prevent any additional privatisation of routes pending a comprehensive review of the routes which have been privatised to date."

- Digital DeskUpdate: 12pmTeachers at Grafton College in Dublin say they do not accept that the owner "doesn't have a penny" to pay them.

They occupied the Portobello school last night after it went into liquidation, leaving staff without a job and owed a month's wage.

The demonstration ended at around 1am after they were asked to leave by representatives of the owner Saeed Rehman, and a request from the gardai.

Trade union Unite, which represents a majority of the teachers, is organising a lunchtime rally between 12.30pm and 2pm today outside the college.

Legislation which will better protect the rights of English language teachers is due before the Dail tomorrow.

One of the teachers affected, Daragh McCarthy, says only students are protected when these situations arise.

He said: "What has been put in place for students, they have reasonably good protection when these schools go to the wall.

"The students are left without a school, they then are taken care of and they are put into other language schools, but there is literally nothing in place to help teachers or put in any protection for them in the industry."

Earlier: Grafton College teachers 'resolute' over unpaid wages after being locked out of building

A group of teachers who had been occupying an English school in Dublin since last night have been locked out of the building.

The Portobello school went into liquidation yesterday leaving staff without a job and owed one month's pay.

They are demanding that the owner of Grafton College in Portobello meet with them and settle the unpaid wages.

They also want a meeting with Education Minister Joe McHugh to discuss precarious employment in the sector.

Daragh McCarthy, who is one of the teachers, said: "We feel we are speaking for all EFL teachers in the country who I think will empathise with our situation. Many of them, this is the third time this has happened to me, this is the third time this has happened to another colleague of mine, we are speaking for the EFL teachers and for the industry as a whole.

"We feel we have to do this because it's just being taken up in any serious way and we're resolute about this."

- Digital DeskAny finding by the Supreme Court that slopping out amounts to inhuman and degrading treatment would have huge consequences for the State and the Mountjoy prison regime, the State has said.

It would also have potential implications for damages as about 1,000 cases have been taken over slopping out, Paul Gallagher SC said.

The five-judge court reserved judgment today on an appeal by former prisoner Gary Simpson who had to slop out over some eight months in Mountjoy in 2013.

Mountjoy Prison

Slopping out was condemned in 1993 by the European Committee on the Prevention of Torture and criticised in several other reports, including by the Inspector of Prisons here.

In 2010, the State began a programme of prison refurbishment with a goal of single cell occupancy and in cell sanitation.

In his 2017 High Court judgment on Mr Simpsons case, Mr Justice Michael White found slopping out breached Mr Simpson's constitutional right to privacy and dignity but not his right not to be subject to inhuman and degrading treatment.

Those findings were made in the context of the particular circumstances of Mr Simpsons imprisonment - a protected prisoner doubled up in a single cell with no in-cell sanitation and on 23-hour lock-up.

Because of his finding that Mr Simpson told some untruths about his treatment and grossly exaggerated some of his evidence, Mr Justice White refused damages.

He also refused Mr Simpson his legal costs, estimated at more than 1m, against the State but declined to order him to pay the State's costs arising from his criticism of matters including limited access to showers for prisoners on 23-hour lock up.

The State is not appealing the finding that slopping out breached Mr Simpsons right to privacy and his dignity but opposes Mr Simpsons appeal over the rejection of his claim his unenumerated constitutional right not to be subject to inhuman and degrading treatment was also breached.

In arguments today, Mr Gallagher said intent is a critical factor when considering whether or not there was a breach of the right not be subject to inhuman and degrading treatment.

While intent to degrade is not a prerequisite for a finding of a breach of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits inhuman or degrading treatment, the presence or absence of any such intent is an important factor, he said.

'Very high threshold' should be met

The State authorities did not set out to demean or humiliate Mr Simpson or take advantage of detention to violate his rights, he said.

Rather, he was among a small group of prisoners who had to slop out while refurbishment was going on in Mountjoy Prison.

A very high threshold must be met to establish a breach of the right not to be subject to inhuman and degrading treatment, he argued.

Any such finding would have huge consequences for the State and, even accepting it would apply to a historic practice because slopping out has almost been eliminated, the State would be likened internationally to other countries operating savage prison regimes.

The State also maintains the High Court correctly decided Mr Simpson was not entitled to damages over breach of privacy/dignity based on its findings some of Mr Simpsons evidence about his treatment in prison was untruthful or grossly exaggerated.

This conduct was an assault on the administration of justice as the entire legal system operates on the basis people are expected to tell the truth, Mr Gallagher said.

The High Courts declaration the right to privacy/dignity was breached was an adequate vindication of Mr Simpsons constitutional rights, he argued.

Brian Murray SC, also for the State, said there was no claim Mr Simpson suffered personal injury due to slopping out and his claim of loss was confined to distress and upset.

Damages should not be awarded for distress due to a breach of privacy where was no intent to harm, he argued.

When counsel argued the situation was unforeseen, Ms Justice Iseult OMalley remarked that Mountjoy was in the state it was in from the foundation of the State.

In closing arguments for Mr Simpson, Paul OHiggins SC argued a declaration was not a sufficient vindication of his clients rights and he was entitled to damages.Climate change measures need to be thoughtful and inclusive, says former President Mary Robinson.

She was responding to a speech by renowned nature broadcaster David Attenborough at the opening ceremony of the COP24 UN climate conference in Katowice, Poland, where he called climate change "our greatest threat in thousands of years."

He told world leaders that climate change could lead to the collapse of civilizations, and much of the natural world.

Right now we are facing a manmade disaster of global scale, our greatest threat in thousands of years: climate change, he said.

If we dont take action, the collapse of our civilisations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon.

Sir David Attenborough, the icon of nature documentaries, addresses world leaders on climate change: 'The world is in your hands.'



Watch more #COP24 coverage: https://t.co/hXIqbqBEoH pic.twitter.com/iDXLamd6XB  Reuters TV (@ReutersTV) December 3, 2018

Ms Robinson said it had been a wonderful idea to have Mr Attenborough speak at the conference.

She said: It has worked wonderfully, his voice has echoed around the world.

It was important to communicate, to get through the UN speak, to get through to people, she told RTEs Morning Ireland.

Were running out of time. It is important to take action now. We must be more ambitious. Big changes are happening."

"There is more concern at political level. The Government and political parties are taking the issue more seriously.

There is a long way to go to catch up, she said, but were on the right track.

Ms Robinson said there are very tough targets, but they are doable.

We must take action with much more ambition to be on track for a carbon-neutral world. Thats why what David Attenborough said is important. The situation is potentially catastrophic, but it is doable. People need to take steps in their own lives. They need to get cross if governments are not doing enough.

She said that Ireland is changing and needs to be a leader. But any changes need to be socially just, they need to be inclusive and thoughtful, she added.

The former President pointed out that changes in the peat industry need to include a just transition, with new jobs, new training and that the carbon tax should not have an impact only on those on low incomes who rely on fossil fuels for work.Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy has been severely criticised in the Dail after he proposed major last minute changes to a Bill aimed at delivering directly elected mayors in Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford.

Details of the plan, revealed in the Irish Examiner on Monday, have been the subject of deep internal wrangling within Cabinet and Opposition TDs rounded on Mr Murphy's inappropriate, incompetent and undemocratic handling of the bill.

Mr Murphy's junior minister, John Paul Phelan, informed the Dail of 30 pages of substantial changes to the Local Government Bill less than 48 hours before committee stage debates begin, and TDs demanded a delay to allow time digest what the Government is seeking to change.

Sinn Fein's Eoin O Broin said that the Government has dropped what is virtually a new bill, all because of a deadline to ensure a vote on the same day as the Local and European elections next May. He said this approach will lead to mistakes happening.

The problem is we have been given five pages of what is essentially a new bill 48 hours before the committee will vote on them. We have had no second stage debate or pre legislative scrutiny, he said.

Before we even got the amendments, the Irish Examiner had a story on Monday based on a leaked Cabinet memo which showed the Attorney General had concerns on the grounds it is not clear what the powers would be. The same memo highlighted criticisms from the minister for finance, he said.

When ministers put pressure on officials to produce legislation in short time frame, mistakes happen, he said.

Labour's Jan O'Sullivan echoed those worries, suggesting the bill be delayed to allowed sufficient time.

I have a lot of concerns. I am not sure how appropriate it is to send a bill which will be substantially different to what we debated at second stage. This is virtually a new bill, she said .

This is such a significant issue that it deserves much more scrutiny. Does it have to go to committee tomorrow, Ms O'Sullivan asked.

Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said the Irish Examiner reported a division within the Cabinet concerning plebiscites on directly-elected mayors for Cork, Waterford, Limerick and Galway, saying this is a concern.

In response, Mr Phelan said it was signalled changes would be brought forward at this stage of the bill and a briefing will be offered to the Opposition today before the committee sits.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 4)  Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said he would follow the recommendation of the police and the military to extend martial law for another year.

However, Lorenzana said he would not push for martial law to be expanded nationwide.

"In fact the President said on many and many occasions that he is not inclined to proclaim martial law nationwide," Lorenzana said.

The militant Makabayan bloc in Congress has warned that extending martial law in Mindanao for the third time may embolden the AFP to expand its coverage to the whole country.

"Malinaw na itong panukala na i-extend na naman ang martial law sa Mindanao, ito ay magbubunsod ng mas marami pang paglabag sa karapatang pantao. At sa katunayan, kung papabayaan natin ang militar at pulis, hindi na lang Mindanao ang gusto nilang ilagay sa batas militar kundi ang buong bansa na," Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate said Monday in a press briefing.

[Translation: It is clear that this proposal to extend martial law in Mindanao yet again would cause more human rights abuses. And in fact, if we would let the military and the police, Mindanao would not be the only place where martial law is imposed but the whole country as well.]

But Lorenzana reiterated that extending martial law is needed to quell terrorist activity, especially since they have received reports that terrorists from Malaysia, Indonesia and the Middle East who are experts in bomb-making have entered the country's southern region.

"There's an agency there in Singapore who monitors these terrorists from Syria, the Middle East, and what he said is some of them already entered Mindanao. So we take it as maybe as not really true or it is a sure thing, but we are validating just the same," he said.

Extending martial law for another year would help to "completely eradicate" terrorists in Mindanao, including the Abu Sayaff, remnants of the Maute Group, which laid siege to Marawi City in 2016, and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Lorenzana said.

The Defense chief added that martial law extension would help protect the area during the plebiscite for the Bangsamoro Organic Law in January and the midterm elections in May.

He also said that Mindanao residents, including businessmen and the local government units, have "wished" for the extension of martial law.

READ: Economic, political gains will be lost if martial law in Mindanao is stopped  AFP

"Since when has public clamor become a basis for imposing martial law? It's a dangerous precedent and a militaristic mindset," Akbayan party-list Rep. Tom Villarin said.

Article VII, Section 18 of the 1987 Constitution states that the President may declare martial law "in case of invasion or rebellion, when the public safety requires it."

Duterte first placed Mindanao under martial law after the Marawi siege broke out. Congress first extended martial law to last until December 31, 2017 in July of the same year. The legislature once again extended it to last until the end of 2018 in December 13, 2017.

Congress would be voting jointly on the extension of martial law in Mindanao. The majority leaders of both houses have expressed openness to the proposal.

"[Martial law] has a negative impact in terms of investments, investor confidence and tourism, but on a high note, as I said, I'm coming from Mindanao, peace and order is much better this time. We feel safer when we go out at night. We feel safer when our families go out," Senate Majority Leader Migz Zubiri told CNN Philippines' The Source on Monday.

CNN Philippines' Xianne Arcangel and David Santos contributed to this report.Government committee is enforcing a new law on irregular places of worship, says Fr Greiche. The goal is to resolve administrative issues related to the "legal status" of such buildings. The Egyptian prime minister also authorised the regularisation of other places of worship if they meet legal requirements.

Cairo (AsiaNews)  The regularisation of more than a hundred new churches and Christian places of worship "is a positive step" and confirms that the government intends to "put into practice" what is in the law on irregular places of worship approved a year and a half ago," said Fr Rafic Greiche, spokesman for the Egyptian Catholic Church, who spoke to AsiaNews about 168 churches and other Christian places of worship recently approved by a ministerial committee.

Chaired by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly (who is also Housing and Urban Utilities minister), the committee "legalised" 151 churches with another 17 set to follow.

"The approval process touches churches that lacked proper authorisation, said the clergyman. This is an administrative issue meant to grant a legal status to buildings" that belong to Egypts Christian minority, which has been recently targeted by Islamic extremist groups.

In the past two months, the committee looked at churches that had requested regularisation, giving the go-ahead during a session attended by officials from the ministries of Justice, Antiquities and Parliamentary Affairs. The prime minister also authorised the regularisation of other places of worship if they meet legal requirements.

Back in April, the Egyptian government had approved 166 irregular churches and Church properties, speeding up the process.

Before the 2016 reform, it was difficult for Christian groups to get the necessary papers to build churches and houses of prayer. According to official statistics, almost 3,800 applications have been made for amnesty so far.

In a country of almost 95 million people with a large Muslim majority, Christians (especially Orthodox Copts) represent a substantial minority of about 10 per cent.

In 2016 and 2017, Christians were the victims of several violent attacks. A military court sentenced 17 people to death in mid-October in connection with these attacks.

However, the authorities iron fist policy has not stopped attacks or violence. On 2 November, an armed group attacked a busload of pilgrims in a desert area south of the capital, killing at least ten people and wounding several more.Ex-Sinn Fein TD Peadar Toibin intends to launch his new political party by late January and has claimed up to 25 sitting politicians  including a handful of TDs and senators  are already in talks about joining.

Mr Toibin confirmed the target launch date before his fourth public meeting on the new grassroots conservative group in Navan, Co Meath, last night.A pre-term baby died following an attempted blood transfusion to save her life, an inquest heard.

Baby Abbey Lespiaucq was undergoing a rare procedure because she was found to be anemic. The babys parents, who live at St Margaret's, County Dublin were attending the Rotunda Hospital for the care of their baby, Dublin Coroners Court heard.

The infant developed anemia due to the death of her red blood cells - a condition that can cause death if left untreated.

On Nov 15, 2017 tests in hospital revealed the baby was mildly anemic and mother, Elaine Lespiaucq, was brought back one week later for a follow-up check. The baby was deemed to be moderately anaemic at this point and a plan for an intra-uterine blood transfusion was made.

The procedure is technically challenging and is performed by a team of trained specialists, the inquest heard. The point where the umbilical cord inserts into the placenta is identified and most commonly the transfusion is given directly into the umbilical cord. Drugs are administered to stop the baby moving around.

Baby Abbey was 28 weeks when the intrauterine transfusion was carried out. Complications occurred and the infant was born by C-section and lived for 20 minutes before she passed away.

The intra-uterine transfusion is risky and can cause death but if you dont do it the baby may die, Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane told the infants parents.

So it's a risk versus benefit situation. Its very risky to treat the baby but the risk is high if the procedure is not done.

Pathologist Dr Emma Doyle conducted an autopsy and said there had been foetal bleeding post procedure.

The cause of death was due to complications of a high-risk procedure.

The Coroner returned a verdict of death as a consequence of a recognised complication of a transfusion and extended her sympathy to the parents.Energy price hikes taking effect over the winter months will force low-income households to go without heat and light, according to The Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

SVP says that in addition to increases in the last month by two companies, other suppliers are due to put up their prices between now and January. These follow significant hikes in gas and electricity prices in August 2018. Over a 12-month period this equates to roughly 300 more a year for the average dual fuel bill.

For many thousands of people that SVP supports, opening a utility bill is a major source of stress and these price increases are really going to hit struggling households hard, said Caroline Fahey SVP Head of Social Justice.

It also means that the increase in the Fuel Allowance in Budget 2019 will be completely wiped out by the latest hikes.

It is estimated that 28% of people in Ireland experience energy poverty and in 2017, SVP spent over 4 million helping households with fuel costs and utilities.

The regulator and consumer protection experts often suggest that customers switch suppliers to avail of better deals. But this isnt always possible for financially vulnerable customers if they have arrears, she said.

The charity also evaluated the disparity in prices between the main suppliers of electricity and found that pay-as-you-go customers can pay anywhere between 103 and 274 extra a year on standard electricity consumption.

The uptake in PAYG hardship meters has significantly reduced the number of disconnections among customers in financial difficulty, which is obviously positive. But PAYG customers are often subject to a poverty premium as they cannot avail of online offers or discounts for using direct debit or online billing, said Ms Fahey.

She also noted the practice whereby retail outlets surcharge top-ups, adding additional unnecessary charges to these customers.

Another downside is that when households have greater control over their energy spend, they are more likely to go without. The reality is that because a 20 top-up is going to go a lot less further than this time last year, self-disconnections are likely to increase.

The Society welcomed Electric Ireland's decision to keep prices static over the coming months and to offer discounts to those on PAYG meters. The news yesterday that PrePay Power will also delay its price increase was also welcomed and SVP said that it would urge other providers to follow these examples.

We are asking all suppliers to consider putting measures in place to protect vulnerable customers from price increases and poverty premiums, Ms Fahey added. "In the longer term, we believe the State should play a stronger role in determining housing standards, including energy efficiency and regulating energy prices to support affordability and social tariffs.

Data from Eurostat shows that amongst EU peer countries, Ireland has the second highest rate of households who cannot afford to adequately heat their home and the highest percentage of utility arrears.The feeder school tables celebrate inequality, according to a teachers union that says the tables do not reflect a schools contribution to disadvantaged students.

The claim comes as the latest feeder school results, published today, reveal that 17 of the top 20 schools that send the most students to college are either fee-paying institutions or are based in affluent areas.

John MacGabhann, General Secretary of the Teachers Union of Ireland said it was its view that the feeder school tables are driven by curiosity but celebrate inequality.

They tell us precisely what we already knew, and they tell us exactly the same thing every year. They celebrate, in our view, inequality.

He said the tables create a false narrative that the institutions that have the highest proportion of students who go onto third level are the best schools that provide the best teaching.

Neither of those propositions are correct. There are schools throughout the country that are providing absolutely superb educational services to students who dont and will never figure in the league tables, he told RTEs Morning Ireland.

Mr MacGabhann said the tables do not reflect the schools that provide for children with special needs, or for those children for whom English is not their first language or those who assist children dealing with homelessness.

None of the rich value that those schools provide to their communities and to society is captured [in the league tables], he said.

Meanwhile Solidarity & Socialist Party TD for Cork North Central Mick Barry said the findings show the class bias in our education.Update - 12.45pm: A Consultant Ophthalmologist thinks the HSE has bigger fish to fry rather than focussing on how employees refer to patients.

Michael O'Keefe, a consultant at the Mater Hospital in Dublin, was referring to new guidelines encouraging staff to think carefully about how they address patients, so that conversations with patients are "person-centred", for example by including their first names rather than 'pet names'.

The communications programme encouraging staff to consider how they communicate with patients has been rolled out in 18 hospitals around the country and is expected to be extended to others in the coming months.

Dr O'Keefe, who said the programme was "PC gone mad", said: "This is another example of political correctness gone totally mad. And then when you see it's now being implemented by the HSE at a time when there are no beds, patients can't get in, there are record numbers on trolleys, no follow-up appointments, no out-patient appointments, it is just off-the-wall stuff."

The Irish Patients Association said it was important that hospital staff get the right balance between being over familiar and clinical.

Stephen McMahon from the Irish Patients Association has said sometimes a pet name goes a long way.

He said: "We don't want a healthcare system that is absolutely clinical and cold. We have to respect the needs of patients and sometimes the relationship of a nurse or a doctor or other allied professions - by the way they interact with a patient in an empathetic way - can actually make their journey a little bit easier."

Earlier: HSE issues guidance on use of 'dear', 'love', 'girls' and 'boys' in addressing patients

The HSE has issued guidelines to staff encouraging them to think carefully about how they address patients, so that conversations with patients are "person-centred", for example by including their first names rather than 'pet names', where that is more appropriate. Staff are being encouraged to think about the issue, and use their best judgment depending on the circumstance.

The communications programme has been rolled out in 18 hospitals around the country and is expected to be extended to others in the coming months.

Under new guidance issued to HSE staff, the body says: "...Current activities include participants and their colleagues undertaking language exercises to look at the language they use day to day and whether or not it is person-centred, for example, are people referred to by bed/ room numbers or diagnosis? Are collective names used where the persons name would be more appropriate, do they use pet names such as dear or love, girls, boys, lads etc instead of the patients/colleagues names?

There is also a warning on referring to patients by their bed number or their ailment such as "the one with the hip".

The Listening, Responding and Improving report can be read .

This article was amended on December 4 to reflect the HSE guidance does not have the status of a new rule, or restriction, on staff.

- Digital DeskBeing spontaneously charitable on a street level has become difficult in a cashless society, but technology could also solve the problem it created, says Eoin Weldon.

A sound once heard on a daily basis is waning. Its an ancient, comforting jingle that has echoed through the streets of villages, towns and cities since the fifth century. My pockets havent been stretched by a currency bulge in years and now just contain a phone and wallet.

Just five years ago a fistful of coins and some crumpled notes  the remnants of last nights bar funds  would be pressed annoyingly against my upper thigh a few times a week. S ince then todays technology-driven world has firmly pushed currency out of my pocket and to the brink of obsolescence.

Laborious coins and notes never really stood a chance when you consider how convenience hungry we all are. A slicker replacement was always coming.

With a disposition to resist technology I was slow to let go of cash but the break was very near clean when I finally did. Unsurprisingly, people are easily wooed by the way a card-only system simplifies our daily financial transactions.

After going cashless I was hooked, another moth happily banging its head off the bright, alluring bulb. My last remaining use for cash is to fuel my apartment blocks vintage washing machine and dryer on laundry day.

Turns out swapping cash for cards earned me an unwanted saving too, on discretionary charitable donations. I unintentionally gave up my ability to help a homeless person or reward a busker for a song well played.

Buy the homeless person a sandwich you say. Yeah, I can do that, I have done that, but the homeless do require things other than food and I doubt many buskers want to see a messy sandwich dropped onto the pristine velvet interiors of their instrument cases.

Plus it was a convenience thing, the appeal of handing a homeless person some coins and getting on with your day. Nowadays being spontaneously charitable on a street level is more difficult and complicated.

The planets ominous, ever-widening wealth gap paired with the destructive culture of lavish corporate CEO bonuses means the numbers living on the streets are only rising.

Before the mass use of cards a homeless person may have survived by painting prints or an amusing sign, making jewellery, having a cute dog or busking.

Technologys ruthless nature seems to be rubbing salt in the wounds of the downtrodden but ultimately technology could solve the problem it created.

Different cities across the world are taking a modern approach to helping the homeless survive in a world no longer spun by physical currency.

Mouse clicks and card taps now make the Earth rotate. So in Washington DC, the people behind Street Sense  a newspaper written by and in aid of the homeless  have worked with software developers to create an app allowing customers to purchase the paper digitally.

You simply meet a homeless vendor on the street, select that vendors profile from a list of other homeless people selling the publication and transfer a direct donation electronically.

Vendors themselves dont need a smartphone for this role which helps as we tend to assume a person who owns a phone isnt worthy of charity.

In Seattle, another app is proving to be a literal beacon of light for those trapped in darkest depths of poverty. Entrepreneur Jonathan Kumars Samaritan app gifts a Bluetooth-enabled beacon to a homeless person.

Your investment into unsheltered beacon holders made the front page of the Seattle Times! Twenty beacon holders have reported finding housing, employment or another life-changing outcome through their beacon + you. https://t.co/JNtZuBaMS0  samaritan (@youaresamaritan) May 6, 2018

Anyone feeling charitable when passing a beacon holder can simply donate via the app. Beacon holders can then use any donated funds to purchase goods from local participating merchants.

Kenneth S Rogoff, an economist at Harvard University, envisions a day when physical currency will barely exist and predicts that in five to 10 years the United States could become a dangerously cash-light society for the homeless.

According to a recent survey 38% of Americans would ditch cash completely if they could, while 34% say carrying it has already become a rarity.

Both American apps are interesting solutions but theyre designed to help panhandlers and street vendors already connected to charitable organisations.

Many people begging on the streets have mental health or substance abuse issues so theres

no guarantee they will gel with the resource providers. Others living on the streets end up lone wolves over time and may distrust any organisation trying to help them. The reality is you cant save everyone.

In Europe, a sartorial surprise has given hope to the global homeless population. The haves and have nots in the Netherlands are becoming more close-knit thanks to a jacket.

Last year, Dutch ad agency N=5 garnered media attention by launching the Helping Heart Contactless Jacket program. Aside from keeping the recipient warm in the cold winter months the heavy coat is made with a special electronic patch sewn in over the heart area of the wearer, hence the name.

The patch enables a passerby to transfer a fixed donation of one euro to the jacket wearer in an intimate and symbolic way, by holding their debit or credit card over the persons heart until the transaction is complete.

An online bank account receipt along with a personal thank you from the homeless person arrives to the donor shortly after.

The only way the homeless person can spend the money received is through an official homeless shelter since the donations can only be used for a meal, a bath or a place to sleep.

The homeless person can also choose to save the money first and spend it on bigger goals such as training courses or accumulating savings. This controlled spending method also helps to filter out the stigma that many homeless people are addicts which often influences whether a person donates or not.

In England, they have found a way to help the homeless by giving them the ability to help themselves. TAP London  co-founded by Polly Gilbert and Katie Whitlock  is a non-profit employing homeless people as charity fundraisers.

Their model is an experimental one which involves hiring homeless vendors on a commission-only basis.

Equipped with contactless card readers the vendors sell art cards for 3 apiece, and all without any cash changing hands. One pound goes to a homeless charity and the remainder to the vendor and so far TAP Londons work has raised over 7,000 for charity from 3,000 odd taps.

Do you have an empty property that could be brought to life again?



We would like to speak to the owners of vacant properties who are interested in leasing their properties under the Repair and Lease scheme.



Learn more here: https://t.co/RALj9EYhC2 pic.twitter.com/BTOgWWqS4P  Peter McVerry Trust (@PMVTrust) December 1, 2018

Meanwhile, Dublin-based homeless charity the Peter McVerry Trust is asking the public to help identify empty or abandoned buildings that could be converted into housing for the homeless.

Using their app, people can log the locations of empty properties in and around Dublin City. With the information gleaned from the aptly-named Reusing Dublin project, the charity hopes to earn a slice of the 50m the Government has set aside to provide social housing to the homeless.

Its obvious that technology created the cashless-society problem for the homeless but its also becoming clear technology is the most viable solution.

With a bit of luck technological advances will bring forth even more positive change for the unfortunate masses. Until then, if coins no longer clink in your pockets and you want to help the homeless, just remember ... theres probably an app for that.New one-off drama Care tells the story of a single mum who becomes her mothers carer after she gets dementia. Georgia Humphreys finds out more about a programme inspired by the real-life experiences of one of its writers.

In the UK, women make up 70% of dementia carers  and 20% of those go from full-time to part-time work in order to do it.

Presumably, figures for Ireland are similar.

Its these statistics that writer Gillian Juckes wanted to focus on in new 90-minute drama Care, which will air on BBC One at the weekend.

Although a fictional account, the topic is something shes had experience with  and it makes for a heart-wrenching watch.

Were not treating dementia with the dignity it deserves, declares Juckes, who co-wrote the one-off programme with Jimmy McGovern (hes penned hit dramas such as The Street and Broken).

Its an illness, like cancer is an illness, and people are suffering; theyre not getting the right care.

Here, Juckes, and cast members Sheridan Smith and Sinead Keenan, tell us more about making Care.

THE STORY

Smith, 37, plays Jenny, a mother-of-two raising her girls alone after the departure of her husband Dave.

She relies heavily on her widowed mum Mary (played by Alison Steadman) for help with childcare, so that she can work full-time at a supermarket.

But when Mary suffers a devastating stroke and develops dementia, Jenny finds her life completely changed; suddenly, she is responsible for looking after her mum, and her daughters, and cannot carry on working.

Plus, she soon realises she has a fight on her hands when it comes to getting the best care for Mary  along with some tough choices.

Its a topic which Juckes, who originally wrote Care as a piece of theatre, believes needs more awareness.

We wouldnt leave a toddler in the home all day on their own, youd be prosecuted for it, but that is whats happening to people in the community. We need more nursing homes, and its not the fault of the NHS because 24% of their beds are taken with people over the age of 65 with dementia. It cant carry on.

EMOTIONAL SCENES

Smith, who was born in Lincolnshire, and her co-star, Irish actress Keenan, are asked if they tried to laugh in between takes on set for Care, to detract from how dark the material was.

I think every actor takes it differently and does their own thing, suggests 40-year-old Keenan, who plays Marys other daughter, Claire.

Myself, if Im doing heavy scenes, you go, Oh, this is going to be a fun day, she quips.

You keep yourself to yourself. Youre not exuberant, youre not bouncing around in between takes.

Sinead is incredible at staying in the zone, so to act opposite her was a dream, gushes Smith, known for her intense roles in shows such as The Moorside and Cilla.

In my mind, dementia is the cruellest disease there is. I can only go on being a carer for a parent [her father lost his battle with cancer in 2016] and trying to put my experiences into it. But it doesnt really come close to how I imagine that must feel.

FAMILY DYNAMIC

An interesting element of Care is how differently Jenny and Claire deal with their mums health issues.

Claires moved away, and Jenny is the one who does the lions share of all the caring, which I think an awful lot of people can empathise with, because, more often that not, people move away from their families, Keenan  star of dramas such as Little Blue Boy and Being Human  notes thoughtfully.

Because I live away  Im protecting myself now  I was keen not to portray Claire as the villain of the piece, she continues candidly.

Just because she lives away from home doesnt necessarily mean she loves her mother any less. She just doesnt have the ability that Jenny has of being hands-on and caring and warm.

The way she advocates for her mother is when she comes back she is like the bulldog  We need to sort it  whereas Jenny is much more

loving.

STAND-OUT ROLE

Its a stellar performance from all the cast involved with Care, but particularly Steadman.

She is captivating in how she portrays the heartbreaking side-effects of Marys stroke and consequent dementia  her inability to speak properly, her loss of language, her confusion and the way she lashes out at those she loves.

Smith and Steadman know each other well, from their time working together on BBC comedy Gavin And Stacey, which first aired more than a decade ago.

But Smith reveals they purposefully didnt discuss how Steadman was going to play the character of Mary, and they didnt rehearse together either, as suggested by their director, David Blair.

It made for some really authentic reactions to the emotional material.

The scene where shes wheeled past me in the wheelchair, it was really early on in the shoot, and I hadnt seen how she was going to be playing it, says Smith, who will be seen on our screens in the new year in new ITV drama series Cleaning Up.

When we went for it and I saw how she was looking at me with those eyes ... We had the most amazing crew as well, who were literally going around Alisons face and my face to get all that emotion.

It worked so well for me [not rehearsing together] because I havent had experience of dementia. Just seeing that, it took my breath away.

Care will air on BBC One on SundayITS the berries  so, go galvanise yourself for a life far removed from the hustle and bustle of daily life, with the chance to buy 30 acres of mountain land seasonally bedecked in red-berried holly, on the Cork/Limerick/Tipperary border.

The sale includes this berried land, anchored by an old, galvanised-roofed two-bed home, ditto old outbuildings in a scenic setting, on the foot of the Galtee mountains and near the now-demolished Earls of Kingston Galtee Castle.

It could all be yours, for 120,0000  or, even less.

Looking for all the world like a hilly hideaway scene from the RTE annals of Glenroe, or Bracken, and just short of the sight of an old gent cutting blackthorn sticks by the half-door, or tell-tale signs of smoke curling up from a poitin still, is this decent chunk of Carrigeen Mountain.

It may seem like the back of beyond, or the middle of nowhere, but its just five mins from the Cork-Dublin M8 (well, five mins, to where an unpaved 450 forest track to this remote homestead starts,) and is 40 mins from the Jack Lynch tunnel.

Closest communities are at Kilbehenny, and Skeheeanrinky, where the 160-year old cut limestone old national school was a landmark on the Cork-Dublin road til the M8 motorway blistered through to the south. (The elaborately turreted late 18th century mansion, Galtee Castle, was the real landmark, demolished in 1941.)

This more modest, still-standing wreck might also seen like a century away, or so, in time and on the visible evidence hasnt been lived in in the 21st century, and possibly for a goodly portion of the 20th century either.

Appearances deceive: you may feel remote here, but the property benefits from better mobile 3g internet than our town centre office, notes estate agent Jer Colbert, of Michael Dorgan auctioneers based in Mitchelstown, pulling this sales lifeline from the ether.

Since listing this 30 acre slice of Carrigeen Mountain (jointly with agents JJ OBrien,) the setting and its scope has grown stealthily on him. It has all lain idle and untouched for the best part of a decade, and is now being sold as part of an executor estate wind-up, he explains.

The land is poor enough quality, but what it lacks in quality, it more than makes up for in terms of quantity...of rough sheep grazing land, in eleven divisions, at best, strewn with rocks and bounded by a stream.

The negatives he freely admits are: relative remoteness, on the isolated side of a mountain.

Theres absolutely no passing traffic.

The access road is an unpaved forest trail, with forestry plantations abutting the 30 acre block, on at least two sides: there is little likelihood of a brick-paved drive aficionado opting for this, were in deep jeep territory. Or, the original 4X4, a horse, or donkey and cart.

The nearest neighbour is 1.3kms distant.

This property doesnt even (yet) have an Eircode for access guidance: the best there is in the auctioneers sale brochure (it make nine pages, no less, though) is a neighbours Eircode for reference, with the advice then to follow the Michael Dorgan sale boards from there, to the end of the road/world.

Yet, ever the optimist, Mr Colbert professionally proffers that the property offers adventure and a dramatic change of lifestyle within a commute. In todays world of stress, hustle, bustle, traffic these negatives have become a highly sought after and envied positive.

Clearly something of a traditionalist, he says he hopes its fate wont automatically be given over to yet more forestry plantations. I hope somebody has the vision and the bravery to save it and to improve on what has every ingredient to be something spectacular, asserts the man putting more sales effort into a modest-priced rural lot than most agents would into a semi-d in the burbs.

Jer Colberts own day to day choice of car is vintage, and he admits this property was an effort to find initially, and then to finally reach it along the overgrown forest track, the branches painfully screeching along the sides of my venerable Ford Escort as I negotiated my way slowly around the potholes and through the mountain mist.

Waxing lyrical now, in a lower gear, he says that even on that visit in fading, shortening daylight he noted the abundance of wild holly with red berries something that the market traders, and young entrepreneurs have made extinct in the more accessible areas, hinting at the authenticity of this locations unspoilt nature.

Within a week of first listing the two-bed, old stone cottage and outbuildings, all capped in rusty red galvanised iron in a setting free of the constraints of residency clauses and housing control zones (and, probably free of ESB and mains services also, let it be said,) he had an offer in of 40,000.

That has since jumped up to 80,000, still less than 3,000 an acre, with do-er up buildings, where a G BER is a certainty, and only because there isnt a Z rate to plummet to.

VERDICT: Apart from all the Galtees walking trails and outdoor attractions for the more free-spirited, there is a lifetimes supply of Christmas trees, and red-berried holly, on Carrigeens battered, down-at-heel yet faithful doorstep.

Galtee Mountains

120,000

Size: 30 acres

Bedrooms: 2

Bathrooms: 1

BER: G(uessing)

Best Feature: FreedomBy Claire Jones

Can you name a female scientist from history? Chances are you are shouting out Marie Curie. The twice Nobel Prize-winning Curie and mathematician Ada Lovelace are two of the few women within Western science to receive lasting popular recognition.

One reason women tend to be absent from narratives of science is because its not as easy to find female scientists on the public record. Even today, the numbers of women entering science remain below those of men, especially in certain disciplines. A-level figures show only 12% of candidates in computing and 22% in physics in 2018 were girls.

Another reason is that women do not fit the common image of a scientist. The idea of the lone male genius researcher is remarkably persistent. But looking to history can both challenge this portrayal and offer some explanation as to why science still has such a masculine bias.

For a start, the traditional view of science as a body of knowledge rather than an activity ignores womens contributions as collaborators, focusing instead on the facts produced by big discoveries (and the men who made them famous).

The 19th-century astronomer, Caroline Herschel, languishes in the shadow of her brother William. Physicist Lise Meitner missed out on the 1944 Nobel Prize for the discovery of nuclear fission, which went to her junior collaborator, Otto Hahn, instead. Even Curie was attacked in the press for supposedly taking credit for her husbands Pierre work.

The historian Margaret Rossiter has dubbed this systematic bias against women the Matthew Matilda Effect. Before the 20th century, womens social position meant the only way they could typically negotiate access to science was to collaborate with male family members or friends and then mostly only if they were rich. This left them prey to the traditional hierarchical assumption of woman as supporter and helper to man.

An obituary in Nature in December 1923 of the physicist and electrical engineer Hertha Ayrton, who won the Royal Societys Hughes Medal for original research in 1906, illustrates this. The obituary criticised Ayrton for neglecting her husband, stating that instead of concentrating on her science she should have put him into carpet slippers and fed him well so he could do better science. The tone of this obituary set the stage for her legacy to be forgotten.

These lasting attitudes about a womans proper role works to obscure scientific contribution. They also lead us to ignore women working as collaborators in areas historically more welcoming, such as science writing, translation and illustration.

As well as forgetting female scientists, we forget too that science has only been a profession since the late 19th century. Then it moved to new institutional settings, leaving women behind in the home where their science became invisible to history. For example, few remember pioneers such as Henderina Scott, who in 1903 was one of the first to use time-lapse photography to record the movement of plants.

Womens exclusion from professional spaces at this time is one reason why women became more active in scientific disciplines that still relied heavily on fieldwork, such as astronomy and botany. This is where science began splitting into a hierarchy of male-dominated hard sciences, such as physics, and soft sciences, such as botany and biological science, that were seen as more acceptable for women.

Shut out

Women were typically refused admission to elite scientific institutions, so we do not find their names on fellowship lists. The first women were elected as fellows of the Royal Society in 1945, and the French Academy of Science didnt admit its first female fellow until 1979. When the Royal Geographical Society debated the possibility of female fellows in 1892 and 1893, an angry dispute between council members was conducted via the letters page of The Times and it only finally admitted women in 1913.

Yet, scientific women worked though the cracks. Between 1880 and 1914, some 60 women contributed papers to Royal Society publications. And some women continued to work as scientists without pay or titles. Dorothea Bate was a distinguished palaeontologist who was associated with the Natural History Museum from 1898 yet wasnt paid or made a member of staff until 1948 when she was in her late sixties.

Why this pervasive ambivalence to female scientists? In the late 19th century, science taught that there were innate intellectual differences between the sexes which limited womens suitability for science. (Another reason why scientific societies did not want their prestige tarnished by female fellows.) Charles Darwin argued that evolutionary competition led to the higher development of male brains.

Scholars such as Carolyn Merchant and Londa Schiebinger have demonstrated that the birth of modern science in the late 17th century embodied a masculine ethos hostile to womens participation. Femininity became associated with the passive object of scientific investigation, in direct opposition to the active male investigator.

Science and nature were regularly personified as women up until the early 20th century, with the male researcher characterised as penetrating their secrets. This cultural understanding of science  which has nothing to do with the numbers of each sex practising  presented a challenge to women thats still recognisable today.

Although we must be careful not to overestimate how women were historically active in science, it is important to remember those women scientists who did contribute and the barriers they overcame to participate. This is one strand in tackling the continuing tension between femininity and science, providing female role models, and increasing womens participation across all scientific disciplines.

This article was written by Claire Jones, Senior Lecturer in History of Science, University of Liverpool and was originally published on The Conversation

Read the original article here.In a pastoral letter, Mgr Joseph Gan Jun-qiu writes that "we are called to reflect upon ourselves, meditate and renew our lives, to welcome the incarnation of the Messiah into our hearts". "The three key words for each family are 'Excuse me', 'Please' 'Thank you!'"

Guang Zhou (AsiaNews)  Advent is a time that invites us to improve ourselves. It is in particular a time to bring love in the family, in the relationship between spouses and with children, writes Mgr Joseph Gan Jun-qiu, archbishop of Guang Zhou (pictured), in his pastoral letter for Christmas.

At Advent, "we are called to reflect upon ourselves, meditate and renew our lives, says the letter, to welcome the incarnation of the Messiah into our hearts. I pray that the fragrance of his love may spread in every Christian family! May the coming of Christ illuminate all of our families with a shining light!"

"Love is the backbone of the family; the family is the joy of love; joy is the source of love; love is the golden rule of family life. The birth of Jesus Christ gathered the love of the world, purified it and made it full; such love permeates the life of faith, hope and charity in our Christian families. For this reason, Jesus said: love one another. As I have loved you (John 13:34). That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body' (Gen 2:24). The union between husband and wife is Gods 'original plan' and constitutes the family.

"The family is the place where new life is born and children are 'crystals of love', which reflect the life and grace of God because love always brings Life to us! Parents are the cornerstone of the family and children are the 'living stones' to build the family. The Christian family should be modeled on the 'family of Nazareth', full of faith and hope, with love as a starting point. The light of grace and faith, in silence and meditation, push us to imitate the glory of the true love of the Holy Family!"

"The relationship between husband and wife and with children, in many families, is in full crisis. On the day of their marriage, husband and wife say 'I will!' but mutual distrust and misunderstanding have gradually undermined it. Lack of communication, understanding, forgiveness, mutual love, suffering, evil, and violence destroy the family. The destruction of the communion of life and love among family members is a 'red alert', a warning sign for the family. Christian marriage is a sign; above all a happy family life, where husband and wife 'keep their promises'. The grace of the sacrament of marriage helps the spouses 'keep their promise'!"

"On 21-28 August 2018, the 9th World Family Congress was held in Dublin, Ireland, centred on the theme of the Gospel of the Family: Joy for the World. On that occasion, Pope Francis noted that 'Love spreads in the world through the family, through the witness of generations of Christian families, capable of overcoming all obstacles and reconcile the world with God. Moreover, this love makes us become one big family, living together in justice, holiness and peace. In addition, the pope invited each member to repeat the three key words for each family: 'Excuse me', 'Please' 'Thank you!'"

"The essence of mutual love is reflected in the acts of love we perform. Saint Thomas Aquinas says: 'To love is more virtuous than to receive love'. Loving is more dynamic: those who love tolerate the faults of their loved ones and know how to remain silent! Saint Ignatius Loyola said: 'Love manifests itself first of all in actions, then also in words!' Therefore, within family life, love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things ' (1 Corinthians 13:7). 'God is love' (1 John 4:8). Through mutual love in the family, the 'light of love' of God makes the sun from on high [. . .] visit us to shine on those who sit in darkness and deaths shadow, to guide our feet into the path of peace (Luke 1:78-79)."

"Dear brothers and sisters, love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another (John 13:34). Christian family life is the pasture of mercy' of Jesus Christ. If we walk with seriousness on the path of the beatitudes, we will learn and live the true meaning of 'loving one another'; for example: going to church on Sunday all together, participating in the Mass, praying together, eating together, chatting, walking together, travelling together. . . Even more important is 'always be happy, pray continually and give thank for everything (1 Corinthians 5:16-18). We must constantly repeat the three key words of the family: 'I'm sorry', 'Please', 'Thank you. With communion and unity in the love of God, every Christian family can live ever more the love of Christ, building perfect and happy families, to form a 'holy city, the new Jerusalem', where families love each other! (Revelation 21:2).

"Finally, let us pray to the 'holy house of Nazareth'  Jesus, Mary, Joseph  to protect and sanctify each of our families, so that there be no more violence, closures and divisions in families, that there always be an atmosphere of mutual love, forgiveness for wounds received and given, aware of the beauty of the family in God's plan, because 'everything comes from God and we belong to him!' (1 Corinthians 8, 6). Let us wait with trepidation for the Christmas of Jesus, like 'wise virgins', and let us make room to welcome Jesus in our families, to welcome Jesus into our family and in everyones heart!"The Garda Representative Body was subjected to intense criticism over the one million fake breath tests  a year on, little appears to have changed, writes Michael Clifford.

The latest shenanigans to hit the Garda Representative Association might have made a good episode of Keystone Cops. A complaint is made about a senior member of the organisation.

Or at least there is an attempt to make a complaint, but there is no means of doing so. The complainant, a civilian, tries to find out how to make a complaint, but its a mystery that would require a good detective to unravel.

The Garda Review, the 95-year-old magazine for the rank and file members, which might be regarded as an organ to air issues affecting the force and its association, is threatened with closure.

The would-be complainant happens to be the editor of the Garda Review. The magazine is 95% owned by the GRA. Maybe this is a coincidence.

Meanwhile, the GRA governing body doesnt know what to do about it all. The body has 31 members who gather in Dublin the night before a meeting and kick off proceedings at 11am the following morning.

Maybe they need a lie-in to think about whats ahead of them.

A report from Ampersand Consultants last year said meetings of the body can be casual discussions that dont necessarily go anywhere.

Maybe the Central Executive Council members think their way through a leisurely breakfast to find a purpose for the meetings.

So it goes in the GRA. The individual at the centre of this affair is John OKeeffe, a former journalist with the Sunday Independent, who lectures in criminology.

Mr OKeeffe came to public prominence last year in an interview with RTEs Paul Reynolds about the one million fake breath tests recorded in An Garda Siochana.

Mr OKeeffe attempted to defend the members of the GRA in a manner that was less than convincing. He was subjected to widespread ridicule on social media for his performance.

He was, however, occupying a sticky wicket. Either he accepted that the GRA members bore culpability  never really an option  or he attempted to defend the indefensible. He chose the latter and the reaction was inevitable.

In September, he announced that he was stepping down as the director of communications for the GRA, citing irreconcilable differences on policy. Despite the parting, he remained on as editor of the Garda Review on a three-year contract.

A month after he stepped down from the communications role he wrote to the CEC about a complaint he wished to make of bullying and harassment. He wanted to know to whom should he make the complaint.

In most organisations in the developed world there are routine mechanisms, either formal or informal, through which to make a workplace complaint. However, as pointed out in the report by Ampersand last year, the GRA tends to be cocooned from many routine organisational practices.

The CEC did nothing much about Mr OKeeffes complaint. He wrote again and again, but never really got anywhere.

Doing nothing about alleged bullying and harassment in the GRA is not confined to complaints from civilians like Mr OKeeffe.

Last month, this newspaper reported that a similar complaint from a female garda, against four males, had received little attention for over a year.

Eventually, a human resources firm was brought in to take a look at it, but three of the four male members reportedly didnt co-operate with the external agent.

When the matter was raised with the GRA by this newspaper, the reply included a request to identify the source of the story. Thus far, there has been no outcome to that investigation.

Meanwhile, back with Mr OKeeffes complaint, the 31 members of the CEC yesterday received further missives from him. Included was correspondence between his solicitor and the legal representative for the Garda Review.

The latter announced that the future was not bright for the magazine, and consequently for Mr OKeeffes three-year contract.

Please note, the solicitors letter from the board of the Garda Review states, that our client is currently looking at the viability of the magazine going forward. Your client is already well aware of the fact that significant concerns about its viability have been under consideration since August of this year.

It goes on to note that if a review of the Review turns up a dark future, thats curtains for Johnny too.

Needless to say, if the magazine is to be discontinued, our respective clients will have to engage further. That can be done once a decision is made.

The suggested ill health of the Garda Review is curious. Like many print organs it may not be as buoyant as it once was. But according to Mr OKeeffes solicitors letter: We are instructed that it is incorrect to assert that interest in the publication has dwindled. It has in fact increased.

A member of the Gardas economic unit should be in a position to sift the evidence from these conflicting claims.

Mr OKeeffes solicitor then pulled a rabbit from the hat. His clients complaint actually amounted to a protected disclosure, he pointed out. A Protected Disclosure is a form of complaint which comes with a number of legal bells and whistles attached. Specifically, it protects the complainant from any retribution for making a complaint.

Termination of the Garda Review contract other than in accordance with its terms will be unlawful, OKeeffes solicitor wrote.

Termination of the Garda Review contract as an act of retaliation/penalisation of our client for the complaint made will only serve to increase the range of legal remedies available to our client.

One interesting angle to the protected disclosure claim is whether it can be made retrospectively. For example, can a complaint be retrospectively classified as a protected disclosure with all the protections inherent in that?

The question is one that no doubt the GRAs lawyers will be mulling over.

In broader terms, the whole farrago has illuminated one thing about the representative body.

Since it was effectively branded an organisational basket case by the Ampersand Consultants over a year ago, little appears to have changed.Business KBZ Wins Financial Times Honor for Sixth Year Running

Employees of KBZ Bank work at a branch office in Yangon. / Reuters

YANGON  Myanmars largest private bank, Kanbawza (KBZ), was named Myanmar Bank of the Year for 2018 by The Banker, a service of the Financial Times, for its leading role in the countrys financial sector by using new digital technologies.

It is the sixth consecutive year the bank has landed the honor, making it the only financial institution in Myanmar to win the prize. The award was accepted by the banks chairman, U Aung Ko Win, in London on Thursday.

The Banker selected one bank in each country based on the financial institutions performance, delivery of innovation, added customer value and service to society.

The other 151 winners included the USs BBVA for Bank of the Year in the Americas, and Singapores DBS Bank for Global Bank of the Year.

The Banker said one of the greatest challenges KBZ has faced was financial inclusion, with just 10 percent of Myanmars population holding a bank account.

Recognizing the mobile-first potential of the customer base, KBZ launched a digital wallet to enable users to send cashless payments and withdraw funds through authorized agents, it said.

KBZ launched KBZPay, a digital wallet stored in a smartphone app, this year to makes purchasing everyday items as well as sending and managing money more convenient and secure.

In the three months since KBZPay launched, more than 450,000 accounts have been registered, according to the bank.

The award adds to a growing list of wins for KBZ Bank in 2018 including Best Domestic Trade Finance Bank in Myanmar and Mobile Banking Initiative of the Year in Myanmar at the Asian Banking and Finance awards in Singapore. The bank currently has more than 500 branches across the country.by Peter Tran

For years, provincial authorities have subjected the vicar of My Khanh to threats and accusations. Officials failed to turn local Catholics against him. Only members of Communist organisations heeded their call. For one Catholic, Fr Antoine is a patriot and loves all Vietnamese people, Catholics and non-Catholics."

Hanoi (AsiaNews)  Municipal authorities in Khanh Thanh, Nghe An province (north-central Vietnam), held a trial (phien toa au to) of Fr Antoine ang Huu Nam (pictured), vicar of My Khanh parish.

Having failed to get local Catholics involved, the administration of the mostly Catholic commune turned to neighbouring municipalities. Officials from Yen Thanh district, the Women's Union, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, the Veterans 'Association, the Farmers' Association and the Vietnamese Homeland Front heeded the call.

One Party official in Khanh Thanh attacked the priest: "Today I will talk about Fr ang Huu Nam. He is a reactionary priest, a Viet gian (a Vietnamese who follows the enemy) in the service of foreign countries ".

For years, the authorities in Nghe An province have subjected Fr Nam to threats and accusations. For his safety, the bishop of the Diocese of Vinh, Mgr Paul Nguyen Thai Hop, moved him in March from Phu Yen parish, An Hoa, a town in Quynh Luu district.

Since 2016, the Vietnamese government has had Fr Nam in its crosshairs along with Fr JB Nguyen inh Thuc, vicar of Song Ngoc. Fr Nam and Fr Thuc have helped Catholics who protested against the government and the Formosa Plastics Corporation, a Taiwan-based company responsible for the countrys worst environmental disaster.

Vietnamese authorities have carried out a defamatory campaign against the two vicars on all official media  TV, radio, newspapers. The Communist Party has repeatedly asked Mgr Nguyen Thai Hop to remove the two.

The pro-regime Hoi Co o (Red Flags) association has described both priests and the bishop as "reactionary enemies" and carried out various actions of intimidation against Catholic communities.

Despite the threats, Fr Nam has renewed his commitment to peace and justice in Vietnam. Last April, he organised a peaceful Eucharistic adoration in My Khanh parish, to pray for Formosas victims.

Thousands of people also took part in a prayer vigil against a bill on "special administrative-economic units", which many Vietnamese see as a surrender of national sovereignty. As a result of this, demonstrations broke out across the country, sparking a harsh crackdown and numerous arrests and convictions.

"Fr. Antoine is a patriot and loves all Vietnamese people, Catholics and non-Catholics. He has helped, spiritually and legally, thousands of victims of the environmental catastrophe," said Paul Hoa, a resident in Nghe An province, speaking to AsiaNews.

In fact, Fr Nam and many other priests in the diocese of Vinh have celebrated Masses, held prayers and engaged in various charitable initiatives for these people."

"Catholics in the diocese always pray for Fr Nam, others said. In every situation, Vietnamese Catholics always express their spirit of charity, love and forgiveness towards our brothers and sisters. This is why the authorities have not yet harmed to Fr Nam."Asia Duterte, Whose War on Drugs Has Killed Thousands of Filipinos, Jokes About Marijuana Use

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte attends the ASEAN Plus Three (APT) Summit in Singapore on November 15, 2018. / ReutersWomen Activists Call for Clear Minimum Marriage Age in Draft Child Rights Law

An awareness-raising campaign about the need to eliminate sexual violence against children is held in Mandalay in February 2018. / Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy

YANGONWomens rights advocates have raised concerns over the absence of a clearly defined minimum age of marriage in the proposed Child Rights Law currently before Parliament.

The draft bill submitted by the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement states that the minimum age at which boys and girls can marry shall be defined by both existing laws and customary laws. (Customary law refers to the traditional laws observed by the countrys various religions and ethnicities.) A provision of the draft adds that in order for the marriage to be legally registered, those being married must be at least 18 years of age.

The Lower Houses Bill Committee last week suggested removing the second part regarding the minimum age being 18.

Lower House lawmaker U Kyaw Soe Linn, who is also a secretary of the Bill Committee, said in Parliament that stating a marriageable age in the Child Rights Law would create inconsistencies with the countrys various customary laws. He cited the Myanmar Buddhist Womens Special Marriage Law, the Christian Marriage Act and other ethnic groups traditions relating to marriage, which prescribe different age minimums for marriage.

The Lower House voted in favor of the committees suggestion on Nov. 28.

Lawyer and Legal Clinic Myanmar director Ma Hla Hla Yee voiced concern that the omission of a clearly stated minimum legal age for marriage from the proposed Child Rights Law would encourage child marriage.

It is the same as allowing boys and girls to marry before they are ready under the Child Rights Law, the lawyer said.

She said that as the proposed Child Rights Law is a special law on children, it will have an influence on the interpretation of other laws. For that reason, the omission of a stated marriageable age could allow some people who commit offenses against children to escape prosecution under the Penal Codes Article 375, she said.

Article 375 defines the minimum age at which an individual can legally consent to sex with an adult as 16. Whether consensual or not, any adult who engages in sex with a minor below this age is guilt of rape under the law.

Prominent womens rights advocate Ma May Sabe Phyu, who is also a director of the Gender Equality Network, said removing the legal age for marriage and legally permitting children to marry under different customs and traditions would be in violation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), an international treaty that Myanmar signed in 1997.

As a signatory to the CEDAW, the government is obliged to enact laws that protect women and girls from being subject to harmful traditions and practices, Ma May Sabe Phyu said. The proposed Child Rights Law would do the exact opposite, she added.

Drafted by the ministry, the proposed Child Rights Law is a revision of the outdated 1993 Child Law. It would extend childhood status to the age of 18 in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which the country signed in 1991, and provide improved protections for child rights and care.

[Opponents of a defined age of marriage] would argue that we are seizing on one single issue in an otherwise perfect law. But that single issue is too important to ignore, Ma May Sabe Phyu said.

Legislation passed under a democratic government should comply with international conventions ratified by the country, she said.

During the Parliament session on Nov. 28, Lower House lawmaker Ma Aye Mya Mya Myo proposed a motion objecting to any omission of a minimum legal age for marriage in the legislation.

She pointed to the joint general recommendation made by the CEDAW and UN CRC committees in 2014. The committees called on the government to prevent and eliminate harmful practices frequently justified by invoking social or religious customs and values often embedded in patriarchal cultures and traditions.

I would remind [lawmakers] that this is a special law for child rights, Ma Aye Mya Mya Myo said.

Child marriage has many effects on girls health, including underage pregnancy and maternal mortality, she added.

Her motion was defeated, however. A total of 320 lawmakers in the male-dominated Parliament rejected it, versus 33 lawmakers who supported it.

The bill will be submitted to the Upper House for further discussion.

Lawyer Ma Hla Hla Yee called for the establishment of a minimum legal age for marriage in the Child Rights Law to prevent early and forced marriage being justified as protected traditional customs.

It is really important that a minimum legal age for marriage be restored when the legislation is debated in the Upper House, she said.Burma Body Found in Hsipaw Not That of Missing Korean Tourist

Photos of Korean tourist Younghee Heo, 45, who disappeared while tubing in Hsipaw circulate on social media amid calls for the search to continue. / Hsipaw News / Facebook

YANGONLocal police and the Korean embassy have confirmed that a body found in northern Shan States Namtu River over the weekend is not the body of the missing female Korean tourist, but that of a man who reportedly died over five months ago in the same river.

Last Friday, a Korean woman and other four tourists visited Hsipaw Townships Namtu Township, which is situated in a part of northern Shan State which is actively contested among armed groups in the area. In recent months, in neighboring Kyaukme Township, armed fighting has occasionally broken out between ethnic Shan armed groups and government troops.

The Korean lady and her fellow travelers tried riding down the river on a tubean activity known internationally as tubingand werent wearing lifejackets. Younghee Heo, 45, fell from the tube and disappeared into the rapid waters of Namtu River. A rescue team and local authorities have been searching for her for more than one week and only discovered the unidentified male corpse on Sunday morning.

Police Officer U Htay Lwin from northern Shan States Hsipaw Police Station explained to The Irrawaddy over the phone that what the rescue team retrieved from the river on Sunday, thirteen miles from where Heo disappeared, was little more than a skull and a pair of thigh bones. In order to scientifically verify whether the remains belong to Heo, authorities quickly transferred them to a hospital in Mandalay for forensic identification.

Based on the bone structure, doctors from Mandalay General Hospital initially concluded that bone was likely to be that of a male who died more than five months ago, according to Officer Htay Lwin.

To make sure, doctors will conduct further DNA checks, he said.

An official from the Korean embassy in Yangon, who requested not to be named in this article, corroborated police reports that the remains belonged to a man.

Some local newspapers have reported that the Korean embassy in Yangon has officially announced a $5,000 reward for the corpse if discovered. When questioned on the offer of a reward, the official said that his embassy did not offer any financial reward for the body, but that it was in fact announced by a family member of the Korean lady via Facebook.

On Tuesday morning, Beum Rae Chung, owner of Myabiz, a Korean-language travel and lifestyle website about Myanmar, put out a fresh plea on social media saying that he and his counterparts believe Heo may be still alive.

Miss Heo [is] missing for over 12 days, but being a strong woman, we believe that she is alive somewhere, read the post published on his own Facebook account as well as Hsipaw News, a public Facebook group.

The post, accompanied by photos of Heo, went on to request that anyone who believes they may have seen her or have any information that may help the ongoing investigation, report to the nearest police station.

Although the tourism ministry officially only allows tourists to visit downtown Hsipaw, many tourists travel further afield, sometimes to unsafe zones, for trekking, kayaking and overnight stays in tree-houses in the dense forest. As of Tuesday, fighting between the TNLA and the RCSS in neighboring Kyaukme Township is ongoing and the rescue team is unable to continue their search further along Namtu River.Burma Religion Minister Says 'Extreme Religion' Remarks Aimed at Rohingya

Minister of Religious Affairs and Culture U Aung Ko speaks to reporters in Naypyitaw on Tuesday. / Htet Naing Zaw / The Irrawaddy

YANGON  Myanmars religious affairs and culture minister said on Tuesday that his recent remarks branding an unspecified faith an extreme religion did not refer to all Muslims but only to Bengalis.

Myanmar government officials use Bengali to refer to Rohingya, whom they do not consider an ethnic group but illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

At a funeral ceremony for a prominent Buddhist monk last month, Minister U Aung Ko said the followers of an extreme religion take three or four wives and have families with 15 or 20 children, posing a risk to Myanmars monogamous Buddhists.

Although the minister did not name the religion he was referring to, an Islamic organization based in Yangon, the Society of Enlightening Quranic Knowledge, took offense and issued a statement rebuking U Aung Ko for calling any religion extreme.

On Friday, the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture released a public announcement claiming that U Aung Ko was not targeting any one religion but religious extremists from every faith in the country and asked the public for a tolerant interpretation of the ministers remarks.

When asked about his remarks by reporters on Tuesday, U Aung Ko said he did not mean to offend the Muslim community in Myanmar.

In fact I mean to say Bengali as another religion, he said, claiming that Bengali youth in refugee camps in Bangladesh were being pressured to go to Myanmar.

With an exploding population, their ambition is to march to Rakhine [State] and Myanmar. Thats what I want to say, the minister said.

More then 700,000 Rohingya have fled Rakhine for Bangladesh since August 2017, when coordinated attacks on security posts by the militant Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army triggered a military crackdown. The UN and others have accused Myanmars military of ethnic cleansing by unleashing a campaign of arson, rape and murder against the Rohingya. The military says it was carrying out legitimate operations against a terrorist organization.

Most of the refugees now live in sprawling camps in Bangladeshs Coxs Bazar District.

More than 1 million Rohingya were estimated to be living in northern Rakhine before the military crackdown and constituted nearly 90 percent of the local population.News KNU Demands Tatmadaw Halt Road Construction in 4 Districts

Karen National Union officials attend the 6th conference of the KNUs Toungoo District chapter. / Karen National Dialogue / Facebook

YANGONThe Karen National Union (KNU), a major ethnic armed organization based in Karen State, has called on the Myanmar Army to stop building roads connecting four districts in the north of the state.

Following its conference from Nov. 26-Dec. 1, the KNUs Toungoo District chapter issued a statement expressing concerns over the Tatmadaws building of a road linking Papun, Nyaunglaybin, Toungoo and Thaton districts.

What we understand is that they [the Myanmar Army, or Tatmadaw] are building this road to improve their access to the area, said Saw Thu Kabi, a spokesperson for the KNUs Toungoo District chapter.

The KNU believes the road is intended for military purposes, he said, adding that local people also have concerns about it.

If such a road is to be built, it should be built by the governments Construction Ministry, and not by the military, he said, explaining the position reached by the KNU at the conference.

We, the KNU, can build the road, and we dont need the Tatmadaw or government to build it, he added.

We want the government and concerned leaders to know that [roadbuilding] seriously undermines the peace process. We want to urge them not to continue [with projects] that we oppose, he said.

Military tensions have been running high since clashes broke out between the Tatmadaw and the KNUs Brigade No. 5 after the former built a road in Papun District earlier this year. The clashes displaced over 2,000 local people.

The KNU has called on the Tatmadaw to stop building the road in order not to disrupt the peace process.

Asked about by the KNUs statement by The Irrawaddy, Colonel Wunna Aung, secretary-2 of the Union Level Joint Ceasefire Monitoring Committee, said the groups claim had not been discussed, as the KNU had not filed a complaint with the committee.

The Irrawaddy was not able to reach the Tatmadaw True News Information Team for comment.

The KNU bases its Brigade No. 2 in Toungoo, Brigade No. 5 in Papun, Brigade No. 3 in Nyaunglaybin and Brigade No. 1 in Thaton.

The KNU signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement with the government of then-President U Thein Sein in 2015. It recently suspended its participation in official peace talks, however, due to disagreements with the Tatmadaw over the issues of integrating all armed forces into a single military, and non-secession.

The KNU says it remains open to informal peace talks.Tuesday, December 4th, 2018 (9:00 am) - Score 2,337

Fibre optic broadband building Cityfibre has today joined forces with wireless infrastructure company Arqiva to construct the UKs largest multi-million pound pilot of a new wholesale, 5G ready Small Cell infrastructure in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Mobile operators rejoice.

We first spotted the construction of new street cabinets and wireless equipment on existing lampposts in the borough several weeks ago (thanks to one of our observant readers). The new kit was unmarked and existed in areas where a number of other broadband ISPs were already deploying Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP), which made it particularly difficult to track down the source.

On closer inspection we noted that a phone number was present on the street cabinets, which was owned by Arqiva. After a bit more detective work we discovered that the roadworks database listed the responsible party as Cityfibre, although Arqiva seemed to be the contractor. This proved to be quite interesting because so far Cityfibre has not built or announced anything for London.

Thankfully the mystery has now been revealed. Under the new deployment Cityfibre and Arqiva are creating a new 15km high density fibre network, which is multi-operator capable and provides the bandwidth for Mobile Network Operators (O2, Vodafone, EE or Three UK) to explore advanced technology including centralised C-Ran architecture and 5G (in theory they could also be used to boost 4G signals and public WiFi too).

The new network consists of a fibre optic ring with over 90 street cabinets to enable the sharing of the infrastructure. Obviously all that fibre will be used to provide ample backhaul capacity for mobile operators, which will fuel new wireless connectivity solutions at potentially multi-Gigabit speeds. The small cells themselves will be aiming to connect businesses and residents to the ultra-fast 5G network.

Rob Hamlin, Commercial Director at CityFibre, said: This has been an invaluable exercise to demonstrate the capability of our fibre networks to support the next generation of 5G small cells and services. 5G networks will only work on fibre and a new modern infrastructure is needed at scale to support them. With our 2.5bn rollout of full fibre infrastructure to 5 million homes already underway, we are creating a 5G-ready network platform nationwide that will provide the best network at the best economics for Mobile Network Operators.

David Crawford, MD of Telecoms & M2M at Arqiva, said: This pilot network is a massive step forward for mobile and fixed wireless connectivity in London. We are showing that ubiquitous high-speed connections using dark fibre and small cells are possible and we are delighted to be leading the way with our pilot in Hammersmith & Fulham. As demand for data continues to increase exponentially, the pressures on networks will continue to grow and densification using street furniture and small cells is critical to deliver the network of the future. Our aim with this project is to show the business and consumer benefits of this architecture and a successful rollout in Hammersmith & Fulham can be the prelude to a wider deployment in future.

As hinted above, this deployment appears to be at least partly funded by Cityfibres recently announced funding raise of 2.5bn (here), which is primarily being used to help build their 1Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) broadband ISP network to cover 5 million premises in 37 UK cities and towns by the end of 2024 (supported by Vodafone). London is not currently on that list of 37 cities.

We should point out that this isnt the first time that Cityfibre have built a fibre optic network to support capacity for mobile operators. Back in 2014 they also established a fibre optic network in Hull (East Yorkshire) to serve EE and Three UK (here), which was later opened up to local businesses (Pure Speed).

However the deployment in London is a bit different. The borough of Hammersmith and Fulham is home to around 180,000 people living in about 84,000 households in an area of 6.3 square miles. The density of its population is expected to put extra pressure on telecoms connectivity as demand for voice and data continues to grow exponentially, which is where a dense network of fibre-fed small cells could help.

Some readers may recall that Arqiva was first awarded the concession contract with Hammersmith and Fulham in 2014, allowing the company to make use of the boroughs street furniture  including lampposts  to place communications equipment. The company has since won similar contracts across 13 other London boroughs (Barnet, Brent, Camden, Haringey, Harrow, Hounslow, Islington, Kingston-Upon-Thames, Lambeth, Merton, Richmond upon Thames, Waltham Forest and Wandsworth).

Suffice to say that if this pilot goes well then Cityfibre may well be building a lot more fibre optic cables around London. In other parts of the UK weve seen such networks eventually being expanded to serve local homes and businesses with more than just wireless connectivity (e.g. FTTP), but at present we understand that this pilot is purely focused on backhaul capacity for small cells.

One other thing worth mentioning is that we understand O2 (Telefonica UK) will be the first to make use of this new pilot network, which shouldnt come as much of a surprise given that earlier this year they signed a major new small cell network deal in London with Arqiva (here).

Under that plan the operator will aim to install up to 300 new small cells by 2020, which is roughly when the first large-scale commercial 5G deployments are set to start.Tuesday, December 4th, 2018 (10:09 am) - Score 3,584

Cable ISP Virgin Media UK has announced that their 362Mbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based ultrafast broadband and TV network is being expanded to cover 11,000 additional homes and businesses around the large County Antrim town of Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland.

The new deployment appears to form part of the providers previous commitment to cover an additional 50,000 premises in Northern Ireland (here), which is said by some to reflect a 65m investment. Virgin recently completed a big chunk of that by enabling 24,000 extra premises in Bangor (here), which is in addition to the 5,000 in Ballyclare and 1,200 in Portadown that are also set to benefit (here).

As usual all of this forms part of their on-going 3bn Project Lightning network extension, which aims to extend their Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC) and pure Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based EuroDOCSIS network to reach an additional 3-4 million premises by around 2019/20 (this could push their largely urban coverage to reach around 60% of the UK).

Cllr Lindsay Millar said (News Letter): Following extensive engagement with stakeholders, we have pursued the need to build upon our existing broadband capabilities and help improve the digital connectivity throughout the area. This is a great economic and social boost for those living and working in and around Carrickfergus. We can assure our local residents and business owners that we will be working closely with Virgin Media to help mitigate any concerns or issues leading up to and during the roll out.

The first installation work should begin soon and has been timed to align with other planned work along Marshallstown Road and Lancasterian Street, which should reduce disruption. Apparently an information event will be held on 12th December (7pm to 8.30pm) in the Conference suite, Carrickfergus Marina, to discuss the work.

Under the original plan around half of the new Project Lightning premises would be reached via FTTP, which adapts to DOCSIS signals (the communication standard for cable operators) in the home environment via an approach known as Radio Frequency over Glass (RFoG).Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Re-launching the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians in the perspective of the realization of the two States, recognizing the universal value of Jerusalem and combating all forms of fundamentalism. These are the topics discussed today in the meeting between Pope Francis and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Welcomed by Francis with a hug, "the President of the State of Palestine" - as defined in a Vatican statement - also met the Secretary for Relations with States, Msgr. Paul Gallagher.

"During the cordial talks - the Vatican statement reports - the good relations between the Holy See and Palestine were noted, as were the positive role of Christians and the activity of the Church in Palestinian society, enshrined in the Global Agreement of 2015. Attention then turned to the path of reconciliation among the Palestinian people, as well as the efforts to reactivate the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians, and to reach a two-state solution, hoping for a renewed commitment on the part of the international community to meet the legitimate aspirations of both peoples. Particular attention was reserved for the status of Jerusalem, underlining the importance of recognizing and preserving its identity and the universal value of the holy City for the three Abrahamic religions.".

"Finally, mention was made of the other conflicts afflicting the Middle East and the urgency of promoting paths of peace and dialogue, with the contribution of the religious communities, to combat every form of extremism and fundamentalism.".

The Custos of the Holy Land, Father Francesco Patton, spoke of Abbas's visit to the Vatican. Interviewed by Vatican Radio Italia he said he saw in the meetings of the Palestinian President "a cry of suffering" in the face of the fact that "the so-called project of the two states is likely to gradually evaporate. It is a project - he continued - which seems to be continually eroded by the change of situation, and therefore I think that the message of President Abu Mazen is above all - I would say - a cry of suffering. It is the situation that the vast majority of Palestinians experience, who somehow feel that their dream, even of having a homeland, of having a State is not at all at hand. So, more than a kind of declaration - even to say - political - perhaps it is also a declaration of a fact, of suffering that is the suffering of an entire people ".Optus Wholesale has secured an agreement as the Australian network partner for European mobile virtual network company, Transatel, currently expanding its global network coverage to support its Internet of Things offering.

Under the three-year agreement, Transatel will leverage the Optus mobile network to deliver an inbound data roaming solution for its customers end users in Australia.

Optus says the agreement is the first of its kind for Optus Wholesale and represents a major step forward in the evolution of its wholesale IoT product suite, helping organisations unlock the value of networks in todays connected and global economies.

Along with the inbound roaming access, Optus Wholesale will also provide operational and business support to Transatel.

Optus Wholesale is delighted to be appointed as Transatels exclusive network partner in Australia. said John Castro, acting managing director of Optus Wholesale and Satellite.

The agreement between Optus and Transatel provides a foundation for global connectivity in Australia, helping industries and consumers capitalise on the growing IoT market. It ensures continuity of service and availability at a time when network connectivity is essential to nearly every facet of modern life.

Transatel prides itself in offering some of the industrys most flexible and universal cellular connectivity solutions for MVNO businesses and the emerging IoT sector, said Transatel chief executive Jacques Bonifay.

Our commitment to delivering these services meant the reach and capabilities of the Optus network, along with the companys continued investment in building next generation networks, were all significant factors in our decision.

Were excited to partner with Optus Wholesale in preparing the future of the IoT and cellular connectivity.Chinese brands Huawei and Xiaomi are driving the growth of the global smartphone market at the expense of declining Samsung marketshare and flat sales for Apple which is facing a saturated premium smartphone market for its products.

The latest report from analyst firm Gartner reveals that in the third quarter of 2018, Huawei and Xiaomi, helped drive global smartphone sales, with overall, global sales of smartphones to end users growing 1.4% in the quarter to reach 389 million units.

Apples performance was flat in the third quarter, with just 0.7% growth.

Apples iPhones are facing a saturated premium smartphone market, with slowing growth rates and increased competition in China, said Anshul Gupta, research director at Gartner.

Apples new flagship smartphones, announced in September, will be key to defining Apples overall iPhone unit sales in 2018. Initial channel checks suggest that the Xs Max is outselling the Xs model, and we also see the Xs Max as a critical addition for the Chinese market where Apple has been losing share.

And while sales of smartphones are slowing down for most mobile phone manufacturers, Huawei saw demand for its smartphones grow by 43% in the third quarter of 2018, with the big Chinese telco now remaining as the No.1 smartphone brand in Greater China and in the top three among many European markets.

If we had taken both Huawei and Xiaomi out of the global smartphone vendors list, smartphone sales to end users would have declined by 5.2 percent, Gupta said.

Led by low-price smartphones, enhanced camera features and high-quality resolution displays, top Chinese mobile phone manufacturers boosted their sales across emerging markets in the third quarter of 2018.

The gap between Samsung and Huawei continues to shrink, as Huawei expands aggressively by investing in branding and distribution in the emerging markets of the Middle East, Asia/Pacific and Africa.

Huawei is, for example, aggressively positioning its affordable Honor series smartphones to drive the shift from feature phones to smartphones in those markets.

Gartner reveals that in the third quarter of 2018, Samsung experienced its biggest decline since Git has been tracking smartphone sales globally.

Samsungs smartphone sales declined 14% in the third quarter, with its Galaxy S9, S9+ and Note 9 struggling to revive demand in 2018, and its revamped mid-tier and entry-tier smartphones continuing to face huge competition from the top Chinese brands who grew market share in key markets, such as India - and their expansion into regions beyond Asia/Pacific continues to take away opportunities from Samsung.

Gartner says that with global smartphone sales decelerating significantly, the attention of mobile phone manufacturers is moving to new technologies like 5G and foldable form factor to differentiate the user experience on smartphones and generate new user value.

While 2019 will mark an important year for more R&D and testing/trials of varying 5G technologies, it is unlikely that 5G will be seen in mobile devices in significant volumes before 2020, said Roberta Cozza, research director at Gartner.

We expect 5G mobile phone sales to total 65 million units in 2020.

In addition, several vendors, such as Samsung, Huawei and LG, are expected to launch new foldable form factors in 2019.

Beyond the initial interest these devices will be expensive and with usability trade-offs initially. It will take time for vendors to build a strong ecosystem of software, and to get developers on board to generate attractive and innovative user experiences around foldable smartphones.Following disagreement between the Federal Government and the Opposition over its passage, a hearing of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security inquiring into the encryption bill, scheduled for Tuesday, appears to have been cancelled.

The hearing had been listed on the parliamentary website but the listing disappeared shortly before 9.30 this morning.

Tuesday was scheduled to be the sixth and final hearing on what is officially known as the Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Bill 2018, with Parliament set to rise for the year on Thursday.

On Monday, disagreements between the government and the Opposition on the bill ended with the bill being listed for debate in Parliament on Wednesday.

Labor Shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus hadto the government that the Opposition would not back the bill in its current form. He had offered to pass schedule one of the bill, the bit that gives new powers to the spy agencies, if it was only available to counter-terror agencies.

Both Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton have been pushing for the bill to be passed by Parliament before Thursday.The Federal Government and the Labor Party have reportedly reached a compromise on the encryption bill and it will clear Parliament before Thursday, the last sitting day for the year.

In a statement issued on Tuesday evening, Shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the government had made what he characterised as "important concessions" on its earlier position on the Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Bill 2018.

"It appears the government will agree to proposals by Labor that will ensure there is better oversight and limitation of the powers in this bill, and better safeguards against potential unintended consequences," Dreyfus said.

"These are still subject to agreement by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, and further details will be contained in its report on the bill."

He said the changes included limiting use of the new powers in the bill to serious offences, "properly defining key terms in the bill, and requiring a 'double-lock' authorisation process for Technical Capability Notices".

One of the terms that Dreyfus has sought to define during the PJCIS hearings has been the term "systemic weakness", which is something the bill forbids introducing into any system as a result of building new functionality for the purpose of gaining access to encrypted communications.

According to the original draft of the bill, when a technical capability notice is issued, the final authority would be only the attorney-general. Under the compromise, the communications minister of the day will also provide oversight.

There are three ways in which law enforcement can seek help from industry. A technical assistance request allows for voluntary help by a company and its staff will be given civil immunity from prosecution.

An interception agency can issue a technical assistance notice to make a communications provider offer assistance.

Finally, a technical capability notice can be issued by the attorney-general at the request of an interception agency. This will force a company to help law enforcement, by building functionality.

Dreyfus said: "Importantly, the PJCIS will continue its scrutiny of the bill into 2019, allowing for outstanding concerns to be worked on and further amendments considered in the new year, if necessary."

The sixth and last hearing of the PJCIS was scheduled for Tuesday but, in the face of disagreement between the government and Labor, was cancelled.

"Following the extraordinary interference with this committee by the Minister for Home Affairs and Prime Minister, Labor welcomes the constructive negotiations conducted with the Attorney-General over the past two days," Dreyfus said.

"Let me be clear  this bill is far from perfect and there are likely to be significant outstanding issues. But this compromise will deliver security and enforcement agencies the powers they say they need over the Christmas period, and ensure adequate oversight and safeguards to prevent unintended consequences while ongoing work continues  just as Labor proposed.

"I want to issue a call to the government  the trashing of bipartisan process and politicisation of national security that has occurred over the past month must never happen again. There is nothing more important than keeping Australians safe  the government must remember that."

Reacting to the compromise deal, Communications Alliance chief executive John Stanton said he needed to see the details of the agreement between the government and Labor before offering substantive comment.

Stanton, one of the loudest voices opposing the bill, said: "If the revised draft Bill attempts to define systemic weakness  as it should do  it is important that this definition not be so narrow that it allows substantial and dangerous back-doors to be ordered by enforcement agencies and yet escape being identified as systemic weaknesses.

Additional oversight of enforcement agencies and actions under this legislation are welcomed, but this should include the right to an independent assessment of whether the orders made by agencies upon communications providers are reasonable and proportionate and can be complied with  not just whether the orders would create a back-door.

He said he would await further detail, including the kind of consultations that the PJCIS would undertake in the new year and whether they would be able to provide the additional amendments that the law would need.

Stanton thanked the PJCIS, and Dreyfus in particular, "who stuck to their guns and pursued their inquiry in a professional way, despite enormous and inappropriate pressure from the government to curtail their work".The Federal Government says Labor's initial suggestions about passing a cut-down version of the encryption bill were not acceptable, and a compromise announced on Tuesday had removed some of Labor's demands.

Attorney-General Christian Porter told Sky News on Tuesday that Labor wanted to omit all state police forces from the law that would be passed this week, and make it cover only those agencies dealing with anti-terror issues.

The government and Labor reached a compromise deal on Tuesday to pass the Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Bill 2018 before Parliament rises for the year on Thursday. (Shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus made a statement about the deal which iTWire has reported here.)

"And they also wanted to really limit the number of offences it would apply to," he told former Coalition adviser Peta Credlin on her show. "Now we thought that all those things together make the exercise totally ineffective. We've stood our grounds, I think we've reached now a very sound agreement."

Porter said state police would be included in the compromise bill and it covered a broad range of offences. "...it won't just be limited to terrorism or Commonwealth child sex offences and, importantly, the notices won't be so hard to get that they'll be ineffective."

During a doorstop at which he announced the deal with Labor, Porter said there would be a definition of the term "systemic weakness" in the bill. It is something that any authority is forbidden from introducing into a system in the event that there is a requirement to build functionality into the system in order to obtain evidence.

Asked about the definition of systemic weakness during his doorstop, Porter responded: "That is a very complicated definition  I won't even try and recite it to you here. And in fact, the final drafting is being done with Labor and by way of negotiation on that at the moment. But it is, as it sounds, it is a weakness that would affect all applications on all devices at any given single point in time."

Last Friday, during a hearing of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, the chairman of encryption technology company Senetas, Francis Galbally, told the panel that it was not possible to have knowledge of what a systemic weakness was until it manifested itself.

He cited the definition offered by the Internet Architecture Board: "Any method used to compel an infrastructure provider to break encryption or provide false trust arrangements introduces a systemic weakness, as it erodes trust in the Internet itself. In other words, the mere ability to compel Internet infrastructure providers' compliance introduces that vulnerability to the entire system, because it weakens that same trust."

Porter said that even with a "thorough-going definition" of systemic weakness, the questions around it would persist. "...the point is that even with that thorough-going definition, we acknowledge that there are always going to be disputes as to whether or not a request may or may not meet that definition and we are pushing that dispute to experts and to former judicial officers so that that dispute can be resolved absolutely, fairly, and independently," he said.

Asked about amendments to the bill next year, which Dreyfus had mentioned, Porter said: "There's a statutory review embedded in the act. We've also agreed to have the PJCIS review it in its first 12 months. These are not unusual things. It's frankly not unusual for pieces of legislation of this level of complexity to be amended down the track, whether that's 12 or 18 months."All aged between 20 and 40, they landed in the city of Kuala Idi and received food and water. Since 2015, when the Thai authorities have dismantled the regional networks of human traffickers, it was rare for the Rohingya to attempt to sail the southern maritime routes.

Jakarta (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The landing of a group of men on the Indonesian coast is fueling fears of a reopening of the routes for the Rohingya migrant boats, fleeing from the refugee camps of the border regions between Myanmar and Bangladesh. The Jakarta authorities announce that this morning a boat carrying 20 men believed to be Rohingya (photo) has landed on the northeastern coast of the island of Sumatra.

The East Aceh Disaster Mitigation Agency reports that the men, all aged between 20 and 40, landed in the city of Kuala Idi and have received food and water. Immigration authorities are reaching the region to interrogate the group. Iswandi, the head of the district of Idi Rayeuk, however, says: "We cannot communicate with them because they do not speak Indonesian, Achee or English, so we do not know much". Jakarta still does not know if the boat is registered in Myanmar or Bangladesh.

Razali, head of a fishing community in the area, says the men were headed to Malaysia and it is not clear why they landed in Indonesia. Theirs is the latest in a series of departures from the coasts of Myanmar and Bangladesh, where in recent weeks Rohingya Muslims have tried to flee to Malaysia, causing apprehension for a new wave of migrants. Since 2015, when the Thai authorities have dismantled the regional networks of human traffickers, it was rare for the Rohingya to attempt to sail the southern maritime routes. Following the Bangkok crackdown, thousands of Rohingya had landed in Indonesia and Malaysia after being stuck in the Andaman Sea.This Week in Review

A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more.by Vladimir Rozanskij

The Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople last November 27-29 was the last of the year, and its decisions left many unanswered questions about the burning issues of recent months, from Ukrainian autocephaly to the pastoral care of the Russians in Europe. The style with which these delicate problems are dealt is decidedly "Byzantine", taking one step forward and two steps back, leaving much confusion among the faithful of all the parties involved.

In the days of the Synod, the councilor of the Ukrainian President, Rostislav Panchenko, went to Istanbul, to whom the procedure for the realization of the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Church was entrusted. He tried to show optimism, stating that "everything is proceeding according to plan", by December the synod of establishment of the new Ukrainian Church will be held, in which the new primate will be chosen, who will immediately go to Istanbul to receive the Tomos of autocephaly. This scenario, therefore, excludes the patriarch Bartholomew personally going to Kiev to deliver the Tomos.

In fact, the laconic statements of the Constantinopolitan synod reveal willingness to grant the long-awaited certificate of autonomy, but never directly name the official Tomos, nor mention of whether the synod has drawn up a "magna carta" or statute of the Ukrainian Church. This would be an integral part of Tomos, which should be submitted to the approval of the "unifying" synod; therefore it seems that Constantinople is searching for a new "ecclesial model", in which the autonomy of the new Church would be strongly limited by dependence on the same ecumenical patriarchate of Constantinople. The spokesman for the Moscow Patriarchate, Vladimir Legojda, defined this procedure as a "phenomenon against nature", with the sole aim of delaying the entire process in the absence of a clear idea of its definition.

In the Orthodox world there are two historical types of autocephaly, the "ancient" one of the seven councils of the patristic era, and the "national" one inaugurated by the patriarchate of Moscow in 1589, and then extended to the other nations of Orthodox tradition, arising from the collapse of the Ottoman and Hapsburg empires and ofthe same Russian empire. The first patriarchates are of apostolic origin (the "pentarchic" Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem) and are not dependent on anyone, while the Orthodox national patriarchates were all established or at least approved by Constantinople, though not without various resistances, both theoretical and practical. Some Churches are not even given the title of patriarch, but are limited to the level of the metropolitan or simple archbishop, like the Greek Church in Athens.

After a centuries-long confrontation between Constantinople and Moscow, the two main centers of world Orthodoxy, the new Ukrainian autocephaly should sanction the prevalence of one over the other, based on canonical decisions and popular consensus, still to be verified. Constantinople wants to reiterate its historical and "theological" primacy, while Moscow claims its role according to the numerical dimension (control over half of the Orthodox in the world) and the historical mission, having defended the purity of the faith despite the medieval oppressions of the Mongols and Turkish, and modern ones of the Soviet regime and Western secularism.

The picture that should originate from the canonical procedure of Ukrainian autocephaly, in any case, would still be quite diversified: even if a part, more or less consistent, of the Orthodox faithful in Moscow passed under the new Ukrainian Church, there would still remain a considerable number of Russophile parishes and dioceses, which instead of being called "Ukrainian Church of the Patriarchate of Moscow" would be called "Russian Church in Ukraine", with related government restrictions applied to "foreign" Churches. The autocephalous Ukrainian Church would then be established, and next to it there would be the "stavropegial" or autonomous institutions of the same ecumenical patriarchate of Constantinople. Not to mention the numerous structures of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, which practices the same rite as the Orthodox, located mainly in the western part of the country, which is currently only an interested spectator of the whole affair.

Beyond the times and modalities in which the Ukrainian ecclesiastical puzzle will be solved, or the personality called to realize it as the head of the new Church, the image and composition of Orthodoxy will be profoundly modified, giving rise to a new one not only for the Christians of the East, but for the whole history of the universal Church.

(pictured: The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople (left) and the Patriarch of Moscow (right)By Jennifer Kent, Research Fellow, University of Sydney

Shutterstock

The technology of autonomous vehicles (AVs) is progressing rapidly, but have we really thought through how theyll work in reality?

In its report on AVs in Australia, Austroads (the association of Australasian road transport and traffic agencies) paints both positive and negative scenarios for the future.

The positive scenario suggests that AVs could reduce car ownership and use thanks to a fleet of shared and connected AVs. These AVs would roam the city, filling in gaps in the timetables and fixed routes of a superior and cheaper public transport network.

But for this scenario to work, AVs must be shared and not privately owned, and they must complement a robust public transport system that accommodates most trips. These mechanisms are either weak or nonexistent in most Australian cities, suggesting its unlikely the arrival of AVs will reduce our dependence on private cars.





Read more:

Driverless cars are already here but the roads aren't ready for them





Are Australians willing to share their cars?

In 2013 I spoke to a group of car owners working in suburban Sydney, who used their cars to juggle multiple time commitments to family, sport, late nights at work and secondary employment.

They saw their cars as spaces of climate-controlled comfort, where they could have time alone, away from busy lives. Participants also expressed a strong belief that Australians have a basic right to be comfortable, protected and autonomously mobile.

No matter how well technology matches rides for us, the reality is a shared AV system will introduce a source of wasted time for users  minutes waiting here, a block or two to walk. Not to mention the need to physically share space with strangers.

This compromises the privacy and autonomy currently associated with car use. Australians who are accustomed to the comforts of their own car will likely fight to retain what they believe is their right.

Is public transport good enough?

If AVs are to reduce car ownership and use, we will need to drive less than we currently do. This requires access to useful and reliable alternative transport options. Yet for many of us, access to public transport remains a luxury: we are car dependent because we have little choice.

Often, public transport isnt available for those who need it, and even if it is available, it doesnt accommodate the messiness of life.

It isnt there for the people who need it

In 2016, I analysed data from more than 300 newly arrived residents of Oran Park in the southwest of Sydney. While the newly developed precinct can be navigated by bike and on foot, the car is a necessity when residents need to leave the neighbourhood.

One common reason to travel outside the precinct is for the journey to work. More than 65% of residents do not work within the local government area, let alone within walking distance of the neighbourhood. Even for those who do work in the locality, more than 95% travel to work in a car because the options to travel by alternative modes are limited to an infrequent and indirect bus service.

Residents are condemned to car-dependence, regardless of whether that car is an AV or not.





Read more:

Why car sharing had a slow start in Australia - and how that's changing





It doesnt accommodate the messiness of life

At present, our public transport systems assume that all we do are predictable trips. Our timetables, routes, rules and even the internal layout of our trains and buses, are all designed for people travelling to and from work.

But in reality our transport practices are messy. We pick up groceries, cart children around, and visit dispersed family and friends. Even though we may be able to catch the train or bus to work, we struggle to use public transport for other important, but messier, trips.

Take, for example, the trips we take with pets. In 2016, I collected data on the transport habits of 1,257 Sydney dogs and their owners.

People travel with their dogs to various locations  dog parks, beaches, cafes and the vet. And because dogs are restricted on public transport in Sydney, these trips are usually by private car.





Read more:

Riding in cars with dogs: millions of trips a week tell us transport policy needs to change





This restriction epitomises an overall approach to public transport provision that relies on people having access to a private car. In Australian cities, the car facilitates real life, and public transport is for the journey to work  if youre lucky.

While public transport remains marginalised in policy and practice, private cars will continue to dominate the way we travel.

AVs could increase the amount we drive

The real concern is that, unless regulation is allowed to intervene, the arrival of AVs may actually herald an increase in the amount we drive. Heres why.

Australias transport planners currently have two ways to temper car use: parking regulation and traffic congestion. It seems Australians have a phobia of sitting in traffic and not finding a car park.

But AVs could immobilise these tools.

First, parking. AVs dont need to be parked nearby to their rider, they can go off and park themselves wherever theres a free space. Picture the scenario of someone currently driving 10km to work each day and paying $10 to park.

In the world of fully autonomous vehicles, they would inevitably opt to save that $10 per day and have their car drive them to work, drop them off, take itself home, only to return when the driver summons it at the end of the day. That makes a 20km day a 40km day. And imagine that for the millions of households across the city.

Second, congestion. AVs will ensure that time in the car is more pleasurable and useful. Being stuck in a traffic jam might not be such a pain if you could be working, reading, watching a movie, having a coffee with friends, playing with the dog, or starting Friday night drinks early.





Read more:

What are these 'levels' of autonomous vehicles?





So, when considering the impact of this new era of the car, we need to be cautious. The automotive industry is powerful. It creates a product that is cemented in our cities, economies and our lives. Its survival depends on growth. We need to be prepared for AVs to strengthen, rather than replace, the status quo of car ownership and use.





Read more:

Utopia or nightmare? The answer lies in how we embrace self-driving, electric and shared vehicles





Jennifer Kent does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Originally published in The Conversation.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 4)  Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said he is not inclined to recommend a holiday truce between government troops and the communist New People's Army (NPA), which would be celebrating its 50th anniversary on December 26.

"What we're doing now is we're trying to get a lot of them to surrender and we already are successful in doing that. So kung magkaroon tayo ng truce ngayon at magkaroon na naman sila ng chance to reinforce their group, baka mawalan ng gana 'yung mga bababa," Lorenzana told CNN Philippines in a chance interview.

[Translation:What we're doing now is we're trying to get a lot of them to surrender and we already are successful in doing that. So if we would have a truce now and they would have a chance to reinforce their group, those who plan to surrender may lose interest.]

He added that the rebels, who have been waging Asia's longest communist insurgency, are already gearing up for the celebration of their 50th year.

"They want to make it bongga ba. Madaming batang sumusuporta. [fabulous. Many kids would be supporting.] They will invite international media," Lorenzana said.

"This is a free country, they can celebrate, but not at the expense of the security and peace in an area," he said.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the Cabinet would discuss Lorenzana's recommendation against declaring a truce with communists, but added that there should be a "permanent truce."

"There should be no bloodshed as far as government is concerned. It's about time we stop all this bloodshed. It's been 50 years, my God," Panelo said.

In its early days, the Duterte administration pursued peace talks with communist rebels, but relations between the government and the Reds have since soured, with the President complaining about the NPA's persistent attacks on government troops.

Peace talks have been called off and charges have been filed against communist members of the peace panel.

During its 49th anniversary, the New People's Army said it aims to overthrow the Duterte regime when it turns 50.

Communist and government forces both declared ceasefires during the holidays last year, but the military accused the NPA of breaking the truce.

Lorenzana said the country would be on red alert in anticipation of NPA activities in connection with their anniversary.

President Rodrigo Duterte has issued Memorandum Order No. 32 which orders the deployment of more troops to the Bicol Region, Samar and Negros provinces to quell "sporadic acts of violence."

The Communist Party of the Philippines said Duterte's order "incites dread and fear among ordinary citizens and the poor due to intense militarization in the countryside and cities."

CNN Philippines' David Santos and Eimor P. Santos contributed to this report.A new Special Criminal Court in Central African Republic will have limited scope due to the high cost of investigating widespread human rights abuses, top lawyers said Tuesday.

The court opened last month and will decide cases involving violations of human rights or international humanitarian law committed in the country since 2003, including war crimes and genocide.

Given the huge number of crimes committed in the Central African Republic, it is impossible to treat everything it is necessary to focus on a small area of intervention, said Michel Landry Louanga, the court president, in the capital Bangui.

A special prosecutor said the court needed to take monetary resources into account.

The Special Criminal Court consists of 25 judges, 13 from the CAR and 12 foreigners, and has a total budget of 61 million euros.

The people targeted will be the top leaders, those who sponsored and ordered the crimes, said special prosecutor Toussaint Muntazini Mukimapa.

But to convict suspects in hard-to-reach areas the court may have to try defendants in absentia and only if safe to do so, he added.

One of the worlds poorest and most unstable countries, CAR spiralled into bloodshed after longtime leader Francois Bozize was overthrown in 2013 by a mainly Muslim rebel alliance called the Seleka.

Since then, much of the country has been at the mercy of armed groups that seek to control gold, diamond and oil deposits, posing a formidable obstacle to peace and national reconciliation.You can almost hear the relief felt by International Criminal Court (ICC) supporters who will be gathering in The Hague for the 17th Assembly of States Parties (ASP) meeting from December 5 to 15: no major scandals breaking; no new threatened exits by member states; no sustained critique, apart from that of non-member United States.

But, in fact, the picture is less rosy than the lack of focused public attention to an institution regularly in the crosshairs might appear.

The first issue is that the ICC is in no danger of overwhelming its court rooms: only two trials are ongoing; another had its pre-trial phase pushed back to May 2019; only one new accused is currently in detention. The second issue is the controversial choices the prosecution is making with its next year of active investigations. And the third issue is likely to be the budget itself. Regularly, key member states have tightened the tap and refused to accept asked-for increases. Will this year be different?

WHATS IN THE COURTROOMS

According to information available at the ICCs ASP page the court has plenty going on. But whats actually happening in the courtroom is pretty meagre. The trial of Dominic Ongwen, former rebel commander in Uganda, is apparently the most wordy, with three thousand, seven hundred and ninety-eight pieces of evidence making it the greatest volume of evidence admitted in a trial to date. Its now at the defence stage  and predicted to need another 160 days in court during 2019.

Ivorian former president Laurent Gbagbo and his supporter Charles Ble Goude also continue in the dock with an estimated 124 days needed next year, but judges will first be deciding whether the prosecution has done enough to make a case to answer. Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz, the former de facto chief of the Islamic police in Timbuktu, Mali, will have been in detention in The Hague more than a year before his confirmation of charges  about 10 days worth of court time  begins in May 2019. For these three trial proceedings, the court says up to 103 witnesses are expected to appear to give testimony.

The courts documents detail the breadth of its engagements during last year: 21 cases and 10 situations (Central African Republic I and II, Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Darfur, Kenya, Libya, Cote dIvoire, Mali and Georgia). If you count in Pre-Trial Chamber activity and preliminary examinations from last year, theres even more: Registered Vessels of Comoros, Greece and Cambodia; Gabon; Burundi; Guinea; Iraq/UK; Nigeria; Palestine; Philippines; Venezuela; Ukraine; Colombia; Myanmar/Bangladesh and, lastly (but not least) Afghanistan where prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has been waiting for more than a year to get the judges to authorize an investigation.

So what else will be involving the judges? Five final appeals will be ongoing throughout 2019, as well as reparations proceedings in three cases.

But out of all of that, actually only a handful of people are actually in detention.

WHATS IN THE INVESTIGATIONS (GOLDEN OLDIES AND NEW HITS)

As the Court often operates in highly volatile political and security environments, focus and resources are also devoted to active investigations, as a priority, in order to capitalize on opportunities as much as possible, declares the court. Putting its  potential  money where its mouth is, the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) has proposed increasing its active investigations from six to eight.

Good idea applauds Alex Whiting, professor at Harvard and former coordinator of ICC prosecutions. I think its an excellent development agrees Patryk Labuda, Hauser Global Fellow at New York University, because this was one of the major criticisms leveled against [former prosecutor] Moreno Ocampo  that he didnt do enough investigations, but instead came out with all sorts of headline grabbing arrest warrants, and not enough actual evidence to back them up. But Whiting warns that eight may be difficult, even if a combination of increased capacity within the OTP and the balance of different investigations, makes it possible.

What has drawn a more mixed response are the apparent priorities detailed in the documents: In line with OTP strategy, priority is always assigned to cases that are being prepared for trial or that are at the trial stage. Labuda points out that in terms of open situations you have 11 open situations and four [DRC, Kenya, Mali, Uganda] have been left off this list completely.

Does it mean that it is more urgent to intervene in Libya than in the Democratic Republic of Congo? Im sure the victims in Congo would disagree.

The OTP says the selection is in order to meet the most urgent demands for its intervention but Patryk Labuda is sceptical. Urgency lies in the eye of the beholder in a way does it mean that it is more urgent to intervene in Libya than in the Democratic Republic of Congo? Im sure the victims in Congo would disagree.

So, what has made the prosecutors cut? There are some golden oldies, along with some new hits.

In the first category come two Central African Republic investigations  known as CAR II, to separate them from the first wave of investigation in CAR. These are focused on the renewed violence in the country from 2012 onwards by government entities and various groups, including elements known as, or grouped under the names Seleka and anti-Balaka. The recent delivery of former militia leader anti-Balaka Alfred Yekatom to The Hague covered at least one of these groups.

Then theres Ivory Coast, where, after the focus on pro-Gbagbo forces, now come the pro-Ouattara forces (CIV II). Here the court says theres been good progress but, since Ouattara and supporters are in power, Whiting agrees this is extremely challenging. He believes the OTP deserves a lot of credit for continuing to press this and suggests this investigation shows how committed the OTP is to balance and not remaining trapped into one-sided investigations. One can only hope that the Ouattara government understands that the credibility of investigations on the other side, the credibility of its own government, the credibility of its efforts to have accountability, will depend on how much it cooperates, says Whiting. But not every government sees that So, those will be difficult investigations.

In Darfur, Sudan, theres a somewhat vague commitment to investigate leads relating to earlier investigations. Since the prosecutor has regularly expressed her frustration back to the Security Council  which gave her predecessor the mandate to investigate some thirteen years ago  at the continued non-arrest of president Omar al-Bashir, this is really an investigation thats marking time. Its being done to make sure that information remains current in the event that theres ever a surrender, says Whiting.

The impression of the civil society, as well as of the general public, is that the ICC, and most importantly Prosecutor Bensouda, has forgotten that she has opened investigation into Georgias situation.

The Georgia three year-long investigation, which neither Tbilisi nor Moscow wanted, where the OTP is looking into the short war and displacement of people in 2008, is apparently stuck. While there have been declarations of support from Georgian authorities, prospects of concrete results in this case look bleak. Those monitoring the situation are distinctly unimpressed: Overall, the impression of the civil society, as well as of the general public, is that the ICC, and most importantly Prosecutor Bensouda, has forgotten that she has opened investigation into Georgias situation, says Nika Jeiranashvili, the executive director of Justice International, an NGO. In the current, tense political environment, there is a risk that the ICC becomes a tool for destabilization, he says, and that although the court says it is aware, they do not do anything about it, which makes one wonder whether they care about the process at all and the impact it has on the country.

And finally, theres Libya. There were several cases out of the UNSC referral that all focused on the revolution and the Gaddafi era. No suspect came to the court. But now Bensouda is getting her teeth into more recent events. The two active lines of investigation (Libya III and IV) are into military commander Mahmoud al-Werfalli for war crimes based on social media video evidence and another relating to alleged crimes against humanity, within the Courts jurisdiction, against migrants. The very different focus, nature and method of these two investigations, means that two distinct teams are required. But to keep costs down and to exploit synergies neither has a full team.

Whiting believes the combination of social media evidence leaving the country or individuals leaving, even potential insiders make these very real investigations.

And the real baby  the newest investigation of a new country  is Burundi. The court says this investigation was jump-started this year by moving existing staff and resources onto this situation. But it will need more resources to keep going at this level.

Whiting describes it as the startup phase. But, he warns, you face the same challenge as with Sudan. You cant operate in the country. He expects the team to be drawing on evidence thats already been collected, checking who and whats available via social media from outside and seeing if they can find ways of penetrating the inside.

The Congolese government has made it pretty clear that they will withdraw from the Rome Statute if the ICC does something that they dont appreciate.

And so, DRC is no longer a priority for 2019. Dr Denis Mukwege, who will receive on Monday the Nobel Peace Prize for his fight against mass rape in Eastern Congo may appreciate that. Labuda shares the disappointment. The violence has increased dramatically in the last three years. The prosecutor has repeatedly issued press releases specifically warning the government that if this continues the ICC will intervene. So, were now talking about two years of warnings and no follow up. He acknowledges that as there have been ongoing cases from the DRC, including the trial of former militia leader Bosco Ntaganda, and you need the government to facilitate getting witnesses to The Hague. And he points out the political reality: The Congolese government has made it pretty clear that they will withdraw from the Rome Statute if the ICC does something that they dont appreciate. He sees the dilemmas the prosecutor faces. But, he says, for the third year in a row theres a disconnect between her rhetoric and whats happening on the ground. This kind of epitomizes her reluctance to confront states in some places. Some people will applaud her pragmatism. Others will criticize.

Mali is also no longer an active investigation. We are pleased the number of active investigations is increasing, but were not really clear on how they [the OTP] are making these decisions. We dont get very clear responses to our questionsin Mali they are doing these two cases, and thats it? asks Amal Nassar, the International Federation of Human rights (FIDH) permanent representative to the ICC.

Judges went out of their way to tell the prosecutor: you should already move to the investigation phase. So why isnt she moving faster?

And the other big one notable for its absence on the 2019 list is that of Rohingya Muslims deported from Myanmar to Bangladesh where judges recently approved the prosecutors request to open a preliminary examination. Judges went out of their way, says Whiting, to tell the prosecutor: you should already move to the investigation phase. So why isnt she moving faster? he asks. To me thats unfortunate, he says. I think that she should seize that opportunity. I understand there are so many other cases, and she doesnt want to let this one jump the queue. But I think there are times when you have to seize the momentum and I think this is one of those moments.

WILL STATES PAY FOR WHAT HAS BEEN ORDERED?

Will states look kindly on a requested increase of 2.6%, to a total of nearly 148 million EUR, mainly to support the increased investigations of the prosecutor and the increased workload of the Trust Fund for Victims (TFV), or will they again try to restrict the court from perceived overambition? The zero nominal growth approach of some states in recent years is under debate, diplomatic sources say. But the states own Committee on Budget and Financing has recommended a measly 0.6% increase on last year, to only 145 million EUR.

The court does have costly ongoing obligations: More than 90 witnesses will remain under protection in 2019 and such protection includes their families too, making a total of 450 persons under protective measures. And it has ongoing necessities: 10 languages will need to be supported in courtroom proceedings; 10 defence teams working across trials; appeals and reparations proceeding need support; along with at least five teams of legal representatives of victims. The court also plans to have a presence in seven field locations in 2019: one each in CAR, Cote dIvoire, Georgia, Mali and Uganda, and two in DRC (Kinshasa and Bunia). And NGOs will be pointing out during the ASP that in this era of #fakenews, the court has to do more to counter misinformation about its mandate and objectives.

The lions share of the budget is always for the OTP. They want 48 million EUR  an increase of 4.6% on last year.

But the lions share of the budget is always for the OTP. They want 48 million EUR  an increase of 4.6% on last year. Overall, the court says, there is little to no further flexibility in terms of staff reallocation remaining, and with two new active investigations in comparison with what was budgeted for in 2018, this new money is needed.

The independent Trust Fund for Victims, which is both funded out of the ICC budget and of voluntary contributions, is increasing its assistance work, and finally gearing up this coming year to implement reparations following the completion of a few ICC trials. They are asking for a whopping 58.3% increase  predominantly staff costs  to do their job.

Assistance project work is not directly related to a guilty verdict  for example, the TFV will work in CAR despite the Bemba acquittal. Nassar says this mandate is super handy in keeping the court present in situation countries, especially as the trials can be long and theres the chance of acquittal. Its essential in relieving the waiting that victims have to go through before they first have justice delivered and second have reparations delivered.

Three cases  Lubanga and Katanga in DRC and Al Mahdi in Mali  are expected to be at the implementation stage of reparations in 2019. New staff are needed to identify eligibile [sic] victims in the Lubanga and Al Mahdi cases and implement the reparations which include individual, service-based collective and symbolic awards.

Victims can really go through the proceedings and formally submit their needs and views on what they want, and what their reparations should look like. So, it should be more meaningful, because they will feel they have had a say.

Nassar says this process will be more individualized. Victims can really go through the proceedings and formally submit their needs and views on what they want, and what their reparations should look like. So, it should be more meaningful, because they will feel they have had a say.

But even if the budget is approved, cases continue smoothly, investigations are turbocharged, and the reparations are finally paid out  drawing a line under the courts first cases  the ICC is unlikely to emerge from 2019 satisfying its many stakeholders.By JONATHAN J. COOPER , Associated Press

PARADISE, Calif. (AP)  With hugs, teachers and a touch of anxiety, thousands of children returned to school and some semblance of routine Monday, three weeks after Northern California's deadly wildfire destroyed their homes and classrooms.

Schools in Butte County have been closed since Nov. 8, when the blaze swept through the towns of Paradise, Concow and Magalia in the nation's deadliest wildfire in a century. At least 88 people were killed and dozens remain unaccounted for.

About 31,000 students in all went back to school. Many of them are going to class in other buildings because their schools were damaged or destroyed, or are inaccessible inside evacuation zones.

Some families have left the state. Others are staying with friends or relatives, too far from the fire-stricken area to drive in every day.

But nearly all the teachers are returning to provide a familiar and comfortable face to the children who are able to make it to class.

"It's important that the kids are able to stay together and have some sort of normalcy in the crazy devastation that we're having now," said Jodi Seaholm, whose daughter Mallory is a third-grader.

Mallory underwent radiation in October to treat a recurrence of brain cancer and showed no fear, Seaholm said, but "this situation with her house burning down has absolutely devastated her."

Counselors brought in from around the country were in nearly every classroom Monday to help children who were distressed by their escape through a burning town and the loss of their homes, Paradise Superintendent Michelle John said at a celebratory news conference. Many of the teachers lost their homes as well.

"Our kids are traumatized," John said. "Their families are traumatized."

Two neighboring school districts have allowed children from Paradise to take over available space. Kids who previously went to Paradise Elementary are going to school in Oroville, while children from Ponderosa Elementary are going to a school in Durham.

Ridgeview High School has checked in and are GOOD TO GO for tomorrow!! Lets Roll PUSD!!  Paradise USD (@pusdk12) December 3, 2018

Most of Paradise High School survived but is inaccessible.

The district doesn't have space yet for intermediate and high school classrooms, so for the 13 days before the holiday break begins, those students will learn through independent study. They will have access to online assignments and a drop-in center at the Chico mall where they can get help from teachers or see classmates.

But schoolwork will probably be secondary to dealing with trauma and reconnecting with friends, said Paradise High Principal Loren Lighthall.

"They don't have their church, they don't have their school, they don't have their work, they don't have their friends. They don't have any of that stuff and we're asking them to write five-paragraph essays?" Lighthall said. "It's just unreasonable at this point. We're going to do it, but we're going to be super flexible with what we require."

Marissa Nypl is living with her family at her husband's coworker's home in West Sacramento, which is 90 miles (145 kilometers) from her 10-year-old daughter's temporary school in Durham, until they can move into a rental home much closer.

It's too far to drive every day, but Nypl wanted to be sure her daughter was there to be with her peers on the first day back.

"The school's going to be the only thing they have to latch on to to feel like something's still routine," she said.CENTRAL POINT, Ore.-Even if there is no rain or snow, roads can still form black ice due to freezing fog.

The Rogue Valley has seen dense fog for the past couple of days, especially Monday night.

NewsWatch 12 talked with Oregon State Police to find out what you can be doing to prep your car for slick roads.

"Generally during the winter months of driving, even past the holidays is people need to be prepared for inclement weather, this is something we talk about every year, make sure when you're going on a trip or somewhere that you have a full tank of gas, making sure that your tires are in good shape," says Sergeant Jeff Proulx.

Chains may also be required for some roads.

He also told me that car crashes generally increase during the winter months.

Proulx says it's important to keep water, snacks, and a blanket in your car too incase of road closures or long waits due to a car accident.PORTLAND, Ore.  Most of us only become aware of a heroic act when it reaches the national stage, but heroes can hail from any corner of the world. This December, the Red Cross looks to honor some of these hometown heroes with their 2019 "Hero Awards."

The Awards are meant to acknowledge "ordinary people who have done extraordinary things in our community," according to the Red Cross. Recipients are to be honored at the the Cascades Regions 22nd Annual Heroes Breakfast in Vancouver, Washington, on Friday, March 22, 2019.

You can nominate a hero in your area for any of the following seven categories:

COMMUNITY HERO is presented to an individual who displayed leadership and commitment to his or her community by making a positive and significant impact.

GOOD SAMARITAN HERO is presented to an individual who displayed courage and compassion upon encountering unusual, significant or unexpected circumstances.

FIRST RESPONDER HERO is presented to an individual or group of the public service community (i.e. EMS, firefighter, or law enforcement) who went above and beyond the call of duty to save a life.

GIVE LIFE HERO is presented to an individual whose commitment to blood and platelet donation played a significant role in ensuring the health of patients in our local communities and throughout the country.

MILITARY HERO is presented to an active, reserve or retired member of the Armed Forces or ROTC or civilian that has made a significant impact on the military community.

VOLUNTARY SERVICE HERO is presented to an individual who has displayed an exemplary commitment to voluntary service resulting in a significant and positive impact in his or her community.

YOUTH GOOD SAMARITAN HERO (Under 21) is presented to an outstanding young person who displayed courage and compassion upon encountering an unusual, significant or unexpected incident.

The Red Cross says that nominees must reside or work in the Cascades Region (Oregon or southwest Washington)  or the heroic act or humanitarian service must have occurred in the region. The heroic act must also have occurred in the 12 months preceding the nomination deadline (December 15, 2018).

You can nominate a hero by filling out the online form on the Red Cross' webpage. The winners will be chosen in January by the Red Cross Cascades Region Hero Awards Selection Committee, and announced in spring of 2019.275 Shares Share

The dermatology profession exists for the primary purpose of caring for the patient. The physician-patient relationship is the central focus of all ethical concerns.

 American Academy of Dermatology, Code of Medical Ethics.

The doctor-patient relationship is one of profound importance and complexity. And while doctors in training often receive quality mentorship regarding their chosen specialty, many lack good mentors to guide them in the art of the doctor-patient relationship. This is because most medical students and residents are trained first and foremost to maximize profit for the institution where they are trained. Consequently, many young doctors often graduate from their residency programs with little to no understanding of what constitutes a good doctor-patient relationship, and why it is so important  not only for the emotional well-being of the patient  but for the well-being of the doctor. Indeed, if we fail to pass on the significance of this unique and foundational relationship, the divide between the doctor and the patient will continue to widen, as the road to bitterness and lassitude engulfs us all.

The presence of unwanted observers and an absence of informed consent regarding common long-term side effects from chemotherapy and other powerful drugs can obliterate the doctor-patient relationship like a Hellfire missile crashing into an old Lada. However, there are also more subtle things that doctors should take note of that can likewise significantly impact the physician-patient relationship. Indeed, a doctor in training learns how to establish a good rapport with their patients, not through artifice or trickery, but through a genuine desire to establish a sacred trust. They are simultaneously acquiring respect for medical ethics.

It is important to set aside all electronic devices during doctors visits, and this includes the computer. Unless the doctor and patient are going over a scan together, the office visit is a place where technology will drive a wedge between people. One can always take notes and type this information into the computer later. If a nurse, medical student, resident or fellow first meet with a patient to touch base regarding the patients health, they should be in and out of the room as quickly as possible. These individuals often linger far longer than they should, which invariably results in less time that the patient will actually spend with their doctor. Clearly, this can weaken the physician-patient bond. It can also result in confusion and ambiguity, as the attending is then briefed on the history, receiving this information second hand. Considering the fact that getting an accurate diagnosis can be a complicated affair  wouldnt it be logical for the physician to get the history or updated history directly from the patient?

Doctors should always make an effort to return phone calls, and one should never assume that a patient is calling about a trivial matter. In New York City, it is very common for nurses to be charged with the task of calling patients back. The problem with this is that nurses seldom possess the ability to flag something as important in the way that a doctor will be able to. As many doctors do not return phone calls, this small gesture will undoubtedly be appreciated.

Another thing that can degrade and debase the doctor-patient relationship is to instruct secretaries, who are not licensed health care professionals, to obtain patients questions over the phone. By asking the patient for a detailed question, the secretary is essentially asking the patient for a breakdown of their symptoms, and these are people that lack any medical training whatsoever. In addition to this being intrusive and inappropriate both from a professional and an ethical standpoint, it is also a recipe for a cascade of miscommunications, as the secretary passes the message on to a nurse, who then passes the message on to a resident or fellow. By the time the attending gets the message, it is often horribly mangled. What right does a secretary have to ask a patient about the status of their ovarian cancer? Many patients are so turned off by this that they simply give up altogether. This is an example of how physicians sometimes unknowingly create barriers to communication that can alienate, embarrass and rankle patients.

A doctor is neither an auto mechanic nor a plumber and a person who interacts not with things, but with human beings. Consequently, doctors should always make an effort to ask patients what is going on in their life outside of the world of medicine, as this will help the physician get to know the patient as a complete person, which can, in turn, facilitate a better rapport. While this may seem self-evident, it is paradoxically the exception rather than the rule. Understanding why it is necessary to keep these channels of communication open will not only result in more compassionate care but can also help physicians determine what is actually ailing their patients.

Instead of being exploited and used as cheap labor  medical students, residents, and fellows should be given the opportunity to experience a certain continuity in developing relationships with their patients. And they must be taught with an understanding of how things such as listening, respecting patient privacy and confidentiality can be as important as reading a CT scan or an EKG. Physicians that have a cavalier attitude regarding the former have embarked on a road to perdition.

Granted, doctors have become cogs in a for-profit system and have, in many ways, lost their autonomy to private health insurance companies, hospital administrators and the pharmaceutical industry. Nevertheless, there are still significant things that doctors can do to help keep the doctor-patient relationship alive. Unlike surgical outcomes, a sound doctor-patient relationship is not something that is statistically quantifiable. And yet without this human rapport, something inimitable and timeless  a sacred human connection  will be lost forever.

David Penner is a writer.

Image credit: Shutterstock.comFrance will suspend fuel price hikes after ongoing protests turned violent over the weekend, in a major concession by President Emmanuel Macron's government.

According to CNN affiliate BFMTV, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe will announce a moratorium Tuesday on fuel price hikes, which had been scheduled to come into effect on January 1.

The rising cost of gasoline and diesel fuel sparked protests that have since evolved into broader demonstrations against Macron's government, exposing tensions between the metropolitan elite and rural poor.

The protesters, known as the "gilets jaunes," take their name from the high-visibility yellow vests that drivers are required to keep in their vehicles for safety reasons.

Macron had asked political leaders to meet the protest organizers this week. Two protesters who claim to lead the group, Benjamin Cauchy and Jacqueline Moreau, have however pulled out of a meeting with Prime Minister Philippe planned for Tuesday, according to the movement's spokesman, Maxime Nicole.

Philippe canceled a trip to the COP24 climate conference in Poland to address the issue, which had threatened to flare again this coming weekend.

The government is likely hoping the suspension of the fuel hikes will take some heat out of the protests, which brought an estimated 36,000 people onto the streets of France on Saturday alone.

Around 400 people were arrested after a violent minority turned on police, throwing projectiles and vandalizing statues.

The city's famed Arc de Triomphe was scrawled with slogans in support of the yellow vest movement and others criticizing Macron as the President "of the rich."

Students have also joined the "yellow vests" movement and, according to Reuters, demonstrators set buildings on fire and there were violent clashes with police on Tuesday.

Saint-Exupery high school located in Blagnac near Toulouse in southwest France had been set on fire on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

Access to schools in Creteil and Versailles was also blocked, Reuters said.

The news agency also reported that there were clashes in Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux and Orleans.

Paris prosecutor Remy Heitz said that among the protesters were people from across the country who had descended upon Paris with the express intent of causing trouble.

He added that authorities would crack down hardest on those who had joined the street demonstrations explicitly to carry out violent acts.

"There are varied profiles but there are definitely profiles of people who have come from the provinces all over France, obviously to carry out acts of violence, and it is to these people that the criminal response I will say will be the strongest."

How the 'Yellow Vests' formed

The cost of diesel has surged 16% this year from an average 1.24 ($1.41) per liter to 1.48 ($1.69), even hitting 1.53 ($1.74) in October, according to UFIP, France's oil industry federation.

Protesters reacted by taking to the streets of Paris, setting fire to tires -- even cars, in some instances -- for two weekends in a row. Violence has left at least two people dead and more than 600 people injured. Protesters struck some of the wealthiest parts of the French capital, looting luxury shops and smashing bank windows. Police have arrested hundreds.

The "gilets jaunes" may have begun with motorists protesting the tax rise, but it has since mushroomed into a movement against the reformist policies of Macron, thrusting the most severe political crisis on the 40-year-old leader since he took office 19 months ago.

The "gilets jaunes" is a grassroots movement that emerged online with Facebook events set up by regular citizens to coordinate road blockades across France.

The movement has no ties to the big French trade unions that usually organize large-scale protests in the country, nor does it have formal spokespeople. Some protesters say that Cauchy and Moreau, who have spoken on behalf of the group, are not their legitimate leaders.

The group mirrors Macron's own rise to power, which began with the creation of his own grassroots movement, "En Marche!" ("On the move!"), and no backing by the big established parties. Macron said he was neither from the left nor right, just that he was "for France" and branded himself as a man of the people. Macron campaigned on promises to radically change France and his ideas were published in a book he wrote called "Revolution."

But the wave of support that brought Macron to power has waned, with the young leader's approval rating dropping to 25% in November. And public support for the movement is high -- a Harris poll conducted after Saturday's protest suggests that almost three-quarters of French people support it.

Macron is just the latest of many French leaders who have lost support for trying to transform France into a friendlier nation for doing business. His slashing of the wealth tax, for example, was unpopular and triggered criticism that he works for the elite and condescends to the poor.

Many at the protests in Paris came in from rural areas and say they are struggling to make ends meet. Maxime Nicolle, 31, who was at a protest Saturday, is from a rural part of Brittany, and has been a member of the "gilets jaunes" since its creation in November.

He said his family of three struggles to survive on 1,500 a month. "It's really about inequality and how the wealth is distributed. It's a battle between the financial system and the population," he told CNN.

Hugo Melchior, from a wealthy neighborhood in Rennes, northwest France, doesn't even own a car, yet he supports the movement.

"We are dealing with a convergence of anger, frustration, exasperation and weariness that's been suppressed for too long. And they now have this immense power, they find themselves able to act together at a local level against a common enemy -- the state power personified by President Emmanuel Macron, who incites hatred because of his endless arrogance."EUGENE, Ore. -- Wills prepared in other countries generally are not valid in the United States, Oregon Pacific Bank President and CEO Ron Green said.

Is a will drawn up in Australia valid in the U.S.?

Green said hes not an attorney but generally, the answer is no. If a will, or any kind of estate document, is prepared in a foreign country, it is only valid in that country.

If you are a former resident of Australia and had a will drawn up there and want your wishes to be fulfilled after you pass in the U.S., the best advice is to get an attorney.

An attorney can assist with drawing up a new will or can at least take a look at the existing one. They can give you a correct answer, Green said.

If you have a banking or finance question for Ron Green, click here.CORVALLIS, Ore. -- Conditions were "messy" and "windy" over the weekend when a Corvallis doctor died, an employee at a surf shop in Newport said.

Oregon State Police said at about 3:30 p.m. Saturday, they received a 911 call reporting that Toren Stearns, 30, was in water and in distress near Otter Rock State Park, just north of Newport.

RELATED: Corvallis doctor dies while surfing near Newport

Brian Sudlow, who works at the surf shop Ossies, said conditions at the time of the incident were rough. On Saturday, their shop refused to rent gear to their customers because of these conditions.

"That rip current will pull you out and you get pulled past that point, and it's kind of a crapshoot of where the water is moving at that point," Sudlow said. "You don't know what's going to happen."

Police said the U.S. Coast Guard dispatched a cutter boat and rescue helicopter to assist in the rescue. A local surfer also went into the water to help. A rescue swimmer recovered Stearns and brought him onto the beach.

Stearns was transported by helicopter to Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital in Newport, where he later died.

Dr. Sugat Patel, the Director of Medical Education at Good Samaritan Hospital in Corvallis, said Stearns was a valuable member of their psychiatric team.

Patel said he didn't know Stearns personally, but he's spoken to people who did.

"I do know talking to members of his class and people reaching out to us that he was a genuinely kind-hearted and gentle soul," he said.

Patel said Stearns was in his fourth and final year of post-graduate training at Good Samaritan Hospital.

"This is a huge loss for our community and our department," he said. "Our hearts go out to his family, his fiancee and the members of his team."EUGENE, Ore. -- A veteran struggling with disabilities lost everything in a fire in Eugene Monday afternoon.

The fire destroyed the fifth wheel trailer where a friend was letting him stay in the 800 block of West Third Avenue just before 3 p.m.

Julie Ruiz, who owns the trailer, said the man is blind and had been living in the trailer in her backyard.

She said she hopes somebody will help him.

He was a Vietnam vet and he is just on social security right now, Ruiz said. Hes struggling with his health issues and hes blind.

The man was taken to the hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation and minor burns.

Anyone interested in helping the veteran can email Ruiz at ruiz9863@msn.com.EUGENE, Ore. -- If you think you've seen more rats in our area lately, you're not imagining things. There's been a 20 percent climb in the rodent population in just the last three years, a local pest elimination expert said.

Scott Law, the branch manager of All Natural Pest Elimination in Springfield, said with the massive increase throughout the state, his business receives hundreds of calls every week from people concerned about rodents entering and living in their homes.

About half of the inspections they do involve rodents, Law said.

He said there are plenty of factors that play a role in this uptick.

Law believes the growing interest in urban farming has contributed to the increase because rodents are attracted to the food. Also, the cold weather and the amount of construction happening throughout the area has forced rodents to try and find shelter elsewhere.

But Law said there is one thing people can do to make sure they don't receive these unwanted guests.

"Limiting the food source is the number one priority, said Law. So, whether you've got dog food in the garage or a bird feeder outside, you want to make sure that your food is packed up as best as possible."

Law said if you have any doubts, or if you have any concerns, call pest control to get an inspection.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 4)  The Supreme Court has ruled that the province of Palawan is not entitled to any share from the earnings of the Malampaya gas project, sources said.

Two court insiders told CNN Philippines Tuesday that the justices unanimously voted to reject the petition seeking to grant Palawan 40 percent of government revenues from the natural gas facility.

Details of the decision were not immediately known as the Supreme Court has not released any. Sources said Associate Justice Noel Tijam penned the document.

The Malampaya Deepwater Gas to Power project, or Malampaya project was the first of its kind in the country, using technology that draws natural gas from the sea. It was projected to generate around $8 billion to $10 billion for the government.

According to Republic Act 7160, the local government unit should get 40 percent of the government's revenue, while the other 60 percent goes to the national government. The Malampaya gas plant is 80 kilometers off the coastline of Palawan, which the Arroyo administration said was beyond Palawan's 15-kilometer municipal waters.

Amid a dispute on whether the wealthy reservoir is under the jurisdiction of Palawan, then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued an executive order (EO) stating that the national government shall have an equal share in the 40 percent being claimed by Palawan. This means the province would only be getting 20 percent of net government proceeds.

Petitioners questioned Arroyo's EO in 2008 but lost at the Court of Appeals. The case has since been elevated to the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, the Ombudsman earlier found that P900 million of the Malampaya fund were funneled to bogus nongovernment organizations. The anti-graft court Sandiganbayan is currently handling cases against 25 people who allegedly got kickbacks.

CNN Philippines' Anjo Alimario contributed to this report.In the spirit of giving for the festive season, The Kilkenny Shop on the Parade has teamed up with the Simon Community to run a Christmas gift wrapping service across their stores nationwide from December 1 until Christmas Eve.

The home of Irish craft and design will be accepting donations for the complimentary wrapping service and will match every cent raised before being donated to the Simon Community. The much-needed funds raised in each Kilkenny store will be donated to the nearest Simon Community to help those in need locally.

Speaking about the partnership, Marian OGorman, CEO of Kilkenny Group said, We are delighted to be working with the Simon Community this year for our Christmas appeal. Homelessness is a major problem in Ireland at the moment and the Simon Community need as much support as possible during the festive season. The work that they do is invaluable and so worthwhile which is why we have chosen them as our partner this festive season.

The Simon Community supports over 11,000 men, women and children across Ireland. With almost 50 years of experience providing homeless, housing and treatment services to people facing the trauma and stress of homelessness, Simons door is always open for as long as they are needed.

The money raised from The Kilkenny Shops gift wrapping will go towards supporting services such as homelessness prevention, housing support, street outreach, homeless specific health and wellbeing services, personal development, food banks and drop-in centres.

Brian Ingarfield, Head of Fundraising and Communications for The Simon Community said, We are extremely grateful to be chosen as Kilkennys charity this Christmas. Their generosity will have an important impact on the people who are relying on us each day. This fantastic initiative will support our vital homeless services around the country.

For more information on Kilkenny and The Simon Community visit www.kilkennyshop.com and www.simon.ie and to keep up to date on all day to day activity visit @kilkennyshop and @simoncommunity.Fifty new jobs are to be created in Kilkenny City over the next 12 months as part of a 2million investment at the Danville Business Park.

Ifac - the professional services firm for the Irish farming, food and agribusiness sector today announced that it is creating 200 new jobs across the country over the coming three years. Ifac will begin recruiting for these new roles immediately. This new investment also includes a new 2 million client shared services centre that will be located in Danville Business Park in Kilkenny city . This shared services centre will provide employment for up to 50 people over the coming 12 months and will support ifac clients with a range of services from payroll and audit to business development advice.

Ifac Chief Executive John Donoghue said: We are particularly excited about our 2 million investment in a new shared services centre in Kilkenny. This state-of-the-art facility will employ close to 50 people by this time next year and it will provide clients nationwide with a top quality business support system in the areas of payroll, audit and business development advice. Our growing client base in the farming, food and agri business sectors have significant service requirements in these areas that we are very well placed to meet with over 40 years experience of working in these sectors. We know the issues, understand the challenges and care about supporting our valued clients to thrive in the face of economic uncertainty.

This major jobs announcement follows significant growth across the board growth in demand for ifacs professional services over the past 24 months. The new jobs will be spread across tax, audit, corporate finance, financial and specialist advisory, book keeping and support roles.

Commenting on the jobs announcement Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said: I am really pleased that ifac is announcing the creation of 200 high-quality positions across its almost thirty branches nationwide. The Government is committed to balanced regional development, and we want to help companies to retain top talent to work in their local communities. Gone are the days when all roads lead to Dublin; through our ambitious plan Project Ireland 2040, the Government is strengthening the regions and improving infrastructure to attract jobs and investment. Ifacs investment in a new shared services centre in Kilkenny is a particularly exciting development and a real addition to the firms client service offering. I wish the company and its staff every success in the future.ROCHESTER, Minn.- During Monday nights City Council meeting, the council voted 6-0 to approve the 2019 Property Tax Levy meaning the levy will be going up 8.92 percent.

They also approved the Operating Budget and Capital Improvement Plan.

Before this tax increase, Rochester's property taxes were pretty comparable to the rest of the state and country.

According to smartasset.com, in Rochester and greater Olmsted County a person whose property is assessed at $200,000 dollars would pay just under $2,500 dollars a year in property taxes.

That's only about 4 dollars more than the average home of the same value in Minnesota and 2 dollars less than the average nationwide.

But with those numbers going up... some community members aren't exactly happy about it.

Over a dozen community members shared their concerns tonight about property tax increases. It was a 63.9% increase which is pretty shocking since we havent done any work to our house.

She wasnt the only one though to share a similar story. However, the Director of Olmsted County Property Records and Licensing says all those stories dont properly represent Rochester as a whole. "What you've heard tonight are really the outliers. This isn't the average thing that's happening for most of the people in the city of Rochester."

The council asks that if you see a major spike in your tax percentage to talk with the county assessor.ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Around 40 people showed up to the Grand Menorah Celebration downtown.

Attendees enjoyed latkes and donuts, arts and crafts and glow-in-the-dark Chanukah giveaways.

Rabbi Shloime Greene explains what makes this year's celebration remarkable.

"What makes the event tonight special is a great way for the community to interact in a lovely presentation of inclusivity with a contingent of the Jewish community being proud of their heritage and being able to share in the beauty of the holiday of Hanukkah with everybody," Rabbi Greene said.

Some other Menorah celebrations happening this week is the 2nd Street Menorah Lighting and Party at the Chabad-ubavitch of Rochester at 5:30 p.m. and the Menorah Workshop at Home Depot on Wednesday at 4 p.m.AUSTIN, Minn. - On Monday, the Hormel Foundation announced they're giving $8.4 million to various organizations in the community in 2019.

This all started back in 1941, when Hormel Foods Corporation founder George A. Hormel and his son, Jay C. Hormel, established the foundation.

The money is divided between more than a dozen organizations.

"We have wonderful, talented people involved both on a volunteer basis and running the organizations," Jeff Ettinger, the Hormel Foundation Chairman, said. "Hopefully these funds are certainly a shot in the arm and enable them to really reach more people by virtue of the support we're able to provide."

The YMCA of Austin is one of several recipients.

Most of the grant money given to the Y goes to their youth membership program.

"This YMCA has more youth members than any other YMCA I've ever seen," Tedd Maxfield, the executive director of the YMCA of Austin, said.

Maxfield tells KIMT the youth membership program is based on the family's income, so a kid's membership could be as low as $1. He said the Y serves more than 2,500 kids in the community.

Ettinger hopes the foundation's ability to offer the donations is keeping in line with the vision George and Jay Hormel had when they set it up. A vision that helps support the many organizations in the community that support its people.

"All of us - the school district, the Hormel Institute, Riverland Community College, and so many agencies - are able to make Austin a better place because of the support of the foundation," Maxfield said.

In addition to the organizations, some of the grant money goes to scholarships.AUSTIN, Minn.  A Mankato man accused of smashing into another driver is pleading guilty.

Joshua William Clark, 43, pleaded guilty Tuesday to criminal vehicular operation causing bodily harm and DWI. He was arrested on March 24 after a woman said Clark rammed her twice while she was driving to her Austin home. Family members of the woman say Clark then knocked on their door and asked for help after his van got stuck in a ditch.

A Mower County sheriffs deputy says a preliminary breath test showed Clark with a blood alcohol content of .258 when he was arrested.

Court documents state Clark was previously convicted of criminal vehicular operation causing substantial bodily harm in September 2015 in Freeborn County.

He is now set to be sentenced on May 9, 2019.MASON CITY, Iowa  Police are asking for the publics help in finding a girl who has been missing for almost two months.

Tala Rose Schaal, 15, was reported missing on October 10 and her family says she was last seen at her home in Mason City. The Mason City Police Department says it released information about Schaal on its social media accounts on November 15 and received some tips as to her location. The Department says none of those leads resulted in finding Schaal.

Police say they believe Schaal remains in the North Iowa area and is likely being harbored by someone.

Anyone with information about her whereabouts is asked to call 641-421-3000. If you know here immediate location, you are asked to call 911.

Tala Schaal is described at 55 and about 130 pounds and often changes her hair color and style.KIMT NEWS 3 - The people who are tasked with feeding the world can often deal with a lot of stress.

One man is making it his mission to speak with the many farmers across the Midwest.

Dennis Hoiberg is from Australia, and traveling across the world with his presentation "Resilience in the Face of Change."

"The more I travel around the world, the more I see a couple of things," Hoiberg said. "One is we're all the same, especially in regions of rural communities. Two is we've got the same type of issues, and three we gotta learn that we gotta share."

His goal is to give farmers "hope," as a way to get ahead of the stress instead of reacting to it.

He said hope is an acronym that stands for healthy habits, optimistic thinking, planning, and enact.

"We all go through change," Hoiberg said. "The technical term for resiliency is your ability to bounce back through change. When you think about it, when you're going through change you never ever want to bounce back. You want to bounce forward."

On Monday, Hoiberg spoke at Riverland Community College in Austin. On Tuesday, Dec. 4, he will speak at Rochester Community and Technical College at 7:00 p.m.ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP)  Special deer hunts are planned for two consecutive weekends in December aimed at limiting the spread of chronic wasting disease in wild deer in southeastern Minnesota, the state Department of Natural Resources said Tuesday.

The DNR announced the hunts in specific deer permit zones in the Preston area  603, 347 and 348, and parts of zones 343 and 345 that are south of Interstate 90. Residents and nonresidents can participate in the hunts, which will take place from Dec. 21 to Dec. 23 and Dec. 28 to Dec. 30.

The agency said it's acting quickly to contain the fatal deer disease while it is concentrated in one geographic area. Reducing deer numbers will help lower densities and remove infected animals from southeastern Minnesota.

Since the disease is spread by contact with an infected deer's saliva, urine, blood, feces, antler velvet or carcass, reducing deer numbers is part of the DNR's approach to limiting the spread of the disease. The agency made the boundary for the special hunts larger than last year's special hunt to account for new infected deer found outside of the DNR's disease management zone around Preston, known as permit area 603 in Fillmore County.

Hunters should check the DNR's website at mndnr.gov/cwd for details about the hunts. The agency notes that private land makes up most of the area and that hunters must have landowner permission.

Minnesota wildlife officials and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar are pressing Congress for more funding to monitor chronic wasting in the deer herd. The DNR said 11 new cases of wild deer infected with the neurological disease were discovered this fall in or around the CWD management zone in Fillmore County. Until this hunting season, only 17 cases of CWD were confirmed in Minnesota's wild deer herds. Those cases were concentrated within a five-mile radius between Preston and Lanesboro, in southeastern Minnesota.

Permits will be available on a first-come, first-served basis for each hunt for Forestville State Park and the Pin Oak Prairie Scientific and Natural Area starting at noon Wednesday. There is no fee for the permits, which can be obtained online or wherever DNR licenses are sold. The Cherry Grove Blind Valley Scientific and Natural Area, which adjoins the Cherry Grove Wildlife Management Area, also will be open to deer hunting, with no special permit required.

The disease causes brain lesions in deer, elk and moose. There is no evidence that chronic wasting infects people, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises people not to eat meat from animals known to have the disease.AUSTIN, Minn.  A Texas man agrees to a plea deal in Mower County.

Alberto Garcia, 31 of Dallas, TX, pleaded guilty Tuesday to storing methamphetamine paraphernalia in the presence of a child and a misdemeanor charge of theft. Charges of 1st and 3rd degree burglary and 5th degree drug possession will be dismissed.

Authorities say Garcia broke into the Austin home of an ex-girlfriend on July 9. The woman says she found Garcia with drugs at her kitchen table and that he stole a black bag and a yellow tool bag from her home. Austin police say the black bag held the womans identification, credit cards, insurance cards, and $40 cash.

Garcias sentencing is scheduled for May 3, 2019.The role of being a caregiver often happens by default: A parent or older loved one falls and cannot live alone anymore. Or during a visit, you notice an empty refrigerator or unopened mail piling up at a seniors house. For caregivers of someone with cognitive issues, there are additional challenges. Youll encounter problems for which you probably have no training or experience, such as understanding how to talk in a manner that wont upset or confuse someone in the later stages of dementia. Caregiving happens to people in different ways, says Laura Gitlin, dean of the College of Nursing and Health Professions at Drexel University, in Philadelphia. But the one thing in common is that youre often not prepared for it at all. Caregivers often try getting up to speed quickly, sometimes taking virtual reality tours to feel what its like to tackle simple tasks while experiencing dementia symptoms, for instance. While that may help you empathize with a loved one, it wont provide educational basics you need to care for someone day to day. Often a loved one gets a diagnosis, with little followup information on a caregivers next steps. You cant find a single online resource, book or class that can tell you everything you need to know.

You realize youll have to cobble together learning on your own, by locating and pulling together the most up-to-date caregiving techniques, guides, websites, products, courses and workshops available. Theres really no handbook out there that just says, Hey, youre a caregiver. Heres step one, says Mark Gibbons, senior director of external programs at the Caregiver Action Network, an advocacy organization. I really wish there were. To start learning how to be a caregiver for an aging loved one, particularly when cognitive issues are involved, dont skip an on-the-ground step youll need to support your journey, he advises. Create your own care team, with family members or a circle of friends. If your mom wants to age in place, include the neighbor who chats with her regularly to look in on her when you cant. Youll need the help of everyone around you to allow time in your day to educate yourself. Its easy to get burned out, he says. You need to realize what your limits are. And dont forget about yourself. Lorraine DSylva-Lee, 54, of Changewater, N.J., was feeling stressed by caring for an adult disabled daughter and an elderly aunt. She enrolled in a Rutgers University Caregiver Wellness program, a series of free classes through which she learned about self-care, including yoga, mindfulness, and tips on nutrition and sleep. Self-care was not on my radar at all, she says. I was surviving and doing the best I can. Now, I have all these tools I can use. Its made all the difference in the world. Start Your Search With your support network in place, seek out organizations and nonprofits connected with a loved ones specific diagnosis. These groups often offer a wealth of resources, with much information available online. If a parent has a cancer diagnosis, for example, your first stop is the American Cancer Societys website. There are also groups dedicated to general caregiving concerns, including the Caregiver Action Network, the Family Caregiver Alliance and the National Alliance for Caregiving, which focuses on policy and research. But some groups websites offer so much information that you can get overwhelmed, and you will need to understand how to navigate the sites successfully.

At the Alzheimers Association website, begin with the basics, says Ruth Drew, the associations director of family and information services. The Understanding Alzheimers Disease section is an overview of the disease, including warning signs. The websites recently updated Brain Tour details how Alzheimers affects the brain and how the disease progresses from early to later stages. The information can help you understand what to expect and how to plan. The websites caregiving section offers strategies for caregivers, with such information as stage-specific guidance and how to handle challenging behaviors as the disease progresses, including a common onecommunication. Loved ones may begin acting in ways that they never have before, and it is often hard for family members to understand whats going on and how to react. Unfortunately, as the disease progresses, verbal communication becomes more difficult, Drew says. Use the community resource finder tool at communityresourcefinder.org and plug in your zip code to find local education programs, workshops and support groups that can help you learn caregiving techniques. Programs are free and usually held at chapter offices, libraries and senior centers. Youll learn practical tips that you can put to use immediately. It can be as easy as bending down to establish eye contact or simply offering your hand, Drew says. Perhaps you can speak slowly to avoid confusing or agitating someone, and use succinct sentences with limited word choices. Instead of a lengthy explanation of the day of the week, the time of day, the need for bathtime and other details, you simply say, Good morning. Its bath time.What are your rights  and what should you do  when a restaurants description of a certain dish leaves out important information, or when what they bring to your table in no way comes close to what most people expect? While visiting San Francisco, a reader of my blog named Randy and his wife stopped for lunch at an organic restaurant that had a number of raw food items on the menu in addition to steaks, fish and chips, etc. Their T-Steak Burger was described as a meat-lovers favorite with both organic beef and Swiss cheese, but no explanation for the T was supplied. When ordering I failed to ask what the T stood for, Randy explained in an email. That was his first mistake. After bringing our orders to the table, the waiter offered me a bib, stating, Your burger is very juicy. He also recommended using a fork and knife, but I declined both. That was his second mistake. My first  and last  bite squirted raw beef, egg yolk and who knows what else all over me! The T stood for tartare! It was steak tartare, raw hamburger meat! I ran to the mens room to spit it out.

Asking why the menu didnt reveal that fact, and, if he could please order something else, he was told by the server, Darling, everyone knows what the letter T and Steak mean, and, you can order something else but still have to pay for the T-Burger. We paid with a credit card. Could I successfully dispute that part of the bill? our reader asked. How do you like your Gerbers? Years ago, something similar happened to my wife and me  in a San Francisco restaurant  when I ordered Vegetable Soup, picturing nice chunks of carrots, celery, peas and a few other things in a light broth. When it arrived at our table, the stuff looked just like dark-green applesauce! I politely said, What is this? I ordered vegetable soup. The waiter put his hands on his hips, cocked his head back and replied, Its pureed. This stuff would pass for Gerbers baby food and I tried to eat it, but it was awful. My wife was enjoying her chicken dish, trying not to laugh too loudly. (When we go out, if something goes wrong, it always happens to me.) After attempting to eat this hideous pureed green goo, I asked the waiter if he would bring me something fit for human consumption. Well, if you insist, we will, but I have to charge you for the soup, he replied. Of course, there are legal implications to this craziness. The menu should have stated, Pureed Vegetable Soup, so leaving the customer in the dark is misleading. Unless it was eaten, charging for the green slop would be improper. A law professor gives his opinion Looking at this from strictly a contract law perspective, Loyola Law School (Los Angeles) Contracts Professor Bryan Hull commented, If the only descriptions on the menu were T-Steak Burger and Vegetable Soup, there would be an issue as to what a reasonable consumer would expect: To me, chunks of vegetables and cooked meat  certainly not raw  unless stated in the menu.

In cases like this, sellers of food and beverage have been sued for breach of warranty and false advertising. If the soup were consumed, then of course the diner would have to pay for it. Most restaurants would just take it back and not charge if the customer tasted it and then said he didn't like it. Unless the bill is over $50, credit cardholders do not have a statutory right to contest the charge. However, a card issuer might have a policy allowing the bill to be disputed, and so a phone call to find out would be appropriate. At the end of the day, probably the easiest and most tempting thing to do would be to write a bad Yelp review of the establishment. That said, there is always a risk of being sued by the restaurant for defamation. While truth is a defense, there are some battles which are best to avoid, Hull cautions, and we agree. Dont get mad  get even Getting back to my problematic soup, once I was informed they would not take the charge off our bill, I got an idea and went to the bank next door, obtaining $4 worth of pennies. Upon returning, I asked for the check. Our tip was left in the form of pennies in a nice big circle on the table. When the waiter returned, he asked, Whats this? My answer: Your tip. Its pureed. Since I cant be a lawyer 24 hours a day, I followed my wifes advice. Dont get mad ... get even!Stephanie Kelly

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices jumped nearly four percent on Monday after the United States and China agreed to a 90-day truce in a trade dispute and Canadas Alberta province ordered a production cut, while exporter group OPEC looked set to reduce supply.

Brent crude futures rose $2.23 to settle at $61.69 a barrel, a 3.75 percent gain. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained $2.02 to settle at $52.95 a barrel, a 3.97 percent increase.

Both benchmarks surged more than 5 percent earlier in the session.

China and the United States agreed during a weekend meeting in Argentina of the Group of 20 leading economies not to impose additional trade tariffs for at least 90 days while they hold talks to resolve existing disputes.

The trade war between the worlds two biggest economies has weighed heavily on global trade and sparked concerns of an economic slowdown.

Crude oil has not been included in the list of products facing import tariffs, but traders said the positive sentiment was supporting crude markets.

Initial signs of the U.S.-China trade relation on the mend have provided a boost to oil prices in todays trading session. Nevertheless, whether the momentum will sustain hinges on tangible outcomes from the negotiations, said Abhishek Kumar, senior energy analyst at Interfax Energy in London.

Oil also received support from an announcement by Alberta that the Western Canadian province will force producers to cut output by 8.7 percent, or 325,000 barrels per day (bpd), to deal with a pipeline bottleneck that has led to crude building up in storage.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meets on Thursday to decide output. The group, along with non-OPEC member Russia, is expected to announce cuts aimed at reining in a glut that has pulled down crude prices by around a third since October.

We feel that a decline of about 1.1-1.2 million barrels per day will be required if fresh price lows are to be precluded, Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Associates, said in a note.

Within OPEC, Qatar said it will leave the producer club in January. Qatars oil production is only around 600,000 bpd, but it is the worlds biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Qatars decision to quit OPEC shows the frustration of small producers at the dominant role of a Saudi and Russia-led panel, Irans OPEC governor Hossein Kazempour Ardebili told Reuters, adding that any supply cuts should come only from countries that had increased output.

Outside OPEC, Russian oil output stood at 11.37 million bpd in November, down from a post-Soviet record of 11.41 million bpd it reached in October, Energy Ministry data showed on Sunday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday he had no concrete figures on possible oil output cuts, though his country would continue its contribution to reducing global production.

Meanwhile, oil producers in the United States continue to churn out record amounts of oil, with crude output at about 11.5 million bpd.

Reporting by Stephanie Kelly in New York, Christopher Johnson in London and Henning Gloystein in Singapore; Editing by Marguerita Choy and David GregorioDavid Lawder, Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States expects immediate action by China on trade issues after a deal reached by the countries leaders, including lower tariffs on automobiles and measures against intellectual property theft and forced technology transfers, a White House official said on Monday.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to hold off on new tariffs for 90 days during talks in Argentina on Saturday, declaring a truce following months of escalating tensions on trade and other issues.

That 90-day period will begin on Jan. 1, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters.

The Chinese offered more than $1.2 trillion in additional commitments on trade, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on Monday. Kudlow said that figure was a broad benchmark and referred to private transactions for buying U.S. goods, subject to market conditions.

China also committed immediately to start lifting tariffs and non-tariff barriers, including reducing its 40 percent tariffs on autos, Kudlow said.

We expect those tariffs to fall to zero, he told reporters.

Americans will get majority ownership in companies in China for the first time, which should help address top U.S. concerns about including intellectual property theft and forced technology transfers.

None of the commitments were agreed to in writing and specifics had yet to be hammered out.

Mnuchin said there was a shift in tone at Buenos Aires from past discussions as Xi offered a clear commitment to open Chinas markets to U.S. companies.

This is the first time that we have a commitment from them that this will be a real agreement, Mnuchin told CNBC.

Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, said he, Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer held two private meetings with Chinas Vice Premier Liu He in Argentina and he told them that Beijing would move immediately on the new commitments.

The history here with China promises is not very good. And we know that, Kudlow said. However, I will say this: President Xi has never been this involved.

Kudlow said: They cannot slow walk this, stall this, meander this. Their word: immediately.

The truce boosted global markets on Monday with world stocks rising to their highest in about three weeks. On Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 gained nearly 1 percent, although the index had come off its earlier session highs in afternoon trading.

Kudlow said U.S. officials will monitor Chinese progress on enforcing the commitments very closely.

Trump has appointed Lighthizer, one of the administrations most vocal China critics, to oversee the new round of trade talks with China, officials said.

The appointment of Lighthizer, who just completed a new agreement with Canada and Mexico , may signify a harder line in talks with Beijing and marks a shift from past practices where Mnuchin had a lead role.

Hes the toughest negotiator weve ever had at the USTR and hes going to go chapter and verse and get tariffs down, non-tariff barriers down and end all these structural practices that prevent market access, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told National Public Radio earlier on Monday.

Kudlow said he and Mnunchin would be heavily involved as well, with the Treasury secretary dealing with financial and currency issues.

The White House is stepping up efforts to prod other countries to build more vehicles in the United States. Lighthizer and other officials including Kudlow are set to meet with German automakers on Tuesday, including the chief executives at Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) and Daimler AG, people briefed on the matter said.

Kudlow said the meeting was not meant to focus on potential car tariffs, though Trump still held that option in his quiver, and the automakers would be encouraged to build engines in the United States.

Chinese regulators did not respond to requests for comment on Trumps tweet on autos tariffs. Neither country had mentioned auto tariffs in their official read-outs of the Trump-Xi meeting.

On Sunday, Trump tweeted that China had agreed to cut import levies on American-made cars.

Reporting by David Lawder and Jeff Mason; Additional reporting by David Lawder and David Shepardson in Washington, Meng Meng and Stella Qiu in Beijing, Andrew Galbraith and David Stanway in Shanghai, and Noah Sin and Anne Marie Roantree in Hong Kong; Writing by Ben Blanchard and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Kim Coghill and Susan Thomas(Kitco News) - The recent sell-off in shares of companies that have mining operations in Mexico, due to worries about possible changes in the countrys mining laws, may be exaggerated, some analysts say.

Investors were spooked by worries about more stringent rules under incoming President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. The slide began after a senator in Lopez Obradors Morena party called for new regulations, and Morgan Stanley downgraded some mining stocks, according to news reports. Concerns include the government withholding permits for new projects and perhaps even revoking existing ones when environmental or social concerns are raised.

Shares of base and precious-metals producers alike were hit.

I think its an overreaction, said Matt Badiali, senior analyst with Banyan Hill Publishing.

In particular, he said, there are worries that if legislation passes, it possibly could be used to take mining concessions away from Southern Copper Corp. because of a 2014 contamination spill.

Thats a lot of ifs related to Southern Copper, Badiali said.

I really feel like this is bad news that has fallen on an industry that has already been beaten up pretty hard. People are looking for reasons to leave the mining space right

now. Additional bad news on top of low base-metals prices and a general lack of interest in the mining by investors has continued to push these share prices down. Its more bad news piling on.

However, passage of any draconian mining rules has a long ways to go, Badiali said. Clearly, there is going to be pushback, he said.

Armando Guadiana, a Senator in Lopez Obradors Morena party, has already offered caution against changing laws just for the sake of it, according to news reports.

The fears are speaking louder than the rational response. I think this is an overreaction due to the general angst in the mining space right now, Badiala.

David Morgan, publisher of TheMorganReport.com, also used the word overreaction when describing the sell-off of shares of companies that operate in Mexico.

The most likely scenario is an increase in the tax rate, he said. Usually governments are inclined to do whats easy. And the easiest thing to do is to increase the tax rate on the miners.

Are they going to nationalize the mines and take them overstuff that a lot of people fear? Its highly doubtful.

Higher tax rates will still impact share prices, he added. For one thing, this reduces companies profits and cash flow.

But its not as much to fear as having a mine nationalized and taken over by the government, Morgan concluded.

Badiali said there still could be capitulation in prices. Yet, he continued, Im going to be looking at these guys [stocks], commenting that some of the companies such as Southern Copper, Grupo Mexico (copper) and Fresnillo (silver and gold) are great companies.

These are not inconsequential mining companies.Olivier Guersent, the Commission's Director General that oversees much of its financial markets work said there was a "logic" in increasing the euro's importance as a reserve currency, although it would also bring greater "responsibility".

"Still it would be greatly beneficial if it was the case. That is why we are putting forward the recommendation of it tomorrow," he said at a Financial Times banking conference.

He wouldn't expand on the plans ahead of their formal launch, but one of the areas where the euro still lags the dollar, and increasingly in recent years the Chinese yuan, is the commodity and energy markets.

"Of course the ultimate state of being an international reserve currency will probably have to come with deeper reforms," Guersent added.

(Reporting by Marc Jones; editing by Josephine Mason)(Kitco News) - Gold prices are moderately up and scored a five-week high in early U.S. trading Tuesday. Silver prices are also firmer and hit a three-week high today. Both metals are seeing buying support early this week as the U.S. dollar index has backed off. The gold market is also benefiting from an improved near-term chart posture that is inviting technical buyers. Currently, gold prices are in an uptrend on the daily bar chart. February gold futures were last up $5.20 an ounce at $1,244.90. March Comex silver was up $0.126 at $14.62 an ounce.

The key outside markets today find the U.S. dollar index solidly lower. The U.S.-China trade truce has boosted the worlds secondary currency markets early this week, which in turn is pressuring the greenback.

Meantime, Nymex crude oil prices are higher and trading around $54.00 a barrel. Some short covering is seen in the oil market recently, following steep losses. The OPEC oil cartel will meet in Vienna, Austria on Thursday. Reports said Russian and Saudi Arabian officials plan to extend production cuts. Also, Canada will curtail its crude production.

World stock markets were mostly lower overnight. U.S. stock indexes are pointed toward lower openings when the New York day session begins. The initial trader and investor euphoria over a U.S.-China trade dispute cease-fire for 90 days has rapidly dissipated. The marketplace has quickly realized the devil is in the details on getting this matter resolved. The matter will likely continue to produce uncertainty in markets, with comments from U.S. and China government officials continuing to tweak the marketsjust like was the case before the meeting between Presidents Trump and Xi last weekend.

A feature in the marketplace just recently is falling U.S. Treasury yields (rising prices). The five-year T-Note yield is presently below the lower maturities. Notions of a less hawkish Federal Reserve in the coming months have helped to boost T-Bond and T-Note prices.

In overnight news, the Euro zone producer price index for October came in at up 0.8% from September and up 4.9%, year-on-year. Those numbers were hotter than expected.

The death of former U.S. President George H.W. Bush and a national day of mourning Wednesday will close the U.S. stock and financial markets. Other U.S. futures markets will remain open as normal.

U.S. economic data due for release Tuesday includes the weekly Goldman Sachs and Johnson Redbook retail sales reports, the ISM New York report on business, and the IBD/TIPP economic optimism index.

Technically, gold bulls and bears are on a level overall near-term technical playing field, but the bulls have momentum on their side. Bulls next upside price objective is to produce a close in February futures above solid resistance at the October high of $1,252.00. Bears' next near-term downside price breakout objective is pushing prices below solid technical support at last weeks low of $1,216.80. First resistance is seen at todays high of $1,246.70 and then at $1,252.00. First support is seen at the overnight low of $1,235.80 and then at $1,230.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 5.0

March silver futures bears still have the firm overall near-term technical advantage. Silver bulls' next upside price breakout objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at the October high of $15.055 an ounce. The next downside price breakout objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at the November low of $13.985. First resistance is seen at $14.75 and then at $15.00. Next support is seen at the overnight low of $14.46 and then at this weeks low of $14.28. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 3.0.Indonesia grants mineral ore export permits to firms building smelters and reviews their construction progress every six months.

The Southeast Asian nation has large nickel laterite ore reserves, prized for nickel pig iron used in stainless steel production and also attractive to producers of battery materials.

The mining ministry in August revoked export permits for a combined 4,222,119 tonnes of nickel ore shipments from PT Surya Saga Utama, PT Modern Cahaya Makmur and PT Integra Mining Nusantara, citing zero progress on their smelter developments. Modern Cahaya and Integra had "fulfilled conditions" after applying for renewals of their permits, so "they can export again", mining ministry spokesman Agung Pribadi told reporters.

He added that the two had held permission to resume exports "since November".

Export permits for two other companies, PT Surya Saga Utama and PT Lobindo Nusa Persada, had expired and not been renewed, Pribadi said.

Throughout 2017, Indonesia issued permits to export more than 22 million tonnes of nickel ore and nearly 15 million tonnes of bauxite, the main ore for aluminium.

Permits typically stand for one year and companies are allowed to renew them. Under current rules, no unprocessed ore exports will be allowed after January 2022.

(Reporting by Wilda Asmarini; Writing by Fergus Jensen; Editing by Joseph Radford)KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Malaysia's Energy and Environment Ministry on Tuesday set conditions for future renewal for rare earths miner Lynas Corp's licences to operate in the country.

The ministry said in a statement that Lynas must remove radioactive residues from Malaysia and will need to submit an action plan for non-radioactive waste disposal for future licences or permission renewals.

In a report issued on the ministry's website, a committee commissioned to review Lynas' processing plant also recommended improvements to residue management, periodic health monitoring and studies to identify the source of heavy metals in areas near the plant.

Reporting by Liz Lee Editing by Kenneth Maxwell) liz.lee.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.LONDON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Canadian mining company Teck Resources Ltd said on Tuesday it has agreed to sell a 30 percent stake in its Quebrada Blanca copper mine expansion in northern Chile to Japan's Sumitomo for $1.2 billion.

Sumitomo Metal Mining and Sumitomo Corporation will pay an $800 million earn-in contribution and $400 million matching contribution, below the $2 billion mark Teck had targeted to help develop the second phase of the mine.

Once the deal is completed, Teck will own 60 percent of the Quebrada Blanca project and Chilean state agency ENAMI will hold the remaining 10 percent.

The expansion plan, known as QB2, won regulatory approval in August. It is expected to extend the ageing deposit's life by 25 years and substantially boost production to 300,000 tonnes of copper annually from 23,400 tonnes in 2017.

"This partnership significantly de-risks Teck's investment in the project, enhances our project economics and preserves our ability to continue to return capital to shareholders and reduce bonds currently outstanding," Teck's Chief Executive Don Lindsay said in a statement.

Sumitomo, which was advised by Canadian investment bank Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) on the deal, had competed with Mitsubishi Corp and Rio Tinto among others, as these look to boost their copper assets.

The metal is viewed in the industry as having one of the brightest outlooks, as existing reserves are dwindling and copper is likely to be in strong demand for use in electric cars.

(Reporting by Clara Denina; Additional reporting by Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo Editing by Susan Fenton)The flags of Argentina, right, and South Korea flutter atop the plane carrying South Korea's President Moon Jae-in on his arrival to the Ministro Pistarini international airport for the G20 Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina. AP



South Korea and Argentina have agreed to exchange visits by their young citizens as part of a work and pay program, Seoul's foreign ministry said Monday.



The two sides signed the "working holiday" agreement last week, which allows South Koreans, aged 18-30, to work, study and travel in Argentina for up to a year. The yearly quote is 200. Argentine youth will be able to do so in South Korea as well.



The accord was signed by Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Faurie and Seoul's Ambassador to Buenos Aires, Lim Ki-mo, on Tuesday (local time). It's to take effect 60 days after the signing.



South Korea has working holiday agreements with a total of 23 countries. As of 2017, around 40,000 South Koreans had benefited from the program. (Yonhap)Butler, IN (46721)

Today

Generally cloudy. Temps nearly steady in the low to mid 30s. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low around 25F. Winds light and variable.(CNN)  An effort underway in Washington, D.C., would create an in-your-face way to remind Saudi Arabia of the killing of Jamal Khashoggi: Rename the street in front of the Saudi embassy in honor of the slain journalist.

The first hurdle for this proposed honor was cleared Wednesday when a neighborhood group approved a resolution that would symbolically designate part of the street that runs in front of the Embassy of The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as "Jamal Khashoggi Way." The embassy's address is 601 New Hampshire Avenue NW.

The resolution from the seven-member Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2A passed unanimously, commissioner James Harnett told CNN. The commission, which is part of the government in the District of Columbia, normally handles local issues like zoning, parking and trash collection in the West End and Foggy Bottom neighborhoods. But Harnett said commissioners were outraged by Khashoggi's killing, as well as President Trump's reaction to it, and felt the need to take action on an international issue.

"I think our concern ... and the need to say we want to weigh in on this issue, which has international implications, is that we are extremely disappointed over the lack of concern" in the White House's response to the incident, Harnett said. "It's our belief ... that when there's a vacuum of leadership that someone steps up and makes sure that the community knows that this is something that we take seriously."

Street name could serve as reminder

Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor and critic of the kingdom, was killed on October 2 after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, to obtain paperwork for his upcoming marriage. The CIA has concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman personally ordered the killing of the journalist. Turkish officials maintain that Khashoggi was strangled to death shortly after he entered the consulate by a 15-member "kill team" sent from Riyadh and that his body was dismembered.

Trump indicated last week he will not take strong action against Saudi Arabia or bin Salman for the slaying.

Harnett hopes naming the street in Khashoggi's honor might be a constant reminder to the Saudis that the US won't forget what happened to him while also reaffirming America's commitment to freedom of the press.

"This action will force the Saudis to remember, every day. This assault on the press is unforgivable and is deeply harmful to fabric of the truth," he said. "Leaders at all levels of government need to stand up in whatever ways they can to support people, make their lives better, and push for what's right. Up against the leaders who have abandoned their duty, this proposal is our way of pushing back."

The idea started last month

The effort to change the street's name dates back to last month, when an online petition was started to rename the street for Khashoggi.

The petition, which has more than 8,000 signatures, is signed by Michael Werz, a senior national security fellow at the Center for American Progress, and Gary Schmitt, a resident scholar in strategic studies at the American Enterprise Institute. The petition advocates renaming the street as a way "to be a daily reminder to Saudi officials that such behavior is totally unacceptable and as an expression of Washington's unstinting support for freedom of the press."

The approved resolution now goes to the DC city council. Harnett estimated it could take six to nine months for the council to vote on the resolution and for the mayor to sign it into law.

As with all laws in the District of Columbia, it also will be subject to approval by Congress, Harnett said.

CNN has reached out to the Saudi embassy for reaction and is waiting to hear back.

The same action was taken at the Russian embassy

This isn't the first time that part of a DC street has been renamed in front of an embassy to honor a dissident. In January of this year, Washington's city council passed a measure renaming the street in front of the Russian Embassy after Boris Nemtsov, a pro-democracy activist and critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The bill symbolically renamed the stretch of Wisconsin Avenue in front of the embassy to 1 Boris Nemtsov Plaza, adding that name to the street sign.

Nemtsov was shot and killed on a bridge near the Kremlin in February 2015 while walking home with his girlfriend.

Correction: An earlier version of this story said Werz and Schmitt knew Khashoggi personally. The two did not know him personally. The story has been updated to remove that reference.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "A DC neighborhood group just voted to rename the street in front of the Saudi embassy for Jamal Khashoggi."New Delhi [India], Dec 4 (ANI): India and Bhutan share very extraordinary ties of friendship and New Delhi is looking forward to strengthening trade and economic relations with Thimphu, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said on Tuesday.

"The cooperation is marked by mutual understanding, goodwill and respect for each other's interests. It is a partnership forged not only by our shared experiences but also by our close historical ties, cultural ties, people-to-people ties at all levels. Our bilateral ties are moving in an upward direction," Gokhale said while addressing a conference on 'India-Bhutan relations--The Road Ahead' here at Sapru House.

Highlighting the efforts taken by the governments of both the countries on the establishment of 50 years of diplomatic relations, the Foreign Secretary said that the ties are time-tested and serve as an exemplary model of good neighbourly relations for the rest of the world.

"As we celebrate our friendship an exemplary bilateral partnership, this golden jubilee year has provided us an excellent opportunity to reflect on new pathways to further expand this unique partnership," Gokhale said. He said that in the last 50 years, both countries have witnessed momentous changes and unprecedented economic growth and prosperity.

Lauding Bhutan's democratic structure, Gokhale said, "Bhutan has adopted a new Constitution and ushered in a democratic constitutional monarchy. The recently concluded third general election in Bhutan is a testament to the very strong and democratic tradition and processes that have now taken root there."

Talking about cooperation in the energy sector, the Foreign Secretary expressed hope that the 720 MW Mangdechhu hydroelectric project would be commissioned in this month.

"In conventional sectors, education, health, Information Technology (IT) and skill development continue to grow, while we hope to expand new frontiers in space technology, where the South Asian satellite provides new opportunities for Bhutan which can provide access to a wide range of applications such as disaster management, weather forecasting, and communication," Gokhale added.

He stressed India's commitment to enhancing connectivity with Bhutan on a wide scale as a central pillar of New Delhi's Neighbourhood First and Act East policies. Gokhale said that Indian and Bhutanese markets offer tremendous opportunities to business communities of both the countries.

"We stand firmly committed to partnering Bhutan in its quest to bring greater prosperity and happiness to its people. While doing so, it is incumbent that we respect priorities of the people and Bhutanese government. As a friend and close partner, India is committed to harnessing true potential of cooperation with Bhutan and exploring new avenues," Gokhale said. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)AN Jha to Take Over as New Finance Secretary from Hasmukh Adhia. (Photo Credit: Twitter)

New Delhi, December 3: AN Jha, Secretary, Expenditure, has been appointed as new Finance Secretary, a government order said Monday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi led Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has cleared Jha's appointment to the post after incumbent Hasmukh Adhia, a 1981-batch Gujarat cadre officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), retired on November 30.

Fifty-nine-year old Ajay Narayan Jha, is a 1982-batch IAS officer of Manipur Tripura cadre. An alumnus of St Stephens College from where he passed with first class in Graduation and post graduation in History, Jha is a recipient of World Bank scholarship to pursue Masters in Economic Policy Management from McGill University in Canada. He is also an MPhil in public administration from Delhi University. Finance Ministry Dismisses Charge of Seeking Rs 3.6 Lakh Crore From RBI, Says 'Govt's Fiscal Math on Track'.New Delhi, December 04: In a major setback to armed forces, the Narendra Modi-led government rejected a long pending demand for higher Military Service Pay (MSP) including Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs), reported PTI. Around one lakh service personnel including 87,646 JCOs and 25,434 personnel from the Navy and the Indian Air Force will be affected by the decision. 7th Pay Commission: Hike in Minimum Pay Beyond 7th CPC Gets No Mention in Narendra Modi's Independence Day Speech.

The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in 2008, assured the armed forces that there would be a separate commission for them with appropriate participation from the forces. However, there was no separate commission, or military representation, including in the secretariat, and among consultants hired by the 7th Central Pay Commission.

The MSP has two categories  one for officers while other for JCOs. Meanwhile, Acting on a petition moved by a serving Colonel Preetpal Singh Grewal, In 2016, Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the government to look into the anomalies of the 7th Central Pay Commission and to address the concerns of the Defence personnel. The main issue is regarding hardship allowance. 7th Pay Commission Latest News Today 2018: Good News! Salary Hike From January 2019.

In the petition, it was mentioned that defence personnel in "Leh" in the state of Jammu and Kashmir got Rs 10,100 as a hardship allowance, but for IPS/IAS officer of the same level, it is Rs 54,810. Similarly, in a place like Shillong, the defence officers of a particular level were not entitled to claim hardship allowance, whereas their IPS counterparts would again be entitled to Rs 54,810.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 04, 2018 05:25 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).Kochi, December 4: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday reprimanded BJP state general secretary Sobha Surendran for filing a 'baseless' public interest litigation (PIL) against the alleged police action in Sabarimala. A bench, headed by Chief Justice Navniti Prasad Singh, also slapped a fine of Rs 25,000 on Sobha Surendran, leaving her embarrassed in an open court. She then apologised and withdrew the petition.

Surendran, through her lawyer, filed a PIL, alleging that the state police was harassing devotees of Lord Ayappa at Sabarimala temple. However, the high court found allegations baseless and observed that the petition was filed to seek publicity. The court also asked Surendran's lawyer if she filed the petition as a publicity stunt, reported India Today.

After facing flak, Surendran's lawyer said she was willing to withdraw the petition. While the court allowed the withdrawal, it imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on the BJP leader for wasting the time of the court with baseless allegations. The amount will be sent to Kerala Legal Services Authority.

In October, after taking oath as 46th Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi had pitched for strict parameters for urgent mentioning and hearing of cases. "Unless someone is going to be hanged today or evicted out of his house, no other matter can be mentioned for urgent hearing," the CJI had said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 04, 2018 06:40 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).Satna, December 04: An SUV rammed the boundary wall of a strongroom in Satna district on early hours of Monday morning. The incident sparked protests from Congress leaders. According to a report, a portion of the boundary wall was damaged by the impact of the collision. The police seized the vehicle, and two of the six youths were arrested. EVMs Reach Storage Centre 48 Hours After Elections in Madhya Pradesh's Sagar, Congress Alleges 'Tampering'.

Kotwali police station in-charge, Vidhyadhar Pandey told The Times of India, A black Scorpio car bearing registration number MP 19 CB 0505 was seized in the night and two accused identified as Pramod Yadav and Rudra Kushwaha were arrested. Meanwhile, the other four accused including Shailesh Kushwaha, Sanu Kushwaha, Satyavrat Singh and one other are on the run.

According to the TOI report, all the accused were in inebriated condition and during the police interrogation, they confessed that they wanted to check the EVM strongroom. The police have registered a case for trespassing, violating the model code of conduct and other relevant sections were registered against the accused after the report of the returning officer and SDM Satna CS Tripathi.

It is not the first time when the security of a strongroom was breached. In a similar incident on November 30, a portion of the boundary wall of the EVM strongroom in Satna district headquarters was found damaged. Meanwhile, on December 2, the Election Commission admitted that CCTV cameras installed at a Bhopal strongroom did not function for over an hour due to an unprecedented power cut on Friday. Acting tough, the election body also stated that it would take action against an official who allegedly delayed the handover of EVMs in Sagar by nearly two days.

The assembly elections in the state were held on November 28, while the results will be declared on December 11. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is looking to come to the power for the fourth consecutive time.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 04, 2018 02:11 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).Tehran, December 4: Accusing the US of trying to push India away from Iran, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that Washington cannot stop Tehran from exporting oil and warned that no crude will be exported from the Persian Gulf if Iranian oil sales were blocked.

The US has re-imposed its unilateral sanctions on Iran, including an oil embargo, after withdrawing in May from the landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and major world powers earlier in defiance of international objections. France to Suspend Fuel Tax Hike After Violent Protests.

Washington had initially vowed to reduce Iran's oil sales to "zero", but later backed down and granted waivers to almost all of Tehran's major crude buyers.

"The US should know (this) that we sell and will sell our oil and it will not be able to block Iran's oil exports. And it should also know that if it attempts to stop Iran's oil (sales) someday, no oil will be exported from the Persian Gulf," Rouhani said during a speech in Semnan province's Shahroud city.

"We will expand our relationship with neighbours, the Muslim countries and the world," Rouhani was quoted as saying by Press TV. He added that the US was trying to push Europe, China and India away from Iran and "spread Iranophobia in the region".

Rouhani said that "Washington always suffered defeat in its several hostile plots against Iran". He added that all countries "condemned Washington's sanctions on Tehran, the US was defeated in the UN Security Council and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague" over the issue.

The Iranian leader also took an aim at Tel Aviv, saying that "the US and Israel cannot tolerate the existence of a powerful Tehran" and added that the his country would never bow to them.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 04, 2018 05:01 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).Duterte, 73, has lashed out in the past -- often using less-than-parliamentary language -- at critics of the deadly drug war he launched soon after coming to power in 2016 | File Image | (Image: Getty)

From calling a reporter in the U.S. a son of a whore in 2016, to kissing a married woman on stage during a political speech, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte seems to beat US President Donald Trump in being politically incorrect. In his latest gaffe, Duterte claimed that he smoked marijuana to keep awake during conferences.

The president while speaking of the punishing schedule that he has to adhere to said, he could "not handle" them. "Don't say I told you but [Brunei Sultan Hassanal] Bolkiah always falls asleep, but he has a talent ... and you don't notice," he said on Monday.

Duterte was talking about the multiple meetings at multilateral conferences such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Singapore last month. "It's a killing activity," Duterte said during his speech, but shockingly added, "Me, [I don't fall asleep] as much because I was taking marijuana to stay awake," he said. "For others, it's not possible."

The Philippines president added more details to his story, and complained about the "bad food" served during such conferences, adding that his delegation always brought corned beef and dried fish which they cooked in their rooms.

But after the press conference, Duterte told reporters he was joking about the marijuana comment.

However, for the families of those impacted by Dutertes war on drugs which has seen over 5,000 people killed in 2018 his words will feel callous in the extreme and hit them hard.

According to Human Rights Watch, Dutertes war on drugs has led to the deaths of over 12,000 Filipinos to date, mostly urban poor. Duterte had even publicly proclaimed during his election campaign that he would kill those involved in the drug trade: If I make it to the presidential palace I will do just what I did as mayor. You drug pushers, holdup men, and do-nothings, you better get out because I'll kill you.

Many have called for Rodrigo Duterte to end his war on drugs but the president has pressed on. Recently, he has acknowledged that the war on drugs has included extra-judicial killings. He made this confession in September while speaking to government officials at the presidential palace when he said he had challenged the military to remove him if they were not satisfied with his leadership. I told the military, what is my fault? Did I steal even one peso? Duterte said. My only sin is the extrajudicial killings.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 04, 2018 06:23 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).As a goodwill gesture before fresh talks for truce negotiations in the Yemen war, the Saudi-led coalition has allowed the UN to evacuate 50 injured Houthi rebels for medical treatment from the war-torn country.

The Houthi rebels were flown out from the Yemeni capital of Sanaa to Muscat, Oman for treatment in a United Nations aircraft. This development came after UNs Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths requested this of the Saudi-led coalition as gesture of goodwill before the warring parties meet in Sweden for talks. A statement said Griffiths was pleased to confirm 50 injured Yemenis are on their way from Sanaa to Muscat for medical treatment  and urges all Yemenis to work together in pursuit of peace and stability.

The SE is pleased to confirm 50 injured Yemenis are on their way from #Sana'a to #Muscat for medical treatment. He sincerely thanks all the parties who have made this humanitarian gesture possible, and urges all Yemenis to work together in pursuit of peace and stability in #Yemen  OSE_Yemen (@OSE_Yemen) December 3, 2018

The spokesperson for the Saudi-UAE coalition, Turki al-Maliki confirmed this development in a separate statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency. "A UN chartered plane will arrive at Sanaa international airport Monday to evacuate 50 wounded combatants accompanied by ... three Yemeni doctors and a UN doctor, from Sanaa to Muscat."

The military alliance led by Saudi Arabia agreed to facilitate the medical evacuations at the request of Griffiths for "humanitarian reasons" and as a "confidence-building" measure, Maliki added in the statement.

The negotiations were set to begin sometime in December but no date has been confirmed as yet. These talks are the second-attempt by the UN to broker a peace deal between the Houthi rebels, the internationally recognised government of Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

A previous round of talks scheduled in September had collapsed after Houthi rebel representatives had not shown up due to security concerns. The intervening four months have meant that Yemenis are even more worse off with the UN calling the country, the worlds worst humanitarian crisis as hunger and famine has spread across the country.

The UN aid chief, Mark Lowcock, warned last week that Yemen was on the brink of a major catastrophe, after a trip to the war-stricken country. Lowcock said: In Aden, I met emaciated children so malnourished they could barely open their eyes. Humanitarian assistance helps many of these children recover. But I also heard heartbreaking stories of children relapsing again and again because their families simply cant afford food or proper medical care.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 04, 2018 05:44 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).Steps to become a Lawyer/Attorney in South Carolina Follow the step by step process or choose what situation that best describes you:

Law Careers in South Carolina

According to the South Carolina Bar, the organization started as an organization of 200 lawyers in 1884. In 2018, the bar has over 16,000 members. Per the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the U.S. Department of Labor, as of 2019, lawyers employed in South Carolina averaged an annual median salary of $111,090. If you would like to become a practicing lawyer and bar member in South Carolina, read on.





Step 1 Get Your South Carolina Undergrad Pre-Law Major

The South Carolina Office of Bar Admissions has not mandated any undergraduate education necessary prior to law school education for admission to the states bar. The office does, however, mandate that you graduate from a law school approved by the American Bar Association (ABA). Because the ABA requires that you have at least a bachelors degree before being admitted to any ABA-approved law school, it follows, then, that you must complete undergraduate education.

Accreditation

Make sure that the undergraduate institution from which you graduate is accredited by an organization recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Requirements and Standards

There are no strict guidelines on courses that you must take as an undergraduate. Some students have found that the following types of courses taken as an undergraduate have helped them the most when they get to law school: criminal justice, economics, political science and government, history, world cultures, communications and philosophy.

Degree Options

You may receive a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor of Science (BS) in any major you choose. Often, majors taken from the above-mentioned course areas are the most helpful to students once they reach law school.

Law and Paralegal Studies Legal Assistant Legal Studies Paralegal All Criminal Justice Programs Criminal Justice Administration Public Administration and Safety Sponsored

Law and Paralegal Studies Legal Assistant Legal Studies Paralegal All Criminal Justice Programs Criminal Justice Administration Public Administration and Safety Sponsored

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Step 2 LSAT (Law School Admission Test) in South Carolina

The next step along the way to becoming a South Carolina lawyer is to pass the LSAT (Law School Admission Test). All ABA-approved law schools nationwide require that you pass this six-hour-long standardized test prior to acceptance.

How to prepare

The LSAT website supplies numerous study aids free of charge. These include practice tests along with samples questions and answer explanations. If you would like more help in preparing for the LSAT, South Carolina resources include:

LSAT Exam Prep Courses in South Carolina:

Exam content

The LSAT is made up of five 35-minute sections containing multiple-choice questions. Only four of these sections count towards your LSAT score, but you will not know which section does not count, so treat every section as if it counts. Sections include Reading Comprehension, Analytical Reasoning, Logical Reasoning and Writing a 35-minute essay. Although the writing section also does not count towards your LSAT score, all law schools that you apply to receive a copy of the essay you write  so make sure to do your best work.

Application process

Applications are processed online by the Law School Admission Council when you sign up to take the LSAT. It is given in November, January, March and June, on Saturdays and Mondays. The following centers across South Carolina offer LSAT testing:

College of Charleston, 66 George St, Charleston, SC 29424-0001

University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208

Furman University, 3300 Poinsett Highway, Greenville, SC 29613-6162

South Carolina State University, 300 College St NE, Orangeburg, SC 29117-0001

Winthrop University, 119 Tillman Hall, Rock Hill, SC 29733

Receiving Your Score

Expect to receive your LSAT scores by mail about 21 days post-test. The lowest you can score is 120, and the highest, 180. Average LSAT scores of new admittees to South Carolina ABA-approved law schools include:

Charleston School of Law: 146

University of South Carolina School of Law: 154

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Step 3 Go to Law School in South Carolina

Featured Law School:

Sponsored

University of Dayton

Featured Program: Online Hybrid Juris Doctor: ABA-approved JD program; Prepare to sit for the bar exam in most states; Semester-long legal externship.

Law School Application process

The next step in becoming a lawyer in South Carolina is to apply to an ABA-approved law school. You need not apply only to South Carolina-based ABA-approved law schools  you may attend any law school nationwide, as long as it holds ABA approval, under South Carolinas bar admission rules. There are over 200 such schools, listed here.

Credential Assembly Service

All ABA-approved law schools nationwide require that you utilize the Law School Admission Councils Credential Assembly Service (CAS) when you apply for enrollment. It is a great help to you in collecting your undergraduate college transcripts, gathering letters of recommendation from references, and gathering evaluations of your work from references. The CAS will create up to five law school reports to send to up to five ABA-approved law schools to which you apply.

Accreditation

The South Carolina Office of Bar Admissions says that you must receive a Juris Doctor (JD) or Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from a law school that was approved by the Council of Legal Education of the American Bar Association at the time you received the degree, in order to be eligible to take the states bar exam. If you graduated from a non-ABA-approved law school in the United States, or a foreign law school, you are not eligible to take the South Carolina bar examination.

ABA-Accredited Law Schools in South Carolina

Two schools in South Carolina hold ABA-accreditation:

Charleston School of Law, 81 Mary Street, PO Box 535, Charleston, SC 29402

University of South Carolina School of Law, 701 Main Street, Columbia, SC 29208

Course requirements

Law school courses that are usually common to all ABA-approved institutions include:

Civil procedure

Constitutional law

Contracts

Criminal law

Legal research

Legal writing

Property

Torts

Online Law Degrees

View Online and Campus Law and Legal Studies Programs (For students who choose to focus on a subset of law other than an attorney.)



Internship

Depending upon your law schools requirements, you may be exposed to a practical situation in which you work in the law field. During most internships or externships, you work about eight hours weekly at law firms, government agencies, or non-profit organizations. Work usually consists of helping lawyers in research and drafting, and learning lawyer skills through observation (including negotiation, counseling and interviewing). You will check in from time to time with law school faculty to review your performance and will receive a grade on your experience.

Trial Experiences

Under Rule 403 of the South Carolina Appellate Court Rules, before appearing alone in any matter in any South Carolina court, you must complete four trial experiences. After completing half the credits you will need for graduation, you may, as a law student, begin to accumulate your necessary trial experiences. Internships, externships and the like may also help you in this regard. Trial experiences you must complete are:

Observation of or actual participation in one civil or criminal jury trial in the Circuit Court of SC or in the US District Court for the District of SC. This must include:

An opening statement



A closing statement



Direct examination and cross examination of at least two witnesses

Observation of one video trial approved by the Supreme Court of SC.

Observation of one Alternative Dispute Resolution in a Court of Common Pleas, Family Court or Federal District Court Matter, or observation of one video of an Alternative Dispute Resolution experience approved by the Supreme Court of SC

Two day in court experiences selected from the Court of Common Pleas, the Court of General Sessions, Family Court, or a state/federal Administrative Law Court. Must include at least four hours per day for two days.

Once you have completed each of your Trial Experiences, you must have this Certificate completed by the court clerk, judge and others involved.

J.D. Degree Programs

You must have a JD or LLB under South Carolina rules before bar admission will be considered. Often, dual degree programs are offered, which increase your marketability as a lawyer after graduation. They may include:

Law and Accountancy (J.D./M.ACC.)



Law and Earth and Environmental Resources Management (J.D./M.E.E.R.M)



Law and Economics (J.D./M.A.)



Law and Health Administration (J.D./M.H.A.)



Law and Human Resources (J.D./M.H.R.)



Law and International Business Administration (J.D./I.M.B.A.)



Law and Public Administration (J.D./M.P.A)



Law and Master of Criminology & Criminal Justice (J.D./M.A.)



Law with Master of Environmental Law and Policy from Vermont Law School (J.D./M.E.L.P.)



Law and Master of Mass Communication (J.D./M.M.C.)



Law and Social Work (J.D./M.S.W.)

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Step 4 Take the South Carolina State Bar Exam

If you are at least 21 years old and have completed steps 1, 2 and 3, you are now eligible to take the South Carolina bar exam. Although the South Carolina Office of Bar Admissions places no limit on the number of times you can take the state bar exam, after failing for three times they require that you complete additional study. You may only sit for the South Carolina bar exam one time per year.

Non-ABA approved law school graduates

If your law school was not approved by the ABA at the time you received your JD degree, you are not eligible to sit for the South Carolina bar exam.

Graduates of Foreign Law Schools

If you received your law degree from a law school outside of the United States, you are not eligible to sit for the South Carolina bar exam.

Preparation and Exam Content

The National Conference of Bar Examiners website offers helpful, free study aids for the Uniform Bar Exam, the bar exam test of choice in South Carolina. It includes the Multistate Bar Examination, more commonly known as the MBE, the Multistate Essay Exam (MEE) and the Multistate Performance Test (MPT). Additional preparation help for the bar exam in South Carolina is available through:

Bar Academic Success Program, University of South Carolina School of Law

South Carolina Bar Review, Quimbee

Application Process

You must file the correct Application for Admission to the South Carolina Bar. Most examination applicants will file Part A online and print Part B to complete and mail to the Office of Bar Admissions. Along with Part B, you must also file:

Coversheet

Verification of Application for Admission

Authorization and Release

Original/certified copy of birth certificate (filed with Part A)

Official proof of undergraduate degree and other degrees received (other than law degrees)

Official proof of receipt of JD or LLB degree

Three current original character affidavits, notarized

Filing fee of $1000 if filed on time:

For July exam  must be filed between Dec 1 to January 10; if filed from Jan 11 to 31, the filing fee increases to $1500



For February exam- must be filed between August 1 to August 31. If filed from September 1 to September 30, fee increases to $1500.

Mail everything to Office of Bar Admissions, Supreme Court of South Carolina, P.O. Box 11330, Columbia, SC 29211.

Pass Rates

If you take the February bar exam, expect to receive your scores via mail within eight weeks. If you take the July exam, scores usually take 12 weeks to reach you. The Supreme Court of South Carolina published the following bar exam results from recent bar administrations, noting the percentage of applicants from state law schools who passed the exam:

July 2018:

Overall pass rate: 63.91%



Students from Charleston School of Law: 43.48 %



Students from University of South Carolina School of Law: 76.28 %



Students from Other Law Schools: 63.58%

Course of Study on South Carolina Law

After you pass the bar exam and before you can become a member of the South Carolina Bar, you must pass a video Course of Study on South Carolina Law. This consists of 11 modules on SC topics such as:

Real Property

Family Law

Torts/Conflicts of Laws

Workers Comp

Insurance Law

Business Partnerships and Entities

Civil Procedure/Evidence

Trusts and Estates

Uniform Commercial Code Article 2

Criminal Law

Ethics/Professional Responsibility

Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE)

You must also pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE) with a scaled score of at least 77 within four years of the date you file your application for bar admission in South Carolina. The test is given in March, August and November. For more information or to schedule the MPRE, visit the National Conference of Bar Examiners website.

Admission on Motion

South Carolina does not provide admission on motion (that is, admission without examination) for those already licensed as lawyers elsewhere. Likewise, they do not have reciprocal admission with any other jurisdiction. The exception to this rule is if you are a dean or a tenured professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law and meet the following conditions:

You have been a licensed lawyer and bar member in another state for at least five years

You have been a full-time, continuous member of the law school faculty with rank of assistant professor or higher for the past three academic years

You have been recommended for bar admission by the Dean, the President of the University of South Carolina or the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Charleston School of Law

Limited Licenses

South Carolina also offers limited licenses for law school clinic program teachers, in-house counsel, and for retired or inactive lawyers who are working for state legal services organizations or the bars pro bono program. These applicants may be issued a limited certificate to practice law.

Licensing and Admission to the Bar

Before being admitted to the South Carolina bar, you must complete a Bridge the Gap program. Sponsored by the South Carolina bar, this program focuses on practical skills used by lawyers. You will be taught about professional responsibility issues, review the South Carolina Court System and review arbitration and mediation. You may register for the program in your second and third year of law school, as well as after graduating from law school. Bridge the Gap is usually offered in Columbia and Charleston over a three-day period.

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Step 5 Youve Been Admitted to the South Carolina Bar

Congratulations on your new status as a member of the South Carolina Bar! You will find that the bar offers much help in practice management, establishing your own solo practice if that is your goal, mentoring, networking, finding job opportunities, and much more. As a new member of the bar, you must participate in its mandatory New Lawyer Mentoring program. Objectives of your individualized mentoring program set forth in the Supreme Court rules are:

To establish a clear understanding of your expectations and those of your mentor

To introduce you to other members of the legal profession and to other legal system participants

To make sure you thoroughly understand generally accepted professional values and behavior standards, and how to educate yourself throughout your career

To make sure you aware of your ethical obligations and how to deal with any ethical issues that may arise

To make sure that you are aware of the proper practices for avoiding mishandling of anothers assets, conflicts of interest, neglect of a matter and other common ethical and civil liability problems

To help you create and implement a successful career plan

To help you improve professional skills necessary to effectively practice law

If you are in private practice, to help you to develop a productive and effective law practice

To help you learn how to enjoy a healthy personal life while fulfilling your professional obligations

Legal specialty certification

The Supreme Court of South Carolina has set forth rules regarding legal specializations in the following areas:

Bankruptcy and debtor-creditor law

Employment and labor law

Estate planning and probate law

Taxation law

Each specialization has its own requirements for years that you must have been in practice, involvement, continuing legal education, examination and fees in order for you to attain certification. You may review these rules here. There are also requirements you must fulfill after certification.

Requirements for maintaining license

In order to maintain your law license in South Carolina, you must complete 14 hours of Continuing Legal Education (CLE) per year. At least two of those hours must be in professional responsibility/ethics. CLE may be obtained in a variety of ways, including through live seminars, live webcasts, on-demand seminars, publications, teleseminars and course books direct. For more information, visit the CLE section of the SCBAR website.

Court Systems in South Carolina

The South Carolina Judicial System is structured like this:

Supreme Court: the highest court in South Carolina, the Supreme Court has original and appellate jurisdiction. It is located at 1231 Gervais St in Columbia, and hears seven classes of appeals directly from circuit and family courts:

Death penalty cases



Public utility rates



Constitutional issues



Public bond issues



Election laws



Order limiting investigation by state grand jury



Order of family court relating to abortion of a minor

Court of Appeals: hears most appeals in the state, except for appeals within the seven classes above. Located at 1015 Sumter St. in Columbia.

Circuit Court: South Carolinas court of general jurisdiction-16 judicial circuits exist across the state. Also has limited appellate jurisdiction over appeals from Probate, Magistrate and Municipal Courts.

Court of Common Pleas  civil court hears the states civil cases



Court of General Sessions  criminal court-hears the states criminal cases

Family Courts: have exclusive jurisdiction of all domestic/family relationship matters, such as marriage, divorce, separation, child custody, visitation rights, termination of parental rights, adoption, support, alimony, division of marital property, and name change. Family courts also have exclusive jurisdiction over minors under age 17.

Municipal Courts: serve counties of South Carolina and have jurisdiction over cases involving violations of a municipalitys ordinances, and over offenses under $500 fine/30 days in prison. Also may hear cases transferred from general sessions under $5000 fine/1 year in prison. These courts have no civil jurisdiction.

Magistrate Courts: There are 319 magistrates throughout South Carolina serving all counties. They have criminal trial jurisdiction over offenses under a $500 fine/30 days in prison; hear cases transferred from general sessions that carry a $5000 fine/one year in prison; have civil jurisdiction in cases under $7,500; set bail, conduct preliminary hearings, and issue arrest and search warrants. These are not courts of record- proceedings are summary.

Probate Courts: Found in each county in South Carolina, probate courts have jurisdiction over marriage licenses, trusts, estates, minor settlements under $25,000, guardianships of minors and incompetents, and involuntary commitments to mental institutions.

Elective membership organizations

Since you are a member of the South Carolina Bar, also think about joining another beneficial organization to your professional career as a South Carolina lawyer, such as:

Back to Top(CNN)  Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has denied claims that he died and was replaced by a clone, calling the speculation "ignorant rumors."

Buhari tweeted on Sunday that he addressed the reports while at a meeting in Poland.

"One of the questions that came up today in my meeting with Nigerians in Poland was on the issue of whether I've been cloned or not," Buhari said. "The ignorant rumors are not surprising -- when I was away on medical vacation last year a lot of people hoped I was dead."

Buhari spent long periods in London receiving medical treatment in 2017, on one occasion leaving Nigeria for more than three months.

His absence prompted intense speculation in the country about the President's health and many false reports circulated online saying he had died.

On Instagram and Facebook Sunday, the President said the belief that he had died had prompted people to reach out to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo asking to be his deputy.

"That embarrassed him a lot; we discussed it when he visited me while I was convalescing," Buhari said. "I can assure you all that this is the real me. Later this month I will celebrate my 76th birthday. And I'm still going strong!"

Presidential spokesman Garba Shehu said on Facebook that a Nigerian at a meeting in Krakow on Sunday had asked Buhari if he was real or "the much talked about 'Jubril from Sudan' -- his supposed double" -- prompting the President to affirm his identity.

Shehu said Buhari was in Poland to attend the UN Climate Change Conference, COP24.

Buhari was elected President of Nigeria, Africa's largest economy and top oil producer, in 2015.

The former general became President in his fourth attempt at leadership since he was ousted from power in 1985.

Buhari was among military strongmen who dominated Nigeria decades ago. A military coup brought him to power in 1983, and another military coup toppled him two years later.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Nigeria's President Buhari denies clone rumors: 'This is the real me'."- Fatima Jakoet is South Africa's first Muslim woman to fly commercial airliners

- She achieved this feat in 2005 despite being viewed suspiciously as a Muslim woman after 9/11

- She is also the founder of Sakhikamva, a nonprofit organisation, that helps kids from disadvantaged backgrounds

In 2005, Fatima Jakoet made history by becoming South Africa's first Muslim woman to fly commercial airliners.

She previously worked as a toxicologist and narcotics specialist at an airport, Beautiful News reports.

Fatima soon developed a fascination with planes, especially Boeing 747. She then decided that she wanted to fly planes not only watch them land and take off.

READ ALSO: Lady recounts how she graduated, catered for her siblings after losing both parents to HIV at the age of 16

A determined Fatima joined BAE Flight Training College in Australia where she passed all her courses with distinctions. She took to the skies as a qualified pilot in 2005.

However, it wasn't always easy for her as a Muslim woman just a few years after the 9/11 attacks. Fatima explained:"It was very challenging being under a magnifying glass as a Muslim woman, to understand how other people view me and question my ability."

PAY ATTENTION: Read best news on Nigeria's #1 news app

Nevertheless, this pushed Fatima to work even harder. She has now established herself in the aviation industry.

She is also the founder of Sakhikamva Foundation, Legit.ng gathered. It's a nonprofit organisation that has helped over 50,000 kids from disadvantaged backgrounds.

PAY ATTENTION: Get your daily relationship tips and advice on Africa Love Aid group

Fatima said: "The opportunities for our youths are very limited. That is why the Foundation is there to expose our youths to the aviation industry and to stimulate their innovation because they are the future of this industry."

"My hope is that I inspire a generation of young aviators and aerospace professionals."

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that a Nigerian airline had earlier this year celebrated her first all-female flight crew. The airline also named her first female captain to pilot the all-female flight crew plane.

I have never had to look for a job in my life | Faces of Nigeria - on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit- Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has reacted to the stance of The Economist ahead of the 2019 presidential elections

- The global weekly magazine-format newspaper had endorsed President Buhari to come tops at the polls

- An aide to the PDP presidential candidate described it as scandalous and partisan

Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has described the recent endorsement by The Economist of London, of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), President Muhammadu Buhari, in the coming election as scandalous and partisan.

Legit.ng gathered that in one of its recent reports, The Economist of London had predicted that President Buhari will win next years election.

However, in a statement by his special assistant on public communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku described the report, as a poorly-executed hatchet job, the prediction by The Economist of London, in which the magazine put on the garb of a partisan and made no pretenses to professionalism while predicting that President Muhammadu Buhari will win next years poll.

He said in a statement sent to Legit.ng on Monday, December 3, that with the tacit endorsement of President Muhammadu Buhari for a second term, in its current edition, the erstwhile influential news magazine has hit a new low by throwing all pretenses to the wind to take up the job of presidential spokespersons.

READ ALSO: Nigerians now tired of this government - PDP reacts to Atikus acceptance in Sokoto

It is common knowledge that The Economists fortunes have taken a nosedive in recent months with its flip- flop on issues especially as it pertains the upcoming presidential election in Nigeria. But the magazine hit a new low in its current edition, The World in 2019, where it made projections of issues and events that will shape the year 2019 across many countries including Nigeria, Shaibu said.

He continued:Even if the All Progressives Congress (APC) or President Muhammadu Buharis spokespersons had written that story, it could not have been so recklessly partisan, so undisguisedly biased and so devoid of any shred of professionalism.

The so-called story which says, the president, Muhammadu Buhari, will win re-election in February, as a new opposition coalition may collapse before the vote fails to meet the attributes of objectivity, balance and fairness.

It was scandalous that the magazine went ahead to predict a victory for the APC candidate even when it said a Buharis second coming portends disaster for Nigeria.

It was sad that The Economist went on to endorse a failed president even when it admitted that a Buharis second term would mean continuing political weakness, little prospect of progress in the fight against islamist insurgency in the north, nationalism in the oil producing Delta and secessionism in Biafra.

It was equally strange that the same magazine whose Intelligence Unit predicted that PDP candidate, Atiku Abubakar, will lead the new government come 2019 has now made a u-turn to endorse President Buhari even when his performance in office is now at all time low."

He said the PDP will defeat Buhari fair and square with or without the endorsement of The Economist or any news medium.

According to him, on May 29, 2019 when Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is sworn in as the president, The Economist will have to look elsewhere for patronage because there will be no more room for cash and carry forecasts, and fully-paid for endorsements.

"The PDP presidential candidate was aware that when fake news materials are planted in big news outlets, they often help to lay the groundwork for rigging in elections," he added.

Atiku, however, warned that members of the opposition party and their supporters will resist the rigging of next years elections.

PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app

Meanwhile, the former governor of Ogun state and Director-General of the Atiku Presidential Campaign Organization (APCO), Otunba Gbenga Daniel, has stated that the joint sacrifices of Late Chief MKO Abiola and Atiku Abubakar in 1993 metamorphosed into the current stable democracy Nigeria enjoys.

Otunba Daniel made the comment while delivering the keynote address at the City People Magazine's 22nd anniversary lecture in Lagos on Saturday, November 23, tagged: Nigeria: the bumpy road to 2019.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng. We have updated to serve you better.

OBJ Endorsement Of Atiku; Sign Of Good Tidings? - Nigeria Street Gist | Legit TV

Source: Legit- The PDP has been accused of releasing fake news which it allegedly used to attack President Muhammadu Buhari

- The report discovered to be fake was an image of the president and that of dead soldiers (supposedly Nigerian)

- However, it was discovered that the viral photo was actually taken by a African Press photographer showing peacekeepers killed in Somalia in 2011

An online viral image posted by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) supposedly showing dead Nigerian soldiers killed by Boko Haram in the Metele village attack has been confirmed as fake and misleading.

READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda

The said attack on the 157 Task Force Battalion of the Nigerian Army took place on Sunday, November 18, by the insurgents in the northeast region of the country .

Concerning the tragedy, the Chief of Army staff, Tukur Buratai, on Wednesday, December 26, revealed that only 23 soldiers were killed and also put the number of troops wounded at 31.

Although there are no official casualty figures until more than a week after the attack, some media outlets, including Reuters, reported that over 100 soldiers were killed.

Reacting to the incident, the PDP shared on its official Twitter page a press statement accompanied with an image of President Muhammadu Buhari and that of several dead soldiers they claimed were Nigerian laid on the ground. The PDP's Twitter report so far has not less than 1,155 Retweets and 1,618 Likes.

However, based on thorough investigation and series of verications, The Guardian has reported that the said photo is fake since it does not relate to Boko Haram or Nigeria.

PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet!

Findings revealed that the image was snapped by a photography stringer for Associated Press (AP) at Elasha Biya, Somalia.

A photo of dead bodies of AU peacekeepers in Somalia killed by Al-Shabab militants in 2011 (Photo credit: AP)

Source: Depositphotos

The image was published by the AP on October 20, 2011, to show Al-Shabab militants displaying the bodies of men they claimed were African Union (AU) peacekeepers killed in Somalia.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that the PDP and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, had accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, of spreading fake news.

The opposition party, therefore, asked the minister and the ruling APC to seek forgiveness from Nigerians for allegedly spreading fake news in the country.

The PDP in a statement signed by its national publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, in Abuja on Sunday, October 21, said: The minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, should lead the government and his APC to do the needful, instead of the lame attempts at whitewashing the government and his party, even when Nigerians know that they are behind the escalation of fake news in Nigeria.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng. We have upgraded to serve you better.

Top 4 Embarrassing Stories of Nigeria's Political Elite | Legit TV

Source: Legit- The Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) expresses confidence that Atiku will win in 2019

- The campaign council says it is impressed by the mammoth crowd that received Atiku in Sokoto state

- The council adds that the confidence the people have in Atiku stems from his decision to focus on the economy and his love for the down-trodden

The Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has declared that the mammoth crowd of supporters that received its candidate, Atiku Abubakar, at the north west zonal rally in Sokoto, shows Nigerians are tired of the current government.

The campaign council said the reception is a clear demonstration that Nigerians, across board, have reached a consensus to vote in Atiku as the next president of our country.

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The council appreciated and commended what it called the courage and show of patriotism by the people of the north west in rejecting President Buhari and sectional politics to support Atiku Abubakar, in keeping with the collective quest to unify our nation and revamp our ailing economy.

Atiku Abubakars acceptance by the north west establishes the common feeling among Nigerians that he embodies a practical solution to the myriad of problems brought upon our nation by Muhammadu Buharis incompetent, divisive, repressive and insensitive administration.

The PDP campaign council said the people of the north east love Atiku and have their confidence in the candidate.

The council, in a statement by Kola Ologbondiyan, said Atiku has a standing affinity with the down-trodden and has demonstrated competence, capacity and political will to revamp our economy, end starvation, sectional acrimony, human rights abuse and humongous corruption, which the Buhari administration has unleashed on our nation in the last three and half years.

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The PDP campaign council therefore, urges the people of the north west and Nigerians in general, to continue to stand in unity in their resolution to vote for Atiku Abubakar as the next president and free our nation from the clutches of his misrule.

Legit.ng earlier reported that Senator Ali Ndume recently said that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, would be a walkover for President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 general elections.

Ndume, who is the chairman, Senate committee on establishment and public service, made the statement at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) forum in Abuja, on Tuesday, November 20.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng. We have upgraded to serve you better.

Leadership of Nigeria is not meant for our forefathers| Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng- The invitation given by the EFCC to the former governor of Plateau state, Jonah Jang, may not be honoured

- This was revealed by Clinton Garuba, the media aide to Senator Jang

- Garuba said that the Jang will be in a court hearing on the same day, Wednesday, December 5, the anti graft agency needs the ex-governor's presence

Clinton Garuba, the media aide to the former Plateau governor, Jonah Jang, said on Monday, December 3, in Jos that the senator will not honour the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)s invitation asking him to appear in its Kano office on Wednesday, December 5.

Garuba, in a statement, said that Jang would be appearing in court on the same date to defend himself in a case filed by the anti-graft agency, the New Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

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Sen. Jang cannot be in two places at the same time, so the decision to turn down the invitation is an easy one, he said.

He expressed surprise that EFCC was asking Jang to be in two places at the same time, saying that he had written to advise the agency to pick another date in January, 2019.

NAN reports that the invitation may not be unconnected with the allegation that the EFCC had traced a mansion worth N500 million to Jang.

Reacting to the development in an interview with newsmen in Jos, Garuba explained that the property, located at No. 8 and 9 Gobarau Road, Unguwan Rimi GRA, Kaduna, had never belonged to the Senator.

It is not the first time the commission is investigating that propertys ownership. The property formerly belonged to Northern Nigerian Development Company, Kaduna. It was allocated to the Senator when he was the Governor of Plateau, but he eventually lost interest and did not continue with the acquisition.

EFCC has this information and knows the actual owners of the said property. Unfortunately, the EFCC continues to harass the Senator in its usual media trials aimed at tarnishing his glowing name and reputation, the media aide said.

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Garuba urged the former governors supporters to be calm, saying that the recent allegation was nothing new.

The allegation is just one of the endless attempts at humiliating Jang, but he is undeterred and in high spirit. He is ready to face his accusers in court, and not on the pages of newspapers, Garuba said.

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Jang had vowed not to honour the invitation extended to him by the EFCC over an alleged ownership of a N500 million mansion in Kaduna state.

The former governor denied owning a mansion in Kaduna state, calling on the anti-graft commission to prove its evidence.

Legit.ng gathered that earlier, EFCC had on Monday, December 3, 2018, invited the senator to its Kano office on Friday, December 5.

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Top 5 the Richest People of Nigeria: The Luxury of Corruption | Legit TV

Source: Legit- President Muhammadu Buhari says complaining about corruption and mismanagement of resources in Nigeria has not helped his administration

- Buhari commends Nigerians in Poland for maintaining good relationships with their host communities despite cases of hostilities and racial discrimination

- The president dismisses rumours circulating that he has been cloned

President Muhammadu Buhari has said he will stop complaining about the problems his administration met when it assumed office and now face the challenges head on.

Buhari reportedly made the statement on Sunday, December 2, during an interaction with Nigerians at the Krakow Holiday Inn, Poland, as part of his engagements on the sidelines of the global summit on Climate Change, taking place in the country, The Nation reports.

The president said complaining about corruption and mismanagement of resources in Nigeria has not helped his administration.

READ ALSO: GEJ joins thousands of PDP supporters for Atiku rally in Sokoto

We inherited so many problems, actually l have said l will not complain because l asked for it. I tried to become President three times and l lost, but l was lucky the fourth time, l became one, so l cant complain, Buhari said.

Who asked me to do it again? Three times l ended up in the Supreme Court. The third time, l said God dey and the fourth time, God and technology, using the Permanent Voters Card and the Card Readers, they couldnt rig the elections, so l won."

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The president commended Nigerians in Poland for maintaining good relationships with their host communities despite such cases of hostilities and racial discrimination.

In a related report, President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday, December 2, finally reacted to insinuations that he may have been cloned and that he is not the actual person in Aso Rock as the nations leader.

Buhari, said that he is alive and would soon celebrate his 76th birthday. According to Bashir Ahmad, his personal assistant on new media.

There had been claims that the alleged cloned president of Nigeria is actually Jubrin from Sudan. This is the first time Buhari will personally react to the allegation.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better.

Between Buharis Next Level And Atikulate - Nigerians React| Legit TV

Source: Legit- The Nigerian Army has approved the promotion of 230 senior officers

- Those promoted include 29 Brigadier Generals, 95 colonels and 106 Lieutenant colonels

- The promotion, according to the Army, is to re-energise the beneficiaries towards the discharge of their tasks and responsibilities

The Army Council on Monday December 3, approved the promotion of some senior officers of the Nigerian Army to the ranks of Major Generals, Brigadier Generals, Colonels and a Lieutenant Colonel, respectively.

Twenty nine Brigadier Generals were promoted to the rank of Major Generals, 95 Colonels to Brigadier Generals, 106 Lieutenant Colonels to Colonels and one Major to Lieutenant Colonel, respectively.

The Army, in a statement signed by its director general, said that the promotion exercise is expected to re-energise the beneficiaries towards the discharge of their tasks and responsibilities.

READ ALSO: I will soon celebrate my 76th birthday, I am not dead - Buhari finally speaks about being cloned

Below, Legit.ng brings you the names of some of the officers recently promoted:

Those promoted to the rank of Major General are;

1. Brigadier General TOB Ademola, Nigeria Defence Attache to China,

2. Brigadier KO Ogundele, Director Coordination at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College

3. Brigadier General ON Ugo,

4. Brigadier General AO Uthman,

5. Brigadier General M Bashir and Brigadier General MM Mshelia.

6. Brigadier General US Mohammed,

7. Brigadier General IO Ehiorobo,

8. Brigadier General CG Musa,

9. Brigadier General CO Ofoche,

10. Brigadier General DH Alli-Keffi,

11. Brigadier General A Kigbu,

12. Brigadier General YI Shalangwa, Director Army Legal Service

13. Brigadier General SA Kazaure, Director General National Youth Service Corps

Those promoted to the rank of Brigadier Generals include:

1. Colonel AA Ayanuga,

2. Colonel SC Ogbuanya,

3. Colonel FO Ilodibia,

4. Colonel EF Oyinlola,

5. Colonel SO Oloyede,

6. Colonel S Kawugana,

7. Colonel FG Dimlong,

8. Colonel OK Falade,

9. Colonel IZ Ohiaka,

10. Colonel CS Okafor,

11. Colonel A Yellow-Duke,

12. Colonel MA Etsu-Ndagi,

13. Colonel AM Alechenu,

14. Colonel Y Yahaya

15. Colonel IG Lassa.

16. Colonel PAO Okoye,

17. Colonel AO Oyelade,

18. Colonel MLD Saraso,

19. Colonel VE Emah,

20. Colonel RI Odi,

21. Colonel WD Nasiru,

22. Colonel LA Jimoh,

23. Colonel AP Ahmadu,

24. Colonel QA Ahmed

25. Colonel JS Sura

Other senior officers promoted to the ranks of colonels are:

1. Lieutenant Colonels CA Magaji,

2. AA Bello,

3. CE Ugworji,

4. CY Ufurumazi,

5. K Imam,

6. CE Aniorha,

7. MC Akin-Ojo,

8. KO Kalu,

9.AY Emakoma,

10. MA Dogo,

11. MG Udotong,

12. BA Adeshina

13. I Sadiq

14. NC Achikasim,

15. BI George,

16. YD Ishaku,

17. EA Otseh

18. SB Salisu

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that the Nigerian Police Force (NPF)'s boss, IGP Ibrahim Idris, in a concerted and laudable effort to subdued and completely defeat insurgency in the northeast, recently deployed about 2000 police mobile force officers to tackle insurgency in the region.

In a statement signed by the force's public relations officer, Jimoh Moshood, and made available to Legit.ng, it was confirmed that Idris also dispatched counter terrorism units and sniffer dogs sections strictly for military operations.

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Can Nigerian Soldiers really not deal with Boko Haram fighters?| Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng- A support group for President Buhari has defected from the APC to the PDP

- The group's leadership alongside its members, joined other groups in support of PDP's presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar

- According to the group, the APC-led administration has failed Nigerians since its emergence in 2015

Members of the Grassroots Mobilisation for Buhari on Monday, December 3, announced their defection to the Peoples Democratic Party from the All Progressives Congress (APC) in support of the opposition's presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

The support group members while announcing their defection said the APC-led administration had failed on the promises made to Nigerians before the 2015 general elections.

Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja, the national coordinator for the Grassroots Mobilisation for Buhari, Yusuf Ardo, said the group had toured Nigeria and campaigned for the emergence of the APC in the 2015 general elections.

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Ardo said: "This Forum coordinated all support groups for APC and championed Grassroots Mobilizations of Nigerians. Sequel to the foregoing, we are sad, that the government we put in place has failed and continues to fail our people; we cannot continue to reinforce failures."

Buhari support group defected from APC to support Atiku Abubakar's candidacy. Photo credit: Chris Oko

Source: Facebook

He also said that Nigeria cannot have a federal cabinet without a single youth even as it is well known that the future of every country belongs to the young people.

"Today, our country is faced with legions of challenges, our economy that was the fastest-growing in Africa has gone comatose under the present government that has shown unprepared and completely clueless.

"In the area of security challenges which the APC led Government leveraged on in 2015 to take over power, despite its claims of a technical defeat, Nigerians are attacked and killed by unknown gunmen daily, while kidnapping is now on the rise, farmlands are being destroyed and abandoned across the country," he added.

READ ALSO: Buhari promises to stop complaining about Nigerias problems

Ardo said that the unity of Nigeria was being threatened due to nepotism and religious bigotry while unemployment had risen since the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari as president in 2015.

He said: "Today we are pleased to inform the whole world that in our plan to officially renounce our membership of GMB and APC, few weeks ago we were harassed, intimidated and reported to the Inspector General of Police by some Unscrupulous element in the confused APC, today as I speak to you now, we have directed our legal team to file a suite in the federal High court on our fundamental human rights.

The group says the rate of unemployment has risen since the APC to over power. Photo credit: Chris Oko

Source: Facebook

"We acknowledge His Excellency Alhaji Atiku Abubakar GCON, have been part of Nigerias leadership dialogue and struggle for long, you have worked with great men of ideas and substance who have led this country since inception and have the rare benefit of knowing how Nigeria functioned and know the best options before us and the hard choices we have to make to get Nigeria work again.

"We believe Nigeria under Atiku, our economy will be revived and returned to the part of progress that it was before we had the misfortune of having these clueless people in power. We strongly believe that Atiku will ensure diversification of the economy through Agriculture, adequate supply of power, massive industrialization, thereby creating employment for our teaming youths," Ardo added.

READ ALSO: Buratai ordered to stay in north east until security situation improves

Also speaking at the event, the national publicity secretary of the group, Nathaniel Isa, said Nigeria needs Atiku for liberation.

Isa said: "President Buhari has not been able to create any job, just because of election they have been going around from market to market sharing N10,000.

"This government is full of lies and propaganda, there has not been not one single good thing from the present administration. Nigeria and its people have come of age to know the kind of leaders they want in power. I want to assure us that a vote for Atiku is a vote for the good for Nigerians."

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the reasons Atiku did not travel to the United States of America had been revealed.

Sources within Atiku's camp said although the PDP's presidential candidate had been issued a visa, his inability to head to the US followed the launching of his campaign.

According to a source, Atiku could not afford to miss the launch of the opposition party's campaign which held on Monday, December 3.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng. We have upgraded to serve you better.

Between Buharis Next Level And Atikulate - Nigerians React| Legit TV

Source: Legit- Peter Obi, the vice presidential candidate of the PDP in the forthcoming presidential election, says he has no ill feelings toward Rev Ejike Mbaka for his predictions

- Obi says Ejike Mbaka's predictions are known to be spoken from the higher perspective of wisdom

- The vice presidential candidate says he has respect for men of God and will always remember them in his prayers

Peter Obi, the vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming presidential election has pleaded with Nigerians to stop attacking Rev Ejike Mbaka verbally over his predictions.

The vice presidential candidate in a statement issued through his media aide, Val Obienyem, said he has no ill feelings toward the clergy man for his predictions, The Punch reports.

Obi said rather than criticise Mbaka for his declarations, Nigerians should always remember their priests in prayers. The politician noted that the cleric had always spoken from the higher perspective of wisdom.

READ ALSO: 2 traditional rulers in Gombe suspended for praying for Buharis re-election

The vice presidential candidate says he has respect for men of God and will always remembers them in his prayers.

Please let us leave Fr. Mbaka alone; our duty to him is prayers for God to lead him aright," Obi said.

While one may disagree with him, we should always acknowledge that he speaks and acts from the higher perspective of wisdom.

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I have full respect for men of God and will always remember them in my prayers. When they go wrong as humans, subject to human frailties, ours is not to castigate them, but to pray to God to lead them aright.

Legit.ng had reported that, Rev Ejike Mbaka had predicted that President Muhammadu Buhari and the presidential candidate of the PDP, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, may lose 2019 presidential election

The respected cleric said this during the 2018 harvest and bazaar celebration at his Adoration Ground in Emene.

He also argued that it was the prayers on Adoration altar that made Buhari the president. Mbaka lamented that the president had refused to come and do a project for his ministry as a way of thanking God

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better.

Between Buharis Next Level And Atikulate - Nigerians React| Legit TV

Source: Legit- Governor Rochas Okorocha reportedly ignored his deputy, Eze Madumere, at the burial ceremony of Senator Osita Izunaso's mother

- Madumere, angered by the governor's action reportedly described it as an embarrassing display"

- The governor, however, explained his action by saying there is a case in court against the high court judgement that quashed the impeachment of Madumere

There was reportedly mild drama at the burial ceremony of the late mother of Senator Osita Izunaso at Ohuba in Oru West local government area of the state when Governor Rochas Okorocha refused to recognise his deputy, Eze Madumere.

Vanguard reported that the governor refused to recognise Madumere as the deputy governor of the state but rather mentioned Calistus Ekenze, as deputy governor designate.

Madumere, who was angered by the governor's action, described it as "embarrassing display" and pleaded that Okorocha be forgiven.

READ ALSO: Nigerian Army promotes 230 senior officers

Okorocha, however, justified his action by saying that the case of Madumere's impeachment is still in court.

The governor was reported as saying: There is an existing matter at the appeal court against the high court judgement that quashed the impeachment of Madumere by the State House of Assembly."

A statement by Okorochas chief press secretary, Sam Onwuemeodo, on Monday, December 3, said: As a matter of fact, the failure or inability of the governor to recognise Madumere as the deputy governor of the state at that event was not an oversight.

That was the proper thing to do because there is an existing appeal at the appeal court against the high court judgement that quashed the impeachment of Madumere by the state House of Assembly."

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Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Governor Okorocha said the current situation in the Imo state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has made reconciliation impossible.

Okorocha said that Imo people were short-changed in their choice of who to govern them in 2019, stressing that it is too late in the day for the party correct the wrongdoing.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better

Lagos Governor: Is Sanwo-Olu a Better Candidate Than Ambode?| - on Legit.ng

Source: Legit- Men and officers of the NSCDC in the northeast have received jumbo arrears of six months salaries and allowances

- The payment is in line with the Commandant Generals commitment to boost morale of the officers

- The payment sparked jubilation among the personnel of the NSCDC in the region

A report by Leadership newspaper indicates that there was jubilation and high spirit as men and officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in the northeast received jumbo arrears of six months salaries and allowances.

According to the report, the payment is in line with the Commandant Generals commitment to boost morale of the officers for them to give in their best to the country in the protection of lives and property during the ember months and New Year festivities.

A statement by Comrade Inuwa Sule, executive secretary, Workers Rights Protection Network (WORP), and Comrade Omede Charles, executive director, Good Governance Project Initiative (GGPI), paid glowing tributes to the Commandant General for deeming it fit to enhance the high morale of the Civil Defence Corps.

The duo said the payment will enhance the welfare of the rank and file, so as to cater for the immediate needs of their families.

READ ALSO: Nigerian Army promotes 230 senior officers

The statement noted that the gesture will enable the officers to be focused on the task ahead in combating and fighting criminality in the liberated north eastern states especially during this festive period.

They further applauded the giant strides of the Commandant General, Abdullahi Gana Muhammadu, for the current repositioning and rebranding of the NSCDC for effective service delivery.

The statement called on sister agencies to emulate the gesture so as to boost the morale of their officers for a hitch free Yuletide celebration.

They also congratulated the NSCDC boss for the emergence of the Civil Defence Corps as the overall winners of the Ministry of Interior Games for the second consecutive time.

Praising it as a noble and patriotic initiative they said a highly motivated officer or personnel, which lends credence to the biblical injunction when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice.

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The NSCDC boss recently noted that poor financial allocation to the corps as well as under-staffing has hampered the implementation of its core mandate.

He called on members of the Senate committee on interior during their visit to his office, to come to the rescue of the NSCDC as it relates to funding.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng. We have upgraded to serve you better.

Femi Kuti Reveals Nigeria's Major Problem, Proffers Solutions | Legit TV

Source: LegitThe newspaper review for Tuesday, November 6, leads with vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Peter Obi, asking people to stop attacking Rev Ejike Mbaka over his prophecies among other stories.

Vanguard reports that the minister of defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, has directed the Chief of Army Staff Lt. General Tukur Buratai to remain in the northeast, in view of the surge in Boko Haram terrorists activities in the region.

This came as President Muhammadu Buhari in a show of concern to the welfare needs of members of the Armed Forces, directed the enhancement of the welfare of troops, particularly those serving in operational areas within the country.

READ ALSO: Nigerian Army promotes 230 senior officers

Vanguard newspaper for Tuesday, December 4 photo credit: snapshot from Legit.ng.

Source: UGC

Dan-Ali, however, said the army chief could return to Abuja, the administrative headquarters of the Nigerian Army, when the security situation in Borno and other northeast states improved.

The Nation reports that The Economist predicted President Buhari will win next years election. The respected magazine has also predicted that the opposition coalition may collapse before the general election.

But Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar yesterday said the forecast of the London-based magazine failed to meet the attributes of objectivity, balance and fairness.

The Nation newspaper for Tuesday, December 4 photo credit: snapshot from Legit.ng.

Source: UGC

According to The Economist in its latest edition, The World in 2019, there is little hope that Islamist insurgency in the northeast will end.

In a country appraisal for Nigeria under The world in numbers, the magazine said: The president, Muhammadu Buhari, will win re-election in February, as a new opposition coalition may collapse before the vote.

The Punch reports that vice presidential candidate of the PDP, Peter Obi, has asked people to stop attacking Rev Ejike Mbaka over his prophecies.

Obis reaction came following a pronouncement by Mbaka on Sunday that both Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the PDP and President Buhari of the APC might not win the 2019 presidential election.

In a statement by Obis media aide, Val Obienyem, the former governor of Anambra state said he did not feel bad about the priests pronouncement

The Punch newspaper for Tuesday, December 4 photo credit: snapshot from Legit.ng.

Source: UGC

Obi maintained that in every situation, there would be something positive to learn from it, adding that Mbaka had always spoken from the higher perspective of wisdom.

The PDP vice presidential candidate implored the laity to always remember their priests in prayers, adding that it was wrong for priests to be attacked based on what they said on the pulpits.

The Guardian reports that the federal government has been granted $200 million loan for the funding of the nations electrification project.The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group has approved a $150 million sovereign loan to the federal government of Nigeria to finance the Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP).

The Guardian newspaper for Tuesday, December 4 photo credit: snapshot from Legit.ng.

Source: UGC

The Africa Growing Together Fund (AGTF), a $2 billion facility sponsored by the Peoples Bank of China and administered by the African Development Bank, has also approved a $50 million loan to the Federal Government of Nigeria to co-finance the project," AfDB said in a statement.

According to the statement, the joint financing is targeted at supporting the government efforts to address critical energy access deficit in the country, and catalyze achievement of universal energy access by 2030 targets.

This Day reports that the move to unite the warring members of the APC in the southwest has begun with a meeting of the reconciliation committee led by Borno state governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

A statement by the spokesman of Shettima, Mallam Isa Gusau, said: The meeting was part of ongoing consultations and hearings from specific leaders and members of the APC from the Southwest.

This Day newspaper for Tuesday, December 4 photo credit: snapshot from Legit.ng.

Source: UGC

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He revealed that the vice president gave an insightful overview of his understanding of the issues in each of the six states of Lagos, Ekiti, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo with thoughts of possible ways out.

The aide said Shettima led other members of a national peace and reconciliation committee, set up by the APC to reconcile aggrieved members in southwest geo-political zone, to the presidential villa, for a consultative meeting with Osinbajo.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better.

We are honestly tired of Buhari and Atiku | Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng- The founder of Living Faith Church Worldwide, Bishop David Oyedepo, says Nigeria may be up for sale

- Oyedepo made the statement in reaction to a satirical piece by Professor Olatunji Dare that Nigeria is being ruled by a clone of President Buhari

- The cleric misinterpreted the satirical piece, adding that Nigeria may be about to be recolonised the second time

Following a satire written by a columnist, Professor Olatunji Dare, about President Muhammadu Buhari's clone identified as Jubril from Sudan, founder of Living Faith Church Worldwide, Bishop David Oyedepo, has said Nigeria may be up for sale.

Legit.ng gathers that in the satirical piece published in The Nations of Tuesday, November 27, Dare stated that President Buhari had died in the United Kingdom while undergoing medical treatment, and that the entrenched cabal had procured his clone in Sudan to preside over the affairs of Nigeria.

He said the representatives of the Jubril family showed up in Aso Rock and demanded a power-sharing arrangement at the federal level in perpetuity, plus 50% of Nigeria's oil revenue for ten years in the first instance.

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The columnist wrote: "I can report authoritatively that representatives of the Jubril family, having discovered the gigantic swindle, suddenly showed up in Abuja the other day and demanded to be compensated with a power-sharing arrangement at the federal level in perpetuity, plus 50 percent of Nigerias oil revenues for ten years in the first instance. Failing this, they warned, they would tell their story to the whole world."

The cleric obviously was unaware that the piece was a satire and had reacted thus: "So far, to my knowledge, no official statement has refuted this claim, which simply implies Nigeria may truly be up for sale.

"The questions is, As now suddenly become a population of fools? I believe it's time to come away from our slumber and salvage this nation from slavery. If this evil tide is not dealt with quickly, Nigeria may be about to be recolonised the second time, and this time by another African country. What a shame, and what a misfortune that would be, God forbid."

Oyedepo, therefore, called on President Buhari to address the nation on the issue of being cloned, saying "but if the president wold not address the nation on a subject as sensitive as this, it must have been proved beyond any iota of doubt that maybe he is not our president."

Satire is a genre of literature which employs the use of humour, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule in order to expose and criticise people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.

Bishop Oyedepo misinterpreted the satirical piece simply because satire is a delicate path to thread when consuming literary piece or opinions. The cleric made an honest mistake of taking the piece he consumed as the reality instead of understanding its deeper meaning.

The piece obviously questions the sanity of the people who believe that President Buhari was indeed cloned and that Nigeria is being run by a Sudanese named Jubril. The master satirist was having fun by bringing to fore the foolishness of gullible people that believe that Jubril is the captain of the Nigerian ship because Nnadmi Kanu said so.

Below is the full satirical piece by Professor Dare that the cleric misinterpreted.

"In journalistic reckoning, the case of Buharis Double has to be the top item.

"Since 2017, so goes the tale reportedly originated by the fugitive leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) Nigeria has been ruled by a Buhari look-alike, Jubril al Sudan, a native of Sudan  or Niger, take your pick. Buhari had died in the UK in 2017, where he was undergoing medical treatment. Notwithstanding the fact that Queen Elizabeth had sent a message of condolence to the Nigerian government, the entrenched Cabal in Aso Rock had procured a Buhari double in Sudan, and pressed him into service as Nigerias president.

"Despite occasional stumbles and apparent loss of memory, the transition had gone so smoothly that the only tell-tale sign of the infernal switch was a scar on Jubrils left earlobe that was not a part of Buharis profile.

"Kanu, or whoever began the tale, and those who have been peddling it, should update their material.

"I can report authoritatively that representatives of the Jubril family, having discovered the gigantic swindle, suddenly showed up in Abuja the other day and demanded to be compensated with a power-sharing arrangement at the federal level in perpetuity, plus 50 percent of Nigerias oil revenues for ten years in the first instance. Failing this, they warned, they would tell their story to the whole world.

"I can also reveal that the Nigerian authorities have entered into frantic negotiations with Jubrils family to head off what is sure to earn a double entry in the Guinness Book of Records as the worlds Dirtiest and Worst-kept Secret. The UK authorities are mediating.

"Meanwhile, dependable sources tell me that Abuja is close to unraveling the true identity of the fake Jew parading himself on faked foreign soil as Nnamdi Kanu."

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday, December 2, finally reacted to insinuations that he may have been cloned and that he was not the actual person in Aso Rock as the nations leader.

According to President Buhari's assistant on new media, Bashir Ahmad, the president said he was alive and would soon celebrate his 76th birthday.

He said: "A lot of people hoped that I died during my ill health. It is real me... I will soon celebrate my 76th birthday and I will still go strong.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better

We are honestly tired of Buhari and Atiku | Legit TV

Source: Legit Nigeria- It was all joy in Nnewi as 33 traders mistakenly arrested for being members of IPOB were released by the police

- The traders, who were arrested on Friday, November 23, were let-go following the intervention of Anambra state government and the inspector general of police

- Some of the arrested traders described police cells as hell, adding that many youths are arrested without reasons

Traders at the Agboedo Auto Spare Parts Dealers market in Nnewi, Anambra state, have commended the federal government for releasing their members wrongly arrested as members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 33 suspects were arrested on Friday, November 23, at the market after a clash that ensued between the police and IPOB members after a rally by the proscribed group.

Legit.ng gathers that the clash resulted in the death of a police officer, leading to arrest of the innocent traders.

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The 33 suspects, who were released unconditionally on Saturday, December 1, were presented to the entire members of the Agboedo Auto Spare Parts Dealers Association at their usual prayer session on Monday, December 3.

Addressing the traders, the vice chairman of Anambra Amalgamated Traders Association, Dozie Akudolu, told the large gathering that their colleagues were released in good health.

Akudolu commended the inspector general of police, Ibrahim Idris, the state commissioner of police, Umar Garba, and the state commissioner for trade and commerce, Christian Madubuko, for facilitating the release.

He also commended the southeast chairman of the Amalgamated Traders Association, Okwudili Ezenwankwo, as well as traders for their prayers, unalloyed solidarity and support.

In his remarks, the chairman of Agbaedo Auto Spare Parts Dealers Association, Gabriel Chibueze, explained that the 33 traders were released by a special team from Abuja based on instruction of the IG

He remarked: After investigations and thorough search in their various shops, the team realised that the traders were innocent. That was why they were released unconditionally."

Narrating his ordeal, Sunday Ilonze, a clergy and trader in the market, described his arrest as unfortunate, adding that the Nigerian police cell is a hell fire.

He said: We had very horrifying experience in the Awkuzu SARS cell. In the first place, we were up to 150 inmates in one small cell and we took our bath there, defecate and also urinate in a bucket inside the same cell.

One hardly breathed well in the cell because of bad odour. An average Nigerian police cell is a hell fire.

There, we saw hundreds of youths within their productive ages wasting and languishing there."

According to him, most of the youth in the cell hardly say what their offences are or why they are still there.

He added: From what I witnessed, a youth, who spend longer time there for whatever offence, will even come out a more corrupt person because human beings are treated like animals there.

When we came, we were actually the people that bought disinfectants, soaps, foods and water for use in the cell, because most of the inmates were abandoned there for several months."

Another victim, Charles Maduka, said their only saving grace in the journey was because of their innocence.

He said: We were all innocent and have traceable addresses in this market to prove it. Several persons are still in police cells because they found no help."

Maduka commended all those that lent helping hands to them in one way or the other to make sure they were released.

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that at least, 14 suspects were nabbed by the Kwara police command for engaging in an illegal business of naira trading.

The suspects met their waterloo while trading a huge amount of money of different denomination with their patronisers.

Kwara police claimed the arrested suspects were nabbed at different locations in the state while engaging in the business.

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Lagos Police Commissioner Parades Suspected Criminals (Nigeria News) | Legit TV

Source: Legit- A university professor, Ojochide Abalaka, has chided Senate President Bukola Saraki for refusing to swear in Air Marshal Isaac Alfa (retd) as the senator representing Kogi East

- He said Saraki did not have the right to choose which court ruling to ignore and which to obey

- Abalaka pointed out that the court had delivered several judgments in favour of Alfa and stated that it remains a mystery as to why he has not been sworn in

The refusal of Saraki to swear in Air Marshal Isaac Alfa (retd) as the senator representing Kogi East in spite of several court rulings affirming his candidature has been slammed by a professor of Political Science at the University of Abuja, Ojochide Abalaka.

In a telephone interview with Punch, Abalaka expressed surprise that Saraki, who is a beneficiary of the judgment system of courts, could brazenly disobey court orders for political expediency.

READ ALSO: Peter Obi urges Nigerians to stop criticising Rev Mbaka

Legit.ng gathers that the don described Sarakis decision as strange; asserting that the Senate president did not have the right to choose which court ruling to ignore and which to obey.

He said it was worrisome that Alfa watches proceedings from the gallery while the current occupant, Senator Atai Aidoko is sitting comfortably in the Senate, despite the former having secured seven out of eight judgments so far in his favour to represent the Kogi East senatorial district.

According to Abalaka, Senator Aidoko wasnt even supposed to be in the Senate. He said this is because the case had been referred back to the high court by the Supreme Court; effectively nullifying all prior judgments. He said the authentic senator for Kogi East could only be determined by the High Court.

He said: This means that neither Aidoko nor Alfa was recognised by the Supreme Court as the senator at that time. However, when the High Court eventually delivered judgment, it was in favour of Isaac Alfa. It, therefore, remains a mystery as to why Alfa has not been sworn in.

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that a prominent member of the Nigerian Bar Association, Barrister Abdul Sadiq Esq, urged the Senate and the people of Kogi East to reject the judgment of the court on the senatorial seat currently occupied by Senator Atai Aidoko Ali at the National Assembly.

Barrister Sadiq also cautioned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the consequences of issuing a certificate of return without carefully studying the implication of the judgment.

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Here's what Saraki and Tambuwal's defections mean for the APC - on Legit TV:

Source: Legit- NNPC has advised Nigerians and motorists not to panic over the threat issued by the oil marketers on fuel scarcity in Nigeria

- The corporation said there will be no fuel scarcity despite the ultimatum given by the marketers

- According to NNPC, the corporation has adequate fuel stored to serve consumers for a long period of time

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has called bluff the 7-days ultimatum given by oil marketers over availability of fuel.

The corporation on Monday, December 3, said that Nigeria will not encounter a scarcity of fuel despite the threat issued by the marketers recently.

Speaking on the recent threat by oil marketers, the group general manager, public affairs division of the NNPC, Ndu Ughamadu, said there is no need for Nigerians to panic over the threat issued by the marketers on Sunday, December 2.

Punch reports that Ughamadu said: No cause for worries. We have a robust fuel stock and high sufficiency level. Consumers should not panic.

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He also said that the NNPC is currently having engagements with the oil dealers and the federal ministry of finance and the Debt Management Office to resolve the matter.

NNPC is engaging marketers bodies, Federal Ministry of Finance and the Debt Management Office on the issue. Going by positive outcomes so far, we are optimistic of a prompt resolution of the contending matter, Ughamadu said.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that oil marketers in Nigeria on Sunday, December 2, in Lagos issued the federal government a seven-day ultimatum to settle outstanding debts totalling N800 billion, failing which depots would cease operation across the country.

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The oil marketers comprises of Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA) and Independent Petroleum Products Importers (IPPIs).

The coalition threatened that failure to meet the deadline would force its members to disengage workers from depots.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng. We have upgraded to serve you better.

Does Sowore really have what it takes to lead Nigeria in 2019? | Legit TV

Source: Legit- Chief Audu Ogbeh has disclosed that the federal government will soon commence cattle ranching in the country

- The minister also warned farmers against preserving beans with sniper after harvesting

- He further restated the governments commitment to provide big markets for farm produce, in order to avoid post-harvest losses

The minister of agriculture and rural development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, has said the federal government will soon begin cattle ranching in the country to stop cattle and herdsmen from roaming.

Ogbeh made the disclosure on Monday, December 3, during his official visit to a beans market located at Auta Ballefi, Nasarawa state, operated by the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), NAN reports.

We are starting the ranches soon. We will see if we can buy large number of shell and keep before we start. We want to stop the cows roaming about, causing fights and killings.

We will buy and give them to feed their cows now until they get use to the ranches. We want to know if you have up to a trailer load. We will see what we can do if we can off-take the shell from you he said.

READ ALSO: Don lambastes Saraki for refusal to swear-in Kogi senator

The beans market was set up three years ago in collaboration with the Catholic Diocese of Abuja to empower the IDPs from the northeast.

The minister, however, warned farmers against preserving beans with sniper after harvesting.

We are proud of what we are seeing here today because this is not what we normally see in the IDPs. Most of the IDPs we visit are always waiting for people to bring food to them. But here, you are producing food and making money. You have told us what you need and as we go back to the office, we will find ways of helping you.

I have never seen any beans market as big as this. And because you are farming, we are going to help you improve on what you are doing.

I assure you that before the next planting season, we will bring three tractors here. You manage the tractors to do your farming.

The first thing I will say now is nobody should put sniper on the beans again for storage because it is poisonous to human health. Instead, use pepper for preservation. That is why when we export beans, they are being rejected in Europe, he said.

The minister restated governments commitment to provide big markets for farm produce, in order to avoid post-harvest losses.

He said: We will find bigger markets to buy what you are producing. We are going to be buying from this market for schools programmes because is clean and direct from the farms.

From the report released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) few days ago which says the country has saved N51 billion in 34 months from importation, we have cut down food importation which is good.

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the Ebonyi state government told the federal government that the state had no land for cattle ranching.

The federal government had previously listed Ebonyi as one of the ten states that had provided land for cattle ranching.

The state commissioner for agriculture, Ikechukwu Nwobo, however, told the federal government that there was no vacant land for cattle ranches in the state.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: We have updated to serve you better!

Nigerian herdsmen vs Nigerian farmers - on Legit TV:

Source: LegitWorkers at the National Assembly have embarked on a protest over alleged unpaid salaries and lack of due promotion.

Channels TV reports that the some of the workers during the protest on Tuesday, December 4, said that a number of them were being owed wages from as far back as 2010.

The workers were said to have blocked the entrance of the assembly complex while demonstrating inside the building. They were reportedly heard chanting songs and insisting that there would be no plenary sitting until their demands are met.

READ ALSO: Peter Obi urges Nigerians to stop criticising Rev Mbaka

Premium Times reports that the workers accused the clerk of the assembly, Sani Omolori, of subjecting staff to poor condition of service.

The workers under the umbrella of parliamentary staff association of Nigeria also vowed not to back down until their salaries are paid.

In another report, a labour leader, Joe Ajaero, has said that labour has resolved to fight for the new minimum wage even after the upcoming general election, saying that there would be no retreat or surrender until workers received the wage.

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Ajaero, who is the president of the United Labour Congress (ULC) made the statement when he spoke at a public forum on labour in Lagos on Thursday, November 22.

He stated that a tripartite committee had considered the ability of government to pay the sum before the committee agreed on the sum. The ULC president insisted that government has no option than to pay the N30,000 minimum wage and then follow up with payment of arrears.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better.

Minimum Wage: Is N30,000 Too Much for FG to Pay Workers? - Nigeria Street Gist | Legit TV

Source: Legit- The secretary-general of the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Alhassan Saleh, said the Malian herders presence in Nigeria is nothing to worry about

- Saleh said protocol allows ECOWAS member countries citizens to have the right to enter, reside and establish in the territory of member countries

- He noted that those people are not bandits; they are covered by the ECOWAS protocol on trans human movement to move across borders to graze their cattle

The Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore on Monday, December 3, cautioned the security agencies and civilians against attacking Malian herders grazing their cattle in Gudu and Tangaza local government areas of Sokoto state.

The Punch reports that Alhassan Saleh, secretary-general of the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, said the Malian herders presence in the country was nothing to worry about, as they were only grazing their cattle, a tradition he said they had been performing annually for the past 100 years.

Those people are not bandits; they are covered by the ECOWAS Protocol on Trans Human Movement to move across borders to graze their cattle. They have been doing that for over 100 years. They come during the dry season and leave later.

READ ALSO: Peter Obi urges Nigerians to stop criticising Rev Mbaka

The said protocol allows ECOWAS member countries citizens to have the right to enter, reside and establish in the territory of member countries.

Article 3 of the protocol, however, states that any ECOWAS citizen who wishes to enter the territory of any other member country shall be required to possess a valid travel document and international health certificate.

Saleh said the government and security agencies ought to sensitise Nigerians on the protocol in order to avert any trouble.

He said: Its because we are so sensitive nowadays that anytime we see a large number of cows, we panic. I blame the government and security agencies for this. They ought to enlighten the people on the ECOWAS Protocol for better understanding.

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Those foreign herders are not bandits and I hope we will not attack them and then invite trouble. Nobody should attack them.

Ideally, the customs and the ministry of foreign affairs, among other security agencies, should issue Trans Human Certificates to the foreign herders.

We are supposed to have cross-border security in place and deploy cattle tracking technology. Unfortunately, the government is not serious about livestock development in this country.

They would promise to ranch today and cattle colony tomorrow, but nothing is happening. Maybe they want to eradicate pastoralism and give the business to capitalists.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that the minister of agriculture and rural development, Audu Ogbeh, said the federal government would soon begin cattle ranching in the country to stop cattle and herdsmen from roaming.

Ogbeh made the disclosure on Monday, December 3, during his official visit to a beans market located at Auta Ballefi, Nasarawa state, operated by the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng: We have updated to serve you better!

Nigerian herdsmen vs Nigerian farmers - on Legit TV:

Source: Legit.ng- Violence has broken out in Cross Rivers communities

- It was gathered that an indigene traced the violence to the sale of a parcel of land, used to cultivate palm fruits since 1973

- The state police commissioner said officers have been deployed to quell the deadly clash

No fewer than twenty people have been reportedly killed while many others sustained serious injuries in a violence that broke out in four communities in Biase local government area of Cross River state.

Premium Times reports that hundreds of women and children have also been displaced by the violence which broke out on Monday, December 3, in Urugbam, Egbor, Ipene, and Abanwan, four of the 10 communities that make up Erei clan, which predominantly occupies the southwestern tip of Cross River near the border with Abia state.

Legit.ng gathered that an indigene traced the violence to the sale of a parcel of land, used to cultivate palm fruits since 1973.

The land reportedly belonged to Urugbam and Egbor communities, but was leased out by the Egbor community to African Stone Works Ltd., allegedly without the consent of the Urugbam and other communities that have been a part of the cultivation for over 45 years.

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The 14 Brigade Nigerian Army is located a few minutes away across the Abia state border in Ohafia, and residents said soldiers there must have heard as heavy gunshots were ringing out amongst Erei people.

The Cross River police commissioner, Hafiz Inuwa, was quoted to have said that a deadly clash broke out in the communities, but added that officers have been deployed to quell it.

We have sent our men from divisions and area commands to the communities, Inuwa told Premium Times on telephone on Tuesday morning, December 4.

The police chief said he was yet to have a full report on casualty figures because he had been in Calabar, the state capital, but insisted that the crisis has been contained and no report of escalation from his officers on ground.

Chima Ezeamama, the manager of African Stone Works Ltd., said that his company concluded purchase of the palm plantation a few months ago, and some elements in the communities have been fomenting trouble ever since.

The problems are being caused by one or two criminally-minded individuals, Ezeamama said, declining to name the individuals.

He said the plantation was bought legally and with due process followed. Ezeamama said after violence began brewing shortly after the purchase was concluded, his company drew the attention of state authorities to it.

The state government set up a judicial panel of enquiry chaired by Justice Eyo Ita and he delivered his report last week Thursday, Ezeamama said.

Sunday Ugbuoji, an All Progressives Congress (APC) senator from Ebonyi state, was identified as a major investor in African Stone Works Ltd., and is said to have a prolonged interest in the disputed plantation.

According to the online medium, the senator abruptly disconnected a telephone call from it put across to him after learning that it was about the deadly clashes over the palm plantation. He did not reply separate messages seeking comments.

READ ALSO: Just in: UNTH doctors protest, call for sack of CMD, finance director

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that suspected herdsmen reportedly killed two farmers at Iorza village in Gaambetiev, Logo local government area in Benue northeast senatorial district.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have upgraded to serve you better.

Can Nigerian Soldiers really not deal with Boko Haram fighters? | - on Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng News- Governor Rotimi Akeredolu opposed the position of some members of the NWC of the APC that aggrieved members should not seek redress in court over the last party primaries

- Akeredolu who said the position of President Buhari on the matter cannot be faulted saying the position of the NWC members is totally flawed

- He noted that the committees position is an invitation to infringe on the constitutional rights of members

Rotimi Akeredolu, Ondo state governor, on Monday, December 3, threw his weight behind President Muhammadu Buharis position that aggrieved members of the APC have the right to seek redress in court.

Akeredolus position followed a media report that some members of the APC National Working Committee (NWC) faulted the presidents position. The governor who said the position of President Buhari on the matter cannot be faulted saying the position of the NWC members is totally flawed.

According to a statement by his media aide, Richard Olatunde, which was made available to Premium Times on, Akeredolu said the position of Buhari on the matter cannot be faulted.

READ ALSO: Buhari support group dumps APC for PDP, lists grievances against ruling party (photos)

The governor said: Let me state without any doubt that I stand on a good wicket in arguing that the position of the President, an acknowledge veteran in court disputation, cannot be faulted. The argument of the NWC members is totally flawed.

The provision of our Party constitution referred to severally and relied upon to support their claim can only be used in law as a shield and not a sword.

Using the provision as a shield will include approaching the court to decline jurisdiction to hear any of the cases if the domestic form for settlement in accordance with the Party constitution was not exhausted before the commencement of the suit.

The court will look into the circumstances of each case to reach a conclusion any which way. In most cases, the court will be obligated to inquire into whether or not there was an opportunity for exploring the domestic form for settlement in accordance with the Party constitution.

According to Akeredolu, the NWCs position is an invitation to infringe on the constitutional rights of members, saying that there is no provision of the partys constitution that prohibits members to seek redress in court.

He said: What our NWC members are canvassing against the Presidents position is anarchy; an invitation to infringe on the constitutional rights of our members in a democracy by using the provision of the Party constitution in issue as a sword.

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This will certainly not stand the test of time. To the best of my knowledge, there is certainly no provision in our Party constitution that prohibits our members from approaching the court if they feel aggrieved on any matter. If any such provision exists it will be unconstitutional.

He, however, advised the NWC members to seek proper legal advice before taking decisions that are likely to cause more confusion in the party.

Akeredolu said: NWC may wish to seek proper legal advice on this before taking actions that would further muddle the waters.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that Governor Rotimi Akeredolu dismissed report that the state government declared war against media by expelling some houses from the Government House.

According to Sahara Reporters, a source who craved anonymity said journalists from the affected media houses were asked to leave because their services were no longer needed.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better

Between Buharis Next Level And Atikulate - Nigerians React| Legit TV:

Source: Legit- Governor Umaru Al-Makura approved the dismissal of the rector of Nasarawa State Polytechnic Lafia, Dr Silas Gyar, and two others

- The Nasarawa state governors decision was in line with the government white paper report on the investigative committee into the activities of the institution

- Al-Makura directed all the dismissed staff to refund the over N2 billion mismanaged by them while in office immediately

Nasarawa state governor, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, has terminated the appointment of the former rector of the Nasarawa State Polytechnic, Professor Sailas Gyar, and two others and ordered them to refund the sum of N2 billion, immediately, The Punch reports.

This was disclosed in a statement signed by chairman governing council of the polytechnic, Mohammed Bako, on Tuesday, December 4, in Lafia, the Nasarawa state capital.

The statement added that the governors decision was in line with the government white paper report on the investigative committee into the activities of the institution.

READ ALSO: Buhari support group dumps APC for PDP, lists grievances against ruling party (photos)

According to the statement, the dismissal takes effect from November 28, 2018, adding that the governing council had also approved the termination of the appointments of Labani Joseph-Dio and Ahdullahi Akyo, registrar and bursar respectively.

Our correspondent reports that the dismissed staff were sent on a compulsory leave on October 26, 2017, to pave the way for an investigation into their activities which led to their dismissal.

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In a previous report by Legit.ng, a governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Nasarawa state, Labaran Maku, claimed that Governor Al-Makura's government has no achievement to show despite receiving about N390 billion the last seven years.

Maku made the claim in Abuja after submitting his nomination indicating his intention to contest the Nasarawa state governorship election on the platform of APGA.

The former minister had in 2015 contested the governorship election on the platform of the APGA but lost to Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, incumbent governor of the state.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng. We have upgraded to serve you better.

Osun Election 2018: Electorate accuses INEC ad hoc staff of taking bribe | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit- An APC group in Ondo says there is a gang up by key figures of the ruling party against President Buhari

- The group alleged that four APC governors, a minister and a former senior official of the party are set to decamp to Action Alliance (AA)

- They alleged that the group is led by Ondo state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu

The Ondo APC Solidarity Group has alleged that four All Progressives Congress (APC) governors, a minister and a former senior official of the party are set to decamp to Action Alliance (AA) before the 2019 general elections.

The group made the allegation on Tuesday, December 4, while addressing journalists at the APC headquarters in Abuja.

The convener of the group, Comrade Gbenga Bojuwomi and national secretary, Alhaji Ibrahim Sikiru, who addressed the press conference, named Governor Rotimi Akeredolu as the leader of the party chieftains preparing to dump the party.

Others named by the group are Governors Kayode Fayemi, Rochas Okorocha, Ibikunle Amosun of Ekiti, Imo and Ogun state respectively.

The group also named the minister of works, power and housing, Babatunde Fashola and a former national legal dviser of the APC, Alhaji Muiz Banire, as part of the plan.

READ ALSO: Buhari support group dumps APC for PDP, lists grievances against ruling party (photos)

Part of the statement read: In a bid to fulfill one of his promises against the re-election bid of President Buhari, Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo state has mobilised new group against the wishes and party principles to frustrate the opinion of party loyalists in Ondo state.

Governor Akeredolu with some fake individuals who appear to be loyal to Mr. President from the southwest, the likes of Babatunde Fashola, Governor Kayode Fayemi, Ibikunle Amosun, Governor Rochas Okorocha, Muiz Banire and others have recently held various secret meetings in Akure, over 2023, not over 2019 for President Buharis success, in favour of Babatude Raji Fashola.

To buttress this, Ondo and Imo states have been picked as a launch pad of their secret agenda, by test-running the party called Action Alliance (AA). In-fact Governor Akeredolu has directed all APC members in Ondo state loyal to him to mobilize for AA and work against President Muhammadu Buhari in the forthcoming general election.

We hereby call on DSS, EFCC and ICPC to beam their searchlight on financial mobilization for AA in Ondo and Imo states.

Furthermore, there was a revelation from the stakeholders meeting held in Akure sometimes in September, 2018 where Governor Akeredolu specifically told the party members that he would have to fight three enemies in APC to achieve, the so called 2023 Presidential ambition of Babatunde Fashola. The tree personalities to fight are President Buhari, Bola Tinubu and Adams Oshiomole.

The group further accused the Ondo governor of picking nomination forms from AA for his loyalists contesting for Senate, House of Representative and state Assembly seats.

These people are Barrister Tunji Abayomi as Ondo north senatorial candidate, the barrister in question is still an appointee under Mr. Akeredolu (Chairman Governing Board, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko).

Hon. Olemija, Akoko North-East/West Federal Constituency, Victor Adegbole - Federal Constituency Akoko West/East and host of others across all the 18 local government of Ondo state.

Mr. Akeredolus plan is to spend whatever amount released from APC for the election on his loyalist in Action Alliance, the group further alleged.

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The group warned President Buhari and APC national headquarters to move faster than Akeredolu, Fashola, Fayemi, Okorocha, Amosun and Banire before the hatch their plots, adding that plans have been concluded to move to AA en-masse shortly before February 2019 elections.

Recall that the chief of staff and son-in-law to Governor Okorocha, Chief Uche Nwosu, announced he will vie for the Imo governorship seat on the platform of AA.

This has ended speculations concerning Nwosus next line of action after his former party, APC, refused to submit his name as the partys flag-bearer for the 2019 elections.

Nwosu had earlier dispelled rumours that he will dump the APC for another party, vowing to remain in the ruling party and reclaim his 'stolen mandate.'

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng. We have updated to serve you better.

Is President Buhari Really Doing Badly As Nigeria's Leader? - Nigeria Street Gist | Legit TV

Source: Legit Nigeria- France has suspended its fuel tax rise following violent protests from the people of the country

- The announcement was made by the prime minister of France, Edouard Philippe, after meeting with MPs from the ruling party, La Republique en Marche

- A lot of people participated in the mass protests, which caused considerable damages in some parts of the country

Following violent protests from the people of France which had caused enormous damages, the country has announced a six-month suspension of a fuel tax rise.

BBC reports that the prime minister of France, Edouard Philippe, made the announcement after meeting MPs from the ruling party, saying that the people must be heard.

Legit.ng gathers that Philippe said apart from the fuel tax increases that was suspended, also suspended were hikes in electricity and gas prices and strict vehicle emissions control.

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According to report, nearly 300,000 people took part in the first countrywide protest. There were more than 106,000 a week later, and 136,000 people participated in it on Saturday, December 1.

Philippe said: "The French people who have put on yellow vests love their country. We share those values. The main role of the state is to guarantee public order, but we must fight against anything that endangers the unity of the nation."

According to the prime minister, a public consultation would be held on taxes and public spending from Saturday, December 15 till Friday, March 1.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that French, President Emmanuel Macron, urged Nigerian youths to get involved in politics to change the narrative of the nation.

Macron, while describing politics as important, said only Nigerians could change their image before the comity of nations.

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He noted that the future of Africa and the task of making it great rested with Africans, saying that the youths had a crucial role to play.

Macron said: Africa needs a new generation of Africans to share the new narrative about Africa all over the world."

According to him, politics is important because it is a tool to change the society.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better

President of France Emmanuel Macron Visits Felas Home New Afrika Shrine | Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng News- Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the national leader of the APC, has spoken on Halliburton bribery scandal

- Tinubu challenged the presidential candidate of the PDP, Aitku Abubakar, over the scandal

- The party national leader who also spoke about 2015 general elections said the Senate president, Bukola Saraki, is not honest

Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), chided the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, over Halliburton bribery scandal.

Daily Trust reports that Tinubu who spoke during the national consultative forum themed: Nigeria on the right track, said Nigerians have crossed the red ocean and they cannot be taken back to Egypt.

Legit.ng gathered that the forum was organised by the National Committee of Buhari Support Groups.

READ ALSO: Opposition will collapse and give way for the re-emergence of President Buhari - The Economist

The APC national leader: They said we should not talk about the past. We must look at what you have done before. We have to look at the Halliburton issue.

''Why do they leave Nigeria? $16billion on NEPA for darkness. When they see that we are kicking them out, they rush to privatise the company, what I call personalisation of the wealth of Nigerians.

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Tinubu while speaking about the Senate president, Bukola Saraki, said after using the APC to win election in 2015 maintained that Saraki used our mandate to give lifeline to the opposition. leadership is about character.

''He left PDP, joined us, got elected and sold our mandate for a pot of porridge. God is honest, Saraki is not.''

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that National leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, restated the support of south west for President Buhari ahead of general elections.

Tinubu made this known after the swearing in of Chief Gboyega Oyetola as the new governor of Osun state.

According to him, We are solidly behind President Buhari. No shaking. We are not going back to the past years of greed. There is no room for any other party in the south west.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better

OBJ Endorsement Of Atiku; Sign Of Good Tidings? - Nigeria Street Gist | Legit TV:

Source: Legit- The Catholic Church has taken strong measures concerning its priests as the 2019 general elections approach

- The church bars all its priests from public endorsement of politicians

- This follows a controversial statement publicly uttered by Father Mbaka, saying the presidential flag bearers of the APC and PDP may lose the 2019 election

The Catholic Church has reportedly distanced itself from the spiritual director of the Adoration Ministry, Enugu, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, over his perceived politically charged statements.

In a viral video on the internet, Mbaka was seen telling the vice presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peter Obi, during the annual harvest and bazaar celebration of the church on Sunday, December 2, that neither the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, nor President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC), would win the 2019 presidential election.

READ ALSO: Reps collating signature to impeach Osinbajo - Lawmaker raises allegation

Addressing Obi in Igbo, Mbaka said: (Former) governor, listen, so that we wont be deceiving God. As you are standing in the presence of these children of God, tell God what you will do for Him It means you dont want to do anything for God.

Let me believe in fear, but this is a political statement. God hates stinginess. What I am saying is not for your pleasure. I am saying what will save your life, otherwise, you and Atiku will fail. The way you and Atiku are moving will end in shame.

However, the director of communications, Catholic Diocese of Enugu, Rev. Fr. Benjamin Achi, in an interview with The Punch, said the diocese was not in support of the clerics remarks.

When asked if Mbaka was still a member of the diocese, Achi said, He is. He, however, noted that it was wrong for priests to make political statements from the pulpit.

Achi said: The diocese is not in support of any priest making political statements. The church is supposed to be apolitical and the Bishops conference has said that repeatedly. We are not supposed to make any political statements from the pulpit within the context of Mass, that is, church service.

So, it would be wrong to stand at the pulpit to make any political statements. There is a document issued by the Bishops conference to that effect. So, he just spoke on his own, not representing the diocese.

We are not expected to come out openly to support a particular candidate for any reason. The church law does not accept such a thing. So, it would be wrong for anybody (priest) to come out and give an endorsement to a particular candidate.

Achi noted that if necessary, disciplinary action against Mbaka would be carried out by the priests administrative head.

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Meanwhile, Nigerian Tribune, giving an update on the development, reports that the leadership of the Catholic Church in Nigeria has barred priests and sundry religious leaders from publicly endorsing politicians as the 2019 general election approaches.

In a statement, on Tuesday, December 4, signed by Most Reverend Augustine Akabueze, president, and Most Reverend Camillus Umoh, secretary, respectively of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), the church declared that no priest should publicly endorse politicians.

The CBCN said: We hereby declare that no Catholic clergy or religious should publicly endorse any candidate for political office.

Meanwhile, an Enugu based cleric, Prophet Anthony Nwoko, has openly apologised to President Muhammadu Buhari over the recent rumour by the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, that the president was long dead and that the person currently parading himself as Buhari is one Jubril from Sudan.

Legit.ng's regional reporter in Enugu, Ikpechukwu Chinedu, reports that while addressing a world press conference in Enugu, a visibly angry pastor also apologised to the world, declaring that the president is still alive and will live long.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better.

We are honestly tired of Buhari and Atiku | - on Legit TV

Source: Legit Nigeria- Governor Nasir El-Rufai has called on Kaduna people to vote for APC in 2019

- The Kaduna governor claimed the PDP is renting crowd to boost its campaign rallies

- He said the task in 2019 is to continue to work towards the upliftment of the people

Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state has described the coming 2019 general elections as a battle between thieves and honest people.

Daily trust reports that the Kaduna governor also accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of renting crowd from neighbouring countries because Sokoto people refused to come out for the rally.

The governor spoke on Tuesday, December 4, at the launching of his campaign council in Kaduna. He called on Kaduna people to show the PDP that the state would not allow them to cheat.

READ ALSO: Opposition will collapse and give way for the re-emergence of President Buhari - The Economist

He said: What we have done in Kaduna state in the last three years has shown that APC as a party is the one that loves the masses and assists the masses; not a party that will take public fund and share among the rich. That is why we want you people to go out and tell the people to vote President Muhammadu Buhari again.

So, when it is time to launch President Muhammadu Buharis campaign in Kaduna, people should come for the whole world to see that it is not Niger Republic people that are disguising as Nigerians.

"We should vote for President Muhammadu Buhari and all the APC candidates. In Kaduna, we will support APC from top to bottom."

The governor said the task in 2019 is to continue to work towards the upliftment of the people as they cannot allow the people whose ideology is looting to return to power.

Meanwhile, Governor Nasir El-Rufai said his reelection in the 2019 Kaduna state governorship poll is almost a done deal despite all the people that have been upset by some policies of his administration.

Speaking as a special guest at the 2018 National Council on Finance and Economic Development (NACOFED) conference which held in Kaduna on Monday, November 26, El-Rufai said getting reelected as the governor of the state is not paramount in his agenda, but doing the right thing is, The Cable reports.

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In spite of all the risks we have taken and all the people we are supposed to have upset, the election on March 2, 2019, as far as Kaduna state is concern, is almost a done deal, the governor said.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We keep evolving to serve our readers better.

'Nobody can stop Buhari in 2019, Atiku cannot win' - Nigeria Street Gist | Legit TV

Source: Legit Newspaper- Yemi Osinbajo has expressed shock over rumour that President Buhari is a cloned version

- He said that the fear of Buhari was making some detractors lose their senses

- Osinbajo also disclosed that the present government is earning 60% less than the previous government

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday, December 4, in Abuja wondered how a certain Jubril from Sudan would be presiding over the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting as rumoured by certain persons.

The misconception of Jubril, a purported body-double of President Muhammadu Buhari, has been rife in both conventional and social media lately.

Buhari himself cleared the air and debunked the claims that he was cloned while fielding questions in Poland on Sunday.

Osinbajo expressed this shock in his address at a National Consultative Forum organised by the National Committee of Buhari Support Groups (NCBSG) in collaboration with Council for New Nigeria Initiative.

READ ALSO: Catholic Church disowns Mbaka, bars priests from endorsing politicians

He said that the fear of Buhari was making some detractors lose their senses.

According to the vice president, the present government is earning 60% less than the previous government, yet in the past three years it has spent N2.7 trillion on infrastructure.

He said that the Buhari-led administration had done much because it was not stealing money; was doing major roads in 36 states including Lagos-Kano railway, Warri, Aladja, Mambilla, Port Hacourt, Maiduguri among others.

Osinbajo said that the government was feeding over 9.2 million children every day; giving 2 million petty traders a better deal in life with Tradermoni and had employed 500,000 graduates under the NPower programme.

We are giving about 300,000 of the poorest Nigerians N5000 a month. How? Because Buhari is the gate keeper he has stopped grand corruption.

So despite the fact that we are earning 60 per cent less we are doing five times more. This is why there is a gang up by the discredited elite against him.

They prayed for him to die he didnt die, when he came back hale and hearty by the grace of the Almighty God, they mourned while Nigerians rejoiced.

The fear of Buhari makes these people desperate, even crazy. So now they say he is Jibrin from Sudan. If you cant discredit him say he doesnt exist; they were all alive and well when Pastor Adeboye went to London and prayed for him the day before he returned to Nigeria.

How will one Jibril sit in Federal Executive Council and conduct meetings, consult with his ministers, speak to me daily?

Their strategy is simple, if you tell a lie often enough some will believe you. Buhari is not only alive and well. He will by Gods grace live long and well after his second term in office, he said.

He commended the members of National Committee on Buhari Support Groups, saying that they were the vanguard of the battle for the soul of Nigeria.

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On his part, Senator Ahmed Tinubu, national leader of the All progressives Congress (APC) expressed optimism that the party would emerge victorious in the 2019 presidential election. He gave the support groups a recipe for effective campaign.

Tinubu said that the opposition would talk about herdsmen and farmers clash, adding that it also occurred during the previous government.

But they have low way of thinking; they have low capacity to convert tragedy to a situation of opportunity and economic prosperity; we have the capacity in this country to do irrigation; utilise our water resources; to create green pastures and ranches.

We will convert that mystery; that tragedy to opportunity to our people; we have higher institutions which have conducted various studies on ranching; we can only change the way of life of some people.

The herders will have greener pastures, okay; lets build schools; lets build ranches and ask the animals to be in one position and create opportunities for farmers to provide animal feeds; even animal dung will become manure and will create a bigger economy.

We can create slaughter labs and abattoirs; we can hygienically transfer those feed in a cold storagetransportation; that is equally business.

We can easily take those animal skins to make shoes, handbags, belts, and turn our locality to China and export.

We are not going to cry; feel sorry for ourselves; relinquish our responsibility because we are thinkers and doers; we will convert it to prosperity. Believe me and believe Buhari, he said.

The APC national leaders told the groups that the opposition would ask them what the Buhari government had achieved. He said that their response should be that the administration had diversified the economy; more farmers were making money and Nigeria was no longer importing rice.

Tinubu said that the groups should also talk about the achievements in rail transportation.

The highlight of the event was the unveiling of a digital portal for advocacy and for showcasing the achievements of the Buhari-led government.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that Johnson Agbonayinma, a member of the House of Representatives raised allegation allegation that some members were collating signatures in an attempt to impeach vice president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.

Te lawmaker representing Egor/Ikpoba-Okha Federal Constituency, Edo State raised this allegation on Tuesday, December 4 in Abuja.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng. We have upgraded to serve you better.

Top 3 Nigerian Political Divorces: Breakups That Affect Everyone | Legit TV

Source: Legit- 21,878 applications have been received by the Police Service Commission towards the recruitment of 10,000 constables

- The applications came five days after the recruitment portal was opened

- According to the police, the portal will close on January 11,2019

The Police Service Commission (PSC) said it had received 21,878 applications towards the recruitment of 10,000 constables into the Nigeria Police Force.

A statement by the commissions head, press and public relations, Ikechukwu Ani, on Tuesday, December 4, in Abuja, said the applications came five days after the recruitment portal was opened on Friday.

Ani said that the applications hit the 21,878 mark at 12.30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 4.

READ ALSO: Catholic Church disowns Mbaka, bars priests from endorsing politicians

The portal is expected to close on January 11, 2019 in line with the Federal Character requirement of six weeks, he said.

Ani said that out of the 21,878 applications already received, 20,217 applicants were males while 1,661 were females.

He said that Niger had the highest number of applications of 2,276, followed by Katsina with 1, 677, Kano with I, 577 and Bauchi, 1,543.

The spokesman said that Bayelsa had the lowest applications of 55, Ebonyi, 88; Anambra, 107; Lagos, 112; Abia, 130; Imo, 133; Delta, 150 and Enugu, 167.

He said the commission was committed to a transparent and merit-driven exercise.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) denied claims that Arabic was made compulsory in the recent police recruitment examination, noting that the subject was included as a dummy.

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JAMB registrar, Ishaq Oloyede, on Monday, June 11, told the Youth Wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria (YOWICAN) who visited him at the boards headquarters in Abuja that no candidate was instructed or made to forcibly attempt any question in Arabic.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng. We have upgraded to serve you better.

Lagos Police Commissioner Parades Suspected Criminals (Nigeria News) | Legit TV

Source: Legit.ng- The US senators have reportedly expressed conviction that Saudi crown prince ordered the murder of Khashoggi

- The senators indicted the crown prince after meeting with CIA director

- They were not, however, allowed to disclose the details of the meeting

The US senators have allegedly expressed certainty that the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, ordered the murder of Washington Post columnist, Jamal Khashoggi.

The Guardian UK reports that the lawmakers came to the conclusion after emerging from a classified briefing by CIA director, Gina Haspel.

If the crown prince went in front of a jury he would be convicted in thirty minutes, Bob Corker, the Republican chair of the Senate foreign relations committee, reportedly told journalists immediately after the Haspel meeting.

READ ALSO: Breaking: Catholic Church disowns Mbaka, bars priests from endorsing politicians

Legit.ng gathers that leading senators from both parties attended the briefing from Haspel, who flew to Turkey to hear tapes of the killing which happened on October 2 from Turkish intelligence intercepts.

The senators were reportedly not allowed to disclose details of what they were told, but their reaction reinforced reports that the CIA had accumulated substantial evidence that the crown prince was behind the murder.

The Trump administration has said that there is no direct evidence of the princes culpability, with the defence secretary James Mattis, insisting there was no smoking gun.

After Tuesdays Haspel briefing, Republican senator Lindsey Graham said: Theres not a smoking gun, theres a smoking saw.

Turkish investigators allege Khashoggi was tortured before he was murdered by Saudi officials in the countrys consulate in Istanbul. The hit squad reportedly brought a bone saw with them to dismember him.

The Senate is reportedly due to vote in the coming days on a measure that would cut off US military support for Saudi military operations in Yemen.

READ ALSO: NAIJ.com upgrades to Legit.ng: a letter from our Editor-in-Chief Bayo Olupohunda

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that President Trump vowed not to listen to the audio evidence revealing the gruesome murder of Khashoggi. He said he had been briefed about the highly indicting CIA investigation comprising audio evidence but would not to listen to the audio because "it's a suffering tape, it's a terrible tape."

The CIA claimed Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, ordered the assassination of journalist Khashoggi in Istanbul last month.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better

Street Gist: Will Nigeria be a better place with Trump as president? | Legit TV

Source: Legit- A global humanitarian appeal of $25 billion to provide support to no less than 93 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in Nigeria and other countries has been launched

- United Nations (UN) launched the appeal to provide aid in 2019

- It was noted that in 2018, nearly three-quarters of people receiving assistance are in countries that have been affected by humanitarian crises for seven years or more

UN has launched a global humanitarian appeal of $25 billion to provide support to no less than 93 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in Nigeria and other countries in 2019.

Speaking at the launch of a major annual analysis of global humanitarian needs in Geneva, Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock said that 132 million people would need assistance next year.

He said conflict had pushed tens of millions of people into a situation where they were in urgent need of help, adding the appeal for funds could top $25 billion to support life-saving aid projects in over 40 countries next year.

Of that number, the UN and its partner organisations aim to support 93.6 million, noting while conflict was the main cause, climate-related risks such as drought and tropical storms were also significant contributors to the number of people in crisis.

READ ALSO: Breaking: Catholic Church disowns Mbaka, bars priests from endorsing politicians

Lowcock said: Something like one person in 70 around the world is caught up in crisis and urgently needs humanitarian help or protection.

We have a larger number of people displaced, mostly by conflict than we have seen in the world before, nearly 70 million.

The UNs Global Humanitarian Appeal for 2019 amounts to $21.9 billion; it is expected to increase to $25 billion, once Syrias financial needs have been calculated.

As of mid-November, donors have provided a record $13.9 billion in funding, which is about 10 per cent more than at the same time last year, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs(OCHA).

The country with the biggest problem in 2019 is going to be Yemen, he said, before insisting that the UNs coordinated response plans helped the humanitarian community to deliver, more and better to millions of people.

Beyond Yemen, needs will remain exceptionally high in Syria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Nigeria and South Sudan, Lowcock said.

Every month in 2018, humanitarians have reached eight million Yemenis with food assistance and 5.4 million Syrians with supplies, medical assistance and protection, Lowcock explained.

This is happening even as threats to the safety of aid workers are on the rise, the UN relief chief noted.

Peoples insecurity has also worsened significantly in Afghanistan because of drought, political instability and an influx of returning refugees, according to the Global Humanitarian Overview 2019, Republic (CAR).

In another finding, the OCHA report showed that the average UN humanitarian response now lasted more than nine years; in 2014, the norm was 5.2 years.

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In 2018, moreover, nearly three-quarters of people receiving assistance are in countries that have been affected by humanitarian crises for seven years or more.

In other finding, the OCHA report also highlighted that food insecurity had increased in recent years after a long period in which it had improved.

An increasing number of crises had also translated into gender inequality, the report noted, with girls in conflict settings more than 2.5 times more likely than boys to be out of school.

Recall that Legit.ng had reported that President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, December 3, delivered a statement at the @UN Climate Change Conference #COP24 in Katowice, Poland.

Legit.ng had also reported that President Muhammadu Buhari departed Abuja on Saturday, December 1, for Katowice, Poland, to attend the 24th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP24) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) between December 2 and 4.

NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better.

We are honestly tired of Buhari and Atiku | - on Legit TV

Source: LegitThe owner of Lehigh Cement Co. LLC says it may pursue a proposed expansion of its Nazareth area quarries, or it may not.

Lehigh Cement has an application before the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to connect two separate mine permits north of Route 248 on the Nazareth-Upper Nazareth Township border, along the western edge of the borough.

Last week, lehighvalleylive.com reviewed the application for the permit to conduct noncoal surface mining activities and reported Monday on the proposal.

A spokesman for Irving, Texas-based Lehigh Hanson Inc., owner of Lehigh Cement, responded Monday afternoon to questions submitted last week about the proposed expansion.

Ive addressed each of your questions below, but wanted to state upfront that while we are continuing our application for the mine permit, we are still evaluating the feasibility of this project at the Nazareth cement facility, the spokesman, Jeff Sieg, said by email. In the normal course of our business we explore a variety of options to secure additional reserves to extend the longevity of our operations. This project and mining permit application represents one potential way for us to do that at the Nazareth property. Also, this permit modification was started prior to Lehigh Hanson acquiring the plant in 2016.

Lehigh Cement was created in 2016 when Lehigh Hanson acquired Essroc Cement Corp. from Italcementi S.p.A. in a $4.2 billion deal.

The application deals with Lehigh Cements quarry operations at its Nazareth Plants II and III, which supply limestone for cement produced across the borough at the Nazareth Plant I along Route 248 in Lower Nazareth Township.

The Nazareth Plant II and III quarry activities total 208.7 acres now, according to the permit application; there is a proposed 68.7-acre increase to 277.4 acres of quarry mining activity, representing a 33 percent increase in the area being mined.

The mine permit is being expanded to connect two previously separate mine permits, Sieg explained. The additional area is currently permitted as a support area for our mine operations and has both processing equipment for clinker grinding, infrastructure components (sanitary sewer, storm water piping, settling basins, cooling ponds, electric transmission and distribution lines); a portion to the west that is unoccupied gives us the greatest opportunity to uncover limestone reserves.

He added that it is unlikely we would mine all the areas.

Sieg also elaborated on Lehigh Cements plans to demolish Nazareth Plants II and III structures as part of the expansion.

There are 44,699 cubic yards of overburden or non-cement grade stone underlying the existing structures that can be used for reclamation and slope stabilization, he wrote.

Here are Siegs other responses to questions submitted last week:

What is the timeline for this expansion?

If the company decides to pursue this project, it will most likely be implemented in multiple phases over several years.

Can you say how much Lehigh Cement Co. LLC is investing in this expansion?

Its too early to estimate the costs associated with this project.

How long into the future is this expansion projected to meet the needs of the two plants?

There are about 25 million metric tons of high- and low-grade cement stone within the proposed expansion area with an estimated utilization of approximately 1.8 million metric tons per year.

Do you know when the last quarry expansion occurred for the Nazareth Plants II and III?

Quarry III has been permitted to its existing limits since 1976. Quarry II has been permitted to its existing limits since 1978.

The DEP is accepting written comments, objections or a request for public hearing or informal conference on the proposed expansion until Dec. 28. They may be sent to: PA DEP, Pottsville District Mining Office, 5 W. Laurel Blvd., Pottsville, PA 17901 and must include the commenters name, address, telephone number, and a brief statement on the nature of any objection.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.A second U.S. service member from Pennsylvania has died of wounds suffered last week in Afghanistan.

Four troops in all died of injuries from an improvised explosive device on Nov. 27 in Andar District, Ghazni Province, Afghanistan, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.

Army Sgt. Jason Mitchell McClary, 24, from Export in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, died Sunday in Landstuhl, Germany.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Dylan J. Elchin, 25, of Hookstown in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, was among the three troops whose deaths were announced immediately following the explosion.

The other two also served in the Army and were identified as Capt. Andrew Patrick Ross, 29, of Lexington, Virginia, and Sgt. 1st Class Eric Michael Emond, 39, of Brush Prairie, Washington.

McClary was assigned to 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colorado.

Elchin was assigned to the 26th Special Tactics Squadron at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico.

Ross and Emond were assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Elchin had deployed in August. He was embedded with a U.S. Army Special Operations Force Operational Detachment-Alpha team, according to the Air Force. His role included advising the Ground Force commander, directing close air support aircraft, and delivering destructive ordnance on enemy targets in support of offensive operations, the Air Force said.

Elchin, a 2012 graduate of Hopewell High School, planned on marrying Jordan Stigers after he returned to the United States in late January or early February. They had met while he was training in Las Vegas, where she is from, according to a survivor of Elchins. He said the couple wanted to get married in Tahiti then return to the U.S. for another celebration.

McClary leaves behind a wife, Lillie, and two sons under the age of 3, according to WTAE Action News 4.

He over-spoiled them. He over-loved them, Lillie McClary reportedly told WTAE in Pittsburgh. He would go into their room and take them out of their bed and bring them into our bed, and he was absolutely fantastic, and he was so nervous about the idea of having kids, but as soon as we had them it was so natural for him.

The four casualties were in Afghanistan to support Operation Freedoms Sentinel. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying a U.S. tank was destroyed. The military said three other service members as well as an American contractor were injured and that the incident remained under investigation.

The attack appeared to be the deadliest against American forces since June 2017, when an Afghan army soldier killed three U.S. soldiers in an insider attack. The Taliban also claimed responsibility for that attack.

The U.S. and NATO formally concluded their combat mission in Afghanistan in 2014, but still provide close support to Afghan forces and carry out counter-terrorism operations. About 15,000 American forces are currently serving in Afghanistan.

The Associated Press contributed to this report with information from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.Four illegal immigrants were arrested in Laois on Monday night after coming from Spain to Ireland.

Gardai have said that the four males got out of the back of a lorry at the motorway filling station at Grantstown after they entered the country at Rinaskiddy, Cork.

A garda spokesperson told the Leinster Express that the arrests were made at 10.30pm on Monday night in Ballacolla.

"Gardai arrested four Non-National males in their 20s for immigration offences in Ballacolla, Co. Laois. All four males were arrested and brought to the Bridewell Garda Station Co. Cork. Investigations are ongoing," gardai said.

All four adult males have been taken back to Cork where they have now requested asylum.

This is the second time an incident like this has happened in Laois this year. In August, five men ran into the Laois countryside at Straboe/The Rock rural area near Mountmellick after being found hiding in a truck after coming through Rosslare from Spain through France. Investigations are ongoing.A Portlaoise school ranks as one of the most 'improved' in the country, according to the latest third level feeder schools league tables.

The rate of entry of girls attending Scoil Chriost Ri girls secondary school in Portlaoise to universities and colleges has risen by a quarter over the past six years.

In 2012, 69 pupils sat the Leaving Cert at the school with just over half achieving the points needed to get places at third level. By 2018, nearly 80 per cent of 147 Chriost Ri students had won places in college.

The 25% improvement was enough to see the Portlaoise school included in an Irish Times Improved Schools table 2012-2018. Scoil Chriost Ri ranked joint 13th of 64 schools on the list.

In 2018, a total of 113 students Scoil Chriost Ri pupils went on to universities, institutes of technology or other third-level centres. More pupils from the school went onto third level from the school than any other secondary school in Laois. Of them, 57 went to university with the remainder going to institutes or other colleges.

The league tables also show that just over 70% of pupils who attended Laois schools took up places in third level education in 2018.

Carlow Institute of Technology and the University of Limerick are the most popular choices among students who attended Laois schools.A Portlaoise business centre that was budgeted to cost 1.3 million over the next three years has received a major set back as its first grant application was unsuccessful.

The Portlaoise co-working centre also called The Cube is being developed by Laois County Council to provide a digital innovation working space to support new businesses and create jobs in the county.

The council applied to Enterprise Irelands Regional Enterprise Development Fund for cash to provide the physical environment needed for people seeking business supports like networking and mentorship.

It was revealed on Monday that the grant application was not successful, putting a halt to the plans to generate business and create jobs in the town centre.

In Laois County Council's Capital Indicative Programme 2019 - 2021 1.37 million is allocated to the business centre over three years.

It was planned that The Cube would be in a leased glass-fronted office block on Church Street in Portlaoise, beside the former CBS on Tower Hill, however, these plans are now delayed.

The glass building at Church Street near the train station was built in 2012 and has been derelict for a number of years.

Director of Services at Laois County Council, Kieran Kehoe, had outlined the enterprise office's plan for the cube, at the November council meeting.

"This would be a digital hub with 1000 square metres over three floors, with a hot desk area and reception on the ground floor, shared office on the first floor, and an anchor tenant on the third floor. The building is vacant and almost derelict. This forms a central part of our aim to bring in jobs to the town centre. There is no lease signed until we get funding," he said.

This comes as the space for businesses at Portlaoise Enterprise Centre has reached its full capacity.

Denise Rainey is a Business Development Officer in the Business Support Unit at Laois County Council. She described the plan for the jobs hub in more detail.

Laois County Council has applied for funding to develop 'The Cube', a digital/innovation hub/co-working space which will have a strong focus on strengthening the innovation ecosystem in Laois, facilitating entrepreneurial growth and job creation.

The Cube will provide the physical environment with required business supports and networking, inclusive of mentorship, incubation, collaboration and business development under one, she said.

Laois County Council will look at re-submitting their application, based on feedback received from Enterprise Ireland.

While Portlaoise will have to wait for its digital-focused business centre, Mountmellick has secured the cash to plough ahead with its plans for a similar development.

Mountmellick Development Association has successfully secured 218,200 Enterprise Ireland grant funding to set up the Beale Centre for Business Excellence.

The facility will be a boost to local employment, with open plan hot desks, office pods, meeting, teleconferencing rooms and state of the art commercial kitchens.Three Kildare schools share joint top of the league in the list of Kildare feeder schools with a 100 per cent record for students going on to third level.

All students who sat the Leaving Cert in 2018 from St Woltans Community School in Celbridge, Clongowes Wood College in Clane and Newbridge College went on to third level.

Maynooth University is the top choice with the majority of the students all opting to go there.

CBS Iognaid Ris in Naas is second in the league table of 25 Kildare schools with 96 per cent of students heading to third level as per the Irish Independents 2018 school league table, which is out today.

DIT was the preferred choice followed by Maynooth for CBS Iognaid Ris, Naas.

Gael Cholaiste Chill Dara, The Curragh came in third place with a 93 per cent third level rating.

Trinity and Maynooth university was the preferred choice for the majority of them.

The Salesian Secondary School in Celbridge came fourth with a 92 per cent rating out of the 88 pupils who sat this years Leaving Cert. A total of 34 of them opted for Maynooth University, followed by 12 going to DIT.

In fifth place is Scoil Dara Kilcock with 88 per cent of the 85 students going onto college. A total of 28 of these are going to Maynooth University.

Maynooth Post-Primary School had the highest number of students sitting the Leaving Cert with 213 students. Out of these 87 per cent chose to go on to third level.

The most popular choice for third level options this year from Kildare schools is Maynooth University, followed by UCD, DCU, and Carlow IT.

A total of 58 students sat the Leaving Cert in St Pauls in Monasterevin and out of these 62 per cent went on third level. Kildare Town Community College hada 66 per cent rate of the 107 pupils who sat the exam off to college.

It is important to note that the league table figures do not include the many school leavers from Kildare who went into further education such as PLC courses or apprentices.

The Post Primary school in the Curragh was at the bottom of the league with 27 per cent of its 33 students going to thirdlevel, up from 14 per cent last year.Nursing home proprietor Ellen Dillon has been honoured by the industrys representative body.

Known to many people as Nellie Dillon, she established her first nursing home in Newbridge in 1977.

And at the time it was the second nursing home in County Kildare.

Ms. Dillon has owned Larchfield Park Nursing Home off Monread Road, Naas, since 1989.

When it opened it had 42 residents and this has now grown to some 75 residents.

She has been a very well regarded employer in Naas for three decades and the business currently employs over 90 staff.

Her daughter Sara now manages the day to day running of the nursing home but Ellen retains an active role on the management team.

Ms. Dillon was one of the founders of the nursing homes association in Ireland, now Nursing Homes Ireland.

She worked tirelessly for the organisation for the past 41 years. She was associated with the implementation of the Nursing Homes Act 1990, which among other things provided for the registration and regulation of nursing homes.

Ellen has brought tremendous passion to the care of the older person, she has always promoted high standards of care and was always at the forefront of projecting the industry in a positive light.

Ellen was awarded the NHI lifetime achievement award  which is made annually  at the NHI annual awards in the Citywest Hotel in November. It was presented for her outstanding contribution to the Irish nursing homes sector.

NHI is committed to ensuring the lives of older persons in the 4 private and voluntary nursing homes across the country are enhanced and fulfilled.A Finnish pop star appeared in Athy this afternoon as the latest recipient of a Made of Athy commemorative plaque.

Erin Helena Maureen Antilla (nee Koivisto) is the daughter of Christine, who was the daughter of Paddy and Molly Cullen of Rathconnell, Fontstown.

They emigrated to London where their daughter Christine met Erins father, Pertti Koivisto, a Finn who had also emigrated to London.

Erin formed asuccessful duo Nylon Beat with her best friend Jonna Kosonen and dominated the Finnish charts in the late 1990s and early 2000s before going on to have a successful solo career.

She told the Leinster Leader that she found her visit to Athy very emotional.

She sang in Paddy Dunnes Pub, Athy and pulled a pint. Dunnes was picked, she said, because it was where my father and grandfather used to drink together.

WATCH: Finnish popstar Erin celebrates her Kildare roots

My grandfather told jokes that my father didnt understand!

She said she was overwhelmed by the experience and the number of people who turned up to celebrate the plaque unveiling.

She has lived in and visited several parts of Ireland over the years, and said she was likely to visit Athy more often now that I have a plaque to my name and free Guinness!

SEE ALSO: Kildare performer getting set for special Prince Harry and Megan Markle gigA 23-year-old Romanian national who pleaded guilty to driving at 184kph on the N7 at Blackchurch, Kill, was fined 750 and disqualified from driving for two years.

The driver, Adam Marin, of 7 The Courtyard, College Wood Manor, Clane, was found travelling in the 100kph zone at 1.50am in the morning of March 29 this year.

Has he a death wish? asked Judge Desmond Zaidan at Naas District Court last week.

David Powderly, solicitor, said Mr Marin had got a call from a relative.

The message was that an aunt had been taken to hospital in an ambulance in emergency circumstances in Kilkenny.

Mr Marin was on his way there at the time he was caught speeding.

Judge Zaidan responded that the man might have ended up in an ambulance himself because of his driving.

Garda Sgt Jim Kelly, prosecuting, said Mr Marin had no previous convictions and was very cooperative when stopped.

Mr Powderly said his client was in a panic and quite oblivious to speed under the circumstances.

The solicitor asked the judge to consider reducing the charge to careless driving from dangerous driving.

This would mean that the court would not be obliged to to ban him from driving upon conviction.

Judge Zaidan said he might have considered that if the speed was 150/160 kph. This was not 60kph in a 50kph zone. It was 184 kph in a 100kph zone.

The judge said he would not jail Mr Marin.A LIMERICK man who is accused of murdering a Romanian man in the city last year, told gardai that if he had stopped f***ing annoying me, it wouldnt have happened.

Desmond Coyle, aged 60, who is originally from Garryowen but who was living at Davis Street, had explained that he had gone to the mans house with a knife to stop him demanding money off him.

He has pleaded not guilty to murdering Calo Carpaci, 58, at Roches Row (between Roches Street and Thomas Street) on May 24, 2017.

In evidence at the Central Criminal Court this Tuesday, Detective Garda David Baynham told Lily Buckley BL, prosecuting, that he had interviewed the accused following the fatal stabbing.

He testified that Mr Coyle had said hed gone there that day to stop him demanding money off me and making smart-alecky comments.

However, he said that he didnt remember going there or bringing the knife, but that he must have. He did not know why he had chosen that particular day.

He opened the door and came out very fast. Thats all I remember, he said. He had fallen down and was bleeding.

He was asked why.

Because the knife obviously went into him, he replied. I had the knife in my hand. I dont know if he came onto it or I put it in him.

It was put to him that the reality was that, if he hadnt gone there with the knife, the man would still be alive.

I understand, he replied. I know the reality is that if he had stopped f***ing annoying me, it wouldnt have happened either.

The jury has also heard from Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis. He said he had carried out the post-mortem exam on the deceased.

He gave the cause of his death as a single stab wound to the chest, which had penetrated and gone all the way through the heart.

The trial continues before Mr Justice Michael White and a jury of seven men and five women.THE Head of the Limerick garda division has praised the outstanding contributions which are being made by young people in communities across Limerick.

Chief Superintendent Gerard Roche was speaking at the Limerick Garda Youth Awards, which saw a number of young people and several youth groups honoured.

Youth participation is the key to everything, its the future of Ireland and these are all young people who are leading the way in their communities  the projects they are involved in are absolutely fantastic, said Chief Supt Roche.

Sponsored by Garveys Supervalu and Centra, the awards aim to honour young people, who have made a significant contribution in their local community.

Its fantastic, its a privilege to be involved in such a great event. The standard is rising every year and the talent this year is unbelievable and it was actually very hard to make calls on some of the outstanding contributions and several people who were left out were probably hard done by, said Gerard Walsh, manager of Garveys Supervalu, Corbally.

Assistant Commissioner Anne Marie McMahon attended the awards ceremony at the Woodlands House Hotel, Adare as did representatives of the Policing Authority and the Health Service Executive.

Awards were presented to young people and students from each of the four garda districts in the Limerick division in recognition of a variety of accomplishments, projects and good deeds.

- For more, see the weekend edition of the Limerick Leader broadsheet, out on ThursdayTOP Irish band Bell X1 are to return to Limerick for a major outdoor show in 2019.

Bell X1 will return to King Johns Castle for a gig on Saturday, July 20, 2019  scene of a sold out show at the same venue earlier this summer.

Bookers Dolans Presents said they were delighted to announce, due to popular demand, the return of Irish legends Bell X1 to King Johns Castle in 2019.

It will be one of a very limited number of shows Bell X1 will perform as a full band in Ireland in 2019.

This Tuesdays announcement from Dolans Presents, in association with Shannon Heritage, comes on the back of recent sell-out performances at the 2,000 capacity 13th Century castle which included big names such as The Coronas, Hermitage Green, Walking on Cars, Imelda May and Gavin James.

Mick Dolan said: King Johns Castle is now firmly established as a truly iconic venue for hosting music concerts. Working with Shannon Heritage, it has been a true pleasure to continue to bring some of the leading acts on the Irish music scene to this very special venue.

Bell X1 have proved to be immensely popular among Limerick audiences. Their gigs never fail to impress and we are looking forward to welcoming them back next July, he added.

Welcoming the announcement Niall OCallaghan, Managing Director, Shannon Heritage said: Shannon Heritage is delighted to have Bell X1 back for what promises to be another magical concert at Limericks cultural centrepiece, King Johns Castle. The natural amphitheatre of the Castle has fast become a crowd favourite and we are delighted to once again be partnering with Dolans for our fourth Live At King Johns Castle series.

Securing Bell X1 to perform at the Castle is fantastic and will draw people from all over Ireland to the Medieval Quarter of Limerick which is great for local businesses and music fans alike.

We are looking forward to welcoming the 2,000 people lucky enough to secure tickets for what we know will be a unique and memorable occasion, he added.

Known for their musical versatility and experimentation, Bell X1s seven studio albums have incorporated a variety of styles, four of which have picked up Choice Music Prize nominations, with three number one selling albums.

This year marks the end of a year of celebrations which saw the band perform five sell-out concerts at Vicar Street in Dublin as part of their celebration of 20 years of the band, as well as taking to the stage in King Johns Castle in May for a major gig on the Riverfest weekend.

One of Irelands most treasured bands, they performed a special greatest hits set that will encompass two decades of incredible songs.

Bell X1 released their highly acclaimed seventh studio album Arms last year and have spent time since touring in America and Australia.

They are due to play an intimate, sold-out acoustic-ish show at the Lime Tree Theatre in February ahead of the King Johns Castle gig, tickets for which go on sale this Friday, December 7 at 9am, priced at 35, from www.dolans.ie and ticketmaster.ie.A sawn-off shotgun can have no legitimate purpose, according to the Court of Appeal in upholding seven year sentences for two men caught on IRA activity in County Limerick.

Dublin men Conor Hughes, 41, with an address at Goatstown Close in Goatstown and Darren Fox, 28, of Coolevin in Ballybrack both pleaded guilty to the unlawful possession of a Winchester 12-gauge, sawn-off, double-barrel side-by-side shotgun and two 12-gauge shotgun cartridges at Kyletaun, Rathkeale, on October 31, 2015.

The non-jury Special Criminal Court heard that the men were intercepted by members of the Gardas Emergency Response Unit in a stolen car which had travelled from Adare. They were wearing gloves and each had a hoodie pulled tightly over his head.

A loaded sawn-off shotgun, described as ready to go, was found in the front of the vehicle. Its serial number had been removed. Also within the vehicle was a jerry can containing petrol and a quantity of matches.

Both men had good working histories and no previous convictions of a substantive nature.

The three-judge Special Criminal Court sentenced the men to seven years imprisonment on October 2, 2017, which was upheld by the Court of Appeal this Tuesday.

President of the Court of Appeal Mr Justice George Birmingham said the mens headline sentences of 10 years, on pleas of guilty, were at the higher end of the spectrum.

However, they were not so severe that they required intervention, the court concluded.

Mr Justice Birmingham said there were many factors present which meant this was a particularly serious case.

These included the nature of the weapon, a sawn-off shotgun, which can have no legitimate purpose; the fact the weapon was loaded and ready to go; the fact it was being carried in a vehicle stolen earlier and that the activity interrupted by gardai was in furtherance of the aims of the illegal organisation that was the IRA and the intention of that organisation to effect an event that evening.

Mr Justice Birmingham, who sat with Mr Justice John Edwards and Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy, said the court could not conclude that the sentences fell outside the available range. Rather, the outcome arrived at by the Special Criminal Court was a proportionate one, he said.

The appeal was therefore dismissed.LIMERICKS local authority has confirmed that it is stepping up efforts to combat dereliction in the city and county.

Limerick City and County Council is to issue Compulsory Purchase Orders on eight derelict sites, including both residential and commercial properties, it confirmed this Tuesday evening.

It said the move signalled a significant intensification of its ongoing efforts to tackle dereliction in the city and county, with the publication of notice of its intention to compulsorily acquire eight derelict properties under the derelict sites and housing acts.

The Limerick Leader revealed recently that a block of vacant properties on Catherine Street had been added to the Vacant Sites Register.

The Council has also published confirmation notices of the completed compulsory acquisition on a further two derelict properties.

The Council said the proposed acquisitions under the Derelict sites Act 1990 and the Housing Act 1966 were part of an intensive ongoing programme to deal with dereliction across the city and the towns and villages in county Limerick.

In 2018 the Council completed over 500 inspections of derelict properties. The Council acknowledges the property owners who have engaged with them and addressed any dereliction issues associated with their properties, said a spokesperson.

The Council also has powers to impose a derelict sites levy. In early 2019, it will use its powers to impose this levy on further additional derelict sites. This annual levy is due to rise in 2019 from 3 per cent to 7 per cent of market value, the spokesperson added.

Generally compulsory acquisitions arise when the owner of a derelict property is unknown, where there are title issues with the property or where the owner does not adequately respond to requests by the Council over a prolonged period to address dereliction.

Gordon Daly, Director of Services, Limerick City and County Council advised that owners of derelict properties are first offered advice on how to deal with their derelict properties and a range of options including the Lease and Repair Scheme, Buy and Renew Scheme and the Business Retail Incentive Scheme.

Our message to communities is that we are listening to your concerns on dereliction and we are stepping up our efforts to deal with this issue across the city and county, he said.

Our message to owners of derelict properties is simple: Please engage with the Council or if not it will use the full range of statutory powers available to it including the imposition of levies and compulsory acquisition, he added.A helicopter team counting caribou in British Columbia, Canada, recently made an unexpected discovery during an aerial survey: Crewmembers spied an opening to a massive cave that had never been seen before and which might be the largest cave in the country.

Found in April in an alpine valley in Wells Gray Provincial Park, the cave's mouth gapes 328 feet (100 meters) across  if the Statue of Liberty were tipped over on its side, it would just about span the opening. The width of the cave is similarly impressive, measuring 197 feet (60 m), and the cave extends at least 443 feet (135 m) straight down, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reported.

A biologist with the helicopter crew that spotted the sizable opening dubbed it "Sarlacc's Pit," after the lair that housed the predatory sarlacc in the "Star Wars" movie "Return of the Jedi," according to the CBC. The deep and wide cave was probably hollowed out by glaciers over tens of thousands of years, and it gradually became exposed to the sky after the glaciers receded. [Photos: Amazing Caves Around the World]

While researchers have yet to thoroughly explore the site, a preliminary investigation in September hinted that the cave was "of national significance," Canadian Geographic reported.

"The scale of this thing is just huge and about as big as they come in Canada," archaeological surveyor John Pollack, one of the researchers who explored the cave, told Canadian Geographic.

During that expedition, a breathtaking view of the vast cave was captured in aerial footage by geologist Catherine Hickson, an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia in the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, according to the National Post.

The video was shared to YouTube on Nov. 30 by Canadian Geographic. Seen from the air, the cave resembles a giant bite taken out of the hillside. Steep, rocky walls plunge downward, and a waterfall cascades more than 525 feet (60 m) over the edge.

After rushing water tumbles over the precipice into the cave's depths, it likely flows into a subterranean river that emerges above ground 6,890 feet (2,100 m) away, at an elevation that's about 1,640 feet (500 m) lower than the water's entry point, Pollack told Canadian Geographic. This hints at the length of the underground chambers in the cave, he explained.

While the unofficial name "Sarlacc Pit" certainly holds appeal for "Star Wars" fans, British Columbia province representatives will be working closely with First Nations people in the region to find out if there is an existing indigenous name for the cave, Canadian Geographic reported. Further investigation of the cave will take place in 2020, Hickson told CBC.

In Photos: Scotland's Cave of the Dead

In Photos: Stunning Stalagmite Structures Discovered in French Cave

In Photos: The World's Oldest Cave Art

Original article on Live Science.A Falcon 9 rocket with a twice-flown first stage lifted off from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base today (Dec. 3) at 1:31 p.m. EST (1831 GMT; 10:31 a.m. local California time), carrying 64 tiny satellites to orbit.

SpaceX has re-flown used first stages many times, but today's launch marked the first time a booster had ever propelled payloads to orbit on three separate occasions. The success is therefore an important milestone for SpaceX, which aims to fly all its vehicles repeatedly and frequently. Such rapid reuse could slash the cost of spaceflight, opening the heavens to exploration, company founder and CEO Elon Musk has said. [Launch Photos: SpaceX Falcon 9 Lofts 64 Satellites (and Lands) on Historic 3rd Flight]

And this particular first stage could conceivably fly yet again. The booster stuck its landing today, touching down softly about 8 minutes after liftoff on the SpaceX drone ship "Just Read the Instructions," which was stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

SpaceX also attempted to catch the rocket's payload fairing  the protective nose cone that surrounds satellites during launch  today with its net-equipped boat, Mr. Steven. (Falcon 9 fairings fall back to Earth in two pieces, each under parachute.) The attempt was unsuccessful, as Mr. Steven's several prior tries have also been. But SpaceX still plans to reuse the fairing, which cost about $6 million to manufacture, Musk said via Twitter today.

"Falcon fairing halves missed the net, but touched down softly in the water. Mr. Steven is picking them up. Plan is to dry them out & launch again. Nothing wrong with a little swim," Musk tweeted.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Dec. 3, 2018, carrying 64 satellites to orbit on the SSO-A: Smallsat Express mission. (Image credit: SpaceX)

Today's mission, called "SSO-A: SmallSat Express," set three other records as well, as noted by Florida Today's Emre Kelly. For example, the Falcon 9 first stage became the first booster to lift off from all three currently operational SpaceX orbital launch sites. The first stage helped launched Bangladesh's Bangabandhu Satellite-1 from Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) this past May, and it lofted the Merah Putih spacecraft from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in August. (KSC and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station are next-door neighbors on Florida's Space Coast.)

SSO-A, which was organized by the Seattle-based company Spaceflight, was also SpaceX's 19th successful orbital launch of 2018. The company's previous high for a single year was 18, set last year.

And then there are those 64 satellites  the most spacecraft ever launched to orbit atop a single rocket from American soil. (The international record is 104, set in February 2017 by India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, or PSLV.)

If all goes according to plan, all 64 spacecraft will separate from the Falcon 9's second stage less than 45 minutes after today's liftoff (though 60 will still be aboard two Spaceflight "free flyers," from which they will deploy over the next four hours). These new denizens of Earth orbit are a diverse and interesting lot. One of the cubesats, called Enoch, carries a golden "canopic jar" containing a bust of Robert H. Lawrence Jr., the first African-American astronaut. (He never made it to space, dying tragically in a training-flight accident in December 1967 at age 32.)

Then there's another art project, known as Orbital Reflector. The satellite will deploy a shiny, self-inflating sculpture designed to catch the sun and draw skyward the eyes of millions of people down here on Earth. Orbital Reflector is a temporary installation; it will get dragged back into Earth's atmosphere and burn up within a few weeks, project team members have said.

Also aboard is the Elysium Star 2 cubesat, which is owned by the San Francisco-based startup Elysium Space. Elysium Star 2 is carrying the cremated remains of customers who paid (or whose friends or family paid) $2,490 for a "shooting star memorial"  basically, the chance for bits of yourself to be turned into meteors streaking across the sky. If Elysium Star 2 works as planned, it will be Elysium Space's first successful orbital mission.

There are also more "traditional" cubesats, including three more "Dove" Earth-observing craft built by the prolific San Francisco company Planet. Sixteen Doves also launched last week aboard a PSLV, which lofted a total of 31 satellites.

The 64 SSO-A satellites consist of 49 cubesats and 15 "microsats," according to a Spaceflight mission description. More than two dozen of these spacecraft were provided by international organizations, which together involved a total of 17 countries, Spaceflight representatives said.

Many of the payloads were developed by university groups, and a few were even built by high-school teams.

Today's launch had been slated for mid-November, but it was delayed several times so SpaceX could perform additional checks on the rocket, and to wait for high winds over Vandenberg to die down.

This story was updated at 2:55 p.m. EST to include information about Mr. Steven's attempt to capture the Falcon 9's falling payload fairing today.

Mike Wall's book about the search for alien life, "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate) is out now. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us @Spacedotcom or Facebook. Originally published on Space.com.NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft sidled up to the diamond-shaped asteroid Bennu today (Dec. 3) at about 12 p.m. EST (1700 GMT), wrapping up a circuitous cosmic chase that lasted 27 months.

"Achievement unlocked: 'We have arrived!'" NASA officials said via Twitter today. [OSIRIS-REx: NASA's Asteroid Sample-Return Mission in Pictures]

NASAs OSIRIS-REx spacecraft captured this photo of the asteroid Bennu on Nov. 16, 2018, from a distance of 85 miles (136 kilometers). OSIRIS-REx arrived at the space rock on Dec. 3. (Image credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona)

OSIRIS-REx is now less than 12 miles (20 km) from Bennu, but the probe is flying along with the space rock rather than orbiting it. Orbital insertion won't come until Dec. 31, after OSIRIS-REx has performed a series of flybys that will bring the probe to within just 4.3 miles (7 km) or so of Bennu's boulder-strewn surface.

During these close encounters, OSIRIS-REx will study Bennu in depth, allowing team members to nail down the 1,650-foot-wide (500 meters) asteroid's mass and precise shape.

"It's really important for us to spend some time gathering that data and making sure that the assumptions we have going into orbit are correct, to reduce the risk of having an inaccurate insertion," OSIRIS-REx Deputy Principal Investigator Heather Enos, of the University of Arizona, told Space.com.

That orbital insertion will be another groundbreaking moment. For starters, no spacecraft has ever circled an object as small as Bennu. And OSIRIS-REx will get very close, slipping into an orbit just 1 mile (1.6 km) above the space rock on Dec. 31.

"We're going to set a record for the closest distance that a spacecraft ever orbited a small body," Enos said. "So, we don't take that lightly, and we do need to do things methodically."

Orbital insertion, by the way, will occur just one day before NASA's New Horizons probe makes its epic flyby of the frigid, faraway object Ultima Thule. (Happy New Year!)

A long haul

The $800 million OSIRIS-REx mission launched on Sept. 8, 2016, then returned for a speed-boosting "gravity assist" flyby of Earth almost exactly one year later. The probe has been closing the gap on Bennu ever since, during a space chase covering more than 1.25 billion miles (2.03 billion km).

OSIRIS-REx will collect a variety of scientific data over the coming months. But the spacecraft will also do quite a bit of scouting work, looking for the best place for swoop down and snag at least 2.1 ounces (60 grams) of Bennu material.

An artists illustration of NASAs OSIRIS-REx spacecraft approaching the asteroid Bennu. (Image credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona)

This sample-collection maneuver is scheduled to occur in July 2020. If all goes according to plan, OSIRIS-REx will depart Bennu in March 2021, and the sample will come down to Earth in a special return capsule in September 2023.

The Bennu bits will be the largest celestial sample brought to Earth by a space mission since the Apollo era, when NASA astronauts lugged hundreds of pounds of moon rocks back to their home planet.

Researchers in labs around the globe will then scrutinize the material, searching for clues about the early history of the solar system, and the role that carbon-rich asteroids such as Bennu may have played in helping life get started on Earth long ago (by delivering water and organic chemicals, the building blocks of life as we know it).

And there's no telling what other discoveries may come from such sample study, mission team members have said.

Sample return "is the gift that keeps on giving," Enos said. Scientists are still poring over the Apollo rocks, more than 45 years after the last of them came to Earth, she noted. [Lunar Legacy: 45 Apollo Moon Mission Photos]

"We just keep improving our analytical skills to take things to the subatomic level and really dissect them, so to speak," Enos said.

Many mission goals

OSIRIS-REx has many subsidiary goals in addition to the main objective outlined above. Such diversity and ambition are apparent in the mission's full name: "Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer."

For example, OSIRIS-REx's data should shed light on the resource potential of Bennu-like asteroids, providing data of interest to space miners and the human-spaceflight community, mission team members have said. (NASA officials and exploration advocates have stressed the importance of exploiting in-space resources, such as water ice, for humanity's sustained expansion out into the solar system.)

And then there's the "security" component. OSIRIS-REx's measurements at Bennu should help scientists better understand how solar heating  or, more precisely, the asymmetrical emission of absorbed solar radiation  can affect asteroids' paths through space. Such information could lead to more-accurate predictions of where potentially hazardous space rocks may be headed, OSIRIS-REx team members have said.

Bennu itself falls into this category: There's a very slight chance that the space rock could slam into our planet in the late 22nd century.

Asteroids are fascinating for lots of reasons. They contain a variety of valuable resources and slam into our planet on a regular basis, occasionally snuffing out most of Earth's lifeforms. How much do you know about space rocks?

Asteroid Basics: A Space Rock Quiz

Working together

OSIRIS-REx, which was built by aerospace company Lockheed Martin, isn't the only spacecraft exploring a near-Earth asteroid right now. Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft has been orbiting the 3,000-foot-wide (900 m) space rock Ryugu  which shares Bennu's diamond shape  since June and has even dropped a handful of miniprobes onto the asteroid's surface.

Hayabusa2 is also a sample-return mission; the probe's return capsule is scheduled to come down to Earth in December 2020.

The OSIRIS-REx and Hayabusa2 teams have already been working together, and the collaboration will continue through sample collection, return and analysis. NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency have agreed to share samples with each other, Enos said.

"I think that we're really lucky in the science community and the planetary-exploration community to have two missions going on at the same time," she said.

"And although we have a lot of similarities with Hayabusa2, our asteroids are considered to be a very different composition," Enos added. "That in itself is really puzzling and will be exciting to explore."

Mike Wall's book about the search for alien life, "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate) is out now. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us @Spacedotcom or Facebook. Originally published on Space.com.For six decades, Carol Schuldt plunged barely clad into the water off Ocean Beach, befriended mixed-up youngsters and swore like a stevedore.

They called her Schultzie and also the Queen of the Beach  among other things. She was a free spirit and proud of it.

They called me a crazy lady, she told an interviewer years ago.  I would jump in the ocean and throw my clothes off. I was the first hippie. Bodysurfing, being close to nature, that was my path.

Schuldt died Saturday in her mural-covered San Francisco home, only a short walk from the ocean. She was 85 and had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and heart failure.

A native of San Francisco, Schuldt attended Lowell High School, crewed on tuna fishing boats, drove a jitney, worked on an Idaho ranch, played the piano in a North Beach nightclub, bicycled the California coast and attended Beat Generation poetry readings.

In the afternoons, she began spending more and more afternoons at Kellys Cove, the area at the north end of Ocean Beach, below the Cliff House, known for being an early hangout for bodybuilders and surfers.

She and her friends said they were among the first to popularize bonfires at Ocean Beach.

We were purple and freezing. In those days the water was colder. We never brought any wood. It was all driftwood. That was part of our ritual, Schuldt said in an oral history recorded by the Western Neighborhoods Project. Theyve proved that water has a memory and a mojo. In those days, there was none of this science like there is now.

If the water has a memory, it doubtless recalls the sand-covered, sandy-haired woman who would emerge from the Pacific Ocean most afternoons and chat in colorful language with other beachgoers, many of them youngsters who were between jobs, homes and schools. Many such people found a meal and a temporary home with the woman they called Schultzie.

Whether it was eating natural foods, railing against conventionality or keeping a compost pile, Schuldt in the 1960s seemed to be ahead of the curve.

She would call things phony and a bunch of crap, recalled her friend Miner Lowe of San Francisco, who met her in the 1960s when he was learning to surf.

I first noticed her coming out of the water, and she was dressed in a scarf, Lowe said. She was unique. A rebel. A dropout. She shunned all conventionality. ... She had a vocabulary like Tugboat Annie. And she had a strong, robust sense of excitement for life.

Over the decades, San Francisco changed, but the Queen of the Beach didnt seem to. She kept bodysurfing well into her 80s, holding court in front of her beachfront house with anyone who would listen and talking fondly of how things once were.

The 60s were so colorful, so much fun, she told a San Francisco Public Library oral historian in 2005. Now theres technology  people into their body and looks. Things in your ears. Computers. Its not as much fun as it used to be.

Asked for advice, the Queen of the Beach would invariably reply, Stay close to nature; stay close to the Earth.

And dont forget this, she would add, tapping her heart.

She is survived by her longtime partner, Tamby Tavasieff of Woodacre; her son, Peter Tavasieff; and her daughters, Celeste Tavasieff and Simone Tavasieff, all of San Francisco. A graveside service will be held on Saturday at 2 p.m., at Purissima Cemetery, 1165 Verde Road, Half Moon Bay.

Steve Rubenstein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: srubenstein@sfchronicle.comConstruction crews widening a Mission Bay platform to accommodate predicted crowds for the Golden State Warriors new arena in San Francisco hit a snafu over the weekend, prompting Muni to replace its trains with shuttle buses to the irritation of some commuters Tuesday.

Stronger than expected rainfall last weekend slowed down workers, who also had to navigate an abandoned duct bank and remove large rocks found in the soil during excavation, Muni spokesman Paul Rose said.

The concrete isnt solidifying as fast as we had hoped, so were continuing the bus shuttles throughout the day, Rose said.

Mondays and Tuesdays service interruptions prompted rider complaints about buses missing stops and long delays as shuttles stacked up on Third Street. Light-rail service was expected to resume Wednesday, officials said, but more commuting headaches could lie ahead. Muni plans to replace the T-Third line with shuttle buses for much of January and the entire month of February as workers finish the UCSF Mission Bay platform.

Martinez resident Rachel Kraus waited Monday morning at the Powell station for the T-Third, which she planned to take to her job at ThirdLove, a fashion retailer based in San Francisco. But the train that arrived was a K-Ingleside that deposited Kraus at the Embarcadero Station without information about the shuttle swap, she said.

There were no signs anywhere telling us where to go, Kraus said. Muni workers were just yelling at us to go to Market and Spear.

Kraus said she is not familiar with the area because she lives in the East Bay, and she didnt have time to search for the detour. She ended up hailing an Uber to get to work on Monday and Tuesday.

Supervisor Malia Cohen, who represents District 10, home to the southern half of the T-Third line, criticized Munis shuttle problems Tuesday.

They need to get larger shuttles or run the smaller shuttles more frequently. Bayview residents depend on the MTA, and issues like this exacerbate our communitys dependency on cars, Cohen said in a statement.

Gwendolyn Wu is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: gwendolyn.wu@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @gwendolynawuSan Antonio drivers are pocketing savings from falling gas prices and using the money for everything from daily needs to holiday shopping.

In the past week, the average price of a gallon of regular gas in San Antonio fell more than 9 cents to $2.05, as of Monday, according to gas price tracker GasBuddy.

Early Monday afternoon, 47-year-old Torlecsha Nolan was filling up her Honda Accord with $2-a-gallon regular at a Northeast Side Valero gas station. The San Antonio resident said she drives a lot for her family and work and that the lower pump prices help her afford the basics.

It helps me with food, clothes, hair product, stuff I need  personal items, all kinds of things, Nolan said.

Gas prices in San Antonio plunged 32 cents in the past month, while U.S. prices have gone down 31.4 cents in the same period.

Nearby Texas cities also saw price drops in the past week, with those in Austin falling 7.6 cents to $2.16 a gallon and Corpus Christi seeing a 10-cent cut to $2.10 a gallon.

Patrick DeHaan, GasBuddys head of petroleum analysis, said the fall in prices since Oct. 1 is saving U.S. drivers nearly $200 million a day.

Gas prices have plummeted along with falling oil prices, which for U.S.-produced crude oil slipped from the mid-$70s in early October to the low $50s over the past few weeks.

Crude oil prices have dropped because of slowing demand and possible global overproduction as the U.S. crude oil industry has continued to produce record levels of oil. Drillers have produced 11.7 million barrels of oil a day for the past three weeks.

DeHaan cautioned that an upcoming meeting of OPEC in which oil production cuts will be discussed may reverse the recent drop in oil prices. In that event, motorists would still likely have at least one more week of savings.

At a Shell station on the East Side, Houston resident Ramon Ramos was happy to pump gas for $1.98 a gallon. The 39-year-old had been visiting family in San Antonio and was headed home Monday morning.

Ramos said it cost $42 to fill up his Ford Taurus X SUV two months ago. Now, the cost is $34. He said the savings helps him pay for food and coffee on long trips.

I dont worry that Im going to spend a lot of money, he said.

Retiree Soledad Solis, 67, said she recently returned from vacation and found prices below $2 a gallon. Originally from California, she said the difference in prices between the Golden State and Texas is huge. GasBuddy says the average price Monday in California was $3.55 a gallon.

I even bragged to my friends in California ... Ill send you some by mail, Solis said.

Rye Druzin is a San Antonio-based staff writer covering Texas energy. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | rdruzin@express-news.net | Twitter: @druz_journo"Still Me," by British writer Jojo Moyes, is the best novel of 2018.

This is not a widely held critical opinion. In fact, I don't know (BEGIN ITAL)any(END ITAL) critics who have picked "Still Me" as their favorite book of the year, but that's entirely beside the point. More than 5 million votes were cast in the Goodreads Choice Awards, and today the people have spoken: "Still Me," the third novel of a romantic trilogy that began with "Me Before You," is the supreme work of fiction published in 2018.

The Goodreads Choice Awards - now in its 10th year - is a massive literary contest, drawing from a membership of 80 million users. (Goodreads is owned by Amazon.com, whose CEO, Jeffrey P. Bezos, owns The Washington Post.) It rivals PBS' "The Great American Read," which this fall attracted more than 4 million votes to determine the all-time favorite work of fiction in the United States. The winner in that contest, you may recall, was Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird," but No. 2 - let this sink in - was Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander" series, a fantasy-romance about a time-traveling World War II nurse in love with an 18th-century Scotsman.

Popularity contests like this are easy for book critics to dismiss, but they serve an important function: They confirm our superiority. As hoi polloi gobble up cheesy romances and corny thrillers, guardians of the literary flame rest assured that they're playing the long game, investing in the future of great art.

If we're honest, though, we devotees of obscure literary fiction should confess to deeply rooted anxiety about the standards of literary taste, about the validity of critical judgment and especially about our own relevance. It's why we've been yammering on about the essential contribution of our insights at least since Matthew Arnold published "The Function of Criticism at the Present Time" in 1865. Like faithful adherents in some millennialist cult, we wait, assured of our reward in literary heaven. Till then, we scoff at James Patterson's multiple spots on the best-seller list. We roll our eyes at Oprah. We mock the wisdom of crowds.

And, traditionally, the crowds mock us: the effete brainiacs, the absurd eggheads, the mad scientists. "Anti-intellectualism is virtually our civic religion," the critic A.O. Scott once wrote.

There must be a better way.

Yes, professional critics who read widely and with discernment contribute something valuable when they curate the best books of the year. But that needn't necessitate regarding the choices of ordinary readers with disdain. And we'd do well to remember that even the most prestigious literary awards are sometimes given to self-absorbed, desiccated books that quickly evaporate into irrelevancy. Time is ultimately the only critic whose judgment matters.

In 2003, Stephen King won a lifetime achievement award from the National Book Foundation. He was well aware that certain august literary critics - among them, Harold Bloom - thought honoring a popular horror writer was idiotic. In his acceptance speech, King pleaded for a more capacious appreciation for the wide variety of books. "Bridges can be built between the so-called popular fiction and the so-called literary fiction," he said, "... if we keep our minds and hearts open." He went on to call out the elitism of highbrow critics with one particularly devastating question: "What do you think, you get social or academic Brownie points for deliberately staying out of touch with your own culture?"

Looking at the list of Goodreads Choice Award winners (below), it's easy to feel contrary, even snobby. In almost every category that I know anything about, the voters have picked the wrong book. (Naturally, I'm working from the age-old principle that books I have read are always better than books I have not read.) "A Place for Us," by Fatima Farheen Mirza, should have won the fiction prize, right? Surely, "There There," by Tommy Orange, should have been named the best debut. And how could they have chosen King's "Elevation" as the best horror novel of the year when it's not even a horror novel? (One victory for truth and justice: "Circe," Madeline Miller's brilliant reimagining of the witch in Greek mythology, won the prize for this year's best work of fantasy.)

If there's any abiding principle behind online polls, it's that when asked to choose, users will choose, no matter how ludicrous the task. Consider the Best of the Best - a new category for the "ultimate favorite" selected from 170 Goodreads winners in all categories over the past decade. This impossible catchall contest pitted masterpieces like Colson Whitehead's "The Underground Railroad" against a graphic novel version of Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight," along with cookbooks and Instagram poetry. Ultimately, "The Hate U Give," a best-selling debut novel by YA author Angie Thomas, won the prize.

After serving as a judge on several literary contests - from the National Book Critics Circle to the Pulitzer - I've come to believe that the best measure of the legitimacy of a book prize is the vibrancy of the discussion it inspires. The terms "best," "favorite," "acclaimed" and "popular" are slippery, but they aren't useless. If awards don't tell us anything definitive about the books themselves, they certainly indicate something illuminating about the era. Notice, for instance, that 17 of this year's 21 Goodreads Choice Awards were won by women. (Ian McEwan famously observed, "When women stop reading, the novel will be dead.") The voters seem to skew younger, which is an encouraging sign. And they like propulsive, exciting stories - from Kristin Hannah's "The Great Alone" (historical fiction) to Michelle McNamara's "I'll Be Gone in the Dark" (nonfiction).

Here's a list of all the winners. Disagree, debate, even argue. After all, what else is a literary contest for?

Best of the best: "The Hate U Give," by Angie Thomas.

Fiction: "Still Me," by Jojo Moyes.

Mystery & thriller: "The Outsider," by Stephen King.

Historical fiction: "The Great Alone," by Kristin Hannah.

Fantasy: "Circe," by Madeline Miller.

Romance: "The Kiss Quotient," by Helen Hoang.

Science fiction: "Vengeful," by V.E. Schwab.

Horror: "Elevation," by Stephen King.

Humor: "The Last Black Unicorn," by Tiffany Haddish.

Nonfiction: "I'll Be Gone in the Dark," by Michelle McNamara.

Memoir & autobiography: "Educated," by Tara Westover.

History & biography: "The Good Neighbor," by Maxwell King.

Science: "The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs," by Stephen Brusatte.

Food & cookbooks: "Hungry for More," by Chrissy Teigen.

Graphic novels & comics: "Herding Cats," by Sarah Andersen.

Poetry: "The Witch Doesn't Burn in This One," by Amanda Lovelace.

Debut: "Children of Blood and Bone," by Tomi Adeyemi.

Young adult fiction: "Leah on the Offbeat," by Becky Albertalli.

Young adult fantasy & science fiction: "Kingdom of Ash," by Sarah J. Maas.

Middle grade & children's: "The Burning Maze," by Rick Riordan.

Picture books: "I Am Enough," by Grace Byers and Keturah A. Bobo.A kindergertener and a preschooler will make their Majestic Theatre debuts in a big way when the national tour of Waitress makes its San Antonio debut in January.

The little girls  Annie Crain, 5, who lives in Cuero, and Georgia Hallmark, 4, who lives in Helotes  will play the title characters daughter Lulu in a scene near the end of the musical.

Neither has been in a play before.

This will the first one, said Annies mom, Jill. Im like, Girl, its going to be kind of hard to top this one.

Each of the girls will be featured in four performances of the show, which runs Jan. 8-13. And, just like everybody else on that stage, both of the girls will be paid for their work.

The youngsters were among 37 girls who auditioned for the part on a drizzly day in November.

On ExpressNews.com: SA girls try out for Waitress

In an interview that day, Georgias mom, Jada, said that the little girl, who is in pre-school, had never done a show before but had been to a few that friends had been in.

She asked me all the time, How do you get in that show, Mom? So I said, I dont know how you get in that show, Jada said. So we thought wed check it out.

Annies mom said that they learned that she had won the role late at night. The following morning, Jill said, Annies dad woke her up and told her the news.

She had sleepy eyes, he said, and then her eyes got really wide, Jill said. I think she was in shock.

The kindergartner has danced in The Nutcracker, but has never done a play before. Jill said the only part of being in Waitress that Annie is worried about is having her hair brushed.

She doesnt like her hair being brushed, she said. I said, You just have to deal with it. We can get through it.

dlmartin@express-news.net | Twitter: @DeborahMartinENTwo San Antonio-area food and drink spots that have been temporarily closed will be back in business on Wednesday.

Tuckers Kozy Korner, 1338 E. Houston St., will debut a new food and cocktail menu at 4 p.m. The East Side property that dates back to 1948 is now operated by Andrew Lake and Nathan Azar, who took over from former tenants Jeff and Jenn White in November.

The new menu, developed by Culinary Institute of America-San Antonio graduates Chris Durkin and Phil Carden, features a lineup of steam buns (3 for $9) stuffed with pulled pork, fried shrimp or eggplant.

Tuckers also will have an old-school menu of bar favorites, including wings, fried chicken and a house burger. And there is a separate Sunday brunch menu.

RELATED: Kimura's Ramen Bar at Cherrity Bar to become Japanese izakaya Kuriya

The bar program, headed by industry veteran Adrian Sarabia, has eight featured cocktails (priced from $6 to $10), a lineup of eight wine varieties and more than 20 types of beer.

Flipping from bar food to barbecue, travel north up Texas 281 to Spring Branch to take in the debut of the second location of B-Daddys BBQ at 2 Sun Valley Drive starting at 11 a.m. Wednesday.

The space is the former home of Texas 46, a barbecue restaurant that closed in October after just eight months of business.

Owner B.R. Anderson, who started B-Daddys as a food truck before moving into his Helotes brick-and-mortar location in 2016, will feature a similar menu that hits on all the barbecue classics.

RELATED: Kindling Texas Kitchen sets Dec. 8 opening date in Cibolo

To help make the expansion fluid, Anderson is moving B-Daddys kitchen manager and pitmaster John Campbell, a classically trained chef, out to run the new operation.

Tuckers Kozy Korner, 1338 E. Houston St., Hours: 4 p.m. to 12 a.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Fridays, 12 p.m. to 2 a.m. Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Sundays. Facebook: tuckerskozykorner1948

B-Daddys BBQ, 2 Sun Valley Drive, Spring Branch, 830-228-7070, Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays. Facebook: bdaddys46

cblount@express-news.netA man has been arrested for burglarizing the Carmona Mobile Homes main office storage building, according to Laredo police.

On Nov. 23, Jesus Ricardo Flores-Cadena, 22, was charged with burglary of a building and theft of property. He remained behind bars on Monday at the Webb County Jail, according to custody records.HighLaZ/iStock(WASHINGTON) -- The national organization that works to elect Republican congressional candidates was the "victim of a cyber intrusion" during the midterm campaign season earlier this year, ABC News has confirmed.



Politico first reported that the National Republican Campaign Committee, the campaign arm of Capitol Hill Republicans, was hacked in April and "the email accounts of four senior aides," including "thousands of sensitive emails" were exposed to the perpetrator.



In a statement to ABC News, a spokesperson for the NRCC confirmed the report, writing that "it was the victim of a cyber intrusion by an unknown entity."



"The cybersecurity of the committee's data is paramount, and upon learning of the intrusion, the NRCC immediately launched an internal investigation and notified the FBI, which is now investigating the matter," the statement continued.



The NRCC would offer no additional comment in order to "protect the integrity of that investigation," the statement said.



It was a vendor of the committee that first discovered the hack and notified the NRCC and the contractor that monitors its cybersecurity, according to Politico. Republican leadership, including Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., were not told about the breach, Politico added.



Unlike the 2016 email hack involving the Democratic National Committee and emails from Hillary Clinton adviser John Podesta, which were ultimately released by Wikileaks during that year's presidential campaign, information stolen by the NRCC intruders hasn't been made available to the public, Politico reported, citing Republican party officials.



House Republicans suffered a major defeat in last month's midterm elections, losing as many 39 seats and their majority in the chamber during the process.



The party's House membership recently elected Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., to be the NRCC's new chair. Rep. Steve Stivers, R-Ohio, had led the body during the 115th Congress.

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.The suspect accused of fatally shooting a 20-year-old man over the weekend is a juvenile, not an adult, Laredo police said Monday.

LPD initially said the suspect was 17 years old and released his name to the media. But he is in fact 16, police said. In Texas, 17-year-olds who are charged with a crime are treated as an adult.

The 16-year-old male juvenile was charged with murder on Saturday after being released from a hospital in San Antonio, LPD said.

He is accused of killing Luis Ignacio Contreras during a party in south Laredo on Saturday. The juvenile also sustained a gunshot wound to his arm. But it's not yet clear how he was shot.

READ ALSO: Judge signs orders erasing criminal records for 'San Antonio Four'

"The circumstances behind the assailant's gunshot wound are still under review and being investigated," said Investigator Joe E. Baeza, LPD spokesman.

The teen was taken to the Webb County Youth Village.

Police said the shooting occurred at about 2:30 a.m. during a party at a house in the 4700 block of Sunrise Courts. Baeza said the juvenile and Contreras had an altercation at the party. Moments after the altercation began, the juvenile pulled out a gun and shot Contreras in the chest, LPD said.

During the investigation, detectives found out that the juvenile had arrived at Doctors Hospital South, 2901 Jaime Zapata Memorial Highway. He had gunshot wound to an arm.

He was then airlifted to University Hospital in San Antonio for further treatment.

Funeral services

Contreras' death marked the city's 11th recorded homicide of 2018.

He is survived by numerous relatives and friends. Visitation will be held Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Nieto Funeral Home & Crematory. A prayer service is slated for 7 p.m.

RELATED: Obituary for Luis Ignacio Contreras

Funeral services will be held at 9 a.m. Thursday at the funeral home. Interment will follow immediately at the Laredo City Cemetery.

A GoFundMe account has been set up to help the family pay for funeral expenses. To donate, visit https://bit.ly/2Sq4srpThe Pentagon will begin sending a backlog of thousands of green-card holders to recruit training, suspending a policy adopted by the Trump administration last year that required more-stringent background checks for some immigrants wanting to serve, according to two defense officials and an internal memo.

The policy called for green-card holders to submit to and complete a full background check and respond to any concerns before they could go to boot camp. That was in addition to standard requirements for green-card applicants, such as biometrics screening.

The change put thousands of people in limbo, as their screening languished and specific jobs within the military promised to them slipped away.

The new directive says that each armed service must comply immediately with a preliminary injunction issued last month in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. In it, Judge Jon Tigar agreed with an argument from the lawyers of two prospective service members and the American Civil Liberties Union that the Pentagon had not satisfactorily explained why new screening is necessary. Tigar said the policy should be disregarded.

Air Force Lt. Col. Carla Gleason, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said the services will begin sending the recruits to training this week. They will be placed in available slots, and the services will have to consider factors such as their needs and prospective recruits' preferences.

The injunction eases pressure on a group of prospective troops that the Pentagon has long recruited, pitching self-betterment and, in some cases, a chance at U.S. citizenship. About 18,000 U.S. troops were green-card holders at the beginning of the Trump administration, and about 5,000 joined the military each year before the stricter policy, Pentagon officials have said.

Some military officials have raised concerns internally that the growing backlog of green-card holders could present problems for a military always in need of new troops.

The directive, which was obtained by The Washington Post, was issued two days after a reporter began asking military officials last week about the glut of potential recruits waiting to train and whether it was complying with the injunction.

In the Navy, officials overseeing the issue called it "untenable" in a recent document reviewed by The Post and warned that the situation brings "increasing risk of mission failure."

The document said the average wait time for a green-card holder to join the U.S. military had grown to 354 days as opposed to 168 for U.S. citizens, raising the possibility that the Navy would miss its recruiting goals.

If the Pentagon ordered the services to comply with the court injunction, the Navy should ship lawful permanent residents to the "maximum extent possible" to fill about 1,154 open slots in recruit training in December and January, officials added.

A military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, said the Navy has more than 2,870 green-card holders under contract and waiting to go to recruit training.

A Marine Corps spokesman, Gunnery Sgt. Justin Kronenberg, said his service had 1,062 additional green-card holders awaiting recruit training. Like the other services, the Marines were awaiting additional guidance from the Pentagon last week.

"The Marine Corps Recruiting Command has kept full pace with [Defense Department] policy updates and is in compliance with all guidance regarding Lawful Permanent Resident accessions," Kronenberg said. "We've maintained maximum transparency concerning the process with our LPR applicants to ensure they and their families are informed and their questions are answered."

The Marine Corps sent 1,044 green-card holders to recruit training in 2016 and 1,169 in 2017, but the number dropped to 808 in the most recent fiscal year ending in September.

The Air Force sent 567 green-card holders to recruit training in 2016 and 590 in 2017, according to data provided by the service. But that number dropped to 44 in the fiscal year ending in September. About 470 green-card holders are under contract and waiting to attend training.

The Army sent 4,600 green-card holders to recruit training in 2016, and 3,600 in 2017, according to data provided by the Pentagon. That number plummeted to 513 in 2018, as the Army also missed its recruiting goal in 2018 for the first time since 2005 by about 6,500 soldiers, despite spending more than $200 million on bonuses. The service declined to say how many green-card holders are in its system waiting to ship to training, citing the open litigation.

The green-card holders originate from many countries with which the United States has friendly relations, with lawful permanent residents from the Philippines making up the largest number. In the Navy, about 656 of the group waiting to go to boot camp are from there.

China, Jamaica, Nigeria and Mexico are among the other nations with significant numbers, according to data provided to The Post.

The Pentagon has grappled with frequent Chinese efforts to steal U.S. secrets and is concerned about Islamic extremism in Nigeria, but it also has lauded the past efforts by green-card holders from those nations to join the military and earn their citizenship.

The suit filed in California by the ACLU details the cases of Jiahao Kuang, who moved to the United States from China at age 8, and Deron Cooke, who successfully applied for a green card at age 22 and emigrated from Jamaica.

Kuang grew up in California and enlisted in the Navy in July 2017, motivated by a desire to serve the United States and earn money for college, according to court documents for the case. He was initially expected to head to training in July 2018, but that date was later shifted until January 2019. He did not apply for college in anticipation of joining the Navy, the documents said.

Cooke, unaware of the Pentagon's new policy last year, resigned from a job in anticipation of soon joining the Air Force as an auto mechanic. He, too, was caught in limbo and still hasn't begun training.

The judge ruled that the two recruits are representative of the kind of people affected by the Pentagon's policy. The court will continue to review the issue.KABUL - Everyone, it seems, is pushing for peace in Afghanistan these days. President Donald Trump's special envoy is racing around the region, trying to drum up support for talks with the insurgent Taliban. The Russians, eager to get into the act, have hosted a conference on the issue. The Pakistanis, long accused of abetting the insurgents, insist they want to help end the war. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani hopes to win reelection in April as the man who brought peace to his country after 17 years.

The Taliban, however, seems to be in no hurry at all.

Last week, when Ghani laid out his upbeat vision of a "road map" to peace at a conference in Geneva, the response from the insurgents was scathing. They dismissed his government as a "powerless" foreign puppet and any discussion with its officials as a "waste of time." They said they were waging a holy war against American "invaders" and would negotiate only with them.

The insurgents reacted with the same dismissive scorn several days ago when U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told a conference in California that the Trump administration wanted to solve the conflict without agreeing to withdraw troops.

"The valiant Afghan Muslim nation is absolutely determined to force the occupying American forces out of Afghanistan," Taliban officials declared in an online message. "We will not tire." The option of whether to withdraw troops, the group added, will not be "chosen by American generals."

The triumphalist tone of these broadsides was not new. But coupled with the insurgents' intensifying campaign of violence since a brief truce in June - attacking military bases and peaceful villages, bombing schools and election offices, besieging a major provincial capital - it seemed to signal a hardening resistance to negotiations, rather than a boastful opening gambit.

The Ghani government hopes that progress toward ending the war will ease public anxiety and revive the struggling economy. The Trump administration hopes to escape an unpopular war without abandoning a fragile country that could againbecome a base for international terrorism.

But the insurgents continue making steady gains in territorial control and influence, and periodically staging attacks in the capital. This comes despite a ratcheted-up U.S. military role that allows American troops and combat aircraft to provide faster support to Afghan ground forces - a strategy U.S. military officials here call part of the "drive toward a political solution."

The increase in such airstrikes has also led to an upsurge in civilian casualties that aggravates public sentiment. On Nov. 27, at least two dozen civilians, including women and children, were reported killed by a U.S. bombing in a Taliban-controlled area where Afghan forces had come under fire. A U.N. report said that in the first nine months of the year, airstrikes caused 313 deaths and 336 injuries - the most since 2009.

Diplomatically, the Taliban is enjoying new stature in the international arena, where neighboring powers see it as a foil to the more dangerous Islamic State. It dominated a recent conference in Moscow to which the Ghani government sent only a few civilian peace advisers, and its long-dormant office in Qatar has become a hive of activity.

"Their spirit is very high because they have found new allies," said Abdul Hakim Mujahid, an appointed member of the Afghan government's High Peace Council and a former U.N. envoy for the Taliban regime. Rather than rushing to talk with Afghans they don't respect and Americans they don't trust, he said, the insurgent leaders are "ready to make more sacrifices for their cause."

Mujahid and other analysts said it would be a mistake to view the Taliban's increasingly adept use of social media and sophisticated arguments as signs of more modern thinking or willingness to compromise. In February, the group issued a 17,000-word "Letter to the American People" that listed numerous reasons why U.S. investment in the conflict had been a costly mistake. But the group said that while it had a "preference" for peaceful dialogue, its will to fight was far from "sapped."

"They know they need to come out a bit from their isolation, but their thinking is still very rigid," Mujahid said. "They are not familiar with modern political systems. They totally reject the presidency and the constitution. Their beliefs are rooted in conservative rural and Islamic values. Whatever they might accept has to be within the framework and the language of Islamic scholarship."

The Taliban's major demands have remained the same for years, with the only variations being on its role in electoral, executive and territorial power. Among those demands: All foreign troops must leave, full Islamic law and customs must be implemented, and the political system must not conflict with them. One reason they abhor Ghani is that he married a foreign-born, Western-educated Christian.

Despite their bravado, some observers suggest, Taliban leaders are tired of fighting and have lost most public sympathy. The group suffered several sharp blows in June, when the brief cease-fire produced a spontaneous public clamor for peace, and the national council of Islamic clerics issued a decree calling attacks on civilians and suicide bombings un-Islamic.

But the contentious, confused atmosphere surrounding current plans for the presidential election - a process the insurgents disdain - is working in their favor. It has created an artificial deadline, distracted the political elite, and revived ethnic and partisan enmities, and it is likely to produce several dozen candidates, each with a different agenda for peace.

Some Afghan leaders have proposed delaying the polls and installing an interim government to oversee an election later next year. Many worry that if the U.S. government forces the peace process into an impossibly short time frame, it will be at a cost of democratic gains that the Taliban would never accept, or result in a weak deal that collapses as soon as foreign troops pull out.

Even Zalmay Khalilzad, the Trump administration's special envoy, whose mandate is to press hard to get negotiations underway, has urged that the election, scheduled for April 20, be postponed to focus the nation on the peace process and protect it from political interference.

"We are in a hurry to end the Afghan tragedy," Khalilzad told "PBS NewsHour" last week. ". . . Ideally, of course, it would be good to have an agreement with the Taliban first and then have the presidential election," in which the Taliban could participate as voters.

But Ghani has strongly opposed a delay, and election officials announced recently that the April date will hold. This means the next five months will probably be consumed by rancorous ethnic politics, while the insurgents bide their time and continue using violence to remind the public that their goals have not wavered and that fighting remains an open-ended option.

"For the Taliban, a few months is nothing after decades of war, and their goals are religious, not political," said Wahid Mojdah, an analyst and former diplomatic aide under the Taliban regime from 1999 to 2001. "A year ago they wanted a quarter of the cake. Now they want half. Maybe in the future they will want it all."Amy Sandoval didnt know she was missing.

Three weeks after the Camp Fire destroyed the Paradise home she was living in with her family, she and her 4-year-old daughter, Anna, were still listed by the Butte County Sheriffs Office as people who were unaccounted for.

But she and her little one were safe  3,000 miles away, in Virginia, oblivious to the fact that someone had reported them missing to county officials.

I suspect that one of my classmates (at Chico State University) reported I was missing ... but it gives me hope that the other people on the missing persons list are safe like I was, Sandoval, 22, told The Chronicle.

Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea has assured residents that the list is constantly changing as its task force connects with relatives of missing loved ones, crossing off names as people are confirmed safe and adding names as they receive calls from worried friends and family. He has urged people to check the list for their names  and to let officials know they are safe. As of Monday, the list was down to 24 people still unaccounted for.

Officials have said they hope many on their list are like the Sandovals  who simply did not know they were listed.

Sandoval, who lived with her daughter, mother and brother in the Paradise home, had been staying with a friend in Chico on Nov. 8 when she woke up to see what she thought was a thunderstorm. Anna was more than a four-hour drive away with her father in Happy Camp (Siskiyou County), near the California-Oregon border.

It wasnt until last week that Sandoval learned she and her daughter were on the unaccounted-for list. She called the sheriffs office Friday morning to alert them that they were safe.

She recounted the dread she felt the day of the fire. Her mother, Lynn Sandoval, 62, called to say she had left work to rush back to the Paradise home. At home was Amy Sandovals brother, James Silva, 46, who was recovering from radiation therapy to the brain.

Lynn Sandoval was determined to rescue him  as the entire town of Paradise was evacuating.

She told The Chronicle she started that day as any other. She left her Paradise home  a yellow, one-story home constructed from wood with brick lining the foundation, and a brick chimney jutting out  around 7:30 a.m.

It was overcast. Maybe its going to rain, she said she thought to herself while driving to her job at the Shadowbrook Post Acute long-term care facility more than 20 miles away in Oroville.

When she stepped into the facility, her puzzled colleagues asked, Arent you evacuating?

She thought of her son, who was at home recovering from gamma-knife radiosurgery. Cancer in his esophagus had spread to his brain, where a tumor had developed. The tumor caused his brain to bleed, prompting doctors to pinpoint the tumor in his brain with a steady dose of radiation.

Silva was alone at home and had no way of leaving. By this time, hundreds of cars were snaking out of Paradise and Lynn Sandoval remembers being in one of the only vehicles barreling toward the blaze.

She called her daughter while speeding toward their home, detailing the buildings in their hometown that were crumbling under vicious flames.

The Stratton Market located less than half a mile from their home  where they would frequently buy cooking ingredients, baking soda, produce and candy bars when they had a sweet tooth  was gone.

It was not the town I had left an hour before that, said Lynn Sandoval. I was lucky I even got back in because (authorities) closed the road shortly after I got there.

At their Bonnie Lane home, she helped her son into the car and hit the road. But they got stuck in a bottleneck. A broken electrical pole curved over the road, embers raining down on the vehicles inching forward below. She prayed for the pole not to fall as smoke filled her vehicle.

My lungs were burning. It was hard to tell how long it took to get out with all the adrenaline in my body, she said. My son seemed to be in denial but I think that was in part because of his brain injury.

In her rearview mirror, she said she could see a wall of fire appear to close in on the sprawling line of vehicles behind her.

She managed to make it out of the darkness, out of the smoke and into the safety of her other son Michaels home in Chico.

I looked over at my son (James) and said, We made it. Oh my God, we made it, she said. If I had waited 10 minutes longer, I would not have gotten to my son.

Amy Sandoval joined her mother and James in her brother Michaels home.

It wasnt until a few days later that the Sandoval family learned their Paradise home was gone. A friend of the family, a game warden in Butte County, snapped photos on his cell phone of their home while combing through the deserted town.

Their home was just stacks of bricks lining blackened soil, with a chimney towering above the rubble. A wheelbarrow remained nearby, as well as a trailer next to the leveled home.

At that moment, when I saw that house, it became that much more real, said Amy Sandoval.

For Lynn Sandoval, that home had been the sweet promise of her looming retirement. She had recently paid off the home.

Now Im looking at making a house payment again, she said. I dont know if we can go back. I dont know if we can rebuild.

She said she also has to focus on Silva, who is scheduled for consistent MRIs over the next several years, and most likely for the rest of his life. Silva has been staying with a friend in Chico while he continues to recover.

I talk to him every day. I call him every day and ask if hes OK and he says, Yes, Im fine, mom, but I think hes trying to be strong for me, she said. That has been a nightmare in itself.

Amy Sandoval stayed in Chico until Nov. 13, when she decided to drive up to Happy Camp and scoop up her daughter. The pair flew out to Virginia from Sacramento to escape the poor air quality, she said.

Shes tried her best to be honest with her young daughter about the fate of their hometown. She said she knows shes not the only parent who struggled to find the words to explain the loss of their home, their town.

I told her that our town burned down but I told her that were going to build a new house and live somewhere else, she said. I showed her pictures so that she can understand the house is gone. At first, she didnt take it so well.

Amy Sandoval said she plans on staying in Virginia with Anna for a few more weeks before returning to Sacramento, where she said someone in West Sacramento has donated a trailer for the pair to live in while they get settled.

While still in Virginia, Anna often asks about her coloring books, Barbies and baby dolls she nurtured back in Paradise. Shes picked up her old habits of chewing on her shirt and pulling on her own hair to relieve the stress bottled up in her tiny body.

Yesterday, she had a moment where she told me, Mommy, if we were up there then we would have died, too, she said. Those are things that 4-year-olds shouldnt be thinking about.

Lauren Hernandez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: lauren.hernandez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LaurenPorFavorWASHINGTON - Senators emerged from an unusual closed-door briefing with the CIA director on Tuesday and accused the Saudi crown prince of complicity in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

In some of their strongest statements to date, lawmakers said evidence presented by the U.S. spy agency overwhelmingly pointed to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's involvement in the assassination.

"There's not a smoking gun, there's a smoking saw," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., referring to the bone saw that investigators believe was used to dismember Khashoggi after he was killed by a team of Saudi agents inside the country's consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

Armed with classified details provided by President Donald Trump's handpicked CIA director, Gina Haspel, senators shredded the arguments put forward by senior administration officials who had earlier insisted that the evidence of Mohammed's alleged role is inconclusive.

The gulf that has emerged between Republican lawmakers and the president over how to respond to the journalist's murder appeared to widen after Tuesday's briefing, with Graham, one of Trump's closest Senate allies, announcing he was no longer willing to work with the crown prince, whom the White House regards as one its most important allies in the Middle East.

In recent days, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis have said that no single piece of evidence irrefutably links Mohammed to the killing. But the senators, in effect, said that doesn't matter, because the evidence they heard convinced them beyond the shadow of a doubt.

"If the Crown Prince went in front of a jury, he would be convicted in 30 minutes," said Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations.

Haspel, who had declined to appear alongside Mattis and Pompeo ata briefing on U.S.-Saudi policy for the full Senate last week, was joined by agency personnel and gave what lawmakers described as a compelling and decisive presentation of the evidence that the CIA has analyzed since Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributing columnist, was killed.

"We heard the clearest testimony I've heard from intelligence this morning," Corker said later during a confirmation hearing for Trump administration nominees. "I've been here 12 years; I've never heard, ever, a presentation like was made today," he said.

Graham declined to say what the CIA officials had said, but in a brief interview with The Post he noted, "you can be assured it was thorough and the evidence is overwhelming."

Graham leveled sharp criticism at Pompeo and Mattis, saying he thought they were "following the lead of the president." He called them "good soldiers." But, Graham added, one would "have to be willfully blind not to come to the conclusion" that Mohammed was "intricately involved in the demise of Mr. Khashoggi."

"It is zero chance, zero, that this happened in such an organized fashion without the crown prince," Graham said.

"It would defy logic to think" someone other than Mohammed was responsible, said Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., noting that members of the prince's own royal guard are believed to have been part of the team that killed Khashoggi.

Congressional Republicans and Democrats have hammered Trump for his apparent ambivalence toward the CIA's findings - "maybe he did and maybe he didn't!" Trump said in a statement last month after hearing the agency's assessment of Mohammed's alleged role. The president has said that the value of Saudi weapons purchases and the country's role as a strategic check on Iran are too important to jeopardize.

Haspel has tried to avoid getting in the middle of a policy debate. But her presentation heightened the tension between Trump and members of his own party.

"The reason they don't draw the conclusion that he's complicit is because the administration doesn't want to go down that road - not because there's not evidence to suggest it," Graham said.

Senators declined to detail the particulars of Haspel's presentation, but the CIA had previously told congressional and administration officials that its assessment is based on multiple communications intercepts, an audio recording from inside the Saudi consulate, and the agency's belief that Mohammed, who exercises complete control of his government, would have to knowabout a plan to murder a prominent critic.

Graham made clear that the crown prince's culpability had caused a breach in the U.S.-Saudi relationship, and said the United States should come down on the government in Riyadh like "a ton of bricks." He said he could no longer support arms sales to the Saudis as long as Mohammed was in charge.

"Saudi Arabia's a strategic ally and the relationship is worth saving - but not at all costs," Graham said.

Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., said that senators had asked Haspel to return later and provide the same briefing to all members of the chamber.

Next Thursday, House members are supposed to receive a briefing on Yemen and Saudi Arabia similar to the one that the Senate received last week, with Pompeo and Mattis. Thus far, Haspel has not committed to attend.

Last week, the Senate took the historic step of voting to take up a resolution, spearheaded by Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, to end U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen. For some of the 14 Republicans who supported the procedural step, the vote was intended as a warning shot to Trump, to inspire him to start openly condemning Mohammed or withholding military support from the Saudis.

Haspel's briefing may have been designed to placate some of those senators, such as Graham, who last week said he would not support "any key vote" until the CIA director spoke to senators about the agency's findings. Graham said Tuesday that he was satisfied with Haspel's briefing and would not be backing the Yemen resolution to its conclusion.

In place of that, he announced that he would be introducing a "sense of the Senate" resolution to specifically condemn Mohammed as responsible for Khashoggi's murder, and that he would not support any future arms sale to Saudi Arabia as long as Mohammed remains in power.

But between the Senate Democrats and the handful of Republicans who believe that U.S. participation in the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen is morally objectionable or unconstitutional, supporters of the Yemen resolution have enough support to advance the measure to the stage where lawmakers may propose amendments to it.

Graham and Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., the co-authors of a bill to sanction Saudi Arabia and curtail almost all weapons transfers to the kingdom, may propose their package of punitive measures as an amendment to the Yemen resolution, as it appears that talks to attach it to a must-pass spending bill have not gained enough momentum.

Speaking to reporters after the Haspel briefing, Menendez, the top Democrat on the foreign relations committee, argued that Congress needs to pass "something strong" in addition to the Yemen resolution that would bring "a real set of consequences."

Corker said he was working with others to try to come up with a "consensus amendment" to the Yemen resolution that would let the Senate present as strong and as unified a face as possible, to reflect the bipartisan revulsion with Saudi Arabia's conduct.

"We've got a task in front of us: I would like to actually pass something that became law," Corker said, a sideways reference to the fact that House GOP leaders will likely try to stop any Yemen resolution that emerges from the Senate dead in its tracks before it can be taken up in the House.

"There are some people that would like to speak only to the killing of the journalist. There are other people who want to speak to the Yemen issue at large. Trying to pool that together in a manner that unifies Congress is difficult," Corker said. "It would be much better if the commander in chief would stand up and say to the world, we don't condone the ordering, the killing, and the dismemberment of journalists."

- - -

The Washington Post's Paul Kane, Josh Dawsey and Missy Ryan contributed to this report.Their two leaders share a special bond as survivors of coup and assassination plots, and both are on the lookout for new allies as other longtime partnerships wither.

So Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro pulled out the stops in welcoming Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the first Turkish head of state to ever visit the country.

Soldiers chanted the Turkish national anthem in unison as children waved red-and-white Turkish flags. Maduro presented Erdogan with a replica of the sword used by Venezuela's independence hero, Simon Bolivar, and also decorated him with a medal, called "El Libertador," dedicated to Bolivar.

Erdogan, visiting Caracas just two months after Maduro's trip to Istanbul, defended the emerging alliance with a country being shunned by the U.S. over abuse and corruption.

"Are we going to seek permission from somewhere about who we will be friends with and with whom we will trade?" Erdogan said in Caracas on Monday, according to Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency.

Turkey, whose relations with the U.S. and European Union have frayed, has become one of Venezuela's most important backers as Washington isolates Maduro's government. The Venezuelan leader is presiding over one of the most desperate economic and humanitarian crises modern Latin America has known.

Tons of Venezuelan gold -- strip-mined under grim conditions in a desperate rush for cash -- are being shipped to Turkey for refinement and processing. U.S. officials say some of the gold may be making its way to Iran in violation of sanctions on the Islamic Republic. Maduro says the U.S. shouldn't meddle in his country's trade with Turkey.

In Caracas, Erdogan and Maduro oversaw the signing of a series of cooperation deals in mining, oil exploration, defense and marine transportation.

Erdogan, who has been censured in the West over his authoritarian ways, rallied behind his new friend, calling a drone attack in August on a military parade where Maduro was present "treason" against an elected leader. Erdogan himself defeated a coup attempt in Turkey in 2016.

"They sometimes call me the sultan. We share a common ground," he said of Maduro.

"But we're letting it go," he said. "We believe that if the people elected as then we're strong. So, I am congratulating and applauding my friend Maduro who came to power with the will of the people."WASHINGTON - They stood before his casket as directors of the Central Intelligence Agency, which he had led, and as members of Congress and diplomats, which he had been, too. They came to attention as World War II veterans, including former senator Bob Dole, who rose from his wheelchair, jaw quivering, to deliver a quick, crisp salute. Mostly, they offered a final farewell to George Herbert Walker Bush as fellow Americans, eager to honor decency, moderation and a commitment to making things work, all of which he embodied.

The Capitol Rotunda was open to all Tuesday, and they came in a manner befitting the 41st president - not in huge numbers, but steadily; with grace and seriousness of purpose; with nothing disparaging to say, but with a recaptured sense that, even now, we're all in this together.

Bush was not a man who engendered powerful passions from supporters or opponents. Yet there were tears on this day, and voices that cracked, and hearts that yearned for a time when politics was perhaps less a blood sport and more a means of finding solutions.

The card handed to each mourner listed Bush's six major federal positions, his Navy service in World War II and his degree from Yale. It was a resume of sorts, and for many visitors, that reminder of his pedigree was a powerful marker of what defined Bush, a searing statement about something that has fallen out of American politics.

Every president since Bush has run for office as an outsider, as someone who sought to clean up Washington's mess by bringing a fresh perspective to the job. But for many of those who paid a final visit to Bush, he was, as the ultimate insider, the consummate counter to that argument.

"People need to see that experience, see everything the government does, including the military," said Donna McGowan, 61, a Philadelphia resident who spent 37 years working for the Environmental Protection Agency. "Somehow, we lost that. Having experience is a good thing, not something to be ashamed of."

McGowan and her friend Linda Baric, also an EPA retiree, stopped by to bid Bush farewell not because they necessarily agreed with his politics, but because they admired his moderation, in politics and in manner.

They worked for a long line of presidents and considered Bush neither the best nor the worst at caring for the environment, but that wasn't the issue Tuesday. "It doesn't matter if you agree with him," McGowan said. "This is something an American should do. He was a hero. He was a good man. I watched his son - he looked so sad, I had tears running down my face."

The crowds were steady, if nothing close to the epic queue that stretched nearly to the Washington Monument following the death of Ronald Reagan in 2004. This was a tribute closer to the size of those for Gerald Ford, the last president to lie in state, or for Sen. John McCain, who died three months ago.

Whatever their numbers, the mourners came from across the nation, some with specific memories of a president who had somehow touched their lives, some too young to remember his four years in office yet still committed to the idea that a president must be honored, no matter his politics.

They were federal workers, ID badges hanging from their necks; tourists just off the buses that ply the National Mall; large families dressed up for the occasion; joggers who detoured off their usual morning course to honor their country's former leader.

They came because he was the last president to serve in World War II, or because he made the Americans With Disabilities Act the law of the land, or because they had seen him campaign in their hometowns, or because they admired how he and his wife, Barbara, showed their love for each other. Or they came because Bush was as different from Donald Trump as they could imagine a president might be.

Some people shuddered at the idea of Trump attending Wednesday's funeral, sitting alongside two former presidents who were depicted behind prison bars in a tweet that Trump passed along to his 56 million followers a week ago.

"What bothered me more than anything, being here and seeing all the military standing at attention for him, was thinking about that whole kinder, gentler thing about him," McGowan said. "He was always, 'Let's work this out.' He wasn't ever there to blow up the world. He was always looking for a way to get to the middle, to get things done, just like McCain."

David and Sandra Bertetti, who live in Andover, Massachusetts, where Bush attended the Phillips Academy prep school - as did three of his sons, said walking into the Rotunda and seeing the crisp military ritual and the somber mood of the crowd reminded them that, as Sandra said, "Our current president is not welcome to us."

"We've lost our regard for integrity, honor," she said.

David Bertetti, a retired electrical engineer who recalled seeing Bush deliver a speech at Phillips, was reminded of his own grandfather's arrival in the United States from Italy in the 1890s. "George Bush had a welcoming, gracious idea of our country," he said. "I don't think there's any way my grandfather conceivably could have met Donald Trump's idea of who should come into this country."

Bush represented a way of doing politics that many visitors refused to believe has vanished forever.

"Some people may look down on it these days, when it seems like we've lost a sense of heritage and duty, of where we came from," said Dick Patten, president of the American Business Defense Council, which represents family businesses and farms in Washington.

His voice broke as he recalled Bush's devotion to finding a middle course. "President Bush was about service, and that's what we're missing today, service, in everything we do, in our communities, to our church. Just being nice. He embodied that, in an incredible way. And that's why I came here," Patten said.

Bush sometimes joked about his patrician upbringing, a Connecticut Yankee from a wealthy family that attended all the right schools and held certain expectations about service and duty.

Daniel Bean, 63, a federal worker who runs through the center of the capital each morning, steered off his usual route to pay his respects. Bush always struck him as "very refined, I would say. I was quite impressed with his demeanor. You just don't see that anymore."

Two Georgetown University freshmen visited the late president together despite their own political differences. Henry James, 18, of San Francisco, who leans left, and Daniel Kim, 18, of Atlanta, who's more inclined to the right, weren't born yet when Bush served, but they waited nearly an hour to visit a president they both see as a model of civility and bipartisanship.

"It's something we can all respect and aspire to in our own lives," Henry said. Kim agreed, explaining that he and his friend had each succeeded in pulling the other closer to the opposite side.

As night fell, leaving only a few more hours to pay respects at the Capitol before Wednesday's funeral at Washington National Cathedral, the president's family returned for another visit, Bush's dog Sully stood guard for a time, and people who had worked for Bush as personal aides gathered around the casket.

Former president George W. Bush, his wife, Laura, and one of his brothers, former Florida governor Jeb Bush, returned to the Rotunda on Tuesday evening, hugging former aides and shaking hands and thanking people in the public viewing queue.

Mourners included sports figures such as Jack Nicklaus, Chris Evert and Tony La Russa; McCain's widow, Cindy; a delegation of National Park rangers and District of Columbia firefighters. But the vast majority of those who came held no title and had never met the man.

Jon Cline, 57, hadn't even voted for Bush, but he came because he had admired how the president handled the fall of the Berlin Wall and collapse of the Soviet Union - with restraint and quiet diplomacy, designed to allow all parties to save face.

The passing of a president is always an occasion for nostalgia, and the rougher spots in a man's biography tend to be smoothed over for a time. Bush was president between two larger-than-life celebrities, Reagan and Bill Clinton, polished orators who skillfully deployed emotional appeals to win Americans' hearts. Bush, by contrast, had an awkward relationship with words, and yet for many who came to see him, that tangled way of expressing himself was exactly what made him seem authentic, connected.

Dale "Chip" McElhattan came to the Capitol with a framed photograph of his wife, son and Bush - an image taken during McElhattan's stint as regional secretary of the U.S. Embassy in Singapore in the 1990s. The president had visited the embassy to thank Marines posted there for their service. On Bush's way out, he stopped to pose with McElhattan and his family.

More than two decades later, McElhattan, who lives in Vienna, Virginia, said the picture reminds him of what leadership looks like. "It's one thing to take the time for dignitaries and heads of state," he said. "But when the president of the United States takes the time to relate to the security guy at the embassy? It just says so much, how you treat the regular people."

- - -

The Washington Post's Mark Berman contributed to this report.

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Video: Former secretary of state Colin L. Powell, members of Operation Desert Storm, former senator Bob Dole and several others paid their respects to former president George H.W. Bush as his body lied in state in the Capitol Rotunda on Dec. 4.(Blair Guild/The Washington Post)

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Video: Former Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kan.) was assisted out of his wheelchair to honor President George H.W. Bush, who died on Nov. 30, as his casket laid in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Dec. 4.(The Washington Post)

Embed code:Bloomberg photo by David Paul Morris

WASHINGTON - Google chief executive Sundar Pichai is slated to testify to Congress on Dec. 11, after lawmakers rescheduled their original hearing in light of former President George H.W. Bush's death.

The new hearing - confirmed by the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday - will see Pichai field questions from Congress for the first time in response to Republicans' concerns that Google's search algorithm, and services it owns including YouTube, unfairly censor conservative-leaning users. The session initially had been scheduled for this Wednesday.WASHINGTON - Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, had some unsolicited advice Tuesday for President Donald Trump about his provocative tweets: show them to his wife first.

Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, appeared at a "Washington Post Live" event at which he advocated for the passage of a bipartisan criminal justice bill that is backed by the president.

The conversation turned to whether Trump is doing enough to promote the measure, including on his Twitter account. Post reporter Robert Costa noted that Trump tweets far more about his disdain for the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller than he does about his support for the criminal justice legislation.

"Listen, the president could solve all of his problems if he just showed his wife the tweet before he punches the send button," Grassley said.

"Couldn't we all," agreed Senate Minority Whip Richard Durbin, D-Ill., who appeared alongside Grassley at the event.

First lady Melania Trump is leading a child-welfare initiative, called Be Best, thatincludes a focus on combating cyberbullying.

Grassley is among the lawmakers, including many Republicans, who have said publicly that Trump would be better served by tweeting less.

On Monday, Trump sparked a controversy with several tweets related to Mueller's investigation of possible coordination between Trump's 2016 campaign and Russia.

In one, Trump advocated that his former lawyer Michael Cohen, who is cooperating with Mueller, be given prison time. In another, Trump praised an associate, Roger Stone, for not agreeing to testify against him. The tweets prompted charges of witness tampering from several high-profile lawyers.Residents of the Great Lakes State will have something to feel great about this Thursday, as adult-use marijuana goes legal.

Last November, voters overwhelmingly endorsed Proposition 1, which legalized marijuana for adults over 21, and the law goes into effect on December 6th. This doesn't mean that everyone will be able to light up and smoke the day away.

Quite the contrary, the state has put strict requirements on recreational use, while state and local legislators get to the hard part of figuring it all out. This has been a common occurrence for many states new to recreational use. Michiganians are most likely hoping that the transition goes a little faster and smoother than it has in, say, Massachusetts.

Related: Adults In Massachusetts Can Legally Buy Marijuana Starting Today

Despite the likely speedbumps, green entrepreneurs and enthusiasts in Michigan still have a lot celebrate: Michigan is the first Midwestern state to legalize so-called recreational marijuana. This is a fact not lost on "cannabis counsel", Matt Abel, who told the Associate Press, Its certainly going to smell like freedom, starting Thursday.

Here are some things you should know about Michigan's rollout.

Don't Drive More Than 2.5

Michigan residents who are 21 or older can possess or transport up to 2.5 ounces of flower or 15 grams of concentrate. They can also grow up to 12 plants, but it can't be in public view. Just in time for the holidays, you are allowed to gift 2.5 ounces to another person, but they can't pay you for it. Did someone say stocking stuffer?

There's No Place But Home

You are permitted to consume your 2.5/15 in the confines of your home or on private property, but it's illegal to smoke it in public. So don't think about lighting up a home-grown joint while taking an evening stroll. Also, even though you're allowed to smoke it at home, your landlord has the right to prohibit it.

There's Nothing In Store

Pot shops are still a ways away, as state regulators are working on a licensing system for marijuana businesses, including growers, processors, transporters and retailers. For now, if you want marijuana then you need to either grow it yourself or have a medical card.

Pot Taxes Will Pay Dividends

Once the commercial sale of marijuana and marijuana-infused edibles is permitted through state-licensed retailers, the goods will be subject to a new 10-percent tax, which will be earmarked for schools, road and municipalities where marijuana businesses are located.

Related: As Michigan Awaits Millions in Marijuana Tax Revenue, Massachusetts Still Waits

Expect Some Pot Deserts

The new Michigan law allows for local municipalities to ban pot in their jurisdictions. In fact, some communities have already begun doing this. What will result is a situation that states such as California are familiar with -- so-called 'pot deserts' or pockets of land where consumers can't buy pot.

Related: California's 'Pot Desert' Problem

Pot Possession Prosecution Will Be Down

Some good news: According to the Associated Press, Michigan police and prosecutors will likely dismiss any pending misdemeanor cases involving small amounts of marijuana. But State police spokesman, Mike Shaw, says it's still illegal to drive under the influence of marijuana. This law isnt going to change that, he said.

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Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reservedWASHINGTON - The campaign organization for House Republicans was the victim of a cyberattack that exposed email accounts to an unknown intruder during the 2018 election cycle, people familiar with the matter said.

It wasn't known whether a foreign government was behind the intrusion into the computer networks of the National Republican Congressional Committee, a person familiar with the case said. But the intruder was "sophisticated, based on their tactics and methods," and the intrusion "was clearly designed to hide the tracks of who it was," this person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the matter is under investigation.

The intrusion was first reported by Politico, which said senior House Republicans, including Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., as well as rank-and-file members weren't told of the breach until the news organization inquired about the episode with the committee on Monday.

"The NRCC can confirm that it was the victim of a cyber intrusion by an unknown entity," said Ian Prior, a committee spokesman.

"The cybersecurity of the Committee's data is paramount, and upon learning of the intrusion, the NRCC immediately launched an internal investigation and notified the FBI, which is now investigating the matter. To protect the integrity of that investigation, the NRCC will offer no further comment on the incident," Prior said.

The committee discovered the breach in April, said a person familiar with the case. Officials conducted an internal investigation, contacted the bureau within days and "gave the FBI everything they asked for," the person said.

CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity firm, already had been retained by the committee.

The breach was discovered by a different company that was providing "managed security services" to monitor the network for breaches, the person said.

The committee did not publicize the breach because, the person added, officials were trying to shield the investigation and not tip off the intruders. "It gets out and becomes harder to investigate," the person said.

It's unlikely the breach involved personal information, such as Social Security and credit card numbers, because that would have required victim notification under state law, said Michael Sussmann, a cybersecurity lawyer with Perkins Coie who handled the response to the Democratic National Committee breach during the 2016 election. All 50 states and the District of Columbia require notice within 30 days upon discovery of a breach of personal data, he said, noting that, had that happened, the story likely would have surfaced sooner.

The NRCC intrusion bears similarities to the DNC breach in 2016, in which Russian hackers stole emails of senior committee officials.

But in that case, the Russians gave the emails to WikiLeaks, which published them ahead of the Democratic National Convention.

The emails revealed that committee leaders had supported Hillary Clinton as the likely nominee, even though they had publicly claimed not to have a preferred candidate.

There is no indication that any NRCC emails were made public.

One security expert said the committee may have erred in not disclosing the breach.

"The information extracted from this operation could have been of extremely high value for foreign intelligence services," said Brett Bruen, a National Security Council official in the Obama administration who is now president of the Global Situation Room, a crisis communications firm. "It would provide them with critical insights into the plans, weaknesses and interests of key GOP officials and candidates. By not being transparent about this clear vulnerability to our democracy, the RNCC placed the interests of party over those of the country."Experts voiced approval of a new agreement between the United States and China that aims to control fentanyl smuggling into the U.S. black market, but they warned against expecting a quick impact on the drug's skyrocketing death toll.

President Donald Trump said Sunday evening that Beijing has agreed to treat the powerful opioid and its many analogues as controlled substances, a decision the White House said would subject the country's illegal fentanyl dealers "to China's maximum penalty under the law."

That is certainly a positive step, said academic and law enforcement authorities who track the problem. But left unclear - in part because the White House offered few details - is exactly how China plans to curb the extremely powerful drug that now dominates illegal opioid traffic in the United States.

"I think it's a very good thing," said Vanda Felbab-Brown an expert on illicit economies at the Brookings Institution. "However, I wouldn't hold my breath on how big that impact will be."

Trump and some U.S. politicians are describing the deal in sweeping terms, issuing statements that China plans to completely control the substance, said Bryce Pardo, an associate policy researcher at the Rand Corp. The Chinese, by contrast, have said they're going to enforce existing regulations. Both appear to be playing to powerful domestic interests.

"Within that, there might be some middle ground," Pardo said.

In a statement Monday, Kirsten Madison, assistant secretary for the State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, said China's "commitment to schedule all fentanyl-related substances as a class is a major milestone, with the potential to greatly advance U.S.-China cooperation to stem the flow of deadly synthetic opioids into our nation . . . We welcome this move and look forward to seeing the Chinese government implement and enforce these controls as soon as possible."

According to data released last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fentanyl and its synthetic cousins caused 28,466 fatal overdoses in 2017, about 60 percent of the 47,600 U.S. opioid overdose deaths.

That was a 47 percent increase from 2016 and nearly triple the number of fentanyl-related deaths recorded in 2015. Provisional numbers for the first four months of 2018 indicate a possible plateau in overdose deaths from all drugs, but it is too early to rely on that data, experts said.

The United States and China have worked toward cooperation on stemming the flow of illegal fentanyl since the Obama administration, with modest steps taken along the way.

In August, as Congress was considering legislation to curb fentanyl smuggling through the mail, Trump tweeted that China's illicit fentanyl fuels the U.S. opioid epidemic.

"It is outrageous that Poisonous Synthetic Heroin Fentanyl comes pouring into the U.S. Postal System from China. We can, and must, END THIS NOW!" the president tweeted. China rejected the assertion. The legislation ultimately was approved and Trump signed it into law.

Pharmaceutical fentanyl, for which precursor chemicals are imported mainly from China, is a legal synthesized drug used for the intense pain of end-stage cancer and for surgery. Illegal fentanyl is also synthesized chemically, and may have hundreds of analogues - versions that differ very slightly from the original to avoid running afoul of laws.

That's why a crackdown or ban on the entire class could help the abuse crisis significantly.

The primary complication for any effort in China, several experts said, is that chemicals for legal fentanyl are produced in hundreds, perhaps thousands, of legitimate pharmaceutical plants and imported to the United States by drug companies. Rooting out illegal clandestine labs is much easier than finding diversion by rogue operators in approved facilities, they said.

In China, as in the United States, pharmaceutical companies wield enormous power, even if Beijing's authoritarian government could crack down heavily if it chooses to. The industry generates revenue and jobs that are an important part of the Chinese economy.

"For them to shut down an entire legal pharmaceutical company comes with many, many problems," said Felbab-Brown, the Brookings researcher.

Yet many who follow the issue were encouraged that Washington and Beijing managed to reach any agreement on the issue as the two countries spar over tariffs and trade.

"This is a very welcome announcement during this so-called trade war, that we can still focus on things that are meaningful in other ways," said Daniel Ciccarone, a professor at the University of California at San Francisco. "We don't have to hold this hostage."

Kathleen Frydl, a historian and author of "The Drug Wars in America, 1940-1973," said the Trump administration might have used the trade conflict to pressure Chinese President Xi Jinping.

"The Trump administration has chosen to wield the powerful and effective tool of trade sanctions to cajole China into curbing fentanyl production and export," Frydl said. "Unfortunately, they have settled for China's prohibition of fentanyl as an appropriate concession, taking cues from a conventional drug war playbook that has proven ineffective elsewhere. Hopefully there is an undisclosed agreement monitoring the export of fentanyl, especially to Mexican drug traffickers, or one that pertains to China's largely unregulated chemical manufacture industry - otherwise prohibition will amount to little."

Tom Synan, the chief of police in Newtown, Ohio, was hopeful that cooperation with China could help ease the burden on local governments, which have been left to deal with the drug crisis by arming first responders with the fast-acting overdose antidote naloxone.

"If we can transition from this to start treating addiction, it will help the systems recover," Synan said. "They won't be overwhelmed and it will save money and lives."

But others feared that success in China could just move the fentanyl production problem to India, which also has a large pharmaceutical manufacturing sector, or to Mexico, where cartels smuggle the drug into the United States along with heroin. An illicit Indian fentanyl lab was shut down earlier this year, said Pardo, the Rand researcher.

"Say China does get its regulatory house in order and they are able to shut down these manufacturers, he said. "We still have a demand here at home, and it is entirely possible that . . . the problem could move to that country."Once ranked primarily on test scores, Illinois schools now are being ranked annually using variables including graduation and retention rates.

While that has affected some districts ranking, not all school districts are as concerned about the changes as they are their schools ongoing efforts to do better.

The state changes its standards every couple of years, Jacksonville District 117 Superintendent Steve Ptacek said. Of course we look at it, but we are working on school improvement, not because of our ratings.

The Illinois State Board of Education rates schools using data it collects through the Illinois Report Card. Schools are rated as exemplary, commendable, under-performing or lowest performing.

Instead of focusing mainly on test scores, the ISBE now uses graduation rates and retention rates, along with the amount of staff turnover during the past three years, student mobility and socio-economic information.

JSD 117 had five schools rated commendable under the most recent ranking; the remaining three were rated as under-performing.

The district had a 71 percent graduation rate for the 2017-18 school year and an 83 percent retention rate.

Students had a 29 percent proficiency rate for the state PARCC assessment tests English portion, 8 percentage points below the state average.

Each district receives a proficiency percentage for math and English, based on the percentage of students meeting or exceeding standards for the test.

In math, 23 percent of students were proficient.

The Illinois state average was 32 percent proficiency in math and 37 percent in English.

Weve seen it the last 10 years, the state established goals and assessments and then they change, Ptacek said.  We are trying to create something sustainable that will be in place regardless of any state changes.

The Meredosia-Chambersburg district saw its ranking climb this year, with both of its schools receiving commendable status.

The district often has one school in the under-performing category, but the new system increased their designation, Superintendent Thad Walker said.

We are pleased with the changes, he said. Weve been finding ways of assessing our programs and were glad to be moving up.

Meredosia-Chambersburg had an 86 percent graduation rate for the 2017-18 school year and a 72 percent retention rate.

His district is working to improve its past high turnover rate for faculty and staff, Walker said.

While the ratings increased, the districts test scores remained low, with 17 percent of students meeting and none exceeding standards in English. Only 11 percent of the districts students were proficient in math.

Other designations:

 Winchester schools had one school receive a commendable ranking, while the other was ranked as under-performing.

Winchester had a 94 percent graduation rate in the 2017-18 school year and an 83 percent retention rate. Of Winchester students taking the PARCC exam, 27 percent met or exceeded standards in English and 28 percent did so in math.

 Both Beardstown schools were given a commendable ranking, with a graduation rate of 80 percent for the 2017-18 school year. The district had a 76 percent retention rate.

Among Beardstown students, 9 percent were proficient in English, with 7 percent meeting or exceeding math standards.

 Franklin school district has one school rated exemplary and the other commendable. During the 2017-18 school year, the high school had a 95 percent graduation rate and a 91 percent retention rate.

Franklin had 44 percent proficiency in English, beating the state average by 7 percentage points, and a 33 percent proficiency in math.

 Both Virginia school district schools received a commendable rating with a graduation rate of 95 percent and a 72 percent retention rate.

The district received a 40 percent proficiency rating in English and a 24 percent rating in math.

 North Greene received commendable ratings for both of its schools and had a 96 percent graduation rate. It also had a 91 percent retention rate.

In English, North Greene had a 37 percent proficiency rating. Of the district students who took the PARCC test, 26 percent were proficient in math.

 Waverly received commendable ratings for both of its schools and had a 91 percent graduation rate. It also retained 77 percent of its teachers.

Waverly had 35 percent of its students meet or exceed standards in English and 22 percent do so in math.

Samantha McDaniel-Ogletree can be reached at 217-245-6121, ext. 1233, or on Twitter @JCNews_samantha.Information released late Monday by American Airlines contradicts a family's claims that their 67-year-old mother was left stranded in her wheelchair Friday for hours at O'Hare International Airport after her flight was canceled.

Olimpia Warsaw was scheduled to leave Friday on an American Airlines flight from Chicago to Detroit after attending her ex-husband's funeral. Her son Claude Coltea told CBS Chicago that he escorted his mother to her gate and checked to see that the flight was leaving as scheduled before leaving to catch his own flight home.

Warsaw's flight was canceled and she was offered a hotel room for the night for a flight the next morning. A porter was assigned to take care of Warsaw. But Coltea told the television station that the porter told Warsaw that his shift was over and he could not take her to the hotel, and left her. His mother, he said, was unable to communicate clearly and could not find anyone else to help get to the hotel.

The family claimed they did not know Warsaw had been stranded until she failed to arrived in Detroit as scheduled. It was then that they contacted American Airlines. The family told the station the airline couldn't find Warsaw, who was found several hours later by O'Hare security officers.

But a timeline released by the airline shows that a representative from the contractor assigned to take care of Warsaw spoke with Coltea at least twice. Airline officials said records show that Coltea rebooked his mother on a flight leaving Saturday afternoon and that he said he would send someone to pick her up at the airport.

"We launched an investigation with our Chicago team and the vendor we utilize that provides wheelchair services at O'Hare," American said in an emailed statement. The airline said that after a review of closed-circuit television footage it determined that: "Ms. Warsaw was dropped off in the terminal at 12:30 a.m. CT on Dec. 1, and a family member arrived at the airport to pick her up at 1:13 a.m. CT."

Coltea did not respond to several requests for comment.

According to the airline's timeline, Warsaw was escorted to a wheelchair waiting area on the airport's upper level. Once there, video footage shows Warsaw twice using a walker to go outside to smoke a cigarette before being met by a woman. The woman pushes Warsaw toward the door, then stops to take a cellphone picture of Warsaw sitting in the wheelchair. The woman walks away and returns two minutes later. The video shows she flagged down a police officer, with whom she spoke briefly. The woman then wheeled Warsaw to a waiting SUV, where a man is waiting, and the group left the airport.

Earlier Monday, prior to the investigation, airline officials had apologized and said they had refunded Warsaw's ticket.BRUSSELS - Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday that the United States would no longer adhere to a Cold War-era arms control agreement if Russia does not come into compliance with the accord within 60 days.

The ultimatum, issued during a meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, amounted to a softening of the U.S. position after President Donald Trump abruptly announced in October that he had decided to "terminate the agreement."

Neither Pompeo nor other NATO officials held out much hope that Russia would destroy the missiles and launchers that the alliance said violate the landmark accord. But European leaders had sought a delay to pressure the Kremlin one last time.

"It makes no sense for the United States to remain in a treaty that constrains our ability to respond to Russia's violations," Pompeo said after a meeting of NATO foreign ministers. "We hope that they'll change course, but there's been absolutely no indication that they'll do so."

The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, signed by the United States and the Soviet Union in 1987, banned nuclear and nonnuclear missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometers, or about 310 to 3,400 miles. It has been a pillar of Europe's security architecture for more than three decades, but the Trump administration has said it puts the United States at a military disadvantage against China, which is not bound by the treaty.

For much of the West, the INF Treaty was a watershed moment in Cold War arms control, eliminating more than 2,600 missiles and ending a yearslong standoff with nuclear missiles in Europe between East and West.

Trump's announcement that the United States would exit the treaty raised fears of a return to Cold War tensions when nuclear-tipped missiles across the continent threatened to strike targets within minutes.

Pompeo did not detail U.S. plans, but he suggested that the Pentagon would quickly start to build its capability. Under the terms of the treaty, either party can give a six-month notice before withdrawing.

"There is no reason the United States should continue to cede this crucial military advantage to revisionist powers like China," Pompeo said Tuesday.

European leaders have sought to preserve the arms control framework, even as NATO foreign ministers declared Tuesday that they believed Russia was in violation.

"I regret that we now most likely will see the end of the INF Treaty," said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who has spoken of how the Cold War arms buildup shaped his views of security as he grew up in Norway. "We really felt that the world was moving forward when the Soviet Union and the United States in 1987 agreed."

The termination plan was set to go into effect Tuesday, but German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other European leaders persuaded Trump to delay the move to allow for additional consultations, according to diplomats and officials familiar with the discussions.

Merkel's last-ditch effort, which she advanced in a meeting with Trump in Buenos Aires on Saturday, came up against a determined drive by the president's national security adviser, John Bolton, to withdraw from the accord.

U.S. officials braced for an immediate withdrawal last week after Bolton signed and distributed a memo conveying the president's decision. A copy of the memo, obtained by The Washington Post, underscored a directive for the secretary of state to "make all necessary arrangements" to implement the withdrawal "no later than December 4, 2018." The defense secretary was also ordered to "develop and deploy ground-launched missiles at the earliest possible date," the memo said.

But the Trump administration tabled the action after Merkel and other European officials told Trump that the rapid withdrawal schedule did not give them enough time to explain the policy change to domestic audiences.

"Merkel had a very good meeting with Trump and managed to convince the president to give more time before a pull out," said one European diplomat who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss diplomatic conversations.

The decision to delay the withdrawal marked a rare victory for Merkel, whose frosty relationship with Trump has been marred by disappointment and frustration.

Although Trump's gesture showed some amount of deference to the German leader, it was simply delaying the inevitable, diplomats and experts said.

"Is this delay going to satisfy the allies? No, because nothing has changed except delaying the outcome, and the Europeans want a different outcome," said Daryl Kimball, executive director for the Arms Control Association.

Some NATO foreign ministers expressed skepticism that the treaty held value if Russia was violating it.

"If you have a treaty, you must comply with it," said Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius. Russia is "not complying," he said, "so what's the value of the treaty?"

European leaders fear that their voters could be sympathetic to a Kremlin argument that the United States is tearing up one international agreement after another, after Trump's decision to leave the Paris climate agreement and the Iran nuclear deal.

Their frustration may have been fueled by Pompeo's decision to deliver a blistering foreign policy address in Brussels just before the NATO meeting, using a city that serves as a capital for the European Union to lash out at multinational organizations and "bureaucrats."

Trump critics "claim America is acting unilaterally instead of multilaterally, as if every kind of multilateral action is by definition desirable," Pompeo said.

"Our mission is to reassert our sovereignty, reform the liberal international order, and we want our friends to help us and to exert their sovereignty as well," he said to stony silence from the European audience as he excoriated a long list of multilateral organizations.

European officials and Democrats in Congress have complained that the Trump administration's decision to withdraw was done without due consultation and squandered an opportunity to focus the world's attention on Russia's alleged violations of the treaty, which center on its covert development of an intermediate-range, ground-launched cruise missile designated 9M729.

The Kremlin says it continues to adhere to the treaty.

"The administration's sudden decision to withdraw unilaterally is a political and geostrategic gift to Russia," the top-ranking Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations, Armed Services and Intelligence committees said in a letter to Trump on Monday. "It takes the focus away from Russia's transgressions and malign behavior and instead feeds a narrative that the United States is willing to shred our commitments unilaterally without any strategic alternative."

U.S. diplomats say they do not expect Russia will ever return to compliance with the treaty, in part because they think the Kremlin has decided it needs the missile technology to protect itself against China, with which it shares a border.

Garrett Marquis, the spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said European leaders should hardly be surprised by the Trump move.

"The U.S. has engaged in extensive consultation with our allies on Russia's violation of the INF Treaty, which has been ongoing for more than five years," Marquis said.

He also cast the decision to withdrawal as a fait accompli instead of a move still under discussion. "On October 20th, the president made clear the U.S. will terminate the treaty," he said.

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The Post's Hudson reported from Washington, where Carol Morello and Paul Sonne contributed to this report.

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Video: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke about the U.S.-Russian Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces treaty in Brussels on Dec. 4, 2018, saying, "only [Russia] can save this treaty."(The Washington Post)

Embed code:President Donald Trump, facing a Congress that will become dramatically more antagonistic toward him in January, has begun courting Democrats who could determine whether his next two years are spent scoring legislative deals or staving off an onslaught of congressional investigations.

Trump's charm offensive was on display Monday when he hosted Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., at the White House for a meeting that the two men had spent days trying to schedule. Over a lunch of chicken, green beans and mashed potatoes, Manchin preached bipartisanship - urging the president to work with lawmakers on ending a pension crisis affecting tens of thousands of coal miners nationwide, said Jonathan Kott, Manchin's spokesman.

During the hour-and-a-half lunch, Manchin also suggested that Trump take a look at a comprehensive immigration bill the Senate passed in 2013 as another area of potential cooperation with Democrats - even though Trump has vehemently opposed the legislation and pursued tougher immigration policies while in office. Trump and Manchin were joined at the beginning of the meeting by Vice President Mike Pence and the president's daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump.

RELATED: At home with Donald and Melania Trump

In a statement, Manchin called the lunch "productive."

In recent days, Trump has invited the top Democratic congressional leaders to the White House amid a pressing government funding battle, and he privately told a Democratic senator he would consider legislation to help stem the loss of auto manufacturing jobs in Ohio.

Trump's top aides have also been a regular presence on Capitol Hill, discussing legislative goals even as Democrats begin plotting investigations into an administration they argue has escaped serious congressional scrutiny.

The overtures are a signal that Trump and his White House are at least feeling out whether the self-professed dealmaker can find common ground with Democrats next year even as he faces pressure from Republicans to keep the opposition party at arms length.

"I've seen him when others advise not to make a deal and he moves ahead," said Marc Short, the former White House legislative affairs director.

But others cautioned that Trump's bipartisan urges can be episodic and fleeting - a dynamic of which lawmakers and his aides are well aware.

"When he thinks he needs to be bipartisan, he does it for a while," one adviser said.

Trump's relationship with Democrats on Capitol Hill will immediately be put to the test as he engages in a showdown over funding for a border wall and his administration begins to lobby lawmakers on a new trade deal with Canada and Mexico.

RELATED: Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner: The love story

In both instances, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Calif., - the top House Democrat who is presumed to become speaker again next year - and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., hold considerable sway, whether it's delivering votes to ratify the new North American trade pact or knocking down Trump's repeated demands for Congress to provide $5 billion in border-wall funding.

Trump had requested that Pelosi and Schumer meet with him at the White House this week. Aides said the White House did not specify any agenda, but the meeting has been put off until next week, after memorial services are held for former President George H.W. Bush, who died Friday.

In previous interactions with Trump, the two Democratic leaders have shown they can push the president toward their desired policy outcomes - and quickly set the narrative. Last year, Pelosi and Schumer left a White House dinner and eagerly put out word that Trump had agreed to a deal that would combine permanent protections for young undocumented immigrants with border security measures, only to have the administration dispute that any agreement had been reached.

Pelosi and Schumer would often skip the staff and try to meet with Trump, who would welcome a deal and emphatically support one.

"The president would learn the details and then would realize it was a bad deal," a former administration official said.

Trade is another area that could be ripe for cooperation between Trump and congressional Democrats - leaving GOP leaders increasingly uneasy about Trump's tendencies.

According to three Republicans involved in high-level trade discussions with the White House, Trump and Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. trade representative, have signaled privately in recent weeks that they are willing to engage seriously with Democratic leaders next year and are optimistic that some bipartisan agreement could be brokered on the new trade pact to bring Democrats on board.

Lighthizer has spoken encouragingly of Pelosi - who has repeatedly bucked presidents, including President Barack Obama, on trade - to GOP lawmakers since her views are more likely to align with Trump's and she could be willing to work with the administration, according to two Republicans briefed on those exchanges.

Last week, Pelosi - quipping that the new North American pact "has some kind of gobbledygook name" - said the trade deal "formerly known as Prince" was still a work in progress.

"We are admiring of the trade representative and the attempts he has made to make sure that we are aware of what is in it," Pelosi said. "But what isn't in it yet is enough enforcement reassurances regarding provisions that relate to workers and to the environment. There also has not been a law passed in Mexico in terms of wages and working conditions in Mexico."

Although government funding and a new trade agreement are the most immediate agenda items for the White House, the president has shown significant interest in recent weeks in a new infrastructure bill, advisers say.

The notion still has plenty of skeptics in the West Wing, with questions over how to pay for new projects. Yet Shahira Knight, Short's successor as Trump's main liaison to Capitol Hill, has told one key House Democrat that the president wants to pursue an infrastructure deal and acknowledges that it'll take real money.

The president has also told advisers that Democrats also want to lower prescription drug prices - and it could be something that attracts wider support.

The White House outreach has only gone so far - particularly when it concerns committees and lawmakers more likely to be investigating the administration than cutting deals.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Md., the likely incoming chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, has heard "not a word" from the White House as he prepares to lead a panel that plans to scrutinize the administration's immigration directives and response to natural disasters.

"I have been around from transitions of other administrations and until this one, there was always outreach, just making sure things went well," Thompson said. "But to my knowledge, there's been no outreach."

For now, Democrats who have been in touch with Trump or his aides are taking a cautiously optimistic approach to the outreach.

Last Wednesday, Trump phoned Sen. Sherrod Brown after the Ohio Democrat requested a call to discuss General Motors' recent decision to shutter several auto plants, including one in northeastern Ohio. During the call, Brown, who also talks trade with Lighthizer, urged Trump to get behind legislation he drafted that would get rid of tax provisions that could incentivize companies to ship auto manufacturing jobs abroad.

Trump said he liked the bill, according to Brown's retelling, and his office rushed a copy of the legislation over to the White House. But Brown has tried to negotiate with the White House before - notably on the tax legislation last year - only to find that Trump would ultimately decided to shun bipartisan dealmaking and go toward a Republican-only approach.

Brown hopes that this time it's different.

"He said he wants to fix it," Brown said on CNN. "I take him at his word."

- - -

The Washington Post's Robert Costa contributed to this report.Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, on Tuesday defended President Donald Trump's response to the killing of Washington Post contributing columnist Jamal Khashoggi, telling a CNN host, "Journalists disappear all over the country."

Khashoggi was killed by a team of Saudi agents inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in October. Trump and senior members of his administration, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, have insisted that no single piece of evidence irrefutably links Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the killing.

Several senators stated after a closed-door briefing by CIA Director Gina Haspel on Tuesday that the evidence overwhelmingly points to the crown prince's involvement.

But Stewart echoed Trump, telling CNN's Brianna Keilar that "no one can say" for certain what happened and maintaining that it is in U.S. interests not to allow the relationship with Saudi Arabia to rupture.

"We have to have a relationship with some players that we don't agree with," Stewart said. "Journalists disappear all over the country. Twenty journalists have been killed in Mexico. You don't think it's happened in Turkey and China? Of course it does. And yet, we have to have a relationship with these individuals, or with these countries."

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 45 journalists were killed in 2018 because of their work; Reporters Without Borders estimates that more were killed in the first nine months of this year than in all of 2017.

Asked for comment on Stewart's remarks, his office released a statement emphasizing that the lawmaker supports both defending human rights and preserving relationships with key allies.

"We cannot brush aside the murder of any journalist and I have always said that those who are responsible for the murder of Mr. Khashoggi should be held responsible," Stewart said in the statement.

"As the leader of the free world, we have to accomplish two goals; defend human rights while also attempting to maintain important relationships with key allies that we hope will help us bring stability to critical parts of the world. We should always strive to do both."

---

The Washington Post's Shane Harris, Karoun Demirjian and Emily Rauhala contributed to this report.When President Donald Trump pulled out of discussions of a United Nations migration pact nearly one year ago, there was an immediate international outcry. Arguing that the agreement would interfere with U.S. sovereignty and migration policies, the Trump administration's announcement followed its earlier decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement and other multilateral deals.

But whereas the United States has only become more isolated on other fronts since - now being the only country in the world on the way out of the Paris climate deal - Trump's decision to abandon the U.N. migration pact has emboldened critics elsewhere. Other nations have followed suit in recent weeks, sparking fierce debates and government showdowns in some places.

The Belgian coalition government suffered a severe setback Monday after its biggest member party said it would oppose the country's participation in the pact. In neighboring Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel's successors as party leader have also clashed over the pact as they head into a key vote on the conservative party's future this weekend.

Meanwhile, the governments of Hungary, Israel, Australia, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Switzerland and Bulgaria have determined that they will not sign the proposed pact or that they will delay a decision.

What is the U.N. migration pact?

The nonbinding agreement was the result of a broader plan, agreed two years ago by all 193 members of the United Nations, with the declared aim of making migration more humane and orderly. The years before the agreement were dominated by news of refugees and migrants dying in the Mediterranean and Aegean seas as they were trying to make their way to safer countries in Europe.

While regulations exist to prevent the exploitation of refugees who flee war or prosecution, there is so far no agency that monitors the exploitation of migrants who leave their countries for economic reasons. The U.N. pact it supposed to create conditions that would make migration a more orderly process and prevent a repeat of some of the chaotic scenes that marked the last few years.

What's the criticism?

Early criticism mainly came from European far-right parties, with Germany's Alternative for Germany (AfD) lashing out at it as a disguised mechanism to allow more migrants into Europe. The underlying skepticism isn't unique to fringe parties any longer, however.

Some of the first European countries to pull out were Hungary and Austria, which have gone to great lengths to halt migration flows. Hungary built a fence on its border with Serbia and Croatia after it became a transit country for refugees and migrants heading to Western Europe in 2015. In Austria, the migration influx helped the far right gain power last year as part of a coalition government.

The criticism voiced in those countries has largely echoed the United States' justification to pull out last year. The deal, the U.S. officials at the United Nations argued last December, contained "numerous provisions that are inconsistent with U.S. immigration and refugee policies and the Trump administration's immigration principles."

What do supporters say?

The agreement's supporters say that working conditions of migrants and living conditions of their families are often dire and that a more concerted effort to stop human trafficking and workplace discrimination is needed.

Supporters have vehemently denied that the U.N. pact would interfere with countries' sovereignty over migration policies. Besides being nonbinding, the pact also emphasizes "integrated, secure and coordinated" border management, according to Benjamin Schraven and Eva Dick of the German Development Institute. Secure migration, the pact states, can be a "source of global prosperity."

Ironically, supporters of the deal have cited countries such as Hungary to make their point. The Eastern European nation is experiencing a severe shortage of skilled workers. Despite opposing the migrant pact, its government seeks to fill those vacant positions with migrant workers -- a challenging task, given that foreign workers have been drawn to more prosperous places that offer them more rights and protection.

What's the way forward?

Even though more European nations are pulling out of the pact, it's still too early to declare it dead. The vast majority of migrants live in African and Asian nations, where U.N. member states see benefits to creating a more orderly approach to migration. African and Asian countries with large exoduses and influxes of migrants have shared interests in curbing illegal migration and promoting a more structured transit.A Houston-area teacher admitted to having a long-term sexual relationship with a former Bellaire High School student from May 2014 to June 2018, during which they were caught having sex inside multiple vehicles and briefly lived together, according to charging documents filed last week in Harris County district court.

David Ziesmer, 26, has been charged with having an improper relationship with a student and sexual assault of a child. He has been released from custody after posting $20,000 bonds for each charge, records show.

RELATED: Cy-Springs teacher who had sex with 15-year-old student was off her medication

Houston ISD police filed the charges Nov. 26, more than a month after the victim came forward with information about the relationship.

According to the charging documents, the victim said she had been in a relationship with Ziesmer starting in May 2014, when she was a 15-year-old freshman. Ziesmer taught her world geography class as a student teacher in the 2013-14 school year, police said.

The victim said they had sex inside "several of his vehicles" and started living together with Ziesmer's parents after her 18th birthday, police said.

More recently, Ziesmer had been a teacher at Crosby High School as of August 2018. He was placed on administrative leave Nov. 12 when district officials found out about his charges, and he has since resigned, according to a statement from Crosby ISD.

Crosby ISD officials said they notified the Texas state Board for Educator Certification and conducted their own internal investigation.

"The investigation revealed no misconduct related to Crosby ISD students," the statement read. "During the employment process with Crosby ISD, there had been no information indicating concerns relating to the allegations or any other criminal misconduct. Crosby ISD is committed to student safety and will not tolerate any criminal wrongdoing by educators involving students."

In a separate statement, HISD officials said Ziesmer was never officially employed by the district as a student teacher. Also, district officials didn't find anything when they conducted his initial background check, the statement said.

"HISD's priority is the safety and well-being of all students," they said in the statement.

RELATED: Notable sex scandals involving Houston-area teachers in 2018

According to the charging document, the victim was twice caught with Ziesmer in her home. The first time, in February 2015, the victim's mother arrived home from work early and reportedly found Ziesmer hiding under a blanket with the girl. The victim said they met in her math class.

Then, several months later, the mother caught them sleeping in bed together in the home, charging documents say.

When questioned by police, Ziesmer admitted to the relationship, adding that "nothing was sexual until after her 17th birthday," the document states.

He also admitted they were caught having sex in a car at a "random" apartment complex when she was 17.

His next court hearing is scheduled for Feb. 19.

Julian Gill is a digital reporter in Houston. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | julian.gill@chron.com | Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text messageGrief and guilt weighed heavily on Kai Xu as he recounted his wifes troubling behavior leading up to her arrest this weekend in the tragic drowning death of their 5-year-old son.

He mostly blames himself for believing that leaving his wife alone with their child, Jiandong Xu, when he went to work Friday morning could help her recover from a downward spiral of depression that began in March.

She loved my son. Thats why I let my son be together with her, Xu said between sobs from his west Houston home Sunday. My son could make her better and recover. That was my mistake.

The toy-packed living room where Xu sat was quiet. He and his 43-year-old wife, Lihui Liu, bought the home in a gated Energy Corridor community after moving to Texas from Singapore in 2012. Soon after, their second child, Jiandong, was born. The white walls of their home were adorned with his crayon doodles.

SPIKE IN MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES: How Texas schools are dealing

In the kitchen, bags of groceries  dumplings, kiwis, nuts and bread  Xu had bought his wife went untouched in the wake of her arrest. She has been charged with capital murder and held without bail after Xu made the horrifying find Friday night in their garage.

He returned home from work unable to find his son, who stayed home from daycare at Lius request. As he searched the house, Liu revealed that their child was in the trash can, according to police. Xu looked inside the bin and found his sons severed head and body wrapped in a black plastic bag.

After Xu called police, investigators found a blood-spattered bathtub and a bloody knife in the bathroom. Liu refused to talk to police about the decapitation but allegedly told investigators she drowned the child.

Liu is slated to return to court on Thursday. Child Protective Services interacted with the family back in 2015, though the children were never in state custody. It was not immediately known why the agency was involved, or how that involvement ended. Liu, who is now facing an immigration detainer, does not appear to have any prior criminal history in Harris County.

She was being treated for mental health problems after a suicide attempt in August, he said, about a year after she underwent a hysterectomy to remove a mass. She tried drowning herself in a nearby bayou and was rescued, he said. He believes the surgery contributed to her bizarre behavior.

She was prescribed antidepressants from the Harris County Psychiatric Center after she tried to kill herself, but Xu said she refused to take the medication because it left her restless at night and exhausted during the day. He would find her standing outside at odd hours, telling her husband at least once that someone told her to do so.

Xu said she vanished from their home in the middle of the night and was found by police the next morning.

After he sent her on a two-week trip to visit her parents in northeast China, he believed quality time with her children, Jiandong and their 13-year-old daughter, could ease her mind. He said he was alarmed to see that when she returned from China on Nov. 20, she had chopped off her shoulder-length hair. The result of her close crop was visible in a booking photo released Saturday by Houston police.

OPINION: It's not guns. It's not mental health issues. It's both.

He worried for Liu as she began her third night at the Harris County Jail.

I don't like her because she killed my son. I'm very angry, he said. But as her husband, I need to take care of her.

He hopes she has a warm blanket and is eating. In the weeks before her arrest, she was refusing food, save for the occasional orange he bought her.

Every morning I wake up, I feel bad. I think I should take care of her. I call police, maybe I need to send her food, Xu said. If I dont send food, in weeks or a month, she will die.

Over the weekend, he broke the devastating news to his wifes parents that their grandson had died. Soon after, his heartbroken mother-in-law was rushed to a hospital.

I told her parents, She killed my son,  Xu said. Her mother is now in the hospital because she, like her daughter, loved my son.

He doesnt have the heart to make the same call to his own parents, who also live in China, fearing that Jiandongs death could hurt his mother as well.

My son was very loved. I havent told my mother, I think for all my life I wont tell my her until she dies, he said.

nicole.hensley@chron.com

Keri Blakinger contributed to this report.From the Clintons to the heir of the British throne, several former presidents, foreign dignitaries and friends will honor Former President George H.W. Bush at funeral services scheduled to be held at Washington National Cathedral on Wednesday.

The nation's 41st president died Friday at home in Houston at the age of 94. Bush will be flown back to Texas to be buried. Texans can pay their respects Thursday as his body is carried by train from Spring to College Station to his final resting place.Schertz officials voted unanimously to hire Mark Browne as its new city manager.

Browne, currently city manager for Alamo Heights, was not present for the Nov. 27 vote.

Schertz is an outstanding opportunity for both my professional and personal growth, Browne said in a telephone interview. It is a fast-growing community with a large city staff, and it provides a challenge for me, something I really wanted to do. I see it as a great opportunity.

Browne, 63, retired in 2005 after nearly 27 years from the U.S. Air Force with the rank of colonel. A Galveston native, Browne was hired as the city manager of Terrell Hills and, six years later, of Alamo Heights. He has a doctorate in public administration from the University of Alabama.

During his military career, he was first operations director and plans and then resources director for the recruiting service at Randolph Air Force Base. He also served as deputy commanding officer of the 7th Support Group at Dyess AFB, Texas, and as commanding officer of the 348th Recruiting Squadron at Little Rock AFB, Ark.

During his six years in Terrell Hills, Browne oversaw the sale of that citys sewer system to the San Antonio Water System, completion of a $1.5 million drainage channel project, and the purchase of two properties for relocation of the fire and police departments. In Alamo Heights, in addition to focusing on infrastructure, he oversaw development of a new city hall complex.

That multi-faceted background definitely influenced his selection as the new top administrator for Schertz.

We have a very close relationship with Joint Base San Antonio and particularly with Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, said Schertz Mayor Michael Carpenter, and I think the council felt that experience will be invaluable in maintaining a very strong and close relationship with Joint Base San Antonio.

The second thing was he has had 13 years of experience as a city manager, the mayor added. Thats a good tenure and an opportunity to learn many, many things that you need to know to run any city of any size, but certainly that will be germane to things were doing here.

Carpenter said that, in a lot of ways, Schertz is an unusual situation. For instance, it spans three counties, contains parts of five school districts, and is served by three municipal utilities, he noted. One of the reasons he gave for wanting to come to Schertz is that unique challenge that he perceives it represents. the mayor explained. Im excited about Dr. Browne joining us, and I think hes going to do a great job for us.

Browne is expected to step into his new role Jan. 3 at an annual salary of $180,000. He succeeds John Kessel who, having served as Schertz city manager for seven years, was asked to resign Jan. 19 after a no-confidence vote.

Originally Schertz received 52 resumes to fill Kessels position, but after reviewing qualifications, council members cut that list to 23. Eventually, they conducted interviews with five candidates before selecting Browne.

Brian James, who filled in as acting city manager, will return to his previous post of executive director of development when Browne joins the staff in January.

At its Nov. 27 meeting, city council also was briefed on the results of an employee engagement survey taken in July and August.

Conducted by the Institute of Organizational Excellence from the University of Texas-Austin, the online survey of all Schertz city staff showed some declines in job satisfaction and employee information while other categories like supervision, sense of community and employee development remained the same or showed slight improvements from similar surveys in 2014 and 2016.

Institute director Noel Landuyt, who conducted the survey and briefed the council, noted that one out of three Schertz employees feel upper management should communicate better and one out of four said there werent enough opportunities to provide supervisors with feedback.

The Schertz city staff prepared a plan to improve those results, proposing a five-month series of employee meetings to provide feedback, set goals, create action plans and share with all staff.

This is a valuable thing for us to do, Carpenter said. No matter what the results, I would encourage the council to continue this into perpetuity. The feedback we get is invaluable. The opportunity we have as a result of asking for that feedback to further our organization and what we do well is invaluable. Not all of our competition does this, and I think it makes us stronger and better than they.

More refinement of the communication plans will occur over the next several months, council was told.Outgoing Harris County judge Ed Emmett said Tuesday he will teach at Rice University, his alma mater, starting in January.

Emmett made the impromptu announcement after a Rice University undergraduate spoke during the public comment portion of Commissioners Court, when he encouraged her to sign up for his class.

"I'll be teaching a class in the spring and two classes in the fall, and assisting the Kinder Institute on policy projects," Emmett said.

NO QUICK FIX: Emmett says flood control projects will take a decade to complete

He will be a non-tenured professor and senior fellow at the Kinder Institute for Urban Research. Though he said he looks forward to taking a step back from politics, Emmett's first class will focus on policy topics within the Texas Legislature, which returns to Austin in January.

In an interview at his office, Emmett said Rice President David Leebron approached him last month about joining the faculty. Emmett in November lost his bid for a third full term as county judge, a position he has held since 2007.

Bill Fulton, director of the Kinder Institute, said Rice looks forward to Emmett joining the faculty.

"We think Ed is an enormously valuable resource to us as we move forward to try to do research and work on policy issues in Houston and Harris County," Fulton said.

Emmett, who lives less than a mile from campus, earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Rice in 1971. He entered the school as a physics major, but credited Rice for spurring his interest in public policy. Emmett praised the university's small student body and rigorous curriculum.

"Rice created good work habits in me that have held me in good stead the rest of my life," Emmett said. "If I'd gone to the University of Texas, I'd have been lost in that shuffle."

The Kinder Institute, an in-house think tank at Rice, studies many of the issues Emmett has grappled with as county executive, including transportation, disaster preparedness, housing and health care. He said he looks forward to serving as a resource to the city of Houston and Harris County as leaders continue to deal with the region's rapid growth.

"I've had significant roles at the state, federal and local levels," Emmett said. "There aren't many people that have been at all three of those."

Emmett represented Kingwood in the state Legislature from 1979 to 1987 and was appointed to the federal Interstate Commerce Commission by President George H.W. Bush in 1989, a post he held for three years.

Even before his new appointment, Emmett was a frequent presence on campus, where he plays tennis weekly.

Zach Despart covers Harris County for the Chronicle. You can follow him on Twitter or email him at zach.despart@chron.com.Its past time to take down the Children of the Confederacy Creed plaque at the state Capitol.

It belongs in a museum where it can be properly contextualized, but not in the Capitols first floor, which gives it some degree of veneration, or at least tacit acceptance that what it says is accurate. It isnt.

Mounted in 1959 by the Texas Division of the Children of the Confederacy, the plaque says, We, therefore pledge ourselves to preserve pure ideals; To honor our veterans; To study and teach the truths of history (one of the most important of which is, that the war between the states was not a rebellion, nor was its underlying cause to sustain slavery).

But here is a key truth of our history the plaque ignores: Slavery was a primary reason for the Civil War. This point is quite prominent, and made repeatedly, in the 1861 Declaration of Causes. This historical document outlines Texas reasons for secession. Slavery is front and center. Consider this excerpt:

(Texas) was received as a commonwealth holding (to the Confederacy), maintaining and protecting the institution known as negro slavery  the servitude of the African to the white race within her limits  a relation that had existed from the first settlement of her wilderness by the white race, and which her people intended should exist in all future time. Her institutions and geographical position established the strongest ties between her and other slave-holding States of the confederacy.

Outgoing House Speaker Joe Straus, a member of the State Preservation Board, first called for the plaques removal in September 2017 following the fatal white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va.

What should have been a clear decision then became politically muddied.

Gov. Greg Abbott, who chairs the six-member State Preservation Board, said state lawmakers should make such a decision. He has also said he will work with lawmakers to take down the plaque because of factual inaccuracy.

But this has the feel of passing the buck, rather than seizing the day. The governor doesnt need to go to state lawmakers. As a recent opinion from Attorney General Ken Paxton makes clear, the State Preservation Board can take down the plaque. So can the Texas Historical Commission, as well as state lawmakers.

Bear in mind, taking down the plaque does not mean erasing history.

It means, first and foremost, honoring history  by reporting it accurately.

It also means recognizing the plaque has its own history, shaped by powerful forces at the time of its creation, and as such it should be displayed in a museum with proper context as a way to promote broader understanding.

As Walter Buenger, chief historian of the Texas State Historical Association, told Express-News reporter Allie Morris, Confederate monuments surged in the 1950s as a reaction and protest to the civil rights movement.

The Confederacy is part of our history, so is slavery, and so is the Jim Crow mentality existing when many of these monuments were erected. As Straus has noted, we serve no one by hiding from these historical facts. We only delude ourselves.

Straus will be leaving office at the end of the year, and his moral leadership and courage will be greatly missed.

Abbott should follow Straus lead and call a special meeting and take down this inaccurate monument. Seize the moment, dont relinquish it.

Or to borrow a phrase from state Rep. Eric Johnson, a Democrat out of Dallas, its time to take out the screwdrivers.Aldi is teaming up with FoodCloud to challenge its Longford shoppers to help donate the equivalent of 20,000 meals to its Food For Good Christmas Appeal.

Also read: Longford's regeneration plans given 1m cash injection

From Friday, November 30 to Sunday December 9, Aldi shoppers will be asked to donate an extra non-perishable food item to help fill the specially designed Food For Good boxes that will be popping up at Aldi Longford for ten days only.

Announcing the launch of the Food For Good Christmas Appeal, co-founder of FoodCloud Iseult Ward said: Every Christmas we all find ourselves with that extra box of biscuits or Christmas cake that we didnt really need after all. Often these leftovers get added to the tonnes of food that gets wasted every festive season. This year, were asking Aldi shoppers to consider donating what might have been that extra thing, reducing food waste and helping people in need.

Also read: Shock at death of well known Edgeworthstown businessman Martin Gilchrist

Food collected by Aldis Longford shoppers during the Food For Good Christmas Appeal will be redistributed amongst our charity partners across the country, giving those most in need some extra Christmas cheer and keeping perfectly edible goods out of the bin.

Also speaking in advance of the launch, Group Buying Director at Aldi Ireland, John Curtin said: Our stores have donated more than 1.9 million meals of unsold food through FoodCloud in the last three years, and weve seen the difference it makes. This is a great chance to work with our customers and help communities at Christmas.

PHOTO GALLERY | Trojan work of volunteers recognised at Longford Community Games Area and Endeavour Gala Awards dinner dance

We will also donate all of our unsold fresh turkeys to FoodCloud and FoodCloud Hubs.

The following non-perishable items are requested as donations to the Food For Good Christmas Appeal:

Tea Bags

Instant Coffee

Biscuits

Sugar

Breakfast Cereals

Tinned Goods

Pasta and Pasta Sauces

Jam

Rice and Rice Pudding

Soft Drinks

Sweet Treats

Selection Boxes

Christmas Cake

Christmas PuddingA man who appeared before last weeks sitting of Longford District Court charged under the Theft & Fraud Offences Act was convicted and fined 350 following a hearing into the matter.

Liam Fox (31), 31 The Mills, Clondra, Longford appeared before Judge Seamus Hughes charged with stealing Coors Light and Prosecco from Supervalu, Hazelwood Shopping Centre, Longford on October 12, 2018.

Outlining the evidence to the court, Sergeant Paddy McGirl said that on the date in question gardai were alerted to a robbery at the local Supervalu store.

He said security staff informed the Gardai that the defendant and taken the items from the shelves and then proceeded to pass all paypoints.

Mr Fox tried to leave the store without paying for the alcohol, added Sergeant McGirl.

All the goods were subsequently recovered by the Gardai.

Meanwhile, the court heard that Mr Fox had 39 previous convictions and was a native of Dublin.

When Judge Hughes asked the defendant what he was doing in Longford, Mr Fox said he found himself homeless in the capital and his fathers friend, here in Longford, put him up.

I had nowhere else to go, added the defendant.

In mitigation, Mr Foxs solicitor, Frank Gearty, told the court that is client was anxious to ensure that a custodial sentence would not be handed down.

His issues are because of alcohol, Mr Gearty continued.

He is the father of three children.

Following his deliberations on the matter, Judge Hughes convicted the defendant and fined him accordingly.The new offices of the North Longford and Arva Credit Union were officially opened on Saturday last by the President of the Irish League of Credit Unions Mr Charles Murphy.

Also present was Mr Gerry Thompson, Vice President of the League.

There was a huge attendance and a wonderful atmosphere not alone around the Credit Union but also throughout the town.

Mr John Duffy acted as MC for the event and Fr Donald Hannon CC and Rev Hazel Canon Hicks blessed the building.

Following the closure of the Ulster Bank on Main Street it was a great boost to see the Credit Union purchase the building.

The Credit Union staff and committee wish to thank everyone who attended and assure them of the Union's best efforts on their behalf into the future.

The Credit Union is online now for transactions and are always happy to welcome new members.

The staff were delighted to have a visit from MEP Ms Marian Harkin on Friday afternoon.

Opening hours in Arva are as follows  Monday /Tuesday / Wednesday / Friday 10 am to 4pm. Saturday 1pm to 5pm.Local News, Press Releases

By Legislator Anker's Office Published: December 04 2018

On Wednesday, November 14th, Legislator Sarah Anker attended the official announcement of the Rides for American Pride program at Saddle Rock Ranch in Middle Island.

Middle Island, NY - December 4, 2018 - On Wednesday, November 14th, Legislator Sarah Anker attended the official announcement of the Rides for American Pride program at Saddle Rock Ranch in On Wednesday, November 14th, Legislator Sarah Anker attended the official announcement of the Rides for American Pride program at Saddle Rock Ranch in Middle Island

Co-hosted by Family Residences and Essential Enterprises (FREE) and Great Strides of Long Island, the program consists of 8 weeks of free-of-charge recreational horseback riding sessions for veterans. Included in each session is riding, grooming, and ground work for veterans their families.

It was a pleasure to join FREE and Great Strides of Long Island for their announcement of Rides for American Pride, said Legislator Anker. I encourage residents and veterans to participate in this program and learn more about the physical and emotional benefits of working with horses.

The Rides for American Pride program offers therapeutic riding sessions for veterans. These sessions help veterans with sensory integration issues, physical and emotional therapy issues, and socializing. The program lasts from now until the beginning of January.School & Education, Local News, Business & Finance, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: December 04 2018

Funding Will Go Toward Expanding and Upgrading Wired and Wireless Broadband Connectivity and Other Classroom Technology.

New York, NY - December 4, 2018 - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the approval of 58 Smart Schools Investment Plans, including $383 million for broadband and other technology upgrades in New York City schools. The funding is part of the $2 billion Smart Schools Bond Act - a sweeping initiative aimed at reimagining teaching and learning for the 21st century. The Act, first proposed by the Governor and overwhelmingly approved by voters as a 2014 ballot measure, is helping schools to equip students with the skills they need to thrive and succeed in the global economy.

"Through the Smart Schools Bond Act, we are bringing every classroom into the 21st century by equipping them with modern broadband and other technology and in the process knocking down barriers to inequality," Governor Cuomo said. "This funding will help ensure every child in New York has the tools they need to compete in the economy of the future."

"In today's economy, it is essential for students to have access to the latest technology to prepare them for future success," said Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul. "The Smart Schools initiative is transforming classrooms across New York and providing new opportunities for learning. This latest investment for New York City schools is focused on significant upgrades to ensure our children can thrive no matter what neighborhood they live in."

Meeting for the eleventh time today, the Smart Schools Review Board approved investment plans submitted by the New York City School District, 50 additional school districts and six special education schools.

A summary of the plans approved today is available here

New York City's $383 million technology investment plan, approved today, budgets $250 million to expand and upgrade schools' digital networks to ensure the consistency of wired and wireless broadband connectivity. Network infrastructure equipment - including servers, wireless access points, wireless controllers, routers, switches and cabling - will be updated. This investment, coupled with other investments already underway, will allow all New York City school buildings to have access to broadband speeds of 100 Mbps or higher per 1,000 students.

New York City's approved technology plan also budgets $133 million for the purchase of technology devices to be used inside the classroom, including laptops, desktop computers, tablets, charging carts, and tools to integrate the devices into the network. The Smart Schools program will place special emphasis on ensuring upgrades in struggling and persistently struggling schools, expanding blended learning programs, and implementing the Computer Science for All initiative.

The investments approved today are part of New York City's total allocation through the Smart Schools Bond Act of $783 million. In September, the Smart Schools Review Board approved the City's investment plan to use $400 million of its allocation to remove portable classroom units and construct pre-kindergarten classrooms.

At today's meeting, the Smart Schools Review Board approved 57 additional plans from school districts and special education schools across the state. This includes 34 plans supporting $16 million in high-tech security projects, 24 plans that invest $8 million in classroom technology statewide, 22 plans that will support $7 million worth of school connectivity purchases, and one plan to spend $1.5 million on pre-kindergarten classroom space.

Plans approved to date by the Smart Schools Review Board total nearly $1.3 billion, supporting school districts in every region of the State.

State Budget Director Robert F. Mujica said, "By ensuring connectivity and modern technology, the plans approved today will transform classrooms into modern learning centers preparing students for success no matter their zip code. Of paramount importance, the Smart Schools program is also advancing high tech security solutions to help ensure the safety of students, statewide."

State Education Department Commissioner MaryEllen Elia said, "This funding has been critical statewide as districts work to upgrade broadband infrastructure and connectivity to ensure our children can keep pace with a world that is evolving rapidly. We continue to work to streamline the process so schools can put their plans for this very important funding into action for students. Today's approvals mean New York City and more than 50 other school districts and Special Education Schools can move forward with upgrades for improved educational technology and infrastructure, and high-tech security upgrades including video surveillance and emergency notification systems."

SUNY Chancellor Kristina M. Johnson said, "Today's Smart School Boards Act funding, particularly the $383 million investment for the New York City technology plan, is proof of Governor Cuomo's ongoing commitment to improve learning and create opportunities for students throughout New York State. Technology will continue to shape our future. By providing classrooms and teachers with the latest technologies and resources, we prepare our students to excel academically and professionally."

In 2014, Governor Cuomo called for New York State to invest $2 billion in its schools through a Smart Schools Bond Act - an initiative that would finance educational technology and infrastructure, providing students access to the latest technology and connectivity needed to succeed and compete in the 21st century economy. New Yorkers agreed and voted in favor of the Smart Schools Bond Act that November.Local News, Crime, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: December 04 2018

The incident occurred in Shinnecock Bay, off the shore of the Shinnecock Indian Reservation, cops say.

New York State Troopers were dispatched to a jet ski in distress in the Shinnecock Bay.

Southampton, NY - December 4, 2018 - On Monday, December 3, 2018, at approximately 5:33 pm, New York State Troopers were dispatched to a jet ski in distress in the Shinnecock Bay, On Monday, December 3, 2018, at approximately 5:33 pm, New York State Troopers were dispatched to a jet ski in distress in the Shinnecock Bay, Southampton , NY, off the shore of the Shinnecock Indian Reservation.

The Southampton Fire Department , along with Southampton Town Bay Constables, responded to the area and retrieved one male subject from the water who was hanging onto a capsized jet ski. He was transported to Southampton Hospital for medical treatment and is expected to survive. Upon further investigation at the scene, a second male occupant of the jet ski was found unresponsive on the shore of the Shinnecock Indian Reservation. He was immediately transported to Southampton Hospital where he was later pronounced deceased.Xem them

...

Tin bai cuoi cung

Khong con du lieu e loadThousands of people marched through the streets of Malaga, Seville and Granada last night in response to the results of the Andalusia elections, which saw the far-right party VOX enter the regional parliament with 12 deputies. The demonstrations, which had been called through social media, were overwhelmingly made up of youth, with many carrying red and Republican flags, as well as the Andalusian green and white flag.

In Malaga, some 1,000 people gathered in the town centre, taking over the whole of Larios street, which was already decorated with Christmas lights. In Seville, hundreds gathered in the centre and then marched to the regional parliament, their numbers swelling to 2,000. In Granada, there was already a gathering in the centre of town, which then became a demonstration that shut down the main streets, with the local police putting numbers at 4,000. Noticeable in Granada was the presence of Catalan independence flags, as well as shouts of Free political prisoners.

"aqui estan los antifascistas" en las calles de Granada y en solidaridad con el pueblo catalan #FascismoNuncaMas #NoPasaran #LlibertatPresosiPresesPolitiques pic.twitter.com/2uq3LRAduD  Jorge Martin (@marxistJorge) December 3, 2018

Far-right in parliament

These demonstrations were the spontaneous reaction to the shocking news that VOX had not only entered the regional parliament for the first time ever, but had achieved results that had not been forecasted by any of the opinion polls: 12 deputies with 10.97 percent of the total vote. This is the first time that a far-right formation has achieved any parliamentary representation in Spain since 1982.

The elections had been called by regional president Susana Diaz (PSOE) ahead of their scheduled time, as she calculated that the increase of the Socialist Party in the opinion polls was going to give her an overall majority in Andalusia, where she had ruled in an alliance with liberal party, Ciudadanos, since 2015. It was a fatal miscalculation.

The Socialist Party had ruled Andalusia ever since the regional parliament was established in 1982. The decline of the PSOE nationally had also affected it in Andalusia, but still the region remained overwhelmingly dominated by the party in regional elections and the regional party was one of the main players in the national PSOE. The regional president, Susana Diaz, had clashed with Pedro Sanchez in the partys primary elections in 2017, where she represented the right-wing apparatus of the party and was defeated. Already, in 2012, the PSOE was forced to make a coalition with United Left in order to rule, something that damaged IU as it was put in a position of propping up austerity policies. In 2015, again, the PSOE had no overall majority and made an alliance with Ciudadanos, the right-wing liberal party.

Results breakdown for Andalusian regional elections / Image: fair use

The partys share of the vote progressively declined, from 48 percent in 2008, to 40 percent in 2012 and 35 percent in 2015. The elections on Sunday were the final blow to socialist hegemony in Andalusia. The party lost 400,000 votes (nearly a third) and went down to 28 percent. It is still the largest party in the regional parliament, but will not be able to form a government. The party in Andalusia has been responsible for carrying out unpopular austerity policies as well as being involved in a myriad of corruption scandals.

Many of its voters decided to abstain, with a smaller section voting for Ciudadanos. Turnout, at 58 percent, was the lowest since 1990, and five percentage points lower than in 2015. In total, the number of abstentions went up by 320,000, with spoilt and blank ballots increasing by 45,000. Abstention was higher in the working-class areas and towns, which had traditionally delivered overwhelming Socialist Party majorities for nearly four decades.

The right-wing Popular Party, recently ousted from the national government by Pedro Sanchez, also did badly. It went down from 26 to 20 percent of the vote shedding over 300,000 votes. The right turn of the partys new leader, Casado, did not prevent many of its voters from deserting it, on the contrary, it encouraged them to vote for more radical and openly right-wing options, mainly VOX, which went up by 378,000 votes. The right-wing liberal Ciudadanos capitalised on its reactionary Spanish nationalist agitation against the Catalan Republic movement last year, doubling its share of the vote from 9 to 18 percent, but still coming short of its main aim of overtaking the popular party.

The alliance of United Left and Podemos, standing under the bland name of Andalusia Adelante (Forward Andalusia), did not do well. In went down in share of the vote as compared to the combined voted of the two formations in 2015, from 21 percent to 16 percent, and lost some 280,000 votes. The campaign it ran was not bad, with a radical message and lots of references to the working class, but this was not enough to offset a number of other factors. First of all, internal faction struggles within the regional organisation, together with a general process led by the national leadership to empty out the local branches, meant that the Podemos part of the alliance did not have many activists it could rely on. Only in July, the national leadership around Pablo Iglesias had launched a dirty campaign against the regional leadership around Teresa Rodriguez (from the Anticapitalistas wing of the party) which had the effect of destroying many of the local structures and demoralising a section of the remaining activists. Perhaps more significant was the fact that Unidos Podemos has reached an agreement with the Pedro Sanchez government on the question of the state budget for next year. Thus, for many left-wing people in Andalusia who wanted to get rid of the hated Susana Diaz government, the organisation appeared too close to the PSOE.

The most striking feature of the election result was the irruption of VOX. It received 395,000 votes on Sunday, while it had only 18,000 in 2015. This is a far-right party, standing on policies which can be easily compared to those of Le Pen in France, FPO in Austria or the AfD in Germany. It denounces immigration and Islam, stands for Spanish nationalism, advocates the abolition of autonomous regional governments, defends free enterprise and denounces feminism and gender ideology.

Catalonia

Clearly, the Catalan national question has played a role in the partys growth. VOX has been a party of the prosecution in all the trials against Catalan political leaders for the independence referendum a year ago. The main right-wing parties (PP and Ciudadanos) have in fact helped bring VOX to prominence and give it legitimacy by openly participating in joint Spanish nationalist demonstrations in Barcelona, for instance.

The PP and Ciudadanos made the Catalan question one of the main issues in the Andalusia campaign and it was VOX which benefitted. The PSOE, and above all Susana Diaz, is also responsible for the rise of the far right, as it joined in the chorus of reactionary Spanish nationalism a year ago. If the Catalan politicians are coup plotters, defy democracy and the Constitution and the Catalan referendum is dealt with in a brutal repressive manner, then it is no surprise that right-wing voters will turn towards the party that is seen as more radical in dealing with that threat.

The far-right party, VOX received 395,000 votes on Sunday and gained 12 deputies, meaning it will enter parliament for the first time / Image: Contando Estrelas

VOX comes from a split of the right wing of the PP. Its main leader, Santiago Abascal was a local councillor and regional deputy of the party in the Basque Country. He and others split from the PP in 2004 as they considered the partys line too lenient regarding ETA supporting parties and not tough enough against Catalan and Basque nationalism. The far right, which in Spain had always remained within the boundaries of the PP (which was after all founded by six Francoist ministers) seems to now have found a new political home.

The votes for VOX in the Andalusian election come overwhelmingly from wealthy neighbourhoods where the PP was strong. In most election districts, there is an almost exact correlation between the votes lost by the PP and the votes won by VOX, with a few additional voters coming from abstention. The strongest result for VOX is in El Ejido, Almeria: a medium-income area dominated by agricultural greenhouses, where about a third of the population are African migrants working in brutal conditions of exploitation. Here, the PP was the largest party in 2015, with 41 percent of the vote, and now VOX has won the election with 29 percent, and the PP going down to 26 percent.

So far, it cannot be said that VOX has captured the working class vote in any significant way, and in the main working class and landless labourer neighbourhoods and towns, the combined vote of PSOE and Adelante Andalusia ranges from 50 to 80 percent. That does not mean that this could not happen in the future.

Who will form the government?

The question of who will form the new regional government is now posed sharply. Neither Ciudadanos nor the PP seem keen on a grand coalition with the PP to stop the extremists, as that would only provoke a further transfer of their voters to VOX. The main option they are discussing is a joint government of PP, Ciudadanos or VOX in one form or another. This would be a first for Spain: the entry of the far right into a regional government.

This rise of the far right and, in general, the penetration of reactionary Spanish nationalism amongst wide layers of the population, would not have been possible (or at least would have been somewhat contained), if the leaders of Unidos Podemos had taken a principled stand towards the Catalan referendum. Instead of clearly defending the right of Catalonia to self-determination and taking advantage of the Catalan challenge to join the defiance of the 1978 regime, they took a cowardly non-committal position, criticising both sides as equally responsible for the crisis and in effect making concessions to Spanish chauvinism. Unfortunately, this included the leaders of Podemos in Andalusia (Teresa Rodriguez and the Cadiz mayor Kichi) both of whom members of the Anticapitalistas wing of the organisation who also came under the same pressure and made concessions.

The question now arises of how to fight the far right. The youth took the initiative in the spontaneous demonstrations yesterday. On Thursday, is the 40th anniversary of the Spanish constitution. In Granada there will be big, left-wing demonstration to mark Andalusias national day, called (amongst others) by the militant trade union SAT. The demonstration marks the day on which Manuel Caparros, a 17-year-old-worker and trade unionist, was killed by the police in 1977 during a demonstration for Andalusian self-government. It should be a massive show of strength against the far right.

Pablo Iglesias called for the unity of all democratic and anti-fascist forces against the far right: a losing strategy / Image: Flickr, Parlamento Europeo

There is enormous confusion in the left about the cause of the rise of the far right and above all on how to fight it. Many have lost all sense of proportion and talk of fascism around the corner. Certainly, VOX is a far-right, reactionary organisation, but to deduce from this that we are back to 1939 is a long stretch. The Communist Party, for instance, issued an alarmist statement in which it described not only VOX but also the PP and Ciudadanos as unashamedly fascist! If that was not wrong enough (PP and Ciudadanos are right wing reactionary Spanish chauvinist parties but certainly not fascist), then it calls for the unity of all democratic forces.

In a similar vein, Pablo Iglesias and the national leadership of Unidos Podemos held a press conference on election night, in which they also called for the unity of all democratic and anti-fascist forces against the far right. While the call for the mobilisation against the far right is to be welcomed, the main strategy he proposed was making sure that the PSOE government should be able to approve its budget in order to prevent the triggering of early elections, as this would see the irruption of the far right at a national level. He especially made an appeal to the parties that supported PSOE in the motion of no-confidence against Rajoy (that is, the Catalan nationalists of PDECAT and ERC) to be responsible as what is at stake, he said, is that the leadership of the state might be in the hands of the far right. In essence, he is appealing to defend democracy by preventing early elections as these would be won by the right wing!

Fight the far right with socialism

In reality, all of these proposals to defend democracy in the abstract represent nothing more than a defence of bourgeois democracy, which in Spain also means the defence of the 1978 regime. In Catalonia many will say, correctly, which democracy are you talking about if, when we had a democratic referendum, this democracy you talk about sends the police to crack our skulls and has now jailed our leaders for calling that referendum? You are asking us to defend democracy by propping up the PSOE government, a party that wholeheartedly supported the repression of the Catalan referendum!

The rise of the far right in Andalusia takes place in the context of increased abstention by working-class voters, disillusioned with decades of PSOE rule, which meant corruption, cuts and nepotism; and did not solve any of the fundamental problems of unemployment, casualisation of labour and poverty facing millions of workers and youth. How can you call on them to fight the far right by propping up the party they reject?

Which democracy are we supposed to defend? One in which the former King is accused of corruption, but enjoys full immunity, while rap artists and militant youth are jailed for their ideas?

"Viva la lucha de la clase obrera" miles en Sevilla responden a la entrada de Vox en el parlamento andaluz pic.twitter.com/qAEOpi5IDo  Jorge Martin (@marxistJorge) December 3, 2018

The only way the left can organise a serious struggle against the danger of the far right is to abandon empty phrase mongering about democracy, and organise a serious campaign against the 1978 regime, and the now very unpopular monarchy, for the democratic rights of Catalonia, freedom of expression, and above all for jobs, homes and bread. Such a struggle would be able to mobilise workers and youth and bring them into a collision course with the rotten 1978 regime.

You cannot fight the far right with clever maneuvers in parliament, but by being present in the struggles of the workers and youth in the streets, factories and schools. Only a few weeks ago, a joint demonstration called by the trade unions, the youth, left wing and anti-fascist organisations drove the fascist sects off the streets in Valencia. That is the example that should be followed. The only way to fight the far right is to question the roots of the system, capitalism, whose crisis gives rise to it. Only the uncompromising struggle for socialism, not abstract appeals to democracy, can effectively combat the far right.SPRINGFIELD -- Friendly's shut down a total of six restaurants in four states this weekend, a list that includes the Sumner Avenue location here in Springfield.

The others are in Seekonk, Massachusetts; Bennington, Vermont; Rutland, Vermont; Dover, New Hampshire, and in East Greenbush, New York. East Greenbush is a suburb of Albany.

Friendly's released the list Tuesday afternoon saying that it was eliminating under performing stores.

"Over the past few years, we have identified and minimized the number of locations that no longer deliver the customer experience that we are working to create," Friendly's said in a news release. "As we move forward, our goal is to open locations with improved service and value for our customers."

The shutdown of the Sumner Avenue location made news Monday. The decision to close the location at 65 Sumner Ave., left Friendly's with just one location in the city of its birth. That one location, 1811 Boston Road, is adjacent to the ice cream plant and headquarters across the town line in Wilbraham.

When Friendly's emerged from federal bankruptcy protection in 2012, it had 254 restaurants -- 121 company-owned and 133 franchised.

Today, it's down to 224 locations in total, about 125 of them franchises and the rest corporately owned. Friendly's restaurants closed this year in Bourne, Gloucester, Ludlow, South Hadley and Westfield.

Friendly's has opened new locations in the last year or so in the Apex Center in Marlborough, Massachusetts, and in Merrimack, New Hampshire. And this summer it started renovating Connecticut locations to a new order-at-the -counter format.

The new format, where runners bring the food after it is prepared, was meant as a test of a system Friendly's hopes to use at all its locations.

In September, former CEO John Maguire stepped down. George Michel, who served as CEO of Boston Market Corp. for eight years, was made interim CEO at Friendly's.

Friendly's sold its retail ice cream and manufacturing business to Dallas, Texas-based Dean Foods Co. in 2016 for $155 million. Dean sells ice cream to supermarkets and Friendly's restaurants.

Brothers S. Prestley and Curtis Blake founded Friendly -- the apostrophe-s wasn't added until years later -- in 1935 in Springfield and grew the company quickly in the years following World War II. The brothers, both still living past their 100th year, sold to Hershey Foods in 1979.

The company changed hands a few times before becoming an independent corporation, and Pres Blake fought a long battle against a previous management regime he felt was destroying the brand and its legacy.

Pres Blake's activism lead to opponents selling the company in 2007 to Sun Capital for $337.2 million. Sun Capital still owns the brand along with other restaurant chains like Johnny Rockets and Boston Market as part of a varied portfolio that also includes a department store and a company that makes drywall tools.NORTHAMPTON -- U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Cambridge, announced Monday that she supports employees at the Daily Hampshire Gazette, Valley Advocate and Amherst Bulletin in their efforts to form a union.

"These two newspapers, and the local, high-quality journalism that they produce, play a crucial role in the Western Massachusetts communities that they serve," Warren, a Democrat, wrote in a letter released Tuesday by the organizing employees. "These employees deserve a chance to have a voice in their workplace, and, if they choose, join a union."

The letter came a week before employees are set for a vote Dec. 12 that would establish the Pioneer Valley NewsGuild. The vote follows a request from the organizing workers to the National Labor Relations Board.

In early November, employees announced plans to form a union affiliated with NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America and presented management with a petition signed by 70 percent of the employees across all facets of the operation from news gathering to production, advertising sales and distribution.

Pioneer Valley NewsGuild has also announced support from U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Worcester, whose district includes Northampton, state Sen.-elect Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, and state Rep.-elect Lindsay Sabadosa, D-Northampton.

Dave Eisenstadter, an editor at the papers, said politicians' support of the union cannot and will not affect news coverage. "I think we are very glad to have their support," he said. He said editors overseeing coverage won't be in the union, which provides an added check.

Workers are concerned, they say, about the quality of the news product and changing work responsibilities in a challenging economic environment for newspapers. The union effort also grows form a long simmering controversy over gender disparities in pay at the Gazette.

There are 72 employees at the Gazette, Advocate and Bulletin.

Pioneer Valley NewsGuild organizers asked that management at parent company Newspapers of New England voluntarily recognize the union, but were turned down.

Aaron Julian, president and CEO of Newspapers of New England, sent a letter to employees urging a "no" vote Dec. 12. He said a union would lead to management treating all employees the same.

"I strongly believe that adding a union to the mix will erode this newspaper," Julian wrote.

Michael Rifanburg was reassigned away from his role as publisher at the papers soon after the unionization effort became public. Julien replaced him.

The union effort includes all workers at the Gazette, Advocate and Bulletin but not at those at other Newspapers of New England papers in the region: the Greenfield Recorder and the Athol Daily News.WALTHAM - The governing body of the Massachusetts Medical Society accepted several resolutions, ranging from access to health care for LGBTQ individuals to mass-casualty training to burnout for caregivers of those with dementia, proposed by members during the two-day 2018 Interim Meeting here Nov. 30.

The proposals, which include advocating for those not born in the country to receive medical treatment regardless of status, approved by the House of Delegates become organizational policy.

The professional organization for physicians and medical students has been among those to oppose efforts by the Department of Homeland Security to exclude from permanent residency legal immigrants who may qualify at some point for government assistance. This would include routine care through Medicaid, which could result in some immigrant families not seeking needed treatment.

The MMS proposal also seeks to ensure health care settings are protected as "sensitive locations" where immigrants are not subjected to unrestrained immigration enforcement policies, a status somewhat addressed by existing polices as well as the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Another adopted proposal aims to educate providers and their patients on medical care for LGBTQ individuals. It is estimated that 1.4 million Americans identify with a gender other than the one they were born to and the American Medical Association has said sexual differentiation, also known as intersex traits, needs to recognized and addressed.

The meeting included a talk by Dr. Denise Faustman of Massachusetts General Hospital, known for her pioneering experimental therapy for type 1 diabetes that Gov. Charlie Baker called "very encouraging," as well as an ethics forum, "Health Care as a Basic Human Right."

The adopted policies as outlined include:WESTFIELD - James Homan and Bob Plasse started decking the halls of their 1760 colonial home several weeks ago in preparation for the 15th Westfield On Weekends' Holiday Home Tour.

The tour is Dec. 9 and features six homes, each with a unique history and holiday decor.

Homan and Plasse are making their fourth appearance on the tour this year, which makes sense since Plasse helped start the tour nearly 16 years ago.

"It started out as a fundraiser for the Western Hampden County Historical Society," Plasse said. "And then Westfield On Weekends started Dickens Days and it became a fundraiser for that."

The annual tour continues to benefit Westfield On Weekends and is part of the new DecemberFest series of events that kicked-off last week with the Mayor's Tree Lighting and Lantern Light Parade.

The homes include a Queen Ann Victorian, a bungalow with separate guest house, a house that boasts 20 decorated Christmas trees, a Victorian that was carefully renovated over a 15-year period, a grand modern traditional home decorated in every room in North Granby, Connecticut, and Plasse and Homan's 1760 colonial with rich Westfield history.

Plasse and Homan purchased their home in 2003 from the Smith family. Its previous owners include the Hedge family, the Adams and the builders of the house, Aaron Phelps and his wife Mary Noble. Over the years, renovations to the house kept the character and historical value intact. Homan said the Hedges installed the 3-D woodwork and Rex Adams - who worked on the Manhattan Project - and his wife added built-in bookshelves in the former dining room.

Plasse and Homan have put their own touches on the home, including renovating the former attached garage into a bedroom suite with full bathroom. They updated and added bathrooms and added a deck off the renovated kitchen, which includes original beams that are the perfect place for green garlands and lights.

While the couple tried to keep their holiday decor in the style of the house, they have included their personal treasures as well, such Homan's collection of nutcrackers. His collection is highlighted by a nutcracker replica of actress Carol Channing, with whom Homan appeared on Broadway. His Pierre Noel collection graces one of several mantels in the home and Plasse' 1947 Santa Claus figurines given to him and his twin brother hold a place of honor among the other Santas.

The red-and-gold themed dining room features a narrow wood table set for a Christmas feast. The dining room fireplace mantel is decorated with greenery, and a vintage artistic Westfield map hangs on the wall flanked by antique brass horns slung casually on lantern-style sconces.

In the kitchen, every nook and cranny has been highlighted with Christmas cheer. Above the cabinets, Homan and Plasse took advantage of the ceiling height and added greens and baskets. Garlands and twinkling lights wrap around the original wood beams and a wreath graces the rustic re-purposed barn-style wood doors that were on the former garage.

Upstairs, the green bedroom featuring Ginko leaf stencils and tile in the fireplace - a nod to the Ginko tree on their street --will be Santa's room for the tour. His boots are at the ready, tucked under a nightstand in case he has to do some last-minute flying.

Plasse said the tour is near and dear to him.

"This was the event that really started Westfield On Weekends," he said. Plasse founded WOW and continues to serve on its board and numerous committees.

The Holiday Home Tour is Dec. 9 from 12-5 p.m. tickets are $20 at Westfield Creative Arts Center, 105 Elm St., the day of the event or at Westfield Creative Arts, Pilgrim Candle and Blended Vintage Marketplace. A raffle for a large screen television donated by Curry Honda is available at the North Granby home. For more information, visit westfieldonweekends.com.A school bus driver was assaulted in an apparent road rage incident Monday after he allegedly hit a car while driving students home in Brighton.

Authorities said the altercation began when the bus driver hit another car, causing minor damage, and refused to stop, according to the Boston Globe. The incident happened near the intersection of South Waverly Avenue and Lincoln Street around 3:45 p.m.

WCVB reported that when the bus eventually stopped, the operator of the car walked onto the bus and the two drivers got into a fight on the stairs. Police told the Globe that the bus driver fell from the steps and officers found him lying in front of the bus doors.

He was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

Neither men have been charged, according to the Globe.BOSTON - The leader of a gang that trafficked in large amounts of heroin, fentanyl and cocaine and sold it to customers in Boston, New Bedford and Fall River will serve 16 years in prison and face deportation to his native Dominican Republic once he is released.

Jose Antonio Lugo-Guerrero, also known as Fernando Rivera-Rodriguez, pleaded guilty in August to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than one kilogram of heroin, more than 400 grams of fentanyl, and more than five kilograms of cocaine, and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release on Monday in U.S District Court, said Christina DiLorio-Sterling, spokeswoman for United States Attorney Andrew Lelling.

The 40-year-old's arrest came after a year-long investigation in two illegal drug trafficking organizations operating in Boston and Taunton in 2016 and 2017. One was led by Lugo-Guerrero, which received drugs supplied by the other organization, she said.

Federal wiretaps and other evidence showed Lugo-Guerrero, a Dominican national living in Mattapan, sold kilograms of heroin, fentanyl and cocaine to customers and he obtained some of the drugs by robbing other drug dealers, she said.

The leader of the second gang, Fernando Hernandez, was sentenced to 15 1/2 years in prison in February 2018. He pleaded guilty to charges that he distributed more than a kilogram of heroin over a two-month period in 2016, DiLorio-Sterling said.

Lelling; Brian D. Boyle, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Boston Field Division; Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin, superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Bristol Country District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn; Bristol County Sheriff Thomas M. Hodgson; Attleboro Police Chief Kyle P. Heagney; Boston Police Commissioner William Gross; Bridgewater Police Chief Christopher Delmonte; Fairhaven Police Chief Michael Myers; Fall River Police Chief Albert F. Dupere; New Bedford Police Chief Joseph C. Cordeiro; and Taunton Police Chief Edward James Walsh made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ted Heinrich of Lelling's Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit prosecuted the case.SPRINGFIELD -- A man and woman facing drug charges after a June 2017 crackdown on a big drug operation had their cases dismissed Tuesday after a judge said their home should not have been searched.

Standing by a table showing the drugs and cash in June last year, Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni said the operation, operating out of Springfield and West Springfield, was a significant source of heroin for mid-level dealers who sold it on the streets in Springfield and throughout Western Massachusetts.

Cases involving the main defendants are still pending, but the cases against John M. Shukes, 27, and Francesca Cedeno, both of 92 Moulton St. in Springfield, were dismissed by the prosecution.

Both were charged with possession of heroin with intent to distribute and distribution of marijuana. The paperwork submitted by the prosecutor to drop the cases said the motion to suppress the evidence took all the evidence needed away.

Police who went into their home with a search warrant found heroin, marijuana, scales, packaging material and $1,912. But Hampden Superior Court Judge Karen Goodwin ruled the search warrant affidavit did not show a reliable and specific link between the drug trafficking organization and the Moulton Street home.

Shukes was represented by Peter A. Slepchuk and Cedeno was represented by Timothy M. Farris.

The request for a warrant to search 92 Moulton St. was a small part of a massive search warrant affidavit for homes, storage units, cars and people.

The drug raids announced by Gulluni resulted in multiple arrests and the seizure of 21,500 packets of heroin, $13,000 in cash, seven firearms and multiple high-end automobiles that were allegedly used in the drug trade.

The arrests followed the execution of 19 search warrants at seven locations in Springfield and West Springfield, and involved Springfield police narcotics officers and State Police detectives assigned to Gulluni's office.

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno issued a statement at the time of the arrests praising Gulluni, the state and local police and all other law enforcement officials involved in the arrests. He said he hoped the courts would now do their part to keep those arrested off the streets.

"I remain hopeful that our court system will hold these violent repeat gun-toting, gangbanging, drug-trafficking offenders, who deal this poison, off of our streets and out of our neighborhoods!," he said.

Others arrested included Springfield residents Emmanuel Soto, 30, Joel Pacheco, 28, Luis David Ramirez-Perez, 29, and Jose Cedeno, 26. According to court records Jose Cedeno is brother to Francesca Cedeno.CHICOPEE - Police were on the scene of a shooting on Center Street downtown Monday.

One person was reportedly shot. The Fire Department ambulance has been called to assist the victim, said Michael Wilk, police spokesman.

The shooting occurred shortly before 7 p.m., he said. Police have Center Street blocked off at South Street. Several officers were on the scene carrying what appeared to be rifles.

Activity seems to be concentrated near Center Auto Repair, 184 Center St.

This is a breaking story. The Republican and MassLive will update as more information becomes available.Dan Bennett, a former Worcester County prosecutor, is stepping down as Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker's public safety chief.

Baker is tapping Department of Correction Commissioner Thomas Turco as Bennett's replacement. Channel 5 first reported and MassLive confirmed Bennett's departure.

Bennett has served as secretary of the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security since January 2015, overseeing a $1.1 billion budget and 9,500 state employees.

"Dan has shown steadfast leadership working across state and local government on critical issues like fighting the opioid epidemic, radically transforming Bridgewater State Hospital and working with the State Police to implement several important reforms," Baker said in a statement. "We thank him for his public service, wish him well in the future and look forward to welcoming Commissioner Turco and his thirty years of experience to the cabinet."

The State Police reforms Baker mentioned came after a series of scandals engulfed the law enforcement agency, ranging from overtime abuse that led to guilty pleas from several troopers and a police report scrubbing that toppled a State Police colonel.

The reforms included the hiring of an independent auditing firm, the disbanding of an entire troop, and a move towards a body camera pilot program.

Baker won a second four-year term in November. Turnover among key administration officials is typical as governors head into another term.

Before becoming the senior first assistant district attorney in Worcester County, Bennett previously worked as worked as as an assistant district attorney and senior trial counsel in Middlesex County and as a Suffolk County gang unit prosecutor.

While with the Middlesex District Attorney's Office, he was co-counsel on the trial of Neil Entwistle, the Englishman convicted of killing his wife and nine-month-old daughter.

Bennett was also once a target in a murder-for-hire plot while a prosecutor working for Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early.

Turco, Bennett's replacement, started in 1988 as a probation officer at the Florida Department of Correction. He served as chief probation officer at Worcester Superior Court.

Baker appointed Turco in 2015 as undersecretary of criminal justice. Turco became commissioner of the Department of Correction in 2016.

"I look forward to working with the Administration, Legislature and public safety officials across the state to make meaningful progress and improve public safety from the Berkshires to Cape Cod, ranging from fighting the opioid epidemic to continuing reform at the State Police," Turco said in his own statement.

The assistant deputy commissioner of the Department of Correction, Carol Mici, will step in as acting commissioner, according to the Baker administration.

This post was updated with additional information.Twelve non-profits and social enterprises from Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa, were each awarded a share of $2m in grant funding from Google in the first Google Impact Challenge Africa.

KENYA: Africa prisons Project; Startup Lions; UjuziKilimo.

NIGERIA: The Cece Yara Foundation; HelpMum; Project Enable Africa.

SOUTH AFRICA: Corruption Watch BUA Mzansi; Gradesmatch; RLabs.

KENYA: Lew Wildlife Conservancy.

NIGERIA: Vetsark.

SOUTH AFRICA: MeMeZa.

ICYMI: @googleorg awarded $6M to 36 organisations to help grow African communities. Backing Africas forward thinkers -- Meet the 2018 https://t.co/NzepQMFmRy Impact Challenge winners https://t.co/ngDc00a0o7 #GICAfrica  Google in Africa (@googleafrica) November 29, 2018

African Prisons Project, Kenya: A charity organisation working in Africa with the goal of bringing dignity and hope to prison inmates by improving access to education, healthcare, justice and reintegration into the community.

Corruption Watch BUA Mzanzi, South Africa: An online interactive website to enhance public participation and transparency in policing.

Gradesmatch, South Africa: A platform to serve as a comprehensive career guide, designed to map career data for learners, parents and teachers/mentors to help them make well-informed career decisions.

HelpMum, Nigeria: Preventing maternal and infant mortality.

Lew Wildlife Conservancy, Kenya: Envisions a future where people across Kenya value, protect and benefit from wildlife. This future depends on communities being able to derive their day-to-day livelihoods in ways that are compatible with thriving wildlife habitat.

MeMeZa Shout Crime Prevention, South Africa: Bringing safety to vulnerable people through a Public Community Alarm System.

Project Enable Africa, Nigeria: A digital inclusion project that promotes the access of persons with disabilities and their caregivers to information and communication.

RLabs Zlto, South Africa: A mobile and blockchain platform that tracks and incentivises positive behaviour in youths.

Startup Lions, Kenya: An impact sourcing service provider, start-up incubator and co-working space.

The Cece Yara Foundation, Nigeria: Working towards creating a safe and happy childhood for every Nigerian child, free from sexual abuse, with easy access to care.

UjuziKilimo, Kenya: An agriculture technology company that assists farmers with crop yield optimization through soil analysis and farming recommendations.

Vetsark, Nigeria: Alpha Prime Disease Surveillance Technology to predict, prevent and control pests and disease outbreaks.

The winners receive $250 000 each, while the eight runners up will each receive $125 000. The funding will be allocated in tranches, to be assigned to each enterprise as they reach a set of predefined milestones specific to each venture.In addition to the funding, the winners and runners up also receive support from Google to reach their goals and meet those milestones.Google Impact Challenge Africa, a competition to find the most innovative African non-profits and social enterprises using technology to solve societal problems, opened in May to social enterprises in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.Six months ago, the Google Impact Challenge (GIC) asked Kenyan, Nigerian, and South African social innovators for big and bold ideas to drive community impact. It received more than 5,000 submissions across the continent.Last week, 36 local nonprofit leaders and social entrepreneurs across Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa, stood onstage and pitched their ideas to grow economic opportunity in their countries and beyond to a panel of expert judges. 12 total finalists were selected as winners by the judges and three Peoples Choice awardees were announced after more than 200,000 public votes were tallied - the highest in any Impact Challenge globally.Judging to narrow down the 12 finalists was conducted by a team of Googlers and Google partners with expertise in the sector. Voting was then opened to the public from 8-26 November. On the night, each entrant pitched their enterprise to a judging panel, which voted on the winners. The results of the public vote determined the peoples choice winner.All the winners:Peoples Choice Award:Said Google South Africa public affairs and communications head, Mich Atagana: Many African innovators are doing great work with real impact and Google is keen to shine a light on their work, and also give a financial boost to their projects and ideas. We believe technology can help local and national organisations to better reach their goals and solve some of the continents most pressing challenges, and Google is eager to provide support to individuals and organisations using technology in new ways to make a positive difference.Below is more detailed information on the winners:Thanks to all of those who applied, took time preparing their proposals and shared ways in which they wanted to impact their communities. Congratulations to the finalists who have made it today. We will be rooting for you and will partner you with Googlers to bring your ideas to life over the coming months.Were inspired by the passion and vision of all of our finalists - and the real work is just beginning. We are excited to partner with these organisations as they dig in to new and innovative projects to make our communities even better, said Adepoju Abiodun, product marketing manager, Grow with Google.HOLYOKE - Mayor Alex B. Morse and residents celebrated the first night of Hanukkah by lighting the menorah at City Hall on Sunday.

The mayor and his staff hosted a reception inside City Hall after the lighting, which welcomed members of the city's Jewish community.

Morse introduced the menorah lighting three years ago. The wet weather cleared minutes before the lighting.

Hanukkah symbolizes the rededication of the Holy Temple and the Festival of Light or when a one-day supply of lamp oil lasted eight days. Families light a candle during the eight-day celebration, which includes gatherings, games, song, and food.

The Sons of Zion, Rodphey Sholom and the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts helped organize the event, which drew a sizable crowd.

The mayor said the lighting honors Holyoke's Jewish history and heritage. He was accompanied by his grandmother, Sandy Powell, who maintains the family's Jewish traditions.

Morse said residents gathered only a few weeks ago at Sons of Zion for a vigil honoring the victims of the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He thanked Sons of Zion for opening the temple to all faiths and beliefs for the vigil.

"As we celebrate Hanukkah, we remember those that were lost in Pittsburgh and the people we continue to lose by hate crimes and other atrocities around the world," Morse said.

Charlie Epstein, who donated the electric menorah, asked those gathered to remember the "abundance" in their lives and not focus so much on the negative.

Joan Rosner, president of Sons of Zion, who presided over the lighting, taught the audience how to say Happy Hanukkah in Hebrew or Khag Sameakh. "I am thrilled with the hearty, fabulous people of Holyoke came here this evening. You look wonderful in a little drizzle," she said.

Rosner hoped the menorah would remind guests of the joyous occasion.

Lou Silver, of Rodphey Sholom on Northampton Street, reflected on how Thanksgiving and Hanukkah fell only weeks apart this year. "On Thanksgiving, we enjoy the closeness of our families and friends, and we gave thanks to the many things we have, food on our tables, health, and our freedom," he said.

On Hanukkah, families give thanks for the "miracle or freedom of light," he added.

"Even though we can see much darkness in our world, this year we must remind our neighbors, our society and our world, whom we are as decent people and what we stand for," Silver said.

Stewart Bromberg, the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts, and Rabbi Saul Perlmutter also spoke.

Perlmutter said, "We who gather here come from a variety of personal backgrounds, experiences, and ages. And a variety of faith backgrounds as well. When we bring the light that is within each of us and share it with one another in caring and respect, then there is more light for everybody."

City Councilor Rebecca Lisi and her son, Lucian, also attended the lighting. The Holyoke Hummus Company donated the food and beverages for the reception.HOLYOKE -- A Chicopee man who allegedly raped an unconscious patient in the emergency room at Holyoke Medical Center is being held without right to bail for a dangerousness hearing next week.

John R. Zawada, 65, pleaded not guilty in Holyoke District Court on Nov. 26 to rape and failure to register as a sex offender.

The incident took place on Nov. 25 when Zawada, a patient, sexually assaulted a woman who was unconscious from a combination of alcohol and medication, according to the arrest report.

The assault, which was captured on video, began when Zawada approached the woman's bed in the emergency room, pulled down her pants and began groping her, the report said. At one point, the woman sat up and attempted to push Zawada's hand away, but he guided her back down to the bed and continued to assault her, the report said.

A nurse eventually heard the victim "yelp," saw Zawada on a video monitoring screen, and ran into the room, the report said.

Zawada has been asked several times that day to stay in his room, the nurse told police.

He was moved to another room and eventually arrested; the victim, who was unaware of the assault, was treated and then moved to a private room, police said.

At the request of defense lawyer Joseph Harty, the defendant was sent to Bridgewater State Hospital to be evaluated for criminal responsibility and competency to stand trial.

Zawada is due back in court on Dec. 14, when a judge will also decide whether he poses too great a risk to the victim or the public to be granted bail. Assistant District Attorney Kelsey Baran requested the hearing.

Holyoke Medical Center reported the incident to Massachusetts Department of Public Health, said DPH spokeswoman Marybeth McCabe. But since the case is still considered open, McCabe said she was unable to immediately provide any details.

Aaron Smith, public affairs officer at the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services office in Boston, said the federal agency will also review the incident in cooperation with the state DPH. CMS' job is to make sure health care providers who take Medicare and Medicaid payments meet standards of care.

In a statement sent to The Republican Friday, Holyoke Medical Center CEO Spiros Hatiras said the incident prompted the hospital to take steps to improve patient safety, and that an employee who "exhibited willful misconduct" after the incident was terminated.

"Holyoke Medical Center immediately undertook a thorough review of the matter to determine root causes," Hatiras said. "Our initial review indicated an opportunity to improve our processes for supervising patients, monitoring access to patient care areas, and training and supervising personnel. We have already begun to address these issues."

Reporter Jim Kinney contributed to this report.David Baillargeon, a deacon at Holy Family Parish Roman Catholic church in Russell, claims he was reprimanded for saying a prayer during Mass on Sunday for a deacon in Buffalo, New York, who has called for the resignation of that diocese's bishop.

Baillargeon spoke out Monday against the church's handling of clergy sexual abuse, arguing that more needs to be done to investigate such cases, including in Western Massachusetts.

Baillargeon, who has worked with activist Olan Horne to advocate for survivors of clergy abuse, said local church officials have largely barred him from preaching after he was critical of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield in a homily two years ago.

The deacon said he faced further pushback Sunday after offering prayers for Buffalo, New York, Deacon Paul Snyder, who has called for Catholic Bishop Richard Malone's resignation.

"After the prayers of petition for the church, I said that I wanted to say a prayer for Deacon Paul Snyder -- told the parishioners where he was and that he was the deacon at St. Mary's Church there -- and that I heard, from my smartphone really, that he had been suppressed from preaching because he spoke out against Bishop Malone and the clergy abuse that's going on there in the Buffalo diocese," Baillargeon said in an interview. "I said, 'We need to pray for him,' and then I raised my hand up and said, 'He's been suppressed for two months.' And, I said, 'Here, your own deacon has been suppressed for two years.'"

Baillargeon said after he finished, Rev. Ron F. Sadlowski, the pastor at Holy Family Parish, "went off" on him.

"He said, 'You're not going to be preaching again,' but he wants me to preach during the week every other week for daily Mass," Baillargeon said, noting that the small parish sometimes sees just one person attend such services.

Sadlowski, however, rejected the suggestion that he has retaliated against his deacon.

"There's been no retaliation," he said in an interview. "The fact is, I'm the priest here and when he preaches, he preaches against the bishop. We're supposed to preach on the word of God. He mishandles the role of being a deacon at the pulpit."

Sadlowski said Baillargeon's failure to promise he would not use the pulpit to preach against the bishop is why he is no longer preaching on weekends.

"My responsibility is to protect people from anyone who mishandles the proper use of preaching the word of God," Sadlowski said. "It's not based on focusing on any one person, except Jesus Christ. It's not used to preach against the bishop -- the deacon could talk to him one-on-one, there are other ways to get to him."

The pastor added that while Baillargeon was not out of bounds for extending prayers to a fellow deacon in Buffalo on Sunday, he acted inappropriately by using the pulpit to suggest he has faced retaliation.

Sadlowski said he told parishioners that the reason Baillargeon now only preaches during the week is because he misused the pulpit -- not due to retaliation.

"I would definitely say there's been no punishment, no retaliation -- it's something he's done to himself. ... I felt in my heart I had to respond to the people who were there," he said.

Springfield diocese spokesman Mark Dupont declined to comment on Baillargeon's performance.

While investigations into clergy abuse have grabbed recent headlines in other states, Baillargeon said he would like Massachusetts to look more into the issue, as well as see more deacons come forward.

"A lot of people know things. They're probably just afraid to speak out," he said. "I think that a lot of people, deacons especially, must know victims that are afraid to come forward and say anything. So I've been working with probably a dozen or more people who have been affected by all of this -- and some of them I talk to on a daily basis. The wounds are real deep and very hurtful."

Baillargeon, who started Mom's House -- a nonprofit letter campaign that allows victims to share their stories with Catholic leaders -- said while he tries to help victims, he believes the church has no accountability or credibility when it comes to addressing clergy abuse.

"I did have a lot of hope in Cardinal (Sean) O'Malley, but he's admitted to me that there's only so much he can do," he said, noting that O'Malley has said he delivered letters from that campaign to Pope Francis.

Moving forward, Baillargeon said he'd like someone outside the church lead any new investigations into clergy abuse.

"It's been many, many centuries, and the church has not been able to regulate themselves in this thing," Baillargeon said. "That's why I started the letter program to have a repository of these letters that are kind of like evidence. If the people want to come forward -- or speak anonymously, they can write the letter any way they want. But, it's a way for them to get validation and recognition and tell their story."

Baillargeon said he has no evidence that any abuse is taking place in the Springfield Diocese, but he has "very strong suspicions."

Horne, who called for Springfield Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski's resignation over the diocese's handling of a case involving the late Rev. Paul Archambault, also accused the church of retaliating against Baillargeon.

He argued that the Boston Diocese is aware of it, noting that he has raised the issue personally with Cardinal O'Malley, as well as in a March 28, 2018, email sent to the archdiocese, the Springfield diocese and Holy Family Parish.NOTE: This story has been updated to include the following probation information:

The prosecutor sought 3 to 4 years in state prison, followed by two years of probation, according to court documents. The defense lawyer sought five concurrent five-year probation terms. The judge, following the prosecutor's recommendation, imposed two years of probation.

SPRINGFIELD -- Mayor Domenic J. Sarno issued another fiery call for bail reform Tuesday following an armed robbery that led to the fatal shooting of a city woman Friday.

Duryl Hale, 22, one of three suspects in the shooting at Knox Street Market that left the store owner's wife dead, was out on probation, Sarno said. State records show he was released from prison Sept. 10 after a 2016 armed robbery conviction.

"When are our courts going to realize that these repeat violent offenders don't give a 'sh-t' and have no respect for life?" Sarno asked in a prepared statement.

In February 2016 Hale was sentenced to two to three years in prison after he admitted to four counts of armed robbery and one count of armed assault with intent to rob.

The prosecutor sought 3 to 4 years in state prison, followed by two years of probation, according to court documents. The defense lawyer sought five concurrent five-year probation terms.

The judge, following the prosecutor's recommendation, imposed two years of probation.

According to the state Department of Criminal Justice Information Services, Hale was also convicted on an armed robbery charge in 2014. In both the 2014 and 2016 cases, the weapon he used was a knife.



For the 2014 conviction, when he was 18, he was not sentenced to any prison time.

Sarno said he hopes state lawmakers will either revisit a bill he proposed that would allow prosecutors to appeal low bail rulings by judges, or act on the criminal "dangerousness" proposal Gov. Charlie Baker issued in September.

Sarno said he went to the Knox Street store Saturday morning to be with and express his sympathy, thoughts and prayers to family members, friends and neighborhood residents. Officials have identified 34-year-old Virginia Rodriguez-Veras as the woman who was shot and killed.

"It turns my stomach that another 'choir boy' repeat violent offender, Duryl Hale, is left to walk and terrorize our streets! Now a mom is dead and a son is seriously injured," Sarno said.

Assistant District Attorney Max Bennett said Monday Hale will be charged with felony murder for his alleged participation in the robbery with two other men. One of the other two suspects -- neither of whom have been arrested -- allegedly fired the fatal shot, officials have said.

District Court Judge John Payne set bail at $100,000 after Hale denied a number of charges at his arraignment Monday.

Bennett said Hale was involved in a "series of events essentially terrorizing the Knox Street area."

Hale is also accused in a shooting Thursday on Dexter Street in which no one was injured, Bennett said.LUDLOW - It's not your usual walk-a-thon, but it's a way to give back to the community.

Members of the American Veterans in Prisons chapter at the Hampden County Correctional Center in Ludlow use their walk-a-thon as a means to raise money for several charities, including Toy for Joy.

This year, the group contributed $350 to the 96th annual Toy for Joy campaign as it works to raise $150,000 by Christmas eve to deliver toys and books to needy children in Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties.

Toy for Joy is a collaborative effort by the Salvation Army, The Republican and MassLive. So far, nearly $9,000 has been received from generous donors.

American Veterans in Prisons is among the many groups which band together to support Toy for Joy. "We have many organizations and veterans groups which regularly step forward this time of year to help Toy for Joy," said Cynthia G. Simison, assistant to the publisher and managing editor of The Republican. "School and workplace groups are also very generous as this is a time of year when giving to help others in need is especially important."

"The positive thing Sheriff (Nick) Cocchi always promotes is reentry back into the community," said Steve O'Neill, a spokesman for the Hampden County Sheriff's Office. "Its the sheriff's desire to work towards that."

Events like the walk-a-thon help inmates move forward as they prepare for reintegration, O'Neill said.

The program is also a way for inmates with similar backgrounds and issues to come together and lift each other up, O'Neill said. "By giving the vets an opportunity to be together and do something positive, it's good for everyone," he said.

"It's good for them. It's certainly good for the community," said O'Neill of the fundraising effort.

Toy for Joy is also partnering this year with the Reading Success by 4th Grade initiative of the Irene E. and George A. Davis Foundation for a second year to help ensure each child receives a new book.

For the third year in a row, Pride Stores is partnering with Toy for Joy. Pride locations in Western Massachusetts and northern Connecticut will rally its customers in November and December to help contribute to Toy for Joy. Customers can go into any Pride in the area and purchase a $1, $5 or $10 donation card for Toy for Joy.

To make a contribution to the Toy for Joy fund, write: Toy for Joy, 1860 Main St., Springfield, MA 01101. Contributions may also be dropped off with the coupon which accompanies this story to The Republican, 1860 Main St., Springfield, weekdays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. through noon on Dec. 21.

TOY FOR JOY REGISTRATION

Here are the times for families to register at Salvation Army sites for the 96th annual Toy for Joy campaign. The Springfield citadel will assist families whose communities are not listed below:

Greenfield: 72 Chapman St., Greenfield; Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m. until December 8th, for info, call (413) 773-3154, serves all Franklin County communities;

Required documentation: Photo ID for parent/guardian, proof of address dated within last 30 days, birth certificates or passports for each child 16 years and younger and proof of financial need (MassHealth, WIC card, EBT card, current pay stub, or other acceptable documentation).AMHERST - The U.S. Department of State said it is closely monitoring an investigation underway by Jamaican authorities to determine how Amherst resident Nancy Hardy, 72, died, and is prepared to offer assistance in the probe.

Jamaica has among the highest per capita homicide rates in the world.

Hardy's body was discovered last week in a shallow grave in the bushes of Jamaica, many miles from her residence, four days after she was reported missing on Nov. 24.

The The Gleaner reported that when Hardy's body was exhumed, she was found wrapped in a towel, her feet and hands bound, with a rug stuffed in her mouth.

"We can confirm the death of a U.S. citizen in Jamaica," the State Department said in an email to The Republican. "We are closely monitoring local authorities' investigation into the cause of death. We stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance. We offer our sincerest condolences to her family on their loss. Out of respect to the family during this difficult time, we have no further comment on this case."

Jamaica's prime minister declared a state of emergency in some sections of the country earlier this year to address what the leader called "the crime monster."

According to the U.S. government, Jamaica has the fifth-highest per-capita homicide rate in the world - 60 killings per 100,000.

The state department determines how safe or unsafe foreign countries are as a guide for Americans who travel abroad, with a four-level scale as recommendations. Jamaica is Level 2 in which Level 1 says "exercise normal precautions," Level 2 says "exercise increased caution," Level 3 is "reconsider travel" and Level 4 recommends "do not travel."

Planning to travel? Check State Department travel advisories here -->

"There were 1,616 murders (the highest figure in six years, and an increase of 20% from 2016), 469 shootings, 411 aggravated assaults, 442 rapes, 242 robberies, and 167 break-ins recorded in 2017," the state department's website says. "With a population of approximately 2.9 million people, Jamaica continues to have a high homicide rate (60 per 100,000), which places it among the top-five highest (per capita) national homicide rates in the world."

"In 2017, the Embassy's consular section received reports from Jamaican police or the victims themselves of six U.S. citizens murdered; 20 U.S. citizens robbed; 12 U.S. citizens raped/sexually assaulted; six U.S. victims of aggravated assaults; four incidents of domestic violence involving Americans; four instances of child abuse involving American children; and one actual missing persons case. These numbers are not all-inclusive, as many crimes (rape, sexual assaults) are often not brought to the attention of the Embassy or to the police," the state department's website says.

U.S. embassy staff and government officials are forbidden from traveling to some sections of the country for safety reasons.

Since the beginning of the year, Jamaica's Prime Minister, Andrew Holness, has declared at least two "states of emergency" to try and dampen rampant lawlessness, murder, theft and other crimes.

The Republican asked the State Department why Level 2 is the appropriate warning for Americans traveling to Jamaica.

"We consider many factors to determine the Travel Advisory level for each country, including crime, terrorist activity, civil unrest, health, natural disaster/weather, and current events," the agency said in a written statement. "We clearly explain the reason for the Travel Advisory level and describe the safety and security concerns within each Advisory.

"Travel Advisories also take into account decisions made to protect the security of U.S. government personnel overseas and ensure that U.S. citizens receive appropriate security information. This analysis is undertaken without regard to bilateral political or economic considerations. Travel Advisories represent our commitment to protect U.S. citizens traveling and residing abroad by providing them important safety and security information," the statement said.The beginning of December is a somber time for the city of Worcester and its firefighters.

Dec. 3 is the anniversary of the 1999 Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Co. fire, a massive blaze that claimed the lives of six Worcester firefighters.

Remembered as the "Worcester Six," the firefighters who perished in the flames were Lt. Thomas Spencer, Lt. Timothy Jackson Sr., Lt. James Lyons III and Firefighters Jeremiah Lucey, Paul Brotherton and Joseph McGuirk.

Though almost two decades have passed since that night, Worcester has not forgotten the ultimate sacrifice those six firefighters made.

Standing at 266 Franklin St. on Monday evening -- the site of the old Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Co. building which is now the Franklin Street Fire Station -- firefighters, city officials and residents gathered to say a prayer and remember the lives lost.

Some in the crowd wiped tears from their eyes while others embraced.

"I'd like to thank the local community who stepped up after this fire 19 years ago," Worcester Fire Chief Michael Lavoie said during a brief ceremony. "Without your support, I don't know how we could have made it through."

The call for the fire came in at 6:13 p.m. that night. As crews battled the flames, the six firefighters became trapped inside the six-floor building, searching for two homeless people who were believed to have started the fire.

It is presumed that the fire was started accidentally when a shoving match between the two homeless people caused a candle to be knocked over, igniting a pile of clothing, according to a Federal Emergency Management Agency report on the fire.

The two attempted to put out the flames to no avail and fled the warehouse.

A total of 73 firefighters responded to the blaze, according to a CDC report on the fire.

The firefighters are remembered throughout the city and across Massachusetts.

Earlier this year, Worcester's Flagg Street School unveiled a new mascot: A lion dubbed "Jay the Hero," in honor of firefighter James Lyons, who attended the elementary school.

At the annual Firefighter of the Year ceremony last month, Gov. Charlie Baker said the Worcester firefighters knew the building was dangerous but answered the call and battled the blaze until the flames were out.

December also marks the death of Worcester Firefighter Jon Davies Sr., who died on Dec. 8, 2011, while battling a fire at 49 Arlington St.A Worcester man who had six sham marriages in order to help women obtain immigration benefits was sentenced to probation in federal court Tuesday.

Peter Hicks, 58, previously pleaded guilty to one count of marriage fraud in federal court.

The charge stems from Hicks' marriage on Dec. 16, 2013, to a woman from Ghana, who entered the United States legally one month prior to the marriage, according to Hicks' defense attorney.

The statute of limitations ran out on the five other sham marriages, authorities said in court.

Hicks was sentenced to two years probation and ordered to undergo mental health treatment.

All six marriages happened between 2003 and 2013, according to federal records. All of the women were from the sub-Saharan Africa region, authorities said.

Hicks admitted he married the women so she could obtain immigration benefits.

Robert Rice, special agent for Homeland Security Investigations, wrote in a federal affidavit that Hicks is also suspected of engaging in marriage fraud in 2014.

Defense lawyer Oscar Cruz Jr. argued his client should be placed on probation for two years.

"Mr. Hicks is saddened and embarrassed by his involvement in the marriage fraud situation," Cruz wrote in a sentencing memorandum. The marriage to the woman from Ghana ended several years ago, Cruz said.

Hicks and his son lived in a shelter in Worcester beginning in November 2017 and they just moved into an apartment a few days ago, Cruz said in court.

Hicks has six children but is the caretaker of only one of his children, a 3-year-old son who was in the courtroom Tuesday. The boy's mother died.

Hicks works two jobs to support his family, Cruz said. Hicks is a drug abuse counselor and works for a security company. The marriages were done because Hicks was under financial pressure, Cruz said.

"Sometimes I took the easy way out," Hicks told Judge Timothy Hillman, fighting back tears. "I just want to get this over with."

Assistant U.S. Attorney David Tobin said Hicks admitted to being involved in this conduct for at least a decade. He asked for an 18-month sentence and three years of probation stating the sentence would serve as a deterrent to others involved or thinking of partaking in the illegal activity.

Hicks told investigators two men arranged the marriages, but records do not list the names of the alleged co-conspirators.

Authorities say Hicks, on at least one occasion, was still married to one woman when he married another woman.

"Hicks also fraudulently claimed on an immigration form submitted on behalf of one of his spouses, that he had only one former spouse and that he had only petitioned for immigration benefits for the one former spouse, when, in fact, Hicks had actually been married five times and submitted requests for immigration benefits for a number of his former spouses," investigators say.

Hicks told the judge he didn't think he was doing anything wrong but realized the weight of his actions when investigators showed up at his "doorstep."

"I love the United States," Hicks said. "I love this place."Some Worcester police officers will soon begin wearing body cameras after the city and police union reached a contract agreement that includes a framework for a Body Worn Camera pilot program.

"This pilot program will inform us on the value of this technology and allow us to address concerns regarding the use and effectiveness of the equipment, budgetary requirements, as well as issues of safety, privacy and other related topics," City Manger Edward M. Augustus Jr. wrote in a memo to city councilors.

Augustus said he will submit further information to the council once specific details of the program are finalized. The goal, he said, is to use the pilot program to guide a permanent plan.

The city has not released a timeline for the rollout of the program.

Worcester has been exploring the possibility of fitting officers with wearable cameras since at least 2014.

Other cities across the state have been implementing similar programs, as well.

This summer, Springfield laid out a three-phase plan to purchase and outfit its police department with body cams. Boston has already begun phasing in the technology and piloted a one-year body cam program that ended in September 2017.If you followed the midterm elections on Nov. 6, a month ago Thursday, whether by watching TV or reading online, you heard lots of talk, or read lots of online chatter, regarding the breadth and depth of the Democratic Party's victory.

Was it a wave? Was it not quite a wave? Was it a ripple? Was it less than the much-hyped tsunami that some had been forecasting?

Anyone who continues to ask those questions -- or who still remembers that they were a thing on the night of Election Day -- hasn't been paying any attention.

The midterms were a Democratic wave. They were a clear repudiation of President Donald Trump.

Think otherwise? Try this on for size:

Democrats gained more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives than they did in any election since 1974, the first election after President Richard Nixon resigned from office rather than being impeached because of his myriad misdeeds in the Watergate scandal.

When all is said and done -- one race won't likely be official until nearly month's end -- Democrats will have picked up about 40 seats in the midterm elections. Forty seats. And they did so with voter turnout through the roof.

Though each midterm election is something of a proxy fight, serving as a referendum on the sitting president, Trump, never one to shun the spotlight, sought to make the Nov. 6 balloting more about him than ever.

"I'm not on the ticket, but I am on the ticket, because this is also a referendum about me," the president said at an October rally in Southaven, Mississippi. "I want you to vote. Pretend I'm on the ballot."

Voters listened. And they cast their ballots unreservedly against the president.

Simply stated, Trump and his adopted party got thumped.

If you can still remember when the Republican Party used to stand inviolately for a handful of things -- controlled spending, free trade, family values, opposition to despotism -- you have a pretty decent memory. Because these days, the once-Grand Old Party has been completely taken over by Trump, who loves trade wars, shuns family values, embraces totalitarian rulers, runs up the deficit like never before.

And though there were a small handful of Republicans in Congress who'd initially stand up to Trump, at least a bit and at least from time to time, most Republicans have rolled over. Though one might say they turned a blind eye, the truth is much starker: They willingly joined the Trump family circus.

If you are a lifelong Republican who thinks this just fine and dandy, ask yourself a simple question: What, exactly, is Trumpism? Then ask another: Will it mean the same thing tomorrow?

When the next Congress is sworn in on Jan 3, Republicans will hold 53 seats in the Senate. That marks a pickup of two seats over the previous Congress. As such, confirmations of Cabinet members and federal judges ought to be easier. If all goes as planned, anyway.

Though one might think that a sign of a pretty good Election Day for Republicans, the fact is, this cycle's Senate map was a nightmare for Democrats. In the Senate, where just one-third of the seats are on the ballot every two years, Democrats had to defend fully 26 seats, 10 of those in states that Trump had won; Republicans were defending only nine. Looked at in that light, a GOP gain of two seats wasn't such a bad night at all for the out party.

But it's in the House where things will be so very different.

In the lower chamber, fully seven in 10 members of the Republican caucus will find themselves in the minority for the first time come next year. This will be no picnic. Though individual senators have a good bit of authority on their own, and with the minority party in the upper chamber maintaining the power of the filibuster, those in the minority in the House can often find themselves effectively on the inside in name alone. They can whine all they want, but few are likely to listen.

Nov. 6 was an anti-Trump Democratic wave. The effects will begin to become clear in just a matter of weeks.Gray Hofmeyr, South Africa's celebrated writer, director and producer of feature films and television dramas is back in action as director and co-writer of Leon Schuster's Frank And Fearless, the story of an ageing reprobate, a rural African boy, a large dog, and an orphaned baby rhino set on stopping the slaughter of rhinos.

Tell me about Frank and Fearless. What inspired the story?

Although its a comedy, it deals with relevant conservation issues?

Tell me about your collaboration with Leon Schuster and Geoff Newton on the screenplay.

Was it an easy process from page to screen?

How different is Frank and Fearless from your other films?

What do you think is the recipe for a perfect Schuster comedy?

How personal is this film to you?

How do you see the future for screenwriters in South Africa?

You have worked in TV and film, which medium do you prefer and why?

What do you think producers are looking for in a screenplay?

How much has the film industry changed since your first film?

What do you hope audiences will get from watching Frank and Fearless?

Gray Hofmeyr began directing television drama in 1975 after training in the United Kingdom and working for the BBC as a floor manager and started his award-winning scriptwriting career in 1992. He was a key figure in the early days of television in South Africa, having directed the hit series The Villagers and popular comedy series People Like Us, The Big Time and Suburban Bliss, as well as several made-for-TV films, and also created and produced the popular South African soap opera, Isidingo, and was its executive producer for 16 years. Since 2006, Isidingo has won more than twenty team awards for writing, direction, acting, and production.He has also directed many feature films, including the first Jock of the Bushveld, Leon Schusters Sweet and Short, Theres a Zulu On My Stoep, Mr Bones, andMama Jack. In 1987, he produced People Like Us, a 26-episode comedy series about a coloured couple moving into a white area when it was still officially illegal under apartheid, and in 2016, he produced the comedy series Soap on a Rope for SABC 3.During a career that spans decades, Hofmeyr has received many accolades, including two Tonight! Critics awards for Best Director for The Villagers, SABCs very first soapie; a Tonight! Critics Award for Best Director for the made-for-TV movie The Outcast, which is generally regarded as a milestone in South African TV drama; a Tonight! Critics Award for Best Director and an Artes Award for Best Director for the made-for-TV comedy Two Weeks in Paradise; Artes Awards for Best Script and Best Director, Tonight! Critics Awards for Best Script and Best Director, an Academy of Art and Science Award for Best Script, and an SA Writers Association Award for Best Script for The Big Time, a TV series about a Greek immigrant in South Africa.Five years ago, Leon and I were discussing our next proper story movie, non-candid camera, enough is enough. Primary content element for reaching a foreign audience  Africa. So what is Africa? Vistas, the bush, wild animals, tranquillity, killing, and plunder. The rhino crisis.We thought pretty long and hard about combining comedy with a reality as violent and tragic as rhino poaching. I personally believe that, as long as the story is honest, a script can swing effectively between laughter and tragedy  the further the swing the deeper the emotion, once the audiences emotions are caught in the roller coaster the laughter and the tears just get stronger. I believe we succeeded.Setting a comedy in a milieu as tragic as the rhino crisis was a controversial decision. However, I believe that comedy and tragedy can run seamlessly side by side, complementing each other and enhancing the emotional roller coaster ride, provided the performances and the story are 100% honest.Although Geoff lives in Australia it was a collaboration. Leon and I obviously brainstormed more together, but it went back a forth between all three of us. Then Geoff did the first scenes breakdown. He and I come from the belief that until the breakdown is pretty rock solid dont bother with dialogue, unless you just cant stop yourself. Leon comes from a rather different approach, which is to start writing at the beginning and see where it goes. Anyway, Geoff took the first big step, the breakdown, and I am glad he did, he really put a lot of thought into the characters, particularly Leons character, Sonny Frank. If he hadnt done that Leon and I would probably have just written the character as something like his character in Zulu on my Stoep, a bit of a nice guy, but Geoff created a really interesting Sonny  seriously flawed  insecure, delusional about himself, a liar and a fraud. We then batted the breakdown around and Leon got stuck into a lot of the Schuster physical comedy, which he is so good at. My biggest contribution to the physical gags was the beehive scene, you better go and see the movie, which I had read as a youngster in an early Laurens van der Post book. Geoff then also did the first draft. Another good move because he again concentrated on the characters and he came up with a lot of good dialogue for Sonny particularly, which added more to the Sonny character. Sonny Frank is definitely the best character Leon has played, and I think his best acting to date.Somewhere around then, I got stuck into the heavy-duty emotional heart stuff and we ended up with a first draft. Then we started getting feedback from people we trusted, did more drafts, again and again, and eventually got a shooting script at draft 14. We have just released the film on 23 November, five years after our first Africa conversation.Making a physical comedy film is never easy, it is like making an action movie  stunts, CGI, in this case, a dog as well, etc. Plus there was the character of Reini, the orphaned baby rhino, which we did partially with a life-size perfectly executed puppet, operated by three people, for the closer interactions; and a 3D live-action animation executed in post-production. It is such an advantage for the director to be one of the writers, and in this case also effectively a producer, because I knew from the writing stage exactly what we had to do and also what could not be done.The merging of broad comedy with strong emotion within a strong storyline with a message.A perfect Schuster comedy is probably Mr Bones, which as pretty much ongoing huge slapstick gags within a fairly simple yet intriguing storyline, geared to kids and the family. This film is probably not a perfect Schuster comedy, it is bigger, broader and deeper, still aimed solidly at kids and family.I think it is pretty personal because I really wanted to make a bigger, broader, and deeper movie. Leon did too. We have also got international sales firmly in our sights, and this richer story was part of that quest.Writers will always have a future. Good writers are in high demand all over the world. In a way, being a writer in SA is an advantage because there are currently such a lot of TV soaps and films made per capita. If you can, try to sell yourself overseas as well.I have enjoyed them all - dramatic films like Schweitzer and the first Jock of the Bushveld, comedy films like the Schusters, drama series like The Big Time, TV comedy like Suburban Bliss, and daily drama/soap Isidingo. The only thing I dont like are short 13 episode TV series  not enough budget, not enough screen time to give it a fighting chance. I love the concentrated effort one puts into a film, and with TV I love plugging in, daily or weekly, to the national psyche.Success. Financial success. And that is not a bad thing. Producers are primarily businessmen, they need to be and we need them to be. They need to make profit. If they make profit they will find the finance for another movie and we can keep working. Producers, however, are also, like us creatives, huge egotists so they also love success for kudos it brings. But if they dont make profit they dont survive. Like us, only less so.There are probably 20 times as many films made in SA per year than when I made Jock in 1986. Primarily because 20 times as many people have the opportunity since Mandela was released. Also, this government has put a lot of effort and cash into growing the film industry, without the grants from the DTI we would be a lot worse off.Entertainment and joy. Our hope is that the message of this film will reach all the children of the world and encourage them to stop people from killing our wild animals.Read more about Frank and Fearless and other local films hereA couple of days before the Thanksgiving holiday, I was driving past the Norris School in Southampton. In front of the building is a very prominent display board which always presents announcements about the upcoming school schedule. What caught my eye was that three lines were dedicated to the fact that there would be three consecutive half days for the students. Please keep in mind that the Thanksgiving holiday was just around the corner. What was not advertised on the board was that these half days may be considered full days of education for the students involved. This policy is in effect for most of the public schools in Massachusetts. If my Bronx public grade school education still serves me well, what the school is proclaiming is that: .5+.5+.5=3. Call me old fashioned, but I do believe that the answer to the aforementioned addition problem should read 1.5.

I recently read a wonderful book titled The Perfectionists by Simon Winchester. It deals with how humans have progressed to be able to create more and more precise and accurate machines and tools. Mr. Winchester did mention two rather embarrassing historical errors which have been committed. Some of you might remember the launch of the Hubble Telescope and the troubles it encountered. It seems that a very "precise" "foot" long ruler was used to measure the dimensions of many parts of the apparatus. It wasn't until several months had gone by that one of the scientists had discovered that this "foot" long ruler was precisely 13 inches long! Don't even begin to think about how much money that cost us.

Another incident that I became aware of was when NASA wanted to launch a Mars orbiter. It turns out that one of the American scientists in charge was measuring in inches while everyone else was using centimeters. Needless to say, the rocket missed its intended target. "Just a little outside," as the saying goes. That one cost us $125 million. (Too many half days?)

While I was staring at the sign outside of Norris School, the above incidents raced through my mind. I also remembered that as of my last check, US students rate 31st world-wide on the reliable and valid PISA tests. Does this surprise you? Well, we did do better than the students from Malta. (You do know where Malta is don't you?!)



Jonathan Kahane, WesthamptonThe Massachusetts House is set to pass a bill that would essentially extend unemployment benefits for locked out National Grid workers.

House Speaker Robert DeLeo, D-Winthrop, called it "unconscionable" that unemployment benefits are about to run out for the workers.

"The Commonwealth cannot sit idly by while a large, international conglomerate volitionally locks out employees in a transparent effort to enhance its leverage in a negotiation, while passing the on the cost for this misguided strategy to the taxpayers and ratepayers of the Commonwealth," DeLeo said in a statement, referring to the unemployment benefits paid by a state trust fund to these workers.

On June 24, the contract between National Grid and its gas workers expired. After contract negotiations failed, the company on June 25 locked out its workers. The employees lost their salaries and health benefits, as the company hired contractors and used managers to perform necessary work. The state prohibited National Grid from doing any non-emergency and non-compliance work.

As contract negotiations continue, the sides have been unable to reach an agreement, and workers' unemployment benefits are about to expire.

The bill released by the House Ways and Means Committee Tuesday, which the House expects to consider on Tuesday, would require the Secretary of Labor and the Director of the Department of Unemployment Assistance to establish a separate benefit program available to locked out workers.

The program would provide benefits at the same rate as their traditional unemployment benefits to locked out workers after their traditional benefits expire, until the lockout is resolved. The costs would be assessed on the employer, who would be prohibited from passing them on to taxpayers.

Separately, a House legislative committee plans hold a hearing Tuesday afternoon on a different bill that would require National Grid to extend health insurance benefits for the workers during the lockout.

"This is a lockout, this is not a strike," said Tom Devoss, one of the National Grid workers who came out to the Statehouse to support the bills. "We were forced out into the street, and we should be allowed to collect these benefits that the company wants to deny us trying to force us into their concessions."The Cape Town Toiletry Co Pty Ltd

Cape Town, Muizenberg



2 Nov 2021Artificial intelligence is making big strides in a variety of medical fields, including radiology, oncology, and even ophthalmology. Now a company called Wision AI, based in Shanghai, Cina, is adapting artificial intelligence vision software to help doctors spot polyps during a colonoscopy. The technology is meant for real-time use and the procedure itself doesnt change much from existing colonoscopies.

We spoke with JingJia Liu, Cofounder and CEO of Wision AI about the company technology, how it works, and what it is capable of already.

Medgadget: Can you briefly describe your companys technology and how its used to detect polyps during colonoscopies? Is it intended to be used before or after a full analysis by a physician?

JingJia Liu: Our software detects colorectal polyps in real-time during the colonoscopy. It acquires a parallel video stream from the endoscope video processor or its monitor, and the algorithm detects the presence of a polyp and displays the findings on a second monitor. It is intended to be used simultaneously by the physician during the procedure analysis.

Medgadget: In your latest press release, you mention that your technology is built on the same network architecture used to develop self-driving cars, the Wision AI algorithm is designed to enable self-driving in colonoscopy procedures. Can you give provide more insight about how the same technology is being used in such varying fields and if developments in self-driving tech helped your company reach the latest milestone?

JingJia Liu: We used similar deep learning network as self-driving because we have similar real time processing speed requirement as self-driving. Of course, to detect a polyp inside the colon is very different technology from detecting general objects in the street and our technology takes that into account.

Medgadget: Can you briefly describe latest study published in Nature Biomedical Engineering and the results?

JingJia Liu: The algorithm was trained with 5545 colonoscopy images, and validated in three prospectively collected clinical datasets and one open-source dataset. The validation datasets were more than 200 folds in volume than the development dataset. The algorithm achieved > 90% sensitivity and 95% specificity on a per image/frame base in the colonoscopy images and videos. And the system has been proved to be clinically applicable in real time processing during a colonoscopy.

Medgadget: Do you envision that one day colonoscopies will be analyzed primarily by computers?

JingJia Liu: We dont envision this at the moment. At this stage, our AI for detecting colon polyps is aimed to aid clinicians find more polyps during a routine colonoscopy. In the current clinician-designed clinical trials, our AI technology is only used as a CADx tool for the clinicians operating colonoscopy, rather than a primary analytical robot taking the role of human clinicians.

Medgadget: Have you thought of other medical fields to apply your vision algorithms?

JingJia Liu: In addition to endoscopy, we are applying our technology to other optical medical imaging, such as fundus images and pathological images. But the early cancer screening technology in GI endoscopy is our primary focus. Our next AI product would be the early detection of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Medgadget: What are the next steps for your company?

JingJia Liu: To further validate our AI technology for detecting colon polyps in large-scale and rigorously designed clinical trials, ultimately incorporating this technology into daily practice for improving the quality of colonoscopy in overall colon cancer screening and prevention. Meanwhile, we are actively developing AI tools in other areas and intend to bring them into daily clinical practice improving the quality of current standards there as well.

Medgadget: What impact do you see AI, machine vision, and related technologies having on medicine in the near future?

JingJia Liu: We think the effectiveness of medical/clinical practice can be improved by AI and its related technologies in the near future, but we dont envision AI to replace the role of human clinicians. From a mathematical point of view, deep learning is bunch of fitting functions with millions of parameters, which certainly cannot learn in the same way like human beings.

Being an AI software company, we first need to be truthful about the limitation of this technology, and utilize it to solve problems we believe is can solve.

Link: Wision AiThe dental consumables market is growing pervasively mainly due to the technological advancements that took place in the dental industry. Although the integration of technology & consumables in dental practices goes back to decades, the uptake of consumables has been increasing over the past few years, and so is increasing the growth of the dental consumables market. Furthermore, factors such as the wide adoption of dental consumables along with the increasing geriatric populace, prevailing dental disorders and surgeries are driving the market growth.

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Acknowledging the developments and accruals the market is enjoying currently, Market Research Future (MRFR) in its recently published study report asserts that the global dental consumables market will be valued at USD 28,345 MN by 2024, registering approximately 7 % CAGR during the forecast period (2016  2024).

The rapidly growing dental treatment market is stressing on the wide uptake of advanced dental consumables which, in turn, offers lucrative opportunities to the players of the market. The proliferation of the Internet and smart connected devices acts as a tailwind influencing the market growth positively. Simultaneously, the market penetration of smartphones is a key driving force behind the market increase.

Attributing to the augmented applications of these consumables in the related market to target more users for branding the solutions, products & services; uptake of dental consumables is estimated to upsurge in small and medium setups during the prognosticated period.

On the other hand, these dental consumables are costlier especially in developing and underdeveloped nations which in turn, is hampering the market growth in these regions restricting the uptake of consumables. Also, the operational complexities of these consumables may restrain the growth of this market.

Dental Consumables Market  Segments

MRFR has segmented the analysis into two key dynamics for the convenience of understanding;

By Type : Dental Implants, Dental Prosthetics, Dental Restorative Materials, and Dental Regenerative Materials among others.

By Regions : North America, Europe, APAC and the Rest-of-the-World.

Global Dental Consumables Market  Regional Analysis

The European region leads the global dental consumables market with the largest share. The market growth is majorly fostered by the increasing per capita healthcare expenditures led by the resurging economy and the proliferation of healthcare sector in the region. Also, factors such as well-spread awareness among people towards oral health, especially in countries such as the UK, Germany, and Italy support market growth at a large scale.

The North American region closely following the European market accounts for the second-largest market for dental consumables. The market growth attributes to the increasing digital advancement in medical technology. The growing market in the US, backed by the high healthcare expenditures especially into the dental segment majorly supports the market growth in the region. Additional factors such as the huge technological advancements and uptake is a dominant factor fostering the growth of the North American dental consumables market.

The dental consumables market in the Asia Pacific region is proliferating rapidly, emerging as a promising market, globally. The burgeoning dental treatment markets, especially in India & China, backed by the vast population and the large unmet clinical needs fuel the market growth in the region.

Besides, some of the APAC countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia are estimated to contribute to market growth during the review period significantly. Offering substantial growth opportunities with the increasing awareness towards new technologies in untapped markets; the Asia Pacific dental consumables market will grow with approximately 7 % CAGR during the estimated period (2016-2024).

Global Dental Consumables Market  Competitive Analysis

Highly competitive dental consumables market appears to be fragmented owing to the presence of many large and small-scale players. These players are adopting the strategic initiatives for business expansion plans in the emerging markets. Key players are focusing on optimized situational awareness to ensure their mission success. Matured players are continually seeking expansion through various strategic initiatives such as M&A activities, collaboration & innovations.

Matured players invest in R&D activities increasingly. Key players possess state of the art facilities to develop cost-effective product portfolio and a stable marketing network which can help them to gain the leadership position in the market while marketers operating in the dental industry are focusing on inbound lead generation more than ever, instantiating ROI-oriented strategies that can pay off quickly.

Key Players:

Some of the leaders in the market include 3M, Septodont, Straumann, KERR Corporation, Henry Schein, GC orthodontics, Patterson Dental, EnvisionTEC, American Orthodontics, Dentsply Sirona, Planmeca OY, and Nobel Biocare (Part of Danaher Corporation).

Industry/ Innovation /Related News:

November 18, 2018  Cantel Medical Corporation (US), a leading company involved in the production and selling of medical equipment announced that it intends to acquire Omnia (Italy), a leading seller of a variety of dental surgical consumables for up to USD 31.9 MN in total consideration to expand in the European markets.

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Detailed Table of Contents:

1 Report Prologue

2 Market Introduction

2.1 Definition

2.2 Scope Of The Study

2.2.1 Research Objective

2.2.2 Assumptions

2.2.3 Limitations

3 Research Methodology

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Primary Research

3.3 Secondary Research

3.4 Market Size Estimation

4 Market Dynamics

4.1 Drivers

4.2 Restrains

4.3 Opportunities

4.4 Challenges

4.5 Macroeconomic Indicators

4.6 Technology Trends & Assessment

5 Demand & Supply  Gap Analysis

 Continued!

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Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.comGlobal High Throughput Screening Market  Scenario

High throughput screening (HTS) is a drug discovery process generally utilized in the pharmaceutical companies to influence the mechanization that can rapidly examine the natural or biochemical action of an expansive number of medications.

Since HTS allows assaying of a large number of potential biological modulators against a chosen set of defined targets, it has acquired the status of a popular approach to the target validation.

Over the past few years, the HTS market is growing pervasively mainly due to the burgeoning pharmaceutical industry and the widening adoption of the HTS in the drug discovery.

Furthermore, the increasing per capita health care expenditures, backed by the improving economic conditions, worldwide, are escalating the market on the ascended heights, increasing the demand for the quality healthcare treatments.

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Global High Throughput Screening Market  Key Players

The market leaders profiled in the MRFR analysis include Beckman Coulter, Inc., Aurora Biomed Inc., Agilent Technologies Inc., Luminex Corporation, Life Technologies Corporation, Roche, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Sigma-Aldrich Corporation, and Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.

Global High Throughput Screening Market  Growth and Analysis

According to a recent study report published by Market Research Future (MRFR), the global market for high throughput screening is expected to grow at a significant rate of CAGR during 2017  2027 (forecast period); valuing extravagantly over its previous growth records by the end of the forecast period.

Soaring Investments in the healthcare sector and the shift towards high throughput research propels the growth of the global high throughput screening market. The market is largely driven by target identification & validation, efficacy & safety screening, and monitoring of cell-based activity.

Additional factors supporting the market growth include the huge uptake of open innovation models by pharmaceutical companies, substantiating the use of high-throughput screening, rising drug discovery initiatives by academic and government institutions, boosting the demand for HTS products, and increasing capital investments in high-throughput screening technology by major firms

Global High Throughput Screening Market  Segments

The MRFR analysis is segmented into four key dynamics for the convenience of understanding;

By Product Type : Software, Instruments, and Consumables among others.

By Application : Target Identification, Primary Screening, Toxicology, and Stem Cell Biology, among others.

By End-user : Hospitals, Clinics, Pharmaceutical Companies/ Manufacturers, Government Organizations, and Research Facilities among others.

By Region : North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), and the Rest-of-the-World (RoW).

The subsegment Instruments by product types is expected to witness significant growth in demand due to its increasing use in drug discovery processes, superior performance, and reduced system cost.

Owing to the extensive use of the HTS technology in pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for drug discovery applications, the subsegment pharmaceutical, and biotechnology companies acquired the largest share in the global HTS market, by end users.

Global High Throughput Screening Market  Geographical Analysis

Globally, the North America region is the largest market for high throughput screening. Owing to the demanding research and development initiatives, the market is expected to grow at a significant rate of CAGR throughout the forecast period, creating a large revenue pocket by 2027.

Factors substantiating the market growth include high healthcare expenditures and substantial investments in the R&D activities for medicine discovery.

Europe accounts for the second-largest market for high throughput screening which is expected to grow at a considerable CAGR during the forecast period. Favorable government support and initiatives drive the growth in the market extensively.

The rapidly growing pharmaceutical sector in the region, backed by the resurging economy is fostering the market growth brilliantly.

Whereas, the Asia Pacific HTS market is growing rapidly, emerging as one of the lucrative markets, globally. Countries in the Asian region especially provide immense growth opportunities for the high-throughput screening market, accounting over half of the worlds total population.

Furthermore, private equity firms and venture capitalists are increasingly investing in the HTS market in countries such as India, China, and Japan.

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Global High Throughput Screening Market  Competitive Landscape

With the presence of numerous large and small market players; the global market of high-throughput screening appears to be highly fragmented.

Major Points from Table of Content

Chapter 1. Report Prologue

Chapter 2. Market Introduction

Chapter 3. Research Methodology

Chapter 4. Market Dynamics

Chapter 5. Market Factor Analysis

Chapter 6. Global High Throughput Screening Market, By Type

Chapter 7. Global High Throughput Screening Market, By Treatment

Chapter 8 Global High Throughput Screening Market, By End User

Chapter 9. Global High Throughput Screening Market, By Region

Chapter 10 Company Landscape

Chapter 11 Company Profiles

Chapter 12 MRFR Conclusion

Chapter 13 Appendix

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Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.comRegenerative Medicine is one of the fastest growing sectors in biomedical research replacing diseased cells, tissues or organs. The global regenerative medicine market is expected to show phenomenal growth and advance at a CAGR of 25.4% over the forecast period of 2016-2022, asserts Market Research Future (MRFR) in a detailed research report.

Chronic diseases like cancer and diabetes are spreading at a rapid pace and are increasingly becoming common in lower-income countries too. This factor in conjunction with an aging population and changing lifestyle is likely to pose a challenge and exert massive burden on the global healthcare system. Regenerative medicines are being highly preferred over other naturally derived medicine sources. They provide a complete cure for any medical condition through tissue replacement.

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Surging incidences of degenerative diseases and a shortage of organs for transplantation also spur the growth of the global regenerative medicine market. Regenerative medicines have proven to be effective in the treatment since it aims to replace or restore human cells or tissues and over the time, the injured tissue starts functioning normally, thereby eliminating the need for organ transplant.

Advances made in stem cell therapy and its soaring popularity also reflects positively on the growth of the global regenerative medicine market. Stem cell therapy participates in the process of regenerative medicine and assists in speedy recovery.

Furthermore, the recent progress made in the field of material engineering and cell biology also acts a driving force to the growth of the market. Utilization of nanomaterials in wound care, drug delivery, and immunomodulation has opened up new growth avenues for the regenerative medicine market.

However, regenerative medicinal treatment is not paid for by any insurance plan and is the cost of treatment of regenerative medicine is exorbitantly high. This results in a drop in adoption rate which might restrict the growth of the market over the forecast period.

Segmentation

The global regenerative medicine market has been segmented based on material, therapy, and application. By material, the global regenerative medicine market has been segmented into synthetic materials, genetically engineered materials, pharmaceuticals, biologically derived materials, and others. By therapy, the global regenerative medicine market has been segmented into stem cell biology, cellular therapy, tissue engineering, and others. By application, the global regenerative medicine market has been segmented into cardiovascular, orthopedics, neurology,

Urology, oncology, orthopedic, dermatology, cord blood, and others.

Regional Analysis

North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa are the key markets for regenerative medicine.

North America is dominating the global regenerative medicine market and accounts for more than 44% share of the global market. Rapid advances in technology, the presence of major players in the region and substantial investment in stem cell & oncology can be attributed to the growth of the market in North America. In addition, the region is home to various organizations such as National Stem Cell Foundation, International Society for Stem Cell Research, Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute which are engaged in R&D of regenerative medicine which further stimulates the growth of the North America regenerative medicine market. North America market for regenerative market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 22.3% over the forecast period.

Europe follows North America closely and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 22.5% over the forecast period.

Asia Pacific is projected to be the fastest growing market for regenerative market. High investments in healthcare research by emerging economies in the region. Presence of a flexible regulatory environment for clinical adoption of cell-based research therapies in the economies of Japan and China are expected to reflect positive growth.

Competitive Landscape

Baxter International, Inc., CryoLife, Sanofi, BioMimetic Therapeutics, Osiris Therapeutics, LifeCell Kinetic Concepts, Advanced Cell Technology, Stryker and RTI Surgical, Medtronic, LifeSciences, StemCells Inc, Organogenesis, and Cook Biotech are some of the eminent players in the global regenerative medicine market.

Industry Updates

In November 2018, IU Philanthropic Venture invested in Vascugen Inc., a regenerative medicine company. Vascugen is focused on finding therapies to repair human tissue damaged by reduced blood flow will utilize the fund to produce clinical-grade

In October 2018, a public-private platform, Translational and Clinical Bio-Manufacturing (TCBM), was launched which will share expertise in the translation of research results into clinical application to promote Regenerative medicine.

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Detailed Table of Contents:

Table Of Contents

1 Introduction

1.1 Definition

1.2 Scope Of Study

1.3 Research Objective

1.4 Assumptions & Limitations

1.5 Market Structure:

2 Research Methodology

2.1 Research Process

2.2 Primary Research

2.3 Secondary Research

3 Market Dynamics

3.1 Drivers

3.2 Restraints

3.3 Opportunities

3.4 Challenges

3.5 Macroeconomic Indicators

4 Market Factor Analysis

4.1 Porters Five Forces Model

4.1.1 Bargaining Power Of Suppliers

4.1.2 Bargaining Power Of Customer

4.1.3 Intensity Of Competitors

4.1.4 Threat Of New Entrants

5 Global Regenerative Medicine Market, By Material

5.1 Introduction

5.1.1 Synthetic Materials

5.1.2 Genetically Engineered Materials

5.1.3 Biologically Derived Materials

5.1.4 Others

Continued

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Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.comGlobal Microscopy Devices Market  Key Players

Some of the key players in this market are: FEI, Meiji Techno, Nikon Metrology NV, Woodley Equipment Company Ltd, Radical Scientific Equipments Pvt Ltd, Bruker, Mauna Kea Technologies SA, Icon Analytical Equipment Pvt. Ltd, Olympus Corporation, NIDEK Inc., Sonix, Inc., Konan Medical USA Inc., Carl Zeiss, Leica Microsystems and others.

Industry/ Innovation/ Related News

November 2017  Researchers of Germany and Portugal collaboratively developed the first microscope to concurrently monitor movement and neuron activity in zebrafish larvae without interfering with their behavior. To enable wider use in the research community, the neurobehavioral tracking microscope uses off-the-shelf components and is open source.

October 2017  Researchers at Keio University, Japan developed a single-step, laser-based method to produce small, precise hybrid microstructures of silver and flexible silicone that could enable factories to mass-produce customized devices that combine soft materials, like engineered tissue, with hard materials that add functions, like glucose sensing.

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October 2017  Researchers at Brown University (US) innovated a laser terahertz emission microscopy (LTEM), a powerful technique to characterize the performance of solar cells and study a wide variety of materials to the Nano level.

October 2017  company M Squared (Glasgow, UK) developed the Aurora laser microscope that accurately images large biological structures at a cellular level, with the cutting-edge microscope capable of capturing 3D images 500-times faster than conventional technology. Creating images of neural connections with this level of detail could lead to breakthroughs in understanding neurodegenerative disorders.

Global Microscopy Devices Market  Highlights

Microscopy Devices are garnering a huge prominence, finding a range of applications in Bio-engineering and electronics. Extensive uptake of electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in electron micrographs methods are driving the Microscopy Device Market growth.

Factors substantiating the market growth include the increased funding by the public and private sector for life science research studies and the expansion of the semiconductor industries in most of the emerging nations. Increasing research and development activities initiated by governments, schools, universities and research institutions across the developing regions have fuelled the growth of the market.

Global Microscopy Devices Market  Segmentation

The MRFR analysis is segmented into four key dynamics for the convenience of understanding;

By Types: Comprises Optical Microscopes, Electron Microscope, and Scanning Probe Microscope (SPM), among others.

By Applications: Life Science, Material Science, Pathology, and Nanotechnology among others.

By End-Users: Comprises Hospitals & Clinics, Academic & Research Institutes, and Diagnostics Centers among others.

By Regions: North America, Europe, APAC and Rest-of-the-World.

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Global Microscopy Devices Market  Regional Analysis

As per Market Research Future analysis, the global microscopy devices market has grown tremendously in Asia-Pacific, North America, and Europe and Middle East & Africa region. Geographically, Asia-Pacific holds the largest share of more than 40% of microscopy devices market and is expected to be the leading market during 2016-2022. Asia-Pacific market for microscopy devices is growing due to increasing investment in the research and development in these regions by the governments. Such as, China is the worlds second largest investor in research and development programs according to World Bank data. Furthermore, new development in semiconductors industry in the emerging nations has derived the growth of this market.

After Asia-pacific region, North American market is the second largest market in the global microscopy devices market. Increasing focus on R&D in nanotechnology and life sciences industries coupled with large federal and corporate funding serves as a significant driver for this region.

Major Table of Content

Chapter 1. Report Prologue

Chapter 2. Market Introduction

2.1 Definition

2.2 Scope of the Study

2.2.1 Research Objective

2.2.2 Assumptions

2.2.3 Limitations

Chapter 3. Research Methodology

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Primary Research

3.3 Secondary Research

3.4 Market Size Estimation

Chapter 4. Market Dynamics

Continued.

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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.

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Email: salesteam@marketresearchfuture.comNeuropsychiatric disorders are mental disorder occur due to disturbance in the function of cerebral system. Neuropsychiatric disorders are most common to the people having more than 65 years age. Increasing prevalence of neuropsychiatric disorders across the globe is the major reason for driving the market. Beside this increasing demand for the better treatment and development in the healthcare sector are the major driving factor for the growth of the market. While lack of clinical trial data for neuropsychiatric drugs and long-term treatment of this diseases may restrain the growth of the market.

Geographically, North America accounts for the largest market for the neuropsychiatric disorders and treatment which is slightly less than Europe. Huge population suffering from neuropsychiatric disorders in this region is the major reason for the development of the market. According to WHO the number of patients suffering from neuropsychiatric disorders will be doubled in next couple of decades due to increasing aging population in North America and Europe. Asia Pacific has the third leading market which is expecting a fastest growth in this market due to rapid development in healthcare sector and increasing demand for the better treatment of the neuropsychiatric disorders.

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Global Neuropsychiatric Disorders And Treatment Market  Key Players

Astrazeneca (UK), GlaxoSmithKline (UK), Universal Health Services Inc. (US), Biogen (US), Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH (Germany), Eli Lilly (US), Bristol-Meyer Squibb (US), Johnson & Johnson (US), Pfizer (US), Wyeth (US), Otsuka Holdings Co. Ltd (Japan), Astellas Pharma Inc. (Japan)

Global Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Treatment Market  Competitive Analysis

Many factors are fueling the growth of the market. This has attracted many of the manufacturer for development of the market in this sector. Increasing in alliances amongst the leading player has helped to introduction of new and better treatment for the neuropsychiatric disorders.

AstraZeneca is a multinational pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical company headquartered in UK. Recently AstraZeneca has completed its collaboration with National Institute of Mental Health. This collaboration will help to discover the new and better drug treatment for distressing condition. AstraZeneca has also collaborated with Vanderbilt Center for the Neuroscience Drug Discovery which aims to discover new drug for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders.

Universal Health Services is an American Fortune 500 company headquartered in US. It is one of the largest hospital management companies in US. Universal Health Services is a huge company with the revenues of nearly USD 9.7 billion with the profit of more than USD 600 million.

Boehringer Ingelheim is one of the worlds 20 leading pharmaceutical companies headquartered in Germany. In 2016, Boehringer Ingelheim is collaborated with Saniona. This collaboration aims to develop the new treatment for the patients suffering from schizophrenia.

Global Neuropsychiatric Disorders And Treatment Market  Segmentation

Global Neuropsychiatric Disorders And Treatment Market is segmented on the basis of disorders into degenerative diseases, neurotic disorders, psychosis and others. On the basis of treatments, it is segmented as shock treatment, drug treatment, others and on the basis of end users it is hospitals, clinics, research centers and others

Global Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Treatment Market  Regional Analysis

On regional basis, global neuropsychiatric disorders and treatment market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Middle East and Africa. North America commands the largest market for the neuropsychiatric disorders and treatment. In North America neuropsychiatric disorders account the highest rate of disability-adjusted life year (DALYs). DALYs is a measure of overall disease burden which express the number of years lost due to ill health or early death. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, around 5.3 million Americas are suffering from this disease and this number is expected get double in next couple of decades due to due to the aging of the population. This increasing number of the neuropsychiatric patients in North America has led to the growth of this market in North America.

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Europe commands the second largest market for the neuropsychiatric disorders and treatment. Huge population suffering from mental disorders in Iceland, Norway and Switzerland has contributed a lot for the European market. Moreover, increasing demand for need of better treatment and increasing burden of neuropsychiatric disorders are the major factor for the growth of the market.

Neuropsychiatric disorders and treatment market in Asia Pacific is growing at a steady pace due to huge geriatric population in this area, continuous improving healthcare infrastructure and rapid development in healthcare sector has boosted growth of this market. The Middle East and Africa has least market for the neuropsychiatric disorders and treatment.

Major Table of Content

Chapter 1. Report Prologue

Chapter 2. Market Introduction

2.1 Definition

2.2 Scope of the Study

2.2.1 Research Objective

2.2.2 Assumptions

2.2.3 Limitations

Chapter 3. Research Methodology

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Primary Research

3.3 Secondary Research

3.4 Market Size Estimation

Chapter 4. Market Dynamics

Continued.

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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:

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Email: salesteam@marketresearchfuture.comThe Global Patient Monitoring Devices Market has been evaluated as steadily growing market and it is expected that the market will continue to grow similarly in the near future. These monitoring devices continuously check patients vital signs by using a medical monitor. Patient monitoring devices market has various functions such as glucose monitoring, blood monitoring, temperature monitoring, cholesterol monitoring, weight monitoring etc. Electrocardiography is fastest growing sub-segment, it is largest in cardiac monitoring market and fastest growing in neurological device.

Electrocardiography is the process that checks for problems with the electrical activity of your heart. Electrocardiography is very helpful to diagnose unexplained chest pain or pressure, cause of symptoms of heart disease, to check how well medicines are working and see if they are causing side effects that affect the heart. Increase in consumer awareness is driving the market growth which expected to grow in same pace in near future. Patient monitoring devices manufacturers trying to make more advance, accurate and innovative device to provide desirable solution.

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Global Patient Monitoring Device Market  Competitive Analysis

There are plenty of large and small market players which operate in this market all over the globe:

GE Healthcare

Roche Diagnostics

BIOTRONIK SE & Co. KG

Abbott Laboratories

Siemens Healthcare

Philips Healthcare

CAS Medical Systems, Inc.

Spacelabs Healthcare

Honeywell International, Inc.

Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics Co

Koninklijke Philips N.V is multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Amsterdam focussed on electronics, healthcare, homecare and connected care. In August 2016 Philips launched medical grade Philips Health Watch thus expanding its product offerings in wearables section.

Honeywell International Inc. is a multinational company headquartered in the U.S. which manufactures a variety of commercial and consumer goods, aerospace systems and provides engineering services for broad range of customers. It has broad product segment in health wearable devices. In April 2018, Honeywell Life Care Solutions signed business collaboration with MobileHelp This collaboration will strengthen its brand loyalty and will provide better services for its customer base.

Global Patient Monitoring Devices Market  Segmentation

Patient monitoring devices Market has been segmented on the basis of product type which comprises of Central monitoring stations, Portable bedside monitors, Electrocardiogram (ECG) Devices, Hemodynamic Monitoring Devices, Fetal and neonatal monitors, Respiratory Monitors, Weight management monitors, Temperature monitoring devices, and others. On the basis of end user, the market is segmented into Hospitals and clinics, Ambulatory care centers, Home care and others.

Global Patient Monitoring Devices Market  Regional Analysis

North Americas patient monitoring device market is known to be the largest, owing to the high prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, increasing obese population, increasing acceptance of new technologies, increasing geriatric population, growing clinical research and development sector and presence of pharmaceutical giants. Additionally, increasing healthcare expenditure is likely to propel the growth of the patient monitoring device market in North America. Similarly increasing number of surgical treatment options is also likely to aid the market need for cardiac and neuromonitoring devices top their sole use in advanced surgeries.

Europe is the second leader in the patient monitoring device market. The European market is predicted to grow during the forecast period due to various government legislative reforms providing regulatory guidelines to manufacturing companies, the growing research and developments sector, established medical device market, need for advanced treatments along with the availability of proper health care infrastructure. Moreover, increasing funding for research and development has evolved new patient monitoring devices that are user-friendly as well as easy to carry. For instance, the European Commission stated that the R&D spending by the pharmaceuticals and biotechnology sectors grew by 8.7% in 2014.

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The Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest region in the global patient monitoring device market due to the presence of huge population suffering from diabetes, hypertension, and key pharmaceutical companies setting up their regional headquarters in Singapore, Japan, China, and Australia, increasing awareness for health, growing healthcare investment and increasing geriatric population. For Instance, in accordance to report published by the United Nations in 2015; between 2015 and 2030, the number of older persons aged 60 years or over in the world is predicted to grow by 56 %, from 901 million to more than 1.4 billion, out of which 66% of older population would reside in Asia-Pacific regions. This makes the region prone to chronic diseases which in turn increases the market demand for patient monitoring devices. These countries are quickly adapting to new technologies so as to improve the health of every citizen. Government is also supporting the same by investing in research and development in clinical research sector as well as in building proper healthcare infrastructure.

The Middle East & Africa holds the least share in the market owing to the presence of low-income countries and low healthcare expenditure, especially within the African region. Within this region, the Middle East leads the market due to the presence of developed economies like United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and others. Moreover, rising geriatric population, developed healthcare infrastructure, rising number of skilled medical professionals fuels the regional market. This region has huge untapped markets which have a high potential for growth.

Major Table of Content

Chapter 1. Report Prologue

Chapter 2. Market Introduction

2.1 Definition

2.2 Scope of the Study

2.2.1 Research Objective

2.2.2 Assumptions

2.2.3 Limitations

Chapter 3. Research Methodology

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Primary Research

3.3 Secondary Research

3.4 Market Size Estimation

Chapter 4. Market Dynamics

Continued.

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About Market Research Future:

At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.

In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.

Contact:

Market Research Future

Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers

Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar,

Pune  411028

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Email: salesteam@marketresearchfuture.comRadiopharmaceutical Market  Overview

As the healthcare industry is moving towards the personalized approaches, the role of radiopharmaceutical is also increasing. The radiopharmaceutical is acting as an all-rounder radiopharmaceutical from diagnosis to treatment for various chronic diseases such as cancers and other neurological disorders, which has provided an impetus to the market.

Demand for radiopharmaceuticals is growing due to raising awareness about availability of radiation and radioisotopes in medicine, particularly for diagnosis and therapy for various chronic conditions. In developed countries about one person in 50 uses diagnostic nuclear medicine every year, and the demand for therapy with radioisotopes is about one-tenth of this.

Radiopharmaceuticals use radiation to provide diagnostic information about the functioning of a persons specific organs while radiotherapy can be used to treat some medical conditions, especially cancer, used to weaken or destroy particular targeted cells.

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Radiopharmaceutical Market  Segmentation:

The global radiopharmaceutical market is segmented by type, type of test, application, route of administration, and end user.

By type, it is segmented into diagnostic type radiopharmaceuticals and therapeutic type radiopharmaceuticals. Diagnostic type radiopharmaceutical is further sub-segmented into SPECT radiopharmaceutical and PET radiopharmaceutical. Therapeutic type radiopharmaceutical is further sub-segmented into beta emitters, alpha emitters, brachytherapy. SPECT radiopharmaceutical is further sub-segmented into Technetium-99m, Thallium-201, Iodine-123, and others. PET radiopharmaceutical is further sub-segmented into F-18, Rubidium-82, and others. While, beta emitters are sub-segmented into Iodine-131, Yttrium-90, Samarium-153, Rhenium-186, Lutetium-177, and others. And, brachytherapy is sub-segmented into Iodine-125, Iridium-192, Cesium-131, and others.

By type of test, it is segmented into myocardial perfusion scan, lung scan, bone scan, white blood cell scan, gallium scan, renal nuclear medicine scan, parathyroid scans, hepatobiliary scans, cerebral perfusion scan and others. Whereas, a bone scan is further sub-segmented into Technetium-99m 1st, fluoride-18 2nd, and others. Myocardial Perfusion Scan, Type is sub-segmented into Technetium-99m, Thallium-201, Rubidium-82, and others. The lung scan by type is segmented into Xenon-133, Krypton-81m, and others. And, White blood cell Scan is sub-segmented into Indium-111 and others.

By application, it is segmented into oncology, cardiology, neurology, urology, and others. Oncology segment is further segmented into following applications; prostate cancer, bone cancer, breast cancer and others. Cardiology segment is further segmented into following applications; coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathy and others. Neurology segment is further segmented into following applications such as traumatic brain injury, stroke, Alzheimers disease and others. Urology is sub-segmented into acute pyelonephritis, congenital renal anomalies, and others.

By Route of Administration, it is segmented into oral, intravenous and others.

By End User, it is segmented into hospitals, diagnostic centers, research institutes and others.

Players Covered:

Some of the key players in this market are Jubilant Life Sciences Ltd., Siemens AG, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Bayer AG, Cardinal Health Inc., Medtronic, General Electric Company (GE Healthcare), Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc., Advanced Accelerator Applications S.A., Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, Nordion, Inc., Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), Bracco Diagnostic Inc., IBA Dosimetry GmbH, Avid Radiopharmaceuticals and few others.

Radiopharmaceutical Market  Regional Analysis:

The global radiopharmaceutical market is segmented into four major regions including Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East & Africa. Among these, Americas and Europe will continue to present lucrative growth opportunities for market players during the forecast period. Currently, these two regions collectively account for the largest share of the market and the trend is likely to continue over the next couple of years. Higher healthcare spending and existence a robust healthcare system system in these regions is reflecting favorably on the market. In Asia Pacific, increased focus on improving the quality of healthcare services is auguring well for market players operating in the region. During the review period, the market in the region is expected to capture a strong CAGR.

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Major TOC of Radiopharmaceutical Market Research Report  Forecast to 2023:

1 Report Prologue

2 Executive Summary

3 Market Introduction

4 Research Methodology

5 Market Dynamics

6 Market Factor Analysis

7 Global Radiopharmaceutical Market, by Type

8 Global Radiopharmaceuticals Market, by Type of Test

9 Global Radiopharmaceutical Market, by Application

10 Global Radiopharmaceutical Market, by Route of Administration

11 Global Radiopharmaceutical Market, by End-User

12 Global Radiopharmaceutical Market, by Region

13 Competitive Landscape

14 Company Profile

15 Appendix

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.

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Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.comby Ray Schultz , December 3, 2018

Office 365 users are being victimized by a new malware variant being sent by email, according to Ironscales and Sandbox.

Bad actors are using a malicious #RTF file to infect machines and trick users into downloading an exe file payload.

The malware was discovered on November 29 by researchers from Ironscales and Sandbox, providers of a phishing threat protection platform.

The attack is a variant of Formbook, ready-to-sell malware that can be used by cyber-criminals who lack skill in malware, the researchers say.

The malware is a form-grabber written in C and x86 assembly language, they add.

Microsoft has had to patch the EQNEDT32.EXE process. It might have lost the source code for the process, meaning that it cant patch against attacks, the firms report.

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The malware depends on advanced techniques for lateral movement, stealing an executing thread of the 'explorer.exe' process to execute their own code.

The URL, https://f.coka.la/2RTMHs.png, is an EXE file, hidden under the cover of a .PNG file. It is legitimately encrypted, and will bypass regular proxy servers, the result being is that the malicious content remains hidden, the researchers report.

Due to delivery advances, the malware cannot be detected by antivirus and is difficult to monitor.

The researchers have not been able to discern a geographic pattern.by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, December 3, 2018

Market capitalization can change rapidly for many reasons, but last week Microsoft quietly became the worlds most valuable company in terms of market capitalization. It occurred on Wednesday and continued to play leapfrog with Apple through the week.

Microsoft took the No. 1 spot from Apple last week, surpassing fellow rivals Amazon, Facebook and Alphabet to close the day with a market cap of $851.36 billion -- nearly $4 billion higher than the iPhone and Mac maker.

Citing FactSet, The Wall Street Journal reports a market cap of $847.4 billion for Apple, followed by $826.4 for Amazon and $766.4 billion for Googles parent company Alphabet.

By Monday at 4 p.m. Eastern, the situation had normalized a bit. Microsofts market cap stabilized at $112.09 and Apples at $184.82.

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The enterprise business powers Microsoft these days, with CEO Satya Nadella at the helm and a strong hold on digital. The engineer-turned-chief executive pushed Microsoft into cloud computing and digital services.

Under Nadellas direction, Microsoft also strengthened artificial intelligence across its products, making Microsoft Bing the default search engine and Cortana the voice assistant for Surface PCs and the Windows operating system.

Amazon Web Services still dominates the business cloud market, but Microsoft Azure has been gaining market share. Google is trying to catch up.

In November, Google Cloud launched Google Transfer Appliance (GTA), a European version of its service for uploading data to the cloud by mail. Using a cloud onboarding appliance, customers can send large amounts of data to be uploaded to the Google Cloud.

Some believe this is Googles latest attempt to catch up to Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azures upload-by-mail model.

The statistic depicts Microsoft's revenue from intelligent cloud services from the first quarter of 2015 to the most recent quarter. In the first quarter of fiscal year 2019, Microsoft generated 8.57 billion U.S. dollars in revenue from intelligent cloud services.

Productivity software also continues to help build Microsofts success. The commercial version of Office 365  a cloud-based subscription version of the traditional Office software  is among the fastest-growing pieces of a segment that accounts for roughly a third of Microsofts revenue, per the WSJ.by Ray Schultz , December 3, 2018

Mailchimp has resolved service and connection problems that began at around 10:30 a.m. Monday ET.

The connection issues from earlier today have been resolved, the email platform provider said in a tweet. Were sorry for the disruption this caused. Were committed to improving these situations and minimizing the impact on our users, and we appreciate everyones patience today.

Earlier, the company said, Were investigating connection issues across multiple data centers, in tweet Monday Morning.

Later, Mailchimp said that the investigation is ongoing.

The Downdetector map shows Mailchimp outages hitting the UK, New York and Los Angeles.by Larissa Faw , December 3, 2018

ICF International is combining its marketing-services businesses under the new umbrella organization ICF Next, bringing together all agencies including North America-based Olson Engage, Olson1to1, Olson Digital, Pulsepoint Group, Brussels-based ICF Mostra, and U.K.-based The Future Customer and We Are Vista.

Officially launching in early 2019, and led by former IBM Ix North American leader John Armstrong, the team of over 1,700 creatives, communicators, strategists and technologists will work across more than a dozen offices in the U.S., Canada, Europe and India.

ICF Next's revenue will exceed $300 million with a client roster that includes BMW, Hyatt, Kraft Heinz, Lloyds, Luxottica, Mars, MillerCoors, and Wyndham.

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While all of ICFs previously separate specialty divisions such as Olson Engage will now be branded as ICF Next, Armstrong noted that the capabilities and teams remain as they were, allowing the individual units to continue serving and pursuing clients on their own or as an integrated team, depending upon the opportunity.

There is a natural convergence in the work we do across areas like communications, public relations, technology, loyalty, marketing and strategy, says John Wasson, president, ICF. The integrated model that ICF Next provides "enables our clients to more easily tap into a wider set of expertise, capabilities and resources as needs arise.

ICF has experimented with this concept in the past and landed several new accounts, says Armstrong. The new model was implemented on work with the Belize Tourism Board. Our clients are increasingly asking for outcomes that aren't merely PR or earned media, but rather raise attention to a brand beyond the traditional paid model, he says. "We are connecting the dots.Adding to Apples worries, new research shows that iPhone sales were flat during the third quarter of the year. Thats according a new report from Gartner, which put iPhones sales growth at about .7% during the period.

Apples iPhones are facing a saturated premium smartphone market, with slowing growth rates and increased competition in China, Anshul Gupta, research director at Gartner, notes in the report.

That said, Gupta suggested that Apple could still finish the year strong.

Apples new flagship smartphones, announced in September, will be key to defining Apples overall iPhone unit sales in 2018, Gupta said. Initial channel checks suggest the Xs Max is outselling the Xs model, and we also see the Xs Max as a critical addition for the Chinese market, where Apple has been losing share.

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In place of Apple, Chinese brands like Huawei and Xiaomi were mainly responsible for driving global smartphone sales during the third quarter of the year.

Overall, consumer smartphone sales grew 1.4% during the period, which came out to roughly 389 million units.

If we had taken both Huawei and Xiaomi out of the global smartphone vendors list, smartphone sales to end users would have declined by 5.2%, according to Gupta.

Particularly in emerging markets, Gupta attributed the success of Huawei and Xiaomi to quality camera features and higher-quality resolution displays at lower price points.

As a result, Huawei saw demand for its smartphones grow by 43% during the third quarter.

Samsung saw its biggest decline -- 14% -- since Gartner began been tracking smartphone sales, globally.

Samsungs Galaxy S9, S9+ and Note 9 struggled to revive demand throughout the year, while its remodeled mid-tier and entry-tier smartphones faced a tsunami of competition from Huawei and Xiaomi.

Rather than a race to the bottom, however, phone makers are increasingly looking to new technologies like 5G and foldabe form factors to wow consumers, Gartner suggests.

Among other vendors, Samsung, Huawei and LG are all eying foldable phones in 2019.

In a recent note to investors, Guggenheim analyst Robert Cihra recently projected that iPhone sales were set to decline by 5% from Apples fiscal year 2018 to fiscal year 2019.

Both Goldman and UBS also suggested that Apple would likely sell fewer iPhones than previously expected.by Alex Weprin , December 4, 2018



Viacom is all-in on embracing over-the-top video, but the company is forging what CEO Bob Bakish believes is a differentiated strategy than some of its competitors.

That differentiated OTT strategy is built on three pillars: direct-to-consumer streaming services, digital studios that sell content to other streaming services, and OTT streaming bundles such as Philo and YouTube TV.

What you will see is a multifaceted strategy, Bakish said at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference. We will do a set of [direct-to-consumer] offerings, first two are Noggin and Comedy Central Now, they will be distributed both D2C and B to B to C, so through Amazon and Roku and MVPDs.

We do believe there is an opportunity on AVOD, ad-supported video on demand, and that is useful for building a funnel into our subscription products, Bakish added.

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Noggin has close to 300,000 subscribers, Bakish said, and the company is already planning three new streaming services.

The three new services will be focused on African-American programming, reality programming, and Spanish-language programming. Those will be library-heavy products, he said.

The digital studios business is booming, with nine shows currently sold to outside partners, including Jack Ryan for Amazon Prime Video and Maniac for Netflix. Bakish says that number will rise to about 16 shows next year.

We see it being a billion-dollar business in a couple of years, with 20% margins, he said. These shows could also drive viewers to the companys flagship brands, including through multichannel video bundles.

To that end, Viacom is betting that virtual multichannel video providers (vMVPDs), like Philo, can drive an incremental opportunity and make up for some of the losses facing the traditional cable bundle.

Bakish says his hope is that consumers discover the companys brands through other streaming services, or vMVPDs, will eventually sign up for these streaming bundles to fill out their content needs.by Larissa Faw , December 4, 2018

As expected, Martin Sorrell is adding programmatic firm MightyHive to his S4 Capital portfolio with a deal valued at $150 million. S4 reported that talks were at an advanced stage yesterday, then confirmed terms had been reached earlier today.

Its the second major acquisition for the company since Sorrell formed it earlier this year, after he was forced out of the CEO perch at WPP. In July, the company acquired digital production agency MediaMonks for $350 million.

"The peanut has now morphed into a coconut, and is growing and ripening," quipped Sorrell, who has earlier described S4 as peanut in comparison to adlands major holding companies.

The latest purchase will enable the programmatic shop to scale more rapidly and offer clients more integrated products, including services from sister company MediaMonks.

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MightyHive will become a wholly owned subsidiary of S4 Capital.

Pete Kim, MightyHive CEO-cofounder, and Christopher Martin, MightyHive COO-cofounder, will join the S4 Capital board of directors while also remaining in their roles running the day-to-day operations of MightyHive. "The companys leadership will remain involved in the day-to-day operations of the company. Our services and approach are not changing," the company stated on its website.

There are also financial incentives for sticking around. S4 Capital is establishing an incentive scheme with an aggregate value of $5 million for MightyHive's employees. It will pay $5 million in restricted cash bonuses to MightyHive's team following completion of the merger, expected to close on December 24.

S4 Capital will fund the cash portion of the consideration through the issue of 67.2 million new ordinary shares. Daniel Pinto -- founder and CEO of Stanhope Capital, the global investment and advisory group, which is leading the new share offer -- will also join S4's board.

For his part, Sorrell is making it clear that his new company is focusing on deals that battle new competitors rather than his previous rivals, including Publicis and Omnicom.

"Following both the MightyHive merger and the recent opening of the MediaMonks office in San Francisco, S4 Capital's focus on the West Coast of the United States and the digital natives at companies like Apple, Microsoft, Google and Facebook, not forgetting the software giants Adobe, Salesforce and Oracle, will intensify," he states.

Sorrell added that S4 Capital is focusing in three key areas initially: The development of a global digital content platform; first-party data fueling both digital media planning and creative ideas; and, finally, digital media buying. Clients of all kinds want these services delivered faster, better and cheaper, by more agile and responsive organizations, either in-house, co-located with them or alone."New research, published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, suggests that nighttime exposure to artificial outdoor light, known as light pollution, may raise the risk of insomnia.

Share on Pinterest A new study suggests that exposure to light pollution may cause an increase in sleeping pill use.

Short-term insomnia affects approximately 30 percent of adults in the United States.



A further 10 percent of people in the country have chronic insomnia.

Researchers have associated insufficient sleep with chronic health conditions ranging from type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity, to mental health disorders such as depression.

The connection between light and sleep is well-documented. Recent results, for example, indicate that the light emitted by screens can affect light-sensitive cells in the retina and reset the body clock  a brain structure that controls the sleep-wake cycle.

While it may seem intuitive that the light that comes from laptops and smartphones disrupts our sleep, it may come as a surprise that outdoor artificial nighttime light can have a similar effect.

New research finds a connection between excessive exposure to light pollution and the use of sleeping pills in seniors.

Kyoung-bok Min, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Seoul National University College of Medicine in South Korea, conducted the study with Jin-young Min, Ph.D., from the universitys Department of Preventive Medicine.The history of AIDS and HIV was initially shrouded in misunderstanding and fear. Now, thanks to decades of research and medical advances, we know much more about the virus and how to treat it. This article will cover the primary topics in the history of HIV, from its beginnings to the latest research today.

Origins Share on Pinterest Research into the origins of AIDS and HIV has helped advance prevention and treatment. Doctors are not exactly sure when HIV originated, but they believe it developed from a type of chimpanzee virus in West Africa called the simian immunodeficiency virus. People who hunted chimpanzees for meat came in contact with the blood containing the virus and contracted HIV. Researchers believe the virus mutated at some point into the human form of HIV. Researchers collected the earliest detected HIV in 1959 from a man in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Later, genetic analysis determined the virus might have developed between 19101930.

Pre-1980 In the mid to late 1970s, doctors noticed that people in New York and California were contracting rarer forms of opportunistic infections, such as aggressive pneumonia and rare cancers. People with a weakened immune system were more likely to be diagnosed with these opportunistic infections. In healthy people, the immune response is enough to keep these conditions at bay. Doctors at the time did not know that a virus was the underlying cause of these conditions. Studies suggest that HIV was present in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Australia before 1980.

19801990 Misunderstandings about the virus and its transmission plagued the early years of HIV in the United States. In 1981, doctors and researchers began to notice a set of symptoms in previously healthy young males who had sex with other males. At first, healthcare providers called the disease gay-related immune deficiency. However, doctors also began to observe that intravenous drug users also experienced the same symptoms. In 1982, health experts realized that the symptoms and related conditions were due to a compromised immune system. They began to call it AIDS. Scientists thought those living with conditions, such as Kaposi sarcoma  a rare cancer, or a form of pneumonia called Pneumocystis jirovecii, had acquired them through AIDS. In 1983, the scientific community identified the virus responsible for AIDS. They first named the virus human T-cell lymphotropic virus type III, or lymphadenopathy-associated virus. Later, researchers changed the name to HIV. They also identified the leading methods of HIV transmission and learned that a person could not contract HIV from casual contact, food, water, or air. In 1985, the first International Conference on AIDS took place in the U.S. During the same year, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) licensed the first commercial blood test to test for viral antibodies. This test was a simple way of diagnosing the condition. Blood banks also began screening their blood supplies for the virus to prevent transmission through blood transfusions. In March 1987, the FDA approved zidovudine, the first antiretroviral medication that could treat HIV. In 1988, the first World AIDS Day took place on December 1. By 1989, an estimated 100,000 people in the U.S. were reportedly living with AIDS, which develops from untreated HIV.

19902000 Share on Pinterest The Visual AIDS Artists Caucus created the red HIV awareness ribbon in 1991. According to the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research, an estimated 810 million people worldwide were living with HIV by 1990. In 1991, the red ribbon became the symbol of AIDS awareness. The Visual AIDS Artists Caucus created the Red Ribbon Project to show compassion and support for people diagnosed with AIDS and their loved ones. By 1995, doctors introduced the first triple combination therapy as an antiretroviral treatment. This combined drug prevented the virus from replicating, which allowed a persons immune system to fight off existing HIV in the body. In June 1995, the FDA approved a type of medication called a protease inhibitor as part of the HIV treatment regimen. According to the charity Avert, in areas where the treatment was available, the number of AIDS-related deaths and hospitalizations decreased by 6080%. However, in 1996, around 23 million people worldwide were living with HIV and AIDS, according to the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research. By 1999, AIDS-related illnesses were the fourth-leading cause of deaths worldwide and the leading cause of deaths in Africa. At this time, researchers estimated that 14 million people had died from AIDS-related illnesses since the HIV epidemic began.

20002010 In July 2000, organizations belonging to UNAIDS, The Joint United Nations Program on HIV and AIDS, negotiated with pharmaceutical companies to make antiretroviral medication more affordable to developing countries. In 2002, the FDA approved the first rapid HIV test. With this test, a person can receive a result within 20 minutes that was 99.6% accurate. The 2000s also saw an increase in funding and support for AIDS research and treatment. In 2008, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the number of known HIV cases had stabilized, meaning the number of people diagnosed with HIV each year had not increased. As of this articles publication, the number of people with HIV has remained stable in the U.S. In 2009, the FDA approved the 100th antiretroviral drug.

Current research and developments Share on Pinterest Research into a preventative HIV vaccine is ongoing. In 2012, the FDA approved the preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) preventive drug treatment plan for those at high risk of acquiring HIV. During the same year, about 54% of people eligible for HIV treatment were receiving it. Today, healthcare professionals treat an estimated 19.5 million people with antiretroviral medications. In February 2015, the CDC announced that diagnosis and proper treatment could prevent an estimated 90% of new HIV diagnoses in the U.S. In 2017, several organizations, including the CDC, endorsed the Undetectable = Untransmittable initiative, which bases its campaign on robust evidence that people who receive antiretroviral medications and have an undetectable viral load cannot pass on HIV. This education and medical response have provided hope for those living with HIV and their partners to live long, healthy lives without the risk of transmission. Researchers are also currently working toward a preventive HIV vaccine. While the FDA has yet to approve any vaccines, clinical trials are ongoing. In addition, researchers are attempting to develop therapeutic vaccines to increase a persons immune response if they contract HIV. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an estimated 30,000 people worldwide have participated in studies for preventive HIV vaccines. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force published updated guidelines in 2019 regarding PrEP for the prevention of HIV in people without the virus. Doctors only consider PrEP for people who have recently received a negative HIV test result. The FDA have approved only one formulation of PrEP. This formulation is a combination of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and emtricitabine that people can take once a day if they have a high risk of contracting HIV. It is suitable for adults and adolescents who have a high risk of HIV and weigh over 35 kilograms. No trials have taken place to study the effects of this formulation on pregnant people. However, the FDA advise that people can use it during pregnancy if they discuss it with a doctor first.Have you ever heard about an ailment called APS? Don't think you have? Well, chances are that whether you are acquainted with it or not, you must have suffered through it, at some point in time in your life. Or at least that is what Dr. Ritesh Malik's diagnosis of an average Indian says.

Not sure about what APS is and where you stand on this diagnosis? Fret not, allow us to elucidate. According to Dr. Malik, APS stands for Asian Parents Syndrome. That is, the common ailment that plagues our nation as a collective, wherein parents decide what their children are going to be in life and do to earn a livelihood.

 MensXP

Now, as per this APS diagnosis, perhaps it is safe to say that at least 80 percent of young adults in every generation have suffered from it. So did Dr. Malik, who ended up taking his medical degree from Dr. M.G.R Medical University in Tamil Nadu because his parents wanted him to be one. As simple as that.

However, Ritesh's true calling lay in entrepreneurship and that is why even though Ritesh got his medical degree in 2013, he spent most of those semesters studying not medicine, but rather Marketing Science 101 at London School of Economics!

It was in 2012, during his final year when Ritesh fathered his first startup called Adstuck and went to sell its flagship product ALIVE to Bennett and Coleman. Post this came another high, when Ritesh was granted admission in Harvard University to pursue their 'Management of Innovation & Technology' course.

 MensXP

Not only this, the same year Ritesh also founded 'Guerilla Ventures' - an angel fund that focused on hardware companies. Though a certified doctor by this point, Ritesh did not give up on his heart's truest desire - to innovate and create for the larger good.

The list is long, and there have been lot more projects that he has looked into, and even more lives that he has touched since. An active collaborator with the Indian government's 'Startup India, Standup India' initiative, Ritesh has been contributing to build college entrepreneurship ecosystem across the country.

Come November 2015 when Ritesh decided to take yet another plunge, and went on to launch one of India's coolest coworking space 'Innov8' in the heart of New Delhi - Connaught Place. Innov8 was launched with an aim to encourage product-based startups to be a part of the ecosystem and encourage indigenous productions in the country.

 MensXP

As Ritesh likes to calls it, Innov8 is a business networking platform that connects people to build a community, and helps them to create the best quality products while outsourcing all other nitty-gritties to be taken care of by the Innov8 team.

Today, Ritesh's vision and belief has led to massive expansions that is going to give flight to thousands of dreams by providing other future talents to interact, learn and collaborate, in order to produce the greatest products.

However, when it to investing, Hitesh follows the mantra that one must always invest in the people. But when choosing his investment options, he turned to Kochi's startup village which has 10 funded startups, out of which nine are belongs to Ritesh and his team.

 MensXP

That's how multifaceted the growth has been under Ritesh's aegis, who has a simple yet effective advice for all budding entrepreneurs - celebrating failures because only that helps to create valuable products, that not only last but also fetch the results one is eyeing.

Learn more about Forbes '30 Under 30' 2016 Dr. Ritesh Malik's rollercoaster journey, as the polymath walks from being a doctor to a full-time entrepreneur and investor, who is launching a thousand possibilities to realise our dreams through his fine moves.

Ritesh Malik has been nominated in the category of 'Brand Experience Icon of Newhood' in Times Prime presents MensXP 'Icons of Newhood', to be held on 4th May 2019, at The Lalit, New Delhi.Law and order are there to keep us in check, to make sure that we live in a civilised way without harming others. However, at times, there are certain rules which the government implement on us which can't be explained rationally. You are just supposed to keep your head down and follow it without raising a question. Following are 5 such things which are banned in one part of the world or the other and we can't figure out why:

1. Wikipedia

 Wikipedia

Yep! You read it right. Turkey banned the website which is (or at least used to be) a go-to place for students when it comes to assignments. The government decided to block the access to Wikipedia in 2017 citing the reason that it is for the protection of the public. Who knew Wikipedia is harmful to human beings?

Although people are smart. They have created a website which is an identical copy of Wikipedia (with a different name, of course) and use it for information sharing purpose. Where there is a willyou know the rest!

2. Taxi

 Zimbabwe Taxi Directory

The second 'Yep! You read it right' of the list. Zimbabwe once banned people from working as taxi drivers and commute servicers. I'm sure there's no logical way this can be explained but the government thought of doing it anyhow.

But again, you can't ban the will. After the ban, the people there started to drive each other for a fixed sum without making their cars a taxi. It reminds me of a quote by Harvey Spector, When you're backed against the wall, break the goddam thing down.

3. Human Rights Watch Website

Dear Egypt, not cool! Egypt banned the Human Rights Watch website in 2017, a day after an organisation released a report on the issue of torture and national security in Egypt.

Earlier they had started banning independent news website. And people think India is intolerant.

4. Facebook

 Pexels

Imagine not able to check-in at airports! On second thoughts, it would be a better world if that happens. Imagine not able to stalk your crush. That would be a bummer. That would happen if you're in Iran and China. Both the countries, for reasons known best to them, have banned Facebook.

People there use fake private network just to connect to the internet and use Facebook. Apparently, the government didn't do a thorough job.

5. Telegram

 Reuters

We don't use it anyhow but still an option to use it would always be great. But you won't get one if you're in Russia. It was believed that the ban happened when Telegram declined the government to provide personal data of users. Talk about independence!

These are the 5 bizarre things which are banned across the world but shouldn't be. If you know more such things, comment below.Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs, Giorgos Katrougalos will be in Brussels on 4 and 5 December to attend the Meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs.

During the first day of the Meeting, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs will discuss regional developments and NATO relations with Ukraine and Georgia. Subsequently, talks will follow on issues related to transatlantic relationship. At the working dinner, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs will focus on the security challenges in the South of the Alliance, with an emphasis on fighting terrorism, while NATO support to Libya will also be discussed.

On the following day, 5 December, developments in the Western Balkans will be discussed in the presence of the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-President of the Commission, F. Mogherini.

On the margins of the Meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers, the Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs will meet with NATO Secretary General, J. Stoltenberg, as well as with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Albania, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Turkey.JOURNALIST: I welcome now the Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Giorgos Katrougalos. Good morning, Minister.

G. KATROUGALOS: Good morning, and a good week to you, and your listeners.

JOURNALIST: I would like to begin with all that is happening in France, with the yellow vest protests. I would like to ask you if, in your opinion, is it time to open a serious debate in Brussels, a serious debate in Europe for the day after, and in particular in light of the austerity policies that are being pursued, not only in countries that are subject to memoranda but over the entire Eurozone? Are events in Paris a strong sign that Europe is at risk?

G. KATROUGALOS: Indeed, thats precisely how it is. And it may be the most resounding alarm bell yet, though it has not been the only one. Your question goes right to the point. In its White Paper on the Future of Europe, the European Commission itself has admitted that we are the first generation of Europeans to fear that our childrens lives will be worse than our own. And this is not a natural result of the phenomenon of globalization, because there are specific policies that can adapt national and European strategies to the real challenges of globalization.

The situation is very simple: Within the framework of austerity policies implemented in Europe, the poor become poorer and the rich become much richer. Our problem is not that the pie isnt growing. The pie is growing in countries like Germany or France, but unfortunately it is being divided in extremely unequal ways. So I think, as you have rightly suggested, that we should take what is happening in France as a resounding alarm bell.

Brexit was another similar alarm bell. A study conducted by the University of Warwick that I was reading lately assigned at least 10% of the votes in favour of withdrawal to the implementation of austerity policies, to the depopulation of the industrial regions in the North, and to the feelings of many people that they do not have a future. And this affects Europe, and it also affects each country separately.

Thats why the next European elections will be of utmost importance. Because, in reality, two worlds are colliding. Not just the world of an open Europe, that which is in favour of political rights and freedoms. On the other hand, the rival camp presents the spectacle of strange bedfellows: Nationalists who want a return to a past golden age that never existed, and, at the same time, those who want a completely neo-liberal Europe. These are indeed the policies we witness in the countries which also pursue the goal of building a Fortress Europe. This is precisely why the next elections are particularly crucial and likely to give rise to serious dilemmas.

JOURNALIST: And at the same time, in many countries, as Real News reported yesterday, it seems that they are projecting the Armys involvement in the migration problem. In other words, there are a number of European leaders, ready to copy the methods of Trump on the border with Mexico. I think this is also a worrying development for Europe.

G. KATROUGALOS: According to a great French sociologist, whenever the left hand of the State weakens, that which gives social rights, benefits and social services, it strengthens the right hand, that is, the hand of law and order. We cannot tackle the crisis in this manner. As much as it is a mistake to tackle migration by turning Europe into a fortress, it is even more a [mistake] to think that we have internal enemies and to organize our policy accordingly. There is a way out of this situation. Europe then had known a golden age of prosperity, what the French referred as the 30 glorious years, because it was able to reduce inequalities, and to build democracy alongside its social State.

JOURNALIST: Now if such outlook prevails in Europe, we will run into difficulties. I am informed that we have already been asked to take part in an exercise in Hungary. If such opinion prevails, then I imagine that military force will be used mainly in the countries that represent entry points for migrants. And Greece is the first entry point.

G. KATROUGALOS: As far as we are concerned we have totally ruled out the use of military force. That said, we too have used the Army to better organise the infrastructure on the ground.

JOURNALIST: I am not referring to this.

G. KATROUGALOS: I know. I am referring to it deliberately, to distinguish the two questions. The opinion according to which such problems can be tackled with the use of violence is entirely different, of course.

JOURNALIST: Right.

G. KATROUGALOS: Since it has become a global objective - although we Greeks havent realised it yet - let me tell you that at this time the United Nations are engaged in an effort, whose diplomatic phase is complete now, to introduce an international pact on migration. The majority of countries have supported it and we were hoping that Europe would do the same.

But after the usual countries rehashing the same objections -like Poland and Hungary- we are now beginning to see other countries, like Austria or Bulgaria, which we hadnt suspected before of following the fortress policy, backtracking from their support of the pact, whose ambition was, as I told you, to embrace all the countries of the world. This mood is palpable therefore at all levels, at the level of society, at the level of our individual selves. How many times we speak with people who tell us that the migrants must leave even at countries level. The issue at stake is therefore of great importance all the more so as it runs horizontally through our societies and the European political regimes.

JOURNALIST: Let us now review quickly where we stand as far as our national issues are concerned, and let me begin with Turkey and its stance towards the searches carried out in the Cypriot EEZ. Our neighbouring country never stops the provocations. It is raising its voice. I want to ask you how worried you are by this tactic. We are also worried about the possibility of being embroiled in a heated incident.

G. KATROUGALOS: I had the opportunity to answer a similar question from Mr. Koumoutsakos, New Democracys Spokesperson on foreign policy issues, and I gave him my opinion.

This resurgence of revisionist rhetoric by Turkey is not a sign of power. On the contrary, it is a sign of weakness because Turkey realises that on this very important front, the Republic of Cyprus has proved its ability to turn into action its sovereign rights which are recognized by International Law, whereas Turkey has failed to avert this course by creating faits accomplis.

So, I am not worried. Of course, we are monitoring with vigilance and also sobriety Turkeys movements. With the diplomatic actions we have taken - and I am not referring only to the known actions underpinning our trilateral cooperation with Egypt and Israel, and evidently our total coordination with the Republic of Cyprus. I am referring to how we have now made it clear in the European Union itself that Turkey is violating International Law when it behaves like this. And for the first time we succeeded, at the level of the European Council, of the leaders of the European Union, in issuing a very strong warning at Turkey, not to continue along the same lines. As for us, here is how we want to respond to these provocative moves: on the one hand, by sending a clear signal that sovereign rights shall be respected and implemented and, on the other, by resuming the talks. We seek a meeting between our Prime Minister and President Erdogan in Istanbul, following his invitation, providing we are also ready for it, to ensure that it is productive, and not just to strike a pose.

JOURNALIST: According to a cable of the Athens news Agency that I saw, there has been positive movement in Greek-Albanian relations. Where? Could we, for example, reach also a final agreement on the EEZ?

G. KATROUGALOS: We are quite close to resolving all our pending issues with Albania, including that of the maritime zones. The tragic death of Katsifas slowed down things, but at bottom it could not overturn the course of our talks, though it did poison the climate between the two nations. Now, what we are waiting for is the other side to confirm its commitments towards our minority. It has recently passed a law on minorities, but we want to see its implementing acts. Because our top priority is the protection of our people's rights in Albania. And if that goes ahead, I think we can really go back to our talks, even to the question of the economic zones.

JOURNALIST: Lets speak about Skopje now. Is there any progress in the process? Have we encountered new obstacles? Or do you think that everything is going well, in accordance with what was agreed and therefore within the time frame we had predicted? Do you think that by the end of February or early March the Prespa Agreement will be ready for ratification in the Greek Parliament?

G. KATROUGALOS: We recently had a four-day meeting of foreign ministers in Thessaloniki, which besides us, was attended by fYROM, Bulgaria and Albania. Let me tell you that there it clearly emerged that both sides, we and our neighbouring country, want, in a good spirit of cooperation to come to the end, of what we consider to be a mutually beneficial agreement.

And there is continuous communication to ensure that what was agreed will be included in the constitutional revision precisely as it was agreed in Prespes. I mean the constitutional revision in the neighbouring Republic.

From then on, indeed, the situation is as you said. We are waiting for the other side to complete its obligations until the end of January, so that by March at the latest, we will have also completed the ratification of the Agreement in our own Parliament.

JOURNALIST: And in May? elections?

G. KATROUGALOS: In May, indeed, we will have European and local government elections.

JOURNALIST: No, Minister, Im asking about the national elections.

G. KATROUGALOS: It is effectively my opinion. It is not merely the constitutional obligation to complete the four-year period.

JOURNALIST: In other words, it is also your political proposal.

G. KATROUGALOS: It is also my political proposal. And from what I know, at the moment, the question of national elections is not in the mind of the person who will eventually decide - I mean the Prime Minister. It is not just the fact that early elections - according to the Constitution - is an exception to which we resort in order to confront a crucial national issue. Here I believe that the national interest demands that we let the economy work, as it does, meaning at its upward pace, and not to interrupt it with a pre-electoral period that has no object. So I believe that the basic national interest of the country is also the same as ours. It is, to put it straight, the political interest. Greek people must see the fruits of their labours delivering, so that in October they can go to the polls in a different climate.

JOURNALIST: Even if in the meantime Panos Kamenos withdraws his support from the government?

G. KATROUGALOS: I think that if something of that kind happens, the Independent Greeks will appreciate it. I have a feeling, however, that in any case, not only will there be a large vote in Parliament in favour of the Prespa Agreement, but that there will also be a majority to guarantee its passing. This is my personal political impression. I do not want to argue further along these lines, because I do not have any other data to support my impression, beyond what is in the surrounding atmosphere.

JOURNALIST: Thank you very much. And good morning to you.According to the Gospel of Mathew and John, Pontius Pilate asked Jewish leaders and chief priests, What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah? The Jewish leadership together with an unruly mob of people in Jerusalem, answered, Crucify him! Again Pilate asked, Do you want me to release the king of the Jews? They shouted back, No, not him! Give us Barabbas! For religious sensitivity, permit me to skip the horror that then followed. But as Pilate put it, Jesus own people and chief priests handed him to face his gruesome demise.

But it would neither be the first nor the last. Centuries thereafter, when black Southern Africans were facing bloody extinction from a murderous and sadistic apartheid regime in South Africa, Israel supported the white supremacist regime. Israel provided expertise and technology that was central to South Africas development of its nuclear bombs. Israel supported the killing of black women and children without an iota of shame. It was therefore, not surprising in 2016 when Israel Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon openly declared support for Islamic State. Israel would go on to arm and fund IS and at least other 12 rebel groups operating in Syria. The military support, included assault rifles, machine guns, mortar launchers and transport vehicles. Despite the political and financial capital, it carries, is this the kind of company that the New Jerusalem faction really wants to keep?

The pertinent question is; should we be surprised by the alleged intimate relationship between the New Jerusalem faction and Israel security apparatus? In the light of what we know now, the answer is a definite and defiant, NO! Although the name of the faction says it all, the reality is that, as we speak, P118 million looted from National Petroleum Fund is in the hands of Israeli security firm, Dignia Systems. As how it reached there, only former Director General of Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS) and his close-knit cabal can tell. For some reason, this is the same cabal behind the New Jerusalem camp. What a coincidence! But we cannot leave our countrys fate to coincidence. We need answers.

The sad reality is that, as securocrats and state security agencies appropriated both the economic and political space, ultimately dictating the body-politic narrative, they did so with the conscious help of Israeli security apparatus. It is apparent that they could not have attained securitisation without outsourcing key national security components to middlemen and mercenaries with deep connections to the Israeli security/military-industrial complex. Under the guise of a web of joint ventures, dummy companies and middlemen, Israel continued to dictate and drive defence and security agenda in Botswana.

Israeli security establishments enjoyed special procurement dispensation with little to no competition. Israeli security firms did not only act as catalyst in the securitisation drive, but also defined and dictated our national security agenda and architecture. The DIS in particular, was heavily reliant on Israeli expertise for hardware and trade-in-services. Intrusive surveillance and monitoring paraphernalia was solely Israeli. Further to this, the opaque relationship between Israeli firm, Timor Consulting and the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) was indicative of the extent of Israeli involvement and influence on Botswanas ruling elites.

The relationship was a clear expression of Israels desire to extend her influence beyond the confines of the defence and security sector. The sad reality is that, the current Khama-Masisi fight has left the country polarised and vulnerable to third forces seeking to manipulate ethnicity and other social to blackmail us into bloodbath that will serve their interests. By the look of things, driven by self-serving agendas, the New Jerusalem camp stand ready to sacrifice the country in pursuit of illusive, idealised and eschatological New Jerusalem.HARBOR BEACH -- Although Harbor Beach lost its largest restaurant this summer, things are looking up -- particularly for those who like to eat out.

A new restaurant will open on the west end of town, and it looks to be a one-of-a-kind type of eatery.

George Abbo and his sister, Kathy, will open the new business in the building, which formerly housed the Old Port Restaurant and several others in the past decade.

Abbo feels it will be a business that will benefit Harbor Beach, Huron County, and anyone who likes southern barbecue. The new establishment, Country Cabin BBQ & Grill, is scheduled to open Tuesday, Dec. 11.

"It'll have a southern theme," Abbo said. "We'll serve seasoned sides including green beans, collard greens, turnip greens and grilled corn on the cob. Food will be homemade and fresh."

Much of the food served will be smoked, and it will be smoked at the facility. Smoked meats include ribs, steak, burgers, brisket, pulled pork, and more.

"We'll smoke our own bacon and ham," he said.

He is no newcomer to the world of restaurants and smoked foods.

"I've worked in restaurants, on and off, for years," he said. "I've cooked all my life. I love cooking. I was raised on a farm smoking food."

He went on to say he was raised in western Tennessee. Cooking and smoking came naturally in that part of the country.

Not everything will have a distinct southern flavor. They will offer a standard breakfast menu. They also will have a Friday and Saturday buffet, and they plan to serve two to three fish choices on Fridays.

The restaurant will offer specials and it will reach out to first responders when it opens. Those in the military, police departments, EMTs and firefighters will receive a 10 percent discount on their first visit. The facility will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Hours of operation will be 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. It will be open 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, and it will be closed Monday.

Prior to coming to Harbor Beach, Abbo lived in the Monroe area. Much of his life had been in the construction business. In fact, he came to Huron County to work on a construction job. It was only by accident that he and his sister decided to open this facility. He pointed out she is very versed in the restaurant business and operates several establishments in southern Michigan.

"I've been here a year and I've made a lot of friends," he said.

He went on to say he really likes the area and intends to make Harbor Beach his home.

"We're excited to be here," Kathy added. "So far, the town has been very welcoming to us."BAD AXE  Prison was the end result for a Bad Axe man who was having methamphetamine mailed to him from across the country.

Its one thing to struggle with addiction, Judge Gerald M. Prill said to Kevin M. Ranquist. Its another to continue poisoning the community by sharing this substance with others.

Ranquist, 44, was in Prills courtroom Monday to be sentenced for one count of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance.

Ranquist was arrested in June after police discovered he was receiving methamphetamine at his Bad Axe residence from California through the United States Postal Service (USPS). Ranquist sold meth on a few occasions and also used it with friends, a police report states.

Ranquist was receiving packages from California  where he once resided  on a regular basis since April 2017, according to a USPS investigators report.

Defense attorney Andrew Lockard said his client suffers from addiction, which dates back to his teen years.

My biggest regret of all of this is how it affected my family, Ranquist read from a prepared letter.

He told Prill hes found a Bible-based program that will help him get sober and off drugs.

Ive been re-baptized, he said. Maybe I messed up to help get me to this point with the Lord.

I think I could be a productive member to society, he later added, noting he received his GED diploma during a past incarceration. I dont want to sit in my cell and rot. I want to be productive.

Huron County Prosecutor Timothy J. Rutkowski told the court this wasnt Ranquists first case involving methamphetamine. Ranquist has two meth-related felonies  1999 and 2000  on his record in the state of California, Rutkowski said.

Hes perpetuating the problem, he said.

Ranquist was sentenced to five years and six months  maximum 30 years  in the states prison system. He received credit for 178 days served.UPPER THUMB  The State of Michigan recently announced an offering to help schools inspect their plumbing for lead.

Through the Michigan School Water Training Program, the state is offering to train schools how to set up a plan to test its water and collect samples for accurate tests. This is a first-time program in the state.

"Because of the concern for childrens health, Michigans Legislature provided funding to the Michigan Department of Education to partner with the Departments of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and Licensing and Regulatory Affairs to develop training and guidance materials on school water management practices and sampling for all public and registered non-public schools (with the Department of Education) in Michigan," said program coordinator Holly Gohlke of the DEQ.

Through the program, experts can help schools develop a sampling plan and plumbing assessment, show staffers how to collect a sample for investigation, and educate them on reducing the risk of lead contamination.

The DEQs initiative is to provide tools such as webinars, instructional videos and guidance materials for school personnel to promote quality school drinking water and reduce the risk of lead exposure to children.

"We also provide technical assistance and are in the process of scheduling on-site school building visits to assess the plumbing, identify drinking water fixtures, and help develop a sampling plan for the school," Gohlke said. "The focus is on schools who get their water from community water suppliers, however, schools with their own water system that are required to monitor their water for contaminants may benefit from the guidance we are providing."

Site visits to schools are free, however, the program does not pay for sample collection and laboratory analysis.

Gohlke said a total of 17 schools have reached out for the on-site visit. She said one school in the Thumb  Our Lady of Lake Huron School  is one of the 17.

Participation in the program is voluntary. Schools interested in joining can call Gohlke at 989-705-3422 or email gohlkeh@michigan.gov. The program will conclude Sept. 30, 2019.Member of Parliament for Gantsi North Noah Salakae says President Dr. Mokgweetsi Masisi and his predecessor Dr. Ian Khama should be cautioned that they are not bigger than the country.

We may not know what led to their standoff. But let us not be fooled. It is clear there was a promise. It would be more helpful if the President could give us the background so we lay the matter to its logical conclusion. It is not enough for the president to say peace has eluded them. So what?

Does the president need help or he is just saying it because Khamas adversaries have advised him to say so? If he really needs help why not furnish us with all the necessary information Pastor Jackson refers to in his prophecy. A promise is a promise, said Salakae when debating the State of the Nation Address.

He argued that if Minister Tshekedi Khama was promised the position of Vice President why not give it to him because it was a promise? He wondered why if there was a gentlemans agreement that Isaac Kgosi will stay put in his office post-Khama era, why somersault without a word?

The legislator told Parliament that he agrees with the school of thought that Khama must also understand that a secret deal gone sour is as good as failed. The long and short of it according to Salakae is that the two leaders must not hold the country to ransom because they fooled each other not Batswana. They must fully demonstrate that they are statesmen of repute who are not driven by selfishness otherwise history will judge them harshly, he said.

For a longtime we have lived a lie in Botswana Democratic Party (BDP). From inception we never had a vision of what we want to become as a nation; instead the sitting presidents personal tastes defined the national agenda, with the greatest beneficiary of this agenda turning out to be those in the foreign lands and the privileged few.

This is why I tend to differ with MP Sadique Kebonang that the reason why Batswana are not so successful is because they lack the spirit of brotherhood, or not supportive of each other. The truth is Batswana are unhappy; they have been made hopeless; they have been turned into a desperate society, good only for blankets donations, tents and diphaphatha in the midst of plenty.

He pointed out that it is not that they are not supportive of each other, but they want a new beginning and I entirely agree with them. Salakae indicated that he welcomes wholeheartedly the law on declaration of assets, and is hopeful it will curb excessive greed and crippling corruption that has become a trademark of the BDP regime for a longtime now. In my view, it is this greed that is also at the centre of the Khama-Masisi feud, he posited.MIDDLETOWN  The late educator Carole Crayton was a pioneer in her field who took a holistic approach to teaching, instilling in her students a depth of knowledge gained by her caring and comprehensive style of learning.

Crayton, of Haddam, who died in December 2017 at 75, taught for 35 of her 40-year career in Middletown, from about 1970 to 2007, with time off in between to have her children, according to her daughter Ava Crayton, a Manhattan attorney. She began her profession in the Michigan Public Schools and was named Teacher of the Year by The Detroit News.

The Farm Hill Elementary School stage will be named after Carole Crayton in the spring, with a special plaque and large portrait by her former sixth grade student, painter Patrick Ganino.

Marie Serra, a 20-year teacher at Farm Hill School who began in 1980 teaching in the districts gifted program, had the classroom next door to Crayton. She was a dear friend  gracious, kind, loving and caring woman  beautiful in every way. Just to know her was to love her, Serra said.

When Crayton taught her students about colonial America, for instance, she made sure they understood the subject matter inside and out. It was clear to me from the students who returned to visit, she was just special. When they walked into the school, I would just say, Oh, I know why, Serra said.

Her spirit will live on in my heart forever, she added.

Ganino, co-owner of Herd Restaurant in Middletown and a professional artist, called her an amazing, dynamic lady. I was a squirrelly kid, high-energy, and a little bit of a hyper, crazy kid, he said.

Crayton fostered Ganinos artistic ability at a young age by allowing him to spend hours creating a classroom calendar. One day, he was surprised to discover she had nominated him for student of the year. In my mind, I was not student of the year, but she saw that ability in kids, Ganino said. She helped me hone my passion for art, leading to my 20 plus years as an artist. That is something I will never forget, he said.

Louise Gordona was a music teacher and accompanist for the musical shows Carole Crayton helped organize. Her colleague made sure her students were schooled in the arts, and reinforced her classroom lessons through productions Gordona arranged, she said.

Betty Turro Imme, retired middle school Spanish and music teacher, also worked on musical productions with Carole Crayton at Farm Hill. She was also her sons teacher. She was a very dear, close friend  like a sister to me, Imme said.

The historical research Carole Crayton, Imme and Cordona did for those plays was so extensive, and productions so impressive, one in particular, America, Of Thee We Sing, was recognized by former President George H. W. and Barbara Bush with a thank you letter after the three sent him a video of the show.

A number of their young charges couldnt always get to rehearsals because their parents didnt have transportation or were working, so Imme and she would drive around, picking and dropping off students who lived in the Maplewood Terrace, known at the time as Long River Village.

The children were often nervous to be in front of an audience. When you put them on stage, that all went away. Some of the parents didnt get to see the performances, so we gave them a lot of attention, she added.

Les Saunders, a 35-year Middletown High School teacher, started at the district in 1971. Crayton was among the first people he met. She had a stick-to-it attitude for the students, and you can do it. She was the cheerleader that they needed, said Saunders, who had many of Craytons students after her. You could see the influence, he said.

Giving students exposure to new experiences, often those theyd otherwise not enjoy, was a hallmark of Craytons teaching style. He recalled her taking the children on field trips, and inviting speakers into the classroom to introduce them to a variety of careers.

I dont think she ever lived at home. If we had cellphones back on those days, that would have been the thing for her, because youd very rarely catch her at home. She was either in a meeting with students or fighting for students. She was pugnacious, he said.

Yvette Highsmith had Crayton as a third grade teacher in the early 1970s at Moody School. Like scores of others, she kept in touch with her beloved teacher, who attended her wedding and 40th birthday party, throughout her adult life.

She became like family to me. Mrs. Crayton was an angel, said Highsmith, who attributes her passion for writing and reading to sessions she spent inside the most unique book nook.

In the corner of Carole Craytons classroom sat Chubby Tubby  a porcelain tub with gold claw feet filled with pillows and crocheted throws. It was complete coziness. Every two years, the students would paint the exterior, she said.

When Highsmith was voted Middletown High Schools homecoming queen, her former teacher showed up in a gold Mercedes convertible to ferry her to the parade in style.

She tears up recalling the day she took the long drive to meet her mother, who, like Carole Craytons, had Alzheimers disease, to the Waters Edge nursing home. I get out of my car and who was there? Her mother was in the same facility. Our mothers were next door to each other. We both were there every day, Highsmith said.

She was my eyes and ears there when I couldnt be: She really helped me through the hardest decision I had to make in my life, she said.

She touched and inspired her students and loved helping them learn: She got them to believe in themselves. She cared deeply about her students, said her daughter.

A dedication will be held at 5 p.m. April 4 at the school, 390 Road Road. All are invited.

Donations in Craytons memory may be made to Donorschoose.org, which allows people to support teachers and their classroom programs of their choice around the country.EAST HAMPTON 

The Chatham Historical Society is organizing a tour of the Hazen Tree Farm at 166 Lake Drive, East Hampton, on Sunday, Dec. 9 at 1 p.m. It is part of its monthly Explore East Hampton History Walks program. The East Hampton Parks and Recreation will sponsor the walking tour.

Join the Hazen Family for a holiday walk in the woods on The Trail of Hope. The walk will take you along Joby Hill; hear a special Christmas story told by Kristine Hazen Haswell, the trails creator.

The trail walk will take walkers through old foundations that have been transformed into unique and magical places hidden amongst the forest. The decorations have turned the forest into a true work of art, displayed in memory of longtime East Hampton residents, Reg and Jessie Hazen.

Reginald Hazen moved to Connecticut from Vermont where his family was active in farming. He and his wife Jesse purchased the former Moses West farm in East Hampton. In 1964 he decided to begin a Christmas tree farm. The farm contains 77 acres of forests and three acres are used for growing white spruce trees.

The walk offers a wonderful and unique opportunity for new residents to learn about the history of East Hampton and for life-long residents to share their recollections and stories. Adults and children are welcome to get outdoors and enjoy nature.

Directions: From Rt. 2 take exit 13.Go west on Rt. 66 for about 2 miles. Then turn right at Staeth Rd. that becomes Lake Drive. The farm is at the corner of Lake Drive and White Birch. From East Hampton Stop & Shop go east on Rt. 66 for 1.6 mi. to Lake Dr. on left. Follow Lake Dr. for .5 mi to stop sign, Then turn left and go .1 mi. to farm on left. The tour will take approximately 1 hour. Heavy rain or snow will cancel the walk.

For further information about upcoming walks or the Chatham Historical Society, visit https:www.chathamhistoricalct.org/ or contact Marty Podskoch, coordinator of the Explore East Hampton walks at 860-267-2442, podskoch@comcast.net Also visit http://www.easthamptonrec.com/info/activities/program_details.aspx?ProgramID=27025

Clinton police, Social Services collecting toys, gifts

CLINTON  The Clinton Police Department and Clinton Social Services are holding the annual Clinton Holiday Toy Drive campaign, ongoing until Dec. 13. Unwrapped toys can be dropped off at the main lobby of Clinton Police Headquarters, 170 East Main St., Clinton; The Milone Chiropractic Center, 69 East Main St.; and Scottish Daves Pub, 24 East Main St.

As in years past, all of the toys collected will be distributed by Clinton Social Services to local families in need of some financial assistance. Children of all ages, including teenagers, are to receive a gift; for the older ones, consider a gift card or something age appropriate. They are often forgotten at Christmas time.

Flu shots offered at low cost or free

In an effort to protect the publics health and reduce the spread of the influenza (flu) virus, the Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) is teaming up once again with local health departments to provide free/low cost flu vaccine at several locations across the state on Saturday, December 1st and Saturday, December 8th. DPH strongly encourages all Connecticut residents over the age of 6 months to get a flu shot.

While we do not yet know how severe this flu season will be, last years was the worst flu season in many, many years. Last season, we had over 14,000 people test positive for flu, more than 3,800 individuals hospitalized due to flu, and more than 180 deaths associated with the flu, said DPH Commissioner Dr. Raul Pino. The best protection against the flu is to get vaccinated. I strongly encourage all residents to get a flu shot, if they havent already - now is the perfect time.

The full schedule and locations of Flu Clinics on both Saturday, December 1st and 8th can be found on the DPH website (https://portal.ct.gov/FluVaxDay2018) and on social media.

Adult vaccine will be provided at no cost to those without insurance. Residents with insurance should bring their card and will be charged a small administrative fee, but will not be charged out of pocket for the vaccine.

State health officials say flu activity in Connecticut continues to increase. As of November 24, 2018, 151 people have tested positive for the flu so far this season, and 55 have been hospitalized with the illness. There has also been one flu-related death so far this season. For the most recent information about influenza activity in Connecticut, please see the DPH weekly influenza update.

Influenza is a contagious respiratory illness that is spread through the air and by direct contact with respiratory droplets. Typical symptoms of the flu include sudden fever, aching muscles, sore throat, coughing, runny nose, headache, and eye pain. While anyone, particularly individuals who are not vaccinated, can contract the flu, the illness is especially dangerous for certain groups, including: people aged 65 and older; children younger than 2 years old; people of any age with chronic medical conditions, like asthma, diabetes, congestive heart failure, or lung disease; and pregnant women.

Man of the Year Nominations sought

CROMWELL  The Knights of Columbus, DeSoto Council 6 in Cromwell announced that nominations forms for the 2019 Man of the Year Award are now available.

This award is given annually by the Knights of Columbus to a Cromwell man who displays the highest level of commitment to the Cromwell Community.

The applications must contain information on the candidate's civic involvement, member organizations, impact on the community, leadership, and other reasons that make him worthy of this honor.

Applications may be obtained at the Town Hall Lobby, Belden Library, or the Knights of Columbus website - www.cromwellkofc.com, or by contacting Tom Tokarz at 860-250-5991 or Mark Walsh at 860-306-2219.

Completed applications may be sent to the Knights of Columbus, 573 Main St., Cromwell, CT, or emailed to the Knights of Columbus at cromwellkofc@yahoo.com. Deadline for applications is Dec. 14.WASHINGTON - The body of former President George H.W. Bush arrived at the U.S. Capitol on Monday afternoon to begin several days of Washington tributes with all the solemn ceremony befitting a nation's late leader.

The president's cortege, in a flight of gleaming black limousines, arrived on a fading autumn day at the traditional site of public leave-taking after a journey from Houston, where Bush died Friday at the age of 94.

As the sky grew pink and the U.S. Army Band played hymns, an eight-man military team of bearers carried the casket up the long flight of stairs at the eastern front of the Capitol.

The crash of an artillery salute echoed over the grounds.

Inside, the casket was placed on the same pine board catafalque, covered in black fabric, that held the coffin of Abraham Lincoln after he was assassinated in 1865.

One hundred eighty feet above, in the "eye" of the Rotunda, was the 1851 fresco depicting the exaltation of the nation's first president, George Washington.

Scores of dignitaries and legislators were gathered and were unanimous in their praise. Among them was Vice President Mike Pence.

"President Bush was a great leader who made a great difference in the life of this nation," he said. "But he was also just a good man, who was devoted to his wife, his family and his friends."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called Bush a hero and "a steady hand."

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrived about 8:30 p.m., long after the ceremony. They bowed their heads in silent meditation before the president saluted and the two left.

Amid the speeches and the pomp, George W. Bush, a former president and one of George H.W. Bush's sons, looked haggard with grief.

The late president's casket and his family had arrived at Joint Base Andrews on the jet that usually carries Trump. It landed at the base in suburban Maryland about 3:20 p.m.

The plane arrived under a blue sky and rolled down an empty runway. When it came to a stop, a blue truck bearing the presidential seal pulled up to remove the casket from the aircraft.

As an Air Force band played a hymn, and a blue Air Force flag flew at half-staff, the president's casket was placed in a black hearse, which left for the Capitol at 4 p.m.

Outside the base, bystanders with cellphones and cameras took their positions as police asked them to move back off the sidewalk, to keep the Secret Service from getting nervous.

At the Admiral Place apartment complex across the street, neighbors went to their balconies as the breeze blew briskly and the sun started sinking.

Nearby, Bryan Ingram waited.

Ingram, 35, has been here for the funerals of Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford, as well as Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.

"It's a final tribute," he said. "It's a way to pay my respects to a fallen statesman. . . . He brought dignity to the office of president. That's not something we have today."

Nearby, Deborah Gwaltney, a retiree and Upper Marlboro, Maryland, resident, sat in her car waiting for the motorcade. "They don't make men like that anymore," she said. "Men of his caliber."

Elsewhere outside the base, a woman held a sign echoing George H.W. Bush's last words to George W. Bush: "We love you too, Mr. President."

As the motorcade passed, she said quietly, "There he is."

Sherdette Daniels, 55, of Fort Washington, Maryland, saluted the motorcade as it left the base.

"Yes! Yes!" she said as former first lady Laura Bush and her daughter Jenna Bush Hager waved from one of the SUVs.

"This is awesome! That's it! Woo! Amen, amen," Daniels said. She then turned to a woman standing beside her who had her hand on her chest. The strangers hugged.

"I thought I was going to cry," the older woman said.

As the motorcade swept up Constitution Avenue, Sherry Smith, 45, a probation officer who lives in Dallas, stood on the sidewalk outside the Capitol and placed her hand across her heart.

"I don't know why I did it," Smith said seconds after the motorcade passed. "It was automatic. . . . It's a solemn feeling. . . . He was a war hero. He spent his whole life protecting our country."

On the west side of the Capitol, as the artillery salute boomed near the memorial to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, 9-year-old Sebastian Cabrera Zuniga became alarmed.

"That's loud!" he shouted, his hands covering his ears. "Daddy, are they destroying anything?"

His father, Nick Pasqualicchio, 58, from New Jersey, told his son, "No, they just make a lot of noise."

Earlier in Houston, another band played the haunting "Eternal Father, Strong to Save," known as the Navy hymn, and smoke from an artillery salute blew across the airport tarmac as the late president began his final journey to Washington.

As wind blew the ceremonial flags and the bearers struggled to hold them upright, the body of the former president arrived at Houston's Ellington Field, where it was placed aboard the presidential jet for the trip to Joint Base Andrews.

The band played ruffles and flourishes and "Hail to the Chief," and George W. and Laura Bush led the family aboard the blue and white jumbo jet.

The public viewing in the Rotunda will continue Tuesday and will end at 7 a.m. Wednesday.

An hour before the 7:30 p.m. start of the public viewing Monday, a few hundred people already had lined up outside the Capitol.

"It's historical," said Terry Davidson, who works for the Small Business Administration. "We are from Texas. President Bush was from Texas. We thought it was a great opportunity to pay respects to a man we admired because of his patriotism, his courage and leadership."

Across the street, Alex Roberts, 22, a flight attendant, and his friend Rasheed Evelyn, 22, a student at George Washington University, looked up at the Capitol dome.

"It's really amazing to show this honor to a former American president," Roberts said. "It really is an end of an era for someone who held the office with dignity. My politics differ from him, but I respect his service to the country. He was an American icon."

The line moved steadily throughout the night, with a brief slowdown when Trump arrived.

Webb Jay IV, 37, of Destrehan, Louisiana, had arrived in the District earlier Monday for a conference and thought he would stop by to pay tribute to a former president. Jay, who described himself as a lifelong Republican, remarked on the unique opportunity.

"It's not very often you have the opportunity to pay your final respect to a president," said Jay, a real estate broker. "I looked at it as an opportunity to participate in something that very few individuals get to do."

The last president to lie in state in the Rotunda before Bush was Ford, from Dec. 30, 2006, to Jan. 2, 2007. The last public figure to lie in state there was the late senator John McCain on Aug. 31, according to the Senate Historical Office.

The U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony, originally set for Wednesday, was rescheduled to 5 p.m. Thursday.

A funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday at Washington National Cathedral, as the Bush family requested.

After a departure ceremony at 10 a.m. at the Capitol, the former president's body will be taken to the cathedral via a motorcade that will move along streets including Constitution Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue, Massachusetts Avenue and Wisconsin Avenue.

The state funeral - based on the burial rite in the Episcopal Church's Book of Common Prayer - will be led by the Rev. Michael Curry, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, the cathedral said.

Also participating will be the Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Episcopal Bishop of Washington; the Rev. Randy Hollerith, dean of Washington National Cathedral; and the Rev. Russell Levenson Jr., rector of St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston.

Bush is to be eulogized by his son George W. Bush, as well as former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney, former senator Alan Simpson and historian Jon Meacham, according to CNN.

The cathedral also hosted the state funerals of Ford in 2007, Reagan in 2004 and Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1969.

The cathedral hosted the official burial service for Woodrow Wilson in 1924.

---

The Washington Post's Mike DeBonis, Paul Kane, Jenna Portnoy, Faiz Siddiqui and Clarence Williams in Washington and Brittney Martin in Houston contributed to this report.

---

Video Embed Code

Video: Host Libby Casey and Washington Post reporters provide live coverage and analysis as George H.W. Bush's casket journey's to the U.S. Capitol, where the public may pay their respects to the 41st president of the United States.(The Washington Post)

Embed code:Suspended Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) Mogoditshane Parliamentary candidate Tshepang Mabailas appeal has been dismissed. It is alleged Mabailas undoing was when he offered to broker peace between the current and former president.

Mabaila was suspended for five years for bringing the name of the party into disrepute and sponsoring a motion of no confidence against President Dr. Mokgweetsi Masisi. The motion was tabled by Leader of Opposition Advocate Duma Boko. Mabaila then appealed the decision to President Dr. Mokgweetsi Masisi. Last week Friday, Mabailas appeal to the president was dismissed. According to sources within the BDP Mabailas appeal was dismissed following media reports that he would avail himself to resolve the standoff between Dr. Masisi and his predecessor Dr. Ian Khama.

His utterances are said to have upset President Masisi who felt the youthful Mabaila is jumping the gun and wants to get involved in matters way beyond him. The president is said to have disclosed to his close associates that Mabaila is too forward.

However, in an interview with Botswana Guardian this week, Mabaila dismissed the claim indicating that the president dismissed his appeal because of someone within the BDP who always mislead the president. According to Mabaila he is confident that had Dr. Masisi not been influenced to make such decision he would have pardoned him.

There is a thorn within the BDP who is dividing the party. This person influenced the first decision for my suspension and the dismissal of my appeal. I believe the president given chance and space would have come up with a different decision, said Mabaila who indicated that he has not yet given up on the President and would soon write to him requesting that his appeal be looked into again.

Mabaila stated that he was surprised to learn that his appeal has been dismissed by people from Mogoditshane. He said he has not received the letter dismissing his appeal. I was shocked to hear that the party Secretary General Mpho Balopi had delivered the letter to the BDP Mogoditshane Branch Committee before me as the affected party. Even today (Tuesday) I have not received my letter but Kweneng East Regional Secretary called me and said they had my letter.

I believe Balopi as my elder, leader and Parliamentary candidate like me could have called me to deliver the news to me, he said. Mabaila of Mabaila Foundation revealed that should he not be successful in being reinstated he would still contest in the 2019 general elections. He explained that all he wants to do is to represent in Parliament the people of Mogoditshane adding that he would win convincingly.

Mabaila has maintained that he believes like any other Motswana and BDP youth that he can help resolve the standoff between the two leaders. Look I am close to former president and I have great respect for the current president. I am a concerned youth and member of the BDP I believe I can talk to both leaders to find a common ground for the sake of the BDP and the country. If given a chance I can get to both of them because Masisi due to his leadership he is accessible and is always willing to listen, said Mabaila.

If Mabaila fails in his second attempt, BDP Mogoditshane would be expected to go for primary elections next month.Vice President Mike Pence recalled Monday how he asked a last favor from an ailing George H.W. Bush in August on behalf of his son, Marine 1st Lt. Michael Pence -- never expecting that the former president would be able to comply.

The young Pence had just made his first tailhook carrier landing on the aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush, earning his wings as a Marine pilot. Could the former president please autograph a photo for his son?

Pence said Bush's staff replied that he was no longer signing autographs, so he thought that was the end of it. But within a week, a handwritten letter and a signed photo from Bush arrived.

"Congratulations on receiving your wings of gold," Bush wrote to Pence's son. "Though we have not met, I wish you many days of CAVU ahead" -- a reference to the Navy acronym meaning "Ceiling and Visibility Unlimited" that he adopted as his motto in public service.

Pence told the story upon the arrival of Bush's casket at the Capitol as an example of the former president's basic decency and humility. Even in death, Bush performed another public service in the form of a brief respite from the partisan infighting and mudslinging of the warring factions of the White House and Congress.

As Bush's flag-draped casket was borne to the Capitol's Rotunda to lie in state, President Donald Trump and Congress were nearing a tentative agreement to put off a battle on the budget and the funding of the border wall -- at least until next week -- that could have led to a partial government shutdown Friday.

The House and Senate also postponed what would have been a contentious series of hearings on veterans and military issues.

In their remarks in the Rotunda, Congressional leaders and Pence made clear that the usual partisanship would have been unseemly while paying tribute to the 41st president, known for his inability to bear a grudge.

As James Baker, Bush's secretary of state and chief of staff, has often said, Bush got to be president by "being nice to people."

A siren-blaring cortege led the hearse bearing Bush's casket down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol on a crisp and clear Monday evening in Washington, D.C., with enough breeze to give a steady ripple to the flags at half-staff in mourning.

At the East Front of the Capitol, honor units from all the services snapped to attention and then to "Present Arms" as military bearers took the casket from the hearse and then up the steps of the East Front to the Rotunda.

Ceremonial cannon boomed a 21-gun salute, and a military band played "Hail to the Chief" in a somber rhythm.

At the top of the steps, former President George W. Bush, the corners of his mouth sharply downturned, waited with former first lady Laura Bush, their hands on their hearts.

Also waiting was the rest of the late president's immediate family -- his children, including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Neil, Marvin and Doro; and the Bush grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

The military bearers placed Bush's flag-draped casket with great care on the catafalque that once bore the body of Abraham Lincoln.

In folding chairs arranged around the casket sat the Joint Chiefs, the justices of the Supreme Court, and members of the House and Senate, along with former Cabinet members who served under the late president, including former Vice President Dick Cheney.

In his invocation, Rev. Patrick Conroy, chaplain of the House, gave thanks to God for granting the blessing of Bush's "example of service to all Americans, indeed to all the world."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, said that honoring Bush had brought Congress together "on democracy's front porch" in the Rotunda, "a good place to talk as neighbors and friends."

"Here lies a great man," said House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin. He called Bush "a great leader and a good man, a gentle soul of firm resolve. His memory will belong to glory."

Trump and first lady Melania Trump did not attend the arrival of Bush's casket but were expected to pay their respects later Monday evening.

Bush will lie in state at the Capitol until Wednesday morning, when a funeral will be held at Washington National Cathedral. His casket will then return to Houston for interment.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.FORT MEADE, Maryland -- It's the summer of 1968 in Vietnam, a sergeant with Company K, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines was forced into a position he never could have imagined. He had to lead his entire company through a deadly enemy ambush after the company commander, platoon commander and senior enlisted leadership were wounded in the fight.

These were the circumstances of Retired Marine 1st Sgt. John J. Lord, over half a century ago, during the Vietnam War.

Lord was awarded the Navy Cross, the nation's second highest award for combat bravery, during a ceremony at the Marine Corps Birthday Ball celebration in Vancouver, Washington on November 17. The Navy Cross award was an upgrade from a Bronze Star that Lord received in 1975, seven years after he put himself in the crosshairs of the North Vietnamese Army when rescuing his fellow Marines who were wounded.

Lord took over command of the entire company and located one of the only working radios and then started directing air support against the enemy.

The day immediately following the battle, now Retired Lt. Col. Michael Sweeney began pushing for Lord to be awarded the Navy Cross for his heroism and valor during the fight. Even after the Bronze Star was awarded, Sweeney continued to push for the Navy Cross. Finally, forty-three years later, Sweeney's efforts bore fruit.

According to his citation, Lord's actions helped turned the tide of the battle. However, he always stayed true to his men and their efforts during the fight.

"Everything on that citation is true except one thing they left off," Lord said. "They left off the Marines who served with me that day."

Four of his fellow unit members were in attendance the night of the ceremony, and stood at Lord's behest to receive a standing ovation from all who were in attendance just like they did for Lord just moments prior.

Lord proclaimed how honored he was to serve with these Marines and how important they are to the mission.

"I can only stand here and say how proud I am to have served with you Marines -- and corpsman, I won't forget you too," Lord said. "I am honored to call you brothers in arms."MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- The Marine Corps is investigating an Iwakuni-based Marine's sudden death last week, a spokesman for the service told Stars and Stripes on Monday.

Gunnery Sgt. Efrain Martinez Jr., 34, of Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 152, died in his home on base Nov. 26, said Staff Sgt. Vitaliy Rusavskiy of Marine Aircraft Group 12 at Iwakuni.

Martinez was a KC-130 mechanic who served two tours in Operation Iraqi Freedom and one tour in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He joined the Marines in 2002 and was a drill instructor from 2013 to 2016.

"VMGR-152 is deeply saddened by Gunnery Sgt. Martinez' passing," said Lt. Col. Mitchell T. Maury, the commander of VMGR-152, in a statement Monday. "He was a Marines' Marine, and his legacy will carry on for years to come. The entire squadron mourns his loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and the multitude of Marines he has positively impacted throughout his career."

A memorial service was held Wednesday in his honor.

He is survived by his wife and four children.

Martinez's decorations included a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal and four Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals.The nominee to lead U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) told lawmakers Tuesday that the unrelenting pace of operations may force the elite organization to pass some missions off to conventional combat units.

Army Lt. Gen. Richard Clarke, testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee as part of his nomination process to assume command of SOCOM, said he believes it has an "adequate" number of personnel but needs to avoid taking on missions that conventional forces are capable of handling.

"Special Operations Command should only do those missions that are suited for Special Operations Command, and those missions that can be adjusted to conventional forces should go to those conventional forces," he said.

Currently, special operations forces are responsible for conducting U.S. counter-terrorism missions in Afghanistan and elsewhere and handling missions such as combating weapons of mass destruction.

The elite, multi-service SOCOM, made up of about 70,000 service members, also is slated to play a significant role in the Pentagon's new defense strategy, which focuses on near-peer adversaries such as Russia and China.

Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, asked Clarke whether there is a clear delineation within the Defense Department between SOCOM and conventional missions.

Clarke said Defense Secretary Jim Mattis "has been very clear ... that SOCOM should be specific to SOCOM missions, so I don't think there is any issue of delineation within the Department of Defense with that."

Hirono then asked whether the U.S. military needs to do a better job adhering to the policy of assigning SOCOM-specific and conventional missions.

"The publishing of the National Defense Strategy and relooking at the prioritization of the force has given us a very good opportunity to relook at all of our deployments, look where the forces are and make sure that SOCOM forces are, in fact, dedicated to the missions that are most important and are specific to special operations forces," Clarke said.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, said recent proposals to leave SOCOM out of the proposed 5 percent cut to the DoD's budget would not guarantee that the command would not suffer.

"At a time of tight budgets, when some in the administration are already talking about cutting 5 percent from the Department of Defense budget, many people say, 'But that's OK, because since the Special Operations Command is bearing so much of the fight, it will be fully funded,' " he said. "Can you talk about your dependence on the rest of the conventional military and how our special operations forces fight with them, and why stable, predictable and increasing funding for those conventional forces is so important for Special Operations Command?"

Clarke replied that SOCOM relies heavily on conventional forces from every branch of service.

"Especially for longer-term operations, we need the support of the services," he said. "  Special Operations Command is made up of the services. Much of the recruitment, much of the force, is actually started in the conventional force and actually came up through the ranks, and they were identified as some of the best of breed in that particular service in which they served, and they raised their hand and volunteered for special operations."

The Army's conventional forces have taken responsibility for training and advising conventional forces, standing up six Security Force Assistance Brigades to help establish, instruct and enable conventional forces in countries like Afghanistan and elsewhere.

In the past, the mission to train foreign militaries fell to Army Special Forces. Special Forces units now focus on training foreign commando units.

-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.comChina's Sub Force Is Growing More Powerful. This Is What the US Navy Needs to Do to Stay AheadWhen former Army Cpl. Chris Stout saw his fellow veterans struggling with homelessness, he set out to solve the problem by going small -- really small. Tiny, even.

On Veterans Day, 2015, Stout and three other combat vets started the Veterans Community Project (VCP), a non-profit that builds communities of tiny homes, providing a host of services for veterans.

During a 2005 combat tour in Afghanistan Stout was wounded and transitioned back to Kansas City, Missouri. Like many wounded warriors, he struggled with physical and mental injuries. He knew that he felt better when in the company of other veterans and, for a short time, worked as a veteran counselor connecting vets to services they needed. But it wasn't enough.

"I often would use my own money to put up vets in a hotel room," Stout said. "I felt like there must be better way to get vets the services they needed, as well as housing."

With its focus first on the great Kansas City, Missouri area, VCP wants to use the region as the blueprint for achieving similar successes in cities across the United States. Long term, they aspire to eliminate veteran homelessness nationwide.

Volunteers help with the finishing touches on tiny homes in the Veterans Community Project village.

"We are the place that says 'yes' first and figures everything else out later," Stout said. "We serve anybody who's ever raised their hand to defend our Constitution."

Homelessness is one of the major contributors to the high suicide rate of veterans, he said. According to the latest 2016 Department of Veterans Affairs study, that rate is 22 per day among younger veterans aged 18 to 34.

In the VCP program, veterans get more than just a home; they get a community of like-minded veterans supporting each other.

"It's very much like the barracks lifestyle, except that each veteran has their own home," Stout said. "They're taking care of each other. We also have a community center for them to gather and share camaraderie."

The founders of VCP say on their website they are a team of "connectors, feelers, and doers on a mission to help our kin, our kind. We move with swift, bold action, and will always serve with compassion."

Stout and his partners use their military logistics prowess to ensure that their housing communities are located along convenient bus lines and provide every veteran a free bus pass to allow easy transportation.

"We like to have them say, 'What do you provide?' That way we can ask them, 'What do you need?' And then we can start being the connectors," Stout said. "At least 60 percent of the people that we serve, we're serving them because of a poor transition from the military."

And it's thanks, in part, to his work with that community that he's accumulated a wealth of good advice on how to survive the transition from the military into the civilian world.

To create a personalized transition plan for yourself, and for transition guides and checklists, visit the Military.com Transition Center.

The Next Step: Find the Right Veteran Job

Whether you want to polish up your resume, find veteran job fairs in your area, or connect with employers looking to hire veterans, Military.com can help. Sign up for a free Military.com membership to have job postings, guides and advice, and more delivered directly to your inbox.UAW officially filed its "formal objection" to General Motors announcing plans to close plants in Michigan, Ohio and Maryland with new statements from its president and vice president on Monday, Dec. 3.

In all, the Detroit-based automaker plans to close the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Plant, Lordstown Assembly Plant in Warren, Ohio and Oshawa Assembly plant in Ontario, and two propulsion plants in Michigan and Maryland by the end of 2019.

"We have been clear that the UAW will leave no stone unturned and use any and all resources available to us regarding the future of these plants. Today, we wrote to GM formally objecting to its unilateral decision regarding four U.S. manufacturing facilities," UAW President Gary Jones said in a statement.

"There are issues related to this and to collective bargaining that we cannot discuss in detail at this point. But UAW members across this country are committed to using every means available to us on behalf of our brothers and sisters at Lordstown, Hamtramck, Baltimore and Warren, MI. UAW members and U.S. taxpayers invested in GM during their darkest days. Now it is time for them to invest in us!"

The automaker says that the closure of these plants will increase its cash flow by $6 billion by the end of 2020. The Associated Press reports the move will see 14,700 employees laid off, including 8,100 salaried, white-collar workers.

Last week in the aftermath of the announcement, UAW called GM's decision a "callous" one that was "profoundly damaging to our American workforce." In his statement at the time, Terry Dittes, UAW vice president and director of the GM department, said GM's "decisions are a slap in the face to the memory and recall of that historical American made bailout."

"This issue impacting our members, their families, the communities and all of America is much more complicated due to the known fact that GM is a major importer of their brands from China, Canada and Mexico that are sold in the United States," Dittes said in his most recent statement on Monday.

"Versions of the Chevy Cruze and Impala are assembled in Mexico and Canada respectively and imported to the U.S. and those two vehicles are also assembled at Lordstown Ohio and Detroit Hamtramck Plant here in the USA."

President Donald Trump has echoed UAW's statements in expressing his disappointment in the stateside cutback in light of the government bailout. Before threatening to cut all subsidies to GM, Trump warned that the automaker was "playing around with the wrong person."

Most recently the president said what the Detroit-based automaker is doing is "very counter to what other auto, and other companies are doing."

Mary Barra, the automaker's CEO and chairman, said that these measures will continue GM's transformation into a "highly agile, resilient and profitable" company with some needed investment flexibility. Also as part of the cuts, GM will also cease production of the Chevrolet Impala, Volt and Cruze, and is also thought to be eyeing the Cadillac XTS, CT6 and Buick LaCrosse for the chopping block.

"GM is committed to maintaining a strong manufacturing presence in the U.S., as evidenced by our more than $22 billion investments in U.S. operations since 2009. Yesterday's announcements support our ability to invest for future growth and position the company for long-term success and maintain and grow American jobs," the automaker said in its own statement touting its commitment to the U.S. and Midwest.

"Many of the U.S. workers impacted by these actions will have the opportunity to shift to other GM plants where we will need more employees to support growth in trucks, crossovers and SUVs. GM's transformation also includes adding technical and engineering jobs to support the future of mobility, such as new jobs in electrification and autonomous vehicles."BURBANK, CA -- Elizabeth Goss finished with an astounding $28,199 during her second appearance on "Jeopardy" which aired Monday night. On most days, her total would have been enough to run away with a victory.

However, one of her opponents -- Dave Leffler, a retired police officer from Pittsburgh -- was just a little bit better, besting the housewife from Pleasant Ridge, Mich. to finish with $33,800.

Goss, the defending champion, appeared to be well on her way to victory after she wagered $4,000 on the first daily double of the double Jeopardy round. She answered the question correctly to increase her total to $14,200, giving her a huge lead with only a few categories remaining.

However, Leffler stormed back taking all five questions in a category about movies and increasing his total by $6,000 and closing the gap. He finished strong and was ahead of Goss by $600 entering final Jeopardy thanks to Goss incorrectly answering a question worth $1,600.

The final category was American Business and featured this clue: "Last name of John, Daniel, Elisha & Edward, whose firm turned 200 in 2018 & has dressed 40 U.S. Presidents"

Goss entered the final round with a total of $16,600. She correctly answered "Brooks" and wagered $11,599. Sadly for Goss, Leffler also answered correctly and wagered enough to ensure his victory with a correct answer.

For finishing in second place, Goss won $2,000 to bring her two-day total to $6,799. During the interview portion of the show, Goss revealed that she had the opportunity to interview the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia while she was working on thesis paper about the interpretation of poetry.

While Goss's run on the show was short lived, another contestant from Michigan will be on the show Friday when Nick Wawrykow, a graduate from Ann Arbor will compete.As audience members clapped loudly in protest, the House Government Operations Committee quickly moved legislation that would empower lawmakers to have a say in court cases, voting 3-2 along partisan lines to move the bill to the full House floor.

If passed, House Bill 6553 would authorize both houses of the Legislature to intervene in any action commenced in any court of this state whenever the Legislature or a house of the Legislature deems such intervention necessary in order to protect any right or interest of this state, or of that body.

Currently, the legislature can request to intervene at the discretion of the judge on a case-by-case basis. HB 6553 would give the legislature a standing right to intervene in cases.

The bill is seen by critics as a way to weaken the attorney generals office, which fell out of Republican control for the first time since 2002 in November with the election of Dana Nessel.

Protesters at the committee hearing made their discontent with the legislation known almost immediately. A handful of attendees were escorted from the room, with one calling the bill un-American." Another questioned Committee Chair Lee Chatfield, R-Levering, and chanted you were wrong, we were right, now you want more oversight" as he was led out of the room by security.

Following a critical comment on the bill from Rep. Christine Greig, D-Farmington Hills, the room erupted into applause, which didnt stop even after Chatfield attempted to call the room to order. Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Charlotte, ultimately made a motion to move the bill out of committee, although the final 3-2 vote was essentially inaudible.

Bill sponsor Rep. Rob VerHeulen, R-Walker, took offense to the implication that his legislation would adversely impact the attorney generals office: Im very sensitive to the criticism that were undermining the role of the Attorney General, he said.

VerHeulen said more and more public policy issues are being challenged in courts rather than deliberated over slowly in the legislative branch. He said the legislature should be able to have a say when its rules or procedures are being challenged in the legal system, and also stressed that the legislature would not have the authority to represent the people as the Attorney General does under his bill.

This is an institutional bill designed to ensure that the legislative branch has a voice, he said. The purpose of this bill is to provide a tool for the legislature, regardless of which party controls the legislature or is serving as the attorney general, as necessary for the legislature to perform its constitutional responsibility.

Democrats on the committee disagreed. Rep. Sam Singh, D-East Lansing, questioned whether there was overreach in not letting the judiciary branch decide when it was appropriate to give the legislature standing in court cases, and Greig was concerned about the potential costs of the legislation.

How can you possibly justify setting up this parallel organization?" Greig asked VerHeulen.

Nessel opposes the proposed changes. Kelly Rossman, communications director for Nessels transition team, previously said Nessel is "deeply concerned and troubled by the hasty legislative efforts to push through a proposal that has not been properly vetted and appears to be an intentional effort on the part of some legislators to undermine the role of the states Attorney General.

To become law, the bill would need to be approved by the full House, full Senate and signed by Gov. Rick Snyder. A House spokesperson said the House would not take up the legislation Tuesday but could take it up later this week.LANSING, MI  New legislation has sprouted in lame duck session that public health advocates say would lock Michigan environmental regulators into using potentially outdated science when deciding how much cleanup a toxic contamination site requires.

The Senate Natural Resources Committee is scheduled to hear SB 1244 this week during meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday. Among other things, it would curb the states ability to consider scientific studies on the health impacts of toxic chemical exposure beyond those used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Environmental policy experts call the bill an end-run around a years-long process underway at the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to update the safety thresholds known as criteria values that regulators use to oversee cleanup at pollution sites.

The bill also appears to incorporate elements of stalled legislation meant to block Michigan from passing regulations more stringent than baseline federal standards.

Sen. Jim Stamas, R-Midland, introduced the bill Nov. 29.

It joins other lame duck bills either passed by or moving through the committee, chaired by Sen. Tom Casperson, R-Escanaba, which are intended to scale-back state or local environmental regulations related to, among other things, tree trimming and wetlands protection.

Stamas said the legislation is intended to address sticking points between the DEQ and private industry in a protracted effort to update Michigan pollution cleanup standards under Part 201 of the states Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act.

The state has, for years, been going through more than 300 toxic chemicals to update cleanup standards based on advancements in scientific understanding of the risk posed by exposure. The standards are a controlling factor in toxic cleanups that, among other things, dictate which sites are considered contaminated, how polluters tackle a cleanup, and how much work they end up doing.

The update was expected to wrap up this year, but likely will not.

Business groups like the Michigan Chemistry Council (MCC), one of many stakeholders in the cleanup criteria updates, say the lengthy process has left many parties uncertain as to the requirements and application of the generic cleanup criteria.

Over the past decade, a number of improvements to the Part 201 program have enabled increased remediation activity and growing success in moving forward with previously-contaminated sites, said John Dulmes, director of the MCC, which supports SB 1244 as a means of ensuring that this important work continues.

But environmental and public health advocates are worries that, as written, the bill forces the DEQ to rely only on toxicity data from the EPA Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) database when setting cleanup standards under Part 201.

Thats problematic because, according to James Clift, policy director at the Michigan Environmental Council who served on a DEQ advisory group that helped draft updated criteria, basically, this provision would tie Michigans hands and force DEQ to use old science when determining whether or not a standard was protective of human health.

Clift said the IRIS database has suffered from a similar problem as the DEQs Part 201 criteria  it hasnt been continually updated to reflect newer toxicity studies for older, more well-known chemicals, and it doesnt have toxicity values for some emerging contaminants like per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.

Once a contaminant has been entered into the IRIS database, sometimes they dont get back to it for decades, he said. Theres many instances in those updates where theres an IRIS number today, but the DEQ used a more recent study or science to update its numbers."

The database does not have toxicity values for PFOS or PFOA, two individual PFAS compounds for which the state developed its own groundwater criteria in January.

The DEQ used that enforceable standard to sue Wolverine World Wide in federal court. The state and two local townships are negotiating with the shoemaker  which polluted the groundwater in northern Kent County with PFAS by dumping tannery waste into unlined landfills and gravel pits  to pay for extending municipal water to contaminated areas.

Legislation critics worry the bill would nullify those state-specific standards, leaving nothing in place until the DEQ promulgated new rules  an already lengthy process made more complex by a pair of new governor-appointed review panels with the power to veto proposed DEQ rules and overturn permitting decisions.

The DEQ declined to comment on the bill.

Stamas, reached by phone Monday, said the legislation includes a process that would allow the DEQ to work with emerging contaminants not within the IRIS database, but declined to elaborate. Im not going to get into the whole bill, he said. The bill does include language directing the state to consider final minimum risk levels from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) in the absence of values in the IRIS database.

Stamas called the IRIS database the gold standard.

When asked why he introduced it in lame duck session, Stamas said hes been working on the bill for more than a year and this is when I was able to get consensus on the largest part of it.

Stamas said hes worked with a lot of stakeholders in drafting the bill, naming specifically the Legislative Service Bureau and Warner Norcross & Judd attorney Troy Cumings. The law firm represents Wolverine World Wide and Cumings lobbies for the company.

Stamas said hes open to work with all stakeholders to improve the legislation.

I think weve gone too long without updating 201, he said. I hope that by addressing key issues here we can finally bring strong policies to protect our women, children and the residents of Michigan in the future.Botswana Guardian attended the Palestine International Forum for Media and Communication (Tawasol 3) held in Istanbul, Turkey from November 17-19. Below, reporter Ernest Moloi contextualises the position adopted by African Media Group during the conference

Africa has been called upon to emphatically reject Israels request for an Observer Member status in the African Union (AU).

The Africa Media Group attending Tawasol III  the Palestine International Forum for Media and Communication held in Istanbul, Turkey from November 17-19 sounded the call. Held under the theme, Palestine Addressing the World- Tawasol 3 was attended by media personalities, prominent intellectuals and public figures from 60 countries, including the Palestinian Diaspora. A shocked and surprised African Media Group comprising media personalities from Ghana, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Sudan among others heard from Sohbab Hammad that Israel was lobbying individual AU member states to endorse her request for an observer member status in the African Union.

Hammad mentioned that already some 20 African countries have accepted the request. At the time of writing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation had not yet confirmed whether Israel has approached Botswana. The African Media Group wondered on what moral conscience these African countries were engaging Israel, considering that the decolonisation of these states came through the sacrifice and efforts of the International Community including Palestine, which is currently resisting Israels occupation.

They were dismayed that any African country would want to consort with Israel, which is renowned for violating with wanton impuntity, every thread of international law, protocols and conventions as they relate to the human rights of Palestinians, who have suffered under the yoke of Israels 70 year-old occupation. One of the panel members said it was Africas pay back time for the sacrifices that Palestine had extended Africa during her hour of need and struggle for self-determination. Indeed Africa and Palestine share the same history of settler colonisation and their solidarity should be mutual.

Since its founding in 1963, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) - now AU  has supported the Palestinian cause. This became evidently clear when Israel in 1967 occupied the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem and later in 1973 waged on Palestine.

In a show of collective protest and solidarity with Palestine, some 29 African countries broke ties with Israel at the time, culminating with many other African countries forming diplomatic alliances with the late Yasser Arafats Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO).

To date, the question of Palestine remains a standing agenda item of the Summit of the African Union according to Botswanas former Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Charles Ntwaagae. In an interview early this year, Ntwaagae told Botswana Guardian that the AU issues statements of support and solidarity with the Palestinian people at every of its Summits.

For example, at the Ordinary Session of the African Union Summit, held in Ethiopia in January 2018, the AU reiterated its support to the Palestinian position in its vision of a final solution to the conflict based on the principle of a two-State solution and the full withdrawal by Israel from the occupied Palestinian and Arab territories. We saw this form of solidarity at play during the 39th session of the Council of Human Rights in September 24, 2018 when the Ambassador of Togo delivered a statement of the African Group in the general debate relating to the item on situation of human rights in Palestine and the other Occupied Arab territories

The African Group reiterated its support for the historic struggle of the Palestinian people to realise their right to self-determination and their right to live in peace and justice, in accordance with the long-standing international consensus recognising their right to self-determination to a state. Israels military occupation of Arab territories has led to protracted conflict that has weighed and continues to weigh heavily on the livelihoods, human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people living in the occupied Palestinian and Arab territories, the Africa Group noted. It said that it is following with concern the continuation of the excessive use of force by the Israeli army against Palestinian demonstrators, causing loss of life and many injuries.

The African Group calls for an end to the occupation and blockade of the Gaza Strip, the detention and imprisonment of thousands of Palestinians and all forms of collective punishment. It emphasised the importance of the two-State solutionas a means to put an end to the suffering of the populations concerned and to ensure the peaceful coexistence of the Palestinian and Israeli peoples. The statement said that the African Group reaffirms that the Human Rights Council has an ethical and legal obligation to act effectively to protect the Palestinian people and to assume their responsibilities by taking urgent measures to remedy this situation, while striving to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms for all and everywhere in the world. As for Botswana, the country is known to use every available opportunity at the United Nations (and also at other fora such as the African Union and Commonwealth) to reiterate its unequivocal support for the Two State Solution with the Israeli and the Palestine living side by side, in peace and security.

Further the Israeli/Palestinian issue is consistently reflected in the statements Botswana delivers during the annual Sessions of the UN General Assembly. Botswanas Ambassador in Geneva Attalia Molokomme issued Botswanas position this year during the session of the Council of Human Rights in September 24, 2018. Foremost she reiterated that Botswana aligns itself with the position of the African Group. She said Botswana calls for restraint and reduction in the escalation of hostilities and violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories as well as in the use of disproportionate force and indiscriminate use of weapons that lead to the death and injury of civilians. Botswana, she said, believes that dialogue is of paramount importance in the pursuance of peace and promotion of human rights. The rights of women, children, the elderly, the right to shelter and other basic necessities such as food and shelter must be protected by all in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, said Dr. Molokomme.

Botswana also called on all parties to fully implement all United Nations Security Council resolutions on the Occupied Palestine Territories (OPT) Expounding further, Ntwaagae told Botswana Guardian that the United Nations Security Council also conducts quarterly Open Debates on the Middle East Question, with particular focus on Palestine and Botswana consistently delivers statements of support to the Two State Solution during these meetings. The delegation also lends support to Resolutions that support the humanitarian and human rights situation of the people of Palestine in different fora of the General Assembly. Botswana also always issues a Message of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, during commemoration of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People which takes place on 29 November of every year. However, on Wednesday this week it was not clear whether Botswana had crafted its statement of solidarity.

In light of the aforegoing, it was axiomatic that the Africa Media Group would be compelled to issue a communique at the end of the two-day Tawasol conference, urging African states that have endorsed Israeils request to rescind the decision if they believe in the right of other countries to self-determination. The AU was also called on to resume the wok it started at the 2001Durban Conference against racism and discrimination with specific reference to Palestine. This will affirm Africas solidarity with Palestine.

Not only this.

The conference discussed other concrete measures that could be taken against Israel such as an inernational campaign for boycott of Israel and disinvestment much similar to the campaigns that brought Apartheid in South Africa to its knees.Rawan Damen, a renowned filmmaker and media consultant shared with journalists and media personalities at the end of the conference some of the support programmes available for media organisations that can assist them to tell the Palestinian narrative in a professional, balanced and impartial way. Myths propounded by western media outlets portraying Palestinians that resist Israelis occupation of Palestine as terroristswere busted, by placing the Palestinian struggle in its proper historical context.

The media was urged to desist from the stereotypical narrative that has reduced the occupation of Palestine by Israel into a religious war between the Jews and Arab or anti-Semitism. Media representatives committed themselves to take up the cause of Truth and to bring to light the atrocities that Israel visits on Palestine as well as to expose the double starndards of the International Community, which watches with total indifference as Israel razes and demolishes Palestinians homes; kills Palestinian men and women and imprison Palestinian children.

Khaled W. Fahed, the Media Coordinator for Tadamon- which is the International Solidarity Campaign Supporting Prisoners and Detainees in the Israeli Occupation Jails  told the African Media Group that since occupation in 1967, the number of Palestinians arrested has reached one (1) million, which is a quarter of all Palestinians and constitute the biggest arrest campaign in the world.

The secretary general of Botswana National Front who also doubles as Head of Communications at Umbrella for Democratic Change, Moeti Mohwasa who is himself a seasoned journalist, also participated in the Tawadsol 3. One of the sombre moments was when a portrait of the slain and dismembered journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was billed to speak at the conference was displayed on the podium and a moment of silence observed in his honour. Khashoggis brutal death at the hands of Saudi Arabias leaership has led into an international campaign that is continuing to shine the light on the plight of Palestinians and may hopefully contribute to the demise of Israels occupation of Palestine.LANSING, MI -- The Michigan Senate was evacuated on Tuesday during its lame-duck session due to a bomb threat at a nearby post office.

Michigan State Police Sgt. Jeff Held, who stood at the scene, said there was a suspicious package at the post office, which is situated across the street from both the Capitol and the office building senators and their staff use.

Police were blocking roads along the buildings perimeter and Held said everybody was being moved away from the South end of the capitol, the centerpiece of which is the Senate chamber.

Lansing Police Department Public Information Officer Robert Merritt said two buildings in the area of Allegan and Townsend had been evacuated as of 2:15 p.m. Tuesday.

Merritt said there has been no known threats. Instead, police were responding to a suspicious package that had been left outside on the sidewalk.

It was just an odd backpack sitting by a mailbox, Merritt said.

A Lansing police dog indicated on the backpack, which means there is a possibility of something suspicious inside, according to Merritt.

The Lansing Police Department and the Michigan State Police evacuated the buildings while officers investigated. Merritt stressed it didnt mean there was anything worrisome in the backpack.

Were just being overly cautious, he said.

The Senate was in recess and both Republicans and Democrats were caucusing when the decision to vacate the Senate was made.

Michigan State Police are taking precautions regarding a credible threat in the area, said Amber McCann, spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof, R-West Olive.

She said the Senate was asked to vacate both the South end of the capitol building and the Binsfeld building where Senate offices are.

The House, situated farther away from the post office on the north end of the capitol building, was not evacuated.

Merritt later said the bag was rendered safe.

At approximately 2:20 p.m. Senate staff members were cleared to return to work after being held in a nearby building.

MLive reporter Garret Ellison contributed to this story.LANSING, MI  Attorney General Bill Schuette on Monday overturned a longstanding opinion from former Attorney General Frank Kelley, giving the legislature the green light to amend the paid sick time and minimum wage petitions in the same session they were adopted.

The change, which was made public Tuesday, come after Mark Brewer, an attorney representing the groups that collected signatures for the paid sick time and minimum wage initiatives, pointed to a 1964 opinion from former Attorney General Frank Kelley. In it, Kelly opined that after adopting a legislative initiative the legislature could amend it at a subsequent legislative session, not in the same session they adopted it during.

Amending it in the same session would result in a violation of the constitution, opined Kelley.

But Attorney General Bill Schuette came out with a new opinion reversing that interpretation on Tuesday.

In his opinion, Schuette wrote ... there is no exception or limitation in article 2,  9, in article 4, or in any other section of the Michigan Constitution that restricts the Legislatures ability to amend a legislatively enacted initiated law during the same legislative session in which the Legislature enacted the law.

A spokesperson for Schuette declined to comment further, saying the opinion spoke for itself.

Brewer decried it as a parting political gift from Schuette to Republicans in the legislature.

This is just yet another political act by Bill Schuette as he walks out the door, and it should be viewed in that context, Brewer said.

The opinion was requested by Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof, R-West Olive. His spokeswoman Amber McCann said Meekhof is confident he can treat the initiative like any other legislation and amend it, regardless of timing.

Senator Meekhof requested the opinion just to have an additional party weigh in on any concerns that have been raised about our ability to adopt and amend in the same session, McCann said.

Gideon DAssandro, spokesperson for House Speaker Tom Leonard, R-DeWitt, said he received the Attorney General opinion favorably.

The speaker obviously agrees with the decision, as it mirrors his understanding of the law, which hes shared for a while now, DAssandro said.

Democrats on the House Michigan Competitiveness Committee got the opinion at the meeting where they voted on amending the paid sick time and minimum wage laws, said committee member Rep. Abdullah Hammoud, D-Dearborn.

Bill Schuettes opinion came on our desk during this committee. That was not given to us beforehand and I find it ironic that it just happens to show up today, Hammoud said.

The legislation to change the paid sick time and minimum wage proposals passed committee on a party-line vote with Republicans voting for it and Democrats voting against it.

Brewer was critical of the timing of the opinion falling during lame duck.

Schuette is doing his part along with the Republican Legislature to turn Michigan into a banana republic, said Brewer, former chair of the Michigan Democratic Party.ANN ARBOR, MI - Ann Arbor officials are concerned Michigan lawmakers in lame-duck session may strip them of important powers when it comes to regulating landscaping and protecting trees.

The City Council voted 11-0 Monday night, Dec. 3, to approve a resolution objecting to Senate Bill 1198, now pending in the state House following last week's 23-15 vote in the Senate.

City officials are concerned the proposed law would severely limit the ability of local communities to require the protection of certain trees and cultivation of urban green spaces.

Assistant City Administrator John Fournier said it would curtail Ann Arbor's heritage tree ordinance and limit landscaping regulations for new developments.

"In effect, this bill would completely gut the city's ability to protect and promote the urban forest and green spaces on private property in the city of Ann Arbor," he wrote in a memo to council.

In addition to "lots of other really bad ideas" making their way through the Michigan Legislature right now, "This is a colossally bad idea," said Council Member Chip Smith, D-5th Ward.

He said the city has sent a letter to Gov. Rick Snyder urging a veto should the bill make it to his desk.

"As the council's representative on the Planning Commission, I can attest to just how dangerous this is," said Council Member Zachary Ackerman, D-3rd Ward.

"This would take away local control of regulating landscaping in new development, so what trees are planted where," he said.

"And I can say with a lot of confidence that our Planning Commission does very good work on behalf of the people when it comes to looking into the vegetation that's planted. We have an expert landscape architect on the commission, Shannan Gibb-Randall, who is quite critical at times and does really, really tremendous work that would be completely delegitimized by the passage of this."

SB 1188 is being sponsored by Sen. Tom Casperson, a Republican from Escanaba, who has said he wants to protect property owners from government overreach.



He argues dozens of communities around Michigan have enacted local laws requiring residents and businesses to obtain permission before removing trees from their property and paying into a so-called "tree fund" or replacing a tree if they choose to cut one down.



"These laws were sold to the public as a way to encourage tree-lined neighborhoods and to protect big, old trees that are community landmarks," Casperson said in a statement last month.



"However, these ordinances are often written loosely enough to allow for abuse. Nobody is arguing the value of tree-lined neighborhood streets, but in some communities, the 'tree police' use these ordinances to harass property owners and fill local coffers."

The bill would prohibit local governments from enforcing any ordinance that restricts, requires approval for or requires mitigation for the trimming or removal of any vegetation, other than a heritage tree, on private property with an agricultural, business, commercial or industrial zoning classification.



It still would allow local ordinances requiring private property to be maintained in a "healthy, neat and orderly" way, "free from noxious weeds, invasive vegetation, excessive lawn grass, refuse, and debris."



Casperson said his bill would keep local ordinances focused on true "heritage" trees and residential areas, but allows property owners to make their own decisions about trees in areas zoned for agricultural, industrial, business and commercial use.



The Senate Fiscal Agency estimates the overall bill package (SB 1188-1194) would have a small financial impact on local governments, as it would preclude generating revenue from fees or fines related to the trimming or removal of vegetation specified in the bills.

Council Member Jane Lumm, an independent from the 2nd Ward, noted the Michigan Municipal League, Michigan Township Association, Michigan Association of Planners, SEMCOG, and Michigan Environmental Council have voiced opposition or raised concerns about the proposed Vegetation Removal Preemption Act

"This is simply not good legislation. We're doing the best preemptive strike we can here to weigh in on this," Lumm said.

"Basically this would preempt municipalities and take away local control over many aspects of the development process, and obviously that's not what we want or need," she said. "Given the amount of interest and effort that Ann Arbor puts into things like natural features, stormwater mitigation aspects of new development, with good reason, passing this legislation would be very problematic."

Monday night's council resolution was co-sponsored by Mayor Christopher Taylor and Council Members Anne Bannister, Ali Ramlawi, Kathy Griswold, Jack Eaton, Ackerman and Lumm.

The City Council is calling for the defeat of SB 1188, or for it to be amended so the city's ordinances and powers related to landscaping and vegetation in private property development are left intact.

Ann Arbor is currently facing two lawsuits from different developers who argue, after having plans rejected, that the city has been overzealous in standing up for trees and natural features.ANN ARBOR, MI - Ann Arbor added more than 1,200 beds in off-campus student housing going into the 2018-19 academic year, and there's no sign of slowing demand.

The occupancy rate for off-campus housing for University of Michigan students was 98.3 percent this fall, compared to the national average of 95.2 percent occupancy for off-campus student housing, according to a new report from Triad Real Estate Partners.

Ann Arbor's student housing occupancy rate has exceeded 98 percent since 2014.

UM continues to grow enrollment, and about two-thirds of upperclassmen live off campus, according to Triad.

"There have been 2,406 beds added to the market in the last five years. ... But we gained 3,006 students. You can kind of do the math pretty quickly there and see that the student housing market hasn't really kept up with demand," said Ryan Tobias, a partner at Triad.

While 2018 brought the largest student housing boom in a single year in UM history, Tobias said, other college towns across the country have grown their student housing stock more quickly.

For example, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne saw an increase of 4,546 off-campus student beds from 2012 to 2017, according to Triad.

"I think there's a misconception that Ann Arbor has seen this incredible wave in development. But the reality is that (compared to) the national landscape, it's been relatively light," Tobias said.

Other college towns see student housing developments in remote areas on the edge of the city, as well as in the areas immediately near campus, he said, but Ann Arbor has largely concentrated its recently-built student housing in mid-rise and high-rise buildings within walking distance to UM.

The Yard apartments on South Main Street pressed the boundary of what's typically considered the student housing area of Ann Arbor, Tobias added.

About 40 percent of The Yard's tenants this fall are not students, architect J. Bradley Moore previously told The Ann Arbor News.

The Yard, with 588 beds, was one of three apartment buildings that accounted for the new student housing available for the 2018-19 academic year. Six11 on East University Avenue added 349 beds, and Hub Ann Arbor on East Huron Street added 310 beds.

"I think this year was somewhat of an anomaly with three projects opening all at once," Tobias said.

Rent for off-campus student housing rose by 4.64 percent this year compared to last year, according to Triad, which is largely due to new "luxury" apartment complexes that welcomed their first residents this fall.

When comparing previously existing student housing last fall to this fall, rent increased by 1.81 percent.ANN ARBOR, MI - The case against an Ypsilanti Township man suspected in the 1993 disappearance of his ex-girlfriend and the 2018 killing of his wife has been delayed as the defense seeks a new expert witness.

Gregory Agnew, 51, briefly appeared Thursday, Nov. 29 on one count of open murder in the death of 49-year-old Martha Agnew at the Washtenaw County Trial Court, before the case was adjourned until February.

Both the prosecutor and defense attorney on the case agreed to delay the matter after speaking with Washtenaw County Trial Court Judge Darlene O'Brien at her bench.

Defense attorney Ronald R. Gold will use the time to motion for funding to hire an outside DNA expert, O'Brien said. Assistant Washtenaw County Prosecutor Andrew Childers also said certain unspecified issues on his end needed to be addressed before the matter could continue. He did not elaborate.

Agnew is charged in the February 2018 death of his wife, and prosecutors have also called him the prime suspect in the 1993 disappearance of his on-and-off girlfriend Tammy Niver.

Relatives of both women looked on during the hearing Thursday, some in tears.

An investigation by MLive and The Ann Arbor News, revealed police attempted to arrest Gregory Agnew in Niver's suspected murder in 2014. He was never charged in her disappearance, and the county ultimately paid $45,000 in a settlement after Agnew filed a federal lawsuit for wrongful arrest.

(The full story of the investigation is told in a series of episodes of the Michigan Crime Stories podcast.)

Agnew is now accused of strangling Martha Agnew to death during a contentious divorce. She was found dead in her bed in a shared Ypsilanti Township home on Feb. 17.

The scene appeared to be staged to look like a drug overdose, a detective testified during an October preliminary examination. A forensic expert also testified to the high likelihood that DNA found under her fingernails, on a syringe, and on a stained pair of shoes was linked to Gregory Agnew.

Gold has maintained his client's innocence in both the case of Tammy Niver and Martha Agnew.

He has alleged police harassment in retaliation for the 2015 lawsuit. The sheriff's office has declined to comment.

Agnew is now scheduled for a Feb. 7, 2019 pretrial hearing.RIGA TOWNSHIP, MI - Michigan State Police are investigating a homicide in Lenawee County.

Troopers responded to a report of a body found in a cornfield about 5:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 3 in Riga Township.

Police found a deceased male, black, about 30 to 35 years old and determined it was a likely homicide based on evidence at the scene, according to a news release.

Police are not disclosing the victim's identity until the family is notified.

Results of an autopsy conducted on Tuesday are pending, according to police.

Anyone with information is asked to call MSP Monroe Post Sgt. Larry Rothman at (734) 242-3500.ANN ARBOR, MI - With Ann Arbor's fourth-annual deer cull set to take place next month, critics of the program are once again protesting.

Demonstrators gathered along Huron Street outside city hall ahead of the City Council meeting Monday night, Dec. 3, holding glowing signs with a succinct message: No shooting.

"We want it stopped now," said Lisa Abrams, a member of FAAWN, Friends of Ann Arbor Wildlife in Nature.

"It's sad to watch humans try to manage nature," she said. "We'd like a moratorium now so that they can assess where they are."

Abrams held a sign with a peace symbol, reading "non-violence for one, non-violence for all."

Others held "stop the shoot" signs.

City-hired sharpshooters have killed 274 deer in Ann Arbor over the last few years, using rifles to shoot deer mostly in city parks and nature areas, and they plan to kill up to 150 more during the city's fourth-annual cull taking place in January.

The city is continuing to work with wildlife contractor White Buffalo Inc. to carry out lethal culling.

White Buffalo also carried out last week's nonlethal sterilization efforts, surgically removing the ovaries of another six female deer in Ann Arbor, bringing the total for the past two years up to 78.

Abrams noted White Buffalo had a hard time finding deer left to dart and sterilize last week, and the contractor acknowledged earlier this year it significantly over-estimated the city's deer population.

"They don't even know the numbers," Abrams argues. "They don't know what a healthy number is."

Based on the population over-estimate, the city and White Buffalo believed killing 250-350 deer earlier this year might be necessary. The actual permit from the state allowed killing up to 250 deer during the last cull in January, and White Buffalo's sharpshooters fell significantly short of that goal, killing 115 deer.

Ann Arborites have mixed feelings about the city's deer management program and Mayor Christopher Taylor has been against it, but a majority of City Council members have believed it's necessary to control the city's urban deer population and protect the city's natural areas against deer over-browsing. There also have been complaints about deer causing damage to people's private landscaping.

The City Council recently approved spending another $182,000-plus on deer management, on top of nearly $623,000 already spent in the last few years. The previous expenses include $555,887 in net costs to the city and $66,788 in contributions from other sources.

The City Council voted in August 2015 to launch a deer management program, with annual culls to take place for four years.

"We're asking for the end of the program since this is the fourth and final year," Abrams said, arguing the money the city is spending on deer could be better spent on affordable housing, sustainability efforts, fixing roads and "things that matter for humans."

There is no agenda item directly related to deer on Monday night's council agenda, but there is a resolution regarding annexing "township island" properties into the city limits. Abrams is concerned the city is going to receive more "pest control" requests to kill deer from new city residents after their properties are annexed.

"They want the nature and the trees but don't want deer," she said, adding she's already aware of such requests.

Details about Ann Arbor's January 2019 cull, such as shooting locations and park closures, have not been announced yet.

Abrams expressed hopes that the new City Council that took office in late November will proceed differently than the last council.

"It's time for a new day on City Council and we're hopeful for the new council," she said. "We're hopeful they'll at least vote to stop shooting in neighborhoods."ANN ARBOR, MI - A frustrated judge says she'll issue an order to speed up the admission of a former police officer for mental health treatment ahead of a possible trial in the death of his wife.

Kent Neigebauer, 67, was found incompetent in May to stand trial in the death of 63-year-old Marcia Neigebauer.

He remained in jail and still hadn't been admitted to the Center for Forensic Psychiatry as of a court appearance Thursday, Nov. 29.

That's despite pleas from Washtenaw County Trial Court Judge Darlene O'Brien, who explained during the hearing that she'd sent a letter in September to the facility demanding that no other case be given priority over his.

"And this is the result, frustrating as it is," she said, holding a response letter in the air.

The facility responded that due to high volume, Neigebauer's admission was delayed, she said.

Now, O'Brien said she will sign an order that Neigebauer be prioritized, at the prompting of Assistant Washtenaw County Prosecutor Nimish Ganatra.

A representative from the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the center, could not immediately be reached for comment on the case.

The wait time for mentally ill defendants to be admitted to a state psychiatric hospital was the subject of a 2017 MLive investigation, as well as two bills introduced into Michigan House of Representatives last year.

The bills, though attached to a larger package attempting to address treatment for prisoners, were directed at the initial competency examination for defendants, not treatment. They were passed in the House in February, but have remained in the Senate Judiciary Committee since March.

The state has 15 months or a third of the maximum prison sentence for the crime charged, whichever is less, to rehabilitate a defendant found incompetent to stand trial.

Though Neigebauer was found incompetent for trial, his criminal responsibility hasn't been ruled out. He may eventually face a jury trial if his competency is deemed restored within the 15-month timeframe.

Police say Neigebauer, who retired from the Ann Arbor Police Department in 2004, called 911 on the morning of Nov. 19, 2017 to report killing his wife in their apartment in the 5000 block of Plum Hollow Drive in Pittsfield Township.

He told police that he "went insane" and strangled Marcia Neigebauer, who was suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, according to court documents. A breathing tube and scarf were found around her neck.

Neigebauer now is scheduled for a competency review on March 7, 2019.ANN ARBOR, MI - The University of Michigan will unveil design plans this week for renovations to the Ruthven Museums Building, including making the building home of UM's central administration, a location for Board of Regents meetings and new teaching and research space.

UM's Board of Regents approved the $150 million project last December, allowing the building, which previously housed the Museum of Natural History and the university's three research museums, to be repurposed.

The project's schematic designs are expected to be revealed at a Board of Regents meeting Thursday, Dec. 6.

With the seven-floor, 300,000-square-foot Biological Science Building completed this past summer, most of the building's current occupants have moved out of Ruthven.

That will allow UM to demolish a 34,000-square-foot addition to Ruthven that was built in 1964, because it does not allow for large, active learning-style classrooms, according to the university.

In its place, the university plans to construct a new 100,000-square-foot building that will house active learning classrooms, including an auditorium that will seat approximately 550 students, with total building classroom capacity in excess of 1,400 students.

Space also would be provided in the renovated facility to conduct formal and informal meetings of the Board of Regents. The proposed addition would face Washtenaw Avenue.

Ruthven was designed by notable Detroit architect Albert Kahn in 1928. A Board of Regents action request notes the primary space is "well suited to house dry laboratory computational research space, an approximately 200-person capacity multipurpose room, and administrative space to house the university's central administration."

As part of the renovations, UM's current administrative home, the Fleming Administration Building, will be demolished once the move is complete.

Museum occupants continue to relocate out of Ruthven since the close of 2017, allowing for the project construction to be completed in the fall of 2021.BAY CITY, MI - Hoping to repair a dwindling relationship with its sister city, some Bay City commissioners were hoping to travel to Ansbach, Germany.

But that trip of roughly 4,200 miles, planned for March 2019, won't happen - at least for now - due to the expense.

Andrew Niedzinski, a Bay City commissioner , said the cost per person would be anywhere from $4,200 to $4,500 to travel and stay in the city. He added that while they are not going now, he has had some "productive conversations" with corporate sponsors who might donate money to help alleviate or mitigate the cost of travel and lodging.

Bay City and Ansbach are sister cities, meaning there is an agreed-upon relationship and understanding to collaborate and share best ideas or practices with one another. They have had a relationship since 1961, but over the last few years, the relationship has deteriorated with the Ansbach's local newspaper calling out Bay City for being a "quiet" partner. The German city considered ending the relationship in 2016.

Niedzinski said there is a work group that has been meeting with Saginaw Valley State University to take the lead in reestablishing the relationship, with a few city commissioners planning to go to Germany next year.

The commissioners would travel with Saginaw Valley's Gerstacker Fellowship Program, which selects 10 to 12 school leaders to travel to learn about how school leaders work in another part of the world.

John Kaczynski, director of the Center for Public Policy and Service at Saginaw Valley, said in previous years they have taken school leaders from around the area to Japan, Taiwan, Poland, Thailand and other regions of the world to learn more about different practices in education.

While Bay City government officials won't be going, that program will still be continuing, where they will be traveling to Helsinki, Poland, and going to the sister cities of Frankenmuth and Bay City.

"The March trip (for Bay City) has been pushed later on in 2019," Kaczynski said, adding they are still looking at going once some funding has been secured.

He also added the fellowship program is important to maintaining those sister-city relationships because they provide an opportunity for people on both sides to experience new cultures that are similar and not like their own and for city government officials to learn about another country's best practices and economic development or manufacturing that they might be able to take back home.

"For me, when it comes to international relationships, there's shared culture, education and shared economic development, there's a lot of opportunity," he said. "You go abroad and learn about a culture that is very much like you and very much not like you."Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) National Elders Committee has not yet given up on its efforts to unite President Dr. Mokgweetsi Masisi and his predecessor President Dr. Ian Khama.The two leaders who were once close allies are now not seeing eye to eye since Dr. Khamas term came to an end and Dr. Masisi assumed the high office in April this year. While the tension has been dismissed for a while beginning this month the duo has admitted that they dont enjoy a rosy relation.

The BDP elders who have been roped in to bring peace and unite the duo have failed in their attempts. President Masisi used his maiden State of the Nation Address to publicly inform the nation that the transition from the previous administration has not been as smooth as expected.

However, it ought to be noted, I have in my attempt to smoothen the process engaged senior citizens namely; Dr. Festus Mogae, Dr. Ponatshego Kedikilwe, Ray Molomo, Patrick Balopi and David Magang to assist and lead in smoothening the transition. I regret to announce that their efforts have not borne fruit up to this point, Masisi said early this month. In an interview with Botswana Guardian this week, Balopi explained that their assignment is a work in progress. He revealed that they have not yet given up on their leaders and they remain hopeful that a long-lasting solution would be reached. He pointed out that at the moment details cannot be shared with the media because the issue has to be treated with the sensitivity it deserves.

This is a sensitive matter and we have to treat it as such. We have been given this assignment and we cannot share it with third parties. Our elders will share everything when they are ready and feel they can share with the public. As for us we are just executing our assignment as per the request by our two presidents, he said.

It has since emerged through newspaper reports that the duo had an agreement which Dr. Masisi did not fulfil. It was reported that Dr. Masisi would appoint Minister of Environment Wildlife and Tourism Tshekedi Khama Vice President once he had ascended to the presidency. Tshekedi Khama is the younger brother to the former President.

President Masisi has indicated that in the true tradition of Botswana, the mediation done by the elders should be managed, for the benefit of everyone. Khama then hit back at Masisi indicating that it is regrettable that the statement given on the occasion of the SONA about the situation concerning him and Masisi reflected only on one side without consultation with the other in order to give the nation a balanced perspective of progress on reconciliation or the lack of it.BAY CITY, MI - A 38-year-old Essexville man is prison-bound for sexually assaulting a teenage girl.

Bay County Circuit Judge Harry P. Gill on Monday, Dec. 3, sentenced Gerald L. Boughter to 40 months to 15 years in prison. The judge gave Boughter credit for 49 days already served in the county jail.

Boughter in October pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a victim between the ages of 13 and 15.

In exchange, the prosecution dismissed two more counts of the same charge.

Boughter's victim told authorities he had had sex with her multiple times between July 1 and Oct. 31, 2017. The girl was 14 when the acts occurred, police have said.

The acts occurred at a home in Bay City's South End.

Michigan's age of consent for sexual activity is 16.David L. Denman

BAY CITY, MI - A Tennessee man has admitted responsibility for a drunken-driving crash in Bay County that killed a U.S. Army veteran who herself had recently moved from Tennessee to Michigan.

David L. Denman, 47, on Monday, Dec. 3, appeared before Bay County Circuit Judge Joseph K. Sheeran and pleaded guilty to single counts of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated causing death and operating while license suspended, denied, or revoked causing death. Both charges are 15-year felonies.

In exchange for his pleas, the prosecution agreed to dismiss a count of failing to stop at the scene of an accident when at fault causing death, also a 15-year felony.

The crash occurred the night of Oct. 27, 2017, and into early the following morning, resulting in the death of 27-year-old Heather D. Clark. Bay County Sheriff's deputies responded to the crash scene in the 600 block of North Garfield Road in Garfield Township and found a black Chevrolet Silverado on its roof, blocking a driveway. Medical personnel were treating its driver, 25-year-old Caleb A. Lapan, but were unable to find his passenger, Clark.

Deputies also spotted a black 2004 Mercedes-Benz in a field on the opposite side of the road. It had sustained heavy front-end damage and its driver's side airbag had been deployed, court records show. The car was unoccupied, with deputies noting footprints leaving from the driver's side door and heading toward the road.

Deputies found a pill bottle bearing Denman's name, an electronic cigarette and a cellphone. The car was registered to another man in Tennessee, court records show.

Heather D. Clark

Speaking with deputies, Lapan said he had been driving his truck south on North Garfield. He was talking with Clark when he was suddenly rear-ended, he said. The next thing he knew, he was climbing out of the wreckage, he said.

After an extensive search, Garfield Township firefighters found Clark still pinned inside the truck. They used the Jaws of Life to open the vehicle and extract Clark. Medical personnel pronounced her dead at the scene.

Northern Bay Ambulance transported Lapan to an area hospital. Meanwhile, the Michigan State Police Trooper 3 helicopter and the Arenac County Sheriff's K9 Unit responded to the scene to help find the Mercedes-Benz's driver.

More than an hour later, Bay County Central Dispatch received calls from two residences on West Anderson Road. Both callers said a man was pounding on their doors, screaming that his vehicle was in a ditch.

The helicopter responded to the area and detected a heat signature under a small pine tree. Deputies went to this spot and found a sopping wet, mud-caked Denman lying under the tree, court records show.

Denman told deputies he had been drinking at several places, but refused to submit to a preliminary Breathalyzer test. He told deputies he had not been driving, encouraging them to look for a friend whom the car was registered to. When deputies told him there was no evidence anyone other than he had been in the car, Denman replied, "Well, I don't know."

Deputies took Denman to a hospital, where blood samples were drawn from him.

They later visited Denman's mother's house in Linwood. She told them he had arrived in Bay County on Monday from Clarksville, Tennessee, and that he had been driving his friend's Mercedes-Benz. She said he left her house about 7 p.m. on Oct. 27 and that he was alone.

Clark, a mother of two daughters, would have turned 28 on Nov. 8, 2017.

She retired from the U.S. Army with an honorable discharge in September 2015 at the rank of private first class (E-3). She later lived with a boyfriend in Knoxville, Tennessee, before moving to Michigan in October 2016 to live with her father and stepmother in Sanford.

Denman remains in custody at the Bay County Jail pending sentencing before Sheeran at 9 a.m. on Jan. 14.Rosalynn Bliss.

UPDATE: The city commission decided Tuesday evening to stick with its timeline to accept applications in March.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- While some municipalities in Michigan are rushing to prohibit commercial marijuana establishments before the state sorts out its regulations, Grand Rapids is not one of them.

On Tuesday, Mayor Rosalynn Bliss said Michigan's second-largest city isn't looking at opting out of the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marihuana Act, citing local results from the Nov. 6 election.

"If you look at the ballot and the voice of our voters, recreational marijuana passed overwhelmingly in our city," Bliss said. "As an elected official, I really need to listen to the voice of the community. And that spoke volumes to me."

Grand Rapids has already set the groundwork for medical marijuana. On Tuesday, the city commission passed amendments to its zoning ordinance related to medical marijuana facilities.

Applications for medical marijuana facilities have not yet been accepted by the city's planning department due to a moratorium put in place Sept. 18.

Suzanne Schultz, the planning department's director, said the city expects to have the moratorium lifted early next year. Special land use applications for provisioning centers, growers and processors are scheduled to be accepted beginning April 1, 2019, after a regulatory ordinance is approved for recreational marijuana.

Applications for transporters and testing facilities will be accepted as early as Jan. 22, according to city staff.

"I see that the work we've done around medical marijuana will really be the foundation for the work that we're going to do with recreational," Bliss said. "We're allowing medical marijuana and I think they're on parallel tracks.

"When you look at the land use ordinance, I don't necessarily see a significant difference between the land use for recreational versus the land use for medical marijuana."

The state's licensing and regulatory department has a year to figure out the logistics and framework of recreational marijuana facilities opening shop. Included in that is a types of license known as micro-business, which isn't shared by the medical marijuana industry and is currently not allowed in Grand Rapids.

As the state's regulations get put in place, the city commission will have a conversation regarding the Grand Rapids ordinance related to recreational marijuana facilities.

Bliss said she expects the state to have similar rules for recreational marijuana as it has for medical marijuana.

"As we have worked through this process and tried to identify locations to allow that type of use (medical marijuana), I see that as similar to the conversation we're going to have around recreational marijuana," Bliss said. "The actual facilities, whether it's a dispensary or a grow operation, they're going to be very similar."

Grand Rapids adopted its medical marijuana ordinance on July 24 by a 6-0 vote. The ordinance will allow medical marijuana facilities within city limits with special land-use approval, but will limit the potential locations based on established separation distances.

Last month, voters approved Proposal 1 with 56 percent of the vote in favor of legalizing recreational marijuana. Michigan is the 10th state to legalize recreational marijuana.

As of Nov. 14, 108 municipalities in Michigan had opted out of the medical marijuana program, according to state data. In all, about three-quarters of Michigan governments have chosen to not participate in the medical marijuana program, according to a survey from the University of Michigan.

Several communities have opted in to allowing recreational marijuana facilities, though some officials say they plan to revisit the topic down the road after getting more information from the state.GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- The Grand Rapids Police Department has revised its youth-interaction policy in response to community concerns that the policy hadn't done enough to protect innocent children from being traumatized following contact with an officer.

The new policy, released Monday afternoon, Dec. 3, includes new guidelines for the handcuffing of youth, the placement of youth in a police cruiser, youth consent, and the arrest of juvenile offenders.

Additionally, the policy includes legal definitions of "youth," "juvenile," and "juvenile status offender," as well as court precedents and supervisor responsibilities.

"Our police department is dedicated to being transparent and accountable for the tremendous responsibility we have as law enforcement officers," said Police Chief David Rahinsky in a press release. "We listened to the community, and from that feedback we made improvements to the policy."

Attempts by MLive/The Grand Rapids Press to contact Rahinsky on Monday afternoon were not immediately successful.

The new policy is seven pages in length -- an expansion from the two-page policy unveiled in March in response to a pair of incidents in which unarmed black youths were stopped at gunpoint and handcuffed in March 2017 and December 2017, respectively.

Some in the community said the initial policy didn't do enough to lead to different outcomes than the 2017 incidents. After two additional handcuffing episodes involving unarmed black youth sparked public debate in August and October, Kent County Commissioner Robert Womack led a march on the police department demanding policy change.

Rahinsky welcomed community members into the police department during the march and listened as those in attendance voiced their frustrations with the police department's interactions with youth.

Both versions of the policy instruct officers to use the "most reasonable and least restrictive" methods when dealing with youth.

Under the new policy, officers are instructed to, when safe, "consider a youth's age, whether known or objectively apparent to a reasonable officer, when determining whether or not to apply handcuffs or restraints."

"While there is no set age, the Supreme Court indicated, in JDB v North Carolina, that officers must realize a 7-year-old is not a 13-year-old and neither is an adult," reads the policy.

The policy goes on to say that handcuffs "shall only be used for as long as reasonably necessary," and "officers shall remove handcuffs as soon as reasonable to do so."

An officer should notify a supervisor as soon as it's reasonable to do so when a youth 13 or younger has been handcuffed. The supervisor should respond to the scene if possible, and a parent or guardian should be notified as soon as "reasonably practical."

"When safe, under the totality of the circumstances, officers shall consider a youth's age, whether known or objectively apparent to a reasonable officer, when determining whether to confine a youth in the back of a police cruiser," reads the policy. "All confinement of youth in a police cruiser must be reasonable and within the scope of the incident, or as necessary to transport the youth."

As for drawing a firearm, the policy says, "officers shall not draw and display a firearm on a youth unless the officer has a fear for the safety of the officer or the safety of others."

The new policy pulls from other department policies, including the "impartial policing policy," which states that "all youth are to be treated fairly regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic and religious background, or any other specified characteristic in accordance with the impartial policing policy."

The policy also includes subsections related to field interrogations and preliminary investigations with youth, and how to interact with juvenile offenders during and after an arrest.

In addition to the policy revisions, the department has incorporated youth interactions into its training practices, including its electronic decision-making system.

To view the full youth-interaction policy, visit the city's website.UPDATE: The city commission decided Tuesday evening to stick with its timeline to accept applications in March.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Grand Rapids officials have said they want locals to have an opportunity to be part of the city's future medical marijuana industry.

To increase that likelihood, the city commission and planning department staff have come up with a voluntary agreement that prospective developers can use to improve their spot in line when applying for special land use for the purpose of opening a medical marijuana facility.

Work on the Marihuana Industry Voluntary Equitable Development Agreement was completed Tuesday, Dec. 4, and is expected to be approved with a consent agenda vote during the Tuesday evening meeting.

The city is scheduled to begin accepting medical marijuana facility applications March 4, 2019 for provisioning centers, growers and processors, according to city staff. Transporters and testing facilities can apply as early as Jan. 22 because they can be administratively approved.

City officials created the MIVEDA to meet three goals:

Encouraging equitable development within this new industry;

Maximizing local economic impact;

Streamlining the marijuana facility application process.

"The more local you get, the more points and the higher the priority," said Suzanne Schulz, director of the city's planning department.

To reach these goals, the voluntary agreement includes eight boxes under three categories that can be checked by an applicant to improve their position in line for the city planning department's consideration for a special land use request.

Grand Rapids plans to host some form of lottery system with tiers based on the level of commitment to the MIVEDA. Each bullet point is worth a point. They include:

Local residency: An applicant with at least 25 percent ownership in the marijuana facility has spent at least 12 months out of the last five years living in:

Grand Rapids;

The Grand Rapids General Target Area as defined by HUD;

Kent County;

Michigan.

Local economy:

A commitment to hire 15 percent of employees or more who are Grand Rapids residents, who would work more than 30 hours per week;

A commitment to 24 percent or more of Micro-Local Business Enterprise participation, which are businesses that qualify for bid discounts under the city's equal business opportunity policies.

A commitment to hiring at least 30 employees who will work more than 30 hours per week.

Streamlined applications:

No sensitive use separation distance waivers needed, which means the proposed location isn't within less than 1,000 feet of a park or religious institution.

The third bullet under the "local economy" section was added last minute Tuesday by First Ward City Commissioner Jon O'Connor and approved by the rest of the commission. O'Connor said the goal was to reward an applicant willing to create more jobs.

Applicants don't have to submit the agreement, though doing so betters their chances of being granted one of a limited number of locations that fit the city's separation distances.

Once the agreement is signed, it is legally enforceable, according to city staff. By signing the agreement, the prospective developer agrees to adhere to the specified criteria for at least three years, and to report compliance to the city during that time.

During its Tuesday morning meeting, the commission also approved a list of zoning ordinance text amendments related to medical marijuana, and established standards for reviewing a parks waiver for a medical marijuana facility proposed within 1,000 feet of a public park.

The nine "major" amendments and nine "minor" amendments were determined by the commission during its Oct. 10 marijuana work session. They're available in full on the city's website.

The city commission will be responsible for approving or denying public park waivers. Mayor Rosalynn Bliss said she's weary about the parks waivers, but is willing to give it a try with the expectation that the city will review the process after 6-12 months.

"I hope we all recognize that we need to learn as we go and if problems arise, we need to be able to bring this back," Bliss said.

Schulz said the city is scheduled to begin accepting medical marijuana facility applications March 4, 2019. At some point before then, the city will consider a regulatory ordinance related to recreational marijuana.

The city has an interactive map on its website that shows properties that could fit the city's separation distances, which would qualify the property as a potential future medical marijuana facility.GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Standing inside her salon in Grand Rapids' Roosevelt Park neighborhood earlier this fall, Synia Jordan watched as bulldozers rolled down the street.

Workers hustled back and forth, guiding the machines as they prepared to repave a section of Grandville Avenue, near the site of a multi-million dollar project that's bringing a new high school and affordable housing to the Southwest Side neighborhood.

Jordan hopes it gives low-income residents who have long been renters a shot at homeownership.

There are people in the neighborhood who would like a place of their own, she said, but many struggle with two issues: difficulty in qualifying for a mortgage and a shortage of available housing.

"The struggle is financing," said Jordan, who works as a real estate agent at Legacy Homes GR in addition to owning Samaria J's Salon.

The Roosevelt Park neighborhood is located within two of the nine census tracts - neighborhood-sized geographic areas - in Kent County where three-quarters or more of residents are people of color. However, half or more of the mortgages distributed in those nine areas last year went to white residents, according to an MLive.com analysis of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data.

Clustered south of Wealthy Street in Grand Rapids, the census tracts serve as an example of the challenge in building homeownership among people of color in a part of the city with high poverty rates, deteriorating homes and apartments, and where renting is more common than owning a home.

White applicants outnumbered minority applicants in most of the areas, though some of the census tracts drew few applicants altogether - regardless of race, the data show.

It's a trend that raises tough questions about whether some parts of the city - and the people who live there - are being left behind in Grand Rapids' revitalization.

"We've got to, as a community, come together and figure out how we ensure that there's housing for all in Grand Rapids," said Nancy Hayes, executive director of the Fair Housing Center of West Michigan.

Lagging diversity

Drive south on Grandville Avenue, the commercial corridor that cuts through the heart of the Roosevelt Park neighborhood, and you'll see flourishes of the cultural diversity that area residents pride themselves upon.

There is Tres Hermanos Bakery, Cancun Restaurant and Rodriguez Supermarket - touchstones of the neighborhood's Hispanic community, which accounts for more than three-quarters of the population.

Keep going and you'll see African-Americans, too, who make up about 14 percent of the population, as well as immigrants from Latin America and Africa. Eleven percent of the population is white.

"It's a little, tucked-away Ellis Island on the southwest side of town," said Reggie Smith, who led a Christian Reformed congregation in Roosevelt Park for more than 20 years and now serves as president of the neighborhood association's board of directors.

(This interactive map shows the ten census tracts in Kent County where three quarters or more of residents are people of color. The areas in purple are where half or more of the mortgages went to white residents. Minorities received the majority of loans in the area shaded in gray. Click on each area to see its totals.)

Yet, when it comes to mortgage lending in the neighborhood, that diversity is lagging. Nine of the 20 loans in the two census tracts that encompass the neighborhood went to people of color last year.

It's difficult to pinpoint why people of color don't account for a bigger share, Smith said, especially when they account for more than three-quarters of the population.

One factor could be a significant number of undocumented immigrants who live in the neighborhood and are fearful of buying a home when they face an uncertain future in the United States, he said.

Another possibility: economic hardship.

Median household income in the neighborhood is roughly $26,991 - compared to $39,913 citywide, according to the Roosevelt Park Neighborhood Association.

"I think most of them would love to have a home," Smith said. "They just don't know if that's possible given that they have to take care of immediate needs first - food, education and a job - before they can even think about a house."

There's reason for optimism, though.

Across from Jordan's salon, construction crews are preparing to build the first of 17 homes for Habitat for Humanity of Kent County.

It's part of a multi-million-dollar development known as Plaza Roosevelt.

In addition to the Habitat homes, it also includes a new Grand Rapids Public Schools high school, two 24-unit apartment buildings with first-floor retail space through nonprofit housing developer Dwelling Place, and an expansion of Mercy Health Saint Mary's clinic.

For many, it's seen as a transformative development for the neighborhood.

But interest in the units is high. And some applicants - there was a total of 115, with 15 accepted thus far - don't earn enough to qualify for one of the Habitat homes. A family of four, for example, must earn more than $28,000 annually to qualify, according to Habitat.

BriAnne McKee, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Kent County, said her organization strives to put housing within reach for as many families as possible. But it costs money to build housing, and Habitat can't cover the entire cost on its own, she said.

"We know that this is a larger systemic issue in our community regarding the income that people have access to," she said. "If folks don't have access to sufficient income to meet their basic needs, that's something that's a broader community issue."

Michelle Moss, a Kentwood resident with three children who grew up near Roosevelt Park and now cuts hair part time at Jordan's salon, applied for a Habitat home but says she and her husband were told they didn't earn enough to qualify.

"I've just wanted to be a homeowner for a long time now," said Moss, 30, who has another child on the way. "Our family is growing, so staying in apartments is a lot more challenging, and renting is just so expensive these days."

Despite the rejection, Moss' husband, George, says he remains hopeful his family will one day be able to transition from renting to homeownership. He says he understands that affordable housing projects carry income restrictions because providers don't want to "set people up for failure" by approving them for a home they can't afford.

Lending on the rise

Mortgage lending is on the rise in Grand Rapids.

Between 2007 and 2017, the number of mortgages doled out in the city grew by more than a third, to 2,357, according to federal data.

But not everyone is benefiting equally.

The percentage of mortgages that went to people of color fell in 38 of the city's 47 census tracts during that same period.

It's a trend that can be seen throughout the city, from the Creston Heights neighborhood near Plainfield Avenue on the city's Northeast Side to the West Grand neighborhood near Bridge Street, where a slew of new restaurants and breweries have breathed new life into the area.

It's even playing out in neighborhoods where most residents are people of color.

There are 10 census tracts in Grand Rapids where three-quarters or more of the population are people of color. And in all but one of those areas, white residents received half or more of the mortgages doled out in 2017.

A decade ago, that happened in just three of those census tracts.

For Joyce Daniels, it's a reflection of the changing dynamics within the city.

She grew up in the Baxter neighborhood, an area on the Southeast Side located south of Wealthy Street and bordered by Eastern Avenue and Fuller Avenue.

The area is predominately African-American, but growing investment along Wealthy Street over the past decade - a slew of restaurants, coffee shops and small businesses have opened there - has resulted in more college students and young professionals moving into part of the city that has historically struggled from a lack of investment, Daniels said.

Real-estate investors have also been buying properties in the area, leaving residents concerned about rising rent and home prices, she said.

The trend, to a degree, can be seen in who's getting mortgages to buy homes in the Baxter neighborhood.

Last year, six of the 30 mortgages doled out in the census tract that encompasses the neighborhood went to people of color.

That's down from 2007, when half of the 24 mortgages approved there went to people of color.

Daniels says development in the area isn't a bad thing, but she questions how much longtime community members have benefited from it. She also wonders whether rising prices will put homeownership out of reach for low-income residents who live in the area.

"Where are these people going to go?" she asks.

Melanie Beelen, executive director of the Baxter Community Center, says the disparity in mortgage approvals likely has a lot to do with economics.

"It basically comes down to how can you afford something," she said. "I think that is probably the biggest challenge."

Education needed

Standing on her porch in the Oakdale neighborhood, Deborah Armstrong points to signs of revitalization that have sprung up recently in the Southeast Side neighborhood she's called home for the past 25 years.

She motions toward a home on Evergreen Street that's being outfitted with a new roof. Another on Linden Avenue is getting a new furnace.

They're among a slew of repairs being funded by Amplify GR, a nonprofit group that's working to create more jobs and better schools and housing in the area. Created by the Doug and Maria DeVos Foundation and the Cheri DeVos Foundation, Amplify has purchased 32 properties encompassing 35 acres in the three Southeast Side neighborhoods.

It's important work, said Armstrong, a housing specialist with Home Repair Services that is partnering with Amplify on the home revitalization effort.

But it's one piece of the puzzle, she said.

The other: promoting homeownership.

More than three-quarters of the population who live in the census tract that encompasses the neighborhood are people of color, but they received just 27 of the 94 mortgages approved there in 2017, according to federal data.

The census tract that encompasses the neighborhood is bordered from Hall Street to the north and Burton Street to the south. Fifty-one percent of the housing units are renter-occupied.

Financial challenges are part of the struggle in building homeownership, Armstrong said, but so is education. She says parents should ensure they're teaching their children about the importance of owning a home versus renting one.

"You have to educate your kids about that, because what you're paying for rent, you could get a mortgage for that," she said. "Don't sit back there and automatically think they're not going to give it to you. Fill out that application and see what they say."

It's an important conversation, Armstrong said, because there's a lot at stake - for the future of the neighborhood, and for the well-being of the families who live there.

"Home is stability," she said. "Home is where you can sit back and put a plan together."GREENVILLE, MI - The owners of Klackle Orchards in Greenville, a popular family destination that featured fresh apples, pie and donuts as well as hay rides, a corn maize and petting zoo, are retiring, according to a Facebook message posted Tuesday.

"After owning and operating Klackle Orchards for more than 40 years, Steve & Rosemary are retiring next spring," the orchard's message says. "When we started this adventure in 1978, there is no way we could have imagined all that it would become. We are grateful for the wonderful staff that we have had the privilege of working with for the past 4 decades."

The orchard is located west of Greenville on M-57.

"While we aren't sure exactly what is next for the farm," the message says. "It has been an honor to be a part of so many family traditions throughout the years, and we will treasure the memories we have created with all of you."

In recent years, the orchard has boosted the number of family activities, tapping into an "agri-tourism" trend among fruit growers and other farmers who want to educate consumers and stabilize their operations by snagging some of the retail dollars available at harvest time, according to an MLive.com story from October 2015.

At the time, one employee told MLive that half the orchard's revenue came from visitors, and that 25 activities were added that year. The orchard's activities included hay rides, a petting zoo, an apple-shaped carousel, pony rides, a pumpkin patch and a corn maze.

The orchard's Cornucopia Farm Market will remain open through December 15, according to the Facebook message.GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Police say they found a dismembered female body in a Grand Rapids man's basement and two felony warrants have been issued against him.

Jared James Chance is expected to be arraigned Wednesday, Dec. 5 in Grand Rapids District Court on charges of mutilation of a dead body and concealing the death of an individual.

While swearing to the warrants Tuesday, a Grand Rapids police detective said police found "several areas of blood" in Chance's apartment as well as well as articles of cleaning.

They also found "articles that could have been used to dismember a human body," according to the testimony.

Police responded about 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 2 to a residence in the 900 block of Franklin Street on a report of a suspicious situation involving possible foul play. Chance was detained and booked into the Kent County Jail early the next day.

In court, the detective indicated body parts were located just outside of a stairway to Chance's residence in apartment 2, the upstairs unit of the house.

Police said Chance was home Dec. 2.

"He did not report the existence of the body in the basement of his residence," the detective said.

The woman's body has not yet been identified and police, in a news release, said the remains "do not allow us to identify the victim with traditional methods."

They are working to identify the body through other means.

The detective in court referenced a woman that Chance was with Nov. 30, described as an "acquaintance," and that she is missing. The detective did not name the person in court and said the body is simply identified as "Jane Doe" at the moment.

Grand Rapids police returned to the home, on Franklin Street near Dolbee Avenue, early Tuesday evening, apparently to search for more evidence.

Police wrapped a nearby Dumpster in plastic near Franklin Street and Neland Avenue, a block east of the residence, and carted the Dumpster away.

Chance has at least three prior felonies, according the Michigan Department of Corrections web site.

He was convicted of resisting and obstructing police in 2011 and two counts of possessing a controlled substance in 2016.LAKE COUNTY, MI - A trespassing situation that pitted a landowner against an ORV rider who was carrying a gun turned into a physical assault that left one man injured.

The assault occurred in Lake County in the last month, according to a recent Michigan Department of Natural Resources law enforcement report that detailed the encounter.

It began when a bow hunter confronted a person riding an ORV, who was trespassing on the hunter's land.

"The property owner, who was a military veteran, disarmed the trespasser. The trespasser then took his ORV and struck the property owner, causing serious injuries to the victim," according to the DNR report.

DNR Conservation Officer Josiah Killingbeck assisted the Lake County Sheriff's Department in investigating the incident. The officer helped the injured man, providing first aid.

Killingbeck worked with police dispatchers to help identify the suspect. Several hours later, authorities found the suspect and took him into custody.Supporters of a mandatory paid sick time initiative in Michigan say they'll go back to the ballot for the 2020 election if lawmakers adopt significant changes to their original plan in lame duck.

The group MI Time to Care filed paperwork with the Michigan Secretary of State Monday afternoon to start a new petition instituting mandatory paid sick time for the 2020 election.

The move was in response to the Michigan Senate's passage of modifications to the original plan adopted by the Legislature in September, which organizers say flies in the face of the initiative's original intent.

"What the Senate put out was really a disgrace and not at all in the spirit of what we were doing," said Danielle Atkinson, MI Time to Care Coalition co-chair. "We expect the House to also offer something similar, if not worse.

"We are hoping that the governor would veto anything that was less than what we want, but we are not waiting for that," she continued.

Under the new paid sick time law, which isn't in effect yet, Michigan workers would be able to accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, capping out at 72 hours per year for larger businesses and 40 hours per year for small businesses, which must also allow unpaid leave. Both sizes of business could elect to offer more paid sick leave.

In September, the Republican-led legislature adopted the measure instead of allowing the issue to go to the ballot after MI Time to Care turned in a sufficient number of signatures. Doing so meant they could come back and amend them with a simple majority, instead of the two-thirds vote it would have taken to make changes passed at the ballot box.

The Michigan Senate approved changes that would have workers earn 1 hour of paid sick time for every 40 hours, instead of 30 hours, worked. And an employer of any size could limit paid sick leave to 36 hours per year instead of the higher limits contained the current law.

It would also narrow who the paid sick leave requirements applied to. Where the ballot proposal version covered all Michiganders, the Senate exempted businesses with fewer than 50 employees and certain types of employees, as well.

The Senate also approved significant changes to a minimum wage proposal that they adopted after qualifying for the ballot. Both bills need to be approved by the full House and signed by Gov. Rick Snyder to become law.

Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof, R-West Olive, previously said changes to the paid sick time and minimum wage petitions would focus on "making it more acceptable to the business community so we continue to keep our economy on track."

Atkinson said MI Time to Care has not yet determined whether they'd begin collecting signatures immediately. She said the 2020 initiative would only be necessary if the legislature and governor move to alter the original plan, but expressed confidence they'd get the necessary signatures again if it comes to that point.

"Volunteers and citizens are already really riled up by what the legislature has done," she said.The defunct BCL mine employed over 500 employees on both permanent and temporary basis after its closure in October 2016, for care and maintenance. But the party for some of them has come to an end as they too face imminent retrenchment. Eric Molale, Minister of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security told parliament that the BCL Liquidator has engaged a total of 477 permanent and 33 temporary workers at BCL.

He has also hired 34 permanent and two temporary workers at Tati Nickel Mine. MP for Selibe Phikwe West, Ditlhapelo Koorapetse asked Molale to state the number of workers employed by the BCL Liquidator for purposes of care and maintenance, what this care and maintenance entails and whether there is intention to reduce the number of these workers; and the number of foreign employees, their qualifications and positions.

Molale said the care and maintenance of the mine entails de-watering the mine shafts which requires pumping, ventilation, repairs of critical mining infrastructure and machinery required such as cages, pumping equipment, water treatment plants, the concentrator upkeep and surface area clean up. He said this was necessary as it is meant to maintain and prepare the assets for disposal. My ministry has no intention to reduce the care and maintenance employment levels. In fact, I have asked the Liquidator to optimise employment levels to comply with the relevant legislation, in particular, as it relates to safety and health.

The response prompted a supplementary question from Keorapetse. He said there is a memo or letter addressed to the care and maintenance staff that some of them will be retrenched. Yes, I am aware of those letters. In the first instance, there are routine human resource processes when it relates to contractual matters. As I said in my answer, the halving or reduction or even stopping is not an option and that is what I made clear to the liquidator when I was in Selebi Phikwe last month, said Molale. The minister said there is going to be a meeting next week between himself, the liquidator and the Registrar and Master of the High Court to try and resolve certain issues around the reporting channels that have to do with the liquidator doing his job and his reporting channels.

There may be some conflicts as you are asking, but we are resolving them, because when there is a problem, we should not be part of the problem, we should be part of the solution, said Molale. Keorapetse asked another supplementary question wanting to know whether the ministry has anybody to rely on in terms of information about what is going on at BCL during this process of liquidation, in terms of safe guarding the interest, especially of Batswana. He asked Molale if he has anybody with the requisite, necessary expertise to inform him about what is going on there besides the liquidator.

Molale answered in the affirmative stating that, I do have the Minerals Development Company (MDC) that I rely on to give me the information. He said that given the multi-sect oral nature of the liquidation, he has also set up a high level team to complement the work that is being done by the MDC in as far as giving me up-to-date and correct information on a daily basis.KALAMAZOO, MI -- No development projects will move forward on areas designated for environmental protection while the city of Kalamazoo works on a policy to safeguard them permanently.

Monday, the City Commission unanimously approved a six-month moratorium on rezoning, variance requests and new building permits on properties designated for protection under the city's master plan. The moratorium is designed to give city staff time to finalize development standards for "natural features protection" areas.

More than 100 people attended Monday's meeting, around a dozen of whom advocated for the moratorium. Property owners, neighborhood representatives and conservation organizations said they need more time to develop a policy and expressed disapproval for a specific project planned near the Asylum Lake Preserve.

Natural features are defined in the master plan as areas including creeks, floodplains, stands of large trees and slopes. Asylum Lake Preserve, a 274-acre parcel of land owned by Western Michigan University, is the largest natural features protection area.

Developments will need to complete a plan to mitigate negative impacts on natural features, but specific standards don't currently exist. The master plan requires city staff to develop the policy with stakeholders and an environmental technical steering committee, which met twice in 2018.

City Manager Jim Ritsema said the moratorium affects three projects. City Planner Christina Anderson said a plan to preserve natural features could be finished faster than six months, but wants to make sure it's done right.

Members of six neighborhood organizations sent a letter strongly endorsing the moratorium. The letter states irreversible environmental damage could occur without an effective policy.

Commissioners said it's good to give planners too much time rather than not enough. Commissioner Eric Cunningham said he's been frustrated this year that some zoning changes were spurred by development plans instead of being proactive.

"The decisions we make affect this community for the next 100 years," Cunningham said. "We need to be intentional on our decisions."

Cunningham acknowledged that efforts started by the master plan are ongoing during a period of economic prosperity. Investors and developers are knocking on the city's door to move quickly.

Commissioner David Anderson said the city needs to stay focused on developing a policy within six months and cautioned against "demonizing" developers.

In October, DNS Stadium Drive LLC purchased land near the corner of Drake Avenue and Stadium Drive for $2.5 million, according to Kalamazoo property records. The land is zoned for residential use, but a commercial development is sought there by Drive and Shine, a company that operates multiple car washes.

The site is under the city's natural features protection area. Residents feared a new development would threaten the community's enjoyment of Asylum Lake Preserve.

It's a sanctuary for people to get into nature; to be renewed; to get peace from the confusion and overload that characterizes all of our lives now," said Laurie Holmes, who lives adjacent to the Asylum Lake Preserve. "It is too essential to the goodness of life in this community to have (developments) right up to the edge of the lake."

Drive and Shine President and CEO Haji Tehrani acknowledged he "failed to properly communicate" his intent for the development with all interested parties. He committed to more transparency as discussions about protecting natural features continue.

Tehrani said he has been working with the city and neighborhood organizations for more than a year on his development. Tehrani said he will comply with natural features protection requirements, but asked the City Commission not to pass a moratorium.

"It just seems unfair," Tehrani said. "I value the beauty of the nature as much as anybody here does."

Further outreach is necessary with the wider community prior to finalizing a policy, city officials said.

The moratorium does not apply to properties under the oversight of the city's Brownfield Redevelopment Authority, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Department of Natural Resources or Environmental Protection Agency.UPDATE: 'Electrical issues' under investigation as possible cause of fire

WHITE PIGEON, MI -- A small community in Southwest Michigan was shaken Tuesday when a house fire killed a pregnant woman and an elementary student.

"This hits close to home," Troy Andrews, White Pigeon fire chief, said, standing in front of the charred home. "This is a small community."

A pregnant woman and young child were killed early Tuesday, Dec. 4, in the fire.

Eleven people, mostly children, were inside the 1 1/2-story house on the 100 block of West Chicago in White Pigeon. Two families were living in the home.

Firefighters who responded to the call have young children of their own, some who attended school with the victims of the fire, Andrews said.

"It's very hard and emotional for us," he said.

The two people killed in the fire were found on the second floor of the home. Firefighters were unable to gain access to save them because of heavy flames and heat. Nine others got out, seven of whom who taken to the hospital for evaluation.

Officials also found one dog who had died in the fire and another who survived, Andrews said.

Firefighters were on scene shortly after they were dispatched at 3:13 a.m. and found the house engulfed in flames, he said.

The child killed in the fire was identified as a first-grade student at Central Elementary School, according to a statement from White Pigeon Community Schools.

"We know that this comes as a shock to all of you, and most of us will be sad during the day today," said the statement, which was read to fellow elementary students at the school. "We have lots of supportive adults here today if you need to talk to anyone or have any questions."

Associate Superintendent Carrie Erlandson said Tuesday that grief counselors were available at the school.

"Our deepest sympathies go out to the family," Erlandson said.KALAMAZOO, MI --State police and several law enforcement agencies rescued five people from human trafficking in Southwest Michigan over the weekend.

Law enforcement agencies worked on an initiative led by Michigan State Police and the Kalamazoo Area Human Trafficking Task Force to identify 20 people as possible human trafficking victims. Five people were identified and recovered, and police will conduct an ongoing investigation to identify and recover other potential victims, MSP said in a press release.

The agencies involved included the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office, Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, the Kalamazoo Township Police Department, Portage police, the Allegan County Sheriff's Department, Kalamazoo Area Victims Services, YWCA and probation and parole.

If you suspect that an adult or child is a victim or is at risk of becoming a victim, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at (888) 373-7888 or text 233733. If a person is in imminent danger, call 911.KALAMAZOO, MI -- Three Michigan cities are testing a new process designed to provide strong statistical evidence that the election outcome is correct.

The "risk-limiting audit" is a relatively new election security measure being tested across Michigan this week. It's designed to detect irregularities that could influence reported election outcomes, including cyber-attacks and unintentional machine or human errors.

The goal of the pilot will be to determine how risk-limiting audits could be rolled out statewide. Kalamazoo, Lansing and Rochester Hills will also pilot the procedure during the first week of December.

"Our goal as election administrators is to foster confidence in the electoral process, the results of that process, and ultimately our democratic institutions," said Kalamazoo City Clerk Scott Borling. "Michigan voters put their faith in us to conduct free and fair elections. The Risk-Limiting Audit provides another tool and opportunity to demonstrate their trust is well placed."

Results from the Nov. 6 election will be audited from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Kalamazoo City Hall on Wednesday.

The audit aims to confirm whether reported election results are correct and detect possible anomalies that may need further scrutiny. Ballots will be randomly selected based on a mathematical formula to confirm that the ballot tabulators tallied them correctly.

Michigan's election system already incorporates election security measures recommended by national security and cybersecurity experts, however, risk-limiting audits are intended to complement existing procedures.

Colorado, which has an all mail-in election process, used risk-limiting audits for the first time statewide this year. Other states, including Rhode Island and Virginia, will start using them statewide in future election cycles.

When the pilot was announced in October, Secretary of State Ruth Johnson said Michigan is seeking to get ahead of other states in strengthening election integrity.

Michigan's highly decentralized elections system features both Election Day and absentee voting administered by the 1,520 city and township clerks across the state.

The Michigan Bureau of Elections and municipal clerks partnered with a team of experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, the University of California at Berkeley, the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, Verified Voting, and Indiana's Voting System Technical Oversight Program.KALAMAZOO, MI -- Days away from marijuana legalization taking effect in the state, Western Michigan University is preparing for changes in how it enforces drug laws on campus.

"It's a huge shift in our paradigm," WMU Public Safety Chief Scott Merlo said. "It's going to be a learning experience for everyone."

Under the measure approved by Michigan voters in November, marijuana becomes legal on Thursday, Dec 6, though use and possession of the drug will still be restricted by the terms of the ballot proposal. Legal sales of the drug are expected to take much longer. The state government has a year to work out logistics and framework of licensing facilities to produce and sell marijuana products.

Questions remain on how the legalization will impact the university community, but marijuana will remain a "banned substance" on Western's campus, Merlo said. But the law changes how police can handle those who are underage or are in possession of more than the legal amount.

"Before, it was pretty simple," Merlo said.

It was illegal, no matter a student's age or how much of the drug they might have.

Before, drug violations on campus would result in criminal charges filed with the prosecutor's office and a student code of conduct offense filed with the university itself.

Under the new law, students under 21 who are caught with marijuana will receive a civil infraction, or ticket, Merlo said. Prior to legalization in Michigan, marijuana possession was classified as a misdemeanor criminal infraction and, in some cases, felony offenses.

Under the new law, the Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act, possessing more than 2.5 ounces of marijuana or possessing marijuana when under 21 years old becomes a civil offense. Offenders will be written a ticket and charged a fine of not more than $100.

Merlo said he expects an increase in usage and possession of marijuana because of the change in the law. Students who before feared the penalties of a criminal record might be more inclined to try the drug under more lenient rules, he said.

The university reminded students the day after the Nov. 6 election that marijuana is still not allowed on campus.

"Marijuana is not conducive to a productive learning or working environment," the university said in a statement. "The university also has obligations to the Federal Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act, which was established to 'foster a safe and drug-free learning environment that supports student academic achievement.'"

In 2017, Western's campus had 193 drug law violation referrals, according to the university's annual security report.

Referrals mean the cases were referred to WMU's student conduct process for potential university discipline.

As stated in the annual report, "arrests" include cases in which tickets were issued or when they otherwise resulted in criminal proceedings.

Police made 100 drug violation arrests on campus in 2017, Merlo said, 91 of which involved marijuana. Two of those cases involved both marijuana and cocaine, he said.

After legalization in Michigan, nothing changes about how university police report students for a code of conduct violation, or referral, Merlo said. Both underage and older students possessing the drug on campus will be referred to the university for discipline.

Those in violation of the new state law could also face civil infractions and, in the case of certain violations, misdemeanors.

The use of edibles is another source of concern for police at the university. The smell of marijuana was easily traceable in college dorms. But marijuana-infused food, gummies, oils or other forms of the drug will likely be harder to find.

But police will adapt, Merlo said. Enforcing marijuana rules will be similar to keeping underage students from drinking in dorms or elsewhere on campus, he said.

"Ninety-nine percent of people will be within the law," he said. "It will just be the 1 percent we have to deal with."WAYLAND TOWNSHIP, MI-- A 27-year-old woman died from injuries she suffered in a single-vehicle crash with a deer, the Allegan County Sheriff's Office said in a news release.

About 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 3, Allegan County Central Dispatch received calls about a car in the ditch on 135th Ave near 7th Street in Wayland Township.

An officer from Wayland City Police and a deputy from the Allegan County Sheriff's Office responded and found an unresponsive female at the crash site, police said.

The Allegan County Sheriff's Office reconstruction team investigated and determined the vehicle was eastbound and struck a deer.

The crash caused fatal injuries to a 27-year-old woman from the Hastings area, police said.

Speed and alcohol do not appear to be a factor and the victim's name is not being released until family is notified, police said.

Wayland City Police, Wayland Fire Department, Yankee Springs Fire Department, and Michigan State Police assisted the sheriff's office.The fight between President Dr. Mokgweetsi Masisi and his predecessor Dr. Ian Khama has now reached the spy agency, as agents go after each others throats due to allegiance. There are claims that since Dr. Masisi became President and fired former Director General of Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services (DISS) Isaac Kgosi, plans are underway to purge those who align themselves with Kgosi and Dr. Khama.

The claim has since been dismissed by the DISS Director General, Brigadier Peter Magosi who was appointed by Masisi to replace Kgosi. Recently the DISS system was hacked and suspicions were that the previous administration was involved and an investigation was launched. This week Botswana Guardian discovered that a senior DISS official has taken his employer to court after he was redeployed to a junior position allegedly because of his involvement with Dr. Khama and Kgosi. The officer is challenging the decision of the DISS Acting Director General who redeployed him from the Air Wing Division (Unit) of the DISS to its Corporate Services Division and wants it set aside. The decision I submit, is unlawful and unreasonable as I was moved from being a pilot to a Clerk (or Administrator) without my consent and outside my scope of duties that I have trained for, reads a founding Affidavit of Opelonomi Edwin Matlhagela, the DISS Principal Intelligence Officer.

In the court documents seen by this publication Matlhagela points out that even though his employment letter does not say he is employed as a Pilot, he was specifically recruited from the Civil Aviation Authority Botswana (CAAB) as a pilot and he is a qualified pilot, to fly DISS aircraft. To buttress this, he cites General Order 88, which stipulates that the Flying Allowance is payable to officers employed as pilots and to no other cadres, as indicated in his payslip.

Much to my shock and surprise, I was on the 27th July 2018, served with a letter redeploying me from the Air Wing (where I served as a Pilot) to the Corporate Services Division. It is important to point out that when I querried the justification for the change and what the role entailed, I was only given an unsigned note by my supervisor Tshegofatso Dioka. As it would appear from the profile are (sic) not technical but merely clerical in nature as they include procurement of all logistical needs for Air Unit and their personnel. I am also in charge of booking accommodation for the crew. I submit that for this role, one cannot be entitled to receive the flying allowance, scare skill allowance and overtime, reads the court documents.

Matlhagela argues that the redeployment was unlawful as it essentially amounts to a unilateral variation of his employment contract as, I did not consent to it. It was just arbitrary and harsh. He contends that the duties are vastly different and in no way related as one is a professional and skilled role and the other is a clerical and support staff function. I have not been given reasons why I was redeployed but I can only infer that it is because it is believed that I am associated with the previous Director General of the DISS Isaac Kgosi. I say this because after he left, I was asked by Tino Phuthego why I took an instruction from him to fly the previous president Lieutenant General Dr. Seretse Khama Ian Khama to Mosu. I responded by saying I was merely executing an instruction as a subordinate as in my line of duty I have been given instructions to fly people, sometimes for purposes unknown to me. As a pilot flying is important to me and I am personally losing the hours necessary for my growth and experience, says Matlhagela who has instructed Ndadi Law Firm to argue his case in court.

One of the reasons why Isaac Kgosi was fired is said to have been because he unlawfully lent the former President a DISS aircraft. Court documents show that Matlhagela was a Commercial Pilot according to a license from CAAB. In a letter of redeployment signed by Acting DISS Director General Modiri Kooagile dated 27th July 2018, Matlhagela is redeployed to the Corporate Service Division as the Air Liaison Officer. The redeployment according to Kooagile does not affect Matlhagelas salary scale. Court documents further indicate that Matlhagela on the 4th of July 2018 lodged a grievance with the Director General regarding a decision to withdraw him from the Jet Transition Course and High-Altitude Decompression training which was aimed at readying him for flying the awaited Pilatus PC24 aircraft.

He also complained to the Director General that he has been grounded from flying by his supervisor Tino Phuthego since the 3rd of July 2018. In the grievance letter Matlhagela states that, Tino Phuthego stated that I was never selected for Pilatus PC24 initial crew training, it was only a suggestion by management and not a decision. Phuthego stated that only he has the power to decide who get to fly any of the aircraft at the organisation and not management.

Matlhagelas lawyer Uyapo Ndadi argues in the papers that the redeployment was irrational as it appears to spite or frustrate his client as it comes soon after he formally lodged his grievances with respect to being denied the opportunity to go for further training and for being grounded as a Pilot with no valid reasons advanced.Earlier this week, the Minister of Youth Employment, Sport and Culture Development, Thapelo Olopeng met for a consultative meeting with local Film and Television producers in Gaborone, where he informed the packed auditorium that his ministry is ready to expedite the amendment of the Cinematograph Act.

He also informed the creatives that the industry needs a robust structure in the form of the National Arts Council, which the industry has been demanding for a number of years as well as the Film Commission. The creatives were also informed that the next tendering process for content for Now TV was on the way. Now TV has a budget of P50 million, and P10 million from this budget goes towards the running of the station as well as investing in structures such as the infrastructure for live streaming. Other key issues that came out was the need to have a rate card, which will guide stakeholders; the question of the P50 million budget which they feel is too little for the industry, and concerns over the 13 episodes which is the current requirement for content. Some felt that 13 episodes that translates into three months is very little and are calling for 26 episodes at the most. For his part, Olopeng told the gathering that the fact that the first citizen is a creative, having acted in productions such as Joseph and the Amazing Technicolours means that he understands the challenges facing the industry.

He also promised that they will move very fast on breathing life into the National Arts Council. One of the key issues that came out was related to content acquisition. Some feel that commissioning is the future when it comes to acquiring content.

Commissioning is transparent, and it will save a lot of filmmakers as unsolicited content is expensive, says Kabo Monare. For his part, Olopeng assured the producers that he was at the meeting to get advice from them, and that his office will not shy away from consulting. He also says that they will engage experts, and that this is only the beginning of good things to come.

We started with Now TV this year. It took us two years to get it running. The president has called for us to consult as much as possible which is why we are consulting today. I will be a fast messenger between you and the cabinet, he promised. Clarifying the Now TV issue, the broadcaster Cordinator Legae Digwaamaje highlighted that they have signed the draft contract with DStv, and that they were in the process of procuring hardware that will enable them to decode the Now TV signal before it airs. He also says that their wish is not to have Geo blocking, where the channel is only available on some parts of the region, but that due to contractual obligations with the other parties, the channel will only be broadcast in Botswana.

He further says that they are in partnership with BOFINET which will see them streaming live online. Speaking on the sidelines of the forum, Pascar Proctor said the industry is in a revival stage, a good revival, he emphasised. He says that for years, the industry has been in a summit with founding and early players but has since seen new players getting involved. He further advised that to go into the next level of growth, the industry needs to summit as an army and not as individuals. Proctor, however, points out that the world is moving away from film commissions and arts councils, but that locally these two initiatives should be done in a modern way in order to survive the next twenty years.De Beers 2018 Shinning Light Awards, an initiative that encourages young people from the De Beers countries; Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Canada to become competitive jewellery designers, were recently launched in Gaborone, alongside this years Diamond Conference.

The competition has existed for over 22 years in South Africa and almost 10 years in Botswana and Namibia, and was only launched in Canada this year. Young people from these producer countries have been urged to enter the competition in order to make sure that they produce African made work using the precious stones. The winners will be honoured with an opportunity to participate in a 12-month apprenticeship programme in Milan, Italy while the runners-up will win a three-months internship program at Forevermark or a design programme at a local design school.

Head of Brand Strategy and Innovation at De Beers Forevermark, Constantino Papadimitriou said that this opportunity has always improved the young peoples lives; Over the years, we have seen how the Shining Light Awards have presented students with a great opportunity to develop their skills in Jewellery manufacturing. We are looking forward to seeing the journey they take in interpreting the theme and bringing it to life, he said.

Executive Vice President at De Beers Group and CEO of Forevermark, Stephen Lussier also added that the Shining Light Awards have proven to be a valuable design platform to showcase talent and open opportunities for young people within the diamond sector and international markets. This is in-line with De Beers Group objectives on beneficiation through skills development of the youth, said Lussier.

The theme of 2018/2019 Heroines and Heritage includes feminine elements that speak to women, evoke national pride as well as symbols of strength, heritage, wisdom and beauty. Acting Diamond Hub Coordinator in Botswana, Diana Moabe said that the theme has come at an opportune time where women are also encouraged to take part into different fields of the market. The theme interrogates women and heritage which are the dynamics of the past and the future, she said adding that the time is now, to get commercialised pieces at an affordable price.

The more the number of women into leadership in businesses, the more profitable the businesses become, Moabe said as she applauded Thamaga Pottery for the well done job, saying that empowering women is the most important procedure., hence the De Beers conference also had the W summit, to empower women.

Vice-President of Corporate Affairs and Government Relations, De Beers Global Sightholder Sales, Pat Dambe also said the awards are meaningful to the producer countries. We have just concluded roadshows to all the four De Beers Group producer countries, where we visited various Universities to present to design students on the project and how they can become part of it. Reception has been great. Over the years, we have seen high quality submissions and we anticipate that this year the response will be even greater.

The De Beers Designers Initiative has created the opportunity for the Shining Light Awards winners to attend the Faculty of Design at Milan Polytechnic as part of the companys youth beneficiation strategy.

We are very happy to have taken this into a scholarship programme to include Batswana, Namibians, South Africans and Canadian participants with aspirations to participate in the downstream of the diamond industry, said Dambe. Local jewellery designers were encouraged to look out to these awards to benefit from the opportunity as well as sell Botswana as a diamond country with their superior talent.Launched four months ago, local company, Romantic Coffee has come up with a genius concept that will change the landscape of how clients of the hospitality industry see and enjoy their favourite coffee brews. The company, is in the business of roasting and packaging some of the finest and top quality arabica coffee beans from the best coffee bean makers in the world, including Ethiopia, Kenya, Brazil, Columbia and Honduras.

The brains behind the company are none other than Neo Mosimane and Jean-Marie Kabalisa. Kabalisa originates from Rwanda/Burundi, and has been in Botswana for thirty years. Coming from a place that makes coffee, he always wished that Botswana too could have a locally produced coffee. This is how Romantics Coffee was born. But it took a while before he found the right partner who shared his vision.

He told this publication on Monday afternoon that Capello, where this interview took place, is one of their first clients. Other clients include Linga Longa, Dros and Black restaurant. Kabalisa explains that he watches Formula 1 with Mosimanes father and in one of the days they were talking about business, and how he was looking for a business partner. The rest as they say is history.

Once Mosimane was briefed about the business, she did some research, and instantly fell in love with the concept. The duo shares the same passion and love for coffee, and take the craft very seriously. Kabalisa explains that prior to meeting his business partner, he went around the local supermarket, and noticed that shelves were stocked with South African products. The raw material, however, were from the rest of Africa and outside the region.

I was driven by the love to do something that comes from Botswana, he explains.

He also reveals that they are now roasting and packaging their products in Botswana under the Brand Botswana endorsement. Romantics Coffee, as the name suggests is enticing and rich in flavour. The company recently participated at the annual Global Expo, where their stall was a hit with attendants. The aroma of coffee brewing attracted many to their stall. The company went on to win the Botswana Pride Award.

Mosimane explains that their first batch of coffee was the Popayan from Columbia. Besides the Popayan, the company is also trading with the following bean brands that include Santos (Brazil), Harrar and Sidamo (both from Ethiopia), Alom (Guatemala), SHG (Honduras), Type Blue mountain and Bold Bean Grinders Quality (Kenya), as well as AA Grade (Tanzania) and Bugisu (Uganda).

The duo takes their craft very seriously and are trained coffee connoisseurs; they use their experience and knowledge handed down from roasting veterans, coffee merchants and coffee farmers to roast their coffee beans in a manner that highlights their best qualities. They have also been trained on identifying beans that have body, acidity, and more.

Our goal is to grow and export our products, says Mosimane, noting that they have done well for a company that has been in operation for four months. They are busy courting other new clients and the future looks bright for them. We have put in a lot of work in three months. Our focus is to deliver a high-quality product, she says adding that they are up against established and big companies but are confident enough to compete.

She also explains that they offer training to the staff of their clients on how to express the perfect end product. We are training them to improve their skills and want the end user to get exceptional product, she says.



1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.

2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.

3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament of the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.

4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.

5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.

6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.

7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.

8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N.

9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.

10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.

11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)

12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.

13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.

14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.

15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.

16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.

17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.

18. Gain control of all student newspapers.

19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.

20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.

21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.

22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms."

23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art."

24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.

25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.

26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."

27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch."

28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."

29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.

30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man."

31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.

32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.

33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.

34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.

36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.

37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.

38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand.

39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.

40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.

41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.

42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use united force to solve economic, political or social problems.

43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.

44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.

45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction over nations and individuals alike.AN Jha, Secretary, Expenditure, has been appointed as new Finance Secretary, a government order said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi led Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has cleared Jha's appointment to the post after incumbent Hasmukh Adhia, a 1981-batch Gujarat cadre officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), retired on November 30.

Fifty-nine-year old Ajay Narayan Jha, is a 1982-batch IAS officer of Manipur Tripura cadre.

An alumnus of St Stephens College from where he passed with first class in Graduation and post graduation in History, Jha is a recipient of World Bank scholarship to pursue Masters in Economic Policy Management from McGill University in Canada.British Industrialist of Indian-origin Sanjeev Gupta's GFG Alliance on announced a binding agreement to purchase all of the outstanding stock in US-based Keystone Consolidated Industries Inc (KCI) from Contran Corporation (Contran).

Under the terms of the deal, GFG Alliance company Liberty Steel USA will acquire KCI, including all its subsidiaries, for USD 320 million in cash, less certain assumed liabilities.

The company said the purchase is expected to close by the end of this month, subject to regulatory review.

"The Keystone acquisition is a core part of GFG's GreenSteel vision to become a leading US producer of high quality, cleanly produced steel," said Gupta, executive chairman of GFG Alliance.

"As we look ahead to the future, GFG will benefit from Keystone's century-long history, its robust operations, and its reputation for producing top quality steel," he said.

According to the GFG Alliance, the acquisition will vault Liberty into position as one of the leading producers of wire rod in the US.

"KCI and its businesses offer Liberty the chance to merge our existing US steel business with one of the country's most productive wire rod operations," said GFG North American CIO Grant Quasha.

"Combined with Liberty Steel Georgetown, KCI will increase our downstream capabilities, create critical synergies, add strong management and provide better value and products for customers as we advance our US steel business to our 5mt pa goal," he said.

GFG said Keystone Steel and Wire, a division of KCI, has an over 100-year-old history in the steel and steel products business and a strong reputation for quality and performance.

KCI recently posted its strongest results in its long history and adds a top-producing wire rod facility with a 1.1 mt capacity electric arc furnace (EAF), the market leading agricultural fence products of RedBrand, industrial wire, an MBQ/SBQ bar mill, three welded wire reinforcement mesh facilities and a PC strand facility to the Liberty Steel USA family.

The deal is financed by two large North American banks, who will be providing an asset backed loan facility and funds managed by BlackRock Financial Management Inc, who will be providing a term loan.

The GFG will contribute equity and its "unencumbered" Liberty Steel Georgetown plant to the transaction.

The GFG acquired Liberty Steel Georgetown, its Georgetown, South Carolina steel plant, at the end of 2017 from Arcelor Mittal, who had mothballed the plant.

The company restarted the plant in June this year and said it has been steadily ramping production to an estimated 400 kt run rate by the first quarter of 2019, with further expansion to follow.

The GFG said it has rehired over 100 employees at the site, recruited over 50 new employees, has revitalised the facility and has re-established its reputation to be the premier producer of high carbon wire rod in the US.

Together, the KCI and the Liberty Steel Georgetown will form the core of the GFG's North American business, which the company is looking to grow further with additional acquisitions in the coming months.

The GFG plans a diverse mix of assets for the US business, ranging from the revitalisation of steel plants that had previously been taken offline, such as Georgetown, to those which are operating and performing very well like KCI.

While the current portfolio is focused on value added long steel products, the company said it is actively pursuing additional acquisitions in flat products and further downstream capabilities to drive towards 5 mt pa of capacity by 2020.Fly Blade Inc., the largest arranger of helicopter flights for civilian travel in the US, will start its India operations in March 2019, with services between Mumbai and Pune.

The helicopters will take off from Juhu and Mahalaxmi in Mumbai. After Pune, the services will be extended to Shirdi.

The American company is launching its India operations, its first outside the US, in partnership with Hunch Ventures, a Delhi-based equity investment firm that has deployed over $100 million in consumer-facing business in India.

The joint venture will be called Blade India.

"The service will help customers avoid large commercial airports entirely as they transform unpredictable four to eight hours drive into short 35-minute flights," said Rob Wiesenthal, CEO of Blade.

The joint venture promises to price the flights "significantly lower" than private chartered jets. A private chartered jet from Mumbai to Pune can cost about $8,000. "Our service will be priced downward of what a private jet will cost," said Wiesenthal.

The service's USP will be in helping customers avoid the commute to airports.

Given the challenges of building transportation infrastructure in our country, we will utilize Indias existing network of heliports to launch a UAM (urban air mobility) solution immediately," said Karanpal Singh, Founder of Hunch.

The joint venture will partner with Hunch portfolio companies, which include Quintessentially, the largest luxury travel concierge in India, and a customer loyalty programme that includes 3 lakh high net worth individuals.

Amar Abrol, who till May this year was heading AirAsia India, will be the CEO of the India operations.

Blade India, like its US parent, will have an asset-light model and will partner with owners of helicopters to offer flight services. "We have already signed a few agreements with helicopter owners. We will be signing more," said Abrol.Listed companies accounted for a little less than a third of the corporate tax in FY18, down from nearly 40 percent in FY17 and 49 percent a decade ago, Business Standard reported.

India's top companies listed in BSE500, BSE Mid-cap or BSE Small-cap index paid Rs 1.88 lakh crore in direct taxes in FY18, against total corporate tax receipts of Rs 5.71 lakh crore.

The findings are based on an analysis of listed companies that accounted for 84 percent and 93 percent of the combined net sales and net profits of all listed firms, respectively, in FY18.

The decline in tax outgo for listed companies was in line with the poor profitability as their pre-tax profits were down 9.6 percent YoY in FY18. Another reason could be an overall increase in the total corporate tax collections base, as per the report.

According to the income tax (I-T) Department, the total corporate tax collections grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.9 percent to Rs 5.71 lakh crore in FY18 from Rs 3.56 lakh crore in FY13.

So while there was a 0.6 percent decline in the tax outgo of 868 listed companies in FY18, the total corporate tax receipts grew 17.8 percent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis. This increase in the total corporate tax collections stems from the growing tax corpus of the unlisted companies.

As per the data, the space of unlisted companies is now more than twice the universe of listed companies in terms of profits and tax contribution.

The direct tax outflow for the listed companies expanded at 5 percent CAGR to Rs 1.88 lakh crore in FY18 from Rs 1.4 lakh crore in FY13.

"Corporate earnings have generally been under pressure in the last few years either because of poor revenue growth or decline in corporate margins. This is what the income tax data capture," Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist, CARE Ratings told the paper.

Analysts, however, consider a steady rise in the effective corporate tax rate in recent years as the reason behind the decline in taxes paid by the listed companies.

"The corporate tax rates have risen in recent years forcing companies to pay a greater share of their pre-tax profit," Dhananjay Sinha, Head, Research, Emkay Global Financial Services told the paper.live bse live

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Alkem Laboratories shares climbed 2.6 percent intraday Tuesday on receiving Establishment Inspection Report for USA facility.

The US Food and Drug Administration had inspected company's manufacturing facility located at St. Louis, USA during March 12-16, 2018 and issued Form 483 with one observation.

In response to the Form 483, the company had submitted a detailed corrective and preventive action (CAPA) plan to the regulator within the stipulated timelines.

"The inspection has now been closed by the US FDA," Alkem said.

After the inspection, the US health regulator issued an Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) for the same facility.

At 14:10 hours IST, the stock was quoting at Rs 1,936.00, up Rs 35.70, or 1.88 percent on the BSE.Dilip Shanghvi | Founder and MD, Sun Pharmaceuticals | Net worth: Rs 89,700 (Image: Reuters)

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Sun Pharma shares witnessed a double-digit fall on December 3 after a report of a regulatory probe against the countrys biggest drug manufacturer by market value. Analysts tracking Sun Pharma turned cautious on the stock, with some even slashing their target price.

PTI reported, quoting sources, that SEBI plans to reopen the investigation into the insider trading case against the company and its promoters, which was settled through the consent mechanism last year.

Following the news, most brokerages maintained their 'reduce' or 'hold' ratings on Sun Pharma (SUNP). However, some of them slashed their target price as the ongoing issues could lead to de-rating of the stock.

There seems to be no end to Sun Pharmas woes  the latest one being a whistle-blower filing with SEBI. Previously reported business challenges coupled with recently highlighted issues have led to its sharp de-rating. We appreciate the management for arranging an investor call, Edelweiss Securities said in a note.

The brokerage slashed Sun Pharmas target multiple to the sector average of 20 times (from 23 times). It maintained its 'reduce' rating with a revised target price of Rs 430, down from Rs 500 earlier.

Edelweiss highlighted that although the management provided some clarifications, a few questions still remain unanswered, particularly those regarding Aditya Medisales (AML) and the $350 million unsecured loan extended by SUNP.

Sun Pharma Managing Director Dilip Shanghvi told investors in a conference call that his company was committed to the highest level of corporate governance. He also said he had not received any query from SEBI about the whistleblower's complaint.

The whistleblower alleged that the Sun Pharma promoter has made around Rs 8,000 crore through insider trading. Shanghvi rejected the allegations and said the company hasnt been involved in any insider trading norm violation pertaining to the Ranbaxy deal.

JP Morgan maintained its 'neutral' rating on Sun Pharma with a target price of Rs 525. Sun Pharma did not receive any query from SEBI, but the news does create some uncertainty, it said in a report.

The international brokerage added that the company's medium-term earnings trajectory will be crucial for a sustained stock recovery. It expects a ramp-up of the specialty chemicals business to improve margins over time.

Another global brokerage, Jefferies, maintained its 'hold' rating on Sun Pharma with a target of Rs 535. The overhang could continue despite the conference call, it said in a report.

The valuation now appears inexpensive at 20 times its estimated earnings for FY20, but the management's responses may leave market participants with mixed feelings.

Edelweiss' version of highlights from investor call:



Audit firm Valia and Timbadia, which was involved in the stock market rigging case, is the auditor of many Sun Pharma subsidiaries .

A: The matter being referred to is about 20 years old, and none of the members of the firm was party to this investigation.

B: This audit firm audits some of SUNPs non-material subsidiaries (0.6 percent of consolidated revenue for FY18).

. The matter being referred to is about 20 years old, and none of the members of the firm was party to this investigation. This audit firm audits some of SUNPs non-material subsidiaries (0.6 percent of consolidated revenue for FY18).

Lakshadweep, an investment company of Mr Valia, is not classified as a promoter as per legal advice. The company plans to consider seeking a revised legal opinion.



Jermyn Capital, a small London-based entity found to have links with two of the biggest market manipulators, co-managed Sun Pharmas FCCB issue .

A: JP Morgan Chase was the lead book-runner.

B: This issue dates back to 2004.

. JP Morgan Chase was the lead book-runner. This issue dates back to 2004.

Orbit Investment Services and Investment Trust of India

A: Sun Pharma is not privy to information on these entities.

Sun Pharma is not privy to information on these entities.

Sun Pharma lent some money to four individuals without security

A: The amount was small and was fully recovered.

B: Happened in 1996  the company adhered to the rules prevailing at that time.

C: The individuals were investigated by SEBI and, in 2002, a ruling was made passed in their favour of them.

The amount was small and was fully recovered. Happened in 1996  the company adhered to the rules prevailing at that time. The individuals were investigated by SEBI and, in 2002, a ruling was made passed in their favour of them.

Insider trading case settled with SEBI

A: A minor technical issue as the trading window closure was not announced as the meeting was done on Sunday.

B: The matter is now settled with SEBI now.

A minor technical issue as the trading window closure was not announced as the meeting was done on Sunday. The matter is now settled with SEBI now.

Shares of Natco Pharma were purchased by Dilip Shanghvi in a personal capacity through Orange Mauritius.

A: The transaction was disclosed by Dilip Shanghavi to the stock exchanges.

The transaction was disclosed by Dilip Shanghavi to the stock exchanges.

Aditya Medisales

A: Became a related party due to the consolidation of shareholding among fewer entities than in the past. The company took shareholder approval to consolidate these shareholdings.

B: The structure was created to achieve a more tax-efficient structure.

C: SUNP is open to unwinding this arrangement and looking for other options such as direct sales taken by SUNP or by the acquisition of Aditya Medisales at cost.

Became a related party due to the consolidation of shareholding among fewer entities than in the past. The company took shareholder approval to consolidate these shareholdings. The structure was created to achieve a more tax-efficient structure. SUNP is open to unwinding this arrangement and looking for other options such as direct sales taken by SUNP or by the acquisition of Aditya Medisales at cost.

The company denied giving any bank guarantees or loans to Suraksha Realty at any point of in time.



Tax rate

A: Effective tax rate now is in the mid-teens.

B: As previously guided, this will gradually inch up in the coming years, as manufacturing facilities in tax-exempt regions will start getting taxed.

Effective tax rate now is in the mid-teens. As previously guided, this will gradually inch up in the coming years, as manufacturing facilities in tax-exempt regions will start getting taxed.

Whistle-blower

A: As of now, Sun Pharma has not received any query from SEBI.

B: Sun Pharma not aware of any whistle-blower complaint, except for from the ones from news articles.

As of now, Sun Pharma has not received any query from SEBI. Sun Pharma not aware of any whistle-blower complaint, except for from the ones from news articles.

Re-opening of insider trading case

A: No notice for the same from SEBI.

No notice for the same from SEBI.

Loans and advances increased significantly from around Rs 70 crore in FY17 to Rs 2,240 crore

A: The company expects to reverse this in 2.5 years and has an option to roll back.

B: The company is open to reversing this transaction but refused to divulge the name of the borrowing entities.



The above report is compiled from information available on public platforms. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

HCL Technologies shares gained more than 2 percent intraday Tuesday after expansion of strategic relationship with Barclays.

In addition to HCL being named as Barclays' preferred partner for IT infrastructure services, the two companies will commit to building the partnership globally, with particular opportunities regarding digital workplace services, the country's third largest IT services company said in its filing.

HCL will leverage its significant investments in AI and automation, including its award-winning automation platform DryICETM, to transform the user experience for more than 80,000 Barclays employees across 26 countries.

The company said the contract between HCL and Barclays is yet to be executed pending banking regulatory notification; both companies hope to conclude the deal during the first quarter of 2019.

"This new agreement will see HCL deliver transformational services to both Barclays and other major clients from Lithuania. We will leverage these with our unique Mode 1-2-3 strategy to enable clients to reimagine their businesses for the digital age," Rahul Singh, President of Financial Services said.

At 13:52 hours IST, the stock was quoting at Rs 1,040.50, up Rs 21.85, or 2.14 percent on the BSE.Maruti Suzuki India | Company would re-start production of vehicles at its Manesar plant from May 12. (Image: Moneycontrol)

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Maruti Suzuki India shares declined nearly half a percent intraday and a percent from its morning high on Tuesday after the company offered exchange bonus and discounts on several car models.

The stock was quoting at Rs 7,731.00, down Rs 28.80, or 0.37 percent on the BSE, at 10:21 hours IST.

Maruti dealers told CNBC-TV18 that Maruti Suzuki is offering exchange bonus on Vitara Brezza for the first time and savings of up to Rs 90,000 on various cars in Delhi.

Savings comprise cash discounts, exchange bonus & other benefits, they said.

Analysts said this could be on account of muted sales growth in past couple of months due to moderate festive season, liquidity crisis in non-banking finance companies and non-availability of retail finance.

The country's largest car maker is offering exchange bonus of Rs 25,000 on Vitara Brezza in December and up to 40 percent more savings on Alto K10 & Celerio in December versus November.

The savings offered on new Ciaz is up to Rs 90,000 while Maruti raised total savings offer on Baleno by 15 percent, Dzire by up to 50 percent and Swift by 14 percent in December against November.

The company sold 1,53,539 units in November, lower by 0.7 percent compared to 1,54,600 units sold in same month last year. In October, the company's sales increased by merely 0.2 percent YoY.

Mini car segment, which comprises Alto & WagonR, registered a 21.6 percent degrowth in November YoY while compact car division (under which it sold Swift, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno and Dzire) sales increased 10.8 percent.

Utility vehicles sales increased just 1.9 percent YoY, which comprises S-Cross, Vitara Brezza, Ertiga etc. Light commercial vehicles sales increased 112.2 percent to 2,128 units YoY.

Global brokerage firm HSBC has maintained buy call on the stock, but slashed target price to Rs 8,700 from 9,000 earlier as the sector trends are still weak and November was no different.

"Retail pick-up remained weak, & December volumes could be worse as dealers look to reduce channel inventory," the research house said, adding the flat YoY growth in November volumes wasn't much weaker than lowered market expectations.

: The above report is compiled from information available on public platforms. Moneycontrol advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.Here are stocks that are in the news today:

Sun Pharma Clarification: Company has not been involved in any insider trading norm violations relating to the Ranbaxy deal. However, there was some minor technical issue relating to a procedural aspect of trading window closure due to intervening holidays.

India Cements: Company acquired controlling stake of 51 percent in Springway Mining Private Limited, thereby it became subsidiary.

Welspun Enterprises: Subsidiary Welspun Sattanathapuram Nagapattinam Road Private Limited (WSNRPL) and National Highways Authority of India executed the Concession Agreement for four-laning of Sattanathapuram to Nagapattinam section of NH-45A (New NH -332) in Tamil Nadu under NHDP Phase-IV on Hybrid Annuity Mode.

Ramky Infrastructure: Company completed sale of NAM Expressway Limited to Cube Highways and Infrastructure Pte Ltd, Singapore. Hence, consolidated debt of the company is reduced by about Rs 1,559 crore.

Share India Securities: Board approved, after recommendation of the Audit Committee of the company, the draft Scheme of Amalgamation of Total Securities Limited with the company, and investment in subsidiary Share India Insurance Brokers Private Limited through acquisition of 41.50 lakh equity shares by way of right issue.

Emmbi Industries: Emmbi launched a funding scheme for farmers with Bank of Maharashtra.

NMDC: Prices of lump ore (65.53, 6-40mm) fixed at Rs 3,550 per tonne and fines (643, - 1 Omm) at Rs 3,110 per tonne.

Uflex: US patent granted to FlexFilms for breakthrough BOPET Film used for Alu Alu Blister Pack.

NCC: Company has received two new orders totaling to Rs 220.2 crore in November.

Gravity (India): Board meeting is scheduled on December 13 to consider the proposal for sale of premises of the company situated in Andheri East, Mumbai.

VST Tillers Tractors: Power tillers sales at 2,108 units in November 2018 against 2,408 units; tractors sales at 628 units against 514 units YoY.

Omax Autos: Board approved the proposal for setting up a new industrial unit for manufacture and supply of 'Long Member' at or around Raibarelli, Uttar Pradesh.

Ceinsys Tech: Company bagged project from Thane Smart City Limited worth Rs 121.04 crore towards supply, installation, commissioning, operation & maintenance for smart water meter & related infrastructure work for water supply system of Thane City.

Infibeam Avenues: Company signed agreement for investment into Instant Global Paytech Private Limited.

Narayani Steels: Board approved the migration of the company from BSE SME Board to Main Board of BSE Limited.

Bulk Deals

B&B Triplewall: NNM Securities sold 1,05,000 shares of the company at Rs 46.05 per share on the NSE.

BLS International Services: Taiyo Greater India Fund sold 11,58,466 shares of the company at Rs 109.24 per share on the NSE.

Bohra Industries: Varun Krishnavtar Kabra bought 2,00,000 shares of the company at Rs 31.12 per share on the NSE.

GSS Infotech: Jatalia Finance Company purchased 93,000 shares of the company at Rs 130.91 per share and Minesh Jormalbhai Mehta bought 1,00,000 shares at Rs 128.63 per share on the NSE.

(For more bulk deals, click here)

Analyst or Board Meet/Briefings

ABG Shipyard: Meeting of 18th Committee of Creditors of company is scheduled to be held on December 6.

Prataap Snacks: Company will be attending B&K Securities's Investor Conference, Emergent India - 2018 on December 4 in Mumbai.

IIFL Holdings: Company's officials will be meeting Sundaram Mutual Fund on December 4.

DIL: Company's officials will be interacting with investors on December 4.

Alembic Pharma: Board meeting will be held on December 6 to consider a fresh proposal for issue of non-convertible debentures on private placement basis.

Vodafone India: Company's officials will be meeting institutional investors in Singapore on December 4, in Hong Kong on December 5-6 and in Chennai on December 7.

Kwality: Board meeting will be held on December 14 to consider the unaudited financial result for the quarter and half year ended September 2018.

Mahindra & Mahindra: Company's officials will be meeting Sundaram Mutual Fund on December 4 and Neuberger Berman on December 5 in Mumbai.

Mandhana Industries: Annual General Meeting to be held on December 28.

PI Industries: Company's officials will be meeting IIFL Asset Management Company on December 4, Spark Capital on December 6, and Quest Investment Advisors and Kotak Institutional Equities on December 7.

Voltas: Company's officials will be meeting Neuberger Bergman on December 4, attending DB India Manufacturing Day and Systematix Rising Consumerism Strengthening Brands Conference 2018 on December 7.

Zydus Wellness: Board meeting is scheduled on December 6 to consider raising funds through issue of securities on a preferential allotment basis; and raising debt through issue of secured or unsecured redeemable, non-convertible debentures on private placement basis.

HPCL: Company's officials will be meeting Blackrock in Hong Kong on December 4.

Allcargo Logistics: Analyst/Institutional investor meetings are scheduled to be held on December 4 and December 6.

SKF India: Company's officials will be meeting Franklin Templeton, Premji Invest and ADIA on December 4.

Jindal Stainless: Conference/ meeting with certain investors/analysts will be held between December 5 and 7.

Aegis Logistics: Company's officials will be meeting investors and analysts (participants) on December 4.

Shriram Transport Finance Company: Company's officials will be meeting Moon Capital and Wellington Management on December 4.

Pritika Auto Industries: Board meeting is scheduled on December 8 to consider issue and allot equity shares on preferential allotment basis for cash.

Shree Pushkar Chemicals: Company's officials will be attending the investor conference hosted by B&K Securities on December 4 in Mumbai.

Dr Lal PathLabs: Company's officials will be meeting JN Asia lnfra Fund on December 4 and HDFC Life on December 5.

Digjam: Board meeting to be held on December 13 to announce September quarter results.

Great Eastern Shipping: Company's officials will be meeting analysts/investors on December 4 in the investor conference hosted by B&K Securities.

Nihar Info Global: Board meeting is scheduled on December 12 to consider allotment of 13,07,000 equity shares non promoters.

Escorts: Company's officials will be meeting investor/fund houses in KEI Rural India Forum on December 4 in Mumbai.

Industrial Investment Trust: Board meeting will be held on December 11 to consider the unaudited financial results of the company for the quarter ended September 2018.

CRISIL: Company's officials will be meeting Crimson Asset Management on December 5.

Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services: Company's officials will be meeting Karma Capital Management on December 4, Egerton Capital on December 5 and Hamilton Capital Partners Inc on December 18.

Bodal Chemicals: Company's officials will be participating in B&K's Investor Conference - Emergent India 2018 organised by B & K Securities on December 4 at Mumbai.business Technical Views | Top buy & sell ideas by Ashwani Gujral, Sudarshan Sukhani, Mitessh Thakkar for short term Mitessh Thakkar of mitesshthakkar.com suggests buying India Cements with a stop loss of Rs 95 and target of Rs 103, Lupin with a stop loss of Rs 882 and target of Rs 945 and DCB Bank with a stop loss of Rs 157.5 and target of Rs 169.Returns from private equity (PE) investments has jumped 14 percentage points in the past five years to 22 percent, The Times of India reported.

PE investments in the last five years have fetched higher returns than ones made earlier, according to the 'Indian Private Equity: Coming Of Age' report by McKinsey. The report is based on an analysis of a dollar internal rate of return (IRR) for 654 PE exits between 2003 and 2017.

"Average returns on exited investments have risen 8 percent for 2006-08 vintage to 22 percent of 201214 vintage," the McKinsey report said.

The PE players found best returns in buyout strategies -- a deal in which majority ownership is acquired -- with median returns at 21 percent.

"Several PE firms shifted focus from minority positions to buyouts, where they have greater control of strategy and talent as well as influence on the manner and timing of exits," the report said.

Almost one-fourth of the total PE investments between 2015 and 2017 were buyouts, up sevenfold in value from the 2009-11 period.

Read  Pace of PE exits surges in the past 3 years: McKinsey

Financial services, consumer goods and machinery products were among the top sectors that contributed to an increase in returns. Median returns in these sectors were in the 15-21 percent range, while telecom weighed on performance for PE investors by reporting a 3 percent median IRR.

Between 2015 to 2017, consumer goods, financial services, healthcare, IT/BPO, machinery and industrials and telecom collectively accounted for 83 percent of total PE investment compared to 44 percent during 2009-11.

According to the report, businesses that are backed by PEs grew faster than industry averages. Revenue and profit of such businesses on an average grew 27 percent faster than their peers.

Industry experts see recent exits of PE firms like ChrysCapital and Kedaara Capital as indicators of improving performance.

There is a high degree of correlation between fund managers closing follow-on funds and industry performance, Vivek Soni, EY India Partner and National Leader for PE Services, told the paper. "Those general partners (GPs) that are able to deliver returns will find it easier to raise follow-on funds. This, along with increasing numbers of total funds under management with GPs, is an indication of improving returns," Soni said.

The growing pace of exits in the last few years, with sustained growth, is a big positive as limited partners (LP) previously cited lack of exits as perhaps the biggest issue faced by them when investing in India, according to IVCA Chairman and Tata Opportunities Fund Managing Partner Padmanabh Sinha.

"The fact that exits are being achieved through a balanced mix of capital markets, strategic sales and sales to financial sponsors is also reassuring the availability of multiple exit options," Sinha added.

The trend of improved performance mirrors in the recent fund raising of around $600 million by True North Capital for its latest Fund VI, the report said.

Accessing performance data on PE and venture capital funds continues to be a challenge due to the absence of regulations on disclosing returns, the space is 'evolving' in that aspect, Soni stated.

The trait of 'survivor bias' currently characterising the space could change as the market matures, he added.Japan's SoftBank has offered to invest over $1 billion in a new funding round for Ola, The Economic Times reported. The cab aggregator may use the fund to boost its food delivery business and invest in areas such as e-pharmacy, sources told the paper. Ola is reportedly close to finalising an investment in the pharmacy sector.

It is, however, unclear whether Ola's cofounder Bhavish Aggarwal will accept additional capital from SoftBank and allow the investor to raise its shareholding from about 26 percent at present, the report said.

"The possibility of giving SoftBank another 10-15 percent stake would be the reason why Aggarwal may not accept the offer in its current form," a source told the paper.

Read | SoftBank considering Ola-Uber merger in India: Sources

Thus, even though SoftBank's CEO Masayoshi Son and Aggarwal have met multiple times recently, Ola reportedly wants to avoid taking such a big amount from SoftBank. Earlier, Aggarwal had refused a $1 billion offer from SoftBank in 2016 to not cede control to the Japanese group.

"It may eventually be a smaller infusion if at all SoftBank puts in fresh cash. They (Ola) may also look to get a new investor on board," a source told the paper.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the story.

Ola may bring in other investors for the new round of funding, sources told the paper.

Until now, Ola has assured about $200-250 million funding from Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal and existing backer Steadview Capital.

Singapore's sovereign wealth fund Temasek may also infuse capital in the taxi aggregator. In August, Temasek Holdings had acquired some stake in India's cab-hailing company for about $225 million.

The investment from Bansal and Temasek will help Aggarwal ensure diversity in the company's shareholder base as both entities have pledged their voting rights to the co-founders.

Read : Ola accelerates international expansion with New Zealand foray

After the new round of funding, Bansal and Temasek will together hold 7-8 percent in Ola, while the co-founders would have a combined 10-11 percent stake. In such a scenario, Aggarwal would have control of about 25 percent of voting rights in the company as Yuri Milner's DST Global, which owns about 6 percent stake, had also given its voting rights to Ola founders in 2015.

The voting right would allow Aggarwal to block special resolutions proposed by shareholders, which includes corporate actions such as M&As.

Ola's new round of funding comes as the slowing growth pace in the ride-hailing industry has pushed the company to expand into new areas. Ola and Uber reported a 20 percent decline in growth on an average in 2018 to 3.5 million rides across all segments, including taxis, autorickshaws and shared cabs, the report said.

Read: After UK entry, Ola raises over Rs 1,500 cr in funding from Temasek Holdings

As a result, Ola is planning to expand in pharma retail as it is a high-frequency category with healthy margin even after discounting.

In December last year, Ola had bought the Indian arm of Foodpanda from its German parent: Delivery Hero. It had also committed to pump in $200 million food delivery service Foodpanda , which is the largest such funds infusion in an Indian online food ordering and delivery company till date. The cab-hailing service provider is also said to be in talks to buy food delivery brand FreshmenuI

Shoppers in India will soon be able to add Instagram to their shopping apps list as the platform plans to enable users to shop for products from 2019, Mint reported.

In the early stages, Instagram would add 'buy' option next to an image, which would redirect a user to the merchant's web page to complete the purchase. Later, users will be able to make the purchase within Instagram.

"By the mid of next year, the platform will have a 'buy' button, which will redirect users to the product page based on a cost per sale model," a person aware of the development told the paper. After the company figures out payments and other aspects, Instagram would sell products directly, the person added.

Currently, 80 percent of India's e-commerce, which is estimated at more than $4 billion, is controlled by Flipkart-Myntra and Amazon India, according to analysts.

Industry experts believe that while shopping on Instagram will initially boost sales for brands and e-commerce platforms, it may hurt online retailers, especially fashion platforms, in the future.

"Instagram Shopping in its initial form may boost sales for brands and smaller fashion portals by redirecting customers to the merchant websites," Arpan Sheth, a partner at consulting firm Bain and Co, told the paper.

However, Instagram would have to figure out other aspects of customer experience, such as logistics, payments, and returns, for them to be able to take users away from fashion e-commerce platforms in the long run, Sheth added.

As of now, Instagram users can shop through the platform via Instagram Stories, where the user can use the 'swipe-up' feature that directs the consumer to the brand's website. Globally, Instagram allows users to shop through a shopping channel as well.

Industry estimate suggests India has the second-largest Instagram user base outside the US. Even though revenues from India remain trivial for most tech firms, users in the country account for the highest contributors to the market growth of tech giants such as Facebook and Google, the report said.

"Shopping is a natural extension for Instagram because a large number of fashion discoveries take place on the platform," an e-commerce entrepreneur, told the paper. The shopping feature would allow users to check product availability on Instagram itself, the entrepreneur added.China and India have created "golden opportunities" for tourism with the rapid economic progress and a fast growing middle-class, a top Chinese official said here, as the country's picturesque southwestern Yunnan Province launched initiatives to woo more Indian tourists.

China, one of the world's top receivers of international tourists, has been promoting Yunnan as a paradise for Indian travellers, highlighting its proximity to the country, dramatic landscape and breathtaking views.

The efforts by the provincial government came months after President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi held their first informal summit in central China's Wuhan city where they agreed to strengthen people-to-people exchanges.

Kunming, also known as 'the city of eternal spring' due to its spring-like weather, ideal to escape the summer and the frozen winter, is the capital city of the country's most ethnically diverse Yunnan Province.

To attract a large number of tourists from India, the Yunnan Provincial Tourism Development Commission signed an agreement with the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) and a three-day convention 'Tourism Beyond Boundaries' was held here in which nearly 500 delegates from India explored the tourism opportunities between the province and India.

According to Li Malin, Vice Governor of Yunnan Province, "both China and India are developing countries with rapid economic development, increased living standards of the people and a fast growing middle-class which have created golden opportunities for tourism development".

"India has emerged as an important source market for China, while China is the potential market to send travellers to India," she said.

Between India and China, there is a tourist market which is broad enough for both the sides to explore, Li said.

"Social and people-to-people exchanges with tourism included as one of its integral components play an important part in enhancing relations between India and China," Li said.

According to Kunming-based tourist guide Maria, Yunnan offers a host of tourist attractions which include the Stone Forest  a notable set of limestone formations in Shilin Yi Autonomous County; Dianchi Lake  also known as Kunming Lake; Yuantong Temple - the most famous Buddhist temple in Kunming; Green lake park - an urban park in Kunming which comprises a group of four small sub-lakes linked by bridges in the traditional style among others.

"Kunming is one of the most beautiful cities of China. It is also known as 'the flower city' as its unique weather conditions allow it to grow flowers across the year.

"The city's proximity to India, just a two-and-a-half-hour flight from Kolkata and a four-hour flight from New Delhi, makes it a must-visit tourist place for Indians looking to spend their vacations abroad," Maria said.

Li Malin said that her appreciation goes to those who are long committed in supporting and promoting cooperation between India and China, specially between India and Yunnan Province.

Yunnan is one of the most advantageous provinces in China, blessed with abundant tourism resources and endowments.

In 2017, the Yunnan Province received a total of 573 million domestic and foreign tourists, raking in a total revenue of 692.2 billion yuan (USD 101.1 billion), Li said.

In April in Wuhan, President Xi pointed out that China and India should jointly carry out comprehensive cooperation plans between the two countries and promote more extensive social and people-to-people exchanges, she said.

"Prime Minister Modi responded that the two sides should promote people-to-people friendship and raise bilateral relations to a new level," Li said.

He Ligui, Director General, Department of Culture and Tourism of Yunnan Province said that Yunnan, with the most nationalities in the country, has 26 nationalities as a whole.

Yunnan, which offers a lot of scenic beauty, natural wonders and excellent climate, is now focusing on Indian tourists, He told a group of visiting Indian journalists.

"There are plans to launch more flights to Kolkata and other Indian cities to boost two-way flow of tourists," He said.

Li Bijian, Minister-Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi, said Yunnan offers great tourism opportunities to Indians with its karst landscapes, beautiful mountains, red lands, dramatic landscape and breathtaking views.

"We think that India and China are the largest neighbours, the largest developing countries and the largest emerging economies.

"The decisions taken during the Wuhan summit are described as the Wuhan Spirit by your side while our side calls its Wuhan Consensus," Li said.

He also called for an increase in the inflow of Chinese tourists to India, saying there is a need for more Mandarin-fluent Indian guides holding official permits.

"Though there are many five-star and four-star hotels in India, there are very limited business hotels in India. Also, there should be more Chinese restaurants in places like Kerala, Goa, Varanasi and Bodh Gaya among others, Li said.

President of TAAI Sunil Kumar said that TAAI is a vehicle for the governments to sit and ride on if they are seeking to promote a particular destination for tourism.

"Yunnan will be the most important household destination for every travel agency which is associated with TAAI. The tourists' arrival in Yunnan will rise significantly," he said.The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has started compiling a list of officers at the director general level eligible for selection as the next chief of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)  an exercise that it takes up every two years, according to a report by The Hindustan Times.

The development comes at a time when the Supreme Court (SC) is hearing CBI director Alok Vermas case challenging the Centres decision to divest him of his powers. Verma is slated to retire on January 31, 2019.

A committee that includes the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India (CJI) picks one candidate from the exhaustive list.

A home ministry official told the paper that the exercise was a routine one and had nothing to do with the ongoing case.

Special Secretary (Internal Security) in the Union Home Ministry Rina Mitra, Border Security Force (BSF) chief Rajnikant Mishra, National Investigation Agency (NIA) chief YC Modi, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) chief SS Deswal, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) chief Rajesh Ranjan, National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Science Director Javeed Ahmad, and Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) Special Secretary Vivek Johri could be in the fray to take up the top job at Indias premier investigative agency.

In October, the Centre had divested Verma and his deputy Rakesh Asthana of their powers over a tussle between the two. Asthana had questioned Vermas integrity in a letter sent to the Cabinet Secretary in August.

CBI had filed a complaint against Asthana on October 15, alleging corruption. This was challenged by Verma in the apex court.British national Christian Michel, wanted by Indian investigative agencies in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP choppers deal case, was taken to the Dubai International Airport on December 4, where he would take a flight to India, according to a media report.

The Court of Cassation had in November upheld a lower court order which said that Michel could be extradited.

Michel, 54, was taken to the Dubai International Airport on December 4, where he would take a flight to India, the Khaleej Times reported.

Christian Michel left Dubai at 6 pm and is likely to land in India around 11 pm, according to CNN News 18

India officially made the request to the Gulf nation in 2017 for his extradition, based on the criminal investigations conducted in the case by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The ED, in its chargesheet filed against Michel in June 2016, had alleged that he received 30 million euros (about Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland.

The money was nothing but "kickbacks" paid by the firm to execute the 12 helicopter deal in favour of the firm in "guise of" genuine transactions for performing multiple work contracts in the country, according to the chargesheet.

Michel is one of the three middlemen being probed in the case, besides Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa, by the ED and the CBI. Both the agencies have notified an Interpol red corner notice (RCN) against him after the court issued a non-bailable warrant against him.

The ED investigation found that remittances made by Michel through his Dubai-based firm Global Services to a media firm he floated in Delhi, along with two Indians, were made from the funds which he got from AgustaWestland through "criminal activity" and corruption being done in the chopper deal that led to the subsequent generation of proceeds of crime.

Michel denies the charges.

On January 1, 2014, India scrapped the contract with Italy-based Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the IAF over alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of paying kickbacks to the tune of Rs 423 crore by it for securing the deal.

The CBI has alleged there was an estimated loss of 398.21 million euros (approximately Rs 2,666 crore) to the exchequer in the deal that was signed on February 8, 2010 for the supply of VVIP choppers worth 556.262 million euros.6. Citigroup | Fine: Rs 45,503 crore | In 2014, the bank was held guilty for selling bad mortgages as good investments, adding to the 2008 financial crisis.

American lender Citi said it is eyeing a greater pie of the Indian wealth management business, concentrating both on the domestic opportunity as well as non-resident Indians (NRIs).

It has made two senior level appointments in pursuit of this in its private bank vertical, an official statement said, without quantifying the size of the market it aims to capture.

Quoting from a report by a consultancy, it said India has 263,000 high networth individuals HNIs, representing about $1 trillion in wealth, while there are 16 million India-born people living outside.

The bank said in the recent months, several prominent Indian families have acquired residential and commercial real estate properties in the United Kingdom through financing from Citi Private Bank.

"What we are witnessing is just the tip of the iceberg. Ultra high networth (UNHW) families, in general, think of wealth in a borderless way," Jyrki Rauhio, the south Asia head for Citi Private Bank, said.

On the diaspora end, the bank said Indian UNHW families are concentrated in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Australasia, the Gulf region, East Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada, where it has offices.

It has appointed Varun Chugh as the global market manager for the 'Global India business' and Puneet Sanwalka as the head of 'India onshore business', the statement said.India Economy

A digital platform showcasing the finest of European cultural heritage items may be presented in India to explore local possibilities, said a top EU functionary on Tuesday.

The digital platform, Europeana, showcases the cultural and scientific heritage of the continent with thousands of museums and archives from member countries contributing to it.

"We will present Europeana here and share our experience how we built it, and support it," said EU ambassador to India Tomasz Kozlowski at the inaugural of 'EU-India Partnership for Cultural Heritage Conservation' here.

He hoped with "India being a digitalised country" some version of Europeana that suits the country's need could be developed.

"I am sure India being such a digitalised country, very soon we will probably invent something that will meet India's requirement. But it's part of future," Kozlowski said.

Cultural heritage is a collective as well as an individual responsibility and it deserves to be recognised and preserved for future generation, he said.

The two-day conference organised by the 'Delegation of the European Union to India' and 'Embassies of EU Member States' in collaboration with the National Museum Institute of Art, Conservation and Museology, India, is being attended by experts from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany and other EU counties.

The sessions of conference will involve discussions on topics like cultural heritage as a catalyst for socio-economic development, effects of urbanisation of cultural heritage, climate change risks on cultural heritage, and new technologies adopted in the field, among others.Representative image

New norms for conversion of any road into a national highway (NH) are expected to be unveiled by the end December, according to a report by The Times of India.

Multiple rounds of inter-ministerial consultations were held since September to finalise the new norms.

One of the criteria for any road to be declared a national highway would be that at least 5,000 vehicles use it daily and its direct connectivity to an existing national highway, the report suggests.

The report adds that the density of national highways in a particular state would also be a key factor to qualify for a road to get the tag.

At present, there are no set norms to assign the national highway tag to a road. When the road transport ministry receives a request from a state government, it gives that road a national highway status.

After the new norms come into force, a committee of secretaries will be setup to identify roads to be designated as national highways. After this, the administrative approval will come from the transport ministry.

In the past four-and-a-half years, 38,000 kilometre (km) of roads have been added by the highways ministry to the national highway network, taking the total length to 1.29 lakh km. As many as 54,000 km of roads have received in-principle approval.

Newly declared national highways that do not meet the new criteria may also lose the tag.

Striking off stretches with in-principle approval from the list will not be a problem since no investment has been made by the Centre. But de-notifying any of the already declared NHs because they wont qualify as per the new norms may end up becoming a political issue, the newspaper quoted a source as saying.Imran Khan

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on December 3 said war is not a solution to the Kashmir issue, which can be resolved through talks.

In an interview to a group of television journalists here, Khan said unless there was a dialogue, various options on resolution of Kashmir cannot be discussed.

When asked about the formula to resolve the Kashmir issue, Khan said there were two or three solutions, which have been in discussions.

He, however, refused to share more details, saying it was "too early to talk about them".

Khan claimed he was informed by late prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and former foreign minister Natwar Singh during a conference that Kashmir would have been resolved if the BJP had not lost the 2004 Lok Sabha elections.

"It shows that there is a solution of Kashmir and both countries were close to resolve it," the Pakistani prime minister insisted.

Ruling out the possibility of any war with India, he said two nuclear armed countries would not fight because "there are always unintended consequences".

Asserting that Pakistan was serious to develop peaceful ties with all its neighbours, Khan claimed India was not ready to hold talks with the country due to the upcoming general elections.

Replying to a query on his views on the military's role in shaping of foreign policy in every country, including the US, he said, "Advice from the establishment is taken in those issues where security situation is involved."

Khan said the Pakistan Army and his government "are on the same page" and his decisions are "backed" by the military.Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (L) shakes hands with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi during a photo opportunity ahead of their meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi

India and Canada's bilateral relationship has been on a 'standstill' for the last nine months since Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's controversial visit to India.

The two sides have not held any ministerial-level engagements in the past nine months, according to a report by the Hindustan Times.

A senior official told the news daily that the situation may not change for another year as the Lok Sabha elections are scheduled for April-May 2019 and the Canadian federal elections will be held in October 2019.

"It will be up to the new government to bring the relationship back on track," an Indian official was quoted as saying.

Expected bilateral visits at ministerial levels have also been cancelled during these nine months.

Minister of Commerce Suresh Prabhu was expected to visit Canada in September. Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari was expected to embark on a similar visit to the North American country. But these trips never took place.

Multiple attempts to hold a high-level bilateral meeting between Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and her Canadian counterpart Chrystia Freeland have failed, the news daily reported. Canadian Minister of Environment Catherine McKenna's visit to India has also been called off.

In February, Trudeau had received a lukewarm welcome by the Indian government during his visit. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had not received Trudeau at the airport, as he had previously done with state leaders like Shinzo Abe, Barack Obama, Xi Jinping and Benjamin Netanyahu.

Speculation at the time of the visit was that the Centre had decided to "cold shoulder" Trudeau because two of the four Sikh members in his cabinet  Harjit Sajjan and Amarjeet Sohi  allegedly supported the Khalistan movement.

Speaking at the Parliamentary Press Gallery Dinner in May, Trudeau mocked his visit to India by talking about various aspects of the tour in front of a packed audience.

"That's it, in terms of this year. Nothing else happened. Nothing at all. We didn't go to India," Trudeau said . "I dont remember the India trip. I think to myself we should really go to India sometime, the same way I say to myself we should have a Highlander 2 sometime, because that was such a great movie."Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a rally in Siliguri in north Bengal on December 16 during the BJP's "rath yatra" campaign, senior party leaders said.

Ahead of the parliamentary election next year, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is organising three "rath yatras", (chariot march) titled 'Save Democracy Rally', in West Bengal this month.

In 40 days, the BJP will cover all the 42 Lok Sabha constituencies of the state where the party has set a target to win 22 seats in the general election due next year.

The first "rath yatra" will start on December 7 from Cooch Behar in presence of party president Amit Shah. Modi's rally will be held in Siliguri when the march reaches there.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji will address a rath yatra rally on December 16 at Siliguri in North Bengal," a senior state BJP leader said.

Apart from the December 16 rally, Modi is likely to attend three more rallies during the "rath yatras" but the dates are yet to be finalised, said another senior BJP leader.A view of the Supreme Court of India in New Delhi - Nov 12, 2018 (Image- PTI) (2)

The Supreme Court on December 4 directed constitution of special courts in each district of Bihar and Kerala for the trial of pending criminal cases against present and former MPs and MLAs.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph passed the directions for setting up special courts in every district of the two states and also sought compliance reports from the Patna and Kerala high courts by December 14.

The apex court directed the high courts to send back cases from special courts, which were already constituted, to jurisdictional district courts.

The Supreme Court has given the liberty of constituting as many courts as required in the districts of these two states for trial of cases against the legislators.

The apex court also said the special courts would take up life term cases on a priority while hearing pending matters against MPs and MLAs.

The court was hearing a PIL filed by lawyer and BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay seeking a life time ban on politicians convicted in criminal cases besides the setting up of special courts to expeditiously try cases involving elected representatives.

Earlier in the day, the top court was informed that there were 4,122 criminal cases pending, some for over three decades, against present and former members of Parliament and legislative assemblies.

The apex court had sought detailed data on the pending criminal cases against the present and former legislators from the states and various high courts so as to enable the setting up of adequate number of special courts for expedited trial in these cases.

Senior advocate Vijay Hansaria who is assisting the court as amicus curiae in the matter along with advocate Sneha Kalita had filed the data received from states and high courts and submitted it to the apex court.

The data compiled had stated that in 264 cases, trial has been stayed by high courts. Further, the report said in several cases which have been pending since 1991, charges have not yet been framed.

In a previous hearing, the apex court had considered the submission of Hansaria that earmarking a particular court in each district both at sessions and magisterial level and directing them to treat the cases on a priority basis could be a viable option to ensure timely completion of proceedings.

The top court was also informed that 12 special courts set up to try lawmakers exclusively have not been constituted on a uniform pattern, and their number needs to be raised to 19 for trying cases at the sessions level. It was also suggested to the apex court that another 51 such courts are required for magisterial trial cases.

The amicus had further said that special courts were constituted to exclusively deal with all cases including complaint cases against MPs, MLAs including the former ones, irrespective of the fact as to whether the same was committed when the concerned lawmaker was holding the said office.The Uttar Pradesh government has announced financial assistance to the kin of Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh who died of gunshot injuries on December 3 as a rampaging mob protesting alleged illegal cow slaughter torched a police post in Bulandshahr and clashed with cops.

In a statement issued here, Principal Secretary (Home) Arvind Kumar said, "Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has announced a financial assistance of Rs 40 lakh to the wife of Subodh Kumar Singh and Rs 10 lakh to his parents."

The chief minister has also announced an extraordinary pension for the dependent family of the deceased inspector and government job for a member of his family, the statement said.

Singh, who had probed the Akhlaq lynching case initially, and a youth died of gunshot injuries in the violence on Monday, officials said.

Additional Director General (Meerut zone) Prashant Kumar said the protestors from Mahaw village and nearby areas pelted stones on the police and indulged in arson, setting ablaze several vehicles and Chingarwathi Police Chowki, after some body parts of cows were found in a jungle near the village, prompting the police to open fire.

Inspector Singh, who was posted at the Siana Police Station, suffered a gunshot injury in addition to wounds from hard and blunt objects, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Anand Kumar said, citing a post-mortem report.Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot, in Jaipur

When Democratic nominee for the US Senate race Robert Francis "Beto" O'Rourke conceded an election to Republican Ted Cruz in Texas some time back, nobody knew for sure if he had also conceded that there is always a certain collective of people that votes for entrenched familiarity and not change. This is more or less true for all democracies where certain electoral battles, if not all are fought around perceptions and not facts pertaining to good or bad governance.

Take Rajasthan, currently in the throes of a major election and hear the din around it and you will know what we mean.

On this Moneycontrol podcast, we will try and make sense of some of the keynotes of the countdown leading up to Rajasthan's assembly polls on December 7.

Battle for perception

Politics is a game of perception. You wish it wasn't, but it is. And the party and the candidate who succeed in shaping the perception of the largest number of people, get the maximum number of votes more often than not. Barack Obama won two Presidential terms with the help of a mandate of hope while Donald Trump won because he sold a world-view where America needed trade protectionism and border walls to feel safe.

What are the various voices in Rajasthan elections for, want of a better word, selling? Well, to a detached observer, they sound rather confused about whether they want Rajasthan to have more progress or more revisionist ideologies.

So yes, there are references to progress but you are also hearing strident speeches dominated by caste and religion centric questions and one candidate even promising no interference from cops during child marriages!

Controversies over party manifestos have also erupted. As Shruti Jain reported in The Wire, Both Congress and BJP have critiqued each other's manifestos though they have some key similarities. Both have taken care to address the agrarian distress by conceding to the key demands of the farmers of the state, including minimum support price (MSP), concession on electricity and water for irrigation among many others.

Congress, reports Shruti, has also promised loan waivers within ten days of coming to power. However, as she writes, there is no clarity on the type of loans and farmers that would be taken under this. The party has also pledged to take the farm equipment out of the ambit of Goods and Services Tax (GST), introduce farmers pension, firmly implement MSP and improve the system of estimation of crop losses, making it more practical.

On the other hand, BJP, has proposed to set up a rural start-up fund worth Rs 250 crore. Cooperative farm loans worth Rs 1 lakh crore are aimed to be disbursed in the next five years.

Interestingly, both parties have allocated mind and manifesto space to two elements which have created major and often incendiary political conversations in the past few years. Gaushala and gauraksha.

"Additional gau raksha chowkis have been promised (by BJP) in Mewat region of Rajasthan, infamous for numerous incidents of lynching led by cow vigilantes, wrote Shruti

We were talking about revisionist ideologies, earlier, weren't we? And sure enough, as the piece informs, both parties have put emphasis on Sanskrit and Vedic education in their manifestos. Congress has promised that a Vedic studies board would be constituted and Sanskrit education and language would be promoted.

"BJP has promised free undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Sanskrit education and setting up of a Vedic education board. It has also mentioned that land would be given at concessional rates to those educational institutes that give education and sanskars as per the Indian culture.The manifesto reads that a chapter on family awakening would be included in the syllabus of secondary education. During its last tenure, Raje government had made significant changes in the textbooks making them Indian culture friendly."

Of course, the tribal communities have not been forgotten because they can swing votes in a close contest. "Congress has promised to get a legal nod to its bill that provides for 5% reservation to Gurjar, Raika, nomads and Gadia Lohar communities. It has also pledged that steps would be taken to implement the proposal that the previous Congress government has sent to the Central government for giving 14 percent reservation on economic basis.

BJP has promised to recommend tribal affairs ministry to include Meena in the Scheduled Tribe category. In the name of Ambedkar, a pilgrimage fund, national tourist spot, e-library at Ambedkar community halls and a chair at government universities are provisioned. It has also mentioned that nomadic tribes would get official documents like voter ID, Aadhaar card, caste certificate easily."

However both manifestos skirt around the Muslim vote, "BJP has gone completely silent on Muslims upliftment. Even the Congress manifesto seems reluctant to cater to the community. The only provision it has is for computer education in madrassas. Congress, like BJP, has given more focus to Sanskrit education, sidelining Urdu

However, BJP has promised that arrangements would be made to identify Bangladeshis and Rohingya Muslims residing in the state and send them out of the country," wrote Shruti.

That identity politics is a big part of this battle for electoral perception is obvious from the fact that the BJP, in its manifesto, has promised that the word Gorakh dhanda would be banned and its use will be made a punishable offence as it hurts the sentiments of the followers of saint Gorakhnath.

Writes Shruthi, "BJP has further proposed to include saint Gorakhnath in the books of Rajasthan state textbook board and to teach students about its contribution in yoga. It has also promised to build a national memorial for him and restore monasteries of the Nath sect," wrote Shruti.

Whether voters need something more to survive in a rather uncertain economic climate than an assertion of caste identity is a question only time and election results will answer.

The big picture

Let us now try and understand the way politics has traditionally worked in Rajasthan.

Rajasthan's politics has veered between two main players traditionally. Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian National Congress with a modicum of influence wielded by Swatantra party headed by former rulers of Rajasthan.

Strong leaders like Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Mohan Lal Sukhadia, Rajmata Gayatri Devi of Jaipur, Vasundhara Raje, Ashok Gehlot have more or less dominated the politics of the state. Incidentally though, the state has not voted a party to power for consecutive terms since the 1998 assembly election.

Bhairon Singh Shekhawat was the last chief minister to have retained power in 1993. But as India Today reported in November, 2018 , Union minister Prakash Javadekar has claimed that taking a break from recent electoral trend, Rajasthan would vote back the ruling BJP to power in assembly election.

The challenge before Vasundhara Raje

Whether parties win elections or individuals do is an unanswered question in Rajasthan and finally the voters may end up voting for or against the current chief minister Vasundhara Raje.

As Kumar Uttam reported in Hindustan Times, the CM suffers from a problem of perception that is proving the biggest challenge for her managers and her party in the run-up to the assembly elections.

"from being inaccessible to having done little (both popular refrains among voters), Vasundhara Raje, 65 continues to fight the reputation of being a maharani. Her name evokes sharp responses," wrote Uttam.

The piece goes on to quote ordinary voters who list out grievances including lack of government jobs, high electricity bills, ineffective delivery of government schemes, among reasons why they will not vote the ruling party back in power. There is also unrest among Jats and Rajputs over issues of representation.

The by-elections were a wakeup call whereas the piece points out, Congress wrested two Lok Sabha seats and an assembly seat away from the BJP.

But nobody can predict as of now, which way the assembly polls will go.

The final countdown

Neha Chandra of India Today has reported the latest figures in India Today's Political Stock Exchange survey and they show that while 45 percent of respondents in Rajasthan want change in the government, a close 44 per cent support the present dispensation led by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.

However, she writes, There is, however, a regional twist to this photo-finish prognosis: some regions of the state- Ahirwal, Dhundhar (Jaipur), Shekhawati and Hadoti-seem ready to vote the BJP out while others-Marwar, Mewar and Jaisalmer-Bikaner-appear to want more of the same. Based on caste-wise preference, the PSE poll shows that SC, ST, Muslims, Meena, Gujar, Meghwal and Bhil are against the incumbent government. On the other hand, OBC, General, Jat, Kumhar, Mali, Brahmin, Rajput and Vaish want to retain the government.

And so there we are. Back to identity politics rather than issues like employment, law and order, agrarian reforms and more.

And let us not forget the politics of figure-heads either.

As the piece points out, while Raje is contesting for a fourth consecutive time from Jhalrapatan constituency. Former Union minister Jaswant Singh's son Manvendra Singh, who quit the BJP to join Congress over differences with Raje, is pitted against her. The Congress fielded veteran Ashok Gehlot from Sardarpura, while Sachin Pilot has been given a ticket from Tonk.

The survey incidentally was conducted in 25 parliamentary constituencies via telephone interviews, with a sample size of 10,136.

The mathematics of caste

Caste inevitably remains a big factor in Rajasthan politics. As Rahul Singh Shekhawat recently opined in First post, a mixture of caste math and popularity will in the end seal the fates of Vasundhara Raje, Sachin Pilot and Ashok Gehlot.

He writes, Interestingly, many believe that the Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress have considered several factors like caste and personal weightage before fielding high-profile candidates from constituencies to ensure they spend maximum time in their segments. To wrestle power from Raje, a three-time Jhalrapatan MLA will not be a piece of cake. In order to up their game, Congress fielded a fellow Rajput  Manvendra Singh, who yields a considerable influence owing to his political background and caste.

Rahul informs why caste and religion ARE significant factors in political equations. It is because out of the over 2,73,404 voters in the Jhalrapatan constituency, approximately 15 percent are Muslims, 13 percent are SC-STs, OBCs stand at 11, Brahmins are 7 percent in number, Rajputs-Saundhiyas are at 12 percent, Dangis are at 6 percent while Mali and Mahajans are at 5 percent each among others.

In a calculated bid to gather support from Rajput-Saundhia group, Congress fielded Manvendra from the area to cut into BJPs traditional vote bank. The grand old party also enjoys support from the Muslim community in the constituency who generally tend to go with Congress.

The parties may have sidelined Muslim electorate in their manifestos but they cannot ignore the Muslim-dominated Tonk constituency so state Congress chief Sachin Pilot and BJPs sole Muslim candidate Yunus Khan, a state minister are in the fray against each other.

Nobody can of course discount two-time chief minister Ashok Gehlot who will be contesting the elections from his stronghold in Sardarpura constituency in Jodhpur. The AICC general secretary, informs Rahul, won four consecutive Assembly elections from this seat and has been the legislator here for the past two decades.

In the end, the results of this election will signal whether caste politics is more entrenched than ever or whether voters can see beyond identity politics at the elusive ideal of efficient governance.The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been in power in Madhya Pradesh for 15 years. Congress has been calling this their chance to dethrone the saffron party, riding on a possible tide of anti-incumbency. (Image: shivrajsinghchouhan.com)

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on December 4 exuded confidence that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would get a comfortable majority in the just-concluded Assembly elections in the state.

"We will get a good majority. It's not correct to say a number. I don't lie. You will see on (December) 11th (counting day). The BJP will get a comfortable majority," Chouhan, who is here to campaign for his party in the Telangana Assembly polls, said.

Some individuals might have faced anti-incumbency at some places, but not against the government, the chief minister said, asserting that there was no anti-incumbency.

On the concerns raised by the Congress over electronic voting machines in MP, Chouhan said, "The speciality of the Congress is that it starts searching for reasons for loss even before the defeat and prepares a prelude to it. The Election Commission is a constitutional body and we all have faith in it."

"Can it happen in today's age that EVMs changed and power went off?" he asked.

When it was pointed out that the EC had itself said the electricity went off for two hours in a strongroom in Bhopal, Chouhan said the commission was responsible and it would look into it.

On the mob violence in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr district in which a police officer was one of the two persons killed in the incident, Chouhan said the BJP was against violence and action would be taken as per the investigation.

Alleging that the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in Telangana had disappointed people on various fronts, Chouhan said BJP was the alternative.

Describing the alliance among the Congress, the TDP, CPI and Telangana Jana Samiti for the Telangana polls as "opportunistic", he claimed that it was a failure".Gadwal: Congress President Rahul Gandhi and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu during an election rally ahead of the state Assembly elections in Gadwal, Telangana, Monday, Dec 3, 2018. (Handout Photo via PTI) (PTI12_3_2018_000198B)

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his promise of providing employment to 2 crore youths during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Addressing an election rally, he sought to know why four youths committed suicide here recently.

"Narendra Modi in his elections speeches in 2014 had said he would give jobs to 2 crore youths. if you gave employment, why did four youths commit suicide in Alwar?" Gandhi said at a rally in Alwar district's Malakhera town.

Three friends died and another was injured after they allegedly jumped before a moving train in a suspected suicide pact in Alwar district last month.

A primary probe revealed that they were depressed due to unemployment, police said. The Congress president also accused the prime minister of filling the coffers of industrialists with public money.

"Modi says 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' in every speech, but he works for Anil Ambani. He should begin his address by saying 'Anil Ambani ki Jai', 'Mehul Choksi ki Jai', Nirav Modi ki Jai' Lalit Modi ki Jai'," he said.

The BJP has been denying the allegations.

Rajasthan will go to polls on December 7.India and the UAE on December 4 sought to forge partnership in new areas as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj co-chaired the UAE-India Joint Commission Meeting with her counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Swaraj, who is here on a two-day visit, was warmly received by the Foreign Minister of the UAE on her arrival at the meeting venue.



Reinforcing the strong bonds of friendship

EAM @SushmaSwaraj was warmly received by Foreign Minister of #UAE Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan on arrival at @OFMUAE for the #JCM. The ministers looked forward to continuing the trend to strengthen & seek partnership in new areas pic.twitter.com/yeagD1Xekb  Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) December 4, 2018

"Reinforcing the strong bonds of friendship...The ministers looked forward to continuing the trend to strengthen & seek partnership in new areas," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

This is the 12th session of the India-UAE Joint Commission Meeting for Economic and Technical Cooperation.

With nearly USD 50 billion bilateral trade, the two countries are one of the largest trade partners for each other and have made robust investments bilaterally. The UAE is the sixth-largest source of Indian oil imports and hosts a 3.3 million-strong Indian community.

Along with the UAE Foreign Minister, Swaraj would also inaugurate a Gandhi-Zayed Digital Museum in Abu Dhabi to mark the celebrations of 150 years of Mahatma Gandhi's birth and centenary celebrations of the birth of Sheikh Zayed, founder of the modern UAE.Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu said on December 3 he would file a defamation case against a television channel for allegedly running a fake video about slogans purportedly in support of Pakistan during his rally in Rajasthan's Alwar district two days ago.

He said the slogans were of 'jo bole so nihaal' and was shown as in favour of Pakistan in the video.

"I am going to file a defamation case after consulting with my lawyer. I cannot compromise with the name I have earned," he told reporters at the Congress office here.

Sidhu said he do not need to give any proof for loyalty towards India. Without clearly blaming the BJP, the Punjab minister said such things were done because his campaigning was getting "tremendous response".

Targeting the Narendra Modi government, Sidhu said he had raised questions related to farmers, minimum support price, demonetisation at the rally.

But, there was no answer to them and instead such videos were broadcast, he added.Jack Ma, Alibaba Group Holding, Founder and Chairman | June 2018 | Blockchain technology could change our world more than people imagine. Bitcoin, however, could be a bubble. (Reuters)

Jabin T Jacob

That Jack Ma, founder and head of Chinese technology giant Alibaba, is a member of the Communist Party of China (CPC) does not surprise long-time observers of China.

Reports indicate that Ma was a member as early as his college days, which is exactly the sort of thing that smart, ambitious young Chinese would do in order to get ahead in life.

Not all the smarts in the world can help in China if you do not also have the right family connections, elite school or college network and just as, or perhaps more, importantly, a membership of the ruling party in the country.

Indians, including Indian entrepreneurs, should be able to understand this Chinese world of networks and connections easily. There are not many in the latter category who have succeeded without the benefit of family money or connections, belonging to an engineering college network, usually one of the IITs, or having done a degree in a top management school, say an IIM.

Despite the constant drumbeat of merit in Indian social debates, the meritorious do not usually succeed by merit alone, if that, but because of the right connections  or guanxi as the Chinese call it. Ma is no exception.

What are the implications of this news about Ma and other Chinese entrepreneurs like him for India?

There has been a rising trend of Chinese stakes in Indian startups in e-commerce and fintech  in 2017, they received three times as much Chinese investment from the previous year at Rs 129 billion ($2 billion). Companies like digital payments provider Paytm  where Mas Alibaba Group has a nearly 40 percent stake  advertising technology company Media.net, online travel sites MakeMyTrip and iXigo, online marketplaces Snapdeal and Flipkart, and even food and beverage, gaming and health startups all have Chinese investors.

The significance of this spate of Chinese investments in these Indian tech startups is in terms of the access Chinese companies  and by extension, the Chinese State  potentially have, to the data of Indian consumers on everything from their spending habits, medical records and travel history, among other things.

The data Chinese companies collect allows both them, and the Chinese State, to achieve big data applications on a scale unavailable to individual Western or Indian companies themselves or to their governments. This allows China to put still greater distance in terms of technological capabilities between itself and the rest of the world.

The nature of the Chinese State is particularly germane in this context. Note for instance, that electric vehicles in China, including Teslas, send real-time information about the precise location of cars to the government in compliance with local laws but often without the car owners knowledge.

In fact, earlier this year, Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament (MP) Narendra Jadhav, also a former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Chief Economist, was on the record highlighting the grave danger to Indias national security on account of the influx of Chinese multinationals into Indias financial technology space.

Indeed, how robust are security measures around the data of consumers that any number of online apps and even retail stores now routinely collect about Indian consumers?

For Chinese entrepreneurs operating abroad, such as Ma and others of his ilk, other national and international law and norms will always be secondary to the interests of the CPC. Among these interests is access to cutting-edge technologies around the world.

In fact, Xiao Yaqing, head of the Chinese government commission that oversees all of the 100-plus Chinese State-owned enterprises admitted as much in a speech in Beijing on November 30, when he called for Chinese control over key technologies and equipment in order to ensure the development of the countrys enterprises.

At the same time, the CPC by its very nature also intends technology for political uses. This is evident from its blocking of foreign online search engines, stringent data localisation rules for foreign companies, its launch of facial recognition software across the country and a social credit system that deducts points for apparent bad behaviour  read anti-CPC or as we say in India, anti-national behaviour  leading to loss of access to public services including even education for ones children.

The ongoing massive internment in multiple prison-like camps  re-education centres in the Chinese parlance  of up to a million Uyghur in the restive Xinjiang province is another example of the employment of cutting-edge technology in the service of modern political authoritarianism.

The Government of India and Indias entrepreneurs must, therefore, think long and hard about the implications of Chinese capital not just for the countrys future entrepreneurial growth but also for its political system. Hopefully, both capital and technology are used to strengthen and fortify the Indian democratic political system, not to undermine it.

Jabin T Jacob is a China analyst at the National Maritime Foundation, New Delhi. Twitter: @jabinjacobt. Views are personal.With the arrest of three persons of an NGO for the alleged sexual exploitation of minor girls, the opposition Congress and the BJP on December 3 demanded a high level inquiry into matter.

The police had December 2 sealed the illegal shelter home, run illegally by the NGO in Odisha's Dhenkanal district, and arrested its managing director.

Following a visit to Dhenkanal, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday alleged that the shelter home was being used as a centre for religious conversions.

BJP Mahila Morcha president Prabhati Parida alleged that the USA based NGO was using its shelter home to convert the inmates, especially boys and girls from the tribal community.

"The head office of the NGO is in the USA and all the governing members of the board are foreigners," Parida claimed questioning the state government for allegedly allowing the NGO to re-open the shelter home in 2017, after it was shut down in 2015.

"The minister should immediately resign on moral grounds owning responsibility," Parida demanded.

Mahila Congress leader Sonali Sahu demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry under supervision of a Supreme Court or High Court judge into the matter.

Women and Child Development Minister Prafulla Samal, meanwhile, refused to resign and said that the state government was taking stringent action against the people involved in the incident.

The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in a press release accused the BJP of doing cheap politics over a sensitive issue like alleged sexual abuse.

"The BJP is shouting only to gain cheap political publicity. They should desist from indulging in politicisation of a sensitive matter like this especially when it involves children and their well-being," said BJD MP and party spokesperson Prasant Nanda.

Meanwhile, Odisha Director General of Police (DGP) R P Shara has asked the Superintendents of Police (SPs) of all the districts to provide details about the number of shelter homes operating in their respective districts.

He has also asked them to verify whether the shelter homes were registered and details about their modus operandi.

The officials of women and child development department on Monday conducted simultaneous raids at Nandapur in Tihidi block in Bhadrak district, Baliguda in Kandhamal district, Chuliaposi in Udala block and Rairangpur block in Mayurbhanj district.

On the other hand, the inmates of the Dhenkanal shelter home - 47 girls and 34 boys aged between 5 and 16 years - were shifted to another childcare institution.Copy of telangana Polls 2018

Opinion surveys from Telangana have suggested that the Congress-led opposition alliance is on an upswing ahead of the assembly elections on December 7.

As the battle to take control of Indias newest state hits its crescendo, political analysts believe the wide advantage held by the incumbent Telugu Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has been neutralised.

TRS Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) led by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao had dissolved the Assembly on September 6, paving the way for snap elections in the state.

When the assembly was dissolved, TRS was believed to be cruising smoothly towards forming a government with a healthy majority.

However, the unexpected coming together of the states principle opposition party Indian National Congress and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has changed the scenario. The Communist Party of India (CPI), a long-time ally of the Congress, and M Kodandarams newly formed Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) are also part of the alliance.

Observers suggest that over the last month, the opposition alliance, popularly known as the Prajakutami, has been mounting a serious challenge and that the TRS may have peaked too early in the campaign.

Also read: It won't be a cakewalk for TRS as Prajakutami gains steam

The situation has also led to rumours of a possible hung assembly and states relatively smaller players such as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) could play kingmakers.

In an election like this, every extra seat could make a difference.

Arithmetically, the Prajakutami is on strong footing. In the 2014 assembly elections, Congress and TDP had a vote share of 25 percent and 15 percent, respectively. The combined vote share of 40 percent would have trumped TRS vote share of 34 percent, thereby significantly altering the seat share.

TRS had won 63 seats, just above the magic number of 60. Congress and TDP had won 21 and 15 seats respectively.

However, it is to be noted that the assembly polls for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana had happened along with the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. TDP was in an alliance with the BJP.

Also read: Why the Congress lost ground in its bastion in 2014

Will votes transfer smoothly?

It must also be noted that vote share and seat share are not relative. A higher vote share does not necessarily translate into a higher seat share.

The situation in Telangana is similar to that in Uttar Pradesh. Earlier this year, Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) had extended support to arch rival Samajwadi Party (SP) for the Lok Sabha bypolls in BJP bastions Gorakhpur and Phulpur.

It was observed that BSP voters smoothly transferred to the SP, helping the latter beat the saffron party. However, the reverse  SPs voters easily transferring to the BSP  is still an untested premise.

Congress and the TDP have been arch rivals in Andhra Pradesh for over 35 years. In fact, the party was founded by NT Rama Rao, Chandrababu Naidus father-in-law, to break Congress hegemony in Andhra Pradesh.

It is unclear if the core Congress votes would transfer smoothly to the TDP and vice versa.

Also read: A look at how various regions voted in 2014

What Prajakutami could gain

In 2014, Congress-CPI and the TDP had fought head-to-head in 72 seats. Going by data from that election, the alliance is likely to have an impact in at least 53 constituencies.

If the votes were to transfer smoothly, Prajakutami could gain around 16 out of these 72 seats which are currently held by TRS and other parties.

The 16 constituencies are: Achampet, Asifabad, Aswaraopeta, Bhadrachalam, Bhongir, Boath, Bodhan, Devarkadra, Gajwel (held by CM Rao), Mahabubabad, Medchal (where Sonia Gandhi held a rally on November 23), Mulug, Patancheru, Suryapet, Thungathurthy and Wyra.

In these constituencies, the combined vote share of Congress-CPI and the TDP surpasses that of the winning candidate, data suggests. Out of the 16, the alliance could wrest 13 seats from the TRS, two from YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) and one from the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM).

The alliance would also be able to consolidate its hold on 37 seats its members had won in 2014.

These include Alampur, Jagtial, Kodad, Kukatpally, Narayankhed, Maheshwaram, Palakurthi, Quthbullapur, Serilingampally, Wanaparthy and Zahirabad, among others.

The combined vote share of Prajakutami would still fall short in 36 seats, according to the voting pattern from 2014.

Last time, both BJP and TDP had benefitted from the alliance. It remains to be seen if the non-traditional BJP voters would transfer to the Prajakutami or the TRS.

In 2014, the Congress and the CPI had fought all 119 seats. Congress had contested in 113 seats and the CPI in 7. This included Maheshwaram where the two allies were involved in a friendly contest. Incidentally, the winner in Maheshwaram was a TDP candidate.

According to the seat-sharing formula, Congress has fielded candidates on 100 seats, TDP on 13 seats, TJS on six seats and CPI on three seats. However, there will be some 'friendly contests' between alliance members in some seats.

Both sides, especially Prajakutami, would also have their eyes on the three seats won by YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), which has decided not to contest these elections and focus on Andhra Pradesh where it is the second-largest party. Congress would be hoping to take back the votes the YS Jaganmohan Reddy-led party had snatched from it in 2014.

The number of seats Prajakutami can wrest because of the consolidation of votes could be decisive in a close election like this.

If the opposition alliance performs well in Telangana, the model could be replicated at the national level during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.December 07, 2018 / 08:41 PM IST / 08:41 PM IST

Polling in Telangana has concluded. Meanwhile, the exit poll results for all five states are out.

Who is likely to win the battle in Telangana? Find out here.Azmat, 27, recovers on a charpaai with his son at his home in Jaisinghpur. He survived an attack by cow vigilantes when transporting cattle which left Pehlu Khan dead. (Image: Reuters)

The Congress has refused to invoke the issues of cow vigilantism and mob violence to avoid distancing Hindu voters while underscoring the issue of rising crime rate in Rajasthan's Alwar region, according to a report by The Indian Express.

Alwar region has witnessed a number of incidents of mob violence, including the one in Behror, where Pehlu Khan was lynched by alleged cow vigilantes in April 2017. In Ramgarh constituency, Umar Khan was killed by alleged cow vigilantes in November 2017, while Rakbar Khan was killed in July this year.

According to a Congress leader from the region, people refuse to turn up at their rallies if the issue of mob vigilantism is brought up.

"Addressing a rally, I referred to lynchings and said people should not take the law into their own hands. The next day, our workers told us that people have refused to come to rallies. This is the state we are living in," the leader said. "Forget about Muslims, we cannot even talk about violence. We decided then that we will concentrate only on crime and not refer to lynchings at all," the leader added.

However, for the Congress in-charge of the campaign, Sudhanshu Joshi, not bringing up topics such as lynchings is the way to avoid polarisation. "For us, raising the Pehlu Khan issue is not beneficial. In fact, it will polarise this election, which we cannot afford," Joshi told the newspaper, adding that the Pehlu Khan case was "portrayed as something else and defamed Behror".

A senior party functionary said since the Muslim population in the Behror account for less than 1,000 votes, "they have no choice anyway".

"They will vote for us. We don't need to anger the Yadav community here," the party functionary said.

The Yadav community accounts for 70 percent of the 2.2 lakh electorate in the Behror region. Of the nine candidates in the region, eight are Yadavs, the report states.

Instead of bringing up mob lynching, according to Joshi, Congress has decided to focus on law and order issues in the constituency.

According to the report, official police records have shown a steady increase in crime such as murder and abductions in the region.

"The land acquisition process for the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor has begun and this has dramatically increased property prices. Several crimes are now linked to property," a senior police officer told the newspaper.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, has labeled the Congress' campaign as baseless. "The BJP government has clamped down on crime across the region and the Congress is only spreading lies. They have no issues to talk about, so they bring this up. The people can see through this," former BJP Alwar president Dharamveer Sharma said.Outside the Houses of Parliament, London (REUTERS/Hannah McKay)

Supporters of a second referendum on Brexit from all of Britain's main political parties on December 3 handed in a petition with more than one million signatures to Prime Minister Theresa May's Downing Street residence.

"It is time that we now leave the choice to the British people and allow them to decide," Justine Greening, a former education minister from May's Conservative Party, told AFP.

May has ruled out holding a second referendum, urging MPs instead to approve the deal she has made with EU leaders.

The deal has proved highly divisive and all the signs point to MPs rejecting in a crucial vote next week.

The second referendum campaign has meanwhile gained momentum, particularly with the resignation of two ministers who have said another vote could be a way out of the current political impasse.

"There are no certainties in politics and in Westminster at the moment. But I am more positive and confident than I have ever have been since I've got involved in this campaign," said Labour MP Chuka Umunna, a leading supporter.

Around 100 anti-Brexit campaigners turned out for a demonstration near Downing Street on the eve of the start of the parliamentary debate on the Brexit deal.

"This is for my grandchildren," said Glenys Rampley, 74.

"It's unfair for the young people of this country being deprived of the opportunities that the European Union offers," she said.

Campaigners from the pro-Brexit leave means leave also turned out for a demonstration outside the British parliament.

At the protest, Harry Todd told AFP he was representing the 17.5 million people who voted to leave the EU in the 2016 referendum.

"They are trying to sell off a Brexit which isn't a Brexit," he said, calling for a clean break with the EU.Representative Image

China on December 4 welcomed US President Donald Trump's move to seek Pakistan's support for his efforts to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table to end the 17-year brutal war in Afghanistan.

Trump has written to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, seeking Islamabad's "assistance and facilitation in achieving a negotiated settlement of the Afghan war".

Commenting on the development, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said, "we welcome sound interaction between Pakistan and the US".

"Sound and steady development of Pakistan-US relations is conducive to the realisation of the reconstruction of Afghanistan as well as anti-terrorism endeavours," he said.

It is also conducive to regional peace and stability.

"We are pleased to see the improvement of their bilateral relations (and we) support their mutually beneficial cooperation and to step up communication on this issue," Geng said.

In the letter, Trump "stated that his most important regional priority was achieving a negotiated settlement of the Afghan war. In this regard, he has sought Pakistan's support and facilitation."

In Washington, a spokesperson of the US National Security Council told PTI that "the president recognises that Pakistan has the ability to deny the Taliban sanctuary on its territory.The letter also makes clear that Pakistan's assistance with the Afghan peace process is fundamental to building an enduring US-Pakistan partnership."

Since taking office, Trump has been very critical of Pakistan's lax attitude towards combatting terrorism.

Last month, Trump said Pakistan does not do "a damn thing" for the US, alleging that Islamabad had helped al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden hide near its garrison city of Abbottabad.

Ties between the US and Pakistan strained after Trump, while announcing his Afghanistan and South Asia policy in August last year, hit out at Pakistan for providing safe havens to "agents of chaos" that kill Americans in Afghanistan and warned Islamabad that it has "much to lose" by harbouring terrorists.

In September, the Trump administration cancelled USD 300 million in military aid to Islamabad for not doing enough against terror groups like the Haqqani Network and the Taliban active on its soil.

The Trump administration, in the recent months, has intensified its efforts to seek a negotiated settlement of America's longest war in Afghanistan where the US has lost over 2,400 soldiers since late 2001, when it invaded the country after the 9/11 terror attacks.

The Taliban are fighting to flush out US-led international forces and re-establish their regime in Afghanistan after their ouster in 2001.U.S. President Donald Trump waves prior to departing on a trip to Wisconsin from the White House in Washington, U.S., October 24, 2018. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RC13580F4390

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania paid their respects to late president George H W Bush, whose remains lay in state in the US Capitol.

The Trumps made a brief visit to the Capitol rotunda, where Bush's flag-draped coffin was resting as part of tributes to honour the 41st US president and commemorate his extraordinary life.

Bush died peacefully Friday at age 94, at his home in Houston, a passing that led Americans to reflect on his life of duty and service to country as a leader of the so-called "Greatest Generation."

Only the second president to see his son follow him to the Oval Office, the Republican stalwart is being honoured with four days of commemorations and services in Washington and in Texas, where he will be buried Thursday.

Trump is scheduled to attend a state funeral service Wednesday at Washington National Cathedral -- the first presidential funeral since Gerald Ford died in 2006.

But late Monday, after Bush relatives and dignitaries had gone, the president was driven from the White House up to Capitol Hill.

With the first lady at his side, Trump saluted, and they stood at Bush's casket for about a minute. They exited the rotunda with little fanfare.

Bush never warmed to Trump, and he had let it be known that he did not vote for him in 2016. Trump himself has criticized the elder Bush on the campaign trail.

But on Monday, Trump wrote members of Congress to hail Bush as a man who "led a life that exemplified what is truly great about America." "President Bush worked selflessly throughout his long life to bring about a world of justice and lasting peace," he wrote.

Bush was a decorated World War II fighter pilot, onetime ambassador to China, former head of the Central Intelligence Agency, and vice president to Ronald Reagan before winning the White House.

Military pallbearers carried the flag-draped casket into the rotunda as a fiery sunset bathed Washington in a glow.

The somber ceremony was attended by his son George W. Bush -- the nation's 43rd president -- and other relatives, dignitaries and more than 100 members of the House and Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell lauded Bush -- who occupied the White House from 1989 to 1993 -- as a patriot who steered the country as straight as he had piloted his World War II airplane.

"He kept us flying high and challenged us to fly higher still. And he did it with modesty and kindness that would have been surprising in someone one tenth as tough and accomplished as he was," he said.

Bush was transported aboard the presidential Boeing 747 -- made available at Trump's direction -- from Houston to Joint Base Andrews, in Maryland.

In Houston, relatives including his presidential son stood with hands on their hearts as the casket was carried to the aircraft.

Bush is the 12th US president to lie in state in the rotunda. Just three months earlier, the honor was accorded to senator John McCain, a former Republican presidential nominee who died of brain cancer.

Hundreds of members of the public began quietly filing in to the Capitol late Monday to pay their final respects.

Among them was Kim Frinzell, a government employee who did not vote for Bush but grew to respect his accomplishments, including signing the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act.Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks during a news conference with President Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Vladimir Putin of Russia following their meeting in Tehran, Iran September 7, 2018. Kirill Kudryavtsev/Pool via REUTERS - RC1119A76CC0

America should know that if Iran can not export oil then no country will export oil from the Gulf, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday in a speech broadcast live on state TV.

US officials have said they intend to reduce Iran's oil exports to zero in an effort to curb the Islamic Republic's missile program and regional influence.File Picture: Imran Khan

In a strong message to Pakistan, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis has said it is time for everyone to support the efforts of the UN, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and all those who are trying to maintain peace in South Asia.

Pakistan must take on a substantive role in peace talks with the Taliban if the war in neighbouring Afghanistan is to be ended, he said.

Mattis was responding to a question from reporters about the letter written by the President Donald Trump to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, seeking his support in the peace process in Afghanistan.

In his letter, Trump has made it clear that Pakistan's full support over the issue "is fundamental" to building an enduring US-Pakistan partnership.

"We're looking for every responsible nation to support peace in the sub-continent and across this war in Afghanistan that's gone on now for 40 years," he told reporters at the Pentagon on Monday as he welcomed Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for talks.

"It's time for everyone to get on board, support the United Nations; support Prime Minister Modi's, (Afghan) President (Ashraf) Ghani and all those who are trying to maintain peace and make for a better world here," Mattis said.

"We are on that track. It is diplomatically led as it should be, and we'll do our best to protect the Afghan people," he added.OPEC

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other leading oil producers will on Wednesday discuss Qatar's move to leave the group.

OPEC and other global oil producers are holding meetings in Vienna later this week to decide on future strategies for the oil market. Novak declined to reply to questions about possible production cuts.

Qatar said on Monday it will quit OPEC to focus on gas in a swipe at Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of the oil exporting group which is trying to show unity in tackling an oil price slide.Tesla Inc had plans to build its pilot small electric SUV Model Y at Gigafactory 1 by June 1, 2020, the Business Insider reported on Monday, citing leaked internal documents, but said the company changed its plans later.

The electric carmaker planned a production ramp of 7,000 Model SUVs a week at the plant in Nevada by December 2020, and 5,000 Model Ys a week at its China Gigafactory by February 2021, the website said, citing documents sent to staff before Tesla's earnings call in October.

However, "the timelines and information shared here are outdated," the Business Insider quoted a Tesla representative as saying.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.This still image from a Pakistan military handout video shows a Hatf IX (NASR) missile being fired during a test at an undisclosed location in Pakistan April 19, 2011. Pakistan on Tuesday test fired a newly developed short range surface to surface ballistic missile capable of delivering nuclear warheads, the military said. REUTERS/Pakistan Military Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) via Reuters TV/ Handout (PAKISTAN - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - GM1E74J1GJ201

The UN Security Council will meet behind closed doors on Tuesday at the request of France and Britain after they accused Iran of test-firing a medium-range missile at the weekend, diplomats said.

The United States said the missile launch on Saturday was a violation of a UN resolution that endorsed the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, from which Washington has withdrawn.

That resolution calls on Iran to refrain from testing missiles capable of carrying a nuclear weapon.

France said it was concerned by the test-firing with the foreign ministry describing it as "provocative and destabilising" and "does not conform" with UN resolution 2231 on the Iran deal.

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt called the missile test "provocative, threatening and inconsistent" with the resolution and said Britain was determined "that it should cease."

Iran has long maintained that its missile program is defensive in nature and not aimed at ensuring the delivery of a nuclear weapon, a stance supported by Russia at the Security Council.

Washington's Iran envoy Brian Hook urged the European Union to slap sanctions that target Tehran's missile program as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled to Brussels for talks with European partners.

The United States decided in May to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions on Iran, to the dismay of its Europeans allies.

The nuclear deal provides for a lifting of sanctions against Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear activities.San Francisco, Personal information of over 100 million Quora users including their name, email address and encrypted passwords have been compromised, the California-based popular question-and-answer platform said.

"Questions and answers that were written anonymously are not affected by this breach as we do not store the identities of people who post anonymous content," Quora CEO Adam D'Angelo wrote in a blog post on Monday night.

Quora discovered the breach on November 30. It found that that some user data was compromised by a third party who gained unauthorised access to one of its systems.

"We're still investigating the precise causes and in addition to the work being conducted by our internal security teams, we have retained a leading digital forensics and security firm to assist us. We have also notified law enforcement officials," D'Angelo said.

"We are working rapidly to investigate the situation further and take the appropriate steps to prevent such incidents in the future.

"We're very sorry for any concern or inconvenience this may cause," he added.

Quora was founded by D'Angelo, a former Chief Technology Officer at Facebook, in 2009.

The Mountain View, California-headquartered company has over 300 million monthly unique visitors.

Disclaimer: Information, facts or opinions expressed in this news article are presented as sourced from IANS and do not reflect views of Moneylife and hence Moneylife is not responsible or liable for the same. As a source and news provider, IANS is responsible for accuracy, completeness, suitability and validity of any information in this article.FMCG major Hindustan Unilever on Monday said it will merge GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Ltd with itself for an all equity transaction worth Rs 31,700 crore.

The deal would bring the brand of Horlicks, a malted-milk, in Hindustan Unilever's portfolio.

As per the deal, GSK Consumer's shareholders would get 4.39 shares of Hindustan Unilever's shares for each share they held in GSK consumer Healthcare, a regulatory filing by Hindustan Unilever said.

The company said: "We will drive significant cost synergies from a combination of supply chain efficiencies and operational improvements, go-to-market and distribution network optimisation, scale in a number of cost areas such as marketing and streamlining of overlapping infrastructure."

Commenting on the merger, Sanjiv Mehta, Chairman and Managing Director, Hindustan Unilever said: "The turnover of our F&R (food and refreshment) business will exceed Rs 100 billion (10,000 crore ) and we will become one of the largest F&R businesses in the country."

Following the issue of new Hindustan Unilever shares, Unilever's holding in the company will be diluted from 67.2 per cent to 61.9 per cent.

The merger includes the totality of operations within GSK Consumer Healthcare India, including a consignment selling contract to distribute GSK CH India's Over-the-Counter and oral health products in India.

The transaction is expected to be completed in one year subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals.

The announcement of the merger lifted the stock price of both the companies. Shares of Hindustan Unilever closed at Rs 1,825.90 apiece, up Rs 72.30 or 4.12 per cent from the previous close.

Similarly, shares of GSK Consumer Healthcare settled 3.75 per cent or Rs 272.90 higher at Rs 7,542.85 per share.

Disclaimer: Information, facts or opinions expressed in this news article are presented as sourced from IANS and do not reflect views of Moneylife and hence Moneylife is not responsible or liable for the same. As a source and news provider, IANS is responsible for accuracy, completeness, suitability and validity of any information in this article.Many of us have seen that cliched advertisement, where the tearful Indian mother offers a jar of mango pickle to her "abroad going son"and a voice over extols the "mom ke jaise swad wala achar", with a tag line of the pickle brand.

That yearning is a thing of the past if you are migrating to CanadaI have seen more pickle brands here, than I have in good old Mumbai. The reality of global trade and competition makes it possible for non-resident Indians (NRIs) to get a far more extensive array of the choicest Indian products in Toronto or Vancouver to be consumed by lakhs of Indians out here.

Toronto, is the largest North American market for ethnic Indian foods and arguably, even more diverse in variety of food on offer. This is also because Indians living in Canada have started producing products for the North American market. They range from atta (flour) to savoury packaged snacks, fresh or frozen, and even halal meats, which compete with thousands products imported from India. Toronto is also the largest market for halal foods in North America; these are not limited to meat but also include dairy products and much more.

The best Indian food thats also affordable is found in Toronto's suburbs such as Mississauga and Brampton. These twin cities are home to the largest Indian population in Toronto. While downtown Toronto does have Indian food, these are mainly upmarket restaurants that cater to "white population" or Canadians want to dine "Indian and have limited repertoire.

Indians looking for "gharka khana (home food) can find diverse Indian fare, from north to south, under one roof at grocery stores in Mississauga or Brampton. These stores also stock food prepared by local housewives. Both cities also have hundreds of small eat-out only food joints too.

The sheer range and variety of Indian foods and condiments available here is staggering.

Not only do we have restaurants serving up buffets of south Indian food, but we have speciality restaurants offering pure Chettinand food, or Sri Lankan food for the large population from that country. At Scarborough, you will find south Indian stores stocking special fruits, yams and bananas integral to south Indian cooking along with traditional flowers plantain leaves.

Even "smaller communities" such as the Goans, Parsis and Jains have their own special places! We Parsis get the famous Bombay Camay wafers' and thin potatoe sallis (or straws) used in traditional dishes at a store in Brampton. Is also stocks the famous Kohla pickles, including roe pickle and lagan nu achar (a must at Parsi weddings). The Goans have their prawn balchao and vindaloo masalassome even selling homemade Goan sausages made by locals. The Jains have access to stores selling eggless cakes and stuffed chapattis that don't contain garlic, ginger or root vegetables.

Unlike in India, where grocers stock a handful of well-advertised brands, people here arent brand conscious when it comes to traditional Indian food. Last week, a Tamilian friend offered me an authentic bitter gourd pickle that I thought it was made by her mom. Turns out, from a grocer just down the street, and made by small manufacturer who even stamped his brand in the local language.

Perhaps the only Indian product that has been "branded" like never before in Canada is the good old samosa. Thanks to the huge Punjabi population, this inexpensive snack has even found its way to mainstream Canadian grocers and railway stations. Samosa brands are both Indian and Canadian and come in with a range of options  healthy, baked, frozen with a range of stuffings including chicken, beef samosas, paneer, palak and cheese.

With more and more Canadians experimenting with Indian food, the largest Canadian grocery chain has launched a line of korma and butter chicken sauces. Interestingly, the India-Pakistan divide does not exist out here  every Indian and Pakistani grocer will stock brands from both countries and they are a go-to place for cooking foods with distinctly Moghlai flavours or getting the right mix for phirni sevaiyas and faloodas.

Almost every year, there is a new Indian grocery chain stocking everything from condiments to masalas and even mithai under one roof. Nitin Divker, a Brampton resident and foodie attributes the food explosion to the entrepreneurship of Indian immigrants. Twenty years ago, Guru Laxmi, was started as a small time dosa joint from a food court in Mississauga by an Indian couple. They had Indians would queuing up to consume their dosas. Today, it is a thriving, independent enterprise, open seven days a week. Tandoori Flame, known for its buffet m is another such brand.

Another food that Indians love is also thriving in CanadaIndian style chinese hakka joints are finding a growing market among Indians, who do not find Chinese, served in the USA to their taste. When I have friends visiting from the US, I take them to "apna type chinese" eateries, with chefs from Kolkata of Mumbai.

Another enterprising and low cost options for immigrants is the home food packages offered by many Indian women cooking from home. For just $6-7 (Canadian) you get dal, rice, chapatis and two vegetables sometimes also delivered to your door. Mr Divker says Brampton also has restaurants offering packed dabbas as early at 7 am that people can just drive in and pick up on their way to work or a morning shift. The dabbas have a range starting at as little as $7. For those who have subscribed to a daily, weekly or monthly package, the restaurant hands out your parcel without having to step out of your car  a real service in winter when temperatures hit minus degrees.

And finally, for youngsters and students who don't want the traditional roti sabji, theres fusion junk food such as butter chicken pizzas and tandoori chicken pizzas. For staunch muslim, their halal chicken burger or pizzas are now mainstream and offered by Walmart as well as McDonalds as well.

So if you are immigrating to Canada, the one thing you don't have to worry about missing is Indian foodit is a nice way of feeling less home sick and makes the assimilation and transition process that much easier!People across the country opened their hearts and wallets for Bandu Markad, who, in a fit of despair had destroyed his pomegranate stock after failing to get even Rs10 from traders. Moneylife published the story behind the gut-wrenching viral video and details of his bank account for people who offered to help. Over the past five days, support poured in from across India and the world. Over Rs1.79 lakh has been credited to his account, with credits ranging from Rs250 to Rs50,000 and one payment in US dollars.

Bandu was in despair over his water tanker bill and a real fear that failure to pay would lead to his farm being taken over by the water supplier for a year, or until the loan was repaid. Today, he has repaid this entire dues to the tanker supplier, but there is an even more heartening development out of the unusual help that poured in from those who read the story. He now plans to use the money to help other farmers in the village.

As we had reported, Bandu is not the only farmer to suffer acute distress due to water scarcity that has affected Nivdunge village in Pathardi taluka of Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra. Many other farmers are in equal distress.

However, Moneylife Foundation could focus its effort on helping Bandu alone as a starting point, especially when we had no idea about what kind of response it would evoke from people. Bandus own family and friends were not expecting much. In fact, Sharad Markad, Pathardi taluka president of Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, the largest union of farmers in Maharashtra, tells us that they were not really expecting more that Rs15,000-Rs20,000 as help for Bandu.

Obviously, the fact that Bandu alone got a way out of his troubles would have led to a lot of heartburn. Sharad Markad then came up with an idea. He suggested that the additional funds available with Bandu in his account could be used for benefit of other farmers. Bandu readily agreed.

Both Sharad and Bandu would now ensure that at least Rs50,000 to Rs60,000 would be used for supplying water through tankers among other, worst affected farmers whose crops are about to succumb to drought. "We will make sure only needy farmer gets the water from the tanker and then after all check and balances, Bandu will pay the bill from his bank account, says Sharad Markad.

Moneylife Foundation has been in touch with Nandakishor N Maske, the Madhi branch manager of Maharashtra Gramin Bank, where Bandu has his account to ensure that the money is properly credited and utilised. Mr Maske too has been extremely cooperative in guiding Bandu and others about the process.

On 3 December 2018, Bandu had repaid all his debt to the water tanker supplier. In addition, he also paid next three months money in advance to Shubham Sable. This will ensure that all the plants in Bandu's farm will continue to receive adequate water for the next three months. Some money has been used to pay for fertiliser and farming material for the coming pomegranate season.

The payment of Rs88,000 to the water tanker supplier through real time gross settlement (RTGS) was confirmed by the bank.

What remains unpaid is his loan of Rs1.45 lakh from the credit society affiliated with Ahmednagar District Central Co-operative Bank. This is unfortunately the flip side of loan write-offs. There is a great reluctance to repay that loan since all farmers are expecting farm loan waiver from the government, especially when an election is around the corner. Bandu is in a dilemma over whether to repay the debt right now or wait for some more time. Moneylife Foundation also feels that public money, being used to help other farmers in distress at this time, when the state had declared a drought, is a better utilisation of the money that was generously donated by people.

As I described in previous article, Bandu has to repay his loan by March 2019 or pay an interest of Rs10,000 to Rs12,000 to the credit society.

Last week, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis told the state assembly that around 86 lakh hectares of land and 82 lakh farmers in 151 tehsils and 20 revenue circles have been affected by drought this year. This means around 60% of the farmers in the state are hit by drought.

The announcement of drought would bring along some relief measures. For instance, land revenue will not be collected from farmers. The farmers from drought declared areas will get a subsidy of 33% on their electricity bill for agriculture pumps. They can get work under the employment guarantee scheme, while students from this area would get exemption from payment of school and college fees. Farmers will also get financial help, with the government likely to give Rs6,800 per hectare to those with non-irrigated farms and Rs13,000 per hectare to those with irrigated farms.Whether you're working with a team or trying to keep your own independent projects in order, Trello provides an intuitive, yet feature-packed, system for organising ideas and tracking progress.

Whether it's managing a team, writing an epic screenplay, or just making a grocery list, Trello is your valuable sidekick. It breaks your business down to a series of boards. Within each board, you can create multiple lists. And, inside each list, you can add any number of cardsindividual items that contain text, photos, files and so on. You can label and colour-code cards and assign due dates and you (and anyone else you invite) can comment on cards to add in thoughts and updates. Whether it's managing a team, writing an epic screenplay, or just making a grocery list, Trello is your valuable sidekick. It breaks your business down to a series of boards. Within each board, you can create multiple lists. And, inside each list, you can add any number of cardsindividual items that contain text, photos, files and so on. You can label and colour-code cards and assign due dates and you (and anyone else you invite) can comment on cards to add in thoughts and updates.

A great collaboration tool. Start free and upgrade to a paid plan as per your needs.Alianta mondiala GFG apartinand omului de afaceri Sanjeev Gupta, a anuntat luni, 03 decembrie 2018, ca a semnat un acord conditionat pentru cumpararea actiunilor Keystone, Consolidated Industries, Inc. (KCI) de la corporatia Contran (Contran). Conform termenilor intelegerii, compania Liberty Steel USA, parte a Aliantei GFG va achizitiona KCI, inclusiv subsidiarele acesteia, in schimbul a 320 milioane de dolari. Se estimeaza ca tranzactia se va finalizata inainte sau pe 31 decembrie 2018, dupa o evaluare a respectarii reglementarilor in vigoare.

Keystone Steel and Wire este o divizie a KCI si are peste 100 de ani de istorie in productia de otel si produse din otel si o reputatie excelenta in ceea ce priveste calitatea si performanta. KCI a raportat recent cele mai bune rezultate din lunga sa istorie si adauga portofoliului Liberty Steel SUA o unitate de sarma laminata cu un cuptor cu arc electric (CAE) avand o capacitate de 1.1 tone metrice, RedBrand- un lider de piata in productia de garduri, sarma industriala, un laminor de bare cu profil rotund de tip Merchant Bar Quality (de baza)/Special Bar Quality (speciale), trei unitati de productie pentru armaturi sudate de bare din otel si o linie de productie a sarmei pentru beton precomprimat. KCI a inregistrat mereu profit si a imbunatatit substantial profitabilitatea in ultimii 5 ani, pe masura ce a investit in produse cu valoare adaugata pentru a-si intari pozitia de furnizor preferat de sarma laminata cu continut scazut de carbon. Aceasta tranzactie va duce Liberty intr-o pozitie de top in ceea ce priveste productia de sarma laminata din America.

Conform tranzactiei, Liberty Steel SUA va avea pana la 1.8 tone metrice pe an din capacitatea de topire a CAE, 2 tone metrice pe an din capacitatea de laminare a sarmei si peste 1300 de angajati. Compania astfel marita va detine operatiuni in Illinois, Ohio, South Carolina, New Mexico, Texas si Georgia. Tranzactia este finantata de doua mari banci nord americane care ofera un imprumut bazat pe un bun imobiliar si un imprumut la termen din fonduri gestionate de BlackRock Financial Management Inc. GFG va contribui la tranzactie cu capital propriu si cu fabrica negrevata de sarcini Liberty Steel Georgetown.

Presedintele executiv al Aliantei GFG si Liberty, Sanjeev Gupta, a declarat: Achizitia Keystone este o parte esentiala a strategiei GREENSTEEL a GFG pentru a deveni un jucator de top in productia sustenabila a otelului de inalta calitate. Pe viitor, GFG va putea profita de istoria de un secol a operatiunilor sale si de reputatia sa de producator de otel de inalta calitate.

GFG a achizitionat Liberty Steel Georgetown, fabrica sa de otel din Georgetown, Carolina de Sud, la sfarsitul lui 2017 de la Arcelor Mittal care suspendase activitatea acestei unitati. Compania a repornit fabrica in iunie 2018 si a marit productia constant pana la o rata estimata de 400 kilotone in primul trimestru din 2019, cu intentia de a continua expansiunea. GFG a reangajat 100 de profesinisti din fosta fabrica si a creat 50 de noi locuri de munca, a revitalizat fabrica si a restabilit reputatia acesteia ca fiind producatorul principal de sarma laminata cu continut ridicat de carbon din SUA.December 04, 2018 Reuters Creates Fakenews About Iran - Intentionally Conflates Two Different Missiles - Misquotes Official A just published Reuters piece claims: Iran wants to expand missile range despite U.S. opposition.

bigger That claim is false and is based on a willful misrepresentation of the source Reuters cites. GENEVA (Reuters) - Iran wants to increase its missiles range, a senior military official was quoted as saying on Tuesday, a move that would irk the United States which views Tehrans weapons program as a regional security threat. U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of an international nuclear agreement in May and reimposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic, criticizing the deal for not including curbs on Irans development of ballistic missiles. One of our most important programs is increasing the range of missiles and ammunition, said the head of the Iranian air force, Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh, according to the semi-official Fars news agency. We dont see any limitations for ourselves in this field. Irans military has cited 2,000 km (1,240 miles) as the current missile range, and said U.S. bases in Afghanistan, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, plus U.S. aircraft carriers in the Gulf, were within range. The Reuters piece conflates ground launched ballistic missiles with air-to-air missiles that the air force commander wants to develop. The U.S. does not care about Iran's air-to-air missiles. It itself has far superior ones. The U.S. does care about Iran's ballistic missiles. But the Iranian general did not talk about those at all. The quote Reuters attributes to the Iranian general it is taken out of context and used to propagandize a non-issue. The FARS piece Reuters cites is absolutely clear with what the air force commander means, even while its headline is probably too generalized: Iran Sees No Limit for Increasing Range of Missiles Commander of the Iranian Air Force Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh announced the country's plans to boost the range of its air-to-air missiles. "Today, we are after increasing the range of our air-to-air missiles. Therefore, one of our most important plans is increasing the range of missiles and ammunition. We are after Beyond-Visual-Range (BVR) missiles and ammunition and consider no limitations in this regard for ourselves because the Air Force should heighten the country's deterrence power along with other (Armed) Forces," General Nasirzadeh told FNA on Tuesday. The underlined part is the only one Reuters cites. In the original that part is led and followed by its context - air-to-air missiles. That very clear context is simply left out. Reuters thus frames the quote as related to ballistic missiles even though it has absolutely nothing to do with them. Air-to-air missiles are used from one fighter jets against other fighter jets and bombers. Beyond visual range is defined as more than 20 miles or 37 kilometer. BVR air-to-air missiles allow for attacks on planes that are only detected on radar. These are normal ammunition for any modern airforce and have little strategic impact. Ballistic missiles are ground to ground munitions with a large range. Iran voluntarily limits the reach of its ballistic missiles to 2,000 kilometers. Brigade General Nazirzadah is head of the Iranian Air Force. Iran's ballistic missiles belong to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace and Missile Force under Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh. Those are two very different organizations, with a different line of command, and with totally different kinds of missiles. The Trump administration opposes Iran's ballistic missile programs, not its meager air-to-air capabilities. The Reuters writers surely know all this. It is thus obvious that the piece is a willful manipulation of the original FARS piece it is based on. The Reuters piece has to be seen in the context of the campaign to wage war on Iran currently run by the main neoconservatives in the Trump administration, National Security Advisor John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. On December 1 Pompeo tweeted: Department of State @StateDept - 17:01 utc - 1 Dec 2018 .@SecPompeo: Iranian regime just test-fired a medium range ballistic missile capable of striking Europe & the Middle East. This violates #UNSC Res. 2231. #Irans missile testing & proliferation is growing. We are accumulating risk of escalation if we fail to restore deterrence. The State Departments press statement attached to the above tweet is headlined: Iran Test Launches Ballistic Missile Violating UN Security Council Ban: The Iranian regime has just test-fired a medium range ballistic missile that is capable of carrying multiple warheads. The missile has a range that allows it to strike parts of Europe and anywhere in the Middle East. This test violates UN Security Council resolution 2231 that bans Iran from undertaking any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology ... As we have been warning for some time, Irans missile testing and missile proliferation is growing. We are accumulating risk of escalation in the region if we fail to restore deterrence. We condemn these activities, and call upon Iran to cease immediately all activities related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons. The tweet and the statement are filled with lies. UNSC Resolution 2231 was broken by the U.S. when it exited from the nuclear deal with Iran. Iran and all other signers are sticking to it. UNSCR 2231 does not "ban" Iran from testing and deploying ballistic missiles. In Annex II part 3 it says (pg 99/104): Iran is called upon not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology, ... "Called upon" is UNSC diplomatease for "pretty please". It is non binding. Moreover the use of "calls upon" was a downgrade from the now superseded resolution 1929 in which the council: Decides that Iran shall not undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using ballistic missile technology, ... The downgrade from a clear prohibition in Res 1929 to "call upon" in the annex of Res 2231 was widlly interpreted as giving Iran a free hand to continue its ballistic missile program. The U.S. and the Europeans may well want that wording to be different, but it is a part of the agreed upon nuclear deal. That Iranian missiles can reach Europe, as Pompeo claims, is also nonsense. Iran voluntarily limits the reach of its missiles to 2,000 kilometers. At that range they would have problems to hit anything "Europe" beyond the south-eastern corner of Bulgaria. Iran does not need any longer range missiles because all its potential targets are already within its reach. The Stockholm Institute for Peace Research SIPRI recently analyzed the questions around Iran's missile deterrence. It concluded that Iran has a legitimated need for these: Since the 1980s, when Iraq attacked Iranian cities, missiles have played a key role in Irans national security approach. Missiles serve as a counter to the overwhelming military capabilities of regional rivals (notably Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates). The rivals long-range strike capabilities mainly rely on Western-supplied air forces, which are often equipped with cruise missiles and precision-guided bombs. In contrast, Iranwhose aging air force mostly dates back to before the 1979 Islamic Revolutionhas sought to maximize self-sufficiency in the production of ballistic missiles. Irans medium-range missiles, which are able to reach Israel and US military bases in the region, serve to deter an attack against Iran. The threat of attack was particularly highlighted with the escalation of the nuclear crisis in 200512, as Israel and the USA threatened military action against Iranian nuclear facilities. A tweet by John Bolton, which linked to the State Department statement was even more nonsensical than Pompeo's: John Bolton @AmbJohnBolton - 20:09 utc - 1 Dec 2018 Iran just test-fired an INF range ballistic missile capable of reaching Israel and Europe. This provocative behavior cannot be tolerated. The Intermediate Nuclear Force (INF) treaty begins with the sentence: The United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, hereinafter referred to as the Parties, ... The treaty and missile ranges defined therein have nothing to do with Iran or anyone other than the treaty parties. That Bolton always wanted to kill the INF treaty with Russia, and managed to do it today, is a completely different issues. With its strongly misleading report Reuters, or at least its correspondent in Geneva, is obviously supporting the neocon campaign that they hope will lead to war on Iran. It is fakenews from one of the prime 'western' news agencies about Iran's declared intentions. ---

This is a Moon of Alabama fundraiser week. Unfortunately no one pays me to write these blog posts. If you appreciated this one, or any of the 7,000+ other blog posts published here, please consider a donation. Posted by b on December 4, 2018 at 16:50 UTC | Permalink CommentsDecember 04, 2018

Syria - 'Activist' Posts Fake Picture - Fact Checkers Fall For It

The war on Syria brought up dozens of propagandist. Asaad Hanna is one of them. His screeds were published in the disgraced Guardian, on TRT World, Time, AL-Monitor and elsewhere. He is introduces himself as "a Syrian civil society and human rights activist and an economics graduate from Damascus University" and as "a member of the Free Syria Army Northern Division's political office".

Yesterday at 9:46 utc he tweeted a picture:

The Syria Campaign is the U.S. organization that runs the Al-Qaeda clean-up and propaganda squad the White Helmets. It copied the photo from Asaad Hanna's earlier tweet and tweeted it as if it were the original source.

The Syria Campaign Verified account @TheSyriaCmpgn - 14:34 utc - 3 Dec 2018 A brave person took this photo from central Damascus. It shows chained young men being watched by a regime soldier. The photo has gone viral among Syrians with many saying the men were being forcibly conscripted into the army. Is this the safety Assad promises the Syrian people?

The Integrity Initiative, the recently exposed British government financed organization that is supposed to "counter Russian disinformation and malign influence in Europe " and to "improve the technical competence" of journalists "to deal with disinformation" retweeted it.

Other 'fact checkers' also fell for it.

As many other pictures distributed by the propagandists of the fake revolution in Syria the photo is obviously photoshopped.

The distance at which the persons are 'fixed' to the 'chain' does not make sense. And why is the hand of the person with the red sweater in the background on then left in front of the 'chain'? That is physically impossible.

Here is the original.

Even supporters of the opposition denounced this fake.

There have been a number of similar photoshopped pictures (scroll down) in circulation. Most of them are easy to detect. But even the so called "fact checkers" still fall for them.

---

h/t Tim Hayward

---

This is a Moon of Alabama fundraiser week.

No one pays me to write these blog posts. If you appreciated this one, or any of the 7,000+ previous ones, please consider a donation.

Posted by b on December 4, 2018 at 9:38 UTC | Permalink

CommentsDOYLESTOWN >> Bucks County on Nov. 24 released its preliminary 2022 operating budget of $474.1 million representing a 1.1 percent increase over 2021. With additional anticipated revenue sources, including funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, the Board of Commissioners expects to balance the coming years budget without raising taxes or dipping into the general fund. The county also will...Merchants can see where in the UK their customers are with a new list of the cities that provide the best opportunities for tradespeople.

And Liverpool looks like the most lucrative city for merchants to expand into, as it is the number one city for their customers.

The research comes from bathroom hardware manufacturer Sanctuary Bathrooms. It analysed the average wages of plumbers, electricians, joiners, and painter decorators, alongside cost of living data, university Building course ratings and the percentage of workforce in trades for each city.

The data revealed that the best opportunities for tradespeople are concentrated in the North of England, with seven of the top ten cities located above the Watford Gap.

The top ten cities are:

1. Liverpool

2. Newcastle

3. Glasgow

4. London

5. Birmingham

6. Leeds

7. Nottingham

8. Cardiff

9. Manchester

10. Bristol

The rankings also revealed that:

Leeds has the highest concentration of tradespeople in the workforce, making up 10.3% of the citys working population.

University College London offers the best Building degree course, with a rating of 99.2 out of 100.

Glasgow offers the best rates of pay for tradespeople across the board, with electricians earning an average annual wage of 28,683.

James Roberts, Director of Sanctuary Bathrooms, said: As a company with our roots tied into the trade sector, both through our employees and our clients, we wanted to look where to find the best opportunities for tradespeople in the UK.

The results are a useful resource for those wanting to embark on a career as a tradesperson, and also highlight important hubs for related businesses to expand into.

Read the full report here.Thirty representatives from Primary Residential Mortgages humanitarian initiative recently went to Guatemala to assist in building a new community for survivors of the June Volcan de Fuego eruption, the company announced.

The company partnered with Habitat for Humanity on the service trip. Volunteers from the nationwide mortgage lenders PRMI Giving Network were the first international team to assist in building the Valle de Las Flores community.

For one week, volunteers worked side-by-side with Habitats team, local masons, and survivors of the eruption. Together, they contributed to the construction of 24 homes and laid the foundation for a new community.Last week I had the opportunity to observe the 37th Model Organization of American States in Washington, D.C. The Model OAS is a simulation exercise in which students take on the actual proceedings of the OAS Permanent Council. Students engage in general debate, lobbying, caucusing and negotiation. They discussed and debated issues including immigration, fighting corruption in democracy, integral development and human right, to name a few. I was so impressed to see the level of dialogue that occurred once these students started working in their respective committees.

Midland was well-represented with five delegations of students from Midland High School, Lee High School, and Trinity School. This excursion afforded me the pleasure of seeing how some of our future leaders operated and collaborated with 29 other delegations from around the country and the Western Hemisphere. Some of our citys best were alongside public and private schools from Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Puerto Rico and Virginia. Students also worked in a rich cultural environment with students from El Salvador, Columbia, Belize and Peru.Humble, blue-collar beginnings. A passion for campus and the community. An appreciation for blending business and STEM disciplines.

Those are just a few of the reasons, Dave Bernard (BS BA 74) has, for supporting the Michigan Technological University School of Business and Economics through the new David L. and Marilyn A. Bernard Faculty Fellow in Business. I grew up in Houghton. By the time I graduated from Michigan Tech in 1974, I had only crossed the Mackinac Bridge twice. Michigan Tech and the School of Business and Economics provided me and my family with incredible opportunities. Giving back in the way of this estate plan is small relative to what the University has given me, Dave said.

Philanthropy runs in the family

The youngest of six children, Daves brothers Sam and Bill are Michigan Tech alumni, and his wife, Marilyn, pursued the medical technology program. Seeing Bill sponsor the clock tower on campus this summer was incredibly inspiring, he said.

Highlights from Daves 36-year career include serving as chief tax officer and vice president for taxes for Kimberly-Clark beginning in 1996, where he was responsible for global tax management, tax planning, tax defense and talent development. In 2003, Dave was named vice president for taxes and real estate, and his responsibilities expanded to include the management of all Kimberly-Clark office facilities, real-estate transactions and tax-credit real estate investments.

They gave because they have been given

During their time at Tech, both Dave and Marilyn were scholarship recipients, and their support of student scholarships and experiences will continue. Through conversations with Dean Johnson, dean of the School of Business and Economics, we became aware of opportunities to expand our support to include faculty, Dave said.

The Fellow in Business will be selected by the dean based on distinguished achievements in research or teaching. We need world-class faculty to produce quality students. Dave adds, Business faculty have the opportunity to pursue multidisciplinary research, teaming with STEM areas across campus, supporting the Universitys overall strategic plans.

"Our youngest son, Darren, is faculty at the London Business School. We appreciate the demands and expectations of faculty and want to support their growth in the School of Business and Economics." Marilyn Bernard



Across campus, faculty are preparing Huskies for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. As the rate of technological change increases, a broad curriculum, Dave emphasizes, will better prepare students to create the future. Business students and engineers must understand both the product and the technology. As a tax person at Kimberly-Clark, I developed an understanding of our technologies and engineering excellence, while appreciating how good forestry practices are the first important step in the production process.

Michigan Techs history of team skills and experiential learning gives students practical experiences on campus so they are better prepared for the job market. Dave credits the STEM emphasis within the School of Business and Economics for analytical skills hes relied on throughout his career. I took calculus. I took physics. I took engineering economics. Understanding the bigger picture is critical to success in any business, in any discipline.

The Faculty Fellow in Business will serve a three-year term.

Michigan Technological University is a public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, Michigan, and is home to more than 7,000 students from 55 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, the University offers more than 125 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business and economics, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure.Central Asian states are embarking on a new effort to build regional cooperation. In March 2019, the second yearly summit of Central Asian leaders will be held in Tashkent. Discussions are under way to provide structure to this newfound regionalism. Central Asians can build on a relatively rich experience of regional cooperation two decades ago, which culminated in the Central Asian Cooperation Organization (CACO). As they take this experience to new levels, they do not need to reinvent the wheel: an overview of other global models of regional cooperation shows how other states in similar situations  particularly Southeast Asian and Nordic countries  have managed to build long-term sustainable regionalism in difficult geopolitical circumstances.

BACKGROUND: Over the past two decades, regional cooperation in Central Asia has left much to be desired. Yet in the past two years, there are important indications that this gloomy picture is rapidly changing. The pace of interaction among regional states has grown considerably, and controversies over issues like border delimitation and water use have been largely resolved. In March 2018, leaders of five Central Asian states met in Astana at the invitation of the President of Kazakhstan, but at the initiative of the President of Uzbekistan. In June that year, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution, submitted by Central Asian states, that supported the strengthening of regional cooperation in Central Asia. (See CACI Analyst, September 5, 2018) Preparations are underway for a second summit of Central Asian leaders in March 2019. What are the prospects of such cooperation? As Central Asians look to develop structures of cooperation, two factors will be of key importance: learning from their own history of cooperative initiatives, as well as from the experience of other regions around the globe. Further, they will need to determine how fully to integrate Afghanistan in their structures of cooperation.

The history of Central Asian regional cooperation is a more positive one than usually acknowledged. In 1993, the leaders of five post-Soviet states redefined the region as Central Asia, rather than the Soviet term Middle Asia, and affirmed that Kazakhstan was an integral part of it. Moreover, over the ensuing two decades Central Asian states succeeded, in spite of opposition from the great powers, in establishing Central Asia as a Nuclear Weapons Free Zone. And the notion that Central Asian regionalism never developed is simply false: in the mid-1990s, a budding partnership between Tashkent and Astana was broadened to include both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. This led to the creation of the Central Asian Union, later renamed the Central Asian Cooperation Organization (CACO). CACO was increasingly successful; but it fell victim to the acceleration of geopolitical competition in the region in the early 2000s. The problem was the inherent tension between Central Asian cooperation and Eurasian integration, led by Moscow. When Vladimir Putin asked to join CACO, and subsequently engineered its merger into Eurasia-wide integration structures in 2005, this effectively put an end to Central Asian cooperation. As Central Asian states seek to rejuvenate these ties, a key challenge will be to insulate them from the relationships with powers like Russia and China that remain key to all regional states.

As they develop regional cooperative structures, Central Asians need not reinvent the wheel; in fact, the experiences of countries as diverse as the Nordic countries, South America, and Southeast Asia are all relevant to Central Asia. These regions have achieved successes, endured failures, and grappled with challenges that are not dissimilar from those faced by Central Asian leaders today. However, continent-wide supranational structures like the EU and the Eurasian Union do not hold appeal for the region. Instead, institutions such as the Visegrad Group, Mercosur, the Nordic Council and ASEAN are more relevant to the ambitions of Central Asian regional cooperation.

IMPLICATIONS: From a Central Asian perspective, the Visegrad model has certain specific attractions. Following the 2018 Astana Summit of Central Asian leaders, President Nursultan Nazarbayev referred to the Visegrad model in underlining the informal character of the summits of Central Asian leaders. (See April 30, 2018 CACI Analyst) And in a sense, given the upcoming summit of Central Asian leaders, regional cooperation is already moving in the direction of a format similar to Visegrad: informal and close coordination with yearly meetings of heads of states. But it is important to reflect on the reason why Visegrad cooperation is not more institutionalized than it is: because any further institutionalization would be redundant within the framework of the EU and NATO membership of all its four member states. Even in the benign context of membership in the EU and NATO, being part of a larger institutional context imposed clear limits on the ability of Visegrad countries to develop their regional cooperation, and reduced them to a sub-group within the larger European structures  something that they judged to be worthwhile, given the benefits of EU and NATO membership. For Central Asia, however, there is no similarly beneficial form of pan-regional cooperation. The lesson is that Central Asian cooperation must remain Central Asian in order to avoid again losing its purpose.

In some ways, Central Asia is already reaching beyond the Visegrad Groups format. Recent reports suggest that Central Asian states are seeking to develop a Schengen-like Silk Road visa, enabling holders of a visa to any Central Asian state to also visit the other countries. Given that they are not part of a larger entity that manages freedom of movement or labor mobility, Central Asian states will have to devise their own mechanisms to resolve such matters  requiring a level of cooperation that will likely need to surpass that of the Visegrad Group.

The lack of a strong institutional basis governing MERCOSURs membership hampered the long-term development of the organization. Meanwhile, the coexistence of two key powers in the organization  Brazil and Argentina  and the central role of the management of their relationship has certain obvious lessons for Central Asia. Beyond that, MERCOSURs early successes are an indication that regional cooperation has the power to greatly increase trade among countries that initially were not notably interdependent, as remains the case in Central Asia. At the same time, it appears that a focus solely on economic matters, as in the case of MERCOSUR, does not provide a sufficient foundation upon which to build a solid regional identity and valid regional structures.

The Nordic region shares many similarities with Central Asia, and is in many ways more similar to it than is Southeast Asia and the ASEAN countries. The Nordic countries  Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden  share a close cultural, religious and historical relationship. Scandinavian languages, like Turkic languages in Central Asia, are closely related. Finnish, like Tajik, is of a different origin. No country has a dominant position in Nordic Cooperation. Importantly, despite their commonalities the Nordic countries display considerable differences in their membership in international organizations. Denmark is the only Nordic country to be a member of both the EU and NATO. Norway is a member of NATO but not of the EU; Sweden and Finland are EU members but do not belong to NATO. This is similar to Central Asian states divergent patterns of membership in Eurasian cooperation organizations. What the Nordic model indicates is that such divergent attitudes to continent-wide cooperation need not be a hindrance to closer regional cooperation among a set of like-minded countries that share common interests and characteristics. The Nordic experience shows not only that it is possible to develop meaningful regional cooperation under such conditions, but that it strongly complements it: Nordic cooperation has enabled Norway to stay informed about EU matters, and Sweden and Finland about NATO. The budding Nordic Defense Cooperation also shows that their regional cooperation can definitely include the realm of hard security issues.

Similarly, Central Asian cooperation can assist states that have chosen not to be deeply integrated into Eurasian organizations to develop a more nuanced understanding of the realities of regional geopolitics.

ASEANs experience is of definite relevance to Central Asia. As prominent Singaporean diplomat Bilahari Kausikan has observed, ASEAN states have much less in common even after a half-century of cooperation than do Central Asian states. ASEAN countries diverge fundamentally in languages, ethnicity, religious traditions, and economic development. They also developed their cooperation in an intense geopolitical context that was dominated by the superpower confrontation during the Cold War  and in recent years by the rising Asian behemoth, China. One of ASEANs distinctive features has been the organizations practice of conducting dialogues as a unit with foreign powers. Just as ASEAN has developed dialogues as a unit with powers like China, Russia, South Korea, and Germany, so Central Asians can advocate that the institutional structures that they have individually developed with Japan, Korea, Europe and the United States be recast as region-wide consultations.

Moreover, Central Asia can benefit from ASEANs experience in the development of a core of solidarity among regional members in order to prevent foreign powers from playing ASEAN members against each other. This served the organization well during the Cold War, and has continued to be of great value as Southeast Asia reckons with the rise of China. ASEAN offers no panacea for managing assertive great powers, but it has sent a strong signal to such powers that regional states have a primary loyalty to each other, following which they can jointly develop fruitful relations with great powers. Cooperation among ASEAN members benefits the member states themselves and is not directed against anyone. As President Nazarbayev stated following a 2018 meeting with President Mirziyoyev, Central Asians are capable of managing the challenges in Central Asia without the interference of outsiders.

CONCLUSIONS: A comparative examination of structures for regional cooperation leads to a very specific and highly significant conclusion, namely, that institutions matter. Indeed, the relative weakness and ineffectiveness of Mercosur and the Visegrad group is a direct consequence of their weak institutional structures. ASEAN and the Nordic Council, by contrast, derive their effectiveness from the fact that over more than half a century they have focused serious attention on strengthening their institutional structures. The coherence and rigor of Central Asias future institutional structures will determine their effectiveness. This, rather than high-flown rhetoric about regional cooperation or highly publicized one-time meetings and conferences, will shape the future of Central Asia.

The question of Afghanistans role must also be front and center. There is increasing consensus in the region that Afghanistan is an inherent part of Central Asia, and post-Soviet Central Asian states are engaging with their southern neighbor more constructively than ever. How Afghanistan is included in structures of regional cooperation will be an important signal to the regions willingness to move beyond definitions based on the Soviet era.

To conclude, it will be critical to pursue a pragmatic, flexible approach, emphasizing mutual interests and the principle of feasibility. It goes without saying that sustained and respectful dialogue at the top levels of national leadership will be of crucial importance to the future of regional cooperation in Central Asia. However, without effective and permanent institutional structures, it will not be possible to bridge the gap between good intentions and practical actions.

AUTHORS BIO:

Svante E. Cornell is Director and S. Frederick Starr Chairman of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program, a Joint Center whose components are affiliated with the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington DC and the Institute for Security and Development Policy in Stockholm. They are the authors of Modernization and Regional Cooperation in Central Asia: A New Spring?, a November 2018 Silk Road Paper.

Image source: By: via silkroadstudies.org accessed on 12.4.2018| BY Kim Shaw |

Sydney-based earned and owned creative communications agency, The 6AM Agency, has lured DDB Sydney managing partner Chiquita King to the position of chief executive officer and partner, effective late February 2019.

King is regarded as one of Australias most proven agency leaders, has two decades of outstanding agency experience building and leading integrated teams across data, strategy, digital, creative, production and exceptional client service. Her experience spans a number of categories and includes brands like Nike, eBay, Ikea, Optus, and Westpac to name a few.

The 6AM Agency, founded 16 years ago (formerly Brand New Solutions), is a leading earned and owned creative agency with a deep specialisation in health and wellbeing. More recently 6AM has been evolving its services and presence in the broader lifestyle sector.

Joining as a shareholder, Kings appointment further bolsters the agency partnership team which includes 6AM founder and wellbeing thought leader, Gillian Fish, and communications industry leader Chris Savage, founder of Australias biggest PR firm Ogilvy PR, and former chief operating officer of STW Group (now WPP AUNZ).

King commenced her career in South Africa with eight years at globally renowned creative agency The Jupiter Drawing Room, rising to the position of Group Head.

In 2009 King migrated to Australia, joining customer experience agency, Lavender as Group Business Director. King then joined Leo Burnett in 2013, followed by M&C Saatchi as Group Head leading the Optus account and most recently has spent the last three years as Managing Partner at DDB.

Says The 6AM Agency founder, Gillian Fish: Chiquitas proven track record in understanding the challenges facing clients and her deep leadership experience delivering integrated work, coupled with a passion for building high performing teams, brings to 6AM an outstanding partner and leader who will take the agency on the next stage of growth.

Says King: I have loved my time at DDB, particularly the last 12 months. Ive made the work of my life, experienced a brilliant client partnership with Westpac, and have made lifelong friends.

Being a recent graduate of The Marketing Academy has been a big catalyst for reflection and fuelled my desire to make my own mark on an industry I love. As a partner and shareholder, 6AM has given me an opportunity to do just that. I will wrap my arms around different challenges and grow the agency beyond its very respected owned and earned heritage.

Adds The 6AM Agency chairman Chris Savage: We are delighted to have Chiquita join 6AM. Those who know her will know what an outstanding leader and person we have joining us as a partner. Evolving agencies from pure earned and owned to providing broader integrated creative agency offerings requires grit and integrated experience. With Chiquita we know we have added the right firepower and agency leadership nous to help accelerate our growth.| BY Ricki Green |

DarkHorse NZ, an ideas-led integrated experiential agency, has announced that it has joined forces with Project Worldwide, a global independent agency network. This move will see DarkHorse NZ join Projects suite of world-class contemporary agencies dedicated to delivering exceptional experiential campaigns on a global scale.

Project has historically had a limited presence in New Zealand, operating remotely out of its Australian headquarters. In scoping out the growing and sophisticated local market, Project immediately saw DarkHorse differentiating itself from the rest through the teams passion, creativity, energy, and enthusiasm to dream big.

Says Robert G. Vallee, Jr., chairman and CEO of Project Worldwide: We have wanted to expand our geographic footprint into New Zealand for some time. When we met Mike [Hewitt] and Liam [Taylor], we immediately knew there was a cultural fit with the other agencies in the Project network. Theyre smart, collaborative, and very much straight-talkers. And they are doing outstanding creative work for their clients.

DarkHorse NZ is renowned for delivering unbeatable experiences that create conversations, greater brand engagement and loyalty by being disruptive, ambitious and challenging the traditional way of thinking. The company represents a number of leading brands including; Moet Hennessy, Heineken, BMW, LOreal Luxe and Tiffany & Co.

Says Ben Taylor, CEO Project APAC: DarkHorse has an impressive reputation both locally and overseas. Being experiential at heart, they understand the importance of creating meaningful connections with their consumers to achieve cut-through. The teams experience in PR, Activations and Digital is second to none and will instantly allow Projects clients with access to a broader set of capabilities.

DarkHorse co-Founders Mike Hewitt (above left) and Liam Taylor (above right) both acknowledge that the move marks an exciting new chapter for the business, as it will mean new growth and creative opportunities for its clients and for its team.

Says Hewitt: We are very excited to become part of the Project Worldwide family. By joining forces with Project, DarkHorse now has access to a global network of world-class agencies that we can work with to help us deliver even better brand experiences for our clients. This move will ultimately strengthen our overall offering, and service delivery on a larger scale. We are thrilled to have the commitment from Project to help us continue achieve the best results for our clients.

Says Liam Taylor: Our vision from the beginning has always been to push boundaries, be ideas-led, innovative and to have a disruptive and creative edge, Project Worldwide has those same values which is why this move makes so much sense to us.

DarkHorse NZ will remain headquartered in Auckland but will eventually launch a presence in Australia, where its capabilities will complement existing Project agencies George P. Johnson, Spinifex and Dig&Fish. The management team, made up of Hewitt and Taylor, will remain in charge of the agency in New Zealand.When some students showed up to school with tags that said "mom" or "dad" last week, Corina Reyes was touched.

Students were challenged to celebrate their role models so many had tags with their parents, some wore tags with their teachers, at least one mentioned Petersburg ISD's elementary secretary, said Reyes, Petersburg ISD school counselor.

"We all need somebody to look up to to reach success," she said.

Tuesday was role model day, Wednesday was college day, Thursday was career day and Friday was black and gold day, the school's colors.

The week not only made for some cute photo opportunities. The goal, she said, is to get kids to thinking about "different things that kids won't normally hear at that age," Reyes said. "It kind of gets them thinking of what their options are and gets them planning for their future."

The week was celebrated, in part, to recognize the 60x30TX Texas Challenge to Reach Higher, which is a campaign through GenTX (Generation TX), a project of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

The goal is to have 60 percent of Texans earn a degree or certificate by 2030, Reyes explained.

That kind of future is something high school students are likely already considering, she said, which is why there was a big push last week for the elementary kids.

"The earlier the better it is for them to start thinking about their future," Reyes said of her students. "We want to start letting them know there's a purpose for everything they're doing in the classroom."| BY Ricki Green |

Somersby was launched in to the Australian market in 2012 under the Asahi Premium Beverages (APB) umbrella and quickly became an overnight success.

This brand saw the quirky and fictional English Lord, Lord Somersby at the core of its marketing initiatives, but in a new direction, Somersby will say goodbye to the character to launch a campaign in partnership with Uncle Grey Agency, Copenhagen and adapted by TBWA Melbourne for the Australian audience, called, Isnt that wonderful.

Rolling out through December, the new concept is based on todays world becoming increasingly uncertain with people tending to miss the positive happenings around them. Isnt that wonderful instead aims to remain refreshingly optimistic with Somersby embodying the glass half full philosophy.

To build their understanding of Australian optimism, Somersby, with the support of market research agency, T Garage, completed an extensive research process with their target audience of 18-39-year olds.

Says Michael Edmonds, general manager marketing Australia, Asahi Premium Beverages: On this next journey, we want to remind people to embrace the lighter side of life by becoming the champions of optimism through our light-hearted, playful and generous personalityand we wanted to ensure we knew exactly what that optimism looks like to Australians, specifically.

With a digital mindset, Somersby has created premium content that showcases both the product, and comments on culturally relevant moments in the world through Somersby-coloured goggles.

Says Kym Bonollo, group marketing manager beer and cider, Asahi Premium Beverages: I believe weve built a really nice way of championing Somersbys new brand positioning through relevant content-driven storytelling that will speak to our consumers in a new and refreshing way, especially over this key summer period.

Somersbys intention with media is to increase focus on the digital landscape, to land the campaign through video display, social media, digital and outdoor platforms from November 2018 to April 2019. This rollout, via media agency Vizeum, will be backed by a solid media investment of $3M+ across the summer period.Chicken fingers fans on the South Side will be able to satisfy their cravings closer to home by the end of this week, when Raising Cane's opens the chain's 13th San Antonio location.

The Louisiana-based chain operates a dozen restaurants in the city, but prior to the latest addition, all were north of Highway 90. News of the groundbreaking was announced in August and on Thursday, the 2525 S.W. Military Drive location will welcome its first customers with giveaways and a ribbon-cutting ceremony.An off-duty Texas sheriff's deputy was arrested Monday on a domestic violence charge, according to the sheriff's office.

The Bexar County deputy, Michael DeWitt, was arrested by San Antonio police at about 6:10 a.m. after he allegedly assaulted the victim by choking or strangulating them. He was booked into the Bexar County Jail on a $3,500 bond.| BY Ricki Green |

Zenith has won the global pitch for the consolidated media business of dairy products corporation Lactalis. Zenith has been appointed master agency partner, commanding 75% of Lactalis markets.

The win sees Zenith retain all its existing markets in EMEA, APAC, including Australia, and Lat Am and takes on 11 new ones, including Canada, UK and USA.

Lactalis is a global leader within the dairy industry, with leading local dairy brands in each of its markets. The group is the number one cheese manufacturer in the world and the European leader in milk consumption, butter and cream.

As master agency partner, Zenith will have lead media communications responsibility, with global coordination run from Zeniths HQ in London. Zenith will now work with Lactalis both centrally and locally to deliver against the companys growth targets.

Says Nickie Scriven, CEO, Zenith Australia: We have enjoyed a strong and successful partnership with Lactalis in the Australian market since 2012. We are delighted to renew and extend that partnership and work with Lactalis to continue to grow its brand portfolio and business here.

Says Vittorio Bonori, global brand president, Zenith: We are absolutely delighted to become Lactalis Master Agency Partner. This is a testament to our strong relationship with Lactalis and to Zeniths approach to driving business growth as the ROI agency.Courtesy of the City of Seguin.

A 17-year-old girl was shot by a back-seat passenger as she was driving Monday night on the Northeast Side, San Antonio police said.

SAPD Sgt. John Carey said the girl was shot at about 8:30 p.m. in the 4100 block of Sunrise Crest.

The girl was driving a black Chevrolet Equinox with three other passengers, all of them 18 years old.

Two of the passengers in the back, a man and a woman, were playing with a gun when it went off, investigators said.

They're all saying it was an accident, Carey said.

RELATED: Driver killed in fatal wreck identified as San Antonio sports agent

The bullet went through the driver's seat and struck the teen in her lower back, police said.

She was taken to San Antonio Military Medical Center where police said she is in non-life threatening condition.

The man sitting directly behind the girl ran from the scene before police arrived.

That's the problem we're having, Carey said. So we don't know whether it was truly an accident or not.

Carey said police are searching for the passenger.

jbeltran@express-news.net | Twitter: @JBfromSAA 16-year-old boy was hospitalized Tuesday after he was shot in the torso and dropped off at a home on the East Side, police said.

The victim is not cooperating with police, so few details regarding the shooting were immediately available.

RELATED: SAPD: Passenger killed in suspected drunken driving rollover crash on NE side

"He's not cooperating. He's not telling us where he was. He's not telling us who shot him," said Sgt. Malcolm Guidry.

Guidry said the victim's father reported him missing at about 10 a.m.

Half an hour later, the wounded victim and a relative were delivered to a home in the 5900 block of Burning Sunrise, where they called for an ambulance and police to meet them.

A witness told police the victim had been at his girlfriend's home, where he got into an argument with another man. During the argument, the man shot the victim. The bullet grazed the teen's arm and penetrated his lower rib cage area.

Police are now trying to determine the victim's girlfriend's address to find the crime scene.

"We have officers going to (San Antonio Military Medical Center) to try to work some more information out of [the victim]," Guidry said.

Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com

Caleb Downs covers crime in San Antonio and Bexar County. Read him on our breaking news site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com |

cdowns@mysa.com | @calebjdownsAs the holiday season comes back around, thieves tend to be more active, targeting gifts in residents' cars and on their door steps.

San Antonio police responded to 5,399 thefts and burglaries in December 2017, according to records obtained by mySA.com.

BE FIRST TO KNOW: Sign up for breaking newsletters from mySA.com

Click through the slideshow above to see the San Antonio neighborhoods most targeted by burglars and thieves last year during the holiday season.

Officers usually see a spike in thefts during the holidays, San Antonio police previously said.

The best way to avoid being a victim of theft is making sure packages aren't left out on doorsteps and storing gifts in the trunk rather than leaving them in plain view.

When ordering gifts off Amazon, residents can have them shipped to an "Amazon locker" around the city. The lockers are secure areas that can help prevent potential thefts.

NEIGHBORHOOD SAFETY: 'Gunrise' residents worry about safety, home values after 3 shootings leave 2 dead, 3 wounded

Residents can also take other security measures, like installing doorbell cameras, which can help police identify a suspect in the event of a burglary.

Fares Sabawi covers crime in San Antonio and Bexar County for mySA.com. Read more of his stories here. | fsabawi@mysa.com | Twitter: @FaresInSAWhos afraid of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez?

A whole lot of Republican white men, it seems. I can smell the fear coming from Fox News host Tucker Carlson, radio host Rush Limbaugh, podcaster Ben Shapiro and others.

Congress has more than enough lawyers. What it could really use is a few more bartenders.

The latter often have good social skills. They tend to understand customer service. And theyre usually good listeners. It also turns out that some of them have a lot of grit.

Ocasio-Cortez defied expectations and earned her membership in the club. The 29-year-old Democrat built an upstart campaign from scratch, stared down her partys establishment without flinching, clobbered by 15 points a Democratic incumbent who had been in office since she was in elementary school, and won her seat in Congress fair and square.

Not bad for a Puerto-Rican kid from Brooklyn. Who could possibly have a beef with that version of the American Dream?

See above: A whole lot of white Republican men.

On Express-News.com: Beto bump tightened race between Hurd and Jones

The former mixologist turned congresswoman-elect wont be sworn in until January. She hasnt even officially moved to Washington yet, having announced that she cant afford rent in the nations capital until her first congressional paycheck rolls in.

Yet, as became clear during her recent trip to Capitol Hill for orientation meetings, she has already captured the publics imagination. Tourists approached her for selfies. The media tracked her every move. Shes the toast of the town. Except with Republicans, especially white males. They want her to be toast.

They constantly pick on her. Imagine people who probably voted for George W. Bush suddenly concerned about someone mangling the English language. Imagine folks who cheered Sarah Palin suddenly being worried that a freshman in Congress hasnt mastered every policy issue.

A lot of white males are already feeling squeezed out by immigration, trade deals, factory closings, university admissions and all the rest.

You can see why theyre so intimidated by Ocasio-Cortez. Just look at how hard she worked to get this far in life. Shes no trust fund baby. She didnt get into college as a legacy.

Ocasio-Cortez doesnt follow tradition, wait her turn or defer to elders. Her Democratic primary opponent, Joe Crowley, is 56 years old and had every major endorsement in the district locked up. All those blessings, and a war chest full of money, was supposed to scare off his young challenger. It didnt.

She doesnt get pushed around, even by her own party. After she beat Crowley, her win was minimized by Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and she got talked down to by Assistant Democratic leader James Clyburn. Both Pelosi and Clyburn worked closely with Crowley, and they seemed to take his defeat personally. But thats still no excuse for attacking the fellow Democrat who beat him.

Ocasio-Cortez can take a punch and return it with gusto. When Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina condescendingly suggested she become more educated after she said that refuge isnt a crime for Central Americans any more than it was for Jewish families fleeing Germany, she hit back. She brought up Grahams recent televised quip about how he feared a DNA ancestry test might reveal that he was part Iranian and suggested he become more culturally sensitive.

And because the congresswoman-elect has youth on her side, she could spend many more years needling her opponents  in both parties. Pelosi and Clyburn are 78, while Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer is 79.

Most of all, she knows who she is, and she doesnt seem to care much what you think of her; she invites her Instagram and Twitter followers to follow her daily routine, jokes about her wardrobe, and seems to take her mission much more seriously than she takes herself.

That last one  knowing who you are  is a powerful weapon for any elected official, precisely because it doesnt apply to many politicians. A lot of them seem to be whoever their consultants tell them to be.

Certainly, there are no guarantees in the arena. A lot of unfortunate things can happen to derail an otherwise promising career in public service.

But Ocasio-Cortez got into this game the hard way. No one greased the wheels or handed her a darned thing. She came to play. And ask around. Underestimating her tends to be a costly mistake.

ruben@rubennavarrette.comPresident Donald Trump recently tweeted: Did you ever see an investigation more in search of a crime?

It is usually a bad idea to raise a rhetorical question when the answer is both obvious and unfavorable. In the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller, there are at least three offenses that could lead to indictment or impeachment.

There is obstruction of justice  which Trump seems to attempt persistently, publicly and shamelessly.

There is possible financial corruption concerning Russia on the part of Trump and the imperial family  about which the recent plea deal with Michael Cohen hints. This is likely to be interesting reading in Muellers report.

And there is the initial matter of collusion with a hostile foreign power to influence a presidential election. This is hardly a fanciful charge, given that Trump, while a candidate, publicly invited Russia to hack into Hillary Clintons emails as a way to influence a presidential election.

What else do we know related to this charge? We know that Trump adviser Roger Stone allegedly told associates he was in contact with WikiLeaks, the conduit for emails hacked by Russian intelligence. (Stone denies this.) We know that Stone contacted conservative author and conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi, encouraging him to gather information on hacked Clinton emails. We know that Corsi responded to Stone: Word is friend in embassy plans 2 more dumps  Impact planned to be very damaging. (The friend in this email  amazingly and disgustingly  appears to be the anti-American cybercriminal Julian Assange.)

We know that Stone issued the tweet, Trust me, it will soon the Podestas time in the barrel, six weeks before WikiLeaks began releasing 50,000 emails that Russian agents had reportedly stolen from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta. And we know, from Corsi himself, that he and Stone conspired to lie about the motivation of this tweet.

President Trump is left to claim  which he has now apparently done in written testimony  that he never discussed these matters with Stone or Corsi. This would have required candidate Trump to adopt a strategy of plausible deniability  in this case, encouraging Russian hacking in public but carefully avoiding the topic in private conversations with Stone.

How likely is this? On the evidence of two matters, not likely at all. In spite of initial denials, it is now clear that Trump took a personal role in facilitating hush-money payoffs to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal. He also discussed with his legal fixer, Michael Cohen, how the source of funds to Daniels could be hidden. Also, in the matter of Donald Trump Jr.s 2016 meeting with Russians at Trump Tower, President Trump reportedly dictated a misleading description of the meeting in the name of his son.

I have seen scant evidence that Trump delegates unethical activities. Instead, he evidently spends hours a day on the phone with friends and informal advisers, making plans and chewing over gossip and grievances. Are we really to believe that Trump publicly invited Russian hacking of his opponent, that one of Trumps advisers claimed to have information on the hacking, but that the two never discussed the matter?

I dont believe it. Which means there is a serious possibility that the president of the United States has committed perjury. But it may also be difficult or impossible to prove such perjury unless Stone, or someone else with direct knowledge, were to testify against the president. So Trump probably feels safe in his deception.

Stone has raised the Im-a-mendacious-windbag defense  essentially claiming that he is a serial liar who inflated his own contacts and influence to get attention. This has a level of credibility. He is, in fact, a mendacious windbag. But the argument Believe me now, I have always been an inveterate liar has practical, as well as logical, limitations.

Here is one fact beyond dispute. Look at the men whom Trump has traditionally surrounded himself with: Roger Stone, Jerome Corsi, Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen. These are some of the least reputable people in American politics. Trumps inner circle has always been a cesspool.

And there is a reason for this  a reason Trump has traditionally employed unethical people to serve his purposes. It is because he has unethical jobs for them to do, involving schemes to remove political threats and gain electoral advantage.

And there is every reason to believe that Trump has fully participated in such schemes.

michaelgerson@washpost.comThe October 1944 edition of Fortune magazine carried an article by a corporate executive that makes for amazing reading today. It was written by William B. Benton  a co-founder of the Benton & Bowles ad agency  and an editors note explained that Benton was speaking not just for himself but on behalf of a major corporate lobbying group. The article then laid out a vision for American prosperity after World War II.

At the time, almost nobody took postwar prosperity for granted. The world had just endured 15 years of depression and war. Many Americans were worried that the end of wartime production, combined with the return of job-seeking soldiers, would plunge the economy into a new slump.

Today victory is our purpose, Benton wrote. Tomorrow our goal will be jobs, peacetime production, high living standards and opportunity. That goal, he wrote, depended on American businesses accepting necessary and appropriate government regulation, as well as labor unions. It depended on companies not earning their profits at the expense of the welfare of the community. It depended on rising wages.

These leftist-sounding ideas werent based on altruism. The Great Depression and the rise of European fascism had scared American executives. Many had come to believe that unrestrained capitalism was dangerous  to everyone.

In the years that followed, corporate America largely followed this prescription. Not every executive did, but most behaved as if they cared about their workers and communities. CEOs accepted pay packages that today look like a pittance. Middle-class incomes rose faster in the 1950s and 1960s than incomes at the top. Imagine that: declining income inequality.

And the economy  and American business  boomed during this period, just as Benton and his fellow chieftains had predicted.

Things began to change in the 1970s. Facing more global competition and higher energy prices, and with Great Depression memories fading, executives became more aggressive. They decided that their sole mission was maximizing shareholder value. They fought for deregulation, reduced taxes, union-free workplaces, lower wages and much, much higher pay for themselves. They justified it all with promises of a wonderful new economic boom. That boom never arrived.

Even when economic growth has been decent, as it is now, most of the bounty has flowed to the top. Median weekly earnings have grown a miserly 0.1 percent a year since 1979. The typical American family today has a lower net worth than the typical family did 20 years ago. Life expectancy, shockingly, has fallen this decade.

The great stagnation of living standards is a defining problem of our time. Most families do not enjoy the rapidly rising level of living that Benton called for. Understandably, many Americans are anxious and angry.

The solution will need to involve a return to higher taxes on the rich. But its also worth thinking about pretax incomes  and specifically what goes on inside corporations. Its worth asking the question that Benton asked: What kind of corporate America does the rest of America need?

Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts senator, is now rolling out a platform for her almost-certain presidential campaign, and it includes an answer to this question. Her idea is the most intriguing policy idea to come out of the early 2020 campaign.

Warren wants an economy in which companies again invest in their workers and communities. Yet she doesnt believe it can happen organically, as it did in the 1940s, because financial markets will punish well-meaning executives who stop trying to maximize short-term profits. They cant go back, she told me recently. You have to do it with a rule.

She has proposed a bill in the Senate  and Ben Ray Lujan, a top House Democrat, will soon offer it there  that would require corporate boards to take into account the interests of customers, employees and communities. To make sure that happens, 40 percent of a companys board seats would be elected by employees. Germany uses a version of this shared-governance model, mostly successfully. Even in todays hypercompetitive economy, German corporations earn nice profits with a philosophy that looks more like William Bentons than Gordon Gekkos.

Is Warrens plan the best way to rein in corporate greed? Im not yet sure. I want to see politicians and experts hash out her idea and others  much as they hashed out health care policy in the 2008 campaign.

But I do know this: American capitalism isnt working right now. If Benton and his fellow postwar executives returned with the same ideas today, they would be branded as socialists. In truth, they were the capitalists who cared enough about the system to save it. The same goes for the new reformers.Government yesterday urged striking junior doctors to go back to work while it was looking into their grievances. Junior doctors at public health facilities downed tools on Saturday, citing several challenges such as unsatisfactory working conditions, low salaries and lack of basic medicines and equipment.

In an interview with The Herald yesterday, Health and Child Care Minister Dr Obadiah Moyo said the industrial strike by the doctors was illegal.

The junior doctors embarked on industrial action, but this is illegal. They should have gone through a process of notifying the Health Services Board and making sure that everyone is aware, unfortunately that wasnt done.

We had a meeting with the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association and they explained the situation and they agreed that the industrial action was illegal.

However, we decided to look at their grievances especially those which we can solve as a ministry starting with the availability of fuel and also improving the possibility of doctors arriving at work on time. We are urging the junior doctors to go back to work.

It is much more sensible for them to be at work.

Dr Moyo said one of the drawbacks was that of fuel and Government is making arrangements for it to be availed.

I have given an instruction that all the health institutions which have got petrol and diesel tanks should have them filled. I am going to be negotiating with the Minister of Energy to make sure that fuel is made available at all the health institutions.

We also look at petrol stations where we can make arrangements for our doctors to be given priority to draw fuel, so that they dont spend the whole day in the queue. We want them to be working on the patients rather than being in the queues, he said.

He said the payment of doctors in US dollars was not possible at the moment.

There is no foreign currency in the country to buy medicines for use in hospitals, and that particular aspect of paying individuals in US dollars is not possible.

The President has been encouraging the pharmacists to sell drugs in local currency because there is no foreign currency, people cannot get foreign currency.

If we were to try and say we are going to be paying people in foreign currency it would eat into the allocations for medicines, fuel and other things.

Arrangements are being made as we access foreign currency, he said.

Minister Moyo said on the vehicle loan scheme  out of the $10 million allocated to the revolving staff vehicle loan fund, only $4 million has been utilised.

The balance of $6 million has not yet been released by Treasury.

Staff, however, raised concern that the money is now not enough to purchase vehicles on the local market given that local car dealers are now charging in forex, he said.

He said the HSB had already approached Treasury to have the balance released urgently to enable the staff utilise it. The ministry is going to identify local companies who can supply vehicles for health care workers.

On Call Allowance Review, the request to review the allowance from $7,50 to $10 was noted and will be submitted through the bipartite negotiating forum, Dr Moyo said.

On accommodation for health services staff, the minister implored the HSB to be proactive in addressing the issue and instructed the board to approach the local government ministry to request for allocation of land in all local authorities.

Dr Moyo said Government was making concerted efforts to acquire more drugs and surgical sundries through support from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, country to country arrangements, donor support and through credit facilities with international investors which should mature soon.

The minister also indicated his wish was to ensure a health care workforce that had the relevant paraphernalia at its disposal in order to discharge its duties diligently.

He praised the capabilities of the local health care practitioners as being of a very high level compared to other countries and that he had made human resource satisfaction his number one priority.

After the meeting, the junior doctors representatives agreed to go back to work.

 Herald

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Related Zimbabwe Latest NewsELEVEN women from Mutare have confirmed being raped by suspected three armed robbers, who were recently nabbed over a spate of robberies and rape committed in the eastern border city.

Chief Superintendent Florence Marume revealed this while addressing heads of government departments in preparation for a national clean-up campaign set to be launched by President Emmerson Mnangagwa on December 5 in Kadoma.

The clean-up campaign will be held in all major cities and towns respectively on the same day.

Eleven victims have come to us so far, claiming that they have been raped by these gangsters some we believe from Mozambique. We have engaged the Mozambican government, but they have disowned the robbers, she said.

We are also appealing to the Mutare City Council to repair our roads, because thieves and robbers are taking advantage of these roads, because it is now difficult to chase them. 

The suspected robbers, who were brought before the courts in connection with the crime, are Artwell Mudzingwa (28) from Harare, Prosper Mudzingwa (20) from Kadoma and Dumingo Luise Zuze (31), a Mozambican national.

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Related Zimbabwe Latest NewsHarare City Council (HCC) has proposed to increase the water tariff by an estimated 19 percent while also raising clamping, tow-away and storage charges by 100 percent.

Presenting the 2019 budget yesterday, finance and development committee chairperson Luckson Mukunguma said the countrys economic environment was volatile and made it difficult for the city to make important assumptions pertaining to service delivery.

The 2019 budget has shot up by more than 100 percent from $269,3 million (2018) to $472,2 million which was presented yesterday.

Therefore the proposed increase in the water tariff is expected to improve cost recovery and reduce dependence on the other accounts and ensure sustainability. For high density areas 1-10 cubic metres (m3) existing charge is 70 cents, proposed is 83 cents.

For 11 to 20 cm this will go up from 80 cents to 93 cents while water more than 20m3 will be $1,20 up from $1.

Low density areas will be charged 95 cents for water charged between 1 and 10m3 up from 80 cents. Water used between 11 and 20 m3 will be $1,30 up from $1,20 and above 20m3 it will remain at $1,50, Mukunguma said.

He added that bulk water supply will be 83 cents up from 70 cents, while industrial will be $1,43 up from $1,20 and water above 100 m3 will cost $1,70 up from $1,50.

The finance chairperson said the slight tariff increase was modest as it took into account the need to be able to sustainably provide potable water to the residents and stakeholders in Harare.

Your Worship, the justification for water tariff increase has been a drastic increase in cost of inputs namely chemicals, cost of repairs and maintenance, capital charges on borrowed funds for capital works and other operational expenses, he said.

Mukunguma emphasised that because of the lawlessness that was going on in the Central Business District, council would punitively raise clamping, tow-away and storage charges by 100 percent.

Currently, clamping fees are $56 for light vehicles and $80 for kombis, storage is $12 per day and tow-away fees are $112 for light vehicles and $132 for kombis.

All other services remained unchanged with Mukunguma citing that fees could be raised or reduced depending on the prevailing economic environment.

Mayor Herbert Gomba okayed the budget stating that for the city to achieve its world-class city status some adjustments had to be made in both the employees and residents mindsets.

We want to transform the city into a modern place that is appealing to its own residents and investors. We also want to make Harare easier for the next council to achieve a smart city that has modern infrastructure and functioning facilities and services, Gomba said.

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Related Zimbabwe Latest NewsWar veterans have called for a constitutional amendment to raise the Presidential age from the current 40 to 52 in a move widely seen as a ploy to block opposition MDC leader Nelson Chamisa from contesting elections in 2023.

This comes after President Mnangagwa narrowly beat 40-year old MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa in the disputed July 30 harmonised elections. Chamisa totally refused to accept Mnangagwas narrow win citing massive rigging by electoral body ZEC.

Addressing a press conference in the capital today, Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) Secretary General, Victor Matemadanda said they agreed to call on parliament to amend the constitution and raise the Presidential age limit to 52.

..to call upon the conference to ask parliament to amend the age limit of those who can contest on the Presidential election from the age of 40 to 52 so that ages for contesting will be as follows; Council and MP- 18 years upwards, Senator- 40 years upwards, President- 52 years upwards

This will make sure that anyone who contests for Presidency is mature enough to run the country, said Matemadanda.

War Veterans further called on parliament to enact laws that criminalize anyone who calls for economic sanctions adding that anyone found guilty should be barred from contesting future polls.

The ZNLWVA condemns all reactionary forces who go around the work asking for the extension of sanctions and call upon the conference to;

(We)declare all who call for sanctions against Zimbabwe and who work against government efforts to resuscitate the economy as enemies of the station and nation of Zimbabwe

(We) call upon conference to call on parliament to enact laws that cause an investigation and establishment of facts on people who call for sanctions and economic sabotage. If proved to be true, to make such people not eligible for election to district, provincial council, Member of Parliament, Senator and President position, added Matemadanda.

Posting on Twitter, seasoned Journalist Hopewell Chinono blasted war veterans for losing focus at a time the country was battling an economic disaster.

In a country emasculated by a myriad of economic disasters! The biggest issue on for War Veterans is to try and Stop Nelson Chamisa from contesting the Presidency in 2023?! What a pathetic narrative! Not even Robert Mugabe attempted that thoughtless move, said Chinono.

Chamisa, who turned 40 this year, came close to upstaging the incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa in the July 30 Presidential elections and is seen as a major threat to the ruling partys hold on power.

Chamisa insists that he garnered more than 2.6 million votes, though the Constitutional court dismissed his challenge with costs.

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Related Zimbabwe Latest NewsIll attempt to be brief, since events are very much in play, and there is still a great deal of noise relative to signal.

The overarching issue is that while some exciting skirmishes are underway, what matters is the configuration of forces on the battlefield. Well discuss the two big events of the day (so far) and then will turn to the overall state of play.

Todays Excitement

Contempt of Parliament. As UK-based readers probably know all too well, the Speaker of the Commons approved a cross-party effort to launch contempt proceedings against the Government for its failure to release the full text of the legal advice it received on Brexit, per a motion unanimously approved in Parliament on November 13.

The DUP joined the petition to the Speaker of the Commons, so if all the parties supporting the proceedings have a full turnout and reject the Governments effort to amend the motion (to refer it to the Committee of Privileges), the censure will pass. If the Government persists in not releasing the legal advice in full, Labour intends to seek sanctions of the ministers involved, the Attorney General Geoffrey Cox (who did quite the imitation of King Lear in his presentation in Commons yesterday) and/or Cabinet Office minster David Liddington, which would most likely be suspension from Parliament. Our Richard Smith points out another option would be to lock them up in Big Ben (more formally, commit to the clock tower of Westminster).

If May were someone other than Theresa May, she would hand over a redacted version of the advice. More bad press for May and her government when she is just about certain to face a vote of no confidence next week is not a very bright move. She could try pleading that the redacted parts are ones that it is in the public interest to keep confidential from the EU.

Having this vote today also delays the start of the debate on the Withdrawal Act.

Senior ECJ adviser says he believes UK can withdraw Article 50 notice unilaterally. The key part of the press release from the CJEU, as the EU calls it (emphasis theirs):

In answer to the question from the Scottish court, the Advocate General proposes that the Court of Justice should, in its future judgment, declare that Article 50 TEU allows the unilateral revocation of the notification of the intention to withdraw from the EU, until such time as the withdrawal agreement is formally concluded, provided that the revocation has been decided upon in accordance with the Member States constitutional requirements, is formally notified to the European Council and does not involve an abusive practice. However, that possibility of unilateral revocation is subject to certain conditions and limits. First, like the notification of the intention to withdraw, the unilateral revocation must be notified by a formal act to the European Council. Secondly, it must respect national constitutional requirements. If, as is the case in the UK, prior parliamentary authorisation is required for the notification of the intention to withdraw, it is logical that the revocation of that notification also requires parliamentary approval. There is also a temporal limit on the possibility of revocation, since revocation is possible only within the two-year period that begins when the intention to withdraw is notified. The principles of good faith and sincere cooperation must also be observed, in order to prevent abuse of the procedure laid down in Article 50 TEU.

As Ive said before, I fail to understand the importance attributed to this case. Multiple influential EU country heads and politicians have said the EU would let the UK rescind Article 50 up to the very last minute. The EU has every reason to do so. It might be procedurally a fudge, as in they might have to provisionally accept the petition and tidy it up later.but they provisionally accepted the CETA treaty and started trading on that basis a year before it was formally good to go.

However, there appears to have been a bizarre taboo among MPs against mentioning backing out of Article 50 as an option, let alone advocating it. For instance, Kier Starmer has claimed he was devising a Parliamentary strategy to make a crash-out Brexit impossible, yet as far as I can tell, has never once mentioned Article 50. Earth to MPs: unless you revoke the Article 50 notice, a crash out happens no matter what else you do. So this ruing and the attendant press coverage will presumably disinhibit them.

Now having said that, reading between the lines of a Guardian article about the opinion (which is very likely to become official, since these determinations by the ECJ adviser are seldom reversed by the full court), it appears that the Government may have misled MPs as to the how the EU would respond to the UK seeking to back out of Brexit. So the perceived barriers may have been higher than they were.

But the actual barriers are still high. It is extraordinarily unlikely that Parliament would vote to reverse Brexit in the absence of a referendum that gave unambiguous approval of Remain, and it seems improbable that the EU would give the UK a long enough deferral of the Brexit date to accomplish that.

The Withdrawal Agreement Votes

Can someone please explain to me what Kier Starmer, the Shadow Brexit minister, thinks he is up to with his silly pretense of amending the Withdrawal Agreement to prevent a no-deal Brexit? First, the critical steps to accomplishing what he claims he is trying to get done is to remove the provision in the original bill authorizing Brexit that hard-codes the Brexit date and time, and as discussed above, revoking the Article 50 notice.

But second, and more seriously, the whole premise is daft. If the bill were to pass, there would be no crash out. And if the bill fails, the amendments fail too.

What Starmer claims he is doing can be accomplished only via primary legislation. And I gather that in the UK, so-called private bills, as in ones not initiated by the Government, pretty much never get done.

So the only way to do what Starmer wants to do is get rid of May at a minimum, and better yet, get a new coalition in charge. Youd think Labour would have a better shot of doing that by saying that the only chance of preventing a crash out if her bill is voted down is to turf her out. Why not be saying that now, rather than wasting time with pointless theatrics?

What Happens When Mays Bill Is Voted Down?

The trivial answer to the question above is that things get chaotic, but lets focus on thing that look reasonably likely. May does not have a Plan B. Its not her style. The closest thing she has to that is the hope that Mr. Market will react so badly that Parliament will be willing to undertake a second vote after the Christmas holidays. The fact that markets are illiquid at year end means price action is likely to be more extreme than it would be at other times of year.

But May has to last until next year for that scenario to play out.

Labour has said it would introduce a motion of no confidence if Mays Brexit were voted down and there is every reason to take them at their word. Some Conservatives have already sent in letters calling for a Motion of No Confidence, and the DUP is likely to vote against May. DUP leader Arlene Foster has recently said the UK could get a better deal from the EU if it pushed for it, which contradicts Mays claims. It doesnt matter whether Foster believe this or not; it legitimates the DUP voting to toss May over the side.

Hoever, the DUP does not want a General Election. It would almost certainly lose its powerful position as the key member in a coalition. Neither do the Tories. So if the Tories can rally around a new PM (Michael Gove?), the DUP would very likely join them. Recall that under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act, the Government can forestall a general election if it can act quickly enough. From Parliaments website:

If such a motion is agreed to, and a new government with the support of a majority of MPs cannot be formed within a period of 14 calendar days, Parliament is dissolved and an early General Election is triggered.

The fact that May might be turfed out right before Parliament goes out of session starting Friday December 21 means that minds in the Tory party are very likely focused on this question right now. And since a General Election will not have been called under any scenario by the time of the EU Council meeting on December 13-14, one wonder what they will have to say.

If the fate of the UK and EU werent going to be so strongly affected by how these power plays resolve, this would make for great theater. But too many people stand to be losers.Yves here. This post reaches a conclusion that might seem obvious: rich heirs tend not to work much. However. all sorts of wealthy people would like you to believe otherwise. The not working much matters because they produce less in labor income which would add to output and be taxed. Of course, if you are a currency issuer, you dont need to tax to spend, but state and local governments, and Eurozone countries that are currency users do need to worry about tax revenues to fund spending.

By Fabian Kindermann, Professor of Economics, University of Regensburg, Lukas Mayr, Lecturer, Economics Department, University of Essex, and Dominik Sachs, Professor (non-tenured) of Economics, University of Munich. Originally published at VoxEU

Although inheritance taxes are of growing importance for Western economies in raising government revenue, little is known about how inheritance taxation affects individuals incentives to work. This column explores how much additional labour income tax revenue from heirs the government can expect to obtainfor each euro of revenue raised directly through inheritance taxes. It concludes that additional labour tax payments from heirs, resulting from an increase in bequest taxes, are of sizable magnitude and should be taken into account in fiscal planning and welfare analysis.

Inheritances are of growing importance for Western economies. Using data from France, Piketty (2011) shows that the annual flow of inheritances has been ever increasing since the 1950s, so that in 2010 it amounted to roughly 15% of national income. This development clearly highlights the increasing power of an inheritance tax in raising revenue. Yet to date, inheritance-tax revenue in most Western economies is rather low. In several countries, inheritances are not taxed at all. In others, including the US and Germany, inheritance taxes exist, but very high exemption levels ensure that most inheritances remain untaxed. Nevertheless, the desirability of inheritance taxation is a prevailing topic in the scientific and political discussion, where popular labels such as death tax or Paris Hilton tax mirror the emotionality of the debate.

In practice, we know very little about how inheritance taxation affects individuals incentives to work, to accumulate wealth, or to engage in entrepreneurial activities. Understanding these effects, however, is crucial for a comprehensive welfare assessment of inheritance taxes. Kopczuk (2013) attributes this lack of evidence to the fact that empirical measurement is difficult, because [wealth transfers] are infrequent (at the extreme, occurring just at death), thereby allowing for a long period of planning, making expectations about future tax policy critical and empirical identification of the effect of incentives particularly hard (Kopczuk 2013: 330).

An important household decision that reflects the incentive effects of inheritance taxation is labour supply. It is easy to envision at least two channels through which higher inheritance taxes impact on the households willingness to generate labour earnings:

For testators, higher inheritance taxes make them poorer and make leaving bequests more expensive. Hence, they will experience substitution and income effects (Hines 2013).

For heirs, a higher inheritance tax rate leaves them with a lower net inheritance, thus leading to an increase in labour supply if leisure is a normal good.

In our recent paper (Kindermann et al. 2018), we make progress on understanding and quantifying the second effect, namely, the labour supply channel of heirs. From the perspective of public finances, this is a particularly interesting channel, as rising labour earnings of heirs will inevitably lead to an increase in their labour tax bill and, hence, boost government tax revenue.

We therefore tackle the following policy question:for each euro of revenue raised directly through inheritance taxes, how much additional labour income tax revenue from heirs can the government expect to obtain?

Answering such a question purely on empirical grounds is difficult. One fundamental problem is that inheritances could be anticipated and therefore might already shape labour earnings prior to their receipt. Such anticipation effects can get in the way of a clean identification of the effect of inheritance taxes on heirs labour. Estimates of labour supply changes upon the arrival of an inheritance would therefore (most likely) be biased.

To overcome such problems, our paper uses an alternative strategy, exploiting the existing clean evidence on the wealth effect of lottery gains on labour income. From a researchers perspective, lottery wins have the advantage that they occur with an almost-zero probability. Hence, anticipation effects are unlikely to occur and observed differences in labour earnings between winners and non-winners of lotteries (or winners of different amounts) can be directly attributed to the differential receipt of unearned income. Using this approach, Cesarini et al. (2017) document a significant reduction in labour earnings following the receipt of a lottery win.

Precisely for the reason that inheritances are (to some extent) anticipated, one cannot directly extrapolate this evidence to answer our policy question. Instead, we use a hybrid approach: we calibrate a large-scale life-cycle model  featuring consumption, labour supply and savings decisions, heterogeneous labour productivity profiles, and realistic expectations about the size and timing of bequests  such that the model replicates the quasi-experimental evidence on lottery wins. Specifically, we distribute lottery gains of different sizes among individuals of different ages in our model in the same way as they are distributed in the dataset of Cesarini et al. (2017). We measure the resulting responses in labour earnings and set preference parameters in a way that the models predicted response in labour earnings matches the empirical one. Figure 1 compares the average model-simulated response in labour earnings after a lottery win to its data counterpart.

Figure 1 Response in labour earnings in data and model

We otherwise set the parameters of our model such that it resembles the German economy, with its progressive tax system, pension payments, as well as labour earnings profiles, and conditional bequest distributions. The only feature of our model, for which neither quasi-experimental evidence nor survey data provide us with clear guidance for calibration, are individual expectations about whether they will receive an inheritance, and of which size this inheritance will be. From a theoretical viewpoint, different assumptions on rational expectations can be consistent with the data on actual inheritance cases.

To deal with this issue, we consider a general class of expectations that captures two special cases as polar outcomes: (i) full information in the sense that individuals know for sure how much they inherit and the only remaining uncertainty is about the date at which their testator dies; and (ii) no information in the sense that heirs only observe the cross-sectional distribution of inheritances and form their expectations accordingly. Besides these two polar cases, we consider convex combinations of the two.

Equipped with this quantitative model, we conduct the following policy experiment: we let the government levy a proportional tax of 1% on all inheritances in the economy and calculate by how much individuals adjust their life-time labour income in response to this policy change. We then evaluate the impact on public finances through increased labour tax payments.

For our benchmark economy, we find that any euro of taxes the government directly raises from the taxation of inheritances is accompanied by an additional nine cents of labour tax payments from heirs (in present value terms). This result is, by and large, insensitive to the assumptions we make about how informed individuals are with respect to their inheritances, as long as expectations are rational. Figure 2 shows the excess labour tax payments as a function of how informed agents are about the size of their inheritance. The number varies between around 8.5 and 10 cents.

Figure 2 Excess labour tax revenue and information of households

We also show that anticipation effects are indeed likely to bias empirical estimates that rely solely on labour supply changes starting from the date inheritances are received. Our model suggests that about 48% of the total effect of bequest taxes on heirs labour earnings occur prior to the receipt of an inheritance. This highlights the importance of considering a structural model in which inheritances are rationally anticipated.

We conclude that additional labour tax payments from heirs, resulting from an increase in bequest taxes, are of sizable magnitude and should be taken into account in fiscal planning and welfare analysis.

See original post for referencesYves here. While the media has been working overtime on Russiagate theories, the Trump administration has been busy with giveaways, this one of public land rights.

By Greta Moran, a news fellow at Grist. Follow her on Twitter: @gretalomoran. Originally published at Grist

Last December, a London-based energy company secured drilling rights to 67,000 acres in Montana for the paltry sum of $1.50 per acre  a steal compared to the $100 per acre average price tag for land leased under the final four years of the Obama administration, according to The New York Times.

This wasnt some end-of-the-year clearance sale. While you might think public lands would be more safeguarded than most from oil and gas development, the Trump administration has actually made it dangerously affordable to lease drilling rights. Thats especially concerning in light of a new federal report that found drilling on public lands accounts for nearly a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

We clearly have a system that is incentivizing speculation, said Jeremy Nichols, the Climate and Energy Program Director at WildEarth Guardians. He said the low lease prices allowed companies to take advantage of public lands and make money off the backs of taxpayers.I call it a liquidation. When youre selling public lands for $1.50 an acre, you are liquidating.

Recent oil and gas lease sales, listed by the Bureau of Land Management, show parcels frequently selling for about $2 an acre  the minimum legal bid, which can drop as low as $1.50 per acre if there are no other bidders  as was the case for the Montana drilling rights.

This devaluing of public lands and their wholesale leasing is not only alarming because of the associated greenhouse gases. Drilling can end up cutting off wildlife corridors, threatening native flora and fauna. It can also lead to massive spikes in air pollution  which is why some towns located near the gas fields in western Wyoming have experienced higher smog levels than Los Angeles.

The public technically has a say over these leases (as the lands are, well, public), but the Trump administration has made it harder for people to share their concerns. Officials have shortened the federal period for public comment from 30 days to 10 days. In New Mexico, the Bureau of Land Management now only accepts mailed public comments.

The Trump administration is capitalizing an outmoded system. The Mineral Leasing Act. That federal law authorizes and governs leasing of public lands, was passed in 1920a time when climate change was not yet well understood. Although it was amended in 1987, the foundation of the act, which is to encourage blanket disposal of federal oil and gas, has remained unchanged since the 1920s, Nichols said.

Controversies over public land rights also predate the current administration. Back in 2008, college student Tim DeChristopher caused a stir after he was able to walk into a public land auction, pose as a bidder, and purchase drilling rights to public lands near Utahs iconic national parks. DeChristopher was sent to jail for this act of civil disobedience, and later hailed as a climate hero for helping to expose the problems associated with undervaluing public lands. But the set price point of public lands has only decreased since then.

Depending on how they are used, public lands will be a big part of our climate problems, or our climate solutions. Based on that alone, theyre probably worth more than a cup of coffee.Nature has manufactured the perfect machines. Only the fastest, toughest, and most cunning creatures have endured. We examine how animals have evolved and how we can benefit from their evolution.

Sundays from 8:30pm AEDT.Monday, December 3, 2018 at 3:31PM

Microsoft is raising awareness and celebrating United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities, reminding us that there are over a billion people with disabilities around the world.

This years IDPD theme, Empowering persons with disabilities and ensuring inclusiveness and equality, is especially relevant to Microsofts efforts to weave accessibility into the fabric of what we design and build for every team, organization, classroom, and home.

Maayan Ziv, Founder and CEO of AccessNow, a mobile app and website that collects and shares information about the accessibility status of places worldwide, sat down with Ricardo Wagner, Marketing and Operations Lead at Microsoft, to discuss creating a more accessible world.

Microsoft is driven by a mission that is inherently inclusive: empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Click here to watch two powerful videos highlighting Canadian employee success stories.

Accessibility isnt a new thing for Microsofts its part of our DNA.

Here are just a few recent examples of how Microsoft is emphasizing commitment to accessible technology:

Visit the Microsoft Accessibility Blog to learn more about our accessibility momentum, as told by our Chief Accessibility Officer Jenny Lay-Flurrie.NATO Foreign Ministers are meeting today (4 December 2018) to begin two days of talks on critical issues for the Alliances shared security. Ministers will discuss NATOs cooperation with Georgia and Ukraine, transatlantic security, and the Alliances approach to the Middle East and North Africa. The Western Balkans and the security situation in Afghanistan will also be high on the agenda.

Read the Secretary General's doorstep statement hereNATO Foreign Ministers met with the Foreign Ministers of Georgia and Ukraine on Tuesday (4 December 2018) to address the security situation in the Black Sea region and the Alliances support for both nations. NATO has substantially increased its presence in the Black Sea region over the past few years, at sea, in the air and on the ground. The Alliance remains committed to strengthening its ties with both Georgia and Ukraine.

Read the Secretary General's press conference following the meeting here(As delivered)

So good morning.

Today and tomorrow, NATOs Foreign Ministers will meet and address a wide range of issues of importance for our shared security.

We will address Russia destabilizing behaviour, we recently saw how Russia used military force against Ukrainian vessels and arrested the ships and the sailors and we call on Russia to immediately release the ships and the sailors.

We are also concerned about the new Russia missile system which puts the INF Treaty in jeopardy.

Its urgent that Russia ensures full compliance in a transparent and verifiable way. Because the INF Treaty is so important for our security.

We will also discuss the challenges we see emanating from the South. Our partnerships, our work with different countries in North Africa and Middle East.

And also the training mission we have started in Iraq.

We will also discuss the Western Balkans.

And we welcome the progress that Skopjes making moving towards full membership of NATO.

So this will be a meeting with a lot of substance and many important topics to be addressed.

Q) Inaudible.

Secretary General: We will meet the Foreign Minister of Georgia in a meeting later on today. We will there express our strong support to Georgia, to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia. Allies also provide not only political support but also practical support to Georgia. So I look forward to the meeting and I look forward to meeting the Foreign Minister of Georgia.

Q) Can Ukraine expect help from NATO if Russia begin open attack on Ukraine?

Secretary General: All Allies and NATO provide strong political support and strong practical support to Ukraine. Ukraine is not a NATO member but we strongly support Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity. We also call on Russia to release the sailors and the ships they have seized. NATO Allies will also continue to help modernise and strengthen the Ukrainian armed forces. NATO is also helping with different trust funds on cyber, on command and control and we also help to modernise the Ukrainian navy. Then I think we also have to remember that because of the aggressive actions of Russia against Ukraine, illegally annexing Crimea, destabilizing eastern Ukraine and now we have also seen what they have tried to do in the Sea of Azov. NATO has implemented the biggest reinforcement of our collective defence since the end of the Cold War, with higher readiness of our armed forces, with combat battalions in the eastern part of the Alliance. Allies are also now investing more in defence. NATO Allies are strehngeing our collective defence as a direct response to what we have seen Russia has done against Ukraine.

Q) 1TV: Tomorrow Afghanistan will also be discussed. Considering the regional dimensions of the peace process in Afghanistan and the insecurity, is there any chance that NATO is going to contribute with Russia and Iran in order to create the foundation for a sustainable peace process in Afghanistan?

Secretary General: So NATO strongly supports an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process. Therefore we also welcome the initiative taken by President Ghani. We welcome the fact that we had a ceasefire this summer. And also the offer by Ghani to sit down with the Taliban and have unconditional peace talks. NATO is there to create a foundation for a political solution, because we train, assist and advise the Afghan security forces, armed forces, to send a clear message to the Taliban that they will never win on the battlefield. So they have to sit down at the negotiating table and engage in a real peace negotiation with the government. And of course we expect all powers, countries in the region, including Russian and Iran, to support this Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process and play a constructive role.

Q) Mitra: Afghans are concerned about the negotiations with the Taliban, because they feel that the achievements which were gained over the last 16 years might be compromised. How does the peace process look from the perspective of NATO? What would be the red lines for NATO regarding the peace talks with the Taliban?

Secretary General: We strongly believe in a political settlement and a peace process which is Afghan-led and Afghan-owned. And therefore its not for NATO to set specific red lines. Its for those sitting around the negotiating table. But we support the Afghans. We also welcome the progress we have seen in Afghanistan when it comes to womens rights, democracy. And we continue to provide support to the Afghan government to modernise its institutions and strengthen its democratic processes.(As delivered)

Good afternoon.

NATO Foreign Ministers have just met with the Foreign Ministers of Ukraine and Georgia.

We addressed the security situation in the Black Sea region.

Including Russias violations of Georgias and Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Four years ago, Russia illegally annexed Crimea.

Now, Russia is attempting to use Crimea to expand its influence.

And control the Sea of Azov.

Just a few days ago, we saw Russia use military force against Ukrainian ships and naval personnel. We call on Russia to immediately release the Ukrainian sailors and ships it seized. Russia must allow freedom of navigation.

And allow unhindered access to Ukrainian ports. Russias pattern of disrespect for the borders of its neighbours includes military presence in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Russia must end its recognition of both regions. And withdraw its forces from these regions of Georgia.

In response to Russias aggressive actions, NATO has substantially increased its presence in the Black Sea region over the past few years. At sea, in the air and on the ground.

NATO ships routinely patrol and exercise in the Black Sea. This year, ships under NATO command have spent 120 days in the Black Sea, compared to 80 days the year before. Several Allies conduct NATO air policing in the region. Allies also conduct regular reconnaissance flights.And we have set up a Romanian-led multinational brigade in Romania.

Three NATO members  Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey  are littoral states.

So there is already a lot of NATO in the Black Sea. And we will continue to assess our presence in the region.

At our meeting today, we agreed to continue working together to prepare Georgia for NATO membership. We recognised the significant progress Georgia has made with its reforms. And we thanked Georgia for its major contributions to our mission in Afghanistan.

We also restated NATOs solidarity with Ukraine. We recognise Ukraines aspirations to join the Alliance. And progress has already been made on reforms.

But challenges remain, so we encourage Ukraine to continue on this path of reform.

This is crucial for prosperity and peace in Ukraine.

Allies greatly value our unique partnerships with Georgia and Ukraine. In different ways, each of them contributes to our shared security. And NATO remains committed to strengthening our ties with both countries.

And with that, I am ready to take your questions.

Oana Lungescu [NATO Spokesperson]: We'll go to the BBC over there.

Question [BBC]: Yes, thank you very much. Jonathan Marcus, Secretary General, from the BBC. Youve talked about NATO expanding its activities in the Black Sea region over the last few years, but clearly that has been insufficient to change Russia's behaviour in the light of the most recent events in the Sea of Azov. Have you tasked NATO Military Authorities to look at other steps to increase NATO military activity in the Black Sea? Or are there other steps that individual NATO countries might take to provide greater assistance to Ukraine?

Jens Stoltenberg [NATO Secretary General]: NATO's presence in the Black Sea makes a difference and we have significantly increased our presence there and, during the meeting today, Allies clearly sent a message that they will continue to provide practical support to Ukraine, political support to Ukraine, but also continue to have a presence in the Black Sea region, both within the NATO framework, but also some NATO Allies have presence bilaterally. We support the Ukrainian armed forces in different ways, with command and control, with cyber; some Allies also provide training in different areas. NATO helps them to strengthen their naval capabilities, we help them at the naval academy in Odessa. We also help them to develop maritime capabilities, training exercises and also port visits. And we will of course very closely monitor and watch the situation in the Black Sea region, after the incidents we saw a few days ago. I think also we have to remember and understand that one of the reasons why NATO is in the process of implementing the biggest reinforcement to our collective defence since the end of the Cold War, is actually Russia's aggression against Ukraine. We have battlegroups in the eastern part of the Alliance for the first time in our history, we have the Romanian-led multinational brigade in Romania, we have air policing in the Black Sea, and we have more naval presence. So, all of this sends a very clear message from NATO and NATO Allies, to Russia.

Oana Lungescu [NATO Spokesperson]: We'll go to Ukrainian TV in the first row.

Question [5 Kanal]: Good evening. My name is Kristina, TV Channel 5, Ukraine. So, my question is what will be the next steps of NATO in the case of further blockade of the Azov Sea by Russia, if it will continue for example? Because, as we all understand, it is quite a dangerous threat, not just for Ukraine, for Turkey, but for other European countries which suffer from this blockade, and other ships and vessels. Thank you.

Jens Stoltenberg [NATO Secretary General]: This meeting in itself was an important message, or sent an important message to Russia. Because having all NATO Allies, and some of them also have presence on the bilateral level in the Black Sea, and we have three littoral states, all NATO Allies met with Ukraine and Georgia and sent a very clear message about our support. We are present in Georgia, we are present in Ukraine; and they committed to continue and to deepen the cooperation with both Georgia and Ukraine. We will, as I say, follow and monitor. We are following and monitoring closely the developments in the region, including of course in the Black Sea. And then we will, based on our assessments, continue to assess our presence in the region.

Oana Lungescu [NATO Spokesperson]: ITAR-TASS, second row centre.

Question [ITAR-TASS]: Thank you very much. Denis Dubrovin, TASS News Agency. Mr Secretary General, four years ago your predecessor, Mr Anders Fogh Rasmussen, has called for restrain in supressing the Maidan protestors in Kyiv. Would you call now for restrain for the French forces, of police forces, when they are supressing the riots of "gilet jaunes"? Merci.

Jens Stoltenberg [NATO Secretary General]: First of all, I think thats no meaning in comparing those two situations. And I also think that to try in any way to compare that is totally wrong. Then, the important thing for NATO is that we support the territorial integrity of Ukraine, and we will never accept and recognise the illegal annexation of Crimea and that Russia continues to destabilise Eastern Ukraine. And we have to understand what happened near the Sea of Azov in this context, because first Russia annexed Crimea, then they built a bridge, and then they used the annexation of Crimea and the illegally built bridge to try to take control over the Sea of Azov. So therefore we continue to call on Russia to release the ships, release the naval personnel, but also allow Ukraine access to the Sea of Azov, with both commercial shops and military ships. Because thats actually an agreement between Russia and Ukraine, and Russia has to honour that agreement. So, any attempt to block, to impede access for Ukrainian ships into the Sea of Azov, will be something which is absolutely in violation of the agreement between the two countries and it's a new example of how Russia is not respecting the territorial integrity of its neighbours. So, this is what this case is about.

Oana Lungescu [NATO Spokesperson]: Very last question; RUSTAVI 2, lady in the second row.

Question [RUSTAVI 2]: Georgian TV company, RUSTAVI 2. Secretary General, does Ukrainian side raise some new initiations about this situation? And second, Hungarian Foreign Foreign Minister, he made statement that he will raise issue about the Membership Action Plan to Georgia. Do you discuss, on this meeting, this issue? And which kind of position has other Allies? Thank you.

Jens Stoltenberg [NATO Secretary General]: This was one of the topics we addressed in the meeting. I think I will leave it to each individual Ally to refer what they actually said in the specific meeting. But in general, I can say that we strongly support Georgia on its path towards NATO membership and NATO's Heads of State and Government, they stated as late as in July that Georgia will become a member of the Alliance. We continue to provide support to Georgia to implement the necessary reforms. We commend the progress Georgia has made and we continue to work with Georgia in modernising their armed forces, building strong institutions, and we have the training and evaluation centre in Georgia, which we use to work with Georgia. That is important for Georgia, but it's also important for NATO, because it strengthens the interoperability of our forces, and many Allies expressed in the meeting today that they are extremely grateful for the strong contribution of Georgia to different NATO missions and operations. So, I think this meeting was a strong message of solidarity between NATO and Georgia, and NATO and Ukraine, and that we stand together.

Oana Lungescu [NATO Spokesperson]: Thank you very much. This concludes this press point. Thank you.

Jens Stoltenberg [NATO Secretary General]: Thank you.The Heads of Allied Civil and Military, Intelligence and Security Organizations met at NATO Headquarters in Brussels on 29 November 2018 for talks on countering disinformation, cyber-attacks and traditional means of espionage. The conference was opened by Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, together with the Romanian Chair of NATOs Civilian Intelligence Committee and the Canadian Chair of the Military Intelligence Committee. The Allied Intelligence officials endorsed the framework for the establishment of a NATO Intelligence Academy, and they discussed together with Partner services and the European Union about emerging technologies that have an impact on intelligence and also about NATO  EU cooperation.

High quality intelligence and analysis are vital to the security of the Alliance, NATOs Assistant Secretary General for Intelligence and Security, Arndt Freytag von Loringhoven, said after the meeting. Today, we face challenges from a much more assertive Russia as well as from terrorism and instability in the Middle East. The role of the Intelligence Community is to assess those challenges and provide the best information and recommendations to the NATOs North Atlantic Council. Ambassador Loringhoven cited well documented attempts to manipulate elections, hack the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and spark a coup in Montenegro as recent examples of hybrid attacks.

Due to the deteriorating security environment after 2014, NATO has created a new Intelligence Division to better understand the threats to our security. The division does not collect its own intelligence, but assesses information provided by allied services.(Natural News) Editors note: The following true story sounds bizarre, but its genuinely what this Catholic Bishop is saying. We dont agree with this, and we wonder whether this particular bishop has ever noticed the satanic demons inhabiting the body of Pope Francis. Nevertheless, we present this outlandish true account for your consideration.

As Pope Francis and the rest of the Roman Catholic Empire continues to ignore rampant child abuse and pedophilia within its ranks, an Irish bishop has pronounced to the world that an energy healing protocol known as Reiki is satanic, and that it opens up the doors to demonic possession.

Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan, during a recent interview with Independent Ireland, declared that his lifes mission is to cleanse the devil from the face of the earth. And his biggest priority is taking on new-age healing methods like reiki that he says are allowing Satan and his demons to enter into peoples bodies.

Youre channeling energies, in inverted commas, you could well be opening yourself up to letting a spirit in which is not good and is dangerous stuff, actually, Bishop Cullinan is quoted as saying to the U.K. paper.

This is something that has to be done in secret because you dont let these peoples names out, and they are going to houses where people maybe have been involved in some kind of new-age thing or some kind of seance or that kind of thing, and unfortunately, theyve opened up a door to an evil force, Satan.

Catholicism: Yoga and reiki are evil, but GMOs and child rape are all a-okay

If Roman Catholicism was at least consistent in its proclamations of whats evil and what isnt, one could argue that these statements by Bishop Cullinan are valid in terms of the Catholic religions dogmas and doctrines. But theres a glaring hypocrisy between how the Catholic religion treats matters of variant spiritual practice versus many other verifiable evils such as biotechnology, vaccines, and child rape.

Back in 2011, we reported on how leaked documents showed that the Vatican was fully supportive of Frankenfoods that are known to damage human health.

And when it comes to child rape, the Catholic religion is similarly indifferent. Pope Francis has repeatedly stated that pedophilia isnt a sin caused by those who engage in it, including Catholic priests, but is rather the fault of the devil who somehow commits these vile acts through human bodies.

Its a ridiculous double standard that would seem to preclude any outside judgment of things like reiki and yoga, both of which the Catholic religion condemns as evil, all the while approving much worse evils in an attempt to protect Catholic clergy from any and all scrutiny for committing evil acts  and against innocent children, no less.

In the information age, its hardly difficult to investigate these matters for oneself to determine that the Catholic religion has created a set of rules and morals that perpetuate its own existence, rather than serve God. Its clearly an outdated system of religious influence and control that even more clearly harbors all kinds of evil within its ranks while condemning everyone else on the outside for their much lesser moral crimes.

The Catholic church has long been at odds with any mystery that it does not directly control, and their propaganda line is always the same: If we dont like it, its Satan, writes Vic Bishop for Waking Times.

Heres a thought for the Catholic church: Pedophilia is literally the most Satanic thing on the planet. So, until the church is able to exorcise the evil from within, I think Ill keep practicing yoga and healing myself with Reiki, while keeping my children miles and miles away from the Catholic church and all of the creepy pedophile sexual predators it employs and protects.

For more news about Catholic hypocrisy, be sure to check out Evil.news.

You can also keep up with the latest religious news as it pertains to world events by visiting Prophecy.news.

Sources for this article include:

NaturalNews.com

WakingTimes.com

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com(Natural News) Is the American public getting taken advantage of by federal regulatory bodies that are supposed to exist to protect them? One man from Texas says so, having witnessed the horrors of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-approved biosludge and what its done in and around his property located near Dallas-Fort Worth.

During an interview he gave as part of the new Biosludged film  be sure to watch the official Biosludged trailers at BrighteonFilms.com  Craig Monk explained how the EPA tends to speak out of both sides of its mouth when it comes to the safety and benefits of biosludge.

As of this writing, the official E.P.A. website has an article published on the front page that headline how the standards that govern biosludge, a.k.a. sewage sludge, allegedly help protect public health and the environment. On the Basic Information about Biosolids page, the EPA further states that biosolids are nutrient-rich organic materials produced from wastewater treatment facilities.

It all sounds so natural and fertilizer-like: the conversion of whats flushed down peoples toilets into the raw equivalent of crop fertilizer  what could possibly be wrong with that? Everything, it turns out.

Sewage sludge, or biosolids  whatever you want to call it  was never designed to be put out on top of land. It was designed to be put in a landfill, a lined landfill, because of the contaminants, chemicals, and pathogens that are in it, Monk explained during the interview, which you can watch below at Brighteon.com.

But the EPA came up with this process to allow cities to dump on farms in the name of beneficial and safe. And to this day, if you look at their website, it promotes biosolids to almost a point of what I consider to be consumer fraud, because they turn around and produce other documents that show the hazards in it.

Based on the legal definition of consumer fraud, it looks like the general public might have a case against the E.P.A.

Keep in mind, here, that the EPA actually categorizes biosludge as fertilizer that is says helps to improve and maintain productive soils and stimulate plant growth.

Effective sewage sludge and biosolids management options help ensure that useful materials are recycled on land and harmful materials are not released to water bodies, the agencys website adds.

It all sounds so great until you realize that, out of the other side of its mouth, the EPA admits that it really doesnt know how safe biosolids actually are. An EPA report published on November 15, 2018, reveals that the EPA is actually unable to determine the environmental and human impact of the hundreds of unregulated pollutants that are routinely found in biosolids.

While the EPA has thus far identified the presence of some 352 pollutants in biosolids  including pharmaceuticals, steroids, flame retardants, and a whole lot more  the agency cannot yet consider these pollutants for further regulation due to either a lack of data or risk assessment tools. In other words, the EPA is claiming biosolids are safe, but in all actuality cannot actually prove that theyre safe.

This is why Monk has determined that the EPA is committing consumer fraud against the public, as people like himself and his neighbors are now having to suffer the consequences of toxin-laced biosolids that are causing horrific odors  and that in some cases are even washing into their yards and causing biohazards.

Be sure to watch the full interview with Craig Monk at Brighteon.com, and watch the full Biosludged film for FREE at Biosludged.com.

You can also learn more about biosolids by visiting Biosolids.news.

Sources for this article include:

Biosludged.com

BrighteonFilms.com

EPA.gov

Brighteon.com

EPA.gov

NaturalNews.com(Natural News) Many people have turned to non-toxic nail polish as a safer way to get their nails done, but new research has shown that the replacement chemicals used in so-called 3-free polishes arent actually any better for your health. As is so often the case, it turns out that the nail polish industry has simply exchanged one toxin for another.

Consumers have grown more interested in the ingredients that go into their favorite cosmetic products over the years. And as awareness of the toxic compounds that go into beauty products (nail polishes and so on) spreads, the industry has responded with promises of products that are free of dangerous chemicals, such as 3-free nail polish. Three-free nail polish is free of the toxic trio, dibutyl phthalate (DnBP), toluene, and formaldehyde.

Since 3-free landed on the market, 5-free and even 7-free polishes have also been developed. There are even 13-free nail polishes available today, but as a study published in Environmental Science and Technology shows, they may not be any safer than traditional polishes.

Non-toxic, or not safe?

Doctoral student Anna Young, from Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, worked with her team to take a more critical look at non-toxic nail polish. Fifty-five polishes from 44 different brands, sold in both stores and salons, were tested. Young and her team examined labels and ingredient lists, and compared how each brand defined its claims of being free of select toxins.

As sources note, 3-free and 5-free polishes were pretty consistent in terms of their ingredients, but after that, things became less predictable. Not only did the ingredients in higher number -free polishes become inconsistent, what being free of toxins meant seemed to become less concrete, as well. As Health.com reports:

Out of the 10 products labeled 10-free, for example, there were six different variations as to what those 10 toxic compounds were. And because theres no standardization across products, theres no way to know if a certain ingredient (like lead or acetone or parabens, for example) is included in a products list of exclusions.

Some brands include wheat, gluten, fat and animal-derived ingredients in their list of excluded substances, even though they do not pose a threat to most consumers health. So, a more exclusive ingredient list does not automatically ensure there will be an increase in product safety.

More concerning, however, is the fact that when brands phase out known toxins, they are replaced with similar, but not well-studied, compounds. While an array of nail polish chemicals have been linked to health problems already, that number is sure to grow.

Its a practice known as regrettable substitution, and it doesnt just happen in the nail polish industry. When one toxic ingredient is simply replaced with another one, its kind of like playing a game of chemical whack-a-mole, Young commented. In the plastic industry, a similar phenomenon has occurred with BPA and BPA-free products, which are now also under scrutiny.

With little standardization or validation of the claims, its challenging for consumers and nail salon workers to know what these labels really mean for health. Its not as simple as what substances arent in nail polish; we have to address harmful chemicals still present or added as substitutes, the study author commented further.

Young recommends looking at the entire ingredient list before purchasing a polish, rather than relying on what the front of the package says. She adds that just because one toxin has been removed, other ingredients may still be risky.

You can learn more about dangerous chemicals, compounds and more at Toxins.news.

Sources for this article include:

Earth.com

Health.com(Natural News) It has now become abundantly evident that Robert Mueller is a rogue, lawless criminal who uses coercion and intimidation tactics to pressure witnesses into lying so that he can weave a fabricated narrative implicating President Trump in the Russia collusion hoax. Its important to note that Robert Muellers intimidation tactics are, themselves, felony crimes that would get any normal lawyer disbarred and possibly indicted.

To save any last shred of integrity for the institution of legal justice, America must criminally indict and prosecute Robert Mueller for his multiple felony crimes, including:

Coercive witness tampering

A repeated pattern of obstruction of justice

Extreme abuse of government power

Refusing to recuse himself even when he has extreme, blatant conflicts of interest with prosecution targets and witnesses

Withholding exculpatory evidence that would vindicate his intended political targets

Aiding in the cover-up of Hillary Clintons sale of uranium to Russia-linked companies via the Uranium One scandal

If Robert Mueller is not stopped, the rule of law collapses for all Americans

Robert Muellers complete disregard for the rule of law is a danger to the entire nation, yet Leftists gleefully applaud his Gestapo-like tactics because his current targets are their political enemies. Yet in allowing this to continue, Democrats are willfully ripping the rule of law to shreds, destroying any last remaining credibility of the federal government and announcing to the People that theres no such thing as real justice when government political operatives are at work.

When people like Robert Mueller and James Comey can clear Hillary Clinton of a huge list of felony crimes while falsely indicting innocent people for crimes they never committed, the rule of law has been decimated. In its place we now live under tyranny and authoritarianism underscored by selective prosecution and the fabrication of crimes against political enemies.

No one is safe from the governments rogue prosecutions; not even the innocent.

Robert Mueller has weaponized justice and used it to coerce witnesses into giving false testimony

Jerome Corsi, who refused to be a puppet to Muellers coercion tactics, has now filed a criminal and ethics complaint, alleging that Robert Muellers team used bullying tactics to try to force him into giving false testimony against the President, reports Fox News.

Thats the entire game plan of the Mueller investigation, if you can even call it that: Coerce as many people as possible into going on the record with fabricated statements that help Mueller weave a false narrative which Democrats will use to try to impeach President Trump. Corsi has stated publicly that he would rather spend the rest of his life in prison than lie for Mueller and falsely implicate the president into an obviously fabricated narrative.

Since legal justice is dead in America, the People may be granted authority to rise up and defeat the deep state

In analyzing all this, Im concerned that if Mueller isnt stopped, his report to Congress will serve as the basis for an attempted impeachment of the President by Democrats. This, in turn, may unleash a swift and aggressive response from patriotic citizens who, in conjunction with authority granted to them by the President, rise up and take the country back from the deep state criminals who are attempting to carry out their political coup. After all, when the government is incapable of rooting out the criminals who run it, that job rests with the People alone.

The deep state is nothing more than a cabal of flesh-and-blood human beings who have abandoned all ethics and honesty in their quest for power. Like any organism made of flesh and blood, they can be arrested, stripped of power, indicted and prosecuted, then locked away to prevent them from continuing to sabotage society. All that is necessary for the restoration of the rule of law in America is that those who violate it are arrested and removed from power.

A careful reading of the U.S. Constitution reveals that the Founding Fathers have already granted permission for the People to rise up against precisely this sort of tyranny, and my analysis of what may yet come tells me I wouldnt be surprised if thousands of patriots, activated by a national emergency order from Trump himself, carry out a mass citizens arrest of Robert Mueller and hundreds of other deep state cronies who deserve nothing less than life behind bars. Im not calling for it, but its no longer a stretch to imagine tens of thousands of federally deputized citizens flooding into Washington D.C., arresting those who have brazenly functioned as enemy combatants against America.

Although I do not condone violence to resolve political differences, an analysis leads me to the reluctant conclusion that such a scenario may, in fact, be the only remaining option for national self-defense against an authoritarian tyranny that now controls the media, the tech giants, the Department of Justice, the FBI, the universities and pop culture. When government prosecutors are no longer functioning within the rule of law and are, instead, working as extremely dishonest political operatives who seek to destroy their political enemies at any cost, the question emerges all by itself: By what mechanism can the rule of law be restored in a nation where those who are granted authority to wield the law have become lawless?

The deep state must be stopped. The question remains: Will President Trump give the order to stop them? Or will he allow them to destroy his legacy, his presidency and rule of law for the entire nation as well? Is there also a possibility that the People may rise up and defeat the deep state even without an order from the President? History will tell the tale, but if the deep state is not stopped now, America will cease to exist as a viable nation for much longer. And I strongly suspect that a vote by House Democrats to impeach the President may be the last straw for millions of patriotic Americans.

By the Spring of 2019, America may find itself in a full-blown civil war. Come to think of it, France may be in a civil war before Christmas.

Read more news about Robert Mueller and the deep state at RobertMueller.news or DeepState.news.

Listen to my full podcast at:

Brighteon.com/5974811286001(Natural News) In recent weeks, tens of millions of Americans were genuinely outraged by a U.S. district court ruling in Michigan, in which the judge claimed that federal laws banning the practice of female genital mutilation (FMG) were somehow unconstitutional.

As NewsTarget reported, U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman dismissed criminal charges against two doctors and six others who had been accused of subjecting at least nine minor girls to the horrific cutting procedure. The case involved minor girls from Michigan, Illinois, and Minnesota and included some who cried, screamed and bled during the procedure and one who was given Valium ground in liquid Tylenol to keep her calm, added the Detroit Free Press, which cited court records.

Now, one might think, especially in the #MeToo movement, that American feminists would be taking to the streets to protest this disgusting decision. The progressive Left is all about womens rights and ensuring that young American girls grow up free from the constraints of male-dominated society and religion (FMG is a distinctly Muslim practice, by the way).

But youd be wrong if you thought that. In fact, the silence from Leftist feminists was so deafening that Somali-born human rights activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali (pictured above) could not remain silent in calling them out.

Begin watching at 35:50:

As Newswars reports, Ali herself was a childhood victim (age 5) of FMG. She spoke out against the practice, and the federal courts ruling, during an appearance on Fox News Tucker Carlson Tonight program last week.

You have all these women and feminist organizations that are challenging white privilege, and racism, and so on  how is it okay, in the United States of America, to be cutting the genitals of little black girls? How is that not racist? Ali asked. Many of them are of course children of color. I dont know of white children whose genitals are cut. (Related: Female genital mutilation threatens 500K American girls as families adhere to cultural tradition, shipping children abroad for deadly procedure.)

States rights?

Carlson wanted to know how self-proclaimed feminists and feminist organizations respond to her challenges on the issue.

They go into identity politics, Ali responded. We live in this crazy age of political correctness and identity politics, the latter of which is when people associate with the political and social interests of certain demographical groups rather than a party.

Ive been to Congress, Ive been to the Senate, and Ive tried to talk to people about legislation on this issue, and what you see is that the people who are supposed to be protecting little children are terrified of being described as racist, she told Carlson.

Shortly after the ruling, she tweeted, These are children; little girls; between the ages of 2 to 8; they have no idea and from one moment to the next they are held down by people they love. And then chop! Parts of their genitalia are gone! The law must protect them! PLEASE.

These are children; little girls; between the ages of 2 to 8; they have no idea and from one moment to the next they are held down by people they love. And then chop! Parts of their genitalia are gone! The law must protect them! PLEASE.  Ayaan Hirsi Ali (@Ayaan) November 21, 2018

She noted that 25 states had thus far refused to pass legislation banning FGM  which is important given the reasoning behind Friedmans ruling.

As laudable as the prohibition of a particular type of abuse of girls may be  federalism concerns deprive Congress of the power to enact this statute, Friedman wrote in his 28-page opinion.

Specifically, he noted that Congress overstepped its bounds by legislating to prohibit FGM  FGM is a local criminal activity which, in keeping with long-standing tradition and our federal system of government, is for the states to regulate, not Congress.

So its a 10th Amendment issue. Odd, isnt it, how federal courts (and the Supreme Court) either forget or rediscover that amendment when it is convenient for them (by comparison, every state had a law against abortion when SCOTUS issued its Roe v. Wade decision in 1973).

It seems like when it comes to womens issues, federal courts can be as hypocritical as Left-wing cultists.

Read more about constitutional issues at Freedom.news.

Sources include:

NewsTarget.com

NewsWars.comMonday, December 3, 2018 at 9:55PM

We finally have the longer and more in depth Captain Marvel trailer which explains a lot of things about Brie Larson's take on Carol Danvers A.K.A Captain Marvel. She's originally a human pilot but has been made Kree and is part of an intergalactic group of heroes called StarForce.

Danvers finds her way back to Earth during what seems to be the Skrull-Kree War, an galaxy-wide battle between two warring alien civilizations. We see glimpses of various evolutions of Captain Marvel including the epic Binary persona which can channel the power of a star. How will Captain Marvel lead into Avengers 4? We'll have to wait until March 2019 to find out.(Natural News) Imagine youre driving down a long, straight road through rural farmland. One either side of you are beautiful green farms. The produce being grown on these farms looks healthy and appears to be thriving. Now picture the land beneath those farms as massive sponges. Like all sponges, put enough liquid in and eventually the absorption capacity of that sponge will be reached, leaving the remaining liquid with nowhere to go.

In much the same way, over a period of time, phosphorous in the chemical fertilizers used in conventional farming exceeds the amount that can be absorbed by the land and the remaining phosphorous becomes runoff which is discharged into and pollutes downriver water systems.

A new study by researchers from the Universite de Montreal, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, set out to quantify the exact level of phosphorous the land can absorb before that sponge gets too full. Their research is a source of great concern because it turns out that the absorbable amount is shockingly low. (Related: Organic fertilizer can be used to increase crop yield in plants grown in rotation.)

Water quality under threat

The two main sources of phosphorous pollution in waterways are the fertilizers and animal manure accumulated through conventional farming, and sewage from humans. In conducting their research, the team focused on the 23 watersheds that feed Quebecs St. Lawrence River. Science Daily explained the methodology used:

Using Quebec government data, the researchers matched the estimated accumulation with phosphorus concentrations measured in the water for the last 26 years. Since the watersheds they studied had different histories  some had been used intensively for agriculture for decades whereas others were forested and pristine  this method allowed the researchers to establish a gradient of different phosphorus accumulations among sites. In so doing, they were able to see at what point the watershed tipped or reached a threshold and began to leak considerably more phosphorus into the water.

Using this method, the researchers determined that the tipping point at which the phosphorous begins to leak into the water supply is 2.1 tons per square kilometer of land. Once this level is reached, a significant acceleration in phosphorous runoff begins to occur, according to the research team. (Related: Too much fertilizer causes loss of plant diversity.)

Based on the current rate at which fertilizers are generally applied in conventional farming, the study found that the tipping point can be reached in just 10 years. Shockingly, the study found that some of the older Quebec watersheds reached that level 100 years ago. Experts warn that even if all phosphorous use was stopped immediately, eliminating what has already accumulated in Quebec watersheds would take between 100 and 2,000 years!

Shockingly, in some countries, including the USA, so much fertilizer is used that the saturation point can be reached in just five short years.

The problem with phosphorous

So, our water is polluted with massive amounts of phosphorous that could take thousands of years to eliminate, but why should we be concerned about this? As reported by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), though nitrogen and phosphorous are always present in aquatic ecosystems, too much of either of these nutrients causes air and water pollution. This can cause multiple problems, including algae that grows at a faster rate than the surrounding ecosystems can handle.

The EPA warns:

Significant increases in algae harm water quality, food resources and habitats, and decrease the oxygen that fish and other aquatic life need to survive. Large growths of algae are called algal blooms and they can severely reduce or eliminate oxygen in the water, leading to illnesses in fish and the death of large numbers of fish. Some algal blooms are harmful to humans because they produce elevated toxins and bacterial growth that can make people sick if they come into contact with polluted water, consume tainted fish or shellfish, or drink contaminated water.

Unfortunately, nutrient pollution is not the only problem we need to worry about when it comes to our water supply. Watch the movie Biosludged to learn about the horrific mass pollution of North Americas soil with a toxic stew of human and industrial waste collected by municipal waste processing centers across the country.

Sources for this article include:

ScienceDaily.com

EPA.govA man died and a woman suffered life-threatening injuries during a shooting in San Francisco's Mission District early Monday morning, according to police.

The shooting occurred around 1 a.m. in the area of 16th and Valencia streets, police said.

The shooting is under investigation.

Further information was not immediately available.Will Kevin Durant play in the brand new Chase Center as a member of the Warriors next season?

That's the burning question that is making all Warriors fans nervous the closer we get to July.

San Francisco mayor London Breed is one of those that wants to see Durant stay with the Warriors for a long time. Recently, Breed told The Undefeated's Marc J. Spears that she spoke with Durant and made a pitch for him to stay long-term.

"Well, I'm not going to reveal all my persuasion tactics," Breed said. "But, yes, I let him know how much we love him in San Francisco and how we all look forward to seeing him play here. He and the other players are all really good guys, and the community needs role models like them."

The Warriors themselves have been trying to make sure Durant is on the team when Chase Center opens next fall. They made sure Durant, not Steph Curry, Klay Thompson or Draymond Green, was at the groundbreaking back in January of 2017. And in November, Durant and Warriors guard Quinn Cook toured the Chase Center construction site.

"I've been hearing about it for so long," Durant told Spears. "Two years ago, I went to the groundbreaking. Now, I just wanted to see how far they've come with it. It looks amazing. I just wanted to see it."

One thing working in Breed's favor is that Durant lives in San Francisco, rather than the East Bay, and according to Spears, Durant is the only member of the Warriors that lives in San Francisco.

"I wanted to be in the big city and mix it up a little bit," Durant said. "It's close to the [Bay] Bridge and the practice facility and arena [in Oakland]. I wanted to try it out. I've never lived in a big city before by myself. I wanted to learn more about the flow of the city."

What does Durant like about The City?

"I just like the vibe," Durant told Spears. "It's chill. Relaxing. There is not too much going on, but there is still a lot going on. People are pretty cool, open and diverse. San Francisco is one of those cities that is always going to be booming. There is always going to be growth in the city. I guess you can call me a millennial' living there now. It puts a different perspective on life."

Let's hope that Durant's affection for San Francisco and Mayor Breed's pitch will keep him in the Bay Area for the next few years.As students at San Jose State gear up for final exams, an estimated 4,300 of them are focused on an even more pressing need: A place to sleep.

A recent study found 13.2 percent of SJSU students reported experiencing homelessness during the past year, one of the highest rates among the 23 California State University campuses.

The Bay Area's skyrocketing housing costs have left some students scrambling to find an affordable place to sleep and struggling to succeed.

"Ive seen a lot of students sleep in their cars," said Juan Marrufo of the SJSU Student Homeless Alliance. "I also have friends who sleep in the library."

Sociology professor Scott Myers-Lipton said students who are not in stable housing tend to miss classes, and when they don't get enough to eat, their grades suffer.

The university is addressing the problem with a one-stop resource for assistance called San Jose Cares.

"We have a series of people who are working to help students get the assistance they need," said Patrick Day, SJSU vice president of student affairs.

Next month, San Jose State plans to open a new food pantry in the student union, offering free food for students who need it.

But the student homeless alliance says they need much more. It is asking the university to offer at least 10 spots in the Seventh Street garage for homeless students to park overnight. The request was made back in April.

"They have done nothing," Marrufo said.

"We are looking at a parking plan," Day said. "It's under examination right now. But, absolutely, what the students have requested will be considered."

The alliance also is asking the university to make 12 dorm beds available for homeless students to stay for at least 60 days. Currently, the university has just two rooms available.

Students plan to make their demands again when they camp overnight at the student union Thursday night.A Solano County Superior Court jury has convicted a staff psychologist at a medical facility at Travis Air Force Base of sexually assaulting three of his patients, according to the Solano County District Attorney's Office.

Heath Jacob Sommer, 42, was convicted of seven sexual assault charges after a six-week jury trial that ended Friday. His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 25.

Sommer was a staff psychologist at David Grant USAF Medical Center. He gained the trust of victims during treatment and subsequently induced the victims to engage in sex acts with him under the guise of "exposure therapy," prosecutors said.

Two of the victims sought therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder for previous sexual trauma they had experienced and one victim sought treatment for a violent sexual assault in Afghanistan, according to the district attorney's office.

The sexual assaults occurred between 2014 and 2016. Each of the victim testified at the trial. Some of the counts included battery, rape and oral copulation by fraud.Police are investigating a death at a 3-family home under renovation in Boston's Roslindale neighborhood.

Boston police say they received a call at 7:30 a.m. Monday for a well-being check at 1026 Canterbury St. The well-being check resulted in a death investigation after a male worker in his 30s was found dead. Police cleared the scene around 10 a.m., and officials put a stop order sign up on the door.

The death is believed to be related to a work accident and foul play is not suspected.

Angers me, said Larry Bastianelli, a contractor who lives across the street. It shouldnt happen.

Bastianelli says hes been complaining about some of the work on the Canterbury Street home for weeks, concerned in particular about safety.

No one should die, not in construction, he said. Gives construction a bad name and it just shouldnt happen.

What exactly did happen remains unclear but we do know work at the construction site was prohibited on weekends. Inspectors from the city of Boston say the worker was at the site Sunday afternoon, however, which is why a neighbor took a photo of a work truck for the company ABT when it pulled up around 2 p.m. Sunday.

The truck remained there throughout the night, until the worker was found dead Monday morning.

ABT would not comment on the incident Monday but city inspectors plan to issue a violation Tuesday.

Very unsafe," Bastianelli said. "Youve got two men on a job at all times just in case an accident happens.

Its unclear if anyone else was on site but it has been shut down as safety investigators look into what happened.Tuesday, December 4, 2018 at 8:39AM

Google has released the most popular apps and content on their platform. For the first time ever, theyve added a new Fan Favorite category, giving customers the chance to vote for their favorite game, app and movie of the year. And the votes are in! PUBG MOBILE, YouTube TV and Avengers: Infinity War have been crowned as the first-ever Fan Favorites. Hit jump for the full listing.

Fan Favorites of 2018

Best App of 2018

Best Game of 2018

Top five movies of 2018

Top five TV shows of 2018

Google

Top five ebooks of 2018

Top five audiobooks of 2018An Egyptian actress facing trial on public obscenity charges for wearing a revealing dress says she didn't mean to offend anyone, appealing to her detractors to believe in her good intentions.

In a weekend Facebook post, Rania Youssef said she may have misjudged how people would react to the dress she wore at the closing ceremony of this year's Cairo International Film Festival, which revealed the entirety of her legs through embroidered gauze.

In choosing that dress, she said, she had referred to fashion designers that may have been influenced by the tastes and standards at international film festivals.

"I want to repeat my commitment to the values and ethics we have been raised by in Egyptian society," said Youssef, without making an outright apology.

Images of Youssef at the event were widely shared on social media, prompting a group of lawyers to file a complaint to the chief prosecutor, who quickly referred the case to trial. Many complaints languish for months or longer before any action is taken, so the swift action betrays the urgency of the desire to appease those that took offense.

Youssef is due in court on Jan. 12.

The case is the latest instance of ostensibly secular authorities embracing religious conservatism in Muslim-majority Egypt, where the military in 2013  then led by current President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi  overthrew a freely elected but divisive Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi.

Elected to office in 2014, el-Sissi has since overseen a crackdown that saw thousands of Islamists and many secular, pro-democracy activists imprisoned, and reversed gains won by a popular 2011 uprising that toppled the 29-year rule of autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

But while el-Sissi's government embraces an almost obsessive opposition to political Islam, it has shown a large degree of tolerance toward ultraconservative Muslims. The Salafis, as they are known, have for decades worked quietly toward the gradual, non-violent transformation of Egypt into a society that observes the purist rules of Islam's early 7th century days.

El-Sissi is known to be an observing Muslim who consistently invokes God in speeches but has regularly called on the country's top clerics to revise Islam's discourse in a bid to remove literature inspiring hatred or violence. In a TV interview before his election in June 2014, el-Sissi said: "I will be responsible for (the nation's) values, ethics, principles and religion."

Egypt's Actors Guild, meanwhile, said in a statement that it intended to investigate and discipline actors who wore "inappropriate" attire during the opening and closing ceremonies of the weeklong film festival, arguing that they clashed with "traditions, values and ethics of the society."

"Although we absolutely believe in personal freedom of artists, we appeal to everyone to shoulder their responsibilities toward the fans who appreciate their art and view them as role models," said the statement. "That should compel them to exercise a minimum level of commitment to society's public values."

Youssef's dress and news of her impending trial have dominated on social media over the weekend, made the front page Sunday of several newspapers and became the topic of several op-eds.

While some on social media invoked religion to denounce the actress' "immodesty," others criticized the judicial system for what they saw as bowing to conservatives, noting the lack of progress in redressing what they considered some of society's more pressing chronic ills, such as homelessness, corruption and sexual harassment of women.

"A nation is jolted by a revealing dress at a festival but is not enraged by a million children sleeping rough and scavenging in trash bins for food," tweeted columnist Khaled Montaser.

Emad Hussein, editor of the independent and respected daily Al-Shorouk, said Youssef had every right, in theory, to wear whatever dress she chose, but that her "grave mistake" was that it "looked more like a swimsuit."

"There is a law that prohibits offending the public but, more importantly, there are societal values that need to be respected," he wrote Sunday.Teachers at the Acero charter school network went on strike early Tuesday, planning to walk the picket line in what the Chicago Teachers Union called the first strike against a charter operator in U.S. history.

A total of roughly 500 CTU members are on strike, all teachers, paraprofessionals and support staff at Acero's 15 charter schools across Chicago.

Educators planned to walk the picket line at Veterans Memorial Charter School Campus on the city's Southwest Side Tuesday.

Bargaining ended without a deal shortly after midnight, CTU said in a statement, with teachers and paraprofessionals saying management has "failed to move" on isses including class sizes, special education staff, resources and more.

The union wants a contract that supports a higher wage for paraprofessionals, with CTU leaders saying they make about $13,000 less per year than the union's members at Chicago Public Schools.

The teachers also want additional resources for their classrooms and students, claiming that the school network spent $1 million less in staff salary costs for program services than in 2017, wants to keep class sizes at 32 students, and won't provide educators with more lesson planning time, among other issues.

"We are very disappointed that union leaders have put their anti-charter political agenda ahead of the interest of our students," Acero CEO Richard Rodriguez said.

"Theres absolutely no good reason to put students and parents through the upheaval of a strike. We value our teachers and staff and have made every effort to reach a fair and reasonable agreement, that also maintains the attributes of our network that produces strong educational outcomes for our students," he continued, adding, "The union is striking because they are insisting on removing students from our classrooms."

"The sad fact is that interest from outside of our community are using our students and our schools to advance their national anti-charter school platform. They dont want our schools to succeed because it doesnt serve their agenda. It appears that its always been the CTUs intent to force a strike," Rodriguez said.

Classes at all 15 Acero schools in Chicago were canceled Tuesday, impacting roughly 7,500 students.

Acero schools notified parents, suggesting organizations in the community that could help keep kids engaged during the day. Breakfast and lunch will still be served at the schools, with boxed meals available for pick-up as well.

The Acero strike marks the first against a charter school network in the nation's history. It was not clear if any additional negotiations had been scheduled.

The Acero strike began the same day that teachers in suburban Geneva hit the picket lines in a separate strike over their contract negotiations.Tens of thousands of chickens were killed when a massive blaze broke out at an egg farm in Illinois, forcing firefighters to battle flames for several hours.

The five-alarm fire sparked early Tuesday morning at Mussman's Back Acres Egg Farm in Grant Park, consuming two of the farms warehouses containing chickens, according to a spokesman for the farm.

The Grant Park Fire Department responded with roughly 35 other neighboring departments to fight the flames for an estimated nine hours. Approximately 750,000 gallons of water were used to strike the flames, but firefighters were forced to haul in water from a fire hydrant seven miles away.

Both buildings that caught fire were expected to be a total loss, but the farm said firefighters saved hundreds of thousands of chickens by keeping the flames from spreading to other buildings. No injuries were reported.

Each warehouse burned was the length of two football fields, officials said.

Mussman, an egg-producing farm, is owned by Michigan-based Konos and makes up about 2 percent of their business. Despite the loss, the farm said they expected to be able to fulfill their orders with minimal Disruption.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.Ever dreamed of becoming one of Santas helpers? Nows your chance.

The United States Postal Service needs help fulfilling wishes from those who sent letters addressed to Santa and the North Pole this holiday season.

The letters they touch your heart. They really do. I wish I had all the money to buy every child, to take every letter, said one woman who adopted a letter to help a child in need.

The letters includes wish lists from parents and children. Those who adopt a letter can shop for gifts and bring the items and letter back to the post office, which will deliver them to the writers home.

It feels like one of the most Christmas things you can do. Get to come here and play Santa, said David August, who adopted a letter Monday. You get to make Santa real for some families youve never met.

Chicagos Operation Santa program is one of the largest in the country.

Letters will be available from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays at the Cardiss Collins Facility, located at 433 W. Harrison St. The program will be in place through Dec. 21.What to Know Carla Stefaniak was scheduled to return home last Wednesday, but has not been heard from since speaking with her family late Tuesday night.

A body has been found on the property in Costa Rica where a missing South Florida woman had been staying during a birthday trip to the Central American country, authorities said Monday.

Officials with Costa Rica's Judicial Investigation Department said the body was discovered behind the Airbnb property where Carla Stefaniak had been staying in the the San Jose neighborhood of San Antonio de Escazu.

Walter Espinoza, a spokesman for the agency, said during a press conference Monday that canine search dogs found the decomposing body half-buried and covered with plastic bags in a wooded area. Espinoza said officials haven't confirmed the identity of the remains but noted it was of a woman.

Autopsy results are expect to be released Tuesday, officials said.

Espinoza also said authorities found stains in Stefaniak's Airbnb, Villa Buena Vista, that were "compatible with blood," though further testing was being conducted.

Stefaniak has been missing for more than a week after traveling to Costa Rica with her sister-in-law April Antonieta. Her sister-in-law returned to the United States last Tuesday, a day before the 36-year-old was expected to board a flight back to the U.S.

Her family said they last heard from her around 8 p.m. on Nov. 27. She didn't show up for her 1 p.m. flight home on Nov. 28.

Stefaniaks brother, Mario Caicedo, drove from Orlando to Miami to speak with FBI agents on the case while other family members have flown to Costa Rica to help in the search.

Mario Caicedo told NBC 6 sister station Telemundo 51 that investigators in Costa Rica believe Stefaniak was kidnapped because she checked in for her flight but never boarded. FBI officials have not confirmed that information.

On Monday, Stefaniak's father, Carlos Caicedo, told reporters outside a Florida U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office that he also believed Stefaniak had been kidnapped.

"I am convinced that she is kidnapped," he said. "I'm sure that they must have already been made contact to ask for ransom or some thing of that type."

Caicedo petitioned the agency to allow him to travel to Costa Rica because of his immigration status, according to Telemundo 51. ICE authorized his request, the station reported. The status of Caicedo's immigration standing was not immediately clear.

Stefaniak, who last posted on her social media page Monday, was staying in San Jose at the time, at the Airbnb Villa Buena Vista.Many CT Transit bus drivers say they still do not have adequate access to restrooms while on the job, despite bus service management telling NBC Connecticut Investigates that progress is being made on the issue.

Some bus operators believe that progress, on what they call a 'matter of human dignity,' has been too slow. In the meantime, drivers say, their health is at risk.

Since NBC Connecticut Investigates first televised on-board surveillance video of a CT Transit bus driver caught urinating in a bush while on duty, there has been an effort to ensure all drivers have appropriate places to relieve themselves, according to the drivers union and the bus company.

"You can't have a coffee," said Artan Martinaj, president and business agent for the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 425. "You can't have a bottled water," he added.

The ATU, which represents hundreds of Connecticut bus drivers, recently sent a letter to the state Department of Transportation, which owns CT Transit. The ATU said it conducted a survey of more than 400 local bus operators.

Of those respondents, 68 percent reported avoiding eating or drinking because of a lack of restrooms, and 37 percent said they have had urinary tract or bladder infections. More than a quarter of respondents said that they soiled themselves on the job.

"We appreciate the survey the ATU completed and hope to utilize it to understand specific areas of concerns that we can work together to resolve," said CT Transit General Manager Cole Pouliot. "We need to get down to specific challenges so we can overcome them."

CT Transit and the drivers' union recently established 'bathroom committees' in the Hartford, New Haven and Stamford regions with the goal of identifying safe, clean and accessible restrooms, often in businesses or in public buildings.

"This isn't a one and done thing problem," said Pouliot. "These committees are going be standing so that as things change, we can change with it."

In recent months, drivers have organized rallies for better bathroom access but they say that better access has yet to arrive.

"We really depend on the operators," said Pouliot. "There's so many bathrooms and so many routes. There's no way that the company can spend enough time trying to figure out all of them."

Judd Everhart, director of communications for the Connecticut Department of Transportation, sent NBC Connecticut Investigates the following statement:

We have met with the executive leadership at First Transit, the organization that manages CT Transit bus service under contract to the DOT. First Transit has a practice of providing its operators with a restroom break whenever requested. This is done by dispatching a supervisor to meet a bus en route to allow the operator to access a restroom. To our knowledge, no such operator request has ever been denied. Additionally, we have asked First Transit to identify additional locations system-wide to improve access to and availability of restrooms. This is an ongoing effort which will require new partnerships with restaurants and retail businesses.A Connecticut man who was accused of fatally stabbing his girlfriend, injuring her best friend and then fleeing the state with his 6-year-old daughter in 2017 has been sentenced to 75 years in prison, according to the office Superior Court Clerk.

Authorities said Oscar Hernandez stabbed 26-year-old Nidia Gonzalez and her friend in the couple's Bridgeport apartment in February 2017, then took off with their daughter, prompting an Amber Alert and setting off a three-state search that ended when he crashed in Pennsylvania.

Gonzalez was stabbed in the neck six times and her windpipe and carotid artery punctured.

Oscar Hernandez was charged with murder, attempted murder, first-degree assault and risk of injury to a child and he was sentenced on Tuesday.

Hernandez testified in his own defense, saying the women stabbed each other during a drunken argument.

Hernandez, an El Salvador national, is a convicted felon who was deported from the U.S. in 2013, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials previously told NBC Connecticut.When Stonington First Selectman Rob Simmons heard the news about President George H.W. Bushs passing, he did something he rarely does: put the family flag at half-staff.

It hit close to the heart.

He played such a significant role in my life at certain points in my life where things werent going well, Simmons said. When I was in the CIA, things werent going well. When I was looking for support for my re-election race in a blue state where Republicans werent supposed to win, he came up and helped out.

It was 2002 and Simmons was running for re-election into the U.S. Congress. Bushs son, then President George W. Bush, asked his father do to fundraisers for certain candidates, according to Simmons, who found a way to ask Bush's staff if the former president would be willing to speak at a campaign breakfast.

When it was over I said, Thank you Mr. President and now the Secret Service wants you to go out the side door to catch your plane. And he said, But I havent had breakfast yet. And I went Oh, well! Lets get you down to the table, Simmons recalls.

Bush, at the Mystic Marriot, was eating breakfast with Simmons and his family, whom he agreed to take a photo with, and spoke with Simmons constituents.

Such a model of being so experienced so well educated and so versed in foreign policy and so many issues and yet so down to Earth, he said of the late president.

Simmons was with the CIA during the time Bush briefly served as director from 1976 to 1977. He credits Bush with boosting morale after the Watergate scandal prompted a series of investigations.

He was so supportive because heres a guy whos a WWII veterans. Heres a guy who had fought in war and knew the importance of having good intelligence, Simmons said.

Bush was supportive years later, too, including 1991, when Simmons ran to become a state representative in the Connecticut General Assembly.

And the next thing I know I got a letter in the mail from the president saying congratulations! Its unbelievable, Simmons said.

He has the letter framed in his office.

It says, in part: With the continued efforts of Republicans like you, I am convinced that we can fulfill our greatest hopes for the United States. Barbara joins me in sending our best wishes and congratulations.

Simmons actually met Barbara Bush first. The two were studying Chinese at the Foreign Service Institute. Bush was appointed as the U.S. envoy to China. Barbara Bush wanted to make sure she knew the language.

She would often sit with Simmons and his classmates for tea breaks.

After all these years, 41s example is one Simmons took to heart.

The way he lived with his family, loved his family, conducted himself in public life, thats the way I wanted to be too.Target plans to open at the Bishops Corner Shopping Center in West Hartford next year.

The company said the Bishops Corner location will be the first small-format Target store in Connecticut.

Target has been opening small-format stores in urban neighborhoods, near colleges and other areas where a full-size target wouldnt fit.

As we continue to reach more guests across the country, were excited to open our first small-format store in Connecticut to provide a convenient, one-stop shopping experience for families and residents of West Hartford and surrounding towns, Mark Schindele, senior vice president, Properties for Target, said in a statement.

When shoppers learned in September that Target was considering opening in a building that once housed Walmart, they said they were excited.

That would be amazing. Target, even though it's close, it's not that close. It takes a long time to get across town. There's always construction, said Michelle Hollander of West Hartford.

Target said it has signed a lease with EDENS, a national retail real estate owner, operator and developer, and the 59,000-square-foot store will have a food and beverage selection, apparel and accessories, health and beauty items, home essentials, seasonal merchandise, electronics and toys. It will also offer order pickup, where guests can order online and pick up items in a store within the hour.

Target expects to hire about 75 people.

We are so pleased to welcome Target to West Hartford. The announcement of Target moving into a large former retail space is a huge success for EDENS and the town. It is always great when we can fill vacancies, especially with an exciting business like Target. It will be a welcomed addition to the community and I look forward to their store opening in 2019, West Hartford Mayor Shari Cantor said in a statement.

The West Hartford store will be Targets seventh store in the Hartford area and the 21st in Connecticut.Trumbull police have arrested a teen in connection with the attack of a man in Twin Brooks Park last month.

Police said they have been investigating since the Nov. 24 attack when a 60-year-old Trumbull man was attacked at Twin Brooks Park and dragged into the road.

Police said a man who did not say anything punched the victim in the head and knocked him to the ground. Then two other men got out of the car and kicked the victim as he was on the ground and demanded money, police said.

The victim said he didnt have money and the attackers pushed him into the road before they drove off toward Franklin Street, police said.

The victim was able to get a partial license plate as the car drove off and police have arrested 18-year-old Cristofer Fuentes-Salguero who they said was driving. Police are looking to identify the two accomplices.

Fuentes-Salguero turned himself in at the Trumbull Police Department after he learned that there was a warrant for his arrest.

He was charged with robbery in the second degree, larceny in the second degree and assault in the second degree of an elderly person.

He was held on $150,000 bond and is scheduled to appear to court on Dec. 10.

Trumbull Police are asking anyone who has information about the attack to call 203-261-3665 or use the anonymous and confidential tip line on the police department website: trumbull-ct.gov/policetips.New Haven police are searching for the people who stole a car with a 4-year-old boy inside on November 24. Police said the boy was located and reunited with his mother.

The mothers vehicle, a 2000 gray Honda Odyssey, was left running in front of a bodega on State Street, between Rock and May streets, when it was stolen around 2:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 24, according to police.

Officers who responded to the report found the 31-year-old woman pacing and crying and she told them that shed gone into the store to buy snacks for her son and wasnt inside for long, but her car and son were gone when she returned.

The mothers phone was in the car and she said the store clerk refused to call police for her, so she ran across the street to a gas station, called 911 and provided a description of the car and her son.

A witness who saw the woman speaking with police told investigators that she was walking across the street when she spotted a woman driving a newer white Honda Civic through the gas station lot and saw several men get into the victims vehicle and speed off, going south on State Street toward Willow Street, police said.

Connecticut State Police and neighboring departments were alerted and an officer saw a man with a young boy next to him waving at him, police said.

The boy was wearing a T-shirt, shorts and a winter cap, so the officer wrapped him up in his uniform coat, police said. The mother and child were reunited and EMTs brought the child to the hospital as a precaution.

Using the victims cell phone, police found the stolen car in Hamden, It had been abandoned on Woodstock Road and the mothers cell phone and keys were found nearby. New Haven Police towed the car to the police garage for forensic testing.

Police are investigating and released surveillance images taken from cameras.

Anyone with information should call detectives at 203-946-6304, Text-A-Tip to NHPD and your message to 274637 (CRIMES) or email ECIC@newhavenct.gov.If the national economy goes on a downward trend over the next year, Connecticut is not likely to have enough money to cover unemployment benefits from those making existing claims, or filing for the first time.

The warning came from the Connecticut Department of Labor for the incoming Lamont administration, which will take office in January.

Labor and business advocates, who help to advise the department when it comes to labor and unemployment issues, both agree that the Unemployment Trust Fund is approaching insolvency, but they disagree on how to solve the problem.

It just hasnt kept pace with the increase in wages, said Sue Garten, with Greater Hartford Legal Aid, who points out that the taxes employers pay which fund benefits havent been adjusted since 1999.

If it had been indexed to the increase in wages, it would be at about $23,000 now, so it needs to be raised to a healthy and sustainable level so that the unemployment trust fund can fulfill its mission of providing a stabilizing function when unemployment rises, Garten said.

Unemployment benefits are paid by employers, and those employers argue that many of the people receiving benefits shouldnt be eligible to begin with, because they have only met the lowest possible threshold of $600 in income for the year, a figure not adjusted since 1968. Other states range from $2,000 to $5,000.

There need to be significant structural reforms if were going to find solvency in this program, said Eric Gjede, vice president of government affairs for the Connecticut Business and Industry Association. CBIA, the group that represents large and small businesses in the state, wants to see that income threshold increased, to ensure the benefits are spent wisely.

If the state does not have enough money to cover unemployment benefits, then it must take out a loan from the federal government to cover those payments.

Thats something Gjede says would be terrible for employers because they would be left funding the issue for the state, when the state would not make changes to the program to keep it solvent.

Its absolutely devastating to the employer community because as the state takes the loan, its only businesses that are paying it back, Gjede said. The state doesnt pay a single dollar for unemployment compensation in this state so its just businesses in this state keeping this trust fund alive, so thats why want to be a big part of this solution.

A spokeswoman for the Connecticut Department of Labor told NBC Connecticut that the department is looking at multiple ways to shore up the fund, which currently sits at about $600 million, but needs to be closer to $1.7 billion in order to be solvent, projections show.

The Employment Security Advisory Board, of which Sue Garten is a member, recommended increasing the taxable wage base on employers and changing the eligible income to $1,000 from $600.

Garten says the higher tax on employers would be the fairest option.

It makes much more sense to make the systemic change now so then employers have to pay less later, she said.

Connecticut lawmakers have been warned in recent years that they have to act soon. The General Assembly has to make any changes to unemployment benefits, and then Governor-Elect Ned Lamont would have to sign them into law.President Donald Trump's former national security adviser provided so much information to the special counsel's Russia investigation that prosecutors say he shouldn't do any prison time, according to a court filing Tuesday that describes Michael Flynn's cooperation as "substantial."

The filing by special counsel Robert Mueller provides the first details of Flynn's assistance in the Russia investigation, including that he participated in 19 interviews with prosecutors and cooperated extensively in a separate and undisclosed criminal probe. But the filing's lengthy redactions also underscore how much Mueller has yet to reveal.

It was filed two weeks ahead of Flynn's sentencing and just over a year after he became one of five Trump associates to plead guilty in the Russia probe, in his case admitting to lying to the FBI about conversations with the Russian ambassador to the U.S.

Though prosecutors withheld specific details of Flynn's cooperation because of ongoing investigations, their filing nonetheless illustrates the breadth of information Mueller has obtained from people close to Trump as the president increasingly vents his anger at the probe  and those who cooperate with it.

This week, Trump accused his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, of making up "stories" to get a reduced prison sentence after pleading guilty to lying to Congress and also praised longtime confidant Roger Stone for saying he wouldn't testify against Trump.

It's unclear if Trump will now turn his fury on Flynn, whom Trump bonded with during the 2016 campaign.

Trump has repeatedly lamented how Flynn's life has been destroyed by the special counsel's probe. At one point, he tried to protect Flynn by asking former FBI Director James Comey to drop an investigation into his alleged false statements, according to a memo Comey wrote after the February 2017 encounter.

That episode, which Trump has denied, is being scrutinized by Mueller as he probes whether the president attempted to obstruct the Russia investigation.

Federal sentencing guidelines recommend between zero and six months in prison, and Mueller's office said Flynn's cooperation merits no prison time.

Prosecutors said Flynn's early cooperation was "particularly valuable" because he was "one of the few people with long-term and firsthand insight" into the events under investigation. They noted his cooperation likely inspired other crucial witnesses to cooperate.

Mueller's team credited Flynn with serving 33 years in the U.S. Army, including five years in combat. But prosecutors also said the long military and government service that sets him apart from all other defendants in the investigation made his deception more troublesome.

"The defendant's extensive government service should have made him particularly aware of the harm caused by providing false information to the government, as well as the rules governing work performed on behalf of a foreign government," they wrote.

Flynn's case has stood apart from those of other Trump associates, who have aggressively criticized the investigation, sought to undermine it and, in some cases, been accused of lying even after agreeing to cooperate.

Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, is accused of repeatedly lying to investigators since his guilty plea. Another Trump campaign aide, George Papadopoulos, is serving a 14-day prison sentence and, though he pleaded guilty to the same crime as Flynn, was denied probation because prosecutors said his cooperation was lacking.

But Flynn has largely remained out of the public eye, appearing only sporadically in media interviews or campaign events, and avoided criticizing the Mueller probe despite widespread encouragement from his supporters to go on the offensive. He has instead spent considerable time with his family and worked to position himself for a post-conviction career.

Another highly anticipated filing is expected Friday from Mueller's office, detailing the lies that prosecutors say Manafort told them after his guilty plea.

In Tuesday's filing, prosecutors emphasized that the conduct Flynn lied about cuts to the core of the investigation into any coordination between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.

Flynn's false statements stemmed from a Jan. 24, 2017, interview with the FBI about his interactions with Sergey Kislyak, Russia's then-ambassador to the U.S., as the Obama administration was levying sanctions on the Kremlin in response to election interference.

Mueller's office blamed Flynn for other senior Trump transition officials making misleading public statements about his contacts with Russia, an assertion that matches the White House's explanation of Flynn's firing.

"Several senior members of the transition team publicly repeated false information conveyed to them by the defendant about communications between him and the Russian ambassador regarding the sanctions," the filing said.

As part of his plea deal, Flynn said members of Trump's inner circle, including his son-in-law and White House aide Jared Kushner, were involved in  and at times directing  his actions in the weeks before Trump took office.

According to court papers, in mid-December 2016, Kushner directed Flynn to reach out to several countries, including Russia, about a U.N. Security Council resolution regarding Israeli settlements. During those conversations with Kislyak, Flynn asked Russia to delay or vote against the resolution, a request the Kremlin ultimately rejected.

Flynn also admitted that later in December 2016 he asked Kislyak not to retaliate in response to the Obama administration sanctions, something he initially told FBI agents he didn't do. Flynn made the request after discussing it with deputy national security adviser K.T. McFarland, who was at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, and being told that Trump's transition team did not want Russia to escalate the situation.

Flynn was forced to resign his post on Feb. 13, 2017, after news reports revealed that Obama administration officials had warned the Trump White House about Flynn's false statements. The White House has said Flynn misled officials including Vice President Mike Pence  about the content of his conversations.

Flynn also admitted to making false statements about unregistered foreign agent work he performed for the benefit of the Turkish government, a matter Mueller's team cited in Tuesday's filing. Flynn was under investigation by the Justice Department for the work when he became national security adviser.As the nation pauses to remember the life and legacy of the late George H. W. Bush, many in North Texas have personal stories of their own.

He was such a kind, gentleman, Steve Kemble of Dallas said. A loving man with so much integrity.

Kemble met the Bush family back in 1997 when he was the producer and event planner for the 110th Anniversary of the Gladney Center for Adoption in Fort Worth.

After the event, Secret Service came to get Kemble.

I was like oh no! Thats frightening, Kemble smiled. Then they told me that the former president and first lady would like to speak to me.

Kemble said the Bush family simply wanted to thank him for the event and let him know how much they enjoyed it.

That touched my heart. That is a memory I will never ever forget, Kemble said. To think that a former president and first lady came all the way back just to say thank you. Both of them were lovely, kind [and] wonderful people.

Kemble said the former president made you feel like you and your work really mattered.

One of the things that I will always remember about the former president was that when he was talking to you he looked you right in the eyes and he would shake your hand and boy hes got a firm grip when he shakes your hand, Kemble said.

He called it a "strong Texas" handshake. The Bush family are proud Texans and a part of the fabric of our statewide community.

I love the fact that they are from Texas. Its pride and joy and I think they loved Texas so very very much and have done so much for this state, Kemble said.

Kemble thinks Bush leaves a lasting legacy for the state and country and he will not soon be forgotten.

When I heard that he passed away I was just so sad, but there was a side of me that said  OK, now hes going to get to be with Barbara, he said.S Band Radar & Maps | Forecast | Weather Alerts

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A winter storm packing freezing rain and snow is forecast to cut an icy path through the Southern Plains and bring widespread rain to North Texas Saturday as a busy holiday shopping weekend unfolds.

NBC 5 Meteorologist Grant Johnston said it's possible a few snowflakes could mix in with rain in areas to the north and northwest of Dallas-Fort Worth Saturday.

No accumulation is expected.

Rain will become steadier and more widespread Friday afternoon and evening. Rain totals of one to three inches are likely through Saturday, and a Flood Watch will be in effect for counties southeast of Dallas Friday afternoon through noon Saturday.

The rain comes as part of a storm system that brought heavy rain and flooding to southern California. The system will move eastward Friday, producing freezing rain and snow in the Texas Panhandle, western Oklahoma and then into the Ozarks of Missouri and Arkansas. Some bursts of heavy snow could develop from eastern New Mexico to southwestern Oklahoma.

Forecasters say snow will envelope Oklahoma and parts of Arkansas and Missouri on Saturday as the storm stretches to the mid-Atlantic, producing freezing rain in Tennessee and Kentucky and snow in western Virginia and North Carolina.

Heavy rainfall is forecast for the Gulf Coast.

Get the latest forecast information from NBC 5's team of Weather Experts here.A young woman who spent weeks traveling with a caravan of Central American migrants while pregnant gave birth in San Diego after illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border to request asylum.

Maryuri was more than seven months pregnant when she left Honduras on Oct. 17 with her husband, Miguel, and their 3-year-old son. The family trekked across the countries of Guatemala and Mexico, traveling north by foot and by bus until they reached Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.

"He was born here in San Diego," Maryuri said holding her 8-day-old son -- a United States citizen by birth -- in an interview with NBC 7's sister station, Telemundo 20.

The already-difficult journey to get to the United States was made even more complicated for the family because of Maryuri's pregnancy.

"Thank God she did her part, but there were times we stayed until the last [of the caravan]," Miguel said.

After spending some time in a Tijuana shelter, the couple said they did not feel safe, surrounded by some Mexicans who were hostile towards their presence, and decided to cross the border illegally.

According to the Customs and Border Protection officials, on Monday, Nov. 26, agents assigned to patrol the Imperial Beach coast spotted the pregnant woman attempting to cross.

It was about 8 p.m. when the couple asked for asylum from the United States and was taken into custody, they told NBC 7's sister station, Telemundo 20.

Maryuri said she did not know the next day she would give birth to her second son in a San Diego hospital.

"The day I came across I felt a little pain, but I thought it will be because of my nerves," Maryuri said. The next morning, the pain increased she was taken to a hospital in San Diego, according to CBP.

The baby was born on Nov. 27, 2018.

The mother and son spent several more days at the hospital, where she said at times, "I felt like a criminal."

Maryuri said CBP agents closed all the windows and stood guard in the doorway at all times. When hospital officials brought her and the infant food or clothes, agents checked all of it, according to Maryuri.

Miguel was allowed to visit his wife and newborn child on the third day of their stay and when Maryuri was released from the hospital, she was sent back to a detention center to finish her asylum claim.

The family on Saturday was released into the United States until their asylum claim can be seen by a judge.

They have been staying with an American woman who volunteered to house refugees. The two were put in touch by Enrique Morales, the leader of the Border Angels Foundation, a San Diego non-profit focused on migrant rights.

Maryuri credits him with giving them strength to continue fighting for asylum within the United States.

"I asked him and he asked God to give us encouragement to move on."

Her second reason -- a better life for her newborn son.What to Know The campaign seeks to protect the fewer than 30 remaining porpoises.

Zoos and aquariums will encourage guests to complete postcards to be collected and delivered to the Mexican consulate in San Diego.

Illegal fishing practices have decimated the population.

The Living Desert announced Monday it has joined with zoos and aquariums across the country in a campaign to encourage newly seated Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to continue his country's initiatives to save the vaquita, the world's most endangered marine mammal.

The 1 Million Cards postcard-writing campaign was launched to urge Obrador to continue Mexico's efforts to preserve the vaquita, which is only found in Baja's Upper Gulf of California.

Led by Vaquita SAFE (Saving Animals From Extinction), the campaign seeks to protect the fewer than 30 remaining porpoises that are in danger of becoming the inadvertent targets of illegal fishing practices, which include the use of gill nets.

We are at the most critical point in the vaquita porpoise's conservation history, said Dave Bader, AZA Vaquita SAFE lead and director of education at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. Right now, there are very few vaquitas left. We have an opportunity to protect them, but we can only do that with the continued support of the Mexican government.

Participating zoos and aquariums will encourage guests to complete postcards to be collected and delivered to the Mexican consulate in San Diego at the end of this month.

In addition to preserving the vaquita, Vaquita SAFE says its long-term goal of a sustainable seafood market sourced from the Upper Gulf will benefit the local economy and other wildlife in the area.

The most crucial action that we can take is to create a sustainable seafood industry, with product sourced from the Upper Gulf of California, said James Danoff-Burg, the Living Desert's director of conservation. It is the only way to save the vaquita and the hundreds of other species and the three fishing communities in this area.Federal judges have refused to set bond for two California men charged with inciting a riot and attacking counter-protesters at a white nationalist rally that turned deadly in Virginia.

The Daily Progress reports that Michael Miselis, of Lawndale, and Benjamin Daley, 25, of Redondo Beach, remained held without bond following separate court hearings Monday.

Authorities say Miselis and Daley were members of the Rise Above Movement, a white supremacist group. Miselis, Daley and two other men were arrested in October on charges stemming from violence that erupted at the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville in August 2017.

Prosecutors say Miselis and Daley both traveled to Europe after the rally to meet with neo-Nazi and fascist groups and attended a festival in Germany celebrating Adolf Hitler's birthday.

Their trial is scheduled to start in January.Authorities Monday identified a man who was fatally injured when he was dragged by his vehicle as it was being stolen in front of a convenience store in Lawndale.

Luis Cuba, 47, of Hawthorne died at a hospital on Saturday night, the coroner's office reported.

According to the sheriff's department, Cuba parked his vehicle in front of the business in the 4400 block of Redondo Beach Boulevard about 8:25 p.m. Saturday, and then got out, leaving the engine running.

"As he was walking toward the business, unknown suspects entered the vehicle and began to drive it away," according to a sheriff's statement. "The victim grabbed ... the passenger door, and was dragged a couple of hundred yards before he fell off."

No suspect descriptions were released.

Sheriff's homicide detectives asked anyone with information on the case to call them at 323-890-5500.Mexicos presidential plane arrived in California and is looking for a new owner after being owned for six years by former Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

The $218 million giant plane is at the Victorville airport awaiting a buyer.

Selling the plane would fulfill a campaign promise of new President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

"We honor the campaign's commitment of today's president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to [dispose of] the plane and thus make better use of the hangar that has housed it," said Jorge Mendoza, a government representative.

The presidential plane is part of 60 aircraft that will be offered for sale by the new federal administration, in addition to 70 helicopters.

Before taking off from Mexico, authorities showed the luxurious interior of the plane with flat television sets, fine decorations and marble finishes in a bathroom and a room.

Despite its astronomical value, it's not clear how much the Mexican government intends to ask for the plane.

Some experts have indicated that this type of Boeing 787 aircrafts are rented at a price of $70,000 per hour.What to Know Saturday, Dec. 8

11 a.m. to noon

Free to join; equipment rental runs $15-$23 at nearby shops

As much as cute coastal towns do love their lighted boat parades, come December, they also show a growing affection for placing costumed revelers on stand-up paddleboards and in kayaks.

These events, while splashy in every sense of the word, aren't the same as the after-sundown processions that see yachts and skiffs glowing under a tangle of blinking bulbs.

Rather, they happen in the daytime, and, yes, pretty much anyone who is up for it, and has a paddleboard or can rent one, can participate, making the barrier of entry a bit lower (should you not own a yacht).

And while colorful characters have been seen around our shores in recent years, like the famous Witch Paddle of Morro Bay, it is all about Kris Kringle, and people in festive Christmas wear, at Ventura Harbor Village at the holidays.

Which means that Santa Claus will again paddle out, on Saturday, Dec. 8 at 11 a.m., alongside anyone who'd love to join him. You can rent what you need around the harbor shops, with prices coming in under $25, depending upon where you go.

And, for sure: Dress festively for the Santa Paddle, for you could score a $40 gift card, if your get-up is judged to be the most joyful and/or outlandish.

Ventura Harbor Village's C Dock is where you'll begin, the Channel Islands National Park Visitors Center is where it all ho, ho, wraps, and if you'd like a peddle boat, that's cool: Ventural Boat Rental has options, in case you don't want to do the stand-up-and-paddle thing.

The whole merry shebang'll be over in an hour, as, yes, Santa Claus needs to return to the North Pole, after an invigorating hour spent soaking up those Ventura-style vibes.

And beyond any equipment rentals? Joining is free, as is spectating. Seen a bunch of Santas, or Santa-attired Santa fans, paddling with the superstar himself?

It's as California a sight as the paddleboarding witches of Morro Bay, as a lighted boat parade, and as a palm tree don up in tiny blinking bulbs.A marketing analyst for UC Irvine's Cancer Center Monday sued a volunteer fundraiser and the University of California, alleging she was sexually harassed while on the job and nothing was done to help her.

Carlin Rae Motley, 34, alleges that Ibrahim Eldumiati had been harassing her for about a year with unwanted visits, hugs and kisses, and that she sought help from a higher-up to no avail.

Motley told City News Service that she wants the university to "make some sort of formal agreement with Mr. Eldumiati that he can no longer have a position there, that he not be able to volunteer or be employed by the university... It's important to know that I'm safe and that other women are also kept safe."

She also said she would like to see her supervisor undergo more sexual harassment training "so she's not in a position to hurt employees the way I was hurt this past year."

Plaintiff's attorney John Winer alleged that his client was happy in her job until Eldumiati, who is named as a defendant, "developed a crush on her and starts sexually harassing her and just kind of doing everything he can to insinuate himself into her life."

He said Motley went to her manager, Jennifer Sarrail.

"She said, 'Look, this guy is sexually harassing me, he calls me all the time, tries to kiss me and get all over me. You need to please help me stop it because I don't know what to do,'" Winer said. "The supervisor failed in

any way to take action to protect Carlin ... and, instead, did everything to make her face as much risk as possible, leaving them in situations alone together, and this guy would always try to hit on her. She did everything she could to resist him."

UC Irvine spokesman Tom Vasich declined to comment on the specifics in the complaint.

"We have just learned of the lawsuit at today's news conference. We will review legal documents once they are received and comment at the appropriate time," he said.

Winer alleged that Eldumiati "has impulse control issues, which makes him dangerous to someone like Carlin."

"They should have done way more to protect her," Winer said, adding that the volunteer should have been warned to stay away from Motley.

"Not only did they allow him to have access to her, it continued," the attorney said. "They invited him to events she was going to be at."

The complaint details how Eldumiati allegedly got drunk at a dinner preceding a Sheryl Crow concert to raise funds for the hospital in October 2017. At some point he grew so inebriated that he took his shoes off and "food literally fell out of his mouth," according to the complaint.

On the day of the concert, he allegedly got drunk again and "bear-hugged" Motley while kissing her multiple times on the cheek and neck, according to the complaint, which also alleges he said he "loved" her multiple times.

At one point, Eldumiati took a photo of Motley that he used as a screensaver for his phone and showed it to her, according to the lawsuit, which says the "last straw" for the plaintiff came at the end of January when he was waiting for her as she arrived at work and said he needed to "ask her some questions," then rode up the elevator with her.

At a meeting with the volunteer's supervisors later that day, Motley reiterated that she wanted him to leave her alone, according to her court papers, which allege that one of the supervisors said she was "curious" to see what Motley looked like because Eldumiati "always said how beautiful (she) was."

According to the complaint, Sarrail said Eldumiati was "a valuable contributor to the program."

He raised about $40,000 last year, "and apparently that's a lot" for a volunteer, Winer said.

Motley filed an internal complaint, which found in her favor, but she was never told what happened to the supervisors and was not given any assurances that she would be protected, Winer said.

Motley said she was often told when she raised concerns that it was a "sensitive" situation because of the defendant's prolific fundraising.

"He began circling me like I'm some sort of prey, like an animal, stalking me," she said. "At one point he was just staring at me very intently, so I went to a co-worker of mine to let her know that I was very afraid and very alone and could she keep an eye on me throughout the event. I also asked my sisters to show up to the event to keep an eye on me."What to Know Carla Stefaniak had been missing for more than a week after traveling to Costa Rica with her sister-in-law

The family and friends of a South Florida woman who went missing while on a Costa Rica vacation have confirmed a body found by authorities is that of 36-year-old Carla Stefaniak as police announced an arrest has been made in the case.

A Facebook group titled Finding Carla announced the news, saying Carla's father Carlos Caceido identified the body late Tuesday night.

"Words cannot express the devastation within her family and friends. We want the world to know that we will never forget Carla," the post read in part. "We will never forget the joy she brought into our lives, how much she made us laugh. We will always be with her and we know she will always be with us."

Walter Espinoza, head of the country's Judicial Investigation Department, said a body was found Monday near the Airbnb where Stefaniak had been staying. Officials said they are awaiting fingerprint comparisons to 100 percent confirm the identity.

The cause of death is head trauma, Espinoza said.

Espinoza said 32-year-old Bismark Espinosa Martinez, a security guard for the property, has been arrested in the killing. Martinez, who was in the room next to where Stefaniak was staying, gave contradictory statements to police when he was questioned, Espinoza said.

Earlier Tuesday, Espinoza said they found what appears to be blood in the Airbnb apartment rented by Stefaniak, and that prompted a search that led them to the body discovered outside.

Carlos Caceido, Stefaniak's father, told Costa Rican news outlets judicial authorities prevented him from seeing the body when they arrived. A source told NBC 6 Tuesday night the US Embassy took the family to visit the morgue for a second time.

Stefaniak had been missing for more than a week after traveling to Costa Rica to celebrate her 36th birthday with her sister-in-law April Antonieta. A Gofundme account says Stefaniak was last heard from around 8 p.m. on Nov. 27. She didn't show up for her 1 p.m. flight home on Nov. 28.

Espinoza said the missing persons report led them to search the apartment in the San Antonio de Escazu neighborhood, where they found "biological fluids ... that are compatible with blood."

That led them to search the area around the department, where they found the body, which was covered with plastic bags.

"The case continues to be under investigation," Espinoza said, and officials have sealed off the apartment to protect any evidence.

The Tampa Bay Times reports Stefaniak's last message to her family said: "It's pretty sketchy here," that the power was out and it was pouring rain.The California Highway Patrol said it used the autopilot of a speeding Tesla to stop the car after its driver fell asleep behind the wheel.

The CHP said that around 3:30 a.m. Friday, officers spotted a Tesla Model S doing about 70 mph on U.S. 101 in Redwood City, California.

The CHP cruiser pulled behind and used its lights and siren but the driver didn't wake up.

Officers then pulled in front and began slowing to a stop, hoping the Tesla's driver-assist feature was on and would do the same.

Tesla hasn't confirmed whether the car was on autopilot but the tactic worked. The Tesla stopped.

Forty-five-year-old Alexander Samek of Los Altos was awakened and arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. It's unclear whether he has a lawyer.Welcome to Tuesday, Dec. 4, South Florida. On this day in history, Burger King opened its first fast-food restaurant in Miami!

For Tuesday's weather forecast, patchy fog conditions will reduce visibility in the morning of an overall warm Tuesday with increased rain chances in the afternoon.

6 Things to Know

1. A shooting at the University of Kansas Hospital left one person dead and another in critical condition. The gunman is also dead, according to police.

2. Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, who died on Friday, is lying in state at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. Thousands are expected to pay respects on Tuesday before a public funeral is held at the Washington National Cathedral.

3. A family is waiting to hear from detectives investigating the disappearance of a South Florida woman missing in Costa Rica. Authorities said a body was found at the Airbnb location where 36-year-old Carla Stefaniak was staying. She was first reported missing Wednesday when she did not board her return flight.

4. Court filings related to Donald Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn are due Tuesday. The sentencing memos could offer details about special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.

5. Davie is partnering with Memorial Regional Hospital to host an opiate education and suicide prevention community outreach panel featuring professionals starting at 6 p.m. at the Town Council Chambers.

6. Art Basel Miami Beach 2018 is beginning this week  featuring art and installations from more than 160 art galleries around the world. The event begins Thursday and runs through Sunday.A sheriff's deputy in Broward County, Florida, was reprimanded and reassigned after he was photographed wearing a "QAnon" conspiracy patch on his SWAT vest while meeting with Vice President Mike Pence last week.

Sgt. Matt Patten was issued a written reprimand and removed from the Broward Sheriff's Office Strategic Investigations Divisions Office of Homeland Security and from the department's SWAT team and reassigned to the Department of Law Enforcement, BSO officials said in a statement Monday.

Patten, who has been with the department since 1987, was a member of the BSO SWAT team that was assisting the Secret Service with the security detail during Pence's trip to South Florida Friday to speak at the Israeli-American Conference.

A photo posted on Pence's Twitter account that was later deleted showed the VP with a group of SWAT team members, including Patten, who had the red and black patch on the front of his vest. It features a large "Q" and the phrase "question the narrative," which is tied to a far-right conspiracy theory.

Patten "intentionally placed an unauthorized symbol/patch onto his agency issued SWAT vest to meet and pose with V.P.O.T.U.S. Pence," a BSO memo reads. He was disciplined for "conduct unbecoming an employee."

The memo said the patch's symbolism is controversial and goes against BSO's "core values of political neutrality."

"Sergeant Patten's actions of displaying unity with controversial group not in alignment with the core values of law enforcement and the Broward Sheriff's Office discredited the agency, the county, and himself," the memo read.A South Florida man who worked as a counselor at a YMCA after-school program is accused of posing as a girl on the internet to solicit nude photos from a teen boy then threatening to release them unless the boy had sex with him.

Joseph Anthony Garcia, 18, was arrested on Monday on charges including extortion, traveling to meet a minor for sex, promoting sexual performance by a minor, possessing obscene material harmful to a minor and prohibited use of a computer service, Miami-Dade jail records showed.

An arrest report said Garcia presented himself on the internet as a 16-year-old girl named Kiki/Kathy and began a conversation with the boy that quickly became sexual in nature.

"He was impersonating a female which was part of the influencing of the young man, probably impressionable, and he thought 'OK, this is a young lady who is interested in me' and at that point that is when the communications continued," Miami-Dade Police Det. Chris Thomas said.

At one point, Garcia was able to get the boy to send a nude photo and video to him, and Garcia started to threaten the boy, saying he would expose the photo to the boy's mother and sister-in-law if he didn't send more, the report said.

"I'm gonna ask for kinky stuff and you're going to say yes mam," Garcia, posing as Kiki/Kathy, wrote to the boy, according to the report. "As many as I want, as frequent as I want."

The victim continued to send Garcia photos, but Garcia told him he would have to have sex with him to avoid having the photos sent out, the report said. A detective posed as the boy and agreed to meet Garcia at a McDonald's, and when Garcia showed up he was arrested, the report said.

Garcia remained behind bars Tuesday on $45,000 bond, jail records showed. Attorney information wasn't available.

A YMCA spokesperson said Garcia has been suspended pending further investigation and said the YMCA is fully cooperating with Miami-Dade Police.

"The safety and well-being of all kids in our programs is our first priority. To ensure the safety of our students, the YMCA adheres to all background screening requirements by the Department of Children and Families and the School Board of Miami-Dade County," a YMCA statement read.What to Know An Amber Alert has been canceled for a 14-year-old girl, Joanna Coates, allegedly abducted in Rochester; she was found safe

The alleged abductor, neighbor Robert Gonzalez, was believed to have taken her off the street Saturday night

The girl's mother says Gonzalez is a dangerous man and a junkie; she says she's known him since he was 16 and he's 'not a good person'

A 14-year-old girl who was allegedly snatched on a Rochester street by a neighbor over the weekend has been found safe, State Police said Tuesday.



It wasn't clear where Joanna Coates was found; more information is expected to be released later in the day. She was allegedly abducted by 41-year-old Robert Gonzalez on LaSalle Street Saturday evening, police said. Gonzalez had last been seen traveling southeast, possibly headed to New York City, officials said.



Gonzalez was located as well. The circumstances were found were not immediately clear.



Coates' mother says Gonzalez befriended her daughter over the summer. She says she's known him for decades, since he was 16, and that he's dangerous.

"He's a junkie, he sells drugs, he pimps girls out, I don't want my daughter to be one of those people," mom Linda Hollaert told WHEC hours before her daughter was found. "I am asking anybody, everybody, I don't care where she is, just bring her home safely to me. I just want my daughter home ... please."



"I did not give permission for my daughter to be taken out of Monroe County by any man ... she is 14," Hollaert added. "I've known this man since he was 16 years old and he is not a good person."What to Know Two FedEx workers and a third man are in police custody for a brawl in Brooklyn captured on video

It happened after a funeral service outside a mosque in Sunset Park, when the truck accidentally hit a mourner Monday afternoon

That sparked a brawl between the crowd of mourners and the workers

Chaos erupted outside a funeral service in Brooklyn Monday afternoon when a pair of FedEx delivery workers got into a brawl with a large group of mourners, police say, resulting in injuries and arrests.

Police say a funeral had just ended at the Beit-El Maqdis Islamic Center in Sunset Park, and mourners flooded the street to get into their cars. At the same time, a FedEx truck was making its way down Sixth Avenue and was backing up by 63rd street when the truck hit a 46-year-old mourner, police said.

When the FedEx workers got out of the truck to see what happened, one of them was punched in the head by a 23-year-old man, according to police. The other FedEx driver took a fire extinguisher from the truck and smacked the original attacker with it.

"They tried to hold the FedEx truck so it doesn't go anywhere," a witness said. "Somehow words were exchanged, and then physical contact, and they started swinging and punching each other."

A representative for the mosque told reporters, "As professionals, all they had to do was close their doors, sit in their car and wait till the police arrived."

Police said the FedEx driver who had been punched pulled out a boxcutter and slashed a 56-year-old funeral-goer in the hand.

When police arrived, they found the truck with smashed windows -- and a he-said, she-said about how the violent confrontation really started.

Three people were taken to NYU Langone Hospital in Brooklyn with minor injuries: the 46-year-old pedestrian, the 23-year-old man hit in the face with the fire extinguisher and the 56-year-old man slashed in the hand.

The 23-year-old injured man is also in police custody for throwing that first punch, along with the two FedEx workers, both 25 years old, police said.

FedEx said in a statement to News 4, "We are aware of preliminary reports regarding this disturbing incident and are cooperating with investigating authorities to determine the facts."What to Know Jeffrey Dean Morgan is adopting a bonded donkey and emu and bringing them to his Hudson Valley farm

A North Carolina animal rescue group says the two were saved after their owner vanished in South Carolina; they cuddle and sleep together

They cry when separated though; 2K-plus people responded to a post about adopting them together, but Morgan had the best space for them

A donkey and an emu who bonded with each other can stay together, thanks to actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who plays the villainous Negan on the TV zombie thriller "The Walking Dead" and will keep the pair on his New York farm.

Jennifer Gordon, founder of the North Carolina animal rescue group Carolina Waterfowl Rescue, says Morgan is adopting them Tuesday.



Neither animal is named Lucille.



They're named Jack and Diane, and Morgan tantalized his social media followers with a simple and vague tweet, "Little diddy about jack and Diane ..."



The two were rescued from Kershaw, South Carolina, when their owner vanished. Gordon says they cuddle and sleep together, but cried and became frantic when they were separated.

A post about the complexities of adopting them out together sparked more than 2,000 inquiries, including Morgan's, Gordon adds. She says Morgan was the best choice since he has resources to care for the pair and they can roam free on his Hudson Valley farm.What to Know A 48-year-old NJ man will spend the rest of his life in prison without possibility of parole for strangling his ex-wife in upstate NY

Lloyd Neurauter, of North Brunswick, pleaded guilty to 1st-degree murder for strangling Michele Neurauter and staging the scene as suicide

Neurauter said he coerced his then-19-year-old daughter Karrie to help him plan and carry out the August 2017 murder

A 48-year-old New Jersey man will spend the rest of his life in prison without possibility of parole for strangling his ex-wife in upstate New York with the help of his college student daughter.

Lloyd Neurauter, of North Brunswick, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in October for strangling Michele Neurauter of Corning, New York, and staging the scene as suicide.

He expressed remorse and said he has "found God" before he was sentenced in Steuben County Court on Tuesday.

Neurauter said he coerced his then-19-year-old daughter Karrie to help him plan and carry out the August 2017 murder. She was a student at Rochester Institute of Technology.

Karrie Neurauter pleaded guilty in March to second-degree murder. She'll be sentenced Dec. 10 to 15 years to life in prison.What to Know The pilot of the small plane that crashed into a building in Fort Lauderdale Saturday has been identified as a New Jersey man

The fiery crash killed the pilot, 51-year-old Eladio Marquez, and a friend on board the plane

No one in the building was injured

The pilot of the small plane that crashed into a Florida building housing a therapy center for children with autism has been identified as a New Jersey man.

Eladio Marquez, 51, of Rahway, was identified by his wife as the man piloting the Cessna 335 that exploded into a fireball into the Fort Lauderdale building on the 1000 block of Northwest 62nd Street Saturday.

His widow, Belkis Marquez, told News 4 New York Tuesday that he was flying with a friend who was also a former flight student. She said Marquez had been flying for 12 years and been an instructor for 10.

Both died in the fiery crash.

Belkis Marquez said while her husband's plane had recently had its annual maintenance, she thinks something was wrong on board.

"The airplane was not in good shape because it was at the mechanic," she said.

She doesn't believe her husband -- an instructor with 13 years of experience -- could be at fault. Air traffic control recordings reveal him telling control that an engine was on fire: "Fire in one of the engines, we are turning right back."

"He never had another accident on the airplane," said Belkis Marquez. "He was an excellent pilot, and excellent instructor."

The building Marquez's plane crashed into included a therapy center for children with autism. Video footage from a nearby business shows the plane skidding across the parking lot, trailed by heavy smoke, and then erupting into flames upon impact.

Several people, including children, could be seen running out of the building. There were eight adults and five children inside the center at the time of the crash but none were injured. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident.

Now Marquez's family is trying to face the holidays without their father and husband. At their home in Rahway, the Christmas tree is up -- but they were waiting for Eladipo to return home to decorate it.

"It's so difficult for me and for my little son," his widow said.

"Everyone loved him and he loved everybody."What to Know A man has been arrested for allegedly punching a Jewish man in the head in an incident police deemed a hate crime, the NYPD said

Enrique Gerena, 32, of Brooklyn, was arrested and charged with assault as a hate crime on Tuesday, police said

Police say Gerena and his victim didn't know each other

A man has been arrested for allegedly punching a Jewish man in the head in an incident police deemed a hate crime, the NYPD said.

Enrique Gerena, 32, of Brooklyn, was arrested and charged with assault as a hate crime on Tuesday, police said.

The victim, also a 32-year-old man, was talking to friends in Williamsburg on Friday evening when Gerena allegedly ran up to the group and punched him in the head from behind, according to police. He suffered minor injuries.

Police say Gerena didn't know the victim. The victim was Jewish and wearing a shtreimel, a fur hat worn by some Hasidic Jewish men. He had been standing on Throop Avenue at Wallabout Street.

The Anti-Defamation League offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

We remain increasingly concerned by the number of alleged unprovoked assaults on Orthodox Jewish individuals in Brooklyn in recent weeks, said Evan R. Bernstein, regional director of ADL for New York and New Jersey.

Last weekend, a boy wearing Hasidic clothing was beaten by a man in an apparently unprovoked attack just a block from Friday's attack, police say.Atlantic City Mayor Frank Gilliam Jr. was back at work in City Hall Tuesday, a day after federal agents raided his home.

Gilliam, through a spokesperson, declined to comment Tuesday and news media were told they weren't allowed to access the seventh floor of City Hall where the mayor's office is located.

After a back-and forth, NBC10's Ted Greenberg was allowed to go the city clerk's office on the seventh floor to fill out an Open Public Records Act request. As he stepped off the elevator he was met by the mayor's chief of staff, Maisha Scudder-Moore, who said Giliam would have no comment Tuesday.

"He just doesnt have a comment about the situation at this time," Scudder-Moore said. "His attorneys probably have told him not to have a comment too, so Ive been told he does not have a comment at this time.

Scudder-Moore said she didnt know who Gilliams attorney is. It was not clear whether Gilliam has hired a lawyer.

The FBI and IRS sent agents to Gilliam's Ohio Avenue home Monday, emerging with white cardboard boxes and computer equipment that they placed in sport utility vehicles and took with them.

The FBI says it was executing a search warrant, but won't say anything beyond that.

There was no indication of criminal charges having been filed against the mayor as of Tuesday.The attorneys general of the District of Columbia and Maryland plan to file subpoenas Tuesday seeking records from the Trump Organization, the Internal Revenue Service and dozens of other entities as part of a lawsuit accusing Donald Trump of profiting off the presidency.

The flurry of subpoenas came a day after U.S. District Court Judge Peter J. Messitte approved a brisk schedule for discovery in the case alleging that foreign and domestic government spending at Trump's Washington, D.C., hotel amounts to gifts to the president in violation of the Constitution's emoluments clause.

The subpoenas target 37 entities, including 13 Trump-linked entities and the federal agency that oversees the lease for Trump's Washington hotel. Subpoenas were also being sent to the Department of Defense, General Services Administration, Department of Commerce, Department of Agriculture and the IRS, which have spent taxpayer dollars at the hotel or have information on Trump's finances relevant to the case.

Other Trump entities that officials plan to subpoena include those related to his Washington hotel and its management. Eighteen entities such as restaurants and hotels that compete with the Trump hotel are also being subpoenaed.

The Maryland attorney general's office confirmed the targets of the subpoenas to The Associated Press as they were being prepared Tuesday.

The subpoenas focus on answering three questions: which foreign domestic governments are paying the Trump International Hotel in Washington, where that money is going and how Trump's hotel is affecting the hospitality industry in the District of Columbia and Maryland.

To help answer those questions, the subpoenas are asking for records of payments to Trump from state government and federal agencies that patronized the hotel. They're also seeking information proving that hotel revenues are going to the president through his affiliated entities, including The Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust. Most of the records are being requested back to Jan. 1, 2015.

The Justice Department declined to comment. Neither the Trump Organization, Trump's personal attorney on the case, William S. Consovoy, nor the White House immediately responded to a request for comment Tuesday.

Trump's Justice Department lawyers have previously argued that earnings from such business activity as hotels stays don't qualify as emoluments. And in court papers last week challenging the judge's decision to move the case forward, Justice lawyers objected to any discovery on a sitting president in order to avoid a "constitutional confrontation." They also argued that any discovery would "be a distraction to the President's performance of his constitutional duties."

Trump's Justice Department lawyers filed a notice to the court Friday indicating it plans to challenge the Maryland judge's decision to allow the case to move forward in a Richmond, Virginia, court. The president's notice that he may seek a writ of mandamus  to have the appeal heard by a higher court  is considered an "extraordinary remedy" that's hard to prove and partly rests on showing Messitte's decisions to be clearly wrong.

Because Trump was also the first president in modern history to not release his tax returns, any responsive records would likely provide the first clear picture of the finances of Trump's business empire as well as his Washington, D.C., hotel.

There is no indication yet that Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh and District of Columbia Attorney General Karl A. Racine, both Democrats, would push for the president's tax returns, at least in this initial round of legal discovery, given the sensitive nature of such a request and likely additional delays it would cause. But tax returns for some of Trump's business entities, including the state and federal tax returns for the Trump Organization, are also being requested.

There is a separate federal lawsuit involving the General Services Administration, which oversees the lease for the hotel with the Trump Organization. Democratic lawmakers last year sued demanding disclosures of records to determine how Trump was approved by the General Services Administration to maintain the lease of the Trump International Hotel in Washington after he became president.

The hotel is housed in the historic Old Post Office, which is owned by the federal government, and its lease has a clause barring any "elected official of the government of the United States" from deriving "any benefit." Trump and his daughter Ivanka, a senior White House adviser, both retained their stakes in the property.

The plaintiffs' prior preservation subpoena filing requested documents that concern "marketing to foreign or domestic governments, including members of the diplomatic community" for 23 Trump-linked entities, be saved. Other noted categories for preservation include documents that would identify guests of the hotel and those who have rented event space, details on all finances and "operating leases, permits, licenses, tax payments or credits to or from foreign or domestic governments."

Maine also received a subpoena, likely because its governor, Republican Paul LePage, stayed at Trump's hotel in Washington when he had official business to conduct, including discussions with the president. Representatives for LePage's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On one of those trips last year, Trump and LePage appeared together at a news conference at which Trump signed an executive order to review orders of the prior administration that established national monuments within the National Park Service. President Barack Obama had established a park and national monument in Maine over LePage's objections in 2016.

If there are no delays, legal discovery would conclude in early August.San Diego immigration lawyers say Customs and Border Protection officers broke international law by turning away a family seeking asylum at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry.

Last month, a family part of the migrant caravan was recorded approaching CBP officers at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry in Tijuana asking to speak with immigration.

But before one woman could finish her sentence, they were all denied.

You all need to go to the other port of entry, OK, in San Ysidro, is what an officer said to the family in Spanish. We are not accepting anyone here.

CBP told NBC 7 that the ports of entry are all at capacity, citing nearly 2,800 people without documents waiting in Tijuana to speak with agents at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

The law is clear. If you show up at the border you must take the applicant in and process them for asylum, San Diego immigration attorney Cesar Luna said.

Luna said he questions the officers response in this situation.

Its against both U.S. law and international law to reject asylum applicants, Luna said. Each port of entry should have designated officers trained and a sufficient amount of officers to receive asylum applicants.

In a statement CBP said in part:

No one is being denied the opportunity to make a claim of credible fear or seek asylum. CBP officers allow more people into our facilities for processing once space becomes available or other factors allow for additional parties to arrive.

Hopefully the government will realize that more resources are needed to accept these individuals and hopefully this will only be a temporary issue, said Luna.

CBP said the individuals from the caravan would be processed after the 2,800 already waiting, and that could take about five to eight weeks.

Luna called the wait time unreasonable.

I trust our government can be much more efficient than that, this more a matter of will, Luna said.

A spokesperson for CBP said they are reviewing the video in question but provided no answers to questions .

Below is the full statement from Customs and Border Protection:

The system was already at capacity before the arrival of the caravan, not just with CBP at the border, but at all points of our immigration system. Prior to the arrival of the migrant caravan, there were approximately 2,800 people without documents to enter the U.S. waiting in Tijuana to present themselves to a CBP officer at the San Ysidro port of entry. The individuals from the caravan would be processed after those individuals, starting in about 5-8 weeks.

When our ports of entry reach capacity, when their ability to manage all of their missions  counter-narcotics, national security, facilitation of lawful trade  is challenged by the time and the space to process people that are arriving without documents, from time to time we have to manage the queues and address that processing based on that capacity. CBP processes undocumented persons as expeditiously as possible without negating the agency's overall mission, or compromising the safety of individuals within our custody.

The number of inadmissible individuals CBP is able to process varies based upon case complexity; available resources; medical needs; translation requirements; holding/detention space; overall port volume; and ongoing enforcement actions. No one is being denied the opportunity to make a claim of credible fear or seek asylum. CBP officers allow more people into our facilities for processing once space becomes available or other factors allow for additional parties to arrive. Under ideal conditions with current resources and staffing, CBP officers at the San Ysidro port of entry can process about 100 inadmissible individuals each day, if there is capacity available at the border crossing to hold them.

Port of Entry facilities were not designed to hold hundreds of people at a time who may be seeking asylum. And we are also charged with keeping the flow of legitimate trade and travel. Balancing these demands, keeping illicit goods and people out of the country, and managing the influx of Central Americans seeking asylum (along with everything else we do) requires a careful balance of our resources and space.

Depending upon port circumstances at the time of arrival, individuals presenting without documents may need to wait in Mexico as CBP officers work to process those already within our facilities.California's legislative session began Monday with two women making history as the first sisters to serve together in the Legislature.

Assemblywoman Blanca Rubio (48th District) and Sen. Susan Rubio (22nd District) both represent Baldwin Park in the San Gabriel Valley.

In an interview with the Sacramento Bee, the sisters said they were "Trump's worst nightmare:"

Were essentially Trumps worst nightmare. We are those bad Mexicans that he talks about. We were undocumented, and then we fought hard, we got an education and now were sitting here.

On Monday, Attorney General Xavier Becerra and Supreme Court Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye administered the oath of office to all 80 Assembly members and half of the 40 senators, respectively.

Just 17 lawmakers are taking their seats for the first time, nine in the Senate and eight in the Assembly. Democrats hold a whopping 60 Assembly seats and 29 Senate seats, giving them broad power to enact their ambitious goals.

Gov. Jerry Brown, who will leave office in January, sat in the corner of the Senate during the festivities. Governor-elect Gavin Newsom, also a Democrat, joined each chamber for part of the ceremony.

He advised senators to exercise their "moral authority" as well as their "formal authority" in the jobs they now hold.

"We can shape the future," Newsom said. "It's not a gross exaggeration -- the world is looking to us, to each and every one of you."

Senators again chose Democrat Toni Atkins of San Diego as the president pro tempore.

Also of note, Democratic Sen. Melissa Hurtado is the state's youngest female senator ever at age 30.A Northern Virginia high school that is removing Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's name could be renamed for an interracial couple.

A 21-member committee appointed by the Arlington County school board is recommending that Washington-Lee High School be renamed as Washington-Loving.

The proposed new name would honor Mildred and Richard Loving, a Virginia couple whose legal challenge led the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down the state's law banning interracial marriage.

A second option proposed by the committee would be to rename the school Washington-Liberty.

The school board decided earlier this year to remove Lee's name. The board will discuss the proposed new names at a meeting Dec. 20.

Last year, neighboring Fairfax County renamed a high school that had been named for Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart.The owner of a Fairfax County home health care company is behind bars accused of billing the state for millions in fraudulent claims.

The case emerges just as Virginia is poised to expand its Medicaid program.

John Ndunguru, the president of home health care company Mercy Services of Health, was indicted on 12 charges. He's accused of fraudulently charging Virginia's Medicaid program $4.5 million.

Court documents show that the agency that oversees Medicaid has already paid Ndunguru $3.6 million.

Investigators allege Ndunguru made false Medicaid claims on behalf of 59 patients who were not approved for long-term care.

Trina Greene, the Mercy Services office manager, says workers are devastated by the news but are standing behind the man they fondly call Doctor John.

Green and other employees saw signs of trouble last week when offices were raided by investigators from the attorney general's office. A search warrant shows 10 computers were seized along with 33 boxes of documents.

The court documents also allege other issues at Mercy Services. Investigators say a doctor's signature was forged on some patient documents, required patient records were missing and Mercy Services failed to do criminal background checks on some home health care aides.

For now, Greene says Mercy Health employees plan to continue working. The company says it provides services to about 90 patients and employs about 100 home health care aides.

Ndunguru is not able to return to the office as he is being held without bond.George H.W. Bush's service dog, Sully, made a last visit with the former president Tuesday, joining others paying respect to Bush as he lies in state in the Capitol Rotunda.

Sully was already well-known as Bush's service dog  his Instagram account has more than 150,000 followers  before an image of him lying beside Bush's flag-draped casket shared by a Bush family spokesman became one of the most touching images associated with the 41st president's death.

Bush died at home in Houston on Friday and was flown to Washington, D.C., on Monday. He is lying in state where the public can pay their respects before a funeral on Wednesday and his burial in Texas Thursday.

Sully was brought into the packed rotunda along with people who benefitted from the Americans With Disabilities Act, which Bush signed into law in 1990. Sully sat down in the hushed room before quietly circling the casket with his handler as well as former Secretary of Homeland Security and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge.

[NATL] George H. W. Bush Mourned by Nation He Led

Sully flew to Washington with Bush on a presidential plane, but after his visit to the Capitol, he'll continue on to New York, where he was trained. He'll get a refresher course before being assigned to help soldiers at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

The image of Sully beside Bush's casket, captioned "Mission complete" by Bush's spokesman, is powerful, said John Miller, president and CEO of America's VetDogs, the group that trained Sully and the "puppies with a purpose" at the "Today" show and NBC Los Angeles.

The photo "shows the bond the president and Sully had with each other," Miller told NBC New York.

The Cowboys didnt use several of their best players Sunday night against the Arizona Cardinals, and they played like it. Quarterback Dak Prescott, running back Ezekiel Elliott, left tackle Tyron Smith and linebacker Sean Lee each watched the 27-3 loss to Arizona from the sideline.

Sully's Instagram account shows the yellow Labrador retriever by Bush's side, meeting service members, playing on the beach at the Bush compound in Maine and more.

Bush received the 2-year-old dog in June from America's VetDogs, which helps match service dogs with veterans, active-duty service members and first responders with disabilities. The president had a form of Parkinson's disease, and Sully could open doors, pick up items and summon help.

At Walter Reed in Bethesda, Maryland, Sully will join the Facility Dog Program, working with other dogs to help with physical and occupational therapy for wounded soldiers and active duty personnel at the hospital.

[NATL-DFW] President George H.W. Bush: Through the Years in PhotosFormer President George H.W. Bush's state funeral encompasses four days of events, from his arrival in Washington to his burial in Texas on Thursday.

The guidelines for state funerals date back to the mid-1800s and have been shaped over time. Seating arrangements, for example, are detailed with precision, with the presidential party followed by chiefs of state, arranged alphabetically by the English spelling of their countries.

Ronald Reagan's state funeral in 2004 was the first of its kind since Lyndon Johnson died in 1973. Gerald Ford's state funeral overlapped the end of 2006 and the beginning of 2007.

The president, former presidents and a president-elect are all entitled to a state funeral, but the family decides if they actually get one, or just how involved it will be. Richard Nixon's family, acting on his wishes, opted out of the Washington traditions when he died in 1994, his presidency shortened and forever tainted by Watergate.

The rules and what actually happens are based on what has come before.

John F. Kennedy's services were modeled after those of Abraham Lincoln, at the request of his widow, Jacqueline, in her first public statement after the assassination. Historians examined musty documents by flashlight in the middle of the night as the stunned country waited for a plan  the Library of Congress' automatic lights could not be rigged to come on after hours.

Bush is the 12th president to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda. Like many presidents, Bush and Ford served in Congress. Reagan did not.

Eight presidents have had funeral processions down Pennsylvania Avenue, including all four presidents to die by assassination  Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley and Kennedy. Bush decided his state funeral would not include a formal procession through downtown Washington.

Washington National Cathedral, which will host Bush's national service Wednesday, served the same function for Dwight D. Eisenhower, Reagan and Ford.

Two presidents are buried at Arlington National Cemetery: Kennedy and William Howard Taft. Bush will be buried at his presidential library in College Station, Texas, near his wife, Barbara, who died in April, and their daughter Robin, who died of leukemia at age 3.

Only sitting presidents and immediate family members have ever lain in the White House for viewing. Ex-president John Adams didn't even lie in the White House, though his son, John Quincy Adams, was the sitting president at the time of the death. The older Adams died the same day as Thomas Jefferson  July 4, 1826  possibly complicating his chances for a White House viewing.

The Capitol has a more expansive policy for lying in state. Congressman Henry Clay, in 1852, was the first to lie in the Capitol Rotunda. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover lay in the Capitol in 1972. Police officers killed in 1998 while protecting the Capitol also lay in state there. Sen. John McCain lay in state after his death earlier this year.

The first presidential state funeral was for William Henry Harrison, who in 1841 became the first president to die in office, just 30 days after his inauguration. Alexander Hunter, a Washington merchant, was tasked with putting on a first-of-its-kind American ceremony. He draped the White House in black. Official buildings and many private households followed suit, starting a now-lost tradition that was repeated at Lincoln's funeral 25 years later.Indeed, the human resources company that runs the job search website, is expanding in Connecticut, according to the governors office.

Gov. Dannel Malloy said the company is planning to add 500 workers in Stamford, which will bring the total number of people the company employs in Connecticut to 1,700.

This is a global, innovative company that has recognized the benefits that Connecticut brings to the tech industry. We welcome the companys capital investment in our state and the growth of hundreds of high-quality jobs that will follow, Malloy said in a statement.

We continue to invest in Connecticut because this region has helped us deliver on our mission of helping people get jobs since we started here 14 years ago, Dave ONeill, Indeeds Chief Operating Officer, said in a statement. While we have expanded all over the world since our founding, Stamford continues to be a critical region for our success and we are confident we will continue to find the talent we need to help our business continue its growth.Police say three people have been arrested following a home invasion in Massachusetts, including one suspect who was shot by police.

Chicopee police posted on Facebook that they received a 911 call about a home invasion just before 7 p.m. Monday.

Three suspects fled on foot and encountered officers investigating a car crash.

An officer shot one of the suspects following a foot pursuit.

The suspect was identified as 20-year-old Ayman Khalifa, of Springfield. He was treated at a hospital and released into police custody.

Khalifa, 20-year-old Austin Shephard, of Adams, and 23-year-old Efrain Diaz-Martinez Jr., of Springfield, were all held without bail Tuesday pending a dangerousness hearing scheduled for Dec. 11.

Their lawyers did not comment except to enter the not guilty pleas on their clients' behalf.Massachusetts's governor wants a judge he nominated pulled off the bench amid a federal investigation into whether she helped a man in the country illegally evade immigration officials.

Republican Gov. Charlie Baker said Monday that District Court Judge Shelley Joseph shouldn't hear criminal cases until the investigation is resolved.

He said judges shouldn't be in the "business of obstructing justice."

The Boston Globe reported Sunday that a grand jury is considering whether Joseph and other court officials broke the law in helping Jose Medina-Perez leave the Newton District Court after an April hearing on drug possession charges.

The newspaper said an immigration enforcement agent was in the courtroom to detain Medina-Perez, but the Dominican Republic native was let out through a back door.

Joseph and state trial court officials declined to comment to the AP. Medina-Perez's attorney declined to comment to NBC10 Boston.A wayward search and rescue dog who was missing has been found safe, according to Rhode Island State Police.

Officials said Monday that K-9 Ruby ran off near Goddard Memorial State Park in Warwick earlier in the day.

Col. Ann Assumpico says the Australian shepherd and border collie mix disappeared near Ives Street. She didn't say what Ruby was doing there.

She was located around 1 a.m. Tuesday near the area where she went missing, according to state police. The K-9 has since been returned to her handler, Trooper Daniel O'Neil.

Ruby was recently recognized by the American Humane Hero Dog Awards for leading rescuers to an unconscious teen in the woods of Glocester last year.The mayor of Vermonts largest city has announced the formation of a new coalition of Northeast mayors thatll push for a regional response to climate change.

We are hurtling toward environmental disaster if we make no change, said Mayor Miro Weinberger, D-Burlington. We need action here in the Northeast now. We cant wait for the Trump Administration to save us.

The coalition calls itself the Northeast Mayors for Carbon Pollution Pricing. Members will call on their respective legislatures to enter multi-state deals to establish fees on carbon pollution.

Members so far include the mayors of Middletown, Connecticut, Ithaca, New York, Montpelier and Winooski, Vermont, and Somerville and Salem, Massachusetts.

The group would like a so-called carbon pollution fee placed on fossil fuels such as gasoline and home heating oil, to incentivize efficiency and switches to alternatives like electric vehiclesto cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Weinberger said he wants the concept to be revenue-neutral, with those fossil fuel fees later rebatedunder a system built to protect low- and middle-income folks. He also said the system should be focused around boosting clean energy investments and on preventing money for fossil fuels from being sent to out-of-state companies.

However, opponents are sceptical, and warn rural America would suffer.

They need to drive long distances to get to work, argued Matt Cota of the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association, describing people who live in rural sections of the Northeast. They cant buy a Tesla or a Nissan Leaf; they need a truck or a four-wheel drive vehicle. The idea that people that live in rural areas would be subsidizing Teslas in Burlington is frankly obscene.

Gov. Phil Scott, R-Vermont, has also opposed past attempts at carbon taxes here.

A spokeswoman for the governor said late Monday that Scott has not seen details on any new proposals from the mayors group, but remains firmly opposed to a carbon tax.

Weinberger acknowledged the skepticism, but said carbon pricing policies could work to spur new innovations that would boost the economyand cited to a new federal report that warned of dire economic costs from climate change.

The mayor pointed to British Columbia as a place where a carbon tax has helped reduce emissions, saying that reduction happened while British Columbias gross domestic product has grown.

I think the mood of the public is shifting on climate change, and I think that may well make it possible to make progress that may not have been possible in the past, Weinberger said in an interview with necn.

Weinberger added that the carbon pricing coalition is in its early stages, noting that the mayors are still working out specifics on their proposals.

Meanwhile, Burlingtons moving forward with goals to dramatically reduce its transportation and heating footprints, striving to become a net-zero city by the year 2030.

The citys municipally-owned electric department already gets power from all renewable sources, and is working to expand the use of electric vehicles, cold-climate heat pumps and more.

I think we have an opportunity still as a countrynot just in Burlington and in Vermontas a country to lead on these issues, said Darren Springer, the general manager of the Burlington Electric Department. Really, theres an economic benefit if we do so.

Mayor Weinberger said he hopes more mayors from around the Northeast will join his push, insisting the planet cant wait for action on climate change.A Massachusetts man is accused of killing his brother and injuring his mother with a hammer Sunday night.

The Worcester County District Attorney's Office confirms 23-year-old Innocent Asia was found dead in his Paxton home on Monticello Drive after police responded to a 911 call. His 24-year-old brother, Alexander Asia, was arrested after the attack.

The suspect's mother, 53-year-old Leticia Asia, is in stable condition at a hospital after suffering injuries in the attack.

According to MJ Byrnes who lives two houses away, Leticia stumbled in the dark to her house where she kept hitting the doorbell.

Byrnes' sister brought Leticia inside and saw the gash in her head.

"My sister reported that the mother had stated that her son was trying to kill the family with a hammer," Byrnes said. "The mother was in and out of almost consciousness."

Another brother, Ogechi Asia, told police Alexander had also attacked him, according to the The Telegram & Gazette.

The Telegram reports that two children live at the home, but that it was not clear if they were home at the time.

Neighbors say this is a family that appeared to get along and that they never saw any warning signs. But the police tape around the house has neighbors walking past this part of Paxton, wondering did they miss something?

"It's sad no matter where it happens," Ben Stone said. "Whether it's down the street or across the US, it doesn't really matter."

"Everyday I thank God for the peaceful neighborhood we're in, but boy...," said Robert Fantelli.

"The whole family has obviously been shattered and will be shattered for months and years to come," Byrnes said.

Alexander Asia was in court Monday on two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury. He is due back in court for a dangerousness hearing on Dec. 10.

The case remains under investigation.Churches want to end crippling scourge that can break up families"

A DEBT centre could be resurrected in Newbury due to a huge problem in the area.

Churches in Newbury are teaming up to open a Christians Against Poverty (CAP) debt centre to serve Newbury, Thatcham, Hungerford and the surrounding areas.

The move follows CAP identifying Newbury as being in the top five per cent of enquiries to its call centre for unreached areas of the UK.

Calculations from Bridge Church Newbury show that approximately 19,500 people in the district are over-indebted; meaning that people have either fallen behind with their bills in at least three of the last six months or feel that their debts are a heavy burden.

Around 2,400 are foodbank debt-related clients.

The pastor at Bridge Church Newbury, Mark Landreth-Smith, said this demand along with council cuts to Citizens Advice West Berkshire had led the churches to take action.

He said that discussions with charities such as Loose Ends and West Berkshire Homeless had provided an insight into West Berkshires debt situation and how we could together create and sustain a debt centre in Newbury.

Mr Landreth-Smith said: I discovered there was one [a debt centre] in Newbury before, but it had to close due to a lack of funding and volunteers.

How can we not just resurrect this, but also learn from the previous experiences of a debt centre in Newbury and create a new one on a better foundation and with a longer-term future?

Mr Landreth-Smith said that he had spoken with one resident who had debts of up to 70,000, excluding a mortgage.

He said that people got into debt for numerous reasons, from living beyond their means and easy credit to losing their job.

The proposed debt centre would employ a manager and volunteer befrienders, who visit indebted people and offer advice and counselling.

Most of the work is visiting clients, talking through their bills and debt, Mr Landreth-Smith said,

Sometimes people dont open the bills because they are afraid and they are in debt.

Sometimes its just gathering information and facing the challenge.

The great thing about CAP is they take responsibility for clients.

We speak to debtors on clients behalf and take the pressure off.

It really lifts the pressure off families.

Its a crippling scourge that can break up families.

We want to help as many people out of the bondage of debt.

He said that he would love to see the centre helping families in time for Easter next year.

The project has raised 15,750 of its 27,444 target and donations can be made at https://app.thegoodexchange.com and searching for Bridge Church Newbury.

Discussing a grant application at a meeting of Thatcham Town Council, member of Bridge Church Lisa John said: We recognise theres a huge debt problem in the area.

A lot of times they dont have any ways of dealing with it.

Banks can help people with budgeting, but not the situation they are in.

After hearing the request for a grant, town and district councillor Richard Crumly (Con, Thatcham Central) said: I think the Citizens Advice bureau covers the work that they do and that should be sufficient in my view.

West Berkshire Council has cut CAWBs funding by 100,000 in the last three years.

Thatcham Town Council granted the project 1,500.

With match-funding by Greenham Trust via The Good Exchange, this will bring the total to 3,000.BROOKFIELD  Officials hope new regulations on drive-thrus will help foster development downtown.

The Zoning Commission passed late last week the regulations, which require developers to apply for a special permit if they want a drive-thru.

Drive-thrus already exist downtown, but Brookfield did not have regulations on these establishments in the Town Center District.

With the new regulations, the owner of Dunkin plans to apply to move his store down Federal Road into the property where the Hearth Restaurant used to be.

Neil Marcus, attorney for the Dunkin owner, said this is a better location for the store, adding the move would bolster the towns efforts to revitalize the downtown.

At that point, we can move forward with the project, which I think will be quite in line with the spirit of the redevelopment of the Town Center District, he said at a meeting late last week.

The town is working on a multiphase project to add sidewalks, parking, crosswalks and more downtown with the aim of attracting developers and making the area pedestrian friendly.

Still, some residents remained concerned that drive-thrus contradict this mission.

If youre going to allow drive-thrus, youre basically saying, We dont care if you walk through the area, resident Rich Saluga said at the meeting. You can just drive through, get your product and keep going. That doesnt seem to jive with the idea of pedestrian access or a pedestrian-friendly area.

But Greg Dembowski, who is in charge of the streetscape project, said he supported the regulations.

Its a great thing for Brookfield, he said.

Commission member Curtis Timmerman added drive-thrus are helpful for the elderly and parents with small children.

There's got to be some accommodation for people who are stuck in their car and physically cant get out, he said.

The regulations require drive-thrus to sit on a 40,000-square-foot lot at minimum. The lot also must have frontage on a state highway and be south of the intersection of Federal Road and Route 25.

The lot size requirement, in particular, would keep pedestrians safe because cars would have more room to line up, Timmerman said.

You mitigate the danger, he said.

This is not the only rule change coming down the pike.

The commission is also considering a major rewrite of all zoning regulations.

The commission could vote at its next meeting on this update, which is meant to simplify the regulations.

During the final public hearing on the proposal, residents gave feedback on parking restrictions, among other potential changes.

But whatever the commission decides, the new regulations should make life easier for developers, Jim Fisher, chairman of the Economic Development Commission, said.

For years, Ive heard coming to Brookfield is a nightmare, he said at the meeting. Lets get rid of that stigma attached to the town. Lets try to make it so when a developer comes, theyre like, Holy crap, these guys want to help me develop this property. They dont want to torture me. I would beg you guys to do that.Epigenetics is the expression and control of genes. The epigenetics involved in the inner ear is a critical part of the mystery of hearing. A team led by Prof. Karen B. Avraham, Vice Dean of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University, has now created the first map of "methylation" -- one of the body's main epigenetic signals -- that reflects the functioning of the inner ear in its entirety.

Prof. Avraham collaborated on the study with TAU doctoral student Ofer Yizhar-Barnea and Prof. R. David Hawkins and other colleagues from the University of Washington and the Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia in Italy. Their research was published in a study in Scientific Reports on November 26.

"Our analysis of the DNA methylation dynamics revealed a large number of new genes that are critical for the development of the inner ear and the onset of hearing itself," Prof. Avraham says. "Instead of looking at one gene at a time, we employed sophisticated genomic technologies to examine all the genes in one snapshot. This allowed us to have a genome-wide view of the regulatory dynamics of the inner ear as a whole."

The life cycle of hearing

Humans are born with a lifetime allowance of inner ear hair cells, the inner ear cells responsible for hearing. Once the cells die due to genetic mutations, excessive exposure to noise, ototoxic drugs or aging, they don't regenerate. Some 34 million children worldwide suffer from incapacitating hearing loss, according to the World Health Organization. Among the elderly, hearing loss is associated with a higher risk of dementia, and hearing aids and cochlear implants provide only partial solutions to an urgent medical issue facing young and old alike.

"Epigenetic signals -- among them methylation -- don't allow the genes that could regenerate hair cells to be turned on," Prof. Avraham says. "If we can discover how these genes are controlled -- how they're turned on and off -- we may be able to modify these signals to allow regeneration to happen.

"This would allow us to transform cells in the inner ear to become functional hair cells or create new ones to allow for proper hearing. We hope that our epigenetic maps of the inner ear will provide entry points into the development of therapeutics for hearing loss."

The role of epigenetics

Epigenetics does not change the genetic code, but how the code is read. Methylation is the direct addition of a chemical group (methyl, CH3) onto the C nucleotides in the DNA molecule and is considered one of the most basic epigenetic mechanisms. DNA methylation serves as the on/off switch for the genome.

Prof. Howard Cedar of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a world authority on methylation who was not involved in the research, says, "While our genes provide the instructions for how to make the building blocks of the hearing system, understanding how these components are controlled to provide proper hearing requires additional epigenetic information. The research directed by Prof. Avraham and her colleagues provides, for the first time, insights into how this works and reveals important clues on how we may be able to prevent or correct a wide variety of hearing ailments."

In the course of their research, the scientists discovered that inner ear cells follow a similar methylation pattern as the brain and neurons, suggesting they have a similar plasticity. This plasticity may allow for the introduction of regulatory elements to induce regeneration. The scientists validated their findings using state-of-the-art CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology. They found a critical regulatory element for a deafness gene, connexin 30.

"The development of this work was constrained by our limited knowledge of epigenetic mechanisms involved in the inner ear," Prof. Avraham concludes. "Epigenetic modification of gene expression, possibly by reversing abnormal DNA methylation, may offer a way of awakening the very genes that block regeneration from occurring."A new study from the University of Iowa finds rural hospitals that use tele-medicine to back up their emergency room health care providers not only save money, but find it easier to recruit new physicians.

Marcia Ward, study author and professor of health management and policy in the College of Public Health, says the results suggest that expanded use of tele-emergency services could play a key role in helping small, rural critical access hospitals maintain their emergency rooms.

"The study finds that expanding options for provider coverage to include tele-medicine in some rural emergency departments has noticeable benefits," says Ward, whose study was published Dec. 3 in the December issue of the journal Health Affairs. "This supports the viability of critical access hospitals at risk of closing and leaving their communities without local emergency care."

Many of the nearly 1,400 rural hospitals in the United States are struggling to provide health care services generally because of declining population and rising costs. One of those services is emergency medicine, as emergency rooms are expensive to operate and, until 2013, were required to be staffed with a physician on-site or on-call 24 hours a day. As a result, Ward says many rural hospitals are unable to staff their ERs with doctors trained in emergency medicine. Instead, they're covered by family physicians from the community who share ER coverage along with their regular clinic and hospital practice.

However, in 2013, a Medicare rule clarification allowed rural hospitals to fulfill their on-site staffing requirements using an advanced practice provider, such as a physician assistant or nurse practitioner, as long as they have remote access to a physician using a tele-medicine link. To measure the impact of that rule change, UI researchers analyzed 19 rural hospitals in the Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based Avera Health network. Seven of the hospitals took advantage of the Medicare rule clarification to back up their ER providers with tele-medicine doctors who work at the hub hospital in Sioux Falls.

The spoke hospitals were located in Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska.

Key findings from the study include:

The amount of time with on-site coverage by advanced practice providers backed up by a tele-ER increased from zero hours to an average of 17.1 hours a day within three years. Two hospitals adopted this model 24 hours a day.

Rural hospitals that switched to tele-ER back-up saved an average of $117,000 annually in health care provider costs because advanced practice providers receive less compensation than physicians. Rural hospitals in the same network that continued to staff their ER with on-site or on-call physicians saw an average increase of $138,000 in annual provider compensation costs.

Hospitals that switched to tele-ER services found it easier to recruit new physicians because they could offer a better work-life balance, as the doctor would not have to cover an ER shift. The model also gives physicians more downtime, Ward says, reducing burnout and increasing retention.

Ward also is director of the College of Public Health's Center for Health Policy and Research and conducted the study under the auspices of the university's Rural Telehealth Research Center.

Source: https://uiowa.edu/The World Health Organization estimates 387,913 Europeans will die of lung cancer in 2018. The preliminary findings from a new study by the Economist Intelligence Unit comparing 13 countries show that governments across Europe are responding in very different ways to the disease. Countries with better outcomes seem to have effective prevention policies in place and prioritize timely access to new, innovative treatments. Initial research from the study, which will run into early 2019 with in-depth country research and workshops, will be presented today by the Economist Intelligence Unit at the European Cancer Forum in Brussels, which is hosted by MSD. The audience of policy-makers, academics, healthcare professionals, industry, and patient representatives, will provide a first sounding-board for the study findings, and help focus the next phase of research. The EIU will be looking to understand whether countries are advancing, innovating and seizing the opportunities to save lives.

Already, the study points to seven key findings from the 13 countries:

1. For the past 15 years the number of new lung cancer cases has been highest in the Netherlands and lowest in Sweden. The number of deaths caused by lung cancer is highest in Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom and Greece - but the numbers have gone down significantly in the past 15 years. Finland has made great progress, and now has the lowest death rate. All other countries have made little to no progress in the past 15 years.

2. We have seen an average increase in the percentage of patients who are still alive 5 years after diagnosis, from 12 percent to only 17 percent over 15 years. The average survival rate for all cancers combined is 50-60 percent.3 Austria, Sweden and Norway have the highest survival rates for lung cancer, with the lowest survival rates occurring in Romania, Finland and the United Kingdom.

3. Lung cancer is a strategic priority in those countries with (lung) cancer control plans and guidelines: Sweden and France score best here, while Finland has some catching up to do.

4. Since smoking is the primary risk factor for lung cancer, with around 80 percent of lung cancers linked to smoking, public health programs around tobacco control and smoking cessation, including regulation of e-cigarettes, are particularly important. The study shows that Finland and Norway lead in this area, while Romania has litte in place.

5. In terms of treatment, the study notes whether patients are getting treatment, tumour testing is available and reimbursed, and new, innovative medicines are reimbursed. Of the four most commonly used biomarkers for lung cancer, testing for all four is only reimbursed in a minority of countries.

6. Only Sweden and Poland have a specific lung cancer plan/section of the National Cancer Control Plan (NCCP), and only four countries (Austria, France, Romania and Greece) have updated their NCCP in the last five years.

7. Only half of the countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Poland,Spain, UK) have started or are involved in a trial to investigate whether or how screening could be introduced.

Giving his reaction ahead of his keynote speech at the European Cancer Forum, Martin Seychell, Deputy Director-General in the Health and Food Safety Directorate General (DG SANTE) of the European Commission, said: "In recent years we have been able to improve outcomes for cancer patients, although cancer remains the second-highest cause of death in the EU". He added that "The results of the Economist Intelligence Unit study clearly show the need for close collaboration between all stakeholders and fighting this disease will undoubtedly remain a priority for the Commission in the years to come."

"The country benchmarking and in country analyses in this study point us in the direction of how to achieve better outcomes," said Alfonso Aguaron on behalf of Lung Cancer Europe. "Policy makers should see these results and be encouraged to take the findings of the report forward. It is time for more awareness around the burden of this disease for patients, their family and friends. It is about time these patients get noticed."

Deepak Khanna, Senior Vice President and Regional President, EMEAC Oncology for MSD, commented: "All stakeholders should accelerate implementing policies which contribute to better outcomes. As a biopharmaceutical research company, we are working with governments across Europe to ensure patients have timely access to our innovative cancer medicines, to help extend and improve the lives of patients with lung cancer."

Source: http://www.eiu.com/insights from industry Peter Foley Founder and CEO LetsGetChecked

Please give a brief overview of LetsGetChecked, the products and services that you provide and the markets you serve?

LetsGetChecked is a medical technology platform linking customers to its global network of regulated laboratories for at-home health testing.

We are revolutionizing consumer healthcare by making it open and patient-led, enabling people to use technology in a simple yet powerful way.

This provides greater control to the wider public in controlling their personal health, with the ability to self-collect their sample and receive their results directly to a private online dashboard.

We are based in New York and Dublin and offer a wide range of testing options that include wellness, men's and women's health and sexual health, with plans in the pipeline to expand our testing options further.

Why is open access to preventative healthcare and getting checked early important?

With many of the conditions that we test for, early detection can be vital for survival. Screening also minimizes the severity of where a condition can progress to, impacts the amount and cost of treatment, and offers a more positive prognosis if a health issue is caught early.

If early detection were commonplace, we would shift from our current societal approach to our health, which is reactionary. What I mean by this is, only testing when you feel physically unwell as opposed to proactively prioritizing your health. Early detection saves lives and that is the purpose of LetsGetChecked, making healthcare more accessible to the consumer.

28 million people in the US have no health insurance*, and another 41 million report that they have inadequate health insurance*.

At LetsGetChecked we provide better access and clinical support direct to our customers.

The LetsGetChecked medical team are on standby around the clock to talk to each customer and take the time to not only explain results but also to offer advice to those who need it.

How does the LetsGetChecked service work from the perspective of a customer, for example a blood collection?

The LetsGetChecked service is very convenient. Customers can purchase testing kits online or instore in selected pharmacies.

Once you receive your kit, follow the straightforward instructions supplied. For example, with a blood collection, you simply activate your kit online and then self-collect your sample by pricking your finger with a lancet provided within the kit. You apply pressure to your hand and massage the blood flow down to the tip of your finger to collect the blood drops in a small tube. Once you are done, you then send your sample directly to the lab in a prepaid label that is enclosed within the kit.

Collecting your Finger Prick and Urine Sample Play

Most customers will receive a call from our nursing team with results a few days later, which will then become available within their personal LetsGetChecked account.

Were revolutionizing consumer healthcare for our customers, allowing them to be tested when they want, and receive their results quickly and in the comfort of their own home.

How do you assure quality in the products that you provide and your partner laboratories that perform the test?

We control the entire manufacturing process allowing us to maintain a high-quality standard from initial production to the delivery of a test to the home, and in the care we provide after the testing process.

All test kits are manufactured in our ISO 13485 accredited facility, thereby ensuring highest quality standards.

We have built strong relationship with our global network of labs, which are CLIA approved and CAP accredited ensuring that the tests are of the same quality as those used in a doctors office.

How accessible are these tests? Are there any restrictions or limits to purchasing tests?

Anyone in the United States or Europe can purchase a test, without needing a prescription first. We are available for purchase in selected pharmacies, available online at LetsGetChecked.com , Walmart.com , CVS.com and on Amazon .

All orders and results are reviewed by a LetsGetChecked physician. We are replicating what happens in a doctor's office by bringing the process into a patient's home with no restrictions on the number of tests you can take.

What further support is there for customers after purchase?

We have a great support system! Our medical team review each customers personal health needs and results. Our clinical team is on standby throughout the testing process. You will receive a call from the nursing team when your results become available. Our team take the time to not only explain results but also to offer advice to those who need it.

We have a 9.7 rating with Trustpilot , a third-party rating tool which allows customers to rate our service.

Do these tests integrate with other health monitoring activities for example those that you might get on a smartwatch?

We have integrated with Garmin, with Fitbit and Apple coming online soon. Our customers can now check their lab data including lipid panels, cholesterol as well as viewing their heart rate in one personalized portal.

Presented in a user friendly and digestible format, consumers can track a wide range of data points including sleep, steps, heart rate and certain risk scores. Whats new is that a customer can connect their data, with their own lab results including thyroid function, a1c and cholesterol, all within their LetsGetChecked dashboard.

This allows consumers over time to truly track, monitor and improve their health. LetsGetChecked is quickly becoming an integration engine, to help customers and patients to gain access to all their health data.

Are the tests confidential, both the data and ordering services? Are the results shared with the customers doctor?

Keeping our customers data secure is important to us. All data is completely anonymized using alphanumeric codes to ensure that your privacy is maintained throughout the process.

Rest assured, we will not share your information with any third party. Once a customer speaks with a nurse, their results are released onto their LetsGetChecked personalized dashboard. They can show this to their doctor or we can send them a lab report.

Whats next for Letsgetchecked.com?

Lets see. Our aim is to continue to be the company thats revolutionizing consumer healthcare through at home testing and educational material.

Where can readers find more information?

For more information about LetsGetChecked, you can visit www.letsgetchecked.com , or check us out on social media, follow us on Instagram . We have a blog that is full of education content on all things health related, you can find this on https://www.letsgetchecked.com/articles/ .

About Peter Foley

Peter Foley founded LetsGetChecked in 2014. LetsGetChecked is a technology platform which links customers to highly accredited labs for at-home testing and patient management. Based in New York and Dublin, LetsGetChecked offers a wide range of laboratory tests to include wellness, men's & women's health and sexual health.

Peter started LetsGetChecked because he always wanted the ability to manage and track his own health. When he completed his thesis on Diagnostic Related Groups he had access to a huge amount of population health and information. His original thought was compounded when he could see that everything was going up at a global level including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other chronic diseases. All of these issues can be prevented but are not due to a lack of screening and prevention.

He founded LetsGetChecked to make healthcare more accessible and provides consumers with the information they need to be proactive when it comes to their well-being.

Source

* The Census BureauA new study has been launched in Burkina Faso for Bharat Biotech's typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV). It is the second clinical study underway in Africa for the vaccine and the first in West Africa. The vaccine study is a joint effort by the Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health (CVD) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, (UMSOM) and Groupe de Recherche Action en Sante (GRAS) in Burkina Faso.

Typhoid, a serious enteric fever caused by Salmonella Typhi, is spread through contaminated food and water. While largely eliminated in industrialized countries, typhoid continues to be a substantial public health issue that disproportionately impacts children and marginalized populations in much of Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and parts of Latin America and the Middle East.

The study is part of the Typhoid Vaccine Acceleration Consortium (TyVAC), an international consortium working to advance the introduction of TCVs in typhoid-endemic regions. This vaccine is considered to be the most effective in protecting against typhoid because it provides longer-lasting protection and can be administered to children under two years of age, allowing for inclusion in routine immunization programs.

While this new typhoid vaccine has recently been recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) there are no data on co-administration of the TCV with other routine vaccines. Researchers will study the efficacy in Burkinabe children and how their immune systems respond to the vaccine when given with other vaccines, such as yellow fever and meningitis A vaccines.

"This is an important collaboration with our partners in Burkina Faso to test this vaccine in the West African setting," said Kathleen Neuzil, MD, MPH, UMSOM Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics and Director of the CVD and TyVAC Principal Investigator. "Millions of children are set to be better protected from typhoid fever through the broader global efforts to accelerate the use of the vaccine in conjunction with improving water, sanitation and hygiene."

The Burkina Faso study comes after the WHO pre-qualified the vaccine in 2017 and as GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, committed U.S. $85 million in funding to help introduce a TCV typhoid-endemic countries.

"We are very enthusiastic about this opportunity to study the TCV and anticipate that the data from this study will inform decision-makers in the region highly affected by typhoid," said Sodiomon B Sirima, MD, PhD, the Scientific Director of GRAS and Co-Principal Investigator of the study onsite in Ouagadougou.

The burden of typhoid is likely underestimated due to difficulties in surveillance and diagnostic challenges, but current estimates indicate that each year there are nearly 12 million cases and more than 128,000 deaths, with young children and adolescents aged 2 to 15 years disproportionately impacted. Though treatable with antibiotics, the rate of cases resistant to the available antibiotics is increasing. Vaccination and improvements in water, sanitation, and hygiene are key components of an integrated strategy to prevent typhoid.Families of rural children with mild head injuries pay more for medical care and get less of it, a Washington State University analysis has found.

Janessa M. Graves, an assistant professor of nursing at WSU Spokane, analyzed data on more than 380,000 children with mild traumatic brain injuries, which usually involve concussions. They account for almost all types of traumatic brain injury, moderate and severe being the other two. On the whole, traumatic brain injury is a leading cause of death and disability among children and adolescents in the United States.

Patients with mild traumatic brain injury are hospitalized less frequently and often get treated entirely as outpatients. About one-third have ongoing symptoms like cognitive fatigue, inattention and difficulty remembering things for weeks and months after their injury.

Yet Graves found the rural patients got less care. Meanwhile, their healthcare costs were significantly higher than those of urban youth in the six months after being injured.

Their costs were an average of 11 percent higher, and they were less likely to use specialty services. They were half as likely to get speech therapy and 40 percent less likely to get psychiatric care.

"There's such an economic burden on rural people for healthcare," Graves said. "To get appropriate healthcare is a real challenge, not to mention the fact that rural kids may be more likely to get traumatic brain injury than urban kids, and they often have more severe injuries."

The study, published in the journal Health Services Research, underscores a darker side of rural life. Rural residents almost invariably spend more time getting from one place to another, often on dangerous two-lane highways that lead to higher rates of bad crashes.

In one sense, the children included in Graves' study were among the more fortunate: They had commercial health insurance through private, employer-sponsored health plans. This is also how Graves and her colleagues could analyze their use of healthcare, tapping into a commercial database of 20 million subscribers.

Among the study's key findings:

Urban children were more likely to have at least one speech therapy visit and at least one psychiatry or psychology visit. Urban children also had more psychiatry or psychology visits.

Rural children with mild traumatic brain injury were more likely to have multiple traumatic injuries.

Rural children were 15 percent more likely to have at least one physical or occupational therapy visit, possibly because they are more likely to have more severe injuries than urban children. Those with more visits had 51 percent greater costs.

Health care costs for rural children averaged $2,871, almost $400 more than the average $2,479 for urban children.

"That's a disservice to communities that are already not well off," Graves said.

The findings underscore the need for more healthcare services in rural areas, Graves said. For example, she said, there are children going all the way to Seattle from Idaho because Spokane specialists are overwhelmed as they try to serve such a large area.

"The more difficult we make it to access care," she said, "the less likely that people are going to get the care that they need."To perform a song, a dance or write computer code, people need to call upon the basic elements of their craft and then order and recombine them in creative ways.

University of Oregon scientists have captured how the brain builds such complex sequences from a small set of basic elements.

Doctoral student Atsushi Kikumoto and Ulrich Mayr, a professor in the Department of Psychology, detailed their National Science Foundation-supported work in a paper published online Nov. 14 in the journal eLife.

In the study, electrical activity and oscillation patterns were measured by electroencephalogram, with electrodes on the scalp from 88 study participants, all university students, while they performed complex, sequential patterns.

"Basic elements - the alphabet of any type of performance -- need to be combined in a certain order within larger chunks, and these chunks, in turn, need to be combined in a certain order to arrive at the complete sequence," said Mayr, who directs the UO's Cognitive Dynamics Lab. "This is at the heart of a lot of human creativity.

"For example, if you are playing a piece on the piano, your brain needs to keep track in which larger musical phrase, which bar, and which exact note you are currently at," he said. "So, you need a kind of mental addressing system. It is this addressing system that we discovered with our EEG methods."

Subjects memorized sequential patterns that consisted of three different angles of lines as basic elements. When participants subsequently tried to reconstruct the succession of lines, the EEG showed oscillatory patterns that Kikumoto and Mayr decoded using machine learning techniques.

It turns out that the EEG patterns kept track of the precise location within the sequence - which chunk, which position within the chunk, and which line angle people were focusing on.

The findings from the basic research help to understand why some people have difficulties with executing complex sequential plans, Mayr said.

Within the hierarchically organized addressing system, not everyone showed a robust EEG expression of the more abstract levels, he said. Only people with strong working memory scores - a reflection of the capacity of an individual's mental workspace - seemed to have a crisp record of the current chunk.

"Without the chunk information they literally got lost within the mental landscape of the overall sequence," he said.

EEG allowed the researchers to capture electrical signaling in the brain in real time. Mayr and Kikumoto are now working to complement the findings with magnetic resonance imaging to document exactly where in the brain the sequential addressing system is localized.Women in hospital medicine face major obstacles during pregnancy, parental leave and returning to work, prompting a discussion about gender equity in medicine, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

The study, published recently in the Journal of Hospital Medicine, includes wide-ranging interviews with 10 female academic hospitalists from institutions around the country. They were asked about their experiences during pregnancy, parental leave and the challenges of returning to work including barriers to breastfeeding and diminished career opportunities.

"It is commonly thought that the medical profession is more enlightened around parental support than other professions, but it really isn't," said the study's lead author Emily Gottenborg, MD, assistant professor in the division of Hospital Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. "We found a lack of paid leave policies in academic settings, difficulty in support for breastfeeding, and loss of career opportunities when new parents return to work."

Gottenborg said hospital medicine is unique in that 47 percent of practitioners are women and 80 percent are under age 40, indicative of a large proportion of women entering the profession during a time in life when many want to start a family.

"The field poses known challenges to this population, including shift work, atypical schedules and unpredictable hours," Gottenborg said. "Our goal was to both explore the challenges to undergoing this experience and discovering solutions to support female academic hospitalists."

Most participants described inadequate paid parental leave that resulted in haggling with managers, human resources and administrative staff for time away from work with their newborns.

"All of my leave was unpaid...managed to finagle short-term disability into paying for it...the system was otherwise set up to screw me financially," one research participant said.

All of the women described significant physical challenges when working during pregnancy.

"I used to lie on the floor of my office, take a little nap, wake up, write some notes, go home, take another nap, wake up, write some more notes," a doctor reported.

Breastfeeding, extolled by the medical community for its long-term benefits to children, was an endless challenge, the study said. Privacy was often elusive.

"It's two chairs that are behind a curtain in a women's locker room in the basement of the hospital, that are tiny and gross," said one physician.

Another said this:

"I would get to work, set up, and pump while chart reviewing. Then I would go and see people...and come back to my office and pump and write a few notes. And go out and see more patients, and then pump. I was like a cow."

Some stopped breastfeeding early because of these difficulties.

Many of the physicians interviewed faced serious career challenges during this period. Sometimes they were left out of projects or not asked to participate.

"People feel they are missing out and their career suffers," Gottenborg said. "One of the reasons women are not in more leadership positions in medicine is because of these big breaks in their lives."

The study calls for a more generous paid leave policy that not only includes maternity leave but a flexible scheduling period before and after the leave to account for the challenges of pregnancy and new motherhood.

"Paid parental leave is rare in academic settings, but studies from other industries show that when women take paid leave, they are more likely to remain in the workforce 9-12 months afterward, work more weekly hours and feel more loyal to the organization," the study said.

Ultimately, Gottenborg said, if academic medicine wants to continue to attract and retain women it needs to reexamine work-life policies that often feel antiquated. "As medical professionals we should be in the forefront of this kind of change," she said, "not lagging behind."In a small study of infrequent cannabis users, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers have shown that, compared with smoking cannabis, vaping it increased the rate of short-term anxiety, paranoia, memory loss and distraction when doses were the same.

The findings of the new study, described in the Nov. 30 edition of JAMA Network Open, highlight the importance of dose considerations with the perception that vaping is a safer alternative to smoking cannabis, the researchers say. And they ask regulators of medical and recreational cannabis dispensaries to take note.

Vaping devices heat cannabis to a temperature in which the mind-altering compounds in the plant are released as a vapor that is inhaled. Vaping is thought to be safer for cannabis and tobacco use because it doesn't produce many of the harmful components of burning material such as tar and other cancer-causing agents.

But, the researchers say, their study suggests that at least for first-timers or others who don't use cannabis regularly, vaping delivers greater amounts of THC, the primary intoxicant in cannabis, which increases the likelihood of adverse reactions.

"In light of increased legalization of cannabis, we designed our study to be more representative of the general population's exposure to cannabis, namely someone who has never smoked it and wants to try it for medical or recreational purposes, or someone who does not use it regularly enough to understand or predict its effects," says Ryan Vandrey, Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "What our study suggests is that some people who use cannabis infrequently need to be careful about how much cannabis they use with a vaporizer, and they should not drive, even within several hours after use. It could be dangerous for themselves and others, and on top of that, they may experience negative effects such as anxiety, nausea, vomiting and even hallucinations," he adds.

For their study, the researchers chose 17 volunteer participants (nine men and eight women, average age 27 years), who hadn't used cannabis in the past 30 days, which was verified by a drug screen, and together on average hadn't used in over a year.

In a controlled setting at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center's behavioral pharmacology research unit, each participant either smoked or vaped cannabis containing 0, 10 or 25 milligrams of 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active component in cannabis that gives people the high, in single visits once a week over six weeks. The researchers say that 25 milligrams of THC is a relatively low dose, and much less than is typically found in pre-rolled cannabis "joints" sold in dispensaries where cannabis is legal. The participants either smoked preloaded pipes or inhaled vapor from a vaporizer. Neither the participants nor the researchers knew the doses of THC that were delivered in a given experimental test session.

During each of the six sessions, the research team observed and assessed drug effects in the test subjects, including for adverse reactions. They also measured vital signs such as heart rate and blood pressure and collected blood samples just after smoking, every 30 minutes for two hours and then every hour for eight hours.

Each participant also completed the Drug Effect Questionnaire--rating self-reported drug effects out of a score of 100--shortly after smoking and each hour for up to eight hours later. The survey assessed overall drug effect; feeling sick, anxious, hungry, sleepy and restless; and experiencing heart racing, dry mouth, dry eyes, memory impairment and coughing.

Results showed that a few minutes after smoking, those who vaped the 25-milligram THC dosage reported an average of 77.5 on the overall strength of the drug's effect, meaning how high they felt compared with the average score of 66.4 reported by those who smoked the same dose. Participants who vaped 25 milligrams of THC reported about a 7 percent higher score on average for anxiety and paranoia, compared with people who smoked the same amount of the compound. Those who vaped any dose of THC also reported higher levels of dry mouth and dry eyes than those who smoked it. For example, when vaping 25 milligrams of THC, the participants rated dry mouth at 67.1 on average compared with 42.6 for those smoking it.

Researchers say the participants also completed three computerized tasks designed to measure attention span, memory, physical reaction time and motor movement. One task required the participant to replicate the shape of patterns, another required them to add up strings of single-digit numbers and the third required them to follow a dot across the screen with the cursor while also tracking a dot that pops up in the periphery.

The tests are meant to represent skills needed for proper workplace performance, operating a car or other daily activities. Reaction times on average were slower by more than 120 milliseconds with both active test doses of THC, using either smoking or vaping, when compared with reaction time after smoking or vaping cannabis without any THC.

Next, the researchers compared the effects of vaping compared with smoking on participants taking the computerized Divided Attention Task, which required participants to track a square on the computer screen while also monitoring numbers in each corner of the screen. The amount of time participants accurately tracked the square on the computer in the Divided Attention Task dropped by an average of 170 percent after smoking 25 milligrams of THC compared with the cannabis without THC.

The amount of time they accurately tracked fell an average of 350 percent when vaping 10 milligrams of THC and fell 500 percent when vaping 25 milligrams of THC, compared with those smoking either dose.

"Our participants had substantially higher impairment on the tasks when vaping versus smoking the same dose, which in the real world translates to more functional impairment when driving or performing everyday tasks," says postdoctoral fellow Tory Spindle, Ph.D., a researcher in the behavioral pharmacology research unit at Johns Hopkins Bayview.

Other results showed that blood levels of THC were at their highest immediately after smoking or vaping cannabis. At 10 milligrams of THC, blood levels of THC reached an average of 7.5 nanograms per milliliter in vapers, compared with 3.8 nanograms per milliliter in smokers 10 minutes after they inhaled the drug. At 25 milligrams of THC, blood levels reached an average of 14.4 nanograms per milliliter when vaped compared with 10.2 nanograms per milliliter when smoked.

"There's a definite differences in the amount of drug making it into the blood when using a vaporizer versus smoking the drug, so considerations need to be made when dosing to ensure people are using cannabis safely," says Spindle.

The researchers note that they could only detect THC in the blood samples up to four hours after using, even though the participants reported the drug's effects lasted five or six hours. The researchers say this suggests that blood testing isn't an accurate way to tell if someone is high or perhaps driving under the influence.

Two participants vomited after vaping 25 milligrams of THC, and another experienced hallucinations. One person vomited after smoking 25 milligrams of THC.

Vandrey cautions that the study involved only a small number of younger adults and lasted only six weeks. "We still don't have a full look at the long-term effects of vaping, such as whether there is a risk for chronic bronchitis, and more work needs to be done on that front," he says. It is important to note that these effects were observed in individuals who don't use cannabis very often, and may not extend to people who use cannabis routinely; they may have developed tolerance to these effects and also may be better able to regulate their dose.

In recent years, Canada and several U.S. states including Washington, California, Colorado and Massachusetts have legalized cannabis for recreational use. Thirty-two states have made cannabis available with a doctor's prescription, including Maryland, where the research was performed.

Source: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/newsroom/news-releases/vaping-cannabis-produces-stronger-effects-than-smoking-cannabis-for-infrequent-usersDanny DeVito is the Penguin once again (with a little help from Dan Mora) in Gotham City Villains Anniversary Giant preview

Some of Batman's greatest Rogues are celebrated in DC's latest 100-page anniversary specialSorry!

This content is not available in your regionMumbai:

The BSE benchmark Sensex dropped over 100 points in early trade on Tuesday amid mixed cues from other Asian markets, rising crude prices, weak rupee and heavy selling by domestic institutional investors. The 30-share index was trading 133.27 points, or 0.37 per cent, lower at 36,107.73 at 0945 hrs. The index had closed with a marginal gain of 47 points at 36,241 Monday. In similar movement, the NSE Nifty was trading 31.20 points, or 0.29 per cent, down at 10,852.55.

Investors turned cautious after the euphoria over US-China trade settled, and uncertainty over negotiations between the two countries during the next 90 days rose.

Read More | Rupee falls 9 paise to 70.55 against US dollar in early trade

The White House announced after talks between President Donald Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Saturday that a tariff hike that had been due on January 1 would be suspended for three months while the two sides negotiate a resolution.

US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed to a truce and halted their tariff war at the G20 meet.

The market is also in wait-and-watch mode ahead of the outcome of the Reserve Bank of Indias fifth bimonthly monetary policy meeting for 2018-19.

Top losers include HDFC, M&M, NTPC, Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank, Adani Ports, PowerGrid, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Industries, falling up to 2 per cent.

While, gainers include Yes Bank, ONGC, Hero MotoCorp, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors, Coal India, Infosys, TCS, ICICI Bank and Asian Paints, rising up to 2 per cent.

On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 293.12 crore Monday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers to the tune of Rs 806.45 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed.

The rupee, meanwhile, depreciated 9 paise to 70.55 against the US dollar in early trade at the interbank foreign exchange, amid strengthening of the US dollar and rise in crude oil prices.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, was trading 1 per cent up at $62.31 per barrel.

Also Read | Fuel prices fall yet again, check December 4 rates here

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kongs Hang Seng was down 0.26 per cent, Japans Nikkei fell 0.97 per cent and Shanghai Composite Index edged higher by 0.04 per cent in early trade.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index rose 287.97 points, or 1.13 per cent, to 25,826.43 on Monday.

For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

The national capital on Tuesday woke up to a 'poor' air quality. At the Lodhi Road area, the Air Quality Index (AQI) PM 2.5 was at 159 (poor category) and PM 10 at 134 (poor category), according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR). At the Major Dhyan Chand National area, PM 2.5 was at 233 (poor category) and PM 10 at 248 (poor category). AQI at Siri Fort Delhi was recorded hazardous, PM 2.5 was at 193 (poor category) while PM 10 at 334 (very poor category).



ALSO READ | Delhi government launches common mobility card for buses, metro trains



On Monday, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation collected Rs 3.5 lakh as penalties from seven construction companies for "violation" of air pollution control norms. Each company has been slapped with a fine of Rs 50,000, the SDMC said in a statement.



"SDMC has taken massive action during first three days of December against seven construction companies involved in generating air pollution and deteriorating pollution level in the city. Each company has been fined with an amount of Rs. 50,000 resulting in the recovery of Rs. 3.5 lakh," the statement said.



The companies are NBCC, Shapoorji Pallonji Group, ITPO, L&T Construction Transportation and Infrastructure at Bhairo Road, SJ Kumar for DMRC Sarai Kale Khan, DMRC Okhla, and Spencer ISP Network, Okhla, it said.

"The DEMS department has been asked to concentrate on social functions like 'bhandaras' (community meals) inside and outside religious places, marriages and birthday parties and other events. Littering garbage in the city will not be tolerated at all," PTI quoted Municipal Commissioner Puneet Kumar Goel as saying.

ALSO READ | Delhi Pollution: Smog blankets national capital



Delhi is reeling under the menace of air pollution for the past couple of years. The region faced a major air quality crisis last year when severe pollution level forced the shutdown of schools and colleges. In 2016, the government tried to explore the possibility of cloud seeding for artificial rain but the plan never worked out.



AQI categories:

New Delhi:

Two people were arrested in Pakur district of Jharkhand on Monday for alleged human trafficking. Police have also rescued 14 labourers in the raid, a senior official said. The accused are residents of Kolkata and were arrested near Ambedkar Chowk in Pakur town, Superintendent of Police Shailendra Prasad Burnwal said.

Burnwal said the labourers are residents of Kumarbhaja village under Littipara police station of the district.

During interrogation, the people arrested confessed to police that they had trafficked labourers from Jharkhand to various others states, including Delhi and West Bengal promising them jobs, Burnwal said.



ALSO READ | Arunachal Governor plays saviour; takes pregnant woman to hospital

They use to to promise labourers that they would be paid Rs 10,000 monthly for their work in Delhi, he said adding that they had assured the victims to pay 50 per cent of the salary in Pakur after the labourers insisted for it.

A case has been registered under Section 370/34 of the IPC against the two on the basis of a joint complaint lodged by the labourers, Burnwal added.

In an unrelated incident, seven children, who were being taken to Delhi by suspected traffickers two days ago, were set free by railway police from Ghaziabad, PTI quoted Pakur district coordinator of Childline centre, Kundan Kumar Goswami as saying.

The children have been handed over to the Child Welfare Committee, Pakur, on Monday, he said.

Of the seven children, five children hailed from Pakur district and one each from Godda and West Singhbhum district, Goswami said.

A child, who was a native of Aajna village under Pakur Sadar block, has been handed over to his parents and a process to hand over four others, who are residents of Amrapara police station of the district, to their relatives is on, he said.

Two other children were handed over to Childline Centre, Pakur and will be handed over to their parents on Tuesday.



(With PTI inputs)New Delhi:

Katrina Kaifs breakup with Ranbir Kapoor two years ago made headlines and sent shock-waves throughout the B-town. The Tiger Zinda Hai actor, however, now has more to say about her on-and-off relationship of six years with Ranbir Kapoor. In an interview with DNA India last year, the actor had admitted that she underwent an extremely rough time for the movie Jagga Jasoos where she had last starred alongside her ex-boyfriend, Ranbir Kapoor. She had stated, The last year-and-a-half has been, at many times, extremely rough and trying for me. I think Im still in the transition period till I find myself and learn a lot more about myself. I am happy in this phase. Im working hard and understanding the joys of a film set. But Im still in a phase where theres a lot of uncertainty.



The tigress, however, has seemed to pass the rough patch of her life. The actor was seen opening up to a magazine about her break-up, Katrina said, "Oftentimes, throughout my career there's been such prominent talk about the friendships or relationships I've had in my life, so that when you speak or when you're spoken about in the media it's in the context of another person and with another person."

Read | Shah Rukh Khan's Zero sets new record again!



She further added, "It's probably one of the first times in my life where I really had only myself to focus on. And when you focus on yourself, often, the first thing you realise is that you don't really know yourself. It's like a period of not knowing, a period of being uncomfortable because you're seeing yourself in your raw form without embellishments and then accepting that you don't really know who you are."



Katrina also went on to say that she is grateful for the rough phase which she now sees it as a blessing in disguise, "I now see it as a blessing because I was able to recognise my patterns, thought processes and things that I had been so sure of my whole life. I could see them from a whole different perspective."

Read |Ranveer wants an upgrade to his 'boyfriend of the millennium' tag



Katrina Kaif was last seen in the Aamir Khan and Amitabh Bachchan starrer, Thugs of Hindostan. As of now, she is busy with her promotions for her Salman Khan movie, Bharat, which is scheduled to release next year.

For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

Icing on the cake, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday attended Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas' grand wedding reception at the lavish Taj Palace Hotel in New Delhi. Far away from the hustle bustle of Mumbai, Nickyanka, as they are popularly called, got hitched in traditional Hindu and Christian styled wedding ceremony at Jodhpurs Umaid Bhawan Palace on December 1 and 2. Being touted as one of the most hyped events of the year, Jonas and Chopra's wedding was nothing less than a fairy-tale and could easily rival many a royal nuptial. Just like the wedding affair, the reception was also a fiercely- guarded event being held in the national capital this evening.

While Priyanka opted for a beige lehenga with neatly tied bun adorned with white flowers, Nick complemented her in a velvet jacket paired with matching black trousers and a bow tie. Apart from Modi, Priyanka's mother Madhu Chopra and Nick's parents Denise Miller Jonas and Paul Kevin Jonas Sr - joined the couple on stage. Nick's elder brother Joe and his fiance Sophie Turner were also clicked by the shutterbugs to add colour to the event.

Striking a pose with husband Nick Jonas for a photo-op outside the reception venue, Priyanka smiled and told reporters, "Ab aapko family se milate hai (Now let me introduce my family to you guys)".

Read | Priyanka Chopra-Nick Jonas wedding turns a cricket game between #TeamBride - #TeamGroom

Check out PM Modi's picture from Nickyanka's Delhi reception on Tuesday.





Earlier, the couple shared a number of pictures from their Mehndi and Sangeet festivities but the veil on the final twin ceremonies was lifted by People magazine this evening. The US-based publication had the exclusive access to the wedding ceremony.

Read | Ranveer Singh wants an upgrade to his 'boyfriend of the millennium' tag after marrying Deepika Padukone

After the magazine dropped the pictures, the couple shared the photographs with lovefilled messages for each other.

Tagging Nick, Priyanka wrote, "And forever starts now...".

On the other hand, Nick shared the picture from the Hindu wedding and captioned it as "Happiest day of my life."

While the first ceremony was all about subtle whites and pastels, the couple switched to bold red and gold for the traditional Hindu wedding. Priyanka made for a stunning bride in a custom red Sabyasachi lehenga.

Hand crafted organza flowers, french knots in silk floss, delicate Siam - red crystals were embossed on the outfit. Hundred and ten embroiderers from Kolkata created the lehenga in 3,720 hours, the designer wrote on Instagram.

Read | No sign of Alia Bhatt-Ranbir Kapoor in Deepika Padukone-Ranveer Singh Mumbai reception, here's why

Uncut diamonds, emeralds and Japanese cultured pearls in 22k gold were used to put the bride's jewellery together. Nick opted for a hand-quilted silk beige sherwani with a hand-embroidered chikan dupatta and a chanderi-tissue safa by Sabyasachi, who was also responsible for the groom's golden footwear, rose cut kalgi and syndicate diamond necklace.

The ceremony was followed by 'bidaai' before the couple flew to Delhi for their reception on Monday.

For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

In a major development in Agusta Westland Scam, Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the 3,600 crore VVIP chopper scandal who was extradited by Dubai, reached New Delhi on Tuesday night. Michel's lawyer confirmed the news hours after the Dubai government, early in the day, passed an administrative order, clearing the decks for Michel's extradition to India.

There are also reports that Indian authorities had been in Dubai for the last few days to complete the legal formalities to bring Michel to India. He will be produced before Delhi's Patiala House Court, the Prevention of Money Laundering Act court, and a CBI court, seeking his custodial interrogation in the case.

Briefing the media about the latest developments, the CBI said, "Wanted fugitive criminal Christian Michel James who has been avoiding criminal proceedings in India in Agusta Westland Case is being extradited by UAE Authorities to India".

"Under the guidance of Shri Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor (NSA), the entire operation is being coordinated by Incharge Director/CBI Shri M. Nageswara Rao. A team lead by Shri A. Sai Manohar, Joint Director/CBI has been in Dubai for the purpose," the press note added.

Read | Amid rift with United States, Iran President Hassan Rouhani threatens to cut off Gulf oil

The extradition order by the Dubai government was long awaited after Dubai's top court had on November 19, upheld a lower court's order to consider the possibility of Michel's extradiiton to India. The UAE Court in September rejected Michel's appeal, opposing the extradition plea by the Indian authorities. His counsel argued that india may expose Michel to "inhuman treatment" and the case against the accused was "political" in nature.

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress leader Ahmed Patel are also accused in the case on Wednesday.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), in 2016, filed a charge sheet against Michel, alleging that he received EUR 30 million (about Rs 225 crore) from Agusta Westland. Michel is one of the three middlemen being probed in the case, besides Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa, by the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Both the agencies had notified an Interpol Red Corner Notice against him after the court issued an open non-bailable warrant. The Red Notice vide Control No A-9846/11-2015 against Michel was published on November 25, 2015 by INTERPOL Headquarter, Lyon, France.



Read | National Herald: Setback for Sonia, Rahul Gandhi as Supreme Court allows assessment in tax case

On January 1, 2014, India scrapped the contract with Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the IAF over alleged breach of contractual obligations and charges of paying kickbacks to the tune of Rs 423 crore by it for securing the deal.

The CBI has alleged there was an estimated loss of Euro 398.21 million (approximately Rs 2,666 crore) to the exchequer in the deal that was signed on February 8, 2010 for the supply of VVIP choppers worth Euro 556.262 million.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

Union Minister Uma Bharti has decided not to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, according to reports. The move comes days after her party colleague and Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj made a similiar announcement, citing her health issues.

Bharti served as the Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation from May 26, 2014 to September 1, 2017 before being appointed as Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation.

"When I had a talk with Amit ji (BJP president Amit Shah) in 2016, then also he said I should not resign. So, the party will take the decision on this. But I will only work for Ganga ji and Ram for 1.5 year," news agency ANI quoted Bharti as saying.

I am suffering from knee and back problems, and to recover, I will take some rest. I will not fight elections for the next three years, she had told reporters in Bhopal in February this year.

Bharti was Madhya Pradesh chief minister for a little less than a year in 2003-4. She had last week said that her party does not have a patent on the Ram temple and called all parties to come together to build the temple in Ayodhya.

Reports suggest the BJP leader would take a break from active politics to focus on the issue of Ram Temple and cleanliness of the river Ganga. According to the Union minister, there is a need to build a positive environment for an ordinance on construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

The need is build consensus among all parties. The issue of Ram temple is connected with the harmony of this country, therefore, the issue must be resolved at the earliest, she said.



For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

A sub-inspector who was an eyewitness to the killing of inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, the investigation officer (IO) who was instrumental in getting meat samples to the lab on time in the Akhlaq lynching case in Dadri in 2015, said that as many as 350 people attacked the entire police force on Monday. Talking about the series of events that took place in Bulandshahr, sub-inspector Suresh Kumar said that they received an information about a rampaging mob protesting alleged illegal cow slaughter. He said that upon reaching the spot, they told the protestors that they will send the carcass for a post-mortem examination but nothing they said could pacify the mob. The torched a police post and clashed with the cops.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Suresh Kumar said, The crowd jammed the road and started pelting stones at the police. There were as many as 300-350 people and the entire police force was attacked. I, too, was hurt and dont know what happened after that.

Read More | Bulandshahr: Slain inspector Subodh Kumar Singh was investigating officer in Akhlaq lynching case

Protestors from the Mahaw village and nearby areas pelted stones on police and indulged in arson, setting ablaze several vehicles and Chingarwathi Police Chowki, after some body parts of cows were found in a jungle near the village, prompting the police to open fire. The violence started at around 10 am in the Siana area in the district where a major three-day Islamic congregation had concluded this afternoon. The policemen warned against attempts to spread any misleading information, saying the incident was not related in any way to the congregation. Inspector Singh suffered a gunshot injury in addition to wounds from hard and blunt objects. Another local youth, identified as Sumit, too suffered a gunshot injury and later succumbed at the hospital. Reports suggest there were widespread allegations of corruption against Singh.

As tension prevailed in the area following the violence that lasted nearly three hours, additional police, including over 1,000 personnel of anti-riot forces were deployed. The Uttar Pradesh government ordered multiple investigations by SIT, ADG-Intelligence and a magisterial inquiry.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said strict action will be taken against the guilty after the investigation reports are received. The government also announced a total of Rs 50-lakh assistance --- Rs 40 lakh would be given to Singhs wife and Rs 10 lakh to his parents.

Also Read | PM Modi in Telangana: Congress, TRS 'two sides of same coin', state may witness post-poll alliance

Akhlaq was beaten to death on the night of September 28, 2015, in Bisara village near the Dadri district by a mob infuriated by rumours that he and his family had stored and consumed beef.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday called for an all-party meeting on December 10, a day ahead of the commencement of the Winter Session of Parliament, according to reports. The meeting which will also mark attendance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to build a consensus for a smooth conduct of the proceedings in the Upper House. Among other prominent figures, the meeting is expected to be attended by Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad and the Leader of the House, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

"The Government has called for an all-party meeting on 10 December at 11 AM ahead of Parliament Winter Session. PM Narendra Modi will also be present in the meeting," the news agency ANI reported.

The Government has called for an all-party meeting on 10 December at 11 AM ahead of Parliament Winter Session. PM Narendra Modi will also be present in the meeting. pic.twitter.com/WHZyYdPZc0  ANI (@ANI) December 4, 2018

On several occasions, Naidu has expressed concern over the deadlock between the ruling and the opposition sides that has halted the smooth functioning of the House.

Read | Parliament's winter session to begin from December 11, government to push for triple talaq bill

The government will push for the passage of the long-pending Triple Talaq bill in Parliament's winter session. It had earlier promulgated an ordinance to make the practice of instant Triple Talaq in the Muslim Community a criminal offence.

This will be the last full-fledged Parliament session before the general elections next year and the BJP-led government will ensure to make it productive. For the Congress-led opposition parties, it will be the last chance to take on the government in the House.

The results of the Assembly elections in five states, in which both the ruling BJP and the Congress have high stakes, are bound to cast a shadow on the parliamentary proceedings. While polling in Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and Madhya Pradesh took place in November, Assembly polls in Rajasthan and Telangana are slated for December 7.

Read | Adultery Verdict: Asaduddin Owaisi questions 'Unconstitutional Ordinance' on Triple Talaq

The results of the Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram Assembly polls will be announced on December 11.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi :

The Congress on Tuesday slammed the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over the cold-blooded murder of Bulandshahr inspector Subodh Kumar Singh by cow vigilantes. Launching a scathing attack on the Uttar Pradesh CM, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal said that instead of taking care of his own state, Yogi Adityanath was busy spewing venom in Telangana.

It is shocking how a mob killed a police officer investigating the Akhlaq case (2015 Dadri mob lynching). Who gives these people the authority to take law in their hands? Instead of taking care of his state, Yogi is going to Telangana and spewing venom, ANI quoted Sibal as saying.

Also Read | Bulandshahr violence: Bajrang Dal worker, 3 others arrested for UP cop's murder

The cold-blooded killing of the policeman in Bulandshahr by cow vigilantes has once again brought back the horror of 'Jungle Raj' (lawlessness) in Uttar Pradesh. The cop died of a gunshot allegedly fired by a mob protesting the cow slaughter in the area.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has landed the Uttar Pradesh chief minister in Telangana for campaigning for the December 7 Assembly elections in the state. Recently, Yogi Adityanath had stirred a controversy with his statement that if the BJP comes to power in the state, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi will have to flee Hyderabad just like Nizam did.

Reacting to the incident, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said that the incident has let down the humanity and appealed to people to stay cautious of people creating unrest.

"What happened in Bulandshahr has let down humanity. State govt has said that whoever is responsible will be brought to justice without any bias. I appeal to people to stay cautious of the elements who are creating unrest for their own interests," Naqavi said.

Meanwhile, the family of the killed cop has alleged that Singh was murdered because he was investigating the 2015 Dadri mob lynching incident in which a Muslim man Mohammed Akhlaq was killed on suspicion of storing beef at his home.

Read More | Bulandshahr: Slain inspector Subodh Kumar Singh was investigating officer in Akhlaq lynching case

My brother was investigating Akhlaq case and that is why he was killed. Its a conspiracy by Police. He should be declared martyr and memorial should be built. We do not want money. CM only keeps saying cow cow cow, sister of the deceased cop said.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi :

The family members of Bulandshahr policeman Subodh Kumar Singh, killed by cow vigilantes, has lambasted Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and alleged police conspiracy in the incident. Singh, the inspector of Shyana, was shot dead allegedly by a mob protesting against the "cow slaughter" in the area. Reacting to the incident, sister of the Shyana police station SHO claimed that his brother was murdered in the cold blood because of his involvement in the investigation of 2015 Dadri mob lynching in which a Muslim man Mohammed Akhlaq was killed by bricks and sticks on suspicion of storing beef at his home.

My brother was investigating Akhlaq case and that is why he was killed. Its a conspiracy by Police. He should be declared martyr and memorial should be built. We do not want money. CM only keeps saying cow cow cow, sister of the deceased cop said while slamming the UP CM for "keep chanting the name cow."

Abhishek, son of the deceased Shyana inspector, said that his father wanted him to be a good citizen who doesn't incite violence in the name of religion. "My father wanted me to be a good citizen who doesn't incite violence in society in the name of religion. Today my father lost his life in this Hindu-Muslim dispute, tomorrow whose father will lose his life?" he asked.

Also Read | Instead of taking care of his state, UP CM spewing venom in Telangana: Congress on Bulandshahr violence

The cold-blooded killing of the policeman in Bulandshahr by cow vigilantes has once again brought back the horror of 'Jungle Raj' (lawlessness) in Uttar Pradesh. The cop died of a gunshot allegedly fired by a mob protesting the cow slaughter in the area. The postmortem report of the policeman has confirmed that he died of a gunshot injury by a .32 mm bore bullet on his head, according to news agency ANI.

"Spell of violence and anarchy" in Uttar Pradesh: Opposition slams Yogi Adityanath

The killing of a senior police officer by cow vigilantes, leave aside the several incidents of lynching, has given enough ammo to the opposition parties to attack the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government.

Reacting to the incident, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav said that the state of Uttar Pradesh is going through the spell of violence and anarchy under the rule of BJP government.

Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal also slammed the Uttar Pradesh chief minister over the Bulandshahr incident and said that instead of taking care of his own state, Yogi Adityanath was busy spewing venom in Telangana.

It is a shocking state of affairs how a mob killed a police officer investigating the Akhlaq case (2015 Dadri mob lynching). Who gives these people the authority to take law in their hands? Instead of taking care of his state, Yogi is going to Telangana and spewing venom, ANI quoted Sibal as saying.

Read More | Bulandshahr: Slain inspector Subodh Kumar Singh was investigating officer in Akhlaq lynching case



Key accused still on the run

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh police ADG Anand Kumar said that a bullet has been recovered from the body of Shyana SHO Subodh Kumar Singh. He said that while the main accused Yogesh Raj is still absconding, four people in connection with the murder has been arrested so far.

"Four people have been arrested. I don't know about the organizations yet, but the main accused in the violence is Yogesh Raj who has not been arrested till now Bulandshahr," Kumar said.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday recalled his discussion with former Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee about the Kashmir issue in an interview with a group of television journalists. Atal Bihari Vajpayee told me that Kashmir would have been resolved if the BJP had not lost the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. Former external affairs minister Natwar Singh was also present in that meeting, Imran Khan said.

"It shows that there is a solution of Kashmir and both countries were close to resolve it," the Pakistani Prime Minister said.



ALSO READ | Imran Khan says war not a solution to Kashmir issue



It can be resolved through dialogue and war is no option to the Kashmir issue, Imran Khan said. Unless there was a dialogue, various options on the resolution of Kashmir cannot be discussed, he said.



Refusing to share any details Imran Khan said that there were two or three solutions, which have been in discussions for the Kashmir issue. It is too early to talk about them, he said.



India and Pakistan are two nuclear-armed countries and would not fight because there are always unintended consequences, he said.

India is not holding talks with Pakistan due to upcoming general elections. He, however, asserted that Pakistan was serious to develop peaceful ties with all its neighbours.



The Pakistan Army and the government are on the same page and all my decisions are "backed" by the military, Imran Khan said.



ALSO READ | Help US bring Taliban to negotiating table, Trump writes to Imran Khan



Earlier, the prime minister had told that Pakistans overtures for peace should not be misconstrued as desperation.



At the Kartarpur groundbreaking ceremony, Imran Khan had said that Theres a consensus in Pakistan that peace is the way forward. The only issue between us is Kashmir, all it needs is just two capable leadership to resolve this issue. Just imagine the potential we have if our relationships get strong."

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.Bhubaneswar:

The Odisha government on Tuesday decided to grant pardon to Abhijit Iyer Mitra, who is lodged in jail for allegedly making derogatory remarks against the state, its people and culture, officials said.A The decision came following Mitra's prayer to Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to consider withholding sanction to prosecute him in certain criminal cases pending against him, a home department official said.



"He (Mitra) has appealed to the chief minister to accept his apology and contrition in having wounded the sentiments of people of Odisha without intention," the official said.



Mitra had further mentioned in his representation that in consideration of his unconditional apology in having hurt the sentiments of the people of Odisha "unintentionally without malice and mal-intent", the Odisha Assembly pardoned him on November 17.

Special Secretary to Government of Odisha: The Government has decided not to accord sanction of prosecution in cases where prosecution has been sought for and also decided to take steps to withdraw other cases pending against Abhijit Iyer Mitra by following laid-down procedures. pic.twitter.com/AINqjNBFJc a ANI (@ANI) December 4, 2018

"Taking into account his representation, the government decided not to accord sanction of prosecution in cases where prosecution has been sought for and also decided to take steps to withdraw other cases pending against him by following laid-down procedures," the official said.



The Delhi-based journalist and researcher was arrested on October 23 after he posted a video on his Twitter handle, allegedly criticising Odisha, Lord Jagannath, Konark temple and the Odisha lawmakers.



Two cases were registered against Mitra at Saheed Nagar Police Station in Bhubaneswar and Konark Police Station in Puri district.



He was arrested under various sections of IPC, Information Technology Act and Ancient Monument & Archaeological sites & Remains Act.



In his petition to the state government, Mitra requested the chief minister and the chief secretary to withdraw the sanctions prosecuting him under Section 196 of the CrPC.



He also apologised for the video saying he didn't intend to hurt the sentiments of the people of Odisha.



The Odisha Assembly had on November 17 pardoned Mitra after he tendered an unconditional and unreserved apology for his statement against the lawmakers.



The assembly accepted the recommendations made by a House Committee which was set up to enquire into the question of alleged breach of privilege relating to the statement made by Mitra.



The committee was set up on September 20 following concerns expressed by MLAs cutting across party lines.



Mitra, who has been lodged at the high-security Jharpada Special Jail in the state capital, was admitted to a hospital in Bhubaneswar after he complained of illness on December 2.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a rally at Hanumangarh in poll-bound Rajasthan on Tuesday and said that Kartarpur went to Pakistan due to the lack of vision and sensitivity of then Congress leaders. Lashing out at the Congress, PM Modi said that the holy work of Kartarpur corridor came to him and that the Congress will have to answer why this was not done in last 70 years. He also told the people that the credit of the Kartarpur corridor goes to their vote and that correcting Congress mistakes was my destiny. Narendra Modi also accused the then Congress leaders of not having any idea about the importance of Guru Nanak Dev and therefore Kartarpur went to Pakistan.

The state goes to polls on December 7 and the counting of votes will take place on December 11.

Read More | PM Modi in Jodhpur, says Congress doesn't believe in development

The foundation stone for construction of Dera Baba Nanak-Kartarpur Sahib Corridor up to the international border with Pakistan in Mann village in Gurdaspur was laid in India by Vice President Venkaiah Naidu on November 26 and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan laid the foundation stone for the same in Pakistan on November 28. Upon the completion of Kartarpur corridor between India and Pakistan, Sikh pilgrims would be allowed to cross the border without any visa to visit the holy shrine and return the same day.

Also Read | Pakistan can seek India's help if it can't fight terrorism: Rajnath

To mark Guru Nanak Dev's 550th birth anniversary in 2019, the Indian government decided on November 22, 2018, to build the Kartarpur road corridor up to the international border between India and Pakistan as an integrated development project. Guru Nanak had assembled the Sikh community at Kartarpur and lived there for 18 years till he breathed his last in 1539.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

The debate over the caste of Lord Hanuman, that began after UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's statement, seems far from over as Bahraich BJP MP Savitri Bai Phule on Tuesday claimed that he was not only a Dalit (scheduled caste), but also a slave of 'manuwadi' people". While addressing a rally in Malakheda of Alwar district in poll-bound Rajasthan, of Alwar district, Adityanath had said: "Lord Hanuman was a forest dweller, deprived and a Dalit. Bajrang Bali worked to connect all Indian communities together, from north to south and east to west."

Phule alleged that Dalits and backwards were being called 'bandar' (monkey) and 'rakshas' (demon). "Lord Hanuman was a Dalit and a slave of 'manuwadi' people. He was a Dalit and a human. He did all for Lord Ram then why he was given a tail and his face was blackened. Why was he made a monkey?," Phule said.

Also Read | Bulandshahr violence: Murdered UP cop's family alleges police conspiracy, links incident with Akhlaq case

"When he did all for Lord Ram with devotion, he (Lord Hanuman) should have been made a human and not a 'bandar' (monkey). At that time also he had to face humilation due to being a Dalit. Why can't we Dalits be considered humans?", she told news agency PTI.

After his statement, Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar asked members of his community to take over all temples belonging to Lord Hanuman.

Soon after Aditynaths statement, right-wing group the Rajasthan Sarv Brahmin Mahasabha sent a legal notice to the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister asking him to apologise within three days.

On Sunday, Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar asked members of his community to take over all temples belonging to Lord Hanuman.

"Dalits should take over all Hanuman temples in the country and appoint Dalits as priests there," Chandrashekhar had said.

Also Read | Instead of taking care of his state, UP CM spewing venom in Telangana: Congress on Bulandshahr violence

Talking about the right-wing groups demand for construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Phule, who had earlier raised questions on BJP leaders dining at the houses of Dalits and had termed the founder of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah, "a mahapurush" (great personality), said the BJP was raking up the matter as it has no other issues.

"The country does not need a temple. Will it end unemployment and other problems of Dalits and backwards? The temple will benefit Brahmins, who are only 3 per cent. The money offered in temples are used by them for their gains and make our community (Dalit) their slave," she said.

(With PTI inputs)

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.Bengaluru:

Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh are at present facing a direct battle between the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress. However, Telangana has emerged as the crucible of a new political churning in South India. It is here that the template of opposition unity, with two long-time adversaries in South India, the Congress and the Telugu Desam Party coming together, has taken concrete shape ahead of the 2019 general elections and is working on the ground.



The Congress appears to have overcome its shortcomings, infighting and rancour and managed to work together on the ground with its enemy  TDP that took birth in united Andhra Pradesh on anti-Congressism  and has given a run for its money to the ruling TRS.

Also Read | Telangana Elections: Rahul Gandhi shares dais with Chandrababu Naidu, calls TRS a 'B team' of BJP



Till three months ago, it appeared that there was no challenger in sight for the king of all he surveyed in Telangana, its chief minister and the chief of Telangana Rashtra Samithi. It was perhaps his over-confidence or strong advice from his pet astrologers that he dissolved the assembly nine months and advanced polls. At that time, he wanted to deny time to parties in opposition to gang up against him. But precisely the opposite happened. His action became the catalyst for the coming together of the Congress and the TDP and two other smaller forces  the CPI and the Telangana Jana Samithi that on paper appear to be formidable. in Telangana, no one, including KCR, can say with any conviction that he will be back.



Already, the alliance (Mahakootami or Praja kootami) has put the fear of defeat in the chief minister and his party. In an election rally the other day, KCR said that a defeat would not matter to him as he would go back to agriculture. It is you (voters) who will suffer if you support the Congress and the TDP, the chief minister told an election meeting. But his warning exposes his inner apprehension that he may well end up on the losing side. But situation on the ground does not appear to be as hopeless for KCR as his adversaries make it out to be. He still enjoys an advantage because of his people welfare schemes and absence of a CM candidate from the opposition party.

Also Read | Telangana Elections: Sonia Gandhi addresses maiden rally, accuses KCR of running 'family rule'



But to the extent of taking the fight to the ruling party camp, the Praja Kootami has shown that it is more than capable of and that it was working on the ground. Even the cadres of the four opposition parties have realised that if they dont, then another five years of wilderness was guaranteed.New Delhi:

NASAs Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft has arrived at its destination asteroid Bennu. No spacecraft has ever orbited such a small cosmic body. Launched on September 8, 2016, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, OSIRIS-REx is NASAs first mission to visit a near-Earth asteroid which will help unveil the mysteries of our solar systems formation.



"Hello, asteroid Bennu! Our @OSIRISREx spacecraft flew over 2 billion miles to meet you," NASA wrote on micro-blogging website Twitter.

Hello, asteroid Bennu! Our @OSIRISREx spacecraft flew over 2 billion miles to meet you. Here, the spacecraft's camera captures a full rotation of the asteroid. OSIRIS-REx will study Bennu for almost a year & prepare to collect and return a sample to Earth. https://t.co/WG3vVeRoV1 pic.twitter.com/2itcL6qxtC  NASA (@NASA) December 3, 2018

ALSO READ | Russia launches Soyuz, the first manned mission to ISS



Flight controllers applauded and exchanged high-fives once confirmation came through that Osiris-Rex made it to Bennu exactly one week after NASA landed a spacecraft on Mars.



The spacecraft is aimed to at least collect 60g of dust and gravel. However, Osiris-Rex wont be landing on asteroid Bennu but, rather use 3-metre mechanical arm to vacuum up particles in 2020. The spacecraft will head towards Earth in 2021.



On August 17, spacecrafts PolyCam camera obtained the image from a distance of 2.2 million kilometres.



At Bennu, the spacecraft will spend the first-month performing fly-by of Bennus north pole, equator and south pole, at distances ranging between 11.8 and 4.4 miles (19 and 7 km) from the asteroid. The spacecraft will extensively survey the asteroid before the mission team identifies two possible sample sites, which will allow the team to pick one for sample collection, scheduled for July 2020. After the sample collection, the spacecraft will head back towards Earth before ejecting the Sample Return Capsule for landing in the Utah desert in September 2023.



The name of the spacecraft and asteroid come from Egyptian mythology. Osiris is the god of the afterlife, while Bennu represents the heron and creation.



ALSO READ | NASA Asteroid warning: 90ft space rock heads towards Earth



In 2010, Japanese space agency JAXAs Hayabusa spacecraft crash-landed into the surface of its target asteroid and managed to return a few micrograms of material. Hence proving sample collection from an asteroid is possible.

For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

Russias Soyuz rocket, the first manned space mission to the International Space Station since an unprecedented accident in October was launched on Monday. The Soyuz rocket which took off from the cosmodrome in Kazakhstan has Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, NASA astronaut Anne McClain and the Canadian Space Agency's David Saint-Jacques on board.



Saint-Jacques and McClain will fly for the first time, while Kononenko has already logged 533 days in space and this trip will be his fourth mission.



ALSO READ | NASA Asteroid warning: 90ft space rock heads towards Earth



Taking to micro-blogging website Twitter, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine confirmed that the crew were "safely in orbit" and thanked the US and Russian teams "for their dedication to making this launch a success".



"We have confirmation of the spacecraft separation; Soyuz capsule and crew are safely in orbit," NASA said.

The cosmonauts on board brushed aside any possible safety concerns, saying the risk was just part of the job. "We are psychologically and technically prepared for blast-off and any situation which, God forbid, may occur on board." "We feel very ready for it," NASA astronaut McClain said. Canadas Saint-Jacques, 48, described the Soyuz spacecraft as incredibly safe.



The three-man crew met their relatives and appeared briefly before reporters on Monday morning, They were seen waving and blowing kisses as they left a hotel to board a bus on their way to prepare for the flight.



ALSO READ | Planet Earth working on three more Mars landers to follow InSight



The new arrivals to the ISS will join the European Space Agency's Alexander Gerst, NASA's Serena Aunon-Chancellor and Russia's Sergey Prokopyev, who have been in orbit since June but are due to fly back to Earth on December 20.

The first failed mission raised concerns about Moscows Soviet-designed spacecraft, however, Russias Rocosmos space agency has confirmed that the previous aborted mission was caused by a faulty sensor.

For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.Photo: Contributed

UPDATE: 4:04 p.m.

Rotating strikes will continue, as long as the union and employer are at odds over a collective agreement, according to the union.

Both parties have come to an impasse.

"The disconnect is in the definition of fair and what the employer thinks is fair," says Pat McGregor president of USW Local 1-423 in Kelowna.

The local's members set up a surprise picket line at the White Vally Tolko mill in Lumby Monday morning.

"Our employees have made it quite certain through giving us a 99 per cent strike vote, and then actually hitting the pavement, that their last offer was not fair to our members and we would like them to rethink their definition and sit down at the table with us and get a deal done that is good for both parties."

Talks between the two sides broke down on November 16.



"The mediator couldn't help us," says McGregor. "We booked the mediator out and we were in a legal strike position Nov. 21 and have started rotating strikes in Southern B.C. across three different locals in Cranbrook, Kamloops and Kelowna just to get the employer's attention and get a fair deal for our membership."

McGregor says the industry has been doing well over the past five years and the new collective agreement should reflect the industry growth.

During those five years, they (the employer) made a lot of money. A lot of these big forest companies are investing in their mills and investing in mills in other countries. So we just want a deal that is fair to our members. They have helped make those profits, so we think they should fairly share them with us. We are not asking for anything extreme just a fair deal that reflects our industry today."

The two sides have been without a contract since the last collective agreement expired in June.

"What I would like to say to the IFLRA is that it is obvious that our members have looked at their last offer to us and they felt that that was far from sufficient ... the message they are sending now is, based on your last offer we would rather be out on the picket line."

UPDATE: 3:12 p.m.

The president of the Interior Forest Labour Relations Association has provided a response to the USW rotating strikes at Tolko mills throughout the Northern and Southern Interior.

According to Jeff Roos, the on Nov. 16, the United Steelworkers Local 1-405, 1-417, 1-423 asked the BC Labour Relations Board mediator, Dave Schaub, to "report out" of the mediation process. This allowed the USW to strike member companies effective November 21 at 8:00 a.m.

"It is unfortunate that the USW did not see value in continuing discussions," wrote Jeff Roos in an email to Castanet. "We were encouraged that the union appeared to be willing to engage in a mediation process in an effort to reach a fair, renewed contract. Prior to the USW ending the mediation process, we had been making progress towards that goal."

According to Roos, the IFLRA and the USW have been engaged in collective bargaining since September 6th, 2018. The parties have spent 12 days in negotiations, culminating with three full days of mediation (November 14-16).

"Although we are disappointed the USW has broken off talks and have now started job action, which negatively impacts the employees involved, we would be open to returning to the table at any time to bargain a fair deal for our employees and the industry."

The IFLRA represents 10 member Companies, with a total of 17 operating divisions across southern BC with approximately 2,800 employees.

ORIGINAL: 1:41 p.m.

Rotating 24-hour strikes have hit the Tolko plant in Lumby.

Members of the United Steelworkers Local 1-423 are picketing at various Tolko locations today after talks with the employer broke off in mid-November.

"After making some very significant moves to break the logjam between the two parties, the industry still insisted on keeping concessions on the table and dictating conditions on bargaining, stated Bob Matters USW Staff and lead negotiator in an update on Facebook to union members November 16.

The Union says talks broke off after three days of mediation in Kelowna failed to produce an agreement.

The collective agreement covering forestry workers in the Northern and Southern Interior expired June 30, 2018.

Tolko workers at the Heffley Creek mill near Kamloops are also on strike today.

Castanet has reached out to the Union for comment but has not received a response.New Delhi:

US President Donald Trump has written to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan seeking his help in bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table to end the war in Afghanistan, Pakistani officials said on Monday. Earlier, Trump had said that Pakistan does not do a damn thing for the US, alleging that Islamabad had helped al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden hide near its garrison city of Abbottabad.

The development came weeks after Trump said Pakistan does not do "a damn thing" for the US, alleging that Islamabad had helped al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden hide near its garrison city of Abbottabad.



ALSO READ | Imran Khan says war not a solution to Kashmir issue

In the letter, Trump "stated that his most important regional priority was achieving a negotiated settlement of the Afghan war. In this regard, he has sought Pakistan's support and facilitation," the Foreign Office said.

The war had cost both the US and Pakistan and we should explore opportunities to work together and renew partnership, it said.

Pakistan welcomes the decision to explore ways for a political settlement of the Afghan issue, the FO said.

"Since Pakistan has always advocated a political settlement to end the war in Afghanistan, US decision is welcomed," it said.

Pakistan also reiterated its commitment to play a facilitation role in good faith, stressing that peace and stability in Afghanistan was a shared responsibility.

Donald Trump in his letter to Khan requested "Pakistan's full support for the US-led Afghan peace process and Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad's upcoming trip to the region," a spokesperson of the US National Security Council told news agency PTI in Washington.

"The president recognises that Pakistan has the ability to deny the Taliban sanctuary on its territory...The letter also makes clear that Pakistan's assistance with the Afghan peace process is fundamental to building an enduring US-Pakistan partnership," the spokesperson said.

Last month, the Pentagon said that the US has suspended USD 1.66 billion in security assistance to Pakistan after President Trump's directive.

In September, the Trump administration cancelled US dollar 300 million in military aid to Islamabad for not doing enough against terror groups like the Haqqani Network and the Taliban active on its soil.



ALSO READ | Taliban abduct 40 passengers in Afghanistan's Samangan province

The Trump administration, in the recent months, has intensified its efforts to seek a negotiated settlement of America's longest war in Afghanistan where the US has lost over 2,400 soldiers since late 2001 when it invaded the country after the 9/11 terror attacks.

The Taliban are fighting to flush out international forces and re-establish their regime in Afghanistan after their ouster in 2001.





(With PTI inputs)

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.Jerusalem:

A Saudi dissident has filed a lawsuit against an Israeli surveillance company, claiming its sophisticated spyware targeted him and helped lead to the killing of his friend, Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The suit, filed in a Tel Aviv court on Sunday, follows others previously filed against the company. But because of the dissidents ties to Khashoggi and his high-profile killing October 2 at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, it is likely to shine a greater spotlight on the Israeli company and the Israeli government, which licenses the export of the surveillance technology.

According to the lawsuit, Omar Abdulaziz, a sharp critic on social media of the Saudi royals and a resident of Canada where he has received asylum, said he was friends with Khashoggi and worked with him on a project meant to rein in pro-monarchy Saudi trolls.

The lawsuit says Abdulaziz received and clicked on a link sent to his phone in June 2018 that he argues exposed his mobile communications to Saudi authorities.

Read More | Einstein God Letter of 1954 to be auctioned

It says Abdulaziz faced increased harassment by Saudi authorities after he clicked on the link, including against his family members in Saudi Arabia.

The spying that was directed against (Abdulaziz) and the disclosure of the content of the conversations and messages between him and Khashoggi through the system contributed in a tangible way to the decision to assassinate Khashoggi by the assassins at the consulate, the lawsuit states, citing news reports and other sources claiming that NSO Group sold Saudi Arabia the technology in 2017 for USD 55 million.

Abdulaziz is demanding 600,000 shekels about $160,000 in damages from the company, as well as an order preventing it from selling its technology, known as Pegasus, to Saudi Arabia.

In a written statement, NSO Group said the companys technology enables governments and law enforcement agencies to fight terrorism and crime.

It said it takes an extremely scrupulous approach to the sale of its products, which also undergo vetting and licensing by Israels defense ministry.

We do not tolerate misuse of our products. If there is suspicion of misuse, we investigate it and take the appropriate actions, including suspending or terminating a contract, it said.

Also Read | Time for Pakistan to back PM Modi to maintain peace in South Asia: US

NSO has been under the spotlight for months after dissidents, journalists and other opposition figures have come forward to claim the companys technology has been used by repressive governments to spy on them.

These include Mexican and Qatari journalists who have already filed lawsuits against the company and an Amnesty International employee who was allegedly targeted by the software.

The new suit comes days after the human rights group said it was considering legal steps to have NSO Groups export license revoked.

It said it had made an urgent request to Israels defense ministry to have the companys export license revoked following the targeting of one of its employees. It said the request was denied.

We thoroughly reject this inadequate response. The mountain of evidence and reports on NSO Group and the sale of its spyware to human rights-violating regimes is substantial proof that NSO has gone rogue, said Molly Malekar, programs director of Amnesty International Israel.

By continuing to approve of NSO, she added, Israels defense ministry is practically admitting to knowingly cooperating with a company whose software is used to commit human rights abuses.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.Nearly 100 Democratic members of Congress  including four of Connecticuts five representatives  on Tuesday called for an investigation into alleged labor violations by XPO Logistics, a move that came the same day the Greenwich Fortune 500 company announced a new pregnancy policy.

A letter calling for the probe was signed by Joe Courtney, Rosa DeLauro, Elizabeth Esty, John Larson and 93 other U.S. representatives. It responded to recent pieces by The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and PBS NewsHour, which reported pregnancy discrimination, sexual harassment, unsafe working conditions and suppression of labor organization involving XPO employees across the country. Two weeks earlier, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., joined eight other senators to launch a similar investigation.

Hundreds and thousands of workers could be at risk at XPO Logistics facilities if the aforementioned allegations are accurate, the Congress members wrote in the letter, which asked for a hearing on the company, to the leaders of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. While the current issues may be local and isolated, further investigation and oversight should be executed to ensure that hundreds and thousands of workers nationwide are not at further risk.

In a statement Tuesday, XPO said it had launched an independent investigation in response to the reported mistreatment of pregnant workers at a Memphis, Tenn. warehouse. The facility processes boxes of iPhones and other devices for Verizon Wireless.

XPO also announced Tuesday a new policy for the care and support of pregnant workers that includes paid family leave, pregnancy and postpartum benefits and flexible working arrangements. Eligible workers would receive their regular base wages while they used their accommodations and would still qualify for pay increases during that time.

We have an absolute commitment to providing a safe workplace for all our employees, (and) we take seriously recent allegations concerning one of our warehouses, the company said, in part, in the statement. When the investigation is completed, we are committed to implementing any recommended improvements. At the same time, were taking proactive steps to enhance our policies.

In a responding statement, DeLauro said XPOs announcement was a welcome first step to ensure pregnant workers are provided the appropriate accommodations for their health and the health of their baby... I look forward to ensuring the company makes good on these policies, and I urge other companies to follow suit.

Among the allegations, two women said they suffered miscarriages this year while working at the Memphis plant investigated by The New York Times.

One of the women, 19-year-old Ceeadria Walker, told The Times she gave her supervisor a doctors note that recommended fewer hours on her feet to avoid injury or pregnancy complications. Walker was allowed to focus on paperwork on some days, but she told The Times she spent most of July on a conveyor-belt line lifting 45-pound boxes. In August, she miscarried.

The allegations against XPO extend beyond Tennessee. In California, the company misclassified short-haul truck drivers at major ports as independent contractors instead of employees, making thousands of them ineligible for unemployment insurance, workers compensation or disability pay, according to The Los Angeles Times.

In Lockport, N.Y., two workers were reportedly killed in June when they were crushed while unloading cargo at an XPO-operated facility.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, whose district covers Fairfield County, was the sole Connecticut Congress member not to sign the letter. He supports the letter, however, and finds the accusations of discrimination, harassment and violations by XPO to be very disturbing and in need of immediate address, said Patrick Malone, a spokesman for Himes.

XPO is headquartered at 5 American Lane, in the northwest corner of Greenwich. It ranked No. 186 on this years Fortune 500 list, with a market value of about $9 billion. It operates in 32 countries, with more than 98,000 employees, according to its website.

pschott@scni.com; 203-964-2236; twitter: @paulschottPhoto: Contributed

It's not a concert you'll want to miss.

Tyler Shaw, Steven Page and Vernon's very own Andrew Allen will come together for a night of music at Kal Tire Place.

CFI is excited to present Big Suns KEEP CALM, SUMMERs ON concert taking place on Feb. 22, 2019.

Andrew Allen has scored five Top 10 Hits in Canada, which include his songs I Wanna Be Your Christmas," Loving You Tonight," "I Want You," What You Wanted and Favourite Christmas Song."

Allen is known for his unique and fun stage presense, along with his amazing vocals.

Tyler Shaw is a platinum-selling artist, producer and actor. He released his hit song Kiss Goodnight in 2012. In 2014 he earned a JUNO Award nomination for Breakthrough Artist of the Year.

Shaw has opened for artists such as Shawn Mendes and Alessia Cara, as well as toured with Selena Gomez.

Steven Page is a Canadian icon. Page was recently inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame with his former band, the Barenaked Ladies.

Listen to him live singing classic songs many people know and love as well as a celebration of his new album Discipline.

Tickets go on sale on Saturday.Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has an unusual new campaign pitch: he isn't dead.

In a Facebook post on Sunday following a meeting with Nigerians in Poland, Buhari said he'd been asked whether it really was him speaking to the group or a clone, given speculation he'd died last year when he was absent from the country on medical leave.

"I can assure you all that this is the real me," he said. "I'm still going strong!"

Buhari, who turns 76 this month, has been dogged by questions about his health since spending more than five months in the U.K. being treated for an undisclosed illness last year. He faces re-election in February amid growing divisions within his own party and a challenge from Atiku Abubakar, a 72-year-old businessman and former vice president who's promising an economic revival for Africa's biggest oil producer.

A separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra, or IPOB, has taken advantage of Buhari's health issues to peddle a conspiracy theory that he died in London and was replaced by a look-alike from Sudan named Jubril. Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the group campaigning for an independent Biafra in the country's southeast, was arrested and charged with treason by Buhari's government in 2016.

But while free on bail, Kanu's residence was raided by the military in an operation that left several people dead. Kanu escaped the country and reappeared in Israel in October, according to his lawyer. He's since been broadcasting his claims about Buhari's alleged double via Facebook, helping to feed a social media frenzy back home.

"When I was away on medical vacation last year, a lot of people hoped I was dead," Buhari said in his Facebook video on Sunday. He said his vice president had been contacted at the time by people assuming he was moving into the president's job and offering their services as deputy.

Buhari's challenger for the presidency, Abubakar, has sought to take advantage of the incumbent's seeming aloofness. He's challenged Buhari to a televised debate and beat him in responding to attacks by Islamist insurgents, offering scholarships to the children of killed soldiers before the government extended official condolences.

Analysts have mixed views on which way the Nigerian electorate will lean. If a free and fair election were held now, New York-based risk adviser Teneo projects that the challenger Abubakar would win 57 percent of the vote to Buhari's 42 percent, with about 1 percent going to other candidates. But the situation could change to the favor of either candidate, Teneo Vice President Malte Liewerscheidt said in an emailed note to clients.

Eurasia Group, on the contrary, sees a Buhari victory with 55 percent of the vote against Abubakar's 45 percent, citing the incumbent's relative trustworthiness when compared to Abubakar.

Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation, with almost 200 million inhabitants, and vying with South Africa to be the continent's largest economy. Buhari has made himself more visible in the run-up to February's election, with recent appearances in Maiduguri, where the government has been fighting Boko Haram Islamist militants, as well as in Poland and Paris.Four zip codes in Fairfield County have been classified as some of the nation's most expensive, in a new report by PropertyShark.

06878 in Riverside, 06870 in Old Greenwich, 06830 in Greenwich, and 06807 in Cos Cob, have made it onto PropertyShark's 2018 list of the 100 most expensive zip codes in the country. This is an improvement from the previous year's report, which listed only 06878 and 06830 as the most expensive zip codes in Connecticut.

To determine the ranking, PropertyShark looked at residential transactions throughout 2018, including condos, co-ops, and single and double family homes. With the number of ties in the list, the initial number of 100 is expanded to 117.

Connecticut's most expensive zip code, and highest-ranking zip code on the list at number 49, was 06878 in Riverside, which boasted a sizable median sale price of $1.86 million in 2018. This was a 20 percent increase in median sale price from last year, when Riverside placed at 78 on the list.

Lower Fairfield County, known as Connecticut's "Gold Coast," was the only county in Connecticut to make it on the list. In fact, in a separate 2018 report from PropertyShark of the most expensive zip codes in the Connecticut, 31 out of the top 50 were found in Fairfield County, with the top 10 spots solely devoted to towns on the "Gold Coast."

According to Kathi Mettler, an accounting professor from Fairfield University, the lucrative value of Fairfield County lies in its proximity to New York, which in itself had 19 zip codes on the list of the 100 most expensive zip codes in the country.

"That lower Fairfield county area has seen a growth with the proximity to New York, as well as, a number of New York-based companies relocating to the Stamford area," said Mettler.

However, just as new opportunities are coming from New York City to Fairfield County, Mettler acknowledges that the Connecticut economy is hurting as many businesses like GE and Aetna are leaving their headquarters in Connecticut. This has resulted in an overall decline in property values across Connecticut.

"I believe this will be reflected in an abundance of properties on the market, thus reducing property values. This is exacerbated by the capping of the state and local income and property taxes deduction to $10,000 under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017," said Mettler. "In light of [TCJA and SALT], living in a high tax state with no federal income tax deduction may be a factor in moving into Connecticut or leaving Connecticut."BROOKFIELD  Town Hall will be closed Wednesday to honor the late President George H.W. Bush.

Wednesday has been named a National Day of Mourning in recognition of the 41st presidents service to the country. Bushs funeral is scheduled for Wednesday in Washington D.C. He died Friday.DANBURY  The family of a woman killed during a police chase in Danbury two years ago is suing the city and the former police officer who led the pursuit..

The estate of 26-year-old Tiffany Fitzgerald filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court last week claiming that former officer Jamie Hodge should not have chased the Ford Explorer she was riding in with 33-year-old Ricardo Andre in early December 2016. The family is seeking monetary damages

Fitzgerald was killed when the high-speed pursuit ended in a violent crash and the lawsuit contends Hodge acted recklessly, in dereliction of duty and violation of orders, abandoning his assigned post and duties, for some apparent personal gain.

Hodge has since resigned his position with the Danbury Police Department.

He sued the city this summer, claiming racial discrimination played a role in his ouster, but withdrew his case in October.

Hodges attorney, John Williams, said the suit was dropped following discussions between himself and the defense attorney. Williams declined to comment further.

Williams said Tuesday he had not heard about the Fitzgerald suit and is not yet representing Hodge. The city also does not have representation listed in the court filings.

One of Danburys attorneys for Hodges suit said she did not yet know if she would represent the city in this case.

Police Chief Patrick Ridenhour said Tuesday he had not seen the suit and declined to comment. Mayor Mark Boughton did not return a request for comment.

The lawsuit blames Danbury for implementing a policy or allowing a custom that permitted Hodge to chase after the car.

The citys policy only permitted officers to chase cars in cases of dangerous or violent felonies, not non-violent offenses, such as motor vehicle violations.

The city was also criticized for hiring, training and supervising Hodge despite knowledge of his inadequacies as a police officer, the suit said.

Hodge had been an officer with Danbury for about a year before the incident. He was suspended with pay during Danbury and state police internal investigations of the crash and eventually arrested in August 2017.

Hodge had been working off-duty at a construction site when he spotted Andre driving a car the officer believed was stolen. In his own private car, Hodge pursued the Ford Explorer until it smashed into a utility pole on Mountainville Road and flipped over several times.

Hodges attorney has said the officer followed, but did not chase the car. Hodge approached the car when it stopped at a traffic light, but Andre sped off, according to court documents.

The lawsuit claims Hodge used excessive and unreasonable force in chasing the car.

The Fitzgerald family has said Tiffany had met Andre only recently and was on the phone with her boyfriend terrified during the chase.

The crash and resultant injuries, conscious pain and suffering, and death of Tiffany Fitzgerald were the direct result of Jamie Hodges reckless operation and disregard of the rights and safety of others using public roadways... the lawsuit states.

Andre survived the crash and in August was sentenced on manslaughter charges to 11 years in jail with a six-year suspended sentence.Maplewood Senior Living is joining forces with the Connecticut State Police to host its annual toy drive.

The event, now in its 18th year, is inviting anyone that wishes to make a donation to bring an unwrapped toy or toys to any Maplewood Senior Living community in Connecticut now through Dec. 20. Toys will be distributed to local families across the state.

Maplewood is proud to support the Connecticut State Police with its mission to bring toys to needy children, said Gregory Smith, CEO and President of Maplewood Senior Living in a news release. Many of our residents and our staff members partake in community outreach to help others. The toy drive offers a way for our residents to give back to the community this holiday season in a very meaningful way.

Toy donations may be made at the following Maplewood Senior Living communities:

Maplewood Senior Living, One Gorham Island, Suite 100, Westport

Maplewood at Danbury, 22 Hospital Avenue, Danbury

Maplewood at Newtown, 166 Mount Pleasant Road, Newtown

Maplewood at Stony Hill, 46 Stony Hill Road, Bethel

Maplewood at Strawberry Hill, 73 Strawberry Hill Ave., Norwalk

Maplewood at Orange, 245 Indian River Road, Orange

Maplewood at Darien, 599 Boston Post Road, Darien

Maplewood at Southport (Leasing Gallery), 1720 Post Road, Fairfield

For more information regarding the toy drive, contact Debra Laudano at 203- 500-9197.

Editors note: This article has been updated to change contact information for the event.Parking relief is on its way  though dont look for it to arrive in time for this years holiday shopping season  as the town continues to make halting progress toward a planned new 63-car lot, while also exploring a potential land lease to increase the supply of all-day parking.

The goal of both initiatives is to add a little more to the roughly 1,500-to-1,600 parking spaces in the village commercial district. The focus is on creating more spaces for all-day parkers  village workers  on the outer fringes of the Main Street commercial district, which should leave more prime spaces near businesses open for shoppers, restaurant customers, spenders of cash, users of bank cards, the patrons who keep the businesses in business.

No matter how you slice it, having more spots in town for people working is a net positive, First Selectman Rudy Marconi told The Press.

To have more close and easy parking for the folks who spend, the folks who serve  employees and business owners  need to park farther away.

So, while Marconi is working to add parking lots and spaces, the Parking Authority is trying to reduce the number of parking permits in circulation  which would also mean fewer all-day parkers in the lots patrolled by town parking enforcement officers, opening up more of the choice spots for shoppers.

Both efforts to add more parking space involve land at the eastern edge of the Main Street business district.

The new parking to be built is essentially an expansion of the all-day parking lot off Governor Street, between the RVNA and the Boys and Girls Club, extending it northward toward Prospect Street.

And the potential lease arrangement Marconi is working on would be with Casey Energy, allow some all-day parking on its land off lower Bailey Avenue by the old railroad warehouse.

The planned new parking lot was approved as a $570,000 capital appropriation by voters in the May budget referendum.

Marconi told the selectmens Nov. 13 meeting that the plan as originally envisioned requires some adjustment.

A re-design is what were looking at, Marconi said.

Changing elevations on-site present problems, and the original concept plan would require a lot of fill and a 12-foot wall, Marconi told the board.

So, a new approach is being considered.

The selectmen had questions.

How many parking spaces would be added?

Sixty-three is what were looking at, Marconi told the board. The 63-space target is the same number as the initial plans showed.

Would the new plan be more expensive?, Selectwoman Maureen Kozlark asked.

The cost might turn out to be lower in the revised plan, with less fill needed and the 12-foot wall dropped from the plans, Marconi said.

His expectation is that the $570,000 currently appropriated will be enough.

Its a tremendous amount of money, Marconi told The Press. But if you look at creating 63 spots, the cost per spot is roughly $9,000.

In talking to people over the years, if youre doing an open lot, $9,000 to $10,000, around there, is a good number. If youre going to do concrete (for a garage), you can at least double that.

This will be paved with asphalt, he said. If you were to build a parking garage, youre in the $20,000-plus per spot range.

Marconi said the 63 parking spaces is a target established for the new lot in the initial design phase, and it is being retained for now.

Thats our current target. That was the concept plan submitted during the budgetary discussions, he said.

Among the changes will be a connector road between the two lots, which will be at different elevations due to the topography.

Waiting

Marconi wasnt sure of the projects timetable.

Were waiting for the engineering on it, he said.

Id look at sometime next year to start it. Engineerings being worked on now. Then we have to go through planning and zoning, the Inland Wetlands Board. It could start the middle of next year, possibly  hopefully.

The Parking Authority, hard at work on plans that include reducing the number of parking permits in circulation. There are permits given to landlords, who provide some to their commercial tenants. And there are permits that are sold by the town in twice-yearly lotteries. The cost is $60 for a half-year  less than one parking ticket a month, as one village worker wryly put it.

So, the authority is eager for new parking spaces that people working in the village can be directed to.

In order to fully implement the new parking plan, the spaces in the new lot are of critical importance, and its completion needs to coincide with the next permit lottery in June, say the minutes of the Parking Authoritys Nov. 8 meeting.

Marconi wasnt optimistic that the new parking lot will be ready for use by that time.

It might happen. I dont know. Its so difficult right now. We dont have the engineering back, he said. I wont expect the engineering back until February. If we hustle maybe we can get it through it.

I just cant, at this point, say itll be ready for next spring, he said. Its going to be tough.

Hes upbeat about the new concept, though, with a connector driveway getting cars from the upper lot, which already exists off Governor Street, to a new lower lot on town land where there is now a patch of woods between lower Bailey Avenue and East Ridge.

It definitely will be less visible, Marconi said, comparing the new concept to the initial plan. Also, we want to create the potential for someday there being an egress to the north. This would mean a driveway off Prospect Street.

If youre going to have egress to the north, weve got to bring it down, he said of the lots elevation. Also, a wall would be unsightly  its just not the way to go.

Plantings will be included, with a goal of reducing the visual impact.

Yes, there will be a landscaping component. A lot of this needs to go through P&Z, as well, and Inland wetlands, too, because well be in the upland review area. 

So, the parking lot project is taking some time.

We started last fall  its about a year, Marconi said.

Rental deal?

Marconi also told the selectmens Nov. 13 meeting that he is also pursuing a license agreement with Shane Casey of Casey Energy to allow town employees to park on the gravel area off lower Bailey Avenue, near the big brown former railroad warehouse building.

Speaking later to The Press, he made clear this isnt a done deal.

Ive got to follow up with Shane on it. I was just letting them know we have had initial talks  thats where were at, Marconi said.

When might that additional parking area be available?

I would imagine in the spring, Marconi said, Its pretty tough. Its short notice. Hes got people who use that area.

He added, Im sure theres plenty of room there.

Marconi wasnt definite about how the lease cost would be handled.

The concept is to rent an area for all-day parking by the workforce that keeps the village humming  office workers and town hall people, shopkeepers, restaurant employees.

A place where people can park and leave your car for the day, if youre working at TerraSole, or Lukes, or 850

If there are people who drive to work today, Marconi said.  We want to be able to transfer people to that location and the Parking Authority will be working on that.

The initiative isnt expected to involve much of a construction project.

Were really not going to pave it for now, maybe just paint on the stone dust, he told the selectmen.

Jessica Wilmot of the Parking Authority was at the meeting, and supportive of the idea  especially in view of the initiative to reduce the number of parking permits given out.

If we take away spots, she said, we have to provide spots for them to go to.DANBURY  David Mullen led the final few months of his life under the radar, staying on the streets of downtown Danbury and making do with what help he could gather from local homeless advocates.

But much of his story was lost early Saturday when police found him lifeless in the icy water of the Still River, the result of an apparent accidental drowning just about 150 yards downstream from where he was known to camp, police officials have said.

Mullens death has rocked the small homeless community that lives downtown, close-knit enough to know one another even though they dont share much about their pasts, friends said.

I wish I knew more about him, said Debbie Velez, tears streaming down her cheeks.

He was a good guy, she continued. He liked to take care of people. He was always looking out for others.

At Dorothy Day Hospitality Houses weekday lunch, where volunteers and other diners say they met Mullen on several occasions, friends mourned the lost of a kind person.

He was a great guy, Brian Ashley said. I just got along with him and its a shame hes gone ... Ill miss him, he was one of my friends.

Mullen, 56, apparently fell into the waterway behind the former News-Times building in the early hours of Saturday morning, police said. Officers arrived on Crosby Street, just south of that spot, to find Mullens body partially submerged and spent the morning retrieving his body.

Police found no evidence of foul play and are awaiting the results of an autopsy.

Officers notified Mullens family, but attempts to reach his family have been unsuccessful.

Mullen rarely spoke about his life before living on the streets, only occasionally mentioning a family and memories of their home, friends said. It was not clear how long he had been without a home, but homeless advocates and his friends suggested it was less than a year.

It is not unusual for people who are homeless to remain tight-lipped about their intimate details, leaving friends and service providers in the dark about their personal stories, said Michele Conderino, director of homeless services at Catholic Charities of Fairfield County.

Thats the typical thing, unfortunately, she said. Theres help out there, but that doesnt mean that everybodys going to choose it at any point.

A lot of the guys we work with to an extent will try to fly under the radar a little bit, she continued. The tricky thing is trying to get engage them at the point theyre really looking for help. Its a matter of trying to build relationships.

Conderino and other service providers have engaged Mullen to help, but none could not provide more details about his life due to confidentiality rules.

His death puts the spotlight on a homeless services system that has made strides to reduce the chronically homeless but still has more work to do to reduce homelessness even further, Conderino said.

Friend Donnie Shaffer, who has been homeless in Danbury since August, got to know Mullen through mutual friends and said he will be missed.

The way it is out here, we dont try to bring up our personal stuff, we just try to be there for each other, he said. He kept to himself and when he wasnt drinking, he was great company to be around.

zach.murdock@hearstmediact.comThe news last week around General Motors layoffs and plant closures was grim, both in terms of American manufacturings future and the local economies that rely on that future. With five factories closing and 15,000 workers out of jobs, GMs decision highlights more than just empty campaign promises and shifting market demands for cars -- it points out the downsides to local economies relying heavily on manufacturing. It also illustrates what happens when policymakers and local community leaders invest significant resources in keeping manufacturing around, even in the face of automation and a global supply chain. Clearly, rising and falling based on U.S. manufacturing potential isnt in the best interest of many American cities or constituents.

But shifting the economic structure and industries of cities and towns is by no means an easy task. These cities and economies have grown around plants and factories, creating significant dependence often on a single company. Changing this requires significant investment on the part of a city, both in terms of major civic changes to attract individual businesses and industries, as well as building climates that are ideal for attracting economic activity in general.

Related: General Motors' Layoffs Present Ample Opportunities for Entrepreneurs

Creating a climate thats ideal for economic development starts with understanding what kind of foundational changes are required to begin with. In a country that suffers from a skills gap (despite record low unemployment), the first stone to turn is education. Revamping community college and vocational curriculum offers one of the best opportunities to tackle middle skill jobs that require more than a high school education but less than a four-year degree. These jobs account for nearly 50 percent of employment across the country.

In Ohio where a GM plant is scheduled to close, more than 50 percent of jobs are middle skilled but only 47 percent of the population has enough education to pursue the opportunities. While federal workforce development initiatives have suffered under President Trump, there are still grants and funding available to invest in the advancement of educational programs. Other alternatives and credentialing exists through digital courses that could provide newfound opportunities for residents.

The lure of digital education for remote or educationally-limited environments brings up one of the most important conduits for success in the new economy -- broadband connectivity. The United States boasts some of the most innovative companies in the world, yet 24 million Americans are without broadband access, according to the FCC. The number is even higher -- limited and poor quality mapping data is used to determine whether large numbers of rural Americans can capably use the internet.

Elevating broadband, much like workforce development, requires investment and partnerships at the state or federal level to bring public/private incentives into alignment. Pressure from local elected officials, as well as state and federal representatives, can accelerate the time table for widespread broadband access, opening the doors for digital businesses run from anywhere. The reality is that broadband access can bring opportunity into a community from digital marketplaces and outside revenue sources, in addition to being an attractive resource for businesses looking to relocate.

Related: 10 Job Skills That Will Help You Land a Six-Figure Salary

Some cities are creating incentives to attract highly skilled individuals. Tulsa announced in late November a program offering $10,000 to remote workers and entrepreneurs who move to the Oklahoma city. This kind of incentive-laden program serves both as a carrot to bring people to a city while sparking a network effect to attract new residents who also boast a diverse set of skills. Encouraging independent and remote work brings unique skill sets into a community. With a large percentage of freelance work still coming from referrals or word of mouth, the benefit to local businesses is extensive.

Tulsas program takes advantage of private partnerships, but its not the only one. From New Haven, Connecticut to St. Claire County, Michigan, cities have found unique, creative and compelling incentives for residents and newcomers to invest in the local economy.

While were not specifically talking about a cornfield in Iowa, its tough not to paraphrase the banner quote from Field of Dreams: if cities and towns deliver civic benefits to their residents while building unique programs to entice a diverse set of workers, they will come. The upside can be huge, creating local economies that offer a diverse economic landscape that avoids dependence on a single employer. That not only equates to competition and opportunity, it offers longevity and future-proofing regardless of what major automotive or manufacturing giants do.

Related:

Don't be the Next Lordstown: How Cities Can Insulate Against Crushing Layoffs

New York Is Giving Amazon a Helipad and New Yorkers Are Furious

5 Lessons on Writing Sales Proposals Gleaned From the Competition for Amazon's New Headquarters



Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reservedPhoto: The Canadian Press

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is promising more money for police to combat gun and gang violence and says he will audit Canadian jail programs to make sure inmates are ready to rejoin society when their sentences are up.

Scheer released the third and final part of his public-safety policy Monday.

He said he has heard from Canadians who are concerned about a surge in gun violence this year and believes the best way to address these concerns is to better equip police with the tools they need to do their jobs.

Canadians are more and more worried about the safety of their streets. My plan for a safer Canada will restore Canadians faith in the system once again, Scheer said in Winnipeg.

Scheer is promising new funding and grants for police, stronger background checks for people seeking gun licences and a 25-per-cent boost to the youth gang-prevention fund.

The Conservative leader says he will also audit the $60 million spent every year on prisoner job- and skills-training programs to measure their effectiveness.

Scheer announced the first two parts of his public-safety plan last month, in which he outlined more punitive measures for members of gangs and crime organizations. He has also taken a strong stance against the push for a handgun ban coming from some of Canada's largest cities, including Toronto, which is having its deadliest year for shootings since 1991.

Banning handguns would penalize law-abiding gun owners, Scheer has said, and instead he's promoting policy ideas that target criminals who use weapons illegally.

But the Liberals say the Conservative 'guns and gangs' policies duplicate many initiatives already announced by the Trudeau government as part of its own $327-million plan, which is also aimed at combating gun smuggling into Canada.

The Conservative proposals try to sound tough but won't make a dent in gun violence on Canadian streets, said Scott Bardsley, press secretary for Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale.

"Most of (Scheer's) policies propose penalties for activities that are already serious criminal offences, like gun smuggling, diverting legal guns to the black market and ordering gang crimes. All are already illegal and carry serious penalties," Bardsley said.These days, Jon Bon Jovi is livin on a vine. Grape vine, that is.

The rock icon launched Hampton Water Wine along with his son Jesse Bongiovi and acclaimed French winemaker Gerard Bertrand earlier this year, and just last week, it was named the Best Rose of 2018 by Wine Spectator in their Top 100 Wines ranking. Its an incredible honor, Bon Jovi tells Entrepreneur.

Sounds like his wine is, indeed, wanted dead or alive.

Image credit: Hampton Water

The idea to create a wine came about during time spent in the Hamptons, and its grape blend is distinctive of the French region of Languedoc. It represents that sense of enjoying life and making memories with the people you love most, Bon Jovi tells us. For us, when we enjoy a glass, those feelings are evoked, and we hope that when anyone sips some Hampton Water, they too share that sentiment.

Related: From MMA Champ to Whiskey Entrepreneur: a Conversation With Conor McGregor

Read on to learn how he was able to make his first foray into a hyper-competitive business a runaway success.

What made you decide to get into the wine game in the first place?

My son, Jesse, deserves all the credit in regard to us getting into the wine business. One summer night, about two and a half years ago, I was drinking some rose, a staple in our household, with Jesse. It was getting late, so I offered him one last glass of pink juice before calling it a night. Jesse sort of laughed and told me that no one refers to rose as pink juice anymore; its now Hampton Water. I said right then and there what a great name that would be on a bottle, and Jesse lit up.

The next morning he came downstairs, still fired up from our conversation the night before. He started rattling off all of these ideas for his new rose, Hampton Water. I could see how passionate he was about this, and I said to him, Look if youre serious, do your research. You know a lot of successful people, talk to them and educate yourself on how to start a successful business, study the wine industry, specifically rose, then put together a legitimate business plan, and come back to me. And here we are -- a Wine Spectator rated 90-point rose listed in their Top 100 Wines of 2018.

Related: Need a Business Idea? Here are 55

How does your partnership with Jesse and Gerard Bertrand work?

Once Jesse had put the business plan together, it was time to do our research. French roses were always our favorite, but we did our due diligence and explored roses from all over the world. The verdict? French roses were still our favorite.

Image credit: Hampton Water

We were introduced to Gerard Bertrand, and we quickly bonded over our shared vision. Essentially, we wanted to bottle up the relaxed lifestyles of the Hamptons and the South of France.

Were there any lessons you learned in your incredible music career that have translated to running a wine company?

Oh, absolutely. Teaming up with Jesse and Gerard to create Hampton Water isnt too different than collaborating on a song. Everybodys one line is what brings it together.

What was your alcoholic beverage of choice when you and the band were touring in the 80s? Are there any epic drinking stories you'd like to share?

Im taking those to the grave. But there was a lot of tequila involved.

Related: Mark Cuban Shares the Best Advice He Ever Got

What advice would you give entrepreneurs looking to get into the wine industry?

This is pretty general across all entrepreneurial endeavors, but my advice is, if youre passionate about something, do it, but really do it. Do your research, develop a sound business plan, and dont launch your product until it is completely ready to be introduced to the world. Once you put something out there, you cant take it back.

What do you say to men who give drinking rose a bad name.

Real men drink pink. I proudly drink my rose.

Related:

From Rock God to Master Rose Winemaker: a Conversation With Jon Bon Jovi

Tiffany Wojtkiewicz Is Proving That You Can Marry Mission and Profit

Do You Know About These Alco-Bev Additions in the Market?



Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reservedDonald Trump is nearly as unpopular in small towns as he is in suburban areas and cities, signaling potential trouble for his re-election prospects, according to a survey that highlights the Republican president's vulnerabilities.

The latest Grinnell College National Poll also shows just less than a third of Americans say they definitely plan to vote for him in 2020, while 41 percent say they're certain to cast a ballot for someone else.

The incumbent's weakness is swelling the field of Democrats contemplating challenging him, with some already making pilgrimages to Iowa and other states that will host the first nominating contests just more than a year from now.

The survey of 1,000 adults, conducted by Selzer & Co. for the Iowa school, reveal stark divisions in how Trump is regarded between rural America and everywhere else.

In rural areas -- not including those living in small towns -- 46 percent say they'll definitely vote for him for a second term. But in all other geographic areas, there's much higher skepticism about a second Trump term. Just 33 percent of those in small towns definitely plan to vote for him, while 27 percent in suburbs and 24 percent in cities say they will.

The poll's findings reflect the dynamics at work in last month's midterm congressional election that may carry into 2020.

Trump helped some GOP candidates in heavily rural areas, keeping the Senate in Republican hands with victories in states such as North Dakota and Missouri. But Republicans were routed in suburban House districts -- including some where Trump won in 2016 -- giving Democrats control of the U.S. House. It was the Democrats' biggest net gain in seats since the Watergate scandal of the 1970s.

Trump's weak support everywhere outside of purely rural areas could foreshadow trouble for his re-election prospects in states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. He narrowly won all three in 2016, but Democrats scored major victories in House, Senate and governors' races in those states last month.

"Those who live in towns act much more like those who live in cities and suburbs than they do rural residents," Iowa-based pollster J. Ann Selzer said. "They are less likely than their rural counterparts to approve of or feel favorable toward the president. That lack of support extends beyond Trump to the Republican Party overall, which should raise concerns for the GOP."

- - -

Geographical differences also are obvious in questions about Trump's job approval and feelings about the Republican Party he leads. Overall, 43 percent of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing, the poll shows, with 61 percent in rural areas giving him positive marks. But the number falls to 44 percent approval among those in small towns, 41 percent in the suburbs and 31 percent for city dwellers.

Roughly two-thirds of rural Americans have favorable feelings toward the president, while just a third of those in cities like him.

The Republican Party is viewed favorably by 58 percent in rural areas. That number is closer to four-in-ten for those in towns (37 percent), suburbs (41 percent) and cities (39 percent).

A majority of Americans -- 54 percent -- say they're more hopeful for the country following last month's election. There's even greater optimism when it comes to expectations for the nation following the 2020 presidential election, with 58 percent saying they feel hopeful about the nation's prospects after that milestone.

With the national unemployment rate at 3.7 percent in October, Americans are generally optimistic about their personal finances. Almost two-thirds -- 64 percent -- say they're moving closer to their goals, while just more than a quarter say they're moving further away.

Republicans and independents are more likely to be positive about their personal finances, at 71 percent and 69 percent, respectively. Among Democrats, just 57 percent are optimistic.

At a time when Trump has deployed thousands of active-duty troops to the U.S.-Mexican border, where thousands of people traveling in caravans have arrived in recent weeks after fleeing poverty and violence in Central America, a 55 percent majority in the survey said they think America has a "moral responsibility" to grant asylum to refugees.

Just less than a third of those in the poll said the U.S. is allowing too many refugees into the country. Republicans and those in rural areas -- 53 percent and 49 percent, respectively -- are much more likely to feel that way.

In an immigration-related question, the poll asked participants to consider a dozen different attributes and identify how important they are to being a "real American." The top trait selected was "to believe in treating people equally," which was rated by 90 percent as being very important. That was followed by "to take personal responsibility for one's actions," at 88 percent, and to "accept people of different racial backgrounds" at 81 percent.

The telephone poll, conducted Nov. 24-27, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, higher among subgroups. Full results and methodology are at www.Grinnell.edu/poll.Photo: The Canadian Press

Half the country's chinook salmon populations are endangered and most of the rest are in decline, according to a science committee that monitors the health of wildlife populations.

The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife In Canada reported Monday that of Canada's 16 Chinook populations, eight are endangered, four are threatened and one is considered of special concern.

Only one, in B.C.'s Thompson River, is considered stable. The condition of two populations is unknown.

Endangered is the committee's most serious ranking, suggesting the population is in danger of being wiped out.

"There are some where there is thought to be fewer than 200 fish still remaining," said committee member and Simon Fraser University fisheries biologist John Neilson. "At that level, there would be concern about those stocks. That's why we're sounding the alarm."

Chinook salmon are both a major fishery in British Columbia and central to the lives and culture of Indigenous people. Neilson said the new assessment is the most comprehensive the committee has ever done on the fish.

"From other studies and general knowledge on the state of salmon in B.C., there's a lot of concern," Neilson said. "These are populations that are at the high end of needing some attention."

Scientists believe the problem occurs during the part of their lives the salmon spend in the ocean.

Some believe growing numbers of seals and sea lions, which feed on the fish, are behind the declines. Others say the warming and acidifying ocean is starting to affect the food web the salmon depend on.

"It's a complex story," said Neilson.

It's time the federal government use its power to protect the fish and its habitat, he added.

"Our suggestion is that government act quickly."Most people probably did not notice that there was a large improvement in SpaceXs profit margin with their latest rocket launch.

Elon Musk said they will be able to reuse the two halves of the fairings. The fairings are the nosecone of the rocket. The nosecone splits in two to expose the rocket payload after the rocket has cleared the atmosphere.

The two halves are fairly light but they cost about $6 million. SpaceX charges about $62 million per launch but they are making more than a 30% operating profit. SpaceX has waterproofed the fairings and has parachutes on them so that they are not damaged when they land in the ocean.

The profit margin on any future launch using reused fairings will increase the profit on that mission by 10%.

SpaceX successfully reused the specific Falcon 9 block 5 first stage used in the launch for the third time. It was successfully landed. The first stage represents about 70% of the cost of the rocket. SpaceX is showing they can reuse first stages for four times or more. I believe that SpaceX will be able to hit the ten reuse goal. They meant ten reuses before major maintenance and continuing reuses up to hundreds of times.

There are costs for recovering the first stage, inspecting it and minor maintenance before reusing it. Refueling is also needed every time.

Assuming SpaceX priced the $62 million Falcon 9 with a 30% profit margin without assuming successful reusability, then the starting cost for a non-reusable Falcon 9 is $43.4 million

The cost of the first stage is 70% of $43.4 million or $30.4 million. Another $6 million cost is the fairings. The 70% of the rocket cost is the first stage and $6 million for the fairings were both statements Elon Musk has made. I will assume the fairings will have the same reuse levels as the first stage. My gut feeling is that undamaged fairings should be simpler to reuse now damage can be prevented.

$36.4 million out of $43.4 million is now reusable. 83.9% of the costs are being reused. It leaves $7 million as the assumed cost of the second stage.

SpaceX is showing they can split the first stage and fairing costs across 4 to ten launches. If it is consistently four launches then the cost is $16.1 million per launch plus recovery, maintenance and inspection including the second stage. If it is consistently ten launches then the cost is $10.6 million per launch plus recovery, maintenance and inspection including the second stage. $7 million per launch for the second stage.

Before with an assumed three launches and no fairing use the cost of $30.4 million split over three plus $13 million for the fairing and second stage. So $23.1 million of costs for three reuse launches.

The screaming of Noooo!!! you heard when SpaceX had another successful launch and recovered the fairings was from executives at ULA (United Launch Alliance) and Ariane. Russias Space Agency already left the building when they gave up on commercial launch a while back.

SpaceX will be able to make $46 million per launch when they consistently reuse four times and they will make $51 million per launch when they are consistently reusing ten times. The SpaceX operating margin will be 74+%

The cost calculation is not including indirect expenses such as research and development or selling, general and administrative expense (SGA). SpaceX has massive research and development costs.

Brian Wang Invited to USC Class on Space Design

Brian Wang of Nextbigfuture has been invited go and share his insights with the ASTE527 Graduate Space Concepts Studio Finals at the University of Southern California (USC), Dec 11th. I will be joining via webex.WATERBURY  The deadline is approching for artists to submit their work for the Mattatuck Museums annual juried members exhibition MIXMASTER. Entries are due by Dec. 16, and selected artists will be notified by Jan. 2.

The show, MIXMASTER, is scheduled for Jan. 20-Feb. 23, 2019, with an opening reception from 1-3 p.m. on Jan. 20.

According to a release from the museum, MIXMASTER is an exhibition that seeks to discover and recognize the talents of artists working in New England and the Tri-State region. Initiated to support and recognize contemporary art, MIXMASTER provides an opportunity for established and emerging artists to debut their most recent work. The Mattatuck Museum looks forward to highlighting the work of its artist members.

The first prize winner will receive a cash award as well as a solo show at the museum. Second and third prize winners will receive cash awards. Artists awarded the Juror Selection and Visitors Award will receive added member benefits, including North American Reciprocal Museum membership and access to the curatorial team through private invitations to Directors Circle-level member events, according to the release.

This years juror is Ashley Dillman, Sales Director of Freight + Volume in New York City. a gallery dedicated to showcasing the work of emerging and established artists, and work which is innovative and not afraid to take risks. Their criteria are the quality of work itself, regardless of technique, content or style; with the motivation to show dynamic, visceral, and provocative new work in all media and dealing with a range of subject(s), according to the release.

Current Mattatuck Museum membership at any level required at time of submission. MIXMASTER is open to all Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont resident artists 18 years and over.

Original works are accepted in all media. Work submitted must have been executed in the past three years and not previously exhibited in a Connecticut museum. A $10 entry fee is required for each submitted work with a limit of up to three works per artist.

The museum will only accept submissions through CaFE, at www/callforentry.org. Entries sent via email or by mail will not be considered. All entrants must have a current Mattatuck Museum membership to be eligible to submit work. Artists can learn more about MIXMASTER at mattmuseum.org, and submit entries on CaFE, callforentry.org.

The museum is located at 144 West Main St., and is open Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday, 12-5 p.m. For more information on all of the museums programs, events, and exhibits visit the website at mattmuseum.org or call 203-753-0381.NEW BRITAIN  State utility regulators Tuesday tentatively rejected the proposed $1.1 billion acquisition of Clinton-based Connecticut Water Service by a California-based company.

The tentative rejection of SJW Groups proposed acquisition of Connecticut Water came in the form a 33-page draft ruling in which commissioners with the states Public Utilities Regulatory Authority expressed concern about how the deal would affect local ratepayers. Shareholders of Connecticut Water approved the deal in a special meeting in mid-November.

Based on its review of the record, questions remain regarding the general financial and managerial suitability of the proposed combined company based on the proposed corporate structure, the resulting financial risks to the combined company, and the failure of the applicants to consider and protect the public interest in entering into the proposed transaction, the draft ruling says in part. The Applicants have not met their burden of proving that the proposed change of control is in the public interest or that it serves the statutory mandate to maintain local control.

The regulatory agency will accept written exceptions and comments on its draft ruling until 4 p.m. Thursday and will hear oral arguments at 2 p.m. Monday at its New Britain headquarters. A final decision in the case will be released at 10 a.m. Dec. 12.

SJW Group and Connecticut Water officials issued a joint written statement.

Connecticut Water will provide any comments or related materials in response to the proposed decision to PURA in accordance with the schedule in the proceeding, the statement reads in part. SJW Group and Connecticut Water are confident that the combined company will have the financial strength and managerial suitability to provide safe, adequate and reliable service and that the combination is in the public interest. SJW Group and Connecticut Water have committed to protect customers in Connecticut and Maine and provide additional benefits through the combination.

The draft ruling, as part of its findings of fact section, raises numerous concerns that PURA officials have with the deal as it is currently structured, including:

A lack of Connecticut-based representation on SJW Groups board of directors, which regulators said gives up any local control.

SJW Groups failure to show how it would protect Connecticut Water ratepayers from potential rate increases to fund acquisitions of other utilities going forward.

The potential for SJW Group not making adequate levels of capital improvements to Connecticut Waters infrastructure going forward.

SJW Groups lack of permanent financing to pay for the deal. The California-based company has arranged with JP Morgan to provide interim financing for the deal in the form of a bridge loan.

PURA officials also raised concerns regarding the timing of the acquisition and Eric Thornburgs participation in negotiations on both sides of the transaction. Thornburg was Connecticut Waters chairman, president and chief executive officer until early October of last year, when he resigned and became president and chief executive officer of SJW Group the following month.

The proposed deal was announced on March 15, 2018.

PURA officials said Connecticut Water and SJW Group engaged in negotiations beginning December 2016 and into the first months of 2017. Those negotiations fell through, according to testimony given to regulators, but were revisited later in 2017.

There is no evidence in the record that adequately explains this sudden change of events, PURAs ruling says in part. The regulatory agency has redacted several paragraphs in that portion of its findings, so it is not clear what explanation was given to them.

Connecticut Water Service is a holding company that is the corporate parent for Connecticut Water Co., The Maine Water Co., The Avon Water Co. and The Heritage Village Water Co. These subsidiaries provide water service to more than 450,000 people in Connecticut and Maine, and wastewater service to more than 10,000 people in Connecticut.

The utility serves customers in Beacon Falls, Bethany, Clinton, Deep River, Guilford, Killingworth, Madison, Old Saybrook and Westbrook in the New Haven area.

SJW serves more than one million customers in Texas and California.

luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.comBRIDGEPORT  A Manchester man was sentenced Monday to 55 years in prison for the Christmas Eve 2016 fatal shooting of a local man during a car show.

Xavier Rivera, who had previously served 12 years in prison in connection with an attempted murder, showed no emotion as he stood before Superior Court Judge John Kavanewsky Jr.

Your disregard for human life tells me you have no moral compass and that society needs to be protected from you, the judge told the 35-year-old Rivera who had been convicted of murder, conspiracy, unlawful restraint and unlawful discharge of a firearm for the death of 28-year-old Miguel Rivera of Bridgeport.

Senior Assistant States Attorney Marc Durso had urged the judge to impose a severe sentence on Rivera.

The sentence should be reflective of the lack of remorse the defendant showed the victim as the victim was begging for his life, Durso said.

Xavier Riveras lawyer, Gary Mastronardi, told the judge that his client maintains his innocence and looks forward to an appeal.

During the two-week trial, Durso presented evidence that on Christmas Eve, the victim had been admiring the Mustangs and Camaros at a weekly gathering of car enthusiasts in the parking lot of AutoZone on North Avenue when a gold Cadillac Deville pulled up.

Xavier Rivera and Moises Pito Contreras got out of the Cadillac and grabbed Miguel Rivera and dragged him into the parking lot next door, according to testimony.

One of the men began yelling, Wheres my (expletive), as they pistol-whipped the victim. They began firing at him and then drove off.

Miguel Rivera, suffering from gunshot wounds to the right leg, left leg, back and torso, managed to stagger down the street before collapsing by the drive-thru window of Popeyes Restaurant. Witnesses testified Xavier Rivera believed the victim had previously burglarized his apartment, stealing cash, sneakers and marijuana.

But the highlight of the trial was when Durso played for the jury a recording of Xavier Rivera admitting to killing the victim that a witness had recorded on his cellphone.

Contreras is awaiting trial in the case.

CORRECTION: The age of Miguel Rivera has been updated to reflect he was 28 at the time of his death, not 33.Photo: Sunniva The construction site for Sunniva's facility in Okanagan Falls.

Plans for a massive cannabis production facility in Okanagan Falls have been scaled back significantly, as the projects parent company struggles with funding.

Sunniva Inc. now plans on building a modular, much smaller, first phase of the facility on the former Weyerhaeuser mill site. Construction on the facility, which was billed as the companys Canadian Campus has been stalled for several weeks.

The project originally planned to be 700,000 square feet and produce 125,000 kilograms of cannabis a year, while employing 240 people.

The company recently announced, however, they are scaling things back to a modular facility capable initially of producing just 5,000 kilograms of cannabis annually. That product is now destined for the medical market with goals of supplying 20,000 patients next year.

There are longer-term goals to build out the full greenhouse facility in second and third phases, but those plans have no timeline and are contingent on securing financing and Health Canada permits.

Sunniva bought the 126-acre OK Falls mill site earlier this year for $7M, but has failed to secure funding to build the full project.

The company, led by Poplar Grove owner Tony Holler, is in the process of spinning off its Canadian assets into an entirely separate company so it can focus on the California market, where it has a large facility nearing completion.

Under the new plan, cultivation modules will be delivered to the Okanagan Falls site in January 2019, around the same time Sunniva will submit an application to Health Canada to start producing cannabis. Its hoped the smaller facility will be producing cannabis by Q3 2019.

It's unclear how many people the scaled-back project will employ.

Sunniva trades on the CSE and closed Monday at $3.80 a share.HAMDEN  A local man who violated the conditions of his supervised release from prison, where he was serving time for a drug conviction, has returned to prison, according to a news release.

James Dickerson, also known as Jim Jim, 35, was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer in New Haven to 21 months of imprisonment.

The release from the Connecticut U.S. attorneys office states that Dickerson was among those charged in a major drug ring and found guilty in April 2013 as a result of the joint law enforcement investigation by the FBI New Haven Safe Streets Task Force, DEA New Haven Task Force, New Haven Police Department and Hamden Police Department.

During the investigation, Dickerson was intercepted multiple times over a court-authorized wiretap arranging to purchase distribution quantities of crack cocaine. Dickerson also sold crack cocaine to an undercover police officer, the release said.

In April 2013, Dickerson was found guilty of conspiracy to distribute 28 grams or more of crack and possession with intent to distribute cocaine base. He was sentenced to 168 months of imprisonment, but after an appeal, Dickerson was resentenced to approximately 63 months of imprisonment, time already served, and three years of supervised release, the release states.

After his release from prison, Dickerson violated multiple conditions of his supervised release, the release states.

On August 18, Dickerson was arrested in Hamden on larceny charges based on his possession of a stolen motorcycle, on December 12, 2017, he was arrested in Hamden for allegedly possessing cocaine and marijuana and, on May 6, 2018, he was arrested in Cheshire on a variety of charges stemming from a car chase, the release states.

Dickerson has a maximum release date of April 30, 2020, the release states.

Meyer ordered Dickerson to begin serving the 21-month federal sentence after his release from state prison.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney William J. Nardini.NEW HAVEN  City Controller Daryl Jones laid the citys unfunded pension liability at the feet of the previous administration.

Jones mentioned it in passing at the first session of the New Haven Pension Task Force Monday that is being put together to assess how the city got into this situation and how it can get out over time.

The citys pension obligation is $1.2 billion with some $700 million in two plans unfunded; the Policemen and Firemen Retirement Fund is 43 percent funded, while the City Employees Retirement Fund is at 33 percent.

Jones said part of the problem is they started the 30-year (amortization) every year, so that lowered the amount the city had to contribute. By doing that, you werent funding it correctly.

After the meeting, R. Lee Stump, husband of Alder Abby Roth, D-7, and the only member of the general public at the task force session, sent a scathing email on how the meeting was conducted and on Jones and aldermanic President Tyisha Walker-Myers, D-23, in particular.

As a homeowner and taxpayer in New Haven for 25 years, Stump said the task force meeting was a tremendous embarrassment. Apart from the lack of even the most rudimentary meeting process by Board of Alder President Walker-Myers, an opening, proper agenda flow, call for comments and an adjournment, the lack of transparency regarding the process for the creation of the task force, the staffing of its members and the public notice for the meeting was appalling.

My understanding is that the establishment of the task force was neither a voluntary nor a proactive step, it was mandated, something Ms. Walker-Myers did not acknowledge, Stump wrote.

He challenged the makeup of the committee and said it has no independence much less expertise in the nature of the issue, municipal bonding funding and financing.

Neither Jones nor Walker-Myers answered messages seeking comment.

Walker-Myers sent a response Tuesday afternoon.

This first informal meeting of the taskforce was simple to lay out the expectations for the members. That dedicated and informed membership agreed to focus on finding solutions to real issues by having meaningful and respectful dialogue based on presentations from experts. We have a tremendous amount of work to do in the next couple of months and we encourage and welcome all positive and constructive ideas, Walker-Myers wrote.

Prior to that and during the one-hour task force session, Pat Cannon, the pension trustee representing police and fire, said the DeStefano administration also was too aggressive on its estimated rate of return, which it could not reach.

The rate of return in recent years under Mayor Toni Harp has been lowered to 7.75 percent, with both retirement funds exceeding benchmarks in the past two years.

The new task force members are Cannon, Jones, CERF trustee Cathy Graves, Walker-Myers, D-23, and Alder Charles Decker, D-9. There are two openings: one to be named by Mayor Toni Harp and one by the aldermanic leadership.

Going forward, the task force hopes to hire a consultant and likely will hear from FRAC, while Walker-Myers also has the MARB on her agenda.

FRAC is the citys Financial Review and Audit Commission, while the MARB is the states Municipal Accountability Review Board, which addresses cities and towns experiencing severe fiscal constraints.

As for places to review on pension decisions, the list includes nearby Hamden, as well as Illinois and maybe New York state, which is fully funded. Jones wants to add Detroit.

An expert from Yale University also was seen as a good addition as long as the contribution does not cost the city.

Alder Abby Roth, D-7, said there was not much notice on this meeting and suggested that 4 p.m. is difficult for the public to attend. The next meeting will be at 4 p.m. Jan. 7, but Walker-Myers said they will revisit the meeting times.

When Roth referred to the citys structural deficit, as a way to describe the pension shortfall, Jones objected to that phrase.

Roth pointed out that that is how FRAC characterizes New Havens problems. That body played a very active role last fiscal year and will do so going forward.

That is FRAC. The citys position is we have financial pressures. I do question when someone uses structural deficit. A structural deficit is implying basically that the city doesnt have the ability to pay its bills and that is not true, Jones said.

In his email, Stump wrote:

... contrary to Comptroller Jones' assessment of the lack of a structural deficit in the City of New Haven, the primary contributing reason for the necessity of the task force in the first place, e.g. it wasn't needed 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1 years ago, the first five years of his tenure, it was mandated now exactly for said structural deficit challenges.

Walker-Myers, at the meeting, said the role of the task force is not to point the finger at anyone, but rather to avoid the mistakes of others.

Jones said both Hartford and West Haven have to adhere to recovery plans, which is different than what New Haven is putting together as a 5-year fiscal plan that will serve as a strategic guide and be updated annually.

Jones said the city now has software to load financial data back to 2012. You get to see the trend. Just focusing on the pensions ... you can see what the contributions were, he said referring to them as one aspect of the 5-year prediction.

Cannon said he and Jones have the same goals, but sometimes Jones has a conflict as the controller and the need to balance the city budget and as a trustee of the pensions.

We try to resolve any issues and get on the right track, Cannon said.

There was a blowup between Jones and Cannon in June when the city proposed taking $16 million in funds earmarked for the pensions to cover a deficit in fiscal 2018 when anticipated state funding for operations fell short months after the city budget was in effect.

Last year, in a controversial move, Jones and Acting Budget Director Michael Gormany proposed borrowing up $250 million in pension obligation bonds, which would go directly to the two pension funds, bringing them to some 85 percent funded.

Jones on Monday said he did not know whether the same opportunity still exists this year, but in any event the public and the Board of Alders have made it clear they did not favor such a move.

The risk to the taxpayers now would be too great, Cannon said.

Jones said it is hard to predict how actions taken at the federal level, with the current administration, will impact the market.

On the six or seven defined contribution plans that workers opt to use, Jones said going forward they are going to have one plan with lower fees so employees are not gouged by these charges.

Jones said the city received the trustee of the year award a few weeks on its handling of both pensions from the National Association of Security Professionals, which Harp accepted on their behalf.

The controller said the city this past year also was able to directly invest in New Haven and CERF put some funds in alternative investments, which it has never done before.

The benefit of alternatives is when you have downturns in the market, these alternatives (such as real estate) dont get affected, Jones said, pointing to the 30 percent investment by the state in alternatives beyond stocks and bonds. We did equal or better than the state, Jones said.

The task force is not aimed at arriving at a pension solution by the time the next fiscal budget is put together.

Whatever comes out before March will come out before March, but Im thinking long-term, Walker-Myers said.

Stump pointed out that the makeup of the committee is two Alders, two city officials, a city employee, three of whom are members of the pension board, and two additional members who after six months in formation of said task force have yet to be named.

He said five of the seven are part of the present problem and it is is unreasonable to expect that they can be the solution. It's by definition Mr. Jones' job as comptroller and role as a trustee. If he had the expertise, one... anyone... everyone... would reasonably expect he would have already done it, Stump wrote.

He said Jones embarrassed himself, by not already having a five-year-plan in place as "...most cities do."

He said New Haven desperately needs MARB ... to address and resolve its structural deficit.

City spokesman Laurence Grotheer responded to Stumps remarks on the MARB. He said surrendering financial controls to it that board would not be in the citys best interest.

First, New Havens financial circumstance, while challenging, is not dire and likely wouldnt qualify the city for MARB oversight, which was meant to be the absolute last resort for municipalities. Beyond that, state funding for the MARB is completely spent, so theres no relief available in that very literal sense. Perhaps most importantly, Mayor Harp and Controller Jones believe the most qualified people to address New Havens financial circumstance are the residents of New Haven and their elected officials, rather than a group of disassociated people from faraway parts of the state; they respectfully disagree with Mr. Stump on that poin, Grotheer wrote.

mary.oleary@hearstmediact.com; 203-641-2577Photo: CTV News

Climate change protesters shut down Victoria's Johnson Street Bridge Monday evening.

More than 200 people marched onto the bridge during the evening commute, CTV News reports.

The protesters said mankind has just 12 years to reverse the climate crisis before it is irreversible.

Police monitored the event, which coincided with the annual UN Climate Change conference, being held in Poland.

 with files from CTV Vancouver islandWEST HAVEN  About 80 people gathered in the West Haven Veterans Museum & Learning Center Sunday to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Germans sinking of the HMT Rohna, claiming the lives of 1,138 people, including 1,115 U.S. servicemen.

In particular, local residents joined by members of the national Rohna Survivors Memorial Association paid tribute to three young West Haven men who grew up together, entered the Army together and died together on the Rohna on Nov. 26, 1943.

The names of the late Pfc. John T. Cox, Pfc. Pasquale J. Logiodice and Pfc. Pacifico Migliore were enshrined on the museums Wall of Honor.

At the time it took place, the loss of the Rohna  one of the first known uses of what at the time was the Nazis new secret weapon, radio-guided glide bombs  represented the greatest single at-sea loss of life in U.S. history.

In overall loss of life in World War II, it was second only to the 1,177 sailors lost on the USS Arizona, who were among the 2,403 U.S. citizens killed in the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

The sinking of the Rohna, a 461-foot British transport ship off the coast of Algeria, was quickly classified by both the British and U.S. governments for many years

Despite the huge loss of life, for years, many relatives of those lost on the Rhona werent even told how they died  and generations of kids grew up knowing only that their father or uncle or other relative was lost in the war.

Organizers, city officials, members of the Rohna Survivors Memorial Association and local veterans were joined by the West Haven Police Department Honor Guard, author Catherine Ladnier of Greenwich, who has written a play about the Rohna based on letters that her survivor uncle sent to her aunt.

They also were joined by four West Haven High School students  Dan Gallipoli, Austin Greenwood, Wilson Valois and Lauren Panza  who played the parts of the three young men, plus a narrator, and followed their travels from enlisting in New Haven to going up to Fort Devens, Mass., to training in Tennessee and Alabama, then on to Virginia and overseas to North Africa.

mark.zaretsky@hearstmediact.comPhoto: CTV News

A rally in oil prices after a two-month slide indicates traders are betting that OPEC and its allies including Russia will agree to produce less crude.

Representatives of oil-producing nations will hold a highly anticipated meeting Thursday in Vienna, with analysts predicting that they will agree on a cut of at least 1 million barrels a day in an effort to bolster prices.

Russian President Vladimir Putin boosted expectations for a deal when he said at the G20 summit over last weekend that Russia and Saudi Arabia have agreed to extend an attempt by OPEC to balance oil supply and demand  although he provided no figures.

Crude prices began falling in October and continued to plunge last month due to oversupply and fears that weaker global economic growth would dampen energy demand. The price of both benchmark U.S. crude and the standard for internationally traded oil fell 22 per cent in November.

On Monday, however, West Texas intermediate rose $2.02, or 4 per cent, to settle at $52.95 a barrel, and Brent international crude climbed $2.23, or nearly 4 per cent, to close at $61.69 a barrel in London.

Analysts attribute the turnaround to a truce in the escalating trade dispute between the United States and China. That has raised hopes that, with a cessation in further tit-for-tat tariffs, short-term economic growth and energy demand might be stronger than feared.

Also, the Alberta premier announced that the Canadian province will trim production by 8.7 per cent because a shortage of pipeline capacity has caused a glut of Canadian crude. Canada is the largest source of oil imported by the U.S.

Finally, the small but wealthy Persian Gulf nation of Qatar said Monday that it will leave OPEC in January. Qatar has been feuding with Saudi Arabia and three other Arab nations that accuse it of financing terrorism.Johnny Bobbitt, the formerly homeless man at the center of an alleged scheme to defraud GoFundMe donors from hundreds of thousands of dollars, is set to return to New Jersey to face charges there.

But first, he had to clear up an outstanding municipal court matter in Philadelphia: a violation of probation hearing on drug charges.

Judge Wendy Pew sentenced Bobbitt to a new 12-month probation term, and Bobbitt must comply with the drug treatment recommended by a probation officer, a court staffer said Monday.

Those cases were holding Bobbitt in Philadelphia even after he waived his right to an extradition hearing last week. Court staff did not know when hed be sent to New Jersey. A city prisons spokesperson said Bobbitt could be sent to New Jersey this week. The prisons had not yet received an extradition order as of Monday.

According to Philly.com, Bobbitt had found housing near Frankford Avenue in the citys Fishtown neighborhood before he was taken to jail.

Also charged in the alleged scam are Mark DAmico and Kate McClure, a former couple who until a few months ago lived together in Florence, Burlington County. Both were not detained on the GoFundMe theft charges. DAmico has been fighting a charge from McClures grandmother that he was trespassing at the Florence home on Cedar Lane Extension. His next appearance in that case is scheduled for Dec. 17 in the townships municipal court.

Donors to the GoFundMe campaign have since received refunds.

Joe Brandt can be reached at jbrandt@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JBrandt_NJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tipsA man will serve more than three years in federal prison after he admitted to selling at least 100 handguns, including some to Camden drug dealers.

FrNeil Philly Hickson, 38, was sentenced to 40 months in prison on Monday, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced in a news release.

In his guilty plea, Hickson said that between Dec. 2009 and April 2013, he got handguns from outside New Jersey and sold them in the state. Hickson got most of the guns from Joshua Jackson, of Willingboro, who also went by Apple and Trent.

Jackson got most of his guns at gun shows from unlicensed sellers who didnt perform background checks. He also recruited straw purchasers in Ohio who would deliver the guns to New Jersey.

Both Hickson and Jackson sold guns to Terrance Laboo, who dealt cocaine and PCP near 4th and Chestnut streets in Camden. Hickson and Laboo sold or otherwise helped drug dealers and felons in the city and nearby buy those guns, Carpenito said.

An ATF investigation concluded the men sold about 300 guns altogether. Hickson said in court that some of the weapons had been modified to have extended magazines.

Jackson is serving time after he was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison for illegal gun sales. In his case, federal prosecutors said Jackson often brought the guns into New Jersey in a rental car. Other times, a Greyhound bus would arrive in Philadelphia or Mount Laurel, carrying one of Jacksons associates with the guns in their duffel bag.

Laboo was sentenced to six years in federal prison after a plea to the gun trafficking charges.

Hickson has been in federal custody since he was arrested in Atlanta, Georgia on April 29, 2014. He served four years in prison there after admitting to illegal possession of 12 guns. He stayed there before receiving Mondays sentence from U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler in Camden.

Hickson was also sentenced to three years of supervised release.

Joe Brandt can be reached at jbrandt@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JBrandt_NJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tipsThe audience is cheering. A group of Princeton University students in blazers is singing a cappella. And a woman pulled up on stage has to make a decision: allow a man from the audience to kiss her, or kindly reject the entire premise of the song after a three-minute build up to a smooch.

For years, this has been the typical scene at the end of each rendition of Kiss the Girl, a song from Disneys The Little Mermaid performed by Princetons all-male a cappella group, Tigertones.

The songs prodding lyrics followed by an impromptu peck on the lips or cheek might have seemed harmless once upon a time. But this is 2018, and its not happening anymore.

The singing group, informally known as The Tones, is pulling the song from its act following a student newspaper column that suggested the songs lyrics, combined with a potentially awkward or unwanted kiss, promote toxic masculinity.

We sincerely apologize to any of our past participants and audience members for whom our performance of this song was uncomfortable or offensive, Princeton senior Wesley Brown, the groups president, wrote in a response published in The Daily Princetonian.

The controversy comes amid a national discussion over the meaning of consent and the role media and popular culture play in shaping mens perception of it. In a time when Baby, Its Cold Outside" is being banned from the radio, music and movies, yes, even Disney songs, are facing fresh scrutiny from a generation that wasnt even born when the mermaid Ariel first graced the screen.

To Noa Wollstein, the woman whose column forced change, the songs message is misogynistic. And, put simply, too many women have been pulled on stage for an unwanted encounter, she wrote.

I have seen a queer student brought on stage have to uncomfortably push away her forced male companion, Wollstein, a sophomore from New York, wrote. I have heard of unwilling girls being subjected to their first kisses. I have watched mothers, who have come to see their childs performance, be pulled up to the stage only to have tension generated between them and the kid they came to support.

The song was written for Disneys 1989 movie Little Mermaid and has been covered several times, including by Disney star Ashley Tisdale. In the movie, the lyrics are sung by Sebastian the crab as he encourages Prince Eric to kiss Ariel, who cant talk because she traded her voice in order to become human for him.

My oh my/ Look like the boy too shy/ Aint gonna kiss the girl, the crab sings with help from other creatures. Aint that sad?/ Aint it a shame?/ Too bad/ He gonna miss the girl.

Other lyrics include: Dont be scared/ You got the mood prepared/ Go on and kiss the girl.

The suggestion? By not using aggressive physical action, Eric is weak  an irrefutable scaredy-cat, Wollstein wrote. And thats offensive and even when sung by an animated crab, let alone a group of men at Princeton, she wrote.

Removed from its cushioning context of mermaids, magic, and PG ratings, the message comes across as even more jarring, Wollstein wrote, adding the lyrics unambiguously encourage men to make physical advances on women without obtaining their clear consent."

Wollsteins criticism isnt the first of the Tigertones' performance of the song and reflects internal conversations among the singing group, Brown wrote in his response. The group has taken steps to try to make audience participation voluntary and consensual, he added, but did not provide specific examples.

Brown, who did not respond to a request for comment, wrote the group had tried to bring a lighthearted, youthful energy to its performance of the song but failed to ensure comfort for audience members brought on stage.

Performances of this song have made participants uncomfortable and offended audience members, an outcome which is antithetical to our groups mission and one that we deeply regret, he wrote.

Since its founding in 1946, Tigertones has has toured the globe, been featured in national magazines, performed at the White House in front of the Obamas and mentioned in the television series Mad Men.

Several YouTube videos of the group singing Kiss the Girl end with a similar scene. After some playful dancing, the man and woman from the audience are front and center when its announced: they are going to kiss each other.

Those performances ended with peck on the lips or cheek.

The group will stop performing the song until it can find a way to do so without offending anyone in the audience, Brown said.

Adam Clark may be reached at adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on twitter at @realAdamClark. Find NJ.com on Facebook.NORTH BERGEN  The man who was behind the wheel of a car that collided with a tractor-trailer in September, killing his passenger, was charged with death by auto on Monday, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez announced.

Daniel Rodriguez, 19, of North Bergen turned himself in to the Hudson County Prosecutors Office in Jersey City on Monday where he was charged with the second-degree offense, Suarez said.

Authorities said an investigation revealed that Rodriguez was driving a 2013 Infiniti at an excessive rate of speed when he collided with the tractor-trailer at approximately 9:40 p.m. on Sept. 20 as the truck was pulling out of 4700 West Side Ave. The crash claimed the life of William David, 36, also of North Bergen, who was a passenger in Rodriguezs Infiniti.

The driver of the tractor-trailer was not injured in the collision and remained at the scene, authorities said.

Eighteen fatal crashes have killed 19 people so far this year in Hudson County, while 519 people have been killed in crashes throughout the state.

Rodriguez will make his first court appearance on the charge Tuesday at 1 p.m. in Criminal Justice Reform Court in Jersey City. If convicted, he would face five to 10 years in state prison.A man was shot late Monday night and police are investigating not only who shot him, but where it occurred, police said in radio transmissions.

A Jersey City spokeswoman said a shots-fired incident occurred on Grant Avenue near Bergen Avenue at 11:50 a.m. Tuesday. And according to radio transmissions, police found a vehicle on Wegman Parkway, seven blocks away, with a broken window and a bullet hole in the passenger seat.

The shooting victim, who was located around the corner from the car, was taken to RWJBarnabas Healths Jersey City Medical Center, according to police radio transmissions.

He was listed in stable condition with a flesh wound. Jersey City officials did not respond to a request for more information.Increased vehicle value likely in 2022 Click Image to Enlarge Crittenden County Clerk Daryl Tabor is providing consumer tips to help the community. There are a number of transacti...

Law enforcement working two accidents While Crittenden County law enforcement officers were on the scene of a minor traffic accident on U.S. 60 West, city officers were dispatche...

New 55mph signs going up on I-24 Motorists and truckers traveling Interstate 24 westbound in the immediate Paducah area should be alert for a Kentucky Transportation Cabine...

Check your health during National Diabetes Month Click Image to Enlarge It is always a good time to take a close examination of your health, but November is set aside to bring awareness to ...Photo: Contributed

The attorneys general of the District of Columbia and Maryland said they are moving forward with subpoenas for records in their case accusing President Donald Trump of profiting off the presidency.

U.S. District Court Judge Peter J. Messitte approved the legal discovery schedule in an order Monday. Such information would likely provide the first clear picture of the finances of Trump's Washington, D.C., hotel.

Trump's Justice Department lawyers filed a notice to the court Friday that appeared to challenge the Maryland judge's decision to allow the case to move forward. The president's notice that he may seek a writ of mandamus  to have the appeal heard by a higher court  is considered an "extraordinary remedy" that's hard to prove and partly rests on showing Messitte's decisions to be clearly wrong.

The Justice Department declined to comment.

"We've got the discovery ready to go," said Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh. "Their objective at this point is just to keep the doors shut, they don't want any of this information out in public and they don't want our case to move forward. So they're going to be obstructing as much as they can."

District of Columbia Attorney General Karl A. Racine said in a statement that the subpoenas would go out to third-party organizations and federal agencies "to gather the necessary evidence to prove that President Trump is violating the Constitution's emoluments clauses  our nation's original anti-corruption laws."

Trump has been fighting multiple lawsuits that argue foreign representatives' spending money at the Trump International Hotel are violations of the Constitution's emoluments clause, which bans federal officials from accepting benefits from foreign or state governments without congressional approval.

A clue as to what entities may receive subpoenas may can be found in preservation subpoenas filed more than a year ago with 23 Trump-related entities, including The Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, The Trump Organization, the Mar-a-Lago Club Inc. and entities related to his D.C. hotel and its management, among others.Mussab Ali, the 21-year-old college student who last year become the youngest person elected to the Jersey City school board, has been accepted into a prestigious master's degree program at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Ali was one of 147 people chosen for the Schwarzman Scholars program, out of over 2,800 applicants. Ali, who studies biology and economics at Rutgers University-Newark, was re-elected to a second term on the nine-member school board in November.

He does not plan to step down from the board, he told The Jersey Journal. Ali will start his second term in January, one that will expire in 2021. The new group of Schwarzman Scholars will enroll in August 2019.

"This is an amazing, once in a lifetime educational opportunity that will be structured in a way that will allow me to fulfill my duties and obligations as a board member while also interacting with international leaders in policy and education," he said in a text.

Ali became a Truman Scholar in 2017, earning him a $30,000 scholarship.

The Schwarzman Scholar program, funded by Blackstone Group chair and co-founder Stephen A. Schwarzman, is modeled after the Rhodes scholarship. The program began in 2016 with a group of 111 students. Its graduates receive a master's degree in global affairs at the completion of the one-year program.

In 2015 Ali graduated from McNair Academic High School here in Jersey City. Another new Schwarzman Scholar is Varun Sharma, the valedictorian of that class. Sharma, 21, studies commerce and international economics at the University of Virginia.

"It's a blessing and I'm really, really excited to go," Sharma told The Jersey Journal. "China has been a big part of my life for a while."

Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.UPDATE: Designated driver in crash of TCNJ students has died

Police have charged a 22-year-old man with assault by vehicle in a crash early Sunday morning in Ewing that seriously injured him and seven others, five of them students at The College of New Jersey.

Investigators determined David Lamar V, 22, had been impaired when the 2018 Kia Optima he was driving on Pennington Road crossed the center line around 2 a.m. and collided with a 2007 Dodge Charger carrying the TCNJ students, Ewing police said.

Lamar, of West Windsor, has been charged with seven second-degree counts of assault by auto and numerous motor vehicle violations. It was unclear Monday evening whether he had an attorney who could comment on the charges.

The other driver was 20-year-old Michael Sot, who was being a responsible designated driver and making sure his friends got home safe, according to a GoFundMe set up to help pay for his medical bills and recovery.

Firefighters arriving at the scene of the crash, in front of 1817 Pennington Road found numerous passengers trapped inside the cars, police said. Once freed from the wreckage, three of the injured were taken to St. Marys Hospital in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, and the other five to Capital Health Regional Medical Center in Trenton.

Three of the passengers remained in critical condition as of Monday, according to police, who provided only the ages of those hospitalized. Three others were listed in stable condition, while the remaining two had been treated and released from the hospital.

College officials, in an email to the campus community Sunday, identified the injured students as:

Danielle DeFlores, 21, an open options major from Brick

Matthew DeGenova, 21, an accounting major from Wall Township

Anthony Galante, 19, a finance major from North Bellmore, New York

Ryan Moore, 21, a marketing major from Midland Park

And Sot, a math major from Clark, who drove the other vehicle.

Authorities have not publicly identified the two remaining passengers, one in each vehicle.

As of just after 5:20 p.m. Monday, a GoFundMe campaign for the injured students had raised $59,614 toward a goal of $80,000. Individual GoFundMe pages have been started for DeFlores, Sot, Moore and Galante.

Police said the crash remains under investigation by the Mercer County Prosecutors Office and the police departments traffic bureau. Authorities have urged anyone with information to call the police department at 609-882-1313.

Thomas Moriarty may be reached at tmoriarty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ThomasDMoriarty. Find NJ.com on Facebook.Paul Caneiro, who is charged with killing his brother and his brothers family last month at their Colts Neck estate, most likely wont go to trial until 2020, the Monmouth County prosecutor said Tuesday.

Unfortunately, the wheels of justice do grind slow, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni said during an interview on NJ101.5.

Gramiccioni did not offer any additional details on his offices investigation of Paul Caneiro, 51, of Ocean Township. Caneiro is accused of killing his brother, Keith Caneiro, 50, Keiths wife, Jennifer, 45, and the couples two young children, before setting their Colts Neck home on fire in the early morning hours on Nov. 20.

Caneiros attorneys maintain their client is innocent and loves his family.

Gramiccioni did, however, outline the timeline of the court case.

Last week, Caneiro waved his right to a detention hearing and will remain in the Monmouth County jail pending the outcome of his case.

In 2017, New Jersey scrapped its cash bail system and replaced it with a system that not only dropped monetary bail but also places deadlines on certain steps of a criminal case.

Caneiros case will now be presented to a grand jury, which is tasked with determining if theres enough probable cause to return an indictment. An indictment, a formal document containing the defendants charges, has to be returned within 90 days.

Once the indictment is handed down, the case gets assigned to a criminal judge in Monmouth County Superior Court. It has to go to trial within 270 days.

Thats in a perfect world, Gramiccioni said.

However, as the prosecutor noted in his interview, there are other pre-trial motions that can extend the timeline. For example, if the defense wants to challenge a piece of the states evidence or a witness report, a hearing is held and a judge will issue a ruling.

Court guidelines also require the state and defense attorneys to have discussion on possible plea deals. If the two sides agree to a plea deal, that could put an end to the case prior to the 270-day limit.

In his interview, Gramiccioni also commended his team of detectives, along with the state and federal partners, for their work on the case.

I told my folks and the team that was on this that this was their finest hour, he said. You can never truly prepare for something like this.  Those guys and girls are professionals. Its difficult and Im very proud of our team.

Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tipsA former New Jersey doctor was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison for writing phony prescriptions to supply tens of thousands of oxycodone pills to a drug ring.

George Beecher, 78, of New Providence, will remain free as he appeals his conviction, the New Jersey Attorney Generals Office said in a statement. Judge Benjamin S. Bucca Jr. made that allowance over the states objection.

Beecher pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and distribution of a controlled dangerous substance in September.

Doctors like Beecher who prescribe opioids for illegal distribution are at least as culpable as the drug dealers they supply, because they use their licenses not to heal, but to inflict incalculable harm, said Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said in a statement.

The Warren Township, Somerset County-based ear, nose and throat specialist wrote hundreds of fake prescriptions over the course of two-and-a half years.

Authorities said he supplied tens of thousands of the highly addictive opioid painkillers to patients he never examined, treated, or even met.

All seven ring members charged in December 2015 have since pleaded guilty. George Sara, 40, of Bordentown was sentenced to five years in prison for buying the oxycodone in bulk to sell.

Andrew Stoveken, 68, of Edison, is set to be sentenced Dec. 15. Stoveken, who pleaded guilty in August, shared an office with Beecher and acted as a middleman between Beecher and the drug ring. Five others who pleaded guilty either have been sentenced to drug court probation or are awaiting determination of their drug court applications

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.A former longtime employee at the Wanaque Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Passaic County said they were frequently short-handed and keeping the beds filled at the nursing home was a major priority  even when patients needed hospital care.

Sherry McGhie, who worked as a certified nursing assistant for 27 years at Wanaque, also told a Senate committee investigating the fatal outbreak in Wanaques pediatric wing, that conditions would remarkably improve when managers knew state inspectors were on their way.

During inspection season, there are more staff and supplies, and even management comes out and lends a helping hand, McGhie told the state Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee at the Statehouse in Trenton on Monday.

Sometimes it feels like we are putting on a show. In fact, one of the first things that happens when a state inspector enters the building is a message sent over the intercom saying, so-and-so, dial extension 100, said McGhie, a member of 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers. Extension 100 is the code word for the state is here, its show time. "

5 kids were dead. Yet no one told N.J. health commissioner for nearly 2 weeks

Past employees, union representatives and a lawyer representing six of the families affected by the adenovirus outbreak took part in the nearly three-hour hearing that was held to discuss how 35 children became infected and 11 died.

McGhie, who left Wanaque in September, echoed many of the same sentiments of two workers told NJ Advance Media last month about how managers delayed sending children spiking high fevers to a hospital, out of concern that transfers would immediately stop the Medicaid funding. McGhie testified that in her experience working in both the pediatric and geriatric unit that the preference of management was to keep the patients in the nursing home and not send them out to the hospital.

Wanaque representatives did not attend the hearing. The administrator, Rowena Bautista, sent a letter to the committee refuting allegations that financial interests were put ahead of taking care of the medically fragile children in the facility care.

We recognize that your hearing on Monday would have afforded us the opportunity to describe to you and the public the extraordinary compassion and dedication of our staff. We would have been particularly grateful to address and dispel allegations to the contrary that have swirled in the press, especially that a financial motive would ever take precedence over the judgment of our medical professionals, Bautista said. Those suggestions are categorically false.

Deborah White, president of Health Professionals and Allied Employees, another union at Wanaque, said she believed the staffing shortages and a lack of consistent training played a role in the spread of the virus.

State Sen. Joseph Vitale, D-Middlesex, the committee chairman, challenged her testimony, however. He read from an inspection report documenting how employees didnt consistently wash their hands or change their gloves.

You would think RNs (registered nurses) would know what to do and what not to do, Vitale said, adding there was no excuse for the violations.

White replied: I have been a nurse for 35 years. We can look at the individual failures or we can look at the system, and submit to -- the staffing (problem) is enormous.

Vitale said he would wait for state Health Commissioner Shereef Elnahal and the health department to complete an examination about the outbreak until he would make recommendations to improve how health care facilities ought to respond in the future.A 51-year-old pilot from New Jersey and his passenger died after his plane crashed into a therapy center for autistic children in Florida on Saturday, according to a report.

Family members told ABC that Eladio Marquez, a flight instructor from Rahway who owned the plane, a Cessna 335, which is registered in New Jersey, died in the crash.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it could not release the registration number of the plane Monday night, but Marquez does own a Cessna 335, according to public records.

The Fort Lauderdale Police could not be reached for comment Monday night, and all inquiries about the pilot and his passengers IDs were directed to them.

A Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue Department spokesman, told WPLG-TV that eight teachers and five children were in the building when the plane crashed and that one of the teachers suffered minor injuries as she helped children from the building. No other injuries to any staff or children were reported.

The National Transportation Safety Board was investigating the crash Monday night.

The Associated Press contributed to this story

Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrsheldon Find NJ.com on Facebook.If there are some vacant billboards around Atlantic City, former mayor Don Guardian should lease them, plaster his photograph on them, and add the question "Miss me yet?"

If casino city residents and A.C. movers and shakers who live elsewhere in South Jersey weren't nervous when current Mayor Frank Gilliam got into a fist fight outside the Golden Nugget last month, confirmation that the FBI raided Gilliam's house Monday morning ought to make them queasy. City voters who ousted Guardian after one term, in favor of Gilliam, might soon regret their choice.

The FBI offered no reason for executing its search warrant Monday, so it's premature to conclude that criminal charges against the mayor will follow. Prosecutors declined to file charges against Gilliam and Atlantic City Councilman Jeffree Fauntleroy after the Nov. 11 Golden Nugget fracas, in which Fauntleroy was also involved.

Nonetheless, Gilliam's 11 months in office threaten to damage a city that must do all it can to inspire faith from Wall Street bond rating houses, private investors and guests worried about public safety that things are OK.

Financial sloppiness led the state to take over Atlantic City's budget 2016, in an effort to avoid bankruptcy. A.C. also been has been fighting a bipartisan reputation of public corruption dating back a century to Enoch "Nucky" Johnson's time as Republican political boss and Atlantic County sheriff.

The city committee for Gilliam's own party, the Democrats, wanted Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver to suspend Gilliam and Fauntleroy from their posts without pay after last month's fight was disclosed. How's that for a vote of confidence? (Oliver, who also serves as state director of community affairs, declined to sideline the pair.)

The point is that recent headlines about Gilliam and his administration could bring back worst-case stereotypes about Atlantic City, at time when the countervailing forces of casino reopenings and office building ribbon-cuttings are starting to win the day.

Say what you will about Guardian's strange push-back against the state financial takeover even as the city continued to make loopy, unsustainable fiscal decisions. The guy presented the image of being in charge of a place that was moving forward.

Oddly, most Atlantic City voters who picked Gilliam over Guardian in 2017 would likely say they did so because Guardian was too compliant with state takeover demands, once it was clear that his rants ("facist dictatorship," etc.) would not help him obtain a bailout on the city's own terms. Ironically, the new questions surrounding Gilliam and his administration will probably lengthen the time that Trenton keeps its heavy hand on Atlantic City. A few months ago, Oliver and Gov. Phil Murphy appeared ready to ease up. They've got to think that doing so now, before all the new dust settles, would be irresponsible.

Ex-mayor Guardian has settled into his new $175,000 job as Toms River Township's business administrator. He's probably not looking back. But Gilliam, his appointees and the city council could use a large dose of the enthusiasm that Guardian projected when he was Atlantic City's mayor.

If there's smoke, but no fire, where FBI agents tread, and the trading of body blows is no big deal, these are just distractions that city officials should not allow to overwhelm the positive momentum that was Atlantic City's dominant story in 2018.

On the other hand, if the storm clouds are genuine, the city again needs new leadership that can prove to all that it can stay out of trouble while trying to turn the corner as a recreational destination and a stable place to live and work.

Send a letter to the editor of South Jersey Times at sjletters@njadvancemedia.com

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.It is a fact, though one known only within my immediate family, that George H.W. Bush owes his life to my father's marksmanship.

In World War II, my father was a Marine stationed on a cruiser. During a battle known as "the Marianas Turkey Shoot," he was credited with downing a dive bomber that was headed for the aircraft carrier on which Bush was sitting in his own dive bomber awaiting takeoff.

My dad was in Officer Candidate School when the war ended. But instead of continuing in the Corps, he returned to civilian life. The reason, he said, was that he'd heard that the U.S. was going to become "the policeman of the world."

He died in the prior century and was thus spared the spectacle of seeing that prediction come true. But it might not have if the first President Bush had followed his own instincts rather than the listening to the Washington foreign-policy establishment.

Those instincts were quite sound, as the example of Bush's so-called "Chicken Kiev" speech in 1991 shows.

That label was pinned on the speech by the late New York Times columnist William Safire, perhaps the archetypical "neo" conservative. Safire accused Bush of being insufficiently bellicose in his advice to the Ukrainians during the break-up of the old Soviet Union.

But in retrospect, Bush was amazingly prescient when he warned the Kiev government against what he termed a "suicidal nationalism" that would lead to border wars if they broke off from Russia.

He got that right. If only he'd been as prescient about Iraq.

There, Bush started out in 1990 with the straightforward goal of reversing Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait.

That went well, but what next?

Bush encouraged the Iraqi people to rise up against Saddam, but among those rising up were Shia who paraded with posters of Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini.

Bush didn't want to see the majority Shia take over and turn Iraq into a client state of Iran. Instead he wanted a "Saddam Lite," a dissident general who might stage a coup against Saddam.

There were no such generals, said a former CIA agent who spent several years in Iraq after the war looking for one.

"The 'Saddam Lite' theory was fine on paper but the generals were too terrified of him," said Bob Baer, who wrote the book "See No Evil" based on his adventures in Iraq. "There was no endgame to deal with Saddam."

Baer said the problem was simple: "Saddam didn't think the war was over."

Bush's solution was to station U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia to protect against the Iraqis.

"That was a dumb idea, leaving troops in Saudi Arabia," said Baer. "We could have had just a mobile force."

But we didn't. And the presence of U.S. troops on Saudi turf led Osama bin Laden to blow up the World Trade Center.

That in turn led to wars that have cost the U.S. $5.9 trillion and the countries in which they were fought 500,000 lives, according to a Brown University study.

All of this followed out of the original Bush's well-meaning but ultimately disastrous adoption of the "neo" conservative view of foreign affairs.

That was the idea that, as he said in 1992, "What makes us Americans is not our ties to a piece of territory or bonds of blood. What makes us Americans is our allegiance to an idea that all people everywhere must be free."

That may have been a great sound bite back when the Soviet Union was dominating Eastern Europe. But when applied to the Mideast in the post-Cold War era, it was a recipe for disaster.

There, freedom is a zero-sum game. One man's freedom is another man's captivity.

That meant the policeman of the world had to do what cops hate most: Intervene in a domestic dispute.

That's been the story of our Mideast policy. The Beltway Republicans should have realized that back in 1992, when genuine conservative Pat Buchanan made a good run at Bush by challenging him on his intervention in Iraq.

Buchanan was attacked as an isolationist at the time. But we now know that the Beltway definition of "isolationist" encompasses anyone who objects to any intervention anywhere.

We saw that when Donald Trump was termed an isolationist in the 2016 primary after he criticized Bush 43's conduct of the Iraq War. His opponent, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, responded by terming that war "a pretty good deal."

Maybe my dad and George H.W. can debate that in heaven.

I suspect my father would come out first in that turkey shoot as well.

PLUS: Richard Viguerie points out that Bush was no conservative and did plenty to reverse the Ronald Reagan legacy:

"George H.W. Bush, running for the third term of Ronald Reagan would handily win the 1988 election, but that line, 'Read my lips: no new taxes,' and George H.W. Bush's lack of commitment to the principles behind it, would be the rock upon which his presidency would founder."

After the debacle that was his son's presidency, we should make that "Read my lips: No new Texans."

Paul Mulshine may be reached at pmulshine@starledger.com. Follow him on Twitter @Mulshine. Find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.

Comments: The comments are becoming repetitive and many are off-topic. I'm closing them off for a bit to let readers do a bit of research into the issue.It was on Black Friday that the Trump Administration published a dire climate report, which warned that the planet's warming will imperil our health, affect every region of the country, and take a massive toll on the national economy if we don't wean ourselves off fossil fuels, and soon.

So in keeping with his mission to risk anything in order to give oil and gas companies another sloppy kiss, the president used the latest Friday news dump to announce that we're back in the offshore drilling game in New Jersey and throughout the Atlantic coast, with gusto.

This might ordinarily cause a national outbreak of cognitive dissonance, but it's hard to be surprised by Trump's reckless stewardship of his Twitter feed, much less the environment.

The only comfort is that he will face formidable opposition from a Democratic majority in the House, notably from an Energy and Commerce Committee chaired by Rep. Frank Pallone (D-6th Dist.), who will lead a rally on the Asbury Park boardwalk Tuesday morning at 10:30.

The rally is the latest in a series of reminders that drilling off our shore is a non-negotiable. Our 130-mile coastline is an economic powerhouse: It generates $44 billion a year in tourism revenue, our commercial fishing industry generates another $8 billion, and the shore supports roughly 10 percent of our state's workforce, directly or indirectly. It is also home to $700 billion in coastal properties.

An oil spill would endanger all of that. Even NASA and the Pentagon agree that it's dangerous and short-sighted.

Regardless, the Trump administration got the drilling process going Friday by authorizing five oil companies to conduct seismic airgun testing that could start in April.

These deafening seismic surveys will take place between Delaware and Florida, but our state will not be immune to their impacts.

These tests involve the use of airgun blasts to search the ocean floor for fossil fuel deposits. The noise can reach 260 decibels and travel 2,500 miles. Douglas Nowacek, a Duke University expert on the impact of noise on ocean life, told Congress that it is akin to being at "the epicenter of a grenade blast, and would easily cause the rupture of the human eardrum."

So even before they get to drill, there could be devastating effects on marine life. The National Resources Defense Council believes that the seismic activity might drive the North American right whale - whose population has fallen to 400 - to extinction. The feds reply that if any harm is deemed "unintentional," the operators won't be penalized. They haven't explained how they'll determine whether species are being "unintentionally" harmed as they try to migrate or breed across a 2,500-mile perimeter, however.

It's all a reminder that federal waters along the Atlantic have been closed to oil drilling for nearly four decades for good reason.

It should also make New Jerseyans wonder why this state is so often a target for Trump's smash-mouth governance. He has shown a sadistic joy in punishing blue states; in our case, he's given us a tax plan that reduced our SALT deduction, he has refused to help fund the Gateway Project, and he tried to slash funding for states that expanded Medicaid in his Obamacare repeal bill.

That isn't exactly showing gratitude to a state that is crucial to the national economy, one that gives far more than it gets. New Jersey is the fourth least-dependent state for federal funding, according to WalletHub, the consumer website. Trump probably hasn't noticed. Nor has he noticed that 10 of the top 11 moochers are red states.

Perhaps the president believes Oklahoma and Kansas can carry the national economy. But he needs to be reminded, again, that coastal states rely on clean shorelines for their economic viability. That cannot be compromised, and it must not be sold out for oil interests without a brawl.

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.WASHINGTON -- Bruce Springsteen tried to help Hillary Clinton defeat Donald Trump in 2016. Now he worries no one can defeat the president the next time.

I dont see anyone out there at the moment  the man who can beat Trump, or the woman who can beat Trump, Springsteen told the Sunday Times of London. You need someone who can speak some of the same language  and the Democrats dont have an obvious, effective presidential candidate.

Springsteen performed at a get-out-the-vote rally in Philadelphia the night before Trump shocked the world and won the presidential race, in part by appealing to working-class Americans worried about how their county is changing.

A lot of whats going on has been a large group of people frightened by the changing face of the nation, Springsteen told Esquire magazine in a separate interview. There seems to be an awful lot of fear."

"The founding fathers were pretty good at confronting their fears and the fears of the country. And its the old cliche where geniuses built the system so an idiot could run it. We are completely testing that theory at this very moment. I do believe well survive Trump. But I dont know if I see a unifying figure on the horizon. That worries me.

Trump, Springsteen said, has no interest in uniting the country, really, and actually has an interest in doing the opposite and dividing us, which he does on an almost daily basis. So thats simply a crime against humanity, as far as Im concerned. Its an awful, awful message to send out into the world if youre in that job and in that position.

He said the president has no idea how to help those blue-collar Americans who supported him.

I havent seen hes somebody with answers, Springsteen said. "Hes kept to a pretty conventional path. You know, tax cuts for the better off.

"I dont know if there is a way to really bring those jobs back and I think thats whats causing so much anxiety to so many Americans, he said.

Trump spoke to those Americans in 2016, Springsteen said.

Springsteen talked his fathers experience to illustrate how he understood for frustrations of Trump voters.

My father worked as a 16-year-old floor boy in the rug mill, then went off to war," Springsteen told the Times. "When he came home, they shut the rug mill down, and he went to work on the Ford Motor plant line in New Brunswick. He worked in the Nescafe plant in Freehold. Worked in the plastics factory in town, he was a truck driver, a bus driver, drove a taxi.

Even as Republicans picked up Senate seats Nov. 6, Democrats used dissatisfaction with Trump to take back control of the House.

Yeah, it was nice to get the House back, but Id like to have seen a much more full-throated [rejection] of the past two years, he said. The country is very divided right now  there are a lot of people drinking the snake oil. So its a very difficult time here in the states.

Besides Clinton, Springsteen put his talents to work on behalf of Barack Obama, who awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in November 2016. He said he didnt know if he would do the same for the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee.

I dont know precisely what Im going to do this time, but I tend to think the more you make yourself available, perhaps the less weight your word carries, he said.

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.Photo: The Canadian Press Family members and others watch as the flag-draped of former President George H.W. Bush is carried by a joint services military honor guard to lie in state in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018, in Washington.

The nation's capital embraced George H.W. Bush in death with solemn ceremony and high tributes to his service and decency, as the remains of the 41st president took their place in the Capitol Rotunda for three days of mourning and praise by the political elite and everyday citizens alike.

Even before sunrise Tuesday, members of the public lined up to pay their respects as an honour guard stood watch beside Bush's casket in the cavernous Rotunda, open until Wednesday's funeral.

With Bush's casket atop the Lincoln Catafalque, first used for Abraham Lincoln's 1865 funeral, dignitaries came forward Monday to honour the Texan whose efforts for his country extended three quarters of a century from World War II through his final years as an advocate for volunteerism and relief for people displaced by natural disaster.

President from 1989 to 1993, Bush died Friday at age 94.

In an invocation opening Monday evening's ceremony, the U.S. House chaplain, the Rev. Patrick J Conroy, praised Bush's commitment to public service, from Navy pilot to congressman, U.N. ambassador, envoy to China and then CIA director before being elected vice-president and then president.

"Here lies a great man," said Rep. Paul Ryan, the House speaker, and "a gentle soul. ... His legacy is grace perfected."

Vice-President Mike Pence and Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell also spoke. President Donald Trump did not attend, but he and first lady Melania Trump came to the Capitol later Monday to pay tribute. They stood in front of the casket with their eyes closed for a few moments, before Trump saluted the casket.

Political combatants set aside their fights to honour a Republican who led in a less toxic era and at times found commonality with Democrats despite sharp policy disagreements. Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi, a past House speaker nominated for the post in the new Congress, exchanged a warm hug with George W. Bush and came away dabbing her face. Bush himself seemed to be holding back tears.When Gov. Andrew Cuomo is sworn into his third term in office as governor will he be in New York or New Jersey?

Cuomo announced Tuesday he will have his New Years Day third-term inauguration ceremony on Ellis Island. But wait, isnt most of Ellis Island considered to be inside New Jersey boundaries, leading us to say, uh, excuse me?

You see, it was 20 years ago this summer that New Jersey -- once and for all -- established sovereignty over a large part the artificial mixture of landfill and stone named Ellis Island in the so-called New York harbor.

The Dutch bequeathed Ellis Island to New Jersey in 1664, and like Cruella de Vil screaming, I want those puppies! in One Hundred and One Dalmatians, New York State has been trying to get its mitts on it ever since.

Naturally, it backfired: An 1834 bi-state agreement decided that ''New York shall retain its present jurisdiction'' over Ellis Island while New Jersey got the surrounding waters "and submerged lands.

Yeah. Nice try, bro.

Because that meant that the more than 24 acres of landfill from New Jersey added to enlarge Ellis Island from the 1890s until 1930s made all those previously-underwater parts of Ellis Island...New Jersey.

And after Gov. Christie Whitman filed suit against New York in 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed, ruling 6 to 3 that the entire landfill part of Ellis Island -- almost 90 percent of by then -- was, in fact, New Jersey, except for the Main Building, which is almost entirely -- though not totally -- in New York. Cuomo will reportedly take the oath of office in the Main Building.

On Tuesday, Whitman couldnt help but offer our trademark Jersey compliment-as-a-shiv.

If he cant find a good place in New York, we welcome him in New Jersey, said Whitman, in an interview with NJ Advance Media, chuckling at the thought.

And yet in politics, the enemy of thy enemy is thy friend. Whitman, a never-Trump Republican, also took a moment to point out the rich symbolism of the Democratic governor taking his oath of office on Ellis Island, noting it was a stark contrast to President Trumps anti-immigration policies.

On Ellis Island, there was a maternity ward, a cafeteria, schools, Whitman said, We didnt do it all perfectly, but also we didnt turn everybody away.

So while Cuomos choice of optics may mark the start to a Democrats 2020 campaign, Whitman still clearly takes some pleasure in noting it would be an anti-Trump bid that launched from New Jersey.

Because, yeah: technically, Whitman allowed, there are parts of the Ellis Island terminal immigration building that are solely New Yorks, dating back to the time of the Revolution.

It depends on where on the island where hes standing," explained Whitman. There is that one little bit that he can say is New York.' But hell have to go through New Jersey to get there."Katie Brennan, the official in Gov. Phil Murphys administration who accused a fellow former staffer of rape, told state lawmakers in dramatic testimony Tuesday that the progressive administration she hoped would protect her did nothing until her allegations threatened the governor.

I had access to the highest positions of power, and at each turn my pleas went unanswered," Brennan said at the Statehouse in Trenton. Somehow it wasnt a priority to address my sexual assault  until it impacted them.

Brennan said only after she went to the Wall Street Journal, which published her account in October, did she find some semblance of justice.

No survivor should have to tell their story to the newspaper to be heard," Brennan said.

In her 20-minute opening remarks and in the exchanges with lawmakers that followed, Brennan offered a steely and forceful testimony. She is the first person to appear before the state Legislatures special committee investigating how Murphys team handled her allegations.

Brennan recounted the days, weeks and months after she says she was raped by Albert J. Alvarez, who resigned in October as chief of staff to the New Jersey Schools Development Authority.

She began her opening statement with the hours immediately after she said she was raped, saying she could not discuss the criminal case that is under review by the Middlesex County Prosecutors Office.

Katie Brennan is sworn in during the start of the Legislative Select Oversight Committee's hearing at the Statehouse in Trenton on Tuesday.NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Previously, Brennan, 31, chief of staff to the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, told the Wall Street Journal that Alvarez raped her in April 2017 following a campaign gathering after he had driven her home in Jersey City.

Alvarez asked to use the bathroom and get a drink of water. Once inside her apartment, Brennan said, Alvarez pushed her onto the couch. He pulled off her pants and underwear, took off some of his clothes and forced himself on her. She said she kicked him off of her and locked herself in the bathroom.

First, Brennan said, she called her husband, who was abroad. The next day she said she confided in Justin Braz, the now-deputy chief of staff for legislative affairs in Murphys administration she described as a personal friend, with the understanding he would keep it private.

I needed someone who knew Mr. Alvarez to know what happened to me," she said. I knew if I wanted to continue to pursue my career in housing and government in New Jersey, continue to be involved with the Murphy campaign for governor, I would inevitably cross paths with Mr. Alvarez, who was then working as the director of Latino and Muslim outreach for the campaign. I needed support and protection."

In August 2017, Brennan joined the campaign.

As a victim of sexual assault, she said, I should not be the one to give up my career goals in favor of the career goals of my rapist."

After Murphy won the race for governor in November, Brennan said Alvarez was appointed deputy director of personnel for the transition team, responsible for hiring decisions at the same time Brennan was vying for her current position as chief of staff for the housing agency.

Brennans attorney sent Alvarez a letter requesting that he recuse himself from any role in her hiring.

On Dec. 1, 2017, Brennan said she gave Braz permission to alert Murphys transition counsel that criminal charges could be forthcoming. She said he conveyed her allegations but not her name. Asked if she feared reprisals if her name became public, Brennan said, Of course.

That day, however, the Hudson County Prosecutors Office let her know they would not be pursuing charges.

There are no words to convey the hollowness and disappointment I felt, Brennan said. They didnt think that people would believe me.

I told Mr. Braz that the criminal case was not moving forward, but now transition counsel knew that Mr. Alvarez had sexually assaulted someone. I hoped for justice in another form. It never came.

Brennan told lawmakers she lived under the constant threat of running into Alvarez, and though she was nervous to, she went to Murphys chief counsel, Matt Platkin.

I was confident the administration would help me pursue justice and would protect me in my workplace, she said. I thought that if any administration could make progressive reforms, it would be this one.

After the governors chief ethics counsel advised her the state could not take action because neither Alvarez nor Brennan were employees of state government at the time of the alleged assault, Brennan said she personally emailed Murphy and First Lady Tammy Murphy.

I sent the email to the governor because I was running out of options, she said.

Brennan asked to discuss a sensitive matter, and received a response from Murphy that he was on it. The governors office did not follow up to schedule a meeting, she said.

Shortly after her email exchange with the governor, Brennan said she had received a call from campaign attorney Jonathan Berkon. She did not mention to him what the sensitive matter was about, or even Alvarezs name.

I said nothing. He told me Mr. Alvarez was leaving the administration, Brennan said.

State Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, committee co-chairman, replied: Someone must have told him.

Two months later, learning Alvarez was still in the states employ, Brennan went to the Journal.

Prior to testifying on Tuesday, Katie Brennan holds hands with her husband, Travis Miles.NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

In a statement released after the nearly five-hour hearing, Murphy praised Brennans courage.

She is right: no one should have to go through an ordeal to have their voices heard, the governors statement said. We must stand with survivors of sexual assault, and we must start from a place of believing the accuser.

Murphy also noted he has put in motion an independent inquiry into Alvarezs hiring. And at the governors request, state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal developed new procedures law enforcement officials will use to make the system more victim-centric. They include giving sexual assault victims an opportunity to meet with prosecutors who offer plea bargains and before they decline to file criminal charges.

"I am committed to working with Attorney General Grewal and the whole of state government to ensure that New Jersey is a place where justice is the right of every person, and every person is treated with dignity and respect while seeking it, Murphys statement said.

Alvarez, through his attorney, has denied the allegations. The Hudson County Prosecutors Office declined to bring charges. But since she went public with her story in October, the state Attorney Generals Office has assigned the matter to the Middlesex County Prosecutors Office to give the evidence another look.

Brennan is the first of potentially more than a dozen witnesses New Jersey Legislative Select Oversight Committee is expected to call in the coming months. The committees aim is to examine the Murphy administrations hiring practices, and to expose weaknesses in the criminal justice system that may prevent more rape cases from being pursued.

Brennan encouraged the committee to use her experience to make changes to the criminal justice system and how victims are treated. She described a difficult encounter with the Jersey City police officer who wrote up the police report on her rape. She described the report as biased and the officer as someone who had not had much training working with survivors.

What you are doing today is huge. You are an advocate for women, state Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi, R-Bergen, who revealed she was a victim of sexual assault three decade ago. One of my biggest regrets was wondering whether other women had been assaulted," she said.

Lawmakers' criticism of how Murphys team handled Brennans allegations and their decision to hold hearings has strained the relationship between the governor and Democrats who control the Legislature.

The hearings could help shape public opinion of a rookie governor, further strain Murphys relationship with lawmakers as they try to implement legal marijuana and a $15 minimum wage, and damage his image as a champion of womens rights and ally of the #MeToo movement.

NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report.

Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @samanthamarcus.

Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio.

Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.State lawmakers investigating Katie Brennans allegations that Gov. Phil Murphys administration kept an accused rapist on as a senior staffer suggested Tuesday they may call the governor to testify.

Brennans hours-long testimony enmeshed half a dozen senior campaign, transition and administration officials who Brennan said she made aware of the allegations in the year and a half since she says she was raped by Albert J. Alvarez, who resigned in October as chief of staff to the New Jersey Schools Development Authority.

State Assemblywoman Eliana Pintor Marin and state Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, chairwomen of the special legislative committee conducting the investigation, told reporters after the hearing at the Statehouse in Trenton that they have not ruled out calling Murphy himself.

I dont think anything has been ruled out at this point," Pintor Marin, D-Essex, said in response to a question.

Weinberg, D-Bergen, said: We have not reached a conclusion of how far up this actually got."

Brennan, chief of staff to the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, testified Tuesday that she was raped in April 2017 during Murphys campaign for governor. In the months that followed, she or an intermediary told members of Murphys campaign and administration. Brennan said she sent an email to Murphy and First Lady Tammy Murphy asking to discuss a sensitive matter, though she did not offer specifics.

Phil Murphy followed up saying he was on it" but never followed up, Brennan said.

Murphy has said he did not learn about Brennans allegations until the administration was contacted by the Wall Street Journal on Oct. 2, the same day Alvarez resigned.

An attorney representing senators on the committee, Michael Critchley, said Tuesday that Alvarez has been invited to testify, as well, and he expects an answer by Wednesday.

Lawmakers praised Brennans testimony, calling her believable, articulate and poised. She offered a 20-minute opening statement before responding to questions from members of the committee and their lawyers.

She provided a detailed timeline, beginning with the April 8, 2017, rape in Jersey City, and her meetings with police and government officials.

Pintor Marin said she was struck by the number of people who knew about her allegations."

A lot of avenues she took this to  different levels  and at each level, she clearly had an ending, which was the door shutting, Pintor Marin said.

Weinberg also said she was not satisfied that the Hudson County Prosecutors Office, which declined to press charges, handled Brennans allegations properly.

State Attorney General Gurbir Grewal sent a letter to lawmakers last week clearing Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez of impropriety. But Weinberg said she wanted to know why the case was declined.

What were the factors? What was the evidence they had? Its very difficult to judge that, Weinberg said.

The committee chairwomen announced that the next hearing will be Dec. 18, but they did not say who would be called to testify.

NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report.

Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @samanthamarcus.

Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio.UPDATE (Tuesday, 5:21 p.m.): The Washington Post was the first to report Patrick Corbin has agreed to a six-year contract with the Nationals:

Madison Bumgarners trade market now coming into focus. #Phillies have spoken with #SFGiants about him and have a greater need for a left-handed co-ace with Patrick Corbin signing with rival #Nats. #Brewers are another possible destination. @MLB @MLBNetwork  Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 4, 2018

Corbin was sold as best SP this yr. Darvish was last yr, got 6-$126M, so Corbin expected more. #Yankees did not value at that level, thought more in 4-, 5-yr range. They liked player and makeup, but it never got close to a deal.  Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 4, 2018

Phillies, like yankees, offered 5-year deal for Corbin  Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 4, 2018

The #Nats, after signing Patrick Corbin, have not ruled out the possibility of still re-signing Bryce Harper if the deal was structured to their liking.  Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 4, 2018

Yankees offer for Corbin was $100M for 5 years. had they been the choice, of course it's possible they might have gone a little bit higher, but not to 6 years.  Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 4, 2018

Corbin choosing the Nationals (and shunning the Yankees) will get the starter market whirling. Dombrowski likely knew something was up last night as he predicted action ahead of the Winter Meetings. Eovaldis decision could come quickly now.  Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) December 4, 2018

#Yankees shifting focus to Nathan Eovaldi and J.A. Happ, sources say, now that Patrick Corbin has agreed to a contract with #Nationals. @MLB @MLBNetwork  Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 4, 2018

sources: Corbin gets $140M over 6  Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 4, 2018

Can confirm the Corbin deal is for six years, and pending a physical, which is important.  Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) December 4, 2018

Yanks didn't want to go 6 years for Corbin, so that was why he went elsewhere. will look at Eovaldi and Happ now.  Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 4, 2018

Nationals have agreed to terms on a deal with Patrick Corbin, according to a person familiar. Pending physical.  Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) December 4, 2018

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman made his pitch to free-agent left-hander Patrick Corbin last Thursday at Yankee Stadium.

The Phillies and Nationals also entertained Corbin last week as all three clubs court the 29-year-old.

Fancreds Jon Heyman reported Monday Corbin is expected to make his decision soon."

MLB.coms Mark Feinsand reports the Yankees have a backup plan in case Corbin doesnt come to the Bronx.

Patrick Corbin remains the Yankees top priority in terms of a starting pitcher, but a source says the team is engaged with Nathan Eovaldi, J.A. Happ and Lance Lynn as potential Plan Bs if Corbin signs elsewhere.  Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) December 4, 2018

Both Happ and Lynn were mid-season acquisitions by Cashman in 2018. Eovaldi is a former Yankee, who was released in 2016 after having Tommy John surgery.

Eovaldi made six postseason appearances during the 2018 playoffs for the Boston Red Sox. Four of those appearances were out of the bullpen. None was more impressive than his six-inning stint in Game 3 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Eovaldi regularly touched 100 mph on the radar gun for the Red Sox, who acquired him before the non-waiver trade deadline from the Tampa Bay Rays. The Red Sox and Astros have expressed interest in signing the 28-year-old Texas native. He could be in line for a four-year contract worth more than $60 million.

That figures to be much less than what Corbin will receive from whichever club signs him, according to USA TODAYs Bob Nightengale:

Patrick Corbin will receive a 6-year contract worth at least $125 million, several executives with knowledge of his pursuit believe. The unknown is whether Corbin would take a discount to join his hometown #Yankees. Decision is expected this week.  Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 4, 2018

Last week, MLB.com radios Jim Duquette speculated the team which signs Corbin could have to give him a seven-year, $175 million contract.

Corbin went 11-7 with a 3.15 ERA in 2018 and finished fifth in voting for the National League Cy Young Award.A federal agent from Kentucky was shot twice by a Louisiana State Police trooper early Sunday (Dec. 2) while he was heading back to his hotel from the French Quarter, his attorney said.

New Orleans lawyer Elizabeth Carpenter said her client, who was visiting New Orleans with plans to depart on a cruise with his wife, was shot in the stomach and knee as he headed through an empty parking lot around 2 a.m. on his way back to the downtown Holiday Inn on Loyola Avenue.

The U.S Army Criminal Investigation Command confirmed that the man Carpenter identified as her client works for the division as a civilian special agent. NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune is not naming the wounded man because he has not been charged with any crime.

The man was visiting New Orleans for the first time when he noticed juveniles following him on his way home, according to Carpenter. Her client was frightened because he was being followed and was possibly lost, she said. At one point, he started running, Carpenter said, then pulled out a gun he had with him. He then felt two shots, to his stomach and knee. Carpenter said her client did not see who shot him and did not hear or see any warnings before being shot.

In a news release, Louisiana State Police said an on-duty trooper in the 880 block Port of New Orleans Place observed a person with a weapon around 3 a.m., providing a slightly later timeframe than Carpenter. The trooper fired his service weapon, striking the person, according to the release. The trooper was not hurt, according to the release.

When asked to comment on Carpenters clients account of the shooting, Louisiana State Police spokeswoman Melissa Matey said only that the investigation was active and ongoing." The Louisiana State Police Bureau of Investigations is investigating the case, police said in the news release.

The injured man did not realize a trooper had possibly fired the shots, Carpenter said, until three troopers arrived at his hospital recovery room with a warrant to get a swab of his DNA. Carpenter said the troopers would not answer her questions about why they sought her clients DNA.

Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

The man underwent surgery on his stomach Sunday morning and on his knee Monday morning, Carpenter said. A third surgery was scheduled for a later date, she said.

Hes here, and 24 hours later, hes in the hospital with two bullets in his body and nobody will tell me anything," Carpenter said.

The wounded mans wife received a call at about 4:45 a.m. Sunday, to learn her husband was shot and in the hospital, Carpenter said. The couple had been together earlier in the French Quarter before she decided to head back to the hotel by herself. Carpenter said that, according to her clients wife, at the time of the shooting he had not had anything to drink for hours.

Carpenter said her client is free to go once he is cleared at the hospital and has not been told he is accused of a crime.

Check back with NOLA.com for more on this story as it becomes available.

State Police trooper shoots, injures person carrying weapon in New OrleansPhoto: The Canadian Press Photo shows an unidentified visitor viewing the Impressionist painting called "Rue St.-Honore, Apres-Midi, Effet de Pluie" painted in 1897 by Camille Pissarro, on display in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid.

Seventy-nine years ago a Jewish woman named Lilly Cassirer surrendered her family's priceless Camille Pissarro painting to the Nazis in exchange for safe passage out of Nazi Germany during the Holocaust.

On Tuesday her great-grandson will walk into a U.S. courtroom for the latest round of what has been a nearly 20-year battle to get it back.

After years of appeals by both Lilly Cassirer's descendants and Spain's Thyssen-Bornemisza museum, where the painting has hung for 25 years, a trial to decide its rightful owner is scheduled before U.S. District Judge John F. Walter.

Neither side disputes that Cassirer handed the painting over to the Nazis in 1939 in exchange for safe passage out of the country for herself, her husband and her grandson.

But the Madrid museum has argued that she forfeited her ownership rights when she accepted $13,000 from Germany in 1958, after the German government concluded the painting was lost forever. The museum also has argued that it acquired the work in good faith and has never tried to hide it.

"There's no dispute about the painting's complete history. The court examined all the evidence and determined that the museum is the rightful owner," Thyssen-Bornemisza's U.S. attorney, Thaddeus J. Stauber, told The Associated Press in 2016 after Walter initially dismissed the case.

The Cassirer family successfully appealed last year and their lawsuit was returned to Walter for trial.

The family's attorney, David Boies, says the matter now boils down to Spain doing what's right and surrendering the painting.

"It's unusual for a modern liberal democracy to be trying to hold onto Nazi-looted art," he said Monday as he prepared for trial. "Every other civilized country in the world is committed to returning Nazi-looted art to the rightful owners."

The painting, "Rue St.-Honore, Apres-Midi, Effet de Pluie" has been valued at $30 million or more.

Pissarro created the stunning oil-on-canvas work of a rainy Paris street scene from what he saw out the window of a hotel room in 1897. Its title translates to English as "Rue Saint-Honore in the Afternoon, Effect of Rain."

For more than 70 years her family believed it was lost. Then in 1999 a friend of Cassirer's grandson, Claude, who had fled Germany with her, saw a photo of it in a catalogue and contacted him.

Thyssen-Bornemisza, who died in 2002, sold the painting and hundreds of other works to Spain in 1993 and they now form the core of the museum named for him.Twenty-three of the citys 82 public schools now have water filters to remove lead from drinking water after they were installed this fall, according to a report by The Lens. The report said Orleans Parish public school officials expect the installations for the remaining schools to be complete by Summer/Fall 2019.

The report stated another 10 schools are set to receive filters by the end of December. The Orleans Parish School Board has promised to spend $800,000 to install filters in its district-owned buildings after tens of thousands of Flint, Mich., residents were exposed to lead-contaminated drinking water.

As NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune reported in July, the Centers for Disease Control found lead levels as low as 5 parts per billion are linked to developmental problems. In New Orleans, the city takes action if test results of the citys water system as a whole show lead levels above 15 parts per billion, or 15 micrograms per liter of water. The federal Environmental Protection Agency advises schools to take drinking fountains out of service if lead levels exceed 20 parts per billion.

Dwight D. Eisenhower Academy of Global Studies in Algiers appears to be the only New Orleans public school tested for lead this year in a pilot program under a new state law. Louisianas Department of Health told the OPSB Eisenhower's sample results are "at or below" the recommended action level after one of its kitchen faucets showed 15 parts per billion of lead.

InspireNOLA charter schools CEO Jamar McKneely told The Lens the school can still use water from the faucet because it falls below the 20 parts per billion threshold.

Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

The Government Accountability Office in July found an estimated 41 percent of school districts nationwide, serving 12 million students, had not tested for lead between 2016 and 2017. The government watchdog's survey showed that among school districts that did test, an estimated 37 percent found elevated lead levels.

Read the original story at The Lens.

These 12 public schools in the New Orleans area had lead in drinking water: report

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.Photo: Town of Oliver The canal where it goes underground near Gallagher Lake.

Richard Cannings, Member of Parliament for the South Okanagan-West Kootenay riding, stood up with an impassioned speech in the House of Commons Monday calling out the federal government for letting irrigation infrastructure issues in the South Okanagan "fall through the cracks."

Cannings said a significant upgrade to the Oliver irrigation system, including a canal which was damaged by a rockfall in 2016 near Gallagher Lake, is long overdue, since a "quick fix" has been in place for over two years now.

"That quick fix is still in place, a temporary fix that could be destroyed in an instant if a new rockfall occurs," Cannings said to the House.

The Oliver irrigation system, which currently provides water to over 600 connections and 5,200 acres of farmland, services areas around the South Okanagan, including rural RDOS areas and the Osoyoos Indian Band. Cannings called irrigation "the lifeblood of the Okanagan," citing dire rainfall statistics and intense summer heat.

The estimated cost to reroute the system around the other side of Gallagher Lake away from the bluffs that rockslides originate from is $10 million. According to Cannings, the provincial government of B.C. has promised to provide half that, and the Town of Oliver asked the federal government to match that, though has yet to receive assurances.

"If the canal carried drinking water, it would have received funding long ago. Too bad Oliver spent all that money in 2014 to separate the systems. It is too small for support under the disaster mitigation and adaptation fund, which has a minimum $20-million project cost. It is too big for the western development fund that has a $5-million maximum," Cannings said, expressing the frustration of his constituents at the lack of action.

He said the situation was a disaster "waiting to happen, with a common-sense fix waiting to be implemented," and wanted to hear assurances that a solution could be put in place without putting the Town of Oliver in serious debt.

"I have been gradually learning about bureaucracy in this job and about silos full of money that can only be accessed if one's project checks all the right boxes to open the magic door," Cannings said.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities Marco Mendicino stood to reply to Cannings' concerns, acknowledging Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne had met with Cannings, former Oliver Mayor Ron Hovanes and, via the phone, Osoyoos Indian Band Chief Clarence Louie in October.

At the time, Hovanes said the meeting went positively, though the minister asked him to "increase the public interest" of the project.

Mendicino did not provide concrete assurances, though offered general words of support at Monday's House of Commons session.

"We stand ready, willing and able to work with my honourable colleague across the way, as well as with the Town of Oliver on this application. We know it is important to his residents," Mendicino said.An ugly fight over an audit that found the city of Zachary paid two vendors $3.5 million without having contracts in place has died down some, but the city councilman most upset about the matter has made clear he is not giving up on his quest for Photo: Fraser Institute

A new study shows, in Canada, the average wait time to receive medically necessary treatment is 19.8 weeks.

In British Columbia, the wait time is increased by more than three weeks at an average of 23.2 weeks.

The new study released by the Fraser Institute examines the total wait time patients face across 12 medical specialties  from referral by a family doctor to a consultation with a specialist, to when the patient ultimately receives treatment.

Across the province, wait times this year were longest for orthopaedic surgery (57.2 weeks) and shortest for medical oncology (6.0 weeks).

It is the fifth consecutive year that B.C.s median wait time has been longer than 20 weeks.

"Patients in British Columbia are waiting more than five months for necessary treatment  a fact that should spur action from policymakers," said Bacchus Barua, associate director of health policy studies at the Fraser Institute and author of Waiting Your Turn: Wait Times for Health Care in Canada, 2018.

While the average wait time is down from a record-high wait time of 26.6 weeks last year, they are still more than double that of the 10.4 weeks reported in 1993  when the Fraser Institute first began tracking national wait times.

"Its time for policymakers in Victoria and across Canada to reform the outdated policies that contribute to long wait times," said Barua.

"Long waits for medical treatment arent a trivial matter  they can increase suffering for patients, decrease the quality of life, and in the worst cases, lead to disability or death."Photo: CTV News

Victoria Police are investigating what appears to be a sudden death.

CTV News is reporting that a Victoria park has been cordoned off due to the investigation.

The park is located right beside the Galloping Goose bike trail near Burnside Road.

Police cruisers can be seen beside Cecelia Ravine Park which has been closed off since 9:45 a.m. Tuesday morning.

It's unclear if the death is suspicious in nature at this time.

 with files from CTV Vancouver IslandRussia on Tuesday denied Ukraine's allegations that the recent seizure of Ukrainian naval ships exposed Kremlin's plans to take Ukrainian ports on the Sea of Azov.

Xinhua quoted Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov as saying, "This is an absolutely absurd statement. Actually, it is another attempt to somehow provoke tensions."

In the previous week, in an interview to a German media agency, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko had informed that Russia was allegedly planning to seize two Ukrainian ports to build a land corridor between the insurgent Ukrainian region of Donbass and Crimea, which was incorporated into Russia in 2014 following a local referendum, Xinhua reported.

Denying his accusations, the Russian Press Secretary added that the Ukrainian Prime Minister used the above statement in order to gain votes for the upcoming Presidential elections in 2019.

Peskov further rejected Ukraine's allegations of Russia blocking the sea traffic on the Kerch Strait, saying that the navigations continued smoothly apart from little disturbances due to bad weather.

-ANI

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Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading.The settlement is the latest evidence of the scrutiny internet giants are facing over how they collect and use data from children for online advertising. Google was criticized this year by New Mexicos attorney general for how it may collect childrens location data, while other privacy advocates have pressed for more transparency about how children may be tracked and targeted for ads on YouTube, which is owned by Google.

In an age when online privacy has become a significant public concern, Coppa is one of the few federal regulations in place. It requires companies to obtain explicit, verifiable permission from parents before collecting, using or disclosing personal information from children under 13 or targeting them with ads tied to their online behavior. Personal information includes cookies that track a user across websites and geolocation data, which is then used to send specific ads to specific people. Advertisers are typically willing to pay more for ads tailored to individuals and their online behavior rather than placing ads on specific websites in the hopes that they might be seen by people interested in their products.

Ad exchanges, which connect websites and potential advertisers through real-time bidding processes as pages load, must comply with Coppa when they know they are working with childrens sites.

Technically, AOLs policies prohibited the use of its display ad exchange to auction ad space on childrens sites, but the company did business there anyway, according to the settlement documents, which examined AOLs practices between October 2015 and February 2017. Its auctions of ad space on those sites regularly collected personal information from users, like they would on any website, then shared that with bidders, resulting in targeted advertisements.

An account manager for AOL in New York repeatedly told one client, called Playwire Media, that the companys ad exchange could be used to sell ad space while complying with Coppa, which wasnt the case, according to the settlement documents. Based on the statements, Playwire, which represented sites like Roblox.com, Neopets.com and Tweentribune.com, used the exchange to place more than a billion ads on space that was supposed to be covered by Coppa.[What you need to know to start the day: Get New York Today in your inbox.]

As one of the worlds biggest producers of Colombian cocaine, Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia had two main virtues: He was endlessly adaptable and utterly obsessed with the details of his trade.

When the American authorities began using radar planes to track flights of his product into Mexico, Mr. Ramirez simply switched to boats. When he cooked cocaine at laboratories deep in the jungles of Colombia, he frequently made quality-control checks, ensuring that his drugs were of the utmost purity  or optimum, he said.

But Mr. Ramirez, a former leader of the North Valley drug cartel, had another claim to fame, he told jurors on Monday: He was the primary supplier to Joaquin Guzman Loera, the Mexican kingpin known as El Chapo. In his second day as a government witness at Mr. Guzmans drug conspiracy trial in Federal District Courtin Brooklyn, Mr. Ramirez detailed his 17-year bond with the defendant, describing it as the central partnership in one of modern historys most profitable narco-operations.

Known as Chupeta  Spanish slang for Lollipop  Mr. Ramirez presented himself on the stand as a man consumed with the minutiae of his business, recalling how he never failed to debrief his pilots after every run and reviewed each line of the scrupulous accounting ledgers he maintained. Proud to the point of arrogance, he seldom used the word cocaine without reminding those in the courtroom that it was his cocaine.Michael Cohens relationship with President Trump went from this: Ill do anything to protect Mr. Trump. They say Im Mr. Trumps pit bull. Ive stood by him, shoulder to shoulder. To this: Hes a weak person. So, why did Trumps former personal lawyer flip? Cohen was Trumps fixer and biggest defender for more than a decade. If theres an issue that relates to Mr. Trump that is of concern to him, its, of course, of concern to me. And I will use my legal skills within which to protect Mr. Trump to the best of my ability. In April, the F.B.I. raided Cohens office after he became a target in special counsel Robert Muellers investigation. Trump was quick to come to Cohens defense. But once the investigation zeroed in on Cohen, the lawyer began to change his tune. My wife, my daughter and my son have my first loyalty and always will. I put family and country first. In July, Cohen released audio from a conversation with Donald Trump that he secretly recorded two months before the 2016 election. The two appear to be discussing payments to a former Playboy model who said she had an affair with Trump. Cohen: When it comes time for the financing, which will be  Trump: What financing? Cohen: Well, I have to pay  No no, no, no. I got  no, no no. Heres when things between Trump and Cohen began to publicly fall apart. In a tweet he said: What kind of a lawyer would tape a client? So sad! I expected something like this from Cohen, hes been lying all week. I mean, for two  hes been lying for years. Theres nobody that I know that knows him that hasnt warned me that if his back is up against the wall, he will lie like crazy, because hes lied all his life. On Aug. 21, Cohen pleaded guilty to violating federal campaign finance laws. And then on Nov. 29, Cohen made a surprise appearance in a Manhattan courtroom where he confessed to lying to Congress. He admitted hed been negotiating to build a tower in Moscow for Trump well into the 2016 presidential campaign. Prosecutors in the special counsel investigation have interviewed Cohen repeatedly over the past several months. Mr. Cohen has cooperated. Mr. Cohen will continue to cooperate. Trump tried to minimize the admission. What hes trying to do is get a reduced sentence. So, hes lying about a project that everybody knew about. I mean, we were very open with it.It is the perverse good fortune of Alexander Acosta, Donald Trumps secretary of labor, to be part of an administration so spectacularly corrupt that its simply impossible to give all its scandals the attention they deserve.

Last Wednesday, The Miami Herald published a blockbuster multipart expose about how the justice system failed the victims of Jeffrey Epstein, a rich, politically connected financier who appears to have abused underage girls on a near-industrial scale. The investigation, more than a year in the making, described Epstein as running a sort of child molestation pyramid scheme, in which girls  some in middle school  would be recruited to give Epstein massages at his Palm Beach mansion, pressured into sex acts, then coerced into bringing him yet more girls. The Herald reported that Epstein was also suspected of trafficking girls from overseas.

Whats shocking is not just the lurid details and human devastation of his alleged crimes, but the way he was able to use his money to escape serious consequences, thanks in part to Acosta, then Miamis top federal prosecutor. For reasons that are not entirely clear, Acosta took extraordinary measures to let Epstein  and, crucially, other unnamed people  off the hook.

The labor secretary, whose purview includes combating human trafficking, has done nothing so far to rebut The Heralds reporting. (A spokesman for his department has referred reporters to his previous statements about the case.) It should end his career. The story might have been overshadowed by last weeks cascading revelations in the Trump-Russia scandal, or the news that acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker knew of numerous fraud complaints against a company he advised, to take just two examples of administration lawlessness. But while Acostas record covering up for a depraved plutocrat makes him a good fit for the Trump administration, it should disqualify him from public service.Rarely might one expect much drama at the annual gathering of the Group of 20 leaders, except perhaps during a major global crisis, such as the financial meltdown of 2008 and 2009. Still these are important meetings at which American leadership normally yields significant outcomes that benefit the countrys economy and national security.

However, with Donald Trump as president, one can be forgiven for worrying what chaos may ensue at yet another multilateral forum. I have learned to brace myself for blows to our national standing every time Mr. Trump travels abroad  the mental equivalent of a pre-emptive defensive crouch.

Last weeks meeting in Buenos Aires was no different. In fact, it appeared to be an even more inauspicious moment than usual for a high-stakes foreign trip. Ukraine and Russia remain on hair-trigger war footing, while President Trump resorted inexplicably to his classic both sides-ism rather than clearly condemning Russian aggression.

Having whitewashed the Saudi crown princes apparent direct involvement in the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, President Trump abandoned all pretense of principled leadership by pledging to pursue business as usual with the Saudis. Then, just as the president was about to be wheels-up, the guilty plea by his former lawyer Michael Cohen revealed that Mr. Trump was more enmeshed in discussions over a potential Russian business deal during the 2016 presidential campaign than he had previously acknowledged.The worlds growing ranks of would-be autocrats should study Viktor Orban. Steadily, systematically, relentlessly, he has disabled any criticism or honest accounting of his imposition of right-wing, nativist, nationalist politics on all spheres of Hungarian life. His latest feat is breathtaking in its audacity.

Acting as if on a signal, more than a dozen owners handed over more than 400 news websites, newspapers, television channels and radio stations to a foundation formed and run by Orban loyalists. Most of the owners said they donated their outlets.

Obviously, it wasnt philanthropy. The owners are pro-government oligarchs and allies of Mr. Orban. Some of them have been buying up independent media outlets in recent years and turning them into pro-government mouthpieces. Its not hard to presume that the business owners were happy to do Mr. Orban and his party, Fidesz, a little favor, especially since their news outlets depended on government advertising and were making little money.

What Mr. Orban has managed to create is a media juggernaut that closely resembles Communist propaganda machines of old. The consolidation, if thats the word, still needs to be approved by regulatory authorities, but theyre led by officials appointed by Mr. Orban. So is the Constitutional Court, should anybody consider challenging the transfers in the courts.Unfortunately, there is another major obstacle standing in our way: the striking lack of tolerance extending across the entire peninsula.

Even after North Korean defectors have denounced the regime and embraced life in the South, many South Koreans still refuse to accept them, subjecting escapees to bullying, ostracism and other forms of mistreatment. Partly as a result, separate schools have been established in the South to help young Northerners adjust to their new lives. But even as adults, Northerners are subject to workplace discrimination and social isolation. A 2018 study found that suicidal thoughts and behaviors are more common among North Korean defectors than the South Korean population at large.

Unfortunately, South Koreans would likely face the same problems in the North if the situation were reversed. In North Korea, where the average citizen has little interaction with foreigners or exposure to other cultures, racism and xenophobia are ingrained and unabashed  a hostility that reaches to the very top. The regimes propagandists brazenly referred to former President Barack Obama as a wicked black monkey during his second term.

South Koreans can also be hostile to outsiders. The arrival earlier this year of a few hundred Yemeni asylum-seekers on the island of Jeju sparked a fierce backlash, based in part on concerns over crime, jobs and cultural differences. Hundreds of thousands of Southerners signed a petition urging their government to reject the refugees.

Image Hyeonseo Lee

South Koreans expressing such sentiments fail to acknowledge that many Koreans were themselves accepted as refugees and adopted by foreigners in the aftermath of the Korean War. (Sadly, members of the Korean diaspora who return to the peninsula today to live and explore their roots are sometimes rejected for not being Korean enough.) Some South Koreans also forget that foreign soldiers fought and died alongside their countrymen during the war. Given this history, and that South Korea is a signatory to the United Nations Refugee Convention, the South has an obligation to embrace those fleeing war and other calamities throughout the world.

To those Koreans who are uncomfortable with the notion of an inclusive society, I say this: If you want a united Korea to be accepted as a member of the international community, this is a reality you must learn to accept. Having more personal interactions with foreigners is a critical first step.

The ancestors who fought for our freedom left us a legacy of sacrifice. We must leave the same legacy for the generations to come, by doing what is necessary to create a united and welcoming Korea  one that all Koreans, as well as all those seeking shelter from foreign conflicts, can call home.Mr. Evers campaigned on closing the agency, the subject of critical audits by the states nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau, which revealed that the economic development corporation had mismanaged millions of dollars in loans. The agency also attracted controversy after leading the effort to entice Foxconn, the Taiwanese electronics manufacturing contractor, to build its first American plant in Wisconsin, at a cost to taxpayers now reaching more than $4.5 billion dollars in subsidies.

The lame duck legislation will also weaken the attorney generals office by eliminating the solicitor generals office in the states Department of Justice. And it will take away the attorney generals power to determine how to spend settlement winnings and give that power to the Legislature. The bill also gives the Legislature the right to effectively act as its own attorney general by granting the Joint Committee on Legislative Organization the power to hire its own special counsel if it determines it is in the interests of the state to do so. (Both Mr. Vos and Scott Fitzgerald, the Senate majority leader, who is collaborating closely with Mr. Vos, are members of the committee.)

Apart from stripping powers from other branches of government, the legislation aims to decrease voter turnout by imposing a two-week limit on early voting, despite the fact that a federal judge struck down a similar Wisconsin law in 2016 on the ground that it was racially discriminatory. When Democrats swept statewide offices in November, it was mostly the result of record turnout in Dane and Milwaukee counties, Wisconsins two largest, both of which allow early voting to begin roughly six weeks before an election.

The legislature is the most representative branch in government, Mr. Vos and Mr. Fitzgerald wrote in a joint statement after the bills were released. It was meant to serve as a justification, but in Wisconsin, at least since 2011, that has not been true: That year, at a law office across the street from the state capitol, Republicans drew new redistricting maps, in secret and without input from a single Democrat or member of the public. In 2016, a federal court ruled the maps so excessively partisan as to be unconstitutional, the first time a court had made such a ruling on partisan grounds in thirty years. (Earlier this year, the United States Supreme Court sent the case back to the lower courts, ruling that the plaintiffs did not have standing to sue.)

Nationally, Democrats won more than 300 state legislative seats in November, but the party gained only one seat in the Wisconsin State Assembly despite winning 54 percent of the aggregate statewide vote. That leaves Democrats with 36 out of 99 seats. (Since the 2011 redistricting, they have not held more than 39 of 99 seats.) In the State Senate, Democrats actually lost a seat, giving Republicans a 19-14 margin.SAN FRANCISCO  The worlds leading technology companies, from Google to Alibaba in China, are racing to build the first quantum computer, a machine that would be far more powerful than todays computers.

This device could break the encryption that protects digital information, putting at risk everything from the billions of dollars spent on e-commerce to national secrets stored in government databases.

An answer? Encryption that relies on the same concepts from the world of physics. Just as some scientists are working on quantum computers, others are working on quantum security techniques that could thwart the code-breaking abilities of these machines of the future.

It is a race with national security implications, and while building quantum computers is still anyones game, China has a clear lead in quantum encryption. As it has with other cutting-edge technologies, like artificial intelligence, the Chinese government has made different kinds of quantum research a priority.A new contract with Marriott International that will give housekeepers in San Francisco an eventual $4-an-hour increase and better protections against sexual harassment was approved Monday, ending a nine-week strike by 2,500 workers at seven hotels in that city.

The settlement in San Francisco concludes a nationwide walkout against the worlds largest hotel chain. At its peak, the protest involved 7,700 workers at 23 hotels.

It means so much to me, said Larrilou Carumba, a single mother of three who had been earning $23.50 an hour after six years as a housekeeper at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis. I can go back to work, she said, without worrying about where I will get money for my kids, and my health benefits.

Workers at the Marriott Marquis, along with the Marriott Union Square, the Palace Hotel, the St. Regis, the W, and the Westin St. Francis, are set to return to their jobs on Wednesday. We look forward to welcoming our associates back at work, said Connie Kim, a spokeswoman for Marriott. She declined to comment further.Mr. Bush expressed no regret for the Horton ad, and some of his longtime allies have long argued that he got a bad rap for something that was not really of his making. Al Gore, then a senator from Tennessee, was the first to try to wrap the Horton case around Mr. Dukakiss neck during the Democratic primaries that year.

By summer, Mr. Bush picked up the theme, citing the case during speeches, and by fall, his campaign began airing an ad attacking the Massachusetts furlough program, showing a series of prisoners walking through a revolving door. But that Bush campaign ad did not mention Mr. Horton.

The one that would be remembered for years to come was produced not by the Bush campaign but by an operative named Larry McCarthy working for an ostensibly independent group called the National Security Political Action Committee. The ad, called Weekend Passes, singled out Horton, showing a picture of his scowling face as the narrator described his torture and rape of the Maryland couple. In the end, it was shown only briefly on cable television, but its impact was magnified by repeated coverage on television newscasts.

When critics called the ad a brazen appeal to racial fears, the Bush campaign distanced itself from the ad and wrote to the committee that aired it asking that it be withdrawn. But Mr. Dukakis did not buy the explanation that the committee was independent. Anybody who believes that believes in the tooth fairy, he said at one point.

Indeed, Mr. Bushs advisers had been focused on Mr. Horton for months. If I can make Willie Horton a household name, well win the election, said Lee Atwater, the campaign strategist. He later referred to making Horton Dukakiss running mate. Roger Ailes, another Bush strategist, said, The only question is whether we depict Willie Horton with a knife in his hand or without it.

A little more than two years later, when stricken with a cancer that would take his life, Mr. Atwater repented the hardball tactics used in 1988. He said he particularly regretted saying he would make Mr. Horton into Mr. Dukakiss running mate because it makes me sound racist, which I am not.

What was never clear was how involved Mr. Bush was in crafting the strategy. But as Josh King, the author of Off Script, a book about political stagecraft, and a student of the 1988 race, put it, He was willing to employ campaign aides who would use the barest of knuckles in pursuit of the goal of humiliating and destroying the opposing candidate.The Facts

This is misleading.

Representative-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the New York Democrat who has become a darling of the progressive left, was quoting from an article in The Nation about massive accounting fraud committed by the Pentagon from 1998 to 2015. But her suggestion that the $21 trillion in military transactions could have already paid two-thirds the cost of a Medicare for all health care system goes beyond what the article reported  and is misleading.

For starters, the combined Pentagon budget from 1998 to 2015 was $9.2 trillion. One study by a libertarian economic think tank found that Medicare for all legislation by Senator Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont, would cost the federal government $32.6 trillion over 10 years.

So where did the $21 trillion figure originate?

It comes from an analysis of the Pentagons unsupported journal voucher adjustments, by Mark Skidmore, an economist at Michigan State University. The term refers to improperly documented accounting adjustments that are made when different financial ledgers do not match.

In other words, $21 trillion is the total value of adjustments made to the Pentagons financial records over those years that could not be traced.When the cameras were rolling, President George Bush was fond of saying that he was not the emotional type. But with a pen in his hand, he expansively let out his heartfelt and innermost feelings.

Mr. Bush favored the handwritten letter. He wrote them by the hundreds to family, friends, critics, colleagues and contemporaries. To read them is to take in a brief history of the second half of the 20th century  stories of war and peace, victory and defeat, musings on culture and sports, and expressions of deeply personal sentiments.

As a public figure, Mr. Bush was rarely given to the kind of introspection that his letters reveal. Rather than write a memoir, as several of his friends had urged, he published a compendium of his letters, All the Best, which became a New York Times best seller.

Here are some highlights from the book that help to tell his life story.

During World War II, Heroism, Romance and Family

Mr. Bush enlisted in the Navy on June 12, 1942  his 18th birthday  defying the wishes of his father, Prescott S. Bush, who wanted him to start college at Yale.

In an undated letter a few months later, while training in North Carolina, he wrote:

Dear Mum and Dad,  It is amazing how our moods change here. So many little things affect us. A cold Coke after drill can do more for one than you can imagine. I have never appreciated little things before. Ice cream, movies, a 15 minute rest, a letter, a compliment to our platoon.

He also wrote critically about the militarys approach to indoctrination:

The only thing wrong with this place is, they dont realize the average intelligence. They hand out so much crude propaganda here. It is really sickening  Many of the men here realize it  also the intelligent officers. Stuff like Kill the Japs  hate  murder and a lot of stuff like you are the cream of American youth.  All the well educated fellows know what they are fighting for  and dont need to be brainwashed.

Mr. Bush was also in throes of romance with his future wife, Barbara Pierce, and he wrote affectionately about her:

Dear Mum, Well today sure was wonderful  I met Barbara at the Inn at 12  She looked too cute for words  really beautiful.

And he was ever the dutiful son:

Dear Mum, Gosh it was wonderful hearing your voice today  It was swell of you to call. Dear Mum,  I dont think that it is entirely wrong for a girl to be kissed by a boy. Let us take this famous case of Pierce v. Bush summer 42. I kissed Barbara and am glad of it.

Mr. Bush then began to put dates on his letters, and the young woman whom he kissed by Dec. 12, 1943, was his fiancee:

I love you, precious, with all my heart and to know that you love me means my life. How often I have thought about the immeasurable joy that will be ours some day.

The tone was much more somber on Sept. 3, 1944, when Mr. Bush told his parents of his plane being shot down over the Pacific. Two of Mr. Bushs crew members died in the attack.And the episode shows how after Mr. Trumps election, Mr. Manafort sought to cash in on his brief tenure as Mr. Trumps campaign chairman even as investigators were closing in.

The Ecuadoreans continued to explore the possibility of Chinese investment, but with the United States Justice Department and intelligence agencies stepping up their pursuit of Mr. Assange and WikiLeaks, Mr. Morenos team increasingly looked to resolve their Assange problem by turning to Russia.

In the months after Mr. Moreno took office, the Ecuadorean government granted citizenship to Mr. Assange and secretly pursued a plan to provide him a diplomatic post in Russia as a way to free him from confinement in the embassy in London. (That plan was ultimately dropped in the face of opposition from British authorities, who have said they will arrest Mr. Assange if he leaves the embassy.)

Jason Maloni, a spokesman for Mr. Manafort, said that it was Mr. Moreno  not Mr. Manafort  who broached the issue of Mr. Assange and his desire to remove Julian Assange from Ecuadors embassy. Mr. Manafort listened but made no promises as this was ancillary to the purpose of the meeting, said Mr. Maloni, adding, There was no mention of Russia at the meeting.

Late last year, Mr. Muellers team charged Mr. Manafort with a host of lobbying, money laundering and tax violations in connection with his consulting work for Russia-aligned interests in Ukraine before the 2016 election. Mr. Manafort was convicted of some of the crimes and pleaded guilty to others as part of an agreement to cooperate with prosecutors. But prosecutors said last week that he violated the deal by repeatedly lying to them. Mr. Manafort remains in solitary confinement in a federal detention center in Alexandria, Va., waiting for a judge to set a sentencing date.

The trip to Ecuador was part of a whirlwind world tour that represented the last gasps of Mr. Manaforts once lucrative career.MEXICO CITY  President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of Mexico created a truth commission on Monday to re-examine the case of 43 students whose disappearance in 2014, still unsolved after a disputed investigation, has come to represent the tens of thousands of Mexicans who have vanished in more than a decade of the drug war.

Just two days after taking over as Mexicos leader, Mr. Lopez Obrador set a new tone for the government, pledging to deliver justice to victims of violence and corruption.

I assure you there wont be impunity in this sad and painful case, said Mr. Lopez Obrador, flanked by two of the missing students parents. The students relatives, many from rural communities in Mexicos poorest states, sat in the front row of the presidents first public event at the National Palace, holding large images of their missing sons.

Alejandro Encinas, the incoming deputy interior minister for human rights, will head the commission. It will start a new investigation under a special prosecutors office and will aim to consider all leads, including those that were ignored or discarded by the former government.SYDNEY, Australia  Well, at least Angela Merkel may be relieved.

Australias governing Liberal Party announced overnight that it was changing its rules so that the prime minister leading the party at election time would stay in the post until the country next went to the polls.

The revolving door to the top job had Ms. Merkel, the German chancellor, apparently confused, as photographs captured her during the Group of 20 summit meeting last weekend cribbing from notes about the relatively new Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, as the two sat down to meet.

Mr. Morrison was not the prime minister she had met in April this year in Berlin at a German-Australian forum. That was Malcolm Turnbull, who was ousted from leadership in an internal party struggle in August.

His replacement, Mr. Morrison, acknowledged that the partys inner turmoil had eroded voters good will.Early on, people who agreed with the petition were encouraged to show their support by displaying the high-visibility yellow vest every driver in France must by law carry, in case of roadside trouble. Supporters were asked to place the vests on their dashboard or back shelf.

Those who participated were predominantly men and women who rely on their cars to get to work and take care of their families. In the mix were small-business owners, independent contractors, farmers, home aides, nurses and truck drivers. They live and work primarily in rural towns and in the suburbs or exurbs of Frances big cities, many earning just enough to get by.

How big is the movement?

No one knows for sure. By French standards, the demonstrations have been modest in size. But they are unusual in that they erupted spontaneously in multiple places around France, without any union or political party organizing them. Their numbers have diminished since the first gatherings on Nov. 17, when nearly 300,000 Yellow Vests protested nationwide; this past weekend, it was 166,000, according to the Interior Ministry.

Many people who have not participated in the protests say they support them or are sympathetic to those on the street. That suggests the protests may again grow in size, or continue for a long time. Despite the damage over the weekend in Paris and elsewhere, overall support for the movement remains high, according to several polls.

Why are they so angry?

Many protesters say their purchasing power has dwindled so much over the years that today they have trouble making ends meet  let alone coming up with money for simple outings, vacations or even just to go out to dinner once in a while. Many are earning close to the median income, but costs have risen and pay has not.

The median earner in 2016 in France took home about 1,700 euros ($1,930) a month, but that means that half of the French took home less. The income has to cover rent, food, utilities and clothing, as well as the cost of fuel.When Mr. Castillo first reached out to Kalup Linzy, a performance artist, He was real versed on my work, Mr. Linzy said, noting Mr. Castillos understanding of what it was like to be a person of color and queer in the art world, too. And when Mr. Linzys mother became ill and died while he was mounting a solo show at the gallery, Mr. Castillo encouraged Mr. Linzy to grieve. I felt like he understood me, the artist said. I didnt have to hide it from him.

But what Mr. Castillos artists respect most about him, including Ms. Simmons and Mr. Linzy, was that he stayed in Miami. Today, his gallery  which sprawls over 3,000 square-feet in the heart of South Beach  is as sophisticated and as highly regarded as those in New York or Los Angeles. He stayed the course, Ms. Simmons said. I think thats admirable and also fierce. Thats belief in yourself. Thats beyond what anyone could teach you. Thats a vision.

In the 1960s, when Mr. Castillos parents were faced with remaining in Cuba and losing everything or starting anew, they headed to Spain. Thats a decision a lot of Cubans made and continue to make, he said. In 1973, he was born in Madrid, but only four months later his family moved to Hialeah, Fla. Eventually he attended Yale University to study art history. The departure point of his gallerys program began with a letter he received as a freshman.

Dear person of color, it read.

Honestly, he remembered, I wasnt sure what it meant. Then, he realized its role in referring to the other, but growing up in South Florida, I never felt like the other, he said. I really felt  growing up here  that people were people. But once that term was applied to him, it grew into a concept that has guided him for decades.

Mr. Castillo says he has watched Miami grow from sleepy agricultural outposts strung together by ribbons of asphalt into the bustling urban center of today. I witnessed it from the very beginning, because Im from here, he said. Im fortunate enough that Im from a place where I could grow with the city. It gives me a particular insight: I know the history.

At this years Art Basel, Mr. Castillo plans to show 9 of his artists weaving together the visual, temporal and historical idea of black and white evoking the palette of master paintings, the world as seen through television, journalism or photography, and as a powerful racial marker. For Mr. Castillo, the concept is a place where modernism meets antiquity meets the contemporary. It was interesting to me how that concept was informed by the arc of the gallery, he said, adding that black and white often means that something is cut and dry, but in black and white, theres actually a lot of nuance.Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum-F.I.U.

A thematic show at the Frost at Florida International University, Relational Undercurrents: Contemporary Art of the Caribbean Archipelago, examines art firmly rooted in place and time. This thematic exhibition of 21st century art from the Caribbean archipelago features works in all media that explore race, the legacy of colonialism and the environment. It seeks to present the Caribbean islands not as fragmented but as fundamentally linked, with a shared, complicated history and rich contemporary culture.

Jewish Museum of Florida-F.I.U.

Fashion, too, is coming to the gallery this year. At the Jewish Museum of Florida, also part of F.I.U., the designer and mixed-media artist Daniel Chimowitz has his first museum show, Walking Canvases. It will combine murals and paintings with 32 new fashion ensembles designed by Mr. Chimowitz, who is known for his colorful hand-painted and hand-sewn clothing. He is influenced by graffiti and street art, as well as by his native Alaskan heritage, so look for bursts of color on canvas and fabric alike, and a hand-painted couch and giant kimono hanging from the ceiling.

The Margulies Collection at the Warehouse

This 45,000-square-foot warehouse in Miamis Wynwood Arts District features exhibitions from the impressive collection of Martin Z. Margulies. During Art Basel, it will feature a large installation work by Cate Giordano and two installations by the graffiti artist Barry McGee. But theres an embarrassment of riches in this collection: painting, large-scale sculptural work and photography. Highlights include works by Willem de Kooning, Sol LeWitt, John Chamberlain, Donald Judd, Richard Serra and Anselm Kiefer. The Margulies is perhaps the perfect antidote to gallery fatigue; its a collection that stands the test of time.

Satellite Fairs

Aqua Art Miami

Aqua turns the rooms of a South Beach hotel into galleries at a satellite fair that emphasizes sound, light and performance art. Its a spectacle in its own right, named Best Art Fair for Basel Week by The Miami New Times. This year, a female tattoo artist will be there, and the artist Mikihumos series of sculptures, Imponderable Cities, will be submerged in the hotels pool. Meanwhile, the artist Katarra Peterson will use the upper balcony for a performance that reimagines Rapunzel, and fair visitors will have the chance to help her weave hair into a rope. (A tip: Aquas sister fairs are Art Miami and Context Art Miami, and a multiday total ticket is available for all three.)It was a difficult decision for us, Mr. Horowitz said. This is a transitional year.

He noted that in 2019, when a planned renovation of the convention centers outdoor spaces is completed, the fair intends to use them for an installation of sculptures.

Public and Film took place outside the convention center. Marc Spiegler, the global director of Art Basel  which also presents fairs in Basel, Switzerland, and Hong Kong  said that the cuts came from a desire to gather collectors closer in to the main event.

Its a more centralized vision of the fair, Mr. Spiegler said.

He added that putting on the event during three years of construction had challenges, but it didnt stop the fair from presenting successful editions.

Nor did it stop collectors like Romero Pimenta, an exporter of precious gems based in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, who has attended the fair since the beginning.

Mr. Pimenta began collecting about 25 years ago, starting with Brazilian artists like Helio Oiticica, Lygia Clark and Mira Schendel, and then moving on to contemporary makers from all over the world, including Charline von Heyl and Jim Hodges.

Its that very kind of mix that brings him back to Miami Beach year after year.

I like the fair because its an opportunity to see Latin American art among the international art in general, Mr. Pimenta said. Its good to compare. He added that new discoveries were also a focus.Imagine the horror. Some Art Basel Miami Beach visitors find the David Hockney or Roy Lichtenstein of their dreams and then realize they dont have the right sofa or table to hang it over  or just the right home accessory to accent that room. Luckily, Design Miami, like the art fair, runs through Sunday, and its right across the street from the convention center.

Were sort of the quiet, understated market in a lot of ways, Jennifer Roberts, the chief executive of Design Miami, said in a telephone interview from Florida. Art Basel is limited to fine arts; Design Miami limits itself to collectible art and architecture.

Sometimes that means home furnishings that are neither quiet nor understated. This year, visitors will find work from nearly 35 galleries, including a six-sided table designed by Charlotte Perriand in 1949, from Francois Laffanours Galerie Downtown in Paris; a collection of the Spanish-born designer Oscar Hagermans chairs, shown by Kurimanzutto, the Mexico City gallery; and a whole suite of stainless steel Michael Young furniture from Gallery ALL in Los Angeles. Not to mention these six intriguing pieces.Creative motivation can be mysterious. Who knows exactly why most artists embrace a medium, a metaphor or an image and pour their lives into it?

But for the artist Zina Saro-Wiwa, the wellspring of her art is brutally straightforward: Her father, the Nigerian writer and anti-oil activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, was executed in 1995 by Nigerias military dictatorship for his work fighting environmental degradation and corruption in Ogoniland, the home of the countrys Ogoni people.

I literally didnt deal with it at first, said the Brooklyn-based Ms. Saro-Wiwa, seated in her Crown Heights apartment. I never cried about his death, nothing. I just sort of buried everything. And 10 or 12 years later I realized I had to do something about it. It was sort of bubbling up.

Eventually it emerged in a way that she couldnt have predicted. This week at Art Basel Miami Beach, her London gallery, Tiwani Contemporary, will display her video series Table Manners in the Nova sector.La Casa Lobo had its premiere at the 2018 Berlin International Film Festival, the Berlinale, where it won a prize, and has since traveled to film festivals around the world, winning best animated feature film at the Monterrey festival in Mexico, best Latin American film at the Quito Latin American Film Festival in Ecuador and the public prize and best cinematography at the international film festival in Valdivia, Chile.

The film is rolling out now in the film world, and we felt it needed a great platform to introduce it to the art world for the first time, said Nieck de Bruijn, one of the two owners of Upstream. We felt Art Basel Miami Beach was the best place for its art world premiere, because its the top event in the art world, but its also a fair that is very connected to the Latin American world.

The narrative was inspired in part, the artists said, by a true story that is probably better known in South America than in the United States. It begins in a German colony reminiscent of a traditional Bavarian settlement known as Colonia Dignidad, or Dignity Colony, which a group of German emigres set up in southern Chile after World War II. In 1961, a former Nazi corporal, Paul Schafer, who had been charged with sexually abusing boys at a German orphanage, became the colonys leader.

During his nearly 40-year rule, he turned it into a horror camp, where children were separated from their parents and sexually abused, and adults were drugged and made to work in slavelike conditions, under constant surveillance. The Chilean military dictator, Gen. Augusto Pinochet, was not only aware of the colony and its leader, but also used it as torture camp for dissidents and political detainees from 1973 onward, according to the National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation report, an investigation of human rights abuses under the Pinochet government.

The story of the Dignity Colony was explored in the 2015 film The Colony, directed by the Academy Award-winning filmmaker Florian Gallenberger and starring Emma Watson. The story, Mr. Cocina said, was already very familiar to Chileans, so the references in his film will be accessible without too much explanation.

Basically the love for German culture is mixed with fascism and mixed with the history of colonization, he said. The film explores, in a visceral way, how one thing can morph into another in very fluid process, turning a dark corner at any moment.

The film is really inspired by some cases of people trying to escape the colony, who were arrested by police and brought back, Mr. Leon said. This very eccentric cult or religious sect became very powerful in Pinochets time. The reason why they became so successful is still sort of a mystery. Its a national trauma that we need to talk about, and its still very current because we have a right-wing government in Chile today.The Monk family requested that they would like to use the name in other directions, and we decided that we would abide by their wishes, Thomas R. Carter, the institutes president, said in an interview. All the programs that are currently in place will continue.

The drummer T.S. Monk, the son of the institutes famed namesake, did not respond to an email requesting comment. He has been a ubiquitous presence at Monk competitions, but did not attend this years event.

The Monk institute started the competition in 1987, and for its first three years it focused on rising pianists. Starting in 1990, it began to highlight a different instrument each year; it has since helped to catapult the careers of prominent young vocalists, saxophonists, trumpeters, drummers and more.

The institute had not held a gala since 2015. Mr. Carter attributed this to the institutes recent focus on International Jazz Day, an initiative it began in 2011, and the difficulty of arts fund-raising at a time when natural disasters have put an added burden on humanitarian philanthropy.

Mr. Oren, a native of Tel Aviv, is very much a product of jazzs educational establishment. He attended the Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts in Givatayim, Israel, and the Israel Conservatory of Music in Tel Aviv, as well as the Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music in Ramat HaSharon and the Arison Campus of the Arts in Tel Aviv. He came to the United States in 2012 to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston on a four-year scholarship.Peter van Agtmael is not easily categorized as either a photojournalist or a documentarian. His images are often complicated and at times oblique, and they hew to no particular genre or aesthetic approach in photography.

A member of Magnum Photos, Mr. van Agtmael, 37, is best known for his powerful coverage of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as his continuing examination of America, but he says he does not want to be constrained by one-250th of a second or the rectangular frame.

I am partly in the photojournalism realm, but its never been the be-all and end-all, he said in a recent interview. Its always been about the broad spectrum of photography and how can I learn from it to better communicate with more complexity, rigor and beauty.Born in Tunisia, she has become a global leader in the promotion of contemporary artists from the Middle East and North Africa, not only by participating in fairs like FIAC and the Armory Show, but also by working with institutions on shows with artists that she represents (one of them, Ismail Bahri, just had a one-man show at the Hermes Foundation in Brussels).

I like artists who actually work on historic moments, coming up with things that we are hiding, we are not allowed to talk about, Ms. Feriani said. Artists are able to put these subjects in front of the public and give them the opportunity to discuss it, criticize it and give their opinion.

That programming was something that collectors like Adel Hamida, a Tunis dentist, were drawn to. What made him stick with her as a gallerist is her special approach to the triangular relationship between the gallery, the artist and the collector, he wrote in an email. Ms. Feriani, he said, always tries to make me understand the artists way of thinking and the different techniques artists uses to reach their idea.

Ms. Feriani also wants to create a stronger arts infrastructure in her country. Without a contemporary art museum in Tunisia, and with many collectors interested only in more commercial decorative art, she said, she understands the importance of working closely with collectors and art enthusiasts on education and engagement. She has also worked to build the community, offering artist residencies and free studio spaces where they can work on projects.This conversation includes spoilers for the first six episodes of My Brilliant Friend.

Growing up in a violent Neapolitan neighborhood, Lila and Lenu werent afforded much childhood innocence, but any they had is definitely gone by the end of the sixth episode of HBOs adaptation of My Brilliant Friend. This weeks episodes saw Lenu tormented by puberty and school before heading off for sun and new experiences on the island of Ischia. Lila, meanwhile, is embedding herself deeper into the neighborhood, designing shoes with her brother and juggling the advances of the aggressive Marcello Solara.

This week, Joshua Barone and Aisha Harris, editors on the Culture desk, and Natalie Shutler, an editor on the Styles desk, discuss the fifth and sixth episodes. You can read our discussion of the first two episodes here, the third and fourth here and the Times review of the show here.

AISHA HARRIS It was heartbreaking to see Lila wake up to a stocking at her bedside in Episode 5, and crack a small smile in anticipation  only to find shes been gifted lumps of coal by Rino. It served as a reminder of how the characters in this story rarely exist for long in a state of pure joy, or merely even contentment, before they are undercut by disappointment or devastation. This recurs moments later, in the same scene, when her father appears to marvel at the pair of shoes Lila and Rino have made, before lashing out furiously at Rino.

It reinforced to me how thorny and precarious the relationships are between these family members at any given moment  so much of how they treat each other hinges on money, and to a point, that is understandable. To both Rino and Lila, the shoes represent the possibility of ascendance for the family business.Not everyone in Britain is familiar with the name Yousuf Karsh. Yet just about everyone in Britain has carried his most celebrated image around in their pocket, wallet or purse.

Mr. Karsh was a portrait photographer who in 1941 took what became the most famous picture of Prime Minister Winston Churchill: the one where he stands, hand on hip, glaring at the lens  and the one that appears on Britains 5-pound note. It was taken while Churchill was in Canada, during an improvised shoot.

Churchill was chomping on a freshly lit cigar, said Ann Shumard, senior curator of photographs at the Smithsonians National Portrait Gallery in Washington. When asked to get rid of it, he obstinately refused. So Karsh boldly stepped forward and plucked the cigar from Churchills mouth and took the picture, she said. And he always maintained that that stern expression, as Churchill glowers into the camera, was entirely the result of that snatching of the cigar.A mothers dead body is not to be seen, the writer Scholastique Mukasongas mother, Stefania, would tell her girls. Youll have to cover me, my daughters, thats your job and no one elses.

But no one covered her. There were no daughters left. Stefanias girls  all except Scholastique, who had fled to France  were among 37 family members massacred in the Rwandan genocide in the spring of 1994, when the Hutu majority turned on their Tutsi neighbors, killing more than 800,000 people in 100 days. Elementary school teachers attacked their students. Priests hacked their parishioners to death. The bones of Mukasongas family lay scattered and anonymous, in ossuaries or simply where they had fallen.

Mukasonga and one brother survived, saved by their mothers ingenuity. She had them smuggled into Burundi, then Senegal, when they were teenagers, many years before the genocide began. The siblings made a pact; one would study while the other worked to support them, then theyd keep switching, back and forth. Mukasonga later became a social worker and settled in France; her brother became a doctor.

In The Barefoot Woman, Mukasongas latest book, translated from the French into English by Jordan Stump, she attempts to fulfill her daughterly duty: Mama, I wasnt there to cover your body, and all I have left is words  words in a language you didnt understand  to do as you asked. And Im all alone with my feeble words, and on the pages of my notebook, over and over, my sentences weave a shroud for your missing body.New this week:

A HISTORY OF AMERICA IN 100 MAPS By Susan Schulten. (University of Chicago, $35.) Maps often capture history much more economically than any narrative. This is Schultens premise, which she supports by offering 100 cartographic snapshots of America from the European arrival to the digital age. FLYING TOO CLOSE TO THE SUN By James Cahill. (Phaidon, $59.95.) Cahill, who has written widely about the influence of classical antiquity on contemporary art, presents a lush and wide-ranging visual overview that moves from Botticelli and Caravaggio to Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst. NASHVILLE By Ann Patchett, with photographs by Heidi Ross and an introduction by Jon Meacham. (Harper Design, $35.) This love letter to Nashville comes from Patchett, the award-winning novelist and local bookstore owner, and Ross, whose photographs have appeared in Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone. They make the case for the new American South as embodied in this historic, vibrant city. YO SOY FIDEL By Michael Christopher Brown, text by Martin Parr and John Lee Andersen. (Damiani, $50.) Brown tells the story of contemporary Cuba by following the cortege of Fidel Castro in late 2016 as it makes its way from Havana to Santiago and snapping pictures of the roadside crowds. The faces are mournful and hopeful. SHADE By Pete Souza. (Little, Brown, $30.) Once President Obamas official photographer, Souza is now just a concerned citizen. He uses photos of the former president to make pointed comparisons between the current occupant of the White House and the one whom he knew best.

& Noteworthy

In which we ask colleagues at The Times what theyre reading now.

The final selection in CLOSE RANGE, a collection of short fictions by Annie Proulx, is Brokeback Mountain, a tale of yearning between two cowboys who begin a passionate relationship during a stint on a mountain tending sheep. Having seen the 2005 film version, I read that one first and was crushed by its sadness beautifully etched in hard prose. We reporters often try to establish a sense of place by using heavy-handed description, and by draping details onto some newsy narrative. Proulx forges it with spare language and terse, tough dialogue. The collections other stories are no less bleak, about people eking out hardpan livings on failing ranches, in defeated families, in tough cowboy bars  or in the case of The Mud Below, on the backs of mean bulls on the rodeo circuit. Proulxs stories are bumpy rides through a corner of the American West that seems fertile only in producing rue and loneliness and pain.

 Corey Kilgannon, metro reporterDid anyone in particular disappoint you?

GARNER Jamie Quatro and Uzodinma Iweala each wrote second books that felt like letdowns after their first, stronger, ones. Barbara Kingsolver and Michael Ondaatje seemed to be writing on autopilot  very high sorts of autopilot, perhaps, but autopilot still. Jonathan Lethem is among the most gifted novelists alive, and it has killed me to have to review his last two novels, including this years The Feral Detective, without enthusiasm.

I wanted Lets Go (So We Can Get Back), the memoir from Jeff Tweedy, of the band Wilco, to be great, but its slack and talky and less than the sum of its parts. Lionel Trillings morose letters were published this year. As a friend of mine put it, he may have been Americas best critic but hes its worst letter writer. The final volume of Karl Ove Knausgaards My Struggle series was so oddly off that it was as if, to borrow a lyric from one of Wilcos best-known songs, he was trying to break our hearts.

SZALAI I admired Gilbert Kings Devil in the Grove (2012) so much that I expected a lot from his follow-up, Beneath a Ruthless Sun, which ended up being too convoluted and digressive to deliver. Patricia OTooles The Moralist, her biography of Woodrow Wilson, was penetrating on Wilsons winding, halting entry into World War I, but her handling of his racist legacy  his segregation of the civil service being just one example  felt cursory.

SEHGAL Like Jen, I was intrigued by the premises of certain nonfiction books and let down by the execution. One notable heartbreak was Two Sisters, by Asne Seierstad, about two Norwegian sisters who joined ISIS as fighters in Syria in 2013. Its a strangely partial portrait and dictated largely by the sisters father, a wildly unreliable character  an odd decision to say the least, especially from Seierstad, a veteran journalist and a writer I much admire.

Whats the book on each of your lists of 10 favorites that most surprised you, either in terms of how much you enjoyed it or why you enjoyed it?

GARNER Sigrid Nunezs novel The Friend was, for me, this years great happy surprise. Id never really read her before  in fact, Im embarrassed to say, shed hardly been on my radar at all. The best feeling you can have as a reader is to devour a terrific book and then flip to the back flap and realize that, hey, this person has six more just waiting for me.

SZALAI I never thought Id rip through a 700-page book about Israels clandestine assassination program, but Bergmans Rise and Kill First is a long book that doesnt feel that way. The storytelling in Merve Emres The Personality Brokers is so exquisite and enthralling that I momentarily forgot how much I loathe personality tests. President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, pictured above, joked about using marijuana to stay awake at official events, a comment that critics called insensitive in light of his bloody war on drugs. [The New York Times]

 Denmark plans to house unwanted migrants on a tiny, hard-to-reach island. [The New York Times]

 Saudi Arabia has been disqualified from hosting a prominent chess tournament by the international chess governing body. A legal advocacy group representing Israeli players, who were banned by the Saudis in 2017, said it had pressured the organization to act. [The New York Times]

 Sri Lanka will lower its tax on sugary drinks by 40 percent, the latest populist gesture from the government as it tries to shore up support for the disputed prime minister. Experts fear the move will drive up diabetes and obesity. [The New York Times]

 Mexicos new president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has created a truth commission to re-examine the case of 43 students who disappeared after being attacked by police officers in 2014. [The New York Times]After Chip Conley sold Joie de Vivre, the boutique hotel company he created and ran for about 24 years, his life took an unexpected turn. At 52, he was sought out by Brian Chesky, the then-31-year-old chief executive of Airbnb, for advice on how to turn the fledgling home-sharing start-up into a major player in the hospitality field.

For the next four years, Mr. Conley worked at Airbnb, toggling between being a mentor and an intern in a sometimes baffling new role  a modern elder, as he put it. As a veteran hospitality executive, he was used to being the sage on the stage. But as a newbie in the tech sector, he was often the oldest person in the room, learning from colleagues who were young enough to be his children.According to the O.E.C.D., France has low rates of poverty among the elderly, and people over 65 earn on average more than the general population.

China

Chinas one-child policy, which lasted nearly four decades to 2015, and the expansion of benefits to rural citizens has helped to create the perfect storm of a shrinking work force and a growing pension deficit. Restrictions on the countrys pension funds were relaxed in recent years, allowing the funds to invest in the stock market for the first time. The government is also encouraging the growth of a private pension system to put the onus on the individual to save for retirement and to ease the reliance on the largely state-funded coverage.

Britain

As The New York Times has reported, Britains extended stretch of austerity measures has chipped away at the countrys social safety net. An O.E.C.D. report found that the United Kingdom had high levels of poverty among those 75 and over because of the low state pension. It also said British workers would receive about less than a third of their working salary in retirement benefits, which is the lowest among developed countries. In October, two regulatory bodies announced a review of the pensions process, noting concerns that many future retirees wont have enough money, or little money, to live on. Britain does not have a mandatory retirement age, but the government recently announced it was gradually increasing the pension age for women from 60 to 65 to get it in line with the pension age for men. The pension age will then increase to 66 for both men and women from 2019 to 2020, with a further increase to 67 planned for 2026.

Canada



In Canada, you can receive a pension, called Old Age Security, from the age of 65, or a reduced pension as early as 60. After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was elected in 2015, he reversed a plan by his predecessor, the Conservative Stephen Harper, to raise the eligibility age to 67. But Canada has undertaken other reforms, such as increasing the pension benefits from a mandatory system known as the Canada Pension Plan. Employers contributions to the plan will rise to 5.95 percent of wages, up from 4.95 percent. More than 40 percent of Canadians have an additional voluntary contribution plan. Canadas universal health care system also helps to lower the financial burden on retirees.

Australia



Australias retirement system consists of a means-tested pension paid to those whose income is under a certain limit, and a compulsory company pension plan known as superannuation, which requires employers to contribute 9.5 percent of a workers wages to a fund. Workers receive tax incentives to make voluntary contributions. The country does have a gender gap in retirement savings through superannuation, with a recent report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showing that women reach retirement with about 37 percent less in savings than men. Australia doesnt have mandatory retirement, except in very few occupations, and the minimum age for withdrawing super benefits is as low as 55, depending on the year in which a person was born. The current pension age is 65 years and six months, which is increasing to 67 by 2023. The countrys ruling Liberal party, which is conservative, despite the moniker, has been trying to raise the pension age to 70. In September, Prime Minister Scott Morrison abandoned the efforts.

The Netherlands

The countrys system is made up of a state pension supplemented with mandatory occupational plans. Workers contribute an average of 18 percent of their incomes into the corporate pension funds, which are separate from the employer or company under Dutch law and strictly regulated. The retirement age in the Netherlands will soon be linked to life expectancy, but it is currently 66 and will rise to 67 in 2021. The average retiree will receive around 100 percent of their previous income in retirement benefits, according to the O.E.C.D., which also noted that poverty among the elderly was extremely low compared with the average among other developed countries.Just months after being pushed out of the White House, Stephen K. Bannon, President Trumps former chief strategist, met with a fugitive Chinese billionaire at a suite in the luxurious Hays-Adams Hotel in Washington.

The billionaire, Guo Wengui, who is also known as Miles Kwok, was living in New York City and had landed on Chinas most-wanted list, accused of bribery, fraud and money laundering. He was also a dissident and fierce critic of Beijing, seeking political asylum in the United States. And Mr. Bannon  increasingly obsessed with the emerging China threat  was eager to talk about the Communist Party, corruption and American naval operations in the South China Sea.

Since their first discussion in October 2017, they have met dozens of times  in Dallas, on Mr. Guos yacht and, more often, at the billionaires $67.5 million apartment in the Sherry-Netherland Hotel, overlooking New Yorks Central Park. The two shared a stage two weeks ago in Manhattan, at a news conference they organized to announce plans to set up a $100 million fund to investigate corruption and aid people they deem victims of Chinese government persecution.

We both naturally despise the Chinese Communist Party, Mr. Guo said in an interview last week, referring to Mr. Bannon. Thats why weve become partners.Ninety-seven members of the House of Representatives on Tuesday called for a congressional investigation into working conditions at XPO Logistics, which operates a Memphis warehouse that several women said was rife with pregnancy discrimination.

The letter, sent to the top two members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, cited a New York Times investigation that revealed in October that several women who packaged Verizon products at the warehouse had miscarriages. The women told The Times that they lost their pregnancies after XPO managers refused their requests for light duty and, in some cases, ignored their doctors notes recommending a reprieve.

The letter was organized by two Democrats, Representatives Steve Cohen of Tennessee and Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut. The lawmakers also urged the committee to consider the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, a bill that would compel employers to accommodate pregnant women unless doing so imposed an undue hardship. Under current federal law, employers have to provide light duty or extra rest breaks for pregnant workers only if they are doing so for other workers.

We take seriously recent allegations concerning one of our warehouses and have launched an independent investigation, Molly Morse, a spokeswoman for XPO, said in a statement Tuesday. When the investigation is completed, we are committed to implementing any recommended improvements.Want climate news in your inbox? Sign up here for Climate Fwd:, our email newsletter.



WASHINGTON  With the world still struggling to get global warming under control, diplomats from nearly 200 countries are scheduled to meet in Poland over the next two weeks to try to put global climate negotiations back on track.

The focus of the meeting? To hammer out a key set of rules for the Paris climate agreement that, delegates hope, will help prod countries to cut fossil-fuel emissions far more deeply in the years ahead than theyre currently doing.

Under the Paris deal, signed by world leaders in 2015, virtually every country on Earth agreed to submit a plan for curbing emissions and vowed to ratchet up efforts over time. But key questions about how that process would unfold were left unanswered: How t horoughly should countries report their progress on emissions? How detailed should their plans for making further cuts be?

Delegates at the conference  being held in Katowice, at the heart of Polands coal-mining region, and which is known as COP24, shorthand for its formal name  will haggle over a rule book that will lay out the answers to those and other key questions. The debates are often technical, but highly contentious: China, for instance, has suggested that developing countries should be held to looser reporting standards, but Europe and the United States have pushed back.Her caramel popcorn, salted almond and malt cookies were another surprise hit. Next on my list are the cardamom-pistachio caramels, and come summer youll find me making the blackberry-elderflower pie, which has a layer of pistachios nestled between the filling and the crust.

If there is one sticking point, its that some of Ms. Hays recipes call for ingredients like double cream that are not easy to find in the United States , and she provides no substitutes. (For pouring cream, heavy cream works fine, and for superfine sugar, granulated will often do). Most items can be found online or at specialty markets , and most of the book translates well, but it would be nice to see her books fully adapted for the American home baker.

For the baker looking for a sure thing with every turn of the page, theres Food52 Genius Desserts: 100 Recipes That Will Change the Way You Bake, (Ten Speed, $35), a collection of recipes compiled by Kristen Miglore, the creative director of the website Food52 . Each recipe is a game changer using an unusual ingredient or a new technique.

I loved the food writer Charlotte Druckmans crunchy-salty-sweet cacio e pepe shortbread (really more of a cocktail snack), which Im looking forward to nibbling with a glass of something bubbly. And sure to grace many holiday cookie plates this year are the dessert doyenne Dorie Greenspans famous World Peace Cookies, a slice-and-bake treat that Ms. Miglore describes as a little bit French chocolate sable and a little bit American chocolate chip.

But the recipe that really bowled me over was the chef Einat Admonys easy baklava, which calls for rolling up the nut filling in the phyllo and slicing it into discs as you would cinnamon rolls, then baking and drizzling the slices with cardamom-rosewater-honey syrup. Like traditional baklava, they are shatteringly crisp, gooey and sweet in all the right places, but much less work.When youre 15, or thereabouts, you love the art you love more passionately than youll ever love art again. Around that age, your sense of taste has only just recently come into being. Some complicated interaction between macrocultural forces and neurological development has transformed you from a kid with a favorite Ninja Turtle to a young adult with an aesthetic  albeit an imperfectly calibrated one, prone to bouts of abandon. Encountered in this condition, Donnie Darko is no mere protagonist; hes your proxy. The Bell Jar doesnt engross you; it defines you. That Dali print isnt MoMA merchandise taped above your bed; its a mirror into your soul. This kind of adolescent fervor burns hot and fast and, like any other intoxicant, can lead to a hangover, such that when you later recall an object of youthful infatuation, you may feel compelled to append caveats: I was going through a phase. ... 

The band I loved most at 15 was Rage Against the Machine, the multiplatinum rap-rock group from Los Angeles that was almost precision-engineered to be loved most at 15. Fronted by Zack de la Rocha, who proudly proclaimed himself a militant poet, the band helped to both sculpt and shatter my sense of the world. During the run-up to Americas first invasion of Iraq, in 1990, teachers at my public school did not debate the wars merits; they festooned our classrooms and their lapels with yellow ribbons. Years later, listening to a cassette of the bands debut album, I heard de la Rocha liken those same ribbons  which I hadnt thought about much as a fourth grader  to swastikas. It was revelatory to hear such an audacious, if intemperate, voice of dissent.

On the bands best-known song, Killing in the Name, de la Rocha drew a connection between cops and white supremacists with a 12-word slant rhyme all the more powerful for its matter-of-factness: Some of those that work forces/are the same that burn crosses. It was through Rage Against the Machines album art that I learned about the self-immolation of Thich Quang Duc; through their lyrics I learned about Frantz Fanon; through their videos I learned about the F.B.I.s Cointelpro operations. The aggregate effect was to frame mistrust of authority  which we regard as standard-issue adolescent equipment  as both necessary and grounded in ugly facts of American history.

Today, rap-rock is derided as a goofy grotesque, thanks mostly to lesser acts that came after Rage, aping their aggression, jettisoning their political convictions and outselling them in the process. But in Rages efforts to distill the spirit of forebears as dissimilar as EPMD and Bruce Springsteen, they perfected a novel sound. If de la Rochas voice was too guttural, too bellowing, too dude-ish, the band would have been unsustainably bottom-heavy. Crucially, he had a treble register and four vocal modes: whisper, snarl, bark and an all-time-great shriek. Joining him up front was a fellow leftist of color, the half-Kenyan Tom Morello  a brilliant guitarist who did a dead-on impression of a dumb one, toggling between pummeling riffs indebted to Led Zeppelin and squalls that conjured Public Enemy.The Charmer is a Danish thriller about an Iranian named Esmail. Played by Ardalan Esmaili, hes handsome in a youthful, gentle, intelligent way. We see him in bed and on dates with women. But you need only a few scenes to understand that nothing about the sex and seduction corresponds to regular dating. Esmail is desperate  an immigrant, not a tourist. And the movie, in nail-biting, onion-peeling style, explains what hes desperate for. To stay in Denmark, he needs one of these connections to turn into a relationship with a woman willing to say that hes hers.

But he might have been at this for long enough, though  frequenting the same wine bar in a Copenhagen neighborhood far from and nicer than where he lives  that you can smell more than cologne. Hes grown a little skunky.

One unhappy-looking woman says hes going way too fast. Another goes to a more dire extreme. And one evening, at that bar, a different young woman snidely, yet somehow flirtatiously, tells him what she smells  in Persian. Her name is Sara (Soho Rezanejad), and shes Iranian, too. Esmail has zeroed in on her friend, and shes not going to let him use her. But The Charmer is a movie full of surprises, and one of the happy ones is the closeness that develops between Sara and Esmail. You dont see it coming, and neither does he. She asks him to parties and introduces him to her mother and their vibrant Danish Iranian community.At the graduation ceremony, dinner featured small towers of bacon-wrapped meats, spice-slathered chicken wings, cuts of picanha and prime beef, and slices of grill-roasted pineapple. After the meal, each participant received a certificate and was invited to give a speech. A few participants were acknowledged for traits and skills that rose above expectations

The program starts with a three-week paid training period that teaches participants how to conduct themselves professionally and strengthens their confidence. Then they are placed in a nine-week internship that provides hands-on experience in a variety of workplaces, including the offices of local politicians and nonprofit organizations.

Students take personality quizzes to assess their strengths and weaknesses and uncover possible career paths. They attend workshops aimed at improving language and communications skills or overcoming disabilities.

A lot of participants drop out of high school because they have dyslexia, A.D.D., A.D.H.D., said Mr. Hornung, who shares with the participants that he has dyslexia as a way of encouraging them to overcome difficulties.And amid their back-and-forth, Ms. Anglin told Mr. Esposito about the plan for his resignation. She was not supposed to do so at that point, the official said, observing that usually someone does not get fired in his own office.

Mr. de Blasio, speaking Tuesday at an unrelated news conference on crime statistics, acknowledged that the meeting did not go as planned and became emotional. It ended with what he said was miscommunication and misunderstanding.

In the heat of the moment, I think, because of the misunderstanding, a series of things went into motion, Mr. de Blasio said vaguely.

Mr. Esposito did not take it well, the official said, but Ms. Anglin, as well as senior officials in City Hall, appeared to believe that he would follow what they termed an order. The first deputy commissioner, Calvin Drayton, apparently did so, accepting the request by City Hall that he resign.

Mr. Esposito did not see it the same way, according to a person briefed on the interaction, who said Mr. Esposito refused to go without being directly told by the mayor that he had been fired. The person requested anonymity to describe the private discussions.

But Mr. de Blasio was in Vermont over the weekend at a gathering hosted by Senator Bernie Sanders. The commissioner tried reaching him, to no avail, the person said. They did not speak.

The City Hall official disputed that account, saying that Mr. Esposito did not try to reach Mr. de Blasio directly over the weekend and did not tell Ms. Anglin that he wanted Mr. de Blasio to call him.[What you need to know to start the day: Get New York Today in your inbox.]

Law-enforcement agencies across the country have adopted aerial drones to map crime scenes, monitor large events and aid search-and-rescue operations. But the high-flying devices have also triggered backlash over fears they will be used to spy on law-abiding citizens.

The New York Police Department on Tuesday unveiled plans to deploy 14 of the unmanned fliers and to train 29 officers to operate them, opening an intense debate about whether an agency previously criticized for illegally surveilling citizens should possess such powerful technology.

Senior police officials said the drones would be used for monitoring giant crowds, investigating hazardous waste spills, handling hostage situations and reaching remote areas in crime scenes, among other tasks. They will not be used for routine police patrols, unlawful surveillance or to enforce traffic laws, the officials said. Nor will they be equipped with weapons.

Drone technology will give our cops and their incident commanders an opportunity to see what theyre getting into before they go into harms way, Chief of Department Terence A. Monahan said. For this reason alone, it would be negligent for us not to use this technology.After Tuesdays hearing, Mr. Murphy said little about Ms. Brennans testimony, including how his administration had responded to her accusations. Instead, in a statement, he praised her for the leadership she showed in telling her story and cited new state guidelines regarding sexual harassment and assault.

She is right: no one should have to go through an ordeal to have their voices heard, he said.

Ms. Brennan described on Tuesday how she repeatedly brought her account to top members of Mr. Murphys inner circle.

Ms. Brennan said that within days of being assaulted by Mr. Alvarez in her Jersey City apartment she met with Justin Braz, a friend who worked in state government and ended up working for Mr. Murphys campaign, and told him what had happened, though she did not ask him to inform others until Mr. Murphys transition.

She also went to the Jersey City police to report the assault, underwent a rape examination at a hospital and went to the Hudson County prosecutors office to press charges.

Despite seeing Mr. Alvarez continue to work for the Murphy campaign and later on the transition team, she decided to take a job in the Murphy administration because she was determined not to let the assault impact her career.

As a victim of sex assault, I should not be the one to give up my career goals in favor of the career goals of my rapist, said Ms. Brennan, who is chief of staff to the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency.

She recalled every instance that she crossed paths with Mr. Alvarez  at meetings, at a campaign rally with Mr. Murphy and President Obama, at a debate, at the governors inaugural ball.Philip Bosco, a character actor who was a familiar face for years in movies, on television and especially on the Broadway stage, where he won a Tony Award and was nominated for five more, died on Monday night at his home in Haworth, N.J. He was 88.

His daughter Celia Bosco said the cause was complications of dementia.

A tall man with a hearty manner and a voice that could shift easily from stentorian boom to silken purr, Mr. Bosco received his first Tony Award nomination for his Broadway debut, in 1960, and his last for his role as the angriest member of the jury in a murder trial in the 2004 production of Reginald Roses intense drama Twelve Angry Men.

Known for his versatility, Mr. Bosco won his one Tony, in 1989, for portraying a buffoonish opera impresario in Ken Ludwigs farce Lend Me a Tenor.

As late as 1979, when he had already appeared in more than 30 Broadway productions, he told The New York Times, with more resignation than rancor, There are a lot of actors like me who have been working a long time, yet no one knows you outside the theater world. He added, You could say all of us are waiting in the wings for that great role.Unless we take action, chatbots could seriously endanger our democracy, and not just when they go haywire.

The most obvious risk is that we are crowded out of our own deliberative processes by systems that are too fast and too ubiquitous for us to keep up with. Who would bother to join a debate where every contribution is ripped to shreds within seconds by a thousand digital adversaries?

A related risk is that wealthy people will be able to afford the best chatbots. Prosperous interest groups and corporations, whose views already enjoy a dominant place in public discourse, will inevitably be in the best position to capitalize on the rhetorical advantages afforded by these new technologies.

And in a world where, increasingly, the only feasible way of engaging in debate with chatbots is through the deployment of other chatbots also possessed of the same speed and facility, the worry is that in the long run well become effectively excluded from our own party. To put it mildly, the wholesale automation of deliberation would be an unfortunate development in democratic history.

Recognizing the threat, some groups have begun to act. The Oxford Internet Institutes Computational Propaganda Project provides reliable scholarly research on bot activity around the world. Innovators at Robhat Labs now offer applications to reveal who is human and who is not. And social media platforms themselves  Twitter and Facebook among them  have become more effective at detecting and neutralizing bots.

But more needs to be done.

A blunt approach  call it disqualification  would be an all-out prohibition of bots on forums where important political speech takes place, and punishment for the humans responsible. The Bot Disclosure and Accountability Bill introduced by Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, proposes something similar. It would amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit candidates and political parties from using any bots intended to impersonate or replicate human activity for public communication. It would also stop PACs, corporations and labor organizations from using bots to disseminate messages advocating candidates, which would be considered electioneering communications.

A subtler method would involve mandatory identification: requiring all chatbots to be publicly registered and to state at all times the fact that they are chatbots, and the identity of their human owners and controllers. Again, the Bot Disclosure and Accountability Bill would go some way to meeting this aim, requiring the Federal Trade Commission to force social media platforms to introduce policies requiring users to provide clear and conspicuous notice of bots in plain and clear language, and to police breaches of that rule. The main onus would be on platforms to root out transgressors.With the facts against it, the administration will have to argue the law. But that approach has already led to numerous lost deregulatory cases. At the Institute for Policy Integrity, which I direct at the New York University School of Law, we have kept a tally of court challenges to Trump-era deregulatory rules. The administrations record is dismal: It prevailed in two cases and either lost or abandoned its position in 20 others.

So not only have the facts been against the governments position. So has the law.

On the power plant emissions rule, the administrations own analysis shows that its weaker regulatory scheme will be dramatically worse for the public. In fact, the administrations so-called Affordable Clean Energy Rule is likely to increase overall emissions by creating new loopholes for coal plants to evade air pollution restrictions and operate more frequently. That will cause a significant increase in climate pollution and up to 1,400 additional American deaths per year, according to the governments projections. The E.P.A. says that it is exercising its discretion in choosing this rule, which will impose tens of billions of dollars of net harms on the American people. This is a textbook example of arbitrary and capricious conduct  exactly what the law prohibits.

In weakening the vehicle emissions rule, the administration relies on economic and legal arguments that dont stand up to scrutiny. The current standards require automakers to steadily increase the fuel efficiency of new passenger vehicles, limiting climate pollution while reducing consumer fuel costs.

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?

Al Gore, the 45th vice president of the United States, finds reasons for optimism in the Biden presidency.

Al Gore, the 45th vice president of the United States, finds reasons for optimism in the Biden presidency. What are the worst climate risks in your country?

Select a country, and we'll break down the climate hazards it faces.

Select a country, and we'll break down the climate hazards it faces. Where are Americans suffering most?

Our maps, developed with experts, show where extreme heat is causing the most deaths in the U.S.

Our maps, developed with experts, show where extreme heat is causing the most deaths in the U.S. What does climate devastation look like?

In Sept. 2020, Michael Benson studied detailed satellite imagery. Here's the earth that he saw  and the one he wants to see.

The Trump administration has proposed freezing the standards in 2021 and revoking a waiver that allows California to set its own, more stringent vehicle pollution limits, which other states follow.

Officials claim the resulting increases in pollution and fuel costs are justified by supposed safety benefits from rolling back the standards. It assumes that stricter efficiency standards raise the price of vehicles. Standard economic theory predicts that people would then buy fewer cars because each car would be more expensive. But instead, the administrations faulty analysis leads it, wholly implausibly, to the opposite conclusion: that people will buy more cars, and therefore drive more miles and have more accidents.I grew up, as did so many children of Cuban exiles, traumatized by what my parents had lost in the revolution of 1959 led by Fidel Castro. They had believed in the social reforms Castro envisioned  equal rights for women and Afro-Cubans, free day care, land for farmers, housing for the poor, health care for all and education for every child  and felt betrayed by his turn to authoritarianism and communism.

Like other exiles of their generation, my parents refuse to return to the island. They prefer to hold on to their memories of a vanished Cuba. For nearly 30 years Ive been going back on my own, trying to understand what Cuba has become.

There are also the children who stayed, the generation raised by revolutionaries, who tried to build a just society through volunteer work and communal sacrifice. They struggled through periods of profound scarcity and now face the decline of Cubas national welfare system. A friend who supports her parents with her Airbnb business wondered who she might have been, what she might have attained, had they left.

Youre lucky your parents took you away when you were little, she told me.

But as Cuba approaches the 60th anniversary of its revolution, a new generation, both in and out of Cuba, the grandchild generation, is shedding the traumas of the past.

Young Cubans today are individualists who would have been labeled ideological diversionists by elders who cut sugarcane for the good of the nation. Although theyve grown up hearing about the horrors of American imperialism and the ongoing trade embargo, they sport tattoos that declare, All You Need is Love or Live Hard.Should it be this hard? This tortured? I dont know Behar or follow him on Twitter, but the reaction to his initial Bush tweet and his response to that became a kind of cause celebre among some people I do know. They talked or tweeted about the whole episode as an example of how fractiously far weve fallen. The television commentator Nicolle Wallace, the former United States attorney Preet Bharara and Lanny Davis, the prominent Democratic lawyer who represents Michael Cohen, all publicly expressed support for Behar.

The tussle over remembrances of Bush echoed the tussles over remembrances of Senator John McCain, when detractors howled about any framing of him as a hero  McCain, who was captured and, for years, tortured by the North Vietnamese and who refused early release unless his fellow prisoners were also freed.

[Want to join the debate? Follow us on Instagram at @nytopinion.]

Yes, there were issues, grave ones, to be taken with his positions on American military intervention and with his domestic record. But there was valor galore, across decades of public service, and its possible, even imperative, to acknowledge and celebrate that.

Thats not to say that Bush or McCain, even in death, warrants only tributes. A mix of appreciations and censorious assessments is in order, and its very much arguable that the first wave of takes on Bush, including one that I wrote for The Times, tilted excessively toward the complimentary.

But too many of us tend to interpret events, political figures and issues in all-or-nothing, allies-or-enemies, black-and-white terms, blind to shades of gray.

A person can find Christine Blasey Ford credible, believe that Brett Kavanaugh lacks the temperament for the Supreme Court and also worry about a pile-on against him that laid waste to the concepts of due process and presumption of innocence. But the public battle lines were drawn in a way that left little room for that.

For that matter, a person can detest the conservative stacking of the court  and seethe over the manner in which Mitch McConnell blocked Merrick Garland  and accept that Trump, in elevating Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, didnt commit some treachery or abuse his office. He fulfilled campaign pledges and reminded us that elections have consequences.It is not possible, even with this new data, to say exactly why a prosecutor, defense attorney or judge decides to remove any particular juror in a single case. But this racially skewed trend, played out across many cases, is persistent. And it has two especially pernicious effects on the quality of criminal justice.

First, the defendant is not judged by a jury that reflects a cross-section of his or her community  a violation of the courts interpretation of the Sixth Amendment. In a system that already disproportionately prosecutes people of color, hedging the constitutional rights of defendants can be particularly harmful.

Second, excluded parts of the community become more cynical about the justice system when they repeatedly see barriers to jury service. If people from certain similar neighborhoods are constantly getting booted from juries, then its tempting for residents there to view the police  and prosecutors  as hostile occupiers rather than partners in public safety.

In theory, the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution, as interpreted in Batson v. Kentucky, prevents attorneys from removing jurors on the basis of race. But Batson claims rarely succeed because they require the judge to declare the proposed stated reason for removal was only a pretext hiding discriminatory intent  a notoriously steep standard.

To address the problem, state courts could adopt rules such as the one that the Washington Supreme Court approved last April. The new rule makes it easier to stop juror removals rooted in implicit racial bias by outlawing peremptory challenges defended with explanations highly correlated with race, like prior contact with law enforcement or living in a high-crime neighborhood.

There are now over half a dozen states completely controlled by Democrats, whose ascendant progressive wing would presumably support such nondiscrimination protections.

Another answer  which could gain support in even the toughest of tough on crime red states  is simply to publish more information on jury selection. The details of judge and attorney removals of jurors is already public record, but those details usually remain buried in the hard-copy files of court clerks across the country.To the Editor:

Re Judge Says Federal Ban on Female Genital Mutilation Is Unconstitutional (news article, Nov. 22):

As a survivor of female genital mutilation and a co-founder of There Is No Limit Foundation, a survivor-led nonprofit, I am deeply concerned by the decision of Judge Bernard Friedman to dismiss charges in Michigan against the people  including two doctors  accused of subjecting nine girls to female genital mutilation.

This ruling shows that we, the survivors, and the millions of girls at risk are alone. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 513,000 women and girls in the United States were at risk of or had been subjected to female genital mutilation in 2012.

Judge Friedmans decision sends a negative message to survivors and those at risk about their rights over their bodies and their protection. It has the potential to strike fear in those willing to speak out.

We cannot give up our rights to our bodies. Change will come, and we must all break our silence and take action.One day at the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year in the rural Rishi Valley region of Andhra Pradesh, India, two dozen children in Grades 1 through 5 gathered quietly around four tables on colorful mats on the floor of their one-room school, working with books and worn laminated materials. Few looked up when I walked in.

Their school has no chairs and is more than three hours from Bangalore, the closest major city. But the students were working with learning aids so effective that by now theyve been adopted by more than 250,000 schools across India and in more than a dozen countries, including Kenya, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The common problem they address is one of the thorniest in education: teaching in primary schools where one teacher instructs children at multiple grade levels at once.

The issue contributes to what Unesco called a global learning crisis in 2014, when it found that 130 million children couldnt do basic math or read, even after four years in school. Recent data indicates the crisis is even more grim, according to Manos Antoninis, director of the Global Education Monitoring report at Unesco.

But experts, including Mr. Antoninis, say that Rishi Valleys pedagogy, which lets children study at their own pace, offers a solution to the problem. The approach has also been found to be useful in wealthier countries like Britain and Germany, and is applicable in countries like the United States, where teachers often manage large classes of students who have varied levels of understanding even within the same grade.Of course, the flip side is that WhatsApp can be and has been deployed in malicious ways to manipulate elections and spread false news. But reporting this story was a reminder that these platforms can unite people in meaningful ways.

I had seen many debates over family recipes unfold in my own WhatsApp groups with Indian relatives, and I wanted to better understand the connection between WhatsApp and food culture in India. I regularly report for the Food section, and the stories that interest me most are those that use food as a lens to view another topic  be it religion, architecture or, in this case, technology. In India, culinary traditions are often exchanged verbally, rather than in writing  my great-aunt can never list the ingredients for her kheer (a kind of rice pudding) on paper, but she can tell me as shes cooking the dish. I thought that maybe the ubiquity of WhatsApp was changing that. Perhaps certain Indian recipes, cooking techniques and indigenous food knowledge were being recorded for the first time on the platform.

I started by searching Indian newspapers for any mention of food-related WhatsApp groups, and then I put out a call to my family members, friends and colleagues who lived in India. Among others, I learned about Baliraja, a WhatsApp support forum for farmers in India (suicides by farmers with unpaid debts are a huge issue in the country), and PB Kitchen, a group for the women in an apartment complex in the southern state of Kerala that allowed them to buy and sell one anothers homemade food.

But I didnt know how I would be able to get in touch with these sources. I didnt have the budget to travel to far-flung corners of India to reach people, some of whom had no internet presence.

WhatsApp is not a searchable database  that is, you cant type in someones name and find a number, or find a group without having been invited to it. But by putting out a call on the app, my moms friend Sunitha, who lives in Kerala, a state with a population of 33 million, was able to get contact information for Bharathy Gopalakrishnan, the founder of PB Kitchen.In many frog species, the males care for their young. But in a rain forest in Borneo, scientists have discovered a case of unusual paternal devotion. Male smooth guardian frogs scarcely move or eat for days while tending one clutch of eggs, and they seem uninterested in mating with more females. Once hatched, tadpoles clamber on the males backs to be ferried to pools of water.

They are very good fathers, said Johana Goyes Vallejos, a behavioral ecologist at the University of Kansas and lead author of the study, which was published online November 15 in the Journal of Natural History.

Among frogs, about 10 percent of known species take care of their young. Of that group, half to two-thirds of species rely on males to do the job. For instance, male parental care is common among the brightly colored Neotropical poison frogs of Central and South America. But in species that have been studied in detail, the males often continue to call to females and mate while tending eggs, and they spread their attention over several clutches.

Dr. Goyes Vallejos was drawn to the less glamorous smooth guardian frog: a brown, nocturnal creature about an inch long with back patterns that look like dead leaves. In the 1980s, researchers published two short reports of males in direct contact with eggs and carrying tadpoles, but since then, the obscure species had been mostly ignored. I kind of wanted to go with the one that it seemed that nobody wanted to study, Dr. Goyes Vallejos said.Bleecker was never meant to be Fifth Avenue 2.0, said Sara Fay, the vice president for marketing at Brookfield Properties. We wanted brands with a social media following that they could leverage, and continue their engagement with.

With the help of the creative strategy firm Skylight, Brookfield brought in Lingua Franca, Bonberi, Slightly Alabama (an online leather accessories label) and Prabal Gurung (the lone traditional fashion house) and worked out short-term lease agreements as well as revenue shares, the specifics of which remain undisclosed.

Hill House Home, a bedding and bath line that led the way, was not part of the Brookfield plan. The line opened its bricks-and-mortar space at 395 Bleecker Street just over a year ago on a leap of faith. Back then, the block was pretty bare, save for Magnolia Bakery and Bookmarc, the last vestige of Marc Jacobss six-shop empire.

Almost everyone was like, Dont do this, said Nell Diamond, its founder. But she lived in the West Village and loved Bleecker Street, and in touring its vacant spaces she found that rents had dropped from their late-2000s high of $500 to $600 per square foot to $200 to $300. And despite the dire landscape, she did not believe retail was dead.Users of Quora, the question-and-answer site, are asking today:

Did my personal data just get stolen?

The social platform said late Monday that the account information and private messages of around 100 million users may have been exposed when its computer systems were compromised by a malicious third party. Quora discovered the data breach on Friday, the companys chief executive, Adam DAngelo, wrote in a blog post, and it is still investigating how it happened.

It is our responsibility to make sure things like this dont happen, and we failed to meet that responsibility, Mr. DAngelo wrote.

The company noted that the incident was unlikely to result in identity theft, as the site does not collect sensitive information such as credit card or Social Security numbers.

Still, coming less than a week after the hotel chain Marriott announced that hackers had stolen the personal data of up to 500 million guests, the incident serves as another reminder that a vast and expanding swath of our lives is vulnerable to digital intrusion.As I ventured outside, I heard loud, assured click-clacking behind me  two women in the same outfit that I was wearing. They were sisters from Singapore and moved like gazelles in their getas. I wobbled behind them, and then nearly lost my footing as I took in the scene near the lantern-lit Otani River winding through the city. It was a veritable thoroughfare of yukatas and getas, in an array of colors, on visitors young and old, shuffling, striding and practically skipping through the night.

People come from all over Asia and beyond to soak in Kinosakis seven onsen, or public hot spring baths, and pretty much everyone does it walking around in a robe all day. The city is one big inn. The ryokan you stay in is your individual room and the streets are like the inns corridors. Its all very romantic until it hails and rains.

I had come to Kinosaki, on the western coast of Honshu, Japans biggest island, though, not for dressing up, but on a kind of pilgrimage. As a Japanese friend put it to me in an email, Dont they have that Buddha thats only unveiled to the public every 33 years?

The morning after Id arrived, I took the Kinosaki Ropeway (a cable car) high up Mount Taishi to the Onsenji temple, home to the 1,300-year-old statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy in the Buddhist tradition. She has 11 faces, 10 in a crown to signify her wisdom, and was carved from the top of a mystical tree that produced three deities, of which she is the only original one left. This April began her unveiling, which will last for three years, until she goes back into hiding for another 30 years.

Midway up the ropeway, hail had started coming down, and I rushed inside the temple. There, with the help of a translator, I spoke with Ogawa Yusho, the resident monk, who was born in the temple and is now raising his family there. Hed grown up hearing the legend of Dochi Shonin, a priest who came to this very spot in the eighth century and prayed for 1,000 days for the health of the people here  and on the 1,000th day, an onsen sprung from the ground. It is said to be Mandara-yu, the oldest of the seven on Kinosakis onsen circuit.A black man killed by the police in an Alabama mall in November was shot three times from behind, according to a forensic examination commissioned by the mans family.

The finding, announced in a news conference on Monday, was seen by the mans family and lawyers as evidence he was running away and posed no threat to the officer who shot him.

Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr., 21, was fatally shot in the middle of a panicked crowd at the Riverchase Galleria in Hoover, Ala., on Nov. 22, as officers responded to reports of gunshots on Thanksgiving night. Witnesses said Mr. Bradford, who was legally carrying a handgun, was directing shoppers to safety.

Image Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr.

But the authorities publicly identified him as the gunman, an initial misidentification they retracted a day later. The shooting and its aftermath have ignited protests in Hoover, a predominantly white suburb about 10 miles south of Birmingham.The focus of the discussion today is maintaining our own identity as a network of schools, she said. The promise of an extended school day and year is a real differentiator and important to our families.

The strike comes shortly after a midterm election in which a burst of progressive Democratic energy led to defeats for charter school advocates in Illinois and other states.

That teachers in a charter network were able to organize, let alone walk out of their classrooms en masse, is notable given the history and aims of charter schools.

Only about 11 percent of the nations 7,000 charter schools are unionized, according to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

Although the union leader Al Shanker helped popularize the concept of charter schools in the 1980s, intending them as laboratories for educational innovation, he became a fierce critic when reformers began using charter laws to open nonunion schools. The reformers hoped that student performance would improve outside the bureaucratic constraints of contract work rules, and that underperforming teachers could be fired more easily. Results in the charter sector have been mixed. At Acero schools, a quarter of students met standards on state exams in 2016, the same percentage who met standards in the Chicago district schools, according to a report from the Illinois State Board of Education.

As the national charter sector grew rapidly, now serving over 3 million children, it developed a complicated relationship with organized labor. Union leaders accused charters of leeching students and funding from traditional public schools, and tended to oppose the expansion of the sector. But the unions also sought to organize charter schoolteachers and, in some cases, even opened their own charter schools.

When it comes to organizing the charter sector, unions have goals that are in some ways in contradiction to one another, said Daniel DiSalvo, a professor of political science at the City University of New York and a fellow at the Manhattan Institute. They want to win better things for the individual teachers, but fight back against the system theyre participating in.[music] Last Friday, when I was told he had minutes to live, I called him. The guy who answered the phone said, I think he can hear you, but he hasnt said anything for most of the day. I said, Dad, I love you and youve been a wonderful father. And the last words he would ever say on earth were, I love you, too. And were going to miss you. Your decency, sincerity and kind soul will stay with us forever. So through our tears, let us know the blessings of knowing and loving you, a great and noble man. The best father a son or daughter could have. And in our grief, let us smile knowing that Dad is hugging Robin and holding Moms hand again. The George Herbert Walker Bush who survived that fiery fall into the waters of the Pacific, three-quarters of a century ago, made our lives and the lives of nations, freer, better, warmer and nobler. That was his mission. That was his heartbeat. I believe it will be said that no occupant of the Oval Office was more courageous, more principled and more honorable than George Herbert Walker Bush. President Bush was also responsible for the North American Free Trade Agreement  recently modernized and improved by new administrations  which created the largest and richest free-trade area in the history of the world. The most decent and honorable person I ever met was my friend George Bush  one of natures noble men. His epitaph, perhaps just a single letter: the letter L for loyalty. It coursed through his blood. Loyalty to his country, loyalty to his family, loyalty to his friends, loyal to the institutions of government and always, always, always a friend to his friends. Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, the great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect to do his will. Working in you, that which is well pleasing in his sight, the blessing of God Almighty the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be on you and remain with you in this world in which we live, this day and forevermore. Amen.WASHINGTON  One by one they came. Parents hoisting toddlers on their hips. Two women from St. Louis, in town for a neonatology conference. A doctor from Washington whose grandmother had worked in housekeeping in the White House complex. Military generals and diplomats, C.I.A. chiefs and sports stars. And Sully the service dog.

As the body of former President George Bush lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda on Tuesday, luminaries and unknown mourners from across the country poured into the Capitol to pay tribute to a man whose inaugural vision of a kinder, gentler nation has become a relic of another era.

Among them was Cindy McCain, the wife of Senator John McCain of Arizona  the last person to lie in state, after his death in September. She bowed her head in silence as she stood before the coffin. Peyton Manning, the retired N.F.L. quarterback, paid his respects, as did Chris Evert, the tennis star, and Jack Nicklaus, the golfer.

Bob Dole, 95, a former Senate Republican leader, was helped from his wheelchair to deliver a final salute to his fellow World War II veteran and onetime political rival. Colin L. Powell, who served Mr. Bush as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and served his son, former President George W. Bush, as secretary of state, led a delegation of generals from Operation Desert Storm, the war the elder Bush waged as commander in chief. Gina Haspel, the director of the C.I.A., an agency Mr. Bush once headed, also paid her respects, as did two of her predecessors, John O. Brennan and George J. Tenet.There were 15 of them. Most arrived in the dead of night, laid their trap and waited for the target to arrive. That target was Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent Saudi critic of his countrys government and its young crown prince. Since his killing in Istanbul, Turkish media has released a steady drip feed of evidence implicating Saudi officials. Weeks of investigation by The Times builds on that evidence and reconstructs what unfolded, hour-by-hour. Our timeline shows the ruthless efficiency of a hit team of experts that seemed specially chosen from Saudi government ministries. Some had links to the crown prince himself. After a series of shifting explanations, Saudi Arabia now denies that this brazen hit job was premeditated. But this reconstruction of the killing, and the botched cover-up, calls their story into serious question. Its Friday morning, Sept. 28. Khashoggi and his fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, are at the local marriage office in Istanbul. In order to marry, hes told that he needs Saudi paperwork and goes straight to the consulate to arrange it. They tell him to return in a week. It all seems routine, but its not. Inside theres a Saudi spy, Ahmed al-Muzaini, whos working under diplomatic cover. That very day, he flies off to Riyadh and helps concoct a plan to intercept Khashoggi when he returns to the consulate. Fast-forward to Monday night into Tuesday morning. Saudi agents converge in Istanbul aboard separate flights. Muzaini, the spy, flies back from Riyadh. A commercial flight carries a three-man team that we believe flew from Cairo. Two of the men are security officers and theyve previously traveled with the crown prince. A private jet flying from Riyadh lands around 3:30 a.m. That plane is often used by the Saudi government, and its carrying nine Saudi officials, some who played key roles in Khashoggis death. Well get to Team 3 later on, and for now focus on these men from Team 2. This is Salah al-Tubaigy, a high-ranking forensics and autopsy expert in the Saudi interior ministry. Turkish officials will later say his role was to dismember Khashoggis body. Another is Mustafa al-Madani, a 57-year-old engineer. As well see, its no accident that he looks like Khashoggi. And this is Maher Mutreb, the leader of the operation. Our investigation into his past reveals a direct link between Mutreb and the Saudi crown prince. When bin Salman toured a Houston neighborhood earlier this year, we discovered that Mutreb was with him, a glowering figure in the background. We found him again in Boston, at a U.N. meeting in New York, in Madrid and Paris, too. This global tour was all part of a charm offensive by the prince to paint himself as a moderate reformer. Back then, Mutreb was in the royal guard. Now, he would orchestrate Khashoggis killing. And his close ties to the crown prince beg the question, just how high up the Saudi chain of command did the plot to kill go? Early Tuesday morning, Khashoggi flies back from a weekend trip to London. He and the Saudis nearly cross paths at the airport. The Saudi teams check into two hotels, which give quick access to the consulate. Khashoggi heads home with his fiancee. Hed just bought an apartment for their new life together. By mid-morning, the Saudis are on the move. Mutreb leaves his hotel three hours before Khashoggi is due at the consulate. The rest of the team isnt far behind. The building is only a few minutes away on foot, and soon, theyre spotted at this entrance. Mutreb arrives first. Next, we see al-Tubaigy, the autopsy expert. And now al-Madani, the lookalike. The stage is almost set. A diplomatic car pulls out of the consulate driveway and switches places with a van, which backs in. Turkish officials say this van would eventually carry away Khashoggis remains. From above, we can see the driveway is covered, hiding any activity around the van from public view. Meanwhile, Khashoggi and his fiancee set out for the consulate, walking hand-in-hand. In their final hour together, they chat about dinner plans and new furniture for their home. At 1:13 p.m., they arrive at the consulate. Khashoggi gives her his cellphones before he enters. He walks into the consulate. Its the last time we see him. Inside, Khashoggi is brought to the consul generals office on the second floor. The hit team is waiting in a nearby room. Sources briefed on the evidence, told us Khashoggi quickly comes under attack. Hes dragged to another room and is killed within minutes. Then al-Tubaigy, the autopsy expert, dismembers his body while listening to music. Maher Mutreb makes a phone call to a superior. He says, Tell your boss, and The deed was done. Outside, the van reportedly carrying Khashoggis body pulls out of the side entrance and drives away. At the same time, the Saudis begin trying to cover their tracks. While Khashoggis fiancee waits here where she left him, two figures leave from the opposite side. One of them is wearing his clothes. Later, the Saudis would claim that this was Khashoggi. But its al-Madani, the engineer, now a body double pretending that the missing journalist left the consulate alive. Yet theres one glaring flaw: The clothes are the same, but hes wearing his own sneakers, the ones he walked in with. Meanwhile, the van thats allegedly carrying Khashoggis body makes the two-minute drive from the consulate to the Saudi consuls residence. Theres several minutes of deliberations but the van eventually pulls into the buildings driveway. Again, its hidden from public view. Its now three hours since Khashoggi was last seen. The body double hails this taxi and continues weaving a false trail through the city. He heads to a popular tourist area and then changes back into his own clothes. Later, we see him joking around in surveillance footage. Over at the airport, more Saudi officials arrive on another flight from Riyadh. They spend just five hours in Istanbul, but were not sure where they go. Now we pick up Maher Mutreb again, exiting from the consuls house. Its time for them to go. Mutreb and others check out of their hotel and move through airport security. Al-Muzaini, the spy, heads to the airport too. But as theyre leaving Istanbul, Khashoggis fiancee is still outside the consulate, pacing in circles. Shell soon raise the alarm that Khashoggi is missing and shell wait for him until midnight. The alarm spreads around the world. Nine days later, the Saudis send another team to Istanbul. They say its to investigate what happened. But among them are a toxicologist and a chemist, who also has ties to the hit team. He and Tubaigy attended a forensics graduation days before Khashoggi was killed. Turkish officials later say that this teams mission was not to investigate, but to cover up the killing. Now the Saudi story has changed, and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for several suspects in Khashoggis killing. But that doesnt include Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who many Western government officials are convinced authorized the killing. Khashoggis remains still havent been found.If all five living United States presidents attend the state funeral service for former President George Bush on Wednesday, it will be one of a small number of times that this many of them have been in the same place at the same time.

There have been at least five of these rare gatherings since 1991.

In fact, there was only one period in United States history before then, around 1861, when more than five presidents were even alive at the same time.

[Here are the highlights of former President George Bushs funeral in Washington.]The known claims are concentrated in Bladen County, which has about 33,000 residents, and neighboring, far larger Robeson County. Bladen County, where elections officials work in a simple brick-and-glass building on South Cypress Street, just behind a shopping center with a Dollar General and a furniture store, recorded the states highest rate of absentee ballot requests: 7.5 percent of registered voters, compared with less than 3 percent in most of the other 99 counties.

A strikingly large number of those ballots, 40 percent, were never returned. In Robeson County, 62 percent were not returned. No other county had a rate higher than 27 percent. Mr. Harris won 61 percent of submitted absentee ballots in Bladen County, even though registered Republicans accounted for only 19 percent of the ballots submitted.

Those statistics, coupled with the alleged and acknowledged machinations of Mr. Dowless, who has a felony record and a history of financial fraud, and his workers sparked what slowly swelled into another bitter electoral impasse in a state that seems perpetually engulfed by them.

On Tuesday, the district attorney for the area, Jon David, said law enforcement officials were investigating allegations related to the 2016 elections and were in contact with each other to coordinate our efforts should a prosecution be warranted in the wake of this years suspicions.

Almost all the worries, for now, involve absentee ballots. In an affidavit, a Bladen County resident, Emma Shipman, wrote that she had recently handed over her ballot to a woman who told her that she was assigned to collect ballots in the district. Another voter wrote that she gave her incomplete ballot to a woman who promised she would finish it.

State officials are also reviewing other claims. Mr. Malcolm, the elections board chairman, said Tuesday that the authorities would release documents on a rolling basis in a manner reasonably calculated to serve the public interest without compromising the investigation.

Perhaps no figure is more central to that inquiry  or the subject of more rumors and speculation  than Mr. Dowless, who was assigned to get-out-the-vote efforts in the eastern part of the Ninth District, which runs from Charlotte to east of Fayetteville.Representatives Duncan Hunter and Chris Collins campaigned this fall while out on bail for felony charges. Representative Greg Gianforte had been convicted of misdemeanor assault. Senator Bob Menendezs trial on bribery and fraud charges had resulted in a hung jury.

How did voters respond? All four were re-elected last month, Mr. Menendez by 10 percentage points.

Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi wasnt burdened with legal problems in her runoff election last week, but she did face an uproar after saying she would attend a public hanging if a key supporter asked her to  a controversial comment in a state that holds the historical record for the highest number of lynchings. Ms. Hyde-Smith won, too.

Now, as dozens of Democrats consider running for president, the recent success of candidates with varying degrees of baggage has revived interest in a question that has absorbed politicians and strategists since President Trumps surprise victory two years ago: What, if anything, matters?

Could the plagiarism allegation that Joseph R. Biden Jr. faced in 1988 still be a problem? Mr. Biden dismissed complaints that he lifted passages for his speeches as much ado about nothing, but ended his presidential campaign six days later. What about T-Bone, a figure in Cory Bookers stump speeches in 2007, who the senator from New Jersey was accused of making up? At the time Mr. Booker insisted T-Bone was 1,000 percent a real person, but has never mentioned him again.Good Tuesday morning. Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today.

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 President Trump on Monday cast his trade truce with President Xi Jinping of China as a success, promising rapid benefits for American farmers and automakers. But the deal includes no concrete commitments, deep divisions remain and a staunch China skeptic, Robert Lighthizer, will lead the American negotiating team.

 Paul Manafort, Mr. Trumps former campaign chairman, went to Ecuador in 2017 to talk to the incoming president about Chinese investment. Then talk turned to the possibility of handing Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, over to the United States. Nothing came of it.

 Of all the Trump associates who have come under scrutiny in the Russia investigation, his former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, has undertaken perhaps the riskiest and most surprising legal strategy. Heres why Mr. Cohen has decided to confess to a litany of crimes.He made his remarks in an onstage interview at a conference of business executives in Washington organized by The Wall Street Journal. The interviewer, Gerard Baker, an editor at large at The Journal, pressed Mr. Bolton on the logic of holding another summit meeting when North Korea was not making any efforts to denuclearize.

Theyre going to discuss this and look at the commitments that were made in Singapore and have a discussion about how theyre going to accomplish those commitments, Mr. Bolton said, and until that happens theres not going to be any release of the economic sanctions.

Jean H. Lee, a Korea analyst at the Wilson Center, said the United States would need to prepare carefully before the meeting to have a chance at making progress on those commitments.

The Trump administration must be just as savvy and just as smart as the North Koreans are in the weeks leading up to the next summit if the goal is to come out of that meeting with concrete progress on denuclearization  and not just a propaganda win for Kim, she said.

Mr. Bolton has consistently been more critical of North Korea than Mr. Trump or Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, who has been trying to restart stalled diplomatic efforts.

In August, Mr. Bolton said, North Korea has not taken the steps we feel are necessary to denuclearize. That was around the time North Korean officials began emphasizing the need for an end-of-war declaration; the Korean War halted in 1953 with an armistice, and there has been no peace treaty.

President Moon Jae-in of South Korea has agreed with Mr. Kim that such a declaration would be an important step, and South Korean officials have urged their American counterparts to support the move. Mr. Moon has met with Mr. Kim three times this year, in a surprising flurry of diplomacy, and still hopes to host the North Korean leader in Seoul before the end of this year in what would be a historic visit.On Monday, the White House said that Robert Lighthizer, the United States trade representative who is a longtime China skeptic, would lead the talks with Beijing. The choice of Mr. Lighthizer, who has a reputation as a tough negotiator, conveyed a tough road ahead.

The days since the agreement have also been marked by confusion over the timetable to reach a deal. The White House said on Monday that the two sides had until March 1 to reach an agreement but Mr. Trump suggested in one of his tweets that the deadline could be extended.

The lack of clarity has not pleased investors, who were briefly relieved after initial reports of a trade truce. Stocks fell sharply on Tuesday, including those in the industrial sector, which is widely exposed to risks related to the trade fight between Washington and Beijing. Shares in Boeing and Caterpillar, companies with significant sales in China, tumbled.

Members of Mr. Trumps economic team continued to temper optimism about a deal on Tuesday.

Mr. Mnuchin said that China had agreed to buy $1.2 trillion of American products, but he could not offer specifics on what would be bought and when.

They have said that these are targets and that that is their expectation, Mr. Mnuchin told the Fox Business Network. And that in the short term there would be some very specific commitments.

Mr. Kudlow was careful to downplay suggestions that the Trump administration was really seeking a full overhaul of Americas trade relationship with China through the talks.

I dont think these trade talks are designed to completely change the system, said Mr. Kudlow, who also spoke at the WSJ CEO Council event. These talks are centered on a variety of specific issues.Mr. Sanchez said in the statement that he was disappointed that the article failed to show the number of lives weve changed with the significant number of reunifications, and it failed to highlight the good work we do within our schools and our juvenile justice programs. But he added that the article brought forth a number of issues that are of concern to me.

In a memo to staff on Monday, he said that anyone asked to participate in the review, including himself and Ms. Chung, would cooperate fully or face immediate consequences.

But the independence and thoroughness of the investigation will depend on the person leading it, said Lloyd Mayer, a professor at Notre Dame Law School specializing in nonprofit law.

It can be difficult as the outside investigator to write a hard-hitting report to slam the very person who seems to be driving the process, Professor Mayer said. Everyone knows who is paying the bills and what the desired response is.

The inquiry comes as the federal government steps up scrutiny of shelter providers, hiring an accounting firm to review their finances. That review is underway, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services said. The F.B.I. is also investigating a former competitor of Southwest Key, the Texas-based International Educational Services, for potential misuse of federal money, according to two people informed of the inquiry.At the end of a trip to South Florida on Friday, Vice President Mike Pence posed for photos with a group of local SWAT team members who had protected him during the visit. They were shared on Twitter, where among the officers green uniforms, a red and black patch on Sgt. Matt Pattens tactical vest stood out: a bold letter Q and the phrase Question the Narrative.

The online followers of QAnon, a pro-Trump fringe movement that promotes baseless conspiracy theories about government secrets and clandestine plots, took notice and shared the photo. So did their anonymous leader, Q.

Its spreading, Q wrote.

[Confused? Read our in-depth explainer on the QAnon conspiracy theory.]

While the movements loosely connected group of supporters embraced the moment, Sergeant Pattens employer, the Broward County Sheriffs Office, viewed it as an embarrassment. On Monday, the sheriffs office said it had reprimanded him, removed him from the SWAT team and reassigned him to a new department.

Sergeant Pattens actions of displaying unity with a controversial group not in alignment with the core values of the law enforcement and the Broward Sheriffs Office discredited the agency, the county and himself, a sheriffs office supervisor wrote in a disciplinary report.In Madison, a full battle was underway.

Its an attack on the entire citizenry of Wisconsin, Russ Hahn, 53, a lawyer from Kenosha, Wis., said of the Republicans efforts to push through limits on the incoming governor and attorney general. Mr. Hahn, who said he considers himself an independent, had come to the Capitol  as did hundreds of others  to protest as lawmakers debated the fate of the package inside the chambers. Mr. Hahn carried a sign that read, GOP Grinch Stealing Democracy.

What theyre doing today, Mr. Hahn said, is a travesty.

Republicans, who have controlled state government in Wisconsin since 2011 after they flipped both legislative chambers and the governors office, defended their efforts as long-needed changes to rebalance power, which they said had become tilted in favor of the executive branch.

Robin Vos, the speaker of the Assembly, said Republicans owed it to their voters to protect policies enacted under Scott Walker, the Republican governor who was defeated in November, and to institute checks on the power of the incoming Democrat, Tony Evers.

These are the right things to do, Mr. Vos told reporters. We are going to make sure the powers of each branch are as equal as they can be.

Mr. Walkers eight years in Wisconsin have been punctuated by partisan tumult as Mr. Walker and his Republican lawmaker allies pushed state policies to the right on matters like union power and taxes. This purple state, which voted for Barack Obama but also helped seal Donald J. Trumps electoral win in 2016, has been rived by partisan fighting in recent years.

After Mr. Walker proposed sweeping cuts to benefits and collective bargaining rights for most public sector union employees a few weeks into his administration in 2011, thousands of protesters packed the Capitol for days, setting off months of recall elections. Some of the protesters at the Capitol this week said they had marched here before  in 2011 or in other skirmishes since.JAKARTA, Indonesia  Gunmen in the remote Indonesian province of Papua have killed as many as 31 construction workers who were brought from a distant island to help build a major highway, officials said Tuesday.

The police attributed the attacks to separatists who have long pushed for an independent Papua, The Associated Press reported. But there were few details of the killings, which were said to have begun on Sunday with the shooting of 24 workers.

Indonesias public works minister, Basuki Hadimuljono, told reporters on Tuesday that work on the highway would be halted while the authorities investigated the killings in the district of Nduga, a mountainous area near the center of the province.

Police officers and soldiers were attempting to reach the area where the attacks were reported to have occurred.KILINOCHCHI, Sri Lanka  One by one the villagers arrive, each carrying a little blue book that chronicles a history of loss and heartache.

On the back of each book is the patients name. Inside, on the first page, a family tree. An X is scrawled next to each loved one who has died. A ? next to the missing. Underneath the symbol is the cause, and more often than not, it is written in simple capital letters: WAR.

If bearable, their trauma would have remained private, behind the walls of modest homes in this northern part of Sri Lanka shaded by coconut trees and often still bearing the scars of bullets and fire. But its not. So they come for monthly public counseling, lining up to see Dr. V. Jegaruban.

Known as Dr. Jegan, he is a government psychiatrist who has made it his mission to help people piece their lives back together after the small island nations devastating civil war ended in 2009, after 26 years and more than 100,000 civilian deaths.ELLISTON, Australia  Jack Johncock, a local leader of the Wirangu people, pointed toward the spot near Waterloo Bay where a group of Aboriginal Australians were pushed to their deaths from rocky cliffs above a ferocious sea.

My body crawls just looking at it, Mr. Johncock said.

He didnt want to get too close.

The town of Elliston had been arguing for months about whether a few people or a few hundred had been killed. He wouldnt even be in Elliston at all if not for the presence of a new monument declaring that a number of Aboriginal Australians were killed near this site in May, 1849 by a party of settlers.

What happened at the cliffs was a massacre, in Mr. Johncocks mind. And thats what the monument commemorated: an incident referred to by the traditional owners of this land as The Massacre of Waterloo Bay.PARIS  Trying to quell its most serious political crisis, the government of President Emmanuel Macron announced on Tuesday that it would suspend the gasoline tax increase that had set off three weeks of increasingly violent protests in Paris and around France by the so-called Yellow Vest movement.

The step was an extraordinary concession by a president who has been criticized as remote and unempathetic, and who has refused to bend to previous protests and plummeting poll numbers as he pushes through changes that he insists are necessary to make Frances economy more competitive.

Whether it was enough to appease the Yellow Vests varied complaints about the declining living standards of the French working class was far from clear. But there was little doubt that the gesture was intended as a nod to widespread anger over perceived economic injustice, and to blunt the momentum of a popular revolt that now threatens Mr. Macrons agenda.

No tax warrants putting the unity of the nation in danger, said Prime Minister Edouard Philippe after briefing lawmakers in a closed-door meeting in Parliament. One would have to be deaf and blind not to see or hear the anger, he said.Mr. Pompeos 60-day deadline could be seen as a gesture toward European worries, especially from Germany, which ever since the Cold War has been anxious about becoming the battlefield for strategic competition between the United States and Russia. In a news conference on Tuesday, Mr. Pompeo said that our European partners had asked for an extended period, and added, We believe this is the right outcome.

While the Trump administration pointed to years of treaty violations by Russia, there is another reason it wants to abandon the deal: The pact constrains the United States from deploying new weapons to respond to Chinas growing militarization of the South China Sea.

Because China is not a signatory to the treaty, it has faced no limits on developing intermediate-range nuclear missiles, which can travel thousands of miles. Most of Chinas missiles fall within the range of weapons prohibited by the treaty. The treaty does not ban intermediate missiles launched from the sea or from airplanes.

The agreement was negotiated after a long, wrenching debate among NATO allies in the 1980s about how to counter the Russian deployment of SS-20 missiles, designed to hit Europe. In the end, the Europeans agreed to deploy American Pershing II missiles on their soil.

That led to the bilateral American-Soviet treaty, which banned all such weapons.

NATOs anxiety now stems from the ability of new Russian mobile missile launchers to fire both missiles that remain within the limits of the treaty and those that violate it. They can be armed with either conventional warheads or nuclear ones.

Elbridge Colby, director of the defense program at the Center for a New American Security, said it was a challenge for Washington to balance Europes concerns about withdrawing from the treaty with the need to respond to the growing threat from China.

Its a hard sell for the Europeans because they see scrapping the treaty as pushing them into a further arms race with Russia without improving their security, Mr. Colby said. On the other hand, China is by far the most significant military threat to the U.S. and our allies, and we need to adjust to that.KATOWICE  As thousands of environmental experts from around the world arrived for a conference on climate change, hoping to find a way to stem the damage caused by burning fossil fuels, their Polish hosts arranged for a band to greet them.

The Polish Coal Miners Band, dressed in smart black uniforms and wearing traditional miners caps, struck up a tune as confused-looking delegates arrived at the convention center in Katowice, a city in the heart of southern Polands coal mining country.

Coal was proudly displayed in cases around the convention pavilions. Coal, fashioned into jewelry, was for sale. A coal-based cosmetics company even touted products that it claimed would treat both body and soul.

The message of the host country was not subtle. Coal, known as black gold here, is king. And while Poland was happy to host the United Nations 24th annual climate change conference, that was not about to change.Even our European friends sometimes say were not acting in the free worlds interest. This is just plain wrong, Mr. Pompeo said, adding that under President Trump, we are not abandoning international leadership or our friends in the international system. Indeed, quite the contrary.

But since the end of the Cold War, the international order failed us, and it failed you, he said. Multilateralism has become viewed as an end unto itself. The more treaties we sign, the safer we supposedly are. The more bureaucrats we have, the better the job gets done.

Of the United Nations, he asked, Does it continue to serve its mission faithfully?

Mr. Pompeo called Britains decision to leave the European Union a political wake-up call for the bloc, which is based in Brussels. He then asked whether the European Union is ensuring that the interests of countries and their citizens are placed before those of bureaucrats here in Brussels?

Someone in the audience shouted an unequivocal, Yes, a response Mr. Pompeo ignored.

The World Bank, International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organization also came in for sharp criticism.

International bodies must help facilitate cooperation that bolsters the security and values of the free world, or they must be reformed or eliminated, he said. After the short speech, Mr. Pompeo took no questions.ROME  The Italian authorities have arrested 46 members of the Sicilian Mafia, including top leaders in the Palermo area, as part of a sweeping international operation spanning Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.

The Italian arrests were announced on Tuesday, nipping in the bud an attempt to re-establish a ruling mob council for the province. One of those arrested was Settimio Mineo, 80, whom top mobsters from the area chose this year as the councils leader, officials said.

Mr. Mineo, the mob capo, or chief, of Palermos Pagliarelli district, was arrested along with the heads of the Villabate, Belmonte Mezzagno and Porta Nuova districts, as well as the bosses of 10 Mafia families from Palermo and the surrounding region, Italian officials said in a statement.

The four senior Mafia leaders have all served prison time.

The council, known as the Cupola in Mafia-speak, aimed to coordinate illegal activities among the areas principal crime families and make joint decisions on important issues, finding strength in numbers. The Sicilian Mafia had such a structure for decades, until it collapsed in the 1990s.LONDON  Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain on Tuesday suffered a series of humiliating defeats in Parliament, the strongest sign yet that lawmakers are poised to reject her plan for exiting the European Union.

Also on Tuesday, those hoping that the withdrawal plan could be canceled entirely got a boost from across the English Channel in a legal opinion by Manuel Campos Sanchez-Bordona, the advocate general of the European Court of Justice.

He said that under the European Unions governing treaty, Britain could unilaterally cancel its withdrawal from the 28-nation bloc before the scheduled date of its departure, on March 29, and without having to obtain the consent of the other 27 member nations.

The setbacks in Britains Parliament came as Mrs. May opened five days of debate before the critical vote on Dec. 11 that will decide the fate of her proposal.While Iran has supplied missiles to the Houthis, including some that have been fired at Saudi cities, Yemen analysts say the war is principally driven by the violent factionalism that wracked Yemen in the aftermath of the Arab Spring protests of 2011.

Analyst cautioned that the talks, which are to take place in a renovated castle outside Stockholm, have at best a moderate chance of success. If we take past as precedent, and the situation on the ground, all indicators point toward not much coming out of the talks and a resumption of fighting in Hudaydah, said Peter Salisbury, a Yemen expert at the International Crisis Group. Im sorry to say that the broad momentum is very much in favor of continued violence and a worsening of the humanitarian situation, not in an outbreak of peace.

The last peace effort collapsed in September when Houthi officials failed to turn up for talks in Geneva. This time, the Houthis have turned up at the venue first, with the government delegation expected to be led by Mr. Hadis foreign minister, Khaled Alyemany.

The other difference is a more concerted international focus. In Washington, pressure to bring the war to an end has been driven of late by congressional anger over the killing of the Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey. Intense scrutiny of the role of Prince Mohammed, now the Saudi crown prince, has drawn attention to what critics call his reckless conduct of the war in Yemen, where thousands of civilians have died in airstrikes by Saudi and other coalition warplanes.

Last week, the United States Senate delivered a rebuke to President Trump over his policy in Yemen by supporting a resolution that seeks to end American support for the war. More debate on the same resolution is expected this week. The C.I.A. director, Gina Haspel, briefed Democratic and Republican leaders on Tuesday about the death of Mr. Khashoggi.

Houthis and Saudi officials have stressed that the talks in Sweden, if they start, will not involve negotiations to end the war, focusing instead on confidence-building measures. They are expected to discuss prisoner exchanges brokered by the Red Cross, the status of Hudaydah, and proposals to reopen Sanas international airport, which is currently accessible only to humanitarian flights.And even if they were brought to trial, it is unclear whether they would be held responsible for the torture and killing of Mr. Regeni, who was in Egypt to research labor unions for his thesis at Cambridge University in Britain.

The National Security Agency officers followed Mr. Regeni after his arrival in Cairo, but Italian and American officials believe that one of Egypts two other major security agencies, both of which have close ties to President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, may also have played a role in his death.

One of those agencies, Military Intelligence, was once led by Mr. Sisi and has grown immensely powerful since he came to power in a 2013 military takeover. The other, the General Intelligence Directorate, is led by a longtime loyalist of the president and is dominated by Mr. Sisis son Mahmoud el-Sisi.

The five suspects identified by Italian prosecutors occupy much lower positions in Egypts security apparatus. Nonetheless, the Italian announcement is at least a notable shift in the tone of an investigation that has always been troubled by delays and dead ends.

In March 2016, Egyptian officials faced accusations of a botched cover-up after the Cairo police shot and killed five men they had accused of killing Mr. Regeni. Italy rejected that explanation, even after the Egyptian police produced Mr. Regenis passport, which they said had been found in an apartment of one of the dead men,  indirect proof, Italian officials said, that the true culprits were with Egyptian security.

Italian patience with the dragging investigation appeared to run short last week, after a meeting in Cairo between Egyptian and Italian prosecutors.

The two sides discussed surveillance footage from the station where Mr. Regeni was believed to have disappeared in January 2016. After Egypt handed over the footage in May, Italian officials were dismayed to discover that the portions where Mr. Regeni might have been present had been erased.Videos

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos.The Amazon rainforest is home to many frightening creatures, like giant Anacondas, flesh-eating piranhas, just to name a couple, and now you can add a new one to the list, a species of wasp that lays its eggs on the abdomen of spiders and then hijacks their brain, essentially turning them into zombies.

The previously unknown wasp of the Zatypota genus was discovered by researchers with the University of British Columbia (UBC) working in the Ecuadorian Amazon basin. They documented its symbiotic relationship with a species of so called social spiders and recently published some truly terrifying findings in the Ecological Entomology scientific journal. This newly discovered wasp is apparently able to hijack the nervous system of its host, forcing it to leave its colony, which it otherwise rarely does, protect the wasps larva and ultimately get eaten alive. It essentially turns the social spider into a zombie-like drone that then does the wasps bidding.

Photo: jodeng/Pixabay

Wasps manipulating the behavior of spiders has been observed before, but not at a level as complex as this, said Philippe Fernandez-Fournier, lead author of the study. Not only is this wasp targeting a social species of spider but its making it leave its colony, which it rarely does.

Thats really what makes this new species of wasp different from other members of the Zatypota genus, and most other parasitoid insects  its ability to completely alter the behavior of social spiders. The influencing and commanding of solitary spiders by Zatypota wasps has been documented before, but this is the first time the same time of behavior has been observed in the the highly social Anelosimus eximius spider.

Fernandez-Fournier and his team were in Ecuador to study the parasites living in the nests of Anelosimus eximius spider, one of only 25 known species of social spiders worldwide. They are known for living in large colonies from which single individuals rarely stray, working together on catching prey and even sharing parental duties. So when scientists noticed some spiders moving a few feet away from their colonies and weaving cocoon webs, they knew something was wrong.

It was very odd because they dont normally do that, so I started taking notes, Philippe Fernandez-Fournier told UBC News. So he and his colleagues took some of these weird cocoons back to their laboratory to see what would emerge from them. To everyones surprise, it was a wasp.

Gathering data from various research projects conducted in Ecuador between 2012 and 2017, the UBC researchers were able to piece together the entire life cycle of this elegant and gracious wasp and its frightening parasitic relationship to the tiny Anelosimus eximius spider.

Photo: Spider Hosts Study/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

It all begins with an adult female wasp laying its eggs on the abdomen of one of these social spiders. A larva hatches soon after that and attaches itself to the hapless arachnid. This is when the nightmare begins for the spider. The larva starts feeding on its blood-like haemolymph, steadily growing and taking over the body of its host. At one point, the spider will leave its colony and start weaving a protective cocoon web for its tormentor. When its done, the spider will patiently wait to be killed and eaten. After feasting on its host, the parasite will enter the cocoon and emerge as an adult wasp, nine to twelve days later, ready to begin the cycle all over again.

Samantha Strauss, co-author of the study, acknowledged that other parasitoid wasps have discovered before, but pointed out that the mind-control technique of this new species is much more hardcore.

The wasp completely hijacks the spiders behavior and brain and makes it do something it would never do, like leave its nest and spinning a completely different structure. Thats very dangerous for these tiny spiders, Strauss added.

How exactly this new wasp species turns its hosts into zombies is still a mystery, but researchers believe that it might inject hormones into the spider, making it think that its in a different life stage and cause it to separate from their colonies.

As to why the wasps target large colonies of social spiders instead of solitary species, the UBC team believe that its just a practical choice. A colony simply ensures a large and stable supply of hosts. In fact, they observed that the larger a colony of Anelosimus eximius spiders was, the higher the chances that it would be targeted by the wasps.

This new and terrifying species of wasp is just the latest insect body-snatcher weve featured on Oddity Central. If you find this sort of behavior fascinating, you may also want to check out this tiny fly that makes bumblebees dig their own graves, this wasp that turns cockroaches into zombies or the fly that turns bees into mindless drones.A Chinese real-estate company has been accused of taking a wrong approach to encouraging its employees to exercise. Workers claim that they have been fined 0.01 yuan for every step they failed to take to meet their monthly target of 180,000 steps.

Taking a set number of steps every day has become a big deal in China. Some health insurers use apps to track their clients daily walks, offering discounts on future plans if they meet their goals, and many schools reportedly require students to walk/exercise every day and routinely check the pedometer apps on their phones to ensure that they comply. Even private companies have jumped on the walking bandwagon, encouraging their workers to take a set number of steps per month, but if one recent news report is to be believed, some employers are taking things too far, opting to fine those who fail to reach the required target.

Photo: Fotorech/Pixabay

According to Chinese newspaper Information Times, an unnamed real estate firm in the southern city of Guangzhou requires its employees to walk at least 180,000 steps per month. There is no reward for reaching that goal other than the obvious health benefits, but workers who fail to reach the set target must pay every missed step in cash.

An employee of the company identified only as Xiao C. told the Information Times that she missed the 180,000 step requirement by 10,000 steps last month, so her bosses deducted 100 yuan (0.01 yuan per step) from her salary. Thats just $15, but for people like Xiao C., every single yuan counts.

It hurts a lot! the woman said. Our monthly task is 180,000 steps. According to the 30-day monthly calculation, the average is 6,000 steps per day. It doesnt seem like a lot, but it is actually a big problem for me.

Xiao C. claims that she works for the companys human resources department and spends most of her time at a desk. The fact that the subway station is located close to her workplace doesnt help either, and since she has to spend a lot of time commuting makes it almost impossible for her to complete the required number of daily steps. She tried counting the steps she takes during a regular day, and they were only 2,500, less than half the 6,000 required by her employer.

Photo: fotshot/Pixabay

I can understand that the company hopes that employees can exercise more and become healthier, but we cant walk during work hours, and we have to work overtime in the evening, Xiao C. said. After going home and eating dinner, its already past 9 oclock. Having to walk just to reach my daily quota has become an extra burden, and it has affected by sleep schedule.

The disgruntled employee said that she and her colleagues reacted positively when the real-estate company announced the step evaluation system, but then many of them realized that reaching the 180,000 step target was harder than they thought, and some decided to quit.

The requirement is too high and there are no rewards. It is purely for the sake of not being penalized. Everyone feels very tired, Xiao C. said.

The woman added that apart from putting pressure on employees, the companys scheme isnt even making most employees healthier, as many of them use rocking devices to fool their smartphones into recording steps. We actually wrote about these devices a while ago, and they are apparently still popular in China.

Xiaos problem is that she works at the company headquarters, so she cant use the rocking device there, because her bosses might see her, and using it only at home isnt enough to reach the daily requirement. She cant use it at night either, because the phone tracks when the steps were taken, so that would raise questions. So for now she has no choice than to accept the fines or find another job.

Photo: Taobao

This story went viral in China last week, with most netizens criticizing the company for its policy.

This company is just looking for a reason to deduct money, one Weibo user wrote.Nick Prosser, a 28-year-old man from Rotorua, in New Zealand, has been stuttering for as long as he can remember, but he recently discovered that speaking in an Irish accent makes his speech disorder disappear almost completely.

The young New Zealander claims he discovered the simple cure to his stutter completely by accident, while trying different accents with a friend, for fun. When he tried the Irish accent, both he and his friend were amazed that his pesky stutter virtually vanished. They were able to have a long conversation without him stuttering at all, which had never happened before. He just couldnt believe that something so simple could be the cure to a problem that had seriously affected his self-confidence ever since he was a child.

Photo: Ryan McGuire/Pixabay

I tried [the accent] and then next thing we are having a long conversation with no stuttering, Prosser told the Rotorua Daily Post newspaper. I was like woah, you just helped me stop stuttering. I couldnt believe it. I had been to so many speech therapists and doctors and they never suggested this technique.

Stuttering may not seem like the most serious problem a person could have, but the 28-year-old claims that it had always held him back during simple conversations and and even at his jobs. He doesnt consider himself shy, but he was always frustrated that he sometimes opened his mouth to say something and the words just wouldnt come out. However, now that he has discovered this easy trick, he is much more confident.

Interestingly, Nick has never been to to Ireland, but believes that speaking in an Irish accent comes naturally for him because of his mother, who comes from an Irish family. He suggests that people suffering from similar speech disorders try looking at their genealogy and attempt to speak in an accent associated to them. However, local speech specialist Annette Stock told the Daily Post that she had never heard about this technique, and that she would be surprised if it still worked in six months.

We know as speech language therapists that singing certainly helps with people that have stutters but you cant just go around singing in your everyday life, Stock said. I think that this is something that works for him and thats fine. But in six months time if it is still working I would be saying wow thats amazing.

So why does the Irish accent make Prossers stutter disappear? No one knows for sure, but Rotorua barber Ants Haines, who has been cutting Nicks hair for years, has an interesting theory: he claims that this way, the 28-year-old spends more time thinking how to pronounce the words, and that somehow helps.

He is thinking of how he is going to pronounce it in an Irish accent [and] that stops him from stuttering, Haines said. And I think if it is working then roll with it, who cares?

Glenn Beck

The Blaze and CRTV are combining to form Blaze Media, which they say will reach 165 million people via television, digital platforms and social mediamaking it the largest independent, traditionally conservative multiplatform media company in the United States, according to a report on TheBlaze.com. The Blaze was founded by Glenn Beck after he parted company with Fox News, and CRTV was started up by current Fox News host Mark Levin in 2014. The new company will be led by Tyler Cardon, who served as president of TheBlaze, and Gaston Mooney, who was president of CRTV. Effective immediately, subscribers to CRTV and TheBlaze Premium will have access to streaming content from both entities.

Nexstar Media Group has entered into a merger agreement with Tribune Media. The $6.4 billion deal would make Nexstar the largest local television station owner in the country, with 216 stations in 118 markets. However, Nexstar has said it intends to divest or swap stations it has in 13 of the 15 markets in which its current stations overlap with those of Tribune. Following the merger, which is set to be completed in the third quarter of 2019, Nexstar would have stations in eight of the top 10 U.S. television markets (including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago) and in 37 of the top 50 markets. Tribune terminated its previous merger deal with Sinclair Broadcast Group in August following regulatory difficulties. According to Variety, Nexstar CEO Perry Sook told analysts that he has already discussed the Nexstar/Tribune transaction with FCC chairman Ajit Pai. Perry also said he would quickly deliver a comprehensive plan for compliance with regulatory requirements to the FCC.

The News Group, which controls about two-thirds of the magazine wholesale market, is being sold by media conglomerate Jim Pattison Group to New Jersey-based hedge fund Chatham Asset Management in a deal expected to close by the end of the year. TNG will become part of American News Group, a newly formed Chatham portfolio company, joining Comag Marketing Group, which is the national newsstand distributor for such publishers as Hearst Magazines, Conde Nast and American Media Inc. According to Bloomberg, Chatham also has a majority stake in American Media, owner of the National Enquirer as well as a string of such recent acquisitions as Us Weekly, Mens Journal, and InTouch. The announcement added that approximately 1,500 TNG employees will make the transition to American News Group.Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.

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If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider subscribing to our ePaper and/or free daily Newsletter .

Support our mission and join our community now.SC refuses to postpone Tripura municipal elections: 'If we do it then it will set a wrong precedent'

This is the national capital, what message are we sending: SC on Delhi air pollution

4,122 criminal cases pending against lawmakers: Try them on war-footing says SC

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Dec 4: The Supreme Court has been told that there are around 4,122 criminal cases pending against current and former lawmakers. Some of the cases are pending for the past three decades against present and former MPs and MLAs, the court was also told.

The court has asked each high court to designate as many sessions and magistrate courts in the state to try the pending cases.

Soon, lawmakers will be disqualified for amassing disproportionate assets

The submission was made after a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi had sought detailed data on pending criminal cases against legislators from states and High Courts. The data was sought so as to enable setting up of adequate number of special courts for expeditious trials in these cases.

In December, the Supreme Court had ordered the setting up of 12 special courts to hear cases against MPs and MLAs. The order came while hearing a petition that dealt with criminality and corruption in polity.

According to the data provided by the Centre, 12 states, including Delhi, have designated special courts to start hearing such cases. The Delhi high court has notified two courts, one headed by a magistrate and the other by a district and sessions judge, in the capital.

Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal are the other states where special courts have started to hear cases involving lawmakers.

1,765 MPs, MLAs facing criminal trial in India

As per the Centre's affidavit, a total of 1,233 criminal cases were transferred to the special courts. Of these, 136 have been disposed and 1,097 are pending. Senior advocate V Mohanna, appearing for Centre, said all the states have not shared the data despite repeated reminders.

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Story first published: Tuesday, December 4, 2018, 12:02 [IST]7th Pay Commission: DA for CG employees likely to be at 31%

7th Pay Commission: Here is why basic monthly pay of CG employees will not increase

7th Pay Commission: When will the new DA hike be effective from

7th Pay Commission: Latest news and updates, no strike today

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Dec 4: The employees of the BSNL are clearly unhappy with the 7th Pay Commission.

The employees were supposed to go on a strike from December 3 onwards. However the same has been deferred.

7th Pay Commission: A big pay hike on its way in January 2019

Employee unions of BSNL Sunday decided to defer their indefinite strike to December 10 if they fail to resolve issues in the proposed meeting with Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha.

The employee unions met Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan Sunday and observed improvement in some of the issues that they have been raising, such as allotment of 4G spectrum, pension revision and payment of pension contribution by BSNL as per the government rule.

However, reportedly the All Unions and Associations of BSNL (AUAB), said in a statement that they were not convinced with the reply of the secretary in respect to their demand on third pay revision.

MTNL employees too are planning to join the strike. Convener, Joint Forum of Retirees, S S Nanda said in a PTI report earlier, that BSNL and MTNL pensioners, who were absorbed from Department of Telecom under the banner of Committee of BSNL and MTNL Pensioners'.

7th Pay Commission: Good news, 200 per cent hike proposed for these CG employees

Associations, observed a fast today throughout the country demanding pension revision from January 1, 2017 with 32 percent fitment factor hike, which was given to central government pensioners numbering more than 60 lakh from January, 2016.

Nanda reportedly added that, the pension of nearly 62 lakh central government pensioners were revised with effect from January 1, 2016 as per recommendation of the 7th pay commission.SC leaves it to EC to decide on 'pressure cooker' symbol to Dinakaran's party

AIADMK 'Two leaves' symbol case: Charges framed against TTV Dinakaran

India

oi-Vikas SV

New Delhi, Dec 4: Delhi's Patiala House Court on Tuesday framed charges against RK Nagar MLA TTV Dinakaran in connection with AIADMK 'two leaves' symbol bribery case.

Dinakaran, accused of trying to bribe EC officials to get the "two leaves" poll symbol for the AIADMK faction led by V K Sasikala, was arrested on April 25, 2018, and was granted bail on June 1.

TTV Dinakaran launches new party 'Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam'

Special Judge Arun Bharadwaj put Dinakaran on trial after he appeared before the court and pleaded not guilty. The court framed charges against Dhinakaran for the alleged offences punishable under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 201 (destruction of evidence) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act, said a PTI report.

The police had on July 14 last year had filed a 701-page charge sheet claiming that money recovered from one of the accused Sukesh Chandrashekar was sent by Dinakaran through unaccounted channels with the help of other accused persons.

The court fixed December 17 for commencing the trial by recording evidence in the case.

The court had on November 17 ordered framing of charges against him. Dinakaran, who floated the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam party after being expelled from the AIADMK, was arrested in April 2017 and later granted bail.

Disqualification of 18 AIADMK MLAs: TTV Dinakaran questions split verdict

Alleged middleman Sukesh Chandrasekar, who is in judicial custody, was earlier put on trial in the case for the alleged offences of criminal conspiracy, destruction of evidence under the IPC and under the PC Act. Dhinakaran's aide T P Mallikarjun and a man called B Kumar were also put on trial for these offences.

OneIndia News with PTI inputs

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Story first published: Tuesday, December 4, 2018, 12:18 [IST]Amidst policy paralysis, these are the names in contention for a new CBI chief

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Dec 4: Amidst the denial that the government is looking to appoint an officer of Special Duty to overcome the policy paralysis in the Central Bureau of Investigation, the hunt for the next chief is already on.

This is an exercise that the Department of Personnel and Training undertakes every two years. The DoPT compiles a list of officers at the director general level eligible for selection as the next chief of the CBI every two years.

Policy paralysis in CBI: No move to appoint OSD of DG rank says govt

The move comes in the midst of the Supreme Court hearing a petition filed by CBI director, Alok Verma, who had challenged the decision of the government which divested him of his powers following a public spat with his deputy Rakesh Asthana. Verma whose term comes to an end in January will be heard by the Supreme Court on December 5.

While chasing the CBI chief, the government would have to keep in mind the guidelines set by the Supreme Court in 2004 as per which officers from the four oldest serving batches of the IPS from 1982 to 1985, will be in contention for the post. The criteria to be followed would be seniority, integrity and experience in investigations of anti-corruption cases.

When asked if this ongoing process would interfere with the case pending in the Supreme Court, a home ministry official informed OneIndia that it would not. It is a routine process, which is undertaken every two years. The fact is that Verma's term comes to an end in January and irrespective of what the Supreme Court says a new chief will have to be appointed them, the officer also said.

Not possible to source gun on the run, Sohrabuddin, Prajapati encounters fake says CBI

Verma will retire on January 31 2019. If the SC orders that his powers be restored, then the same would be implemented. However a new chief will have to be appointed once his term ends, the officer also explained.

The list is prepared by the DoPT, following which the final call is taken by a committee comprising the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India.

Earlier this week there were reports stating that the government in a bid to overcome the policy paralysis in the CBI was looking to appoint an Officer on Special Duty of a Director General rank officer.

The government of India strongly refutes these imputations. It is clarified that the government has taken the step of divesting the present director and special director of the CBI of their powers under Section 4(2) of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act as an interim measure, a note had said.

Further the government also clarified that the matter is sub-juice before the Supreme Court and any action that is to be taken will be strictly in accordance with the decision of the Supreme Court of India in the pending proceedings and not before the court decides the matter. What is stated in the reports are absolutely false, the government also said.

Muzaffarpur shelter home sex scandal: Court extends CBI remand of Brajesh Thakur's aides

Reports stated that the Centre was looking at a situation where the court may decide for a further probe against CBI director Alok Verma in view of the CVC proceedings against him and hence a decision had to be taken to break the policy paralysis in the CBI.

In contention:

Rina Mitra: Special Secretary (internal security), Home Ministry.

Special Secretary (internal security), Home Ministry. Rajnikant Mishra: Border Security Force chief

Border Security Force chief Y V Modi: National Investigation chief

National Investigation chief S S Deswal , Chief of Indo-Tibetan Border Police chief

, Chief of Indo-Tibetan Border Police chief Rajesh Ranjan: Central Industrial Security Force chief

Central Industrial Security Force chief Javeed Ahmad: Director of National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Science

Director of National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Science Vivek Johri: Research and Analysis, Special Secretary

Research and Analysis, Special Secretary O P Galhotra , Rajasthan Police chief

, Rajasthan Police chief Arun Kumar, Railway Protection Force chiefAgustaWestland: After saying witness may have died, ED cites a little birdie to say he is alive

AgustaWestland: Middleman Christian Michel extradited to India, lands in Delhi

India

oi-Vikas SV

New Delhi, Dec 4: James Christian Michel, the alleged British middleman in the AgustaWestland VVIP copper scam who was kept under detention in Dubai, took the flight to India tonight and landed at New Delhi. PTI reported that Michel landed in India at 22.35 hrs on Gulfstream jet.

India has officially taken Michel into custody and the British national will be put up at the CBI headquarters for the night.

A non-bailable warrant has been issued against Michel and he will be taken for medical examination tomorrow.

The Dubai government had passed an order to extradite him, following a court verdict.

The operation of extradition was carried out under the guidance of National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval. The operation is being coordinated by interim CBI chief Nageshwar Rao. In Dubai a team led by A Sai Manohar joint director CBI oversaw the entire process.

A Dubai court had last month rejected his appeal against extradition. Following the order, India worked closely with the authorities in Dubai.

In November the Court of Cassation had rejected the appeal against extradition filed by Michel. The Court of Cassation is the third and final degree of litigation in Dubai in which cases heard by the Court of Appeal are contested. All decisions of Court of Cassation are final and binding for all the parties and are not subject to appeal. "The judicial authorities there concluded there was no criminal element in the case."

'Michel is to be extradited from the UAE,' Dubai's top court said in its order.

Michel was arrested in the UAE last year and was out on bail. He is wanted in India for allegedly organising bribes in exchange for a contract for VVIP helicopters. Michel, a British national, is accused of handling and routing over 60 million dollars for kickbacks in the deal for AgustaWestland luxury helicopters.

The Court of Appeal on September 2, had ruled in favour of the Indian government and said that he can be extradited while stating, "The court decided the possibility of extraditing Christian James Michel to the competent authorities in the Republic of India." Michel's legal team then approached the Court of Cassation. The Court of Cassation is the third and final degree of litigation in Dubai in which cases heard by the Court of Appeal are contested.

Read full order on Michel here:Bengaluru: 40-year-old woman doctor duped of Rs 26 lakh, raped on pretext of marriage by conman

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Bengaluru, Dec 4: In yet another shocking incident, a 40-year-old doctor was duped and also raped by a conman who she befriended on a matrimonial advertisement.

The accused man cheated the woman and her friends of Rs 26 lakh, not only this he raped her on a pretext of getting married to her.

Following the doctor's complaint, police have launched a massive manhunt of the accused who is identified as Ramamurthy. The doctor who lodged a complaint against Ramamurthy said that he promised to marry her and also get her friends a job in the state's health department, as reported by Times of India.

El Salvador woman's ordeal: Rape victim jailed for 20 years!

It is learnt that the duo came to know each other through an advertisement in a local daily. Within a few days, Ramamurthy called her and claimed that he is interested in marrying her. The duo met each for the first time in Koramangala on September 30.

The TOI report claimed that Ramamurthy told the doctor that he was appointed as a medical officer in the health department and also claimed to be a member of the recruitment committee.

Further, he promised the woman that he will provide his friends and relatives jobs in the industry.

Why women in Ireland are sharing photos of their underwear on social media

The woman then believed to accused's words and introduced her friends and family with him. TOI reported that in the police complaint the woman alleged that Ramamurthy collected Rs 22 lakh from her family and friends on the pretext on providing them jobs. He also collected Rs 4 lakh from her.

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Story first published: Tuesday, December 4, 2018, 17:55 [IST]Bhima-Koregaon: Don't raise hyper technicality flaws, SC tells activists

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, Dec 4: The Supreme Court will examine the chargesheet filed by the Pune Police in the Bhima-Koregaon case. Under examination would be the decision by the police to invoke the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act against the five activists who were arrested in June for their alleged links with the naxalites and the role played in the Bhima-Koregaon violence.

The Investigating Officer had moved the trial court seeking extension of time beyond the stipulated 90 days to file the chargesheet. While the trial court had granted the extension the same was however quashed by the Bombay High Court.

Bhima Koregaon case: Activist Varavara Rao arrested for alleged link to Maoist plot

The Supreme Court had however stayed the order of the High Court. The activists represented by their counsels argued that there was a fundamental flaw as the IO had first moved the application. When it was learnt that the IO could not have moved the application, a similar plea was filed by the Public Prosecutor.

The Pune Police argued that the technical mistake in the IO filing the application was rectified by the subsequent filing by the PP.

Urban naxals: How Dalits were mobilised, misled to destroy democracy

When the activists raised this issue, the Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said that there was no need to raise super technicality flaws. The court wants to examine the broader contours of the chargesheet and the gravity of the offences alleged against the accused persons.UP B.Ed JEE Exam to be held on July 30

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to reach Lucknow on July 16; Key meetings scheduled in Delhi before visit

Members of farmers' body detained in Lucknow for trying to burn effigies of PM Modi, Shah

BJP youth wing leader shot dead in Lucknow

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar P

Lucknow, Dec 4: A leader of Bharatiya Janta Yuva Morcha (BJYM) was shot dead near Badshahnagar railway crossing in Lucknow's Mahanagar on Monday.

The deceased has been identified as 36-year-old Pratyush Mani Tripathi. The members of the organisation reached KGMU Trauma centre and protested against police.

Uttar Pradesh: Cop, villager killed as protest over illegal slaughter houses turns violent

According to reports, The protesters demanded compensation of Rs 50 lakh for the family of the deceased. They also demanded the arrest of the accused and immediate suspension of SSP Lucknow.

(With PTI inputs)

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Story first published: Tuesday, December 4, 2018, 9:43 [IST]Rape victim dies in Delhi hospital after being 'set afire' by kin of accused in UP's Bulandshahr

Bulandshahr violence: 2 FIRs lodged, 27 people named, 2 taken in custody

India

oi-Vikas SV

Lucknow, Dec 4: In connection with the violence in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr over illegal slaughtering of cattle in which a cop and two others have been killed, the police on Tuesday lodged two FIRs. One FIR has been filed against the alleged cattle slaughter and the other against the protests that took place on Monday, news agency ANI reported.

A clash between the police and villagers of Mahaw on Monday turned violent and resulted in the death of station house officer (SHO) Subodh Kumar Singh, 47, and a youngster. A bystander, who police identified as a youth named Sumit, died of a gunshot injury as the two sides traded fire. Police believe Sumit, an undergraduate student at a government college, was not part of the protest.

Uttar Pradesh: Cop, villager killed as protest over illegal slaughter houses turns violent

"Two people have been taken to custody. An SIT has been formed to investigate why the violence happened and why the police personnel left Inspector Subodh Kumar alone," Prashant Kumar, ADG Meerut Zone, told ANI.

The District Magistrate stated that the protests began after a group of people reportedly found the purported carcass of a cow in the field and blocked a road in the area, the Indian Express reported. Following this, a police team reached the spot and attempted to get the road open.

However, during this, a few unidentified miscreants pelted stones at the police force, forcing the cops to retaliate with lathi-charge as well as in a bid to disperse the mob. After this, the mob vandalised the police station and also set ablaze a couple of police vehicles, the DM said.

Officials said 11 companies of Rapid Action Force and Provincial Armed Constabulary have been rushed to Bulandshahr as a precautionary measure.

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Story first published: Tuesday, December 4, 2018, 9:53 [IST]Rape victim dies in Delhi hospital after being 'set afire' by kin of accused in UP's Bulandshahr

Bulandshahr violence: Slain cop's sister blames police for brother's death

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar P

Bulandshahr, Dec 4: Sister of deceased Bulandshahr cop has raised serious allegation against Uttar Pradesh Police, saying her brother was killed because investigating Akhlaq lynching case.

"My brother was investigating Akhlaq case and that is why he was killed, it's s conspiracy by Police.He should be declared martyr and memorial should be built. We do not want money. CM only keeps saying cow cow cow, " Sister of Policeman Subodh Singh was quoted by news agency ANI as saying.

Bulandshahr violence: 2 FIRs lodged, 27 people named, 2 taken in custody

However, Subodh Kumar Singh was the Investigating officer of Akhlaq lynching case, Dadri from 28th Sept 2015 till 9th Nov 2015. After the violence over illegal slaughterhouse claimed the life of the officer, Anand Kumar, ADG Law and Order, clarified that Subodh Kumar was the Investigating officer of Akhlaq lynching case, Dadri from 28th Sept 2015 till 9th Nov 2015 and The chargesheet was filled in the case by a different IO in March 2016.

Meanwhile, ADG Intelligence SV Shirodkar arrived at the spot where Police inspector Subodh Kumar died on Monday after being attacked by people protesting against alleged cattle slaughter in the area.

Cop killed in Bulandshahr violence was IO in Akhlaq lynching case

Uttar Pradesh Minister OP Rajbhar alleged that t violence was a pre-planned conspiracy by VHP, Bajrang Dal and RSS, now police is even naming some BJP members. "Why protest happened on same day as Muslim Ijtema event? It was an attempt to disturb peace, " he asked.

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Story first published: Tuesday, December 4, 2018, 12:31 [IST]Uttar Pradesh to soon have 5 international airports, highest for any state

UP CM warns Owaisi: Followers of 'abba jaan', don't try to inflame passions over CAA

Cop killed in Bulandshahr violence was IO in Akhlaq lynching case

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar P

Bulandshahr, Dec 4: The Police Inspector, Subodh Kumar Singh, who died in the Bulandshahr violence was the Investigating officer of Akhlaq lynching case, Dadri from 28th Sept 2015 till 9th Nov 2015.

After the violence over illegal slaughterhouse claimed the life of the officer, Anand Kumar, ADG Law and Order, clarified that Subodh Kumar Singh was the Investigating officer of Akhlaq lynching case, Dadri from 28th Sept 2015 till 9th Nov 2015. The chargesheet was filled in the case by a different IO in March 2016.

Uttar Pradesh: Cop, villager killed as protest over illegal slaughter houses turns violent

Abhishek, son of deceased office, told news agency ANI that "My father wanted me to be a good citizen who doesn't incite violence in society in the name of religion. Today my father lost his life in this Hindu-Muslim dispute, tomorrow whose father will lose his life?."

Reacting to the violence, Azam Khan, Samajwadi Party, hinted at a deliberate attempt to stoke communal violence in the area.

"If it is indeed cattle carcass then Police should also probe as to who brought the carcass there, as there is no minority population in that particular area," news agency ANI quoted Azam Khan as saying.

Police Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh An undated photo of Police Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh. According to the officials, Kumar who was posted at the Syana Police Station died in the violence after a mob went on a rampage torching a police post and clashes with police in Bulandshahr on Dec. 03, 2018. (PTI Photo) Uttar Pradesh: Cop, villager killed as protest over illegal slaughter houses turns violent Vehicles set on fire Vehicles set on fire by a mob during a protest over the alleged illegal slaughter of cattle, in Bulandshahr, Monday, Dec. 03, 2018. According to Additional Director General of Meerut zone Prashant Kumar, protesters from Mahaw village and nearby areas pelted stones on the police and indulged in arson setting several vehicles and the Chingarwathi Police Chowki on fire. (PTI Photo) Policemen inspect spot Policemen inspect after several vehicles were set on fire by a mob during a protest over the alleged illegal slaughter of cattle, in Bulandshahr, Monday, Dec. 03, 2018. PTI photo Bulandshahr violence: 2 FIRs lodged, 27 people named, 2 taken in custody Policemen stand guard Policemen stand guard after a violent protest over the alleged illegal slaughter of cattle, in Bulandshahr, Monday, Dec. 03, 2018. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath declares a compensation of Rs 40 lakh for wife, Rs 10 lakh for parents & a government job for a kin of Police Inspector Subodh Kumar who died in violence. (PTI photo)Dont make a song and dance or rush to media, Jaitley advises agencies amidst CBI row

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Dec 4: Weeks after public bickering between two top CBI officials, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday laid out cardinal principles for investigative agencies ranging from maintaining the utmost level of professionalism to remaining faceless and resisting the temptation of rushing to media when a probe starts.

He said the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), which is the apex intelligence and investigative agency for matters relating to violation of the Customs Act and smuggling, should maintain highest integrity and professional standards and endeavour to become a "near perfect organisation".

Amidst policy paralysis, these are the names in contention for a new CBI chief

"If I look at the cross section of various investigative agencies, including the police which is the basic investigative agency with largest network in the country, it goes to the credit of DRI that by and large it has remained free from any collateral controversies," he said.

DRI has concentrated in its core area of competence and developing expertise in area where it is primarily supposed to check the economic harm being done to the country and national security, he added.

Speaking at the 61st foundation day of DRI, the minister laid out "few cardinal principles" which every investigative agency should follow to achieve the utmost level of perfection.

These principles include the need for investigative agencies to maintain utmost level of professionalism and be guided by one sole purpose, which is detection of crime.

The investigating officers, Jaitley said, have to make sure that no innocent is harmed or harassed, but at the same time they have to ensure that no guilty gets away.

Policy paralysis in CBI: No move to appoint OSD of DG rank says govt

"They have to resist the temptation of making a lot of song and dance when the initial investigation starts and then rushing to the media. They must, as professionals, concentrate on strengthening the investigative processes and evidence," he said.

Stating that the real test of an investigative agency is whether the investigations ultimately result in penalties or convictions, Jaitley said the investigative officers have to be faceless.

"The lesser it is in media controversy or news, the better it is for them. No news is good news as far as investigative agencies are concerned. Therefore, tom-toming successes (of initial probe) and then the cases not being established do not add to the stature of the investigative agencies," the minister said.

He said the officer and his supervisor who takes up a case for investigation must have a "sixth sense and a very high sense of professionalism" to make sure at the initial level whether the case deserves to be investigated and whether it would result in penalties and conviction.

He said credibility of an institution depends on integrity and ethical standards as well as degree of professionalism.

Not possible to source gun on the run, Sohrabuddin, Prajapati encounters fake says CBI

"DRI has to endeavour to become a near perfect organisation. I use the word near because 'to err is human' and we have to account for some margin of human error. But in order to ensure that we achieve that utmost level of perfection which every investigative agency has to, there are few cardinal principles we have to remember," he said.

The infighting between CBI director Alok Verma and special director Rakesh Asthana, the second in command at the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), has reached the Supreme Court, which is currently looking into the matter.

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Story first published: Tuesday, December 4, 2018, 16:25 [IST]Election Commission may conduct polls for seven Assemblies along with General Elections

India

oi-Vinod Kumar Shukla

New Delhi, Dec 4: The Election Commission of India may hold Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and Haryana along with the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Tenure of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh will get over by June, 2019.

Sources in the Election Commission said that tenure of these four Assemblies is getting over in May-June 2019 so elections in these state will be held with the Lok Sabha as was the case on earlier occasions. There is also a possibility that elections in Jammu and Kashmir can also be held along with the Lok Sabha elections which was dissolved in November, 2018.

Aviation 'expert' Sunil Arora takes charge as 23rd Chief Election Commissioner

An official in the election commission said that elections for Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh will be held as per schedule but elections in the BJP-ruled Maharashtra and Haryana can be brought little early. It will also be necessary to hold elections in Jammu and Kashmir within six months. The official said that the deadline for that is getting over by the end of May 2019. The election commission might hold election of Jammu and Kashmir along with general elections but for security reasons, they can be held even earlier.

Another official of the election said that if the election commission holds Assembly elections of Haryana and Maharashtra along with the General elections then there will be no other election in 2019. The BJP is ruling both the states. If the state government decides to dissolve Assembly six months earlier, elections in these states can be conducted along with the Lok Sabha.

Congress delegation meets EC over unauthorised entry into EVM strongroom in Chhattisgarh

The tenure of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly is six years unlike rest of the states that have five years'. The tenure of the dissolved Assembly was up to March 16, 2021. Similarly Andhra Pradesh June 18, Odisha June 11, Arunachal Pradesh June 1 and Sikkim May 27, 2019.

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Story first published: Tuesday, December 4, 2018, 11:04 [IST]Flags of 125 countries to be raised at Kumbh Mela on Dec 15; dignitaries to visit mela

India

oi-Vinod Kumar Shukla

New Delhi, Dec 4: The Uttar Pradesh government is preparing for the Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj on war footing and the state chief minister Yogi Adityanath himself taking care of the mela preparations. The mela city has different kings of flags to locate places within the mela area but flags of around 125 countries will be raised in the Kumb mela area on December 15, 2018. However, the actual mela will start on January 14, 2019.

[Kumbh: UP govt bans all marriages in Allahabad between Jan and March 2019]

Actually heads of missions of 125 countries are coming to Prayagraj and the occasion is being considered as the branding of the Kumbh mela. All preparations are being made including security arrangements of these dignitaries. Every arrangement is being made from airport to the mela area for them.

Sources said that preparation for magnificent Kumbh mela is being done looking at its cultural, civilization and religious importance. It is also being told to people and being given international importance. It is expected that lakhs of faithfuls from the foreign countries too will visit the mela. Under the head of missions ambassadors of several countries, officials and people associated with High Commission will visit the mela area.

[Satellite head count for Kumbh Mela visitors by Google and premier technology institutions]

Flags of these countries will be raised which will be a memorable moment for the city as such. Under the supervision of DGP O P Singh, the police force is getting ready to deal with every eventuality. All these dignitaries will come to the city in a special aircraft and will return the same day.

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Story first published: Tuesday, December 4, 2018, 19:18 [IST]Govt rejects demand for higher military pay for over 1 lakh military officers; Army anguished

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, Dec 4: In a decision that "anguished" the Army, the government has rejected a long-standing demand of the armed forces for higher Military Service Pay (MSP) for over 1.12 lakh military personnel, including Junior Commissioned Officers, official sources said Tuesday. They told PTI that the Army headquarters was very upset over the decision of the Finance Ministry, and will seek its immediate review.

[To buy supersonic missiles, Centre clears Rs 3,000 crore]

Around 1.12 lakh military personnel including 87,646 JCOs and 25,434 personnel of equivalent rank from the Navy and the Indian Air Force will be impacted by the decision. The proposal for higher MSP for JCOs and equivalent rank of the Navy and IAF has been rejected by the Finance Ministry, sources said. The three services, particularly the Army, was pressing for increasing the monthly MSP of JCOs from Rs 5,500 to Rs 10,000. The total annual financial outgo would have been Rs 610 crore if the government had accepted the demand, the sources said.

The MSP for the military personnel was introduced in 2008, recognising their unique service conditions and hardships. At present, the MSP has two categories -- one for officers and another for JCOs and jawans. The seventh Pay Commission had fixed Rs 5,500 as MSP per month for JCOs and jawans while putting it at Rs 15,500 for officers between Lieutenant-rank and Brigadier-rank. The Army has been pressing for granting an MSP of Rs 10,000 for the JCOs, arguing that they are gazetted officers (Group B) and play a very vital role in command and control structure of the force.

[37, in November, 227 this year: Here is how many terrorists Indian Army killed in J&K]

The Army headquarters is "very anguished" over the rejection of higher MSP to JCOs. The defence ministry is also miffed over it, the sources said. "Since JCOs are Group B gazetted officers and also have considerable length of service, it is incorrect to grant them MSP on par with the jawans. It is very unfair," said a military officer who wished not to be named.

In 2016, the three service chiefs had taken up salary related issues including the "anomalies" in MSP with the 7th Pay Commission as well as with the top echelon of the government. Subsequently, the Army had taken up the issue strongly with the Defence Minister and the three services as well as the Defence Ministry were on the same page on the issue, the sources said.

The MSP was first introduced by the 6th Pay Commission, accounting for compensation for intangible aspects of military service. It accounts for a range of "hardships and disadvantages" which cannot be evaluated while assessing pay comparability.

Sources said the 7th Pay Commissions miserably failed to make a differentiation between the JCOs and the jawans, adding the JCOs must be given due importance in recognition of their key role and to keep their morale high.

The concept of MSP for armed forces personnel is widely prevalent in European countries. The armed forces were pressing for a separate slab of MSP for JCOs and equivalent rank.

PTIIndian Navy Day 2018: Operation Trident and its impact on the 1971 war

India

oi-Vikas SV

New Delhi, Dec 4: Today is Navy Day and it is celebrated to honour Operation Trident which was an offensive operation launched by the Indian Navy on Karachi during the 1971 war. Navy Day is also celebrated to honour the role played by the Indian Navy in securing the country's marine borders. The Navy plays an important role in maintaining peaceful relations with its neighbouring countries on the maritime front. Not only this, it also provides help in times of natural disasters like floods, cyclones, and tsunamis.

Both the President and the Prime Minister took to Twitter to extend their greeting to the Navy personnel on this occasion.

"On Navy Day, my good wishes to all men and women of the Indian Navy. Nation is proud of your commitment to protecting our maritime frontiers, securing our trade routes, and providing assistance in times of humanitarian emergencies," tweeted President Ram Nath Kovind.

How INS Arihant will significantly change India's strategic position?

"Navy Day greetings to all valorous personnel of the Indian Navy and their families. India is grateful to our Navy for protecting the nation and the commendable role the Navy plays during disaster relief," PM Modi tweeted.

Operation Trident:

As Indian Air Force began bombing Pakistani bases, the Western Naval Command decided to attack Karachi, a major port city in Pakistan and headquarters of Pakistani Navy. Operation Trident saw the first use of anti-ship missiles in combat in the region. The operation was conducted on the night of 4-5 December and inflicted heavy damage on Pakistani vessels and facilities.

Towards the end of 1971, there were rising tensions between India and Pakistan, and after Pakistan declared a national emergency on 23 November, the Indian Navy deployed three Vidyut-class missile boats in the vicinity of Okha, near Karachi, to carry out patrols.

The Indian Naval Headquarters (NHQ) in Delhi, along with the Western Naval Command, planned to attack the Port of Karachi. A strike group under Western Naval Command was formed for this mission. This strike group was to be based around the three Vidyut-class missile boats already deployed off the coast of Okha.

Indian Navy committed to curbing piracy in Gulf of Aden: Admiral

As planned, on 4 December, the strike group reached 250 nautical miles (460 km; 290 mi) (nmi) south off the coast of Karachi, and maintained its position during the day, outside the surveillance range of the Pakistan Air Force. As Pakistani aircraft did not possess night-bombing capabilities, it was planned that the attack would take place between dusk and dawn.

After verifying two targets in the area northwest of Karachi, at 11.00 pm, INS Nipat fired two Styx missiles - one each at cargo vessel MV Venus Challenger and its escort PNS Shah Jahan, a C-class destroyer. Venus Challenger, carrying ammunition for the Pakistani forces, exploded immediately after the missile hit, and eventually sank 23 nmi south of Karachi. The other missile targeted Shah Jahan and damaged the ship very badly. At 11.20 pm, PNS Muhafiz, an Adjutant-class minesweeper, was targeted by INS Veer. A missile was fired and Muhafiz was struck on the left side, behind the bridge. It sank immediately before it could send a signal to the PNHQ, killing 33 sailors.

Meanwhile, INS Nipat continued towards Karachi and targeted the Kemari oil storage tanks, placing itself 14 nmi (26 km; 16 mi) south of the Karachi harbour. Two missiles were launched; one misfired, but the other hit the oil tanks, which burned and were destroyed completely, causing a Pakistani fuel shortage. The task force returned to the nearest Indian ports.

Soon the PNHQ deployed rescue teams on patrol vessels to recover the survivors of Khaibar. As Muhafiz sank before it could transmit a distress call, the Pakistanis only learned of its fate from its few survivors who were recovered when a patrol vessel steered towards the ship's burning flotsam.

With no casualties on the Indian side, this operation was considered to be one of the most successful in modern naval history post-World War II. To mark this victory, the Indian Navy annually celebrates Navy Day on 4 December. (Source - Wikipedia)

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Story first published: Tuesday, December 4, 2018, 10:47 [IST]We live in times when what we eat is not personal: Justice Gogoi

Going public was the only option says Justice Chelameswar on the famous presser by SCs top 4

Justice Kurian Joseph should reveal basis of remote control allegations against Dipak Misra

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

New Delhi, Dec 4: A former Chief Justice of India on Monday said it is for Justice Kurian Joseph to come out with the basis on which he has levelled serious allegations against former Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra that he was being "remote controlled" by some external source, PTI reported.

His views was shared by former solicitor general Mohan Parasaran who, while terming the allegations of Justice Joseph as serious, said the retired judge should also come out with the basis on which he had made such statements after his retirement.

Going public was the only option says Justice Chelameswar on the famous presser by SC's top 4

Joseph, who retired on November 29, on Monday dropped a bombshell claiming that Justice Misra was "remote-controlled by an external source" and that impacted the administration of justice.

Reacting to the explosive accusation, a former CJI on condition of anonymity said, "I would not like to comment and it would also be not appropriate for me to comment. Ask the person who had made those comments and against whom the comments were made".

He added that statements have been made against an individual and he could be the best person to give his point of view.

Parasaran said the views of Justice Joseph were personal as he was inside the Supreme Court and therefore, it is very difficult for outsiders like us to comment on the issue.

"He has to come out with evidence. I am not concerned about x,y or z. I am concerned about the institution. I have great respect for Justice Joseph. As the thing is over, the Chief Justice knows what to do, he is a disciplinarian and will take a corrective action," Parasaran said.

Justice Ranjan Gogoi sworn in as 46th Chief Justice of India

On being asked if there should be an inquiry on the allegations of Justice Kurian, he said who is going to conduct the inquiry as it is an institutional thing.

"It is a case of washing dirty linen in the public. Who is going to do that," he said.

The former CJI said the statements made by the individual do not mean that entire institution has crumbled.

"It is not like entire institution has come under clout. This institution had very eminent and independent judges who had stood up to any pressure. Those judges would never cow down to any kind of pressure to anybody. I have faith in this institution," he said.

"When it comes to testing times, judges stand up or withstand the pressure. Its not like that. There may be some aberrations within the system but saying like entire system has collapsed or crumbled is not correct", he said.

When asked whether the episode has brought disrepute to the judiciary, the former CJI said, "It has nothing to do with the institution. He (Justice Kurian Joseph) is not telling that institution has crumbled".

Justice must have human face: Outgoing CJI Dipak Misra

He said that Justice Joseph talked about one individual (former CJI Dipak Misra) and the appropriate comment can be given by the concerned individual only.

"It is Justice Kurian, the other three judges or ex-CJI Misra, who can educate the people in the country as what exactly happened and what were the implications. I would not like to comment on this issue," he said.

The ex-CJI said that he has not said anything nor he will like to say anything on the issue.

"Now the debate is going on. Let it happen. One day or other the things come out in the open", he said and added that it was for Justice Joseph to tell about who was the remote control or to whom he was referring to.

"You should ask him about which remote control he is talking about. It's journalists work to cross examine anybody", he said.

"Listen, I don't want to get into this thing. I just want to keep away from this controversy. I have turned my back. I am happy in my own little world," he added.

On the question that as a former Chief Justice of India has he ever heard of any such remote control thing.

"I can't say anything. No one remote controlled me nor anyone dared to remote control me. I cannot comment anything on others being remote controlled or controlled for whatever reasons", he said, adding, "If anyone was being remote controlled, he is accountable to himself".

On the question that under his tenure, did he ever hear of such influence being exercised, the former CJI said, "It's not about my tenure. Nobody said that it was under my tenure. He referred to Justice Misra's time, You cannot dig the history from 1948 and say it did not happen under so and so tenure. He has pointed out to justice Misra. You should ask him. If he will talk about my tenure, then I will give statement on this".

The former solicitor general said that Justice Jospeh was "part and parcel" of the institution and it was not clear what he meant by "remote control".

"He will come out more clearly as to what are external sources he was taking about and that would be beneficial for the institution" the senior lawyer said.

Terming it as very serious charge, the senior lawyer said that nothing of this sort was heard previously.Kartarpur in Pakistan due to Congress says Modi

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar P

Jaipur, Dec 4: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the Congress is to be blamed for Kartarpur going to Pakistan. He made the comments at an election rally in Hanumangarh in the poll-bound Rajasthan.

Kartarpur went to Pakistan due to lack of vision, sensitivity of then Congress leaders. Then Congress leaders had no idea about the importance of Guru Nanak Dev, therefore Kartarpur in Pakistan today, he also said.

Holy work of Kartarpur corridor came to me, Congress will have to answer why this was not done in last 70 years. The credit of Kartarpur corridor goes to your vote and correcting Congress mistakes was my destiny, he also said.

Never claimed to have understood Hinduism completely, but Rahul can: Modi

He further went on to say that farmers cannot trust the Congress, which has made false promises to waive off loans. He said that the farmers are facing trouble today due to the inaccurate policies of the Congress. The four generations of this family who do not have an understanding of land and farmers made policies that destroyed the farmers, he also added.

Speaking on a scam-free government in the last five years, PM said that five years ago, newspaper headline used be about coal scam 2G scam, submarine scam etc, but since we came to power, we stopped the loot.

"Farmers are struggling because of wrong policies by the Congress government. Had a son of a farmer, Sardar Patel, been a prime minister of India, farmers would not have seen worst days, said PM Modi.

In a scathing attack against Congress family, Modi said that four generations of leaders neither understand agriculture and nor farmers, therefore farmers are in trouble.Madhya Pradesh polls: Nearly all 230 seats have seen Ram candidates contesting this time

India

oi-Shubham Ghosh

Bhopal, Dec 4: The elections to 230 Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh took place on November 28 and the results will be out, along with those in four other states, on December 11. The BJP is eyeing its fourth consecutive win in this election while the Congress is looking for a return to power after 15 years.

Instead of passive protest, BJP workers actively helped the Congress to defeat their party in MP

Only time will tell who has the last laugh but we already had a unique election with as many 227 candidates having the name 'Ram' in them, confirmed the Election Commission! Sounds incredible? But it is right. And what is even more significant that it is not the BJP and the Congress who led the way in fielding 'Ram' candidates but the lesser parties.

The BJP fielded 13 candidates with 'Ram' in their names in some way. The Congress has also fielded 12 candidates with 'Ram' attached to their names. Some of the names are Sitaram, Ramnivas, Ladduram, Ramkhelawan, Ramlal, Rampyare, Ramkishore, Tikaram, Ramkishan, Rampal, Rameshwar, Prabhuram, Tulsiram, Ramlal, Parshuram etc. etc.

Congress accusing the government of tampering with EVMs in Madhya Pradesh

But apart from them, there are candidates from other parties or Independents who also have 'Ram' in their names and their numbers add up to 200 or more. Besides, there are at least eight candidates who have got 'Sita' in their names and seven with 'Laxman'. Two also have 'Hanuman' and two 'Brahma'.

On December 11, we will know how many Rams will make it to the Assembly in which the magic figure is 116.

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Story first published: Tuesday, December 4, 2018, 17:25 [IST]Next generation Akash-NG to add new diamension to India's air defence capabilities

India

oi-Vikas SV

New Delhi, Dec 4: Buoyed by the success of Akash Surface to Air Missile (SAM), the DRDO is said to be working one the development of the highly advanced Akash-NG or Akash-Next Generation.

In June 2018, it was reported that the next-generation Akash-NG missile will be ready for user trials in the next two years. Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) Chairman and Managing Director S K Sharma had then said that the upgraded version will have a new radar and seeker.

Akash missiles are designed to be launched from static or mobile platforms such as battle tanks and wheeled trucks, providing flexible deployment. It can handle multiple targets and destroy manoeuvring targets, including unmanned aerial vehicles, fighter aircraft, cruise missiles and missiles launched from helicopters. Deployment of Aakash significantly improves defence capabilities from incoming air attacks.

Akash missile system is an indigenously developed supersonic short-range surface-to-air missile system with the capability to engage a wide variety of aerial threats like aircraft, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles up to a maximum range of 25-30 km and up to an altitude of 20 km. It is in operational service with the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force.

According to a report published in Maxima Vigilantie, the Akash-NG missile has a cylindrical body with four cropped delta fins at mid-body and four tail fins. Second stage air-breathing solid ramjet engine has been ditched in favor of lighter dual-pulse solid rocket motor. The new propulsion system will increase the range of the missile to 50km+. Akash-NG has six major components- radome, indigenous active RF seeker, RF/Laser proximity fuse, pre-fragmented warhead, electromechanical actuation, and dual-pulse rocket motor.

[Multi layered air defence: How S-400 fits into India's scheme of things]

The Akash missile, which is in service now, is guided by a phased array fire control radar called 'Rajendra' which is termed as Battery Level Radar (BLR) with a tracking range of about 60 km.

Akash-NG will feature an AESA Multi-Function Radar(MFR). The Addition of MFR will afford the Akash missile system capabilities it never had before. MFR will combine functions (search, track and fire control) of three different radars in one single unit.

This new Akash NG will significantly bolster India's air defence system. India is currently working on a multi layered air defence system to tackle with the incoming aerial attack. India's purchase of S-400 triumf system from Russia was in line with this ongoing endeavour. India is already working on two-tier Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) Program and has Aakash Missiles to take on aerial attacks. The S-400 Triumph missile defense system is a significant strategic upgrade in India's military hardware.

[Akash, PAD, AAD and now S-400 triumf air defence missile system]

Defence and strategic matters expert Major General PK Sehgal earlier told OneIndia that India's air defence capabilities badly needed an upgrade.

"We did not have anything (in terms of air defence) between 400 kms and 25 kms. This is a system which can take on the enemy from 30 kms to 400m kms. Then you are also buying Israeli Barack 8 systems which has a range of 70 kms extendable upto 100 kms. So, you will have a layered air defence to take take on threats from China and Pakistan," Major General PK Sehgal had said.

The new Akash NG will add another layer to this new multi-layered system on which India is working. Among other features, Akash-NG will have a faster reaction time and a higher level of protection against saturation attacks.

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Story first published: Tuesday, December 4, 2018, 5:00 [IST]Not possible to source gun on the run, Sohrabuddin, Prajapati encounters fake says CBI

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Mumbai, Dec 4: The Central Bureau of Investigation has reiterated in court that the Sohrabuddin Shaikh and Tulsiram Prajapati encounters were fake.

Advancing final arguments in the case, Special Public Prosecutor, B P Raju told the court that both encounters were fake. He went on to question the report of a senior inspector of the Rajasthan police, who had said that he had received an input suggesting that Shaikh had links with the ISI and Lashkar-e-Tayiba and was planning on assassinating a big political leader.

Sohrabuddin case, a result of rivalry and politics, accused tell court

To back his arguments, he said that Kumbh Singh, then a sub-inspector with the district special branch of the Udaipur police was examined as a prosecution witness and he had denied having received any such information. Further he said that both Shaikh and Prajapati were charged in the Hamid Lala murder case in March 2005. However there is no mention even then on such links.

The special CBI court judge, S J Sharma sought to know why no agency or investigator had probed as from where and who such information had come. Raju then said that the ticket from Surat to Ahmedabad had no blood stains on it. However the other articles seized such as the driving licence had blood stains.

When Raju said that the it was planted, the judge asked, " all the accused were with you. Initially there were 38. Did the CBI interrogate as to who planted it?" Raju then said that four persons had mentioned about a threat to Shaikh's life. This shows that the encounter was fake, he added.

He further added that the call detail records of the mobile seized from Shaikh was not checked and the ATS had not mentioned from where he got the motorcycle. He also said that said that the chilli-powder theory in the Prajapati case is not satisfactory. When Prajapati was spotted in Chhapri in Amreli district, two other persons were there. Who were they, he asked.

Sohrabuddin Sheikh killing: A motive that involved both money and politics

To this the judge said that the investigation agency should have made efforts to find out.

It was a planned encounter, the prosecutor said adding that the finger prints of Prajapati were not found in the desi katta that was seized. He was in custody for one year. He escaped from custody on November 27 2006 and was killed the next morning. It is highly impossible for him to source a pistol while on the run. Moreover the sample of the hand wash was not taken to check on the gun-powder, the prosecutor also said.

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Story first published: Tuesday, December 4, 2018, 6:35 [IST]Raid, bust, kill: The downfall of the Jaish-e-Mohammad has begun in J&K

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Srinagar, Dec 4: In a major operation, the security forces have busted two modules of the Jaish-e-Mohammad in Jammu and Kashmir.

The two modules to be busted were at Tral and Khrew Pampore. The security forces also arrested 10 Jaish operatives following the raid and bust. During the operation, the police found a huge quantity of gelatine sticks, detonators and Improvised Explosive Devices.

ISI clubs Punjab and Kashmir, supplies HG84s to terrorists of both states

In the operation that was carried out in Tral four persons were taken into custody. They are Younis Nabi Naik, Fayaz Ahmad Wani, Riyaz Ahmad Ganaie and Bilal Ahmad Rather.

In the Khrew Pampore operation, the forces arrested Ahmad Parray, Yasir Bashir Wani, Yousuf Lone, Rafiq Ahmad Bhat, Javaid Ahmad Khanday and Imran Nazir.

The busting of these two modules is extremely crucial. These were the primary modules of the Jaish which were launching a series of attacks in the recent past. There was a surge in terror activity in both these areas. Following this a special team was constituted to probe cases which involved attacks on both security forces and civilians. The police say that with these modules being busted, they have managed to clear the Jaish of from Khrew Pampore and Tral.

Terror alert poster taken down after Pak seminary identifies operatives as its students

The Jaish, which had witnessed a surge in the Valley over the past year, has been facing considerable losses over the past month and a half. Last week, Waseem, a Jaish terrorist from Pakistan was killed in an encounter. Another Jaish terrorist, Suhail Ahmed Lone was arrested following an encounter.

During the course of the investigation, the police have found incriminating material that links the Jaish directly to attacks on security forces and civilians. Officers say that these investigations are crucial since the Jaish had made inroads into the Valley.

In October, it may be recalled the security forces had carried out a successful operation in which the nephew of the Jaish chief was killed in an encounter. The security forces gunned down Jaish terrorist Usman Haidar, who was the nephew of the outfit's chief, Maulana Masood Azhar. Another terrorist of the same outfit, identified as Showkat Ahmed was also killed the encounter at the Tral area of South Kashmir.

Incidentally this was the second new of the Jaish boss to killed in an encounter. In November 2017, in an encounter at Pulwama, the forces had gunned down Talha Rashid. The killing of both these persons was crucial as they were also heading the sniper squad of the Jaish.

Parliament to Pathankot: What makes the Jaish-e-Mohammad so lethal

The police had said that the Jaish had four persons who were part of the sniping squad. They were using the M-4 Caribes, a weapon deployed in Afghanistan by the NATO forces. The weapons were procured by the ISI from the Taliban, which had stolen the same from the US forces in Afghanistan. The M4 has been used in the Valley for sometime now.

The killing of the two terrorists is seen as an important breakthrough in busting the sniper squad in the Valley. There have been at least three sniping incidents on the security forces and the latest was the killing of Assistant Sub Inspector of the CISF at Srinagar in October.

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Story first published: Tuesday, December 4, 2018, 16:16 [IST]Rajasthan elections: Hindus who fled Pakistan and took shelter in state remain overlooked

India

oi-Shubham Ghosh

Jaipur, Dec 4: Even though politics in India in the age of Narendra Modi is witnessing a Hindu narrative, not all Hindus are easily accommodated in the script. A large number of people from the majority community have come over to India from Pakistan where the Hindu minorities have been targeted by the majority force but have they been incorporated into the Indian scheme of things?

According to a report in Ananda Bazar Patrika, Ramchandra Solanki had fled with his family from Mirpur Khas in Pakistan's Sindh province on a night of 2014 after a young girl from his relative circle was raped by local landlord's sons and the family was almost wiped out after the victim complained about her ordeal. Like Solanki, thousands of Hindu families have fled Pakistan in the last decade and half and taken shelter in Rajasthan across the border. Around 20,000 of these refugees live in temporary shelters in Jodhpur. Although there have been claims by the government time and again that Hindus fleeing from Pakistan and entering India will be given citizenship of this country, the process has not progressed as the refugees had expected.

Kartarpur in Pakistan due to Congress says Modi

In April, Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria said 5,000 Pakistani Hindus who are residing in Rajasthan will be given Indian citizenship but according to the ABP report, not much has been done on the matter since then. People like Solanki do not understand the complications and implications of law and governance but only that their lives will be saved if they are on the Indian territory.

According to the report, most of the Pakistani Hindus in India have come in the name of pilgrimage but stayed here to evade persecution at home where they are allegedly forced to convert into Muslims. There are social activists and NGOs who are fighting for the rights of these Pakistani Hindus and education for their children but yet things are far from being better.

Difficult to sustain in India

Apart from the citizenship issue, people like Solanki and others whose visa, too, have expired find it difficult to sustain as well. They don't get jobs easily because the local people do not trust them as they are dubbed as "Pakistan". In fact, their temporary shelters on the outskirts are referred to as "Pakistani Hindu camp" which has an essence of derogation in it.

Modi Govt announces concessions for Hindu refugees from Pakistan

These people have received no government aid and have to make their own shelters of leaves and buy water. They do not get any government health benefit and have to depend on expensive private healthcare services. Their children have no minimum ambience of security to grow even though they studied in schools in Pakistan. And these people require proof of citizenship to get their children admitted in schools in India, the report added.

They are also Hindus. But for Hindu India, they perhaps remain an exception.Don't do or say anything that could damage India's image: Naidu to Rajya Sabha members

Rajya Sabha chairman calls all-party meet ahead of winter session on Dec 10

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Dec 4: Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu has called an all-party meeting on December 10, a day before the commencement of Parliament's winter session, with an aim to build a consensus for a smooth conduct of the proceedings in the Upper House.

On several occasions, Naidu has expressed concern over the deadlock between the ruling and the opposition sides that has halted the smooth functioning of the House. The government will push for the passage of the "triple talaq" bill pending in the Rajya Sabha in the upcoming session. It had earlier promulgated an ordinance to make the practice of instant triple talaq a penal offence.

The Rajya Sabha chairman has called a meeting of the floor leaders of all the parties in the Upper House at his residence on December 10, a source said, adding that this was aimed at developing a consensus for a smooth functioning of the House.

Among others, the meeting is expected to be attended by Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad and the Leader of the House, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. This will be the last full-fledged Parliament session before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government will be keen to make it productive.

For the Opposition, it will be the last chance to take on the government in the House.

The results of the Assembly elections in five states, in which both the ruling BJP and the Congress have high stakes, are bound to cast a shadow on the parliamentary proceedings. The results of the Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram Assembly polls will be announced on December 11.

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Story first published: Tuesday, December 4, 2018, 18:42 [IST]RSS-affiliated think tank to release interaction-based book on triple talaq

India

oi-Vinod Kumar Shukla

New Delhi, Dec 4: India Policy Foundation (IPF), a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) affiliated think tank, is releasing a book on triple talaq called 'Triple Denial of Justice, Dignity and Equality. The book is being published both in Hindi and English. Besides the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the RSS too has been working to bring justice to the victims of triple talaq.

The book published by the IPF contains several case studies on victims of triple talaq. There are innumerable victim of triple talaq in the country. The book release programme will be addressed by Justice Iqbal Ahmed Ansari, who is a retired chief justice of Patna High Court. He is the chairperson of Human Right Commission of Punjab. The programme will also be addressed by Aishwarya Bhati, additional Advocate General, government of Uttar Pradesh. The name of the book in Hindi is: Mai Bhi Nari Hoon: Muslim Mahilao Ka Nyay, Samman Aur Samanta Ke Liye Sangharsh (I Am Also A Woman: Struggle of Muslim Women for Justice, Dignity and Equality).

BJP to appoint around100 Muslim women as 'teen talaq pramukhs' across Uttar Pradesh

Qazi Masum Akhtar will also be addressing people of the issue as the BJP-led government has brought ordinance in this regard to get justice for Muslim women who has constantly been victim of the triple talaq. One of the editors of the book Amber Zaidi told Oneindia, "There are detailed case studies of triple talaq victim, views of various maulana (Muslim scholars on the issue), interviews of victims done by the team of India Policy Foundation, articles of experts on the issue including one from a University of Cambridge scholar, legal aspect of the matter is included in the book."

SC declines to interfere challenge to the Triple Talaq ordinance of Sep 19

The IPF has been working on this book from the past two years and now it is complete to get released. Two Delhi University professors Geeta Bhatt and Alok Sharma, one social activist and filmmaker Amber Zaidi, Supreme Court Lawyers Archana Pathak Dave and Ankita Choudhary Rathi are part of the editorial team. One of the members of its editorial board Amber Zaidi said, "There are around 15-16 chapters in the book covering various aspects of triple talaq. Opinion of leaders like Arif Mohammad Khan has also been included in the book and there are several contributors in the book to make its content rich and helpful to all." IPF honorary director and Rajya Sabha member Prof Rakesh Sinha is the Editorial Adviser of the book, who is known for working on any subject very meticulously.

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Story first published: Tuesday, December 4, 2018, 16:38 [IST]Sheena Bora's biological father doesn't have money to travel to Mumbai: Court told

India

pti-PTI

Mumbai, Dec 4: Sheena Bora's biological father is facing a financial crisis and thus cannot travel to Mumbai to record his statement as a witness in his daughter's murder case, a special court was Tuesday informed.

"Today, Siddharth Das was supposed to appear as a witness. He stays in Kolkata, but he doesn't have money to travel to Mumbai and stay here. So the government will be taking care of his travel and stay," special public prosecutor Bharat Badami told special CBI judge J C Jagdale.

Meanwhile, another witness Kedar, an employee of the company that had originally purchased the car used allegedly in Sheena's murder, deposed before the court. His company is into the business of buying and selling cars and it had sold the car to AM Motors which has a service station and had rented the vehicle out to Indrani Mukerjea, a prime accused in the case, he said.

Sheena (24) was allegedly killed by Indrani with the help of others in a car in April 2012. The incident came to light only in August 2015 after Indrani's then driver Shyamvar Rai, who was arrested by police for possessing a firearm, disclosed it.

Mumbai police arrested Indrani, Khanna and Rai for allegedly killing Sheena. Later, Peter was also arrested for allegedly being part of the conspiracy to kill Sheena. The CBI has claimed that a financial dispute was the cause of the murder.

PTITelangana elections: Revanth Reddy moves court against arrest

India

oi-Vikas SV

Hyderabad, Dec 4: Telangana Congress Working President Revanth Reddy, who was taken into preventive custody for threatening to disrupt TRS chief K Chandrashekhar Rao's rally in Kodangal, has approached the court to challenge his arrest.

The Congress earlier today cried foul over Reddy's arrest and said KCR, the care taker chief minister, was misusing the police force. Reddy is an incumbent MLA from Kodangal and a prominent Congress leader in Telangana.

I'm Telangana's agent, not of BJP or Congress, says KCR

"KCR is misusing the police, the manner in which police entered his bedroom, it has never happened in India. Revanth Reddy is not an ordinary man, he is a Brahmos missile and this missile is going to finish TRS," Congress leader G N Reddy told ANI.

TRS had earlier complained to state Election Commission that Reddy and his supporters were planning to disrupt KCR's rally in Kodangal. The Returning Officer of Kodangal had even issued a notice to the Congress party in this regard.

"..it was noticed that on 02.12.18. a protest call has been given by the TPCC Working President and contesting candidate for MLA, Kodangal Assembly constituency, Vikarabad District in a Press Meet at Kodnagal to obstruct the public meeting of Sri K Chandra Shekar Rao, care taking Chief Minister of Telangana scheduled to be held on 04.12.18 at Kosgi of 72 - Kodangal Assembly constituency," t the Returning Officer's letter to Congress said.

Telangana: Congress' Revanth Reddy taken into preventive custody, Sec 144 imposed in Kodangal

The poll body said a law and order situation could arise as Reddy's supporters may try to stop the rally, where KCR's party men would also be present.

Telangana will go to the polls on December 7 and the counting of votes will take place on December 11.

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Story first published: Tuesday, December 4, 2018, 12:47 [IST]Top leadership of Pakistan speaks the same language but claims disagreement with each other

India

oi-Vinod Kumar Shukla

New Delhi, Dec 4: Narrow perspective and attempt to pull each others down will take India and Pakistan nowhere. They themselves are responsible for deteriorating relations and of course cross-border terrorism being the important one. But the way Kartarpur Corridor issue was handled by Pakistan leadership, it clearly indicates that they are not interested in solving the problem. They are just looking for transient gains of embarrassing India.

The first unprovoked statement came from Foreign Minister of Pakistan Mahmood Qureshi when he said that India was trapped in 'googly' of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and was forced to send two of its ministers. Few days after Pakistan Foreign Minister's 'googly remark' against the groundbreaking ceremony of Kartarpur Corridor, Pakistan President Arif-ur-Rehman Alvi has triggered another controversy by terming Kartarpur move as 'a great chaal'. He made this remark in an interview to a Pakistani channel. Qureshi's controversial comments drew sharp criticism from India with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj saying his comments exposed him and that Pakistan has 'no respect for Sikh sentiments'.

To ensure presence of Indian govt at Kartarpur, Imran Khan bowled a googly says Pak FM

Though Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan distanced himself from his foreign minister's statement and ruled out it being any 'googly' but the damage is done in already delicate relations between the two countries. Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal dared action against the foreign minister if the Pakistan PM does not agree with him. But strategic experts feel that Imran Khan himself was neither better at the ground breaking ceremony as his entire speech was political one which has got very less to do with the religious event.

Experts say that Pakistan's foreign policy is handled by the Pakistan Army and whatever Imran Khan was saying at the time of ground breaking, what did the Qureishi say or for that matter the President of Pakistan had said in his interview is the unstated but actual state policy of Pakistan towards India. All the three top brass of the country - the President, the Prime Minister and the foreign minister - cannot commit mistake at the same time on the same issue. So this was a planned move with its advantages and disadvantages.

Sources said that Pakistan is already discredited country so its reputation does not matter if it gets beating but a bad move by India could give Pakistan a chance to tom tom but somehow they failed this time round again. Moreover, the biggest problem with Pakistan at the moment is that they have neither money to fund terrorists for separate Khalistan nor for terrorism in Kashmir. Most of the adds that the country was getting from the US was being spent on this but the US has withheld it now. One thing that Pakistan knows very well that this is an election time for India and during this time India cannot give any such indication that gives out a message of country being weak. So there is no point talks getting started. It will happen only after general elections in India are over.

Peace initiative has always come first from Pakistan, says Navjot Singh Sidhu

So just to avoid embarrassment on these developments, Pakistan has set up an Immigration Centre at the border which is being welcomed by all but there is lot more needed to be done for this and if relations between both the country does not remain normal movement at this corridor will not be allowed.

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Story first published: Tuesday, December 4, 2018, 12:56 [IST]Uma Bharti not to contest Lok Sabha elections in 2019

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar P

New Delhi, Dec 4: Union Minister Uma Bharti announced that she would not contest in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, but continue to fight for Ram Mandir.

In 1989, she won in the Khajuraho Lok Sabha constituency, and retained the seat in the elections of 1991, 1996, and 1998. Bharti rose to national prominence when she became one of the major faces of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, alongside L. K. Advani and others.

After Sushma Swaraj, Uma Bharti is the second minister in Narendra Modi government to decline to contest in 2019 elections. She served as the Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation from 26 May 2014 to 1 September 2017. Late became Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation.

'I will not retire from politics,' says Sushma Swaraj

Sushma Swaraj said, "My health is good. But I am constantly taking precautions. Doctors have asked me to stay safe from infection, and also to avoid dust. I have to save myself from dust. No matter how much I try, I can't avoid dust during elections."

During a press conference in Indore, Swaraj said she has "made up her mind not to contest elections", adding a caveat that it is the party that will take the final call. Reports have suggested that the 66-year-old BJP leader cited health reasons for her decision.VHP to put more pressure on govt to decide Ram Temple issue after Dec 9 rally

India

oi-Vinod Kumar Shukla

New Delhi, Dec 4: The Central government and the Supreme Court of India will be in the firing line of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leadership in its December 9, 2018 rally of the organisation in Delhi's Ramlila Maidan. Though the VHP is continuously repeating that if the matter is not solved in the Winter Session, it will go to Dharm Sansad in Prayagrah on January 31, 2019 and February 1, 2019.

[Krishna Gopal to supervise Dec 9 Dharm Sabha preparations; Bhaiya ji Joshi key speaker]

But the VHP will not rest even after December 9 rally and some or the other activity will continue. The court matter of Ram Janmabhoomi is 135 years old and saints are demanding the SC to take up the matter soon. Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti is saying that organisation does not want to get into the politics of judges and neither want contempt of the court. The VHP is demanding justice and decision as soon as possible.

The road map was prepared when saints gather at Talkatora Stadium on November 3-4, 2018 where sadhu, saints and mahamandleshwar of 127 sects gathered. Various programmes of the VHP started from November 25. But the real pressure will start after December 9. The VHP is claiming that the December 9 rally will be unprecedented where more than five lakh people are expected to gather. Preparation for this rally has already started.

[VHP says, lots of talks have been done on Ram Temple, now it is time to deliver]

The VHP leaders are saying that their main focus is on winter session of Parliament and it was claimed by a saint Swami Ram Bhadracharya that one of the senior minister told him that the government will look for its solution after December 11. BJP president Amit Shah met with Saints and the VHP leader. The VHP intensified its campaign and had held 150 small and big rallies so far. The BJP president however has denied any preparation about bringing a bill for Ram Temple.

But the real show will start after December 9 and go on till the February 1, 2019. Saints will take to street after February 1 but they want to put pressure on judiciary and the government.

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Story first published: Tuesday, December 4, 2018, 20:48 [IST]British spy agency MI6 director outlines 4th generation espionage to tackle hybrid age threat

International

oi-Shubham Ghosh

London, Dec 4: With the nature of threat evolving, it is also important for the counter measures to get smarter too. The British espionage officials have realised it and are working on it.

According to a report in IntelNews.org, Alex Younger, director of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service MI6, has chalked out the parameters of a new "fourth generation of espionage" which according to him is required to tackle "threats of the hybrid age".

France fuel protests: 80-year-old woman dies after being hit by tear gas canister

The 55-year-old career intelligence officer had joined MI6 in 1991 after his service in the British Army. He worked as the chief of global operations - the second most important position at the intelligence body - before taking over as the director in 2014. Younger had also worked in the Middle East besides Europe and also in Afghanistan where he represented the body as its most senior official after the US-led invasion in 2001 in the wake of 9/11.

Younger hasn't spoken enough in the public since he took over as the MI6 director four years ago and on Monday, December 3, it was only the second time he spoke and it was at Scotland's University of St Andrews, his own alma mater.

He said on the occasion that while the MI6's style of operations and people some of whom "have paid the ultimate price" must remain secret, its technological progress has "profoundly changed (its) operating environment."

"Technological change, as well as the degree of interconnectedness, he said, has made the world "dramatically more complicated". He went on to add that the resulting ambiguity is referred to by MI6 as a constant stream of "hybrid threats", namely challenges posed by nation-states operating "in the gray spaces of the hybrid era". They do so in order to probe the West's "institutions and defenses in ways that fall short of traditional warfare", said Younger," the InterlNews report added.

New York Police rescues a precious thing for this English couple and the partners are over the moon

Younger said that MI6 is well-positioned to respond to hybrid threats, mostly by augmenting human intelligence role. i.e., using human spies to collect information.

He said human intelligence will never change in its fundamental format in case of MI6's operations but it would evolve to meet the challenges of the hybrid age.

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Story first published: Tuesday, December 4, 2018, 13:59 [IST]New York Police rescues a precious thing for this English couple and the partners are over the moon

International

oi-Shubham Ghosh

New York, Dec 4: It is not always that the police rescue an engagement ring after it is lost for it is too small and the lawkeepers are busy cracking far bigger cases. But recently, the New York Police Department (NYPD) earned bouquets for rescuing an engagement ring that a couple lost at the Times Square. It was lost after the man who was proposing to her partner dropped it out of excitement on Friday (November 30) night. The couple regained their smile, thanks to the police's smart work, and they expressed their gratitude.

The official account of the NYPD shared the incident's CCTV footage in search of the couple.

Firefighter leaves own wedding midway to douse fire; bride says it's fine

"WANTED for dropping his fiancee's ring in @TimesSquareNYC! She said Yes - but he was so excited that he dropped the ring in a grate. Our @NYPDSpecialops officers rescued it & would like to return it to the happy couple. Help us find them?" read the tweet.

WANTED for dropping his fiancees ring in @TimesSquareNYC!

She said Yes - but he was so excited that he dropped the ring in a grate. Our @NYPDSpecialops officers rescued it & would like to return it to the happy couple. Help us find them?  call 800-577-TIPS @NYPDTIPS @NYPDMTN pic.twitter.com/tPWg8OE0MQ  NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) December 1, 2018

The couple, as it was found later, is from England. John Drennan and Daniella Anthony tweeted on Sunday, December 2, saying they were happy and grateful that the police officers found the ring for them.

Heres a photo of the ring our officers recovered (and cleaned!) Call 1-800-577-TIPS or DM @NYPDTips if you know the happy couple so we can return it to them! pic.twitter.com/hzFXxuMVJW  NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) December 1, 2018

The police department was looking for the couple since Saturday, December 1, after they found the ring. Drennan proposed to Anthony in Central Park and the latter said the ring slipped off her finger and fell into the grate.

This 'Happy' wedding party is so pleasing; it makes us just say wow...

The woman told The New York Times that she was "literally crying" and that "it was the worst moment" of her life. They sought police help but initially they could not recover it. The dejected couple left for England without leaving behind its contact information. Drennan reportedly bought a second ring after reaching the airport.

Here are some of the reactions to the incident on Twitter:

What a random place to propose. Hope theres a backstory.  Jennifestive Howliday (@HowFashionating) December 2, 2018

May their marriage be a grate one.  Ross (@RossQ1986) December 2, 2018

If thats not a perfect metaphor for marriage, I dont know what is.   Unfiltered Mama (@UnfilteredMama) December 2, 2018

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Story first published: Tuesday, December 4, 2018, 9:22 [IST]Collapse of Kabul will go down as one of the greatest defeats in American history: Donald Trump

Donald Trump writes to Imran Khan; seeks help in bringing Taliban to negotiating table

International

pti-PTI

Islamabad, Dec 3: US President Donald Trump has written to Prime Minister Imran Khan, seeking Pakistan's support in bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table to end the 17-year brutal war in trouble-torn Afghanistan, officials here said on Monday.

The development came weeks after Trump said Pakistan does not do "a damn thing" for the US, alleging that Islamabad had helped al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden hide near its garrison city of Abbottabad. The Foreign Office (FO) said that the President, in a letter, has sought Pakistan's cooperation in bringing the Taliban to negotiating table.

In the letter, Trump "stated that his most important regional priority was achieving a negotiated settlement of the Afghan war. In this regard, he has sought Pakistan's support and facilitation," the Foreign Office said. The President also acknowledged that the war had cost both the US and Pakistan, and emphasised that both the countries "should explore opportunities to work together and renew partnership".

Pakistan welcomes the decision to explore ways for a political settlement of the Afghan issue, the FO said. "Since Pakistan has always advocated a political settlement to end the war in Afghanistan, US decision is welcomed," it said.

Pakistan also reiterated its commitment to play a facilitation role in good faith, stressing that peace and stability in Afghanistan was a shared responsibility. Last month, the Pentagon said that the US has suspended USD 1.66 billion in security assistance to Pakistan after President Trump's directive.

Ties between the US and Pakistan strained after Trump, while announcing his Afghanistan and South Asia policy in August last year, hit out at Pakistan for providing safe havens to "agents of chaos" that kill Americans in Afghanistan and warned Islamabad that it has "much to lose" by harbouring terrorists.

In September, the Trump administration cancelled USD 300 million in military aid to Islamabad for not doing enough against terror groups like the Haqqani Network and the Taliban active on its soil. The Trump administration, in the recent months, has intensified its efforts to seek a negotiated settlement of America's longest war in Afghanistan where the US has lost over 2,400 soldiers since late 2001, when it invaded the country after the 9/11 terror attacks.

PTICourtesy April Burton(NEW YORK) -- Authorities in Costa Rica have located a body in their search for an American woman who went missing while on vacation.

A spokesperson for Costa Rica's Judicial Investigation Department confirmed to ABC News that remains were found.

The body was found in a wooded area Monday as investigators combed through the area where Carla Stefaniak spent what was supposed to be her final night in Costa Rica last week, Judicial Investigator Director Walter Espinoza said in a press conference. The remains belong to a woman, but they have not yet been positively identified, Espinoza said.

In addition, fluids found in the apartment where Stefaniak was staying have the consistency of blood, Epsinoza said.

Stefaniak traveled to Costa Rica to celebrate her 36th birthday. She left for Costa Rica on Thanksgiving Day but had not been heard from since Tuesday, her brother, Carlos Caicedo, told ABC News.

Stefaniak's sister-in-law, April Burton, flew to Costa Rica, but Burton flew back one day early. Stefaniak and Burton are like "best friends," Caicedo said, adding that his sister talks to his wife more than she talks to him. The pair had planned to stay in beach towns around the island, Caicdeo said, and they posted photos and video to social media, documenting their trip.

Here is a timeline of the last time Stefaniak's was heard from:

Tuesday, Nov. 27:

Burton returned to the U.S. on Tuesday, but Stefaniak planned to stay an extra day to celebrate her birthday, Caicedo said.

11:30 a.m.: Stefaniak dropped Burton off at the Juan Santamaria International Airport in San Jose and then returned their rental car to the Thrifty Car Rental, Caicedo said.

12:23 p.m.: She took an Uber to a hostel located near the airport, Caicedo said. Her Uber driver offered to take her on a tour of the city, and she agreed, according to a timeline the family provided to ABC Tampa affiliate WFTS-TV.

1:04 p.m.: Stefaniak arrived to the Villa Buena Vista in San Jose and took about 30 to 50 minutes to change at the hostel while the driver waited, according to the timeline. She paid the driver cash to take her around, and she sent photos to family of her out and about town, where she bought a purse and earrings, the timeline stated.

Around 4 or 5 p.m.: The driver dropped her off back at the villa, according to the timeline provided by the family to WFTS.

6:30 p.m.: Stefaniak sent Burton photo of where she was staying, telling her she planned to go to a jazz cafe, the timeline stated.

6:55 p.m.: She sent a message to a WhatsApp group chat with friends, stating that it was raining heavily and that the power had gone out, describing the situation as "Super Sketchy," according to the timeline.

7:30 p.m.: Stefaniak Facetimed with a friend until about 9 p.m., telling him that she was considering going to a jazz club but that she was too tired, the timeline stated.

8:20 p.m. Still talking on the phone, Stefaniak texted a group chat on WhatsApp, "I want to go out but I'm dead tired," according to the famiy's timeline given to WFTS.

9 p.m.: Her phone then died, ending the FaceTime call, according to the timeline. That was the last time anyone had contact with her, the family told WFTS.

Wednesday, Nov. 28

12:17 a.m.: T-Mobile records show that Stefaniak's phone connected to the internet for a short time around 12:17 a.m., the family's timeline stated.

5:10 a.m.: The owner of the hostel told the family that she checked out with her belongings just after 5 a.m., but her flight wasn't scheduled to take off until later that afternoon, her family told WFTS, adding that it was unlikely she would check out early for no reason. There were no security cameras on the property or street to verify the hostel owner's claim, the family said.

8:30 a.m.: The Uber driver who drove Stefaniak the day before told the family that she had asked him to pick her up the next morning at 8:30 a.m. to take her to a shopping center, but she never showed up, according to the family's timeline.

1:30 p.m.: Stefaniak's flight back to the U.S. was scheduled to leave at 1:30 p.m., according to the family's timeline. She checked into her flight on her phone but never made it. It is unclear what time she checked into her flight, the family told WFTS.

It's unlike Stefaniak to not respond, family said

Stefaniak's family had an inkling that something may be wrong after noticing that Stefaniak did not respond to any birthday messages on social media, Caicedo said.

Stefaniak, who is "always on the phone," didn't even read the well wishes Caicedo texted her on Wednesday, but he figured perhaps she was on her flight back to Florida, he said.

The next day, their other brother sounded "really worried," saying that Stefaniak never boarded her flight and that no one had spoken to her since the day before, Caicedo said.

In fact, Stefaniak hadn't checked her WhatsApp messenger since 8:50 p.m. Tuesday, Caicedo said.

"It was weird that she didn't message anybody," Caicedo said. "It was her birthday."

On Sunday, Burton wrote on Facebook that Stefaniak hadn't used social media or Uber since she went missing, describing her use of the apps as "part of her daily routine."

Family desperately searching for answers

On Thursday, the family created a Facebook group and GoFundMe page in efforts to find her, Caicedo said. He and a friend then bought flights to Costa Rica, where their first stop on Friday was to the U.S. Embassy and then to the police station and the hostel where Stefaniak spent her last night. His next plan is to contact local hospitals, he said.

Stefaniak's father told ABC News he planned to fly to Costa Rica as well to search for answers.

During a press conference Friday, Costa Rica Judicial Investigation Department spokeswoman Marisel Rodriguez said Stefaniak traveled to Costa Rica on Nov. 22, spent a few days in the San Carlos area before returning to San Jose on Tuesday. Rodriguez reiterated the time Stefaniak left the hotel and what time her flight was supposed to leave, adding that investigators did not know anything more at the time.

The family has been in touch with the FBI, the U.S. Embassy in San Jose and Costa Rica's Judicial Investigation Department, Burton told ABC News. They've also been in touch with the owner of the hostel and the security guards, Burotn added.

Caicedo asked that the U.S. Department of State and FBI "take this very seriously right now," adding that the agencies have not been proactive in helping to find Stefaniak.

The State Department said in a statement to ABC News that the protection of U.S. citizens overseas is its greatest responsibility.

"The U.S. Department of State and our embassies and consulates abroad have no greater responsibility than the protection of U.S. citizens overseas," the statement read. "When a U.S. citizen is missing, we work closely with local authorities as they carry out their search efforts. Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment."

Caicedo described his sister as "the friendliest and most lovely person I feel you would meet."

"Just let her know we're working super hard and just want to know, we want to get her back home," he said.

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia:

Hong Kong-headquartered blockchain solutions and crypto-asset investment company Diginex has acquired a 75% stake of Bletchley Park Asset Management (BPAM).

Bletchley Park is a Jersey-regulated digital asset hedge fund, with a focus on growth-oriented fundamental digital asset investing and pure alpha market-neutral strategies.

According to a company release the acquisition will combine Diginex' global footprint approach with BPAM's experience of investing in this emerging asset class.

BPAM will retain full autonomy as a stand-alone hedge fund and will be added to Diginex's financial services product suite, which is being developed to include: asset management, insured custody, corporate finance, and a full multijurisdictional regulated exchange launching in 2019.

The release quoted Richard Byworth, CEO at Diginex as saying that: "The BPAM acquisition is a logical progression in the build-out of our financial services offering. During our research for the pending launch of our multi-manager platform, BPAM stood apart from many funds that we interviewed as being truly institutional in their approach to asset management."

He said: "Our ongoing strategy in this space continues to be sustainable and focused on the long-term, through investment in the infrastructure that allows for the adoption of both blockchain technologies and the digital asset class."

BPAM's strategy, which has returned 4.6%, inclusive of all fees, since incep......................

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Drug screening tests are performed by companies and organizations on employees and athletes to check for drug abuse. Drug screening a technical process performed for analyzing specimens such as hair, urine, oral fluids, breath, and .other samples. Drug screening aids in detection of drug or a chemical compound in the body. This process is applied in hospitals, drug testing centers, pain management centers as well as law enforcement agencies.The consumption of alcohol and drugs has been increased during the previous years, which has been a matter of concern for various employers. Various government bodies have been providing funds for drug screening tests. These factors have fuelled the market of drug screening in the past years and the trend is expected to continue in the coming years as well. Development and adoption of new methods as well as devices for drug screening is expected to provide significant growth opportunities for the market in the future years.Get Sample Copy atThe report also includes the profiles of key drug screening manufacturing companies along with their SWOT analysis and market strategies. In addition, the report focuses on leading industry players with information such as company profiles, products and services offered, financial information of last three years, key development in past three years.List of Companies in Drug Screening market1. Abbott2. Omega Laboratories Ltd.3. Roche Monitoring Services, LLC4. Siemens Healthcare GmbH5. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.6. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated7. Premier Biotech, Inc.8. OraSure Technologies, Inc.9. Psychemedics Corporation10. Laboratory Corporation of America HoldingsThe "Drug Screening Market Analysis to 2025" is a specialized and in-depth study of the drug screening industry with a focus on the global marketa trend. The report aims to provide an overview of drug screening market with detailed market segmentation by product type, sample, end user, and geography. The drug screening market is expected to witness high growth during the forecast period. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the leading market players and offers key trends and opportunities in the market.Based on the product type, the market is categorized as analytical instruments, rapid testing devices, and consumables. The market is segmented on the basis of sample as, breath, hair, oral fluid, urine, and other samples. Based on end user, the market is classified as drug testing laboratories, drug treatment centers, criminal justice systems & law enforcement agencies, pain management centers, hospitals, individuals, and other end users.Browse Complete Report atThe report provides a detailed overview on the industry including both qualitative and quantitative information. It provides overview and forecast of the drug screening market based on product type, sample, and end user. It also provides market size and forecast till 2025 for overall drug screening market with respect to five major regions, namely; North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and South & Central America. The market by each region is later sub-segmented by respective countries and segments. The report covers analysis and forecast of 13 counties globally along with current trend and opportunities prevailing in the region.The market for drug screening is anticipated to witness growth in North America during the forecast period, due to the rise in alcohol consumption and drug abuse in the region. Also, stringent laws and rules towards drug abuse are expected to propel the market in North America. Development of better drug and alcohol screening devices is considered to drive the market growth at a steady rate in regions such as Europe and Asia Pacific during the forecast period.The report analyzes factors affecting market from both demand and supply side and further evaluates market dynamics effecting the market during the forecast period i.e., drivers, restraints, opportunities, and future trend. The report also provides exhaustive PEST analysis for all five regions namely; North America, Europe, APAC, MEA and South & Central America after evaluating political, economic, social and technological factors effecting the market in these regions.1 Introduction1.1 Scope of Study1.2 The Insight Partners Research Report Guidance2 Key Takeaways3 Drug Screening Market Landscape3.1 Market Overview3.2 Market Segmentation3.2.1 Drug Screening Market - By Product3.2.2 Drug Screening Market - By Sample3.2.3 Drug Screening Market - By End User3.2.4 Drug Screening Market - By Region3.2.4.1 By Countries3.3 PEST Analysis3.3.1 North America - PEST Analysis3.3.2 Europe - PEST Analysis3.3.3 Asia Pacific - PEST Analysis3.3.4 Middle East and Africa - PEST Analysis3.3.5 South and Central America - PEST AnalysisBuy this Report atAbout Us - The Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We are a specialist in Healthcare IT, Biotechnology and Medical Device industries.Contact us -Contact Person : Sameer JoshiPhone : +1-646-491-9876Email Id : sam@theinsightpartners.comGeothermal Power in Indonesia, Market Outlook to 2030 by Top Companies - PT PLN (Persero), PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy, PT Geo Dipa Energi, Chevron Geothermal Indonesia, Ltd.

Geothermal Power in Indonesia, Market Outlook to 2030

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"Geothermal Power in Indonesia, Market Outlook to 2030, Update 2016 - Capacity, Generation, Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), Investment Trends, Regulations and Company Profiles" is the latest report from Publisher, the industry analysis specialists that offer comprehensive information and understanding of the wind power market in Indonesia.The report provides in depth analysis on global renewable power market and global geothermal power market with forecasts up to 2030. The report analyzes the power market scenario in Indonesia (includes conventional thermal, nuclear, large hydro and renewable energy sources) and provides future outlook with forecasts up to 2030. The research details renewable power market outlook in the country (includes wind, small hydro, biopower and solar PV) and provides forecasts up to 2030. The report highlights installed capacity and power generation trends from 2006 to 2030 in Indonesia geothermal power market. A detailed coverage of renewable energy policy framework governing the market with specific policies pertaining to geothermal power is provided in the report. The research also provides company snapshots of some of the major market participants.Top Companies Covered in this Report:PT PLN (Persero)PT Pertamina Geothermal EnergyPT Geo Dipa EnergiChevron Geothermal Indonesia, Ltd.Download sample copy of Geothermal Power in Indonesia Industry at:Report Scope:The report analyses global renewable power market, global geothermal power market, Indonesia power market, Indonesia renewable power market and Indonesia geothermal market. The scope of the research includes -- A brief introduction on global carbon emissions and global primary energy consumption.- An overview on global renewable power market, highlighting installed capacity trends, generation trends and installed capacity split by various renewable power sources. The information is covered for the historical period 2006-2015 (unless specified) and forecast period 2015-2030.- Renewable power sources include geothermal, solar photovoltaic (PV), concentrated solar power (CSP), small hydropower (SHP), biomass, biogas and wind.- Detailed overview of the global geothermal power market with installed capacity and generation trends, installed capacity split by major geothermal power countries in 2015.- Power market scenario in Indonesia and provides detailed market overview, installed capacity and power generation trends by various fuel types (includes thermal conventional, nuclear, large hydro and renewable energy sources) with forecasts up to 2030.- An overview on Indonesia renewable power market, highlighting installed capacity trends (2006-2030), generation trends(2006-2030) and installed capacity split by various renewable power sources in 2015.- Detailed overview of Indonesia geothermal power market with installed capacity and generation trends and major active and upcoming geothermal projects.- Deal analysis of Indonesia geothermal power market. Deals are analyzed on the basis of mergers, acquisitions, partnership, asset finance, debt offering, equity offering, private equity (PE) and venture capitalists (VC).- Key policies and regulatory framework supporting the development of renewable power sources in general and geothermal power in particular.- Company snapshots of some of the major market participants in the country.Have any query? Enquire about report at:Key Attributes of Report:- The report will enhance your decision making capability in a more rapid and time sensitive manner.- Identify key growth and investment opportunities in Indonesia geothermal power market.- Facilitate decision-making based on strong historic and forecast data for geothermal power market.- Position yourself to gain the maximum advantage of the industry's growth potential.- Develop strategies based on the latest regulatory events.- Identify key partners and business development avenues.- Understand and respond to your competitors' business structure, strategy and prospects.Fundamentals of Table of Content:Table of Contents1.1 List of Tables1.2 List of Figures2 Executive Summary2.1 Government Support in Conjunction with Technology Development Driving Global Renewable Power Installations2.2 Fossil Fuels Lead the League in Indonesian Power Mix2.3 Geothermal Leads the Indonesian Renewable Power Market3 Introduction3.1 Carbon Emissions, Global, 2001-20153.2 Primary Energy Consumption, Global, 2001-20253.3 Technology Definition3.3.1 Conversion Technologies3.4 Report Guidance4 Renewable Power Market, Global, 2006-20304.1 Renewable Power Market, Global, Overview4.2 Renewable Power Market, Global, Installed Capacity, 2006-20304.2.1 Renewable Power Market, Global, Cumulative Installed Capacity by Source Type, 2006-20304.2.2 Renewable Power Market, Global, Cumulative Installed Capacity Split by Source Type, 2015 and. 20304.2.3 Renewable Power Market, Global, Comparison among Various Sources, Cumulative Installed Capacity, 2015 - 20304.3 Renewable Power Market, Global, Power Generation, 2006-20304.3.1 Renewable Power Market, Global, Power Generation by Source Type, 2006-20304.3.2 Renewable Power Market, Global, Power Generation, Source Comparison Based on Power Generation, 2015-20304.4 Renewable Power Market, Global, LCOE Comparison of Power Generating Sources, 2014-20155 Geothermal Market, Global, 2006-20305.1 Geothermal Power Market, Global, Overview5.2 Geothermal Market, Global, Installed Capacity, 2006-20305.2.1 Geothermal Power Market, Global, Installed Capacity Share by Region, 2015 and 20305.2.2 Geothermal Power Market, Global, Installed Capacity Share by Country, 2015 and 20305.3 Geothermal Market, Global, Power Generation, 2006-20305.3.1 Geothermal Market, Global, Generation Share by Region, 2015 and 20305.3.2 Geothermal Market, Global, Generation Share by Country, 2015 and 2030Get Complete Report at:About ReportsWeb:ReportsWeb.com is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers. We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queries.Contact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@reportsweb.comTelecom Power System Market 2018 Global Leaders Overview: Delta Electronics, Schneider Electric, Eaton, GE Industrial Solutions, Emerson Network Power, Microtek International

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Market Research Future published a research report on Global Telecom Power System Market Research Report- Forecast to 2022  Market Analysis, Scope, Stake, Progress, Trends and Forecast to 2022.Market Scenario:Telecom power systems protected telecommunication services in case of network power disruptions and variations, the telecom power system power systems are designed for wireless broadband access and secure line applications as well as for Internet support and data centers. The important parts of a system are rectifiers, power system controller and batteries. In direct current power systems, a rectifier translates alternating current to direct current and provides the power necessary to charge batteries. The basic outlines of the telecom power system are the need for high class power supplies is highlighted. Some techniques to achieve high performance AC-to-DC conversion and DC-to-DC conversion are evaluated and compared. The broadband capacity demand is increasing very rapidly in cycle with the increasing number of Internet handlers, mobile device users and mobile applications. The increased deployment for the small cell power system for LTE is the major driver for the telecom power market, another factor which is driving the market for the telecom power system is the penetration of telecom towers in rural and off grid areas. The major challenge faced by the Telecom Power System Market is the high associated cost to manage business operations.Get Sample of Report @The Telecom Power System Market size is projected to raise USD ~5 Billion in 2022 at a CAGR of ~10% throughout the calculation period.Segments:The Global Telecom Power Network market has been segmented on the basis of, Components, Type, Grid and geography. On the basis of Components the Telecom Power System market is segmented as Converter, Inverter, Rectifier, Head Management system. Telecom Power System Segmented on the basis Type High Pressure, Atmospheric Pressure and low pressure. Telecom Power Network segmented on the basis of Grid such as On Grid, Off Grid. On the basis of power Source Solar, Wind, and Battery. On the basis of geography it has been segmented in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World.Key PlayersThe prominent players in the market of Telecom Power System market are Eaton (Ireland), Huawei Technologies Co. (China), Schneider Electric (France), Delta Electronics (Taiwan), GE Industrial Solutions (U.S.), Emerson Network Power(U.S.), Microtek International Inc.(U.S.), Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (Japan), AEG Power Solution B.V.(Netherlands) and among the others.Regional AnalysisAPAC is projected to hold the largest market share and lead the Telecom Power System market in the forecast period owing to the dispersion of telecom towers in rural areas to enlarge the mobile network to the rising mobile subscriber base and also to advance connectivity. The APAC region has seen 3G network growth, and LTE networks have been tossed in the APAC states. North American market will also raise quicker due to large scale positioning of small cell nodes for LTE and the up gradation of heritage power systems to high productivity power systemsGet Complete Report @Intended Audience Telecom Tower Companies Mobile Network Operators Telecom Infrastructure Provider Research Consulting Companies Power System Providers Power System Distributors Original Equipment Manufacturers Component Manufacturer of Power System GovernmentAbout Us: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.Media Contact:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.comPremium Messaging Market 2018-2022 Analysis By Verizon, Mblox, Twilio, Inc., ATandT, Beepsend, CLX Communications, Dialogue Communications Ltd., Infobip Ltd., Mahindra Comviva, Tata Communications Ltd.

Premium Messaging

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The Global report on Premium Messaging aims to provide an in-depth analysis of the Premium Messaging Global market. The report includes a thorough study of the markets development status, size (both volume and value) and price data. The Premium Messaging Global report also includes a meticulous study of manufacturers and the Global regions catalyzing the growth of this market.The Premium Messaging market size has maintained a steady growth rate of x.x% from $xxx million in 2014 to $xxx million in 2017. Research analysts believe that in the next few years, Premium Messaging market size will expand to $xxx million by 2022.Get sample copy of report at:This report includes detailed information of the key players in the Premium Messaging market. One of the most important aspects of any market study is its key players. It gives customers a chance to study the completion and plan a way forward.The report on Global Premium Messaging also includes information on another important aspect of any study i.e. the regions. The regions in this report are studied and analyzed on the basis of their market share, revenue growth rate and consumption in terms of value, volume and market share. Key regions studied in this report are North America, South America, Asia, Global and more.This report also talks about market segmentations on the basis of types of markets, distribution, application and sales. The report on Global Premium Messaging is a compendium of minutest details required to study a market and its future growth.Access complete report at:Following regions are covered in Global Premium Messaging MarketIndustry report: North America Country (United States, Canada) South America Asia Country (China, Japan, India, Korea) Europe Country (Germany, UK, France, Italy) Other Country (Middle East, Africa, GCC)The report on Global Premium Messaging Market is a comprehensive documentation that covers all the aspects of a market study and provides a concise conclusion to its readers.The following Product Type Segmentation Are included in the report: Cloud API Messaging Platform Traditional and Managed Messaging ServicesThe following Industry Type Segmentation Are included in the report: Banking and Financial Institutions Transport and Travelling Healthcare Media and Entertainment RetailMajor companies discussed in the report include: Verizon Mblox Twilio, Inc. ATandT Beepsend CLX Communications Dialogue Communications Ltd. Infobip Ltd. Mahindra Comviva Tata Communications Ltd.Enquire for more details at:Table of ContentsSection 1 Premium Messaging DefinitionSection 2 Global Premium Messaging Market Manufacturer Share and Market OverviewSection 3 Manufacturer Premium Messaging Business IntroductionSection 4 Global Premium Messaging Market Segmentation (Region Level)Section 5 Global Premium Messaging Market Segmentation (Product Type Level)Section 6 Global Premium Messaging Market Segmentation (Industry Level)Section 7 Global Premium Messaging Market Segmentation (Channel Level)Section 8 Premium Messaging Market Forecast 2018-2022Section 9 Premium Messaging Segmentation Product TypeAbout Us:Orbis Research (orbisresearch.com) is a single point aid for all your market research requirements. We have vast database of reports from the leading publishers and authors across the globe. We specialize in delivering customized reports as per the requirements of our clients. We have complete information about our publishers and hence are sure about the accuracy of the industries and verticals of their specialization. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required market research study for our clientsContact Us:Hector CostelloSenior Manager  Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas - 75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +912064101019Wireless Connectivity Market 2018 Global Leaders Overview: Bernafon Canada, Nexcom International, Qualcomm Incorporated, Cypress Semiconductor, Microchip Technology, MediaTek, Texas Instruments

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Market Research Future published a research report on Global Wireless Connectivity Market Research Report- Forecast 2022  Market Analysis, Scope, Stake, Progress, Trends and Forecast to 2022.Global Wireless Connectivity Market  OverviewConnectivity to devices as well as to networks has increasingly become wireless. Market Research Future which concentrates on market reports related to the semiconductors and electronics sector among others recently published a report on this industry. The market on a global level is anticipated to expand to USD 30.4 Billion by the year 2022 while expanding at a projected CAGR of 10.9% in the forecast period.Increasing number of hand held devices and wireless devices have intensified the rate of development of this sector. The upgradation of networks have been instrumental in the development of the market to a certain extent. Advent of IoT has also acted as an important motivator for the expansion of the market. Upswing in the usage of smartphone devices relying on wireless connectivity have additionallys improved the growth of the market.Get Sample of Report @Segments:The Global Wireless connectivity market has been segmented on the basis of technology, deployment and applications. Technology comprises of Bluetooth, WI-Fi, GPS, ultra wide band, cellular and others. Deployment includes control devices, gateways, cloud and others. Applications include healthcare, public safety, wearable devices, energy, automotive, consumer electronics and others.Key Players:The prominent players in the market of Wireless Connectivity Market are  Texas Instruments Inc. (U.S.), STMicroelectronics N.V. (Switzerland), Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (U.S.), Microchip Technology Inc. (U.S.), Qualcomm Incorporated. (U.S.), Weidmuller Interface GmbH & Co. (U.S.), Nexcom International Co., Ltd. (Taiwan), Bernafon Canada Ltd. (Canada), Intel Corporation. (U.S.) and MediaTek Inc. (Taiwan) among others.Global Competitive AnalysisThe contenders in the industry are aiming to grow their market portion to a by the usage of major assets to enable growth transformations which will be good for the long run transformation of the sector. The outlook for growth in the market has a high level of potential. This approach is encouraging for the volume driven growth of the sector. The industry is maintaining the growth potential of the market through continuous ongoing course advances and supporting financial flexibility to spend in the finest strategies when they arise. Varied products will increase the demand levels of the industry which will lead to speedy growth in the market.Regional Analysis:Regionally, North America is expected to propel the market due to the intense research and development in the field of wireless connectivity, high penetration of Internet of Things, and growth of a number of IoT and cloud start-ups in the region which is followed by the Europe and Asia pacific. Asia-Pacific region is expected to grow due to the increase in investments in the internet of things in the various industry verticals such as manufacturing, healthcare and transportation among others. Increase in the number of mobile user and of numerous wearable devices will expected to contribute for the growth of the wireless connectivity market.North America region is expected to hold a highest market share with the existence of early technology adopters in the region. The region also has existence of technologically advanced countries such as U.S. and Canada which are promoting the wireless connectivity market and the internet connections.Industry Updates:Feb 2018 Ruckus Networks has declared recently that it has finalized an international original equipment manufacturing (OEM) agreement with Dell EMC. The agreement enables Dell EMCs networking sales team and end-user clientele access to Ruckus brand presence and assortment of secure wireless connectivity solutions which is not accessible through other suppliers. Dell EMC will bring Ruckus range of wireless solutions as Dell-branded solutions comprising controllers, secure network access software, access points, virtualised and data analytics assets along with Ruckus IoT and CBRS LTE products.Feb 2018 Airgain Inc which is a wireless connectivity platforms company, has recently agreed on a multi-year partnership with McLaren Technology Group to boost technological progression in the automotive sector. The association will permit the organizations to discover the co-creation of wireless connectivity solutions. Airgain will also help McLaren Racing incorporate technology on-car, off-car and at the McLaren Technology Centre. Airgain has an assortment of connectivity solutions and knowledge in antenna uses for public safety, government and enterprise uses.Get Complete Report @Intended Audience: Original equipment manufacturers Wireless device manufacturers Software providers Component providers Manufacturers of electronic devices Investors Industrial end users Research institutesAbout Us: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.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by Components, Application, Logistics and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.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.Media Contact:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.comPenetration Testing Market World's Top Players Include IBM Corporation, Rapid7, Inc., Microfocus, Qualys, Inc., Synopsys Inc., Core Security SDI Corporation, Whitehat Security

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Penetration testing is also known as pen testing. It is a simulated process used to test a computer system, application or a network to check for security weaknesses, which could be easily capitalized on by hacker. They are designed in such way that they will be useful in security assessments and security testing. For penetration testing, a wide variety of security assessment tools are used, which can be hardware-software, websites and (PEA) proprietary enterprise applications. There are various methods under the ambit of penetration testing, which include external testing, internal testing, blind testing, and double blind testing.Download PDF Brochure of Research Report:Increasing incidence of cyber-attacks and need to secure vulnerable data are key drivers for penetration testing market growthMajor driving factor for growth of the penetration testing market is the ability of penetration testing to provide security to industries from various cyber-attacks, as increasing incidence of cyber-attacks can increase the vulnerability of critical data stored by organizations and adversely impact the revenue. For instance, according to a report published by Academy and Industry Research Collaboration Center (AIRCC) in 2016, the number of web attacks in the U.S. in 2015, increased by 36% with over 4,500 new attacks each day. Moreover, increasing adoption of advance technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), and rise in disposable income has contributed to growth of the penetration testing market.Regional analysis of penetration testing marketNorth America and Europe dominated the market with respect to penetration testing and are expected to maintain their dominance during forecast period, owing to increasing adoption of cloud services and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) technology.Asia Pacific is expected to register rapid growth during the forecast period in the penetration testing market due to increased adoption of cloud-based services, primarily in India and China.Heavily regulated industries such as banking and finance are increasingly adopting Software as a Service (SaaS) for non-core functionality, Platform as a service (PaaS) for app development and testing, and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) for workload trial runs and testing for their new service offerings. Drivers of IaaS growth in the Asia Pacific include the increasing demand for more rapid processing infrastructure, as well as increasing requirement of better data backup and disaster recovery systems.Global Penetration Testing Market: Competitive LandscapeThe key players operating in penetration sensing market include IBM Corporation, Rapid7, Inc., Microfocus, Qualys, Inc., Synopsys Inc., Core Security SDI Corporation, Whitehat Security, Trustwave Holdings, Inc., Checkmarx.com LTD, VERACODE, Inc., Secure Works Inc., Acunetix, Contrast Security, and Paladion Network Private Limited.Request for Customization of Research Report:Global Penetration Testing Market: TaxonomyOn the basis of Testing Service Network penetration testing Web application penetration testing Mobile application penetration testing Social engineering Wireless penetration testing OthersOn the basis of Deployment Mode Cloud On-premisesOn the basis of Industrial Vertical Government and defense Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) IT and telecom Healthcare Retail OthersOn the basis of Regions North America Europe Asia-Pacific Latin America Middle East AfricaAbout 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Composites Market 2018 Global Industry Analysis by Top Manufacturers - are BASF SE, Owens Corning, Toray Industries Inc., TEIJIN Limited, SGL Carbon Company, Solvay

Composites industry , Composites Market , Composites

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Composites market 2018 Industry Report provides detailed market segment level data on the international market. This market report addresses forecast and growth patterns by company, regions and type or application from 2018 to 2023. Besides this, report also consists of development trends, competitive landscape analysis, and development in key regions status.Composites Market:Composites market was valued at over USD 76 billion in 2016. The market is anticipated to be driven by factors such as escalating aerospace & defense budgets, increasing construction spending, and rising demand for renewable energy such as wind power. A significant increase in consumption of plastic material in the automotive industry is set to uplift the market growth, specifically in developing economies. Owing to these factors the global market is anticipated to exhibit exponential CAGR of 8.59% over the forecast period.Composites are extensively utilized in a number of applications including electrical & electronics, aerospace, automotive, marine, and oil & gas. Among these applications, aerospace & defense, and electrical & electronics are estimated to be the leading application segments of the global market. The market is expected to foresee rigorous innovations over the coming years to abide by residing standards and widen the current spectrum of application areas.Get Sample Report @Composites Market Top Key Players:Some of the key players operating in the global specialty amine market are BASF SE, Owens Corning, Toray Industries Inc., TEIJIN Limited, SGL Carbon Company, Solvay, Mitsubishi Chemical Holding, Koninklijke Ten Cate bv, Hexcel Corporation, DuPont, Honeywell International Inc., Nippon Electric Glass Co. Ltd., Dowaska, Chongqing Polycomp, and Huntsman International LLC among others.The continued light weighting of components in the transportation industry is a key factor set to propel the industry growth over the forecast period. The transformation of plastic inculcation in the automotive industry was sparked way back in 1950s and has galloped ever since. Thermoplastics were the first material to penetrate in the automotive industry, opening with ABS and followed by polyacetal, polycarbonate, and polyamide in combination with the introduction of alloys and blends of varied polymers.Composites Market Regional Analysis:For the purpose of this study, Market Research Future has segmented the global composites market in five different regions namely, North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. The North American market is further divided into the U.S. and Canada while the European market is segmented into Germany, Russia, the U.K., France, Italy, Spain, Poland and Rest of Europe.The Asia Pacific market is sub-divided into China, India, Japan, South Korea, and Rest of Asia Pacific. Asia Pacific emerged as the leading regional market driven by the strong performance of the end-use industries such as construction, automotive, and electrical & electronics. Moreover, the emergence of Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia as manufacturing hubs is anticipated to bolster the consumption of various composite matrix at a significant pace.Mexico emerged as the largest export market for the U.S. The comparative proximity of Mexico to the U.S. producers enables price competitiveness over other foreign players, with low logistics, communication costs, and lucrative service advantages such as shorter shipping times. Restricted Mexican competition and enhanced market access due to the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) have also provided an impetus to the U.S. industry's competitiveness in MexicoFull report on Composites Market report spread across 238 pages, profiling 15 companies and supported with tables and figures available @Global Composites Market Key Findings:Market Research Future concludes that over the past few years, the global composites market has witnessed substantial growth and is set to witness an exponential volume CAGR of over 8%. Besides, the increasing usage of composites in automotive and construction industry, novel application fields such as wind energy and oil & gas are driving the industry growth at a rapid pace. Global composites market is projected to reach USD 134.93 billion by 2023 at a CAGR of 8.59% during the review period 2017-2023.The layup process was the leading technology segment and accounted for over 30% of the overall revenue share in 2016. It is expected to witness steady growth of 8.11% owing to its usage in intricate application requirements. Increasing demand for renewable energy in developed as well as developing economies is slated to uplift the consumption of composites in wind energy applicationsAt Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@Market research future.comProtein Engineering Market Global Players: Agilent Technologies, AB-Sciex, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Bruker Corp., GE Healthcare, Perkin Elmer, etc

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As per Market research Future (MRFR)s latest analysis, the Global Protein Engineering Market is projected to expand at a healthy pace in the foreseeable future. The Protein Engineering Market Report offer detailed Analysis about the Top Trends and Current Scenario with competitive landscape and key regions development status.Protein Engineering Market - OverviewProteins, 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. Global market for protein engineering is expected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 6.2% during the forecast period 20172023.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.Request Sample copy atThe 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.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).Regional AnalysisGlobally, 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.Browse Complete 115 Pages Premium Research Report Enabled with 40+ Respective Tables and Figures atEurope 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.Protein Engineering Market Research Report - Forecast to 2024:1. 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 & AssessmentTOC CONTINUEDCheck 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Rush made errors in the submission of its data to Leapfrog, said Rush spokesman Charlie Jolie, in a statement. At Rush, we take pride in the quality of our care, Jolie said. We are confident we will be back on the top hospitals list in the near future.Liquid Toothpaste Market Share Size, Top Manufacturers | Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive Company,GlaxoSmithKline,Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, Boryung Pharmaceutical

Liquid Toothpaste , Liquid Toothpaste Market, Liquid Toothpaste industry

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Market research future published a half cooked research report on Global Liquid Toothpaste Market that contains market research information from 2017 to 2023. Global liquid toothpaste market is projected to grow at a CAGR of more than 4.3 % from 2017 to 2023.Liquid Toothpaste Market OverviewToothpaste is a paste or a gel used to clean and uphold the health of teeth with the help of toothbrush. It is used to promote oral hygiene and it helps in removing the food and dental plaque from the teeth, supports in subduing halitosis, and contains ingredients such as fluoride to help avoid tooth decay and gum disease. Liquid toothpaste is an alternative option available for those who prefer to use something other than the traditional paste formulas. Some liquid toothpastes are completely liquid, while others start out as a gel and end up turning into a liquid during brushing.The completely liquid varieties are offered in spray bottles and also mouthwash-type bottles where the contents are poured into a cup or measuring cap. Liquid Toothpaste comprises a formulation of well constituted ingredients that ensure anti-bacterial and gum tightening properties and provide complete dental care. It contains natural taste of ingredients like neem, mint, basil, spice extract, meswak & others and help users in maintaining a fresh mouth for the whole day.Get Access to the Sample Copy of this Report @Liquid Toothpaste Market Competitive analysis-Colgate-Palmolive Company (U.S.)Procter & Gamble (U.S.)GlaxoSmithKline plc. (U.K.)Johnson & Johnson Private Limited (U.S.)Henkel AG & Co. KGaA (Germany)Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (U.S.)Boryung Pharmaceutical (South Korea)Liquid Toothpaste Market ForecastThe global liquid toothpaste market is anticipated to be driven by the increasing awareness of ingredients such as neem, mint, basil, spice extract, meswak and others. Liquid toothpaste provides ideal protection against dental issues like pyorrhea, gum bleeding, cavity and sensitivity. Increased awareness about the harmful effects of synthetic toothpaste for dental care has raised the bar for quality in the oral hygiene domain and in turn, the market share for liquid toothpaste on a global level. Mass market penetration is leading to introduction of new products and their retail across various regions. The market players are responding to these new opportunities by expanding their service offerings and product lines, which has fueled up the share of organic food preservatives in the global market.High focus on Research & Development has led to innovations and in the product line which has fueled up the market share of liquid toothpaste in global market. High benefits obtained from liquid products is also supporting the sale of liquid toothpaste globally. Among the various type of liquid toothpaste, the liquid form is evaluated to hold a major share as wide range of products are available in this category attracting consumers towards the product line. Additionally, the advancement in product development coupled with the technological advancements is considered to be one of the significant reasons for the increasing growth of liquid toothpaste market during the review period of 2017-2023. Hence, along with changing consumer preferences, the growth of global organic food preservatives market is estimated to increase significantly during the forecast period of 2017-2023.Downstream market analysisGlobalization and urbanization are major driving force for this market, furthermore popularity of oral health and usage of liquid ingredients are also encouraging the growth of the market. Because of rising demand of liquid products, is expected to play a significant role in the growth of liquid toothpaste market during the forecast period. Additionally, the advancement in product development coupled with the technological advancements is considered to be one of the significant reasons for the increasing growth of liquid toothpaste market during the review period of 2017-2023.Key Findings:Changing consumption pattern & urbanization has spurred the growth of liquid toothpaste marketHighest market growth is in North America followed by EuropeIntended Audience:Liquid toothpaste manufacturersRetailers, wholesalersE-commerce companiesTraders, importers and exportersComplete report on Liquid Toothpaste Market report spread across 110 pages, profiling 12 companies and supported with tables and figures available @Regional AnalysisGlobal liquid toothpaste market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World (RoW). Among these, Europe has the major market share followed by North America and Asia Pacific. Increased production of liquid toothpaste is projected to generate a high revenue from Europe region during the given forecast period. Increase in toothpaste sales in Europe can be ascribed to the domestic industrys success in segmenting the market to meet individual consumer requirements.Also, new flavors and various innovative products are introduced by key players which is playing a major role to upsurge the sales of liquid toothpaste in the recent time. However, Asia Pacific region is estimated to witness a maximum growth in the global liquid toothpaste market during the forecast period of 2017-2023.Market research future published a half cooked research report on Global Liquid Toothpaste Market that contains market research information from 2017 to 2023. Global liquid toothpaste market is projected to grow at a CAGR of more than 4.3 % from 2017 to 2023.Liquid Toothpaste Market OverviewToothpaste is a paste or a gel used to clean and uphold the health of teeth with the help of toothbrush. It is used to promote oral hygiene and it helps in removing the food and dental plaque from the teeth, supports in subduing halitosis, and contains ingredients such as fluoride to help avoid tooth decay and gum disease. Liquid toothpaste is an alternative option available for those who prefer to use something other than the traditional paste formulas. Some liquid toothpastes are completely liquid, while others start out as a gel and end up turning into a liquid during brushing.The completely liquid varieties are offered in spray bottles and also mouthwash-type bottles where the contents are poured into a cup or measuring cap. Liquid Toothpaste comprises a formulation of well constituted ingredients that ensure anti-bacterial and gum tightening properties and provide complete dental care. It contains natural taste of ingredients like neem, mint, basil, spice extract, meswak & others and help users in maintaining a fresh mouth for the whole day.Get Access to the Sample Copy of this Report @Liquid Toothpaste Market Competitive analysis-Colgate-Palmolive Company (U.S.)Procter & Gamble (U.S.)GlaxoSmithKline plc. (U.K.)Johnson & Johnson Private Limited (U.S.)Henkel AG & Co. KGaA (Germany)Church & Dwight Co., Inc. (U.S.)Boryung Pharmaceutical (South Korea)Liquid Toothpaste Market ForecastThe global liquid toothpaste market is anticipated to be driven by the increasing awareness of ingredients such as neem, mint, basil, spice extract, meswak and others. Liquid toothpaste provides ideal protection against dental issues like pyorrhea, gum bleeding, cavity and sensitivity. Increased awareness about the harmful effects of synthetic toothpaste for dental care has raised the bar for quality in the oral hygiene domain and in turn, the market share for liquid toothpaste on a global level. Mass market penetration is leading to introduction of new products and their retail across various regions. The market players are responding to these new opportunities by expanding their service offerings and product lines, which has fueled up the share of organic food preservatives in the global market.High focus on Research & Development has led to innovations and in the product line which has fueled up the market share of liquid toothpaste in global market. High benefits obtained from liquid products is also supporting the sale of liquid toothpaste globally. Among the various type of liquid toothpaste, the liquid form is evaluated to hold a major share as wide range of products are available in this category attracting consumers towards the product line. Additionally, the advancement in product development coupled with the technological advancements is considered to be one of the significant reasons for the increasing growth of liquid toothpaste market during the review period of 2017-2023. Hence, along with changing consumer preferences, the growth of global organic food preservatives market is estimated to increase significantly during the forecast period of 2017-2023.Downstream market analysisGlobalization and urbanization are major driving force for this market, furthermore popularity of oral health and usage of liquid ingredients are also encouraging the growth of the market. Because of rising demand of liquid products, is expected to play a significant role in the growth of liquid toothpaste market during the forecast period. Additionally, the advancement in product development coupled with the technological advancements is considered to be one of the significant reasons for the increasing growth of liquid toothpaste market during the review period of 2017-2023.Key Findings:Changing consumption pattern & urbanization has spurred the growth of liquid toothpaste marketHighest market growth is in North America followed by EuropeIntended Audience:Liquid toothpaste manufacturersRetailers, wholesalersE-commerce companiesTraders, importers and exportersComplete report on Liquid Toothpaste Market report spread across 110 pages, profiling 12 companies and supported with tables and figures available @Regional AnalysisGlobal liquid toothpaste market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World (RoW). Among these, Europe has the major market share followed by North America and Asia Pacific. Increased production of liquid toothpaste is projected to generate a high revenue from Europe region during the given forecast period. Increase in toothpaste sales in Europe can be ascribed to the domestic industrys success in segmenting the market to meet individual consumer requirements. Also, new flavors and various innovative products are introduced by key players which is playing a major role to upsurge the sales of liquid toothpaste in the recent time. However, Asia Pacific region is estimated to witness a maximum growth in the global liquid toothpaste market during the forecast period of 2017-2023.Contact:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@Market research future.comGlobal Face Primer Market: Industry Size, Growth, Analysis and Forecast of 2025

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Global Face Primer IndustryNew Study On 2018-2025 Face Primer Market Global Key Player, Demand, Growth, Opportunities and Analysis Forecast Added to Wise Guy Reports DatabaseThis report studies the global Face Primer market status and forecast, categorizes the global Face Primer market size (value & volume) by manufacturers, type, application, and region. This report focuses on the top manufacturers in North America, Europe, Japan, China, and other regions (India, Southeast Asia).The major manufacturers covered in this reportP&G(US)L'Oreal(France)Estee Lauder Inc.(US)Coty(France)Shiseido(Japan)Kao Corporation(Japan)Amore Pacific(Korea)Avon(US)Herbalife(US)Mary Kay Inc.(US)Try Sample Report @Geographically, this report studies the top producers and consumers, focuses on product capacity, production, value, consumption, market share and growth opportunity in these key regions, coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaWe can also provide the customized separate regional or country-level reports, for the following regions:North AmericaUnited StatesCanadaMexicoAsia-PacificChinaIndiaJapanSouth KoreaAustraliaIndonesiaSingaporeRest of Asia-PacificEuropeGermanyFranceUKItalySpainRussiaRest of EuropeCentral & South AmericaBrazilArgentinaRest of South AmericaMiddle East & AfricaSaudi ArabiaTurkeyRest of Middle East & AfricaOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoWater-BaseSilicone-BaseOn the basis of the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate for each application, includingSupermarketOnlineExclusive AgencyThe study objectives of this report are:To analyze and study the global Face Primer capacity, production, value, consumption, status (2013-2017) and forecast (2018-2025);Focuses on the key Face Primer manufacturers, to study the capacity, production, value, market share and development plans in future.Focuses on the global key manufacturers, to define, describe and analyze the market competition landscape, SWOT analysis.To define, describe and forecast the market by type, application and region.To analyze the global and key regions market potential and advantage, opportunity and challenge, restraints and risks.To identify significant trends and factors driving or inhibiting the market growth.To analyze the opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying the high growth segments.To strategically analyze each submarket with respect to individual growth trend and their contribution to the marketTo analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the marketTo strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies.For Detailed Reading Please visit WiseGuy Reports @Some Major Points from Table of content:Global Face Primer Market Research Report 20181 Face Primer Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Face Primer1.2 Face Primer Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Face Primer Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category)(2013-2025)1.2.2 Global Face Primer Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20171.2.3 Water-Base1.2.3 Silicone-Base1.3 Global Face Primer Segment by Application1.3.1 Face Primer Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2013-2025)1.3.2 Supermarket1.3.3 Online1.3.4 Exclusive Agency1.4 Global Face Primer Market by Region (2013-2025)1.4.1 Global Face Primer Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2013-2025)1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.7 India Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Face Primer (2013-2025)1.5.1 Global Face Primer Revenue Status and Outlook (2013-2025)1.5.2 Global Face Primer Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2013-2025)2 Global Face Primer Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Face Primer Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.1.1 Global Face Primer Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.1.2 Global Face Primer Production and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.2 Global Face Primer Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.3 Global Face Primer Average Price by Manufacturers (2013-2018)2.4 Manufacturers Face Primer Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Face Primer Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Face Primer Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Face Primer Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion3 Global Face Primer Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2013-2018)3.1 Global Face Primer Capacity and Market Share by Region (2013-2018)3.2 Global Face Primer Production and Market Share by Region (2013-2018)3.3 Global Face Primer Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2013-2018)3.4 Global Face Primer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)3.5 North America Face Primer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)3.6 Europe Face Primer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)3.7 China Face Primer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)3.8 Japan Face Primer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)3.9 Southeast Asia Face Primer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)3.10 India Face Primer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)4 Global Face Primer Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2013-2018)4.1 Global Face Primer Consumption by Region (2013-2018)4.2 North America Face Primer Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2013-2018)4.3 Europe Face Primer Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2013-2018)4.4 China Face Primer Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2013-2018)4.5 Japan Face Primer Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2013-2018)4.6 Southeast Asia Face Primer Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2013-2018)4.7 India Face Primer Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2013-2018)5 Global Face Primer Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type5.1 Global Face Primer Production and Market Share by Type (2013-2018)5.2 Global Face Primer Revenue and Market Share by Type (2013-2018)5.3 Global Face Primer Price by Type (2013-2018)5.4 Global Face Primer Production Growth by Type (2013-2018)6 Global Face Primer Market Analysis by Application6.1 Global Face Primer Consumption and Market Share by Application (2013-2018)6.2 Global Face Primer Consumption Growth Rate by Application (2013-2018)6.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities6.3.1 Potential Applications6.3.2 Emerging Markets/Countries7 Global Face Primer Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis7.1 P&G(US)7.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.1.2 Face Primer Product Category, Application and Specification7.1.2.1 Product A7.1.2.2 Product B7.1.3 P&G(US) Face Primer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.2 L'Oreal(France)7.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.2.2 Face Primer Product Category, Application and Specification7.2.2.1 Product A7.2.2.2 Product B7.2.3 L'Oreal(France) Face Primer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.3 Estee Lauder Inc.(US)7.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.3.2 Face Primer Product Category, Application and Specification7.3.2.1 Product A7.3.2.2 Product B7.3.3 Estee Lauder Inc.(US) Face Primer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.4 Coty(France)7.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.4.2 Face Primer Product Category, Application and Specification7.4.2.1 Product A7.4.2.2 Product B7.4.3 Coty(France) Face Primer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.5 Shiseido(Japan)7.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.5.2 Face Primer Product Category, Application and Specification7.5.2.1 Product A7.5.2.2 Product B7.5.3 Shiseido(Japan) Face Primer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015-2018)7.5.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.6 Kao Corporation(Japan)7.6.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.6.2 Face Primer Product Category, Application and Specification7.6.2.1 Product A7.6.2.2 Product B7.6.3 Kao Corporation(Japan) Face Primer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.6.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.7 Amore Pacific(Korea)7.7.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.7.2 Face Primer Product Category, Application and Specification7.7.2.1 Product A7.7.2.2 Product B7.7.3 Amore Pacific(Korea) Face Primer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.7.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.8 Avon(US)7.8.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.8.2 Face Primer Product Category, Application and Specification7.8.2.1 Product A7.8.2.2 Product B7.8.3 Avon(US) Face Primer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.8.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.9 Herbalife(US)7.9.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.9.2 Face Primer Product Category, Application and Specification7.9.2.1 Product A7.9.2.2 Product B7.9.3 Herbalife(US) Face Primer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.9.4 Main Business/Business Overview7.8 Mary Kay Inc.(US)7.10.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base, Sales Area and Its Competitors7.10.2 Face Primer Product Category, Application and Specification7.10.2.1 Product A7.10.2.2 Product B7.10.3 Mary Kay Inc.(US) Face Primer Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018)7.10.4 Main Business/Business OverviewContinued.For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comAbout UsWise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports understand how essential statistical surveying information is for your organization or association. Therefore, we have associated with the top publishers and research firms all specialized in specific domains, ensuring you will receive the most reliable and up to date research data available.Contact Us:Norah Trent+91 841 198 5042Office No. 528, Amanora ChambersPune - 411028Maharashtra, IndiaCloud Migration Services Market 2018-2023 Global Key Leaders: Tech Mahindra, Dell, IBM Corporation, HCL Technologies, Accenture PLC, Wipro Ltd., NTT DATA Inc.

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Global Cloud Migration Services Market Research Report  By Services (Managed Services), Deployment (Public, Private), Organization Size (SMEs, Large Enterprises), Applications (Infrastructure Management), Industries (Government) - Forecast Till 2023Market ScenarioThe cloud migration services is basically a movement of infrastructure, data, business processes, and applications to the cloud. The increasing demand for cloud services among IT and telecommunication industries are boosting the market growth for cloud migration services to a large extent. The factors driving the growth of cloud migration services include the increasing penetration of artificial intelligence and machine learning.Companies such as International Business Machines Corporation (U.S.), Microsoft Corporation (U.S.), Tech Mahindra (India), Dell (U.S.), HCL Technologies (India), are the leading providers of cloud migration services solution in the global market. IT-as-a-service solution is gaining popularity which is boosting the market growth to a large extent. In IT-as-a-service solution, the private and hybrid cloud is widely used among organizations.Sample Report Available @SegmentsThe global cloud migration services market is segmented into services, deployment, organization size, applications, industries, and region. The services segment is further sub-segmented as managed services and professional service. Also, the professional services are sub-segmented into automation & integration, support & maintenance, disaster recovery, training & consulting, and others. The deployment is sub-segmented into public, private, hybrid. According to the organization size, the market is sub-segmented into SMEs and large enterprises. The applications segment is sub-segmented into infrastructure management, security and compliance management, workforce management, project management and others. The industries segment is sub-segmented into government, IT & telecommunication, manufacturing, and others. The market is spanned across regions including North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World.The global Cloud Migration Services Market is estimated to reach USD ~ 8 billion by the end of the forecast period of 2023, at a CAGR of ~22%.Key PlayersSome of the prominent players in the global Cloud Migration Services Market Microsoft Corporation (U.S.) Tech Mahindra (India) Dell (U.S.) IBM Corporation (U.S.) HCL Technologies (India) Accenture PLC (Republic of Ireland) Wipro Ltd. (India) NTT DATA, Inc. (Japan) Vmware Inc. (U.S.) Amazon Web Services Inc. (U.S.)Regional AnalysisThe regional analysis of cloud migration services market is studied for regions such as Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, and Rest of the World. North America is dominating region as it has a huge demand for cloud services due to the increasing adoption of artificial intelligence, which is boosting the market growth to a large extent. In Europe, the market growth for cloud migration services is growing with a huge growth due to technological upgrades in cloud computing which is propelling the market growth. Whereas, Asia Pacific is the emerging markets for cloud migration services, in countries, including China, Japan, and India, and it is expected to gain momentum with the increasing penetration of IT services and grow with the highest CAGR in the coming years.Access Report Description @Industry News:On Mar 23, 2018, Microsoft Corporation has launched cloud computing education initiative with Azure cloud services to educate Australian public service workers. With this initiative, the company has conducted a program for the governments cloud migration services with a secure cloud strategy.On Mar 20, 2018, VMware, Inc. has expanded their cloud services portfolio with the increasing adoption of multi-cloud services. With this expansion, the company is fulfilling the customer requirement by improving the risk management and complexity of the cloud.On October 17, 2017, International Business Machines Corporation had launched new cloud migration and deployment services which help the organizations in shifting their data and applications to the cloud.Segmentation Of Cloud Migration Services MarketIntended Audience Cloud migration services companies Cloud migration services providers Computer graphics developers System integrators and third-party vendors Government bodies Technology investors Research institutes and organizations Market research and consulting firms End-users/enterprise-usersTABLE OF CONTENTS1 Executive Summary2 Scope Of The Report2.1 Market Definition2.2 Scope Of The Study2.2.1 Research Objectives2.2.2 Assumptions & Limitations2.3 Markets Structure3 Market Research Methodology3.1 Research Process3.2 Secondary Research3.3 Primary Research3.4 Forecast Model4 Market LandscapeContinued.LIST OF TABLESTable 1 Global Cloud Migration Services Market: By Region, 2017-2023Table 2 North America Cloud Migration Services Market: By Country, 2017-2023Table 3 Europe Cloud Migration Services Market: By Country, 2017-2023Table 4 Asia Pacific Cloud Migration Services Market: By Country, 2017-2023Table 5 Middle East & Africa Cloud Migration Services Market: By Country, 2017-2023Continued.Get More Information @LIST OF FIGURESFIGURE 1 Global Cloud Migration Services Market SegmentationFIGURE 2 Forecast MethodologyFIGURE 3 Porters Five Forces Analysis Of Global Cloud Migration Services MarketFIGURE 4 Value Chain Of Global Cloud Migration Services MarketFIGURE 5 Share Of Global Cloud Migration Services Market In 2017, By Country (In %)Continued.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.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by Components, Application, Logistics and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.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 membersContact:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.comClinical Laboratory Test Market Leading Providers: AURORA Diagnostics, Laboratory Corporation of America, LifeLabs Medical Laboratories, Quest Diagnostics, Sonic Healthcare, etc

Clinical Laboratory Test Market

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As per Market research Future (MRFR)s latest analysis, the Global Clinical Laboratory Test Market is projected to expand at a healthy pace in the foreseeable future. The Clinical Laboratory Test Market Report offer detailed Analysis with Top Trends and Current Scenario, competitive landscape and key regions development status.Clinical Laboratory Test Market - ScenarioClinical laboratory tests represent a case of high volume steady growth market. The global clinical laboratory test market is anticipated to develop to USD 324.5 billion by 2022 from USD 206.7 billion in 2016. The market is expected to generate a CAGR growth of 6.5% during the forecasted period of 2016 to 2022.Clinical Laboratory Test Market -Drivers:The increasing prevalence of diseases and the growing population of the world is the critical driver of the market. The market is getting a boost from the growing screening programs initiated by the major governments. The inclusion of mandatory screening in the affordable healthcare act for newborns is expected to lead to a fast growth. Increasing awareness and growing bias towards evidence based medicines coupled with the growing volume of in-vitro diagnostic tests will also press the market growth.The advent of biotech based tests such as DNA based tests are a large market opportunity as they result in greater selectivity and sensitivity. Growing trends towards self-diagnostic tests is expected to make a positive contribution to the markets. Panel based tests are the latest market trend due to their ease of use and single use systems.Request Sample copy atAutomation is another trend driving the market as newer instruments have the capacity and capability to be linked and synced with another instruments. One such glaring example, is that of high pressure liquid chromatography and mass spectroscopy systems which save time and efforts.Restraints:Stringent government rules and regulations and the high costs of the tests are the critical constraints on the market. The presence of spurious low cost products is hampering the market due to customers loss of faith. False results are other restraints as many older tests have low selectivity and detection limits to their targets.Clinical Laboratory Test Market  Top VendorsAURORA DiagnosticsLaboratory Corporation of AmericaLifeLabs Medical LaboratoriesQuest DiagnosticsSonic Healthcare and others.Regional Analysis of Clinical Laboratory test Market:North America is the largest market of global Clinical Laboratory test market which is expected to grow at the CAGR of 6.2%. North America clinical test market is highest revenue generator. US accounts for the maximum market share of North America Clinical Laboratory testing market and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.8% during the forecasted period. Maximum number of laboratories and clinical testing procedures are the major reason for the highest market growth of this region. Canada, is expected to be the fastest growing region with the CAGR of 6.3% during the forecasted period due to increasing cases of chronic disease and also because of new companies providing laboratory services entering Canadian market.Europe is the second largest market for Clinical Laboratory test which is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.6%.Globally Asia-pacific region is the fastest growing market in clinical laboratory tests mainly because of growing awareness about various medical test, government support in order to improve healthcare sector, innovation of new tests and procedures by major market players.Browse Complete 88 Pages Premium Research Report Enabled with 89 Respective Tables and Figures atSegments of Clinical Laboratory test Market:Laboratory type - hospital based laboratories, central/independent laboratories, physician office laboratory (pol) and others. The market segmented by laboratory type is dominated by the hospital based laboratories.Laboratory tests - Complete Blood Count (CBC) and other routine blood tests, anatomic pathology, molecular tests, immunology tests, drug testing and others. On the basis of laboratory tests, CBC and other routine blood tests are expected to hold the largest market share.Major TOC of Clinical Laboratory Test Market Research Report- Global Forecast Till 2022:1 Report Prologue2 Market Introduction3 Research Methodology4 Market Dynamics5 Market Factor Analysis6 Global Clinical Laboratory Test Market, By Test Types (USD Million)7 Global Clinical Laboratory Test Market, By Laboratory Type (USD Million)8 Global Clinical Laboratory Test Market, By Region10 Company Profiles11 Conclusion12 AppendixList of Tables:TABLE 1 GLOBAL CLINICAL LABORATORY TEST MARKET, BY LABORATORY TYPE, 2014-2022, (USD MILLION) 28TABLE 2 GLOBAL CLINICAL LABORATORY TEST MARKET, FOR HOSPITAL-BASED LABORATORIES, 2014-2022, (USD MILLION) 29TABLE 3 GLOBAL CLINICAL LABORATORY TEST MARKET, FOR CENTRAL/INDEPENDENT LABORATORIES, 2014-2022, (USD MILLION) 30TABLE 4 GLOBAL CLINICAL LABORATORY TEST MARKET, FOR PHYSICIAN OFFICE-BASED LABORATORIES, 2014-2022, (USD MILLION) 31TABLE 5 GLOBAL CLINICAL LABORATORY TEST MARKET, BY LABORATORY TEST, 2014-2022, (USD MILLION) 33TABLE 6 GLOBAL CLINICAL LABORATORY TEST MARKET, FOR CBC AND OTHER ROUTINE BLOOD TEST, 2014-2022, (USD MILLION) 34TABLE 7 GLOBAL CLINICAL LABORATORY TEST MARKET, FOR ANATOMIC PATHOLOGY, 2014-2022, (USD MILLION) 34TABLE 8 GLOBAL CLINICAL LABORATORY TEST MARKET, FOR MOLECULAR TEST, 2014-2022, (USD MILLION) 35TABLE 9 GLOBAL CLINICAL LABORATORY TEST MARKET, FOR ANATOMIC PATHOLOGY, 2014-2022, (USD MILLION) 36TABLE 10 GLOBAL CLINICAL LABORATORY TEST MARKET, FOR DRUG TESTING , 2014-2022, (USD MILLION) 36CONTINUEDCheck 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Disposable Urinary Drainage Bag Market Key Players : C. R. Bard, Inc., Cook Medical (Cook Group Incorporated), Covidien (Medtronic), Medline Industries, Inc., Coloplast

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Disposable urine drainage bags carry out the process of urine collection, in which a disposable urine bag is attached to a catheter (tube) that is inside the bladder. These bags are essentially useful for individuals suffering from urinary incontinence (leakage), urinary retention (not being able to urinate), surgery that made a catheter necessary, or other health problems that make the use of urine drainage bag necessary. They are extensively utilized across several hospitals and medical set-ups, thus increasing their demand.Comprehensive competitive analysis and profiles of major market players such as C. R. Bard, Inc., Cook Medical (Cook Group Incorporated), Covidien (Medtronic), Medline Industries, Inc., Coloplast, Flexicare Medical Limited, Moore Medical LLC (Mckesson Medical-Surgical Inc.), Pacific Hospital Supply Co. Ltd., Plasti-med, and Amsino International, Inc. are provided in this report.Get Sample PDF Brochure :The prime factor that drives the growth of the disposable urine drainage bags market is rise in prevalence of bladder, colorectal, and urinary tract cancers, which lead to urinary incontinence and retention, thereby fueling the demand for disposable urine drainage bags. In addition, rise in geriatric population suffering from chronic ailments, such as paralysis, Alzheimers diseases, and others supplement the market growth. However, medical issues arising due to catheters and lack of awareness towards disposable urine drainage bags hamper the market growth.Moreover, risks associated with the capillary blood collection technique and challenges faced during micro-collection hamper the growth of the market. Rise in preference for disposable urine drainage bags as compared to reusable bags is expected to offer lucrative opportunities for the expansion of this market. This is attributed to the fact that use of disposable urine drainage bags eliminates the risk of urinary tract infections caused due to improper cleaning of the bags. Moreover, product innovation and technological advancements in the capillary blood collection tubes are anticipated to provide growth opportunities for the market growth.The global disposable urine drainage bags market is segmented on the basis of bag capacity, end user, and geography. Based on bag capacity, the market is divided into 500-ml bag, 750-ml bag, 1,000-ml, 2,000-ml bag, and others. Based on end user, it is classified into hospitals, home, and others. Geographically, it is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA.Key Benefits The study provides an in-depth analysis of the global disposable urine drainage bags market along with the current trends and future estimations to elucidate the imminent investment pockets. Comprehensive analysis of the factors that drive and restrict the market growth is provided in the report. Comprehensive quantitative analysis of the industry is provided for the period of 20162023 to assist stakeholders to capitalize on the prevailing market opportunities. Extensive analysis of the key segments of the industry helps to understand the trends in products and end users of disposable urine drainage bags across the globe. Key market players and their strategies have been provided to understand the competitive outlook of the industry.Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions. AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.David C5933 NE Win Sivers Drive#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesToll Free: +1-800-792-5285UK: +44-845-528-1300Hong Kong: +852-301-84916India (Pune): +91-20-66346060Fax: +1855550-5975help@alliedmarketresearch.comWeb:Orthopedic Software Market Demands, Trends and Outlook to 2025 | Top Key Players -Materialise NV, Brainlab AG, Merge Healthcare Inc., Medstrat, Inc., Curemd, Mckesson Corporation, Healthfusion Inc,Quality Systems, Inc.

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Orthopedic Software Market AnalysisAccording to Verified Market Intelligence, the Global Orthopedic Software market was valued at USD 268.2 Million in 2017 and is projected to reach USD 365.3 Million by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 5.1% from 2018 to 2025.What is Orthopedic Software?The orthopedic software is a software that enables orthopedic physician or surgeon to improvise the way of maintaining the information of treatment procedures and clinical data by efficiently saving time. This software helps in maintaining electronic health records (EHR) and also assists surgeons during the surgeries. It also ensures accurate delivery of information about the medical factors.Get | Download Free Sample Copy @Orthopedic Software Market OutlookIncreasing applications orthopedic medical practices and growing demand of surgeries and medical assistance in orthopedics due to increased injuries and health issues have been driving the global orthopedic software market. While resistance from traditional practitioners and the high cost of treatment acts a potential restraint for the overall market at a global level.Global Orthopedic Software Market Competitive LandscapeThe Global Orthopedic Software Market study report will provide a valuable insight with an emphasis on global market including some of the major players such Materialise NV, Brainlab AG, Merge Healthcare Inc., Medstrat, Inc., Curemd, Mckesson Corporation, Healthfusion Inc., Greenway Health , Quality Systems, Inc. (Nextgen Healthcare Information Systems, LLC.) and GE Healthcare. Our market analysis also entails a section solely dedicated for such major players wherein our analysts provide an insight to the financial statements of all the major players, along with its product benchmarking and SWOT analysis.Ask for Discount @Global Orthopedic Software Market Segmentation, by ProductDigital Templating/Pre-Operative Planning SoftwareOrthopedic Electronic Health Record (EHR)Orthopedic Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS)Orthopedic Practice ManagementOrthopedic Revenue Cycle ManagementGlobal Orthopedic Software Market Segmentation, by ApplicationOrthopedic SurgeryFracture ManagementJoint ReplacementPediatric AssessmentGlobal Orthopedic Software Market Segmentation, by DeliveryCloud-BasedWeb BasedOn-PremisesGlobal Orthopedic Software Market Geographic ScopeNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaMexicoEuropeGermanyUKFranceRest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaRest of Asia PacificLatin AmericaBrazilRest of the WorldTable Of Content1 Introduction Of The Global Motion Control2 Executive Summary3 Research Methodology Of Verified Market Intelligence4 The Orthopaedic Software Outlook5 The Orthopaedic Software , By Systems6 The Orthopaedic Software , By Service7 The Orthopaedic Software By Verticals8 The Orthopaedic Software , By Applications9 The Orthopedic Software , By Geography10 The Orthopedic Software Competitive LandscapeReason to Buy- Save and reduce time carrying out entry-level research by identifying the growth, size, leading players and segments in the Orthopedic Software System market- Highlights key business priorities in order to assist companies to realign their business strategies. The key findings and recommendations highlight crucial progressive industry trends in the Streaming Analytics System market, thereby allowing players to develop effective long - Develop/modify business expansion plans by using substantial growth offering developed and emerging markets.- Scrutinize in-depth global market trends and outlook coupled with the factors driving the market, as well as those hindering it.- Enhance the decision-making process by understanding the strategies that underpin commercial interest with respect to products, segmentation and industry verticals.Complete Report is Available @About Us:Verified Market Research' has been providing Research Reports, with up to date information, and in-depth analysis, for several years now, to individuals and companies alike that are looking for accurate Research Data. Our aim is to save your Time and Resources, providing you with the required Research Data, so you can only concentrate on Progress and Growth. Our Data includes research from various industries, along with all necessary statistics like Market Trends, or Forecasts from reliable sources.Contact Us:Mr. AnkushCall: +1 (650) 781 4080Email: sales@verifiedmarketresearch.comAnomaly Detection Market 2018-2023 Global Key Leaders: Cisco Systems Inc., Dell Technologies Inc., Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company, Symantec Corporation, Trend Micro Inc., Splunk Inc.

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Global Anomaly Detection Market Research Report by Service (Professional, Managed), Solution (Network Behavior, User Behavior), Deployment (On-Cloud, On-Premise), Vertical (BFSI, Retail, IT & Telecom, Healthcare), and by Application - Forecast till 2023OverviewAccording to Market Research Future Analysis, the global Anomaly detection market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 15% over the forecast period, 2018-2023. According to Market Research Future, the global anomaly detection market is segmented into solution, service, deployment, application, vertical, and region.Anomaly detection can be termed as a process to detect anomalies such as an unusual shift in the process or event in an operation that does not follow the expected pattern or dataset, with help of software. On the basis of service type, the market is segmented into professional service and managed service. The professional service is further segmented into installation and maintenance, support & maintenance and consulting service. In the service segment, the market is largely dominated by professional services. Most of the key players and small businesses focus on providing professional services such as installation, maintenance, and consulting.Get Sample Report @SegmentationOn the basis of the solution, the market is segmented into network behavior anomaly detection and user behavior anomaly detection. Under the solution segment, the network behavior anomaly detection is expected to show the highest growth and dominate the market during the forecast period. The user behavior anomaly detection is more complex as it requires synthetic and end-user monitoring applications. Moreover, many attacks are first made on a network level, thereby substantially increasing the need for anomaly detection software and solutions.On the basis of the deployment, the market is segmented into the cloud and on-premise. Among these, the cloud deployment is widely adopted by large enterprises to detect an anomaly. Although Anomaly Detection Software is deployed on cloud, many large enterprises also use on-premise deployment or private cloud to avoid any further chances of intrusion and security breach. Many enterprises in regions like the Asia Pacific and the Middle East are moving their businesses to the cloud thereby encouraging the companies for increased usage of anomaly detection.On the basis of application, the market is segmented into Intrusion detection, fraud detection, system health monitoring, others. On the basis of vertical, the market is segmented into banking and financial services, retail, manufacturing, IT & telecom, Government, Aerospace & defense, healthcare, and others.Key PlayersThe prominent players in the market of Anomaly Detection are-International Business Machines Corporation (US) SAS Institute Inc.(US) Cisco Systems Inc.(US) Dell Technologies Inc.(US) Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (US) Symantec Corporation (US) Trend Micro Inc. (Japan) Splunk Inc. (US) Wipro Limited (India) Securonix Inc. (US) Gurucul (US) Happiest Minds (India) Guardian Analytics (US)Get Report Details @Regional AnalysisThe key markets of the global anomaly detection market include North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and rest of the world. North America accounts for the largest share of the market owing to growing trends of BYOD, IoT in the region along with robust economy and investment in R&D activities, and concentration of major players. Europe closely follows North America in anomaly detection market. Technological advancements in the region coupled with rising investments from key players in the region can be attributed for this growth. Asia-Pacific region is slated to exhibit the fastest growth in terms of CAGR due to increasing development in Information and Technology sector.Industry Updates In June 2018, Progress, a US-based software company launched a DIY anomaly detection service on Amazon Web Services. Named Progress DataRPM, it enables organizations to get information on uploaded sensor data gathered from industrial systems that could detect anomalies. In June 2018, Siemens announced that the company would leverage Claroty's advanced behavioral analysis technology in its Anomaly Detection Solution.Intended Audience Network security and solution providers Data security providers Cloud service providers System integrators Application developers Software developers Research and consultancy firms Government AgenciesTABLE OF CONTENTS1 Executive Summary2 Scope Of The Report2.1 Market Definition2.2 Scope Of The Study2.2.1 Research Objectives2.2.2 Assumptions & Limitations2.3 Markets Structure3 Market Research Methodology3.1 Research Process3.2 Secondary Research3.3 Primary Research3.4 Forecast Model4 Market LandscapeContinued.LIST OF TABLESTable1 World Population By Major Regions (2017 To 2030)Table2 Global Anomaly Detection Market: By Region, 2017-2023Table3 North America Anomaly Detection Market: By Country, 2017-2023Table4 Europe Anomaly Detection Market: By Country, 2017-2023Table5 Asia Pacific Anomaly Detection Market: By Country, 2017-2023Continued.Get More Information @LIST OF FIGURESFIGURE 1 Global Anomaly Detection Market SegmentationFIGURE 2 Forecast MethodologyFIGURE 3 Porters Five Forces Analysis Of Global Anomaly Detection MarketFIGURE 4 Value Chain Of Global Anomaly Detection MarketFIGURE 5 Share Of Global Anomaly Detection Market In 2017, By Country (In %)ContinuedAbout 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.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by Components, Application, Logistics and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.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 membersContact:Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.comGlobal Basmati Rice Market: Large Players Vie to Expand into Regional Markets

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The global basmati rice market is a choc-o-bloc with companies both large and small that features a fragmented vendor landscape, as per a report by Transparency Market Research (TMR). Leading players such as McCormick & Co., Hain Celestial, Rice n Spice, REI Agro, LT Foods, East End Foods, and Amira Nature Foods serve local as well as global consumers, which is reflected in the growth of basmati rice market. Penetration into regional markets as rice is the staple food of more than half of the worlds population is likely to provide ample growth opportunities for leading players in the market. These players are penetrating regional markets through strategic partnerships, which is likely to make the market somewhat consolidated albeit more competitive, states the report.Request to view Sample Report:The worldwide basmati rice market stood at a valuation of US$10.51 bn in 2017. Proliferating at a robust CAGR of 11.0% between 2017 and 2022, the market is anticipated to be worth US$17.74 bn by the end of 2022. By type, the demand for raw basmati surpasses than that for parboiled and steam, mainly because of superior taste and aromatic property of the former. Among the various sales channel, traditional grocery stores remain the key sales channel, with convenience stores following closely. Among the key regional markets for basmati rice, Asia Pacific excluding Japan acquires the leading position in the overall market thanks to high production of rice in the region.Increasing Spending on Superior Grains across Consumer Groups Benefits MarketAmong the various types of rice, basmati rice enjoys a premium position thanks to its superior taste and aromatic quality, says a TMR analyst. Almost 90% of production and consumption of basmati rice is centered in Asia, mainly because of its origin from the Indian subcontinent. The growth of the basmati rice market in Asia is powered by high production and export of this type of rice from India and Pakistan. As per records of the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority, India accounted for 59% exports to the overseas basmati rice in 2014, with the remainder exported from Pakistan.Read Report Overview @The emergence of local varieties of basmati rice is also aiding the growth of basmati rice market. Several countries are increasingly producing domestic variety of basmati rice at relatively low prices. This is to prevent complete dependence on import which is subject to climatic and trade uncertainties as well as to promote consumption of local varieties.Across several parts of the world, rising disposable income has benefitted the basmati rice market. Consumers are increasingly spending liberally on premium quality grains, lentils, and spices for a fulfilling eating experience. Basmati rice is increasingly becoming the choice across consumer groups mainly because of its superior taste and aroma that is highly pleasing to the senses.Rising Awareness of Health Ill-effects of Prolonged Consumption of Polished Rice Crimps GrowthOn the flip side, high price of basmati rice over other rice variants is a key challenge to the markets growth. Basmati rice remains a premium grain not affordable by the average consumer. In addition, increasing awareness about health ill-effects of consuming polished rice on an everyday basis is leading consumers to switch to unpolished rice varieties. This is challenging the growth of basmati rice market to some extent.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRas experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Public Safety In-Building Wireless DAS System Market from 2018 to 2025 - Key Players Verizon Communications, Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent SA, AT&T, Commscope, Anixter, Cobham PLC, Corning, Smiths Group PLC, TE Connectivity Ltd

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A report added to the rich database of Qurate Business Intelligence, titled World Public Safety In-Building Wireless DAS System Market Research Report 2025 (Covering USA, Europe, China, Japan, India and etc), provides a 360-degree overview of the worldwide market. Approximations associated with the market values over the forecast period are based on empirical research and data collected through both primary and secondary sources. The authentic processes followed to exhibit various aspects of the market makes the data reliable in context to particular time period and industry.Get Free Sample Report@The major players profiled in this report include: Verizon Communications Inc., Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent SA, AT&T Inc., Commscope Inc., Anixter Inc., Cobham PLC, Corning Inc., Smiths Group PLC, TE Connectivity Ltd.This report is highly informative document with inclusion of comprehensive market data associated with the significant elements and subdivision of the Global Public Safety In-Building Wireless DAS System Market that may impact the growth scenarios of the industry. The report may commendably help trades and decision makers to address the challenges and to gain benefits from highly competitive Global Public Safety In-Building Wireless DAS System Market.Global Public Safety In-Building Wireless DAS System Market is research report of comprehensive nature which entails information in relation with major regional markets, current scenarios. This includes key regional areas such as North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, etc. and the foremost countries such as GLOBAL, Germany, United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Global and China.Enquiry about Report@The Global Public Safety In-Building Wireless DAS System Market report attempts to build familiarity of the market through sharing basic information associated with the aspects such as definitions, classifications, applications and market overview, product specifications, manufacturing processes, cost structures, raw materials and more. Furthermore, it strives to analyze the crucial regional markets, including the product price, profit, capacity, production, supply, demand and market growth rate. It also discusses forecast for the same. The report concludes with new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, and investment return analysis.In addition, this report identifies pin-point analysis of competitive dashboard and helps readers to develop competitive edge over others. It delivers a noteworthy data and insights associated with factors driving or preventing the growth of the market. It brings a nine-year forecast evaluated on the basis of how the market is expected to perform.Purchase Report@It assists readers in understanding the key product sections and their future. Its counsels in taking well-versed business decisions by giving complete intuitions of the market and by forming a comprehensive analysis of market subdivisions. To sum up, it also provides confident graphics and personalized SWOT analysis of foremost market subdivisions.This statistical surveying report presents comprehensive assessment of the Global market for Public Safety In-Building Wireless DAS System Market, discussing several market verticals such as the production capacity, product pricing, the dynamics of demand and supply, sales volume, revenue, growth rate and more.Get 30% Discount on this Report@Table of Content:Global Public Safety In-Building Wireless DAS System Market Research Report 2018-2025Chapter 1: Industry OverviewChapter 2: Global Public Safety In-Building Wireless DAS System Market International Market AnalysisChapter 3: Environment Analysis of Global Public Safety In-Building Wireless DAS System MarketChapter 4: Analysis of Revenue by ClassificationsChapter 5: Analysis of Revenue by Regions and ApplicationsChapter 6: Analysis of Global Public Safety In-Building Wireless DAS System Market Revenue Market Status.Chapter 7: Analysis of Global Public Safety In-Building Wireless DAS System Market Industry Key ManufacturersChapter 8: Sales Price and Gross Margin AnalysisChapter 9: Marketing Trader or Distributor Analysis of Public Safety In-Building Wireless DAS System MarketChapter 10: Development Trend of Public Safety In-Building Wireless DAS System Market Industry 2018-2025Chapter 11: Industry Chain Suppliers of Public Safety In-Building Wireless DAS System Market with Contact InformationChapter 12: New Project Investment Feasibility Analysis of Public Safety In-Building Wireless DAS System MarketChapter 13: Conclusion of the Global Public Safety In-Building Wireless DAS System Market Research ReportAbout Us:Qurate Business Intelligence delivers unique market research solutions to its customers and help them to get equipped with refined information and market insights derived from reports. We are committed to providing best business services and easy processes to get the same. Qurate Business Intelligence considers themselves as strategic partners of their customers and always shows the keen level of interest to deliver quality.Runwal Platinum,Ramnagar Colony, Bavdhan,Pune, Maharashtra, India-411021IN +919881074592info@qurateresearch.comLow-Code Development Platform Market 2018 Global Analysis By Key Players  Appian, Salesforce, Servicenow, Agilepoint, Bizagi, Caspio

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WiseGuyReports.Com Publish a New Market Research Report On  Low-Code Development Platform Market 2018 Global Analysis By Key Players  Appian, Salesforce, Servicenow, Agilepoint, Bizagi, Caspio.Description:-The rising demand for software automation and innovative applications across the globe is expected to be driving the growth of the low-code development platform market.Scope of the Report:This report studies the Low-Code Development Platform market status and outlook of Global and major regions, from angles of players, countries, product types and end industries; this report analyzes the top players in global market, and splits the Low-Code Development Platform market by product type and applications/end industries.North America is estimated to hold the largest market share and dominate the global low-code development platform market in 2017.The global Low-Code Development Platform market is valued at xx million USD in 2017 and is expected to reach xx million USD by the end of 2023, growing at a CAGR of xx% between 2017 and 2023.The Asia-Pacific will occupy for more market share in following years, especially in China, also fast growing India and Southeast Asia regions.Get a Sample Report @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comNorth America, especially The United States, will still play an important role which cannot be ignored. Any changes from United States might affect the development trend of Low-Code Development Platform.Europe also play important roles in global market, with market size of xx million USD in 2017 and will be xx million USD in 2023, with a CAGR of xx%.Market Segment by Companies, this report coversAppianSalesforceServicenowAgilepointBizagiCaspioMatssoftMendixOutsystemsMarket Segment by Regions, regional analysis coversNorth America (United States, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Market Segment by Type, coversSolution and ServicesProfessional and ManagedMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoFinancial ServicesGovernmentHealth Care & Life ScienceEducationMediaRetailManufacturingCommunicationEnergy & UtilitiesEnquiry About Report @Table Of Contents  Major Key Points1 Low-Code Development Platform Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Low-Code Development Platform1.2 Classification of Low-Code Development Platform by Types1.2.1 Global Low-Code Development Platform Revenue Comparison by Types (2017-2023)1.2.2 Global Low-Code Development Platform Revenue Market Share by Types in 20171.2.3 Solution and Services1.2.4 Professional and Managed1.3 Global Low-Code Development Platform Market by Application1.3.1 Global Low-Code Development Platform Market Size and Market Share Comparison by Applications (2013-2023)1.3.2 Financial Services1.3.3 Government1.3.4 Health Care & Life Science1.3.5 Education1.3.6 Media1.3.7 Retail1.3.8 Manufacturing1.3.9 Communication1.3.10 Energy & Utilities1.4 Global Low-Code Development Platform Market by Regions1.4.1 Global Low-Code Development Platform Market Size (Million USD) Comparison by Regions (2013-2023)1.4.1 North America (USA, Canada and Mexico) Low-Code Development Platform Status and Prospect (2013-2023)1.4.2 Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy) Low-Code Development Platform Status and Prospect (2013-2023)1.4.3 Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia) Low-Code Development Platform Status and Prospect (2013-2023)1.4.4 South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia) Low-Code Development Platform Status and Prospect (2013-2023)1.4.5 Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa) Low-Code Development Platform Status and Prospect (2013-2023)1.5 Global Market Size of Low-Code Development Platform (2013-2023)2 Manufacturers Profiles2.1 Appian2.1.1 Business Overview2.1.2 Low-Code Development Platform Type and Applications2.1.2.1 Product A2.1.2.2 Product B2.1.3 Appian Low-Code Development Platform Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.2 Salesforce2.2.1 Business Overview2.2.2 Low-Code Development Platform Type and Applications2.2.2.1 Product A2.2.2.2 Product B2.2.3 Salesforce Low-Code Development Platform Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.3 Servicenow2.3.1 Business Overview2.3.2 Low-Code Development Platform Type and Applications2.3.2.1 Product A2.3.2.2 Product B2.3.3 Servicenow Low-Code Development Platform Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.4 Agilepoint2.4.1 Business Overview2.4.2 Low-Code Development Platform Type and Applications2.4.2.1 Product A2.4.2.2 Product B2.4.3 Agilepoint Low-Code Development Platform Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.5 Bizagi2.5.1 Business Overview2.5.2 Low-Code Development Platform Type and Applications2.5.2.1 Product A2.5.2.2 Product B2.5.3 Bizagi Low-Code Development Platform Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.6 Caspio2.6.1 Business Overview2.6.2 Low-Code Development Platform Type and Applications2.6.2.1 Product A2.6.2.2 Product B2.6.3 Caspio Low-Code Development Platform Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.7 Matssoft2.7.1 Business Overview2.7.2 Low-Code Development Platform Type and Applications2.7.2.1 Product A2.7.2.2 Product B2.7.3 Matssoft Low-Code Development Platform Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)ContinuedBuy 1-user PDF @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comABOUT US:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.Office No.528,Amanora Chambers,Magarpatta Road,Hadapsar,Pune-411028.According to American, Warsaw twice used her walker to go outside to smoke a cigarette. The second time, she went outside a minute before relatives arrived at the airport at 1:13 a.m. Warsaw and a relative met in the wheelchair area about half an hour later, around 1:46 a.m., and were met by a Chicago Police Department officer a few minutes later, the airlines records indicate.Technology Insights - Enterprise WLAN Market to 2017 - 2025: Juniper Networks, Cisco Systems, Aruba Networks, Aerohive Networks, Allied Telesis, ZTE Corporation, Extreme Networks

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The report analyzes and presents an overview on "Enterprise WLAN Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 - 2025" worldwide.Global Enterprise WLAN Market: SnapshotWireless LAN (WLAN) technology, also referred to as Wi-Fi, has been fast evolving to adapt to the highly dynamic market for mobile communication. With rise in practices such as Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) in the workplace, it is becoming increasingly necessary for companies to provide a safe and secure Wi-Fi network. This has upped the demand for enterprise-grade WLAN security.The primary task of an enterprise WLAN solution is to offer secure and solid wireless service to users. It is a known fact that WLANs provide lesser degree of security than their wired counterparts. This is because Wi-Fi use unlicensed bands that can be accessed by anyone, making them vulnerable to different interferences, which, in turn, can cause degradation in service. An enterprise WLAN solution helps to tackle the aforementioned problems with advanced functions and technologies.Realizing the advantages, companies are deploying more and more WLANs every year to encourage their employees to use smartphones and pads for work as well.An enterprise wireless network is typically comprised of the following basic components  access points (AP), AP controllers, and authentication servers. An additional component called WIPS sensor and server can also be included when required to prevent wireless intrusion.Request to Get Sample Copy of This Report @Key end users in the global market for WLAN can be categorized into IT and telecommunication, banking, financial service and insurance (BFSI), logistics, municipality and public infrastructure, education, healthcare, transport, retail, etc. At present, the segment of IT and telecommunication accounts for significant demand because of their ample use of software and hardware to transfer data in various ways.The enterprise WLAN market holds out strong promise for players operating in it. Most of the big shots in the market are registering gangbuster profits year after year and seem primed to repeat the feat in the future as well.With the advent of internet connectivity and growing user base for internet, enterprise wireless local area network (WLAN) market is expected to witness flourishing growth prospect during the forecast period.Rising internet penetration and growing investment made towards telecommunication network broadens the market prospect for enterprise WLAN market. Consumers spend larger proportion of their income on mobile devices such as laptops, smartphones and others. Though network facility has been greatly developed in the age of 3G, 4G network connection, Wi-Fi become a valid option for most of the organizations, The Wi-Fi is able to provide internet connection with higher speed, and also covers large area. With the help of Wi-Fi, internet facility can be provided in public areas such as restaurants, parks, metro stations and others and this factor drives the enterprise WLAN market during the forecast period.There are several disadvantages involved to the enterprise WLAN market. The installation of such system is very expensive and this require skilled personnel for the regular maintenance. Huge expense and frequent change in technology in this sector is a restraining factor for the enterprise WLAN market over the forecast period and this is a hindrance for the market as well.Request to Get Complete Report List Of Tables and Figures @On the basis of hardware, enterprise WLAN market is segmented into AP antennas, wireless access points, wireless LAN controller, wireless location appliance and multigigabit switching. Wireless LAN controller held the largest market share and this segment is expected to remain its market dominance during the forecast period. This segment is expected to attain considerable market share owing to large number of network operating centres and the segment is able to handle wireless access points. Large number of smartphone users and higher intensity of data usage among varied verticals such as hospitals, restaurants, homes and others facilitate the demand for enterprise WLAN market during the forecast period.In terms of verticals, enterprise WLAN market is classified into IT and telecommunication, logistics, banking, financial service and insurance (BFSI), municipality and public infrastructure, healthcare, education, retail, transport and other. IT and telecommunication held the largest market share in enterprise WLAN market. This segment utilizes lots of software and hardware to operationalise the transfer of data among varied number of ways. This segments large volume of data and installation of enterprise WLAN facilitates the transfer of data in this scenario. This kind of enterprise Wi-Fi actually broadens the scope of data transfer and enhances transmission thus projecting high growth trajectory for the market of enterprise WLAN market during the forecast period.According to regions, global enterprise WLAN market is classified into five regions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa (MEA) and Latin America. Asia Pacific is estimated to be the fastest growing region in enterprise WLAN market during the forecast period. Asia Pacific is the main hub information technology and telecommunication centre. Cloud based services is the most attractive investment destination in this region thus fostering the growth prospect of enterprise WLAN market over the forecast period. This region consists of large number of working population in comparison to other regions where number of dependent people are quite high. With the concentration of large number of emerging economies such as China, India and South Korea where there is substantial amount of growth opportunities, it is estimated that global enterprise WLAN market during the forecast period. North America and Europe are also promising market for enterprise WLAN. These regions have flourishing banking, healthcare and telecommunication sectors and with the rising investment opportunities these region witness stable growth rate over the forecast period.Some of the key market players include Juniper Networks, Cisco Systems, Aruba Networks, Aerohive Networks, Allied Telesis, ZTE Corporation, Extreme Networks, Ruckus Wireless, Wi-Fi Spark, Boingo Wireless, Avaya Corporation, Dell, Alcatel Lucent Enterprises, and others.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.The study is a source of reliable data on:Market segments and sub-segmentsMarket trends and dynamicsSupply and demandMarket sizeCurrent trends/opportunities/challengesCompetitive landscapeTechnological breakthroughsValue chain and stakeholder analysisThe regional analysis covers:North America (U.S. and Canada)Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Chile, and others)Western Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg)Eastern Europe (Poland and Russia)Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, ASEAN, Australia, and New Zealand)Middle East and Africa (GCC, Southern Africa, and North Africa)The report has been compiled through extensive primary research (through interviews, surveys, and observations of seasoned analysts) and secondary research (which entails reputable paid sources, trade journals, and industry body databases). The report also features a complete qualitative and quantitative assessment by analyzing data gathered from industry analysts and market participants across key points in the industrys value chain.A separate analysis of prevailing trends in the parent market, macro- and micro-economic indicators, and regulations and mandates is included under the purview of the study. By doing so, the report projects the attractiveness of each major segment over the forecast period.Request to Buy This Premium Report From Here @Highlights of the report:A complete backdrop analysis, which includes an assessment of the parent marketImportant changes in market dynamicsMarket segmentation up to the second or third levelHistorical, current, and projected size of the market from the standpoint of both value and volumeReporting and evaluation of recent industry developmentsMarket shares and strategies of key playersEmerging niche segments and regional marketsAn objective assessment of the trajectory of the marketRecommendations to companies for strengthening their foothold in the marketMarketResearchReports.biz is a seller of syndicated market studies, featuring an exhaustive collection of research reports from leading international publishers. Our repositoryis diverse, spanningvirtually every industrial sector and even more every category and sub-category within the industry. We also provide consulting services to enable our clients have adynamicbusiness perspective.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.bizManaged Network Services 2018 Global Market SWOT Analysis and Opportunities To 2023 | Key Players : Cisco Systems, International Business Machines, Ericsson, Accenture, At&T

Managed Network Services Market

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WiseGuyReports.Com Publish a New Market Research Report On  Managed Network Services 2018 Global Market SWOT Analysis and Opportunities To 2023 | Key Players : Cisco Systems, International Business Machines, Ericsson, Accenture, At&T.Description:-Growing demand for managed network services, greater network accessibility, and superior network security, and the need for improving the business process at a minimum cost are driving the managed network services market.Scope of the Report:This report studies the Managed Network Services market status and outlook of Global and major regions, from angles of players, countries, product types and end industries; this report analyzes the top players in global market, and splits the Managed Network Services market by product type and applications/end industries.The managed network services market of the software solutions is expected to grow at an impressive CAGR during the forecast period.The global Managed Network Services market is valued at xx million USD in 2017 and is expected to reach xx million USD by the end of 2023, growing at a CAGR of xx% between 2017 and 2023.The Asia-Pacific will occupy for more market share in following years, especially in China, also fast growing India and Southeast Asia regions.Get a Sample Report @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comNorth America, especially The United States, will still play an important role which cannot be ignored. Any changes from United States might affect the development trend of Managed Network Services.Europe also play important roles in global market, with market size of xx million USD in 2017 and will be xx million USD in 2023, with a CAGR of xx%.Market Segment by Companies, this report coversCisco SystemsInternational Business MachinesHCL TechnologiesEricssonHewlett Packard Enterprise DevelopmentAccentureAlcatel-Lucent EnterpriseAt&TWiproLG NetworksHuawei TechnologiesMarket Segment by Regions, regional analysis coversNorth America (United States, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa)Market Segment by Type, coversManaged Internet AccessNetwork ProvisioningVPNData StorageNetwork MonitoringMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoFinancial ServicesCommunications IndustryPublic SectorMediaRetailManufacturingMedicalOtherEnquiry About Report @Table Of Contents  Major Key Points1 Managed Network Services Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Managed Network Services1.2 Classification of Managed Network Services by Types1.2.1 Global Managed Network Services Revenue Comparison by Types (2017-2023)1.2.2 Global Managed Network Services Revenue Market Share by Types in 20171.2.3 Managed Internet Access1.2.4 Network Provisioning1.2.5 VPN1.2.6 Data Storage1.2.7 Network Monitoring1.3 Global Managed Network Services Market by Application1.3.1 Global Managed Network Services Market Size and Market Share Comparison by Applications (2013-2023)1.3.2 Financial Services1.3.3 Communications Industry1.3.4 Public Sector1.3.5 Media1.3.6 Retail1.3.7 Manufacturing1.3.8 Medical1.3.9 Other1.4 Global Managed Network Services Market by Regions1.4.1 Global Managed Network Services Market Size (Million USD) Comparison by Regions (2013-2023)1.4.1 North America (USA, Canada and Mexico) Managed Network Services Status and Prospect (2013-2023)1.4.2 Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy) Managed Network Services Status and Prospect (2013-2023)1.4.3 Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia) Managed Network Services Status and Prospect (2013-2023)1.4.4 South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia) Managed Network Services Status and Prospect (2013-2023)1.4.5 Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa) Managed Network Services Status and Prospect (2013-2023)1.5 Global Market Size of Managed Network Services (2013-2023)2 Manufacturers Profiles2.1 Cisco Systems2.1.1 Business Overview2.1.2 Managed Network Services Type and Applications2.1.2.1 Product A2.1.2.2 Product B2.1.3 Cisco Systems Managed Network Services Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.2 International Business Machines2.2.1 Business Overview2.2.2 Managed Network Services Type and Applications2.2.2.1 Product A2.2.2.2 Product B2.2.3 International Business Machines Managed Network Services Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.3 HCL Technologies2.3.1 Business Overview2.3.2 Managed Network Services Type and Applications2.3.2.1 Product A2.3.2.2 Product B2.3.3 HCL Technologies Managed Network Services Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.4 Ericsson2.4.1 Business Overview2.4.2 Managed Network Services Type and Applications2.4.2.1 Product A2.4.2.2 Product B2.4.3 Ericsson Managed Network Services Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.5 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development2.5.1 Business Overview2.5.2 Managed Network Services Type and Applications2.5.2.1 Product A2.5.2.2 Product B2.5.3 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development Managed Network Services Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.6 Accenture2.6.1 Business Overview2.6.2 Managed Network Services Type and Applications2.6.2.1 Product A2.6.2.2 Product B2.6.3 Accenture Managed Network Services Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)2.7 Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise2.7.1 Business Overview2.7.2 Managed Network Services Type and Applications2.7.2.1 Product A2.7.2.2 Product B2.7.3 Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Managed Network Services Revenue, Gross Margin and Market Share (2016-2017)ContinuedBuy 1-user PDF @For more information or any query mail at sales@wiseguyreports.comABOUT US:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.Office No.528,Amanora Chambers,Magarpatta Road,Hadapsar,Pune-411028.Premium messaging Market Focusing on top key players like: Verizon, Mblox, Twilio, Inc., AT&T, Beepsend, CLX Communications, Dialogue Communications Ltd., Infobip Ltd., Mahindra Comviva, and Tata Communications Ltd.

Premium messaging Market

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Premium messaging is text messaging that incurs a surcharge.Premium messages often come in the form of voting services, donations, subscriptions, and more. The Premium messaging Market is expected to reach +5% CAGR during forecast period 2018-2023. Premium Messaging allows members to reply to your messages without subscribing. That means up to seven times more people can respond to your messages. Premium text message charges are often used to sell you for things like ringtones or subscriptions. The most known use case for premium SMS is when the numbers are used for charity or voting activities. Now a days this application is used in various industry.The report on the Premium messaging Market is a complete overview of the market, covering various aspects of product definition, segmentation based on various parameters, and the prevailing vendor landscape. It compiles in-depth information and research methodologies. It is also combined with relevant charts and tables to enable readers to get a better perspective of this global market.Get Sample Copy of this Report @Top Key Players:Verizon, Mblox, Twilio, Inc., AT&T, Beepsend, CLX Communications, Dialogue Communications Ltd., Infobip Ltd., Mahindra Comviva, and Tata Communications Ltd.The report also creates a clear picture of the various factors that will drive the Premium messaging Market in the years to come. In order to help companies spot potential threats and to give them a clear picture of the opportunities that exist in the market, the report offers a SWOT analysis of the global market. For the purpose of the study, market analysts have employed rigorous primary and secondary research techniques. This makes the analyses and forecasts more accurate and helps analysts to examine the market from a broader perspective.The research report analyzes the Premium messaging Market in a thorough manner by clarifying the key characteristics of the market that are anticipated to have a measurable influence on its evolving prospects over the forecast period. The major growth drivers, challenges, and trends influencing the market are examined at length. Through qualitative and quantitative data on the impact, these factors have on the market's future growth prospects are presented in the report.Enquiry before Buying:Table of Content:Premium messaging Market Research Report 2018-2023Chapter 1: Industry OverviewChapter 2: Premium messaging Market International and China Market AnalysisChapter 3: Environment Analysis of Premium messaging.Chapter 4: Analysis of Revenue by ClassificationsChapter 5: Analysis of Revenue by Regions and ApplicationsChapter 6: Analysis of Premium messaging Market Revenue Market Status.Chapter 7: Analysis of Premium messaging Industry Key ManufacturersChapter 8: Sales Price and Gross Margin AnalysisChapter 9: Marketing Trader or Distributor Analysis of Premium messaging.Chapter 10: Development Trend of Premium messaging 2018-2023.Chapter 11: Industry Chain Suppliers of Premium messaging with Contact InformationChapter 12: New Project Investment Feasibility Analysis of Premium messaging Market.Chapter 13: Conclusion of the Premium messaging Industry 2023 Market Research ReportAsk for discount@About QYReports:We at, QYReports, a leading market research report published accommodate more than 4,000 celebrated clients worldwide putting them at advantage in todays competitive world with our understanding of research. Our list of customers includes prestigious Chinese companies, multinational companies, SMEs and private equity firms whom we have helped grow and sustain with our fact-based research. Our business study covers a market size of over 30 industries offering unfailing insights into the analysis to reimagine your business. We specialize in forecasts needed for investing in a new project, to revolutionize your business, to become more customer centric and improve the quality of output.Contact:QYReportsJones John(Sales Manager)+91-9764607607sales@qyreports.comElectric Air Compressors Market Outlook 2018 by Key Players Stanley, Mi-T-M, Atlas Copco, Scheppach, DEWALT Products Company, Sullair, Hubei Teweite Power Technology Co., Ltd, Ningbo Xinda Screw Compressor

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Global Electric Air Compressors Market Size, Status and Forecast 2023, incisive report recently added to the wide-ranging database of Qurate Business Intelligence, offers a panoramic view of the global market. Prognosis associated with the market values over the approaching years of forecast period are based on methodical research and figures composed through both primary and secondary sources. The reliable processes followed to exhibit several features of the marketplace makes the data superior quality in context to time period and industry.Request for Free sample copy of this report@The key players profiled in this report include: Stanley, Mi-T-M, Atlas Copco, Scheppach, DEWALT Products Company, Sullair, Hubei Teweite Power Technology Co., Ltd, Ningbo Xinda Screw CompressorThis report is vastly informative with addition of all-inclusive market data related to the noteworthy elements and subdivision of the Global Electric Air Compressors Market that most likely to decide upon the course of growth scenarios of the industry. The study laudably helps trades and decision makers to address the barriers and to gain benefits from exceedingly viable Global Electric Air Compressors Market.Global Electric Air Compressors Market is investigative report of unique nature which involves statistics in relation with chief regional markets. This includes key regional areas such as North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, etc. and the foremost countries such as United States, Germany, United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea and China.For Enquiry OR Any Query? Ask to our Expert @The Global Electric Air Compressors Market report aims to shape acquaintance of the market through sharing rudimentary information in relation with the features such as definitions, classifications, applications and market overview, product specifications, manufacturing processes, cost structures, raw materials and more. In addition, it aims to evaluate the substantial regional markets, including the product price, profit, capacity, production, supply, demand and market growth rate. It also focuses on forecast for the same. The study settles with new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, and investment return analysis.Furthermore, this study recognizes comprehensive analysis of competitive landscape and assists readers to establish competitive edge over others. It distributes a remarkable data and insights in relevance with factors fueling or preventing the growth of the market. It fetches a nine-year forecast estimated on the basis of how the market is antipated to perform.Get 30% Discount on this Report@It helps readers in getting acquainted to the key product sections and their future. It guids in reaching effective and impactful decisions by sharing complete intuitions of the market and by forming a comprehensive analysis of market subdivisions. To summarize, it also offers important graphics and personalized SWOT analysis of significant market subdivisions.This report of optimal quality presents accurate assessment of the global market for Electric Air Compressors, conversing various market domains such as the production capacity, product pricing, the dynamics of demand and supply, sales volume, revenue, growth rate and more.To Get this Report@Table of Content:Global Global Electric Air Compressors Market Research Report 2018-2023Chapter 1: Industry OverviewChapter 2: Electric Air Compressors International and China Market AnalysisChapter 3: Environment Analysis of Electric Air CompressorsChapter 4: Analysis of Revenue by ClassificationsChapter 5: Analysis of Revenue by Regions and ApplicationsChapter 6: Analysis of Electric Air Compressors Revenue Market Status.Chapter 7: Analysis of Electric Air Compressors Industry Key ManufacturersChapter 8: Sales Price and Gross Margin AnalysisChapter 9: Marketing Trader or Distributor Analysis of Electric Air Compressors MarketChapter 10: Development Trend of Electric Air Compressors Industry 2018-2023Chapter 11: Industry Chain Suppliers of Electric Air Compressors with Contact InformationChapter 12: New Project Investment Feasibility Analysis of Electric Air CompressorsChapter 13: Conclusion of the Global Electric Air Compressors Market Research ReportAbout Us:Qurate Business Intelligence delivers unique market research solutions to its customers and help them to get equipped with refined information and market insights derived from reports. We are committed to providing best business services and easy processes to get the same. Qurate Business Intelligence considers themselves as strategic partners of their customers and always shows the keen level of interest to deliver quality.Contact Us:Nehal ChinoyRunwal Platinum,Ramnagar Colony, Bavdhan,Pune, Maharashtra, India-411021IN +919881074592info@qurateresearch.comIntermittent Catheters Market Anticipated to Grow at an Impressive Rate during the Period

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Intermittent Catheters Market is projected to reach $2,950.7 million by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 8.7% from 2017 to 2023. The female length catheters segment accounted for about half share of the global market in 2016.Intermittent catheters are medical devices, which help to drain the urinary bladder in patients who lose control over their bladder. These catheters are inserted into the urethra and are guided to the bladder, which causes the urine to flow though the catheter tube and drain into the collection bag. Moreover, self-catheterization is possible using these catheters. Children aging seven or eight years can be trained to handle catheterization.Download PDF Report Sample @The key players operating in the global intermittent catheters market are Adapta Medical B. Braun Melsungen AG Becton Dickinson Company Coloplast A/S ConvaTec Healthcare B S.r.l Cure Medical Hollister Inc. Medical Technologies of Georgia Inc. Pennine Healthcare Teleflex Incorporated.Other players operating in the value chain are Hunter Urology, ASID BONZ, At Home Medical Products, Medical Technologies of Georgia and Hope Medical Supply Inc.The major driving factors of intermittent catheters market include increase in geriatric population and rise in urinary incontinence. Furthermore, the introduction of favorable reimbursement policies for catheters is expected to supplement the market growth. However, the availability of alternatives to intermittent catheters and price competition at domestic level hamper the market growth. Conversely, the emerging economies are anticipated to offer lucrative opportunities, owing to rise is disposable income and increase in awareness towards intermittent catheters.For More Information @Among the product segment, uncoated intermittent catheters accounted for the maximum share in the global market, due to wide usage of uncoated catheters, owing to new materials used in the production of uncoated intermittent catheters to minimize allergies associated to latex material.Among the indication segment, the urinary incontinence segment accounted for the maximum share, owing to increase in prevalence of urinary continence in both male and female population globally. For instance, urinary incontinence affects about 4-8% or 400 million individuals globally.Key Findings of the Intermittent Catheters Market: The male length catheters segment accounted for about three-eighth share of the total market in 2016, and is expected to register a high CAGR of 8.4% from 2017 to 2023. The hospitals segment accounted for three-seventh share of the total market and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.6% during the forecast period. U.S. dominated the North American intermittent catheters market and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 7.0%. Australia is the fastest growing country in the Asia-Pacific intermittent catheters market during the forecast period, registering a CAGR of 11.0%. Ambulatory surgery centers accounted for one-third market share in 2016, and are expected to grow at a high CAGR of 8.9%.In 2016, North America was the dominant revenue contributor, owing to high prevalence rate of urinary incontinence and surge in number of minimally invasive surgeries in the region. However, Asia-Pacific is expected to witness the highest CAGR during the forecast period, owing to the presence of high populace countries such as India and China, increase in awareness regarding intermittent catheters & urinary incontinence, and rise in disposable income.Access Full Summery @About Us:Allied Market Research, a market research and advisory company of Allied Analytics LLP, provides business insights and market research reports to large as well as small & medium enterprises. The company assists its clients to strategize business policies and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.Contact:David Correa5933 NE Win Sivers Drive#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesToll Free (USA/Canada):+1-800-792-5285, +1-503-894-6022, +1-503-446-1141UK: +44-845-528-1300Hong Kong: +852-301-84916India (Pune): +91-20-66346060Fax: +1855550-5975help@alliedmarketresearch.comWeb:Organic Personal Care Ingredients Market 2018 Global Analysis with Top Key Players- Cargill, BASF SE, The Lubrizol Corp, Jarrow Formulas, AEP Colloids, Grain Millers, PRIDE SEEDS, SG Ceresco

Organic Personal Care Ingredients

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The report gives the clear picture of current Organic Personal Care Ingredients Market scenario and the predicted future of the industry. The report focuses on the basis of market drivers, restraints, growth, trends and forecast for the period of 2018-2025. In addition, the report also maps the market performance by value chain analysis which will help in better product differentiation along with the analysis of each segment in terms of opportunity, market attractiveness index and growth rate.The report Organic Personal Care Ingredients Market by Key players highlights the essential market dynamics of Organic Personal Care Ingredients Market sector. The efficiency of this segment has been studied deeply along with the noteworthy challenges and forthcoming growth opportunities and prospective. The report focuses in decision making abilities and supports to make effective counter strategies in order to achieve competitive advantage. Current market scenario of the segment and forecasts of the market situation have also been bounded in this market report.QY Research groups can be relied upon for the most updated and in depth information of the title Global Organic Personal Care Ingredients Market this is estimated by experts to develop at the most elevated CAGR amid the estimate time frame 2018-2025.Get Sample Report with TOC, Please Visit @The major manufacturers covered in this report Cargill, Incorporated (US) BASF SE (Germany) The Lubrizol Corporation (US) Croda International Plc (UK) Huntsman International LLC. (US) Jarrow Formulas, Inc. (US) AEP Colloids (US) Grain Millers, Inc. (US) PRIDE SEEDS (Canada) SG Ceresco Inc. (Canada)Geographically, this report studies the top producers and consumers, focuses on product capacity, production, value, consumption, market share and growth opportunity in these key regions, covering North America Europe China Japan Southeast Asia IndiaTo PURCHASE the Full Report please click @On the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split into Natural surfactants Emollients Active ingredients Sugar polymers Natural preservatives OthersOn the basis of the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate for each application, including Skin care Hair care Oral care Cosmetics OthersThe study objectives of this report are: To analyze and study the global Organic Personal Care Ingredients capacity, production, value, consumption, status (2013-2017) and forecast (2018-2025); Focuses on the key Organic Personal Care Ingredients manufacturers, to study the capacity, production, value, market share and development plans in future. Focuses on the global key manufacturers, to define, describe and analyze the market competition landscape, SWOT analysis. To define, describe and forecast the market by type, application and region. To analyze the global and key regions market potential and advantage, opportunity and challenge, restraints and risks. To identify significant trends and factors driving or inhibiting the market growth. To analyze the opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying the high growth segments. To strategically analyze each submarket with respect to individual growth trend and their contribution to the market To analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the market To strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies.Get the best Discount in the market here @This market is segmented by Types and Applications. It provides a profound study of the leading players in the market and the prevailing regions in the business, thereby benefiting new entries in the business by proving the most updated insights of the market.At QY Research Groups we render the most authentic and elaborate information for the utmost benefit of our clients.Table of ContentsGlobal Organic Personal Care Ingredients Market Research Report 20181 Organic Personal Care Ingredients Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Organic Personal Care Ingredients1.2 Organic Personal Care Ingredients Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Organic Personal Care Ingredients Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category)(2013-2025)1.2.2 Global Organic Personal Care Ingredients Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20171.2.3 Natural surfactants1.2.3 Emollients1.2.5 Active ingredients1.2.6 Sugar polymers1.2.7 Natural preservativesOthers1.3 Global Organic Personal Care Ingredients Segment by Application1.3.1 Organic Personal Care Ingredients Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2013-2025)1.3.2 Skin care1.3.3 Hair care1.3.4 Oral care1.3.5 Cosmetics1.3.6 Others1.4 Global Organic Personal Care Ingredients Market by Region (2013-2025)1.4.1 Global Organic Personal Care Ingredients Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2013-2025)1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.4.7 India Status and Prospect (2013-2025)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Organic Personal Care Ingredients (2013-2025)1.5.1 Global Organic Personal Care Ingredients Revenue Status and Outlook (2013-2025)1.5.2 Global Organic Personal Care Ingredients Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2013-2025)...About Us:QY Research Groups is a company that simplifies how analysts and decision makers get industry data for their business. Our unique colossal technology has been developed to offer refined search capabilities designed to exploit the long tail of free market research whilst eliminating irrelevant results. QY Research Groups is the collection of market intelligence products and services on the Web. We offer reports and update our collection daily to provide you with instant online access to the world's most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, products, and trends.Contact Us:Call: +1-888-236-2744Email: sales@qyresearchgroups.comRoom B1510, Shiji Kemao Building,No.66 Zhongguancun East Road,Haidian District, Beijing,100190, China.Carrier Wi-Fi Equipment Market Size And Worldwide Analysis By Nokia Networks, Cisco Systems, Aruba Networks, Ruckus Wireless, Huawei Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP, Aerohive Networks,

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The global Carrier Wi-Fi Equipment Market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 25% over the forecast period, 2018-2023.According to Market Research Future, the global carrier Wi-Fi equipment market has been segmented into product type, application, end-users and region.Global Carrier Wi-Fi Equipment Market Research: By Product Type (Fixed Carrier, Mobile Carrier, Third Party Carriers), By Application (Carrier Wi-Fi in 3G Networks, Carrier Wi-Fi in 4G Networks), and by End-User (Enterprise, Government) - Forecast to 2023Request a Sample Report @Key playersThe global competitors in gesture recognition sector are Jestec (LTU Technologies) (Japan), Honeywell (U.S.), Toshiba (Japan), Itraff Technology (Poland), Sharp Vision Software (U.S.), Qualcomm Technologies (U.S.), Panasonic (Japan), NEC (Japan), Hitachi(Japan), Catchoom and others.Market OverviewThe application areas of carrier Wi-Fi technology and equipment market is developing at a faster rate. There have been a gush in terms of data produced from numerous devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, and other consumer electronics devices in several developed and developing countries across the globe. Most of the mobile data is generated via carrier Wi-Fi technologies. Cellular and internet operators across the globe are consuming Wi-Fi-hotspots to offer low-cost and high-speed internet to the ever-growing large population. Further, carrier Wi-Fi equipment technology is achieving popularity among cellular providers to assist cloud-based applications and equipment requiring high-bandwidth technology.Carrier Wi-Fi technologies are progressively being deliberated as a cost-effective means in organizing hotspots in public places, cafes, and university campuses, which is further enhancing the internet penetration across the globe.Industry SegmentsOn the basis of product type, the market is segmented into fixed carrier, mobile carrier, and third party carriers. A mobile carrier is a service provider that provides connectivity services to mobile phone and tablet. Among the product type, mobile carrier has the largest market share. Mobile carriers are allowed to sell access of their radio spectrum to other enterprises that operate as mobile virtual network operators. MVNOs do not own a base station, spectrum or infrastructure which is needed to transmit signals but instead lease from a licensed operator in their area.On the basis of application, the market is segmented into carrier Wi-Fi in 3G networks and Carrier Wi-Fi in 4G networks. The ubiquity of Wi-Fi and the proliferation of dual-mode smartphones and tablets present a major opportunity for mobile operators to offload data and video traffic from theirincreasingly congested 3G and 4G cellular networks, as well as to offer a subscription service for users with Wi-Fi-only devices.Regional analysisBy geography, the U.S. retains the top spot in global carrier Wi-Fi market. However, Asia Pacific expects to show the fastest growth rate among all the regions. The roadmap to the growth includes popularity of carrier Wi-Fi access service as a premium service, and rise in data traffic in cellular network. Another factor such as the number of mobile users in India and China are increasing by big numbers and and is expected to reach the highest across the globe due to the growing population. With the increasing penetration of smartphones, the mobile traffic is also expected to rise in these countries, thereby creating varied opportunities for Asia Pacific to become an emerging market for carrier Wi-Fi equipment market, flagging new technological methods and techniques for telecom operators to develop.Access Report Details @LIST OF TABLESTable1 World Population By Major Regions (2017 To 2030)Table2 Global Carrier Wi-Fi Equipment Market: By Region, 2017-2023Table3 North America Carrier Wi-Fi Equipment Market: By Country, 2017-2023LIST OF FIGURESFIGURE 1 Global Carrier Wi-Fi Equipment Market SegmentationFIGURE 2 Forecast MethodologyFIGURE 3 Porters Five Forces Analysis Of Global Carrier Wi-Fi Equipment MarketAbout 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.Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.comEurope Patient Simulators Market Outlook to 2025 - Kyoto Kagaku Co., Ltd, Simulab Corporation, Simulaids, Mentice AB, Surgical science

Europe Patient Simulators Market

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Simulated blood can be propelled into the veins through an intravenous tube. Patient simulators are life-like manikins that react physiologically as they were alive. The report would be of an interest to various stakeholders operating in the patient simulators market. Patient simulators are incorporated with computer software which helps to replicate normal and abnormal responses of the body to events that include attack of asthma and therapeutic interventions, which include a drug side effect. These stakeholders include academic medical centres, government research organizations, hospitals & clinics, research & consulting firms, insurers, medical devices companies, and professional societies.The Europe patient simulators market is expected to reach US$ 718.1 Mn in 2025 from US$ 217.2 Mn in 2017. The patient simulators market is estimated to grow with a CAGR of 16.3% from 2018-2025.Get Sample Pages atTop Companies mentioned in this report are-1. CAE Healthcare2. Laerdal Medical3. 3D Systems, Inc.4. U.S. Security Care, Inc.5. Gaumard Scientific6. Kyoto Kagaku Co., Ltd.7. Simulab Corporation8. Simulaids9. Surgical science10. Mentice ABEurope patient simulators market, based on the product was segmented into adult patient simulator, infant simulator, and childbirth simulator. Patient Simulators market is segmented by product and end user. The patient simulators market, based on end user was segmented into academic institutes, hospitals, and military organizations.The objective of the study is to describe, define, and forecast the patient simulators market by product, end user and country. The report also provide detailed information regarding the major factors influencing growth of the market (drivers, restraints, opportunities, and trends). The report helps to analyze market with respect to individual growth trends, prospects, and contributions to the overall market.The report analyzes factors affecting patient simulators market from both demand and supply side and further evaluates market dynamics effecting the market during the forecast period i.e., drivers, restraints, opportunities, and future trend. The report also provides exhaustive PEST analysis for all countries namely; Germany, France, UK, Italy and Spain after evaluating political, economic, social and technological factors effecting the market in these countries.Browse Complete Report atAbout Us - The Insight Partners is a one stop industry research provider of actionable intelligence. We help our clients in getting solutions to their research requirements through our syndicated and consulting research services. We are a specialist in Healthcare IT, Biotechnology and Medical Device industries.Contact us -Contact Person : Sameer JoshiPhone : +1-646-491-9876Email Id : sam@theinsightpartners.comHydraulic Press Market Outlook to 2027 - Siempelkamp, Neff Press, SMS Group GmbH, ELECTROPNEUMATICS, Dorst Technologies, GmbH & Co. KG, Tianduan Press, Santec Exim, Jiangsu Xuduan Co, and Sanki Seiko Co

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This study also analyzes the market status, market share, growth rate, future trends, market drivers, opportunities and challenges, risks and entry barriers, sales channels, distributors and Porter's Five Forces Analysis.Hydraulic press market is experiencing a high demand for more efficient hydraulic press due to increase in demand for from various end-user industries. Factors such as high efficiency, low maintenance, and a rise in demand for fabricated metal especially in the automotive industry are the major drivers that are expected to drive the growth of this market. However, the high cost of ownership and need for technical assistance to operating hydraulic press are the major factors that may restrict the growth of hydraulic press market.The Major Key Market Players:1. Schuler AG2. Siempelkamp3. Neff Press4. SMS Group GmbH5. ELECTROPNEUMATICS6. Dorst Technologies GmbH & Co. KG7. Tianduan Press8. Santec Exim Pvt. Ltd.9. Jiangsu Xuduan Co. Ltd10. Sanki Seiko Co., Ltd.Get Sample Copy of this Report atHydraulic press market is experiencing a high demand for more efficient hydraulic press due to increase in demand for from various end-user industries. Factors such as high efficiency, low maintenance, and a rise in demand for fabricated metal especially in the automotive industry are the major drivers that are expected to drive the growth of this market. However, the high cost of ownership and need for technical assistance to operating hydraulic press are the major factors that may restrict the growth of hydraulic press market.The "Global Hydraulic Press Market Analysis to 2027" is a specialized and in-depth study of the hydraulic press industry with a focus on the global market trend. The report aims to provide an overview of the global Hydraulic press market with detailed market segmentation by type, application, end-users and geography. The global hydraulic press market is expected to witness high growth during the forecast period. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the leading market players and offers key trends and opportunities in the hydraulic press market.The report provides a detailed overview of the hydraulic press industry including both qualitative and quantitative information. It provides an overview and forecast of the global hydraulic press market based on type, end-users and application. It also provides market size and forecast till 2027 for overall Hydraulic press market with respect to five major regions, namely; North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Middle East and Africa (MEA) and South America (SAM). The market by each region is later sub-segmented by respective countries and segments. The report covers the analysis and forecast of 16 countries globally along with the current trend and opportunities prevailing in the region.Besides this, the report analyzes factors affecting hydraulic press market from both demand and supply side and further evaluates market dynamics affecting the market during the forecast period i.e., drivers, restraints, opportunities, and future trend. The report also provides exhaustive PEST analysis.Get Discount Now atAlso, key market players influencing the Hydraulic press market are profiled in the study along with their SWOT analysis and market strategies. The report also focuses on leading industry players with information such as company profiles, products, and services offered, financial information for the last 3 years, a key development in the past five years.Reasons to Buy- Current and future of Hydraulic Press Market outlook in the developed and emerging markets- Highlights key business priorities in order to assist companies to realign their business strategies- The segment that is expected to dominate the Hydraulic Press Market- Regions that are expected to witness the fastest growth during the forecast period- Identify the latest developments, Hydraulic Press Market shares, and strategies employed by the major market players- Save and reduce time carrying out entry-level research by identifying the growth, size, leading players and segments in the global Hydraulic Press Market- Develop/modify business expansion plans by using substantial growth offering developed and emerging marketsAbout Us:Reports Intellect is your one-stop solution for everything related to market research and market intelligence. We understand the importance of market intelligence and its need in today's competitive world.Our professional team works hard to fetch the most authentic research reports backed with impeccable data figures which guarantee outstanding results every time for you.So whether it is the latest report from the researchers or a custom requirement, our team is here to help you in the best possible way.Contact Us: -sales@reportsintellect.comPH - + 1-888-259-6883US Address:225 Peachtree Street NE,Suite 400,Atlanta, GA 30303Global Process Automation & Instrumentation Market 2018 Key Players: Syniverse Technologies LLC, AMD Telecom S.A., Fortytwo Telecom AB, CLX Communications AB, Silverstreet BV, Tanla Solutions Ltd.

Process Automation & Instrumentation Market

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Process Automation & Instrumentation Market:WiseGuyReports.com adds Process Automation & Instrumentation Market 2018 Global Analysis, Growth, Trends and Opportunities Research Report Forecasting 2025 reports tits database.Executive SummaryGlobal Process Automation & Instrumentation Market to reach USD 102.2 billion by 2025.The Process Automation & instrumentation market is expected to grow with a CAGR of 6.4% during the forecasted period of 2018-2025. The increasing demand for automated processes and instruments for various operations increasing demand for integrated packaged solutions and advanced software tools and services are the major factors driving the growth of the Global Process Automation and Instrumentation market. The declining operational and maintenance cost, maximized efficiency, improved quality of a plant, and protection to people and environment are some of the other factors, aiding to the growth of the global process automation and instrumentation market. This technology allows the companies to monitor operations in real time and improve on-site decision-making, in order to maximize production and raise facility uptimes. The process automation and instrumentation helps in minimizing the overall cost of the final product, as it helps in minimizing the costs expenses related to energy, infrastructure and manpower. Automation refers to the technologies required to achieve high grade performance by systems and machines with minimum human intervention. It also helps in eliminating any type of errors.On the basis of segmentation, The Process Automation & Instrumentation market is mainly segmented into Instrument, Solutions, Communication Protocol Devices and Application. The Instrument segment is divided into Analyzers, transmitters & Control Valve. The Solutions segment is divided into Advanced Process control, Distributed Control System, Human Machine Interface, Manufacturing Execution System, Programmable Logic Controller and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition. The Communication Protocol Devices segment is divided into Wireless Communication Protocol and Wired Communication Protocol. The Application segment is divided into Oil & Gas, Food & Beverages, Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, Water & Wastewater, Metals & Mining, Energy & Power, Pulp & Paper, Other Applications. The Instruments are likely to hold the largest share considering the process automation & Instrumentation market on the global scenario in the year 2017. The Instruments benefits in managing the plant assets, optimizing overall production processes and enhancing plant safety through the means of control & measurement and data acquisition. Moreover, Manufacturing execution Systems of the solution segment is expected to grow with the highest CAGR during the forecasted period as Manufacturing execution systems has the ability to perform multiple activities along with offer efficiency by monitoring quality and production optimization.On the basis of Geography, The Process automation & instrumentation market is mainly divided into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Rest of the World. The Asia-Pacific region is anticipated to be the fastest growing region considering the forecasted period owing to investments made in energy infrastructure along with rise in the demand for electricity & policy makers push to effective power reliability & home grown industries.The regional analysis of Global Process Automation & Instrumentation Market is considered for the key regions such as Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, Latin America and Rest of the World. North America is the leading/significant region across the world in terms of market share. Whereas, owing to the countries such as China, Japan, and India, Asia Pacific region is anticipated to exhibit higher growth rate / CAGR over the forecast period 2018-2025.Request Sample Report @The Companies involved in the market are as follows:Syniverse Technologies LLCAMD Telecom S.A.Fortytwo Telecom ABCLX Communications ABSilverstreet BVTanla Solutions LtdOgangi CorporationCybercommRoute Mobile LimitedNexmoDIMOCOThe objective of the study is to define market sizes of different segments & countries in recent years and to forecast the values to the coming eight years. The report is designed to incorporate both qualitative and quantitative aspects of the industry within each of the regions and countries involved in the study. Furthermore, the report also caters the detailed information about the crucial aspects such as driving factors & challenges which will define the future growth of the market. Additionally, the report shall also incorporate available opportunities in micro markets for stakeholders to invest along with the detailed analysis of competitive landscape and product offerings of key players. The detailed segments and sub-segment of the market are explained below:By Instrument:AnalyzerTransmittersControl ValveBy Solution:Advanced Process controlDistributed Control SystemHuman Machine InterfaceManufacturing Execution SystemProgrammable Logic ControllerSupervisory Control and Data AcquisitionBy Communication Protocol Devices:Wireless Communication ProtocolWired Communication ProtocolBy Application:Oil & GasFood & BeveragesChemicalsPharmaceuticalsWater & WastewaterMetals & MiningEnergy & PowerPulp & PaperOther ApplicationsFurthermore, years considered for the study are as follows:Historical year  2015, 2016Base year  2017Forecast period  2018 to 2025Target Audience of the Global Process Automation & Instrumentation Market in Market Study:Key Consulting Companies & AdvisorsLarge, medium-sized, and small enterprisesVenture capitalistsValue-Added Resellers (VARs)Third-party knowledge providersInvestment bankersInvestorsTable of ContentsGlobal Process Automation & Instrumentation Market Definition and Scope1.1. Research Objective1.2. Market Definition1.3. Scope of The Study1.4. Years Considered for The Study1.5. Currency Conversion Rates1.6. Report LimitationResearch Methodology1.7. Research Process1.7.1. Data Mining1.7.2. Analysis1.7.3. Market Estimation1.7.4. Validation1.7.5. Publishing1.8. Research AssumptionExecutive Summary1.9. Global & Segmental Market Estimates & Forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)1.10. Key TrendsGlobal Process Automation & Instrumentation Market Dynamics1.11. Growth Prospects1.11.1. Drivers1.11.2. Restraints1.11.3. Opportunities1.12. Industry Analysis1.12.1. Porters 5 Force Model1.12.2. PEST Analysis1.12.3. Value Chain Analysis1.13. Analyst Recommendation & ConclusionGlobal Process Automation & Instrumentation Market, By Type1.14. Market Snapshot1.15. Market Performance - Potential Model1.16. Global Process Automation & Instrumentation Market, Sub Segment Analysis1.16.1. Transmitters1.16.1.1. Market estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)1.16.1.2. Regional breakdown estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)1.16.2. Analyzer1.16.2.1. Market estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)1.16.2.2. Regional breakdown estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)1.16.3. Control Valve1.16.3.1. Market estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)1.16.3.2. Regional breakdown estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)Global Process Automation & Instrumentation Market, By Solution1.17. Market Snapshot1.18. Market Performance - Potential Model1.19. Global Process Automation & Instrumentation Market, Sub Segment Analysis1.19.1. Advanced Process Control1.19.1.1. Market estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)1.19.1.2. Regional breakdown estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)1.19.2. Distributed Control System1.19.2.1. Market estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)1.19.2.2. Regional breakdown estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)1.19.3. Human Machine Interface1.19.3.1. Market estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)1.19.3.2. Regional breakdown estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)1.19.4. Manufacturing Execution System1.19.4.1. Market estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)1.19.4.2. Regional breakdown estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)1.19.5. Programmable Logic Controller1.19.5.1. Market estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)1.19.5.2. Regional breakdown estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)1.19.6. Supervisory Control & Data Acquisition1.19.6.1. Market estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)1.19.6.2. Regional breakdown estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)Global Process Automation & Instrumentation Market, By Communication Protocols1.20. Market Snapshot1.21. Market Performance - Potential Model1.22. Global Process Automation & Instrumentation Market, Sub Segment Analysis1.22.1. Wireless Communication Protocol1.22.1.1. Market estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)1.22.1.2. Regional breakdown estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)1.22.2. IP Phone1.22.2.1. Market estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)1.22.2.2. Regional breakdown estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)1.22.3. Wired Communication Protocol1.22.3.1. Market estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)1.22.3.2. Regional breakdown estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)1.22.4. Tags1.22.4.1. Market estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)1.22.4.2. Regional breakdown estimates & forecasts, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)ContinuousFor further information on this report, visit Wise Guy Reports Is Part Of The Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. And Offers Premium Progressive Statistical Surveying, Market Research Reports, Analysis & Forecast Data For Industries And Governments Around The Globe. Wise Guy Reports Features An Exhaustive List Of Market Research Reports From Hundreds Of Publishers Worldwide. We Boast A Database Spanning Virtually Every Market Category And An Even More Comprehensive Collection Of Market Research Reports Under These Categories And Sub-Categories.WISEGUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528/524, Amanora Chambers, Magarpatta Road, Hadapsar Pune, Maharashtra 411028+91 841 198 5042On a typical day, there will be two oyster varieties on offer, one from each coast, though availability occasionally alters the mix. A large shucking station sits in the middle of the long bar; grab a seat close by, and you can watch your order being prepped. The oysters are treated lovingly, served pristinely clean and icy-cold with a choice of sauces. The cucumber-gin granita is especially good, as many oysters possess faint cucumber flavor, and I liked the lightly tart rhubarb mignonette. The Old Bay cocktail sauce is available for those who insist on doing that to oysters.Specialty Generics Global Market 2018: Key Players  Novartis, Pfizer Inc., Turing Pharmaceuticals, Teva Pharmaceutical Ltd., Mylan N.V., Akorn, Inc.

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Specialty Generics IndustryDescriptionWiseguyreports.Com Adds Specialty Generics -Market Demand, Growth, Opportunities and Analysis Of Top Key Player Forecast To 2022 To Its Research DatabaseAccording to Stratistics MRC, the Global Specialty Generics market is estimated at $XX billion in 2016 and is expected to reach $XX billion by 2022 growing at a CAGR of XX% from 2016 to 2022. Increase in prevalence of cancer across the globe and favourable government policies are the factors fuelling the market growth. Whereas factors like lack of skilled professionals is restraining the market. Oncology segment is anticipated to grow at higher CAGR during forecast period owing to the expirations of existing patent. North America accounted for the highest market share as compared to other regions owing to favourable government policies. Asia pacific region is expected to show healthy growth rate during forecast period.Some of the key players in the market include Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc., Novartis, Pfizer Inc., Turing Pharmaceuticals, Teva Pharmaceutical Ltd., Mylan N.V., Akorn, Inc., Mallinckrodt, Intellipharmaceutics and Alvogen.Route of Administration Covered: Topical Parenteral Oral Other Route of AdministrationRequest for Sample Report @Disease Indications Covered: Multiple Sclerosis Infectious diseases Oncology Other Disease IndicationsDistribution Channels Covered: Mail Order Pharmacies Hospital Pharmacies Retail PharmaciesRegions Covered: North Americao USo Canadao Mexico Europeo Germanyo Franceo Italyo UKo Spaino Rest of Europe Asia Pacifico Japano Chinao Indiao Australiao New Zealando Rest of Asia Pacific Rest of the Worldo Middle Easto Brazilo Argentinao South Africao EgyptWhat our report offers:- Market share assessments for the regional and country level segments- Market share analysis of the top industry players- Strategic recommendations for the new entrants- Market forecasts for a minimum of 6 years of all the mentioned segments, sub segments and the regional markets- Market Trends (Drivers, Constraints, Opportunities, Threats, Challenges, Investment Opportunities, and recommendations)- Strategic recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimations- Competitive landscaping mapping the key common trends- Company profiling with detailed strategies, financials, and recent developments- Supply chain trends mapping the latest technological advancementsLeave a Query @Table of Content1 Executive Summary2 Preface2.1 Abstract2.2 Stake Holders2.3 Research Scope2.4 Research Methodology2.4.1 Data Mining2.4.2 Data Analysis2.4.3 Data Validation2.4.4 Research Approach2.5 Research Sources2.5.1 Primary Research Sources2.5.2 Secondary Research Sources2.5.3 Assumptions3 Market Trend Analysis3.1 Introduction3.2 Drivers3.3 Restraints3.4 Opportunities3.5 Threats3.6 Emerging Markets3.7 Futuristic Market Scenario4 Porters Five Force Analysis4.1 Bargaining power of suppliers4.2 Bargaining power of buyers4.3 Threat of substitutes4.4 Threat of new entrants4.5 Competitive rivalry5 Global Specialty Generics Market, By Route of Administration5.1 Introduction5.2 Topical5.3 Parenteral5.4 Oral5.5 Other Route of Administration...9 Key Developments9.1 Agreements, Partnerships, Collaborations and Joint Ventures9.2 Acquisitions & Mergers9.3 New Product Launch9.4 Expansions9.5 Other Key Strategies10 Company Profiling10.1 Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc.10.2 Novartis10.3 Pfizer Inc.10.4 Turing Pharmaceuticals10.5 Teva Pharmaceutical Ltd.10.6 Mylan N.V.10.7 Akorn, Inc.10.8 Mallinckrodt10.9 Intellipharmaceutics10.10 AlvogenBuy Now @Continued...Contact Us: Sales@Wiseguyreports.Com Ph: +1-646-845-9349 (Us) Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (Uk)About Us: Wise Guy Reports Is Part Of The Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. And Offers Premium Progressive Statistical Surveying, Market Research Reports, Analysis & Forecast Data For Industries And Governments Around The Globe. Wise Guy Reports Features An Exhaustive List Of Market Research Reports From Hundreds Of Publishers Worldwide. We Boast A Database Spanning Virtually Every Market Category And An Even More Comprehensive Collection Of Market Research Reports Under These Categories And Sub-Categories.Addres: Wise Guy Research Consultants Pvt Ltd Pune  411028 Maharashtra, Global Ph: +91 841 198 5042Prostate Cancer Market Evolving Opportunities by Top Industry Players Profiles - OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc., Bayer Pharma AG, Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

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The report provides detail information about and strategies used by top key players in the industry. The report also gives a broad study of the different market segments and regions.The report for Global Prostate Cancer Market by Market Research Future comprises of extensive primary research along with the detailed analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects by various industry experts, key opinion leaders to gain a deeper insight of the market and industry performance.The global prostate cancer market is showing the steady growth; mainly owing to increase in patient population. According to report published by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2014, there were around 172,258 men in the United States, who diagnosed with prostate cancer and around 28,343 men died from prostate cancer.These rising number of prostate cancer create an opportunity for the player to introduce innovative treatment option.GET FREE SAMPLE REPORT @Prostate Cancer Market - Key AcquisitionsOncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (U.S.)Bayer Pharma AG (Berlin)Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (U.S.)Tolmar Inc. (U.S.)OncBioMune Pharmaceuticals Inc. (U.S.)Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. (U.S.)Tokai Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (U.S.)These are some of the leading players at the cutting edge of the competition in the market of prostate cancer, globally.Prostate Cancer Market - Growth and AnalysisCompanies are continuously invent new treatment to capture the global market. Thus players invest more in research and development activities.In this regards, Bayer Pharma AG announced that they have many drugs for the treatment of prostate cancer in there pipeline such as Radium-223 dichloride and BAY 1841788 (ODM-201, AR antagonist).Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 2015, acquired Exini Diagnostics AB in order to support its imaging and therapeutic agents with sophisticated analytical tools and other technologies to help patients and physicians understand, target and treat prostate cancer.These companies are more investing in research and development program to provide the best treatment option, which help them to keep ahead with their competitor.These acquisitions help companies to provide better treatment opportunity in the market and hence improve the quality of life for the people around the world.Prostate cancer Market - Regional AnalysisAccording to Prostate cancer Foundation, it is the most common type of cancer in United States. The Older you are more chance of getting diagnosed with prostate cancer. 1 in 8 men get diagnosed with this type of cancer at some points of age.According to American Cancer Society, in 2017, it is estimate that around 161,360 new cases of prostate cancer will get diagnosed and around 26,730 death occurs owing to prostate cancer in United States.Europe is also consider huge market for prostate cancer market players, owing to present of huge population affected with disease.Asia Pacific region are considering the growing market, owing to presence of huge population suffering with prostate cancer.OBTAIN COMPLETE 90 PAGES PREMIUM RESEARCH REPORT DETAILS ENABLED WITH RESPECTIVE 40+ TABLES AND FIGURES @About US:Market Research Future (MRFR), enable customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Office No. 528, Amanora ChambersPune - 411028Maharashtra, IndiaComparative analysis of Business Resource Management Consulting Market 2018 with size, share, future growth, opportunities Research Report Forecast 2025 by SUEZ, EY, KPMG, Accenture, PM.

Business Resource Management Consulting market

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Global Business Resource Management Consulting market size was xx million US$ and it is expected to reach xx Billion US$ by the end of 2025, with a CAGR of xx% between 2018 and 2025.Business Resource Management Consulting is a service that provides business strategy and human resources advice to clients. This report focuses on global business resource management consulting status, future forecasts, growth opportunities, key markets and key players. The research goal is to introduce business resource management consulting development in the United States, Europe and China. The detailed report provides a comprehensive overview of market trend analysis and market forecasts, as well as accurate facts, statistics, market-related data and other important information about market-related market research reports compiled in the software library. In analyzing the feasibility of new investments in these markets, these reports may be useful to new and existing participants related to the software industry.For Sample Copy of this report:The main goal for the dissemination of this information is to give a descriptive analysis of how the trends could potentially affect the upcoming future of Cloud accounting software market during the forecast period. This markets competitive manufactures and the upcoming manufactures are studied with their detailed research. Revenue, production, price, market share of these players is mentioned with precise information.Companies Profiled in this report includes:RTM Consulting, SUEZ, EY, KPMG, Accenture, PM Solutions, Business Consulting Resources, Global Resources, Deloitte, PWC, EBM International, Groupe Montpetit, Univest, Trissential, Robert Half, Stillwell Management, Baku Business Consulting, TPO, Procept, Merritt & Merritt, LCI ConsultingResearch Highlights:Revenue ForecastYear on Year GrowthEmerging RegionsTop CompaniesAvail discount on this report:According to the reportcunsultants, the global market for Business Resource Management Consulting 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.For more enquiry:This statistical surveying research study presents an all-inclusive evaluation of the worldwide market for network management software, 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.Table of Contents:Global Business Resource Management Consulting Market Research Report 2018-2025Chapter 1: Business Resource Management Consulting Market OverviewChapter 2: Global Economic Impact on IndustryChapter 3: Business Resource Management Consulting 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: Business Resource Management Consulting Market Effect Factors AnalysisChapter 12: Global Business Resource Management Consulting Market ForecastAbout Us:Report Consultant - A global leader in analytics, research and advisory that can assist you to renovate your business and modify your approach. With us, you will learn to take decisions intrepidly. We make sense of drawbacks, opportunities, circumstances, estimations and information using our experienced skills and verified methodologies. Our research reports will give you an exceptional experience of innovative solutions and outcomes. We have effectively steered businesses all over the world with our market research reports and are outstandingly positioned to lead digital transformations. Thus, we craft 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Global Mining Equipment Market 2018 By Key Players : Caterpillar(BUCYRUS), Komatsu, Liebherr, Hitachi, Terex Mining, Joy Global(P&H)

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Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Mining Equipment Market Insights, Forecast to 2025" to its huge collection of research reports.This report presents the worldwide Mining Equipment market size (value, production and consumption), splits the breakdown (data status 2013-2018 and forecast to 2025), by manufacturers, region, type and application.This study also analyzes the market status, market share, growth rate, future trends, market drivers, opportunities and challenges, risks and entry barriers, sales channels, distributors and Porter's Five Forces Analysis.Enter your information below to receive a free sample copy of this report @The Mining Equipment includes the consumption of underground mining equipment and Surface mining equipment, such as crushing, pulverizing and screening machinery, portable drilling rigs and parts, portable crushing, screening, washing and combination plants, drills and other machinery (except parts).In this report, we mainly do research and analysis for drill jumbo, drilling rig and drilling machine.As Chinese overall economic downward trend in the past few years, and international economic situation is complicated, in the next few years there will be many uncertainties, and coupled with Mining Equipment industry in short supply on the market in the past few years, more and more companies enter into Mining Equipment industry, the current demand for Mining Equipment product is relatively low, lack of demand, excess supply. Ordinary Mining Equipment products on the market do not sell well; Industrial Mining Equipments price is lower than past years. The signal of market price change indicates the trend in the Mining Equipment industry, low-end product has excess capacity; high-end product is in short supply.There is a certain market space in demand of Mining Equipment, but basically showing the scarcity of high-end products. Many high-end products are needed to seize market share of imports acts, because local enterprises export more low-end products overcapacity or molding process basic Materials.The Mining Equipment market was valued at 1270 Million US$ in 2017 and is projected to reach 1470 Million US$ by 2025, at a CAGR of 1.8% during the forecast period. In this study, 2017 has been considered as the base year and 2018 to 2025 as the forecast period to estimate the market size for Mining Equipment.The following manufacturers are covered in this report:Caterpillar(BUCYRUS)KomatsuLiebherrHitachiTerex MiningJoy Global(P&H)IZ-KARTEX(OMZ)Taiyuan Heavy IndustrySANYIMining Equipment Breakdown Data by TypeMineral Processing EquipmentSurface Mining EquipmentUnderground Mining EquipmentMining Drills & BreakersCrushing, Pulverizing, & Screening EquipmentOthersGet Year End Offers on this Report atMining Equipment Breakdown Data by ApplicationMetal MiningMineral MiningCoal MiningMining Equipment Consumption by RegionNorth AmericaUnited StatesCanadaMexicoAsia-PacificChinaIndiaJapanSouth KoreaAustraliaIndonesiaMalaysiaPhilippinesThailandVietnamEuropeGermanyFranceUKItalyRussiaRest of EuropeCentral & South AmericaBrazilRest of South AmericaMiddle East & AfricaGCC CountriesTurkeyEgyptSouth AfricaRest of Middle East & AfricaTo Browse a Full Report with TOC:Mining Equipment Production by RegionUnited StatesEuropeChinaJapanOther RegionsThe study objectives of this report are:To analyze and study the global Mining Equipment capacity, production, value, consumption, status (2013-2017) and forecast (2018-2025);Focuses on the key Mining Equipment manufacturers, to study the capacity, production, value, market share and development plans in future.Focuses on the global key manufacturers, to define, describe and analyze the market competition landscape, SWOT analysis.To define, describe and forecast the market by type, application and region.To analyze the global and key regions market potential and advantage, opportunity and challenge, restraints and risks.To identify significant trends and factors driving or inhibiting the market growth.To analyze the opportunities in the market for stakeholders by identifying the high growth segments.To strategically analyze each submarket with respect to individual growth trend and their contribution to the marketTo analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the marketTo strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies.In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Mining Equipment :History Year: 2013 - 2017Base Year: 2017Estimated Year: 2018Forecast Year: 2018 - 2025This report includes the estimation of market size for value (million USD) and volume (K Units). Both top-down and bottom-up approaches have been used to estimate and validate the market size of Mining Equipment market, to estimate the size of various other dependent submarkets in the overall market. Key players in the market have been identified through secondary research, and their market shares have been determined through primary and secondary research. All percentage shares, splits, and breakdowns have been determined using secondary sources and verified primary sources.For the data information by region, company, type and application, 2017 is considered as the base year. Whenever data information was unavailable for the base year, the prior year has been considered.Key StakeholdersMining Equipment ManufacturersMining Equipment Distributors/Traders/WholesalersMining Equipment Subcomponent ManufacturersIndustry AssociationDownstream VendorsAbout Us:QYResearchReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYResearchReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact Us:Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Email: sales@qyresearchreports.comOver-the-Counter Drugs Market - Global Competitive Analysis By Top Key Players like Pfizer, Inc., Novartis AG, GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Bayer AG, Sanofi And Other

Over-the-Counter Drugs

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The global over-the-counter drugs market is highly competitive, owing to increasing adoption of personal healthcare and self-medication due to rising awareness among the people regarding health precautions and basic drug knowledge. Under such conditions, the competitors experience performance pressure in terms of pricing. Market players are thus focusing on development of OTC drugs in cost-effective way that will help to cater price-sensitive customers, in turn, significantly maintain and subsequently increase profit margins, especially in emerging economies.The top 10 players operating in the global over-the-counter drugs market include:Pfizer, Inc.,Novartis AGGlaxoSmithKline PlcBayer AGSanofiGlenmark PharmaceuticalsMerck KGaATeva PharmaceuticalsJohnson & Johnson Services, Inc.Boehringer IngelheimRequest a Sample Copy Of this Business Report :Pfizer, Inc. - Pfizer, Inc. is a global leading manufacturer and distributor of over-the-counter drugs, managing its commercial operation through two major business segments namely, Pfizer Innovative Health and Pfizer Essential Health. OTC drugs contribute to a major part of Innovative Health Segment, comprising annual revenue of US$ 29,197 million in 2016.Novartis AG - Novartis AG, is widely known for its research, development, manufacturing, and marketing of healthcare products across the globe. Novartis operates its drugs business through two major operating channels Innovative Medicine and Drugs manufactured by Sandoz which is a subsidiary of Novartis, has contributed to positioning the company as one of the top players in global Over-the-counter drugs market.GlaxoSmithKline Plc - GlaxoSmithKline, one of the renowned giant in pharmaceutical industry and over-the-counter drugs market is a global science-led company headquartered in Europe, which develops and manufactures pharmaceutical products, including vaccines, health-related consumer products, and over-the-counter medicines. The consumer healthcare business of GlaxoSmithKline is operated through its subsidiary named GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Holdings Ltd. the subsidiary is split into two equal businesses, namely Over-the-counter Medicines and Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), across four major categories of Oral Health, Wellness, Skin Health, and Nutrition.Bayer AG - Bayer AG is a global life science company that has a history of over 150 years in areas of healthcare and agriculture. The company operates its business through four major segments namely, Pharmaceuticals, Consumer Health, Crop Science, and Animal Health. Over-the-counter drugs contribute to a major revenue share of the consumer health segment, which accounted for US$ 7,179.19 million in 2016.Sanofi - Sanofi is a global life science company based in France (Europe) that is aimed towards improving healthcare access to people. The company operates its business through two major segments namely, Pharmaceuticals and Vaccines. The company operates its over-the-counter business as a part of a major business segment named Consumer Healthcare (CHC). Sanofi focuses on partnerships and acquisitions to expand its consumer healthcare business.Following is the Impact Analysis of the strategies employed by the competitors and its impact on the revenues and sales in the global over-the-counter drugs market.For More Details Download the PDF brochure:About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Mr.ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email:sales@coherentmarketinsights.comVisit our news Website:US$ 6089.82 Million Opportunity by 2022 in the Condom Market: Analysis by Top Leading Companys  Durex, Humanwell Healthcare, Okamoto, Trojan, Sagami, TNR Condom, Karex, NOX, Manforce Condoms

Condom Market

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Global Condom Market Report 2018 report provides the newest industry data and industry future trends, allowing you to identify the products and end users driving Revenue growth and profitability. The industry report lists the leading competitors and provides the insights strategic industry Analysis of the key factors influencing the market.Global Condom Market Overview:The report spread across 122 pages is an overview of the Global Condom Market Report 2018. The Global Condom Market is projected to grow at a healthy growth rate from 2018 to 2022 according to new research. The study focuses on market trends, leading players, supply chain trends, technological innovations, key developments, and future strategies.Available Exclusive Sample Copy of this Report @The Condom industry has also suffered a certain impact, but still maintained a relatively optimistic growth, the past four years, Condom Market size to maintain the average annual growth rate of 9.21% from 3182.65 Million $ in 2014 to 4145.88 Million $ in 2017, market research analysts believe that in the next few years, Condom market size will be further expanded, we expect that by 2022, The market size of the Condom will reach 6089.82 Million $.According to the market report analysis, the growing awareness through, government initiatives and comprehensive sex education programs to reduce the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases is driving the market growth across the globe. Currently, market has witnessed the entry of many new players due to increased demand of latex and non-latex condoms. Increasing competition among market players has led to the innovation in material, shape, and packaging of the condom products.As per the regional analysis, APAC will remain the largest market both in terms of revenue and shipment followed by North America. APAC is led by China where contraceptives are witnessing a surge in their demand. The Condom Market is witnessing a high growth in regional markets such as India, China, Japan, and South Korea, and these devices are also gaining popularity among end-users.This is an expert and top to bottom examination on the present condition of the Condom Market. The report gives a fundamental review of the business including definitions, arrangements, applications and industry chain structure. The Condom Market investigation is accommodated the worldwide markets including advancement patterns, focused scene examination, and key districts improvement status. Improvement strategies and plans are additionally examined and producing procedures and cost structures broke down. Condom Market import / send out utilization, free market activity figures and cost and creation esteem net edges are additionally given.Purchase this report online with 122 Pages, List of Tables & Figures and in-depth Table of Contents on Global Condom Market Report 2018 @Major Key Players:1 Durex2 Humanwell Healthcare3 Okamoto4 Trojan5 Sagami6 TNR Condom7 Karex8 NOX9 Manforce condoms10 HLL Lifecare11 Unidus Corp12 Kimono and MoreMarket segment by Regions/Countries, this report covers1 North America Country (United States, Canada)2 South America3 Asia Country (China, Japan, India, Korea)4 Europe Country (Germany, UK, France, Italy)5 Other Country (Middle East, Africa, GCC)Grab Your Report at an Impressive Discount @What Information does this report contain?1 A detailed analysis of regulatory trends, drivers, industry pitfalls, challenges and growth opportunities for participants2 Which are the leading market products, applications & regions and how will they perform by 2022?3 What are the technologies & innovation trends, how will they evolve by 2022?4 Which companies lead the industry, how are they positioned in the market in terms of sustainability, competency, production capacity and strategic outlook?In the end, this report covers data and information on capacity and production overview, production, market share analysis, sales overview, supply, sales, and shortage, import, export and consumption as well as cost, price, revenue and gross margin of Condom Market.Major Points in Table of Contents:Global Condom Market Report 20181 Condom Product Definition2 Global Condom Market Manufacturer Share and Market Overview3 Manufacturer Condom Business Introduction4 Global Condom Market Segmentation (Region Level)5 Global Condom Market Segmentation (Product Type Level)6 Global Condom Market Segmentation (Industry Level)7 Global Condom Market Segmentation (Channel Level)8 Condom Market Forecast 2018-20229 Condom Segmentation Product Type10 Condom Segmentation Industry11 Condom Cost of Production Analysis12 ConclusionAbout usBusinessindustryReports.com is digital database of comprehensive market reports for global industries. As a market research company, we take pride in equipping our clients with insights and data that holds the power to truly make a difference to their business. Our mission is singular and well-defined  we want to help our clients envisage their business environment so that they are able to make informed, strategic and therefore successful decisions for themselves.Media ContactBusiness Industry ReportsPune  Indiasales@businessindustryreports.com+19376349940Human Identification Analysis Software Market expected to reach US$ 873.2 million by 2023

Human Identification Analysis Software Market

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The study report worldwide Human Identification Analysis Software covers the market analysis for the regions - North America, Europe, Asia Pacific/ Southeast Asia and Row and country analysis of China, Japan, and India focusing on top manufacturers in world market and the market share they hold including their contribution to the market growthGet Premium Sample Copy @The Global Human Identification Analysis Software Market is growing at the CAGR of ~8.1% during the forecast period and expected to reach US$ 873.2 million by 2023.Key Players for Global Human Identification Analysis Software Market:Agilent Technologies (US), Laboratory Corporation of America (US), GE Healthcare (US), Human Identification Technologies (US), LabCorp DNA Identity (US), Illumina, Inc. (US), LGC Limited (UK), Promega Corporation. (US), QIAGEN (Germany), Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. (US), and others.Market Scenario:Global human identification analysis software market is growing moderately. Increasing demand for DNA database, government initiatives, increasing funding and advancement in the field of biotechnology are key drivers for the global human identification analysis software market. All the companies are investing money to develop new solutions that driving the market growth. Innovation and rapid adoption are also major driving forces for the growth of global human identification analysis software market.Segments:Global Human Identification Analysis Software Market has been segmented on the basis of products which Instrumentation, Consumables, and others. Instruments are further sub segmented into DNA Extraction, DNA Amplification, DNA Quantification, kits and others. On the basis of diagnosis, it is segmented into Electroencephalogram (EEG), Electronystagmography (ENG), Head CT, Head MRI, Hearing test, Magnetic resonance angiography, Caloric stimulation, and others. On the basis of technology, the market is segmented into DNA Testing, Capillary Electrophoresis (CE), Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), Automated Liquid Handling, Microarray, Next Generation Sequencing, Purification & Extraction and Others. On the basis of application it is segmented into Forensics, DNA analysis, Genetic studies, Anthropology, and others. Forensics is sub segmented into Facial Recognition, Fingerprint Identification, Evidence Collection, and others. DNA analysis is Sub segmented into STR analysis, DNA data basing, DNA casework, Paternity testing, and others.Browse Full Reports @Regional Analysis of Global Human Identification Analysis Software Market:Considering the global scenario of the market, due to continuous innovation and rapid adoption of new technology, North America is the largest market for Human Identification Analysis Software. US is holding the largest market share in North America region. European market is second largest, west European countries are dominating in this market. On the other hand, due developing healthcare infrastructure, and increasing healthcare spending, the Asia-Pacific (APAC) is fastest growing market for Human Identification Analysis Software and expected to grow significantly during the forecast period. Middle East and Africa (ME&A) is likely to have a limited growth in the market due to comparatively low adoption of new technology.Table of Content1 Report Prologue2 Introduction2.1 Definition2.2 Scope of the Study2.2.1 Research Objective2.2.2 Assumptions2.2.3 Limitations2.3 Market Structure2.4. Market Segmentation3 Research Methodology3.1 Research Process3.2 Primary Research3.3 Secondary Research3.4 Market Size Estimation3.5 Forecast Model4 Market Dynamics4.1 Drivers4.2 Restraints4.3 Opportunities4.4 Mega Trends4.5 Macroeconomic Indicators Continued!Price: $4450 (Single User)Pages: 68Buy now @About US:Market Research Future (MRFR), enable customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.Contact Us:Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, IndiaPhone: +1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.comInterceptor Missiles Market Analysis Focusing on Top Key Players  Boeing Co., Lockheed Martin Corp., Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Raytheon Co. Aerojet Rocketdyne

Interceptor Missiles Market, Global Interceptor Missiles Market Size, Interceptor Missiles Industry, Interceptor Missiles

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Market Study Report recently introduced new title on 2017-2024 Global Interceptor Missiles Market Report that provides an in-depth overview of industry and competitive landscape, covering multiple market segments and elaborates market outlook and status to 2024.Global interceptor missiles market is expected to cross 3,000 units till 2024. Continuously increasing threat of attacks from rival countries has resulted in proliferating demand for interceptor missiles over the forecast timeframe. Multiple countries across the globe including Netherlands, U.S, Israel, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, etc., have purchased patriot interceptor missiles to strengthen their defense inventory, impacting the industry positively. Interceptor Missiles Market is estimated to surpass USD 14 billion by 2024; according to a new research report.Request a sample of this premium report at:PAC-3 is expected to account for highest interceptor missile market share crossing USD 6 billion over the coming years. Proliferating demand of these missiles, especially in developed countries will primarily support the revenue generation. For instance, in January 2013, the U.S. army entered into several contracts worth USD 755 million for purchasing 168 PAC-3 missiles and associated services and equipment. HQ-19 will exhibit over 40% CAGR till 2024 owing to its continuously rising usage as an upgradation of HQ-9. Its enhanced features as compared to its counterparts will further support the industry growth till 2024.Countries across the globe have witnessed a considerable increase in their defense budget. For instance, in 2015, the defense budget of China was USD 131 billion, which was increased by 11% and crossed USD 145 billion in 2016 and was further increased by 7% in 2017. This will accelerate the revenue generation owing to their enhanced purchasing power for defense systems. However, high initial investment and high manufacturing costs may restrain new entrants from entering the interceptor missile market.Surface to air missiles are expected to capture maximum interceptor missiles market revenue share of more than 80% by 2024. Some of the benefits offered includes light-weight and portability which in turn will drive the industry demand. Water to air missiles will exhibit approximately 7% CAGR owing to rising adoption of these missiles in various countries across the globe for naval border protection.Interceptor missiles of up to 125 kms range are anticipated to dominate the interceptor missiles market, generating a demand of over 2,000 units till 2024. Continuously increasing penetration of missiles conforming to this range such as PAC-3, Iron Dome, and SM-3, from MEA including UAE, Israel, and Saudi Arabia will primarily support the industry dominance. Interceptor missiles of range above 200 kms will exhibit over 18% CAGR in terms of revenue owing to rising deployment of advanced missiles such as HQ-19. Regular innovations in these missiles in countries such as China will further strengthen the industry penetration over the forecast timeframe.Request a discount on standard prices of this premium report at:MEA interceptor missiles market will showcase dominance over the next eight years owing to rising threat of enemy attacks across the region. Collaborations of various countries with industry players for purchasing of these missiles will further contribute towards the high revenue generation. For instance, UAE and Qatar are anticipated to enter an agreement with Lockheed Martin for supplying patriot missiles. Europe will witness over 7% CAGR till 2024 owing to rising sales of interceptor missiles from countries including Sweden and Poland.Lockheed Martin Corp., Boeing Co., Raytheon Co., Aerojet Rocketdyne, and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems are among the major industry players. Regular product innovations is among prominent strategies implemented by these participants. For instance, in January 2018, Lockheed Martin made enhancements in Aegis missile that is anticipated to result in rapid detection of threats and reduction in reaction time.Interceptor missiles market research report includes in-depth coverage of the industry with estimates & forecast in terms of volume in units and revenue in USD million from 2013 to 2024, for the following segments:Interceptor Missiles Market by Surface Surface to air Water to airInterceptor Missiles Market by Range Up to 125 kms Between 125 to 200 kms Above 200 kmsInterceptor Missiles Market by Technology THAAD PAC-3 SM-3 HQ-19 Iron dome FD-2000 Patriot GEM-T Aegis ashore AsterTable of Content:Chapter 1. Interceptor Missiles Market Methodology & ScopeChapter 2. Interceptor Missiles Market Executive SummaryChapter 3. Interceptor Missiles Industry InsightsChapter 4. Interceptor Missiles Market, By SurfaceChapter 5. Interceptor Missiles Market, By RangeChapter 6. Interceptor Missiles Market, By TechnologyChapter 7. Interceptor missiles Market, By RegionChapter 8. Interceptor Missiles Market Company ProfilesRelated Report:Global Defense Armored Vehicle MRO Market 2018 by Manufacturers, Regions, Type and Application, Forecast to 2023Armored vehicles are used by combatants in war zones or hostile environments to deter enemy attacks and to engage in direct attacks on enemy troops. Such vehicles are shielded with armors, as well as feature operational mobilities and tactical offensive and defensive capabilities.About Us:Marketstudyreport.com allows you to manage and control all corporate research purchases to consolidate billing and vendor management. You can eliminate duplicate purchases and customize your content and license management.Contact Us:Market Study Report4 North Main Street,Selbyville, Delaware 19975USAPhone: 1-302-273-0910US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email:sales@marketstudyreport.comWebsite:Blog:Companies Profiled in Embolic Protection Devices Market| Key Players: Keystone Heart Ltd., Allium Medical, Boston Scientific, Medtronic, Kalila Medical

Embolic Protection Devices Market

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Embolic Protection Devices Market is set to exceed USD 1.8 billion by 2024; according to a new research study published by Global Market Insights, Inc.Rising prevalence of cardiac diseases along with shift towards minimally invasive procedures is likely to stimulate embolic protection devices market growth. According to American Heart Association, cardiovascular diseases are identified to be the most common cause of death globally, claiming more than 17 million deaths in 2013. Citing this, various companies strive to enter the market by developing devices to protect brain injuries during various cardiac procedures.Request for a sample of this research report @The demand for embolic protection devices is predominantly driven by the increasing adoption of minimally invasive heart procedures such as carotid artery stenting and transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Moreover, growing awareness among physicians regarding risks of brain injuries during cardiovascular interventions should drive the market penetration of embolic protection devices.Increasing aging population has further contributed to rise in number of cardiovascular disease deaths globally. According to estimates, the percentage of population aged 60 and above is likely to reach to 1.6 billion by 2050. Since, aging is one of the significant factors responsible for cardiovascular diseases, the potential patient pool serves as a huge market opportunity for embolic protection devices in the coming years.Company profiled in this report based on Business overview, Financial data, Product landscape, Strategic outlook & SWOT analysis: Medtronic Kalila Medical (Abbott Laboratories) Allium Medical Keystone Heart Ltd. Boston Scientific Cardinal Health Metactive Medical, Inc. Contego Medical, LLC Edward Lifescience Transverse Medical IncGrowing patient awareness regarding peripheral vascular diseases and coronary artery diseases stands to be another significant factor driving the embolic protection devices market. Various government bodies, educational and non-government institutes are engaged spreading awareness about diseases and its treatment by launching awareness programs.Carotid artery diseases segment contributed largest share to the overall embolic protection devices market, mainly due to increase in the number of carotid artery stenting procedures. The adoption of minimally invasive procedures has led to popularity of carotid artery stenting over carotid endarterectomy. Further, increasing prevalence of carotid artery diseases should drive the segment growth during forecast period.Peripheral artery diseases segment represents a significant market opportunity, since this segment is less penetrated. Embolic protection is required to prevent blood clots travelling into blood stream during peripheral artery interventions.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @Distal filters are the largest revenue generators in embolic protection devices market owing to the advantages offered such as easy deployment, maintenance of antegrade blood flow, and non-interference with lesion visualization. Most of the manufacturers operating in this industry provide distal filter embolic protection devices.U.S. dominated the embolic protection devices market in 2016. The largest share of the region should be attributed to increasing aging population. People aged 65 and above are set to increase to 20% of U.S. population in 2030 from 13% in 2000. In addition, increased adoption of new technologies to reap immediate benefits and favorable reimbursement scenario should further propel embolic protection devices market.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Big boom in Rooftop Solar PV Global Market Growth by CAGR of +15% by 2025| Top Company, Regions, Applications, Top Companies like - : Canadian Solar, Hanwha Group, JA SOLAR, JinkoSolar, and Trina Solar

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Rooftop solar PV provides an efficient, exhaust-free, renewable electricity source that can be used in off-grid and on-grid applications. Rooftop solar PV provides an effective and efficient way to reduce carbon footprint and generate electricity from solar radiation. The market for the rooftop solar market is growing rapidly with the support of government subsidies and tax credits. The rooftop solar market has attracted a lot of equity investment and funding. There are currently two major silicon technologies available: single crystal and polycrystalline. Rooftop solar PV systems are rapidly gaining popularity due to their flexible nature and availability through rental planning. Rooftop solar electricity has been able to achieve grid parity in most countries.Global Rooftop Solar PV Market is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of +15%. The base year considered for the study is 2018 and the forecast period considered is 2018 To 2025.Companies in the Roof Solar System market are striving to achieve high quality care for patients at reasonable rates. In order to achieve reduction in cost, companies are investing in research and development, which in turn is helping them to introduce several important innovations in non-clinical solutions. The trend of cloud-based systems is anticipated to stay and help players in the market for achieving their goals efficiently. Today, digital health platforms and telemedicine technologies have become essential to monitor patients and improve patient care. Such technologies are improving the access to electronic health information.Get sample copy of this report at:Major Key Players in this report are: Canadian Solar, Hanwha Group, JA SOLAR, JinkoSolar, and Trina SolarIn addition, market attractiveness according to country, end-user, and other criteria is also provided, allowing the reader to gauge the most promising or profitable areas for investments. The report also provides a comprehensive overview of the competitive landscape, wherein detailed business profiles of some of the key companies in the market are included. The intensity of competition in the market, threat of new players, entry barriers for new players, and areas of improvement based on past data about popular strategies observed in the past few years are also examined in detail.The demand is driven by the rising need to reduce inefficiencies caused as a result of administrative processes. Roof Solar System is also becoming popular owing to their ability to align activities and documents of physicians or administrators with back-end central billing offices. It helps in procuring insightful reports and streamlines operations, thus improving workflows and patient care.Get discount at:The healthcare industry is undergoing a transition and scaling upwards owing to the rising competition between healthcare service providers. This has given rise to the penetration of telemedicine technology in the healthcare industry. Research N Reports has recently added a new market research study that studies the global market in detail. The report, titled Global Roof Solar System Market Research Report is now available for sale on the website of Research N Reports.The competitive landscape of the market has been examined on the basis of market share analysis of key players. Detailed market data about these factors is estimated to help vendors take strategic decisions that can strengthen their positions in the market and lead to more effective and larger stake in the global Roof Solar Systemmarket. Pricing and cost teardown analysis for products and service offerings of key players has also been undertaken for the study.For Enquiry OR Any Query? Ask to our Expert @Table of ContentsGlobal Roof Solar System Market Research Report 2018Chapter 1 Global Roof Solar System Market OverviewChapter 2 Global Economic Impact on IndustryChapter 3 Global Roof Solar System 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 AnalysisReport Consultant - A global leader in analytics, research and advisory that can assist you to renovate your business and modify your approach. With us, you will learn to take decisions intrepidly. We make sense of drawbacks, opportunities, circumstances, estimations and information using our experienced skills and verified methodologies.Our research reports will give you an exceptional experience of innovative solutions and outcomes. We have effectively steered businesses all over the world with our market research reports and are outstandingly positioned to lead digital transformations. Thus, we craft greater value for clients by presenting advanced opportunities in the global market.Rebecca Parker(Report Consultant)Akasaka biz tower,5-3-1 akasaka minato-ku,Tokyo, JapanContact No: +81-368444299sales@reportconsultant.comWhile whiskeys such as bourbon and rye are defined by U.S. law, American single malt whiskey is not. Virginia Distillery and more than 100 other distilleries that are part of a group that calls itself the American Single Malt Whiskey Commission seek to change that by developing a set of common standards for the category. Their definition would require American single malt to be: made from 100 percent malted barley; distilled at one distillery; mashed, distilled and matured in the United States; matured in an oak cask no larger than 700 liters; distilled to no more than 160 proof; and bottled at 80 proof or higher.IVF Services Market Growth & Key Business Strategies By Cycle Type (Fresh IVF Cycles (Non-Donor), Thawed IVF Cycles, and Donor Egg IVF Cycles), and End User (Fertility Clinics, Hospitals, Surgical Centers, and Others)

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The global IVF services market is anticipated to exhibit significant market growth during the forecast period, owing to rise in infertility rate, increase in trend of delayed pregnancies, surge in IVF success rate, and rise in disposable income worldwide. However, high cost, complications associated with IVF treatment, and low awareness level for IVF in some under developed regions hinder the growth of the IVF services market. Conversely, upsurge in fertility tourism, increase in number of fertility clinics, and growth opportunities in the emerging markets make way for IVF services market development in the future.Global IVF services market generated $10,587 million in 2017 and is projected to reach $22,467 million by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 9.8% from 2018 to 2025.Download PDF Report Sample @In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a type of assisted reproductive technology in which the ovum is artificially fertilized in laboratory settings and then implanted into the uterus. IVF is one of the widely used treatments, which assisted couples with infertility problems, single mothers, and the LGBT community to procreate. Increase in infertility rate, rise in trend of delayed pregnancies, surge in IVF success rate, and growth in disposable income worldwide drive the growth of the IVF services market globally. However, the market growth is restricted by higher cost, complications associated with IVF treatment, and low awareness level for IVF in some under developed regions.Based on cycle-type, the fresh cycle (non-donor) segment is major revenue contributor and is expected to dominate the market during the forecast period.Depending on end user, the global IVF services market is dominated by the fertility clinics segment and is estimated to continue this trend during the forecast period, due to low cost of treatment and increase in number of fertility clinics.The list of key players profiled in this report include Ambroise Par Group, amedes MVZ Cologne GmbH, AMP Center St Roch, AVA Clinic Scanfert, Bangkok IVF center, Bangkok IVF center (Bangkok Hospital), Betamedics, Biofertility Center, Bloom Fertility and Healthcare, Bloom Fertility Center, Bourn Hall Fertility Center, Bourn Hall International, Cardone Reproductive Medicine and Infertility, LLC, Center for Advanced Reproductive Medicine and Infertility, CHA Fertility Center, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital (Assisted Conception Unit), Cloudnine Fertility, Conceptions Reproductive Associates of Colorado, Cyprus IVF Centre, Dansk Fertilitetsklinik, EUVITRO S.L.U., Fakih IVF Fertility Center, Fertility and Gynecology Center Monterey Bay IVF, Fertility Associates, Fertility Center Berlin, Fertility Center of San Antoni, Fertility First, FIV Marbella, Fivet Centers Prof. Zech, Flinders Reproductive Medicine Pty Ltd, Genea Oxford Fertility Limited, Heidelberg University Hospital, Houston Fertility Center, International Centre for Reproductive Medicine, ICRM, IVF Canada, IVF NAMBA Clinic, IVF Panama Center for Reproduction Punta Pacfica, IVF Spain, IVI Panama, Ivinsemer, KL Fertility & Gynaecology Centre, Lifesure Fertility and Gynaecology centre, LIV Fertility Center, Manipal Fertility, Maria Fertility Hospital, MD Medical Group, Medfem Fertility Clinic, Monash IVF Wesley Hospital Auchenflower, Morpheus Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd., New hope fertility center, Oak Medical Group/Oak Clinic, OVA IVF Clinic Zurich, Procrea Fertility, RAPRUI Srl, Repromed, SAFE Fertility Center, Sanno Hospital, Servy Massey Fertility Institute, Shanghai Ji Ai Genetics & IVF Institute, Shanghai United Family Hospital, Sher Institute for Reproductive Medicine (SIRM), Southend Fertility and IVF, StorkKlinik (Stork IVF Clinic), The ARC-STER Center, The Bridge Centre, The Cape Fertility Clinic, The Hugh Wynter Fertility Management Unit, The Lister Fertility Clinic, The Montreal Fertility Center, Thomson Medical Pte. Ltd., Trianglen Fertility Clinic, TRIO Fertility, Virtus Health, Vitanova, VivaNeo - Medical Center Kinderwens, and Wunschkinder.Get Customized Report @Table Of ContentChapter: 1: INTRODUCTION1.1. Report Description1.2. Key Benefits for Stakeholders1.3. Key Market Segments1.4. Research Methodology1.4.1. Secondary research1.4.2. Primary research1.4.3. Analyst tools and modelsChapter: 2: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY2.1. Key Findings of the Study2.2. CXO PerspectiveChapter: 3: MARKET OVERVIEW3.1. Market Definition and Scope3.2. IVF Pricing Trends3.3. IVF Cycles, By Country3.4. Global IVF Services Market, By End User3.4.1. Market size and forecast3.4.2. Market volume and forecast3.4.3. Fertility clinics3.4.3.1. Market size and forecast3.4.4. Hospitals3.4.4.1. Market size and forecast3.4.5. Surgical centers3.4.5.1. Market size and forecast3.4.6. Clinical research institutes3.4.6.1. Market size and forecast3.5. Global IVF Services Market, By Cycle Type3.5.1. Market size and forecast3.5.2. Market volume and forecast3.5.3. Fresh IVF cycles (non-donor)3.5.3.1. Market size and forecast3.5.4. Thawed IVF cycles (non-donor)3.5.4.1. Market size and forecast3.5.5. Donor egg IVF cycles3.5.5.1. Market size and forecast3.6. Market Dynamics3.6.1. Drivers3.6.1.1. Delayed pregnancies in women3.6.1.2. Increase in global infertility rates3.6.1.3. Increase in gamete donations3.6.1.4. Increase in disposable income3.6.1.5. Increase in IVF success rates3.6.1.6. Surge in healthcare expenditure worldwide3.6.2. Restraints3.6.2.1. Cost constraints3.6.2.2. Complications associated with IVF treatment3.6.2.3. Low awareness level3.6.3. Opportunities3.6.3.1. Fertility tourism3.6.3.2. Growth opportunities in the emerging markets3.6.3.3. Increase in number of fertility clinics3.6.3.4. Rise in same sex marriage3.6.4. Impact analyses3.7. Key FindingsAccess Full Summery @About usAllied Market Research, a market research and advisory company of Allied Analytics LLP, provides business insights and market research reports to large as well as small & medium enterprises. The company assists its clients to strategize business policies and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.Allied Market Research provides one stop solution from the beginning of data collection to investment advice. The analysts at Allied Market Research dig out factors that help clients to understand the significance and impact of market dynamics. The company amplies clients insight on the factors, such as strategies, future estimations, growth or fall forecasting, opportunity analysis, and consumer surveys among others. As follows, the company offers consistent business intelligent support to aid the clients to turn into prominent business firm.ContactDavid Correa5933 NE Win Sivers Drive#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesToll Free: +1-800-792-5285UK: +44-845-528-1300Hong Kong: +852-301-84916India (Pune): +91-20-66346060Fax: +1855550-5975help@alliedmarketresearch.comWeb:Air Compressor Market to 2023 (4.47% CAGR Expected) Top Players Profiles - Elgi Equipments Limited, Ingersoll-Rand PLC, Kirloskar Pneumatic Company Limited, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.

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Air Compressor Market Overview:The global air compressor market was valued at $19,798.56 million in 2016 and is projected to reach $26,850.35 million by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 4.47% from 2014 to 2023. Asia-Pacific is expected to be the leading contributor to the global air compressor market, followed by Europe and North America. The increase in the adoption of energy efficient and robust air compressors across different industry verticals is expected to drive the demand for the air compressor market during the forecast period. Also, the increase in demand from the end-user industries such as food & beverage, oil & gas, manufacturing, and power generation is also expected to drive the market growth in the coming years.Get Sample Report -In 2016, the rotary-based air compressors, accounted for the maximum revenue share in the overall air compressor market by technology owing to their lower cost of operations and large production capabilities. However, the centrifugal-based air compressors are expected to provide profitable opportunities to the manufacturers owing to their superior technology resulting in efficient continuous flow rate with variable compression capabilities.Oil-free Air Compressor Market:The oil-free segment is expected to grow at the fastest CAGR of 4.77% owing to an increase in demand for reducing the cost of operation by eliminating lubrication. Moreover, the medical and power generation end users in the air compressor market is also expected to generate attractive business opportunities during the forecast period (2017-2023).Asia-Pacific accounted for the major share of the global air compressor market in 2016 owing to the increase in demand from food & beverage, manufacturing, and oil & gas industries. However, Asia-Pacific is estimated to grow at the highest rate followed by Europe due to rise in demand from end-user industries.Air Compressor Key Market Segments:By TypePortableStationaryBy TechnologyReciprocatingRotaryCentrifugalBy Lubrication MethodOiledOil-freeBy Power Rating0-100 kW101-300 kW301-500 kW501 kW & aboveBy End-User IndustryFood & BeverageOil & GasManufacturingMedicalPower GenerationOthersFor Access Inquiry -Key Market Players: Atlas Copco AB, Kobe Steel Ltd., Elgi Equipments Limited, Ingersoll-Rand PLC, Kirloskar Pneumatic Company Limited, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Suzler Ltd., Ebara Corporations, Porter Cable, VMAC Global Technology Inc., Campbell Hausfeld, Doosan Infracore Portable PowerChapter: 1: INTRODUCTION1.1. Report description1.2. Key benefits for stakeholders1.3. Key market segments1.4. Research methodology1.4.1. Secondary research1.4.2. Primary research1.4.3. Analyst tools & modelsChapter: 2: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY2.1. CXO perspective2.2. Market beyond: What to expect by 20252.2.1. Base case scenario2.2.2. Optimistic case scenario2.2.3. Critical case scenarioChapter: 3: MARKET OVERVIEW3.1. Market definition and scope3.2. Market trends3.2.1. Turbocor3.2.2. Thermoacoustic3.3. Key findings3.3.1. Top impacting factors3.3.2. Top investment pockets3.3.3. Top winning strategies3.3.4. Top Winning Strategies, By Development, 2014-2018*3.3.5. Top Winning Strategies, By Company, 2014-2018*3.4. Porter's five forces analysis3.5. MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul)3.6. Value chain analysis3.7. Key player positioning, 20163.8. Air compressor installation base, 20173.9. Market dynamics3.9.1. Drivers3.9.1.1. Availability of energy-efficient compressors3.9.1.2. Multiple fuel options3.9.1.3. Requirement of low maintenance3.9.1.4. Variation in pressure supplied3.9.2. Restraint3.9.2.1. Air pollution3.9.2.2. Noise pollution3.9.3. Opportunity3.9.3.1. Upcoming technologiesChapter: 4: AIR COMPRESSOR MARKET, BY TYPE4.1. Market overview4.1.1. Market size and forecast, by type4.1.2. Market volume and forecast, by type4.2. Portable4.2.1. Key market trends4.2.2. Key growth factors and opportunities4.2.3. Market size and forecast, by region4.2.4. Market volume and forecast, by region4.3. Stationary4.3.1. Key market trends4.3.2. Key growth factors and opportunities4.3.3. Market size and forecast, by region4.3.4. Market volume and forecast, by regionRequest for Customization -About Us:Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.Contact:David Correa5933 NE Win Sivers Drive#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesToll Free (USA/Canada):+1-800-792-5285, +1-503-894-6022, +1-503-446-1141UK: +44-845-528-1300Hong Kong: +852-301-84916India (Pune): +91-20-66346060Fax: +1-855-550-5975help@alliedmarketresearch.comWeb:Rapamune (Sirolimus) Market 2018 | Business Outlook 2025 By Major Manufacturers, Regions, Product Types & Applications, Market Size & Share, Etc.

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Rapamune (Sirolimus) Market research report delivers a close watch on leading competitors with strategic analysis, micro and macro market trend and scenarios, pricing analysis and a holistic overview of the market situations in the forecast period.Get Exclusive FREE Sample Copy Of this Report @UpMarketResearch offers a latest published report on Global Rapamune (Sirolimus) Market Analysis and Forecast 2018- 2025 delivering key insights and providing a competitive advantage to clients through a detailed report. The report contains pages which highly exhibit on current market analysis scenario, upcoming as well as future opportunities, revenue growth, pricing and profitability.Rapamune (Sirolimus) Market research report delivers a close watch on leading competitors with strategic analysis, micro and macro market trend and scenarios, pricing analysis and a holistic overview of the market situations in the forecast period. It is a professional and a detailed report focusing on primary and secondary drivers, market share, leading segments and geographical analysis. Further, key players, major collaborations, merger & acquisitions along with trending innovation and business policies are reviewed in the report. The report contains basic, secondary and advanced information pertaining to the Rapamune (Sirolimus) Market global status and trend, market size, share, growth, trends analysis, segment and forecasts from 2018  2025.The scope of the report extends from market scenarios to comparative pricing between major players, cost and profit of the specified market regions. The numerical data is backed up by statistical tools such as SWOT analysis, BCG matrix, SCOT analysis, PESTLE analysis and so on. The statistics are represented in graphical format for a clear understanding on facts and figures.For More Information On This Report, Please VisitThe generated report is firmly based on primary research, interviews with top executives, news sources and information insiders. Secondary research techniques are implemented for better understanding and clarity for data analysis.The report for Rapamune (Sirolimus) market analysis & forecast 2018- 2025 is segmented into Product Segment, Application Segment & Major players.Region- wise Analysis Global Rapamune (Sirolimus) Market covers: North America Europe China Japan India Southeast Asia Other regions (Central & South America, Middle East & Africa)The Major players reported in the market include: Pfizer Cardinal Health Zydus Pharmaceuticals Cadila Pharnmaceuticals Greenstone, LlcGlobal Rapamune (Sirolimus) Market: Product Segment Analysis: Tablets Oral Solutions CapsulesGlobal Rapamune (Sirolimus) Market: Application Segment Analysis: Hospital Pharmacy Retail Pharmacy Online PharmacyTo Buy This Report and Get It Delivered In Your Inbox Within 24 Hours @Rapamune (Sirolimus) Market Analysis and Forecast 2018- 2025 report helps the clients to take business decisions and to understand strategies of major players in the industry. The report also calls for market- driven results deriving feasibility studies for client needs. UpMarketResearch ensures qualified and verifiable aspects of market data operating in the real- time scenario. The analytical studies are conducted ensuring client needs with a thorough understanding of market capacities in the real- time scenario.Global Rapamune (Sirolimus) Market: Key Stakeholders: Rapamune (Sirolimus) Manufacturers Rapamune (Sirolimus) Distributors/Traders/Wholesalers Rapamune (Sirolimus) Subcomponent Manufacturers Industry Association Downstream VendorsIn this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of Rapamune (Sirolimus) are as follows: History Year: 2013-2017 Base Year: 2017 Estimated Year: 2018 Forecast Year 2018 to 2025Key Reasons to Purchase: To gain insightful analyses of the market and have a comprehensive understanding of the Global Rapamune (Sirolimus) Market Analysis and Forecast 2018- 2025 and its commercial landscape. Learn about the market strategies that are being adopted by your competitors and leading organizations. To understand the future outlook and prospects for Rapamune (Sirolimus) market analysis and forecast 2018- 2025.Avail Discount On this Report @Customization of the Report:UpMarketResearch provides free customization of reports as per your need. This report can be personalized to meet your requirements. Get in touch with our sales team, who will guarantee you to get a report that suits your necessities.You can also ask for region wise market research report, as below: Rapamune (Sirolimus) - Global Market Status & Trend Report 2013- 2025 Top 20 Countries Data Rapamune (Sirolimus) - North America Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Rapamune (Sirolimus) - South America Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Rapamune (Sirolimus) - Europe Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Rapamune (Sirolimus) - EMEA Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Rapamune (Sirolimus) - Asia Pacific Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Rapamune (Sirolimus) - China Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Rapamune (Sirolimus) - India Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025 Rapamune (Sirolimus) - United States Market Status and Trend Report 2013- 2025About UpMarketResearch:The UpMarketResearch () is a leading distributor of market research report with more than 800+ global clients. As a market research company, we take pride in equipping our clients with insights and data that holds the power to truly make a difference to their business. Our mission is singular and well- defined  we want to help our clients envisage their business environment so that they are able to make informed, strategic and therefore successful decisions for themselves.Contact Info:Name: Alex MathewsEmail: Alex@upmarketresearch.comOrganization: UpMarketResearchAddress: 500 East E Street, Ontario, CA 91764, United States.UV Window Film Market 2018-2023 Industry Trends and Demands Research Report

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UV Window Film Market research report 2018-2023 presents a comprehensive study of the UV Window Film Market in Global Industry; the study scans the progression of the market trailed over the past few years and the forecasts of growth in the coming years, primarily in terms of sales. The research report highlights the reasons liable for the disparities in the market and investigates them methodically. The UV Window Film Market effect factors have also been discussed in the report. It further provides data on the market shares, strategies, and manufacturing cost structure along with distributors list. UV stabilized films are generally made up of polyester material. The Asia-Pacific region XXX market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.Click to Download Sample PDF of UV Window Film Market Research Report atUV Window Film Market Top Key Players:- DuPont Teijin Films- Tintfit Window Films- Llumar Window Films- Johnson Window Films- Vista Windows Films- Pleotint- 3M- Easter Industries- Polypex GmbHThis report presents a comprehensive overview, market shares, and growth opportunities of UV Window Film market by product type, application, key manufacturers and key regions and countries.Segmentation by product type: breakdown data from 2013 to 2018, in Section 2.3; and forecast to 2023 in section 11.7.- UV Window Film- UV Industrial Film- OthersSegmentation by application: breakdown data from 2013 to 2018, in Section 2.4; and forecast to 2023 in section 11.8.- Automobiles- Building & Construction- Agriculture- OthersYou Can Access or Purchase Full UV Window Film Market Research Report atResearch objectives:1) To study and analyse the global UV Window Film market size by key regions/countries, product type and application.2) To understand the structure of UV Window Film market by identifying its various sub segments.3) Focuses on the key global UV Window Film key players, to define, describe and analyse the value, market share, market competition landscape, SWOT analysis and development plans in next few years.4) To analyse the UV Window Film market with respect to individual growth trends, future prospects, and their contribution to the total market.5) To share detailed information about the key factors influencing the growth of the market (growth potential, opportunities, drivers, industry-specific challenges and risks).6) To project the size of UV Window Film submarkets, with respect to key regions (along with their respective key countries).7) To analyse competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches and acquisitions in the market.8) To strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyse their growth strategies.Major Points Covered in The Report:1) Scope of the Report2) Executive Summary3) UV Window Film Global key Players4) UV Window Film by Regions5) Americas6) APAC7) Europe8) Middle East & Africa9) Market Drivers, Challenges and Trends10) Marketing, Distributors and Customer11) Global UV Window Film Market Forecast12) Key Players Analysis13) Research Findings and ConclusionAbout Us:ReportsnReports.com provides market research reports to industries, individuals and organizations with an objective of helping them in their decision making process. Our library of 500,000+ industry & country research reports covers 5000+ micro markets. This comprehensive collection of market research reports include market share analysis, industry analysis, information on products, countries, market size, trends, business research details and much more. Our research specialists & industry experts, through our market research offerings, ensure we deliver on all your business & industry research requirements - first time and every time!Contact Us:Tower B5, office 101,Magarpatta SEZ,Hadapsar, Pune-411013, India+ 1 888 391 5441sales@reportsandreports.comGlobal Dashboard Software Market 2018 Research SAP, Microsoft, TIBCO Software, Klipfolio, iViz Group (iDashboards), Dundas Data Visualization, Sisense, Tableau Software, Domo

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Dashboards often provide at-a-glance views of key performance indicators (KPIs) relevant to a particular objective or business process.According to this study, over the next five years the Dashboard Software market will register a xx% CAGR in terms of revenue, the global market size will reach US$ xx million by 2023, from US$ xx million in 2017. In particular, this report presents the global revenue market share of key companies in Dashboard Software businessDownload Sample Report of Dashboard Software Market @The report also presents the market competition landscape and a corresponding detailed analysis of the major vendor/manufacturers in the market. The key manufacturers covered in this report:SAPMicrosoftTIBCO SoftwareKlipfolioiViz Group (iDashboards)Dundas Data VisualizationSisenseTableau SoftwareDomoCorporaterWrikeAgencyAnalyticsGeckoboardScoroDatapine GmbHInetSoftSmartsheetZendeskDynisticsIn addition, this report discusses the key drivers influencing market growth, opportunities, the challenges and the risks faced by key players and the market as a whole. It also analyzes key emerging trends and their impact on present and future development.Research objectivesTo study and analyze the global Dashboard Software market size by key regions/countries, product type and application, history data from 2013 to 2017, and forecast to 2023.To understand the structure of Dashboard Software market by identifying its various subsegments.Focuses on the key global Dashboard Software players, to define, describe and analyze the value, market share, market competition landscape, SWOT analysis and development plans in next few years.To analyze the Dashboard Software with respect to individual growth trends, future prospects, and their contribution to the total market.To share detailed information about the key factors influencing the growth of the market (growth potential, opportunities, drivers, industry-specific challenges and risks).To project the size of Dashboard Software submarkets, with respect to key regions (along with their respective key countries).To analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches and acquisitions in the market.To strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies.We Also Can Offer Customized Report To Fulfill Special Requirements Of Our Clients.Purchase this Premium Report (Flat 20% off Apply Coupon Code DISC20):-Table of Contents2018-2023 Global Dashboard Software Consumption Market Report1 Scope of the Report1.1 Market Introduction1.2 Research Objectives1.3 Years Considered1.4 Market Research Methodology1.5 Economic Indicators1.6 Currency Considered2 Executive Dashboard Software Market 2018 report focuses on the major drivers and restraints for the Global key players. It also provides analysis of the Market share, segmentation, revenue forecasts and geographic regions of the market.2.1 World Market Overview2.1.1 Global Dashboard Software Consumption 2013-20232.1.2 Dashboard Software Consumption CAGR by Region2.2 Dashboard Software Segment by Type2.2.1 Electrical Polisher2.2.2 Pneumatic Polisher2.3 Dashboard Software Consumption by Type2.3.1 Global Dashboard Software Consumption Market Share by Type (2013-2018)2.3.2 Global Dashboard Software Revenue and Market Share by Type (2013-2018)2.3.3 Global Dashboard Software Sale Price by Type (2013-2018)2.4 Dashboard Software Segment by Application2.4.1 Automotive Repair Shop2.4.2 Automotive Care Shop2.4.3 Others2.5 Dashboard Software Consumption by Application2.5.1 Global Dashboard Software Consumption Market Share by Application (2013-2018)2.5.2 Global Dashboard Software Value and Market Share by Application (2013-2018)2.5.3 Global Dashboard Software Sale Price by Application (2013-2018)3 Global Dashboard Software by Players3.1 Global Dashboard Software Sales Market Share by Players3.1.1 Global Dashboard Software Sales by Players (2016-2018)3.1.2 Global Dashboard Software Sales Market Share by Players (2016-2018)3.2 Global Dashboard Software Revenue Market Share by Players3.2.1 Global Dashboard Software Revenue by Players (2016-2018)3.2.2 Global Dashboard Software Revenue Market Share by Players (2016-2018)3.3 Global Dashboard Software Sale Price by Players3.4 Global Dashboard Software Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area, Product Types by Players3.4.1 Global Dashboard Software Manufacturing Base Distribution and Sales Area by Players3.4.2 Players Dashboard Software Products Offered3.5 Market Concentration Rate Analysis3.5.1 Competition Landscape Analysis3.5.2 Concentration Ratio (CR3, CR5 and CR10) (2016-2018)3.6 New Products and Potential Entrants3.7 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion4 Dashboard Software by Regions4.1 Dashboard Software by Regions4.1.1 Global Dashboard Software Consumption by Regions4.1.2 Global Dashboard Software Value by Regions4.2 Americas Dashboard Software Consumption Growth4.3 APAC Dashboard Software Consumption Growth4.4 Europe Dashboard Software Consumption Growth4.5 Middle East & Africa Dashboard Software Consumption Growth5 Americas5.1 Americas Dashboard Software Consumption by Countries5.1.1 Americas Dashboard Software Consumption by Countries (2013-2018)5.1.2 Americas Dashboard Software Value by Countries (2013-2018)5.2 Americas Dashboard Software Consumption by Type5.3 Americas Dashboard Software Consumption by Application5.4 United States5.5 Canada5.6 Mexico5.7 Key Economic Indicators of Few Americas CountriesAbout Us:Research Reports Inc. is one of the leading destinations for market research reports across all industries, companies, and technologies. Our repository features an exhaustive list of market research reports from thousands of publishers worldwideWith our expertise and research offerings, we ensure we deliver on all your requirements, whether youre looking for industry analysis or market trends or anything else, first time and every time!Email us sales@researchreportsinc.comCall: US / Canada Toll Free: +18554192424, UK : +4403308087757North America IR LED market is expected to reach over USD 350 million by 2024 owing to the increasing demands from the surveillance industry. The U.S. has been the major country for adopting advanced surveillance technologies such as artificial intelligence, facial recognition and surveillance automation. The demand for such technologies is increasing across airports, commercial buildings and other public buildings. Surveillance has been integral to the U.S. for law enforcement The Metro Council is set to vote next week on whether to open 2,200 acres in Washington and Clackamas counties for development.

The council is poised to accept expansion proposals in Beaverton, Hillsboro, King City and Wilsonville. Together, the expansions are expected to account for 6,100 new houses and 3,100 apartments.

It would be the first expansion of the urban growth area since 2014. Its also the largest since 2002, when 17,000 acres were added. That expansion included swaths of North Bethany, now a site of intense development, and Damascus, where residents have resisted urbanization.

The urban growth decision is often contentious, with environmental groups squaring off against homebuilders in debates over the minutiae of population and development forecasts.

The lead-up to this years decision has been comparatively quiet. Thats in part because of a new approach, pushed by outgoing Metro Council President Tom Hughes, that required cities seeking to expand to develop conceptual plans ahead of the decision.

It also comes amid a housing shortage, driven by population growth and a lack of new housing built during the most recent recession, that has pushed prices ever higher for homebuyers and renters.

Homebuilders have backed the proposed expansions; the land-use watchdog group 1000 Friends of Oregon didnt directly take a position, but testified that Metro should place additional conditions on the proposals to promote greater density.

Metro estimates that over the next 30 years, more than 500,000 residents and 279,000 households will be added to the seven-county region  Clackamas, Columbia, Multnomah, Washington and Yamhill counties in Oregon and Clark and Skamania counties in Washington. That includes other urban and rural areas beyond Metros boundary, which is limited to parts of of Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties.

But the four expansion proposals would add only about 9,000 homes. Thats too few to have more than a modest effect on the affordability of homes for sale, and their effect on prices for renter-occupied housing will be negligible, the agency said. Overall, Metros forecast calls for the vast majority of new homes to be built within the existing urban growth area, either on vacant land or through redevelopment.

The Metro Council will hold a hearing at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Metro Regional Center, 600 N.E. Grand Ave. in Portland. Its expected to vote at its meeting Dec. 13.

-- Elliot Njus

enjus@oregonian.com; 503-294-5034; @enjus

This story has been updated to reflect the following correction: The Metro Council is set to vote Dec. 13 on whether to expand the Portland regions urban growth boundary. An earlier version incorrectly reported the date.A man stole valuable antiques from a Vancouver home late last month, and police are asking for help cracking the case.

Vancouver police said the man stole two antique American samplers that are worth an estimated $32,000. Samplers and pictorial embroideries made by girls and young women offer valuable insight into womens culture and education in the 17th through 19th centuries, according to the National Society of The Colonial Dames of America.

Police urge employees of area antique stores, pawn shops and secondhand stores to keep watch for the samplers and call 911 if anyone tries to sell them or trade them in.

They also urge anyone who has information about the theft to contact Detective Zachary Ripp at 360-487-7391 or zachary.ripp@cityofvancouver.us. Tipsters should reference case No. 2318-18266.

 Jim RyanA 15-year-old boy was arrested Monday in connection with a shooting at a Vancouver apartment complex in October and an armed robbery the next month at a Vancouver gas station.

The teen, whose name hasnt been released by the Vancouver Police Department, was booked into the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault, unlawful possession of a firearm, first-degree robbery and harassment.

The boy is accused of opening fire at the Heather Falls apartments Oct. 2 along Northeast Fourth Plain Boulevard, sending bullets into units with people inside and cars parked in the parking lot, according to Vancouver police.

He is also suspected of robbing a Chevron gas station clerk at gunpoint on Nov. 2 and taking cash from the register at the business on Northeast 162nd Avenue, police said.

Suspect descriptions from both incidents and surveillance footage from the robbery were used to link the 15-year-old to the crimes, police said.

-- Everton Bailey Jr.

ebailey@oregonian.com | 503-221-8343 |@EvertonBaileyDont drive to Zoo Lights if you can help it.

Thats the message Washington Park officials are hoping to send as dry, cold weather remains in the forecast through early December and hundreds of thousands of Portland area families flock to the Oregon Zoo for the annual evening light show during the next few weeks.

Heather McCarey, executive director of the nonprofit association that manages Washington Parks transportation system, said folks expecting to drive to a convenient parking space near the zoos gate or at the nearby overflow lot will likely find long delays.

People should expect to really sit in traffic and wait if theyre trying to drive, she said. It can be 40 minutes for them just to get off the freeway.

The main parking lot has 900 spaces, and the overflow lot has 200. All of those spots routinely fill or are being filled by 4:30 p.m. That worsens after school lets out for the winter holidays, when attendance can spike to upwards of 14,000 people per day, McCarey said.

McCarey said families should either drive to the Sunset Transit Center north of U.S. 26 at the Barnes Road exit west of the zoo or take the MAX from locations near and far.

The Sunset Park and Ride is free and has more than 600 spaces.

The park has a website with real-time parking data where drivers can see if theres parking before pulling off U.S. 26 to circle in vain.

Last year, an estimated 270,000 people attended ZooLights, and some 22 percent of those took the MAX.

Zoo members who ride transit will be able to bring an extra friend and family member into Zoo Lights for free. Non-members receive $5 off admission price.

McCarey said MAX riders will also be greeted by holiday carolers in the tunnel outside the train platform.

Lyft riders can receive 20 percent off two rides (to and from ZooLights) by using the ZOOLIGHTS18 promo code.

McCarey said Uber was invited to participate in the event but declined.

Washington Park officials expect to do more surveys this year to determine if people are riding transit or taking Lyft to avoid driving. But she said so far it appears the message is getting out. The parking lot is full, but anecdotally, McCarey said, there appears to be less congestion.

Zoo Lights runs through Jan. 5., with closures on Dec. 24 and 25.

-- Andrew Theen

atheen@oregonian.com

503-294-4026

@andrewtheen"To be honest, we don't want to do this podcast and we just want to get this announcement over with as soon as possible," said Conal Byrne, president of the iHeartPodcast Network. "Ron quite literally forced us into making this podcast with him, first calling us more than one hundred times in a single day and then proceeding to actually show up at our doorstep and physically force himself into our studios. We do hope the podcast is well-received, but in the meantime, we hope by agreeing to do the announcement he will stay away."Eleven years after his arrest and a decade of protracted legal hearings, Andrew Kowalczyks trial on charges of sexually exploiting three young children began in federal court Monday.

The 44-year-old had churned through a dozen lawyers and underwent evaluations by five psychologists before he was declared mentally competent last year to stand trial. Only the federal investigator from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is the remaining case agent left, as the Portland police and FBI agents who were first involved in Kowalczyks arrest have moved on to other assignments or agencies or retired.

Apart from the years it took to get to trial, the case has been described by investigators as the most disturbing in their career.

The child pornography images seized as evidence are so horrific that U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman had a gray partition set up on one side of the courtroom to afford prospective jurors questioned during jury selection a more private setting if they needed to share accounts of their own or a friends or relatives experiences with sexual abuse that could impair their ability to be impartial in the case.

Kowalczyk, charged with nine counts of sexual exploitation of a child, has gained more than 200 pounds in custody. He now weighs about 450 pounds and is confined to a wheelchair. Kowalczyk, his long gray hair pulled back in a ponytail, sat in a wheelchair at the defense table, beside his two assistant federal public defenders. Hes allowed to remain seated each time the judge and jury enter or leave the courtroom.

In opening statements, Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Kerin said Kowalczyk offered to help care for and babysit the three young sisters who were victims in the case  2-year-old twins and their 8-year-old sister  as their mother struggled to provide for them in late 2004 and early 2005. Their mother was an alcoholic, sold crack cocaine and donated blood to try to make money. Kowalczyk had known the mothers brother.

To the kids, it seemed like an act of kindness, but it wasnt, Kerin said. He was raping them. He was sodomizing them and subjecting those girls to unspeakable abuse. How do we know it? Because he recorded it. He made photos. He videotaped it.

Andrew Franklin Kowalczyk, accused of nine counts of sexually exploiting a child.

Investigators didnt learn of the alleged abuse until two years later. Kowalczyk was pulled over in a traffic stop shortly after midnight Dec. 27, 2007, in Des Moines, Washington, and arrested by Puyallup police at the Northwest Motor Inn after a chase with speeds reaching nearly 100 mph.

Police seized several bags from Kowalczyk. In one, they found a digital camera with child pornography images on it, according to court records. Police also seized a laptop, cellphones, an iPad and other electronic devices.

A hard drive seized held a host of visual misery, a disturbing collection of child pornography in which a white male is seen raping, sodomizing and abusing those three little girls, Kerin told jurors.

Puyallup police published some images of the alleged victims that were not of a pornographic nature in an attempt to identify them. The mother of the three girls eventually contacted police, identified the girls as her daughters and confirmed she knew Kowalczyk, who had regular access to the children, according to investigators.

When the mom wound up in a shelter to escape domestic violence, Kowalczyk offered to pay for her to get a motel room, arranging rooms for her and the kids between April and September 2005 in motels and an apartment in Portland, according to the government. The alleged abuse occurred at the Econo Lodge Inn on Northeast Sandy Boulevard, a Motel 6 on Southeast Stark Street, Madison Suites Motel on Northeast 82nd Avenue and the Parkway East Apartments on Southeast Powell Boulevard.

The mother often left her girls in his care while she went out to look for work or for an apartment to rent. Investigators say he rented the rooms using a false ID and took photos of himself sexually abusing the twins at each location.

The images dont show the mans face, but investigators linked Kowalczyk to the pasty white man in the pornographic images through distinctive shirts he wore, a distinctive appendectomy-type scar on the right side of his stomach and the mans voice captured on one of the videos, Kerin said.

Federal prosecutors will show the jurors the images, as well as a video of the child pornography.

It will be disturbing, and you will want to turn your face away from it, but Kerin urged jurors not to do so, describing the images as crucial evidence that needs to be examined to help the government prove its case.

The 8-year-old victim, now in her early 20s, will testify. She doesnt remember the abuse, but recalls Kowalcyzk giving her massages to fall asleep, the prosecutor said.

Defense lawyer C. Renee Manes agreed the case is an extremely difficult one and not that of an ordinary federal trial.

She argued that the investigators and prosecutors were so disgusted by the child pornography found, that they set their sights on only one potential suspect and failed to do a thorough investigation.

They want to convict Andrew Kowalczyk because they want to convict someone. And, after you see these images, youll want to convict someone, Manes argued. But just because you want to convict someone, just because you want to punish someone, that does not mean its the individual sitting over there.

Manes argued that Kowalczyk wasnt the only pasty white man who had contact with the victims in the case. The government became so fixated on Kowalczyk and got it wrong, she argued.

Twelve jurors and four alternates will hear the case, which is expected to last six days.

On the eve of trial, judge refused to allow a last-minute request by Kowalczyk to have Mosman recuse himself from the case derail the trial. Kowalczyk contends the judge has talked to him in a hostile manner and with scowls, and the defendant continued to complain about one of his current lawyers.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonianThe FBI has not designated the Proud Boys, whose members routinely appear at right-wing protests in downtown Portland, as an extremist group, Oregons top FBI agent said Tuesday.

The FBI never intended to do so when it briefed Clark County law enforcement leaders recently about regional threats, Special Agent in Charge Renn Cannon said during a wide-ranging meeting with media at the bureaus Portland headquarters.

His comments directly counter an internal Clark County Sheriffs Office memo that suggested otherwise and drew national attention.

In the FBIs slide show in Clark County, agents talked about the Proud Boys, white supremacists, militia groups and anarchists, Cannon said.

Started in 2016 by conservative writer Gavin McInnes, the Proud Boys have billed themselves as "pro-Western fraternal organization" and have vigorously fought accusations by critics that members are associated with white nationalists.

Cannon said in relation to the Proud Boys, the FBI tried to characterize the potential threat from individuals within that group. The bureau doesnt designate groups but does investigate violent conspiracies, he said.

We do not intend and did not intend to designate the group as extremist, he said.

But the FBI agents at the Clark County session also referred sheriffs officials and other law enforcement officers to websites of other agencies for more information, including the Southern Poverty Law Center, which does classify the Proud Boys as a hate group espousing white nationalist views.

I can see where Clark County representatives came to that conclusion. That was not our intention. Thats not what we do, Cannon said. We will not open a case if someone belongs to antifa or even the Proud Boys. There has to be a credible allegation or a threat of violence before someone opens a case.

Cannons remarks came as he discussed the work of the agencys Joint Terrorism Task Force. The FBI once again is pushing to keep Portland police involved in the multi-agency investigative force amid the recent election of civil rights activist Jo Ann Hardesty to the Portland City Council, who has been vocal in her opposition to it.

More from @FBIPortland Special Agent in Charge Renn Cannon on FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force. If @PortlandPolice pulled out, yes Portland is less safe. Its going to slow down coordination between the city police, the FBI and other regional law enforcement, he said . pic.twitter.com/rxC28DADn1  Maxine Bernstein (@maxoregonian) December 4, 2018

Hardesty is likely to be the swing vote on the five-member council. The citys move to withdraw from the task force also would come as the city is struggling to respond to violent brawls that erupt downtown between feuding protesters, including Proud Boy members and black-clad demonstrators associated with the anti-fascist movement.

The task force has done 278 threat assessments so far this year, up from earlier years that ranged around 200, according to the FBI. It has examined threats of shootings at schools, explosives and bomb threats, crimes aboard aircrafts or threats against synagogues, mosques or churches. Only a small fraction of those assessments result in full investigations, he said.

If Portland police were removed from the task force, the city would be less secure, Cannon said.

The level of cooperation and information-sharing between the FBI and other regional police agencies with officers from Oregons largest city would be hampered, he said. The FBI also would lose ties to some of the mental health and social services resources that Portland police could refer people to in cases that dont rise to full threat investigations but have a mental health nexus, Cannon said.

Are we less safe if theyre not on? Its a cord that gets cut. The more cords you cut, the less teamwork we have, Cannon said. The more concerned I become. Were better together.

Assistant Special Agent in Charge George Chamberlain said it simply makes sense to work together.

We want to make sure Portland is kept as safe as we could make it, Chamberlain said. When they work side by side with us, it is a much more efficient, effective system."

The FBI is paying attention to the violent brawls erupting in Portlands downtown core, but can only pursue a case if theres a federal offense, the agents said. For interstate rioting, for example, investigators would have to prove that certain people came to Oregon with the intent to riot, which is a difficult threshold to meet.

Mark Pitcavage, a senior research fellow with the Anti-Defamation Leagues Center on Extremism, said hes not surprised by Cannons remarks about the Proud Boys. "I think Cannon took pains to clarify the FBIs stance not because FBI agents dont recognize the extremist nature of the Proud Boys but rather in order to stress that the FBI does not keep lists of different extremist groups, nor does is it investigate extremists simply because they are extremists,'' Pitcavage said.

Portland has had an on-again, off-again involvement in the task force.

San Francisco currently is the only major city that doesnt have officers assigned to an FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force. Portland drew national attention in 2005 when the City Council voted to cut all ties with the terrorism task force.

A subsequent 2011 council vote allowed as-needed involvement. In 2015, the City Council agreed to have two Portland police officers return to the task force. Theyre called to work full-time with the task force if a threat demands attention, but otherwise they carry on regular duties with the Police Bureau.

Cannon and Chamberlain arranged in September to meet with Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler after the election in November as part of their regularly scheduled quarterly update on the FBI-led task force. They also were keenly aware that Portland police participation in the task force could change based on the outcome of the election for the council seat.

Cannon and Chamberlain said the mayor, who sits on the task forces executive board as the citys police commissioner but doesnt regularly attend its meetings, has repeatedly challenged them to explain to the public what the task force does.

The two FBI leaders tried to address local concerns that the task force is engaged in immigration enforcement actions.

Officers with federal Homeland Security Investigations are on the task force and the task force may use immigration enforcement as a tool to combat a potential threat, but only in rare circumstances, Cannon and Chamberlain said.

While the task force doesnt initiate investigations based on immigration violations, the officers can pursue immigration enforcement against a suspect if its the only tool available to address a credible threat, Cannon said.

Yet, according to the citys memorandum of understanding with the FBI, the two Portland officers who work with the task force arent allowed to participate in any immigration enforcement.

Theyre essentially fenced off, Cannon said.

If the FBI obtained credible confidential information that a non-U.S. citizen was involved in plotting violence but hadnt committed a crime, for example, the task force might try to have the person deported, Cannon said.

Nationally, investigations by FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Forces have resulted so far this year in 176 arrests in domestic terrorism-related cases and 100 arrests from international cases.

The FBI agents said they couldnt pinpoint what has accounted for the increased threats examined by the task force in Oregon this year. After the Parkland, Fla., school shooting, a spike in reported threats occurred in Oregon, Cannon and Chamberlain said.

Its hard to say, Chamberlain said. Were all aware some of the discourse out there is a lot less civil.

Oregonian Staff Writer Shane Dixon Kavanaugh contributed to this story.

-- Maxine Bernstein

Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com

Follow on Twitter @maxoregonianWASHINGTON  The National Republican Congressional Committee said Tuesday that it was hit with a cyber intrusion during the 2018 midterm campaigns and has reported the breach to the FBI.

The committee provided few details about the incident, but said the intrusion was conducted by an "unknown entity."

"The cybersecurity of the committee's data is paramount, and upon learning of the intrusion, the NRCC immediately launched an internal investigation and notified the FBI, which is now investigating the matter," spokesman Ian Prior said in a statement. "To protect the integrity of that investigation, the NRCC will offer no further comment on the incident."

The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Politico first reported the cyberbreach.

The severity and circumstances of the hacking weren't made clear. Politically motivated cyberespionage is commonplace across the world, but Americans have become particularly alert to the possibility of digital interference following the 2016 election. That hack is still fresh in the minds of many political operatives.

In March 2018, NRCC Chairman Steve Stivers said the committee hired multiple cybersecurity staffers to work with its candidates and promised to do more.

"We're starting to advise campaigns, but we're not ready to roll the whole thing out. We're working on it," Stivers said at the time. "We're working on the technology-based stuff to try and make sure that we know what's out there  which is hard, too  and then we try to defend against it the best we can."

In August, Microsoft alerted the public to attempts by government-backed Russian hackers to target U.S. conservatives' email by creating fake websites that appeared to belong a pair of think tanks, the Hudson Institute and International Republican Institute. It also confirmed an attempt similarly attributed to Russian hackers to infiltrate the Senate computer network of Sen. Claire McCaskill, the Missouri Democrat who lost a re-election bid in November.

Google later confirmed in September that the personal Gmail accounts of multiple senators and staffers had recently been targeted by foreign hackers, though it did not specify the cyberspies' nationality nor the party affiliations of the targets.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Russian state-aligned hackers organized the leak of more than 150,000 emails stolen from more than a dozen Democrats. The FBI later said that the Russians had targeted more than 300 people affiliated with the Hillary Clinton campaign and other Democratic institutions over the course of the presidential contest.

During the 2016 presidential election, WikiLeaks' released hacked material damaging to Hillary Clinton's presidential effort, and U.S. intelligence agencies have said Russia was the source of that hacked material. Special counsel Robert Mueller is now investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, possible Russian ties to Donald Trump's presidential campaign and whether anyone had had advance knowledge of WikiLeaks' plans.

Democratic lawmakers saw their cellphone numbers splashed online and voting databases for all 50 states had some type of intrusion attempt, although only a few were compromised. That included Illinois, where records on 90,000 voters had been downloaded. There was no evidence any votes were altered.

Election systems are constantly under fire from efforts to steal sensitive data, disrupt services and undermine voter confidence.

Federal officials said after the midterms this year there had been no obvious voting system compromises  which appeared to remain the case, despite the hacking effort. There had been a major push since the midterms to shore up defenses against potential cyber intrusions, but most states remained highly vulnerable.

--The Associated PressWASHINGTON - Republican senators emerged from a briefing Tuesday about journalist Jamal Khashoggis killing and essentially accused the Trump administration of misleading the country about it - and even covering it up for Saudi Arabia.

In remarks after a briefing from CIA Director Gina Haspel, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., suggested there is no plausible way that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman didn't order the killing of Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributing columnist, and said that the evidence is overwhelming.

This is completely contrary to the narrative that has been put forward by President Donald Trump and his secretary of state, Mike Pompeo. Trump has said it's unknowable whether the crown prince was actually behind it - despite the CIA concluding this with "high confidence" - while Pompeo said last week that there was no "direct reporting" implicating him.

Graham said Tuesday that you'd have to be "willfully blind" to not know Mohammed was responsible - a clear rebuke of Trump's argument that this whole thing resides in some kind of gray area.

Graham was also asked about Pompeo's comments and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis' comments that there was no "smoking gun." The senator said there was indeed a "smoking saw" - a reference to the reported bonesaw that was brought to dismember Khashoggi - and that Pompeo was being a "good soldier" by toeing the administration's line. So that's basically saying Pompeo aided Trump's "willful" effort to obscure the truth.

"If they were in a Democratic administration," Graham said of Pompeo and Mattis, "I would be all over them for being in the pocket of Saudi Arabia."

Corker was about as full-throated, saying, "If the crown prince went in front of a jury, he would be convicted in 30 minutes" - another clear rebuke to Trump's statement and Pompeo's and Mattis' suggestions that this is some kind of unknown.

Corker also suggested that the briefing last week, which featured Pompeo and Mattis but not Haspel, was entirely misleading. When asked whether there was a difference in the message about Mohammed's culpability, Corker compared it to the "difference between darkness and sunshine."

To be clear, these senators aren't just accusing the administration of missing the point on Khashoggi; they're saying they feel misled and that the administration has obscured the truth. Graham saying he'd question Pompeo's and Mattis's motives if this were a Democratic administration is a particularly striking statement - and one from someone who is a frequent Trump ally these days. Corker has been more of a Trump critic, but his suggestion the he feels last week's briefing wasn't on the up-and-up is also remarkable from a Republican.

Questioning Trump is not unprecedented for Republicans in Congress; the fact that they are going there on Pompeo and even Mattis, who is perhaps the most bipartisan figure in the administration, shows the severe degree of concern about the lack of consequences. These senators are serving notice that they wont back down without a fight - a fight that could tar both Pompeos and Mattis' legacies.

--The Washington PostA recall of ground beef from earlier this fall was expanded Tuesday after reports that more people were getting sick as a result of exposure to Salmonella, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.

More than 12 million pounds of beef products are now on recall. In the initial recall in early October, more than 6.5 million pounds of ground beef was recalled. There have been 246 confirmed cases in 26 states of people getting sick as a result of Salmonella exposure.

Arizona-based JBS Tolleson, Inc., expanded the recall for various raw, non-intact beef products that may be contaminated. Those products include ground beef packaged on various dates from July 26, 2018, to Sept. 7, 2018. The products subject to recall bear establishment number "EST. 267" inside the USDA mark of inspection. These items were shipped to retail locations and institutions nationwide.

The recalled products may have been sold under the following brands: Walmart, Cedar River Farms Natural Beef, Showcase, Showcase/Walmart and JBS Generic.

Products affected: Here are the product labels to look for in this ground beef recall.

The government is worried that some of the contaminated beef may be in consumers' freezers. USDA recommends that customers either throw the beef away or return it to the place of purchase.

Eating food contaminated with Salmonella can cause salmonellosis, one of the most-common foodborne illnesses. Symptoms include diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever, which appear within 12 to 72 hours of eating the contaminated food. The illness can last as much as a week, and most people get better without seeking medical treatment. But it can be serious for older people, infants and people with compromised immune systems.

To guard against illness from eating any ground beef products, the government recommends only eating ground meat that's been cooked to 160 degrees, while other cuts should be cooked to 145 degrees. Using a food thermometer is the only way to accurately gauge food temperatures.

-- Grant Butler

gbutler@oregonian.com

503-221-8566; @grantbutlerA 58-year-old homeless man who killed a 29-year-old woman in the van he lived in pleaded guilty Monday and will be sentenced next month to 17 years in prison.

Terry Hickman pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and attempted second-degree assault in the death of Dallas Boyd last July. Her Facebook page lists her name as Dallas Boyd-Riggins and says she was engaged.

Court papers say HIckman showed up at the North Portland apartment of a friend on July 19 and said hed killed someone. He said he and a woman had been doing drugs in his van, he dozed off and awoke to find the woman trying to steal some of his stuff -- including drugs that were hidden in her bra, according to a memo filed by the prosecution.

Hickman said the pair began to struggle and he ended up choking her and snapping her neck, according to the memo. A medical examiner later determined Boyd died of manual strangulation.

Hickmans friend flagged down police on North Lombard Street near Portsmouth Avenue to report that Hickman had confessed to a killing and was at her apartment, where he had showered, eaten and spent the night.

Police interviewed Hickman, who told them where his van was parked, according to a probable-cause affidavit. Police discovered the van had been towed a few days earlier from 12095 North Portland Road, so they went to the tow lot where the van was being stored. Police could see Boyds body inside and smell human decay, the affidavit said.

Charging papers allege that Boyd died between July 13 and July 19.

Hickman's criminal history stretches back to 1994, when he was convicted of first-degree robbery. Other convictions include third-degree assault, drug possession and driving while under the influence of intoxicants.

Hickman didnt make any statements at his plea hearing in Multnomah County Circuit Court. He will be sentenced Jan. 2.

-- Aimee Green

agreen@oregonian.com

o_aimeeA 43-year-old man accused of inappropriately touching at least two women on TriMet last summer was sentenced Monday to six months in jail and sex offender treatment.

Two of the women reported that Twonte McMurry groped their buttocks, according to according to a probable cause affidavit filed by the prosecution.

McMurry and the women were passengers on a eastbound MAX train, headed from downtown Portland to the Gresham Civic Drive MAX Station on Aug. 30.

The first woman reported that McMurry touched her buttocks and when she asked him about it, he apologized, got up and moved seats, the affidavit states. A short while later, a second woman screamed as McMurry touched her while he was masturbating, according to the affidavit. Thats when the first woman realized that McMurry hadnt touched her by accident.

Three other women also said McMurry touched them on the breast, thigh or back in June and July. Court records dont indicate if the encounters happened on TriMet, but he was arrested in July at the Rose Quarter MAX Station.

McMurry was charged with third-degree sexual abuse, harassment and interfering with transportation for the rash of alleged crimes.

He pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree sexual abuse in Multnomah County Circuit Court. In addition to jail time, he was ordered to undergo sex offender treatment, serve three years of probation, refrain from riding TriMet and have no contact with all five women.

McMurry already was wanted because police suspected him of similar incidents on public transit near Seattle and Tacoma. He allegedly stroked a womans neck with his hand and followed a pair of 13-year-old girls off a bus and sexually assaulted one of them, said police in Washington.

McMurry already was required to register as a sex offender because hed been convicted of an out-of-state sex offense in 1999.

At the time of his Portland arrest, McMurry wasnt supposed to be riding TriMet because he was banned for past behavior on the transit system, according to court papers. He was homeless, living on Social Security disability payments and told jailers he had bipolar disorder.

-- Aimee Green

agreen@oregonian.com

o_aimee(c) 2018, The Washington Post  Jennifer Rubin  OPINION, OP-ED  Dec 03, 2018 - 9:42 AM

George H.W. Bush didn't resign as a member of the National Rifle Association in 1995 over its rigid position opposing virtually any gun legislation. Rather, in a memorable letter, he told the group that he resigned because the group refused to apologize for the scurrilous remarks of Wayne LaPierre, who still heads the organization. Instead, the NRA, Bush said, "defended his attack on federal agents as 'jack-booted thugs.'" Bush wrote: "To attack Secret Service agents or A.T.F. people or any government law enforcement people as 'wearing Nazi bucket helmets and black storm trooper uniforms' wanting to 'attack law abiding citizens' is a vicious slander on good people."

Bush defended by name the honor of several honorable men, some of whom were killed doing their job. Bush then explained that the NRA's "broadside against Federal agents deeply offends my own sense of decency and honor; and it offends my concept of service to country. It indirectly slanders a wide array of government law enforcement officials, who are out there, day and night, laying their lives on the line for all of us."

LaPierre has still been at it, as when he declared at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) that Democrats were nothing less than socialists who want to rob Americans of all their freedoms. He continued: "Our intelligence community shrouds everything in secrecy, driving into darkness every dirty memo and every dirty institutional secret and memory in the name of national security. But when the leaks come, as so often occurs, in the light of day, it reveals nothing about the security of our country and it reveals everything about the corruption of those in power." He raged on that "even the FBI is not free of its own corruption. And its own unethical agents. Look, and I know you probably all share this sentiment and I get people telling me from coast to coast, and they shake their heads when they say it to me. I can understand a few bad apples in their organization as large as the FBI, but what is hard to understand is why no one at the FBI stood up and called B.S. on its rogue leadership." He never changes, and why anyone who can recognize Bush as an honorable and decent man would not be equally offended by the Wayne LaPierre of 2018 as Bush was of the Wayne LaPierre of 1995 escapes me. Bush was right: The only response to those who persistently and falsely denigrate those who protect us is to disassociate from such slanderers.

And it's not just the NRA, of course, that is in the business of smearing honorable public servants. The GOP - from the president to his lawyer to members of Congress to Trump's parrots at Fox News - routinely insult, smear and simply lie about federal law enforcement (including the FBI and special counsel). The Republicans of 2018 refer to men and women who embody the phrase "law and order" as "stormtroopers," "Stalinists," "crooked," "an embarrassment to our country" and "tainted." Trump calls special counsel Robert Mueller, a decorated Marine, former FBI director and now special counsel, "disgraced and discredited," and his team of prosecutors "angry Democratic thugs." The baseless insults hurled by GOP House members at the Justice Department, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the FBI, Mueller and the federal prosecutors who work with Mueller should make one's skin crawl.

This talk, as Bush 41 aptly said in 1995, should offend our own sense of decency and honor and our concept of service to country. Such language "indirectly slanders a wide array of government law enforcement officials, who are out there, day and night, laying their lives on the line for all of us."

I understand the inclination of some Republicans to try to reform and rescue the GOP from the clutches of Trumpists. But, it seems to me at least, this is nearly as fruitless as expecting LaPierre to talk sensibly and civilly. After one has tried for a decent interval to admonish and reform the GOP, isn't the only course, if one wishes to preserve one's own sense of decency and honor, to resign from and disassociate oneself from the GOP?

Author Information:

Jennifer Rubin writes reported opinion for The Washington Post.Gov. Kate Brown kicked off a meeting of business leaders from across Oregon on Monday by trading praises with a hand-picked panel of executives supportive of Democrats push to raise several billion dollars in taxes and fees next year for Medicaid, education and tackling climate change.

As Oregon rides the peak of the economic cycle, Brown said, I believe that the time is now, and I think Oregonians agree with that.

Members of the governors panel at the Oregon Leadership Summit in Portland certainly sounded supportive, as they complimented each other on their work addressing the states most pressing problems. There was no mention of Oregons $22 billion long-term public pension deficit thats sucking more money out of schools and other government budgets.

Throughout the rest of the day, stemming the pension crisis was the central focus.

I know what youre thinking: another business summit, another talk on PERS debt, and so little to show for it, said Tim Nesbitt, a consultant who previously served as president of the Oregon AFL-CIO and an adviser to Governors Ted Kulongoski and John Kitzhaber.

Tax reform is difficult, and so is reining in the states pension problems, Nesbitt said. And trying to do both at once may be twice as hard. But thats the imperative we face now.

The theme of the states largest annual business gathering, often a preview of legislators upcoming work, was time to act. Yet this year the states elected officials and some business leaders seemed to be talking past each other on what action is needed.

In contrast to recent business summits where governors and legislative leaders gave speeches, this year only Brown attended, and she limited her comments to a brief overview of her recently released budget and policy proposals.

The business coalition behind the summit is calling for the state to raise tax revenue in two ways: by diverting the states unique personal income tax kicker rebate to a rainy day fund for education, and creating a new business activity tax.

The businesses also called for state lawmakers to adopt three strategies to reduce the states pension liability:

 begin requiring public employees to contribute to the pension fund;

 make employees choose between a pension and 401(k)-type defined contribution plan rather than providing both, as the state does now; and

 get employees near retirement to pay into the pension fund.

Were not talking about PERS reform in order to back money out of public budgets, Nesbitt said. Rather, shaving pension costs would give the state more money to invest in adding school days, reducing class sizes and boosting teacher pay, he said.

Brown focused on tax and fee increases, including the $2 billion in new taxes she called for in her budget proposal last week to boost education spending. She also used her role as moderator to praise members of her panel as leaders on Medicaid funding, climate change and education funding.

What we want is the business community to really be our partner, Brown said. Then, she asked the three business leaders on the panel to explain to the audience why the rest of Oregons business community should get behind her agenda.

As Oregonians we share a long history of caring about our environment and about the communities we serve, said Maria Pope, president and CEO of Portland General Electric. We have the No. 1 renewable energy program in the country that customers voluntarily participate in.

Brown responded, I really appreciate your collaborative approach.

The governor was similarly complimentary to Lisa Vance, chief executive at Providence Health and Services, and Julia Brim-Edwards, Nike's senior director of government and public affairs and a registered lobbyist for the company.

Brim-Edwards vollied back: I want to congratulate you on your rehiring by the voters, she said, eliciting applause from the audience.

Brim-Edwards listed reasons Oregonians should support tax increases to improve K-12 schools, from disparities in educational outcomes for students of color to the role of education in upward social and economic mobility. You went big on education, Brim-Edwards said to Brown, referring to her recently released agenda.

Will we leave here and take action? Brim-Edwards asked, noting that Oregon businesses have analyzed and debated potential changes to Oregons tax system for years. Or will be leave and fail to act?

Brim-Edwards and Brown both alluded generally to the states need to increase accountability for school performance in Oregon but did not suggest any specifics.

In her final question to the panel, Brown suggested the policy positions of Oregons largest business groups are tired and outdated.

Id love to hear from you whether we need to keep doing things as weve always done them, or if the business community should take a different approach to working with government, the governor said.

It was the perfect setup for Brim-Edwards, whos been meeting with public employee unions and the governor throughout the year: first to strategize around defeating conservative ballot initiatives and re-electing Brown, and now to develop proposals to raise business taxes in the 2019 legislative session.

What I think we need to do heading into the legislative session is disrupt the status quo, Brim-Edwards said. If we want to get the same outcomes, well do the same thing.

-- Hillary Borrud

hborrud@oregonian.com

503-294-4034; @hborrudBeaverton startup Eclypsium reported $8.75 million in funding Tuesday to help the company develop technology to protect the built-in software that runs computers and other electronics.

Seattle investment firm Madrona Venture Group led Tuesdays round, backed by prior Eclypsium investors Andreessen Horowitz, Ubiquity Ventures and Intel Capital, the chipmakers investment arm.

Eclypsiums technology works to protect the firmware inside computers, the elemental software that controls a machines basic functions. The Beaverton company said its research suggests firmware is a neglected element of computer security, with many devices running outdated software vulnerable to attack.

Co-founders Yuriy Bulygin and Alex Bazhaniuk each worked as security researchers at Intel before starting Eclypsium last year. They said they will use Tuesdays funding to hire across the company.

Eclypsium has 25 employees, split between its headquarters in Beaverton and an office in Argentina. The company said it expects to employ 40 by the end of next year. Eclypsium had previously reported $2.3 million in backing.

This has been a strong year for Silicon Forest investments and marked a return to investor interest in companies like Eclypsium, with offices outside the core of Portlands tech community in and around downtown. Suburban companies winning notable investment rounds this year include RealWear, Hubb and RFPIO, among others.

Separately, Portland startup Streem reported $6.8 million in new funding in a Monday regulatory filing. Streem, which makes augmented reality technology, had previously disclosed $3.7 million in backing.

-- Mike Rogoway | twitter: @rogoway | 503-294-7699According to the Scottish Christmas zombie musical Anna and the Apocalypse, ground zero for the war on Christmas will take place in the waterfront burg of Little Haven. In actuality second-time feature film director John McPhail shot this eager-to-please picture in Port Glasgow, south of Loch Lomond. The results take neither the high road nor the low road, settling instead for an oddly bland middle course. I understand the impulse toward sneaky sincerity in a tale of graduating high school misfits learning team-building skills and life lessons while facing an ever-growing army of undead Scots. But why not let the zombies sing? Why confine so much of the action to a bowling alley? And where are the jokes? Did the jokes get killed off in a prequel?The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution has many available scholarships for graduating high school students, college junior or senior students as well as graduate students.

NSDAR has many available scholarships in the areas of Political Science, History, Government and Economics and Medical & Nursing. The DAR also has Specific Scholarships in English, Math and Science also for Music and for elementary and Secondary Teaching fields. NSDAR also has scholarships for students who have an American Indian heritage.Following more than a decade of service with the United Way of Midland County, Executive Director Ann Fillmore has announced that she will be stepping down from her role effective Jan. 31, 2019.

She has been with the non-profit since 2006.

"It's been a privilege for me to lead one of the greatest United Ways in the nation and to share this experience with such a generous community," Fillmore said. "I'm humbled and inspired by the generosity and heart of the community."

Fillmore is United Way of Midland County's third executive director. She is stepping down to pursue a career with Omni-Tech International Ltd., a Midland-based consulting firm.

"The board is grateful to Ann for the critical role she has played in the development and success of the organization," said Tori Meyer in a press release. Meyer serves as a board chair and finance director for the United Way of Midland County. "We will always be indebted to Ann for her legacy and leadership. United Way is well positioned for future success as we move into a new season of leadership."

The United Way of Midland County is recognized for having the fifth highest per capita giving in the nation, with average giving higher than 95 percent of the United Ways in the nation.

Under Fillmore's tenure as executive director, United Way of Midland County:

 Celebrated its first $5 million campaign in its 98-year history in 2010.

 Significantly increased philanthropic giving to United Way's Tocqueville Society, with 111 members.

 Transitioned from a fundraising entity to a community impact organization.

 Launched many successful initiatives such as 211 of NE Michigan, a nationally recognized Student United Way at Northwood University, Young Leaders United, United for Success at Midland Public Schools and the Midland Formula for Success, a Midland-based Employer Resource Network.

 Recently relocated The Strosacker Center to a smaller, more sustainable location, positioning UWMC for the future.

 Collaborated to create The Community Advancement Network in partnership with community foundations and United Ways across the Great Lakes Bay Region.

 Collaborated to initiate and lead the Long-term Disaster Recovery Group after the 2017 flood.The push-pull between playwright and pamphleteer too often devolves into navel-gazing in Gundersons script. Theres also quite a bit of narrative throat-clearing in the first act, as if the writers block de Gouges experiences is a stand-in for Gundersons own struggle with being a playwright (and one of the most-produced playwrights in the United States, to boot) during the current administration. Im not blocked, she protests to Marianne. Im just mentally hibernating. Theres a lot of pressure to write something profound these days. And then I keep thinking if I come up with a good title itll get me started. Something like The Revolutionists.There are several such groan-worthy lines scattered throughout, which feel creaky more than clever. But when Gundersons play ditches the cutesy flourishes and goes for the throat, so to speak, it finds many moments of resonance. The same is true of Sernas production, which generally uses Alex Casillas spare set (Olympes desk is the only major set piece), Spencer Meeks electronic sound looping, and Claire Chrzans chiaroscuro lighting effects to create a clammy sense of impending doom for the women. The aforementioned costumes by Leah Hummel, all in white, also provide a contrast of clean purity with the bloody tangled politics of the French Revolution.As long as I am president I will not allow anyone to kill the Polish coal industry, President Andrzej Duda said on Tuesday at a Miners' Day gala in Brzeszcze, south Poland.

Duda stressed that the coal industry was one of the pillars of the Polish economy, an energy security mainstay and a guarantee that Poland will remain independent in the energy sphere.

Referring to the ongoing COP24 climate summit in the south-Polish industrial city of Katowice, Duda recalled his Monday address to the conference, in which he stressed that Poland will continue to base its economy on coal, although it was prepared to introduce an energy mix.

"This will not change. It (the economy - PAP) will continue to run on coal. Of course we will use an energy mix (...), but coal will remain in Poland. Please don't worry, as long as I'm president of Poland I will not allow anybody to kill the Polish coal industry," the president stated.

Duda admitted that climate protection measures were necessary, but noted that they should not impair economic growth. In this context he cited the COP24 conference's Just Transition declaration, which advocates environmental care "while taking into consideration the interests of people, their jobs and families."

Deputy PM Beata Szydo, a native of Brzeszcze, observed that environmental care should not take place at the cost of human living standards, and stressed that "in caring for the environment we must also care for people."

Deputy Energy Minister Grzegorz Tobiszewski said his ministry's programme for coal industry provided good openings for mining as it promised stability in the segment. (PAP)

mb/mf/It is with a heavy heart that I announce the New York Times is at it again. Bari Weiss and Eve Peyser are now friends.

Brave.

Brave.

Brave.

In itself, this is unremarkable and unimportant news: two coastal media elites decide to pal around, film at eleven. But what it says about the press, and our weird sickness, is worth discussing.

Why dont you two introduce yourselves first, as the Vegas preacher said to the drunk newlyweds. Weiss is a drywall-dull reactionary and writer of stupefyingly bad takes. Shes spent most of her career whinging about those Terrible Professors and those Terrible Youths on College Campuses. Skeptical of #metoo. Defender of Kavanaugh. She thinks the Intellectual Dark Web is worth taking seriously, which is the funniest thing about her. Weiss is also infamous for claiming Olympic gymnast Mirai Nagasu was an immigrantand then, when she was called on it, backtracking in the lamest way.

Peyser is a not-quite-Left Twitter pundit who writes for Vice. Most of that time is spent writing Respectful Profiles of Problematic People. Her features typically include unintentionally hilarious lines like [David] Frum is a fundamentally serious man. She published a list of people she wanted to smoke weed with. About half were war criminals.

Thats the prologue. On Monday, Weiss and Peyser published a two-person editorial in the Times. It blew up Twitter. The story was titled Can You Like the Person You Love to Hate? and contained the sentence This is the story of how we went from being enemies to friends. Its the story of a star-crossed cocktail party.

BARI WEISS: ... [Jaron Laniers book] also made me think about how I saw other Twitter users, like Vices Eve Peyser. She was clever and often funny  and I disagreed with her about just about everything. ... But I wondered: If we had met at a dinner party rather than on Twitter, would we have liked each other? Was social media, as Mr. Laniers book suggested, creating a sense of intense conflict where there might be intense conversation? Did we actually dislike each other, or was Twitter just making us think we did?

 When the moon is in the Seventh House

And Jupiter aligns with Mars 

EVE PEYSER: In the woke world of New York digital media, the worst person in the world is Donald Trump, but you, Bari Weiss, are a close second. Youre the perfect target for media leftists because you look like youd be one of us, but in fact, you have contrarian views on subjects like Israel and #MeToo.

Hating you was the natural position for me to adopt. After all, Im a social democrat who eagerly voted for Bernie Sanders in the 2016 primaries and has contemplated purchasing a Free Palestine T-shirt.



Then peace will guide the planets

And love will steer the stars

EVE PEYSER: But I always had this nagging feeling that the Bari Weiss cyber outrage was overblown. Then, we became friends, and every tender thought Id had about you was confirmed.

This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius

This is the dawning of the age of Aquarius

Age of Aquarius

Aquarius

Aquarius

BARI WEISS: I was scared of you. Or rather, you were like the caricature of the person I know hates me on the internet: Gawker Media alum, probable Democratic Socialists of America member, many tattoos. Thats like my personal axis of evil. Then we ended up at the same conference, and you asked if I wanted to hang out.

Harmony and understanding

Sympathy and trust abounding

No more falsehoods or derisions

BARI WEISS: I thought there was a solid chance you were going to try to James OKeefe me, which is why I suggested swimming  quite hard to wear a wire in a bathing suit  but it ended up being really fun. We talked almost nothing about politics, but about relationships and love and how we grew up.

Golden living dreams of visions

Mystic crystal revelation

And the minds true liberation

Aquarius! Aquarius!

Did you read that? I mean, she almost bought a T-shirt! Tattoos! Gawker! Media leftists! Wires! By what miracle was this impossible bridge built?

Ive got news for this years Nobel Peace Prize laureate: you better get ready to toss back your prize. For Gods sake, dont you understand how unlikely this development is? A member of the New York media got drinks with another member of New York media. And they became pals! You dont say! Will this age of wonders and miracles never cease? Will computers learn love, will NASCAR go vegan, and will Jeb Bush return to power? All dreams are now possible!

Let the sunshine, let the sunshine in, the sunshine in

Let the sun shine in

Open up your heart and let it shine on in

Theres a lot to unpack in this hottest of hot takes. But honest to Zeus, its the second year of the Orange Presidency, and enough of this. Enough. I had a long, elaborate analysis of the Peyser-Weiss alliance planned out  but SNL just had its cast sing a Christmas Carol about Robert Mueller, and the age of subtlety is as dead as Dracula. And I just cannot.

Where do I begin? Lets start with the most obvious premise. Your friends in your private lifesay, the people you grew up with, or the people in your family, or your neighborsare different from the professional friends you make in the adult world. Only Manhattan legacy media would really fantasize that eternal peace between two journalists was national news. As my friend Anna said, Im becoming more and more convinced that the NYT exists to hand out gold stars/medals to upper class people for acting like human beings.

Second, and I cant believe this has to be ranted explicitly: Media progressives, stop making professional friends with reactionaries. Your shallowness is showing. Peyser has the luxury of not being directly effected by Weiss terrible politics. This luxury is called privilege. And every sentence in the Peyser-Weiss piece reeks of it. Politics is not a game for young urban professionals to play. Politics is a struggle over power. In many cases, it literally decides who lives and who dies. Of course people who celebrate cruel lies can be charming in person. How do you think toxic relationships work? Its telling that Weiss and Peyser did not discuss actual political topics during their first hangout.

This leads into the third point. For some reason, the center-left never gets the memo: You are being conned by your conservative media friends. Peyser does not realize she has been co-opted into a classic bad-faith Weiss column. Read the Peyser-Weiss editorial again, and see who gives ground and who doesnt. Weiss complains about being called out in public for her toxic views. Peyser sympathizes, and then this:

BARI: Ive been thinking about our little detente a bunch in the wake of the midterms. I am struck by how some on the left are talking about the people  especially white women  who voted Republican. Their message seems to be, We need a re-education camp for white women who are clearly motivated solely or primarily by racism. Its about shaming people. And shame, at least in my experience, doesnt make people change their minds. It just makes them dig in.

EVE: In these divisive times, the increasingly moralistic left has adopted this idea that those who dont agree with you politically are the enemy. (And vice versa.) I think its a self-defeating way of looking at things. If we dismiss the almost 63 million people who voted for Trump as irredeemably evil, where does that leave us as a society? You voted for Clinton, and yet, when we became friends, I worried Id get canceled if Twitter found out.

Those terrible progressives! What about our precious civility?

Peyser tried a Quinn Norton gambit, and she got played.

And how!

Media conservatives will never give ground. They will demand center-left pundits give concessions. And they have read their targets well. The center-left will always punch left to give ground to the right, no matter how extreme the rights ideas. Thats the whole reason the right has a media presence: to platform their godawful positions. The point of having a Tom Friedman is to praise autocrats and mainstream racist notions like We Need a High Wall With a Big Gate. The reason for having a Bret Stephens is to ordinary-ize the crackpot concept of climate denial. The sole purpose of Bari Weiss is to play long cons for the benefit of right-wing power.

The Peyser-Weiss connection is infuriating for a deeper reason. Most politicians and pundits want to avoid the issues. Discussing structural injustice would be troublesome. So they find topics to focus on. Their latest obsession is tribalism. Senator Ben Sasse just wrote a flimsy-ass book on this very subject. Tribalism is their go-to explanation for our perpetual political freefall. If only we could get beyond our tribal conflicts! Stories like Peyser-Weiss are supposed to serve as Aesops parables for the masses. But tribalism is not the problem.

Theres small elite, bankrolled by really rich people. The elite push austerity onto the public. The public supports progressive goals, and hates the elite. Thats the story. Those arent two tribes, any more than Al Capone and his victims were two tribes.

Its pretty simple. Theres a ruling class. They like each other. They dont like you. Thats the history behind every Bush and Michelle Obama picture. Or Weiss and Peyser. Privilege looks into a mirror, and calls the sight beautiful.She was hung from a trash bag. Well, problem with that trash bag is that it didnt have her fingerprints on it. In fact, it didnt have anybodys fingerprints on it. In fact, it didnt even have her DNA on it. We know theres a bunch of evidence thats out there that well never have any ability to grab or touch. Its lost. But ultimately, I dont look at it from the standpoint of whether or not it was a suicide or whether or not it was a murder. It was an in-custody death. Sandy should be here. Period.Although the US-China talks at the G20 ended with a 90-day freeze on new tariffs, Apple Incs biggest iPhone assembler, Foxconn, is still considering setting up a factory in Vietnam to mitigate any impact of an ongoing trade war between the United States and China, according to a Vietnamese state media report.

The report comes after several executives interviewed by Reuters last week singled out Vietnam and neighboring Thailand as preferred destinations should they need to shelter operations from the trade war, braving hurdles such a lack of skilled labor and inadequate infrastructure.

The Vietnam Investment Review reported on Monday that "Foxconn Group and the Hanoi Peoples Committee are working together to open an iPhone manufacturing facility in Vietnam to negate the impacts of the U.S.-China trade war."

The newspaper cited Vu Tien Loc, head of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as raising the matter with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at a meeting on Nov. 22. Loc told Reuters that "We are discussing the possibility of this with Foxconn," without elaborating.Your antivirus may protect your computer, but a VPN protects your computer where it touches the internet, sending your web traffic from your computer to the internet via an impenetrable tunnel. VyprVPN has a robust offering of servers across the world, as well as a strong privacy policy, but it offers fewer features than its competitors and at a higher monthly price. VyprVPN does the job, but you simply get more (sometimes for less) with our Editors' Choice picks.

What Is a VPN?

Once your VPN is activated, all your network traffic travels through an encrypted tunnel between your computer and a server controlled by the VPN service. Nobody, not even someone on the same local network as you, will be able to see your online activities. Your ISP, which can sell your anonymized data, also will be blind to your activities. Sites that try to identify you by your IP address see one of the VPN service's IP addresses instead. VPNs also help circumvent online censorship by letting users tunnel out to a country with more open internet laws. They are used every day by activists and journalists operating in countries with repressive internet controls.

You Can Trust Our Reviews Since 1982, PCMag has tested and rated thousands of products to help you make better buying decisions. ( See how we test .)

VPNs are excellent tools, but they can't protect against every ill. We highly recommend enabling two-factor authentication wherever it's available, using a password manager to create unique and complex passwords for each site and service, and installing antivirus software.

How Much Does VyprVPN Cost?

VyprVPN has done away with its tiered pricing and now offers all features to all users. I appreciate the move. The company has three subscription options: a two-year plan for $60, a one-year plan for $45, and a per-month plan for $12.95. The company does not offer a free version, but it does provide a 30-day money-back guarantee.

When I compare VPN pricing, I look most closely at the monthly subscription option. The current average monthly price for a VPN is $10.18, which is quite a bit cheaper than VyprVPN. Furthermore, several quite good VPNs manage to beat that average. Mullvad VPN, for instance, has a flat 5 monthly fee ($5.91 at time of writing)

VyprVPN's annual pricing is far more competitive. The company's $45 subscription comes in well below the $72.72 industry average. In fact, there isn't a VPN of equal or better quality that costs less. That said, I caution against jumping in with a long-term commitment right away. Instead, I advise that customers start with a short-term subscription in order to test whether the VPN will work with all the sites and services they require.

VyprVPN has discontinued its limited free trial option, but other VPNs offer free subscriptions. TunnelBear provides 500MB of data per month and Hotspot Shield allows 500MB per day. ProtonVPN, however, is the best free VPN because it has no data restrictions, and has a flexible pricing system to boot.

Previously, VyprVPN users were limited to just three simultaneous connections at some pricing tiers. This restriction is also gone, and I'm glad to see it go. Customers can connect up to five devices at the same time, which is the industry average. That might be changing, however. Several companies have begun offering more simultaneous connections, and a few have done away with such restrictions altogether. Avira Phantom VPN, Encrypt.me VPN, Ghostery Midnight, IPVanish VPN, Surfshark VPN, and Windscribe VPN all let you use an unlimited number of devices with a single account. (Note that Encrypt.me and IPVanish are both owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag's parent company.)

The company does offer its own secure DNS, a NAT firewall, and allows BitTorrenting on its servers. These are common features, but it's always good to see them. Less common is VyprVPN Cloud, formerly called VyprVPN Server. It's intended to supply an additional layer of security when accessing cloud server services, and it currently works with Amazon Web Services, DigitalOcean, and VirtualBox. It's definitely more geared toward business VPN needs.

While VyprVPN nails basic VPN protection, it comes up short on advanced features. Multihop connections, which route your data through multiple servers, are not available. Split-tunneling, which allows you to choose which apps send traffic through the VPN, is not available. Nor does the company offer access to the Tor anonymization network via VPN. While several top-rated VPNs include these features, only ProtonVPN has all three.

What VPN Protocols Does VyprVPN Offer?

VPNs have been around for a long time, and as a result, there's more than one way to create an encrypted tunnel. I prefer OpenVPN. This is open-source technology, which means that it has been picked over for any potential security issues. The heir apparent to OpenVPN is WireGuard. This is a new open-source protocol that has only just started seeing adoption in the mainstream, which includes VyprVPN.

In addition to WireGuard, VyprVPN supports L2TP/IPsec, OpenVPN, and its own custom Chameleon protocol. All four protocols are available on iOS, macOS, and Windows. Android does not support IPSec, and Linux only supports OpenVPNalthough the company notes that WireGuard Linux support is coming soon.

Only a few VPN services opt to create their own protocol, but doing so isn't as crazy as it might sound. In the world of encryption, creating a new or proprietary protocol is a dangerous game. A small, unnoticed flaw could render it completely useless. But the company says it uses "the unmodified OpenVPN 256-bit protocol for the underlying data encryption."

Vypr's 256-bit Chameleon protocol is designed to circumvent sites and services that block VPNs. The company says it is particularly useful in countries, such as China and Russia, where the government has enacted strict controls over internet access. TunnelBear and other VPN services offer their own branded versions of censorship-circumventing technology.

How Many Servers Does VyprVPN Have?

VyprVPN says it has servers in 64 countries across the globe. That's a strong showing, surpassing many of PCMag's top-rated VPNs. On average, most VPNs cover about 53 countries. This is important because more server locations means more opportunities to spoof your location. It also means better odds of finding a nearby server while traveling; a nearer server will tend to be faster and deliver lower latency than one farther away.

ExpressVPN covers more ground, with 94 countries, but VyprVPN still has an excellent mix of locations available. I'm especially glad to see VyprVPN covering Africa and South Americatwo entire continents often ignored by VPN companies. VyprVPN also has servers in locations with notably repressive internet laws, including Hong KongChina, Russia, Turkey, and Vietnam.

The total number of servers offered by a VPN company is influenced by the number of subscribers and doesn't necessarily indicate better service. Having more options is always nice, however. VyprVPN has about 700 individual servers, which is a little below average but is still more than much of the competition. NordVPN and CyberGhost currently boast over 5,200 servers.

Some consumers are concerned about VPNs using virtual servers. These are physical servers that run several software-defined servers on them. The issue is that a virtual server can be configured to behave like a server in one country when it's actually, physically located in another. This isn't necessarily a problem. Some VPN companies smartly use servers in safe locations to provide coverage for more dangerous regions. A VPN needs to be clear about when your data is routed through a virtual server location. In a blog post, the company's CTO wrote that virtual servers are located within the listed country, except in situations where that's not possible because of privacy or security concerns. That seems smart, not sketchy. VyprVPN fails, however, to indicate clearly to customers which servers receive this treatment, and should fix that in future versions of its apps.

How Does VyprVPN Protect Your Privacy?

Given the insight that a VPN has into your online activities, it's important that it takes steps to protect your privacy and be a good actor with your data. In its privacy policy, VyprVPN does an excellent job explaining exactly what information it collects about you when the VPN is activated. I appreciate how concise and easy to read this privacy policy is, and that it is light on confusing legalese.

VyprVPN is owned by Golden Frog, GmbH, which is headquartered in Switzerland. That country is reportedly not subject to mandatory data retention laws that affect VPNs. The company has written extensively about why it chose Switzerland as its base.

The company says that it does not log your true IP address or the IP assigned by VyprVPN, nor does it log the start and stop time of your VPN session. That's more privacy than even some of the top VPN companies afford customers. The company also says it does not monitor traffic or web content of customers, which is exactly what you want to hear.

The company's privacy policy also assures that the custom DNS service provided by VyprVPN does not log any information. It also promises to neither throttle your traffic, nor block traffic from a particular application or protocolbasically promising to not mess with your Torrents. Importantly, Golden Frog does not sell customer information to third parties. That's excellent.

Notably, Golden Frog says that it requires a subpoena for supplying law enforcement with identifying information in the event of a criminal case. The company also says that, in civil cases, it will neither sell nor provide information unless directed to do so by a court order. The company describes the information it would release in these circumstances as, "minimal information reasonably calculated to identify and no more." I'd like to see the company go further and be unable to comply with such requests in a meaningful way, although most VPN companies have some information on hand in order for customers to manage their accounts.

Some VPN companies have begun commissioning third-party audits, to verify aspects of their product or policies. In 2018, VyprVPN had its no-log policy assessed, and released the results. NordVPN has done a similar evaluation, while TunnelBear has committed to releasing annual audits. I'm glad to see VyprVPN following this trend.

VyprVPN says that it goes to great lengths to protect its server infrastructure. Unlike NordVPN, ExpressVPN, and others, it has opted not to use RAM-only servers. Instead, it owns all its own hardware, and protects it with a variety of security featuresfrom Automatic BIOS recovery to chassis intrusion detection. The company says these servers are encrypted and don't write connection state information to disk, providing some of the same protection RAM-only servers afford.

Hands On With VyprVPN

In my testing, I installed VyprVPN on an Intel NUC Kit NUC8i7BEH (Bean Canyon) desktop running the latest version of Windows 10. The installation process is fast and easy, and I was up and running within minutes.

VyprVPN has seen a visual refresh since the last time I looked at it. It now sports a snazzy purple color scheme with three very mobile app looking buttons for settings and selecting a server at the bottom. When you're connected, the Disconnect button lights up with a bold orange gradient. This all adds up to a slick, snappy client. It's a welcome improvement.

Getting online is a simple matter of clicking the connect button. You'll be automatically connected to the server VyprVPN judges best. One mild annoyance: The first time you use the app you have to click the Connect button before you're prompted to log in. It feels a little bit like a fake out.

The server selector lacks a map, which I find enormously useful. When a VPN lacks a server in a region I need, a map helps find the next-best option. A search bar at the top makes short work of browsing the list, and a handy latency measurement next to each server can help you find the nearest option. VyprVPN doesn't let you select specific servers, however, limiting you to a list of cities. Most people will be fine with that level of control.

I especially like that VyprVPN made its settings panel so clear and easy to understand. It shows you the current status of each option, and you can tap to learn more and change that option. Want to know if Public Wi-Fi protection is worth using? Just tap.

From the settings, you can change the DNS resolver or VPN protocol. Most people will not need to change these. I did note that VyprVPN did not work with my default OpenVPN TAP driver, but the backup option worked fine. A Kill Switch blocks your internet traffic should the VPN become disconnected, and the Automatic Reconnect option will keep trying to get you back online if you lose your connection.

When you use a VPN you expect it to guard your private information, so I always check to see if it has actually changed my public IP address and secured my DNS requests. VyprVPN definitely secured my IP address, and in doing so obscured my ISP, too. The DNS test results from DNSLeakTest.com showed that VyprVPN was not leaking my DNS information. That's all excellent.

Can You Use VyprVPN With Netflix?

Streaming video services, and Netflix in particular, have been very aggressive about blocking the uses of VPNs. I had no trouble streaming content from Netflix while connected to a US-based VyprVPN server. Keep in mind that the situation might change by the time you read this. Blocking VPNs is a cat-and-mouse game, after all. The best VPNs for streaming Netflix could all end up blocked tomorrow.

Beyond VPN

Though VyprVPN brings many security features to bear, other services go further. Hotspot Shield VPN includes free subscriptions to several security and privacy tools. NordVPN offers a password manager and an encrypted file locker for additional fees. ProtonVPN is itself a spinoff of the respected ProtonMail. I assume that more VPN companies will diversify their offerings, especially as customers demand more value from providers.

Speed and Performance

Using a VPN generally degrades your web-browsing performance, simply because your internet connection takes a more circuitous path. To get a sense for what kind of impact a particular VPN has on web browsing, I perform a series of tests using the Ookla speed test tool. For an exhaustive explanation of how I test VPNs, be sure to read my feature aptly titled "How We Test VPNs." (Note that Ookla is owned by Ziff Davis, which also owns PCMag.)

While most of the other VPN services saw marked improvement year over year, VyprVPN did not. Note that I did not use the newly released WireGuard protocol in this testing. My testing showed that VyprVPN increased latency by 118 percent. It reduced download speed test results by 90.8 percent and reduced upload speed test results by 96.1 percent.

You can see how VyprVPN compares in the chart below with the top performers among the nearly 40 services we tested.

According to my results, Hotspot Shield VPN is the fastest VPNs on the market, although Surfshark is right behind it. VyprVPN's results were significantly less impressive, placing it within the bottom five performers. However, I caution readers against choosing a VPN based solely on speed. For one thing, my results will certainly differ from yours. For another, overall value and security features are far more important than the latency you might experience.

Due to COVID-19, we have been unable to access our test network at PCMag Labs. In August 2020, I tested VyprVPN's WireGuard implementation and retested the service with OpenVPN on my home networkwhich is significantly slower and more cluttered than PCMag's test network, and therefore not comparable with our previous testing. I found that WireGuard showed markedly better performance than my previous testing, but so did VyprVPN with OpenVPN. Surprisingly, the difference between these two new data sets was not as large as I would have expected. With little to compare it to, and testing on my mediocre home network, this is merely anecdotal, but I look forward to resuming regular testing once it is safe to do so.

VyprVPN on Other Platforms

VyprVPN is available for Windows, Android, macOS, and iOS. You can also configure your Linux machine to use VyprVPN, install a special APK onto Android TV devices, or configure your router to use VyprVPN, further extending your protection.

A Strong VPN Option

Pricing has always been an issue with VyprVPN, and while the company has made improvements, it is still expensive for monthly subscribers. VyprVPN also doesn't include any of the additional features that would help justify its price tag. Other services offer much more for much less per month.

That said, VyprVPN supports its VPN protection with the assurances of a good privacy policy and full ownership of its server fleet. The company covers much of the globe, including several regions completely ignored by competitors. Its app is simple, easy to use, and includes the latest technology, such as WireGuard, and unique options, such as its Chameleon protocol.

If you don't need (or want) all the bells and whistles, and find that VyprVPN does work with the sites and services you require, its affordable annual subscription is a good deal. If it's a poor fit, or you need more flexibility, consider Editors' Choice winner ProtonVPN, which has more features and more pricing options, but will cost more per year. Other winners include Mullvad VPN, NordVPN, and TunnelBear VPN.

VyprVPN 3.5 Check Price Pros Strong commitment to customer privacy

Latest VPN technology

Good geographic distribution of VPN servers

Snazzy new client

Affordable annual subscription View More Cons Expensive monthly option

Few additional privacy features

Poor speedtest results, pre-WireGuard The Bottom Line VyprVPN offers the latest VPN technology in a simple and approachable package, along with excellent global coverage. It's expensive, however, unless you commit to an annual subscription.Good Tuesday Morning, Fellow Seekers.

The Pennsylvania Legislature may be in recess for the year, but another branch of state government rumbles to life this week to do some pretty consequential work.

Starting today, the state Supreme Court will convene in Harrisburg to hear 24 cases over three days of oral arguments. And, as our friends at the Legal Intelligencer report, their eventual decisions will have pretty wide-ranging impacts across a variety of sectors of public and private life in the commonwealth.

Chief among them, as the Legal Intell reports, is a case that will decide whether a Pennsylvania State Police trooper, while on duty, is immune from excessive force charge -- even if those actions cause "intentional harm, the legal newspaper reports.

Heres more on the case, known as Justice v. Lombardo, from The Legal Intell:

"The case stems from an altercation between trooper Joseph Lombardo and plaintiff Shiretta Justice that occurred after a traffic stop. Last year, a three-judge Commonwealth Court panel found that, because Lombardo had been acting within the scope of his employment and had been authorized in his behavior, he was protected by sovereign immunity, and the details of the incident involving Justice were irrelevant.

Whether his conduct was reasonable or not, intentional or not, tortious or not, carried out for an improper motive or not, are all irrelevant because Trooper Lombardos use of force in placing Ms. Justices hands behind her back and wrestling with her to apply handcuffs was of the same general nature as that authorized or incidental to the conduct authorized, and use of force, in general, by state troopers is not unexpected, Senior Judge Dan Pellegrini wrote for the court.

The justices granted allocatur in a one-page order issued June 5, taking up a single question: Was [respondent] acting within the scope of his employment throughout his entire encounter with the motorist, and thus entitled to JNOV on the basis of sovereign immunity?

As the Legal Intell reports, other cases set to come before the high court today could impact homeowners who decide to rent their houses out as AirBnB lodgings and affect protections for student-athletes.

The rest of the days news starts now.

Pas forgotten African-American cemeteries are being rewritten back into the history books, The Inquirer reports.

The redacted names of priests named in Attorney General Josh Shapiros grand jury report will remain secret, the state Supreme Court has also ruled, The Post-Gazette reports.

A retired Allegheny County detective is a Jeopardy winner, The Tribune-Review reports.

BillyPenn goes deep on Auditor General Eugene DePasquales report on how the state can tackle gun violence without waiting around for the Legislature to do something.

An Iranian asylum-seeker who raised $1m for the Tree of Life Synagogue visited Pittsburgh, The Incline reports.

Its moving day at the Capitol for your #Harrisburg Instagram of the Day:

Officials in Delaware are opposing a U.S. government effort to do undersea oil exploration, WHYY-FM reports.

WITF-FM explains how state lawmakers are gearing up for the next fight over redistricting.

The Morning Call explains how you can donate Christmas trees to American servicepeople and their families.

U.S. Rep. Scott Perry is in the running to lead the conservative Freedom Caucus in the U.S. House, The PaPost reports.

WolfWatch.

Gov. Tom Wolf heads to Washington D.C. today where hell appear on a Washington Post panel on criminal justice reform.

You Say Its Your Birthday Dept.

Best wishes go out this morning to PennLive Opinion contributor Christine Flowers, and to Christopher Latta, of the Legislative Budget & Finance Committee. Congrats and enjoy the day, folks.

Heavy Rotation.

Heres an old favorite from The Smiths that popped up on the way to work this morning.

Tuesdays Gratuitous Hockey Link.

Nashville dealt the previously surging Buffalo their third, straight loss on Monday. The Preds beat the Sabres 2-1. The win put Nashville atop the NHLs Western Conference.

And now youre up to date.A woman who has called Camp Hill home for the past six months was crowned Miss Pennsylvania USA Sunday.

Kailyn Marie Perez now goes on to compete in the Miss USA pageant in May. The winner of that pageant will represent the United States in the Miss Universe competition.

Miss Pennsylvania USA has actually only called the state her home for a short time.

Im originally from Florida, but a lot of my family now lives in Camp Hill. Ive been visiting all the time for the last two years, and I really fell in love with it, she said. I made the move here to be closer to my family.

Perez, 27, said she relocated to Camp Hill in June shortly after graduating from the Stetson University College of Law in Florida.

Although shes a new to Pennsylvanian, she still met the contests residency requirements.

You have to be resident three months prior to the competition, Randy Sanders, state pageant director, said.

As proof of residency, she supplied her lease agreement, a copy of utility bills and a recent bank statement with a Camp Hill address, Sanders said.

Perez was crowned at the end of the two-day pageant at the Hyatt Regency Hotel at the Pittsburgh International Airport.

Contestants were judged in three categories, including a personal interview and evening gown. The Miss Pennsylvania USA contests also participated in a swimsuit category, replaced by the active wear category for the Miss Pennsylvania Teen USA portion of the competition.

You can watch Perez crowning moment here:

After beginning her reign in 2019, Perez will be Pennsylvanias representative in the Miss USA contest, formerly owned by President Donald Trump. The next step is Miss Universe.

On Monday, Perez said there is no other way to describe the experience of being crowned Miss Pennsylvania USA  its surreal.

Still caught up in the whirlwind of such a big moment, she said she will be returning to the Camp Hill area from Pittsburgh in the next few days. As Miss Pennsylvania USA, shell make appearances all around the state while studying for the bar exam.

She does some modeling work for HSN and will have to fly to Florida now and then, but with West Chester-based QVC acquiring HSN, she hopes to do that work locally soon.

And she said she has had an incredible experience in her new town.

I love the sense of community, she said. Its super close to Harrisburg and the downtown. Im enjoying getting to know the area and my neighbors. I like the change of seasons.

She has already come to find some favorite restaurants, such as Black & Bleu and Chalits Thai Bistro.

And she said shes proud to represent her new state.

Its a personal thing for me, but as a first-generation Cuban-American, my upbringing was very much inspired by a love for this country, she said. With Pennsylvania being the home of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and so much more with the origins of our country, she added I feel very proud to represent Pennsylvania.

In addition to moving on to the Miss USA contest, Perez is also eligible for a plethora of prizes that include dresses, jewelry, gift cards and much more.Harrisburg School Board has a new president, but only time will tell whether this is anything more than a rearranging of the deck chairs on a board that has become highly factionalized in the last few years.

Danielle Robinson, a contract employee at the state Department of Environmental Protection, was returned as board president Monday in a 6-3 vote over Judd Pittman, who served in the top board leadership role this year. Robinson, who had previously led the board in 2016 and 2017, was backed by members Lola Lawson, Lionel Gonzalez, Ellis Roy, Melvin Wilson and Patricia Whitehead-Myers.

Afterward, she promised a fresh direction on issues that have riven the board in recent months, like completion of a long-stalled employment contract for Superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney, and a new collective bargaining agreement with the districts teachers.

As president, Robinson noted, she expects to have an enhanced role in both of those negotiations.

Both the incoming and outgoing presidents also called for cooperation in seeking the best for Harrisburgs students Monday night.

Robinson acknowledged the struggling Capitol City district has a lot of room for improvement in a lot of areas - from high teacher turnover rates, to low student achievement test scores and graduation rates, to embarrassing administrative miscues.

Do we have a lot of work to do? Absolutely, Robinson said.

But she said the districts successes like its cyber-school program, Cougar Academy, and enhanced partnerships with Dauphin County Technical School have to be acknowledged, too.

Above all, Robinson asked that the districts critics - including the citizen and parents group CATCH, for Concerned About The Children of Harrisburg - tone down their public rhetoric and look for ways to work with the board and Knight-Burney.

Were looking to have someone advocate at the Capitol for our funding. They would be a great group for that, Robinson said. But a lot of times we cant even get past a regular meeting without the yelling, the screaming, the name-calling, the Facebook posts.

Pittman, meanwhile, said he will try to work with the boards majority as long it is working in what he perceives to be the best interest of the students.

Right now, the system as a whole by almost any metric, isnt functioning at its highest capacity for our kids and teachers," Pittman said.

"If we can get to a center of focusing on the best outcomes for our kids, then Im going to support her, he said. But if it continues to be a focus on personality and whos in particular positions, I think its going to be a long road to go.

Pittmans reference was, in part, to a rift over his contention last year that the board should open Knight-Burneys position to a full search. Robinson has been a staunch supporter of retaining Knight-Burney.

In the end, a split board voted to extend Knight-Burneys contract for three years, but that contract has not been completed yet.

Pittman also noted Monday that he expects to put together a slate of reform-minded candidates for the boards 2019 election cycle that - if the polarization and personality battles continue - will offer a clear choice for city residents going forward.

The (school board) election is coming up, you know, Pittman said.

Lawson was elected vice president.What we remember about Bush is that he gave us the Gulf War, which in 1991 may have been the only way to thwart Saddam Husseins attempted takeover of Kuwait. But in the eyes of some, he pulled American troops out too soon and left the job unfinished, allowing the dictator to rise up even stronger in the aftermath of the war.A man who fired a pistol through a closed door and critically wounded a college student on Halloween night remains stuck with an attempted murder conviction and a 25- to 50-year prison sentence.

A state Superior Court panel ensured James M. Cannavo Jr. stays behind bars by denying his appeal in an opinion President Judge Emeritus Correale F. Stevens issued week.

Cannavo, 34, of Honey Brook, is serving time for what happened when several students, some whom were possibly intoxicated, pounded on his door after being refused entry into a party near West Chester University on Halloween night 2015.

Police said Cannavo fired a single shot from a .40 caliber pistol through his door, even though he could see via a closed-circuit TV security camera that several people were standing outside.

The bullet struck 19-year-old West Chester student Fletcher Grady in the abdomen.

Cannavo was sentenced to prison last year after a Chester County jury convicted him of attempted murder, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and simple assault. County Judge David F. Bortner also convicted him of illegally possessing a firearm since Cannavo had a prior criminal record.

The convictions came despite Cannavos claims that he fired the shot in self-defense. On appeal, he contended his rights were violated when Bortner refused his request to instruct the jury on the Castle Doctrine, the state law regarding use of lethal force in self-defense.

Stevens, however, seconded Bortners conclusion that the Castle Doctrine didnt apply in the case because the evidence contradicted Cannavos claim that he had to shoot to protect himself. There was no indication Grady was actually trying to break into the carriage house where Cannavo was staying, Stevens agreed.

He found as well that Cannavo was committing a criminal act simply by having a gun. And, Stevens wrote, Cannavo aimed so that he knew his shot was likely to hit the abdomen of someone standing at the door.

We have no hesitation in finding the evidence sufficient to support the elements of attempted murder, Stevens concluded.Harrisburg police have released additional details about a Saturday night shooting on the 300 block of Peffer Street.

Officers were called to the area about 9:12 p.m. to find two males who suffered non-life threatening gunshot wounds, police said.

The males told police they were walking from a local store, and, as they neared Peffer Street, they were shot.

They both stated they did not see anything or who may have shot them, according to police.

One of the males was shot in the left leg and foot, and the other was shot in the right foot, police said.

Both males, whose names and ages were not released, were transported to a local hospital to be treated for their injuries, police said.

Witnesses said they heard four gunshots and saw a dark-colored sedan leaving the scene, headed west, according to police.

Police have asked anyone with information about the shooting to call 717-558-6900.In a decision that is sure to hit the state in the wallet, Commonwealth Court ruled Tuesday that part of Pennsylvanias new fireworks law is unconstitutional.

Specifically, the judges shot down all provisions of that law which allow for more powerful fireworks to be sold from temporary tents and other structures that have popped up like mushrooms in parking lots.

That will limit the availability of such explosives to in-state buyers and is likely to reduce the states sales tax harvest from expanding the types of fireworks that can be bought legally in Pennsylvania.

The courts ruling also should be a boon for established brick-and-mortar fireworks sellers, including the Phantom and Sky King franchises, which had gone to court to try to make those tent sellers fold. Phantom and Sky King argued that since they had invested millions in building structures to meet state requirements to safely house fireworks, they were now facing unfair competition from tent sellers who had virtually no overhead expenses.

The Commonwealth Court decision hinged on a finding that in passing the fireworks expansion, known as Act 43 in 2017, the Legislature unconstitutionally delegated its responsibility for ensuring those explosives are sold safely.

Judge Robert Simpson found in the state courts opinion that delegation of authority occurred because Act 43 doesnt set specific state safety standards, but states only that tent sellers must comply with National Fire Protection Association safety standards.

The Legislature cant simply hand off the issue like that, Simpson concluded.

The General Assembly delegated authority to the NFPA without providing any of the safeguards required to conform that delegation of authority to constitutional strictures, he wrote. That left the NFPA free to create, alter or removeany standard is chooses concerning temporary structures used to sell fireworks.

Notably, although Act 43 does contemplate safety inspections of the temporary structures, neither the General Assembly nor the inspectors have any control over the safety standards to be applied in those inspections, Simpson added.

Phantom and Sky King insisted in their challenge to Act 43 that the NFPA safety regulations for tent sellers are inadequate.

Fortunately for the states treasury, Simpson and his colleagues determined the unconstitutionality of Act 43s safety provisions regarding temporary sellers doesnt have to blow up the entire fireworks law.

They found instead that the unconstitutional portions relating to temporary fireworks selling structures can be removed from Act 43 while allowing the rest of the law, including its expanded taxing provisions, to remain intact.A homeless man in Lancaster is facing charges after police say he damaged the windshields of about 80 vehicles in the parking garage of Lancaster General Hospital.

Officers were dispatched to the hospital at 1:13 a.m. Tuesday in the 500 block of North Queen Street. Security had detained 55-year-old Jere Lyons, police said.

Officers determined that Lyons used an extension cord with a padlock attached to one end to damage parked vehicles, according to police. Officers canvassed the garage and determined Lyons damaged about 80 vehicles' windshields, police said.

Security told police Lyons had been in the garage for about 12 minutes when the damage as done. Police estimate the damage estimate to vehicles is about $24,000.

Lyons was taken into custody, and is charged with criminal mischief, defiant trespass, and possessing instruments of crime.The identity of Catholic priests whose names were redacted from a scathing report on clergy sex abuse will remain protected by that redaction, Pennsylvanias highest court on Monday ruled.

In its ruling, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that redaction was the only viable due process remedy that could be extended to the petitioners - the priests - to protect their constitutional rights to reputation.

Eleven priests - out of the more than 300 priests identified in the report from the 40th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury - had petitioned the court to keep their names blacked out of the report as revealing their names would violate their constitutional rights.

The report - released in August by the Office of State Attorney General Josh Shapiro - unearthed the decades-long systemic sexual abuse of thousands of children across Pennsylvania at the hands of Catholic priests. Investigators found that in the majority of cases, church officials and leaders concealed the crimes from authorities and parishioners. The high court had ordered the Commonwealth to release the interim report, which protected the rights of the petitioners who challenged that the report would violate their constitutional rights.

Shapiro said the court decision allows predator priests to remain in the shadows and permits the Catholic Church to continue to conceal their identities.

I will continue to stand with all survivors, fighting to ensure every victim gets their day in court and that every predator priest and every bishop and church official who enabled child abuse is held accountable for their abhorrent conduct," Shapiro said in a written statement. "The public will not relent in its demand that anyone involved in this widespread abuse and cover up be named. No one victims truth is any less important than another and no ones criminal conduct any less loathsome.

The names of the nearly dozen priests remained redacted while the court considered the arguments from petitioners, as well as that of Shapiro, who appealed to the court to release the names of the priests. Victims have decried the so-called interim report.

Victims advocate Rep. Mark Rozzi said the court decision was made "at the expense of victims.

Of course I am disappointed, mad and angry, said the Berks County Democrat. Again the church gets another victory walk while victims are thrown out to the curb. Those stories of victims matter. It just shows you what money can buy in this world... it shows you the power of the church. If you have money, you can buy anything and anyone in this world.

Writing for the majority, Justice Debra Todd wrote that as the content of Report 1 is condemnatory of Petitioners, we conclude that principles of fundamental fairness demanded enhanced procedural protections be afforded Petitioners in order to safeguard their right to reputation.

The court rejected the Commonwealths suggestion that the investigating grand jury could be recalled to hear testimony and receive evidence from petitioners.

Aside from logistical difficulties entailed in that suggestion, the court argued that such an extraordinary measure is not authorized by the plain text of the statute governing grand juries. In its opinion, the court stated that the grand jury had fulfilled its time limitations: Thus, given that the grand jurys term has expired and that it has been disbanded, we conclude that the 40th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury has not authority under the Act to take any further official action.

The high court did not strike down the statute governing grand juries. Defense attorneys had argued that grand juries were unconstitutional, infringing on the rights of defendants to challenge their accusers in court. Todd noted that the General Assembly had the purview to rewrite the statute.

Shapiro noted that while the court order barred him from releasing the names of the 11 petitioners, it did not prevent the six Catholic dioceses at the center of the grand jury report from releasing the shielded names with their parishioners and the public.

I call on the bishops to do so immediately, consistent with their recent calls for transparency, Shapiro said.

In addition to Todd, Justices Max Baer, Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty, David Wecht and Sally Updyke Mundy joined the opinion.

Chief Justice Saylor filed a dissenting opinion. He argued that at a minimum the petitioners should be provided the opportunity to testify before the court to answer to the grand jurys particularized findings of criminal and/or morally reprehensible conduct are not supported by a preponderance of the evidence.

Saylor also opined that petitioners who were never given the opportunity to testify before the grand jurys term expired, had the right to be given that opportunity.A teacher of a Catholic school in Northumberland County is out of a job after she told school officials that she and her significant other are having a child out of wedlock.

Naiad Reich, 31, was notified Friday that she was being let go as a teacher at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional School in Coal Township, The News-Item reports. Reich was a high school English and creative writing teacher, as well as a yearbook adviser.

Reich told The News-Item she informed Sister Mary Anne Bednar, high school principal and administrator, on Tuesday that she and her significant other, Matt Graboski, 32, are expecting a baby in June.

Her response, honestly, is one that will sit with me for a very long time, because she was very displeased, Reich said. She said it would be a problem and she had to contact the diocese.

Rachel Bryson, executive director of public relations for the Diocese of Harrisburg, told The News-Item that after speaking with education department personnel, they are unable to comment due to the issue being a personnel matter.

According to rules and regulations on the dioceses website, immorality is listed as the first cause for dismissal of a professional employee, but no reference is made regarding a teacher becoming pregnant out of wedlock.

Reich, however, pointed out that a section of the schools student handbook indicates what while the school doesnt condone the actions, pregnant students are still permitted to continue attending school, according to the report.

Reich plans to appeal the dioceses decision.A large crowd of adults and children filled Pennsylvania Capitol's East Wing Rotunda on Monday to celebrate the lighting of Pennsylvania's menorah and to honor the memory of those 11 people whose lives were lost in the mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh.

The ceremony, sponsored by Chabad-Lubavitch of Harrisburg, included remarks from Gov. Tom Wolf, who had the honor of lighting the lead candle on the menorah. Other local dignitaries also participated.

The holiday of Hanukkah, which lasts eight days, commemorates the establishment of freedom of religion for Israelites.

During his remarks, Rabbi Shmuel Pewzner of Chadbad-Lubavitch said the message learned from the maccabees some 2100 years ago about the power of light overcoming darkness is a timely and important one to remember in the wake of the hate-inspired shooting that played out at Tree of Life that late October morning.

"Pittsburgh became the target of a ruthless evil, unfathomable hate, an inexplicable darkness. It was a peaceful Shabbat morning that was turned into a tragic massacre that shook the world. Such utter darkness lurking so close to home. It seems that the time-honored values and principles, the foundation of any decent human society are facing erosion," Pewzner said, still so emotionally raw from the events of that day that he had to pause several times during his remarks to collect himself.

"The menorah reminds us that we all have the power to create that light. We can shine brighter, we will shine brighter. Pennsylvania's menorah will shine brighter this year, brighter than ever."

Children from Silver Academy offered a rousing choral performance and then, along with other children in attendance, were presented with Hanukkah gelt by Wolf followed by dancing and latkes.Will Pennsylvanias Supreme Court give the ACLU access to the full version of the state police policy for monitoring social media in criminal investigations?

That possibility is on the table because the states highest court has agreed to hear an appeal of a Commonwealth Court ruling that blocks the ACLU from fully learning how troopers conduct their online snooping.

The ACLU contends a Commonwealth Court panel shouldnt have overturned a ruling by the state Office of Open Records that granted the ACLU access to the full, unredacted policy.

The ACLU already has been given a heavily-redacted version of the policy. The civil rights group claims the blacked-out version isnt sufficiently informative.

The Commonwealth Court decision, authored by Judge Christine Fizzano Cannon, was handed down in May. Cannons opinion was based heavily on an affidavit from Major Douglas Burig, director of the state police Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

Burig argued that police methods for monitoring sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter must be kept secret so subjects of investigations dont get information they can use to develop counter-measures. Nor should police methods for using aliases in undercover social media investigations be made public, he contended.

In agreeing to hear the ACLUs appeal, the Supreme Court said it will consider whether Commonwealth Court adequately weighed the evidence provided by the open records office. Also, the high court will gauge whether the assertions in Burigs affidavit provided sufficient evidence of a threat to public safety to justify the redactions police made to the version of the policy given to the ACLU.

The number of players in the dispute will expand as well. The Supreme Court gave the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association permission to file a brief in support of the ACLU.A state lawmaker in Lancaster County has to pay $14,000 in fines after an investigation found he used his prior position as a township supervisor to further a land deal that he and his brother had financial interests in.

State Rep. David Zimmerman violated state ethics laws when he neglected to report his financial interests in the venture, according to the commissions findings.

Zimmerman told LancasterOnline he has accepted responsibility and the penalties.

Zimmerman was elected to his third two-year term in November. He previously served as supervisor and roadmaster for East Earl Township.

Heres the findings from the commission in their entirety.A community in the Poconos is still reeling from a tragedy, but government business must go on.

The Paradise Township Board of Supervisors in Monroe County held their first meeting Monday night since code and sewer enforcement official Michael Tripus, 65, was shot and killed at the municipal building last week, WFMZ is reporting.

The meeting started with a moment of silence for Tripus, who was laid to rest just hours before.

"He was a great guy, very personable, very professional," Peter Gonze, board supervisor, said, according to WFMZ. "He's the kind of person that anybody would feel very comfortable talking to."

This meeting was held at a nearby library. Paradise Township officials say they will reopen the municipal building, which was the scene of the shooting, for the first time today, WNEP is reporting. Employees can choose to work at the nearby maintenance building if making a return is too emotional.

Counselors have been brought in to help employees who are having a hard time processing the shooting death of their co-worker right before their eyes, WNEP reports.

"We're hopeful that we can get back in the building and return to normalcy, but we recognize it's going to take a long time," Gonze said.

Tripus was killed Nov. 27, and police have charged 72-year-old David Green. He said hes sorry and that he doesnt know why he did it.

Green told police he was having problems with his new house, including mold, and a neighbor told police Green was having difficulty obtaining permits.You may have noticed U.S. flags around the midstate posted at half-staff today, as a mark of respect for the memory of sign of former President George H.W. Bush, who died Friday.

Flags at all U.S. government facilities will fly at half-staff for 30 days, as per guidance in a section of federal law that is known as the "Flag Code for the death of any current or former president.

Presidents are in a category by themselves, as it happens.

The code calls for half-staff postings of:

10 days for the death of a sitting vice president, the current or former chief justices of the Supreme Court, or a sitting Speaker of the House of Representatives;

Until interment for other Supreme Court justices, cabinet secretaries, former vice presidents or the majority and minority leaders of the House and Senate, and:

The day of the death and the following day for a member of Congress.

These periods of mourning are typically set by presidential proclamation, and the president may also order the flag to be flown at half-staff to mark the death of other notable persons or foreign dignitaries, or after tragic events like the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.

In addition, the governor of any state may order the flag to be at half-staff to honor the death of a national or state figure. Gov. Tom Wolf issued such an order Monday in honor of U. S. Army Sgt. Jason Mitchell McClary, a Pennsylvania native who died Sunday as the result of injuries from an attack in Afghanistan last week.

The governmental proclamations are like executive orders that apply only to federal or state facilities; they dont carry over to flags displayed on other property.

But many people and property owners will typically follow suit.

In fact, the Web site halfstaff.org exists specifically to help people keep track of half-staff notices both at the federal level and in all 50 states.

One other point worth noting, courtesy of www.gettysburgflag.com:

The Flag Code is a code, intended to provide guidance. It carries no civil or criminal penalties for misuse of the Flag. And individuals are not acting illegally when using the flag according to their own rules. The Flag Code is only required to be followed on public or government buildings.Health official: 'We have seen an increase in the number of pediatric patients hospitalized'The assistance from outside experts comes nearly two years after the Justice Department  as part of an investigation following the Laquan McDonald police shooting scandal  issued a scathing report on CPD from top to bottom. That report also cited the departments low clearance rate for homicides, noting how trust between the police and Chicagos communities, especially those most beset by violence, was critical in solving the killings.James Williams Wins the 2018 888poker LIVE Festival London (121,000)

December 04, 2018 Christian Zetzsche

The final day of the 2018 888poker LIVE Festival London 1,100 Main Event kicked off with just 21 players out of a 656-entry strong field still in contention, all aiming to take home the trophy and first-place payout of 121,000. While the field was cut down swiftly in the first two levels, the final table would turn into an endurance challenge that lasted until 2.30 a.m. local time at the Aspers Casino at Westfield Stratford City.

Ultimately, it was British poker pro and cash game specialist James Williams that took home the lion's share of the 649,440 prize pool, defeating recreational player and decorator Derek Lawless heads-up to lift the trophy. The heads-up portion itself only lasted half an hour and two gutsy moves by Lawless determined the outcome when he put Williams to the test and was caught bluffing.

Antoine Labat, who finished 9th in the 2018 WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas, had to settle for 3rd place. The Frenchman dominated the late stages of Day 2 and the entirety of the final day with sheer aggression but came short in his bid to bring home the trophy to France.

"I just couldn't win an all in against a short stack for two days," Labat shrugged after he had just collected his payout. He displayed the full array of his poker skills at the final table with a tremendous jack-high bluff against Lawless, who he had battled with several times throughout the late stages of the tournament.

The final table also featured Hak-Hyun Lee, Philippe Souki, 888poker online qualifier Christos Xanthopoulos, and Craig Sweden. 888poker.es ambassador Fernando Pons finished in thirteenth place, Kelly Saxby bowed out in sixteenth place.

888poker LIVE London 1,100 Main Event Final Table Payout

Position Player Country Prize (in GBP) Prize (in USD) 1 James Williams United Kingdom 121,000 $154,269 2 Derek Lawless United Kingdom 85,000 $108,371 3 Antoine Labat France 57,140 $72,851 4 Hak-Hyun Lee Sweden 41,000 $52,273 5 [Removed:208] Serbia 31,000 $39,523 6 Aleem Kanji United Kingdom 25,000 $31,874 7 Philippe Souki United Kingdom 20,500 $26,136 8 Christos Xanthopoulos Greece 16,000 $20,399 9 Craig Sweden United Kingdom 12,500 $15,937

James Williams and 2017 WSOP Main Event Champion Scott Blumstein

888poker LIVE London Action of the final day

Only 21 players returned to their seats with 6,100 locked up, and the first two levels provided plenty of fireworks, as the field was quickly down to the last 13 hopefuls. Among the early casualties were the 888poker qualifiers Martyn Duell and Helmut Hauser, Fuad Serhan, and Kelly Saxby. For Saxby, her run came to an end in sixteenth place after her pocket kings were cracked by the ace-king of Hak-Hyun Lee.

Once the action resumed after the first break of the day, Fernando Pons failed to hold up with pocket jacks on the feature table, and Christopher Kyriacou ran out of chips with pocket nines, both times a pair of eights had been the culprit. Antonios Onoufriou and Lam Van Trinh fell victim to the hot run of [Removed:208] on the outer table, and that set up the nine-handed final table.

Several players clung to their short stacks for an extended period and it was Craig Sweden that bowed out in ninth place after running into pocket aces. 888poker online qualifier Christos Xanthopoulos ran out of chips just a few minutes later, and it wouldn't take long to reduce the field to the final six. The exit of Philippe Souki was heartbreaking, as his top pair and top kicker with ace-king was cracked by the ace-four suited nut flush draw of Labat as another heart showed up right away on the turn.

Another stalemate followed with several players ending up all in and at risk. Often it was Antoine Labat that attempted to deal the final blow, but it was Derek Lawless that had Aleem Kanji on the ropes with pocket eights versus ace-eight. Kanji found no help on an eight-high board and stuck around near the feature table to rail his friend James Williams on the way to victory.

[Removed:208] was among the seventeen players that entered the tournament with 12 big blinds at the start of Day 2 and turned that into a payday of 31,000. The Serbian flopped top pair and a gutshot with king-queen but ended up second-best to the queen-ten for top two pair of Labat. Hak-Hyun Lee seemingly hovered between five and fifteen big blinds for many hours and laddered up several spots to finish in fourth place.

Antoine Labat

Down to the last three, the chip lead was traded back and forth, and it was Antoine Labat that came up short. In a three-way pot, Labat flopped an open-ended straight flush draw, and Derek Lawless looked him up with the king-high flush draw. Another club appeared on the turn, and Labat found no miracle on the river.

Only a few hands into the heads-up duel, Lawless turned his second pair into a bluff and jammed the river to put Williams to the test. It was not enough to get his opponent to fold king-six for top pair, and Lawless was left with a 1-9 chip deficit. Two dramatic double ups later the race was wide open once more, but another gutsy bluff with the busted nut flush draw was one too many, as Williams found the call with king-four for counterfeit two pair to end the festival in East London the early morning hours.

888poker LIVE London Guarantees Smashed at the Aspers Casino

It was once again a very successful festival for 888poker at the Aspers Casino at Westfield Stratford City, and all guaranteed prize pools were easily surpassed, some of them even smashed such as the Opening Event, the 2,200 High Roller, The Whale, and of course the 1,100 Main Event.

Some of the biggest names in poker made the trip to the UK including the last two WSOP Main Event champions John Cynn and Scott Blumstein, 2018 WSOP Main Event runner-up Tony Miles, and ninth place finisher Antoine Labat, Michael Mizrachi, David Peters, and a host of 888poker ambassadors.

Festival Highlights at a Glance

Event Buy-In Entries Prize Pool Winner Prize (in GBP) Prize (in USD) Opening Event 220 887 165,726 Arvydas Budvitis 17,000 $21,826 High Roller 2,200 74 146,520 Matas Cimbolas 42,505 $54,330 Ladies Event 100 25 2,250 Natalia Drytchak 1,025 $1,306 The Whale 150 145 19,575 Chris Da-Silva 5,070 $6,459 Pot-Limit Omaha 125 81 9,112 Gary Solomons 2,340 $2,981 Main Event 1,100 656 649,440 James Williams 121,000 $154,269

The 220 Opening Event missed the trademark number of the sponsor by one entry, and 887 total entries ensured that the guarantee was smashed. There was a six-way deal on the final table and Arvydas Budvytis claimed the trophy and second-biggest payday of 17,000.

Right after, the 2,200 High Roller Event nearly tripled the guarantee and fellow Lithuanian Matas Cimbolas struck a deal with 2017 888poker LIVE London Main Event champion Tom Hall to claim the lion's share of the prize pool. Chris Da-Silva topped a field of 145 entries in the 150 The Whale Side Event and kept the trophy on British soil.

In the Ladies Event powered by Poker League of Nations, three-time UK Deaf Poker Champion Natalia Drytchak defeated 888poker ambassador Sofia Lovgren in heads-up. The event drew 25 entries, and Drytchak claimed a prize package valued at 3,100, which includes first place cash, a package to 2019 888poker LIVE Bucharest, and a Tiffany bracelet.

Final Result 888poker LIVE London Ladies Event

Place Winner Prize (in GBP) Prize (in USD) 1 Natalia Drytchak United Kingdom 1,025 2 Sofia Lovgren Sweden 650 3 Sung Hee Yun United States 450 4 Tanice Combes United Kingdom 125

Ladies Event Champion Natalia Drytchak and Sofia Lovgren

Ian Hunter Wins the 5,000 Super High Roller

I ran like god, from hand one, a delighted Ian Hunter said after he had topped the 5,000 Super High Roller, knocking out Chris Moorman and Manig Loeser on the way to victory. He also faced off against the 888poker ambassadors Ana Marquez, Dominik Nitsche, and Parker Talbot, but nobody could stop Hunter on his way to victory.

The top three spots shared a portion of the 57,600 prize pool, and Hunter was the dominating chip leader when the money bubble had burst.

Down to seven big blinds, 888poker ambassador Moorman shoved and was called both ways. Hunter flopped trips kings and bet the river to force out Loeser.

I lose, Moorman immediately said and shook hands with Hunter, who replied "great playing with you."

What followed was a very brief affair in heads-up and Hunter also sent Loeser to the rail in a hand that sums up his run good quite well. Hunter flopped top pair with ace-nine, Loeser turned second pair with king-jack, and they got the chips in. The river was a blank and Hunter celebrated, collecting 28,800 and the trophy for his efforts. Loeser received 17,300 and Moorman cashed for 11,500.1.6k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

While it was already clear that Michael Cohen was cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller, Rachel Maddow dove into recent court filings that show his cooperation is far deeper than previously known.

According to Maddows analysis, Cohen has been a goldmine of information for investigators. Not only is he working with Mueller, but hes also involved in a handful of other investigations that were previously unknown to the public.

We knew that Michael Cohen was definitely working with the special counsels office, Maddow said. But now we know that Michael Cohen is helping all these different kinds of prosecutors with all these different cases, including some that weve never seen reference to before in public documents.

Video:

Maddow said:

In this sentencing memo that Cohens lawyers have filed, they spell out that hes had seven different interviews with prosecutors from Muellers office, from the special counsels office. Hes had two separate interviews with investigators from the U.S. Attorneys office in the southern district of New York. The filing also says somewhat cryptically that in conjunction with those meetings with SDNY, Cohen has, quote, responded to questions concerning an ongoing investigation. We dont know what that ongoing investigation is in SDNY. The filing also says that Cohen has met with the New York attorney generals office. This is the state attorney generals office. And again the filing makes some news here when it says that Cohen has met with the AGs office in conjunction with a lawsuit that office has brought against Trumps charity, against the Trump Foundation. That is something that we knew about, that lawsuit. But on top of that, he also provided the New York attorney general with documents concerning a separate open inquiry. What is this separate open inquiry from the New York AGs office? We do not know. In addition to that, Michael Cohen has also met with and provided cooperation to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. And again, we do not know exactly what that is about, but Cohen and his lawyers say in this new filing that hes cooperated personally and hes provided information requested by that New York state agency, which of course is capable of bringing criminal charges. So Michael Cohen is helping prosecutors a lot. We knew that. We knew that Michael Cohen was definitely working with the special counsels office, that he was more than enthusiastic about his cooperation when it came to matters pertaining to the president, but now we know that Michael Cohen is helping all these different kinds of prosecutors with all these different cases, including some that weve never seen reference to before in public documents.

Michael Cohen has been a goldmine for investigators

Michael Cohen has been a goldmine for investigators looking to get to the bottom of Trumps crimes.

Not only has he had seven (!!!) different interviews with Muellers office, but Cohen appears to be happily sharing all of Trumps skeletons with other investigators looking into the presidents shady closet, particularly in the Southern District of New York.

Whether its a potential conspiracy with Russia, campaign finance violations or crimes related to the Trump Foundation, Cohen is the gift that keeps on giving for investigators.

This is shaping up to be the complete nightmare scenario for Donald Trump.

Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook.2.3k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Special counsel Robert Muellers down to tying up loose ends, according to a new report, and his team is getting ready to drop the hammer on Donald Trump via a series of key documents set to be filed in the coming days.

According to Yahoo News, Special counsel Robert Muellers prosecutors have told defense lawyers in recent weeks that they are tying up loose ends in their investigation, providing the clearest clues yet that the long-running probe into Russias interference in the 2016 election may be coming to its climax, potentially in the next few weeks, according to multiple sources close to the matter.

The report notes that Muellers team is planning to file memos about three of their most high profile defendants  former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former Trump personal lawyer Michael Cohen.

MSNBCs Chris Hayes shed more light on whats expected to be an explosive week  and its likely to push Trump even further over the edge.

If you think the president is lashing out now, well, just you wait, the MSNBC host said on Monday night.

Video:

Chris Hayes says Trumps tantrums are likely to get worse as Mueller plans to release explosive documents this week. #ctl #p2 #Mueller pic.twitter.com/4ZCludQ2cs  PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) December 4, 2018

Robert Muellers prosecutors have reportedly told defense lawyers that they are tying up loose ends in their investigation and what they plan to layout just this week is expected to be explosive, Hayes said.

This could be the final phase of the Trump presidency

With Mueller signaling that he has the goods on Trump, its seemingly no longer a question of whether the president is in legal trouble. Instead, the more likely question is how much legal trouble he will face when Muellers work is completed.

The good news is that the special counsel team is increasingly indicating that we will soon find out.

Michael Cohens guilty plea last week was a major signal that a storm is brewing for Trump and his universe of corrupt cronies. The expected filing of memos related to Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen will shed even more light on that front.

The Trump tantrums we have witnessed up until this point will look like nothing compared to what were likely to see by the end of the week.

Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook.2.2k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Trump has become toxic in small-town America as Democrats have gained in popularity and Trumps strength is limited to rural communities.

According to the Grinnell College National Poll, the Trump coalition is crumbling, While President Trump has maintained the rural portion of his base, the broader coalition that helped elect him in 2016 shows signs of weakening. For instance, 71 percent of white men without college degrees voted for Trump in 2016, according to the exit polls. Today only 49 percent of that demographic would definitely vote to re-elect President Trump. Among likely 2020 voters, he also falls short of a 50 percent majority of white men (43%), white men and women without a college degree (46%), and evangelicals (47%).

Trump is losing small-town America

The idea that a big city real estate con man who was born rich would be able to hold small-town America never really made sense and the polling shows that small towns have also gotten tired of Trump. As Bloomberg wrote, In rural areas  not including those living in small towns  46 percent say theyll definitely vote for him for a second term. But in all other geographic areas, theres much higher skepticism about a second Trump term. Just 33 percent of those in small towns definitely plan to vote for him, while 27 percent in suburbs and 24 percent in cities say they will.

Thanks to Trump, 42% of Americans in small towns view the Democratic Party favorably compared to 37% who have a favorable opinion of the Republican Party.

Trump is just harming his own reelection chances. He is making the Republican base smaller and more rural. People in small towns are joining their fellow Americans in cities and suburbs in rejecting this president.

Pretty soon, the Republican Party will be a party solely made up of rural white men.

Donald Trump isnt making the GOP great. He is pushing it toward the verge of extinction.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook.1.1k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu said on Monday that Donald Trump is digging his own political grave by repeatedly committing crimes via his Twitter account.

In an interview with MSNBCs Ari Melber, the California congressman said the presidents social media comments alone  before even getting to his Russian entanglements  provide ample evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

If I were special counsel Mueller, I would have a whole series of exhibits that simply have Donald Trumps tweets pasted on a page, Rep. Lieu.

Video:

Rep Lieu said:

I can tell you the witness tampering statute is very broad. You can violate it merely by attempting to corruptly persuade another witness from attempting to testify. It looks to me in this case that Donald Trump is attempting to persuade Roger Stone to keep him from testifying. If I were special counsel Mueller, I would have a whole series of exhibits that simply have Donald Trumps tweets pasted on a page.  I think its an attempt to persuade Roger Stone not to testify. That by itself would violate the witness tampering statute. It also could violate a separate statute, which is obstruction of justice, which simply requires again Donald Trump to merely attempt to influence a federal investigation with corrupt intent. A lot of this centers on the intent of Donald Trump. I think its pretty clear what his intent is, and its to protect himself and his family, and that is corrupt intent.

The president is running out of allies

The fact that Donald Trump is pinning his hopes on Roger Stone shows how desperate he is to have some type of ally as Robert Muellers investigation rages on.

Thats likely why the president tweeted words of encouragement for Stone on Monday, praising his former associate for having guts and not spilling the goods to Mueller.

I will never testify against Trump. This statement was recently made by Roger Stone, essentially stating that he will not be forced by a rogue and out of control prosecutor to make up lies and stories about President Trump. Nice to know that some people still have guts!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2018

But as Rep. Leiu pointed out on Monday, Trumps tweet represents witness tampering and obstruction of justice, and theres a good chance Mueller has a thick file filled with similarly criminal social media ramblings.

All of this goes without mentioning the rest of the Trump dirt Robert Mueller has that the public isnt yet aware of.

As PoliticusUSAs Jason Easley pointed out on Monday, Donald Trumps behavior is that of a scared criminal who has been caught.

Its shaping up to be an explosive next few weeks.

Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook.1.5k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

The attorneys general of DC and Maryland plan to file subpoenas that target more than 30 Trump-related private entities in their case accusing Trump of profiting from the presidency and violating the Constitutions emoluments clause.

The Maryland AGs office confirmed the subpoena details to The Associated Press Tuesday as they were preparing them.

The attorneys general of the District of Columbia and Maryland plan to file subpoenas seeking records from the Trump Organization, the Internal Revenue Service and dozens of other entities in their lawsuit accusing Donald Trump of profiting off the presidency, the AP reported Tuesday afternoon.

Centered around spending at Trumps D.C. hotel, the attorney generals are planning to file subpoenas to get records from the Trump Organization, the IRS and other entities, according to the AP.

As the lawsuit focuses more and more on the Trump Hotel, NPR pointed out, The Trump hotel is the Old Post Office building and is leased from the federal government. The lease with the General Services Administration explicitly says that no elected official of the government of the United States may hold that lease.

The lawsuit has had a long journey and is historic. It was filed June 12, 2017, by Attorney General Karl Racine and Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, with White House ethics expert Norm Eisen as one of the co-counsel, accusing Trump of violating the Foreign and Domestic Emoluments Clauses by accepting payments from foreign and domestic governments through his businesses.

After Judge Peter J. Messitte of Maryland allowed a lawsuit to move forward, the filers and Eisen explained in an opinion piece published in the New York Times, The Foreign Emoluments Clause  specifically, Article I, Section 9, Clause 8 of the Constitution  declares that no Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

The point of the suit was that it became the only avenue for protecting our citizens was to bring this lawsuit  to, as Alexander Hamilton wrote in Federalist 73, protect the country from a president whose business entanglements might allow foreign actors to tempt him by largesses, to surrender at [his] discretion his judgment to their inclinations.

U.S. District Court Judge Peter J. Messitte gave the order for discovery on Monday, with the targets to be listed Tuesday.

Donald Trump has given us all a run for our money with his constant assault on norms, ethics, and indeed the law  but there are folks holding the line. The wheels of justice can be slow, but she does keep moving.

Follow Sarah on Facebook and Twitter.326 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Former Vice President Joe Biden is still fueling speculation that he will run for president in two years.

On his book tour in Missoula, Montana, Monday night, Biden discussed his 2020 prospects, saying he believes that he is the most qualified person to be president. He also said that his decision would be made in the next two months. He also called himself a gaffe machine.

"I'm the most qualified person in the country to be president," Joe Biden says in latest overture toward a potential 2020 presidential run. https://t.co/OXGBYFx32Q  NBC News (@NBCNews) December 4, 2018

Ill be as straight with you as I can. I think Im the most qualified person in the country to be president, Biden said to the supportive crowd at the University of Montana. The issues that we face as a country today are the issues that have been in my wheelhouse, that Ive worked on my whole life.

Then he added:

No one should run for the job unless they believe that they would be qualified doing the job. Ive been doing this my whole adult life, and the issues that are the most consequential relating to the plight of the middle class and our foreign policy are things that I have  even my critics would acknowledge, I may not be right but I know a great deal about it.

Biden said his family would decide as a unit whether or not theyre prepared for the demands of a run for the presidency, which he knows a lot about. He also gave a timeframe for the decision, saying:

I have two young grandchildren my son left who love me and adore me and want me around. I want to be there to take care of them, so weve got to figure out whether or not this is something we can all do as a family. Were going to make that decision in the next six weeks to two months, and thats the basis of the decision.

The moderator of the Montana event, Bruce Feiler, challenged Biden by pointing out the liabilities of a Biden campaign, saying:

Bidens too old. He signed and he cosponsored the crime bill. He was the chairman of the judiciary committee during the Anita Hill hearings, and hes out of touch in the era of Me Too. $1.5 million aint gonna cut it anymore, you need $100 million. Who wants to wake up at 6 a.m. for the next two years and get insults from the President of the United States?  Youre a gaffe machine. I could go on. Which of these scares you the most?

None of them, Biden said, as the audience laughed. Then he took pains to defend what people are saying are his liabilities, by contrasting himself to the current president:

I am a gaffe machine, but my God what a wonderful thing compared to a guy who cant tell the truth. Im ready to litigate all those things, the question is what kind of nation are we becoming? What are we going to do? Who are we?

Whether or not I run, whoever runs, Im going to break my neck to make sure they win. We cant have four more years.

Biden is truly an old-school Democrat. He has strong bonds with longtime members of the Democratic Party, and he also has undeniable appeal to white working-class voters. In Pennsylvania (where he grew up) throughout the Midwest he may have many advantages over other Democratic candidates.

The 2020 race is going to lead to one of the most crowded Democratic primary fields in history. And apparently Joe Biden thinks he has a better than average chance of winning most of those primaries. As to whether or not he will actually take the plunge and enter the field, well just have to wait and see.

Since Biden has led many polls among Democrats, if he doesnt run his potential 2020 opponents will probably be happy and breathe a sigh of relief.It is the first time someone has forced CPS to heed the voices of these parents and students and community that have been saying for so long that this decision to phase out and close NTA is unjust, Ashley Fretthold, part of a team of attorneys who have pursued the lawsuit, said to reporters gathered outside Valderramas courtroom after his ruling.1.4k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

The incoming chairman of the powerful House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Rep. Elijah Cummings, has his sights set on Brian Kemp, the Republican governor-elect of Georgia.

Before using widespread voter suppression tactics to cheat in his race against Democrat Stacey Abrams, Kemp was the Georgia Secretary of State. This position put him in charge of the elections for the entire state. And he used this position well  for his own advantage.

Most observers believe that if Kemp had not used every trick in the book to suppress minority votes throughout Georgia that Abrams would have won, and become the countrys first African-American female governor.

So now Cummings says he wants Kemp to testify before his Congressional committee about all of the voter suppression charges against him.

I want to be able to bring people in, like the new governor-to-be of Georgia, to explain  why is it fair for wanting to be secretary of state and be running [for governor], Cummings told HuffPost in an article published Monday.

Kemps hard-fought and controversial contest against Abrams was brought many calls by independent observers for him to resign. They said it was not fair for him to keep his post overseeing the states elections while he ran for governor at the same time.

After the November 6 election was over, Abrams, through a group she founded, filed a lawsuit in federal court in Georgia. The goal of the lawsuit is not to overturn the election results but to overhaul the states election procedures and processes to make them more fair.

It was not a free and fair election, Abrams said after conceding the election to Kemp on November 20.

The lawsuit maintains that all of the current Georgia election processes are discriminatory. Abrams said often during her unsuccessful campaign, and afterwards, that elections in Georgia are very unfair and have the effect of disenfranchising Democrats and minorities.

One example cited was the reports that several months before the election it was discovered that a hugely disproportionate number of Georgias many thousands of stalled voter applications were from African Americans.

Rep. Cummings told HuffPost that he has definite plans to investigate the issue of voter suppression when Democrats are the majority in the 116th Congress and he assumes the chairmanship.

Cummings said he also wants to call on election officials from other states, such as Kansas and North Carolina, who have been accused of suppressing Latino and African-American votes.

He specifically mentioned county clerk Debbie Cox from Ford County, Kansas. She has been criticized, and is facing more scrutiny over her decision to move the only polling location in a city with a 50 percent Latino population outside the city limits. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued over the move, saying it had the intent and the effect of limiting the voting power of Latinos and other minorities.

Democrats coming into power in the new Congress in January have promised that they will take on voting rights as a key part of their agenda next year.

In fact, probable new Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said she will push propose a comprehensive package of reforms targeting campaign finance, ethics and voting rights laws as Democrats first order of business after they take charge of the House.

The new legislation will include a fix to the Voting Rights Act that would reinstate the federal oversight for changes to voting laws that was gutted by the Supreme Court in 2013. The bill would also make it harder for states to engage in mass voter purges as Kemp did. Holding hearings on what happened in Georgia will help Democrats build an evidentiary case in support of their legislative agenda, according to Cummings.

One of the things about my committee, you know, its called Oversight and Government Reform, the senior Congressman from Maryland said. Oversight, you know, you gotta research and find out what the hell is going on and then, if it is appropriate, to do those things to reform the system.729 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) laid out a whos who of potential Mueller indictments by suggesting that Donald Trump Jr., Roger Stone, and Erik Prince all lied to Congress about the Russia scandal.

Rolling Stone reported:

For months, speculation has hung in the air that Donald Jr. may not have been truthful when he told Congress that he was not aware of foreign governments other than Russia offering to help his fathers campaign in 2016.

Who else might have lied to committee? Roger Stone is one possibility. He has had to amend his answers to us a number of times, Swalwell says. Hes sent follow-up letters changing his testimony, which I think he only did once public reporting exposed that he had not been truthful with our committee.

Erik Prince is another possibility, according to Swalwell. His is one of the rare witness testimonies that is public, and I think if you look at the New York Times reporting on George Nader, if that story is true, then Prince was not truthful with us, either.

Rep. Swalwell has made it clear to the White House that he and the new Democratic House majority have no fear of Trump.

The nation is focused on Robert Mueller, but the other shoes are going to start dropping in January as House Democrats are going to call Donald Trump Jr, Jerome Corsi, Roger Stone, Erik Prince, and others back before Congress to testify in a new Russia investigation. There is ample evidence to suggest that Stone, Prince, and Trump Jr. all lied to Congress.

Robert Mueller already got Michael Cohen to plead out to a charge of lying to Congress, and the individuals that Swalwell named are likely Mueller indictment targets.

Trouble is coming for Trumps pals, not just in the form of the Special Counsel, but also House Democrats who are coming for the truth on Russia.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook.1.1k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Donald Trump wants Michael Cohen to receive a full and complete sentence for cooperating with Mueller, but says Roger Stone has guts for keeping his mouth shut.

Thus we have the President of the United States tweeting praise for the guy who is not becoming a rat, just like any mob boss would do. And at the same time he is condemning the other guy who is doing his duty as a good citizen and cooperating with law enforcement authorities.

Trump should be keeping his mouth shut since hes in the middle of an ongoing criminal investigation in which he is a co-conspirator. Of course hes too narcissistic to listen to his lawyers advice to do this.

So for Bob Mueller Trump is the gift that keeps on giving. Trump is committing witness intimidation and tampering in public, for all of his twitter followers to see.

Many legal experts have expressed their opinions that Trump had committed felonies by tweeting about Cohen and Stone. One such expert was Republican consultant George Conway, Kellyannes husband.

He tweeted:

File under 18 U.S.C.  1503, 1512. This was in reference to the federal witness tampering statute.

So in response the presidents son, Eric Trump, decided to go off the deep end and start tweeting about Kellyanne Conways marriage. The young Trump posted this unhinged tweet last night:

Of all the ugliness in politics, the utter disrespect George Conway shows toward his wife, her career, place of work, and everything she has fought SO hard to achieve, might top them all. Kellyanne Conway is great person and frankly his actions are horrible.

Of all the ugliness in politics, the utter disrespect George Conway shows toward his wife, her career, place of work, and everything she has fought SO hard to achieve, might top them all. @KellyannePolls is great person and frankly his actions are horrible.  Eric Trump (@EricTrump) December 4, 2018

Eric is clearly upset. As Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump are all facing the prospect of potentially being indicted and arrested at any time, Eric has decided to blast George Conway, as if its all his fault.

Conways comments of course attracted much attention because of his wifes role in the administration. Mother Jones reporter David Corn tweeted:

File under This is a Big Deal. The husband of a top Trump White House adviser just essentially accused Trump of breaking the law with witness tampering.

Then Conway tweeted back,

File under Stating the obvious.

Conway didnt respond directly to Eric Trump but he did retweet several rebuttals posted by his supporters.

First, he shared a tweet from CNN legal analyst Renato Mariotti, who had asked Eric Trump,

How does noting that your father engaged in witness tampering today disrespect Kellyanne Conway?

Then Conway retweeted a post from the author Reza Aslan, who wrote;

Wait. Did I miss something? Did George Conway pay money to have sex with a porn star right after his wife gave birth?

The last tweet that Conway shared was from Ian Bassin, the executive director for the nonpartisan group Protect Democracy. He had his own re-interpretation of Eric Trumps attack on Conway:

Of all the ugliness in politics, the utter disrespect the Trumps show toward the rule of law, the presidency and its place of work, and everything this nation has fought SO hard to achieve might top them all. Donald Trump is terrible person and frankly his actions are horrible.

Despite who hes married to, George Conway hasnt backed off his criticisms of the president. In November, he wrote a New York Times op-ed saying that the presidents appointment of Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general was unconstitutional.

When reporters asked him for his thoughts on the piece, Trump replied.You mean Mr. Kellyanne Conway? Hes just trying to get publicity for himself.

And Kellyanne herself seems able to mostly ignore what her husband writes about her boss.

It doesnt affect me or my job at all, she told Fox News Sunday in November. She then added:

Im sure the feminists are really cheering me on today, an independent, strong  strong-willed, strong woman in a very powerful position that disagrees with her husband.

The truth is that the state of the Conway marriage is a very minor sideshow to the very major drama playing out in Washington. Her boss, Erics father, could soon be forced to leave the presidency because of the numerous crimes hes committed.

At the same time the president committed multiple felonies in plain view, attempting to sabotage the special counsels Trump-Russia investigation, we also learned that Mueller is about to drop several bombs on Trump this week that will provide the public with much more information about Trumps crimes.

Its no wonder that Kellyanne and Eric are both looking for other things to talk about. Their main goal is to distract the publics attention from whats really important, but it wont work. This could be the week that brings down the Trump presidency.By Letitia Stein

(Reuters)  Georgia voters return to the polls on Tuesday to elect a new elections chief in a state where critics accused Republicans this autumn of exploiting the position to suppress minority voting rights.

Republican Brad Raffensperger and Democrat John Barrow were forced into a runoff in the secretary of state race after neither candidate secured a majority of the vote in the Nov. 6 general election as required by state law.

The contest has showcased the partisan divisions still rankling the state after its hard-fought governors contest, which saw widespread reports of voting problems during an election overseen by the Republican candidate, Brian Kemp, then secretary of state.

Kemps narrow victory over Democrat Stacey Abrams, who sought to become the nations first female African-American governor, followed complaints of hours-long waits in heavily minority precincts, polling equipment failures and concerns about absentee ballots getting rejected under stringent rules that voters signatures exactly match the records on file.

It is no secret that Georgia has been a hotbed of voter suppression over the last several years, said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a nonpartisan organization that sued over the states voting issues. Whether voters will get a reform-minded chief elections official who can put the state on a different path is key.

Kemp has defended the electoral procedures as necessary to maintain the integrity of Georgias elections.

President Donald Trump, who carried Georgia in the 2016 presidential election, has endorsed Raffensperger, a businessman and state legislator who supports voter ID laws and has vowed to update Georgias voting machines if he wins. In a video on Twitter, Kemp said he voted for him.

A diversifying electorate in Georgia could transform the traditionally conservative Southern state into a 2020 presidential battleground.

Abrams is rallying her supporters behind the Democratic candidate. In a weekend statement, she said electing Barrow would protect the sanctity of the vote.

After her loss, Abrams created an organization that has filed a federal lawsuit over voting rights issues in her race.

Barrow, a U.S. representative for Georgia from 2005 to 2015, pledges to reform the states process for updating voter rolls to make sure voters are not purged by mistake and touts his bipartisan record in calling for fair elections.

Barrow was endorsed by a libertarian third-party candidate who received more than 2 percent of the vote in last months secretary of state election, which Raffensperger led by a margin of 0.42 percentage point over the Democratic candidate.

(Reporting by Letitia Stein in Tampa, Florida; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Peter Cooney)375 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Secretary of Defense James Mattis has asked the international community to help end the war in Afghanistan. He said that regional leaders need assistance in their efforts to bridge longstanding disagreements, and also pointed out that conflicts in Afghanistan have now gone on for 40 years.

Mattis spoke to the news media before a meeting with Indian Defense Secretary Nirmala Sitharaman, saying:

In Afghanistan, its gone on now its approaching 40 years; 40 years is enough and its time for everyone to get on board, support the United Nations, support Prime Minister Modi, support President Ghani and all those who are trying to maintain peace and make for a better world here. So, we are on that track,

The United States has had a military presence in Afghanistan for 17 years, since the terrorist attack on New Yorks World Trade Center in 2001. Although the U.S. forces did succeed in removing the Taliban government from power, Afghanistans conflict has not ended. The Taliban has waged a guerilla type war against the ruling government, and the fear is that if U.S. and international forces leave the country the terrorist group will take over again.

Afghanistan has been suffering a state of war since the late 1970s when the Soviet Union invaded the country. After that, U.S.-backed Afghan guerillas were able to push out the Soviet Union, but it took a nine-year battle to do so.

An unwinnable guerilla war is the norm for this mountainous Asian country. Ever since the U.S. military first had a presence there troops have been bogged down in fighting against an insurgency.

Secretary Mattis commented that the U.S. is now concerned about the influence of Pakistan-based armed groups militia that have been fighting with U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

The presence of U.S. troops in Afghanistan has also heightened U.S. sensitivity to the rivalry between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan. Washington and New Delhi share concerns over Pakistan-based anti-Western and anti-Indian Islamist militant groups, Mattis said, according to the Afghan media outlet Tolo News.

But Mattis said there would be no hasty withdrawal of American troops. He told the Reagan National Defense Forum:

We are going to stand with the 41 nations, largest wartime coalition in history, who are still committed to this effort. The Taliban have made clear the lives of the Afghan people are of no value to them. They cant win at the ballot box, so they are trying to terrorize instead.

About 16,000 US troops are currently deployed in Afghanistan in various roles such as training and counterterrorism activities.

Four US service members have been killed in the country in the last week and 13 since the start of the year. More than 2,400 US military personnel have died since the initial invasion of American forces in 2001.

Despite this, Mattis said he believes it is very important to keep troops in the region.

If we leave, with 20-odd of the most dangerous terrorist groups in the world centered in that region, we know what will happen, he said. Our intelligence is very specific. We will be under attack.

Once again, it seems that U.S. officials are saying they want to leave Afghanistan, but are not backing up their words with actions. There are 16,000 American troops there, and it does not appear that any of them will be leaving soon. An American presence  and American deaths  in Afghanistan will probably continue for a long time to come.By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters)  U.S. Special Counsel Robert Muellers office will make a sentencing recommendation for former national security adviser Michael Flynn on Tuesday, in a court filing that is expected to shed light on the extent of Flynns cooperation in the Russia probe.

Flynn, who held the White House job for only 24 days, pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia. He will be sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Dec. 18.

He is so far the only member of President Donald Trumps administration to plead guilty to a crime uncovered during Muellers wide-ranging investigation into Russian attempts to influence the 2016 U.S. election and potential collusion by Trump aides.

Others who have also since been charged by Mueller include Trumps former campaign manager Paul Manafort and campaign deputy Rick Gates, as well as Trumps former personal lawyer Michael Cohen who last week pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about a proposed Trump Organization skyscraper in Moscow.

Trump has called Muellers probe a witch hunt and has denied colluding with Russia. Moscow denies trying to interfere in the elections.

Flynns crime of lying to the FBI carries a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison. However his plea agreement states he is eligible for a sentence of zero to six months and can ask the court not to impose a fine.

Flynn, a retired army general, was forced to resign after he was found to have misled Vice President Mike Pence about discussions he had with Russias then-ambassador Sergei Kislyak.

Under a plea bargain deal, Flynn admitted in a Washington court that he lied when asked by FBI investigators about conversations with Kislyak just weeks before Trump took office.

Prosecutors said the two men discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia and that Flynn also asked Kislyak to help delay a U.N. vote seen as damaging to Israel.

Muellers office has had varied degrees of success with the level of cooperation it has received from defendants who have pleaded guilty.

Recently, prosecutors asked for another delay in sentencing Gates, citing his ongoing cooperation in multiple probes.

But Manafort could be facing a tough sentence after prosecutors last month alleged he had breached his plea deal by lying repeatedly to the FBI.

They are due to file court papers on Friday laying out their case for why Manafort should lose any credit when he is sentenced for his alleged failure to accept responsibility for his crimes.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Alistair Bell)7.1k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Defeated Gov. Scott Walker is behind the series of measures that Republicans are trying to pass in Wisconsin that would weaken the power of incoming Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.

The AP reported:

Other measures would weaken the attorney generals office by allowing Republican legislative leaders to intervene in cases and hire their own attorneys. A legislative committee, rather than the attorney general, would have to sign off on withdrawing from federal lawsuits.

That would stop Evers and incoming Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul from fulfilling their campaign promises to withdraw Wisconsin from a multi-state lawsuit seeking repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald downplayed concerns about the lame-duck session, saying, I dont think its outrageous at all.

Fitzgerald said Walker and his chief of staff were deeply involved in crafting the measures.

Michigan Republicans are trying to take similar steps before that states Democratic governor is sworn in.

Republicans Are Trying To Invalidate An Election In Wisconsin

Republicans lost in Wisconsin, so they are using the remaining power that they have left to undermine the will of the people. Wisconsin is a state with a strong Democratic history that has been overtaken by a cabal of far-right Republicans. At the center of the cabal is Scott Walker, who is the biggest sore loser in American politics.

The bills and measures that Republicans are trying to pass arent just about weakening Evers. The legislation is an effort to lay the groundwork for the return of Walker. Scott Walker still wants to president, and his path to the White House runs through the governors mansion in Madison.

Republicans are going to get sued for their efforts in Wisconsin, but this is about keeping power today and worrying about the consequences tomorrow.

Disrespect for democracy has become a character trait of the Republican Party.

Instead of protecting democratic institutions during the peaceful transfer of power, Wisconsin Republicans are trying to destroy them.

The people are in the streets, and the fight has just begun to stop Scott Walker from committing one last crime against democracy before he leaves office.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

Follow Jason Easley on Facebook.1.4k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

A woman said Monday that a Bladen County, N.C., Republican election official paid her to illegally collect absentee ballots from the November 6 midterm elections.

Absentee ballot witness Ginger Eason told WSOCTV, a local news station in Charlotte, that the official, McCrae Dowless, paid her between $75 and $100 to take completed absentee ballots from the voters. She said she took the ballots and then never mailed them, depriving the individuals of their legal right to vote in the election.

The illegal taking of absentee ballots from voters in North Carolinas 9th Congressional District is now officially being investigated. Also, the results of the election have been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation.

I was helping McCrae pick up ballots, Eason said to WSOCTV. McCrae Dowless is the Bladen County supervisor whose actions are at the center of the probe into election law violations.

Eason maintains that she did not see who people voted for on the ballots she collected. She also admitted that she never mailed the ballots. Instead, she gave them to Dowless, who did not tell her that what she was doing was illegal.

Dowless has been named twice in sworn affidavits as someone who worked for Republican congressional candidate Mark Harriss campaign against Democrat Dan McCready. At the time the results of their race was decertified Harris had 139,246 votes compared to 138,341 votes for McCready, for a lead of 905 votes.

When asked by news reporters about paying people to pick up ballots, Dowless said that he had no comment.

WSOCTV said that it conducted its own investigation and has found what they have concluded to be a targeted effort to illegally pick up ballots in Bladen County.

The station reported that it consistently found the same people signing as witnesses for the people voting, which is very unusual and evidence of improper procedures in getting ballots completed. Eason himself was listed as signing as a witness for 28 submitted and accepted absentee ballot envelopes.

McCready conceded to Harris and said he would not request a recount even though he could legally do so.

The county elections board elected to decertify the results, however, citing claims of irregularities and fraudulent activities related to absentee by-mail voting.

Bladen County has received increased attention stemming from voter affidavits that allege that people they didnt know came to their homes and asked to be given their absentee ballots.

Election officials have also been investigating the unusually large numbers of absentee ballots that were submitted in Bladen County in this years election.

North Carolinas state elections board chairman, Andy Penry, resigned on Saturday, saying that he wont allow himself to be used as an instrument of distraction.

House expert Dave Wasserman from the Cook Political Report tweeted:

No longer any reasonable doubt as to absentee fraud perpetrated by pro-Harris forces in # NC09 in both primary and general. Now questions are: how widespread and who knew?

No longer any reasonable doubt as to absentee fraud perpetrated by pro-Harris forces in #NC09 in both primary and general. Now questions are: how widespread and who knew? https://t.co/iR3nvQ1oMg  Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) December 4, 2018

This means that despite Republicans claiming widespread voter fraud in the United States, it is actually them who perpetrate voter fraud. Add this to the list of other ways they cheat in elections, such as gerrymandering and voter suppression, and you can see that the Grand Old Party does not want our country to be a democracy. Instead, their goal is to disenfranchise any citizen who does not support them, and this should be illegal.On the Sunday, December 2 edition of Vesti nedeli (News of the Week), a weekly news program on Rossiya 1 television network, the programs host, Dmitry Kiselyov, defended Russian rappers who have been facing increased harassment from authorities in recent months. Kiselyov, who also heads the government-owned international media agency Rossiya Segodnya, that includes RIA Novosti and Sputnik, said the idea that rap came to Russia via African-American culture in the 1990s is erroneous. Russian raps real predecessor, he said, was the poetic tradition of the famous Soviet poet and writer, Vladimir Mayakovsky.

Kiselyov then demonstrated this by rapping some verses from Mayakovsky over a beat. While Kiselyovs hip-hop debut is noteworthy, its important to remember that Mayakovskys poetry was not intended to be spoken over music, although in his early career Mayakovsky sought to make poetry accessible to mass audiences -- "to 'depoetize' poetry, adopting the language of the streets and using daring technical innovations," writes Encyclopaedia Britannica. More importantly, Russian hip-hop, like hip-hop in many countries worldwide, does indeed take its inspiration from African-American culture.

Russian hip-hops origins are typically attributed to a 1984 album by the group Chas Pik (Rush Hour) entitled, appropriately, Rap. The Moscow Times, in a March 2017 article, traced the Russian origin to Chas Pik. Much of the album does not feature rap, but the parts that do sound very similar to the 1981 Blondie song Rapture, both in terms of the melody and the rhythm of the lyrics. Incidentally, Rapture was the first number one song on the U.S. charts to feature rap lyrics, and it did very well abroad as well. Russian rap gained in popularity near the end of the Soviet period, with the first rap festival being held in 1990 in Moscows Gorky Park.

Compare with Blondie's "Rapture":

The music critic who chaired the jury at that first festival, Artemy Troitsky, pointed out in the Moscow Times article that a 1991 hit song by the rap group, Malchishnik, was typical of the sex and drugs appeal of the genre, the Times saying the group was clearly imitating the Beastie Boys, an American hip hop group.

Since then, hip-hop and rap have gained mainstream popularity in Russia, and though like their counterparts in the rest of the world, they have introduced elements of Russian music, culture and politics into their art. That being said, raps roots are clearly in the African-American community, and they can arguably be traced back even further to the griots, traditional West African storytellers who performed their stories in rhythmic verse with musical accompaniment.







Food editor and chief critic

Eating all of the chicken livers just as fast as I can.The man, a street vendor, was standing on the sidewalk selling items when he was shot shortly before 5:40 p.m. in the 2700 block of West Flournoy Street, police said. An ambulance took him to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.Get the SC business stories that matter.

Our newsletter catches you up with all the business stories that are shaping Charleston and South Carolina every Monday and Thursday at noon. Get ahead with us - it's free.Assistant Columbia bureau chief

Adcox returned to The Post and Courier in October 2017 after 12 years covering the Statehouse for The Associated Press. She previously covered education for The P&C. She has also worked for The AP in Albany, N.Y., and for The Herald in Rock Hill.Hannah Alani is a reporter at The Post and Courier covering race, immigration and rural life across the Palmetto State. Before graduating from Indiana University and moving to Charleston in 2017, her byline appeared in The New York Times.Joseph Cranney is an investigative reporter in Columbia, with a focus on government corruption and injustices in the criminal legal system. He can be reached securely by Proton mail at jcranney@prontonmail.com or on Signal at 215-285-9083.Paul Bowers is an education reporter and father of three living in North Charleston. He previously worked at the Charleston City Paper, where he was twice named South Carolina Journalist of the Year in the weekly category.The former North Charleston church volunteer accused of sexually assaulting numerous children in a three-month span is also under investigation in North Carolina, officials there confirmed Tuesday.

An incident report filed Monday from the Davidson (N.C.) Police Department indicates a 7-year-old boy reported to staff at his elementary school that he was assaulted. Police responded to Davidson Elementary School on Monday to speak with staff who reported the incident.

The circumstances surrounding the alleged assault, which is said to have occurred between August and November 2017 at a private residence, were not immediately made available.

Jacop Hazlett, 28, a West Ashley man who authorities say molested at least 14 toddler-aged children under his care at North Charlestons NewSpring Church, is under investigation for the alleged assault in North Carolina. Public records indicate that Hazlett lived in Mooresville, N.C., at the time, which is about 10 miles from Davidson.

The investigation is ongoing, and Hazlett has not been charged in North Carolina as of Tuesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, for his alleged crimes in South Carolina, Hazlett faces nine counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor and is named as a defendant in a Dorchester County civil suit alleging he molested at least more than a dozen children, filming several of the assaults, according to the suit filed Nov. 28.

Hazlett had worked as a volunteer chaperone in a children's ministry at the North Charleston campus of NewSpring Church, located at 5101 Ashley Phosphate Road, from March through November, Suzanne Swift, a church spokesperson said.

Court records and arrest affidavits indicate surveillance footage near "the Treehouse" room, where Hazlett worked, showed the volunteer escorting multiple toddler-aged boys individually to the bathroom where he can be seen assaulting them.

The footage dates back to September, authorities said. Church staff were made aware of the initial incident Nov. 26 by parents of one of the children. Following the disclosure, NewSpring staff reviewed the security footage and reported the allegation, along with their observations of additional assaults, to the North Charleston Police Department.

Swift previously told The Post and Courier the church was fully cooperating with law enforcement and that Hazlett had passed all pre-screening procedures  including a background check, "detailed" training and queries through national sex offender databases  and that NewSpring stood by its protocols, adding that it would "do what it takes to increase our ability to provide a safe church experience for children."

Several Charleston-area attorneys have also said they are representing families with children who reported they were assaulted by Hazlett and are exploring civil action against the church and the former volunteer.Syndicated and guest columns represent the personal views of the writers, not necessarily those of the editorial staff. The editorial department operates entirely independently of the news department and is not involved in newsroom operations.The front-page story cost Colon his job, but it didn't stop him from trying to find another way to work around kids. With charges looming in Chicago, Colon moved to Oregon, where in September he applied for a front-desk position with the Portland branch of the Ronald McDonald House, a charitable organization that provides housing for pediatric medical patients, according to federal prosecutors there. He'd even been sent a letter offering him a job, though he hadn't actually started work.The Post and Courier provides a forum for our readers to share their opinions, and to hold up a mirror to our community. Publication does not imply endorsement by the newspaper; the editorial staff attempts to select a representative sample of letters because we believe its important to let our readers see the range of opinions their neighbors submit for publication.Tom Steyer, the billionaire liberal activist who has been leading a multimillion-dollar effort to impeach President Donald Trump, listens during an interview in Charleston on Tuesday. He said he plans to decide in the next few months about whether he will run for president in 2020. Caitlin Byrd/Staff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.Local Ulta Beauty fans will soon get an early Christmas present.

The new Rochester Ulta Beauty store will open at 10 a.m. on Dec. 14 in the Golden Hill Shopping Center at 2238 Third Ave. SE, along South Broadway.

The first 100 customers on each day of Dec. 14 and Dec. 15 will receive a "beauty treat" ranging from $5 up to $100. Those first 100 will also get 10 percent off their first salon or facial appointment.

Golden Hill offers a lineup of retailers that are new or returning to Rochester that includes Marshalls, Carters/OshKosh Bgosh, Ulta and Kirklands.LOS ANGELES  Margaret Atwood is writing a sequel to "The Handmaids Tale," her prescient 1985 novel later adapted for a hit series on Hulu. Announced on Wednesday and expected in September 2019, "The Testaments" is set 15 years after the protagonists final scene in the original book and is narrated by three female characters.

An informed expert on dystopian, patriarchal societies, the prolific Canadian author of "Alias Grace," "Oryx and Crake" and the "MaddAddam" trilogy will also be honored on Monday by leading womens rights organization Equality Now. The Make Equality Reality gala will also laud "The Hate U Give" actress Amandla Stenberg and behavioral geneticist Sue Smalley at the Beverly Hilton hotel.

Atwood, 79, spoke with The Times on Thursday morning about penning a "Handmaids Tale" sequel and writing work that inspires readers to take action.

Congratulations on being honored by Equality Now.

Yes, Im being honored but really, Im helping them to raise money. They fight for womens rights, and thats the kind of feminist I am. Theyre based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which everyone should go back and read because theyve forgotten about it. They are real activists, thats what they do every day. Im not a real activist. The difference between them and me is that Im just a person who doesnt have a job, so people like me have the privilege of getting to mouth off because nobody can fire them.

"The Handmaids Tale" has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity, from the Hulu series adaptation to the use of its signature garb in legislative demonstrations. Why write a sequel?

Thats easy to answer. Number one, its fun. But thats a very frivolous answer. Number two, Ive been asked these questions by readers for 35 years. "Oh, come on, Margaret!" So its time to address some of the requests. Its not a continuation that starts five minutes after the book ends and then I tell you what happens next. It takes place 15 years after the book ends. [Ive had the idea] over the past five years or so. Im almost finished with it.

Your Wednesday announcement said its inspired by "the world weve been living in." What did you mean?

The news has become so much more extreme. What about these people in Ohio that are saying motherhood should be mandatory? They havent done it yet, theyre talking about it. But when people talk about things like that, being the age I am, Im remembering that Hitler said it all in "Mein Kampf" and then he did it. If they had the power, they would do it. These ideas have been tried before.

What Im fixated on now, of course, like all Canadians, is weve got our faces jammed up against the plate-glass window, looking into your country. What kind of shenanigans will they be up to next? Whats gonna happen next? Ive never seen anything like it, and neither has anybody else. On one hand, its just riveting, and on the other hand, its quite appalling.

Whats the key to any successful sequel, even if its more than 30 years after a previous installment?

Who knows? Lets see if it does work. The jury is not in. But I did the "MaddAddam" trilogy, so I think this is true for any world invention: You have to be consistent with your own axioms.

Im not going to say more [about "The Testaments"]. You cant pry it out of me. I can tell you that [my publishers] do have a cover, and they will be releasing it later. And they are going to release a newsletter that people can subscribe to. Itll probably be things like, "Got up this morning, had some coffee, did some copy-editing  " Stuff you really need to know. Thats their idea, that its sort of like a diary. "Now its at the printer, and I got it back, and there were 115 typographical errors!" [Laughs] Well, that is not going to happen.

What womens rights initiatives have excited you lately?

Just yesterday, I was having a meeting about a new development under the umbrella of the Canadian Womens Foundation called AfterMeToo. It will be a web-based initiative available to all that will provide people with the things they want and need the most: safe reporting, immediate counseling and third-party investigation. As in, not from within the company or educational institution because when it comes from within, is the main goal to fix our PR or to help the person? As we know, they tend to do whats best for them. Its been super troubling to watch over the years.

This will help people make informed decisions, presenting them with their options and chances of success and steps you need to take. If I do this, what will happen? What sorts of resources can I depend on? If Im going to be a witness in a court case, do I get to have a lawyer? The knowledge of this is almost nonexistent among the kinds of people who are the most vulnerable.

What advice do you have for authors aligning their fiction with social-justice issues?

People dont like being preached to when theyre reading fiction, and avoiding that is manuscript-specific. And with any manuscript, some people are going to like it, some people are going to hate it and some people are going to be indifferent. You have a problem if everybody hates it, and you probably have a problem if everybody likes it.

So its then, what is good writing? The "art for arts sake" people will have a different answer than the Victorian moralists. Look at the trial of "Madame Bovary," Salman Rushdies fatwa. People forget these things and they forget that Hitler and Stalin and the Inquisition were big book burners. Its always gonna be this tug of war between a freedom of expression and "in the interest of the public good, were not only gonna burn your book but also fry you at the stake." So how much of a lynch mob do you want to inspire?

Were not there yet. Were not seeing big piles of books being burnt in the streets. Remember, you can have totalitarianisms on the left as much as you can on the right. Its not a question of, this side is good, this side is bad; its when things get to an extreme, they look much the same.

Youre active on Twitter, which can be overwhelming with our current news cycle as well as reader questions. How do you manage?

I cant read everything. Its not humanly possible. I have rules, but like everybody else, I dont necessarily obey them. "Now Im going to go to bed" isnt always a self-admonishment to which I liveth. I would love to have a schedule that I actually paid any attention to.6. In an attempt to show that the conspiracy to cover for Jason Van Dykes actions ran deep and wide, prosecutors successfully got into evidence several emails between Chicago police supervisors, even though none were written by the three officers on trial. Tony, any luck making the case go away? Ron Hosko, president of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund, asked Chicago police Lt. Anthony Wojcik in one email in April 2015. Earlier, in November 2014, just two weeks after McDonald's shooting, Sgt. Daniel Gallagher wrote Wojcik: We are trained to shoot until the threat is eliminated, defeated or neutralized. Officer did exactly what he was trained to do. We should be applauding him, not second-guessing him. Neither Gallagher nor Wojcik was charged with wrongdoing.Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero's administration is pursuing a plan  which has been talked about in the government of Guam for years  to somehow prov Read moreGuam has one less political action committee now that Guamanians for Fair Government has decided to call it a day.

Chairman Andri Baynum sent a letter to the Guam Election Commission last week advising that the group is terminating all activities associated with our political action committee and will no longer participate in any activities associated with social and/or political issues.

Baynum, a teacher at Simon Sanchez High School, formed the PAC in 2014 to raise awareness and funds in opposition to senators in the 33rd Guam Legislature who voted to give themselves a pay raise.

Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request.

In the beginning, Baynum told The Guam Daily Post, we wanted to see if a bunch of ordinary people in the community could effectuate change.

Never more than a dozen members, Baynum believes Guamanians for Fair Government had an impact on the public debate.

I believe we set an example, he said. We showed its OK to speak truth to power and not to be afraid.

Initially it was the raises, said Baynum. We came out and said that the raises were done not according to the rules and the laws of Guam.

We continued to fight against taxes, said Baynum. People associated with the PAC rallied support for rebuilding Simon Sanchez High School, as well as lobbied against any more bond borrowing by GovGuam.

We accomplished what we set out to do, said Baynum. Were very proud.

It just goes to show that a bunch of just ordinary citizens on the island can make a difference if theyre committed to it, he said.

The group's final effort, launched in September with another PAC  Citizens for Public Accountability  was a write-in campaign in support of gubernatorial candidate Sen. Frank Aguon Jr. and his running mate, Alicia Limtiaco.

That resulted in a Mini Hatch Act complaint being filed with the Civil Service Commission against Baynum by Gov. Eddie Calvos former communications director, Troy Torres. The complaint pointed out that, as a teacher, Baynum is a classified employee of the government of Guam and the Mini Hatch Act prohibits classified employees from organizing a political campaign and raising funds for candidates.

Baynum said he understands that the CSC has completed its review of the complaint and it will be heard by the full commission on Jan. 29, but he is not worried.

It was very political, Baynum said of the complaint. I dont think theres any merit to it.

He said all the fundraising the group did was for the write-in campaign and all the money it raised was used for the write-in campaign.

The PAC's final financial report shows a total of $4,802 was raised in contributions since September and $5,476 had been spent during this last reporting period.

None of the funding went directly to the Aguon-Limtiaco campaign, it was all to support the write-in, he said.

This was a distraction, said Baynum and he insisted that it had nothing to do with the decision to retire their PAC.

If I was really worried about that then we would have kept the group going to fight these types of frivolous complaints, he said.

We really decided that four years is enough, said Baynum. It was something that we wanted to do, and we did it, and were very proud of that.Still, Mendel Moscowitz urged the community to drive the darkness away with light. Do something, he said. He told those gathered that the message of Hanukkah, the celebration of a miracle, is that hope is stronger than despair.Around 2:35 p.m., the 36-year-old man was walking west in the 300 block of East 15th Place when someone came up behind him and fired several shots, hitting the man in his buttocks, police said. The shooter got into a dark vehicle and took off westbound on 15th, police said.At the end of last month when the tag-team of Anne Gearan, Philip Rucker, and Anthony Faiola wrote a story for the Washington Post about the arrival of Donald Trump for the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires, they didnt have any real ammo with which to bash the president that day. As they acknowledged, he began the day on a triumphant note, ceremonially signing a hard-fought trade agreement with Canada and Mexico.

Later he kept his distance from Vladimir Putin. No collusion to report that day.

Trump exchanged pleasantries with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. That didnt make the Post trio happy, but they could hardly build a another Trump-bashing story around the exchange.

How, then, did the Post use the summit to write the obligatory anti-Trump story? By comparing him unfavorably to Emmanuel Macron!

In contrast with Trump, who arrived in Buenos Aires only hours before the first summit meetings began, Macron was emerging as the darling of the Argentines. He arrived a day and a half early and made a broad run through a city often dubbed the Paris of South America. He dined at a traditional Argentine steak house and visited the cultural institute of the renowned Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges. He took his morning coffee at El Ateneo Grand Splendid, a theater-turned-bookstore and cafe that is heralded as among the most glamorous in the world. Crowds outside the bookstore cheered Macron, leading the local newspaper Clarin to declare him a rock star. It was a visit that was organized very confidentially, the bookstores manager, Andrea Stefanoni, told Clarin. It was organized days ago and was very beautiful because he is a person who feels very much tied to literature.

This homage to the embattled Macron, who by the way had his picture taken shaking hands with the Saudi crown prince, was written without the slightest trace of irony. It also fails to note that Macron is anything but a rock star in France these days.

Perhaps Rucker has been too busy trying to become the new Dana Milbank to know that Macrons approval rating (in France, not Argentina) is little more than half of Trumps approval rating in the U.S. Maybe Rucker was unaware that Macron left France after two weekends of mass protests against his environmental policy, among other grievances.

No wonder Macron wanted to arrive early in Buenos Aires.

While Macron was eating steak, visiting a fancy cultural institute, and enjoying coffee in the most glamorous cafe in the world, French protesters were planning a third round of mass demonstrations. News reports indicated that large-scale violence might accompany the protesting.

That, of course, is what happened  the worst rioting in a generation. The response by authorities was woefully inadequate.

But at least Macron is now the toast of the Argentine elites.

The Post got this much right  there is an enormous contrast between Trump and Macron. But the contrast doesnt favor the French president.

Being very much tied to literature is a fine thing. But its no substitute for leadership and vigorous pursuant of the national interest.Heather Mac Donald has written and spoken extensively about how identity politics is hampering Americas ability to maintain its dominance in STEM fields. Our main competitors, most notably China, are focused on making sure the best scientists, mathematicians, and engineers are doing the work. They care nothing about gender. And they spend virtually every dollar related to STEM on hard research and analysis.

The U.S., by contrast, is preoccupied with the gender and (to a lesser extent) the race and ethnicity of who is in the lab. And we pour money into promoting identity politics in STEM.

Indeed, Elizabeth Harrington of the Washington Free Beacon reports that the National Science Foundation has spent over $62 million on intersectionality studies in the STEM fields with the goal of transforming science labs into test tubes for identity politics. She writes:

The government is spending millions applying the liberal academic theory, which views everything through the lens of race, gender, class, and sexual orientation to identify systems of discrimination or disadvantage, to science, technology, engineering, and math programs.

This is the handiwork of France A. Cordova, the National Science Foundation director, a female of hispanic origin. She was selected by former president Barack Obama and has led the agency since March 2014.

Under her direction, the rot has been spreading fast. According to Harrington, in 2014 there were eight studies involving research on intersectionality and intersectional identities. There were nine in 2015 and 14 in 2016. By 2017 there were 21 studies on the subject, and the figure more than doubled to reach 45 studies in 2018.

Harrington says:

The projects cover every conceivable intersectional angle, from how STEM ethics intersect with indigenous cultural knowledge, to mindfulness training on how to remove the implicit biases of science department chairs.

Her reporting backs this up. She presents a long list of grants for these sorts of studies. I confess to not having been able to read the whole, nauseating thing.

Underlying this nonsense is the dogmatic assumption that, but for systemic discrimination and microaggressions, female representation in STEM would equal male representation. Thus, by breaking down barriers and combating microaggressions, well get better scientists and engineers because well be drawing from a larger pool of outstanding candidates. Or so goes the best case for obsessing over intersectionality, etc.

But the assumption is unfounded. As Mac Donald has explained:

Males outperform females at the highest reaches of mathematical reasoning (and are overrepresented at the lowest level of mathematical incompetence). Differences in math precocity between boys and girls show up as early as kindergarten. For decades, males in every ethnic group have scored higher than females in their same ethnic group on the math SAT. In 2016, the percentage of males scoring above 700 (on an 800-point scale) was nearly twice as large as the percentage of females in that range. There are 2.5 males in the U.S. in the top 0.01 percent of math ability for every female, according to a paper published in February 2018 in the journal Intelligence. But female high-scorers are more likely than male high-scorers to possess strong verbal skills as well, according to authors Jonathan Wai, Jaret Hodges, and Matthew Makel, giving them a greater range of career options. Traditionally, individuals who score well in both the math and verbal domains are less likely to pursue a STEM career. Moreover, females on average are more interested in people-centered rather than abstract work, which helps explain why females account for 75 percent of health-care-related workers but only 14 percent of engineering workers and 25 percent of computer workers. Nearly 82 percent of obstetrics and gynecology medical residents in 2016 were female. Is gynecology biased against males, or are females selecting where they want to work?

Thus, the solution to the non-problem of disproportionate male representation in STEM is, and must be, a lowering of standards  part of the broader war on standards that places America at so much risk. As Mac Donald has observed, tests are sometimes dumbed-down and then graded on a curve (or grades are simply inflated).

Somehow, one doubts that China is indulging in these self-defeating shenanigans.

Mac Donald nails it when she concludes:

[T]he extraordinary accomplishments of Western science were achieved without regard to the complexions of its creators. Now, however, funders, industry leaders, and academic administrators maintain that scientific progress will stall unless we pay close attention to identity and try to engineer proportional representation in schools and laboratories. The truth is exactly the opposite: lowering standards and diverting scientists energy into combating phantom sexism and racism is reckless in a highly competitive, ruthless, and unforgiving global marketplace. Driven by unapologetic meritocracy, China is catching up fast to the U.S. in science and technology. Identity politics in American science is a political self-indulgence that we cannot afford.

And that, thus far, we have been unable to resist.John Lavinksy is the senior counsel to Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz. Following up on Richard Pollocks Daily Caller report, I sought comment on the November 19 FBI raid conducted on whistleblower Dennis Nathan Cain. Mr. Lavinsky courteously returned my calls this afternoon and responded to my questions, as he did to Pollocks, with no comment. He also apologized for not getting back to me on Friday, explaining that he hadnt received my message. He indicated that if the Inspector General had a comment for public consumption in the future he would get back to me.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley has followed up with Horowitz directly. By letter dated November 30 he has asked Horowitz for an update on the facts set forth in Pollocks story by December 12. I have embedded a copy of Senator Grassleys letter (with telephone number redacted) below.

The matter falls within the committees jurisdiction. Senator Grassley is on the case. He should have more luck than than I did obtaining a substantive response from the Inspector General.

2018-11-30 CEG to DOJ IG (Clinton Foundation Uranium One) by Scott Johnson on ScribdWant some holiday cheer, especially after the dispiriting mid-term elections? Check out of these delightfully droll news headlines:

John Kerry Not Ruling Out 2020 Bid for President Former Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday did not rule out running for president in 2020, keeping his name among a growing list of prospective candidates vying to be the Democratic nominee. . . Am I going to think about it? Yeah, Im going to think about it, he continued.

Could we really get so lucky as this? Especially along with the prospect of Hillary 4.0:

Hillary Will Run Again Get ready for Hillary Clinton 4.0. More than 30 years in the making, this new version of Mrs. Clinton, when she runs for president in 2020, will come full circleback to the universal-health-care-promoting progressive firebrand of 1994. True to her name, Mrs. Clinton will fight this out until the last dog dies. She wont let a little thing like two stunning defeats stand in the way of her claim to the White House.

And if that wasnt enough good cheer:

Bernie Sanders Eyes Bigger 2020 Presidential Run BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP)  An insurgent underdog no more, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is laying the groundwork to launch a bigger presidential campaign than his first, as advisers predict he would open the 2020 Democratic presidential primary season as a political powerhouse.

Meanwhile:

Kamala Harris: I Will Decide on 2020 Run Over the Holiday Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., said she intends to make a decision a 2020 run for the White House over the holidays. Harris told MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski at the Know Your Value conference Saturday that whether she runs for president in 2020 will be a family decision. And over the holiday, I will make that decision with my family, she said, according to Politico.

Gee, the suspense is killing me. I wonder what she will decide?

And the hits keep coming:

Beto ORourke Seen as Top Contender in 2020: Poll Rep. Beto ORourke (D-Texas) is considered one of the top Democratic contenders for the White House in 2020 even among more well-known potential hopefuls, according to a Harvard CAPS/Harris poll released exclusively to The Hill.

How about an ORourke-Ocasio-Cortez ticket?

Unfortunately, there is always a Scrooge or Grinch at Christmas:

Michael Avenatti Wont Run for President in 2020 Michael Avenatti said Tuesday he no longer plans to run for president. After consultation with my family and at their request, I have decided not to seek the Presidency of the United States in 2020, he said in a statement. I do not make this decision lightly  I make it out of respect for my family. But for their concerns, I would run, he said.

Chaser for today:

One Million Viagra Pills Stockpiled in UK Over Fears of Hard Brexit One million Viagra pills are being stockpiled over fears of a hard Brexit .As the UK hurtles towards crashing out of the EU with no deal next March, some businesses are preparing for the worst.

Ive always said you should call your doctor if your hard Brexit lasts longer than four hours. Of if, like 77-year-old Bernie Sanders, you plan on a bigger presidential campaign.Last month, President Trump announced his support for FIRST STEP. This legislation provides leniency for federal drug felons by shortening some sentences at the front end, and leniency for federal felons of many stripes at the back end by enabling early release from prison.

It wasnt clear why Trump made this decision, which is inconsistent with his promise to get tougher with fentanyl dealers. Perhaps it was constant pestering from Jared Kushner. Maybe it was an effort to appear bipartisan following GOPs setback in the election. Possibly he wasnt given an honest description of what the legislation does.

Whatever caused Trump to join Team Leniency, he doesnt seem to be a wholehearted member. Mitch McConnell, who has never wanted this sort of jailbreak legislation, doesnt seem at all eager to divide his caucus by pushing FIRST STEP to a floor vote. And according to Politico, Trump seems to be okay with this so far:

Although Trump has publicly endorsed the bipartisan prison and sentencing reform bill, he hasnt publicly called out McConnell for bottling it up and seems reluctant to spend political capital on the legislation  raising doubts among bill supporters and opponents about how invested Trump really is. Indeed, the president is far more interested in securing money for his border wall in the lame duck, according to senators in both parties.

Imagine: a president who would rather focus on preventing illegal immigrants from entering the country than on letting big-time drug dealers out of jail early. What has America come to?

Trump, by the way, isnt bashful about leaning on McConnell. As Politico notes, the last time Donald Trump thought Mitch McConnell was stalling one of his priorities  on Obamacare repeal  the president publicly lashed out at the Senate majority leader, tweeting that he should get back to work.

Imagine: a president who sees the urgency of keeping his core campaign promise to repeal left-wing health insurance legislation, but not of breaking his promise to get tougher on the drug dealers whose criminal conduct is fueling a public health crisis.

As for the Majority Leader, Politico concludes:

McConnell has never endorsed the bill and is intent on confirming judges, avoiding a shutdown and clinching a deal on the farm bill.

Each of these goals is more deserving of Senate floor time than leniency for federal felons. So is anything else the Senate conceivably might take up.PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-04 13:16:51

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WESTON, FL / ACCESSWIRE / December 4, 2018 /Bayside Corporation (OTC PINK: BYSD; "Bayside" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company has installed its first Bitcoin ATM (BTM) in the State of California at the GrassValley Chevron, McKnight exit, in Grass Valley, CA. As with all the Bayside Blockchain BTMs, customers can purchase and sell bitcoin at this location, which is open 24/7."We are always looking for excellent location partners, and the opportunity to establish a location in California is consistent with our growth plans moving forward," commented Justin Frankel, Chief Executive Officer of Bayside Corporation.The BTM in Grass Valley was previously located in Las Vegas, NV. Carl Ettlinger, Director of Business Development for Bayside Corporation, added, "We are excited to enter the California market. As the BTM industry matures, having key locations will drive increased revenue. We believe the Grass Valley Chevron is a perfect location partner because of its convenient location and great reputation in the community." To viewthe Company's disclosures, click here.About BaysideCorpBayside Corp. is an American corporation that trades publicly under the symbol " BYSD." At Bayside Corp., we believe that emerging technologies will create new opportunities for generations to come. Crypto-assets and blockchain technology will fundamentally impact a broad range of industries such as financial services, digital rights management, and computer processing and programming, along with many others. Our goal is to become the premier provider of infrastructure in this new and exciting industry. For additional information on the Company visit our website at: http://www.baysidecorp.com Forward-Looking Statements:This press release maycontain projections and other forward-looking statements within the meaning ofSection 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of theSecurities Act of 1934, as amended, and are made pursuant to the safe harborprovisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any suchprojections or statement reflect the company's current views with respect tofuture events and financial performance. No assurances can be given, however,that these events will occur or that such projections will be achieved and thatactual results could differ materially from those projected. Important factorsthat could cause actual results to differ from those projected are decreases inoil and gas prices or decreases in oil and gas production. The company's actualresults could differ materially from those discussed herein. Forward-lookingstatements are subject to risks and uncertainties, including, but not limitedto, government regulation, taxation, spending, competition, general economicconditions and other risk factors which could cause actual results to differ materiallyfrom those projected or implied in the forward-looking statements.Company Contact:Info@ baysidecorp.com SOURCE: Bayside Corp.PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-04 22:02:02

New two-year data showed that CT-P10 was comparable in terms of overall survival, progression-free survival and sustained response with reference rituximab

Data published in The Lancet Haematology demonstrates therapeutic equivalence of CT-P10 to reference rituximab in patients with low tumor burden follicular lymphoma

CT-P10 is approved in the United States as biosimilar to reference rituximab

Celltrion Healthcare presents positive results for CT-P10, biosimilar rituximab, in advanced follicular lymphoma at the American Society of Hematology Meeting 2018

Emma Gorton

egorton@hanovercomms.com

+44 203 817 6591



Georgia Featherston

gfeatherston@hanovercomms.com

+44 203 817 6718

Celltrion Healthcare today presented new data at the American Society of Hematology Meeting (ASH) 2018, which shows that the efficacy and safety of CT-P10 is comparable to reference rituximab in patients with advanced follicular lymphoma (AFL) over two years.1

The efficacy and safety of CT-P10 was evaluated in a randomized, double-blind, Phase III study which evaluated the overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and sustained response in comparison to the reference biologic rituxan. The median follow-up duration was 23 months.i

140 patients were enrolled in a 1:1 ratio and 124 patients completed eight cycles of chemotherapy (R-CVP induction). 122 patients (62 patients in the CT-P10 group and 60 patients in the reference rituximab group) who showed response during the induction period, entered the maintenance period where a total of 12 cycles of rituximab monotherapy was to be administered every two months.i

The results showed that at the median follow-up duration of 23 months, the updated efficacy data in AFL patients demonstrated comparable OS (2-year OS of 93.2% and 95.3% for CT-P10 and reference rituximab, respectively) and PFS (2-year PFS was 75.2% and 73.5% for CT-P10 and reference rituximab, respectively). In terms of sustained response, the proportion of patients who showed relapse or disease progression after achieving overall response was 19.4% (13/67) in the CT-P10 group and 21.3% (13/61) in the reference rituximab group. CT-P10 was also well-tolerated and its safety profile including immunogenicity of CT-P10 was comparable to that of reference rituximab over 23 months of treatment.i

Christian Buske, Professor, Medical Director at the Comprehensive Cancer Center Ulm, Germany, Institute of Experimental Cancer Research and Attending Physician and Professor of Medicine at the Medical Department for Internal Medicine III, Hematology/Oncology, University Hospital Ulm said, CT-P10 has already demonstrated non-inferiority of efficacy compared with reference rituximab combined with CVP in previously untreated AFL. The study results presented today have further strengthened these findings, showing no statistically meaningful difference between CT-P10 and reference rituximab for over two years and demonstrating a proven safety profile. I believe that these results will help to further increase physician confidence in using rituximab biosimilars and will broaden AFL patient access to efficacious and affordable therapies.

Mr HoUng Kim, Head of Strategy and Operations Division, Celltrion Healthcare, said: The two-year study marks another significant milestone for Celltrion Healthcare, showing that CT-P10 is comparable to reference rituximab in terms of overall survival and progression-free survival. Now that CT-P10 is approved in the US, the availability of the first rituximab biosimilar has the potential to significantly improve access to rituximab for patients with non-Hodgkins lymphoma indications. As a cost-effective alternative to the reference product, CT-P10 will reduce the burden on healthcare systems resulting in better patient outcomes.

Also presented at ASH and published in The Lancet Haematology, is data from the CT-P10 3.4 LTBFL trial which aimed to demonstrate therapeutic equivalence of CT-P10 to reference rituximab (as monotherapy) in patients with previously untreated Low Tumor Burden Follicular Lymphoma (LTBFL).2

The results showed that CT-P10 was well-tolerated and the safety profile was comparable to that of reference rituximab over seven months. 108 (83%) of 130 patients assigned to CT-P10 and 104 (81%) of 128 assigned to rituximab achieved an overall response by month seven (treatment difference estimate 18%; 90% CI 643 to 1020) and therapeutic equivalence was shown (90% CIs were within the prespecified margin of 17%).ii

CT-P10 is the first rituximab biosimilar to be approved in the United States.3

--- Ends---

Notes to editors:

About CT-P10 (biosimilar rituximab)

CT-P10 is a mAb that targets CD20, a transmembrane protein found on the surface of most B cells. By binding specifically to CD20, CT-P10 depletes B cells by three main mechanisms: Induction of apoptosis, stimulation of CDC (complement-dependent cytotoxicity) and stimulation of ADCC (antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity). CT-P10 is approved in the EU for the treatment of patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, rheumatoid arthritis, granulomatosis with polyangiitis and microscopic polyangiitis. Further details of the approved indications and safety information for CT-P10 are available in the summary of product characteristics (SmPC).4 Celltrion and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. entered into an exclusive partnership in October 2016 to commercialize CT-P10 (Truxima) in the U.S. and Canada.

About Advanced FL

Follicular lymphomas are the second most frequent subtype of nodal lymphoid malignancies in Western Europe5 and are a subtype of NHL.6 It is a slow-growing lymphoma that develops from B lymphocytes (B cells). It is characterised by painless swelling of the lymph nodes, fever for no apparent reason, drenching night sweats, fatigue, infections and bleeding. Most cases are advanced at the time of diagnosis but since the advent of rituximab, overall survival has increased to in excess of 20 years. It is called follicular lymphoma because the abnormal lymphocytes often collect in lymph nodes in clumps that are known as follicles. Follicular lymphoma is more common in people aged over 65, but it can occur in people of any age.

About Celltrion Healthcare

Celltrion Healthcare conducts the worldwide marketing, sales and distribution of biological medicines developed by Celltrion, Inc. through an extensive global network that spans more than 120 different countries. Celltrion Healthcares products are manufactured at state-of-the-art mammalian cell culture facilities, designed and built to comply with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cGMP guidelines and the EU GMP guidelines. For more information please visit: http://www.celltrionhealthcare.com/

References

1 Kim, WS, et al. Similar Efficacy and Safety of CT-P10 and Reference Rituximab in Patients with Advanced Stage Follicular Lymphoma: Updated Phase III Study Results. 60th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition 2018; 1616.

2 Ogura, M, et al. Comparison of Efficacy and Safety of Biosimilar CT-P10 to Rituximab in Patients with Previously Untreated Low Tumor Burden Follicular Lymphoma (LTBFL): A Randomized Phase III Study. 60th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting & Exposition 2018; 1596.

3 FDA approves first biosimilar for treatment of adult patients with non-Hodgkins lymphoma [news release]. FDAs website. https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnou [last accessed December 2018].

4 Truxima concentrate for solution for infusion summary of product characteristics [last accessed December 2017]. Available at http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_libra.

5 Dreyling, M, et al. Newly diagnosed and relapsed follicular lymphoma: ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up. Ann Oncol. 2016;27(suppl 5):v83-v90 doi:10.1093/annonc/mdw400.

6 Kohrt HEK & Ugarte A. Follicular Lymphoma: a Guide for Patients. European Society for Medical Oncology. 2014. Available at: https://www.esmo.org/content/download/52236/963497 [last accessed December 2018].

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005MRRSE

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Coating are generally a phase in which the adhesive is applied to the medium/substrates. Flexible plastic packaging coatings offer consistent high quality finishes as well as provides protection for a wide range of applications. Some of the key coating types readily available in flexible packaging industry are acrylics coating, epoxy coating, urethane & polyurethane coating, etc. To comprehend recent trends and other factors influencing growth of global flexible plastic packaging coating market, Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) has included a report titled Flexible Plastic Packaging Coating Market  Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2018  2026 to its repository.Request Free Sample on Flexible Plastic Packaging Coating Market Research Report @ https://www.mrrse.com/sample/17345 Manufacturers of flexible plastic packaging coating solutions serve almost every end use including food, beverage, cosmetic & personal care, pharmaceuticals industries, among others; thus providing operational advantages as well as improving value for brand owners.Flexible Plastic Packaging Coating Market: Scope of the ReportThe report delivers insights related to the flexible plastic packaging coating. Analysis of various factors influencing growth of flexible plastic packaging coating have been discussed in this report. Drivers, trends, restraints and opportunities available in the flexible plastic packaging coating have been propounded in this report. Various micro- and macroeconomic factors such as drivers, restraints, trends and opportunities available in the flexible plastic packaging coating were analyzed in this report. The report further reflects opportunities for leading players operating in the flexible plastic packaging coating. All such information included in the report makes it most-creditable and go-to forecast of flexible plastic packaging coating.An authentic and systematic approach have been taken to reach vital insights mentioned in this report that provide unified understanding of performance of the market. The report included proper segmentation of the report beginning with executive summary and ending with competitive landscape. This will readers and clients to leverage unbiased actionable intelligence included in the report. Segmentation of the market have been propounded in this report with respect to value and volume of each region. A dashboard view of leading players operating in the flexible plastic packaging coating have been place in the competitive landscape section to deliver information related to the vast market size.Browse Complete Detail on Flexible Plastic Packaging Coating Market Research Report with TOC @ https://www.mrrse.com/flexible-plastic-packaging-coating-market Flexible Plastic Packaging Coating Market: Research MethodologyThe intelligence offered in the report supported by vital research have made the report most-creditable and most insightful. The research is based on the comprehensive study of various market areas that have been considered for the evolution of the market size and future prospects of the global market. To meet the vital insights mentioned in the report primary and secondary research have been carried out. Studies and surveys of prominent players operating in the global market and seasoned market analysis have been analyzed in the primary research. Vital study of paid sources, trade journals, and industry database have been completed under secondary research. Analysis of different segments of the market have been evaluated with respect to various regions. Such research is complementary to the insights mentioned in the report. The research approach considered for the evaluation of the insights mentioned in the report will cater readers with valid forecast and most conceivable forecast of the future of global flexible plastic packaging coating.Enquire about This Report @ https://www.mrrse.com/enquiry/17345 About (MRRSE)Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of Market Research Reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords. MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-04 23:50:39

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GUADALAJARA, JALISCO, MEXICO / ACCESSWIRE / December 4, 2018 / Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico, S.A.B. de C.V., (NYSE: PAC; BMV: GAP) (''the Company'' or ''GAP'') announced preliminary terminal passenger traffic figures for the month of November 2018, compared to traffic figures for November 2017.During November 2018, total terminal passengers increased by 10.0% at the Company's 13 airports, compared to the same period of the previous year. Domestic passenger traffic increased by 10.3%, while international passenger traffic increased by 9.4%.Highlights for the Period:Seats and Load Factors:In November 2018, GAP registered a 7.2% increase in the number of seats available compared to November 2017. Load factors for the month increased by 2.3 percentage points, from 81.2% in November 2017 to 83.5% in November 2018.New Routes:Aguascalientes to Mexico City: VolarisGuanajuato to Ciudad Juarez: VolarisGuanajuato to Mexico City: VolarisGuanajuato to Merida: VolarisGuanajuato to Mexicali: VolarisGuanajuato to Puerto Vallarta: VolarisGuanajuato to San Jose, California: VolarisGuanajuato to Los Cabos: VolarisGuanajuato to Sacramento: VolarisGuadalajara to Albuquerque: VolarisGuadalajara to Charlotte: VolarisGuadalajara to Puerto Escondido: VolarisHermosillo to Tijuana: TARLos Cabos to Chicago Midway: SouthwestMontego Bay to Raleigh: FrontierCompany DescriptionGrupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico, S.A.B. de C.V. (GAP) operates 12 airports throughout Mexico's Pacific region, including the major cities of Guadalajara and Tijuana, the four tourist destinations of Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, La Paz and Manzanillo, and six other mid-sized cities: Hermosillo, Guanajuato, Morelia, Aguascalientes, Mexicali and Los Mochis.In February 2006, GAP's shares were listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ''PAC'' and on the Mexican Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ''GAP''.In April 2015, GAP acquired 100% of Desarrollo de Concesiones Aeroportuarias, S.L., which owns a majority stake in MBJ Airports Limited, a company operating Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, Jamaica.This press release may contain forward-looking statements. These statements are statements that are not historical facts, and are based on management's current view and estimates of future economic circumstances, industry conditions, company performance and financial results. The words ''anticipates,'' ''believes,'' ''estimates,'' ''expects,'' ''plans'' and similar expressions, as they relate to the company, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Statements regarding the declaration or payment of dividends, the implementation of principal operating and financing strategies and capital expenditure plans, the direction of future operations and the factors or trends affecting financial condition, liquidity or results of operations are examples of forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the current views of management and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. There is no guarantee that the expected events, trends or results will actually occur. The statements are based on many assumptions and factors, including general economic and market conditions, industry conditions, and operating factors. Any changes in such assumptions or factors could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.In accordance with Section 806 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and article 42 of the ''Ley del Mercado de Valores'', GAP has implemented a ''whistleblower'' program, which allows complainants to anonymously and confidentially report suspected activities that may involve criminal conduct or violations. The telephone number in Mexico, facilitated by a third party that is in charge of collecting these complaints, is 01 800 563 00 47. The web site is www.lineadedenuncia.com/gap . GAP's Audit Committee will be notified of all complaints for immediate investigation.IR Contacts:Saul Villarreal, Chief Financial Officersvillarreal@ aeropuertosgap.com.mx Alejandra Soto, IR &Financial Planning asoto@ aeropuertosgap.com.mxMaria Barona, i-advize Corporate Communicationsmbarona@ i-advize.com SOURCE: GRUPO AEROPORTUARIO DEL PACIFICO, S.A.B. DE C.VStearney went on to attend the University of Notre Dame, graduating with a degree in economics in 1982, before commissioning in the Navy that same year, according to his Navy biography. He became a naval aviator in 1984, when he graduated from Navy Fighter Weapons School; he holds a Master of Science in National Resource Strategy from the National Defense University.PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-04 09:00:02

Expanded Treasury and Portfolio Finance Capabilities Provide Clients with Powerful Counterparty Cost Control & Operational Risk Reduction

NEW YORK, LONDON and HONG KONG, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HedgeServ, a global fund administrator recognized for providing innovative, technology-backed solutions to the alternative investment industry, and Hazeltree, the leading provider of integrated buy-side treasury management solutions, today announced an expansion of their partnership. Powered by Hazeltrees market-leading platform, HedgeServ will deliver comprehensive treasury and portfolio finance technology and operational support, as part of HedgeServs enhanced middle-office treasury services to alternative fund managers.



Building upon their existing successful partnership around wires and OTC collateral management, HedgeServ and Hazeltree are responding to client demands for comprehensive treasury and portfolio finance solutions that:

Provide rate transparency for cash, borrows, lending, market color and prime broker margin requirements

Enable automated short locates across prime brokers

Facilitate automated securities transfers

Provide aggregated cash transparency across legal entities, financial counterparties and currencies

Streamline cash management onto a single platform, eliminating the need to log onto multiple counterparty portals

Enable secure, SWIFT-based cash movements

Offer integrated, complex cash optimization capabilities

Reduce OTC collateral and prime broker margin requirements across counterparties

Create a shared portal between clients and HedgeServ operations staff to jointly review and approve key workflows, covering cash, collateral and securities movements

Industrialize operational efficiencies and internal controls around cash movements

Manage and reduce counterparty exposure

As part of this expanded partnership, HedgeServ is hosting Hazeltrees entire suite of products and complementing with integrated middle office outsourcing and operational services.

We want to expand our successful partnership with Hazeltree to support the increased demands from our clients for treasury and portfolio finance solutions, said Justin Nadler, HedgeServ's president. As the industry matures and further adopts treasury management practices pioneered by a handful of industry leaders, we want to ensure that our clients have access to the best treasury technology available. The combined capabilities we are offering clients will significantly help clients improve operational efficiencies while reducing counterparty costs and exposure, added Nadler.

"Fund managers have been looking for opportunities to outsource technology and middle office treasury operations to focus on generating alpha. Partnering with HedgeServ has been well-received by clients, said Sameer Shalaby, president and chief executive officer of Hazeltree. "We are delighted to be working with HedgeServ and its client-focused team to deliver a comprehensive treasury and portfolio finance solution to save money and improve operational processes and controls," added Shalaby.

The expanded joint solution is fully integrated with HedgeServs technology platform. For more information on this joint solution, please contact a HedgeServ or Hazeltree representative.

About HedgeServ

HedgeServ is an independent, full-service fund administrator HedgeServ currently services hedge funds, traditional long only funds, regulated funds, private equity funds and hybrid funds with over $400 billion of assets under administration and more than 1,400 professionals across its eight offices in six countries employing a follow the sun operations model. For more information, visit the companys website at www.hedgeserv.com .

About HazelTree

Hazeltree is the leading Treasury Management solution provider, serving hedge funds, asset managers, fund administrators, insurance companies, pension funds and corporates with powerful, proactive performance enhancement and risk mitigation capabilities that generate operational alpha, reduce a range of liquidity and funding risks and streamline operations. Hazeltrees integrated treasury management solution includes comprehensive cash management, securities financing, collateral management, counterparty management and margin management capabilities. Hazeltree is headquartered in New York with offices in London and Hong Kong. For more information, please visit www.hazeltree.com .

Contact:

Sameer Shalaby, President & CEO

sshalaby@hazeltree.com

646.790.7250PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-04 13:33:42

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / December 4, 2018 / Jackpot Digital Inc. (the "Company" or "Jackpot") (TSX-V: JP) (TSX-V: JP.WT) (US OTCQB: JPOTF) (Frankfurt & Berlin Exchanges: LVH2). Jackpot is pleased to announce that it has signed a Trial Agreement (the "Agreement") with a casino in Southern California for the Jackpot Blitz ETG. The Agreement covers a ninety (90) day trial period of the Jackpot Blitz ETG and lays out the financial terms for a Software License and Equipment Lease Agreement to be negotiated following the product trial period.Jackpot Blitz is the Company's proprietary next generation gaming platform, offering an incomparable player experience to go with unrivalled operator efficiency, flexibility, and profitability. Jackpot Blitz represents a significant leap from Jackpot's industry-leading PokerPro ETG system, which is currently in operation with cruise lines, poker rooms, and casinos. Jackpot Blitz is expected to enhance financial and operational security for casino operators and to increase ETG revenues for Jackpot and its clients.Mr. Jake Kalpakian, Jackpot President and CEO, states "We are extremely happy to sign this Trial Agreement in California. Product trials are standard in the casino industry and we believe Jackpot Blitz will prove itself in this casino's poker room. California is a large market for our product, so this first placement is very exciting." About Jackpot Digital Inc.Jackpot Digital Inc. is a leading electronic table games manufacturer and mobile gaming provider for the cruise ship industry and regulated casino industry. The Company specializes in multiplayer gaming products, including poker and casino games, which are complemented by a robust suite of backend tools for operators to efficiently control and optimize their gaming business.For more information on the Company, please contact Jake H. Kalpakian, President and CEO, at (604) 681-0204 ext 6105, or visit the Company's website at www.jackpotdigital.com On behalf of the Board ofJackpot Digital Inc."Jake H. Kalpakian"___Jake H. KalpakianPresident & CEOTrading in the securities of the Company should be considered speculative.The TSX Venture Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.Certain statements contained herein are "forward-looking". Forward-looking statements may include, among others, statements regarding future plans, costs, objectives, economic or technical performance, or the assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. In this News Release, words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "likely", "feel", "seek", "project", "predict", "potential", "should", "might", "objective", "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "plan", "estimate", and similar words are used to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. Although management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, projections and estimations, there can be no assurance that these assumptions, projections or estimations are accurate. Readers, shareholders and investors are therefore cautioned not to place reliance on any forward-looking statements as the plans, assumptions, intentions or expectations upon which they are based might not occur.SOURCE: Jackpot Digital Inc.PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-04 08:02:02

Mobidiag Symposium on Innovative Molecular Diagnostics to Be Held in Paris, France

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Mobidiag Ltd., a commercial stage molecular diagnostics company addressing the spread of antimicrobial resistance, will host a symposium at the 38th Interdisciplinary Meeting of Anti-Infectious Chemotherapy (RICAI), in Paris this month. The symposium is on December 17th from 12h45 to 13h45, in spoken French. RICAI is an annual meeting bringing together leading French clinicians and microbiologists (parasitologists, virologists, bacteriologists) and innovative commercial companies in diagnostics.

The symposium, Mobidiags second at a RICAI annual meeting, will showcase the Companys automated molecular diagnostics solutions, Amplidiag and Novodiag, and their state-of-the-art capabilities in the rapid identification of infectious diseases and antimicrobial drug resistance. At the event, a number of leading clinicians will present data and share their experience of using Mobidiags technology.

Confirmed speakers at the Mobidiag symposium include:

Mrs. Safia Nadji , Resident in Medical Biology, CHRU Lille

, Resident in Medical Biology, CHRU Lille Pr. Christophe Burucoa , Head of Bacteriology Hygiene Laboratory, CHU Poitiers

, Head of Bacteriology Hygiene Laboratory, CHU Poitiers Pr. Raymond Ruimy , Head of Bacteriology Laboratory, CHU Nice

, Head of Bacteriology Laboratory, CHU Nice Dr. Jean-Winoc Decousser , MCU  PH, Bacteriology Laboratory  Hygiene, Hopital Henri Mondor, Creteil

, MCU  PH, Bacteriology Laboratory  Hygiene, Hopital Henri Mondor, Creteil Dr. Thomas Gueudet, Medical Biologist, Laboratoire Schuh BIO67, Strasbourg

Following the presentations, a demonstration of both Amplidiag and Novodiag will be made at booth No. 13, showcasing how Mobidiag can support the everyday work of healthcare practitioners.

For more details and registration visit our website. A white paper will be made available following the event.

Yann Marcy, President at Mobidiag France, commented, At Mobidiag we are focused on developing innovative diagnostic solutions that have a real impact, and particularly on antimicrobial resistance, one of the most significant challenges in global health. Following on from the success of last years symposium at the RICAI conference, we look forward to hearing from key customers who will present new data and share their experiences on how Amplidiag and Novodiag have performed in the laboratory setting in the last 12 months.

About Mobidiag Ltd

Mobidiag is a commercial stage, fast growing molecular diagnostics company whose affordable, widely applicable and robust technology makes the power of molecular diagnostics available to address the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) by rapid detection of pathogens and their potential resistance to antibiotics. Through its Amplidiag and Novodiag solutions, Mobidiag offers a comprehensive range of fast, reliable and cost-effective molecular diagnostic solutions for the detection of infectious diseases to laboratories of all sizes.

Mobidiag is headquartered in Espoo, Finland, with subsidiaries in France, UK and Sweden. To learn more, visit www.mobidiag.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181203005Oat Drinks Market

PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-04 07:32:07

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Oat drinks are defined as a food products that are formulated through processing oat with milk or other liquid ingredient. It is marketed as a supplementary food and positioned as a healthy, fast and convenient option for breakfast. Consumers are giving preferences to health drink products as well as the value added products which is expected to fuel the growth of oat drink market over the forecast period. In addition, growing number of single individuals along with rising number of working women across the globe is leading to changing lifestyle, improving living standards and increasing urbanization are some of the factors which are expected to drive the market of oat drinks over the forecast period.Oat drinks market is segmented on the basis of type which includes organic and conventional. Among both of these segments conventional oat drinks has been estimated to account for major share in terms of value and expected to be remain dominant over the forecast period. Organic oat drinks is expected to create relatively higher CAGR over the forecast period. Due to increasing awareness among the consumers towards healthy lifestyle they are continuously switching towards organic products which is expected to fuel the segment growth over the forecast period.Oat drinks market is further segmented on the basis of distribution channel which includes hypermarket/supermarket, convenience stores, specialty outlet, grocery stores and online retailing. Among all these segments hypermarket/supermarket is expected to account for major market share during the forecast period. Increasing penetration of retail industry especially in developing regions such as Asia Pacific, Middle East and others is expected to support the hypermarket/supermarket segment growth in oat drinks market during the forecast period. Online retailing segment in oat drinks market is expected represent favorable growth in the near future. Increasing internet penetration level and rising consumer influence towards online shopping is expected to support the segment growth over the forecast period.Request Report Sample@ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-3308 Oat drinks market is segmented on the basis of region which includes North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Middle East & Africa and Japan. Geographically, Western Europe is expected to represent the major market in terms of value for oat drinks, owing to increasing consumer shifting preference towards health drink products. Among the countries, U.K. is expected to remain major markets in terms of consumptions for oat drinks followed by Germany. North America is expected to represent the favorable market for oat drinks in terms of consumption.In the region the U.S. is expected to represent major value share during the forecast period. Asia Pacific is expected to represent a rapid growth in oat drinks market. Continuous product launch and targeted towards specific segment is expected to support the market growth in the country. For instance in 2015, PepsiCo, Inc. in collaboration with Inc launched its first oat based dairy drink in China. This launched was done in order to attract the consumers that are looking for high fiber food products in their daily intake. Moreover, among ASEAN countries Singapore is expected to represent potential market both in terms of value and volume consumption.Consumers across the globe are increasingly shifting their preference from towards healthy drink alternatives. They perceive oats as a good and healthy food products which is expected to drive the market growth in the near future. In addition rising awareness towards the product availability coupled with continuous launch of new products with different flavor is further expected to fuel the market growth during the forecast period.Some of the major key players operating in oat drink market includes Drinks Brokers Ltd, Alpro, Oatly AB, PepsiCo, Inc., Rude Health and Pureharvest among others.Request For Table Of Content @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-3308PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-04 21:33:09

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CALGARY, AB / ACCESSWIRE / December 4, 2018 / Ivrnet Inc. (TSX-V: IVI) ("Ivrnet" or the "Corporation") announces it has restructured the repayment terms with R.C. Morris Capital Management Ltd.'s mezzanine loan as part of a recent initiative to replace the financing with less expensive capital.Following six quarters of positive EBITDA, growth in new product sales, and reduced operating costs, Ivrnet is returning to the financial markets for a replacement to the mezzanine financing provided by R.C. Morris Capital Management Ltd.in 2016."The capital provided by RC Morris in 2016 was instrumental to Ivrnet's productization of 15 years of intellectual property, and to the restructuring of Ivrnet's SaaS infrastructure", said David Snell, Ivrnet's CEO, "but the company has progressed to a point where it believes less expensive capital is an option. RC Morris has been a great partner, and as such are very supportive of replacing their own debt with financing more suitable at this time." Over the last 3 months Ivrnet has explored options with alternate financers and has several proposals on the table. "We want to ensure that Ivrnet takes the right deal for the company, not just the first deal that comes along, so we have presented to them a relaxation of the loan repayment to provide time to evaluate and select the best deal", stated Conrad Krebs of RC Morris. As part of the loan restructuring, RC Morris will allow Ivrnet to make interest only payments for up to 18 months. The intent, however, is to remove the RC Morris loan before that time."RC Morris' goal has always been to work with clients that could not find alternative financing and help them grow to the point that we are no longer needed. We are proud of the positive impact this has on our clients and feel Ivrnet is ready to take this step", continued Mr. Krebs.In addition to providing the relaxation, RC Morris has agreed to provide consulting services to assist Ivrnet in evaluating deals and preparing materials.About IvrnetIvrnet is a software and communications company that develops, hosts, sells and supports value added business process improvement and advertising software applications, delivered through the traditional phone network and the Internet. These applications facilitate automated interaction through personalized communication between people; mass communication for disseminating information to thousands of people concurrently and personalized communication between people and automated systems. Ivrnet's applications are accessible through nearly any form of communication technology, at any time, from anywhere in North America via voice, phone, fax, email, texting and the Internet.Forward-looking InformationThis press release may contain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "intend", "objective", "continuous", "ongoing", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "should" or similar words suggesting future outcomes. This forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors discussed in Ivrnet's documents filed on SEDAR ( www.sedar.com) Forward information contained in this press release is the anticipation that alternate financing will be obtained by Ivrnet and that Ivrnet will be able to pay out the RC Morris loan. Although Ivrnet has attempted to identify a variety of financing options, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such financing will prove to be available or that Ivrnet will be able to replace RC Morris loan with less expensive capital or at all, and events could differ materially from those anticipated. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Ivrnet does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that are contained herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Further information on Ivrnet is available at www.sedar.com For further information, please contact:Chris L. Topolniski - Chief Operating Officer, IvrnetDirect: (403) 538-9722Cellular: (403) 870-2434E-mail: c.topolniski@ ivrnet.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its regulation services provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.SOURCE: Ivrnet Inc.PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-04 08:03:01

Preliminary Results from a New Study by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Find Substantial Variations in Outcomes Across Europe.

Study Shows that Better Policies Across the Entire Patient Journey are Needed to Bring Down the High Number of Deaths, Particularly in the Areas of Prevention and Access to Treatment.

Results to be Shared at the European Cancer Forum in Brussels Provides a Sounding Board for Next Stage of the Research.

Serious Disparities in Outcomes for Lung Cancer Patients According to Where You Live in Europe

Media:

European Communication Director, MSD: Veronika Bendere

veronika.bendere@merck.com

Global Media Relations Director, MSD: Pamela Eisele

pamela_eisele@merck.com

The World Health Organization estimates 387,913 Europeans will die of lung cancer in 2018.1 The preliminary findings from a new study by the Economist Intelligence Unit comparing 13 countries show that governments across Europe are responding in very different ways to the disease. Countries with better outcomes seem to have effective prevention policies in place and prioritize timely access to new, innovative treatments. Initial research from the study, which will run into early 2019 with in-depth country research and workshops, will be presented today by the Economist Intelligence Unit at the European Cancer Forum in Brussels, which is hosted by MSD. The audience of policy-makers, academics, healthcare professionals, industry, and patient representatives, will provide a first sounding-board for the study findings, and help focus the next phase of research. The EIU will be looking to understand whether countries are advancing, innovating and seizing the opportunities to save lives.

Already, the study points to seven key findings from the 13 countries2:

1. For the past 15 years the number of new lung cancer cases has been highest in the Netherlands and lowest in Sweden. The number of deaths caused by lung cancer is highest in Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom and Greece  but the numbers have gone down significantly in the past 15 years. Finland has made great progress, and now has the lowest death rate. All other countries have made little to no progress in the past 15 years.

2. We have seen an average increase in the percentage of patients who are still alive 5 years after diagnosis, from 12 percent to only 17 percent over 15 years. The average survival rate for all cancers combined is 50-60 percent.3 Austria, Sweden and Norway have the highest survival rates for lung cancer, with the lowest survival rates occurring in Romania, Finland and the United Kingdom.

3. Lung cancer is a strategic priority in those countries with (lung) cancer control plans and guidelines: Sweden and France score best here, while Finland has some catching up to do.

4. Since smoking is the primary risk factor for lung cancer, with around 80 percent of lung cancers linked to smoking, public health programs around tobacco control and smoking cessation, including regulation of e-cigarettes, are particularly important. The study shows that Finland and Norway lead in this area, while Romania has litte in place.

5. In terms of treatment, the study notes whether patients are getting treatment, tumour testing is available and reimbursed, and new, innovative medicines are reimbursed. Of the four most commonly used biomarkers for lung cancer, testing for all four is only reimbursed in a minority of countries.

6. Only Sweden and Poland have a specific lung cancer plan/section of the National Cancer Control Plan (NCCP), and only four countries (Austria, France, Romania and Greece) have updated their NCCP in the last five years.

7. Only half of the countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Poland,Spain, UK) have started or are involved in a trial to investigate whether or how screening could be introduced.

Giving his reaction ahead of his keynote speech at the European Cancer Forum, Martin Seychell, Deputy Director-General in the Health and Food Safety Directorate General (DG SANTE) of the European Commission, said: In recent years we have been able to improve outcomes for cancer patients, although cancer remains the second-highest cause of death in the EU. He added that The results of the Economist Intelligence Unit study clearly show the need for close collaboration between all stakeholders and fighting this disease will undoubtedly remain a priority for the Commission in the years to come.

The country benchmarking and in country analyses in this study point us in the direction of how to achieve better outcomes, said Alfonso Aguaron on behalf of Lung Cancer Europe. Policy makers should see these results and be encouraged to take the findings of the report forward. It is time for more awareness around the burden of this disease for patients, their family and friends. It is about time these patients get noticed.

Deepak Khanna, Senior Vice President and Regional President, EMEAC Oncology for MSD, commented: All stakeholders should accelerate implementing policies which contribute to better outcomes. As a biopharmaceutical research company, we are working with governments across Europe to ensure patients have timely access to our innovative cancer medicines, to help extend and improve the lives of patients with lung cancer.

Notes to the Editor

The study is composed of several indicators, with each country being assessed for its performance. The indicators are clustered into five domains4 related to awareness, prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment and care. Each country has received a rating for each indicator, and the study supports policy makers by providing a handful of recommendations for areas that can be improved. For example, the time from the presentation of symptoms to diagnosis can take several months. The better performing countries have a fast track to diagnosis for suspected lung cancer patients, with guidelines mentioning the fast track and a specific time frame for diagnostic referral.

The Economist Intelligence Unit benchmarking study is being supported by MSD. Editorial decisions are the responsibility of the Economist Intelligence Unit.

The European Cancer Forum is hosted by MSD, in collaboration with Lung Cancer Europe (LUCE) and the European Cancer Patient Coalition (ECPC). It is taking place on 04 December 2018 at the Solvay Library in Brussels.

About MSD

For more than a century, MSD, a leading global biopharmaceutical company, has been inventing for life, bringing forward medicines and vaccines for many of the world's most challenging diseases. MSD is a trade name of Merck & Co., Inc., with headquarters in Kenilworth, N.J., U.S.A. Through our prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products, we work with customers and operate in more than 140 countries to deliver innovative health solutions. We also demonstrate our commitment to increasing access to health care through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships. Today, MSD continues to be at the forefront of research to advance the prevention and treatment of diseases that threaten people and communities around the world - including cancer, cardio-metabolic diseases, emerging animal diseases, Alzheimer's disease and infectious diseases including HIV and Ebola. For more information, visit www.msd.com and connect with us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.

1 http://gco.iarc.fr/today/data/factsheets/cancers/1, last accessed 30 November 2018

2 Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden and the UK

3 6.1 C Allemani and the CONCORD Working Group. (2015) Global surveillance of cancer survival 19952009: analysis of individual data for 25,676,887 patients from 279 population-based registries in 67 countries (CONCORD-2). Lancet 2015;385(9972):9771010 https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PII; https://www.thelancet.com/cms/attachment/205331887, last accessed 30 November 2018

4 These five domains are: (1) lung cancer is a strategic priority, (2) lung cancer is a public health issue, (3) lung cancer is a race against time, (4) lung cancer is possible to address, and (5) lung cancer is ready for innovation.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181203005

Policy makers, #health professionals, industry, #patients and care givers coming together at the #EuropeanCancerForum to discuss how to change the future of #cancer in Europe!PR-Inside.com: 2018-12-04 18:17:08

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ASBURY PARK, NJ / ACCESSWIRE / December 4, 2018 / Marijuana prohibition is incrementally ending as more and more states are expanding medical marijuana programs and some are going all-in on full recreational legalization. Recently one entire major Western country, Canada, made the jump to full recreational legalization for Canadian adults. Public attitudes toward legalization have shifted to the point where a strong majority of various age groups and other demographics in the U.S. show decisive support for full-scale legalization. Amidst these changes, the legal cannabis business world is growing rapidly and a unique marijuana business-to-business directory is emerging as an important tool for budding marijuana businesses, see here https://marijuanawerx.com/ There are many facets to the legal medical and recreational marijuana industries. Some examples, in addition to the obvious ones such as growers and dispensaries, include the emerging cannabis and CBD oil infused beverage industry, a niche that is attracting potential interest from major players in both the soft drink and alcoholic beverage industries. There are markets for business insurance for cannabis companies, brand marketing, packaging, legal services, security and transportation, lab testing and compliance, production equipment for growers, and much more. Then there is credit card payment processing and banking for cannabis businesses, a federally regulated area which will likely be on hold until federal marijuana laws change.There are also expanding job opportunities in the legal marijuana business including growers, dispensary employees, security personnel, production managers, licensing and regulation compliance, general compliance managers and more. In order to help facilitate this expanding jobs market, a number of private firms are offering training and certification for prospective cannabis industry workers. Private training firms offering course training online for these jobs include companies such as Green CulturED, The Grow School, The Cannabis Career Institute, Oaksterdam University, Cannabis Training University, THC University, Cloverleaf University, Cannabis Training Institute, Trichome Institute and others.The MarijuanaWerx cannabis business directory can accommodate directory business listings and profiles for all of these niches and more. For niches not currently listed, MarijuanaWerx will create a category as appropriate. Listings on MarijuanaWerx are free. The company offers enhanced listings for a small fee in addition to offering advertising programs to industry participants.Another large niche in the cannabis business is the edibles market, as well as the market for vaporizers as more and more people abandon smoking marijuana for either vaping or edibles. Some of the leading vaporizer companies are profiled on MarijuanaWerx including DaVinci Vaporizers, Storz-Bickel vaporizers, Pax, DynaVap Vaporizers and others. States that have legalized weed such as Colorado, Washington, Oregon and California are experiencing significant growth for vaping products including both for vaporizers for concentrated oils and those for dry herb vaping.Edible sales in the United States and Canada are projected to hit over $4 billion by year 2022. A survey conducted in Colorado last year indicated that 64% of pot consumers in Colorado had used marijuana edibles over a 6 month period compared with 81% who consumed cannabis via inhalation. In California, a poll showed similar usage with 55% consuming pot edibles and 88% using inhalation. So, edibles are huge with spending on such hitting $1 billion in 2017 in the U.S. and Canada and expected to grow to $1,5 billion in 2018 and eventually to $4.1 billion in 2022.MarijuanaWerx also publishes The Investors Corner where visitors can find profiles of many leading publicly traded marijuana related companies. Recently the company Charlotte's Web Holdings, owner of the popular CBD brand Charlotte's Web, went public with an IPO on the Canadian Securities Exchange. There are other publicly traded cannabis related businesses trading on stock exchanges in the US and Canada currently profiled on MarijuanaWerx including Choom Holdings, Leafbuyer Technologies, Rocky Mountain High Brands, Aurora Cannabis, PotNetwork Holding, MedReLeaf Corp, Aphria Inc., United Cannabis Corp, Abattis Bioceuticals, Canopy Growth Corp, GW Pharmaceuticals, Cannagrow Holdings and more.The MarijuanaWerx directory also offers a review section with ratings and reviews of many of the best CBD oil brands such as, CBDPure Oil and Softgels, Bluebird Botanicals, and Charlottes Web CBD.About MarijuanaWerxMarijuanaWerx is an A+ Rated Better Business Bureau Accredited organization based in Asbury Park, NJ that publishes an industry leading a business-to-business cannabis directory. MarijuanaWerx.com is not a store and does not sell products.Contact:Chaz Sandersonchazsanderson@ outlook.com 1-929-344-1364SOURCE: MarijuanaWerxPR-Inside.com: 2018-12-04 14:33:04

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COEUR D'ALENE, ID / ACCESSWIRE / December 4, 2018 / Timberline Resources Corporation (OTCQB: TLRS; TSX-V: TBR) ("Timberline" or the "Company") today announced results of its 2018 Special Meeting of Stockholders, held on December 1, 2018 in Coeur d' Alene, Idaho. Proxies were solicited under the proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 22, 2018. The Company received overwhelming approval for all proposals submitted to stockholders as follows:The Company's 2018 Stock and Incentive Plan which is subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval, allows that the aggregate number of shares that may be issued under all awards under the Plan shall equal 8,000,000 Shares, of which no greater than 7,000,000 Shares may be issued pursuant to the exercise of Options.About Timberline ResourcesTimberline Resources Corporation is focused on advancing district-scale gold exploration and development projects in Nevada. These include its 23 square-mile Eureka property, comprising the Lookout Mountain, Windfall, and Oswego projects which lie along three separate structural stratigraphic trends defined by distinct geochemical gold anomalies, as well as being operator of both the Paiute joint venture project with a subsidiary of Barrick Gold, and the Elder Creek joint venture with McEwen Mining. All of these properties lie on the prolific Battle Mountain-Eureka gold trend. Timberline also owns the Seven Troughs property in Northern Nevada, which is one of the state's highest-grade former producers. Timberline has increased its owned and controlled mineral rights in Nevada to over 43 square miles (27,500 acres). Detailed maps and NI 43-101 estimated resource information for the Eureka property may be viewed at http://timberlineresources.co/ Timberline is listed on the OTCQB where it trades under the symbol "TLRS" and on the TSX Venture Exchange where it trades under the symbol "TBR".Forward-looking StatementsStatements contained herein that are not based upon current or historical fact are forward-looking in nature and constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements reflect the Company's expectations about its future operating results, performance and opportunities that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. These include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the advancement of projects, and exploration potential. When used herein, the words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "upcoming," "plan," "target", "intend" and "expect" and similar expressions, as they relate to Timberline Resources Corporation, its subsidiaries, or its management, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to the Company and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause the Company's actual results, performance, prospects, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. There are no assurances that the Company will complete the earn-in on the Elder Creek project as contemplated or at all. Factors that could cause or contribute to risks involving forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, changes in the Company's business and other factors, including risk factors discussed in the Company's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2018. Except as required by law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements.Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.For Further Information Please Contact:Steven A. OsterbergPresident and CEOTel: 208-664-4859E-mail: info@ timberline-resources.com Website: www.timberline-resources.com SOURCE: Timberline Resources CorporationPR-Inside.com: 2018-12-04 12:31:39

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LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / December 4, 2018 / TrackX Holdings Inc. ( TSX.V:TKX) (''TrackX'' or the ''Company), a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)-based enterprise asset management solution provider, announces that CEO Tim Harvie will be presenting at the 11th annual LD Micro Main Event today, Tuesday, December 4, 2018 at 3:00PM PST / 6:00PM EST. Mr. Harvie will also host investor meetings throughout the day.''TrackX has a lot of news to share with the U.S. investment community, including our recent wins with Anheuser-Busch and expansions with one of the world's largest food companies and a global household appliance manufacturer,'' said Mr. Harvie. ''LD Micro attracts U.S. investors that target microcap names, and we look forward to updating current investors as well as sharing our story with new potential investors.'' The LD Micro Main Event will take place December 4th, 5th, and 6th, in Los Angeles at the Luxe Sunset Bel Air Hotel, will feature 250 companies, and will be attended by over 1,200 individuals.View TrackX's profile here: http://www.ldmicro.com/profile/TKX.V Profiles powered by LD Micro  News Compliments of AccesswireAbout LD MicroLD Micro was founded in 2006 with the sole purpose of being an independent resource in the microcap space.What started out as a newsletter highlighting unique companies has transformed into several influential events annually (Invitational, Summit, and Main Event).In 2015, LDM launched the first pure microcap index (the LDMi) to exclusively provide intraday information on the entire sector. LD will continue to provide valuable tools for the benefit of everyone in the small and micro-cap universe.For those interested in attending, please contact David Scher at david@ ldmicro.com or visit www.ldmicro.com for more information.About TrackXTrackX, Inc. (TSX VENTURE:TKX), based in Denver, Colorado, is an enterprise asset management company deploying SaaS-based solutions leveraging multiple auto-ID and sensor technologies for the comprehensive tracking and management of physical assets. TrackX's Global Asset Management for Enterprises (GAME) platform enables the IIoT by providing unique item level tracking, workflow processing, event management, alerting and powerful analytics to deliver solutions across a growing number of industries. TrackX delivers significant value to a growing list of Fortune 500 companies and for customers in industries such as transportation, beverage, brewery, healthcare, hi-tech, hospitality, mining, agriculture, horticulture, manufacturing and government.Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulations Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This news release includes certain ''forward-looking statements'' under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. All statements that address future plans, activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur including the Company's anticipated pipeline and value of current and customer deployments and future opportunities are the managements best estimates and cannot be guaranteed or relied upon and is forward-looking information. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements in this news release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.SOURCE: TrackX via LD MicroPR-Inside.com: 2018-12-04 14:56:38

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Kingstown, St. Vincent & The Grenadines  4 December 2018  Upforex is offering a vast variety of forex broker solutions and services to satisfy even the most refined needs and requirements.Forex is still one of the leading online trading platforms for people from all over the world. Trading with the stock market exchange can be extremely popular and people were known to have achieved some great results, earning a fortune on trade. Of course, it is not all that simple to begin with. In order for you to really make the most from the process, you are going to need the right tools and the right instruments that will aid you with the trading partner programs in the first place.Upforex has been on the market from 2012 and ever since then the company was successfully aiding people in their Forex endeavors. The company delivers the top of the line solutions on the stock exchange market and will deliver the very best options possible within the very least amount of time as well. Furthermore, once you are going to sign up for the service, you are going to automatically acquire the trading welcome bonus, offering you a chance to test your skills and your luck from the get go with little to no investments. The qualified and experienced professionals are going to make sure that you will get the best experience possible and within the very least amount of time possible as well. Upforex will help you make the most from the definitive trade experience and will deliver in many more ways than one. Whenever it comes to trading, these experts are going to provide you with all the ongoing support you will need in order to feel comfortable all the time. Regardless of your experience and your skillset, the given tools will get you a very long way.Unlike many other similar choices, Upforex is offering a number of reliable guarantees that will allow you to rest assured that any of your investments will go where they should and you will therefore be able to really make the most from them.About Upforex:With nearly a decade of experience in Forex trading, the given company is ready to provide you with a number of valuable recommendations and great advice that will aid you on your way to the top. In order to learn more, do feel free to check out the official webpage.Contact:Company: UpforexAddress: Capital Trade LTD Suite 305, Griffith Corporate Centre Kingstown St. Vincent & the GrenadinesEmail: info@ upforex.com Phone: (784) 456-2970Website: https://upforex.comThat total trails the amounts raised so far by two other top candidates who also entered the race after Emanuels surprise announcement in September that he would drop his bid for a third term. Former U.S. Commerce Secretary Bill Daley has raised $2.7 million and 2011 mayoral candidate and City Hall veteran Gery Chico has raised a little more than $1 million. Mendoza, however, has raised more than the $596,000 reported so far by Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, who also entered the Feb. 26 race for mayor after Emanuel dropped out.MTN Nigeria Communications Limited and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday told the Federal High Court in Lagos that they have resolved to opt for an out-of-court settlement of the dispute on the alleged improper repatriation of over $8.1bn profits from Nigeria.

On August 29, the CBN sanctioned four banks with various fines totalling about N5.87bn for allegedly violating sections of the countrys foreign exchange regulations by facilitating the improper repatriation of profits from Nigeria on behalf of MTN Nigeria.

Part of the repatriated funds was, a few years later, brought back into the country by the banks, ostensibly on behalf of some MTN offshore investors in the form of shareholders loans and equipment.

The four banks  Standard Chartered Bank, Stanbic-IBTC, Citibank and Diamond Bank, were accused of flagrant violation of extant laws and regulations of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, including the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1995 and the Foreign Exchange Manual, 2006.

However, MTN was directed by CBN to carry out a reversal of the transaction and return the entire $8.1bn to Nigeria and follow the due process of repatriation of the funds.

But, on August 30, MTN rejected the directive in a statement, insisting it was not guilty of any wrongdoing. On September 10, MTN filed a suit at the Federal High Court, Lagos against the CBN to contest the sanction.

Hearing in the case was adjourned to December 4.

At the resumed sitting on Tuesday, legal counsel to MTN Nigeria, Wole Olanipekun, a senior advocate of Nigeria, who appeared alongside four other senior lawyers, informed the court presided by Justice Saliu Saidu, both parties were engaging each other in out-of-court settlement talks.

Counsel to CBN, Seyi Sowemimo, confirmed the agreement, along with T. D. Agbe, a Senior State Counsel from the Federal Ministry of Justice, who represented the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami.

We have advanced towards out-of-court settlement. What remains is to cross the ts and dot the is. It is just to present a report of settlement, Mr Sowemimo told the court.

Based on the agreement by both parties, Justice Saidu adjourned the case until December 12 for the presentation of a report of settlement.

Hints about a move towards a possible out-of-court settlement first came from the chief executive officer of the MTN Group, Rob Shuter, on November 13 in Cape Town, South Africa.

Mr Shuter told Bloomberg, the telecoms firm was nearing an out-of-court settlement with the Nigerian government over the sanctions imposed on its Nigerian subsidiary.

We are narrowing down what the key issues are in an ongoing discussions with Nigerias central bank and other institutions, Mr Shuter told Bloomberg.

Apart from legal action, the MTN boss said the other part of a two-pronged strategy involved exploring prospects for an amicable resolution of the matter.

MTN Nigeria office

We would like a resolution out-of-court and with normal engagements as that would be faster than a court process, he said.

Also, at the end of the monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja a fortnight ago, CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, gave another hint of a possible out of court settlement in the matter.

We are in the process. We can say the matters will soon be resolved. We are on the verge (it is as good as announcing the resolutions). But, please spare me the stress of not talking about what the agreements are at this time. At the appropriate time, this will be announced, he told PREMIUM TIMES reporter in Abuja.

Justifying the decision to ask MTN to reverse the transaction and return the repatriated funds, Mr Emefiele said the CBN expected MTN and the banks to submit certain documents for review by the auditors, to confirm the transfer of funds followed the legal process. He said the sanctions were imposed when they failed to provide the documents.

He said after meetings with the management of both the banks and MTN Nigeria, those documents were submitted, paving way for a review of the sanctions and possible resolution of the matter.

Similarly, last Monday, a case filed by MTN challenging the legality of alleged $1.3 billion import duties and N242 billion withholding tax liabilities was stalled due to the absence of Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke.

Hearing in the pending application before the Federal High Court in Lagos was consequently adjourned till February 7, 2019.

Wole Olanipekun, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, led MTN Nigerias legal team, while T.A Gazali, a chief state counsel from the Federal Ministry of Justice, represented the AGF.

The AGF had accused MTN Nigeria of owing the federal government the tax revenues between 2007 and 2017, in violation of Section 36 of the Nigerian Constitution.A Federal High Court Lagos, on Tuesday, adjourned until Feb.13, 2019, a 69 million dollars suit filed by the Federal Government (FG) of Nigeria, against Chevron Petroleum Nigeria Ltd, seeking to recover oil revenue.

The FG filed the suit against Chevron Nigeria Ltd, and Chevron Petroleum Nigeria Ltd, as first and second defendants respectively.

The case which was adjourned for a report of proceedings at the Court of Appeal, could not proceed on Tuesday, as the court did not sit.

The judge, Mojisola Olatoregun, was said to be attending a seminar.

The case was, therefore, further adjourned until Feb. 13, 2019, for a report of proceedings at the Appellate Court.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the suit is one among other suits by the FG, seeking to recover almost 12 billion dollars in missing crude oil revenue from some international oil companies.

During a court processing on March 1, Justice Olatoregun dismissed a preliminary objection by the second defendant (Chevron Petroleum Nigeria Ltd), challenging the jurisdiction of the court, on grounds of service of court processes.

The court awarded a cost of N100,000 against the second defendant.

In its objection, the defendant had urged the court to set aside a purported service of an amended writ of summons and amended statement of claim on the second defendant, for being incompetent.

Defence counsel had argued that the second defendant was not served with the amended processes in accordance with the provisions of the law, and had urged the court to so hold.

In its ruling, the court had dismissed the objection and held that service of originating processes was fundamental to the jurisdiction of the court, adding that such service must be personal except where personal service is not possible.

The court had further held that where a party undertakes to accept service, he cannot deny same, adding that from records, it could be recalled that the processes were served.

Consequently, the court had dismissed the objection, and expressed displeasure, that since 2016 when the case was brought to court, there had been so many applications, which had stalled progress in the suit.

Dissatisfied with the ruling of the court, the defendant had filed an appeal before the appellate court, challenging the ruling of the court.

At the last adjourned date, defence counsel had informed the court that the appeal is pending before the appellate court, adding that there was also a motion for stay of proceedings in the suit, pending appeal.

The court had consequently, adjourned the case for a report of proceedings at the court of appeal.

The suit was filed by the Federal Government through its Counsel, Fabian Ajogwu, in 2016, against some International Oil Companies (IOCs) to recover lost revenues arising from undeclared and under-declared crude oil shipments from Nigeria to different parts of the world.

The Federal Government had also sued Total E&P Nig. Plc, alleging that the oil company under-declared the volume of crude oil it shipped out of the country between January 2011 and December 2014.

The case against Total is also adjourned until Feb.13.

The Federal Government accused the oil company of short-changing it to the tune of 245 million dollars, by allegedly shipping several barrels of crude oil out of Nigeria, without making due remittance to the government.

The FG also filed similar suits against Agip Oil Company Ltd, Shell Western Supply & Trading Ltd, Agip, among others. (NAN)The general overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Enoch Adeboye, on Tuesday revealed how he ran away from his native village for 13 years.

Preaching about the power of the light of God over the darkness of evil forces on the first day of the Churchs 2018 Holy Ghost Congress at the Redemption Camp, he disclosed that in the early 1960s, he ran away from Ifewara, then a village in Osun State, where he was born and raised because his fathers enemies threatened to kill him  an only son.

But he said after 13 years in exile, during which he gave his life to Jesus Christ and was filled with the light that overpowers the forces of darkness, he went back to Ifewara, and nothing happened to him.

According to a testimony he had shared before, There was a misunderstanding between my father and other members of the family over the issue of which party to belong to and the people in the family threatened to kill me.

When my father came home to tell us what transpired at the meeting, I ran away from home for 13 years till I met the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank God for Jesus.

In the earlier testimony he had also spoken how he had sought superior charms to counter the forces in his village. He had said, While in exile, it occurred to me that if the village people claimed they had charms to kill me, there could be superior charms elsewhere. Somebody took me to a village, somewhere not too far from Akure, Ondo State. They took me to the head herbalist there and I told him I wanted to be fortified so that nobody would be able to harm me.

No problem, I will fortify you! he said.

He listed the requirements and told me the total cost. That was not a problem because I had the money to pay. He performed all kinds of rituals and kept on insisting I come back and get more. Then one day, the juju man looked at me and asked, What is the name of that your town where they say you shouldnt go back to?

I told him.

Ah! he shouted. You are from that place?

I said, Yes sir.

He said, If they ask you not to come, dont go.

What are you talking about? I asked.

Let me tell you the truth. My father was the chief herbalist in this village, his grandfather was the chief herbalist before him and he inherited everything from them.

When my father was taught everything he knew, he sent me to your village to get more powers.

Whenever I was visiting your village, before I got to the outskirts, I would go into the bush to bury everything and then when I am going back, I would go back into the bush to pick it up. Any power you take into that village will turn to water as soon as you enter.

I was surprised to hear all that because I thought I had been fortified. If you put your trust in the devil, not only will you die but you will die miserably.

For a long time, I kept running from home until I met Jesus. When I did, my flight from home stopped. Praise God that the forces of darkness that hitherto put me to flight now take to their heels when they see me because I now carry the Lord inside of me.

A new name

Yesterday, in a sermon titled: A new name, Mr Adeboye said when a person gives his or her life to God and gets a new name, he or she becomes the light of the world and the salt of the nation.

He dismissed the saying that there is nothing in a name, saying emphatically that a name can affect a persons destiny or legacy.

He cited the examples of Moses, whose name means drawn out of water, and whose legacies are associated with water. He also died without seeing the promised land over the issue of water.

Explaining how a name affects legacy, he used the examples of Judas Iscariot and Methuselah, names people dont adopt for their children. Even though Methuselah lived for over 969 years, there are no records of his achievements.

He advised that whenever a person notices that their name is hindering their destiny and they call on God, He can intervene as He did in the case of Abraham by changing his name from Abram to Abraham. Pastor Adeboye said the implications of having a new name include joining a new family and having a new accommodation in the Kingdom of God, as well as putting up new behaviour and new responsibilities.

The general overseer said being a Christian with a new name makes one the light of world; the salt of the earth; a shining beauty of Gods Glory, the door nobody can shut, and the hope of glory

This years Holy Ghost Congress is the 21st of its kind by the church, which was established in 1952.

It was attended by the who-is-who in RCCG, as well as foreign dignitaries, including the Chief Justice of South Africa, Mogoeng Thomas Reetsang Mogoeng and his wife, 24 General Overseers from Cote de Ivoire, and delegates from the US and Malaysia.

The service ended with congregational prayers, after which the General Overseer blessed participants.U.S. Special Counsel Robert Muellers office will make a sentencing recommendation for former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn on Tuesday.

The recommendation will be made in a court filing that is expected to shed light on the extent of Flynns cooperation in the Russia probe.

Flynn, who held the White House job for only 24 days, pleaded guilty in December 2017 to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia.

He will be sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on December 18.

He is so far the only member of President Donald Trumps administration to plead guilty to a crime uncovered during Muellers wide-ranging investigation.

The investigation is probing Russian attempts to influence the 2016 U.S. election and potential collusion by Trump aides.

Others who have also since been charged by Mueller include Trumps former campaign manager Paul Manafort and campaign deputy Rick Gates, as well as Trumps former personal lawyer Michael Cohen.

Cohen last week pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about a proposed Trump Organisation skyscraper in Moscow.

Trump has called Muellers probe a witch-hunt and has denied colluding with Russia. Moscow denies trying to interfere in the elections.

Flynns crime of lying to the FBI carries a statutory maximum sentence of five years in prison. However, his plea agreement states he is eligible for a sentence of zero to six months and can ask the court not to impose a fine.

Flynn, a retired army general, was forced to resign after he was found to have misled Vice President Mike Pence about discussions he had with Russias then-ambassador Sergei Kislyak.

Under a plea bargain deal, Flynn admitted in a Washington court that he lied when asked by FBI investigators about conversations with Kislyak just weeks before Trump took office.

Prosecutors said the two men discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia and that Flynn also asked Kislyak to help delay a U.N. vote seen as damaging to Israel.

Muellers office has had varied degrees of success with the level of cooperation it has received.

Recently, prosecutors asked for another delay in sentencing Gates, citing his ongoing cooperation in multiple probes.

But Manafort could be facing a tough sentence after prosecutors last month alleged he had breached his plea deal by lying repeatedly to the FBI.

They are due to file court papers on Friday laying out their case for why Manafort should lose any credit when he is sentenced for his alleged failure to accept responsibility for his crimes. (Reuters/NAN)Following an industrial strike embarked upon by the Association of Resident Doctors in Enugu State University Teaching Hospital (ESUTH), patients who were admitted in various wards have left for other hospitals.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent, who visited the hospital on Tuesday in Enugu, observed that patients had deserted the wards.

A senior nurse who spoke under condition of anonymity said that patients were asked to vacate the wards as the few consultants available could not attend to all the patients.

She added that those with critical and emergency cases were asked to remain in the wards for treatment.

At the childrens ward, only two children were left due to the severity of their health challenges as they had oxygen max on.

However, in the orthopaedic and postnatal wards, a few patients were seen due to their critical conditions, while others had severe cases due to childbirth.

Ike Okwesili, the chairman, Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Enugu State chapter, noted that the impact of the strike was compounding hardships of patients, especially in terms of logistics.

He added that NMA had met with stakeholders with a view to preventing the strike but to no avail as the state government was yet to resolve the issue.

Mr Okwesili explained that there had been a disparity in the case of Enugu State as the allowances which ESUTH doctors were asking for were paid to doctors in the Ministry of Health, leaving those of ESUTH resident doctors.

NAN reports that the doctors, who commenced strike on November 28, are protesting the disparity in payment of salaries of doctors in the state health ministry and those of ESUTH by the state government. (NAN)The ministry of foreign affairs says Nigeria and the Federation of Russia have signed a treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters.

The ministrys spokesperson, George Edokpa, said this in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja, on Monday.

The ministry explained that the Treaty was negotiated in 2009 to enhance collaboration and cooperation between the two countries in the administration of criminal justice and signed in Moscow, Russia on November 27, 2018.

The Treaty was signed on behalf of Nigeria by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, while Russian Acting Minister of Justice, Mr Oleg Plokhoy, signed on behalf of his country.

The Treaty on Legal Assistance in Criminal Matter is aimed at providing the necessary mechanism for cooperation in the fight against crime and criminal related matters.

These include terrorism, as well as to counter every form of support to terrorism, it stated.

The ministry explained that the agreement would assist in the fight against corruption as it makes provision for the tracing, recovery, forfeiture or confiscation of stolen assets, as well as the proceeds and instruments of crime.

The signing of the treaty, it stated, was a major breakthrough in the bilateral relations between Nigeria and Russia and the beginning of greater cooperation and partnership in other sectors.

It quoted Mr Malami as saying that Nigeria will benefit immensely from this agreement.

It will afford Nigeria the opportunity to request for the arrest, surrender, investigation and prosecution of all persons who may have committed crimes and escaped to Russia.

It will also secure the assurance of the Russian cooperation in the tracing, recovery and repatriation of the stolen assets.

(NAN)Two female students of Akanu Ibiam Federal Polytechnic, Unwanna, Afikpo in Ebonyi State, have cried out for help over alleged sexual harassment and intimidation against them by one of their lecturers.

This is coming barely two weeks after the dismissed Professor of Management and Accounting at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Richard Akindele, was arraigned and remanded in prison following sexual harassment of one of his students, Monica Osagie.

The two Higher National Diploma (HND II) students of the Ebonyi polytechnic, Oko Osinachi and Egwu Gladys, said the institutions Head of Department of Marketing (HOD), School of Business Studies, Ezumah Obi, had invited them to hotels at different times, with the intent to sleep with them before he would pass them in his courses and their final year projects, which he was the supervisor.

But, the lecturer has denied the allegation, saying the students chose to meet him at the hotels and that nothing close to their allegations ever happened.

This was as the Rector of the polytechnic, Ibe-Enwo Ogbonnia, confirmed the accusation, but claimed he was yet to receive formal complaints from the students.

Ordeal

Narrating her ordeal, 22-year-old Janet explained that her trouble started when she secured admission into the HND programme in the polytechnic in 2017 through Direct Entry, and she needed to register at the department.

She said: I had my ND at the Federal College of Agriculture, Ishiagu in Abakalaiki. When I resumed at the Unwana Polytechnic and I went to the department for registration, I was directed to see the HOD in the office, and after necessary courtesies, he asked for my number which I gave.

Ever since then, he kept calling me but I was always avoiding him. I was shocked when I checked my result in the course he took us in Second Semester in HND I, which was Distribution and Management Logistics, and I failed the course. But, I didnt go to him to complain, so I repeated the course this year.

When it was time for Project Writing Course in First Semester of HND II, Janet said the HOD grouped her among those he would supervise, apparently to make room for close contact again.

Like my other colleagues, I suggested my project topic, but the HOD cancelled it. I went with another one the second time, he still cancelled it. He then advised me to write on my file that I was requesting him to help me with a project topic. And, I did just that. When I took my file with the request to him, the HOD then told me that he would speak with me on phone. So, later that evening, on March 21, 2018, he called me on phone and said I should see him at P-Noble Hotel in Afikpo, some kilometres away from Unwana. Even though I was shocked, I summoned courage and went.

When I got there, he asked me where I was coming from. I lied to him that I was coming from home and that I live with my parents. I said I was cooking for my mother that day. I lied so that he would know that my mother would be waiting for me to finish the cooking. Then, while still there he sent the topic to me on my phone, which is; Impact and Challenges of Self-Promotional-Based Strategies on Brands and Stores Patronages in Urban Areas.

He then told me that I failed his course in First Semester and I said yes. He said I caused it and that if I had complied I would not have failed. I said I was sorry. He said as the HOD he has the power to make the decision either to let me graduate or not. He said he was giving me the last chance and that if I failed to give him chance this time, he would treat me like a stubborn fly.

That was the exact statement he made. I said okay sir. Then he told me that there was a burial ceremony he wanted me to accompany him to at Ohofia in Abia State the following day. I told him it would be difficult because I didnt know what my mother would say. Then I lied to him that my mother was calling me and so I had to go. The following day, I sent him a message that I could not make it because my mother did not agree that I should go. He did not reply the message.

According to Janet, on another day, the lecturer called her around 10 a.m to see him at another place called Maria Island Resort, which is said to belong to popular American returnee in the community, Maria Nwachi nee Egwu, who is also known as Afikpo Chic.

On getting to the resort, she said she was directed upstairs to the compound and that as soon as she entered the room, she saw the HOD sitting on a chair.

She added: Before setting out to meet him, I told my elder sister who kept monitoring me. She initially said I should not go because we already got to know that the HOD was living at the resort. At that stage I didnt want to involve my parents because I thought it was something I could handle by playing him and that he would forget it. So, he asked me to sit and I sat on the bed but near the door.

Oko Janet

He started to discuss with me, lit his cigarette and started smoking. On my failure to attend the burial ceremony with him, he said I was a bush girl and that why should I have told my mother that I would be accompanying a male lecturer to a party? He said why didnt I lie to my parents. And, at point I replied I didnt remember to lie. He said even if he was my mother would he have allowed me?

Thereafter, he demanded for what I had written and I gave the file to him. He looked through and dropped on the bed. Then, he stood up and was moving close to me, so I stood up and started begging him to forgive him. Then he requested for my phone and that he wanted to delete his number from my phone. I think he thought I was recording him but when I gave him the phone he did not see anything recorded and dropped my phone on the bed.

He held my hand and I began to cry and knelt down. He asked me to stand and started telling me how much he loved me and how he would make sure I become the envy of everyone in the school. I then told him I was engaged to my fiance and told him his name  Ekenna Okeke, a non-academic staffer, who works in Administrative Section.

He was angry and said the guy is a boy to him and that how could I ever thought of ending up with such a man that has nothing to offer me. I told him the guy had been trying for me since and that I dont want to disappoint him. He then said even if anything should happen, the guy would not know anything. I said no, and that I could not lie to the guy.

Then because I told my elder sister before coming, she started calling me and I said my mother was calling me. He then said I should touch him and I said no. Then he held me very tight and said I should not open my mouth. As soon as I wanted to cry out, he said everything was over and deleted his contact on my phone. He said I should never disturb him again and that henceforth, he would start treating me like an enemy.

Janet said since, Mr Obi had refused to review her project and that whenever she goes to him for correction he would shout on her and chase her out of his office. However, through the help of other lecturers, she was able to complete the work without the approval of the supervisor.

Meanwhile, on November 6 and 7 when the external supervisors visited the department to assess the graduating students projects, Mr Obi refused to present Janet for the exercise.

Gladys Account

Earlier, Gladys, who had noticed that Janet was also not making any meaningful progress in her project work, approached her to find out why.

But, while sharing their experiences, they duo discovered that they had similar problem  allegedly suffering the consequences of rejecting Mr Obi s advances.

According to Gladys, her own trouble had started during her National Diploma days in 2013, when the lecturer approached her to date him.

Egwu Gladys

He collected my GSM number and was always calling on phone. One weekend he called me and said I should come and spend the weekend with him. He said did I know who was speaking and he introduced himself, and said I should be prepared to come to wherever he was to spend the weekend with him but I refused. So, since then he didnt disturb me again.

She said they never had anything together until she returned for her HND programme in 2017.

She explained: When I returned for my HND and he was already the HOD, he told me if I remembered that we had an unfinished business and that he believes that I am already mature enough now. Then he collected my number and each time he called he would ask me to meet him in his apartment and I would say okay, but I would not go.

So, when we were grouped for project supervision, I found myself in his group and then came another round of troubles. While attending to others he would always chase me out of his office.

When I discussed with one of my lecturers, I was advised to honour his invitation so that we could even know what he wanted. So, sometimes in September this year, I went to him at the Maria Island Resort. As soon as I sat down, he wanted to grab me, I stood up and said I was not well.

Meanwhile, when the HOD refused to present the duo for project defence between November 6 and 7, they came together and began to cry profusely. Some of the lecturers then advised them to take the matter up.

Janet recalled: Those lecturers, who I wouldnt want to mention their names, advised me that if I have anybody to run to I should do so on time, and that without that, the man would deal with me as he had vowed. So, I had to call my elder sister, Mrs Ada Chioma, a business woman, who graduated from the school. She came around and in the process, the Deputy Rector (Academics), Elder Ibiam, got to know and told me to make it official. I even sent a text message to the Rector immediately but he is yet to reply.

Gladys also explained that her elder brother, Ogbonna Egwu soon learnt of the development and called Mr Obi. She said the lecturer became incoherent on phone.

He told my brother that I paid my school fees late and that was why he didnt allow me to defend my project. But my brother said I was one of the first to pay fees because he was the one that paid for me, 26-year-old Gladys said.

A yet-to-be-identified caller had also taken the matter up during a phone-in programme on an Enugu-based Dream FM Radio Station, and the development compelled the institutions management to commission three lecturers to quickly assess the two students projects and graded them without the external supervisors.

Following the deputy rectors advice, both Janet and Gladys also submitted written petitions dated November 7, to the management of the institution through the Offices of the Dean, School of Business Studies and the Dean of the Students Affairs.

I Am Innocent- Lecturer

Meanwhile, when this reporter phoned Mr Obi for comments on Friday evening, November 30, he said he was not comfortable discussing the matter at the time because he was at a conference. He denied the allegation.

He said: My reaction is that I dont think they are correct. They said they didnt defend their project or what? Well, like I said before, I dont think such thing was the problem. Such thing never happened.

Did I invite her to a hotel or she sought to see me on her own? I think I am not really comfortable to discuss that right now because I am at a conference. I said I am not comfortable to talk now, I am at a conference. So you can call me on Tuesday.

He did not reply further enquiries on the matter.

Management Evasive

Meanwhile, more than three weeks after the petition was submitted by the students, the rector on December 1 told New Telegraph he was yet to receive any complaint on the matter, saying people only called him on phone to draw his attention to the issue and that he could not just react on mere rumour.

The rector said: About three weeks ago, and precisely on November 9 when I was leaving Afikpo to lead the Polytechnic Bursar to World Accountants Conference in Sydney, Australia, I received a call that something like that was happening and I said I would be coming back the next day and that when I come back I would know what to do.

But, as I was coming back and I was at Owerri, heading back to Afikpo, I received another call that there was a radio programme discussing the same matter. However, I must say that we have laid down procedures in the polytechnic.

If a female student claims she has been sexually harassed or otherwise, she should first of all complain to the HOD, but if the HOD is involved, she should complain to the Dean of School, and Director of Academics and then the Deputy Rector (Academics). If there is a formal complaint, it would form the basis for us to take action.

If she doesnt want that channel, she can go to the Dean of Students Affairs and put her petition down in writing and from that channel it would get to me for further necessary action. As we speak, it is over three weeks now and I have not got any formal complaints about it.

I could not have just reacted to what is on social media and begin to investigate. So, I wont say I have not heard about it, but not formally. I did not listen to the phone-in programme on the radio but people who listened to it told me.

Meanwhile, when confronted with the fact that Janet had on the same day sent a text message to the rector to complain and followed it up with an official petition, he was silent.

He promised to attend to the issue as soon as he receives a copy of the petition.

Thus the reporter was propelled to forward a copy of the three-page petition to the Rector via his WhatsApp platform, which he had already confirmed receipt.

He has, however, not given the reporter any feedback.

There are allegations the rector has refused to act because Mr Obi is related to his wife. This reporter has not been able to independently verify this.

Some of the lecturers, who asked not to be named, also confirmed the promiscuity of Mr Obi.

His family members are settled abroad and he lives very recklessly here in Nigeria. Many students have suffered in silence under him, and he has given bad name to polytechnic. But, who dares talk? He is untouchable, one of the lecturers said.A violence that broke out in four communities in Biase Local Government Area of Cross River State has left dozens killed and many more injured, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt.

Hundreds of women and children have also been displaced by the violence which broke out on Monday in Urugbam, Egbor, Ipene, and Abanwan, four of the 10 communities that make up Erei clan, which predominantly occupies the southwestern tip of Cross River near the border with Abia State.

An indigene traced the violence to the sale of a parcel of land, used to cultivate palm fruits since 1973. The land reportedly belonged to Urugbam and Egbor communities, but was leased out by the Egbor community to African Stone Works Ltd., allegedly without the consent of the Urugbam and other communities that have been a part of the cultivation for over 45 years.

Pictures of severed bodies said to be from the violence were sent to PREMIUM TIMES by persons associated with the communities on Tuesday morning. They accused security agencies of not immediately responding to the violence, which they said was still ongoing as of 9:00 a.m. Tuesday.

The 14 Brigade Nigerian Army is located a few minutes away across the Abia State border in Ohafia, and residents said soldiers there must have heard as heavy gunshots were ringing out amongst Erei people.

The Cross River police commissioner, Hafiz Inuwa, told PREMIUM TIMES a deadly clash broke out in the communities, but said officers have been deployed to quell it.

We have sent our men from divisions and area commands to the communities, Mr Inuwa said by telephone Tuesday morning.

The police chief said he was yet to have a full report on casualty figures because he had been in Calabar, the state capital, but insisted that the crisis has been contained and no report of escalation from his officers on ground.

Chima Ezeamama, the manager of African Stone Works Ltd., told PREMIUM TIMES his company concluded purchase of the palm plantation a few months ago, and some elements in the communities have been fomenting trouble ever since.

The problems are being caused by one or two criminally-minded individuals, Mr Ezeamama said, declining to name the individuals.

He said the plantation was bought legally and with due process followed. Mr Ezeamama said after violence began brewing shortly after the purchase was concluded, his company drew the attention of state authorities to it.

The state government set up a judicial panel of enquiry chaired by Justice Eyo Ita and he delivered his report last week Thursday, Mr Ezeamama said.

Sunday Ugbuoji, an All Progressives Congress senator from Ebonyi State, was identified as a major investor in African Stone Works Ltd., and is said to have a prolonged interest in the disputed plantation.

The senator abruptly disconnected a telephone call from PREMIUM TIMES after learning that it was about the deadly clashes over the palm plantation. He did not reply separate messages seeking comments.Another meeting between the federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) ended on Tuesday night without resolving the lecturers dispute.

The meeting which held at the Federal Ministry of Education was to find a lasting solution to the ongoing strike by the university lecturers.

At least two other meetings have been held between both parties before that of Tuesday since the strike began.

The union embarked on the strike on November 4 over the poor funding of Nigerian universities and non-implementation of previous agreements by the government.

Speaking with journalists after Tuesdays meeting, the National President of ASUU, Biodun Ogunyemi, said both parties are yet to reach a concrete decision.

For now, we have started to discuss, we are yet to reach any concrete decision. Once we have more information, we will make ourselves available to the press, he said.

According to him, the meeting will reconvene very soon to continue negotiations.

The governments representative at the meeting included the education minister, Adamu Adamu; the permanent secretary of the education ministry, Sunny Echono; a representative of National Universities Commission and a representative from the National Income, Wages and Salaries Commission.

Meanwhile, the president of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Danielson Akpan, urged both parties to have a common ground so that Nigerian students can resume.

The two parties should think of the interest of this country and the Nigerian students, he said.The United Nations General Assembly on Monday adopted, by consensus, Nigerias resolution to proclaim January 24 every year as the International Day of Education.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that all the 193-Member States of the UN General Assembly supported the Nigerian resolution, hence, there was no dissenting voice or abstention.

With its historic adoption on Monday, therefore, every January 24 will be celebrated all over the world as the International Day of Education, with the first being on January 24, 2019.

NAN also reports that the resolution, the first-ever on International Day of Education, was co-sponsored by Ireland, Singapore and Qatar, in partnership with the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UN Childrens Fund, UN Women and Collegiate Congress and additional co-sponsors.

The resolution acknowledges the importance of education for achieving sustainable development, including in the context of the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals, Agenda 21, the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg Plan of Implementation).

Others are the Education for All goals, the Global Action Programme on Education for Sustainable Development and the Incheon Declaration and Framework for Action for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 4.

The Sustainable Development Goal 4 aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

The resolution recognised that education plays a key role in building sustainable and resilient societies and contributes to the achievement of all of the other Sustainable Development Goals.

The resolution also recognises that education increases the productivity of individuals and strengthens the potential for economic growth, develops the skills needed for decent work, develops the professional skills needed for sustainable development, including in the fields of water and sanitation, green energy and the conservation of natural resources.

Education also helps eradicate poverty and hunger, contributes to improved health, promotes gender equality and can reduce inequality, and promotes peace, the rule of law and respect for human rights.

It acknowledged the importance of working to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education at all levels  early childhood, primary, secondary, tertiary and distance education, including technical and vocational training  so that all people may have access to lifelong learning opportunities that help them to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to access opportunities to participate fully in society and contribute to sustainable development.

The resolution invites all Member States, organisations of the United Nations system, other international and regional organisations and civil society organisations, non-governmental organisations, faith-based organisations, academic institutions, the private sector, individuals and other relevant stakeholders to observe the International Day of Education in an appropriate manner and to continue to give consideration to enhancing international cooperation in support of the efforts of all Member States towards the realisation of Sustainable Development Goal 4.

It also invites the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, as the specialised United Nations agency for education, to facilitate the observance of 24 January of every year as the International Day of Education, mindful of the provisions contained in the annex to Economic and Social Council resolution 1980/67.

The Nigerian resolution further stresses that the cost of all activities that may arise from the implementation of the present resolution should be met from voluntary contributions.

It, therefore, requests the Secretary-General to bring the present resolution to the attention of all Member States, the organisations of the United Nations system and civil society organisations for appropriate observance.

Nigerias Ambassador/Permanent Representative to the UN, Tijani Bande, had expressed confidence that the resolution would be overwhelmingly supported by the UN Member States, saying many countries have publicly declared their support for Nigeria.

Mr Bande said: We would certainly have an overwhelming support; there is hardly any delegation that has opposed it.

After three days of the silent procedure, not a single delegation has a dissenting voice because we negotiated, everybody has been on board.

Mr Bande called on all stakeholders to facilitate, the best way they could, the guaranteeing of education to all citizens all over the world wherever located, saying everybody agrees that education is deserving of a day to ponder over.

Education, in terms of its liberation elements, the skills it provides, the sense of community, it should help us relate and have tolerance in the world; these elements, all agreed to.

Clearly, there is a connection between educational attainments of countries and their development, including their peace, he said.

Mr Bande pointed out that none of the SDGs targets would be met without education adding, the relevance of education and its centrality to life itself is well understood.

This day of reflection, which has brought all of us here, if it should have meaning, should galvanise us to support action to ensure that every human being has a right and that right is guaranteed and actualised for the education to the extent he or she is capable.

And constraints, be they of class, of religion, of language, of location, should be of no consequence in giving support to all human beings to have education

NAN recalls that a side event organised by Nigeria on Friday to promote the resolution was greeted with overwhelming support from all stakeholders, including the United States, UN agencies, Ivy League institutions, and civil society organisations.

The stakeholders, who converged on the UN headquarters in New York, praised Nigeria for its initiative to sponsor the resolution.

(NAN)President Muhammadu Buhari has pledged that his government will not rest until the remaining Chibok girls kidnapped by Boko Haram terrorists in April 2014 are safely released.

Mr Buhari renewed his commitment Monday in Katowice, Poland, at a bilateral meeting with Swiss President, Alain Berset, on the margins of the UN Climate Change Conference, COP24.

The president, according to a press statement signed by Garba Shehu, senior special assistant to the president, (media and publicity), had spent the whole day at the International Conference Centre, Katowice, where he delivered his national address at the opening of the 12-day meeting of COP24, met with several world leaders and visited the impressive Nigerian pavilion at the climate summit.

During his meeting with the Swiss President, the Nigerian leader thanked the Swiss Confederation for its efforts and important role as intermediaries to secure the release of some Chibok girls and assured him that the issue of the remaining kidnapped girls and other abducted persons will remain a key priority for the Nigerian government.

Mr Buhari and his Swiss counterpart discussed joint strategies to ensure the safe return of the girls, building on the past successes of securing the release of some of the Chibok girls and other abducted persons in the North Eastern part of Nigeria.

The president also welcomed the Swiss presidents commitment to continue providing humanitarian assistance to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Nigeria and to ensure the safe release of the abducted school girls.

We will continue to make the safe release of the remaining Chibok girls a priority and will welcome any kind of support from any quarters to make this happen,  the president said.

In separate bilateral meetings with the president of Poland, Andrzej Duda and the prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, President Buhari commended the country for a successful outing at the opening of the COP24 meeting in Katowice.

The president told his Polish counterpart that Nigeria was facing serious climate change challenges, particularly the receding Lake Chad, which is a source of livelihood to some 40 million people living in the region.

Nigeria is totally committed to global efforts to mitigate and adapt to effects of climate change, Mr Buhari told the Polish leader, whose country is the president of COP24.

In his meeting with Pri Morawiecki, the president lauded the plan by the Polish Government to open a Trade Office in Lagos soon, promising that investors who look to Nigeria can be guaranteed of safe returns on their investments.

We have a vibrant and active young population and our government is doing so much on the Nigerian economy, including diversifying to non-oil sectors.

We welcome increased cooperation with Poland and will encourage investments in other sectors of the economy like solid minerals and information technology,  Mr Buhari said.

Mr Morawiecki told President Buhari that traditionally 96 per cent of oil imports to Poland come from Saudi Arabia and Russia, adding but now we are looking at importing oil from Nigeria.

The prime minister noted as the fastest growing economy in the European Union, Poland has identified Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa, as three top investment destinations in Africa.

We want the hub of our investment destination to be in Nigeria, the Polish Prime Minister told President Buhari, welcoming the pledge by the Nigerian leader to immediately put in place a framework to encourage more Polish investments in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the presidents bilateral meeting with his Austrian counterpart, Alexander Van der Bellen, focused on the challenges of Lake Chad and what was required to recharge it.

Noting that the Lake faced the two challenges of technology and financing, President Buhari told the Austrian leader that enormous financial resources and technology were required to transfer water to Lake Chad from the Congo Basin.

Mr Van der Bellen, who indicated his countrys interest to cooperate with Nigeria on recharging the Lake Chad, talked about climate change challenges in Austria including drought, glaciers melting, among others.

President Buhari also met with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and both leaders followed up on their past discussions, during their last meeting in The Hague, Netherlands, in July, which centred on trade, investments and partnerships in agriculture.

The president welcomed the proposal by the Dutch Prime Minister to visit Abuja soon and promised that the Nigerian government will continue to provide a conducive business environment for existing and prospective Dutch investors.

On the side-lines of COP24, Mr Buhari also met with the Prime Minister of Estonia, Juri Ratas.

The prime minister of the Northern European country sought Nigerias support on its bid for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council for 2020-2021.

The two leaders also discussed bilateral cooperation and climate change mitigation.Ahead of the upcoming 2019 general elections, some support groups of the president, Muhammadu Buhari, have declared support for candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar.

At an elaborate event at Ajuji hotel, Gudu district of Abuja on Monday evening, the groups said their decision to dump Mr Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) was due to marginalization and deliberate impoverishment.

The press conference was addressed on behalf of the groups by Yusuf Ardo, the national coordinator of the Grassroots Mobilisers for Buhari (GMB).

Mr Ardo said the Grassroots Mobilisers for Buhari is a political pressure group that was registered in 2015 with the relevant government agency, with national, zonal, states, local government areas, wards and polling units leadership.

He claimed his group has over 5 million registered members across Nigeria that mobilised Nigerians from all works of life through organisation of Town Hall meetings, community by community to sensitise people at the grassroots for the actualisation of Mr Buharis presidential aspiration in 2015.

We toured the country and campaigned for the emergence of the current APC led federal government.

This forum coordinated all support groups for APC and championed Grassroots Mobilizations of Nigerians.

He attributed their decision to support Mr Abubakar to the failure of Mr Buhari.

Sequel to the foregoing, we are sad, that the government we put in place has failed and continues to fail our people; we cannot continue to reinforce failures.

Mr Ardo criticized the president for not having youth in his cabinet.

How can we have a federal cabinet without a single youth? he asked.

A government that does not take the youths into account is a dying government; the future belongs to us, the young people.

Today, our country is faced with legions of challenges, our economy that was the fastest-growing in Africa has gone comatose under the present government that has shown unprepared and completely clueless.

Unemployment has risen to an alarming level, instead of creating three million jobs per year as promised during 2015 campaigns; millions of jobs are being lost quarterly, with many companies folding up, he said.

He said he believed Nigerias economy under Mr Abubakar will be revived and returned to the path of progress that it was before the misfortune of President Buhari.

We strongly believe that Atiku will ensure diversification of the economy through Agriculture, adequate supply of power, massive industrialization, thereby creating employment for our teaming youths.

Our predicament and future of the youth in Nigeria is highly threatened, that is why we have resolved one hundred percent (100%) to support His Excellency, Atiku Abubakar, GCON, come 2019 for our large interest in this country.

We need Atikus helping hands to liberate our people from the present situation we have sadly found ourselves.

Reacting to the development, Festus Keyamo, campaign spokesperson of the Buhari Campaign Organization said people were free to make their choices, adding that they also receive hundreds of decampees, daily.

Every day we receive hundreds of people who dump the PDP and are willing to work for us.

He however said he doubted if the groups are genuine supporters of President Buhari.

I doubt if they are genuine Buhari supporters because the name does not ring a bell.

He said many mercenaries were looking for their daily bread so he would not be surprised to see such development.The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has urged the national leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to withdraw the ticket of any party leader backing candidates in other political parties for the 2019 election.

The BMO said this in a statement signed by its chairman, Niyi Akinsiju, and secretary, Cassidy Madueke, on Tuesday.

The group, a civic organsiation dedidcated to President Buharis re-election, said such action amounts to anti-party activities which should not be encouraged.

This statement is coming after the Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, and his Imo State counterpart, Rochas Okorocha, said they would back their supporters running on other parties tickets after being denied nomination by the APC.

The governors position was in spite of both of them running for Senate on APC tickets.

However, BMO said such act should attract sanction from the party.

We at BMO, therefore, call on APC leadership to sanction these leaders by withdrawing their party tickets and give them to more loyal members.

We are disappointed that some ranking APC members who are actually founding members of the ruling party have encouraged some of their associates who lost out in the recent party primaries to seek elective offices on the platforms of other parties.

No manner how big these politicians are, they have to be subjected to the same rules guiding all party members and not be allowed to get away with acts of disloyalty.

The group said it is wrong for these party chieftains to publicly exhibit acts of disloyalty and still expect to be accorded respect and reward by the ruling party.

It said if they feel their associates are good enough to contest on other platforms, they should also go and pick the tickets of those parties.

The group said APC supporters should be sensitised on the need to vote for all APC candidates next year to show that the party has a united force going into the election.

It may be counterproductive to expect party supporters to vote for APC in the presidential election and thumbprint the ballot for some other parties in other elections.

This could lead to confusion and render some of the votes meant for the party candidates invalid, it said.The Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP) on Tuesday reeled out their security plans to Nigerians ahead of the 2019 elections.

The parties disclosed the plans at the Nigerian Political Parties Discussions Series organised by the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) supported by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) in Abuja.

Osita Chidoka, one of the spokespersons of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, said that the biggest security threat facing Nigeria today was lack of identity.

According to Mr Chidoka, the biggest security threat facing Nigeria is lack of identity. He explained that there is no record available on criminal activities of mischievous people.

The PDP will change the security sector first by moving from a state centric security architecture to people centric architecture; our focus is to move away from guns to public safety.

We must begin to measure our output in security in terms of how secure Nigerians are by delivering public safety across all parameters.

That is why the PDPs plan is focused on reducing the over centralisation of the Nigerian security force.

PDPs second plan is to widen the concept of policing starting from the intelligence arm which is from the DSS arm to the enforcement arm it the Police, Civil Defence, Road Safety, NAFDAC to the courts who adjudicate on matters of criminality then to the corrective side which is the prisons.

Mr Chidoka said that there would be no bottlenecks in delivering security because if the outcome on the enforcement side was improved, it would impact on the adjudication side which would in turn impact on the correction side.

He said that PDPs security plan was a holistic one with the goal to make sure that all the bottlenecks which posed problems would be removed.

Lanre Isah-Oniru, National Publicity Secretary, APC, said that the party had three plans to revamp the security sector in the next phase of its leadership, one by increasing the number of the policemen.

Mr Isah-Oniru said that this was because the number of Nigerian policemen had always been inadequate.

He also said that the APC would train security agents on all the details of policing and intelligence gathering.

He added that the welfare of security personnel would be looked into to ensure good salaries and other welfare packages.

This government is focused on addressing those three issues, it is not a promise but it is what is already going on because the salaries of the police had just been increased, he said

Mr Isah-Oniru said that APC would mop up all revenue for the benefit of all citizens.

He said that Nigeria in the next few years under the APC would be secured with a conducive environment for business and stability.

Tope Fasua, presidential candidate of ANRP said a lot of security problems arose from poverty and hunger in the society.

He said his party would tackle insecurity through economic stability.

Mr Fasua said that to achieve this, the party would work hard to double Nigerias national budget and grow her economy targeting a budget of N15 trillion in order to take people out of poverty.

A hungry man is an angry man, so, if you put money in peoples hands and put food on their tables they will be less likely to cause security issues.

So, our plan is a sound and equal economic sector free of corruption for the benefit of all.

Armsfree Ajanaku, senior communications officer, CDD said that the event was organised to enable people to interface with political parties.

Mr Ajanaku said the topic of the debate which was security, brought out other critical issues concerning the parties.

He said the discussions would afford citizens the opportunity to make up their minds on who to vote for in 2019. (NAN)The Wuse Zone 2 Chief Magistrates Court in Abuja on Tuesday remanded Deji Adeyanju in prison, moments after the political activist was arraigned on a petition filed by Chief of Army Staff Tukur Buratai.

Magistrate Idayat Akanni said Mr Adeyanju should be returned to Keffi Prison, about 40 minutes drive from Abuja, until November 6 when his application for bail would be heard.

The police arraigned Mr Adeyanju on Mr Buratais grievances, which included cyberstalking, defamation and incitement. Details of how the top military chief was affected by the allegations were not immediately learnt when the matter was first heard at about 4:38 p.m. on Tuesday.

Nigerian law enforcement authorities have regularly deployed cyberstalking, drawn from Section 24 of the Cybercrime Act (2015), against social commentators and journalists, with civil liberties advocates fearing it had morphed into a repressive tool against dissent.

First arrested on November 28 for leading a protest against partisan conduct of security chiefs, Mr Adeyanju will be spending his seventh night in custody after being whisked away to the federal prisons in Keffi on Ms Akannis order late Tuesday afternoon.

The police urgently arraigned Mr Adeyanju after arresting him on November 8 on allegations raging from public disturbance to criminal defamation. Police spokesperson Jimoh Moshood said Mr Adeyanjus activities on social media, which portrayed the institution and its leaders in bad light, have been documented and would be used as exhibit in his trial.

Mr Adeyanju was granted bail after the arraignment last Wednesday, but he was unable to meet the conditions until December 3.

After being freed from Keffi Prison upon posting his bail against the police charges on Monday night, the political activist was immediately rearrested on the spot by a separate police team which his associates said had laid siege to the prison in anticipation of his release.

Mr Adeyanju, a former political operative of the Peoples Democratic Party, had led several protests against public institutions and persons since resigning as social media director of the opposition party in early 2017.

He participated in the protests to demand justice for the victims of Nigerian Army massacre of Shiites in Zaria in 2015, and subsequent killing of members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria by security agencies. He has equally led campaigns for an improved welfare for Nigerian security forces, and called on the Nigerian government to reduce corruption in security earmarks.

He has been repeatedly detained, but the duration was usually brief, aided largely by the public support he enjoys on social media where public backlash was usually too much for the police to bear.

Although he was not so lucky with his latest arrest, Mr Adeyanjus associates said he would not be deterred by his ongoing tribulations.

Deji Adeyanju understands that resolute minds who believe that Nigeria must be a free nation are with him,Ariyo-Dare Atoye, a close associate of the political activist, said.

Mr Atoye, who was amongst those present at the hearing to provide moral support for Mr Adeyanju, said both Mr Buratai and Inspector-General Ibrahim Idris should not be under any illusions that Mr Adeyanju would back down on his activism after regaining his freedom.

Deji Adeyanju would continue to agitate for the independence and fairness of security agencies, Mr Ayoye said. And people like us would continue to stand by him no matter what.Members of the Shiite Islamic Movement of Nigeria on Tuesday engaged in protests to demand the release of their leader, Ibrahim El-Zakzaki.

The Shiite members who were seen by PREMIUM TIMES around the Wuse market were shouting free El-Zakzaki as they headed towards the Berger bridge in Abuja.

The members, numbering over a hundred, including women were also seen carrying posters of Mr El-Zakzaki as they protested on the street, with onlookers watching the scene from a distance.

Mr El-Zakzaki was arrested in December, 2015, after a clash ensued between the sect and the Nigerian Army over right of way. A clampdown by the army on the protesters including late at night at their homes eventually led to the murder of over 300 Shiites who were secretly buried in a mass grave by the government. A soldier, Yakubu Dankaduna, also died in the clash, the army said.

Following his arrest, Mr El-Zakzaki was in detention without trial for over two years before he was arraigned by the Kaduna State government.

Since the 2015 incident, the sect has has continued protests to demand the release of its leader with many of such protests turning violent after clampdown by security forces.

On October 29, a bloody violence that erupted after Nigerian soldiers opened gunfire on Shiite protesters on the outskirts of Abuja left at least 21 members of the sect dead, a PREMIUM TIMES report revealed.The Senate president, Bukola Saraki, and speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, have directed the National Assembly Management Committee, headed by the clerk, Sani Omolori, to resolve all issues raised by protesting members of staff and report back to them on Friday.

Mr Sarakis special adviser on media and publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday.

Some legislative staff of the National Assembly had on Tuesday morning blocked entrances into the Senate and the House of Representatives chambers, preventing lawmakers from entering to hold plenaries.

They demanded the implementation of Consolidated Legislative Salary Structure (CONLESS), enforcement of promotion and training of staff.

They vowed not to allow lawmakers hold plenaries until they receive notification of payment.

The workers also accused Mr Sani-Omolori of denying them their entitlements up to eight years and blocking the enforcement of CONLESS.

They booed Messrs Saraki and Dogara when the duo attempted to address them on Tuesday afternoon.

As at 2 p.m., the workers were seen moving around the complex chanting no alert, no sitting and Ole! among others.

In his statement, Mr Olaniyonu stated that at a meeting attended by the National Assemblys Management and members of staff under the umbrella of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN), Messrs Saraki and Dogara, who addressed the meeting on behalf of the leadership of both chambers, said it was important for the workers to be well motivated and their demands properly addressed in order to create a conducive atmosphere for the legislature to perform its duties.

They also noted that the demands of the workers were part of the responsibilities of the National Assemblys Management and that the grievances of the workers should not be allowed to linger.

The leadership of the National Assembly made it clear to the staff that the issues raised by them were previously unknown to the legislators and that even if they were known to the Senate President and the Speaker, the leadership could do little to address them because they fall under the purview of the NASSs Management. They added that the constitution of the National Assembly Service Commission which the workers demanded will be made before Friday.

The workers demanded for the implementation of the CONLESS system in the payment of their salaries and allowances, approval of new condition of service for the workers, among other issues. However, Dr. Saraki and Rt. Hon. Dogara, as well as their colleagues also reassured the workers that they will personally supervise how the management will eventually resolve the issues and ensure that the workers are not short-changed, Mr Olaniyonu said.

The workers protest comes weeks after legislative aides staged a protest in the complex to demand payment of salaries and other allowances.The Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, has directed the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, to remain in the North-east until security situation in the region improves.

The Public Relations Officer of the minister, Tukur Gusau, said in a statement on Monday that Mr Dan-Ali gave the directive when he met with the Chief of Defence Staff and Service Chiefs in his office.

The minister also directed the General Officer Commanding 8 Division, to relocate his Tactical Headquarters from Sokoto State to Zamfara, to oversee the conduct of Operation Sharan Daji.

He mandated the chief of defence staff and chief of army staff to effect changes in the operational commands of Operations Delta Safe in the Niger Delta, Lafia Dole in the North East, Sharan Daji in Zamfara and Katsina states and Awatse in the South-west.

According to Mr Dan-Ali, this is to enable them meet up with the current threats and security challenges in their areas of responsibility.

The President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces has also directed the emergency procurement of critical equipment for the armed forces in line with the federal Gyovernment policy of procuring equipment from Original Equipment Manufacturers through government to government basis, he said.

He announced that the Army Council and Navy Board had considered and approved the promotion of qualified senior military officers to their next higher ranks.

In a related development and a show of concern to the welfare needs of members of the Armed Forces, the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces has directed the enhancement of the welfare of troops particularly those serving in operational areas within the country. (NAN)Political thugs on Saturday stormed into the house of Nigerias former minister of commerce, Bello Maitama, and vandalised two of his official vehicles and that of the Speaker, Jigawa State House of Assembly, Isa Idris.

Mr Maitama, a commerce minister under Shehu Shagari, was chairing a reconciliation meeting with aggrieved members of the APC in his residence in Gwaram Local Government Area when thugs disrupted the process and attempted to lynch the minister.

A witness, who was part of the reconciliation committee, told journalists that it took the combined efforts of the security agencies to whisk away the ex-minister and the speaker but their vehicles were not spared.

He said the security agencies had to fire gunshots into the air to disperse the gathering of the thugs, highlighting that if that move was not made, the situation might have turned more violent.

The ex-minister was chairing a reconciliation committee meeting which was aimed at bringing back to fold the aggrieved members of the ruling APC in the state.

Recently, the governor, Mohammad Badaru, constituted a reconciliation committee to bring together all aggrieved members of the APC in the state.

The attackers were believed to be sponsored by other local politicians in Gwaram who have been nursing grudges with the council boss, Abdulmalik Shehu, whom they accuse of not running an inclusive government.

A witness told reporters that politics in Gwaram has been tense, ever since the council boss was installed by the state authority. He has allegedly not been carrying along members of the party at the grassroots.

Unfortunately for the attackers, the council chairman and his deputy escaped through a back fence.

Jigawa police spokesperson, Audu Jinjiri, however, downplayed the situation, saying that it was just a fight between political thugs, after the meeting with the ex-minister.

He told PREMIUM TIMES that the event happened over the weekend and that the police have arrested ten suspects with regard to the violence.

Five persons were injured and are currently receiving treatment, he said.The Clerk of the National Assembly, Mohammed Sani-Omolori, has faulted the decision of the workers to shut out lawmakers from the chambers.

Mr Sani-Omolori said he had made several moves to forestall a face-off between the management of the legislature and the workers which manifested in a protest on Tuesday.

The workers, under the umbrella of Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria, blocked the entrance of both chambers of the National Assembly, preventing lawmakers from entering.

Among other things, they demand the implementation of Consolidated Legislative Salary Structure (CONLESS), enforcement of promotion and training of staff.

They vowed not to allow lawmakers hold plenaries until they received notification of payment.

The workers also accused Mr Sani-Omolori of denying them their entitlements for up to eight years and blocking the enforcement of CONLESS.

While the protest was still ongoing, Mr Sani-Omolori showed up at the National Assembly noon on Tuesday.

He explained that the poor implementation of the 2018 budget hampered the implementation of CONLESS.

It is a matter that has been on for some time. They are despondent and we have also tried to explain to them that the payment of There was an increase and we approve an increase payment for them which was captured in the 2018 budget. But as it is today, it is a common knowledge about the level of implementation of the 2018 budget, especially the new addition which has not been implemented. The money is not released, there is no way we can effect the payment.

The Clerk said it is wrong for the workers to stop elected lawmakers from sitting.

We told them it is wrong (to stop lawmakers from entering chambers). We tried to prevail on them to do things in the correct way. As a matter of fact, I wrote to them. I dont know whether you have seen my response. I also had series of formal and informal consultations with their leadership all through yesterday in a bid to make them back out of what is clearly an act that is not in tune with even their own rules. As you can see, here they are.

I am worried that a situation where you think that people should be able to look at things properly and then they are not looking at it, that is my worry.

Mr Sani-Omolori enjoined the workers to be patient.

I still insist they need to be patient with the system. Like I said in my reply to them, in an unprecedented manner, the presiding officers acceded without hesitation to their request for this percentage. It was agreed with them. It was bargained and we came to that agreement and they captured it in the budget. So how is it within their powers if the money is not released?

And in any case, the reality on the ground is that it is not even the National Assembly that is suffering from the non-release of funds, it is confronting everyone. I think we all have to be patient with the time and the system, he said.

At 2.15 p.m., when this report was compiled, the protest was still ongoing.The federal government on Tuesday resumed talks with the leaders of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) over the ongoing strike in public universities which entered a month today.

The crucial meeting has in attendance the national president of the union, Biodun Ogunyemi, who led the unions delegation.

The meeting is taking place at the Federal Ministry of Education in Abuja.

Also present are the education minister, Adamu Adamu; the permanent secretary, Sunny Echono; representative of National Universities Commission and representative from the National Income, Wages and Salaries Commission.

Speaking with PREMIUM TIMES briefly, the president of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Danielson Akpan, who was present at the meeting, said the two parties need to consider the interest of the students in their deliberations.

My fear is that these politicians can give a political response and may not meet the conditions again, Mr Akpan said.

The NANS president confirmed that the meeting started a few minutes past 2 p.m.

The union embarked on strike on November 4 over the poor funding of Nigerian universities, an alleged plan by the federal government to increase students fees and introduce an education bank, as well as non-implementation of previous agreements.

More to comeUche Nwosu, former Chief of Staff to the Imo state governor, Rochas Okorocha, has defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Action Alliance (AA) to pursue his political ambition to be the next state governor.

According to PUNCH newspaper, Mr Nwosu disclosed this on Tuesday, at the Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, Owerri, shortly after his arrival from Abuja. He reportedly said the APC forced him out.

Injustice, impunity, and lack of respect for partys constitution forced me out of the All Progressives Congress, Mr Nwosu said.

The move by the incumbent governor to back his son-in-law to succeed him has torn the party apart in the state in recent months. It had also pitched Mr Okorocha against the partys national chairman, Adams Oshimhole.

When PREMIUM TIMES contacted Mr Nwosus spokesperson, Sam Onwuemeodo, he simply said: Mr Nwosu is an adult and can decide to leave the APC if he wishes to.

He is an adult. After he won the election and they (APC) denied him and gave it to somebody, who did not even participate in the primary election then what do you expect him to do, he is an adult, he said. He must go somewhere else to pursue his ambition.

Mr Nwosu lost the partys governorship ticket to a Senator, Hope Uzodinma.

Meanwhile, Mr Nwosu said that the entire APC structure, except those supporting the senatorial ambition of Governor Rochas Okorocha, had defected to AA.

Mr Nwosu further said that his ambition to succeed Mr Okorocha was driven by the massive support he enjoys by the over 70 per cent population of the state electorate.

Ironically, he also said he had no problems with President Muhammadu Buhari and will support his re-election bid.

We are going to work with APC to deliver Imo State to President Muhammadu Buhari. We will deliver Governor Rochas Okorocha as senator because Action Alliance has no senatorial candidate in Orlu zone.

I have no problem with President Muhammadu Buhari. My headache is the national chairman of APC. It is a divine project and we are ready for the election. It is an inter-party marriage between AA and APC in Imo State, he said.Justice Valentine Ashi of a Federal Capital Territory High Court, sitting in Apo, Abuja, on December 4 ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, the Nigerian Police Force, the Department of States Security Service and all other security agencies to apprehend and arrest a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke within 72 hours.

The order was made, following a motion ex parte made before the court by counsel to the EFCC, Msuur Denga, praying for an order of the court, to issue a warrant of arrest against Mrs Alison-Madueke, to enable the Commission apprehend and arraign her for alleged financial crimes in Nigeria.

The EFCC investigated the former minister along with Jide Omokore, a former Chairman, Atlantic Energy Drilling Company, following a petition dated October 2, 2013, from Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL, bordering on money laundering and official corruption.

EFCC said in a statement that investigations into the petition revealed that Mrs Alison-Madueke as supervising minister of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, was found to have engaged in illicit and monumental fraudulent dealings in oil transactions, which she entered into on behalf of the Federal Government.

Mrs Alison-Madueke and Mr Omokore are also alleged to have accepted and given gifts in properties located at Penthouse 22, Block B, Admiralty Estate, Ikoyi, and Penthouse 21, Building 5, Block C, Banana Island, Lagos. They are to be arraigned on February 25, 2019 on a five-count charge for the offences, which are contrary to Sections 26(1) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.

When the matter came up on Monday the Commission however filed application for warrant of arrest, condition precedent for Mrs Alison-Maduekes extradition protocol to bring her back home to face trail.

The prosecution told the court that Mrs Alison-Madueke, who is currently in the United Kingdom, jetted out of the country while investigations into the alleged fraudulent acts were ongoing.

The court today, granted the ex parte motion, and ordered the security agencies to provide Mrs Alison-Madueke within 72 hours, for her to face the charge preferred against her.

The Inspector General of Police, the Chairman of the EFCC, the Attorney General, the Department of State Services, are hereby ordered in the name of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria to apprehend and arrest the first defendant and produce her before this court for further directives within 72 hours, the judge held.The Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, has explained his role in the controversial suspension of the trial of some government officials in Katsina State on November 27.

Mr Malamis explanation was contained in a reaction to the latest report by this newspaper on the alleged diversion N5.7 billion fund by officials of the Katsina State Government.

PREMIUM TIMES had reported the suspension of the trial of some officials of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme, (SURE-P), following the inability of the Katsina State Ministry of Justice to secure the prosecution file from the office of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, (ICPC).

According to the report, the SURE-P officials involved in the trial are a former special adviser to former Katsina State governor, Ibrahim Shema, on SURE-P, Nasiru Ingawa; the director of account and finance SURE-P department, Abdulaziz Shinkafi; and chief store officer Katsina State civil service, Bello Bindawa.

The report also cited portions from previous court sessions where an official of the Katsina State Ministry of Justice had told the court that Mr Malami requested the prosecution file from the ICPC for onward transmission to the Katsina justice ministry.

This newspaper reported that the official, a permanent secretary and solicitor-general to the Katsina State Ministry of Justice, Abdulsalam Sabiu, however stated in court that the AGF was in possession of the same prosecution file and was yet to hand it over to the prosecution team.

The previous report explained that the case, initiated in 2017 by the ICPC, had constituted the subject of a dispute between the commission and the Katsina State Ministry of Justice over the persistent request by the state to proceed with the trial of the government officials.

In a statement on Monday by Mr Malamis media assistant, Salihu Isah, the AGF reacted to the November 27 story and denied collecting the prosecution file relating to the case.

At no time did the HAGF/MOJ direct the ICPC to hand over the file to the Katsina State government but did not hand it over before he travelled out of the country as it (PREMIUM TIMES report) claimed. On the contrary, he had bluntly refused (request), Mr Isah said.

The statement demanded a retraction of the November 27 report by this newspaper within 48 hours, describing same as false and malicious.

Mr Malamis statement however confirmed that the AGF received a request for transfer of the file from the ICPC to the Katsina State Ministry of Justice.

According to the statement, Mr Malami declined the request by the Katsina State Ministry of Justice for the state to be given the fiat to prosecute the matter, initially begun by the ICPC.

The truth of the matter is that, contrary to the report, the Office of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice in response to the letter of the Katsina state Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice with reference number DPPA/REQ/510/18 dated 29thNovember, 2018 and titled, RE: REQUEST FOR CASE FILE FROM INDEPENDENT CORRUPT PRACTICES AND OTHER RELATED OFFENCES COMMISSION (ICPC) IN RESPECT OF CHARGES NOS. KTH/9C/2017-FRN VS ALHAJI ABDULAZIZ ABDULLAHI SHINKAFI AND ONE OTHER AND KTH/SC/2017-FRN VS NASIRU INGAWA AND ONE OTHER, the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation, Mohammed Umar Etsu had written and I quote:

I am further directed to inform you that after a careful study of your request, it is the directive of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation that the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Commission (ICPC) be allowed to continue the prosecution of the case.

Mr Malamis statement further confirmed that the failure of the AGFs office to respond on time to the request by the Katsina State Ministry of Justice may have resulted in the inability of the matter to continue in court.

The AGF in his statement cited parts of a communication with his Katsina State counterpart which suggested that the states justice ministry repeatedly requested the adjournment of the matter in court, till it received a response from the office of the Federal Ministry of Justice regarding the matter.

According to the statement, the Katsina State justice ministry had planned to proceed with the trial, after converting some of the accused persons to witnesses in the matter.

The communication contained in a letter from the Katsina State Ministry of Justice which formed part of Mr Malamis statement also confirmed PREMIUM TIMES report that the Katsina State Ministry of Justice was bent on taking over the matter from the ICPC.

The letter by the Katsina State Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Ahmad Usman Muhammad El-Marzuq reference number MOJ/KT/CON.10/VOL.1/142 titled as above was dated 28/08/2018 for which a reminder dated 30thOctober, 2018 was sent to the AGF/MOJ. State inter alia:

I wish to further seek for the intervention of your office to facilitate the release of the case files, in respect of the above mentioned cases, to me, by the ICPC for the reasons stated in our earlier letter reference NO. MOJ/KT/CON.10/VOL of 20thMarch, 2017, that is to say, to enable me to discontinue criminal proceedings against the accused persons and turn them to state witnesses in respect of charge NO. FHC/KT/26C/2017 FRN VS Ibrahim Shehu Shema (Copy attached).

I also wish to request you to grant your fiat to me to discontinue criminal proceedings against the accused persons in the charges before the High Court of Justice, Katsina State as the patience of the court has been exhausted by our persistent requests for the adjournments of the cases, to enable me get the case files as well as your fiat based on clause (2)(c) of your fiat dated 7th July, 2017 (copy attached).

The High Court is threatening to strike out the cases for want of diligent prosecution, the statement also quoted the Katsina State Ministry of Justice as saying, in the letter to the AGF.A chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Borno State, Idris Mamman, on Tuesday filed a case before a Federal High Court, Maiduguri, seeking the nullification of the governorship primary of the party in the state.

Mr Mamman prayed the court to nullify the nomination of Babagana Umara-Zulum as the partys governorship candidate.

Those joined in the case with file Number: FHC/MG/CS/55/2018 are the APC and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

In a five-point originating summons filed before the court, the plaintiff prayed for the cancellation of the election conducted on September 30, arguing that election was conducted without the participation of lawful delegates.

Ibrahim Bawa, the lead counsel to the plaintiff, said that non-delegates participated in the process which was illegal, unlawful, void and null.

Mr Mamman prayed for an injunction restraining the APC from recognising the second respondent as its governorship candidate on the basis of the purported election.

He prayed for an order to declare the plaintiff winner having scored the highest votes in the election.

Speaking to journalists after filing, Mr Bawa said his client challenged the decision of the APC to submit the names of the second respondent as its governorship candidate in view of gross malpractice and irregularities in the conducted of the election.

As far as my client is concerned, he won the primaries, in spite of the fact that there were other grounds based on which the primary election ought not to stand. We appealed to the APC committee which took decision adverse to our clients, he said.

The counsel added that they had filed a counter affidavit before the court in response to the preliminary objection by the first and second respondents.

However, Kahinde Elejah, the counsel to the first and second respondents, prayed the court to strike out the case, arguing that it lack the jurisdiction to hear case.

Mr Elejah said the respondents in a preliminary objection asked the court to strike out the case and also prayed for time extension to enable them to respond to the counter affidavit by the plaintiff.

Trial judge, Jude Dagat, ordered the parties to serve all processes before the court before its next sitting and adjourned the case until January 17 for hearing.

It would be recalled that the APC national leadership had warned it would sanction party members who take the party to court. But President Muhammadu Buhari last week expressed a countrary position, saying aggrieved members have a right to seek redress in court. (NAN)The Police Command in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) says it will hold a scenario-based simulation with other security agencies at Jabi Lake in Abuja on Wednesday.

In a statement in Abuja on Tuesday, Anjuguri Manzah, the commands public relations officer, explained that the exercise was aimed at fostering synergy among security agencies and to test their preparedness to respond to emergencies.

It will also accord participating agencies the opportunity to further understand their respective roles while responding to emergency situations, he said.

He advised residents of the territory not to panic when they noticed the mass movement of security agents and heavy equipment to Jabi area of FCT.

Residents are advised to use alternative routes as the major roads leading to Jabi Lake Mall will be blocked during the period of the exercise, he said.

The exercise is expected to last from 6 a.m. to 12 p.m. (NAN)The Jigawa State Government says 722,000 primary four to primary six pupils will benefit from the schools feeding programme in the state.

Speaking during a sensitisation campaign for stakeholders in Kaugama on Tuesday, Deputy Governor Ibrahim Hassan also said that 7,100 cooks would be engaged to feed the pupils every school day.

He said the programme will complement the Federal Governments feeding programme which caters for primary one to three pupils.

The deputy governor said the cooks were carefully selected based on merit irrespective of their political party affiliation.

Mr Hassan urged the cooks to show utmost sincerity in their service delivery and ensure that they always prepare the meals in hygienic conditions.

Earlier, the Social Investment Programme Co-ordinator in the state, Bala Chamo, noted that the programme had empowered many women in the area.

Mr Chamo called on the cooks to reciprocate the empowerment opportunities given to them by being hardworking and dedicated to duty.

He commended the Federal and State governments for sustaining the programme aimed at improving the academic performance of the pupils.

In his remarks, Kaugama Councils Chairman, Ahmed Yahaya-Marke, pledged to cooperate with the Federal and state governments for more dividends of democracy in the area.

NAN reports that on November 29, 2017, the federal government launched its Home-Grown School Feeding Programme with 726,033 Primary One to Primary Three pupils in Jigawa.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the programme was inaugurated at the Nuhu Muhammad Sunusi Primary School, in Dutse.

(NAN)The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, on Tuesday said majority of the persons who participated at the Peoples Democratic Party presidential rally which held in Sokoto were from neighbouring Niger Republic.

The governor, a member of the ruling party, APC, disclosed this during an inauguration of his campaign commitee in Kaduna.

The PDP launched its zonal presidential rally in Sokoto on Monday for the North-west. Thousands of people attended the rally which was addressed by the partys presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar; the Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal; and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara.

However, according to Mr El-Rufai, many of those that attended the rally were from neighbouring Niger Republic.

Mr El-Rufai said the PDP brought these people to show that they have supporters and because Sokoto indigenes refused to attend the rally.

He said his governing party, All Progressives Congress (APC), will not allow looters and criminals return to power in 2019.

The governor vowed to go after each vote during the election to ensure that Kaduna delivers in 2019.

He explained that the ideology of the ruling party and President Muhammadu Buhari is not to share public funds to few individuals but to work and improve the lives of the ordinary Nigerians.

Thieves have ganged up against President Muhammadu Buhari. Yesterday (Monday) they (PDP) went to Sokoto for a rally and brought in people from Niger Republic, the governor said. This was to show that they have crowd because Sokoto people refused to attend.

Our people should be assured that the very day Buhari will come to Kaduna, all our people that will receive him will be Kaduna indigenes and not people from Niger.

We will fight for every vote and persuade our people that you will only secure victory for the party you support when you vote on election day, he said.

The governor also added that Kaduna has about 500,000 new voters, with Kaduna North Local Government Area recording 60,000 voters alone.

He also flayed the PDP saying in its16 years of governance, the party left more than 400 primary schools of the state in a very bad condition.

The PDP governed Kaduna from 1999 to 2015 before Mr El-Rufai of the APC defeated the then incumbent PDP governor.

Mr El-Rufai charged his campaign team members to go down to the grassroots to mobilise people to come out and vote on election day.

We must run a grassroots campaign to mobilise our supporters on election day. We will not vote for hypocrites, we will not vote for criminals and we will not vote for those who cannot afford to barb their hair, he said.Traditional rulers in Zamfara State have called on the government to grant them permission to carry guns to fight bandits tormenting their domains.

The Chairman of Zamfara Council of Chiefs and Emir of Anka, Attahiru Ahmad, made the call on Tuesday in Gusau at an event to hand over operational motorcycles to members of the recently established Civilian Joint Task Force (JTF) in the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 8,500 members of the civilian JTF received a motorcycle each.

This is one of the best ways we can all join hands to fight these hoodlums causing us sleepless nights in the state while their sponsors live in the luxury of the blood of the people in neighbouring towns and cities.

The only power these bandits have over us is that they carry AK 47 rifles while we have nothing except perhaps sometime when we carry sticks in self-defence and one cannot use that against guns.

Apart from the traditional rulers, many of the political office holders and our senior civil servants are traditional title holders and l am confident that if we join hands and with little training, we can be ready to face and defeat the bandits, he said.

He said, if the government could provide them AK 47 rifles, they should also be given pump action guns and the official licence to possess and operate the weapons against the enemy.

He then commended the efforts of the state government and security agencies operating in the state and implored members of the civilian JTF not to take laws in their hands.

(NAN)The Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, on Monday demonstrated his commitment towards the fight against fake drugs by inspecting pharmaceutical products at the state-owned drug distribution centre.

A statement by his Special Adviser on Media Relations, Fidelis Soriwei, says the governor carried out the inspection in company of a crack team of pharmacists, medical doctors and other health professionals shortly after declaring open a two-day Drug Trade Fair in Yenagoa.

According to the statement, Mr Dickson also directed the Commissioner for Health and Acting Head of Service to ensure that all public health institutions in the state compulsorily procure their drugs and other pharmaceutical products from the Centre.

Speaking at the event, the governor said the target of his administration is to make Bayelsa a foremost medical tourist destination, where health care seekers could meet their needs at affordable cost.

He noted that, it was for the realisation of this purpose that the administration has been investing on world class health facilities and programmes including the state Health Insurance Scheme which has been adjudged to be one of the best in the country.

While expressing appreciation to the organisers of the trade fair, the governor noted with delight that over 40 pharmaceutical firms were participating at the exhibition, which is said to be the first ever held in the country.

According to the governor, the Drug Distribution Centre is primarily targeted at curbing the circulation of fake drugs in Bayelsa and neighbouring states.

The governor also called on Nigerians to emulate former President of the Country, Olusegun Obasanjo, to patronise medical facilities in the state for their health needs.

His words, This state is ripe for medical business. If you are thinking of doing anything serious in the health sector, this is where you should come because apart from the several world class health facilities we have built, we also have a health insurance system that is so robust and will get better with time.

I call for more support by all and sundry for this drug distribution center. The whole purpose is to have a place where genuine drugs can be obtained in our state and beyond Bayelsa. It is also meant to serve other states around us.

Im pleased with the reports I have received and I want to direct that all public healthcare facilities in the state, to compulsorily procure their drugs and other medical products from this centre. It will be wrong for any public facility to procure drugs from any place other than this drug center because we want to be sure that they are genuine.

And I hereby direct the Acting Head of Service and the Commissioner for Health to ensure that appropriate circulars are issued to all those in charge of public healthcare facilities in the state.

Also speaking, the Commissioner for Health, Ebitimitula Etebu, explained that the trade fair was being organised to promote interactions among stakeholders in the health sector to keep them abreast of the ever changing trends in the pharmaceutics of drugs.

Mr Etebu, who is also the Vice Chancellor of the newly established Bayelsa State University of Medical Sciences, commended Mr Dickson for supporting the health ministry to complete the Centre and ensure its commencement of operations.

In their separate remarks, the Managing Director of the Bayelsa State Drug Distribution Company Limited, Tamaraotare Owota-Johnson, and the state chairperson, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Bio Joseph, also lauded the governor for his efforts at moving the health sector forward.

According to them, the Drug Distribution Centre, which is the first ever in the country, would help to improve healthcare delivery by reducing the influx of fake pharmaceutical products into the state.

On his part, the State Coordinator of National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control, Joseph Edoh, said the establishment of the centre would not only enhance the operations of NAFDAC, but also address the chaotic drug distribution channel in the state.Batesha Montgomery, 27, stands in front of her home in Bladenboro, N.C., on Dec. 2, 2018, where she says was approached by a woman who asked her to hand over her ballot for the midterm elections. (Justin Kase Conder/For The Washington Post)There is tension at the Ondo State branch of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, following a suspension order issued by a faction of the Ondo State House of Assembly, barring the unions leadership.

The union recently elected its executive members amidst protests.

The aggrieved parties petitioned the house over the emergence of the new leadership and demanded an investigation.

Meanwhile, the house itself is still embroiled in a leadership crisis and currently has two factions.

While considering the petition on Tuesday, the house led by controversial speaker, Bamidele Oleyelogun, ordered the new NULGE leadership to cease further activities at the secretariat.

It directed security agencies to take over the unions secretariat located opposite Olesa Garage, in Akure pending the resolution of the crisis.

The house said its intervention was informed by the need to promptly resolve the crisis rocking the union.

The house thereafter gave the house committee on ethics and privileges headed by Jamiu Maito two weeks look into the matter and report back.

Reacting to the development, the newly elected state president of NULGE, Bola Taiwo, rejected the suspension.

He said the legislature lacked the constitutional right to intervene in the unions matters.

Mr Taiwo noted that any aggrieved member of the union had the right to protest or petition the national body, which would address the matter in the interest of members.

He urged the lawmakers to settle their own crisis in the assembly rather than stepping into the unions affairs.A mother and her child were on Tuesday burnt to death in a lone traffic accident that involved a white Mazda bus at Onigari axis of the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway.

Babatunde Akinbiyi, the Public Relations Officer, Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE) confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abeokuta.

Mr Akinbiyi said the accident was caused by tyre burst while on motion which resulted in the vehicle falling on its side before catching fire.

The lone accident occurred around 2:50 pm and it involved a white Mazda bus with registration number EKY 616 XW.

The rear tyre of the vehicle burst while on motion, and it fell on its side and caught fire.

We learnt the bus was coming from Iwo Road Ibadan, heading towards Lagos when the accident occurred at Onigari axis of the Expressway.

Fifteen people were involved in the accident, nine were injured while a woman and her child were burnt to death in the accident, he said.

The spokesman explained that the two dead victims were taken to Ade-Oyo Hospital Morgue, Ibadan, while the injured were taken to Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH), Sagamu.

(NAN)This copy of the Act has been marked up using amendments from last week, and some from 2013 as well. The original document was obtained from P435 N. Michigan Ave., No. 401, Chicago: $3,575,000 | Listed: Oct. 14, 2021



This three-bedroom home has three full bathrooms, one half-bath, 11-foot ceilings, crown molding and white oak hardwood floors. This home has an open-concept living/dining space with two lounge areas and a marble fireplace. The kitchen offers quartzite countertops, an extended island, white Shaker cabinetry and a custom wine tower. The primary bedroom has a marble en suite bath with a dual vanity, a free-standing tub and a walk-in shower. Two additional en-suite bedrooms, a laundry room, and a foyer complete this home, which is located in a building with a professional gym, a 75-foot indoor lap pool, and an outdoor terrace.



Agent: Ryan Preuett, Jameson Sothebys International Realty, 312-371-5951



*Some listing photos are virtually staged, meaning they have been digitally altered to represent different furnishing or decorating options.



To feature your luxury listing of $800,000 or more in Chicago Tribunes Dream Homes, send listing information and high-res photos to ctc-realestate@chicagotribune.com.



Join our Chicago Dream Homes Facebook group for more luxury listings and real estate news.For the New World Order, a world government is just the beginning. Once in place they can engage their plan to exterminate 80% of the world's population, while enabling the "elites" to live forever with the aid of advanced technology. For the first time, crusading filmmaker ALEX JONES reveals their secret plan for humanity's extermination: Operation ENDGAME.

Jones chronicles the history of the global elite's bloody rise to power and reveals how they have funded dictators and financed the bloodiest warscreating order out of chaos to pave the way for the first true world empire.

Watch as Jones and his team track the elusive Bilderberg Group to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III.





to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. Learn about the formation of the North America transportation control grid, which will end U.S. sovereignty forever.





Discover how the practitioners of the pseudo-science eugenics have taken control of governments worldwide as a means to carry out depopulation.





View the progress of the coming collapse of the United States and the formation of the North American Union.

Never before has a documentary assembled all the pieces of the globalists' dark agenda. Endgame's compelling look at past atrocities committed by those attempting to steer the future delivers information that the controlling media has meticulously censored for over 60 years. It fully reveals the elite's program to dominate the earth and carry out the wicked plan in all of human history.

Endgame is not conspiracy theory, it is documented fact in the elite's own words.



Celebrating its quest for excellence, Kavalan has placed First Growth Bordeaux wine casks from the Margaux and Pauillac regions at the heart of its 10th anniversary commemoration as it looks forward another decade.

Kavalan CEO Mr YT Lee said the occasion was about looking back on the achievements of the past decade and striving harder for perfection in the next.

"At Kavalan we have always sought excellence as a foundation for our whisky as we look into the future and work toward our goal of becoming, what in Taiwan we call a 'century-old distillery,' which is a brand capable of thriving even after hundreds of years," he said.

Master blender Mr Ian Chang said he and Mr Lee had traveled to the historic wine estates of France and handpicked the finest Bordeaux wine casks to age Kavalan's young, award-winning whisky within the subtropical climate of Yilan, Taiwan.

"We were intrigued by the distinctive flavours that might be possible from this unique marriage between Kavalan, where we pursue perfection daily, and these prestigious chateaux known for their centuries of excellence," he said.

Master blender Mr Ian Chang said the First Growth Bordeaux project had been an experiment in "how the spirit of these incredibly rare wines, through their splendid casks, could transform into a very special Kavalan whisky" and that innovation would continue to define Kavalan's next decade.

Kavalan's inaugural whisky, Kavalan Classic Single Malt Whisky, was released a decade ago on Dec 4, 2008, and went on to become the whisky maker's most popular expression.

Each 1000ml Limited Edition gift box set is priced at a RRP of NT$8,800 (US$285). Global releases are in the planning for next year.

In Kavalan's past decade it has achieved entry into the World Whiskies Awards' (WWA) Whisky Magazine "Hall of Fame" for Mr YT Lee and his father Mr TT Lee; the WWA's 2015 "World's Best Single Malt" and 2016 "World's Best Single Cask Single Malt"; the 2017 "Distiller of the Year" and six "Producer of the Year" awards from the International Wine and Spirit Competition, as well as the 2018 "Distillery of the Year" from the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

TASTING NOTES:

Kavalan BORDEAUX MARGAUX WINE CASK MATURED SINGLE CASK SINGLE MALT

Magnificent, characterful, and extraordinarily smooth, the Limited Edition Bordeaux Margaux achieves exquisitely luxurious notes of warm caramel and buttery fudge, thick dark molasses, and the soft sweetness of creamy vanilla.

Colour: Deep Amber.

Nose: Beautiful aromatic caramel sauce infused with warming spices greets the nose. Thick, decadent dessert wine and simmering dark brown sugar emerge, followed by fresh fleshy fruit and gentle Cedarwood in the distance.

Palate: A warming sweet arrival leads to a melting of rich, buttery toffee that's studded with plump raisins. A beautifully light sour plum wine now appears with a faint, but assertive nuttiness.

Finish: Long and incredibly rewarding. The sweetness mingles with the gentle tart notes to reward the drinker with a delightful dance of flavours on the tongue.

Kavalan BORDEAUX PAUILLAC WINE CASK MATURED SINGLE CASK SINGLE MALT

Wonderfully opulent and subtly complex, the Limited Edition Bordeaux Pauillac bursts with sumptuous flavours of ripened fruits of the forest, delicious toffee apple, and gentle cumin, coriander and pepper spices.

Colour: Rich Mahogany

Nose: A beautiful nose of soft fruits, from ripe blackcurrants, to strawberries in syrup with a touch of apple. The wine influence is unmistakable. Smoked meat, cumin, ground coriander seeds, and finely grated pepper balance out the flavours.

Palate: Soft fruits drizzled with toffee, before an explosion of fruity flavours and accompanying spices. It is highly enjoyable at cask strength and develops a delicious vanilla creaminess as it is held in the mouth. It handles dilution extremely well at a variety of strengths.

Finish: Front of the mouth spiciness, cooked fruits, and throat-coating warmth.

About Kavalan Whisky

Kavalan distillery in Yilan country has been pioneering the art of single malt whisky in Taiwan and bottled its first single malt whisky in 2008. Our whisky, aged in intense humidity and heat, sources the meltwaters of Snow Mountain and is enhanced by cool sea and mountain breezes. All this combines to create Kavalan's signature creaminess. Taking Yilan County's old name, our distillery is backed by about 40 years of beverage-making under parent company, King Car Group. We have collected more than 280 gold awards or higher from the industry's most competitive contests, and are available in more than 70 countries. Visit www.kavalanwhisky.com

Contact:

Kellie Du

886-3922-9000 #7165

kellie@kingcar.com.tw

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/793326/Kavalan_10th_Anniversary.jpg





SOURCE KavalanTSX |NYSE: ACB

EDMONTON, Dec. 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - Aurora Cannabis Inc. ("Aurora" or the "Company") (NYSE: ACB) (TSX: ACB) (Frankfurt: 21P; WKN: A1C4WM) announced today that, further to its October 17, 2018 announcement that it had received a sales license from Health Canada permitting the sale of cannabis softgel capsules, the Company has commenced shipments for both the Canadian medical and adult-use markets. Aurora expects to commence exports to international markets in early 2019.

At scale, the Company anticipates that softgel production at its state-of-the-art Aurora Vie facility in Quebec will reach at least 1.4 million capsules per week. Aurora intends to make this high-volume, high-margin, smoke-free, product available to all of its domestic and international target markets over time where legally possible.

Aurora's softgel capsules are produced to pharmaceutical-grade standards at Aurora Vie, in collaboration with leading softgel manufacturer Capcium Inc. ("Capcium"), in which Aurora holds a 19.99% ownership interest. The Company will initially launch the capsules to the medical cannabis market in Canada as well as the adult-use market in British Columbia with additional provincial markets to follow.

The Company is initially launching four softgel product types, each available in bottles of 30 capsules, priced at $45 per bottle. The small, easy to digest soft gelatin capsules are colour-coded to distinguish between the different varieties for the protection of public health and safety. They are believed to the smallest cannabis capsules on the market. Aurora's softgels provide a dosage-controlled format that medical practitioners and consumers around the world need to facilitate more precise administration.

For the medical market, Aurora is launching three product types:

Aurora Indica Softgels: 8-10 mg/pill of THC

Aurora Sativa Softgels: 8-10 mg/pill of THC?

Aurora CBD Softgels: 8-10 mg/pill of CBD

For the BC consumer market, one product type will be available initially:

Aurora Liquid Gels: 8-10 mg/pill of CBD, targeted at the non-prescription wellness segment of the market

Additional product types and potencies will be made available in the coming months including softgel capsules that contain 5mg THC, 20mg CBD and 1:1 (5gm CBD and 5mg THC), plus softgels that employ a range of functional carrier oils.

Management Commentary

"Softgels are a high-volume, high-margin product for both the medical and adult-use markets that are in strong demand, and Aurora is one of few companies making these products available to patients and consumers alike," said Terry Booth, CEO of Aurora. "There is a strong momentum towards smoke-free, consistent dosage delivery technologies, and our softgels are a very familiar form factor that satisfy patient and consumer needs. We are delighted to have a preferred partnership with Capcium, whose technology is performing above our initial expectations, delivering high volumes of pharma-grade products."

Shane Morris, SVP Product Development and Regulatory Affairs, added, "Following our successful receipt of our sales license for softgels, we are now ready to start providing yet another type of delivery technology for our patients and customers. Production will be scaling up in the coming weeks, which will enable us to introduce this product to all our domestic and international target markets. We will also continue to develop new types of softgel products, broadening our offering to meet all medical and consumer needs."

About Aurora

Headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada with funded capacity in excess of 500,000 kg per annum and sales and operations in 21 countries across five continents, Aurora is one of the world's largest and leading cannabis companies. Aurora is vertically integrated and horizontally diversified across every key segment of the value chain, from facility engineering and design to cannabis breeding and genetics research, cannabis and hemp production, derivatives, high value-add product development, home cultivation, wholesale and retail distribution.

Highly differentiated from its peers, Aurora has established a uniquely advanced, consistent and efficient production strategy, based on purpose-built facilities that integrate leading-edge technologies across all processes, defined by extensive automation and customization, resulting in the massive scale production of high- quality product at low cost. Intended to be replicable and scalable globally, our production facilities are designed to produce cannabis of significant scale, with high quality, industry-leading yields, and low per gram production costs. Each of Aurora's facilities is built to meet EU GMP standards, and its first production facility, the recently acquired MedReleaf Markham facility, and its wholly owned European medical cannabis distributor Aurora Deutschland, have achieved this level of certification.

In addition to Aurora's rapid organic growth and strong execution on strategic M&A, which to date includes 15 wholly owned subsidiary companies  MedReleaf, CanvasRX, Peloton Pharmaceutical, Aurora Deutschland, H2 Biopharma, Urban Cultivator, BC Northern Lights, Larssen Greenhouses, CanniMed Therapeutics, Anandia Labs, HotHouse Consulting, MED Colombia, Agropro, Borela, and ICC  Aurora is distinguished by its reputation as a partner and employer of choice in the global cannabis sector, having invested in and established strategic partnerships with a range of leading innovators, including: Radient Technologies Inc. (TSXV: RTI), Hempco Food and Fiber Inc. (TSXV: HEMP), Cann Group Ltd. (ASX: CAN), Micron Waste Technologies Inc. (CSE: MWM), Choom Holdings Inc. (CSE: CHOO), Capcium Inc. (private), Evio Beauty Group (private), Wagner Dimas (private), CTT Pharmaceuticals (OTCC: CTTH), and Alcanna Inc. (TSX: CLIQ).

Aurora's Common Shares trade on the TSX and NYSE under the symbol "ACB", and are a constituent of the S&P/TSX Composite Index.

For more information about Aurora, please visit our investor website, investor.auroramj.com

Terry Booth, CEO

Aurora Cannabis Inc.

Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes statements containing certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law ("forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "continue", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur and include, but are not limited to the variety of cannabis products that Aurora will supply to the adult-use market.. These statements are only predictions. Various assumptions were used in drawing the conclusions or making the projections contained in the forward-looking statements throughout this news release. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The Company is under no obligation, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable law.

Neither the TSX, NYSE nor their Regulation Services Providers (as that term is defined in the policies of Toronto Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE Aurora Cannabis Inc.

Related Links

https://auroramj.com/

BOULDER, Colo., Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Ball Aerospace was selected to build an adaptable, open-source framework testbed to support ground processing needs for the U.S. Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC). This prototype works with third-party processing applications and helps visualize the time-critical processing performance in satellite ground systems, ensuring timely and reliable missile warnings, battlespace awareness and technical intelligence.

The Mission Data Processing Application Framework (MDPAF) testbed enables data to be collected for the Air Force's Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution (FORGE) program for Overhead Persistent InfraRed (OPIR) ground processing. OPIR is crucial for the U.S. Air Force and decision makers to understand threats and make time-critical decisions, while gathering long-term technical intelligence data on foreign missile systems.

"Ball will leverage a modern system design approach which merges development, security and operations, known as DevSecOps, or DevOps with security built into the process," said Steve Smith, vice president and general manager, Systems Engineering Solutions, Ball Aerospace. "We will begin with the practices and services Ball developed for DARPA's Hallmark program and adapt them to the mission needs of SMC."

Ball Aerospace has been on the leading-edge of OPIR development for many years with an understanding of the objects, events and unique processing requirements necessary to translate the data into actionable information. This includes both real-time processing for missile warning/missile defense missions and near-real-time technical intelligence/battlespace awareness missions. FORGE provides Ball the opportunity to leverage its OPIR knowledge and the mission-adaptable Hallmark architecture to ensure ground processing mission success today and anticipate the emerging capabilities of tomorrow.

Through the adoption of a self-service integrator model, Ball has developed a framework where third-party developers can use its DevOps pipeline without the need for additional integration support  eliminating any potential bottlenecks. Ball's secure DevOps approach enables continuous integration and continuous deployment of new capabilities into operational ground systems without any loss of time in operations, an approach used today in the commercial marketplace. This DevOps environment allows independent stakeholders to quickly and effectively integrate their applications into one architecture while providing maximum deployment flexibility for the government. Ball's deployment solution is infrastructure-agnostic, allowing the government to search for best price among cloud-processing vendors.

Ball Aerospace pioneers discoveries that enable our customers to perform beyond expectation and protect what matters most. We create innovative space solutions, enable more accurate weather forecasts, drive insightful observations of our planet, deliver actionable data and intelligence, and ensure those who defend our freedom go forward bravely and return home safely. Go Beyond with Ball. For more information, visit www.ball.com/aerospace or connect with us on Facebook or Twitter.

About Ball Corporation

Ball Corporation (NYSE: BLL) supplies innovative, sustainable packaging solutions for beverage, personal care and household products customers, as well as aerospace and other technologies and services primarily for the U.S. government. Ball Corporation and its subsidiaries employ 17,500 people worldwide and reported 2017 net sales of $11 billion. For more information, visit www.ball.com, or connect with us on Facebook or Twitter.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains "forward-looking" statements concerning future events and financial performance. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "believes," "targets," "likely," "positions" and similar expressions typically identify forward-looking statements, which are generally any statements other than statements of historical fact. Such statements are based on current expectations or views of the future and are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied. You should therefore not place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements and any of such statements should be read in conjunction with, and, qualified in their entirety by, the cautionary statements referenced below. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Key factors, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to be different are summarized in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Exhibit 99 in our Form 10-K, which are available on our website and at www.sec.gov. Additional factors that might affect: a) our packaging segments include product demand fluctuations; availability/cost of raw materials and logistics; competitive packaging, pricing and substitution; changes in climate and weather; competitive activity; footprint adjustments and other manufacturing changes; failure to achieve synergies, productivity improvements or cost reductions; mandatory deposit or other restrictive packaging laws; customer and supplier consolidation, power and supply chain influence; changes in major customer or supplier contracts or a loss of a major customer or supplier; political instability and sanctions; currency controls; changes in foreign exchange or tax rates, including due to the effects of the 2017 U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act; and tariffs or other governmental actions in any country affecting goods produced by us or in our supply chain, including imported raw materials, such as pursuant to section 232 of the U.S. Trade Expansion Act of 1962; b) our aerospace segment include funding, authorization, availability and returns of government and commercial contracts; and delays, extensions and technical uncertainties affecting segment contracts; c) the company as a whole include those listed plus: changes in senior management; regulatory action or issues including tax, environmental, health and workplace safety, including U.S. FDA and other actions or public concerns affecting products filled in our containers, or chemicals or substances used in raw materials or in the manufacturing process; technological developments and innovations; litigation; strikes; labor cost changes; rates of return on assets of the company's defined benefit retirement plans; pension changes; uncertainties surrounding geopolitical events and governmental policies both in the U.S. and in other countries, including the U.S. government elections, budget, sequestration and debt limit; reduced cash flow; interest rates affecting our debt; and successful or unsuccessful joint ventures, acquisitions and divestitures, including with respect to the Rexam PLC acquisition and its integration, or the associated divestiture; the effect of the acquisition or the divestiture on our business relationships, operating results and business generally.

SOURCE Ball AerospaceNASHVILLE, Tenn., Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Through Triple Play, Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Amerigroup Foundation are delivering education and programming that promote the importance of physical activity and proper nutrition, and enable youth to build the skills needed to overcome environmental factors that can negatively impact health and wellness. Thanks to $25,000 in Triple Play grants from Amerigroup Foundation, more youth will have access to health and wellness programming in Tennessee.

Through the partnership, Boys & Girls Clubs in Tennessee have made significant strides enabling youth to reach their full potential as healthy, productive adults. Comparing Club members Tennessee against youth nationally, for example, 74 percent of Clubs kids reported they've never drank alcohol, compared to 37 percent of youth nationally.

Thanks to Amerigroup Foundation, the following Clubs will receive grants to implement the Triple Play program:

Sycamore View Boys & Girls Club

Ira Samelson, Jr. Boys & Girls Club

Boys & Girls Club John Dustin Buckman Boys & Girls Club

& Girls Club Bernal E. Smith Sr. Boys & Girls Club

Boys & Girls Club Oakhaven Boys & Girls Club

"At Amerigroup Foundation, we are working to ensure Tennessee youth have an opportunity to live a healthier life," said Rob Garnett, president of Amerigroup Tennessee. "Through our Foundation, we are taking a proactive approach to adolescent health that takes into consideration social and environmental factors that impact well-being, and providing access to resources and support that foster greater awareness about the benefits of leading a healthier lifestyle that can positively impact their future."

As Boys & Girls Clubs of America's proven health and wellness program, Triple Play is a game plan for the mind, body and soul. Supported by founding sponsor The Coca-Cola Company and co-sponsor Amerigroup Foundation, the program's three components deliver on the belief that whole child health fosters young people's ability to gain diverse knowledge, skills, and protective factors that enable them to overcome barriers to wellness, resulting in positive future health outcomes.

"Amerigroup Foundation's continued support of Triple Play has enabled us to continuously build and implement a whole child development approach," said Jennifer Bateman, National Vice President of Youth Development Programs for Boys & Girls Clubs of America. "Through the partnership, we're enabling Tennessee youth in all communities statewide to develop the healthy habits, and social and emotional skills to lead a healthy lifestyle for life."

Amerigroup Foundation is committed to improving health and strengthening communities. Over the summer, the Foundation awarded the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Memphis a $25,000 grant to expand the Triple Play program.

Through Triple Play, Amerigroup Foundation aims to create positive outcomes for youth, families and communities that are sustained over time. Together, the partnership seeks to level the playing field to enable all youth to achieve great futures.

The Triple Play grants are part of a five-year, $10 million commitment to Boys & Girls Clubs of America from The Anthem Foundation, Amerigroup Foundation's parent company.

About Boys & Girls Clubs of America

For more than 150 years, Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA.org) has enabled young people most in need to achieve great futures as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Today, 4,300 Clubs serve 4 million young people through Club membership and community outreach. Clubs are located in cities, towns, public housing and on Native lands throughout the country, and serve military families in BGCA-affiliated Youth Centers on U.S. military installations worldwide. They provide a safe place, caring adult mentors, fun and friendship, and high-impact youth development programs on a daily basis during critical non-school hours. Club programs promote academic success, good character and citizenship, and healthy lifestyles. In a Harris Survey of alumni, 54 percent said the Club saved their lives. National headquarters are located in Atlanta. Learn more on Facebook and Twitter.

About the Amerigroup Foundation

The Amerigroup Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Amerigroup, a wholly owned subsidiary of Anthem, Inc. Together, with local, regional and national organizations, the Amerigroup Foundation works to enhance the health and well-being of individuals and families in communities that Amerigroup and its affiliated health plans serve. Amerigroup Foundation funding is focused on strategic initiatives working to address and provide innovative solutions to health care challenges, as well as promoting the Healthy Generations Program, a multi-generational initiative with five areas of focus: Healthy Heart, Cancer Prevention, Healthy Maternal Practices, Type 2 Diabetes Prevention, and Healthy Active Lifestyle. These disease states and medical conditions include: prenatal care in the first trimester, low birth weight babies, cardiac morbidity rates, long term activities that decrease obesity and increase physical activity, diabetes prevalence in adult populations, adult pneumococcal and influenza vaccinations and smoking cessation. The Foundation also coordinates the company's year-round Associate Giving program which provides a 50 percent match of associates' campaign pledges, as well as its Volunteer Time Off and Dollars for Doers community service programs. To learn more about the Amerigroup Foundation, please visit www.anthem.foundation.

SOURCE Boys & Girls Clubs of America

Related Links

http://www.bgca.org

Sugarleaf is pleased to now have 18 different strains of high-quality cannabis being grown in rotation, including 9 major strains in high production and 9 minor strains in smaller batch production. Traditionally a producer of high-quality cannabis flower products, Sugarleaf is now pleased to report that it is soon to launch its own line of cannabis oil-based products, to be dispensed in a special edition Sugarleaf branded Vapor Slide V2. The Vapor Slide V2 is a revolutionary distillate vaporizer that is the perfect hybrid between pen and dab. This is an exciting product as concentrates typically sell at a much higher price per gram than flower-based products and products similar to this account for approximately half of all cannabis sales in Washington State. This will be Sugarleaf's first product launch into the concentrates market and plans are already in place to expand the Sugarleaf brand into other products and devices before the end of Q1, 2019.

Sugarleaf Team Marketing Events

On November 28, Sugarleaf was pleased to host Joel from CustomGrow420, a hugely popular YouTube channel with over 1.6 million subscribers. Joel conducted an extensive video walkthrough of the revamped Sugarleaf operation, providing his subscribers with an in depth look at the various strains under cultivation and an interview with Chemistree Chairman, Justin Chorbajian. This video tour has now been released on YouTube and can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FOFp-7E2P0

Sugarleaf and Chemistree were also co-sponsors of the High Times magazine party held during the MJBiz cannabis conference held November 14-16 in Las Vegas. This event was a huge success and provided significant exposure for both the Sugarleaf brand and Chemistree as a growing player in the US cannabis market.

The Sugarleaf team was recently host to writers from Dope Magazine, one of the largest global media publications in the cannabis industry. Sugarleaf team members proudly displayed the Sugarleaf facility and appeared in a 2-page article in Dope Magazine's October 2018 issue. The story "Sugarleaf Goes Green and Makes an Impact" is available at www.sugarleaf.com.

Through a series of targeted initiatives, Sugarleaf recently hosted a group of Bud Tenders from one of the largest retailers in Washington State to celebrate a brand-new event called "High In The Sky". Sugarleaf introduced its new brands to these important industry people while enjoying a tour of the newly revamped Sugarleaf facility as well as a helicopter ride over the scenic San Juan Islands. More "High In The Sky" events are planned for the near future to continue to expand the Sugarleaf brand.

Grow Facility Update

Chemistree is also pleased to report that the Sugarleaf facility has undergone significant infrastructure upgrades and design improvements, including the addition of an automated irrigation system allowing the Sugarleaf cannabis product to be grown more consistently, maintaining its high-quality standard while simultaneously reducing labour costs. Operational performance and improvements include introducing new nutrient feed programs by Green Planet Nutrients custom tailored to fit high yield plant growth, changing growing methods to allow for less labour and higher plant count which will generate larger yields, and the introduction of new genetics.

About Chemistree Technology Inc.

Chemistree Technology Inc. is an investment company dedicated to the U.S. and international cannabis sector, providing turn key solutions for the regulated cannabis industry. The Company's corporate strategy is to acquire and develop vertically integrated cannabis assets, leveraging management's decades of expertise in the cannabis industry and corporate finance to own and operate licensed cultivation, processing, distribution and retail facilities. The Company currently owns assets in Washington State used to operate the Sugarleaf brand, prospective cannabis cultivation lands in California, a first investment in the Canadian cannabis sector through Pasha Brands and has a robust pipeline of assets to grow its base of business. For more information, visit www.chemistree.ca.

Advisory

The Company wishes to inform shareholders that there are significant legal restrictions and regulations that govern the cannabis industry in both Canada and the United States.

Cannabis-related Practices or Activities are Illegal Under U.S. Federal Laws

The concepts of "medical cannabis" and "recreational cannabis" do not exist under U.S. federal law. The Federal Controlled Substances Act classifies "marihuana" as a Schedule I drug. Under U.S. federal law, a Schedule I drug or substance has a high potential for abuse, no accepted medical use in the United States, and a lack of safety for the use of the drug under medical supervision. As such, cannabis related practices or activities, including without limitation, the manufacture, importation, possession, use or distribution of cannabis are illegal under U.S. federal law. Strict compliance with state laws with respect to cannabis will neither absolve the Company of liability under U.S. federal law, nor will it provide a defense to any federal proceeding which may be brought against the Company. Enforcement of U.S. federal laws will be a significant risk to the business of the Company following the completion of the acquisitions, and any such proceedings brought against the Company may adversely affect the Company's operations and financial performance.

Further information regarding the legal status of cannabis related activities and associated risk factors, including, but not limited to, risk of enforcement actions, risks that third-party service providers, such as banking or financial institutions cease providing services to the Company, and the risk that Company may not be able to distribute profits, if any, from U.S. operations up to the Company, are included in the Form 2A listing statement filed with the CSE.

"Karl Kottmeier"

President

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Information set forth in this news release may involve forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements that relate to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "budget", "scheduled" and "intend", statements that an action or event "may", "might", "could", "should", or "will" be taken or occur, or other similar expressions. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements about adding clients, building on the Company's initial product offerings, entry into of definitive agreements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the risks identified in the Company's reports and filings with the applicable Canadian securities regulators. Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made and the respective companies undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as required by applicable securities laws. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no responsibility to update or revise forward-looking information to reflect new events or circumstances unless required by applicable law.

SOURCE Chemistree Technology Inc.

Related Links

http://chemistree.ca/

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- In response to the humanitarian crisis at the Tijuana border where over 5,000 central American migrants are in dire need of shelter, clothing, food, and legal representation, a coalition including representatives from Curacao Foundation, El Rescate and Honduran United of Los Angeles will assist at the Salesian Project and the El Barretal Shelter in Tijuana, on December 8, 2018 from 8:AM to 1:PM with the purpose of providing legal counseling, legal workshops and giving children, women and adolescents clothing, food and humanitarian assistance.

In addition, the Curacao Foundation, El Rescate and Tu Vision Foundation will collectively donate $10,000 and raise additional funds from December 10th 2018 ending on January 26th , 2019 to help these thousands of migrants through El Rescate Facebook page and GoFundMe page.

"This is a humanitarian crisis. These are people who are fleeing violence and persecution in their home countries and they need our help to navigate the complicated legal process. This is yet another effort that showcases Curacaos' commitment to the community," Curacao Foundation Director Sophia Cortez said.

About Curacao:

The Curacao Foundation was established in 2001. It is a private foundation dedicated to building a future in which communities are financially strong, socially empowered, respected and included. The Curacao Foundation supports a broad range of community partner organizations through general operation and program grants. Much of the grant making focus of the Foundation is on organizations and institutions within a 10-mile radius surrounding each Curacao retail location and in organizations focusing in health/well-being, education and immigration. For more information: https://icuracao.com/foundation

About El Rescate:

El Rescate empowers immigrants, in particular Latinos, to improve their political and economic wellbeing in order to promote their full participation as citizens.

About Tu Vision Foundation:

Tu Vision Foundation's mission it to assist, uplift, and empower the Spanish speaking world community through crucial rebuilding projects, training, legal assistance, and reuniting families in need.

About Hondurenos Unidos en Los Angeles:

Hondurenos Unidos of Los Angeles (HULA) was established in 2000 with the purpose to assist Honduran immigrants in their immigration and social needs as well as to promote the cultural roots of this community in Southern California.

About SALEF:

The Salvadoran American Leadership and Education Fund (SALEF) was established 27 years ago, with the purpose of providing free scholarships to students in the Southern California area and help them with leadership skills. With its civic programs, SALEF also help in promoting citizenship for immigrants and participates in humanitarian efforts for Central Americans in times of crisis.

About Clinica Oscar Romero:

The Oscar Romero Clinic was established in 1983 to provide medical services to the Central American refugee community of Los Angeles. Currently Clinica Oscar Romero has services in Los Angeles and East Los Angeles where it provides healthcare services to the Latino community.

Media Contacts:

Inma Carbajal-Fogel

MPRM Communications

[email protected]

323-272-3119

SOURCE Curacao

Related Links

https://icuracao.com

WOONSOCKET, R.I., Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- CVS Pharmacy, the retail division of CVS Health (NYSE: CVS), announced today that it has completed the rollout of time delay safes in all of its 77 CVS Pharmacy locations in Kentucky. The safes will help prevent pharmacy robberies and combat the ongoing opioid epidemic by helping to prevent diversion of controlled substance narcotic medications by keeping them out of the hands of unauthorized individuals. In addition, the safes will help CVS Pharmacy ensure the safety and well-being of its customers and employees.

Controlled substance narcotic medications that are sought after by robbers, such as oxycodone and hydrocodone, are now stored in safes using time delay technology in every CVS Pharmacy in the state of Kentucky. Time delay safes help deter pharmacy robberies by electronically delaying the time it takes for pharmacy employees to be able to open the safe. CVS Pharmacy first implemented time delay safes in Indianapolis, a city experiencing a high volume of pharmacy robberies, in 2015. The company saw a 70 percent decline in pharmacy robberies among the Indianapolis stores where the time delay safes had been installed.

"Pharmacy robberies are a challenging issue for every pharmacy and we are committed to doing all we can to reduce the number of pharmacy robbery incidents in our Kentucky stores," said Everett Moore, Division Vice President of CVS Pharmacy. "In other parts of the country we have seen that time delay safes, combined with the other security policies and procedures in place at our stores, can greatly reduce these incidents. We are pleased to roll out time delay safes here in Kentucky to help ensure that our pharmacies remain a safe environment for our patients and colleagues."

"I applaud CVS Health on the installation of time delay safes in all of their Kentucky pharmacies," said State Senator Julie Raque Adams. "The opioid epidemic has hit Kentucky especially hard, as it has so many other states, and our communities are working to fight this growing problem each and every day. An important way to do so is to ensure that medications are kept out of the wrong hands and the safes now in place at CVS Pharmacy locations in Kentucky will help do just that."



"Substance misuse is a significant driver of criminal behavior, as people sometimes turn to illegal behavior to fuel their addictions," said Louisville Metro Police Chief Steve Conrad. "I am very pleased that our partners at CVS Health are taking additional steps to reduce thefts from their stores. It takes all of us as a community working together to address the high rates of addiction we are seeing and to reduce the crime that often comes with that."



The time delay function cannot be overridden and is designed to serve as a deterrent to would-be pharmacy robbers whose goal is to enter and exit their robbery targets as quickly as possible. All CVS Pharmacy locations with time delay safes display highly-visible signage to inform the public that time delay safes are in use to prevent on-demand access to controlled substance narcotics.

The implementation of time delay safes across all CVS Pharmacy locations in Kentucky is the latest in a series of measures put in place by CVS Health to help combat prescription drug abuse in the state. CVS Health's commitment to preventing and addressing prescription drug abuse extends to community education, efforts to encourage safe disposal of unused medication and increasing access to the opioid overdose-reversal drug naloxone. The company's Pharmacists Teach program brings CVS Pharmacists to schools across the country to talk to students and parents about the dangers of prescription drug abuse. More than 418,000 students across the country, including nearly 3,000 in Kentucky, have participated in the program.

CVS Health has also completed installation of nine safe medication disposal units in CVS Pharmacy stores in Kentucky. Nationwide, 750 safe medication disposal units have been installed in CVS Pharmacy locations, adding to the more than 900 units the company has donated to law enforcement agencies. The company has committed to installing an additional 1,100 units in 2019. In total, the company has facilitated more than 1,650 units nationwide, which have collected more than 555,000 pounds, or 252 metric tons of unwanted medication to date. Increasing community access to safe medication disposal helps rid homes of unused medications that could otherwise be diverted, abused or contaminate the water supply if disposed of improperly.

About CVS Pharmacy

CVS Pharmacy, the retail division of CVS Health (NYSE: CVS), is America's leading retail pharmacy with over 9,800 locations. It is the first national pharmacy to end the sale of tobacco and the first pharmacy in the nation to receive the Community Pharmacy accreditation from URAC, the leading health care accreditation organization that establishes quality standards for the health care industry. CVS Pharmacy is reinventing pharmacy to help people on their path to better health by providing the most accessible and personalized expertise, both in its stores and online at CVS.com. General information about CVS Pharmacy is available at http://www.cvshealth.com .

Media Contact:

Amy Lanctot

Cell: (401) 258-9216

[email protected]

SOURCE CVS Pharmacy

Related Links

http://www.cvshealth.com

As part of the acquisition, Trusource Labs will maintain its headquarters in Austin, Texas and its experience delivery locations in the US and Europe. The existing co-CEO, Alton Martin, will remain with the company, working closely with sister companies C3, Hyperlab , and Globee under the unified Everise mission of fusing human and digital teams to transform how global firms deliver customer experiences.

Bain & Company, a Global Management Consultancy, predicts that the global IoT market is expected to double by 2021 to almost US$520 billion as everything from refrigerators to security cameras and phones become connected to the internet. Basic home appliances will become much more complex and will require specialist customer support that has the technical abilities to provide fast, efficient service. Trusource Labs delivers this and has a proven track record of delivering service excellence in the IoT space from the initial Beta stages that products go through to mass adoption. Everise will be able to build on this, leveraging its Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities and technological innovations, to meet the needs of customers and clients as they become increasingly connected.

Sudhir Agarwal, CEO of Everise commented, "We connect 'things' to make our lives easier, allowing us to shop, research, call, monitor, power and so on  even remotely - all in the name of convenience. This is a great concept until one device stops communicating with another, and the need for support arises. Everise is now uniquely positioned to support this explosive segment of the BPO market."

Agarwal added, "This is the 3rd major expansion in 2018 for Everise and our second acquisition in two months. As one of the fastest growing BPO firms globally, we are bringing together the strongest talent that this industry has to offer, and we are transforming customer experiences globally. Trusource Labs rounds out our delivery capabilities into product and help desk experiences, and Everise will strengthen these by infusing many of the technological innovations our teams have developed to benefit the end user ultimately."

By bringing Trusource Labs into the C3 family, the company continues its mission to elevate and provide resources across multiple platforms that will ensure the best, seamless customer service experience possible. C3's goal is to combine the latest in technology, innovation and people to exceed the level of service needed in today's customer-centric environment and meet the customer service challenges brought by IoT innovations.

These acquisitions and partnerships have allowed Everise to evolve into a holistic customer service provider, one that merges technology with human talent. This has resulted in better customer satisfaction, better first-person experiences and, most important, better brand loyalty for its clients around the world.

"Becoming a part of Everise is an exciting milestone and opportunity for all Trusource Labs employees as this gives us the edge we need to transform our user experiences further," added Alton Martin, Trusource Labs Co-CEO and Co-Founder. "The near-term synergies we have identified will offer meaningful value to our prestigious client base, and we know this value will continue to grow exponentially over time.

"Creating a good customer experience is the heart of any business. Every contact with our clients determines whether or not they will (or won't) come back. So, it's imperative to exceed expectations every time and make every aspect of their experience better than expected."

Trusource Labs employs over 500 team members in the US. This enhances the Everise footprint in the US, which currently employs approximately 7,000 team members under the C3 brand.

Dave Palmer, C3's Chief Operating Officer, added, "We have been extremely impressed with how well the Trusource Labs mindset aligns with that of C3 and all the Everise companies. Their mantra of working differently to generate results in a collaborative work environment has been instrumental in their success and differentiation in the market. I am looking forward to the heightened experiences we will collectively deliver on behalf of our global clientele."

About Everise

Everise, owned by Sunrise BPO Services Pte. Ltd., Everstone, and ACPI, is the only Asia-based global experience company that provides, through its operating companies around the world, a full range of customer contact management services for corporate brands from both U.S. and international locations. The company's vision is to create an Experience Company, meeting the need for innovation and disruption in the BPO industry through smart partnerships and technology, and by providing high-quality end-to-end customer experiences. In 2018, Everise partnered with Microsoft to develop an Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform to disrupt the Contact Centre and BPO industry through an omnichannel customer service solution that targets voice, video and text interactions and delivers an unprecedented intelligent, customer-centric experience by leveraging the power of AI. Everise owns C3|CustomerContactChannels, Hyperlab, Trusource Labs and co-owns Globee, a Global Business Service center in Malaysia focusing on global clients looking for a multi-lingual solution. For more information, visit www.everiseholdings.com .

About C3|CustomerContactChannels

C3|Customer Contact Channels, Inc. (C3), is an Everise company. With US headquarters in Florida, C3 is a leading international provider of outsourced customer relationship management solutions and meets growing customer demands by providing omnichannel customer service experiences around the world, creating loyal FANS and returning significant ROI for clients. C3 goes beyond traditional customer service, leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) to increase the range and scope of services for clients and disrupting the global BPO industry. With over 10,000 employees worldwide, C3 provides multilingual omnichannel support to clients. With every client, customer, and employee experience, C3 maintains one simple goal, "We'll make a FAN out of you." For more information, visit www.c3connect.com .

About Trusource Labs

Trusource Labs is an Austin-based company dedicated to providing outstanding complex technical support services to innovative companies worldwide. Trusource's teams are experts in providing positive and beneficial customer experiences related to the Internet of Things and Apple devices. In addition to the traditional 24/7 help desk with the phone and chat support, Trusource employs innovative self-service approaches like instructional videos, social media and knowledge base articles so end-users can get common issues addressed without having to pick up the phone. They can also help clients create a custom, out-of-the-box support experience while meeting privacy and security needs. For more information, visit www.trusourcelabs.com .

SOURCE C3|CustomerContactChannelsLAWRENCEVILLE, Ga., Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Georgia School Boards Association (GSBA) is pleased to announce the finalists for the 2018 Governance Team of the Year Award. This prestigious award will be presented annually to one Georgia public school district's board of education and superintendent who have achieved all-around success in their district. This recognition is deeply rooted in the components of the Georgia Vision Project's research-based recommendations for Georgia's public schools.

These finalists were vetted through a stringent application process and a visit by an impartial review team to vet the information in the application.

"This group of ten school districts from all over Georgia exemplify what it means to achieve at the highest levels. We are very pleased with this inaugural class for the Governance Team of the Year," said Katrina Young, GSBA President and Rockdale County Board of Education member.

The winner will be announced at the GSBA/GSSA Annual Conference at the Renaissance Waverly Hotel in Atlanta, December 6, 2018, from 7-9 p.m. during a banquet honoring these outstanding governance teams. There were 33 Georgia school districts that qualified and 10 that chose to submit applications.

The winner will be chosen by a panel of national experts who perform various leadership roles in the field of public education.

"Board of education members and superintendents must operate with a high level of functionality in order for a school district to achieve student success," said Valarie Wilson, GSBA Executive Director. "This award will not only honor the school district but highlight best practices on an annual basis."

2018 GSBA Governance Team of the Year Finalists

Bleckley County Schools

Chickamauga City Schools

Dawson County Schools

Effingham County Schools

Forsyth County Schools

Gwinnett County Schools

Jefferson City Schools

Lumpkin County Schools

Pierce County Schools

Schley County Schools

Media Contact  Justin Pauly, Director of Communications, 770-962-6843, [email protected]

SOURCE The Georgia School Boards AssociationBOSTON, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- With demand for skilled tech talent in the greater Boston area at an all-time high, Harvard Extension School and leading workforce accelerator Trilogy Education announce the launch of The Coding Boot Camp at Harvard Extension School. Provided by Trilogy Education and geared toward adult learners and working professionals in the Boston area, this intensive web development program will teach the front-end and back-end skills necessary to develop dynamic end-to-end applications, as well as the soft skills critical to success in today's workplace.

Harvard Extension School and Trilogy Education are teaming up to give local working adults the coding skills to join Greater Boston's fast-growing tech economy.

The part-time, 24-week program begins March 11, 2019. Classes will be held in Harvard Square from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. two nights a week and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays. Participants who successfully complete the program will receive a Certificate of Completion in Full-Stack Web Development. Enrollment is now open at bootcamp.extension.harvard.edu .

"Since its inception, the Harvard Extension School was designed to serve the needs of the greater Boston community. With industry demand for technology skills set to double in the next decade, the call from local professionals and businesses has never been clearer," said Huntington Lambert, Dean of Harvard's Division of Continuing Education. "Harvard Extension School offers dozens of for-credit classes, graduate certificates, and degrees in computer science and information systems areas, but not the type of skill development that Trilogy Education can add as we serve the broad needs of learners across their careers. By leveraging Trilogy's groundbreaking platform, curriculum, and network, The Coding Boot Camp at Harvard Extension School provided by Trilogy Education will provide a complementary pathway into the digital economy for those in the workforce and a new pipeline of technology talent for the area's employers."

The Boston area is one of the strongest markets for tech talent in the nation. However, accelerating demand for web developers combined with record-low unemployment is making it increasingly challenging for local employers to meet their hiring needs. In the past 12 months, Boston-area employers struggled to fill over 80,000 open roles requiring some level of coding ability. In the same period, the city added just 8,500 tech degrees, according to CBRE.

"The Coding Boot Camp at Harvard Extension School is a powerful example of Trilogy Education's approach working hand-in-hand with leading universities to close the digital skills gaps in their cities," said Dan Sommer, CEO and Founder of Trilogy Education. "Together, we're giving working adults in Boston from all backgrounds the opportunity to capture meaningful gains from the region's fast-growing technology sector."

Pairing Harvard Extension School's strengths with Trilogy Education's proven platform and market-driven curriculum offers students both the competence and confidence to succeed in the technology industry. The program's curriculum covers the basics of coding, algorithms and data structure plus intensive training in JavaScript, Node.js, HTML, CSS, jQuery, Java and more. No previous training or experience is required, but applicants should have an understanding of coding basics.

In addition to classroom instruction, participants will spend 20 hours a week on outside projects, homework, and experiential learning activities designed to build soft skills like problem solving, teamwork, and communication. They'll also build a professional project portfolio to showcase their abilities and hone their competitive edge in the employment market.

The boot camp includes a range of career-planning services, portfolio reviews, recruiting assistance, and extensive staff support. Participants will showcase their final projects at the city's first Project Demo Day in mid-2019, open to Boston's business community.

Apply Now

To learn more, visit bootcamp.extension.harvard.edu . You can apply online or by calling (617) 459 4320.

About Trilogy Education Services, Inc.

Trilogy Education is a workforce accelerator that empowers the world's leading universities to prepare professionals for high-growth careers in the digital economy. Trilogy's intensive, skills-based training programs bridge regional talent gaps in coding, data analytics, UX/UI, and cybersecurity in more than 40 markets around the globe. Since the company's launch in 2015, thousands of working adults have successfully completed Trilogy-powered programs, and more than 2,000 companiesincluding 50% of the Fortune 100employ them.

About Harvard Extension School

Founded in 1910 as part of Harvard University, Harvard Extension School serves 14,000 working professionals each year through a diverse offering of courses, certificates, and liberal arts undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Drawing upon faculty from the University, other institutions, and industry experts, the school offers high quality online and on-campus learning opportunities in a diverse range of subjects such as government, management, computer science, and sustainability for students who want the challenge of Harvard academics while working full-time. As part of its mission to extend the resources of Harvard, Extension School programs are designed to meet the demanding needs of part-time students.

Contact:

Glenda Felden

[email protected]

(628) 400-7553

SOURCE Trilogy Education Services

Related Links

https://www.trilogyed.com

MEXICO CITY, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Hoteles City Express, S.A.B. de C.V. ("The Company") (BMV: HCITY), announced the opening of City Express Junior Sullivan, reaching 144 hotels in operation, and more than 16,200 available rooms in 69 cities and 30 states in Mexico, as well as Colombia, Costa Rica, and Chile.

City Express Junior Sullivan has 96 available rooms and and is 100% Company-owned. This new property will serve travelers with activities related to business and commerce that operate on the downtown area of Mexico City with several demand generators mainly related to commercial activities and services as well as tourist attractions.

About Hoteles City Express:

Hoteles City Express is considered the leading and fastest-growing limited-service hotel chain in Mexico in terms of number of hotels, number of rooms, geographic presence, market share and revenues. Founded in 2002, Hoteles City Express specializes in offering high-quality, comfortable and safe lodging at affordable prices via a limited-service hotel chain geared mainly towards domestic business travelers. With 144 hotels in operation located throughout Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia and Chile, Hoteles City Express operates five distinct brands: City Express, City Express Plus, City Express Suites, City Express Junior and City Centro to serve different segments of its target market. In June 2013, Hoteles City Express completed its IPO and began trading on the Mexican Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "HCITY"; furthermore, on October 8, 2014, Hoteles City Express completed a follow on with the aim of accelerating its growth in new hotels in coming years.

For further information, please visit our website: https://cityexpress.com/en/investors/

SOURCE Hoteles City Express, S.A.B. de C.V.

Related Links

http://www.cityexpress.com

"The Best Buy recognition for Accent and Kona emphasizes our efforts in delivering outstanding value through eye-catching design, advanced technology and high quality vehicles," said Scott Margason, Director, Product Planning, Hyundai Motor America.

The Best Buy Award trophy will be presented by Tom Appel, publisher of Consumer Guide Automotive at the 2019 Chicago Auto Show early next year.

Consumer Guide evaluates numerous vehicles during the year to determine which ones prove their value and available features. Vehicles selected for the Automotive Awards offer a combination of features and options plus the dynamic qualities that make for safe, enjoyable and reliable transportation choices.

Accent delivers outstanding value by making key features standard. Standard convenience features include steering wheel audio and speed cruise controls, Bluetooth and color touchscreen with rearview camera. To provide versatility, all Accents are equipped with 60/40 split folding rear seatback. A 7-inch Display Audio touchscreen system with both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto capability is available for seamless and intuitive operation of the most commonly used smartphone functions, including app-based navigation, streaming audio and voice-controlled search capabilities.

The Hyundai Kona CUV offers exceptional value by offering safety and convenience features as standard. Forward Collision-avoidance Assist, Lane Keeping Assist and Driver Attention Warning are standard safety features. All Konas come standard with tilt-and-telescopic steering wheel with audio, Bluetooth and cruise controls, and a 7-inch Display Audio touchscreen system with both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto capability. KONA is powered by a 2.0L Atkinson-cycle 4-cylinder with an optional 1.6L Turbo GDI engine that delivers 175 horsepower and 195 lb. ft of torque. An electric version of the 2019 Kona has also been introduced and will arrive in California dealers later this year. Kona Electric boasts a standard 258-mile range.

Consumer Guide Automotive

Since 1967, Consumer Guide has published authoritative, objective reviews of new and used cars and trucks. Consumer Guide's singular focus is to make car shopping easier for consumers. Consumer Guide editors provide professional, unbiased evaluations of nearly 1,500 new and used vehicles, as well as expert shopping advice and insightful automotive editorials. Consumer Guide is based in Lincolnwood, IL. It is published by Publications International, Ltd.

http://consumerguide.com/best-buys/

Hyundai Motor America

Hyundai Motor America is focused on delivering an outstanding customer experience grounded in design leadership, engineering excellence and exceptional value in every vehicle we sell. Hyundai's technology-rich product lineup of cars, SUVs and alternative-powered electric and fuel cell vehicles is backed by Hyundai Assuranceour promise to deliver peace of mind to our customers. Hyundai vehicles are sold and serviced through more than 830 dealerships nationwide and the majority sold in the U.S. are built at U.S. manufacturing facilities, including Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama. Hyundai Motor America is headquartered in Fountain Valley, California, and is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company of Korea.

Please visit our media website at www.HyundaiNews.com

Hyundai Motor America on Twitter | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram

SOURCE Hyundai Motor America

Related Links

http://www.hyundainews.com

BENGALURU, India, December 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Innovating new business models and maximizing revenue and profits are the next set of priorities for data analytics

Finance and accounting, marketing and operations are key functions that leverage analytics extensively

When combined with data analytics; allied technologies like AI, IoT & Cloud perceived to be the most effective in delivering better business outcomes

Infosys (NYSE: INFY), a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting, today published a global research on data analytics from the Infosys Knowledge Institute. The survey titled, 'Endless possibilities with data: Navigate from now to your next', reveals that a majority of organizations are deploying analytics to enhance customer experiences and mitigate risk.



(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/633365/Infosys_Logo.jpg )



This research tries to understand how data analytics is becoming core to driving digital transformation for enterprises and makes an assessment of enterprise expectations in a world of endless possibilities with data. It also explores a range of challenges, opportunities, and the role of new technologies in the analytics world.

Highlights of the survey

31% of respondents identified the use of analytics with experience enhancement. This includes using intelligence generated by listening to internal and external stakeholders to drive extreme personalization and high quality customer service

28% respondents were interested in leveraging analytics for risk mitigation - predicting risk to enable better decision making, and detecting anomalies that could disrupt business effectiveness

Developing new business models by unearthing the latent needs of customers and offering innovative products and services was seen as the primary analytics requirement of 23% of respondents.

Revenue and profit maximization through increasing channel effectiveness and thereby enhancing profitability across processes, channels and stakeholder ecosystems was the analytics priority for the remaining 18%.

The majority of respondents in the U.S. (32%) and Europe (34%) stated they would like to use analytics for experience enhancement whereas in ANZ about 31% respondents consider it for risk mitigation

Functions across organization are benefiting from the possibilities of data. Finance and accounting was found to use analytics the most at 32%, followed by marketing and operations at 20% and 17% respectively. In terms of emerging technologies, Artificial intelligence was perceived to deliver increased outcomes when combined with analytics at 37% followed by IoT and Cloud Technologies at 19% and 16% respectively.

The survey found that enterprises in every industry encountered several challenges that prevented them from implementing their analytics initiatives fully. The biggest challenges stemmed from a lack of expertise in integrating multiple datasets (44% of respondents) and failure of understanding in deploying the right analysis techniques (43%). This is where enterprises are looking up to their partners to help industrialize their analytics capabilities by creating an analytics strategy, build an operational framework, and define a process for executing and governing analytics initiatives.

Satish H.C., EVP and Head, Data Analytics, Infosys, said, "In the world of endless possibilities that data provides, being data native is core for enterprises to being digital. As enterprises work with limitations of siloed systems, data integration issues, resources and skills, harnessing the possibilities with data will be essential to navigating their next. We believe that the findings of this survey will help our clients to fast-track their journey into a data-native enterprise by industrializing their analytics capabilities and ultimately monetize data."

For a full copy of the report, please visit: http://www.infosys.com/endless-possibilities-with-data

Methodology

Infosys commissioned independent market research company Feedback Business Consulting to undertake a study to understand how companies are using data analytics today and their expectations in a world of endless possibilities with data. The study was carried out by interviewing 1062 senior business and technology executives from organizations with annual revenues exceeding US$ 1 billion and 1000+ employees. Overall the respondents represented 12 industry groups from the United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

About Infosys Knowledge Institute

As enterprises navigate the path to being digital, Infosys Knowledge Institute offers thought leadership to guide their transformation. With decades' worth of business and technology experience we help enterprises strategize how they reinvent themselves from the core: their people, processes, and proposition.

About Infosys Ltd.

Infosys is a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting. We enable clients in 45 countries to navigate their digital transformation. With over three decades of experience in managing the systems and workings of global enterprises, we expertly steer our clients through their digital journey. We do it by enabling the enterprise with an AI-powered core that helps prioritize the execution of change. We also empower the business with agile digital at scale to deliver unprecedented levels of performance and customer delight. Our always-on learning agenda drives their continuous improvement through building and transferring digital skills, expertise, and ideas from our innovation ecosystem.

Visit http://www.infosys.com to see how Infosys (NYSE: INFY) can help your enterprise navigate your next.

Safe Harbor

Certain statements mentioned in this release concerning our future growth prospects are forward-looking statements regarding our future business expectations intended to qualify for the 'safe harbor' under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in earnings, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, industry segment concentration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks or system failures, data privacy breaches or cyber security incidents, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which Infosys has made strategic investments, withdrawal or expiration of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability and regional conflicts, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, and unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our United States Securities and Exchange Commission filings including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018. These filings are available at http://www.sec.gov. Infosys may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. The company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the company unless it is required by law.

SOURCE Infosys"Ivan is an established and experienced leader in medical journalism, and we are pleased to welcome him to Medscape," said Jo-Ann Strangis, Senior Vice President, Editorial and Audience Engagement, Medscape. "His commitment to journalistic quality and integrity fits perfectly with Medscape's mission to provide physicians and healthcare professionals with rigorous content that is compelling and relevant to their practice."

Dr. Oransky recently held senior editorial positions at MedPage Today and Reuters Health. Additionally, he was in editorial roles at Scientific American, The Scientist and Praxis Post and co-founded Retraction Watch, which reports on scientific retractions, fraud and related issues. Dr. Oransky serves as President of the Association of Health Care Journalists and is a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute.

He earned his medical degree from New York University, completed his internship in psychiatry at Yale University, and earned a bachelor's degree from Harvard University.

"I'm thrilled to be joining Medscape's world-class brand," said Dr. Oransky. "I have devoted my career to furthering the highest standards in health and science journalism, and I look forward to working with one of the best editorial teams in medical publishing to further our shared commitment."

About Medscape

Medscape is the leading source of clinical news, health information, and point-of-care tools for health care professionals. Medscape offers specialists, primary care physicians, and other health professionals the most robust and integrated medical information and educational tools. Medscape Education (medscape.org) is the leading destination for continuous professional development, consisting of more than 30 specialty-focused destinations offering thousands of free CME and CE courses and other educational programs for physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals.

Both Medscape and Medscape Education are part of WebMD Health Corp., an Internet Brands company, and the leading provider of health information services, serving patients, physicians, health care professionals, employers, and health plans through public and private online portals, mobile platforms, and health-focused publications. The WebMD Health Network includes WebMD Health, Medscape, MedicineNet, eMedicineHealth, RxList, OnHealth, Medscape Education, and other owned WebMD sites. WebMD, Medscape, CME Circle, Medpulse, eMedicine, MedicineNet, theheart.org , and RxList are among the trademarks of WebMD Health Corp. or its subsidiaries.

About WebMD

WebMD Health Corp., an Internet Brands Company, is the leading provider of health information services, serving patients, physicians, health care professionals, employers, and health plans through our public and private online portals, mobile platforms, and health-focused publications. The WebMD Health Network includes WebMD Health, Medscape, MedicineNet, eMedicineHealth, RxList, OnHealth, Medscape Education, and other owned WebMD sites.

WebMD, Medscape, CME Circle, Medpulse, eMedicine, MedicineNet, theheart.org , and RxList are among the trademarks of WebMD Health Corp. or its subsidiaries.

About Internet Brands

Headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., Internet Brands is a fully integrated online media and software services organization focused on four high-value vertical categories: Health, Automotive, Legal and Home/Travel. The company's award-winning consumer websites lead their categories and serve more than 250 million monthly visitors, while a full range of web presence offerings has established deep, long-term relationships with SMB and enterprise clients. Internet Brands' powerful, proprietary operating platform provides the flexibility and scalability to fuel the company's continued growth. Internet Brands is a portfolio company of KKR and Temasek. For more information, please visit www.internetbrands.com.

SOURCE MedscapeCHICAGO, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Liquidware, the leader in adaptive workspace management, today announced the release of Liquidware ProfileUnity and FlexApp v6.8 with new industry-first features, including FlexApp layering support for object-based cloud storage (Amazon S3, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure), and FlexApp Cloud Apps  turnkey pre-packaged cloud-hosted app layers that are ready for use.

Until now, Server Message Block (SMB) file shares have been a requirement of application layering solutions for hosting the delivery of applications. SMB file shares require servers and operating systems for the purpose of making a file share available to host layers. FlexApp is the industry's first solution to support object-based cloud storage APIs natively, thus eliminating the complexity of maintaining servers in the cloud for file shares. FlexApp Cache is also an industry-first feature being introduced to lend high-availability of layers on less than dependable networks.

Native support for multi-cloud services provides further benefits to organizations that use FlexApp to layer applications, by providing a seamless transition to cloud-based DaaS (Desktop as a Service), delivering built-in high-availability, and lowering storage costs.

"Companies are increasingly embracing multi-cloud/hybrid-cloud strategies," said Shannon Kalvar, IDC Research Manager. "This shift makes it imperative for application virtualization vendors to technically enable this strategic direction in a seamless fashion."

A summary of the new features in ProfileUnity and FlexApp v6.8 reveals:

FlexApp Support for Cloud  FlexApp now supports saving and hosting application layers to object-based storage with multi-cloud support, including Amazon S3, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure.

FlexApp Caching  FlexApp applications now start immediately as blocks of data continue to load from the cloud or SMB. Benefits include faster execution of apps and enhanced FlexApp stability on unreliable networks.

FlexApp Cloud Apps  FlexApp now features over a dozen pre-packaged cloud-hosted applications. These apps are ready to deploy for pilot projects and easily cloned for production environments.

FlexApp Application Layering Support for Amazon AppStream  FlexApp enables one AppStream server to publish multiple applications, minimizing the number of base images and servers used to deliver AppStream applications.

Licensing Server  ProfileUnity and FlexApp's management console will now act as a licensing server to enable true concurrent license models. Benefits include accurate in-use ProfileUnity and FlexApp license counts, especially helpful in healthcare, government, and education.

Faster ProfileUnity and FlexApp client execution  startup of the agent has been streamlined, reducing login times for most customers by several seconds.

"Our FlexApp layering solution has led with many industry firsts since its introduction seven years ago," said Jason E. Smith, VP of Product Marketing, Liquidware. "With the advent of object-based cloud storage for FlexApp layers, the innovation in this release is game-changing. Through the use of API-level integration, ProfileUnity and FlexApp enable organizations to easily consume cloud storage while delivering multiple benefits for the enterprise. FlexApp again delivers industry firsts with new functionality, and is moreover multi-cloud ready with support for all three major public clouds, including Microsoft Azure, Amazon S3, and Google Cloud."

In related news earlier this year, Liquidware ProfileUnity became the first User Environment Management solution to leverage object-based storage for user profiles. User profiles, from native cloud without the use of SMB, offer similar benefits to customers by readying them for seamless DaaS transitions, providing built-in high availability from multi-clouds, and lowering the cost of storage.

About Liquidware

Liquidware is a leader in adaptive workspace management solutions for Windows desktops. The company's products encompass all facets of management to ensure the ultimate user experience across all workspaces  physical, virtual, DaaS or in the cloud. Enterprises across the globe utilize Liquidware solutions to dramatically decrease time spent managing desktops, while delivering increased security, flexibility and scalability. Supported platforms include Microsoft physical, WVD (Windows Virtual Desktop), and RDS desktops, Citrix Desktops, VMware Horizon View, Amazon WorkSpaces (AWS), and Nutanix FRAME. Liquidware products are available through a global network of partners. For more information, visit www.liquidware.com or follow on Twitter @liquidware.

Media Contacts:

Sarah Shkargi, [email protected]

SOURCE Liquidware

Related Links

https://www.liquidware.com

1. Industry Innovation of the Year -- Business Model: Shenzhen MOVER Jewellery Co Ltd

2. Outstanding Enterprise of the Year -- Greater China: Shenzhen Sunfeel Jewelry Co Ltd

3. Retailer of the Year (501 outlets and above): HIERSUN -- China

4. Young Entrepreneur of the Year (Age 40 and below): XU Xiao, Zbird / Shanghai Wisdom Jewelry Trading Co Ltd

First organised by UBM Asia in 2012, the JNA Awards strives to promote and encourage excellence, leadership, innovation and best business practises in the international jewellery and gemstone community. Today, the Awards has grown into one of the most prestigious and coveted awards in the trade. The Awards Ceremony of the seventh edition was held on 17 September 2018.

Three members of the judging panel of the JNA Awards 2018 shared their comments on the remarkable achievements of the Chinese jewellers.

James Courage, former Chief Executive Officer of Platinum Guild International (PGI) and former Chairman of the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC) said, "China's increasing engagement in jewellery development is reflected in the number of awards it has received. Having visited many of the recipients, I have noticed developments such as innovative financing that enables smaller companies to thrive; targeted marketing using social media with a focus on younger groups; and brand development aimed towards achieving recognition with the use of innovative design and technical prowess. It is an industry focused on the future -- just as it should be."

Meanwhile, Albert Cheng, Advisor to the World Gold Council (WGC) and former Managing Director, Far East (WGC) added, "One of the key drivers to the rapid development and success of the precious metals and gem-set jewellery industry around the world in the past ten years can probably be credited to the hard working entrepreneurs from China. They are always forward looking and innovative with their designs and marketing strategies. By participating in the judging process in the last seven years, I have witnessed their evolution. I hope that they will continue to progress and keep bringing new ideas to the industry."

Lin Qiang, President and Managing Director of the Shanghai Diamond Exchange, also shared, "Since China has become the world's second largest diamond consumer market, more and more Chinese jewellery companies seize the opportunity and forge ahead to be major players in the industry globally. I am proud that their outstanding achievements gained recognition from the prestigious JNA Awards. I believe that they will make more progress in the future. Congratulations to all the Honourees and Recipients!"

Letitia Chow, Chairperson of the JNA Awards, Founder of JNA, and Director of Business Development -- Jewellery Group at UBM Asia, added, "The jewellers from mainland China once again impress with their innovative ideas and outstanding leadership. Together, they make up an aspiring group that now takes the lead in the international jewellery and gemstone community. It is encouraging to witness outstanding companies and individuals from a relatively new manufacturing center and market thrive in this competitive industry. They are good models and serve as an inspiration for other emerging markets of the trade, and are revitalising forces essential for moving the industry forward."

JNA Awards 2018 is supported by Headline Partners Chow Tai Fook (CTF), the Shanghai Diamond Exchange (SDE), and the Bahrain Institute for Pearls and Gemstones (DANAT), together with Honoured Partners KGK Group, Guangdong Gems & Jade Exchange, and Guangdong Land Holdings Limited (GDLAND).

For more information, visit www.JNAawards.com or contact:

JNA Awards Marketing

UBM Asia (Hong Kong)

+852-2516-2184

[email protected]

Notes for Editors:

1. About the Headline Partner

1.1 Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Limited (www.chowtaifook.com)

Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Limited (the "Group"; SEHK stock code: 1929) was listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong in December 2011.

Founded in 1929, the Group's iconic brand "Chow Tai Fook" has been widely recognised for its trustworthiness and authenticity, and is renowned for its product design, quality and value. The success of the Group and its iconic brand is rooted in innovation, craftsmanship and heritage. The Group also holds other jewellery brands including CHOW TAI FOOK T MARK, Hearts On Fire, MONOLOGUE and SOINLOVE, which are the first examples of a long term multi-brand strategy rollout.

The Group's commitment to sustainable growth is anchored in its "Smart+" strategy, which is in place to promote long term innovation in the business, in people and in culture. Another asset underpinning its sustainable growth is a sophisticated vertically integrated business model. This supports the Group by fostering excellence and extending opportunities along the entire value chain to communities and industry partners.

With an extensive retail network in Greater China, Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and the United States, and a fast-growing e-commerce business, the Group is implementing effective online-to-offline ("O2O") strategies to succeed in today's omni-channel retail environment.

1.2 Shanghai Diamond Exchange (www.cnsde.com)

Authorised by the State Council, the Shanghai Diamond Exchange (SDE) is the only diamond exchange in China and provides diamond dealers a fair and safe transaction venue under close supervision. It also enjoys a favourable taxation policy and is operated in accordance with international best practices of the diamond industry.

Established in 2000, the SDE is a non-profit, self-regulating membership organisation and a member of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses.

1.3 Bahrain Institute for Pearls and Gemstones -- DANAT (http://www.danat.bh)

The Bahrain Institute for Pearls and Gemstones (DANAT) was established in 2017, at the instigation of HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain. DANAT was formed as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company (Mumtalakat), the sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom. As an organisation, DANAT has evolved from the Pearl & Gem Testing Laboratory of Bahrain (the first laboratory of its kind in the region), which was established in 1990. DANAT was formed to expand upon and enhance the excellent work of the laboratory, with the vision of becoming the world's preferred institute for natural pearl and gemstone third-party verification services and scientific research.

DANAT plays a vital role in protecting and enhancing the public trust in pearls, gemstones and jewellery. With its offices located at the iconic Bahrain World Trade Center, DANAT aims to establish itself as the window into international markets, serving local and global clients and bolstering the reputation of the Kingdom as a leading centre for pearl and gemstone expertise. DANAT is an authority on industry standards, scientific knowledge and education, and is committed to the highest standards of professional and personal ethics. It is dedicated to supporting the pearl and gemstone industry and offers training programmes locally, regionally and internationally to a new generation of gemmologists, industry professionals and gemmology enthusiasts.

2. About the Honoured Partners

2.1 KGK Group (www.kgkgroup.com)

The KGK Group was founded in 1905 by Kesrimal Kothari and Ghisilal Kothari of Jaipur (India), with the humble task of trading gemstones between India and Burma. With a global presence across 19 countries today, the privately held group has evolved into one of the most preferred brands in the gemstone and jewellery industry, with a vertically integrated operation that spans the entire supply chain from mines to brands. KGK is one of the few conglomerates covering the entire spectrum of mining, sourcing, manufacturing and distribution of coloured gemstones, diamonds and jewellery for over a century. KGK Group has a resilient team of 12,000 employees with operations and offices in Asia, Australia, North and South America, Europe and Africa. Having achieved an impeccable reputation in the gemstone, diamond and jewellery trade, the group has recently diversified into real estate.

2.2 The Guangdong Gems & Jade Exchange (http://en.gdgje.com/)

Founded in February 2016, the Guangdong Gems & Jade Exchange is one of two provincial jewellery trading platforms authorised by the People's Government of Guangdong Province.

Aggregating resources from key industrial hubs across Guangdong including Guangzhou, Pingzhou of Foshan, Yangmei of Jieyang and Sihui of Zhaoqing, the Guangdong Gems & Jade Exchange joins hands with world-renowned jewellery brands in setting up an international supply chain integrated service platform that offers a secure and convenient trading experience for domestic and overseas jewellers.

The Guangdong Gems & Jade Exchange is set to benefit China's jewellery industry in a variety of areas, such as the promotion of a healthier and more balanced international division of labour, foreign trade development, cross-border resource management and consumer market growth. As part of this effort, it will take full advantage of the base and influence of Guangdong's jewellery industry and the benefits stemming from the Belt and Road Initiative to establish linkages with national and global gemstone and jewellery markets.

2.3 The Guangdong Land Holdings Limited (www.gdland.com.hk)

The Guangdong Land Holdings Limited (GDLAND), with its headquarters in Hong Kong, is listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited, and is a subsidiary of GDH Limited, which is Guangdong Province's largest conglomerate operating outside Mainland China.

The principal business of GDLAND is property development and investment, including but not limited to the development and operational management of the innovative commercial real estate, urban complex and industrial business complex. As the strategic arm of GDH Limited, GDLAND engages in the business development of commercial real estate, as well as urban and industrial complex projects.

GDLAND's flagship project, namely the "Buxin Project," is planned to become the biggest and most advanced jewellery mart in the world, including a large-scale jewellery trading and exhibition centre along with other facilities, with a lot size of over 87,000 square metres and a construction scale (floor area) that is projected to exceed 700,000 square metres. The Buxin Project, which is located in the Buxin area of Luohu district in Central Shenzhen, close to the Shuibei Gold and Jewellery Base, is expected to develop the area into one of the most influential gold and jewellery trading and exchange platforms in China and around the world.

3. About UBM Asia (www.ubmasia.com)

UBM Asia recently became part of Informa PLC, a leading B2B information services group and the largest B2B Events organiser in the world. Please visit www.ubm.com/asia for more information about our presence in Asia.

SOURCE JNA Awards

Related Links

http://www.JNAawards.com

DENVER, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Medicine Man Technologies Inc. (OTCQX: MDCL) ("Medicine Man Technologies" or "Company"), one of the United States' leading cannabis branding and consulting companies, today announced Co-founder Andy Williams has been named Interim CEO of Medicine Man Technologies. While assuming the role as Interim CEO, Mr. Williams has stepped down as Chairperson of the Board. Paul Dickman has been appointed by the Company's Board of Directors as Chairperson of the Board and Secretary for Medicine Man Technologies. Mr. Williams will serve as Interim CEO until a permanent CEO is named.

Paul Dickman, Chairperson of the Board for Medicine Man Technologies commented, "As a Co-founder of Medicine Man Technologies, Andy has demonstrated a proven ability to lead this organization and drive shareholder value. His insight and knowledge of the cannabis industry has been extremely valuable to the Board and the Company and we are confident he is the right person for this important role at this time. We are grateful he has accepted this commitment and look forward to his success as Interim CEO."

"Brett Roper was an influencer in the cannabis industry and helped grow Medicine Man Technologies into an industry leader. He helped build our Company to where it is today and we are forever grateful for his service and the leadership he provided," commented Andy Williams. "As Interim CEO, I look forward to continue working closely with the Board as well as our team at Medicine Man Technologies to serve our expanding client base and execute on our growth strategy as we prepare for our next phase."

Andy Williams is among America's most pioneering thought leaders and entrepreneurs in the legal cannabis space. As co-founder and CEO of celebrated retail cannabis chain Medicine Man, Mr. Williams has already fulfilled his vision of becoming "the Costco of marijuana." As co-founder and former chairperson of the board of industry-leading consultancy Medicine Man Technologies, Mr. Williams has expanded his influence exponentiallyhelping entrepreneurs in other states via his extensive cultivation expertise and unparalleled business acumen. Mr. Williams is also a founding partner in phytopharmaceutical company MedPharm and is investing heavily into the future of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis research.

With years of experience in the world's first regulated market, Mr. Williams is a leading expert on the cannabis industry featured in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, BBC and the MSNBC docu-series "Pot Barons," which focused on Mr. Williams as one of the show's central characters.

Mr. Williams continues to elevate his politically active leadership in the ever-expanding marijuana industry, working daily to protect and grow the cannabis industry as a board member with the Cannabis Trade Federation, which works federally on tax reform and other industry-specific issues, and Colorado Leads, a pro-growth organization focusing its efforts locally.



Paul Dickman is the Founder & Principal of Breakwater MB, a boutique merchant bank focused on providing the expertise and funding needed for cannabis-focused organizations to transition into the public market. Mr. Dickman currently serves as the CFO of a publicly-traded company with operations in Los Angeles, New York, and Shanghai. His areas of expertise include corporate finance, capital markets, and corporate governance.

Prior to founding Breakwater MB, Mr. Dickman founded Breakwater Corporate Finance, a professional services agency offering outsourced CFO and board governance services to private and micro-cap public companies. Through Breakwater Corporate Finance, Mr. Dickman has helped organizations raise multiple rounds of equity and debt capital and has facilitated several public offerings while providing profitable liquidly events for investors.

Mr. Dickman was the founding CFO of Medicine Man Technologies and assisted the Company through the process of becoming a publicly traded entity. Once public, Mr. Dickman's replacement was hired and he moved to serve on the board of directors.

Mr. Dickman has sat on the Board of Directors for Rockies Venture Club, Medicine Man Technologies, and Chineseinvestors.com, Inc. He possesses a Bachelor's Degree in Finance and Accounting, is a licensed CPA, and is a Fellow of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD).

About Medicine Man Technologies, Inc.

Established in March 2014, the Company secured its first client/licensee in April 2014. To date, the Company has provided guidance for several clients that have successfully secured licenses to operate cannabis businesses within their state. The Company currently has or has had active clients in California, Iowa, Oregon, Colorado, Nevada, Illinois, Michigan, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, Maryland, New York, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Puerto Rico, Canada, Australia, Germany, and South Africa. We continue to focus on working with clients to 1) utilize its experience, technology, and training to help secure a license in states with newly emerging regulations, 2) deploy the Company's highly effective variable capacity constant harvest cultivation practices through its deployment of Cultivation MAX, and eliminate the liability of single grower dependence, 3) avoid the costly mistakes generally made in start-up, 4) stay engaged with an ever expanding team of licensees and partners, all focused on quality and safety that will "share" the ever-improving experience and knowledge of the network, and 5) continuing the expansion of our Brands Warehouse concept through entry into industry based cooperative agreements and pursuing other acquisitions as they prove suitable to our overall business development strategy.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release may contain forward-looking statements which are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those anticipated or expected, including statements related to the amount and timing of expected revenues and any payment of dividends on our common and preferred stock, statements related to our financial performance, expected income, distributions, and future growth for upcoming quarterly and annual periods. These risks and uncertainties are further defined in filings and reports by the Company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Actual results and the timing of certain events could differ materially from those projected in or contemplated by the forward-looking statements due to a number of factors detailed from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Among other matters, the Medicine Man Technologies may not be able to sustain growth or achieve profitability based on many factors including, but not limited to, general stock market conditions. Reference is hereby made to cautionary statements set forth in the Company's most recent SEC filings. We have incurred and will continue to incur significant expenses in the expansion of our existing and new service lines, noting there is no assurance that we will generate enough revenues to offset those costs in both the near and long-term. Additional service offerings may expose us to additional legal and regulatory costs and unknown exposure(s) based upon the various geopolitical locations where we will be providing services, the impact of which cannot be predicted at this time.

To be added to the Medicine Man email distribution list, please email, [email protected] with MDCL in the subject line.

For more information, visit us at www.medicinemantechnologies.com;www.threealight.com

SOURCE Medicine Man Technologies, Inc.

Related Links

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SEATTLE, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Munster & Co. has proudly announced that it is introducing the ultimate affordable luxury for everyone in form of its all-new Swiss Made Movement Watches. Founded by Bruce Munster, Munster & Co. is introducing these watches for under $100 and the company has recently launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, and it is welcoming everyone to claim their watch today by making their pledges.

Munster & Co.

In addition, this recently launched Kickstarter campaign by Munster & Co. is already getting an overwhelming response and the campaign has surpassed its original goal of raising $10,000. The company is offering these watches as a reward with worldwide shipping, and that is why supporters and watch lovers from around the world are claiming this affordable luxury by becoming a part of this campaign on Kickstarter.

"I have always had a passion for travel and watches and my brand, Munster & Co reflects a commitment to quality, experience, and virtue," said Bruce Munster, the company's founder, while introducing it to the Kickstarter community. With features such as genuine full-grain Italian leather strap, sapphire crystal glass and Swiss movement, Munster & Co. has become the only brand in the world that is offering all these three features on such a low price.

The Kickstarter Campaign is located on the web at:

www.kickstarter.com/projects/61093578/munster-and-co-swiss-made-movement-watch-for-under and watch lovers from around the world can still become a part of this inspiring project by pledging to the campaign. Moreover, these already affordable watches are available on even greater discounts through this campaign and more details are available on the Kickstarter campaign page of the project.

About Munster & Co.

Munster & Co. is an inspiring watchmaking company that is offering the most luxurious and surprisingly affordable wristwatches for the watch lovers worldwide. Founded by Bruce Munster, the company is introducing these high-quality watches under $100 and is welcoming everyone to participate in its recently launched crowdfunding campaign at Kickstarter.

Contact:

Contact Person: Bruce Munster

Company: Munster & Co.

City: Seattle

State: Washington

Country: USA

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.kickstarter.com/projects/61093578/munster-and-co-swiss-made-movement-watch-for-under

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/4041864#ixzz5YhdW5Kj2

Related Images

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Bruce Munster | Founder

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Swiss Movement Watch Under $100

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London watch in the fall!

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Perfect gift for the holidays!

Our New York watch featured for the holidays!

Related Links

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SOURCE Munster & Co.WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J., Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Eisai Inc. presented new data on FYCOMPA (perampanel) CIII at the American Epilepsy Society Annual Meeting in New Orleans which included analyses of convulsive seizure freedom rates in adult and pediatric epilepsy patients. More than 50 scientific posters on FYCOMPA were presented by both Eisai and independent investigators, underscoring a collective commitment to advancing research in epilepsy care.

Of note, Eisai presented three post-hoc analyses evaluating the potential of FYCOMPA to help patients experience long-term, sustained convulsive seizure freedom, as well as data that supported the recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of FYCOMPA for monotherapy and adjunctive use in pediatric patients 4 years and older for the treatment of partial-onset seizures (POS) with or without secondarily generalized seizures. Additional data included all-cause and epilepsy-related hospitalizations with use of FYCOMPA compared to lacosamide.

"These long-term seizure freedom data showed about 53% of patients with secondarily generalized seizures experienced convulsive seizure freedom at 2 years and close to 35% at 3 years," said Trevor Resnick, MD, Pediatric Neurologist at Nicklaus Children's Hospital. "These results are very encouraging for patients who are affected by uncontrolled convulsive seizures and for whom seizure freedom remains an important treatment goal."

FYCOMPA was initially approved for adjunctive use in POS in patients 12 years and older in 2012 and was later approved as adjunctive therapy for PGTC seizures in patients with epilepsy 12 years of age and older, and then as monotherapy for POS with or without secondarily generalized seizures in patients with epilepsy 12 years of age and older. In September 2018, FYCOMPA was approved for monotherapy and adjunctive use in pediatric patients 4 years and older for the treatment of POS with or without secondarily generalized seizures.

"The broad scope of FYCOMPA data being presented highlights how FYCOMPA may help both children and adults on their journey toward the goal of seizure freedom," said Ivan Cheung, Chairman and CEO, Eisai Inc. "These data encourage us to continue the important work of conducting research that leads to improved clinical outcomes for these patients."

To date, FYCOMPA is approved in 55 countries and has been used to treat more than 200,000 patients worldwide across all indications.

Key data presented include:

Some of these data include post hoc exploratory or retrospective analyses. These results should be interpreted cautiously. Additionally, the open-label studies did not include a control arm. Potential confounders, including changes in background AEDs and the potential association between treatment duration and different tolerability could have influenced study results.

Poster presentation number: 1.307

Saturday, December 1, 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Effectiveness and tolerability of FYCOMPA (perampanel) in adolescents and adults as a first add-on therapy. An observational multicenter study

Summary: A multicenter, observational, retrospective study performed in 22 Spanish hospitals evaluated the efficacy and tolerability of FYCOMPA used as first add-on in non-refractory epilepsy in everyday clinical practice. The statistical analysis of this independent study was supported by an unrestricted grant by Eisai Farmaceutica S.A. In total, 149 patients were included in this analysis. Focal epilepsy was the most frequent epilepsy type (n=113; 77.9%) and temporal lobe epilepsy the most frequent subtype (n=39; 26.9%). The main reason for FYCOMPA treatment was poor seizure control (n=104; 86.0%). After 12 months, FYCOMPA mean dose was 6.2 mg/day (2-12 mg/day). The most frequent titration scheme was 2 mg every four weeks (39.7%), followed by 2 mg every two weeks. 85.5% of patients were treated with one previous monotherapy. Retention rate of FYCOMPA at 3 months was 98% (n=146), at 6 months 88.6% (n=132) and at 12 months 85.2% (n=127). After 12 months, 126 patients (84.6%) were responders (50% reduction in seizure frequency): 98/118 (83.1%) with focal seizures and 26/31 (83.9%) with generalized seizures. Seizure freedom was achieved in 68 patients (45.6%) by the end of the study: 46/118 (39%) with partial seizures and 19/31 (61.3%) with generalized seizures. A total of 72 patients (48.3%) experienced at least 1 adverse event (AE) during the follow-up, with the majority of AEs reported as mild/moderate. The most frequently reported AEs were dizziness (15.4%), irritability (14.1%) and somnolence (14.1%). FYCOMPA withdrawal due to an AE occurred in 16 patients (10.7%), with irritability being the most frequent AE.

Poster presentation number: 2.255

Sunday, December 2, 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Sustained seizure-free status with adjunctive FYCOMPA (perampanel) for patients with secondarily generalized (SG) seizures during an open-label extension (OLEx): Study 307

Summary: Patients who completed one of 3 phase III double-blind, placebo-controlled studies entered the OLEx study 307.This post hoc analysis included patients 12 years with SG seizures who participated in Study 307 and achieved SG seizure-free status during either the preceding double-blind studies or the OLEx. Of the 80 patients who received adjunctive FYCOMPA (<12 mg/day) and achieved SG seizure-free status during the double-blind phase, 53% (42/78) remained SG seizure free for 24 months and 35% (22/63) remained SG seizure free for 36 months. Number of patients decreased over time due to patients dropping out of the study.

SG seizure-free period Prior FYCOMPAa (n=80) 6 months 74/78 (94.9) 12 months 57/78 (73.1) 18 months 49/78 (62.8) 24 months 42/78 (53.8) 30 months 31/76 (40.8) 36 months 22/63 (34.9) 42 months 12/43 (27.9) 48 months 1/8 (12.5)

a Patients previously randomized to FYCOMPA during the double-blind studies; these patients continued to receive FYCOMPA during the OLEx phase.

Poster presentation number: 2.256

Sunday, December 2, 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Sustained seizure-free status with adjunctive FYCOMPA (perampanel) for patients with primary generalized tonic-clonic (PGTC) seizures during the open-label extension (OLEx) phase of Study 332

Summary: This post hoc analysis investigated PGTC seizure-free status rates during adjunctive treatment with FYCOMPA 12 mg/day in patients aged 12 years from the double-blind and OLEx phase of Study 332. Seizure-free rates were assessed at 6, 12, 18 and 24 months in patients who achieved PGTC seizure-free status during the double-blind phase. Patients were also assessed for 6 and 12 months at any time during the FYCOMPA treatment duration (double-blind and OLEx phases). During the double-blind phase, 35 out of 162 patients (21%) were PGTC seizure free. Of the 35 patients, 25 were treated with FYCOMPA and 84%, 56%, 45.8%, and 31.6% of patients remained PGTC seizure free for 6, 12, 18, and 24 months, respectively. Over the entire FYCOMPA treatment duration, 73 patients were PGTC seizure free for 6 months, and 41 patients were PGTC seizure free for 12 months.

6 months PGTC seizure free 12 months PGTC seizure free Total Prior placeboa Prior FYCOMPAb Total Prior placeboa Prior FYCOMPAb PGTC

seizure-free

patients, n (%) 73 (52.9) 34 (48.6) 39 (57.4) 41 (29.7) 18 (25.7) 23 (33.8)

a Patients previously randomized to placebo during the double-blind phase; these patients were switched to receive FYCOMPA during the OLEx phase. b Patients previously randomized to FYCOMPA during the double-blind phase; these patients continued to receive FYCOMPA during the OLEx phase.

Poster presentation number: 2.152

Sunday, December 2, 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Inpatient hospitalizations rates in patients diagnosed with epilepsy and treated with FYCOMPA (perampanel) or lacosamide

Summary: The retrospective analysis of claims data included 1,717 patients in each cohort (at least 12 years or older) who were treated with FYCOMPA or lacosamide, another antiepileptic drug (AED), and if they had at least two diagnoses of epilepsy or non-febrile convulsions. All-cause and epilepsy-related hospitalization rates were observed for one year following the start of treatment. There was a greater reduction (9.6%) in all-cause hospitalizations for patients on FYCOMPA compared to those patients on lacosamide (5.8%). Epilepsy-related hospitalizations also decreased (9.9% vs. 8.3% for FYCOMPA and lacosamide, respectively). Among those who had any hospitalization in the baseline period, patients treated with FYCOMPA had a 59.9% reduction in all-cause hospitalizations vs. a 48.6% reduction for those treated with lacosamide. A similar result was seen for epilepsy-related hospitalizations, a reduction of 65% vs. 58%, respectively. Because of the limitations of claims data, it was not known if patients were taking the approved dosage of FYCOMPA or if all patients had partial-onset seizures or primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures to be consistent with FYCOMPA's approved use.

Poster presentation number: 2.257

Sunday, December 2, 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Efficacy and safety of adjunctive FYCOMPA (perampanel) 4 mg/day for the treatment of partial-onset seizures (POS): pooled analysis of four randomized Phase III studies

Summary: Here, we report a post hoc, pooled analysis from four randomized Phase III studies (Studies 304, 305, 306 and 335), based on actual FYCOMPA dose received, which may have differed from the randomized dose, to evaluate the efficacy and safety of adjunctive FYCOMPA 4 mg/day in patients aged 12 years with POS with/without SG seizures. In the analysis 363 patients received the actual FYCOMPA 4 mg/day dose and 616 patients received placebo. Efficacy assessments included median percent reductions in seizure frequency per 28 days from baseline during the double-blind phase and seizure-free status rates during maintenance for POS (all patients) or SG seizures (patients who had SG seizures during baseline). FYCOMPA had greater median percent reductions in seizure frequency per 28 days for POS and SG seizures compared with placebo (21.1% vs 12.6% and 49.8% vs 17.4%, respectively). Seizure-free status rates during maintenance also increased with FYCOMPA vs placebo for both POS and SG seizures (3.6% vs 0.8% and 18.7% vs 11.1%, respectively). The most common treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) in both seizure groups was dizziness.

All patients (N=1376) Patients with SG seizures

during baseline (n=499) TEAEs, n (%) 419 (30.5) 148 (29.7) Dizziness 100 (7.3) 26 (5.2) Somnolence 49 (3.6) 15 (3.0) Headache 43 (3.1) 16 (3.2) Nasopharyngitis 38 (2.8) 19 (3.8)

Poster presentation number: 3.289

Monday, December 3, 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Study 311: Safety and efficacy of adjunctive FYCOMPA (perampanel) in pediatric patients (aged 4 to <12 years) with partial-onset seizures (POS) or primary generalized tonic-clonic (PGTC) seizures

Summary: Study 311 is an open-label, single-arm study of FYCOMPA in pediatric patients with inadequately controlled POS or PGTC. The core study consists of a 4-week pre-treatment period (screening/baseline), 23-week treatment period (11 weeks titration; 12 weeks maintenance), and a 4-week follow-up period. At interim data cutoff, 161 patients (POS, n=135; PGTC, n=26) received at least one dose of FYCOMPA, with 77 completing the core study (of whom 73 entered the extension study; 28 discontinued). There was an improvement (median % reduction per 28 days) from baseline in seizure frequency per 28 days in patients with POS (36%, n=135) or PGTC (81.9%, n=15). Nearly 20% (n=46) of patients with SG seizures and 53% (n=15) with PGTC were seizure free at 3 months. The most common TEAEs were somnolence, nasopharyngitis, dizziness and irritability.

Poster presentation number: 3.287

Monday, December 3, 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Study 311: Safety and efficacy of adjunctive FYCOMPA (perampanel) in pediatric patients (aged 4 to <7 years, 7 to <12 years) with partial-onset seizures (POS) or primary generalized tonic-clonic (PGTC) seizures

Summary: Study 311 is an open-label, single-arm study of FYCOMPA in pediatric patients with inadequately controlled POS or PGTC. The core study consists of a 4-week pre-treatment period (screening/baseline), 23-week treatment period (11 weeks titration; 12 weeks maintenance), and a 4-week follow-up period. At interim data cutoff, 161 patients received at least one dose of FYCOMPA, with 77 completing the core study (of whom 73 entered the extension study; 28 discontinued). In this sub-group analysis, patients were stratified by age (4 to < 7 years, n=41; 7 to < 12 years, n=120). In younger (4 to <7 years) and older (7 to <12 years) pediatric patients, 50% responder rates were similar between younger and older pediatric patients experiencing POS (4 to <7 years, 50%; 7 to <12 years, 41.4%), and were greater for younger vs older pediatric patients experiencing PGTC (100% vs 53.8%) or SG (71.4% vs 50%), although the number of patients in these younger patient seizure populations were low (n=2 and n=14 for PGTC and SG, respectively). The most common TEAEs were somnolence, nasopharyngitis, dizziness and irritability.

The safety and effectiveness of FYCOMPA for the treatment of partial-onset seizures in pediatric patients less than 4 years of age or for the treatment of primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures in pediatric patients less than 12 years of age have not been established.

About Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a medical condition that produces seizures affecting a variety of mental and physical functions. Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders, which affects about 3.4 million people in the United States, including 470,000 children. Children with uncontrolled seizures are at greater risk for sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP), which is relatively uncommon in childhood, but the risk increases if epilepsy persists into adulthood.

Partial-onset seizures are the most common type of seizure seen in people with epilepsy, accounting for 60 percent of all seizures. Convulsive seizures account for up to 25 percent of all epilepsy, with primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures being one of the most common and severe forms of seizures.

Missed medication doses are the number one cause of breakthrough seizures, which can cause significant injury to patients. People who experience breakthrough seizures have an increased risk of fractures or head injuries, emergency room (ER) visits, and hospitalization, as well as an associated increase in healthcare costs.

About FYCOMPA

FYCOMPA is a prescription medicine used in people with epilepsy aged 4 and older alone or with other medicines to treat partial-onset seizures with or without secondarily generalized seizures, and with other medicines to treat primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures for people with epilepsy aged 12 and older.

FYCOMPA, a unique oral medication, is a selective, non-competitive AMPA (alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5- methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid) receptor antagonist. The precise mechanism by which FYCOMPA exerts its antiepileptic effects in humans is unknown. In a pharmacokinetic study, it has been demonstrated that because of its long half-life, a missed dose of FYCOMPA does not significantly impact plasma levels.

FYCOMPA is supplied as 2 mg, 4 mg, 6 mg, 8 mg, 10 mg and 12 mg film-coated tablets, and as a 0.5 mg/mL oral suspension formulation. FYCOMPA has been designated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as a federally-controlled substance (CIII).

Please visit www.FYCOMPA.com to learn more about the treatment.

INDICATION

FYCOMPA (perampanel) is indicated in patients with epilepsy aged 4 years and older for partial-onset seizures (POS) with or without secondarily generalized seizures and adjunctive therapy for patients aged 12 years and older for primary generalized tonic-clonic (PGTC) seizures.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

BOXED WARNING: SERIOUS PSYCHIATRIC AND BEHAVIORAL REACTIONS

Serious or life-threatening psychiatric and behavioral adverse reactions including aggression, hostility, irritability, anger, and homicidal ideation and threats have been reported in patients taking FYCOMPA

These reactions occurred in patients with and without prior psychiatric history, prior aggressive behavior, or concomitant use of medications associated with hostility and aggression

Advise patients and caregivers to contact a healthcare provider immediately if any of these reactions or changes in mood, behavior, or personality that are not typical for the patient are observed while taking FYCOMPA or after discontinuing FYCOMPA

Closely monitor patients particularly during the titration period and at higher doses

FYCOMPA should be reduced if these symptoms occur and should be discontinued immediately if symptoms are severe or are worsening

SERIOUS PSYCHIATRIC AND BEHAVIORAL REACTIONS

In the partial-onset seizures clinical trials, hostility- and aggression-related adverse reactions occurred in 12% and 20% of patients randomized to receive FYCOMPA at doses of 8 mg and 12 mg per day, respectively, compared to 6% of patients in the placebo group. These effects were dose-related and generally appeared within the first 6 weeks of treatment, although new events continued to be observed through more than 37 weeks. These effects in FYCOMPA-treated patients led to dose reduction, interruption, and discontinuation more frequently than placebo-treated patients. Homicidal ideation and/or threat have also been reported postmarketing in patients treated with FYCOMPA. The combination of alcohol and FYCOMPA significantly worsened mood and increased anger. Patients taking FYCOMPA should avoid the use of alcohol. Patients, their caregivers, and families should be informed that FYCOMPA may increase the risk of psychiatric events. Patients should be monitored during treatment and for at least one month after the last dose of FYCOMPA, and especially when taking higher doses and during the initial few weeks of drug therapy (titration period) or at other times of dose increases. Similar serious psychiatric and behavioral events were observed in the primary generalized tonic-clonic (PGTC) seizure clinical trial.

SUICIDAL BEHAVIOR AND IDEATION

Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), including FYCOMPA, increase the risk of suicidal thoughts or behavior in patients. Anyone considering prescribing FYCOMPA or any other AED must balance the risk of suicidal thoughts or behavior with the risk of untreated illness. Epilepsy and many other illnesses for which AEDs are prescribed are themselves associated with morbidity and mortality and an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior. Patients, their caregivers, and families should be informed of the risk and advised to monitor and immediately report the emergence or worsening of depression, suicidal thoughts or behavior, thoughts about self-harm and/or any unusual changes in mood or behavior. Should suicidal thoughts and behavior emerge during treatment, consider whether the emergence of these symptoms in any given patient may be related to the illness being treated.

DIZZINESS AND GAIT DISTURBANCE

FYCOMPA caused dose-related increases in events related to dizziness and disturbance in gait or coordination. Dizziness and vertigo were reported in 35% and 47% of patients in the partial-onset seizure trials randomized to receive FYCOMPA at doses of 8 mg and 12 mg per day, respectively, compared to 10% of placebo-treated patients. Gait disturbance related events were reported in 12% and 16% of patients in the partial-onset seizure clinical trials randomized to receive FYCOMPA at doses of 8 mg and 12 mg per day, respectively, compared to 2% of placebo-treated patients. These adverse reactions occurred mostly during the titration phase. These adverse reactions were also observed in the PGTC seizure clinical trial.

SOMNOLENCE AND FATIGUE

FYCOMPA caused dose-dependent increases in somnolence and fatigue-related events. Somnolence was reported in 16% and 18% of patients in the partial-onset seizure trials randomized to receive FYCOMPA at doses of 8 mg and 12 mg per day, respectively, compared to 7% of placebo-treated patients. Fatigue-related events were reported in 12% and 15% of patients in the partial-onset seizure trials randomized to receive FYCOMPA at doses of 8 mg and 12 mg per day, respectively, compared to 5% of placebo-treated patients. These adverse reactions occurred mostly during the titration phase. These adverse reactions were also observed in the PGTC seizure clinical trial. Patients should be advised against engaging in hazardous activities requiring mental alertness, such as operating motor vehicles or dangerous machinery, until the effect of FYCOMPA is known.

FALLS

Falls were reported in 5% and 10% of patients in the partial-onset seizure clinical trials randomized to receive FYCOMPA at doses of 8 mg and 12 mg per day, respectively, compared to 3% of placebo-treated patients.

DRUG REACTION WITH EOSINOPHILIA AND SYSTEMIC SYMPTOMS (DRESS)

DRESS, also known as multiorgan hypersensitivity, has been reported in patients taking AEDs, including FYCOMPA. DRESS may be fatal or life-threatening. DRESS typically, although not exclusively, presents with fever, rash, lymphadenopathy, and/or facial swelling, in association with other organ system involvement. If signs or symptoms are present, immediately evaluate the patient and discontinue FYCOMPA if an alternative etiology for signs or symptoms cannot be established.

WITHDRAWAL OF AEDs

A gradual withdrawal is generally recommended with AEDs to minimize the potential of increased seizure frequency, but if withdrawal is a response to adverse events, prompt withdrawal can be considered.

MOST COMMON ADVERSE REACTIONS

The most common adverse reactions in patients aged 12 years and older receiving FYCOMPA (5% and 1% higher than placebo) include dizziness, somnolence, fatigue, irritability, falls, nausea, weight gain, vertigo, ataxia, headache, vomiting, contusion, abdominal pain, and anxiety. Adverse reactions in patients aged 4 to <12 years were generally similar to patients aged 12 years and older.

DRUG INTERACTIONS

FYCOMPA may decrease the efficacy of contraceptives containing levonorgestrel. Plasma levels of perampanel were decreased when administered with known moderate and strong CYP3A4 inducers, including, carbamazepine, phenytoin, or oxcarbazepine. Multiple dosing of FYCOMPA 12 mg per day enhanced the effects of alcohol on vigilance and alertness, and increased levels of anger, confusion, and depression. These effects may also be seen when FYCOMPA is used in combination with other CNS depressants.

PREGNANCY AND LACTATION

Physicians are advised to recommend that pregnant patients taking FYCOMPA enroll in the North American Antiepileptic Drug (NAAED) Pregnancy Registry. Caution should be exercised when FYCOMPA is administered to pregnant or nursing women as there are no adequate data on the developmental risk associated with use in pregnant women, and no data on the presence of perampanel in human milk, the effects on the breastfed child, or the effects of the drug on milk production.

HEPATIC AND RENAL IMPAIRMENT

Use in patients with severe hepatic or severe renal impairment is not recommended. Dosage adjustments are recommended in patients with mild or moderate hepatic impairment. Use with caution in patients with moderate renal impairment.

DRUG ABUSE AND DEPENDENCE

FYCOMPA is a Schedule III controlled substance and has the potential to be abused and lead to drug dependence and withdrawal symptoms including anxiety, nervousness, irritability, fatigue, asthenia, mood swings, and insomnia.

Please see Prescribing Information for FYCOMPA.

Contact:

Media Inquiries

Michele Randazzo

Eisai Inc.

201-746-2979

SOURCE Eisai Inc.

Related Links

http://www.eisai.com

The NI 43-101 resource statement (see press release October 2, 2018), detailed in Table 1 below, includes 509,000 tonnes (metric tons) of lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) equivalent (LCE) and 1,609,000 tonnes of potash (KCl) equivalent in the Measured Resource category, with an additional 62,000 tonnes of LCE and 231,000 tonnes KCl in the Indicated Resource category. The average grade of lithium for the 571,000 tonne combined Measured and Indicated resource is 756 milligrams/liter lithium, with a low lithium to magnesium ratio of 2.6 to 1. The report is now filed on SEDAR and is available at the company website at www.nrgmetalsinc.com .

Table 1. Hombre Muerto North Lithium Brine Resource Statement

Tonnages are rounded off to the nearest 1,000. Cutoff grade: 500 mg/L lithium, but no laboratory results were less than the cutoff grade. The conversion used to calculate the equivalents from their metal ions is based on the molar weight for the elements added to generate the equivalent. The equations are Li x 5.3228 = lithium carbonate equivalent and K x 1.907 = potassium chloride equivalent. The reader is cautioned that mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.

Montgomery and Associates recommends that the company further evaluate the project by completing a Preliminary Economic Assessment. Selection of a contractor for this stage of evaluation is underway, and the company expects to award the contract shortly.

Company President Adrian F.C. Hobkirk is quoted, "we are pleased with our accomplishment to date at Hombre Muerto North, and in particular, the identification of a significant high- grade resource. We anticipate that the PEA will allow the company to further justify the development of the Hombre Muerto North Lithium Project."

Qualified Person

The resource evaluation work was completed by Mr. Michael Rosko, M.Sc., C.P.G. of Montgomery and Associates Consultores Limitada of Santiago, Chile (M&A). Mr. Rosko is a Registered Geologist (C.P.G.) in Arizona, California, and Texas, a Registered Member of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, and is a qualified person (QP) as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Rosko and hydrogeologists from M&A have been on site multiple times during the various phases of drilling and sampling operations; Mr. Rosko has extensive experience in salar environments and has been a QP on many lithium brine projects. Mr. Rosko and M&A are completely independent of NRG. Mr. Rosko has reviewed and approved the content of this news release.

On behalf of the board of directors of NRG Metals Inc.:

Adrian F. C. Hobkirk,

President and C.E.O.

T: Investors / Shareholders Call 855-415-8100 / Direct to Adrian Hobkirk 714-316-3272 E: [email protected]

W: www.nrgmetalsinc.com

The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed the content of this news release and therefore does not accept responsibility or liability for the adequacy or accuracy of the contents of this news release.

This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of the United States Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Except for statements of historical fact relating to the Company, certain information contained herein constitutes forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based upon opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward- looking statements. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward- looking statements. We seek safe harbor.

T: Investors / Shareholders Call 855-415-8100 / Direct to Adrian Hobkirk 714-316-3272 E: [email protected]

W: www.nrgmetalsinc.com

SOURCE NRG Metals Inc

Related Links

http://www.nrgmetalsinc.com.

" Bombardier Blood is incredibly moving and inspirational, and ultimately a call to action for the bleeding disorders community," said Octapharma USA President Flemming Nielsen. "We all come away from the movie just awed by Chris's achievements, but, more importantly, we all come away knowing that anything is possible for people with bleeding disorders. We want the bleeding disorders community to continue to Dream, Do, Grow."

"Dream, Do, Grow" is Octapharma USA's patient outreach program for people with bleeding disorders. As the name suggests, Octapharma's vision for this program is to inspire patients to set a goal they can achieve, take action on the steps required to reach the goal, and grow and gain confidence from the experience.

"It was extremely exciting to share this film with the Colorado bleeding disorders community," said Bombardier, who was joined by friends and family for the Denver screening at a local theater. "This community has supported me in countless ways and sharing this journey with them was incredibly special."

In addition to the documentary, Octapharma sponsored Bombardier during his successful quest to climb both Mount Everest in Nepal and Mount Vinson in Antarctica. The bleeding disorders community received an exclusive screening presented by Octapharma at the recent NHF annual meeting, which drew a standing room only crowd that was visibly moved by Bombardier's quest and the artistry of the film directed by Patrick James Lynch, a filmmaker with severe hemophilia. Lynch said he expects the documentary will be released to the general public in 2019.

"We always had a fear that Chris's climbs wouldn't resonate with the community," said Amy Board, Executive Director of NHF Colorado. "All of us were so moved to witness how much Chris's journey mattered. Experiencing the emotion, knowing he climbed for all of us, every person affected by and through bleeding disorders. There was such a special anticipation of showing this film to his hometown community. He truly is our hometown hero. He showed us that by putting one foot in front of the other, we can achieve anything."

Just over 400 people can claim to have climbed the Seven Summits, the highest peak on each continent, but Bombardier is the first with hemophilia.

Octapharma USA has created the Facebook page Supporting Bleeding Disorders to share inspiring patient stories and educational information. Please visit the page at www.facebook.com/SupportingBleedingDisorders/. To learn more about Bombardier Blood, please visit www.bombardierblood.com.

About the Octapharma Group

Headquartered in Lachen, Switzerland, Octapharma is one of the largest human protein products manufacturers in the world and has been committed to patient care and medical innovation since 1983. Its core business is the development and production of human proteins from human plasma and human cell lines. Octapharma employs approximately 7,100 people worldwide to support the treatment of patients in over 113 countries with products across the following therapeutic areas: Hematology (coagulation disorders), Immunotherapy (immune disorders) and Critical Care. The company's American subsidiary, Octapharma USA, is located in Hoboken, N.J. Octapharma operates two state-of-the-art production sites licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), providing a high level of production flexibility. For more information, please visit www.octapharmausa.com.

OCTA-0235

SOURCE Octapharma USA

Related Links

http://www.octapharmausa.com

"We are thrilled to launch this new practice and welcome Dean Williams to our team," said Evan Anderson, CEO at Oseberg. "We can now apply Oseberg's expertise in extracting text from document images using machine learning to unlock opportunities trapped in proprietary documents just as we have with public data."

Oseberg combines deep upstream land, legal, and regulatory expertise with the same machine learning they have matured that extracts valuable information from millions of public documents. The approach and technology is being used e.g. by one of the largest management consulting firms in the world to better understand well economics and macro cost trends in the service sector. Customers are also determining shallow/deep rights, potential breaches of covenants found within oil and gas leases and solving complex questions like open acreage in Texas and current spacing in Oklahoma.

"I am excited to join the Oseberg crew and to be on the cutting edge of data capture technology using AI and machine learning. This is an entirely new way to think about the role of data and information currently trapped in documents. We're providing the power to discover and unlock business opportunities by applying data science workflows that go well above and beyond basic data analytics. Oseberg has created an innovative process that allows the industry to rapidly create unique datasets in a very short time," explained Mr. Williams. "Consulting is our bridge to bring this expertise and process to our customers' proprietary documents and workflows."

To learn more about how Oseberg can help transform unstructured data into actionable insights, please contact them at https://oseberg.io/resources/contact .

ABOUT OSEBERG

Oseberg is a next-generation oil & gas information and data analytics company that offers a compelling new approach to rapidly convert public regulatory and county-level data into actionable intelligence. We aggregate the most inaccessible state, federal, and county records and deliver them to our users via a suite of all-encompassing B2B SaaS products that enable our users to search, map, mine, and perform statistical analysis on every strand of data. Our technology reduces weeks and months of work to hours and seconds, empowering our users to rapidly uncover leasing, drilling, enhanced completion, and acquisition opportunities.

Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Oseberg

Related Links

https://oseberg.io

The selected group of Italian companies in attendance, operating in the field of renewable energy and resources, will showcase their ideas and solutions in the ITA-branded "Italian Pavillion" (booth #2071). Alongside them, official regional delegations will present technical highlights of each district to the attendees.

On December 5th, 11.30am to 1pm, ITA will host a conversation on EVs and Beyond: Power Generation Innovations Advancing the Energy Industry. Here attendees will explore what is new and emerging in the power generation industry and how large companies are deciding where to invest and why. The session will be moderated by Jennifer Runyon, Content Manager, Clarion Events, and will have as speaker Preston Roper, COO, eMotorWerks- An Enel Group Company.

Some of the companies supported by ITA during their Power-Gen attendance are:

Aster S. Cons. p. A. (consortium for innovation and technology transfer of Emilia Romagna );

Greentech (regional Cluster on Energy and Sustainability);

HT Italia S.r.l. (inclusive, innovative and user-friendly solutions in the renewable energy sector);

NewEn S.r.l. (Italian Energy Service Company providing technologies and methods to improve energy usage);

Orefice S.r.l. (company leader in customized generating sets, including diesel, biodiesel, gas, and gasoline powered generators);

Tesar S.r.l. (first Italian company to implement the technology to produce Cast Resin Transformers).

To know more about the event, email [email protected]

SOURCE Italian Trade AgencyALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- TRI-COR Industries, Inc. (TCI) presented at the Capitol Hill Forum On The Future of Federal Information Technology, an event hosted by the Lexington Institute that included leading firms in the industry such as Amazon Web Services, General Dynamics, NetApp, and The Carlyle Group. TCI's CEO, Elizabeth El-Nattar, was the opening speaker crediting technology innovations for the recent phenomenon of global change.

Her remarks highlighted the necessity for leaders to leverage data-driven tools that will help them make informed decisions earlier-and-often to meet shifting mission priorities. She brought the audience's attention to a modern Enterprise Agility Optimization tool, Velocity Enterprise Insights, that allows for holistic Lean portfolio management with an unparalleled level of transparency and visibility. Additionally, she highlighted two other examples of innovative products, the Smart Cities Mobile App and Crafter Video Center product.

The Smart Cities Mobile App is designed to revolutionize the way government communicates and interacts with its citizens by modernizing its 911 system. The Crafter Video Center product is a robust solution that integrates customers' video management and consumption-related needs with Artificial Intelligence (AI). Through the product, customers can perform automated analyses of video, resulting in business intelligence data that can cut months and years of work to minutes for Law Enforcement, Intelligence, and DoD agencies. El-Nattar also stressed the importance of Cyber Security, acknowledging thatalthough the advancement of AI is a reason for recent job loss in the public, private, and federal sectorsthe issue can be curtailed through proper education and workforce development, so that Americans are afforded opportunities to gain the knowledge and training necessary to enable continued advancement.

This forum was a series of back-to-back 10 minute presentations delivered by subject matter experts in both public and private sectors at the U.S. Capitol Visitor's center, hosted by the Lexington Institute with a number of senior executives and government officials on November 9, 2018.

About TCI

TCI is a CMMI Level 3 and ISO 9001:2015, ISO 27001:2013, and ISO 20000-1:2011 certified technology integrator providing full lifecycle enterprise business & IT services and solutions in the technical, engineering, intelligence, and enterprise information technology markets for federal, state, and commercial customers. Please check out our enterprise management and mobile solutions at the TCI website.

About Lexington Institute

The Lexington Institute is a public-policy think tank headquartered in Arlington, Virginia that focuses mainly on security-related issues, including defense spending, military technology, economic competitiveness, energy policy and logistics. For more details, please visit www.lexingtoninstitute.org.

Media Contact:

David Arundel

[email protected]

703-244-4738

SOURCE TRI-COR IndustriesSACRAMENTO, Calif., Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The United States Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) named global life sciences corporation Anpac Bio-Medical Science Company, the 2018 "Minority Health Products and Services Firm of the Year" (MHFY).

The U.S. Department of Commerce named Anpac Bio-Medical Science Company the national, 2018 Minority Health Products & Services Firm of the Year (MHFY). Recognized as the, Minority-owned firm that has improved the quality and delivery of healthcare through innovation, MBDA National Director Henry Childs formally presented the MHFY Award to Anpac Bio Chief Marketing Officer Drisha Leggitt, accepting on behalf of CEO Dr. Chris Yu and the Anpac Bio corporation at a national MBDA Awards Ceremony. Anpac Bio-Medical Science Company CFO Mark Luhdorff and CMO Drisha Leggitt flank CEO Chris Yus photo revealing Anpac Bios selection as the national, 2018 Minority Health Products & Services Firm of the Year, at the National Minority Supplier Development Council Conference. The National Minority Business Awards are the highest level of recognition a minority-owned firm can receive from the U.S. Department of Commercerecognizing Anpac Bio for its innovative health and liquid biopsy services.

Recognized as the, "Minority-owned firm that has improved the quality and delivery of healthcare through innovation," MBDA honored Anpac Bio during the 2018 National Minority Enterprise Development (NMED) Week at the National Minority Supplier Development Council Conference in Austin, Texas. The award was presented by MBDA National Director Henry Childs, II to Anpac Bio Chief Marketing Officer Drisha Leggitt, accepting on behalf of Anpac Bio Chief Executive Officer Dr. Chris Yu and the Anpac Bio worldwide team.

"We honor exceptional minority business enterprises (MBEs), their leaders, and the important role in maintaining a strong and healthy American economy," said MBDA National Director Henry Childs, II. "I am honored to recognize the 2018 National MED Week award winners who excel in business and entrepreneurship. Their stories and successes are an inspiration for all Americans. MBDA congratulates Anpac Bio-Medical Science Company for being named the 2018 'Minority Health Products and Services Firm of the Year'!"

The National Minority Business Awards are the highest level of national recognition a minority-owned firm can receive from the United States Department of Commerce. These prestigious awards celebrate the outstanding achievements of minority entrepreneurs, as well as the individuals and organizations that have demonstrated their commitment to advancing MBEs.

Acknowledging the corporation for executing significant and consistent innovation through its worldwide technology and services, Anpac Bio was particularly referenced as the national MHFY winner due the company's multiple-award winning, "Cancer Differentiation Analysis" (CDA) liquid biopsy technology.

Described as "game changing", and receiving the, "Breakthrough Innovation Award", at the World Nobel Prize Laureate Summit; and named, "Most Promising Cancer Screening Company", at the 2017 Global Precision Medicine Industry Awards, Anpac Bio's CDA reinvents early, multiple-cancer screening.

By analyzing simple, standard, blood tests, and applying Anpac Bio's proprietary, multi-level, multi-parameter, diagnostic algorithms, Anpac Bio's CDA liquid biopsy devices identify cancer with measurably-greater accuracy than most current, conventional screening methods. And it does so without any harmful side effects in patients; generating far fewer "false positives"; at a cost substantially lower than traditional testing; and generating results within minutes of submission.

Comprehensive research validity data from 120,000+ cases, and independently-corroborated by world-renowned hospitals and cancer research leaders, demonstrate Anpac Bio's CDA diagnostics consistently detect 28+ cancers -- with sensitivity and specificity rate ranges of 75%-90%. Anpac Bio is the only company fully-commercialized and generating liquid biopsy screening revenue globally; with 101+ CDA-related patents issued to date (250+ filed) worldwide.

Anpac Bio joins other prestigious, national/international 2018 MBDA award-winners, including: Coca Cola Company; MBE Capital Partners, LLC; Champion Controls, Inc.; McWong Environmental Technology; DAP Construction Management, LLC; Resource Management, Inc.; Sensis; IMR Development Corporation; and other exceptional individual award winners.

Also in attendance and celebrating their commitment to purchasing/supporting Minority Business Enterprises included: Merck, Facebook, Inc., Target Corporation, AstraZeneca Group, General Mills, Anthem Blue Cross, Toyota, IBM, Dell, Wells Fargo, Eli Lilly & Company, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, CVS Health, and the Walt Disney Company, among others.

"Anpac Bio is very honored that the United States Department of Commerce has named our company the 2018 national, 'Health Products and Services Firm of the Year'," states Anpac Bio CEO Chris Yu. "We are so appreciative our CDA liquid biopsy technology is considered the most innovative in the country. And we're particularly proud to provide cost-effective and consistently-reliable, liquid biopsy cancer screening globally; especially for minority and socio-economically challenged populations that are typically underserved by standard cancer prevention and early detection options."

For more information: www.AnpacBio.com.

SOURCE Anpac Bio

Related Links

http://www.anpacbio.com

According to AIT President and CEO Vaughn Moore, the acquisition of ConneXion fulfills a long-term goal for the company to establish a greater presence in the United Kingdom. He said, "AIT has many customers in the UK with consistently high cargo volume and the company's aspiration to expand there has intensified in recent years. This acquisition also reinforces AIT customers' supply chains in the UK with robust local expertise, particularly when it comes to licensing and customs connections. Adding the ConneXion group to our global team will help mitigate any uncertainty our customers with business in the UK may have with respect to the forthcoming Brexit milestones."

Moore added, "AIT is thrilled to expand our operations in Europe with the acquisition of ConneXion World Cargo. We welcome our new ConneXion colleagues in Asia, Europe and North America to our global team and we look forward to supporting ConneXion's loyal customers."

AIT's Chief Information Officer, Ray Fennelly, said, "ConneXion is an excellent fit for AIT, especially since their company culture is so similar to ours. The members of their management team have a long tenure with the business during which they have cultivated impressive long-lasting partnerships with their customers. They are a financially stable full-service provider with extensive local relationships and knowledge; we are very pleased that ConneXion's global team of logistics professionals have joined AIT."

ConneXion World Cargo has offices in Halifax, Canada; Hong Kong, China and Paris, France as well as United Kingdom-based operational centers in London, Exeter and Manchester. ConneXion's global headquarters is situated in close proximity to London's Heathrow airport:

ConneXion World Cargo

Units 1-2 McKay Trading Estate

Blackthorne Road

Colnbrook, Berkshire SL3 0AH

United Kingdom

Phone: +44 (0) 1753 680300

The newly acquired company's six locations will be overseen by AIT's Executive Vice President, Global Operations, Greg Weigel. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

About AIT Worldwide Logistics

Founded in 1979, Itasca, Illinois-based AIT Worldwide Logistics is a full-service transportation management provider. With continental headquarters in Chicago, Amsterdam and Hong Kong, AIT's offices form a vast network spanning the globe. By coupling a flexible business model with robust technology that presents end-to-end shipment visibility, AIT delivers precisely tailored supply chain solutions for almost every industry imaginable. Leveraging creative, competitively priced multimodal services, AIT removes the complexity from global logistics puzzles, helping companies thrive by regaining focus on the core goals of their business. For more information, visit www.aitworldwide.com.

Our Mission

At AIT, we vigorously seek opportunities to earn our customers' trust by delivering exceptional worldwide logistics solutions while passionately valuing our co-workers, partners and communities.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Matt Sanders

Corporate Copywriter

+1 (630) 766-8300

[email protected]

AIT Worldwide Logistics, Inc.

Corporate Headquarters

701 N. Rohlwing Road

Itasca, IL 60143

800-669-4AIT (4248)

www.aitworldwide.com

SOURCE AIT Worldwide Logistics, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.aitworldwide.com

Transaction Advances North American Utility Distribution Business Growth Strategy

Highlights:

Acquisition marks Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp.'s (APUC) first utility operation in Canada , and expands its regulated natural gas distribution footprint

Consistent with APUC's growth strategy and is expected to provide opportunities for further expansion of its distribution business

Purchase price of C$331 million , expected to be immediately accretive to APUC's earnings per share

Transaction closing is expected in 2019, following regulatory approvals

Commitment to maintain local employment and the continued safe, reliable provision of service to customers

Following Transaction closing, APUC plans to establish the C$5 million "Fuel for the Future" fund, aimed at increasing the accessibility of natural gas in New Brunswick

OAKVILLE, ON, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. ("APUC" or "the Company") (TSX/NYSE: AQN) today announced that its subsidiary Liberty Utilities (Canada) LP ("Liberty Utilities") has entered into an agreement to purchase Enbridge Gas New Brunswick Limited Partnership ("New Brunswick Gas"), a subsidiary of Enbridge Inc. (TSX: ENB), along with its general partner for C$331 million, subject to certain customary adjustments (the "Transaction"). New Brunswick Gas is a regulated utility that provides natural gas to approximately 12,000 customers in 12 communities across New Brunswick, and operates approximately 800 km of natural gas distribution pipeline.

"The acquisition of New Brunswick Gas builds on the growth strategy for Liberty Utilities' East Region through the addition of a new, high-quality utility while being immediately accretive to APUC's earnings," said Ian Robertson, Chief Executive Officer of APUC. "As a proudly Canadian company, we see New Brunswick Gas as an ideal opportunity to expand the distribution footprint into Canada, where we see tremendous potential to invest in growing the customer base. We look forward to welcoming the New Brunswick Gas team to the APUC family, and are committed to supporting the dedicated teams as they continue to deliver the same great services across the province."

Transaction Highlights

Financing expected to be consistent with APUC'S investment grade capital structure - The financing plan for the Transaction is expected to be consistent with APUC's current credit profile and strong investment grade credit ratings. Closing of the Transaction is expected to occur within the first half of 2019 and remains subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of regulatory and government approvals.

Continuing Commitment to Communities, Customers and Employees  The Transaction is not expected to affect New Brunswick Gas customers or the rates paid for service. APUC intends to maintain local employment and the existing local operating and management structure. Liberty Utilities plans to establish the "Fuel for the Future" fund which, subject to conditions to be announced, could offer rebates of up to 100 percent of the cost of converting new customers in order to take advantage of the economic, clean and convenient natural gas in New Brunswick. Liberty Utilities plans to work closely with New Brunswick Gas towards a successful and seamless transition, under which customers will continue to receive the same uninterrupted, safe and reliable service to which they have been accustomed.

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. to Host Analyst and Investor Day Events

On December 4th and December 5th, APUC will be hosting its annual Analyst and Investor Day events in Toronto and New York, respectively. During these events, management plans to provide further information on its current operations, business developments and outlook for future growth and recent capital investments. Institutional investors and research analysts interested in attending may contact APUC's Investor Relations team at [email protected] for further information.

About Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp.

APUC is a diversified generation, transmission and distribution utility with approximately US$9 billion of total assets. Through its two business groups, APUC provides rate regulated natural gas, water, and electricity generation, transmission, and distribution utility services to over 766,000 connections, and is committed to being a global leader in the generation of clean energy through its ownership of, or interest in, long term contracted wind, solar and hydroelectric generating facilities representing approximately 1.7 GW of installed capacity. With a team of over 2,300 talented employees, APUC delivers continuing growth through an expanding pipeline of renewable energy development projects, organic growth within its rate regulated generation, distribution and transmission businesses, and the pursuit of accretive acquisitions. APUC's common shares, Series A preferred shares and Series D preferred shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols AQN, AQN.PR.A, and AQN.PR.D, respectively. APUC's common shares and Series A subordinated notes are also listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols AQN and AQNA.

Visit APUC at www.algonquinpowerandutilities.com and follow us on Twitter @AQN_Utilities.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements included in this news release contain information that is forward-looking within the meaning of certain securities laws, including information and statements regarding the completion of the proposed Transaction, the anticipated benefits of the proposed Transaction and APUC's prospective results of operations, financial position or cash flows. These statements are based on factors or assumptions that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making a forecast or projection, including assumptions based on historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments. Since forward-looking statements relate to future events and conditions, by their very nature they require making assumptions and involve inherent risks and uncertainties. APUC cautions that although it is believed that the assumptions are reasonable in the circumstances, these risks and uncertainties give rise to the possibility that actual results may differ materially from the expectations set out in the forward-looking statements. Material risk factors include those set out in the management's discussion and analysis section of APUC's most recent annual report, quarterly report, and APUC's Annual Information Form. Given these risks, undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of their dates. Other than as specifically required by law, APUC undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements or information to reflect new information, subsequent or otherwise.

SOURCE Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp.

Related Links

http://www.algonquinpower.com

OAKVILLE, Dec. 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - Further to the news release of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (TSX/NYSE: AQN) ("APUC" or the "Company") dated November 28, 2018, APUC announced today the applicable dividend rates for its Cumulative 5-Year Rate Reset Preferred Shares, Series A (the "Series A Preferred Shares") and Cumulative Floating Rate Preferred Shares, Series B (the "Series B Preferred Shares").

With respect to any Series A Preferred Shares that remain outstanding after December 31, 2018, holders thereof will be entitled to receive quarterly fixed cumulative preferential cash dividends, if, as and when declared by the board of directors of the Company (the "Board"). The dividend rate for the 5-year period from and including December 31, 2018 to but excluding December 31, 2023 will be 5.162%, being equal to the 5-year Government of Canada bond yield determined as of today plus 2.94%, in accordance with the terms of the Series A Preferred Shares.

With respect to any Series B Preferred Shares that may be issued on December 31, 2018, holders thereof will be entitled to receive quarterly floating rate cumulative preferential cash dividends, if, as and when declared by the Board. The dividend rate for the 3-month floating rate period from and including December 31, 2018 to but excluding March 31, 2019 will be 4.653%, being equal to the 3-month Government of Canada Treasury Bill yield determined as of today plus 2.94%, calculated on the basis of the actual number of days in such quarterly period divided by 365, in accordance with the terms of the Series B Preferred Shares.

Beneficial owners of Series A Preferred Shares who wish to exercise their conversion right should communicate with their broker or other nominee to ensure their instructions are followed so that the registered holder of the Series A Preferred Shares can meet the deadline to exercise such conversion right, which is 5:00 p.m. (EST) on December 17, 2018.

About Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp.

APUC is a diversified generation, transmission and distribution utility with approximately US$9 billion of total assets. Through its two business groups, APUC provides rate regulated natural gas, water, and electricity generation, transmission, and distribution utility services to over 760,000 connections in the United States, and is committed to being a global leader in the generation of clean energy through its ownership of, or interest in, long term contracted wind, solar and hydroelectric generating facilities representing approximately 1.7 GW of installed capacity. With a team of over 2,300 talented employees, APUC delivers continuing growth through an expanding pipeline of renewable energy development projects, organic growth within its rate regulated generation, distribution and transmission businesses, and the pursuit of accretive acquisitions. APUC's common shares, Series A preferred shares and Series D preferred shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols AQN, AQN.PR.A, and AQN.PR.D. APUC's common shares and Series A subordinated notes are also listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols AQN and AQNA.

Visit APUC at www.algonquinpower.com and follow us on Twitter @AQN_Utilities.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements included in this news release constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws in each of the provinces of Canada and the respective policies, regulations and rules under such laws and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). The words "expected", "intends" and similar expressions are often intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Specific forward-looking statements contained in this news release include, but are not limited to, the declaration of quarterly dividends. These statements are based on factors or assumptions that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making a forecast or projection, including assumptions based on historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments. Since forward-looking statements relate to future events and conditions, by their very nature they require making assumptions and involve inherent risks and uncertainties. APUC cautions that although it is believed that the assumptions are reasonable in the circumstances, these risks and uncertainties give rise to the possibility that actual results may differ materially from the expectations set out in the forward-looking statements. Material risk factors include those set out in APUC's most recent annual and interim management's discussion and analysis and most recent annual information form. Given these risks, undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of their dates. Other than as specifically required by law, APUC undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent or otherwise.

SOURCE Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp.

Related Links

http://www.algonquinpower.com

NEW YORK, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- A member of the Chippewa-Cree Tribe from Montana, a rural community college librarian from North Carolina, and a Pennsylvania advocate for immigrants and refugees are among the ten winners of the prestigious I Love My Librarian Award, the American Library Association announced today. Recipients were chosen from more than 1,000 nominations from library users nationwide who submitted compelling stories that showcased how their local librarians have profoundly improved lives within their community.

Among this year's I Love My Librarian Award recipients are an academic librarian who provides students with free access to textbooks, food and toiletries; public librarians who assist new Americans while battling bigotry and cultural invisibility; and a school librarian who drives students who can't afford transportation to school.

"Our nation's librarians work tirelessly and selflessly to better lives in their communities," said American Library Association President Loida Garcia-Febo. "I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to this year's I Love My Librarian Award recipients. I stand in awe of their contributions to transforming lives through courage, empathy and compassion. Thank you for your noble work and civic mindedness."

2018 marks the 10th anniversary of the I Love My Librarian Award, which honors librarians who go above and beyond traditional library service. This coveted award was established in 2008 and recognizes outstanding public service that has transformed lives through education and lifelong learning. The ALA has received thousands of nominations over the decade, but only 110 librarians have received this distinguished honor.

Tonight, each winning librarian will receive a $5,000 prize at an award ceremony and reception in New York City. The ceremony is hosted by award co-sponsors Carnegie Corporation of New York, The New York Public Library, and The New York Times. The ALA will offer a Facebook live video stream of the event beginning at 5 p.m. ET at @AmericanLibraryAssociation .

Award recipients include four academic librarians, three public librarians and three school librarians. This year's winners are:

Ginny Blackson

James E. Brooks Library

Central Washington University

Ellensburg, Washington

Joy Bridwell

Stone Child College Library

Box Elder, Montana

Tamara Cox

Wren High School

Piedmont, South Carolina

Nancy Daniel

Western Piedmont Community College Library

Morganton, North Carolina

Jennifer Berg Gaither

Baltimore City College

Baltimore, Maryland

Terri Gallagher

Community College of Beaver County Library

Monaca, Pennsylvania

Paula Kelly

Whitehall Public Library

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Stephanie Hartwell-Mandella

Katonah Village Library

Town of Bedford, New York

Linda Robinson

Mansfield Middle School

Mansfield, Connecticut

Lindsey Tomsu

Algonquin Area Public Library District

Algonquin, Illinois

For more information regarding the 2018 I Love My Librarian Award recipients, please visit www.ilovelibraries.org/ilovemylibrarian. For event highlights and additional information regarding this year's winners and the importance of their work in the community please follow #ILoveMyLibrarian Share the word by reposting from our social media pages on Twitter and Facebook.

Photos of the award recipients are available at https://bit.ly/2JPOfZp .

About Carnegie Corporation of New York

Carnegie Corporation of New York was established by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 "to promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding." In keeping with this mandate, the Corporation's work focuses on the issues that Andrew Carnegie considered of paramount importance: international peace, education and knowledge, and a strong democracy.

About The New York Public Library

The New York Public Library is a free provider of education and information for the people of New York and beyond. With 92 locationsincluding research and branch librariesthroughout the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, the Library offers free materials, computer access, classes, exhibitions, programming and more to everyone from toddlers to scholars, and has seen record numbers of attendance and circulation in recent years. The New York Public Library serves more than 18 million patrons who come through its doors annually and millions more around the globe who use its resources at www.nypl.org. To offer this wide array of free programming, The New York Public Library relies on both public and private funding. Learn more about how to support the Library at nypl.org/support.

About the American Library Association

American Library Association (ALA) is the foremost national organization providing resources to inspire library and information professionals to transform their communities through essential programs and services. For more than 140 years, ALA has been the trusted voice of libraries, advocating for the profession and the library's role in enhancing learning and ensuring access to information for all. For more information, visit ala.org. To contribute to support ALA's work, visit ala.org/donate.

SOURCE American Library Association

Related Links

http://www.ala.org

SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- AOPEN, a multinational technology company that specializes in smart products and services for cloud-based applications, has partnered with Volta, the nation's largest free car-charging kiosk provider, to scale its outdoor digital advertising network. The commercial-grade AOPEN Digital Engine media player enables Volta to meet the demands created by advances to their kiosk innovation and a rapid growth schedule. Watch the video case study here.

In 2017, Volta began deploying the AOPEN DE3250 in its single-screen digital car-charging kiosks, and since standardized on the AOPEN DE3450 - a next-generation AOPEN Digital Engine featuring UHD and Intelligent Control capabilities. Its ongoing partnership with AOPEN enables Volta to streamline operations and reduce limitations to network growth. The dual-output capability of the Digital Engine made for an easy transition when Volta introduced its two-screen, dual-sided solution - sleek industrial enclosures designed and manufactured by Peerless-AV.

"Volta has always made it a point to have the best technology available in our stations," said Jon Michaels, SVP, Operations and Supply Chain at Volta. "The main reason we chose to work with AOPEN was their continually expanding product line. As Volta expands, AOPEN's robust product line grows with us."

AOPEN Digital Engines are ruggedized products designed to meet the extreme requirements of harsh winters, humid temperatures, or hot arid zones. With directories built on the Ubuntu-Linux platform, and remote management capabilities, content can be updated and device health can be easily monitored, anywhere, anytime.

"AOPEN commercial-grade products are well-known for first-rate performance in especially challenging conditions," said Aaron Pompey, General Manager, AOPEN America. "We provided Volta with a reliable, cost-effective solution that scales to their innovation and growth."

Founded in 1996, AOPEN is a multinational technology company that specializes in commercial and industrial products and global certified service, including industrial PC (IPC) products for process control and data acquisition, as well as Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) technologies. AOPEN enables its cloud-based partner ecosystem with smart products that automate commercial and industrial applications for top global brands. Part of the ACER group, AOPEN has a presence in over 100 countries.

AOPEN: [email protected] or http://www.aopen.com/us

Volta: http://www.voltacharging.com/

Peerless-AV: https://www.peerless-av.com /

Copyright 2018 AOPEN INC, ACER and affiliates are registered trademarks. All Rights Reserved.

SOURCE AOPEN

Related Links

http://www.aopen.com

BRENTWOOD, Tenn., Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- A number of banks invested a significant portion of the profits gained due to tax reform back into their business, according to Bank Director's 2019 Bank M&A Survey, sponsored by Crowe LLP.

Thirty-seven percent say their bank invested some of the tax windfall in new growth initiatives, and 36 percent in new technology.

The focus on new growth initiatives is consistent with the respondents' view of bank M&A. Fifty-seven percent indicate they are open to bank acquisitions but prefer to focus on organic growth opportunities. "With the current state of the economy and improved regulatory and tax environments, bankers are focused on what they can control: new growth initiatives," said Rick Childs, a partner with Crowe.

"While the pace of acquisitions might begin to slow, banks should continue to explore potential deals, as M&A remains a catalyst for growth," adds Al Dominick, CEO of Bank Director.

One-quarter say their bank used some of the tax windfall to raise salaries, and 19 percent paid employees a one-time bonus.

The 2019 Bank M&A Survey was conducted in September and October 2018, and surveyed 184 independent directors, chief executive officers and senior executives of U.S. banks to examine industry attitudes on issues impacting growth, including the U.S. economy and regulatory environment.

Given the passage of tax reform and regulatory relief for the banking industry over the past year, respondents have an overwhelmingly positive view of Washington, particularly President Donald Trump and Mick Mulvaney, who in his tenure as interim head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has transformed the agency into a more even-handed regulator. Eighty-seven percent say the Trump administration has had a positive impact on the banking industry. The same percentage give glowing marks to Mulvaney.

Additional findings include:

Seventy-six percent expect the U.S. economy to grow modestly through 2019.

Forty-six percent expect increased tariffs to have a moderate impact on their bank's business customers, and 38 percent foresee little impact.

More than half believe the current environment is more favorable for deals.

Fifty-one percent say they're likely to acquire another bank by the end of 2019.

Thirty percent believe their bank is more likely to acquire as a result of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act, which rolled back some regulations for the banking industry. Two-thirds indicate that regulatory reform will have no impact on their M&A plans.

Acquiring deposits is very attractive to today's potential dealmakers: 71 percent say the potential target's deposit base is a highly important factor in making the decision to acquire.

Fifty-three percent say branch locations in attractive or growing markets are highly important, and 49 percent place high value on lending teams or talented lenders at the target.

Despite more sympathetic regulators and the passage of regulatory relief, 72 percent say their bank's examiners have grown no less stringent over the past two years.

Full survey results are available online at BankDirector.com and will be featured in the 1st quarter 2019 issue of Bank Director magazine.

About Bank Director

Since 1991, Bank Director has served as a leading information resource for the directors and officers of financial institutions. Through Bank Director magazine, its executive-level research, annual conferences and website, BankDirector.com, Bank Director reaches the leaders of the institutions that comprise America's banking industry. Bank Director is headquartered in Brentwood, Tennessee.

About Crowe LLP

Crowe LLP (www.crowe.com) is a public accounting, consulting and technology firm with offices around the world. Crowe uses its deep industry expertise to provide audit services to public and private entities. The firm and its subsidiaries also help clients make smart decisions that lead to lasting value with its tax, advisory, risk and performance services. Crowe is recognized by many organizations as one of the best places to work in the U.S. As an independent member of Crowe Global, one of the largest global accounting networks in the world, Crowe serves clients worldwide. The network consists of more than 200 independent accounting and advisory services firms in more than 130 countries around the world.

Contact: Michelle King, chief marketing officer, (615) 777-8465, [email protected]

SOURCE BankDirector.com

Related Links

http://www.bankdirector.com

INDIANAPOLIS, Dec. 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Bell Techlogix, a leading IT managed services and solutions company, today announced the addition of Todd Krysiewicz as Senior Vice President, Application Sales and Services, effective immediately.

Krysiewicz, a 26-year veteran of the industry, will be responsible for building the strategy and appropriate sales and implementation capabilities for Application Services, a new provider focus for Bell Techlogix. The application market offers a platform for Bell Techlogix to provide new capabilities that are currently creating exciting opportunities in the space including, "low code" application development, chatbots and artificial intelligence, Blockchain, and many new mobile application development tools.

"I'm thrilled to join the Bell Techlogix team at an exciting time in their business development," said Krysiewicz. "Bell Techlogix is a highly regarded leader in the managed IT space with a tremendous opportunity to support businesses of all types with the latest technology, services and support programs. I look forward to strengthening our continuum of professional and managed services offerings to ensure we meet our clients' needs, regardless of how they choose to consume technology."

"All of us at Bell Techlogix are pleased to have Todd as part of our leadership team," said Ron Frankenfield CEO for Bell Techlogix. "Todd brings exceptional industry expertise and talent to our team at a time when we are focused on expanding our market reach with new services in the application services space. His history of success in evolving service strategies and execution fits perfectly with our business direction and goals."

Krysiewicz has held a number of executive leadership positions at prominent services and technology firms. Before joining Bell Techlogix, Todd led application services for organizations such as CSC, Xerox, Unisys, and Avaya. Most recently Todd served as the SVP Services Sales for OnX Enterprise Solutions, a mid-sized Canadian IT services company.

About Bell Techlogix:

Bell Techlogix, headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, provides transformational Next Generation Digital Workplace and Infrastructure Management solutions to large and mid-market enterprises, as well as the public sector. With services that build, integrate and support the next wave of operational transformation Bell Techlogix provides a true client partnership and an enhanced digital experience. Bell Techlogix provides a flexible approach that is globally capable but locally oriented that will systematically allow you to achieve growth, cost-savings and acceleration of your business.

For more information on Bell Techlogix, please visit us on the web at www.belltechlogix.com, follow us on Twitter @BellTechlogixHQ, like us on LinkedIn or Facebook.

SOURCE Bell Techlogix

Related Links

http://www.belltechlogix.com

DALLAS, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- BenefitMall , the leading provider of employee benefits and payroll services, today announces the acquisition of Fiduciary Intermediary LTD. (FILCO), a Benefits General Agency operated in New Jersey and New York.

"It is an honor to welcome FILCO to BenefitMall," said Barb Taylor, regional vice president for BenefitMall. "We continually strive to expand our footprint and resources and are thrilled to have FILCO's talented and resourceful team join us."

BenefitMall will strengthen its robust team with the addition of Brian Cullen and Richard Murray, along with a tenured sales and service team. This acquisition and this past spring's Slattery GA deal expands BenefitMall's support to brokers and their clients in the New York and New Jersey market, while contributing to the company's plans for continued, strategic growth.

"We are thrilled to be joining forces with BenefitMall," said Richard Murray, executive vice president for FILCO. "This alliance represents an incredible opportunity for us to expand on the technology, products, and services we offer to our producers. There is amazing symmetry in our firm's cultures, and with BenefitMall's reputation and proven track record for success, we could not think of a better organization to have as our partner."

FILCO has been in the employee benefits business since 1989, and the team manages over 23,000 lines of coverage. The acquisition of FILCO closed Monday.

"FILCO's decision making through the years has always been focused on what is best for our producers, and how can we help them grow their employee benefits business," said Brian Cullen, president for FILCO. "Our decision to partner with BenefitMall shows our dedication to our brokers and how important their success is to our core values. BenefitMall's products and resources coupled with our broker centered sales and service team will help everyone reach new heights."

About BenefitMall

Headquartered in Dallas, BenefitMall partners with a network of 20,000 Brokers and CPAs to deliver employee benefits and payroll services to more than 200,000 small and medium-sized businesses. By combining payroll and benefits, BenefitMall empowers Trusted Advisors to develop the best employee programs while maintaining compliance with government regulations and Health Care Reform.

Owned by Management and The Carlyle Group, BenefitMall also operates HealthCareExchange.com, the leading online community for information regarding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. More information is available at www.benefitmall.com .

SOURCE BenefitMall

Related Links

http://www.benefitmall.com

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Through Triple Play, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Anthem Blue Cross and CareMore Foundations are delivering education and programming that promotes the importance of physical activity and proper nutrition, and enables youth to build the skills needed to overcome environmental factors that can negatively impact health and wellness. Thanks to $40,000 in Triple Play grants from Anthem Blue Cross Foundation and CareMore Foundation, more youth will have access to health and wellness programming in California.

Through the partnership, Boys & Girls Clubs in California have made significant strides in enabling youth to reach their full potential as healthy, productive adults. When comparing California Club kids to national youth averages, 84 percent of Clubs kids never drank alcohol while 37 percent of national youth reported never drinking alcohol. Thanks to the Anthem Blue Cross and CareMore Foundations, the following Clubs will receive grants to implement the Triple Play program:

Boys & Girls Clubs of Fresno County

Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Redlands - Riverside (Awarded by CareMore Foundation)

- (Awarded by CareMore Foundation) Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Orange Coast

Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Los Angeles (Awarded CareMore Foundation)

Boys & Girls Clubs of the North Valley

Alameda Boys & Girls Club

& Girls Club Boys & Girls Clubs of Silicon Valley

Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco

"At Anthem Blue Cross, we are working to ensure California youth have an opportunity to live a healthier life," said Dr. Barsam Kasravi, Interim Anthem Blue Cross Medicaid Plan President. "Through our Foundations, we are taking a proactive approach to adolescent health that takes into consideration social and environmental factors that impact well-being, and providing access to resources and support that fosters a greater awareness about the benefits of leading a healthier lifestyle that can positively impact their future."

As Boys & Girls Clubs of America's proven health and wellness program, Triple Play is a game plan for the mind, body and soul. Supported by founding sponsor The Coca-Cola Company and co-sponsors, Anthem Blue Cross Foundation and CareMore Foundation, the program's three components deliver on the belief that whole child health fosters young people's ability to gain diverse knowledge, skills, and protective factors that enable them to overcome barriers to wellness, resulting in positive future health outcomes.

"Anthem Blue Cross and CareMore Foundations' continued support of Triple Play has enabled us to continuously build and implement a whole child development approach," said Jennifer Bateman, National Vice President of Youth Development Programs for Boys & Girls Clubs of America. "Through the partnership, we're enabling California youth in all communities statewide the opportunity to develop the healthy habits, and social and emotional skills to lead a healthy lifestyle for life."

The Anthem Blue Cross Foundation is committed to improving health and strengthening communities. Over the summer, the Foundation awarded Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Sacramento with a $25,000 grant to expand the Triple Play program for Sacramento youth.

Through Triple Play, Anthem Blue Cross Foundation and CareMore Foundation aims to create positive outcomes for youth, families and communities that are sustained over time. Together, the partnership seeks to level the playing field to enable all youth to achieve great futures.

The Triple Play grants are part of a five-year, $10 million commitment to Boys & Girls Clubs of America from The Anthem Foundation, Anthem Blue Cross and CareMore Foundations' parent company.

About Boys & Girls Clubs of America

For more than 150 years, Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA.org) has enabled young people most in need to achieve great futures as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Today, 4,400 Clubs serve 4 million young people through Club membership and community outreach. Clubs are located in cities, towns, public housing and on Native lands throughout the country, and serve military families in BGCA-affiliated Youth Centers on U.S. military installations worldwide. They provide a safe place, caring adult mentors, fun and friendship, and high-impact youth development programs on a daily basis during critical non-school hours. Club programs promote academic success, good character and citizenship, and healthy lifestyles. In a Harris Survey of alumni, 54 percent said the Club saved their lives. National headquarters are located in Atlanta. Learn more on Facebook and Twitter.

About Anthem Blue Cross Foundation

Through charitable grant making, the Anthem Blue Cross Foundation LLC, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Association promotes Anthem Blue Cross's inherent commitment to enhance the health and well-being of individuals and families in communities that the company serves. The Foundation focuses its funding on strategic initiatives that address and provide innovative solutions to healthcare challenges, as well as promoting the Healthy Generations Program, a multi-generational initiative that targets specific disease states and medical conditions. These include: prenatal care in the first trimester, low birth weight babies, cardiac morbidity rates, long term activities that decrease obesity and increase physical activity, diabetes prevalence in adult populations, adult pneumococcal and influenza vaccinations and smoking cessation. The foundation also coordinates the company's year-round Associate Giving program that provides a 50 percent match of associates' pledges, as well as its Volunteer Time Off and Dollars for Doers community service programs. ANTHEM is a registered trademark of Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. The Blue Cross names and symbol are registered marks of the Blue Cross Association.

About CareMore Foundation

The CareMore Foundation is the philanthropic arm of CareMore Health Plans, a wholly owned subsidiary of Anthem, Inc. Together with local, regional and national organizations, the CareMore Foundation works to enhance the health and well-being of individuals and families in communities that CareMore serves. CareMore Foundation funding is focused on strategic initiatives working to address and provide innovative solutions to health care challenges, as well as promoting the Healthy Generations Program, a multi-generational initiative with five areas of focus: Healthy Heart, Cancer Prevention, Healthy Maternal Practices, Type 2 Diabetes Prevention and Healthy Active Lifestyle. The Foundation also coordinates the company's year-round Associate Giving program that provides a 50 percent match of associates' campaign pledges, as well as its Volunteer Time Off and Dollars for Doers community service programs. For more information visit www.anthemcorporateresponsibility.com/cr/foundation.



Media Contacts:

Ashley Keyes, Boys & Girls Clubs of America

[email protected]

404-487-5466

Dionisia Malecki, Anthem Blue Cross

[email protected]

813-599-0364

SOURCE Boys & Girls Clubs of America

Related Links

http://www.bgca.org

Cannabis edibles and plant-based proteins are trends to watch

HALIFAX, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - The average Canadian family is expected to spend $411 more on food in 2019 than in 2018, bringing the total cost of healthy food to $12,157 for the year, according to Canada's Food Price Report 2019. This is the report's 9th edition, and the second time it has been released jointly by Dalhousie University and the University of Guelph.

"Overall food prices are expected to rise no more than 3.5% in 2019, a slight increase from last year," says Dalhousie Project Lead Sylvain Charlebois, professor in the Faculties of Management and Agriculture.

The report's authors forecast the following price changes for 2019, with vegetables notably predicted to go up in price by 4% to 6%, a considerable challenge to consumers who struggle to afford healthy food. This report is also predicting a further increase in the cost of restaurant prices due to favourable market conditions and increased labour costs brought about by new minimum wage laws. "With 35% of Canadian's food budgets spent on buying food outside the home, this will have an impact on the wallets of Canadians," says Guelph Project Lead Simon Somogyi, Arrell Chair in the Business of Food at the College of Business and Economics.

Provincially, overall food price hikes are expected to exceed the national average in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Saskatchewan; to be below the national average in the Atlantic Provinces; and to be at the average in Manitoba and Quebec.

Trends to watch in 2019 include the legalization of cannabis, the long-anticipated unveiling of Canada's new Food Guide, and the avoidance of meat and a push towards plant-based alternatives.

This year's research team included Dalhousie University colleagues Eamonn McGuinty (Management and Agriculture); Vlado Keselj, Jay Harris and Joon Son (Computer Science); Andrea Giusto (Economics); Catherine Mah (Health); and Janet Music (Management). They joined forces with University of Guelph researchers Francis Tapon and Erna Van Duren, College of Business and Economics, and Paul Uys of the Arrell Food Institute, which Charlebois co-founded. The Nova Scotia Community College also took part in the project.

"Both teams looked at our machine learning model, which generated very accurate results," says Charlebois. "The year 2018 was a good one as most of our predictions from the last report proved to be accurate."

For more information, please read the complete Canada's Food Price Report 2018 at dal.ca/management.

SOURCE University of Guelph

Related Links

http://www.uoguelph.ca

NEW YORK, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- CareDox, the nation's largest provider of healthcare software and services for K-12 school districts, today announced that it added 59 new K-12 school district contracts across eight states for the 2018-2019 school year. This rapid expansion includes 2,233 new individual schools and more than 1.59 million new student health records. The new contract wins bring the total number of schools contracted with CareDox for health records management technology and wellness services, including in-school flu vaccinations, to 7100 schools and more than 4.9 million students' health records.

"Despite near-universal health insurance coverage, our nation's school-age children aren't getting the care they need. One half of children in this country don't get an annual wellness check-up, asthma hospitalizations are at an epidemic level, and 44 percent don't get a flu vaccination each year, due in part to limited access and the inconvenience of having to visit a pediatrician for simple wellness services," said Hesky Kutscher, CEO of CareDox. "We are working with districts and insurers to change these statistics by delivering reimbursed wellness services in school  including more than 400,000 flu shots this year alone."

CareDox works with more than 850 trained nurses who visit individual schools and administer wellness services, and the CareDox technology platform is used by thousands of school nurses to digitally manage these services and other instances of care throughout the year. In fact, the CareDox technology platform replaces schools' historical use of paper records. By allowing school nurses, administrators and parents to digitally manage a student's care online, it significantly reduces time spent managing a student's healthcare.

And with the increase in chronic conditions among school-age children  conditions like asthma and diabetes  it's critical to capture details of visits to the school nurse and maintain complete and timely tracking of chronic sickness. CareDox's platform is helping school nurses manage 380,000 chronic conditions among 270,000 students. Further, there are more than 50,000 care management plans maintained in the CareDox system.

The CareDox platform and training for school nurses and health professionals are both provided free of charge to schools. And schools and individual students are not charged any fee for CareDox's services, as each vaccination or wellness exam is reimbursed by a student's individual health plan. CareDox maintains 61 individual contracts with payers across eight states. In the event that a service isn't covered, CareDox absorbs the cost.

"K-12 students spend an average of 14 percent of their waking hours in school by the time they are 18 years old[1], where school nurses play a critical role in managing an increasing number of complex chronic medical conditions like asthma and diabetes. Yet, most schools don't have a digital records management platform, nor the nursing resources to manage demand for health services on site," said Tony Boselli, president of CareDox. "By combining our health services with a much-needed digital health records platform for K-12 districts, CareDox is filling a long-standing gap in the nation's management of pediatric health."

For more information on CareDox, please visit www.caredox.com.

About CareDox

CareDox is the leader in pediatric healthcare technology and services aimed at transforming the most consistent health delivery system in the U.S.; K-12 public schools. The company's health records management technology houses more than 4.9 million student health records, and its unique, no-cost wellness services, including in-school flu vaccinations, are in operations in more than 7100 schools. The company was founded in 2014 and is based in New York City. To learn more about CareDox and how they work with schools and payers, please visit www.caredox.com.

[1] https://www.naesp.org/sites/default/files/resources/2/Principal/2004/S-Op6.pdf

Media Contact:

CareDox

[email protected]

SOURCE CareDox

Related Links

http://www.CareDox.com

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Under the leadership of Jeremy Wilson and Robert Stiles, Revolution Realty announced today that, after reviewing several business model options, the company has chosen to affiliate with Century 21 Real Estate LLC, home to the iconic CENTURY 21 brand.

The company will now conduct business as CENTURY 21 Revolution and the team will continue to provide full-service real estate services to buyers and sellers in the greater Cedar Rapids and Iowa City area. CENTURY 21 Revolution will now benefit from the world-class marketing, agent learning and educational resources, and technology and productivity tools provided through its affiliation with the CENTURY 21 System.

"We are pleased to welcome Rob and Jeremy and their entire team to the CENTURY 21 System," said Nick Bailey, president and chief executive officer, Century 21 Real Estate. "They are innovative and tech-driven leaders who understand the importance of staying ahead of the evolving market and delivering extraordinary experiences to their home buying and selling clients and customers."

Wilson and Stiles have been operating as an independent brokerage since 2013. The two entrepreneurs opened Revolution Realty with a mission to constantly challenge the complacency in the market and to provide a technology platform that allows their agents to better serve customers. The business partners also own a property management company to further offer services to renters, buyers and sellers throughout the area.

"We chose Century 21 Real Estate as our partner because of their focus on growth and the platform of services they provide will help our people better serve our communities," explained Stiles. "As technology continues to improve, we need to make sure we're staying innovative and leveraging these advancements to revolutionize the way business is conducted and provide the best resources and services to both our agents and customers."

About CENTURY 21 Revolution

CENTURY 21 Revolution is a full-service real estate company, serving the buyers and sellers of Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. The office is located at 900 2nd Street SE Suite 105, Cedar Rapids, IA 52401.

CENTURY 21 Revolution is an independently owned and operated franchise affiliate of Century 21 Real Estate, franchisor of the iconic CENTURY 21 brand, comprised of approximately 9,400 independently owned and operated franchised broker offices in 80 countries and territories worldwide with more than 127,000 independent sales professionals.

 2018 Century 21 Real Estate LLC. All rights reserved. CENTURY 21 and the CENTURY 21 Logo are registered service marks owned by Century 21 Real Estate LLC. Century 21 Real Estate LLC fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Each office is independently owned and operated.

Media Contact:

Lauren Nickl

MullenLowe for CENTURY 21 Revolution

617.226.9766

[email protected]

SOURCE CENTURY 21 Revolution

Related Links

http://century21.com

DONGGUAN, China, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- As the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area continues, the southern Chinese city of Dongguan has gained more edges over the upgrading manufacturing. According to the Information Office of the People's Government of Dongguan Municipality, the city recently joined hands with Hong Kong to hold an industrial cooperation promotion conference, attracting more than 800 talents from all social sectors of both sides and saw the signing of 39 projects with a total investment of some 35 billion yuan (USD 5.03 billion).



Historically, Dongguan morphed into a noticeable international manufacturing city from a backward agricultural county thanks to adopting China's reform and opening-up policy and attracting foreign capital. Today's Dongguan has evolved again with a new image to the outside world - an innovation base. For instance, five companies were set up each day in the city last year. And the city is now home to 4,058 high-tech enterprises and 2,400 candidates of this kind, both ranking first among other prefecture-level cities in Guangdong. The value added of advanced manufacturing has accounted for over 50% of that of the entire high-tech sector.



With the new opportunities while constructing the Greater Bay Area, Dongguan has shaped a pattern of a higher level of opening-up that is globalization-oriented, and it continues to contribute to the Greater Bay Area endeavor with high-quality development, and build itself into the center of advanced manufacturing in the region.



It takes less than 40 minutes to travel from West Kowloon, Hong Kong to Humen, Dongguan. As the rail network across the Greater Bay Area is more integrated, traveling among Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Dongguan within one day becomes part of people's daily life.

With the constructing of the road network, Dongguan's role as a pivotal city of the Area becomes more obvious. Increasingly, it has become a place where the half-hour economic circles of both banks of the Pearl River converge. A critical axis and linkage that advances the integrated development of the east and west parts of the Greater Bay Area, is taking shape.



Dongguan, as the innovation corridor's hinterland, is demonstrating its geographical edges, with Guangzhou, where colleges, universities and research institutes gather, on its northwest; and Hong Kong and Shenzhen, where a cluster of high-tech businesses injects fresh impetus for innovation, on its south.



Industry experts believe that with such an advantageous location, Dongguan will draw a growing number of high-tech firms. And the city, a connector of the innovation corridor, is anticipated to become China's Silicon Valley or Intelligent Valley together with Guangzhou and Shenzhen.



Other than the improved transport system and manufacturing foundation, a sound innovation ecosystem has strongly impressed leading global innovators. For instance, Huawei, a Chinese tech giant, has based its terminal headquarters in Songshan Lake, Dongguan. And Lens Technology, a Chinese manufacturer of optical lenses, has invested 4.5 billion yuan (USD 649.5 million) in building a plant in the city.



In August, the Spallation Neutron Source in Dongguan, China's first and world's fourth, passed its national acceptance test. That will multiply the city's capacity of pooling talents from across the globe. The Songshan Lake Material Laboratory, which opened this April, has attracted a first batch of ten teams of scientific research and development, including those from Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Harbin Institute of Technology and Peking University.



"Songshan Lake will be home to more world-class scientists in a few years," said Chen Hesheng, academician of CAS and general director of China Spallation Neutron Source project.



"With functional platforms, sufficient capital, favorable policies and a sound environment, Dongguan will become a popular destination for scientific talents. I've developed more interest in this place since the very first day I lived here," said Zhang Shuyan, director of the Songshan Lake-based Center of Excellence for Advanced Materials, who was the youngest chief scientist of the Engineering Laboratory of the UK ISIS Spallation Neutron Source and returned to China in 2016.



"An enhanced supply chain is also essential for the innovation ecosystem. Normally, it takes a week to turn a creative idea into a tangible model. Yet, in Dongguan, it only costs a day," said Zhou Zhentao, founder of Baiao Yade Technology, which manufactures customized machines for patients with respective treatment recommendations in ways to increase doctor's diagnosing accuracy.



A whole host of high-growth technology companies like Baiao has settled in Dongguan and thrived. Thanks to this, the industrial structure of the manufacturing city is becoming more advanced and its economy more open and innovation-driven.

SOURCE The Information Office of the People's Government of Dongguan Municipality"The decision to bring Alan aboard is tied directly to the rollout of our new global brand positioning," says Joe Christina , Chief Executive Officer for Church's . "As our brand moves in an increasingly digital direction, we've created this role specifically to address the unique needs, challenges, and opportunities that come with marketing across digital and non-traditional platforms. Alan has a strong track record in the restaurant industry for being able to establish and lead an entire digital ecosystem. His expertise is going to be instrumental in achieving the best-in-class market position we're pursuing going forward. We're very excited to have him join the team."

In his new role at Church's, Magee is tasked with overseeing Church's entire digital evolution as the brand transitions from a traditional-marketing-only brand to one that utilizes a broad scope of marketing channels to bring marketing campaigns to life, engage with guests on their terms, build loyalty, and attract a new generation of "Flavor First Fans" through a frictionless experience.

Magee comes to Church's after serving two years as Senior Director of Brand Marketing for Moe's Southwest Grill, a division of FOCUS Brands. While there, he oversaw all elements of brand marketing, including calendar strategy, product innovation, brand positioning, and the brand's newly announced "Oasis" prototype restaurant. His "digital first" approach brings digital & social media, content relationship management, online ordering, and loyalty platforms all under the same umbrella  a proven tactic that will undoubtedly influence Church's future digital marketing strategy. Other restaurant experience for Magee includes serving as a Brand Marketing Manager for Arby's Restaurant Group. Outside of the restaurant industry, Magee also formerly worked with InterContinental Hotels Group on the repositioning of the Crowne Plaza brand as well as the hotel group's integrated partnerships with the PGA TOUR and BMW Motorsports. He will personally lead several agency relationships.

"It is always gratifying to be able to work with a brand that is on its way up," says Magee. "Church's has been making great strides in the industry lately and I'm looking forward to making the kinds of contributions that help the brand earn greater market share and stronger brand presence worldwide."

Magee is currently a member of the University of Georgia's Digital Marketing Executive Board. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Marketing from Clemson University and a Master's Degree in Advertising from The University of Texas at Austin.

About Church's Chicken

Founded in San Antonio, TX in 1952 by George W. Church, Church's Chicken is one of the largest quick service restaurant chicken chains in the world. Church's specializes in Original and Spicy Chicken freshly prepared throughout the day in small batches that are hand-battered and double-breaded, Tender Strips, honey-butter biscuits made from scratch and freshly baked, and classic, home-style sides all for a great value. Church's (along with its sister brand Texas Chicken outside the Americas) has more than 1,500 locations in 23 countries and international territories and system-wide sales of more than $1 billion. For more information, visit www.churchs.com. Follow Church's on Facebook at www.facebook.com/churchschicken and Twitter at www.twitter.com/churchschicken.

Contact: Kim Miller

866.571.3449

[email protected]

SOURCE Church's Chicken

Related Links

http://www.churchs.com

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumer Watchdog today warned that an ongoing revolving door between top government auto safety officials and the manufacturers of autonomous vehicles undercuts the public's faith in robot car regulations and government policies.

The nonprofit, nonpartisan public interest group's warning came after Uber announced it had hired Nat Beuse, a senior National Highway Traffic Safety Administration official. Beuse, NHTSA Associate Administrator, Vehicle Safety Research, is at least the sixth senior safety official to leave a government position to work for robot car manufacturers.

"You can't trust regulations to protect our safety when the people writing them land high paying jobs with the very companies the rules are supposed to cover," said John M. Simpson, Consumer Watchdog's Privacy and Technology Project director.

Consumer Watchdog called on public officials to restore public trust in the regulatory process by agreeing not to take jobs immediately in the industry they had just regulated.

"People serving in top government auto safety positions should not take jobs with, serve as a consultant to, or become a lawyer for a company developing self-driving car technology for seven years after leaving their government post," said Simpson.

Last week Waymo, formerly Google's self-driving car unit, announced it had hired Debbie Hershman, former National Transportation Safety Board Chair as its chief safety officer. Earlier Ron Medford, former Deputy Director of NHTSA, joined Google's self-driving car program as Safety Director.

Former NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind joined robot car startup Zoox last year, while NHTSA's former Chief Counsel Paul Hemmersbaugh went to oversee legal and policy work on automated vehicles for General Motors.

David L. Strickland, also a former NHTSA administrator, serves as counsel and spokesman for the Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets, comprised of Waymo, Lyft, Uber, Ford and Volvo.

Unfortunately, NHTSA's revolving door is not a recent development with the advent of robot cars, Consumer Watchdog noted. From 1984 to 2010 the Department of Transportation inspector general found that 40 officials left NHTSA for jobs with automakers, their law firms or auto industry consultants. The group included four administrators, two deputy administrators, seven associate administrators and two chief counsels.

In addition, 23 auto industry executives moved into top NHTSA jobs from 1999 to 2010, the Inspector General said.

"The practice has become so commonplace that potential NHTSA employees must anticipate that a golden parachute will await them when they jump ship to land at an automotive or technology company," said Simpson. "Is it any wonder that the people doubt NHTSA is looking after the public's safety?"

Visit our website at www.consumerwatchdog.org

SOURCE Consumer Watchdog

Related Links

http://www.consumerwatchdog.org

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Dec. 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- CUJO AI , a network intelligence company delivering revolutionary AI-driven solutions for network operators today announces that its solutions now cover more than 16M homes. The number will continue to grow rapidly as the company is actively delivering its services for major network operators across North America, Europe, and Asia.

"Deploying our Machine Learning powered technology to 16M households is a major milestone. Our team has deployed solutions in production networks, at scale, that many think of as tomorrow's technology. The service covers over 200M devices - and the number keeps growing every day," said Einaras von Gravrock, CEO and co-founder at CUJO AI.

CUJO AI's platform includes network security, device identification, and content controls. These solutions enable network operators to protect smart home devices and personalize the connected experience. The company uses machine learning and big data to deliver the nextgen security features, such as IoT behavioral analysis.

"We work with the largest network operators that rely on cutting-edge technology to improve experiences for their end users. Despite an already industry-leading suite of security solutions, we're just getting started and are developing a variety of new services to enhance secure and private experiences," explains Santeri Kangas, CTO of CUJO AI.

According to a CUJO AI survey of 2600 respondents, 87.3% of consumers are concerned about a loss of personal data information. 77.5% are worried about unauthorized remote access to their devices, while 78% of users require to know detailed information about threats. Smart Home owners want to have a better visibility of their network and protection against the ever-growing threats.

The company has won numerous technology awards, including the Security Solution of the Year award at the 2018 Glotel Awards. CUJO AI was recognized as a Technology Pioneer 2018 by the World Economic Forum in May.

About CUJO AI:

CUJO AI is the leading artificial intelligence company providing network operators AI-driven solutions, including AI security, advanced device identification, content controls, and more. CUJO AI Platform creates an intuitive end-user facing application for LAN and wireless (mobile and public WiFi), powered by machine learning and real-time data. Each solution can be implemented as a white-label offering. CUJO AI was recently listed as a "Vendor to Watch" and a "Cool Vendor in IoT security" by research company Gartner. CUJO AI employs a staff of 150 professionals. More information about CUJO AI can be found at cujo.com

CUJO AI Media Relations:

Eve Masiulyte

Email: [email protected]

Tel.: +1 323-284-7216

S: www.cujo.com

SOURCE CUJO AI

Related Links

https://www.getcujo.com/

BOSTON and CUPERTINO, Calif., Dec. 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Cyber Triage, simplified incident response, announced a product integration with Demisto , a leader in Security Orchestration, Automation and Response (SOAR). The integration delivers a cost-effective way to automatically collect data as soon as an alert is generated.

Automation is critical to ensuring cybersecurity alerts are properly prioritized and responded to without overwhelming security teams. Cyber Triage allows companies who cannot deploy agents to all of their computers to automatically collect data as soon as an alert is generated.

"Disparate, unconnected environments have led to a lack of visibility, making it tougher for security teams to gather requisite information before executing a response. Demisto's integration with Cyber Triage provides our users with rich endpoint context in an automated manner, enabling them with relevant information at the right time for severity assignment, further enrichment, and resolution," said Rishi Bhargava, Co-Founder and VP, Marketing at Demisto.

"Demisto users can now have an agentless security response," said Brian Carrier, CTO of Basis Technology. "Many companies do not have the resources to deploy endpoint detection and response (EDR) agents to all of their computers, and Cyber Triage allows them to get the critical evidence on demand."

Demisto Enterprise integrates with hundreds of security products and enables customers to build playbooks for different security processes. These playbooks incorporate a combination of automated tasks and manual best practices to standardize and scale incident response. Demisto's playbooks help reduce MTTR (Mean Time to Respond) for security incidents and free up time for security teams to conduct deeper investigations. The platform's case management and machine learning capabilities also help security teams maintain incident oversight and improve their security posture with time.

Cyber Triage is a cyber forensics tool that collects and analyzes data from endpoints and servers. It makes the analysts more efficient by identifying bad and suspicious items, such as processes and files, and uniting data from multiple sources. It is in use by investigators ranging from Fortune 500 companies to federal law enforcement.

About Demisto

Demisto is the only Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) platform that combines security orchestration, incident management, and interactive investigation to serve security teams across the incident lifecycle. Our orchestration engine coordinates and automates tasks across hundreds of partner products, resulting in an increased return on existing security investments. Demisto enables security teams to reduce Mean Time to Response (MTTR), create consistent incident management processes, and increase analyst productivity. For more information, visit www.demisto.com or email [email protected] .

About Basis Technology

Verifying identity, understanding customers, anticipating world events, and uncovering crime. For over 20 years, Basis Technology has provided analytics to solve some of the largest and most challenging problems for major firms and government agencies around the world. It is the primary contributor to the Autopsy open source digital forensics platform, which is used by thousands of users around the world. Its Cyber Triage software simplifies the collection and analysis of endpoint data for incident response. For more information, visit https://www.cybertriage.com or email [email protected] .

SOURCE Basis Technology

Related Links

http://www.basistech.com

MCLEAN, Va., Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- With news coverage being a constant cycle and information being amplified across social media channels, it can be difficult to discern between sound news and 'fake news.' As a result people's trust in scientific information has begun to break down. This is especially harmful to society when the mass dissemination of misinformation, especially as it relates to issues such as climate change, is problematic as it may contribute to the delay of much needed policy action to protect the public. In order to combat this issue, tools and practices need to be developed to help consumers and journalists filter the information they are constantly being fed.

Fake news has become a growing problem nationwide and its spread has been aided and exacerbated by social media, particularly Facebook. Lauren Lutzke, University of Michigan, and her team of researchers tested a simple intervention aimed to help people recognize fake climate news on Facebook.

In the study, "Structured introspection: Can a simple intervention help people identify fake news about climate change on Facebook?" online participants were presented with a post from a Facebook newsfeed containing false information about climate change and were placed in one of three treatment (T) groups. In T1, participants were asked to think carefully about the information they were about to receive and to evaluate its accuracy. In T2, people were asked to rate the importance of five attributes of online news, including credibility of the source and plausibility of the information, that may be indicative of whether the information is reliable or not, and T3 mirrored T2 except that participants were asked to propose between two and five diagnostic attributes of their own.

The researchers hypothesized that structured introspection, the T2 method, would help people identify fake news. This study will help build an understanding of what helps people reject fake news and could help combat its spread.

Previous research has suggested that in the wake of a terror attack, public fear and anger can each uniquely contribute to risk perception and risk-avoidance behaviors. However, this research has not sought to understand how physical and temporal proximity to the attack impact an individual's expression of fear and anger. Richard John and Matt Baucum, University of Southern California, conducted a study to better understand how a terror event can incite fear and anger at various locations, and how those feelings change with time.

Their study, "Gradients of fear and anger in the social media response to terrorism," examined 36,259 Tweets posted within seven days of the 2016 Orlando nightclub terror attack. They looked at how expressions of fear and anger varied with time and distance from the attack. The study revealed that use of fear and anger terms both increased following the attack, but anger increased much more drastically. Words indicating fear also sharply decreased over time, while words implying anger decreased slightly with time and increased with distance from Orlando.

These results show that individuals who are physically distant from the attack remained angry and fearful for a longer duration after the attack compared to those in and around Orlando whose fear dissipated more quickly. John and Baucum will discuss the implications for understanding the emotional landscape that results from highly publicized terror attacks.

News coverage of scientific and medical studies that provide convincing evidence about technological and health risks generally increase public concern, but research has shown that subsequent news coverage that criticizes these same studies or publicizes their retraction can reduce those initial concerns. Dilshani Sarathchandra, University of Idaho, and Aaron McCright, Michigan State University, conducted some follow-up research to determine if these retractions have broader impacts, such as reducing people's trust in the institutions and individuals (i.e., science and scientists) who are supposed to minimize environmental and health risks.

The study, "The effects of media coverage of scientific retractions on trust in science," examined how trust in scientists was shaped by exposure to news coverage of the retraction of a stem cell study. Preliminary findings show that being exposed to the news coverage does reduce trust and negative effects on trust are even larger for retractions due to "intentional misconduct."

The results suggest that journalists and publishers should be more aware of these effects when reporting on retractions and should clarify the reason for retraction (honest mistakes vs. intentional misconduct). Clarifying the reasoning can influence how journalists cover the stories, and how the public perceives the news. Making this distinction can also help destigmatize retractions due to honest mistakes which could increase trust in the scientific community.

These studies will be presented during the From AI to Fake News: Media & Emerging Risks session on Tuesday, Dec. 4 from 1:30-3:00 p.m. at the 2018 Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) Annual Meeting at the New Orleans Marriott in New Orleans, Louisiana.

**Dilshani Sarathchandra, University of Idaho, Richard John, University of Southern California, and Lauren Lutzke, University of Michigan, will be available for media interviews at the 2018 SRA Annual Meeting. Please contact Melanie Preve at [email protected] for all interview requests.

About SRA

The Society for Risk Analysis is a multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, scholarly, international society that provides an open forum for all those interested in risk analysis. SRA was established in 1980 and has published Risk Analysis: An International Journal, the leading scholarly journal in the field, continuously since 1981. For more information, visit www.sra.org .

This news release was issued on behalf of Newswise(TM). For more information, visit http://www.newswise.com.

SOURCE Society for Risk Analysis (SRA)

Related Links

http://www.sra.org

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. and SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- A highly experienced group of professionals has been named as the executive leaders for CommonSpirit Health, the new nonprofit Catholic health system created by the alignment of Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) and Dignity Health. These leaders will assume their new roles following the completion of the alignment, which is on track to close by Dec. 31.

The team, to be led by the future CEOs of CommonSpirit Health  Kevin E. Lofton, CEO of CHI, and Lloyd H. Dean, President/CEO of Dignity Health  will oversee a health system of more than 150,000 caregivers and support teams who will serve communities across 21 states. CommonSpirit Health will include hospitals, outpatient centers, home health agencies, assisted living and retirement communities, and community-based health programs.

Executive leaders announced today will report to Dean and Lofton, who will both serve as CEOs in the Office of the CEO. Each will have specific and independent responsibilities and decision-making authority. Together, the CEOs will jointly oversee strategy and integration planning. Dean will have authority for all of operations and all of the clinical, financial, and human resources of the new ministry. Lofton will have authority for advocacy; compliance; digital; information technology; international business; legal services; philanthropy; mission; sponsorship and governance; and system partnerships. They will work side by side with executive leadership to plan a successful integration of CommonSpirit Health.

Executive Leadership Team members will include:

Paul Edgett , Chief Business Lines Officer

, Chief Business Lines Officer Charles Francis , Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer

, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer Thomas Kopfensteiner , STD, Chief Mission Officer

, STD, Chief Mission Officer Mitch Melfi, Esq. , Chief Legal Officer

, Chief Legal Officer Daniel Morissette , CPA, Chief Financial Officer

, CPA, Chief Financial Officer Marvin O'Quinn , President and Chief Operating Officer

, President and Chief Operating Officer Darryl Robinson , Chief Human Resources Officer

, Chief Human Resources Officer Kathleen Sanford , DBA, RN, Chief Nursing Officer

, DBA, RN, Chief Nursing Officer Elizabeth Shih , Chief Administrative Officer (supporting Lloyd Dean )

, Chief Administrative Officer (supporting ) Bruce Swartz , Senior Vice President, Physician Enterprise

, Senior Vice President, Physician Enterprise Patricia Webb , Chief Administrative Officer (supporting Kevin Lofton )

, Chief Administrative Officer (supporting ) Robert Wiebe , MD, Chief Medical Officer

, MD, Chief Medical Officer Deanna Wise , Chief Information Officer

"Today is a major milestone in creating a national ministry that will serve the common good in exciting new ways," said Lofton. "These executives will promote and lead a culture of collaboration, excellence, and inclusiveness for our employees, so that CommonSpirit Health can provide the best possible care  including a more personal, friendly, and efficient health experience for our patients and customers. Lloyd and I are confident that with their leadership, we will move forward together to provide exceptional care and create healthier communities."

"Kevin and I have carefully selected leaders with the skills and vision needed to make CommonSpirit Health a national health system that will transform care as we know it today for our patients and the communities we serve," said Dean. "This monumental opportunity will help us create better health care access for more Americans through innovative delivery models that will serve patients where and how they need care the most. We recognize this is also a tremendous responsibility, but one necessary to support a better health care future for everyone."

Dean, Lofton, and the new executive leaders will focus on achieving success in five key areas:

Expanding clinical expertise across the system in primary, acute, and specialty care, and focusing on care for patients with chronic, complex conditions;

Accelerating the shift toward providing services outside of hospitals to homes, the community and online;

Investing in technologies that make care more convenient and personal;

Addressing the underlying causes of poor health such as homelessness, addiction, and violence, and advocating for policies that improve health outcomes for the most vulnerable members of our communities; and

Retaining and recruiting a highly-skilled and dedicated work force where people embrace service to others and experience a personal and professional fulfillment in their work.

Catholic Health Initiatives and Dignity Health signed a definitive agreement to join their ministries on Dec. 7, 2017. Since then, the organizations have been planning integration efforts for the new system, which will have its national office in Chicago. On Oct. 16, 2018 the Board of Stewardship Trustees for CommonSpirit Health was selected and announced, followed by the announcement of the new system name, CommonSpirit Health , on Nov. 15, 2018.

About Catholic Health Initiatives

Catholic Health Initiatives, a nonprofit, faith-based health system formed in 1996 through the consolidation of four Catholic health systems, expresses its mission each day by creating and nurturing healthy communities in the hundreds of sites across the nation where we provide care. One of the nation's largest nonprofit health systems, Englewood, Colo.-based CHI operates in 18 states and comprises 101 hospitals, including two academic health centers; major teaching hospitals and 30 critical- access facilities; community health-services organizations; accredited nursing colleges; home-health agencies; living communities; and other facilities and services that span the inpatient and outpatient continuum of care. In fiscal year 2018, CHI provided more than $1.14 billion in financial assistance and community benefit for programs and services for the poor, free clinics, education and research. Financial assistance and community benefit totaled approximately $2.1 billion with the inclusion of the unpaid costs of Medicare. The health system, which generated operating revenues of $15 billion in fiscal year 2018, has total assets of approximately $20.5 billion. For more information, please visit our website at www.catholichealthinitiatives.org.

About Dignity Health

Dignity Health, one of the nation's largest health care systems, is a multi-state network of 10,000 physicians, more than 60,000 employees, 41 acute care hospitals, and 400-plus care centers including neighborhood hospitals, urgent care, surgery and imaging centers, home health, and primary care clinics. Headquartered in San Francisco, Dignity Health is dedicated to providing compassionate, high- quality, and affordable patient-centered care with special attention to the poor and underserved. In FY 2018, Dignity Health provided $2.1 billion in charitable care and services. For more information, please visit our website at www.dignityhealth.org . You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn .

Contact:







Dan Loeterman





Michael Romano Dignity Health





Catholic Health Initiatives [email protected]





[email protected] 626-744-2384





303-383-2720

SOURCE Catholic Health Initiatives; Dignity HealthSALT LAKE CITY, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Skip announces that Domino Food and Fuel Inc. (www.dominocstores.com), a subsidiary of Clinton, Okla.-based Elmer Smith Oil Co., will continue its focus to conduct "Convenience That Cares" by selecting Skip's Frictionless Checkout product for its 17 Domino C-Store locations. Since conducting initial meetings at the NACS Show in Las Vegas in October, the Domino Food and Fuel team has been quick to solidify contracts, begin operational onboarding processes and are high in energy to get Skip's Frictionless Checkout live in their stores by Q1 of 2019.

Interested in Skip Frictionless Checkout for your store?

Click Here to learn more.

Skip wholeheartedly believes that 2019 will be the year of Frictionless Checkout. Big box retail companies are already conducting roll outs, such as 7-Eleven's "Scan & Go" in 14 locations in Dallas, and Target who launched its "Skip-the-Line" service on Black Friday. It is becoming more important for retailers, especially C-Stores, to consider Frictionless Checkout as part of their omnichannel solution for their customers.

"As a mobile app company, the end user experience is at the core of every decision we make. As we focus on simple and frictionless checkout experiences, we trust our partners, like Domino, to drive customer awareness, alongside general market awareness that big box brands provide by rolling out their proprietary services." - Chase Thomason, CEO/Founder of Skip

The Domino C-Store brand is focused on its customer promise to provide "Convenience That Cares," and by enabling shoppers to conduct transactions when and how they prefer to, is another step forward in proving just that. Domino also executes on its "Convenience That Cares" promise far beyond its amazing in store customer experiences, by spearheading larger community efforts like its "Fueling the Classroom" program, donating money to local schools, and raising over $66k for wildfire relief.

"All of our locations are different in regards to our customers. Some cater to road warriors that transport the nations goods, while others have a loyal customer base that come in multiple times a day. We are excited to implement Skip's Frictionless Checkout technology because it provides a primary value proposition to every single customer at every location; which is, a customer initiated instant checkout experience." - Martin Smith, President of Elmer Smith Oil Company

Learn more and request a demo for Skip's Frictionless Checkout at https://getskip.com/businesses/signup .

Marshall Mann

Marketing Lead

801-915-4934

[email protected]



SOURCE Skip

Related Links

http://getskip.com/

We used to do this back at least 25 years, Lee said. The Chamber of Commerce, we had 140 businesses at the time, and when Village Hall land was cleared the group planted a tree to serve as the sole Christmas tree in the Village of Montgomery.HOLLAND, Mich., Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of the Share A Legend storytelling project for Dragon's Milk Bourbon Barrel-Aged Stout, New Holland Brewing Company issued a nationwide call for the best tales told over the top-selling craft brew. Hundreds of legendary stories poured in from across the U.S. throughout the four-week entry window, and five unique narratives were put in the hands of the public for online voting. With nearly 60 percent of the public vote, Donna P. Salo and Anna Symington of Springfield, Massachusetts, have won the grand prize of $5,000 cash and an additional $5,000 to donate to a charitable cause. The women have also been invited to come to Grand Rapids, Michigan, to embark on a brewery tour at New Holland's facilities.

Salo graciously told the story of her close friend and real-life dragon, Anna Symington. Salo explained in her story the sport of dragon boating, a popular water sport with a team of rowers, takes immense strength, perseverance and focus for the year-round training that teaches you to rely on your inner core of power to exude fearlessness. This dragon-like fire and passion are what Symington embodies with every stroke. Symington and Salo's boating team is comprised of breast cancer survivors and supporters. Symington, the survivor, and Salo, the supporter, have actively worked on the team's Pay It Forward program, where the women make baby dragon neck warmers for children going through cancer treatment.

In the spirit of their team's Pay It Forward program, the duo will use the entirety of their $10,000 winnings to serve those who have served us - military veterans. Their plan is to create a dragon boat team for veterans in order to give these individuals a way to form a new kind of comradery. Dragon boating is not just about rehabilitation but about healing the soul and mind, which is what many veterans are searching for in their quest to mend the emotional wounds that sometimes accompany serving this country. This will be the first dragon boat team in the United States created solely for veterans.

Salo was elated upon learning they won. "Anna and I are so excited to move forward with our vision to create our country's first exclusive military veterans dragon boat team! Because of the recent announcement made by New Holland Brewing Co., our dream has been catapulted into becoming a reality."

"We are so pleased to name Donna and Anna the winners of the Share A Legend competition," said Brett VanderKamp, founder and president of New Holland Brewing Company. "Their story of overcoming and being fearless in the face of adversity are representative of the ethos of Dragon's Milk. We are also thrilled they are using the prize money to help veterans form connections and become their own fearless Dragons!"

The #ShareALegend project is a celebration of storytelling among friends, celebrating the same magic that began when Dragon's Milk was first bottled 17 years ago. The purpose of #ShareALegend is to cultivate meaningful moments and foster a community through the art of spoken word.

Some of these friends include the other #ShareALegend finalists:

Andrew Garrett who offered a beautifully-penned ode to a tumultuous car ride with his war hero grandfather.

who offered a beautifully-penned ode to a tumultuous car ride with his war hero grandfather. David Spillett divulged a family secret with an unbelievable twist that left jaws on the floor.

divulged a family secret with an unbelievable twist that left jaws on the floor. Colt Sebastian Taylor recounted a wild night that left him asking if life could truly be that good.

recounted a wild night that left him asking if life could truly be that good. Keen Hudson described an eerie encounter with a creature in the wilderness that shook him to his core.

While gathering fans' stories, New Holland Brewing Company released a digital video series of six real-life legends who fall into the archetypes of Warrior, Huntress, Smith, Poet, Alchemist and Performer. To hear all of the stories or to submit your own, visit www.DragonsMilk.com and @DragonsMilkStout on Instagram.

About New Holland Brewing Company

For more than 20 years, New Holland Brewing Company has been an integral member of the artisan approach, pursuing playful creativity in its authentic beer, spirits and foodservice. New Holland believes the notion of craft lives in fostering rich experiences for customers, including at its two brewpubs in Grand Rapids and Holland, Michigan. New Holland brews at least 20 beers each year, in addition to their flagship stout, Dragon's Milk, a full line of spirits and ready-to-drink cocktails. To learn more, visit www.NewHollandBrew.com.

Contact:

Valerie Pesonen

Lambert

616-233-0500 or [email protected]

SOURCE New Holland Brewing Company

Related Links

http://www.NewHollandBrew.com

Best use of multimedia for IR

Best in sector: real estate

FEC also received five other award nominations:

Best IR during a corporate transaction

Best crisis management

Best financial reporting (small to mid-cap)

Best investor event (small to mid-cap)

Best IR website

For over 25 years IR Magazine has honoured excellence in investor relations around the world with awards which recognise companies that are leading the way for the IR community. Hundreds of analysts and investors took part in this year's investor perception survey and identified the nominees and winners of best corporate governance, best in the region and best in sectors. Apart from traditional researched categories, this year marks the introduction of self-nomination categories that allow companies to put themselves up for an award and also help to complement the researched categories.

Mr. Chris Hoong, Managing Director of FEC said: "We are greatly encouraged and honoured to receive two prestigious awards from 'IR Magazine Awards  Greater China 2018'. We wish to express our sincere thanks to the entire investment community for their recognition and continuous support of our Group's efforts to achieve excellence in corporate governance, investor relations, public disclosure, communications, and transparency. We understand the importance of investor relations and strive to continue to maintain good standards on investor relations and outstanding corporate governance to the investment community and the general public."

About Far East Consortium International Limited

Far East Consortium International Limited has been listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange since 1972 (HKEx stock code: 35.HK). The Group is mainly engaged in property development and investment, hotel operations and management, as well as car park operations and facilities management. The Group adopts diversified regional strategy and the "Asian Wallet" strategy with business covering Hong Kong, mainland China, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, the United Kingdom and other European countries.

FEC official website:

www.fecil.com.hk

FEC WeChat and Weibo:

http://www.weibo.com/u/5703712831

SOURCE Far East Consortium International Limited

Related Links

http://www.fecil.com.hk

OKLAHOMA CITY, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Flywheel Energy, LLC, and certain wholly-owned subsidiaries ("Flywheel" or the "Company"), an independent oil and natural gas company headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and backed by the Kayne Private Energy Income Funds platform, announced that it has closed on its acquisition of Southwestern Energy Company's ("SWN") Fayetteville Shale Business for a purchase price of $1.865 billion (as adjusted for customary purchase price adjustments).

The acquired assets include 716 mmcf/d of net production from 4,033 producing wells across over 900,000 net acres and an integrated midstream gathering system with over 2,000 miles of gathering pipelines and more than 50 compressor stations, all located in central Arkansas.

"Flywheel Energy is pleased to announce the closing of our second acquisition since the Company's inception in 2017. I am proud of our team's accomplishments and we are excited to join the remarkably talented team in the Fayetteville Shale," commented Justin Cope, Chief Executive Officer of Flywheel. "We believe this is a great step forward as we work to deliver reliable, affordable and plentiful energy while generating attractive risk-adjusted returns for our investors."

"We know that having a high-quality team which upholds the highest safety and environmental standards is critical to our company's future success, and we are proud to join this team," said Cope. "We look forward to being long-term, active members of the Arkansas community."

Wells Fargo Bank, N.A, along with Citibank, N.A. provided an underwritten debt financing commitment to Flywheel. Wells Fargo Securities, LLC served as lead arranger and bookrunner and Citigroup Global Markets, BMO Capital Markets Corp., Capital One, National Association, Royal Bank of Canada and TD Securities (USA), LLC served as joint lead arrangers and bookrunners on the Company's $1.425 billion credit facility. Wells Fargo Securities, LLC served as financial and technical advisor to Flywheel. In addition, Vinson & Elkins LLP provided legal counsel to Flywheel, Mobius Risk Group served as marketing and derivates advisor to Flywheel and Alvarez & Marsal North America, LLC performed transaction due diligence and integration services for Flywheel.

ABOUT FLYWHEEL ENERGY

Flywheel Energy began as Valorem Energy in early 2017 with backing from the Kayne Private Energy Income Fund. In 2017, Valorem acquired interests in the Williston Basin for $285 million, which the Flywheel organization continues to retain. In August 2018, the platform committed a second time to the management team with $700 million of equity in the form of the newly-formed Flywheel Energy. Flywheel Energy is a private exploration and production company formed to acquire and operate large, producing onshore U.S. oil and gas assets with an emphasis on the Rockies and Mid-Continent. With this acquisition, Flywheel entities will have made over $2.1 billion of acquisitions since 2017.

ABOUT KAYNE ANDERSON CAPITAL ADVISORS



Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, L.P., founded in 1984, is a leading alternative investment management firm focused on niche investing in upstream oil and gas companies, energy and infrastructure, specialized real estate, growth equity and both private credit and diversified liquid credit. Kayne Anderson's investment philosophy is to pursue niches, with an emphasis on cash flow, where our knowledge and sourcing advantages enable us to deliver above average, risk-adjusted investment returns. Kayne manages $29 billion in assets (as of 10/31/2018) for institutional investors, family offices, high net worth and retail clients and employs 350+ professionals in eight offices across the U.S.

The Kayne Private Energy Income Funds platform is part of Kayne Anderson's successful energy private equity practice that has raised over $8 billion since 1998. The strategy was formed in late 2014 to take advantage of the market opportunity to acquire and develop large, long-life producing oil and gas assets in North America.

Kayne Anderson is headquartered in Los Angeles with offices in Houston, New York City, Chicago, Denver, Dallas, Atlanta, and Boca Raton. For more information, please visit www.kaynecapital.com

SOURCE Flywheel Energy

Related Links

http://www.flywheelenergy.com

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Plug and Play, the world's largest startup accelerator and corporate innovation platform, and Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the leading international financial center based in Abu Dhabi, are hosting the first Plug and Play ADGM Demo Day on December 12th, 2018. The event will celebrate the graduation of the first batch of seven international Fintech startups that have been selected to participate in the three-month accelerator program, working alongside financial institutions from the MENA region with the aim to execute POC or pilot projects.

"After a year of building out Plug and Play's presence in the GCC in partnership with ADGM, we're proud to be reaching the culmination of these efforts at our Demo Day on December 12th. We're incredibly excited to end the year on a high note and to maintain this momentum into 2019," said Omeed Mehrinfar, Managing Partner, EMEA at Plug and Play.

"Our sincere congratulations to the Plug and Play EMEA team for their tremendous strides and success in Abu Dhabi and the region within such a short time-frame. This is a testament to their sterling expertise and peerless track record in delivering world-class acceleration value and program to wherever they go. As a strategic Fintech ecosystem builder and Plug and Play partner, we are encouraged by their ability to identify the startups with an edge and secure key financial partners to benefit from the upcoming pilot Fintech projects. We look forward to the investment and partnership deals that will be made at the Demo Day, and having our own Abu Dhabi unicorns one day," said Wai Lum Kwok, Executive Director, Financial Services Regulatory Authority, ADGM.

The startups will be presenting solutions for technology areas that are at the forefront for financial institutions in the MENA region, including cybersecurity, sales digitization, robo- advisory, and more.

Scott Robinson, named as one of the Top 100 Fintech Influencers and Advisor & Founder of the Plug and Play Fintech program, will be featured as the keynote speaker, discussing corporate innovation best practices and how to best engage with startups. Also included on the agenda is a panel discussion tailored around Fintech inclusion and cultural transformation within financial institutions.

Demo tables and a networking session will conclude the day, bringing together the corporations who built the ecosystem and the entrepreneurs who are disrupting it.

Plug and Play ADGM is proud to announce Shorooq Investments , VentureSouq , ADGM Academy and MENA Fintech Association as community partners, as well as MAGNiTT and MENAbytes as media partners for the Fintech Demo Day taking place in Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM).

Register to attend the Plug and Play ADGM Demo Day on December 12, 2018: plugandplay-adgm-demo-day.eventbrite.com

About Plug and Play

Plug and Play is a global innovation platform. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, we have built accelerator programs, corporate innovation services, and an in-house VC to make technological advancement progress faster than ever before. Since inception in 2006, our programs have expanded worldwide to include a presence in over 20 locations globally giving startups the necessary resources to succeed in Silicon Valley and beyond. With over 10,000 startups and 280 official corporate partners, we have created the ultimate startup ecosystem in many industries. We provide active investments with 200 leading Silicon Valley VCs, and host more than 700 networking events per year. Companies in our community have raised over $7 billion in funding, with successful portfolio exits including Danger, Dropbox, Lending Club, and PayPal. For more information, visit www.plugandplaytechcenter.com

About Abu Dhabi Global Market

Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), an international financial centre (IFC) located in the capital city of the United Arab Emirates, opened for business on 21 October 2015. Established by UAE Federal Decree as a broad-based financial centre, ADGM plays a pivotal role in positioning Abu Dhabi as a global centre for business and finance. It serves as a strategic link between the growing economies of the Middle East, Africa and South Asia and the rest of the world.

Based in Abu Dhabi, home to one of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds and one of the highest concentrations of high-net-worth-individuals in the world, ADGM's strategy is anchored by Abu Dhabi's key strengths including private banking, wealth management, asset management and financial innovation. Comprising three independent authorities: the Registration Authority, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority and ADGM Courts, it enables registered financial institutions, companies and entities to thrive and operate within an international regulatory framework based on Common Law. Since its inception, ADGM has been awarded the "Financial Centre of the Year (MENA)" for two consecutive years for its initiatives and contributions to the financial and capital markets industry in the region.*

As part of its mandate, ADGM oversees and governs the Al Maryah Island, a designated financial free zone covering 114-hectares of financial and commercial services including residential, retail, leisure, hotel and office developments. For more details of ADGM, please visit www.adgm.com or follow us on Twitter : @adglobalmarket and Linked : ADGM

* Source : The Global Investor Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Awards

Plug and Play Contact

Ashlene Ramadan

[email protected]

SOURCE Plug and Play

Related Links

http://plugandplaytechcenter.com

ATLANTA, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- GeorgiaGasSavings.com, a consumer advocacy and energy shopping website, has released their first ever rankings of natural gas providers in the state of Georgia. These rankings not only reflect the maturity of the Georgia natural gas market but show how well different providers rate according to several service factors. In publishing these rankings, Georgia Gas Savings is providing consumers with the latest information to help them find the best natural gas provider going into what is typically the coldest part of the natural gas "Light Up" winter season.

GeorgiaGasSavings.com Releases Annual Rankings of Georgia Gas Companies

Georgia's natural gas market is celebrating two decades of deregulation. Because of that maturity, it's important to take stock of all the things gas companies do for customers. Georgia Gas Savings provider rankings focus on natural gas providers operating in the AGL footprint in Georgia. In compiling its rankings, not only does Georgia Gas Savings take in account basic consumer expectations, such as on-time billing or turning on gas service consistently, but also Georgia PSC complaint ratings, plan rates, third party data sources such as the Better Business Bureau, and independent customer reviews.

For the inaugural Georgia Gas Savings Rankings, we are pleased to announce that the #1 natural gas provider in Georgia for 2018-2019 is Constellation Energy. Constellation Energy has been doing business in Georgia since its purchase of MX Energy in 2011, and they have extremely competitive rates, great customer reviews, and a variety of different plan lengths.

Coming in at the #2 position is Georgia Natural Gas (GNG). GNG is one of the big, known brands in the Georgia natural gas market, and with that comes excellent PSC reviews, active community involvement, charitable endeavors, and customer friendly programs for referrals and bonus miles.

Rounding out the top 3 of the Georgia Gas Savings reviews is SCANA Energy. SCANA has been serving the deregulated natural gas market in Georgia since the beginning in 1998. They're the second largest supplier in Georgia, and they have great customer reviews, great PSC reviews, and great rates. SCANA sets themselves apart with flexible deposits and the willingness to get people's gas turned on as painlessly as possible.

With a mature natural gas market, Georgia Gas Savings believes it's time to rate companies on more than just getting a bill out to customers on time. The advantage of a deregulated market is the innovation and changes that can actually benefit consumers, and Georgia Gas Savings is working hard to give customers new data and viewpoints that can inform both their shopping and choices.

The entire ranking of Georgia natural gas providers is listed below in order:

Constellation, Georgia Natural Gas, SCANA, Gas South, Infinite, Xoom, Just Energy, Fireside Natural Gas, Kratos Gas & Power, Walton Gas, True Natural Gas, North American Power & Gas, Colonial Energy, Mansfield Energy, and Stream Energy.

Since 2016, Georgia Gas Savings empowers natural gas shoppers to review, rate, and research the natural gas providers operating in the state of Georgia. Georgia Gas Savings is operated by Electricity Ratings, LLC. Electricity Ratings helps people make informed buying decisions through its consumer reviews platform and is a reliable source for valuable consumer insight, advice, in-depth energy company service evaluations, and personalized recommendations. Since 2009, we've helped over 2.0 million shoppers find the best energy providers and rates. Electricity Ratings, LLC operates similar consumer energy shopping websites in Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Connecticut, and New York.

Georgia Gas Savings

318 Cherokee Ave, SE

Atlanta, GA 30312

(855) 287-8801

[email protected]

https://www.georgiagassavings.com/reports/2018-psc-complaint-study

Related Links

2018 Georgia Gas Supplier Compliant Study

SOURCE ElectricityRatings, LLCCara uses her own personal experience with artists and agents to inform the way she approaches the on-demand business. She explains, "As an actress, it has always been important to me to work as hard for my agents and managers as they were working for me; it creates a truly symbiotic relationship where we all feel we are a part of something together." She continues, "This type of unified feeling is what has ingrained the importance of relationships between professionals and clients in my mind and is something that I have always strived to make accessible for beauty consumers. Now that I have the opportunity to join forces with Glamsquad, I can further my mission. Through my new role as Global Engagement Officer, I am eager to continue to develop Glamsquad's platform of connectivity and further strengthen the resources we offer our beauty professionals and consumers alike."

On the announcement, Glamsquad Chief Executive Officer, Amy Shecter, notes, "We are so thrilled to have Cara join the Glamsquad team. Her passion for the industry and entrepreneurial skillset will be invaluable to Glamsquad's continued growth." She continues, "Cara has a visionary mindset and shares our dedication to revolutionizing the way beauty professionals and beauty consumers engage with one another. I am personally looking forward to working with Cara to drive our mission of creating a connected beauty experience that transcends everything that exists in the market today."



In joining the company, Cara will further assist us with establishing Glamsquad as an equally advantageous platform for beauty professionals and clients as the brand continues to lean into the human connection it forges on a daily basis.



ABOUT GLAMSQUAD:

Glamsquad is a beauty services company delivering hair, makeup and nails in NYC, LA, Miami, DC, Boston and San Francisco/Bay Area. Our mission as a next generation beauty and lifestyle brand is to connect like-minded beauty enthusiasts through personalized in-home experiences. Glamsquad's talented and trusted beauty professionals are hand-selected and rigorously vetted to guarantee consistent, high quality results. Using our intelligent, data-driven technology, we expertly match our professionals and clients to ensure an elevated and customized experience with every appointment.



Glamsquad services are easily booked through the Glamsquad app or website. Simply select a service, choose a date and time, provide your location and enjoy the convenience, confidence and quality of Glamsquad hair, makeup and/or nail services. For more information about Glamsquad, please visit www.glamsquad.com.

Contact: Jolie Bruch, 212-230-1800, [email protected]

SOURCE GlamsquadNEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Glidewell Dental, an industry-leading provider of dental laboratory services, products, technologies and clinical education, announced today the launch of its newest initiative, Guiding Leaders, an exciting program designed to elevate women dentists to new levels of leadership. Over the course of a year, Guiding Leaders will provide selected candidates with business-savvy training and professional development tools from top industry leaders.

For more information, please visit: www.guidingleaders.com.

Geared toward women dentists with 5+ years of clinical experience, Guiding Leaders begins accepting online applications January 2, 2019, for the program's launch this upcoming April. "We're honored and excited to provide this phenomenal opportunity for women in dentistry," said Stephenie Goddard, executive vice president at Glidewell Dental and visionary of Guiding Leaders. "We have been working diligently over the past year to establish an outstanding program that would cultivate a new generation of women leaders who want to become key influencers. Guiding Leaders creates this type of dynamic environment where women can learn, grow and impact our industry together."

This 12-month leadership development program combines monthly instructor-led and online courses covering a range of topics including emotional intelligence, goal setting and practice management. Glidewell Dental developed the program after recognizing a need in dentistry for more women leaders. "The dental landscape has shifted," said Goddard. "Previously, women accounted for less than five percent of our industry. Now they comprise more than half of all graduating dentists. As a result, we designed a niche program tailored toward developing new leaders who are reflective of the current state of dentistry."

Guiding Leaders provides a unique opportunity for women to not only successfully develop their leadership skills but to simultaneously expand their professional network and to even mentor newer colleagues in the coming years. "There's a tremendous need for this type of resource. As dentists, we have several opportunities to advance our clinical training but we also need practical information that equips and empowers us as influential leaders," said Dr. Mayuri Kerr, clinical affairs manager at Glidewell Dental. "During my time in the dental profession, I have not encountered one industry-related program that offers formal training to develop women dentists in the areas of leadership, team-building, and communication skills."

Guiding Leaders launches April of 2019 and concludes April of 2020. To be considered for this complimentary program, participants must reside in the United States during that timeframe.

The application deadline for Guiding Leaders is January 31, 2019.

About Glidewell Dental

Glidewell Dental is among the world's largest providers of custom restorative services and is recognized as an industry-leading materials and devices manufacturer. Established in 1970 in Orange County, California, Glidewell Dental continues to build on its storied history of technological innovation, continuing education and a commitment to making comprehensive, high-quality treatment more accessible to patients in the U.S. and internationally. For more information, please visit: glidewelldental.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Eldon Thompson, Sr. Director of Marketing

Glidewell Dental

[email protected]

SOURCE Glidewell Dental

Related Links

http://www.glidewelldental.com

"STEM education is critical to America's national security and economy  without the right technical talent, we risk losing our competitive advantage," said Jeff Babione, vice president and general manager of Skunk Works. "Technology companies like Lockheed Martin play an important role in helping to inspire and encourage the next generation of technical talent. With our Generation Beyond program, we're challenging high school students to think differently, take risks, innovate and collaborate  skills that are necessary to succeed in a fast-moving, global high-tech economy."

The virtual field trip is part of Generation Beyond, Lockheed Martin's free digital STEM education program used in thousands of U.S. classrooms. Launched in 2016 in partnership with Discovery Education, a global leader in standards-based digital content for K-12 classrooms, Generation Beyond puts students in the shoes of scientists and engineers to tackle real-world technology challenges and demonstrate the exciting work that a STEM education and career can offer.

In addition to developing career-focused STEM education programs like Generation Beyond, Lockheed Martin has also invested $50 million in tax-reform savings to fund STEM scholarships and additional education initiatives, as well as $100 million to ensure our existing employees are prepared for jobs of the future through education and training opportunities.

About Lockheed Martin :

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 100,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. This year, the company received three Edison Awards for groundbreaking innovations in autonomy, satellite technology and directed energy. Learn more at www.lockheedmartin.com.

SOURCE Lockheed Martin

Related Links

http://www.lockheedmartin.com

NEW YORK, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Honest Buildings, the only capital planning and project management platform for real estate owners, announced today that Lisa Picard, President and CEO of EQ Office (formerly Equity Office Properties), will join its board of directors. Picard leads a portfolio with 80 locations and approximately 40 million square feet of office assets for Blackstone and has more than 25 years of experience in real estate development and investment in several different asset types. She is an advocate for driving the real estate business through advancement in technology and novel thinking.

"Office development has evolved from a B2B to a B2C market, and at EQ, we are continuously delivering new levels of value and service as we reposition assets," said Lisa Picard, President and CEO of EQ. "It's impressive how Honest Buildings has partnered with owners and operators to unlock insights into how projects are performing. This will ultimately allow us to make smarter decisions as we create the workplace of the future that helps tenants attract, retain and inspire their talent."

Riggs Kubiak, co-founder and CEO of Honest Buildings said, "Lisa has unparalleled experience, backed by a passion for creating, developing and repositioning real estate assets that focus on community and humanity, knowing this ultimately leads to the highest economic success. Honest Buildings will benefit greatly from her extensive leadership in our shared mission to accelerate urban progress."

Honest Buildings' board of directors is comprised of leaders in real estate, real estate technology and venture, including Ric Clark, Chairman of Brookfield Properties; Michael Turner, President of Oxford Properties; Gary Dillabough, Managing Partner of real estate technology venture firm Navitas Capital; and Todd Wilson, 20 year venture capital veteran from Rockport Capital.

Today, Honest Buildings facilitates over $1 billion dollars a month in project volume for the largest and most innovative real estate owners in the world. Over the last year the company has seen tremendous growth - with expanded products, including the launch of its Capital Planning platform; expanded investment, having raised nearly $50 million of venture capital from leading real estate venture firms and many from the largest owners directly; and an expanded customer base, team, and board of directors.

ABOUT HONEST BUILDINGS

Honest Buildings enables leading real estate owners to unlock value from their assets. Global, national and local owners like Brookfield, Oxford Properties, Beacon Capital Partners, Hines, Invesco, SL Green, The Durst Organization, Silverstein Properties, JBG Smith, Harvest Properties, Parkway Properties, and Rudin Management are utilizing the power of the platform's data-driven technology.

The platform puts control of real estate capital planning and project data into the hands of real estate owners. By centralizing all projects portfolio-wide in Honest Buildings and moving workflows out of spreadsheets, construction projects are completed on time and on budget today, and owners can manage their capital deployment more strategically tomorrow. Ultimately this allows real estate owners to take the lead in driving urban expansion  currently a $10 trillion a year market  and how we live, work and play in cities in the future.

ABOUT EQ

We are EQ Office. While other real estate owners talk about square footage and floor plans, we focus on the experience; how space feels, activates and performs. At EQ, we partner with business leaders to find, design and manage balanced workspaces with the intention of helping to inspire talent. We're proud to work hand-in-hand with customers of all sizes from Fortune 100 companies to emerging startups to bring humanity back to the workplace. Our diverse team of over 200 professionals is responsible for creating inspired office environments in cities across the country including Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Boston. What began as Equity Office Properties 42 years ago, now reflects a new intelligence needed to address shifting workplace needs, as EQ Office. As a U.S. office portfolio company wholly owned by Blackstone's real estate funds, we have the resources to lead the changes happening in work space. Explore your space for greatness at www.eqoffice.com .

Media contact:

Crystal Proenza

Chief Brand and Performance Officer

[email protected]

SOURCE Honest Buildings

Related Links

http://www.honestbuildings.com

DALLAS, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- InfraREIT, Inc. (NYSE: HIFR) ("InfraREIT" or the "Company") today announced that the third party (the "Potential Counterparty") that previously submitted a preliminary and non-binding proposal to acquire the Company has terminated discussions and is no longer considering a potential transaction with the Company. As a result, the Potential Counterparty no longer qualifies as an "Excluded Party" under the previously announced definitive agreement with Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC ("Oncor").

InfraREIT continues to move forward with the transaction with Oncor pursuant to which the Company will be acquired for $21.00 per share in cash, valued at approximately $1.275 billion, plus the assumption of approximately $940 million of InfraREIT's net debt as of September 30, 2018. The transaction, which was unanimously approved by InfraREIT's Board of Directors and Conflicts Committee, is expected to close by mid-2019, subject to the satisfaction of regulatory and stockholder approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Important Additional Information and Where to Find It

This release includes information relating to a proposed business combination between InfraREIT and Oncor. The proposed merger and the related agreement and plan of merger will be submitted to the Company's stockholders for their consideration and approval. In connection with the proposed transaction, the Company will file a proxy statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). This release does not constitute a solicitation of any vote or proxy from any stockholder of the Company. Investors are urged to read the proxy statement carefully and, in its entirety, when it becomes available, as well as any other relevant documents or materials filed or to be filed with the SEC or incorporated by reference in the proxy statement, because they will contain important information about the proposed acquisition. The definitive proxy statement will be mailed to the Company's stockholders. In addition, the proxy statement and other documents will be available free of charge at the SEC's website, www.sec.gov. When available, the proxy statement and other pertinent documents may also be obtained free of charge at the Investor Relations section of InfraREIT's website, www.InfraREITInc.com, or by directing a written request to InfraREIT, Inc., Attention: Corporate Secretary, 1900 North Akard Street, Dallas, Texas 75201.

Participation in the Solicitation

The Company and its directors and executive officers may be considered participants in the solicitation of proxies in connection with the proposed transaction. Information regarding the Company's directors and executive officers is available in its definitive proxy statement for its 2018 Annual Meeting of Stockholders filed with the SEC on March 22, 2018. Other information regarding the participants in the proxy solicitation and a description of their direct or indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, will be contained in the proxy statement and other relevant materials to be filed with the SEC when they become available.

Forward Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements give the current expectations of the Company's management. Words such as "could," "will," "may," "assume," "forecast," "strategy," "guidance," "outlook," "target," "expect," "intend," "plan," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe," or "project" and similar expressions are used to identify forward-looking statements. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, forward-looking statements contained in this release include the Company's expectations regarding the consummation of the transactions described herein.

Forward-looking statements can be affected by assumptions used or known or unknown risks or uncertainties. Consequently, no forward-looking statements can be guaranteed and actual results may differ materially and adversely from those reflected in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include, among other things, (a) the risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and the Company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC from time to time and (b) the following risks inherent in the transactions (in addition to others described elsewhere in this document and in the subsequent filings with the SEC): (1) failure to obtain the approval of the Company's stockholders; (2) failure to obtain regulatory approval necessary to consummate the transactions or to obtain regulatory approvals on favorable terms and (3) delays in consummating the transactions or the failure to consummate the transactions.

Because the Company's forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions that are subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's control or are subject to change, actual results could be materially different and any or all of the Company's forward-looking statements may turn out to be wrong. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made and can be affected by assumptions the Company might make or by known or unknown risks and uncertainties. Many factors mentioned in this release and in the Company's annual and quarterly reports will be important in determining future results. Consequently, the Company cannot assure you that the Company's expectations or forecasts expressed in such forward-looking statements will be achieved.

About InfraREIT, Inc.

InfraREIT is engaged in owning and leasing rate-regulated electric transmission assets in the state of Texas and is structured as a real estate investment trust. The Company is externally managed by Hunt Utility Services, LLC, an affiliate of Hunt Consolidated, Inc. (a diversified holding company based in Dallas, Texas and managed by the Ray L. Hunt family). The Company's shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "HIFR". Additional information on InfraREIT is available at www.InfraREITInc.com.

For additional information, contact:

Brook Wootton

Vice President, Investor Relations

InfraREIT, Inc.

214-855-6748

SOURCE InfraREIT, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.InfraREITInc.com

"Shodeen sees this as an opportunity to be the first to capitalize on this unmet market for luxury apartments, similar to the way they have done in Geneva and St. Charles," Di Santo said.New partnership set to bring industry leaders in EHSQ and SPC together to transform quality management through real-time quality data collection, reporting, and analysis.

TORONTO, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - Intelex Technologies, a leading global provider of cloud-based Environmental, Health, Safety and Quality (EHSQ) management software, today announced the new partnership with leading Quality Intelligence and SPC (Statistical Process Control) provider, InfinityQS.

InfinityQS International, Inc. (InfinityQS), is the global authority on data-driven manufacturing quality. InfinityQS Enact is a Quality Intelligence platform that speeds and simplifies real-time quality data collection, reporting, and analysis. Whether your company operates one manufacturing site or sites across multiple locations, Enact enables organisations to meet their most pressing goals: reducing scrap and waste, improving product quality, and maintaining compliance.

Nicole Radziwill, Quality Practice Leader, Intelex commented on the new partnership with InfinityQS: "Keeping track of out-of-control action plans, and relating each quality event to other information that may help an organisation resolve its core issues more quickly, has always been supremely challenging. This new partnership will help firms to link quality management and quality engineering to generate more powerful insights."

Intelex brings the industry's leading QMS platform as part of its integrated EHSQ solution, to gather real time insights and drive continuous improvement. Intelex's QMS allows organisations to take control of their quality processes, offering a breadth of applications to transform your organization through risk-based thinking, a culture of continuous improvement, and lower Cost of Quality (CoQ).

Elie Mouzon, Chief Strategy Officer, Intelex, adds further insight: "Together we'll be able to provide organisations more detailed operational insights from their quality processes, enhancing management capabilities with Intelex's leading QMS."

Jason Chester, Director of Global Channel Programs, InfinityQS concludes "Optimising the end-to-end quality process within manufacturers can be a complex undertaking, and one which is rarely achieved using a single solution. By combining the best-in-class expertise of both InfinityQS and Intelex, manufacturers can transform their entire quality operations and ensure that they are always aligned to their overall business objectives."

About InfinityQS International, Inc.

InfinityQS International, Inc. is the global authority on data-driven manufacturing quality. The company's Quality Intelligence solutionsEnact and ProFicientdeliver unparalleled visibility and strategic insight across the enterprise, from the shop floor to the boardroom, enabling manufacturers to re-imagine quality and transform it from a problem into a competitive advantage. Powered by centralized statistical process control (SPC) analytics, InfinityQS solutions provide operational insight to enable global manufacturers to improve product quality; decrease costs and risk; maintain or improve compliance; and make strategic, data-driven business decisions. Headquartered near Washington, D.C., with offices in Seattle, London, and Beijing, InfinityQS was founded in 1989 and now services more than 2,500 clientsfrom the smallest to the world's leading manufacturersincluding Ball Corporation, Boston Scientific, Graham Packaging, and Medtronic. For more information, visit www.infinityqs.com.

About Intelex Technologies

With more than 1,300 customers and 4 million users in 150 countries, Intelex Technologies Inc. is a global leader in environmental, health, safety and quality (EHSQ) management software. Since 1992 its scalable, web-based platform and applications have helped clients across all industries improve business performance, mitigate organization-wide risk, and ensure sustained compliance with internationally accepted standards (e.g., ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001 and OHSAS 18001) and regulatory requirements. Intelex is one of North America's fastest-growing tech companies, recognized as a Great Place to Work for over 7 years, recipient of Waterstone's Most Admired Corporate Cultures award, and Deloitte's Best Managed Companies award. For more information, please visit www.intelex.com

Careers: https://www.intelex.com/careers

SOURCE Intelex Technologies

Related Links

www.intelex.com

PITTSBURGH, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- "I desired a means to keep the aesthetic features on my rifle legal and not sacrifice the functionality," said an inventor from San Diego, Calif. "This inspired me to develop a better bolt catch that would be a compromise between gun-control groups and law-abiding citizens."

He developed the Single Shot Bolt Catch, which would prohibit the bolt of the rifle from moving forward and returning to a firing position. This would leave the chamber unloaded, requiring the operator to manually load the next round into the chamber by releasing the bolt. This invention could reclassify AR-platform rifles from "assault weapons" to rifles similar to bolt actions. The change would place the AR platform in both modern sporting and hunting.

The original design was submitted to the San Diego office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 17-SDB-1278, InventHelp, 217 Ninth Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com.

SOURCE InventHelp

Related Links

http://www.inventhelp.com

VANCOUVER, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - Mason Resources Corp. (TSX: MNR;OTCQB: MSSNF  "Mason" or the "Company") announces that Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. ("ISS") and Glass Lewis & Co., LLC ("Glass Lewis"), have both recommended that Mason shareholders vote FOR the previously announced plan of arrangement with Hudbay Minerals Inc. ("Hudbay") under Part 9, Division 5 of the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) (the "Arrangement"). Pursuant to the Arrangement, Hudbay will acquire all the outstanding shares of the Company not already owned by Hudbay and its affiliates for C$0.40 per share (the "Consideration").

Favourable ISS and Glass Lewis Recommendations

Both ISS and Glass Lewis, the two leading independent proxy advisory firms whose recommendations are relied upon by major institutional investment firms and other institutional shareholders, refer to the strong strategic rationale for the Arrangement, the significant premium, certainty of value from the cash Consideration, and favourable market reaction as factors supporting their FOR recommendations.

Special Meeting of Mason Shareholders

A special meeting of Mason shareholders (the "Meeting") will be held to consider the Arrangement at 10:30 a.m. (Vancouver time) on December 17, 2018 at the offices of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP located at 1200 Waterfront Centre, 200 Burrard Street, Vancouver, British Columbia. The record date for determining the Company shareholders entitled to receive notice of and vote at the Meeting has been fixed as the close of business on November 16, 2018 (the "Record Date").

Board Recommendation

After a thorough and careful review and consideration of the best interests of the Company, the terms of the Arrangement and its impact on Company shareholders, excluding Hudbay, its affiliates and any other persons required to be excluded in accordance with Multilateral Instrument 61-101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions (the "Public Shareholders") and the Company's other stakeholders, a special committee (the "Special Committee") comprised solely of independent directors of the Company, unanimously concluded that the Consideration to be received by the Public Shareholders pursuant to the Arrangement is fair to such Public Shareholders and that the Arrangement is in the best interest of the Company.

ON THE UNANIMOUS RECOMMENDATION OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE, THE COMPANY BOARD UNANIMOUSLY RECOMMENDS THAT PUBLIC SHAREHOLDERS VOTE FOR THE ARRANGEMENT RESOLUTION.

Required Approvals

To be effective, the Arrangement must be approved by a special resolution passed by (i) at least two-thirds of the votes cast by Company shareholders who are present in person or represented by proxy at the Meeting; and (ii) a majority of the votes cast by Public Shareholders who are present in person or represented by proxy at the Meeting. In addition, the Supreme Court of British Columbia (the "Court") must approve the Arrangement as a condition to its effectiveness. Among other things, the Court's final order will include a finding on the fairness of the terms and conditions of the Arrangement to Public Shareholders participating in the Arrangement.

Shareholder Support Agreements

In connection with the Arrangement, all of the directors and senior officers of Mason as well as Mantos Copper (Bermuda) Limited (the "Supporting Shareholders") entered into customary support agreements with Hudbay pursuant to which they have agreed to vote their shares, representing 19.8% of the issued and outstanding shares, in favour of the Arrangement. Together with Hudbay, the Supporting Shareholders hold 33.7% of the issued and outstanding shares.

Your vote is important. The Notice of Special Meeting, Management Information Circular and other Meeting materials (the "Meeting Materials") are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on the Company's website at www.MasonResources.com.

The Meeting Materials provide a description of the Arrangement and include certain additional information to assist Public Shareholders in considering how to vote on the Arrangement. You are urged to read this information carefully and, if you require assistance, to consult your tax, financial, legal or other professional advisors.

Included in the Meeting Materials are several documents requiring your attention.

If you are a registered shareholder and are unable to attend the Meeting in person, please date and execute the form of proxy included in the Meeting Materials and deposit it with Computershare Investor Services Inc., Attention: Proxy Department, 100 University Avenue, 8th Floor, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5J 2Y1 before 10:30 a.m. (Vancouver time) on Thursday, December 13, 2018, or not less than 48 hours (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays) before any adjournment of the Meeting.

If you are a non-registered shareholder and receive the Meeting Materials through your broker or through another intermediary, please complete and return the materials in accordance with the instructions provided to you by your broker or such other intermediary. If you are a non-registered shareholder and do not complete and return the materials in accordance with such instructions, you may lose the right to vote at the Meeting.

If you have any questions about the procedures to be followed to vote at the Meeting or about obtaining and depositing the required form of proxy or voting instruction form, you should contact Laurel Hill Advisory Group by telephone (toll-free for callers in North America) at 1-877-452-7184 or 1-416-304-0211 (for collect calls outside North America) or by e-mail at [email protected].

The Arrangement is expected to close in December 2018, subject to obtaining all required approvals and consents, as well as satisfying all required conditions.

About Mason Resources Corp.

Mason's key asset is its 100% owned Ann Mason project  an extensive, prospective land package located in the Yerington District of Nevada. The Ann Mason project hosts two copper-molybdenum porphyry deposits, Ann Mason and Blue Hill, as well as numerous earlier-stage or untested priority targets. The Ann Mason deposit is currently at a PEA level and is among the largest undeveloped copper porphyry resources in Canada/U.S.A. The excellent infrastructure, year-round access, strong community support and clear permitting process are all factors that contribute to making Yerington, Nevada one of the best mining jurisdictions in the world. Mason also holds a 100% interest in the Lordsburg property, an exciting earlier-stage copper-gold porphyry project, located within an historic mining district in New Mexico.

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to corporate strategies and plans of Mason; the timing of the Arrangement and the receipt of necessary approvals and conditions for completion.

While the Company has based these forward-looking statements on its expectations about future events as at the date that such statements were prepared, the statements are not a guarantee of the Company's future performance and are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies, local and global economic conditions and the environment in which Mason will operate in the future, including the price of copper, gold, silver and molybdenum. Uncertainties and factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by forward-looking statements and information include, amongst others, the risk that the Arrangement does not close on a timely basis or at all or that some or all of the anticipated benefits thereof are not achieved; unanticipated costs, expenses or liabilities; discrepancies between actual and anticipated production, mineral resources and metallurgical recoveries; the size, grade and continuity of deposits not being interpreted correctly from exploration results; the results of preliminary test work not being indicative of the results of future test work; fluctuations in commodity prices and demand; changing foreign exchange rates; actions by government authorities; the availability of funding on reasonable terms; the impact of changes in interpretation to or changes in enforcement of, laws, regulations and government practices, including laws, regulations and government practices with respect to mining, foreign investment, royalties and taxation; the terms and timing of obtaining necessary environmental and other government approvals, consents and permits; the availability and cost of necessary items such as power, water, skilled labour, transportation and appropriate smelting and refining arrangements; and misjudgements in the course of preparing forward-looking statements. In addition, there are also known and unknown risk factors which may cause the actual results, performances or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements and information. Such factors include, among others, risks related to international operations, including legal and political risk; risks associated with changes in the attitudes of governments to foreign investment; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; inability to upgrade Inferred mineral resources to Indicated or Measured mineral resources; inability to convert mineral resources to mineral reserves; conclusions of economic evaluations; future prices of copper, gold, silver and molybdenum; failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining government approvals, permits or licences or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities; environmental risks; title disputes; limitations on insurance coverage; as well as those factors discussed in the Company's most recently filed MD&A and in the Company's Annual Information Form for the financial year ended December 31, 2017, dated March 16, 2018 filed with the Canadian Securities Administrators and available at www.sedar.com. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company is under no obligation to update or alter any forward-looking statements except as required under applicable securities laws.

SOURCE Mason Resources

Related Links

www.masonresources.com

The new 65,000 square foot facility will provide permanent housing specifically to meet the needs of this population and will include 74 apartments, administrative offices, a rear garden, an elevated outdoor recreation area, and community and support spaces.

The building will challenge assumptions about the aesthetics associated with supportive housing and create a more direct and engaged relationship for residents with the surrounding environment. The new facility is intended to efficiently serve the needs of BFL's clients, to provide a sense of pride, place and home for residents, and to create a unique architectural presence in the rapidly changing neighborhood where the East Village and Lower East Side converge.

"BFL is a forward-looking organization that works to achieve a vision where individuals with disabilities can be free from barriers that prevent them from reaching their fullest potential," said Peter G. Bachmann, AIA, Principal-in-Charge with JCJ Architecture. "The JCJ team has fully embraced the complexities of the project and the BFL mission to support individuals with disabilities in living dignified lives. This project presents an opportunity to positively influence this dynamic organization's work in keeping New York City a vibrant and diverse community that maintains its commitments to all residents."

Inspired by the parameters of Mayor de Blasio's Housing NYC Plan, this project will provide affordable housing and support services for a grossly underserved population. The project team will work alongside agencies and stakeholders including NY State Home and Community Renewal, ESSHI and NY City Board of Standards & Appeals. Funding for related services and rent support will come from the Empire State Supportive Housing Initiative.

About JCJ Architecture

Founded in 1936, JCJ Architecture is an employee-owned firm with offices in Atlanta, Boston, Hartford, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York City, Phoenix, San Diego and Tulsa. JCJ is recognized nationally as one of the country's most respected architecture firms, providing clients with comprehensive planning, architecture and interior design services. Having built a diverse practice by integrating rigorous management with the highest standards of design and client service, JCJ works across a broad range of project types for civic, public safety/justice, K-12 and higher education, cultural, gaming and hospitality. For more information, visit www.jcj.com.

About Barrier Free Living

For more information about Barrier Free Living's services and efforts to support individuals with disabilities in living dignified lives free of all forms of abuse and bias, visit www.bflnyc.org.

For further information contact:

Eva Glas

Zeno Group

Tel: (312) 245-0170

[email protected]

Barbara Hubbard

JCJ Architecture

Tel: (860) 240-9090

[email protected]

SOURCE JCJ Architecture

Related Links

http://www.jcj.com

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP, a leading provider of legal services to the healthcare, financial services, technology, retail and hospitality industries, has made a number of key lateral hires in Nashville and Birmingham, strengthening the firm in several practice areas.

Bethany A. Blair, Trip Conrad, Kierstin Jodway, Ignacio Del Huerta, Joshua Porte, Maggie Sandwith, Briant Shumard and Elliott G. Smith joined in Nashville. Chris Thompson joined the firm's Birmingham office.

"The collective experience of these attorneys adds depth to our team across a number of key areas and strengthens the firm's ability to serve our clients' needs," said Waller chair Matt Burnstein. "We're excited to add their considerable talents to the firm."

Bethany A. Blair assists both lenders and borrowers in negotiating, structuring and closing senior credit facilities  including acquisition, financing, development financing and working capital lines of credit. Prior to joining Waller, Bethany gained valuable commercial finance experience at a boutique law firm in Atlanta focused on residential and commercial real estate transactions. She also served as a Legal Fellow to the Honorable Christopher J. McFadden of the Court of Appeals of Georgia.

Frederick "Trip" Conrad, III defends employers against allegations of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and wrongful discharge brought under federal and state laws. Trip advises clients on maintaining compliance with OSHA regulations, and his experience includes labor relations matters, including participating in collective bargaining negotiations with labor unions and defending employers in administrative hearings before the NLRB relating to collective bargaining agreements. Prior to joining Waller, Trip served as a judicial law clerk in U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada. Additionally, Trip was a labor and employment associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP.

Kierstin Jodway represents employers in the healthcare, retail, hospitality and manufacturing industries in labor and employment matters, including allegations of harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and wrongful discharge. Kierstin also assists clients in developing employee policies and handbooks. In addition to her employment practice, Kierstin has experience advising and representing educational institutions on Title IX and Clery Act matters. Prior to joining Waller, Kierstin was as an Assistant Attorney General in the Office of the Tennessee Attorney General where she served as lead counsel in complex employment and education lawsuits.

Ignacio De la Huerta focuses on transactional matters in the healthcare, manufacturing and technology sectors. He joined Waller with more than a decade of experience in strategic corporate transactions gained both in-house and at well-known international law firms. As in-house counsel at General Motors, Ignacio represented GM in various global transactions including the sale of Opel/Vauxhall and GM Financial's European operations to Groupe PSA. As a senior associate with Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, Ignacio was a key member of legal teams involved in high-profile transactions such as the $2.3 billion acquisition of Hostess Brands by a leading private equity firm. He also assisted Vonage Holdings Corp. in its acquisition of privately-held Nexmo, Inc., a global leader in the Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) segment of the cloud communications market. Ignacio began his career as an associate in the New York office of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP.

Josh Porte advises publicly traded and privately held companies on various issues that arise as part of mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, joint venture agreements and other strategic business transactions. Josh also assists clients with environmental permitting in connection with mergers and acquisitions. His practice focuses on the healthcare industry, and he provides counsel to dental support organizations and outpatient services providers. Prior to joining Waller, Josh was a corporate associate with Dickinson Wright PLLC in Nashville and Fredrikson & Byron, P.A. in Minneapolis. Additionally, he served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Priscilla R. Owen, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Austin, Texas.

Maggie Sandwith assists real estate developers, owners, investors and management companies with the financing, development, acquisition, disposition and leasing of commercial real estate. Her practice focuses on mixed-use projects, retail space and shopping centers, healthcare facilities and multi-family residential complexes. Prior to joining Waller, Maggie served as assistant legal counsel at a privately owned and operated commercial real estate company specializing in the acquisition, long-term ownership and management of shopping centers, office buildings, and apartments throughout the eastern United States.

Briant L. Shumard focuses his practice on construction transactions and disputes and environmental enforcement actions and litigation. He represents owners, developers, architects and design professionals in construction disputes involving issues related to contract interpretation, project delay, breach of contract, payment failure and surety bond claims. Since joining Waller from the Atlanta office of Troutman Sanders LLP, Briant has assisted in the representation of oil and gas companies, energy producers, mining companies and manufacturers in high-profile environmental litigation and enforcement actions brought by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state agencies.

Elliott G. Smith assists clients in mergers and acquisitions, corporate dispositions, securities offerings, and periodic reporting required by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. He works extensively with healthcare organizations including hospitals and health systems, dental support organizations, ambulatory surgery centers, outpatient services companies, private equity firms and other healthcare investors. Prior to joining Waller, Elliott served as a law clerk to the Honorable William R. Sawyer of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Alabama. Additionally, Elliott was an internal auditor at Coleman World Group before attending law school.

Chris Thompson assists healthcare clients  including hospitals, post-acute care providers, ambulatory surgery centers, behavioral health providers, and specialty physician practices  in transactional matters such as mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures. Chris also provides counsel on day-to-day operational concerns and regulatory compliance including Stark law and Anti-Kickback Statute issue. Prior to joining Waller, Chris was as an associate in the Birmingham office of Burr & Forman, LLP.

About Waller

With approximately 250 attorneys in Austin, Birmingham, Chattanooga, Memphis and Nashville, Waller assists clients in complex transactional, regulatory and litigation matters. The firm has built a national reputation for its work in healthcare, financial services, retail and hospitality, and has extensive experience in manufacturing, real estate, technology and other industries. For more information, please visit www.wallerlaw.com.

Media contact:

Sarah Brawner, DVL Seigenthaler

[email protected]

615-610-0323

SOURCE Waller, Lansden, Dortch & Davis LLP

Related Links

http://www.wallerlaw.com

KORE hits gold in all holes, confirms 400m+ strike length of gold mineralization

VANCOUVER, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - KORE Mining Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: KORE - "KORE" or the "Company") is pleased to announce fire assay results of all 4 holes of the Phase 1 drilling completed in 2018 on the Gold Creek gold exploration project located 2km NE of the town of Likely in the Cariboo  in the heart of British Columbia's historic "Gold Rush" district.

Highlights

Hole GC18-39 intercepted 1.5 metres of 32.2 g/t gold, within an overall intercept of 9.0 metres of 5.8 g/t gold.

Hole GC18-38 intercepted 10.3 metres of 0.9 g/t gold and 11.4 metres of 1.0 g/t gold.

Confirms positive correlation in drill holes between elevated arsenic (>100 ppm) and anomalous gold and potential for a large resource within an 8.5km long arsenic-in-soils anomaly.

2018 Drilling results combined with 2017 results including GC17-35 which intercepted 84.65 metres of 1.0g/t gold including higher-grade intercepts, confirms large widths of mineralization and the potential for a large resource.

Recent drilling combined with historical trenching extends the Camp Zone to 400m+ along strike and is open ended along both strike and at depth.

"Phase 1 drilling at Gold Creek has confirmed that this project has the potential for size. We aggressively stepped out from last year's drilling in order to assess whether this project meets Kore's criteria. We are pleased that every hole so far in the Camp Zone has encountered gold mineralization and is open along strike and at depth. Given that drilling to date encompasses less than 5% of the recently interpreted 8.5km long arsenic in soils trend, the potential for additional discovery is high and we plan to continue forward on our path to unlock further value on the property" said James Hynes, KORE Director and COO.

A total of 4 HQ drill holes for 940 meters were completed within the Camp Zone to test strike length extension of the successful discovery drill program completed in 2017. These holes step out approximately 300m from previous drilling. All 4 of the holes encountered long intercepts of gold mineralization, broad zones of alteration and mineralization within a Triassic Upper Nicola greywacke, interbedded with argillites, mudstones, and conglomerates.

Geology & Interpretation

The higher grade gold intercepts in drill holes within the Camp Zone show similarities to the high-grade zone of the nearby Spanish Mountain Gold Deposit (TSX Venture: SPA). A large portion of the resource and the highest grades at Spanish Mountain occur at the contact between the greywacke and argillites, similar to mineralization at Gold Creek. This zone is contained within the same stratigraphic sequence (altered and silicified greywacke) and at a similar elevation. Compilation of historic arsenic in soils (see compilation map of historic arsenic on soils) highlights an 8.5km long NW-SE trend that is coincident with the NW-SE trending Camp Zone and recent drilling. For these reasons, KORE believes that Gold Creek has the potential to host a major gold deposit.

The recently compiled arsenic in soils geochemical anomaly follows this contact for the full 8.5km length. Arsenic in soils show more coherent anomalies, and appear to be the best pathfinder element for the mineralized greywacke unit, providing numerous additional drill targets for evaluation.

The Camp Zone gold mineralization has been shown to both outcrop at surface and occur at shallow depths within drill holes. Early drilling suggests this deposit has the potential for a bulk mineable open pit resource as well as high-grade underground development. The 2018 drill program followed up on sedimentary hosted near-surface and higher-grade vertical stockwork, veins, and veinlets within the lower-grade halos.

Mineralization consists of quartz-pyrite-carbonate veins and veinlets with variable amounts of arsenopyrite, chalcopyrite, galena, sphalerite, pyrrhotite, and native gold. Where observed, native gold occurs as 1 mm fine-grained, free individual crystalline grains along the walls of quartz veins, on the edges of cubic pyrite crystals, with limonitic pyrite, and occasionally with galena. Pyrite is the principal sulfide mineral in the mineralization, occurring within quartz veins, in envelopes of 5-10% pyrite adjacent to quartz veins, and disseminated 1-3% in the host rock. The quartz-sulfide veins strike southeast, dip steeply or vertically, are generally sub-parallel, and occur as individual veins and as zones of stockwork. Veining and mineralization are accompanied by quartz-sericite alteration, carbonate alteration, bleaching, and silicification in the wall rocks surrounding veins and stockwork. Host rocks consist of interbedded greywacke and argillite with minor conglomerate and mudstone beds.

Maps, sections and a table of drill holes completed this year with notes on targets tested are attached to this news release and posted on www.koremining.com.

Gold Creek Project Description and Location

The Gold Creek project is located 2km NE of the town of Likely in the Cariboo  the heart of British Columbia's historic "Gold Rush" district. The Gold Creek project consists of 34 claims totalling 9,673 ha located approximately 8km to the NW of the Spanish Mountain gold deposit. Access is from Likely by all-weather gravel road. The site has well developed infrastructure and is just 70km NE of Williams Lake, a major regional centre serviced by an airport and railway. The property has several small roads that will provide easy access for drilling the claims.

Kore 2018 Work Program

Compilation of historical drilling, soil sampling, and geophysics were completed by KORE to determine a positive correlation between gold mineralization and either pathfinder elements, geophysical anomalies, or both.

Historic drilling in 2011 and 2017 confirmed large widths of mineralization in silicified greywacke from surface with multiple higher-grade vein intercepts within a lower-grade halo. Intercepts included 1.5m of 13.4g/t gold (GC11-27 10.7m to 12.2m), 9m of 5.5g/t gold (GC17-34 16.0m to 25.0m), including 1.5m of 18.0g/t gold, and 84.65m of 1.0g/t gold (GC17-35 85.85m to 170.50m), including higher grade intercepts. See appendix for historic and current significant intercepts.

The Company has observed gold mineralization to be closely correlated with elevated arsenic and contained within a greywacke unit of high resistivity and low chargeability relative to the adjacent argillite unit.

QA/QC and Qualified Person

Once the drill core was received from the drill site, individual samples were determined, logged for geological attributes, sawn in half, labelled, and bagged for assay submittal. The remaining drill core was then stored at a secure site in Horsefly, BC. The Company inserted quality control samples at regular intervals within the sample stream which included blanks, preparation duplicates, and standard reference materials with all sample shipments intended to monitor laboratory performance. Sample shipment was conducted under a chain of custody procedure. The QAQC program was designed, approved, and overseen by Kristian Whitehead, P.Geo.

Drill core samples were submitted to ALS Minerals' analytical facility in North Vancouver, British Columbia for preparation and analysis. Sample preparation included drying and weighing the samples, crushing the entire sample, and pulverizing 250 grams. Analysis for gold was by method Au-AA26: 50g fire assay fusion with atomic absorption (AAS) finish with a lower limit of 0.01 ppm and upper limit of 100 ppm. Samples were analyzed for 33 additional elements with method ME-ICP61 (four-acid digestion). Overlimit values other than gold were re-analyzed by methods ME-OG62 (four-acid digestion) and Cu-OG62 (ore-grade copper with four-acid digestion).

ALS Minerals is accredited to the ISO/IEC 17025 standard for gold assays, and all analytical methods include quality control materials at set frequencies with established data acceptance criteria. Parameters for ALS Minerals' internal and Kore's external blind quality control samples were acceptable for the analyses returned.

Technical information with respect to the Projects contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by David S. Smith, CPG, who is KORE's designated independent qualified person for the purposes of this news release.

Image Gallery:

https://www.koremining.com/pr120318-1

Appendix:

Table: Camp Zone Drill Results at Gold Creek, 2011 and 2017, and 2018 (FA = Fire Assay)[1]:











GC11-27 From (m) To (m) Interval (m) FA Au g/t

3.1 44.2 41.2 0.9 including 3.1 32.0 29.0 1.1 including 10.7 12.2 1.5 13.4











GC17-33 From (m) To (m) Interval (m) FA Au g/t

13.00 28.00 15.00 0.7 including 21.20 25.00 3.80 1.7 and 42.30 85.00 42.7 0.7











GC17-34 From (m) To (m) Interval (m) FA Au g/t

10.00 28.30 18.30 2.9 including 16.00 25.00 9.00 5.5 including 17.50 19.00 1.50 18.0











GC17-35 From (m) To (m) Interval (m) FA Au g/t

85.85 170.50 84.65 1.0 including 88.70 149.50 60.80 1.3 including 136.25 149.50 13.25 4.7 including 136.25 145.00 8.75 6.5 including 136.25 137.50 1.25 33.2 including 143.50 145.0 1.50 8.1











GC18-36 From (m) To (m) Interval (m) FA Au g/t

27.94 53.65 25.71 1.3 including 27.94 31.00 3.06 8.6 and 98.64 148.85 50.21 0.7 including 98.64 109.70 11.06 2.0 including 142.70 148.85 6.15 0.8











GC18-37 From (m) To (m) Interval (m) FA Au g/t

124.00 127.23 3.23 0.7 and 137.95 147.09 9.14 0.4 and 157.00 171.62 14.62 0.4











GC18-38 From (m) To (m) Interval (m) FA Au g/t

171.02 181.31 10.29 0.9 and 195.06 206.50 11.44 1.0











GC18-39 From (m) To (m) Interval (m) FA Au g/t

171.00 180.00 9.00 5.8 including 174.00 175.00 1.50 32.2

Table: Drill Collar Information of Camp Zone drill holes















Hole # Northing WGS84 Easting WGS84 Elev. (m) Azimuth Dip E.O.H. (m) GC11-27 599278 5831143 903 225.0 -55.0 45.7 GC17-33 599282 5831149 903 229.4 -54.5 94.0 GC17-34 599254 5831103 903 224.5 -55.4 64.0 GC17-35 GC17-36 599388 5831166 923 238.3 -52.7 173.0 599405 5831103 892 225.2 -47.0 263.0 GC18-37 599465 5831031 899 225.8 -43.5 223.0 GC18-38 599465 5831031 899 228.1 -67.0 247.0 GC18-39 599536 5830955 920 231.7 -50.7 207.0

About KORE

KORE Mining is a development stage company that offers exposure to precious metals exploration and development in North America, with a corporate strategy focused on advancing its California development and British Columbia advanced exploration stage projects.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any KORE common shares in the United States. The KORE common shares to be issued in connection with the Transaction have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy of accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Adjacent Properties and Forward-Looking Information

All information contained in this news release with respect to KORE and Kore was supplied by the parties, respectively, for inclusion herein, and KORE and its directors and officers have relied on KORE for any information concerning such party, including information concerning the Projects.

This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to the future operations of the Company and other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "will", "may", "should", "anticipate", "expects" and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding the future plans and objectives of the Company are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: uncertainties related exploration and development; the ability to raise sufficient capital to fund exploration and development; changes in economic conditions or financial markets; increases in input costs; litigation, legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; technological or operational difficulties or inability to obtain permits encountered in connection with exploration activities; and labor relations matters. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect the Company's forward-looking information. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations also include risks detailed from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulations.

The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company will update or revise publicly any of the included forward-looking statements as expressly required by Canadian securities law.

___________________________________

1 Width reported are drill widths. True thicknesses are unknown.

SOURCE Kore Mining

Related Links

http://www.koremining.com/

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Three studies being presented today during the 60th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition in San Diego offer more targeted solutions for managing CLL and multiple myeloma.

"The most important take home point is that all three of these late-breaking studies demonstrate how targeted therapies are improving outcomes for our patients," said press briefing moderator Aaron Gerds, MD, MS, of the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute. "For both multiple myeloma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, we're rapidly shifting from cytotoxic to targeted treatments, which is exciting given the toxicities patients can experience with traditional chemotherapy."

Ibrutinib-Based Therapy More Effective, Safer in Younger Patients with Previously Untreated CLL Compared with Current Standard of Care

A Randomized Phase III Study of Ibrutinib (PCI-32765)-Based Therapy Vs. Standard

Fludarabine, Cyclophosphamide, and Rituximab (FCR) Chemoimmunotherapy in

Untreated Younger Patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL): A Trial of

the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group [LBA-4]

A six-month course of chemotherapy-based treatment with intravenous fludarabine and cyclophosphamide plus rituximab (FCR) has historically been the most effective treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), especially in patients 70 years of age and younger. But results from a head-to-head phase III trial comparing FCR against a more targeted ibrutinib-based therapy reveal that patients receiving the ibrutinib plus rituximab therapy had a two-thirds reduction in the risk of disease progression relative to those getting standard care. Overall survival was also significantly improved for patients receiving ibrutinib therapy based on current follow-up.

"We found ibrutinib-based therapy is both more effective and less toxic than our previous best therapy for CLL patients," said lead author Tait D. Shanafelt, MD, of the Stanford University School of Medicine. "These findings have immediate practice-changing implications. They establish the combination of ibrutinib plus rituximab as the most effective first-line treatment for CLL patients age 70 and younger."

Ibrutinib is a targeted therapy that was designed, in part, to interrupt or target a specific enzyme known to help CLL cells to survive. It inhibits Bruton's tyrosine kinase, a protein that is critical to the survival of CLL leukemia cells.

"Ibrutinib targets the Achilles' heel of CLL cells, whereas previous chemotherapy was much less targeted," Dr. Shanafelt said.

The trial enrolled 529 patients with previously untreated, symptomatic CLL between January 31, 2014, and June 9, 2016. Participants ranged in age from 28 to 70 (median age 57). Two-thirds of patients received ibrutinib plus rituximab and one-third received a six-month course of FCR. Researchers had tracked patient outcomes for a median of 33.4 months at the time of the analysis.

Rates of survival without disease progression were significantly better in patients who received ibrutinib plus rituximab compared with FCR. In addition, the ibrutinib therapy conferred better overall survival. In subgroup analyses for progression-free survival, ibrutinib was superior to FCR independent of age, sex, daily living abilities (performance status), and disease stage.

The ibrutinib-treated patients also experienced fewer side effects. Grade 3 and 4 treatment-related adverse events were observed in 58 percent of the ibrutinib group and 72 percent of the FCR-treated patients. FCR was more frequently associated with grade 3 and 4 neutropenia, a condition associated with a low white blood cell count (44% vs 23% of the ibrutinib group), and infectious complications (17.7% vs. 7% of the ibrutinib group).

Researchers will continue to monitor patients to determine the durability of these results and how they evolve over time.

"We know FCR does some collateral damage to the immune system that can be long-lasting and leave patients vulnerable to infections, whereas ibrutinib can enhance immune function," Dr. Shanafelt said. "Understanding the long-term effects of these two therapies on the immune system and the risk of infection will be very informative."

Patients treated with ibrutinib plus rituxumab stay on ibrutinib, a pill taken daily, for the long term. Given this fact, Shanafelt said one question that remains, and falls outside the scope of the study, is the expense of ibrutinib, which is around $10,000 a month.

CLL is a cancer of the white blood cells. It often occurs during or after middle age and rarely in individuals under the age of 40.

This federally funded study was designed by researchers with the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group under the sponsorship of the National Cancer institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health. It was conducted through the NCI's National Clinical Trials Network. Pharmacyclics LLC provided ibrutinib and clinical trial support funding under a cooperative research and development agreement with NCI and a separate agreement with ECOG-ACRIN.

E1912 is an FDA registration trial.

Tait D. Shanafelt, MD, Stanford University School of Medicine, will present this study during the late-breaking abstracts session on Tuesday, December 4, 2018, at 7:30 a.m. PST at the San Diego Convention Center, Hall AB.

Daratumumab Increases Progression-Free Survival in Transplant-Ineligible Multiple Myeloma

Phase 3 Randomized Study of Daratumumab Plus Lenalidomide and Dexamethasone (D-Rd) Versus Lenalidomide and Dexamethasone (Rd) in Patients With Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma (NDMM) Ineligible for Transplant (MAIA) [LBA-2]

Interim results from a large international phase III clinical trial show that adding the immunotherapy daratumumab (DARA) to standard therapy significantly extended the time before cancer got worse in patients newly diagnosed with multiple myeloma who were ineligible for a stem cell transplant.

Patients treated with lenalidomide and dexamethasone (Rd) plus DARA were 44 percent less likely to die or experience disease progression, compared with patients who received Rd alone, said lead author Thierry Facon, MD, of Claude Huriez Hospital in Lille, France.

He added the trial is important because it's one of the first to test the combination of DARA with a current standard of care in this patient population, and it also enrolled a much higher proportion of patients over the age of 75 than any previous study.

"We see a very strong clinically significant benefit in extending survival without the cancer getting worse, with no major safety concerns," said Dr. Facon. "In older patients who are not candidates for stem cell transplantation, these are very encouraging results."

Multiple myeloma is a blood cancer that affects plasma cells, a type of white blood cell. Normal plasma cells help the body fight infection. In multiple myeloma, cancerous plasma cells grow uncontrollably in the bone marrow, crowding out the normal plasma cells. Elevated levels of a substance called M protein in the blood and urine are a hallmark sign of multiple myeloma.

A stem cell transplant is often a recommended treatment option for patients with multiple myeloma who are otherwise in good health. For newly diagnosed patients who aren't candidates for a stem cell transplant due to age or coexisting health conditions, Rd has been the standard of care since 2013.

DARA is a targeted drug that blocks a protein called CD38, which is found at abnormally high levels in multiple myeloma cells. The drug is currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in combination with other agents to treat multiple myeloma that has gotten worse after one or more prior rounds of treatment.

The current trial, known as the MAIA study, enrolled 737 patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma who were deemed ineligible for a stem cell transplant. Their median age was 73, with 44 percent over 75. Slightly over half of the patients were male. The trial was conducted in 14 countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, Israel, the United Kingdom, and several European countries.

Patients were randomly assigned to be treated with either Rd alone or Rd plus DARA. Treatment continued until the patients' cancer got worse or intolerable side effects occurred. The primary endpoint was the length of time until patients' cancer worsened, known as progression-free survival (PFS). Key secondary endpoints included minimal residual disease (MRD) negativity, defined as the absence of cancer cells in the bone marrow; the proportion of patients with a reduction of 50 percent or more of serum or urine monoclonal protein, known as the overall response rate; and the rate and severity of adverse side effects.

An interim analysis of the trial's results after a median follow-up period of 28 months showed that patients treated with Rd plus DARA were 44 percent less likely to have died or experience disease progression, compared with patients who received Rd alone. Median PFSthe point in time at which half of the patients had disease progressionwas 31.9 months for patients treated with Rd alone, and has not been reached yet for those who received Rd plus DARA.

The complete response rate, or proportion of patients with no detectable disease in the blood or urine and less than five percent of cancerous cells remaining in the bone marrow, was 47.6 percent for patients treated with Rd plus DARA, compared with 24.9 percent for those who received Rd alone. The proportion of patients who achieved a very good partial response or betterdefined as a 90 percent or greater reduction in levels of M protein in the blood and urinealso was significantly better among patients treated with Rd plus DARA (79.3 percent, compared with 53.1 percent for patients treated with Rd alone). There was more than 3-fold improvement in achieving MRD negativity for Rd plus DARA (24.2 vs 7.3 percent) which translates into more patients having longer PFS than standard of care alone. In addition, Rd plus DARA helped more patients achieve a durable MRD response. While the safety profile in MAIA was in line with previous studies, more patients in the Rd-plus-DARA arm than in the Rd-alone arm experienced moderate or severe adverse effects of pneumonia and low white blood cell counts.

"These results support the addition of daratumumab to Rd as the new standard of care for patients with transplant-ineligible NDMM," Dr. Facon said.

This study was supported by Janssen Research & Development, LLC.

Thierry Facon, MD, of Claude Huriez Hospital in Lille, France, will present this study during the late-breaking abstracts session on Tuesday, December 4, 2018, at 7:30 a.m. PST at the San Diego Convention Center, Hall AB.

Researchers Identify Mutation in BCL2 Protein That Causes Resistance to Venetoclax

Acquisition of the Recurrent Gly101Val Mutation in BCL2 Confers Resistance to Venetoclax in Patients with Progressive Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia [LBA-7]

Investigators from Australia have identified a genetic mutation that causes resistance to the targeted drug venetoclax in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

Venetoclax promotes cancer cell death by blocking a protein known as B-cell leukemia/lymphoma 2 protein, or BCL2, that helps cancer cells to survive. Levels of BCL2 are abnormally high in many patients with CLL. The newly discovered mutation in BCL2 significantly reduces the ability of venetoclax to latch on to and block the protein, said lead author Piers Blombery, MD, of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Royal Melbourne Hospital in Melbourne, Australia.

"Although venetoclax is a highly effective drug for CLL, most patients eventually relapse," Dr. Blombery said. "The mutation we have found helps to explain why venetoclax stops working in some patients. Furthermore, we have shown that in some cases the mutation can be detected in patients' bone marrow years before clinical signs of relapse appear."

Dr. Blombery and his colleagues performed genomic sequencing on tumor samples from 67 patients whose CLL had come back after treatment with venetoclax. For 15 of these patients, the investigators were able to evaluate tumor samples from both before and after venetoclax treatment. The mutation was identified in after-treatment tumor samples from seven of these 15 patients.

"We also tested almost 400 patients with CLL and other blood cancers who had never been treated with venetoclax, and we did not find this mutation in any of those patients," said Dr. Blombery. "This is evidence that the mutation only develops during venetoclax treatment, so it is something that patients can be screened for. In patients who develop this mutation at a low level, it would be prudent for the hematologist to begin to look for other therapies to use instead."

Venetoclax was the first drug targeting BCL2 to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Initially it was approved only for the treatment of patients with CLL whose tumors had a genetic alteration in which a piece of one chromosome was missing. In June 2018, FDA expanded the drug's approval to include all patients with CLL whose disease progressed after at least one previous treatment, regardless of whether their cancer cells have this genetic alteration.

While identification of the BCL2 mutation helps to explain why CLL recurs in some patients treated with venetoclax, much still remains to be understood about the factors underlying CLL recurrence after venetoclax treatment.

"We don't know what caused the cancer to relapse in the eight patients in whom we did not find the BCL2 mutation," Dr. Blombery said. "Moreover, in the seven patients who had the mutation, we found it in only some of their cancer cellsand yet the cells that did not carry the mutation were still contributing to the cancer's growth. So, clearly, even among patients who have the mutation, other factors are at play in causing resistance to venetoclax therapy."

In one patient, the investigators found a second genetic abnormality generating resistance to venetoclax treatment in cells that did not carry the BCL2 mutation. "This demonstrates the importance of considering multiple angles of attack with combination therapiesfor example, venetoclax and rituximabrather than relying on a single targeted agent in a disease that has multiple genomic tricks up its sleeve," Dr. Blombery said.

The investigators are planning to conduct more extensive genomic analysis of the patients who did not develop the BCL2 mutation to identify other mechanisms of resistance to venetoclax. They also plan to gather more data on the time course of acquisition of the BCL2 mutation.

This study was supported by Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, the Royal Melbourne Hospital, the University of Melbourne and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research. External funding also supported this research including from the Snowdome Foundation, the Christine and Bruce Wilson Centre for Lymphoma Genomics based at Peter Mac, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (USA), the Leukaemia Foundation, NHMRC, Australian Cancer Research Foundation and Cancer Council Victoria.

Piers Blombery, MD, Peter MacCallum Cancer Center and Royal Melbourne Hospital, will present this study during the late-breaking abstracts session on Tuesday, December 4, 2018, at 7:30 a.m. PST at the San Diego Convention Center, Hall AB. The study will be simultaneously published in Cancer Discovery at the time of the presentation.

The study authors and press program moderator will be available for interviews after the press conference or by telephone. Additional press briefings will take place throughout the meeting on large-scale practice-changing clinical trials, lasting results in CAR T-cell therapies, sickle cell disease, and looking to the future in the era of personalized medicine. For the complete annual meeting program and abstracts, visit www.hematology.org/annual-meeting. Follow @ASH_hematology and #ASH18 on Twitter and like ASH on Facebook for the most up-to-date information about the 2018 ASH Annual Meeting.

The American Society of Hematology (ASH) (www.hematology.org) is the world's largest professional society of hematologists dedicated to furthering the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disorders affecting the blood. For more than 50 years, the Society has led the development of hematology as a discipline by promoting research, patient care, education, training, and advocacy in hematology. The Society publishes Blood (www.bloodjournal.org), the most cited peer-reviewed publication in the field, as well as the newly launched, online, open-access journal, Blood Advances.

SOURCE The American Society of Hematology (ASH)"Reliable and modernized aerial refueling is an essential capability for our customers to maintain their global reach and strategic advantage," said Lockheed Martin Chairman, President and CEO Marillyn Hewson. "By combining the innovation and expertise of Airbus and Lockheed Martin, we will be well-positioned to provide the United States Air Force with the advanced refueling solutions needed to meet 21st century security challenges."

"The U.S. Air Force deserves the best aerial-refueling technology and performance available under the sun and this great industry team, Lockheed Martin and Airbus, will offer exactly that," said Tom Enders, Airbus CEO.

The companies are taking a cooperative approach, with the Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (A330 MRTT) at its heart, to examine a broad spectrum of opportunities. These may range from ways to support critical near-term air-refueling needs, such as a fee-for-service structure to conceptualizing the tanker of the future.

Airbus Defence and Space Head of Military Aircraft Fernando Alonso said, "The A330 MRTT has been selected by a dozen nations around the world. It is extensively proven in live operations and has been repeatedly praised by major air forces. We are convinced that the combination of Airbus' tanker expertise with Lockheed Martin's extensive U.S. presence, has the potential to provide highly effective solutions for current and future U.S. military aerial refueling requirements."

Lockheed Martin has a long and successful history of systems integration, manufacturing and maintenance, repair and overhaul operations with large airlift and tanker aircraft. When combined with Airbus expertise in this competitive space, the two companies will field a strong team to address future air refueling needs.

"Airbus is an industry leader in the aerial refueling area, and Lockheed Martin is known for cutting-edge defensive technologies and capabilities," said Michele Evans, executive vice president, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. "This is a great opportunity for our two companies to combine our expertise  cooperating to develop world-class solutions for critical needs around the world."

About Lockheed Martin

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 100,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. This year the company received three Edison Awards for ground-breaking innovations in autonomy, satellite technology and directed energy.

About Airbus

Airbus is a global leader in aeronautics, space and related services. In 2017 it generated reported revenues of  67 billion  or  59 billion restated for IFRS 15  and employed a workforce of around 129,000. Airbus offers the most comprehensive range of passenger airliners from 100 to more than 600 seats. Airbus is also a European leader providing tanker, combat, transport and mission aircraft, as well as one of the world's leading space companies. In helicopters, Airbus provides the most efficient civil and military rotorcraft solutions worldwide.

This news release contains statements that are not recitations of historical fact and which therefore constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially due to factors such as our ability to successfully jointly pursue opportunities and achieve the expected synergies and other benefits and the competitive environment for our products and services. For a discussion identifying additional important factors that could cause actual results to vary, see the Corporation's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) including "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Risk Factors" in the Corporation's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2017 and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The Corporation's filings may be accessed through the Investor Relations page of its website, www.lockheedmartin.com/investor, or through the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov.

SOURCE Lockheed Martin Aeronautics CompanyRecords in 4K . Foremost of all the features of the DVR is its ability to record footage in 4K resolution. This makes the DVR compatible with 4K Ultra HD (8MP) cameras, 4MP cameras, and 1080p and 720p MPX analog cameras. Recording in 4K is almost the norm nowadays and this DVR is up to the task. As noted, this DVR is also compatible with lower resolution cameras.

Foremost of all the features of the DVR is its ability to record footage in resolution. This makes the DVR compatible with Ultra HD (8MP) cameras, 4MP cameras, and 1080p and 720p MPX analog cameras. Recording in is almost the norm nowadays and this DVR is up to the task. As noted, this DVR is also compatible with lower resolution cameras. 16 Channel available. The DV900 Series DVR can accommodate a maximum of 16 4K (MPX) Ultra HD cameras. Depending on the size of the property, there are also two smaller configurations available  the four camera and eight camera bundles.

The DV900 Series DVR can accommodate a maximum of 16 (MPX) Ultra HD cameras. Depending on the size of the property, there are also two smaller configurations available  the four camera and eight camera bundles. 8TB hard drive available. This 4K DVR is designed to record footage 24/7 without a break. The three bundle configurations come pre-installed with 1TB, 2TB, and 3TB respectively. If desired so, the user can manually upgrade the DVR up to 8TB. The hard drives are security certified and manufactured specifically for video recorders and can stand against the rigorous demand of recording 24/7 video surveillance.

This DVR is designed to record footage 24/7 without a break. The three bundle configurations come pre-installed with 1TB, 2TB, and 3TB respectively. If desired so, the user can manually upgrade the DVR up to 8TB. The hard drives are security certified and manufactured specifically for video recorders and can stand against the rigorous demand of recording 24/7 video surveillance. Single cable camera connection. The 4K DVR uses a single cable camera connection to deliver video and audio transmission and power from the DVR to the cameras. Lorex uses a 60ft Siamese BNC cable for each camera in the system. If needed, the user can purchase a longer BNC cable up to 205ft.

The DVR uses a single cable camera connection to deliver video and audio transmission and power from the DVR to the cameras. Lorex uses a 60ft Siamese BNC cable for each camera in the system. If needed, the user can purchase a longer BNC cable up to 205ft. Remote viewing with Lorex Cloud . This 4K DV900 Series DVR is Lorex Cloud enabled. Lorex Cloud is a mobile and desktop application that allows users to remotely view and control the cameras connected to the DVR. Connection to the app is seamless with QR code scanning. All the user needs to do is download the app on the mobile device or desktop, scan the QR code as seen on the DVR, and all cameras connected to the DVR will appear on the mobile or desktop.

This 4K Ultra HD DVR from Lorex is the most advanced video recorder in its class. It records in the highest resolution at 4K; can accommodate a massive 8TB internal storage; uses a convenient single cable for video, audio and power transmission; and its cloud ready with the Lorex Cloud app for both mobile and desktop.

About Lorex Technology

Established in 1993 in Markham, Ontario, Lorex Technology is the authority in the home and small business video surveillance solutions. For over 25 years, Lorex Technology has provided top-of-the-line video technology products to its customers in North America and around the world. Today, Lorex Technology prides itself as a leader in do-it-yourself (DIY) and professional-grade home and business security solutions and continues to develop sophisticated and cutting-edge technologies aimed at helping customers protect their loved ones and property.

Find out more about Lorex Technology's Security DVR's and Security Cameras at https://www.lorextechnology.com/security-nvr/N-1hit2cc

SOURCE LOREX Technology Inc.

Related Links

https://www.lorextechnology.com/

She toiled for long hours in a factory. She drove a bus. And Garza sold Mary Kay cosmetics  all so she could prove to her parents in Mexico that coming back home to live in her hometown of Monterrey Nuevo Leon, where shed been a teacher before coming to the U.S. in 1972 with her now-ex, was not the answer to her new life as a single mom.MEXICO CITY, Dec. 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Summary

Mexico City Airport Trust (" MEXCAT ") announces the commencement of tender offers to purchase for cash and retire a portion of the outstanding US$6.0 billion of MEXCAT's international notes with the purpose of reducing MEXCAT's total indebtedness. Upon consummation of the tender offers, it is expected that MEXCAT's debt service coverage ratio in respect of the notes will improve while the passenger charges from the Benito Juarez International Airport will continue to secure the notes. In conjunction with the tender offers, MEXCAT is soliciting consents from the holders of notes to certain amendments to the indentures governing the notes and other related agreements. These amendments are intended to reflect policy changes with respect to the plan to develop a proposed new airport to serve Mexico City and the surrounding areas.

The tender offers are being conducted as a modified "Dutch Auction" that will allow holders to submit their notes for repurchase at a price between US$900 and US$1,000 per US$1,000 principal amount of notes. Holders may participate in the offers by either participating in the tender offers and the consent solicitations or participating solely in the consent solicitations without tendering their notes. Holders tendering their notes and delivering their consents on or prior to an early tender/consent deadline will be entitled to receive an early tender payment of US$50.00 per US$1,000 principal amount of notes. Holders delivering consents to the proposed amendments will be entitled to receive a consent payment of US$7.50 per US$1,000 principal amount of notes.

Tender Offers and Consent Solicitations

The following table summarizes certain information regarding MEXCAT's international notes (all such notes appearing in the table below, the " Notes " and each a " series " of Notes) and the terms of the tender offers (the " Tender Offers ").

Title of Security CUSIP and ISIN Numbers Principal Amount Outstanding Tender Cap Early Tender Payment(1) Consent Payment(1) Acceptable Bid Price Range(1)(2) 4.250 Senior Secured

Notes due 2026 59284MAA2; P6629MAA0 /

US59284MAA27; USP6629MAA01 US$1,000,000,000 US$300,000,000 US$50.00 US$7.50 US$900 - US$1,000 3.875% Senior Secured

Notes due 2028 59284MAC8; P6629MAC6 /

US59284MAC82; USP6629MAC66 US$1,000,000,000 US$300,000,000 US$50.00 US$7.50 US$900 - US$1,000 5.500% Senior Secured

Notes due 2046 59284MAB0; P6629MAB8 /

US59284MAB00; USP6629MAB83 US$1,000,000,000 US$300,000,000 US$50.00 US$7.50 US$900 - US$1,000 5.500% Senior Secured

Notes due 2047 59284MAD6; P6629MAD4 /

US59284MAD65; USP6629MAD40 US$3,000,000,000 US$900,000,000 US$50.00 US$7.50 US$900 - US$1,000













(1) Per US$1,000 principal amount of Notes.

(2) Includes the Early Tender Payment and the Consent Payment.

MEXCAT is soliciting consents (the " Consent Solicitations " and together with the Tender Offers, the " Offers ") to amend certain terms of the Notes, the indentures governing the Notes, the intercreditor agreement, dated as of September 29, 2016, as amended (the " Intercreditor Agreement "), and other related agreements, including amendments to (i) remove certain covenants and events of default that relate specifically to the proposed new international airport to serve Mexico City and the surrounding areas proposed to be located in Texcoco, State of Mexico (the " Texcoco Airport "), (ii) release the security interest over the passenger charges and other assets relating to the Texcoco Airport, (iii) remove the references to the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated October 7, 2015, and ancillary documents, as well as references to the administrative agent thereunder (to the extent feasible), and (iv) amend certain conditions to make restricted payments under the indentures governing the Notes due in 2026 and 2046 that requires a minimum debt service coverage ratio to be consistent with the corresponding condition in the indentures governing the Notes due in 2028 and 2047. The Notes will continue to be secured by the passenger charges and other assets relating to the Benito Juarez International Airport.

The Offers are subject to certain conditions, including (i) the receipt of at least (a) a majority in aggregate principal amount of Notes of each series outstanding, in each case excluding any Notes owned by MEXCAT or an affiliate of MEXCAT, and (b) a majority in aggregate principal amount of Notes of all series outstanding, as required under the Intercreditor Agreement, (ii) that the aggregate amount that holders are entitled to receive pursuant to the Offers at or prior to the Early Tender/Consent Deadline does not exceed US$1.8 billion (the " Maximum Expenditure Condition "), and (iii) MEXCAT having sufficient funds available to fund the Offers and to pay all fees and expenses in connection therewith. MEXCAT may waive any condition at its sole discretion.

Holders validly tendering, and not validly withdrawing, Notes on or before the applicable Early Tender/Consent Deadline will be eligible to receive the applicable Early Tender Consideration (as defined herein), payable on the applicable Payment Date (as defined herein). Holders who validly tender their Notes prior to the applicable Early Tender/Consent will be deemed to have delivered consents with respect to all such Notes tendered and, if Notes of such series tendered and/or related consents delivered by any holders are accepted, will be eligible to receive a consent payment of US$7.50 per US$1,000 principal amount of Notes (the " Consent Payment ") in respect of all such Notes, even if the tendered Notes are prorated or returned. Holders participating solely in the Consent Solicitations will be eligible to receive the applicable Consent Payment with respect to consents delivered.

The Tender Offers will expire at 11:59 p.m., New York City time, on January 2, 2019 (unless extended, the " Expiration Time "), and the Consent Solicitations will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on December 17, 2018 (unless extended, the " Early Tender/Consent Deadline "). Notes tendered may be withdrawn and consents may be revoked at any time at or prior to 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on December 17, 2018 (unless extended, the " Withdrawal Deadline ").

The applicable " Early Tender Consideration " payable for each US$1,000 principal amount of each series of Notes that are validly tendered at or prior to the applicable Early Tender/Consent Deadline (and not validly withdrawn) and accepted for purchase (subject to proration) will be equal to the sum of: (i) the minimum acceptable Bid Price (as defined herein) for such series (the " Base Price "), which includes the applicable early tender payment of US$50.00 per US$1,000 principal amount of Notes (the " Early Tender Payment ") as well as the Consent Payment, and (ii) the applicable Clearing Price (as defined herein) determined separately for each series of Notes pursuant to a modified "Dutch Auction." Holders validly tendering their Notes after the applicable Early Tender/Consent Deadline and at or prior to the applicable Expiration Time and accepted for purchase by MEXCAT will be eligible to receive only the applicable Early Tender Consideration minus the applicable Early Tender Payment and Consent Payment (the " Late Tender Consideration "). In addition to the applicable Early Tender Consideration or the applicable Late Tender Consideration, as the case may be, holders whose Notes are accepted for purchase pursuant to the Tender Offers will also receive accrued and unpaid interest from the last interest payment date applicable to their Notes to, but not including, the applicable Payment Date plus additional amounts in respect of accrued interest (such unpaid interest, together with additional amounts thereon, together referred to as " Accrued Interest ").

If Holders elect to participate in the Tender Offers at or prior to the applicable Early Tender/Consent Deadline, and if holders wish to have their Notes purchased only at a specified price or better (a "competitive bid"), holders must specify the minimum Early Tender Consideration (a " Bid Price ") holders would be willing to receive in exchange for each US$1,000 principal amount of Notes they choose to tender in the Tender Offers. The Bid Price that is specified for each US$1,000 principal amount of Notes must be in increments of US$2.50 and may not be outside of the applicable " Acceptable Bid Price Range " set forth on the table above. If any Bid Price is not specified in a whole increment of US$2.50, such Bid Price will be rounded down to the nearest US$2.50 increment. Tenders of Notes at or prior to the applicable Early Tender/Consent Deadline at Bid Prices outside of the applicable Acceptable Bid Price Range will not be accepted for purchase, will not be used for purposes of calculating the applicable Clearing Price as described below, and will not be deemed validly delivered consents. Each Holder that wishes to receive an Early Tender Consideration equal to the applicable Base Price plus the Clearing Price as determined by the Dutch auction process and that does not wish to express a preferred price (a "non-competitive bid") need not specify a Bid Price. Non-competitive bids will be treated as if they were submitted with a Bid Price equal to the Base Price for such Notes. If holders elect to participate in the Tender Offers after the applicable Early Tender/Consent Deadline, the Bid Price set forth in the Letter of Transmittal (as defined herein) or the agent's message, as applicable, will be disregarded and holders will only be eligible to receive the applicable Late Tender Consideration and will not be eligible to receive the applicable Early Tender Payment or Consent Payment. Tenders of Notes after the applicable Early Tender/Consent Deadline (regardless of the Bid Price set forth in the Letter of Transmittal or the agent's message, as applicable) will not be used for purposes of calculating the applicable Clearing Price.

The " Clearing Price " for each series of Notes will be determined at the applicable Early Tender/Consent Deadline by consideration of the " Bid Differentials " (i.e., the amount by which each Bid Price exceeds the applicable Base Price) of Notes of each series validly tendered at or prior to such Early Tender/Consent Deadline and not validly withdrawn in order of lowest to highest Bid Differentials (e.g., a Bid Differential of US$2.50 is lower than a Bid Differential of US$5.00). The clearing price will be determined separately for each series of Notes, and in each case will be (i) the single lowest price for all valid tenders of Notes of such series such that, for all Notes of such series validly tendered at or prior to the applicable Early Tender/Consent Deadline whose Bid Price results in a Bid Differential equal to or less than this single lowest price, MEXCAT will be able to spend all or as close as possible to all of the applicable " Tender Cap " for such series set forth on the table above, after taking into account the Consent Payments in respect of all consents delivered by holders participating in the Consent Solicitation only, and the aggregate principal amount of Notes of such series validly tendered, the applicable Early Tender Consideration and the proration described herein; or (ii) in the event that the purchase of all Notes of such series validly tendered at or prior to the applicable Early Tender/Consent Deadline would result in MEXCAT spending less than the applicable Tender Cap for such series, after taking into account the Consent Payments in respect of all consents delivered by holders participating in the Consent Solicitation only, the clearing price for such series of Notes will be equal to the highest Bid Differential with respect to any Notes of such series that are validly tendered at or prior to the applicable Early Tender/Consent Deadline.

If a Tender Offer with respect to Notes of a series is oversubscribed at or prior to the applicable Early Tender/Consent Deadline, MEXCAT will not accept for purchase any Notes of such series tendered after the applicable Early Tender/Consent Deadline and MEXCAT will, subject to the terms and conditions of the Tender Offers, accept for purchase Notes of such series tendered at or prior to the applicable Early Tender/Consent Deadline as follows: (i) first, MEXCAT will accept for purchase all Notes of such series validly tendered at or prior to the applicable Early Tender/Consent Deadline with a Bid Price that results in a Bid Differential less than the applicable Clearing Price for such series; and (ii) second, MEXCAT will accept for purchase all Notes of a series validly tendered at or prior to the applicable Early Tender/Consent Deadline with a Bid Price that results in a Bid Differential equal to the applicable Clearing Price on a prorated basis, using a proration factor for each series of Notes such that MEXCAT will not accept for purchase Notes of a series for a " Purchase Price Per Series " (i.e., the total amount that holders are entitled to receive for Notes of a series validly tendered in the applicable Tender Offer, including consents validly delivered pursuant to the applicable Consent Solicitation) in excess of the applicable Tender Cap for such series.

If a Tender Offer with respect to Notes of a series is not oversubscribed at or prior to the applicable Early Tender/Consent Deadline, but is oversubscribed at or prior to the applicable Expiration Time, MEXCAT will, subject to the terms and conditions of the Tender Offers, including satisfaction of the Maximum Expenditure Condition, accept for purchase on the applicable Expiration Time, the Notes of such series tendered after the Early Tender/Consent Deadline on a prorated basis, using a proration factor for each series of Notes such that MEXCAT will not accept for purchase Notes of a series for a Purchase Price per Series in excess of the applicable Tender Cap for such series.

MEXCAT may, in its sole discretion and subject to applicable law, increase any of the Tender Caps without extending the applicable Withdrawal Deadline or otherwise reinstating withdrawal rights unless MEXCAT determines that the increase represents a material change to tendering holders.

If any Notes are purchased in the Tender Offers, Notes tendered with a Bid Differential equal to or less than the applicable Clearing Price for each series at or prior to the applicable Early Tender/Consent Deadline will be accepted for purchase in priority to Notes tendered after the applicable Early Tender/Consent Deadline and at or prior to the applicable Expiration Time. Accordingly, if the applicable Tender Cap for a series of Notes is reached in respect of tenders made at or prior to the applicable Early Tender/Consent Deadline, no Notes of such series tendered after the applicable Early Tender/Consent Deadline will be accepted for purchase.

MEXCAT may, but is under no obligation, at any point following the applicable Early Tender/Consent Deadline and before the applicable Expiration Time to accept for purchase any Notes of a series validly tendered and not subsequently validly withdrawn at or prior to the applicable Early Tender/Consent Deadline, provided that all conditions of the Tender Offers have been satisfied or, where applicable, waived by us. Notes of a series accepted for purchase and consents validly delivered (and not validly revoked) will be settled thereafter on the early payment date. MEXCAT may settle all Notes of a series not previously settled on the early payment date, if any, and MEXCAT expects such date to be promptly following the applicable Expiration Time (this date and the early payment date, a " Payment Date ").

The terms and conditions of the Offers are described in MEXCAT's Offer to Purchase and Consent Solicitation Statement (the " Statement ") and related Letter of Transmittal and Consent (the " Letter of Transmittal "), in each case dated today, which set forth the complete terms of the Offers.

Each Tender Offer and each Consent Solicitation is independent of the other Tender Offers and Consent Solicitations, respectively, and MEXCAT may, subject to applicable law, modify or terminate any Tender Offer or Consent Solicitation without modifying or terminating the other Tender Offers or Consent Solicitations, respectively. The consummation of the Consent Solicitations is not conditioned on the consummation of the Tender Offers. The Tender Offers are independent of the Consent Solicitations, and MEXCAT may, subject to applicable law, modify or terminate the Tender Offers without modifying or terminating the Consent Solicitations; provided that holders that have tendered Notes pursuant to the Tender Offers that wish to participate in the Consent Solicitation only after MEXCAT has terminated the related Tender Offer must withdraw their consents and submit a new instruction.

Notes of a series may be tendered and consents may be delivered only in principal amounts equal to minimum denominations of US$200,000 and integral multiples of US$1,000 in excess thereof. Holders who do not tender all of their Notes must ensure that they retain a principal amount of Notes amounting to at least the minimum denomination equal to US$200,000 and integral multiples of US$1,000 in excess thereof.

MEXCAT has engaged Citigroup Global Markets Inc., HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC to act as dealer managers for the Tender Offers and as solicitation agents for the Consent Solicitations (the " Dealer Managers "). Global Bondholder Services Corporation is acting as the depositary and information agent for the Offers. Any questions or requests for assistance regarding the Offers may be directed to Citigroup Global Markets Inc. at +1 (800) 558-3745 (toll free) and +1 (212) 723-6106 (collect), HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. at +1 (888) HSBC-4LM (toll free) and +1 (212) 525-5552 (collect) and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC at +1 (866) 846-2874 (toll free) and +1 (212) 834-7316 (collect). Requests for additional copies of the Statement, the Letter of Transmittal and related documents may be directed to Global Bondholder Services Corporation at +1 (212) 430-3774 (Banks and Brokers) and +1 (866) 470-4500 (Toll-free).

The Offers are not being made to holders of Notes in any jurisdiction in which MEXCAT is aware that the making of the Offers would not be in compliance with the laws of such jurisdiction. In any jurisdiction in which the securities laws or blue sky laws require the Offers to be made by a licensed broker or dealer, the respective Offers will be deemed to be made on MEXCAT's behalf by the Dealer Managers or one or more registered brokers or dealers that are licensed under the laws of such jurisdiction.

THIS PRESS RELEASE IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT AN OFFER TO PURCHASE, A SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO PURCHASE OR A SOLICITATION OF CONSENT WITH RESPECT TO ANY SECURITIES. THE OFFERS ARE BEING MADE SOLELY PURSUANT TO THE STATEMENT AND RELATED LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL, WHICH SET FORTH THE COMPLETE TERMS OF THE OFFERS WHICH HOLDERS OF THE NOTES SHOULD CAREFULLY READ PRIOR TO MAKING ANY DECISION.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are information of a non-historical nature or which relate to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties. No assurance can be given that the transactions described herein will be consummated or as to the ultimate terms of any such transactions. MEXCAT undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information or future events or for any other reason.

SOURCE Mexico City Airport TrustST. LOUIS, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Fenton-based Mid America Logistics, one of the fastest growing technology-enabled logistics companies in North America, is teaming up with Wise F&I, one of the nation's largest providers of automotive asset protection services, to give much-needed support to those affected by the California wildfires. They will be collecting donations from Friday, Dec. 7 through Sunday, Dec. 9.

Mid America Frieght Logistics, LLC

Both companies invite those in the Greater St. Louis region and the Metro East to donate non-perishable food, non-alcoholic beverages, dry goods, and healthcare products to provide relief for the wildfire survivors. Mid America Logistics and Wise F&I aim to deliver a minimum of two truckloads of these goods to the affected areas of Northern California.

In addition, Mid America Logistics and Wise F&I will be donating one cent per mile for every shipment driven by Mid America Logistics during the week of Dec. 7. The monetary donations will be given to a charity selected by the employees of both organizations to provide desperately needed basic supplies and medical care for survivors. Mid America Logistics will also offer free transportation for any existing client if they donate 12 pallets or more of donations toward the relief efforts.

"Leading an organization that has a large network serving California, it is our duty to support the region in this time of need," said Mark Kummer, president of Mid America Logistics. "We appreciate everyone's support and efforts, and we also want to thank the first responders and volunteers who have worked onsite to rescue people from the fires and provide aid to those in need."

"Our company has a large dealer and agent base in California," said Matt Croak, president and CEO of Wise F&I. "This event has had direct impacts to Wise F&I stakeholders. There are many ties between businesses in the St. Louis area and California. It is a privilege to extend our Midwestern values and generosity by providing an opportunity for the entire region to chip in and help wildfire victims in their time of need."

Mid America Logistics' trailers are slated to depart St. Louis on Tuesday, Dec. 11 and arrive at the affected areas appointed by the two companies by the following weekend.

Those within the Gateway Region willing to donate can drop off supplies at Mid America Logistics and Wise F&I's corporate offices at 900 South Highway Drive on the eastbound side of Interstate 44 in Fenton. Donors should look for a Mid America Logistics trailer and team members from both organizations when bringing in their donations. Personnel will be on site from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 7, Saturday, Dec. 8, and Sunday, Dec. 9. All donations should be sealed goods.

About Mid America Logistics

Mid America Logistics is the fastest-growing transportation firm based in the Gateway Region. With offices in St. Louis, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Jacksonville, Phoenix, Northwest Arkansas, and Guadalajara, Mexico, Mid America has made its mark in the fields of trucking, logistics, and technology. Employing more than 120 employees across six states, the company offers full truckload, less-than-truckload, and transportation technology services to clients in the food production, retail, CPG, industrial, and agricultural industries. The company was recently recognized as a Top Workplace by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the Gateway region by the St. Louis Business Journal.

About Wise F&I

Wise F&I has a long history of success in the automotive finance and insurance space, initially specializing in Guaranteed Asset Protection (GAP). The company expanded over the years to now include a full array of F&I products including tire and wheel protection, appearance care service contracts, theft deterrent systems, vehicle service contracts, key replacement, and other voluntary protection products for auto, RV, powersport, and marine. Wise F&I branded products are marketed through independent agents to automotive dealers. Additionally, Wise F&I supports private label programs and strategic partnerships with automotive lenders, OEMs, and finance companies on both a national and regional basis. All products are fully compliant and underwritten by an A-rated or better insurance carrier.

With more than 30 years in the industry, Wise F&I's experience allows the delivery of complete contract origination solutions supported by efficient and accurate claims and cancellation processing. With a focus on building partnerships and a priority on customer service, Wise F&I is the F&I provider of choice.

For more information, please contact Jamie Leone at Mid America Logistics at (314) 550-1992 or visit their website at www.midamlogistics.com.

Media Contact:

Tina Tebbe

[email protected]

Think Tank PR & Marketing

727 North 1st Street, Suite 340

St. Louis, MO 63102

(314) 621-8265, ext. 104

www.thinktankprm.com

Related Images

miles-for-california-banner.jpg

Miles for California Banner

mid-america-logistics-wise-f-i.jpg

Mid America Logistics & Wise F&I Corporate Offices

SOURCE Mid America Frieght Logistics, LLC

Related Links

http://www.midamlogistics.com

IRVINE, Calif., Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Netwrix Corporation, provider of a visibility platform for data security and risk mitigation in hybrid environments, announced today the acquisition of Concept Searching, a global leader in semantic metadata generation, auto-classification and taxonomy management software.

After a year of successful technology partnership, Netwrix acquired Concept Searching to enhance customers' contextual awareness into sensitive structured and unstructured data, both on premises and in the cloud. This investment firmly positions Netwrix in the data-centric audit and protection market and offers organizations seeking solutions a real alternative  one with lower TCO, shorter time to value and significantly lower false positive rates. Together, Netwrix and Concept Searching deliver an integrated solution that will help organizations detect and mitigate data security threats in time to prevent real damage and slash compliance costs. Concept Searching will continue to support its existing customers and solutions.

Gartner advises end-user organizations to "identify the data security controls required to mitigate the risks and threats to each sensitive data type. Then, coordinate with each silo's management team and data owners to apply the controls consistently across all silos and applications."1

"The acquisition of Concept Searching is a natural next step for our organization, enabling us to provide our customers with the ability to discover the sensitive data in their environment, and understand who has access to it and who is actually accessing it," said Steve Dickson, CEO of Netwrix.

"We are excited to join the Netwrix team and bring our expertise and technology to help address the increasingly critical cybersecurity requirements of organizations worldwide. Our flexible metadata framework will continue to resolve a wide range of issues in the management of unstructured content for new and existing clients. The ability to integrate this unique technology with Netwrix's leading offering will enable us to deliver an unrivaled solution to our clients and partners as we expand our leadership into the data-centric audit and protection market," said Martin Garland, President of Concept Searching.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

For more information on the acquisition, visit our FAQ page here: https://www.netwrix.com/faq_concept_searching.html

For more information on Netwrix Auditor Discovery and Classification, visit our new release page here: https://www.netwrix.com/data_discovery_and_classification.html

1 Gartner, Market Insight: The Future of Data Security, October 2017, refreshed December 2018

About Netwrix Corporation

Netwrix Corporation is a software company focused exclusively on providing IT security and operations teams with pervasive visibility into user behavior, system configurations and data sensitivity across hybrid IT infrastructures to protect data regardless of its location. Over 10,000 organizations worldwide rely on Netwrix to detect and proactively mitigate data security threats, pass compliance audits with less effort and expense, and increase the productivity of their IT teams.

Founded in 2006, Netwrix has earned more than 140 industry awards and been named to both the Inc. 5000 and Deloitte Technology Fast 500 lists of the fastest growing companies in the U.S. For more information, visit www.netwrix.com.

About Concept Searching

Concept Searching is the industry leader in semantic metadata generation, auto-classification, and taxonomy management. It has a Microsoft Gold Application Development competency and offers a complete suite of platform-agnostic content analytics, insight and discovery solutions that address the entire portfolio of unstructured information assets in on-premises, cloud or hybrid environments. The intelligent, metadata-enabled solutions improve search, records management, identification and protection of sensitive data, content optimization, migration, text mining, and eDiscovery. Concept Searching is headquartered in the U.S. with offices in the UK, Canada and South Africa.

For more information about Concept Searching's solutions and technologies, visit www.conceptsearching.com.

Contact

Erin Jones

Avista PR for Netwrix

P: 704.664.2170

E: [email protected]

SOURCE Netwrix Corporation

Related Links

http://www.netwrix.com

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Reflecting a growing global demand for industrial robots, NXT Robotics, an emerging security robotics firm, has announced an on-site service partnership with Ricoh USA Inc. This partnership leverages the RICOH Service Advantage program and utilizes Ricoh's vast global network of repair and service specialists.

RICOH Service Advantage offers businesses access to Ricoh's global network of highly skilled and certified services employees. It empowers businesses to work smarter by capitalizing on business growth opportunities, driving new revenues and profits, and delivering consistent customer experiences by providing these qualified resources as an extension of customers' operations teams.

With NXT, Service Advantage will bring the highest levels of expertise for its AI-driven software operating systems that keep the robots operating at full capacity at outsource locales throughout the United States.

"As we add more security robots to our fleet and accelerate the rollout of our Cognitive Robotics Platform to customers," said NXT Robotics CEO/Co-founder Darin Andersen, "our partnership with Ricoh allows us to provide service on a round-the-clock basis throughout the globe, expanding our footprint and business."

Added Andersen: "Now, whenever we have an urgent need for on-site repairs, service and/or replacement parts, we're able to quickly deploy a select team from Ricoh's exceptional corps of more than 17,000 experts, helping ensure our customers deliver the uptime required to meet their clients' needs."

According to Dale Walsh, Director of Innovation for Ricoh Service Advantage, "We're committed to helping companies like NXT address their customers' needs, by providing the highest level of service on their robots and helping ensure that their customers realize maximum uptime for their technology investment."

Walsh also stated: "As a startup with early success, NXT has impressed our team with its leadership and pioneering vision, especially valued traits in this exceptionally fast-growing and uncharted technology."

In August 2018, NXT announced a working partnership to provide on-site security robots and software technology to Ace Parking, a San Diego-based parking services firm with a network of nation-wide clients including major structures, stadiums and casinos.

About NXT Robotics: NXT Robotics is a San Diego, CA-based company that provides computer software for its Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs), commonly known as robots, to support increased security monitoring and alerting requirements. Founded in 2014, the company's unique autonomous platforms deliver security-related services while meeting performance and cost expectations for indoor and outdoor applications.

About Ricoh: Ricoh is empowering digital workplaces using innovative technologies and services enabling individuals to work smarter. For more than 80 years, Ricoh has been driving innovation and is a leading provider of document management solutions, IT services, commercial and industrial printing, digital cameras, and industrial systems. Headquartered in Tokyo, Ricoh Group operates in approximately 200 countries and regions. In the financial year ended March 2018, Ricoh Group had worldwide sales of nearly $20 billion.

Contact: NXT Robotics

Darin Andersen, CEO/Co-founder

NXT Robotics Corp

1855 First Avenue, Suite 102

San Diego, CA 92101

c) 619-341-4086

www.nxtrobotics.com

Contact: Media/PR

John Freeman

Point PR Communications

c) 619-274-2779

[email protected]

SOURCE NXT Robotics"We are very proud to flourish as a Best Place to Work in Virginia," says Paul Pagnato, Founder and CEO at PagnatoKarp. "This award truly reflects our unwavering commitment to True Fiduciary transparency, our relentless focus on value-added innovation and the positive impact we strive to bring to families and the community."

In addition to being a BPTW, PagnatoKarp was crowned 'Best Multi-Family Office (New Entrant)' at the 2018 Family Wealth Report Awards and is shortlisted for a 2019 Best Multi-Family Office award. Paul Pagnato is ranked #16 on Barron's Top Independent Financial Advisors, #3 in Virginia on Barron's Top 1,200 Financial Advisors: State-by-State and #2 in Virginia on Forbes Best-In-State Wealth Advisors. Pagnato is also ranked the #1 Social Media Savvy Barron's Advisor. 

Best Places to Work in Virginia is a survey and awards program dedicated to identifying and recognizing the state's 100 best employers. Eligible companies fulfill these requirements: for-profit, not-for-profit business or government entity; publicly or privately held business; facility in Virginia; at least 15 employees working in Virginia; and minimum 1 year in business. There is a two-part survey process worth 25%/75% respectively. Part one examines workplace policies, practices, benefits and demographics and part two surveys employee engagement and satisfaction, with combined scores determining the top companies and final rankings. Best Companies Group manages the overall registration, evaluation and selection process.

Rankings will be announced at an awards luncheon on February 1, 2019 at the Boar's Head Inn in Charlottesville, VA.

For more information on the Best Places to Work in Virginia program, visit BestPlacesToWorkVA.com.

About PagnatoKarp

At PagnatoKarp, our Wealth Management Experience helps streamline your life through high touch sophistication, high tech innovation and True Fiduciary transparency. Your interests are placed first through Core Experiences that fuse investments, planning, tax, legal, banking, trust, family and concierge. With over $3.8 billion assets under advisement (as of 9/30/18), PagnatoKarp is ranked on top financial advisor lists by Barron's and Forbes and is a Virginia Best Places to Work. AUA; Award Disclosures. Visit www.pagnatokarp.com or 703-468-2700.

Media Contact:

Cathy Rieder

703-468-2733

[email protected]

SOURCE PagnatoKarp

Related Links

http://www.pagnatokarp.com

NEW YORK and MIAMI, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Parkinson's Foundation will host its first-ever conference focused on medical marijuana and Parkinson's disease (PD) in Denver, CO, March 6-7, 2019.

"The Parkinson's Foundation is bringing together experts from across the globe to discuss the implications and recommendations of medical marijuana use for people with Parkinson's," said James Beck, PhD, chief scientific officer of the Parkinson's Foundation. "Now that medical marijuana is legal in 33 states and in many other countries, people are equating access to efficacy. It is imperative that we address the clinical implications of medical marijuana use among people with PD."

The goal of the conference is to bring together a diverse group of experts from academia, clinics, industry, government and the Parkinson's community to establish a consensus on medical marijuana use in PD. The conference will address the potential benefits and risks of medical marijuana for people with PD, potential delivery methods, safety considerations, approval as a therapeutic for PD patients, and areas for more rigorous clinical research.

"Having worked as a clinician for the past decade in Colorado, a state at the forefront of medical marijuana use, it is clear that people with PD and their families are intensely interested in the potential of marijuana and cannabinoids in helping manage symptoms and other aspects of their disease," said Benzi Kluger, MD, MS, associate professor of University of Colorado Hospital and co-chair of the conference. "To date, there is more hype than actual data to provide meaningful clinical information to patients with PD. There is a critical need to analyze existing data on medical marijuana and to set priorities for future research."

Recent results from a survey conducted by the Parkinson's Foundation and Northwestern University, a Parkinson's Foundation Center of Excellence, found that:

80% of patients with PD have used cannabis

23% of doctors received formal education on medical marijuana

95% of neurologists have been asked to prescribe medical marijuana

People with PD and their physicians are looking to answer whether medical marijuana can help manage PD symptoms. Few clinical studies have enrolled people with PD to investigate the effects of medical marijuana on PD symptoms. There is currently no conclusive scientific research supporting the benefits of medical marijuana for PD, however, anecdotal evidence suggests that it may help manage Parkinson's symptoms such as pain, sleep, appetite, nausea and anxiety.

"In order to move the field forward, we need to determine which cannabinoids are likely to be beneficial or harmful, whether people with PD are at risk from side effects, what we are hoping to treat, and how to conduct informative clinical trials," said A. Jon Stoessl, MD, co-director of the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health at the University of British Columbia, and co-chair of the conference.

The conference is invitation-only. In addition to Parkinson's specialists, select Parkinson's advocates living with PD will be invited to provide their perspective. The Foundation will publish suggested practices and areas for further research following the conference.

For more information on medical marijuana and PD, call our Helpline, 1-800-4PD-INFO (473-4636) or visit Parkinson.org/Marijuana.

About the Parkinson's Foundation

The Parkinson's Foundation makes life better for people with Parkinson's disease by improving care and advancing research toward a cure. In everything we do, we build on the energy, experience and passion of our global Parkinson's community. For more information, visit www.parkinson.org or call (800) 4PD-INFO (473-4636).

About Parkinson's Disease

Affecting nearly one million Americans and 10 million worldwide, Parkinson's disease is the second-most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's and is the 14th-leading cause of death in the United States. It is associated with a progressive loss of motor control (e.g., shaking or tremor at rest and lack of facial expression), as well as non-motor symptoms (e.g., depression and anxiety). There is no cure for Parkinson's and 60,000 new cases are diagnosed each year in the United States alone.

SOURCE Parkinson's Foundation

Related Links

http://www.parkinson.org

PHOENIX, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Highlighting its nationally recognized achievements in patient safety and quality, Phoenix Children's Hospital was named a Top Children's Hospital by The Leapfrog Group for the fourth time. Announced today, the Leapfrog Top Hospital award is widely acknowledged as one of the most competitive honors American hospitals can receive. The Top Hospital designation is awarded by The Leapfrog Group, an independent hospital watchdog organization.

The Top Hospital Award comes following the hospital's "A" Hospital Safety Grade, also from The Leapfrog Group.

"Arizona's children deserve consistent, excellent, high-quality care and patient safety," said Bob Meyer, president and CEO of Phoenix Children's Hospital. "Receiving the Leapfrog award for the fourth time underscores the exceptional standards our staff strive to meet each day. We continue to reexamine our quality improvement processes and patient experience and never settle for the status quo."

Among thousands of hospitals in the country, Phoenix Children's received a Top Children's Hospital distinction, recognized nationally alongside:

13 Top Children's Hospitals

35 Top General Hospitals

17 Top Rural Hospitals

53 Top Teaching Hospitals

Performance across many areas of hospital care is considered in establishing the qualifications for the award, including infection rates and the hospital's capacity to prevent medication errors. The rigorous standards are defined in each year's Top Hospital Methodology.

"Being acknowledged as a Top Hospital is an incredible feat achieved by less than six percent of eligible hospitals nationwide," said Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group. "With this honor, Phoenix Children's has established its commitment to safer and higher quality care. Providing this level of care to patients in Phoenix requires motivation and drive from every team member. I congratulate the board, staff and clinicians, whose efforts made this honor possible."

To qualify for the Top Hospitals distinction, hospitals must submit a Leapfrog Hospital Survey and achieve highest performance in its category. The selection of Top Hospitals 2018 is based on surveys from nearly 1,900 hospitals. To see the full list of institutions honored as 2018 Top Hospitals, visit www.leapfroggroup.org/tophospitals.

About The Leapfrog Group

Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps forward in the quality and safety of American health care. The flagship Leapfrog Hospital Survey collects and transparently reports hospital performance, empowering purchasers to find the highest-value care and giving consumers the lifesaving information they need to make informed decisions. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, Leapfrog's other main initiative, assigns letter grades to hospitals based on their record of patient safety, helping consumers protect themselves and their families from errors, injuries, accidents, and infections.

About Phoenix Children's Hospital

Phoenix Children's Hospital is Arizona's only children's hospital recognized by U.S. News & World Report's Best Children's Hospitals. For 35 years, Phoenix Children's has provided world-class inpatient, outpatient, trauma, emergency and urgent care to children and families in Arizona and throughout the Southwest. As one of the largest children's hospitals in the country, Phoenix Children's delivers care across more than 75 pediatric specialties. Recognized specifically for its patient-focused innovation, medical education, growth and research, Phoenix Children's was named Business of the Year and Exceptional Innovator by the Greater Phoenix Chamber in 2018. For more information about the hospital, visit http://www.phoenixchildrens.org.

SOURCE Phoenix Childrens Hospital

Related Links

http://www.phoenixchildrens.org

FREDERICKSBURG, Va., Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Quarles Petroleum, Inc., a regional provider of residential and commercial fuel headquartered in Fredericksburg, Virginia, has signed a purchase agreement to acquire Revere Gas, a third generation, family-owned retail propane gas distributor based in Hartfield, Virginia. The purchase is expected to close by the end of the year.

"The Revere Gas delivery area complements our existing delivery territory in central Virginia and expands our presence in eastern Virginia," commented Paul Giambra, CEO of Quarles Petroleum. "As family-owned businesses our companies share the same core values of providing superior service to our customers and giving back to the communities we serve. We look forward to welcoming Revere customers to Quarles, and pledge to deliver the same high caliber of customer service they've come to expect."

One of the largest retail propane distributors in the state of Virginia, Revere Gas was established in 1942 by H.L. Revere to meet the increased demand for locally provided, clean energy. Today, Revere serves over 25,000 residential, commercial, agricultural, industrial and governmental customers from field offices in Burgess, Fredericksburg, Gloucester, Hartfield, Oilville/Richmond, Providence Forge, Warsaw and Williamsburg and a rail terminal in West Point, Virginia.

"Our customers and team members will be in great hands," said Carlton Revere, the president and CEO of Revere Gas. "We have been blessed as our business has grown and thrived over three generations based on providing our customers great service at a competitive price. I am pleased that we are able to transition our customers to a company that shares our values and commitment." The Revere family will retain ownership of their Hartfield headquarters building to support their other family business ventures.

About Quarles Petroleum, Inc.

Established in 1940 as a one-truck oil company in Warrenton, Virginia, Quarles Petroleum is a regional provider of residential propane and oil, commercial delivered fuels, fleet card sites and services, and lubricants. The family-owned firm headquartered in Fredericksburg serves customers in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. Quarles strives to provide superior customer service and competitive prices every day. Quarles continues to seek the right opportunities to accelerate their growth through strategic acquisitions. From more information about Quarles Petroleum, please visit quarlesinc.com.

Contact: Susan Morgan, 804-405-5685, [email protected]

SOURCE Quarles Petroleum, Inc.

Related Links

http://quarlesinc.com

RICHMOND, Va., Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- At first glance, a recent Virginia Supreme Court decision that the owner and management company of a beach house weren't responsible for a short-term renter's slip-and-fall appears to be a win for landlords and community associations who rent out units and common areas for brief periods, notes Brett Herbert, an associate in national law firm LeClairRyan's Richmond and Williamsburg offices. "But in the era of Airbnb  where more than 2 million people a night reportedly book accommodations on that platform alone  the legal landscape surrounding short-term rentals is rapidly changing. This adds to the unique legal challenges community associations and their owners face with short-term rentals," he warns.

Brett Herbert

The case of Haynes-Garrett v. Dunn (Record No. 171055) involved a unique set of facts  a beach house, non-resident owners, and a management company. However, the legal principles set forth potentially apply in other short-term rental tort lawsuits with different scenarios, Herbert wrote in a post, Tort Liability and Short-Term Rentals: What Owners and Community Associations Should Know, which appears in the firm's Virginia Community Association Law blog.

The facts in the case are relatively straightforward, according to Herbert, who is a member of the firm's Community Associations (HOA, Condo & Development) Team. June Haynes-Garrett, the renter, sued beach house owners Drew and Cynthia Dunn and management company Sandbridge Properties, Inc., d/b/a Siebert Realty, after she tripped over a transition strip, or "lip," between the residence's carpeted floor and the raised ceramic tiling in a hallway.

The Dunns asserted that as landlords, in the absence of fraud or concealment, they owed no duty of care to maintain or repair the premises. Further, they argued there was no duty to warn of a dangerous condition on the premises that was open and obvious or discoverable by Haynes-Garrett upon making a reasonable inspection. The management company asserted that it was not a landlord, had no relationship with Haynes-Garrett, and owed no duty of care to her with regard to the condition of the property.

The plaintiff argued that that the Dunns owed her the higher standard of duty that an innkeeper owes its guest, and the management company owed "a duty to the people who come within its sphere of conduct" and also a duty of care as part of a "joint endeavor" with the Dunns, according to the filing.

The circuit court granted the defendants' motion to strike on the grounds they argued, and entered judgment in their favor. On appeal  which dropped the management company from the case  the Supreme Court upheld the lower court ruling, noting that the distinction between the landlord-tenant relationship and the higher duty of care required under an innkeeper-guest relationship "is based upon the extent to which the owner of the premises maintains possession of and control over the premises during its occupancy."

In this instance, the owners were located a considerable distance away in Northern Virginia. "Unlike a landlord, an innkeeper is in direct and continued control of the property and usually maintains a presence on the property personally or through agents," according to the Supreme Court.

Although the Supreme Court ultimately held that the lesser "landlord" duties applied in this scenario, "it is easy to imagine a situation where in other short-term rentals situations, the higher 'innkeeper' duties would apply," Herbert cautions. "Specifically, the higher 'innkeeper' duties may apply if an owner is renting out a room and remains on site; if the owner offers to provide food or daily cleaning services to the guest, or if the owner comes by the premises to check in on occasion."

Additionally, given the potential of accidents occurring on the common element or common area of a multifamily development, "if an owner fails to maintain adequate insurance coverage, community associations may find themselves being sued as well by guests claiming injuries. Community associations ought to consult with their legal counsel and other professionals to analyze their risks, develop strategies to minimize such risks, and potentially consider modifying their governing documents and insurance coverages," Herbert advises.

About LeClairRyan

As a trusted advisor, LeClairRyan provides business counsel and client representation in corporate law and litigation. In this role, the firm applies its knowledge, insight and skill to help clients achieve their business objectives while managing and minimizing their legal risks, difficulties and expenses. With offices from coast to coast, the firm represents a wide variety of clients nationwide. For more information about LeClairRyan, visit www.leclairryan.com.

Press Contacts : At Parness & Associates Public Relations, Bill Parness, (732) 290-0121, [email protected] or Lisa Kreda, [email protected]

SOURCE LeClairRyan

Related Links

http://www.leclairryan.com

MIAMI, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL) today announced the appointment of Stephen R. Howe Jr., retired U.S. Chairman and Managing Partner, Ernst & Young LLP, to its Board of Directors. His appointment is effective as of December 4.

"It is my pleasure to welcome Mr. Howe to our board of directors," said Richard D. Fain, Chairman and CEO, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. "His 35 years of involvement in professional services, as well as his experience on diversity and inclusion, will be a valuable addition to the board."

Mr. Howe served as Ernst & Young's U.S. Chairman and Managing Partner and Americas Area Managing Partner and was a member of EY's Global Executive Board from 2006 until his retirement in December 2018. While leading EY in the U.S. and the Americas, he was the executive sponsor for the firm's focus on diversity and inclusiveness. Prior to 2006, Mr. Howe was the Managing Partner of the firm's Financial Services Office and led client service teams for a number of global financial institutions. He was with EY for over 35 years. Mr. Howe is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Carnegie Hall and the Board of the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL) is a global cruise vacation company that controls and operates four global brands: Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Azamara Club Cruises and Silversea Cruises. We are also a 50 percent joint venture owner of the German brand TUI Cruises and a 49 percent shareholder in the Spanish brand Pullmantur Cruceros. Together, these brands operate a combined total of 59 ships with an additional 17 on order as of November 30, 2018. They operate diverse itineraries around the world that call on all seven continents. Additional information can be found on www.royalcaribbean.com, www.celebritycruises.com, www.azamaraclubcruises.com, www.silversea.com, www.tuicruises.com, www.pullmantur.es, or www.rclinvestor.com.

SOURCE Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

Related Links

http://www.royalcaribbean.com

TOKYO, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Shiba Park Hotel in Tokyo announced on December 4 that it will hold an event on December 31 to celebrate the coming of the New Year, and visit Zojoji Temple. This event is designed to provide a uniquely Japanese New Year's experience for guests from overseas.



(Photo: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M104041/201811190527/_prw_PI1lg_O7wX6iOs.jpg)



Guests will gather at Japanese restaurant Hanasanshou, eat "toshikoshi-soba" (noodles eaten on New Year's Eve), and be given an introduction to Japan's New Year traditions by hotel staff. Afterward, hotel staff will escort guests to Zojoji Temple and participate in a traditional bell-ringing ceremony. Guests at Shiba Park Hotel are welcome to join the event by paying a JPY3,000 participation fee.



Shiba Park Hotel General Manager Mitsuo Watanabe said:

"The bell-ringing ceremony is a very precious experience even for Japanese people. We would like to share this uniquely Japanese New Year's tradition with our guests, and hope that we can all celebrate together a wonderful New Year."



Japanese Culture Salon SAKURA Manager Yuka Inoue said:

"This is an event we share together with our guests the moment of greeting the New Year in a uniquely Japanese style. We hope to introduce Japanese culture while enjoying the welcoming in of the New Year."



Shiba Park Hotel hopes to make guests' stay a deeply memorable one through this event.



About Shiba Park Hotel (Tokyo, Japan)



Shiba Park Hotel is a city hotel established in 1948 as a hotel for foreign trade delegations. Since then, the hotel has welcomed many guests from overseas. There are 269 guest rooms of various types, Japanese restaurant Hanasanshou, Chinese restaurant Peking, steak restaurant Old City Grill House, bar Fifteen's and Japanese Culture Salon SAKURA. Conveniently located in central Tokyo, the hotel is easily accessible to and from both Haneda and Narita airports by the Airport Limousine Bus. There are four train and subway stations within a walking distance, offering great access to Tokyo's major sightseeing spots and business districts. Shiba Park Hotel continues to welcome guests from around the world with the hope for guests to "feel relaxed as they are at home, even in the midst of a trip."



Website: https://en.shibaparkhotel.com/



SOURCE Shiba Park Hotel

Related Links

https://en.shibaparkhotel.com/

ST. LOUIS, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Just in time for World Soil Day on December 5, the Soil Health Partnership announced it is expanding a pilot project to give more farmers access to the soil health network.

As the organization launches phase 2 of its pilot Associate Program, it will invite 75 farmers to enroll in 2019. This will enable more farmers to join SHP in its mission of using science and data to support farmers in adopting agricultural practices that improve the economic and environmental sustainability of the farm.

The economic component of soil health has taken on an increasing level of urgency during a difficult farm economy, said Shefali Mehta, executive director of the Soil Health Partnership.

"We've seen increasing demand from farmers who would like to join our network," Mehta said. "Expanding the pilot phase of our Associate Program provides a great number of farmers with access to a scientific platform to evaluate soil health as part of a comprehensive management strategy."

Joining the Associate Program during the pilot phase will give farmers access to no-cost soil health sampling and results. The program will provide data insights and reports on how making a change, like growing cover crops, impacts their soil.

"I strongly believe sustainability has to apply to farm economics, as well as the environment, and we're seeing that economic need become increasingly critical," Mehta said.

After enrolling 25 farms in the pilot program in 2018, phase 2 will bring the number of associate sites to 100. The SHP plans a full-scale launch of the Associate Program for 2020, when even more farmers can join.

A less-intensive version of the SHP's 115 Full Partner sites enrolled in the long-term data project, Associate Program farmers will commit to a 2-year project enrollment. Yearly soil health testing will measure key metrics. Enrolled farmers will choose between the following three treatment options:

Cover crop vs. no cover crop

Tillage vs. less intrusive tillage, or no-till

Nutrient management (comparison of different nutrient sources)

The program will also help SHP include more cropping systems and geographies, as well as strengthen the breadth and depth of data, Mehta said.

Farmers interested in learning more can visit the Soil Health Partnership website.

An initiative of the National Corn Growers Association, the SHP is an innovative long-term research effort that aims to show U.S. farmers how sustainability through soil health can also lead to increased profitability. There are 140 farms enrolled in the program in 14 states, including the 25 pilot sites from phase 1 of the Associate Program. It is the largest farmer-led soil health research project of its kind.

World Soil Day was established by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to celebrate one of our most vital resources. Soil is essential for filtering pollutants from our water, storing carbon, and providing the foundation for an estimated 95 percent of the world's food supply.

About the Soil Health Partnership

The Soil Health Partnership is a farmer-led initiative that fosters transformation in agriculture through improved soil health, benefiting both farmer profitability and the environment. With more than 140 working farms enrolled in 14 states, the SHP tests, measures and advances progressive farm management practices that will enhance sustainability and farm economics for generations to come. SHP brings together broad and diverse partners to work towards common goals. Administered by the National Corn Growers Association, the SHP's vision is driven by initial and continuing funding and guidance from NCGA, Bayer, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, The General Mills Foundation, Midwest Row Crop Collaborative, National Wheat Foundation, Natural Resources Conservation Service, The Nature Conservancy, the Pisces Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation. For more, visit SoilHealthPartnership.org.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Jenna Rose

[email protected]

(573) 808-0815

SOURCE Soil Health Partnership

Related Links

http://www.soilhealthpartnership.org

ATLANTA, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Streaming Global continues growing with a significant hire. The company is announcing the appointment of Richard Oesterreicher as its new chief executive officer.

Richard Oesterreicher, CEO of Streaming Global

Richard brings 30 years' experience building technology businesses with world class teams focused on innovation in 3D computer graphics, digital media streaming, and Internet scalability. His experience includes technology design, team building, and management at Microsoft, Softimage, and as an Entrepreneur-In-Residence (EIR) at Intellectual Ventures. Joining Microsoft in the early 90s, he was part of the Advanced Consumer Technologies Group and became the founding Group Development Manager for Microsoft's Digital Media Group. He has led both software and hardware development companies. His hardware company created a new type of computer designed specifically to be the fastest digital media streaming server on the planet. Richard is a serial entrepreneur and accomplished inventor with 11 patents issued by the USPTO (and four patents pending).

"We are thrilled to have Richard step into the CEO role," stated Zunair Ukani, VP of Finance and Operations for Streaming Global. "With his experience in this industry and the potential of our technology, the sky is the limit on what can be accomplished."

Previously, Richard mentored the Streaming Global team and contributed as a Technology Architect. He developed Streaming Global's patent-pending streaming technology. With Richard as CEO, Streaming Global affirms its mission of revolutionizing the way streaming video is delivered.

Richard adds, "Our innovative technology, a live video delivery network, completely changes the economics of delivering live and OTT streaming content to televisions and mobile devices, while improving scalability and significantly reducing live latency. I'm excited to share our technology with streaming content providers seeking a business advantage."

About Streaming Global: Streaming Global has reinvented the way live streaming is delivered making it ideal for streaming 24/7 OTT channels and live events with single and multi-stream content. The Streaming Global patent-pending technology turns any simple cloud storage server into an ultra-fast live-streaming server, without installing any additional software on the server. This enables live, OTT, social, and on-demand streaming with global scalability over existing cloud providers, such as Microsoft Azure, Amazon AWS, and private/custom clouds, with an easy pay-as-you-go model perfect for growing an OTT business.

Visit www.StreamingGlobal.com to learn more.

Streaming Global is a trademark of Streaming Global, LLC.

For more information, please contact:

Austin Schmidt

VP of Marketing

Streaming Global, LLC.

+1 (678) 374-3334 Ext. 101

[email protected]

www.StreamingGlobal.com

SOURCE Streaming Global

Related Links

http://www.StreamingGlobal.com

WAYNE, Pa., Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Columbus Organization, a nationally recognized provider of support coordination and other services for individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, today announced the completed acquisition of the support coordination assets of New Jersey's Progressive Comprehensive Services (PCS). Founded by Neeta Das in 1998, PCS has been a leader in support coordination focused on planning, resource navigation, education, support and facilitated communication for its consumers across New Jersey. This is the first acquisition by The Columbus Organization in the state of New Jersey, and expands The Columbus Organizations' services to more than 10,000 individuals and their families and guardians in six states.

The Columbus Organization's President, Jeff Klimaski stated, "We are very pleased to welcome PCS' support coordination services and talented support coordinators into The Columbus Organization. We strongly believe PCS approach, vision, and most importantly, their dedication to their consumers is consistent with those of The Columbus Organization. This alignment will allow us to quickly integrate our support coordination services, and to reach a greater number of individuals and families in need of our services."

About The Columbus Organization

The Columbus Organization empowers individuals to realize their meaningfullife goals through nationally recognized care/support coordination, professional clinical staffing, and quality improvement services for the intellectual/developmental disability (I/DD) or behavioral needs community. The Company delivers an unmatched depth of expertise, breadth of resources, diversity of thinking, and dedication to finding the most appropriate, personalized solutions for its customers. The Columbus Organization provides a wide array of services specifically for families, individuals and the organizations that support them. For more information, visit www.columbusorg.com.

Contact:

Abbott Holdsman

800-229-5116

[email protected]

SOURCE The Columbus Organization

Related Links

http://www.columbusorg.com

LONDON, Dec. 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- This market research report on the global data center cooling market offers analysis on market size & forecast, market share, industry trends, growth drivers, and vendor analysis. The market study also includes insights on segmentation by cooling infrastructure (cooling system and other infrastructure), by cooling technique (air-based cooling and liquid-based cooling), by cooling systems (CRAC & CARH, chiller, cooling towers & dry coolers, economizers & evaporative coolers, and other cooling units), and geography (America, EMEA, and APAC).





Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/5482346



Data Center Cooling Market - Overview



The growing demand for facilities development and increasing need to improve energy efficiency through a reduction in power consumption and carbon footprint is leading to the growth of the data center cooling market. The emergence of edge computing that is fostering the development of secondary datacenter markets through the adoption of modular facilities is driving the demand for cooling solutions in the global market. Hyperscale operators are focusing on the procurement of 100% renewable energy to promote sustainable development of the facility in the global market with the incorporation of energy efficient infrastructure. Regions such as the US, Canada, and Nordic are facilitating both free cooling and cheaper electricity rate to reduce power costs in the market. The adoption of energy efficient cooling infrastructure solutions helps reduce the electricity cost and enable facility operations at a PUE of less than 1.3 in the global market. Furthermore, the increased procurement of free cooling chillers, evaporative, and economization-based cooling units will transform the global market. Hyperscale construction vendors such as Apple, Facebook, Google, AWS, Microsoft, Alibaba, Baidu, OVH, and China Telecom are investing billion dollars in the development of new facilities in the market. The increase in rack power density of up to 40 kW will boost the demand for efficient infrastructure in the market. The innovations that aim to enhance the operational efficiency of the facilities, reduce power consumption, and decrease carbon emissions will help generate revenues in the global data center cooling market.



The adoption of innovative and energy efficient cooling infrastructure solutions helps to reduce the power consumption by up to 50% and operating expenditure of the facility in the global market. The increasing number of research and development projects on tropical climate datacenters and under water datacenters is expected to gain prominence in the market over the next few years. The global data center cooling market is anticipated to reach values of around $8 billion by 2023, growing at a CAGR of approximately 6% during 2017-2023. The market research report also offers market size by cooling systems during the forecast period.



Data Center Cooling Market - Dynamics



The scouting of optimal and favorable locations for datacenter construction and cooling solutions are driving the evolution of the global data center cooling market. Factors such as cost, power availability, free cooling options, availability of water for cooling, tax incentives, carrier availability, and demand play an important role in site selection in the global market. The site location plays a major role in the selection of infrastructure providers in the market benefiting global infrastructure providers to a major extent. These factors are creating new avenues for top vendors in the global market. The focus on reducing the OPEX and water consumption across facilities is urging operators to use free cooling techniques and water treatment plants in the global data center cooling market. North America, Western Europe, and Nordic are the most popular region using these facilities in the market.



Data Center Cooling Market - Segmentation

This market research report includes a detailed segmentation of the market by cooling infrastructure, cooling technique, cooling systems, and geography.



Data Center Cooling Market  By Cooling Infrastructure

Duel feed cooling systems to gain traction in the global data center cooling market during the forecast period



The data center cooling market by cooling infrastructure is segmented into cooling systems and other infrastructure. Cooling systems segment dominated the majority of the market share in 2017, growing at a CAGR of more than 5% during the forecast period. The increasing focus on developing Tier III facilities with N+N or 2N redundancy for CRAC and CRAH units to increase the efficiency and productivity of this infrastructure in the global market. The growing popularity of using dual water feeds in datacenters with on-site water treatment plants will revolutionize this segment in the global market during the forecast period. The growing importance of ASHRAE facilities cooling guidelines and the Uptime Institute's Tier standards for redundant design will encourage operate flexible designs in the segment in the global market. Colocation operators investing millions of dollars in developing facilities are involved in the adoption of efficient cooling systems and incorporate facility design. Increasing IT load will help generate more revenues in the data center cooling market over next few years.



Data Center Cooling Market  By Cooling Technique

Increasing deployment of the economizer and evaporative cooling systems to boost revenues in the global data center cooling market



The cooling technique segment in the global data center cooling market is classified into air-based cooling and liquid-based cooling. Air-based cooling segment occupied the largest market share in 2017, growing at a CAGR of approximately 7% during the forecast period. The increasing use of traditional CRACs and free cooling solutions to cool the ITinfrastructure in facilities is augmenting the growth of this segment in the global market. Free cooling is gaining traction among facilities operators in the US, Europe, Nordic, Canada, and Japan. The growing adoption of evaporative coolers that facilitate partial cooling with indoor CRAC units will help transform the global data center cooling market over the next few years. The different types of air-based cooling solutions available in the global market are DX-based CRAC units, free cooling technique solutions, air-cooled chiller-based cooling, and dry coolers. Innovations in cooling infrastructures and the implementation of on-site water treatment plants will transform the global market.



Data Center Cooling Market  By Cooling Systems

Adoption of 2N CRAC or CRAH units will augment the evolution of the global data center cooling market during the forecast period



The global data center cooling market by cooling systems is divided into CRAC & CARH, chiller, cooling towers & dry coolers, economizers & evaporative coolers, and other cooling units. CRAC & CARH units segment dominated the market share in 2017, growing at a CAGR of approximately 5% during the forecast period. The deployment of hyperscale and mega facilities is driving the adoption of 2N CRAC or CRAH units in the global market. The focus on building flexible designs and the incorporation of additional units or unit of higher capacity as the per the requirement of the consumers is propelling the growth of this segment in the global data center cooling market. The construction of modern facilities that operate at a rack power density of over 10 kw will drive the demand for sophisticated systems in the market. The increasing use of CRAC and CRAH units to supply cold air and exhaust hot air from the data hall will boost development in the global market during the forecast period.



Data Center Cooling Market  By Geography

North America to contribute around 40% of the revenues in the global data center cooling market during the forecast period



The geographical segment in the global data center cooling market is categorized into the Americas, EMEA, and APAC. The Americas occupied maximum market share in 2017, growing at a CAGR of around 3% during the forecast period. In the Americas, the US generated most of the revenue through increased facility investments in South Eastern and South Western regions namely, Virginia and Texas. The US witnessed the highest number of facilities construction and it's the largest revenue generator in the global market. The implementation of free cooling techniques such as evaporative coolers, economizers, and free cooling chillers among facilities in the Americas that experience cold winter conditions and peak summer conditions will boost revenues in the global data center cooling market. A few data centers in South Eastern and the Western US are likely to prefer chilled water systems with the economizer mode to facilitate partial cooling of the facility using outside air. The adoption of innovative cooling systems such as direct liquid cooling and liquid immersion cooling solutions will contribute to the evolution of the American market over the next few years.



The key countries profiled in the report are:

 US

 Canada

 Latin America

 Eastern Europe

 Western Europe

 Nordic

 Middle East & Africa

 China & Hong Kong

 Australia

 Singapore

 Rest of APAC



Key Vendor Analysis

The global data center cooling market includes many regional and global players who are intensifying the competition. The vendors are focusing on offering specific products or a complete range of infrastructure solutions to sustain the competition in the global market. The increase in innovations that lead to the development of new products will revolutionize the market over the next few years. The increased deployment of modular facilities in regions such as Southeast Asia (except Singapore), Latin America, MEA, and Eastern European countries will increase the competition in aid vendors to gain a larger market share and attract new sets of consumers. The adoption of energy efficient infrastructure and other innovative infrastructures that boost efficiency, reliability and availability of datacenter operations will boost revenues in the global data center cooling market.



The major vendors in the global market are:

 Airedale Air Conditioning

 Rittal

 Schneider Electric

 STULZ

 Vertiv



Other prominent vendors include 3M, AIRSYS, Alfa Laval, Allied Control, Asetek, ClimateWorx International, Coolcentric (Wakefield-Vette), CoolIT Systems, Daikin Applied, Data Aire, Emicon, Geist Global, Green Revolution Cooling, KyotoCooling, Motivair Corp., Munters, Nortek Air Solutions, Nortek Humidity, Pentair, QCooling, and Trane.



Key market insights include

1. The analysis of global data center cooling market provides market size and growth rate for the forecast period 2018-2023.

2. It offers comprehensive insights into current industry trends, trend forecast, and growth drivers about the global data center cooling market.

3. The report provides the latest analysis of market share, growth drivers, challenges, and investment opportunities.

4. It offers a complete overview of market segments and the regional outlook of the global data center cooling market.

5. The report offers a detailed overview of the vendor landscape, competitive analysis, and key market strategies to gain competitive advantage.



Report Snapshot



The global data center cooling market size is expected to reach values over $8 billion by 2023, growing at a CAGR of approximately 6% 20172023.



The global data center cooling market is driven increased construction of facilities across developing countries such as Latin America, MEA and Southeast Asia (except Singapore), India, and South Korea. The growing need to enhance the operational efficiency of facilities, reduce power consumption, and decrease carbon emissions will lead to the introduction of innovative systems in the market. The market research report provides in-depth market analysis and segmental analysis of the global data center cooling market by cooling infrastructure, cooling systems, cooling technique, and geography.



Base Year: 2017

Forecast Year: 20182023



The report considers the present scenario of the global data center cooling market and its market dynamics for the period 2018?2023. It covers a detailed overview of various market growth enablers, restraints, and trends. The study covers both the demand and supply sides of the market. It also profiles and analyzes the leading companies and various other prominent companies operating in the data center cooling market.



Major Vendors in the Global Data Center Cooling Market

 Airedale Air Conditioning

o Overview

o Product Offerings

o Key News

 Rittal

 Schneider Electric

 STULZ

 Vertiv



Prominent Players in the Global Data Center Cooling Market

 3M

o Product Offerings

 AIRSYS

 Alfa Laval

 Allied Control

 Asetek

 ClimateWorx International

 Coolcentric (Wakefield-Vette)

 CoolIT Systems

 Daikin Applied

 Data Aire

 Emicon

 Geist Global

 Green Revolution Cooling

 KyotoCooling

 Motivair Corp.

 Munters

 Nortek Air Solutions

 Nortek Humidity

 Pentair

 QCooling

 Trane



Market Segmentation by Cooling Infrastructure

 Cooling Systems

 Other Infrastructure



Market Segmentation by Cooling Technique

 Air-based Cooling

 Liquid-based Cooling



Market Segmentation by Liquid Cooling Technique

 Water-based Cooling Techniques

 Direct Liquid and Immersion Cooling Techniques



Market Segmentation by Cooling Systems

 CRAC & CARH

 Chiller

 Cooling Towers & Dry Coolers

 Economizers



Market Segmentation by Geography

 Americas

o US

o Canada

o Latin Americas

 EMEA

o Eastern Europe

o Western Europe

o Nordic

o Middle East & Africa

 APAC

o China & Hong Kong

o Australia

o Singapore

o Rest of APAC



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About Reportbuyer

Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers



For more information:

Sarah Smith

Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +1 (718) 213 4904

Website: www.reportbuyer.com

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SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Association for Information Systems (AIS) will honor Zack Hicks, Executive Vice President and Chief Digital Officer of Toyota Motor North America and Chief Executive Officer and President of Toyota Connected North America, with the AIS Leadership Excellence Award on December 14, 2018, at the 39th Annual International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS).

Hicks is being recognized for his visionary leadership and innovation in the use and development of information systems. In 2016, he founded Toyota's data analytics startup, Toyota Connected North America, and he's also playing a key role in leading Toyota's global transformation to become a mobility company, building out innovative technology and creating new business opportunities in everything from connectivity to autonomous driving. Additionally, he has a global role leading information security management for Toyota Motor Corporation (Japan) and serves as field general manager for its in-house Connected Company.

"Zack is the first chief digital officer at Toyota Motor North America -- a very unique strategic position," says AIS President T.P. Liang. "He has brought new technologies, such as IOT, analytics and security, to enhance the competitiveness of Toyota. His contributions to digital transformation and innovation -- like connected vehicles, for example -- show him to be an excellent role model for strategic information officers, and demonstrate that the role of IT is critical to the transformation of manufacturing and other traditional industries."

The AIS Leadership Excellence Award was created in 2015 to recognize the achievements of industry leaders. Recipients are selected by a committee consisting of a chairperson, the AIS executive director, the ICIS conference chair, and the current, immediate past, and elected presidents of AIS. As this year's winner, Hicks will deliver the keynote address at the ICIS in San Francisco, CA, where the theme will be "Bridging the Internet of People, Data and Things."

Since joining Toyota in 1996, Hicks has championed a global telematics ecosystem, facilitating the implementation of cloud-based collaboration tools for Toyota employees. He also led the development of an award-winning social media analytics platform.

Today, as Toyota's first chief digital officer, Hicks leads the firm's newly created Digital Transformation and Mobility unit, advancing shared mobility, connectivity services, over-the-air upgrades and future business opportunities. This new role will define and accelerate Toyota's mobility efforts, including vehicle connectivity, electrification and autonomous driving technologies.

As founder, CEO and president of Toyota Connected North America, Hicks also leads the company's connected car ecosystem, where he is driving transformational change through cutting-edge technology, data and connectivity. This fast-growing startup serves as Toyota's data science hub, connecting vehicles, customers and businesses through machine learning and artificial intelligence. Additionally, as chairman of Toyota Connected Europe, Hicks oversees the London-based startup.

"A lot of what Zack has done at Toyota is about getting people working together to innovate and bring technology to market," says AIS President-Elect Alan Dennis. "What's striking beyond the technology is his understanding of that market, the existing products and the business value that the new technology adds."

Hicks is a member of Toyota's North American Executive Committee, a board member of The Toyota Foundation and Toyota Insurance Management, as well as the Toyota Diversity Board, Toyota PAC Board, and the chair of TMNA's Executive Steering Committee. Hicks was also named one of Dallas Business Journal's "Most Admired CEOs of 2018." In 2016, he received the "Innovator of Year" award from D-CEO magazine, and he and TMNA are also multiple recipients of the CIO 100 award.

A Pepperdine University graduate with an MBA from the University of California at Irvine, Hicks was recently appointed to the board of directors of Signet Jewelers. He also is an active member of the CIO Strategy Exchange and the Corporate Executive Board for Chief Information Officers.

The Association for Information Systems, founded in 1994, is a professional organization that serves as the premier global organization for academics, students and professionals specializing in Information Systems. ICIS is the most prestigious meeting of the AIS, which has more than 4,400 members representing more than 95 countries worldwide. This year, approximately 1,500 academic professionals from around the world will participate in the conference.

For more information about AIS, please visit www.aisnet.org.

SOURCE The Association for Information Systems

Related Links

http://www.aisnet.org

WILTON MANORS, Fla., Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Wilton Manors Commissioner Gary Resnick of Wilton Manors, Florida, was elected to the National League of Cities (NLC) board of directors by NLC's membership at the 2018 City Summit in Los Angeles. Resnick was elected for a one-year term and will provide strategic direction and guidance for NLC's federal advocacy, governance and membership activities. NLC is the largest and most representative organization for cities, their elected leaders and municipal staff, and advocates for city priorities in Washington by building strong federal-local partnerships.

"I am honored to serve on the NLC Board of Directors for the upcoming 2019 year. The NLC is a resource for 19,000 cities, towns and villages and represents more than 200 million Americans. I am proud to serve the NLC for the second consecutive year, to be a part of NLC's strategic direction, and to represent the City of Wilton Manors in the best esteem."

As a member of the board, Resnick will meet in March, June and November to guide NLC's strategic direction. Board members are selected by a 15-member nominating committee and are confirmed by a vote from NLC's membership at the organization's annual business meeting.

"The National League of Cities board of directors serves a critical role in guiding our organization's priorities and policies," said National League of Cities (NLC) President Karen Freeman-Wilson, mayor of Gary, Indiana. "NLC's board of directors is made up of a group of amazing leaders, and I look forward to working with them during an important time for the nation's cities."

More than 3,800 mayors, councilmembers and other delegates from all 50 states and the District of Columbia convened in Los Angeles for City Summit. With gridlock likely to continue in Washington, city leaders are taking action into their own hands and sharing strategies and solutions to address issues like the affordable housing crisis, investing in infrastructure, combatting the opioid epidemic and building a sustainable future.

Commissioner Resnick has served on the Wilton Manors City Commission since 1998 and was most recently recognized by the Florida League of Cities with a 2018 Home Rule Hero Award. In 2018, Commissioner Resnick served as chair of the National League of Cities (NLC) Information Technology and Communications (ITC) Federal Advocacy Committee, and on NLC's Board of Directors and Legal Advisory Committee. Commissioner Resnick is past president of the Broward League of Cities (BLC) and currently chairs the BLC Legislative Advocacy Committee and serves on the boards of the BLC and Florida League of Cities. He is also a shareholder and practicing attorney with GrayRobinson Attorneys at Law and chair of the firm's communications broadband practice.

About the City of Wilton Manors

Wilton Manors was laid out in 1925 by Edward John "Ned" Willingham, a land developer from Georgia, as an upscale residential community. It was recognized as a Village in 1947 and incorporated as a City in 1953. Today, the City of Wilton Manors offers all the benefits of a big city from shopping, to hip restaurants and bars, a burgeoning arts community and tons of community events, yet still maintains a cozy, community-feeling offering miles of natural waterways perfect for kayaking, paddle boarding and other outdoor activities. Recently named the "Second Gayest City" in the United States, the City of Wilton Manors celebrates a diverse population of approximately 12,000 residents. To learn more about the live, work and play opportunities in Wilton Manors, call (954) 390-2100 or visit www.wiltonmanors.com.

CONTACT: Aimee Adler (954) 732-0754 (or) [email protected]

SOURCE City of Wilton Manors

Related Links

http://www.wiltonmanors.com

Some 200 guests including finalists, executives from trade association, buyers, judges, media and influencers gathered to celebrate with the 10 winning companies for their innovation, excellence and passion for the industry. All winners were awarded a prestigious trophy designed by Centdegres which they get to keep as a permanent reminder of their great triumph.

The Awards were created in partnership with international trend agency BEAUTYSTREAMS to recognise the most outstanding beauty products in each exhibition venue. Cosmopack Asia Awards celebrates innovation, creativity and design for the supply chain; Cosmoprof Asia Awards recognises the best strategies to build brand awareness and marketability.

"This year we are very excited to have received as many as 529 entries from 274 exhibitors who have participated in the awards from all over the world. As a result 2018 is a record-breaking edition, clearly indicating the global reach of Cosmoprof Asia, the increasing significance of the industry and growing interest from the market," says the Organiser of Cosmoprof Asia. "We look forward to seeing more outstanding products and innovations contributing to record-breaking years in further editions."

"We are honored to work with Cosmoprof Asia to curate the Cosmoprof Awards for 2018," says Lan Vu, CEO of BEAUTYSTREAMS. "This initiative is key in encouraging innovation and creativity in the international beauty industry. It has been an exciting journey this year, resulting in so many new ideas, pioneering products and trends-in-the-making. We anticipate partnering with the Cosmoprof Awards Asia going forward into the future and further supporting this dynamic and important industry."

Listed here are the winners in each category of the Awards selected by an expert jury of 21 members.

COSMOPACK ASIA AWARDS

Make-up Formula

Ice Crumble Transparent Compact Highlighter  B. Kolormakeup & Skincare S.p.a. ( Italy )

Ice Crumble reproduces thin sheets of fragmented ice from which an evanescent pearly material emerges. An extra-sensory intangible powder that covers the face in a multitude of light effects for a translucent frosted finish, emphasized by the use of pearls with exceptional shine. A work of manual art, delicate and minimalistic, it is ideal for a sophisticated ice queen look.

Make-up Packaging Technology and Design

Magnetcara - Cosnine, Inc. (Korea)

A high-tech magnetic metal wand is the outstanding delivery system for a sophisticated mascara formula containing ingredients such as iron oxide and vegetable wax. The combination offers the triple synergy effect of volumizing, curling, and lengthening.

Skincare Formula

Enzymatic Whitening Bi-Gel  Pink Frogs S.r.l ( Italy )

A beauty treatment enclosed in two enveloping textures; a lipogel to exfoliate, purify and smooth the skin, and a hydrogel to give a whitening and brightening effect to the complexion. The perfect combination to ensure r adiant and protected skin.

Skincare Packaging Technology and Design

Magnetic Dropper  Virospack S.L.U. ( Spain )

An innovative dropper, fitted with an exclusive and patented sealing system of magnetic attraction, composed by two pieces that contain a multitude of components for an innovative, functional, safe and customizable final result.

Green Packaging and Formula

PLA Bottle with Rice Bran  Bottlemate ( Taiwan ) Inc. ( Taiwan )

PLA combined with rice bran are used in order to reduce the proportion of plastic within the bottle. While the inner layer of the bottle is made of polyethylene (PE), the outer layer is made of rice bran and polylactic acid (PLA), giving the finished product a natural brownish colour akin to the colour of rice bran.

COSMOPROF ASIA AWARDS WINNERS

Hair Product

Physiocoiffeur Evolution Intensive Hair Booster Program  Laboratoire Sintyl S.A ( Switzerland )

An innovative treatment that meets the specific needs of the scalp and hair to fight against hair loss and promote natural hair growth. This scientifically-proven formula fights the signs of capillary aging, intensifiying and strengthening the hair.

Make-up Product

Kuramoto-No-Shizuku Foundation  Izavell Co., Ltd ( Japan )

Kuramoto no Shizuku Foundation contains Sake Lees Extract from the traditional Miyakotsuru Shuzo brewery in Kyoto , as well as Oryza Sativa (Rice) Germ Oil, which is rich in a Super Vitamin E that is highly stable and resists oxidation.

Nail Product

Idea'l UV-LED/LED Gel - Silcare sp. zo.o. sp. k. ( Poland )

IDEA'l UV-LED/LED Gel is a solution which protects your nails against external factors and simultaneously allows them to rebuild while the natural nail plate can extend. The product is easy to shape and work with, while its thick consistency makes it suitable for professional and beginner stylists.

Natural & Organic Product

3 in 1 Anti Blue Light Facial Oil - Borlind GmbH ( Germany )

Nourishing oils such as Inca omega oil, kahai oil and Himalayan cherry oil fortify the skin's natural barrier and add suppleness while Marigold, an anti-aging dry oil that leaves skin relaxed and regenerated, protects against blue light radiation. This vegan, mineral-oil-free product is scientifically confirmed as efficacious and skin-compatible.

Skincare Product

LUMINI - Lululab Inc. (Korea)

AI Skincare Assistant LUMINI analyzes the entire facial complexion in a snap and recommends specific skincare products for each user. It consists of a handheld scanning device and AI technology software, takes only 10 seconds to diagnose the skin and is highly accurate. LUMINI can also create skin big data through helping people understand their skin condition and track changes, while providing data-based personalized solutions.

All Cosmopack Asia Awards finalists' products were displayed at the East Lobby of AWE, while finalists' products of Cosmoprof Asia Awards were displayed at Hall 1E, Concourse of HKCEC.

For further information about the awards: www.cosmoprofawards-asia.com/en/

NOTES TO EDITORS:

Cosmoprof Asia, the premier international beauty exhibition in Asia-Pacific, is organised by Cosmoprof Asia Ltd, a joint-venture between BolognaFiere Group and UBM Asia Ltd.

ABOUT BOLOGNAFIERE GROUP (www.bolognafiere.it)

BolognaFiere Group is the world's leading trade show organiser in cosmetics, fashion, architecture, building, art and culture. The Group has more than 80 international exhibitions within its portfolio, notably Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna, the most important meeting point in the world for beauty professionals, established in 1967 and held in Bologna, Italy. For the 2019 edition, Cosmoprof is confirming the different opening dates, according to each professional target. From Thursday 14 to Sunday 17 March 2019, Cosmopack and Cosmo I Perfumery & Cosmetics will open, facilitating business meetings between suppliers and manufacturers on the one side, and companies of finished products, buyers and retailers on the other, with a focus on Perfumery & Cosmetics, Green & Organic and Cosmoprime, the area dedicated to haute gamme perfumery. From Friday 15 to Monday 18 March, open doors for the professional distribution channels of Cosmo|Hair & Nail & Beauty Salon, with the presence of owners of beauty salons and spa, hairdressers, hairstylists, nail artists and distributors. The international platform offered by Cosmoprof, with trade shows in Hong Kong (established in 1996), Las Vegas (established in 2003) and starting from 2018 Mumbai, provides a truly global marketplace for the beauty industry where brands may grow.

ABOUT UBM ASIA LTD (www.ubm.com/asia)

UBM Asia recently became part of Informa PLC, a leading B2B information services group and the largest B2B Events organiser in the world. Please visit www.ubm.com/asia for more information about our presence in Asia.

SOURCE Cosmoprof Asia

Related Links

https://www.cosmoprof-asia.com/en-us/

Washington, Dec 4 : The casket bearing the remains of former President George H.W. Bush arrived at the Capitol on Monday shortly after being transported to Andrews Air Base on the outskirts of Washington.

The public will be able to pay their respects to the late president in the coming days as his body lies in state in the Capitol Rotunda, Efe reported.

A few minutes before 5 p.m., the casket arrived at the Capitol, where it was received by a committee comprised of the leaders of the House of Representatives and the Senate, both Democrats and Republicans, and headed by Bush's oldest son, former President George W. Bush.

The jet transporting the coffin landed shortly before 3:30 p.m. at Andrews, where it was received by air force and special forces personnel.

At the Capitol, the remains of the 41st president will lie in state and the public may pay their respects from 7:30 p.m. on Monday until 7 a.m. on Wednesday, after which a formal funeral ceremony for the former US leader will be held in the nation's capital.

Attending the funeral will be President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump, along with other former leaders and outstanding figures in US public life, including members of the Cabinet and the Supreme Court.

Afterwards, Bush's coffin will be transported to Houston, where his family members will be able to say their last goodbyes before he is interred at his presidential library in College Station, Texas, where his wife Barbara, who died in April, is buried.

On Thursday morning, a private funeral ceremony will be held at Houston's St. Martin's Episcopal Church, which Bush and his wife regularly attended.

The patriarch of the Bush family served as a fighter pilot during World War II, later being elected to Congress, serving as UN ambassador, CIA director, vice president under Ronald Reagan between 1981 and 1989 and finally being elected president and serving for one term from 1989-1993 during which time he presided over the end of the Cold War and launched the Gulf War to drive invading Iraqi forces under dictator Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait.Washington, Dec 4 : US Secretary of Defence James Mattis met with Indian Minister of Defence Nirmala Sitharaman here at Pentagon on Monday, highlighting security cooperation between Washington and New Delhi.

The US and India have made meaningful progress advancing bilateral defence cooperation over the past year, Mattis said in a statement issued by Pentagon, reports Xinhua news agency.

Mattis stressed the inaugural US-India "2+2" Ministerial Dialogue, which was held in September in New Delhi, "made clear our commitment to further bolster our major defence partnership."

Sitharaman said that India saw the US as an important partner in defence.

"We have good military-to-military cooperation, defence consultations, scientific and R&D work, defense trade, co-production and co-development, and industry collaboration," she said.

India, however, also traditionally enjoyed a close defence relationship with Russia.

In October, Indian and Russian leaders formally signed a purchase agreement for the S-400 air defence missile system worth more than $5 billion.Washington, Dec 4 : Former US President George W. Bush is set to eulogise his late father, George H.W. Bush, at the Washington National Cathedral on Wednesday, the most high-profile event in a week of proceedings that will remember the remarkable life of the former leader who died last week.

George H.W. Bush will also be eulogised by former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, former US Senator and close friend Alan Simpson and historian Jon Meacham, the late President's biographer.

President Donald Trump will not speak at the funeral, informed sources told CNN on Monday, but has said that he will attend a memorial later on Wednesday.

Despite the fact that Trump's rise to power included lambasting former Presidents, including both Bushes, the President has responded to Bush Sr's death with repeated laudatory comments.

Trump will pay a condolence call to the Bush family on Tuesday at Blair House, according to the sources, a government house across the street from the White House.

Besides Trump, all other living Presidents -- Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter -- are expected to attend the funeral.

The casket bearing the late leader's remains arrived at the Capitol on Monday shortly after being transported to Andrews Air Base on the outskirts of Washington.

Bush will lie in state until Wednesday morning when his casket will then be transported to the National Cathedral for the first of two funeral services.

The German government press service announced on Monday that Chancellor Angela Merkel will fly to Washington D.C., to take part in the memorial service for the late President, who oversaw the end of the Cold War and the reunification of Germany.

On Thursday, Bush's casket will travel back to Houston, where he will be memorialised at St. Martin's Episcopal Church and eulogised by his grandson, Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, and former Secretary of State James Baker, a man who has been by Bush Sr's side since he failed 1970 Senate campaign in Texas.

The former President passed away in Houston on the night of November 30 at the age of 94.

The patriarch of the Bush family served as a fighter pilot during World War II, later being elected to Congress, serving as UN Ambassador, CIA Director, Vice President under Ronald Reagan between 1981 and 1989 and finally being elected President and serving for one term from 1989-1993 during which time he presided over the end of the Cold War and launched the Gulf War to drive invading Iraqi forces out of Kuwait.Washington, Dec 4 : Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Gina Haspel is slated to brief a small group of lawmakers Tuesday on the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to a congressional source.

Haspel will brief the chairmen and ranking Democrats of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the Senate Armed Services Committee and the State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee, a senator, who will be attending the meeting, told CNN on Monday.

The meeting will take place at 11 a.m. in the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility in the basement of the Capitol Visitors Centre.

Last week, senators rebuked President Donald Trump's administration when they were denied a CIA briefing on Khashoggi.

Khashoggi -- who was a US resident, a Washington Post contributor and a frequent critic of the Saudi Arabian government -- was killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary James Mattis traveled to Capitol Hill last week without Haspel for a closed-door briefing on Yemen for Senate lawmakers at which they emphasized the strategic importance of the US-Saudi relationship and defended the administration's response to Khashoggi's murder.

Pompeo said after the briefing that there was "no direct reporting" that connected Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the killing.

But the CIA has concluded that the Crown Prince personally ordered Khashoggi's killing, despite the Saudi government's denials that the ruler was involved.Lucknow, Dec 4 : The Uttar Pradesh Police on Tuesday arrested two men and detained four in connection with a mob violence in Bulandshahr district that led to two deaths, including that of an inspector, police said.

According to the First Information Report (FIR), 28 persons have been named while 60 persons have been listed as unidentified in the Monday's incident.

The FIR also named Yogesh Raj, reportedly a senior Bajrang Dal leader who had earlier lodged an FIR alleging cow slaughter.

Inspector S.K. Singh was shot in the head, while one of the young agitators was killed as the police tried to tackle the berserk mob.

The violence had broken out after alleged recovery of some animal carcasses that right-wing organisations claimed were of cows, an animal revered by the Hindus.

Singh was attacked by the mob when he attempted to clear the traffic snarl caused by the vigilantes carrying the carcasses on tractor trolleys blocking a busy road.

The Station House Officer of Syana, who had probed the lynching of a Muslim man in the Dadri killling in 2015, also over allegations of cow slaughter, was shot at point blank range by the mob.

A large contingent of security forces have been deployed in Bulandshahr as the situation remains tense.San Francisco, Dec 4 : US telecom carrier Verizon and Samsung have announced to jointly launch one of the first commercial 5G smartphones in the US in the first half of 2019.

The two companies are set to unveil a proof of concept, powered by the upcoming flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon Mobile Platform with the Snapdragon X50 5G NR modem and antenna modules, at the annual Qualcomm Snapdragon Technology Summit in Maui, Hawaii, this week.

"5G will usher in a new era of mobile connectivity, allowing people to connect to data, experiences and other in ways never thought possible," said Brian Higgins, Vice President, Wireless Device and Product Marketing at Verizon.

"Together, Samsung and Verizon have made huge gains in bringing 5G commercial services to consumers in several cities. Now, we are partnering to create a smartphone to put the power of 5G in the palm of your hand," he added.

5G mobility service will provide massive bandwidth, greater opportunities for connectivity and improved network reliability.

When fully implemented, it will offer capacity and download speed many times faster than today's 4G LTE network. Along with network latency that is faster than the blink of an eye.

"We're proud to work alongside innovative partners like Verizon and Qualcomm Technologies to deliver a smartphone that will fundamentally transform how people work and play," said Justin Denison, Senior Vice President, Mobile Product Strategy and Marketing at Samsung Electronics America.

Samsung, which is set to launch world's first foldable smartphone early 2019, has partnered with Verizon on its 5G Home offering since the beginning of 2018.New Delhi, Dec 4 : The Indian maritime forces on Tuesday was celebrated for their role in the 1971 India-Pakistan War as leaders from across party lines hailed its men and women on Indian Navy Day.

President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were among the firsts on Twitter to pay their tributes to the naval force.

"On Navy Day, my good wishes to all men and women of the Indian Navy. Nation is proud of your commitment to protecting our maritime frontiers, securing our trade routes, and providing assistance in times of humanitarian emergencies," their Commander-in-Chief tweeted.

"Navy Day greetings to all valorous personnel of the Indian Navy and their families. India is grateful to our Navy for protecting the nation and the commendable role the Navy plays during disaster relief," Modi said.

In the attack in 1971, the Indian Navy sank four Pakistani vessels and ravaged the Karachi harbour fuel fields killing over 500 Pakistani Navy personnel.

Three missile boats of the Indian Navy, INS Nipat, INS Nirghat, and INS Veer played a pivotal role in the attack. Navy Day is celebrated annually on December 4 every year to honour that maritime operation.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said Navy Day "serves as a reminder to our enemies, of our strength and valour when the hour beckons".

"Navy Day is celebrated to honour the victorious, martyrs and veterans of the Indian Navy. This day also serves as a reminder to our enemies, of our strength and valour when the hour beckons. My best wishes to all ranks of the Indian Navy. Jai Hind," he tweeted.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Minister of Railways and Coal Piyush Goyal and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also paid their tributes to the Navy.New York, Dec 4 : Paul Manafort, US President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman who awaits sentencing for lying to federal investigators in breach of a plea agreement, flew to Ecuador to help negotiate a deal for the handover of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to Washington, a media report said.

The New York Times report on Monday said that Manafort made the trip mainly to see if he could broker a deal under which China would invest in Ecuador's power system.

But the talks instead turned to a diplomatic point between the US and Ecuador: the fate of the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

In at least two meetings with Manafort, Ecuadorian Presidenr Lenin Moreno and his aides discussed their desire to rid themselves of Assange, who has been holed up in the country's Embassy in London since 2012, in exchange for concessions like debt relief from the US, informed sources told The Times.

They said Manafort suggested he could help negotiate a deal for the handover of Assange to the US, which has long investigated him for the disclosure of secret documents.

Within a couple of days of Manafort's final meeting in Quito, Robert Mueller was appointed as the Special Counsel to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 election and related matters, and it quickly became clear that Manafort was a primary target.

His talks with Ecuador ended without any deals.

According to the sources, there was no evidence that Manafort was working with or even briefing Trump or other administration officials on his discussions with the Ecuadoreans about Assange.

Manafort and WikiLeaks have both denied a recent report in The Guardian that the former campaign chairman visited Assange at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London in 2013, 2015 and 2016.

In response to the development, Jason Maloni, a spokesman for Manafort, said that it was Moreno who broached the issue of Assange and "his desire to remove Julian Assange from Ecuador's embassy".

Manafort "listened but made no promises as this was ancillary to the purpose of the meeting", said Maloni.

Manafort will tentatively face sentencing on March 5, a federal judge ruled last week.

The ruling came days after Mueller accused Manafort of repeatedly lying to federal investigators, breaching his plea deal he signed in September.

He is currently in jail in Alexandria, Virginia.Allahabad, Dec 4 : Delegates to the annual Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) jamboree, being held this time in Varanasi, will get to participate in the Ardh Kumbh Mela here, with Indian Railways drawing up plans for a special train that will also give participants a chance to relish the best of local cuisine.

The PBD event, which culminates every year on January 9 - marking the day Mahatma Gandhi arrived from South Africa in 1915 - has been shifted to January 21-23 this time to give delegates a chance to participate in the Ardh Kumbh (beginning on January 15) and Republic Day (January 26).

The Railways is making elaborate arrangements to carry the delegates -- who will arrive here from Varanasi for the Kumbh -- by special trains to the national capital in time for the Republic Day parade.

The visit of the delegates to the Sangam from Varanasi for a holy dip assumes significance as the annual convention of overseas Indians is being held in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency in an election year.

The Railways has earmarked at least four special AC trains for the 3,000 to 4,000 delegates who are expected to participate in the 15th edition of three-day global meet that is being held for the first time in the holy city of Varanasi.

Comprising mostly nonresident Indians (NRIs) and people of Indian origin (PIOs), the participants will take a dip at the confluence of the Ganga-Yamuna and the mythical Sarswati rivers -- a first-of-its-kind holy treat for the Indian diaspora. They will also see bare-bodied Naga Sadhus smeared with ash, the joyous evening prayer (aarti) and experience the massive crowds the Kumbh attracts.

The Kumbh, which runs from January 15 to March 4, is expected to attract close to 120 million people this time - the equivalent of twice the population of Britain.

The national transporter on its part is making ready four AC specials to ferry PBD delegates on the evening of January 24, each leaving at intervals of 30 minutes to an hour.

According to the Railways, keeping the VIP guests' food habits in mind, IRCTC, the Railways' catering arm, will offer specially-made dishes onboard to make the train journey a pleasant experience for the visitors.

"The local cuisine, which includes kachori sabzi, aloo puree and sweets like Patisha, will be on offer for the delegates. While good quality tea and coffee will be served, there will also be continental, Chinese and tandoori food on offer for dinner.

Though the aim of the PBD is to attract investments and encourage the Indian diaspora to be part of India's "growth story", it is unclear how much investments these NRIs and PIOs have brought to the country since the PBD began more than a decade ago.

(Arun Kumar Das can be contacted at akdas2005@gmail.com)New Delhi, Dec 4 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed that criminal cases against former and present members of Parliament and state Assemblies involving offences punishable with life imprisonment would be taken up by special courts on priority.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Sanjay Krishan Kaul and K.M. Joseph gave the order after being told that there were 430 cases involving murder charges.

The court also asked the High Courts to allocate cases against the accused lawmakers to the Magistrate and Sessions Courts.

The order came in the hearing of a petition by BJP leader Ashwini Kumar seeking a lifetime ban on politicians convicted of criminal offences from contesting elections.Jerusalem, Dec 4 : Israel on Tuesday launched a military operation to destroy tunnels infiltrating its territory from Lebanon which were allegedly dug by the Hezbollah.

"We have just launched Operation Northern Shield to expose and neutralize cross-border attack tunnels dug by Hezbollah from Lebanon to Israel," the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) tweeted.

After the war with Lebanon in 2006, Hezbollah began developing extensive underground infrastructure and in 2012 launched operation 'Conquering the Galilee', IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus said.

Two years later, Israel detected that the group had shared information with Hamas - the Palestinian Islamist movement that governs Gaza - which also developed a powerful underground infrastructure at the border of the Gaza Strip with Israel and Egypt.

Israel then put together a joint force with the Northern Command, Israeli Combat Engineering Corps, Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure and the Military Intelligence to detect threats from the attack tunnels at the Lebanon border called the 'blue line'.

Conricus added that the tunnels represent a clear violation of Israel's sovereignty and demonstrate Hezbollah's indifference to the UN resolutions.

While the tunnels infiltrated Israeli territory, they were discovered before becoming operational and posed no imminent threat to the Israeli civilian population.

The tunnels were another example of Iran's "entrenchment" in the region, the spokesperson said.London, Dec 4 : "The Lord of the Rings" fame actor Andy Serkis has defended actress Scarlett Johansson, who got dropped from the film "Rub & Tug" in which she was going to play a transgender following backlash from the LGBT community.

In an interview to Variety, Serkis said: "Actors should be able to play anything, and that's why I love performance capture technology.

"What should be the point is that whatever colour your skin is, whatever shape you are, whatever height you are, whatever your make-up is as an actor, you should have the ability to play anything."

So, in the wake of the backlash, Johansson dropped out of the film and a replacement is yet to be announced, reported metro.co.uk.

It's not the first time Johansson has got into trouble with her casting in a role. She was earlier accused of the film "Ghost In The Shell" when she was controversially cast as Major Motoko Kusanagi, a character who was Japanese in the original series that the film was based on.Lucknow, Dec 4 : The Uttar Pradesh Police on Tuesday said that the main conspirator behind the mob violence in Bulandshahr which left a police officer and a young man dead was a Yogesh Raj, who is on the run.

Although the police refused to identity who Yogesh Raj was, informed sources said he was a Bajrang Dal activist who was part of a mob that attacked Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh on Monday, killing him instantly.

The officer was hit by blunt object and was also shot dead when he tried to reason with the Hindu activists blocking a busy road with carcasses of animals they claimed were of cows.

Additional Director General (Law and Order) Anand Kumar told the media here that "no action will be taken against any policemen till the probe into the incident is completed".

He also dismissed as speculation reports of intelligence failure as "premature" and said everyone should wait for the probe to conclude before arriving at any conclusion.

The state government has formed a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the violence, the circumstances leading to it and to identify the people and organisations involved in the mayhem.

The officer said that a .32 bore bullet was found lodged in the head of Subodh Kumar Singh.

He said a bullet had also been recovered from the body of the dead youth, Sumit, but added that only an autopsy would confirm further details.

The senior official parried questions about the political links of the three key accused who are also said to include an activist each from the BJP and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

"I am not aware of any linkages as yet. But yes, Yogesh Raj is the main conspirator in the whole case," he said, adding that he was yet to be arrested.

The police were raiding several places to nab the accused, the official said.Hanumangarh (Rajasthan), Dec 4 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday accused the Congress of making the "mistake" of letting Kartarpur Sahib - the final resting place of Guru Nanak Dev - go to Pakistan during partition due to its "scramble for power" post-independence.

The party overlooked the sentiments of millions of Sikhs attached with the holy place, he said addressing a public meeting in poll-bound Rajasthan.

Modi said that the Congress, during its 70 years of rule in the country, could not arrange for people to worship at Karatpur and he was fortunate that the job of building the Kartarpur corridor fell to his lot.

"We can understand the lure of power but I am surprised how in such greed balance is lost, what mistakes are made. Such mistakes are being made to this day. When India got its independence in 1947, when it was partitioned, such was the hurry to get into the seat of power they could not see that after the partition, done on the basis of religion, Muslims wanted a new nation ... and made such mistakes that Kartarpur Sahib, the seat of Guru Nanak Dev's learning and his final resting place, went to Pakistan.

"Had they had even a little sensitivity and wisdom about what place Guru Nanak Dev holds in the hearts and minds of the Indian people, our Kartarpur, a mere three kilometres away, would not have been taken away from us," he said.

"The Congress remained in power for 70 years, battles were fought, battles were won also. Tall claims were made. But it could not make arrangement for one to worship at the Guru Nanak Devji's resting place.

"It's my good fortune that the job of constructing Kartarpur corridor came to my lot," he added.

The proposed corridor will link Gurdwara Sahib Kartarpur to Dera Baba Nanak in Indian Punjab. Guru Nanak Dev spent the last 18 years of his life at Kartarpur Sahib.

The Prime Minister accused the Congress of indulging in a number of scams during its previous two terms and thanked people for voting for him.

"Take out any newspaper from five years back. Recall their headlines: 'coal scam', 'lost this many crores', '2G scam'. Was it not the case? 'Submarine scam', news of only theft and scams. Scams were only things that were there in newspapers," Modi said.

"Today, it's been five years, did you get to come across any such news since? What made all this possible. It was your vote."Panaji, Dec 4 : Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane on Tuesday ordered a crackdown on non-licenced businesses run by foreigners in the coastal state, alleging that these were being used as drug havens.

"We have already formed a list of foreigners doing business in different parts of Goa. We are going to start in the North first and then move towards the South," Rane told the media here.

"Most of these outlets, according to reports, are nothing but drug havens. We will take strict actions," the Minister said, adding that the Health Act was also in the process of being modified.

Rane also said that a drive would be conducted to launch a crackdown on clubs, including those operated by foreign nationals, who do not meet with the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) standards of food and hygiene.

"There are many clubs which are operational. The FDA will raid those clubs and if food standards are not up to the mark, the kitchen will be sealed and locked."

The coastline of Goa is filled with small businesses run by foreigners, many of them in partnership with local businesses.Jammu, Dec 4 : Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik on Tuesday paid tribute to Kashmiri leader Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah on his 113th birth anniversary.

In a statement here, Malik recalled the significant contribution the founder of the National Conference made to develop the state.

"A sustained endeavour towards strengthening of our democratic institutions and maintenance of communal harmony and brotherhood will be a befitting tribute to Sheikh Sahib," Malik said.

He said the late Sheikh Abdullah was a popular leader and a social reformer who fought for the rights of the oppressed sections irrespective of caste, creed or religion and strived for the sustenance of secular and pluralistic values.

The 113th birth anniversary is being observed on Wednesday. The state government has declared a public holiday for Wednesday.Kolkata, Dec 4 : The gem and jewellery sector, hit by cash flow and facing hurdles in financing, is expecting that the growth in exports will be flat in dollar term by end of the current fiscal, an official said on Tuesday.

The industry is betting on the Christmas sales in the US to push up the exports.

"We are facing some challenges in financing. We are sorting out with the government and banks. Risk profile of our sector has increased and advancing to the sector is based on the profile. Banks are putting certain regulations and asking more collateral," Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) Executive Director Sabyasachi Ray said here.

"Collateral is around 20-25 per cent of total limit and we are ready to move it up to another 10-15 per cent depending on the scenario," he said.

Banks' exposure in the sector is around Rs 60,000 crore and cash flow still remained an issue, the council's Chairman, Pramod Kumar Agarwal, told the media after the inauguration of the first ever India Jewellery Buyer Seller meet.

Last year, total gem and jewellery exports stood at around $41 billion and during April-October period of the current fiscal the gross exports were down by 1.48 per cent in dollar term.

"Maybe in rupee term, we may clock growth. But in dollar term, exports are expected to be flat," Ray said. "Early indications are positive in terms of sales in the US and the industry is looking for Christmas sales in the US."

Devaluation of the rupee has also hit exporters in terms of credit limit.

"Credit limit is in rupee term. With the devaluation, every limit has gone down proportionately. This is a challenge that we are facing," Ray said.

Agarwal also said the council also wanted the government to reduce the duty on diamonds.Patna, Dec 4 : Ruling BJP members on Tuesday protested against Bihar Police's action against ABVP activists, and demanded the arrest of JD-U's national Vice President Prashant Kishor for breaking the model code of conduct ahead of the student union poll in the Patna University.

Their demonstration came a day after an Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad activist was arrested for pelting stones at Kishor's vehicle when he was coming out after a meeting with Patna University Vice Chancellor.

Kishor's vehicle was damaged in the attack.

A dozen activists of the Rashtriya Swayamseval Sangh students' wing ABVP, two Bharatiya Janata Party legislators -- Arun Sonja and Nitin Navin -- along with several party leaders staged the sit-in at Pirbahor police station on Tuesday.

They shouted slogans against the BJP-JD(U) government and demanded the arrest of Kishor, who is considered close to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

They said Kishor has tried to influence the Patna University Student Union polls, scheduled for Wednesday, by holding a four-hour long meeting on Monday night.

The arrested ABVP activists have been released on bail.

Nitin Navin, who leads a team of BJP Yuva Morcha on Monday night told Governor Lalji Tondon that Kishor has openly violated the model code of conduct.

Kishor's meeting with the vice chancellor was to aid the Chatra JD-U, student wing of the Janata Dal-United, they alleged.

Strongly reacting to the ABVP and BJP demands, Kishor wanted to know under what section of the Indian Penal Code his arrest was being demanded.

However, he said: "I will speak only after the student union polls."

An election strategist-turned-politician, Kishor joined the JD-U a few months ago and is spearheading the party's efforts to widen its network.Ranchi, Dec 4 : Jharkhand will add the names of 20 Maoists to the bounty list, police said on Tuesday.

"The names of the 20 Maoists have been sent to state Home Department for approval, after which they will be made public," a police official told IANS, adding that the names include one of Prayag Manjhi who is carrying a reward of Rs 1 crore.

Manjhi is central committee member of banned Maoist outfit, Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist).

Police has initiated the process to seize the properties of those to be added to the list.

Earlier, the state government had approved a list containing the names of 210 Maoists.

The state government announces the reward amount to get information about the Maoists so that they can be arrested. Some of them surrender and get the money.

Maoists are active in 18 of the 24 districts of the state.Hyderabad, Dec 4 : Southern film superstar and politician Pawan Kalyan led a protest at Ananthapuram in Andhra Pradesh, against the drought situation in Rayalaseema.

The farmers in the Rayalaseema districts had been neglected due to internal differences of the ruling dispensation, said Jana Sena Party founder Pawan Kalyan.

"For generations together, the rulers have neglected the Rayalaseema region, forcing thousands to migrate to other states in search of livelihood. I appeal to the people not to bear the injustices anymore," Kalyan said in a statement.

He held the protest march on Monday which saw a whole lot of people join in. It took Kalyan himself an hour to reach the venue due to the crowd.Tehran, Dec 4 : Accusing the US of trying to push India away from Iran, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that Washington cannot stop Tehran from exporting oil and warned that no crude will be exported from the Persian Gulf if Iranian oil sales were blocked.

The US has re-imposed its unilateral sanctions on Iran, including an oil embargo, after withdrawing in May from the landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and major world powers earlier in defiance of international objections.

Washington had initially vowed to reduce Iran's oil sales to "zero", but later backed down and granted waivers to almost all of Tehran's major crude buyers.

"The US should know (this) that we sell and will sell our oil and it will not be able to block Iran's oil exports. And it should also know that if it attempts to stop Iran's oil (sales) someday, no oil will be exported from the Persian Gulf," Rouhani said during a speech in Semnan province's Shahroud city.

"We will expand our relationship with neighbours, the Muslim countries and the world," Rouhani was quoted as saying by Press TV.

He added that the US was trying to push Europe, China and India away from Iran and "spread Iranophobia in the region".

Rouhani said that "Washington always suffered defeat in its several hostile plots against Iran".

He added that all countries "condemned Washington's sanctions on Tehran, the US was defeated in the UN Security Council and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague" over the issue.

The Iranian leader also took an aim at Tel Aviv, saying that "the US and Israel cannot tolerate the existence of a powerful Tehran" and added that the his country would never bow to them.Bhopal, Dec 4 : No Central or state ministers will not be allowed to enter the counting centres in Madhya Pradesh on December 11, when the counting will take place in the state, said a top election official on Tuesday.

According to an announcement from the state's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO)'s office, the ministers will be allowed entry in the counting centres for those Assembly constituencies only from where are contesting the polls.

Citing the Election Commission directive in this regard, the CEO's office said the security personnel of the ministers will also not be allowed inside the voting centres.

Also, since the ministers have their armed security personnel with them, they will not be nominated as an election agent or calculation agent for any candidate.

The state went to polls on November 28 and the counting of votes will take place on December 11.Katowice (Poland), Dec 4 : UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called upon the nations to redefine their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to mitigate climate effects and to achieve goals under the Paris Agreement that include disbursement of $100 billion per year for 2020-2025 by rich nations.

In his address at the UN climate negotiations, known as COP24, which saw world leaders and decision-makers getting to work on mitigating climate change in this Polish city, Guterres said: "We need clear moves not only by national governments but also by other actors such as sub-national governments, businesses and investors.

"Over the coming year, the UN Development Programme, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and my team will be supporting national governments as they redefine their NDCs and their long-term strategies," Guterres said while laying out his vision for the 2019 Climate Summit in New York.

Inviting all nations to attend his climate summit to review the Paris Agreement commitments, he said: "I call on all leaders to come to the summit prepared to address not only their progress towards achieving their goals under the Paris Agreement, but also to outline their plans and progress towards raising their ambition."

The Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, was an essential step to address climate change. It has the central goal of keeping global average temperature rise this century to well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to as close as possible to 1.5 degrees.

The Paris Agreement marked a historic turning point. World leaders from across the globe clinched a new, universal agreement under the umbrella of the UNFCCC.

In this UN climate change conference, governments are set to agree on the implementation guidelines of the Paris Agreement, thereby unleashing its full potential.

Agreeing that the climate mitigations were not on track, Guterres said the summit he will host next September in New York "will help put us on track".

Outlining its agenda, he said the summit would focus on delivering three key outcomes: Raising real ambition, transformative action in the real economy and an unprecedented citizen and youth mobilization.

On mobilization of finance to adapt climate mitigation plans, the UN Secretary-General said: "A central question in this will be dealing with finance.

"We are now starting a process that we hope will lead to a much stronger mobilization of the financial resources to make sure the Paris decisions, in relation to the mobilization of $100 billion, will be fully met.

"I have asked French President Emmanuel Macron and Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness to lead a process of mobilization of the international community," said the UN chief.

As Guterres spoke at the Katowice opening climate summit a day earlier, the World Bank Group announced a major new set of climate targets for 2021-2025, doubling its current five-year investments to around $200 billion in support for countries to take ambitious climate action.

The new plan significantly boosts support for adaptation and resilience, recognizing mounting climate change impacts on lives and livelihoods, especially in the world's poorest countries.

The plan also represents significantly ramped up ambition from the World Bank Group, sending an important signal to the wider global community to do the same.New Delhi : While investment in critical social infrastructure like education is a pre-requisite for a country's sustainable development, government expenditure on education in India, as a percentage of GDP, has declined from 3.1 per cent in 2012-13 to 2.4 per cent in 2015-16, with a marginal increase to 2.7 percent in the budget estimates for 2017-18 (Economic Survey, 2017-18).

Out of the total expenditure on education, the government spends about 1 percent of the GDP on higher education, which is much lower compared to the developed countries, like the United States and the United Kingdom, which have the world's top ranked higher education institutes. The US spends about 1.37 percent of its GDP on higher education and the UK 1.34 per cent of its GDP.

Although increasing the government spending on education does not guarantee improved performance of the education institutes, which depends upon a multitude of other factors, it is a necessary factor in stimulating their development and making them globally competitive.

While, the central government's expenditure on higher education increased from Rs 15, 472 crore in 2010-11 to Rs 34, 862 crore in 2017-18, followed by a 0.4 per cent increase in the allocation for 2018-19, the funds seem to be inadequate with regard to the growth projections for the higher education system in terms of student enrollment, and also for quality enhancement.

Another issue India's higher education system faces is the persistent gap between the projected demand for funds and the actual allocations made. In the budget estimates for 2018-19, only about 55 per ccent of the funds demanded were allocated for higher education, making it difficult to achieve the desired excellence in the sector.

Further, institution-wise allocation of funds suggests, that about half are given to central universities (as grants), Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), and regulatory authorities (UGC and AICTE), leaving very small amounts for state universities and their affiliated colleges.

According to the 2016 Parliamentary Standing Committee Report on Human Resource Development, "Issues and Challenges before Higher Educational Sector in India", about 65 per cent of the UGCs budget is utilised by the central universities and their colleges, while state universities and their affiliated colleges receive only the remaining 35 per cent. The All India Survey on Higher Education, 2017-18, shows that state universities and their affiliated colleges together account for the majority share in the total university and college enrollment yet lack the required central government funding for their development.

To address the issues of equity, access and excellence in state higher education institutes, the central government launched Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) scheme in 2013, under which eligible state universities and colleges are entitled to receive central funding in the ratio of 60:40 (central:state share) for the general category states, 90:10 for special category states, and 100 per cent for union territories.

While the funds allocated for RUSA increased by 8 per cent in the budget estimates for 2018-19 over the revised estimates of 2017-18, indicating greater central government support to the state higher education institutions, one of the issues which needs to be dealt with is the low percentage of grants being utilised. As on the September 30, 2017, only about 24.7 percent of the central government funds were utilised under the RUSA scheme.

Looking at the public expenditure on education incurred by the states, there has been an increase in the overall development expenditure, with higher allocations been made for Education, Sports, Art and Culture in the budget estimates made for 2018-19 vis-A -vis 2017-18.

However, the state government expenditure on education as a proportion of the aggregate expenditure has been declining from 16.5 per cent in 2013-14 to 15.3 per cent in 2015-16, followed by an estimated decline of 14.8 per cent in 2017-18. This decline points towards the changing composition of expenditure on social services, with increased spending on sectors such as water supply and sanitation and housing and urban development.

It is essential for India to target the public expenditures towards the growth-enhancing investment in education sector if it needs to fully capitalize its demographic dividend. There exists a persistent gap between the funds demanded by the higher education institutes and the funds allocated to them. It is imperative to close this gap to bring excellence in the system.

Further, it is also important for the education institutions to appropriately chart their projected expenditure so that the funds allocated by the government do not remain underutilised. While, increasing the public spending on the education is important for achieving the growth projections for student enrollment and quality improvement, it is also crucial to make optimal usage of these funds so that efficiency of public investment increases.

As for the state universities, which comprise the majority share in the university and college enrollments, given the funding constraints on the state budgets, the RUSA scheme looks promising as long as the central government's share is released completely and also utilised appropriately by the state-level institutions.

(Amit Kapoor is chair, Institute for Competitiveness, India. The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at amit.kapoor@competitiveness.in and tweets @kautiliya. Deepti Mathur, senior researcher at large, Institute for Competitiveness has contributed to the article).New Delhi, Dec 4 : Condemning the Bulandshahr violence in which a police Inspector and a civilian were killed, the CPI-M on Tuesday said it was planned to hike communal tensions ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

"We strongly condemn the brutal killing of police Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh by a mob in Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh. Along with him an innocent bystander was also shot dead," the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) said in a statement.

"The sudden eruption of violent protests took place on the pretext of cow slaughter due to carcasses found in dubious circumstances in a village in Siana area. This fits in with the pattern of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and other Hindutva outfits instigating communal tensions," it said.

"Such incidents are planned in view of the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. The communally provocative speeches being made by Chief Minister Adityanath have also created an atmosphere for the mobs to act with impunity," it added.

The party demanded "firm action" against the perpetrators of the Monday violence and steps to ensure that no communal incidents occur.

VHP activist Upendra Raghav, BJP city youth wing President Shikhar Agarwal and Bajrang Dal district coordinator Yogesh Raj have been named in the FIR (First Information Report) in the wake of the violence.New Delhi, Dec 4 : Alleging the BJP in "collusion with the local administration" was "attempting to tamper/replace" EVMs during the November 28 Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls, the Congress of Tuesday sought an EC probe into four such incidents, including where EVMs were being transported to a collection centre in Sagar after 48 hours of polling.

A Congress delegation led by former Union Ministers Kapil Sibal and Kamal Nath submitted a memorandum to the Election Commission, including video evidence of the four incidents, that occurred respectively in Sagar, Bhopal, Satna and Shajapur districts.

"A number of incidents in various districts of MP have been reported demonstrating the ruling BJP in collusion wih local administration tried to tamper/replace the EVMs used in the districts of Sagar , Bhopal, Satna, Shajapur and districts," the Congress said in the memorandum.

Citing the incident in Sagar where EVMs were transported in a vehicle without a registration number and reaching the collection centre 48 hours after the voting ended in the state, the Congress demanded a probe into all the EVMs to ascertain which authority directed the transport of the EVMs and whether any "foreign chip or any external device or component has been attached to the EVMs".

It also demanded a probe into an EVM strongroom facing blackout in Bhopal on November 30 with CCTVs not working during the blackout.

The EC had earlier admitted that that CCTV cameras and an LED display installed outside the strongroom did not function from 8.19 am to 9.35 am on November 30 due to the failure of electricity supply.

Pointing to two polling officers "found drunk" along with EVMs inside a hotel owned by a Bharatiya Janata Party functionary a day before the polls (Nov 27), the Congress asked for a probe to ascertain if those EVMs were used in the poll process and if yes, whether they have been tampered.

The two officers were subsequently suspended by the EC after a video of the duo with the voting machines went viral on social media.

Regarding the incident in Satna where a strongroom CCTV footage revealed "two people taking cartons inside the highly protected area", the Congress said the "security of the strongroom was compromised to benefit certain persons" and demanded that all the EVMs stored in the room be crosschecked in the presence of representatives of all political parties.

It also sought a detailed investigation as to how unauthorized persons with cartons were permitted to illegally enter the strongroom.New Delhi, Dec 4 : Samsung India on Tuesday unveiled its new consumer solid state drive (SSD) lineup -- the Samsung 860 QVO SSD -- featuring up to four terabytes (TB) of storage capacity.

Built on the company's high-density 4-bit multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash architecture, the 860 QVO aims to make terabyte capacities more accessible.

"There is a rise in demand for higher capacities and greater performance when it comes to storage devices as consumers, today, are producing, sharing and using more high resolution files, which include graphic intensive games and 4K videos," Sukesh Jain, Senior Vice President, IT and Mobile Enterprise Business, Samsung India, said in a statement.

Mainstream PC users handling large multi-media content often need to upgrade their PC's storage to improve everyday computing experience.

Samsung said the 860 QVO fits perfectly into most standard laptops or desktops as it is based on the commonly used Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) interface and 2.5-inch form factor.

The 860 QVO will be available in India from January 2019 at a starting price of Rs 11,249 for the 1TB model, Rs 18,749 for 2TB Model and Rs 37,499 for 4 TB model, Samsung said.Beijing, Dec 4 : China on Tuesday said its President Xi Jinping's visit to Panama was a step forward to improve bilateral ties and turn the Latin American country into Beijing's gateway to Central America.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told reporters that Xi and his Panamanian counterpart, Juan Carlos Varela, on Monday reached broad agreements and achieved positive and productive results during their meeting at Presidential Palace in Panama City.

The spokesperson said Beijing would give the Panama Canal more importance in its trade as due to its strategic location, Panama could become the gateway and point of connection between China and Central America, Efe news reported.

He also stressed that Xi's visit -- the first by a Chinese leader to Panama -- had led to bilateral cooperation in economy, tourism, logistics, infrastructure, education and health.

China, with whom Panama was negotiating a free trade treaty, already has an important presence in the Central American country.

It is the second largest user of the Panama Canal after the US, and the main supplier to Panama's Colon Free Trade Zone, the largest free port to the Americas.

Xi's visit to Panama after attending the G20 summit in Buenos Aires was part of China's plans to expand its influence in Latin America, a region which has historically been in Washington's sphere of influence.

Since June, when Panama broke diplomatic ties with Taiwan and established relations with China, Beijing has increased its presence in the Central American country with its companies getting multi-million dollar contracts.Lucknow, Dec 4 : A court in Ayodhya on Tuesday sent sadhu, Paramhans, to 14-day judicial custody, officials said. He had threatened to set himself ablaze on December 6, the anniversary of the Babri mosque demolition, if the date for construction of Ram temple was not announced, police said.

Paramhans was picked up by the police in the morning and presented before the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court.

He had gone on an indefinite fast unto death last month too, but was persuaded to end it. But not before he was taken away by the police and admitted to the Sanjay Gandhi Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI). The Chief Minister had ended his fast by offering him juice.

This time, sources said, intelligence inputs forewarned the state government that the seer could pose a serious threat to peace in the temple town.Shillong, Dec 4 : The family members of two prominent women's rights activists, who were injured in a mob attack in Meghalaya, on Tuesday urged Chief Minister Conrad Sangma to institute a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the incident.

Frontline women's rights activists Agnes Kharshiing and Amita Sangma, fighting against illegal mining and transportation of coal in the state, were brutally attacked after they photographed coal-laden trucks on November 8 at Tuber Sohshrieh area in East Jaintia Hills district.

The National Green Tribunal had ordered an interim ban on "rat-hole" coal mining in Meghalaya from April 17, 2014.

Welcoming the government decision for an independent probe, the family members requested the Chief Minister to allow and facilitate an independent investigation to be conducted by the CBI so as to apprehend and arrest all those miscreants including those who masterminded the attack and who are "indulging in unlawful activities in open connivance with administration authorities".

In their joint letter, the family members blamed the failure of the administration to address the issues of mining that has resulted in criminal and barbaric acts.

"Society has lost faith in a fair investigation or prosecution of the accused persons behind this attack if conducted by the state agencies," said the family members, further reiterating on a time-bound investigation by the CBI.

Home Minister James Sangma Ahad had said that there was no need for a probe by the central agency as the government had instituted an independent fact-finding inquiry.Ranchi, Dec 4 : Criminals looted Rs 40 lakh from a Punjab National Bank situated in Jharkhand's Dumka district on Tuesday evening, police said.

"There was only one customer inside the bank when the criminals wearing masks and holding guns barged in. Numbering five to six, they took the bank staff into one room and locked them in," branch Manager Sarita Kumari told reporters.

"The criminals put the cash in one bag and escaped. The estimated cash looted is around Rs 40 lakh. The exact amount will be known only later," she said.Brussels, Dec 4 : European Union finance ministers were unable to reach an agreement on digital services tax reforms that would target the revenues raised by tech giants like Google and Facebook after various member states opposed the proposed directive.

The European Commission had submitted a proposal to impose a 3 per cent digital services tax on any registered profits for tech businesses with annual worldwide revenues that exceed 750 million euros ($855 million) or annual revenues within the EU that surpass 50 million euros, Efe news reported.

"The new rules will also change how profits are allocated to member states in a way which better reflects how companies can create value online: For example, depending on where the user is based at the time of consumption," the EC explained on its website.

"Ultimately, the new system secures a real link between where digital profits are made and where they are taxed."

However, after it became evident the directive would not get the necessary unanimous backing, with Sweden and Ireland flatly rejecting it, France and Germany adjusted the proposal late Monday to reduce the scope of the new levy in a bid to get the directive passed.

The significantly altered proposal would only apply a 3 per cent tax to sales of digital advertising space and excludes revenues raised through trading of user data and profits of any other sales.

Franco-German lawmakers urged an implementation of the diluted directive "without delay and in any case before March 2019", which in practice would come into effect by January 2021 if the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development does not implement a global solution for the failures and loopholes the fiscal system presents when it comes to the taxation of digital services.

Civic action group Avaaz decried the outcome of Tuesday's EC meeting.

"Today, Europe had a golden opportunity to end the injustice of tech billionaires avoiding their taxes while everyone else pays. But despite massive public pressure, ministers simply kicked the can down the road. They now have one last chance to get it done before EU elections," it tweeted.Bhopal, Dec 4 : Close on the heels of Union Minister Sushma Swarj announcing her decision not to contest the next Lok Sabha polls, Central Minister Uma Bharti on Tuesday said she too would not join the 2019 election fray.

Uma Bharti told the media that although she had decided not to contest the parliamentary elections, she was not taking 'sanyas' from active politics yet.

"I'll start work for the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and for the cause of holy Ganga from January 1," she said.

Uma Bharti now represents Jhansi-Lalitpur constituency in Parliament and is the Cabinet Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation. Prior to that, she was Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, an MP from Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh, has already declared she would not be contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha election.Shillong, Dec 4 : Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Tuesday said the government plans to create a 'farmers' commission' to tackle the problems being faced by the farming community.

"We have initiated different programmes to enable direct access to market and value addition to agriculture and horticulture products," Sangma said addressing the first Farmer's Parliament.

The Farmer's Parliament is organised by the Department of Agriculture in collaboration with Meghalaya Basin Development Agency and Hill Farmers' Union.

Admitting that there has been inherent problem of infrastructure, logistics and market linkages, he said, "We believe that through farmer's parliament, there will be a direct engagement enabling us to further develop our policies in sync with the needs of our farmers."

Sangma said the government has initiated the Farmer's Parliament to understand the plight of the farming community and assist them through different pro-active policies.

"Farmer's Parliament is allowing government officials and policy makers to meet at a single platform to find ways and means to address the challenges affecting the farming community of Meghalaya," he said.

Sangma also told the farmers that the government intends to upscale the potential of the farming community through different innovative and marketing programmes.New Delhi, Dec 4 : Hitting back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for blaming the Congress for letting "Kartarpur Sahib go to Pakistan during partition", the party on Tuesday ridiculed Modi for speaking without knowing facts.

Campaigning for Bharatiya Janata Party in poll-bound Rajasthan, Modi accused the Congress of overlooking the sentiments of millions of Sikhs by letting Kartarpur Sahib -- the final resting place of Guru Nanak Dev -- go to Pakistan during partition.

Reacting to Modi's remarks, Congress veteran Kapil Sibal said the Prime Minister has a penchant for distorting facts and misrepresenting them to suit his own interests.

"Has Modi read history? It was because of the Congress that he was born in free India.

"He has a penchant for talking without knowing facts. Two years back while conversing with (Facebook chief Mark) Zuckerberg in California, Modi claimed India to be $8 trillion economy when we currently are just a $2.16 trillion economy," Sibal told the media here.

Sibal also cited Modi's faux pas at the World Economic Forum in Davos, when he claimed that "more than 600 crore voters in India voted for the BJP".

"Modi thinks being the Prime Minister he can say anything and people will believe it. In enthusiasm, people tend to go overboard but when talking about history, one should be aware of facts. Have you ever heard any Prime Minister talking like him," asked Sibal.

The Congress leader also attacked Modi for politicising the 2016 surgical strikes, saying the Prime Minister "should talk about the surgical strikes that his government has inflicted on the masses, farmers, traders and Dalits through its anti-people policies".New Delhi, Dec 4 : Christian Michel James, a British national and a middleman, on Tuesday was extradited to India, a development that comes as a boost to Indian agencies investigating the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal case.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took him under his custody as soon as he arrived at the Indira Gandhi International Airport around 11 p.m. in a special aircraft. James, 57, was accompanied by some CBI, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Ministry of External Affairs officials. After the immigation procedure, he will be taken to the CBI headquarters at south Delhi's Lodhi Road area.

The central probe agency in a press note said the entire extradition operation was conducted under the guidance of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and coordination of interim CBI Director M. Nageswara Rao.

A team lead by Joint CBI Director A. Sai Manohar had been to Dubai to extradite James, who has been avoiding criminal proceedings in India in AgustaWestland case.

The action comes after the Court of Cassation in UAE had in November upheld a lower court order which said that Michel could be extradited to India.

According to the report, James was kept under detention at the Dubai Police's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) as per the Indian government's request. The extradition is undertaken in coordination with the Interpol and the CID.

James is one of three middlemen being probed in the case by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the scam.

In January, the ED had lodged a request with the UAE authorities for extraditing James. Both the ED and the CBI had filed chargesheets in bribery cases in Indian courts and non-bailable warrants had been issued against the accused.

Last year, a Red Corner notice was issued against James by the Interpol on a request by the CBI. RCNs were also issued against two Italians involved in the scam -- Carlo Gerosa and Guido Haschke.

According to Indian investigative agencies, James had received at least Rs 235 crore for ensuring that the chopper contract went to AgustaWestland. He was a frequent visitor to India, having undertaken 300 trips to this country between 1997 and 2013.

The ED officials earlier had said that bribes to James were paid through a web of companies located abroad and in India on the pretext of payment for consultancy work. James also used his Dubai-based firm Global Services FZE as a conduit for money.

In its chargesheet, the CBI had named former Indian Air Force chief S.P. Tyagi, his cousin Sanjeev Tyagi alias Julie, then IAF Vice Chief J.S. Gujral and advocate Gautam Khaitan as the four Indians involved in the scam.

The chargesheet mentioned Khaitan as the "brain" behind the deal.

Others named in the chargesheet included Giuseppe Orsi, the former chief of Italian defence and aerospace major Finmeccanica, and Bruno Spagnolini, former CEO of AgustaWestland, apart from middlemen James, Haschke and Gerosa.

On January 1, 2014, India cancelled the contract with Finmeccanica's British subsidiary AgustaWestland for supplying 12 AW-101 VVIP choppers to the IAF over alleged breach of contractual obligations and on charges of paying kickbacks amounting to Rs 423 crore.

The CBI, which registered an FIR in the case on March 12, 2013, had alleged that Tyagi and the other accused received kickbacks from AgustaWestland to help it win the contract.Bhubaneswar, Dec 4 : Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to initiate the move to ensure one-third reservation for women in Parliament and state legislatures.

"I request you to take the leadership in initiating necessary steps for passing the Bill for reservation of one-third of seats in Parliament and State Legislatures for women," said the Chief Minister in a letter to the Prime Minister.

He assured full support from the state government for providing women their rightful place in the decision-making process.

Patnaik said taking the historic decision to empower women in the country would be the finest tribute to the father of the nation on his 150th birth anniversary.

"Empowerment of women is the empowerment of the nation. No household, no society, no state, no country has ever moved forward without empowering its women. The principle of gender equality is enshrined in our Constitution. The country will move forward with much greater momentum only if the other half of our population, our mothers, sisters and daughters, have a role in the highest decision making bodies of our states and our country," he added.

The winter session of the state assembly has adopted a unanimous resolution to provide for one-third reservation to women in Parliament as well as the state legislatures.

In 2011, the Odisha government enhanced the reservation for women in Panchayats and urban local bodies to 50 per cent.Yerevan, Dec 4 : Two pilots were killed in an Armenian military aircraft crash in the mountains in the northwestern area of the transcaucasian state, officials said.

The SU-25 jet crashed near the town of Maralik and both the two pilots aboard were killed, Defence Ministry spokesperson Artsrun Hovhannisyan was cited as saying by Xinhua news agency.

The Ministry said the aircraft disappeared from radar some 15 minutes after taking off from the Gyumri airport on a training flight.

The cause of the crash was being investigated.Islamabad, Dec 4 : US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad arrived here on Tuesday for meetings with Pakistan's political and military leadership seeking their cooperation in bringing the Afghan Taliban to peace talks.

During his meeting with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Khalilzad reiterated US President Donald Trump's desire to seek Pakistan's assistance for peace and stability in Afghanistan.

According to Geo News, Qureshi assured the US side of Pakistan's steadfast support for a negotiated settlement in war-torn Afghanistan.

Khalilzad also held a meeting with Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua in which officials from diplomatic, security and defence from both sides were present. "Peace and political settlement in Afghanistan were discussed," Foreign Office spokesman Mohammad Faisal tweeted.

The special envoy will travel to Afghanistan, Russia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Belgium, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar during his 18-day tour till to December 20, Geo News reported.

According to a press release, Khalilzad will also meet Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and other stakeholders to coordinate closely on efforts to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table with the Afghan government.

Khalilzad last visited the region in November, where he met with members of the Afghan civil society and other government officials.Kolkata, Dec 4 : A 40-year-old woman was found dead in north-east Kolkata's Raghunathpur area, police said on Tuesday, adding her husband has been taken into custody.

"Based on a complaint lodged by Antara Acharya's family members on Monday, her husband Surojit Sarkar has been arrested for abetting suicide. Sarkar had taken her body to a nearby hospital, saying she had committed suicide by hanging," said a Baguiati police station officer.

He said the woman's parents have stated in the complaint that their daughter was tortured mentally and physically post her marriage in 2006. The couple was childless for which their relationship was disturbed.

However, another person who was known to Antara is being questioned.

"We are questioning another person, whom Antara had contacted several times before the incident. The Post-mortem report will shed light on the cause of death," police said.New Delhi, Dec 4 : A photo exhibition detailing the Cuban revolution through political icon Fidel Castro's life was opened by the Cuban envoy Oscar Martinez Cordoves here on Tuesday.

Titled "Fidel and the Foreign Policy of the Cuban Revolution", the exhibition is on view at the India International Centre (IIC) till December 9.

The year marks the 60th anniversary of the trimph of the Cuban revolution (1953-1959), and is only a few days away the Cuban liberation day, which falls on January 1, the ambassador said.

The exhibition has on view 14 posters and over a 100 photographs that summarise the foreign policy of the Cuban revolution through archival photographs and text about the late Cuban leader, who passed away in November 2016.

He governed Cuba as Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976 and then as President from 1976 to 2008.

Also on view is a poster dedicated to the relations between India and Cuba, which shows Castro's photographs with former PM Indira Gandhi and other major political leaders.

The poster in question, also has a photograph of President Ramnath Kovind paying tribute to Castro in front of the late revolutionary's memorial in Cuba.

The exhibition was inaugurated by the Cuban envoy Cordoves, along with IIC Director Air Marshal (retd) Naresh Verma, among the presence of ambassadors of Ethiopia, Dominican Republic, Iran, and Venezuela, among other countries.The brew was released over the weekend at The Open Bottle and Hailstorm Brewery, both in Tinley Park, to much fanfare as curious craft beer fans gathered to taste the limited edition brew.New Delhi, Dec 4 : Five persons were arrested on the charges of killing a Delhi Police constable, an officer said on Tuesday.

Police said the accused have been identified as Narender, Sahil, Ankit, Nitesh and Sahil -- all belonging to Haryana.

The deceased constable was identified as Dinesh. His body was found on November 29 in bushes near a private school at west Delhi's Rohini sector-11, police said.

"During investigation, police teams suspected the behaviour of Narender and arrested him. Narender had taken loan of Rs 8 lakh from Dinesh," said Deputy Commissioner of Police Rajneesh Gupta.

"Based on information provided by Narender, police teams arrested four of his accomplices from Haryana in separate raids on Monday," Gupta said.

"During interrogation, Narender revealed that he first came in contact with Dinesh's family in 2009. Gradually he became a family friend. Dinesh later got a job in Delhi Police," the DCP said.

"On the request of Narender, Dinesh last year took loan of Rs 8 lakh from a bank and gave him money for buying a taxi," the officer said.

"Dinesh was later facing difficulty in repaying the loan amount. He was pressuring Narender to return the money. Narender later planned to kill Dinesh and gave a contract of Rs 5 lakh to Nitesh to eliminate him," he said.

"On November 28, the accused chased Dinesh near a secluded place at 11.40 p.m and attacked him with bricks. They later strangled him to death and escaped," he said.Chandigarh, Dec 4 : Three employees were charred to death inside an industrial godown near Punjab's Barnala town on Tuesday after a massive fire broke out.

The victims were trapped inside the godown, in which mattresses and sofa foam were kept, and were killed in the fire, police said.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has sought a detailed report from the Barnala Deputy Commissioner.

The Chief Minister, who expressed anguish over the incident, announced ex-gratia grant of Rs 1 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased, identified as Jagjeet Singh, 24, Sikander Singh, 25, and Sadhu Singh, 27.

The industrial godown is located in Ugoke village in Tapa sub-division near Barnala town, around 175 km from Chandigarh.

An official spokesperson said the fire had been completely extinguished.Bhubaneswar, Dec 4 : The Odisha government on Tuesday said it would withdraw cases against Delhi-based defence analyst Abhijit Iyer Mitra, 41 days after he was arrested on charges of hurting sentiments of people of the state.

The government has accepted Iyer-Mitra's appeal and decided not to accord sanction of his prosecution.

"Taking into account his representation, the government has decided not to accord sanction of prosecution in cases where prosecution has been sought for and also decided to take steps to withdraw other cases pending against him by following laid-down procedures," said a statement from Home Department.

Last month, Abhijit had written to Odisha chief secretary seeking withdrawal of sanction. He had also appealed to accept his apology in having "wounded the sentiments of people of Odisha without intention".

The Commissionerate Police arrested him on October 23 for allegedly making derogatory remarks through his Twitter handle against Konark Sun Temple, Odisha's culture and its people. Two FIRs have been lodged against him.

Abhijit, lodged in Jharpara jail here, was admitted to capital hospital on Saturday after he fell ill.

The Odisha Assembly had on November 17 pardoned Abhijit after he tendered an unconditional apology for his statement against the state lawmakers.

The Assembly accepted the recommendations made by a House Committee formed under the chairmanship of leader of opposition Narasingh Mishra.

The House Committee was set up to inquire into the alleged breach of privilege relating to the remarks made by Mitra.New Delhi, Dec 4 : Two teenage boys have been arrested for allegedly killing a class 10th student of a Delhi government school, police said on Tuesday.

Police said the incident occurred around 7.45 p.m. when the local police was informed by some passers-by about a stabbing incident.

"A police team found a boy identified as Bhanu Pratap, 18, stabbed. He was rushed to the hospital but declared brought dead", Deputy Commissioner of Police Vijay Kumar said.

"A resident of south Delhi's Madangir, Bhanu Pratap was a student of class 10", Kumar said.

"During investigation, police teams arrested two teenage boys from Ambedkar Nagar area," said the DCP.

"The accused confessed to their crime and said that Bhanu Pratap often bullied them. They wanted to take revenge," the officer said.Hyderabad, Dec 5 : AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday advised Congress President Rahul Gandhi to shed his arrogance, and learn humility and modesty from his mother Sonia Gandhi.

"If you are dreaming of becoming the Prime Minister, shed your arrogance. It is my humble request that you learn humility and sincerity from your mother. She has proved that simplicity takes a person far in politics," the Hyderabad MP said.

Owaisi was addressing election rallies of his All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) in the old city of Hyderabad on Tuesday night.

Dubbing Rahul Gandhi as younger brother of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Owaisi said the Congress President had nothing but still showing arrogance. "If this is your attitude, I will fight you throughout my life," he said.

The MP took strong exception to Rahul Gandhi describing him as the 'C' team of Modi.

"I am the captain of Hyderabad team and you are captain of Janedharu team. You tried insulting me by calling me 'C' team. This reflects the mentality of your upper caste because Janedharu considers himself superior to others."

Recalling that he supported Congress party for 12 years, Owaisi said Rahul should tell the people what secret deals he struck with his party.

Owaisi said though AIMIM was contesting only eight out of 119 Assembly seats in Telangana, all the leaders from Narendra Modi to BJP President Amit Shah to Rahul Gandhi to Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President Chandrababu Naidu were worried.

He alleged that all these leaders want to finish AIMIM as it had set an example in the entire country by becoming the voice of Muslims of Hyderabad and the symbol of their unity. "They want to eliminate the political identity of Muslims of Hyderabad," he said.

Owaisi pointed out how the Muslims in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal suffer were suffering due to lack of any party to strive to safeguard their interests.

On Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's remark that if BJP comes to power Owaisi will have to flee Hyderabad, the AIMIM leader reiterated that he is neither going to flee nor he is afraid of such threats.

Owaisi said Yogi's threat was an insult to 17 crore Muslims of India as this amounts to projecting them as second class citizens.

The Hyderabad MP said the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister should first take care of his state. "In your state 'gaurakshaks' killed a police officer by shooting him in his head. Why are you coming here? You will get nothing here," he added.Los Angeles, Dec 5 : Willow Smith, daughter of Hollywood actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, says it took her years to forgive her father for how he handled her fame in music career.

In an episode of Facebook Watch's "Red Table Talk", the 18-year-old Willow, who released her debut single "Whip my hair" in 2010, said: "I definitely had to forgive you and daddy for that whole 'Whip my hair thing'. It was mostly Daddy because he was so, like, harsh at certain times.

"It was like a couple years, trying to regain trust for trying for not feeling like I wasn't listened to or no one cared what I felt during that time."

While she learned to forgive her parents, Willow added she also had to learn to forgive herself, reported people.com.

"And I had to forgive myself because I felt guilty because everyone is trying to make me better, trying to make my dream. But I didn't really understand what my dream entailed."

Earlier this year, Willow also admitted that she had cut herself during her song's success as a way to cope with the pressures of fame.

"It was after that whole 'Whip my hair' thing and I had just stopped doing singing lessons and I was kind of just in this gray area of, Who am I? Do I have a purpose? Is there anything I can do besides this?" Willow wrote.Rome, Dec 5 : Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has confirmed Italy's support for the Palestinian people and their social and economic well-being, especially that of the poorest, the Prime Minister's office has said.

During talks in Rome with Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas meeting with Abbas on Monday, Conte also reaffirmed Italy's commitment to a two-state solution to the conflict between the Palestinians and Israel, a statement said.

"It is opportune for both sides to maintain a constructive" approach in order to rapidly resumed stalled peace negotiations," the statement said.

"In this regard, the prime minister underlined the moral imperative for a concrete response to the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip," it said.

Abbas thanked Italy "for its unwavering political and financial support and its security and cultural cooperation," the statement concluded.

Abbas earlier on Monday met Italy's president Sergio Mattarella, Pope Francis and Vatican secretary of state Pietro Parolin during his Rome visit.Commerz Real has sold the Joseph-Bech-Building in Luxembourg, the headquarters of the European statistical office Eurostat, for approx. 168 million. In addition, the Commerz Real closed-end real estate fund CFB 49 has sold its fund property, a piece of office real estate in Wiesbadens Mainz-Kastel district, to a special purpose

[]15Five, a trailblazer in the continuous performance management category, today announced the close of an $8.2 million Series A round led by Chicago and Salt Lake City-based Origin Ventures, with participation from New Ground Ventures, Chaifetz Group, Jason Calacaniss LAUNCH Fund, and leading SaaS investor Matrix Partners, who co-led the startups seed funding. This latest round of financing brings 15Fives total capital raised to $11.9 million.

15Five will use the latest investment to support its global growth initiatives, including accelerating product innovation and scaling the sales, marketing and product teams. The company plans to grow its employee headcount by more than 100 percent in the coming year, expanding from 34 employees at the start of 2018 to more than 100 in 2019.

The latest round will advance our mission to address the changing world of work, said David Hassell, co-founder and CEO of 15Five. This is an opportunity to continue building on what many of the worlds leading companies have already discovered, which is that empowering employees with solutions like 15Five is foundational to driving long-term growth.

Thats why Spotify, Indeed, HubSpot and TechStyle have embraced 15Five, adds Hassell. The support of customers like these has helped us become the #1 product in both the Employee Engagement and Performance Management categories on G2 Crowd.

Reviewers on sites like G2 Crowd have praised the 15Five continuous performance management suite for being easy to set-up, intuitive and highly customizable. Key features include a weekly check-in function, employee recognition, an Objectives and Key Results tracking system, and 360 reviews. Companies can seamlessly integrate the platform with critical business applications like Slack, BambooHR, Namely, Okta and OneLogin.

There has never been a bigger opportunity for companies to boost the performance of their employees, said Hassell. Companies are still using the annual review - an assessment of performance that has been a standard since 1940 - to deliver employee feedback. But, todays workforce demands continuous feedback. Companies that arent using solutions like 15Five to provide constant feedback are going to see an approximate 400 percent reduction in employee motivation and nearly a 200 percent reduction in employee productivity. This is why its never been more important for companies to invest in continuous performance management.

15Five Co-Founder and Chief Culture Officer Shane Metcalf agrees, Millennials have been transforming the workplace over the last decade, demanding more feedback and career development opportunities. But, performance management hasnt maintained pace with the rate of change. 15Five resonates so strongly with businesses worldwide because it helps them foster cultures that respond to evolving employee needs.

In addition to using the funds to grow the team, 15Five plans to use the capital to add new integrations to the platform, including more in-depth analytics. Another focus will be on adding features that enable employees to better track career progression, which will ultimately allow for greater self-discovery to power long-term professional growth. 15Five will also be offering trainings in their Best-Self Management methodology in 2019, which promises to positively transform the performance management space.

"Origin Ventures is excited to be investing in 15Five, the market leader in continuous performance feedback. The company's product aligns perfectly with the expectations of today's workforce, leading to high employee satisfaction and reduced attrition, said Brent Hill, Partner, Origin Ventures, who will be joining 15Five's board of directors. We couldnt be more excited about investing in a product thats helping drive the transformation of the global workforce now and well into the future.

To learn more about 15Five, please visit: https://www.15five.com/

To schedule a demo, contact: https://my15five.com/sign-up

About 15Five

15Five is a continuous performance management solution that helps employees grow and develop, in just 15 minutes each week. Through a lightweight weekly check-in, 15Five delivers everything a manager needs to impact employee performance, including continuous feedback, objectives (OKR) tracking, recognition, 1-on-1s, and 360 reviews. 15Five is the #1 performance management software out of 170 vendors on G2 Crowd, with over 1,600 forward-thinking companies using the solution to bring out the best in their people. To learn more, please visit https://www.15five.com/

About Origin Ventures

Origin Ventures is a venture capital firm founded in 1999 based in Chicago and Salt Lake City, primarily focused on Series A equity investments in software and technology-enabled marketplace companies capable of exponential growth. With $135M in assets under management, Origin makes investments across North America, with significant capital currently invested in Chicago, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Kansas City, Minneapolis, and Boston. The four partners are former operators and engineers with a combined 60+ years of venture investing experience. Origin Ventures is investing out of its fourth fund.Arizona Business Attorney, Brad Denton, Addressing Crowd on Religious Tolerance and American-Pakistani Relations Some people say that Pakistan and the U.S. cannot be friends. I dont believe that.

Brad Denton, partner at Denton Peterson, was invited in October 2018 to address a gathering in Pakistan regarding religious tolerance and US-Pakistan relations. Mr. Denton delivered his address to about 1,500 students, faculty and administration at the Jinnah Model Inter College and High School in Sialkot, Punjab Province.

Pakistan has many challenges, but its people are working hard to overcome them, Mr. Denton said. I was honored to be asked to give this address. He said that many Americans assume that Pakistanis hate Americans, or even that Pakistan is Americas enemy. Our governments have their differences, but in all my traveling, Ive never been treated more kindly than I have during my trips to Pakistan. In fact, Mr. Denton received the most extended applause of his speech when he talked about friendship between the two peoples: Some people say that Pakistan and the U.S. cannot be friends. I dont believe that. And each of you can now say that you have an American friend.

The Jinnah Model School has both Muslim and Christian students, and Mr. Denton spoke about the fact that people everywhere should tolerate and support one another. One thing I really appreciated was that I was invited specifically to address religious tolerance. It was gratifying to share that message, and to have it received so warmly.

Fraz Ahmed, Administration Council Member, said that he appreciated Mr. Dentons address. Of course it is rare for our students and staff to have the opportunity to hear directly from an American, much less an experienced attorney. We were grateful to hear his thoughts. Mr. Denton also met privately with school administrators on October 25 and 26. Jinnah Model School, like many schools in Pakistan, is a private institution, but it keeps its tuition as low as possible. Jinnah Model School leaders are constantly striving to give students the richest possible educational experience with very limited resources. The school was established in 1990 by Chaudhry Sharif Sahb.

Mr. Denton has been a business attorney in the Phoenix area since 1998. The firm serves small and medium-sized businesses, as well as individuals. I think my legal and business experience has helped as I interact with professionals in foreign countries, he said. Some issues are the same no matter where you go. You never know when my experience interacting with Arizona business owners will help during a conversation about, say, financing facility upgrades at a school in Pakistan.

Mr. Denton is widely traveled, having spent significant time on humanitarian and volunteer trips to Japan, India, Peru, Mozambique, Fiji and Pakistan. He has also traveled to numerous other countries for business or tourism purposes. Having a broader view of the world really does help as I interact with my clients. Thats particularly the case as I meet with my international clients. In just the past few years, Mr. Denton and other attorneys at Denton Peterson have served clients from Japan, India, Pakistan, Great Britain, Mexico, the Philippines, Israel, Brazil, Canada, and other countries.While in college, she said, I saw a lot of people coming in freshman year saying, yes I want to be an engineer, but by December of that year and also going into my sophomore year, a lot of those people werent in my classes any longer. They werent in engineering any longer . . . They werent prepared. There is still a large gap in the education that we receive especially in many inner city schools. Some students come into college never having taken a calculus class.Our combined company is uniquely positioned to provide our clients with frictionless self-service subscription tools, as well as a single point of access to all customer and content assets. - Scott Roessler, CEO, NEWSCYCLE Solutions

NEWSCYCLE Solutions (Newscycle), the largest software supplier serving the global news media industry, today announces the acquisition of Marketing G2 (MG2), a Pennsylvania-based software company that develops digital tools for online subscriptions, customer engagement, data discovery and audience lifecycle management.

With 1.1 million new digital subscriptions managed annually, MG2 focuses on building a suite of subscription products and services that work with a data management platform to gather data and generate actionable insights. The MG2 product suite includes applications to manage audience engagement and customer relationship management, as well as data discovery and visualization. The company also provides an array of marketing, analytical, training and site hosting services, which are used today by more than 30 percent of the top online news media groups in the world.

Since its inception, MG2 has been about technology that improves customer engagement and user experience, said company president and founder, Patrick Glennon. Our growth is a testament to a great team dedicated to providing digital technology that leverages customer data to transform the business of producing and selling content.

As news media companies continue to rely on subscription revenues as the key to future digital growth, publishing executives are investing in technologies that deepen audience engagement, provide better analytics, and create new monetization opportunities via personalized and targeted subscription models.

Our industry is hungry for more efficient and diverse solutions that deliver new subscriber revenues and increased engagement, said Mr. Glennon. Achieving these objectives can be difficult for media organizations as they navigate changing times. The integration of MG2 and Newscycle Solutions will provide an even more dynamic platform, so our customers can see significant impact at the right scale. Im thrilled to be leading the combined MG2 and Newscycle subscription teams to continue finding the right solutions for our clients. I see a very exciting phase of growth and innovation for all as a result.

The MG2 product suite complements the Newscycle subscription and content management platforms with a set of digital applications that enable better tracking of audience behaviors, tighter management of related data, and the ability to generate data-driven marketing campaign decisions, said Newscycle CEO, Scott Roessler. With this acquisition, our combined company is uniquely positioned to provide our clients with frictionless self-service subscription tools, as well as a single point of access to all customer and content assets.

The transaction closed on December 3, 2018. Financial terms have not been disclosed.

About NEWSCYCLE Solutions

NEWSCYCLE Solutions is the leading provider of software and services powering the global media industry. Our content management, advertising management, subscription management and mobile solutions help companies drive profitability and accelerate digital business models. With headquarters in Bloomington, MN and regional offices throughout the world, Newscycle Solutions is a trusted partner serving over 2,500 news media, broadcast, magazine, financial services and corporate clients in 45 countries. Please visit http://www.newscycle.com for more information or write to us at info@newscycle.com.

About Marketing G2

Marketing G2 (MG2) develops data-driven customer engagement technology and management tools that enable subscription-based companies to utilize all their data, technology, and content assets to engage customers and prospects to grow audience, increase revenues, and reduce costs. MG2s customer engagement platform and data-driven products and services are utilized by many of the leading media companies throughout North America including Advance Newspapers, Cox Media Group, Digital First Media, Gannett, Hearst, Simon & Schuster and Tribune Publishing. MG2 is based in Horsham, PA. To learn more, please call 1-267-657-0207 or visit http://www.marketingg2.com.We selected Scivantage for its seamless, streamlined, fully integrated solution to our tax service needs, which covers everything from cost-basis reporting to forms preparation. This allows us to focus on our core business: delivering leading-edge digital offerings to investors

Scivantage, a leading SaaS provider of Cost Basis, Information Reporting and Digital Wealth Management solutions announced today that DriveWealth, LLC, an innovator in digital broker solutions, has selected Maxit E2E to provide automated cost basis reporting and complete end-to-end tax reporting to its brokerage clients.

DriveWealth will leverage the Maxit end-to-end tax platform (Maxit E2E) to provide all of the tax information essential to meet the reporting requirements to produce IRS 1099 forms for its clients.

Maxit E2E is the only solution in the financial services marketplace to provide its clients a one-stop-shop for all information reporting needs, including cost basis reporting, form composition, digital and print fulfillment, withholding, 305c, 871m, hosting and managed services. Maxit E2E simplifies the tax reporting process allowing firms to focus on their core business without the cost and distraction of managing multiple vendors and large operations teams.

We are excited to be trusted by DriveWealth to fulfill all of its information reporting requirements, said Cameron Routh, Chief Commercial Officer, Tax & Analytics at Scivantage. As a pioneer in bringing digital access to the U.S. securities market for investors around the world, DriveWealth has complex reporting requirements. The Maxit E2E solution combines proven technology, processes and decades of tax experience, to deliver a solution that eliminates the burden of the tax reporting process for DriveWealth. By partnering with Scivantage to assume responsibility for the entire information reporting process, DriveWealth can focus its attention on expanding its leadership in the digital brokerage industry and continue to transform the brokerage experience.

DriveWealth, which launched its patent-pending real-time fractional share trading capabilities in 2016, was founded with the mission to democratize investing in the U.S. stock market by making it available to everyone, globally, at an affordable cost. Feature by feature, DriveWealth has eliminated many of the barriers investors typically encounter with legacy brokers, creating its own proprietary infrastructure that allows investors to purchase securities without minimum account balances, high transaction costs or full share quantities. Today, DriveWealth provides this innovative investing technology and its own customizable suite of application programming interfaces to partners all over the world, allowing investors everywhere to gain access to the highly stable, liquid and regulated U.S. stock market with a fully accessible, straightforward user experience.

DriveWealth CFO Michael Dugan said, Providing reliable and timely tax information to our customers is critical to our business. We selected Scivantage for its seamless, streamlined, fully integrated solution to our tax service needs, which covers everything from cost-basis reporting to forms preparation. This allows us to focus on our core business: delivering leading-edge digital offerings to investors. The ability to rely on a single vendor and the benefit of more tightly integrated data was very appealing to us.

The Maxit E2E SaaS solution is designed around a purpose-architected tax warehouse, offering a tightly integrated set of functional modules and processes needed to comply with reporting requirements under a single umbrella. It is supported by managed services to reduce the burden of tax processing on back-office operations teams.

About DriveWealth

DriveWealth Holdings, Inc., wholly owns DriveWealth, LLC, a member of FINRA and SIPC. DriveWealth, LLC is a licensed carrying and self-clearing broker offering digital brokerage solutions to broker-dealers, financial advisors and online partners worldwide through its proprietary investment platform. DriveWealth delivers access to the U.S. securities markets along with an array of digital products that power both emerging and established financial companies. For more information, please visit DriveWealth.com.

About Scivantage

Scivantage is a SaaS provider of full End-to-End Tax solutions (including Cost Basis and Information Reporting) and Digital Wealth Management solutions. With proven expertise in online brokerage, tax and portfolio reporting, and wealth management platforms, Scivantage delivers intelligent and actionable information that goes beyond the boundaries of traditional financial software, helping improve investment decisions. Leading financial institutions, including broker-dealers, mutual fund companies, bank custodians, trust and prime brokers, depend on Scivantages cloud-based technology to achieve critical business insights, generate new revenue and build stronger customer relationships. For more information, please visit our website http://www.scivantage.com or contact us at +1.646.452.0050.Transitioning from Crisis to Wellbeing Phil Polakoff, MD, CEO of A Healthier WE said, "We are excited to partner with key stakeholders in rural health and healthcare. We look forward to forming critical relationships with the wide range of leaders who are committed to transitioning from crisis to wellbeing.

Residents in the rural American West face many challenges with living healthfully, accessing healthcare, and receiving appropriate care. Healthcare stakeholders will soon be meeting to discuss how to address these unique challenges while proposing solutions in an inaugural summit.

A Healthier WE, a nonprofit organization which is a catalyst for finding innovative solutions and opportunities through partnerships and collaborations among changemakers, announces the Healthier Rural West Summit. This inaugural event addresses key challenges to the health and wellbeing of the rural American West by offering an inspiring vision of rural cooperation and leadership in the coming information and health economies.

The Summit, in collaboration with Founding Sponsor, Intermountain Healthcare, will be held on March 19-21, 2019 at Little America in Salt Lake City, Utah. The summit will include 40+ speakers who will discuss, debate and offer incubator initiatives focusing on solving the health, economic and environmental crises in the rural American West.

Confirmed speakers include:



David Kennedy, PhD, Co-Founder, Bill Lane Center for the American West, Stanford University

Lynn Gallagher, JD, Cabinet Secretary of Health, State of New Mexico

Marc Harrison, MD, President and CEO Intermountain Healthcare

Hilary Franz, Commissioner of Public Lands, State of Washington

Spencer Cox, Lt. Governor, State of Utah

At Intermountain Healthcare, we are interested in community health, particularly on how healthcare systems can play a role in having a positive impact on the many determinants of health, said Mikelle Moore, Intermountain Healthcares Senior Vice President of Community Health. We are anticipating engaging discussions and key take-aways we can apply to supporting the health of rural community members because of the summit.

In a highly participative format, more than 400 state and local government officials, nonprofit, faith and community activists, health system payors and providers, physicians, nurses and health caregivers, technology and business innovators, along with academic and thought leaders, will listen to inspiring talks and participate in interactive sessions to formulate successful strategies for creating wellbeing in the West.

This event is designed to foster a collaborative and critical problem-solving environment, focused on dialogue and action. Building on the theme of Transitioning from Crisis to Wellbeing, the outcomes will focus on four main health action pillars:

Creating Healthier, More Equitable Communities

Fostering Cross-Sector Collaboration

Making Health a Shared Value

Strengthening Integration of Health Services and Systems

Phil Polakoff, MD, CEO of A Healthier WE and Consulting Professor, Stanford University School of Medicine, said We are excited to partner with key stakeholders in rural health and healthcare. We look forward to forming critical relationships with the wide range of leaders who are committed to transitioning from crisis to wellbeing.

We invite you to learn more about attending, sponsoring or participating in the Summit by visiting: http://www.healthierruralwestsummit.org.

In these times, when I is replaced with WE, even illness becomes wellness. We can only work towards a healthier rural West together.

About A Healthier WE: A Healthier WE, is a nonprofit organization which is a catalyst for finding innovative solutions and opportunities through partnerships and collaborations among changemakers.Mary Ivie Norvell, a longtime writer and contributor to the world of writing on local and national levels, has completed her new book Santa Pops His Button: a fun tale about a little girls Christmas Eve excitement that culminates in a run-in with St. Nick himself.

In 1980, I pursued a lifelong dream to become a professional writer, Norvell said when asked about her path as a writer. I enrolled in American River College, Sacramento, California, where I studied under the guidance of Jack London Award winner, Professor Melvin Bud Gardner.

Mary Ivie Norvell is a member of the National League of American Pen Women Inc. (a national organization of professional women writers, artists, and composers of music), is the founding president of the Ocala, Florida, branch in 1994, and served on the board of directors at national, state, and local branch levels and held the position as associate editor and feature writer for the National Pen Woman magazine.

This is her first childrens story.

Published by New York City-based Page Publishing, Mary Ivie Norvells festive story follows Sarah on Christmas Eve, as she and her parents decorate the tree. When Sarah goes to bed, she hopes to hear the sound of Santas reindeers on the rooftop. Instead, she hears sounds coming from the parlor. She opens one eye to peek out, and there, standing in the parlor across the hallway, is Santa Claus. She peeks out over the covers and sees him with a big button in his hand.

Readers who wish to find out what happens with Santas button can purchase Santa Pops His Button at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes store, Amazon, Google Play or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708.

About Page Publishing:

Page Publishing is a traditional New York based full-service publishing house that handles all of the intricacies involved in publishing its authors books, including distribution in the worlds largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create - not bogged down with complicated business issues like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes and the like. Its roster of authors can leave behind these tedious, complex and time-consuming issues, and focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com.Today, Axcient announced the creation of its new Partner Success Team. Focused solely on the quality of the MSP partner experience, Axcient has invested in an 11-member team that is dedicated to ensuring its MSP partners receive the highest level of service. The Axcient Partner Success Team provides onsite visits, periodic business reviews, regular check-ins and a single point of contact for partners.

Partners love that they can speak openly to us about the partnership, said Jeff Cummings, Chief Revenue Officer of Axcient. Our partners are able to collaborate with someone who understands what their clients need, someone who is totally focused on their success, not on selling them more solutions.

The Axcient Partner Success Team, unique in the industry, provides a highly individualized level of support and service for the MSPs. Understanding the MSP and their clients key requirements is an integral part of the Axcient product and solution development process.

The Axcient Partner Success Team charter is partner experience first. The team serves as a main point of contact for any partner needs related with product support, partner enablement, marketing collateral, end client opportunities, and training. Through this team, Partners can be transparent with us, stated Corey Banner, Director of Partner Success. Its a bi-directional relationship that allows us to develop a profitable partnership.

Early returns on the creation of the Partner Success team have been extremely positive. When our previous backup vendor relationship began to deteriorate, we looked for a Business Continuity vendor that truly values the relationship with their MSP partners, said Brandon Hall, Director of Technical Services at LEAP Managed IT. Customer Service and technical support is a huge determining factor in any partnership LEAP enters. We chose Replibit and the Axcient team due to the support and attention we received during our evaluation period. The experience far exceeded our expectations, especially when compared to other vendors weve worked with in the past. We are excited to work with Axcient moving forward and look forward to their help in growing our business.

About Axcient

The Axcient Business Availability suite is the proven business continuity and cloud migration solution for Managed Service Providers (MSPs). The Axcient Business Availability suite includes Replibit, BRC, CloudFinder, Anchor, Fusion, and the Axcient Cloud. MSPs and their clients depend on Axcient to protect their data and ensure business continuity in the event of security breaches, human error and natural disasters. The Axcient focus on partner experience has resulted in more than 3,000 MSP customers throughout the US, Europe and Australia. Axcient is based in Denver, CO. For more information, visit Axcient.For days, people were dropping in to Netties House of Spaghetti, disappointed to discover that they had to wait until Wednesday, November 28, 2018 for the new Italian eaterys grand opening. Well be back! they would say each time in anticipation to see the fresh restaurant that has taken over the long-standing staple, Luigis Tavern, which operated at the Asbury Avenue location in Tinton Falls for the past 60 years. New proprietors, Chris and Tania Calabrese arent phased by the constant comparisons to the previous neighborhood hangout, only fueling their excitement that so many people are as eager for the launch as they are.

The Calabreses have been dreaming of opening up a restaurant together since they met ten years ago while both working at Copper Canyon, a popular tapas and tequila bar featuring Southwestern cuisine in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey. Chris was a server, Tania was a hostess and bussed tables during summer and winter breaks from school. Since then, they both continued to strive in the food and beverage business: Tania worked at The Meatball Shop in New York City where she gained experience in finance, human resources and restaurant consulting; Chris followed his passion for cooking, becoming a well-known chef at Asbury Park, New Jersey pizzeria-bar, Porta, before relocating to Jersey City to assist in the opening of its second location in 2011.

With over 30 years of collective experience in the restaurant industry, the dream of opening an eatery of their own never escaped their minds prompting them to finally make it a reality. After considering several locations in Northern New Jersey, they decided to move the operation to Monmouth County, New Jersey near the support of their family and friends to kick things off. It was there that they fell in love with the former Luigis Tavern and could not wait to turn it into their own. We didnt have anything in place, said Chris. Richard (Santore of Bielat Santore & Company, the broker for the sale), brought it to us out of the blue.

The day Luigis Tavern closed its doors on June 15, 2018, the Calabreses claimed the keys on the town favorite. We started planning and implementing the design immediately when we got the green light, said Tania. The renovation was a huge overhaul for the couple as construction lasted nearly three months. The opening date was originally scheduled for September, said Tania. But it unexpectedly ended up taking us five months to flip. Although much of the establishment appears to look different for those who are familiar with the original layout, the new owners did try to keep some of the unique elements that visitors enjoyed including some of the booths, chairs and part of the bar area which was repurposed. We tried to keep what we could, said Chris. We like the old school feel of the place. Red sauce kind of joint, added Tania. Its located outside of Asbury Park with its own parking lot, which is a huge thing for us and we love the bar!

While Tania handles some managerial duties and the front end of the house, Chris is in the kitchen concocting the menu, with his team of 2 other high-level chefs, creating mostly homemade dishes including meatballs, spaghetti, fish, and some vegan and vegetarian options. Im a vegetarian so it was a requirement to have some of that on the menu, said Tania. We wanted to make sure that there was protein in those dishes and not just pasta and salad only options. Their staff has been a large part of the creating process as most of their 20 employees are those they knew around the restaurant scene. We barely did any outside hiring at all, said Tania. Either we knew them through the restaurant world or knew them personally. Even our purveyors are our friends. One reliant staff member whose skills flourish behind the bar is Bar Manager, Craig Stewart who hailed from Porta in Asbury Park. Ive had a long-standing relationship with Chris and Tania and weve been able to work together and bring in so many people, said Stewart.

The group got to test the waters at Netties soft opening during the Thanksgiving weekend where friends, family and a small group of locals were invited to dine at the new hotspot. To their surprise, the large crowd reached almost maximum seating capacity each night as word of mouth of the long-awaited opening spread like wildfire. The area was just in need of a really good Italian restaurant, so people are really excited about it, said Tania. Things are going great so far, said Chris. Well really know when were not in a controlled environment and people are just walking in off the streets.

The duo described the restaurant as a modern take on old-school Italian, but admit that the inspiration for its development comes from Chriss grandmother, Antoinette, whom the restaurant is named after. The name Antoinette means highly praise worthy matching the eateries design which embodies a mid-century art-deco vibe as well as the logo of the perfecto sign. The perfecto sign means, its okay and stereotypically Italians like to talk with their hands, so the perfecto sign is the closest symbol to resemble that, explained Tania.

Whats next for the restaurateurs? Soon wed like to start serving lunch and offering catering and private parties, said Tania. We want to expand, but one thing at a time. Maybe not another Netties but a different restaurant, said Tania.

Netties is open on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm, Fridays and Saturdays from 5:00 pm to 11:00 pm and Sundays from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Visit their website to view their complete menu items and daily specials at https://www.nettiesrestaurant.com/. Social media users can also find them on Facebook and Instagram for additional restaurant updates.

About Bielat Santore & Company

Bielat Santore & Company is an established commercial real estate firm. The companys expertise lies chiefly within the restaurant and hospitality industry, specializing in the sale of restaurants and other food and beverage real estate businesses. Since 1978, the principals of Bielat Santore & Company, Barry Bielat and Richard Santore, have sold more restaurants and similar type properties in New Jersey than any other real estate company. Furthermore, the firm has secured in excess of $500,000,000 in financing to facilitate these transactions. Visit the companys website, http://www.123bsc.com for the latest in new listings, property searches, available land, market data, financing trends, RSS feeds, press releases and more.BioPlus Specialty Pharmacy (BioPlus), a leading innovative specialty pharmacy, is now dispensing the limited distribution oral cancer medication Daurismo (glasdegib) from Pfizer Inc. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Daurismo on November 21, 2018. With the addition of Daurismo, BioPlus now has access to 62 limited distribution drugs, with 70% of these in the category of cancer medications.

Daurismo is an oral medication approved for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). It will be used in combination with the chemotherapy medication cytarabine for adults age 75+ who have newly-diagnosed AML along with additional chronic health conditions that prevent the use of intensive chemotherapy. Daurismo is available to a limited distribution network of specialty pharmacies, which includes BioPlus.

Daurismo marks the fourth FDA approval for Pfizer medications in just the past two months; all of which have been limited distribution drugs. In addition, Daurismo received an Orphan Drug designation from the FDA, which is associated with incentives to assist the development of drugs for rare diseases.

Daurismos approval as a first-line treatment for AML offers a new treatment option for patients who cannot tolerate intensive chemotherapy, shares Sharon Ferrer, VP of Pharmaceutical Relations at BioPlus. BioPlus is now dispensing this important new option for patients with AML. We are able to assist patients with prompt treatment starts because of our 2-Day Ready 2 Ship program that quickly gets medications to patients, she adds.

AML is a type of cancer that forms in the bone marrow and rapidly progresses. This year, according to the National Cancer Institute, 19,520 patients will be diagnosed with this form of leukemia. Of these, an estimated half of patients are not able to be treated with intensive chemotherapy due to comorbidities and chemotherapy-related toxicities.

About BioPlus Specialty Pharmacy

BioPlus Specialty Pharmacy is a leading independent, national specialty pharmacy and the first and only specialty pharmacy to offer a two-hour turnaround from referral to patient acceptance. Our company celebrates 29 years of innovative excellence in specialty pharmacy, working closely with payers and the pharmaceutical industry, as well as with prescribers to get prompt treatment for patients, and directly supporting our patients nationwide to achieve optimal health outcomes. We provide a complete range of specialty services, including for cancer, multiple sclerosis, hepatitis C, and other complex, chronic conditions. BioPlus, a privately-held, pharmacist-owned company based in Altamonte Springs, Florida, is accredited by URAC, VIPPS, and ACHC with a Distinction in Oncology.

For information: http://www.bioplusrx.com or

Contact: info(at)bioplusrx(dot)com

Phone: 1-888-292-0744BOOMBOX providing critical communications and connectivity at Florida nursing home I cannot describe how bad the situation was, said Jeremy Ryman of St. Andrews Bay Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, BOOMBOX technology solution provided a lifeline in the middle of a crisis so we could focus on our jobs and ensure the safety and care of our near 100 elderly residents.

On October 10th Hurricane Michael nearly decimated the town of Panama City, FL knocking out critical essentials such as power, water, communications and connectivity to homes, businesses and critical care facilities. With over 70% of carrier communications towers leveled and almost all utility poles snapped, St. Andrews Bay Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center found themselves without critical communications and struggling to track and report on resident care.

Two days after the storm, Think Anew mobilized a team to deploy BOOMBOX, a patent-pending communications and SaaS device, restoring communications and critical access to clinical/operational software that allowed the facility to care for the residents effectively and maintain operations during the crisis.

"I cannot describe how bad the situation was", said Jeremy Ryman, St. Andrews Bay Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center "BOOMBOX technology solution provided a lifeline in the middle of a crisis so we could focus on our jobs and ensure the safety and care of our near 100 elderly residents. Which is the most important thing to our staff and organization." Ryman added, "from a business perspective, BOOMBOX prevented upwards of $500K in operational cash flow delays because we had connectivity and were able to submit billings on time."

"The horrid conditions left by Hurricane Michael created significant challenges for many Florida residents, but non more so than seniors in skilled care facilities going without everyday necessities and at risk for medical care issues due to the lack of communications." said Florida Senator Dennis Baxley, who sits on the Florida Senate Healthcare Committee. "We are thankful to Mr. Glidewell and his team for providing their BOOMBOX communications system," Sen. Baxley added, "because of it and an exceptional foundation of caregivers, providers like St. Andrews Bay, can be more prepared when disaster strikes. Technology solutions like BOOMBOX will empower caregivers to accurately record, communicate, and continue providing the exceptional care our seniors deserve."

About BOOMBOX



BOOMBOX is a cloud-based device powered by secure, reliable Microsoft technologies including Windows 10, Microsoft Azure, Intelligence Edge, Intelligent Cloud, Predictive AI and Office 365.

Unique to the device is its ability to meet strict HIPAA and HITECH security requirements for managing personal health information (PHI). This coupled with advanced security features Microsoft has built into their platform and tools, makes BOOMBOX a leader in disaster recovery devices.

BOOMBOX features enhanced resident displacement capabilities, allowing caregivers to efficiently coordinate resident evacuations.

In healthcare, the continuous delivery of quality care is critical and Think Anew's BOOMBOX solution's ability to enable long-term care centers to operate during natural and manmade disasters is not only remarkable but an absolute necessity, said Microsofts WW Health CISO, Hector Rodriguez. At Microsoft this is why we do what we do - we build resilient, secure, and compliant platforms and services that enable our partners, like Think Anew, to deliver exceptional and life-saving solutions like BOOMBOX."

Don Glidewell, CEO, Think Anew said, The around the clock development work by our team on our BOOMBOX solution over the last 7 years, has been solely for this moment. I am so proud of our never say quit team and the role they played in assisting caregivers to keep residents safe by providing crucial communications and medical charting capabilities with 100% uptime for BOOMBOX night and day for five weeks. Glidewell also added, our teams sole focus is to deliver the most advanced technology solutions that empower caregivers to provide the best care possible to our elderly. Even during a crisis like this.

BOOMBOX disaster recovery features can play a crucial role in providing not only proper resident care but also in maintaining business continuity. In 2017*:

30% of businesses had no disaster recovery strategy in place

Recovery efforts eat up 25% of staff time

Unplanned downtime costs between $900 to $17,000 per minute

About Think Anew: Think Anew is a privately held long-term care technology solutions provider that empowers digital transformation for the healthcare sector across the U.S. founded in April 2007 by Don Glidewell. Think Anew is a national company headquartered in Tampa, Florida and Madison, Mississippi. Think Anew is a leader in innovative HIPAA and HITECH technology solutions with an unmatched 97% customer retention ranking. Company recognitions include: Microsoft Top 5% Global Partner Network, #2500 Fastest Growing Company in America by Inc. Magazine, and the Best Place to Work in Mississippi for 2 consecutive years. As a leader in healthcare technology, Owner/CEO Don Glidewell has been recognized as: Business Ambassador of Florida, Top CEO of Mississippi and recently was honored as one of Mississippi's Top Entrepreneurs. Don and his passionate LTC focused team leads Think Anew into the future of healthcare technology by continuing to provide long-term care with the most advanced and affordable technology available.Brownsville ISD (BISD), located in the southern tip of Texas, is working with Schneider Electric, energy and sustainability specialist, on comprehensive upgrades to transform facilities across the district and make campuses more efficient, effective and safe. In addition, Schneider Electric has worked with the district to facilitate a number of student engagement activities that will enable greater understanding of STEM concepts. These programs are designed for students to gain exposure to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

Schneider Electric has been working with teachers and faculty to engage with students on an educational level since it began working with the school district. For example, Schneider Electric employees helped more than 100 6th graders at Garcia Middle School celebrate Energy Awareness Month through a number of engaging activities. This included lessons that employed critical thinking skills to understand the importance of energy awareness as well as various sources of renewable and non-renewable energy. The students also worked in teams to construct a mini solar-powered car, donated by Schneider Electric, to reinforce the applicability of efficiency concepts. In addition, students at Castaneda Elementary School celebrated Earth Day by planting a tree and participating in educational activities about the environment.

Schneider Electric has been instrumental in helping us improve our learning environment through facility improvements and unique student engagement opportunities, said Dr. Esperanza Zendejas, BISD Superintendent. Were excited to work with an experienced, trusted partner for school districts like Schneider Electric to enable stronger education through not only engagement activities, but safer, state-of-the-art facilities for our students, teachers and staff.

Like many school districts across the nation, Brownsville ISD faced many challenges with an extensive list of deferred maintenance. In efforts to offer BISD students the best facilities conducive to learning, last year the district initiated a strategy to access funds through a tax increase and leverage the money to fund capital improvements throughout the district. BISD partnered with Schneider Electric due to their expertise and proven track record, having successfully completed over 750 projects nationwide and saving its clients over $1.8 billion in energy savings.

Improvements are being made to the following campuses: Porter Early College High School, Garcia Middle School, Besteiro Middle School, Lucio Middle School, Aiken Elementary School, Paredes Elementary School, Southmost Elementary School, and the Margaret M. Clark Aquatic Center. The project includes lighting improvements, mechanical upgrades, and building automation systems.



New interior and exterior LED lighting will have several benefits including brighter classrooms, better illumination for gymnasiums and improved exterior lighting for enhanced safety at night.

Mechanical upgrades, which include modernizing HVAC (heating, ventilation, air-conditioned) equipment, will improve building comfort and air quality throughout facilities.

New building automation systems will help campuses control and manage their energy more efficiently and effectively.

BISD is fully committed to offering all of its students the best learning environment, inclusive of upgraded and improved facilities, said Lizzy de la Garza Putegnat, Account Executive for Schneider Electric and Brownsville native. Its been a true honor and privilege partnering with BISD to create a 21st century learning environment. We hope to continue working with BISD and help enable their mission of maximizing resources to ensure equitable opportunities for all students.

The project will generate more than $1 million in energy and operational savings over 15 years and serve more than 45,000 students.

For more information on how Schneider Electric helps K-12 schools tackle energy efficiency, please visit http://www.bisdschoolupgrades.com, http://www.schneider-electric.us/enable or contact your local Schneider Electric representative.

About Schneider Electric

Schneider Electric is leading the Digital Transformation of Energy Management and Automation in Homes, Buildings, Data Centers, Infrastructure and Industries. With global presence in over 100 countries, Schneider is the undisputable leader in Power Management  Medium Voltage, Low Voltage and Secure Power, and in Automation Systems. We provide integrated efficiency solutions, combining energy, automation and software. In our global Ecosystem, we collaborate with the largest Partner, Integrator and Developer Community on our Open Platform to deliver real-time control and operational efficiency. We believe that great people and partners make Schneider a great company and that our commitment to Innovation, Diversity and Sustainability ensures that Life Is On everywhere, for everyone and at every moment.

http://www.schneider-electric.us

Hashtags: #SchneiderElectric #Texas #BrownsvilleISD #EnergyEfficiency #LEDs #ESPC #HVAC #LifeIsOn #DigitalEconomyWe can now offer customers the ability to fully maximize Microsoft collaboration features with the flexibility and scale of Microsoft Teams, and leverage their existing voice assets with CallTowers 24/7/365 US-Based Support for Microsoft products

CallTower, a global leader in delivering cloud-based enterprise-class unified communications and collaboration solutions, announced today a Microsoft Teams Calling Plans. CallTower delivers an integrated Office 365 Microsoft Teams experience with global calling plans empowered by a US-based client services team, ensuring a personalized implementation, adoption, training and support strategy.

CallTower has been voice enabling Microsoft solutions for years. As a Microsoft Gold Partner providing cloud voice solutions, CallTowers solution enables analytics monitoring and management services ensuring the highest-quality user experience.

The Microsoft Teams Phone System, powered by CallTower, enables customers to bring their current voice services into the Microsoft Cloud through Direct Routing. Direct Routing empowers the ability to leverage CallTowers preferred rates and unlocks the full potential of a Microsoft Teams Phone System.

According to CallTower's VP of Product and Account Management, Jason Ulm, "We are thrilled to enable Microsoft Teams voice solution options to our customers. Teams is truly a breakthrough for cloud-based collaboration, with CallTowers voice enablement through Direct Routing. We can now offer customers the ability to fully maximize Microsoft collaboration features with the flexibility and scale of Microsoft Teams, and leverage their existing voice assets with CallTowers 24/7/365 US-Based Support for Microsoft products.

This revolutionary solution is enabling borderless Office 365 collaboration with voice within the Teams application, says CallTowers Chief Revenue Officer, William Rubio. Unified Communications solutions are enabling enterprises around the globe to become more collaborative, productive and efficient, and Microsoft Teams is a game-changer in this transformation.

About CallTower

CallTower exists to enable people to easily connect to transact business communications. Since its inception in 2002, CallTower has become a leading provider of cloud-based, enterprise-class Unified Communications solutions for growing organizations worldwide. CallTower provides, integrates and supports industry-leading, cloud-based, Unified Communications and Collaboration solutions, including Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Native Skype for Business, Microsoft Teams, CT Cloud, CT Cloud Boost, Office 365 and Zoom Video Communications for business customers.

CallTower enhances our clients strategic and operational capabilities by integrating VoIP service, mobile applications, email hosting, unified messaging, instant messaging, audio, web and video conferencing, collaboration tools, contact center, cloud services and global networks solutions into one reliable platform.

Othman said students often focus on what a fellow student might have that they do not, such as an expensive-looking pair of gym shoes. When the club recently prepared dinner and served it to people at a local homeless center, many were taken aback there were little kids there, said Othman.Ability Commerce  a leading provider of direct commerce solutions and services, announced today that Carlton Industries has selected the Company for their CCS Order Management System (OMS), SmartSite Ecommerce Platform, Amazon Product Suite, and Connect Email Solution with Managed Services. Carlton was searching for industry experts with innovative solutions to replace their legacy systems, coupled with supportive services. They chose Ability because of their fully integrated OMS and Ecommerce systems, their additional direct commerce offerings, and their expansive knowledge of the industry.

Kay Carlton, President and Co-founder of Carlton Industries said that We selected Ability Commerce for their industry-leading software platform coupled with a shared commitment to superior customer service.

We could not be happier to grow our professional relationship with Carlton, said Diane Buzzeo, President and Founder of Ability Commerce. We look forward to utilizing our solutions and services to further drive their growth and success.

About Carlton Industries

Kay and Dick Carlton founded Carlton Industries more than 40 years ago. Their business has grown into a firm that markets and manufactures safety, compliance, and identification products from their headquarters just outside of Austin, Texas. Carlton serves business and government customers and stand behind every product they sell. Carlton is proud to be a certified member of NAWBO  the National Association of Woman Business Owners.

About Ability Commerce

Since 1999, Ability Commerce has helped ecommerce and multichannel companies achieve success. By combining the user experience of seasoned professionals with best practices, the company provides customers scalable, flexible and affordable software and services to facilitate their success, and more importantly their growth. Ability Commerce delivers direct commerce retailers cutting edge Ecommerce and Order Management platforms and development, as well as marketing and consultant services. For more information about Ability Commerce, visit http://www.abilitycommerce.com.Belize's Blue Hole is one of the world's greatest maritime treasures Who knows what discoveries await?

The Lodge at Chaa Creek has hailed a new underwater expedition to the bottom of Belizes Great Blue Hole as having potential to shed new light on some old mysteries  including the sudden, dramatic demise of the ancient Maya empire.

The popular Belizean eco-resorts owners have also invited the expedition team members to relax with an inland stopover courtesy of Chaa Creek.

The Belize Blue Hole Expedition will involve two three-person submersibles, two support vessels and a team that includes Richard Branson and Fabien Cousteau, grandson of Jacques Cousteau.

The elder Mr Cousteau coined the name Blue Hole and popularised the site when he led a dive expedition there aboard his research vessel Calypso in 1971.

Lucy Fleming said she and her husband Mick have been fascinated with the Blue Hole ever since they founded Chaa Creek as a small farm in the late 1970s.

Back then, prior to independence, tourism had yet to take off in Belize, and most visitors were either divers attracted to the Caribbean coast or archaeologists studying Belizes many ancient Maya temples and cities.

The Blue Hole is unique in that its not only one of the worlds great dive spots, but holds the key to important environmental and historical mysteries, Ms Fleming said.

The current Belize Blue Hole Expedition, slated to begin early December 2018, will employ leading edge technology to unlock some of those ancient mysteries, she added.

Previously, researchers from Rice and Louisiana State Universities analysed sediment samples and other data from the Blue Hole to accurately track weather activity, including rainfall levels, through the ages. They concluded that the area experienced a hundred-year drought between 800 and 900 AD.

That time period coincides with the great decline of the Maya empire, which occurred around 900 AD.

Those findings supported other research and theories that a long, severe drought led to the demise of the ancient Maya empire.

Mr and Ms Fleming also founded Chaa Creeks Belize Natural History Centre, and Ms Fleming said shes excited at the prospect of the new expeditions high tech equipment shedding further light on Belizes natural and cultural history.

Apparently, the expedition will take two submersibles to study and film the bottom of the Blue Hole with powerful lighting and state of the art sonar robust enough to tell if a coin on the floor is facing heads or tails.

With 3D mapping and other technologies, were about to learn more in two weeks than we have since Jacques Cousteaus first famous dives, and thats very exciting. Who knows what discoveries await? she said.

Belizes Great Blue Hole is a giant marine sinkhole situated some 70km off Belizes Caribbean coast near Lighthouse Atoll at the easternmost part of the Belize Great Barrier Reef. Some 1,043 feet in diameter and 407 feet deep, it can be seen from space.

Expedition leader Harvey Flemming, whose Canadian company, Aquatica Submarines, is supplying a Stingray submersible, said hes also excited at the prospect of discovery.

Its a wildcard...Im excited to get there and jump in and see what it is all about.

Were really excited to see what well see. We dont really know for sure. Maybe a body, who knows? It is totally open for discovery, Mr Flemming told Belizes Channel 9 News.

Mr Branson, businessman, philanthropist and founder of Ocean Unite, said one purpose of the trip is to raise awareness of the need to protect the seas. Calling the Blue Hole One of the oceans most magical wonders, he went on to say, We all share the common goal of conserving, protecting our beautiful global ocean.

The Roatan Institute of Deepsea Exploration (RIDE) is another expedition partner providing a submersible.

Ms Fleming said that she and Mick hope that the expedition members will consider their invitation to dry off and relax inland at Chaa Creek.

Wed love to show them another amazing part of Belize, and in some small way show our appreciation for what they are doing.

And, to be honest, wed love to hear their first hand accounts of what will be an incredible journey to the bottom of one of the worlds greatest natural treasures, Ms Fleming said.

The Blue Hole Expedition is scheduled to be broadcast live during a two-hour special, Discovery Live: Into The Blue Hole December 2, 2018, and will also air around the world, according to a Discovery Channel media release.

The Lodge at Chaa Creek is a multi-award winning eco resort set within a 400-acre private nature reserve along the banks of the Macal River in Belize. It was recognised by National Geographic with first place honours at the 2017 World Legacy Awards held in Berlin.

ENDSGoogle Chrome's behavior with HTTP and HTTPS websites Security is the top priority at Google. Google algorithm started considering 'HTTPS as a ranking signal' since August 2014. So, if your website still not using HTTPS, it's too late! Past News Releases RSS

Starting from October 16, 2018, with the release of version 70, Google Chrome flags the 'Not secure' text in RED color along with a red triangle when a user starts typing in an input field of an HTTP website, even if that is a tiny search form. As a quick fix at free of cost, Speedify.tech has developed a PHP app 'FreeSSL.tech Auto' (https://freessl.tech), which automatically issues, renews and installs Let's Encrypt free SSL certificate on cPanel shared hosting. The app is friendly even for less tech-savvy users. Users don't need programming experience to install and configure the app.

The concept of making SSL secured website only to accept credit card is backdated today. The world wide web is moving towards complete HTTPS. Since July 24, 2018, Google Chrome flags all the websites as 'Not secure' that doesn't have SSL certificate installed. If the user clicks on the 'Not secure' flag, Chrome tells 'Your connection to this site is not secure'.

As per Google Chrome blog, "Since our announcement nearly two years ago, HTTPS usage has made incredible progress. Weve found in our Transparency Report that, 76 percent of Chrome traffic on Android is now protected, up from 42 percent. 85 percent of Chrome traffic on ChromeOS is now protected, up from 67 percent. 83 of the top 100 sites on the web use HTTPS by default, up from 37."

Security is the top priority at Google. Google algorithm started considering 'HTTPS as a ranking signal' since August 2014. So, if your website still not using HTTPS, it's too late!

Not only Google Chrome; but Mozilla Firefox, Opera, etc. all the major web browsers are enforcing more and more strict security policies to protect the users. If a website doesn't have HTTPS, Firefox displays an information icon in the address bar, clicking on which displays 'Connection Is Not Secure' in red color. Opera flags all the websites as 'Not secure' that don't have SSL certificate installed. If you click on the 'Not secure' flag, you see 'Your connection to this site is not secure' in red.

What does it mean to an online business or a personal blog? If the website still depends on HTTP, it'll most likely face a massive loss in traffic. Google, through all its organic channels, may have already started reducing traffic to the websites that have failed to install SSL certificate. There is a high possibility of increasing in bounce rate as well. Many visitors, who see the 'Not secure' warning, may leave the website immediately.

Why have all the browsers taken HTTPS so seriously?



Because, with HTTP, all the data transfer as plain text. Anyone in between the user and the server can read the data easily. An attacker can even modify the contents of an HTTP website before it reaches the user's browser. Whereas, with HTTPS the data transfer happens with encryption. Anyone in between can't decrypt or modify the data. So by installing an SSL certificate on your website, you gain the trust of your users quickly.

SSL certificate makes surfing your website over public Wi-Fi safer.

Moreover, if you enable HTTP/2 on your HTTPS website, it loads faster.

Now you don't need to spend a single penny to get an SSL certificate.

Here is how to do the complete automation of free SSL certificate in cPanel shared hosting

1. Go to https://freessl.tech and check the Minimum System Requirements.

2. On the home page click 'download now' button and download the app (2.71 MB).

3. Upload the app to your server.

4. Create a MySQL (or MariaDB) database and user.

5. Run the app installation script by accessing its URL with your web browser. The URL is something like http://www.YourDomain.com/mycert

6. Once you complete installing, log in to the app and configure it. Provide the required data.

7. When you are ready with the configuration, add a cron job. You're done!

Any issue? "We are here to help you," said Anindya Sundar Mandal, Lead Developer of FreeSSL.tech Auto.

*Let's Encrypt is a trademark of the Internet Security Research Group. All rights reserved.Money that we paid, 150,000$ seems very high like for a domain. But when you think its a generic word, then you see its a great deal. Look, we are living in a world that is out of 4L domains!

Domain user.com was created 22 years ago - the first domain owner paid a $10 registration fee, and two decades later he successfully sold it for $150,000. The dream of every domain seller came true. Who is the buyer? Is it worth it to spend money on expensive domains in the world of apps?

UserEngage, a new owner of user.com, is a marketing automation platform that helps businesses from around the world grow faster, thanks to the visitor tracking system and multiple communication channels gathered in one tool. The company has been on the market since 2016, and, only one year after they began, they started negotiations with Sedo, a large domain parking provider in Europe.

The risk they took at a very early stage of their business life can surprise but company CEO, Greg Warzecha doesn't have a doubt the purchase was worth it. "The money we paid, $150,000, seems a very high price for a domain. But when you think about it for a while, then you see its a great deal. Look, we are living in a world that is out of 4L domains!

The Internet had already run out of 4-letter .com domains in 2013, only 28 years after registering the first website, so people are now more than eager to pay any price for short and easy to remember domain name. The most famous examples are: iReport.com, which is currently used by CNN channel, sold for $750,000, insure.com sold for $16 million and the most expensive one, vacationrentals.com, is worth $32 million.

Having a short and catchy name is especially important in the age of smartphones - they are everywhere, and the number of them online continues to grow. But because of the lack of short domain names, a large part of online businesses focuses only on building mobile apps and they resign from registering domains. Thats why UserEngage believes in the possibility that the new domain name will take the company to the top.

According to Statista, worldwide spending on marketing automation tools will hit $32 billion in 2018, and it grows 30%+ annually. Since the competition on the marketing automation market increases every day, the right name is a key factor in building a strong, recognisable brand. The upcoming months will show if User.com took its chance to shine and became a major player in the marketing automation field.Dropoff today announced two critical additions to the executive leadership team. These appointments will drive ongoing growth for the company, further solidifying its position as a leading last mile delivery service and logistics partner for businesses.

Neil Seth will fill the position of Chief Technology Officer, driving Dropoffs technology strategy and vision while managing both the engineering and product functions of the business. Both will be based in Austin, TX at the companys headquarters and will report to the CEO, Sean Spector. Rey Madolora will take on the newly created role of Chief Financial Officer, responsible for providing expert financial analysis and driving strategic business initiatives  from fundraising to change management and business transactions.

Prior to joining Dropoff, Seth was the Chief Technology Officer at GameFly, Inc, where he built in-house technology and product teams from the ground up. He also oversaw the digital evolution of the business from video games by mail to cloud-based game streaming. Spector and Seth worked together for eleven years at GameFly, which Spector co-founded in 2002.

Madolora is uniquely qualified for this role, having raised over $155M in capital throughout his career, including raising the largest seed-round-to-date in Texas while on the founding team at Hangar Technology. Prior to that, he was the CFO/COO of DJI North America, the worlds leading and largest manufacturer of drone hardware. In his time there, he helped the North American subsidiary scale to $300M in annual revenue in just over a year.

Both appointments support Dropoffs strategic priorities and commitment to innovation. This announcement comes on the heels of several new market launches. In the last quarter, Dropoffs same-day delivery service became available in San Francisco, Seattle, and Oklahoma City, bringing the companys footprint to 21 markets nationwide.

We are moving quickly to structure our business for accelerated growth leading into the new year and are on track to be profitable in 2019. These additions round out the management team and ensure we can respond to the rapidly changing needs of our customers and keep up with the pace of change in the industry, said Sean Spector, CEO of Dropoff. Each of the leaders named today is highly qualified and understands whats needed to scale our business and continue to deliver best in class last mile services to businesses across the country.

Dropoff works with leading brands across many industries relying on last mile delivery to get items into the hands of their customers quickly and professionally, including: Whole Foods, HEB, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Quest Diagnostics, LabCorp, Susie Cakes, and Sprinkles Cupcakes.

About Dropoff

Dropoff is a same-day, last mile delivery service that enables businesses across industries to meet rising expectations for faster deliveries. Through our proprietary technology platform and trusted, professional delivery drivers, Dropoff seamlessly becomes an extension of any business and a true logistics partner. Dropoff Tracker increases enterprise businesses visibility into all of their deliveries, with details of all orders and assigned drivers available in one centralized and dynamic map. Real-time tracking and confirmations, transparent pricing, flexible delivery options, and feature-rich APIs bring modern courier services to market that equip businesses with the resources they need to satisfy customers and achieve their goals. For more information about how Dropoff is shaping the future of last mile delivery, visit https://www.dropoff.com.

Contact:

Elliot Mist

Marketing

Emist@dropoff.comThis commencement will see the most ever Ph.Ds. receiving doctoral degrees. The Fall 2018 graduating class also includes 21 students receiving military commissions - seven from Air Force ROTC, six from Navy/Marine Corps ROTC and eight from Army ROTC.

For the second year in a row, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Universitys Daytona Beach Campus is graduating its largest fall class in the schools history. This commencement will also see the most ever Ph.D. degrees awarded at commencement. The ceremony starts at 10 a.m., Monday, Dec. 17, at the Ocean Center, 101 N. Atlantic Ave., Daytona Beach. The ceremony will be streamed live at portal.stretchinternet.com/erauadmin.

Based on the latest available numbers, the class of 2018 includes 540 students, representing the Colleges of Aviation, Arts & Sciences, Engineering and the David B. OMaley College of Business, with 93 students receiving masters degrees and 15 receiving Ph.Ds.

Doctoral Degrees

Ph.D. candidates receiving doctoral degrees include: Anthony L. Baker and Sarah M. Sherwood, Human Factors; Jennifer N. Hunt, Robert W. Maxson, Greg M. Mellema, Isaac N. Munene, Arun P. Saini and Troy E. Techau, Aviation; Christopher James Hockley, Mechanical Engineering; Michael R. Borghi, Jr., Marco Coderoni, Kaveh Gharibi, Petr Kazarin, Vasileios S. Papapetrou and Nirmit Prabhakar, Aerospace Engineering.

Commencement Speaker

This years Fall Commencement Ceremony keynote address will be given by four-star General (USAF, Ret.) and Board of Trustees member Ronald Keys.

Keys served 40 years in the U.S. Air Force and was stationed around the world including Asia and Europe. As a pilot, he logged more than 4,000 hours in the F-4, F-15, F-16 and A-10. In his last position as Commander of Air Combat Command, he was responsible for more than 1,200 aircraft, 27 wings, 17 bases, 200 operating locations worldwide and 105,000 personnel. Under his leadership, the Air Forces first Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Wing and first Network Warfare Wing were established.

At his retirement ceremony in 2007, Keys received the Air Force Associations most prestigious annual award  the H.H. Arnold Award  for his significant contributions to national defense. He also received the Air Forces first ROTC Distinguished Alumni Award.

Keys owns RK Solution Enterprises, an independent consultancy that works on a broad variety of Department of Defense (DOD) and non-DOD issues, advising numerous agencies and organizations on the topics of national security, cyber planning and operations, advanced technologies and unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as energy security and climate change issues.

Keys holds a bachelors degree from Kansas State University and an MBA from Golden Gate University. He has participated in the National and International Security Seminar at the JFK School of Government, Harvard University, as well as the Leadership at the Peak program at the Center for Creative Leadership in Colorado Springs.

Commissioning and Masters Hooding Ceremonies on the Daytona Beach Campus

The Fall 2018 graduating class includes 21 students receiving military commissions - seven from Air Force ROTC, six from Navy/Marine Corps ROTC and eight from Army ROTC.

Friday, Dec. 14

Army ROTC Commissioning Ceremony  Eight cadets of the Eagle Battalion will take the oath of office to commission as second lieutenants in the U.S. Army at 10 a.m. in the Jim W. Henderson Administration & Welcome Center. A reception will be held immediately following the ceremony.

Sunday, Dec. 16

Master's Hooding Ceremony  The ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. in the ICI Center. Dr. Heidi Steinhauer, professor of engineering and chair of the Department of Engineering Fundamentals, is the featured speaker. A reception immediately following the ceremony will be held for students and their guests.

Air Force ROTC Commissioning Ceremony  Detachment 157 will commission seven cadets as second lieutenants in the U.S. Air Force. The ceremony begins at 1 p.m. in the Capt. Willie Miller Instructional Center followed by a reception.

Catholic Mass in the Center for Faith and Spirituality, 7 p.m.

Monday, Dec. 17

The Fall Commencement Ceremony begins at 10 a.m. in the Ocean Center, 101 N. Atlantic Ave., Daytona Beach.

U.S. Navy/Marine Corps ROTC Commissioning Ceremony  Six graduating midshipmen will take the oath of office to commission as ensigns in the U.S. Navy or second lieutenants in the U.S. Marine Corps in a ceremony held in the Jim W. Henderson Administration & Welcome Center at 3 p.m. A reception will be held immediately following the ceremony.

To accommodate all families and friends of graduates who are not able to attend the commencement ceremony, a live stream broadcast will be available online. The broadcast will also be available for a period of time thereafter at portal.stretchinternet.com/erauadmin [portal.stretchinternet.com/erauadmin __title__ ]. Past commencement events will also be viewable on demand.

For more details on the ceremonies, go to http://daytonabeach.erau.edu/campus-life/graduation/ceremony-details/index.html.

MEDIA CONTACT: James Roddey, Director of Communications, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Fla.; (386) 226-6198; james.roddey@erau.edu.

ABOUT EMBRY-RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is the worlds largest, oldest and most comprehensive institution specializing in aviation, aerospace, engineering and related degree programs. A fully accredited university, Embry-Riddle is also a major research center, seeking solutions to real-world problems in partnership with the aerospace industry, other universities and government agencies. A nonprofit, independent institution, Embry-Riddle offers more than 100 associates, baccalaureate, masters and Ph.D. degree programs in its colleges of Arts & Sciences, Aviation, Business, Engineering and Security & Intelligence. The university educates students at residential campuses in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz., through its Worldwide Campus with more than 135 locations in the United States, Europe and Asia, and through online programs. For more information, visit http://www.embryriddle.edu, follow us on Twitter (@EmbryRiddle) and facebook.com/EmbryRiddleUniversity, and find expert videos at YouTube.com/EmbryRiddleUniv.Enzyme Health Changes the Way Doctors Work We started Enzyme Health after speaking with hundreds of doctors who wanted more career flexibility, but couldnt find the time, resources or job opportunities to make that a reality.

Enzyme Health is making the gig economy work for the nations healthcare industry. Founded in 2018, the digital health company aims to make clinical careers as innovative as the industry itself, giving clinicians the ability to work wherever and whenever they want. To support its vision, Enzyme Health raised $1.7 million in seed funding.

Enzyme Health offers a unique two-sided telehealth job marketplace. Within it, 90% of available positions enable clinicians to work remotely. Machine-learning matches doctors and nurse practitioners with positions that suit their expertise and availability, meaning they can work full-time or part-time and on their own schedules.

Traditional healthcare jobs require spending 50-80 hours per week in a hospital, which often means clinicians give up work-life balance and doing the things they enjoy, said Enzyme Health co-founder and CEO Michelle Davey. We started Enzyme Health after speaking with hundreds of doctors who wanted more career flexibility, but couldnt find the time, resources or job opportunities to make that a reality.

In addition to offering flexible career paths, Enzyme Health focuses on partnering with innovators in the digital health space that strive to change the current status quo of the healthcare industry. Enzyme Health helps companies like Doctor on Demand, MDLive, InTouch Health, Hims/Hers and Parsley Health scale their offerings nationwide, filling open telehealth roles with high-quality talent. Further, Enzyme Health makes recruiting more efficient for healthcare companies, which yields better care and convenience for patients.

Silverton Partners led Enzyme Healths seed funding alongside private investors. Based in Austin, TX, the VC firm works with entrepreneurs in high-growth industries to build lasting companies.

"The digital healthcare industry is growing exponentially, and companies like Enzyme Health are leading the way," said Morgan Flager, General Partner at Silverton Partners. "We believe in the team's ability and vision to greatly influence the future of this industry, creating a new standard for how doctors and healthcare companies work. We look forward to Enzyme Health's continued success."

Co-founders Michelle Davey, Griffin Mulcahey and Philip Johnson are building a team of experts in the digital healthcare and recruitment space. With a deep understanding of the market, its challenges and trends, theyre prepared to help clinicians navigate the evolving healthcare landscape.

We want to become the backbone of the digital healthcare industry, Davey said. Soon, every healthcare encounter will start with some form of telehealth, whether its a video consultation, an AI-driven symptom checker, or a smart wearable device. By connecting clinicians with these opportunities, it becomes possible to transform the way they work and to offer more work-life balance than theyve ever had.

###

About Enzyme Health:

Enzyme Health is changing the way healthcare works. Enzyme connects top clinical talent to innovative healthcare companies, offering clinicians more career flexibility. Current clients include top telemedicine companies like Doctor on Demand, MDLive, Hims / Hers, Intouch Health, and Parsley Health. For more information, visit http://www.enzymehealth.com.

About Silverton Partners

From idea to exit, the Silverton team works with exceptional entrepreneurs who are committed to attacking growth markets and building lasting companies. In partnering with Silverton, companies benefit from its deep network and lessons learned over many decades of operating and investing experience. Founded in 2006, Silverton Partners is based in Austin and has been the initial investor behind Convio, WP Engine, SpareFoot, SailPoint, Silicon Labs, TurnKey, The Zebra, AlertMedia, SpyCloud, Convey, Aceable, Big Squid, and Billie among many others. CB Insights has recognized Silverton as the most active venture capital firm in Texas. For more information, visit http://www.silvertonpartners.com.New Jersey businesses need to be equipped to handle any crisis or they risk damaging their reputations and hurting their bottom lines.

NJBIZ, New Jersey's leading business journal, today announced the final speaker lineup for the upcoming Crisis Management panel discussion on Thursday, December 6th in Somerset, New Jersey. The free event, which is part of NJBIZs executive discussion series, will feature former Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno, who now serves as Partner at Connell Foley, as well as Charlie McKenna, former New Jersey Director of Homeland Security and current General Counsel at Renaissance Associates. The event is co-hosted with BridgeTower Media, the parent company of NJBIZ.

Guadagno and McKenna will join crisis experts Joel Payne, Vice President, Corporate Communications at MWWPR and Chris Lukach, President at AKCG  Public Relations Counselors on a panel to share best practices for minimizing risks and reputational damage during a business crisis. Topics include workplace harassment and employee issues, cyber security and data breaches, and political issues that can impact any business, among others.

New Jersey businesses need to be equipped to handle any crisis or they risk damaging their reputations and hurting their bottom lines, said Ken Kiczales, publisher of NJBIZ. We have seen firsthand how important crisis management is to every organization and having former Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno join our panel will bring an important perspective to the discussion. This event will give our local business leaders the tools and know-how to successfully manage through a crisis.

The Crisis Management panel will be held on December 6th from 8:00 am to 10:00 am at The Imperia, located at 1714 Easton Ave in Somerset. Full breakfast and networking will be part of the event. For more information and to register, please visit: https://crisismanagement.njbiz.com

For additional NJBIZs executive discussion sponsorship opportunities, contact Ken Kiczales at KKiczales@njbiz.com or 732-246-5729.

About NJBIZ

NJBIZ, New Jersey's leading business journal, produces a weekly print edition with a circulation of more than 15,000 copies, as well as providing 24/7 business news coverage through its NJBIZ.com website and multiple daily e-newsletters. The publication, founded in 1987 and based in the Somerset section of Franklin Township, is also well-known throughout the state for its events honoring New Jerseys top business professionals. It is owned by BridgeTower Media. For more, please visit, http://www.NJBIZ.com

About BridgeTower Media

BridgeTower Media is a leading provider of business information, events and marketing services for the legal, financial, construction and government sectors in more than 20 local and regional markets across the United States. In addition to providing subscribers with content relevant to their daily professional activities, BridgeTower has a research unit focused on employee satisfaction, lead generation services and live events centered on awards and education. For more information regarding BridgeTower Media, please visit http://www.bridgetowermedia.comEurope is leading the way when it comes to data privacy and we want to encourage institutions to take the extra steps necessary to preserve an individuals right to privacy

This years OEB Global, a cross-sector gathering of professionals from corporate, education and public services, is being held in Berlin, Germany. Here, the topics of discussion range from what is new in learning technologies to public policy that influences higher education & development professionals from around the world.

Mike Olsen, Founder & CEO of Proctorio, will chair a panel of speakers to discuss the First Lessons Learnt regarding the impact of GDPR. Conference attendees can bring content & questions to the discussion which will examine practical examples of how GDPR experts have navigated the policy within their respective organisations.

Other chairpersons include Paul Przemyslaw Polanski from Kozminski University, Poland; Miho Tanaka Gumpp from Enobyte GmbH; and Kristen Wolgast from Pinsent Masons Germany LLP.

Mike Olsen, stated, Having a business that has to manage student data with the highest privacy standards gave us a leg up when GDPR became enforceable. Europe is leading the way when it comes to data privacy and we want to encourage institutions to take the extra steps necessary to preserve an individuals right to privacy.

The panel discussion on GDPR First Lessons Learnt takes place Thursday, Dec 6th from 16:30 - 17:30 in Room Kopenick II/III at OEB Global Berlin.

About Proctorio: Proctorio is a fully automated, remote invigilation service that provides a scalable, cost-effective solution to validating test-taker identities & originality during online exams. Proctorio ensures the integrity of distance learning and online certifications while protecting institutional accreditation, increasing the value of online degrees & credentials, and helping institutions grow their programs.

Proctorios customizable, secure exam settings, recording options and live ID verification allow institutions to set-up unscheduled, on-demand invigilation specific to their assessment needs. Proctorio ensures fairness for test-takers by increasing accountability, securing exam content, deterring cheating, and promoting a culture of academic integrity while improving learning outcomes.

Click here to learn more about Proctorio's automated invigilation solution.The new Singapore office perfectly positions Genedata to further expand its role in the region.

Genedata, a leading provider of advanced software solutions for biopharmaceutical and related life science R&D, today announced the establishment of a new Genedata subsidiary, Genedata Pte. Ltd., in Singapore. The creation of the Singaporean subsidiary demonstrates Genedatas commitment to operate in close physical proximity to its rapidly growing client base in Asia and Australia, regions with very promising growth potential.

Singapores geographic location, together with its focus on life sciences R&D and its well-educated workforce, made it a natural choice for the new subsidiary office. A market leader in Europe and the US for enterprise software solutions for biopharmaceutical companies, Genedata has seen significant growth in recent years of their customer-base in the Asia Pacific region. The new Singapore office perfectly positions the company to further expand its role in the region. The Singaporean team, headed by Chung Ping Chow, Managing Director of Genedata Pte. Ltd., is able to provide local support and is backed by resources from the entire global Genedata organization.

"We are a long-standing customer of Genedata, and their software and services have been great in terms of flexibility and functional capabilities to support our biopharma workflows. We are excited to now have a local Genedata office and look forward to extending our collaboration in the future," commented Dr. Bi Xuezhi, Senior Scientist of Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI), Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR) of Singapore.

We have been using Genedata software for our omics data analysis workflows for more than 10 years and the software has become an indispensable part of our data analysis workflows. It is great to see Genedatas commitment to the region by opening a new office in Singapore, said Dr. Simone Rochfort, Research Leader for Molecular Phenomics at the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources, Australia.

The new office in Singapore is the logical next step to support our rapidly growing customer base in the Asia Pacific region, commented Dr. Othmar Pfannes, CEO of Genedata. The establishment of our Singaporean team demonstrates our commitment to further grow our business in Asia and Australia and supports our strategy of operating in close proximity to our customers to enable better collaborations around the globe.

About Genedata

Genedata transforms data into intelligence with innovative software solutions and domain-specific consulting services that automate complex, large-scale experimental processes and enable organizations to maximize the ROI from their R&D. Founded in 1997, Genedata is headquartered in Switzerland and has offices in Germany, the UK, Japan, Singapore, and the US.

Disclaimer

The statements in this press release that relate to future plans, events or performance are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including risks associated with uncertainties related to contract cancellations, developing risks, competitive factors, uncertainties pertaining to customer orders, demand for products and services, development of markets for the Company's products and services. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

All product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.Winfrey said Will County is large enough for the speaker to have an office on site, and she knew she had the support of her party. Her office was furnished at no cost with existing items, she said.GPSip Inc., a developer, intellectual property holder, and licensor of Autonomous GeoGraphical Containment Technology, announced that it has recently been granted US patents 9,961,884; 10,064,390; and 10,080,346 for its Wireless Location-Assisted Zone Guidance System, which allows devices to autonomously determine their status relating to a complex geo-fence boundary or area. These three (3) patents build on and broaden its original patent 9,795,118 granted October 24, 2017.

GPSip's Autonomous Containment technology allows containment areas (geo-fences) of complex shapes to be created with progressive alert zones and assigns them to other devices to be monitored and contained. The containment zone, alert zones, and other zone values are stored directly on the devices, using very little memory and processor time. As the location-aware device receives location information, it autonomously checks the on-board map to determine its status, and take action, if needed.

As GPSip moves toward enabling commercial applications, it has successfully incorporated the technology on devices built with ARM cortex-m processors. The technology is hardware agnostic, requiring just a small fraction of memory when compared to traditional methods. In addition to ARM cortex-m, the patented Autonomous Containment technology is proven to run on ARM cortex-a, Intel x86, Atmel AVR, Microchip Pic24, esp8266, and esp32 processors.

GPSips Autonomous Containment technology also improves battery life. A 70% reduction in power consumption, without shutting off the cellular radio, was realized when tested on a cellular-enabled SOM and a Ublox PAM-7Q GPS performing a complex geo-fence operation.

Containment is a growing need of every location-aware device, and now you can do it autonomously, without sacrificing battery life, noted Rodney Landers, co-inventor and CTO. The market is experiencing an explosion of location-aware IoT devices, and we believe our breakthrough will open up a greater number of applications for remote monitoring, of all location-aware devices, that have been impossible to implement with standard geo-fences because of the battery drain. Mr. Landers added, Since the status processing happens locally, the device only needs to communicate when there is a problem, or to give infrequent updates when things are good.

Our Autonomous GeoGraphical Containment Technology represents a paradigm change, and it will revolutionize the way containment can be used to monitor location-aware devices, said Kevin Nieuwsma, co-inventor and CEO of GPSip, Inc. "We are thrilled to have been granted these patents which broaden the portfolio for our invention, and we look forward to partnering with industry leaders to accelerate the adoption of our proprietary technology.

About GPSip, Inc.

GPSip is a developer, intellectual property holder, and licensor of Autonomous GeoGraphical Containment Technology, advancing the capabilities of standard location-based systems. Applications include: Family Security, Personal Safety, Public Safety, Elder Care, Health & Medical, Animals, Asset, Unmanned Vehicles (Drones), and equipment containment. In addition to US patents 9,795,118; 9,961,884; 10,064,390; and 10,080,346 the company has 10 United States and International utility patents pending. For more information, call (651) 307-2781 or visit http://www.skyshepherd.com.Greenberg Traurig Boston attorneys Chinh H. Pham, Emily Ladd-Kravitz, and Brian J. Assessor spoke at the Boston Bar Associations (BBA) High Tech & Emerging Tech Conference, Nov. 29, 2018. The conference brought together practitioners who advise entrepreneurs and high-tech companies through the various stages of their development, as well as in-house counsel in the emerging technology industry, to learn, network and share ideas.

Pham, who leads Greenberg Traurigs Emerging Technology Practice and is co-chair of the Boston office Intellectual Property (IP) Practice Group, moderated the panel, Due Diligence and Compliance in Business Transactions. Ladd-Kravitz, a shareholder in the offices Corporate Practice, served as a panelist. Assessor, an associate in the firms IP Practice, presented on the Blockchain panel at the conference.

About Greenberg Traurigs Boston Office: Established in 1999, Greenberg Traurigs Boston office is home to over 70 attorneys practicing in the areas of bankruptcy, corporate, emerging technology, energy, gaming, governmental affairs, intellectual property, labor and employment, life sciences and medical technology, litigation, public finance, and real estate. An important contributor to the firm's international platform, the Boston office includes a team of nationally recognized attorneys with both public and private sector experience. The team offers clients the value of decades of legal experience and hands-on knowledge of the local business community, supported by the firm's vast network of global resources.

About Greenberg Traurig, LLP: Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GT) has more than 2,000 attorneys in 38 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. GT has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, was named the largest firm in the U.S. by Law360 in 2017, and is among the Top 20 on the 2018 Am Law Global 100. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com; Twitter: @GT_Law.

Mike Schaengold, chair of global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLPs Government Contracts & Projects Practice and PubKLaw Advisory Board member, will speak at PubKGroups 4th Annual Year in Review program. Participating in the Dec. 12 event will be 18 speakers from government, industry, and private practice.

Schaengold will speak on the panel titled, Statutes, Regulations, Executive Orders, and Policies. He will address fiscal year 2018 Congressional statutory developments from a federal procurement standpoint including the recently enacted fiscal year 2019 National Defense Authorization Acts significant impact on federal procurement law.

Schaengold focuses his practice on government contracts litigation and counseling, and on litigation before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. His substantial government contracts dispute and bid protest experience includes litigation of major cases before the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the Court of Federal Claims, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the Boards of Contract Appeals. He represents clients in disputes involving most major departments and agencies of the U.S. government and, in recent years, has focused on procurements involving the Department of Defense (DOD), the General Services Administration (GSA), the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the Department of State (DOS). He also has substantial experience in due diligence reviews and other issues related to the acquisition, merger, spin-off, or sale of government contractors.

The event will also be offered as a live webinar.

About Greenberg Traurigs Government Contracts & Projects Practice: Greenberg Traurigs Government Contracts & Projects Practice helps companies navigate the highly regulated acquisition and compliance processes of federal, state, local, and foreign governments and their agencies. The firms attorneys and governmental affairs professionals assist both experienced contractors and newcomers with a broad array of issues arising from, for example, sales of commercial off-the-shelf and customized products, services, and managed solutions to governments at all levels. The practice also focuses on meeting the transactional and U.S. regulatory needs of clients in the commercial, defense, aerospace, information technology, telecommunications, medical and health care, and other high-tech sectors.

About Greenberg Traurig, LLP: Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GT) has more than 2,000 attorneys in 38 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. GT has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, was named the largest firm in the U.S. by Law360 in 2017, and is among the Top 20 on the 2018 Am Law Global 100. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com Twitter: @GT_Law.Hanover Research 2019 Trends in Higher Education Change is coming from all sides, impacting every department in the institution. An institutions success in 2019 depends on its ability to understand these changes and adapt quickly through new programs, policies, and initiatives.

Hanover Research (Hanover), a leading provider of market research and analytics, has released its annual Trends in Higher Education report. The report summarizes the forces that will shape higher education in 2019 based on Hanovers work with more than 300 institutions in 2018 across priority areas including academic programming, enrollment management, student success, finance, advancement, and marketing.

2019 will be a year of significant change for higher education institutions, said Anil Prahlad, chief research officer, Hanover Research. This change is coming from all sides, impacting every department in the institution. Evolving immigration regulations are impacting international student enrollment. There is continued uncertainty around funding and student recruitment. An institutions success in 2019 depends on its ability to understand these changes and adapt quickly through new programs, policies, and initiatives.

To identify the trends, Hanover analyzed more than 1,000 research projects completed in 2018 on behalf of more than 300 higher education institutions to predict the top research trends for 2019. Key trends forecasted in the report include:



Political uncertainty driving a decline in international student enrollments in the U.S.

The rise of chief diversity officers reflecting an emphasis on inclusivity

An increase in higher education mergers and acquisitions to survive financial instability

New innovations in technical programs to bridge the college-career skills gap

Utilization of smart targeting to drive donor giving in advancement

Virtual recruitment revolutionizes prospective student targeting and recruitment

Every day we help our members make critical decisions to adapt to the accelerating pace of change in higher education. From strategies for launching academic programs that produce graduates with the skills most needed by employers, to tapping into new technologies to precisely target prospective donors, we believe that institutions can make smart decisions grounded in data, best practice, and student and faculty feedback that will not only help them survive in todays tumultuous environment, but will set them up to make an impact on the knowledge economy of the future, said Sid Phillips, chief growth officer, Hanover Research.

To access the report, please click here.

About Hanover Research:

Founded in 2003, Hanover Research is a global market research and analytics firm that delivers market intelligence through a unique, fixed-fee model to more than 1,000 clients. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, Hanover employs high-caliber market researchers, analysts, and account executives to provide a service that is revolutionary in its combination of flexibility and affordability. Hanover was named a Top 50 Market Research Firm by the American Marketing Association in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018, and has also been twice named a Washington Business Journal Fastest Growing Company. To learn more about Hanover Research, visit http://www.hanoverresearch.com.The Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC) Veterans Employment Initiative (VEI), along with Monster and Military.com, announced today that IntelliDyne, LLC is the winner of the third annual Veteran Service Award.

The VEI Veteran Service Award is sponsored by Monster and Military.com, the premier recruiting solution providers for veterans and employers in the United States, and honors NVTC member companies who have demonstrated a superlative level of engagement with the VEI and support for the Veteran community. IntelliDyne, LLC, a Virginia Values Veterans (V3) certified company, was selected for the focused engagement of its talent acquisition team, and for creating unique opportunities to connect with job seeking Veterans and military spouses. Additionally, IntelliDyne has been a consistent leader in supporting the larger Veteran and military family community.

In addition to IntelliDyne, LLC, CACI International, Inc. and PenFed were also finalists for the award.

Launched in 2013, the NVTC Veterans Employment Initiative (VEI) connects Veterans and military spouses to employment, internship, apprenticeship and educational opportunities. It also provides support to member companies in their efforts to recruit, hire, train and retain qualified Veteran and military spouse employees. NVTC member companies have hired over 12,000 Vets since 2013.

The Veteran Service Award finalist companies have not only hired Veterans and military spouses, but also actively participated in the programs and services of VEI and other Veteran-focused philanthropic volunteer programs, stated VEI Executive Director Steve Jordon. These companies are creating scalable Veteran and military spouse hiring programs and have engaged their employees in supporting transitioning military members as well.

IntelliDyne, and all our finalists, demonstrated the highest level of commitment to hiring Veterans, and put that commitment into practice with programs and a deep engagement in our regional Veteran and military community, said Steve Cooker, Executive Vice President of Monster Government Solutions and Co-Chair of the NVTC VEI. We are honored to help recognize and celebrate their success in bringing Veteran and military spouse talent into their organizations. At Monster and Military.com, we know the tremendous value this talent base adds to the civilian workforce and are proud to support the companies leading the way.

Finalists for the award were evaluated by an independent panel of judges on their Veteran and military spouse hiring and retention, their participation in the VEI, and their support of other Veteran-related activities in the community. Previous winners of the Veteran Service Award include PRISM Inc. and the MITRE Corporation.

# # #

The Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC) is the membership and trade association for the technology community in Northern Virginia. As the largest technology council in the nation, NVTC serves about 1,000 companies from all sectors of the technology industry, as well as service providers, universities, foreign embassies, nonprofit organizations and governmental agencies. Through its member companies, NVTC represents about 300,000 employees in the region. NVTC is recognized as the nation's leader in providing its technology community with networking and educational events; specialized services and benefits; public policy advocacy; branding of its region as a major global technology center; initiatives in targeted business sectors and in the international, entrepreneurship, workforce and education arenas; and the NVTC Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity that supports the NVTC Veterans Employment Initiative and other priorities within Virginia's technology community. Visit NVTC at http://www.nvtc.org.

Launched in 2013, the NVTC Veterans Employment Initiative (VEI) connects Veterans and military spouses to employment opportunities and provides support to member companies in their efforts to recruit, hire, train and retain qualified Veteran employees. The VEI and its programs are funded by the NVTC Foundation.

USTechVets.org is a U.S. technology industry career portal created to connect Veterans, including transitioning military personnel and their spouses, with meaningful jobs in America's technology industry. USTechVets.org is a collaborative effort of the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC) Veterans Employment Initiative, Consumer Technology Association (CTA), Monster.com and Military.com. Its a free resource for Veterans, transitioning servicemembers and military spouses, and a benefit of membership for NVTC and CTA member organizations looking to hire this talent.

Contacts:

Allison Gilmore

Northern Virginia Technology Council

703-904-7878 ext. 287 (o) or 703-946-0318 (c)

agilmore(at)nvtc.org

Sarah Blansett

Military.com/Monster

571-326-4440 (c)

sarah.blansett(at)monster.comThe unique role decor plays in the sales and marketing of real estate is something the furniture industry has not fully embraced," said Cheryl Eisen, Founder and President of Interior Marketing Group.

What:

International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) South Florida

When:

December 4-6, 2018

Where

Fort Lauderdale Convention Center

Features:

ICFF South Florida showcases the worlds leading designers and manufacturers of whats best and whats next in luxury interiors. After a well-attended panel at ICFF New York, the organization tapped Cheryl Eisen, celebrity interior designer and President of luxury design and marketing firm, Interior Marketing Group (IMG) to discuss the important role decor plays in the real estate market during a coveted ICFF Talks session.

Joined by top Douglas Elliman executives in the Miami area, Dina Goldentayer and Eloy Carmenate and luxury real estate specialist, Daniel Daggers of Knight Frank, Eisen and panel will share anecdotes on the impact of design in the real estate industry. The panel of experts will also offer actionable tips for furniture creators looking to tap into the real estate market as a new revenue stream.

The unique role decor plays in the sales and marketing of real estate is something the furniture industry has not fully embraced, said Cheryl Eisen, Founder and President of Interior Marketing Group. Im excited to bring IMGs unique aesthetic to South Florida and share ideas with the community, she continued.

IMG recently expanded its service area to the South Florida area with both interior design and staging projects in Miami and Palm Beach. Residential projects for sale include a $48M penthouse at 100 South Pointe Drive and a new development model unit at 300 Collins Avenue listed by panelists Carmenate and Goldentayer, respectively.

Eisens panel, titled Looks Matter! The important role of decor in real estate is slated for Wednesday, December 5th at 1:30pm. For more information about Eisens panel and ICFF South Florida, head to http://www.icffsouthflorida.com.

About Interior Marketing Group

Founded in 2007 by entrepreneur Cheryl Eisen, Interior Marketing Group is the largest full-service interior design and marketing firm in the United States. Combining their unique design aesthetic with a strategic marketing/PR package, the firm goes beyond standard industry offerings to deliver market-defying results. IMG services Miami, New York City, Los Angeles, the Hamptons, and Connecticut. IMG is a woman-owned, women-run organization.

About ICFF

ICFF is the global design platform for North America presenting whats best and whats next in furniture, seating, carpet and flooring, lighting, outdoor furniture, materials, wall coverings, accessories, textiles, kitchen and bath and fabricators, attracting nearly 900 exhibitors and more than 36,000 attendees from around the world.Jobiak, provider of the industrys first AI-based recruitment marketing platform specifically for Google for Jobs, today announced the launch of Google Job Check, a free utility tool that enables recruiters and talent acquisition teams to instantly determine if their job posts are live on Google for Jobs by simply entering the URL of their job post. To see it in action, visit http://www.AreMyJobsOnGoogle.com.

Launched in 2017, Google for Jobs matches job seekers with relevant, high-quality job listings. Google for Jobs aggregates job listings from around the web and presents job search results in a simple box at the top of the organic search results. Roughly 150 million searches on Google each month in the U.S. are job-related. However, Jobiaks research and analysis of more than one million job posts show that less than 20 percent of the jobs posted on Google for Jobs currently come from companies directly.

Talent acquisition teams and in-house recruiters want their jobs to be found in Google searches, but our research indicates that most are not aware of how Google for Jobs works and many are not sure if their job posts are live on Google for Jobs, said Venkat Janapareddy, founder and CEO of Jobiak. This new free utility aims to help recruiters and talent acquisition teams to instantly determine if their jobs are on Google for Jobs, and from what sources. Armed with this knowledge, they can quickly take steps to directly post their jobs and tap into this powerful source of qualified candidates.

Currently, the process for posting jobs to Google for Jobs requires deep coding expertise and access to the page code for every job post. Jobiak launched its AI-based machine learning platform in October 2018 to make it easier and quicker for HR professionals to directly post jobs to Google for Jobs. Jobiak automatically scans job posts, identifies the attributes that Google requires, and then structures the Google tags  all without touching the underlying code. For more information and to try Jobiak for free, visit https://www.jobiak.ai/.

About Jobiak:

Jobiak provides the industrys first AI-based recruitment marketing platform that is designed to quickly and directly publish job postings to Google for Jobs, maximize their visibility and accelerate the flow of qualified candidates. Created for recruiters, talent acquisition teams and HR professionals, Jobiak offers the fastest and most direct path to posting jobs on Google for Jobs with three clicks to publish, all without the need for HTML coding or developer support. Jobiak is headquartered in Woburn, Mass., with international offices in India. For more information, visit https://www.jobiak.ai/ and follow on Twitter @jobiak_ai.Kunal Kitchens At Kunal Kitchens, we always believe in adapting ourselves to the new kitchen design trends that are in the market. We are thinking of enhancing our service portfolio offerings to dealers.

Portsmouth and Dayton are new additions to the exquisite range of Star Cabinets at Kunal Kitchens. The all-new wood construction Portsmouth and Dayton from Kunal Kitchens come with a 1-year warranty.

Portsmouth gives a classic appeal to the kitchen and is an amazing value addition to any home-buyer's budget. Subtle detail, incomparable quality and attainable value are expressed in Portsmouth. This line features solid Birch cabinet face frames and Birch veneer center panel doors. This kitchen will add timeless charm and warmth to your home.

Dayton is a new take on a classic shaker style door  Thermofoil construction makes it easy-to-clean and budget-friendly. This line features a sleek finish and solid Birch cabinet face frames and will add effortless style to homeowners.

The Star Cabinetry range of kitchen cabinets is well represented by a network of professional kitchen dealers in mid-Atlantic and Northeast states of America including New England. The exclusive range of Star Cabinets has exceptional characteristics to offer updated style and convenience to customers. Kunal Kitchens has the widest range of kitchen cabinets and door styles and the star cabinet range is available in a multitude of colors and material combinations.

Speaking more on the new door styles Portsmouth and Dayton in the Kunal Kitchens portfolio, Chris Prior, Sales Manager at Kunal Kitchens, said, We are super excited to add new styles to our existing range of Star Cabinets at Kunal Kitchens. I believe the new styles will certainly appeal to a considerable section of wholesale dealers and contractors who are always looking for new and better looking kitchens. At Kunal Kitchens, we always believe in adapting ourselves to the new kitchen design trends that are in the market.

Additionally, we are thinking of enhancing our service portfolio offerings to dealers. This will give them more options and varieties from Kunal Kitchens.

Kunal Kitchens has simplified the process of ordering cabinets through its premium service to all dealers through our Ecommerce portal where dealers have easy access to order kitchen cabinets. The business philosophy of Kunal Kitchens is focused on providing a high level of precision and quality to the wholesale marketplace. Kunal Kitchens promise is to offer the quickest turnaround time to ship cabinets directly to the dealers business or job site. Whether its a kitchen or bath remodel, or new construction project, Kunal Kitchens is an industry leader in providing your customers with a great look and great value.

Kunal Kitchens is manufacturing the following lines of kitchen cabinets and/or bathroom vanity cabinets in conformance with American National Standard ANSI/KCMA A161.1-2017, Performance and Construction Standard for Kitchen and Vanity Cabinets: Amherst, Augusta, Charlotte, Dayton, Gloucester, Jamestown, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, and Yorktown.

Envision your newly remodeled kitchen or bathroom with the help of a salesperson at a Kunal Kitchens dealer. They can help in the design of your new kitchen and visiting a showroom gives you get a chance to see the cabinets first-hand and inspect the quality craftsmanship that goes into every Kunal cabinet and drawer. To find your nearest Kunal dealer, call 860-548-9590 or email us at info@kunalkitchens.com.Teri Tobar Although most people like to use the word staging, I feel that you dont need to professionally stage the home, but rather prepare the home to show its appeal and make potential buyers feel comfortable and at home.

Typically, when summer ends the housing market changes. Havasu is very different from other places because in the summer it slows down. Towards the end of September and the beginning of October we start getting the winter visitors, which are often referred to as the snowbirds, said Realtor Teri Tobar, of Realty ONE Group Mountain Desert. This is when the market activity begins picking up and continues through approximately April or May, so right now is the time to start getting your home ready to appeal to these winter visitors.

Since Havasu is a resort town, the majority of people want to buy a winter home to escape the weather in other places. When selling to someone who is a winter visitor, the size of the home and location play a huge part. There are also some major key points to think of when getting your home ready to sell, added Tobar.

For one, you need to be sure to have a clean curb appeal. This is going to be the first thing that a potential buyer sees, and first impressions are everything. You also want to be sure to declutter and keep things open and airy, noted Tobar. Although most people like to use the word staging, I feel that you dont need to professionally stage the home, but rather prepare the home to show its appeal and make potential buyers feel comfortable and at home.

Sellers should also provide potential buyers with a lasting impression by allowing them to see themselves in the home as their own. Depersonalizing is such a strong component when showing buyers ones home.

During winter, potential buyers purchase these homes as vacation homes. The price range for these homes is generally $200,000-$300,000, concluded Tobar. This price range is a popular market and that is where the majority of our low inventory originates.

About Teri Tobar, Realty ONE Group Mountain Desert

Teri Tobar is licensed in California and Arizona and has over 32 years of experience in different facets of real estate that contribute to her ability to assist clients in all areas of a real estate transaction. Her concentration is Lake Havasu City area but also serves as a relocation ambassador to clients that wish to buy or sell Real Estate anywhere in the United States. For more information, please call Direct (928) 302-9356, Cell (949) 533-1700 or visit http://www.teritobar.com. Realty ONE Group Mountain Desert is located at 1971 McCulloch Blvd. N, Suite 102, Lake Havasu City, AZ 86403.

For media inquiries, please call the NALA at 805.650.6121, ext. 361.

The report focuses on how VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) conditions are impacting expectations upon general counsel and sheds light on four key techniques that general counsel can apply to make their organizations more agile and effective.

Lex Mundi has published a new report, Wrestling with Volatility: How General Counsel are Adapting to a VUCA World.

The report summarizes findings from the annual Lex Mundi Summit in Amsterdam, where senior in-house counsel, member firm lawyers and other experts discussed challenges and best-practices during structured working groups.

The report focuses on how VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) conditions are impacting expectations upon general counsel, and through the highly structured, interactive discussions it sheds light on four key techniques that general counsel can apply to make their organizations more agile and effective:



Horizon Scanning: Known Unknowns

Scenario Planning: Unknown Unknowns

Silo Busting: Legal as a Vertically-Integrated Business Partner

Embedding Fast-Flow Learning into the Culture

Also included in the report are expert contributions from Summit speakers covering the SCARF model for leading organizational change and supplements from Control Risks and Royal Dutch Shell.

Click here to access your complimentary copy.

About Lex Mundi

Lex Mundi is the worlds leading network of independent law firms with in-depth experience in 100+ countries. Lex Mundi member firms offer clients preferred access to more than 21,000 lawyers worldwide  a global resource of unmatched breadth and depth. Each member firm is selected on the basis of its leadership in  and continued commitment to  its local market. The Lex Mundi principle is one independent firm for each jurisdiction. Firms must maintain their level of excellence to retain membership within Lex Mundi.

Through close collaboration, information-sharing, training and inter-firm initiatives, the Lex Mundi network is an assurance of connected, on-the ground expertise in every market in which a client needs to operate. Through its global service platform, Lex Mundi members are able to seamlessly handle their clients most challenging cross-border transactions and disputes.

Member law firms are located throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean and North America. Through Lex Mundis nonprofit affiliate, the Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation, members also provide pro bono legal assistance to social entrepreneurs around the globe.

For more information, please visit http://www.lexmundi.com and http://www.lexmundiprobono.org.

Contact Information:

Kathleen Pope-Sance

Vice President, Marketing and Communications

Lex Mundi

1.713.328.4521

Carl Anduri

President

Lex Mundi

1.925.962.0115You see, my job  property assessment  really is about how we divide up the bill for investing in you, he told students. We cannot afford to allow our assessment system to be hijacked for purposes of favoritism and profit, because that gives folks an excuse for not investing in you.LLS (Leonardo LoCascio Selections), a member of The Winebow Group and Americas leading importer of premium Italian wines, is pleased to announce that it is the exclusive U.S. importer of the wines of Achille Boroli and his familys eponymous estate that lies at the heart of the Barolo DOCG. Boroli joins a portfolio that represents more than 60 wineries throughout Italy.

We are thrilled to welcome Boroli into the LLS family, said Ted Campbell, Senior Vice President and General Manager of LLS. We were looking for a gem in the Langhe region to complement our existing producers and enrich our offerings from Piedmont. Boroli is a producer with vision and passion, focused primarily on Barolo and the expression of unique terroirs of the appellation. To have Achilles wines in our portfolio and to be able to share the Boroli story with our customers is an extraordinary opportunity for the LLS team.

With roots in Piedmont that date back to 1831, the Boroli family did not enter the winemaking business until 1997 when Silvano and Elena Boroli decided to leave their publishing business and start a winery. Achille, the third of four sons, joined the family business in 2000 after graduating in business administration, and in 2012, officially took control of the winery. During that harvest, Achille began a mission to revolutionize the quality of his familys Barolos by implementing a series of best practices that included investing in new technology, minimizing production levels through green harvesting, eliminating skin pressing, and fertilizing every three years using only organic materials.

The Boroli vineyards are located in the communes of Castiglione Falletto, Barolo, and La Morra. All winemaking and production takes place at Cascina La Brunella, the facility that sits atop a hillside in the western end of Castiglione Falletto. The Brunella vineyard, which has been classified as a Menzione Geografica Aggiuntiva (MGA), or cru, is the familys monopole that covers 6.7 acres at the crown of the Villero hill. Owning a monopole is a rarity in Barolo, and with the Brunella MGA, Boroli has the first in Barolos history.

Though its first bottling was not until the 2013 harvest, Brunella has been documented as producing superior quality fruit since the 17th century. It is also the location where Achilles brother Guido, an architect, designed a new winery in 2006 using advanced sustainable building concepts in its construction. As it occupies the best exposed section of the hillside, Brunella yields wines of great complexity with extraordinary length and ageability.

The Villero MGA, also in Castiglione Falletto, sits at the center of the Barolo DOCG where the regions Helvetian and Tortonian subsoils meet. These soils, along with the near perfect exposure of the crus location, produce wines of power and elegance. The Cerequio MGA, spans the border between La Morra and Barolo. Borolis holdings in Cerequio are located entirely in Barolo, in one of the most prestigious sites in the Barolo DOCG zone known for its extraordinary microclimate. Wines from this cru are characterized by their finesse and grace.

From vineyard to bottle, my focus is to produce unique Barolo wines of the highest quality with no compromises, said Achille Boroli, winemaker and estate owner. It was essential for me to find the right partner in the United States who understands my philosophy and supports the work that I do. The LLS team has the knowledge, commitment and national reach to effectively bring my wines to the U.S. market and I look forward to this new partnership with great excitement.

LLS will import the following wines from Boroli: Barolo DOCG, Cerequio Barolo DOCG, Villero Barolo DOCG, and Brunella Barolo DOCG.

About LLS

LLS is a division of Winebow Imports, a leading importer of fine wines and spirits from the around the world. LLS has represented Italian wines of impeccable quality, character, and value for over 35 years. Each wine in the collection tells a unique story about the family and region that produced it. A taste through the portfolio is a journey across Italys rich spectrum of geography, history, culture, and cuisine. Whether a crisp Pinot Bianco from the Dolomites or a rich Aglianico from Campania, the wines of LLS will transport you to Italys outstanding regions. For more information, please visit http://www.llswine.com.This is another giant step forward for Magnolia as it advances on its journey to becoming the fastest enterprise CMS on the planet.

Magnolia, one of the worlds leading providers of open-source content management solutions, today announces the launch of Magnolia 6, the latest version of its flagship product. The release includes a suite of new features designed to help busy marketers deliver a better customer experience faster than ever before.

Today, the battleground for digitally savvy enterprises is the quality of the customer experience. Enterprises that deliver a better customer experience are poised to win in todays increasingly competitive marketplace, says Rasmus Skjoldan, chief marketing officer, Magnolia CMS. This is the inspiration behind Magnolia 6. Were giving our users a better experience by seamlessly integrating our system with each of the solutions within their martech stack, so that they can fully focus on delivering a higher-quality customer experience. This is what every marketer should expect from their content management system now and in the future.

The latest release includes the following upgrades: re-designed user interface, intelligent contextual search, automated tagging and faster content modeling functionalities. These features will empower users to combine explicit and implicit personalization to rapidly move from first idea to iteration and, therefore, slash time-to-market for new projects. This is another giant step forward for Magnolia as it advances on its journey to becoming the fastest enterprise CMS on the planet.

According to Skjoldan, The modern martech stack is a mess. Every solution wants to be the centerpiece of an enterprise's martech ecosystem. This makes it near impossible for digital marketers to establish a seamless workflow across applications.

Skjoldan adds, Humble software - solutions that are less arrogant about wanting to exist on their own - are needed now more than ever. Systems like Magnolia 6, which do more than just share data across applications, are resonating best with todays marketers. Users need more humble solutions that can surface analytics in just the right places in the experience editor, administer the correct dose of search engine optimization suggestions in the content authoring interface and deliver notifications from other applications right into the software theyre actively working. This is where the industry is headed.

More meaningful integrations will help users complete projects faster to meet the needs of todays customers sooner. Magnolia 6 is one of the only enterprise solutions on the market helping marketers execute on an idea on Tuesday afternoon that they came up with on Monday morning.

While this latest release is designed to meet the needs of marketing organizations and business units, Magnolia continues its heritage as an agile, highly secure platform for custom front-end and Java development, complete with deep integrations and customizations.

For more information about Magnolia and the launch of Magnolia 6.0, please visit: https://www.magnolia-cms.com/magnolia-6.

About Magnolia CMS

Magnolia CMS is a platform for building best-of-breed digital experiences. Enterprises such as Avis, Generali, Tesco and the New York Times use Magnolia CMS as a central hub for their web, mobile and DX initiatives.

Magnolia is a privately-held company, founded in 1997, with headquarters in Basel, Switzerland and subsidiaries around the globe. To learn more, please visit: https://www.magnolia-cms.com/.As we have helped our clients grow, we have grown with them. We want our brand, website, and office space to reflect the commitment to our clients and employees while supporting our continued growth.

B2B digital marketing agency Marsden Marketing debuts a fresh new face with a rebrand and new website. The launch comes as Marsden Marketing celebrates a year of substantial growth in clients, employees, capabilities, and recent corporate relocation.

Over the past three years, Marsden Marketing expanded its expertise to include ABM, sales enablement, and video production services. As the agencys capabilities have grown, so too has its client roster with the addition of new clients in the technology, financial services, and software industries.

Marsden Marketing attributes their success to the companys focus on powering their clients revenue growth. As buyer behaviors have shifted over the past several years, B2B companies have seen declining productivity from traditional marketing and sales processes. Marsden Marketings data-driven methodology combines technology, creativity, and a deep understanding of the market forces shaping many B2B industries to deliver Marketing That Sells.

Marketings role in driving revenue is greater than ever, said Anne Marsden, CEO and Founder of Marsden Marketing. We create the programs and processes for marketing and sales to work cooperatively, and the results are paying off for our clients.

The rebrand and new website serve as the natural expression of the companys expansion. This year, Marsden Marketings work and workplace have been recognized, taking home five platinum and gold awards in the international dotComm digital and content marketing competition. Marsden Marketing was also named one of the best places to work by the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

The new offices, just off the Beltline in Midtown Atlanta, provide a work/play environment that fosters creativity, teamwork, and fun while supporting client interactions both virtually and in person. And having a local brewery right in the building is a good incentive for local clients to come visit.

As we have helped our clients grow, we have grown with them, Marsden explained. We want our brand, website, and office space to reflect the commitment to our clients and employees while supporting our continued growth.

Marsden Marketing is also growing its participation in the community. The agency is a national sponsor of 48in48, a non-profit that builds websites for deserving non-profits, and Anne Marsden is a co-chair of the organizations global marketing committee. Anne also serves on the Board of the Greater Womens Business Council, a nonprofit that supports the development and growth of women-owned businesses.

About Marsden Marketing

B2B companies seek out Marsden Marketings award-winning expertise as a full-service digital marketing agency that integrates marketing, PR, and sales enablement to accelerate their growth. Servicing clients worldwide, Marsden is the leading HubSpot Platinum Partner based in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information, contact us at 678.369.0019 or visit http://www.marsdenmarketing.com.Frost Sullivan 2018 Outbound Market Leader Award Once again, Noble Systems achievement is marked by the companys innovation in providing a broad range of agile solutions focused on the changing needs of the contact center market.

Noble Systems Corporation, a global leader in omnichannel contact center technologies, has received the Frost & Sullivan 2018 Market Share Leadership Award for the North American Outbound Dialing Systems market. The award, announced at last nights Gala event, marks the sixth consecutive year that Noble has been ranked as the market leader. Nobles key performance drivers, which include depth of innovation, strength of offering, and ownership experience, set the company apart from other vendors.

The Frost & Sullivan North American Outbound Dialing 2018 Market Share Leadership Award is presented to the company that has demonstrated excellence in capturing the highest market share within the industry. Over the past year, Noble has increased its market share by almost 5%, built on the success of its single-code premise and cloud offerings. With a broad portfolio of omnichannel customer experience solutions, tenured management, key strategic initiatives, and a record of industry advocacy, Noble Systems has firmly established its brand strength and leadership position.

Noble Systems has maintained its lead in the Outbound Dialing Systems market for the sixth consecutive year, growing its presence in an ever-more challenging environment, said Nancy Jamison, Principal Analyst, Digital Transformation at Frost & Sullivan. Once again, Noble Systems achievement is marked by the companys innovation in providing a broad range of agile solutions focused on the changing needs of the contact center market. Noble is also committed to delivering a superior ownership experience, which is reflected in having one of the lowest churn rates in the industry.

Chris Hodges, senior VP sales and marketing at Noble Systems, states, For almost three decades, Noble Systems has been committed to providing superior omnichannel technologies and services to help companies improve the customer experience, and we are excited to be at the front of the growing focus on agent engagement. We are honored to again be recognized by Frost & Sullivan for our best-in-market solutions, and will continue to deliver added value for our clients with the most complete customer communications platform available from a single vendor, and the ability to deploy our systems in premise, cloud, or hybrid models without sacrificing features or performance.

About Noble Systems

Noble Systems Corporation is a global leader in the customer communications industry, providing innovative solutions for Contact Center, Workforce Engagement, and Analytics technologies. Tens of thousands of agents at client installations worldwide use Noble platforms to manage millions of customer contacts each day. Noble offers a unified suite of inbound, outbound, and omnichannel contact processing, strategy planning, resource management, and compliance tools for companies of all sizes. Our premise, cloud, and innovative premise/cloud hybrid platforms include ACD, predictive dialing, blended processing, recording and monitoring, IVR, messaging, interaction analytics, workforce management, and gamification. With a portfolio of 170 patents and growing, Noble leads the way in pioneering solutions for the contact center market. For more information, contact Lee Allum at 1.888.8NOBLE8 or visit http://www.noblesystems.com.

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, enables clients to accelerate growth and achieve best-in-class positions in growth, innovation and leadership. The company's Growth Partnership Service provides the CEO and the CEO's Growth Team with disciplined research and best practice models to drive the generation, evaluation and implementation of powerful growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan leverages more than 50 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses, and the investment community from 45 offices on six continents. To join our Growth Partnership, please visit http://www.frost.com.

Kathy Golden, OEC Chief Technology Officer

OEConnection LLC (OEC), a leading technology employer in Northeast Ohio, is proud to announce that Katherine Golden, Chief Technology Officer at OEC, was honored in Crains Cleveland Business as a 2018 Notable Woman in Technology. The publication recognized the Northeast Ohio areas top female leaders in the technology space in a special section of the publication on November 12.

Golden was recognized for her efforts in developing and cultivating the global technology organization at OEC which includes 375 tech employees in the US, Europe and Asia Pacific by leading integration efforts during the acquisition of Clifford Thames Ltd. in 2017. She has also led crucial technology initiatives to ensure OEC remains a best-in-class SaaS provider, including an organization-wide transformation to Agile methodologies; forming a Risk and Compliance department to address security issues, most recently with the implementation of GDPR policies; working toward ISO certification in the US to mirror the European operation; and creating a highly-scalable software and QA development organization.

We are proud of Kathys achievements since she joined OEC in 2013, including leading the growing technology organization, overseeing the transformation to Agile, and most recently, rolling out a large, global technology upgrade, said Chuck Rotuno, Chairman & CEO of OEC. Shes also a tremendous asset to the Northeast Ohio tech community as a whole. Her dedication to generating excitement about technology with the next generation through local tech camps ensures that our region will have a robust talent pool for the foreseeable future. She is very well deserving of the Notable Women in Tech recognition.

Golden is a member of the Regional Information Technology Engagement (RITE) Board, serving as Chairperson of the Governance and Finance Committee, and donates her time to the tech community in conjunction with OHTec, Women in Tech, Baldwin Wallace University, TechCorp and local coding camps.

Kathy is a walk-the-talk kind of leader who has lived up to every expectation set for RITE Board members, said RITE Board Director and fellow honoree Courtney DeOreo. Kathy is passionate about inspiring the next generation of women in technology. She is a true stellar leader in tech who not only does her job internally but also sees todays technology leader as a powerful force in community transformation.

Other recognitions in Goldens distinguished career include Crains 40 Under 40 award and Crains CIO of the Year finalist in 2016. She has also been awarded several US patents for dynamic pricing technologies at OEC.

About OEC

OEConnection (OEC) is the leading automotive technology provider for OEM distribution networks, enabling automakers and dealerships around the world to deliver parts and service information quickly and accurately into the hands of repairers in collision, fleet, mechanical and retail segments, as well as their own service lanes, through a suite of parts cataloging, supply chain, pricing, ecommerce, service and business intelligence solutions. OEC serves nearly 50 international auto brands and fleet companies, and more than 150,000 dealership and repair customers worldwide. OEC is headquartered in the greater Cleveland area at 4205 Highlander Parkway, Richfield, Ohio, USA, 44286. Additional information is available at http://www.oeconnection.com or by emailing Kathy Jambor at Kathy.Jambor@oeconnection.com.Her dedication to our organization is apparent in everything she does. We are thrilled that she has been recognized by the Stevie Awards as a leading woman in business.

Industrial Security Integrators (IsI), a leading provider of full spectrum security solutions for business and government, announced this week that their President, Jeanne A. Travis received three Stevie Awards at the 15th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business. The winners were announced on Friday, November 16th, 2018 at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel in New York City. The event was broadcast via Livestream.

The Stevie Awards for Women in Business honor female executives, entrepreneurs, employees, and the companies they run. The Stevie Awards have been hailed as the worlds premier business awards.

Judges chose the winners of the prestigious awards from more than 1,500 entries in over 90 categories including Executive of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, Company of the Year, Startup of the Year, Women Helping Women, and Woman Run Workplace of the Year. Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Award winners were determined by the average scores of more than 200 business professionals around the world working on six juries.

Jeanne Travis was awarded a Silver Stevie Award in the Female Executive of the Year category. She received Bronze Stevie Awards for the categories of Most Innovative Woman of the Year and Female Entrepreneur of the Year.

Jeanne is a strong technical leader, said Paul J. Cella, Chief Executive Officer at Industrial Security Integrators. Her dedication to our organization is apparent in everything she does. We are thrilled that she has been recognized by the Stevie Awards as a leading woman in business.

Jeannes responsibilities at IsI include overseeing the complete operation and success of IsI while maintaining awareness of opportunities for expansion, customers, and new Industry and Government standards. Jeanne has close to twenty years of experience with consulting, litigation and contract support, and IT program management including IT security, database and system administration, and facility and network engineering. Jeanne was appointed President of IsI in January 2012.

About The Stevie Awards

Stevie Awards are conferred in seven programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 10,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 70 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performance in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.StevieAwards.com.

About Industrial Security Integrators

Headquartered in Herndon, VA, Industrial Security Integrators provides cost-effective, comprehensive security solutions for Industry and Government. The company strives to achieve complete customer satisfaction while maintaining an ethical and professional workplace. IsIs team of dedicated security professionals provides the support needed to manage both small and large security programs at a fraction of the cost.

For more information about IsI, please visit their website at https://www.dodsecurity.com"Acuity Eye Group is a fantastic organization with a great track record and enormous potential for growth. This acquisition will enable us to grow our practice and develop efficiencies while still making quality patient care to those in our community our top priority" said Dr. Steven Steinschriber.

Acuity Eye Group, spanning over 40 ophthalmology and retina clinics, four surgery centers, and one LASIK center throughout Southern California, announced an agreement to acquire Dr. Steven Steinschribers ophthalmology practice as they expand their services in the Greater Los Angeles area. The transaction closed on October 16th. Financial terms were not disclosed.

This acquisition enhances Acuity Eye Groups ability to provide quality eye care and meet the growing needs of patients in the Greater Los Angeles area.

"My team and I are very excited," said Dr. Steinschriber, whose practice has been established in Downtown Los Angeles for years. Acuity Eye Group is a fantastic organization with a great track record and enormous potential for growth. This acquisition will enable us to grow our practice and develop efficiencies while still making quality patient care to those in our community our top priority.

This acquisition is a tremendous gain for us, said Dr. Tom Chang, Chief Executive Officer of Acuity Eye Group. Dr. Steinschribers practice has a fantastic reputation in the community and were thrilled to have him as part of our organization.

Acuity Eye Group and Dr. Steinschriber are steadfast in their commitment to providing patients access to industry-leading research and state-of-the-art technology, as well as access to effective business support services that streamline and improve the patient experience. As a member of Acuity Eye Group, Dr. Steinschriber and the other members of this organization cooperate in clinician and staff development opportunities designed to enhance the patient experience, and better support the doctor/patient relationship.

About Acuity Eye Group

At Acuity Eye Group, we are committed to helping physicians realize their full potential all while providing best-in-class patient care to all those in need. We are experts in the business of ophthalmology with years of experience in the industry, a world-class surgeon as our founder, and an unwavering commitment to helping both established practice owners and young professionals further their careers.

Headquartered in Pasadena, CA, the Company offers access to ophthalmology and optometry services from Visalia to San Diego.ACT.md, a national provider of healthcare collaboration software, today announced a partnership with the San Joaquin Community Health Information Exchange in California to implement ACT.mds care coordination platform for San Joaquin Countys Whole Person Care (WPC) pilot program. Whole Person Care is a state of California cross-sector and multi-disciplinary strategy to coordinate the provision of health, behavioral health, and social services for Medicaid populations with complex health and social needs.

Whole Person Care is focused on a particularly vulnerable group of California Medicaid (Medi-Cal) beneficiaries who have been identified as high utilizers of multiple systems in the county with poor health outcomes. The integrated Whole Person Care model is designed to address social determinants of health, which are the non-medical factors that affect health, such as housing instability, utility needs, food insecurity, interpersonal violence, and transportation, and which account for up to 60 percent of health outcomes. San Joaquin Countys WPC pilot is specifically focused on reducing homelessness, increasing initiation of alcohol and drug treatment, and decreasing emergency room visits and hospitalizations.

As the lead entity for the Countys WPC pilot, San Joaquin County Health Care Services Agency has convened a broad range of partners including public agencies, healthcare providers, community-based organizations, health plans, and technology services to coordinate care for program enrollees:



Public agencies, including the countys Behavioral Health Services, Housing Authority, Public Health Services, Substance Abuse Services, and Correctional Health Services at the San Joaquin County Jail.

Healthcare providers, including San Joaquin General Hospital, Dignity Health St. Josephs Medical Center, Community Medical Centers, and San Joaquin County Clinics.

Community partners, including Gospel Center Rescue Mission and Central Valley Low Income Housing Corporation.

Managed care plans for Medi-Cal members, the Health Plan of San Joaquin and Health Net.

San Joaquin County Health Information Exchange, and ACT.md.

The population of San Joaquin County is one of the fastest growing in the state of California, and an increasing percentage of our Medicaid population stands to benefit from coordinated Whole Person Care, said Mark Elson, PhD, Executive Director of San Joaquin Community Health Information Exchange. As we test interventions and create a care management infrastructure between healthcare providers and community partners, ACT.md will help us coordinate resources and ultimately better serve individuals who are at high risk and are high utilizers of care.

Within ACT.md, case workers will assess clients and collect data on the most pressing reasons for high utilization, including lack of housing security or transportation. ACT.mds community-based, social health information network will support intensive care management, referrals between healthcare and community organizations, and community-wide care planning and task sharing processes. ACT.mds health collaboration hub captures data as care is delivered, enabling deep and unique analytics for public reporting, intervention evaluation, and performance management.

Californias Whole Person Care initiative is a breakthrough in developing better pathways to services for all, across medical, behavioral, and social needs, said Ted Quinn, ACT.md CEO and Co-founder. We believe that housing is health care, and so we are honored to act together with the Whole Person Care teams and clients in the counties of San Joaquin, Marin and others in California to make health happen for people with complex health and social needs.

About ACT.md

ACT.mds cloud-based precision care coordination platform connects patients, families, care teams, and community partners on the journey to health and well-being. With ACT.md, everyone can act together to make health happen, wherever they are. Headquartered in Boston, Mass., ACT.md is privately held and venture-funded by the disruptive innovation investment firm, Rose Park Advisors. For more information, visit http://www.act.md.

About SJCHIE

San Joaquin Community Health Information Exchange is a non-profit organization working to improve the quality and efficiency of care for residents of San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Merced Counties. We enable health care organizations to share information electronically and securely, so that healthcare providers have accurate information at the point of care. SJCHIE was founded in 2013 as a partnership between San Joaquin General Hospital, Community Medical Centers, San Joaquin County Health Care Services Agency, San Joaquin County Behavioral Health Services, and the Health Plan of San Joaquin. For more information, visit http://www.sjchie.org."From the moment you walk into any of our emergency rooms, you will feel the difference. From the front office to the physicians and nurses, and other support staff, everyone immediately goes to work to take care of you."

In order to bring affordable, quality emergency room care to more Texans, Houston, TX based SignatureCare Emergency Center is expanding to more Texas cities.

Last month, the company opened two new Houston locations in Copperfield and Bellaire, as well as locations in Texarkana, Odessa, Paris, and Midland, TX.

These are in addition to their existing emergency centers in Houston (Westchase, Montrose, Heights and Memorial City), Stafford, Mission Bend/Sugar Land, College Station and Austin, TX.

Dr. Kanti Bansal, one of SignatureCare Emergency Centers founding partners, said the expansion is in line with the companys objective of bringing affordable quality healthcare closer to more Texans.

Our goal at SignatureCare Emergency Center is to ensure that every Texan has access to affordable, quality healthcare and this expansion is part of the process. We are working feverishly to ensure that visitors to these new locations get the same quality care as visitors to our long established emergency rooms, Dr. Bansal said.

He attributed the success of SignatureCare Emergency Center to the quality of emergency medical services provided at the ERs by the board-certified physicians and other support staff.

We are different. You look around and you see other companies going out of business or filing bankruptcies but SignatureCare is expanding because our services and emergency center facilities are simply superior, better than what you will get anywhere else.

From the moment you walk into any of our emergency rooms, you will feel the difference. From the front office to the physicians and nurses, and other support staff, everyone immediately goes to work to take care of you, Dr. Bansal continued.

He said every SignatureCare Emergency Center location designed for maximum comfort.

We designed the ERs to make sure that your visit is as comfortable as possible. Being sick is already stressful enough and we want to make sure not to add to that stress in any way, Dr. Bansal said.

SignatureCare Emergency Center is also planning to open additional locations in Cypress-FM 1960 area and Killeen, TX within the next few months.

About SignatureCare Emergency Center

Licensed by the Texas Department of Health Services. SignatureCare Emergency Centers are freestanding emergency rooms that are open 24/7. SignatureCare has several locations in the Houston area and many other cities in Texas. The emergency rooms are fully staffed with medical professionals. including board-certified physicians, licensed nurses, radiology technicians, and emergency-trained ER staff. All SignatureCare Emergency Centers are able to treat minor and major medical conditions for both adults and children alike. To locate the closest location to you visit their website at https://ercare24.comSays Slone Partners President Tara Kochis-Stach, As Karius grows and scales globally, Michael Mercers unique expertise in life sciences strategy, marketing, business development, partnerships, and technology will prove vital to success.

Slone Partners, North Americas leading executive search firm for life sciences and diagnostics companies, announces the placement of Michael Mercer at Karius, Inc. as Chief Commercial Officer. Now responsible for developing, executing, and leading the commercial business strategy, Mr. Mercer will be based at Karius' headquarters in Redwood City, California and report to CEO Mickey Kertesz Ph.D.

Karius is a precision medicine-focused life sciences company transforming infectious disease diagnostics using genomics. The Karius Test is a quantitative next-generation sequencing test that helps clinicians rapidly diagnose infectious diseases by identifying over 1,000 pathogens with a single blood draw. Because infections cause approximately 20% of all human deaths annually, Karius is on a mission to shift the paradigm of care on infectious disease diagnoses to a more broad, accurate, and rapid method to help improve outcomes. The Company is funded by Khosla Ventures, Tencent, Lightspeed, Data Collective, Innovation Endeavors, and Spectrum28.

Prior to Karius, Mr. Mercer founded Conceptus Consulting, a life sciences startup consulting firm; was President & CEO of startup Bioconfirm Laboratories, a prescription medication monitoring and pharmacogenetics laboratory; President & CEO of CSI Laboratories, a national cancer diagnostics laboratory; and Chief Commercial Officer, then Vice President & General Manager of Berkeley HeartLab (BHL), where he ran the $100 million, 325 team member cardiovascular disease management company. Mr. Mercer co-led the BHL exit to Celera, which was later acquired by Quest Diagnostics. He graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Business Administration, Economics, at Ohio University before earning an MBA, Marketing & Corporate Finance, at University of Southern California.

Says Slone Partners President Tara Kochis-Stach, Karius is doing important work, transforming the way the world thinks about infectious disease. As Karius grows and scales globally, Michael Mercers unique expertise in life sciences strategy, marketing, business development, partnerships, and technology will prove vital to success.

ABOUT SLONE PARTNERS

Slone Partners delivers the leaders who build amazing scientific healthcare organizations - People Are Our Science. Since 2000, Slone Partners specializes in delivering world-class C-suite leadership, executive, and upper management talent to the most promising and established life sciences, diagnostics, precision medicine, CRO, and laboratory services companies. With coast-to-coast presence in the most active healthcare industry hubs of Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Austin, Research Triangle Park NC, and Washington DC, Slone Partners uniquely and precisely provides an array of executive search and advisory services to innovative scientific healthcare companies. To learn more about Slone Partners value proposition and processes, visit slonepartners.com or call 888.784.3422.

ABOUT KARIUS INC.

Karius is a life sciences company focused on transforming infectious disease diagnostics with genomics, using next-generation sequencing to analyze microbial cell-free DNA. The Karius laboratory is CLIA-certified and CAP-accredited to perform high-complexity clinical laboratory testing. The companys genomics platform and clinical grade curated pathogen database deliver deep insight into the microbial landscape, providing clinicians with a comprehensive, quantitative test capable of identifying more than a thousand pathogens directly from blood. For more information, visit kariusdx.com and follow us on Twitter at @kariusdx.Not only does Ruiter make sure the children in the adopted family are the chronological peers of her kids to make it more meaningful for them, she said their input is very helpful. Jesse Ruiter already has an idea of what to get for his adopted 8-year-old sibling.Click here to learn more about the announcement and how it is making a difference in the lives of patients.

South Nassau Communities Hospital and the Mount Sinai Health System have finalized a partnership, making South Nassau Mount Sinais flagship hospital on Long Island in a move designed to bring advanced-level health care to the South Shore of Nassau County and to Long Island. South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside becomes part of the Mount Sinai Health System, one of the largest academic health systems in the nation.

Mount Sinai and South Nassau are positioned to expand access to innovative approaches in patient care, treatment, and research to the communities of Long Island. The comprehensive agreement has been given enthusiastic support of the boards of directors of both institutions and signifies a commitment to transform care delivery by providing the highest quality of care and health management for all populations.

Our collective goal is to provide the highest quality of care to patients on Long Island, said Kenneth L. Davis, MD, President and CEO of Mount Sinai Health System. By extending tertiary-level hospital services to South Nassau, we are able to complement our existing network of talented clinicians and facilities in order to better serve the community.

Mount Sinai is a world-class institution with a leading medical school, and this affiliation will allow our patients to have access to some of the top physicians and most advanced treatments available, said Richard J. Murphy, South Nassaus President and CEO. It also will help South Nassau reach the next level in our role as a growing regional medical center.

As part of the relationship, Mount Sinai will provide $120 million to help expand South Nassaus campus and services, including plans for a new four-story addition in Oceanside with an expanded Emergency Department and new intensive care beds and surgical suites.

Our affiliation with Mount Sinai provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to combine their comprehensive network of coordinated primary, acute, and specialized health care services, along with an internationally renowned school of medicine, with the health care needs of the communities we serve, said Joseph J. Fennessy, Chairman of South Nassaus Board of Directors. Mount Sinai is about advancing the science of medicine while improving patient outcomes, which is why this is a good fit with South Nassaus culture. Patients on Long Island should not have to travel to Manhattan for world-class care.

Over the past 10 months we have been working diligently to prepare to combine Mount Sinais academic, clinical, and research expertise with South Nassaus community-based care, says Arthur Klein, MD, President of the Mount Sinai Health Network. Already, Mount Sinai specialists are collaborating with physicians at South Nassau to provide more specialized, advanced care. We are also working together to secure important new recruitments. Mount Sinai and South Nassau have received approval for a new allopathic internal medicine residency program, to advance the academic mission of South Nassau Communities Hospital and to ensure a dedicated physician work force. Our vision is to provide seamless, high-quality integrated care to patients.

South Nassaus Board of Directors announced its plans with Mount Sinai in January 2018 after having signed a nonbinding letter of intent in May of 2017. During the past 10 months, Mount Sinai and South Nassau have worked together to prepare to combine Mount Sinais academic, clinical, and research expertise with South Nassaus award winning community-based care, particularly in the areas of heart and cancer treatments.

South Nassaus Board of Directors will be retained and direct the day-to-day operations of the Oceanside campus. The South Nassau and Mount Sinai boards will share representation on each others boards, with South Nassaus Chairman, Mr. Fennessy, serving on the Mount Sinai Executive Committee.

This has been approved by the New York State Department of Health, the New York State Attorney General, and the New York State Department of Education. It has also won the support of local community leaders and elected officials who welcome Mount Sinai to Long Island.

The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 18 nationally in the 2018-2019 Best Hospitals issue of U.S. News & World Report, and is ranked nationally in 11 adult medical specialties. South Nassau operates the only Trauma Center on the South Shore of Nassau County, along with Long Islands only free-standing Emergency Department in Long Beach. The hospital also is nationally recognized for its nursing care and has received honors for orthopedic treatment and womens care from Healthgrades, a national independent rating agency.

South Nassau is in the midst of a strategic growth initiative that has transformed it into a provider of regional, acute care hospital-based services as well as a comprehensive network of specialty health care centers. The cornerstones of South Nassaus growth strategy are planned expansion projects to build a four-story Southwest Addition, a three-story parking structure, and a new central utility plant and electrical emergency facility on the hospitals main campus in Oceanside and a Medical Arts Pavilion at its Long Beach campus.

About South Nassau Communities Hospital

South Nassau, a nonprofit medical center and teaching hospital with 3,500 employees and 900 affiliated physicians, has operated as an independent, community-based hospital since 1928. It was one of the few remaining independently controlled hospitals on Long Island.

South Nassau is a 2018 5-Star Recipient for Womens Care and Gynecologic Surgery Excellence Award recipient by Healthgrades and is the only hospital in New York to receive the following five awards in 2018 from Healthgrades in womens health services lines: Five Star for C-Section Delivery, Five Star for Vaginal Delivery, Five Star for Gynecologic Procedures, Five-Star for Hysterectomy and the Gynecologic Surgery Excellence Award.

It is a recipient of a multitude of other prestigious awards for healthcare excellence, safety and quality, including:

Healthgrades Americas 100 Best Hospitals for Orthopedic Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery Excellence Award, and 5-Star ratings for Total Knee Replacement, Total Hip Replacement and Hip Fracture Treatment;

Healthgrades Patient Safety Award, Healthgrades Top 5 Percent of Hospitals for Patient Safety, Healthgrades Top 10 Percent of Hospitals for Patient Safety;

IDSA Antimicrobial Stewardship Centers of Excellence Designation

Beckers Hospital Review 100 Hospitals with Great Womens Health Programs.

In addition to Internal Medicine, acclaimed ACGME-accredited residency programs in Family Medicine, Surgery, and Obstetrics and Gynecology and Internal Medicine; AOA-accredited residency programs in Family Medicine, Geriatrics and Transitional Rotating Internships, and a CPME-accredited program in Podiatry. To date, South Nassaus residency program has graduated more than 300 residents from its Family Medicine Residency Program.

Designated a Magnet hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) for outstanding nursing care, South Nassau Communities Hospital is one of the regions largest hospitals, with 455 beds, more than 900 physicians and 3,500 employees. Located in Oceanside, NY, the hospital is an acute-care, not-for-profit teaching hospital that provides state-of-the-art care in cardiac, oncologic, orthopedic, bariatric, pain management, mental health and emergency services.

In addition to its extensive outpatient specialty centers, South Nassau provides emergency and elective angioplasty, and offers Novalis Tx and Gamma Knife radiosurgery technologies. South Nassau operates the only Trauma Center on the South Shore of Nassau County verified by the American College of Surgeons as well as Long Islands only free-standing, 9-1-1 receiving Emergency Department in Long Beach. South Nassau also is a designated Stroke Center by the New York State Department of Health and Comprehensive Community Cancer Center by the American College of Surgeons, and is an accredited center of the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Association and Quality Improvement Program.

In addition, the hospital has been awarded the Joint Commissions gold seal of approval for disease-specific care for hip and knee replacement, heart failure, bariatric surgery, wound care and end-stage renal disease. For more information, visit http://www.southnassau.org.

About the Mount Sinai Health System

The Mount Sinai Health System is New York City's largest integrated delivery system encompassing (with the addition of South Nassau Communities Hospital) eight hospital campuses, a leading medical school, and a vast network of ambulatory practices throughout the greater New York region. Mount Sinai's vision is to produce the safest care, the highest quality, the highest satisfaction, the best access and the best value of any health system in the nation. The Health System includes approximately 7,480 primary and specialty care physicians; 11 joint-venture ambulatory surgery centers; more than 410 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and 31 affiliated community health centers. The Icahn School of Medicine is one of three medical schools that have earned distinction by multiple indicators: ranked in the top 20 by U.S. News & World Report's "Best Medical Schools", aligned with a U.S. News & World Report's "Honor Roll" Hospital, No. 12 in the nation for National Institutes of Health funding, and among the top 10 most innovative research institutions as ranked by the journal Nature in its Nature Innovation Index. This reflects a special level of excellence in education, clinical practice, and research. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 18 on U.S. News & World Report's "Honor Roll" of top U.S. hospitals; it is one of the nation's top 20 hospitals in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Geriatrics, Nephrology, and Neurology/Neurosurgery, and in the top 50 in six other specialties in the 2018-2019 "Best Hospitals" issue. Mount Sinai's Kravis Children's Hospital also is ranked nationally in five out of ten pediatric specialties by U.S. News & World Report. The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked 11th nationally for Ophthalmology and 44th for Ear, Nose, and Throat. Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Mount Sinai St. Luke's, Mount Sinai West, and South Nassau Communities Hospital are ranked regionally.

For more information, visit http://www.mountsinai.org/, or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.Many of our international members prefer the Spanish presentations, and other members are bilingual to better serve their Hispanic patients, said Bonnie Harken, Managing Director of the iaedp Foundation.

The International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals (iaedp.com) will offer a record eight Spanish-only sessions that address the latest in eating disorders treatment, causes and science at its 2019 iaedp Symposium.

The annual conference will take place February 7 - 10 at the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort in Palm Desert, California where nearly 100 presentations and workshops will address a variety of topics concerning eating disorders treatment.

Many of our international members prefer the Spanish presentations, and other members are bilingual to better serve their Hispanic patients, said Bonnie Harken, Managing Director of the iaedp Foundation. Within a few short years, the Spanish-only presentations have grown due to our strong International attendance and the popularity among the hundreds of attendees who find the Spanish-only presentations very helpful as treatment providers.

The Spanish-only sessions scheduled to take place at the iaedp 2019 Symposium will be offered at the following dates and times:

1. Thursday, February 7, 2019: 8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.

2. Thursday, February 7, 2019: 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

3. Thursday, February 7, 2019: 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

4. Thursday, February 7, 2019: 3:45 p.m. -5:15 p.m.

5. February 8, 2019: 8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.

6. Friday, February 8, 2019: 4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

7. Saturday, February 9, 2019: 8:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.

8. Saturday, February 9, 2019: 4:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

About the iaedp Foundation: Since 1985, the International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals has provided education and training standards to an international and multidisciplinary group of various healthcare treatment providers and helping professions. MemberSHARE.iaedp.com is an iaedp business journal and online member resource to learn about noteworthy member achievements, continuing education webinars and U.S. and international chapter activity and events; for more information, visit MemberSHARE.

The iaedp Foundations Presidents Council, which provides organization support, includes: Center for Change; Center for Hope of the Sierras; Center For Discovery; Eating Recovery Center; Laureate Eating Disorders Program; McCallum Place Eating Disorder Centers; The Meadows Ranch; Rogers Behavioral Health; Rosewood Centers for Eating Disorders; Selah House; The Renfrew Center; Timberline Knolls; Turning Tides Eating Disorder Treatment Center; and Veritas Collaborative.

The iaedp Foundation proudly announces the supporting sponsors for the 2019 iaedp Symposium:

Bronze Sponsor: Montecatini Eating Disorder Treatment Centers

More information about all aspects of iaedp and the 2019 Symposium can be found at iaedp.com.Dr. Denis Mukwege, founder of Panzi Hospital and 2018 Nobel Peace Prize winner, with Fistula Foundation CEO Kate Grant at a 2015 meeting in San Francisco, CA. Fistula Foundation has established the Denis Mukwege Fistula Fund to support his future work, for which nearly $200,000 has already been raised. Our community has also celebrated the news, sending over 700 messages of congratulations, well wishes and support from 36 countries around the world.

On December 10, an extraordinary person and personal hero will receive the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize. It is an award much deserved by a man who has put his own life at risk, for decades, in order to aid the voiceless victims of wartime violence.

I have been privileged to know Dr. Denis Mukwege for nearly a decade. When Fistula Foundation adopted a global mission in 2009, he became our very first partner. We have been proud to support his work with more than $2.3 million in grants that help him restore health to thousands of women who have suffered from traumatic fistula incurred as a result of sexual violence.

Since the announcement in October that he would receive the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize, Fistula Foundation has established the Denis Mukwege Fistula Fund to support his future work, for which nearly $200,000 has already been raised. Our community has also celebrated this news, sending in more than 700 messages of congratulations, well wishes and support via an e-card that Fistula Foundation established, which now features signatures from grateful champions of his work from 36 countries around the world.

He is truly a remarkable man, and it has been a pleasure to get to know him well over the last decade. The son of a Pentecostal minister, Dr. Mukwege is a quietly devout man who told me at our very first meeting that he wanted to do with his hands what he felt that his father had done with his words: make the world a better place.

And he truly has. His 400-bed Panzi Hospital is a beacon of healing and hope to women who have been traumatized by decades of war. It has been said that the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the worst place in the world to be a woman, and if you hear Dr. Mukwege share stories of women and young girls whose bodies have been literally torn apart by sexual violence, you will know this is true. He and his staff work day and night to heal these voiceless victims, body and soul.

What Dr. Mukwege does is important, and dangerous. He is a global force, using his voice beyond the walls of Panzi Hospital to speak on the world stage to denounce the crimes of armed groups that have operated in DRC for more than two decades. He has been targeted by assassins who took his daughters and wife captive. Yet, this remarkable man and champion of women perseveres.

Every day, he serves as my North Star. His portrait has hung on the wall next to my desk for nearly as long as Ive known him. In a white doctors coat and a lapel pin that says Do not stand idly by, he reminds me every day of the sacrifices hes made to give the voiceless a voice, and to return their health and their hope.

In this age, and at this time, the Nobel Committee could not have selected a more deserving, more inspiring recipient. I could not be proud to call him a partner, and a friend.

**To join the 700+ others from 36 countries around the world who have already left a message for Dr. Mukwege on Fistula Foundations e-card, add your name and message at this link. Messages will be compiled and delivered to Dr. Mukwege after the Nobel Ceremony on December 10.**We are pleased to have the WBE certification to show our commitment to being both a woman-owned business and a true partner to our clients.

Stoney Creek IT Consulting, Inc., an independent software and technology consulting firm, is pleased to announce the organization is now officially a Womens Business Enterprise (WBE). Choosing to work with the Womens Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the Stoney Creek team met the exacting criteria required to receive the WBE.

Our organization is pleased to now have this certification as part of our offering to our clients, says Suzie Schuman, Vice President of Stoney Creek IT Consulting, Inc. Our focus on ERP, CRM and Big Data consulting, including software resellers, aligns with all levels of clients. Therefore, having this certification will support criteria they are required to meet, adding to the value we can bring to them as an organization.

Schuman has over 25 years experience at a major telecommunications organization working in financial systems and resource management. She has proven experience in leading large teams of business and IT personnel, consultants, and vendors. Her expertise spans Supply Chain Management, Procurement, Supplier Relationship Management (SRM), Human Resource Management, and Financial Management. She shares ownership with three other women partners, Betty Litts, Vedika Pande, and Erin Gutierrez.

WBENC is a well-known certification arm for the WBE and the largest certifier of women-owned businesses in the U.S. To be certified as a WBE, an organization must be 51 percent owned, controlled, operated and managed by a woman or women. There is a formal documentation and site visit process as well.

Stoney Creek IT Consulting, Inc. provides professional strategic services focused on enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, big data, technology staffing and contact center solutions for their clients. The organizations senior partners have combined experience at the enterprise level that spans an average of 15 years tenure in the technology, telecommunications, healthcare and public sector industries.

Our focus on quality services is in alignment with the WBENC criteria for certification, says Gutierrez. We are pleased to have the WBE certification to show our commitment to being both a woman-owned business and a true partner to our clients.

For more information on Stoney Creek IT Consulting Inc., visit the website at http://stoneycreekinc.com/

About Stoney Creek IT Consulting, Inc.

Stoney Creek IT Consulting, Inc. is an independent software and technology consulting firm comprised of a team of senior consultants that provide enterprise-level services and solutions across multiple disciplines. Specialties include ERP, CRM and Technology Integration within the Telecommunications, Finance, Insurance and Manufacturing industries.

As a certified WBE, we leverage the extensive industry expertise of our team members to bring practical solutions to our clients. Our consultants have an impressive range of backgrounds and education, giving us a strong foundation to uncover and implement creative, successful solutions. To learn more, visit http://stoneycreekinc.com.IDEAL IMPLANT Structured Breast Implant The IDEAL IMPLANT Structured Breast Implant has the best safety profile out there right now, reports Connecticut Plastic Surgeon Dr. Ellen Mahony.

Ideal Implant announced today the release of its annual breast implant CORE study data, showing a substantially lower risk of major complications compared to silicone implants. The company also reports increasing demand for its IDEAL IMPLANT Structured Breast Implant, which eliminates concerns over potential silent rupture with silicone gel implants, while offering a similar natural look and feel. The smooth-surfaced implant also addresses growing recent concern over cancer risks associated with textured-surfaced implants.

BREAST IMPLANT RUPTURE RISK

The risk of implant rupture or deflation with IDEAL IMPLANT at eight years after primary breast augmentation was only 2.1% in comparison to silicone gel implants with rates that range from 7.2% to 13.6%, based on MRI scans (see full comparison of study data here). While Structured implants allow women to detect deflation by looking in the mirror and are filled with saline that is safely absorbed by the body, silicone gel breast implants require an MRI scan to detect rupture, which is recommended by FDA every two years for life.

"Recent surveys have clearly shown that the majority of women have very real concerns about silicone gel in their bodies and the risk of silent rupture," reports Dr. Vivian Ting, a Board Certified IDEAL IMPLANT Preferred Surgeon in California who presented the survey data at the ASPS Aesthetica Super Symposium this year. "Surgeons may underestimate this anxiety simply because they don't share the concern, in great part because about 90% are male. A woman's anxiety about what is in her body is a critical part of the full treatment picture."

Dr. Ashley Gordon, a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon and IDEAL IMPLANT Preferred Surgeon in Austin, Texas, agrees: "Women are very excited about it because I think plastic surgeons don't really recognize that women are worried about silent rupture. The gel implants felt nice, so surgeons and women were willing to trade that risk for the gel, but now IDEAL IMPLANT offers patients a third choice, a structured implant that feels more like a gel implant with the peace of mind of saline."

BREAST IMPLANT CAPSULE CONTRACTURE RISK

IDEAL IMPLANT also proved superior to silicone gel implants with a lower risk of capsular contracture, a potential breast implant complication wherein the body forms scar tissue around the implant, which can cause the implant to displace, become firm, and potentially cause pain. Study data shows IDEAL IMPLANT rates of Baker class III/IV capsular contracture at 8 years after primary augmentation were low at 6.6%, compared to silicone gel implants, which range from 10.9% - 16.2% at 7-8 years (see full comparison of study data here). Capsular contracture generally requires revision surgery to remove and replace the implant.

The IDEAL IMPLANT Structured Breast Implant has the best safety profile out there right now, reports Dr. Ellen Mahony. It's pretty amazing that this particular implant has the lowest capsular contracture rate and the lowest leak rate of all of its competitors, yet offers a similar natural look and feel for which silicone gel implants are known. Women dont have anxiety about potential silent rupture or wondering whether the implant is intact. Its truly an ideal option for the majority of my breast augmentation patients.

FEMALE SURGEONS NOTICING THE TREND TOWARD STRUCTURED BREAST IMPLANTS

Dr. Constance Barone, a renowned, board certified plastic surgeon with a busy practice in San Antonio, Texas, and an IDEAL IMPLANT Premier Surgeon, expresses similar thoughts. I show patients every type of implant available. I show them saline. I show them silicone. And I show them the IDEAL IMPLANT. They get to feel and see each of their options, and almost exclusively these days, they pick the IDEAL IMPLANT.

Dr. Sophie Bartsich, a Board Certified surgeon in New York and an IDEAL IMPLANT Preferred Surgeon, has also noticed the trend: Since Ive introduced the IDEAL IMPLANT to my practice, Ive had almost no patients whove chosen to have something else. I think theres something that this implant offers that Im responding to, and that my patients are responding to.

Long Island Board Certified Plastic Surgeon Dr. Christine Blaine reports, Once patients have the ability to feel the difference between silicone, saline, and IDEAL IMPLANT, they're more comfortable with the idea of the Structured implant because of the way the IDEAL IMPLANT feelsthey feel that it's soft, it's more natural. The overall satisfaction rate with the patients that have had the IDEAL IMPLANT placed is great. They love the idea of a safe implant. They love the idea of no silent rupture, no MRIs or monitoring, and the lack of concern for higher complication rates.

The IDEAL IMPLANT Structured Breast Implant began FDA clinical trials in 2009, and received FDA and Health Canada approval for public use in 2014. The company also offers a first-of-its kind optional Premium Protection Plan which provides limited financial protection for certain complications related to the procedure and/or the implant, and is renewable for life for greater peace of mind. For more information, visit IdealImplant.com.

Sunbird Software, the global innovator in second-generation Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) software solutions, today announced that its dcTrack DCIM Operations software is available to customers of VMware Cloud on AWS. VMware Cloud on AWS brings together VMwares enterprise-class Software-Defined Data Center (SDDC) software and elastic, bare-metal infrastructure from Amazon Web Services (AWS) to give organizations consistent operating model and application mobility for private and public cloud. dcTrack enables customers of VMware Cloud on AWS to manage their virtual data center assets alongside their physical devices through a single interface.

dcTrack helps users identify and track server resources supporting virtual machines by discovering assets in the virtualized environment. Users can also leverage the visualization search to visually locate assets on the floor map based on criteria such as name, make, model, VM cluster and VM host. Users can determine at a glance which applications and VMs are supported by specific assets.

"With modern data centers becoming increasingly distributed and complex, its more important than ever for data center professionals to quickly and accurately manage their data center assets, regardless of where they are located," said Herman Chan, President, Sunbird Software. "Making dcTrack available for VMware Cloud on AWS gives our customers the flexibility they need to effectively optimize their physical as well as virtual capacities to adapt to the challenges of todays data center environments.

VMware Cloud on AWS technology partners enable customers to deploy the same proven solutions seamlessly in both the public and private cloud. VMware simplifies the deployment and eliminates the need for partners to refactor solutions for VMware Cloud on AWS. If a partner solution works on-premises in a VMware vSphere environment, it will easily support VMware Cloud on AWS. VMware technology partners complement and enhance native VMware Cloud on AWS service and enable customers to realize new capabilities.

VMware Cloud on AWS provides customers a seamlessly integrated hybrid cloud offering that gives customers the SDDC experience from the leader in private cloud, running on the leading public cloud provider, AWS, said Kristen Edwards, director, Technology Alliance Partner Program, VMware. Solutions such as dcTrack enable IT teams to reduce cost, increase efficiency, and create operational consistency across cloud environments. Were excited to work with partners such as Sunbird to enhance native VMware Cloud on AWS capabilities and empower customers with flexibility and choice in solutions that can drive business value.

About VMware Cloud on AWS

Delivered, sold and supported by VMware and its channel partners as an on-demand service, and running on elastic, bare-metal AWS infrastructure, VMware Cloud on AWS is powered by VMware Cloud Foundation, the unified SDDC platform that integrates vSphere, VMware vSAN and VMware NSX virtualization technologies. With the same architecture and operational experience on-premises and in the cloud, IT teams can quickly derive business value from use of the AWS and VMware hybrid cloud experience. For more information on the VMware Cloud on AWS partner ecosystem, visit: http://cloud.vmware.com/vmc-aws

About Sunbird Software

Sunbird is a leading global provider of second-generation DCIM software. Learn more at https://www.sunbirddcim.com/.

Sunbird and dcTrack are registered trademarks of Sunbird Software.

VMware, VMware Cloud, vSphere, Cloud Foundation, vSAN, and NSX are registered trademarks or trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and other jurisdictions.

Media Contact(s):

Don Post

marketing(at)sunbirddcim.comGlobal Market Insights, Inc. quotes, China and India tactical communications market is anticipated to have the largest CAGR during the forecast timespan owing to the rapid growth of industrial and manufacturing sector.



The headsets segment of the tactical communications market is anticipated to have the highest CAGR during the forecast timeframe. These devices provide efficient transfer of information and noise cancelling abilities. The growing emphasis on compact, lighter audio systems that allow military and police personnel more flexibility and low additional weights is projected to contribute to the high adoption of the market.

Request for a sample of this research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/2069

The public safety applications in the tactical communications market dominated in terms of revenue share in 2016. This is attributed to the demand for covert and continuous communication channels during critical mission operations. Technological innovations such as magnetic ear canal technology allows for clear two-way communications in stealth and covert situations and are majorly adopted for usage by undercover operators and officers in the secret task forces.

The construction segment of the tactical communications market is anticipated to exhibit substantial growth. Construction workers are mandated to wear protective headsets along with hard helmets on-site. Information exchange can be severely hindered in a noisy environment and miscommunication can result in heavy losses.

The presence of government regulations in various economies such as the U.S and Europe are major factors contributing towards the high growth of the tactical headsets market. This equipment provides protection to the hearing of the customers from loud noises such as explosions and gunshot firings while filtering certain sounds of lower frequencies such as human speech to reach the user.

Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @ https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/2069

China and India tactical communications market is anticipated to have the largest CAGR during the forecast timespan owing to the rapid growth of industrial and manufacturing sector. The presence of low-cost labour and raw materials has made Asian countries a prime centre for outsourced manufacturing and 3PL activities. The noise generated from normal operations in oil refineries, power plants, automotive manufacturing, and can manufacturing can result in permanent hearing loss without the application of protective headsets.

Vendors in the global tactical communications market include David Clark Inc., Sepura, Silynx Communications, CeoTronics, Savox Communications, INVISIO Communications, 3M, Bose Coporation, and others.

Browse key industry insights spread across 110 pages with 101 market data tables & 23 figures & charts from the report, Tactical Communications Market Size By Product (Tactical Headsets, Professional Mobile Radio (PMR)), By Application (Industrial, Aviation, Construction, Public Safety), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, UK, Germany, France, Italy, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Mexico, GCC, Africa), Growth Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2017 - 2024 in detail along with the table of contents:

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/tactical-communications-market

Table of Contents (ToC) of the report:

Chapter 5. Tactical Communications Market, By Application

5.1. Global tactical communications market share by application, 2016 & 2024

5.2. Industrial

5.2.1. Industrial application market, by region, 2013-2024

5.3. Aviation

5.3.1. Aviation application market, by region, 2013-2024

5.4. Construction

5.4.1. Construction application market, by region, 2013-2024

5.5. Public safety

5.5.1. Public safety application market, by region, 2013-2024

Browse Full Table of Contents (ToC) @ https://www.gminsights.com/toc/detail/tactical-communications-market

About Global Market Insights

Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.

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Global Market Insights, Inc.

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Blog: http://solutionrocket.com/Allen Tate agents, employees and leaders generously give back to the 47 local communities we serve throughout the Carolinas

Tate Cares, the combined giving initiative of Allen Tate Companies, has raised more than $5 million to benefit local communities in North and South Carolina.

The Tate Cares umbrella includes public education, arts and culture and United Way. Tate Cares was established in 1998 when the Allen Tate Companies began its annual FUNday event to raise funds for public education.

The lifetime Tate Cares contribution is $5.06 million, which includes $180,000 raised from FUNday 2018, for a FUNday total of $2.21 million in the past 21 years.

Tate Cares also includes contributions from Allen Tates combined cultural campaign and United Way campaign held each spring.

Through Tate Cares, Allen Tate agents, employees and leaders generously give back to the 47 local communities we serve throughout the Carolinas. I am extremely proud of the commitment we have made over the past two decades to ensure a quality of life for all, said Allen Tate Companies President/CEO Pat Riley.

Over the years, FUNday has evolved from a one-location field day to four unique regional events across the Allen Tate footprint each fall.

This year, FUNday was celebrated as a Denim and Diamonds gathering at Noahs Event Venue in High Point, N.C; Get Revd Up, a racing-themed day at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.; Boot Scoot and Boogie, a Western-themed event at the Sawmill at North Main in Greenville, S.C.; and The Spirit of Giving Halloween party at The Glenwood in Raleigh, N.C.

More than 950 Allen Tate Realtors, staff, vendors and guests attended. Festivities included silent and live auctions, raffles, wine pulls, games, live music and other activities to raise funds for local schools and educational foundations.

More than 40 local school systems, foundations and education organizations in North and South Carolina receive support from Allen Tate FUNday.

# # #

Allen Tate Company is the Carolinas largest real estate company with offices in the Charlotte, Triad, Triangle and Upstate South Carolina regions. Allen Tate offers the advantage of hometown service with international capabilities and the latest in real estate technology and maximum marketing exposure. Visit http://www.allentate.com for more information.This acquisition completes an extraordinary year for Tecta in which we have added five terrific companies, expanding our business with multiple locations in each of Kentucky, Indiana, New Hampshire, Missouri, Vermont and now Virginia," said Mark Santacrose, Tectas President and CEO.

Tecta America, the national leader in commercial roofing, announces the recent acquisition of the business of Roof Services Corporation. The Virginia Beach, VA based business with an additional location in Richmond, VA, will operate as Roof Services, a Tecta America Company LLC.

We are thrilled to welcome the addition of Roof Services Corp to the Tecta family. We are especially excited to bring John Babcock, Gary Rogacki and the rest of the management and the highly regarded workforce of Roof Services into Tecta. The reputation of the Roof Services team is excellent and we look forward to working with all of them," said Mark Santacrose, Tectas President and CEO.

This acquisition completes an extraordinary year for Tecta in which we have added five terrific companies, expanding our business with multiple locations in each of Kentucky, Indiana, New Hampshire, Missouri, Vermont and now Virginia. Each transaction has brought great people into our organization along with strong customer relationships with the simple goal of becoming better together, Santacrose added.

We are excited about becoming a part of the Tecta America team and moving forward with their support. We feel that Tecta is committed to the same values that have made us successful for many years and we see tremendous opportunities going forward in the business as we continue to broaden and deepen our customer relationships, said John Babcock, President of Roof Services Corp.

Tecta America now has over 70 locations and 3,000 employees from coast to coast who take pride in offering world class roofing services.

About Tecta America

Tecta America is the nations premier commercial roofing contractor with 50+ operations located from coast to coast. Our unyielding commitment to quality, expertise, and professionalism is what makes us the industry leader. Installations of all types, repairs, emergency response, sustainability options and morewe offer the responsiveness of a local roofing contractor backed by the resources and stability you need from a national provider of commercial roofing solutions. For more information, visit our website at http://www.tectaamerica.com.U.S. Dermatology Partners Physicians honored by peers as Super Doctors We are proud of the well-earned recognition each of these physicians has earned from their peers. Said Geoff Wayne, CEO. This is a tribute to their dedication to providing excellent care for their patients and being a resource to their colleagues."

Nineteen U.S. Dermatology Partners doctors will be recognized by their peers as Super Doctors in the December 2018 issue of Texas Monthly. Of those, seven will be recognized as members of the Super Doctors Hall of Fame and two of the seven have been voted by peers since the inception of the award.

In addition, 14 U.S. Dermatology Partners doctors were recognized as Rising Stars in the July 2018 issue of Texas Monthly.

Each year, Texas Monthly asks doctors across the state to nominate colleagues (excluding themselves) who they would trust for their own medical care. The Super Doctors research team then investigates independently. Candidates are evaluated based on peer recognition, professional achievement, and disciplinary history. The highest-ranking nominated physicians are asked to serve on a selection panel, which helps to determine the final list of Super Doctors. The final list represents 5% of Texas physicians.

Hall of Fame members are those who have been selected for 10 or more years.

We are proud of the well-earned recognition each of these physicians has earned from their peers. Said Geoff Wayne, CEO. This is a tribute to their dedication to providing excellent care for their patients and being a resource to their colleagues. We are thrilled to have such a large number of physicians recognized for such a prestigious honor.

Doctors recognized as Rising Stars meet the same criteria as Super Doctors and have been actively practicing for 10 years or less. Only 2.5% of all active physicians are selected to the Rising Star list.

The complete list is published in the December 2018 Texas Monthly.

U.S. Dermatology Partners Super Doctors Hall of Fame 2018

Recognized for Dermatology

Lawrence L. Anderson, M.D., Tyler

Aaron K. Joseph, M.D., Pasadena

Mark Koone, MD, Sherman

Mark A. Price, M.D., Houston

Howard Rubin, M.D., Dallas  15 years

Hans M. Sander, M.D., Austin

Dale G. Schaefer, M.D., Austin  15 years

U.S. Dermatology Partners Super Doctors 2018

Recognized for Dermatology

Ryan W. Ahern, M.D., Houston

Elizabeth Basler, M.D., Houston

Roopal Bhatt, M.D., Austin

Colby Evans, M.D., Austin

Aubrey Chad Hartmann, M.D., Cedar Park

John LeVasseur, M.D., San Antonio

Amy A. McClung, M.D., Austin

Shanna Burris Meads, M.D., Tyler

David W. Powell, M.D., Sugar Land

Howard Steinman, M.D., Dallas

Danny R. Thomas, M.D., Fort Worth

Bryan L. Townsend, M.D., Austin

U.S. Dermatology Partners Rising Stars 2018

Recognized for Dermatology

Sanober Amin, MD, PhD, Flower Mound

Alma Criseida Berlingeri Ramos, M.D., Tyler

Mara M. Dacso, M.D., Plano

Seema Daulat, MD, Austin

Jessica Dorsey, M.D., Cedar Park

Jordan Ray Ilse, M.D., Belton

Weilan Johnson, MD, Georgetown

Laura Lester, M.D., Cedar Park

Monica M. Madray, M.D., Georgetown

Clint C. Moss, M.D., Sherman

Jennifer Ranario, M.D., Austin

Leslie Scroggins Markle, M.D., Tyler

Breck Thrash, M.D., Dallas

Daniel Walker, MD, Grapevine

About U.S. Dermatology Partners

As one of the largest physician-owned dermatology practices in the country, U.S. Dermatology Partners patients not only have access to general medical, surgical, and cosmetic skin treatment through its coordinated care network, but also benefit from the practices strong dermatology subspecialty thought leaders and medical advisory board. To be the best partners to its patients, U.S. Dermatology Partners is fervently focused on providing the highest level of patient-first care, and its team therefore includes recognized national leaders in areas such as clinical research, psoriasis and Mohs Surgery. To learn more, visit usdermatologypartners.com.While teachers spend the last two hours of each Friday in professional development, guests from local organizations come to work with students on a variety of subjects regarding the outdoors. Among the groups participating have been the Friends of the Fox River, the Kane DuPage Soil and Water Conservation District, The Conservation Foundation and the Elgin History Museum.The Russell Family Foundation has announced its year-end grants totaling more than $2.3 million to 25 nonprofits serving the Pacific Northwest region. These grants focus on providing more access for youth to experience the outdoor environment, supporting local groups pursuing systemic change for the Puget Sound and empowering various local communities through leadership development.

As part of the grants, the foundation is awarding $1,049,055 to the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation to support the independent nonprofit, the Puyallup Watershed Initiative and its Communities of Interest. It is also granting $750,000 directly to the Puyallup Watershed Initiative 501(c)3. The Initiative, which formerly was a special program of The Russell Family Foundation, will celebrate its first year as an independent organization next month.

The Puyallup Watershed Initiative focuses on addressing issues facing the region through six Communities of Interest including active transportation, agriculture, environmental education, forests, just and healthy food systems and stormwater. The grant supports its collective efforts to enhance the quality of life in the region, which comprises of more than 1,000 square miles from Mount Rainier to Commencement Bay in Tacoma, Washington.

Additional grants focus on the advancement of The Russell Family Foundations collective efforts to improve quality of life in the Puget Sound area including conservation efforts for the Salish Sea/Puget Sound and leadership development for environmental equity and sustainability, among others.

The Russell Family Foundation seeks to promote meaningful and lasting change by contributing to a sustainable and peaceful world for people, places and communities. Each of the grants further this mission by expanding opportunities for community-driven organizations to be catalysts for change, collaboration and continued learning.

These organizations are a part of the fabric of our community working to create a socially just and environmentally conscious world, said Richard Woo, Chief Executive Officer at The Russell Family Foundation. With efforts rooted in community, these locally-based groups are able to generate positive impacts while advocating for solutions to the most pressing issues facing our communities across Puget Sound.

Details for the additional grants are as follows:



Rural Community Leadership Program in Pierce County, Rural Development Initiatives: $60,000 (multi-year)

Rural Development Initiatives strengthens rural people, places and economies in the Pacific Northwest. The grant will support the launch of a Pierce County Leadership Cohort designed to provide a diverse group of individuals in rural areas of the county with tools to be more effective community leaders.

Environmental Leadership, Environmental Science Center: $50,000 (multi-year)

Environmental Science Center increases environmental stewardship and watershed knowledge for youth through field studies in salmon habitat, training the next generation of environmental leaders and restoring Puget Sound. The grant will support educational programming, hands-on training for students, student internships and more.

REACH Housing 4 Success, Tacoma Community House: $50,000 (multi-year)

REACH provides support for employment, education and other resources, including housing for young people experiencing homelessness through its Housing 4 Success program. The grant will support the program in its work with youth ages 16-24, who are experiencing homelessness. It will assist them on an individual basis and will work to place each person into housing. From there it works with these individuals by helping set them on a path to success in life.

College Completion 2020, Foundation for Tacoma Students: $40,000

Foundation for Tacoma Students is the backbone organization for the Graduate Tacoma movement, a partnership of more than 268 community organizations and citizens that work toward the goal of increasing high school and college completion rates for Tacoma students. The grant supports its College Completion 2020 project, which seeks to close gaps in access and ultimately increase graduation rates by 50 percent by the Class of 2020.

Nature Connections, Young Women Empowered (Y-WE): $40,000

Y-WE empowers young women leaders from diverse backgrounds through mentorship and programs to equip them with confidence, resiliency and planning skills. The grant supports its Nature Connections program, serving young females within the ages of 13-18, connecting them with adult mentors and engaging them in environmental learning and stewardship activities.

Sustainable Community Funders (SCF), Seattle Foundation: $30,000

SCF works to mobilize investments in the Puget Sound region in the intersection of environment, economy and equity. The grant will go toward SCFs coordinated philanthropic efforts to fund projects that have high potential for advancing sustainability and equity in the region.

LatinX Movement Building for Environmental and Climate Justice, Latino Community Fund: $30,000

The Latino Community Fund empowers cultural and community-based non-profits as well as new leaders. The grant will support the expansion of a project of the Alianza Network to train youth leaders, strengthen their voices and advocacy skills and engaging them in issues around environmental justice policies.

Looking Upstream - Stormwater Solutions for Sustainable Transportation, Transportation Choices Coalition: $30,000

Transportation Choices Coalition works to bring better transportation choices to the region through policy and advocacy. The grant will help the organization implement the Looking Upstream project to tackle the challenges facing stormwater and transportation through policy development, education for elected officials and other leaders, coalition building, community engagement and equity.

Tacoma and South King County Support, Trust for Public Land: $30,000

Trust for Public Land helps create close-to-home parks in and near cities to ensure that every child has easy and safe access to play in nature. The grant supports the expansion of its work in Tacoma and South King County, including stormwater mapping to mitigate runoff, education about stormwater and green infrastructure for the community and training of community health advocates.

Act Six Tacoma-Seattle, Degrees of Change: $25,000

Degrees of Change prepares diverse leaders to succeed in college and use their degrees to build more equitable communities. The grant supports its Act Six initiative, a full-tuition and full-need leadership award that connects local faith-based affiliates with faith and social justice-based colleges to equip emerging leaders to engage with their colleges and communities at home.

Deep Green Wilderness, The Ocean Foundation: $25,000

Deep Green Wilderness works toward marine wilderness sustainability. The grant will support its environmental and STEM-based education programs aboard its sailing vessel, the Orion, including a multi-week summer intensive program for students from the ages of 14 to 18, on-board classroom voyages and group sails for community partners at reduced or no cost to increase accessibility.

Green Pathways Fellowship Program, Rainier Valley Corps: $20,000

Rainier Valley Corps cultivates leaders of color, strengthens organizations led by communities of color and fosters collaboration between diverse communities. The grant will help the organization, and partner Got Green, address the lack of diversity in the environmental movement through a fellowship program that will place fellows of color at environmental organizations to work full-time and build their leadership capacity.

SEA Discovery Center, Western Washington University Foundation: $18,000

The SEA Discovery Center works to engage Kitsap County youth in hands-on marine education about the local environment. The grant will help the center expand its curriculum for middle school students, including field immersion, environmental stewardship and scientific investigation focused on the restoration of native Olympia oyster and workshops for teachers.

Team Leadership Development and Environmental Equity, Environmental Coalition of South Seattle (ECOSS): $10,000

ECOSS encourages urban redevelopment and environmental health through education, resources and technical assistance to organizations across the Puget Sound region. The grant will help ECOSS provide professional development opportunities to organizational leaders who are people of color, women, immigrants and refugees; strengthen human resources systems; and increase opportunities for green career paths for employees.

Salish Sea Collective Planning Grants to Eight Organizations: $10,000 each ($80,000 total)

The Salish Sea Collective is a collaborative of organizations that work to explore a community-centered approach to Salish Sea Recovery, including Asian Counseling and Referral Service; Community to Community; Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition/Technical Advisory Group; Got Green; Latino Community Fund; Mother Africa; Naah Illahee Fund; and Puget Sound Sage. The Russell Family Foundation has supported the Collectives planning and coordination efforts in the past. With grants to each of the eight members listed, these organizations, along with other local partners, will continue developing their vision and work together for community-based efforts to protect and restore the Salish Sea.

For more information about the latest grant release cycle or to learn how you can connect with The Russell Family Foundation, listen to this podcast with CEO Richard Woo.

About The Russell Family Foundation

Founded by George and Jane Russell in 1999, The Russell Family Foundation provides a way for their extended family to make a positive impact in the community. The foundation does so by funding local, regional and global change through community investment in causes including grassroots leadership, environmental sustainability and global peace. The foundation applies its values of integrity, mutual trust, constructive communication, life-long learning and courage to all its work with a focus on place-based philanthropy in the Puget Sound region. For more information, please visit http://www.trff.org and on Facebook.HelioCampus, a technology-enabled services company dedicated to higher education, has partnered with the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) to deliver a comprehensive data analytics platform providing a capability to directly support the Vision 2020 Plan for Academic Reorganization.

USM selected HelioCampus to help create a central view of the universitys institutional data and deliver a comprehensive data analytics platform and data science services to increase visibility into the connections between admissions, enrollment, student outcomes and financial data, while supporting institutional initiatives and data-informed decision making.

By focusing on yield and retention modeling, price sensitivity, contribution margin analysis, financial aid optimization and other analyses, we will develop a plan that directly supports Vision 2020, and is both data-informed and quantifiable, said Steven Moser, Ph.D, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at University of Southern Mississippi about how they will partner with HelioCampus.

This is a really exciting opportunity for us to help USM use data and analytics to tackle something as critical to the university as their Vision 2020 Academic Reorganization Planning initiatives, said HelioCampus CEO, Darren Catalano.

For more information about HelioCampus, visit http://www.heliocampus.com. To see the HelioCampus platform in action schedule a demo here: https://www.heliocampus.com/heliocampus-demo-request

About HelioCampus

HelioCampus is a fast-growing data company exclusively working with the higher education community. HelioCampus offers not only an extensible data platform, but also ongoing data science services, and provides client institutions with actionable solutions through comprehensive integration and analysis of key data across the student lifecycle, institutional financials, and more.

By helping colleges and universities use analytics to increase enrollment, improve student success, ensure financial sustainability and accelerate gift giving, we enable them to ask and answer their most pressing questions through data analytics, data storytelling and data science. Originated within the University System of Maryland, HelioCampus offers a unique perspective on using data to facilitate meaningful conversations that fuel higher value analyses and spur action, leading to greater institutional performance and financial sustainability.

For more information about HelioCampus visit http://www.heliocampus.com or follow them on Twitter.PRMI volunteers, Habitat team and Fuego survivors share a final day on the work site in Palin, Esquintla, Guatemala The nationwide mortgage lender sent 30 representatives to Guatemala from PRMI Giving Network, the organizations humanitarian initiative, as the first international team to assist in building Valle de Las Flores, a new community for survivors of the recent June 2018 Volcan de Fuego eruption.

As part of its continued commitment to improving local and global communities, Primary Residential Mortgage, Inc. (PRMI) recently partnered with Habitat for Humanity on a service trip to Guatemala. The nationwide mortgage lender was privileged to send 30 representatives from PRMI Giving Network, the organizations humanitarian initiative, as the first international team to assist in building Valle de Las Flores in Palin, Esquintla, a new community for survivors of the recent June 2018 Volcan de Fuego eruption.

For one week, PRMIs volunteers traded desks and computers for gloves and shovels, as they worked side-by-side with Habitats team, local masons and survivors of the eruption. Together, they contributed to the construction of 24 homes and laid the foundation for a new community, offering disaster victims and their families a place to heal and build hope for the future.

In spite of unimaginable tragedy, the community members from San Miguel Los Lotes welcomed us with open arms, displaying a spirit of resiliency Ive rarely seen, said PRMI President and CEO, Dave Zitting. Working with these incredible families was a life-changing experience for all of our volunteers, and were honored that Habitat for Humanity Guatemala invited PRMI to be part of their project in such a meaningful way.

Fuego is one of the most active volcanoes in Central America, and continues to experience small, daily outbursts. The severe eruption in June 2018, however, produced a fast-moving collection of hot ash, gasses and volcanic matter known as pyroclastic flow, which quickly devastated homes and lives, including many in the town of San Miguel Los Lotes. Though national and international response was quick and plentiful, much of that assistance has waned, leaving Habitat for Humanity Guatemala as one of the only remaining organizations with boots on the ground focused on helping survivors.

We are incredibly grateful for the team from PRMI and the support they offered during their recent visit, said Michael Estill, Habitat for Humanity Guatemalas Fuego disaster relief project manager. Without help from our global and local partners, we wouldnt be able to assist so many of these families in rebuilding their lives.

PRMI invites anyone interested in helping victims of Volcan de Fuego to make a contribution through a reputable organization such as Habitat for Humanity Guatemala. For service opportunities closer to home, individuals may contact PRMI Giving Network at GivingNetwork@primeres.com for help identifying local areas of need.

About PRMI: Primary Residential Mortgage, Inc. (PRMI) is a nationwide, multibillion-dollar franchise cofounded in 1998 by Dave Zitting, Jeff Zitting and Steve Chapman. With nearly 250 branches, licensed in 49 states and over 1,500 employees, PRMI has been repeatedly recognized as a top mortgage lender and was recently inducted into the 2018 Ellie Mae Hall of Fame for Excellence in Compliance. For more information, call 1-800-255-2792, visit http://www.primaryresidentialmortgage.com, or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. PRMI is an Equal Housing Lender. NMLS #3094.

Habitat for Humanity is an approved 501(C)(3) charity. Habitat for Humanity is not affiliated with Primary Residential Mortgage, Inc.Westerns partnership with eMoney allows our advisors access to a technology experience that will be a powerful tool for their clients, said Donald Bizub, CEO of Western. We are unwavering in providing quality financial solution platforms and a distinct competitive advantage to our advisors.

Beginning in mid- December, Western will launch their integrated client portal and financial planning tools, which will be powered by eMoneys industry-leading wealth management technology. More than 400 advisors affiliated with Western will be offered direct access to trading and account level details with easy access, single sign-on coupled with a constantly improving client experience.

eMoneys industry-leading client portal offers the clients of Western advisors a real-time, on-demand financial experience that strengthens relationships and keeps advisors at the forefront of digital trends. Features of the platform include self-registration and onboarding, mobile web access, account aggregation and organization, and unlimited, secure document storage.

Advisors jobs are more challenging than ever before. eMoneys wealth management technology enables advisors to exceed their clients high expectations efficiently and effectively, said Stephen Langlois, Head of Business Development at eMoney. Were confident that Westerns advisors will find that the new integrated tech platform provides the support and cutting-edge tools to scale and grow their businesses.

About Western

Western International Securities, Inc. (WIS) provides an independent advisor platform that empowers sophisticated, independent financial professionals to prosper, grow, and provide superior client service. Headquartered in Pasadena, California, Western is recognized as a unique independent broker dealer in the industry, offering an independent experience with no proprietary products. The firm supports more than 400 independent financial advisors in delivering comprehensive securities and investment advisory services to their clients. For more information about Western, please visit http://www.joinwestern.com or wisdirect.com.

About eMoney Advisor, LLC

eMoney Advisor, LLC (eMoney), based in Radnor, Pennsylvania, is the leading scalable wealth management technology developed for financial professionals, firms and enterprises of all sizes. Rooted in collaborative financial planning, eMoneys technology enables financial professionals to build stronger client relationships, streamline business operations and drive revenue and growth. Developed and perfected by more than 600 passionate, innovative and dedicated employees in three locations, eMoneys solutions transform the wealth management experience for more than 50,000 financial professionals and 2.1 million end-clients nationwide. For more information, please visit http://www.emoneyadvisor.com.

By combining the strengths of these two telemedicine leaders in the post-acute care industry, the facilities and residents we serve will have access to the highest-quality care and most innovative telemedicine technology, said Alissa Meade, Curavis President and Chief Executive Officer.

Ziegler, a specialty investment bank, is pleased to announce it served as the sole advisor to TripleCare on its acquisition by Curavi Health Inc., both providers of telemedicine solutions for the post-acute, long-term care industry, including skilled nursing facilities. This acquisition positions Curavi for rapid growth and will enable it to care for more patients with its innovative services and technology. Together, the combined entity will serve nearly 100 facilities across 14 states.

Similar to Curavi, TripleCare uses a comprehensive telemedicine platform to give residents at post-acute facilities access to physicians at times when they are not readily available, such as on weekends, overnight and on holidays. The technology allows residents to be treated in place, from the comfort of their bedside, often avoiding unnecessary visits to emergency rooms or hospitalizations. Such transfers can be disruptive to residents and sometimes harmful to their health, while costing Medicare and other payors billions of dollars a year.

By combining the strengths of these two telemedicine leaders in the post-acute care industry, the facilities and residents we serve will have access to the highest-quality care and most innovative telemedicine technology, said Alissa Meade, Curavis president and chief executive officer. We look forward to growing our services by integrating TripleCares strong network and seasoned team into Curavi Health.

Meade will continue as CEO of the combined company, while TripleCares interim CEO, Mary Jo Gorman, M.D., will assume a newly established seat on Curavis board of directors. Leslie C. Davis, senior vice president of UPMC and executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Health Services Division, will also be added to the board.

Founded in 2016 after extensive research by renowned UPMC geriatricians, Curavi currently serves more than 40 facilities in three states with general and specialty care, after-hours coverage, geriatric psychiatry consultations and bring your own provider solutions that allow nursing homes to use their own attending physicians and nurse practitioners for telemedicine consults. Curavi developed its hardware and software to fit the workflow of the demanding nursing home environment.

As an experienced telemedicine-enabled medical practice since 2011, TripleCare physicians have cared for thousands of patients in 50 facilities and helped skilled nursing homes avoid unnecessary hospital transfers and admissions more than 80 percent of the time.

UPMC, a $19 billion health care provider and insurer affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh, will continue to be the sole investor in Curavi, part of the portfolio of commercialization and innovation arm UPMC Enterprises. The acquisition is effective immediately, and terms of the agreement are not being disclosed.

The Ziegler team, comprised of lead banker Grant Chamberlain with support from Adam Heller, Jenny Poth, Matt Schappell and Danny Coran, advised TripleCare on the sale process, leveraging the banks broad experience in the senior living and post-acute markets as well as telehealth.

Ziegler deeply understood the value of the solution TripleCare brings to the senior living and post-acute environment, said Dr. Gorman. They were instrumental in identifying the right partner for TripleCare and guiding us through a successful transaction process. We are now joining an organization where together we can more rapidly achieve our vision of better care for post-acute populations.

Ziegler's Corporate Finance team is focused on delivering best-in-class advisory and financing solutions for companies and organizations across the healthcare industry. In our core practice areas of healthcare services, information technology, hospitals and senior living, Ziegler is one of the most active M&A firms offering innovative sell-side, buy-side, recapitalization, equity private placement and strategic partnering services.

For more information about Ziegler, please visit us at http://www.Ziegler.com.

About Ziegler:

Ziegler is a privately held investment bank, capital markets and proprietary investments firm. Specializing in the healthcare, senior living and education sectors, as well as general municipal and structured finance, enables Ziegler to generate a positive impact on the clients and communities it serves. Headquartered in Chicago with regional and branch offices throughout the United States, Ziegler provides its clients with capital raising, strategic advisory services, equity and fixed income sales & trading and research. To learn more, visit http://www.ziegler.com.

Certain comments in this news release represent forward-looking statements made pursuant to the provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This clients experience may not be representative of the experience of other clients, nor is it indicative of future performance or success. The forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, in particular, the overall financial health of the securities industry, the strength of the healthcare sector of the U.S. economy and the municipal securities marketplace, the ability of the Company to underwrite and distribute securities, the market value of mutual fund portfolios and separate account portfolios advised by the Company, the volume of sales by its retail brokers, the outcome of pending litigation, and the ability to attract and retain qualified employees.A Public Space, the literary magazine founded in 2006 by former Paris Review editor Brigid Hughes that won the inaugural Whiting Literary Magazine Prize earlier this year, is launching a book publishing imprint, A Public Space Books. Publishers Group West will distribute both the new press's books and forthcoming issues of the magazine, as they do with a select few magazine-book combination publishers, including Freeman's.

The magazine previously had a publishing partnership with Graywolf Press, with whom it published works by such authors as Jamel Brinkley, John Haskell, and Dorthe Nors. The imprint, which will debut next year with Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage, a collection of writings and correspondence by author and Saul Bellow protegee Bette Howland, is looking to publish four books a year at first. Other books in the inaugural group include a parallel translation of Italian artist Giorgio di Chiricos unpublished poetry collection Geometry of Shadows and the work journals of British filmmaker Sally Potter.

We had a wonderful time working with Graywolf and connecting some of the authors we had in the magazine with their press," Hughes said of the decision to start its own imprint. Howland's work provided the jumping-off point for that decisionHughes said she realized that, if APS put out a book itself, it would give it "a little more freedom to go into different directions and try some new things."

The magazine has not hired any new full-time editorial or production staff for the venture, although Lauren Cerand, who was brought on as a publicist for the organization earlier this year, said the magazine will be relying on outside publicists for certain titles. Those publicists include Nicole Dewey, of Shreve Williams, who is working on the Howland campaign. Cerand added: "Obviously, for a book of poetry that's being published in English and Italian that's never appeared before anywhere, that's got a very specific audience."

The magazine, an independent nonprofit, relies primarily on individual donors and foundations for financial support. As for what kind of books the imprint can be expected to publish, they will likely skew literary, but will not be limited to any genre or form. "The books will grow out of the magazine, so we want very much to keep that eclectic spirit," Hughes said, adding: "If you've encountered any of the writers that have been published in the magazine, you know that it's a place for discovery, and the books are going to have that kind of identity as well."

Correction: This article previously misspelled Jamel Brinkley's first name.Mr Bernard Anbataayela Mornah, who is the PNC National Chairman is the plaintiff of this suit.

The defendants are: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote dIvoire, Ghana, Mali, Malawi, Tanzania, and Tunisia.

In his suit, Mr Mornah claims that Morocco has failed to respect the colonial boundaries as it continues to interfere in the affairs of Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).

He added that Morocco is currently illegally occupying, harbouring, mining and selling one of the worlds richest fisheries stock, abundant phosphate rock mines and oil reserves of Western Sahara.

He is, therefore, praying the African Court to direct the defendants to defend the human rights of the Saharawi people to self-determination, political participation, economic, social and cultural development as well as the right to dispose of their wealth and natural resources.

He is also praying the court to compel the eight countries to individually and/or collectively organise an emergency session of the Assembly of the African Union at which they will agree to restrain Morocco from further occupying parts of the territory of Western Sahara in any manner whatsoever and howsoever.

Below are the reliefs sought by Mr Mornah:

1. A DECLARATION that the failure of the Defendants individually and/or collectively to defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Western Sahara is illegal as it directly violates Articles 3 and 4 of the Constitutive Act of the African Union; Articles 1, 13 and 20 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights; Articles 1, 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Articles 1, 2 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

2. A DECLARATION that the failure of the Defendants individually and/or collectively to prevent Morocco from violating the human rights of the people of Western Sahara to dispose of their wealth and natural resources, to their economic, social and cultural development and peace guaranteed by Articles 19, 21, 22, 23 and 24 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, and similar provisions in common Article 1 of both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.This year, the Elmwood Park department raised close to a $1,000, Brown said. Officers plan to take a portion of that to donate to the family of Samuel Jimenez, the young Chicago police officer who was fatally shot as he went to the aid of other officers in the recent Mercy Hospital shooting.According to him, this will ensure that people who live in places with difficult access to a decent mode of transportation to also enjoy quality healthcare.

Presenting his committees report on a private partnership agreement between the Government of Ghana and Fly Zip line GH Limited on the floor, Dr Twum Nuamah said this will also reduce the issues associated with the supply of medical essentials to rural areas in the country with unmotorable roads.

Dr Twum Nuamah said that in 2017, statistics showed that out of the 197 maternal deaths, 100 were attributed to bleeding. He argued further that if the drone service was in place by then a lot more lives could have been saved.

He, therefore, noted that Ghana will need the agreement to improve on the countrys health services.

He explained that the agreement will see the universal health coverage as a critical achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), particularly goal 3.

Dr Twum Nuamah explained that goal 3 is to ensure a healthy life and well-being of all ages by the year 2030.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) defines universal health as ensuring that all people have access to needed promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative health services.Mr. Antwi-Boasiako was awarded the Outstanding Contributor to Fighting Cyber Fraud in the country.

The event was christened Ghana e-Commerce Awards 2018, and it was the maiden edition.

It was aimed at recognising, rewarding and celebrating individuals and organisations who have demonstrated dedication, innovation and excellence in Ghanas online business industry.

According to the organisers, the award is in recognition of Mr Antwi-Boasiakos Outstanding Contribution to Fighting Cyber Fraud through his work in Ghana and the West Africa Region for the past eight years.

The event was organised by Occupational Management Limited (OML) Africa, an international Human Resource Management and Organisational Development consulting firm in Ghana, at the Swiss Spirit Alisa Hotel on Friday, November 30, 2018.

The programme saw in attendance prominent individuals and experts from the technology sector and as well policy makers and renowned industry players within the e-commerce industry.

Mr Antwi-Boasiako in a statement after receiving the award, indicated that the real work in the nations cybersecurity development has just begun especially as the government seeks to scale up Ghanas cybersecurity readiness.

He further expressed his excitement and delight in the award he received.

He said, I am grateful to the e-Crime Bureau team who indeed constitute the foundation of our pioneering work in Ghana as well as other stakeholders from the private sector as well as my current colleagues at the National Cyber Security Centre for the continuing support.A report by lindaikejisblog.com says the workers carrying different placards with inscriptions of their dissatisfaction blocked all entrances to the National Assembly, chanting ''no pay, no sitting''.

They claim they have not been paid since 2010 and further accused the management of the Assembly of diverting funds meant for their trainings.

It is reported that Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu who was blocked from entering the chamber had tried to address the protesters, but they failed to give him attention.

See more photos of the protest below:

ece-auto-genThat was the case of a 36-year-old man who reportedly broke into a private office building on Sharlykskoye Road, in Orenburg, by squeezing through a small window on the third floor.

According to odditycentral.com, the robber then used a variety of tools, like screwdrivers, wire cutters, a hammer, a nail puller, and a bunch of keys, to break into several private company offices, looking for valuables.

Reports say he actually managed to find 140,000 rubles ($2,100) in cash, but apparently, having gone through several offices to steal, the man got exhausted and thought it prudent to rest for some few minutes before moving on.

It appears the fatigued robber overslept and police came to meet him asleep in a leather office chair several hours later.

READ ALSO: Parliament workers hold massive protest over unpaid salaries since 2010

Russian News Agency (RIA) reported that a security guard first spotted the thief sleeping in one of the offices he had broken into, while he was checking the surveillance cameras.

He then contacted Rosguard (Russia National Guard) which immediately dispatch an intervention team to the scene.

When police arrived, they met the robber deep asleep next to his bag containing all the nights booty.

The officers then handcuffed him and placed in custody where background checks have reportedly revealed that he was actually a hardened criminal who had been convicted severally.The event was graced by lots of distinguished guests from both countries. Morocco's ambassador to Ghana, H.E Mohammed Farahat, the country General Manager for Royal Air Maroc (Mr.Lam), Mr. Mohammed Bennis (GM-CIMAF Ghana), General Manager of TAQA, Managing Director of the Bank of Africa,Mr Kobby Andah and many more.

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The gathering, which was under the theme, Marching Africa towards Economic Freedom, also afforded the past students the opportunity to share ideas on how the African continent could develop.

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Speaking at the event, Mr. Mohammed Farahat, Moroccan Ambassador to Ghana, paid tribute to African torchbearers, including Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghanas first President, and King Hassan II, King of Morocco, who fought for the political liberation of the continent.

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He mentioned it was the duty of the current crop of leaders to carry on the good works initiated by the torchbearers by making the right political, governance and economic decisions to stimulate the growth of the continent.

Giving an update on Moroccos application to join the African Union (AU), he stated that, the country was waiting to receive a formal communication from the AU.

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Let me say that even as we have not received formal notification, we are already trading and bonding with many countrieswhat is left is to cement the relationship officially, he said.In years past, the church has often been exempted from all forms of tax, irrespective of its dealings.

READ ALSO: Wearing mini-skirt is fashion, not an invitation to rape  Nana KonaduWearing mini-skirt is fashion, not an invitation to rape  Nana Konadu

However, the GRA now intends to tax pastors and their churches on items sold to their congregants.

According to the Commissioner-General of the GRA, Emmanuel Kofi Nti, churches who refuse to honour this tax obligation will be made to face the law.

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He further refuted claims that taxing businesses owned by churches will be met with stiff resistance.

The man of God; is he not an individual? And is he not accountable to the state for his tax obligations? There is an opportunity for us to look at it, Mr. Nti told Joy News.

Asked about the popular Obinim Sticker and how GRA intends to tax such items, he said: it is income to him [Bishop Daniel Obinim].

This comes on the back of variant views on the activities of churches across the country.

Many Ghanaians are currently divided over whether or not the sale of items in churches constitutes commercial activities and therefore should be taxed.In April 2018, Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia announced that the government will sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which will see the innovative idea, already being implemented in two African countries, replicated in Ghana.

The Health Committee of parliament has recommended the approval of the deal after the agreement was laid last month.

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Chairman of the health committee in parliament, Dr Twum Nuamah disclosed that the committee's report is a private partnership agreement between the Government of Ghana and Fly Zip line GH limited.

He said the agreement is to for see a universal health coverage as a critical achievement of the sustainable goal, particularly goal 3.

Parliament has pulled the breaks on a US$12m drone technology expected to distribute blood products in very remote areas of the country where quality healthcare delivery is hard to reach.

This follows the discovery of some legal and regulatory issues in the contractual agreement between the Government of Ghana, represented by the Ministry of Health and Fly Zipline Ghana Limited.

However, the Minority has accused Bawumia of fraudulently and criminally inflating the deal.

According to the Member of Parliament for Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam Constituency in the Central Region, Cassiel Ato Forson, the company to execute the project Fly Zipline will be making over 600 percent profit on the deal.

"Is this a cocaine business?" he quizzed.

READ ALSO: Ghana is toying with the idea of drones in drug distribution

"The vice president is leading Ghana into the path of unrighteousness. The vice president is leading Ghana to commit ourselves to a deal that will be woeful to the finances of this country.I think thats a pretty good turnout for the very first year of doing such a contest, so I was really pleased, the mayor said of the submissions. I was really pleased with the quality of the cards and the artwork of the students. We have a lot of talented artists here in Evanston.The Africa Visa Openness Index Report has compiled a list of nations that have decided to open their borders to travellers across the continent.

Number one on the list isSeychelles, followed by Benin. These two countries are the only ones that offer visa-free access to all Africans.

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The rest are divided into three categories; no visa, visa on arrival and visa required.

Here are the top 10 visa-open countries in Africa for 2018:

Seychelles- visa free access to 53 countries

Benin - visa free entry to 53 nations

Rwanda - visa free (15), visa on arrival (38)

Togo - visa free (15), visa on arrival 38)

Guinea-Bissau - visa free (14), visa on arrival (39)

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ALSO READ: Here are the 7 wonders of Africa

Uganda - visa free (18), visa on arrival (34), visa required (1)

Ghana - visa free (17), visa on arrival (35), visa required (1)

Cape Verde -visa free (16), visa on arrival (36), visa required (1)

Kenya -visa Free (18), visa on arrival (33), visa required (2)According to the company's vice president of international originals, Erik Barmack, an unspecified amount of original series will be commissioned in 2019.

He confirmed this during the Content London conference saying, Netflix's Europe team is "in the process of looking at opportunities in Africa. It's definitely the case that we'll commission some series there in2019."

Reportedly, Netflix is already scouting for original scripts with local casts.

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Barmack went on to explain why the company is making this move. Predicting that international stories will soon be the world's most-watched shows, he noted that commissioning series from Africa definitely agree with Netflix's global ambitions.

"There's going to come a time when half of the top 10 of most-watched shows in a given year are going to come from outside of the U.S. "I don't think that's very actually far away. I think that's going to come in years, not decades. Shows with multinational casts will become the norm," he stated.

Apart from Africa, Netflix is also looking into the Arabic-speaking market since subscribers are currently watching more of the non-English-language shows every month. As such, "Jinn" has been set as the company's first Arabic-language show.

Talking to the room filled with content makers and sellers, he said, "There are 500 million people around the world who speak Arabic, and there's a real opportunity to put different faces and a different type of programming [together] to get away from the traditional Ramadan shows, for example."

He continued, "The big message we want to communicate to talent is you don't have to leave home to get big audiences, and you don't have to choose Hollywood versus your own country. You can do both, and that, we believe, will be able to carry their audiences to their shows regardless of the language they are speaking or where the production comes from."About 7,000 Central Americans have fled their crime-ridden and violent homelands in the Northern Triangle for the US border in what has become the largest caravan to date.

Migrants in the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula first formed the unplanned northbound caravan on October 13. Others have fled from El Salvador and Guatemala to also embark on the 2,700-mile journey toward the United States.

Conditions along the way are not great  the heat is sweltering, the days are long, and food and shelter are not always readily available.

To prevent the caravan from growing too large in size, Mexico has offered the opportunity to claim asylum there instead of the US. But most migrants have rejected the proposal.

"The United States is better," Honduran migrant Glenda Escobar told Reuters. "For everything."

Here's what it's like for migrants who have walked thousands of miles to seek asylum in the US.

Multiple caravans of Central American migrants 7,000-strong have traveled thousands of miles through Guatemala and Mexico to seek asylum in the United States.

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Mostly from Honduras and El Salvador, many caravan members fled their crime-ridden and poverty-stricken homelands in search of better lives.

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The first wave of the caravan set out of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, northward toward the United States on October 13.

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Others joined from El Salvador. Hundreds of them had to cross through a border checkpoint located on a bridge that connects Guatemala to Mexico.

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Mexican police blocked them.

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Many of the migrants waited on this bridge for hours.

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Some grew impatient  a group of frustrated migrant men tried to tear down the border gate, to no avail.

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Migrants abandoned the bridge and climbed down into the Suchiate River below.

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Others who followed ignored the bridge altogether and entered the river immediately to continue on their journey, since the border gates remained closed.

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Hondurans Luis Acosta and 5-year-old Angel Jesus were among them.

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El Salvadoran migrant Daniel and his 1-year-old daughter Daniela did the same.

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Despite some migrants' river crossing, the gate was eventually opened and migrants were allowed to cross into Mexico.

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Shelters, organized by local charities and Good Samaritans, aided the migrants along their trek northward.

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They bathed in fresh water streams when they could, like 55-year-old Anna-Maria Sadillon.

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Most awoke in the early hours of the morning to make it to the next town before the weather got too warm.

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If migrants were lucky, they would hitchhike on passing cars to the next town.

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That's not always safe though. Salvador and his family, pictured below, told activist Paola Mendoza that riding on the trucks can be dangerous, but he feels he has no choice. "I couldn't stay in the place where we were living," he said. "Gangs threatened to kill me and my kids. My only option was to go North.

Story courtesy of Paola Mendoza and Kisha Bari for .

Migrants and their children, like 7-year-old twins Justin Mauricio and Justin Duan, would rest on the side of the road when they grew tired.

They would lay their heads and rest wherever they safely could.

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Julio, aged 43, and pictured here with his one-year-old son Eddie, said they left their home in Guatemala to join the caravan of people after his wife's death five months ago. He said he feels he will have a better life in the US.

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Another migrant, Nubia and her two children, told Mendoza that her neighborhood back home was violent, and she's traveling to the US so that her kids will have a better future.

Story courtesy of Paola Mendoza and Kisha Bari for .

Honduran migrant Glenda Escobar told Reuters that she's headed toward Los Angeles. "It's because, in my dreams, God told me that's where he's sending me," Escobar said.

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Escobar and her two sons, 5-year-old Adonai and 8-year-old Denzel, joined the caravan on October 14 with only a plastic tarp, clothes, and soap.

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The man who fathered Denzel and Adonai was abusive and forced her from her own home in Honduras, Escobar said. She said she packed fast when a neighbor informed her of the caravan traveling northward.

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She left her oldest two children with family with plans to retrieve them at a later time.

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They've covered about 30 miles a day with the caravan bound for the US, resting on the side of the road periodically.

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Other times, they stay in the local shelters that organizers have provided for the migrants.

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In an effort to break up the caravans, Mexico has offered the travelers temporary jobs and identification papers if they claim asylum there.

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But many, including Escobar, have rejected the proposal. "The United States is better," she said. "For everything."

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Oscar Martinez, a 37-year-old migrant from Honduras, echoed that sentiment. "We are going to US looking for a better future for our children," Martinez told Reuters. He and his entire family, including his wife and 3-year-old son Dilan, are walking with the caravan toward the US border.

On November 14, the first wave of migrants reached Tijuana, Mexico, near the US port of entry in San Ysidro. Thousands more followed in the days after, reaching a total of about 5,000, a drop from the original group that set off a month earlier.

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US President Donald Trump had ordered 5,000 troops to the border to aid border-patrol agents already stationed there to prepare for the incoming caravan. Trump has also attempted to bar the migrants from entering and claiming asylum in the US, a move that a federal judge has dubbed unconstitutional.

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US Customs and Border Protection had also installed heavier razor-wire fencing along the border ahead of the caravan's arrival.

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With border patrol barring the migrants from crossing through outside the ports of entry, a makeshift shelter sprouted up in Tijuana for the thousands of asylum-seekers.

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Migrants have been camping there while hoping for the border to be opened.

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A portion of the migrants, frustrated with the delay and the shelter's poor conditions, eventually marched toward the border fence separating the US and Mexico on November 25.

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Police began to surround them.

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And border-patrol agents prevented them from passing through.

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Honduran migrant Rosa Villa and her five-month-old son Esteban were also pushed back from the border by Mexican police.

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Those who attempted to break through were apprehended.

So some scaled the border fence.

Even so, those who did get over the fence were detained by border patrol officers on the American side.

At one point, US border patrol agents fired tear gas canisters at the migrants who stormed the border fence after claiming that members of the caravan were throwing things at the officers.

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Migrants retreated back through the border into Mexico to avoid the airborne chemicals.

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Some migrants shielded their eyes from the sting of the tear gas.

A 40-year-old Honduran migrant named Maria Meza, with her 13-year-old daughter Jamie and 5-year-old twin daughters Cheili and Saira, also ran from the gas.

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The mother of three said she left the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula, known for its violence and crime, two months before.

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Meza told Reuters that she was shocked US border patrol agents would use the tear gas in the proximity of women and children.

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"I thought I was going to die with them because of the gas," Meza later told Reuters.

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They eventually made it to safety.

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The family is now in the makeshift shelter in Tijuana.

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They'll most likely take shelter there for a while as they wait to claim asylum.

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Meza said she hopes to be granted asylum into the US and then will make her way to Louisiana, where the father of her children lives.

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Other migrants have also settled into the temporary sanctuary in Tijuana, including 23-year-old Kevin, seen here drinking syrup.

So has Honduran migrant Katherine Arito, 17 years old, who made the trek by herself along the caravan.

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But being allowed to enter the US could take months, with the waiting list sitting at 3,000 before this caravan even showed up and officials processing fewer than 100 claims a day.

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Many migrants were discouraged from pursuing entry to the US following the clash with border patrol on Sunday.

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As a result, there was an uptick in interest from migrants to begin the process for applying for asylum in Mexico.

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Honduran migrant Elizabeth Umanzor and her family, including her 6-year-old daughter Gina, told the AP that they plan to find work in Mexico while they wait to claim asylum in the US. Umanzor's husband, a welder, has already found work, and she hopes to make a living selling baleadas, traditional Honduran dishes.

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Honduran migrant Harol Ardon is also planning to stay in Mexico. "I'm going to an interview with (Mexican) migration to request permission to be here, to be able to find a job," Ardon told Reuters. "I've already been given a job but I need to have my papers in order to be able to work and walk around freely here in the city."

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One Guatemalan migrant, Jose Castillo (not pictured), told the Associated Press that the nearby town of Rosarito is seen as a good place to "earn money and live well."

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Others are possibly turning to Mexican cities like Monterey or Mexicali to find work and a living.

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The majority of the available work in Mexico would be factory jobs in the "maquiladores."

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Others like El Salvador migrant Josue Enrique and his mother are considering returning home following Sunday's clash with border police.

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"The president won't let us through," Enrique told Reuters in Spanish. "He doesn't want us over there and there are rumors some (Central American migrants who have already crossed) are being killed. I'm going (home) because I don't want to die either here or in that country."Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected!This is coming a week after both parties failed to reach an agreement at the meeting held on Monday, November 26, 2018.

The meeting which took place at the Federal Ministry of Education in Abuja was attended by the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, the National President of the union, Prof Biodun Ogunyemi, the permanent secretary, Sunny Echono and representative of National Universities Commission.

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According to Premium Times, the President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) Comrade Danielson Akpan, who was present at the meeting, said the two parties need to consider the interest of the students in their deliberations.

My fear is that these politicians can give a political response and may not meet the conditions again,

You will recall that the first meeting between the lecturers and the government on Thursday, November 15, 2018, ended in deadlock as both parties failed to reach an agreement to call off the strike.The Board's Head of Media, Dr Fabian Benjamin said this in Lagos in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday, December 4, 2018.

Earlier,theJoint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has announced that registration for the 2019 Unified Tertiary and Matriculation Examination would begin in December

Explaining why the sales of the registration form was postponed, Benjamin said that JAMB changed the plan to sell forms in December after the Federal Governments reduced the registration fee.

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He said, ''the attention of the board has been drawn to information going round in some social media that JAMB has already begun the sale of forms for UTME.

We are not commencing the sale of the forms until January 2019, and the window period will be for six weeks

Prospective candidates should note this period in order not to fall prey to fraudsters,.

You will also recall that on Wednesday, November 28, 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari approved a reduction in the cost of the Unified Tertiary Examination and Matriculation Examination (UTME) form to N3500.Police will keep an extra watch on the area, Deputy Chief Jay Militello said. He urged owners to lock their car doors when they are unoccupied and to keep valuables out of plain sight. Police also urged residents to report suspicious activity to the police.According to PUNCH, a source at the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Yaba said the music star was arraigned at the Ebute Metta Magistrate court along with the other occupants in his car on Tuesday December 4, 2018.

Small Doctor had earlier been paraded with his gang by the Lagos State Police Command on Monday, December 3, 2018.

The music star was arrested for allegedly threatening a police officer with a gun.

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ALSO READ:Watch moment Small Doctor was arrested by the police

Police arrest Small Doctor for alleged possession of firearm

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The police on Monday in Lagos said they had arrested a popular musician, Adekunle Temitope, a.k.a Small Doctor, and three others for alleged unlawful possession of fireman.

The Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, CP Imohimin Edgal, told newsmen that the suspects were arrested after threatening to shoot policemen controlling the traffic at the ever-busy Oshodi area of Lagos.

Edgal said that he was disappointed with the musicians conduct because he had a case with the State CID, Panti for shooting a gun at his Agege show where he injured four persons.

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You would have thought the incident would caution him but surprisingly today, I got a situation report from traffic monitors at the Oshodi expressway about four unknown gunmen in green unregistered SUV. He (Small Doctor) allegedly brought out a weapon and threatened to fire the policemen. Fortunately, the DPO and other policemen at Shogunle intercepted the suspects and arrested them," he said.

ece-auto-genToday, news has filtered in that another security guard and three of his friends robbed his boss's brother of N3m and set him ablaze in his car after taking the money in Ikirun, Osun State.

According to Instablog9ja, the security guard, 35-year-old Rasheed Waheed, was aided by his friends;33-year-old Ahmed Rafiu, 51-year-old Owolabi Bashiru, and 27-year-old Kayode. The boss who was killed was the businessman, 48-year-old Victor Akinbile.

Friends and family reported the matter to the Police on November 27, 2018, around 10:30 pm after they discovered that he made a suspicious withdrawal of N3m and they couldnt locate him. He had left Lagos for Ikirun, Osun State on November 26, 2018.

ALSO READ: Monkey chained to bed, shaved daily and raped for N800

Osun State Commissioner of Police said, The police team discovered that the gang consisted of four men and that one of them happened to be a security guard who alerted his friends that Akinbile was in town.

The gang came to the victims abode, broke into the house and took the N25,000 he was having on him and equally forced him to transfer N3 million to the account of one of them. They then put him in his car and drove him to a secluded place where they set the car alight, while he was locked in the booth."

Hamed Rafiu was arrested by the police after a trace on the account which received money the N3m transfer led to him. Rafius information led to the capture of other members of the four-man gang.The overwhelming feeling of worthlessness, triggered by a consistent reality where best efforts never yield great fruits is enough to send a human being with a different emotional tolerance level over the edge. The torture needs to stop and today, the conversation begins with University of Ilorin.

ALSO READ: Lagos is messing with my mental health

According to Makawai, news emanating from UNILORIN today confirms the death of 27-year-old Adigun Olawale Emmanuel, a final-year student of faculty of Agriculture on Thursday, November 29, 2018, at Oke Odo Area of Ilorin.

Unconfirmed reports, including a supposed chat he exchanged with a friend before taking his own life by drinking the strong and very lethal pesticide, Sniper claim that the reason for his suicide was being to fail his final-year project twice.

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In the chat, Emmanuel claims that he had been accused of plagiarizing the write-ups in his project.

ALSO READ: Monkey chained to bed, shaved daily and raped for N800

The implication of failing a project would be getting an F in a six-unit course and having an extra year, equaling not graduating with his mates. For a person who had reportedly attempted suicide a first time, his heart probably couldnt take the bad news and so, he sadly gave up.

After allegedly drinking sniper on Thursday, his swollen body was reportedly discovered by neighbors on Saturday, December 22, 2018, after a foul, putrid smell started emanating from his room.With all the tour agencies bubbling around, it's easy to find oneself a victim of a scam. Here's the thing, shady people like to take advantage of tourist. It might not be your fault if you fall for one but it's always better to familiarise yourself with the type of scams flying around to avoid it and know what to do in such situations.

1. Advance travel fee

Fraudsters pose under the cover of a travel groups or agents who can make travelling easier for you. These scammers might seem to make travelling cheaper by asking for installmental payments or advance payments. Use only trusted tour agencies.

2. Study abroad

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For people looking to study abroad, one easy way to fall for a scam is through fake agents who inflate prices without making any efforts. Worst case, fraudsters pose as agents to offer quick visa processing and cheap school fees. Learn about all the official documents and fees issued by the embassy and the school directly and use trusted agents who are used to the system. No agent can make visa processing faster than the normal time it takes.

3. Visa Lottery

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Visa lotteries are not as common anymore, yet people hold their breaths in hopes for an opportunity to enter one. The US Visa lottery used to be quite popular for Nigerians until it was stopped but it remains one of the most popular scam schemes on Nigerians. It's better not to engage any of such offers.

ALSO READ: 7 common travel scams around the world and how to avoid them

4. International Conference

One way of scamming travellers is giving false hopes of visa approval through cheap conference invitations. The scammers invite you for a conference with the incentive that visa applications from people going for conferences are hardly rejected. They tell you to pay a fee for travel arrangements and then they disappear. When considering attending an international conference, make sure it has been tried and tested, and use trusted agents.

5. Currency exchange

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People travelling out of the country are advised to visit a bank or a trusted agent as scammers could pose as fake foreign exchange buyers and give travellers counterfeit currency or inflated exchange rates.

6. Flight tickets

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People who want to ball on a budget are always seeking cheaper ways to travel, hence, cheaper flight tickets. It's easy to fall for cheap ticket scams online. There are trusted tricks to getting cheap airline tickets, or alternatively, trusted websites which give great deals.

7. Travel Insurance

This is more common with frequent travellers. Travel insurance is important but that doesn't mean one should give money to just anyone in the name of getting insurance.Take inspiration from our travel hotlist. These are the destinations we also can't wait to visit in 2019.

1. Namibia

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Namibia is an exotic paradise, mostly overlooked by Africans. It contains secrets that many are yet to discover. Head straight up to Serra Cafema in Kaokoland and boat along the Kunene River (a surreal experience in the heart of the dry, wind-blown landscape), before seeking out desert-adapted elephant in the hills around Haonib Valley Camp, and you can even get a flying safari experience. You can also visit the famous Himba tribe in Namibia. If you want, you can even plan your trip for December!

2. Egypt

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Egypt has so much for travellers to see and do. it's the perfect country for a mix of activities combining culture, adventure, and relaxation. Long known for its pyramids and ancient civilization, it is also the home of the ancient Pharaohs. With vast tracts of desert, superb scuba diving, and the famed Nile River there's something for everyone here. See 4 beautiful places to visit in Egypt.

3. The Gambia

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For those considering Gambia as their next destination, expect to pursue hiking trails, bathe in the sun, explore diverse landmarks and be acquainted with beautiful culture and traditions. Gambia makes for a perfect holiday destination. The country is rich with beaches and is home to many safari camps. It also boasts of rich traditions and culture, tourists can revel in its awesomeness while also enjoying the countrys beautiful landscapes.

4. Cameroon

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For Nigerians, another neighbouring country you have to visit is Cameroon. It is a country filled with history, culture and natural attractions. From chasing waterfalls to its many historical sites, Cameroon is one country that more people should explore, especially during short holidays. See the 10 places you have to visit in Cameroon.

5. SenegalThe Police Public Relations Officer for the command in the state, SP Abdu Jinjiri, who confirmed the arrest in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Dutse on Tuesday, said that four others were injured during the fight.

We have arrested 10 suspects for fighting after a political gathering in Gwaram town yesterday.

Adequate security was provided for the gathering, however, after the event, thugs began to fight during which four persons were injured, he said.While interacting with Nigerians in Poland on Sunday, December 2, 2018, the president said lamenting about Nigeria's history of corruption and mismanagement of resources has not helped his administration.

He said , "We inherited so many problems. Actually, l have said l will not complain because l asked for it. I tried to become President three times and l lost, but l was lucky the fourth time, l became one, so l can't complain.

"Who asked me to do it again? Three times l ended up in the Supreme Court. The third time, l said, 'God dey', and the fourth time, God and technology, using the Permanent Voters Card and the Card Readers, they couldn't rig the elections; so l won."

Buhari also reiterated that security has always been his number one priority, because of the understanding that any investments drive will be useless without first securing the environment.

"It just makes sense. You have to secure our country or even the institutions or environment to manage it properly. If they are not secured, you are wasting your time. So, security has always been our number one priority," he said.While speaking during a bilateral meeting with Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, on the sidelines of the United Nations' Climate Change Conference in Poland, on Monday, December 4, 2018, Buhari praised the plan by the Polish government to open a Trade Office in Lagos.

He assured the Polish leader that investors who look to Nigeria can be guaranteed safe returns on their investments.

He said, ''We have a vibrant and active young population and our government is doing so much on the Nigerian economy, including diversifying to non-oil sectors.

''We welcome increased cooperation with Poland and will encourage investments in other sectors of the economy like solid minerals and information technology."

Morawiecki told Buhari that Poland is currently considering importing oil from Nigeria like it currently does from Saudi Arabia and Russia. He said Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa have been identified as three top investment destinations in Africa.

''We want the hub of our investment destination to be in Nigeria,'' he said.

Buhari also met with Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, to diiscuss trade, investments and partnerships in agriculture.

According to a statement signed by Buhari's Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the president welcomed Rutte's proposal to visit Nigeria soon."The kids really took ownership of the experience," Amor said, discovering their topics impact. "We let them choose what they were interested in, but some of them even took it further than we expected."112 girls are still in Boko Haram's custody after militants invaded Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok and kidnapped 276 female students in April 2014.

While speaking during a bilateral meeting with Swiss president, Alain Berset, on the sidelines of the United Nations' Climate Change Conference in Poland, on Monday, December 4, 2018, Buhari renewed his commitment towards ensuring the return of the remaining girls.

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According to a statement signed by the president's Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, he thanked the Swiss Confederation for its efforts and important role as intermediaries to secure the release of some Chibok girls in the past.

He also assured him that the issue of the remaining kidnapped girls and other abducted persons will remain a key priority for the Nigerian government.

''We will continue to make the safe release of the remaining Chibok girls a priority and will welcome any kind of support from any quarters to make this happen,'' he said.

The president also discussed joint strategies to ensure the safe return of the girls with Berset, as the two leaders also discussed building on the past successes of securing the release of some of the Chibok girls and other abducted persons in the North Eastern part of Nigeria.

"The President also welcomed the Swiss President's commitment to continue providing humanitarian assistance to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Nigeria and to ensure the safe release of the abducted school girls," Shehu said.

Status of Chibok girls

Even though the Chibok girls were abducted during the administration of then-president, Goodluck Jonathan, President Buhari secured the release of 103 of them after he was inaugurated in 2015.

In a report that was published by the Wall Street Journal in December 2017, President Buhari approved the payment of 3 million to Boko Haram to facilitate the release of the girls.

He approved the sum of 1 million for the release of 21 schoolgirls in October 2016, before approving another 2 million for the release of a further 82 girls in May 2017. Five Boko Haram commanders were also released by the Army as part of the deal.According to The Cable, the order was issued by Justice Valentine Ashi based on a motion filed by the counsel to the EFCC, Msuur Denga.

Denga had earlier prayed the court to issue a warrant for the former ministers arrest to enable the anti-graft agency arraign her in court.

Diezani asks FG to bring her back

In 2017, Diezani filed an application before Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court in Abuja asking to be joined as defendant in the trial of businessman Jide Omokore.

According to reports, Omokore, the Chairman of Atlantic Energy Brass Development and Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept was a business partner of the former minister.

Speaking on the application, her lawyer said it is important that she comes back to Nigeria to defend the allegations levelled against her.

The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami however dismissed the request, saying it is not in the governments plan to repatriate Diezani.

The former minister had sought the court to compel the Nigerian government to bring her back to Nigeria.

Trouble in the UK

According to reports, the UKs National Crime Agency (NCA) has also dragged Diezani to court, and according to Malami, it is important for Diezani to face the charges there than for her to come as a mere witness in a case in Nigeria.

The issue is not about fair hearing now, we are talking about investigation first and it is not within Mrs Diezani Alison-Maduekes power to ask the federal government to bring her to testify in any case in Nigeria".According to the agency's spokesperson, Peter Afunanya, Mohammed gained access into the Villa in November 2017 posing as the Kogi State First Lady before inviting a businessman to the Villa posing as Aisha who was out of the country.

He said, "Amina Mohammed also known as Justina Oluoha, Amina Villa, had on the November 22, 2017, paraded herself as the First Lady of Kogi State. She used the false identity to invade protocol and scrutiny thus gaining unauthorised access into the Villa and particularly the residence of the First Lady and Wife of the President, Hajia Aisha Buhari.

"She took advantage of the fact that personalities as first ladies, ministers and certain categories of officials are not taken through rigorous protocol and security checks at the Villa post.

"What may even surprise you is that Amina, whose phone number is registered with the name Amina Villa, had on the said date, invited one Dr Alexander Chika Okafor, also known as Chikason, into the Villa wherein she made him believe the invitation was at the instance of the First Lady.

"Investigation has revealed that the First Lady was away on lesser hajj and not in the Villa during the period. Dr. Okafor had complained that he was fleeced of over N150m in respect of a Court of Appeal property in Lagos which Amina had promised to help him buy through the First Lady.

"The property was said to have been part of those under the Presidential implementation committee on lease of Federal Government property."

Suspect denies fraud allegations

While she was being paraded in Abuja on Monday, December 3, 2018, the suspect caused a scene and dismissed the allegations against her.

She said she did not fraudulently gain access into the Villa and accused the real First Lady's sister, Mariatu, and a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal, were involved in her business dealings.

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She said, "It's not true. Chikason has been buying property from the Federal Government and he has been doing it and you all know all the directors that are involved.

"They should ask the First Lady's sisters, Mariatu is involved, Babachir Lawal knows about this; all the directors have been collecting bribes

I can never be a fraudster, I only deal in selling real estate that the Federal Government was disposing. SSS has been keeping me in this office for four months. I came here on my own, I am not a fraudster, I am a citizen of this country."And I have to confess that Oyedepo has done himself no favours with his lead role in the clip.

I crave your indulgence to summarize details of the video in this piece, for readers who may not have seen it. In the footage, Oyedepo is seen reading from a prepared speech neatly spread on the rostrum. He cites an opinion piece published on the back page of The Nation newspaper by Olatunji Dare, with characteristic fervour.

The crux of Oyedepos Sunday Sermon is that a national daily has assertively and authoritatively disclosed that the man carrying on as President Muhammadu Buhari in Aso Rock, is actually a clone called Jubril from Sudan.

Yawn.

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With an almost deadpan expression which looked as serious and stern as the midday sun, Bishop Oyedepo proceeds to copiously quote Dares article to his audience of over 200,000 people (if you factor in those worshipping from the internet at the time):

"This disturbing information came from The Nation Newspaper of November 27, 2018, written by one Olatunji Dare ,exploded with authoritative assertions, he said, claiming among others that the president had died in the UK in 2017 where he was undergoing medical treatment. How?", Oyedepo asked.

Dares article, which Oyedepo is now reading to his audience with barely concealed glee, contains some of the following: "I can report authoritatively that representatives of the Jubril family, having discovered the gigantic swindle, suddenly showed up in Abuja the other day and demanded to be compensated with a power-sharing arrangement at the federal level in perpetuity, plus 50 percent of Nigeria's oil revenues for ten years in the first instance. Failing this, they warned, they would tell their story to the whole world.

"I can also reveal that the Nigerian authorities have entered into frantic negotiations with Jubril's family to head off what is sure to earn a double entry in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's Dirtiest and Worst-kept Secret. The UK authorities are mediating."

The presidency, Oyedepo declares, should go ahead and deny the story in The Nation, on a subject as sensitive as this..." If it doesn't, he warns, "it must have been proved, beyond any iota of doubt, that maybe he is not our president", (Buhari has since denied the rumour that he is one taciturn, languid clone).

And then the man of God asks his congregation to rise and pray against devastation, slavery, "shame and reproach and evil men wreaking havoc on our nation.

The congregation breaks into loud chants, rigorous shaking of the heads, pumping of fists, gyrating themselves into a frenzy; and Oyedepo doubles down on his Jubril from Sudan theory toward the end of the footage. He is bellowing into the microphone the entire time.

You could see that he believed every word he was feeding his audience and you could see that this audience was literally eating from his palms. When a man of God embarks on this kind of journey to nowhere, every member of the congregation usually jumps aboard the ship with him, no questions asked.

In that frenzy and atmosphere of the Winners Chapel that Sunday, it was easy to miss the fact that Dares opinion piece on whose premise Oyedepo had asked his congregation to pray and chant, was a satire. Meaning that it was no authoritative or assertive source on the whole Jubril from Sudan conspiracy theorycertainly nothing to base an entire sermon on. But Oyedepo went on and on and on

How did Oyedepo miss the part where Dare writes that Nnamdi Kanu, or whoever began the tale, and those who have been peddling it, should update their material?

Dare rounds up the Jubril part of his column with the following words: Meanwhile, dependable sources tell me that Abuja is close to unraveling the true identity of the fake Jew parading himself on faked foreign soil as Nnamdi Kanu.

Here was a writer making light of the whole Buhari-is-a-clone saga and making fun of those who have gone to town with what is apparently fake news. He was poking fun at society as the famed satirist he is. He was laughing at himself and society. Because thats what Dare has been doing with his columns since his days at The Guardian. Everyone who has been reading The Nation should know this. How did Oyedepo not know this? How did he miss the humour in a piece that had humour written all over it? How does a preacher who inspires millions worldwide, who owns two universities, not know the difference between a satirical piece and a news story?

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How could Oyedepo even believe that a 75-year-old could be cloned? How did he buy the body double storyso easily? How many members of Oyedepos impressionable audience would have gone home to tell others that their president is a clone, look-alike or doppelganger, just because their Pastor says he is?

Its political season and fake news is usually the staple at times like this. Religious leaders like Oyedepo should be careful and discerning enough about what they jump at or share with their audiences during election season. The fake news battle is one every section of the society must wagethe government, the public, the media and the church.The placard-carrying protesters were stationed inside the complex and blocked the entrance of the legislative chambers, and, at some point, prevented the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, from gaining access.

The parliamentary workers, who occupied the central lobby adjoining the Senate and House of Representatives chambers, were also unwelcoming when the lawmaker tried to address them.

They also stopped many lawmakers from gaining access to the chambers, forcing them to retire to their various offices in the complex.

The workers complained about unpaid entitlements that stretch as far back as 2010, as well as failure to promote or train staff members as required.

A protester, identified as Sunday, told Premium Times, "The protest is about our salaries and allowances. In 2010 the Senate and the House of Reps acted on the recommendations of the National Assembly Service Commission and approved Consolidated Salaries Structures for National Assembly Staff.

"And at that time, a certain percentage which was supposed to be 50 per cent was paid at the time of approval with a promise that after that time, it would be extended to 100 per cent. That was the agreement.

"When the time came for them to complete implementations, the management of the National Assembly kept telling us approvals and releases have not been given and Ministry of Finance have not released the payment and so many excuses.

"When it comes to their own allowances, its not delayed one day. How come just stipends for staff is difficult for them? What we are protesting here, at the end of the day, it will not be more than N10, 000 or N15,000 added to the salary of an officer here, but the legislators earn hundreds of millions.

"As we speak now, the National Assembly Service Commission that is statutorily responsible for appointments and promotions has released promotions of officers that were successful at the last promotion exams; but till now the CNA (Clerk of the National Assembly) is withholding those promotions.

"We are also protesting staff training. Every year, there are huge budgets for training of staff but nothing like that has been done. Some staff have not had training since they came. But directors and senior officers keep putting themselves in hotels across the country in the name of training."

While speaking to the media, PASAN chairman, Bature Musa, said the protest was to ensure that their voices are heard by the leadership of the National Assembly.

He said, "What we have at the back of our minds when we set out is that when they come around they will definitely find out what is happening, because we have written to them almost eight months ago, and nothing seems to be happening.

"You will agree with me that they are almost on their way out and this is the best time for us to cry out load because the whole world will know why we are embarking on this peaceful demonstration."

Saraki promises to resolve conflict

While addressing the angry workers on Tuesday, Senate President, Bukola Saraki, said the leadership of the National Assembly will resolve the issue by the end of the week.

He said, "What I am committing to you alongside the leadership is that we must find money to ensure the implementation of your demand. But for us to find a solution, we must be able to sit down and hold a meeting.

"We want you to be paid but we must be able to sit down and discuss with the management on how to go about this. You should give us time to hold a meeting.

"If you allow us, the report on the condition of service will be considered immediately by the two chambers so that we can pass that immediately.

"We want to meet with you and communicate to you on the way forward but for that to happen, we must be able to sit."

The protesters were unconvinced by Saraki's assurance and vowed that the chambers in the complex will not be opened until they receive their entitlements. "No alert, no sitting!" they chanted.He said Please let us leave Fr. Mbaka alone; our duty to him is prayers for God to lead him to the right direction. "

Obi also called on Nigerians not to condemn the controversial priest and founder of Adoration Ministry, Enugu state.

He made this known in a statement issued to newsmen by his media aide, Val Obienyem.

This is coming after Mbaka publicly declared that Atiku Abubakarthe PDP presidential candidate, will fail in his presidential bid.

The priest was made the declaration after Obi, who he asked to publicly make a donation to his ministry, opted to do so in private.

In his response, Mbaka said God hates stinginess. I am not telling you this, to make you happy. This is what will save your life. Otherwise you and Atiku will fail.

If there is a place they will coat words for you, it is not at Mbakas altar. You can save your political destiny. Or in 2019, you people will not even know how they did the election. What will make my brother to come for bazaar and he wont even break kola?

The way you and Atiku are moving will end in shame, he added.

I respect Mbaka

According to Vanguard, the PDP VP candidate also said that he respects Mbaka. Obi said It is wrong for priests to be attacked based on what they said on the pulpits.

While one may disagree with him, we should always acknowledge that he speaks and acts from the, higher perspective of wisdom.

I have full respect for men of God and will always remember them in my prayers.

When they go wrong as humans, subject to human frailties, ours is not to castigate them, but to pray to God to lead them aright.Saraki said this while addressing protesting workers at the National Assembly on Tuesday, December 4, 2018.

Protesting civil servants had grounded legislative activities at the National Assembly due to the non-payment of their entitlement running into several months.

Pleas by the clerk to the National Assembly, Mohammed Sani-Omolori, to prevent the protest fell on deaf ears as hundreds of workers denied lawmakers access into both chambers.

The protest which lasted for about five hours had workers chanting solidarity songs and booing lawmakers who had come for plenary.

Addressing the workers, Saraki pleaded with the workers adding that they would source funds to pay their allowances.

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Let me make a commitment on behalf of the entire leadership of the National Assembly that we are all on the same side, Saraki said. It is our interest to be sure good and mental condition of service and better working environment and we are fully committed to this. We will work tirelessly to make sure the conditions you have listed are met.

What I am committing to you alongside the leadership is that we must find money to ensure the implementation of your demand. But for us to find a solution, we must be able to sit down and hold a meeting. We want you to be paid but we must be able to sit down and discuss with the management on how to go about this. You should give us time to hold a meeting.

If you allow us, the report on the condition of service will be considered immediately by the two chambers so that we can pass that immediately. We want to meet with you and communicate to you on the way forward but for that to happen, we must be able to sit, he pleaded.

But this did not go down well with the workers who chanted No alert, no sitting, forcing the Senate President to end his speech.The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), recalls that the building, which is under construction, collapsed on the workers on Nov. 23, 2018, killing scores of them.

Wike also inaugurated a Judicial Commission of Inquiry to probe the management of the Integrated Medical Industries Limited (Auto Disable Syringe).

The governor, at the brief inauguration ceremony, charged the members to identify the owner of the building and the holder of the certificate of occupancy to the plot.

He asked them to ascertain whether the construction of the building was covered by any valid or approved building plan and whether requisite approvals were issued by the appropriate ministry or agency, prior to the commencement of construction.

Wike also charged the members to ascertain whether the architectural, engineering and structural designs of the said building were undertaken by competent and licensed experts in relevant fields.

The governor charged the commission to ascertain whether appropriate and necessary tests, including soil tests, were carried out to ascertain the suitability of the site for the construction of a building of that calibre.

On the Judicial Commission of Inquiry to investigate the affairs of Integrated Medical Industries Limited, the governor charged the commission to ascertain how much the Rivers State Government had invested in the company

He charged members to also ascertain if funds and assets of Integrated Medical Industries Limited had been properly appropriated.

Wike also charged them to identify the persons responsible for selling or converting properties of Integrated Medical Industries Limited into personal use.

In a remark, the Chairman of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry to investigate the collapsed building, Justice Adolphus Enebeli, assured the governor that the commission would execute its assignment as specified, and in line with the law.

The assignment touches on the essence of humanity; we shall not disappoint the people of Rivers, he said,The former vice president said this during the commencement of his presidential campaign in Sokoto State on Monday, December 3, 2018.

The presidential candidate said unlike his opponent who's reported to have had only 150 cows over many years, he has more than a thousand cows in his farm and will use his business experience to improve the country.

He said, "I am a politician, I am a businessman, I am into many things, I am also a farmer and know exactly what the problems of Nigerians are. I am not a failed farmer who could only boast of rearing 150 cows year-in, year-out of his livestock business.

"I have more than a thousand cows in my farm, please we should not allow someone whose cows have not grown from 150 to come here and tell us lies and propaganda again."

The former vice president further appealed to Nigerians to choose him over the incumbent president because he has plans to improve the country through important policies.

He said, "Our Nigeria of today needs a leader that will involve all in government, not some individuals who only care for their personal interests and not the country.

"My presidential bid is to strengthen the capacity and independence of our teeming unemployed youths, women and the less privileged persons in the society by supporting their cause for financial and economic independence through vibrant policies and programmes."

The rally of north-west states was attended by former president, Goodluck Jonathan; Senate President, Bukola Saraki; PDP national chairman, Uche Secondus; Sokoto governor, Aminu Tambuwal; as well as the party's current and former governors and prominent members.

2019 presidential election

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While next year's election, scheduled for February 16, 2019, is expected to be keenly-contested between Atiku and President Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC), they both face competition from other candidates including Donald Duke of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Kingsley Moghalu of the Young Progressive Party (YPP), Obiageli Ezekwesili of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), Fela Durotoye of the Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN), and Omoyele Sowore of the African Action Congress (AAC).

Others are Tope Fasua of the Abundance Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP), Eunice Atuejide of the National Interest Party (NIP), Adesina Fagbenro-Byron of the Kowa Party (KP), Chike Ukaegbu of the Advanced Allied Party (AAP), Hamza Al-Mustapha of the People's Party of Nigeria (PPN), Obadiah Mailafia of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), and many more.Nwosu, who is the governor's preferred candidate for the Imo State 2019 governorship election, said he dumped party because it's filled with "injustice, impunity, and lack of respect" for its own constitution.

He made this known to journalists on Tuesday, December 4, 2018 at the Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, Owerri upon his arrival from Abuja.

Nwosu disclosed that despite his defection, his new party will cooperate with the APC to ensure PresidentMuhammadu Buhari emerges victorious in the presidential election.

He said, "We are going to work with APC to deliver Imo State to President Muhammadu Buhari. We will deliver Governor Rochas Okorocha as senator because Action Alliance has no senatorial candidate in Orlu zone.

"We will work with APC to deliver President Muhammadu Buhari, Governor Rochas Okorocha, myself and all our candidates."

He stressed that the only problem he has with the APC is its national chairman, Adams Oshiomole, who has been accused of collecting bribes to impose candidates despite the outcome of the party's primary elections.The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Osinbajo was given a rousing welcome as residents of the communities thronged the streets shouting Sai Baba! Sai Baba!.

He went from one corner of the communities to another campaigning from house to house while excited supporters surged to follow him around.

Addressing an enthusiastic crowd at Karu, the VP bellowed APC! APC! APC! while the crowd chorused Next Level! , as many times as Osinbajo mentioned APC.

He then started with a song We are going higher, higher; we are going higher, higher

He said he very excited to be in the midst of the people.

 I am very happy to be here with you; I want to thank every one of you for the very warm welcome. All of us are going higher.

I want you to believe that President Muhammadu Buhari is going to do even better.

We have to create more jobs for all these young people; we have to give our market women credit so that they can do more business.

We came to meet you where you are; to hear from you. This country will become better and better; by the grace of God. All of us who are here will prosper in this Nigeria.

The only thing is that the government must not steal money; if the government does not still the money, there will be enough for all us.

That is why Buhari is the right president for us. I will appeal that you should vote him in the proper time.

Earlier at Nyanya, Osinbajo paid a courtesy visit to a community leader, Alhaji Saidu Ahmed.

He said he was in the community to assure them that Buhari would perform better if re-elected.

Our country can feed all of us and we can find work for everybody because we have the money.

So, I want you to do that. I want you all, everybody who is here, please, make sure that you vote for President Buhari in 2019.

As you know, hes a truthful man, hes an honest man.

Our money will be used for us. It will be used to build our roads.

Our money will be used properly. It will not be stolen; so let us vote for the man who will use our money well, he said.It is heart-warming to note the enthusiasm with which APC members and supporters have welcomed the unveiling of the team that will lead our campaign in Kaduna State.

This is a manifestation of the fact that they recognise what is at stake, he said.

Our party has worked hard to begin the tough job of remaking Nigeria and Kaduna State.

 It is a work in progress; that can only continue if those who believe in using the commonwealth to develop and advance our people retain the mandate to do so.

The struggle to empower ordinary people and to make their lives better requires that the party of the people should continue in government.

 It is the job of the Campaign Council and its Directorate to enlighten our people and ensure that they are enthused to vote for our party, he said.

According to him, the APC has worked hard to begin fixing the rot left behind by 16 years of PDP misrule and neglect.

There is a lot more to do to clean up the mess and reset the country on the path to stability and prosperity, he said.

Meanwhile, the National Deputy Chairman, North, APC, Lawal Shaibu while inaugurating the Kaduna campaign council, called on all to shun smear campaigns about APC in the social media..

Shaibu said whatever is going on in social media, APC is still intact; we dont have any problem with APC. 

According to him, the campaign council will be charged with responsibility of campaigning for president Buhari, El-rufai and other candidates in the state and national level.

Mr Ben Kure, who was Director-General of the campaign in 2015, returned to the role at the head of the 1,342 persons who constituted the 14 directorates of the campaign.

Kure thanked the governor for appointing them.To cut a rather annoying story short, I thought Agbajes campaign has been lack-luster and lacking in energy and I cited the absence of his campaign posters on the streets of Lagos at a time when his major opponent in the race, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has taken advantage of the loophole in the Electoral Act to flood the streets with his pictures.

Seeing as this is his third governorship run, I expected much more from Agbaje and I said so in not so many words.

A couple of days after the , I was pleasantly surprised to see Agbajes campaign billboards lining the third mainland bridge. Imagine my shock when the day after I saw the colourful billboards, I learnt that they had been pulled down by unknown miscreants.

Early this morning our boards were vandalized and removed just as campaign commenced. Some of our deployment staff were also threatened with violence and warned to desist, Agbaje shared on his Twitter page on Saturday, November 30.

Fellow Lagosians, we must stand against this sort of tyranny. This is no ordinary election. This is a fight for freedom. A fight for Democracy. A fight for Lagos. We will not be silent and we will not be oppressed or suppressed into a corner. This time around, democracy must win, he added.

Of course everybodys number one suspect when the vandalism news broke, was the APC and its band of loyalists. The APC has since denied that it was behind pulling down and tearing apart Agbajes campaign billboards.

APC spokesperson in Lagos, Joe Igbokwe,immediately went on the offensive, writingthat Agbaje was only doing his best to garner sympathy votes from Lagosians.

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Even though we suspect that miserable PDP followers can deliberately pull down their posters and push it to APC, we passionately appeal to all our members not to take laws into their hands by tampering with PDP campaign materials in the name of helping our party, Igbokwe wrote.

Heres my take, since you asked: the persons who pulled down those billboards or authorized that they be pulled down, do not belong in our society. They are barbarians at best. In 2018, acts like pulling down or tearing apart peoples campaign posters should be acutely scorned at and shunned in the strongest terms possible.

I am also aware that police officers patrol the third mainland bridge all night, or pretend to do. How come the perpetrators were not apprehended or stopped dead in their tracks? But that's a subject matter for another day.

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I also think that the miscreants who pulled down the billboards were not authorized to do so by the APC hierarchy. These were probably a loose band of ragtag, partisan, grassroots urchins who acted on their own convictions, certain that they were doing their party a huge favour. My hunch also says the perpetrators could be vassals from either political party who simply took the laws into their hands just to score cheap political points.

As I drove on the third mainland bridge this morning, it was nice to see that Jimi Agbajes colourful and prescient campaign billboards screaming Freedom! had returned to the positions where there once stood. As it should be.

Theres so much at stake in Lagos and so many issues to occupy the minds of the major contestants and voters. The infrastructure is crumbling, traffic is daily eating away at productivity, public schools are decaying, the city stinks to the heavens, robbers are daily stealing smartphones from commuters and robbing whole neighborhoods, police brazenly solicit bribe at checkpoints and flood remains a major concern in an overpopulated and stretched city.

Three months before the general election, we should be asking Agbaje and Sanwo-Olu how they intend to fix this chaotic city and not allow them the luxury of trading blames over who removed whose campaign billboards.

The issues please, my people. The issues."To put it simply, we have not granted the request for asylum," Uruguay's President Tabare Vazquez told a press conference in Montevideo.

Peru's Foreign Minister Nestor Popolizio told the RPP radio station in Lima that he had been informed by the Uruguayan ambassador that Garcia had left the embassy.

The 69-year-old Garcia took refuge in the Uruguayan embassy on November 17 after a Peruvian court investigating bribes allegedly paid by Brazilian contractor Odebrecht barred the former president from leaving the country.

Garcia, a social democrat who served two separate terms as president, maintained he was the target of political persecution, a charge denied by Peru's President Martin Vizcarra.

"In Peru, nobody has a crown. Our democracy guarantees the independence of powers and due process," Vizcarra said on Twitter.

Garcia had returned to Peru in November to testify in the Odebrecht case when the court issued an order barring him from leaving the country for 18 months.

"In Peru, the three powers of state operate autonomously and it is the judicial branch that is carrying out the investigations of possible economic crimes," Vazquez said at a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa.

"For strictly legal considerations we are not granting political asylum to Mr Alan Garcia," the Uruguayan president said.

The Odebrecht payments were allegedly made during his second term in office, from 2006-2011, to secure a contract to build the Lima metro. He had previously been president from 1985-1990.

Odebrecht has admitted to paying $29 million in bribes to Peruvian officials over three administrations.

The Peruvian press also has reported that Garcia received a $100,000 payment from an illicit Odebrecht fund for giving a speech to Brazilian business leaders in Sao Paulo in May 2012.

Last week, while Garcia was in the Uruguayan embassy, Peruvian prosecutors opened a new investigation into irregularities in another public contract.Ngina led a big entourage from the Kenyatta family which included her aunt Nyokabi Muthama (Uhurus younger sister) and her cousins Javi Pratt (who wore a Jubilee branded top), Nana Gecaga, Wana and Samatha, among others.

Wana and Samantha are Nyokabis daughters.

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Global Citizen Prize for Youth Leadership

They joined thousands of music fans, many of whom had received free tickets to reward their activism and campaigning work, all in honor of the life and legacy of Nelson Mandela.

Kenyas philanthropist Wawira Njiru was announced winner of the 2018 Global Citizen Prize for Youth Leadership.

It was Nana and Wawira who shared some of the behind-the-scenes photos, enjoying their time at the festival.

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In one photo, Wawira is seen with Ngina, Nana, and Wana posing with comedian Dave Chapelle.

Another photo was shared by the Twitter handle of the South African Presidency showing Nyokabi Kenyatta chatting with the spouse of President Cyril Ramaphhosa - Dr Tshepo Motsepe.

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FNB Stadium

President Kenyatta, who had been invited for the festival, did not show up at the event hosted at FNB stadium, instead sending a video message.

He pledged to increase budgetary allocations meant for educating the youth to 30 percent, making it the highest on the African continent.WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  How serious is the need for more engineers around the world in the coming years?

According to a 2017 infographic from engineering.com, the United Nations projects world population will reach 9.7 billion by 2050. Worldwide demand for water is projected to increase 30 percent. Basic infrastructure is lacking in many places.

Thats why an agreement between two universities prominent in engineering in the United States and Taiwan is so significant.

Purdue Online, College of Engineering, has reached a new and global scale with the signing of a groundbreaking agreement between Purdue University and the National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), based in Tainan, Taiwan, and one of the premier engineering-focused universities in Asia.

In a precedent for Purdue, the partnership will create dual-degree engineering programs for NCKU students that are centered around online education. For the first time, the students will be able to complete Purdue Online courses to fulfill some of their requirements.

Purdue Engineering courses with online registration options will be open to NCKU engineering students. Every NCKU student who successfully completes one or more of these courses will have the opportunity to apply for and, if accepted, enroll in a dual degree program between Purdue and NCKU. The first to be rolled out is called 3+1+1, for which NCKU students can spend three years studying at NCKU and two additional years in West Lafayette, earning a bachelors degree from NCKU and a masters degree from Purdue.

Purdue Engineering aspires to the pinnacle of excellence at scale, and teaching a large pool of premier engineering talents is one of the three strategic directions, said Mung Chiang, Purdues John A. Edwardson Dean of the College of Engineering. Through our world-class and diverse online education offerings, we are scaling up new dual-degree programs that will benefit many engineering students around the world.

George Chiu, assistant dean for Global Engineering Programs and Partnerships at Purdue, noted the long history with NCKU, which dates to 1952. Funded as part of the U.S. aid program, the Purdue-Formosa Project provided significant financial and technical support that helped propel NCKUs growth into a major research-led comprehensive university. Prominent Purdue faculty, such as Norris Shreve and Lillian Gilbreth, led or participated through the 1950s.

NCKU has since produced alumni whose efforts and achievements were pivotal to transform Taiwan from a once agricultural island to a technology power house, he said.

Chiu also said there are more than 1,000 Purdue Engineering alumni in Tawain, and a recent trip there helped mark Purdues 150th celebration of Giant Leaps, discussing innovations through the first international Ideas Festival panel while further cementing connections in the country.

Said Dimitrios Peroulis, associate dean for external affairs for the College of Engineering: Purdue and NCKU have forged a new bond in our lasting academic alliance that now enters a new era. We are very excited to create this first-of-its-kind partnership that enables NCKU students to enroll in dual-degree engineering programs and, at the same time, complete of their degree requirements online.

The partnership launched today is meaningful for Purdue in demonstrating progress toward its goal of becoming the worlds premier provider of online education.

"The College of Engineering has been quick to see the possibilities in the online learning initiative President Mitch Daniels and the Board of Trustees have added to Purdue's strategic plan," said Gerry McCartney, executive vice president for Purdue Online. "This partnership with NCKU adds a significant international component, and more importantly, the opportunity exemplified by this novel arrangement opens the door for partnerships with other institutions that wish to augment their current engineering instructional content with Purdue content.

Purdue Online, College of Engineering programs are designed to help students advance their technical skills while pursuing their careers. The courses offer resources, as well as academic and technical support, that enable students to make the most of the online learning experience. Purdues online graduate engineering program is ranked No. 5 by U.S. News & World Report.

For more information on Purdue Online, College of Engineering, visit https://engineering.purdue.edu/ProEd/

Media contact: Brian Huchel, 765-494-2084, bhuchel@purdue.edu

Sources: Mung Chiang, chiang@purdue.edu

George Chiu, gchiu@purdue.edu

Dimitrios Peroulis, dperouli@purdue.edu

Gerry McCartney, mccart@purdue.eduPurdue University research shows the antidote can effectively remove acrolein, a neurotoxin produced in the body that is directly correlated with Parkinsons disease.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.  A World War II chemical weapon antidote is shown to be effective combating a new enemy: Parkinsons disease.

Parkinsons is characterized by the steady and progressive loss of brain cells. Those afflicted show early symptoms of trembling in their hands, arms, legs, jaw and face. It can progress to the point where walking, talking or completing the most basic tasks becomes a daily challenge.

Half a million people in the U.S. are currently living with Parkinsons disease, and another 50,000 people are diagnosed with this neurodegenerative disorder every year, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Recent studies in the Purdue laboratory of Riyi Shi (pronounced Ree Shee) reveal a new possible treatment for Parkinsons disease from the chemical warfare antidote. The antidote drug (dimercaprol) is proving to be effective at removing acrolein, a neurotoxin that is produced in the body after nerve cells are damaged and that is directly correlated with Parkinsons disease. In addition, acrolein has been shown to increase pain and trigger a cascade of biochemical events postulated to intensify the severity of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinsons.

Our studies show that by removing the toxin (acrolein) from the brain, we are not just reducing the symptoms of Parkinsons disease but also significantly reversing the damage of Parkinsons disease, said Shi, a professor of neuroscience and biomedical engineering in Purdue University's Department of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering. This could actually provide a new treatment for Parkinsons patients.

When administered systematically in the body, dimercaprol nullifies certain chemical features of acrolein, neutralizing and effectively eliminating it from the brain. With fewer side effects than other acrolein scavengers and a safe, total removal via urinary excretion, Shi is moving the potential treatment forward. A video about the technology is available here.

Shis laboratory is already using dimercaprol to remove acrolein in subject models of Parkinsons disease with promising results. So far, these studies have revealed an increased survival rate of brain cells and a significant delay of the diseases progress. More specifically, the subjects have improved mobility and experience less pain.

We believe that the drugs classification and method of administration are what make it an attractive therapy option. By systematically injecting the antidote drug directly into the abdominal cavity, it can be absorbed by the bloodstream and then travel to the brain, where the disease is most harmful and where the drug can most benefit the patient, Shi says.

A paper was published earlier this year in the Journal of Neurochemistry demonstrating how the chemical warfare antidote drug was shown to remove the neurotoxin in cell cultures, laboratory animals, and other experiments. The paper, authored by doctoral student Ran Tian and Shi, was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Indiana State Department of Health, and the Indiana CTSI Collaboration in Biomedical Translational Research Pilot Program. The research has since progressed as a potential treatment to Parkinsons disease.

Shis work aligns with Purdue's Giant Leaps celebration, celebrating the universitys global advancements in health as part of Purdues 150th anniversary. This is one of the four themes of the yearlong celebrations Ideas Festival, designed to showcase Purdue as an intellectual center solving real-world issues.

The technology is patented through the Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization, and the innovation is available for licensing.

The research dovetails with the goals of a recently formed Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience, at Purdues Discovery Park. The institute spans 25 departments and includes around 100 faculty engaged in neuroscience-related research.

Another Purdue-affiliated company helping those with Parkinsons is SpeechVive Inc., which helps those patients speak more loudly and communicate more effectively by playing background sounds in a persons ear while they are talking and turns off as soon as the person stops talking. This helps a person to speak more loudly, slowly and clearly.

Future research by Shi may include work to test the drug and in clinical human studies, which is feasible because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration already approved the drug.

Writer: Cynthia Sequin, 765-588-3340, casequin@prf.org

Source: Riyi Shi, 765-496-3018, riyi@purdue.eduBy submitting your email address, you acknowledge that you have read the Privacy Statement and that you consent to our processing data in accordance with the Privacy Statement (including international transfers). If you change your mind at any time about wishing to receive the information from us, you can send us an email message using the Contact Us page.A national survey has revealed a concerning number of Australians believe women lie or exaggerate about sexual abuse.

Some 17,500 Australians were interviewed in the National Community Attitudes towards Violence against Women Survey, where they were asked to agree or disagree with statements about sexual and domestic violence.

Almost half of all respondents (42 percent) believed that sexual assault accusations were commonly used as a way of getting back at men.

People just can't believe it's that prevalent in the community.

Nearly the same proportion (43 percent) believe women make up claims of abuse when going through child custody battles in court.

Kristin Diemer, senior research fellow at the University of Melbourne, says these kind of attitudes are a sort of "backlash" to the worldwide #MeToo movement.

"People just can't believe it's that prevalent in the community," she told RadioLIVE.

While the survey revealed the overall attitudes are improving, it found concerning figures about the extent that Australians trust women's reports of male violence.

One-third (31 percent) believed women who make rape allegations had led the man on and then later regretted the interaction. And 23 percent said women tend to exaggerate the problem of male violence.

"It's been part of this victim-blaming attitude thats been prevalent for a long time," said Dr Diemer.

Despite the figures, Dr Diemer emphasised that false allegations of violence are rare.

Indeed, a review of research from the United States' National Sexual Violence Resource Center shows about 63 percent of sexual assaults are never reported and only 2 to 10 percent of reports are false.

Dr Diemer told RadioLIVE that Australian men over the age of 65 and those who work in male-dominated industries were more likely to hold attitudes supportive of violence against women.

Listen to the full interview with Kristin Diemer above.



The Long Lunch with Lynda Hallinan, 12pm - 3pm on RadioLIVE and streaming live to the rova app on Android and iPhone.



RadioLIVE.If you missed The Long Lunch today with Lynda Hallinan, you can listen back to the interviews here from Tuesday December 4th, 2018.

Camp for gaming addicts

Photo: Getty.

Michael Jacobus, executive director of the Reset Summer Camp, a clinical camp for gaming addiction, on dealing with kids addicted to video games and the troubling lengths children are going to in their quest to succeed in games such as Fortnite.

Does the age for Super need to be raised?

Photo: Getty.

Jenesa Jeram, research fellow at The New Zealand Initiative on the new report on superannuation, Embracing a Super model: The superannuation sky is not falling and the question of whether the entry age for superannuation in this country needs to be raised.

Inquiry into mental health and addiction released

Photo: Getty.

Jenna Lynch, Newshub political reporter on the just-released report into Mental Health and Addiction.



Followed by, professor Sally Casswell, co-director of the SHORE and Whariki Research Centre, College of Health at Massey University on the report, the speed with which it was compiled and the actions that are now required to reduce inequities and improve outcomes.

Protecting your on line privacy

Photo: Getty.

Paula Gair, founder of deriskme.com looks at look at cyber security, online safety and privacy risks for yourself, your family and your business. Today, she looks at privacy and you can get further information on The Long Lunch page at deriskme.com here.

Backlash against women speaking out about sexual assult

Photo: Unsplash.

Dr Kristin Diemer, sociologist from the University of Melbourne, discusses research showing four in 10 Australians think women lie about being victims of sexual abuse, despite the fact that research proving that false allegations are rare.

Could Waiheke be an electric car only island by 2030?

Photo: Getty.

Cath Handley, Waiheke Local Board chair on the islands push to become the worlds first residential island to have only electric vehicles by 2030.



Kaikoura tops trending destination list

Photo: Stock.

Glenn Ormsby, Destination Kaikoura General Manager on the just released Airbnb trending destinations list for 2019, which sees the iconic Kiwi seaside town as the first NZ destination to fly the flag at the top of the global list.

Remembering Geoff Murphy

Photo: Stock.

Roger Donaldson, iconic Kiwi movie director on the passing of friend and colleague Geoff Murphy, director of Goodbye Pork Pie, Utu and The Quiet Earth who died yesterday at the age of 80.

Brands sponsoring nuptuels of influencers

Photo: Stock.

Georgia McGillivray, founder and chief executive of The Social Club on the role brands are now playing in the nuptials of influencers, in the wake of news that Michael Hill Jeweller sponsored weight-loss star Simone Andersons engagement ring.

Baby Boomers

Photo: Supplied.

Today's Baby Boomers are RadioLIVE broadcaster Tony Amos and More FM Breakfast host Gary McCormick, talking about Santa's gender, e-scooters and bullying in the workplace.Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has launched a blistering attack on New Zealand's political correct society.

"Half of the zing, excitement and enjoyment of life is being gutted and sucked out of society by people who decide they will be the language Nazis," Mr Peters told RadioLIVE's Mark Sainsbury.

"And if you don't use their language or their sentiments, then they're going to personally attack you."

The attack on political correctness comes after a New Zealand woman alleged that she was racially discriminated against for being called 'Kiwi'. The South Australian Employment Tribunal dismissed the case.

When Mr Peters was asked whether bullying is indeed worsening, he replied that New Zealand is "upon a new PC age".

He warned RadioLIVE listeners to "be careful of those Nazis out there" who want to control everything New Zealanders do.

"People need to be able to express themselves. And often, these expressions are out of affection."

Mr Peters argued that political correctness was the issue in Nelson's attempt at an ethnically diverse Santa, where the local parade featured a bare-faced Maori Santa with a short-sleeved shirt, red korowai and large fish-hook sceptre.

"What were the children expecting to see and why were they denied that sight?" Mr Peters asked.

"It's absolute dribble, mate, and we should call it out."



Listen to the full interview with Winston Peters above.

Morning Talk with Mark Sainsbury, 9am - 12pm Weekdays and streaming live on 'rova' channel 9 - available on Android and iPhone.

RadioLIVE.EUROPE: Mercitalias international rail freight subsidiary TX Logistik is piloting the use of specialist load carriers to transport commercial vehicles on intermodal pocket wagons.AUSTRALIA: The New South Wales state government has commissioned a study of four preferred corridors for high speed rail services, which it believes could transform travel patterns on regional routes radiating up to 300 km from Sydney.CANADA: The first VIA Rail passenger service for 18 months arrived at Churchill in northern Manitoba on December 4, having left Winnipeg two days earlier.Following success in its domestic Australian market and subsequent deals in Latin America, content creator, producer and distributor Endemol Shine Group has inked the first European deal for culinary competition format Family Food Fight.





The format claims to take homestyle cooking to a new level as family recipes, rich in tradition and shared over generations, are put on display. Its maker says that rather than attempting five-star restaurant cuisine, the show focusses on relatable, yet aspirational, home-cooked meals, inspiring budding home cooks across the nation to don their aprons and get into the kitchen together. Yet only one family can claim the coveted title and take home a major cash prize.Originally created by Endemol Shine Australia, Family Food Fight is an original format developed with Channel Nine. The show has sold to the US with ABC commissioning Endemol Shine North America to produce an eight part series which will air in 2019. In Argentina, a first series by Endemol Shine Latino is currently airing on Telefe with 40.8% primetime market share.Now in Europe, Endemol Shine Nordics subsidiary Metronome has been commissioned to make a local Danish adaptation for Discovery, making it the fourth territory to launch the show.Family Food Fight was created by the talented creatives at Endemol Shine Australia and its brilliant our Danish team are leading the charge to bring the show to Europe, said Lisa Perrin, CEO of creative networks at Endemol Shine Group. Its an engaging and inspirational culinary format and this deal reinforces Endemol Shine Groups reputation as the home of popular cookery formats.Karin Sjarne, CEO of Endemol Shine Nordics added: Culinary competition formats remain extremely popular across the Nordics and its brilliant that Denmark are the first European market to commission the series. Family Food Fight encourages wonderful multi-generational viewing for a broad audience and is fun and inclusive. This deal also cements our relationship with Discovery having just successfully launched All Together Now in the region with them.Overview

The Great Power Competition Intensifies. The United States will escalate its strategic offensive against China with tariffs, sanctions, regulatory buffers around emerging technologies, stronger backing for Taiwan and a more assertive posture in the South China Sea. At the same time, failing arms control pacts will accelerate an arms race among the United States, Russia and China. The edgier geopolitical climate will create strategic opportunities for more vulnerable borderland powers, such as Poland and Taiwan, but will also create massive headaches for middle powers trying to find neutral ground, such as Turkey, India and Vietnam. Increased Geopolitical Risk for Business. Citing national security threats, the United States will lean heavily on Europe, Japan, Australia, Canada, South Korea and Taiwan to erect stronger barriers to Chinese investment. This will affect research and trade in strategic areas, from artificial intelligence to 5G network rollouts beginning in 2019. China's imperative to catch up in critical areas like aerospace and high-end semiconductor development will only increase cyberthreats to corporations and compel an overall more offensive U.S. policy in cyberspace. In addition, corporations will have to contend with supply chain disruptions and heavier fines and lawsuits for data breaches. Measuring Trade Volatility in the Global Economy. A U.S. showdown with the World Trade Organization could paralyze the body's dispute settlement process, forcing countries into a less predictable bilateral track to resolve their trade differences. Canada, Mexico, Japan and South Korea have a better chance of negotiating quotas to mitigate the threat of U.S. auto tariffs, but the European Union's trade talks with the United States are doomed to fail. And while additional U.S. tariffs on China will add to trade uncertainty, the overall effect on the global economy from White House trade policy in 2019 will be relatively muted. Hair-Raising Scenarios for Italy and Brexit. A defiantly populist Italian government will pose the biggest threat to the eurozone in 2019 as concerns grow over the country's rising debt levels and fragile banking sector. Financial markets and dangerously wide spreads in bond yields  rather than threats from Brussels  will prove to be Rome's biggest disciplinarians. Brussels will simultaneously work to avert a no-deal Brexit scenario with the United Kingdom, but a British parliamentary veto remains the single biggest obstacle to its orderly exit from the European Union.

The Next Steps in the Anti-Iran Campaign. With far-reaching secondary sanctions in place, the United States will forge ahead with its campaign to isolate Iran regionally and weaken the country from within. This will increase friction between Washington and Tehran and diminish the already scant likelihood of a constructive negotiation. A common agenda opposing Iran will help insulate strategic, high-level ties between the United States and Saudi Arabia despite rumblings within the royal family and foreign governments over Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's leadership.

An Eye on Growing Supply in Global Energy Markets. Saudi Arabia and Russia will carefully manage oil output to prevent a price plunge as they monitor the effects of residual Iranian exports on the market. There is also the potential for production growth out of Iraq and Libya and a significant easing of export capacity constraints on the United States later in the year. Global liquified natural gas markets will be shaken up when the United States assumes its place among the top three LNG exporters in the world in 2019.

Disruptive Forces at Work in the Americas. Hard-line and U.S.-aligned governments in Brazil and Colombia could drive an atypically proactive regional effort to contain spillover from Venezuela's ongoing crisis. Brazil's efforts to shake up and reform the Mercosur trading bloc will come up against a politically hamstrung Argentina. The power of the referendum will meanwhile be put to the test in Mexico, where an aggressive populist agenda will raise investor risk.

Ethiopia Drives Big Change in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia's ambitious agenda is generating economic interest and attracting outside powers to the Horn of Africa. But internal challenges to the current leadership and ethnic strife risk slowing Addis Ababa's momentum.

Subscriber's can read the entire report here.

RCD will be posting the remaining sections over the next week.Its tempting to view the recent confrontation between Russian and Ukrainian naval vessels in the Sea of Azovin which Russia denied Ukrainian vessels access to the Strait of Kerch and the Ukrainian city of Mariupolas an extension of the ongoing conflict between the two countries.

Moscow was clearly testing Ukraines response to its aggressive interdiction and may have been seeking to provoke an overreaction by Kyiv. These events are also part of a broader pattern of behaviour by Russia that not only impedes legitimate Ukrainian commercial activity, but also significantly encroaches on Ukraines exclusive economic zone. Since May, Russia has been stopping and delaying shipping in the region, in the process imposing significant costs on vessels seeking to transact in Ukrainian ports. It has also seized a number of maritime gas fields in the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea belonging to Ukraine and has reportedly extracted an estimated 7.2 billion cubic metres of gas from those fields.

Moscow has significant strategic interests in Mariupol, which is an important port city that not only sits on critical Ukrainian maritime, rail and river junctions, but also dominates the territory between the RussianUkrainian border and Crimea. Russian-backed separatists seized Mariupol during the early stages of the Ukrainian conflict but were forced by government troops to relinquish it. Its likely that Moscows designs on the important industrial and commercial hub havent diminished.

However, these recent events are potentially more about Moscow asserting military dominance across the Black Sea than about a new phase in Russias proxy war in Ukraine. Russias brinkmanship in the Sea of Azov could also presage a more aggressive pursuit by Moscow of its strategic interests across the entire Black Sea region, and has profound implications for both regional and global security.

Moscows actions in the Sea of Azov have occurred in the context of a dramatic increase in the size and capability of Russias Black Sea fleet and land-based forces in Crimea under the Russian state armament program. Russia is now deploying significant new surface and submarine assets in the region. It is also rolling out air and coastal defences that will provide it with the capability to establish an anti-access/area-denial zone preventing freedom of movement that covers almost all of the Black Sea and parts of NATO members Romania, Turkey and Bulgaria.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has defended the military build-up in the region by saying that it is intended to neutralise the emerging threat for national security. And while Russian defence policymakers concerns about NATO encirclement are largely justified, during the first decade of the 21st century there were encouraging signs of greater collaboration between NATO and Moscow in the Black Sea region. NATO and Russian forces conducted joint exercises that were held up as examples of a more constructive approach to managing shared concerns, and this collaboration reflected the reality that Russia wasnt the only state with equities in Black Sea security. But Russias invasion of Georgia in 2008 and its later decision to underwrite a proxy war in eastern Ukraine killed off prospects for enduring collaboration between Moscow and NATO.

Russias military build-up in the region over the past five years undermines the sovereign rights and interests of all Black Sea littoral states, because it is designed to empower Moscow with the capability to assert monopoly control over the region, including to deny freedom of movement at sea and in the air. Moscow may have been able to defend its claims to the region as a Russian lake in Tsarist and Soviet times, when it administered most of the territory surrounding the Black Sea. But Russia is now just one of five sovereign states that border the Black Sea, and the view that the area is a Russian domain is no longer defensible.

Russias aggression in the Sea of Azov is also clearly a marker of its intent in the region, and indicates that Moscow has no qualms about using military capabilities to interdict and delay both commercial and military interests operating in the region. Moscows current focus may be the interdiction of commercial shipping into Mariupol, but it has the capability to employ similar disruptive tactics against other critical Ukrainian transportation hubs and commercial centres, such as Odessa, which would have a significant impact on Ukraines economy. Similarly, other Black Sea littoral statesin particular, Romaniaare closely watching Russias military build-up around the Black Sea and its associated belligerent actions and are revising their strategic calculations accordingly. Moscow sees dominance of the region through military pressure as a way to weaken the NATO alliance and European security architecture, enabling it to coerce former Soviet-bloc countries to return to Russias orbit.

As noted by Washington Post columnist Anne Applebaum, the timing of Russias belligerent actions in the Sea of Azov is curious. President Vladimir Putin may be seeking to maximise his gains in the Black Sea region at a time when Washington is preoccupied with China and Iran, and when Europe is fragmenting politically and economically. The inertia in Washington and European capitals is likely to continue into the foreseeable future. So, if Applebaums assessment of Moscows modus operandi is correctthat it makes a move, waits for a response, and then makes another move when no response is forthcomingwe can likely expect more provocative and disruptive actions by Russian forces deployed around the Black Sea in the near future.

If NATO and key policymakers in the U.S. and Europe continue to cede influence and authority in the Black Sea region to Russia, not only will they be empowering Putin to enforce his will on Ukraine and a number of NATO partners, they will also be contributing to the unravelling of the global rules-based order upon which international security depends.Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale

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We're sorry, this article is not currently availableBarnes Precision Match ammo and the Remington M2010 chambered in .300 Win Mag made impacts easy at 1,900 yards Photo Credit: Sean Utley

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More from CrossBreed:The members of Citizens for Glenview come together every two years to recommend candidates for the village board, Detlefs said. Detlefs said he would not share how many candidates the members interviewed, but that the group was looking for candidates who had a Glenview first attitude and the right temperament for respectful discussions and disagreements, he said.(The familys spokesperson) got back to us and he said, Mr. Bush wants you to know that he was in Glenview three days and he was terrified the entire time, Dawson said. Further, he said, Mr. Bush wants you to know that he has not vivid recollections because it was such a blur. There was so much happening during that time.Entering a library usually offers the smell of old books, but on Nov. 5, the aroma of basil wafted into the air upon entering one room of the This is it. The moment you have all been waiting for. After years of studying, grinding and crying in the Main Library next to your cold cup o'Jobs will exist at very high levels or low levels of skill sets.'

'People, who are in middle level jobs, are the ones who are facing the problem as such jobs are fast disappearing because of technological advancement.'

In the concluding segment of his interview sith Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf, Raghavan Jagannathan, editorial director, Swarajya magazine and author of The Jobs Crisis in India, explains how Prime Minister Modi's digitisation, formalisation and anti-black money drive in the short run actually impact jobs in a negative way.

"Everybody blames demonetisation, but its impact was only for three quarters," Jagannathan, below, says. "The real impact comes with GST because you have to formalise jobs which means you have to pay higher tax and your compliance costs go up initially."

What has happened to the concept of roti, kapda aur makaan? Today, is there any guarantee of makaan as EMIs are linked to one's job?

There are no guarantees in life. Ten thousand years ago we had to do everything to survive.

It is only the agricultural revolution that started the concept of a job -- then the industrial revolution and finally the services revolution.

Now we have arrived at a situation where almost everything is getting automated.

It means jobs will exist at very high levels or low levels of skill sets. It is easy to get a job of an Ola or Uber driver or as a delivery boy for Amazon or some work in a warehouse.

There is a boom of blue collar jobs and it is good for the poor because there are many jobs that pay anywhere between Rs 15,000 and Rs 25,000 per month.

People, who are in middle level jobs, are the ones who are facing the problem as such jobs are fast disappearing because of technological advancement.

At the top end there is high demand for jobs and at the low end too there is high demand, but the quality (of jobs) is not that great.

If you are going to deliver pizzas for the next three years travelling in polluted and crowded streets, it is not a 'good' job, but what you earn is indeed good.

Earlier, if these jobs were paying Rs 10,000, now they are shelling out Rs 25,000 with bonus.

Jobs and earnings are directly related to your output (in such jobs).

People are unwilling to work for minimum wages as you mention in your book. Don't you think employers must pay more rather than expect people to work on low salaries and exploit them?

This is where the government has to step in.

In India we have very high regulatory costs -- like provident fund deduction and employee's state insurance deduction.

Even if your salary is Rs 15,000, you only get about Rs 9,000 in hand.

It is difficult to survive on Rs 9,000 in a city like Mumbai even if you stay in a slum. You must at least get Rs 12,000 in hand if you are earning Rs 15,000.

Such regulatory things must come at a later stage in life when you earn a salary of Rs 25,000 or Rs 30,000.

In the early stage (of a job) social safety must either be subsidised or abolished altogether.

In your book you mention that if one does not find alternative employment, then it must be taken for certain that one's present employer is actually doing charity. Please explain this.

Many people confuse job loyalty with the fact that you actually cannot get another job.

In case of government service, most non-skilled jobs are actually public charity.

When you are hiring a peon, why employ thousands just to move files?

In private sector offices e-mails can be sent to the next guy so you don't need these peons.

Prime Minister Modi is ensuring that physical file movements stop. Why do you need peons? They are actually living on public charity.

Is this restricted to government jobs for peons?

Even in private companies. Suppose you own a large company, you have not sacked some peons because it is a very low-cost operation.

I think people need to realise that without skills you are actually a recipient of charity.

In your book, you mention about paper wealth creators who do not generate jobs. Can the concept of a permanent job itself be considered a Luddite thought, as we are transforming more into a gig economy?

The world before agriculture was a gig economy. Everybody had to do things on their own.

Today, we are coming back to the situation where a large number of people -- not all -- will have to think of short-term jobs, save money, wait for the next option and then invest in skills.

Permanent jobs are not there even in automobile companies, as 70 to 80 per cent of the work is being done by robots.

So most jobs will actually be outside the company -- like running a garage.

It may not be a gig, but a business, but even that will change. Today's car needs repairs, but tomorrow cars may not need repairs so your garage work will also come down.

You make an interesting point in your book that there are no jobs, yet there is a cash surplus of $7 trillion in the world. Can't this cash, in some way, be used to create more employment?

The problem is that this cash rests mainly with tech companies and some very large companies, mostly in the US and Europe, and they do not have great opportunities to invest.

Logically, it would be very good. Say, for example, Apple has $280 billion and it says it will invest $30 billion and build great rural roads in India.

Their return would be higher compared to if they invest in the US treasury where they get 3 per cent interest.

They can do that, but investing in India's rural roads has a long gestation period. There are risks involved and also exchange rate risks.

The money which is accumulating at one end of the global economy is not being put to use in such (rural road) projects.

So at the end of the day, Apple invests more in tech, which speeds up automation because they are comfortable with tech and they are not comfortable in investing, say, with some skill building job in India as it looks more like charity for them till it starts giving returns.

Money is huge, but that money is creating more technology, not jobs.

Don't these companies with a huge cash surplus know this? Or is it that they don't care (about building rural roads)?

Human beings invest typically in an environment where they are most comfortable.

So whether it is Steve Jobs or his successor Tim Cook, he will invest in the US treasury where he will get 3 per cent returns, which is safe according to him, rather than invest in the rural roads of India, where he may get 20 per cent returns. Tim Cook may think what will happen if, tomorrow, PM Modi swallows my money.

Outside their own developed economies, these companies are very uncomfortable, but post Brexit even in their own countries they are feeling the jitters.

(US President Donald J) Trump too is talking of protectionism. The economic environment is changing and people tend to remain invested in their core economies.

Globalisation is going through de-globalisation.

Could you explain why you call MGNREGA a partly defeatist solution?

You can dig a hole and fill it, but it does not serve any economic purpose beyond giving you money. In that sense, MGNREGA is defeatist because basically it is creating artificial jobs.

The same thing is with MUDRA.

The government can't give you a job, but it can give you a loan. You sell pakoras and make some money.

Now both MGNREGA and MUDRA are absolutely necessary from a social point of view, but essentially they are not solving any long-term problems. They are just like giving an unemployment allowance.

In the case of MUDRA, the government gives a loan. In many cases, the loans turn bad so it is like giving a donation. The same thing with MGNREGA -- you are getting a salary.

Both are just two ways of transferring money.

But these schemes are necessary or else there will be a proletariat revolution as Karl Marx predicted if you don't give anything to the poor.

MGNREGA and MUDRA are social sector schemes and meant to prevent social unrest, but ultimately they don't do much for the economy.

They don't create productive capacity.

The Modi government has announced more than 100 schemes -- like Skill India, Startup India, etc. Are they helping people get jobs?

Modi has done 3 things: Digitisation, formalisation and anti-black money schemes. All these things in the short run actually impact jobs in a negative way, be it demonetisation or GST (the Goods and Services Tax).

Everybody blames demonetisation, but its impact was only for three quarters.

The real impact comes with GST because you have to formalise jobs which means you have to pay higher tax and your compliance costs go up initially.

The short-term impact of formalisation is always slightly depressing, but in the long term it will be beneficial.

The government gets more revenue in the long term and it will likely spend more money which might start creating jobs.

However, the government is an inefficient spender. If you leave Rs 15 in my hand I will spend and create jobs.

And the minute I pay Rs 15 as tax it goes to the government and we don't know where it will be used. It may go into wasteful expenditure or some freebies and not do anything in terms of creating jobs.

Government spending is always more inefficient than private spending as private spending has a direct impact on jobs and consumption.

The government may invest in building roads, but there will be some gap and time lag by the time the impact is evident in the economy.Spare the serious entrepreneurs but don't allow the rogues to use the shield of secrecy, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.

Illustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com

The war against bank defaulters in the world's sixth largest economy has intensified with the Indian government authorising the CEOs of public sector banks to make request for issuance of look-out circulars (LOCs) to the ministry of home affairs against bank defaulters who could leave the country for good.

Used at immigration counters at international airports, an LOC checks whether a travelling person is wanted by the police.

At least four big bank defaulters and fraudsters have left India since March 2016.

In March 2018, in the wake of the $2 billion letters of undertaking fraud that hit Punjab National Bank (PNB), passport details of borrowers taking loans of at least Rs 500 million was made mandatory to prevent fraudsters from fleeing the country.

Just ahead of this, the Cabinet also approved the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, empowering the banks to impound and sell assets of absconding bank defaulters and fraudsters to recover dues.

It applies to all defaulters who have an outstanding of at least Rs 1 billion and have fled India.

We need to wait and watch whether any borrower challenges the new LOC rule in a court of law but for sure it demonstrates the government's determination to clean up the banking system, laden with over Rs 10 trillion bad loans, and bring in a fundamental change in the creditor-debtor relationship.

The insolvency law has already redefined the relationship; these are other props to cement that in an evolving scenario.

The Delhi high court in 2010 had said recourse to an LOC could be taken "where the accused was deliberately evading arrest or (was) not appearing in the trial court despite non-bailable warrants and other coercive measures, and there was likelihood of the accused leaving the country to evade trial or arrest."

This was, however, in the context of an investigating agency seeking to issue such a circular.

In case, there is no cognisable offence under the Indian Penal Code, the person against whom an LOC is issued can't be detained, arrested or prevented from leaving the country, the court had said.

This means, the CEO of a bank needs to establish that bank default is a criminal offence for seeking issuance of an LOC.

Traditionally, banks in India have been following a name-and-shame policy to force borrowers pay their dues.

Back in the 1990s, Citibank used to send eunuchs to the homes of loan defaulters to sing and dance and publicly embarrass them.

There have been instances of banks putting up posters with photographs of the borrowers, women employees gate-crashing Diwali parties of defaulters, and even sending postcards to defaulting customers.

In 2013, State Bank of India, the nation's largest lender, took the lead in publishing in newspapers photographs and names and addresses of wilful defaulters as well the guarantors of such defaulters even as other banks started prominently displaying defaulters' photographs at branches in the locality of such borrowers.

A popular Punjab National Bank ad on FM radio a couple of years ago used to talk about offering flowers and get-well messages to bank defaulters.

But such tricks work for loans given to individuals as well as small and medium enterprises; the high profile corporate borrowers are too thick-skinned to be shamed if their names are made public.

Incidentally, the Central Information Commission recently issued a show cause notice to the Reserve Bank of India governor for "dishonouring" a Supreme Court judgment and CIC directive on disclosure of the list of wilful defaulters.

It has also asked the Prime Minister's Office to disclose former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan's letter on bad loans.

In March 2016, in a sealed envelope, the RBI submitted a list of big loan defaulters in the Supreme Court and said disclosing the names in public would hamper the companies' health if they are in genuine difficulty and "may accentuate the failure of business rather than nursing it back to health."

Rajan was RBI governor then.

The origin of this case was a public interest litigation (PIL) in 2003, raising issues of loans given to a few companies by State-owned Housing and Urban Development Corp.

In mid-1990s, when Indian banks were not technologically equipped and rogue borrowers were taking advantage of that by not paying up to one bank and raising fresh loans from another, RBI started circulating the list of defaulters among banks in a floppy disk.

Now, there are credit bureaus for collation of data of all borrowers in the financial system and all lenders have access to the data.

Hence, a defaulter cannot raise fresh money from another bank.

When the lenders are aware of the whereabouts of their borrowers, why do the public need to know them?

What purpose does it serve?

Well, since the public sector banks -- which have little less than 70 per cent market share of banking assets -- are being kept alive by continuously pumping in tax payers' money, they have the right to know.

But the regulator has its reservations because the disclosure violates the contract between a borrower and lender.

The Banking Regulation Act does not say anything about this but by convention, the bankers do not make public the identity of their borrowers, respecting the contract.

This is a global practice.

The identity is made public only after a bank takes action against a borrower.

The situation is complex as the concept of "wilful defaulters" is unique to India.

Essentially, it refers to those defaulters who have the ability to pay back the bank's money but are not paying.

Who will decide on that?

Only a forensic audit can determine this.

Once this is established, when a borrower violates a contract by not paying to a bank, does the bank need to honour the sanctity of the contract?

Of course, there will be instances where the borrowers are not able to pay because of external circumstances that have impacted their business.

It's time to shed reservations about making public the names of defaulters with caution and discretion.

Spare the serious entrepreneurs but don't allow the rogues to use the shield of secrecy.

Tamal Bandyopadhyay is a consulting editor of Business Standard, is an author and senior advisor, Jana Small Finance Bank.Among the most widely used packages have been treatment of cataract, dental root canal and normal delivery of babies.

Ilustration: Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com

Only a third of the hospitals empanelled under Ayushman Bharat or Modicare, billed as the biggest health care scheme, are accredited.

The latest data compiled by the government shows accredited and branded hospitals have, to a large extent, skipped the ambitious health care scheme, launched on September 25.

These are early days, an official tracking the numbers said, adding that despite the government offering additional benefits to accredited hospitals, their registration is low.

In fact, hospitals without any accreditation comprise 66 per cent of the total 22,000 empanelled hospitals nationwide.

Hospitals with the National Quality Assurance Programme of the World Health Organization and Joint Commission International make up for only 1 per cent each.

Around 11 per cent of the hospitals empanelled have the NABH (National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers) stamp. Also, private sector hospitals have mostly stayed away from Ayushman so far as 73 per cent of the hospitals empanelled for the scheme belong to the public sector.

With accredited hospitals resisting the Ayushman Bharat universe, the scheme has witnessed traction in general medical treatment much more than complex interventions, according to the data available for the two-month-old plan.

In a surprise finding, the numbers reveal that among the most widely used packages have been treatment of cataract, dental root canal and normal delivery of babies.

So far, 6,900 patients have got treatment for cataract, 4,900 went for root canal and 4,500 women underwent delivery in empanelled hospitals.

In comparison, there have been only 1,669 cases of cardiology and 686 cardio thoracic treatment; 1,222 patients for surgical oncology and only 488 for radiation.

A source explained that hospitals that dealt with more complex treatment like radiation in cancer cases had enrolled fewer in number than those focused on general medicine.

While more than 7,000 hospitals specialising in general surgery and medicine have enrolled, only a few hundred dealing with radiation, serious heart ailments and other complex categories are part of the Ayushman scheme.

Gujarat tops the list of states with the maximum number of claims.

More than 50,000 patients have availed the scheme from the state. Gujarat is followed by Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Karnataka.

When the scheme crossed the 50-day mark recently, the government had announced that the number of beneficiaries had touched 200,000.

Since then, the number has increased with speed, officials pointed out.

Claims worth Rs 360 crore have been submitted already, they said.

Ayushman Bharat aims to provide tertiary health care of up to Rs 500,000 for 500 million people.

While the scheme will provide healthcare for those listed in the socio-economic caste census, states are also adding beneficiaries below the poverty threshold. For these BPL beneficiaries, the states will bear the premium.

For the current 2018-19 financial year, the health ministry has projected a total expenditure of Rs 6,000 crore, of which 60 per cent will come from the Centre and 40 per cent from the states.

The Union Budget presented in February 2018 had allocated Rs 2,000 crore for the project.

In the coming years, the total cost could possibly go up to Rs 12,000 crore annually, according to projected estimates.'No one institution can cleanse it: Not the courts, government or activists.'

'And least of all the Indian Police Service,' argues Shekhar Gupta.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com

'Hum CBI se hain.....asli waale (We are from the CBI, the real ones),' says Manoj Bajpayee, playing CBI Inspector Waseem Khan leading a raiding party in Neeraj Pandey's brilliant 2013 heist movie Special 26.

The reason he has to make that 'asli waale' claim is that another group under Akshay Kumar has also been raiding rich people, claiming to be from the CBI, and disappearing with their wealth.

A somewhat similar drama is now playing out in real life, and mostly inside the honourable Supreme Court.

There are two groups led by the number one and two in the CBI, each claiming to be the 'asli waale' and calling the other thieves.

In this confusing dog's breakfast are other ingredients:

A government which seems to prefer one side, a chief vigilance commissioner who'd rather not take a call because he also has a retired judge sitting on top of him.

Everybody, in turn, is under the glare of India's most formidable activists and lawyers.

Because nobody trusts anybody, everybody is being watched by somebody.

So, what do we do?

Obviously what bureaucracies do when they are loath to decide: They buy time.

So, give two more weeks.

And, if it goes on with some more delay in our hoary 'taarikh pe taarikh' tradition, the current director's term will end in January anyway.

Let him go, repatriate the number two, and start searching for a new CBI boss.

End of story.

Meanwhile, our premier anti-corruption agency remains paralysed with its bosses leaking and planting stuff against each other.

My colleague Ananya Bhardwaj aptly describes it now as Central Bureau of Inactivity.

The officiating 'director' too is under a cloud.

Which cop will you set to catch the other cop?

Taking advantage of the melee, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has jumped in, 'withdrawing' the CBI's powers to investigate cases in his state.

Mamata Banerjee has risen in his support as you'd expect.

You might see more states and Opposition leaders, especially those under investigation/prosecution by the CBI also joining in.

The CBI can create a first degree Constitutional crisis.

It is lazy, however, to blame the courts. They have at least tried to do something for two decades. I won't blame them for this failure on CBI reform.

The CBI, as we can see now, has become a monster that no one institution can cleanse, not the courts, government or activists.

And least of all the Indian Police Service.

It is because too many good people and institutions have worked over two decades, if sometimes gratuitously, at saving it, and it has now become a wild animal that defies description.

What was once dismissed as a 'caged parrot' has now been able to hold our politics and polity to ransom since the early 1990s (remember the Jain Hawala case?), destroy careers of politicians and resurrect them, see practically all influential people prosecuted by them, from L K Advani (Jain Hawala) to P V Narasimha Rao (JMM bribery), to A Raja (2G) and Dayanidhi Maran (telephone exchange case) acquitted.

Meanwhile its evidence-free scandal-mania has damaged our economy too, from telecom to mining.

It has also served the government of the day admirably by letting the Bofors case ebb or rise depending on what it wants.

In the process, nobody has been punished and all accused have died already.

The Supreme Court has reached out to empower it more than once.

In two big scandals, it put the investigating process and teams under its own direct protection if not control.

Both the Jain Hawala and 2G spectrum cases collapsed despite being under the Supreme Court's watch.

The court has intervened repeatedly to empower it and make it more independent and impartial, given its director a fixed two-year tenure, first appointed a three-member government committee to select the candidate, and then created a new, innovative, and more independent mechanism with the chief vigilance commissioner, Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice of India himself.

If it is the only executive appointment in the entire government system where the institution of the Chief Justice of India has become involved, it tells you how seriously the CBI is taken.

Then, weigh it against the results it has achieved.

A weak CBI was bad enough. A reinforced CBI has become worse.

A scholar can write an entire PhD thesis on how governments have continued to misuse the CBI under the same directors appointed in the new system, with the judiciary's supervision.

But just remember a few.

Any time the UPA was coming up for a vote of confidence in Parliament, predictable stories appeared on the front-pages of national papers about dramatic progress in cases against the usual suspects: Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati.

Only to disappear once the vote was done and each such party's Amar Singh had delivered.

It was similarly used as a special purpose vehicle against Narendra Damodardas Modi, Amit Anilchandra Shah and their loyal policemen in Gujarat.

It went to the extent of dragging in a serving, top Intelligence Bureau officer in the Ishrat Jahan case.

Whatever your view on the case, the substantive point is: What happened?

It dragged on as the geniuses at the head of the agency saw the UPA weakening, and then dissolved as Mr Modi took power, with the number of resiling witnesses soon to score a century.

We should see where Chandrababu Naidu is coming from.

When he was the BJP's ally, the CBI had made its cases against his political rival Y S Jaganmohan Reddy its top priority.

These were launched when the UPA was in power and he had fallen out with the Congress.

Today, with Mr Naidu breaking away, aligning with the Congress and Mr Reddy emerging as a likely ally of the BJP, all cases are forgotten.

Earlier, the CBI wouldn't let him come out on bail for more than a year, now the cases are dying.

He has become a good boy.

Why should Mr Naidu not suspect a case, or more maybe, coming his way now that he's a bad boy?

The essential reason every effort to reform the CBI has failed is simply because, institutionally, it is designed to be beyond reform.

What unfettered powers do, you should only look at the mass suicide of mid-level Delhi civil servant B K Bansal and his family, unable to handle the CBI's 'interrogation' on a corruption charge.

Any police institution that has so much power, particularly in a system where the judiciary works so slowly and the process becomes the punishment, where young people grow to ripe middle age in jail as undertrials till they are acquitted, the need is to put more institutional discipline and restraints on the CBI, not give it more powers.

The courts and activists have done the opposite and the politicians have gratefully exploited this.

In the first historic order (Vineet Narain case), the Supreme Court, besides enhancing the CBI's powers and securing its chief's tenure, had also ordered that 'every prosecution that results in the discharge or acquittal of the accused must be reviewed by a lawyer on the panel and ... responsibility should be fixed for the dereliction of duty, if any ... in such cases, strict action should be taken against officer found guilty of dereliction of duty'.

Of course, no such thing has happened.

Because the politicians cherry-picked what suited them from the court order and used it to their benefit.

For leverage, not justice.

Any wonder then that three of the last four CBI directors, including one of the two appointed under the new system in accordance with the Lokpal Act, 2013, in which the CJI has a vote in the selection, are facing corruption cases which are at various stages.

There is no guarantee the next one will end up any better.

There is too much power in this office, too little accountability, too many temptations.

In such a messed-up institutional structure, only a superman will be able to rightfully claim to be 'asli waale'.

By special arrangement with The PrintThe CBI said Michel's extradition took place "under the guidance" of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

IMAGE: Christian Michel, alleged middleman in AgustaWestland chopper deal, brought to CBI headquarter on Tuesday after being extradited from UAE. Photograph: ANI

Christian Michel James, the alleged middleman in politically-sensitive Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland chopper deal, was brought to India late Tuesday night following his extradition by the UAE, the Central Bureau of Investigation said.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party said the extradition in the case from the United Progressive Alliance era is a diplomatic victory for India and could spell "serious trouble" for the Congress's "first family", referring to Gandhis.

It also asserted that the development was an unequivocal affirmation of the Narendra Modi government's "seriousness in fighting corruption".

Michel landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on a Gulfstream jet at 2235 hours, official sources said.

The operation code-named 'Unicorn' was carried out under the guidance of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and being coordinated by interim CBI director M Nageswar Rao, the CBI spokesperson said.

A team of the agency's officers led by joint director Sai Manohar was in Dubai to bring him back, it said.

The agency said that Michel has been brought back to India after completion of the extradition process.

The UAE government had cleared the extradition of 57-year-old Michel after his appeal against the move was turned down by a court there.

His alleged involvement in the chopper deal surfaced in 2012 as a middleman for swinging the deal in favour of AgustaWestland and for making illegal payment of commissions or kickbacks to the Indian authorities, CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said.

Michel was wanted for investigation but he escaped and had avoided joining the probe, he said.

A chargesheet was filed against him in September last year.

"An open non-bailable arrest warrant dated September 24, 2015, was issued by the special judge, CBI cases, Patiala House Courts, New Delhi," he said.

On the basis of this warrant, a Red Corner Notice was issued by the Interpol which led to his arrest in Dubai in February 2017, he said.

It was not immediately clear whether Michel would be kept in a safe house or in the CBI headquarters itself for the night before being produced in a court.

"Michel, who has been avoiding criminal proceedings in India in the AgustaWestland case, is being extradited by the UAE authorities to India.

"Under the guidance of Ajit Doval, the National Security Advisor, the entire operation is being coordinated by the in-charge director of CBI, M Nageswara Rao," he said.

Michel was behind bars in Dubai since he was arrested and sent to custody pending the legal and judicial procedure in the UAE.

The Dubai Court of Cassation had earlier dismissed the two objections filed by Michel's lawyers and upheld the appellate court's decision to consider the possibility of extraditing him to the competent Indian authorities.

It was alleged that he had entered into a criminal conspiracy with co-accused persons, which included the then IAF chief SP Tyagi and his family members, and the public servants had abused their official positions by reducing service ceiling of the VVIPs helicopter from 6,000 metres to 4,500 metres.

The reduction in ceiling made AgustaWestland eligible for contract worth 556.262 million Euros, which was awarded to it by the defence ministry on February 08, 2010, for procurement of 12 VVIP helicopters.

He has been alleged to be a "historical consultant" of the AgustaWestland helicopters in the UK with technical operational knowledge of the aircraft, the military bases and the pilots, the CBI spokesperson said in a statement.

Michel worked with the company since the 1980s and before that his father had also been a consultant of the company for the Indian territory, the statement said.

He was allegedly a frequent visitor to India and was operating as a middleman for defence procurement through a wide network of sources cultivated in the IAF and the Defence Ministry at different levels, including through retired and serving IAF officials, the agency said.

Michel allegedly shared the information collected from the IAF and the ministry with his associates, who used to transmit the despatches through fax to other counterparts sitting in Italy and Switzerland, the CBI said.

"...He was updating and informing the management of Finmeccanica and AgustaWestland, namely Giuseppe Orsi and Bruno Spagnolini and others, about his efforts in India for securing supply contract of VVIP Helicopters," the statement said.

In July 2006, AgustaWestland's commercial manager Renzo Lunardi had proposed that Michel will join other middlemen Ralph Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa in carrying out "scouting and monitoring activities" with regard to the acquisition of helicopters in India, keeping in view of his "knowledge of Indian military operational mechanism", it said.

During that meeting in Italy, they had negotiated a comprehensive fee equal to 7 per cent of the supply contract amount to cover the expenses and their payments.

Michel allegedly entered into 12 contracts through two of his firms -- London-based Global Trade and Commerce and Dubai-based Global Services FZE -- with Finmeccanica to camouflage and legitimise the alleged bribe received by him for clinching the deal, the CBI said.The police inspector who died during the Bulandshahr violence was killed in police firing, Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Surendra Singh claimed on Tuesday, denying any role of Bajrang Dal members in the death.

Terming the incident unfortunate, the Rohaniya legislator said police did not murder him deliberately.

Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, who had initially probed the 2015 lynching of Mohammed Akhlaq, and a 20-year-old local man died of gunshot injuries on Monday as a rampaging mob protesting alleged illegal cow slaughter torched a police post in Bulandshahr and clashed with cops.

I suspect that the inspector was killed by bullet fired by police. Bajrang Dal activists might have engaged in brick batting but they did not open fire. They had not gone there with bullets, the MLA told reporters.

Police officials, however, said the main accused in the case is Bajrang Dal Bulandshahr district convenor Yogesh Raj, who has not yet been arrested.

The MLA said the people indulged in stone pelting but police opened fire on them and the inspector was hit by their gunshot. Police did not murder him deliberately, he said.

Twenty-seven people have been named in an FIR registered around 3 am following the Monday violence, while cases have been lodged against 50 to 60 unidentified people, officials said.

Of the 27 named, at least four are workers and functionaries of right-wing organisations, including the Bajrang Dal, they said.

Police said four persons were arrested.

Singh said, The probe in the matter is on and it would be ascertained that bullet of which bore hit the inspector.The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Income Tax Department to reopen the tax assessment of top Congress leaders Rahul and Sonia Gandhi for 2011-12 in connection with the National Herald case.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Income Tax Department to re-assess the tax of top Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi for 2011-12 in connection with the National Herald case.

The apex court, however, restrained the department from 'giving effect' to its order in the proceedings against Rahul, who is the Congress president, and his mother Sonia till the pendency of the matter before the court.

A bench of Justices A K Sikri, Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazeer said that it is not going into the merit of the case but passing an interim order as the limitation period for completing the assessment is expiring.

"Since the limitation period for completing the assessment is expiring, in the meantime, it would be open to the Assessing Officer to complete the assessment and pass the assessment order as well. However, till the next date of hearing that would not be given effect," the bench said.

The limitation period was to expire on December 31 and assessment has to be completed before that. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Income Tax department, said the court should not restrain it from implementing the assessment orders against the Gandhis and others.

He said the court should hear the matter and pass appropriate orders.

To this, the bench said, "It is just an interim order which should be equitable to both the parties."

It further said: "We make it clear that since the matter is still at the preliminary stage and limitation is expiring, aforesaid course of action is adopted without going into the merits of the case."

The court noted in the order that due to certain reasons it was not possible to take up the matter for hearing and the bench was not sitting in the afternoon session.

It adjourned the matter for further hearing on January 8, 2019. The tax matter is related to the National Herald case in which the Congress leaders are also facing criminal proceedings.

The Gandhis and senior Congress leader Oscar Fernandes have challenged the Delhi high court's September 10 verdict which dismissed their plea against the re-assessment of their tax for 2011-12.

The apex court on November 13 had said it would hear final arguments on December 4 on the matter as it required 'consideration'.

It had not issued formal notice on the petitions filed by Rahul, Sonia and Fernandes as the I-T department was represented by its counsel.

In the last hearing, their lawyers had said the question was whether the reasons given in the notice by the department were right or not.

Senior advocates Kapil Sibal, P Chidambaram and Arvind Datar have been appearing for the Congress leaders.

The I-T probe against the Congress leaders has arisen from the investigation into a private criminal complaint filed by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy before a trial court in New Delhi in connection with the National Herald case, in which the trio is out on bail.

Sonia and Rahul were granted bail in the case by the trial court on December 19, 2015.

A tax evasion petition (TEP) was also addressed to the finance minister by Swamy. In the complaint before the trial court, Sonia, Rahul and others have been accused of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds by paying just Rs 50 lakh, through which Young Indian (YI) had obtained the right to recover Rs 90.25 crore that Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) owed to the Congress party.

It was alleged that YI, which was incorporated in November 2010 with a capital of Rs 50 lakh, had acquired almost all the shareholding of AJL, which was running the National Herald newspaper.

The I-T department had said the shares Rahul has in YI would lead him to have an income of Rs 154 crore and not about Rs 68 lakh, as was assessed earlier. It has already issued a demand notice for Rs 249.15 crore to YI for the assessment year 2011-12.IMAGE: People visit the house of 20-yr-old Sumit Kumar who was killed in Monday's mob violence, at his village Chingrawati, in Bulandshahr, on Tuesday. Photograph: PTI Photo

A day after a mob torched the local police post and shot dead an inspector, a haunting silence prevailed in Chingrawathi village in Bulandshahr.

"The people in the village are so scared after the incident that most of them have fled their homes, local resident Anil Kumar told PTI on Tuesday.

"Some, including children and women, have rushed to their relatives in nearby areas and some are camping in the fields, away from their village homes, the 46-year-old said.

"It is the fear of the police," he said.

Police inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and a 20-year-old man Sumit died of gunshot wounds when a mob went on rampage over alleged cow slaughter.

Anil Kumar claimed that 30-32 cows were slaughtered and their heads strewn near Mahav village on the other side of Chingrawathi village.

"Then people from both the villages gathered at Chingrawathi police post and obstructed traffic on the main road demanding that an inquiry should conducted by a senior official, such as the DM, and strict action taken against the culprits," said Anil Kumar.

"When the violence broke out, brickbats were hurled and the inspector opened fire, in which Sumit from my neighborhood suffered injuries and died," he said.

The inspector was injured in the mob violence and was attacked again when he was being taken to hospital, the police said.

He was shot in the head, they said.

"The entire village is being considered guilty," another villager said.

Sumit's mother and three of his sisters were at their home in the village and a neighbour said they had not yet been informed about his death.

Sumit's father Amarjit Singh, 55, brother Vineet, 22, and sister Babli were accompanying the body being brought home from Meerut, where he had been taken for medical treatment, neighbours said.

"Sumit was the youngest of the six siblings. He was preparing for competitive exams in Ghaziabad," his cousin Anuj Kumar, 20, said.

"He was a very soft-spoken boy. I never heard him utter anything other than Ram, Ram," Anil Kumar said.

Chingrawathi village head Ajay Kumar said the violence was unprecedented.

"There are three Muslim families in the village but there has never been any untoward incident so far," he said.

National Jat Mahasabha state president Rohit Jakhar demanded compensation for inspector and the villager killed in the violence, and government jobs for their kin.

"Those guilty must be brought to book and no innocent person should suffer," he said.IMAGE: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman with her American counterpart James Mattis at the Pentagon on Monday. Photograph: @SpokespersonMoD/Twitter

India and the United States have agreed to accelerate their defence and security ties as Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her American counterpart James Mattis reviewed ongoing initiatives to further strengthen bilateral defence cooperation as a 'key pillar' of the strategic partnership.

US Defence Secretary Mattis, who welcomed Sitharaman to the Pentagon on Monday for the fourth set of talks between them this year, described India as a 'stabilising force' across the Indo-Pacific and the globe.

"The United States and India, in Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi's words, have overcome hesitations of history, carrying forward the legacy of friendship and making clear there is no contradiction between strategic autonomy and strategic partnership," Mattis said.

The two leaders discussed the growing partnership between India and US in the defence sphere and also exchanged views on a broad range of bilateral and international issues of mutual interest, said an official statement in New Delhi.

"They reviewed ongoing initiatives to further strengthen bilateral defence cooperation as a key pillar of the strategic partnership between India and the US," it said.

"Both sides agreed to further strengthen bilateral defence cooperation, building on the discussions and outcomes of the '2 + 2 Dialogue' held in September 2018," the statement added.

She also highlighted the steps taken by India to promote defence sector manufacturing under the government's 'Make in India' flagship programme, it said.

Mattis said the US-India relationship is a natural partnership between the world's oldest and the world's largest democracy.

"We have made meaningful progress in advancing US-India defence cooperation, most notably with your nation hosting September's inaugural '2+2' ministerial dialogue in New Delhi," he said.

The ministerial talks served as a tangible demonstration of 'our shared vision for a safe, secure, prosperous and free Indo-Pacific, underpinned by respect for the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of all nations', Mattis said.

"Today, I reiterate US appreciation for India's leadership as a stabilising force in pursuit of that vision, promoting peace and security across the region and the globe," he said.

The defence secretary said the '2+2 Dialogue' also made clear the commitment of India and the US to further bolster their defence partnership.

"Today, we build on that momentum as we work to implement our agreement from September, Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA)," he added.

During the dialogue, the two nations signed the COMCASA that allows India to receive advanced US military hardware. Describing the '2+2' meeting as a landmark event, Sitharaman said it set the stage for strategic consultations between the two countries.

In her remarks at the start of the meeting with Mattis, Sitharaman said the mutual trust and confidence in defence partnership between the two countries was growing.

She added that she was encouraged by the importance attached to the India-US defence relationship in the new US National Security Strategy.

"A strong foundation has been laid for the India-US defence relationship over the years. India sees the US as an important partner in defence," Sitharaman said, adding that the two countries have good military-to-military cooperation, defence consultations, scientific collaborations and co-production and co-development and industry collaboration.

Exuding confidence that the bilateral talks would accord greater momentum to the dialogue and partnership between the two countries, she said the relationship continued to be very strong.

The recent high-level exchanges are an indication of the depth and the quality of bilateral ties as well as the two sides' mutual desire to work closely on a range of regional and global issues, she added.

Sitharaman appreciated the responsiveness of the Trump Administration to India's sensitivities.

At the same time, it is also indicative of the desire and the effort to have an even more robust relationship than before, she said.

"Especially over the past three to four years, we have made considerable progress.

"Our relations, based on common democratic values, enjoy strong political and popular support in both countries. There's a growing mutual trust and also the confidence in defence partnership, which augurs very well for the future," she said.

Sitharaman started her official visit in Washington, DC, by visiting the State Department, where she signed condolence book for former US president George H W Bush.

From there, she drove to the Arlington National Cemetery where she laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a gesture which did not go unnoticed at the Pentagon.

"On behalf of our department and all of our service members, thank you for paying your nation's respect at Arlington National Cemetery this morning. We're grateful," Mattis said.

Mattis said Sitharaman's presence at the wreath-laying made clear that the US-India military relations were not 'defined by brittle or empty words' but by the human aspect of partnership steeped in recognition of the two nations' respective sacrifices and the cause of peace, friendship and freedom.

Sitharaman, the first woman defence minister of India, is currently on a five-day trip to the US.

From Washington, she will travel to California to visit the Defense Innovation Unit of the Department of Defense and the Indo-Pacific Command headquarters in Hawaii.IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi during campaign trail in Rajasthan. Photograph: PTI Photo

Stepping up his attack against the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday alleged Kartarpur went to Pakistan at the time of independence because the party leaders of that time had no vision and did not respect Sikh sentiments.

Referring to the recent opening of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor across the India-Pakistan border, Modi said, "Correcting Congress's mistakes was my destiny."

As electioneering for December 7 assembly polls in Rajasthan nears its end, the prime minister addressed rallies in Hanumangarh, Sikar and Jaipur.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi also held a series of public meetings in the state.

At one rally, Modi took on Gandhi for mocking him for chanting Bharat Mata ki Jai' at every meeting. The prime minister said he will continue to do so despite Gandhi's fatwa' on it.

Gandhi had taunted in Alwar that Modi should begin his meetings by saying 'Anil Ambani ki Jai', 'Mehul Choksi ki Jai', 'Nirav Modi ki Jai' and 'Lalit Modi ki Jai'.

Modi suggested that the Congress leadership had bungled during Partition.

"They could not see anything beyond the 'Rajgaddi' (power), so Kartarpur went to Pakistan, he said.

"The then policy makers of the Congress in the country were in a hurry to come to power. Partition happened and in that too several mistakes were made because of which Kartarpur Sahib went to Pakistan," he said.

"A little bit of wisdom and sensitivity at that time would have ensured that Kartarpur, which is just 3 km away (from India), would not have been taken away from us.

It was their lack of vision and sensitivity that they did not respect the sentiments of the Sikh community," Modi claimed.

He said the Congress was in power for 70 years, during which the country fought and won wars, but it could not make an arrangement for prayers to be offered at Kartarpur Sahib.

"It is my destiny to correct their mistakes. Its credit goes to your one vote and not to Modi. Don't underestimate the value of your vote," he said.

The planned Kartarpur corridor will connect a Gurdwara in India's Gurdaspur to Kartarpur Sahib, the final resting place of Sikhism's founder Guru Nanak Dev.

Modi said that people of the country have elected a prime minister who lives for the people, remains awake for the people and bows to the people.

He indirectly referred to a land deal in Rajasthan, and the allegation that a company linked to Rahul Gandhi's brother-in-law Robert Vadra made money out of it.

He said he will bring those who looted the country to justice.

I have eliminated corruption at the top level and I have the power to eliminate it from the system, and I will make it happen, he said.

On the 2016 surgical strike across the Line of Control, he said terrorists used to enter army camps without any fear and kill soldiers during the previous governments, but India had now given a befitting reply.

"The Army showed the courage and its strength," he said.

Modi said his government wants to make farmers energy givers and asked them to install solar panels, use drip irrigation and other modern methods of farming.

The naamdar does not know the difference between red and green chillies," he said, hitting out at Congress president Rahul Gandhi, whom he often refers to as a naamdar (dynast).

"I am saying this with conviction that had a farmer's child been India's first prime minister, had Sardar Patel been the first prime minister, farmers would not have been in distress today. It is due to the 70 years of sins committed by four generations of one family," he said.

Attacking the Congress over its farm loan waiver promises, the prime minister said its leaders talk about farmers' issues only when elections are near.

He said Congress leaders tell lies to deceive gullible farmers because of their greed for power.

"The CAG report found huge fraud in loan waiver done during the Congress regime. The people who got the benefits were not farmers," he said.

Modi said the Congress leaders sitting in air-conditioned rooms are misleading people by devising strategies to oust the BJP from power, but they should come to Rajasthan and see the ground situation instead.

He said the Congress gave tickets to family members of those lodged in jail in rape cases and women should not vote for that party.

He was apparently referring to Mahipal Maderna, who was the minister in Ashok Gehlot cabinet, and former MLA Malkhan Bishnoi.

They are facing trial in the notorious Bhanwari Devi abduction and murder case in Jodhpur.

The Congress has given ticket to Maderna's daughter Divya Maderna from Osian and Bishnoi's son Mahendra Bishnoi from Luni seat in Jodhpur in the upcoming state polls.

*****

Rahul says 'chowkidar' made a judge his 'court-puppet'

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over ex-Supreme Court judge Kurian Joseph's claim about alleged interference in administration of justice by the apex court, alleging that the 'chowkidar' had made a judge his 'court-puppet'.

Gandhi further said it was the bad luck of the 'chowkidar' (watchman), a term he often uses for Modi, that there was no dearth of honest judges who do not allow 'arrogance of power to prevail over truth'.

The Congress president's attack follows a sensational claim made by the recently retired judge Joseph that the previous Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra was 'remote-controlled by an external source'.

Justice Joseph, however, did not elaborate on who the "external source" was and which were the cases in which administration of justice was affected.

There was no immediate reaction from the government or the BJP, while Misra has also not reacted to the allegation.

'The chowkidaar had made a Supreme Court judge his 'court-putli' (court-puppet),' Gandhi tweeted.

"It's chowkidar's bad luck that there is no dearth of honest judges in the country for whom truth is always bigger than power and who do not allow arrogance of power to prevail over truth. The country is proud of such judges," Gandhi added.

Joseph was among the four senior judges of the apex court who had staged an open revolt against justice Misra by convening an unprecedented press conference on January 12 to flag their concerns about preferential allocation of sensitive cases to judges low down on the top court's hierarchy.

Justices J Chelameswar, who has since retired, Ranjan Gogoi, the current Chief Justice and Madan Lokur were the other judges.

The Congress had on Monday said Justice Joseph's remarks proved its allegations against the government of interference in the highest levels of judiciary, and demanded separate parliamentary and judicial inquiries into the matter.Names of chief ministers of Punjab and Karnataka -- Captain Amarinder Singh and H D Kumraswamy -- along with a former chief minister found mention in the list of 4,122 criminal cases pending against serving and ex-legislators that was submitted before the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, also figured in the list along with serving Kerala minister M M Mani and sitting Nationalist Congress Party MLA from Gujarat Kandhalbhai Sarmanbhai Jadeja.

A report containing the list said nine cases are registered against former Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party member of legislative council and mining baron G Jannardan Reddy.

Of these, eight are punishable with life imprisonment while one is punishable with imprisonment with seven years.

The apex court, which is dealing with a public interest litigation on the issue, was informed that first information report registered in 2017 with SIT Lokayukta against Kumaraswamy for offence punishable with life imprisonment is awaiting final report, pending probe.

The report said a corruption case against Captain Amarinder Singh is pending since 2007 and charge has not yet been framed.

The submissions were made in the report filed by senior advocate Vijay Hansaria, who is assisting the court as amicus curiae in the matter along with advocate Sneha Kalita.

It said Yeddyurappa has 18 cases against him out of which 14 are punishable with life imprisonment.

In the case of Kerala Electricity Minister M M Mani lodged in 1982, charges have not yet been framed even though the charge sheet was filed on November 18, 2015.

The report said in Gujarat, six criminal cases are pending against Jadeja, out of which three offences were registered between 1994 and 1998 under Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act and/or Arms Act punishable with imprisonment for life or 10 years.

In all these three cases charges have not been framed and matter is under stay either before the Supreme Court/ high court, it said.

In Uttar Pradesh, it said, all the 992 cases have been transferred to the special court for MPs and MLAs at Allahabad, both triable by sessions as well as magistrate.

The charges have not been framed in 395 of these cases, and the high court has put a stay on 14.

It said 22 FIRs are registered against former Samajwadi Party MP Ateeq Ahmed, out of which 10 are for offences punishable with imprisonment for life or death sentence, and are pending at various stages.

12 FIRs are registered against former Shiv Sena MLA Pawan Kumar Pandey, between 1989 and 2017, out of which three are for offences punishable with imprisonment for life/ death sentence, and are pending at various stages, it said.

It said six FIRs are registered against former SP MLA Khalid Azeem, between 2003 and 2011, out of which five are for offences punishable with imprisonment for life/death sentence are pending at various stages.

Six FIRs are registered against sitting BJP MLA Upendra Tiwari, between 1996 and 2011, out of which three are for offences punishable with imprisonment for life/ death sentence are pending at various stages.

FIR was registered against former MLA Chote Lal Gangwar, in which charge sheet was filed on December 14, 1999 and the present status is not known, it said.

In Bihar, there are total 23 cases pending which are punishable with life term registered between 1991 and 2018.

The report said FIRs were registered against sitting legislators Shamim Akhtar, Anant Kumar Singh, Randhir Kumar Soni of Janata Dal-United and Sarfaraz Alam of Rashtriya Janata Dal, for offence punishable with imprisonment up to life but charges havent been framed yet.

The report said FIR was registered against sitting BJP MLA Shashikant Mohabat Ram Pandya in 1998 for offences, punishable with imprisonment up to life and the charges were framed in 2014 but the case is at the stage of recording prosecution evidence.

In Karnataka, there are total 58 cases pending against MLAs punishable with imprisonment for life most of whom are on the basis of SIT constituted by the Lokayukta.

Out of these 58 cases, 34 cases are against 9 sitting MLAs and 24 cases are against 6 former MLAs. Most of these cases registered in 2015 and the final report is awaited," it said.

In Madhya Pradesh, all 168 cases have been transferred to the Special Court for MPs/ MLAs at Bhopal, both triable by Sessions as well as Magistrate, the report said, adding that there are total 36 cases pending which are punishable with imprisonment for life, registered between 1998 and 2018.

Three FIRs are registered against Congress leader Digvijay Singh all of which are punishable with imprisonment for life, it said.

In Maharashtra, 31 Magisterial trial cases have been transferred to Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Mumbai, who has been designated for cases of MPs/ MLAs in terms of the orders of this court and involve 23 sitting legislators but in 21 cases charges have not been framed.

33 criminal cases are pending against former Congress MLA Ramesh Chandra Jena in Odisha out of which five offences were registered under Section 302 Indian Penal Code (murder) punishable with death sentence or imprisonment for life.

In Tamil Nadu, 321 cases are pending out of which only 71 are pending trial and in 188 cases even charges have not been framed.

While in West Bengal, out of 269 cases, 231 have been transferred to the special court for MPs/ MLAs, while 38 sessions trial cases of MP/ MLA have been transferred to special court in Andhra Pradesh.

The SC directed setting up of special designated courts in each district of Bihar and Kerala to ensure effective trial of pending criminal cases involving former and sitting lawmakers in these two states.

The top court fixed the sequence for cases to be tried in these designated courts and said that cases against sitting or former MP or MLA involving offences punishable with life imprisonment or death sentence shall be taken as a first priority.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and K M Joseph said that creating designated courts in each districts will be a more effective step instead of concentrating all the cases involving former and sitting legislators in one special court.

"Instead of designating one sessions court and one magisterial court in each district we request each high court to assign/allocate criminal cases involving former and sitting legislators to as many sessions courts and magisterial courts as the each high court may consider proper, fit and expedient," the bench said after perusing the data of pending cases against the lawmakers.

Senior advocate Vijay Hansaria, appointed as amicus curiae to assist the court in the matter in his report pointed out that there are presently 4,122 number of pending cases against MPs/MLAs including former lawmakers.

He suggested to the bench that the designated special courts in each districts should hold trial for the cases against lawmakers on a day to day basis in a particular priority starting with cases involving offences punishable with imprisonment for life/death against sitting MPs/MLAs.

Hansaria along with advocate Sneha Kalita, who had filed the data received from different states and high courts, said that after the trial of cases involving sitting lawmakers, cases of former MPs/MLAs should be tried.

The bench, however, modified his suggestion and said that the designated courts should take up cases of both sitting as well as former MPs/MLAs involving offences which entail punishment of life term or death sentences as a first priority.

The procedural steps indicated by the amicus curiae, will be followed by each designated court to whom work would be allocated in terms of the directions except that offences punishable with imprisonment for life/death against sitting MPs/MLAs as well as former MPs/MLAs would be taken up on first priority followed by sequential order without creating any distinction between cases involving sitting legislators and former legislators, the bench said in its order.

The bench said that at this stage, its direction shall be made applicable to cases involving former and sitting legislators in Bihar and Kerala.

The bench noted the submission of Hansaria which said that concentration of all the cases against former and sitting lawmakers in 12 Special Courts set up earlier would result in delay of trial on account of witnesses and accused being required to come from far away places.

The bench said, "The National Capital Territory of Delhi where the position is somewhat different and the difficulties of distance and territories do not come in the way the trial of cases by the Special Courts (both Sessions Court and Magisterial Court) will continue".

It directed that cases records pertaining to the matters involving lawmakers in Kerala and Bihar which were transmitted to the special courts, should be re-transmitted forthwith to the jurisdictional district courts.

"The registry of the high courts of Kerala (State of Kerala) and Patna (State of Bihar) will initiate necessary action in this matter without any delay," it said.

The bench, however, made it clear that the rest of the special courts already set up by the earlier direction of apex court shall continue to work and try cases assigned to it until further orders.

It asked the designated courts in each districts of Kerala and Bihar to submit monthly report to the high court with regard to the cases where charge-sheets have not yet been filed, charges not framed with appropriate reasons and the progress of the trial.

The court directed the Kerala and Patna high courts to place their action taken report before it on or before December 14.

Hansaria, in his report, said that in 1991 cases of sitting and ex-MPs/MLAs including some which are pending for nearly three decades, charges have not been framed.

He said that there are a total of 430 cases, which involve offences punishable with life term or death sentence, pending against sitting as well as former legislators.

The court was hearing a PIL filed by lawyer and BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay seeking a life time ban on politicians convicted in criminal cases besides the setting up of special courts to expeditiously try cases involving elected representatives.

Hearing another case, the SC also sought urgent steps for early conclusion of cases against undertrials as 67 per cent prisoners in the overcrowded jails across India are undertrials.

It also directed the undertrial review committees (UTRCs) to meet every month for the first six months of 2019 to review the cases of undertrial inmates and submit reports to the legal services authorities in states.

Set up in every district, UTRCs deliberate and recommend the release of undertrial prisoners as also of those convicts who have undergone the sentence or are entitled to be released due to bail or remission granted to them.

A bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur took note of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) data placed before it that while the holding capacity of jails in the country as on December 31 last year was around 3.78 lakh, the actual number of inmates lodged was 4.19 lakh.

The bench, also comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Hemant Gupta, said the state legal services authorities would compile the data received from the UTRCs and send the report to NALSA.

The top court is hearing a matter relating to inhuman conditions in 1,382 prisons across India. It is also seized of a separate matter related to speedy trials for undertrial prisoners.

The court noted that as per NALSA's data, the number of inmates in jails were in excess of the holding capacity of the prisons and overcrowding was particularly acute in states like Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand.

We have been given to understand that undertrial prisoners constitute of 67 per cent of prison population, it said. "Number of undertrial prisoners is very, very large."

The apex court also took on record the standard operating procedure (SOP) prepared by NALSA for UTRCs and said that it be circulated among the Director General (Prisons) and state legal services authority of all the states and union territories.

On September 25, the court had constituted a three-member committee, headed by former apex court judge Amitava Roy, to look into jail reforms across India and make recommendations on several aspects, including overcrowding.

It had said the 'Supreme Court Committee on Prison Reforms' would also comprise of Inspector General of Police of Bureau of Police Research and Development and Director General (Prisons) of Delhi's Tihar Jail.

It had earlier taken strong exception to overcrowding of jails across the country and said prisoners also have human rights and cannot be kept like animals.

The court had earlier passed a slew of directions over unnatural deaths in jails and on prison reforms across India.Draped in a United States flag, a casket carrying the body of former president George H W Bush on Monday was flown to Washington from Houston for the final time in Air Force One aircraft, which has been redesignated as Special Air Mission 41 in a special tribute to the American leader.

IMAGE: The casket carrying former president George Herbert Walker Bush is carried up the steps of the US Capitol in Washington. Photograph: Doug Mills/Pool/Reuters

Bush, the 41st president of the US who led America during the dramatic collapse of the Soviet Union and engineered the defeat of an audacious Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, died in Houston on Friday at the age of 94.

The casket will be flown back to Houston -- where the former head of state will lie in repose at St Martins Episcopal Church until Thursdays funeral -- after commemoration of a state funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral on Wednesday.

Hundreds of people gathered Monday at the Ellington Air Force Base to witness the body of their beloved leader being carried to the aircraft.

IMAGE: Former US First Lady Laura Bush and former President George W Bush place their hands over their hearts as the casket of former Bush Sr arrives at the US Capitol in Washington, DC. Photograph: Win McNamee/Pool/Reuters

The presidential anthem of the US, Hail to the Chief, was played and cannons sounded as Bushs casket was removed from the hearse. The Bush family, with hands over their hearts, looked on as the flag-draped casket was loaded onto the presidential plane and the band played Eternal Father, Strong to Save.

Members of the Bush family -- including son George W Bush, the nations 43rd president, and former first lady Laura Bush -- boarded Air Force One just before the plane flew to Washington. The late presidents service dog, Sully, also boarded the airplane.

IMAGE: People begin to fill out as former President George HW Bush lies in state in the US Capitol Rotunda. Photograph: Morry Gash/Pool/Reuters

Bushs remains will lie in state in the US Capitol Rotunda till Wednesday, when he will be honoured with state funeral at the Washington National Cathedral.

US President Donald Trump and former presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter will also attend the state funeral.

IMAGE: Members of a joint service honor guard at the US Capitol prior to the service for former President George HW Bush in Washington. Photograph: Shawn Thew/Pool/Reuters

Bush, who was also a World War II Navy pilot, will be laid to rest wearing socks adorned with an image of squadron of planes, his spokesman Jim McGrath said Monday.

Tweeting a picture of Bush wearing grey socks adorned with images of jets flying in formation, McGrath wrote, The 41st President will be carried to his final rest wearing socks that pay tribute to his lifetime of service, starting as an 18-year-old naval aviator in war. That legacy is now being carried, in part, by the brave, selfless men and women aboard @CVN77_GHWB.

IMAGE: A member of the military stands watch over the flag draped casket of the former US President. Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/Pool/Reuters

The former US president flew more than 50 combat missions in World War II, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Earlier, McGrath also shared a photo of Bushs service dog Sully, lying in front of the presidents casket, in social media. The photo quickly went viral.

IMAGE: US President Donald J Trump, with First Lady Melania Trump, salutes the casket containing the body of former US President George HW Bush. Photograph: Shawn Thew/Pool/Reuters

On Thursday, the presidents casket will be taken by train to College Station, Texas, accompanied by the Bush family members and close friends. A funeral procession will then travel on George Bush Drive toward the Bush Library complex.

Bush will be buried in Texas next to his wife, Barbara, and their daughter, Robin, who died in 1953.

IMAGE: The casket of late George Bush Sr lies in state inside the US Capitol Rotunda. Photograph: Eric Thayer/Reuters

US President Bush was suffering from Parkinsons disease that forced him to use a wheelchair in recent years, and he had been in and out of hospitals in recent months as his health declined.

The decorated war pilot and former Central Intelligence Agency chief was elected president on November 8, 1988. He was sworn in on January 20, 1989, and served until January 20, 1993.King penguins standing on a beach on the backdrop of rising sun, an old lioness chasing her prey and a close encounter with a crabeater seal are just a few moments of animals featured in the photos short-listed for this years Wildlife Photographer of the Year LUMIX People's Choice Award.

Short-listed from over 45,000 submissions from 95 countries, these images are currently on display at the Natural History Museum in London, the institution that organises the competition and a world-renowned exhibition.

While we wait for the results to be announced -- voting closes on February 5-- here are some of the beautiful images in the contest.

Kindly click on the images for full-screen resolution.

Family Portrait A great grey owl and her chicks sit in their nest in the broken top of a Douglas fir tree in Kamloops, Canada. They looked towards Connor only twice as he watched them during the nesting season from a tree hide 50 feet (15 metres) up.

Photograph: Connor Stefanison/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/Natural History Museum

Curious Encounter Any close encounter with an animal in the vast wilderness of Antarctica happens by chance, so Cristobal was thrilled by this spontaneous meeting with a crabeater seal off of Cuverville Island, Antarctic Peninsula. These curious creatures are protected and, with few predators, thrive.

Photograph: Cristobal Serrano/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/Natural History Museum

Bond of Brothers These two adult males, probably brothers, greeted and rubbed faces for 30 seconds before settling down. Most people never have the opportunity to witness such animal sentience, and David was honoured to have experienced and captured such a moment. .

Photograph: David Lloyd/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/Natural History Museum

Ambush On a hot morning at the Chitake Springs, in Mana Pools National Park, Zimbabwe, Federico watched as an old lioness descended from the top of the riverbank. She'd been lying in wait to ambush any passing animals visiting a nearby waterhole further along the riverbed.

Photograph: Federico Veronesi/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/Natural History Museum

Teenager Franco was free diving off Dominica in the Caribbean Sea when he witnessed this young male sperm whale trying to copulate with a female. Unfortunately for him her calf was always in the way and the frisky male had to continually chase off the troublesome calf..

Photograph: Franco Banfi/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/Natural History Museum

Resting Mountain Gorilla The baby gorilla clung to its mother whilst keeping a curious eye on David. He had been trekking in South Bwindi, Uganda, whenhe came across the whole family. Following them, they then stopped in a small clearing to relax and groom each other.

Photograph: David Lloyd/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/Natural History Museum

Fox Meets Fox Matthew has been photographing foxes close to his home in north London for over a year and ever since spotting this street art had dreamt of capturing this image. After countless hours and many failed attempts his persistence paid off.

Photograph: Matthew Maran/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/Natural History Museum

The Extraction Every winter, hundreds of Steller's sea eagles migrate from Russia, to the relatively ice-free northeastern coast of Hokkaido, Japan. They hunt for fish among the ices floes and also scavenge, following the fishing boats to feed on any discards. Konstantin took his image from a boat as the eagles retrieved a dead fish thrown onto the ice.

Photograph: Konstantin Shatenev/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/Natural History Museum

The Orphaned Beaver A one-month-old orphaned North American beaver kit is held by a caretaker at the Sarvey Wildlife Care Center in Arlington, Washington. Luckily it was paired with a female beaver who took on the role of mother and they were later released into the wild.

Photograph: Suzi Eszterhas/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/Natural History Museum

Red, Silver and Black Tin was fortunate enough to be told about a fox den in Washington State, North America, which was home to a family of red, black and silver foxes. After days of waiting for good weather he was finally rewarded with this touching moment.

Photograph: TinMan Lee/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/Natural History Museum

Three Kings Wim came across these king penguins on a beach in the Falkland Islands just as the sun was rising. They were caught up in a fascinating mating behaviour the two males were constantly moving around the female using their flippers to fend the other off.

Photograph: Wim Van Den Heever/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/Natural History Museum

All That Remains A male orca had beached itself about a week before Phil's visit to Sea Lion Island, Falkland Islands. Despite its huge size the shifting sands had almost covered the whole carcass and scavengers, such as this striated caracara, had started to move in.

Photograph: Phil Jones/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/Natural History Museum

One Toy, Three Dogs While adult African wild dogs are merciless killers, their pups are extremely cute and play all day long. Bence photographed these brothers in Mkuze, South Africa they all wanted to play with the leg of an impala and were trying to drag it in three different directions!

Photograph: Bence Mate/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/Natural History Museum

Under the Snow Unafraid of the snowy blizzard, this squirrel came to visit Audren as he was taking photographs of birds in the small Jura village of Les Fourgs, France. Impressed by the squirrel's endurance, he made it the subject of the shoot.

Photograph: Audren Morel/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/Natural History Museum

The Bat's Wake After several months of field research into a little colony of greater mouse-eared bats in Sucs, Lleida, Spain, Antonio managed to capture this bat mid-flight. He used a technique of high speed photography with flashes combined with continuous light to create the 'wake'.

Photograph: Antonio Leiva Sanchez/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/Natural History MuseumIn a strong message to Pakistan, United States Defence Secretary Jim Mattis has said it is time for everyone to support the efforts of the United Nations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and all those who are trying to maintain peace in South Asia.

Pakistan must take on a substantive role in peace talks with the Taliban if the war in neighbouring Afghanistan is to be ended, he said.

Mattis was responding to a question from reporters about the letter written by the President Donald Trump to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, seeking his support in the peace process in Afghanistan. In his letter, Trump has made it clear that Pakistans full support over the issue is fundamental to building an enduring US-Pakistan partnership.

Were looking for every responsible nation to support peace in the sub-continent and across this war in Afghanistan that's gone on now for 40 years, he told reporters at the Pentagon on Monday as he welcomed Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for talks.

Its time for everyone to get on board, support the United Nations; support Prime Minister Modis, (Afghan) President (Ashraf) Ghani and all those who are trying to maintain peace and make for a better world here, Mattis said.

We are on that track. It is diplomatically led as it should be, and we'll do our best to protect the Afghan people, he added.Union minister Uma Bharti on Tuesday said she won't contest the next Lok Sabha elections.

The senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader's announcement came days after her cabinet colleague Sushma Swaraj said she won't contest the next LS polls.

Bharti said she will instead concentrate on the issues of Ram temple in Ayodhya and cleanliness of the River Ganga for the next one-and-a half years.

Bharti said she would 'embark on a pilgrimage to devote time for Ganga river and Lord Ram by leaving power'.

The Drinking Water and Sanitation Minister, however, clarified that she was not quitting politics.

External Affairs Minister Swaraj, who represents Vidisha Lok Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh, had last month announced that she would not contest the 2019 polls due to health reasons.

When asked about Swaraj's announcement, the Jhansi MP said, "I am so sorry. I have said so (won't contest elections) one or two years ago. Sushmaji has said it now. Don't link both these things which are same, but the time and reasons are different."

Bharti announced that she would set out on a 2,500-km yatra (pilgrimage) along the Ganga river on foot from Makar Sankranti in January next year for nearly one-and-a-half years by 'leaving power'.

"I believe that one has to go to the banks of the Ganga river by leaving power and I am doing so for next one-and-a-half years. But I will be campaigning and would do politics till my last and that too with energy," Bharti told reporters at her official residence.

"I will not do anything for the next one-and-a-half years except (working) for the Ganga and Lord Ram," she said.

Bharti's statement came amid demands by the Sangh parivar to expedite construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya.

The saffron leader, who was a prominent face in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement of 1990s, said she is not retiring from politics.

"I am not taking 'sanyas' (from politics). 'Sanyas' is a different thing. I will do politics till my end. Nobody can force me to leave politics. I will do it while being in the BJP only. But for one-and-a-half years, I need Ganga (river)," the Union minister said.

Bharti said a 'positive atmosphere" should be created for bringing an ordinance on the Ram temple construction at Ayodhya and blamed Congress chief Rahul Gandhi for 'vitiating' the atmosphere.

The BJP leader, who rose to prominence during the Ram Janmbahoomi movement in the 90s, said the Ram temple issue should be discussed with all political parties.

"This (Ram temple) matter should be discussed with all political parties as court said that it (construction of the temple) is a matter of a dispute of land and not a dispute of faith," she said.

On demands by Hindutva bodies for an ordinance on the Ram temple construction, Bharti said, "A positive atmosphere has to be created for bringing in the ordinance, but (Congress president) Rahul Gandhi has created too much of a negative atmosphere."

"(Congress leader) Kapil Sibal had intervened in the (Supreme) Court and said the case (hearing of Ayodhya title suits) should not be heard (till 2019 elections are over)," she said.

Bharti said the Congress has to take an initiative to create an atmosphere for bringing such an ordinance.

"The government would initiate a dialogue on the (ordinance) issue, but whether the people of the country would accept it, welcome it.....Now it is the responsibility of the Congress to create this atmosphere because it had vitiated the atmosphere," she said.

Bharti said she would be leaving for the Himalayas and embarking on a pilgrimage along the Ganga river for the next one-and-a-half years by 'leaving power'.

"There is no need for any agitation on the Ganga (river) and the Ram temple (as) we have (Uttar Pradesh chief minister) Yogi Adityanath in the state and Modiji (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) at the Centre," she said.

Referring to the Allahabad high Court ruling, Bharti said, "In 2010, the three-judge-bench clarified that a dome situated in the middle (of other domes on the disputed site) belongs to Ram Lalla."

"On the day of that verdict, the agitation (the Ram temple movement) became successful. The verdict proved that the site was the birthplace of Lord Ram. The only question remaining now is the construction of the temple," she said.

The three-judge bench had ordered that the 2.77 acres of the disputed land in Ayodhya be partitioned equally among three parties: the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla.

As many as 14 appeals were filed against the HC ruling in the Supreme Court, which fixed the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute cases for January next year before an appropriate bench, which will decide the schedule of hearing.

Bharti said she has been involved in work related to the Ganga river since 2011.

"In 2014, I was given the charge of Ganga Ministry. We have spent two years in preparing a plan because this ministry didn't exist earlier. In two years (after 2014), the plan became implementable with the help of the PMO and finance ministry," she said.

Bharti said the Ganga river is among the 10 most polluted rivers in the world, especially the stretch in Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh which she said is 'very dirty'.

"We have established hybrid (water) treatment plants at Rishikesh, Haridwar, Varanasi and Mathura. By 2024, the Ganga river will become 'nirmal' (clean) and will flow smoothly," she said.Residents of Ghoramara Island, part of the Sundarbans delta on the Bay of Bengal, want to leave their home as it shrinks every year due to rising seas, but many say they can't afford it.

According to villagers the Ghoramara Island has nearly halved in size over the past two decades.

Kindly click on the images for full-screen resolution.

Fishermen near Ghoramara Island, October 24, 2018.

Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters

Sheikh Aftab Uddin, 66, and his wife Mamta Bibi, 50, outside their new mud home after their previous house was washed away due to high tides on Ghoramara Island.

"If the government gives rehabilitation I will leave," says Uddin.

Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters

Children play on a banyan tree which was uprooted by high tide.

Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters

Workers repair a boat along the coastline.

Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters

A social welfare house.

Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters

Eight-month-old Sheikh Rahaman receives treatment with a nebuliser.

Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters

A fisherman cooks as others rest on a boat after casting the net in the water.

Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters

A Muharram procession.

Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters

Mihir Kumar Mondal, 51, at his betel leaf farm.

"Every year high-tide salt water enters my farm and destroys my cultivation, so I have to face a big loss every year," says Mondal.

Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters

A woman walks towards an embankment after tying her cow to higher ground during high tide.

Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters

Villagers work in a paddy field.

Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters

A scene from the island.

Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/ReutersInvestigators from the Criminal Investigations Division (CID) responded to the scene and identified Ivan Rodriguez, 52 years old, as a person of interest. Rodriguez resides at the apartment where the victim was found, but Rodriguez could not be located. Investigators disseminated Rodriguezs information to area law enforcement agencies.EAST HAVEN  Public funds were used to pay nearly $171,600 to attorneys and investigators to defend Mayor Joseph Maturo Jr. in a four-year legal battle with a former town employee who claimed he repeatedly sexually harassed her, records show.

Billing documents dating to August 2014, when attorneys hired to represent the mayor and the town began conferencing with a private investigator, through Sept. 19, when the legal team reviewed media stories about three new accusers, show the town footed the legal bill to protect Maturos interests in heated court disputes.

The documents, obtained through a Freedom of Information request, show $171,600 was spent on attorneys and private investigators to build a defense for Maturo in the July 2014 state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities complaint filed by Francine Carbone, who was fired by the town, as well as the subsequently filed state civil suit and federal Family Leave Act suit.

When asked for comment on the cost of his legal defense, Maturo, who has denied all the accusations, accused the Register of being fake news.

That case involved a lot more than a sexual harassment case, he said via phone Tuesday. It involved a wrongful firing case, which the Register continues to fail to mention. All that is mentioned is the sexual harassment case.

The mayor continued, I settle cases, probably hundreds of times a year. That includes a $3 million DOJ lawsuit. I settled that out of court and the Register never lambasted me for it. Again, I say: fake news.

Republican Town Councilman Ken McKay recently told Hearst Connecticut Media he believed the town legally should protect the mayor, just as it would a firefighter or policeman.

If [the mayor] says things that are out of order, we have to protect him, McKay said. Hes an employee of the town of East Haven.

Democrats on the council, however, are frustrated with the fact that the town covered Maturos legal expenses.

We think its wrong, Councilman Joe Carfora, D-3, said. And its rubbed taxpayers the wrong way.

Councilman Nicholas Palladino, D-2, said Thats $171,000 of taxpayers money that should have never had to be spent.

That money was for somebodys misbehavior, for lack of a better word, he said. I dont remember anywhere in the town charter under the job description of the mayor it saying that harassing female employees was part of his job.

The New Haven-based law firm Lynch, Traub, Keefe & Errante, which was hired to defend Maturo according to state civil court filings, charged the town more than $70,000 for four years of legal services, records show.

The firm charged hourly rates between $65 and $185 to perform tasks such as sending emails, making phone calls, conferencing with other attorneys, deposing and subpoenaing witnesses and preparing for trial, according to the bills.

Lynch, Traub, Keefe & Errante attorneys billed for items such as inspecting and performing an acoustical test in the Town Hall office, deposing Carbones family members and preparing to subpoena another women who would eventually come forward publicly to accuse Maturo of sexual harassment herself: Roxanne Melillo.

Billing documents show attorneys were researching Melillo, conferencing with each other about deposing her and reviewing a video file titled with her last name as early as November 2017. She didnt come forward publicly with the accusations until Sept. 19, after the Carbone settlement was reached. There were reports of a Facebook Live video of Melillo accusing Maturo of harassment around that time. The legal documents dont indicate what the video file they reviewed contained.

Prestige Investigations, a Connecticut-based private investigation company, was hired by attorney Hugh Keefe on behalf of the mayor to conduct background checks, take photos, and search, locate and interview witnesses, bills from the firm show.

Prestige charged an hourly fee of $150 for most of the tasks it performed, according to invoices. The town paid a total of $11,150 for the companys services, according to purchase orders.

The towns counsel in the Carbone cases was Wallingford-based law firm Loughlin Fitzgerald, state court documents show. The total bill for the firms legal services related to the Carbone case dating back to July 2015 was more than $97,000, according to invoices sent to Town Attorney Joseph Zullo.

Loughlin Fitzgerald charged the town $135 per hour for work done by an associate and $185 per hour for a partner.

The firms preparation for the trial  which never happened because the parties settled right before it was scheduled  included reviewing notes from Carbones therapy sessions, filing numerous motions to quash subpoenas, creating posters for trial exhibits and traveling out of town to retrieve depositions, according to bills.

Loughlin Fitzgerald associate James Ringold and partner John Conways extensive work on the Carbone case involved going through Carbones childs medical records, reviewing timecards and researching FMLA case law, the companys bills show.

The firms billing documents also show its attorneys were strategizing to reach a settlement in the state civil suit as early as February.

All of the mayors legal bills were covered by funds from the towns Legal and Lawyer Fees spending, a line item in the legal services department budget, according to Zullo.

The cost of Maturos defense was slightly less than the $175,000 settlement Zullo said the legal team agreed to pay Carbone on Sept. 12.

The town already has paid Carbone $87,500 of the settlement, according to a finance department purchase order. That money came from the towns self-insurance fund, Zullo said.

The deal also included health insurance for Carbone and her husband until age 65, per Zullo.TORRINGTON  The three stars pinned to the uniform of Torringtons new police Chief William Baldwin Monday have a special meaning, he said: They represent his sons.

In a moving speech to a standing-room only crowd at the Torrington City Auditorium, Baldwin thanked his wife, Susan; his three young-adult sons, David, Michael and Nicholas; and his father, William Baldwin Sr.

In his remarks to colleagues and the public, Baldwin said, Every community gets the law enforcement it insists on.

Baldwin pledged to support his native city. I believe Torrington holds the distinction as the finest police department in the state, he said.

He started his law enforcement career with the Torrington Police Department in 1983, Baldwin said. He then worked for the Connecticut State Police until returning home to the the citys department nearly 29 years later.

Its unique to leave a place where you started and come back, especially as a police chief, he said.

Litchfield County States Attorney David Shepack has known Baldwin for decades. He drew a laugh when he continued and decades ... and decades.

Bill is a straightforward, ethical, honest and a skilled law enforcement officer, Shepack said.

He grasps that law enforcement has changed over the years, as has the perception and obligations. ... Chief Bill Baldwin has a nice ring to it, he said.

Im pleased to administer the oath of office today, said Mayor Elinor Carbone. The chief has an internal drive to support the community.

She complimented Baldwin for his good strong sense of ethics and respect for the law.

Carbone also recognized Interim Police Chief Wayne Newkirk. We were in fine hands with his role in the most difficult time. Wayne has done a fine job and earned respect.

Newkirk was named interim chief after former Chief Michael Maniago retired in June. He was chief for nine years.

When the announcement was made about Baldwins hiring in November, Carbone said he was one of three finalists out of a group of 10 applicants interviewed for the position.

When the hiring process concluded, Newkirk was asked whether he was interested in the position .

I have 24 years on the job, Newkirk said. I plan on retiring soon. Its best if they bring in somebody.

My career has been rewarding, both personally and professionally, Baldwin said I have seen tragedy and been at (crime) scenes that made national news.

I began my career here and I will likely end my career here as a police officer, he said.Public health officials and some students in the Lake County have argued an increase in the purchasing age from 18 to 21 will make it harder for teens to access tobacco products at a time when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently labeled the use of vaping and e-cigarettes among teens as a national epidemic.The Cambodian government said Tuesday that Radio Free Asia is welcome to reopen its office in the capital Phnom Penh, asserting that no pressure had been applied to RFA to shut down last year and that the congressionally funded U.S.-based international broadcaster had chosen to close on its own.



There was no pressure, Minister of the Interior Sar Kheng said during a public meeting at the ministry attended by police officers and NGO representatives. RFA closed the office by itself.



But now we welcome them back, and the radio station can reestablish its office in Phnom Penh, Sar Kheng said.



RFA closed its nearly 20-year old bureau in the Cambodian capital on Sept. 12, 2017 amid a growing crackdown by Prime Minister Huns ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) on independent media, NGOs, and independent critics ahead of national elections in July of this year.



Cambodian journalists working for RFA had reported over the years on corruption, illegal logging, and forced evictions, among other stories largely ignored by state-controlled media, and authorities had already closed independent radio stations carrying RFA reports, using a pretext of tax and administrative violations.



On Nov. 14, 2017, RFA reporters Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin were taken into custody and charged with illegally collecting information for a foreign source.



Cambodias Ministries of Information and Interior had warned prior to their arrests that any journalists still working for RFA after its office in the capital closed would be treated as spies.



The pair were released on bail in September 2018 after spending nine months behind bars on charges of espionage. Multiple local and international rights groups had condemned Hun Sens government for its treatment of the two reporters during their detention, demanding that they be freed.



Back taxes owed



Meanwhile, Sar Kheng said, the Cambodia Dailyan independent newspaper often critical of Prime Minister Hun Sen that closed in September 2017can resume operations if the paper pays what he said were taxes still owed to the government.



Sar Kheng said that the paper had evaded payment by closing its operations in the country.



But if the Cambodia Daily returns and agrees to pay its taxes, they will have full rights to resume operations, he said.



Speaking to RFAs Khmer Service, Cambodian Center for Independent Media director Nop Vy said that instead of simply saying that foreign media outlets can return, Cambodias government should introduce clear measures guaranteeing press freedoms in the authoritarian Southeast Asian country.



I would like the government to open more space for everyone to freely express their opinions on how to improve society, he said.



I would also like to see journalists work independently and in security, he said.



Speaking to RFA, ethnic minority villagers in Mondulkiri and Ratanakiri provinces voiced caution over statements Monday by Cambodias Ministry of Foreign Affairs that independent media can resume operations in Cambodia.



One villager named Chan Vorn said that independent media have helped local communities in the past to voice their concerns, and have helped expose government inaction in solving problems.



Promises now by the ruling party to restore press freedoms may be deceptive, though, Chan Vorn said.



I dont believe the government will do this. They just want to show that they are restoring democracy, though theyre not, he said.



Also speaking to RFA, a Mondulkiri villager named Kroeung Tola said he wants press freedoms to be restored so that journalists can travel freely to remote areas to report.



Independent media help a lot, he said.



Promises doubted



Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked Cambodia 132nd out of 180 countries in its 2017 World Press Freedom Index, and warned that the Southeast Asian nation is liable to fall in the 2018 index.



Cambodias Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday outlined a plan to strengthen democracy and political space in the country following a divisive election that returned Hun Sen and the ruling CPP to power, though observers say the proposal is aimed only at alleviating international threats of trade sanctions over last years election, which was widely criticized as unfree and unfair.



The statements provisions include plans to amend the countrys political party law to lift a five-year ban on the political activities of 118 senior members of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), which was dissolved by the Supreme Court in November last year for its role in an alleged plot to overthrow the government.



Sin Chanpov Rozeth, a popular CNRP commune chief stripped by the ruling party of her post in Banteay Meancheys OChar commune, expressed doubt that the government will follow through on its pledge, however.



If 118 CNRP members are allowed to return to politics, this would mean a reinstatement of the CNRP, she said.



Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Richard Finney.Authorities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong have released on "bail" a rights activist who publicly commemorated the June 4, 1989 military crackdown on the Tiananmen Square student movement last year.



Li Xiaoling was charged with "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," after she wore a T-shirt with a commemorative slogan on Tiananmen Square last year.



Li was released from the Xicheng Detention Center in Guangdong's Zhuhai city, she confirmed in a brief exchange on Tuesday. But she declined to comment further.



"I'm in Zhuhai, but it's really not convenient for me to talk right now," Li said, using a phrase often used by activists to indicate the presence of surveillance.



Li's friend Zhou Li said she is still under considerable police restrictions.



"It is inconvenient to contact her right now, because she signed an agreement to a bunch of restrictions on her when she came out," Zhou said. "Her relatives work [in Zhuhai], so it may not be convenient for her to give interviews."



Li was among a group of activists that included Beijing-based Qi Zhiyong, who was maimed when a tank ran over his legs on the night of June 3, 1989 in Beijing, along with Dalian-based Jiang Jianjun and Shandong-based Wang Fulei.



The group had taken photos of themselves wearing T-shirts and holding placards as an act of protest ahead of the 27th anniversary of the massacre last June.



The T-shirts bore the words "June 4th. Never Forget," and state security police quickly launched a probe into the photographs.



Nearly blind



Li suffers from severe glaucoma, a condition that worsened during her detention, and she only received over-the-counter eye drops to relieve her symptoms. She is now nearly blind in her left eye, Zhou said.



"I am very happy that she is back," she said. "Her mood is relatively good, but her health is very poor."



Zhou added: "Besides her eyes, she has been in pain from a tumor in her abdomen, but we don't know if it is benign or malignant."



Li's former defense lawyer Lin Qilei said her release came after previous requests for bail were rejected by the authorities, and may have been as a result of Li's agreeing to fire him as her attorney.



"The authorities are of the view that her original lawyer wouldn't do as he was told, and wouldn't allow himself to be manipulated by them," Lin said. "Once she had fired her original lawyer, the two sides came to a compromise arrangement that allowed her to be freed earlier today."



"This is the sort of pressure the authorities put on people, by promising them a suspended sentence or [other concessions] if they get rid of their attorney," he said. "If they keep using that lawyer, they will probably get a much heavier sentence."



"Giving the fact that Li Xiaoling's eyes are in urgent need of medical treatment, it's entirely understandable that she would fire us, and we have no complaints about that," he said.



Broadened controls



The number of people who died when People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops cleared Beijing of thousands of protesters calling for democracy who had camped for weeks in on Tiananmen Square remains a mystery, and the ruling Chinese Communist Party clamps down quickly on any public commemorative activities.



However, younger people in China continue to bypass the "Great Firewall" of Internet censorship to find out about the events of 1989, activists told RFA at the time of Li's detention.



The administration of President Xi Jinping has broadened government control over freedoms of expression, assembly, and association, and the right to political participation, continuing a trend set in place after the 1989 crackdown, and detaining hundreds of activists in recent years, rights groups say.



The Tiananmen massacre was preceded by a peaceful gatherings of students, workers, and others in Beijings Tiananmen Square and other cities in April 1989 calling for freedom of expression, accountability, and an end to corruption, but the government responded by instituting martial law, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a report issued on last year's anniversary.



Victims' group the Tiananmen Mothers have compiled exact accounts of the deaths of 202 people across China, including Beijing.



Reported by Gao Feng for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.Police stand guard outside the Xianning Intermediate People's Court during the trial of a Chinese business tycoon in Xianning, central China's Hubei province, March 31, 2014.

China has stepped up pressure on its embattled legal profession, requiring more than 100,000 lawyers to take a new national oath to "root out instability," particularly in ethnic minority areas of the country.

Justice minister Fu Zhenghua attended a collective lawyers' oath-taking ceremony in Hohhot, the regional capital of Inner Mongolia on Sunday, the same day as more than 100,000 lawyers took the same oath in hundreds of Chinese cities, the ministry of justice said in a statement on its website.

The lawyers swore allegiance to the People's Republic of China, and to "strive to build a socialist country ruled by law," it said.

The oath ceremonies were aimed at "strengthening lawyers' ideological and political education," the ministry said.

But under newly revised rules on oath-taking, lawyers who failed to take the oath could face professional sanctions.

The new rules say that oath-taking is a necessary prerequisite to professional practice, according to Shanghai human rights lawyer Dai Peiqing.

"We weren't invited," Dai said of himself and his fellow rights attorneys. "We have been marginalized."

"I wouldn't have gone anyway ... I have no need to stand up and wave my fist around and parrot these pretty-sounding words," he said. "I don't like the swearing with a clenched fist; it's like violence."

"I think it's a pretty ridiculous spectacle," he added.

Treating lawyers like communists

Tan Yongpei, a former rights attorney stripped of his license by the local justice bureau for taking on too many "sensitive" human rights cases, said the collective nature of the oath was also problematic.

"This is treating lawyers like communists," Tan said. "A formal oath should be an individual, not a collective, matter."

But he said any lawyers who refuse to swear allegiance in this way will face serious sanctions.

"If you don't swear, you won't pass your annual inspection. This will be linked with the annual inspection," he said, referring to the process that renews a lawyer's license to practice.

Beijing lawyer Huang Hanzhong agreed.

"We believe that as a profession, lawyers' first loyalty should be to the service of their client," Huang said. "There is no such thing as a lawyer's oath ... It is really just a pet project of the ministry of justice."

Veteran dissident and political commentator Zha Jianguo said the oath-taking ceremonies are a disguised way to step up restrictions on who can practice law in China.

"When lawyers swear allegiance to the Constitution, this is really about their allegiance to the ruling [Chinese Communist] Party," Zha said.

"But lawyers aren't government officials ... So must all professions now swear an oath? This is too harsh," he said.

A nationwide police operation under the administration of President Xi Jinping has targeted more than 300 lawyers, law firms, and related activists for questioning, detention, imprisonment, debarring and travel bans since it launched in July 2015.

Reported by Gao Feng for RFA's Mandarin Service, and by Wen Yuqing for the Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.North Koreas small businesses in the food sector are being threatened by large-scale, state-run processed food manufacturers, who in recent months have been flooding local markets in the provinces with instant noodles and other snack products, RFA sources say.

As we enter December, Pyongsong Market is getting tons of [several different kinds of] instant noodles, and creme-filled bread from Pyongyang, a source from South Pyongan Province told RFAs Korean Service on Sunday.

Large quantities of so many different kinds of food products are being dumped on the provinces at wholesale prices! the source added.

Demand for [these types of] processed food products will likely increase, since [there will be] many end of year parties, and it seems like Pyongyangs food firms are trying to take advantage of the provincial food markets, said the source.

If snacks from Pyongyang keep pouring into [the provinces], people who run noodle stalls, bakeries and [other food businesses] will lose out, the source said.

(not) Boiling resentment

The source talked extensively about a product developed recently, byonsong kuksu. It is a type of instant noodle made of corn that can be prepared and ready to eat using just cold water.

Byonsong kuksu was developed in the early 2000s by a state-run firms food technologists out in the provinces. Rich people invested in the product, the source said, adding, It became quite a hit with busy working women because they could save time by not having to boil water to cook the noodles. They only need to soak it in cold water and they can eat it with kimchi.

A trading company then installed the equipment [needed to manufacture the product] in a Pyongyang food factory a few years ago and then they began making byonsong kuksu there, the source said.

People are now very critical of that company, saying they took the achievement of the provincial factory for nothing. Now they distribute huge quantities of byonsong kuksu in the provinces with the Pyongyang-based companys name on the packaging, said the source.

Another source, based in North Pyongan Province said, People like noodles for [quick] meals. Its one of the most popular products in the local markets.

If all these Pyongyang noodles keep flooding provincial areas, small businesses and people who make their living off the sale of noodles will suffer, the source said.

Profits over people

Trading companies are building more food factories in Pyongyang these days. People are resentful of the central trading companies because they are too concerned with making profits without considering the effect this has on people out in the provinces, the source said.

By distributing all these food, medical and cosmetic products, they are threatening the livelihoods of ordinary people, and the companies that do this are run by the ruling party or the military, the source said.

Since they are unable to make enough foreign cash from trading, they monopolize domestic distribution networks to the point that ordinary peoples livelihoods are at stake!, said the source.

Reported by Hyemin Son for RFAs Korean Service. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong.Three journalists from Myanmars Eleven Media Group have refused to apologize to the Yangon regional government for a report criticizing its business dealings and budget, and they stand behind the reporting that prompted criminal charges of incitement against them, said the news outlets editor-in-chief on Tuesday.

Chief reporter Phyo Wai Win and top editors Kyaw Zaw Lin and Nari Min were arrested and detained in October on charges of committing offenses against the state for publishing an article with a critical focus on Yangon government spending. The article charged that officials mismanaged public funds through business dealings by the regions Chief Minister Phyo Min Thein.

Though the journalists welcomed a move by Yangon officials to drop the case in November, the journalists maintain that the report is factually correct and that they have no reason to apologize as the chief minister has requested, chief editor Kyaw Zaw Lin told RFAs Myanmar Service.

RFA was unable to reach plaintiff Aung Kyaw Khine, director of the Yangon regional government who had filed the court case, for comment. He previously said that the article published in the Weekly Eleven News Journal on Oct. 8 damaged the dignity of the Yangon government.

The journalists were arrested in October and charged under Section 505(b) of the Penal Code, a vaguely-worded section that prohibits the publication or circulation of any statement, rumor, or report with intent to cause fear or alarm to the public or to any section of the public whereby any person may be induced to commit an offense against the state or against the public tranquility.

After President Win Myint issued a directive calling on the Yangon government to cooperate with the Myanmar Press Council (MPC) to try to resolve the complaint under the countrys Media Law before taking it to court, officials withdrew the case and freed the men on 10 million kyats (U.S. $6,300) bail.

Yangon officials said they would submit the dispute to the MPC, though Phyo Min Thien pledged to continue with the legal case if the journalists refused to satisfy his demand for an apology after the negotiations.

Lack of transparency

In the meantime, the journalists have met with the MPC three times to explain why they wrote and published the article, Kyaw Zaw Lin said.

The Yangon regional government has said that information the journalists used in the report was incorrect and has asked them to apologize for it, he said.

We told them that the facts we used in the article were included in quotes from regional lawmakers based on the auditor generals report, Kyaw Zaw Lin said.

We told them that we can find a solution though discussions with the Yangon regional government, the Myanmar Press Council, parliament, and the auditor general, he said.

Hla Htay, a lawmaker in the Yangon regional parliament, said the case against the journalists occurred because of a lack of transparency concerning company investments.

If the government officially released the rules and regulations for company investments, it would be clear whether the regional government had mismanaged funds as the report indicates, he told RFA.

Regional lawmakers have discussed the issue in parliament, but no one from the Yangon government has responded or offered an explanation, he said.

Meanwhile, MPC chairman Ohn Kyaing said that council members are waiting to be invited to the Yangon regional governments office again to mediate between both sides.

Reported by Thet Su Aung for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.Rohingya refugees pray at a ceremony commemorating the first anniversary of a military crackdown that prompted a mass exodus of people from Myanmar to Bangladesh, at the Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhia sub-district of Cox's Bazar, southeastern Bangladesh, Aug. 25, 2018.

A United States museum dedicated to the Holocaust said Monday that compelling evidence indicates that Myanmars armed forces committed ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity, and genocide against Rohingya Muslims during crackdowns in 2017 and 2016.

The Burmese militarys campaign against the Rohingya, especially the attacks of August 2017, have been deliberate, systematic, and widespread, said Lee Feinstein, a member of the governing council of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, in a statement.

Thousands died during the violence, which included widespread torture, rape, and arson, and drove more than 720,000 Rohingya across the border where they have been living in sprawling refugee camps in southeastern Bangladesh.

The government of Myanmar, which the U.S. officially calls Burma, has largely denied that its forces committed the atrocities that United Nations investigators, rights groups, and some nations say amounted to ethnic cleansing, genocidal intent, or genocide itself.

For the sake of the remnant community of Rohingya still in Burma and those threatened with being returned, we hope this announcement prods action, said Lee, who also chairs the Committee on Conscience, which advises the genocide prevention work of the museum.

The museum said it reached the conclusion based on a joint analysis in consultation with an advisory group of atrocity experts, its own original research published in a joint report in 2017 with the NGO Fortify Rights, information from a U.S. State Department report documenting the atrocities, and a report by a U.N. fact-finding mission.

The report by U.N. investigators issued in late August detailed violence by Myanmar security forces and called for the prosecution of top military commanders on genocide charges at the International Criminal Court or by another criminal tribunal.

Our analysis concludes there is compelling evidence that Burmese authorities have intentionally sought to destroy the Rohingya people because of their ethnic and religious identity, said Naomi Kikoler, deputy director of the museums Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide, in the statement.

The Rohingya victims we work with feel abandoned, she said. The world has turned a blind eye to their persecution  just as it did for victims of the Holocaust.

The museum issued a report in March 2015 cautioning about early warning signs of genocide against the Rohingya based on an on-the-ground investigation by staff from the Simon-Skjodt Center.

In March 2018, it revoked a prestigious human rights award it had given to Myanmars Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate who is the countrys civilian leader, citing her refusal to acknowledge and stop the militarys atrocities against the Rohingya.

Another genocide report

Separately, the Washington-based Public International Law and Policy Group said Monday that a report it conducted under contract for the U.S. State Department indicates the likelihood that the Myanmar military committed crimes against humanity, genocide, and war crimes against the minority group.

The report is based on more than 1,000 interviews with Rohingya refugees who fled to Bangladesh during the 2017 crackdown.

A U.S. government resolution sponsored by Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) says atrocities committed by the Myanmar forces after August 2017 constitute crimes against humanity and genocide and calls for the imposition of additional sanctions on perpetrators, including military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.

The resolution also calls for the release of two Reuters reporters serving seven-year sentences in Myanmar for possessing classified government documents while reporting on the extrajudicial killings of 10 Rohingya Muslims during the crackdown.

Human rights groups and media advocates have strongly condemned their convictions as a sham and a blow to press freedom.

The House is expected to pass the resolution as early as next week, Politico reported.

The U.S. has accused Myanmar only of ethnic cleansing.

Vice President Mike Pence took Aung San Suu Kyi to task in mid-November, telling the former human rights icon that the countrys persecution of Rohingya is without excuse.

She responded by saying that people have different points of view, but the point is that you should exchange these views and try to understand each other better.Pilgrims kneel at the entrance to the Jokhang temple in Lhasa, Dec. 18, 2012.

Chinese police have been deployed in large numbers over the weekend Tibets Jokhang Temple in Lhasa as Buddhist pilgrims flock to the area to celebrate the religious events Gaden Nga Choe and Shichoed, sources in the Tibetan regional capital say.

Worshipers were under tight security during the event, which commemorates the life of a revered teacher of Tibetan Buddhism, Je Tsongkhapa on the anniversary of the day he died in 1419.

For the two day celebration, the Chinese police have demonstrated a show of force and power to intimidate the people, a pilgrim told RFAs Tibetan Service.

It was very disappointing, the pilgrim said.

People celebrate this religious festival on the 25th [day of the tenth month of the Tibetan calendar (Dec 2 in 2018)], the source said, adding, [They] light butter lamps, practice purification and accumulation, and make special aspirational prayers.

Gaden Nga Choe falls one day before Shichoed, the day in which Jamchen Choeje Yeshi, who founded the Sera Monastery and one of Tsonghkapas main disciples, died in 1443. The two days combined have come to be observed as a major religious event.

Another source familiar with the situation at the temple told RFA, On both days of the celebration, Tibetans, both from Lhasa and other areas congregated in both Jokhang Temple and the surrounding Barkhor Street in the evening.

They prostrated and lit butter lamps for the accumulation of good merits, the source said.

But the Chinese government sent officers from the public security bureau along with armed police in plain clothes to keep an eye on the crowd. Tibetans were only allowed to go into the temple under close watch, the source added.

[Seemingly] infinite numbers of worshipers began been giving offerings and lighting lamps on the evening of the 24th and well into the 25th, and continued well after midnight, but the Chinese police have maintained their presence with no sign of letting up, said the source.

Another source in Tibet said, The Chinese government explained that the heavy police presence is necessary for public safety and isnt meant to intimidate.

But in reality, while the police do allow people to worship, they are very strict and can strike at a moments notice if an incident occurs, the source said.

Reported by Kunsang Tenzin for RFAs Tibetan Service. Translated by RFAs Tibetan Service. Written in English by Eugene Whong.The death toll among Afghanistan's security forces will no longer be sustainable unless urgent measures are taken to address recruiting and training issues, a top U.S. general has said.

"They are fighting hard, but their losses are not going to be sustainable unless we correct this problem," Lieutenant-General Kenneth McKenzie said on December 4 at a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee amid frustration among Congressmen over a lack of progress in the 17-year conflict in Afghanistan.

McKenzie, who has been nominated to lead the U.S. military's Central Command that oversees wars in the Middle East and Afghanistan, also warned against an abrupt withdrawal of American forces or change in strategy.

The Western-backed government in Kabul has struggled to counter attacks from the Taliban and other militant groups since the withdrawal of most NATO combat troops in 2014.

In October, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Afghan forces had more than 1,000 dead and wounded during August and September alone.

And Afghan President Ashraf Ghani last month said the death toll among Afghan security forces since 2015 was close to 29,000 -- a figure far higher than anything previously acknowledged.

If confirmed, McKenzie, a Marine officer who served two tours in Afghanistan, would replace the General Joseph Votel, who is retiring, as head of U.S. Central Command.

McKenzie said that Afghan forces are still unable to effectively withstand the Taliban fighters, who now number about 60,000 in Afghanistan.

If we left precipitously right now I do not believe they would be able to successfully defend their country," he said.

Some 14,000 U.S. soldiers are currently serving in Afghanistan, mainly training and advising the Afghan security forces, and McKenzie couldn't say how much longer the United States will remain in the country.

"I do know that today it would be very difficult for [the Afghan security forces] to survive without our and our coalition partners' assistance," he said.

"The operational military situation is largely stalemated," said the U.S. general, who also voiced optimism over invigorated U.S. efforts to settle the Afghan conflict.

U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad met on December 4 with Pakistani officials in Islamabad, and a Taliban official said four members from the group's political office in Qatar were also in Pakistans capital, according to the Associated Press news agency.

President Ghani on November 28 laid out what he called a "road map" for peace talks with the Taliban and said his government had formed a 12-person team for the negotiations.

The militants have long refused U.S. demands to directly negotiate with the Kabul government.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, and AFPLincolnwood police say they are looking into the whereabouts of a 54-year-old resident who has been reported missing and whose vehicle was discovered Monday in Chicago.The Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) has postponed its summit initially scheduled for later this month, the Kremlin says.

Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said on December 4 that the decision was made at Armenia's request because of the country's snap general elections set for December 9.

Ushakov told reporters in Moscow that the summit, initially scheduled for December 6, will most likely be held next year.

Armenia currently holds the rotating presidency of the CSTO, which also includes Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.

CSTO Secretary-General Yuri Khachaturov was relieved of his duties last month after being charged with overthrowing Armenia's constitutional order when he was the country's deputy defense minister.

Ushakov said Russia's Valery Semerikov will continue to serve as acting CSTO secretary-general.

Based on reporting by Interfax and TASSMoldovan President Igor Dodon has thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for help in removing bureaucratic barriers that were preventing Moldovan labor migrants in Russia from returning to Moldova to take part in the country's February 2019 parliamentary elections.

Dodon wrote on Facebook on December 3 that he and Putin agreed in early November that some 170,000 Moldovan nationals working in Russia, including those who violated Russian migration regulations, will be allowed to leave Russia for Moldova during January and February and return to Russia by March.

Dodon said those taking part will not be liable for violating Russian migration laws.

"This move indicates the openness of the Russian leadership as well as its great interest in helping our citizens and developing our two nations' strategic partnership, " Dodon wrote.

The Russian Interior Ministry said on December 3 that Moldovan citizens who have outstayed their permission to live and work in Russia will not be held liable if they leave by February 24, 2019 -- the day of Moldova's parliamentary elections.

Dodon is the leader of Moldova's Socialist Party, a splinter group from former President Vladimir Voronin's Communist Party.

He also is a staunch ally of Putin.

Dodon won the presidency in 2016 after an election campaign that capitalized on a wave of nostalgia for the Soviet era.

With reporting by InterfaxWhile many Bosnians are having difficulty putting bread on the table, a group of lawmakers are looking for a few free loaves of their own.

With a new parliament preparing to convene, some deputies who weren't reelected are asking the Supreme Court to rule to bring back the privilege that's been dubbed "white bread," where departing legislators are granted up to a year's pay to help them adjust to private life.

The topic, long a sore spot in one of Europe's poorest countries where one in six people lives on less than $5 a day, has sparked public outrage on social media, and even among some of those who are leaving office, who have begun to refer to "hungry" politicians.

"Until the approach to our government's thinking about economic policy and their greed changes, we will have situations like this," says Faruk Hadzic, a Bosnian macroeconomic analyst.

The term "white bread" is derived from a sarcastic twist on how Bosnians refer to wages. Money earned through work is often called "black bread," thus funds given to lawmakers when leaving their jobs as a perk has taken on its moniker.

Under the plan, lawmakers could receive as much as 2,850 Bosnian marks ($1,660) a month for a year. The average monthly Bosnian wage, by comparison, was about $800 in August.

The "white bread" practice was abolished for national lawmakers in 2016 amid protests that it was costing the state millions of dollars each year, though it still exists for those in legislatures in both of the country's two entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska.

Despite a widening national budget deficit in 2018, around 15 deputies have demanded that current lawmakers reimplement the "white bread," raising a chorus of protests from many Bosnians as the country's economy struggles to gain strength.

The thought of giving politicians money for nothing hits hard especially among Bosnia's youth, where the unemployment rate was 38.8 percent in July.

Zeljko Ninkovic, a consultant at the Center for Civic Initiatives in Banja Luka, says the right to "white bread" shows a complete "ignorance" by domestic politicians, who are looking out solely for their own interests as they exit public life after failing voters.

"If at least they showed a tiny bit of will and lowered the amount they're demanding to the average monthly salary, they could at least see what it's like for ordinary Bosnians to live on 850 marks," Ninkovic says.

"But they want everything!"

'Let Them Eat Bread!'

Social media have been flooded with posts criticizing officials asking for the payments, while some have become creative to show their displeasure, posting pictures of bread stuffed with currency, jewelry, and other riches.

Or plain old cash.

Adam Sukalo is a departing member of parliament who has responded to the outcry. The outgoing Republika Srpska National Assembly deputy has submitted a request for "white bread" but vowed to use it for humanitarian purposes.

"I will not take this 'white bread' for myself, but instead will give it back to the people," he says, adding that just at the local level in the Bosnian Serb entity there are 256 functionaries with the right to "white bread."

"If I don't take the funds, they will remain in the budget and be allocated to those who want to keep the privilege alive."

With reporting by Ajla Obradovic of RFE/RL's Balkan ServiceAuthorities in Russia's Far Eastern Kamchatka region say they have launched a criminal investigation against a local leader of the Jehovah's Witnesses religion.

The Investigative Committee said on December 4 that the 34-year-old man, whose identity was not disclosed, is suspected of organizing Jehovah's Witnesses gatherings at least twice a week.

He also is suspected of distributing what Russian authorities say are extremist videos and books in the regional capital, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

If convicted, the man faces up to 10 years in prison.

Jehovahs Witnesses have long been viewed with suspicion by Russian authorities because of their opposition to military service, voting in elections, or following government authority in general.

In 2017, Russias Supreme Court ruled that the Jehovahs Witnesses religion was an extremist group, effectively banning an entire religious organization that claims some 170,000 adherents across Russia and more than 8 million worldwide.

It is one of several religious denominations that have come under increased pressure in Russia in recent years.

In August, the Investigative Committee said it detained three members of a Jehovah's Witnesses church in Kamchatka's town of Yelizovo -- the first members of the banned organization to be arrested in the region.

The committee said the three were suspected of "committing a crime linked to extremism" by participating in activities of "a banned religious organization."

Earlier in 2018, the Moscow-based Memorial human rights group said at least 29 Jehovahs Witnesses had been detained on criminal charges across Russia since the Supreme Courts rulings.

It said about two dozen were being held in detention centers while the others were confined to house arrest.

Memorial says the Supreme Court's ruling did not cite any instances of group members violating Russian laws or regulations.

Last summer, a group of about 60 Russian writers, historians, and activists signed an appeal calling on authorities to stop persecuting Jehovahs Witnesses.

In June, advisers to Russian President Vladimir Putin questioned the legality of criminal cases opened against Jehovah's Witnesses and asked the Prosecutor-General's Office to protect the group's religious freedom.

The United States has called on Russia to release dozens of people it says have been identified by rights groups as political prisoners.

They include Jehovahs Witnesses that Washington says have been in pretrial detention for more than a year.Iranian President Hassan Rohani has threatened again to close the Strait of Hormuz, the passageway for nearly a third of all oil traded by sea.

Iranian state TV quoted Rohani as saying on December 4 that "if someday, the United States decides to block Iran's oil [exports], no oil will be exported from the Persian Gulf."

Rohani also vowed that the United States would not be able to prevent Iran from exporting its crude oil.

Rohani made similar threats after U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from Iran's nuclear deal with world powers and said he would work to prevent Iran from exporting any oil.

Rohani's threat to block the strait has been welcomed by Iranian hard-liners like General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the powerful Quds Force within the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.



Brian Hook, the U.S. special representative for Iran, dismissed Rohani's threat, saying that Tehran did not control the Strait of Hormuz.



"The strait is an international waterway. The United States will continue to work with our partners to ensure freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce in international waterways," Hook said, according to the Associated Press news agency.

Based on reporting by Reuters and APASTANA -- The leader of Kazakhstans unregistered Alash People's Social Democratic Party, Syrym Abdirakhmanov, has been arrested on a series of criminal charges.

Abdirakhmanov's lawyer, Tolegen Shaikov, told RFE/RL on December 4 that a court in Astana had ruled on December 1 that his client be held in pretrial detention for two months.

Shaikov says Abdirakhmanov was sued by an Astana city official and charged with distribution of false information, assaulting a public official, offending a public official, and obstructing justice.

The lawyer did not provide further details about the case.

Abdirakhmanovs party in 2017 named itself after the first Kazakh political party -- Alash -- which existed from 1917 to 1920.

The Alash People's Social Democratic Party positions itself as a centrist party of Kazakh youth, but it has never been officially registered.

The party says its main goal is "to preserve the country's independence via an implacable fight against corruption, bureaucracy, and injustice."

In February, the party said it was working "to save Kazakhstan in two years via anticorruption efforts and reforms."

Opponents and rights groups say Kazakhstan's 78-year-old President Nursultan Nazarbaev has systematically suppressed dissent and sidelined potential opponents in the country for decades, shoring up a grip on power that he has held since before the dissolution of the Soviet Union 1991.ASTANA -- Kazakhstan has confirmed that two of its citizens have been indicted in the United States for an alleged online fraud involving fake advertising that caused companies to lose tens of millions of dollars.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Aibek Smadyarov told reporters in Astana on December 4 that Kazakh citizens Sergei Ovsyannikov and Yevgeny Timchenko had been arrested in Malaysia and Estonia, respectively, on U.S. arrest warrants.

Ovsyannikov, Timchenko, and six Russian nationals were named in the 13-count indictment unsealed in a U.S. District Court in New York on November 27.

The Justice Department said the suspects were indicted on charges that included wire fraud, computer intrusion, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering.

One of the Russians indicted in the case, Aleksandr Zhukov, was detained in Bulgaria, while the other accused are at large.

Russia's Consulate in New York has said it was informed about the accusations against the six Russian citizens and was monitoring the situation.Kyiv says Russia has "partially" unblocked Ukrainian ports on the Sea of Azov, allowing Ukrainian ships to pass through the Kerch Strait for the first time since November 25, when Russian forces seized three Ukrainian Navy vessels and detained 24 crewmen.

Berdyansk and Mariupol are partially unlocked, Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan said on December 4, as NATO reiterated its call on Russia to allow "unhindered access" to Ukrainian ports in the Sea of Azov.

Vessels make their way to the entrance and exit through the Kerch Strait toward Ukrainian ports, Omelyan said.

The minister said that ships navigating through the Kerch Strait to and from Ukrainian ports are stopped and inspected by Russia as before, but the traffic has been partially restored."

Ukraine's Agriculture Ministry later said that the country had resumed grain shipments from the Sea of Azov.

"Passage of vessels with agricultural products through ports in the Sea of Azov has been unlocked," the ministry said in a statement.



"The loading of grain to vessels through the ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk is restored and carried out in regular mode," it added.

The naval confrontation between Russia and Ukraine topped the agenda of a NATO foreign ministers' meeting with their Ukrainian counterpart, Pavlo Klimkin, in Brussels.

After the talks, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the 29 members of the alliance called on Russia to "immediately release the Ukrainian sailors and ships it seized."

"Russia must allow freedom of navigation and allow unhindered access to Ukrainian ports," he added.

"In response to Russia's aggressive actions, NATO has substantially increased its presence in the Black Sea region over the past few years -- at sea, in the air, and on the ground," Stoltenberg also noted.

Russia continues to hold 24 Ukrainian sailors detained in the November 25 incident, despite demands from NATO for their release from detention centers in Moscow.

Moscow Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Potyayeva was scheduled on December 4 to visit three Ukrainian sailors who were injured in the November 25 incident, when Russian forces rammed a Ukrainian Navy tugboat and fired on two other ships before seizing the vessels.

The clash has added to tension over Crimea, which Russia occupied and illegally annexed from Ukraine in March 2014.

It also has raised concerns of a possible flare-up in a simmering war between Kyiv and Russia-backed separatists that has killed more than 10,300 people in eastern Ukraine since April 2014.

The Russia-backed separatists hold parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, including a piece of shoreline that lies between the Russian border and the Ukrainian Sea of Azov port city of Mariupol.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, on December 3 said concerns that Moscow could seek to create a "land corridor" linking Russia to Crimea were "absurd."

At their Brussels meeting, the foreign ministers "restated NATOs solidarity with Ukraine," Stoltenberg said.



"We recognize Ukraines aspirations to join the alliance, and progress has already been made on reforms. But challenges remain, so we encourage Ukraine to continue on this path of reform. This is crucial for prosperity and peace in Ukraine," the NATO chief said.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFPTBILISI -- A leading member of Georgia's opposition United National Movement party has been found dead in his apartment in Tbilisi.

Media reports said on December 4 that the preliminary cause of Nikoloz Rurua's death was a heart attack.

The 50-year-old politician was a close associate of former President Mikheil Saakashvili, who became president after leading a bloodless revolution that forced Eduard Shevardnadze to step down in November 2003.

Rurua became a lawmaker after Saakashvili came to power and served as Georgia's Culture Minister between 2009 and 2012.Macedonias parliament has approved the language of a draft constitutional amendment on the countrys name change, clearing another barrier toward resolving a long-standing dispute with Greece and putting the Balkan country on a path to join NATO.

The vote late on December 3 by the parliament in Skopje was on the language of a draft amendment to change the name of the former Yugoslav republic to the Republic of Northern Macedonia.

The draft was passed 67-23 with four abstentions.

A simple majority was all that was needed, for now, to advance the draft amendment to the next stage of the process  a vote expected in January on whether the amendment should be adopted.

A two-thirds majority of all 120 lawmakers in parliament is required to change Macedonias constitution.

Based on reporting by AFP and dpaThe URL has been copied to your clipboard

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RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service has been granted exclusive access to film on board a flight of the world's biggest plane -- the Antonov An-225 Mriya cargo plane. The plane was built in the 1980s to carry the Soviet space shuttle, the Buran.The Black Sea naval confrontation between Russia and Ukraine and the fate of a major Cold War missile treaty will top the agenda for foreign ministers and diplomats from 29 NATO members meeting in Brussels.

Ahead of the December 4 meeting, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg demanded that Russia release Ukrainian sailors and naval vessels it seized in the confrontation nine days ago near Crimea.

"There is no justification for this use of force. We call for calm and restraint. Russia must release the Ukrainian sailors and ships," Stoltenberg said on the eve of a two-day meeting of NATO foreign ministers.

Russia has been holding the sailors -- crewmen from three Ukrainian naval craft -- since the confrontation, which added to tension over Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.

U.S. officials, meanwhile, are expected to try and rally support for their contention that Russia violated the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty by testing and then deploying a missile banned under the treaty, known as the INF.

U.S. officials have been sharing with European allies more detailed intelligence on the missile, and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats last week for the first time provided specific indications of how Russia allegedly tested it.

Moscow has repeatedly denied any violation, though after years of denials, it has acknowledged the existence of the missile that Washington has identified.

President Donald Trump in October announced that the United States would be withdrawing from the INF.

The alliance will also host an expanded meeting of its governing North Atlantic Council to involve foreign ministers from Georgia and Ukraine. Russia has vehemently opposed any efforts by NATO to admit former Soviet states into the alliance.U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has criticized China, Iran, and Russia for violating numerous treaties and multistate agreements.

In a foreign policy speech to the German Marshall Fund in Brussels on December 4 ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, Pompeo said recent moves by the three countries have caused instability in the world.

Pompeo said the United States would continue to lead by calling out "bad actors" that have exploited loopholes within international institutions for their own gain.

He also rejected critics who suggest that President Donald Trumps administration is acting unilaterally on key international issues.

"In the finest traditions of our great democracy, we are rallying the noble nations to build a new liberal order that prevents war and achieves greater prosperity," Pompeo said.

"Under President Trump, we are not abandoning international leadership or our friends in the international system," he said. "We are acting to preserve, protect, and advance an open, just, transparent, and free world of sovereign states, Pompeo said.

This project will require actual, not pretend, restoration of the liberal order among nations, Pompeo said. It will require an assertive America and leadership from not only my country, but of democracies around the world."

Trump in October vowed to abandon a 1987 nuclear arms treaty with Moscow, saying Russia has been violating the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) since 2014.

NATO allies are calling on Trump not to go through with his decision, but instead to work to bring Russia into compliance with the treaty.

Pompeo said Trumps administration is working to reform institutions that have been at the heart of international order since the end of World War II.

He said the United Nations, the European Union, the African Union, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank have become corroded and are in need of change.

He said Washington is pushing the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to reduce funding to countries like China, saying they already have access to financial markets in order to raise capital.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, and dpaA Russian nongovernmental organization focused on preventing the spread of the HIV virus that causes AIDS says it has closed its office in the Siberian region of Altai Krai because it has not been able to raise funds to pay a fine for refusing to register in Russia as a foreign agent.

Maks Olenichev, a lawyer for the Vybor (The Choice) HIV prevention group, told Russia's daily Kommersant newspaper that the organization was unable to collect enough donations to pay the 150,000 rubles ($2,300) fine.

Last week, the Altai Krai regional court upheld a decision by a lower court in the city of Biisk to levy the fine against Vybor.

Charges against the group were filed under a controversial 2012 law that requires NGOs receiving foreign funding and engaging in political activities to register as "foreign agents" and to regularly proclaim their status.

Civil society advocates say the law is aimed at bolstering Kremlin control over Russian society

Olenichev said Russia's Justice Ministry added the HIV prevention group to the registry of foreign agents in 2017, claiming that Vybor received financial support from foreign organizations in 2014 and 2016.

The lower court also ruled that Vybor's activities were political because it distributed more than 100,000 disposable syringes and 20,000 condoms among residents of Biisk, where its office was located.

Vybor's representatives argue that one of the organizations the court determined was "foreign" was actually Russian.

They also insist that activities to prevent diseases cannot be considered political.

The group says it conducted thousands of anonymous HIV tests in recent years to help residents determine whether they were HIV positive.

Last week, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control and the World Health Organization's European office said that almost 160,000 people were newly diagnosed with HIV in Europe in 2017.

It said 75 percent of the new cases were in Russia and Ukraine.

Based on reporting by KommersantAn Afghan official says the Taliban stormed a police checkpoint in the northern province of Sa-e Pol, killing a district police chief and another police officer.

Zabi Amani, a spokesman for Sar-e Pols provincial governor, said the attack began late on December 3 in the Sayyad district -- setting off a gunbattle that lasted into the early morning hours of December 4.

Amani said four police officers were wounded in the fighting.

He said there also were casualties among Taliban fighters, but he didnt provide further details.

Meanwhile, a gunbattle was being waged in Kabul early on December 4 between police and a man who was being evicted from his house under a court order.

Basir Mujahid, a spokesman for the Kabul police, said one police officer was killed in that gunbattle and six people were wounded  including a reporter.

Based on reporting by Reuters and APAn Armenian military aircraft has crashed during a training mission, killing its two pilots.

The Defense Ministry said on December 4 that the Su-25 jet disappeared from the radar screens minutes after taking off from an airbase in the northwestern city of Gyumri.

The ministry said the wreckage of the plane was found later.

Ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovannisian said the two pilots, identified as Lieutenant Colonel Armen Babayan and Major Movses Manukian, died in the crash.

There was no word on possible causes of the crash.

Armenia's Investigative Committee has reportedly launched an investigation.

Soviet-designed Su-25s are the main type of military aircraft making up Armenia's small air force.An Afghan police officer and a security guard have been killed in Kabul during a 24-hour standoff between police and the stepson of Afghanistan's former defense minister, Abdul Rahim Wardak.

Six police officers and a journalist were also wounded in the gunbattle that began on December 3.

Afghanistan's Interior Ministry said on December 4 that Wardak's son, Tamim Shansab, brought parts of Kabul to a standstill during his clash with the authorities.

Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said the standoff ended after Tamim Shansab, earlier identified as Tamim Wardak, surrendered to police on December 4 along with 13 of his private security guards.

Five of Shansab's security guards had surrendered late on December 3.

Fighting began when Kabul police arrived at Shansab's house in downtown Kabul to carry out a forcible eviction order from a Kabul court and were met by armed resistance.

Rahimi said an individual had filed a lawsuit against Shansab, claiming that the residence was his and that Shansab was living there illegally.

The individual won all three trials in the case and Shansab was told to leave the residence in early November, but had so far refused.

The office of Wardak, defense minister from 2004 to 2012, denied any link between his family and the violence.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, and dpaHalyna Trofanyuk joined the mass protests in Kyiv known as the Euromaidan, hoping Ukraine would have a prosperous future and closer ties with the European Union. Five years later, she travels to neighboring Poland for work -- just as she did before the what Ukrainians call the "Revolution of Dignity."Ukrainian police have searched several churches affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as the homes of priests, amid growing tensions over the fate of Ukraine's competing Orthodox communities.

The searches in Kyiv and the nearby Zhytomyr region on December 3 were part of a criminal investigation into inciting hatred and violence, according to a statement by Ukraine's main security service, the SBU.

A police spokeswoman told AFP that security services were searching homes of priests who are loyal to the Russian branch of the Orthodox Church.

The Russian Orthodox Church said the day before that more than 20 priests had been summoned for questioning by the SBU.

The Istanbul-based Ecumenical Patriarchate, whose leader is considered "first among equals" in Orthodox Christianity, has moved to grant the Ukrainian Orthodox Church independence from oversight by the Russian church in Moscow.

The Russian church has vehemently opposed the move and announced it would break ties in protest.

Tensions have been building amid questions over ownership to churches, monasteries, and historic properties.

With reporting by AP and AFPThe United Nations Security Council has met behind closed-doors to discuss Iran's latest missile test, which the United States and other allies said may have been in violation of a three-year-old council resolution.

The December 4 session ended with no joint statement despite a U.S. call for council members to condemn Iran's weekend ballistic missile test, which Washington described as "dangerous and concerning."



"The United States has repeatedly warned the world about Iran's deliberate efforts to destabilize the Middle East and defy international norms, U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said in a statement. "The international community cannot keep turning a blind eye every time Iran blatantly ignores Security Council resolutions."

The Iranian mission to the UN claimed that describing Iran's ballistic missile program as inconsistent with UN resolution 2231, which was passed as part of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and Western powers, or as a regional threat was "a deceptive and hostile policy of the U.S."

After the council meeting, French Ambassador Francois Delattre said there was "widely-shared concern" at the council about Irans missile test and renewed France's call to Iran to halt all activities related to its missile program.

U.K. Ambassador Karen Pierce said that the type of missile launched on December 1 went "way beyond legitimate defensive needs" and points to Iran's destabilizing behavior in the region.

Tehran has neither denied nor confirmed the missile launch.

Iran says its missile program is defensive and not aimed at building an arsenal of nuclear-tipped missiles.



On December 3, the U.S. special representative for Iran, Brian Hook, urged the European Union to impose new sanctions on Iran, calling the program a "grave and escalating threat."



U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier said the ballistic missile was capable of carrying multiple warheads and striking parts of Europe and the entire Middle East.



The United States in May said it was withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal and moving to reimpose economic sanctions on Iran, angering Washington's European allies.

With reporting by AFPMotorists in 32 states are paying less to fill up compared to a year ago. As the national gas price average drops to $2.46, it sets a new low price for the year and is cheaper than a year ago by two cents.The UN Security Council will meet behind closed doors to discuss Iran's latest missile test, which the United States and other allies said may have been in violation of a 3-year-old council resolution.

The December 4 meeting comes amid growing concern about Iran's missile programs

France has described the weekend test as "provocative and destabilizing" and said it did not "conform" with UN Resolution 2231, which was passed in 2015 as part of the landmark nuclear deal between Tehran and Western powers.

British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt also called the test "provocative, threatening, and inconsistent" with the resolution and said London was determined "that it should cease."

Iran says its missile program is defensive and not aimed at building an arsenal of nuclear-tipped missiles.

On December 3, the U.S. special representative for Iran, Brian Hook, urged the European Union to impose new sanctions on Iran, calling the program a "grave and escalating threat."

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier said the ballistic missile was capable of carrying multiple warheads and striking parts of Europe and the entire Middle East.

The United States in May said it was withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal and moving to reimpose economic sanctions on Iran, angering Washington's European allies.

With reporting by AFPThe United States says it will suspend its obligations under a Cold War nuclear arms treaty if Moscow does not return to compliance within two months.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the decision on December 4 after NATO allies meeting in Brussels "strongly" supported U.S. accusations that Russia violated the terms of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty between Moscow and Washington.

The pact prohibits the United States and Russia from possessing, producing, or deploying ground-launched cruise and ballistic missiles with a range of between 500 and 5,000 kilometers.

Amid heightened tensions between Moscow and the West, U.S. President Donald Trump in October vowed to abandon the treaty, saying Russia had been violating it with a new missile system.

Russia has said little about its Novator 9M729 cruise missile, also known as the SSC-8, other than to deny that it is in breach of the pact.

Accusing Russia of "cheating at its arms control obligations," Pompeo told a news conference in Brussels that Russia has 60 days to return to compliance with the treaty, after which time the United States would suspend its own compliance.

"During this 60 days we will still not test or produce or deploy any systems, and we'll see what happens during this 60-day period," he said.

"We've talked to the Russians a great deal," the state secretary also said. We're hopeful they'll change course, but there's been no indication to date that they have any intention of doing so."

Pompeo said Russia had developed "multiple battalions" of the SSC-8, adding that its range "makes it a direct menace to Europe."

'Big Setback'

In a joint statement issued earlier in the day, the NATO foreign ministers said Russia had "developed and fielded a missile system, the 9M729, which violates the INF Treaty and poses significant risks to Euro-Atlantic security."

The ministers from the 29-member alliance called on Moscow to "return urgently to full and verifiable compliance," saying, "It's now up to Russia to preserve the INF Treaty."

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said it was "essential to act in a firm and united way" and that Moscow would bear the responsibility if the 1987 agreement collapsed.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that although Moscow has a last chance to comply, "we must also start to prepare for a world without the treaty," which was the first to abolish a whole category of weapons.

"This was really arms control at its best and therefore it's a really a big setback if this treaty now breaks totally down," Stoltenberg said.

In Moscow, Vladimir Shamanov, who heads the Defense Committee in Russias lower house of parliament, the State Duma, said Moscow would not reply to the Wests "false accusations."

"Russia is not the kind of country one can give ultimatums to. Russia too has questions for the U.S., ones that they have left unanswered," said Shamanov, according to the Interfax news agency.

Moscow has alleged that some elements of U.S. missile-defense systems in Europe were in violation of the treaty, which Washington denies.

With reporting by AFP, AP, Reuters, and InterfaxPaskalides also said he believes the response from District 53 to his Oct. 9 FOIA request was incomplete because it doesnt show any correspondence between Beatty and Ray and Associates, Beatty and other board members and discussion by board members that gave Beatty the OK to sign the contract with the search firm.Military police inspect vehicles entering Cancun, municipal police upon exiting

Cancun, Q.R.  Members of the Mexican military have taken over a highway checkpoint that enters the city of Cancun.

The roadway leading into Cancun from Merida has been taken over by military police of the Tenth Military Police Brigade. Their presence at the checkpoint has remained in place for several days.

With their green berets, military men and women have been carrying out vehicle inspections in search of drugs and weapons entering the city, however, municipal police continue to take charge of vehicle inspections leaving the city of Cancun, heading toward Merida.

The arrival of the military along with their implementation into things such as vehicle inspections is part of the citys project to increase security.

Prior to their arrival, a handful of municipal police manned both sides of the checkpoint.The gunman who approached the passengers side of the car is described as 15 to 19 years old, standing between 5-foot-8 and 5-foot-10, weighing between 130 and 140 pounds, had an afro-style haircut and was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with the hood up and a white/blue surgical mask. No description was provided for the third man.This October 28, just before Halloween, four generations from the James family did something they've done through the years when they can get together. Kathy (Jess) James, her 91-year-old mother Marilyn James, sister Bonnie Guenther and her daughter Kelci Rolfstad, Kathy's niece Jessica Hanna and her daughter Lohgan gathered at Bonnie's lake house and amid much talking and laughter made lefse together.

Even though Marilyn is Norwegian and German, she had never made lefse before she married her husband, Frederick James. When Marilyn married him in 1949 they moved to the James homestead farm and ranch in Alexander, North Dakota. There, she learned how to make lefse from her sisters-in-law and Ladies Aid at the church. She has been making it ever since. While in Alexander, Marilyn would get together with the local women and make it every holiday season. Now that she has moved into the Arbor House assisted living in Williston, North Dakota, she makes it there. This year she also got to make it with family.

Marilyn James, 91, is the family matriarch and is still enjoying life. (Photo by Kathy James)

Lefse is a popular Norwegian tradition in the MonDak region. Many immigrants from Norway settled in Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota bringing their customs with them. According to the Library of Congress' website, http://www.loc.gov, nearly one million Norwegian immigrants came to the United States between 1820 and 1920. That's the largest percentage of the population of any Scandinavian country. Although lefse is native to Norway the kind we know of here in the states is a fairly recent addition. According to http://www.norwegianamerican.com, potatoes are native to the Andes mountains of South America and did not arrive in Norway until about 1750. Before that, a flatbread was made in Norway and still is. According to http://www.lefsetime.com it was made from wheat flour, was like a cracker and would not go bad for the whole season. The lefse we know in the states is a simple concoction of potatoes, flour, butter, cream or milk, salt, and sugar. The potatoes can be mashed, riced, flour or instant depending on the recipe and is usually cooked on a griddle.

"It was Kelci's idea," Kathy told me. "She's an optometrist in Billings and wanted to make lefse with her grandmother, mom, and extended family." Kathy owns the James Gang Java coffee shop at the Lewis and Clark Trail Museum in Alexander North Dakota. It is open during the summer months.The Roundup spoke to Marcia Hellandsaas, the McKenzie County Extension Agent, about how the local area celebrates the Christmas Season in their own unique way. Hellandsaas explained that McKenzie County residents typically celebrate the holiday with family, food and generosity-filled traditions.

Hellandsaas explained, "We're a very generous community that remembers the people who struggle. We do have a pretty large population that struggles in the oil boom. In the Bakken, we always have people here who struggle."

She continued with the various ways the community comes together to help, saying, "We have the Blue Santa, which is in conjunction with law enforcement and the Eagle's Club and give away presents there for kids. Social services does a great job and gives a lot to families. The Salvation Army rings bells at Cash Wise, and we're looking for volunteers to ring the bells. That's a tradition we've had for many years."

Hellandsaas continued, "Another one is the Bakken Oil Rush and their Christmas celebration coming up. They have a program. They give away a lot of presents. They have surprises for folks who come. That is located out north of the Post Office. They sell at very reduced prices, things like clothing, furniture, household items, all kinds of things. Their celebration seems to be growing every year. It is thriving. They have a meal, too."

The Bakken Oil Rush Ministry is run by Pastor Jim Konsor and his wife, Kathie. The ministry hosts the annual event with volunteers and corporate sponsors from the community.

Speaking of such festive giving, Hellandsaas said, "I think a lot of our Christmas surrounds that kind of generous atmosphere."

Hellendsaas, who grew up in the southwest part of the state, explained her own family traditions. They mirror the mirth and rich tradition celebrated by the rest of the community.

"We get together with both sides of our families," Hellandsaas explained. "I think we're really traditional like a lot of local people and families. We have quite a few relatives here. There is a lot of family. We are Norwegians, so there are a lot of us and we have Norwegian food and a fun Norwegian meal. We get together and exchange gifts."

She explained further, "That's our Christmas Eve traditionally. We go to church services. That's another one that we do, a lot of our family members attend. There's Christmas Eve service, but also Christmas day services that many of us attend."

"There are also a lot of families for whom it's traditional to get together and bake. They bake lefse. It's very traditional to make that dish. I don't know if they do it any more, but they used to do it at the Legion, senior citizens would come together and make it and give it away to friends and family."

Hellandsaas also wanted to clarify that the holiday for most local residents wasn't just about family, food and philanthropy. It is also about the birth of Jesus.

She told The Roundup, "Well, I think we really have to think about the religious meaning. That's when Jesus was born, and it's to celebrate his birth. It's not all just about traditions and presents. It's about his birth. "The Montana Department of Transportation hosted a public meeting in Fairview last Thursday concerning the proposed Fairview West project, which involves reconstructing six miles of roadway, including two miles of new alignment north of Fairview Airport to alleviate impacts from commercial truck traffic in Fairview, and improve safety.

A new intersection will be constructed at the junction of Hwy 201 and 200 with input from local road users. Designs were presented at the meeting and written comments were taken. DOT is asking individuals to complete the Fairview West Improvement Survey at fairview.metroquest.com to provide feedback on the proposed intersection designs.

The project is in the preliminary design phase and is expected to be ready for construction by 2022.One of the reasons I didnt want to push too fast [with implementation] was I wanted to make sure we had all the right information, Kaminski told Mazzuca on Monday. Ive always tried to make the right decisions for the right reasons . Please dont say I was dragging my feet, as you imply. I was being methodical to try and make sure we had the best research.The Pioneer Museum of McKenzie County, located in the Long X Visitor Center, 100 2nd Ave SW, Watford City, ND will host the author of Pacing Dakota, Professor Thomas D. Isern, for a booktalk and autograph session on Thursday, December 6, 2018. The author will be in the house from 3 to 7 p.m. to meet readers and sign books for purchasers. At 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Prof. Isern will present a booktalk and reading, which also will include original song based on stories in the book. The book will be available at the museum gift shop as well as Pride of Dakota refreshments.

Isern is Professor of History and University Distinguished Professor at North Dakota State University, where he has served since 1992. Pacing Dakota is his seventh book. The publisher of the work is North Dakota State University Press (ndsupress.org).

Pacing Dakota was published in July by NDSU Press and has received enthusiastic response from readers and reviewers alike. Dr. Isern is no stranger to the prairie, observes the High Plains Reader; he searches out real things in real places and makes it his habit to follow the road less travelled.

Betsy Jameson, former president of the Western History Association, says, Pacing Dakota is the work of a consummate regional historian and firmly-rooted plainsman. The work is sensate, literate, socially rooted, and thoughtfully situated. It is a book to savor.

People across the northern plains know Isern for his voice in the radio feature, Plains Folk, heard weekly on Prairie Public. Pacing Dakota came together as a collection of sketches, drawing on radio scripts written to read on radio. Somewhere in the process, as the author wrote transitions and added reflections, looking back on forty years as a working historian and regional author, the work crossed the line into the domain of memoir. The narrative transitions from the close confines of historical archives into the prairie landscapes of the northern plains. It speaks with the mingled voices of scholarly historian, outdoor sportsman, culinary enthusiast, lifelong Lutheran, and prairie farmboy.

This book might have been called My Life on the Plains, Isern jokes, but that title was taken! I am a storyteller. The stories in Pacing Dakota come from all over the state. But Im sixty-six years old, I have lived all my life on the plains, and so I am part of the story, too.

Pacing Dakota is available locally from the Pioneer Museum of McKenzie County. The book also can be purchased from independent bookstores across the region, direct from NDSU Press at ndsupress.org, or from other online booksellers.Sidney, Montana  The Richland County Health Department announced today that it has achieved national accreditation through the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB). The national accreditation program works to improve and protect the health of the public by advancing and ultimately transforming the quality and performance of the nations state, local, Tribal, and territorial public health departments. The Richland County Health Department is one of fewer than 200 health departments that have thus far achieved accreditation through PHAB since the organization launched in 2011.

We are excited to be one of the smallest health departments in the country to be accredited. The department staff dedicated 3 years to achieving this honor not only for our department but the entire county, said Judy LaPan, Department Administrator. By achieving accreditation, Richland County Health Department is demonstrating increased accountability and credibility to the public, funders, elected officials and partner organizations with which we work.

The national accreditation program, jointly supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, sets standards against which the nations nearly 3,000 governmental public health departments can continuously improve the quality of their services and performance. To receive accreditation, a health department must undergo a rigorous, multi-faceted, peer- reviewed assessment process to ensure it meets or exceeds a set of quality standards and measures.

The Richland County Health Department has worked tirelessly for 3 years to ensure the systems, policies and programs were in place to best meet the health needs of our community. This included working through the Communities in Action process to develop the Community Health Assessment and the County Strategic Plan, and working with various stakeholders and community members, as well as our staff and coalition members.

Additionally, the department developed a comprehensive management system that provides a structure for measuring our performance in all aspects of the public health services we provide. A quality improvement process was included to ensure that the department maintains a high standard in the services provided. By continuing to improve our services and performance, we can be sure we are meeting the public health needs of those we serve as effectively as possible. The bottom line is that we have the capacity, along with our partners, to create an environment where all residents of Richland County can be healthy and enjoy the highest quality of life.

The Richland County Health Department joins the growing ranks of accredited health departments in a strong commitment to their public health mission, said PHAB President and CEO Kaye Bender, PhD, RN, FAAN. The peer-review process provides valuable feedback to inform health departments of their strengths and areas for improvement, so that they can better protect and promote the health of the people they serve in their communities. Residents of a community served by a nationally accredited health department can be assured that their health department has demonstrated the capacity to protect and promote the health of that community.

The Richland County Health Department joins Missoula, Gallatin, Lewis and Clark, Cascade, Yellowstone and Flathead Counties in becoming accredited.Tata Sons is looking to expand its Taj Group of Hotels portfolio in Punjab

Spokesman News Service: Chandigarh, December 4: Encouraged by the positive stimulus given to industry by the Captain Amarinder Singh government, M/s Tata Sons is looking to expand its Taj Group of Hotels portfolio in Punjab in a big way. The company has identified 10-15 projects for expanding its business in the state, its chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran informed Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh at a meeting here on Tuesday.

The Chief Minister, during the meeting, asked M/s Tata Sons to come out with a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for its proposed project on rejuvenation of Chhoti Nadi and Badi Nadi River Bodies in Patiala. He handed over to the company chairman a formal letter of mandate for the same. The preliminary cost of the project is estimated at Rs. 550 crores, with a maintenance period of 10 years.

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The company chairman agreed to explore the Chief Ministers suggestion of setting up an auto plant in the state, and also evinced interest in expanding into food processing, retail and the IT sector, which Captain Amarinder said offered immense potential for growth in view of the various incentives given by his government and the ease of business promoted by the new industrial policy.

Chandrasekaran said with the retail and service sectors not requiring much gestation period, these were an attractive proposition for expansion in the state, an official spokesperson said after the meeting. The Chief Minister pointed out that Punjab not only had surplus power to support industry but also boasted of no labour problems of any kind.

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The possibility of starting Air Asia operations from Amritsar was also discussed, with Chandrasekaran promising to look at connecting Amritsar through domestic flights of the companys aviation wing. M/s Tata Sons Ltd. had earlier shown keen interest in the efforts of the Government of Punjab in dealing with the pollution and destruction of its water bodies, and had made a representation for the "Rejuvenation of the Chhoti Nadi and Badi Nadi River Bodies in Patiala" to the Patiala Urban Planning and Development Authority (PDA).

The representation was taken to the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB) for further evaluation under the PIDB Unsolicited Proposal Bye Laws 2008 and, after a preliminary examination, a decision was taken to issue the mandate to M/s. Tata Projects Limited for bringing a detailed project report at their expense for further scrutiny and international bidding as per the Swiss Challenge method.

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The project envisages the rejuvenation of the Chotti Nadi, Badi Nadi and other water bodies of the Patiala City. It seeks to intercept all raw sewage or effluent entering the river, divert it to treatment plants, and release treated effluent to create a clean, pollution free, safe and perennial water body.

In this project, rubber dams are also proposed to be constructed at strategic locations to create a separate freshwater body which will ensure better flood management. The Riverfront is proposed to be developed with theme parks, walking avenues, sitting/functional spaces along the river, tree plantation landscape on both the banks of the water bodies. TATA Power CEO Parveen Sinha and TATA Sons President Banwali Agrawal were also present at the meeting.

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The Chief Minister accompanied by Industries & Commerce Minister Sunder Sham Arora, Media Advisor Raveen Thukral, Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh, Chief Principal Secretary to CM Suresh Kumar, ACS Investment Promotion-cum-Industries & Commerce Vini Mahajan, Principal Secretary to CM Tejveer Singh, CEO Invest Punjab Rajat Aggarwal.The calls for the ouster of MGT Consulting of America, the firm hired last year by the state to run the academic and financial operations of the school district, came after it became known former state school chief Tony Bennett serves on MGTs board of directors. The state gave the company a $6.2 million contract last year. It can also earn up to $1.45 million in incentives.Valparaiso police responded around 2:40 p.m. Sunday to 360 S. Campbell St. for a report of a man down in the area, according to a release from Sgt. E.J. Hall, the departments public information officer.Frataccia was the longest-serving member of the Valparaiso Park Board, said parks director John Siebert, who also led the memorial service. Frataccia was appointed to the park board in 1990 and served for 28 years, one of several roles he served in the community.Tropical forests in the Amazon, Indonesia, and Mesoamerica face multiple threats from mining, oil, and gas extraction and massive infrastructure projects over the next two decades, according to a study by Clark University researchers and their international colleagues in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). This encroachment not only threatens forests and biodiversity but also indigenous and rural communities.

Across the world, governments and investors are teaming up on huge regional development projects to build roads, railways, port facilities, and waterways. Their goal is to access areas deep within the forest that are rich with known and potential mineral, oil, coal, and natural gas reserves along with other natural resources, the authors point out.

"Governments have made framework policy commitments to national and cross-border infrastructure integration, increased energy production, and growth strategies based on further exploitation of natural resources. This reflects political settlements among national elites that endorse resource extraction as a pathway towards development," according to the authors of "Resource Extraction and Infrastructure Threaten Forest Cover and Community Rights," an article published December 3 in PNAS.

Five of the 12 authors have Clark ties, including lead investigator Anthony Bebbington, a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences and the Milton P. and Alice C. Higgins Professor of Environment and Society and former director of Clark's Graduate School of Geography. Currently, Bebbington is serving as Australia Laureate Fellow at the University of Melbourne.

The other authors include Denise Humphreys Bebbington, research associate professor in Clark's International Development, Community and Environment Department; and three more researchers associated with the Graduate School of Geography: Laura Aileen Sauls, a doctoral candidate; John Rogan, associate professor; and Kimberly Johnson '16, M.S.'17, who graduated from the Accelerated B.A./Master's Degree Program in geographic information sciences and now works as a data mapping analyst at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in Seattle.

The Clark researchers partnered with researchers and officials from community- and environment-focused NGOs and academic institutions in Indonesia, Brazil, Peru, the Netherlands, El Salvador, and Australia.

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The researchers used geospatial and qualitative data, including that gathered through interviews and workshops with stakeholders in Brazil, Indonesia, Peru, Mexico, Norway, and El Salvador.

Past research has shown that the expansion of infrastructure has led to deforestation, they say. But fewer investigators have studied how the complex interactions between two massive forces -- infrastructure investment and resource extraction -- have combined to threaten forests and communities, according to the authors.

"This rich body of work on deforestation and associated policy recommendations focuses far more on agriculture and forestry than on resource extraction or associated large-scale infrastructure," the authors explain. "There is even less analysis of the types of social and political relationships that have been created by these large-scale investments and which become self-perpetuating through lobbying and the re-entrenchment of power relations."

They stressed the urgency of this research, given the monumental infusion of government support for development across the world. In 2014, for example, the Group of 20 -- an international forum of governments, including the United States -- "committed to invest up to an additional $90 trillion in global infrastructure by 2030, and in 2016 committed to link infrastructure master plans across world regions," the authors note.

They urged researchers to shed light on governmental corruption and human rights abuses that often accompany these massive investments, and to promote policy-making that protects forests and communities. In Honduras, for example, violence and murder surrounded the Aguas Zarcas hydroelectric conflict in 2016.

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"Such investment exacerbates existing conflicts and creates new ones, reflected in the most extreme cases by the killings of environmental defenders," the researchers stress. Citing the work of Global Witness, they note, "Globally, 200 such killings were reported in 2016, and 207 were reported in 2017, the majority linked to contestations over mining, logging, hydropower, agro-industrial, and infrastructure projects."

To protect forests and human rights, the authors suggest "new and different approaches to development that prioritize these objectives while accommodating some resource extraction and agroindustry priorities."

Examples include zoning to set aside forest areas and maintain communities; energy strategies focused on reducing dam building and fossil fuel extraction and eliminating coal; community-based forest management; financial incentives to decrease forest conversion; promotion of socially and environmentally responsible manufacturing and production; and especially important, a substantial community and human rights agenda.

The authors spell out converging patterns of resource extraction and forest loss. The direct impacts of mining and oil and gas extraction on forests were limited from 2000 to 2014, they say. However, there were exceptions. Forests were particularly affected by coal mining in Sumatra and Kalimantan; iron ore mining, charcoal and pig iron production in Brazil; and artisanal and small-scale gold mining in Madre de Dios, Peru, along rivers in the Brazilian and Colombian Amazon, across Kalimantan, and in Nicaragua.

On the other hand, forest loss and degradation has resulted more from the indirect impacts of resource extraction, combined with infrastructure investment. When roads are built to access resources, the government "signals" that those areas might be settled and developed.

This phenomenon has occurred in places like the Peten region in northern Guatemala and in Madre de Dios in southeastern Peru, part of the Amazon Basin. After the construction of the Southern Interoceanic Highway linking Brazil and Peru, for example, artisanal and small-scale gold mining intensified. In the future, mineral development could expand elsewhere in the Amazon Basin given large-scale commitments to invest in roads, waterways, and railroads as well as phenomena such as Venezuela's designation of a "mining arc" covering 12 percent of its territory, now under military control with suspension of constitutional rights. In Indonesia, forests and communities in Kalimantan are threatened by coal mining and a proposed railway running through the forest to a coastal port.

Meanwhile, governmental policies that promote growth will have major impacts on forests and contribute to increased greenhouse gas emissions, the authors say. They cite as examples Brazil's Growth Acceleration Program, building highways, waterways, and hydroelectric power plants across the Amazon; Honduras' investments in hydroelectric energy, mining, and petroleum exploration; and Nicaragua's focus on gold mining and exports. This political commitment to infrastructure projects without sufficient consideration of possible social and environmental impacts is also apparent at a subnational level where regulations are even weaker. This has led to further overlaps with indigenous lands and protected areas as in the case of Loreto, Peru, notes co-author Cesar Gamboa of Derecho, Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (Law, Environment and Natural Resources), an NGO based in Lima, Peru.

Added to that are multi-state infrastructure and energy agreements, including major initiatives that will increase transportation across the Amazon and Mesoamerica and deepen integration across the Indonesian archipelago.

"What happens to the forests of Amazonia, Indonesia, and Mesoamerica over the next two decades will depend on which claims over these forests prevail in these contestations over land use," the authors conclude.Once spring-run chinook salmon disappear, they are not likely to re-emerge, indicates genetic analysis of the revered wild fish in a study led by the University of California, Davis. Prompt conservation action could preserve spring-run chinook, as well as their evolutionary potential.

The study, published online today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, illustrates that when human actions alter the characteristics, or "phenotypes," of wild species, these changes can become irreversible. This can have long-term evolutionary consequences because natural phenotypic variation buffers species from environmental changes and is a fundamental prerequisite for future evolution.

"If you lose the spring-run gene, you could potentially lose spring-run chinook forever," said lead author Tasha Thompson, a UC Davis doctoral candidate in the lab of UC Davis Professor Michael R. Miller in the Department of Animal Science. "You can't just assume the potential to recover them will persist in fall-run salmon populations."

WHAT MAKES SPRING-RUN CHINOOK SO SPECIAL?

Wild chinook salmon date back millions of years in western North America. While fall-run populations are relatively abundant, spring-run chinook are on the brink of extinction in most locations where they haven't already been lost.

Spring-run chinook are highly prized by indigenous cultures on the West Coast, where the fish figure centrally in "first salmon" ceremonies and are treasured for their extra fatty flesh. Other fishermen and seafood-lovers seek out "springers" for their good-eating qualities, as well. And the fish are ecologically important, delivering marine nutrients higher in the watersheds than their fall-run counterparts.

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Historically, many rivers hosted large numbers of both spring-run and fall-run chinook. But, the study notes, "because they rely on clean, cold water throughout hot summer months, spring-run chinook are more vulnerable than fall-run chinook" to activities such as logging, mining, dams and water diversion, and to climate change.

WHY SALMON SHIFTED MIGRATION

To understand the importance of the spring-run gene for sustaining spring-run chinook, the authors worked in both Oregon and California. They sampled fish from rivers that still have spring-run chinook as well as rivers where spring-run chinook have already been lost.

Their first stop with was Oregon's Rogue River, one of the few remaining locations with a significant number of wild spring-run chinook. Before a dam was constructed in 1977, most chinook entered the upper Rogue River in the spring. After the dam, spring-run chinook dramatically decreased while fall-run chinook increased. This shift in run timing corresponded with an alarming decrease in the prevalence of spring-run genes.

If these trends continue, the authors' research suggests the potential for complete loss of spring-run genes that are essential for producing Rogue River spring-run chinook returns.

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Their next stop was the upper Klamath River basin, where dams have prevented upstream salmon migrations for over a century, but where archaeological sites retain the history of salmon harvest at indigenous fishing sites across thousands of years.

By sifting through DNA extracted from ancient salmon bones, the authors confirmed the historical presence of spring-run genes in upper Klamath chinook prior to the dams. Dam removal could reopen habitat suitable for spring-run chinook restoration.

The authors then sampled contemporary fish from tributaries below the Klamath dams to find potential source populations with spring-run genes that could be suitable for recolonization following dam removal.

They examined if the more abundant Klamath fall-run chinook could be serving as a reservoir of spring-run genes. In the Shasta and Scott rivers, Klamath River tributaries where spring-run chinook went extinct in the 1930s and 1970s, respectively, the spring-run gene was essentially missing from the fall-run chinook. This result is especially concerning given that wild spring-run chinook are expected to be lost from the Klamath basin within 50 years.

"Out of almost one thousand fish, we found less than 1 percent carrying spring-run genes in each river," Thompson said. "Those fall-run chinook populations cannot be considered sustainable reservoirs of spring-run genes."

NOT TOO LATE

With such low numbers, is it too late for spring-run chinook? Thompson doesn't think so.

In 2021, the largest-scale dam removal in U.S. history is scheduled to begin on the Klamath River with the removal of four dams. This will open up hundreds of miles of historic chinook salmon spawning habitat.

"I definitely have hope for these fish," Thompson said. "A lot of people care passionately for spring-run chinook. Hopefully our results will be used to focus the conservation effort for them."TubaChristmas is in its 45th year, Doebler said, adding more than 250 events will take place this year all over the world. Other events take place Saturday in West Lafayette and on Dec. 22 at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago. The late Harvey Phillips started the tradition in honor of his music teacher, William Bell. VU has been hosting the local TubaChristmas since 2010.Some courthouse employees who look forward to the drive worried that once Wronkowski retired, the turkey drive would be retired, too. The former deputy sheriff said he has played with the idea of handing it off, but he continues to return with a friend or family member or two by his side every December.Last years cost of living increase was 2.1 percent and Turi is estimating 1.9 percent in new growth. Villages usually try to account for as much development within their borders as they can, but the county clerk will reduce any overestimation.The two boys love to go exploring together, said their mother, Cindy Anderson. Some of their efforts took them to the basement and the backyard of their Wilmette Avenue home. Among their finds in those locations  now displayed at the museum  are water and milk delivery bills from the 1960s, found in a basement wall, and a childs spoon found in the back yard, with a possible provenance of the 1950s or 1960s.Legislation designed to protect inmates in California from being released from jail in the middle of the night was introduced Monday in an effort to prevent tragedies like one that happened last July when an Alameda County woman died on the streets.

State Senator Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, introduced SB 42, known as the Getting Home Safe Act, on Monday after the death of Jessica St. Louis, who was released from Santa Rita Jail, in Dublin, at 1:25 a.m, on July 28, a time when no public transit was available. She was later found dead on the street.

The bill would require jails to offer inmates the choice of being released during the daytime when transportation is available.

It makes no sense that a jail would send someone walking alone to a closed train station in the dead of night, Skinner said. Jessicas death was a preventable tragedy.

St. Louis was given BART ticket when she was released, but the nearest BART station was more than a mile away and wasnt scheduled to open for at least four hours. She also did not have a cell phone and had no way to contact friends or family, Skinner said.

Her body was found in front of the Dublin/Pleasanton BART station, the apparent victim of a drug overdose. It wasnt clear how she got the drugs.

Skinner said other women have been exposed to danger after being released from Santa Rita Jail. Reform advocates from the nonprofit Young Womens Freedom Center claim women released late at night have been approached by drug dealers and men attempting to recruit them into sex work.

Senator Skinners office coordinated with members of the Sister Warriors Freedom Coalition (part of the Young Womens Freedom Center) to develop the provisions contained in SB 42.

We are grateful Senator Skinner stepped up to end late-night releases in honor of Jessica St. Louis and the hundreds of other women that have been negatively impacted by this practice, said Jessica Nowlan, executive director of the Young Womens Freedom Center. Together we will make sure that California leads the way and ends this unsafe practice.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

The legislation would also ensure that people released from county jails be given three phone calls and access to a cell phone charging station before departure. Released inmates would also be provided with help enrolling in rehabilitative programs and given access to free transportation to any location within a 100 mile radius, according to the bill.

Any inmate who chooses to be released at night must be given a safe place to wait for a ride, Skinners bill states.

The bill would create a task force made up of women, girls and other formerly incarcerated individuals, to monitor implementation of the act.

My bill will protect people at the point they are released, Skinner said, and by minimizing releases at unsafe times will also improve the health and safety of our communities.

Peter Fimrite is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: pfimrite@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @pfimriteConservative groups that accused UC Berkeley of discriminating against their campus speakers dropped their lawsuit Monday, while the university agreed not to charge fees or relocate speeches based on the speakers viewpoint  a policy that school officials said they have always followed.

The settlement includes a $70,000 payment by the university to the plaintiffs, the Berkeley College Republicans and Young Americas Foundation, for their attorneys fees. Those fees usually indicate that one side has achieved some of its goals in the case, but UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said it was a fraction of the normal fee award and reflected an agreement that left school policies largely unchanged.

The settlement means the university will not have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to prove that UC Berkeley has never discriminated in the basis of viewpoint, Mogulof said.

But Young Americas Foundation, the private organization that funded the lawsuit, called the settlement a landmark victory for free expression that means the university can no longer wantonly treat conservative students as second-class members of its community. And the plaintiffs lawyer, Harmeet Dhillon, said the suit had forced UC Berkeley to change its policies on controversial speakers.

The suit was filed after two conservative commentators, Ann Coulter and David Horowitz, canceled their speeches in the spring 2017, citing campus officials decisions to move their planned evening talks to daytime hours at buildings far from the center of campus. A third conservative, radio host Ben Shapiro, spoke at the school in September 2017 after paying a security fee that was challenged in the suit.

The plaintiffs said UC Berkeley set no such restrictions for liberal speakers. School officials said their regulations were based on security, not ideology.

Earlier, a February 2017 campus speech by far-right firebrand Milo Yiannopoulos was canceled after a student demonstration against him was taken over by masked protesters who smashed windows and set fires. Yiannopoulos then spoke for a few minutes on campus in September 2017 in an event that conservatives had promoted as free speech week.

U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney of San Francisco initially dismissed the groups claims of viewpoint discrimination against UC Berkeley, but ruled in April that they could try to prove bias in the relocation of high-profile speakers.

She noted that the university had charged a $9,162 security fee for Shapiros talk, compared to $5,000 for a 2011 speech by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor at the same location. Mogulof, the campus spokesman, said UC Berkeley had spent more than $600,000 on additional security for Shapiros appearance.

Under the settlement, negotiated with the help of a federal magistrate, planned major events on campus  those that raise safety or security concerns or are expected to draw 300 or more people  will require the sponsoring groups to obtain insurance and, in some cases, search those in attendance. Those groups will be charged security fees only if the event is in a major performance venue, such as Zellerbach Hall, and not for talks in classrooms or a building affiliated with the student union.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

The settlement also prohibits UC Berkeley from charging security fees based on concerns that the viewpoints, opinions, or anticipated expression of the speakers or their sponsors might provoke disturbances. Mogulof said the university has never imposed such fees and would be constitutionally prohibited from doing so.

Dhillon, the plaintiffs lawyer, said that in the past, protesters were making threats, causing security to impose exorbitant fees, which now would be paid by the university under the settlement.

Mogulof said a similar policy has been in effect since at least January. He said nine conservative speakers have appeared on campus this year without any security charges to the student sponsors, because the talks occurred in a classroom or a student union building.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@BobEgelkoConstruction crews widening a Mission Bay platform to accommodate predicted crowds for the Golden State Warriors new arena in San Francisco hit a snafu over the weekend, prompting Muni to replace its trains with shuttle buses to the irritation of some commuters Tuesday.

Stronger than expected rainfall last weekend slowed down workers, who also had to navigate an abandoned duct bank and remove large rocks found in the soil during excavation, Muni spokesman Paul Rose said.

The concrete isnt solidifying as fast as we had hoped, so were continuing the bus shuttles throughout the day, Rose said.

Mondays and Tuesdays service interruptions prompted rider complaints about buses missing stops and long delays as shuttles stacked up on Third Street. Light-rail service was expected to resume Wednesday, officials said, but more commuting headaches could lie ahead. Muni plans to replace the T-Third line with shuttle buses for much of January and the entire month of February as workers finish the UCSF Mission Bay platform.

Martinez resident Rachel Kraus waited Monday morning at the Powell station for the T-Third, which she planned to take to her job at ThirdLove, a fashion retailer based in San Francisco. But the train that arrived was a K-Ingleside that deposited Kraus at the Embarcadero Station without information about the shuttle swap, she said.

There were no signs anywhere telling us where to go, Kraus said. Muni workers were just yelling at us to go to Market and Spear.

Kraus said she is not familiar with the area because she lives in the East Bay, and she didnt have time to search for the detour. She ended up hailing an Uber to get to work on Monday and Tuesday.

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.

Supervisor Malia Cohen, who represents District 10, home to the southern half of the T-Third line, criticized Munis shuttle problems Tuesday.

They need to get larger shuttles or run the smaller shuttles more frequently. Bayview residents depend on the MTA, and issues like this exacerbate our communitys dependency on cars, Cohen said in a statement.

Gwendolyn Wu is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: gwendolyn.wu@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @gwendolynawuEvan Vucci / Associated Press

Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom lobbed a rare compliment at President Trump, saying hes grateful the president has never played politics with disaster declarations following major wildfires in California or last years Oroville dam emergency.

Last month Newsom, Trump and Gov. Jerry Brown toured the Camp Fire in Butte County, which burned more than 18,000 structures and killed 85 people, as well as the Woolsey Fire in Southern California that killed three people.A teenage boy was killed Saturday night in a knife attack in San Franciscos Outer Mission, authorities said.

One dead, one wounded in double shooting in SFs Mission District

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The medical examiners office identified the victim as 16-year-old Josue Mejia-Sanchez of San Francisco. He was attacked around 9:42 p.m. near Mission and Geneva streets, according to the San Francisco Police Department.

Mejia-Sanchez died of traumatic head injuries, said Officer Joseph Tomlinson, a San Francisco police spokesman.

Officers responding to the scene found a 38-year-old man and a 48-year-old man suffering from non-life-threatening injuries. A witness told police that Mejia-Sanchez was driven to the hospital, where he died, Tomlinson said.

Police are searching for three male suspects ages 18 to 20.

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.

Tomlinson said that detectives do not know what led to the attack.

Gwendolyn Wu is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: gwendolyn.wu@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @gwendolynawuFREDERIC LARSON/CHRONICLE

A 28-year-old woman in police custody somehow got past officers and walked out of San Francisco General Hospital on Sunday night, officials said.

The woman, identified as Cresencio Mandujano, was being treated at the hospital on her way to being booked into jail on a warrant out of Los Angeles County, police said. She walked out of the hospital around 11 p.m. and remains at large. Police said they do not consider her a threat.For six decades, Carol Schuldt plunged barely clad into the water off Ocean Beach, befriended mixed-up youngsters and swore like a stevedore.

They called her Schultzie and also the Queen of the Beach  among other things. She was a free spirit and proud of it.

They called me a crazy lady, she told an interviewer years ago.  I would jump in the ocean and throw my clothes off. I was the first hippie. Bodysurfing, being close to nature, that was my path.

Schuldt died Saturday in her mural-covered San Francisco home, only a short walk from the ocean. She was 85 and had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and heart failure.

A native of San Francisco, Schuldt attended Lowell High School, crewed on tuna fishing boats, drove a jitney, worked on an Idaho ranch, played the piano in a North Beach nightclub, bicycled the California coast and attended Beat Generation poetry readings.

In the afternoons, she began spending more and more afternoons at Kellys Cove, the area at the north end of Ocean Beach, below the Cliff House, known for being an early hangout for bodybuilders and surfers.

She and her friends said they were among the first to popularize bonfires at Ocean Beach.

We were purple and freezing. In those days the water was colder. We never brought any wood. It was all driftwood. That was part of our ritual, Schuldt said in an oral history recorded by the Western Neighborhoods Project. Theyve proved that water has a memory and a mojo. In those days, there was none of this science like there is now.

If the water has a memory, it doubtless recalls the sand-covered, sandy-haired woman who would emerge from the Pacific Ocean most afternoons and chat in colorful language with other beachgoers, many of them youngsters who were between jobs, homes and schools. Many such people found a meal and a temporary home with the woman they called Schultzie.

Whether it was eating natural foods, railing against conventionality or keeping a compost pile, Schuldt in the 1960s seemed to be ahead of the curve.

She would call things phony and a bunch of crap, recalled her friend Miner Lowe of San Francisco, who met her in the 1960s when he was learning to surf.

I first noticed her coming out of the water, and she was dressed in a scarf, Lowe said. She was unique. A rebel. A dropout. She shunned all conventionality. ... She had a vocabulary like Tugboat Annie. And she had a strong, robust sense of excitement for life.

Over the decades, San Francisco changed, but the Queen of the Beach didnt seem to. She kept bodysurfing well into her 80s, holding court in front of her beachfront house with anyone who would listen and talking fondly of how things once were.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

The 60s were so colorful, so much fun, she told a San Francisco Public Library oral historian in 2005. Now theres technology  people into their body and looks. Things in your ears. Computers. Its not as much fun as it used to be.

Asked for advice, the Queen of the Beach would invariably reply, Stay close to nature; stay close to the Earth.

And dont forget this, she would add, tapping her heart.

She is survived by her longtime partner, Tamby Tavasieff of Woodacre; her son, Peter Tavasieff; and her daughters, Celeste Tavasieff and Simone Tavasieff, all of San Francisco. A graveside service will be held on Saturday at 2 p.m., at Purissima Cemetery, 1165 Verde Road, Half Moon Bay.

Steve Rubenstein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: srubenstein@sfchronicle.comThe nominations for the 61st Grammy Awards will be postponed by two days to avoid conflict with memorial services for former U.S. President George H.W. Bush, the award show's parent company the Recording Academy said on Monday.

The nominations will now be announced Friday morning, two days later than its originally planned date of Wednesday. The full list of nominees across 84 categories will be announced live on CBS This Morning and on Apple Music by the Recording Academy.

George H.W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States, passed away at his Houston home on Friday at the age of 94. He will be honored with a state funeral at the Washington National Cathedral on Wednesday before being returned to Texas for burial.

The Grammy Awards is the U.S. music industry's highest honor. Driven by the music makers who seek to meet the needs of the music community, several changes have been enacted for this year's Grammy Awards process and categories.

The number of nominations given in the four General Field categories, Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year, and Best New Artist, will increase from five to eight.

Music Supervisors will no longer be eligible for consideration as album producers, unless they produced at least 51 percent of the album in question, according to GRAMMY.com.President Trump made two big trade announcements over the weekend.

First he claimed to have secured an incredible deal with China during the G-20 meeting in Argentina.

Then he announced his intention to formally terminate the North American Free Trade Agreement in favor of a revised version of the pact he negotiated with Mexico and Canada.

Taken together, the two announcements would seem to represent a major overhaul of U.S. trade policy. But as always with Trump, it pays to read the fine print.

Trump agreed to press pause on his dangerous plans for additional tariffs on Chinese goods, and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to do the same with American imports.

While China badly needs to be more responsible about its trade policies, Trumps initiation of a potential tit-for-tat trade war earlier this year was never going to force the country to change. U.S. farmers and consumers were paying the price. Holding off on future increases will help the very Americans for whom Trump has pledged to fight.

As for those promised breakthroughs for U.S. farmers and automakers, China doesnt seem to think it agreed to Trumps terms. Well believe in this deal when both of its parties do.

The presidents NAFTA threat, meanwhile, is intended to force the next Congress to pass NAFTA 2.0.

But neither party is fully on board with the new NAFTA, and the presidents option for escalation  returning the U.S. to a pre-NAFTA state  would destabilize Wall Street and dramatically increase costs for U.S. consumers. In other words, theres a long way to go before either deal is done.

This commentary is from The Chronicles editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters.As the state Supreme Court considers two cases that raise important retirement issues, there is much legal wrangling over the narrow issues being litigated. Unfortunately, it is being accompanied by political rhetoric challenging the wisdom of the legal principle that underlies these cases  a principle known as the California Rule.

The principle embedded in that rule is simply this: A promise made is a promise kept.

This principle has been in place for decades and has been affirmed by courts on numerous occasions. There is no legitimate reason to overturn it  and every moral and logical reason to keep it in place.

Dont let the name fool you, for there is nothing specific to California that makes the principle unique. A majority of states use a contract-rights approach to pension benefits.

The California Rule simply establishes that a labor contract is exactly what the name implies  and, by definition, failure to fulfill a promise in a contract is a breach of contract.

The rule is very clear: Once a retirement benefit is vested, it cannot be taken away. When an employee is promised a retirement benefit, that benefit cannot be eliminated or impaired mid-career.

These promises form the basis for real-world decisions. They may be the reason, for instance, that a police officer turned down an offer for a higher-wage job as a private security consultant. Or why a firefighter decided to purchase a new home, in the process committing to a mortgage repayment upon which she will never be able to renege.

There are those who now argue that the state should be allowed to backtrack on its commitments because it can no longer afford them. That argument ignores the states robust fiscal standing and discounts the significant steps that have been taken to reduce pension obligations over the long term.

Pensions are not busting the state budget. To the contrary, earlier last month, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst stated, It is difficult to overstate how good the budgets condition is today.

State and other public employers have already cut benefits and reduced costs as the result of the comprehensive Public Employees Pension Reform Act of 2013.

Benefits for new employees were reduced, six-figure pensions were eliminated and pension abuses were curtailed. At the local level, more than 200 public agencies have negotiated retirement benefit cuts and increased employee contributions at the bargaining table, saving hundreds of millions of dollars.

Regardless of how the court decides on the two cases that involve how other portions of that law can be applied to employees who were hired before it took effect, the bulk of those reforms will remain in place.

What would be the effect if the court were to overturn or undermine the California Rule?

Across California, firefighters have put their lives on the line to save our communities from raging fires. They have been promised pensions when they retire, as well as death and disability benefits. Should the state be allowed to cut or eliminate these promised benefits for those firefighters working today?

What about teachers, school bus drivers, police and other public employees? If the California Rule is overturned, the retirement promises made to these employees when they were hired are meaningless, because they can be eliminated at any time moving forward.

Cafeteria workers, park rangers and other public employees are not getting rich off their pensions. The average pension in California is about $3,000 a month. Teachers, firefighters and police dont receive Social Security, so their pensions are all they have on which to retire.

California is one of the most expensive states in the nation, and pensions are an important recruitment and retention tool. This tool will be weakened if the law is changed to allow retirement promises to be broken in the middle of an employees career.

And where do these retirement pensions get spent? They are invested right back into our communities, as retirees purchase food, gas and other essentials. A CalPERS study found that retired public employees generate $850.6 million in annual sales and property taxes, and supported 130,000 jobs. CalSTRS estimates that retired teachers pay about $1.2 billion a year in taxes and their benefit spending supports 92,000 jobs.

So, who would benefit from overturning the California Rule?

Not our communities. Not our hardworking public servants. Not our children and students.

Lets hope the Supreme Court is not swayed by bogus arguments, political pressure or phony doomsday predictions. The should adhere to the many previous Supreme Court decisions and uphold the California Rule.

Dave Low is chairman of Californians for Retirement Security, a 1.4 million-member group of firefighters, teachers, school employees, and other public employees and retirees.SACRAMENTO  California lawmakers who have long promised to expand free preschool for children from poor and middle-class families were sworn into office Monday, with a new plan and a new ally.

Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom, who campaigned on expanding early education, said Monday that he wants the state to take steps toward free preschool for all children whose families dont make enough to afford private alternatives. A lawmaker promptly submitted a proposal to do just that.

Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, introduced a bill to make an additional 100,000 children ages 3 and 4 eligible for free preschool. Expanding the program that now pays for preschool for 175,000 children would cost the state about $1.3 billion over three years, McCarty said.

Despite the price tag, his legislation is likely to fall on receptive ears after voters elected a record number of Democrats to the state Assembly  60 lawmakers in the 80-member house  along with 29 Democrats in the 40-seat Senate. Democrats have long advocated that the state provide subsidized preschool for all 4-year-olds from low-income families in hopes of breaking cycles of poverty and incarceration.

Gov. Jerry Brown has resisted their pressure to expand state-funded preschool, saying that although the cause was worthy and the state has the money, it was more prudent to fund budget reserves to see California through inevitable economic downturns.

McCarty said that with the state now consistently running budget surpluses and with a strongly Democratic Legislature, hes optimistic his bill will pass.

Early education is a proven difference maker, McCarty said. And we have a little bit of money in the budget.

Newsom said he wouldnt comment on specific bills, but that he generally approved of expanding poor childrens access to preschool.

The only real argument is, how much can we do? Newsom said. You cant get it to universal even if you wanted to because you would be shortchanging quality. We dont have the facilities and we dont have the workforce. ... It all cant happen overnight.

Under McCartys proposal, AB123, state would also allow for middle-class families who live in high-poverty areas to qualify for free preschool.

California now spends $1 billion a year to provide free preschool for 175,000 students from low- and middle-income families. Some states, including Oklahoma and Florida, already offer universal preschool, and McCarty said California should follow their lead.

Under current rules, a California family of four must make less than $47,000 a year to qualify for free preschool. McCartys bill would expand the number of spots available to those families.

In addition, it would erase income caps for families that live in the attendance area of a school where 70 percent of enrolled children qualify for free and reduced-cost lunches.

The state signaled its intent to provide preschool and other full-day care to low-income children by including it in a 2014 budget bill.

However, in 2015, Brown vetoed a bill by McCarty that would have set a timetable of June 2018 for the state to provide that subsidized schooling for all 4-year-olds from low-income families. The governor called the deadline arbitrary.

McCarty said Monday, You could be a family right here in Sacramento making like $75,000, and you are too rich to get the free preschool but you are way too poor to pay for it on your own, when you include housing costs and everything else.

McCarty introduced a second bill, AB124, which would place a $500 million bond on the 2020 ballot to pay for new preschool classrooms. He also introduced AB125, which would raise salaries for teachers at state-subsidized preschools.

This is a big price tag, but this will make a difference for kids and for student achievement, McCarty said.

Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @MelodyGutierrezRepublican Jaime Patino won only 28 percent of the vote when he ran for a Bay Area Assembly seat four years ago. On Tuesday, however, he will be sworn in as a newly elected member of the City Council in Union City.

One big difference: There was no R next to his name on last months ballot. Voters knew him as a longtime Union City resident, a single dad who knocked on 9,000 doors during the campaign. He didnt have to tell them he was a Republican when he was running for the nonpartisan council position.

If the R label has become toxic for California Republicans after two years of Donald Trump in the White House, for Latino candidates it stands for radioactive. When the new class of state legislators was sworn in Monday, there were no Latino Republicans  and 29 Latino Democrats.

Im a Republican, always have been a Republican. Been one even longer than Trump, said Patino, who said he wrote in a friends fathers name for president instead of voting for Trump in 2016. But we do have a branding issue.

Patino knew better than to wave his Republicanism in front of the electorate. In fact, his campaign website featured a photo of him with Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of Dublin, who is seriously thinking about running against Trump for president in 2020.

I stayed away from labels, said Patino, 49. People wanted to talk about national issues, about Trump during the campaign. But I wanted to talk about the two tax measures we had on the ballot. I have an MBA. I work in finance. Who do you want handling the budget?

California Latinos have been fleeing the Republican label since 1994, when GOP Gov. Pete Wilson won re-election on the strength of his support of Proposition 187. State voters approved the measure, which would have barred undocumented immigrants from public health care and most other government services, but the courts blocked it.

Many middle-aged Latino voters still remember TV ads for Prop. 187, which showed immigrants darting through traffic to cross the U.S. border as the narrator said ominously, They keep coming. For years, the ad was played to jeers at Latino get-out-the-vote rallies.

The legacy of Prop. 187: Eighty-six percent of Latinos surveyed in California by Latino Decisions said they voted for a Democratic House candidate last month. Seventy-three percent said Trump had done or said something that made them angry.

The Trump agenda has created a situation where fewer Latinos can support the party of Trump, said Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, a San Diego Democrat who is vice chair of the California Legislative Latino Caucus.

Some advocates used Trump as a weapon against Republican Latino candidates even in nonpartisan races.

Cecilia Iglesias, running for City Council in Santa Ana, was attacked in mailers as a Trump extremist who would bring hate to the Orange County city. The evidence: a photo of her with retiring GOP Rep. Ed Royce of Fullerton (Orange County) and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., along with a picture of her speaking behind a podium with the Republican Party logo.

The brand is toxic, said Ruben Barrales, president of Grow Elect, a group dedicated to developing Latino Republican leaders.

Grow Elect supports candidates for nonpartisan local offices, where they can become known to voters without having to identify as Republican. The effort has been successful to a point  the point where candidates have to enter races where that R goes next to their names.

Grow Elect says it has helped 230 Latinos win election to local offices in the last five years. But only one has won a partisan race  Assemblyman Dante Acosta, R-Santa Clarita (Los Angeles County).

And that success was fleeting. After serving just one term, Acosta was defeated last month by Democrat Christy Smith.

Ive always said this is a long-term effort, said Barrales, a former San Mateo County supervisor and adviser to former President George W. Bush. The Republican Party didnt get into this situation overnight, and it wont get out of it overnight.

Compounding his challenge is that the Republican Party hasnt recruited or supported Latino candidates enough, Barrales said. They have not made it a priority.

GOP spokesman Matt Fleming noted that the party put Barrales on its executive committee and its influential initiatives committee, and said Grow Elects efforts are critical to our efforts of inclusion. And we agree that almost every GOP organization can do a better job of recruiting and training candidates that reflect the demographic changes in our state.

Barrales doesnt believe the GOP would become more attractive to Latinos if the party suddenly embraced policy changes like a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants or endorsed permanent citizenship for Dreamers, the young people who arrived in the U.S. illegally as minors.

There isnt a silver bullet that is going to solve this, Barrales said. This is about building relationships.

Kristin Olsen, a former Republican Assembly leader, said the success of Grow Elect candidates for nonpartisan offices shows that conservative ideals still resonate at the local level. Our ideas arent unsound. But the Republican label is so tarnished that theyve been unsuccessful when they try to move beyond that.

You have to build trust, said Olsen, now a Stanislaus County supervisor. And you cant build trust if people hate you. People believe that Republicans dont care about them. If the Republican Party has any future, it has to show that it cares about people. And that will take a monumental effort. Thats not playing with words. Thats about building relationships.

Building local relationships is how Iglesias won her Santa Ana race, despite the attacks against her. And it is how Republican Lionel Largaespada won a seat on the Benicia City Council. He worked on the citys Economic Development Board and as a mentor in local schools. He was endorsed by both the Chamber of Commerce and some local labor unions.

Other Latino Republicans can win in California, too, Largaespada said, but they need more support from party leaders. And they need California Republicans to stand up to Trump once in a while, he said.

The California Republican Party needs to decide sooner or later who they are going to be, Largaespada said. Be bold and be practical and be brave. And that entails responding to the president when he is out of bounds.

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoliRepublican Jaime Patino won only 28 percent of the vote when he ran for a Bay Area Assembly seat four years ago. Next Tuesday, however, he will be sworn in as a newly elected member of the City Council in Union City.

One big difference: There was no R next to his name on last months ballot. Voters knew him as a longtime Union City resident, a single dad who knocked on 9,000 doors during the campaign. He didnt have to tell them he was a Republican when he was running for the nonpartisan council position.

If the R label has become toxic for California Republicans after two years of Donald Trump in the White House, for Latino candidates it stands for radioactive. When the new class of state legislators was sworn in Monday, there were no Latino Republicans  and 29 Latino Democrats.

Im a Republican, always have been a Republican. Been one even longer than Trump, said Patino, who said he wrote in a friends fathers name for president instead of voting for Trump in 2016. But we do have a branding issue.

Patino knew better than to wave his Republicanism in front of the electorate. In fact, his campaign website featured a photo of him with Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of Dublin, who is seriously thinking about running against Trump for president in 2020.

California Latinos have been fleeing the Republican label since 1994, when GOP Gov. Pete Wilson won re-election on the strength of his support of Proposition 187. State voters approved the measure, which would have barred undocumented immigrants from public health care and most other government services, but the courts blocked it.

Many middle-aged Latino voters still remember TV ads for Prop. 187, which showed immigrants darting through traffic to cross the U.S. border as the narrator said ominously, They keep coming. For years, the ad was played to jeers at Latino get-out-the-vote rallies.

The legacy of Prop 187: Eighty-six percent of Latinos surveyed in California for a poll by Latino Decisions said they voted for a Democratic House candidate last month. To read the rest of the story about Republicans struggle to find a way out of the situation they created, click here.

Deep dives and late takes

Transit housing: State Sen. Scott Wieners bill last year to force cities to allow denser housing near BART stations, Muni stops and other transit hubs died a quick death. Now the San Francisco Democrat is back for more, with a version he hopes satisfies the ideas many critics.

UC Berkeley, conservatives settle: Conservative groups that accused UC Berkeley of discriminating against their campus speakers dropped a lawsuit in exchange for the universitys promise not to charge fees based on the speakers viewpoint.

Free preschool: A $1.3 billion plan to enroll another 100,000 children to the ranks of those eligible for state-funded free preschool was introduced on the first day of the state Legislatures new session.

Newsoms kind words for Trump

Evan Vucci / Associated Press

Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom lobbed a rare compliment at President Trump the other day, saying hes grateful the president has never played politics with disaster declarations following major wildfires in California or last years Oroville dam emergency.

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Last month Newsom, Trump and Gov. Jerry Brown toured the Camp Fire in Butte County, which burned more than 18,000 structures and killed 85 people, as well as the Woolsey Fire in Southern California that killed three people.

Were grateful that he came, Newsom said Monday after state legislators were sworn into office in Sacramento. Were grateful for his time and attention. Weve had some followup  not direct conversations, but indirect. I think there is a sincerity to help, and we are grateful for that.

Those measured words are far from the barbs that the two have been trading this year. Trump has called Newsom a clown who wants to allow unlimited immigration into the United States. During his campaign for governor, Newsom called the president a small, scared bully.

Newsom said he got a little grief on the campaign trail when he complimented Trump for keeping politics out of disaster declarations. There was also an awkward moment between the two on Trumps tour of California disaster spots, when the president pulled Newsom toward him, patted him on the arm and said, I have no doubt, right? Were going to get it done.

Newsom isnt ready to declare a thaw in their deep-freeze relationship yet. But he says hes taking it tweet by tweet, day by day.

 Melody Gutierrez

Sound bite

Alyssa Pointer/Associated Press

Stacey Abrams pointedly did not concede when she ended her race to be Georgias governor last month. She said voter suppression tactics riddled the election in which Republican Secretary of State Brian Kemp defeated her.

The effect is so grotesque as to undermine the credence of our elections, the Democrat told The Chronicles Its All Political podcast. on a visit to San Francisco the other day.

Abrams campaign to be the first African American woman to be elected governor in the U.S. was one of the most closely watched in the nation, with celebrities including Oprah Winfrey and Will Ferrell stumping for her.

But her next campaign may be more influential in the long run. Shes working with a new organization called Fair Fight Action that has sued in federal court to challenge Georgias electoral system.

From polling stations where the voting machines didnt have power cords to the more purging of more than 1 million voters from the rolls, Abrams said Georgias system is deeply flawed. People of color were most affected, she said.

Whether the intent is racism, the result is racist, Abrams said. The result is that people of color are disproportionately affected.

As for Abrams, she said she is going to run for something again. Yes, absolutely.

 Joe Garofoli

Both sides of Bush

Most media farewells to President George H.W. Bush, who died Friday in Houston at age 94, have emphasized his steady stewardship at the end of the Cold War and his periodic cooperation with congressional Democrats. Few dwell on a pro-Bush groups Willie Horton campaign ad in 1988 that Democrats denounced as racist, Bushs 1964 opposition to the Civil Rights Act or his role in the Iran-Contra scandal.

The new episode of the Its All Political podcast explores this dichotomy in the Bush legacy with Rita Beamish, a Chronicle copy editor who covered his White House campaigns and presidency for the Associated Press. She portrays him as a politician with old-school civility and decency who was driven by personal ambition and a sense of loyalty to conservative allies. And check out her essay in The Chronicle comparing Bushs temperament to that of President Trump.

 Joe Garofoli

The Political Punch newsletter publishes Tuesdays and Thursdays. It is produced by the staff of The San Francisco Chronicle and edited by politics editor Trapper Byrne. Email: tbyrne@sfchronicle.comGabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

This week San Francisco Chronicle staff photographers Gabrielle Lurie, Jessica Christian and Scott Strazzante covered the deadly Camp Fire in Butte County, California. The three photographers worked closely with one another and the rescue and recovery teams of Butte County. For such a fluid assignment, things are constantly changing, so the three photographers worked together to share information about the fast-moving fire line, evacuation centers for survivors and areas of fire containment. The story of the Camp Fire does not end with these photos as the recovery, rebuilding and overall healing with take years, if not decades.DUBAI, United Arab Emirates  The tiny, energy-rich Arab nation of Qatar announced on Monday it will withdraw from OPEC in January, mixing its aspirations to increase production outside of the cartels constraints with the politics of slighting the Saudi-dominated group amid the kingdoms boycott of Doha.

The surprise announcement from Qatars minister of state for energy affairs, Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, again throws into question the role of the cartel after needing non-members to push through a production cut in 2016 after prices crashed below $30 a barrel.

It also marks the first time a Mideast nation has left the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries since its founding in 1960.

In a statement, al-Kaabi said Qatar, the worlds largest exporter of liquified natural gas, planned to increase its exports from 77 million tons of gas per year to 110 million tons. He also said Qatar wants to raise its oil production.

In light of such efforts and plans, and in our pursuit to strengthen Qatars position as a reliable and trustworthy energy supplier across the globe, we had to take steps to review Qatars role and contributions on the international energy scene, al-Kaabi said.

There was no immediate comment from Vienna-based OPEC, which is to meet this month and discuss possible production cuts. In November, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said OPEC and allied oil-producing countries will likely need to cut crude supplies, perhaps by as much as 1 million barrels of oil a day, to rebalance the market.

Qatar produces only some 600,000 barrels of crude a day, making it OPECs 11th biggest producer. The loss of production, under 2 percent of overall OPEC supply a day, wont greatly affect the cartels position in the market.

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.

Qatars wealth has seen it take on a larger importance in international affairs. Its political stances, often supporting Islamists, have drawn the ire of its neighbors, particularly Saudi Arabia.

In June 2017, Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates cut ties to Qatar in a political dispute that continues to this day. They also launched an economic boycott.

Jon Gambrell is an Associated Press writer.You might not have heard his name if you have no idea of acrobatics, but Mi Lu is indeed well known to everyone in Chinese acrobatic and international circus circle.

He graduated from Beijing Foreign Languages Institute (currently named Beijing Foreign Studies University) in 1984 and started his career in the Bureau of External Cultural Relations, Ministry of Culture. In November, 1988, he began to serve in the Section of International Affairs of the Bureau, and work on the selection and recommendation of Chinese acrobatic acts for international circus festivals & competitions, thus starting his career with acrobatics.

International Circus Competition: A Prominent Part

Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain (World Circus Festival of Tomorrow)

Monte - Carlo International Circus Festival (Festival International du Cirque de Monte  Carlo), founded in Monaco, 1974 and World Circus Festival of Tomorrow (Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain), founded in France, 1977, are widely recognized as the most influential international circus competitions.

In January, 1989, Mi Lu visited Paris for the first time to participate in the 12th Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain as the interpreter dispatched by Ministry of Culture to serve the Chinese delegation. It was his first time to meet Mr. Dominique Mauclair, founder and then president of the Festival, as well as the first person to act as the bridge between Chinese acrobatics and international circus and help Chinese acrobatics go global. When it comes to Mauclair, nicknamed "Lao Mo" (literally "Old Mau") by Chinese acrobats, his close friendship with Mi Lu, which bridged their significant age gap, unavoidably comes as one of the topics.

Since January, 1989, Mi Lu has participated in Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain for 28 straight times.

In recognition of his extensive and profound cooperation with the Festival and his irreplaceable role in the work, the Organizing Committee of the Festival conferred the golden award on him in the 26th Festival in January, 2010.

Festival International du Cirque de Monte  Carlo (Monte  Carlo International Circus Festival)

Mi Lu participated in Festival International du Cirque de Monte  Carlo for the first time in January, 1993, and since then he has cooperated with five art directors of the Festival. By now he has worked on the selection and recommendation of 52 Chinese acrobatic acts for the competition of the Festival, with six of the acts being the winners of the highest award, Golden Clown, from 2008 to 2018.

In November, 2004, H. S. H. Rainier III, Prince of Monaco approved the decoration of Chevalier de l'Ordre du Merite Culturel (Knight of Order of Cultural Merit) awarded to Mi Lu. The ceremony was held in January 24, 2005 in the Prince's Palace of Monaco (Palais Princier de Monaco), where Albert, then Hereditary Prince of Monaco (currently H. S. H. Albert II, Prince of Monaco) conferred the Order on Mi Lu, thus making him the first Chinese to have received such a special honour.

During the past 30 years Mi Lu has worked as the jury member for 13 times for nine international circus and magic competitions, including the 25th Festival International du Cirque de Monte  Carlo in 2001, Monte  Carlo Star Magic (Monaco) in 2001, Premier Rampe de Monaco in 2003 and 2007, Moscow International Youth Festival  Contest in Circus Art (Russia) in 2006 and 2018, Festival International du Cirque de Massy (France) in 2007, Festival International du Cirque de Val d'Oise (France) in 2007, 2008 and 2012, Moscow International Circus Festival in 2001 (Russia), the 35th Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain in 2014, and the 18th Festival International des Artistes de Cirque de Saint Paul les Dax (France).

Mi Lu's insight, outstanding work and prominent role in the international circus circle have been proved by the fact that Chinese acrobatics have drawn global attention with the outstanding performance in the major international circus competitions, especially in Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain and Festival International du Cirque de Monte  Carlo. He has played an irreplaceable part in Chinese acrobatics' going global towards the family of world circus, thus winning the respect from everyone in this circle.

International Performance Market: A Successful Strategist

Besides international circus competitions, Mi Lu has also worked with various international performance agencies and contributed significantly to the international commercial performances by Chinese acrobatic acts, among which the most classic case is his cooperation with Cirque Phenix (Phoenix Circus) in France.

Currently he is working with IMG Artists (the subsidiary to IMG, a global management company), his new partner based in United States to organize a tour performed by Shandong Acrobatic Troupe in North America from September to November, 2018, creating significant income.

Making high-level acts the projects of commercial performance, and presenting a feast for circus fans worldwide, Mi Lu has turned out a successful strategist with his effective operation.

Direction of Creation: The Insightful Guidance

For 30 years dozens of articles by Mi Lu have been published in domestic newspapers and magazines, meanwhile he has been interviewed by the press many times, and attended influential national and international circus forums and seminars on art exchanges. His speech is regarded as "indicator of world circus development".

With his experience of various international circus competitions, as well as his own appreciation and taste for circus art, Mi Lu has raised his critical ideas on vital issues such as the relationship between traditional and new circus, combination of circus and other art forms, limitation on over packaging and the development of acrobatic education.

Some leading figures in the Chinese acrobatic circle highly value Mi Lu's insight, saying they would listen to Mi Lu's speech and read his articles not matter how busy they are.

Circus Education: A Trailblazer

Dating back to 2004, Mi Lu was the guest teacher on acrobatic choreographing in School of Arts & Communication, Beijing Normal University. His lectures were always the most popular ones among the students. Realizing the fundamental role of education in the long-term development of acrobatics, he was the first one to suggest holding international acrobatic education forum in China, and participated in the organization of the 2nd and the 3rd Shanghai International Acrobatic Education Forum in 2012 and 2016.

What can be done in acrobatic education, and how? Mi Lu has always been thinking. He is open to new things and advocates learning from the world. In 1992 when he was working in France, he was invited to work as the only international jury member for the National Circus Schools Competition in France. Since then he has been keeping an eye on the circus schools in France, other European countries and North America, thinking about the correlation between education and children's interests.

Mi Lu has never stopped. After World Circus Federation was founded in 2010, with his efforts, China Acrobats Association became its member in 2013. The third Saturday of April is World Circus Day, and Mi Lu has been assisting Urs Pilz, the president of World Circus Federation in the organization of World Circus Day celebration activities for eight straight times in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Fuzhou, Changsha and some other Chinese cities. Now he is working on the preparation of the 4th Shanghai International Circus Forum to be held in late December, 2018.

For 30 years Mi Lu has participated in countless circus activities, witnessed more than 300 circus shows, and 90% of his oversea visits are related to circus.

He is widely recognized in the international circus circle, and trusted by many "big names" who have maintained cooperation with him in the contractual form.

In June, 2011, Mi Lu was awarded the excellent member by China Acrobats Association in both artistic achievement and morality.

30  year dedication has made Mi Lu a trailblazer of knowledge and insight. Yet he is well aware that education takes long time. Much work remains to be done to enhance the education level of Chinese acrobatics. He has been calling on more Chinese acrobats to enrich their thoughts and follow the development of human civilization as well as the trend of the time.

Reaching for the stars, Mi Lu is indeed a trailblazer in Chinese and international circus circle, and he keeps going forward without hesitation.KATOWICE, Poland  U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a desperate appeal to world leaders Monday to take the threat of global warming seriously and to act boldly to avert a catastrophic rise in temperatures before the end of the century.

Guterres, who spoke at the opening of the U.N. climate conference in Poland, called climate change the most important issue we face.

Even as we witness devastating climate impacts causing havoc across the world, we are still not doing enough, nor moving fast enough, to prevent irreversible and catastrophic climate disruption, Guterres told delegates from almost 200 countries who gathered in the city of Katowice.

Famed British naturalist Sir David Attenborough echoed his warnings, telling the gathering that the collapse of our civilizations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizons if no urgent action is taking against global warming.

The 92-year-old blamed humans for the disaster of global scale, our greatest threat in thousands of years.

Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, an advocate for programs to combat warming, called President Trump meshuga  Yiddish for crazy  for deciding to withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate accord.

The U.N. chief chided countries, particularly those most responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, for failing to do enough to back the Paris pact, which set a goal of keeping global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit)  ideally 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F)  by the end of the century.

Citing a recent scientific report on the dire consequences of letting average global temperatures rise beyond 1.5 degrees, Guterres urged countries to cut their emissions 45 percent from 2010 levels by 2030 and aim for net zero emissions by 2050.

Net zero emissions mean that any greenhouse gases emitted need to be soaked up by forest or new technologies that can remove carbon from the atmosphere. Such cuts, which experts say are the only way to achieve the 1.5-degree goal, would require a radical overhaul of the global economy and a move away from using fossil fuels.

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.

Guterres said governments should embrace the opportunities rather than cling to fossil fuels such as coal, which are blamed for a significant share of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.

The U.N. chiefs remark was directed at conference host Poland, which relies on coal for 80 percent of its energy. Polish President Andrzej Duda said during a news conference later Monday that the coal-rich country would work to reduce its reliance on coal but never entirely give up its strategic fossil fuel.

Guterres also urged negotiators not to forget that the challenges they face pale in comparison to the difficulties climate change already is causing millions of people around the world whose homes and livelihoods are threatened by rising sea levels, drought and more powerful storms.

A goal of the two-week conference in Polands southern coal mining region of Silesia is finalizing how governments report on their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and keep global warming within the limits of the Paris climate deal.

Frank Jordans and Monika Scislowska are Associated Press writers.Apple is experimenting with iPhone marketing strategies it rarely uses  including discount promotions through generous device buyback terms  to help boost sales of its flagship product.

Company executives moved some marketing staff from other projects to work on bolstering sales of the latest handsets in October, about a month after the iPhone XS went on sale and in the days around the launch of the iPhone XR, according to a person familiar with the situation. This person described it as a fire drill, and a possible admission that the devices may have been selling below some expectations. The person asked not to be identified discussing private strategy changes.

Since then, Apple has embarked on a series of aggressive trade-in offers that have temporarily reduced the cost of some of its latest iPhones, a rare step for a company thats been raising device prices in recent years to lift revenue and profit. Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller declined to comment.

Apple has added a banner to the top of its website advertising the iPhone XR for $449, $300 less than its official sticker price. However, the deal, noted with an asterisk and described at the bottom of the page, requires customers to trade in an iPhone 7 Plus, a high-end handset from two years ago.

Apple has lost about a fifth of its market value since the start of October on signs of waning iPhone demand. Supplier Cirrus Logic cut its holiday quarter sales forecast by 16 percent because of recent weakness in the smartphone market. Apple has also stopped reporting iPhone sales, sparking concern its most important product is no longer growing.

The Cupertino companys shares slid 4.4 percent Tuesday to close at $176.69. HSBC downgraded the stock, saying iPhone growth is over for now. What has made the success of Apple, a concentrated portfolio of highly desirable (and pricey) products, is now facing the reality of market saturation, the banks analysts wrote in a note to investors.

The new marketing push may give holiday sales a bump and help the company with a broader goal of increasing the number of Apple devices in use. However, the approach may undermine a key bullish argument from analysts: That higher prices will make up for lackluster sales.

Last week, the company started offering a limited-time promotion that boosts the trade-in value of older iPhones by an additional $25 to $100. Apple retail employees have also been told to mention the program more often to customers, according to another person familiar with the situation. Some Japanese wireless carriers also began offering subsidies that reduce iPhone XR prices.

Last year, there were similar concerns about sales of the iPhone X, but the handset ended up selling well. And Apple has used similar marketing tactics before. In 2007, it cut the price of the iPhone by $200, less than three months after its release. When the iPhone 3G debuted in 2008, Apple worked with carriers to subsidize the cost. It has also quietly increased trade-in values for older iPhone models in the past.

Apple marketing executive Greg Joswiak tried to quell concern about sales, by telling Cnet last week that the iPhone XR has been the companys best seller since it hit the market at the end of October.

Regardless of such efforts, investors are very focused on the longer term strategy and growth outside of iPhones, given what weve seen now coming out of this last iPhone cycle, Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives said. In a fearful technology environment, investors arent going to give Apple the benefit of the doubt.

Apple is working on several new products and services, including an augmented reality headset, driverless car technology, and digital offerings like original video. Analysts also expect a new business model centered on subscriptions.

Those options are riskier than the iPhone, which for a decade enticed millions of consumers to hand over hundreds of dollars for a new handset every two years. The public hasnt flocked to AR technology in the same way yet, while Netflix has a huge head start in digital video, Alphabets Waymo leads in autonomous vehicles, and Amazon Prime has nailed subscriptions online.

The question yet again is, Whats the next phase of innovation? said Michael Olson, an analyst at Piper Jaffray. Apple spent $35 billion on research and development from 2016 to 2018. What emerges from this huge investment needs to become a new engine of growth, he added.

Finding another hit like the iPhone will be almost impossible. Since Apple launched the device in 2007, its become one of the most successful products on Earth. The gadget generated $167 billion in revenue during Apples latest fiscal year, about the same as Google parent Alphabet and the Walt Disney Co. combined.

Mark Gurman is a Bloomberg writer. Email: mgurman1@bloomberg.netA startup that promised remote workers once-in-a-lifetime voyages around the globe instead left customers stranded in foreign countries without refunds, according to a new report from Bloomberg.

We Roam told its "digital nomads" it would organize a series of monthlong stays across the world for an entire year. The New York-based company pledged to book the accommodations, workspaces and airfare for a monthly fee of $2,000, in addition to a few-thousand-dollar deposit upon registration.

In April, We Roam CEO Nathan Yates, sent members  of which there were at least a dozen  an email informing them the company was shutting down, according to copy of the correspondence obtained by Bloomberg. Yates said his company had run out of money due to a handful of lawsuits from competitors and had not secured accommodations in their next destination. The rest of the trip, and return flights, were unbooked.

SPECTACULAR STARTUP FAILS: From Juicero to Plast

"We were left in a country and told, 'You have a flight to get somewhere else,' but it's not a flight home, it's to your next destination, where there is nothing waiting for you," Megan Mann, a 32-year-old marketer, told Bloomberg.

We Roam was Yates' first startup venture. The former corporate attorney co-founded the company in 2016 with Sean Harvey, who worked for Yelp. The men reportedly funded We Roam with their own money and loans, growing the company to about 12 employees in two years. Yates claims the company made $2 million in revenue in 2016 on his LinkedIn profile.

Harvey left the company in 2017 and We Roam rebranded as WY_CO, a name change spurred by a settlement agreement with competitor Roam International Inc., Bloomberg reports. That same year, the company was sued by Remote Year alleging it had stolen trade secrets.

WHERE'S JUICERO NOW?: Founder embarks on 5-day water fast in Mill Valley

According to the news site, 33 We Roam customers collectively lost more than $100,000 when the company closed. One woman claims to have lost $11,500. Only a handful of members, who paid for their trips via Paypal, received refunds. Some said they had talked to lawyers but did not have much legal recourse because We Roam's lenders had stronger claims to the company's remaining assets.

As for Yates, he's apparently living in Cape Town and continues to travel around the world. Posts on his Instagram over the past few months show him posing in Bali, Joshua Tree and Melbourne. According to Yates' LinkedIn, his current venture is a custom surfboard company based in New York, called Paul Surf.

Yates did not respond to requests for comment sent to the company.

Read Michelle Robertson's latest stories and send her news tips at mrobertson@sfchronicle.com.

Start receiving breaking news emails on wildfires, civil emergencies, riots, national breaking news, Amber Alerts, weather emergencies, and other critical events with the SFGATE breaking news email. Click here to make sure you get the news.Ten more victims of the Camp Fire were named by the Butte County sheriffs office Monday and the number of victims killed in Californias worst wildfire was changed to 85.

The number dropped by three after officials used DNA to confirm that remains thought to belong to six people were of three.It took a few days before the phones began ringing, but when they did, it was like nothing Realtor David Bronson had ever imagined.

"It was, 'I need a house, I need it now!'" said Bronson, who runs an agency in Chico, a Northern California university town where real estate is usually a sedate if not sleepy business.

"It's just a frenzy. I've never even heard of anything as wild as this."

The reason is a simple but unprecedented case of supply and sudden demand: The Camp Fire that swept through the nearby town of Paradise on Nov. 8 destroyed 18,000 buildings, including more than 13,000 homes, leaving many of the area's residents and workers homeless and desperate.

Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

It's created what likely will be a long-term housing crisis in the area. And, for the moment, it's made Chico, 15 miles away, perhaps the hottest housing sales market in the country.

Three weeks ago, there were 240 to 250 homes for sale in Chico proper, local agents say. As of the end of last week, an estimated 200-plus were in escrow, often after hurried, on-the-spot offers $50,000 and more over the asking price.

One of those buyers is Paradise Mayor Jody Jones whose longtime home on the hill was destroyed in the fire.

Jones and her husband spent several days after the fire unsuccessfully looking for a place to rent but, "every available rental was gone by Saturday morning" two days after the fire. "We looked at each other and said maybe we should try and buy."

MORE: Before and after aerial photos show scale of Camp Fire devastation

Her home insurance company had already written a check for the full value of her destroyed Paradise home. Other buyers are dipping into retirement accounts. Jones and her husband bid on several homes in the next few days, each time losing out amid stiff competition.

On Wednesday evening, less than a week after the fire, they toured a nondescript tract house for 10 minutes, then -- sitting in the dark in their agent's car out front -- wrote an offer "significantly" more than the asking price. They got the house, outbidding at least four others.

They will live there until they can rebuild in Paradise, which may be three or more years away. "For me it is going to be a very busy year with work the Town Council has to do," she said. "I need a base to operate from or couldn't do my job."

The sales pace has barely let up in the weeks since, real estate brokers said. In fact, it's now encouraging some speculative behavior.

Realtor Adam Pearce estimates some Chico-area homeowners are putting their houses on the market to take advantage of the frenzy that includes offers in some cases $100,000 above asking prices.

Pearce estimated that the median sales price of a Chico home was around $310,000 before the fire, and now may be in the $370,000 range.

He said he fears some people, desperate and emotional, are paying too much. Long-term, the market will stabilize, he said, and if new-home building occurs as expected in Chico and in Paradise, home prices could drop below today's inflated levels.

"In two years, we will have a ton of new inventory and prices are going to drop again," he said.

"Our market can't support that sales price. It is an inflated market and you are going to get stuck."

Pearce is president of North Valley Property Owners Association, a group of owners of 22,000 Northern California rental units. He is pushing the city, county and state to reduce building regulations so that builders can get more housing on the market faster.

He points out that the area already suffered from a lack of rental and for-sale housing before the fire. Leaders are obligated, he said, to add housing, both temporary and permanent, to keep county workers in the county, and avoid an economic downturn should many decide to move away.

ALSO: Comparing the Camp Fire to the Tubbs Fire

In Sonoma last year, after-fire construction costs went up, partly because burned-out housing construction industry workers left the area.

According to CoreLogic, a real estate data analyst, some $8 billion worth of home value was lost in the Camp Fire in Butte County. Rebuilding that much will be a long, laborious process in the largely rural area.

"We need to find a way as fast as possible for legislators to cut the red tape," he said. "We need to make sure our work force stays here or else who will build?"

Both Butte County and Chico city officials acknowledge they have a challenge head of them, if not a crisis. Longterm, the area needs to reabsorb displaced home owners. More immediately, though, it needs rental housing for displaced residents who can't afford to buy.

Ed Mayer, head of the Butte County Office of Public Housing, calls it a moral issue for local leaders.

"Paradise has been effectively erased," he said. "You have significant populations of low income that you need to house quickly."

Mayer estimated 14,000-plus people are in need of housing. Chico city officials say the number may be closer to 20,000. Many of them are renting temporarily, or living in hotels, staying at shelters or staying with relatives or friends.

Others though have left the county and even the state to find temporary or permanent housing.

The Chico City Council on Tuesday night will discuss easing rules on building Accessory Dwelling Units, also known as granny flats, to encourage more property owners to turn existing buildings on their property into rentals or build them.

The city and the county also are talking about setting up temporary trailer communities, where people can live if and when federal emergency trailers are made available.

The Chico City Council recently passed an urgency ordinance to prohibit price-gouging on rentals, banning landlords from increasing rents more than 10 percent over the next six months -post declaration of a disaster emergency.

City officials said they had received some reports of increased rents in the days after the fire. Similar gouging behavior occurred in Sonoma last year after fires destroyed homes there.

Butte County District Attorney Michael Ramsey said he has helped write a similar urgency six-month anti-rent gouging measure to present to the board of supervisors in the next few weeks.

Ramsey said his office also has put out word to people who have recently rented to let him know if they feel the rent is unusually high. Ramsey said his office will then check what the previous renter paid to try to determine if the landlord is guilty of gouging. So far, he said, no renters have contacted his office.

The state's post-disaster, price-gouging law does not apply, however, to home sales, according to a spokesperson for the state Attorney General. Sellers are free to ask any price they want, Butte DA Ramsey said.Premier Li Keqiang has urged support of the real economy, focusing on the manufacturing and service sectors, as well as small and private businesses, by further reducing the taxes and fees they face.

The premier also said that macroeconomic policies should be maintained, with timely adjustment to serve market entities and guide stable market expectations.

Li made the statements when presiding over a meeting last week on local and national economic developments in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province. Top government officials from seven provinces and autonomous regions reported on their local economic situations and proposed suggestions for national policymaking.

The premier said China has taken targeted and timely measures to tackle challenges arising from increasing uncertainties in domestic and international contexts to ensure stable economic development and accomplish targets set for this year.

However, downward economic pressure is getting stronger, as are regional imbalances, Li said. He called for full awareness of possible difficulties and conflicts and the firm deepening of reform and opening-up to keep economic operations stable and promote high-quality development.

China's GDP rose by 6.5 percent in the third quarter of the year compared with the same period last year, lower than the 6.8 percent in the first quarter and 6.7 percent in the second quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics said. The bureau also said on Friday that the official manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, an economic indicator showing industrial expansion, fell to 50 in November, 0.2 percentage points lower than October. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below reflects contraction.

Li said domestic consumption should be appropriately expanded to unleash its potential, and effective investment should be boosted. Thresholds for private investors should be further lowered while major projects that aim to promote economic development and improve people's livelihood should be started as soon as possible, he said.

Government at all levels should make employment a priority, because it can increase wealth and spur social stability, Li said. He also urged government to think from the perspective of market entities and push forward with administrative streamlining while endeavoring to build a highly effective, stable and transparent business environment for fair competition, which he said is a key solution to overcoming challenges in economic development.

In addition, China should stimulate the vitality and creativity of its rich human resources, which is beneficial to maintaining stable economic development, the premier said.

At the end of the meeting, Li called on State Council departments to provide an environment conducive to local development and said local governments should adopt policies that are in line with local conditions. By doing so, the Chinese economy can be kept in a reasonable range, ensuring promising, long-term development, he added.One California legislator is hoping the state will follow San Francisco's lead and ban all sales of fur and fur products.

The bill, proposed by Assemblymember Laura Friedman, would apply to clothing and accessories including, but not limited to, "handbags, shoes, slippers, hats, earmuffs, scarves, shawls, gloves, jewelry, and keychains, that is made in whole or in part of fur."

Friedman represents the Burbank and Glendale areas of Los Angeles County. The city of Los Angeles started the process of banning fur sales in September, after the San Francisco Board of Supervisors decided on the issue in March. Berkeley and West Hollywood also have bans in place.

READ MORE: SF supervisors prohibit sales of new fur garments in the city

Not only would Friedman's bill make it illegal to sell fur products, giving them as a gift would also be prohibited.

The exact wording of the legislation reads, "This bill would make it unlawful to sell, offer for sale, display for sale, trade, give, donate, or otherwise distribute a fur product, as defined, in the state."

If passed, someone caught violating the law would be subject to a $500 fine for the first offense, and more for subsequent violations. Additional damages could also be sought through civil action, with the money recuperated going to the Fish and Game Preservation Fund.

San Francisco's ban on fur sales is set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2019. A plan to do the same in Los Angeles allows retailers until 2020 to comply.

Read Alix Martichoux's latest stories and send her news tips at amartichoux@sfchronicle.com.

Start receiving breaking news emails on wildfires, civil emergencies, riots, national breaking news, Amber Alerts, weather emergencies, and other critical events with the SFGATE breaking news email. Click here to make sure you get the news.When San Franciscans went out this year to gorge on pastries, beer and fast food, they at least attempted to compensate with gym time.

That's the suggestion of Lyft's year-end data, which added up the locations at which city-dwellers were most often picked up or dropped off.

Among the year's most popular destinations are a few predictable "Lyfties" winners. Their "Only in San Francisco" category  ostensibly the kind of location that doesn't seamlessly fit into the parameters of a restaurant or shopping venue  was awarded to the Ferry Building.

Another obvious winner was Golden Gate Park, which took the crown of Most Popular Concert Venue. Considering the sheer number of people who travel to the park, for not just Outside Lands but Hardly Strictly Bluegrass and other events, it makes sense that the park  which is relatively difficult to get to on Muni  would score more points than larger venues around town. The city's biggest venues, like the Masonic, the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium and AT&T Park, are easily accessible via public transportation.

And one more finding: For most visited fitness studio/gym the shoo-in was 24 Hour Fitness. With nine locations in San Francisco  all of which counted towards 24 Hour's final Lyfties tally  the gym chain claimed the title.

See the above gallery for more winners in San Francisco and Silicon Valley.

Alyssa Pereira is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at apereira@sfchronicle.com or find her on Twitter at @alyspereira.

WASHINGTON  The nations capital embraced George H.W. Bush in death Monday with solemn ceremony and tributes to his service and decency, as the remains of the 41st president took their place in the Capitol rotunda for three days of mourning by the political elite and everyday citizens alike.

With Bushs casket atop the Lincoln Catafalque, first used for Abraham Lincolns 1865 funeral, dignitaries came forward to honor the Texan whose efforts for his country extended three quarters of a century from World War II through his final years as an advocate for volunteerism and relief for people displaced by natural disaster.

President from 1989 to 1993, Bush died Friday at age 94.

In an invocation opening Monday evenings ceremony, the U.S. House chaplain, the Rev. Patrick Conroy, praised Bushs commitment to service, from Navy pilot to congressman, U.N. ambassador, envoy to China and then CIA director before being elected vice president and then president.

Here lies a great man, said Rep. Paul Ryan, the House speaker, and a gentle soul. ... His legacy is grace perfected.

Sent off from Texas with a 21-gun salute, Bushs casket was carried to Joint Base Andrews outside the capital city aboard an aircraft that usually serves as Air Force One and designated Special Air Mission 41 in honor of Bushs place on the chronological list of presidents.

Cannon roared again outside the Capitol as the sun sank and his eldest son, former President George W. Bush, stood with his hand over his heart, watching the caskets procession up the steps.

Bush was remembered just feet away from what he called Democracys front porch, the west-facing steps of the Capitol where he was sworn in as president.

He will lie in state in the Capitol for public visitation through Wednesday. An invitation-only funeral service is set for Wednesday at Washington National Cathedral. President Trump and first lady Melania Trump are to attend.

Although Bushs funeral services are suffused with the flourishes accorded presidents, by his choice they will not include a formal funeral procession through downtown Washington.

The younger President Bush, his wife, Laura, and others from the family traveled on the flight from Houston.

On Sunday, students, staff and visitors had flocked to Bushs presidential library on the campus of Texas A&M University, with thousands of mourners paying their respects at a weekend candlelight vigil at a nearby pond and others contributing to growing flower memorials at Bush statues at both the library and in a park in downtown Houston.

After services in Washington, Bush will be returned to Houston to lie in repose at St. Martins Episcopal Church before burial Thursday at his family plot on the library grounds. His final resting place will be alongside Barbara Bush, his wife of 73 years who died in April, and Robin Bush, the daughter they lost to leukemia in 1953 at age 3.

Calvin Woodward, Darlene Superville, Juan Lozano and Nomaan Merchant are Associated Press writers.MADISON, Wis.  Demonstrators booed outgoing Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Tuesday at a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony, drowning out a high school choir with their own songs in protest of a Republican effort to gut the powers of Walkers Democratic successor.

The governor, wearing a Santa tie, appeared unfazed as he flipped the switch while one protester shouted, Hey, Walker! Go home! He left without taking questions from reporters about the bills being considered by the rare lame-duck legislative session. Walker, who has signaled support for the measures, later tweeted that he can handle the shouts, but he urged protesters to leave the kids alone.

Democrats have derided the lame-duck lawmaking as a cynical attempt to preserve power after Walkers re-election loss last month.

If he wanted to put a stop to this, he could, said Russ Hahn, a 53-year-old attorney holding a sign that said GOP Grinch Steals Democracy.

The fact that Walker was making no attempt to halt the effort clearly indicates he wants to be able to control things outside the governors office for the next four or eight years, Hahn said.

Later Tuesday, the public was ordered removed from Senate galleries after repeated warnings to be quiet. Spectators shouted Shame! and hurled complaints at senators, temporarily halting debate, as they walked out under police escort.

Walker burst onto the national political scene in 2011 with an aggressive anti-union agenda. Many of the same protesters who confronted him then returned to the Capitol on Tuesday  albeit in far fewer numbers. Protests reached 100,000 in 2011, but only a few dozen were on hand Tuesday.

Democrats vowed to do all they could to stop the measures, which would weaken both Democratic Gov.-elect Tony Evers and Attorney General-elect Josh Kaul.

Some hinted at filibusters or legal challenges and called the lame-duck session illegitimate. Former Democratic attorney general and Gov. Jim Doyle said the moves were unconstitutional.

Never in Wisconsin history has an extraordinary session been used to deny the will of the people and take away powers from the newly elected governor and newly elected attorney general, Democratic Rep. Chris Taylor said.

Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers met behind closed doors ahead of separate Assembly and Senate votes to send the bills to Walker.

A GOP-controlled committee approved the measures late Monday after a nine-hour public hearing where only one person testified in support of one provision. The panel rejected a proposal to move the 2020 presidential primary date from April to March amid nearly unanimous opposition from the states local election clerks.

The people arent asking for this, Taylor said. You did not run on this. You didnt tell people you would do everything in your power to take away the power of a newly elected governor and attorney general. You rig the system when you win, and you rig the system when you lose.

Scott Bauer and Todd Richmond are Associated Press writers.China's wedding industry, which stood at 1.46 trillion yuan ($210 billion) in 2017, is estimated to surge 24.66 percent year-on-year to reach 1.82 trillion yuan this year, and to surpass 3 trillion yuan by 2021, according to a report released by market research company ASKCI Consulting.

The growth comes despite fewer people getting married. Statistics from the Ministry of Civil Affairs showed that last year 10.59 million couples registered their marriage in China, down roughly 7 percent from 2016.

That marks four years of consecutive declines.

But as the post-1990s generation become the backbone in the industry, their higher consumption demands are driving them to spend more on their wedding. As such, the total consumption amount remains strong, industry insiders said.

"Although the demographic dividend is disappearing, the market potential is still huge as the nation possesses a huge population base," the ASKCI Consulting report said. "In addition, wedding industry demand remains at a high level. The increase in the amount per deal brings new impetus for the wedding industry."

Specifically, the industry is undergoing a transition toward a more fragmented model, covering wedding photography, honeymoon tourism, wedding planning, banquets and car rental, with each field stimulating consumption.

Jiang Xin, a 26-year-old office clerk in Beijing, held her wedding ceremony a few months ago, with a total cost of roughly 100,000 yuan. Jiang and her husband traveled to Indonesia to shoot their wedding photos. The four-day trip cost them 25,000 yuan.

"I think the price was fairly reasonable," she said.

According to Jiang, apart from the wedding ceremony and wedding photos, they also spent 170,000 yuan on their wedding car.

"Most of the spending was covered by our parents, and we were responsible for a small part. As both of us are the only child in the family, our parents want to give us the best wedding. After all, we only get married once," Jiang said.

A 2017 report by online wedding service provider Hunliji revealed that 42 percent of newly married couples spend 50,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan on their wedding, while 23 percent and 15 percent spend 100,000 yuan to 200,000 yuan and 20,000 yuan to 50,000 yuan, respectively. The remaining 5 percent spend over 300,000 yuan.

In terms of regions, newlyweds in Beijing take first place for wedding costs, coming in at 280,000 yuan on average. Newlyweds in Shanghai ranked second, spending 250,000 yuan on average, which is three times higher than the national average, according to the report.

Wedding costs have been rising continuously in recent years. Last year alone witnessed a 5 percent increase, the report showed. Among the costs, wedding ceremonies proved to be the most costly, taking up 40 percent of the total spending.

An average of 21.5 tables were set for the wedding banquet. Weddings in Wenzhou in East China's Zhejiang province ranked first with 52 tables, the report said.

For the dining cost per table, the average level was 3,385 yuan nationwide, although the amount varied in different cities. Shanghai took first place with an average price of 7,596 yuan per table, and Wenzhou and Beijing ranked second and third with average prices of 6,963 yuan and 6,542 yuan respectively.

The average cost per table in first-tier cities surged by 12.6 percent compared to that of 2016, the Hunliji report said.

Apart from the wedding ceremony, wedding jewelry, planning and photography, which are usually a must for modern couples, also cost considerable sums.

During the 2018 Wedding Industry Forum of China held in Suzhou, Jiangsu province in August, Shi Kangning, secretary-general of the Committee of Wedding Service Industries under the China Association of Social Workers, said: "About four to five years ago, we found that the conventional wedding service model had taken a hit as a result of many factors, such as the internet, hotels, personal studios, capital and the changes in taste among post-1990s couples."

"Market competition is fierce. In the past decade, as the demographic dividend has disappeared, numerous wedding companies went bankrupt," Shi said.

However, the wedding industry recovered from recession from last year, he said.

"Wedding service agencies began to adjust their strategies and tactics in product design, operation model, team building and marketing, etc," Shi said. "They have finally got out of the trough."

"In 2017, we were delighted to see that many traditional institutions that once faced crisis began to roar back in the transition. The industry potential remains huge," he said.You are here: China

This year's China-Pakistan joint international air exercise dubbed Shaheen-VII kicked off at a Pakistan air force base, Times of Islamabad reported on Sunday.

China's Air Force has sent a number of aircrafts to take part in the exercise, including several J-10C fighters.

The joint exercises are due to last 24 days.

The J-10C is an improved version of China's J-10 fighter. It is equipped with an Active Electronically Steered Array system (AESA), as well as an opto-electronic detection system to improve combat situations. The J-10C was activated for combat duty in April, 2018.

"The J-10C is more capable of locating targets. The new technology on-board gives it an edge during an air-to-air combat," said Wang Zhiming, a Chinese military specialist. "The J-10C is a significant upgrade to the Chinese Air Force, and significantly improves China's air defenses."

"This year's Shaheen-VII exercise will enhance bilateral military and political ties, and will help enhance the capability of the air forces of the two friendly neighbors," said Commodore Syed Muhammad Ali with the Pakistan Air Force.

Next year's "Shaheen" air exercises, which have been annual events since 2011, will be held in China.MIAMI  A trial that could have allowed the victims of serial molester Jeffrey Epstein to finally tell their stories from a witness stand was aborted Tuesday when it was announced in court that the case had been settled.

It ended with an apology  not to the dozens of women who were sexually abused by Epstein as underage girls, but to the lawyer who represented them.

There is also a monetary settlement, which is undisclosed.

The lawyer who took Epstein to court, Bradley Edwards, said he remains determined to give the women, now in their late 20s and early 30s, their day in court.

That opportunity could come in separate litigation that seeks to undo a controversial non-prosecution agreement that was negotiated in secret 10 years ago between the Palm Beach multimillionaires lawyers and the U.S. attorney for South Florida, Alex Acosta.

Acosta is now President Trumps secretary of labor.

The case is still pending. Edwards has argued that the settlement was illegal because it was executed without telling Epsteins victims, an apparent violation of the Crime Victims Rights Act. That law entitles crime victims in federal cases to be informed of developments in a case, including plea deals and court hearings.

The women were deliberately kept in the dark, emails obtained by the Miami Herald showed.

A series of stories in the Miami Herald, published over the past week, outlined the ways in which the U.S. Attorneys Office under Acosta colluded with the Epstein defense team to hide the agreement from the press, public and victims.

Epstein, 65, pleaded guilty in 2008 to two two minor prostitution-related charges after reaching the non-prosecution deal with Acostas office while under investigation for sexually abusing dozens of teenage girls  some of whom were only 13 or 14 when they were molested. As part of the deal with Acosta 10 years ago, Epstein served 13 months in a Palm Beach County stockade, was required to reach financial settlements with many of the victims and register as a convicted sex offender.

But Epstein could have faced a possible life sentence if federal prosecutors had pursued a draft 57-page indictment that was never filed.

The trial that was set to begin Tuesday was the result of a convoluted dispute between Edwards, who has represented several women who say they were molested by the hedge fund manager.

Theyre willing to talk. They want to share their stories, Edwards said.

Epstein initially sued Edwards, linking the lawyer to the leader of his former law firm, notorious Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein.

Epstein claimed that Edwards aggressive advocacy on behalf of the women was a way to divert attention from Rothsteins illegal scheme, which landed him in prison for decades.

After Rothstein said Edwards had nothing to do with the illegal Ponzi, Epstein withdrew his lawsuit, and Edwards countersued. Edwards hoped to use the forum of the trial to allow sex abuse victims to tell their stories of abuse at the hands of Epstein, which they did not get to do originally because of the non-prosecution agreement agreed to by Acosta when he was South Floridas top prosecutor.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Julie K. Brown is a Miami Herald writer.OAKLAND (BCN)



A Highland Hospital clinic's training to teach medical workers how to examine asylum seekers is gaining popularity at the same time that demand for those evaluations is growing.



An upcoming class on Dec. 15 at the Oakland hospital is so popular that the 100 available seats are already taken and more than 70 people were put on a wait list.



Those who take the class will learn how to do psychological and medical evaluations for immigrants who have come to the United States seeking refuge from their home countries.



These evaluations are a critical part of asylum seekers' claims, and demand for them continues to increase, according to Suzanne Portnoy, a nurse practitioner at the Highland Human Rights Clinic.



"Health care workers help immigration officials make the right decisions for people who are fleeing torture and other forms of abuse," Portnoy said.



Demand for the exams has increased in part because the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has rapidly sped up the process.



"This accelerated timeline puts increased pressure on attorneys to secure forensic asylum exams within weeks of getting a case," Portnoy wrote in a news release.



Clinicians hope that will become less of a problem, at least in Oakland, after more medical workers are trained to do the evaluations.



They will be taught to examine patients using the Istanbul Protocol, an "internationally accepted guideline for documenting torture," according to the hospital.



All types of clinicians can do the training, including physicians, nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives, physician assistants, social workers and psychologists. Students in any of those areas can also take the course.



Interest in the training ticked up after President Donald Trump was elected in 2016 and started enacting austere anti-immigration measures that also taxed the legal system, Portnoy said.



Shortly after he was elected, Trump ordered federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to track down and arrest undocumented immigrants who didn't have criminal records.



The Highland Human Rights Clinic was founded more than 15 years ago and workers there have done more than 400 pro-bono evaluations since 2012, Portnoy said.





Copyright  2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.Standing in front of the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, Shi Xiuying sobbed and read a letter dedicated to the family members she lost in the atrocity.

"Dear dad, brother, it's been 81 years since we've been apart, but I have been talking to you in my heart, can you hear me?" Shi read.

Starting Monday, family members of the victims of the massacre began a series of commemoration activities such as laying flowers, burning incense and reading letters before the memorial hall wall where the victims' names are engraved in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province.

Shi, 92, said her father was killed by Japanese invaders 81 years ago.

Another survivor, Yu Changxiang, 91, said his father was killed, but his body was never found.

"The name on the wall is the only way we can mourn him," Yu said.

"My father always says we should tell the history of the Nanjing Massacre to young people so we will remember the past and cherish our present life," said Yu Huiru, daughter of Yu Changxiang.

"So many people lost their lives, relatives, and families in the Nanjing Massacre. We must remember the trauma the Chinese people suffered, and cherish the hard-won peace," said Lu Jinghan, a student from No.1 primary school affiliated to Nanjing Xiaozhuang University.

The Nanjing Massacre took place when Japanese troops captured the city on Dec 13, 1937. Over six weeks, they killed 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers.

In February 2014, China's top legislature designated December 13 as the national memorial day for victims of the Nanjing Massacre. Family members of the victims also started to hold commemoration activities at the memorial hall in December the same year.Workers at Marriott hotels in San Francisco who have been on strike for two months have reached a tentative agreement with the hotel company, the workers' union announced today.



Nearly 2,500 workers at several hotels with the Unite Here Local 2 union went on strike in early October to demand higher pay, more job security and smaller workloads.



The tentative agreement will be voted on today and the announcement of the results will be announced at 6 p.m. Pending approval of the agreement, the workers will then return to work on Wednesday, according to the union.



The details of the agreement, which would run through 2022, will be made available after the vote, union officials said.







This week, some very familiar names will appear on a list of eight inductees into the California Hall of Fame: Robert Redford, Joan Baez, Ed Lee and Belva Davis.



There's one among them that's not a household name, but she's no doubt had an impact on households everywhere.



Arlene Blum, a Berkeley scientist and accomplished mountaineer, will be honored for her efforts to reduce harmful chemicals in products ranging from children's pajamas to furniture.



The 73-year-old biophysical chemist and founder of Berkeley-based Green Science Policy Institute will join seven other inductees at a ceremony Tuesday evening in Sacramento.



A mountaineer who has tackled some of the most difficult summits on the planet, Blum jokes that she "alternates between mountains and molecules."



Between high-altitude treks, Blum has spent decades educating lawmakers and manufacturers on dangerous substances added to everyday products.



Blum began investigations into harmful chemicals in the 1970s with research into flame retardants found in children's pajamas, leading to a ban on the cancer-causing chemical tris.







Marin County voters elected Lori Frugoli as district attorney by only a few hundred votes, according to final election returns that were certified Friday.



Frugoli, 61, a prosecutor in the district attorney's office, defeated Anna Pletcher, 44, a former lawyer with the U.S. Department of Justice in San Francisco, by 386 votes. Frugoli tallied 50.07 percent and Pletcher had 49.73 percent of the vote.



Pletcher was not immediately available for comment this morning, but Marin County Registrar of Voters Lynda Roberts said she has not received a request for a recount of the results in writing. Any voter in the county has five days after the results are certified to request a recount, Roberts said.



The final tally will be reported to the Secretary of State by Thursday and will be ratified by the Marin County Board of Supervisors on Dec. 11.







Police are investigating a shooting early this morning in San Francisco's Mission District that killed one person and left another with critical injuries.



Around 1 a.m., officers responded to a report of a shooting near the corner of 16th and Valencia streets, police said.



Two people suffering from gunshot wounds were taken to the hospital, a male victim and a 55-year-old woman.



The male victim died while the woman suffered critical injuries, according to police. The male victim's name has not been released.



No arrests have been made and a description of the suspect or suspects was not immediately available.







A stabbing Saturday night near San Francisco's Excelsior neighborhood killed a teenage boy and sent two men to the hospital, police said today.



The attack occurred around 9:40 p.m. near the corner of Geneva Avenue and Mission Street, according to Officer Joseph Tomlinson. When officers arrived, they found two men, aged 38 and 48, suffering from stab wounds not considered life-threatening. The two were taken to a hospital.



A witness at the scene told officers that they saw a third victim get put into a vehicle, which then drove off. That victim was apparently taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Tomlinson said.



He's been identified by the San Francisco medical examiner's office as 16-year-old Josue Mejia-Sanchez.



No suspects have been identified in the fatal stabbing and police do not yet know what led up to it, according to Tomlinson.







A homicide suspect who died of a gunshot wound Thursday morning in San Jose has been identified as 47-year-old Carmelo Vitanza, according to the Santa Clara County medical examiner's office.



The homicide happened at about 8 a.m. in the 100 block of Ayer Avenue in the city's historic Vendome neighborhood near downtown San Jose.



Police responded to the scene after a woman at the residence called 911 and officers found one stabbing victim who died at the scene. The victim has not yet been identified.



Vitanza was taken to a hospital with a gunshot wound and later died, according to police and the medical examiner's office. Police have not confirmed whether the gunshot wound was self-inflicted.







A man who struck and seriously injured a South San Francisco police officer with a skateboard on Thanksgiving Day in 2016 has been convicted of assault and other felonies, but a jury acquitted him of the most serious charge of attempted murder, prosecutors said today.



Luis Ramos-Coreas, 30, was convicted Friday of assault on a peace officer, resisting arrest and felony battery for the attack on Nov. 24, 2016.



Officers had responded to Ramos-Coreas being irate to customers at a business in the 300 block of Grand Avenue. As they approached him, he refused their commands and rode away on a skateboard, police said.



Officer Robbie Chon chased Ramos-Coreas, who stopped, turned and hit Chon in the head with the skateboard. Chon lost consciousness and later required brain surgery to stop bleeding, but recovered enough that he was able to go home by Christmas, police said. Chon returned to duty this past January.







Several shots were fired in downtown Morgan Hill early Saturday morning but no one was reported injured by the gunfire, police said today.



Officers responded at 1:44 a.m. to the area of The Hill Bar & Grill at 17330 Monterey Road on a report of shots being fired. They arrived and determined there was a shooting, but did not find a suspect or victim.



Investigators eventually determined that a dark-colored SUV was traveling through downtown and stopped near the front of the bar. After some kind of interaction between people in the SUV and several people standing on the sidewalk, someone in the vehicle pulled out a handgun and fired several shots, police said.



A bullet struck a vehicle parked nearby but no one was reported injured. The SUV was last seen fleeing south on Monterey Road.







A man who served as treasurer for a San Francisco nonprofit has been charged with embezzlement for allegedly taking more than $100,000 from the organization, prosecutors announced today.



Jack Ryder was arraigned this morning on multiple counts of felony embezzlement.



According to the district attorney's office, Ryder served as treasurer for the San Francisco Orchid Society from 2015 to 2017 after being elected to the position in 2014.



Witnesses alleged that Ryder took the money from the organization's bank accounts in the form of cash withdrawals for his own personal use, prosecutors said.



The San Francisco Orchid Society is known for putting on the annual Pacific Orchid Exposition in Golden Gate Park, the largest orchid festival in the U.S., now in its 66th year.







A disoriented sea lion discovered Saturday evening stranded in brush along a stretch of East Bay shoreline was in good condition and later released, a Marine Mammal Center spokesman said today.



The female sea lion was spotted near McLaughlin Eastshore State Park about 7 p.m.



The animal had somehow meandered inland and was surrounded by vegetation that blocked its view of the water, center spokesman Giancarlo Rulli said.



Fortunately, it didn't make it as far as the frontage road, Rulli said.



With help from East Bay Regional Park District police officers, marine mammal staff loaded the animal into a rescue truck. It was later released near Fort Baker, according to Rulli.







The clear skies today in the Bay Area will be cloudy by Tuesday as a storm system approaches the region.



Dry and seasonably cool weather is forecast through this afternoon, and unsettled weather will return late tonight, according to the National Weather Service.



Periods of rain are forecast through Thursday before dry conditions return by Friday.



Light rain will again be possible over the North Bay this weekend, with another chance of widespread rainfall early next week.





Copyright  2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)



Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, announced today he has introduced a bill that would allow for the construction of more homes near city hubs throughout the state, while protecting renters and vulnerable residents currently living there from displacement.



Senate Bill 50, the More HOMES (Housing, Opportunity, Mobility, Equity and Stability) Act, follows a similar attempt Wiener made at housing legislation earlier this year and would eliminate restrictive low-density zoning near transit and job centers and create new zoning standards for those areas.



The new zoning would clear the way for the construction of apartment buildings in those areas, allowing for more people to live and work within areas connected by public transit, and thus reducing carbon emissions by taking more vehicles off California roads.



Furthermore, Wiener's office said SB 50 would reduce pressure to create urban sprawl in areas prone to wildfires by creating more affordable and low-income housing within city centers.



"We must take bold steps now to address our severe housing crisis and reduce our carbon footprint," Wiener said in a news release. "California's housing shortage hurts our most vulnerable communities, working families, young people, our environment and our economy. It also increases homelessness."



SB 50 is modeled after Senate Bill 827, which also advocated for more housing near city and transit centers and was introduced by Wiener earlier this year, but did not pass.



Several California mayors have already voiced support for Wiener's new bill, including San Francisco Mayor London Breed, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, Emeryville Mayor John Bauters, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.



Breed said, "San Francisco, along with the entire Bay Area, needs to create more housing if we are going to address the out of control housing costs that are causing displacement and hurting the diversity of our communities."



She said she'd work with Wiener to create "more housing opportunities near transit, while maintaining strong renter protections and demolition restrictions so we are focusing development on empty lots and underutilized commercial spaces."



In addition to creating new zoning standards near city and transit centers, SB 50 also would include provisions to protect renters and low-income communities and create more access to public-funded services, according to Wiener's office.





Copyright  2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.A man who struck and seriously injured a South San Francisco police officer with a skateboard on Thanksgiving Day in 2016 has been convicted of assault and other felonies, but a jury acquitted him of the most serious charge of attempted murder, prosecutors said today.



Luis Ramos-Coreas, 30, was convicted Friday of assault on a peace officer, resisting arrest and felony battery for the attack on Nov. 24, 2016.



Officers had responded to Ramos-Coreas being irate to customers at a business in the 300 block of Grand Avenue. As they approached him, he refused their commands and rode away on a skateboard, police said.



Officer Robbie Chon chased Ramos-Coreas, who stopped, turned and hit Chon in the head with the skateboard. Chon lost consciousness and later required brain surgery to stop bleeding, but recovered enough that he was able to go home by Christmas, police said. Chon returned to duty this past January.



After the attack, other officers were able to arrest Ramos-Coreas, who in court pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.



Friday's verdict came on the ninth day of trial. The case returned to court today for Ramos-Coreas' decision on whether he still wanted to pursue the insanity defense.



Defense attorney James Reilly said that given the verdict Friday, his client elected to withdraw that plea and move forward with sentencing, which is scheduled for Jan. 15.



"I think the jury reached the correct verdicts on all four of the counts," Reilly said, adding that he thought the evidence was "insufficient" to justify an attempted murder conviction.





Copyright  2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)



Marriott hotel workers in San Francisco will return to work on Wednesday following a strike that lasted more than two months, according to the workers' union Unite Here Local 2.



Union officials announced this evening that an overwhelming 99.6 percent of union workers ratified a new contract for the nearly 2,500 Marriott workers who went on strike in early October to demand better pay, more job security and lighter workloads.



Union workers main demand was a wage high enough so they don't have to work two or three jobs to make ends meet.



"Now we turn to the remaining 5,500 Unite Here Local 2 hotel workers who are still working with expired contracts. To the Hilton, the Hyatt, the Fairmont, we say--we've got a deal. This is the deal," union president Anand Singh said in a statement.



Marriott officials confirmed this morning it had reached a tentative agreement with the union. Marriott officials didn't immediate respond to a request for a comment.





Copyright  2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)



Marriott hotel workers in San Francisco will return to work on Wednesday following a strike that lasted more than two months, according to the workers' union Unite Here Local 2.



Union officials announced this evening that an overwhelming 99.6 percent of workers ratified a new contract for the nearly 2,500 Marriott workers who went on strike in early October to demand better pay, more job security and safer workloads.



Union workers primary demand was a wage high enough to make ends meet on a single job, which they believe they've won.



A typical housekeeper will received a $1.75 per hour wage increase in the first year and her wage will rise to $27 per hour from $22 per hour over the four years of the contract.



Marriott officials said they look forward to welcoming their associates back.



According to union officials, Marriott met workers' demands with respect to affordable healthcare, safer workloads and job security, too.



Workers who are single will pay no premium for their health insurance while workers with a family will pay $10 per month for the entire family.



For housekeepers, they will have more time to clean especially dirty rooms, which was a safety concern because they have had to clean those rooms in the same time as a typical room.



Union officials also said Marriott agreed to give workers a voice in the adoption of new technology that instead of eliminating jobs, improves and makes the workplace safer.



Soon, contract negotiations will begin for workers at other San Francisco hotels.



In a statement, Local 2 union president Anand Singh said, "Now we turn to the remaining 5,500 Unite Here Local 2 hotel workers who are still working with expired contracts. To the Hilton, the Hyatt, the Fairmont, we say--we've got a deal. This is the deal."





Copyright  2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.A healthcare company's founder's comments on irregularities in the industry has aroused public debate among Chinese social media.

Zhang Ligang, founder and CEO of iKang Healthcare Group, said Sunday at the China Entrepreneur Summit "some institutions just throw away the blood samples without conducting tests."

"They give the results (directly) because only three in every 1,000 people might get cancer, which means an error rate that is within the margin of error," he said.

Due to these low rates, some institutions were falsifying test results, Zhang said.

Zhang said some enterprises only chose cheap health institutions for their employees, not paying attention to the quality. "The problem is you do not know if the doctor doing an ultrasound scan is a doctor or a nurse."

Zhang did not reveal which institutions were indulging in such behaviors, and he did not provide any evidence to back his claim, but his comments nevertheless aroused public debate.

A Weibo user nicknamed Tuoshuimeiguixie said "considering the situation, do we really have to take part in health examinations for employees? It wastes time and energy." Weibo is the Chinese Twitter-like platform.

Weibo user Lengyanmoran said this poses a risk. Established health institutions would hire experienced retired doctors, even at high salary, but since checkups are low-priced, many institutions cut corners.

Another Weibo user Rulinxiaoshuchong asked people not to compare the slipshod institutions with regular hospitals, as health checkups offered by some companies are just pro forma.

So far, no institution has commented on Zhang's claims.

In recent years, a lot of private companies have entered the healthcare sector and offered heath checkups to companies.President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, who spilled the beans on his ex-boss to the feds in a bid to avoid jail time, has finally succeeded in renting out his luxurious New York City condofor a whopping $18,500 a month. That will certainly help with the legal bills.

Cohen unloaded the four-bed, 4.5-bath condo in a brand-new, 64-floor tower in the ultratrendyand ultrapriceylower Manhattan neighborhood of Tribeca on Nov. 27. The identity of the renter is currently unknown.realtor.com

Large, brick, and impossible to miss, the former Stock Exchange Building has anchored the heart of downtown Bisbee, AZ, for the past century. The historic structure in the desert is now available for purchase for $3.5 million.

After a total renovation down to the studs, the 10,000-square-foot property has been updated to create a brand-new saloon, restaurant, and bed-and-breakfast. The resulting businesses all pay tribute to the area's Wild West mining town history, while standing ready to welcome a new generation of visitors to the charming Southern Arizona town.A Chinese researcher has gone missing a week after announcing he successfully edited the DNA of babies, Chinese media reports.

Researcher He Jiankui said last week that he had altered embryos for seven couples during fertility treatments. He said two of the edited embryos were born healthy twin baby girls. Their DNA had been altered to try to make them resistant to infection with the HIV virus. There is no independent confirmation of what He says he did.You are here: China

Police have detained a sixth-grade student on suspicion of stabbing his 34-year-old mother to death in Yuanjiang, Central China's Hunan province.

Early investigations suggest the boy, identified only as Wu, carried out the knife attack around 9 pm on Sunday in revenge for his mother beating him, local authorities said via social media on Monday.

Police found the body of the victim, surnamed Chen, in her bedroom at 12:24 pm on Monday after receiving a report from a neighbor. She had multiple stab wounds.

Children in sixth grade in China are age 10 or 11.A year ago, Kevin Durant moved from his hillside mansion in Oakland to a high-rise condo in San Francisco, disliking the isolation he felt living in a home far away from the action. It's a move that's clearly worked for Durant's lifestyle, as a recent profile in the Undefeated shows.

The Golden State Warriors star is already, quietly well-ingratiated in his new community. According to The Undefeated, he's been busy exploring the city, meeting with mayor London Breed, and giving out Thanksgiving necessities to families in the Fillmore.

"I just like the vibe," Durant told the Undefeated. "It's chill. Relaxing. There is not too much going on, but there is still a lot going on. People are pretty cool, open and diverse."

He's also found two favorite restaurants: Kokkari Estiatorio in the Financial District and North Beach Restaurant. Greek restaurant Kokkari Estiatorio, known for its souvlaki and lamb dishes, is a regular resident of top Bay Area eateries lists; North Beach Restaurant is a staple for Italian food, boasting homestyle Tuscan dishes popular with more than a few professional athletes through the years.

MORE: Kevin Durant dishes on his favorite thing about moving to the Bay Area

Durant also mentions visiting State Bird Provisions, the dim sum-style California eatery in the Western Addition.

Intriguingly, the story drops in the detail that Durant has joined one of San Francisco's "most exclusive private clubs." There are a few options for the discerning elite. A popular pick for the younger, tech worker set is the Battery, founded in 2013. It's an all-inclusive club, featuring a hotel, restaurant, several bars, a gym, library and more. The Battery is invitation-only (naturally) and dues will set you back $2,400 per year.

If Durant wants to go old-school, he could have joined the Bohemian or Pacific Union clubs. Icons of the city, the two clubs have been the hangouts of San Francisco's wealthy, primarily white male, movers and shakers for well over 100 years.

Plus, there's an added bonus to joining the Bohemian Club: You'll become part of an organization so shrouded in mystery, it's regularly mentioned in conspiracy theories.SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras  Haydee Posadas had waited eight years for her son to come home. On the last night of her long vigil, she was too agitated to sleep.

Her son had fled Honduras for the United States in 2010, in part because of gang threats, just as thousands are doing today in migrant caravans, including men from the same neighborhood. But en route in Mexico, again like so many others, Wilmer Nunez disappeared into the vortex of drug violence that he was trying to escape in the first place, leaving Posadas in limbo.

I know nothing about my son, whether hes dead or alive, she pleaded with God through the years.

In the past four years alone, almost 4,000 migrants have died or gone missing along the route through Mexico to the U.S., the Associated Press has found. Thats 1,573 more than the previously known number, calculated by the United Nations. These migrants are among about 56,800 worldwide who died or disappeared over the same period.

When Posadas lost her factory job in the 1990s, Nunez left for the U.S. He sent money home, and called his mother almost every day. He was deported twice but returned.

In 2007, he had a child, Dachell, with a Mexican woman, Maria Esther Lozano, now 38. In July 2010, Nunez was deported a third time. This time, his Ciudad Planeta neighborhood in San Pedro Sula was so dangerous that Nunez barely went outside the home.

After just a few days and an apparent threat from gang members, he left earlier than planned.

Nunez, his nephew and two neighbors struck out for the Mexican border with Texas. About a week after he left Honduras, he spoke to his mother for the last time.

About two weeks after he left, when Posadas turned on the television news, fear suddenly seized her. The corpses of 72 migrants had been found on a ranch in Tamaulipas state, across the border from Texas. They had been killed by gangs,

In 2013, the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team reached an agreement with Mexican prosecutors to identify more than 200 bodies from three massacres.

A DNA test quickly identified Nunez.

My heart hurt so much ... most of all because of the death he suffered, not even knowing who killed him, with his eyes blindfolded, hands tied ... Posadas said, her voice trailing off, tears in her eyes.

But eight years and three months after the last hug from her son, Posadas says she feels peace for the first time.

Maria Verza is an Associated Press writer.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The Richmond County Savings Foundation presented a check for $125,000 to United Activities Unlimited (UAU) to support its Childrens Activities After Three program at several Staten Island schools, including PS 1, PS 5, PS 8, PS 13, PS 38 and PS 45.

The funds will be used to provide academic enrichment programs, including arts and crafts, STEM curriculum (science, technology, engineering and math), life skills and literacy, as well as a trained drug prevention teacher.

UAU is so very grateful for the extremely generous donation from the Richmond County Savings Foundation," said Dr. Louis DeLuca, UAUs chief executive officer. UAU and the Richmond County Savings Foundation have developed a wonderful partnership over the years, as both entities are dedicated to assisting the children and families of Staten Island. I am thrilled about the opportunities that this donation will provide to our youngsters throughout Staten Island."

He added: "This funding will support additional resources and interventions that will improve the academic achievement and overall well-being of our participants. I am so grateful for the assistance and support that the Richmond County Savings Foundation provides.

The Childrens Activities After Three program also provides homework help, remediation and recreation.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is warning that a new invasive tick species -- which is capable of transmitting disease to humans and animals -- is spreading across the United States.

The Asian longhorned tick -- usually found in areas of east Asia, Japan, Australia and New Zealand -- has spread to nine states since it was discovered in the United States last year.

Researchers discovered the tick in Conference House Park in Tottenville in late August.

The CDC reports that no harmful germs have been found yet in the ticks collected in the United States.

But the agency is still urging caution about the ticks potential to spread disease. In other countries, bites from these ticks can make people and animals seriously ill.

The full public health and agricultural impact of this tick discovery and spread is unknown, said Ben Beard, deputy director of CDCs Division of Vector-Borne Diseases. In other parts of the world, the Asian longhorned tick can transmit many types of pathogens common in the United States. We are concerned that this tick, which can cause massive infestations on animals, on people, and in the environment, is spreading in the United States.

In contrast to most tick species, a single female tick can produce up to 2,000 eggs at a time without mating, the CDC said. As a result, hundreds to thousands of ticks can be found on a single animal, person or in the environment.

New Jersey was the first state to report the tick on a sheep in August 2017. Since then, the tick has been spotted in eight other states, including New York, Arkansas, Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.

These states reported finding the tick on a variety of hosts, including people, wildlife, domestic animals and environmental samples.

The first of the species spotted in New York City was found in the southernmost section of Staten Island, according to the city Department of Health.

The CDC is investigating the distribution of the tick in the United States, and its potential for transmitting disease.

FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER.Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met with Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Binali Yildirim in Beijing on Tuesday, vowing to push forward bilateral ties and deepen cooperation.

Hailing China and Turkey as emerging market economies and crucial partners, Li said China would continue working with Turkey to respect each other's core interests and major concerns, enhance exchanges and cooperation in all fields and at all levels, including parliamentary exchanges, reinforce the public-opinion foundation of ties, to push forward China-Turkey relations.

There is great potential for pragmatic cooperation and China hopes to synergize the development strategies of the two countries, Li said, proposing that they should make use of their respective advantages, work for balanced trade development, make progress in key cooperation areas, and realize mutual benefit and win-win results.

Turkey views China as an important strategic partner and appreciates China's achievements in reform and opening up, Yildirim said.

He noted that Turkey would align its development strategy with China, deepen cooperation in infrastructure, trade, investment and other areas, to achieve common development.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Police said an ex-con flushed heroin down the toilet when cops raided his Eltingville home in the summer.

Now, Angelo DeGracias freedom has gone the same route with his plea to a felony drug charge.

The defendant was busted July 3 at his residence on the 100 block of East Figurea Avenue, said police.

As cops entered, DeGracia, 40, ran to a third-floor bathroom and threw a bag of heroin down the bowl, a criminal complaint said.

In a bedroom, officers found 41 strips of buprenorphine and naloxone, said the complaint. Buprenorphine is a painkiller and also used to treat opioid addiction.

Cops also recovered heroin, cocaine, fentanyl and amphetamines, along with a drug scale, according to the complaint and an indictment.

In addition, police seized an electronic stun gun, the complaint said.

DeGracia pleaded guilty Monday in state Supreme Court, St. George, to fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.

In doing so, he admitted to possessing buprenorphine with the intent to sell.

In exchange for his plea, the defendant will be sentenced Jan. 7 to two years behind bars and a year of post-release supervision.

He must also forfeit $4,520 in assets recovered at his home.

The goateed defendant was garbed Monday in a tan sweatshirt and sweatpants.

He made no statements beyond admitting guilt and responding to procedural questions.

This was a fair plea, said defense lawyer Louis Gelormino. Mr. DeGracia has taken accountability for his actions and will avail himself to drug programs while in prison.

Assistant District Attorney Carrie Low is prosecuting the case.

DeGracia has served time upstate.

In August 2013, he was sentenced to 18 months to three years in prison after being convicted of attempted third-degree criminal weapon possession, according to statements made in court.CITY HALL -- Four years after a Staten Island grand jury decided not to indict Police Officer Daniel Pantaleo in connection with the death of Eric Garner, Garners mother, Gwen Carr, called on the city to fire all of the officers involved in her sons death.

We are not going to stand for this, we are out here because  we are outraged and we are not going to take this anymore, and its not only for me, its for other New Yorkers, its for people around the nation, we demand justice and we havent gotten that yet, Carr said alongside activists and local politicians on the steps of City Hall Tuesday.

Carr said she still does not know the names of all the officers involved in her sons death.

Carrs plea to the city comes as Pantaleo will attend a discovery hearing at the NYPD headquarters on Thursday. The hearing will focus on whether any new information has been found, Pantaleos lawyer Stuart London said.

Just days after the anniversary of Garners death, the NYPD announced over the summer it would immediately begin a disciplinary process.

The Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) announced in July it would be proceeding with that prosecution.

The CCRB will lead the case regarding Officer Daniel Pantaleo, and the NYPD Department Advocate will lead the case regarding Sgt. Kizzy Adonis.

The NYPD said Tuesday that an NYPD department trial date has not yet been set. However, Yul-San Liem, the co-director of the Justice Committee, said Thursdays hearing is not the beginning of a trial.

Over the last four and a half years, weve seen nothing but delay, obstruction and shielding of abuse of police officers by the NYPD and the de Blasio administration, Liem said

The NYPDs decision over the summe, came a day after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) informed the NYPD it had no objection with it moving forward.

Mayor Bill de Blasio has so far raised no objections to the NYPDs decision.

Earlier this week, Lawrence Byrne, the former head of the NYPD Legal Bureau, said he believes the Department of Justice (DOJ) has reached a conclusion in its investigation of Eric Garners death.

Other activists and local politicians slammed the mayor for failing to bring the officers to justice.

This is a stain not only on this city, not only on the state, this is a stain Mr. Mayor, to speak in your terms, on your legacy and your reputation as an executive of the city of New York, activist Kirsten Foy said. You will go down in history with Rudy Giuliani for sis inaction on justice you will go down in history with other executives who have failed to live up to the promise of ensuring that justice is equally applied across communities.

Garner, 43, died when cops attempted to arrest him for allegedly selling loose cigarettes in Tompkinsville on July 17, 2014.

Video taken by witness Ramsey Orta showed Pantaleo wrestle Garner to the ground while Garner could be heard repeatedly shouting I cant breathe.

Medical examiners ruled Garners death a homicide in 2014.

FOLLOW SYDNEY KASHIWAGI ON TWITTER.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Attention all passengers: Would the owner of a diamond engagement ring and wedding band please report to the lost and found.

A Staten Island Ferry passenger is presumably freaking out Tuesday, after leaving what appeared to be four extremely valuable rings inside the ferry bathroom.

A fellow passenger who claims to have recovered the items on the 1:30 p.m. boat took to Twitter in search of the owner.

A passenger on the 130pm ferry Staten island bound left their diamond rings in the bathroom a wedding band, engagement ring and two beautiful rings, you will need to go to the ferry security to retrieve them. My heart sank, when I saw them  Jean Corbett (@JeanCorbett11) December 4, 2018

A spokeswoman for the Department of Transportation didnt immediately have information about the social media post, but said items left behind go to the lost and found office.

Dozens commented on the post, which also was posted to Facebook.

Thank you! Maybe a tourist? Hope they get returned," wrote one commenter.

Said another: You can wash your hands without taking off your rings, especially if your not home."

The lost and found office is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday

The office is located in the St. George Terminal waiting room, next to the NYPD Police Room.

For additional information, or lost and found assistance, passengers are asked to call 311. Outside of New York City, passengers can dial 212-NEW-YORK (212-639-9675).

Passenger service staff will search for the lost object and call the passenger back directly with the results of the search, according to a DOT spokeswoman.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A 29-year-old man from Annadale allegedly was caught with a stash of drugs and other contraband including a New York State Corrections shield, handcuffs, fake guns and real knives.

Police identified the suspect as Philip Cancilla, 29, of Dorval Avenue in Annadale.

Police allegedly spotted Cancilla selling oxycodone to another man at the corner of Annadale Road and Drumgoole Road West in Annadale on Nov. 27 at about 5:55 p.m., according to the criminal complaint.

Cancilla allegedly was found to have a total of 81 light blue oxycodone pills marked M30 in his car. Except for two pills found on the passenger side of the vehicle, all of the other tablets were in a pill bottle, according to the criminal complaint.

The criminal complaint said that a search warrant was executed on Nov. 27 at Cancillas home and that authorities found the following additional contraband:

a Daisy air rifle;

an air pistol;

two gravity knives;

one New York State Corrections shield;

two pairs of handcuffs;

one vial of heroin;

More than five pills of the anxiety drug alprazolam;

four films of the anti-opioid drug suboxone;

17 glassine envelopes with heroin residue;

a plastic zipper bag containing vegetative marijuana;

a grinder with marijuana residue;

a scale with marijuana residue.

The suspect has been charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance, criminal possession of a controlled substance, criminal possession of a weapon, criminally using drug paraphernalia and unlawful possession of marijuana, according to the criminal complaint. Cancilla was convicted on Jan. 11 of driving while intoxicated and sentenced to conditional discharge, according to the criminal complaint.

Bond has been set at $20,000/$10,000 cash and he is due back in Criminal Court on Jan. 14, according to public records.

Cancillas attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- An 18-year-old male was shot outside of 140 Park Hill Avenue Monday night at approximately 7:30 p.m., according to an NYPD spokesman.

The man was shot following a dispute with a group of males on Vanderbilt Avenue and Prince Street. During the dispute, one male discharged a firearm, hitting the victim.

The perpetrator then fled on foot, according to the NYPD spokesman.

The unidentified man was expected to survive, the NYPD spokesman said, but did not provide specific information about the mans injuries.

An FDNY spokesman said that two patients were transported to Richmond University Medical Center in stable condition. It is currently unclear what caused the injuries to the second individual. The NYPD spokesman did not have any information regarding a second injured individual.

NYPD units were seen canvassing the area surrounding Park Hill Avenue, and multiple officers stood outside of the cordoned-off entrance to 140 Park Hill Avenue at 8:30 p.m.

A Level One mobilization was activated to search for suspects in connection to the incident. An NYPD spokesman said that four black males are currently being sought.CITY HALL -- After a full day of talk that Commissioner of the Office of Emergency Management Joseph Esposito was ousted by City Hall, Mayor Bill de Blasio confirmed late Monday evening the administration is looking for a new head of OEM.

We have started the process of leadership change at New York City Emergency Management. Commissioner Joe Esposito will continue to lead OEM as we conduct a national search for his successor, the mayor told reporters at 10:05 p.m. Monday night.

The leadership shake up at OEM follows a Nov. 15 snowstorm that left virtually all of New York City paralyzed for hours. Esposito is the first official in the de Blasio administration to be let go following the storm.

The mayor said City Hall would find a way for Esposito to remain in the administration.

OEM declined to comment on how long Esposito will remain on the job or respond to de Blasios statement.

Esposito was reportedly fired Friday by Deputy Mayor for Operations Mayor Laura Anglin following a meeting with top Emergency Management officials to discuss the Nov. 15 snowstorm, sources familiar with the incident told the Wall Street Journal.

The Journal reported that after Fridays meeting, Anglin privately asked Esposito to resign. However, the OEM head refused, so the deputy mayor fired Esposito instead, and also ordered him to fire his second in command Calvin Drayton.

CONFUSION OVER ESPOSITOS FIRING MONDAY

Throughout the day Monday, it was unclear whether Esposito had actually been ousted. OEM said the commissioner was in the office Monday, and only at 10:05 p.m. did City Hall decide to confirm Espositos departure.

Following news of Espositos ousting, Island Councilman Joe Borelli (R-South Shore) and more than a dozen other City Council members penned a letter to de Blasio urging City Hall to reinstate the commissioner. They said they emphatically opposed the administrations decision to fire Esposito.

Borelli, who heads the City Councils Commission on Fire and Emergency Management, slammed City Halls decision to fire the OEM commissioner.

He said it would make more sense that Esposito was fired for some other longstanding distaste for him rather than for the citys response to the snowstorm.

[Esposito] didnt decide when Sanitation would convert from garbage pick ups to plows, he didnt decide at 3:30 [p.m.] to put plows on the Sanitation trucks, he didnt decide when and if schools should be closed, he didnt decide when and if after school programs should be closed, Borelli said. ... Everything that went wrong that day was not decided by Joe Esposito, yet we just find it necessary to fire the guy because he has the hair too long.

The citys initial forecast ahead of the Nov. 15 snowstorm projected just a few inches of snow. But ahead of the evening rush hour commute, the projections jumped to six inches of snow causing widespread delays on city streets and leaving

In the days after the storm, the mayor and Department of Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia both refused to apologize to New Yorkers for the citys delayed response to the storm.

Numerous accidents and stuck vehicles were reported across the Staten Island, as motorists were forced to navigate slippery roads covered in slush and snow.

Esposito joined OEM in 2014 after spending 45 years in the New York City Police Department where served as the chief of the department from 2000 until he retired in 2013.

OEM is responsible for the oversight of the citys efforts to plan and prepare for emergencies, educate the public about preparedness, coordinate emergency response and recovery, and disseminate emergency information.

FOLLOW SYDNEY KASHIWAGI ON TWITTER.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  The Legal Aid Society claimed victory Monday in an appellate courts ruling ordering a federal judge to consider the potential chilling effect the use of surveillance cameras in attorney-client interview rooms at the Staten Island Courthouse could have on those parties conversations.

Todays ruling is a victory for the Sixth Amendment and a victory for due process, said Tina Luongo, Legal Aids attorney-in-charge of the criminal practice. Our clients are entitled to meet with their attorneys in private  a fundamental part of the right to counsel. We look forward to arguing the merits of this Sixth Amendment chilling effect on our clients right to speak freely with counsel and call on the city to terminate this practice on Staten Island and elsewhere in the interim.

In February, a Manhattan federal court judge had dissolved a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order prohibiting the use of the cameras in pre-arraignment interview rooms at the courthouse.

The appellate court instructed the judge to rehear the case and weigh the impact the cameras could have on a defendants right to counsel.

The district court did not appropriately consider the chilling effect that the cameras presence in the attorney-client booths could have on pre-arraignment detainees willingness to communicate candidly with their attorneys, the appellate court opined.

The Legal Aid Society, which represents the majority of criminal defendants in the borough, had sued the city, the Correction Department and the NYPD in Manhattan federal court over the cameras use at the courthouse after it opened St. George in September 2015.

A preliminary injunction was ordered shortly thereafter preventing the cameras from operating.

Legal Aid maintains that the cameras in the pre-arraignment interview rooms hinder their clients ability to speak frankly with their lawyers.

Attorneys said the initial arraignment interview at the courthouse is where criminal defendants first meet their attorneys and form the basis of the lawyer-client relationship.

That session allows lawyers to explore investigative leads, assess the client's mental health and develop information to make a bail request.

The city and Correction Department contended the cameras were necessary for security purposes and to respond to emergencies.

While the parties attempted to reach a more permanent solution after the preliminary injunction was issued, the city and Correction Department experimented with masking technology in the interview rooms, said the appellate ruling.

Under the masking technology, cameras only viewed detainees and not lawyers. The cameras audio function also was disabled.

The city maintained detainees were warned by notices in interview rooms that cameras only recorded visual images and did not capture sound, the ruling said.

But Legal Aid contended the recording of those conversations, even just visually, potentially impedes open and frank talks between defendants and attorneys.

Lawyers fear discussions could be lip-read and used against clients. Videotape would also reveal body markings a client shows an attorney in confidence.

Were very pleased with the Second Circuits decision, which affirms the constitutional right of individuals accused of a crime to speak candidly with their attorneys, said Colin West, associate at the law firm White & Case, which announced the ruling along with the Legal Aid Society. The Second Circuit appropriately recognized that the presence of surveillance cameras may impede that right because detained individuals may fear that their conversations are being monitored and recorded.

While the appellate court ruling doesnt specifically say the cameras violate detainees Sixth Amendment rights, it does instruct the district court to weigh the cameras potential impact on free discourse between attorneys and their clients balanced against the city and Corrections security concerns.

Legal Aid said it intends to confirm the cameras have been turned off in view of the appellate ruling.

However, a source with knowledge of the case said the ruling doesnt explicitly address whether the cameras can continue to record while the matter is being reconsidered.

Nick Paolucci, a city Law Department spokesman, said the city thinks it is on solid legal ground.

We believe the current camera setup appropriately balances (Corrections) security concerns with detainees Sixth Amendment rights, and that the district court will adhere to its determination that (Corrections) use of the cameras complies with the law, said Paolucci.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- It was an opportunity for Staten Islanders to speak out on potential MTA toll and fare hikes, and they voiced their concerns on costs and so much more -- primarily the new express bus plan, which went into effect at the end of the summer.

Why are they lying about bus schedules? Youre waiting 25 minutes or more for a bus to come... On top of the crappy service, I pay $500 a month, exclaimed Grasmere resident Brian Padua, along with and Nia Kia, referring to the MTAs new express bus plan, which was rolled out in August.

Dozens attended the agencys public hearing Monday night, which was sponsored by the MTA to give residents an opportunity to voice concern over proposals to increase commuting costs at the beginning of next year -- possibly raising the base MetroCard fare from $2.75 to $3, the express bus fare from $6.50 to $7 or $7.25, and the Verrazzano Bridge full toll from $17 to $19.

Its getting too expensive," said Sunnyside resident Chris Coppa, referring to the cost to cross the Verrazzano.

The event, which took place at the College of Staten Islands Willowbrook campus, was attended by more than 50 people -- including commuters and public officials. Many voiced frustration regarding the new express bus plan.

The initial complete overhaul of the network resulted in 21 new express bus routes. And while the plan was designed to increase the speed and reliability of Staten Islanders' daily commute, it has been met with mixed reviews and has undergone various modifications since going into effect.

I realized someone needs to step up and fight for all of this -- because if someone doesnt step up, nothing is going to happen. I started a petition, I handed out flyers," explained Filippa Grisafi, of Great Kills, who created the SI Express Buses More and Better Services Not Worse and Less Facebook group. The goal is to try to get most of the routes restored."

MTA New York City Transit President Andy Byford listened as residents voiced their concerns, and said he finds the hearings invaluable.

"I took something like six pages of notes, because its very useful for me and for my colleagues... Tonight we got some good suggestions. Its not all people criticizing, in some cases people do come up with good ideas, he said.

Borough President James Oddo, who has been working with the MTA in making sure the express bus changes are beneficial to Islanders, spoke about the need for leadership during this critical time.

This is what happens when we kick the can down the road. We have kicked this can down the road so often, its not dented, its broken open," he said. Lets take control of our streets, lets take control of our HOV lanes, lets take control of our bus lanes, lets get rid the those damn tourist buses -- and it only happens with leadership."

And there was also concern regarding the timing of the MTA hearing, which began at 5:30 p.m. during Hanukkah.

Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis R-East Shore/Brooklyn) expressed her frustration when the Staten Island hearing date was announced by the MTA last week.

It is common knowledge that most residents do not return to the Island until at least 7 p.m. due to their lengthy commute. In addition to the Staten Island hearing being held on the second day of Hanukkah, the hearing in Brooklyn, which I also represent and is home to some of the largest Jewish communities in the state, is scheduled for the last day of the holiday, Malliotakis said Monday.

When asked about the hearing date last week, the MTA responded: We work hard to schedule hearings that are accessible to as many people as possible given the constraints were under to find large, affordable venues that are ADA accessible and available to be reserved within the timeframe in which these events need to happen. We specifically avoided the first night of Hanukkah, are holding this hearing later than every other one, and speakers can register until 8:30 p.m., allowing plenty of time for commuters."STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Police are asking for the publics help identifying two women sought for questioning in the October theft of approximately $5,000 worth of merchandise from Victorias Secret.

Two women allegedly removed the merchandise from the companys main store and its PINK subsidiary store at the Staten Island Mall between 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 19, according to a written statement from the NYPDs Deputy Commissioner of Public Information.

The women left the store and fled in an unknown direction, according to police.

Both women sought for questioning are described by police as black females between the ages of 25 and 30. Police provided surveillance photos taken from mall security footage of the two women.

Police are asking for the public's help identifying two women sought for questioning in the theft of $5,000 from two stores in the Staten Island Mall on Oct. 19, 2018. (Courtesy: NYPD)

Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPDs Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting tips to 274637 (CRIMES), then entering TIP577.

All calls are kept strictly confidential.To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.

We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.

A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!US private equity giant Blackstone has boosted its already substantial industrial holdings in Australia by a further $33 million as it, and another large fund manager Charter Hall, chase a stake in the well-performing sector.

Blackstone has snapped up a 10,220 square metre building leased to paint manufacturer Valspar in Sydneys Blacktown for $21.5 million.

The US-based Valspar was the subject of a $US9.3 billion takeover by competitor Sherwin-Williams earlier this year.

Charter Hall's unlisted funds' Compass Logistics Estate, Eastern Creek, Sydney.

The 32,268 sq m property at 46 Bessemer Street has three years remaining on a 12-year lease at a passing net rental of $1.255 million per annum.Private investors and self-managed super funds outlayed close to $45 million on 13 commercial investment properties, with a 65 per cent clearance rate, at Burgess Rawson's final portfolio auction for the year.

Fast food outlets and petrol stations dominated the line-up for the 125th anniversary of Burgess Rawsons auctions, where buyers spent a record $11 million on a Westpac bank and medical centre complex in Orange, NSW.

Burgess Rawson director Dean Venturato said there was a heavier focus on investments leased by household name companies.

''The overall results from todays auction were positive and you could really tell there was a preference for those longer, more secure leases with national and international tenants,'' he said.Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack says it is crucial farmers aren't kept in the dark over a $2.4 billion takeover bid for Graincorp and called for more details from the board over the bid's backers.

Investment fund Long Term Asset Partners made an all-cash offer of $10.42 a share for Graincorp on Monday.

The proposal is backed by a $3.2 billion loan from Goldman Sachs and $400 million from investment fund Westbourne Capital. However, there are concerns over the identity of other investors, which LTAP has declined to name.

Grain farmers could support LTAP's proposed takeover of Graincorp. Credit:Tamara Voninski

German insurance giant Allianz has also been tipped as the group underwriting LTAP's bid. LTAP declined to comment on Allianz's role in the proposal, saying it doesn't respond to market speculation.The last remaining terrace houses in the heart of Melbourne's Collins Street have sold for $30 million, continuing a run of deals in the streets Paris end.

Now joined together as one commercial building, the heritage-listed three-story terraces at 86-88 Collins Street were sold by businessman and philanthropist Ian Hicks.

The terrace houses at 86-88 Collins Street have sold. Credit:Chris Hopkins

The terraces - once a row of three - were built in 1872 as consulting rooms for Dr Robert Martin.

A caveat lodged on the property shows another businessman, Leo Moio, snared the keys to the National Trust-listed building which is described as notable on Melbournes planning scheme.Despite restrictions on bank finance, there is still strength in the market for well-located, prime retail assets, according to Gorman Commercials Tom Maule and David Minton. The pair sold 94 Union Road under the hammer for $2,435,000 in a fiercely contested auction, achieving a yield of 3.5 per cent. Box Hill North This office/warehouse at 5/58 Lexton Road, Box Hill North was in demand. Credit:CVA Five bidders at the auction of an office/warehouse at 5/58 Lexton Road pushed the price to $861,000 under the hammer. This fantastic result proves the market for sub-million-dollar industrial strata units in tightly held areas is as strong as ever, CVA Property Consultants Jarrod Moran and Stan Dawidowski said. Richmond

Three buyers fought it out at auction to buy the home of Funky Fresh Cafe at 487 Church Street before it was knocked down for $1.7 million. It sold with vacant possession at a land rate of $15,455, Teska Carsons George Takis and Michael Ludski said. Bentleigh East Offered for the first time in 40 years, a stand-alone warehouse at 10 Ardena Court sold under the hammer sold for $1,547,000 through CRS Commercial. Occupied by Autologic, a well-known BMW Specialist, it transacted on a 3 per cent yield to an overseas investor. Hawthorn East A Chinese developer has acquired a 1430 sq m residential site at 488 Barkers Road for $4.4 million, according to CBREs David Minty, Julian White and Chao Zhang. Hawthorn East is a relatively resilient market, achieving on average a 70 per cent clearance rate each weekend, and were extremely pleased with the strong $3000 per sq metre rate, Mr Minty said.

Dandenong South Demand for quality serviced industrial land remains strong with and 8883 sq m site at 151 Colemans Road selling for $400 per sq m or $3.55 million. Renato Daniele, Rory De Polo and Vincent Daniele from Nichols Crowder handled the campaign. Kilsyth A large 4588 sq m warehouse/office at 3B/97-107 Canterbury Road has sold for $5.4 million, said David Garfield from Nixon Industrial. Springvale

Two refurbished factory units at 69 Osborne Avenue sold to an owner occupier for $1.19 million reflecting a land rate of $1286 per sq m. Knight Franks Steven Salopek brokered the deal. Meanwhile, a private investor paid $2.88 million for a securely leased 2500 sq m industrial facility at 8 Tabbita Street in Moorabbin. Moorabbin Cabinets occupies the building on a 10-year lease term returning a net annual rental of $191,200 + GST. Mr Salopek and Stuart Gill handled the sale. LEASES Tullamarine The deal for 1-5 Jets Court in Tullamarine was struck at a rental rate of $220,000 per annum. Credit:CBRE Freight forwarding businesses Wiseway Logistics has inked a five-year lease over a two-storey office warehouse with net lettable area of 2416 sq m. In Tullamarines tightly held industrial precinct, the deal for 1-5 Jets Court site was struck at a rental rate of $220,000 per annum plus GST and outgoings, CBREs Daniel De Sanctis and Amanda Traficante said.

Fairfield New Zealands major gas and log-fired fireplace company Stoke Fireplace Studio has leased a corner building at 202 Grange Road as a base for its entry into the local market. The 552 sq m clear span warehouse/showroom/office was leased for four years at annual rental of $67,000 net by Gray Johnsons Rory White and Patrick OCallaghan from O & Co. Melbourne Investment managers Allan Gray Australia will relocate to 283 sq m on Level 11 of 41 Exhibition Street on a long seven-year lease negotiated by Colliers Internationals Zak Seccull and Ben Christie. Allan Gray will pay net face rent around $640 per sq m for a 283 sq m office. Meanwhile, on part of Level 11, 101 Collins Street Niometrics will take 374 sq m at gross face rent of $760 per sq m on a three-year term, Adam Davy said. Heidelberg

The NDIA has leased a 1322 sq m office at 56 Burgundy Street. Kelly & Kelly Propertys Gordon Kelly said the five-year lease for the ground and first level was set at an average gross rental of $538.80 per sq m plus GST. In another deal, co-working provider Regus took 950 sq m on a 10-year lease at 486-490 Lower Heidelberg Road. Rent was roughly at $350 per sq m. Carnegie National bubble tea operator Sharetea is expanding. Fitzroys Chris James has negotiated a six-year lease deal with options at $75,000 per annum net for Sharetea at 71 Koornang Road. The enquiry we received was largely from hospitality operators, he said. Collingwood Graphic design studio Principle Design will move into 197 Johnston Street after leasing the 150 sq m shopfront for $54,000 per annum. Morley Commercials Josh McMullin negotiated the five-year deal at a rate of $360 per sq m.

Elsternwick Cafe Cocomamas will expand into a larger 80 sq m space around the corner at 341 Glen Huntly Road following a deal negotiated by Fitzroys Jordan Ceppi. The cafe signed a four+four-year lease at $55,000 per annum. Box Hill Community Housing will relocate within Prospect Street in a deal facilitated by Colliers Internationals Kevin Tutty and Damien Adkins in conjunction with Gorman Kellys Mario Nobrega and Sam Torrance. The group will pay $360 per sq m for a five-year lease over 1450 sq m at 19-23 Prospect Street. Meanwhile, Fraud Watch has signed a seven-year lease at 14-16 Prospect Street paying $305 per sq m for a 950 sq m office, Kevin Tutty said. MOVERSSevere drought has smashed crop production in Australia's eastern states, with retail experts warning consumers could soon pay higher prices for food and fashion as a result.

NSW was worst hit, with crop production in 2018-19 forecast to fall 57 per cent to about 3.1 million tonnes, according to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) December report. This is the biggest fall since 1994-95. Victoria was not far behind, with overall production forecast to fall 51 per cent to 3.7 million tonnes for the same period.

Wheat output has plunged in NSW. Credit:Bloomberg

Nationally, the fall in winter crop production was 23 per cent to 29.3 million tonnes, with Western Australia propping up the drought-ravaged eastern states.

"It's a pretty alarming for NSW, I must admit. NSW, Victoria and Queensland have had the biggest downgrades in production," ABARES senior economist Peter Collins said.One in four private school parents would have to move their children to different schools if fees increased, a survey by the Australian Parents Council has found.

About 85 per cent would struggle or have to make "significant sacrifices" to pay higher-than-expected fee rises, the nationwide survey showed, and 70 per cent wanted their children's schools to give them a clearer idea of the kind of cost hikes they are likely to face.

Half were also concerned about the accuracy of a new, income tax-based measure of their capacity to pay, while two-thirds were worried about whether their children were getting a fair slice of the government education dollar.

All schools in Australia are having their funding adjusted over the next decade according to a cross-sector, needs-based formula introduced under the Gonski reforms. Credit:Fairfax Media

Some 676 non-government school parents responded to the survey and the answers were consistent across independent and Catholic schools.The Morrison government has no intention of lifting Australia's commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions, Melissa Price, the environment minister said, as she prepared to fly to a major climate summit in Poland.

Ms Price said the government remains "confident" the nation can achieve its pledge  made three years ago at Paris  to slice 2005 levels emissions 26-28 per cent by 2030 even though pollution is at seven-year highs.

Donald Trump will tell the New York Times that climate change is man-made in one breath and promise coal country that he will reopen its mines in the next. Credit:Bloomberg

"The government will not be revisiting the 2030 target," Ms Price told the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. "Parties are not required under the Paris Agreement to submit an updated Nationally Determined Contribution until 2025."

The UN's 24th Conference of the Parties  known as COP24  began last Sunday in the Polish city of Katowice. Ms Price, who will be Australia's most senior delegate, is not due to arrive until next Sunday to attend the final week.We all know that social media is polarising. We gravitate to news sites (or fake news sites) that reinforce our own views of the world. We dismiss stories we dont agree with and devour stories that tell us what we already know.

But there is another side to this coin of social media bias: its not just about what we like and share and comment on, its about the likes and shares and comments that other people bestow on us.

We have always had the capacity to curate our friendships. Never before, however, have we had such a capacity to curate our friends responses to us. Credit:Stocksy

Up until recently, only famous or powerful or wealthy people could surround themselves with sycophants. The rest of us regular people had to put up with our regular friends. And our friends would be reasonably honest with us about what they thought.

If we did something stupid, theyd most likely tell us. If we did something dangerous, theyd stop us, because they cared. If we tried to buy a hideous outfit, they would tell us to put it back.A captain of the Australian army was convicted in a Canberra military court on Monday of raping a fellow officer, after he inserted a beer bottle into the mans anus during a drunken incident at a work function.

Prosecutors and the defence described the offence committed by Captain Rhiley Boyson against his friend as a prank, an act of tomfoolery gone too far".

After a five-day court martial, and an hour and a half of deliberating, a panel of five male officers found 26-year-old Boyson guilty of one count of sexual intercourse without consent earlier this week.

On Tuesday, the panel retired to consider the sentence they will impose and it is expected they will deliver it on Wednesday.

It seemed likely Boyson will be kicked out of the army, either by the panel ordering a sentence of dismissal or through an administrative termination notice after the conviction, the court heard.Armed with a Brexit deal signed off by the European Union, Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May is now fighting for her political career. If parliament accepts the deal, she will stay in office but her own Conservative Party may be torn apart by internal division.



If parliament rejects the deal, her own position as prime minister almost certainly becomes untenable, so then a Conservative Party leadership contest is likely. Alternatively, parliament could accept the deal and then pass a no-confidence vote in the government leading to a General Election. This scenario is unlikely as the Conservative Party MPs may despise May's deal but fear that an election is likely to return a Labour Party government under its leftwing leader Jeremy Corbyn.

May's deal with the EU is, essentially, a delaying tactic. The big decisions on the role of the European Court of Justice, the economic and trade relations and the immigration rules, will remain subject to future negotiations that will continue for years after the official leave date of March 31, 2019. Conservative critics led by Jacob Rees-Mogg MP and Boris Johnson MP point out that the agreement makes the whole of Ireland subject to EU laws on customs and this will mean the de facto division of Northern Ireland, which is part of the U.K., from the British mainland.

At the last General Election in 2017 Theresa May was only able to cobble together a majority government with the support of the right-wing protestant Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). The DUP is staunchly against any change in the status of Northern Ireland as part of Britain. It has close historical links to right wing paramilitaries and terrorists opposed to Irish unification.

And, as the deal offers the Republic of Ireland, through the EU, control over Northern Ireland's trade in goods, the DUP is implacably opposed to May's proposals. Without the DUP votes May loses her majority and so is forced to seek votes from elsewhere. Compounding her problem is the fact that as many as 80 Conservative MPs are hostile to her deal. Most come from the EU hostile rightwing, led by Rees-Mogg, who are hoping to force a Conservative Party leadership contest in the near future; but others, from factions that supported remaining in the EU, feel that full EU membership is better than what is presently on offer. A parliamentary vote is due as early as December 11, 2018 and will likely be rejected.

However, whereas it would be normal in such circumstances for the government to resign and call a General Election, the fear of a major electoral defeat for the Conservatives means that an election is improbable. This is because the big fear on the part of the British establishment is that Labour will win a landslide election victory under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership. Corbyn has set his benchmark for an agreement with the EU as one that continues the benefits of EU trade relations, maintains progressive EU laws and regulations on workers' rights, but has greater control over immigration; although the detail of the latter concept remains unclear.

The Liberal-Democrats, the Scottish National Party and a large proportion of Labour's MPs, who think leaving the EU is a disaster, would like to overturn the results of the 2016 Brexit referendum. They argue that the voters were lied to about the consequences of leaving the EU and that the leave campaign was partly funded by illegal means. For them, this negates the moral weight of the referendum. They say that now that a deal is on the table the people should be able to vote on whether they want to accept it or, either leave the EU with no deal or remain in the EU after all. These forces were behind a very large demonstration on October 20, 2018 which saw over half a million take to the streets of London calling for some sort of "People's Vote."

Theresa May's personal options are narrowing. Squeezed between pressures pulling in different directions her argument is that her deal is an agreement to leave the EU, it is the only deal in town and, above all, in an appeal to the public she says let's just get this over with! I think this view does have a strong base of support. After all, only a few thousand people in Britain will read the exact terms of the deal, which is a legal agreement that is more than 500 pages long.

The problem for Theresa May and any Conservative Party leadership challenger is that the government in office will inevitably be blamed for failures to meet expectations. To keep their parliamentary seats the Conservatives have to be able to keep voters on board. Her deal angers the majority of party members and simultaneously fails to satisfy the aspirations of Brexit supporters. The voter profile involved is the natural constituency of the far-right, whose form, if we see beyond everyday political debate, is becoming discernible through the fog. Sections of the Conservative Party led by Boris Johnson and Rees-Mogg, will establish a de facto alliance with Nigel Farage's United Kingdom Independence Party and other anti-immigrant forces on the far-right.

The British public remains sharply divided and they naturally blame the government for the whole process. Over the last years Jeremy Corbyn faced an unceasing campaign of sabotage by his internal opponents in Parliament. This undermined public support for Labour in the polls. However, Theresa May's internal problems have taken center stage, so this should negate the impact of Labour's parliamentary divisions on its electoral prospects. Therefore, sooner or later a Labour government is the most likely end game of the chaos engulfing Westminster.

Heiko Khoo is a columnist with China.org.cn.

For more information please visit:http://china.org.cn/opinion/heikokhoo.htm

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.Canberra needs 12 new homes a day as the ACT's population climbs to a predicted 589,000 by 2041, the government's new planning strategy reveals.

The strategy, which replaces the last one from 2012, puts the emphasis firmly on urban infill rather than expansion, saying 70 per cent of new homes will come from infill.

Canberra needs 12 new homes a day to avoid expanding too much into surrounding bushland, according to a new strategy released by the ACT government. Credit:Rob Homer

The document, to be released on Wednesday, says there is potential for only 29,000 new homes in existing greenfields areas.

The strategy makes a powerful case for greater urban density in the ACT, saying "decisions about future greenfields development on Canberra's urban fringes will need to be carefully weighed up" to protect the environment around the city, including bushland and grasslands.Given there can now be no doubt Australia's off-shore detention policies have caused terrible harm to hundreds of individuals, including children, on Nauru and elsewhere, it is imperative those still on the island should be brought to Australia as soon as possible.

It is only here they will be able to access the very necessary, and in many cases tragically overdue, assistance they need to mend the damage inflicted on them in the Australian people's name.

The last, best, hope to do this before next year's election is the private members bill introduced into the parliament by Dr Kerryn Phelps on Monday.

The "Migration Amendment (Urgent Medical Treatment) Bill", which was also sponsored by Andrew Wilkie, Adam Bandt, Julia Banks and Rebekha Sharkie, would need the support of all of the crossbench, Labor and at least one government MP to pass the lower house.Nearly the end of another year  and one in which the military have done pretty well, in terms of equipment anyway. Airforce has just received its first pair of an eventual 72 Joint Strike Fighters. An extra squadrons expected, meaning well have nearly 100 by the time the buying spree is over. A contract will see BAE construct nine future frigates from 2020 and (probably) a contract with Frances Naval Group is ready for detailed design work on a dozen new submarines. The fleet will end up with 55 new vessels. The Army? Well, its getting 211 Rheinmetall armoured reconnaissance vehicles with another 600 infantry fighting vehicles to be ordered. Its a massive transformation for the forces.

Our military is changing as fast as it can and as speedily as the taxpayer dollars can be spent. In stark contrast to the extended period of stasis when Julia Gillard was prime minister and Stephen Smith defence minister, Christopher Pyne doesnt appear to allow a recommendation to buy equipment to hit his desk without actioning it.

Australia is spending up big on Joint Strike Fighters. Credit:Scott Barbour

The question is, are the recommendations coming from the services good enough?

In the past it made sense to take our time over decisions, examining all the options carefully, first pass, second pass, testing, before slowly integrating the new capabilities into units. It matched, pretty much, the speed of technical progress. The problem today, however, is two-fold: new capabilities are being developed far more quickly and, just as importantly, the cost of new equipment is increasing exponentially.How long could it possibly take to sell a dirt patch covered with a few cotton shrubs?

More than seven years, it turns out, particularly if that dirt patch happens to be the countrys largest farm with rights to more water than could fill Sydney Harbour.

Illustration: John Shakespeare Credit:

Cubbie Stations owners, Chinese textile billionaire Yafu Qiu and his Shandong Ruyi conglomerate, were told by then treasurer Wayne Swan to sell at least 29 per cent of their 80 per cent stake in the operation when they splashed out $240 million for it in 2012.

(A year later Yafu, a senior Communist Party member, coughed up $33.5 million for Seven Network executive Bruce McWilliams Bang and Olufsen mansion in Point Piper.)The basis of the potential legal action is the contents of a letter allegedly sent by the anaesthetist to several parties including the office of NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard.

Louise Messara is considering launching legal action against an anaesthetist. Credit:Simon Alekna

Former director of medical services, Dr Louise Messara, is considering pursuing defamation proceedings against an anaesthetist at the $600 million hospital in Frenchs Forest.

A doctor could face defamation action from Northern Beaches Hospital's outgoing medical director amid sustained reports of systemic problems at the public-private facility.

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Staff say they were told an anaesthetist who allegedly leaked damaging information would be dealt with.

Dr Messara's partner is the head of critical care at the hospital.

Dr Messara's lawyer Andrew Thorpe said the matter concerned one doctor and they were in contact.

Mr Thorpe said Dr Messara would defend her reputation if any other individuals were to attack her.Australian pop star Guy Sebastian claims he has been burned over a sunscreen deal with his former manager Titus Day in a high-profile court stoush between the pair.

Mr Day's 6 Degrees Management firm is counter-suing the singer, alleging he is owed commissions for a range of services, including brand endorsements, X-Factor performances, and the Taylor Swift support tour.

Singer Guy Sebastian and his former manager Titus Day (left) promoting Solar D sunscreen, now the subject of a Federal Court dispute between the pair. Credit:Anthony Johnson

The inaugural Australian Idol winner launched proceedings in the Federal Court in July, claiming, among other things, he is owed 10 per cent of the shares and profits of Nexdius, a company that owns the Solar D sunscreen brand.

In a statement of claim filed in the court, Sebastian alleges he acted as a brand ambassador for Solar D; participated in media interviews, and promotional photo and video shoots and for the brand; assisted in securing other celebrity ambassadors; and used his personal connections to arrange distribution contracts for Solar D products.Premier Gladys Berejiklian has rebutted suggestions her promise to spend $4.6 million planning fast rail in NSW is an election stunt, saying her government could not afford to wait for the federal government before starting work on the scheme.

Ms Berejiklian said on Tuesday she would start "work" on a fast rail network in the next term of government after appointing a British rail expert to consider four potential high-speed routes between Sydney and regional centres.

But after years and thousands of pages of reports and studies into the viability of high-speed rail on Australia's east coast, Ms Berejiklian rejected suggestions the pre-election announcement was aimed at marginal seats in the state's regional areas.

"Far from it. This is a government getting on with what it does well," she said.20,000 in wild welcome for new Comet

More than 20,000 people jumped fences, stormed barricades, and rushed Britain's Comet III jet airliner when it landed at Mascot after a record-breaking flight from London. The Comet reached Sydney from Darwin at 4.47 p.m but had to be pulled out of its landing approach when groups of people milled on the runway. Wheels and landing flaps down, the plane rose into the air again and made a big circle over Sydney until police cleared the runway, finally landing at 5.09 p.m.

Security premises damaged by fire

A fire severely damaged the Sydney headquarters of ASIO located in the Agincourt Building in Wylde Street, Potts Point. The building was known locally as The Kremlin because of its four towers. The fire broke out in the records section on the top floor at 8.05 p.m. and within a few minutes flames were leaping 30 feet into the air. Thousands of records and documents were destroyed, and many others were damaged by water. Security officers investigating the cause were not ruling out sabotage.

Conference on time-wastingPlease do not change the way Liberal PMs have always been chosen or dismissed. If a PM does not have the support of the members of his party, then another vote is a good idea. How great that we could be rid of really bad PMs. The Liberals are lucky that Kevin Rudd changed the way Labor leaders are elected. Now ScoMo has Bill Shorten as his opponent at the next election. If it was not for the rule change, Labor also would have changed leader. - Gary Fisher, Keiraville Illustration: John Shakespeare Credit: The PMs move raises some interesting questions. Do the Liberal boys realise the electorate is almost as puzzled by the shabby treatment of Julie Bishop as they are about the dumping of Turnbull? Do they understand the level of anger among female voters as expressed so eloquently by Julia Banks? Are they afraid of a leadership challenge by Julie Bishop? Do their new rules allow for a spill after an election loss, as Labors rules do? - Lynne Poleson, Kingsford Interesting that Morrison changed the rules after meeting Merkel and Trump. Maybe they both asked who are you representing? - Ian Kerr, Galston I would prefer to translate er wird weg sein as he will be gone (Letters, December 4). -

Ian Stevenson, Gladesville

Its Time. - Bill Plastiras, Vaucluse Attenboroughs wake-up call for climate change Well blow me down. David Attenborough, of all people, spreading fake news. I just hope itscatching (Civilisation may collapse if climate change ignored, says David Attenborough, smh.com.au, December 4). - Rob Venables, Bermagui Attenborough said: We are facing a man-made disaster of global scale, our greatest threat in thousands of years: climate change. If we dont take action, the collapse of our civilisations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon. And then we have Craig Kelly. Who are you going to believe? - Colin Clark, Valentine I hope a Matt Canavan counsels Attenborough to stop wasting his time on nature and do something interesting like studying mining. - John Dinan, Cheltenham

While its refreshing to hear Energy Minister Don Harwin state the NSW government is committed to getting to zero emissions by 2050, it has no plan to get us there (NSW Liberals still aiming for zero emissions by 2050, December 4). Two years ago the Coalition released a draft Climate Change Strategy, but the final report has never emerged and the road map to a clean energy future hasnt seen the light of day. Harwin is reading the tea leaves, that the people of NSW love clean energy and want to hand a safe climate to our kids, yet it takes more than rhetorical statements to convince us youre putting our states long-term interest first. Any party that wants to get elected must have a credible plan to tackle climate change. - Kate Smolski, CEO, Nature Conservation Council of NSW Wrong, Evan Mulholland (Turnbulls act of woeful hypocrisy, December 4). We want action on global warming, not hollow gestures. If that means no lower power prices, then so be it. All the Liberals can come up with is a way to sell a message when they have nothing to sell. - Patrick McMahon, Beverley Park Australias greenhouse gas emissions increased in the past year mainly due to using outdated coal energy. Technological advances have made renewable energy cheaper, providing more jobs in innovative industries. There is urgent need for strong governance for a cleaner, healthier future. - Lynne Saville, Chatswood For a long time people believed the Earth was the centre of the universe, when scientists proved it was not, many continued to disbelieve. Climate change is no different. The frightening thing is the consequences of not believing the scientists will be devastating to our planet. The government must address the situation. - Janice Hull, Hat Head

Lockout laws an affront to city Mark Pigotts tale of closing the Oxford Street institution makes me sad (I will never forget the night the lockout kicked in, December 4). I grew up with the late-night vibrancy of Oxford Street, seeing actors buy the newspaper for the reviews after opening night and the eclectic characters congregating after peacefully partying late. The lockout laws are an affront to the community they pretend to protect. Our city, and his business, are nanny-stated with loss of jobs and our reputation as a global city is trashed. - Julius Grafton, Balmain The lockout laws came about because ordinary people were sick of having their neighbourhoods trashed by people who had consumed too much alcohol. Or who had vomited on the footpaths. Or who had urinated on their doorsteps. Or who thought it a good idea to yell abuse at others.

The real problem is actually the availability of alcohol and illegal drugs and the people who use these to excess. The lockout laws are not the problem. Since the consumers could not curb their appetites for these substances, the only reasonable thing to do was to ban the selling of them after 1.30am. - Mia David, Wollongong Fast-train politics

Citizens cannot rely on politicians providing a fast rail service (Faster rail services on the agenda, December 4). We can, however, rely on an announcement of such service just before an election. -

John Boast, Hunters Hill You report that the Berejiklian government will consider the feasibility of up to four fast train links to regional centres. Words straight out of Yes, Minister. - Garrett Naumann, Cammeray The money that has been wasted already on studies would have built a couple of train services. - Ron Field, Bermagui Stokes on target Take a bow Rob Stokes (Stokes accuses federal Libs of wilful ignorance on climate, December 4). I have wanted to ask a question of climate change sceptics for some time. Which is it, arrogance, sheer ignorance or stupidity that makes them think they know more than the worlds best brains and scientific experts? It is a huge price that we and future generations will pay for their ignorance. - Tatiana Podmore, Cremorne

Defamation laws work A person or organisation publishes information that is found by a jury to be untrue and damages are awarded (Fairfax takes aim at laws as Gayle wins $300,000 payout, December 4). And if what was published is untrue the publisher, therefore, shouldnt be able to claim that it was in the public interest to publish. Sounds sensible to me. So do we really need a wholesale change in our defamation laws? - John Pick, West Pymble Protecting citizens Peter Hartchers article on breaking encryption codes used by terrorists is an excellent statement of the problems as well as being even-handed (Now is not the time for hacks, December 4). Pity that our politicians arent paying attention. Such vital discussions need bilateral support, whereas the conclusion to be drawn from the Coalitions approach is that they are more interested in wedge politics than passing good legislation to protect all citizens. - Lawrence Hayden, Surry Hills Students lead the way

This principal is immensely proud of the nine Dapto High School students who attended the action on climate change rally last Friday; each with parental support. Our school is doing its utmost to involve students, their families, our community and staff in sustainability issues. Sadly, my generation is demonstrably failing to engage constructively. - Andrew FitzSimons, principal, Dapto High School Ron Elphick expresses incredulity over crocodiles in George Street (Letters, December 4). Well, 30 years ago we were amazed to find crocodiles in Mackay and now they have been seen near Fraser Island. So crocodiles in George Street may be sighted when those kids are your age, Ron. - Dick Clarke, Elanora Heights My parents live in Bulga, a little town in the Hunter Valley ringed by open-cut coal mines and I am no stranger to protesting with them. With few exceptions, the incredible people on this bitter front line, risking jail, are grandmothers and grandfathers. And they are tired. Its time to pass the lit stick of gelignite. On Friday how refreshing to see faces without a line on them, leaving the walls that are educating them to go question at the feet of the founding fathers in Martin Place.

The kids we oldies saw on Friday were joining in on the glorious Aussie tradition of the sicky or mental health day. The system is making their world sick and doing something about it is worth getting out of bed for. - Philipa Tlaskal, Potts Point Pride in citizenship

Reading Helen Pitts article about new Australian citizens in the Liverpool Council area made me proud to live in a country that accepts migrants from so many places (From Algeria to Bosnia emigrants make Liverpool their new home, December 3). Forty years ago my family also became citizens in a citizenship ceremony in Liverpool  but not at the EG Whitlam Centre. We received our citizenship certificates centre stage at Westfield Liverpool. - Daniela Giorgi, Redfern Our US relationship As interesting as your review of John Curtins role is and the follow-up letter (December 3), I suggest that a slightly different complexion on the relationship between Australia and the US may be observed as a result of the recent book by Dr James Prior (America Looks to Australia, 2018) and his analysis of the role of our man Richard Casey in Washington in 1940-41. - John Batts, Bronte Larrikin spirit

Max Presnell is an Australian icon (After more than 60 years the ink is still in my veins, December 3). His column brought back vivid memories about a once friendlier Australia where larrikins and their spirit gave this country a unique character. Maybe it was the joys and vices of life around the track that attracted this spirit, nevertheless I love the way Max covered it with colour and style. - Srdan Knezevic, South Hurstville Karvelas out on a limb Patricia Karvelas should have a word with Pauline Hanson about borrowing a burqa (Under His Eye, thats no way to dress, smh.com.au, December 4). How ridiculous she was barred from Parliament House. - Nick Hendel, Roseville When women are pressing hard for equality in all aspects, surely failing to follow dress regulations is a smite against that aim. Karvelas would not wear a full face cover: that is against the rules. She would not attempt to enter Parliament wearing a bikini. If baring your arms is against the rules, dont do it. You cant have one rule for equality that says everything is equal yet flout rules. Karvelas demonstrated a lack of professionalism unbecoming a member of the press gallery. - Gary Bigelow, Oatlands Surely former South Australian premier Don Dunstan smashed the dress code forever in the 1970s. Did he not wear a short-trousered safari suit into the chamber, a variant on the FNQ rig? - Ivan Head, BurradooQueensland Health's multimillion-dollar project to digitise the state's hospitals is at a "critical junction" as its cost has blown out beyond its budget, an Auditor-General report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday has found.

The report found that the $600 million integrated electronic medical record (ieMR) project has not been proven to provide value for money and is predicted to require another $256 million according to a draft business case from the department.

Health Minister Steven Miles at Princess Alexander Hospital after the auditor-general's report into digital hospitals was released. Credit:Lucy Stone/Brisbane Times

The project, coordinated by eHealth Queensland which sits within the health department, would provide each patients' medical records in a fully digitised environment for clinicians to access.

Digitising hospitals is designed to reduce costs, lower patient days spent in hospital and improve clinical care.The beautiful Polish city of Katowice is gearing up to host the crucial annual UN climate negotiations this week. All eyes are on the key conference as it may finally yield a consensus on the rules for implementing the much debated 2015 Paris Agreement. With Europe being entangled with Brexit and other immediate challenges and the United States in the process of signing out of the 2015 Agreement, China and India are being touted to play a vital role in shaping the narratives at Katowice.



The 24th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP24) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is vital for many reasons. First, after the climate negotiation was signed in Paris in 2015, member countries have been struggling to complete the much talked about "rulebook" of guidelines, procedures and rules required to make this ambitious agreement a reality. In that sense, Katowice offer an opportunity to iron out differences among 196 countries and find a mutually agreeable "working regime" to provide a fresh dose of life to the climate deal.

Second, it must be mentioned that the Paris Agreement had unveiled a process where the member countries have to come out with their climate action strategies once every five years. Thus, at COP24, countries have to present clearly their national climate goals or NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions) by 2020, which is not far away.

Third, fighting climate threatening challenges, especially taking adaptive measures, requires massive financial resources. The proposed Green Climate Fund (GCF) mechanism to raise finances, particularly to support developing and vulnerable countries, is still a nonstarter. The promise made by developed countries to infuse substantial amounts of finance are yet to make serious traction. With the richest country, the United States, opting out of the Agreement, there is huge uncertainty on this critical dimension.

During the Copenhagen Climate meeting in 2009 (COP15), developed nations made commitments to infusing US$100 billion every year from 2020. Further, as per Article 9 of the Paris Agreement, the developed bloc is supposed to share qualitative and quantitative information on climate finance every two years. However, the U.S., the European Union and other developed countries are showing no urgency on this critical aspect of climate commitment. For developing nations, paucity of funds is a major roadblock to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and climate adaptive initiatives.

Opportunity for India and China

Given the global uncertainty and lukewarm response from the developed bloc despite the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report making a dire warning on global temperature rises, developing countries, particularly China and India, have to take the moral and financial lead on this.

Apart from shouldering more responsibilities, China and India have a rare opportunity to build a working relationship with other key actors from the developing bloc such as the Like-Minded Developing Countries, the Arab Group and the African Group of Negotiators to build up pressure on developed nations to get the deal going.

Both countries have put up ambitious climate action strategies and in recent years have shown clear commitments to meet these goals. For instance, not only has China been able to fulfill its carbon intensity three years earlier than the given time line, the country has made a huge breakthrough in its energy transition by taking its clean energy investment to a new high of US$132 billion last year. While India has taken the lead in building up the International Solar Alliance and initiating practical measures to implement ambitious renewable targets (a record 175 gigawatts) by 2022. Recognizing India's commitment, the United Nations recently awarded Prime Minister Narendra Modi the Champions of the Earth Award for 2018.

To conclude, from the initial discussions, it is very clear that China and India would like the rule book to clearly lay down equity and the principle of CBDR (Common but Differentiated Responsibilities) in the stocktaking mechanisms. It needs to be mentioned here that the developed bloc have been relentlessly fighting to keep the "equity" issue out of the stocktaking. Equity is critical for the developing countries that have been fighting for last two decades. Second, the developing nations have to pay attention to the "strong lobby" that is tirelessly working to meet the mitigation goals only. There is a genuine fear that the Talanoa Dialogue at the Katowice summit might end by forcing all countries to notch up their mitigation targets.

Niranjan Sahoo is Senior Fellow, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors only, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.Rain dumped on the central Queensland coast in the past 24 hours has dampened down 70 bushfires across the region, with all under control on Wednesday morning.

Storms and widespread rain arrived above weary firefighters on Tuesday, providing relief in areas gripped by bushfires for more than a week.

A firefighter battles the Deepwater bushfire. Residents have just been allowed to return home. Credit:QFES Media

A teenage girl was shocked by a lightning strike that hit the ground near her just after 6pm in Netherdale, 75 kilometres west of Mackay, and taken to hospital in a stable condition.

Evacuated residents were allowed to return home to Deepwater, Baffle Creek, Rules Beach and Oyster Creek on Tuesday and the last of the affected state schools reopened on Wednesday.Murdered underworld boss Carl Williams was one of the first to suspect he was being double-crossed by his own lawyer, whose role as police informer 3838 has potentially compromised dozens of convictions and sparked a royal commission.

A hand-written letter obtained by The Age reveals Williams complained to an associate that his trusted lawyer had struck a deal with police to turn a close friend and drug-dealing hitman against him.

Carl Williams in 2004. Credit:Jason South

The letter was sent in 2006, when Williams was on remand in Barwon Prison awaiting trial on murder.

The hitman, who cannot be named, gave detailed statements against Williams and drug lord Tony Mokbel, telling police about how they had formed a criminal alliance, who they had targeted for murder, and which corrupt police had provided inside information.A magistrate has accused police of dragging their feet in the case of an alleged hit-run collision that killed a Dutch cyclist.

Homeless man Michael Panayides, 27, appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday via video link on multiple charges over the death of 27-year-old Dutch national Gitta Scheenhouwer in Chapel Street in August.

Gitta Scheenhouwer

Lawyers told magistrate Suzanne Cameron the matter would need to be adjourned while prosecutors await results from airbag module testing from the car involved.

Ms Cameron scolded the prosecution for only sending the module overseas for testing last week, instead of "when it actually happened".On Wednesday night Port Phillip council will again be debating the merits of greater alcohol restrictions on the St Kilda foreshore.

Councillors are being requested by some local foreshore traders to introduce a 24/7 alcohol ban on St Kildas beaches and foreshore parks, while other local traders are urging the council not to take the step, fearing the loss of the St Kilda "vibe" that for over a century has made it unique among Melbournes suburbs.

The aftermath of a December 2 brawl that broke out on the St Kilda foreshore. Credit:Seven News

Local residents are equally split between the two positions. Should St Kilda residents be made to forgo the act of enjoying a beer, or a glass of wine, watching the sun set over the water, in order to address the anti-social behaviour that has occurred over the past few weeks on the St Kilda foreshore?

This St Kilda "vibe" has, according to some, been slowly eroded by actions such as previous alcohol bans on the foreshore, constraints on the operation of local live music venues, and the loss of local institutions such as the Palace Nightclub, the Greyhound Hotel, or the recent three-year closure of the now reopened Esplanade Hotel.Glenny Kebabs owner Asad Syed's business has been evicted for having tables and chairs at the front of his food van. Credit:Luis Ascui

Wednesday was supposed to be a routine day for Asad Syed, owner of a popular food truck in Melbourne's south-east. Instead, it started with a phone call from panicked staff.

We can't get in, they told him.

Workers at Glenny Kebabs food van arrived for a 9.30am start only to be told that the business had been evicted.

Three security guards were on site and bright orange fencing had been erected to keep staff out.Renowned reformist Alex Wodak is used to lecturing on the world stage about the failure of the war on drugs.

But last weekend, he found an audience at the Vatican, propelled there by a Catholic body that represents the largest non-government healthcare provider in Australia.

Dr Alex Wodak spoke at a Vatican conference over the weekend. Credit:AAP

In selecting Dr Wodak to speak at the Vatican's 'Drugs and Addictions' conference on December 1, Catholic Health Australia CEO Suzanne Greenwood said she was aware the Drug Law Reform Foundation president's opinions might not be equally held by the global headquarters of the church.

"I knew his point of view is not exactly the point of view that's been put out by the church internationally," Mrs Greenwood said.An old office building blocking the City of Gosnells plans to redevelop its town centre has been forcefully acquired by the WA Planning Commission after the owner refused to voluntarily sell the property.

The former Centacare office, which has remained untenanted since March, was the only property in Western Australia forcefully acquired by the state government in the 2017-18 financial year.

108 Lissiman Street, formerly tenanted by Centacare, was the only property in WA to be forcefully acquired by the state government. Credit:Nerissa Briggs

The 292 square metre building on Lissiman Street was preventing the City of Gosnells from progressing its long-held $30 million plan to revitalise its town centre and encourage higher density development around Gosnells train station.

Despite the Crown taking ownership of the property in February, City of Gosnells chief executive Ian Cowie said the process of valuing the land was yet to be finalised and the former owner yet to be paid any compensation.Parliament House architect Harold Guida has urged the Barr government to leave "no stone unturned" in its investigations of a new route for the second stage of light rail.

One of the architects behind Parliament House, Harold Guida. Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong

Chief Minister Andrew Barr voiced support for a "compromise" route for the light rail to get from Civic to Woden, after a federal parliamentary committee found the government's chosen course through Barton would likely lead to time delays and cost blowouts in getting the project approved.

Instead, the light rail could use State Circle to go south, a route that sits between the two options that were voted on by the public earlier this year - the Barton dogleg and a more direct route via State Circle.

State Circle was investigated as an option to send the tram to Woden by consultants at least three years ago, although it's unclear why the route was spiked.More than half of Canberrans say they'd consider catching the train to Sydney if the trip was under three hours, new research from the ACT government suggests, as NSW pledges action on a fast rail network.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has promised to spend $4.6 million investigating four potential high-speed routes between Sydney and regional centres, including between Sydney and Canberra via the future Badgerys Creek Airport.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr has lobbied for a faster train between Sydney and Canberra in the past. Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong

Other options include routes from Sydney to the Central Coast and Newcastle; west to Lithgow, Bathurst and Parkes; and south to Wollongong and Nowra.

Both sides of politics in NSW have now committed to matching the $5 million in funding from the ACT government to investigate faster rail links between Canberra and Sydney.The federal government faces a legal challenge after sanctioning a plan by Indian mining giant Adani to pump billions of litres of water from a river in drought-stricken central Queensland to feed an open-cut coal mine.

The Federal Court action by the Australian Conservation Foundation threatens to further delay the controversial Carmichael mine, which Adani last week announced it would self-finance and soon begin constructing.

The legal action challenges Environment Minister Melissa Prices decision to waive a full environmental assessment for a pipeline that will extract up to 12.5 billion litres of water a year from the Suttor River in central Queensland.

The Australian Conservation will; argue that the water to be extracted by Adani is essential to the coal mine. Credit:ROB HOMER

Large coal mines require federal approval if they are likely to have a significant impact on a water resource. This is known as the water trigger, and it means projects undergo a higher level of scrutiny than that applied by local and state assessments, including input from an independent expert scientific committee. Flash

Visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday reached extensive consensus with his Panamanian counterpart, Juan Carlos Varela, on further promoting bilateral relations.



Xi arrived in Panama City on Sunday for a state visit to Panama, the first of its kind since China and the Central American country established diplomatic relations in June 2017.

During their talks on Monday, the two leaders spoke highly of the momentum of bilateral relations and cooperation results since the forging of diplomatic ties.

Xi hailed the strong start of bilateral relations highlighted by the exchange of visits of the two presidents and the deepening of mutual political trust.

He also lauded the rapid development of bilateral cooperation in various fields and the achievements made so far led by the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative.





Facts have proven and will continue to prove that the establishment of diplomatic relations is an absolutely correct decision and will benefit the two peoples.





Cementing and developing the China-Panama friendly relations is China's unwavering diplomatic principle regardless of the changes in international situations, the Chinese president stressed.





China supports Panama's efforts in safeguarding the country's security and stability, improving its people's livelihood and increasing its international influence, and in playing a bigger role in promoting regional economic integrity and connectivity, Xi said.





The two countries also issued a joint press communique on Monday to advance the development of their ties.The Howard Library has been opened in Canberra by Prime Minister Scott Morrison who paid tribute to his predecessor, turning to him and saying, "We can only dare to walk in shoes so large".

John Howard, in turn, praised his successor, looking at Mr Morrison and saying that he had his "total, uncompromising support". He added, "I have every confidence that you will triumph".

The mutual praise came as the current prime minister opened what is the country's first prime ministerial library of its type where the public can view documents and significant items in a very open display.

There are prime ministerial collections in libraries and universities primarily for scholars but the Howard Library is in full public view in a historical setting.

It echoes the American system where presidents have presidential libraries which are often visited by followers of the country's leaders. The organisers said they hoped more prime ministerial libraries would follow.Spurned Labor MP Emma Husar could move to the crossbench before the budget in a move that would set her up to recontest her western Sydney seat as an independent next year.

The backbencher has stoked fears among colleagues that she may quit the party in protest at what she sees as a smear campaign by former staff and enemies within the Labor machine.

"I have lots of friends around this building": Labor MP Emma Husar. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Ms Husar has missed both Labor caucus meetings this parliamentary sitting fortnight, citing illness, but was well enough to participate in a parliamentary basketball game on Tuesday.

On Monday, she said she deliberately missed a vote moved by deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek condemning Prime Minister Scott Morrison for "abandoning women" because: "I was not elected to play politics or be played by agendas of others."Labor MP Amber-Jade Sanderson, who oversaw a parliamentary committee into voluntary-assisted dying in Western Australia, has urged a former Victorian AMA president to not ignore overwhelming community support for euthanasia.

Morley MP Amber-Jade Sanderson has responded to comments by Victorian anti-euthanasia campaigner Stephen Parnis.

Emergency specialist Stephen Parnis, who spearheaded attempts to scuttle similar laws in Victoria, is in WA to speak to MPs and doctors groups.

Ms Sanderson said voluntary assisted dying was about giving dying people a choice to end their suffering.

"I would encourage Mr Parnis not to ignore the overwhelming community support for voluntary assisted dying in Western Australia or the many hundreds of people who have and are suffering unnecessarily at the end of their lives with terminal illness," she said."It's a bit of an escape," said Billy Mann, a TikTok creator who uses the platform to make comedy videos for his more than 650,000 followers. "It's a safe haven for people that are seeing the world on fire and being like, 'I need silliness,' " he said. TikTok's earnest goofiness has turned off some skeptics. But it's hard to argue with the numbers. As of Friday, it ranked No. 4 among free apps in Apple's app store, ahead of Snapchat, Netflix and Facebook Messenger. Globally the app, whose Chinese version is called Douyin, had 500 million monthly active users as of July, making it bigger than Twitter and about half the size of Instagram. Currently TikTok makes money through virtual gift sales and brand collaboration, such as a Guess-sponsored "fashion takeover." There are no ads inside the app, although the company's privacy policy leaves room for them in the future. TikTok, which is privately held, does not disclose financial information, but Sensor Tower estimates that it took in roughly $US3.5 million ($4.8 million) in October.

TikTok's success has spawned legions of influencers, users with millions of followers and household-name status among teenagers. And it has propelled ByteDance, which also owns a suite of other social media and news apps, to a reported valuation of $US75 billion, making it one of the most valuable startups in the world. Challenges like #eatonthebeat encourage creators to take part in skits en masse. TikTok's global head of marketing, Stefan Heinrich, said in a statement that the company's mission was to "capture and present the world's creativity, knowledge and moments that matter, directly from the mobile phone." In perhaps the clearest sign that TikTok is on to something, Facebook is trying to kill it. Last month, the company quietly released Lasso, a clunky clone that borrowed many of TikTok's core features and even tried to siphon off some of its power users. Lasso got off to a slow start, and is now the 687th most downloaded photo and video app in the United States, according to the mobile data company AppAnnie. The executive leading the Lasso team, Brady Voss, left the company shortly after the app was released. (Facebook declined to comment, and Voss did not respond to a request for comment.) Before I go any further, let's get one thing out of the way: If you're reading this, you are almost certainly too old to feel at home on TikTok. The company declined to provide information about its users, but judging from what's on the platform, the median TikTok user seems to hover in the midteens. TikTok is full of acne-studded faces, barely concealed tween angst and impenetrable youth-culture references. As far as I can tell, there is no way for adults to use it without feeling as if they are chaperoning a high school dance.

Officially, TikTok users must be 13 or older to join. But the age-verification process is easy to circumvent, and while browsing the platform I stumbled upon several videos starring people who appeared to be much younger. In its previous incarnation as Musical.ly, TikTok drew fire from some privacy advocates, who accused it of pushing the limits of laws that prohibit the collection of certain types of information from users younger than 13. "It's clearly a really popular, cool site, but you also have the issue of kids being significantly too young for it," said James P. Steyer, chief executive of Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that reviews tech products for families. "It's not that the content on TikTok isn't OK for your 15-year-old. It's what happens to your 6- or 7-year-old." While using TikTok, I never saw examples of bullying or harassment. (Both of which are prohibited by TikTok's community guidelines, as is sexually explicit content.) There are, however, a decent number of videos featuring teenage girls dancing suggestively. Which, if you are a 31-year-old newspaper columnist and not a 16-year-old boy, is fairly unsettling. A TikTok spokeswoman said in a statement that promoting safety and positivity on the platform is "our top priority." She added: "We periodically add to and adjust our protective measures, policies and moderation efforts to support the well-being of our users." Corey Campbell takes on the #chooseyourcharacter challenge.

Last year, after two other apps owned by ByteDance were criticized by Chinese officials for promoting objectionable content, the company's chief executive, Zhang Yiming, said it would increase the ranks of its content moderation team to 10,000 moderators, from 6000. Free-speech advocates might bristle at TikTok's Chinese ownership, and privacy hawks have raised questions about how the company handles users' personal data. But perhaps because it is more heavily moderated than other networks, TikTok mostly feels safe and wholesome. Julia Alexander, a fellow TikTok convert at The Verge, called it "a rare social app that isn't infested with hateful rhetoric." One popular genre of TikTok video is the "challenge," a kind of video skit that is acted out en masse. One challenge, #eatonthebeat, encouraged users to make videos of themselves chomping down on food to the beat of a song. Another challenge, #chooseyourcharacter, encouraged users to mimic a video game's character selection screen. Then there are the running jokes attached to specific songs  like "Good Girls Bad Guys," a song by the band Falling in Reverse, which is used for a genre of video in which a user appears first in nerdy, unattractive clothes, and then cuts abruptly to a made-over version of himself in sunglasses, leather jackets or other bad-boy attire.Jakarta: Scott Morrison is leaning heavily on the nation's most senior bureaucrats, and a top-secret panel of "wise elders", to find a way through the political and diplomatic minefield he created by suggesting Australia could move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The decision on that move, which has provoked significant disquiet among Australia's regional allies including Indonesia and Malaysia, is due by Christmas, but few details about it have been public until now.

Conversations with more than a dozen members of the bureaucracy, cabinet, and the foreign policy and defence communities suggest that the Prime Minister has ordered a whole-of-government review to sort out the issue.

The wide-ranging review underscores the government's concern at just how diplomatically sensitive an embassy move  or even a compromise announcement  could be.London: The British government may have sparked a constitutional crisis over Brexit, by refusing to publish legal advice it received on the deal it has struck to exit the European Union.

MPs said they suspected the government was hiding bad news, either on the length of time that the UK must submit to EU laws after Brexit in March, or on legal restrictions to its ability to strike future independent trade deals with countries like Australia.

Theresa May is facing a steep uphill slog trying to get her Brexit deal through a hostile Parliament. Credit:Bloomberg

They cited a previous case in which the Blair government refused to release its advice on the legality of the Iraq War. That advice was only published years later, revealing the then attorney-generals original opinion that the invasion was unlawful.

MPs will hold an emergency debate on Tuesday, after the House of Commons speaker John Bercow ruled there was an arguable case the government had committed a contempt of Parliament by withholding the Brexit opinion.New York: US sharemarkets plunged on Tuesday, local time, amid growing uncertainty about whether a truce struck between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump at the G20 summit will lead to a long-term deal to ease trade tensions between the two superpowers.

Trump - who on Tuesday described himself as "a Tariff Man" - has regularly boasted about gains on the sharemarket as evidence that the US economy has boomed under his leadership.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average had fallen by 783 points, or 3.1 per cent, by mid-afternoon on Tuesday local time. The S&P 500 lost 3.2 per cent of its value and the Nasdaq fell by 3.3. per cent.

Analysts said the markets had grown skittish because of a lack of clarity about the future of the US-China economic relationship.PHILIPSBURG:--- Leader of the United Democrats Theodore Heyliger is trying to get SZV to loan the Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIAE) USD 50M to bridge its ongoing financial problems. SMN News learned that Heyliger already contacted the Director of SZV Glen Carty asking him to look into the possibility of giving PJIAE a loan since the World Bank is taking forever to dish out funds for St. Maarten.

Prime Minister Leona Marlin said a few weeks ago that the World Bank would bridge the loan of $50M that PJIAE would need, but upon research by SMN News, it revealed that the World Bank could take another 6 months or longer before this could be a reality.

Already SZV has a number of its funds tied up in committed investments and soon enough SZV may go bankrupt if they continue with their excessive spending, due to political favors which could warrant a criminal investigation. SZV committed itself recently to finance the New General Hospital and they invested in the completion and renovation of the Government Administration Building including the sales and purchase of $100M, not to mention almost $40M been spent recklessly on consultant fees and the loan to ZEBEC in the amount of $10 M that is being investigated.

Just last month Members of Parliament fired a number of questions to Minister of Health Emil Lee regarding SZV funds and its financial standing. Lee is expected to return to Parliament sometime this month to provide Parliament with the answers to their questions.

Should SZV consider the demands of Theodore Heyliger then it is certain that SZV will go bankrupt as they certainly cannot handle such a financial burden? Flash

U.S. State Department said on Monday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would participate in NATO foreign ministers' meetings in Brussels during Dec. 3-5.





According to a statement issued by State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert, Pompeo would participate in this semi-annual meeting to review progress made in implementing the agenda agreed by NATO heads of state and government at the Brussels Summit in July.





"Pompeo would renew our call that Allies shoulder a fair share of the burden of responsibility to protect against common threats," said the statement.





"This means living up to the pledge that all Allies made in 2014 and reaffirmed at the 2018 Brussels Summit to spend 2 percent of their GDP on defense by 2024 and to invest 20 percent of that in major equipment," it added.





Transatlantic security issues would also be discussed in this meeting, as well as NATO operations and partnerships, including NATO's deepening relationship with Georgia and Ukraine, according to the statement.





The statement noted that Pompeo would also meet with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel to discuss how to cooperate on areas of mutual concern.





The U.S. administration has been criticizing European nations for failing to meet the official annual defense spending target of 2 percent of GDP set by NATO.





French President Emmanuel Macron said last month that he wanted "a real European army" to protect the Europeans from the United States and other nations, which U.S. President Donald Trump described as "very insulting."





"But perhaps Europe should first pay its fair share of NATO, which the U.S. subsidizes greatly!" Trump responded on his Twitter.





According to NATO figures, only five of 29 members met their defense spending targets this year -- Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Britain and the United States.PHILIPSBURG  The St. Maarten Chamber of Commerce & Industry (COCI) has taken note of a newspaper story that appeared last Friday under the headline, Shoppers urged to report fake Black Friday sales.

The newspaper story quotes the St. Maarten Consumers Coalition who urged shoppers who believe they were misled by Black Friday sales to report this to the Consumer Coalitions office.

The St. Maarten Consumers Coalition referenced a consumers organization investigation in the United Kingdom that found many products promoted as being on sale on Black Friday were actually cheaper before or after the Black Friday event.

The Chamber has taken note of the statement made by the aforementioned organization. We do not know if what they are saying is true, however, we advise any business to refrain from such business practices.

St. Maarten is a popular destination for Caribbean shoppers. Thousands makes there way here on an annual basis to purchase all kinds of products to take back to their respective islands.

Our country cannot afford to get a reputation of shady business practices. Our inter-island shopping attraction has grown over the years and has always had a good reputation. We are now in the Christmas holiday season, and this is the busiest period of the year for consumers and businesses.

Overall we need to promote retail shopping experiences that keep customers coming back. As an entrepreneur, you have to be innovative and present amazing offers and products that lead to sales.

Every store should have a retail experience strategy that includes customer service and it will lead to an excellent destination for holiday shoppers. Businesses have to constantly reinvent themselves and by doing so, it ensures that St. Maarten remains the number one duty free shopping destination in the Caribbean, COCI Executive Director Anastacio Baker said on Sunday.~New Hospital Groundbreaking Ceremony bogus and false.~

PHILIPSBURG:--- It is reported that INSO Engineering, Constructions, Innovations filed for bankruptcy in Italy. SMN News learned that Minister of Health and labor Emil Lee is fully aware of the developments surrounding the Construction company that he awarded the contract to for the New General Hospital.

On Monday when the Ground Breaking for the New General Hospital was held a representative for INSO was present however, the Minister chose to invite some other contractors to participate in the bogus groundbreaking even though the contractors that showed up for the historic groundbreaking did not have a signed contract to work on the New General Hospital when its constructed.

SMN News further understands that the current situation with INSO has the Minister extremely stressed but he chose to withhold the information from the coalition partners in parliament.

SMN News contacted the law firm that represents INSO locally and they said at the moment they have suspended their services to INSO and cannot comment on anything relating to the company.

It should be noted that INSO submitted the lowest bid for the New General Hospital and while the contract was awarded to them, VAMED the other contracting company that was contracted by SZV filed a lawsuit against SZV after the bidding process. SZV went ahead and settled with VAMED for $1M in order to maintain the contract with INSO.Nordic Gold Completes 1,234 Ounce First Pour

Posted by Publisher Internet

NORDIC GOLD CORP. (TSX-V: NOR)?(\Nordic\ or the \Company\) today announced the successful completion of the first pour of gold at its wholly owned Laiva Mine near Raahe in Finland.? A total of 1,234 ounces of dore was poured.

On October 11, 2018 Laiva received written approval for startup and mining started on August 5, 2018.

The company acquired Laiva Mine in December 2017 for approximately $25 million in cash and shares. Since that time the company has completed an updated NI-43-101 Resource calculation, completed a PEA, recruited an experienced management team to operate the mine, completed all necessary permitting and approvals to operate. The company has also completed all the necessary plant maintenance and recommissioning.

Michael Hepworth, President and Chief Executive Officer said, ?The first pour is a critical but vital step in returning Laiva to commercial production. The last 18 months has been focused on using past production data and learning from this information. Many fixes have been implemented and as we move towards commercial production further improvements will be implemented to ensure appropriate economics and efficiencies. The team at the mine has done an outstanding job of getting back to production in an incredibly short timeframe. From care and maintenance to production in around 11 months is something everyone can be very proud of.?

Nordic?s first pour of gold was livestreamed at 10.20am EST on 30th November 2018. Interested investors can watch video of this first pour at www.nordic.gold

About the Company

Nordic Gold Corp. is a junior mining company with a near production gold mine in Finland.?? The Laiva Gold Mine is fully built, fully permitted and financed to production via a gold forward sale agreement. ?Production is scheduled to start in the 4th quarter of 2018. ?

A recently released PEA was conducted by John T. Boyd Company?of Denver, Colorado (?Boyd?).

Other Highlights include:

Pre-production capex $7,115,103.

75,981 ounces of average annual gold production at a cash cost of $863 per ounce and AISC of $974 per ounce.

Measured mineral resources of 355,000 tonnes at 1.132 g/t Au and Indicated mineral resources of 3,442,000 tonnes at 1.248 g/t Au.

Inferred mineral resources of 9,030,000 tonnes at 1.531 g/t Au.

Mill grade of 1.45 grams per tonne with a recovery of 90.4%.

Life of Mine production of 456,600 ounces gold over a 6-year mine life.

The PEA is preliminary in nature and includes Inferred Mineral Resources that are too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as Mineral Reserves. There is no certainty that PEA results will be realized. Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.

As previously announced, when Nordic acquired the Laiva Gold Mine, the Company was granted, ?131,716,248 in tax loss provisions which may be used to offset future taxes should taxable income be earned in Finland prior to expiration of the tax loss carry forwards.? The tax loss provisions expire between 2020 and 2028 (see the Company?s audited financial statements for the year ended January 31, 2018 for detailed disclosure of the expiration schedule). The recognition of the tax loss carry-forwards has a material impact on the economic assessment of the Laiva Gold Mine project and are contingent upon the Company achieving taxable net income per Finnish tax laws.

Nordic Gold?s management has identified several opportunities outside of the scope of the mine plan studied in the PEA, which could further improve the mine plan and the economics of the project. Most important of these being the three additional 100% owned exploration properties close to the mine. Nordic is currently conducting magnetic surveys on all of the company?s properties. All three properties are fully permitted for exploration.

The report also identifies near mine targets for exploration as potentially 3.2 to 5.1 million tonnes grading at 1.25 to 1.45 grams per tonne. This estimate is based on drilling beneath the south and north pits at depths up to 250 m below surface and is open at depth.? Further infill and step-out drilling is required to test these targets.? Grade estimate is based on assuming the same weighted average grade of the measured, indicated and inferred resources reported in the Boyd report.? The report also identifies a target in the eastern extension as potentially 0.85 to 3.2 million tonnes grading 1.25 to 1.45 grams per tonne.? This estimate is based on three to five mineralized zones of 200 m to 300 m length, 50 m to 75 m vertical extent and 10 m width.? Drilling has identified multiple mineralized zones up to 750 m from the north pit that extend to depths of at least 100 m.? Grade estimate is based on intercepts of reconnaissance drilling and the weighted average grade of the measured, indicated and inferred resources reported in the Boyd report. The exploration targets are conceptual in nature as there has been insufficient exploration work to define a mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource.? The economics of the PEA do not include these exploration opportunities.?

Mineral Resources:

Mineral Resources were prepared by JT Boyd (Nordic Press Release August 21, 2017).

The effective date of the estimate is August 9, 2017.

The mineral resources presented here were estimated using a block model with a block size of 9 m by 9 m by 9 m sub-blocked to a minimum of 3 m by 3 m by 3 m using ID3 methods for grade estimation. All mineral resources are reported using an open pit gold cut-off of 0.40 g/t Au.??

Mineral resources which are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of mineral resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues.

The Inferred Mineral Resource in this estimate has a lower level of confidence than that applied to an Indicated Mineral Resource and must not be converted to a Mineral Reserve. It is reasonably expected that the majority of the Inferred Mineral Resource could be expected to be upgraded to an Indicated Mineral Resource with continued exploration.

Other than an economic pit shell no attempt has been made to apply a mining dilution or a mining recovery factor.

Mineral resources were estimated using the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (?CIM?), CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definition and Guidelines prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by CIM Council.

Numbers may not add due to rounding.

Disclosure: Companies typically rely on comprehensive feasibility reports on mineral reserve estimates to reduce the risks and uncertainties associated with a production decision.? The Company has not completed a feasibility study on, nor has the Company completed a mineral reserve estimate at the Laiva Gold Mine and as such the financial and technical viability is higher risk than if this work had been completed.? Based on historical engineering and geological reports, historical production data and current engineering work completed or in process by Nordic Gold, the Company intends to move forward with the development of this asset. The Company further cautions that it is not basing any production decision on a feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and technical viability, and therefore there is a much greater risk of failure associated with its production decision. In addition, readers are cautioned that inferred mineral resources are considered too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves.

Nordic Gold currently has one highly prospective property in British Colombia. The Star Property is currently operated under a Joint Venture agreement between Nordic (49%) and Prosper Gold. (TSX-V: PGX) (51%).

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Paul Sarjeant, P.Geo., a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 and a director of the Company.

About Pandion Mine Finance, LP

Pandion Mine Finance, LP is the general partner of PFL Raahe Holdings LP and is a mining-focused investment firm backed by MKS PAMP Group and Ospraie Management, LLC that provides flexible financing solutions to developing mining companies.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release

Advisory Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements. Users of forward-looking statements are cautioned that actual results may vary from forward-looking statements contained herein. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: expectations, opinions, forecasts, projections and other similar statements concerning anticipated future events, conditions or results that are not historical facts. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as ?plans?, ?expects? or ?does not expect?, ?is expected?, ?budget?, ?scheduled?, ?estimates?, ?forecasts?, ?intends?, ?anticipates? or ?does not anticipate?, or ?believes?, or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results ?may?, ?could?, ?would?, ?might? or ?will be taken?, ?occur? or ?be achieved?. While the Company has based these forward-looking statements on its expectations about future events as at the date those statements were prepared, the statements are not a guarantee of the Company?s future performance.? Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot give any assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct.?

The Company?s forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement and are made as of the date of this new release.? Unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not intend nor does it undertake any obligation to update or review any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent information, events, results or circumstances or otherwise.China VMF 2019- Asia's Premier International Vending Machine Fair

China VMF is one of the leading international vending machine fair in Asia, gathering the foremost vending brands in China. Having been held for a consecutive 6 years, the show is highly recommended by insiders, professional institutions and media at home and abroad.

With South China--one of the most promising regional market--as its setting, China VMF is a wonderful place for overseas vending companies to find their first pot of gold in China.

Want to Know More About China VMF 2019?

China VMF 2019 plans to expand its show floor to 50,000 Sq.m to host an estimated 700+ Exhibitors. Big industry players like LAQTIA S.L. (Spain), TCN, Jetinno, Xingyuan, Easivend, Dongji, Zhouyi, VenDing Networks, and etc, have already confirmed their participation! To cover the whole vending value chain, the show will market off 4 Themed Pavilions to respectively showcase Vending Machines & Self-Service Facilities, Unmanned Stores, Payment Solutions and Smart Logistics & Cold Chain.

What Will Be Showcased at China VMF 2019? Flash

The police are investigating and collecting evidence about the 11 Chinese people who were detained in Japan, and that 40 other people who worked illegally in Japan and went missing are also under investigation, according to Chinese consulate in Sapporo.





The website of the consulate-general of the People's Republic of China in Sapporo Monday provided information about the latest developments.





The consulate said that after receiving the notification from the Japanese police on Nov. 26, the consulate immediately launched relevant mechanisms and went to the Rikonai police station located in Hokkaido to ask about the situation.





Some detained Chinese citizens said they were deceived by some intermediary agent, and apart from them, others have remained missing.





According to the Japanese police, on Nov. 25, four Chinese men brought a patient to Rikonai hospital to see a doctor. Due to being in critical condition, the patient died in the hospital in the early morning of Nov. 26. The whereabouts of the four men were unknown.





The Japanese police immediately launched an investigation and detained 11 Chinese citizens near Rikonai station on Nov. 26. They were suspected of working illegally with expired visas.





The consulate requested the Japanese police to provide humanitarian treatment to the Chinese detainees, and timely inform them of the investigation results.Georgetown, SC (29440)

Today

Partly cloudy this evening followed by some light rain after midnight. Low 49F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening followed by some light rain after midnight. Low 49F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.Linked to the close of the Mayan calendar, a variety of rumors spread regarding ways the world could end back in 2012. One popular contender was Nibiru, a supposed planet that some claimed would collide with Earth at the end of that year. But despite the buzz, there's no scientific evidence supporting the alleged planet's existence  and, of course, our planet survived 2012 without absorbing a massive impact.

Nibiru has been linked to NASA by various bloggers. Because of this claimed connection, space agency officials put out a statement saying that no big planet was coming to destroy Earth in 2012. What follows below is the true science and history of this supposed rogue planet, with reference to a real object, Comet Elenin, that somehow got mixed up in the whole mess.

And we'll also talk about another hypothetical world that may actually exist in the far outer system  Planet Nine. [The Evidence for 'Planet Nine' in Our Solar System (Gallery)]

Artist's conception of the fictional rogue planet Nibiru, or Planet X. Nibiru does not exist, so don't be fooled. (Image credit: gilderm sxc.hu)

The origins of the Nibiru myth

The story began in 1976, when Zecharia Sitchin wrote "The Twelfth Planet," a book which used Stitchin's own unique translation of Sumerian cuneiform to identify a planet, Nibiru, orbiting the sun every 3,600 years. Several years later, Nancy Lieder, a self-described psychic, announced that the aliens she claimed to channel had warned her this planet would collide with Earth in 2003. After a collision-free year, the date was moved back to 2012, where it was linked to the close of the Mayan long-count period.

When Comet Elenin appeared in 2011, many were concerned that it was the mysterious planet in disguise, despite the fact that planets and comets appear very different under a telescope. (A comet has a gas atmosphere, called a coma, and a tail, while a planet does not.)

But instead of slamming into the Earth, the comet strayed too close to the sun and broke into pieces. The leftover fragments will continue on their path to the outer solar system for the next 12,000 years, still bits of comet and not a more cohesive planet.

Evidence for Nibiru?

Proponents of the fictitious planet note that, in 1984, a scientific paper was published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters which discussed several infrared sources with "no counterparts" that turned up in a survey of the sky. Such surveys are common in astronomy and usually involve follow-ups that individually detail the more interesting sources. In the follow-up of the 1984 survey, most of the sources turned out to be distant galaxies. None were identified as planets. Both papers are available to the public.

A planet with an orbit so eccentric that it took 3,600 years to orbit the sun would create instabilities inside our 4.5-billion-year-old solar system. After only a few trips, its gravity would have significantly disrupted the other planets, whose own gravitational pushes would have changed the hypothetical world's orbit significantly.

The easiest and most verifiable piece of evidence arguing against the existence of the theoretical planet can be performed by anyone: According to the information available, a planet with a 3,600-year-long orbit that was due to impact Earth in 2012 should be available to the naked eye. Easily performed calculations show that, by April 2012, it would have been brighter than the faintest stars viewed from a city, and almost as bright as Mars at its dimmest. This would have made it visible to astronomers everywhere.

The most common rebuttal to this is the cry of "Cover up!" However, there are hundreds of thousands of amateur astronomers around the world, many of whom own their own telescopes. On top of that, most of the thousands of professional astronomers are linked not to the government but rather to private universities.

Astronomer David Morrison pointed out in 2012 that "NASA and the government get most of their information from these outside astronomers, not the other way around."

Between the amateur and professional astronomers, there are plenty of people who would have noticed a new "star" in the sky.

Nothing to fear

Doomsday reports across the internet frequently incite fear, but it's interesting to note they are nothing new. People have been decrying the end of the world for hundreds of years.

Rumors spread like wildfire on the internet, but the same technology can make it easier than ever to delve into the scientific evidence about such events.

Planet Nine

All of the above notwithstanding, there may actually be a big, undiscovered world lurking in the dark, cold depths of the outer solar system. The evidence for this hypothetical "Planet Nine" has been building over the past few years, as astronomers such as Mike Brown, Konstantin Batygin, Scott Sheppard and Chad Trujillo have noticed weird clustering in the orbits of small objects beyond Neptune. The best explanation, these researchers say, is an unseen "perturber" very far from the sun.

Calculations suggest that this Planet Nine may be about 10 times more massive than Earth and orbit perhaps 600 times farther from the sun, on average, than our planet does. Astronomers around the world are scouring the sky with powerful telescopes as we speak, trying to spot Planet Nine directly.

Finally, a note about the name: Brown and Batygin dubbed the putative world "Planet Nine" because, if discovered, it would "replace" Pluto as the solar system's ninth planet. (The International Astronomical Union reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet in 2006, you probably recall.) But some researchers (and many laypeople) still regard Pluto as the ninth planet and therefore use the term "Planet X" (or "Planet Next," or "Giant Planet Five") for the undiscovered object instead.

This can get confusing, because "Planet X" was also the term used for a world once thought to be responsible for supposed oddities in the orbits of Uranus and Neptune. American astronomer Percival Lowell came up with this theory, and he hunted for Planet X in the early 20th century. (Clyde Tombaugh's 1930 discovery of Pluto did not validate Lowell's hypothesis, however, because Pluto isn't big enough to jostle Uranus and Neptune in the way that Lowell imagined.)

In any event, Planet Nine (or Planet X, if you prefer), may actually exist, and it's not coming to destroy Earth. So, it's very different than the mythical Nibiru.

This article was updated on Dec. 4, 2018 by Space.com Senior Writer, Mike Wall.BAIKONUR COSMODROME, Kazakhstan  Although the weather was cold here, the Canadians didn't seem to mind. A small group of tourists came to watch the launch Monday (Dec. 3) of astronaut David Saint-Jacques, unveiling a huge Canadian flag during the Soyuz rocket rollout two days before.

Canadian pride was everywhere in the contingent of VIPs and astronaut family members flying to Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. It is a journey that takes nearly two days in a best-case scenario, but people still remembered to pack flags and red coats and other tokens displaying their national pride.

The Canadian Space Agency is especially pleased, of course. For Ken Podwalski, a senior agency official in space station operations, one of the biggest things that is exciting him is "the constant contact with the space station" with Saint-Jacques' presence there, he told Space.com in an interview here at Baikonur Sunday (Dec. 2). [Soyuz Launch Photos: Expedition 58 Crew Lifts Off for Space Station]

Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques says goodbye to his son during quarantine before his launch to the International Space Station. (Image credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Josh Kutryk, a newer astronaut who will need to wait in line for a few years before he can fly for Canada, told Space.com he is happy to see the launch process from start to finish to better prepare for his own eventual flight to space  no matter what vehicle he uses.

And why not be excited? It has been six years since Canada last launched an astronaut from this frigid steppe  that would be Chris Hadfield, who went aloft on Dec. 19, 2012, and subsequently became world-famous for his guitar playing and eloquent tweets.

Saint-Jacques, for his part, had to wait nine years for his first glimpse of the stars from orbit. Canada contributes 2.3 percent of the hardware (namely, the robotics Canadarm2 and Dextre) to the space station and receives an according share of flight time.

A Soyuz spacecraft can only hold three people, so flight opportunities here diminished to perhaps twice a decade. But Canada is gamely holding on for when commercial crew vehicles increase the flight rate again; last year, the country hired two new astronauts (Kutryk and Jenni Sidey-Gibbons) to join Saint-Jacques and Jeremy Hansen in line for flight opportunities.

Canadian Space Agency David Saint-Jacques played pool with his crewmembers before launching to the International Space Station on Dec. 3, 2018, from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. (Image credit: Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC))

Little contributions, big impact

Although Canada is a minor partner in the space station, its contributions in space have not gone unnoticed. The country is well-known for its Radarsat series of satellites that image Earth in multiple wavelengths. In fact, Canada plans to launch the next generation, Radarsat Constellation, in 2019.

Canada was, historically, the third nation to launch a satellite to space when Alouette flew in 1961 aboard a United States rocket. Its companies also created antennas and robotics used during most United States human space programs.

While there are rumblings of industry unrest in the absence of a long-term space plan for the past 25 years  several representatives created a coalition called Don't Let Canada Go to gain public awareness  the Canadian Space Agency is preparing scenarios to help it decide what to do as the International Space Station program wraps up in 2024. (The CSA's plan depends on the Canadian government's stated direction in space, which government officials say should come in 2019.)

Already, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has asked Canadians to participate in the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway, a proposed space station in orbit around the moon. And Canada is also considering successor options to Radarsat Constellation. The two-year planning process is still in the early stages, so it is unclear if this could mean a satellite, using another provider's data, or some other option.

But for now, Saint-Jacques has more than six months to show Canadian know-how in orbit. He is an impressive representative, able to speak five languages and with deep experience in engineering, astronomy and medicine.

He has repeatedly told interviewers that he struggles to be a good husband, father, son and astronaut simultaneously, but for what it's worth his assigned guest list of 15 people filled up quickly with his wife, three children and other relatives and friends. And several work colleagues made the journey here as well.

Canada makes small space contributions, but its strategy of niche development has served it well so far in fields such as robotics, telecommunications and remote sensing. The question is, what is there to do next? The CSA says it is working on it  it's just taking the time to make it right.

Follow us @Spacedotcom and Facebook. Original article on Space.com.A skywatcher uses a mobile planetarium app to search for the planet Saturn. (Image credit: Miguel Claro

Miguel Claro is a professional photographer, author and science communicator based in Lisbon, Portugal, who creates spectacular images of the night sky. As a European Southern Observatory Photo Ambassador and member of The World At Night and the official astrophotographer of the Dark Sky Alqueva Reserve, he specializes in astronomical "Skyscapes" that connect both Earth and night sky. Join Miguel here as he takes us through his photograph "Discovering the Sky Above with a Mobile Planetarium."

While we don't yet have smartphone cameras that are capable of facing the challenges of night photography, we can use them as a powerful mobile planetarium.

Fortunately, nowadays, there are several apps on the market for free or for sale that can help you every time you are under a starry dark sky, turning your smartphone into an easy-to-use tool that helps you identify celestial objects in the sky in real time.

This image, captured at Praia Fluvial Azenhas do Guadiana, a beach in the Dark Sky Alqueva Reserve in Mertola, Portugal, shows a moment when a sky enthusiast was searching for the planet Saturn, which is shining bright near the core of the galaxy and only 6 degrees from the Lagoon Nebula (visible above the mountain, in the center of the image).

To capture the image, I used a Nikon D810A DSLR camera set to capture 25-second exposures with the ISO set to 2500 and a 17-millimeter telephoto lens.

Editor's note: If you captured an amazing astronomy photo and would like to share it with Space.com for a story or gallery, send images and comments to us at spacephotos@space.com.

To see more of Claro's amazing astrophotography, visit his website, www.miguelclaro.com. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.You are here: World

 Flash

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho will pay a visit to China, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson announced Tuesday.

At the invitation of Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Ri Yong Ho will visit China from Dec. 6 to 8, according to Geng Shuang, the spokesperson.Artist Tavares Strachan's ENOCH satellite, now in orbit, features a 24-karat gold canopic jar with a bust of Manned Orbiting Laboratory astronaut Robert H. Lawrence, Jr., the first African American to be selected for a possible spaceflight.

An artistic tribute to a fallen astronaut is now in Earth orbit following a history-making launch.

The ENOCH sculpture-satellite, which memorializes Robert H. Lawrence, Jr., the first African American selected to train as an astronaut, flew as part of Spaceflight Industries' SSO-A SmallSat Express. The mission, which launched Monday (Dec. 3) aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with 63 other spacecraft, marked the largest single rideshare from a U.S.-based launch vehicle to date.

The launch, at 10:34 a.m. PST (1834 GMT) from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, was also the first time that SpaceX reflew one of its reusable Falcon 9 first stages for a third time. The stage, which again landed on a sea-based droneship, previously launched in May and August on missions to deploy commercial communication satellites. [Most Extreme Human Spaceflight Records of All Time]

Artist Tavares Strachan, working in collaboration with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), created the ENOCH satellite to bring to light Lawrence's story by combining the traditions of ancient Egypt with Japanese rituals and the history of space exploration. The satellite is comprised of a 24-karat gold canopic jar with a bust of the late Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) trainee.

Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr., seen here at a 1967 press conference for the U.S. Air Force's Manned Orbiting Laboratory program, was the first African American to be selected as an astronaut. Lawrence died in December 1967 in an F-104 jet crash. (Image credit: U.S. Air Force)

A U.S. Air Force pilot with a doctorate in physical chemistry, Lawrence flew test flights that later informed the performance of the space shuttle landing from orbit. In June 1967, he was recruited for the Air Force's MOL program, which was focused on establishing a crew-tended reconnaissance platform in Earth orbit.

Lawrence, 32, died on Dec. 8, 1967, in the crash of an F-104 Starfighter jet. Had he lived, he would have likely transferred with other MOL candidates to NASA's astronaut corps after the Air Force program was canceled two years later. The move could have led to him being the first African American in space, a distinction that Guion "Guy" Bluford gained in 1983, flying on the space shuttle Challenger with MOL veteran Richard Truly.

In 1997, Lawrence was honored by the Astronauts Memorial Foundation with the addition of his name to the Space Mirror Memorial at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

"I remember first discovering the story of Robert Henry Lawrence Jr., America's first black astronaut who never got the pleasure of space exploration," wrote Strachan on his Facebook page. "A superhero mixed with fighter pilot, mixed with physical chemist, Lawrence Jr. was the kind of person lots of boys and girls on my street corner would have wanted to be, but never knew his story."

The ENOCH satellite borrows symbolically from the ancient Egyptian practice of using a canopic jar to protect and preserve organs of the deceased for use in the afterlife. Stachan's canopic jar was blessed at a Shinto shrine in Fukuoka, Japan to recognize it as "a container for Lawrence's soul." The name "Enoch" refers to a biblical figure in Jewish, Christian and Muslim texts who never experienced mortal death, but instead ascended directly into the afterlife.

The satellite, which is expected to circle the planet for the next seven years, was sponsored by SpaceX through a grant awarded by the LACMA Art + Technology Lab. In 2014, Strachan met with SpaceX president and chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell, an advisor to the lab, to explore how technology could push his art in new directions. Strachan's portfolio includes works themed around deep sea exploration, extreme climatology and aeronautical and astronomical science.

Artist rendering of Trevor Paglen's Orbital Reflector as it appears deployed in Earth orbit. (Image credit: Nevada Museum of Art)

"Tavares Strachan's ENOCH exemplifies the LACMA Art + Technology Lab's mission to foster conversations between talented artists and leading technology companies to realize collaborations that would not be otherwise possible," said Michael Govan, LACMA CEO. "Launching an artwork into space is a spectacular result of the program. More importantly, Tavares's project justly honors an under recognized pioneer of NASA's space program."

ENOCH launched alongside another art project as part of the SSO-A mission.

Contemporary artist Trevor Paglen's Orbital Reflector, produced in collaboration with the Nevada Museum of Art, is a sculpture made of a reflective Mylar-like material that will be visible from Earth with the naked eye. Deployed from a small cubesat, the 100-foot (30-meter) "balloon" will orbit Earth for a few months before falling into the atmosphere to be destroyed.

"I think one of the most important things that art can do is give you a reason to look at something," said Paglen in a video accompanying a 2017 Kickstarter campaign that raised $76,000 for the Orbital Reflector project. "Here I am going to create a reason for you to look at the sky and think about what it is you are looking at."

The 62 other satellites deployed on Monday include microsats and cubesats from commercial and government entities, which vary from technology demonstrations and imaging satellites to educational research endeavors.

Follow collectSPACE.com on Facebook and on Twitter at @collectSPACE. Copyright 2018 collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved.NASA's first asteroid-sampling mission has arrived at its destination, but it still has a lot of prep work ahead before the spacecraft can bite into the space rock.

Yesterday (Dec. 3), NASA's OSIRIS-REx probe sidled up to its diamond-shaped target, the near-Earth asteroid Bennu, ending a deep-space chase that lasted 27 months and covered more than 1.25 billion miles (2 billion kilometers).

The main goal of the $800 million OSIRIS-REx mission involves snagging a sizeable sample of asteroid material and returning it to Earth in 2023. But the spacecraft is far from ready to collect any space-rock rubble. Indeed, OSIRIS-REx isn't even in orbit around the 1,650-foot-wide (500 meters) Bennu yet; it's currently flying alongside the asteroid, just beginning to take its measure in detail. [OSIRIS-REx: NASA's Asteroid Sample-Return Mission in Pictures]

OSIRIS-REx will continue doing this over the next four weeks, during close flybys over Bennu's north pole, equator and south pole that will bring the probe as close as 4.4 miles (7.1 kilometers) to the asteroid's surface.

The asteroid Bennu, as seen by NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft from a distance of about 50 miles (80 kilometers). (Image credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/University of Arizona)

Mission team members want to make sure they nail down Bennu's mass and precise shape before slipping into orbit around the asteroid on Dec. 31. And there's a very good reason for that.

Although Bennu has been characterized well by ground-based instruments over the years, "maneuvering around a small body that basically has no gravity is a very challenging endeavor," OSIRIS-REx Deputy Principal Investigator Heather Enos, of the University of Arizona, told Space.com. "So, we do have to get a little more information to proceed every step of the way."

To give you an idea of just how delicate the New Year's Eve operation will be: OSIRIS-REx will be moving just 4 inches (10 centimeters) per second relative to the asteroid Bennu when it achieves orbit around the rock, mission team members have said.

OSIRIS-REx will set a record for the closest distance that a spacecraft has ever orbited a small body, Enos added. The probe will get within just 1 mile (1.6 km) of Bennu's surface on Dec. 31, she said.

The pace won't speed up after orbital insertion. OSIRIS-REx will spend another 18 months rigorously scouting for the best place to snag its sample. The mission team expects to narrow the possibilities to two sites by July 2020, which is when the sample collection is scheduled to take place.

On the appointed day, OSIRIS-REx will spiral down and tap Bennu with its Touch-And-Go-Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM), sucking up at least 2 ounces (60 grams) of material. The maneuver will be more of a kiss than a landing, lasting just 5 seconds or so.

OSIRIS-REx  whose name stands for "Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer"  won't leave Bennu until March 2021, when the probe will head back toward its home planet. The asteroid sample will touch down in Utah, tucked inside a special return capsule, in September 2023.

Researchers in labs around the world will then pore over the space stuff with a variety of high-tech gear  big and expensive equipment that could never have fit aboard OSIRIS-REx (which does sport five science instruments of its own). Such analyses will address the chief mission goal: helping researchers better understand the solar system's early days, and the role that carbon-rich asteroids such as Bennu may have played in life's emergence on Earth.

The data collected by OSIRIS-REx will prove useful in a variety of other ways as well, mission team members have said. For example, the probe's measurements, and those of researchers studying the returned sample, should reveal a great deal about the resource potential of Bennu-like asteroids.

And OSIRIS-REx's precise tracking of Bennu through space will help researchers better understand the non-gravitational forces (specifically, the Yarkovsky effect) that shape asteroids' trajectories. Such work could improve asteroid-impact forecasts, NASA officials have said.

"The best times are ahead of us, so stay tuned," OSIRIS-REx Principal Investigator Dante Lauretta, also of the University of Arizona, said in a statement. "The exploration of Bennu has just begun, and we have a lifetime of adventure ahead of us."

Mike Wall's book about the search for alien life, "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate) is out now. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us @Spacedotcom or Facebook. Originally published on Space.com.



The CW is redeveloping Dr. Mirage, a drama based on the Valiant graphic novel of the same name per Deadline. The project hails from Laurie McCarthy (Regin), DMG Entertainment and CBS TV Studios.



The project was first developed in 2016 from Gary Dauberman (Annabelle) with the same producing team of DMG Entertainment and CBS TV Studios.



This new iteration will be penned by McCarthy of which is based on Dauberman's initial script.









Source: Deadline Dr. Mirage is based on the graphic novel about a female paranormal investigator who can communicate with dead souls except the one she wants to reach  the love of her life.





Source: Valiant Entertainment Doctor Mirage talks to the deadbut the only spirit Shan Fong cant nd is that of her late husband, Hwen. Instead, Americas favorite semi-retired paranormal investigator is haunted and raw, using her gift to solve homicides and bring peace to the recently bereaved. But when a big-time occultist with a classied military past hires her for a special job, Shan discovers a lead that might close the greatest mystery shes ever tackled  how to get Hwen back. Now, Doctor Mirage must enter the undiscovered country and cross all the realms of the underworld, if she has any hope of rescuing the man she lovesor be forever lost beyond the earthly plane.

Also, a synopsis of the comic for those curious for more but do keep in mind this may not translate to The CW's interpretation.





The world you see is just a movie in your mind.

Tragedies don't occur in a vacuum. If they did, the news wouldn't be plastered with human trauma and plight at all hours of the day. When something terrible happens, there is a ripple effect.aims to chase down every single one of those ripples extending out from a science experiment gone terribly awry.Featuring an impressive cast of 36 talented actors in principal roles, much more fill out the background of students, parents, law enforcement, and teachers,is an exercise in indulgence.Mrs. Dhawan (Nina Mehta) conducts an experiment for her rowdy group of Chemistry students. She uses a Benson burner and different solutions to demonstrate how various chemicals create multi-colored flames when set alight, hence the film title. When she calls one particularly disruptive boy, Matty Fairchild (Connor Siemer), to assist her in the work an explosion happens, engulfing Matty in a fireball that leaves him in critical condition in the hospital. Thus putting the events of the film into motion.The central questions sought to be answered are how did this happen? Is Mrs. Dhawan at fault for the incident? Whatoccurred in the chemistry classroom at this New York high school? And more importantly, what part did those students, that teacher, the faculty, and the ecosystem of this particular school as a whole, play in the lead-up to this catastrophic event?From this point on, Matty narrates much of the events in this documentary-style film. He lingers around in the background, unseen and unheard, like a ghost, just for the audience's effect. It becomes clear quickly why the film creators thought Matty a necessity, there is so much going on in this film, an endless web that weaves outwards to seemingly endless bounds, you need a spiritual guide to help you find out whose who.Thus presenting the film's greatest weakness, they've bitten off more than they can chew. Well that and Matty is a rather irritating narrator.While I foundthoroughly engrossing at times, the performances are stellar and grounded, the slow submersion into the movie's central mystery, and the intriguing way the film shows you the political interplay between all involved parties, there ismuch going on, it's easy to get bogged down and overwhelmed by it all.It's an ambitious filmmaking project for certain. Many scenes are shown in a split screen, with several angles and point-of-view shots from differing characters playing out simultaneously. They leave no stone unturned.You will discover the story between Matty's friend of a friend and that friend's parents. They tackle gun control and the educational system, the poor treatment of teachers and staff. They tackle trauma head-on, in a way not often depicted in film as they address the way trauma affects witnesses of the incident, and not just the victim or perpetuators.Broken down into segments and analyzed in pieces,is actually quite brilliant, but when you compile it all together into one long film (a 2 hr and 9 minute run time that doesn't feel earned), it becomes a slog to get through at times. Still, I have to give credit to director Christina Kallas (who also wrote the script) for her earnest and enthusiastic undertaking. I'm not going to undermine what this film accomplishes because while I don't think it reached the heights it should have, given the concept and the climate it's being released in, I still think it's a film well worth anyone's timealso stars Christian Coulson (Tom Riddle from), Kevin Kane (), Chris Beetem (), Vandit Bhatt (), Francis Benhamou (), Lacy Marie Meyer, Swann Gruen, Margaret Rose Champagne, Booker Garrett (), Stratos Tzortzoglou, Chris Gentile, Robert Z. Grant, J.B. Rote, Laura Pruden, Tony White, Catherine Cobb Ryan, John J. Concado (), Tim Eliot (), Naomi Warner, Barnaby Spring, Chris Veteri, Douglas Rizzo Johnson, Lisa K. Price (), Peter Boustani, Patrick Bonck, and Richard Liriano.Algiers, December 3, 2018 (SPS)  The two parties to Western Sahara conflict, Morocco and the Polisario Front will resume talks on Wednesday in Geneva (Switzerland), under the auspices of the UN Special Envoy to Western Sahara Horst Koehler. The two parties will meet to discuss the UN settlement process and make the assessment of the situation since the negotiations interrupted in 2012.



For the first time since Manhasset negotiations failed in 2012, Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita will sit face to face with Khatri Addouh, leader of the Sahrawi delegation to Geneva negotiations, in presence of Horst Koehler, who said that his mission to put an end to the 43 year old conflict.



The negotiations, to which Algeria and Mauritania will take part as neighboring states, will also see the participation of Sahrawi coordinator with UN Mission for Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) M'hamed Khaddad, Sahrawi representative to the UN Sidi Mohamed Omar, as well as General Secretary of National Sahrawi Womens Union Fatima El Mahdi and adviser to Polisario Front National Secretariat Mohamed Ali Zerouali.



Morocco also unveiled the members the official delegation, planned to take part in Geneva talks. According to the Moroccan press, the delegation will chaired by Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita, who will be accompanied by the Head of General Directorate for Studies and Documentation (DGED - external intelligence agency), Mohamed Yassine Mansouri.



Organized at the initiative of UN Special Envoy for Western Sahara Horst Koehler, the two day Geneva talks (on 5 -6 December) is intended to speed up the resumption of direct talks between the parties to conflict, the Polisario Front and Morocco.



In its resolutions notably that adopted in April 2018 (2414), the UN called on the two parties to "resume the talks without preconditions and in good faith."



While inviting the conflicting parties, Kohler said that the "main objective" of these talks was "discussing the coming stages likely to relaunch the political process, besides the assessment of the progress recorded since the interruption of Manhasset process in 2012."



In this regard, the Polisario Front has always affirmed readiness to resume the talks with Morocco, under the aegis of UN without preconditions. (SPS)



062/SPS/APSH&M is returning to Danbury Fair after a four-year hiatus, with the company one of the two largest global apparel retailers with a presence in southwestern Connecticut alongside TJX.

Having closed at Danbury Fair in 2014, H&M joins The Disney Store among stores that have returned to Danbury Fair, located on Backus Avenue at the junction of Interstate 84 and Route 7 on the citys west side.

Mall owner Macerich did not indicate immediately whether H&M will slot into an existing vacant space or as a replacement for any outgoing tenant. Macerichs head of leasing Doug Healey confirmed the H&M lease last month in a conference call with investment analysts, while noting a resurgence in retailer confidence that has helped the company maintain occupancy rates at 95 percent of available space nationally.

In terms of the leasing environment, we believe the tone and the sentiment are definitely showing signs of improvement, Healey said in early November. The mood is definitely changing.

Under its Swedish owner Hennes & Mauritz, H&M has added more than a dozen stores on a net basis in the United States heading into this years holiday season, having done so despite a 10 percent decline in U.S. sales before adjusting for currency exchange rates, to $754 million in its third fiscal quarter ending in August.

The chain has three existing southwestern Connecticut stores among eight stateside and some 560 nationally, at the Connecticut Post, Westfield Trumbull and Stamford Town Center malls.

In the first nine months of its fiscal year that ended Friday, H&M global revenue was up 3 percent to $16.9 billion, though profits were down by a quarter to $1 billion as the company struggled to switch over to a new logistics system in the United States and a few European markets that cost it $44 million in its third fiscal quarter.

As the case with other retailers, H&M has been working to boost online sales, which were up 32 percent on a year-over-year basis through the first nine months of its fiscal year, topping Amazons overall 26 percent gain over the same period.

Like other mall operators, Macerich has been looking to expand the appeal of its properties beyond traditional retail, to include cinema leases with companies like Bow Tie Cinemas with corporate offices in Ridgefield and New York City; or a childrens museum lined up for a shopping center in Santa Monica, Calif., with Danbury Fair having recently opened a Kidz Klub play area where CVS was previously located.

Healey said last month that Macerich has contingency plans in place for Sears locations at its properties nationally, including Danbury Fair, should the bankrupt retailer pull out of any remaining stores. After the collapse of Filenes more than a decade ago, Macerich carved up the department stores Danbury Fair space to accommodate five new tenants in Brio Tuscan Grille, The Cheesecake Factory, Dicks Sporting Goods, Forever 21 and L.L. Bean.

Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulmanSTAMFORD  A bus full of Cloonan Middle School students grazed a parked ambulance on Myano Lane Monday afternoon.

According to police, there were 34 children on the bus, which had a sheet of paper with Westover 168 taped to one of the side windows. However, Stamford Public Schools spokeswoman Sharon Beadle said the bus was transporting Cloonan Middle School students.

No one was injured, but the collision did cause damage to the ambulance, according to police.

That intersection is so tight, Stamford Police Sgt. Robert Shawinsky said. People park on both sides of the road.

ignacio.laguarda@stamfordadvocate.com Flash

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Portugal on Tuesday for a two-day state visit aimed at carrying forward friendship and expanding cooperation between the two countries.

It is the first visit by a Chinese head of state to the European country in eight years.

Two Portuguese fighter jets escorted Xi's plane as it entered the country's airspace.

Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, were greeted by senior Portuguese government officials at the airport.

While delivering a written speech upon arrival, Xi praised the traditional friendship between China and Portugal, saying that the bilateral relations have withstood the test of time and international vicissitudes and become even stronger.

In 1999, the two countries properly resolved the question of Macao through friendly consultations, setting an example for other nations to tackle issues left over from history, Xi said.

In 2005, China and Portugal established a comprehensive strategic partnership, which enabled their mutually beneficial cooperation to embark on a fast lane of development and deliver substantial benefits to the people of the two countries, Xi said.

He said that next year marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries, which is a new starting point in history for the bilateral relations.

Xi said that he is looking forward to meeting President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Prime Minister Antonio Costa and other Portuguese leaders to draw up the blueprint for future bilateral cooperation.

He added that he believes with the concerted efforts of both sides, the China-Portugal comprehensive strategic partnership will enjoy an even brighter future.

Portugal is the final stop of Xi's Europe and Latin America tour, which has already taken him to Spain, Argentina and Panama.

In Buenos Aires, Argentina, Xi also attended the 13th Group of 20 summit, and met U.S. President Donald Trump as well as leaders of other countries.

When Xi left Panama for Portugal, Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela went to the airport to see him off.T HE building trade is shrugging off political turmoil and wobbling economic sentiment to grow much faster than analysts were expecting.

Today the Purchasing Managers Index for November came in at 53.4  better than the market expected and beating the figures for October. This was dubbed an early and unexpected Christmas present, for the sector and the wider economy.

Any number above 50 indicates growth. Many had expected the construction sector to plunge into recession given ongoing Brexit turmoil.

Tim Moore, at IHS Markit, which compiles the survey, said: November data indicates that the UK construction sector remains in expansion mode, with resilient business activity trends seen for housing, commercial and civil engineering activity. The latest overall rise in construction output was the fastest since July, helped by a stronger contribution to growth from house-building activity.

Blane Perrotton, managing director of property consultancy and surveyors Naismiths, said: The construction sector has received an early  and unexpected  Christmas present. Months of see-sawing demand have settled into a semblance of stability and steady growth.

More staff are being hired and demand is such that pay is rising, say top construction employers.

Orders are growing and levels of optimism in the building game have rebounded. A fall in oil prices has helped. But caution remains, with the spectre of the collapse of Carillion a year ago still looming over the trade.

Jonathan Garrett, associate director in Lloyds Bank Commercial Bankings infrastructure and construction team, said: The uptick in the index will lift the spirits of some in construction at a time of uncertainty. As a UK-focused sector exposed to the cycles of the economy, there is undeniably a sense of nervousness and firms are in defensive mode, cutting costs wherever possible.T he number of trains running late has hit a seven-year high and the rail regulator has laid the blame squarely at the door of the nationalised company that owns and operates the system, Network Rail. Jeremy Corbyns solution to this depressing state of affairs is to go the whole hog and take the remainder of the industry back into public ownership.

If you think that sounds counter-intuitive, then you would be right. Labours plans for the railways are no doubt politically popular but they are also economically illiterate.

Bringing passenger franchises under state operation is hardly a panacea and Corbyn seems to have overlooked the cost of buying back the rolling stock.

Network Rail is already state-owned. More nationalisation is not the answer. Nor is a freeze in train fares, the unhelpful suggestion the (Labour) Mayor for Manchester, Andy Burnham, made last week after it was announced they will rise by an average of 3.1% next year.

How does Her Majestys opposition think things will get better if train operators are starved of the funds to improve services? And who does Labour think will make up the shortfall in funding, if not passengers? The only other source of money is the taxpayer, so the Burnham strategy would merely result in Peter being robbed to pay Paul.

None of this is to say that the Government is making a very good fist of running the railways. Like Macavity the cat, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling was, as usual, nowhere to be found when last weeks double-whammy of bad news on punctuality and fares hit the headlines. He did, however, turn up to face the music today after being blamed by MPs on the Transport Select Committee for last Mays timetable fiasco. Just as well.

Much as he may wish to, the minister cannot wriggle out of responsibility for the parlous state of the rail industry. It is also his discredited franchising policy that has allowed train operators onto the network who lack the staff, finances or management to run a service worth the name.

But back to Graylings favourite whipping boy. The Office of Rail and Roads damning conclusion that there are current systemic issues in relation to Network Rails performance management capability does not bode well. In laymans terms, the regulator is suggesting it is not up to the job.

This is a worry when it has been given 35 billion to spend on the railways over the next five years, 24 billion of that on maintenance and renewal and the rest on improvements to the network.

It seems that, pound for pound, it costs more to run trains here than almost anywhere else on the Continent. In a little-noticed report snuck out last month, HS2, the government-owned company building the new 55 billion high-speed line from London to Manchester, admitted that the scheme was costing more than double that of comparable projects elsewhere in Europe.

Part of this is down to some UK-specific challenges such as high land prices and population density. But it speaks to a bigger concern, that we are not as efficient at running railways as comparable economies.

The regulator has spotted this and has told Network Rail it expects its five-year investment plan to be delivered for 2.7 billion less than it was supposed to cost. Network Rail has a string of initiatives to help it achieve these cost savings, including something called LEAN, which turns out to be a way of cutting out waste. They look impressive on paper, but, as the regulator notes, some of them are aspirational and others look suspiciously like double-counting.

The root problem, as we have argued here before, is not so much the ownership of the railway as its structure. In its wisdom, the Major government chose to splinter the industry into 63 different businesses when it privatised British Rail in 1996. Successive governments have been trying to put the pieces back together ever since.

But rather than one monolith, British Rail in all but name and controlled by the dead hand of government, why not reinvent the great integrated regional railways that existed until the creation of British Rail in 1948? The Great Western Railway, the Great Eastern Railway, the Great North of Scotland Railway.

Not only would track and trains be under single ownership, but the regulator would be able to compare performance and then set proper cost and efficiency targets.W hite van man supplier Northgate will slow down its sell-off of old vans in the event of a no-deal Brexit, the company said on Tuesday.

The van hire firm, which buys vehicles from European manufacturers, said it was well positioned to manage a possible shortage from disruption at the border if the UK crashes out of Europe with no deal.

If there is a supply chain issue we would in the short term reduce the disposals of our fleet so we can continue to meet growing demand, said chief executive Kevin Bradshaw.

The business, which counts 20% of its business in the South East, hiked vehicle hire targets today to double digits but half-year underlying profits were down 13.6% to 29.2 million despite a rise in revenues .

Northgate has come under fire recently from activist shareholder Crystal Amber over its sluggish share price.

Asked about the firms relationship, Bradshaw said: We have a very good constructive relationship and dialogue... challenge is a good thing. Getting into a good constructive debate about the right way to grow value in any company is welcome.

Crystal Amber, led by Richard Bernstein, has called on the firm to sell off its Spanish business and today called for chairman Andrew Page to step down.

Bernstein said the results were disappointing, opaque and unacceptable".W atching the Attorney General rumbling through threadbare arguments about whether or not to publish legal advice outside the traditionally fraught area of military conflict, the looks on the Conservative benches were those of a party in dread at its own reflection. Like an inexhaustible set of Russian dolls, there is always a new dispute to be found lurking inside the ones already on display.

The Speaker last night overruled the Government on the withholding of full legal advice on the stickier parts of the EU withdrawal agreement. Losing a vote tonight on the matter will be another bout of self-harm at a time when Theresa May has more than enough foes to contend with. Its also an example of the rigidity which has so often damaged the PM.

Two timelines coexist at the heart of our politics. Along one the parliamentary process grinds on remorselessly  the meaningful vote is next Monday and after an inevitable first defeat, everyone will review their options, assess the looming chaos of a no-deal scenario and return with a tweak in January to have another bash. This looks like an inviting idea to me, though it also feels like one MPs are unlikely to accept in sufficient numbers.

The other outcome, which looks just as likely, is that the ground simply gives way under an over-strained Government. The death maths on Mays time in No 10 (as one veteran MP puts it) is on everyones mind. The proportion of Tory members who think May should go now has hit 50 per cent.

Barring divine intervention, Conservatives could find themselves pitched into a leadership contest. The headache for the Tories reserve army of potential next leaders is how to answer the defining question that will confront them if a leadership contest erupts. What would anyone who aspires to lead the Conservatives do differently about Brexit? Behind the front of forced unity it is the question that most troubles Tory centrists, because it would define their campaign long before they would get to woo the electorate.

Anne McElvoy

One former Cabinet minister describes the list of choices thus: Renegotiate a better deal? Not credible. No deal? Drives the Tories into a brick wall. Support European Economic Area membership or a second referendum? Stand accused of betrayal of the first referendum. Its about as unappetising a menu as you can imagine in a leadership race.

By contrast, the positions of hard Brexiteers touting Canada-plus-plus-plus (just keep adding) free-trade deals, as Boris Johnson did this week, has a deceptive clarity to it. The Boris plan amounts to a commitment to stare down the EU by calling for a new free trade agreement (vaguely outlined) and refusing to pay the 39 billion divorce bill until it is concluded. On the off-chance that this might not win many hearts and minds in Europe, the UK would fall serenely into a no-deal Brexit and continue with the current arrangements until a deal is done.

So what might moderate candidates offer in return? The Sajid Javid recipe would be to foreground his pragmatic stance on Brexit. Instinctively Euro-sceptic, he voted Remain on the pre-cautionary principle that leaving would end up being horribly difficult. He is, however, now a Brexit deliverer, on record (and on Twitter) in favour of a quick exit from the customs union. Inevitably this pushes Javid towards the Norway option of EEA membership  and one question being raised with greater urgency, as the numbers look so bad for May, is whether a delegation of Cabinet ministers might demand after the vote next week that she change course or lose their support.

Brexit Commons vote explained

Fellow honorary Norwegians include those who would like temporary status in the Oslo club  notably Michael Gove, whose support for the present deal is really an act preparatory to the next one. The Norway for now model (embraced by Nick Boles as Goves designated prophet) would allow Brexit to happen next March and instigate a transitional period of halfway house alignment with the single market until the era of free trade deals finally dawns. Its a moot point whether this is a credible solution to the problem of Brexit.

The first task of those running for the top job, however, will be to stand for something that is not as tightly tied to the EU as Mays Chequers-based deal, and which can unify Conservatives who are Brexit-y but not Brexit ob-sessives. The Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, another serious hopeful, has duly been vociferous in Cabinet in re-commending that the PM return to Brussels and insist on a firmer mechanism for exiting the Ireland backstop. Javid and Hunt are allies for now  and probably foes as soon as a leadership contest nears.

A much smaller group of senior Tories identifies with full-strength Remain views  and is growing more receptive to a second referendum if the May deal goes down in flames. It includes Amber Rudd, the prodigal Cabinet minister, backed by Jo Johnson and the latest refusenik to quit ministerial ranks, Sam Gyimah. Collectively they would have the hardest job selling a second vote as less than treachery. There will, however, be a reboot of pro-European Toryism and they are its avant-garde.

Overall, my guess is that the centrist best placed to beat a populist candidate will have supported the PM in her darkest hour while preparing the ground for a back-up plan.

The figure necessarily left out of all this is May herself. It feels like the moment the train leaves Istanbul in Murder on the Orient Express. Everyone is frightfully polite. When the moment comes, theyll all do it.T he news that high house prices are driving millennials out of London is hardly surprising.

Despite a recent dip, the capitals housing market remains unaffordable for those on low to middle incomes. As we have pointed out, home ownership among 25- to 34-year-olds nationally has halved to one in four since 1990, and in London its now just one in five.

The impact on Londoners or would-be Londoners is profound, with increasing numbers of households making their homes in an expensive and unstable private rented sector, increased overcrowding, rising homelessness and rough sleeping.

Its also hitting Londons economic competitiveness. As millennials depart for more affordable locations, businesses find it increasingly difficult to recruit and retain staff.

Progress in building more affordable homes has been made in recent years but there is far more to be done. As we have argued, central government should increase the capital subsidy for affordable homes in London; devolve additional powers to the Mayor to set and retain property taxes, enabling London to determine its own housing future; and reform the 1961 Land Compensation Act to end speculation in land and lower the cost of new building.

Otherwise the millennials exodus will continue, to the detriment of everyone in London.

Luke Murphy, Institute for Public Policy Research

Jonathan Prynn, consumer affairs editor, replies

Dear Luke

This is arguably the biggest problem facing London today. Millennials are caught in a grim trap: high rents make saving for the deposits they need to secure mortgages virtually impossible without a helping hand from parents. No wonder young people are leaving London in droves.

Of course we need to increase the rate of affordable housebuilding.

The Mayor has made some progress but not enough yet to deliver on his election promise to tackle the housing crisis. There also needs to be huge improvements in the lamentably poor standard and security of private rented housing in the. There are some signs that this is starting to happen.

Mayors have long called for London property taxes to be ring-fenced or for there to be more central government subsidy. But the capital cannot rely on this wish list being fulfilled any time soon. Other suggestions such as watering down green belt controls are also fraught with political obstacles. Until an achievable solution presents itself, the hard graft of steadily increasing and improving Londons housing stock will remain the way forward.

Jonathan

Macrons Yellow Vests rebellion

Emmanuel Macron was elected President of France by default. He appealed to a heterogeneous coalition of voters who feared a second round between Francois Fillon (a conservative hardliner) and Marine Le Pen (the Far Right). It was not a vote of adhesion but a vote to avoid greater political threats. Macrons centrist bloc may be majoritarian in terms of seats in the National Assembly but it is not politically hegemonic.Kate Middleton is in the throes of a style revolution.

In recent weeks the mum-of-three has showcased a modern makeover, which all started with a visit to UCL in late November when she wore a trendy black hair ribbon and gold hoops.

It isn't just her accessory department that has had a contemporary upgrade, though. On Tuesday, the Duchess of Cambridge stepped out in a festive ensemble to host a Christmas party for families of the military serving overseas at Kensington Palace.

With the look, Kate managed to tick off three major autumn/winter 2018 trends to instantly become our Christmas Day outfit inspiration.

The Duchess of Cambridge arrived at Kensington Palace in a very festive ensemble / Getty Images

1. The Cardigan

Alexander Wang Fall 2019 show / Getty Images

Kate wore a simple black cropped cashmere button up by Brora, which retails for 209.

Whilst cardigans in recent years have been branded as passe, 2018 has seen the humble knit make the ultimate comeback and Kate championed it perfectly.

The duchess's tight-fitting, cropped silhouette instantly elevated the item from frumpy to fashionable. With the trend set to continue well into 2019, you may want to take note.

2. Colourful Tartan Check

Versace Autumn/Winter 2018 show / AFP/Getty Images

Although a dash of red tartan at Christmas is a regular occurrence, colourful checks entered a whole new level of stylish as the print stormed the autumn/winter 2018 runways.

Kate's striking red skirt was by Emilia Wickstead, from the brand's autumn/winter 2018 collection. The British designer was one of a long list of reputable names, including Versace, Gucci and Michael Kors, who made the vibrant plaid a hero print this year.

3. The Boot and Skirt Combo

Victoria Beckham Autumn/Winter show at New York Fashion Week / AFP/Getty Images

Usually one to pair a midi skirt with a stiletto, Kate decided to wear the pleated skirt with a knee-high black boot, which is possibly one of the most on-point pairings we've ever seen the duchess wear.

The combination has become a hit on the catwalks, street style scene, and a staple in Victoria Beckham's personal wardrobe.herefore, so we predict the look is only going to grow.Michelle Obama, like so many high profile women, knows the power of fashion.

How one carefully chosen accessory or the plucking of a new designer from obscurity can make a statement without words.

Fashion for a woman predominates how people view you, she says in her Netflix documentary Becoming. Thats not right, but its true.

Thats when fashion isnt just fashion, its how you turn it into your tool rather than being a victim of it I would make some impassioned speech and they would say shes wearing an interesting designer dress. So it was OK, lets embrace the fact people are looking at my shoes and not just highlight me and the clothes but who we wanted to be as an administration  forward-thinking, embracing youth, embracing diversity.

And so she did. During her time in the White House, you were as likely to see Obama wearing a reasonably priced classic American J. Crew jumper as a pair of eye-wateringly expensive high fashion Lanvin trainers. She was an expert at high low styling.

Along with established designers (she wore Gucci, Versace, Givenchy, Marc Jacobs, Vera Wang, Carolina Herrera, Calvin Klein and Diane von Furstenberg to name a few), there were new faces too. Jason Wus career surely wouldnt be what it is today if Obama hadnt picked the Taiwanese-born designer to create her first inaugural gown; Thakoon, a Thai-American, whose pieces Obama wore on the campaign trail way back in 2008 is a household name; and the boundary-pushing Sophie Theallet who was the first designer to publicly declare she wouldnt dress current First Lady Melania Trump, also has a lot to thank Mrs Obama for.

Of course, behind every powerful woman is a super-stylist commissioning, tweaking and creating the headline-grabbing looks. Meredith Koop, has been Obamas stylist since 2010 and of her the former First Lady says: Shes like my sister, daughter, friend, everything.

In one scene in the Becoming film, Koop looks back on her years dressing the most famous woman in the world. People have these ideas of a first lady look I felt a lot of my work in the White House was more like costume design, dressing her and her children for this role, she explained.

Michelle Obama in pink Stine Goya trouser suit / Getty Images

We see now that the fun really began once the Obamas left office. After eight years of carefully curated looks and sartorial diplomacy, Obama and Koop were free to let it rip. A quick look at the outfits from the tour for the best-selling memoir and its clear to see that Obama loves the bling. Shes no minimalist, says Koop pointing to a pink rhinestone-embellished suit by Scandi label Stine Goya. When I look at this suit, I do see Elvis and I dont have a problem with that.

Fashion highlights from the tour include a striped orange pyjama Roksanda pyjama suit, a custom wrap tuxedo by Peter Dundas complete with emerald green crystals and the now-iconic sparkling, thigh-high Balenciaga disco boots worn with a buttercup yellow silk dress. Of the boots, Obama said: Now, Im free to do whatever. During the tour she also wore Stella McCartney, Christopher John Rogers, Fe Noel, Elie Saab, By Far, Balmain and Pyer Moss.

Obama is now a woman unleashed, free to experiment and make daring choices. Her style, of course, is all the more brilliant for it.

Not to be viewed, judged and parcelled by every other person on the planet? Obama asks in the documentary. Yeah, its better. Its absolutely freeing.M ichelle Obama took to the Royal Festival Hall stage last night for her much anticipated book tour appearance and, judging by Twitter, she did not disappoint.

Speaking to a sold-out auditorium of 2,700, which included 300 school students, Obama discussed her family, upbringing, black womanhood and path to the White House, as well as offering advice for young women.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie interviewed the former First Lady about her new memoir Becoming, in a conversation that audience members called utterly inspirational.

One twitter user said: These remarkable women had the Royal Festival Hall so captivated tonight!

Others praised her sense of humour and ability to hold the crowd enraptured.

Some expressed disbelief that they even managed to make it to the event, which sold out within minutes.

After the talk, Obama left the stage to a standing ovation, bringing an end to a phenomenal evening.

The Southbank Centre talk was the only appearance outside the US and sold out within minutes, with many begging for a larger venue or stream of the event.

She began the day with a talk at the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School in Islington, which she visited nine years ago on her first trip to the UK as First Lady.I n her 68 years on the throne and counting, the reign of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has been captured on film, in print - and on many a canvas.

Last week she made a rare historic address to the nation, urging citizens to unite to fight the coronavirus pandemic. In the universally praised televised speech, watched by nearly 24m people, she said: I hope in the years to come everyone will be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge.

"And those who come after us will say the Britons of this generation were as strong as any.

That the attributes of self-discipline, of quiet good-humoured resolve and of fellow-feeling still characterise this country. The pride in who we are is not a part of our past, it defines our present and our future.

From delicate depictions of a Queen-to-be, to cutting edge pieces of contemporary art, these are just a few of the variety of portraits of Her Majesty across the capital.

Michael Leonard, 1985-6, National Portrait Gallery

Queen Elizabeth II by Michael Leonard 1985-1986 / National Portrait Gallery, London

Buckingham Palace is not just home to the Royal Collection of artworks, but has also been the setting for many of her portraits. This work by Michael Leonard hangs in the National Portrait Gallery, but was painted in the Yellow Drawing Room at her London home, a favourite location of hers for portrait sitting because of its abundant natural light. Painted in the mid-eighties, Her Majesty is accompanied by an iconic associate: Spark, one of her beloved corgis.

Ben Sullivan, 2018, Royal Air Force Club

Ben Sullivan, HM The Queen, 2018 / Courtesy of RAF/Ben Sullivan

This beautifully detailed artwork is one of the more recent portraits of Her Majesty, having been unveiled in 2018 at the Royal Air Force Club in Piccadilly. The painting by Ben Sullivan shows the 92-year-old Queen at Windsor Castle, where she is pictured alongside her black handbag. Sullivan opted to keep the famous handbag in the painting as it added a personal touch to the work. The portrait is on display in the Sovereigns Room of the Royal Air Force Club, and can be viewed by members and guests who are attending functions in the building.

Justin Mortimer, 1997, Royal Society of Arts

The Queen, Justin Mortimer, 1997 / Courtesy of Royal Society of Arts

The Queen has lived through one of the most progressive centuries in art history, so naturally some of her portraits reflect this. This remarkably contemporary portrait was commissioned by the Royal Society of Arts from artist Justin Mortimer, who was just 27 years old at the time. The Queen sat for the portrait, aware it might be one of the more unusual. The artwork was first displayed in the months following the death of Princess Diana, one of the most trying periods in The Queens reign. It can be seen on display to the public in the cafe at the Royal Society of Arts.

Pietro Annigoni, 1955, Fishmongers Hall

Queen Regent, 1955, Pietro Annigoni / Getty Images

This well-known portrait of the Queen, called Queen Regent, was painted by Pietro Annigoni in 1955 as a commission for the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers. The romantic work by the Italian artist shows the monarch wearing the robes of the Order of the Garter and looking out across a pastoral scene. Annigoni said he was inspired to put her in the outdoor setting after speaking to the Queen about how, as a child, she used to enjoy watching people and traffic pass by from her window. The painting is still hung at the Fishmongers Hall in the City of London  it is not currently on public display, but is frequently loaned out to exhibitions in the capital.

Ralph Heimans, 2013, Westminster Abbey

The Coronation Theatre: Portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Ralph Heimans, 2013 / Dean and Chapter of Westminster

Sixty years after the Queen was crowned, Australian artist Ralph Heimans chose the very spot where the coronation took place as the setting for his portrait of the monarch. This imagined scene shows a present-day Queen standing in Westminster Abbey, wearing the same velvet robe of state she wore at her 1953 coronation. The abbey purchased the 11ft long artwork, but on its first exhibition, the portrait was vandalised with spray paint. It is now back on public display at the abbey in the Queens Diamond Jubilee Galleries.

Gerald Scarfe, 1970,Tate Britain

Gerald Scarfe CBE, The Queen 1970 (Courtesy of Tate ) / Courtesy of Tate

As one of the most recognisable figures in the world, not all portraits made of the Queen have been overly flattering. This comical image of Her Majesty is from the paintbrush of the Standards very own political cartoonist Gerald Scarfe , who has depicted the Queen on numerous occasions. Her features are wildly exaggerated in this portrait, but she is still holding on tightly to her iconic handbag which is decorated with a Union Jack flag. The portrait is on display at Tate Britains Prints and Drawings Room, and can be viewed by appointment.

Chris Levine, 2004, sketch London

Lightness of Being, Chris Levine, 2004 (Courtesy of sketch London) / Courtesy of sketch

This highly original portrait of the Queen was actually created by accident. British light artist Chris Levine was commissioned by the Jersey Heritage Trust in 2004 to create a portrait of the Queen. Levine was using a complex 360 degree camera system to create a light portrait of the Queen, and suggested she rest for a moment while the system reset itself. During the time when Her Majesty relaxed, this beautifully serene image was captured. A version of Levines portrait now hangs in art-friendly Mayfair restaurant sketch.

Antony Williams , 1995, Royal Society of Portrait Painters

Antony Williams/Courtesy of Royal Society of Portrait Painters

There is no tiara in this portrait, nor coronation robes. The Queen instead wears a simple dress with a dark cloak draped on her shoulders. Williams 1995-6 portrait was made using the painstaking process of egg tempera painting, but is unfussy in every other way. Williams completed the portrait as part of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters Ondaatje Prize for Portraiture, but came under scrutiny for emphasising wrinkles in her skin, particularly on her hands. The painting hangs in Directors Office of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters.

Andrew Festing , 1999, Royal Hospital Chelsea

Andrew Festing/Courtesy of Royal Society of Portrait Painters

In this portrait, which hangs in the Royal Hospital Chelsea Museum, the Queen stands wearing her robes for the state opening of Parliament. There is a flicker of a smile on her face, on which light from a nearby window also falls. Behind the Queen stands two of the Chelsea Pensioners  British Army veterans who are resident at the Royal Hospital Chelsea  and further behind them is a portrait of The Queens ancestor Charles I and his family.

Susan Ryder , 1995, Royal Automobile Club

Susan Ryan/Courtesy of Royal Society of Portrait Painters

This portrait by British artist Susan Ryder was commissioned by the Royal Automobile Club to celebrate its centenary in 1995. Ryder captured the Queen in broad, loose brushstrokes and blue-green tones, elaborated on from her turquoise dress and diamond jewellery. The portrait is set once again in the Yellow Drawing Room of Buckingham Palace, and hangs in the Royal Automobile Club in London, only on view to members of the club and their guests.Aquaman (December 14)

Aquamans Jason Momoa helms his first solo superhero movie this December, with the king of Atlantiss seven kingdoms getting his own headline film. Judging by the trailers, audiences can expect stunning visuals, as well as an all-encompassing origin story, which follows the hero as he learns to harness his extraordinary powers. Can the film prove as successful as DCs last solo movie Wonder Woman? Only time will tell.Tomorrowland Winter, March 16-19

Legendary Belgian dance festival Tomorrowland is launching a sister event in the French Alps this March, with Tomorrowland Winter taking place for the first time in the village of Alpe dHuez. As youd expect with the organisers pedigree, some of the worlds biggest DJs are in town, with Armin van Buuren, Steve Aoki, Martin Garrix and Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike performing at the festival. It promises to be a huge event, with around 30,000 people attending from around the world. Tickets are already proving very popular  those wishing to attend should sign up to the waiting list.The Velvet Underground

In the famous words of Brian Eno, The first Velvet Underground album only sold 10,000 copies, but everyone who bought it formed a band. Lou Reeds New York art rockers received a fraction of the commercial success they deserved during their career, but they list among the most influential rock bands of the 60s and 70s. With Andy Warhol on board as their manager from 1965 the band approached their performances like art shows rather than live gigs, pushing boundaries and convention throughout their career. Much like their contemporaries Iggy Pop & the Stooges, the band came to have a huge impact on the music industry after initially enjoying limited commercial appeal.

Getty ImagesBack in 2009, Mayer told Ellen DeGeneres that relationships tend to freak him out. I don't know if you know this, I have sort of a funny track record," he said. "I'm a little freaked out right now about it, to be honest.

On Instagram, he once posted a black and white photo playing guitar on Instagram, and a fan commented, Beautiful! How are you still single? His response was simply, Google me.

Getty Images

The 41-year-old is showing no signs of settling down anytime soon.

He slid into popstar Halseys DMs in 2018, although Halsey insists the pair are just friends. He was also rumored to be seeing Kourtney Kardashian - but he debunked that theory when he told Andy Cohen on Radio Andy that he thinks Kardashian started the rumor diabolically and said once two people are put together, "You're like, 'Well, if I do [date her], then everything falls into place, because they're already putting us together." He's also close friends with Larry David's daughter, Cazzie, but it doesn't appear that the two are together.

Here's a look at his track record.

The Your Body Is A Wonderland years

In the early 2000s, Vanessa Carlton blessed us with the ubiquitous track 'A Thousand Miles,' and she also reportedly dated fellow chart-climber Mayer. They called it quits in 2002, after less than a year. Mayer linked up with actress Jennifer Love Hewitt shortly after.

John Mayer and Vanessa Carlton in 2002. (WireImage) / Getty Images

While Hewitt and Mayer didn't last long together, Mayers 'Your Body Is A Wonderland' is rumored to have been written about Hewitt - even though Hewitt herself denied this in a podcast this year.

After the two parted ways, Mayer reportedly kept it in the Hollywood family by dating Hewitts Party of Five co-star Rhona Mitra in 2005.

The Jessica and Jen years

Mayer began seeing Jessica Simpson in 2006 after her very public divorce from Nick Lachey. He would later would refer to Simpson as "sexual napalm" in a 2010 Playboy interview.

Simpson said that his "shocking" comments ended their on-off relationship. Speaking to Hota Kotb, she revealed that she had gone back to the singer "nine times" over five years - saying that their relationship was "very complex", but Mayer torpedoed it with the Playboy interview.

Jessica Simpson and John Mayer in 2006. / WireImage

She said, "We were great at intimacy. We were great at loving each other. That was easy, but the relationship was very complex."

As for what Mayer said that accidentally ended any hope of them getting back together? Mayer said to Playboy that Simpson was "like crack cocaine to me", adding, "Sexually it was crazy. Thats all Ill say. It was like napalm, sexual napalm. Did you ever say, I want to quit my life and just f***ing snort you?

John Mayer and Jessica Simpson in 2007 / Getty Images

Simpson continued in her memoir Open Book that his comments left her "floored and embarrassed that my grandmother was actually gonna read that."

She continued, "A woman and how they are in bed is not something that is ever talked about. It was shocking. He was the most loyal person on the planet and when I read that he wasnt, that was it for me. I erased his number. He made it easy for me to walk away."

In the same story, Mayer also discussed his breakup with Jennifer Aniston, who he dated on-and-off from '08 to '09. He set the record straight that his song "Heartbreak Warfare" isn't about the actress, because she's the "sweetest, kindest person," and denied rumors that Aniston dumped him for tweeting too much.

Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer in 2008. / SplashNews.com

"That wasn't it, but that was a big difference," he said, "The brunt of her success came before TMZ and Twitter. I think she's still hoping it goes back to 1998. She saw my involvement in technology as courting distraction. And I always said, 'These are the new rules.'"

Let's not forget some of his other casual flings from this period, which include: Cameron Diaz, Rashida Jones, and Scheana Marie -- although Mayer reportedly dumped the Vanderpump Rules star after she got a little too candid with the press.

'Dear John' and pop star mania

Mayer might be on good terms with some of his exes, but you can't break Taylor Swift's heart and get away with it. The two musicians famously dated in 2009, at ages 32 and 19 respectively, and Swift reportedly wrote 'Dear John' about Mayer. The song features Swift firing off lyrics like, "Dont you think 19 is too young to be played by your dark twisted games, when I loved you so?

Taylor Swift and John Mayer perform during the Z100's Jingle Ball 2009. / Getty Images

Unsurprisingly, Mayer wasn't a fan of the hit and told Rolling Stone in 2012 that he had no idea Swift had felt that way.

"I never got an e-mail. I never got a phone call," he told the magazine. "I was really caught off-guard, and it really humiliated me at a time when Id already been dressed down. I mean, how would you feel if, at the lowest youve ever been, someone kicked you even lower?

He recently discussed Swift's song 'Lover' with Shawn Mendes on his podcast and poked fun at it when he said he loved the song but wanted to change the lyrics. Swifties were unimpressed with his commentary.

Getty Images

He also briefly dated makeup artist Reena Hammer in 2010 and Renee Zellweger in 2011, along with a supposedly secret relationship with actress Shenae Grimes.

Also, long before she broke the Internet, Kim Kardashian was linked to Mayer after they were spotted out in New York in 2010.

Katy Perry and John Mayer in 2013 / Larry Busacca/Getty

Mayer's long-term girlfriend was Katy Perry, who he dated on-and-off from 2012 to 2016. Although they displayed their affection for one another in the video for their collaborative song 'Who You Love,' the couple kept their relationship relatively private.

Mayer admitted to The New York Times that his lovesick song 'Still Feel Like Your Man' is about Perry, appropriately adding: And by the way, its a testament to the fact that I have not dated a lot of people in the last five, six years. That was my only relationship. So its like, give me this, people.

We'll give you that one, John.Whether she's preaching self-worth, delivering a practical piece of career advice or a classy riposte to her critics ("when they go low, we go high" anyone?) Michelle Obama is a walking wisdom generator.

As her book Becoming is set to become the best-selling memoir in history, with sales figures hitting 10 million, clearly people are clamouring to listen. One woman whos just as keen to soak up her wisdom is the Duchess of Sussex, who interviewed the former First Lady for the September issue of British Vogue. Opening up to Meghan Markle, Obamas words on female empowerment and motherhood struck a chord with many.

Calling her my former First Lady and now friend, Meghan wrote, Whatever your background, its easy to feel connected to Mrs Obama. Theres something magical about the way in which she draws you in with her endearingly frank, down-to-earth personality.

Michelle, who was recently declared the Most Admired Woman in the World according to a YouGov poll, has provided no end of inspiration for her grace and determination. Heres some of Mrs Os finest quotes over the years.

Michelle Obama quotes

Michelle Obama acknowledges the crowd at the Royal Festival Hall in London during her visit to the UK to publicise her memoir Becoming. / PA

On always moving forwards: "I imagine that [15 year old Michelle Obama would] be proud of how far Ive come  but she wouldnt let me off the hook, either. I feel like shed give me one of those silent nods of recognition, you know? Shed remind me there are still too many girls on the South Side of Chicago who are being shushed, cast aside or told theyre dreaming too big. Shed tell me to keep fighting for them. If Im being honest, shed probably smile about how cute my husband is, too."

(Speaking to Meghan Markle and British Vogue)

On imposter syndrome: "I still have a little [bit of] impostor syndrome, it never goes away, that you're actually listening to me. It doesn't go away, that feeling that you shouldn't take me that seriously. What do I know? I share that with you because we all have doubts in our abilities, about our power and what that power is. If I'm giving people hope then that is a responsibility, so I have to make sure that I am accountable."

(Speaking at the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School in Islington)

When youre reluctant to use your voice: "Dont waste your seat at the table... If you are scared to use your voice, then youve got to get up and give it to someone who isnt afraid to use the spot."

(Pennsylvania Conference for Women)

Michelle Obama and Barack Obama attending the Inaugural Ball in 2013. / Getty Images

When youre facing the worst of bullies: "When they go low, we go high."

Obama first used this phrase at the Democratic National Convention in 2016. The quote was then borrowed by Hillary Clinton in the final rounds of her 2016 presidential campaign.

More recently, Obama expanded on the motto in an interview with Blavity: "Now, going high doesnt mean giving up or ignoring reality. It doesnt mean you shy away from the fight or weaken your principles. It means you lead with your whole heart and your whole soulyour whole value systemand not just whatever happens to be your stance on a given issue. Going high isnt just about the fight you want to win, but it's also about the person you want to beand the kind of country you want to have."

Michelle Obama speaking at the 'When We All Vote' Rally In Las Vegas. / Getty Images

When you're trying to find your way in the world: "Dont just check the boxes you think youre supposed to check, like I did when I was their age. I tell them that I hope theyll keep trying on new experiences until they find what feels right. And what felt right yesterday might not necessarily feel right today. Thats OK  its good, even."

(Speaking to Meghan Markle and British Vogue)

When youre searching for more self-awareness: ..I think as women and young girls, we have to invest that time in getting to understand who we are and liking who we are. Because I like me. Ive liked me for a very long time... Youve got to work to get to that place.

(In conversation with Oprah Winfrey at the United State of Women Summit)

Michelle and Barack Obama arriving for a state dinner in 2014. / Getty Images

On being brave at work: If youre going out into the world as a professional and you dont know who you are, you dont know what you want, you dont know how much youre worth, then you have to be brave. And then you have to count on the kindness and goodness of others to bestow that goodness on you when you should be working to get it on your own. Because you deserve it.

(In conversation with Oprah Winfrey at the United State of Women Summit)

On motherhood: "Motherhood has also taught me that my job is not to bulldoze a path for [my daughters] in an effort to eliminate all possible adversity. But instead, I need to be a safe and consistent place for them to land when they inevitably fail; and to show them, again and again, how to get up on their own.

(Speaking to Meghan Markle and British Vogue)

When youre feeling inadequate: Success isn't about how much money you make, it's about the difference you make in people's lives.

(2012 Democratic National Convention)

When relationships turn toxic: Choose people who will lift you up. Find people who will make you better.

(ABC interview)

Michelle Obama giving a speech during day one of the Democratic National Convention in 2012. / Getty Images

When youre feeling hopeless about an issue you care about: ...Dont be afraid. Be focused. Be determined. Be hopeful. Be empowered. Empower yourselves with a good education, then get out there and use that education to build a country worthy of your boundless promise.

(Final remarks as First Lady)

When youre trying to overcome body shame: Being a healthy woman isn't about getting on a scale or measuring your waistlineand we can't afford to think that way. Instead, we need to start focusing on what matterson how we feel, and how we feel about ourselves.

(Essay for Womens Health)

Michelle and Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. (AFP/Getty Images) / Getty Images

When youre intent on reaching a goal: One of the lessons that I grew up with was to always stay true to yourself and never let what somebody else says distract you from your goals.

(Marie Claire)

Michelle Obama at the Democratic Convention in 2012. / Getty Images

When life and hardships get you down: You may not always have a comfortable life. And you will not always be able to solve all the worlds problems all at once. But dont ever underestimate the impact you can have, because history has shown us that courage can be contagious, and hope can take on a life of its own.

(Young African Women Leaders Forum)

When you make a mistake: Failure is an important part of your growth and developing resilience. Dont be afraid to fail.

(Glamours The Power of an Educated Girl panel)

When you're struggling to make a tough decision: "Don't ever make decisions based on fear. Make decisions based on hope and possibility. Make decisions based on what should happen, not what shouldn't."

(Campaigning in Phoenix in 2011)G oogle is celebrating the birthday of a nurse who helped save the lives of hundreds of soldiers in World War One.

Edith Cavell risked her life to help British and French soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium at the beginning of the war.

Cavell, who would have been 153 today, was arrested by the authorities and charged with treason, and later executed by firing squad on October 12, 1915.

And to celebrate the British nurse's enduring legacy of heroism, Google has created a Doodle in her honour.

Who was Edith Cavell?

Edith Cavell was executed during WW1 / Getty Images

Edith Cavell was born in Norfolk on December 4, 1865. She was inspired to become a nurse in her twenties when she cared for her father after he was struck down by a serious illness.

She trained under Matron Eva Luckes at what is now the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel before working at hospitals in Kings Cross, Shoreditch, Manchester and Kent.

In 1907, Cavell was invited to Brussels, where she had previously worked as a governess, to become the matron of a newly-established nursing school called L'Ecole Belge d'Infirmieres Diplomees.

She later founded the medical journal linfirmiere in 1910 and soon became a training nurse for three hospitals, 24 schools, and 13 kindergartens in Belgium.

What was Edith Cavell's role in WW1?

Cavell was visiting family in Norfolk at the outbreak of the Great War. She immediately returned to Brussels and began to treat war casualties of all nationalities at her hospital.

But it was during her time as a nurse in WW1 that she became involved in an underground group that would shelter French and British soldiers in occupied Belgium, before helping them flee to the neutral Netherlands and later Britain.

Along with saving the lives of Allied soldiers, she also helped Belgian and French civilians escape.

By August 2015, she is believed to have helped around 200 men flee - but her actions violated German military law and she was arrested and charged with harbouring Allied soldiers.

She confessed during her court-martial and despite international pressure, backlash and mass appeals for mercy, she was sentenced to death and shot by a German firing squad in October of that year.

What was the reaction to Edith Cavell's execution?

She helped save the lives of hundreds of people / Getty Images

Her death was met with widespread condemnation and for years afterwards was used as anti-German propaganda by the British.

In Britain, she became a figure for military recruitment while her death was also used to help boost pro-Allied sentiment in America.

The German government at the time justified the execution, saying they had acted fairly as she had committed treason against Germany by helping the enemy.

But in January the following year, the Kaiser ruled that capital punishment could not be carried out on women without his endorsement.

Edith Cavell quotes

"I cant stop while there are lives to be saved."

"Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness for anyone."

"I have no fear nor shrinking; I have seen death so often that it is not strange or fearful to me."W here is it?

Towering above the mighty Bosphorus, the great divide between Europe and Central Asia, The Ritz Carlton Istanbul is perfectly positioned between the bustling bars and busy restaurants of Taksim, the cool laid back streets of Ortakoy and all the major tourist attractions; namely the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and Topkapi Palace.

Style

The hotel is a grand, corporate cool beast, with plenty of wide open, marbled spaces and huge panoramic windows that frame the stunning views of the Asia side of the city and the glistening Bosphorus.

(Ritz Carlton ) / Ritz Carlton

Food & Drink

Start your day by tucking into the epic breakfast buffet at Atelier Real Food Restaurant. Feast on menemen, scrambled eggs with tomato and onion, and then tuck into plates brimming with local cheeses, olives and bread. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner and dishes up a mix of traditional Turkish fare and international cuisines.

Sink into a sumptuous sofa and treat yourself to afternoon tea at The Lobby Lounge or head over to Bleu Lounge for a killer cocktail in the evening.

Facilities

As you would expect from such a reputable brand, The Ritz Carlton Istanbul has everything you need to pamper yourself and relax during your stay. Pump some iron in the gym and then head to the wellness centre where you can enjoy a rejuvenating facial or a traditional Turkish hammam. Take a dip in the indoor pool, and if the weather is good, move your treatments outside to make the most of the view.

Which room?

With huge windows overlooking the city, the newly refurbished Bosphorus View Suites are sensational. Each well-equipped suite has a spacious lounge with plenty of room to enjoy a coffee and plan your outfit for the evening. The slick bedroom has an epic sized bed - just make sure that you set your alarm in the morning or you will never want to get up. The swish marble bathroom is stocked with everything you need for a short weekend break, from toothbrushes to shampoo and fabulously effervescent bath salts.

(Ritz Carlton ) / Ritz Carlton

What to Instagram

Your first glass of fizz from The Lounge Bar with the feed-friendly backdrop of the boats cruising up and down the Bosphorus.

Best for...

Smart weekend breakers who are looking for a base right in the heart of the city.

DetailsA father has been shot dead in front of terrified children near a school in west Belfast.

Panicked parents heard gunfire and rushed to the scene at around 3pm on Tuesday afternoon.

The victim was sitting in a Porsche car on a busy road when the attack happened near St Mary's Grammar School.

In a statement, the school said the man was collecting his son, a pupil at the school.

"The thoughts and prayers of the principal and all the staff are with our pupil and his family at this very sad time," it said.

The shooting happened close to St Mary's Grammar School and was witnessed by children / PA

A man aged in his 40s wearing a high-visibility vest is being sought by detectives after the incident on the Glen Road.

The car was covered in a tarpaulin as forensics officers combed the area for clues. The Glen Road was dominated by cordons, police land rovers and flashing lights.

West Belfast MP Paul Maskey said: "It is deeply concerning that this killing was carried out in full view of hundreds of kids who were leaving school at the time."

SDLP Belfast City Councillor Tim Attwood added: "It is absolutely sickening that a gun was fired in the vicinity of both a primary and secondary school in west Belfast today.

Forensic officers comb the scene for evidence after the incident on Tuesday afternoon / PA

"A number of pupils witnessed this fatality and are understandably very disturbed and frightened after this reckless act occurred nearby the school gates.

"There is absolutely no place for this in 2018; this madness belongs in the past and we cannot allow it to once again become our normality."

Detective Chief Inspector Peter Montgomery, of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), said: "Police are currently at the scene of a shooting during which a man died this afternoon.A beautician who went missing in Jamaica has been found dead by police in a shallow grave on her property, it was reported today.

Karen Cleary, 44, from Islington, disappeared on November 25, having travelled to the island to build a dream home for herself and partner Andy Kane. He alerted police after he and her family suddenly lost contact with her.

Mr Kane, 56, flew to the Caribbean on Saturday to help search for his girlfriend of 13 years. He had launched an online appeal for information. But today her body was found buried on her property in Boscobel, St Mary, with detectives set to question a labourer working on her home on suspicion of murder.

Mr Kane said he wished with all my heart that it wasnt true but that the suspect was in custody and he has confessed. He said the world had turned very dark indeed following the killing of my princess.

The 'dream' home Karen Cleary was building in Jamaica

He said: Since last Tuesday when I found out Karen Cleary was missing Ive had a feeling that the freight train of reality was barrelling down the tracks towards me. Today it pains to say that train hit me hard. I am so sorry to pass on the news that today after a painstaking search by the Jamaican police team that the time for hope and optimism has unfortunately passed. Karen has now gone on to a better place.

Mr Kane, a sales manager originally from Suffolk, added: Karen has been that shining star in my world for over 13 years. That world has now turned very dark indeed. Please before you go to your bed tonight say a prayer for her to whatever God you pray to and also make sure you tell your loved ones how much they mean to you while you still have the chance.

His older brother William, an architect, told the Standard that the family was in complete devastation. He said: Karen was a lovely woman.

Devastated: Andy Kane, Ms Clearys partner

He said the family wanted quick justice for her death.

Ms Cleary, a hairdresser and beautician, was born in Jamaica but had lived in Islington for almost 20 years. She was said to have been very cautious about where she went and understood the dangers in Jamaica.

It was reported that Ms Cleary was stabbed to death in an argument over the work at the property.

The suspect is alleged to have led police to the place on the property where her body was recovered.A Metropolitan Police officer could be charged after leaving a teenager with serious head injuries after he knocked him off his moped, as part of the forces controversial new ramming technique.

The unknown officer is under criminal investigation after he carried out the tactical contact manoeuvre to deliberately stop the 17-year-old riding dangerously in Erith, south east London.

Officers said the IPCC is investigating the incident, which took place last November.

The police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), confirmed it is also investigating a second tactical contact case involving another Metropolitan Police officer, which featured an adult moped rider in Ealing, west London, in March.

The second case is not a criminal investigation, but comes amid divided political opinion over use of the tactic.

The watchdog said it is due to make a decision over whether to submit a file of evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and to Scotland Yard imminently.

Officers close in on fleeing moped robbers in released footage

If the IOPC recommends a prosecution, it would then be up to CPS bosses to decide whether or not to press charges against the officer, which could include actual bodily harm and grievous bodily harm.

The Met would also make a decision on whether the matter amounted to a misconduct allegation, which could result in the officer leaving the force.

The IOPC launched its first investigation after a Met Police car collided with the 17-year-old in Eastern Way, Erith, at about 2.15am on November 7 2017.

The teenager, who was not wearing a helmet, was admitted to hospital with serious head injuries and fractures but was later discharged.

He later pleaded guilty to five offences at the youth court, including theft, dangerous driving, and driving without a licence.

A suspect is knocked into the road in another police chase

An IOPC spokesman said: "Ultimately no police tactic can ever be used with impunity in a country where we police by consent - be that tactical contact, the use of firearms or the use of restraint.

"It is always a matter of whether it's reasonable and proportionate in the circumstances.

"If it is - for example, as we saw at Westminster and Borough Market - then our investigations treat the officers as witnesses throughout and their conduct is not in question.

"But it would be wrong to offer guarantees in every case. Independent scrutiny is a vital part of public confidence in the way policing is done."

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: In the early hours of Tuesday, 7 November a 17-year-old male suffered injuries after the moped he was riding was the subject of a tactical stop in Bexley.

The Directorate of Professional Standards was informed and referred the incident to the Independent Office of Police Conduct who launched an independent investigation.

On Wednesday, 20 December a male police constable based within the Roads and Transport Policing Command was served with a notice of gross misconduct by IPCC investigators.

The officer remains on restricted duties.

Senior officers have defended the use of tactical contact, saying it was needed to stop dangerous chases and has helped reduce moped-enabled crime in London by more than a third.

The manoeuvre has also been backed by Prime Minister Theresa May, who said a "robust" response was needed from police to what she described as a growing problem of people using mopeds to commit crimes such as bag- and phone-snatching.

But Labour has raised concerns about the approach, which shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said was "potentially very dangerous".S cotland Yard chief Cressida Dick today urged members of the public to get involved if they see police officers being attacked in the street.

She condemned those who filmed attacks on officers as absolutely awful and urged people to come to the aid of police being attacked if they could.

The Met Commissioners comments came after a female officer was assaulted with a flying kick in south London last month while onlookers filmed the incident on their mobile phones.

Speaking on LBCs Nick Ferrari radio programme today, she said: What we seem to be seeing now is not only police officers being assaulted, but sometimes crowds gathering and then some people filming, laughing, joking.

Stills taken from appalling footage of attacks on police officers

She said there had been two or three videos where people have tried to drag officers away from the person they are trying to arrest. She added: Officers getting assaulted and people thinking thats funny, putting it on the internet I think is disgusting. Asked if people should pitch in, Ms Dick said: I think I want to live in a society and I think I do live in a society where we have active citizens, where people stand up and say thats not right, dont do that, or on occasion, even, if they feel able, get involved and do something physically.

Ms Dick says online insults 'make it harder for people to cool down' / PA Wire/PA Images

But she added: I do not want people taking crazy risks but we want to see people getting involved.A pharmacist has been found guilty of murdering his wife so he could start a new life with his boyfriend in Australia.

Mitesh Patel, 37, injected his wife Jessica with insulin and strangled her with a Tesco bag-for-life at their Middlesbrough home, then staged a break-in to make it look like an intruder had attacked her and bound her with tape.

There was no visible reaction from Patel as the verdict was announced, but there were cries of 'Yes' from the public gallery.

The couple ran a successful pharmacy together but their marriage was unhappy, with the husband repeatedly seeking sex with men he met on the Grindr dating app.

And he was secretly in a relationship with his "soulmate" Dr Amit Patel, who had emigrated to Sydney and with whom he hoped to bring up his and Jessica's IVF baby after her death.

The husband was convicted of her murder at Teesside Crown Court after the jury heard Patel had made internet searches dating back years, including "I need to kill my wife", "insulin overdose", "plot to kill my wife, do I need a co-conspirator?", "hiring hitman UK" and "how much methadone will kill you?".

Mr Justice Goss told the jury a life sentence was mandatory and he will determine the minimum term Patel must serve behind bars on Wednesday morning.

He will hear victim statements from Jessica's grandmother, father and a joint one by her siblings and cousins before he sentences.

The jury unanimously found Patel guilty after deliberating for around three hours on the 12th day of the trial.

The judge told Patel: "You have been convicted by the jury and you will be sentenced to life imprisonment and that will happen tomorrow morning.A health entrepreneur helped himself to more than 100,000 from his ailing fathers savings to pay his Netflix bill and buy meals out, a court heard.

Max Sharp, 48, was given control of Dr James Caveney Sharps finances after he became ill in 2007.

Sharp allegedly took at least 100,000 out of his fathers account over seven and a half years.

Andrew Johnson, prosecuting, told Inner London crown court Sharp treated the bank account as if it was his own, spending on meals out, online services including Netflix, and paying off his credit card bills.

When questioned by police, Sharp said he knew it was wrong and claimed he had used the money when he ran into financial difficulties.

Max Sharp runs the family health business based in Harley Street.

His father, now 80, was a consultant in London hospitals who fell into alcoholism. He is in a care home and jurors were told he does not have long to live.

The court heard Sharp claimed his father, if he was capable of deciding, would have been more than willing to assist him out of his financial woes.

He rationalised that whatever was taken would have been deducted from whatever was left when his father died and his assets fell to be divided between him and his brothers, added Mr Johnson.

Sharp, from Brixton, denies fraud.T SB is to help fund fraud detectives because it says there are not enough officers to investigate scammers.

The bank will give 200,000 to the Met which will be used by police in three south-east London boroughs: Lewisham, Bexley and Greenwich.

TSB customers were targeted by fraudsters following an IT meltdown in April. Organised crime groups took advantage of a failed security upgrade by using scammers to send phishing emails to bank customers. More than 1,300 lost money, the bank said.

Ashley Hart, head of fraud at TSB, said the bank realised after the incident that police were overwhelmed by the number of fraud investigations they faced. He said the problem starts when the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, which compiles fraud reports, passes the information on to local forces.

The NFIB package up intel and send it out to police forces to make arrests and thats where we discovered it all goes a bit wrong, Mr Hart said.

With frontline policing and the nature of its resource constraints, it means these packages were arriving and there were not enough police officers to do anything with them.

The Met said the 200,000 will help fund overtime for fraud investigators, training, and new initiatives raising awareness of scams. TSB could provide more funding if the trial is successful.

Superintendent Sean McDermid, of the South East Basic Command Unit, said: If we can increase the number of arrests it will be a real plus but it is also about engagement and education.

TSB said it had identified more than 180 suspects in connection with the fraud attacks on its customers. There have been 20 arrests in the UK.P olice are investigating claims that a woman was drugged and sexually assaulted at celebrity nightclub before being raped at a nearby hotel.

The 20-year-old was allegedly sexually assaulted at Faces in Gants Hill, whose clientele includes stars from The Only Way Is Essex and Love Island.

Details of the investigation emerged following reports on social media of a video apparently showing a woman being sexually assaulted after her drink was spiked.

There were also claims on social media that the woman was later raped by five men.

The victim is not thought to have spoken to police because she cannot remember what happened to her.M umford & Sons bass player Ted Dwane today spoke about his mothers scary battle with multiple sclerosis for the first time.

Dwane, 34, revealed that painter Sarah, 71, has been living with the disease that attacks the brain and spinal cord for 20 years. He also told how touring the world with the Grammy and Brit award-winning folk band meant that he wasnt there for her and his hero father John, 74, in the way he wanted.

But the guitarist and his sister Hannah, 37, have now moved closer to their parents rural Sussex home. His father, a former shipbroker, is Sarahs carer. Dwane said: In the moment you hear multiple sclerosis, you drown in that news. Its too much to bear almost. It was all very new to us and scary.

It has taught us as a family the power of unity. My dad has led the charge and is unfaltering. He just said: Well be fine and deal with this as a unit. Its not become a total nightmare because dad is such a hero. Dwane, right, was speaking ahead of a portrait exhibition highlighting the loneliness that affects six in 10 people with MS  12 times the general population, according to research by the charity MS Society.

The family were living in Singapore in the late Nineties when they started to notice Sarah become less steady on her feet. But her condition went misdiagnosed for five years until they returned to the UK. Dwane added: Mum was diagnosed at around the time I started touring, and my sister moved to Australia. It was a period of huge change for my parents and we werent there for them in the way we wanted to be.

Im still away a lot, but back then it was especially hard because my parents were just coming to terms with the diagnosis. Dwane said he identified with the MS Society research on loneliness released today on International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

The MS Connection, an exhibition Dwane has curated at London Bridge with photographer Louis Browne, tells the stories of 19 people affected by MS. It launches tonight at The Sidings in Southwark, a venue owned by Dwanes bandmate Ben Lovett.P rotesters will march through central London for a pro-Brexit rally backed by English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson and Ukip's leader.

Several thousand people are expected to descend on the streets of the capital this Sunday to demand that there is no betrayal over Britains exit from the European Union.

The rally will take place just three days before parliaments crucial vote on Theresa May's deal.

Almost 4,000 people have said they are going or interested in going on a Facebook event page set up ahead of the Brexit Betrayal Rally.

A counter-protests has also been planned. Police say an "appropriate and proportionate" policing plan will be in place.

Tommy Robinson, who has been appointed as a Ukip adviser, is backing the march / REUTERS

The demonstration will see them gather outside the Dorchester Hotel in Park Lane before marching up to Whitehall where a rally will be staged.

Organisers posted: This is a cross-party People's Rally to show our MPs that the 17.4 million who voted Leave really meant what we said!

We need as many people here as possible.

Ukip leader Gerard Batten / PA

Among the expected speakers are Ukip leader Gerard Batten, who will discuss the political aspects of Brexit, and far right activist Mr Robinson.

Mr Battens association with Mr Robinson has led to backlash from the partys membership, including resignations of a number of its more high profile figures.

Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage quits party

Nigel Farage, who quit the party this week, was among those to heavily criticise the appointment of Mr Robinson as an adviser to the party. However Mr Batten survived a no-confidence vote.

Brexit: Article 50 Triggered - In pictures 1 /20 Brexit: Article 50 Triggered - In pictures Britain's ambassador to the EU Tim Barrow delivers British Prime Minister Theresa May's formal notice of the UK's intention to leave the bloc under Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty to European Council President Donald Tusk in Brussels AFP/Getty Images Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Common PA Britain's ambassador to the EU Tim Barrow delivers British Prime Minister Theresa May's formal notice of the UK's intention to leave the bloc under Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty to European Council President Donald Tusk in Brussels AFP/Getty Images European Council President Donald Tusk holds a news conference after receiving British Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit letter in notice of the UK's intention to leave the bloc under Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty to EU Council President Donald Tusk in Brussels, Belgium Yves Herman/Reuters Prime Minister Theresa May takes her seat after announcing in the House of Commons PA The time 12:20pm shows on Big Ben on March 29, 2017 in London, England. The British Prime Minister Theresa May addresses the Houses of Parliament as Article 50 is triggered and the process that will take the United Kingdom out of the European Union begins Carl Court/Getty Images D-day: pro-EU protesters outside of the Houses of Parliament today as Theresa May prepares to trigger Article 50 AFP/Getty Images EU Council President Donald Tusk holds British Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit letter which was delivered by Britain's permanent representative to the European Union Tim Barrow (not pictured) that gives notice of the UK's intention to leave the bloc under Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty in Brussels, Belgium Yves Herman/Reuters PMQ's in The House of Commons PA Jeremy Corbyn speaking at PMQ's in The House of Commons Sky News Theresa May leaving for the House of Commons Jeremy Selwyn Mayor of London Sadiq Khan at the headquarters of Vivendi in Paris where he took part in TV interviews to discuss the imminent triggering of Article 50 by the UK to leave the EU Stefan Rousseau/PA Britain's permanent representative to the European Union Tim Barrow arrives at the EU Council headquarters for as meeting before hand delivering British Prime Minister Theresa May's notice of the UK's intention to leave the bloc under Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty to EU Council President Donald Tusk in Brussels, Belgium Yves Herman/Reuters Britain's ambassador to the EU Tim Barrow arrives at the British representation of the European Union in Brussels Aurore Belot/AFP/Getty Images A giant headed Theresa May in Parliament Square, London during a protest by Avaaz after PM signed a letter to trigger Article 50 that starts the formal exit process by the UK from the European Union David Mirzoeff/PA British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson walks down Whitehall Jack Taylor/Getty Images Britain's PM Theresa May signs the official letter to European Council President Donald Tusk, invoking Article 50. AFP/Getty Images

Organisers added: There will be prominent speakers from across society speaking on the various aspects of national life that will continue to be adversely affected by Theresa May's 'Withdrawal Agreement', from farming, fishing, immigration, the military, police, to criminal justice.

There will also be speakers from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales explaining how the very Union of the United Kingdom is under threat.

This will be a democratic and peaceful demonstration expressing the strength of feeling amongst Leavers despite the torrent of anti-Brexit propaganda we have been exposed to for almost two and a half years.

A police spokeswoman said: "The Met is aware of an intention to hold a march in central London on Sunday, December 9. We are also aware of plans for a counter-protest on the same day.A married police officer guarding the royal family has admitted he sent a teenage girl lewd messages, after taking her number while she was visiting Buckingham Palace.

Royalty and Specialist Protection Police Constable Andrew Daly did not attend his misconduct hearing today, but the panel heard he was not disputing the allegations.

The unnamed teenager told the panel she was visiting the Palace in May 2016 with her mother and sister when an officer on duty asked for her number.

She said she told Daly she was 16 but that he said she was not underage and should take his number. When asked why she had not questioned him about his request, she said she did not think to ask a policeman with a gun.

The woman, now over 18, said he sent messages including asking if she was a virgin.

She said: I was disgusted, I felt quite violated. He was someone I am supposed to trust.

Daly did not contest allegations that he breached professional standards.

Charles Apthorp, for the Met, said a police officer should not be seeking to initiate sexual relations in this manner.T he BBC has scrapped its plans to hold a Brexit debate between Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn.

In a statement the organisation said it was disappointed an agreement could not be reached on the terms of the debate.

Labour had earlier formally rejected the BBCs proposal for the discussion, calling it a "mish-mash" and accusing Mrs May of dodging a head-to-head debate.

The BBC had said it was keen for the programme to include other voices.

Downing Street backed this proposal, while Labour said it preferred ITV as a host.

Countdown to Brexit: 115 days until Britain leaves the EU

The debate between party leaders was due to take place on December 9, two days before MPs are due to vote on Mrs May's Withdrawal Agreement.

In a statement, the BBC said: "We are disappointed that we could not reach an agreement on the BBC's proposal for a debate on Brexit.

"We have been clear throughout the whole of this process that, as well as a substantive head-to-head debate, any programme we broadcast would need to include other voices, including other political parties, to reflect the wide range of views the public and parliamentarians hold about Brexit.

Theresa May had backed BBC to hold a Brexit debate / PA

"The final proposal we put to both of the main parties was for a head-to-head debate between the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, followed by a discussion between eight panellists, including politicians, with a wide range of views on Brexit, and ending with further head-to-head debate and closing statements.

"We believe ours was a fair and appropriate format for those taking part and, crucially, for our audiences around the country, and it is a shame we will not be able to bring them this programme."

The broadcaster added that it would keep audiences informed with news coverage, analysis and other programmes including a Brexitcast "takeover" of The One Show.

Labour earlier described the BBC's proposal as "a lopsided panel of other politicians and public figures, not a straightforward head-to-head debate".

A Labour source said the party's message to Mrs May was "come and join us on ITV".

On Monday, the prime minister expressed concern that she would miss Strictly Come Dancing if the debate was held on on ITV.M Ps are set to commence five days of Commons debate on Theresa May's Brexit deal ahead of a crunch vote on December 11.

The vote will mark a major test of the Prime Minister's authority as she faces widespread opposition from MPs across the Commons - including both the Leave and Remain wings of her own party.

Over the coming days she will deploy senior Cabinet ministers to make the case, with Chancellor Philip Hammond, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Home Secretary Sajid Javid expected to appear at the despatch box.

Mrs May will assert that her Brexit deal, thrashed out over months of negotiations in Brussels, delivers on her commitments to end free movement and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.

But the debate is delayed as MPs will first vote on a constitutional row with Parliament over the release of legal advice on the Brexit deal.

So what will happen during the debate?

Philip Hammond is expected to make the case for the Brexit deal / AFP/Getty Images

What is on the agenda?

The Government has allotted time on five days for the deal to be debated. This includes up to eight hours of debate on December 4, 5, 6 and 10 - with the votes expected on December 11.

Amendments have been tabled by two Labour MPs to extend the time for debate.

The first day of debate will be closed by Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay.

The second day on Wednesday will focus on security, with Mr Javid opening the debate and Mr Hunt closing it.

Thursday's debate will be on the economy, with Mr Hammond opening it and International Trade Secretary Liam Fox winding up.

Why has it been delayed?

MPs are set to debate claims the Government is in contempt of Parliament by refusing to publish the full legal guidance given to ministers about the Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration negotiated with the European Union.

Commons Speaker John Bercow yesterday announced his decision to give precedence to the complaint over the Brexit debate on Tuesday.

Time has been allotted until 7pm for the MPs to debate the issue.

The move came in response to demands from Labour, the DUP and four other opposition parties, which had complained that the summary legal advice released by the Government on Monday did not comply with a Commons resolution passed in November.

What are they debating?

The Withdrawal Agreement negotiated by the Government, which outlines the terms on which the UK will leave the EU and the desired future relationship.

MPs are being asked to approve this by supporting a motion tabled by the Prime Minister.

Can MPs change what has been put forward?

Yes. Speaker John Bercow can select up to six amendments which MPs can then vote on.

What are the amendments?

Various ones have been tabled. Labour's official proposal would decline to approve Mrs May's Brexit deal and explains this is because it fails to provide for a permanent UK-EU customs union and "strong" single market deal.

It also voices concerns over Northern Ireland.

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Labour's amendment also outlines that MPs will "pursue every option" that prevents the UK leaving the EU on the terms of Mrs May's deal or leaving without a deal.

Tory and Labour backbenchers have also tabled an amendment which seeks to reject Mrs May's deal while also avoiding a no-deal Brexit.

What will happen with the votes?

It's hard to say. Some 20 Conservative MPs have said publicly they will vote against Mrs May's deal, 45 have said they will not vote in favour and more than 20 have said they are unhappy with it.

With Mrs May's minority government allies the DUP also expressing their own concerns, then the chance of the deal being approved with a simple majority of 320 of the 639 MPs eligible to vote is highly unlikely.

Any amendment would need to appeal to a wide enough group of MPs to receive the required votes to be successful. Abstentions are likely on all votes.

What does a vote involve?

MPs walk through division lobbies - in essence, rooms either side of the Commons chamber known as the ayes and noes. They have eight minutes to reach the division lobbies when a vote is called.

They register their vote on a tablet device and the result is usually announced within 15 minutes of the vote being called.

If there is more than one vote, MPs tend to wait in the chamber and the process is repeated.

What about the House of Lords?This has sparked speculation as to what implications it might have, with Theresa Mays deal hanging in the balance ahead of a crucial vote in the House of Commons.

The ECJ legal opinion opens the door to the option of stopping Brexit altogether and staying in the EU as a full sovereign member state on the same terms.

Although non-binding, it was written by the top adviser to the ECJs judges, and the vast majority of such opinions are eventually turned into full rulings by the court.



Below, the Standard looks at the facts behind and implications of the case.

Theresa May's Brexit deal faces a Commons vote before Christmas / AFP/Getty Images

What happens next?

Article 50 allows the "unilateral revocation of the notification of the intention to withdraw from the EU, until such time as the Withdrawal Agreement is formally concluded", according to Advocate General Manuel Campos Sanchez-Bordona.

However his opinion is not binding on the court.

The Judges of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) are now beginning their deliberations in the case before issuing a judgment at a later date.

More often than not such opinions are turned into full rulings.

Who is behind the legal challenge?

Initially, the case was brought to court by a group of politicians from four parties, working in three different parliaments.

At present the group features Green MSPs Andy Wightman and Ross Greer, SNP MEP Alyn Smith and Labour MEPs David Martin and Catherine Stihler.

The politicians are supported by campaigning lawyer Jolyon Maugham QC, director of the Good Law Project. Formally known as Wightman and others v the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, the case is opposed by the UK Government.

What do they want?

EU leaders have backed Theresa May's deal / AFP/Getty Images

Prime Minister Theresa May started the formal process for the UK to leave the EU in March 2017, when she triggered Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union.

Article 50 is the legal mechanism for a country to leave the EU.

The politicians want judges at the European Court of Justice to indicate whether the UK can revoke that Article 50 request to leave the EU unilaterally.

Put simply they want to know if the UK can stop the Brexit process on its own, without the consent of the other 27 EU member states.

As the Good Law Project states: "Many experts believe we can choose to stay in the EU without permission. That, if we want, we can just withdraw our notice. But there is only one way to be sure: a court has to decide what Article 50 means."

The campaigning lawyer Mr Maugham argues the case "could decide the fate of the nation".

How have they afforded the action?

A crowdfunding drive, launched by the campaigners, is close to reaching its 200,000 target after receiving donations from more than 5,800 people.

The legal team involved is said to be working at a "heavily discounted rate".

What is the UK Governments opinion?

The Government has maintained that the question asked is entirely hypothetical and academic.

It has challenged the cross-party group at every legal stage.

The UK Government insists it is committed to implementing the result of the EU referendum in June 2016, as has Theresa May directly, and has no intention of revoking Article 50.

Theresa May has strongly stated she will fulfil Brexit / Getty Images

Throughout the discussions, ministers have argued it is not for courts to enter into a hypothetical or premature debate.

Advocate General for Scotland Lord Keen QC, representing the UK Government, said the case is a "hypothetical validity challenge" and those behind it seek "political ammunition to be used in, and to pressure, the UK Parliament".

Two attempts by the UK Government, which is contesting the case, to appeal against the referral to the European court were rejected.

With regards to Britain not leaving the EU, in recent days senior ministers have said that if Mrs Mays deal is not backed there is a risk of no Brexit, not simply no-deal Brexit.

How did the case get this far?

From day one, those campaigning have sought a ruling from European judges.

After the case first came to fruition in February, the politicians have overcome a series of legal hurdles at every stage in the process.

There had been prior hearings at the Court of Session in Edinburgh / PA

They lost an early bid to have a full hearing on the matter, at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, and later secured one on appeal.

After that full hearing, the court knocked back their bid to have the issue referred to the ECJ. Again, this was overturned by senior judges in Edinburgh upon appeal and the case was allowed to proceed to the ECJ. A further attempt by the UK Government to stop the case getting to Europe was rejected earlier this month at the UK Supreme Court.

What might the ECJ determine?

There are multiple options for the ECJ / EPA

It has three options, according to the Good Law Project.

It could:

 Rule Article 50 is not reversible

 State that Parliament can reverse its decision to leave up until the date of departure if the European Council agrees

 Agree with Mr Sanchez-Bordona in saying the UK can revoke Article 50 without needing permission from the other member states

In any event, its ruling will be a "preliminary" one to enable Scotland's Court of Session to give its final say.

What are the implications for Parliament?

Parliament can choose its reaction to what the ECJ states / Toby Melville/Reuters

The campaigners say it means the UK Parliament will get clear guidance about the precise powers open to it from the European Court of Justice, as it votes on the deal.

Scotland's most senior judge made the different roles of the parliament and court clear, as he ruled in September the case could go to Europe.

He said the ECJ would not be advising Parliament on "what it must or ought to do".

Instead, it would be "merely declaring the law as part of its central function".

Parliaments reaction to that judgment is entirely a matter for it.

Former Conservative attorney general and second referendum campaigner Dominic Grieve told BBC Radio 4's Today: "It's clearly significant.T he UK can halt Brexit by unilaterally revoking Article 50, a senior EU law officer has said.

An advocate general from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has published his legal opinion on the case, brought by a cross-party group of Scottish politicians, ahead of a judgment by the court at a later date.

Manuel Campos Sanchez-Bordona's written opinion is an independent legal solution to the question of whether an EU member state such as the UK can decide on its own to revoke the Article 50 withdrawal process or whether the agreement of the 27 other member states would be required.

The opinion, which is not binding on the court, comes just a week after the case was heard at the ECJ following a referral from Scotland's highest civil court, the Court of Session.

Anti-Brexit campaigners with Union and European Union flags outside the House of Commons in London / PA

A statement from the ECJ said: "In answer to the question from the Scottish court, the Advocate General proposes that the Court of Justice should, in its future judgment, declare that Article 50 TEU allows the unilateral revocation of the notification of the intention to withdraw from the EU, until such time as the Withdrawal Agreement is formally concluded, provided that the revocation has been decided upon in accordance with the member state's constitutional requirements, is formally notified to the European Council and does not involve an abusive practice."

Those who brought the case argue unilateral revocation is possible and believe it could pave the way for an alternative option to Brexit such as a People's Vote to enable remaining in the EU.

Exit stage right: Theresa May in Brussels / Getty Images

Legal representatives for the UK Government believe the case is inadmissible as it deals with a hypothetical situation, since the Government's policy is not to revoke Article 50.

Lawyers representing the Council of the European Union and from the European Commission had argued that revocation is possible but would require unanimous agreement from all member states.

The case was brought forward in February by a group of Scottish politicians - Labour MEPs Catherine Stihler and David Martin, Joanna Cherry MP and Alyn Smith MEP of the SNP, and Green MSPs Andy Wightman and Ross Greer, together with lawyer Jolyon Maugham QC, director of the Good Law Project.

TODO: define component type apester

Their request for the Court of Session to refer the question of whether Article 50 can be unilaterally revoked to the ECJ was initially refused, before that ruling was overturned on appeal.

Two attempts by the UK Government, which is contesting the case, to appeal against the referral to the European court were rejected.

At the hearing last week, Aidan O'Neill QC, representing the politicians who brought the case, said they need to know all their options on Brexit, including whether the UK can unilaterally halt the process ahead of critical votes on the withdrawal agreement.

Lawyers representing the Council of the European Union and from the European Commission (of which Jean-Claude Juncker, pictured, is president) had argued that revocation is possible but would require unanimous agreement from all member states / AFP/Getty Images

Advocate General for Scotland Lord Keen QC, representing the UK Government, said the case is a "hypothetical validity challenge" and those behind it seek "political ammunition to be used in and to pressure the UK Parliament".

Hubert Legal, representing the Council of the European Union, said allowing unilateral withdrawal could lead to "disaster", of which "the main victim could be the European project altogether".

He said Article 50 is "not ambiguous", adding: "The prerogative of acting alone will have been exhausted by putting the notification letter on the council's table."B ank of England governor Mark Carney today issued a fresh warning that shopping bills could soar 10 per cent and hundreds of thousands of jobs risk the axe if Britain crashes out of the EU.

He also rejected criticism of the banks warnings last week of the economic dangers of a no deal.

But his predecessor Mervyn King said he was saddened by the analysis.

The Commons Treasury committee asked Mr Carney about the impact on food prices.

Mr Carney last week issued a stark warning over the outcomes of a no-deal Brexit / EPA

He told the MPs: In the most extreme scenario, on average your shopping bill goes up 10 per cent  if you go to a more orderly scenario with a transition then its something around the six per cent range.

A Bank of England agents survey suggested firms expect employment to fall by between 2.1 and 5.4 per cent in a no deal and no transition Brexit, but to rise by between 0.2 and one per cent if a deal and transition are agreed.

TODO: define component type apester

Giving evidence to the MPs, Andrew Sentance, an ex-member of the banks monetary policy committee, accused the bank and the Government of exaggerating the blow of no deal, and branded their analysis as politically motivated to some degree.

Mr Carney rejected criticism of the decision to publish, saying the evidence was requested by the Treasury committee.

He said the analysis was well-grounded, with a core team of 20 senior economists working on it for two years, using 600,000 underlying observations.

Lord King told Bloomberg: It saddens me to see the Bank unnecessarily drawn into this project.T he Government was today found to be in contempt of the rules of Parliament for not publishing the Attorney General's full legal advice on Brexit.

The Labour motion was passed with a majority of 18 votes. Sir Keir Starmer said the result was "of huge constitutional significance."

He called for the Government to publish the full legal advice on Brexit as soon as possible.

After the vote Sir Keir posted online: "Todays finding of contempt is a real low point for this Government. By treating Parliament with contempt, the Government has lost the respect of the House."

Andrea Leadsom, the Commons leader, says the full legal advice will be published tomorrow. She has also asked the privileges committee to investigate the issues that arise from this.

Opposition parties had argued that by not getting the full details of the deal, ministers ignored a Commons vote which called for the full legal advice to be available.

An overview of the legal advice was published by Attorney Geoffrey Cox on Monday.

MPs from the Labour Party, Liberal Democrats, the SNP, DUP, Plaid Cymru and the Green party had all signed a motion demanding the release of the full legal advice.

It comes as Theresa May prepares for her deal to face the Commons vote on December 11.

She has argued that the deal is the best for Britain and delivers on the 2016 referendum result.N igel Farage has dramatically quit Ukip over its appointment of Tommy Robinson, accusing the party of "turning a blind eye to extremist politics".

Mr Farage made the announcement on his LBC show on Tuesday. "It's done," he said.

He criticised the partys "obsession" with Islam and Mr Robinson under the leadership of Gerard Batten, who hired the far-right activist as an advisor last month.

Mr Farage, who had three different stints as Ukip leader, said: "Over the course of the last few months, under this leader, he seems to be pretty obsessed with Islam. Ukip wasn't founded to be a party based on fighting a religious crusade.

Nigel Farage announced he was quitting Ukip on his LBC show on Tuesday / LBC

"He's also obsessed with this figure called Tommy Robinson, who is seen by some to be a great hero standing up and fighting for working class people, but who has a pretty suspect record - and who brings with him a group of people amongst which we see scuffles, violence. Many have criminal records, some pretty serious.

"All of it has been dragging Ukip away from an electoral party into a party of street activism. I have warned this direction was catastrophic, particularly at the time when the great Brexit betrayal is upon us. Both the Labour and Conservative parties have broken promises that were made not just in the referendum but in the general election as well."

Ukip leader Gerard Batten / PA

Mr Farage, who last month launched a coup against Mr Batten over his appointment of Mr Robinson as an advisor on rape gangs and prison reform, continued: "Things couldn't be better for Ukip, but unfortunately we've gone in this direction of street activism and turning a blind eye to extremist politics.

"There was one last hope that the party's national executive at the weekend would do something about this and pass a motion of no confidence in Gerard Batten." Mr Batten survived the vote.

Tommy Robinson (Reuters) / REUTERS

On Sunday, protesters are set to march through central London for a pro-Brexit march organised by Ukip and backed by former English Defence League leader Mr Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.

Mr Farage said: "The image that will give of what Brexit stands for is something that our enemies will use against us for perhaps many years to come.

Nigel Farage, pictured earlier this month, had previously vowed to 'get rid' of Gerard Batten as Ukip leader / Jean-Francois Badias/AP

"Damaging Ukip is one thing, damaging the Brexit cause is even worse, and I, with a very heavy heart - given how much I cared for this party and the people in it - have reached a very sad decision that I simply can't go on with it.

"I don't recognise the party as being the one I helped to found and fought for. I believe the brand has been so damaged that it's not able to pick up the political opportunity that's there staring it in the face. As of now, I am no longer a member of Ukip... it's done."

Responding to the announcement, Mr Batten tweeted: "I hear that Nigel Farage has resigned from UKIP.KeithBinns/iStock(WASHINGTON) -- A fourth U.S. service member has died from a roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan last week that marked the deadliest day for U.S. troops in Afghanistan this year.



The Defense Department announced Monday that Army Sgt. Jason Mitchell McClary, 24, from Export, Pennsylvania, died on Dec. 2, 2018, in Landstuhl, Germany, "as a result of injuries sustained from an improvised explosive device on Nov. 27, 2018, in Andar District, Ghazni Province, Afghanistan."



McClary was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division based at Fort Carson, Colorado.



He was the fourth service member to be killed in the deadly blast.



The three other service members killed in last week's attack were from special operations units: Army Capt. Andrew Patrick Ross, 29, of Lexington, Virginia; Army Sgt. 1st Class Eric Michael Emond, 39, of Brush Prairie, Washington; and Air Force Staff Sgt. Dylan J. Elchin, 25, of Hookstown, Pennsylvania.



Army Green Berets, Ross and Emond were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Elchin was assigned to the 26th Special Tactics Squadron at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico.



Three other Americans were wounded in the blast, including two service members and a contractor.



The service members were all riding in a heavily armored Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle when the roadside bomb exploded. MRAP's are the standard patrol vehicle for U.S. forces in Afghanistan because of the protection they afford specifically for roadside bombs.



McClary's death brings to 14 the number of American service members who have died in Afghanistan in 2018.



The deadly attack occurred south of the city of Ghazni, the scene of heavy fighting this August as Taliban fighters took over parts of the city. The city was retaken days later after heavy combat by U.S. special operations advisers sent to assist local Afghan forces.



Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.T he Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were showered with fake snow as the couple threw open the doors of Kensington Palace for a Christmas party for military families.

William and Kate are welcoming the partners and children whose loved ones from RAF Coningsby or RAF Marham will be serving in Cyprus over the Christmas period.

The Christmas party in London will be a family event featuring stalls where children can decorate stockings or snow globes, make crackers and create Christmas party kits.

There will also a post box so guests can take pictures and send messages to their loved ones in Cyprus.

Duke and Duchess of Cambridge host Christmas party for RAF families 1 /26 Duke and Duchess of Cambridge host Christmas party for RAF families The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge leaving Kensington Palace PA The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive at Kensington Palace, London, where they are hosting a Christmas party for families and children of deployed personnel from RAF Coningsby and RAF Marham serving in Cyprus Getty Images EPA EPA EPA WireImage Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge attends a party for families of military personnel WireImage Father Christmas arrives ahead of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge as they host a Christmas party Getty Images Father Christmas arrives ahead of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge as they host a Christmas party Getty Images PA PA PA PA PA Getty Images Getty Images PA A man dressed as Father Christmas arrives at Kensington Palace PA PA Getty Images PA PA Getty Images PA PA Getty Images

On Wednesday the Cambridges will fly to RAF Akrotiri on the Mediterranean island state to meet military personnel  including some whose relatives are invited to the royal Christmas party.

They will also meet families living on the base, wider station personnel and the local community.

Kensington Palace said couple wanted to deliver a message of support to deployed personnel and to acknowledge and honour the fact many are away from their families at this time of the year.

During the festive period, there will be 11,000 sailors, soldiers, airmen and marines deployed on operations.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge / EPA

Service personnel have been sent on 30 operations in 35 countries across the globe, including Somalia and Kuwait.

William is Honorary Air Commandant of RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire which is home to Typhoon squadrons which deploy to Cyprus and fly operations in support of Op Shader, the UK's contribution to the ongoing campaign against Isis.

They work alongside 31 Squadron, a Tornado GR4 unit based at RAF Marham in Norfolk, which is also involved with the campaign.A fund set up in support of a bullied Syrian boy and his family has raised more than 158,000 after reports of the attack spread across the world.

A Gofundme appeal for the 15-year-old refugee who was attacked at Almondbury School in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, was the one of the most widely shared and fastest growing of the year.

The Prime Minister sent messages of support for the boy and his alleged attacker was put under police protection amid fear of reprisals.

The fund's organiser Mohammed Tahir thanked everyone of their contributions towards the 158,089 total which he said represented a life-changing amount for the family. The fund has now been closed.

A 16-year-old boy is due to make an appearance in a youth court over the incident

Mr Tahir said: "As you can see, the donations have slowed down and I feel we are in a position where we can close the campaign.

"The donations have now been turned off and I personally would like to thank everyone who supported the cause."

GoFundMe spokesman John Coventry said: "This has been one of the most widely shared and fast growing GoFundMe pages of 2018 with people coming together from 50 countries in a truly inspiring show of support.

"We're now working closely with the family to get the funds directly to them."

Prime Minister Theresa May has previously said the generous public response showed the "true spirit of Britain".

Footage of the boy being attacked and threatened with drowning at his school provoked a flood of sympathy after it was shared on social media.K atie Price has avoided bankruptcy after the taxman accepted a plan for her to repay her debt.

A specialist insolvency and companies court in London was told on Tuesday that the former glamour model had reached an agreement with her creditors.

She was given time to try to come to an agreement at an earlier hearing.

The 40-year-old, formerly known as Jordan, was once said to be worth more than 40 million.

At a hearing in October, she was given time by a judge to negotiate a deal with the taxman over her finances.

The case was previously adjourned following a hearing in August to allow time for the consideration of an Individual Voluntary Agreement (IVA).

Lawyers representing her creditors told the court on Tuesday that her IVA proposal was accepted on November 30.

An IVA is a formal agreement which lets people with debt repay their creditors at an affordable rate in a bid to avoid bankruptcy.

Speaking after the August hearing, a representative for the reality TV star said: "Katie is aware of the hearing and is working with her advisers to resolve her current financial issues.

"She hopes to be in a position to do so and reach agreement with her creditors."

Price has been married three times and was back in the headlines following the collapse of her most recent marriage to Kieran Hayler.

She has also recently revealed that her mother, Amy Price, has been diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) - the same disease that killed TV presenter Keith Chegwin.

She was arrested in October on suspicion of drink-driving after being found by police at 2am in a damaged car in Woolwich, south-east London.

The ex-Loose Women panellist revealed in July she had reported herself to police for violating a driving ban, handed to her in February after she was caught speeding.T he Duchess of Sussex held a power meeting with Michelle Obama in London last night to discuss their shared causes such as boosting girls education, the Evening Standard has learned.

The conversation between two of the most high-profile women in the world followed the former US first ladys inspirational sell-out speech at the Royal Festival Hall, which Meghan attended.

A friend who was also at the event said Meghan had a long private audience with Michelle.

They spoke at length about the importance of supporting and empowering women across all cultures and communities.

Michelle Obama at London's Southbank 1 /13 Michelle Obama at London's Southbank Michelle Obama in conversation with writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie at the Royal Festival Hall in Londo PA Former US first lady Michelle Obama spoke with Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie AFP/Getty Images Earlier the former FLOTUS met with children at a school in Islington AFP/Getty Images Mrs Obama spoke to the crowd in London who gave her a rapturous reception Getty Images Mrs Obama gave the talk as she visited the UK to publicise her memoir Becoming PA Michelle Obama greets the crowd at the Royal Festival Hall PA The talk covered Michelle's "childhood on the South Side of Chicago" all the way to her rise as the wife of the president of the US PA Novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie moderated the talk Getty Images Mrs Obama's autobiographical memoir sold 2 million copies within just a few weeks of its publication Getty Images Penguin Random House said the book has become the biggest selling book of 2018 in the US and Canada Getty Images The audience at the Royal Festival Hall heard the stories and emotions behind the book Getty Images Tickets for the event at the Southbank Centre rapidly sold out Getty Images Mrs Obama addressed the live audience about her personal journey to becoming First Lady PA

They also talked about shared experiences of pregnancy and raising children, plus shared causes including girls education.

Michelle Obama launches memoir in London

The friend added that the duchess and Mrs Obama had formed a strong bond and were expected to stay in close contact.

Prince Harry has met the Obamas on a number of occasions. In 2015 he visited America to promote the Invictus Games and last year Harry interviewed Barack Obama in his role as guest editor of BBC Radio 4s Today programme.

Harry and Barack Obama have met on a number of occasions (Getty Images for the Invictus Games) / Getty Images for the Invictus Ga

The friend also revealed that Meghan felt she had been welcomed in London. The Standard understands that many of the charities to which she is due to be appointed royal patron in the new year will be London-orientated.

The duchesss meeting came after Mrs Obama offered advice to her about coping with her public role in an interview with Good Housekeeping magazine. She urged Meghan to take some time and dont be in a hurry to do anything before tackling more ambitious work promoting her causes.F ollowing the huge success of her first book tour in the UK, Michelle Obama is returning to London to discuss her best-selling book, Becoming.

Last year, the former First Lady inspired fans with stories of overcoming racism and embracing sisterhood as she hosted a sold-out event at London's Southbank Centre.

This time, she will be visiting the 22,000 capacity O2 Arena on Sunday, April 14.

If, like thousands of other disappointed fans, you werent lucky enough to get tickets, here are some of her most memorable quotes from Becoming:

On having 'imposter syndrome':

I still have a little [bit of] imposter syndrome, it never goes away, that youre actually listening to me.

"It doesnt go away, that feeling that you shouldnt take me seriously. What do I know? I share that with you because we all have doubts in our abilities, about our power and what that power is.

"If Im giving people hope then that is a responsibility, so I have to make sure that I am accountable.

On meeting the Queen:

Michelle Obama and Barack Obama visit the Queen and Prince Phillip on a trip to the UK (Getty ) / Getty

I had all this protocol buzzing around in my head and I was like dont trip down the stairs and dont touch anybody, whatever you do.

"And so the Queen says just get in, sit wherever and shes telling you one thing and youre remembering protocol and she says Oh its all rubbish, just get in.

On Barack Obama's presidency:

We mistakenly thought that Barack Obama was going to erase hundreds of years of history in eight years  thats ridiculous to think that could happen.

So were putting down marbles, and going backwards doesnt mean the progress wasnt real.

Michelle Obama 'Becoming' tour wardrobe 1 /22 Michelle Obama 'Becoming' tour wardrobe December 20, 2018 Michelle Obama and Sarah Jessica Parker in New York Getty Images December 20, 2018 Michelle Obama and Sarah Jessica Parker in New York Getty Images December 3, 2018 Michelle Obama in conversation at The Royal Festival Hall AFP/Getty Images December 3, 2018 Michelle Obama in conversation at The Royal Festival Hall AFP/Getty Images December 3, 2018 Michelle visits Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School in London AFP/Getty Images December 3, 2018 Michelle visits Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School in London Getty Images December 1, 2018 Michelle Obama visits The Lower Eastside Girls Club Getty Images December 1, 2018 Michelle Obama visits The Lower Eastside Girls Club Getty Images November 30, 2018 At a book signing in New York Getty Images November 30, 2018 At a book signing in New York DIGGZY / SplashNews.com November 29, 2018 Michelle Obama in conversation in Philadelphia SplashNews.com November 29, 2018 Michelle makes surprise appearance at Be Girl organisation in Philadelphia SplashNews.com November 17, 2018 Michelle Obama in conversation in Washington Getty Images November 17, 2018 Michelle Obama in conversation in Washington Getty Images November 15, 2018 Michelle surprises students at school in Los Angeles Getty Images November 15, 2018 Michelle surprises students at school in Los Angeles Getty Images November 15, 2018 Michelle Obama in conversation in California Getty Images November 15, 2018 Michelle Obama in conversation in California Getty Images November 13, 2018 Michelle Obama in conversation in Chicago AFP/Getty Images November 13, 2018 Michelle Obama in conversation in Chicago AFP/Getty Images November 12, 2018 Michelle at Whitney M. Young Magnet High School in Chicago AFP/Getty Images November 12, 2018 Michelle at Whitney M. Young Magnet High School in Chicago AFP/Getty Images

On advice she'd give young women:

Michelle Obama during a visit to the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School in Islington. / PA

My advice to young women is that you have to start by getting those demons out of your head. The questions I ask myself  am I good enough?  that haunts us, because the messages that are sent from the time we are little is: maybe you are not, dont reach too high, dont talk too loud.

On being passionate:

My parents saw this flame in me and instead of doing what we often do to girls who are feisty, which is to try and put that flame out, to douse itbecause were worried about not being ladylike or being bossy, they found a way to keep that flame lit because they knew Id need it later on.

To have that flame lit in a girl means you have to value her voice and let her speak and learn how to use it.

Barack and Michelle Obama's best couple moments 1 /27 Barack and Michelle Obama's best couple moments 2004: Barack Obama's victory over Republican Alan Keyes In 2004, after beating Republican rival Alan Keyes, Barack and Michelle Obama bring their daughters onstage Getty Images 2007: Campaign Event in South Carolina Oprah Winfrey cheers as Michelle and Barack Obama embrace onstage at a campaign event in 2007 Getty Images 2008: New Hampshire Primary Michelle and then Senator Barack Obama embrace before his speech at the 2008 New Hampshire Primary Getty Images 2008: Pamela's Diner, Pittsburgh The Obamas make a stop at Pamela's Diner in Pittsburgh in 2008 Getty Images 2008: Campaign Rally at Indiana The couple embrace at a Campaign Rally in Indiana in 2008 AFP/Getty Images 2008: Indiana Picnic Barack makes Michelle laugh at an Indiana picnic in 2008 Getty Images 2008: Primary Night in St. Paul The Obamas bump fists at a 2008 election rally Getty Images 2008: Democratic National Convention Day 4 The Obamas at the DNC in 2008 Getty Images 2008: Campaign Rally in Miami Barack and Michelle share a moment on stage at a campaign rally in Miami Getty Images 2008: Colorado Airport After arriving at Colorado airport in 2008, Michelle and her daughters greet Barack Obama AFP/Getty Images 2009: Inaugural Parade The pair giggle at the 2009 Inaugural Parade Getty Images 2009: Inaugural Ball The new First Couple hitch a ride in a golf buggy at the Inaugural Ball in 2009 Pete Souza/White House via Getty Images 2009: Inaugural Ball The First Couple have a dance at the Inaugural Ball in 2009 Getty Images 2009: Inaugural Ball Getty Images 2009: Red Room at the White House The couple embrace in the Red Room at the White House in 2009 Getty Images 2013: Commander in Chief's Ball The pair have a dance after Obama's second win at the 2013 Commander in Chief's Ball Getty Images 2013: Commander in Chief's Ball Getty Images 2014: White House Easter Egg Roll The Easter Bunny gives the First Couple a moment at the 2014 Easter Egg Roll Getty Images 2016: Easter Egg Roll at the White House The Obamas get animated telling a story at the Easter Egg Roll in 2014 Getty Images 2016: Nordic State Dinner at the White House Before meeting officials from Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Iceland in 2016, Michelle helps Barack adjust his bow tie Getty Images 2016: White House Before meeting Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in 2016, Michelle scratches Barack's nose Getty Images 2016: State Dinner for Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong Obama gives his wife's outfit a thumbs up before a state dinner for Singapore's Prime Minister in 2016 Getty Images 2016: Halloween at the White House Barack and Michelle dance to Michael Jackson's Thriller on Halloween at the White House in 2016 Getty Images 2017: Donald Trump's Inauguration Barack kisses Michelle before President-elect Trump and Melania arrive at Trump's inauguration in January 2017 Getty Images 2017: Donald Trump's Inauguration Barack kisses Michelle's hand at the inauguration ceremony Getty Images 2018: Presidential Portrait Unveiling Barack and Michelle Obama pose in front of their portraits at their unveiling in 2018 Getty Images 2018: Presidential Portrait Unveiling Barack gazes at the portrait of Michelle after its unveiling in 2018 Getty Images

On losing her Dad to multiple sclerosis:

I remember watching him decline. Im sure there is something in my personalitywhat happens to a kid when their parent is in a weakened state.

How does that affect you even when your father is strong and loving and capable as a provider and goes to work every day?

I say all that to say while his death was sudden it was always looming for us because he was the kind of man who wouldnt get help. He was proud and didnt believe in doctors. I had to watch him get increasingly worse.

On being proud of her daughters:

Sasha and Malia Obama () / Getty

Imagine being your age and having your father criticised in public.

Imagine having your first boyfriend plastered all over the tabloids or going to prom with men with guns.

At the very age where they needed to just blend in they couldnt because he forced them into a light that made them stand out.

I had to be mum to them first and foremostmake sure they had the attention of their mother while their mother was giving the attention to the world.

On sisterhood:

I want you all to start practicing that kind of sisterhood. We dont have the luxury of tearing each other down. Our job as women is to do our best at lifting each other up.M ichelle Obama has said the Queen branded royal protocol "rubbish" when they met during a visit to Windsor Castle.

The former First Lady said she was panicking about following the rules of behaviour ahead of being greeted by the monarch.

The Queen collected her and Barack Obama from their helicopter during their last visit of his presidency.

Recalling the moment, Mrs Obama said she had been briefed on protocol which was then buzzing round my head.

Barack Obama and Michelle are accompanied by The Queen and Prince Philip as they visit an exhibition at the Portrait Gallery in Buckingham Palace / AFP/Getty Images

Speaking during a Q&A session with author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie on Monday, she said: "This is just how it feels to be at these high levels where people are talking protocol to protocol, that is how these big foreign exchanges are.

"People are talking to other people and then you're briefed and you're told 'this is going to happen and don't stand there and don't touch there and this is precisely what is going on'.

"This was on our last visit and we went to Windsor Castle and we took Marine One, the helicopter, and we landed in a field and we were going to be driven by the Queen and picked up in the car.

"Our Secret Service doesn't even let me ride around with Malia so up until that point we had never driven in a car driven by anyone else, so it was like 'this is what's going to happen, you're going to get out and sit here and this is what is going to happen'.

Michelle Obama at London's Southbank 1 /13 Michelle Obama at London's Southbank Michelle Obama in conversation with writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie at the Royal Festival Hall in Londo PA Former US first lady Michelle Obama spoke with Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie AFP/Getty Images Earlier the former FLOTUS met with children at a school in Islington AFP/Getty Images Mrs Obama spoke to the crowd in London who gave her a rapturous reception Getty Images Mrs Obama gave the talk as she visited the UK to publicise her memoir Becoming PA Michelle Obama greets the crowd at the Royal Festival Hall PA The talk covered Michelle's "childhood on the South Side of Chicago" all the way to her rise as the wife of the president of the US PA Novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie moderated the talk Getty Images Mrs Obama's autobiographical memoir sold 2 million copies within just a few weeks of its publication Getty Images Penguin Random House said the book has become the biggest selling book of 2018 in the US and Canada Getty Images The audience at the Royal Festival Hall heard the stories and emotions behind the book Getty Images Tickets for the event at the Southbank Centre rapidly sold out Getty Images Mrs Obama addressed the live audience about her personal journey to becoming First Lady PA

"Of course your head is spinning because first of all I'm trying not to fall, which is a major thing that I think about in public. If you're thinking about my thoughts when I come out on stage it's 'don't' fall'. One of my primary goals for the eight years was to never become a meme.

"So I had all this protocol buzzing in my head and I was like 'don't trip down the stairs and don't touch anybody, whatever you do' and so the Queen says 'just get in, sit wherever' and she's telling you one thing and you're remembering protocol and she says 'Oh it's all rubbish, just get in'.

Mrs Obama also recalled the controversy she caused when she touched the Queens back during a separate visit.

Michelle Obama put her arm across Her Majestys shoulder in a breach of royal protocol / BBC News/PA

She said: "I touched her. After all those protocol lessons, I was human."

Mrs Obama added that her husband had always had a great affection for the Queen, saying: "Barack is so incredibly fond of Her Majesty and I won't go into his fangirling but I think it's because she does remind him of his grandmother Toot, she's smart and funny and honest. He is a huge fan for sure."P iers Morgans complaints that Meghan Markle had ghosted him were branded ridiculous by a guest on Good Morning Britain today.

The presenter accused the former Suits actress of ditching him after a year and a half of friendship in which they had got on really well.

He has previously gushed over the Duchess of Sussex and discussed how he put her in a cab to go to her first date with Prince Harry.

But journalist Radhika Sanghani said his remarks on Tuesday's episode of GMB were absolutely ridiculous, adding that the media coverage towards her has changed.

Piers Morgan made the claim during his early morning TV slot / ITV

Mr Morgan had said his experience of knowing Meghan had "not been great" and that he "never heard from her again" after she met "someone more important."

Responding to Mr Morgans claims of the Duchess having changed, Ms Sanghani said: I just think that's absolutely ridiculous.

She said: "To me it is just this really lovely love story between them.

"When you saw their wedding it was very obvious they were in love."

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are expecting their first child in spring / AFP/Getty Images

Mr Morgan has previously discussed how he had exchanged emails and social media messages with Meghan for approximately 18 months.

He also said in a Instagram post that he had met Meghan for a drink in his local pub before putting her in a cab to go to her first date with Harry.

Mr Morgan said: "Two years ago, I took Meghan Markle to my local pub for a drink (she had dirty martinis, I had Harvey's best bitter) and then I put her in a cab to her first date with Harry.

"That night, none of the locals knew who the hell she was. It appears they know now..."

However, he claimed the pair lost touch when she and Prince Harry met.

The royal couple met in 2016 and were married earlier in 2018.T he Prime Minister has suffered a string of major blows in the commons today after her government was found in contempt of parliament and ordered to publish the full legal advice on Brexit.

It was a triple blow for Theresa May after MPs were also given more powers over a plan B if her deal is not voted through the Commons.

Earlier on in the day, an EU legal advisor said that the UK can stop Brexit without the permission of the European Union.

In dramatic scenes at Westminster, the Government bowed to pressure to publish the final and full legal advice to Cabinet on the deal after MPs voted by 311 to 293 that its failure to do so amounted to contempt.

It is the first time in modern history that any Government has been found in contempt and means the highly sensitive advice provided by Attorney General Geoffrey Cox will be published, in contravention of long-standing practice.

Sir Keir Starmer said the finding of contempt was a badge of shame for the government.

Sir Keir Starmer said the finding of contempt was a "badge of shame for the government" / AFP/Getty Images

He said: By treating parliament with contempt, the Government has proved it has lost its majority and the respect of the house.

MPs also backed a move that would give Commons the power to amend a motion that Mrs May would be required to make within 21 days, setting out the governments next steps, if her Brexit deal fails.

It could allow for the Commons to support a Norway-style soft Brexit or even a second EU referendum.

However Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he respects the result of the 2016 referendum.

Jeremy Corbyn criticised the prime minister's deal / AFP/Getty Images

The drama in the Chamber came after the European Court of Justices senior lawyer said Article 50, which started the Brexit process, could be revoked unilaterally by the UK.

The prime minister kicked off five days of debate ahead of the December 11 meaningful vote with a speech lasting more than an hour in which she told MPs she had delivered the very best deal for the British people and backed it with my whole heart.

Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney earlier waned that a no-deal Brexit could result in shopping bills soaring by 10 percent.

The contempt vote came shortly before Mrs May kicked off a five-day debate ahead of the December 11 "meaningful vote" with a speech lasting more than an hour in which she told MPs she had delivered "the very best deal for the British people" and backed it "with my whole heart".

Before the Prime Minister appeared at the despatch box, her Government had gone down to defeat for the third time in an hour.

MPs backed a move that could put Parliament in the driving seat if the Brexit deal is rejected on December 11 by giving the Commons the power to amend a motion that Mrs May would be required to make within the following 21 days to set out the Government's next steps.

Some 26 Tory MPs - including former ministers Sir Michael Fallon, Damian Green and Sir Oliver Letwin - rebelled on the amendment tabled by ex-attorney general Dominic Grieve.

This could open the door for the Commons to throw its weight behind a Norway-style soft Brexit or even a second EU referendum, though prominent Leave-backing MPs questioned whether any such vote would be binding on ministers.

Labour's shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said the finding of contempt was "a badge of shame" for the Government, with "huge constitutional and political significance".

"By treating Parliament with contempt, the Government has proved it has lost its majority and the respect of the House," Sir Keir said.

"The Prime Minister can't keep pushing Parliament away or avoiding responsible scrutiny."

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable repeated calls for a second EU referendum, saying: "Theresa May's majority has evaporated and the credibility of her deal is evaporating with it."

Asked if Mrs May still felt she could command a majority in the Commons for the crunch vote next Tuesday, a Downing Street source said: "Everybody knows the parliamentary arithmetic.

"The fact is, during the course of this administration we have won the overwhelming majority of votes that have taken place on the floor of the House of Commons."

Opening debate on the deal she struck in Brussels last month, Mrs May warned: "Don't imagine that if we vote this down another deal is going to miraculously appear.

"The alternative is uncertainty and risk - the risk Brexit could be stopped, the risk we could crash out with no deal."

She said it would not be in the "national interest" to block the Withdrawal Agreement, adding: "The only certainty would be uncertainty."

MPs' decisions over the next week would "set the course our country takes for decades to come", she said.

Mrs May told them: "I promise you today this is the very best deal for the British people, I ask you to back it in the best interests of our constituents and our country.

"And with my whole heart I commend this motion to the House."

In a speech repeatedly interrupted by MPs attacking her deal, the Prime Minister pledged to give Parliament and the devolved administrations a "greater and more formal role" in forthcoming negotiations with the EU over trade - but declined to say whether MPs would get a vote on that deal.A Chinese spacecraft is set for a world first in the New Year by landing on the dark side of the Moon.

Change-4, which launches on December 8, is hoping to investigate the far side of the Moons surface and conduct the first investigations into whether plants will grow there.

The mission, comprising of a lander and a rover, will leave Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in Sichuan province and enter the Moons orbit before touching down in a massive crater near the Moons south pole.

It will map the region surrounding the landing site and measure the Moons layers using radar technology.

The Long March-3B rocket carrying the Chang'e-3 lunar probe blasts off from the launch pad at Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan province December 2, 2013 / Reuters/China Daily

The rover is also hoping to measure the mineral composition of the Moon with an infrared spectrometer, which could help geologists understand the processes involved in its early evolution.

If the landing is successful, Change-4 will also conduct the first radio astronomy experiments from the far side of the Moon.

Dr Carolyn van der Bogert, a planetary geologist at Westfalische Wilhelms University in Munster, Germany, said: This mission is definitely a significant and important accomplishment in lunar exploration.

The first photo was taken of the far side of the Moon in 1959 by the USSRs unmanned Luna 3, but no space program has ever landed a rover on it.F rance's Prime Minister has suspended fuel tax hikes that sparked widespread protests nationwide against them and other policies of President Emmanuel Macron .

The French PM Edouard Philippe announced the move on Tuesday, following crisis talks at the Elysee Palace.

Stating the increase would be suspended for six months, he said: "No tax is worth putting the nation's unity in danger."

As he also announced that electricity and natural gas prices will be frozen until May 2019, he said: "This violence must end."

Bodycam video of police clashing with protesters in Paris

A government source said the postponement of the fuel tax increase will cost 2 billion euros, around 1.7 billion, according to Reuters.

This comes as Mr Macron and Mr Philippe's approval ratings hit new lows as the so-called "yellow vest" protests gathered pace.

Protests in Paris on December 1 turned particularly violent, with the Arc de Triomphe defaced and avenues off Paris's Champs Elysees vandalised.

France's President Emmanuel Macron, center, France's Interior Minister Christophe Castaner, center right, Secretary of State to the Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, left, and Paris police Prefect Michel Delpuech, right / AP

More than 100 people were injured in the French capital and 412 have been arrested over the weekend, in what was France's worst urban riot in years.

Dozens of cars were torched during the mass acts of vandalism which came with the uproar.

Police responded with tear gas and water cannons, while they shut down dozens of streets and subway stations to contain the frenzied scenes.

Fires burn as protesters clash with riot police during a 'Yellow Vest' demonstration near the Arc de Triomphe / Getty Images

The first "yellow vest" demonstrations were held on November 17, originally to contest fuel-tax rises, and have since evolved into a broader protest movement, in part against the policies of President Macron.

The tax, which Mr Macron stated was to combat climate change, would have increased petrol prices by four euro cents per litre from January next year.

Petrol currently costs about 1.42 euro, around 1.20, a litre in Paris, slightly more than diesel.

The demonstrations held over the last weekend marked the third in a row where there were protests, both in Paris and elsewhere in France.

Paris 'yellow vest' tax protests 1 /32 Paris 'yellow vest' tax protests A car burns during a protest of Yellow vests (Gilets jaunes) against rising oil prices and living costs on the Champs Elysees AFP/Getty Images Demonstrators wearing a yellow vest face anti-riot police as demonstrators blocking a road near the oil depot of La Rochelle AFP/Getty Images French member of the National Assembly Jean Lassalle, wearing a yellow vest, addresses media as ambulance drivers block traffic during a protest demonstration at the Place de la Concorde in Paris Reuters A demonstrator wearing a yellow vest (gilet jaune) stands behind barricades blocking a road near the oil depot of La Rochelle AFP/Getty Images Demonstrators wearing a yellow vest (gilet jaune) face anti-riot police as demonstrators blocking a road near the oil depot of La Rochelle, southwestern France AFP/Getty Images Demonstrators wearing a yellow vest face anti-riot police as demonstrators blocking a road near the oil depot of La Rochelle AFP/Getty Images Firefighters work to put out cars set on fire on a road nearby Arc de Triomphe Getty Images Demonstrators destroy cars during a protest of "Yellow vests" AFP/Getty Images The third 'Yellow Vest' (gilets jaunes) rally in Paris over increased fuel taxes and leadership in the government today caused over 150 arrests in the city with reports of injuries to protesters and security forces Getty Images A vandalized car is seen on a street the morning after clashes with protesters in Paris REUTERS Protesters burnt cars in the streets in the worst rioting in Paris in years REUTERS A barrage made of debris blocks a street the morning after clashes with protesters REUTERS Hundreds of people were arrested and injured REUTERS A policeman patrols outside a vandalized building the morning after clashes REUTERS charred cars in a street of Paris on December 2, 2018, a day after clashes during a protest of Yellow vests (Gilets jaunes) against rising oil prices and living costs AFP/Getty Images A passer-by takes a photo of the damage caused in the rioting REUTERS A vandalized car is seen the morning after clashes with protesters wearing yellow vests, a symbol of a French drivers' protest against higher diesel fuel taxes, in Paris, France, December 2, 2018 REUTERS A yellow vest hangs inside a vandalized store front REUTERS Demonstrators destroy a car during a protest of Yellow vests (Gilets jaunes) against rising oil prices and living costs on the Champs Elysees, in Paris, on December 1, 2018 AFP/Getty Images Demonstrators walk by a burning barricade near the Arc de Triomphe AP Demonstrators gather during a protest of Yellow vests (Gilets jaunes) against rising oil prices and living costs on the Champs Elysees, in Paris, on December 1, 2018 AFP/Getty Images French riot police stand guard during clashes with protesters wearing yellow vests, a symbol of a French drivers' protest against higher diesel taxes REUTERS A protester wearing a yellow vest, a symbol of a French drivers' protest against higher diesel taxes, holds a French flag during clashes at the Place de l'Etoile in Paris REUTERS Protesters wearing yellow vests (gilets jaunes) clash with riot police in a cloud of teargas during a demonstration over high fuel prices on the Champs Elysee in Paris EPA Demonstrators raise their arms as they surround the tomb of The Unknown Soldier at The Arc of Triomphe AFP/Getty Images French riot Police clear out the Place de l'Etoile with water canons and tear gas around the Arc de Triompe EPA Riot police officers chase demonstrators near the Arc de Triomphe AP Protesters wearing yellow vests (gilets jaunes) chase a french riot police officer EPA Protesters wearing yellow vests, a symbol of a French drivers' protest against higher diesel taxes, face off with French riot police d REUTERS A protester holds a French flag during the clash REUTERS Demonstrators stand behind a barricade as they face policemen during a protest of Yellow vests (Gilets jaunes) against rising oil prices and living costs AFP/Getty Images Masked demonstrators use street barriers as shields as they clash with riot police officers near the Arc de Triomphe AP

Four people have died from incidents linked to the protests so far.

Despite the expected U-turn, ahead of the official announcement yellow vest protesters said demonstrations would continue in an attempt to push for further tax reductions.

Benjamin Cauchy, a spokesman for the movement, said: "It's a first step, but we will not settle for a crumb."

On Tuesday, continued to block several fuel depots and many insisted their fight was not over.

Mr Macron held an emergency meeting Sunday on security after he arrived back from the Group of 20 summit in Argentina.

The government has not ruled out the possibility of imposing a state of emergency.

French ambulance drivers hold blue, white, red smoke bombs during a demonstration at the Place de la Concorde in Paris / Reuters

On Monday, French paramedics joined the ongoing anti-government protests, as the prime minister met with political rivals in a bid to ease anger following the violent fallout of the weekend.

Ambulances blocked a bridge leading to the National Assembly while lines of riot police officers stood in the rain to prevent them from getting too close to the building.

Paramedics were involved to complain about changes to working conditions.

Paris protests on November 24 - In pictures 1 /12 Paris protests on November 24 - In pictures Yellow vest protestors demonstrate amid tear gas on the Champs Elysees in Paris AFP/Getty Images Protestors clash with riot police amid tear gas during a demonstration of Yellow vests AFP/Getty Images Protestors gathered near the Arc de Triomphe AFP/Getty Images Riot police face Yellow vests protestors demonstrating near the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs Elysees in Paris AFP/Getty Images Yellow vest protestors demonstrate near the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs Elysees in Paris, on November 24, 2018 AFP/Getty Images Tear gas was used to disperse crowds AFP/Getty Images Police with riot shields attended the scene in Paris REUTERS AP EPA AFP/Getty Images AFP/Getty Images A protestor stands in front of a burning vehicle REUTERS

Prominent Socialist Party figure Segolene Royal, a former candidate for president, lauded Mr Philippe's decision on taxes but said it came too late.

She said: "This decision should have been taken from the start, as soon as the conflict emerged. We felt it was going to be very, very hard because we saw the rage, the exasperation, especially from retirees. They should have withdrawn (the tax hikes) right away. The more you let a conflict fester, the more you eventually have to concede."

Laurent Wauquiez, head of centre-right Les Republicains party, previously urged Macron to hold a referendum to end the crisis.

However, he did not say what its topic should be.

"French people need to be heard again, and for that we must organise a referendum to decide these issues. Only these measures will restore calm," Mr Wauquiez said.

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe is expected to introduce measures to reduce the tensions / REUTERS

Socialist leader Olivier Faure had also urged the PM to drop the tax hikes and to restore a wealth tax, which was slashed by the centrist government.

"We want a change in the method. One needs to come down from Mount Olympus," Mr Faure said, referring to Macron's Greek god nickname of Jupiter.

Ambulance staff joined with protests on Monday / AFP/Getty Images

President Macron and Prime Minister Philippe's approval ratings hit new lows amid the actions taken.

Mr Macron's approval rating fell to 23 per cent in the poll conducted late last week, which was down six points on the previous month, according to an Ifop-Fiducial poll for Paris Match and Sud Radio published on Tuesday.

While the French PMs rating fell 10 points to 26 per cent, according to the same research.

President Macron heckled as he visits Arc de Triomphe

The score of the President matches the low charted by his predecessor Francois Hollande in late 2013, according to Paris Match.

Mr Hollande was then considered to be the least popular leader in modern French history.

Due to the protests, Mr Macron has postponed a trip to Serbia which had been scheduled to improve relations between the two countries.

Demonstrators walk by a burning barricade near the Arc de Triomphe during a demonstration / AP

"President Macron has asked to postpone for several weeks his visit to Serbia due to the situation in his country," Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told reporters after a phone call with Macron.

Macron's office confirmed the trip would be postponed because of "the incidents that took place in the last protests."

A football game between Paris Saint-Germain and Montpellier which was scheduled for Saturday in Paris has also been postponed, as police said they could not guarantee security amid expected protests in the capital.

The government announcement marks Mr Macrons first significant U-turn on a major policy since taking power last year.

Conservative and Socialist leaders in France have often been forced to withdraw policies because of street protests.D onald Trump and his wife Melania have paid their respects to President George HW Bush as he lay in state at the US Capitol rotunda.

President Trump made a brief visit to the rotunda, where the public can visit the coffin until the former US leaders funeral on Wednesday.

Mr Trump, who has in the past clashed with the Bush family, will attend the funeral service with the First Lady.

Mr Bush, president from 1989 to 1993, who died on Friday aged 94, will be buried at his Texas home alongside his wife, Barbara, who died earlier this year in April.

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump pay their respects / AP

Washington embraced the 41st president with a solemn ceremony and high tributes to his service and decency at the Capitol rotunda on Monday night.

Mr Bushs casket was lowered onto the Lincoln Catafalque, which was first used for Abraham Lincolns funeral in 1865.

Dignitaries came forward to honour the Texan, whose efforts for his country extended three quarters of a century.

Members of the Bush family stand together before the casket of the late former President George HW Bush inside the Rotunda of the US Capitol / AFP/Getty Images

Opening the Capitol ceremony, the US House chaplain, the reverend Patrick J Conroy, praised Mr Bush's commitment to public service.

"Here lies a great man," said House speaker Paul Ryan and "a gentle soul. ... His legacy is grace perfected".

Vice president Mike Pence and Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell also spoke.

Political combatants set aside their fights to honour the Republican who led the country in an arguably less toxic time.

The casket of former President George HW Bush is delivered by joint service members of a military casket team into the Capitol in Washington / AP

House speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, exchanged a warm hug with former president George W Bush.

Ms Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, placed wreaths in the short ceremony before the rotunda was to be opened to the public.

George HW Bush departure ceremony - In pictures 1 /21 George HW Bush departure ceremony - In pictures The flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush AFP/Getty Images Casket carried by a military honor guard before flying to Washington Getty Images Sully, the yellow Labrador retriever service dog of late former president REUTERS Family members gather before the flag-draped casket EPA The hearse carrying the casket with George H.W. Bush EPA The hearse arrives for a departure ceremony Getty Images One of the Presidents Air Force One planes called Special Air Mission 41 EPA The remains of President George H.W. Bush arrive for a departure ceremony Getty Images Ellington Field departure ceremony REUTERS A joint services military honor guard REUTERS Ellington Field in Houston EPA The remains of President George H.W. Bush are loaded onto Special Air Mission 41 Getty Images The remains of President George H.W. Bush are loaded onto Special Air Mission 41 Getty Images Former President George W. Bush REUTERS Former U.S. President George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush REUTERS Former US President George W. Bush and Laura Bush board the plane EPA Former President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush wave while boarding the Special Air Mission 41 plane REUTERS Former President George H.W. Bush's service dog Sully REUTERS A military honor guard REUTERS People watch the departure ceremony for former US President George H.W. Bush EPA REUTERS

It was to remain open overnight.

Sent off from Texas with a 21-gun salute, Mr Bush's casket was carried to Joint Base Andrews outside the capital city aboard an aircraft that often serves as Air Force One and designated "Special Air Mission 41" in honour of Mr Bush's place on the chronological list of presidents.

Mr Bush was remembered just feet away from what he called "Democracy's front porch", the west-facing steps of the Capitol where he was sworn in as president.F ormer president George W Bush was overcome with emotion during a tribute to his late father at the Capitol in Washington.

Moving footage showed the 72-year-old former president fighting back tears as his father George HW Bushs coffin was carried into the Capitol for three days of mourning.

Mr Bush, president from 1989 to 1993, died on Friday, aged 94, and will be buried at his Texas home alongside his wife, Barbara, who died earlier this year in April.

During a memorial ceremony at the Capitol, Mr Bush was visibly emotional as a tribute was read aloud for his father by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Mr Bush looks up at Vice President Mike Pence / AFP/Getty Images

Prior to the reading, Mr Bush was filmed outside of the rotunda with his hand on his heart as the coffin was carried in.

Mr Bush could be seen glancing at the coffin, before retaining composure.

Mr Bush died in Houston, Texas / EPA

As Mr McConnell read out a moving passage, Mr Bush looked teary-eyed as he nodded along with the leader calling his father "modest and kind".

The 41st presidents casket was lowered onto the Lincoln Catafalque, which was first used for Abraham Lincolns funeral, in 1865.

Dignitaries came forward to honour the Texan, whose efforts for his country extended three quarters of a century.

George HW Bush departure ceremony - In pictures 1 /21 George HW Bush departure ceremony - In pictures The flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush AFP/Getty Images Casket carried by a military honor guard before flying to Washington Getty Images Sully, the yellow Labrador retriever service dog of late former president REUTERS Family members gather before the flag-draped casket EPA The hearse carrying the casket with George H.W. Bush EPA The hearse arrives for a departure ceremony Getty Images One of the Presidents Air Force One planes called Special Air Mission 41 EPA The remains of President George H.W. Bush arrive for a departure ceremony Getty Images Ellington Field departure ceremony REUTERS A joint services military honor guard REUTERS Ellington Field in Houston EPA The remains of President George H.W. Bush are loaded onto Special Air Mission 41 Getty Images The remains of President George H.W. Bush are loaded onto Special Air Mission 41 Getty Images Former President George W. Bush REUTERS Former U.S. President George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush REUTERS Former US President George W. Bush and Laura Bush board the plane EPA Former President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush wave while boarding the Special Air Mission 41 plane REUTERS Former President George H.W. Bush's service dog Sully REUTERS A military honor guard REUTERS People watch the departure ceremony for former US President George H.W. Bush EPA REUTERS

Opening the Capitol ceremony, the US House chaplain, the reverend Patrick J Conroy, praised Mr Bush's commitment to public service.

"Here lies a great man," said House speaker Paul Ryan and "a gentle soul. ... His legacy is grace perfected".

Former President George W. Bush, former first lady Laura Bush walk past the flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush / AFP/Getty Images

Vice president Mike Pence and Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell also spoke.I ncredible footage has shown Elon Musks SpaceX launching 64 satellites into orbit in a record-breaking mission.

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from California on Monday carrying 64 small satellites into low orbit around the earth in an amazing feat.

The company hailed the mission as the largest ever rideshare by a US-based rocket.

The mission, dubbed SSO-A, also marked the third voyage to space for the same Falcon 9 rocket - another milestone for SpaceX's cost-cutting reusable rocket technology.

Remarkable pictures and videos have shown the Falcon blasting off from the Vandenberg Air Force Base at about 10.35 local time, carrying satellites from 34 different companies, government agencies and universities.

The rocket took off from California / EPA

SpaceX said the mission was "one of the most complex and intricate endeavours" for Seattle-based startup Spaceflight, the ride-share company that arranged passage for each satellite maker.

The mission comes just days after India fired a rocket carrying 31 satellites into space.

After the launch, the Falcon 9's first-stage booster returned to earth as planned, landing on a ship off the coast of southern California, according to a live video of the flight.

SpaceX launches 64 satellites into orbit: In Pictures 1 /9 SpaceX launches 64 satellites into orbit: In Pictures A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches carrying a Qatari communications satellite REUTERS SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from California on Monday AP The SpaceX rocket carrying 64 small satellites, marks the first time the same Falcon 9 rocket has been used in three space missions AP The mission comes just days after India fired a rocket carrying 31 satellites into space. AP The Falcon 9 rocket lifting off EPA The company hailed the mission as the largest ever rideshare by a US based rocket. EPA The rocket launched from California EPA The rocket launch was a record-breaking mission EPA The rocket launched at about 10.35am local time EPA

However, the Falcon 9's payload fairing - an enclosure that protected the satellites during launch - missed a landing net on the barge and ended up in the ocean.

Mr Musk, SpaceXs chief executive officer, tweeted following the mission.

The rocket launched at about 10.35am, local time / EPA

He said: Falcon fairing halves missed the net, but touched down softly in the water.T he US has delivered Russia a 60-day ultimatum to come clean about what officials say is a violation of an arms control treaty that keeps missiles out of Europe.

NATO allies led by Germany pressed US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at a meeting in Brussels to give diplomacy a final push before Washington pulls out of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, fearing a new arms race in Europe.

"Russia has a last chance to show in a verifiable way that they comply with the treaty, but we also have to start to prepare for the fact that this treaty may break down," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.

NATO foreign ministers agreed to formally declare Russia in "material breach" of the INF treaty in a statement in support of the United States, after Mr Pompeo briefed them at the alliance headquarters in Brussels on Russian violations.

Russia denies undertaking any such development of land-based, intermediate-range Cruise missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads and hitting European cities at short notice.

Mike Pompeo chats with Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu / AFP/Getty Images

Germany, the Netherlands and Belgian are concerned about the deployment of US missiles in Europe - as happened in the 1980s, touching off large anti-American demonstrations - while being caught up in nuclear competition between Moscow and Washington.

A US exit from the INF treaty would put another strain on NATO allies already shaken by Mr Trump's demands for higher defence spending and what diplomats say is a lack of clarity about where US strategy is heading on the issue.

While Mr Stoltenberg said there would now be an intense diplomatic push to try to convince Russia to give up what Mr Pompeo said were "multiple battalions of the SSC-8 missiles", Washington is set to start to pull out in February, prompting a six-month withdrawal period under the accord, diplomats said.

"Its range makes it a direct menace to Europe," Mr Pompeo said of the missiles, which also are called Novator 9M729. He added that Russia's actions "greatly undermine America's national security and that of our allies".

Russia's actions "greatly undermine America's national security," Mr Pompeo said / REUTERS

Difficult to detect and fired from mobile launchers, the Russian missiles are especially dangerous because they reduce the warning time that NATO air defences might have to shoot them down, military experts say.

Mr Pompeo said the US government had raised the issue at least 30 times since 2013 with Moscow but had faced what he said were denials and counter-actions.

He also said that the United States had evidence that the test launches were from a single site in Russia, the Soviet-era base Kupustin Yar, near Volgograd, southeast of Moscow.

"In the light of these facts, the United States declares Russia in material breach of the treaty and will suspend our obligations ... effective in 60 days unless Russia returns to full and verifiable compliance," Mr Pompeo said.Countries & Areas

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Chairmen of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) Liviu Dragnea and Calin Popescu-Tariceanu on Tuesday had a meeting in the office of the Speaker of the Deputies' Chamber.

Also, a meeting of the coalition was set out for next week, that will focus on Prime Minister Viorica Dancila's discourse in Parliament. In this context, the Joint Standing Bureaus would convene next Monday. According to the abovementioned sources, the Prime Minister will present the priorities of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, with the legislative forum to adopt a statement of support.

On November 22, President Klaus Iohannis announced that he will analyze the PSD's reshuffle proposal after the National Day of Romania (on December 1, editor's note). The head of the state is yet to make a decision with respect to the proposals for the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration and the Transport Ministry.

AGERPRES .The Supreme Council for National Defence (CSAT) will meet on December 11 at the Cotroceni Palace under the leadership of President Klaus Iohannis, among the topics to be included on the agenda being the Romanian Army's endowment plan for 2019-2028, according to a press release of the Presidential Administration.

The CSAT is also to discuss its own activity programme for the next year, the plan of use of the Romanian Armed Forces that are sent in missions and operations outside the Romanian territory, in 2019, as well as the National Plan of Information Priorities for 2019.

"At the CSAT meeting, also analyze will be topical issues in the national security field," reads the release.

National Defence Minister Gabriel Les stated on Tuesday, after being heard by the Senate Defence Committee, that it is very possible for a briefing regarding the conflict between Russia and Ukraine to be discussed at a CSAT meeting.

"I presented the situation in Ukraine, this was the topic I was invited here for, I was accompanied by the General who is in charge with analyses on such topics. In my opinion, I am urging the media and the people to stay calm, as I do not want to escalate such a subject that is sensible nonetheless. I strongly believe that diplomacy and political dialogue have not yet had their last word and this is the most important one. On the other hand, Romania and the Ministry of National Defence are monitoring this situation very carefully and, of course, being part of the structures of the European Union and NATO, the decisions are taken at this level," Les said.

Asked if there is a question of calling a CSAT meeting on the subject, the minister said: "I know that a CSAT meeting is scheduled for 11 [December], but I do not know about another meeting. It is very possible that at this CSAT meeting a briefing on this topic shall be provided."

AGERPRES .Romania's Defence Minister Gabriel Les testified on Tuesday before the Senate Defence Committee in relation with the issue between Ukraine and Russia, saying that he believes "diplomacy and political dialogue have not yet had their last word" in this conflict and emphasising that Romania is monitoring the situation very closely.

According to Minister Les, on December 11, when a meeting of the Supreme Council for National Defence (CSAT) is scheduled, information on this issue is very likely to exist.

"I briefed them on the situation in Ukraine, which was the subject for which I was invited here; I was accompanied by the general that provides analyses on such topics. From my point of view, I am urging the media and the people to stay calm, as I do not want to escalate such a subject that is sensible nonetheless. I strongly believe that diplomacy and political dialogue have not yet had their last word and this is the most important one. On the other hand, Romania and the Ministry of National Defense are monitoring this situation very carefully and, of course, being part of the bodies of the European Union and NATO, the decisions are taken at this level," Les said upon leaving the Senate Defence Committee.

Asked if there is a question of calling a CSAT meeting on the subject, the minister said: "I know that there is a CSAT meeting on December 11, but I do not know about another convention. It is very possible that information on this subject will have to be provided to the CSAT."

As for the intensification of the actions of the Russian Federation in the Black Sea, Les said that "Romania has so far done its duty very well inside the NATO bodies."

"We believe that Romania has done, so far, its duty quite well inside the NATO bodies, raising the Black Sea to the level it needs, given that we are talking about the eastern flank of the North Atlantic Alliance. Once again, we know about and monitor jointly with NATO everything that happens there," said Les.The Embassy of Romania in Chisinau organized and was represented at a series of cultural and political-diplomatic events to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Greater Union, a diplomatic mission statement informs.

On the occasion of Romania's National Day, on December 1, Romanian Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova Daniel Ionuta participated in the te-deum performed at the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral St. John The Theologian. Later on, the diplomat attended the "Singing and Romanian dancing bridge" show, organized by the Chisinau Municipality, at The National Opera and Ballet Theatre "Maria Biesu".

According to the quoted source, the traditional reception dedicated to the National Day of Romania, held on November 30, in Chisinau, was attended by more than 1,300 people, including high-ranking officials of the Republic of Moldova, accredited diplomatic corps, renowned personalities in culture and education, representatives of the associative and academic environment, business people, personalities, journalists.

In his speech, Ambassador Daniel Ionita referred to the significance of the Union Act of 1918, to the values and principles underpinning today's Romania, and made a short account of the extensive relations of cooperation between Romania and the Republic of Moldova in support of the European path. At the same time, he mentioned the taking over by Romania of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union as of January 1, 2019.

The foyer of the reception hall hosted the exhibition mounted by the AGERPRES National News Agency called ''Romania: Evolution'' in honor of the Greater Union Centennial.

Romania's Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova Daniel Ionita participated in the reception organized on November 29 by the General Consulate of Romania in Cahul, where in his speech, he referred to history's lessons and underlined the special relations between Romania and the Republic of Moldova.

The Romanian Cultural Institute "Mihai Eminescu" in Chisinau, Romania's Embassy in the Republic of Moldova, the Lowendal Foundation, Bucharest District 1 Mayoralty, through its Cultural Center and the Manasia Estate, in collaboration with the National Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Moldova and the Moldovan Ministry of Education, Culture and Research, opened on November 29, the "George Lowendal Baron - 100 years on the art scene" exhibition with the Moldovan National Museum of Fine Arts.

On November 28, Romania's Embassy in the Republic of Moldova and the "Mihai Eminescu" Romanian Cultural Institute in Chisinau organized in the Organ Hall a classical music concert, on the occasion of Romania's National Day, performed by thethe National Room of the Organ Hall, led by Cristian Florea, with the extraordinary participation of the double bass player Petru Iuga and the National Choir, led by Ilona Stepan.

Moreover, in the context of the events occasioned by the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Greater Union, the authorities of the Republic of Moldova have decided to illuminate, on December 1, in the colors of Romania's National Flag, landmark buildings in Chisinau: Parliament Building and that of the Government of the Republic of Moldova, the National Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Moldova, "Mihai Eminescu" National Theater, the National Museum of History, the National Library, the Academy of Music, Theater and Fine Arts. The seat of the Romanian Embassy was also illuminated in the colors of the National Flag, the press release further mentions.More than 100 people took part on Monday evening in the reinauguration ceremony of the oldest Mosaic worship center in Romania, the Great Synagogue in Iasi, a historical monument built in the 17th century.

The event was preceded by the unveiling of a memorial plaque that was placed at the entrance to the Synagogue. At the reinauguration festivities of the Great Synagogue in Iasi were also present representatives of local authorities, cultural and academic institutions, representatives of the Jewish community, Teofan, the Metropolitan Bishop of Moldavia and Bucovina, and Petru Gherghel, the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Iasi.

On this occasion, President of the Jewish Community of Iasi, Abraham Ghiltman, told AGERPRES that evening the Jews community in the municipality celebrated three holidays.

"Firstly, the Centennial, to which the Jewish community in Iasi and Jewish communities in the country contributed. Also today we are celebrating Hanukkah, which means reinauguration or the celebration of lights. At the same time, we reinaugurate the Great Synagogue in Iasi. It is in fact the Great Synagogue from Targu Cucului. I say this because there were three large synagogues in Iasi, one in each neighborhood - Podu Ros, Targu Cucului and Pacurari. This event is special because it is the first synagogue built in Iasi and the first synagogue on the territory of Romania," said Abraham Ghiltman.

"The synagogue is the oldest in Romania, since around 1670. The next synagogue in Romania was built after 1800, so a difference of 150 years. In 1670, when the word ?tolerance' was not yet common, the town of Iasi was the first to allow the Jewish community to build a stone synagogue. Until then all the synagogues were made of wood. Now Iasi enjoys the fruits of the tolerance of its ancestors," First Rabbi Rafael Shaffer told journalists.

"It has been over 70 years since the Jewish population was unjustly punished for things they had never done. Today we have managed to reopen a beautiful page in the history of this community by reconsecrating and reinaugurating the oldest and most beautiful synagogue in the country. (...) Iasi can be the home of all ethnicities, of all those who believe in friendship, peace, understanding, tolerance and, why not, a tourist attraction that we hope to attract as many visitors as possible, especially from abroad," said the Mayor of Iasi Mihai Chirica.

"The synagogue is extraordinary, it is impressive especially in the manner in which it was thought. This simplicity of white, with the superb altar, the extraordinary chandeliers give you a feeling and an atmosphere rarely found in Romania," said Romania's Consul General in New York, Catalin Dancu.

The Great Synagogue in Iasi was built between 1657 and 1671, being the oldest building of Mosaic religion on the territory of Romania. The place of worship was included in the list of historical monuments in Iasi County. According to historians, on the current place of the edifice there was a synagogue built in 1582, which allegedly was completely destroyed when the existing one was built. The Great Synagogue has stone and brick walls with a thickness of one meter and its height is 22 meters.

The synagogue has influences of the similar Mosaic worship buildings in Bohemia, Poland and Russia.The German Embassy in Bucharest says in a Facebook post that it has asked the dpa News Agency and the ZDF TV channel to correct parts in their story on Romania's Greater Union Centennial, underlining that the public accounts contradicting the fact that the modern Romanian state came into being through the unification of several regions, including Transylvania, do not match the point of view of the German federal government.

"The modern Romanian state was born 100 years ago thorough the unification of several regions, including Transylvania. We celebrated together the anniversary of this modern Romanian state on December 1. The Transylvanian Saxons also stated themselves, on their own motion, in favour of the new state at the Saxon Assembly of January 1919, in Medias. Public accounts that contradict this understanding or that may lead to erroneous interpretations do not match the point of view of the federal government. Consequently, we have requested the dpa German News Agency and the ZDF public television broadcaster a correction of those parts in their 'Rumanien feiert 100 Jahre Anschluss Siebenburgens' published on December 1, 2018," reads the clarifications posted in Romanian on the Facebook page of the German Embassy in Bucharest.

Romania's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that it made a request through the Romanian Embassy in Berlin to the two editorial offices to provide the necessary clarifications and to request the correction as presenting, adding that the news story carried by the dpa News Agency and broadcast by the ZDF German public television station on the anniversary of Romania's Greater Union Centennial does not reflect historical truth, and it contains serious errors and a biased approach.

AGERPRES .Romania, which will take over the Presidency of the Council of the EU on January 1, 2019, will support the idea of developing a joint European plan to fight against cancer, because all European patients have the right to equal treatment, Romania's Health Minister Sorina Pintea told the European Cancer Forum on "Changing the Future of Cancer on Europe" in Brussels, on Tuesday.

According to a press statement released by the Health Ministry, at least two of Romania's goals in that period are related to this issue - patients' access to medicines and patient mobility.

Pintea added that the national targets for the fight against cancer coincide with those of all European countries, and they reference primary and secondary prevention, screening, and equal access to treatment for patients.

"Romania has been conducting a cervical cancer detection programme since 2012; it has been implementing a national programme for the treatment of oncological patients since 2002. In 2018, the screening infrastructure has been consolidated by the acquisition on European funds of eight mobile units for early detection of cervical cancer. We started implementing seven screening programmes on European funds and partly completed the purchase of equipment and devices needed to equip the centres making up the national radiotherapy network. Also in 2018, we have introduced 14 new molecules for the treatment of oncological patients, and now Romania provides 126 molecules for treating cancer patients for free," Pintea told the opening of the event.

AGERPRES .Israeli Ambassador to Romania, Tamar Samash, believes that it is important for the young generation and not only to learn about the role played by the Jews in the life of the Romanian state and said that the school curriculum should include information related to the contribution of this community's representatives to the edification of our country.

"The Jewish community that lived here had an important role in the Romanian life and felt as an integral part of Romania and the Romanian people. And they also participated in the First World War. They fought and they died. They signed in as volunteers, for they didn't have Romanian citizenship, but they did feel part of this country. After the war, representatives of the Jewish community in Romania intensely and with much love participated in the cultural, academic and economic life of Romania. This is not known. There were important personalities who gave a lot for their country," Tamar Samash told AGERPRRES on Tuesday.

The Israeli diplomat deplored the fact that "during the World War II a part of these Jews were assassinated, and during the communist period the largest part of the Jewish community left Romania."

Tamar Samash participated in the press conference and round table dedicated to the "70 for the Centennial" project, an initiative that pays homage to the Jewish personalities who contributed to the Greater Union and the construction of modern Romania.

About the contribution of the Jewish people of our country in the building of the Romanian society and the danger of a revival of antisemitism also lectured university professor Felicia Waldman, philosopher and physician Horia-Roman Patapievici, Herman Tzvika Berkovits, honorary consul of Romania in Israel, journalist Bogdan Chirieac, head of the Bucharest Municipality Museum Adrian Majuru, professor Mircea Penescu and Doina Meiseles from the media group in Romanian language "Jurnalul saptamanii" and "Revista Mea", Iancu Zuckerman, Irina Cajal, Under-secretary of state with the Ministry of Culture and National Identity (MCIN).

The anniversary project "70 for the Centennial" aims at evoking the life, thinking and exceptional deeds of 70 Romanian Jews who left their mark on the history. Names such as Jacques M.Elias, Nicolae Cajal, Felix Aderca, Ion Trivale are remembered through this project. The initiative is also aimed at showing the contribution of these personalities in the building of Romania, in the first century after the Union. Moreover, the project marks the 70th anniversary of the bilateral relations between Romania and Israel.

"70 for the Centennial" was organised by the Association Thea O. Haimovitz in partnership with the Ministry of Culture and National Identity, EXPO ARTE - the Bucharest Municipality City Hall, the Ministry of National Defence, the Embassy of the State of Israel to Romania, the media group in Romanian language "Jurnalul Saptamanii" - Israel, the Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR) Tel Aviv, the TVR (Romania's National Television Channel), the broadcast Romania -Israel-TVR Cluj, the Thea Laboratories, the Bucharest Municipality Museum, the "Grigore Antipa" Natural History Museum with the support of Channel 33 Romania.

AGERPRES .The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) considers that the press article published by the German Press Agency (DPA) and taken over by the German public television station ZDF on the anniversary of the Greater Union Centennial does not reflect the historical truth, contains serious errors and a tendentious approach, specifying that it took action, through the Embassy of Romania in Berlin, with the two editorial offices so that they provide the necessary clarifications and requesting the rectification of the material that was presented.

In a press release sent to AGERPRES on Tuesday, the MAE press release shows that the elements presented in the press article indicate a lack of knowledge with regard to history and points out that the representatives of all parties, religious beliefs and social states attended the National Assembly in Alba Iulia, and the adopted resolution was firstly signed by the representatives of the German minority in Transylvania and Bucovina.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has taken note with consternation of the press article published by the German Press Agency (Deutsche Presse Agentur) and taken over by the German television broadcaster ZDF (Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen) on the anniversary of the Greater Union Centennial, which does not reflect the historical truth, namely the manifestation of the will of Transylvania to unite with Romania. In addition to the tendentious approach that emerges from the title of the article, the elements presented indicate a lack of knowledge of history and a deliberate disregard for the historical realities. On December 1, 1918, 100,000 people decided the Union with Romania, with the participation of all parties, all religious beliefs, the Document adopted in Alba Iulia, namely the Resolution of the National Assembly in Alba Iulia, was firstly signed by the representatives of the German minority in Transylvania and Bucovina," MAE specifies in the press release.

The Foreign Ministry shows that the serious mistakes contained in the mentioned press piece of news violate the historical truth and underlines that, through the Romanian Embassy in Berlin, demarches are being carried out with the two editorial offices so that they provide clarifications and rectify what was originally presented.

"The serious mistakes contained by the abovementioned piece of news, out of ignorance or bad intent, violate the historical truth and the provisions of the Peace Treaties of Versailles (1919) and Trianon (1920), and any attempt to truncate or denigrate the significance of this moment is an act that contravenes to the fundamental principles of the mass media mission to correctly and objectively inform the public. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through the Embassy of Romania in Berlin, has taken steps with the German Press Agency (DPA - Deutsche Presse Agentur) newsroom and that of the German television broadcaster ZDF (Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen) with a view to providing the necessary clarifications and requesting the rectification of the information presented," the MAE press release further mentions.Heads of NATO civilian and military, intelligence and security organisations met at NATO Headquarters in Brussels on November 29, 2018 for talks on countering disinformation, cyber-attacks and traditional means of espionage, according to a press statement released by the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI).

The conference was opened by Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, together with the Romanian chair of NATO's Civilian Intelligence Committee and the Canadian chair of the Military Intelligence Committee.

According to SRI, the NATO intelligence officials endorsed a framework for the establishment of a NATO Intelligence Academy, and they discussed together with partner services and the European Union emerging technologies that have an impact on intelligence and also about NATO - EU co-operation.

AGERPRES .Prime Minister Viorica Dancila on Monday participated in Zagreb in the opening of the Summit of the heads of gov't with the member states of the Central European Initiative (CEI), an opportunity to announce that Romania is forthright with its preparations for taking over the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, a Government press release informs..

The core theme of the CEI Summit was the strengthening of the regional security and the economic development's promotion, in support of the region's connection to the European values and practices. More specifically, the participants approached the topic of interconnecting the CEI member states with the purpose to achieve sustainable regional development and support the European path of the aspiring or candidate countries in the region, as well as the impact of the provocative actions of some third parties upon the security of the area.

The Romanian prime minister congratulated her Croatian counterpart for the latter's success recorded at the helm of the CEI presidency this year and hailed the importance given to certain particular topics, such as the energy efficiency, the European integration and competitiveness.

"Premier Viorica Dancila announced that Romania is forthright with its preparations for the takeover of the first rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2019, context in which the continuation of enlargement with the Western Balkans states is a priority. The Romanian premier added that Romania stays committed with its political support and technical assistance offer for the advancement of the reforms in the region's states, in the process of rapprochement with the Euroatlantic structures," the release says.

In context, Dancila stressed the interest for the optimum use of the collaboration formats and the capitalisation on their unique contribution to the area's stability, the promotion of the good neighbourly relations, interconnectivity and economic cooperation. The Romanian gov't's head also emphasised the relevance of the CEI for the accomplishment of these goals, through the transfer of expertise in key-fields, such as the anti-corruption fight, the good governance, the cut of development gaps, competitiveness and innovation.

The premier expressed her backing for the development of the regional cooperation in this format and concomitantly for the steps of strengthening the CEI efficiency, by focusing on projects with economic and social impact in the region.

Viorica Dancila wished good luck to Italy, that took over the CEI Presidency-in-Exercise from Croatia and assured that Romania is backing and having cooperation availability.Romania's Prime Minister Viorica Dancila has said that she will take the necessary steps to bring Romania into the Eurozone in 2024.

"Romania has committed itself to joining the Eurozone once it fulfills all of the conditions, and recently we have set a clear time horizon for this goal: 2024. In my turn, I pledge to take the necessary steps to lead my country in that direction," Dancila said in Brussels on Tuesday in Brussels, at a debate on the future of the European Union called " Cores and Peripheries in Europe? A Europe NEXT Project," organised by the Aspen Romania Institute at the Permanent Representation of Romania with the EU.

She added that Romania "has never hesitated to openly consider any initiative aimed at deepening European co-operation."

"At the same time, we expect every initiative to openly look at Romania. We have the moral authority to address this issue, all the more so as Romania's efforts to join the Schengen Area have not received a response for nearly 10 years. However, we are successfully providing security to an extended portion of the European Union by actively contributing to the process of strengthening security tools at European level," Dancila said.

Next item on the prime minister's schedule in Brussels is a meeting with Romanian MEPs at the headquarters of the Representation.

On Wednesday, Dancila and members of the Romanian government will attend a joint meeting of the Romanian Government and the European Commission.

AGERPRES .Prime Minister Viorica Dancila, who is on a working visit to Brussels on Tuesday and Wednesday, has meetings scheduled with European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker, with members of the College of Commissioners and Secretary General of the EU Council Jeppe Tranhlom-Mikkelsen, the Government informs through a press release issued to AGERPRES.

Viorica Dancila and Cabinet members are on a working visit to Brussels on Tuesday and Wednesday to attend the joint meeting of the Romanian Government and the European Commission.

The Prime Minister's agenda will also include debates on the priorities and agenda of the Romanian Presidency of the EU Council, the future of the Union and exchanges of views between the members of the Government and those of the College of Commissioners on issues related to the Multiannual Financial Framework, migration, Brexit, Single Market and foreign relations.

On Tuesday, the Romanian prime minister will attend the conference "Cores and Peripheries in Europe? A Europe NEXT Project", organized by the Aspen Institute. There will also be a meeting of the governmental delegation with the Romanian MEPs.

The meeting of the College of Commissioners with the Government of the member state that is to hold the presidency of the Council of the European Union is traditionally organized before the beginning of the mandate. The objective of the meeting is to prepare the next presidency and discuss its priorities.Deputy Inspector General of the Romanian Police Chief Commissioner Ciprian Miron had a meeting on Tuesday with Deputy of the Swedish Police Mats Lofving, as part of an effort to boost collaboration through exchanging data and information for preventing and fighting criminality.

According to a release sent to AGERPRES, the two officials underscored the importance of continuing and developing the operative cooperation, in the spirit of the common values of safety and legality.

Moreover, also discussed were concrete collaboration aspect for fighting organised crime, itinerant and economic criminality, as well as regarding information analysis.

According to the quoted source, the Swedish official voiced appreciation for the professionalism of the Romanian policemen and underscored the importance of exchanging information and good practices in combating any form of criminality.

The Deputy Inspector General of the Romanian Police expressed his confidence in a good international police cooperation between the two states and thanked for the availability of the Swedish authorities in conducting joint activities.

A delegation of the Swedish Police paid a visit to Romania on Monday and Tuesday.

AGERPRES .ND2: Result of transactions of Directors, PDMR (Nguyen Hai Dang)

Nguon tin: HNX |

- Name of issuer: Northern Electricity Development and Investment Joint Stock Company No. 2

- Stock code: ND2

- Securities type: Common stock

- Name of person discharging managerial responsibility /Director: Nguyen Hai Dang

- Position in the listed company: Deputy General Manager

- Number of shares held by the shareholder before transaction: 175,610 shares (0.35%)

- Number of shares registered for sale: 73,300 shares

- Number of shares disposed: 43,300 shares

- Total holding following transaction: 132,310 shares

- Total percentage holding following transaction: 0.26%

- Reason for not completing transaction: Price was not suitable

- Start date of transaction: 13/07/2020

- End date of transaction: 10/08/2020There is a cause for concern and its real and very grave. Ukraine is being pushed to war. Kiev is not bluffing. Encouraged by its American tutors, its involved in dangerous games pursuing political purposes. Its not about sanctions, warnings, statements and declarations  they want to provoke real shooting now. The time is right for ringing alarm bells before its too late.

The US President Donald Trumps refusal to have a separate meeting with President Putin at the G20 summit in Argentina citing the Kerch Strait incident as a reason was not exactly unexpected. Obviously, Washington is interested in aggravating the Russian-Ukrainian relations. The introduction of the state of emergency in the territories bordering Russia, the concentration of Ukrainian troops in the Donbas region, and the call-up of reservists announced by Ukraines president  all these moves testify to the fact that war preparations are in full swing. Neither Washington nor Brussels have called on Kiev to show restraint.

Ukraine has recently announced its decision not to allow Russian men aged 16-60 into the country. This policy of Kiev is in stark contrast with what Moscow does. According to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin, Russian President Vladimir Putin decided not to retaliate. No, quite the opposite  he ordered to simplify the procedures for Ukrainians asking for Russian citizenship. The move is intended to demonstrate good intentions. In late October, the Russian president signed the Concept of the State Migration Policy of the Russian Federation for 2019-2025 to facilitate the inflow of Russian speakers to the country.

US Air Force RQ-4 Global Hawk UAVs and US Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft operate over the Black Sea and eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian officials have confirmed that Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) intelligence officers were on board of the Ukrainian naval vessels detained in the Kerch Strait after crossing Russia's maritime borders. Its an open secret the SBU cooperates with American special agencies. The US was involved in the 2014 maidan events. It has been reported that former Ukrainian SBU head Valentin Nalyvaychenko has a record of working for US special agencies. The CIA has a long history of intervention in Ukraine. According to Oleg Lyashko, the leader of the Radical Party and the deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko secretly met then CIA Director Mike Pompeo during his visit to Ukraine in March.

Alexander Zakharchenko, the pro-Russian leader of self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic was killed on Aug.31. On Sept.1, the next day after the assassination, Vasyl Hrytsak, the head of the SBU, met the delegation of US Congress and Atlantic Council led by former ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst, to discuss the ways to counter hybrid threats coming from Russia. The republics leadership believes that the SBU aided by Western agencies was behind the Zakharchenkos murder. Nobody else but John Herbst proposed to ban Russian ships coming out from the Azov Sea to enter the ports of Europe and the United States in his report published by the Atlantic Council think tank on November 21  just four days before the Kerch Strait standoff took place. The paper urged Washington and Brussels to consider proactively using sanctions to deter further Kremlin aggression. In late September, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said a naval blockade against Russia was an option. According to him, "The United States has that ability, with our Navy, to make sure the sea lanes are open, and, if necessary, to blockade  to make sure that their energy does not go to market."

Indeed, banning port calls would be a blow to Russias economy. But the idea needs an international support and the US is looking for the ways to gain it. Provoking Ukraine into pouring more fuel on the fire serves the purpose.

President Poroshenko says Russia is about to seize Ukrainian cities of Berdyansk and Mariupol, while his own country is mobilizing for war and elite troops are being sent to Donbas. The forces in the countrys east are on high alert with reinforcements coming. They are not preparing for a peace mission. Its not a secret that Kiev is prone to military adventurism seeing it as the way to boost the President Poroshenkos approval ratings. While crying wolf and pointing a finger at Russia, Ukraine is about to stage a deliberate provocation encouraged by the United States.The trilateral summit meeting of Russia, India and China on the sidelines of the G20 at Buenos Aires on December 1 becomes a landmark event in Asian security and global politics. The so-called RIC format has taken a big leap forward with the leaderships of the three countries agreeing to hold further such trilateral meetings on multilateral occasions  to quote from an Indian External Affairs Ministry statement.

What is of particular interest is that Russian President Vladimir Putin took the initiative and both Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese Presdient Xi Jinping instinctively warmed up to the idea. The three leaders were intensely conscious of the backdrop in which the meeting took place.

They referred to the imperatives of cooperation and coordination between their countries in meeting the challenges to security and development. Promotion of the multilateral system, the democratization of the international order and world peace and stability was repeatedly stressed.

Significantly, Prime Minister Modis remarks were most emphatic and specific. Modi noted that the meeting provided an opportunity to freely and openly discuss some key matters that cause concern on the global level. He added,

Your Excellencies, without a doubt, the world today is going through a period of serious change, instability and growing geopolitical tensions. There is serious pressure being exerted on the global leadership. Multilateral relations and the world order based on common rules are being increasingly rejected by various unilateral, transnational and local groups, and different nations around the world. We can see this happening as sanctions are imposed outside the UN mandate and protectionist policies are gaining strength.

The Doha Development Agenda within the WTO has failed. Since the Paris Agreement, we have not seen the expected level of financial commitment on behalf of the developed countries in favour of the developing states. Therefore, when it comes to climate, justice is currently at risk. We are still very far from achieving the goals of sustainable development.

Modis thinly veiled criticism of the US policies will be noted. All three leaders underscored that Russia, India and China have an important leadership role in the present international milieu and acknowledged the need to strengthen the RIC trilateral cooperation mechanism.

The RIC summit at Buenos Aires can be seen as the logical evolution of the shifts taking place in the geopolitics of the Asia-Pacific region in the recent period. Despite robust American efforts, the countries of the region refrain from identifying with the Trump administrations strident moves against China. Simply put, they dont want to get entangled with the erratic, unpredictable US policies.

On the other hand, the US capacity to dominate China militarily is progressively diminishing and the latter is expanding its influence into southeast Asia and western Pacific, which used to be exclusive American sphere of influence. The Trump administrations America First project has put off Asian countries such as India, which seek a relationship with the US based on mutual respect and mutual benefit.

From the Indian perspective, notably, Modi has shown enthusiasm for Putins initiative on the trilateral summit of the RIC. Modis calculus needs explaining. Modi has not only revived the verve of the India-Russia relations, which suffered atrophy in the past decade, but sees the partnership as an anchor sheet of Indias strategic autonomy. In retrospect, Modis informal summit with Putin at Sochi has been a defining moment in finessing Indias regional and global strategies in the highly volatile international environment.

Modis forceful decision in October to press ahead with the S-400 missile deal with Russia in the face of immense US pressure underscores his grit to pursue independent foreign policies. Indeed, the RIC summit took place in the immediate context of the last-minute cancellation of President Trumps meeting with Putin.

Secondly, Modi is building on the consensus he reached with President Xi at their Wuhan informal summit in April. India and China have intensified their bilateral contacts with a view to enhance their strategic communication. Modi held summit meetings with Xi thrice during the period since April alone. (Modis last bilateral with Trump was in November 2017.)

Indias calibrated distancing from the US containment policies against China were articulated with great clarity at Modi in a major speech at the Shangri La Dialogue in Singapore on June 1 where he sought an inclusive approach to the Asia-Pacific security.

The Wuhan spirit has produced positive results. The India-China border tensions have subsided and the focus is on confidence building, pending resolution of the border dispute. The Chinese ambassador to India recently said that the bilateral relations are witnessing one of their best periods in history.

Conceivably, Putin seized the moment to connect the dots by initiating the proposal on the RIC format at summit level. This was an idea that was originally mooted in 1998 by the great Russian strategic thinker and then Foreign Minister Evgeniy Primakov but it was ahead of its time. Two decades later, it is apparent that the RIC need not necessarily impose constraints on China and/or Indias independent and non-bloc policies.

Meanwhile, through these two decades, the so-called Primakov Triangle also engendered an eastern vector in the Russian foreign policy with Moscow prioritizing the strengthening of its relations with Asian countries. Importantly, the strongpoint of the Primakov doctrine  its focus on multilateral cooperation and multilateral institutions  proved to be far-sighted and has acquired relevance.

Given the above, Russia sees the RIC dialogue mechanism as an indispensable element of multilateral net diplomacy that can provide gravitas to the processes leading toward establishment of a fair world order. How the RIC format at the summit level will evolve as a strategic triangle remains to be seen.

There is a degree of asymmetry within the RIC insofar as Russia enjoys close military and political relationships with both China and India, which is not the case between China and India. Again, India and China have a strong interest in economic partnership with the West. Nor is India or China seeking an anti-western alliance. But RIC format is flexible enough to allow room for discussion on the broad range of international problems.

Politically, China and Indias attitude vis-a-vis RIC remains pragmatic as they pursue and intensify cooperative relations with both the West and Russia. But in the post-Wuhan phase, India and China would probably visualize the potential to use the RIC discussion club to create traction for the Sino-Indian normalization. Russia can play a unique role here in fostering strategic trust.

To what extent Modi and Putin have candidly discussed this facet of the RIC process during their intense talks in Sochi in May remains untold but they are working on a matrix. Conceivably, Russia and China also would have a common interest in encouraging Indias strategic autonomy.

As time passes, the RIC summit format is destined to shape up as a major template of regional and international security and global development. A high degree of personal rapport already exists between and amongst Putin, Modi and Xi. One striking thing about the RIC summit is the strategic congruence in the Russian, Indian and Chinese statements.In the search to find exactly what American policy, interests and objectives are in Syria, one can refer to the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), which was established by Congress in 1984. According to Mona Yacoubian, a USIP Senior Advisor on Syria, the Middle East and North Africa, the USIP seeks to prevent and resolve violent conflicts abroad, in accordance with US national interests and values.

On September 27th, 2018, Ms. Yacoubian testified at the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Middle East and North Africa hearings on US policy Toward Syria: Part I. Given her role, one can reasonably assume that Ms. Yacoubians testimony at Congress reflects, if not represents, and summarizes the Trump administrations policy towards Syria. In the first paragraph of her testimony, Ms. Yacoubian says Implications of Assads Survival. The regime will stop at nothing to ensure its survival, [] Assads survival could also upend the regional order, embolden Iran and its allies and posing new threats to Israel. This one short paragraph by a senior American Advisor encompasses several critical issues which constitute a general framework of Washingtons Syria policy.

First, the reference to Assad regime is pejorative and denies the legitimacy of both, Syria's political system  which is based on Syrias 2012 Constitution  and the re-election of President Assad in 2014. Ms. Yacoubian might object, claiming that the elections were rigged. I would tell her to see the log in her eye before she sees the speck in my eye; I would remind Ms. Yacoubian of the rigged Senate election of Lyndon Johnson in Texas in 1948, the rigged presidential election of John Kennedy in Chicago in 1960 by the Daley Machine and the rigged presidential election of George W. Bush in Florida in 2000.

Second, Ms. Yacoubian says; The regime will stop at nothing to ensure its survival This fickle statement was pedaled by multiple opponents of the Syrian regime. President Assad had to use all the available means at his disposal, in addition to outside help, to ensure not only his survival and the survival of the Syrian political system, but more importantly and ultimately the survival of Syria as a sovereign state. I would remind Ms. Yacoubian that President Abraham Lincoln used means at his disposal to ensure the survival of the Union during the American Civil War. Lincolns success in preserving the Union, in which roughly 620000 Americans lost their lives and taken as a percentage of todays population, the number would be 6 millions American lives, made him an American legend. By comparison, Assad fought hordes of Islamists, terrorists, warlords, criminals who had come from all over the world, with the financial and military help of a host of foreign countries (US, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar amongst others) for the single purpose of destroying Syria. Had they succeeded, Syria would have disintegrated into hundreds of cantons, headed by a multitude of terrorists, Islamists, Ameers, mafias, warlords in every neighborhood fighting each other indefinitely for supremacy. Assad, along with the Syrian people and institutions, Russia, Iran and Hezbollah, should be thanked for the survival of a Sovereign Syria.

Third, she says Assads survival could also upend the regional order, emboldening Iran and its allies and posing new threats to Israel. Addressing each component of her statement separately:

Upend the regional order: Assad has been in power since 2000 and during his eleven-year rule prior to the uprising, the regional order was not upended. It was rather stable, particularly the Syrian-Israeli relations.

Emboldening Iran: Syrian-Iranian warm and friendly relations started with the fall of the Shah and the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979. During the uprising, Syria needed Iranian help which Iran provided. Once the uprising in Syria is over, relations between the two countries will return to normal, like relations between any sovereign allies.

Assads survival, she notes, posing new threats to Israel: I would just note that during many Syrian-Israeli Track II Diplomacy meetings in the 1990s and the first decade of the present century, in which I participated, I often heard Israelis repeat the saying If it is not broke dont fix it. The reference was to the Syrian-Israeli relations in which no bullets were fired across the disengagement line in decades.

Ms. Yacoubian moves on to note that Meanwhile, the Assad regime vows it will reassert control over Idlib province[which] harbors a significant al-Qaeda presence She further notes that The regime could seek to retake critical hydrocarbon facilities currently under the control of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces. A shocking and presumptuous statement, implying foreign governments shall not uphold their sovereignty if it interferes with American interests. President Assad, took the Presidential oath to defend and protect Syrias sovereignty and territorial integrity. Therefore, it is his constitutional duty to reassert control over Idlib, a Syrian province which harbors a significant al-Qaeda presence, and retake Syrian critical hydrocarbon facilities. I will just remind the Senior Advisor, once again, to remember the legacy of President Lincoln.

Finally, Ms. Yacoubian asserts that The Assad regime repeatedly has transgressed international norms and laws governing armed conflict. It is the height of irony for Ms. Yacoubian to consider Assads attempts to reclaim occupied Syrian territory a violation of international legal norms. Th US has spearheaded an uninvited military occupation in Syria alongside Turkey and particularly Israel, which has occupied and annexed the Syrian Gholan plateau in violation of numerous United Nations resolutions and, as Ms. Yacoubian notes, has undertaken 200 military attacks against Iranian targets in Syria over the past two years.

Overall, an assessment of American policy, interests and objectives in Syria exposes deep flaws and inconsistencies and underlies a much likely private agenda; one where American-Israeli geo-political regional interests are at the center.South Korea has, since 2011, been developing K-SAAM (Korean Surface-to-Air Anti-Missile) as an improved replacement for existing U.S. built RAM (Rolling Air Frame) missiles. K-SAAM was to be ready by 2016 but it failed its first acceptance tests (two of five missiles failed to hit the target). Revisions were made and tests again conducted in 2017. K-SAAM hit nine of ten test targets but when details of the tests were released a number of qualified critics pointed out that the test parameters did not include the latest Chinese and Russian anti-ship missiles and further guidance system revisions and tests were needed. There were also problems with the target acquisition radar which misidentified incoming anti-ship missiles fired from mountainous coastal locations.

Meanwhile, the American RIM-116 (RAM) anti-missile missile systems are already installed on many existing U.S., Japanese and South Korean warships. The RAM itself is German, but the radar and fire control is often the same found in the U.S. Phalanx anti-missile system, with RAMs replacing the 20mm cannon. The Phalanx was developed in the 1970s and entered service in 1977. RAM was developed in the 1980s and didn't enter service until 1993. RAM has a longer range (7.5 kilometers) than the Phalanx 20mm autocannon (two kilometers) and was originally designed to be aimed using the ships fire control systems. Phalanx, on the other hand, has its own radar and fire control system and, once turned on, will automatically fire at any incoming missiles. This was necessary, as some anti-ship missiles travel at over a 500 meters a second. RAM-based systems have eleven or 21 missiles ready to fire and can engage several targets at once, something the original (20mm cannon) Phalanx could not do. The RAM missiles are 127mm in diameter, 2.8 meters (9.3 feet) long and weigh 73.5 kg (162 pounds) each. The terminal guidance system is heat seeking. Basically, it uses the rocket motor and warhead from the Sidewinder air-to-air missile, and the guidance system from the Stinger shoulder fired anti-aircraft missile. SeaRAM missiles cost about $450,000 each. RAM can use either a Phalanx fire control system, or any other system that can detect incoming missiles quickly enough. Over a hundred warships (mostly German and American) already use RAM-based anti-missile systems. The missiles are stored and fired from cells in box arrays holding 11 or 21 missiles.

K-SAAM missiles are 3.07 meters (9.8 feet) long was designed to have a superior guidance system with a radar and heat-seeker used to home in on the incoming missile. K-SAAM can also be fired from four cell vertical launchers that some ships will have several of. K-SAAM is scheduled to be installed on new frigates and a 14,000 ton amphibious ship launched in May. RAM has been continually upgraded and tested dealing with more effective anti-ship missiles and critics of K-SAAM are demanding that the new South Korean realistically match that.

The government run Agency for Defense Development (ADD) that has created K-SAAM insists the system is now on schedule to enter service in time to be installed in several new ships in place of SeaRam. K-SAAM will eventually replace SeaRAM already installed in South Korean ships when those ships undergo their periodic refurbishment.Bay of Plenty

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View or Apply on GoodWork.co.nzTo mark 125 years since New Zealand women won the vote, award-winning Tauranga author Debbie McCauley has released a non-fiction bilingual childrens book on her suffragist ancestor.

Eliza and the White Camellia: A Story of Suffrage in New Zealand tells the story of Debbies fourth great aunt, suffragist Eliza Wallis (nee Hart), a first-wave feminist who actively sought the vote for women.

Eliza also happens to be the grandmother of Ynys Fraser (nee Wallis) QSM, the grande dame of Rotorua, who on August 3 of this year turned 101-years-old.

Ynys is related through her father, Wilfred Stanley Wallis OBE, who was the youngest of Eliza and her husband Johns twelve children. During the book launch on Saturday December 1, Ynys attend the launch at the Tauranga City Library with her son Iain.

I was so pleased to receive her blessing for the book, says Debbie. Ynys will be the guest of honour.

Visually beautiful, with period-setting illustration by Wellington artist Helen Casey, the book was translated into te reo Maori by Tamati Waaka, and skilfully laid out by designer Sarah Elworthy.

The endpapers feature suffrage related political cartoons from the time. Extensively researched, the fact boxes sit alongside the read aloud and story and cover a wide array of topics such as the history of elections in New Zealand, dirty politics, the National Council of Women, Minnie Dean, Maori women, the freedom of bicycles, rational dress, the suffrage petitions and the 1893 election.

Ive always been fascinated by my suffrage connection, says Debbie, who won a Womens Suffrage Centennial Year Scholarship in 1993.

Womens history is often more difficult to uncover, but I hope I have done Elizas story justice.

On April 13 1896, Eliza attended a womens convention held in the Provincial Council Buildings in Christchurch. Eleven womens groups from throughout New Zealand had sent representatives to the convention, during which the National Council of Women was formed.

Eliza was one of the founding members and the first president was fellow suffragist and Elizas friend, Kate Sheppard.

The NCW aimed to; unite all organised societies of women for mutual counsel and co-operation in the attainment of justice and freedom for women, and all that made for the good of humanity; to encourage the formation of societies of women engaged in trades, professions, and in social and political work; and to affiliate with other national councils of women for the purpose of facilitating international conferences and co-operation.

Eliza appears in the first photographs taken of the NCW, including the delegates to the womens convention, and another taken outside the council chamber. She is also in a Suratura Tea National Council of Women photograph from 1896.

I was unsure about the Suratura Tea advertisement, says Debbie.

Until I remembered the temperance connection to the suffragist movement, and then it became very appropriate.

Debbie is on the Suffrage 125 Tauranga committee which has organised various exhibitions and events in Tauranga this year, including talks by former Prime Minister and United Nations Development Programme Administrator, Rt Hon. Helen Clark, and MP Jan Tinetti who was invited to speak at the book launch.

Suffrage 125 commemorations have run from the anniversary of the monster suffrage petition being submitted to Parliament on July 28 1893, the signing into law of the Electoral Act on September 19, the first election in which New Zealand women could vote on November 28, the election of the first woman mayor in the British Empire (Onehunga) on November 29, and will finish on December 20 when women first voted in the Maori electorates.

Chris Wright from the Bay of Plenty Childrens Literature Association reviewed Eliza and White Camellia: A Story of Suffrage in New Zealand, saying the book is itself a celebration, showing younger generations some of the struggles people, especially women, went through to win this right.

Details of the struggle towards womens suffrage are shown in articles, photos and cartoons from newspapers of the time together many together many other historical events and personalities. The protests and petitions are joined on these fact pages by an array information that shows the changing times such as the advent of bicycles and the resultant changes in fashion for women.

By reading of her life the reader learns of the poverty and hardship in England that caused her parent to leave, the suffering endured on the long voyage to New Zealand, and their attempts at a better life in New Zealand.

Author Debbie McCauley is to be commended for her extensive research into the life and times of Eliza. With its extensive Glossary and Index, this is a reference text while also being the interesting story of a New Zealand woman activist, one of many reaching forward to the present day.

Debbie is well known for her beautifully produced non-fiction picture books for children which include, Ko Mauao te Maunga: Legend of Mauao, The Treaty of Waitangi in Tauranga: Te Tiriti o Waitangi ki Tauranga Moana, Motiti Blue and the Oil Spill: A story from the Rena Disaster, and Taratoa and the Code of Conduct: A Story from the Battle of Gate Pa.

Eliza and the White Camellia: A Story of Suffrage in New Zealand is available as a quality hardback picture book with extra educational pages which include a New Zealand timeline, a world suffrage timeline, suffrage activities, classroom activities, a suffrage quiz, a glossary, an index and fact boxes throughout.

It was important to produce the best book possible, says Debbie.

Providing extra information rounds out Elizas story and helps teachers cover the topic of suffrage more easily in the classroom.

Tauranga bookshop Books A Plenty currently have a window display of Eliza and the White Camellia: A Story of Suffrage in New Zealand in support of Suffrage 125.

The book is available from all good bookshops throughout Aotearoa, and through Debbies indie publishing business, Mauao Publishing.The Union Pacific railroad crossing at Cheyenne County Road 109 leaves one option when the crossing is blocked for an extended period of time. It is not legal, nor is it always passable.

Locomotives united the east and west. The Panhandle Nebraska area knows it well as local history. But some Cheyenne County residents are also familiar with long trains that can delay transit from one point to another.

The dilemma, sometimes stress, is when a blocked crossing keeps residents from the rest of the community, or worse yet, when the blocked crossing keeps first responders from completing a call.

"We are landlocked," Kim Phillips said recently.

Phillips and Jim Pelster recently addressed the Cheyenne County commissioners regarding the dilemma.

"It really picked up after the der...SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Destiny USA unveiled its "Season to Celebrate" holiday musical performance schedule, which features festive performances from Central New York musicians and dancers.

The performances will be held on the first level in the canyon area of the Syracuse mall.

"From the holiday decorations to the festive sounds of instruments and caroling throughout the canyon, it's the perfect opportunity for families to enjoy an annual holiday tradition indoors at Destiny USA," Director of Marketing Nikita Jankowski said in a news release.

Here's the performance schedule:SYRACUSE, NY -- Congress Beer, the traditional Syracuse lager that re-launched this summer, is now back in cans.

It's the first time the beer has been canned since the 1960s, when the Haberle Congress brewery on Syracuse's North Side closed. The beer has been available in draft only since it was re-introduced this summer by Willow Rock Brewing Co. of Syracuse in partnership with the Onondaga Historical Association.

"Cans were the most iconic package for Congress and we're excited to bring them back," said Rockney Roberts, co-owner at Willow Rock.

Can of Congress will go on sale this weekend at the Willow Rock brewery, at 115 Game Road (that's behind Danzer's restaurant on Ainsley Drive). Four-packs of 16-ounce cans sell for $9.99. The launch begins at noon Saturday.

There are also special deals on Congress swag during launch weekend, including a Congress Holiday Gift Pack, which is a four pack of Congress cans, a Congress pilsner glass and a coaster, for $15. That will be available through the holidays.

After this weekend, Congress in cans will be found in selected local retailers and bars while supplies last, Roberts said. Branching Out, a bottle shop in Camillus' Township 5, will be one outlet, with more to come.

Willow Rock plans to begin production of Congress and its own beer lineup on its new, expanded brewing system in the near future, Roberts said.

From the 1890s to the the early 1960s, Congress was the most popular "hometown" beer in Syracuse, brewed by the Haberle brewery at the corner of Butternut and North McBride streets. The brewery closed in 1962. In its day, it was the Syracuse equivalent to Genesee in Rochester and Utica Club in Utica.

The modern re-launch of Congress Beer is spearheaded by the OHA, which acquired the trademark rights to sell Congress Beer merchandise several years ago. Last year, it secured the rights to brew a beer under the Congress Beer name as a way to raise money for its operations.

The OHA tapped Willow Rock, a small craft brewer located between Syracuse's University's South Campus and Brighton Avenue, to recreate Congress. Roberts and co-owner Kevin Williams used a set of notes on the recipe and procedures donated to the historic association by the last Haberle brewmaster when the brewery closed in 1962.

It was Williams' and Roberts' challenge to recreate a beer that they could produce in a modern craft brewery but that would also honor the tradition of a light colored, light-bodied "pre craft beer" lager.

The beer they came up with is a relatively low alcohol beer, at 4.8 percent, that they describe as "approachable," "easy drinking," "light-bodied and crisp" and an "everyday" beer.

It's made exclusively from New York state ingredients.

Don Cazentre writes about craft beer, wine, spirits and beverages for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A Fayetteville dermatology practice has agreed to pay more than $811,000 for submitting false claims to state and federal health insurance programs.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said Dermatology Associates of Central New York submitted thousands of false insurance claims for services provided by nurse practitioners that were billed as if they had been provided by or under the supervision of the practice's owners.

Drs. Amin Fazeli and Vajdista Broumand, a married couple, own the practice located in the Northeast Medical Center at 4100 Medical Center Drive.

An employee of the practice tipped off the government to the improper billing.

Medicare and Tricare allow services provided by a nurse practitioner to be billed in a doctor's name if the doctor is in the office available to provide assistance. Medicare is the federal health insurance program for people 65 and older. Tricare is a federal insurance program for people in the military.

Between 2009 and 2015, the practice submitted claims to Medicare and Tricare in the names of its doctors on more than 200 days when the doctors were out of town, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The practice was open six days a week, but the doctors were seldom there Fridays and Saturdays.

Medicaid, the state health insurance program for the poor, does not pay for services provided by nurse practitioners unless they are enrolled with the state as a Medicaid provider.

Some of the practice's nurse practitioners who treated Medicaid patients did not have the necessary state credentials.

Scott J. Lampert of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General said in a statement the "irresponsible behavior" by the dermatologists wasted taxpayer dollars.

In a prepared statement, Dermatology Associates said the billing errors occurred because of mistakes by an outside billing company.

The investigation was triggered by a whistleblower lawsuit filed by Elaine Cretaro-Williams of Baldwinsville, a nurse practitioner who worked at the practice. Under state and federal law, private persons can file civil actions on behalf of the government and share in any recovery.

Cretaro-Williams will receive $138,000 of the settlement.

In the settlement with the AG's Office, the practice accepted responsibility for not identifying billing and credentialing errors committed by its billing company. The AG's Office said the practice cooperated with the government's investigation.

Contact James T. Mulder anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-470-2245It is fitting that President George H.W. Bush will be laid to rest the day before the 77th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. That event, on Dec. 7, 1941, propelled Bush and 16 million other Americans into World War II. It was the defining experience of a generation, and forged Bush into the selfless leader he would become.

Bush, who died Friday at age 94, is being eulogized for his long career in public service -- as a member of Congress, U.N. ambassador, China envoy, CIA director, vice president and president.

Bush's service to our country began on his 18th birthday, when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy right out of Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. Like millions of other young men -- some privileged like him, and many not -- Bush joined the war effort to defend the nation and defeat the Axis powers that had overrun Europe and Asia. After a year of flight training, Ensign Bush was assigned to a torpedo squadron in the Pacific.

Bush flew 58 combat missions. He narrowly escaped with his life when his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire during a bombing run at ChiChi Jima, about 150 miles north of Iwo Jima. Bush hit his target, a radio tower, then ditched the plane over the ocean. The pilot and one other crewman managed to escape the burning aircraft, but only Bush's parachute opened. His two comrades died. After floating on a life raft for hours, Bush was rescued by a U.S. submarine - remarkably, a moment captured on film. Lt. j.g. Bush was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his heroism.

Bush survived the war. Half of the pilots in his squadron did not. They, and hundreds of thousands of others, paid the ultimate price for freedom.

Once they had won the war, millions of veterans put it behind them and went on with their lives. Bush returned home to marry his high school sweetheart, Barbara Pierce, and begin a family; to graduate from Yale; and to move to Texas to make his own fortune in the oil business. Politics came later, eventually leading all the way to the White House.

Bush was the last World War II veteran to be elected president, at the end of an unbroken line that began with Dwight D. Eisenhower and ran through John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Baines Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, Gerald R. Ford, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. Now, Carter is the only remaining ex-president to have both fought in war and ordered others into combat.

Kennedy, in his 1961 inaugural address, said the torch had been passed "to a new generation of Americans - born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace." By the time of Bush's inauguration, in 1989, the Cold War was ending, and the new president cast our role in the world in more hopeful terms: "America is never wholly herself unless she is engaged in high moral principle. We as a people have such a purpose today. It is to make kinder the face of the Nation and gentler the face of the world."

Over the next four years, Bush would preside over the fall of the Berlin Wall, the flowering of democracy in Eastern Europe, China's violent crackdown on the Tiananmen Square protests, and the international coalition that beat back Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.

While he was Reagan's vice president, Bush told a Navy journalist: "There is no question that having been involved in combat has affected my way of looking at problems. The overall experience was the most maturing in my life. Even now, I look back and think about the dramatic ways in which the three years in the Navy shaped my life -- the friendships, the common purpose, my first experience with seeing friends die ... "

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, fewer than 500,000 survive. The death of George Herbert Walker Bush severs one more tie to that era of common purpose and quiet sacrifice. His example will be missed.

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If you have questions about the Opinions & Editorials section, contact Marie Morelli, editorial/opinion leader, atWASHINGTON -- The federal government says it has broken through a logjam that delayed almost $5 million in aid to Syracuse nonprofits that help battle poverty in the city.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development told Rep. John Katko's office that Syracuse and other cities affected by the delay should be able to begin drawing the grant money and distributing it to aid groups this week.

Some of the Syracuse groups have been forced to take out loans to pay their bills while waiting for the federal aid.

HUD typically distributes its Community Development Block Grants to cities by late August or early September.

A HUD spokeswoman told syracuse.com last week that payment of $4.87 million owed to Syracuse through the grant program has been delayed, but she could not explain the reasons for the holdup.

Katko, R-Camillus, asked HUD to expedite the payments, which support about 20 nonprofit groups that help some of Syracuse's poorest residents.

New York's two U.S. senators, Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., also wrote HUD Secretary Ben Carson last week, asking him to determine why the payments had been delayed.

The HUD money is one of the single largest sources of federal aid to Syracuse. The city distributes the money each year to about 20 groups that fight poverty through programs for affordable housing, job training, and other aid for low-to-moderate income residents.

Syracuse, with the ninth-highest poverty rate in the nation, has received almost $60 million through HUD's grant program over the past 11 years. The city also has the nation's highest rate of extreme poverty concentrated among blacks and Hispanics.

Contact Mark Weiner: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751Kenneth Dawe

DEWITT, N.Y. -- The Jamesville-DeWitt school board voted unanimously Monday night to appoint two former members to fill a pair of vacancies.

Their vote to appoint Kenneth Dawe, of DeWitt, and Dana Corcoran, of Jamesville, came minutes after a J-D student and a parent asked the board to be more transparent.

"You're not asking for community input," J-D sophomore Max Mimaroglu said. "... Ask the public who we want to represent us, rather than you telling us who you think we should be represented by."

The appointments come at a time of turmoil for the J-D board following a series of meetings packed by dozens of parents, teachers and students.

Some jammed the meetings to speak their minds about the August death of a recent J-D graduate. Some criticized a teacher; others defended the teacher.

Board members responded by instituting new rules that in effect banned talk about the death and the teacher. They put in other rules to try to control public input.

In the midst of the uproar, board President Mark Schulman and board member Patrick Brown resigned, leaving the board in the middle of their terms. Both told Syracuse.com| The Post-Standard they resigned for personal reasons.

On Monday night, parent Kieran O'Connor said he thought the process of filling the vacancies should have been made public and not done behind closed doors in executive session.

Dana Corcoran

Acting board president Virginia Murphy defended the board.

"We did go into executive session after the last meeting to discuss our option because in that process it did involve potentially naming names," she said.

"We chose to go with a veteran board member because this board can greatly benefit from the experience they bring to the table," Murphy said. "If you have an election at this point in the year, you're bringing someone forward who will not have been trained at all -- and we're just about to start the budget development process, which is one of our key roles as board members."

Dawe and Corcoran will serve on the board through the end of this school year. Their seats will be up for election this May.

Dawe said this is the third time he has been called on to fill vacated board positions. He also previously served two three-year terms on the J-D school board.

Corcoran said she was elected to the board in May 2017 and served on the board until she resigned Oct. 24 "because of a professional conflict." She declined to discuss her reason for resigning further, but said there was no longer a conflict for her to serve on the board again.

Schulman, the board president who resigned, had been on the board for nearly nine years, and Brown for 5 1/2 years. Brown said he stepped down due to job changes and health issues of his in-laws. Schulman said he made the decision for "personal reasons."

In September, the board announced new rules on public speaking at meetings and refused to allow any more comments about the Aug. 15 death of 18-year-old Blake Lucas, a former J-D student who had graduated and was scheduled to attend SUNY Binghamton this fall.

Lucas was fatally injured when an SUV he was driving crashed into a utility pole on Jamesville Road and slammed into the Community Library of DeWitt & Jamesville. State police later said the death was a suicide.

Some students and parents came to the board meeting fueled by a video made by Lucas in which he expresses displeasure toward Beth Quackenbush, J-D High School choral director. Quackenbush, 46, has taught at J-D for more than more 20 years, and directed more than 20 musicals at the school.

J-D Superintendent Alice Kendrick has said Quackenbush was placed on paid leave to allow the district to review the allegations. After the investigation, Quackenbush returned to work, Kendrick said.

At board meetings, community members are now restricted to a three-minute time limit on public comments and required to fill out a card in advance, with the speakers' name, address and topic. Speakers are told if they have a comment about a student or staff member to "please refrain and email the board president."

That hasn't stopped many community members from continuing to stand up and tell board members their concerns.

Former school board member Michelle Kielbasinski was the last to speak Monday night. She tearfully told board members that she had expressed interest in serving on the board again, but was not chosen to fill either vacancy.

Kielbasinski said she sent an email asking what criteria the board used to select the new board members, but she did not receive a response.

Board members had previously told community members their "conversations were protected because they had been in executive session," said Kielbasinski, a mother of five. "They may have been, but they did not need to be. I would further suggest that board representatives are publicly elected positions so the conversations should have taken place in public."

After the board voted to fill the two vacancies, board member Wendy Rhodes asked to nominate board member Susan Petrosillo as the new board president because of "her commitment to communication and building consensus could be really helpful to us at this time."

Murphy, the acting president, quickly shut down the idea of a public conversation before such a vote.

"Nominations are usually done in executive session and voting is done in public," she said. "That would be the next step."

Petrosillo stood up and thanked Rhodes for the nomination. She then spoke about how she, Bruce Van Schaick, Juanita Rivera-Ortiz and Wendy Rhodes held a public listening session last Thursday.

About 20 community members met with the four board members. They talked about the need for better communication, how the district office is understaffed and ways to create a comprehensive program that supports mental health, among other issues, Petrosillo said.

"We were there to listen," she said.

Two more listening sessions are planned and open to the public, Van Schaick said. They are scheduled from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday and Dec. 13 at the Community Library of DeWitt & Jamesville, 5110 Jamesville Road in Jamesville.Update: An AMBER Alert has been canceled for an abducted teen girl from Rochester. Police located 14-year-old Joanna Coates and her suspected abductor, 41-year-old Robert Gonzalez.

An AMBER Alert has been issued for a missing teenager in Upstate New York.

Rochester Police announced Monday that they believe 14-year-old Joanna Coates was abducted around 7 p.m. Saturday on LaSalle Street. She's described as 5'4", 100 pounds, with blue eyes and purple hair; she was last seen wearing a blue Nike shirt, black leggings and Timberland boots.

According to WHAM, police believe Coates was abducted by 41-year-old Robert Gonzalez. He's described as a Hispanic male with brown eyes and black (balding) hair; he's 6-feet tall and weighs 185 pounds.

Newsweek reports Linda Hollart, the girl's mother, said they live in the same neighborhood as Gonzalez. She told WHEC-TV that he repeatedly tried to hang out with Coates during the summer.

"He's a junkie, he sells drugs, he pimps girls out. I don't want my daughter to be one of those people," Hollart said. "I am asking anybody, everybody, I don't care where she is, just bring her home safely to me. I love you, we love you. If you're watching this Joanna, please come home."

WGRZ reports police believe Coates may be in "imminent danger of serious harm and/or death." Gonzalez was last seen traveling southeast, possibly heading for New York City.

If anyone has any information about the abduction, please call Rochester Police at (866) NYS-AMBER or call 911.An Upstate New York mom says her teen daughter was "brainwashed" by her alleged abductor.

Rochester Police announced Tuesday that 14-year-old Joanna Coates was found safe in New York City after an AMBER Alert was issued Monday night. WHEC reports her alleged abductor, 41-year-old Robert Gonzalez, has been arrested.

Police said Coates was taken by Gonzalez around 7 p.m. on Saturday. An alert said they were likely on their way to NYC and she was in "imminent danger."

The alert was canceled Tuesday afternoon.

Coates' mother, Linda Hollaert, told the Democrat & Chronicle that investigators told her that Gonzalez is now in New York Police Department custody. Her daughter is being treated in a Manhattan hospital before being returned to Rochester.

"She's safe and she's headed to the hospital," Hollaert said. "I'm relieved. I just want to see my baby girl."

Hollaert told the newspaper that Gonzalez formed a romantic relationship with her daughter.

"She believed it to be a relationship, he had her so brainwashed," Hollaert said. "I want him to go to jail and pay for what he's done to my family. He took her youth. He took everything that was important to her."

Hollaert told WHEC-TV that Gonzalez "sells drugs [and] pimps girls out," fearing he'd do the same to Coates.

According to the D&C, Gonzalez is a convicted felon who has served more than 10 years combined in prison. State records show Gonzalez was convicted in 1997 of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon; he was convicted of fifth-degree attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance in 2003; and he was convicted of fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance in 2008.

Police have not said what charges Gonzalez may be facing in connection with Coates' alleged abduction.President Donald Trump is calling himself a "Tariff Man," threatening China after the U.S. agreed to a temporary truce in a trade dispute.

According to The Hill, Trump said he won't hesitate to raise tariffs on China if the country does not agree to fundamental changes in trade with the United States of America.

"China is supposed to start buying Agricultural product and more immediately. President Xi and I want this deal to happen, and it probably will. But if not remember... I am a Tariff Man," Trump tweeted Tuesday.

"When people or countries come in to raid the great wealth of our Nation, I want them to pay for the privilege of doing so. It will always be the best way to max out our economic power. We are right now taking in $billions in Tariffs. MAKE AMERICA RICH AGAIN... But if a fair deal is able to be made with China, one that does all of the many things we know must be finally done, I will happily sign. Let the negotiations begin. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"

According to the Associated Press, the U.S. and China agreed to a 90-day ceasefire in a trade dispute after a dinner meeting Saturday between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires. Trump agreed to hold off on plans to raise tariffs Jan. 1 on $200 billion in Chinese goods.

The White House said both sides are working together on efforts to reduce America's huge trade deficit with China.

"China will be opening up, China will be getting rid of tariffs. China will be buying massive amounts of products from us," Trump recently told reporters on Air Force One.

In one long-sought concession, China agreed to label fentanyl, the deadly synthetic opioid responsible for tens of thousands of American drug deaths annually, as a controlled substance. Beijing also agreed to reconsider a takeover by U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm that it had previously blocked.

The AP reports the U.S. appears to be helping negotiations by reversing course on previous threats to tie trade discussions to security concerns, like China's attempted territorial expansion in the South China Sea.

The negotiations with China have already started. Unless extended, they will end 90 days from the date of our wonderful and very warm dinner with President Xi in Argentina. Bob Lighthizer will be working closely with Steve Mnuchin, Larry Kudlow, Wilbur Ross and Peter Navarro.....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 4, 2018

......on seeing whether or not a REAL deal with China is actually possible. If it is, we will get it done. China is supposed to start buying Agricultural product and more immediately. President Xi and I want this deal to happen, and it probably will. But if not remember,......  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 4, 2018

....I am a Tariff Man. When people or countries come in to raid the great wealth of our Nation, I want them to pay for the privilege of doing so. It will always be the best way to max out our economic power. We are right now taking in $billions in Tariffs. MAKE AMERICA RICH AGAIN  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 4, 2018Share

The latest batch of astronauts to take up residence on board the International Space Station (ISS) have arrived safely following a six-hour flight.

Astronauts Anne McClain from American space agency NASA, David Saint-Jacques from the Canadian Space Agency and Oleg Kononenko of the Russian space agency Roscosmos left aboard the Russian Soyuz spacecraft from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan just after 11.31am GMT.

#SoyuzMS11: CONTACT and CAPTURE!  The Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft with a crew onboard successfully docked with the Research Module Poisk of the International Space Station. Welcome to the ISS, Oleg, @Astro_DavidS  @AstroAnnimal! pic.twitter.com/mgVYHfxiro   (@roscosmos) December 3, 2018

The trio will stay at the orbital laboratory for the next six-and-a-half months, briefly joining the current crew of Expedition 57, Nasas Serena Aunon-Chancellor, the European Space Agencys (ESA) Commander Alexander Gerst and Roscosmoss Sergey Prokopyev.

The latest trip comes less than two months after a previous mission on October 11 failed, when two astronauts from the US and Russia were forced to make an emergency landing, as a result of a problem with the booster.

NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmoss Alexei Ovchinin safely landed back on Earth in an emergency capsule shortly after taking off.

The incident was the first manned launch failure for the Russian space programme since September 1983, when a Soyuz craft exploded on the launch pad. Soviet cosmonauts Vladimir Titov and Gennady Strekalov jettisoned and landed safely near the launch pad.

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Like this: Like Loading...Why it matters: Microsofts Edge browser has been around for three years now, and while it's seen plenty of improvements during that time, it holds only a tiny percentage of the market. As such, the Redmond firm is building a Chromium-based replacement, one that consolidates the browser market and continues Microsoft's shift towards becoming a more open company. They say they intend to become a significant contributor to the Chromium project to improve browsers across all platforms.

Microsoft confirmed today it's preparing to move its default Windows 10 browsers rendering engine from EdgeHTML to the open source Chromium base used by the likes of Google Chrome, Opera and Vivaldi. The new browser codenamed 'Anaheim,' will stick with the Edge name. Joe Belfiore, Corporate Vice President of Windows, made the announcement adding that Edge is will now be "delivered and updated for all supported versions of Windows and on a more frequent cadence." That means ongoing support for Windows 7, and 8.1, as well as Windows 10, plus future support for macOS.

This is not only a smart strategic move, but in terms of usability, it could make Windows' default browser an instant favorite since it would essentially be using the exact same Chrome browser engine, inhering all of what makes Chrome good (and bad) minus some Google additions, plus some subtle Microsoft touches (we hope). Microsoft will also add a layer of compatibility for legacy IE-only sites, which remains of importance in certain corporate environments.

With less browser engines, and thus less fragmentation, you can expect improved compatibility across all websites, less headaches for web developers and ultimately, a de facto two engine default: Chromium browsers (Blink, V8) for desktop computing and mobile web, and Safari (WebKit, Nitro) for Apple tablets and iPhones.

Its thought that Edges continuing web compatibility and performance issues prompted the move. With Edges market share at just 4.2 percent and Chromes nearer 66 percent, its not surprising that Microsoft wants a product that's closer to Googles popular browser.

There were already indications that this was coming. Last month brought news that Google and Microsoft are working together to build an ARM-compatible version of Chrome for Windows 10.

Whether the new Edge browser will drag people away from Chrome, Firefox, etc. remains to be seen. But most agree that the company needed to do something to improve Windows 10s default browser.The World Health Organization is creating a panel to discuss the implications of gene editing, especially in humans.

WHO Panel On Gene Editing

The decision is a response to the shocking report that a scientist from China created the first genetically-edited babies using the CRISPR/Cas9 tool. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of WHO, said that they are gathering experts of the field to discuss the ethical and societal issues of gene editing.

"It cannot just be done without clear guidelines," he said during a press briefing in Geneva. "We have to be very, very careful ... We should not go into gene editing without understanding the unintended consequences."

Not many details have been disclosed, but reports revealed that the panel will include academics, government, and WHO medical experts. The international public health agency of the United Nations hopes to convene before any more manipulation occurs.

Gene-Editing Babies In China

Ghebreyesus did not explicitly admit that the panel is WHO's response to the admission of Chinese scientist Jiankui He that he altered the DNA of twin girls to prevent them from being infected by the HIV/AIDS virus in the future. However, the scientific community was on an uproar after news of the gene editing had broken out. Several prominent names in the field in China and across the world slammed He, questioning both the morality and the effectiveness of the experiment.

Last week, He released a series of videos to defend the experiment, saying that the girls  Lulu and Nana  were born healthy. He assured that there are plans to monitor and observe the girls until they are 18 years old.

China's ministry of science and technology distanced itself from the controversial experiment and demanded to halt all "scientific activities of relevant personnel."

The South China Morning Post reported that the whereabouts of the scientist is still unknown. Officials of the Southern University of Science and Technology denied claims that He has been brought back to Shenzhen by the university's president and has been detained over the weekend.

The university refused to reveal further details but promised to update official channels as soon as more information becomes available.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.A worldwide search is now underway for donors with a rare blood type that may help a young cancer patient in South Florida.

Neuroblastoma

Zainab Mughal, 2, has neuroblastoma, a rare form of cancer that more often affects children. Doctors most often diagnose the condition in children younger than the age of 5 years.

Zainab's parents learned that she has high-risk neuroblastoma and the doctors think the tumor inside the child's belly may have been growing for at least 10 months.

Neuroblastoma in the abdomen may cause stomach pain or the constant feeling of being full that can lead to weight loss, swelling or lumps in the belly, a problem with bowel movements and swelling in the legs or in the scrotum.

Zainab is being treated at the Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood and she is required to undergo multiple blood transfusions in the future. The girl needs to be completely supported by blood donations so she can survive the treatment that is needed to kill cancer.

Rare Blood Type

The problem is that Zainab has a rare blood type. Zainab does not have the common Indian B antigen that most people have in their red blood cells due to a genetic mutation. This makes finding a match for her life-saving transfusions difficult.

To help the child in her fight against cancer, the non-profit blood donation organization OneBlood launched a campaign dedicated to finding people with the right blood type who can donate blood for Zainab.

"We now have to provide more specialty matched blood for this child," said OneBlood reference laboratory manager Frieda Bright. "The possibility of us finding a compatible donor for this little girl within the right ethnic group is less than 4 percent."

Ideal Blood Donors

Three donors have so far been located but Zainab will need more blood than they can provide. The donors need to be a Pakistani, Indian or Iranian, which means that their biological parents would be 100 percent Pakistani, Indian or Iranian.

They also need to have a blood type of either "A" or "O". The blood donors should be missing the Indian B antigen as well or Zainab would reject the blood.

Blood samples of potential donors will be tested by OneBlood for compatibility.

"All donations for Zainab must be coordinated with OneBlood in advance to ensure the additional compatibility testing is performed," OneBlood said.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.The three astronauts onboard Russia's Soyuz rocket have safely reached the International Space Station. The manned mission was the spacecraft's first since October's forced emergency landing.

On Monday, Dec. 3, veteran Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, American astronaut Anne McClain, and Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The new crew reached the orbiting outpost six hours later, arriving at 12:33 p.m. E.T.

Soyuz Successful Liftoff

NASA spokesperson Gary Johnson described the mission as "textbook launch and insertion into orbit" during the liftoff commentary.

The past few months had been tense at Roscosmos, Russia's space agency. On Oct. 11, a Soyuz rocket carrying two astronauts  one American and one Russian  malfunctioned, forcing the crew to abort the mission. Although neither passenger was harmed, Nick Hague and Alexey Ovchinin had to make a ballistic descent.

The event was the first failed manned launch for the Russian space program since 1983 when a Soyuz rocket exploded on the launch pad.

Despite October's emergency landing, however, astronauts expressed continued confidence on the Soyuz. Cosmonaut Kononenko said on Sunday, Dec. 2, during a press conference, that he "absolutely" trusts the flight plan.

"Risk is part of our profession," he stated. "We are psychologically and technically prepared for blast-off and any situation which, God forbid, may occur onboard."

NASA also repeatedly dispelled drama between the two space agencies in the past, promising continued cooperation. Roscosmos is the only organization that can ferry astronauts to the ISS so far. The United States has been relying on its services since 2001 after the space shuttle program shut down.

Next year, however, Russia will see intense international competition. NASA has awarded multi-billion dollar contracts to SpaceX and Boeing as part of the space agency's Commercial Crew Program.

ISS Crew Back To Work

The launch on Monday was initially scheduled later this month, but it was moved up after October's failure to avoid leaving the ISS unmanned. Its current crew  Sergey Prokopyev, Serena Aunon-Chancellor, and Commander Alexander Gerst  will return to Earth on Dec. 20.

Astronaut Hague and cosmonaut Ovchinin will once again attempt to join the ISS crew on Feb. 28, 2019, alongside Christina Hammock Koch. The trio will return to Earth in October 2019.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.The state program assisting victims of the 2016 floods is offering buyouts to people living in especially hazardous areas.

Officials with Restore Louisiana announced Monday that homeowners residing in floodways can receive up to $200,000 in buyout money, if they are willing to move out of their disaster-prone homes.

Floodways are areas where water would be expected to flow  not just fill  during a 100-year flood, said Pat Forbes, director of the state Office of Community Development. Floodways are specially designated on the Federal Emergency Management Agency's flood insurance rate maps.

Forbes said in an interview that providing buyouts to people in floodways helps move people out of risky areas and improves water flow during a flood.

"Not only do we get that family into a safer home, but by removing that structure from the floodplain, we have also removed potential debris in the flood," Forbes said.

+12 'A totally new normal': Two years later, recovery mixed in communities hit hard by historic flood DENHAM SPRINGS  On one end of Capitol Street, a local developer believes a dilapidated shopping mall can bounce back if he transforms it into

People living in these areas have until now been ineligible for help from the $1.3 billion Restore Louisiana homeowner assistance program, because federal dollars cannot be used to rehabilitate homes located within floodways, Forbes said.

Only those people who have already applied to the Restore Louisiana program are eligible to be considered for this funding.

Officials have identified and are contacting about 450 homeowners who meet the requirements, but it is not clear how many people might take part.

There will certainly be some folks who don't want to leave their homes," Forbes said.

The program is projected to cost $45 million.

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+3 Oft-criticized, Restore Louisiana program discovers thousands eligible for flood relief didn't apply Despite heavy publicity, more than 20,000 households with significant damage from the 2016 flood in south Louisiana never took the first step 

The Restore Louisiana program will pay for homes in the floodway that sustained major or severe damage during the March or August 2016 floods and are in any of the 51 disaster-declared parishes. Since floodway homes can have depressed values, the program is also offering extra funds to help homeowners purchase new homes in less-risky areas.

"Some of these properties may not be worth very much, because they are in a floodway, and flood insurance is so expensive," Forbes said. "We can look at the average cost of buying a house (in the area) they live in and provide that much."

Homes purchased through the program will be demolished and turned into green space.

Unlike FEMA's hazard mitigation grant program, which also provides buyouts, there will be no match required from the homeowner.

Louisiana still waiting for how, when Trump plans to fix disaster aid 'duplication of benefits' WASHINGTON  State officials are still waiting on action from the Trump administration before paying out millions in Restore Louisiana flood 

Part of this new phase of the Restore Louisiana program will involve helping people who live in the especially flood-prone subdivisions of Pecan Acres in Pointe Coupee Parish and Silverleaf in Ascension Parish.

Restore Louisiana is funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

As of Nov. 23, the program had offered $523 million to 15,158 homeowners across Louisiana, according to a recent Restore Louisiana disbursement report.The old Sarkis Oriental Rug building has been sold to a group that plans to turn it into an arts and music events space that sells alcohol.

Renovate Urban Properties LLC bought the building at 4385 Government St. for $350,000 in a deal that closed Monday. The sellers were Sarkis and Nora Kaltakdjian of Prairieville.

Government Street rug shop could get new life as music, art space A local entrepreneur wants to turn the Sarkis Oriental Rugs building on Government Street into an arts and music events space that sells alcohol.

Renovate Urban Properties is made up of Devin Broome, a local entrepreneur; his wife Camille Manning-Broome, the president and chief executive officer of the Center for Planning Excellence; and Raul Urdiales.

Devin Broome said he wants to hold a number of events in the building, including concerts and art shows. The planning commission approved a measure in November to rezone the building to allow for alcohol sales and Broome also wants to operate a coffee shop in the building.

"We want to make this a place for the community to do stuff," he told The Advocate earlier this year.

Mark Hebert, of Kurz & Hebert Commercial Real Estate, represented the seller. The 10,000-square-foot building originally was a church, but 40 years ago it was converted to a rug store. Broome has said he plans to tear down a 5,000-square-foot addition for parking.Nexstar, with TV stations across Louisiana, makes offer for Tribune Media, with two New Orleans stationsA 51-year-old Baton Rouge man's conviction and life prison term for a 2012 rape of an 8-year-old girl have been affirmed by the Louisiana Supreme Court.

Earl Coleman's appeal was denied Monday by the high court, which did not issue written reasons.

Convicted Baton Rouge child rapist's freedom comes to an end with life sentence A 49-year-old Baton Rouge man who had been free on bail since his April conviction in the 2012 aggravated rape of an 8-year-old girl was sente

A 2013 arrest warrant says the girl went to Coleman to ask for some food, and Coleman picked her up, carried her to a bed and raped her.

An East Baton Rouge Parish jury found Coleman guilty of aggravated rape in April 2017. Four months later, state District Judge Trudy White sentenced him to a mandatory term of life behind bars.

White angered the victim's family when she allowed Coleman to remain free on bail and live near the girl and her mother while awaiting sentencing so he could be with his seriously ill mother. He was electronically monitored during that time.A jury will be allowed to hear testimony that a former LSU student charged in the fatal 2017 alcohol-related hazing of Phi Delta Theta pledge Max Gruver was adamant about not wanting Gruver in the fraternity, a judge ruled Tuesday.

State District Judge Beau Higginbotham also said jurors can hear testimony that Matthew Alexander Naquin, who is scheduled to stand trial July 8 on negligent homicide, tore up Gruver's bid card and said the 18-year-old freshman from Roswell, Georgia, was not a good fit.

+3 Ex-LSU student 'vocal' about not wanting Max Gruver in fraternity before hazing death, new court filings show A former LSU student accused of negligent homicide in the fatal 2017 alcohol-related hazing of Phi Delta Theta pledge Max Gruver was "vocal" a

Gruver died in September 2017 following a hazing ritual that senior Phi Delta Theta members called "Bible study," in which pledges were required to drink hard liquor when they gave incorrect answers to questions about the fraternity, authorities have alleged. Prosecutors say Naquin targeted Gruver. His blood alcohol level was 0.495 percent, or more than six times the legal limit to drive in Louisiana, an autopsy showed.

Higginbotham also heard arguments Tuesday from prosecutor Morgan Johnson and Naquin's attorney, John McLindon, on the hot-button issue of whether Naquin can be ordered to turn over the passcode to his confiscated cellphone.

The judge signed a search warrant for the phone in November 2017, and the East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney's Office seized it. But authorities have been unable to unlock the phone to access its contents.

McLindon argued that Naquin, 20, of Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas, is asserting his 5th Amendment right to remain silent and not incriminate himself. He also said the passcode issue carries with it huge implications as to privacy.

This isnt just a box with documents in it, McLindon told Higginbotham. Its your entire life.

Johnson told the judge that the state isnt interested in Naquins entire life, just his cellphone records from shortly before Gruver died until shortly after his death.

The state is not asking to invade Mr. Naquins privacy, he said.

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Johnson also argued that the valid search warrant "extinguished" Naquin's privacy rights to the phone contents sought by prosecutors.

Higginbotham, who said the issues raised by Naquin have not been decided by any court in Louisiana, said he will rule on the matter Jan. 28.

Naquins former roommate, Ryan Matthew Isto, pleaded no contest in September to misdemeanor hazing in the case and agreed to testify at Naquins trial. He has told prosecutors that Naquin was vocal about his desire to cut Gruver throughout the pledge period. In a statement played in court Tuesday, Isto told Johnson that Naquin stated Gruver was not a good fit but did not specify why he felt that way.

+6 Two former LSU students plead no contest in hazing death of Max Gruver Two former LSU students pleaded no contest Thursday to misdemeanor hazing in the alcohol-related death of freshman fraternity pledge Max Gruve

Isto, 19, of Butte, Montana, also said he witnessed Naquin tear up Gruvers bid card.

McLindon said after court that the public has heard only half of the story to this point.

The jurys going to hear both sides of the story. Theyll get the rest of the story, he stressed.

Gruvers father, Stephen Gruver, was in Higginbothams courtroom Tuesday but chose not to comment afterward.

Another ex-LSU student, Sean-Paul Gott, 22, of Lafayette, pleaded no contest in September to misdemeanor hazing and said hell testify at Naquins trial. A third former LSU student charged with hazing, Patrick Andrew Forde, 21, of Westwood, Massachusetts, has pledged to cooperate and testify truthfully at the trial. Prosecutors said theyll decide later whether to prosecute Forde.A Baton Rouge man accused of decapitating his parents in their Tennessee home in 2016 testified Monday in a Knox County courtroom, according to a report from the Knoxville News Sentinel.

Joel Michael Guy Jr., who lived in Baton Rouge at the time of the murder, is suspected of killing 61-year-old Joel Guy Sr. and 55-year-old Lisa Guy after police discovered their home covered in blood and body parts in Tupperware containers scattered around the house.

+2 New info revealed in warrant for BR man accused of dismembering parents in Tenn. A Baton Rouge man accused of dismembering his parents in their Tennessee home Thanksgiving weekend and trying to dissolve their remains bought

Knox County Sheriff's Office Detective Jeremy McCord recounted how he entered the couple's home after they didn't show up for work, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported. McCord found Lisa Guy's head in a pot that was boiling on the stove.

Chemicals and body parts were scattered around the home, combining for a stench that McCord said "is never going to leave me."

Knox News reports Assistant Public Defender Jonathan Harwell questioned Guy about the murders and legally blocked Assistant District Attorney General Leslie Nassios from her line of question.

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While on the stand, Guy testified he drove back to Baton Rouge to seek medical assistance for cuts to his hands the same day his parents' bodies were discovered after he saw crime scene tape at the house.

I had severe cuts on my hands, Guy testified without elaborating how he sustained the injuries.

He was arrested the next day at his Baton Rouge apartment.

Read the full Knoxville News Sentinel report here.Purchases made via links on our site may earn us an affiliate commissionIn announcing that he wont run for governor against John Bel Edwards, Louisianas junior U.S. senator, John Kennedy, said he thought he could do the most good by staying where he is.

Maybe hes right. One thing is certain. Theres much to do for any member of Congress representing Louisiana right now. The state needs a comprehensive, long-term extension of the National Flood Insurance Program, a critical factor in retaining and building residential and commercial investment here. Fixing Louisianas eroding coastline will continue to need strong federal support, an area where members of our congressional delegation can make a big difference. Louisianas agricultural and petrochemical sectors are especially vulnerable to recent shifts in U.S. trade policy. Here, too, a senator can be useful player in advancing the states interests.

Successfully championing Louisiana on Capitol Hill requires influence, and thats something of a fluctuating commodity within Louisianas delegation at the moment. U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, a Jefferson Parish Republican, is poised to retain his post as whip among his fellow party members, but when the House convenes next year, it will be under Democratic control.

The Senate will remain in GOP hands, a plus for Kennedy and his fellow Republican senator from Louisiana, Bill Cassidy.

Kennedys announcement of his decision to stay out of the governors race came on Monday, the day of the week when most of us return to work, putting our shoulders to the wheel to get things done.

The timing invited a natural contrast with the prevailing political culture these days, which often seems more focused on style than results. Kennedy has suffered from that perception, dismissed by critics as a man too busy spouting cornpone pronouncements on national television to labor long in the vineyards of legislation.

His lengthy will-he-wont-he guessing game concerning the governors race only served to underscore Kennedys reputation for theater.

Governance, of course, involves more than spectacle. Near the close of a year defined by drama in public life from the White House on down, we must wonder if voters are ready for something besides civic discourse that seems like yet another dreary episode of reality TV.

As another round of statewide elections looms, what if members of Louisianas largely Republican congressional delegation and the incumbent Democratic governor found more common ground to move the state forward?

That would be a show worth tuning in for.Ladies and gentlemen, we finally have ourselves a governors race. Or more likely, we dont, at least not much of one.

Theres been a strain of Republican thought ever since John Bel Edwards, a little-known legislator from Amite and a Democrat in a Republican state, won big the last time around. It goes like this: Edwards victory was an aberration, an outgrowth less of his own skills than the GOPs divisive primary fight  in which three candidates attacked one another for the privilege of facing and presumably beating Edwards without laying a glove on him  and runoff opponent David Vitters fatal flaws. Any well-placed Republican should be able to dispatch him in 2019.

The opposite theory is that Edwards ran a smart campaign and won clean, that a majority of voters assessed him and liked what they saw, and that hes continued to earn support in office.

U.S. Sen. John Kennedys long-awaited announcement Monday that he will not challenge Edwards next year bolsters the latter theory. In some ways, its about Kennedy. But its also very much about Edwards.

Kennedy was actually never the Republicans best option to take on Edwards. That would have been Steve Scalise, the popular House Republican whip who reiterated after Republicans lost the House in the mid-terms elections that he would not run.

Kennedys more of a job-hopper. He was just elected to the Senate on his third try in 2016, and as Edwards supporters have been relentlessly pointing out, he has far more network interviews than legislative accomplishments to show for his short tenure. While he has the name recognition to go head-to-head with a sitting governor, he also has critics within GOP ranks, including some of the partys big donors. And theres a real question over whether he has the appetite to do the work that the job entails, when he seems to enjoy nothing more than lobbing colorfully crafted complaints from the sidelines.

The bigger factor here, though, is likely Edwards strength as a candidate. He absolutely got lucky in his opponent the last time around, but he was also good  and has built on voters goodwill in office.

Lanny Keller: John Kennedy is a man who puts his party second -- way second Maybe, as a Democrat, Gov. John Bel Edwards is for once expressing the deepest feelings of hardcore partisans in the Louisiana Republican Part

Edwards blunted criticism that he might be too liberal for Louisiana during the campaign by embracing gun rights and opposing abortion, and he hasnt wavered from those positions. And he slowly and steadily solidified his standing by handling disasters with competence and compassion, by working to dig Louisiana out of the deep financial hole that Bobby Jindal had left behind, by keeping campaign promises to expand Medicaid and reduce the states nation-leading prison population, and by reaching across party lines to those who were willing to work with him, all the way up to President Donald Trump. While he raised taxes, he did so with the grudging cooperation of a GOP-controlled Legislature.

He hasnt done everything he wanted to do. Theres been no structural fiscal reform, and lawmakers have blocked his efforts to slightly raise the minimum wage and chip away at the gender gap on wages. But the TOPS scholarships and public/private hospitals are on more stable footing than when he arrived, and theres been a steady stream of economic development announcements.

Besides, a lot of people just seem to like the guy. Thats what the polls show, anyway.

He wont get a free ride, of course. Eddie Rispone, a wealthy Baton Rouge businessman, has declared his candidacy and is expected to put up millions of dollars. U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham says hell decide soon, and others could still sign up too. And with few big races in other states next year, there should be plenty of national money in the mix.

But all remaining potential challengers start way behind where Kennedy, a longtime state treasurer with a big fundraising base and even bigger public profile, would have begun. While a Kennedy-Edwards race would have been a battle of equals, anyone left to challenge Edwards now has to start off by establishing the stature to go up against a sitting governor.

As Edwards first election showed, anything can happen once qualifying begins. Still, if the pros really thought the governor can be easily picked off, surely more people would be lining up to do the picking.A Pentecostal pastor from Gretna said he plans to vigorously defend himself against allegations he illegally pointed a pistol to take back cash from a transgender sex worker following a botched tryst last month.

Wilfred Brown, who is 67 and describes himself as the pastor of Evariste Temple Church of God in Christ, faces counts of aggravated assault and soliciting prostitution in the Nov. 20 incident, while Brandon Smalls, 29  who goes by the first name Kourtney  is accused of simple robbery.

Authorities investigating the case believe Brown was driving his car in New Orleans and picked up Smalls about 10:30 p.m. Brown stopped near Decatur Street and Esplanade Avenue in an apparent attempt to solicit Smalls to engage (in) performing sexual acts, according to a state trooper's report on the arrests.

At some point, Smalls forcibly took a substantial amount of money Brown had in a front pocket of his pants, according to records.

There was a fight, and Brown took his money back after pointing a 9-mm pistol at Smalls, the report said.

State troopers helping New Orleans police patrol the area got on the case after Smalls called 911 and reported being chased down the street by a gunman. Brown and Smalls were then interviewed separately, with Brown being pulled over as he was apparently driving away from the area.

As he previously told police, Brown on Monday told The Advocate that he pulled out his gun only after being punched and robbed of as much as $370 by Smalls.

He said the robbery happened when he generously gave Smalls a ride on a cold night and stopped the car to have a conversation.

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Brown said the allegations outlined in Criminal District Court records were not true and that he would sue  for this false accusation if necessary.

Im a diabetic and have high blood pressure. Im not going to do something like that, Brown said.

Authorities alleged in court records that Brown's pants were unzipped when a trooper pulled him over. They said an opened condom had been tossed on the ground near his truck, and in his back pocket he had a bottle of Viagra, a drug used to treat erectile dysfunction.

According to police, Smalls claimed Brown stopped his car, put on a condom to begin initiating a sexual encounter and then became enraged upon realizing Smalls was born male.

Brown then chased Smalls out of the car as well as down the street at gunpoint, police said, citing Smalls' version of events.

Both were arrested that night. Brown was out on $500 bail Monday. Criminal District Court records do not show any prior arrests for him.

Smalls remained jailed Monday. Bail for the robbery count was set at $2,500, but Smalls was being held without bail on allegations of violating the terms of a four-year probation Smalls received after pleading guilty to four counts of simple robbery in 2015.

Smalls also has been serving three months of probation after pleading guilty to counts of simple assault and simple battery in September. Smalls initially had been accused in that case of extortion and aggravated battery but pleaded guilty to reduced charges, records show.Leaders of the Jesuit religious order plan to release a list of priests and other members Friday who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse, including those who worked in New Orleans and surrounding areas.

The list, provided by the Jesuits U.S. Central and Southern Province, will follow a similar release last month by New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Aymond, which named 57 priests and deacons who allegedly abused minors over the past several decades.

While some Jesuit priests who worked in New Orleans schools and parishes were named by the archdiocese, the order will also provide names of religious brothers and men studying to be Jesuits while teaching locally, which may expand the numbers of alleged abusers Jesuit officials had stationed in the area.

It is my hope that through the publication of this information, we can work to rebuild trust, always with the well-being of victims in mind, said a statement last month from the Rev. Ronald Mercier, the provinces leader. On behalf of the Jesuits of the USA Central and Southern Province, I apologize to the victims for the pain caused by Jesuits in the past.

The list from the Jesuits, which will cover the past 63 years, comes as Catholic leaders locally as well as across the U.S. have begun to recognize the need for greater transparency on abuse that occurred at the hands of the church over the past several decades.

Roughly a third of U.S. dioceses have released or plan to release lists, and Jesuit provinces covering much of the rest of the U.S. have made plans to make similar releases, according to the order's America magazine.

The release comes ahead of a review of all personnel files that the Jesuit province is having completed by Kinsale Management Consulting, a company run by retired FBI agents and law enforcement officers.

Kinsale was brought on as Catholic institutions around the country attempt to earn back the trust of parishioners during the latest aftershocks of a sex abuse and cover-up scandal that exploded in scope after reports in Boston in 2002.

'Disgusting time in our history': Jesuit leader horrified by 1970s abuse claims, urges vigilance The president of Jesuit High School sought to reassure a shaken Jesuit community Thursday that while he was horrified by the sexual abuse th

The firm wont have a comprehensive report of its findings about the Jesuit order until the spring, but by Friday the province will publish a preliminary list compiled internally of members who were working in the region in 1955 or after and were the subject of abuse allegations that officials consider credible.

Some allegations might predate 1955. They apparently will also involve men who died or left the order after that year.

The Jesuits  an order known for a commitment to education and social justice  are comprised of roughly 16,000 religious men, making them the worlds largest male Catholic religious order. Their presence in Louisiana mainly centers on running Jesuit High School and Loyola University in New Orleans.

They also run churches named Immaculate Conception in downtown New Orleans and north Baton Rouge, the Manresa silent retreat home in Convent, and a spirituality center at Grand Coteau. They previously ran Loyola College Prep in Shreveport but gave the school to the local diocese in the 1980s.

Six Jesuit priests were included in the list of 57 credibly accused diocesan and religious order clergy released on Nov. 2 by Aymond, a disclosure motivated in part by a Pennsylvania grand jury report this summer that exposed numerous previously unreported sexual abuse allegations involving hundreds of priests there.

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Former leaders at Jesuit, Shaw and Loyola University among shockers on archbishop's list of alleged sex abusers As the bombshell list of suspected clergy sex abusers in the New Orleans archdiocese began circulating on Friday, thousands of Catholics were 

Aymond said any allegations that resulted in the clergymens removal from ministry  or would have had they been alive at the time of the accusations  were considered credible. Merciers statement suggested his province would operate under the same standard.

Some cases that involved Jesuits had previously been publicized.

One involved Rev. Bernard Knoth, who resigned as president of Loyola in 2003 and left the priesthood after he was accused of sexually abusing a student at Indianapolis Brebeuf Jesuit Prep in 1986. Knoth has long maintained his innocence.

Another was the late Rev. Neil Carr, a former Jesuit High School teacher who was accused of taking part in the sexual abuse of an adolescent boy named Richard Windmann in the 1970s. The case recently resulted in a $450,000 financial settlement.

But others were a surprise, such as the late Rev. Donald Pearce, a former president at Jesuit High School, who in recent years was accused of abuse that allegedly occurred in the 1960s.

Aymonds list did not include names such as Claude Ory, a religious brother, and Donald Dickerson, who taught while studying to become a priest. Both worked at Jesuit High in the 1970s and were targeted by lawsuits alleging sexual abuse that prompted order officials to reach settlements with the accusers.

Aymond has said the archdiocese does not have files of religious brothers and similar personnel belonging to orders operating locally. He said it was up to the orders to release those names.

The Jesuits have not hinted at who may appear on Fridays list, saying only that it won't include any information that could directly identify accusers.

Many  have requested confidentiality, Merciers statement said. The province is committed to protecting the identities of these people so that there is no possibility of additional harm or stress.

The Jesuits used to have a New Orleans province but then folded it into one based in St. Louis. In addition to Louisiana, the U.S. Central and Southern Province governs institutions and personnel in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, southern Illinois, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, Texas, Tennessee, Oklahoma, the territory of Puerto Rico and the Central American nation of Belize.

This post was updated to clarify who compiled the list being released Friday.Comedian Pete Davidson has described how relentless bullying in the wake of his high-profile split from Ariana Grande has left him feeling suicidal.

In an emotional statement posted to Instagram, the Saturday Night Live star said he had been getting bullied online and in public for nine months.

Davidson and Grande in August. Credit:Invision

"I've kept my mouth shut. Never mentioned any names, never said a word about anyone or anything," he wrote.Sydney comic book artist Nicola Scott. Credit:Cole Bennetts

Superheroes have taken over Australia. Led by Avengers: Infinity War, the three highest grossing films this year were superhero movies; Queensland Art Gallery hosted a record-breaking Marvel exhibition alongside its fine art; and Melbournes Docklands Stadium was renamed Marvel Stadium when the Disney subsidiary purchased the naming rights.

Australians dont just enjoy superheroes - they create them. Local writers and artists like Tom Taylor and Nicola Scott produce Spider-Man and Wonder Woman comics for US publishers Marvel and DC; blockbuster films Thor: Ragnarok and the upcoming Aquaman were shot on the Gold Coast; and every Aussie actor from Hugh Jackman to Margot Robbie and Chris Hemsworth seems to have donned a superheros cape or claws.

Chris Hemsworth in Thor: Ragnarok. Credit:Marvel Studios

Despite an eager local audience and a tradition of producing superhero stories Australia has rarely attempted to develop its own super-powered characters. As Tina Turner famously wailed on the Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome soundtrack We Dont Need Another Hero.It's a familiar story: Someone goes to a Broadway musical, ignores the audience rules of conduct and pulls out a phone.

But on Monday night, that someone was Kanye West, the musical was The Cher Show, and it was the glittery and bespangled opening night.

West, one of the world's most visible rappers, was there with his wife, Kim Kardashian West, who has repeatedly declared herself a major Cher fan. Cher herself was also there.

The performance had been underway for about an hour when the actor playing Sonny Bono, Jarrod Spector, took to Twitter to call out West's behaviour.How much right do women have to bare arms? How short (a sleeve) is too short to be considered decent, these complex days, and what even qualifies as a cap sleeve?

In the wake of a respected reporter being ejected from the House of Representatives for showing too much upper limb, these are the questions on many working women's lips.

How much arm can I flash and still be considered professional? Is the shoulder the new cleavage? Is the upper biceps the new upper thigh?

And how many centimetres of material is necessary to protrude past the shoulder seam to qualify as ballpark-sleeve?Police are investigating after two men were assaulted by another man outside a licensed venue on November 2 on Carlisle Street, Balaclava.

Police have been told after a verbal altercation inside the venue about 6.30pm, the two men left but were physically assaulted about 500m from the premises.

One 27-year-old victim suffered lacerations to his face and had to be hospitalised. His 31-year-old friend sustained minor injuries.

Investigators have released an image of a man who they believe may be able to assist with their enquiries. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.A man who intentionally ran down a cyclist and a runner in Yarralumla last year will be dealt with under Canberra's mental health laws in an administrative tribunal, a judge has ruled.

Chief Justice Helen Murrell on Tuesday entered a special verdict of not guilty by reason of mental impairment for the charges of attempted murder and culpable driving.

Ashley Paul Kelly, 34, was detained in custody for immediate review by the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal under the territory's mental health laws

She also ordered he spend no more than seven years in prison, including the time he has already served in custody since his arrest in June last year, for the offences.

The case was unusual as the prosecution had earlier accepted the plea rather than the usual course of taking the matter to trial.A man has lost a finger in a machete attack inside his home in Sydney's west early on Wednesday morning.

Police are still searching for the man they believe is responsible for the attack at a unit on River Avenue in Carramar.

The victim, a 43-year-old man, suffered severe injuries.

When paramedics arrived soon after 5am, the victim had "serious lacerations all over his body", including his head, elbow, ankle and feet, a NSW Ambulance spokesman said.

A NSW Police spokeswoman said the men were "known to each other for a little while" and police are following "strong lines of inquiry" about the alleged attacker's identity.Detectives from the Homicide Squad have found women's underwear buried underneath missing woman Belinda Peisley's Katoomba home.

Forensic investigators began a dig under the home Ms Peisley had lived in on Monday, finding women's clothing - including underwear - in Belinda's size as they dug.

Belinda Peisley, 19, disappeared in Katoomba in 1998 Credit:NSW Police

Police are now awaiting the results of comprehensive forensic testing to determine if they belonged to Ms Peisley, Homicide Squads Detective Chief Inspector Grant Taylor said.

"Yesterdays find is of great interest to Strike Force Belonidae investigators," he said.The two men accused of being at the centre of the six-hour Coronation Drive siege had allegedly been on a three-month crime spree before being cornered in a Brisbane unit block.

Christopher John Matthews, 33, and Ross John Dolan, 29, appeared in Brisbane Arrests Court on Tuesday morning following Monday's standoff with police and were remanded in custody until the matter was due to be heard again in Brisbane Magistrates Court on January 21, 2019.

The pair had return to prison warrants on their heads, with court documents alleging they had been on-the-run for weeks and committing numerous crimes since August 31.

It has been alleged the pair's crime spree began on August 31 when they broke into a Priestdale home and stole property from inside.It was never going to be an easy job to bring a 60-year-old Alfred Hitchcock film to life on stage, especially when the storyline involves moving cars and trains as well as a remote United States field with a dive-bombing crop-duster plane.

But by Jove, they've done it! With thanks to a combination of "old school" theatre tricks and a hard-working cast moving the ever-changing pieces of the set around the stage.

Roger Thornhill (Matt Day) is dive-bombed and shot at by a crop duster in one of the show's thrilling action scenes.

The theatrical adaptation of Hitchcock's 1959 classic North By Northwest has drawn hoots of laughter and rapturous applause from Queensland audiences during its first week of performances.

Much of the humour and appreciation has been created using two small booths fitted with cameras and well-angled lighting as well as a large green screen.The two men and woman accused of being involved in the killing and dumping of a man's body in a wheelie bin at a Brisbane unit complex will remain behind bars until at least January next year.

Jamie Lee Tarraran, 23, was charged as an accessory overnight and she appeared in Brisbane Arrests Court in person on Tuesday morning.

She sat cross-legged in the dock, dressed in prison green clothing and showed little emotion as the matter was dealt with.

The crime scene at the Yeronga Street unit block. Credit:Felicity Caldwell

Ms Tarraran's case was adjourned until January 21 for a committal callover in Brisbane Magistrates Court.Australia's silence on cyber attacks and intellectual property theft emanating from China is representative of a broader silence on irritants and fundamental differences in the bilateral relationship. It doesn't serve Australias national interests.

In what is a bipartisan phenomenon, we have taken our relationship with China and decided, in contrast to all others, to walk on eggshells and handle it with "kid gloves". In so doing, we allow the Chinese state to set new precedents without being challenged  on cyber attacks and economic espionage, on political interference and coercion, on narrative creep and on human rights (notwithstanding Foreign Minister Marise Paynes recent rare comments on human rights abuses in Xinjiang).

Time to confront China's cyber incursions. Credit:Alamy

There is a lot at stake as we attempt to balance our economic and security interests, but there is an element of schizophrenia to our attempts to get the China relationship right. There is no right path forward that will please everyone. But there is a wrong path, and we are in danger of taking it.

In what look like anxious efforts to manage all aspects of the China relationship and deny differences, what has become starkly apparent is whats not being said. The silenc prevails even in an environment where the government has made some tough and important decisions, including on the exclusion of "high-risk vendors" for the 5G communications network and the passing of new security legislation on foreign interference.Informer 3838 is the registered number police gave a gangland lawyer when she turned supergrass and shared information about Melbourne's criminal underbelly, some of which were her own clients. The scandal throws into doubt a number of criminal convictions, discredits the cornerstones of the criminal justice system and questions the role senior police played. Informer 3838 began informally giving information from 2003, according to the Supreme Court, but was registered from 2005 to 2009. A number of police raised concerns about the use of the lawyer as an informer, including former detective Ron Iddles. At the time, Mr Ashton was at the Office of Police Integrity, and sat on the steering committee of two taskforces that used or tried to use Informer 3838.

Former barrister and National Crime Authority chair Peter Faris QC called for Mr Ashton's resignation. "Absolutely [he should step down] ... he was involved in this and he's got to stand down." But Police Minister Lisa Neville said Mr Ashton was not involved in managing the informer. "It was actually Graham Ashton, when he was in crime command, that raised concerns and raised the alert in relation to these issues and initiated the first review which was the Neil Comrie review. So I have complete confidence in Graham Ashton," Ms Neville said. "He's played a significant role in bringing this to light."

Mr Iddles said he knew of 10 to 15 senior police who were aware of Informer 3838. "They walked past the behaviour but still accepted it," he told radio station 3AW. "What concerns me and I've seen it historically is at times those senior police end up saying, 'I didn't know', and people who did the day-to-day job in the handling unit copped the blame. "Many of the people who were handlers are looking forward to speaking publicly at a royal commission and saying what they knew." Faruk Orman was 20 years old at the time of the Peirce murder. He was convicted in 2009 by a jury on the basis he drove the gunman, Andrew Benji Veniamin, to the murder scene. The court found Veniamin and Orman pulled up beside Peirces car in Bay Street, Port Melbourne, and Veniamin executed him.

The case against Orman relied heavily on the evidence of Witness B, a drug dealer turned police informer on a number of gangland killings. Witness B said Orman and Veniamin admitted to killing Peirce. The jury in the Orman case accepted Witness B as a credible witness. They were also presented, according to sentencing judge Mark Weinberg, a "substantial body of evidence, much of it circumstantial" to support Witness B's account, including phone taps of coded conversations between Veniamin and Orman. The question now is whether Informer 3838 encouraged Witness B to help police, before she then went on to represent Orman. The informer represented Orman in 2007 and 2008, Ms Parker said, and was junior to Robert Richter QC in preparing for the first trial.

She was intimately involved in the preparation of his defence, Ms Parker said. Ms Parker, who works for Galbally Rolfe, wrote to then DPP John Champion and the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission in 2015 upon learning about the corruption watchdogs inquiry into the scandal. Witness B, Ms Parker claimed in the letters, changed his evidence about where Orman and Veniamin made their confession. "We are concerned that there may be a connection between the changes [Witness B] made to his evidence, and the instructions our client gave to [Informer 3838] regarding aspects of [Witness B's] initial evidence which were shown to be untrue," the letter stated. The DPP did not respond and IBAC advised her that Ormans case was not being investigated by them, Ms Parker said.

In her letter on Monday, Ms Judd told Orman she was advised last Wednesday that Informer 3838 gave police information about him that may have been subject to legal professional privilege. Legal professional privilege is one of the cornerstones of the justice system, designed to protect confidential communication and documents between a lawyer and a client. Informer 3838's identity remains suppressed, and Victoria Police fought to prevent the DPP from notifying people like Orman because, police argued, it would reveal her identity as an informer and gravely endanger her life. But, in an extraordinary judgement published on Monday, the full bench of the High Court decided the public interest outweighed the risk to her safety and described the force's actions in using her information as "reprehensible". It led to Premier Daniel Andrews to announce a royal commission.

The High Court's judgement makes it difficult for Victoria Police to claim what's called public interest immunity, a principle in which the force can refuse to provide sensitive documents on the grounds it would not be in the public interest. A legal source said those seeking to challenge their convictions are likely to focus on the fact that by acting a police informer their lawyer was hopelessly compromised and could not provide them independent and accurate counsel. The conviction of Rob Karam, jailed over a massive ecstasy haul hidden in tomato tins, has also been called into question. His lawyer Zarah Garde-Wilson said the scandal "doesn't get worse than this". "It's taken four years to get here. It will take years more to see if the court system can be wound back from what has happened. Hence the need for a royal commission."Before the betrayal, methamphetamine cook Jimmy* trusted his barrister.

She was appointed to defend him on charges he manufactured ice at clandestine laboratories in McCrae, Rye, Coburg and Preston owned by the Mokbel clan. Sometimes he was forced to cook with a gun pointed at his head.

Jimmy* was a drug cook for the Mokbel clan. Pictured is Tony Mokbel. Credit:Justin McManus

Jimmy relied on lawyer EF for independent legal advice, but they became friends and he trusted her to babysit his kids. When he organised a birthday party, she received the acceptances.

When arrested again in April 2006 after police raided another "clan lab" in Strathmore run by the Mokbels, Jimmy asked his lawyer EF to attend the former police headquarters on St Kilda Road.Mr Iddles said the application to register the lawyer would have been decided on by a committee of senior police. "We were taught to give yourself the source test, every decision you make ask this, 'would the decision I make today withstand scrutiny, is it ethical, it is lawful and is it fair?' When you go to register a solicitor, the first two points fail straight off. "So it's those senior members who need to be held to account. "Somebody should have pulled it up."

Loading Asked about what should happen next, Mr Iddles said the government had made the right decision in establishing a royal commission straight away. "I do know there would have been 10 to 15 very senior police who knew what was happening. They walked past the behaviour but still accepted it. "You can't make a compromise, as soon as you start to cut a corner, you cut another corner and you end up in the position we are now in." "What concerns me and I've seen it historically is at times those senior police end up saying, 'I didn't know', and people who did the day-to-day job in the handling unit copped the blame.

"Many of the people who were handlers are looking forward to speaking publicly at a royal commission and saying what they knew." Informer 3838 and the legal controversy surrounding her dominated Tuesday's headlines. Credit:Mark Stehle 'He's got to stand down': Ashton called to resign Retired barrister Peter Faris QC, who has represented underworld figures including the late Carl Williams and Tony Mokbel, told ABC Radio National that he believed Police Commissioner Graham Ashton must step down. "Absolutely [he should step down]... he was involved in this and he's got to stand down," Mr Faris said.

Loading The former chairman of the National Crime Authority said that everyone was entitled to the due process of the law, which includes having confidence in their lawyer. "It's absolutely unprecedented, as far as I can see, that a practising busy criminal lawyer is at the same time a registered police informer." Informer 3838 may also be in danger, he added. "The police... assessed it as being almost certain she will be killed unless she goes into witness protection which she has refused to do. The High Court has said it's up to her, if she refuses to go to witness protection... and if she wont take her kids into witness protection then maybe the state will have to take them away from her."

Government backs Ashton Despite calls for his resignation, government ministers have backed Mr Ashton. Attorney-General Jill Hennessy, who took on the job as Attorney-General last week after she spent years as Health Minister, told ABC Melbourne radio on Tuesday Mr Ashton had the government's full support. "Let me emphasise that the government feels very assured by the Chief Commissioner of Police, [that] the work that has been done implementing improvements to the way in which human sources are managed in Victoria Police," she said. She also revealed some members of the judiciary, such as Supreme Court judges, could be exempt from giving evidence at the royal commission despite working as lawyers on underworld cases.

There are certain exemptions that some of the judicial personnel have in regard to your ability to make people provide evidence, Ms Hennessy said. Ultimately these are going to be the matters the commission are going to grapple with. I want the law to be applied and certain Supreme Court judges will have an exemption around what evidence they will not be required to provide. At a press conference on Tuesday, Police Minister Lisa Neville also expressed her confidence in Mr Ashton. Police Minister Lisa Neville speaks to the media with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews during a press conference announcing a Royal Commission in on Monday. Credit:Ellen Smith

"As I understand, Graham Ashton's involvement was not in any way part of managing this witness, this informer. In fact it was involved in a completely different matter," Ms Neville said. "In addition to that it was actually Graham Ashton when he was in crime command that raised concerns and raised the alert in relation to these issues and initiated the first review which was the Neil Comrie review. So I have complete confidence in Graham Ashton." "I think he's played a significant role in bringing this to light." Ms Neville said the aspect of the scandal which concerned her the most was the possibility that convicted criminals could walk free. "What really concerns me ... I understand they were extraordinary times, I was a member of parliament at the time, it was an extraordinary time, it was a gangland war, we've had TV shows about it. But at the same time, what really concerns me and why we've done this [royal commission] is we should not have any conduct that in any way leads to the risk of very dangerous criminals getting out," she said.Prominent gangland lawyer Zarah Garde-Wilson has claimed she tried to expose a former police informant who betrayed some of the state's most dangerous criminals.

Ms Garde-Wilson said she became aware years ago of the conduct of a fellow gangland lawyer who had turned police informer.

The informer, known as 3838, has claimed to have helped Victoria Police in at least 386 cases involving notorious figures from Melbourne's underworld, including major drug traffickers, murderers and Mafia figures.

Ms Garde-Wilson revealed she knew Informer 3838 was working in a dual capacity since 2014 and further claimed she had been fighting for a royal commission into the legal scandal ever since.This weeks jaw-dropping revelations that the most senior members of Victoria Police allowed conduct described by the highest court in Australia as "reprehensible" and involving the most "fundamental and appalling breaches of duty" should alarm us all. Its a dizzying scandal - police recruiting a barrister to inform on her own clients.

Illustration: Andrew Dyson Credit:

While this is undoubtedly one of the most extreme cases of police misconduct in recent history, it would be a mistake to see it as the only one.

Our justice system is supposed to represent the best of us: principled, fair, equal and incorruptible. Underpinned by centuries-old common values that bind and protect us all.

But 2018 has exposed a chasm between what is officially said, and what is officially done. Both our politicians and police have shown that theyre willing to adopt an ends justify the means mentality, even when it results in throwing our shared values under a bus.A Perth high school was put into lockdown last week after police were called to remove a suspended student from school grounds.

Lesmurdie Senior High School took action as a precaution last Tuesday when a student, who was suspended at the time, arrived at the school.

Lesmurdie Senior High School was put into lockdown on Tuesday. Credit:Facebook

She was accompanied by another minor who was unknown to the school.

Its understood the girls were searching the school for a third student.A cost breakdown of activities planned to entice tourists to Rottnest Island over the summer holidays has indicated visitors could face hefty bills to participate.

Last week tourism minister Paul Papalia said eight new recreational businesses had been offered a lease to operate over the 2018 summer season as a part of Tourism WA's continued push to entice local and overseas visitors to the island.

Rottnest Island. Credit:Rottnest Island Authority

And while some activities aren't expected to break the bank, the average cost of participating in one activity on the island during summer rings in at just over $150.

Activities range from a crayfish catch and cook tour, glass bottom kayaks, boat hire, subsea scooter hire, snorkel and dive tours and underwater helmet walks.The young Perth man confined to a dingy bedroom in a Department of Communities house will be allocated an extra staff member to support him during the night.

Yesterday Karen Parkinson told how her son Reece, who has autism spectrum disorder and some very challenging and sometimes destructive behaviours, spends most of his time locked in a bedroom with two mattresses on the floor and an ice-cream container for a toilet. His window is boarded up, and there are four locks on the door.

Reece resides in a house in Caversham, which a clinical psychologist, the Centre for Applied Behaviour Analysis and his family say forces him to live in restrictive conditions and contributes to his deterioating behaviour.

The department admits it is 'not ideal'.Leading academic Glyn Davis has disputed claims that free speech and academic inquiry are under threat on university campuses, labelling the issue a confected calamity that is ideologically driven, imported from the United States and not backed by Australian examples.

As concerns grow that the freedom of academics and students is being undermined  with a Morrison government-initiated review now under way  Professor Davis said criticism had been "loud and very widely acknowledged" but argued there was no evidence of a severe problem.

Former University of Melbourne vice-chancellor Glyn Davis. Credit:Louie Douvis

"Claims of a crisis require evidence. Crisis means trends that can be measured. Frequent examples that demonstrate consistent worrying behaviour, proof of an organised assault on the underlying principles of public universities  these are all conspicuously absent," the former vice-chancellor of the University of Melbourne said in a speech in Canberra on Tuesday.

Opening a summit on academic autonomy and free speech at the Australian National University, where he is now a professor, Professor Davis acknowledged "exceedingly rare" incidents and that universities had been caught flat-footed by the debate.The boss of one of the state's most powerful unions has delivered a stinging rebuke to the McGowan Government for giving the green light to fracking in the North West and has promised to recruit branch members into the Labor Party to fight the decision.

Maritime Union of Australia secretary Christy Cain said he was disillusioned and disappointed with WA Labor, but vowed to "box on" over the issue.

WA Maritime Union boss Christy Cain at his headquarters in Fremantle. Credit:Philip Gostelow

"Obviously we havent done enough work inside the party, and obviously one should ask what the f--k they, the McGowan Government, are doing," he said.

"We have a platform, which they play lip service to, unless it suits them.Manafort and WikiLeaks have both denied a recent report in The Guardian that Manafort visited Assange at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London in 2013, 2015 and 2016. In at least two meetings with Ecuador's President, Paul Manafort discussed handing Assange over to the US in exchange for concessions like debt relief. Credit:AP But the revelations about Manafort's discussions in 2017 about Assange in Quito underscore again how his self-styled role as an international influence broker intersected with the questions surrounding the Trump campaign. And the episode shows how after Trump's election, Manafort sought to cash in on his brief tenure as Trump's campaign chairman even as investigators were closing in. The Ecuadoreans continued to explore the possibility of Chinese investment, but with the US Justice Department and intelligence agencies stepping up their pursuit of Assange and WikiLeaks, Moreno's team increasingly looked to resolve their Assange problem by turning to Russia.

Loading In the months after Moreno took office, the Ecuadorean government granted citizenship to Assange and secretly pursued a plan to provide him a diplomatic post in Russia as a way to free him from confinement in the embassy in London. (That plan was ultimately dropped in the face of opposition from British authorities, who have said they will arrest Assange if he leaves the embassy.) Jason Maloni, a spokesman for Manafort, said that it was Moreno - not Manafort - who broached the issue of Assange and "his desire to remove Julian Assange from Ecuador's embassy". Manafort "listened but made no promises as this was ancillary to the purpose of the meeting," said Maloni, adding "There was no mention of Russia at the meeting." Late last year, Mueller's team charged Manafort with a host of lobbying, money laundering and tax violations in connection with his consulting work for Russia-aligned interests in Ukraine before the 2016 election. Manafort was convicted of some of the crimes and pleaded guilty to others as part of an agreement to cooperate with prosecutors. But prosecutors said last week that he violated the deal by repeatedly lying to them. Manafort remains in solitary confinement in a federal detention centre in Alexandria, Virginia, waiting for a judge to set a sentencing date.

Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno has looked for ways to remove Julian Assange from the London embassy. Credit:AP All along, Manafort and his allies have maintained that his foreign consulting work was aligned with US interests, though his clients and their initiatives often provoked Washington's ire. The trip to Ecuador was part of a whirlwind world tour that represented the last gasps of Manafort's once lucrative career. In those final months, Manafort pitched officials from a range of governments facing a variety of challenges, from Puerto Rico to Ecuador to Iraqi Kurdistan to the United Arab Emirates. Manafort, who served on the board of the Overseas Private Investment Corp in the Reagan administration, presented himself as a liaison to the new Trump administration and, in some cases, as a broker for arranging investments from a fund associated with the state-owned China Development Bank. In Quito, he told Moreno's team that he could arrange a major cash infusion from the Chinese fund in the Ecuadorean electric utility, and could ease any potential concerns from the Trump administration about such an investment,according to people involved in arranging the meetings.

Loading The week after the Quito trip, Manafort travelled to Hong Kong to meet with representatives from the China Development Bank's fund to discuss the possible investment in Ecuador, as well as a proposal being pushed by Manafort to buy Puerto Rico's bond debt, possibly in exchange for ownership of the island's electric utility. In both cases, Manafort assured the Chinese, he could win support from Washington, despite Trump's oft-expressed qualms about China. Brokering a deal to bring Assange to the United States could have been even more complicated. Not only had Assange not been charged at the time of Manafort's trip, but Assange's work was - and remains - a particularly fraught matter for Trump and his team. Trump and his allies had cheered on WikiLeaks during the campaign, when it released troves of embarrassing internal emails and documents stolen from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman. Since then, though, the US intelligence agencies and Mueller's team have made the case that the documents were stolen by Russian government agents, 12 of whom were charged by Mueller.

Assange had been pursued by Swedish prosecutors on a rape accusation from 2010. The Ecuadorean Embassy in London granted him asylum in the summer of 2012. That was under Moreno's predecessor, Rafael Correa, whose political identity was based partly on his antagonism toward the US. Swedish authorities abandoned their attempt to extradite him last year, which invalidated the warrant for his arrest. Loading During Correa's last day in office, the Ecuadorean government wrote a letter repeating its requests to Britain to accept Assange's asylum status. The letter asserts that US officials had left "no doubt about their intention to persecute Mr Assange with the aim of punishing him for alleged offences." Moreno had signalled during his campaign that he would like to wash his hands of Assange. And last December, Ecuador began carrying out the plan to move Assange to Russia as a diplomat, which would require him to become an Ecuadorean citizen. In a citizenship interview at the embassy in London, Assange explained that he wanted to become a citizen because "I've been welcomed here for the last five years and I feel practically Ecuadorean," according to a written summary of the meeting.Loading "Tattoo it on my body!" one Twitter user wrote about Obama's words. The uncharacteristic remark even appeared to catch Obama off-guard. Author and political commentator Toure Neblett tweeted that "everyone freaked out ... Michelle, too." Neblett added that Obama quickly apologised before saying, "I forgot where I was for a moment." "I thought we were at home, y'all," Obama said, according to Vanity Fair. "I was gettin' real comfortable up in here."

After reassuring the crowd she was "back now," Obama offered a censored version of her earlier statement, swapping the swear word out for "stuff," Vanity Fair reported. While Obama's accidental use of an expletive swiftly became all anyone could talk about, several people pointed out that her candid criticism of "leaning in" had much greater significance. "Thank you [Michelle Obama] for being so real about the pressures we face as working mothers and reminding us all that just being ourselves is more than good enough!" one person wrote on Twitter. "Leaning in" was first popularised in 2013 by Sandberg, the now-embattled Facebook executive, in her book titled, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. Sandberg, described in a review of the book as "a self-avowed feminist who wants to transform the role of women in the workplace," encouraged women to assert themselves at work and in their communities to avoid ending up in subordinate positions. The concept is linked to the ambitious idea that women, as long as they try, can be successful at home and at work.

Since its debut, the "lean in" philosophy has been met with mixed success. Sandberg's book sold more than 4 million copies worldwide and occupied a spot on the New York Times bestseller list for more than a year. It spawned a nonprofit bearing the same name founded by Sandberg and hundreds of "Lean In" circles, groups of women who meet regularly to discuss Sandberg's advice. The circles have been touted as "one of the few places in the world where women can be overtly, unapologetically ambitious," according to the New York Times. However, many argue that "leaning in" can place too much pressure on women to take action instead of pushing for workplaces to change. Connie Schultz wrote in the 2013 Washington Post review that Sandberg's book is "full of good intentions," but added that the advice "sounds like a prescription for how to lean in until you collapse from exhaustion."

Loading In a 2017 interview with USA Today, four years after "Lean In" first published, Sandberg said that even though women were galvanised, she was not seeing a change in business and politics. "In terms of women in leadership roles, we are not better off," she said, noting that women occupied less than 6 per cent of Fortune 500 CEO jobs and their global equivalents, and the number of countries run by women had decreased. She continued: "Overall, we are not seeing a major increase in female leadership in any industry or in any government in the world, and I think that's a shame." Support for "leaning in" has been further hampered by the #MeToo movement, wrote Sarah Seltzer in a December 2017 piece for the Nation.

#MeToo stories have "revealed a staggering, industry-spanning problem with workplace misogyny," Seltzer wrote, adding that telling women, not workplaces, to change "has suffered what may amount to a death blow this year." "It's become glaringly clear in these past weeks that, far from merely balancing work, life, and gendered expectations, women working in industries from glamorous-seeming Hollywood to crowded restaurant kitchens have been navigating a brutal minefield of harassment, abuse, and inappropriate behaviour - not to mention plain old sexism and bullying - in order simply to keep their jobs, never mind advance in their careers," she wrote. More recently, "leaning in" and Sandberg's leadership were placed under additional scrutiny after controversy erupted around Facebook and Russian interference in the 2016 election. "Sandberg's failure at Facebook exposes an emptiness at the heart of the argument that made her famous," wrote Post columnist Molly Roberts, following a November New York Times report that Sandberg and other Facebook executives had tried to cover up Russians using the site to promote propaganda. On social media, Obama's words were met with widespread approval.Hyundai America Reports November 2018 Sales Up A Smidge vs. 2017







 Total Sales Up 1 Percent

 Hyundai Brand Sales Increase 3 Percent

 Record November Sales for Tucson, Total SUV and Ioniq

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, CA - December 3, 2018: Hyundai Motor America reported November sales of Hyundai- and Genesis-branded vehicles of 57,499 units, a 1 percent increase in comparison with November 2017. Hyundai continues to achieve sales gains in the second half of the year with total sales increasing in six out of the last seven months.

Sales by Brand

Nov-18 Nov-17 2018 YTD 2017 YTD Hyundai 57,082 55,435 602,527 603,315 Genesis 417 1,776 9,698 18,646 TOTAL 57,499 57,211 612,225 621,961

Hyundai Brand Highlights

Hyundai-branded vehicle sales increased by 3 percent, led again by a monthly SUV sales record that rose 17 percent compared with the prior year. This was the fourth month in a row Hyundai established a new monthly SUV sales mark, while retail SUV sales mix was 49 percent versus 38 percent last November. Tucson set a monthly record for the 21st month in a row, with a 3 percent increase and Kona reached nearly 6,000 units sold, its highest monthly total since going on sale in February. Sonata (up 2 percent), Veloster (up 9 percent) and Ioniq (up 12 percent), which also set a November sales record, were the other Hyundai models with improvements on the month.

Hyundais product portfolio makeover of 10 all-new or redesigned models in 2018 are attracting consumers and resulting in sales growth in an industry we expect to be down slightly for the month, said John Cook, director, Sales Operations, Hyundai Motor America. We continue to focus on retail sales and with compelling offers during the Hyundai Holidays winter sales event we are aiming for an increase on the year. Going into 2019 with these new products and our new flagship premium three-row Palisade SUV that was launched at the Los Angeles Auto Show last week, we are building momentum and are poised to pick up market share.

November Product and Corporate Activities

Hyundai Palisade Global Reveal: At the Los Angeles Auto Show, Hyundai introduced its new flagship premium three-row Palisade SUV. The 2020 Palisade rides on an all-new SUV chassis with exceptional second- and third-row roominess coupled with generous cargo area and reconfiguration flexibility. Palisade will be available at dealerships across the U.S. in the summer of 2019.

At the Los Angeles Auto Show, Hyundai introduced its new flagship premium three-row Palisade SUV. The 2020 Palisade rides on an all-new SUV chassis with exceptional second- and third-row roominess coupled with generous cargo area and reconfiguration flexibility. Palisade will be available at dealerships across the U.S. in the summer of 2019. Kona and Kona Electric Finalist for Utility Vehicle of the Year: The 2019 Hyundai Kona and Kona Electric CUV models were together named one of the three finalists for the 2019 North American Utility Vehicle of the Year, one of the most prestigious annual awards given in the auto industry.

The 2019 Hyundai Kona and Kona Electric CUV models were together named one of the three finalists for the 2019 North American Utility Vehicle of the Year, one of the most prestigious annual awards given in the auto industry. KBB Best Buy Awards for Kona and Veloster N: The 2019 Kona and 2019 Veloster N earned Best Buy Awards from the experts at Kelley Blue Book in the categories of Best Subcompact SUV and Best Performance Car, respectively.

The 2019 Kona and 2019 Veloster N earned Best Buy Awards from the experts at Kelley Blue Book in the categories of Best Subcompact SUV and Best Performance Car, respectively. Veloster N Pricing: The well-regarded, high-performance Veloster N starts at $26,900 and the Performance Package model at $29,000.

The well-regarded, high-performance Veloster N starts at $26,900 and the Performance Package model at $29,000. 2019 Racing Program: Bryan Herta Autosport will compete in the 2019 IMSA MICHELIN Pilot Challenge in the all-new Hyundai Veloster N TCR race car. In addition, Bryan Herta Autosport will sell Hyundai TCR race cars to customer teams and provide technical and parts support.

Hyundai Model Sales

Vehicle Nov-18 Nov-17 2018 YTD 2017 YTD Accent 1,957 3,624 25,260 53,750 Azera -1 146 626 2,919 Elantra 18,148 19,060 185,339 176,860 Ioniq 1,074 962 13,801 10,289 Kona 5,976 0 38,771 0 Santa Fe 8,994 11,346 105,691 120,025 Sonata 8,173 7,982 96,413 123,295 Tucson 11,908 11,532 126,915 103,102 Veloster 853 781 9,710 11,903

Genesis Model Sales

Vehicle Nov-18 Nov-17 2018 YTD 2017 YTD G70 128 0 180 0 G80 217 1,408 7,358 14,654 G90 72 368 2,160 3,992

Hyundai Motor America

Hyundai Motor America is focused on delivering an outstanding customer experience grounded in design leadership, engineering excellence and exceptional value in every vehicle we sell. Hyundais technology-rich product lineup of cars, SUVs and alternative-powered electric and fuel cell vehicles is backed by Hyundai Assuranceour promise to deliver peace of mind to our customers. Hyundai vehicles are sold and serviced through more than 830 dealerships nationwide and the majority sold in the U.S. are built at U.S. manufacturing facilities, including Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama. Hyundai Motor America is headquartered in Fountain Valley, California, and is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company of Korea.IRVINE, CA - December 4, 2018: Yesterday, Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) today reported total November sales of 20,660 vehicles, a decrease of 3.8 percent compared to November 2017. Year-to-date (YTD) sales through November saw an increase of 4.5 percent, with 274,455 vehicles sold. With 25 selling days in November 2018, compared to 25 the year prior, the company posted a decrease of 3.8 percent on a Daily Selling Rate (DSR) basis.

KEY SEPTEMBER SALES NOTES:



 November sales of the Mazda6, totaled 1,984 vehicles, an increase of 20.2 percent compared to November 2017.



 Sales of the Mazda CX-5, Mazdas midsized crossover SUV, totaled 10,882 vehicles in November, an increase of 2.6 percent compared to November 2017.



 Mazda reported Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) sales of 4,249 vehicles in November, an increase of 14.2 percent compared to November 2017. CPO sales are up 21.4 percent YTD.



 Mazda Motor de Mexico (MMdM) reported best-ever November sales of nearly 6,000 vehicles, steady compared to November last year. This is the seventh month in a row that MMdM set a best-ever month record.Mitsubishi Motors: eK Space Earns Top ASV+++ Minicar Rating in FY2018 JNCAP













TOKYO, Nov, 30 2018 - Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) announces that in the FY2018 JNCAP(1) super-height wagon the eK Space has been awarded the maximum ASV+++(2) rating for active safety performance.



eK Space is fitted as standard with Mitsubishi's Forward Collision Mitigation (FCM) braking system that detects pedestrians as well as vehicles ahead of the vehicle. The Custom trim level is also fitted as standard with Mitsubishi's Lane Departure Warning (LDW) and Automatic High Beam systems. Safety Package trim levels are fitted as standard with Mitsubishi's Multi Around Monitor, which also provides a bird's eye view of the car, that allows the driver to check what is behind the car. These driver assistance systems all support safer operation of the vehicle.



The FY2018 JNCAP active safety performance looked at seven areas of performance in total. As in previous years, it tested the four areas of: Vehicle damage mitigating braking; Pedestrian injury mitigating brake system; Lane keep assist; and Rearview monitor(3). This year, three new categories were tested: High-performance multi-functional headlights, Sudden unintended acceleration mitigation, and Pedestrian injury mitigation braking (at night with street lighting). An eK Space fitted with Mitsubishi Motors' latest active safety technologies was awarded full marks in the Vehicle damage mitigation braking and Rearview monitor(3) categories, and was rated highly in the other categories.



And compact minivan the Delica D:2 has also been awarded the maximum ASV+++(2) rating for active safety performance.



Mitsubishi Motors is continuing development of active safety technologies, and extending their installation to more models, that allow the driver to enjoy the driving experience with reassurance and that help avoid or mitigate damage or injury in the event of an accident.



(1) Japan New Car Assessment Program; run by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and the National Agency for Automotive Safety & Victims' Aid (NASVA).

(2) Advanced Safety Vehicle (as defined by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism).

(3) When fitted with 7-inch display 2-DIN memory navigation system.







About Mitsubishi MotorsMazda Worldwide Production and Sales Results for October 2018













TOKYO, Nov, 30 2018; Mazda Motor Corporation's production and sales results for October 2018 are summarized below.



I. Production



1. Domestic Production



Mazda's domestic production volume in October 2018 increased 12.0% year on year due to increased production of passenger and commercial vehicles.



[Domestic production of key models in October 2018]

CX-5: 44,207 units (up 31.3% year on year)

CX-3: 15,210 units (up 17.7%)

Mazda3 (Axela): 10,962 units (down 30.8%)



2. Overseas Production



Mazda's overseas production volume in October 2018 decreased 7.6% year on year due to decreased production of passenger vehicles.



[Overseas production of key models in October 2018]

Mazda3: 17,892 units (down 23.3% year on year)

Mazda2: 8,738 units (up 4.3%)

Mazda6: 6,690 units (up 15.4%)



II. Domestic sales



Mazda's domestic sales volume in October 2018 increased 1.6% year on year due to increased sales of passenger and commercial vehicles. Mazda's registered vehicle market share was 4.3% (down 0.6 points year on year), with a 1.9% share of the micro-mini segment (down 0.1 points) and a 3.4% total market share (down 0.4 points).



[Domestic sales of key models in October 2018]

Mazda2 (Demio): 3,481 units (up 36.6% year on year)

CX-3: 1,556 units (up 41.1%)

CX-8: 1,395 units



III. Exports



Mazda's export volume in October 2018 increased 20.2% year on year due to increased shipments to North America, Europe, Oceania and other regions.



[Exports of key models in October 2018]

CX-5: 38,809 units (up 37.1% year on year)

CX-3: 13,457 units (up 39.0%)

Mazda3: 9,870 units (down 22.8%)







About MazdaA Fruitful G-20 for Canada as US Gives China 3-Month Reprieve

US tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum persist

Canada stands to benefit from trade-related outcomes at the G-20 as the United States and China work together and leaders agree international trade reforms are needed.

The spotlight in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was firmly on the Dec. 1 meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The leaders of the worlds two largest economies eased trade tensions and set a 3-month timeframe to work out the thorny issues that the United States is accusing China of, such as intellectual property theft, forced transfer of technologies, cyber crime, and less-than-open markets.

This is good news for Canada.

Canadas kind of free-riding on the U.S. doing this, because we havent got the kind of influence the U.S. would have, said Dane Rowlands, director of the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University, in an interview.

I think overall theyll be pleased by the American capacity in the meeting to drag the Chinese government closer to what would be more expected of a participant at the WTO [World Trade Organization], Rowlands added.

Reports said Trump and Xi had an amicable meeting, but three tough months of negotiations lie ahead.

And this is not to be interpreted as the United States weakening its stance on China. In his meeting with Xi, Trump was accompanied by National Security Adviser John Bolton and National Trade Council Director Peter Navarro.

This is a message to the Chinese side that the hawks continue to control the narrative, and there will be no softening or negotiating away by the [Trump] administration on its key tenets, according to a note from TD Securities.

In what appeared to be a nod to Trumps tough trade rhetoric, the G-20 Leaders Declaration acknowledged that global trading reforms are needed at the WTO, but that multilateral trading has made a valuable contribution to global growth, innovation, productivity, job creation, and development.

The system is currently falling short of its objectives and there is room for improvement. We therefore support the necessary reform of the WTO to improve its functioning, according to the declaration.

While there is a sense that China has broken the spirit of having joined the WTO, Rowlands said that a general statement is helpful in obtaining a Chinese acknowledgment.

The Chinese are realists in this. I think they understand that they have to be seen as doing something, and I think its a good thing that theyve been called to task here, he said.

The declaration also endorsed preventing corruption and ensuring integrity in state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Chinas SOEs have been heavily criticized for anti-competitive behaviour and a lack of transparency. They have also been accused of gathering foreign intelligence for the ruling communist regime.

Trade Deals

At the start of the G-20, the leaders of the United States, Canada, and Mexico signed the United States-Mexico-Canada-Agreement (USMCA)the replacement for NAFTA. The USMCA still needs to be ratified by lawmakers in the three countries.

However, U.S. tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum continue to be a point of contention for Canada.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took the opportunity to address the tariffs with Trump. Its all the more reason why we need to keep working to remove the tariffs on steel and aluminum between our countries.  With hard work, goodwill, and determination, I am confident we will get there. Our shared interests, prosperity, and security demand it, he said at a news conference.

Rowlands said its not clear what the Trump administration wants in return for getting rid of the ongoing U.S. tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, but that it is likely not simply a quid pro quo.

I think what theyll say is well lift it in our own good time on the basis of what we judge to be correct to the U.S., Rowlands said.

He doesnt think the Democrat-dominated U.S. Congress will put up much of a fight in ratifying the USMCA, as the Democrats werent unhappy as Trump was with NAFTA in the first place, and the new trade deal is a better one for the American worker.

I just dont see this as a hill the Democrats are going to die on, he said.

Follow Rahul on Twitter @RV_ETBiz(L) Full Disclosure, a memoir by adult film actress Stormy Daniels, at a Barnes&Noble store in Chicago, Ill. on Oct. 2, 2018. (R) Lawyer Michael Avenatti speaks to the media outside the office of the LAPD after posting bail for domestic violence, Los Angeles, Cal., on Nov. 14, 2018. (Scott Olson/Getty Images; AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker)

Actress Stormy Daniels Hit With $800,000 Call For Legal Fees, Penalties

Pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels faces the prospect of nearly $800,000 in legal fees and penalties after lawyers for President Donald Trump asked a court to compel her to pay the sum for a failed defamation suit.

Attorney Charles Harder told Judge S. James Otero on Dec. 3 that his law firm had spent more than 500 hours working on the case, ringing up a legal bill of almost $390,000.

Harder also asked the judge to impose an additional $390,000 in sanctions as a deterrent against a repeat filer or frivolous defamation cases. He argued the fees and penalties were deserved because of the extraordinary nature of the defamation case.

Otero didnt immediately rule on Harders request. He noted that fees by Harders firmas high as $840 an hourwere reasonable but the 580 hours spent on the case appeared to be excessive and might be trimmed in his eventual award.

Meritless Claim for Defamation

This action is virtually unprecedented in American legal history, Harder wrote in court papers. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, not only brought a meritless claim for defamation against the sitting president of the United States, but she also has engaged, along with her attorney, in massive national publicity.

Daniels has written a book about her alleged one-night affair with Trump in 2006, and has been active on the media circuit promoting it and her side of the story.

She sued Trump earlier this year seeking to break a non-disclosure agreement she signed days before the 2016 election about the alleged tryst.

Trump has denied the affair took place.

Daniels also claimed that five years after the alleged affair she was threatened to keep quiet by an unidentified man in a Las Vegas parking lot. She then released a composite sketch of the mystery man.

She sued Trump for defamation after he responded to the allegation by tweeting, A sketch years later about a nonexistent man. A total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)!

A sketch years later about a nonexistent man. A total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)! https://t.co/9Is7mHBFda  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 18, 2018

In October Otero ruled that Trumps statement was rhetorical hyperbole against a political adversary and was protected speech under the First Amendment.

Although the lawsuit didnt get far before Otero tossed it, he said it was a one-of-a-kind case that demanded a fair bit of legal work.

Given a case of this magnitude, you have to err on the side of being thorough, Otero said.

Daniels has appealed Oteros decision and her lawyer said on Dec. 3 he expects to prevail at a higher court.

Absurd and Outrageous

Daniels attorney, Michael Avenatti, who has positioned himself as a Trump foe and is said to be considering a run for president in 2020 as a Democrat, has called the sanctions Trumps lawyers are asking for absurd and outrageous.

You cant just pick a number out of thin air in an effort to put my client under Donald Trumps thumb and intimidate her, Avenatti said.

He said he would be seeking attorneys fees against Trump in the ongoing hush money case and he anticipates being awarded a figure that dwarfs exponentially what Trump is seeking in the defamation case, possibly exceeding $2 million.

Avenatti earlier faced rebuke from the president in the context of the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings, when Trump suggested Avenatti was orchestrating false accusations of sexual assault.

Avenatti is a third-rate lawyer who is good at making false accusations, like he did on me and like he is now doing on Judge Brett Kavanaugh, Trump wrote on Twitter on Sept. 26. He is just looking for attention and doesnt want people to look at his past record and relationshipsa total low-life!

Avenatti is a third rate lawyer who is good at making false accusations, like he did on me and like he is now doing on Judge Brett Kavanaugh. He is just looking for attention and doesnt want people to look at his past record and relationships  a total low-life!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2018

An FBI investigation into sexual assault claims against Kavanaugh cleared him of any wrongdoing and on Oct. 6 he was confirmed to the Supreme Court.

Onward and Upward

Daniels revealed on Dec. 2 that she and Avenatti sorted [expletive] out days after she questioned the origin of a fundraising drive he launched on her behalf, and in so doing revealed that hed sued Trump for defamation without her permission.

Onward and upward. To all the people that want to divide us for their own agendas: It is not going to happen! #TeamStormy https://t.co/tyjkAEJpWE  Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) December 2, 2018

Daniels told the Daily Beast that Avenatti had launched the campaign on the website CrowdJustice without my permission or even my knowledge, after she questioned him about how money raised through an initial fundraiser had been spent.

The initial fundraiser brought in a reported $580,000 toward Daniels expenses; the second fundraiser brought in $4,785 before the page was taken down on Nov. 28.

Avenatti tweeted a breakdown of expenses on Dec. 3, saying we did not do this for the money.

There has been a lot of misreporting about the money @StormyDaniels and I raised for her legal costs/expenses. See the real facts below. As you can see, we did not do this for the money. We did it because it was the right thing to do. And we will continue to do so. #Basta pic.twitter.com/q7DYtpeguv  Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) December 3, 2018

He also lambasted critical media coverage of him and his potential 2020 White House bid.

In one breath, certain media outlets state I will have no bearing on the 2020 race and am not a threat, Avenatti tweeted on Dec. 3. But they continue to write click bait hit pieces meant to discredit me. Which one is it, bc it cant be both? If Im not a threat, go do pieces on other viable candidates.

While presidential campaigns typically begin in the spring of the year before the presidential election, experts increasingly point to the phenomenon of the never-ending campaign, with potential contenders always on the lookout for opportunities to leverage their exposure and boost their profile.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.After Selfie Photo Exposes False Assault Claim, Accuser to be Charged

A woman who made a demonstrably false assault claim will be arrested.

A selfie saved the Texas man who was facing a 99-year prison term for allegedly committing assault against the woman.

Cristopher Precopia, 21, was arrested last year after his ex-girlfriend said he broke into her home and attacked her.

But a selfie he had taken proved he was out of town the day she claimed the attack happened.

Precopias mother Erin Pinkston Precopia posted a selfie of the pair and wrote: My son and countless others have been falsely detained and imprisoned on accusations alone. This is not constitutionally right. Laws must be changed! My sons rights were violated. He was not given any information about why he was being arrested, not given the details of his arrest until AFTER bail was set at $150,000. Let that sink in

Our voices must be heard!This is a movement  men are being targeted and the culture is to automatically believe the    Erin Pinkston Precopia     

The picture showed them at an Austin hotel room some 65 miles away from the home of the accuser. The photo was timestamped 20 minutes before the accuser claimed Precopia broke into her house, vindicating him.

The family was grateful the false claim was about a day they could prove Cristopher was innocent.

Im thinking, This is awesome. By the grace of God, she said it happened on the day when I can say totally, 100 percent, where he was at, Erin Precopia told USA Today.

Sworn affidavits from several people who were there with him that evening were provided to the court. Other photos on Facebook posted at the same time as the alleged assault were also used.

Most of the time, we deal with gray matters, attorney Rick Flores told the paper. Its not normally black or white. But this is one of those cases where I could definitely prove he did not commit this offense.

Ex-Girlfriend to be Arrested

The woman who made the claim will be arrested, according to a new report.

Jim Nichols with the Bell County Attorneys Office told the Temple Police Department to seek a warrant to arrest Faith Cox, the accuser, reported KVUE.

Nichols said Cox will likely turn herself into the authorities this week, and that she has an attorney.

The looming arrest was also reported by Fox 7, but no specific date was given in either report.

She will be charged with filing a false police report. She claimed that Precopia broke into her house, punched her in the face, and carved an X into her upper chest with a box cutter.

The crime carries a maximum prison sentence of 180 days in jail and a maximum fine of $2,000.

The Precopia family was slated to meet with Nichols this week or next week to discuss the misdemeanor charge against Cox.

Meanwhile, Precopia is fighting to get the arrest record expunged since hes been cleared of the charge, his mother told the Crime Online blog. She also said hes dealing with the psychological impact of the false accusation.

The psychological toll it has taken on him for the past year has been devastating to witness, she said. He had to check in with a bail bonds company once a week for 9 months. He had (and still does) to look over his shoulder everywhere he went in fear of this happening again. He had to always make sure he was with someone, or somewhere where people could vouch for his whereabouts.

From NTD NewsAustralian Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks next to his deputy Josh Frydenberg during a news conference in Canberra, Australia, on Aug. 24, 2018. (Reuters/David Gray)

Australian PM Unveils Historic Rule Change to Secure Stability of Liberal Party Leadership

Australias Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, has announced historic new rules to make it harder for the Liberal Party to oust a sitting party leader. Morrison said that if there was to be a potential leadership spill, two thirds of the party room would need to support the change of leadership.

Morrison describes the measure as the biggest change to the rules of the Liberal Party since its founding by Robert Menzies in 1944.

We're putting power back in the hands of Australian voters. pic.twitter.com/1Gb2CUhDgA  Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) December 3, 2018

At a joint news conference with Liberal deputy Josh Frydenberg in Canberra on Dec. 3, Morrison said that the two-thirds requirement is a very high bar special majority, and would be rarely achieved.

The change effectively ensures a stable full-term in office for a future elected Liberal leader, following what many have called Australias revolving door of prime ministers in the past decade.

John Howard was the last prime minister to serve a full term in office until 2007.

In drafting the new rules, Morrison consulted former prime ministers Howard and Tony Abbott. He also informed Liberal Party deputy leader Julie Bishop of the changes. However, Morrison did not consult his predecessor, former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Morrison had taken the place of Turnbull in August, following a leadership spillthe latest in a series of spills in both Liberal and Labor parties.

In June 2010, Julia Gillard replaced Kevin Rudd as Labor prime minister in a leadership spill, before Rudd returned in June 2013 in another spill.

Tony Abbot of the Liberal Party was elected as prime minister in Sept. 2013, but lost a Liberal leadership spill in Sept. 2015 when he was replaced by Turnbull.

Josh Frydenberg, Australian Treasurer and Liberal deputy, said on Dec. 3: The changes in Australian prime ministers over the last decade has diminished the parliament and its representatives in the eyes of the public.

The Liberal Party has listened to the Australian people and the Liberal parliamentary party has responded tonight.

The rules will not apply to Morrison because he did not win an election to become the Liberal Party leader.

I will remain the prime minister and will continue to serve as prime minister, implementing our plans for the stronger economy that Australians rely on, Morrison said, according to the ABC.

Morrison said: we understand our entire party, the frustration and the disappointment that Australians have felt when governments and prime ministers that they have elected under their authority under their power has been taken from then with the actions of politicians here in Canberra.

Weve seen it on both sides of politics and the Liberal Party has done it also, as you all know. We understand that frustration, we understand that disappointment, we acknowledge it, and we take responsibility for it.

Morrison explains the new decision means that an elected Liberal Party leader who becomes prime minister will remain prime minister for that full parliamentary term. They will not be able to be removed from that office.

The only safeguard that is put in place is the very high bar special majority that for that rule to be changed it would require a two thirds majority of the parliamentary party. In my experience around this place such a majority is rarely if ever achieved, he said.

In 2013, the Australian Labor Party introduced rules that meant a 75 percent majority would be required to oust a Labor leader if it were in government, and 60 percent if it was in opposition. Since then, opposition leader Bill Shorten has remained leader of the Labor party.

Reuters contributed to this reportBallot Harvesting Helped Flip Seven US House Races in California After Election Day

Recent changes to state election law have transformed Californias election system into one thats no longer decided on Election Day, but in the weeks after.

The changes, specifically to mail-in ballots, led to Democrats flipping seven U.S. House seats after Nov. 6, and Republicans crying foul over the newly legalized practice of ballot harvesting.

Speaking to the Washington Post on Nov. 29, outgoing House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) said the string of lost elections defies logic.

We had a lot of wins that night, and three weeks later, we lost basically every contested California race. This election system they have, I cant begin to understand what ballot harvesting is, Ryan said.

In 2016, the California Legislature passed AB-1921, a measure that altered the states vote-by-mail procedures to allow any third party to collect and turn in another persons completed ballot. Previously, only close relatives or someone living in the same household could collect and return someone elses ballot.

The seemingly slight adjustment allowed for activists and political parties to deliver ballots to targeted would-be voters, solicit a completed ballot, and return it to a voting site without a secure chain of custody. While the upside is increased voter participation, the risk of fraud and coercion is more than a partisan concern.

At least 16 states expressly regulate ballot harvesting, or ballot collection, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Some states limit who can turn in another persons ballot, while others ban the practice entirely.

In 2016, Arizona passed a law making the collection of early voting ballots by political operatives a felony after it led to voter fraud. In 2012, a presidential election year, a political advocacy groupnot directly affiliated with a campaignwas collecting ballots while its members were posing as election workers.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the Arizona ban, but it was later upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

In the single-party run state of California, unlimited ballot harvesting, combined with other post-Election Day ballot-counting provisions, revolutionized the states midterm elections with the results skewing exclusively for Democrats.

Those additional provisions included allowing mail-in ballots to be counted up to three days after Nov. 6, loose guidelines for accepting provisional ballots, and extended deadlines for absentee voters to be notified of mismatching signatures on ballots and voter-registration records so they could be fixed. Mismatching signatures also can be a telltale sign of fraud.

According to election returns, more than 40 percent of the states 12.5 million total votes were counted after Nov. 6a striking development, considering mail-in ballots were once intended to assist those who couldnt physically vote in a polling booth due to disability, infirmity, or residing out of state, such as overseas military personnel.

Ron Nehring, former chairman of the California Republican Party, characterized the development as an abuse.

Mail voting has completely warped California elections. We dont have Election Day. We have two election months: the month ballots are out in the field, and the month after, while theyre all sorted out. No courage to fix this, Nehring tweeted Nov. 26.

In one case, two-term incumbent California GOP congressman David Valadao was firmly ahead of his Democratic opponent, T.J. Cox, by 6,000 votes, or 8 percent, after polls closed Nov. 6. The Associated Press declared Valadao the winner of the rural District 21 race, but later retracted the announcement. After Election Day, ballots continued pouring in for Cox until he finally defeated Valadao by 843 votesthree weeks later.

On Nov. 29, Ryan said, when you have candidates that win the absentee-ballot vote, win the day of the vote and then lose three weeks later because of provisionals, thats really bizarre. And so I just think thats a very, very strange outcome.

Alex Padilla, Californias secretary of state, responded on Twitter, in California, we make sure every ballot is properly counted and accounted for. Thats not bizarre, thats DEMOCRACY.

Ground zero for California was Orange County, where Republicans lost every incumbent seat in the longtime Southern California conservative stronghold.

After polls closed Nov. 6, Orange County Republican Mimi Walters was ahead of Democrat Katie Porter by 6,200 votes. But Porter ended up winning the race after a tidal wave of post-Election Day ballot-counting. The same fate befell GOP Rep. Jeff Denham in District 10. Other Republican House losses included Steve Knight, Dana Rohrabacher, and Diane Harkey.

One of the more curious results occurred in District 39, where Orange County hopeful Young Kim, who would have been the first Korean-American woman elected to Congress, saw her sizable Election Day lead morph into a 3.2 percent loss after Nov. 6.

Shawn Steel, Californias committeeman for the Republican National Committee, reacted to Kims stunning loss in a Nov. 27 editorial.

How does a 14-point Republican lead disappear? Steel asked. Merciless and unsparing, California Democrats have systematically undermined Californias already-weak voter protection laws to guarantee permanent one-party rule.

But ballot harvesting isnt just a suspicious tactic for Californias Democratic political machine to use against Republicans. According to the investigative news website Washington Babylon, California Democrats have been harvesting ballots against each other in primary elections.

In a Dec. 28, 2017, interview, long before the November midterms, Democratic state assembly candidate Ron Birnbaum said he was the victim of ballot harvesting conducted by his Democratic primary opponent, Wendy Carrillo.

Third parties, such as campaigns or paid field operations, can now bother or cajole or potentially intimidate voters into giving them their ballots. The most susceptible to this intimidation are those least likely to know how to report it or protect themselves from it. There is very little to stop tampering with ballots, vote-buying or even discarding of ballots, Birnbaum said.

Ultimately, this is a non-partisan issue in that it helps candidates with more resources have an easier time winning elections, regardless of affiliation. That said, the [vote-harvesting] bill was passed on virtually a party-line vote in the legislature, he added.Legal Council representing Keith Raniere and the group NXIVM Mark Agnifilo and Paul DerOhannesian outside the United States Eastern District Court in Brooklyn, New York City, on May 4, 2018. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images)

Billionaire Heiress Paying Legal Fees in NXIVM Sex-Trafficking Case, Prosecutors Allege

Clare Bronfman, heiress to the Seagram fortune, allegedly has been paying the legal fees for leaders of the NXIVM secret society who are standing trial on charges of sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy. Prosecutors argued the lawyers may face a conflict of interest, partly because Bronfman is a co-defendant.

The government has been advised that the legal fees of the defendants in this case, as well as certain witnesses, including Nxivm the corporation, have been paid by an irrevocable trust  to which defendant Clare Bronfman is the primary contributor, the prosecutors wrote in a Nov. 30 court filing.

New York-based NXIVM masqueraded as a self-help company that ran executive success programs and other self-help curricula, prosecutors say. In fact, they allege that the society functioned as a boot camp of sorts for recruiting personal slaves for its leader Keith Raniere.

NXIVM recruited members on the condition they gave up personal information about themselves, including compromising images or videos, as collateral; once inside, members were regularly required to provide additional collateral to ensure they kept secret the societys activities and inner workings, according to a May 23 court document.

The defendants have denied the charges.

Bronfman, the daughter of the late billionaire liquor mogul Edgar Bronfman, was the groups largest financial backer, contributing at least $150 million, according to Frank Parlato, a whistleblower who first broke the story about the societys schemes. Aside from Bronfman and Raniere, the defendants include Allison Mack, Kathy Russell, Lauren Salzman, and Nancy Salzman.

The prosecutors said defendants counsel faces a potential conflict of interest because third-party funding may subject an attorney to undesirable outside influence and raises an ethical question as to whether the attorneys loyalties are with the client or the payor.

The lawyers, for example, may face a conflict when advising the clients on whether to seek possible leniency by cooperating with the government, including against Bronfman, and  whether to testify in their own defense at trial, where such testimony might implicate Clare Bronfman.

The government has also learned that Bronfman paid the legal fees of multiple witnesses and potential witnesses.

A Bronfman-paid attorney recommended one witness invoke the Fifth Amendment in response to the governments questions in the grand jury. The attorney said that if the witness couldnt do so, the attorney would not feel comfortable continuing to represent her, the prosecutors stated.

If similar conditions are being placed on Bronfmans co-defendants, expressly or otherwise, the advice provided by their counsel might be similarly affected, the prosecutors said, also noting that based on their disclosures to Pretrial Services, mostif not allof the defendants do not otherwise have the means to pay for their attorneys.

Nicholas Garaufis, U.S. District Judge in the Eastern District of New York, ordered the defendants to respond to the prosecutors filing by 3 p.m. on Dec. 5.Cambodian teenagers use phones while eating at a restaurant in Phnom Penh on Oct. 28, 2018. (Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP/Getty Images)

British Restaurant Launches Trial: Free Kids Meals If Parents Dont Use Their Phones

A British restaurant chain has launched a trial that gives free childrens meals if the parents dont use their phones at the table.

The trial started on Nov. 29 and was slated to last through Dec. 7.

Frankie & Bennys installed no phone boxes at tables and said people who deposit their phones inside until the end of the meal will receive free food for their children.

The company said research indicated more than seven out of 10 children want parents to spend less time on their phones.

The chain has approximately 250 locations across the United Kingdom.

Our staff will be actively encouraging customers and families to take part in the initiative but of course, we cant force them to hand over their phones, a spokesman told the Daily Mail. If the initiative is a success well certainly be looking at ways to activate it on a more permanent basis.

The move comes after a slew of American restaurants tried to discourage cellphone use in recent years.

At Hearth in New York City, chef Marco Canora added boxes on the table last year that said, Open Me! If diners open the boxes, they find a note inviting them to leave their phones inside.

If theres one time in the 24 hours in your day thats a time to engage with the person youre with, it makes sense to me that its around the dinner table, Canora told Eater.

Eleven Madison Park, another top New York City restaurant, has also introduced boxes and encouraged diners to relinquish their phones for the duration of a meal. The boxes encourage people to enjoy the company of those at the table and be just a bit more present with one another, the restaurant said on Instagram.

Another restaurant, Sneakys Chicken in Iowa, started a 10 percent discount on Wednesday nights for diners who hand over their phones.

It was just something that we just wanted to see if we could stop for a little bit and have people enjoy each others company more than their cellphones, General Manager Christy Wright told the Des Moines Register.

Cellphones Undermine Social Benefits

Research has shown that having a cellphone at dinner can be disruptive, even if the phone isnt being used.

In 2014, University of Virginia researchers found that even having phones visible at dinner caused a distraction during conversations.

When phones were present, people had less empathy for each other. When they werent, people reported higher levels of empathy.

And in a study published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology last year, researchers said that phone use leads to distraction, which undermines the benefits of social interaction.

Conversely, when phones were put away during the meal and not visible, participants enjoyed their meals and interactions more.

This research suggests that despite their ability to connect us to others across the globe, phones may undermine the benefits we derive from interacting with those across the table, the researchers wrote.

Americans seem to agree with the research. In a survey by the Pew Research Center, 62 percent of respondents said it was generally not okay to use a cellphone at a restaurant; 88 percent said it wasnt okay to use a cellphone at a family dinner.

How to Get Rid of Phones at the Table

Etiquette expert Karen Thomas suggested a way to request no phones before eating with friends or family.

Ive said to a colleague, Would you mind if we make this a cell-free dinner or luncheon so we can really get our work done? Thomas told Market Watch. If its a friend, you could go the same route and say, Do you mind if we make this a cell-free evening? That way we can enjoy each others company.

Elaine Swann, another etiquette expert, suggested using the words we and us.

I really want to spend time with you; how about we put our phones away for a while? Use us [and] we so you attempt to soften the blow, she said.

With children and your family, my advice is that you put in place what I call techno-free-zones. Your zone can either be a time zone where there is a particular time of day that you dont use your phone  or the zones can be a specific area of the house.

From NTD NewsBush Family Seeks Funeral That Avoids Anti-Trump Sentiment: Report

The Bush family reportedly wants a funeral for former president George H.W. Bush that avoids anti-President Donald Trump sentiment.

The report comes after anti-Trump rhetoric was rampant during the funeral of Sen. John McCain several months ago.

Trump did not attend McCains funeral.

The president and First Lady Melania Trump plan to attend Bushs funeral, likely with other members of Trumps family and administration, to honor the 41st president of the United States.

The funeral is slated to take place on Dec. 5 in Washington at 11 a.m. After the funeral, the casket bearing the former president will be taken to Houston, Texas, for a viewing. Bush will be buried at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum after a ceremony at the Texas A&M University on Dec. 6.

Funeral Preparations

Some close to the Bush family said that the funeral would focus on Bush, not Trump.

If anybody at anytime knew anything about the 41st president of the United States, they would completely and totally understand that he would welcome the current occupant 100 percent, said an aide in the office of the former president told Politico. This is the way the country says goodbye to presidents.

A close friend of the former president added that the Bush family is unbelievably respectful of the office of the president and the funeral is not a political event.

A third person, a former staffer for Bush, said that the family appreciates Trump attending the funeral.

This will be about the celebration of the noble public service that George H.W. Bush gave. Its not going to be about anybody else. I dont think its going to be about Trump, said the senior Bush White House staffer.

A source told the Washington Post that the Bush family contacted the White House in the summer to say Trump would be welcome at the funeral and that the focus would be on Bushs life, not on the Bush familys disagreements with the president. Trump will not deliver a eulogy. Hell be seated in the front row alongside former presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter.

Trumps Visit Casket

Trump has praised and honored the elder Bush, arranging for Air Force One to transport Bushs body to the nations Capitol and visiting the casket on Monday night.

The president and his wife stood in front of the casket with their eyes closed before the 45th president saluted the casket and the pair exited the rotunda at the U.S. Capitol. Trump posted a video of the welcoming ceremony on his Twitter feed, and its received millions of views.

Bushs body will be taken to the National Cathedral on Wednesday morning by motorcade.

Trump ordered federal offices closed on Wednesday for a national day of mourning.

President George H.W. Bush led a life that exemplified what is truly great about America. As with so many of his generation, the Greatest Generation, President Bush worked selflessly throughout his long life to bring about a world of justice and lasting peace. With his passing, we mark one of the last pages of a defining chapter in American history, he wrote in a statement sent to Congress.

Fearless, courageous, adventurous, and unyielding, through the highs and lows of the twentieth century and into the next millennium, President Bush served his nation, creating an example that will inspire generations for decades to come.

From NTD NewsCalifornia Governor Jerry Brown and FEMA Adminstrator Brock Long and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke tour a school burned by the Camp Fire on November 14, 2018 in Paradise, California. Fueled by high winds and low humidity, the Camp Fire ripped through the town of Paradise charring over 135,000 acres, killing at least 48 people and destroying over 8,000 homes and businesses. The fire is currently at 35 percent containment. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

California Wildfire Survivors Face New Challenge: Rebuilding

CHICO, Calif.Rebuilding Paradise, California, after it was leveled by fire three weeks ago will pose a new massive challenge to the devastated mountain communitystarting with complicated insurance claims for nearly 14,000 lost homes.

At least 88 people were killed in the Camp Fire and nearly 200 others are still listed as missing, making the wildfire the deadliest in state history. Law enforcement officials say the search for remains in the ash and rubble has officially ended.

Some of those who escaped the flames only to find themselves homeless are expected to be allowed to return to inspect their properties as early as next week. Many will find themselves essentially starting over, facing months or even years of rebuilding and seeking compensation for their losses.

Christopher Gregg, whose home in Paradise was a total loss, said hes not getting answers to the question of when he will be compensated by his insurance company.

They say, Well let you know as soon as we can. Well, when can we get back on our feet, is my question. Id like to know  When do we get a chance to resume some portion of our lives? he said.

Insurance teams began gathering in Chico in the early days of the fire that erupted on Nov. 8 and rapidly engulfed Paradise about 20 minutes away and surrounding communities.

Working out of truck trailers, temporary tents, and recreational vehicles in mall parking lots, and equipped with generators and satellite communications, insurance adjusters say they have been stymied in part by a ban on flying drones over what is left of the town of 27,000.

Insurers responding to natural disasters typically use drones to obtain 360-degree views of damage when access is limited. But the drones have been restricted as crews work to clear downed trees and power lines, as well as burn debris and restore infrastructure.

Billions in Losses

Pop-up insurance booths are a common site these days in California as it experiences its most destructive wildfire season on record.

A total of 7,579 fires have burned some 1,667,855 acres, an area roughly the size of Delaware, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Moodys last week estimated total insured losses at $10-$15 billion from the Camp Fire and the Woolsey fire, which was burning at the same time in the foothills above Malibu in southern California.

Insurers say climate change is a factor in the more intense fire seasons and are raising rates or even dropping coverage.

Were seeing these fires these last few years that people have defined as 1-in-500-year-type events, said Suzanne Meraz, spokesperson for CSAA Insurance Company.

Insurers now often use computer models to generate house-by-house risk predictions, factoring in such features as local topography and brush cover instead of just using a more general history of blazes in a region.

Paradise resident Ed Riddle was focusing on one task at a time. His home is a total loss, confirmed by a friend who was able to take pictures.

I kind of feel like a turtle on its back looking for a rock, he said.

Riddle said he would like to rebuild, but wasnt sure what that would look like. There are so many rumors about how long its going to take before we can.

He had been in touch with his insurer and already received some payments.

I guess theyre going to present me with some options whether to rebuild or not. Im told I shouldnt make any decisions quickly about that, he said.

By Lee van der VooInmates at work, transforming worn-out tyres into slippers in a workshop at the Mora Prison in Cameroon on Aug. 14, 2018. (LOYOC/Emmanuel Pivagah)

Cameroon Prison Initiative Recycles Rubber Waste Into Sandals

YAOUNDE, CameroonIt is a bright morning at the Mfou Principal Prison, about 20 miles from the outskirts of Yaounde, Cameroons capital. The blistering sun is shining down on the jail courtyard.

Seven inmates, all clad in blue overalls and holding artisanal tools, are busy working in a small workshop while taking lessons from Ngobillong Tii Ariel, an inmate herself. They are engaged in the transformation of worn-out tires picked up off the streets into brand new, durable and marketable sandals.

The instructor wasnt a craftswoman until her conviction. She was a teacher in a local primary school.

I learned this craft from some missionary sisters, but didnt make use of it until I got here in prison, Ariel told The Epoch Times.

Ariel said that when she was incarcerated, she wanted to keep herself busy and help in protecting the environment from pollution. Thats why she started production of the sandals.

I also decided to train other inmates in order to help them understand that they could make their lives more meaningful by doing something, she said.

Worn-out tires are regularly collected from the streets and supplied to the inmates for a small fee.

Ariel said they produce about 15 to 20 pairs of sandals per week, but can produce more if they have a special order. One pair of sandals sells for an average of 3,500 central African francs (about $6). The operation has led to the transformation of hundreds of waste tires that would otherwise pose a threat to the environment.

Nguelle Joel, another inmate, said he got involved in the project to have something to do, as well as to help turn trash into treasure. Joel has been engaged in the initiative for the past six months and hopes that in four years, when he leaves the correctional facility, hell be able to open a workshop to expand the initiative.

I look forward to training other youths so that they wont do the same things that brought me here in the first place, Joel said, returning to polishing an unfinished sandal.

In Cameroon, not a lot of effort is spent on rehabilitating prisoners, which penitentiary officials often blame on the lack of resources.

In 2017, the U.S. State Department reported that prison conditions in Cameroon remained harsh and potentially life-threatening, due to gross overcrowding, inadequate food and medical care, physical abuse, and poor sanitary conditions.

Guillaume Nwaga A. Bidias, the chief of social action in charge of cultural activities and education at the Mfou prison, believes the sandal project is a game-changer in the reintegration of inmates into the society.

We have different programs but the tire-to-sandals project is the most intensive, with the support of a local civil society organization, Bidias said.

Waste

Like other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Cameroon is faced with a growing phenomenon of discarded trash, which often clogs drainage systems and waterways, leading to flooding. The situation is even more worrisome concerning old tires. Only a tiny fraction are recycled, and the ones that dont end up in gutters and water bodies are burned, releasing toxic gases into the environment.

Activist Kamga Marc Anselme has expressed concern over the environmental effects of improperly discarded tires. But, he says, the severity and extent of the hazard caused by cast-off tires are hard to know precisely because no independent study has been conducted

Wide Support

Besides offering an opportunity for young people to engage in supporting environmental protection, the initiative fosters entrepreneurship, vocational training, and civic education, activists say.

Achaleke Christian Leke, the national coordinator of Local Youth Corner Cameroon (LOYOC), a civil-society organization supporting the tire-to-sandals project, said they will continue to engage the prisoners in global environmental protection.

It was more of an artisanal practice but we are helping them with branding and marketing. It is not just about fetching money for them but healing them. We want the community to know that the people who will be [rejoining them] are useful people, Achaleke told The Epoch Times. He said the inmates will use their newly acquired skills to stop violence after leaving prison.

The sandals that the convicts produce from the worn-out tires have been sold on the international market under the Creative Skills brand. They have also been lauded by top personalities, including Jayathma Wickramanayake, the U.N. Secretary-Generals Envoy on Youth, and R&B star Akon of Konvict Muzik.Chinese Geneticist, Allegedly Behind Gene-edited Babies, Reported to Be Under House Arrest

Was He Jiankui's 'real crime' that he talked too much?

The content is not available due to expiration.Joseph Lopez, 22, admitted to the police that he shot Natalie Bollinger, 19, in the head with her boyfriend's pistol. He said she posted on Craiglist asking for a hitman to kill her and offered the gun in payment. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on Dec. 3, 2018. (Adams County District Attorney)

Colorado Man Pleads Guilty to Murdering Girl Who Hired Him on Craigslist

A man who was hired on Craigslist to murder a woman her has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.

Joseph Lopez, 22, told police officers that Natalie Bollinger, 19, posted on Craiglist, the online classifieds website, seeking someone who would help her commit suicide.

Bollinger posted in the women seeking men section of the website.

I want to put a hit on myself, Bollinger wrote, according to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by The Daily Camera.

Bollinger took her boyfriends Glock 9 mm pistol and Lopez used the pistol to shoot Bollinger dead.

Lopez said that his intent was to meet with Bollinger and convince her that she didnt need to die. He told officers he spoke with her for several hours and drove around together before he took her home.

After investigators revealed phone records showing his phone had been in the area her body was located, he changed his story and said that when they were driving around, she asked him to stop the car and fled to a wooded area where she shot herself.

He was forced to change his story again after investigators told him they knew Bollinger had not shot herself. He said he pulled the trigger after he prayed with her. Toxicology results of her body showed she had a high level of heroin in her system.

Pleads Guilty

Lopez was charged with first-degree murder but pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on Dec. 3 in a plea deal that avoids the possibility of life in prison.

Under the agreement, Lopez will serve 48 years in prison and five years of parole, reported ABC 7.

But Bollingers father Ted Bollinger said he didnt agree with the deal.

Theres no justice in this, he told the broadcaster. And for Adams County to have enough evidence to convict him and then make him an offer is a spit in my familys face.

At the sentencing, he spoke out.

You took advantage of my daughter, he said. She was vulnerable and drugged  You premeditated. Brutally shot and killed my baby. I asked for an eye for an eye. You have been protected. The Bollinger family had no say in this. This is a deal with the devil.

Should Have Called 911

Prosecutors said that Lopez had two choices: report the Craigslist post or call 911. Instead, he took a different path that ended in Bollingers death and a prison sentence.

Lopez told officers he received the gun he used to kill Bollinger for payment with the hit, reported 9 News.

At the sentencing, a prosecutor called Lopez a predator.

Natalie Bollinger was a 19-year-old girl with her whole life ahead of her. The defendant was a predator, Chief Deputy District Attorney Ally Baber said.

He didnt respond as a human being. He responded as a predator, she said.

From NTD NewsCuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez addressing the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 26, 2018, in New York City. Diaz-Canel has recently been on a tour of communist countries, meeting leaders from China, Vietnam, Laos, and North Korea, as well as stops in Russia and the UK. (John Moore/Getty Images)

Cuba Rebuilds Ties to Russia and the Communist Bloc

Commentary

The West needs to wake up to a dangerous threat. The almost-forgotten enemy of international communism is coming back fast. Its rebuilding, reunifying, and rearming. And most Westerners seem almost oblivious to whats happening before their very eyes.

Communist Cubas new president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, returned to Havana on Nov. 15 after a multination tour that began in Russia. He and his delegation continued on to North Korea, China, Vietnam, and Laosevery openly communist-ruled country except Nepalas well as France and the UK.

Diaz-Canel was accompanied by Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz, vice president of Cubas Council of Ministers, along with the ministers of communications, industry, and energy and mines: Jorge Luis Perdomo, Alfredo Lopez, and Raul Garcia, respectively.

Also part of the delegation was First Deputy Minister of Transport Eduardo Rodriguez Davila; Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Rogelio Sierra Diaz; and Director of Bilateral Affairs of the Cuban Foreign Ministry Emilio Lozada.

Significantly, Cubas relations with Russia appear to be returning to levels of cooperation not seen since the Soviet era.

Russian Relations

According to the Communist Party USA newspaper Peoples World: CubaRussian collaboration blossomed after the cancellation of Cuban debt owed to the USSR and after President Vladimir Putin visited Cuba in June 2014. In Moscow, Diaz-Canel conferred with Putin, Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev, Duma leaders, the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, and Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov.

A CubaRussia intergovernmental commission had already prepared eight potential agreements having to do mostly with trade and investments. Signed by the two national leaders, theyll remain in force until 2030.

Proposed collaborations in Cuba include setting up the Russian equivalent of GPS, Russian financial help with refurbishing three electrical generation plants, and assistance in modernizing and expanding steel production.

Russia will also help improve rail travel in Cuba, provide wheat and energy-saving LED lights, and assist in rebuilding Cubas struggling citrus fruit industry. Russia will continue explorations of Cuban oil deposits, estimated to be as high as 20 billion barrels, and build transportation infrastructure and platforms at sea, according to Peoples World.

After signing agreements with his Cuban counterparts, Russian President Vladimir Putin told the press that when discussing the global and regional agenda, they found that the views on most of the key issues were similar, according to Cubas Radio Rebelde.

Its time for the West to acknowledge an unpleasant truth. Modern Russia, while not overtly communist, is very much part of a reemerging Chinese-led, anti-Western international bloc.

Asian Relations

In Pyongyang, the Cuban delegation met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, accompanied by the usual over-the-top pomp and majesty typical of proletarian worker and peasant-ruled states.

According to Radio Rebelde: From the airport slab of Sunan to the surroundings of Paekhwawon, the official residence for illustrious guests visiting the DPRK, Diaz Canel and Kim Jong-un were greeted warmly and cheered by nearly a million people.

The two communist leaders held talks at the Paekhwawon State Guest House, where they stressed their shared socialist history and vowed continued solidarity, according to North Korean state media.

The delegation was following up a July trip to Cuba by the vice chairman of the Workers Party of Korea Central Committee, Ri Su Yong, who met with Diaz-Canel and former president Raul Castro among others.

Ri conveyed greetings from Kim Jong Un, discussed the two countries historic relations of friendship and cooperation with his counterparts, and signed an agreement on exchange and cooperation with the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), according to NK News.

In China, Diaz-Canel met with President Xi Jinping, Prime Minister Li Keqiang, and Li Zhanshu, president of the National Peoples Congress.

Chinas One Belt, One Road initiativethe plan to massively expand Chinas global influence through investing in major foreign infrastructure projectswas high on the agenda.

Leaders of the two countries signed agreements fashioned earlier by an intergovernmental commission. They approved a memorandum of understanding that brings Cuba into Chinas Belt and Road Initiative, that countrys mega framework for trade and investments throughout the underdeveloped world. [Vice president of Cubas Council of Ministers Ricardo] Cabrisas sees the need to determine the objective principles and guidelines for Cubas involvement with the Chinese project, Peoples World reported.

China also committed to establishing a line of credit of $124 million to pay for equipment needed for Cubas tourism industry and another of $40 million to fund equipment essential for developing renewable energy sources.

On top of that, China donated $129 million to pay for cyber-security projects.

Diaz-Canel wrote in a tweet from Beijing: Fruitful and unforgettable meeting with President Xi Jinping. As Fidel judged him to be, hes a firm and capable revolutionary. Through tradition and projection into the future, China opens doors where others raise walls.

Fructifero e inolvidable encuentro con el Presidente Xi Jinping. Como lo califico #Fidel, un revolucionario firme y capaz. Entre la tradicion y la proyeccion al futuro, #China abre puertas donde otros levantan muros. #SomosCuba  Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez (@DiazCanelB) November 8, 2018

In Vietnam, the Cuban delegation met with President Nguyen Phu Trong, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, and Speaker of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan.

The two communist parties signed a trade agreement that would consolidate, expand, and intensify commercial relations, according to Peoples World.

In Laos, Cuban delegates signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation between the Central Bank of Cuba and the Bank of Lao with the objective of strengthening cooperation among the banking sector, Cabrisas said in an interview with Cuban journalist Arleen Rodriguez.

Cabrisas emphasized the comradely nature of Cubas relations with Russia, Vietnam, and China: With Vietnam, as with China and Russia, relations could be categorized as traditional. We have marched altogether along long roads since the Triumph of the Revolution, he told Rodriguez.

Stopping in Great Britain on the return journey, Diaz-Canel met with the Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond and the Labour Partys socialist leader Jeremy Corbyn.

He also met with BritishCuba solidarity activists and visited the grave of Karl Marx in Highgate Cemetery, London.

Presidente cubano @DiazCanelB coloca flores a nombre de Cuba, ante la tumba de Karl Marx en el cementerio Highgate, en Londres. #YoTeSigoPresidente #SomosCuba pic.twitter.com/PlL177lmed  Cubavision (@CVInternacional) November 14, 2018

Communist countries are clearly organizing and strategizing on a massive scale. It is pivotal that Americans be aware of the potential national security implications of these associations.

Trevor Loudon is an author, filmmaker, and public speaker from New Zealand. For more than 30 years, he has researched radical left, Marxist, and terrorist movements and their covert influence on mainstream politics.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.Anna Budd, of Oakland, who describes herself as "a classic liberal" holds a sign saying "Open Dialogue Not Heads" at a conservative rally on Apr. 27, 2017 in Berkeley, Calif. (Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)

Foundation Wins Campus Free Speech Settlement Against UC Berkeley

The Young Americas Foundation has won a legal battle, forcing a major college campus to give conservative speakers the same freedoms they give to other speakers.

The lawsuit took over a year, and resulted in a settlement with the University of California (UC), Berkeley that plaintiffs celebrated as a victory for free speech on campus. The institution will pay the Young Americas Foundation $70,000, plus reverse the high-profile speaker policy, which the foundation believes was used to stifle conservative voices.

The institution also agrees to rescind the security fee policy, which the foundation considered to be used in discriminatory ways towards conservatives. Lastly, the campus will abolish the hecklers veto, a strategy where leftists would protest until the school shut down a conservative speaking event.

According to the foundation, the victory means the university cant treat conservatives as second-class members of its community while stifling their First Amendment rights.

The foundation said Berkeley put curfews on conservative speakers, banned advertisements for upcoming speakers, and subjugated conservatives to the worst speaking locations while giving leftist speakers prime locations.

The paper also mentions the $20,000 security fee the school charged the foundation for a speech delivered by conservative thinker Ben Shapiro. The foundation compares this to the cheaper fee costing three times less for leftist students to bring Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to speak. The foundation said now the school agrees to no security fee, as a result of the settlement.

The foundation said that the school will now handle speaking engagements fairly for all speakers, regardless of whether or not the speakers are conservative and dont align with the schools left-leaning administration.

Young Americas Foundation is thrilled that, after more than a year of UC Berkeley battling against the First Amendment rights of its own students, the university finally felt the heat and saw the light of their unconstitutional censorship, said YAF Spokesman Spencer Brown in a Young Americas Foundation news release.

YAFs landmark victory for free expressionlong squelched by Berkeleys scheming administrators who weaponized flawed policies to target conservativesshows that the battle for freedom undertaken by YAF on campuses nationwide is a necessary one.

However, not much has changed according to university spokesman Dan Mogulof.

One would be hard-pressed to find any changes that would result in a change to how we support our student groups, he told the Los Angeles Times.

Mogulof claims that the settlement just restates the schools policies. He said the school denies discrimination and said the school has hosted conservative speakers without incident via the Berkeley College Republicans, according to the LA Times. Rather it is the Berkeley College Republicans who helped bring a successful outcome in the lawsuit against the school.

We are gratified that our major event policy has been validated, Mogulof told the LA Times, seemingly unaware of the meaning of the settlement and the events that led to it.

The LA Times article also highlights two cases in 2017 where high-profile conservative speakers could not speak on campus due to actions of the UC Berkeley community.

From NTD.comAn injured person (front C) receives medical treatment in a hospital after a road accident which left 18 people dead and 14 injured, in Hengyang in China's central Hunan province on June 30, 2018. (AFP/Getty Images)

Chinese Call for Affordable Care as Medical Bills Rise Steeply

Cost of medical treatment is crippling, even for middle-class earners

A 67-year-old man surnamed Liu was treated for cardiovascular disease at a Chinese hospital, but a 61-day treatment cost him 1.04 million yuan ($150,000). People in China are pointing to the case as an example of the countrys current health care situation: Its very expensive to receive treatment, and a more affordable system is needed badly.

A hospital treatment receipt can destroy 95 percent of Chinese families. For 61 days of treatment for cardiovascular disease, it cost 1.04 million yuan, said the mans daughter, who posted the invoice and commented on her WeChat friends circle on Nov. 27. She said that her family had to borrow from relatives and friends to pay the bill, and was hard-pressed to pay back the loans.

Liu, who is retired, and his family live in Wuhan, in central China. On Sept. 13, he said he didnt feel well and his wife sent him to the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University around noon. Liu was diagnosed with an acute myocardial infarction and severe right side coronary artery occlusion; a doctor said that his heart could stop working at any time.

Liu needed a cardiac coronary artery bypass operation immediately, but he was too sick to have surgery, Zhou Qing, vice director of the hospitals intensive care unit (ICU), said. With the agreement of Lius family, doctors first set up an artificial heart and lung system, and the eventual operation was successful.

While the operation alone cost 1.04 million yuan, the total cost actually topped 1.7 million yuan (about $270,000), Zhou said. That included time that Liu was in the ICU, which costs 6,000 to 20,000 yuan a day, based on medicines and treatment.

Chutian Metropolis Daily reported Nov. 30 that there are two invoices for Liu at present. One, issued on Sept. 27, was for 632,439 yuan for the first 14 days of treatment. The other is the one Lius daughter made reference to, issued Nov. 27. Lius daughter said some reimbursement is available from the health insurance system, but she doesnt know how much.

The story triggered discussions among Chinese netizens, many of whom shared their experiences with high medical costs. A common theme was referenced by a man identified as Li Ke.

Li is a successful middle-aged businessman living with his wife, 3-year-old daughter, and retired in-laws in Beijing. Lis family had a million yuan in a savings account and stocks, as well as apartments in Beijing and his in-laws hometown in Heilongjiang Province.

Last December, Lis father-in-law caught the flu, and was initially misdiagnosed. On Jan. 4, the diagnosis was corrected, but doctors couldnt find out what kind of flu the patient had or how to treat it. With his condition deteriorating, he was sent to the ICU, and doctors attempted to treat the illness using expensive extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).

The apartment in their hometown is hard to sell on short notice, and I could only pay for ICU care for a dozen days or so even if I did sell it. If (my father-in-law) has to stay in ICU for a longer time, well have to sell our Beijing apartment, Li said.

Despite treatment in one of Beijings best hospitals, the father-in-law died after 29 days, leaving the family with a crippling hospital bill.

The 55th Golden Horse Awards (2018) winning movie Dying to Survive, which is based on a real story, also put a spotlight on Chinas national health system.

In the movie, many Chinese leukemia patients had to sell their houses and all their valuables to buy the expensive medicine that wasnt covered under Chinas national health insurance at that time. When they had no money and couldnt borrow from others, patients had few options for survival.

As common citizens, if we get a severe illness, all we can do is go home and wait to die, a netizen commented on the Chinese-language edition of The Epoch Times.

China has a complex national health insurance system, in which coverage is based on peoples residential registration system, their employment status, ranking in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) hierarchy, and other institutional factors. In practice, applying for health care reimbursements is a long and difficult process that requires the signatures of multiple local CCP officials.A clock and the motto "In God We Trust" over the Speaker's rostrum in the U.S. House of Representatives chamber in Washington, on Dec. 8, 2008. (Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)

In God We Trust Signs Returning to More and More Public Schools and Spaces

In God We Trust signs are increasingly being placed in public schools and other public venues across America as more and more states pass laws allowing or mandating references to the divine.

These laws have emerged as their proponents seek to expand references to God or the Bible in the public arena, motivated by reasons ranging from honoring tradition to providing direction and hope.

Rep. Kimberly Daniels, a pastor and Democratic representative for Florida House of Representatives District 14 proposed such legislation in the wake of the Stoneman Douglas school massacre.

Daniels cited divine inspiration in her efforts to try to bring about a situation in which every public school student in Florida is educated in a school that features a sign saying In God We Trust.

God is the light. And our schools need light in them like never before, the Jacksonville Democrat said on Feb. 21, according to the Washington Post. It is not a secret that we have some gun issues that need to be addressed. But the real thing that needs to be addressed are issues of the heart.

This motto is inscribed on the halls of this great Capitol and inked on our currency, and it should be displayed so that our children will be exposed and educated on this great motto, which is a part of this countrys foundation, Daniels said while pushing her bill (HB 839) in the House Committee, reported Orlando Sentinel. Something so great should not be hidden.

The bill passed and was signed into law.

The new statute (1003.44), which took effect on July 1, states: Each district school board shall adopt rules to require, in all of the schools of the district and in each building used by the district school board, the display of the state motto, In God We Trust, designated under s. 15.0301, in a conspicuous place.

God Enriches

Lawmakers in other states have also taken steps to signify Gods presence in public spaces.

Arizona granted their schools the right to post the states motto in English, which appears in Latin on the Grand Canyon state sealGod Enriches.

The Arizona Senate in March passed Senate Bill 1289, allowing the state motto Ditat Deusor its English translationto the list of phrases allowed to be read and posted in the classroom.

Sen. Gail Griffin (R-Hereford), who introduced the bill, was cited by KTAR news as saying that it would be a good history lesson for students to learn where this came from.

The Secular Coalition of Arizona (Secular AZ) expressed its opposition to the bill, arguing that it undercuts the division between church and state.

This bill is clearly part of the legislatures ideological push in recent years to chip away at secular government, said Tory Roberg, the director of government affairs for Secular AZ. By rephrasing the historical motto Ditat Deus into English, this bill divorces it from its historic usage and illegally allows schools to promote the belief in the god associated with the Judeo-Christian Bible.

Arkansas passed a similar law to Floridas in 2017, requiring the posting of In God We Trust in every classroom. Arkansas state Rep. Jim Dotson sponsored the measure and has since helped other lawmakers draft similar bills.

Our history and our heritage is incredibly important, making sure that we as a nation remember our roots, remember where we came from, Dotson told The Washington Post. America is an exceptional nation. Its the greatest nation in the history of this planet. Obviously, that success is attributed not just to individuals but probably some higher power than ourselves.

Ten Commandments

Some states and lawmakers have gone further still, fighting to allow or require the Ten Commandments in public schools and public places.

Alabama voters passed an initiative in November permitting the decalogue (Ten Commandments) to be posted on state property. Supporters of the bill, according to The Washington Post, are hopeful that the initiative sparks litigation that will take the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where positive adjudication would be set a precedent.

The Ten Commandments initiative comes on the heels of an earlier Alabama state resolution allowing all state institutions to display the In God We Trust motto inside all public schools.

Rob Boston, a spokesman for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, told Forbes that the recent push to spread references to God could be attributed to a more conservative stamp on the federal government during Trumps presidency, emboldening activists and legislators.

Boston said one of the concerns about promoting religious references was that it could isolate nonreligious students.

Daniels argues that signs like In God We Trust are historically and symbolically valuable because they imprint in peoples minds and in their hearts what it meant to the people who came to this country for religious liberty, she told CBN News in February.

I believe with all the negativity going on, our children need to know the foundation of what this country is all about and what it was founded on, she said.

God is positive; I put that forth like that because people want to make God a negative thing; God is good, Daniels said. And God is the Creator; Hes the Initiator; Hes the Alpha; Hes the Omega, and our children need to see that because the eyes are the gateway to the soul.Riot police line up in front of Yellow vest protesters in Place de l'Etoile in Paris on Dec. 1, 2018. (David Vives/The Epoch Times)

Tax Hikes, Growing Poverty Cited as Reasons for French Protests

Some yellow vest demonstrators denounce violence as protests spread across France, other parts of Europe

PARISIts a very chaotic scene at the Place de lEtoile, the tourist-favorite junction in the heart of Paris that the Arc de Triomphe has been overlooking for close to two centuries.

Lines of police officers face hundreds of protesters wearing yellow vests. A female police officer shouts with a megaphone, Last warning, were going to charge. Her voice is subdued by the crowd, which soon breaks out in an improvised rendition of La Marseillaisea revolutionary battle song from the 18th century that is the French national anthem.

By the time they finish the last line, Aux armes, citoyens (To arms, citizens!), its the crowd that charges the police, breaking through their first line. As the police retreat, the protesters run toward the second line, roaring to declare victory.

What began as a protest in Paris against tax hikes in mid-November has become a grassroots movement against President Emmanuel Macrons policies that have increased taxes and, as some claim, put fiscal pressure on the middle class.

The dissenters are protesting a rise in fuel costs, which they blame on Macrons policies to tackle climate change, and some are calling on the president to resign.

The protests, dubbed the yellow vest movement, have now spread to neighboring countries as well. As the protests have turned violent, police have been called in to contain the unrest.

Macron, who was in Argentina for the G-20 summit, has denounced the violence, and rushed back to Paris on Dec. 2 to lead a crisis meeting with members of his cabinet and security officials to address the riots.

Routine Confrontation

Confrontations between the protesters and law enforcement have almost become a weekly routine in Paris, with the protesters charging, breaking the police lines, and the police firing tear-gas grenades to disperse the crowds. Protesters use saline solution to neutralize the effects of the gas, while the police reload tear gas, and the confrontation is repeated.

The most violent day of protests was Dec. 1, as the protesters broke into the Arc de Triomphe, destroying statues and furniture, and causing more than $1 million in damage. A hundred vehicles were burned, and firefighters subdued more than 240 fires.

It isnt clear which elements among the protesters are behind the violence. Many of the more organized groups among the protesters have denounced the violence.

Almost 700 people have been arrested in connection with the riots, with almost 400 charged with crimes such as illegal possession of a weapon and violence against law enforcement officials. Paris Deputy Mayor Colombe Brossels said police found a building where some extremist groups stored items to use as weapons, including hammers and other tools to break cobblestones to throw rocks at the police.

According to David Michaux, a spokesperson for the police union UNSA, police have fired more than 10,000 tear-gas grenades within days. This was really crazy, a disaster, Michaux told Radio France Info. We ran out of ammo for a while, and we faced potential failure.

Bank Account in Red

The frontline of the protests is on the Champs Elysees, where the protests first broke out. Complaints about the high cost of living are common, with high taxation mostly to blame.

Ive been in the Iraq War, sir, a man, who looked in his 50s or 60s, told a police officer. I cant live with my pension, what can I do?

Another passerby, an elderly woman, said: My husband has worked all his life. I am retired. My bank account is always in the red.

According to a recent BVA survey, 72 percent of the French support the Yellow vest movements.

Loose Leadership

There are no main leaders or firm structure to the protests. Several groups, such as paramedic and student groups, have joined in, expanding the size of the movement. Many of the activists claiming leadership have had their legitimacy challenged by other leaders.

A delegation of eight leaders of the movement met with Minister of Ecology Francois de Rugy on Nov. 28. The leaders didnt find the meeting addressing their concerns, and called out for more protests as a result.

Christophe Chalencon, a representative from Nouveau Collectif des Gilets Jaunes, one of the groups that have formed the protests, says the group wants the government to resign. Jacline Mouraud, a popular leader of another group, says the first step in negotiations is for the government to scrap the gas tax hikes.

The government has declared war on vehicle owners, Mouraud said in a YouTube video that has gone viral. As soon as we take our cars to drive, we are seen as targets, should it be with gas taxes or new fees for high speed, as long as we are just a little above the speed limits. What are you doing with all that money?

But having their demands answered by the government isnt the only thing Mouraud and many others are concerned about; they say they have received threats from anarchist groups who want no settlement and want the riots to continue. Mouraud said Dec. 3 that she wouldnt join protests without police protection, as anarchist members have threatened her life and have published her family members names on social media.

A delegation of protesters is scheduled to meet with government officials on Dec. 4.US Interagency Report Advises Loosening Obamacare Regulations

WASHINGTONStates should expand health insurance offerings and Congress and the White House should work to get rid of certain Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare) mandates that smother competition, an interagency report released Dec. 3 recommends.

The report, a collaboration between the departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury, offers recommendations to the White House, Congress, federal agencies, and state governments on how to increase choice and competition in health care.

Most of the suggestions center around deregulating the market, and cover areas such as the physician labor market, health plan options, provider networks, and the removal of the ACAs employer mandate, among other things.

The report suggests repealing the employer mandate, which requires businesses with 50 full-time employees to provide minimum essential coverage to all their employees or risk paying a penalty. Similarly, it advocates for health reimbursement accounts (HRA), which are employer-funded accounts that fund employee health care.

In October, the aforementioned three agencies proposed a rule that would increase the ways employers fund health coverage for employees, including with HRAs. HRAs can currently be used by employers, but only in addition to plans that provide essential coverage. The rule would allow employers to use HRAs with individual plans as well.

If finalized, this flexibility would empower individuals to take greater control over what health insurance benefits they receive, the report says. In addition to the benefit for workers, the proposed rule would better enable businesses to focus on what they do bestserve their customersand not on navigating and managing complex health benefit designs.

The Treasury Department estimates the rule could affect some 10 million employees.

The report takes issue with the essential coverage mandate of the ACA, which it argues requires employers and individuals to pay for things they dont need. It has also led to an increase in premiums. To illustrate this, the report cites ASPE data from 2013 to 2017 that shows premiums increased 105 percent in the 39 states using the HealthCare.gov website.

It also attributes ACA mandates to a decline in choices for consumers. It cites the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank, which put out a study showing a 44 percent decrease in providers from 2013, the year before the majority of ACA mandates took effect, to 2017.

To remedy this, it suggests the federal government reduce its mandates so that states have more flexibility to tailor coverage to their domestic markets.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has already encouraged states to apply for ACA waivers that allow for experimentation within certain boundaries. So far, eight states have gotten approval for their waivers.

The report encourages states to adopt the recently expanded short-term, limited-duration health plans, created to provide stop-gap health care coverage, and association health plans that allow employers to band together to better negotiate prices for their employees.

Health care markets could work more efficiently and Americans could receive more effective, high-value care if we remove and revise certain federal and state regulations and policies that inhibit choice and competition, the report says.A man holds a placard during a vigil to commemorate Giulio Regeni, who was found murdered in Cairo, in downtown Rome on Jan. 25, 2017. (Reuters/Alessandro Bianchi)

Italy Said to Investigate Five Egyptian Suspects Over Disappearance of Student

ROMEItalian prosecutors have placed five members of Egypts security forces under official investigation for their alleged involvement in the disappearance of student Giulio Regeni, a judicial source said.

Regeni, a 28-year-old postgraduate student at Cambridge University, vanished in Cairo in January 2016. His body was found almost a week later and a post-mortem examination showed he had been tortured before his death.

There was no immediate comment from authorities in Egypt. Egyptian officials have repeatedly denied any involvement in Regenis killing.

The five suspects are all members of the National Security Agency and include a general, two colonels, and a major, the source said. They have been placed under investigation for allegedly kidnapping Regeni. No one has been named in connection with the killing itself.

Under Italian law, being placed under official investigation doesnt imply guilt and doesnt automatically lead to a trial.

Regeni disappeared on Jan. 25, 2016the fifth anniversary of the start of the 2011 uprising that ended the 30-year rule of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. Pointing to the signs of torture, human-rights groups such as the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms and Amnesty International suggested in 2016 that Regeni could have been killed by Egyptian security services.

Intelligence and security sources told Reuters in 2016 that police had arrested Regeni outside a Cairo metro station and transferred him to a compound run by Egyptian homeland security.

Italian and Egyptian investigators have been working together to try to solve the crime and have held regular meetings in Rome and Cairo to pool their information.

Sensitive Studies

However, judicial sources in Rome told Reuters that Italy was frustrated by the slow pace of developments in Egypt and had decided to press ahead with its own line of inquiry in an effort to move things forward.

Egypts state information service said Dec. 3 that Italy had sought Egypts approval for listing a number of Egyptian policemen as suspects during a meeting of the prosecutors from the two countries last week.

It said such a request had already been rejected in the past because Egyptian law didnt recognize the procedure for placing suspects under investigation before possible charges are laid. It also cited a lack of solid evidence for the request, which, it said, was merely based upon initial police inquiries.

The judicial sources in Rome said that among those placed under investigation Dec. 4 was a colonel who had met Italian prosecutors during their first visit to Cairo in February 2016. He had assured them that local security forces had had nothing to do with the disappearance of Regeni, the same judicial sources said.

Regeni had been researching Egypts independent unions for his doctoral thesis. Associates say he was also interested in alternatives to the long-standing domination of Egypts economy by the state and the military.

Both subjects are sensitive in Egypt. The militarys grip on the economy is a subject rarely talked about in a country that has been ruled almost entirely by the military since the overthrow of King Farouk in 1952.

By Domenico LusiItaly Police Arrest Mafias Alleged New Mob Boss in Sicily

PALERMO, ItalyItalian police have arrested the suspected new head of the Sicilian mafia and 45 other alleged mobsters in a major blow to organized crime on the Mediterranean island, the government said on Dec. 4.

There is no more room for this type of scum in Italy, Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio wrote on Instagram.

The previous boss of bosses, Salvatore Toto Riina, died in prison last year after spending almost a quarter of a century behind bars for ordering dozens of murders, including those of two of Italys most celebrated anti-mob prosecutors.

Among those arrested on Dec. 4 was Settimo Mineo, an 80-year-old jeweler suspected of heading local mafia families in the Sicilian capital Palermo and of being promoted to lead the whole crime group in May, police said.

The arrests  represent one of the biggest blows inflicted on the mafia by the state. Mineo had been elected heir of Toto Riina after his death, Di Maio added.

A police source said Mineo was elected boss at a meeting of provincial leaders of the Sicilian mafia, known as Cosa Nostra (Our Thing), on May 29. It was believed to be the first such gathering of mob families for more than 25 years.

Once all-powerful on Sicily, the worlds most famous crime gang has been squeezed over the past two decades, with many bosses put behind bars, businesses sequestered and locals increasingly ready to defy it.

The meeting in May of the Cosa Nostra cupola, or hierarchy, was seen by investigators as a sign the group was looking to rebuild.

With an extraordinary operation in the Palermo province, the police have dismantled Cosa Nostras new cupola, Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said on Twitter.

Mineo was sentenced to five years in jail for mafia-related crimes at the so-called maxi-trial that ran from 1986-1992 and was spearheaded by prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino.

Both Falcone and Borsellino were murdered in 1992 on Riinas orders after verdicts were delivered. Following their deaths, the state poured resources into the fight against the mob and ground down Cosa Nostra.

One prominent mafioso the police have been unable to capture is Matteo Messina Denaro, nicknamed Diabolik, who has been on the run since 1993 and comes from the province of Trapani in western Sicily. It was not clear if he attended the May meeting.

By Wladimir PantaleoneU.S. President Barack Obama (R) watches on as Ray Connor, Sr Vice President of Boeing and Rusdi Kirana, President Director of Lion Air (2nd L) exchange documents during a signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two companies on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Nusa Dua, Bali, November 18, 2011. (Jason Reed/File Photo/Reuters)

Lion Air Ponders Canceling Boeing Jets in Row Over Crash: Sources

PARIS/JAKARTAIndonesias Lion Air is reviewing airplane purchases from Boeing Co. and has not ruled out canceling orders as relations worsen in a spat over responsibility for a 737 jetliner crash that killed 189 people in late October.

Co-founder Rusdi Kirana is furious over what he regards as attempts by Boeing to deflect attention from recent design changes and blame Lion Air for the crash, while the airline faces scrutiny over its maintenance record and pilots actions.

Kirana is examining the possibility of canceling remaining orders of Boeing jets from the next delivery, according to a person familiar with his thinking. Another source close to the airline said it was looking at canceling orders.

No final decision has been made, but discussion over the fate of $22 billion of remaining orders highlights the stakes surrounding an investigation involving Boeings fastest-ever selling jet, the 737 MAX, which entered service last year.

Lion Air has 190 Boeing jets worth $22 billion at list prices waiting to be delivered, on top of 197 already taken, making it one of the largest U.S. export customers.

Any request to cancel could be designed to put pressure on Boeing and would likely trigger extensive negotiations. Many airlines defer orders, but industry sources say aerospace suppliers rarely allow much scope for unilateral cancellations.

Lion Air declined to comment. A Boeing spokesman said: We are taking every measure to fully understand all aspects of this accident, and are working closely with the investigating team and all regulatory authorities involved. We are also supporting our valued customer through this very tough time.

Maintenance, Software

Kirana, who is now Indonesias envoy to Malaysia but still carries weight at the airline he co-founded with his brother in 2000, ordered the review in response to a Boeing statement focusing attention on piloting and maintenance, the person said.

Boeing released the statement after investigators last week issued an interim report focusing on maintenance actions spread over four flights in the run-up to the doomed flight on Oct. 29.

Boeing is also examining software changes in the wake of the crash, while insisting longstanding procedures exist for pilots to cancel automated nose-down movements experienced by the 737 MAX in response to erroneous sensor readings.

It has come under fire from U.S. pilots for not mentioning the MCAS systema modification of existing anti-stall systemsin the manual for the 737 MAX, which began service last year.

Why are they changing (software) if there was nothing wrong? the person familiar with Kiranas thinking said.

Boeing has said all information needed to fly the 737 safely is available to pilots and that its workhorse model is safe.

Some financial sources say Lion Air and southeast Asian rivals over-expanded and would be comfortable with fewer orders.

But the row highlights an unusually polarized dispute over the causes of the crash. Experts say most accidents are caused by a cocktail of factors and parties rarely comment in detail before the final report, which often follows a year of analysis.

In its statement, Boeing recapped the interim report and listed questions on maintenance and pilot behavior that it said remained unanswered in the 78-page document, but did not mention the MCAS modification covered in an earlier safety bulletin.

It is not the first time an airline has crossed swords with its supplier after a crash. Lion Airs rival AirAsia clashed with Airbus after its Indonesian subsidiary lost an A320 in 2014. It continued to take deliveries, but relations never fully recovered and it later toyed with buying 787s from Boeing.

By Tim Hepher & Cindy SilvianaMars Rover Spots Shiny Objects on Mars; NASA Isnt Sure What They Are

Scroll down for the photo

A Mars rover spotted shiny objects on Mars, but scientists are not sure what they are.

The planning team thinks it might be a meteorite because it is so shiny. But looks can deceive, and proof will only come from the chemistry. Unfortunately, the small target was missed in the previous attempt, the agency wrote on Nov. 28.

Curiosity is drilling at the Highfield site and will investigate four other samples, including one called Little Colonsay due to its looks, NASA said. The rover will use it ChemCam device to confirm the makeup of the object.

Another very small target is the target Flanders Moss, which shows an interesting, dark colored coating, for which chemistry is required to confirm its nature. Two additional targets, Forres and Eildon, are to add to the database of the grey Jura bedrock before we leave the Highfield site next week, said NASA.

Curiosity is a car-sized rover thats been on Mars since August 2012 after launching from the Cape Canaveral base in November 2011.

Curiosity set out to answer the question: Did Mars ever have the right environmental conditions to support small life forms called microbes? Early in its mission, Curiositys scientific tools found chemical and mineral evidence of past habitable environments on Mars. It continues to explore the rock record from a time when Mars could have been home to microbial life, the U.S. space agency said of its mission.

In 2013, NASA said the Curiosity rover discovered that the Red Planet once had conditions suitable for ancient life.

Scientists identified sulfur, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and carbonsome of the key chemical ingredients for lifein the powder Curiosity drilled out of a sedimentary rock near an ancient stream bed in Gale Crater on the Red Planet last month, NASA wrote at the time.

A fundamental question for this mission is whether Mars could have supported a habitable environment, stated Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASAs Mars Exploration Program. From what we know now, the answer is yes.

The range of chemical ingredients we have identified in the sample is impressive, and it suggests pairings such as sulfates and sulfides that indicate a possible chemical energy source for microorganisms, noted Paul Mahaffy, the principal investigator of the SAM suite of instruments at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center.

A year later, NASA discovered ancient organic chemistry on the planet.

This temporary increase in methanesharply up and then back downtells us there must be some relatively localized source, said Sushil Atreya of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and Curiosity rover science team. There are many possible sources, biological or nonbiological, such as interaction of water and rock.A sign in a market window advertises this store accepts food stamps in New York, on Oct. 7, 2010. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Majority of Non-Citizen Households in US Access Welfare Programs, Report Finds

Almost 2 out of 3 non-citizen households in the United States receive some form of welfare, according to a report released by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS).

The report, released Dec. 2, found 63 percent of non-citizen households in the United States tap at least one welfare program, compared with 35 percent of native households. The findings are based on the Census Bureaus latest 2014 Survey of Income and Program Participation.

Non-citizen households are using welfare food programs and Medicaid at twice the rate of native households, the study found. There are a total of 4.68 million non-citizen households receiving some form of welfare and the numbers dont improve over time. For non-citizens who remain in the country for more than 10 years, the percentage of welfare recipients rises to 70 percent.

In this study, non-citizens are defined as long-term temporary visitors, such as guest workers and foreign students, permanent residents who havent yet naturalized (so-called green card holders), and illegal immigrants.

Of non-citizens in the Census Bureau data, roughly half are in the country illegally, the CIS estimates.

The new analysis supports President Donald Trumps worry that immigrantsboth legal and illegalimpose tremendous fiscal costs on the nation.

Legal immigrants are initially barred from many, but not all, welfare programs; after a period of time in the United States, they are able to qualify. Today, most legal immigrants have lived in the U.S. long enough to qualify for many welfare programs. Some states provide welfare to new immigrants independent of the federal government.

The biggest avenue non-citizens use to access welfare is through their children.

Non-citizens (including illegal immigrants) can receive benefits on behalf of their U.S.-born children who are awarded U.S. citizenship and full welfare eligibility at birth, the CIS notes.

Although a number of programs were examined in the report, no single program accounts for the discrepancy in the use of welfare programs between citizens and non-citizens. For example, the CIS said when not counting school lunch and breakfast, welfare use is still 61 percent for non-citizen households, compared with 33 percent for natives. Not counting Medicaid, welfare use is 55 percent for immigrants compared with 30 percent for natives.

The CIS report suggests that a lack of education is the primary cause of immigrants high rate of welfare use.

A much larger share of non-citizens have [a] modest level of education, CIS says, and therefore they often earn low wages and qualify for welfare at higher rates.

To support this claim, the CIS said 58 percent of all non-citizen households are headed by immigrants with no more than a high school education, compared with 36 percent of native households. Of these non-citizen households with no more than a high school education, 81 percent access one or more welfare programs, versus only 28 percent of non-citizen households headed by a college graduate.

In an effort to reduce the rate of welfare use among future immigrants, the Trump administration has issued new public charge laws. These laws expand the list of programs that are considered welfare, so that receiving these benefits may prevent prospective immigrants from receiving a green card. However, these changes do not include all the benefits that non-citizens receive on behalf of their children and many welfare programs are not included in the new rules, according to CIS.

The CIS recommends using education levels and potential future income to determine the likelihood of future welfare use for potential green-card applicants, to reduce welfare use among non-citizens.Over 400 Migrants Cross Border, Surrender to Border Patrol in Texas

More than 400 people illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border into Texas on Dec. 3 and surrendered to U.S. Border Patrol agents in El Paso.

Agent Fidel Baca, a spokesman for the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), told the El Paso Times that a group of men, women, and children turned themselves in to the Border Patrol along the Rio Grande levee next to the border fence in the Riverside area of the Lower Valley.

Baca said that CBP agents initially detained 200 people but with the discovery of another group east of the Zaragoza Bridge, that number was later revised upward to 400.

The illegal aliens were taken into custody and will be processed, Baca told the El Paso Times, and added that they may be prosecuted for illegal entry.

According to Baca, it was not known whether the migrants were part of the Central American caravans that had made their way through Mexico.

The detained group of 400 was the latest in recent weeks of rising numbers of migrants crossing the Texas border to turn themselves in an apparent hope of obtaining political asylum.

KFOX14 reported that two weeks ago, a total of 210 undocumented immigrants turned themselves into CBP agents.

Weve seen this, weve got our intelligence reports, weve been doing the analysis consistently. And weve always been training and preparing for moments like this. So were looking forward to seeing how much further this goes but at the same time preparing and making sure our agents are ready to handle these situations, said U.S. Border Patrol Agent Joe Romero, according to the report.

Watch surveillance footage released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection showing children being dropped from an 18-foot wall along the U.S.-Mexico border near San Luis, Arizona:

Caravan Migrants Breach Border

At least two dozen Central American migrants, who claim to be disillusioned and frustrated with the asylum-seeking process, illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border on Monday by scaling a 10-foot metal fence.

Reuters reported that other migrants managed to squeeze through the fence on the beach.

Karen Mayeni, a 29-year-old Honduran mother with three children aged between 6 and 12, told Reuters that she was standing by and watching others penetrating the border and waiting to see what happens. The woman said she would decide her familys next action in a couple of days.

But about 90 minutes later, she and her children were seen on the U.S. side of the border, according to the report.

The migrants in Tijuana are part of several caravans that traveled through Mexico in an effort to enter the United States, citing issues such as widespread violence and dismal job prospects in their home countries.

Some migrants have said they hope to enter the United States legally on the basis of approved asylum claims, but others have said they intend to get across by any means necessary.

Plans for illegal crossings were curbed by the Trump administrations decision to send troops to protect the border and impose a new policy that requires every migrant seeking asylum to remain in Mexico, where their cases will be heard. That rule was struck down last month by a federal judge.

Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum said it is costing the city $25,000 per day to feed and house the 7,000 migrants currently in the city.

He told Fox News that Tijuana cannot continue providing support for the migrants, saying the citys resources have been depleted.

In those six hours that the border was closed, we lost approximately 129 million pesos, he said, referring to recent clashes at the border. Thats not fair. How do you think people from Tijuana feel toward those people who are making problems?A woman in Pennsylvania pleaded guilty to killing her boyfriend last year by stabbing and crushing him with her own body weight. (Erie County Police Department)

Pennsylvania Woman Pleads Guilty to Sitting on Boyfriend During Fatal Attack

A woman in Pennsylvania pleaded guilty to killing her boyfriend after reportedly crushing him with her own body weight.

Windi C. Thomas, 44, of Erie, faces between 18 and 36 years in prison. She pleaded guilty to third-degree murder charges on Dec. 3, according to the Erie Times-News. Shell face a judge for sentencing on Dec. 21.

The report noted that Thomas weighs around 300 pounds and the victim, 44-year-old Keeno Butler, weighed around 120 pounds, the report stated. She also reportedly hit him with a table leg.

Its a good result based upon the facts of the case, said her court-appointed lawyer, Mark Del Duca, of Pittsburgh. I think its fair for both sides.

He added to Your Erie: We think its in the best interest of everybody involved. Obviously, its an unfortunate situation for everybody, but I think that this guilty plea and the recommendation weve made to the court will be beneficial for all parties involved. 

Butler death was ruled a homicide caused by respiratory insufficiency secondary to blunt force trauma to the neck and thoracic compression, exacerbated by blunt force trauma to the head, an affidavit said, according to the report.

Thomas told investigators that she had cut Butler in the hand with a knife before hitting with the table leg during a fight, according to the Times-News.

Thomas called 911, and police found his body in the living room.

"It was very, very hard to keep quiet. It was an awful killing."  Keeno Butler's sister, Sandra Jean Butler, commenting after Windi Thomas' preliminary hearing. pic.twitter.com/5hTwiGfKfn  Jackie Roberts (@JackieRoberts22) June 6, 2018

I feel like she should have 40 or more, Sandra Butler, the victims sister, according to the Erie Times-News. She deserved life.

For her guilty plea, Assistant Erie County District Attorney Jeremy Lightner dropped other charges of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, and possession of the instrument of a crime, according to Inside Edition.

An obituary for Butler, who was known as Loco, described him as full of energy.

Keeno will be remembered as a person who was full of love, energy and had a smile that would light up a room, the obituary said. He enjoyed pets, music, dancing and working.

Hes survived by a daughter, two grandchildren, nine brothers and sister, his mother, and other family members. The greatest part of Keenos life was when he was with his family, especially his daughter and grandchildren. He was loved by many, it said.

Violent Crime Down in 2018

The FBI says that in 2017 violent crime had dropped by 0.2 percent, according to a release, but aggravated and rape offenses increased by a respective 1.0 percent and 2.5 percent. The murder rate dropped by 0.7 percent, the agency said.

In 2017, there were an estimated 1,247,321 violent crimes. The estimated number of robbery offenses decreased 4.0 percent, and the estimated number of murder and nonnegligent manslaughter offenses decreased 0.7 percent when compared with estimates from 2016. The estimated volume of aggravated assault and rape (revised definition) offenses increased 1.0 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively, said the FBI.

The agency added: By violent crime offense, the arrest rate for murder and nonnegligent manslaughter was 3.8 per 100,000 inhabitants; rape (aggregate total using the revised and legacy definition), 7.2; robbery, 29.3; and aggravated assault, 120.4 per 100,000 inhabitants.

Meanwhile, the FBI said that there are now 670,279 sworn officers and 286,662 civilian officers in the U.S, which is a rate of 3.4 employees per 1,000 inhabitants.Carla Stefaniak, of Miami, was celebrating her 36th birthday, Fox13 reported. Her sister-in-law, April Burton, left the country last week, which is one day earlier than she was slated to return. (Carla Stefaniak/Facebook)

Reports: Florida Woman Carla Stefaniak Found Dead in Costa Rica, Homicide Investigation Opened

Family speaks out, saying they haven't seen the body yet

Reports have confirmed that Carla Stefaniak, who disappeared in Costa Rica last week while she was on vacation, appears to have been found dead on the property where she had been staying.

Costa Rican authorities have confirmed that the body belongs to her, and her death is now being investigated as a homicide, WSVN reported on Dec. 4.

A security guard was also detained as part of the murder investigation, the Costa Rican Judicial Investigation Department confirmed to the news outlet.

Walter Espinoza, the director of the agency, said the guard was identified as Bismarck Espinosa Martinez, 32, of Nicaragua. He apparently contradicted his own account to police and then became a person of interest in the investigation, WSVN reported.

Espinoza moved to Costa Rica in June 2018.

Authorities added an autopsy confirmed that Stefaniaks cause of death was due to head, neck, and other injuries.

Espinoza told WSVN that all data gathered in the case shows the body is hers, but officials are waiting to compare the fingerprints with FBI records. Dental and DNA records might be used to identify the body.

On Dec. 3, reports said that a body was located on the Airbnb property where she was staying. It was discovered partially buried in plastic bags in a mountainous area.

Mario Caicedo, Stefaniaks brother, told WTSP her father hasnt yet seen the body yet. The family is continuing to hold out hope that she is still alive.

The family has yet to see the body and they were in the process of securing dental records for the examiners! says a post on Finding Carla Facebook page. We dont know why the media is announcing the identity of the body or what Costa Rica officials are trying to do by not allowing the family to view the remains BEFORE announcing anything.

The page added: The family has not confirmed the identity by viewing or providing DNA samples.

On Tuesday, a family friend, Bugra Demirel, told the BBC they had waited outside the morgue to identify her body. Officials turned them away, saying they needed more time.

Burga told the BBC: Its a horrible wait, and every single minute that Costa Rican officials are not showing the body is just a tremendous amount of pain on the family.

Another brother, Carlos Caicedo, previously told WFLA that hes in Costa Rica, saying he visited the Airbnb and elaborated on what the guards had told him. She went there the night before and left at 5 a.m., said Caicedo. Everything is gone. She left with everything on hand.

None of us really believe this 5 a.m. story because it really doesnt make sense, her sister-in-law April Burton told Fox13. We know she was abducted. Theres no reason for her not to contact anyone. Burton had traveled to Costa Rica with Stefaniak, but she left one day before her.

Burton told CBS News this week that a rainstorm appeared to knock out the power at Stefaniaks Airbnb. The woman said that its pretty sketchy here, Burton said.

It was her birthday, and it makes me feel really bad. I do feel guilty because I left early, Burton told Fox13. She saw Stefaniak last at the airport.

The U.S. State Department in September 2018 sent out a travel advisory for people visiting Costa Rica. Exercise normal precautions in Costa Rica. Some areas have increased risk, the agency says. The Costa Rica Star publication, meanwhile, wrote in September that the Central American nation is experiencing a mini crime wave, which will affect the tourist trade, including hotels, restaurants, tours, taxis, and more.Sen. Chuck Grassley at the Capitol in Washington, on Sept. 4, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

Grassley Questions FBI Over Raid of Clinton Foundation, Uranium One Whistleblower

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is seeking answers from the FBI director and the Justice Departments Inspector General (IG) regarding the FBI raid of a whistleblowers home.

The FBI raided the residence of Dennis Nathan Cain on Nov. 19, and seized documents related to the Clinton Foundation and the Uranium One deal. Cain had previously provided the documents to an official from the IGs office, The Daily Caller reported on Nov. 30.

Grassleys Nov. 30 letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray included questions about what the FBI knew about Cain handing over the documents to the IG, why the raid was conducted, and whether the documents were classified.

Does the FBI consider Mr. Cains disclosures to be protected? he asked. Please explain.

Cain, who had worked for an FBI contractor, discovered documents that indicated that Robert Mueller, then-FBI director and now special counsel in the Russia probe, failed to investigate potential criminal activity of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Clinton Foundation, and Rosatomthe Russian state company that obtained about one-fifth of the U.S. uranium reserves by purchasing the Uranium One company in 2010, The Daily Caller learned from an unspecified document.

The document gave us a good sense of the topics enclosed in some of the documents sent to the IG, the author of the report, Richard Pollock, told The Epoch Times via email, adding The Caller authenticated the document and is confident it is authentic and accurate.

Pollock said he didnt know who Cains contractor was, but that Cains background checked out.

We are convinced by examining federal documents that he was a bonafide contract employee of the FBI, he said.

Cain has a top-level security clearance and maintains a number of security-related credentials, according to his resume, which has since been deleted online.

The trouble is, no one seems willing to confirm Cains story on record.

Mystery Raid

The IGs office provided the documents to House and Senate Intelligence committees, according to Pollock. But the IGs office declined to comment, as well as the offices of both committees chairsRep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) and Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.).

The FBI only vaguely confirmed that it indeed took some action in Cains hometown on the day in question.

It was the FBI Baltimore Field Office that did court-authorized law enforcement activity on Nov. 19 in the Union Bridge area, Dave Fitz, public affairs specialist for the FBI Baltimore Field Office told The Epoch Times.

A user who self-identified as Nate Cain, the whistleblower, emerged on Twitter in October. He posted on Dec. 1 that he would appear on Fox News Sean Hannity show on Dec. 3. But he wasnt among Hannitys guests that night.

Friends, I have just been contacted by Fox News and informed that due to HW Bushs funeral, many segments including mine have been canceled for tonight, Cain said in a tweet on Dec. 3. I will update you when I know more.

The Twitter user confirmed to The Epoch Times that hes indeed the whistleblower, but directed further inquiries to his lawyer, Michael Socarras, who declined to comment. A Fox News spokesperson also declined to comment.

The raid, however, was confirmed by Cains sister-in-law, Gracie West, a self-described ex-feminist who regularly posts commentary videos on YouTube, including videos from the Oct. 27 #WalkAway March in Washington, where she was accompanied by a man matching Cains Twitter profile photo, video footage shows.

My sister calls me at 3 a.m. like about a week and a half ago and says, Grace, pray. The FBI is raiding our house right now, she said in a Nov. 30 video.

Cain indeed used to work for the FBI, she said.

I knew he left not happy because he was willing to take a job that was a pay cut of $40,000 a year, she said.

According to Pollock, 16 agents raided the house for six hours with a warrant in hand signed Nov. 15 by federal magistrate Judge Stephanie Gallagher in Baltimore.

The agents seemed surprised to learn that Cain was a whistleblower. They took his work computer and his phone, West said.

Lawyer Cries Foul

Socarras pointed out that the FBI behaved in a way he considered misconduct.

After the raid, and having received my name and phone number from Mr. Cain as his lawyer, an FBI agent actually called my client directly to discuss his seized electronics, Socarras told The Daily Caller. Knowingly bypassing the lawyer of a represented client is serious misconduct.

He also suggested the FBI wasnt forthright with the judge.

I cannot believe the Bureau informed the federal magistrate who approved the search warrant that they wanted to search the home of an FBI whistleblower to seize the information that he confidentially disclosed to the IG and Congress, Socarras said.

For her part, West vouched for Cains integrity.

Hes a vet, hes a patriot. He cares more about justice and the integrity of our government more than his own well-being, she said.

She didnt respond to requests for comment.

Uranium One

The Uranium One scandal is a sensitive one for the Clintons. Millions of dollars flew to their foundation while the State Department and other agencies in the Obama administration approved the Uranium One acquisition by Russia.

Former President Bill Clinton gave a speech in Moscow months before the deal and was paid $500,000 for it by Renaissance Capital, an investment firm with an interest in the Uranium One deal and ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

At the time, the Mueller-led FBI was aware that Russian authorities had staged a large-scale operation to blackmail and extort U.S. companies connected to uranium production and transportation. The agency had a source working in the uranium industry that provided evidence of bribery and corruption.

The investigation was killed in 2015 by Muellers successor, James Comey.

If confirmed, Cains allegations would turn the tables on Mueller. As special counsel, Mueller was appointed to probe whether the presidential campaign of Donald Trump colluded with the Russian government to influence the election. While Mueller is yet to substantiate such allegations after an 18-month probe, Cains story suggests he turned a blind eye to the Clintons potentially criminal collusion with the Russian government.

In a Nov. 30 letter to the IG, Grassley asked for the Cain documents and an explanation on what the IG intends to do regarding the raid of Cains home. He requested a response by Dec. 12.

Grassleys office didnt respond to a request for further information.

Correction: A previous version of this report incorrectly stated when Dennis Nathan Cain emerged on Twitter. Twitter indicates the @cain_nate account was set up in October 2018. A previous version of this report also incorrectly stated when Rosatom acquired Uranium one. It was in 2010. The Epoch Times regrets the errors.

Update: The report was updated to clarify known facts about Dennis Nathan Cains Twitter account and his lack of appearance on The Sean Hannity Show on Dec. 3. The report was also updated with responses from Dennis Nathan Cain, Michael Socarras, and a Fox News spokesperson.Students Displaced by Camp Fire Finally Return to School

More than 31,000 students who were displaced by the Camp Fire in Butte County have finally returned to school, with a couple thousand still relocated to temporary school sites, according to a statement from the California Department of Education.

The department said about 28,000 students from 87 schools were able to return to their original schools on Dec. 3, and another 2,200 students from nine schools are attending classes at temporary sites.

In addition, there are still 1,520 students from 7-12 grades that are not yet attending a school, but are being given independent study on a temporary basis.

After the Camp Fire ignited on Nov. 8, the wildfire either damaged or destroyed 14 schools and forced all 99 schools in the county to be closed, leaving 31,670 students without a classroom for nearly a month.

The reopening of schools in Butte County so soon after this terrible tragedy provides a bright ray of hope. It shows the resilience and determination of school leaders and community members, and the generosity and kindness of so many people who gave and continue to give, said Tom Torlakson, State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

The Camp Fire was dubbed the deadliest wildfire in California history, killing at least 88 people, burning more than 153,000 acres of land, and destroying about 14,000 residences. According to an update on Dec. 3, there are still 25 people on the list of missing persons.

As Paradise USD celebrated back to school day following Camp Fire; toured Paradise Elementary w/PUSD Supt. & former Paradise principal Michelle John & @CADeptEd Supt @TomTorlakson. Tremendous teamwork of local & state ed leaders to get kids back to school. #OneTeamOneFight pic.twitter.com/fiTiHMnuPp  Eric Lamoureux (@EricALamoureux) December 3, 2018

Thousands of residents have suffered the trauma of narrow escapes and the tragedy of losing their homes. Many have lost loved ones, said Torlakson. But through all this, Butte County residents are pulling together and rising above the tragedy, devastation, and sorrow caused by this natural disaster.

Although the majority of students in Butte County are back in their original schools, the children at temporary sites will have some major challenges.

The 220 students from Childrens Community Charter School in Paradise were forced to move into a church gym in Chico. Another charter school will be joining them later this week.

Will our test scores suffer? Yeah. Im just going to be honest with you. Were going through trauma, said Principal Steve Hitchko.

When her third-grade classroom burned in the #Campfire, one Paradise teacher took students into her home. Their lives are gone. The only thing I know how to do is teach. Thats what Im doing. https://t.co/rxBEafADex  Hailey Branson-Potts (@haileybranson) December 3, 2018

School attendance levels in the area are expected to be 50 percent lower due to families displaced by the Camp Fire, according to ABC News.

However, officials from the Butte County Office of Education said any homeless students are able to re-enroll in the school district where they are temporarily staying, according to federal law.

In the meantime, officials are still searching for available buildings as well as partnerships with other agencies to try to keep classrooms and teachers together.

The Camp Fire displaced 5,000 students in the Paradise Unified School District alone. Since the fire destroyed most of the town, many Paradise residents have chosen to settle down in Chico, a city about 12 miles away from Paradise.

It could be years before schools are rebuilt in Paradise, said Tom DeLapp of the Butte County Office of Education. While the place burned down in 24 hours, we cant rebuild it in 24 hours.

Reuters contributed to this reportThe Supreme Court of the United States in Washington on June 27, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

Supreme Court Considers Who Bears Responsibility for Security Fraud

An investment banker who sent deceptive emails dramatically overstating the financial health of a failing clean energy company shouldnt be held responsible for securities fraud because he was only following his supervisors directions, the mans attorney told a skeptical Supreme Court.

U.S. securities laws forbid those offering securities for sale from making false statements or participating in fraudulent schemes. Whether a person who merely passes the bad information along is legally liable is at issue in this case.

The company, Waste2Energy Holdings Inc. of Neptune Beach, Florida, founded in 2007, went out of business in 2013 after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company had hoped to develop technology to convert waste into energy but failed to do so.

In 2009 Francis V. Lorenzo, then the director of investment banking at the brokerage Charles Vista LLC, emailed prospective investors offering for sale $15 million in debentures secured only by W2Es earning capacity.

The emails indicated that W2E had $10 million in assets and purchase orders north of $40 million, and that the brokerage was willing to raise money to repay investors if needed.

But at the time the emails were sent, the company had already acknowledged that an audit had determined its assets were worth much less than $1 million.

Lorenzos boss and the brokers settled the claims the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought but Lorenzo refused. An SEC administrative law judge found Lorenzos superior drafted the emails but that Lorenzo had nonetheless broken the law by sending them because they contained false information about W2Es financial situation.

The SEC banished Lorenzo from the securities industry for life and imposed a $15,000 civil penalty.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled against Lorenzo in 2017, finding that he participated in a scheme to defraud investors by sending the misleading emails even though he was not deemed to have made the untrue statements himself.

Lorenzo disagreed with the circuit court and the Supreme Court decided June 18 to hear his appeal. He argues that at most he may have aided and abetted a fraudulent scheme as a secondary violator of securities laws.

Borrowing language from the Supreme Courts ruling in the 2011 case, Janus Capital Group Inc. v. First Derivative Traders, Lorenzo argued that because he did not have ultimate authority over the statement, including its content and whether and how to communicate it, he cannot be held liable under Rule 10-5(b) of the Securities Exchange Act. The rule forbids fraudulent schemes or devices, making false statements, and engaging in fraud that harms investors.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who sat on the circuit court panel at the time, dissented from its majority opinion, writing that Lorenzo hadnt violated securities laws. How could [petitioner] have intentionally deceived the clients when he did not draft the emails, did not think about the contents of the emails, and sent the emails only at his bosss direction?

Kavanaugh recused himself from the Supreme Court case, leaving the other eight justices to participate in oral arguments Dec. 3.

Justices Have Doubts

During those oral arguments, Lorenzos attorney, Robert Heim, said that sending the email was not an inherently deceptive act. Justice Neil Gorsuch appeared to agree that Lorenzo was not the author of the false statements in the emails.

But Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Samuel Alito, and Sonia Sotomayor seemed to disagree with Heim.

Ginsburg asked Heim why it wasnt inherently deceptive to send a succession of untruths?

Lorenzo is essentially a conduit, Heim replied. Hes somebody thats transmitting statements  on behalf of another  simply sending an e-mail is not enough to transform Frank Lorenzo into a primary violator from, perhaps, somebody who gave substantial assistance.

The language of the statutes and the rules make a clear distinction between statements and  conduct.

Alito asked why Lorenzos behavior wouldnt fall squarely within the language of the rule used by the SEC.

Sotomayor was just as blunt, telling Heim: Im having a problem from the beginning. Once you concede  that youre not challenging that your client acted with an intent to deceive or defraud, that you arent challenging the D.C. Circuits conclusion to that effect? Is that correct?

Heim replied, Yes, Your Honor.

Sotomayor continued: I dont understand, once you concede that mental state, and he has the act of putting together the email and encouraging customers to call him with questions, not to call his boss with questions, how could that standing alone give away your case?

That makes him both the maker of a false statement, but its also engaging in an act, practice, or course of conduct which operates or would operate as a fraud or deceit.

The Trump administration argues the treatment Lorenzo received at the hands of the SEC was just.

I dont think youre likely to see a  more egregious fraud than this, Christopher Michel, assistant to the solicitor general, told the justices.A section of the border wall under construction on the border between Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua state, Mexico and Santa Teresa, New Mexico state, United States, on April 17, 2018. (HERIKA MARTINEZ/AFP/Getty Images)

Supreme Court Dismisses Environmentalists Challenge to Border Wall

The Supreme Court summarily rejected a legal challenge from activists who claimed that President Donald Trumps proposed southern border wall ran afoul of environmental laws, clearing away a potential obstacle that might have prevented the administration from moving ahead with construction on the project.

The Dec. 3 denial of the activists petition for certiorari was environmentalists second loss at the Supreme Court in as many weeks. The new ruling came days after the court unanimously rebuffed environmental regulators and activists in a case involving the endangered dusky gopher frog; in that case, the court found that the federal government overreached by limiting the development of private land in Louisiana to help save an amphibian that doesnt actually live there.

The ruling is also a significant victory for Trump, who campaigned on beefing up immigration law enforcement and constructing a wall on the nations multi-state border with Mexico. Years ago, Congress approved legislation authorizing construction of the wall but has yet to actually appropriate funding for it. Congress has appropriated limited funding for fencing and other barriers along the border.

Trump took to Twitter Dec. 4 to urge Congress to approve wall funding:

Could somebody please explain to the Democrats (we need their votes) that our Country losses [sic] 250 Billion Dollars a year on illegal immigration, not including the terrible drug flow. Top Border Security, including a Wall, is $25 Billion. Pays for itself in two months. Get it done!

The court decision comes at a time when the nations immigration system and porous borders are constantly in the headlines. Televised images of members of Central American caravans defiantly scaling border fencing to unlawfully enter the country have enraged many Americans. Trump has deployed about 6,000 U.S. troops to the border with Mexico.

The decision to not consider an appeal of the ruling by U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel of the Southern District of California earlier this year by the Center for Biological Diversity, Animal Legal Defense Fund, and Defenders of Wildlife helps to clear the way for the administration to move forward with building a border wall, assuming Congress appropriates funding for the project. Curiel, coincidentally, is the same judge Trump previously criticized for his handling of a class-action lawsuit involving the now-defunct Trump University.

But its far from certain that lawmakers will approve funding for the wall. Trump has threatened to shut down the federal government if Congress fails to ante up $5 billion for the initial phase of wall construction, for a project expected to cost $25 billion.

Current funding for the government runs out Dec. 7. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) told Fox News Channel Dec. 4 that lawmakers have agreed to fund the government for a two-week period.

Weve worked that out. And this fights going to continue on. And clearly, what were battling over is to make sure that we can fund our border-security properly, build the wall, and give President Trump the money he needs to keep America safe.

The Supreme Court justices declined without comment the request to review the ruling by Curiel, who dismissed the activists claim that the Trump administration had gone forward with preliminary phases of the project without complying with environmental laws.

Activists alleged in court filings that building the wall would have an adverse impact on the snowy plover and California gnatcatcher birds, and on other species, including the fairy shrimp, Quino checkerspot butterfly, and plant life such as the Tecate cypress and Otay Mesa mint.

Brian Segee, a lawyer for the Center for Biological Diversity, told Reuters he was disappointed the court turned down his groups appeal of Curiels decision.

Trump has abused his power to wreak havoc along the border to score political points, Segee said. Hes illegally sweeping aside bedrock environmental and public-health laws. Well continue to fight Trumps dangerous wall in the courts and in Congress.Suspected Human Smuggler Seen Dropping Small Children From 18-Foot Wall at US-Mexico Border

Surveillance footage released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows children being dropped from an 18-foot wall along the U.S.-Mexico border near San Luis, Arizona.

Customs and Border Protection officials said that on the morning of Dec. 3 security camera operators observed a group of six illegal aliens, including two small children, making their way over the border wall.

At least one person on the Mexico side was spotted helping adult members of the family traverse the wall at a point near the San Luis port of entry in Arizona, according to CBP.

The unidentified individual was caught on camera dropping two young children from the top of the 18-foot wall down to waiting family members below. Officials said the person who helped the family traverse the wall retreated to Mexico and was not arrested.

One of the children was reported to have sustained a facial injury.

The family of six that illegally crossed the border into the United States includes three children, ages 2, 7, and 10, and is from Guatemala, according to CBP. All surrendered to border patrol agents who arrived on the scene.

The child that suffered a facial injury was treated by border patrol agents, according to CBP.

All members of the group were taken into custody.

CBP officials said the section of the wall where the breach occurred is part of a section that has been selected and funded for replacement.

Caravan Migrants Breach Border

At least two dozen Central American migrants, who claim to be disillusioned and frustrated with the asylum-seeking process, illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border on Monday by scaling a 10-foot metal fence.

Reuters reported that other migrants managed to squeeze through the fence on the beach.

Karen Mayeni, a 29-year-old Honduran mother with three children aged between 6 and 12, told Reuters that she was standing by and watching others penetrating the border and waiting to see what happens. The woman said she would decide her familys next action in a couple of days.

But about 90 minutes later, she and her children were seen on the U.S. side of the border, according to the report.

The migrants in Tijuana are part of several caravans that traveled through Mexico in an effort to enter the United States, citing issues such as widespread violence and dismal job prospects in their home countries.

Some migrants have said they hope to enter the United States legally on the basis of approved asylum claims, but others have said they intend to get across by any means necessary.

Plans for illegal crossings were curbed by the Trump administrations decision to send troops to protect the border and impose a new policy that requires every migrant seeking asylum to remain in Mexico, where their cases will be heard. That rule was struck down last month by a federal judge.

Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum said it is costing the city $25,000 per day to feed and house the 7,000 migrants currently in the city.

He told Fox News that Tijuana cannot continue providing support for the migrants, saying the citys resources have been depleted.

In those six hours that the border was closed, we lost approximately 129 million pesos, he said, referring to recent clashes at the border. Thats not fair. How do you think people from Tijuana feel toward those people who are making problems?Trump: Cohen Lied for Lenient Deal, Should Serve Full Sentence

President Donald Trump accused his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, of lying to the special counsel investigators in order to get a more lenient sentence for his tax, fraud, and perjury crimes. Cohen should serve a full sentence for his crimes, the president wrote on Twitter on Dec. 3.

You mean he can do all of the TERRIBLE, unrelated to Trump, things having to do with fraud, big loans, Taxis, etc., and not serve a long prison term? Trump wrote. He makes up stories to get a GREAT & ALREADY reduced deal for himself, and get his wife and father-in-law (who has the money?) off Scott Free. He lied for this outcome and should, in my opinion, serve a full and complete sentence.

Cohens lawyers asked for a sentence of time-served, meaning no additional prison time, according to his Nov. 30 sentencing memo. The sentencing is scheduled on Dec. 12.

Cohen pleaded guilty to tax evasion, making false statements to a bank, campaign finance violations, and lying to Congress.

He is cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller, who was tasked to investigate whether Trumps campaign worked with Russia to sway the 2016 election. None of the eight charges against Cohen substantiate such an allegation and only the last two had to do with Trump at all.

Cohen confessed he was involved in paying hush money to two women that alleged past affairs with Trump. Because Trumps presidential bid was part of the reason to pay the women, it could have been classified as campaign contributions, the prosecutors argued.

Cohen also pleaded he lied to Congress when he said the potential project to build Trump hotel in Moscow fell through in January 2016, when his talks to a Russian official about it actually ended in June 2016. Cohen said he lied to be in line with Trumps disavowals of commercial and political ties to Russia.

Trump said on Nov. 29 that Cohen was trying to get a much lesser prison sentence by making up a story.

He said there was nothing wrong with building a hotel in Russia, but he ultimately nixed the idea to focus on his campaign.U.S. President Donald Trump attends a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during the G20 leaders summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Dec. 1, 2018. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

Trump: If No China Trade Deal Possible, I Am a Tariff Man

WASHINGTONU.S. President Donald Trump on Dec. 4 held out the possibility of an extension of the 90-day trade truce with China but made clear he would revert to tariffs if the two sides could not resolve their differences.

Trump said his team of trade advisers led by China trade hawk U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will determine whether a REAL deal with China was possible.

If it is, we will get it done, Trump said in a Twitter post. But if not remember, I am a Tariff Man.

The Republican president indicated he would not be opposed to extending the 90-day truce he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed on over the weekend.

The negotiations with China have already started. Unless extended, they will end 90 days from the date of our wonderful and very warm dinner with President Xi in Argentina, Trump said on Twitter.

Trump and Xi on Saturday agreed to the ceasefire in a trade war that has seen the flow of hundreds of billions of dollars worth of goods between the worlds two largest economies disrupted by tariffs.

The two leaders said they would hold off on imposing additional tariffs for 90 days starting on Dec. 1 while they seek a solution to their trade disputes.

Trump has said China is supposed to start buying agricultural products immediately and cut its 40 percent tariffs on U.S. car imports.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Tuesday that a reduction in Chinese tariffs on U.S. cars and agricultural and energy commodities would be a litmus test for whether U.S.-China trade talks are on track to succeed.

The United States also expects China to promptly address structural issues including intellectual property theft and forced technology transfers, U.S. officials have said.

So, again this will be a real agreement again and not that we can accomplish everything in 90 days but we expect to make a lot of progress and President Trump will be directly involved, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Fox Business Network on Tuesday.

Trump has long accused China of unfair trade practices that hurt Americans and the U.S. economy.

When people or countries come in to raid the great wealth of our Nation, I want them to pay for the privilege of doing so. It will always be the best way to max out our economic power, he said on Tuesday.

His appointment of Lighthizer to lead the talks instead of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin puts one of the administrations toughest China critics in charge. Trump said on Tuesday that Lighthizer would work closely with Mnuchin, Kudlow and trade adviser Peter Navarro.

By Doina ChiacuUS Gives Russia 60 Days to Comply With Nuclear Treaty

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave Russia a 60-day deadline on Dec. 4, to come into compliance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

If Russia fails to take action and destroy the SSC-8 missiles and launchers, which the U.S. says are in violation of the landmark 1987 arms pact, Washington will initiate the formal process to withdraw from the treaty, according to Pompeo.

Our nations have a choice. We either bury our head in the sand or we take common-sense action in response to Russias flagrant disregard for the express terms of the INF Treaty, Pompeo said Dec. 4, at a press conference during the NATO Foreign Ministers meeting in Belgium.

By signing the treaty, the United States and Russia agreed to ban the use, testing, and possession of short- and mid-range ballistic missiles. The United States holds that Russia has violated the treaty since the mid-2000s by testing the SSC-8 missile system.

President Donald Trump announced on Oct. 20, that the United States will pull out of the treaty, but no formal notice has been served. The withdrawal will be effective six months after an official notice is served.

The United States remains in compliance with the treaty, according to the Department of State. The United States informed Russia of its violation on at least 30 occasions since 2013.

Russias reply has been consistent: deny any wrongdoing, demand more information, and issue baseless counter-accusations, Pompeo said.

Moscow refused to acknowledge the existence of the missile system for four years. In 2017, after the United States released the name of the missile system, Russia admitted to its existence but said it was in compliance with the treaty.

Top U.S. officials view Russias non-compliance with the INF Treaty as part of Moscows broader campaign of malign activity around the globe, including in Georgia, Ukraine, and Syria.

The INF Treaty is only binding on Russia and the United States, while leaving out countries like China, Iran, and North Korea.

China, in particular, has developed a formidable arsenal of short- and mid-range missiles which the United States cannot deploy under the treaty. One-third to one-half of Chinas ballistic missile arsenal would violate the INF if Beijing was bound by the treaty, according to a U.S. assessment. American officials attempted to bring China into the treaty on three occasions, failing each time.

Pompeo noted that the decision was motivated in part by Trumps agenda to not support international agreements which undermine our security, our interests, or our values. The top U.S. diplomat added that the action will show the world that the U.S. is upholding the law and will hold its treaty partners accountable for violations.

If we do not, we will get cheated by other nations, expose Americans to greater risk, and squander our credibility, Pompeo said.

NATO foreign ministers agreed to formally declare Russia in material breach of the INF Treaty in a statement of support for the United States, after Pompeo briefed them at the alliance headquarters in Brussels on Russian violations.

U.S. allies lobbied Pompeo to provide the 60-day window, hoping that a diplomatic solution can be secured during that time. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters that European nations will engage in an intense diplomatic push to bring Russia into compliance.

Russia has a last chance to show in a verifiable way that they comply with the treaty  but we also have to start to prepare for the fact that this treaty may break down, Stoltenberg said.

Pompeo said that Russia deployed the SSC-8 missile battalions specifically to threaten NATO and its assets in Europe.

Its range makes it a direct menace to Europe, Pompeo said of the SSC-8, adding that only Russia can save the treaty from demise.A protester draped in a European Union flag outside the Houses of Parliament in London on March 13, 2017. (Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images)

UK Can Reverse Brexit Without European Union Agreement, Top EU Law Adviser Says

LONDONThe UK can back out of Brexit without the agreement of the European Union, the advocate general of the European Court of Justice said in official advice on a case brought by anti-Brexit campaigners.

The plaintiffs are hoping the case will light the legal path for British lawmakers to back out of Brexitif they wish toas they vote on the Brexit deal hashed out between the EU and UK.

The court is expected to make a final ruling sometime before Christmas, but such preliminary advice from the advocate general is typically followed in final judgments. The statement from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) bolsters a campaign for the British people to be given the option to overturn Brexitsomething the government insists wont happen.

The UK and EU are coming to the end of an interim period separated but still marriedas they hash out a divorce agreement before a deadline of March 29, 2019. Lawmakers will vote on a draft version of that divorce agreement on Dec. 11.

A Manifestation of Its Sovereignty

Lawmakers are expected to reject the deal, opening a confusing web of possibilities, including that of a second referendum and the possibility of overturning Brexit. Knowing that the UK can pull out of Brexit unilaterally would smooth the path to a second referendum.

Article 50 of the EU membership treaty is clear that Brexit can be stopped at any point within two years, as long as all 27 member states and the UK agree. However, it isnt clear whether the UK can decide on its own that it no longer wants to leave.

To answer that question, Scottish lawmakers opposed to Brexit filed a petition in the Scottish court, triggering a request to the ECJ, on Sept. 21.

The ECJ said in a statement, The Advocate General proposes that the Court of Justice should, in its future judgment, declare that Article 50 TEU allows the unilateral revocation of the notification of the intention to withdraw from the EU, until such time as the withdrawal agreement is formally concluded.

The advocate general, Manuel Sanchez-Bordona, said that the withdrawal from an international treaty, is by definition a unilateral act of a State party and a manifestation of its sovereignty.

Unilateral revocation would also be a manifestation of the sovereignty of the departing Member State, which chooses to reverse its initial decision.

Just a Bad Dream

Theresa Mays government has insisted all along that there would be no going back from Brexit, but political winds have been building behind a second referendum, as her negotiated Brexit deal looks increasingly unlikely to get the approval of British lawmakers.

May has insisted that lawmakers have only two options: Accept her negotiated deal, or crash out of the EU with no deal. But many lawmakers reject this binary choice, and believe that there is a third way.

If the UK needs permission from all 27 member states of the EU to reverse Brexit, then it could effectively end up having to renegotiate its membership.

The UK doesnt have standard membership with the EU, but has, over the years, negotiated various arranged benefits and opt-outs of the standard treaty deal, including keeping its own currency and a handsome rebate. If the UK wishes to remain a member, EU states might decide it needs to start over with the standard package.

If we can revoke the notification without permission, we will retain the rebate and opt-outs we presently enjoy, the Good Law Project, one of the parties behind the case, said in a statement. It can be, legally, like the decision to Brexit was just a bad dream.

If we have to go cap-in-hand to the other 27 for permission, we are at risk that a country that will benefit from transfers of financial services or manufacturing will block our path to remain.Demonstrators call for the removal of a Confederate statue, coined Silent Sam, on the campus of the University of North Carolia at Chapel Hill, in Chapel Hill, N.C., on Aug. 22, 2017. (Sara D. Davis/Getty Images)

University of North Carolina Board Recommends New Building for Silent Sam Statue

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill recommended a new building to house the Silent Sam statue, months after it was illegally torn down by activists.

The statue honors alumni of the university who fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War.

In a report released by the universitys board of trustees and Chancellor Carol Folt (pdf), the board recommended creating a new building that would be known as the University History and Education Center.

This plan requires the construction of a new free-standing, single-use building with appropriate buffers, and state-of-the-art security measures, as well as the development of excellent exhibits and teaching materials, the report stated.

The new center would cost approximately $5.3 million to build and be completed in 2022 if the schedule proceeds as projected.

It would cost approximately $800,000 in annual operating costs.

The North Carolina Historical Commission would need to approve the building and it would take about 18 months to get the necessary government approvals, the report said.

The board of trustees said it considered a range of factors, including public safety, cost, and preservation of the artifacts. It explored moving the statue off-campus but noted that its not currently allowed by state law.

State law requires the Soldiers War Memorial, or Silent Sam, to be reinstalled within 90 days from the date it was torn down, according to one of the board of governors, Thom Goolsby.

He said the people who tore down the monument committed a hate crime.

Complicated History

Folt said in a statement that the preservation of the monument will help tell a long and complicated history.

I understand there are strong emotions about this proposal. As the nations first public university, Carolina has a long and complicated history we must tell. We are recommending to build a center to tell all of that history, which includes the Confederate monument, she said.

This is so important to us that we are going to make it happen, Folt said during the meeting, reported the campus outlet The Daily Tar Heel. She emphasized that shed prefer the statue be off campus but had to follow the 100-2.1 state law.

I have a preference to move it off campus but, like everyone here, I swore to obey the law, Folt said. And sometimes you dont agree with laws. But I dont have the privilege of choosing which laws I agree with and which ones I do not.

Supporters of keeping Confederate statues such as Silent Sam up say theyre part of the nations history and should be remembered. Opponents say that Silent Sam and other Confederates were racist and keeping the statues up isnt necessary.

Unlawful Behavior

In the report, the board and Folt described the tearing down of the monument as unlawful behavior. The board noted that some people wanted Silent Sam to be placed back where it was before it was torn down.

We do not condone the manner in which the monument was toppled, and fully support and will continue to support holding people accountable who engage in unlawful conduct, it stated.

But The university faces a high risk of violence, civil disorder, and property damage if the monument is restored to its original position, it added later, citing the findings of a Safety Panel convened in the aftermath of the removal of the statue.

And placing the monument in any open area will draw significant local, state, and national attention and significant protest actions will likely resume.

It will literally be under siege, it said. Thats why the building is needed, the board said.

From NTD NewsPresident Donald Trump speaks at the Future Farmers of America convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Oct. 27, 2018. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)

World Communist Parties Are Strong, United, and Hate Trumps America

Commentary

International communism is more powerful and unified today than it has been since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. And its coming for America.

For several decades, the United States has based its foreign and defense policies on two wildly incorrect and dangerously false assumptions:

Communism is dead.

Even if communism isnt quite dead, modern communism (and formerly communist nations) are hopelessly split and divided. Vietnam hates China; China hates Russia; North Korea hates everyone; Cuba loves everyone on the left, but is virtually broke. So is Venezuela. If we can keep them divided, we are safe.

On Nov. 2325, 91 communist parties from all over the world participated in the 20th International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties, held in Athens, Greece.

The point of the conference was to strategize on how to combat global conservative movements or governmentslabeled as fascism, which would naturally be countered by socialism.

This was not a phone-box gathering of tiny sects or micro-organizations, but a meeting of some of the worlds largest mass parties.

The November conference was organized through a Working Group gathering held on May 20 in Athens, hosted by the Communist Party of Greece.

The Working Group consisted of the following global communist parties: Communist Party of Brazil, Communist Party of China, Communist Party of Cuba, AKEL (Cyprus), Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (Czech Republic), Communist Party of Greece, Workers Party of Hungary, Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Tudeh Party of Iran, Socialist Movement of Kazakhstan, Workers Party of Korea (DPRK), Lebanese Communist Party, Communist Party of Mexico, Communist Party of Pakistan, Palestinian Communist Party, Portuguese Communist Party, Communist Party of Russian Federation, Russian Communist Workers Party, Syrian Communist Party, South African Communist Party, Communist Party of Spain, Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain, Communist Party of Turkey, Communist Party of Venezuela, Communist Party of Vietnam, and Communist Party of Ukraine.

This is a whos who of the worlds communist parties, ruling and non-ruling. The communist parties of China, Russia, Cuba, North Korea, India, Iran, Greece, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa Spain, Venezuela, and Vietnam were all gathered under one roof.

This gathering represents at least a quarter of the worlds population, and a frightening proportion of the worlds military might. Ruling parties represented included those of China, Cuba, North Korea, Vietnam, and South Africa. The South African Communist Party governs through its coalition partner the African National Congress. The Mexican communists have a strong ally in Mexicos pro-Cuba president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obradorknown as AMLO.

The Indian and Brazilian communist parties control large parts of two of the worlds largest economies, though this will likely change with the election of anti-communist president Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil.

Those who still believe that Russia and China are rivalseven enemiesshould note the participation of the Chinese Communist Party and the two major Russian communist parties in the Working Group.

The larger of the two, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, does not openly rule Russia but is the second-largest party in the Russian parliament after Vladimir Putins United Russia.

It should also be noted that Putin personally helped organize and keynoted a major international communist youth gathering in Sochi, Russia, last year.

The World Festival of Youth and Students brought together 30,00060,000 communist youth from all over the world to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution.

The communist parties of NATO countries represented included Greece, Turkey, Czech Republic, Portugal, Spain, and NATO partner Ukraine. An eight-member delegation from the United States was in attendance. The communist parties of major Islamic nations at the meeting included Turkey, Lebanon, Iran, Pakistan, Syria, Kazakhstan, and the not quite nation Palestine.

And they are all working together toward common goals.

According to a Communist Party of Greece press release: The Parties had a fruitful exchange of views regarding the promotion of the Common Activities that were decided in the 19th International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties in Leningrad last year.

At the November conference in Athens, the Communist Party USAs written contribution was delivered by Los Angeles-based community activist Rossana Cambron, who excitedly relayed the recent significant setback for President Donald Trump after Republicans lost close to 40 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and over 300 in state legislatures in the midterm elections.

The coming to power of political forces promoting unbridled racism, anti-Semitism and right-wing nationalism represents a grave danger throughout the world.    Communist Party USA     

Cambron also made it clear that defeating the Republican Party in the recent midterm elections and winning power for progressive Democrats was very much in the interests of the working class.

A major theme of the conference was the so-called Rise of Fascism. Cambron expounded on that theme and did not spare President Trump.

This 20th World Meeting occurs in the middle of a profound crisis of the capitalist system and increasing attempts to solve it along extreme right and fascist lines, Cambron said.

These developments require even greater unity among all Communist and Workers Parties. They call us to be more vigilant in striving for common ground and to focus on building a united front to confront, vote out, and expose extreme right and fascist leaders.

Cambron claimed that political forces promoting unbridled racism, anti-Semitism, and right-wing nationalism represents a grave danger throughout the world. Further, she lamented that President Trump leads an extreme right and fascist-minded administration  [whose] instrument is a coalition of the Republican Party with finance capital, evangelical Christians, and the right-wing media.

Control of the House of Representatives by the Democratic Party is important, Cambron explained, because it will slow the Trump regimes attempts to take complete control of our country. Importantly, Cambron continued to explain to her fellow communist allies that there are many new progressive members of Congress with a different mindset.

Speaking for the Communist Party USA throughout, Cambron continued: The Communist Party works to build a broad front against the extreme right and fascist danger. In our view, defeating the Trump Agenda is central to social progress in our country. We join with and participate actively in the broader resistance in pursuit of this goal. The CPUSAs main objective in this effort is promote working-class interests and working-class leadership of this movement.

The Communist Party USA is the American branch of the international communist movement. This movement is led by the communist parties of China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Venezuela, Syria, and Cuba. Among them they have millions of troops, the worlds second-largest economy, the worlds largest propaganda apparatus, and several thousand nuclear warheads.

They also have significant influence in one of Americas major political parties.

Yet many Americans are unaware of their existence, much less their power.

While the author does not in any way diminish the very real danger that George Soros and his networks pose to liberty, his influence should not detract from awareness of communist forces with access to military might.

Trevor Loudon is an author, filmmaker, and public speaker from New Zealand. For more than 30 years, he has researched radical left, Marxist, and terrorist movements and their covert influence on mainstream politics.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.The Israeli military launched an operation to destroy underground tunnels from neighboring Lebanon that the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia could use to attack Israel's northern communities.

Army spokesman LT. Col. Jonathan Cornicus said the military "had a good estimate" of how many tunnels existed and their locations, warning Hezbollah not to engage or "interfere with our work or threaten our forces." Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said the "purely defensive" operation was taking place "within the borders of the State of Israel and it is meant to protect Israel and its population."

There was no immediate response from Hezbollah or Lebanon's Defense Ministry, amid the possibility that the Israeli operation could spark hostilities. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said it was liaising with all sides to maintain calm. Israel's security cabinet was set to meet Tuesday night to discuss the operation, Channel 10 reported.

The action was launched after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo in Brussels on Monday. At the start of that meeting, Netanyahu said they would discuss "how we can together curb Iran's aggression in the region, in Syria, in Iraq, in Lebanon and elsewhere."

Tensions between Israel and Iran have been escalating over Iran's entrenchment in Syria, where it has been fighting, largely through Hezbollah, to prop up President Bashar al-Assad. Israeli officials have repeatedly said they consider Hezbollah, with an arsenal Israel estimates at more than 100,000 missiles, to be a major threat. The two sides fought a 34-day war in 2006 that left about 1,200 Lebanese and 165 Israelis dead.

The Israeli military declared areas adjacent to its northern security fence a military zone, but residents around the city of Metullah were told to continue their lives as normal, and no special precautions were ordered.

Cornicus said the army moved after developing technology that offered a high chance of success in exposing and destroying tunnels. He didn't elaborate on the tools being used, adding that the operation would continue "as long as needed."

The tunnels "constitute a flagrant and severe violation of Israeli sovereignty," the military said in an emailed statement.

Former National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror, a retired major-general, said the army's experience developing techniques to find cross-border tunnels from Gaza had aided the effort in the north, despite the differences in terrain between sandy Gaza and mountainous Lebanon.

"It's understood on our side that the decision about the next step lies with Tehran and Beirut. They will have to decide how they will react," Amidror told reporters on a conference call.

Israel has begun building a high-tech barrier along the border with Lebanon amid warnings that in a future war Hezbollah forces might try to overrun towns in Israel's north, seeking to take hostages or score a symbolic victory.

--With assistance from Bloomberg's Dana Khraiche and Michael S. Arnold.With marijuana legalization spreading to Michigan, Utah and Missouri this fall, the cannabis industry is starting to become one of the nations top employers.

Its happening quickly. Sales of marijuana in 2017 already exceeded sales of Oreo cookies, tattoos and organic produce. In the next couple of years, cannabis is projected to surpass annual sales at McDonalds and Netflix, as well as sales of donuts, video games, firearms and ammunition.

All this means jobs. Lots of jobs. And these go far beyond the more entry-level positions of cannabis cultivator and budtender. Like any other money-making industry, marijuana is starting to attract college-educated professionals.

Related: Challenges and Controversy Swirl Around Marijuana Social Equity Programs in California

How Many Jobs Are We Talking About?

The cannabis industry nationwide already employs between 125,000 and 160,000 people. Thats about the same employment rate as kindergarten teachers and more than librarians, detectives, pilots and coal industry workers.

Estimates vary on how big the industry will grow and how fast. But Canada, which legalized marijuana nationwide this fall, offers an example of what's to come. The cannabis industry already has poached talent from more traditional sectors of the economy, according to the Washington Post. That includes research scientists, marketers, attorneys and human resource professionals.

Alison McMahon, who works for cannabis-focused human resources firm in Canada, told the Post: People see the end of cannabis prohibition and the industry thats going to emerge out of it as a green rush and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Its a chance to be part of history.

What Type of Jobs?

Earlier this year, the online jobs site, Indeed, reported that job searches on the terms cannabis or marijuana quadrupled from 2017. They also reported that jobs listings in the cannabis industries tripled over the same period.

A search for cannabis jobs (with no specific location entered) in November 2018 turned up many professional jobs, all of which require at least a bachelors degree (and in some cases, a masters degree is preferred).

Related: This Week in Weed: South Korea Legalizes Medical Pot!

They are notable not just for the wide range of professionals needed, but also the variety of locations. Some are likely not in places you would expect. Heres a sample of those job postings.

Project Analyst and Compliance Specialist at a cultivation facility in Ohio

Legislative and Regulatory Strategist for a company in northern California

Chief Financial Officer at a CBD-based pharmaceutical company in Dallas

Inventory Control Analyst at a cultivation company in Hawaii

Data Reporting Analyst for a cannabis testing lab in Massachusetts

Cannabis industry analyst for an investment firm in Kansas

As legalization continues to spread, expect this trend to continue. Marijuana is on the verge of not only adding to its multi-billion-dollar market but also become a generator of thousands of more jobs for workers across a diverse spectrum of careers.

Follow dispensaries.com on Instagram to stay up to date on the latest cannabis news.

Related:

The Green Industry Goes White Collar

Gear Up as These Skills Will Define Your Job Prospects in an Automated Future



Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reservedThis appears in Tuesday's Washington Post:

---

President Donald Trump and his top aides keep insisting there is no "direct evidence" or "smoking gun" connecting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the murder and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. A new leak from the CIA underlines just how disingenuous those claims are.

According to an agency assessment reviewed by the Wall Street Journal, the crown prince had at least 11 exchanges of messages with a top aide around the time a hit team overseen by that aide was entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul and ambushing Khashoggi.

It was already known that the 15-member hit team was headed by an official, Maher Mutreb, who is close to Mohammed bin Salman, and included at least four other operatives connected to the prince's personal security detail. It was known that Mutreb called Saud al-Qahtani, the crown prince's closest associate, from the consulate and told him to "tell your boss" that Khashoggi was dead. Now we also know that Qahtani and Mohammed bin Salman exchanged numerous messages at this time.

According to the Journal, the CIA assessment says, "It is highly unlikely this team of operators . . . carried out the operation without Mohammed bin Salman's authorization." Its conclusion that the crown prince "personally targeted" Khashoggi and "probably ordered his death" is labeled as "medium-to-high confidence."

So, yes, there is no "direct evidence" - but any reasonable assessment must conclude that the crown prince is responsible. That the Trump administration refuses to draw that conclusion means its policy toward the kingdom is based on denying reality.

Whether the United States preserves or alters its present relationship with Saudi Arabia, the starting point must be recognizing the truth about the regime and its reckless de facto ruler. That's why there ought to be an independent international investigation of the Khashoggi case. In addition, congressional leaders should insist that CIA Director Gina Haspel appear before relevant committees to lay out the agency's evidence and answer questions.

After the administration offered spin rather than hard intelligence to senators last week, the chamber voted overwhelmingly to advance a War Powers Act resolution that would stop U.S. military support for Saudi Arabia's disastrous war in Yemen. That was a good first step, but legislators should support legislation that is broader. One bill with bipartisan sponsorship would require the administration to sanction anyone in the Saudi leadership connected to the Khashoggi killing and suspend all military sales to Saudi Arabia. That could be offered as an amendment to the War Powers Resolution.

Saudi Arabia remains a "semi-important ally" of the United States, as Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., aptly put it last week. But Saudi Arabia and Mohammed bin Salman are not synonymous, and the crown prince is, as Corker said, "out of control" - a conclusion underlined by the jubilant high-five with which the prince greeted Russian President Vladimir Putin, another murderer of journalists, at the Group of 20 summit in Buenos Aires. If Mohammed bin Salman is not sanctioned and restrained, he will continue to damage U.S. interests in the Middle East - which is why Congress must act.ALTON  Alton Memorial Hospital will be offering free previews of Yoga and Tai Chi classes the week of Dec. 11-15 to give prospective class members a look in case they are interested in signing up for sessions in 2019.

All classes will be held at the AMH Human Motion Institute North location (226 Regional Drive in Alton). Classes are led by certified yoga instructor Betsy Smith.BRUSSELS  The Brussels Ferry will have intermittent closures and County Highway 1 near the ferry landing in Calhoun County will be intermittently restricted during daytime hours Wednesday and Thursday, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation.

The closures and lane restrictions are necessary for geotechnical investigation of the pavement.For the Intelligencer

GLEN CARBON  The Leadership Council celebrated its new office space at 104 Magnolia Drive, Suite B, on Monday with a ribbon cutting and open house.

I am very proud and excited to inform you that after 35 years, the Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois has moved from its 800-square-foot office to over 2,000-square feet that will enable us to continue to expand our mission and enhance our communities, said Kevin Powers, president of the Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois.The Illinois Small Business Development Center (SBDC) for the Metro East at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville has announced that SBDC client Metro East Therapy in Edwardsville has expanded its business.

The SBDC and Director Jo Ann Di Maggio May have greatly supported Metro East Therapy owner Maggie Block. Di Maggio May has assisted Block since the early stages of her business plan and also assisted in Blocks property acquisition to move to a new, larger location.

Jo Ann is such a cheerleader, says Block. She has always been supportive and encouraging on the things I want to do with my business. You can tell she takes a lot of pride in her work, and she gets as excited for the business success as we do.

Jo Ann is always willing to answer questions and provide resources. Every entrepreneur should be taking advantage of their local SBDC, because of the no-cost service they provide.

Block earned a bachelors in communication sciences and disorders from Illinois State University, and a masters in communication sciences and disorders from Saint Louis University. She is a speech-language pathologist who specializes in dyslexia. Block recently wrote an article for ASHA Leader called Stand Up for Your Dyslexia Expertise.

Metro East Therapy began in the Lexow Financial Building in Edwardsville. When the opportunity arose for Block to purchase property and move to the new, larger facility at 910 N. Main Street, an ideal location near downtown Edwardsville, Block acted upon Di Maggio Mays recommendation.

Metro East Therapy is a place for families and children to get the attention they need and deserve. Block and her team are highly involved in each family that uses their services. If there are children that need to be served in any way, Metro East Therapy finds a way to help them.

Block is passionate about helping children to read. She believes that a child can make progress given the right set of tools and with the right social and emotional support from the therapy team, family and others. She is wholeheartedly involved in each child that comes through her door.

Block is thankful to those who have trusted her team to provide the support each child needs. She hopes the community will continue to utilize Metro East Therapy for any speech, behavior or other disorders.

Di Maggio May and the SBDC are excited to see where Metro East Therapy goes next. We know that Maggie has significant goals that she wants to surpass within the next year, Di Maggio May said. Maggie definitely wants to expand her outreach to more children that need her expertise and services.

It has been a pleasure to watch Metro East Therapy grow. Maggie is doing a great job and is making a name for herself both as a professional and as a business owner. The SBDC is honored to assist their growth.

Contact Metro East Therapy at 618-581-8304. For more information, visit metroeasttherapy.com. They can also be found on Facebook.

The Illinois SBDC for the Metro East assists start-up ventures such as Metro East Therapy, as well as existing businesses headquartered in the nine-county region of Calhoun, Jersey, Madison, Bond, Clinton, St. Clair, Washington, Monroe and Randolph. It is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration, Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and SIUE as a service to Illinois small businesses.

By aiding entrepreneurs and companies in defining their path to success, the SBDC network positively impacts the Metro East by strengthening the business community, creating and retaining new jobs and encouraging new investment. It enhances the regions economic interests by providing one-stop assistance to individuals by means of counseling, training, research and advocacy for new ventures and existing small businesses. When appropriate, the SBDC strives to affiliate its ties to the region to support the goals and objectives of both the SIUE School of Business and the University at large.

To learn about the SBDC, contact the IL SBDC for the Metro East at SIUE at (618) 650-2929.Spending a fall semester on Southern Illinois University Edwardsvilles campus is a delight in many ways, especially the first time you experience it, and even more so, if it offers your first visit to the United States.

Russasmita Sri Padmi, of Indonesia, arrived on campus in September through the Fulbright US-ASEAN Visiting Scholar initiative program. While in southern Illinois, shes had the pleasure of viewing beautiful fall colors, a few snow flurries and even her first deer sighting.

But what she truly came to consume as an academic scholar is the SIUE Center for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) Research, Education and Outreachs innovative strategies and nationally recognized best practices for education programming, professional development and community engagement.

When she returns to Indonesia in mid-December, Sri Padmi plans to use this newly expanded knowledge and applied experience to assist in designing and establishing a mathematics teacher training program at her home institution of South East Asia Minister of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Quality Improvement for Teachers and Education Personnel (QITEP) in Mathematics.

The work of the SIUE STEM Centers educational researchers is impressive, Sri Padmi said. The operation is research-centered and delivers effective programming. I am conducting a case study that highlights how this STEM Center works. In my home country, STEM is a hot topic in education, but it needs to be developed. Im specifically interested in how this Center conducts its professional development for teachers.

The Fulbright US-ASEAN Visiting Scholar initiative program is a scholarship granted to ASEAN nationals to pursue professional or scholarly research in the U.S.

I see myself as a world citizen, Sri Padmi explained. I enjoy working with people from different nationalities and cultural backgrounds. I consider myself very lucky to have this opportunity with the SIUE STEM Center.

Hosting an international Fulbright scholar helps solidify SIUEs position as a recognized leader in STEM education, said SIUE STEM Center Director Sharon Locke. Russasmita will bring ideas from our program back to her country for the benefit of teachers in the ten ASEAN member nations. In turn, SIUE benefits from the information she shares about math education trends in her country.

While at SIUE, Sri Padmi spoke with three different groups of SIUE education students to describe her culture and educational strategies for supporting teachers in her diverse country.

By interacting with her, SIUE students gained a better understanding of the challenges that are common to both countries, such as supporting schools in isolated rural areas, Locke explained. Russasmita also described opportunities to connect classrooms and students in the U.S. with those in Indonesia. We feel incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to learn from her.

Sri Padmi is passionate about delivering mathematics in an engaging way that ignites young learners interest in the core subject. Through her work in teacher professional development, she seeks to expand the inclusivity of the Indonesian education system.

Everything has some kind of mathematical principle that makes it work, she explained. I want people to realize and appreciate that.

I hope to play a role in creating or developing a more inclusive education system that embraces everyone without judgement or discrimination, she added. Thats huge work as our country is incredibly diverse both culturally and physically, but I want to be involved in the change.What was expected to be a pretty straightforward, short hearing on whether a former CMU student accused of attempted rape would face new charges ended in recusal by every judge in Isabella County and defense attorney Joe Barberi being physically shut out of a meeting room.

The hearing, scheduled for 1:15 p.m. Monday, was intended to establish whether the states attorney general could bring sex crimes charges against Ian Eliot, a Cheboygan man previously charged by the county prosecutor. Instead of a hearing, both sides got a recusal from District Court Judge Mark Duthie.

Duthie cited a late October conversation he had with Joe Barberi, Eliots attorney, in which the two of them discussed renewed interest in the case brought forward by an article in Central Michigan LIFE, CMUs student newspaper. The conversation took place in Duthies courtroom, the judge said, and moved from the case to the November election just a couple of weeks away.

In particular, they discussed the race for prosecuting attorney between David Barberi, who was originally Eliots defense attorney, and Larry King, the prosecuting attorney.

While a bit shaky on details, Duthie said that he remembers that the story didnt cast the prosecuting attorneys office in a particularly good light. In light of those comments, Duthie said that after considering it over the weekend that he felt like recusing himself was the proper thing to do.

Brian Kolodziej, the assistant attorney general presenting the case, asked Duthie to reconsider because he wasnt ruling on law, not facts. Duthie denied the request.

Kolodziej asked Duthie if they schedule another hearing later that day or on Tuesday. Barberi and Kolodziej disappeared into a room behind the scenes and emerged a short time later with a new courtroom and new judge. This time, the hearing was set to take place in the courtroom of Chief Judge Paul Chamberlain.

While waiting for Chamberlain, Kolodziej told the media that if he was allowed to say what he wanted to say, that there would be further drama. But, it was not to be.

Chamberlain never made an appearance in the room, however. After sitting there for about half an hour, both attorneys began to get their belongings in order. Asked what was happening, Barberi said that nothing was happening, that every judge in the county had recused himself and that hed never seen anything like it.

Unlike Duthie, Chamberlain never provided a public explanation for what had happened or why hed recused himself. When asked about it later, Barberi made a hand gesture to indicate that someone was doing a lot of talking and vaguely referenced an outburst of some kind by Larry King that the court had overheard.

People whod moved over from Duthies courtroom to his were left to figure things out on their own. That included Rachel Wilson, the woman identified in the CM LIFE article as Eliots alleged victim.

After everyone exited the courtroom, Barberi and Eliot went into one room, and Kolodziej and Wilson went into another room.

Barberi and Eliot left their room first, and Barberi talked to the assembled press, which included Emilly Davis, the CMU student reporter whose story ended in the states attorney general office trying to file charges against Eliot.

He questioned the timing of the new charges, coming so shortly after the storys publication and so soon before Novembers election. There wasnt enough time for a proper investigation to see if the charges were warranted, he said. He also said he couldnt call the charges motivated by election politics. Although they were filed by the attorney general and a press release was issued with the name of Bill Schuette, who at the time was locked in a gubernatorial election with Gretchen Whitmer, Barberi said he was certain that Schuette had no idea that any of it had happened.

Once Barberi was finished, Kolodziej asked the assembled media to join him in the room where he was conferring with Wilson. While he was telling reporters that he had to defer their questions to Andrea Bitely, spokeswoman for Schuette, Barberi opened the door and began to address the media again.

An annoyed Kolodziej told Barberi that hed already addressed the media and told him that hed interrupted a private meeting with reporters before gently ushering Barberi out of the room and closing the door.

With every single judge in the county recused from the case, a hearing on whether the state can bring charges will fall to a visiting circuit court judge from another county. There was no timetable for when that might happen as of Monday afternoon.7-Eleven, Tesco, Central join No plastic bags campaign for Thai Environment Day

PHUKET: Major retailers across the country, including Phuket, will not be handing out plastic bags today as part of a campaign to reduce plastic-bag use to mark Thai Environment Day today (Dec 4).

Tuesday 4 December 2018, 11:00AM

Major retailers across the country, including Phuket, will not be handing out plastic bags today as part of a campaign to reduce plastic-bag use to mark Thai Environment Day today (Dec 4).

Instead, people today are urged to bring their own bags  preferably made from fabric. The main purpose is to reduce the amount of plastic bags used, and hence the staggering volume of plastic bags that are not properly disposed of. This is a major environmental problem in the country at this time, the government admitted in a statement issued through the Public Relations Department Region 5 office yesterday. Under the campaign, organised by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment all participating stores, shopping centres and minimarts  including 7-Eleven, Tesco, Central, Big C, Robinson, B2S and PowerBuy  will not be handing out plastic bags today.A testing day for skippers and crews at Phuket Kings Cup Regatta

SAILING: The second day of racing in the 32nd Phuket Kings Cup Regatta today (Dec 4) was a testing one for the skippers and their crews as the wind dropped but the competition on the water hotted up.

Sailing

By Press Release

Tuesday 4 December 2018, 06:54PM

Team Hollywood. Photo: Guy Nowell

With light winds of about 10 knots at the start  much less than the opening days start with 17 knots  tactics and teamwork played a greater role than yesterday. The 11 classes of keelboats and multihulls in this years regatta contested two races today.

With the breeze dropping to 4-5 knots towards the finish of the second race, organisers shortened the courses in three of the classes.

We had to shorten a couple of the courses but overall it was a good day of racing, said Race Director Simon James. This years field is very competitive in all the classes and weve seen some very close racing.

The lighter winds led to some tight racing, particularly in the top flight IRC Zero Class, which is contested by the fastest keelboats in the regatta. Tactics as well as skill and teamwork were crucial as very little separates the leading three TP 52 design racing yachts, often described as the Formula 1 class of sailing boats.

Veteran Australian sailor Ray Roberts Team Hollywood again edged out defending champions Kevin and Tom Whitcraft on their Thai-registered THA 72 in the first race, but very little separated the two at the end of both races.

However, Sarab Singhs Wind Sikher, another TP 52, pulled off a well-deserved win in the second race, relegating Team Hollywood to second place and THA 72 to third. In the overall standings after four races in the IRC Zero Class, Team Hollywood leads, with THA 72 second and Wind Sikher a close third. More tight, hard-fought racing is expected in this class on Wednesday and up to the final day of the regatta on Saturday.

The second fastest keelboat class in the regatta is IRC 1, and Hong Kong sailors Nick Burns and Fred Kinmonth finished first overall on Mandrake III after Tuesdays two races thanks to two second places. Thai boat East Marine Emagine sailed by Scott Bradley finished the day second overall despite winning the second race. A fourth-place finish in the first race pushed him out of the top position.

With a large contingent of competitors from the Mainland at this years regatta, two Chinese boats dominated the IRC 2 Class in Tuesdays two races. Highlead Ecouragers (Judy) won the first race and finished second in the next race to lead the class overall on Tuesday.

Finishing second overall after Tuesdays two races was Chinese entry Luthwigsthai (Getaway Ichi), thanks to a fourth place in the first and second races in the 10-boat field. Boats from six countries are contesting this class.

Almost a dozen boats with Chinese skippers and crews have entered this years Phuket Kings Cup Regatta as sailing has rapidly grown in popularity in the Mainland and Hong Kong and Chinese sailors are testing their skills in events around the region.

The largest multihull to ever contest the regatta, the 60-foot trimaran SHK Scallywag Fuku Bid, once again put on a dazzling display of speed despite the light breeze, but like the opening day, its biggest rival was its handicap.

Australian Des Fidcocks much smaller trimaran Fugazi won both outings in the Racing Multihull Class on Tuesday after handicaps were taken into account, relegating Scallywag to second place with Australian David Fuller on Java bring up third position.

Racing continues on the Andaman Sea off the southwest tip of Phuket on Wednesday with the final days racing in the annual Phuket Kings Cup Regatta on Saturday. Many of Thailands promising junior sailors also start racing on Wednesday when the dinghy classes take to water.Freak fresh fish bonanza landed at Phukets Nai Harn Beach

PHUKET: A bumper haul of mackerel was brought on shore at Nai Harn Beach on Sunday night (Dec 2) after local fishermen took advantage of a monster-sized school of the fish was spotted just offshore.

marineanimals

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Tuesday 4 December 2018, 11:27AM

The fishermen brought ashore more than 4,000 of the fish in one outing on Nai Harn Beach on Sunday night (Dec 2). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

The fishermen brought ashore more than 4,000 of the fish in one outing on Nai Harn Beach on Sunday night (Dec 2). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

The fishermen brought ashore more than 4,000 of the fish in one outing on Nai Harn Beach on Sunday night (Dec 2). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

The fishermen brought ashore more than 4,000 of the fish in one outing on Nai Harn Beach on Sunday night (Dec 2). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

The fishermen brought ashore more than 4,000 of the fish in one outing on Nai Harn Beach on Sunday night (Dec 2). Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

Making sure the fish did not get away, local fishermen entered the water with their large nets and brought onto the sand an estimated 4,000 of the fish, identified as torpedo scad, also known as the hardtail scad, finny scad, finletted mackerel scad or cordyla scad, a species of in the mackerel family.

The entrepreneurial fishermen started selling the fish at bargain prices right on the sand, with local residents with an eye for a bargain snapping the prime fresh fish for as little as B100 for three.

Phuket Fisheries Chief Kowit Kao-ian explained that the huge school of fish was a freak event, but completely natural.

This was not, as rumours on social media claimed, a sign of some impending natural disaster, he said.

Local fisherman Ponchai Faingam told The Phuket News, The hardtail fish is found around the shoreline every year from November to January, but this year there are more than usual at Nai Han, Kata, Karon and Freedom beaches.

Normally each fish weighs about 600-700 grams and usually sells at markets for B70-80 per kilogram. But this time, it is cheaper. Some fishermen are even giving some away for free, he laughed.VAT refund has academic speechless

BANGKOK: Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) academics have expressed dismay at the Finance Ministrys plan to grant a 5% value-added tax (VAT) refund to shoppers spending up to B20,000 from Feb 1-15 next year.

economicspolitics

By Bangkok Post

Tuesday 4 December 2018, 10:13AM

Nipon Poapongsakorn, a top analyst at the Thailand Development Research Institute says flatly the only reason for a 5% holiday VAT refund is to gain favourable benefits [for some political camps] ahead of the election. Photo: Bangkok Post

I am speechless about it, said Nipon Poapongsakorn, a distinguished fellow of the TDRI.

VAT was first introduced in 1992 at a rate of 10%, but was slashed to 7% in late 1997 at the private sectors request. The rate has been kept at 7% ever since.

The ministrys claims that the measure is needed to stimulate the economy are unsound since the current situation is not bad, he said, adding that the National Economic and Social Development Board and Bank of Thailand indicate the economy is projected to grow by more than 4% this year.

The ministry should roll out lavish measures only when crises come, said Mr Nipon.

I can see only one reason. It will give favourable benefits [for some political camps] ahead of the election, he said.

He also urged the ministry to explain how it would offset VAT losses and asked the ministry to adhere to fiscal discipline.

Even though the measure might create happiness today, it could foster hardship in the future, said Mr Nipon. I also do not think this measure will be the last. It is likely that the government and the Finance Ministry will roll out further measures as the election draws nearer.

Shoppers eligible for the VAT refund must have made their purchases with debit cards linked to PromptPay.

The VAT refund window coincides with Chinese New Year, which falls on Feb 5 next year.

Somchai Jitsuchon, another academic at the TDRI, said the measure should only be applied to low-income earners who hold welfare cards.

The return [of VAT] to debit card holders without knowing levels of their income would mean that middle- and high-income earners would also be entitled, said Mr Somchai.

The measure is one of a raft of so-called stimulus initiatives unveiled by the administration, which critics say are designed to give the upper hand to pro-regime parties prior to the election tentatively set for Feb 24 next year.

Another concern is the distribution of mobile phone SIM cards with free internet access to welfare card holders.

Takorn Tantasith, secretary-general of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), said his agency and the Finance Ministry are discussing how the measure would take shape in practice.

The NBTC, he said, proposed that instead of handing out SIM cards, the government could add money to the SIM cards low-income earners already have or deliver top-up cards to them.

It is likely that they would receive assistance worth B50 a month, he said, adding the approach would be proposed to the NBTC board by this month.

NBTC Deputy Secretary-General Korkij Danchaivichit meanwhile conceded there are some concerns, including how to ensure the top-up cards would really only be used by low-income earners.

Read original story here.Why Jesus? He is the way and the truth and the life worth livingSo endeth one of the great American lives.

It wasnt the Ragged Dick up-from-poverty American life of a Horatio Alger bootblack; George H.W. Bush was born to privilege and profited from primogeniture. It wasnt the Mr.-Smith-Goes-to-Washington American life of a James Stewart ingenue; he was the son of a senator (and then the father of a president). It wasnt the rusticated eloquence of an Andrew Jackson of the Carolina Waxhaws or an Abraham Lincoln of the Indiana farmlands; the 41st president was the product of Phillips Academy Andover and of the Cole Porter anthems of Yale, and yet he mangled the English language in a goofy, sometimes incomprehensible way. And it wasnt a parade of triumphs celebrated by a nation that loves a winner: He lost a brutal 1970 Senate race, a trying 1980 presidential-nomination campaign and an excruciating 1992 battle for re-election as president. He also witnessed his son, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, get defeated in the 2016 GOP primaries against Donald Trump.

But Bush lived a great American life, one of purpose (a word of unusual prominence in his speeches and letters) and of service (the leitmotif of his 94 years). He was the quintessential citizen of the American 20th century, his life shaped by World War II, the Cold War, Watergate, the energy industry, the fall of communism, the resurgence of conservatism and the emergence of a Republican Solid South. As he aged, with a grace that defied the timbre of the times, he lived to see many of the buoys of his life, and of American life  global engagement, collaboration in multinational alliances, government thrift  questioned or repudiated.

He was courtly yet gave no quarter to rivals. (What one said or did to rise to ultimate authority mattered less to Bush, his biographer, Jon Meacham wrote, than whether one was principled and selfless once one was in command.) He was clinical in his analyses yet mushy in his relationships. (Throughout his life he employed the line his daughter, who died at age 3 of leukemia, sowed in the family lexicon and established as a family talisman: I love you more than tongue can tell.)

He conducted range wars with his rivals but reconciled with all of them. His 1988 GOP nomination battle against Sen. Bob Dole was one of the bitter political fights of the age. In their 90s, the two men spoke warmly of each other and regularly exchanged birthday wishes. He resented the public appeal and intelligence of his 1992 opponent, Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton (Hes better at facts-figures than I am, he told the speechwriter Peggy Noonan. Im better at life). He cultivated a post-presidential relationship with Clinton matched only by John Adams and the man who defeated him for re-election in 1800, Thomas Jefferson.

But perhaps the most affecting reconciliation  one no correspondent who covered Bush ever forgot  came with Washington Post reporter Ann Devroy. For months, Devroy tormented the president with a daily barrage of leaks and revelations that infuriated Bush. Then Devroy was stricken with the cancer that eventually would claim her life. To the M.D. Anderson cancer complex came a letter from Bush: I want you to win this battle. I want the same toughness that angered me and frustrated me to a fare-thee-well at times to see you through your fight.

Bush may not have changed his principles, but he did change his mind. As a young congressman, he opposed civil-rights legislation but four years later infuriated his Texas constituents by supporting a fair-housing bill. He abandoned his New Orleans GOP convention vow  No new taxes!  to reach the 1990 budget agreement that cut the deficit, but in empowering GOP insurgents led by Rep. Newt Gingrich, set in motion a fateful Republican rebellion that would end the reign of the old guard of the party that Bush personified.

George H.W. Bush was the central figure in a dynasty accounting for four years in the House, 10 in the Senate, 16 as governor, a dozen as president and five campaigns on the national political stage  a family record arguably surpassing both the Adamses and the Kennedys.

Bush was far more vigorous than the president who identified with American vigor (Kennedy), which is why his decline in his 10th decade was so poignant. Repeatedly hospitalized, Bush neared death on several occasions. Penny Circle, Gerald Fords longtime aide, urged Jean Becker, Bushs, to leave her post before the presidents demise. The end, she counseled, would be too much to bear. But try as she might, Becker could not abandon Bush. It was she who alerted the world of Bushs death, and she who planned the national farewell that is unfolding now.

Bushs son, George W. Bush, was tasked with giving the centerpiece funeral tribute. As long ago as August, he began preparing his remarks, and beseeched the other eulogists to submit their remarks to him so as to avoid repetitive themes. When the request was transmitted to former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney of Canada, a longtime boon companion of Bush, the answer came back swiftly: Done.

In announcing his intention to run for president in 1987, then-Vice President Bush spoke of prosperity with a purpose. It was economic distress that denied him a second term. In that same speech, given amid red, white and blue bunting in an otherwise sterile Houston hotel, he delivered perhaps the most accurate statement of self-awareness in American political history: I am not a mystic, and I do not yearn to lead a crusade. My ambitions are perhaps less dramatic, but they are not less profound.

And yet the most profound utterings of the Bush heart came not in set-piece speeches and certainly not in fumbling debate settings. They came in letters, thousands of them, typed himself with occasional misspellings. In his last hours as president, Bush wrote a friend from the Resolute desk in the Oval Office:

I feel the same sense of wonder and majesty about this office today as I did when I first walked in here. Ive tried to serve here with no taint or dishonor; no conflict of interest; nothing to sully this beautiful place and this job.

Would that every president  would that every American  could write such a letter.

(David M. Shribman is executive editor of the Post-Gazette (dshribman@post-gazette.com, 412 263-1890). Follow him on Twitter at ShribmanPG.)At a laboratory in downtown Winnipeg, Peter Watts samples a golden pale ale, admiring the silky foam top and smooth, slightly grain-tinged taste. A new variety of barley grown in Canadas Prairies helped flavour this beer, and brewers anticipate that the kernels will one day end up in shipments to meet Chinas increasing thirst for premium ales and lagers.

We saw a real uptick in the last couple of years in Chinas demand, said Watts, managing director of the Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre, a non-profit research facility funded by some of the nations malting companies, exporters, brewers and farmers. We think thats because theyre producing more premium beer.

As brewers target discerning drinkers, the centre is helping to fuel research of new malt-barley varieties that produce a richer mouth feel, colour and flavour than lower-quality grain.Canada, the second-largest malt-barley exporter to China, is trying to gain a bigger slice of the burgeoning market from Australia, the top shipper.

China is the worlds largest beer market, and consumers are increasingly shifting to premium and foreign brews from mass-market brands amid rising incomes. The market share of premium lager in the five years ended 2017 more than doubled, according to data from Passport, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Shen Li and Thomas Jastrzab said last month in a report.

More Protein

Canadas barley has higher protein than crops from nations including Australia. That quality helps in fermentation to give the final product more body and foam retention. Acreage in the North American nation jumped 13 per cent in 2018, and output is poised to climb to 8.2 million metric tons, government data show. Planting had declined 30 per cent in the past decade as farmers opted for more-profitable crops such as lentils and peas.

Adverse weather that delayed barley harvests in parts of the Prairies, reduced the supply of quality crops suitable to be turned into malt. Exports to China are still expected to top 1 million tons, the second-highest ever, Watts said. Malt-barley shipments to China reached a record 1.4 million tons in 2017, surpassing the amount used in the domestic market for the first time, he said.

Inventory Slump

Demand remains strong amid tight supplies as global barley stockpiles are poised to tumble to a 35-year-low after dry conditions cut production from Europe to Australia, boosting costs for brewers and distillers. The shortfall has pushed up the cost of feed barley in places including Germany by more than 30 per cent since April and spot prices in Saskatchewan gained as much as 10 per cent this year. Firm prices may spur farmers to plant additional acres in 2019, said Jerry Klassen, a manager of Canadian operations and trading at Gap SA Grains & Produits in Winnipeg.

This year, the world barley fundamentals are historically tight, and thats benefiting Canadian exports, Klassen said in a phone interview. We might be able to pick up additional demand.

Test Batches

From the Winnipeg lab, test batches and samples of new varieties of malt barley, along with technical data and potential brewing recipes, are shared with prospective Chinese buyers. The new varieties being tested, including one aimed specifically at craft brewers, produce higher yields and boost the chances that farmers will grow a quality crop that can be turned into malt. That in turn will make Canadian barley more competitive, Watts of the technical centre said.

His colleague, malt technician Sherwin Santiano, is tracking the progress of two tests as the kernels spin, soak and are dried into malt before making their way to the buildings pilot brewery to be turned into beer. Every batch is sampled and evaluated for everything from colour and foam retention to aroma and flavours to give buyers a sense of what they can expect.

Its got a little bit of bitterness to it, a little bit of sweetness, along with flavours associated with pale malts, Watts said after taking a sip of a new batch starting to gain a foothold in the Chinese market.

Read more about:Marijuana producer Cronos Group Inc. says it is in talks regarding a potential investment by U.S. tobacco company Altria Group Inc.

Cronos Group cautioned that no agreement has been reached and there could be no assurance the talks will lead to a deal.

Shares in Cronos Group gained $1.31 to close at $13.51 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Monday amid reports of the talks before the company confirmed the discussions after the close of markets.

Altria, maker of Marlboro cigarettes, is one of the biggest tobacco companies in the world.

It also owns Ste. Michelle Wine Estates and holds a significant investment in Anheuser-Busch InBev.

Cronos Group operates two Canadian licensed marijuana producers: Peace Naturals Project Inc. and Original BC Ltd.CALGARYAlbertas energy minister was on the defensive Monday, fending off accusations the NDP government ignored or downplayed warnings as early as this spring about the price-differential crisis now gripping the oil industry.

Shortly after Premier Rachel Notley announced on Sunday a temporary cut in oil production of 8.7 per cent  a bid, starting in January, to reduce the price gap and increase revenue  Alberta Party Leader Stephen Mandel accused the government of sitting idly by as the differential widened.

Im not sure why any government wouldnt have a program in place that allowed the changes and the reduction and curtailment to happen earlier rather than wait for as long as they have, Mandel told reporters.

While opposition parties took aim at the NDP and the federal government, political observers and industry watchers say the current crisis was decades in the making. They argue successive Alberta governments are to blame for ignoring advice to pace oilsands development and encourage energy companies to upgrade and refine bitumen into higher-valued petroleum products.

In recent months, the price differential between Alberta crude, known as Western Canadian Select, and West Texas Intermediate has grown due to an oversupply of oil and lack of pipeline access. The differential is costing the Canadian economy an estimated $80 million a day, according to the province.

Energy Minister Marg McCuaig-Boyd told reporters Monday she wasnt sure when the provincial government learned about the impending differential crisis but maintained the NDP took action immediately.

I dont know the exact timeline, McCuaig-Boyd said. Weve known that this has been an ongoing issue, this differential. Not sure of the timeline, but its certainly not like we sat back and did nothing.

The mandatory curtailment would see the production of raw crude and bitumen slashed by 325,000 barrels a day in the New Year, with a 10,000 barrel per day exemption for smaller producers. The province expects the reduction to fall to an average cut of 95,000 barrels per day by the end of 2019.

Notley said she expected the move to reduce the price gap by $4 US per barrel and add about $1.1 billion to government coffers.

At a news conference Sunday, United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney called it a difficult moment for Alberta but said the premiers announcement was needed to stem the differential. Still, the opposition leader slammed the federal government for failing to build pipelines in recent years.

We never should have been in this position, Kenney said.

The differential  while impacted by many factors  is being dealt with by government curtailment because there are currently 35 million extra barrels in storage in Alberta that cant be moved out due to a lack of pipeline capacity.

The government is cutting production in the hopes this number goes down. However, most political leaders agree the province needs more pipelines as an ultimate solution.

Kenney criticized Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus veto of the Northern Gateway pipeline in 2016. First proposed in the mid-2000s, the pipeline could have been operational in 2019, moving an estimated 500,000 barrels per day.

He also called out former U.S. President Barack Obama for his 2015 veto of the Keystone XL pipeline, first proposed in 2008.

TransCanadas Energy East was another pipeline that never saw the light of day. It would have moved hundreds of thousands of barrels per day to Eastern Canada in the hopes it replaced foreign-bought oil, Kenney said.

And most recently, in August, the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion was quashed by a Federal Court of Appeal because the federal government had not consulted with Indigenous groups properly and not fully considered coastal tanker traffic. The increase would have allowed around 600,000 additional barrels per day to be sent from Edmonton to Burnaby on the B.C. coast.

Kenney said that Alberta produces around four million barrels per day, with three million being shipped through pipelines and by rail. Alberta refineries use about 600,000 for domestic consumption in Western Canada, he said, leaving 400,000 extra every day to fill the growing backlog.

Both Kenney and Notley are calling for more pipelines as a solution to the differential and in the hope it boosts the energy economy. Even though the premier has said she would buy around 7,000 rail cars to ship 120,000 more barrels per day beginning in late 2019, its not an ideal situation.

You might want to think of that next time youre held up at a rail crossing, Notley said to activists who oppose pipelines.

But this predicament was decades in the making, says Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour. McGowan points to the blueprint laid out by former premier Peter Lougheed: ensuring each approved oilsands project came with an upgrader attached.

The policies pursued and promoted by the conservative governments that followed Lougheed amounted to nothing short of gross negligence, said McGowan.

If we had built more upgraders, if we had more refineries, we wouldnt be in the mess that were in today because the supply glut could have been drawn down.

He took aim at the talking point often raised by Kenney and other politicians that the Energy East pipeline would replace foreign-bought oil, noting the biggest refinery in Eastern Canada, owned by Irving Oil, cant refine heavy crude from Alberta.

Further, he added, Energy East wasnt going to go to the Irving refinery; it was going to go to an export terminal owned by Irving right next door, and it could be shipped out of Canada.

Duane Bratt, a professor of political science at Mount Royal University, said Alberta has been subjected to the price differential for decades, once referred to as the bitumen bubble by former premier Alison Redford.

While the NDP strongly advocated for additional upgraders and refineries when it was in opposition, that talk waned after the party took office in 2015 and realized how much those projects cost, said Bratt.

Refineries require billions of dollars in capital, he explained, and companies, particularly those with facilities in other jurisdictions, are understandably reluctant to invest in new projects.

People often talk about upgrading and refineries, except for those experts in the sector and people once they get into government, Bratt said.

Correction  Dec. 4, 2018: This article was edited from a previous version that incorrectly referred to the Alberta Federation of Labour as a labour union. In fact, it is a federation of labour unions.

It looks as if you appreciate our journalism. Our reporting changes lives, connects communities and effects change. But good journalism is expensive to produce, and advertiser revenue throughout the media industry is falling and unable to carry the cost. That means we need you, our readers. We need your help. If you appreciate deep local reporting, powerful investigations and reliable, responsible information, we hope you will support us through a subscription. Please click here to subscribe.

Read more about:NEW YORKThe Jungle, a new British play about a French refugee camp, was an obvious candidate to transfer to New York: critically lauded, commercially successful, timely and talked about.

But it had one big problem: Three of the 17 people in the London cast were citizens of predominantly Muslim countries whose residents have been barred by President Donald Trump from travelling to the United States.

The shows creative team and producers were reluctant to move the play without all the cast members, saying their life experiences  several had lived in the Calais refugee camp being depicted  gave the show its authenticity. But trying to get two Iranians and a Syrian into Trump-era America to perform a drama that is inherently sympathetic to refugees was, to put it mildly, daunting.

The odds were against us, said Stephen Daldry, who is directing the play alongside Justin Martin. We knew it was going to be a challenge.

Over several months, a coalition of celebrities (including Sting and Benedict Cumberbatch), religious leaders (the former archbishop of Canterbury) and politicians (the mayors of New York and London) joined forces in an effort to persuade the administration to grant the actors a waiver from the ban.

Of course, there was contingency planning: An Iranian-American actor, Arian Moayed, was quietly flown to London and intensively rehearsed for a key part (he even went on one night in the ensemble) so he could replace one of the refugees in New York if need be.

And then there was a zany-seeming gamble: After one of the Iranians was initially rejected by the State Department, the producers decided that, rather than try to persuade the United States to admit the Syrian actor, they would endeavour to win him British citizenship, thinking that would be an easier path to New York.

It worked. All three performers  Ammar Haj Ahmad, the Syrian refugee who successfully became a British citizen, and two Iranian refugees, Moein Ghobsheh and Yasin Moradi  were ultimately granted employment visas by the State Department, made it through airport security (Moradi was held for hours of questioning because he had once been fingerprinted while fleeing across Serbia) and are now happily rehearsing in Dumbo, Brooklyn.

I still cant believe Im in America, said Ahmad, 36, who was trained as an actor in Syria before seeking asylum in Britain, where all three men live now. Its bizarre that we live at a time when you need all this work to get one person to another country, and amazing that it happened. But I also feel very privileged, because every day Im here, I think about the millions of people who cant go from one place to another.

The Jungle, cast intact, opens Dec. 9 at St. Anns Warehouse, a prestigious and globally minded non-profit theatre on the Brooklyn waterfront. The show has an immersive set  audience members sit in a replica of an Afghan cafe at the camp, and post-show performances and talks will be held in the same geodesic dome that was used by the shows writers, Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson, when they established the Good Chance Theatre at the camp in 2015. The play is scheduled to run for eight weeks, which will make it the longest-running show in the theatres history.

Ghobsheh, a 23-year-old songwriter and musician who is now using the first name Milan, and Moradi, a 26-year-old kung fu practitioner who competed on the Iranian national team, were both discovered by the theatre in the Calais camp, known as the Jungle. Moradi, who is Kurdish and said he fled Iran because it had become increasingly difficult for his people, started teaching kung fu to other refugees in the Jungle, and then began performing as an actor. He said he believes in the power of the play. I think it is going to be helpful to show our story, he said.

Matthew Covey, a Brooklyn lawyer whose firm specializes in helping international artists overcome visa problems, assembled a 160-page package of legal arguments and letters of support for St. Anns and the refugees. Covey said performing artists have faced challenges getting visas to enter this country for years, but the travel ban is a new, and largely untested, hurdle. In addition to Syria and Iran, it restricts travel from Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Venezuela and North Korea, and was just upheld by the Supreme Court in June, after two previous versions were overturned.

A State Department official, who declined to be quoted by name, said he could not discuss the specifics of the Jungle cases, citing visa confidentiality. He added, though, that the government is granting waivers for people whose entry would be in the national interest and would not pose a threat to national security or public safety and whose prohibited entry would cause undue hardship.

Those are the arguments the shows promoters sought to make  saying support from the government (St. Anns gets money from the New York State Council on the Arts) and testimonials from important cultural figures showed that the project was in the national interest. We said, We have a story that we think people should hear, and only these people can tell it,  said David Lan, former artistic director of Londons Young Vic Theatre, where The Jungle was presented before moving to the West End.

Sting and his wife, Trudie Styler, sent a letter to the U.S. Embassy in London, arguing that the play discusses and confronts issues and stories that are largely unreachable outside the world of art, while the former archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, called the British production a genuine national event and said, I believe that the planned production in New York will likewise be a profoundly significant event for the U.S. cultural world.HALIFAXLabour activists say the six people charged in a Canada Post protest in Halifax were peacefully defending workers rights and deny there was a threat to public safety.

The six appeared in Halifax provincial court on Monday to face charges of mischief and obstructing a peace officer, stemming from Sunday nights protest at the Canada Post facility on Almon St.

The protest was a response to back-to-work legislation passed last Monday after weeks of rotating strikes by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW).

(We) were really worried about what this meant for the right to free and fair collective bargaining across the country and certainly what it meant for our legal right to strike, said Suzanne MacNeil, a labour advocate and the wife of trade unionist Tony Tracy, one of the six people facing charges.

The idea was that it was a show of solidarity.

Tracy, as well as Brad Fougere, Darius Mirshahi, Austin Hiltz, Art Bouman and Justin Whitten appeared before Judge Anne Marie Simmons on Monday and are all presently represented by defence lawyer Joel Pink.

The protesters were brought into the courtroom in handcuffs two at a time, smiling at the crowd of more than a dozen friends and supporters sitting in the public benches. As they entered, the soft sound of snapping fingers could be heard from the gallery.

Pink told reporters outside court that the six had been arraigned on both charges and their matter was set over until Jan. 4.

They were released from custody Monday afternoon on several conditions: to keep the peace and be of good behaviour, to attend court when needed and to stay 100 metres away from Canada Post property in Nova Scotia unless sending or receiving their own mail, like Christmas cards, Pink said.

MacNeil said she was among the roughly 20 people at the rally Sunday evening. Protesters stationed themselves at the Almon St. entrance as well as the gate at the end of Monaghan Dr., blocking Canada Post vans from entering the facility.

Just after 7 p.m., MacNeil said, Halifax police arrived and told them they didnt like how they were protesting, said they were blocking traffic and asked them to stand aside from the gate. Protesters did not abide by the police requests, and six people were arrested.

MacNeil said she didnt see any obvious reason why those six were arrested, suggesting it could have been any of us protesting.

Const. John MacLeod confirmed in an interview that Halifax Regional Police were called to Monaghan Dr. just after 7:30 p.m. on Sunday in relation to a demonstration that had blocked the roadway with vehicles, materials and people.

Officers repeatedly asked protesters to clear the road and return to a safe and peaceful protest, MacLeod said, but they did not comply.

We really do uphold and respect the right of our citizens to have a safe and peaceful protest, and we want to allow for that. But if thats not what we find when we get on scene, again there are concerns for public safety, then obviously were going to have to take action, MacLeod said.

He added that other businesses on the street were being blocked by the protest and that the rally was impacting traffic backing up in the area onto other roadways. When that happens, police become concerned about potential car accidents or emergency vehicles being unable to get through, MacLeod said.

Asked whether she felt the charges were an overreach by police, MacNeil said its always a concern when police act in this way when workers are trying to make a point and to address the rights that were trying to fight for.

She added that the protesters were not doing anything that endangered the public at all, since they were standing at the end of a dead-end street and there was no traffic getting backed up.

Although the protesters approached by StarMetro declined an interview Monday, Tracy later posted on Facebook that he and the five others were all fine, in good spirits and good health following an overnight stay at the police station and a day in a cell in the basement of the courthouse.

The right to full and fair collective bargaining and the fundamental Charter-protected right to strike are always worth defending, Tracy wrote. Bosses and governments have never given us rights that we havent fought for, and those rights are meaningless if not defended.

Canada Post said on Twitter that the protests amounted to the illegal obstruction of the movement of mail, adding that it would take appropriate action to address illegal activity affecting operations.

The IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) Kjipuktuk-Halifax said four of the six people charged are members of theirs. In an online statement, it argued that Halifax police made a heavy-handed overreaction. While larger solidarity pickets have been happening across the country, all other police forces have managed not to escalate them.

Solidarity Halifax, an anti-capitalist political organization that had members in the public gallery Monday, said in a statement that these arrests are totally illegitimate. They said the right to picket, and the right to strike, have been acknowledged in multiple Supreme Court decisions.

A release from CUPWs national president Mike Palecek on Monday said the union continues to hear of blockades at Canada Post facilities in various locations, citing Toronto, Halifax, Ottawa, Oshawa and Hamilton, all coming after a weekend of demonstrations in 27 cities across the country.

CUPW will never forget this growing display of solidarity in action. It is clear that this fight is no longer just about postal workers. This fight is about the right to free collective bargaining and impacts every worker in this country, the release said.

The union has said it called the rotating strikes over perceived gaps in equity, equality, health and safety.

The Sunday protest came just a couple days after a handful of protesters briefly blocked the entrances to the same Canada Post facility on Friday morning. The group left about two hours later at 10 a.m., after police told them they were not allowed to block vehicles coming in and out of the plant.

With files from The Canadian Press

It looks as if you appreciate our journalism. Our reporting changes lives, connects communities and effects change. But good journalism is expensive to produce, and advertiser revenue throughout the media industry is falling and unable to carry the cost. That means we need you, our readers. We need your help. If you appreciate deep local reporting, powerful investigations and reliable, responsible information, we hope you will support us through a subscription. Please click here to subscribe.

Read more about:When the top job with the Ontario Provincial Police was posted in October, Ron Taverner couldnt apply, because his rank was too low.

Two days later, the job requirements were changed  paving the way for the Ford family friend to apply.

He got the job.

The job postings were obtained exclusively by iPolitics late Monday evening.

The first job description was posted to the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police website in October and  according to a search of the documents web history  was last modified on Oct. 22.

That posting required all applicants to hold, at minimum, the rank of deputy chief or assistant commissioner.

The candidate should have a track record and demonstrated ability to provide executive leadership in a complex policing organization at the rank of Deputy Police Chief or higher, or Assistant Commissioner or higher in a major police service, read the posting.

Taverner, a superintendent with the Toronto Police Service, sits two ranks below that threshold.

Two days later, a document entitled OPP Commissioner Updated was modified on the associations site. The only difference between that posting and the first is that the minimum-rank requirements were removed.

The candidate should have a track record and demonstrated ability to provide executive leadership in a complex policing organization, read the new posting.

Read more:

Integrity watchdog urged to probe Taverners appointment as OPP commissioner

NDP questions appointment of premiers friend to head OPP

The change made Taverner eligible to apply for the job, which he was ultimately awarded on Nov. 29.

Sal Badali of Odgers Berndtson, the head hunting agency that supported the commissioner selection process, said eliminating the rank requirement was done to broaden the potential pool of applicants.

It turned out that over half the pool of applicants were not at the Deputy Chief level, Badali said over email.

The premiers office refused comment on the matter when reached by iPolitics, saying the selection process was managed by the public service in its entirety. The commissioners job is an Order-in-Council appointment, meaning it must be approved by provincial cabinet.

The premiers office said requests for comment about Taverners appointment should be directed to the cabinet office, which reports to the premier. A request to explain who asked for the change in job requirements was not returned by deadline.

Community Safety Minister Sylvia Jones said in Question Period on Tuesday that the posting was changed to broaden the pool of prospective applicants.

We wanted to make sure the best person to handle the position was going to apply, she said, adding that the decision was made by the hiring crew.

Taverners appointment  announced late Thursday  immediately raised eyebrows.

The fix was in from Day 1, former OPP commissioner Chris Lewis told CP24 on Thursday.

The decisions the premiers, Lewis said. Theres old relationships there; we all know it, and I think it was a travesty that this occurred.

And I dont want to show any disrespect to Ron Taverner. He got the job, good for him. I dont think its good for the OPP, and I dont think it was a good decision on the part of government whatsoever.

The opposition seized on the appointment during question period Monday, calling on the Progressive Conservatives to explain how Taverner was chosen.

The choice was made by an independent commissioner, and it was approved by cabinet on Thursday, Community Safety Minister Sylvia Jones said in response.

That wasnt good enough for NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, who told reporters early Monday that she thinks Lewiss concerns are legitimate.

Come clean and outline  particularly and specifically  what the process was, Horwath said. Lets figure out why the process left us with a candidate that leaves so many people scratching their heads.

Taverner has served in the Toronto Police Service since 1967. As superintendent, he is the unit commander for three divisions that overlap with Fords home community of Etobicoke.

With his new job  which he will start Dec. 17  Taverner will leapfrog over the OPP ranks of chief superintendent and deputy commissioner to become commissioner.

Asked about the multiple promotions in rank early Monday, Jones said, We are looking for someone that understands front line officers, that understands the challenges that are there and the hiring process saw that clearly.

The promotion means Taverner will go from being responsible for more than 700 uniformed officers and civilian staff to approximately 8,000 uniformed officers and civilian employees.

Jones told reporters that 27 people applied for the job and 15 of them were interviewed.

In its Thursday press release, the government said Taverners appointment was unanimously recommended by a selection committee comprised exclusively of members of the Ontario Public Service and supported by Odgers Berndtson.

In spite of Ford and Taverners personal relationship, Jones said she can absolutely guarantee that there will be a separation between the premiers office and the commissioner.

However, Horwath told reporters shes skeptical any separation will be maintained because she said Fords office has previously tried to direct police operations. In November, the Toronto Star reported that Fords chief of staff asked senior officials to ask police to raid illegal dispensaries on the day cannabis was legalized.

Weve already seen, as you know, a government that doesnt understand that thats not supposed to happen, Horwath said.

The Ford government is already facing questions over its involvement in appointments in the electricity sector.

Fords chief of staff, Dean French, was accused of interfering with hiring at Ontario Power Generation last month. He reportedly asked the provincial Crown corporation to fire Alykhan Velshi, who held a key post in the office of former PC leader Patrick Brown, according to reporting by the Globe and Mail.

And last week, the Globe and Mail reported that the premiers office is in a standoff with Hydro One over the selection of its next CEO.John Tentomas travels the world searching for ripe summer fruit.

The best is rushed to the nearest processing plant to be washed, peeled, cut, diced or sliced before travelling through a tunnel of frigid air at -60C, where each individual berry or chunk freezes solid in less than a minute.

Nothing captures ripeness and structure better than -60 in a freezer, says Tentomas, president of Natures Touch. The process locks in the flavour and quality until you open the bag to make a smoothie, or pop a few pieces of frozen fruit in your mouth as a snack.

In his 19 years in the business, the chemical engineer turned frozen fruit guru has discovered that soil and climate impact the flavour of fruit just as terroir gives wine its character.

Though nothing beats a fresh Ontario or Quebec berry in season, he says Serbia and Chile are the worlds raspberry capitals, with the large amounts he needs to feed the growing market for frozen fruit. Chilean strawberries are another favourite. They have the right mix of acidity in the soil and the way the sun hits the fields  its perfect.

He also waxes enthusiastic about wild blueberries grown in the acidic soil of northern Quebec forests, where little to no pesticides are needed. And he says British Columbia grows the best cultivated blueberries in the world.

Scroll down for recipes

Ive tasted blueberries everywhere and ours are phenomenal, says Tentomas, who took his love of science to Dow Chemical after graduation and ended up in New York City in his late 20s as an industry manager, calling on big guys like Unilever and Proctor & Gamble.

Homesick for Quebec, he and his wife moved back to Montreal to start a family. The citys port has long been an international trading mecca, and Tentomas was soon travelling the globe to improve the quality of frozen fruit used in French firm Danones fruit-bottom yogurt.

I gained a lot of knowledge setting up contract growing and processing operations in North Africa, China and Latin America and breaking down the specifications for fruit, which appealed to my technical background, he says. I was on the ground  both my grandfathers were farmers in Greece  and it felt like I was home.

By 2004, when frozen fruit appeared in attractive stand-up pouches with names like Europes Best (with no European fruit), igniting the smoothie craze, Tentomas decided he could do a better job and launched his own company. Costco remains a loyal customer, yet he still packages much of his fruit under the private brands of major retailers.

Today 80 per cent of frozen fruit sold is private label, he says. The market is so international, I recently bought a bag of frozen mixed cherries and berries sourced from Canada, Mexico, the U.S., Chile and Poland.

Since berries and other fruit bound for the fresh market are often harvested unripe to survive their long journey to the supermarket, frozen fruit buyers can pick up good deals when a surge of ripe fruit overwhelms the fresh market. Tentomas also buys fruit thats too small or too big for picky fresh buyers, which puts extra money in farmers pockets.

He says working with farmers in poor countries such as Peru and Ecuador gives companies like Natures Touch a chance to raise families out of poverty, particularly women.

The decisions you make on where you buy can have a huge impact, he says. A lot of suppliers we work with are medium-sized enterprises with people on the ground, not multinationals. As you see peoples lives improve, you know youre benefitting farmers as well as giving healthy food to consumers. Its still my inspiration.

With frozen fruit commanding more space in supermarket freezers, thanks to millennial shoppers who love its ready-to-go convenience and long shelf life, the challenge now is to offer more new and innovative products.

Tentomas says mango is the fastest-growing fruit in his line-up, since he takes the guesswork out of ripening and cutting up expensive fresh mangos at home. Though the exotic fruit grows in many countries, he says the smooth texture and citrusy finish of Perus Kent variety appeal to North American tastes.

Were probably one of the largest buyers of frozen mangos in the world, he says.

Frozen chunks of Hass avocado from Peru, which took more than three years to perfect, is another product that challenges the limits to what can be offered frozen, but Tentomas isnt stopping there.

Hes working on freezing watermelon chunks, dragonfruit and acai berries. Hes also found a pear that ripens and freezes beautifully, and is considering plums and figs.

Its a work in progress, he says. You have to build the technology and do it right, which takes time.

The fruit-focused entrepreneur is also committed to tracing the path of every piece of fruit he sells from farm to freezer, so consumers know exactly where it comes from.

The quality and authenticity of the fruit, he says, thats what we see.

Beyond smoothies: How to make the most of frozen fruit

Prep it: If youre using frozen fruit in recipes, thaw at room temperature for 30 to 40 minutes or pour contents into a bowl and microwave about 30 seconds. Once thawed, do not re-freeze fruit.

Top it: Spoon slightly-thawed fruit over yogurt, oatmeal or cereal. Throw frozen fruit into overnight oats and the texture will be perfect by morning. Add mango chunks to a green salad.

Bake it: Bring on summer year-round by baking pies, cakes and crisps with frozen blends like strawberry-rhubarb. Add frozen berries to cookies, muffins and energy balls.

Infuse it: Staff at Natures Touch load the infusers in their water bottles with frozen berries. Its great for people who dont like to drink water, or for kids who just want juice, says Woods-Briskin. Its also a good way to stay hydrated and not worry about added sugar.

Baby food  Moms concerned about pesticides appreciate Natures Touch organic or tested-for-pesticide lines of frozen fruit and fruit-vegetable blends.

Smoothies  The biggest trend is green smoothies and acai, says Woods-Briskin, You can counter the bitterness of acai with other fruit, like our Mango-Kiwi Fusion or Tropical Avocado Bliss, which combines avocado, mango, pineapple and kale.

Avo it  Natures Touch launched frozen avocado chunks in Canada, ready to add texture and good fat to many recipes. Substitute for oil in dressings, try avo-chocolate pudding or swap for sour cream to make a dairy-free dip.

Overnight Oats Parfait

Make breakfast stylish and healthy while you rediscover the taste of summer cherries selected by Natures Touch.

1 cup (250 mL) quick cooking oats

1 cup (250 mL) milk or almond milk

2 cups (500 mL) vanilla yogurt

3 tbsp (45 mL) chia seeds

2 cups (500 mL) frozen sweet cherries or cherry blend, thawed

Garnish:

 cup (60 mL) walnut pieces

In medium bowl, combine oats, milk, 1 cup (250 mL) yogurt and chia seeds. Stir well, cover and refrigerate four hours or overnight.

At breakfast, divide oat mixture equally among four glass bowls or cups and layer with remaining 1 cup (250 mL) yogurt and fruit. Top each parfait with 1 tbsp (15 mL) walnuts.

Makes 4 servings.

Quinoa Salad with Mango Kiwi Dressing

The brave new world of frozen fruit and veg includes this refreshing Natures Touch blend of mango, apple, kale, kiwi and ginger. Use it in a smoothie or blend into a thick, creamy salad dressing.

Salad

1 cup dry quinoa, cooked

1/3 cup (75 mL) chopped mixed herbs, eg. parsley, chives, tarragon, oregano

2 cups (500 mL) cherry tomatoes, cut in half

1 avocado, diced

1 cup (250 mL) corn kernels, cooked

 cup (125 mL) thinly-sliced radishes, optional

2 hard-boiled eggs, cut in quarters lengthwise

Dressing:

1 pack (225 g) Mango-Kiwi Fusion blend, thawed

3 tbsp (45 mL) olive oil

1 tbsp (15 mL) mayonnaise

1 tbsp (15 mL) white wine or cider vinegar

1 small clove garlic, minced

For the dressing, place mango blend, oil, mayonnaise, vinegar, garlic and half the chopped herbs in a blender (loving my new Vitamix!) and blend until smooth and creamy. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, pile quinoa in a serving dish and mix in some of the dressing with a fork. Arrange the tomatoes, avocado, corn and radishes, if using, over top. Drizzle more dressing over vegetables and finish with egg quarters. Sprinkle with remaining herbs.

Makes 4 servings.

Grape Ricotta Crostini

Grapes as a sweet-savoury holiday appetizer? Why not? To save time, toast the bread, season ricotta and cook grapes in advance, then conscript friends to help assemble.

1 baguette, sliced -inch (1 cm) thick

2 tbsp (30 mL) olive oil for brushing

1 tbsp (15 mL) olive oil

2 tsp (10 mL) butter

1 shallot, minced

3 snack packs (300g) frozen Grape-2-Go red grapes, at room temperature

2 tbsp (30 mL) balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp (15 mL) lemon juice

2 tbsp (30 mL) honey

2 cups (500 mL) ricotta cheese

Garnish: chopped mint, parsley or thyme leaves

Preheat broiler. Brush baguette slices with oil and toast 3 minutes or until evenly crisp and golden; watch carefully to prevent burning. Set aside.

Heat 1 tbsp (15 mL) oil and the butter in a large, non-stick skillet on medium-high. Add shallots and cook 1 minute. Add grapes, stir until shiny then let sit, without moving pan, until seared on one side. Turn and repeat; this should take 2 to 3 minutes.

When grapes are plump and seared, remove pan from heat and stir in balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, honey, herbs and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. Set aside to cool.

Season ricotta with salt and pepper to taste. To serve, spread ricotta on toasted bread slices then top each with a few roasted grapes and sauce. Garnish with herbs.

Makes 10 to 12 servings.Alberta and Saskatchewan want issues facing the oilpatch to be on the agenda when premiers meet with the prime minister later this week.

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe made the request in an open letter to Justin Trudeau released Tuesday.

They said the current agenda does not include any discussion of a crisis facing the energy industry. Albertas oil is currently fetching bargain basement prices thanks to a growing glut and lack of pipeline capacity to get oil to market.

The premiers said the problem is costing Canada $80 million a day and the meeting agenda should reflect that.

During your recent visit to Calgary, you called the economic impact of the oil price differential a crisis. We agree, Notley and Moe wrote in a letter released Tuesday.

A crisis of this magnitude must be reflected in any discussion on economic competitiveness. We trust that the agenda for our upcoming first ministers meeting can be revised to better reflect the need for a substantive discussion on issues of critical importance to the Canadian economy.

Read more:

Alberta to cut oil production, Premier Rachel Notley says

Alberta buying its own rail cars to move oil without feds, Notley says

As politicians blame pipelines for Albertas oil woes, federation of labour says past governments ignored upgraders and refineries

A statement from the Prime Ministers Office said those issues will be discussed under agenda items like job creation, trade diversification and competitiveness.

The first ministers meeting will be an important opportunity for the prime minister and premiers to discuss how we can create jobs and economic growth that benefit everyone across the country in all sectors, the statement said.

In particular, the conversations will focus on trade diversification, competitiveness, and how climate change and clean energy initiatives drive growth and job creation.

While the rest of the world sells its oil at about $50 per barrel, Notley has said Alberta fetches only $10.

Notley has ordered a mandatory cut to oil production which amounts to 8.7 per cent of output to reduce the glut of oil forcing the steep discounts. The cuts are scheduled to end on Dec. 31, 2019.

Alberta is also planning on buying as many as 80 locomotives and 7,000 rail tankers  expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars  to move the provinces excess oil to markets and address the pipeline bottleneck.

The Trans Mountain expansion project, which would triple capacity to the B.C. coast, is now in legal limbo despite being approved two years ago as Ottawa revisits the impacts on First Nations and B.C.s marine environment.

The premiers are scheduled to meet with Trudeau in Montreal on Friday.

Read more about:Disability activists say Ottawa has ignored their calls to strengthen Canadas first national accessibility legislation and are urging the Senate to intervene.

More than 90 groups, including the Council of Canadians with Disabilities and Ontario-based ARCH Disability Law, say the proposed Accessible Canada Act, passed by Parliament Nov. 27, is too weak to achieve its goal of making Canada barrier-free for over five million Canadians with disabilities.

They want the Senate to hold public hearings next year and make amendments to improve the legislation before it becomes law.

People with disabilities still face too many accessibility barriers in areas that the federal government regulates, like air or train travel, cable and internet TV service, and dealing with the federal government, said David Lepofsky, head of the AODA Alliance, an Ontario disability coalition working to ensure the province achieves its goal of becoming fully accessible by 2025.

The federal legislation has good intentions but falls short on implementation and enforcement, said Lepofsky, whose coalition is leading the disability communitys appeal to the Senate.

Carla Qualtrough, minister for public services and procurement and accessibility, said the government is grateful for the participation and contribution of Canadians with disabilities in developing the law.

Read more:

Blind MP to draft Canadas first national accessibility law

Disability rights advocates welcome national legislation

Canadas new accessibility laws should focus on employment, inclusive buildings, transport

Like other members of the disability community, I am eager to see meaningful progress in a timely manner, said Qualtrough, who is blind. For that reason, we are working to achieve significant progress within the first year following the passage of the act. This includes opening the doors of the new Canadian Accessibility Standards Development Organization in the summer of 2019.

The Accessible Canada Act, introduced in June, covers federally regulated sectors such as banking, interprovincial and international transportation, telecommunications and government-run services such as Canada Post. It aims to identify, remove and prevent barriers for Canadians with physical, sensory, mental, intellectual, learning, communication or other disabilities.

Ottawa has earmarked $290 million over six years to implement the legislation, which includes fines of up to $250,000 for violations.

In an open letter Oct. 30 to Qualtrough and the federal standing committee studying the legislation, disability activists urged the government to make nine amendments to beef up the law. Some changes were made, but none substantially addressed concerns the activists raised, said Robert Lattanzio of ARCH Disability Law.

Currently, the legislation sets no timetable for Ottawa to meet its goal of a barrier-free Canada and nothing in the legislation compels the government to act, activists say.

Federally regulated entities are required to develop accessibility plans, but the law does not require those plans to be good or even implemented, they add.

And the law wrongly splinters the power to make and enforce accessibility standards across numerous federal agencies, a move activists say will make it less effective and more confusing, complicated and costly.

In particular, the disability community strongly opposes the governments decision to empower the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and the Canadian Transport Commission, to implement and enforce accessibility standards within their industries,

Both groups are too close to private industry and dont have a good track record for responding to complaints from people with disabilities, Lattanzio said in an interview from Ottawa, where he and others were celebrating the International Day for People with Disabilities.

Now its a question of whether the Senate will hear from the community and what, if any room, they feel there is for any amendments, he said. We just want to make sure persons with disabilities have an opportunity to be heard.Ayubullo Mohammad-Daud is blaming inattention as the reason he says he accidentally drove a stolen van onto a sidewalk, striking and killing a man who had beaten him in a street fight less than an hour earlier.

I accidentally lost control cause I reached for a phone on the ground and (was) not paying attention, Mohammad-Daud testified in front of a Superior Court jury Monday.

I had no idea that somebody got hit, he said.

The 23-year-old has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the late-afternoon hit-and-run death of Steven Doyle, 27, who was riding a bike on George St., between Shuter and Gerrard Sts., on Aug. 15, 2016.

On Monday, Mohammad-Daud repeatedly called prosecutor Karen Simone a liar when she challenged his testimony that he returned to George St. to score heroin  not settle a score  despite a witness hearing him tell Doyle Ill be back after the two got into an altercation.

I dont even know the person, Mohammad-Daud said, adding it was a very tragic day of my addiction to heroin, of wanting heroin.

Read more:

Murder trial opens for man accused of deliberately driving van at cyclist

Wearing a collegiate-style leather jacket with his dark hair pulled up into a large bun, Mohammad-Daud sometimes smiled and giggled during his animated testimony and made sudden requests to sip water.

After he denied earlier meeting Doyle, Simone played surveillance footage of the two interacting on George St. an hour before he returned.

Im the person on the street, how would you know, Mohammad-Daud said. May I tell you something, everything youre saying is a very untruthful thing and its sad that youre saying this ... in front of normal people.

Simone told Mohammad-Daud he was the one lying to the jury and said he stole the van with the intention of returning to George St., because he was still angry that (he) lost the fight with Mr. Doyle.

Im sorry that youre lying, he shot back.

I was the driver, I knew what happened that day, he continued. What happened was that I lost control, of mis-paying attention driving dangerously, and (the collision) accidentally, coincidentally happened and youre making stuff up.

Mohammad-Daud told jurors that on his life and heart he did not kill Doyle intentionally  and would never lie about it.

In response, Simone confronted Mohammad-Daud with his criminal record. On July 28, 2016, 17 days before he killed Doyle, Mohammad-Daud was behind the wheel of a stolen Mercedes in Mississauga when he deliberately tried to hit two construction workers after they confronted him about stealing property.

The workers went to hospital with broken bones, and Mohammad-Daud pleaded guilty earlier this year to two counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily harm.

Despite his plea, Mohammad-Daud on Monday told the jury he didnt intentionally hit the workers.

I actually pressed the gas and the poor person was in front of it, but I had no intention of doing anything to the person, he said.

He also agreed hes twice being convicted of obstructing a police officer, has committed multiple crimes of theft and has 14 convictions for disobeying court orders.

Can I be honest with you? When youre addicted to heroin, you will do anything to have that in your body.

The trial resumes Tuesday.The Ontario government is being urged to stop prosecuting HIV-positive individuals who dont disclose their status to their sexual partners when there was no realistic possibility of transmitting the virus in the first place.

The demand from advocates and lawyers comes in the wake of an announcement Saturday by the federal government that federal Crown attorneys would no longer prosecute cases where an individuals viral load was suppressed.

Viral load is the amount of the HIV virus in a persons blood, and scientific evidence reviewed by the Public Health Agency of Canada shows that with a suppressed viral load there is no realistic possibility of transmitting the virus.

The federal Crown will also generally no longer prosecute in cases where the viral load was not suppressed, but the person used a condom or only engaged in oral sex  which evidence has also shown poses no realistic possibility of transmission.

As the federal directive only applies to the territories, where the federal government is responsible for all criminal prosecutions, Ontario Attorney General Caroline Mulroney is being called upon to implement a similar order for prosecutions in this province.

Read more:

Guide to prosecuting HIV cases undermining public health, critics say

Ontario to curb prosecution of HIV non-disclosure cases

Ontario a world leader in unjustly prosecuting people living with HIV, advocates say

We congratulate the federal government for taking this much needed step, said Ryan Peck, executive director of HIV/AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario. It is essential that Ontario immediately alter its approach and also cease prosecutions in relation to sex with a condom and oral sex.

It is high time that the law caught up with science and human rights in a manner that is supportive of HIV-related care, treatment and prevention, he said. Without further altering its approach to HIV-related prosecutions, overcriminalizaiton of people living with HIV will continue.

A spokesperson for Ontario's Ministry of the Attorney General said it will "carefully review" the federal directive, and declined further comment.

The directive announced by federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould was hailed by activists as long overdue and necessary in a climate where courts across the country have issued different rulings on when disclosure of ones HIV status was necessary to avoid a criminal charge.

People living with HIV in Canada risk an aggravated sexual assault charge, prison time and being labelled a sex offender if they dont disclose their status to their sexual partner, and even if the virus was not transmitted.

Courts have previously held that disclosure was not necessary if the person had a suppressed viral load and used a condom, in accordance with a 2012 Supreme Court ruling. But some judges have also acquitted in cases where no condom was used but the viral load was suppressed, citing evolving science on the risk of transmission since the Supreme Court ruling.

The federal directive goes further than a directive the Ontario government announced last year under the Liberals that had also put a halt to prosecutions in cases where the individual had maintained a suppressed viral load. Unlike the federal directive, the Ontario rule does not explicitly ban prosecutions in cases where the viral load was not suppressed but a condom was used properly or the only sexual activity involved was oral sex.

In issuing the directive, the Government of Canada recognizes the over-criminalization of HIV non-disclosure discourages many individuals from being tested and seeking treatment, and further stigmatizes those living with HIV or AIDS, the Justice Department said in a statement on Saturday, World AIDS Day.

It made clear that prosecutions would continue in cases of individuals who do not disclose their status when there is a realistic possibility of transmission, such as not having a suppressed viral load and not using a condom.

The federal directive also tells federal prosecutors to pursue non-sexual criminal offences where this would better align with the individuals situation, such as cases where the individuals conduct was less blameworthy.

While commending Wilson-Raybould for the directive, the Criminal Lawyers Association is also calling on her to review the cases of individuals who have been convicted but would not have been charged in the first place under her new directive.

We implore her not to forget the many people who have been unjustly convicted of serious, sexual offences, despite not having transmitted HIV or having posed a risk to transmit HIV, the association said in a statement.

The Criminal Lawyers Association calls for a nationwide review of possible wrongful convictions resulting from the persistent use of outdated science in cases where the risk of transmission was actually low.

A spokesperson for Wilson-Raybould said individuals who have been convicted can apply for a ministerial review of their case, a process open to those who feel they have been wrongfully convicted of a crime.Elizabeth Terrell-Tracey was elected to the York Region District School Board earlier this year despite racially offensive postings that appeared on her Facebook account during the campaign.

But at her swearing in Monday night, the trustee for East Gwillimbury and Whitchurch-Stouffville was the target of protesters who shut down the public proceedings, urging people not to stand idly by and let it happen.

People booed as she was introduced, and a row of parents held up signs urging her to step down.

Before recessing the meeting, director of education Louise Sirisko acknowledged that there were people in the audience who attended to show their hurt and anger."

We are committed to listening, she said.

In an unprecedented step, the board had already scheduled a special meeting after the formal proceedings to give community members a chance to be heard.

Terrell-Traceys election came as the board was finally getting past a turbulent few years. The culture at the board had been deemed so toxic that former education minister Mitzie Hunter called in a team to investigate.

Hunter later issued 22 directives to get the board back on track, and Sirisko was brought on as the new director.

Were just ironically just wrapping up the 22 directives from the ministry, board chair Corrie McBain told the Star before Monday nights meeting.

Theres been so much good work done from that, and the spirit of them being incorporated into the culture of the organization. So this is really testing to see if all those mechanisms put in place are going to serve the purpose that they were intended, McBain said.

Two years ago, she added, the board did not have a human rights office or an integrity commissioner, who provides independent oversight of the board and can accept public complaints.

However, McBain explained, complaints must be based on behaviour once trustees have taken office, and that prior incidents cannot be considered.

Attending Mondays meeting was Charline Grant, largely recognized as the catalyst for change at the board after speaking to the Star about the racism her son endured at high school  and who herself was called a n----- parent by former trustee Nancy Elgie after a board meeting.

Our children deserve better, Grant told the crowd.

The Star spent months chronicling dysfunction at the board at every level  administration, trustee and school-based  before the province stepped in. Elgie eventually stepped down.

Before the October municipal election, a posting on Terrell-Traceys Facebook account took aim at rival Lena Singh, saying: Just so you know ... Ms. Singh was born in Guyana. You are backing someone Not born in Canada ... We need a trustee that was born in Canada  you deserve to know the truth.

Terrell-Tracey told the Star via email on Friday that her Facebook account was hacked and the profile is deleted. I am very sorry that this has happened to our community.

Please note that I am of Italian descent and I love All people equally. I believe we are human first! The written Facebook comments are not from me and they do not reflect me as I am a fun loving inclusive person.

I am working hard at my trustee-elect training. I am also enjoying working for All families that need my assistance as our new trustee. I love All people equally and I will work hard for All the constituents for four years and I will make our community proud.

I won the trustee election; fair and square, with over nine thousand votes.

After she was elected, the York board booked Mondays special meeting, and decided that the information from that meeting would be shared with the community. The board also directed staff to devise a way to reach out to candidates about the trustee role and the code of conduct, as well get word out to voters and schedule all-candidates meetings before the 2022 election.

Because Terrell-Tracey was elected, there is no mechanism for the board to force her out, McBain has said.

Protesters on Monday night urged the crowd to reach out to local MPPs including Caroline Mulroney, as well as the education minister and premier.

Some 9,344 voters in the ward supported Terrell-Tracey, while Singh got 5,788 votes.

Shortly after the election, Terrell-Tracey indicated she would resign, but then changed her mind.

I understand that some of my comments were hurtful and offensive and I am sorry, she wrote in the resignation letter that was posted on the boards website, and later removed. These comments are not reflective of me, my values and beliefs. They are also not reflective of the boards values and priorities and I do not wish to be a distraction as the new board of trustees begins its work.

McBain has said that no matter how they were posted, the comments were xenophobic, racist and hurtful  (the board) works to create safe, equitable and inclusive learning and working environments for all our students, their families and our staff.

Journalist and activist Desmond Cole said protesting Terrell-Tracy is about protecting kids, and lambasted the board for not doing more.

It makes me so angry that the community has to keep saying the same thing over and over and over, he said after Mondays meeting.

Former Richmond Hill trustee Carol Chan said she was disappointed by Terrell-Tracey's election victory.

Half of all people in York Region are immigrants  including herself, she added.

The board has done a lot of work building trust and accountability with the public, she said, adding she is worried that will be lost if Terrell-Tracey remains on the board.

McBain began by denouncing the racist, xenophobic and hurtful comments attributed to Terrell-Tracey. She urged the public to hold us accountable. Our students deserve no less.Police are offering a $50,000 cash reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for the murder of a member of a notorious mob family in Hamilton.

Angelo Musitano was shot and killed in his driveway in May 2017. Hamilton police say his death has also been linked to the murder of veterinary technician Mila Barberi, 28, in Woodbridge two months earlier.

Hamilton police have already charged Jabril Abdalla with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths.

They say they continue to gather information on the individuals who allegedly ordered Musitanos execution.

Police say they believe Musitanos death is part of an ongoing feud between organized crime groups in the Toronto area.

Hamilton police have been investigating the homicides, in an operation dubbed Project SCOPA, alongside York regional police and the RCMP.

Police have issued Canada-wide warrants for Michael Cudmore and Daniel Tomassetti, who are believed to have fled to Cancun, Mexico.

Read more:

Musitano family makes first public comment since murder

Hamilton mobster Angelo Musitano was stalked by multiple people before murder, police say

Buffalo mob playing role in deadly Ontario dispute, sources say

Investigators have said there is no indication either has returned to Canada and Cudmores family is worried he may dead.

Investigators requested the $50,000 reward as a means to stimulate further leads, and to assist in locating and apprehending Michael Cudmore and Daniel Tomassetti, Hamilton police said in a news release.

Police also warned that anyone who helps Cudmore or Tomassetti to evade arrest will face charges of accessory after the fact to murder.

York region police in January said Barberi was not an intended target and was in the wrong place at the wrong time when she was shot dead in a Woodbridge parking lot.The provincial workers compensation board has denied 94 per cent of chronic mental stress cases since new legislation extended benefits coverage to employees experiencing long-term trauma or harassment on the job, according to an internal Workplace Safety and Insurance Board audit obtained by the Star.

Previously, workers could only seek compensation for mental health injuries caused by a traumatic incident, not those triggered by ongoing trauma in their workplace  which labour advocates and legal experts described in a 2016 ombudsman complaint as unconstitutional and discriminatory. Subsequent legal changes mean workers can now file claims for work-related chronic stress issues.

But between January and May, just 10 of the 159 claims for work-related chronic mental stress were approved, the audit conducted by the WSIB shows.

Maryth Yachnin, a lawyer with the Toronto-based legal clinic Industrial Accident Victims of Ontario, said advocates already had concerns about existing barriers to winning chronic mental stress claims  but said she was stunned by the denial rate.

I cannot imagine a world where they should be denying upwards of 90 per cent of the cases, she said.

In a statement to the Star, WSIB spokesperson Christine Arnott said the board wanted anyone dealing with work-related chronic mental stress (CMS) to get the help and support they need.

Read more:

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For 20 years, miners sickened by toxic aluminum dust couldnt file compensation claims. Why?

She said workers were entitled to compensation if they met the boards criteria, which includes evidence of a substantial work-related stressor and abusive workplace behaviour that rises to the level of workplace harassment. (Workers are not entitled to chronic stress compensation for problems stemming from discipline, demotions, transfers or termination.)

We will continue to monitor our new chronic mental stress program as we help support mentally healthy workplaces across Ontario, Arnott said.

Yachnin said the boards approach to chronic mental stress creates unique and unreasonable barriers for people with harassment-type injuries.

Workers filing for chronic mental stress, for example, must prove their workplace was the predominant cause of their illness  while workers with physical injuries must simply show their workplace was a significant contributing factor.

Thats subject to a higher legal test than any other workers in Ontario, Yachnin said, adding in court workers only have to prove employer negligence was one factor in a workplace injury.

Like all workers filing WSIB claims, those with chronic mental health injuries give up their right to sue their employer if they initiate a case at the compensation board.

All workers with these chronic stressors have been stripped of their right to sue their employer. The replacement right has to mirror the right you took away, Yachnin said.

The boards current guidelines were formed after consultation with both employers and worker representatives. According to one submission from an employer association, stress cases are not the same as other kinds of workplace injuries, and treating them as such is a momentous miscalculation and policy design error.

In the WSIB statement to the Star, Arnott said the nature of mental stress injuries are complex and differ from physical injuries.

The use of the predominant cause test is consistent with other workplace compensation boards (Alberta, Quebec, Saskatchewan and British Columbia) across Canada that also compensate for CMS, she said.

Last year, a coalition of 12 legal clinics and private practice lawyers decried the predominant cause test before it came into effect in a letter sent to former premier Kathleen Wynne.

The Supreme Court of Canada and the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal have rejected the wrong-headed notion that mental injuries are less real, more subjective and more suspect than physical ones, the letter said.

According to the WSIBs chronic mental stress policy, a work-related stressor is considered substantial if it is excessive compared to the normal pressures and tensions experienced by workers in similar circumstances, although the policy says workers cant be denied compensation simply because they work in a routinely high-pressure environment.

In some cases  consistent exposure to a high level of routine stress over time may qualify as a substantial work-related stressor, the policy says.

Yachnin said logic runs contrary to how physical injuries are treated, where constant exposure to stress or risk would be seen as positive evidence of causation.

Board adjudicators must also be able to identify the event(s) which are alleged to have caused the chronic mental stress, through information or knowledge provided by co-workers or supervisors, according to board policy.

When you think about harassment in a small workplace, the person harassing you is very likely your employer, Yachnin said. Who else in the workplace is going to provide confirmation?

The low number of claims registered to date may reflect a lack of awareness about legislative changes, Yachnin said  but could also indicate workers see the barriers to winning compensation as insurmountable.

That prevents the employer-funded workers compensation system from functioning properly, she added: if employers insurance premiums go up because of high injury rates, there is a financial incentive to rectify the safety risks.

(The costs) are properly borne by the employer community because they were generated by workplace risks, Yachnin said.

The system is designed to point out the canary in the coal mine and show where there are health and safety risks factors, she added. But you cant do that if at the front door youre basically auto-denying them. I dont know what else to call this.

It looks as if you appreciate our journalism. Our reporting changes lives, connects communities and effects change. But good journalism is expensive to produce, and advertiser revenue throughout the media industry is falling and unable to carry the cost. That means we need you, our readers. We need your help. If you appreciate deep local reporting, powerful investigations and reliable, responsible information, we hope you will support us through a subscription. Please click here to subscribe.Starting to get those winter blues? Fear not  Environment Canada predicts this week in Toronto will finally bring just what the doctor ordered: A full dose of sunshine.

Clear and sunny skies begin Tuesday with a mild daytime high of 0 C. But dont forget extra layers, because with the wind chill it will feel like -10 C in the morning. The temperature will drop to -5 C in the evening.

The same can be expected for Wednesday with a high of 1 C and a mix of sun and cloud, according to Environment Canada. Although, it wont get as cold as Tuesday, with temperatures only reaching a low of -2 C.

Come Thursday, theres a 60 per cent chance you might see some flurries. The daytime temperature will hover around 0 C, dipping notably when night falls to -10 C.

Friday is the start to your sun-and-fun-filled weekend with a high of -4 C, a low of -7 C and sunshine. There is a 30 per cent chance of flurries in the night.

Share your thoughts

This weekend may prove a good opportunity to check out all those holiday activities happening around the city as the forecast shows nothing but sun.Central Illinois residents on Monday continued assessing the damage after rare December tornadoes, including one that was a half-mile-wide (0.8 kilometres), injured at least 20 people.

The severe weather in Illinois was part of a line of thunderstorms that raked areas of the central U.S. late Friday and into Saturday, killing one person in Missouri. The National Weather Service confirmed tornadoes in Illinois, Missouri and Oklahoma.

At least three tornadoes were confirmed in northwest and southwest Arkansas, largely causing property and structural damage.

Peak months for tornadoes in much of the Midwest are April and June, according to the weather service. But at least 23 tornado touchdowns on Saturday have been confirmed in Illinois, said Dan Smith, a meteorologist with the weather services Lincoln, Illinois, office.

That was the most tornadoes in Illinois during a December storm since a Dec. 18-19, 1957, outbreak produced 21, Smith said Monday afternoon. He said that number may grow because crews continue surveying three other sites to determine if storm damage there was also caused by tornadoes.

The weather service sent crews Sunday to survey the hardest-hit areas in Illinois, which included Taylorville, 25 miles (40 kilometres) southeast of Springfield. A survey showed that storm produced estimated peak winds of 155 mph (249 kilometres per hour).

It said information from emergency management officials indicated 34 homes were severely damaged or destroyed, 66 homes sustained major damage, and 406 homes were damaged but inhabitable in the city of 11,000.

Photographs and video from Taylorville showed several houses flattened, with residents wading into debris to salvage what they could. Some homes remained standing but with gaping holes in the roofs or with no roofs at all.

The tornado was on the ground for around 10 miles (16 kilometres) before it thundered through Taylorville, and the weather service was able to warn residents of its arrival 41 minutes before it actually struck, Chris Miller, a meteorologist at the services Lincoln office, said in a phone interview Sunday. That advanced warning gave people critical time to take cover and may have saved lives.

A Taylorville Memorial Hospital spokesman said 21 people, from age 9 to 97, arrived for treatment Saturday. Most were released within hours. Miller said three people remained hospitalized as of Sunday afternoon.

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner declared Christian County, where Taylorville is located, a state disaster area, which makes available various state resources that can help it recover.

The weather service said Sunday that a strong tornado that developed from severe thunderstorms Friday night touched down in Van Buren, Arkansas. It was rated an EF2. About 10 minutes later, a second weaker tornado was confirmed less than 10 miles (16 kilometres) away near the town of Rudy, Arkansas.

Damage surveys for the two tornadoes are ongoing but officials said dozens of homes were damaged.

Early Saturday morning a third tornado with estimated peak winds of 107 mph travelled about 8.5 miles (13.5 kilometres) through Spring Hill in southwest Arkansas. Its path was intermittent and mostly caused damage to trees and to some structures.

Read more about:SAN PEDRO SULA, HONDURASHaydee Posadas had waited eight years for her son to come home. On the last night of her long vigil, she was too agitated to sleep.

Her son had fled Honduras for the U.S. in 2010 in part because of gang threats, just as thousands are doing today in the migrant caravans headed north, including men from the same neighbourhood. But en route in Mexico, again like so many others, Wilmer Gerardo Nunez disappeared into the vortex of drug violence that he was trying to escape in the first place. Left in limbo, his anguished mother prayed for an answer.

I am between a rock and a hard place, she begged God through the years. I know nothing about my son, whether hes dead or alive.

Nunezs story is part of the hidden toll of migration to the U.S. through Mexico: In the past four years alone, almost 4,000 migrants have died or gone missing along that route, The Associated Press has found in an exclusive tally. Thats 1,573 more than the previously known number, calculated by the United Nations. And even the APs number is likely low  bodies may be lost in the desert, and families may not report missing loved ones who were migrating illegally.

These Latin American migrants are among about 56,800 worldwide who died or disappeared over the same period, the AP found.

While migrants everywhere face risks, the Mexico route holds the added danger of drug trafficking and gang violence. More than 37,000 people have gone missing throughout Mexico because of this violence, with the highest number in the border state of Tamaulipas, through which many migrants cross. The sheer numbers of the disappeared, along with crushing bureaucracy and the fear of gangs, makes it difficult for families to track what happened to their loved ones  as Posadas found out.

Read more:

Mexicos new leader faces clash with Trump over migrants

Mexico accepts housing migrants, seeks U.S. development aid

Tijuana mayor declares humanitarian crisis over migrants

___

Ciudad Planeta in San Pedro SULA looks like an ordinary working-class neighbourhood, with one-story concrete houses with metal roofs. Only the bars that hem in nearly every porch let on that it is one of the most dangerous neighbourhoods in one of the worlds most dangerous countries.

This is the neighbourhood Nunez left for the first time in the 1990s to go to the United States at 16, when his mother lost her factory job.

He did not say anything to me. One day he simply left, said Posadas, a diminutive 73-year-old grandmother known in the neighbourhood as Mama Haydee.

Nunez was not the oldest of the 10 children in the family, but he was the one who looked out for the others. He sent money home, some of which Posadas used to build metal bars around the porch. And he called his mother almost every day.

Nunez was deported twice but returned to the U.S. each time. In 2007, he fell in love with a Mexican woman, Maria Esther Lozano, now 38, and they had a child, Dachell. When Lozano was about to give birth to another child, in July 2010, Nunez was deported a third time.

Posadas was happy to have him back home. He would make lunch with her, stewing meat, kneading tortilla flour and frying up ripe bananas.

He cooked better than a woman, Posadas said, her face lighting up at the memory.

But the neighbourhood had grown more dangerous, with organized crime moving in and frequent bloody raids. All of Posadas children left except for one who stayed, and one who died of illness.

Once Posadas daughter was handcuffed to the bars of the house, while men who said they were police went inside and shot her grandson because they suspected his involvement with gangs. Other nights there were shootouts in the streets. Sometimes Posadas awoke to the thunder of footsteps from someone fleeing across the metal sheet roofs of houses.

Posadas has a mantra for survival in Planeta: If you saw it, you didnt see it. If you heard it, you didnt hear it. And everyone keeps quiet.

The third time Nunez was deported, in 2010, things were so bad he barely went outside the home.

He seemed very pensive, Posadas said. Im afraid, he told me.

He was also anxious to get back to California and meet his new daughter. After just a few days in San Pedro SULA and an apparent threat from gang members, he left earlier than planned.

I have to get out of here now, he told Lozano, without further explanation.

Nunez, his nephew, Joao Adolfo, and two neighbours hopped on a midnight bus that takes dozens of migrants daily to the Guatemalan border.

In the past, Nunez had crossed the U.S. border in California. But this time he hurt his ankle while fleeing from the Zetas gang in Veracruz state, Lozano said. So he struck out for the border with Texas, a shorter but more dangerous route.

He called Lozano every day, sometimes from the phone of the smuggler taking them across the border. He liked the guide but worried that the group was too big, with dozens of migrants in two trucks.

About a week after he left Honduras, he spoke to his mother for the last time, telling her to pray that everything would turn out well. A day later, he spoke to Lozano, for nearly an hour. Rula  Nunezs nickname  seemed relaxed, making jokes, she said.

They were in Piedras Negras, across from Eagle Pass in Texas. Lozano was supposed to wait for a call to pay the smuggler half the money, about $3,000 (U.S.). Then she needed another call from Nunezs sister to confirm his safe arrival before paying the remaining $3,000.

The calls never came. Lozano never heard from Nunez. She talked to the smuggler a couple of times, who told her they were still waiting to cross. Then the phone went unanswered.

___

At first Posadas and Lozano werent too worried. They were used to losing contact with Nunez, then 35, for a few days during his trips, for example when his cellphone failed.

But about two weeks after he left, when Posadas turned on the television news, fear suddenly seized her. Authorities had found 72 corpses of migrants on a ranch in San Fernando, Tamaulipas, across the border from Texas, the report said.

I started to weep like a crazy person. There were no names, but I was shaken, said Posadas.

It turned out that gang members in vehicles marked with the letter Z  the calling card of the feared Zetas drug cartel  had stopped two tractor-trailers with dozens of migrants in northern Mexico. They were taken to the ranch and asked to join the cartel. Only one agreed.

The rest were blindfolded, tied up on the floor and shot dead. An Ecuadorian managed to escape and alerted the navy.

A list of victims released days after the massacre included the names of Posadas grandson and the two neighbours who had been travelling with them. But there was no trace of Nunez, and authorities told Posadas that if he was not among the dead, he could be alive.

Posadas asked local prosecutors, the Honduran foreign ministry and Mexican authorities about her son, but no one had information for her. Her ex-husband, Nunezs father, offered a DNA sample to be compared with the cadavers that had not yet been identified. Photos of those cadavers did not include Nunez.

Hoping against hope, Posadas and Lozano worked to find Nunez. They tried jails, detention centres and hospitals. Nothing. Lozano gave the Honduran consulate names, photos and descriptions of Nunezs tattoos, including one of Dachell and another of the number 8. She went there every day.

Still nothing.

Then they heard that the Ecuadorian survivor said another man  a Honduran  also had escaped the massacre and helped him get away from the ranch. Honduran and Mexican authorities refused to give Lozano any more information because the man was under protection. They would not even confirm whether it was Nunez.

There was no luck with the Ecuadorian embassy, either, when Lozano asked to convey a photo of Nunez to the Ecuadorian survivor.

I didnt want to see him, or even talk to him, just for him to look at the photo and tell me if it was the same person who helped him, Lozano sobbed.

In Honduras, Posadas also ran up against hurdles. She went to the capital, Tegucigalpa, to consult with Honduran and Mexican officials, but nobody could even say what had happened with her ex-husbands DNA sample. She called and called for a year, until finally they stopped answering.

The only thing left was to go to Mexico. But how could a sick old woman do that? Lozano was in no better position to do so, with five children depending on her and no legal residence in the U.S.

Lozano hired a lawyer to help relatives search prisons in Tamaulipas. Thats when they thought they had a breakthrough: The lawyer said he saw a man resembling Nunez in one of the prisons. Posadas asked herself, Has God heard my pleas?

But that lead also vanished. They heard nothing more from the lawyer, and Lozanos brothers had to abandon the search because of threats from the Zetas.

Posadas told herself that if her son were alive, he would have called her. Yet without information or a body, she still held on to hope.

After three years of searching, that began to diminish. She spent nights awake in her small living room, decorated with knick-knacks and photos, including one of Nunez as a teenager. Days were just as desperate.

I felt like I was falling into a terrible depression, Posadas said. I would walk down the street and people would see I was smiling, but it was on the outside ... nobody knew how I was on the inside.

___

Posadas had no way to know, but she could have had her answer days after the mass killing.

The official report on the massacre stated that body No. 63 was a male with tattoos, including Dachell and the number 8. Documents note the finding of a Honduran drivers license in the name of Wilmer Gerardo Nunez Posadas, with a photo of a man with a moustache and beard. Yet nobody made that information public, and body No. 63 was eventually buried in a common grave.

In September 2013, the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team and other groups reached an agreement with Mexican prosecutors to identify more than 200 bodies from three massacres, including the one at San Fernando. All the bodies in the common grave were exhumed for new autopsies. In March 2015, Mexicos Attorney Generals Office sent a letter to the Honduran Supreme Court asking for help locating the relatives of two men, including Nunez.

When the Argentine team found out about Nunezs ID, they tried to track down the family, but did not want to set foot in Planeta.

I made it clear that I could not enter that area, said Allang Rodriguez, a psychologist with the Committee of Relatives of Disappeared Migrants of El Progreso, a group working with the Argentines.

The Catholic church helped in the search, and talked to nuns who worked with migrants. One woman, Geraldina Garay, knew a taxi driver who lived in Planeta. He offered to leave a scrap of paper with a phone number that Posadas could call in one of the neighbourhoods oldest stores, behind her home.

A neighbour saw the message and brought it to Posadas late last year. Confused, she called the number. The voice on the other end wanted to meet to talk about her disappeared son.

Today I finally have hope, she thought.

When they met, the forensic experts told her about the drivers license and the tattoos. They arranged for DNA tests for her and for Wilmer Turcios Sarmiento, 18, who was thought to be Nunezs son from a teenage relationship before he left for the U.S.

In May, Posadas learned the DNA tests had come back positive  one of 183 matches for dead migrants found with help of the Argentine team since 2010.

My heart hurt so much ... most of all because of the death he suffered, not even knowing who killed him, with his eyes blindfolded, hands tied ... Posadas said, her voice trailing off, tears in her eyes.

The DNA tests also proved Nunez was Turcios father. It was like finding and losing a father at the same time, he told his grandmother.

One question continued to rattle around in Posadas mind, and it was what pained her the most: Why? Why, having the proof, did they hide it so long?

The report she was given spoke of errors and inconsistencies in the handling of the case, and called for an investigation into the delay. To date, nobody has been convicted for the killings, and nine people are still unidentified. Mexican officials did not comment.

___

On Oct. 31, Wilmer Gerardo Nunez came home to Honduras.

The coffin arrived at the airport in San Pedro SULA, packaged in cardboard with a thin black ribbon and Nunezs name, and was transported to the morgue. When it was opened, the odour of death filled the room, softened by chemical products.

Posadas, holding a small red towel to wipe away tears and sweat, approached with her husband, her sister and a psychologist. A forensic worker unwrapped the cadaver. By now the head was just a skull, but on the arms some of the skin remained, along with tattoos. Posadas didnt need to see any more.

About 20 people came to the brief wake at the house in Planeta, where the coffin took up most of the living room in the baking sun. After eight years, the final goodbye lasted about two hours. Posadas feared that if it went any longer, the gangsters who control the neighbourhood would show up.

Then a bus from the Planeta Baptist Church took the family to a small cemetery with a motley collection of unkempt tombs.

I am finally sure. It is him. It is him. I give thanks to God, Posadas sobbed before collapsing next to the coffin.

Several mourners took cellphone video for relatives in the United States to see, but Nunezs children in Los Angeles still dont know he is dead. His younger daughter, Sulek Haydee, now 8, talks more and more to her grandmother online, and often asks: Where is my daddy? Why doesnt he come to see us?

He cant, mamita, Posadas answers with a knot in her throat. Hes working.

Nunezs son in Honduras dreams of going to the U.S. himself to seek a better life. Anything is better than this, Turcios said.

Eight years and three months after the last hug from her son, Posadas says she feels peace for the first time, although she still wants justice.

In her prayers now, she asks for her grandson not to migrate.

Read more about:WASHINGTON A bipartisan group of senior senators on Tuesday said that a classified briefing by the CIA director had only solidified their belief that Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, ordered the killing of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi.

Prince Mohammed is a wrecking ball, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told reporters after an hourlong briefing by Gina Haspel, the CIA director. I think hes complicit in the murder of Mr. Khashoggi to the highest level possible.

Richard Shelby, R-Ala., the Appropriations Committee chairman, echoed that all evidence points to that, that all this leads back to the crown prince.

This is conduct that none of us in America would approve of in any way, Shelby said.

The clear and biting assessment put Republican senators at odds with the White House, which has steadfastly refused to cast blame on Saudi Arabias leadership for the death of Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and Washington Post columnist. His killing sparked international outrage over the kingdoms heavy-handed tactics and renewed attention to the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

Senators, however, were divided as to what steps to take next, following a stinging vote last week to consider a measure cutting off U.S. military aid to Saudi Arabias campaign.

Read more:

Lindsey Graham, Rand Paul break with Trump on Khashoggis killing

U.S. senators send rebuke to Saudis, Trump over Khashoggi killing

CIA concludes Saudi crown prince ordered Khashoggis assassination

Somebody should be punished, but the question is: How do you separate the Saudi crown prince from the nation itself? Shelby said.

Graham said he would not vote for the Yemen resolution. Instead, he said, he would rally support for a different, broader effort against the kingdom  to cut off arms sales and military aid for the war in Yemen, and impose new sanctions on those responsible for the killing, including the crown prince.

There is not a smoking gun, theres a smoking saw, Graham said. You have to be willfully blind not to see it. He was referring to a bone saw that Turkish officials have said was used to dismember Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

U.S. officials have said that the CIA has concluded that Prince Mohammed ordered the Oct. 2 killing. The intelligence agency is also believed to have evidence that the crown prince communicated repeatedly with an aide who commanded the team that assassinated Khashoggi, around the time of the journalists death.

Read more about:WASHINGTONSenators Lindsey Graham and Rand Paul, two of President Donald Trumps closest allies on foreign policy, said in pointed, angry terms Tuesday that Saudi Arabias crown prince was behind the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi a sharp break with the Trump administrations view.

There is not a smoking gun, theres a smoking saw, Graham, R-S.C., told reporters after emerging from a Capitol Hill briefing with Central Intelligence Agency Director Gina Haspel.

Graham was convinced the administration was wilfully ignoring the evidence linking Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman with Khashoggis death to avoid having to sever ties with the kingdom. And Paul, R-Ky., suggested that a deep state was at work.

The very definition of a deep state is when the intelligence communities withhold information from Congress, Paul said. A deep state involves what some believe is an entrenched bureaucracy that runs the government regardless of who is president. Trump has frequently blamed trouble getting things done on such a state.

Grahams rage about the crown princes involvement was shared by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn.

Let me just put it this way: If he was in front of a jury he would have a unanimous verdict in 30 minutes. A guilty verdict, Corker said.

Read more:

CIA director briefs senators on journalist Khashoggis death

Intercepts solidify CIA assessment that Saudi prince ordered Khashoggi killing

U.S. senators send rebuke to Saudis, Trump over Khashoggi killing

Graham had similar thoughts.

You have to be wilfully blind not to come to the conclusion that this was orchestrated and organized by people under the command of MBS, the senator said, referring to the crown prince by his initials.

I would really question someones judgement if they couldnt figure this out, Graham continued. It is there to be figured out.

He cited last weeks briefing from Defense Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that suggested the crown price was not involved.

I think the reason (Mattis and Pompeo) dont draw the conclusion that hes complicit is because the administration doesnt want to go down that road, not because theres not evidence to suggest hes complicit, Graham said.

Paul was not allowed in the Tuesday briefing, which was limited to relevant committee chairmen and select other participants.

He argued that Pompeo and Mattis needed to be asked specifically if they disagreed with the CIAs conclusion there was no smoking gun to link the crown prince to the murder, as the two administration officials insisted in a separate briefing for senators last week.

He said if he was allowed into the secure room for the briefing, hed ask Haspel several other questions, including whether there were text messages sent from the killers to the crown princes office.

Graham and Paul, who frequently find themselves at odds, are also aligned this time in wanting the Senate to adopt a resolution tying the Saudi prince with Khashoggis killing. They are also supporting legislation to end U.S. support for the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen, which the Trump administration opposes.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Congress is looking for an appropriate response to Khashoggis murder, but said the U.S. needs to maintain its relationship with Saudi Arabia.

No response is certainly not appropriate, McConnell, R-Ky., said at a Wall Street Journal event. Looking the other way is not appropriate but a complete fracture with Saudi Arabia in my view is not in our best interest long term.

Read more about:The North Atlantic Treaty Organization signalled Russia must comply soon with a landmark arms-control agreement or face the deals demise, papering over internal differences about a U.S. threat to withdraw from the pact.

NATO foreign ministers said Russia is jeopardizing the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty by deploying ground-launched missiles that fall within the banned range of 500 kilometres to 5,500 kilometres. The 29-nation alliance, which the U.S. dominates, said the Kremlin needs to show compliance urgently.

U.S. President Donald Trump pledged in October to abandon the 31-year-old INF accord as a result of alleged Russian violations. The announcement sparked concerns in Europe and still needs to be notified to trigger a six-month expiry period.

We call on Russia to return urgently to full and verifiable compliance, the NATO foreign ministers said in a statement released on Tuesday in Brussels. It is now up to Russia to preserve the INF Treaty.

The planned U.S. withdrawal has created the kind of trans-Atlantic rift that followed Trumps abandonment of landmark international agreements to curb Irans nuclear program and to fight climate change.

In the case of the INF accord, however, Europe sought to find a last-minute degree of common ground by arguing that any unilateral U.S. withdrawal without giving Russia a final chance to show goodwill would let the Kremlin point the finger at Trump.

That stance was echoed by three American Democratic senators who said on Monday that quitting the agreement unilaterally would be a political and geostrategic gift to Russia.

U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton has called the INF accord outdated, saying it doesnt address the rising Chinese military threat.

While Pompeo was on his way to Brussels for the NATO meeting, a senior State Department official said the U.S. wanted to stay in sync with allies over how to address Russias non-compliance.

Read more about:BEIRUTThe parents of American journalist Austin Tice, who went missing in Syria in 2012, said Tuesday they are hopeful the Trump administration will work on releasing their son, in the same way it did with Americans held in North Korea.

Marc and Debra Tice told reporters in Beirut that they have met U.S. officials including U.S. President Donald Trump and they have each made a commitment to us that theyre determined to bring Austin home safely.

Marc Tice said he was aware of 17 Americans that the administration had brought back from captivity or detention.

Austin Tice, of Houston, Texas, disappeared at a checkpoint in a contested area west of Damascus on Aug. 14, 2012, shortly after his 31st birthday. A video released a month later showed him blindfolded and held by armed men, saying Oh, Jesus. He has not been heard from since.

His parents said they recently applied for visas to go to the Syrian capital, Damascus, to appeal for his release, but the visas have not been granted yet.

Were incredibly encouraged, and weve spent many hours, many days meeting all the senior officials in the United States government from the president down over the course of a number of months, Marc Tice said.

Debra Tice said they were recently contacted by a number of credible individuals who have shared information about Austin, but she declined to elaborate.

Their comments came two weeks after U.S. envoy to Syria James Jeffrey said Tice is believed to be alive and held hostage in Syria. He didnt say why officials believe this or who might be holding him.

In April, federal authorities for the first time offered a reward of up to $1 million for information leading to Tice, a former Marine who has reported for The Washington Post, McClatchy Newspapers, CBS and other outlets.

Its not clear what entity is holding him, and no ransom demand has ever been made. An FBI poster released this year urges people to report any information that could lead to his location, recovery or return. The White House envoy for hostage affairs, Robert OBrien, said last month that the administration is working to bring him home.

What the president communicated to us was an absolute commitment to work very hard to bring Austin safely home, Marc Tice said.

Read more about:DHAKA, BANGLADESHA special tribunal has begun the trial of eight suspected Islamic militants in an attack on a restaurant in Bangladeshs capital in which 22 people were killed, including 17 foreigners.

Twenty hostages, including 17 from Japan, Italy and India, were killed when five militants attacked the Holey Artisan Bakery on July 1, 2016. The militants were killed by commandoes inside the cafe during a 12-hour standoff. Two security officials died later in a hospital.

The trial began Monday with testimony by a police official, Ripon Kumar Das, who described events as he and other officials responded when five young men stormed the cafe and held the diners hostage.

Defence lawyers are to cross examine Das on Tuesday.

The suspects face various charges, including murder, and if convicted could receive capital punishment.

The cafe attack followed several years of smaller attacks targeting scores of individuals deemed by extremists to be enemies of radical Islam, including secularists, writers, religious minorities, foreigners and activists.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the cafe attack, but the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina rejected the claim and said the domestic group Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh was behind it and numerous other attacks. The government insists IS has no presence in the country.

A police investigation found 22 people were involved in the attack. Eight are on trial, including six who are behind bars and two others who are fugitives. Five suspects were killed during the attack, and the remainder died in a series of crackdowns across Bangladesh.

The tribunal appointed five lawyers to defend the six jailed suspects after no lawyers agreed to defend them.OTTAWA  Ukraine is asking Canada to apply more sanctions on Russia as fresh tensions between the eastern European neighbours threaten to erupt into open conflict.

The countrys ambassador made the appeal during an appearance before a Commons committee on Tuesday in which he also asked that Canada extend its military training mission in his country and support its bid to join the NATO military alliance.

Ambassador Andriy Shevchenko also confirmed that Ukraine is close to buying high-powered sniper rifles from a Canadian company, but said Kyiv is still hoping the federal government will agree to provide weapons as aid.

Shevchenkos committee appearance, alongside counterparts from Georgia and Moldova, came weeks after Russian forces opened fire on and seized three Ukrainian naval vessels and 24 sailors during a confrontation in the Black Sea.

The incident has been described as the worst round of direct violence between the two countries in years and followed Russias support for elections in two breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine, votes condemned by Canada and others.

The three ambassadors were unsparing in their criticisms of Russian actions in eastern Europe, which they described as intentionally destabilizing, and warned that what happens there will have ramifications on the rest of the continent.

Yet while all three thanked Canada for its support over the years, Shevchenko also asked that Canada tighten its sanctions on Russia in retaliation for the naval confrontation and elections in Donetsk and Luhansk.

New U.S. and European sanctions had been imposed even before the two Ukrainian gunboats and tugboat were seized near the Kerch Strait on Nov. 25, and Shevchenko hopes the incident and elections would prompt Canada to take follow suit.

We believe its a good time to go about step up the sanctions, he told The Canadian Press after the committee meeting. Our view is that Canada is exploring new ways to put pressure on Russia. We also feel there is co-ordination between Canada and its western allies, and we welcome it.

Russia has accused Ukraine of instigating the incident, in waters near the Crimean Peninsula, but Canada and other countries have sided with Ukraine in blaming Moscow.

The ambassador also confirmed talks are underway over renewing Canadas military training mission in Ukraine, which was established in 2015 and has seen Canadian troops train thousands of Ukrainian counterparts.

The mission, involving 200 troops, is set to expire in March, but Shevchenko said his government is pushing for an extension as well as an expansion that will include adding more personnel as part of an increased NATO presence in the country.

As for NATO, Shevchenko said his country is hoping Canada will lead the charge to admit Ukraine as a member after his countrys parliament agreed last month to draft constitutional changes that its president says will compel future governments to seek to join the European Union and NATO.

Canada was one of the champions of such a move in the past and Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freelands spokesman, Adam Austen, said in an email late Tuesday that Canada is committed to helping Ukraine realize its ambitions of becoming a member of NATO.

But many alliance members have taken a more cautious approach in recent years amid concerns such a move could spark a major war with Russia, which has lashed out at NATO encroachment and given that an attack on one member is to be treated as an attack on all.

Ukraines sniper-rifle purchase was made possible when the Liberals added the country to the Automatic Firearms Country Control List. And while other arms deals are in the works, Shevchenko said Kyiv is still holding out hope, even after years of fruitless requests, that Ottawa will provide heavier weaponry to help Ukrainian forces better defend themselves.

Many things have changed, Shevchenko said of Canadas rejection of past requests for lethal aid. A lot of things have happened to make Canada much (more) concerned and serious about the Russian interference into Ukraine.

Read more about:Nusa Cana Rum, an Indonesian white rum brand based in Bali has launched in the UK.

The brand was created by Marc Rodrigues, Joe Milner, Andy Gaunt and bartender Sam Jeveons

Rodrigues has worked for Beam Brands, Constellation Brands and Diageo in Australia and Asia while Jeveons is an expert in the Asian bar and cocktail industry.

Rodrigues said: Indonesias part in the story of cane spirits, and therefore rum, is both compelling and valid. Weve forgotten that sugar cane originates in SE Asia and was taken from here to the Caribbean and elsewhere.

Weve forgotten that early explorers visiting what is now Indonesia discovered the locals drinking a distilled sugar cane spirit as far back as the 15th Century, before the word rum was even coined.

To bring it back in a serious way, I assembled friends and industry experts from Australia, Asia and the UK to launch Nusa Cana, a tropical island rum with the vision to take the story of Indonesian rum and the Bali lifestyle we love to the rest of the world.

Nusa Cana is made using molasses from local sugar cane, which is distilled twice in steel Chinese pot stills before finally being aged in teak casks.

Nusa Cana is putting Indonesia firmly back on the rum map. Blended for modern tastes its a vibrant and fruity white rum full of character, added Jeveons.BRUSSELSSecretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Tuesday that the Trump administration would begin the formal process to scrap the landmark Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty within 60 days unless Russia returns to compliance with the treatys terms.

The burden falls on Russia to make the necessary changes, Pompeo said. Only they can save this treaty.

If Russia does not come back into compliance by the deadline, the administration will begin a formal, six-month process to end the treaty, Pompeo said. During those months, the United States will still not test or deploy missiles that would abrogate the treaty, he said.

The announcement came at the end of a day of meetings that Pompeo held at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

The Trump administration said in October that it planned to withdraw from the treaty, alarming many of its closest European allies. Some complained that the Americans should have done a far better job consulting with them before making such a decision.

While the Trump administration pointed to years of treaty violations by Russia, there is another reason it wants to scrap the deal: The pact constrains the United States from deploying new weapons to respond to Chinas growing militarization of the South China Sea.

Because China is not a signatory to the treaty, it faces no limits on developing intermediate-range nuclear missiles, which can travel thousands of miles.

Elbridge Colby, director of the defence program at the Center for a New American Security, said it was a challenge to balance Europes concerns about pulling out of the treaty with the need to respond to the growing threat from China.

Its a hard sell for the Europeans because they see scrapping the treaty as pushing them into a further arms race with Russia without improving their security, Colby said. On the other hand, China is by far the most significant military threat to the U.S. and our allies and we need to adjust to that.

At a news conference after the NATO meeting, the organizations secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, said that the pact, which is known as the INF Treaty, had been a pillar of Euro-Atlantic security for more than 30 years, and that it had made us all safer.

But Stoltenberg agreed that the Russians had violated the agreement.

This is part of Russias broader pattern of behaviour  intended to weaken the overall Euro-Atlantic security architecture, Stoltenberg said. There is no question that the United States fully complies with the treaty. There are no new U.S. missiles in Europe. But there are new Russian missiles in Europe.

Stoltenberg urged Russia to return to compliance.

We seek dialogue, not confrontation, with Russia, he said.

Read more about:ERIE, PA.A woman has pleaded guilty to killing her boyfriend by stabbing him, hitting him with a table leg and crushing him under the weight of her roughly 300 pounds.

Windi Thomas, of Erie, faces a sentence of 18 to 36 years after pleading guilty to third-degree murder. She had been scheduled for trial next week, but instead will be sentenced on Dec. 21.

The 44-year-old Thomas admitted killing Keeno Butler last March, partially by lying on top of him. Thomas weighs about 300 pounds, while the 44-year-old Butler weighed about 120 pounds.

The Erie Times-News reports Butlers sister said her family is still coping with her brothers death and had been hoping for a longer prison sentence for Thomas.In February of 2017, Iqra Khalid rose in the House of Commons to read a sampling of the death threats and hate mail she had received in previous weeks.

We will burn down your mosques, draper head Muslim. Kill her and be done with it. I agree she is here to kill us. She is sick and she needs to be deported, read a couple of the over 50,000 emails sent to the Ontario MPs office.

What had rankled people so? Khalids presumingly audacious efforts to get the government to study Islamophobia and other forms of racism and religious discrimination with the tabling of the motion known as M-103.

No one would have anticipated the ugly wave of hatred and anger that would rise up against Muslims and other minority communities just as the nation sought to grapple with the aftermath of the horrific massacre of six worshippers at a Quebec City mosque.

But new statistics show that hate crimes in 2017 year rose by nearly 50 per cent since the previous year. Crimes targeting Muslims increased by a staggering 151 per cent; those targeting Jews, by 63 per cent, and those targeting Black people, by 50 per cent, among other increases.

Its clearly time for some deep reflection  particularly amongst our elected officials. What should have been a straightforward effort to examine the ongoing harassment and discrimination against minority communities that year became a highly contentious wedge issue. The steep price of pandering to populist tendencies couldnt be more clear.

Coming as it did during the Conservative leadership campaign, many of us recall how the entire debate on M-103 was hijacked by those who wanted to scapegoat Muslims as attempting to shut down free speech and all criticism of Islam.

When the right-wing Rebel Media further used the issue as a lightning rod to foment anti-Muslim sentiment, there seemed to be no turning back. Rallies erupted around the country with people waving signs against a so-called Muslim takeover. Conservative MPs rose in the House of Commons to cast all sorts of aspersions on the very term Islamophobia.

While the negative political rhetoric clearly spoke to a certain base, the facts themselves spoke volumes. Through a series of parliamentary hearings, experts and community advocates laid out the reasoning for significant concerns. They talked about the growing far-right movement, the emergence of toxic online communities of anti-immigrant, white supremacist groups, as well as the existing gaps in confronting these phenomena. The Trump Effect was a chilling backdrop to this national conversation.

Over a year later, all we have is a harmless report chock full of recommendations and a promise from the federal government to craft an anti-racism strategy. Consultations on that strategy have taken place online and behind closed doors. Makes sense; no one wants to go through 2017 all over again.

In England, an All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims was coincidentally also launched in 2017 to examine how Islamophobia was impacting people there. The commission issued a report this past November that recommends a new definition of Islamophobia as a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness. Why couldnt our elected officials come together in a similar spirit here in Canada?

While many Canadians pride themselves for supporting multiculturalism, the very notion is under attack. There are far too many forces emerging online and in our halls of power that are seeking to undermine that cohesion. These forces often stoke populist fears through divisive debates about secularism or immigration.

Yet a recent American study during this falls U.S. midterm elections suggests that if we continue to call out racist politics, we may be able to convince enough people to reject it.

Peoples own biases are less likely to be activated when they are told that the message violates societal norms, writes Maneesh Arora, a PhD candidate at the University of California at Irvine, in a recent article for the Washington Post. This is particularly true when condemnation of the message comes from leaders of ones own party.

In these fraught times, we must remain unapologetically opposed to all forms of racism and hatred. And we must hold our elected officials to that same standard.OTTAWAA simple Google search would have revealed that a man who was convicted of attempted murder had been invited to hobnob with Justin Trudeau during the prime ministers ill-fated trip to India, according to a new report.

But there was no security vetting of the guest list, according to a review released Monday by the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP).

Furthermore, the RCMP did not tell Trudeaus protective detail that it had received a tip days earlier that Jaspal Atwal would attend the event.

The report says the RCMP now recognizes that it erred by not passing along the information about Atwals repeated brushes with the law.

That string of errors led to Atwal attending the event, even though one officer concluded that his presence significantly increased the risks to the prime minister and other attendees.

The committees findings, while heavily censored, paint the most detailed account yet of how Atwal  who was convicted of attempting to assassinate an Indian politician in the 1980s  found himself posing for pictures with Sophie Gregoire Trudeau at the Mumbai event on Feb. 20.

Read more:

Who is Jaspal Atwal? Man at centre of controversy over Trudeaus India trip remains a political mystery

Trudeaus top security adviser denies blaming Indian government for conspiracy in Atwal affair

Convicted Sikh extremist had been removed from Indias travel blacklist, Star told

The Canadian High Commission in India had drawn up guest lists in preparation for the high-profile event in Mumbai with Trudeau and his delegation, and for another in Delhi. Less than a week before the trip, the prime ministers office added 423 names to the list, including Atwals.

The report found there was no systematic security review of the guest list. The names were not shared with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service or the Mounties responsible for protecting Trudeau.

(A) name check even on Google would have identified and flagged this individual if the guest list would have been accessible to security, the RCMP officer in charge wrote in a report after the event.

Yet Mounties in B.C. had been tipped to Atwals possible attendance on Feb. 13, the report revealed, which prompted a search of criminal databases, revealing information that should have been passed to the prime ministers protective detail and senior officials but wasnt, the report said.

The RCMP says the information was shared with CSIS, which says it has no record of that happening.

When officials in RCMP headquarters in Ottawa were informed, they left a voicemail with B.C.s national security team to figure out Atwals whereabouts  but because the officer was on leave, that voicemail was missed.

The high-profile nature of the trip had already made security officials nervous. An RCMP threat assessment noted that the travel itinerary was well-known and said the prime minister, his family and the delegation may be perceived as an extremely attractive target.

It said the RCMP and Global Affairs took extra steps to mitigate the possible risks and enlisted the help of Indian security services.

Senior members of Canadas intelligence and law enforcement community suggested that they would not have barred Atwal from attending the event, but would have flagged his attendance to the Mounties on the ground responsible for protecting Trudeau and his family.

But the committee concluded that Atwals repeated brushes with the law should have raised security concerns.

When the issue hit the headlines, Daniel Jean, then Trudeaus national security adviser, took the largely unprecedented step of briefing journalists about what he saw as a misinformation campaign taking advantage of the Atwal gaffe.

Some news outlets reported that Jean  who was not named at the time  suggested rogue elements within the Indian government may have been responsible for such a campaign. While Jean later disputed that characterization, he told the committee that senior intelligence officials need to be able to brief the media about foreign interference.

Foreign interference, whether from private individuals acting on their own or with some support of foreign governments, is more and more manifest, Jean told the committee on March 1.

The committee questioned Jeans public rationale for his intervention  to address the crisis, to answer media questions, and to protect the reputation of agencies like CSIS and Global Affairs Canada.

Atwals attendance at the invitation of the prime ministers office became a black eye for the Canadians at a time when, behind the scenes, they were trying to reassure doubtful Indian officials that they took the issue of Sikh extremism seriously.

It was a concern that was raised with great regularity in meetings between Canadian and Indian officials, the committee report said. In early 2018, India requested a formal national security dialogue that saw Jean visit before just days before the prime minister touched down.

This request is a key part of joint Canadian-Indian efforts to address more effectively Indias growing concerns regarding the rise of extremism, according to a Privy Council Office briefing note.

The reports findings related to allegations of foreign interference were censored. But it recommended that MPs and senators get regular briefings on the risks of foreign interference and extremism in Canada. And it said that cabinet ministers need to be reminded to exercise discretion about who they met and associated with.

It urged the prime minister to review the role of the national security adviser in the area of countering threats.

The report also said the government should develop a consistent method to do background checks of guests invited to foreign events with the prime minister. It also recommended that agencies and departments involved in his troubled trip conduct a review to identify lessons learned, something it said has not yet been done.

Opposition parties were quick to note that key elements of the report had been censored and they pointed the finger at Trudeaus office.

It looks like the prime ministers office has gone out of their way to hide from Canadians what really happened on that disastrous trip, said Conservative MP Mark Strahl (ChilliwackHope).

Chantal Gagnon, a spokesperson for Trudeau, said the government would be carefully considering its recommendations. She also denied suggestions that Trudeaus office oversaw censorship of the report.

The prime minister did not request or direct any redactions. The PM accepted the redactions proposed by security officials, Gagnon said in an email.

It looks as if you appreciate our journalism. Our reporting changes lives, connects communities and effects change. But good journalism is expensive to produce, and advertiser revenue throughout the media industry is falling and unable to carry the cost. That means we need you, our readers. We need your help. If you appreciate deep local reporting, powerful investigations and reliable, responsible information, we hope you will support us through a subscription. Please click here to subscribe.

Read more about:OTTAWAThe New Democrats ethics critic is raising concerns that Raj Grewals decision to stay on as MP for Brampton East will make investigations into his gambling activity more difficult.

Nathan Cullen, an NDP MP from British Columbia, said special rights afforded to MPs under the centuries-old convention of parliamentary privilege mean that potential investigations into Grewals conductand for a court or a parliamentary committee to subpoena him as a witnesscould be slowed or obstructed.

Maintaining his seat maintains his privilege, which makes investigations and his obligation to appear as a witness much more difficult, Cullen told the Star on Monday.

That privilege is afforded (to) us as MPs to do our job, not to avoid prosecution.

Grewal has been at the centre of a cascade of revelations and media reports about his gambling activity since announcing his intention to resign Nov. 22. The 33-year-old former Bay St. lawyer then changed his mind about stepping down, and said in a video statement Friday night that he will decide whether to stay on as an MP by late January.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are working to answer questions about the former Liberal MP, after the Globe and Mail reported that Fintrac, the government agency responsible for tracking money laundering, flagged Grewals gambling transactions to the RCMP. The Canadian Press has also reported that word of Grewals gambling debts was picked up on an Ontario Provincial Police wiretap during a money laundering investigation.

Read more:

Brampton MP Raj Grewal rethinking decision to resign, says he repaid gambling debts

Raj Grewal made the right call to resign, PMO says

Opinion | Susan Delacourt: The Clement and Grewal scandals surely show that Canada needs better screening of its MPs

Neither police agency would confirm to the Star whether it is investigating Grewals activity.

In his video statement, Grewal said he has a mental health issue with gambling that drove him into a personal debt worth millions of dollars and forced him to borrow money solely from friends and family. He said everyone has been paid back in full.

This has nothing to do at all with anything sinister except to feed my own addiction, he said.

Grewal has not responded to interview requests and questions from the Star over the past 11 days. A lawyer responding to an email on his behalf Monday said the situation is now a private personal family matter.

Mark Holland, the Liberals chief government whip, said Monday he expected Grewal would resign. When he saw Grewals video, Holland said Grewal was removed from the Liberal caucus on Saturday.

I certainly hope that he gets the help that he needs. The allegations that are there are very serious in nature and obviously that process needs to play itself out, Holland said.

Steven Chaplin, former senior counsel for the House of Commons, said any police investigation into a sitting MP has to respect the principles of parliamentary privilege. That concept is meant to ensure the Crownor agents of the state, like the policecant interfere with or prevent Parliament from conducting its business, he said.

According to the House of Commons procedural rules, the rights and immunity this grants individual members are meant to protect their freedom of speech, and freedom from arrest for a civil case. It also grants MPs an exemption from jury duty, prevents them from being subpoenaed to attend court as a witness, and is meant to protect them from obstruction, interference, intimidation and molestation.

For this reason, Chaplin said police are not allowed to enter the Parliamentary precinct to conduct searches and other work without the permission of the House Speaker. It also can limit the types of documents police can review from an MPs office or computer in the course of such an investigation, he said.

But this doesnt mean MPs have blanket protections  only for words spoken or acts done in the context of a parliamentary sitting, the House rules say.

In practice, the Speaker and other agents of parliament tend to work with the police to ensure they have access to documents needed in the event of an investigation, Chaplin said. For example, Chaplin said the Speakers office helped police obtain what they needed from Parliament when former Liberal cabinet minister and London mayor Joe Fontana was accused of using his resources as an MP to pay for his sons wedding. He was convicted of fraud-related offences in 2015 and sentenced to four months house arrest.

You cant hide behind privilege to protect yourself from criminal prosecution, Chaplin said.News flash: Ontarios Progressive Conservatives won a thumping majority government on June 7.

So why are the Tories still such sore winners?

Someone should remind Doug Ford that he vanquished the New Democrats. And vapourized the Liberals.

Six months later, this might be a good time to ask: Why not be gracious in victory, rather than trying to settle scores real or imagined?

Why do his loyal Tories leap to their feet, applauding wildly almost every time Ford speaks in the legislature? Why does the premier hurl insults at opposition MPPs unlike any of his predecessors?

The churlishness started on election night, when Ford broke with tradition by big-footing Kathleen Wynne  talking over her on TV before she could finish her concession speech. A minor point of protocol, perhaps, but it set the tone.

Read more:

Ford fears disgruntled Tory MPPs might defect to Liberals, source says

Opinion | Martin Regg Cohn: Follow the money as Doug Ford disrupts our democracy

Opinion | Martin Regg Cohn: The rise and fall of Kathleen Wynnes Liberals

In one of his first acts as premier, he went after Wynne by accusing her of financial improprieties. Ford created a special committee to examine how the Liberals ran the provinces finances  pursuing his predecessors with unprecedented venom.

On Monday, Wynne set foot in the lions den  or more precisely, the kangaroo court. For nearly three hours, she faced questions from a gaggle of Progressive Conservative MPPs about her fair hydro plan, which borrowed billions of dollars to deliver the rate reductions that the Tories had been clamouring for in opposition (and which they are quietly retaining now in government).

The committee hearings are not exactly a Stalinist show trial, but they are akin to a reality show  and very much for show. Flexing his majority muscle, Ford packed the committee with his own loyal MPPs and a couple of New Democrats, but not a single Liberal  on the flimsy pretext that they fell short of official party status in the new legislature.

Channelling their inner Perry Masons, the Tory troupe  four of them ambitious lawyers aspiring to act lawyerly  asked Wynne what she knew and when she knew it. But their aggressive antics  personified by York-Centre MPP Roman Baber, who had to be cautioned by the committee chair several times  were more farcical than ferocious, allowing the former premier to parry their questions with a practised calm.

Wynne countered with the one question her questioners couldnt answer: Why have they blocked an NDP request to summon Cindy Veinot, the non-partisan public servant who signed off on the plan as the provincial controller responsible for the governments accounting?

Good question. But a show trial isnt a good show if a witness doesnt follow their script.

And a Tory isnt a Tory if he or she doesnt follow the party line. Thats what Amanda Simard discovered as the Tories sole francophone MPP, when she objected to Fords downgrade of francophone rights in last months fall economic statement and became persona non grata (politico non grata) in the PC caucus.

Now shes sitting as an Independent on the opposition side of the legislature. Had she joined forces immediately with the seven Liberal MPPs perched beside her, they would have met the existing threshold of eight seats to gain official party status.

Instead, Ford moved the goalposts further back Monday, raising the minimum from eight to 12 seats  just in time to prevent the Liberals from gaining a toehold with Simard. For the record, both Simard and the Liberals say they havent discussed such a move for the moment.

But its instructive to see how quickly the Tories panic when they lose a single seat, how far they will go to keep the Liberals down  and how long it takes them to realize they still hold a commanding 74-seat majority (including the speakers riding).

Partisan ferocity pays off during elections, but political sagacity yields more enduring results post-campaign. All these months later, the Progressive Conservatives would be wise to shift from campaigning to governing.

It looks as if you appreciate our journalism. Our reporting changes lives, connects communities and effects change. But good journalism is expensive to produce, and advertiser revenue throughout the media industry is falling and unable to carry the cost. That means we need you, our readers. We need your help. If you appreciate deep local reporting, powerful investigations and reliable, responsible information, we hope you will support us through a subscription. Please click here to subscribe.

Read more about:VANCOUVERAs British Columbia hits the home stretch in its referendum on changing its electoral system, the Vancouver region continues to see lower-than-average turnout  even as the province as a whole surged Monday to nearly four-in-10 voters.

With Fridays 4:30 p.m. deadline looming, the number of ballots returned to Elections BC hit 39 per cent Monday morning, with an average of 1.9 per cent arriving each day.

For the Lower Mainland, Tuesday is likely one of the last days to ensure referendum ballots arrive in the mail on time. But many people have expressed concern about ongoing rotating postal strikes, and some voters are being urged to avoid the risk and drop off ballots by hand at referendum service offices.

Compared with the rest of the province, the Vancouver region has so far returned significantly fewer ballots. The provinces worst turnout has been in Surrey, where an average of just 23 per cent of registered voters have had their ballots processed by Elections BC. Next is B.C.s northwest region with 27 per cent turnout, followed by Burnaby and Richmond, which both saw just 28 per cent on average.

The city of Vancouver is little better, with less than a third of voters so far participating as the referendum heads into the final five days.

B.C.s highest turnout was 47 per cent in North Saanich and the Islands, which took the lead Monday from previous front-runner Parksville-Qualicum. As a whole, Vancouver Island leads the provinces regions with an average 39 per cent turnout, followed by the Kootenays and Kamloops region slightly behind.

Read more:

Explainer: Experts abroad weigh B.C. voting systems in referendum

Some first-past-the-post fans bristle at push to boycott fishy B.C. referendum question

Indigenous representation rising steady since electoral reform in New Zealand 20 years ago, says Maori statistician

However, according to electoral data analyst, forecaster and Langara College economist Bryan Breguet  author of the website Too Close to Call  Metro Vancouvers ridings may be at a serious disadvantage compared with B.C.s Interior regions.

Thats because most voters received their ballots in the mail days later than B.C.s Interior and rural areas. By Breguets analysis  which attempted to cancel out the effects of such things as political leaning, age and other demographics  the Lower Mainland has seen lower turnout by as much as 0.3 per cent of voters every day.

My measure might actually capture more the effect of the postal strike, Breguet wrote on Twitter. Still, Id have thought that by now it would be insignificant in my regressions.

The impact (of when a riding got its ballot) has clearly decreased and we have observed a convergence. But its still there: 0.3 per cent per additional day. So the ridings in the Interior that got their ballots seven to 10 days sooner might have a turnout higher by two points just because of that.

While that might seem minuscule, opinion polls have so far projected the referendum to be a neck-and-neck race between first-past-the-post and proportional representation. The Interior tends to favour first-past-the-post, while the Lower Mainland has more proportional representation supporters, according to polls.

A Nov. 20 survey by Research Co. pollster Mario Canseco found a dead heat between the Yes and No sides across B.C., but many still undecided.

In the online survey of 800 voters, 40 per cent of those surveyed say theyd probably or definitely vote to keep the current system  the same number probably or definitely voting for proportional representation. But nearly one in every six were undecided at that time, according to the poll, which had a margin of error of 3.5 per cent.

The issue of how many voters participate has dogged the debate over the referendum. The opposition Liberals and the No campaign have said if too few voters take part, the result shouldnt dictate whether B.C. keeps its current first-past-the-post voting system.

First-past-the-post, also known as single-member plurality voting, is the system used by the rest of Canada, the U.K., U.S. and many former British colonies. Meanwhile, proportional representation aims to more closely match the number of seats to parties share of the popular vote. Various such systems are used in New Zealand, Scotland, Germany and most member countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

B.C. Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson, who urges voters to keep the current system and boycott the second question, has said he would not consider a turnout of less that four-in-10 voters a mandate for change.

Speaking to reporters after a Nov. 8 debate with NDP Premier John Horgan, he attacked making the results binding on the government with no minimum threshold for participation.

You need to have a good, solid mandate, especially in a mail-in ballot, Wilkinson said. It should be well into the 40 per cent range before it would be considered legitimate.

Wilkinsons stated threshold seemed poised to be surpassed after Elections BC said that 39 per cent of ballots had been returned by Monday.

There was no minimum threshold needed for this referendum, nor for the Liberals two previous electoral in-person referenda, or their mail-in votes on sales taxes and public transit  which had a turnout of 53 and 49 per cent respectively, but had much longer campaign periods.

This is B.C.s third referendum on proportional representation. In 2005, 58 per cent voted for changing the system, while in 2009, 61 per cent voted for first-past-the-post. This years is the first to require only a simple majority to pass.

This time around, the ballot asks two questions: first, whether the province should keep its first-past-the-post system or change to proportional representation; and second, to rank three proportional systems in order of preference. Voters can answer both questions or just one.

Ballots must arrive at Elections BC, or be dropped off in person at referendum offices, before 4:30 p.m. Friday. Offices can be found on Elections BCs website.

Read more about:HIGHLAND  The New Switzerland Model Railroad Club based in Highland, Illinois is hosting a celebration for the anniversary of their annual train show.

Each year, the group puts on a Christmas train show which is open to the public. This year will the group celebrates the 30th-anniversary show.GLEN CARBON  Putting a price on carbon will be part of the next monthly meeting hosted by the Citizens Climate Lobby (CCL). The group will meet Saturday, Dec. 8 at 11:15 a.m. at the community room of the Glen Carbon Centennial Library, located at 198 S. Main St. A national presenter will join the group at noon.

According to its website, CCL is a non-profit, non-partisan, grassroots advocacy organization focused on national policies to address climate change. There are currently 484 active CCL chapters worldwide.Morgan County

Jacksonville Police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Randal S. Davenport, 33, of 1240 McGlasson Road was booked into the Morgan County jail at 6:16 p.m. Sunday on a disorderly conduct charge. He was accused of creating a disturbance inside McDonalds by yelling at workers and customers and threatening to bomb the restaurant if he could not talk to the owners in person.

 Bradney W. Willner, 60, of 1009 Fayette St. was booked into the Morgan County jail at 6:56 p.m. Sunday on a disorderly conduct charge.

 A 14-year-old girl was arrested at 10:39 p.m. Sunday on a battery charge after police say she hit another person in the face.

 Thomas J. Dewitt, 43, of 315 Congress St. in Chapin was booked into the Morgan County jail at 6:05 p.m. Monday on a charge of criminal trespass.

 Britney E. Bullard, 42, of 316 Congress St. in Chapin was booked into the Morgan County jail at 6:25 p.m. Monday on a charge of criminal trespass.



Greene County

Sheriff

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Brittany M. Barnes, 30, of Quincy was booked into the Greene County Jail at 9:36 p.m. Friday on charges of driving while license is suspended and possession of a controlled substance.

 Jason L. Littleton, 37, of Carrollton was booked into the Greene County Jail at 7 p.m. Nov. 27 on charges of possession of hypodermic needles and possession of contraband in a penal institution.

Carrollton Police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Cory R. Dover, 22, of Carrollton was booked into the Greene County Jail at 1:55 a.m. Saturday on a disorderly conduct charge.

Greenfield Police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Rico E. Jackson, 23, of St. Louis was booked into the Greene County Jail at 8:12 p.m. Thursday on a charge of driving while license is suspended.

Roodhouse Police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Kimberly S. Pennington, 47, of Roodhouse was booked into the Greene County Jail at 11:50 p.m. Friday on a Greene County arrest warrant accusing her of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

 Larry P. Counts Jr., 34, of Roodhouse was booked into the Greene County Jail at 2:55 p.m. Friday on a charge of driving while license is suspended.

 Rebecca L. Newingham, 33, of Roodhouse was booked into the Greene County Jail at 8:10 a.m. Thursday on a domestic battery charge.

 Joyce A. Bettis, 45, of Carrollton was booked into the Greene County Jail at 4:04 p.m. Wednesday on a charge of driving while license is suspended.

 Ramon G. Colon-Melindez, 36, of Beardstown was booked into the Greene County Jail at 12:02 a.m. Nov. 27 on a burglary charge.

White Hall Police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Shania J. Hardwick, 22, of White Hall was booked into the Greene County Jail at 2:23 p.m. Sunday on a Greene County arrest warrant accusing her of aggravated battery.

 Kim N. Henderson, 41, of Carrollton was booked into the Greene County Jail at 8:39 p.m. Thursday on a possession of methamphetamine charge.



Pike County

Sheriff

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Justin T. Stoye, 21, of Griggsville was arrested at 12:36 p.m. Sunday on charges of aggravated assault and resisting arrest.

 Richard A. Littlefield, 29, of Pittsfield was arrested at 1:57 a.m. Sunday on charges of operating an uninsured motor vehicle and resisting, obstructing or disarming an officer.

 Taylor A. Martin, 21, of Pleasant Hill was arrested at 3:14 a.m. Saturday on charges of driving under the influence and illegal transportation of alcohol by a driver and on three Pike County warrants accusing him of failing to appear in court.

 Raymond A. Burwinkel, 39, of Quincy was arrested at 10:09 a.m. Nov. 27 on a petition to revoke or modify bail.

 William B. Stolte, 39, of Pittsfield was arrested at 7:30 a.m. Nov. 27 on charges of possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia and on three unspecified warrants.

 Anthony W. Waters, 39, of Pittsfield was arrested at 8:08 a.m. Nov. 26 on a disorderly conduct charge and on a petition to revoke or modify bail.



Scott County

Sheriff

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Chad W. Combs, 39, of Winchester was booked into the Greene County Jail at 1 a.m. Saturday on a charge of possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver.

Compiled by Samantha McDaniel-Ogletree, Nick Draper, David C.L. BauerEDWARDSVILLE  A Florissant, Missouri man pleaded guilty Monday to attempted first-degree murder and faces up to 24 years in prison in connection with a shooting in May in an Alton bar.

Kerry C. Coley, 48, admitted to shooting a 24-year-old Alton man at the Riverside Saloon May 13, as part of a plea deal.

Coley was arrested June 1 at his home. He had been in custody in the St. Louis County Jail, awaiting extradition to the Madison County Jail.

The Alton Police Department was called to Riverside Saloon, 2910 Broadway, just after 2 a.m. May 13. The victim was found on the floor with gunshot wounds.

During the course of the investigation, detectives were able to locate surveillance camera images of the suspect. The surveillance camera images were released to media outlets with the request that anyone recognizing the suspect contact the department. Authorities received assistance from the public in identifying Coley as the suspect.

The plea was made in exchange for a prosecution agreement to drop charges of aggravated battery with a firearm and unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon. In addition, the prosecution changed the wording of the charge to exclude the use of a firearm, which would have required an additional 15 years in prison.

Coley has a record dating to 1993 when he was convicted of selling or distributing a controlled substance and possession of an illegal firearm. That conviction was in federal court for the Eastern District of Missouri. He was sentenced to 24 months in prison.

He also has a conviction for reckless conduct, which was reduced from an original charge of aggravated discharge of a firearm.The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Center for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Research, Education and Outreach is helping to bridge the gap between the SIUE research community and students across the Metro East through its new Community Impact Fellowship program.

The program supports SIUE faculty as they leverage their existing and active research programs to engage area learners through STEM-based high impact community engagement products and practices.

The STEM Center has the mission of building a community of researchers and educators who together innovate ways to engage students and the public in STEM, said Carol Colaninno, PhD, research assistant professor in the SIUE STEM Center. We see this program as a way to help faculty work with pre-service and in-service teachers, and students, both K-12 and college, to actively share their scientific research with more audiences.

Three SIUE faculty members were selected as FY19 fellows, including:

Nima Lotfi, PhD, assistant professor in the School of Engineerings Department of Mechanical Engineering. Lotfi will develop content and structure for a teacher workshop to help K-12 educators gain an understanding of mechatronics and robotics engineering (MRE).

Caroline Pryor, EdD, professor in the School of Education, Health and Human Behaviors Department of Teaching and Learning. Pryor will work with SIUE pre-service teachers and their mentors to develop STEM-social studies integrated lesson plans.

Kyong Sup Yoon, PhD, assistant professor in the College of Arts and Sciences Department of Environmental Sciences. Yoon will develop a high school curriculum module on environmental toxicology, neurobiochemistry, and evolution of insecticide resistance which will include a short lecture series and laboratory exercise.

The missing piece of the puzzle in MRE education seems to be a lack of communication and collaboration among MRE educators at universities, K-12 institutions, and community colleges, explained Lotfi, who is the principle investigator of a $49,957 award from the National Science Foundation aimed at shaping the future of MRE education nationwide. As we work to develop a knowledge base and best practices for MRE education, we need to conduct outreach to maximize inclusivity and diversity of workshop participants.

Through this fellowship, Lotfi will initiate efforts to establish a line of communication between SIUE faculty and STEM educators in the Edwardsville area. Then, he anticipates broadening that communication statewide and nationally.

Educators in K-12 institutions, especially high schools, play a vital role in preparing students for a formal education in MRE, Lotfi explained. This work can potentially reshape and reinvigorate STEM education in that environment. Future mechatronics and robotics engineers, with technical breadth and depth, will be uniquely prepared for the future of work at the human technology frontier.

According to Pryor, her research and collaborative work with the SIUE STEM Center will investigate the efficacy of co-developed STEM-Social Studies integrated curriculum, and identify the processes and resources needed for successful implementation.

The pre-service teachers in SIUEs Department of Teaching and Learning participate in observations and teaching at schools across the region, Pryor noted. In so doing, they interact with students and faculty at these schools, sharing and trying out cutting-edge research and innovative ideas. Collaboration among SIUE students, school faculty and professors is an ideal way to assess this research. As an educational learning community, we will develop and test lessons that use this innovative approach, and share them with regional teachers.

Pryor emphasizes this work supports the mission of public education, which is to prepare students to participate in a democratic society.

The complexity of issues currently facing our citizenry suggests a rethinking of educational curriculum design, as we seek to better prepare students to respond to those issues, she explained. It is my goal that a synergy of collaboration will impact entire school communities as our teacher candidates and their mentors learn new ways to draw upon STEM-based resources as an interdisciplinary problem-solving teaching approach.

The STEM Centers Community Impact Fellowship is an important opportunity, which Yoon was eager to partake. His work is in conjunction with a high school educator at Edwardsville High School and will identify practical issues in science classrooms.

I hope this project can promote and encourage high school students to participate in STEM-based problem-solving processes, Yoon said. Through the interactions among partners, including myself, SIUE STEM Center staff and high school teachers, we may be able to turn this into an action research project for which all community partners work together to develop proper strategies to tackle the identified issues.

Yoon anticipates the project expanding into a multi-layered, extramurally supported STEM outreach program.

We are incredibly lucky to have a highly organized STEM Center facility and dedicated faculty and staff who possess expertise in STEM education and research, he said. We are perfectly positioned to provide hands-on STEM learning experiences to local high school students.

We see this fellowship program as a win for the SIUE STEM Center, SIUE faculty and the broader community, concluded Matt Johnson, instructional design and curriculum specialist with the SIUE STEM Center. We hope that through this process, we can help these faculty bring their research to broader audiences and support them in future funding opportunities.

STEM Community Impact Fellows will receive a $1,500 stipend upon project completion. They will share the results of their activities and final products and/or practices at a Community Impact Showcase in fall 2019.New data shows the number of uninsured children in Illinois rose about 8 percent last year, and advocates said theyre worried federal policies could thwart future progress.

Researchers with the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families found that for the first time in a decade, the number of children without health coverage in the U.S. has gone up, with 5 percent of kids now uninsured.

In Illinois, its almost 3 percent.

Kathy Waligora, interim executive director of EverThrive Illinois, contends that with an improving economy and low unemployment, the backslide is the result of messages at the national level.

The rhetoric coming from the Trump administration has left people confused about whether or not they can get insured, Waligora said. It has left people confused about whether or not they can afford insurance for themselves or their families. And it has scared immigrants that are fearful that enrolling in benefits could have a negative impact on their ability to remain in the country.

Enrollment in a number of public assistance programs already is dropping, because the Trump administration has proposed changes to the public charge rules that make the use of certain programs count against legal immigrants when they apply for citizenship. The administration says migrants must be able to support themselves financially.

Joan Alker, report co-author and Georgetown Center executive director, is also convinced that constant attacks on the Affordable Care Act and the move to cut Medicaid contributed to public unease about signing up.

The fact that our nation is going backwards on kids health coverage is very troubling, Alker said. And the fact that all 50 states failed to make progress, even those with the best of intentions, means they really couldnt withstand these strong, national currents to protect their kids from losing coverage.

Waligora added that when childrens health needs are met, their parents miss fewer days of work, kids are better able to learn in school and are better equipped to make positive contributions as adults. She implored state leaders to not wait for action at the federal level.

We know that the climate at the federal level is not going to change right now, she said. If Illinois does nothing, the uninsured rate for kids will likely continue to climb. So, its imperative that the state take action in the coming months, in the coming year, to protect kids health.

Illinois fell in the report from seventh to tenth nationally for the lowest number of uninsured children, which now stands at 89,000 in the state.World Vision Ugandais a Christian Relief, Development and Advocacy Non-Government Organizationdedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcomepoverty and injustice. We currently work in over 41 districts in Uganda. WorldVision is committed to the protection of children and we will not employ peoplewhose background is not suitable for working with children. All employment isconditioned upon the successful completion of all applicable background checks,including criminal record checks where possible. Our Vision for every child,Life in all its fullness. Our prayer for every Heart, the will to make it so.Lengthy discussions between Union Minister Manoj Sinha and the All Union & Association of BSNL (AUAB) on Monday at the capital resulted in not only the deferring of the strike called by the union but also in a decision on the cost of 4G spectrum allotment to the nationalised telecom service provider.

"Four of our demands were settled. The most important being an in-principle approval of allotment of 4G spectrum to BSNL by the minister," said P. Abhimanyu, general secretary of BSNL Employees Union and the convenor of AUAB.

"It was decided that for allotment of this 4G spectrum, 50 per cent of the cost would be borne by BSNL and the rest would be capital infusion from the government. The minister had assured us yesterday that he would take up the matter with the inter-ministerial group, which had earlier raised objections about allotment of 4G spectrum to BSNL," said Abhimanyu.

Citing that BSNL was a loss-making organisation, finance ministry had earlier made reservations to the fresh capital infusion in BSNL for 4G services. However, after Monday's discussion, a consensus was reached and Sinha committed to taking up the issue for a Cabinet approval later this month.

More than two lakh employees of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) decided to defer their call for a nationwide strike. The strike was called by the AUAB which comprises nine unions of BSNL workers and officers. The AUAB is a joint platform of these unions, which was formed two years back to help with the cause of financial revival of BSNL.

Earlier this year the unions had approached the Union telecom ministry citing that non-allotment of the 4G spectrum to the BSNL would make them redundant and jeopardise their existence.

Among other issues, which were resolved during the discussion, were that of delinking revision of pensioners with the wage revision of current employees and reduction in the amount of pension contribution paid by BSNL to the government. The unions claimed that the government was fleecing BSNL and taking exorbitant money from them.

While four issues were resolved, the issue of pension contribution and wage revision of employees directly recruited by BSNL and not by the department of telecom was held back for discussion later.

Sources in the telecom ministry said that directly recruited employees of BSNL would get better contribution on their pension from the company.

The telecom ministry had earlier disagreed to revise wages of directly recruited employees citing that BSNL was running in loss. "This is a big victory for us. Especially that our demand for 4G services was accepted. One issue is yet not settled but we want to give the government more time. On the basis of this, it has been decided to defer the strike until further intimidation," Abhimanyu said.Touched by the compassion of the nurses who tended to her...Mastanamma, the 107-year-old granny who gained overnight popularity for her recipes shared on YouTube, is no more, according to reports. She shot to fame last year as the star of a widely viewed YouTube cooking channelCountry Foodsin which she whipped up local delicacies and shared cooking tips. While THE WEEK was unable to independently confirm the news, the official Country Foods page posted a video of her 'final journey'.

All thanks to her grandson, Laxman, a graphic designer who started off by sharing a video of her preparing a delectable brinjal curry for him and his friends. It went viral. This was in August 2016, Laxman had told THE WEEK. Laxman's friend Srinath Reddy added: "It was a block buster and just that single dish had 75 lakh viewers. Her watermelon chicken curry, kebabs and biriyani recipes were also widely appreciated.

Also Read: Meet Mastanamma, India's latest YouTube sensation

Speaking to THE WEEK last year, Mastanamma, who lived in the village of Gudiwada, in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, spoke about her difficult younger days, and how she celebrated her 106th birthday with money sent by her admirers.Authorities beefed up security in Gautam Buddh Nagar district of western Uttar Pradesh on Monday night after a mob rampaged through a Bulandshahr neighbourhood earlier in the day against alleged cow slaughter during which two people, including a police official, died. Police also took out a march in Greater Noida on Monday night. A large number of police personnel participated in the march, officials said.

Gautam Buddh Nagar District Magistrate Brajesh Narain Singh said he had spoken to officers to ensure security in the district, specially in areas such as Jewar and Dankaur, which have boundaries with Bulandshahr. "Caution is being taken," Singh told PTI.

Senior Superintendent of Police Ajay Pal Sharma said the police department intensified checking of vehicles coming from Bulandshahr. "We are also keeping a tab on social media to check spread of rumours," said Sharma.

The police department urged residents to cooperate to maintain peace in the area.

A police inspector, who had probed the Akhlaq lynching case initially, and a youth died of gunshot injuries earlier Monday in violence over alleged illegal cow slaughter in Bulandshahr. Additional Director General (Meerut zone) Prashant Kumar said the protesters pelted stones on police officials and indulged in arson, setting ablaze several vehicles and a police chowki.The Gujarat Police on Tuesday arrested four more persons in connection with alleged leak of the question paper of police constable recruitment examination even as the involvement of a New Delhi-based gang has emerged. With this, the total number of arrests has reached eight.

At least 20 others are being interrogated.

The examination was to be held on December 2, but was cancelled at the last moment as the question paper and the answer sheets were found leaked. About 8.75 lakh candidates were to appear in the examination for 9,000 posts

According to Gandhinagar SP Mayur Chavda, those who were arrested on Tuesday are: Ajaysinh Parmar and Uttam Bhati from Banaskantha, Pratik Patel from Arvalli and Narendra Chaudhary from Mehsana.

While the alleged mastermind Yashpal Solanki is still at large, police are trying to find out details of the New-Delhi based gang and its involvement in the case. Solanki worked in the Vadodara Municipal Corporation on a temporary basis.

Police had arrested four persons, including two BJP leaders and a police officer, in connection with the case on Monday. Though the BJP suspended the two leaders, the Vijay Rupani-led government received flak from various quarters, including the opposition Congress.

During the interrogation it has emerged that about 25 to 30 students left for New Delhi on November 29 by road, taking the North Gujarat Highway. They reached Gurugram and from there the New Delhi-based gang took them to the capital city in four different vehicles. Besides question papers, the candidates were also given the answer sheets and were asked to copy the answers.

It is alleged that question papers were sold for Rs 5 lakh each.

Some students returned to Gujarat by air while others by road. According to sources, Solanki, too, had gone to New Delhi and since his examination centre was Surat, he returned to Vadodara by flight.

Opposition leader in the state assembly, Paresh Dhanani, alleged that only common people were arrested and those who are actually behind the crime are still on the run.

Meanwhile, Rupani announced an assistance of Rs 4 lakh from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund to the relatives of Jatinsinh Pradipsinh Vihol who was killed after being hit by a state transport bus. Vihol met with the fatal accident while returning home after coming to appear in the examination.As part of its efforts to prevent insurgent groups in the northeast from regrouping, Indian Army special forces gunned down three militants in an encounter in Mon district of Nagaland early on Tuesday.

The encounter between Army personnel and militants began around 6.30am and was still continuing; at least two soldiers were injured in the encounter and shifted to Dimapur.

Acting on information that insurgent groups were regrouping in the northeast, Indian Army special forces had been deployed near the Indo-Myanmar border in parts of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland.

Early on Tuesday, the Indian Army received information that militants affiliated to the UNLFW Southeast Asia conglomeration were holed up in Mon district.

On entering the jungle region, the Indian Army special forces were greeted with a hail of bullets. The special forces were supported by other Indian Army units, Assam Rifles and Nagaland Police.

Army sources confirmed that three militants were killed. One of the dead militants belonged to ULFA(I) faction of Paresh Baruah. The other two were from NSCN(K) and NDFB(S).

"A massive hunt operation is going on across Nagaland to rule out any presence of militants," said an officer of the Indian Army in Kohima.

This is the first strike by Indian Army special forces in the northeast to flush out terrorists after a series of attacks in Assam by ULFA(I) over the last one month.

THE WEEK had recently brought out a cover story where it was reported that the Indian Army would carry out operations in the northeast to flush out militants. Even another surgical strike was not ruled out.

AGP candidate killed in Assam

In a separate incident at Bongaigaon in Assam, an Asom Gana Parishad candidate for the upcoming panchayat election in Assam was gunned down on Tuesday morning. Though Bongaigaon had been known to be a militancy-affected area, there was no confirmation from security forces on whether the incident was an act of terror or of political violence.Amidst the debate over the 'caste' of Lord Hanuman, started by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, a Jain monk claimed that the monkey god was actually a Jain.

Speaking at an election campaign in Alwar of Rajasthan, the UP chief minister had said Lord Hanuman was a dalit. Later, Union Minister Satyapal Singh refuted Adityanath's claim and told ANI, During the time of Lord Ram and Lord Hanuman, in our country, no caste system was being followed in the society. No one was branded as a dalit or backward class."

Taking the debate further, in a video being circulated in the Hindi heartland by members of Jain community, Jain monk Acharya Nirbhay Sagar is seen claiming that Lord Hanuman belonged to their community. He offers multiple arguments to prove his point that the monkey god was not a dalit as claimed by Adityanath.

According to Acharya Nirbhay Sagar, there are enough scriptural evidences to prove that Lord Hanuman belonged to Jain community. He said the monkey god was one among the 24 Kamdevs mentioned in the Jain scriptures and added that it is unfortunate that people are playing politics over a god.

Claiming that there was no evidence to prove that Lord Hanuman was a dalit, he dared anyone to prove otherwise. He said it is an undisputed fact that Hanuman was a Kshatriya before he became a Jain.

Later, when some people questioned his claim, Acharya Nirbhay Sagar spoke to media. He said there are 24 Kamdevs listed in Jain scriptures and Lord Hanuman is one among them and it is there for everyone to see. The monk, while explaining the Jain Darshan (philosophy), said there are 169 great souls (Mahapurush) listed in the scriptures and Lord Hanuman is one of them. Lord Hanuman has been given the stature of Kamdev since he was Kshatriya, the monk said.

Meanwhile, Devashish Jharaira, a dalit Congress leader from Madhya Pradesh, demanded that the UP chief minister appoints dalits as priests in Hanuman temples.Even as various national leaders congratulate the Indian Navy on Navy Day, which falls on December 4, the real significance of the anniversary has often been undervalued.

On #NavyDay, let us salute the indomitable spirit and valor of Indian Navy, the guardians of our oceans.



We commemorate this day in memory of Op Trident, when, in '71, Cdr BB Yadav & his missile boat fleet attacked Karachi & Pak Navy in a daring move. pic.twitter.com/DL3zGNFYwa  Rajyavardhan Rathore (@Ra_THORe) December 4, 2018

Navy Day marks the success of Operation Trident, the daring attack by Indian Navy missile boats on the Pakistani port city of Karachi in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. The missile strikes by three Indian Navy missile boats of the Soviet-built Osa classthe Nipat, Nirghat and Veeron Karachi harbour saw the sinking of three vessels, including two Pakistani warships.

Operation Trident and Operation Python, another missile boat attack on Karachi on December 8, saw the Indian Navy raise the bar on ingenuity and courage by using small ships in offensive operations and made naval planners all over the world sit up and take notice.

The attacks were carried out by the Soviet-built SS-N-2 'Styx' anti-ship missile, which had been used by the Egyptian Navy to sink an Israeli warship, the Eilat, in 1967.

In his seminal book Transition to Triumph: Indian Navy 1965-1975, retired vice admiral G.M. Hiranandani recalls Pakistan was offered six Osa class missile boats by the Soviet Union in 1968, but declined them. The Pakistani assessment was that the Osa class missile boats were useful only for harbour defence and not worthwhile for offensive operations.

The Osa class missile boats, while being small in size, had limited range, radar detection capabilities and minimal defences against air attack. The Indian Navy attempted to overcome these limitations by 1) towing the three missile boats from what was then Bombay to off the coast of Gujarat and 2) launching the attack by night to minimise the risk of air attack. Operation Trident and Operation Python also saw the destruction of oil installations in Karachi by missiles launched from sea.

The missile attack on the Israeli warship in 1967 and the Karachi attacks led to a surge in development by navies of countermeasures to defeat systems like the SS-N-2 Styx using methods such as radar jamming.

In the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Israel and Syria engaged in a naval battle between missile boats in what would become known as the Battle of Latakia. The Israeli Navy managed to neutralise several Styx missiles using countermeasures, before launching its own, shorter-range, missiles to destroy the Syrian missile boats.When Anumula Revanth Reddy joined the Congress, exactly one year back, nobody imagined that his rise would be meteoric. More so since he had exited the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in disgracehe was caught on tape allegedly trying to bribe a nominated MLA to influence the MLC elections in Telangana. He spent more than a month in jail in the case, in which Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidus name also cropped up. The general impression was that with innumerable power centres and Reddy camps existing within the Congress, Revanth would find going tough in his new political residence.

Cut to 2018. The two-time MLA of Kodangal is the mass leader that the Congress desperately needs. The 49-year-old has been made the working president, bypassing many senior aspirants, and is now a star campaigner for the party. At any Congress event, Reddys speeches evoke great response from the cadre. His stinging criticism and sharp rhetoric are major hits. On more than one occasion, the Congress high command got a taste of his grassroots sway. At a public meeting held in Medchal on the city outskirts last month, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi were in attendance. Reddy got the loudest cheer when compared to other local or national leaders at the meet.

After every trial in the dock, Reddy emerged more powerful than before. Recently, there were raids by income tax officials on his Hyderabad residence, when he was busy campaigning in his constituency. The raids continued for 48 hours even after he returned. This generated sympathy among his supporters and he used this opportunity to accuse the ruling party of targeting him. The stature of Revanth Reddy grew in the following days to such an extent that he is now one of the few leaders flying in choppers, hopping from one meeting to another, responding to requests from other candidates of the Mahakutami.

A recent incident further elevated the star image of Reddy. According to sources, the Congress leader was trying his best to make sure that public, in large numbers, did not attend a rally by caretaker chief minister and TRS founder K. Chandrashekar Rao in the former's constituency. Grand feasts were arranged in different villages, while Reddy announced a bandh, which prompted the TRS to lodge a complaint with the election commission.

In the wee hours of Tuesday, Reddy was taken into preventive custody. The visuals of Reddy forcibly taken away from his bedroom, and the police breaking open the doors, had its impact. The Congress leaders projected it as a direct attack on the opposition parties by the ruling TRS. Almost every senior leader of Congress campaigning in Telangana condemned the incident. The state unit of the party threatened to drag the chief election officer to court. The family members and Congress party workers questioned why no arrest warrant or legal documents were furnished before Reddy was bundled into the police vehicle.

As the public meeting of caretaker chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao got underway, Reddy was freed. Chief electoral officer Rajat Sharma instructed the state DGP to release him. Political analysts feel this was a costly mistake for KCR and his party. Because of the police action, the limelight is firmly on the Congress leader. Even within the party, Reddy has consolidated his position, all thanks to the early morning drama. It is almost assured now that if Congress and its allies come to power in Telangana, Reddy will be the person to watch out for. In less than ten years, Reddy went from an MLC to MLA, Congress working president, to one of the main contenders of the chief ministers post.Reports suggest that the French government is preparing to suspend fuel tax increases following violent protests against the measures.

News agency Reuters quoted sources who said that Prime Minister Edouard Philippe was due to announce the suspension later on Tuesday.

The Guardian said that Philippe would be meeting cabinet ministers on Tuesday morning to agree to a response to the rioting by yellow vests.

President Emmanuel Macron held an emergency meeting at the Elysee Palace to deal with the crisis. If the suspension is announced, it would be Macron's first significant U-turn on a major policy since taking power in 2017.

The "yellow vests" protests, which started on November 17, were focused on denouncing a squeeze on household spending brought about by Macron's taxes on diesel, which he says are necessary to combat climate change and protect the environment.

However, they have since evolved into a bigger, general anti-Macron uprising, with many criticising the president for pursuing policies they claim favour the richest members of French society. The protesters have demanded Macron's resignation.

Protests in Paris on Saturday turned particularly violent, with the Arc de Triomphe defaced and avenues off the capital's Champs Elysees suffering damage.

The demonstrations have been given the "yellow vest" tag due to the fluorescent jackets kept in all vehicles in France, and the protests are estimated to have cost millions to the economy.

(With agency inputs)Kesoram to demerge tyre division, help to pare Rs 1000cr debt

(Eds: correcting date in dateline)

Kolkata, Dec 4 (PTI) B K Birla group company Kesoram

Industries on announced demerger of its tyre business in a

major second round of restructuring in the wake of

unsustainable debt of the company.

Kesoram, in a statement, said the company approved the

demerger of the tyre undertaking into a new entity, Birla

Tyres Limited.

"We are open for investors but will continue to be in

the business of tyres," Kesoram CFO Radhakrishnan told PTI.

Two years ago, the company had sold off the Laksar

tyre plant near Haridwar to JK Tyres for close to Rs 2,000

crore in a bid to control its debt of Rs 5,300 crore.

The company has been continuously paring debt which

currently stands at Rs 3,500 crore, but was grappling to

manage it.

The turnover of the demerged tyre division is Rs 1453

crores which is 39 per cent of the total company topline as on

last fiscal. Approximately Rs 1000 crore debt will get

transferred to the demerged tyre company.

Kesoram shareholders will get one share of Rs 10 each

of Birla Tyres Ltd for each share held in the company.

Offering rationale for the demerger, the Kesoram

management said, "Enabling a dedicated management for tyre

will help focus and accelerate growth of both the tyre and

cement businesses, unlocking significant value for

Kesoram shareholders and accessing varied sources of funds for

the rapid growth of both businesses."

The Proposed Demerger shall be subject to the approval

by National Company Law Tribunal.

Post demerger, Kesoram will retain cement business in

Andhra Pradesh with an installed capacity of 7.5 million tonne

and rayon. PTI BSM

NN

NN NNTripura plans to grow tea on land between fencing and B'desh

border

Agartala, Dec 4 (PTI) The Tripura Tea Development

Corporation (TTDC) on Tuesday said it is contemplating to use

the land between the fencing and the actual Indo-Bangladesh

border for tea plantation to boost the industry.

This is being planned as a part of the initiatives to

revive the state's tea sector and also to use land between the

fencing and the border, TTDC Chairman Santosh Saha said here.

Tripura grows nearly 90 lakh kg of tea annually.

The fencing is erected 100 yards inside the border

adhering to the Indira-Mujib pact of 1971 and an agreement

between the border guards of the two countries, official

sources said.

Some farmers have their agricultural land on the other

side of the fencing and, as per rule, they can work there

between 6 am to 5 pm, the sources said.

"The nod of the ministry of home affairs would be

required for the project and we shall initiate dialogue with

the ministry," Saha said.

As per norms of the bilateral agreements, tall plants

and horticultural produce is not allowed along international

border of the two countries.

Special permission would be required to start tea

cultivation along the border, which would be taken up with the

ministry of home affairs, the TTDC chief said.

He lamented that proper care was not given to develop

the oldest industry of Tripura, which has a history of over

100 years, starting from the Hiracherra Tea Estate in North

Tripura which started in 1916.

Saha also said that the incumbent state government has

started to focus on developing tea industry.

A logo was designed to identify tea produced in the

state and it is now waiting for approval from the Tea Board.

"We are trying to export tea in domestic and

international market. Recently a delegation of Indian chamber

of Commerce met Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and

appealed for reducing export duty on tea exported from

Tripura. The plea was accepted on principle," he said.

Most of the tea produced in Tripura is sent to auction

centres in Kolkata and Guwahati.

Saha said plans were afoot to sent it to Srimangal

auction centre in Bangladesh, which is only 5 km from

Kailashahar, a town in Unakoti district of the state.

He said Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb has asked him

to take up the issue with Union Commerce and Industry Minister

Suresh Prabhu.

TTDC is also planning to start an auction centre of

its own at Agartala to contain the outflow of tea produced in

the state.

Official sources said Tripura has 54 tea estates, 21

tea processing factories, and more than 4000 small tea

growers. Among the 16 tea producing states in India, It is the

the fifth largest. PTI JOY

NN NN\R New Delhi, Dec 4 (PTI) Hike in property tax, levying professional tax, redeveloping an old mart and pedestrianisation of streets in market areas lacking parking facilities were proposed by the BJP-led South Delhi Municipal Corporation in its budget on Tuesday.

South Delhi Municipal Commissioner Puneet Kumar Goel said this while presenting the SDMC's revised budget estimates for 2018-19 and budget estimates for the year 2019-20 at the Civic Centre here.

"We plan to increase the earnings of the corporation through various avenues, and one of them is hiking of property tax, which we have proposed in the budget. There is also a provision to levy a professional tax for the year 2019-20, from which an income of Rs 30 crore is expected for that year," Goel said.

The proposed revised budget estimates for the current financial year stands at Rs 5,244.14 crore, while the budget estimates for the next fiscal has been proposed to be Rs 5437.97 crore.

In the budget 2019-20, it has been proposed to levy property tax on residential properties according to various category of colonies.

The proposed rates for residential properties falling under categories A and B is proposed to be at 14 per cent, instead of 12 per cent; for categories C, D and E, it would be 12 per cent instead of 11 per cent; and eight per cent instead of seven in F, G and H category colonies.

It is also proposed to charge property tax at the rate of 15 per cent of annual property value for special commercial non-residential properties and other non-residential properties.

Later, interacting with reporters, Goel said about 6.44-lakh properties were surveyed through a door-to-door survey from September 2017-May 2018. The exercise resulted in the identification of 1.83-lakh properties, which were out of property tax net, he said, adding that the idea was to bring them into the tax net.

Among other proposals, the commissioner also proposed to provide one-time rebate on payment of property tax at a rate of 10 per cent instead of 15 per cent. The budget has also proposed a one per cent education cess.

Other proposals include redevelopment of the Meherchand Market, an upscale commercial zone in Lodhi Colony, and pedestrianisation of streets in market areas which lack parking facilities.

"The redevelopment plan of the Meherchand Market has been sent to the technical committee of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA)," Goel said.

The focus in the budget this year is on education and public health, besides completing projects proposed earlier, including 20 new automated multi-level parking at different places, the commissioner said.

The commissioner added that 26 sentinel hospitals had been identified for monitoring vector-born diseases like dengue and chikungunya. PTI KND

HMBAbu Dhabi, Dec 4 (PTI) India and the UAE on Tuesday sought to forge partnership in new areas as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj co-chaired the UAE-India Joint Commission Meeting with her counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Swaraj, who is here on a two-day visit, was warmly received by the Foreign Minister of the UAE on her arrival at the meeting venue.

"Reinforcing the strong bonds of friendship...The ministers looked forward to continuing the trend to strengthen & seek partnership in new areas," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

This is the 12th session of the India-UAE Joint Commission Meeting for Economic and Technical Cooperation.

With nearly USD 50 billion bilateral trade, the two countries are one of the largest trade partners for each other and have made robust investments bilaterally. The UAE is the sixth-largest source of Indian oil imports and hosts a 3.3 million-strong Indian community.

Along with the UAE Foreign Minister, Swaraj would also inaugurate a Gandhi-Zayed Digital Museum in Abu Dhabi to mark the celebrations of 150 years of Mahatma Gandhis birth and centenary celebrations of the birth of Sheikh Zayed, founder of the modern UAE.

She would also interact with the Indian community in Abu Dhabi. PTI NSAChandigarh, Dec 4 (PTI) Tata Sons is looking to expand its Taj Group of Hotels portfolio in Punjab in a big way, officials said Tuesday.

The company has identified 10-15 projects for expanding its business in the state, its chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran informed Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh at a meeting here on Tuesday.

The chief minister during the meeting asked Tata Sons to come out with a detailed project report (DPR) for its proposed project on rejuvenation of Chhoti Nadi and Badi Nadi River Bodies in Patiala. He handed over to the company chairman a formal letter of mandate for the same, an official release said.

The preliminary cost of the project is estimated at Rs. 550 crore, with a maintenance period of 10 years.

The company chairman agreed to explore the chief minister's suggestion to set up an auto plant in the state, and also evinced interest in expanding into food processing, retail and the IT sector.

Chandrasekaran said with the retail and service sectors not requiring much gestation period, these were an attractive proposition for expansion in the state, an official release said.

The possibility of starting Air Asia operations from Amritsar was also discussed, with Chandrasekaran promising to look at connecting Amritsar through domestic flights of the company's aviation wing.

Tata Sons Ltd. had earlier shown keen interest in the efforts of the Punjab government in dealing with the pollution and destruction of its water bodies, and had made a representation for the "Rejuvenation of the Chhoti Nadi and Badi Nadi River Bodies in Patiala" to the Patiala Urban Planning and Development Authority (PUDA).

The representation was taken to the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB) for further evaluation under the PIDB Unsolicited Proposal Bye Laws 2008 and, after preliminary examination, a decision was taken to issue the mandate to Tata Projects Limited for bringing a detailed project report at their expense for further scrutiny and international bidding as per the Swiss Challenge method.

The project envisages the rejuvenation of the Chotti Nadi, Badi Nadi and other water bodies of the Patiala city. It seeks to intercept all raw sewage or effluent entering the river, divert it to treatment plants, and release treated effluent to create a clean, pollution free, safe and perennial water body.

In this project, rubber dams are also proposed to be constructed at strategic locations to create a separate fresh water body which will ensure better flood management.

The riverfront is proposed to be developed with theme parks, walking avenues, sitting/functional spaces along the river, tree plantation landscape on both the banks of the water bodies, the release said. PTI CHS MR

MRChandigarh, Dec 4 (PTI) The Punjab Food Safety department has asked traders not to paste stickers on fruit and vegetable sellers, noting that these can pose health hazards to consumers.

The Food Safety Teams have been directed to check the sale of such fruits and vegetables as well as make traders aware of the provisions the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 as per which no food business operator shall store, sell or distribute any article of food which is unsafe, Punjab Food Safety Commissioner K S Pannu said.

Pannu explained that the use of stickers on food products to provide information on traceability, grades, price etc. is a common practice across the globe.

But, a lot of times these stickers are applied directly on food sources such as on fruits and vegetables. Apples, kiwis, mangoes, oranges, banana, pears and bell peppers are some common fruits and vegetables which have stickers applied directly on the surfaces, he said in a release.

However, it is observed that in Punjab traders use stickers to make their product look premium or sometimes to hide any defect on the product. Tested Ok, Good Quality or Name of Product are some common terms mentioned on the stickers which do not have any significance at all, he said.

A wide variety of adhesives are used on these stickers to paste them effectively. Safety of these is not known. Studies show that substances like surfactants used in adhesives are toxic, he said.

People generally remove stickers from fruits or vegetables and consume without thinking about residues of adhesives present on them. Heat from sunlight on the fresh fruits and vegetables sold in open market also increase the migration of harmful chemicals from adhesives into fruits. Risk of consuming this is high in case of fruits or vegetables with skin, he said. PTI CHS MR

MR(Eds: Disclaimer: The following press release comes to you under an arrangement with PR Newswire. PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.)

GURUGRAM, India, December 4, 2018/PRNewswire/ --

India's leading real estate company DLF Ltd., today announced that its rental business has been conferred the prestigious 'Sword of Honour' for various sites across India by the British Safety Council, for demonstrating excellence in the management of health and safety risks. With this, DLF now enjoys the distinction of being the only entity in the world to have won 11 Sword of Honour awards for its multiple sites in a single year.







(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/793415/DLF_Logo.jpg )



'Sword of Honour' is widely recognised as the pinnacle of achievement in health and safety management. It is instituted to reward companies that have implemented global best practices in this field. To compete for the Sword of Honour, an organization has to first achieve the highest rating of 'Five stars' (92% score or above) in the British Safety Council's health audit scheme. The organization must then demonstrate to an independent panel of experts that they excel in health and safety management across their businesses.



On receiving the multiple Sword of Honour, Mr. Sriram Khattar, Managing Director, Rental Business said: "We are extremely pleased to have been awarded 11 Sword of Honour awards by British Safety Council. It is a moment of great pride for DLF and the country as we are the first real estate company globally to win 11 Sword of Honour awards in a single year. Being recognized for setting global benchmarks reaffirms our commitment to ensure that our workplaces have the highest health and safety standards."



"'Sword of Honour' is a testament to our passion, drive and commitment to safety. We continue to strive for excellence by adhering to global safety standards at our workplaces. The Sword of Honour awards that have been conferred upon us cover 80% of our rental portfolio which reiterates our stature as the preferred workplace partners across markets in India," he further added.



Lawrence Waterman, Chairman of the British Safety Council, said: "On behalf of the board of trustees and staff of the British Safety Council, I would like to congratulate DLF on achieving the very highest standards of health, safety and environmental management. Excellence at this level is very hard won. We are proud to have supported you in your achievements, and I am delighted that you have chosen to celebrate with us today."



DLF has received the 'Sword of Honour' for the following 11 sites:



DLF Office Complexes, Gurugram (17 office buildings)

DLF CyberHub, Gurugram

DLF Cybercity, Hyderabad

DLF iPark and DLF IT SEZ, Kolkata

DLF IT Park and DLF City Centre, Chandigarh

DLF Centre, Delhi

DLF Mall of India, Noida

DLF Emporio Mall, Delhi

DLF Promenade Mall, Delhi

DLF Place Saket Mall, Delhi

Multi-Level Car Parking in DLF Capitol Point, Delhi & DLF South Square, Delhi

About - DLF Ltd:



DLF has over 70 years of track record of sustained growth, customer satisfaction and innovation. DLF has development potential of 227 million square feet. At present, the company has a total of close to 6 million square feet under construction and approximately 17 million square feet of planned projects.



DLF's primary business is development of residential, commercial and retail properties. The company has a unique business model with earnings arising from development and rentals. Its exposure across businesses, segments and geographies, mitigates any down-cycles in the market.



To learn more, please visit: www.dlf.in.



About - British Safety Council



In 2004, British Safety Council became a government-regulated awarding organisation and has since developed a full suite of health and safety qualifications in the national framework. With its involvement in the Olympics, British Safety Council was granted the official status of Supplier of health and safety training and consultancy services (ODA) to the London 2012 Games.



Our founder James Tye was an evangelical campaigner who helped transform the British way of life. His efforts led directly to the groundbreaking 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act, as well as to the introduction of car seat belts. British Safety Council job is to help professionals achieve high standards; to protect both their staff and the future of their business.



To learn more, please visit: https://www.britsafe.org/.



Source: DLF PWR

PWRAurangabad (Maha), Dec 4 (PTI) Prahlad Modi, brother of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tuesday asked the Maharashtra government and the Centre to have a re-look at the Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme involving the public distribution system, saying the programme amounted to a betrayal with ration shop owners.

At the same time, he also hit out at the Congress leaders trying to take political advantage from the issue, and said the Narendra Modi government's decisions on demonetisation and implementing the GST may have hurt a few but not those who did their business as per the law.

Prahlad Modi, who is the vice president of All India Fair Price Shop Dealers Federation (AIFPSDA), was addressing a rally after a protest march organised by the Aurangabad District Fair Price Shop Dealers Federation.

"The Maharashtra government was going to start the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme. The scheme had been assigned to the states by the Centre, but it is not up to the mark.

"(Maharashtra minister) Girish Bapat had assured in Kolhapur that it would not create problems, but they have started creating troubles for the fair price shop dealers," he alleged.

"I don't know what award Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will get and what kind of promotion Bapat will get for troubling the poor. They are compelling the poor to purchase wheat at Rs 21-23 per kg and rice at Rs 27 per kg (much higher than PDS prices). God knows whether the subsidy will be deposited in the accounts of the poor or not," he said.

The Centre and the state government stopped the supply of kerosene under the PDS and the poor cannot even light a candle in their houses, he said.

He said government should withdraw the schemes implemented in a "wrong" manner and make available kerosene and take effective decision in the DBT scheme so that both  the shopkeepers and the poor people  are spared harassment. PTI COR NP VT ABH BJ ABH

ABHMumbai, Dec 4 (PTI) Sanjay Dutt and Aayush Sharma are set to collaborate for for a gangster film.

Dutt was last seen in "Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3", while Aayush made his acting debut with "Loveyatri".

"The film is loosely inspired by the underworld and an era of its rise and fall. Since it's a high octane action film, we could think of no one better than the legendary Sanjay Dutt.

"Aayush Sharma seems promising and has great screen presence. We were both keen on working with each other," producer Prerna Arora told PTI.

Formalities with both the actors are underway. An official announcement will be made soon.

The film will be jointly produced by Prerna under the banner Five Studio Five Elements and choreographer-filmmaker Ahmed Khan.

It will go on floors in May 2019.

Dutt also has Karan Johar's home production film "Kalank" and Ashutosh Gowariker directed "Panipat" in his kitty. PTI KKP RDS

RDSColombo, Dec 4 (PTI) Sri Lanka's Supreme Court on Tuesday began hearing petitions against President Maithripala Sirisena's decision to dissolve Parliament and call for a snap election after sacking prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that triggered a major constitutional crisis in the country.

The country has been in a political crisis since October 26 when Sirisena removed Wickremesinghe and installed ex-strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa in his place.

Sirisena later dissolved Parliament, almost 20 months before its term was to end, and ordered snap election. The Supreme Court overturned Sirisena's decision to dissolve Parliament and halted the preparations for snap polls.

The apex court on Tuesday morning began the hearing on the fundamental rights petitions filed against Sirisenas gazette notification to dissolve parliament.

A seven member bench presided by the Chief Justice Nalin Perera began hearing oral submissions, court officials said.

The court on November 13 issued an interim order annulling the gazette notification which made Sirisenas parliamentary sacking temporary illegal.

The submissions would be heard till Thursday.

A court on Monday barred Rajapaksa from acting as Prime Minister. The Court of Appeal temporary halted Rajapaksa and his Cabinet from functioning in their positions in response to a case filed by 122 legislators against his disputed government.

Both Wickremesinghe and Rajapaksa claim to be the prime ministers. Wickremesinghe says his dismissal is invalid because he still holds a majority in the 225-member Parliament.

Prior to the crisis, Wickramasinghe's UNP had the backing of 106 parliamentarians while Rajapaksa and Sirisena combine had 95 seats.

Rajapaksa has, so far, failed to prove his majority in Parliament.

Wickremesinghe, with the support from the main Tamil party, claims to have the support of more than 113 legislators, required for simple majority.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has 16 seats in the house and JVP has six legislators.

The UNF has moved three no trust motions against Rajapaksa, who has refused to step down.

The Sri Lankan president has said that due to sharp personal differences with Wickremesinghe he would not reappoint him as the Prime Minister.

However, Wickremesinghe's UNP claims that Sirisena will be left with no choice as he would be the man who will command the confidence in the House.

Violent scenes were witnessd in Parliament as it went on to approve motions which proved that Rajapaksa lacked majority. PTI Corr

NSA

NSAWashington, Dec 4 (AP) The nation's capital embraced George H.W. Bush in death with solemn ceremony and high tributes to his service and decency, as the remains of the 41st president took their place in the Capitol rotunda for three days of mourning and praise by the political elite and everyday citizens alike.

With Bush's casket atop the Lincoln Catafalque, first used for Abraham Lincoln's 1865 funeral, dignitaries came forward Monday to honor the Texan whose efforts for his country extended three quarters of a century from World War II through his final years as an advocate for volunteerism and relief for people displaced by natural disaster.

President from 1989 to 1993, Bush died Friday at age 94.

In an invocation opening Monday evening's ceremony, the US House chaplain, the Rev. Patrick J Conroy, praised Bush's commitment to public service, from Navy pilot to congressman, U.N. ambassador, envoy to China and then CIA director before being elected vice president and then president.

"Here lies a great man," said Rep. Paul Ryan, the House speaker, and "a gentle soul. ... His legacy is grace perfected." Vice President Mike Pence and Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell also spoke.

President Donald Trump did not attend, but he and first lady Melania Trump came to the Capitol later Monday to pay tribute. They stood in front of the casket with their eyes closed for a few moments, before Trump saluted the casket.

Political combatants set aside their fights to honor a Republican who led in a less toxic era and at times found commonality with Democrats despite sharp policy disagreements.

Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi, past and incoming House speaker, exchanged a warm hug with George W. Bush and came away dabbing her face. Bush himself seemed to be holding back tears.

Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, placed wreaths in the short ceremony before the rotunda was opened to the public.

Sent off from Texas with a 21-gun salute, Bush's casket was carried to Joint Base Andrews outside the capital city aboard an aircraft that often serves as Air Force One and designated "Special Air Mission 41" in honor of Bush's place on the chronological list of presidents.

His eldest son, former President George W. Bush, and others from the family travelled on the flight from Houston.

Cannon fire roared again outside the Capitol as the sun sank and the younger President Bush stood with his hand over his heart, watching the casket's procession up the steps.

Bush was remembered just feet away from what he called "Democracy's front porch," the west-facing steps of the Capitol where he was sworn in as president.

He will lie in state in the Capitol for public visitation through Wednesday. An invitation-only funeral service, which the Trumps will attend, is set for Wednesday at Washington National Cathedral.

Although Bush's funeral services are suffused with the flourishes accorded presidents, by his choice they will not include a formal funeral procession through downtown Washington.

On Sunday, students, staff and visitors had flocked to Bush's presidential library on the campus of Texas A&M University, with thousands of mourners paying their respects at a weekend candlelight vigil at a nearby pond and others contributing to growing flower memorials at Bush statues at both the library and a park in downtown Houston.

"I think he was one of the kindest, most generous men," said Marge Frazier, who visited the downtown statue Sunday while showing friends from California around.

After services in Washington, Bush will be returned to Houston to lie in repose at St. Martin's Episcopal Church before burial Thursday at his family plot on the library grounds.

His final resting place will be alongside Barbara Bush, his wife of 73 years who died in April, and Robin Bush, the daughter they lost to leukemia in 1953 at age 3.

Trump has ordered the federal government closed Wednesday for a national day of mourning. Flags on public buildings are flying at half-staff for 30 days.

Bush's passing puts him back in the Washington spotlight after more than two decades living the relatively low-key life of a former president. His death also reduces membership in the ex-presidents' club to four: Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

One of Bush's major achievements was assembling the international military coalition that liberated the tiny, oil-rich nation of Kuwait from invading neighbor Iraq in 1991. The war lasted just 100 hours. He also presided over the end of the Cold War between the United States and the former Soviet Union.

A humble hero of World War II, Bush was just 20 when he survived being shot down during a bombing run over a Japanese island. He had joined the Navy when he turned 18.

Shortly before leaving the service, he married his 19-year-old sweetheart, Barbara Pierce, and forged the longest presidential marriage in U.S. history. (AP) AMS

AMSColombo, Dec 4 (PTI) An appeal was filed Tuesday in Sri Lanka's Supreme Court against a court order that barred Mahinda Rajapaksa from acting as Prime Minister.

The Court of Appeal in an interim order Monday temporary halted Rajapaksa and his Cabinet from functioning in their positions in response to a case filed by 122 legislators against his disputed government. The court set the hearing of the case for December 12 and 13.

MP Gamini Lokuge said the appeal was filed in the Supreme Court against the interim order issued by the Court of Appeal, Daily Mirror reported.

Rajapaksa had said on Monday that he would appeal against the Court of Appeal's interim order.

"We will not agree with the interim order issued by the Court of Appeal today suspending the Cabinet. We will appeal to the Supreme Court first thing tomorrow against it," Rajapaksa said in a statement.

He said that it was the Supreme Court which has the power to interpret the Constitution.

As many as 122 parliamentarians of Wickeremesinghe's United National Party (UNP), Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and Tamil National Alliance last month filed a petition in the Court of Appeal challenging Rajapaksa's authority as the prime minister.

The interim ruling was a major blow to both President Maithripala Sirisena and Rajapaksa after the former had appointed his ex-rival as the prime minister on October 26, plunging the country into a major constitutional crisis.

Sirisena later dissolved Parliament, almost 20 months before its term was to end, and ordered snap election. The Supreme Court overturned Sirisena's decision to dissolve Parliament and halted the preparations for snap polls.

The political crisis has crippled the government for more than a month.

Ousted prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Rajapaksa both claim to be the prime ministers. Wickremesinghe says his dismissal is invalid because he still holds a majority in the 225-member Parliament.

Prior to the crisis, Wickramasinghe's UNP had the backing of 106 parliamentarians while Rajapaksa and Sirisena combine had 95 seats.

Rajapaksa has, so far, failed to prove his majority in Parliament.

Wickremesinghe, with the support from the main Tamil party, claims to have the support of more than 113 legislators, required for simple majority.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has 16 seats in the house and JVP has six legislators.

The UNF has moved three no trust motions against Rajapaksa, who has refused to step down.

The Sri Lankan president has said that due to sharp personal differences with Wickremesinghe he would not reappoint him as the Prime Minister.

However, Wickremesinghe's UNP claims that Sirisena will be left with no choice as he would be the man who will command the confidence in the House. PTI ZH ZH

ZHIslamabad, Dec 4 (PTI) A senior Pakistani minister and top aide of Prime Minister Imran Khan Tuesday claimed that US President Donald Trump was "compelled" to do a "reality check", days after his offensive tweets against Islamabad for failing to help America in combating terrorism.

Taking to Twitter a day after Khan said the US president has written a letter to him, the Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari said Trump was compelled to seek help from Pakistan in bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table to end the brutal war in Afghanistan which has been going on for 17 years.

Last month Trump also said Pakistan does not do "a damn thing" for the US, saying Islamabad helped al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden hide near its garrison city of Abbottabad.

Mazari, known to be a hawk, in a series of tweets, said, "PM Imran Khan's response to Trump's offensive tweets against Pakistan compelled Trump to do a reality check and write to PM Khan asking for help in bringing peace to Afghanistan!"

"So much for those in Pakistan who were quivering after Imran Khan's tweets went out!" she added.

In response to Trump's anti-Pakistan comments, Khan had hit back, advising Washington to assess its efficiency in the war on terror instead of making Pakistan a scapegoat for its failure.

Meanwhile, Mazari also criticised US State Department's Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad for his approach towards Pakistan.

She advised tough-talking Khalilzad to bring a "less arrogant and hostile mindset" during his ongoing visit to Islamabad.

Khalilzad, the veteran US diplomat tasked with making efforts to end the bloody war in Afghanistan, is known as a blunt negotiator.

Although both the US and Pakistan now have a commonality of views on seeking a political solution to the Afghan problem, the trust deficit between the two is the real stumbling block. Relations between the two countries are tense despite recent efforts to reset the troubled ties, the Express Tribune reported.

At the heart of their stalemate is the US insistence on Pakistan to do more to bring the Afghan Taliban on to the negotiating table. Washington still believes that Islamabad holds a considerable sway over the insurgent group.

Pakistan, however, insists that bringing the Taliban on the negotiating table is a shared responsibility of all the players. PTI AKJ AKJJohannesburg, Dec 4 (AFP) President Cyril Ramaphosa named a respected female lawyer on Tuesday to head South Africa's prosecuting authority which had been accused of improperly protecting former president Jacob Zuma.

His appointment of Shamila Batohi further distances him from Zuma's scandal-tainted rule during which several top jobs, including head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), were filled with loyalists.

"I am confident that the advocate possesses all the attributes of a capable National Director of Public Prosecutions... she has shown herself to be a fit and proper person," Ramaphosa told reporters in Pretoria.

Batohi's predecessor Shaun Abrahams was dubbed "Shaun the sheep" for his slavish loyalty to Zuma and repeatedly manoeuvered to protect him from facing a slew of corruption charges linked to a 1990s arms deal.

It was in the dying days of his tenure that Abrahams decided to reinstate the graft charges which Zuma is now seeking to have dropped. Abrahams was forced out after a court ruled that his initial appointment to the job was invalid.

"As we address matters that South Africans are most concerned about -- such as state capture, corruption and widespread crime -- our country needs a National Prosecuting Authority that is above reproach," added Ramaphosa.

Batohi, the first female to occupy the role, is a former prosecutions chief in KwaZulu-Natal province and has served as senior adviser to the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) since 2009.

In 1995, she was part of a high-level team appointed by Nelson Mandela to investigate apartheid-era hit squads.

"This is not just a political appointment. Perhaps it's a sign that maybe we, as South Africa, appreciate the ICC and are rethinking our position on the ICC," political analyst Ralph Mathekga told AFP.

Last year, the ICC's judges ruled that South Africa flouted its duties by failing to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir during a 2015 visit, but they declined to refer the matter to the UN Security Council.

South Africa subsequently notified the court of its intention to leave, although the International Relations Minister Lindiwe Sisulu suggested earlier this year the government might reconsider. (AFP) IND

INDWashington, Dec 4 (AFP) The body of 41st US president George H W Bush was placed in the US Capitol to lie in state Monday as mourners gathered to remember a hero who kept America "flying high."

Bush, a decorated World War II fighter pilot and former CIA chief who served as vice president to Ronald Reagan before winning the White House, died Friday at age 94, at his home in Houston.

"Through the Cold war and the Soviet Union's collapse, he kept us on course. When the rule of law needed defending in the Persian Gulf, he kept us on course," Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said in the first of several eulogies.

McConnell lauded Bush -- who occupied the White House from 1989 to 1993 -- as a patriot who steered the country as straight as he had steered his airplane.

"He kept us flying high and challenged us to fly higher still. And he did it with modesty and kindness that would have been surprising in someone one tenth as tough and accomplished as he was," he added.

Only the second president to see his son follow him to the Oval Office, Bush will be honored with four days of services and tributes in Washington and in Texas, where he will be buried Thursday.

Members of the military served as pallbearers, carrying the flag-draped casket from a hearse into the rotunda. (AFP) IJT

IJTWashington, Dec 4 (AFP) President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania paid their respects Monday to late president George H W Bush, whose remains lay in state in the US Capitol.

The Trumps made a brief visit to the Capitol rotunda, where Bush's flag-draped coffin was resting as part of tributes to honour the 41st US president and commemorate his extraordinary life.

Bush died peacefully Friday at age 94, at his home in Houston, a passing that led Americans to reflect on his life of duty and service to country as a leader of the so-called "Greatest Generation."

Only the second president to see his son follow him to the Oval Office, the Republican stalwart is being honoured with four days of commemorations and services in Washington and in Texas, where he will be buried Thursday.

Trump is scheduled to attend a state funeral service Wednesday at Washington National Cathedral -- the first presidential funeral since Gerald Ford died in 2006.

But late Monday, after Bush relatives and dignitaries had gone, the president was driven from the White House up to Capitol Hill.

With the first lady at his side, Trump saluted, and they stood at Bush's casket for about a minute. They exited the rotunda with little fanfare.

Bush never warmed to Trump, and he had let it be known that he did not vote for him in 2016. Trump himself has criticized the elder Bush on the campaign trail.

But on Monday, Trump wrote members of Congress to hail Bush as a man who "led a life that exemplified what is truly great about America." "President Bush worked selflessly throughout his long life to bring about a world of justice and lasting peace," he wrote.

Bush was a decorated World War II fighter pilot, onetime ambassador to China, former head of the Central Intelligence Agency, and vice president to Ronald Reagan before winning the White House.

Military pallbearers carried the flag-draped casket into the rotunda as a fiery sunset bathed Washington in a glow.

The somber ceremony was attended by his son George W. Bush -- the nation's 43rd president -- and other relatives, dignitaries and more than 100 members of the House and Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell lauded Bush -- who occupied the White House from 1989 to 1993 -- as a patriot who steered the country as straight as he had piloted his World War II airplane.

"He kept us flying high and challenged us to fly higher still. And he did it with modesty and kindness that would have been surprising in someone one tenth as tough and accomplished as he was," he said.

Bush was transported aboard the presidential Boeing 747 -- made available at Trump's direction -- from Houston to Joint Base Andrews, in Maryland.

In Houston, relatives including his presidential son stood with hands on their hearts as the casket was carried to the aircraft.

Bush is the 12th US president to lie in state in the rotunda. Just three months earlier, the honor was accorded to senator John McCain, a former Republican presidential nominee who died of brain cancer.

Hundreds of members of the public began quietly filing in to the Capitol late Monday to pay their final respects.

Among them was Kim Frinzell, a government employee who did not vote for Bush but grew to respect his accomplishments, including signing the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act. AFP

NSA

NSAWashington, Dec 5 (AFP) President Donald Trump went in person Tuesday to pay his respects to the grieving Bush family in his latest show of peacemaking with the political clan he once fought bitterly.

Trump, whose ascendancy to the head of the Republican Party saw him exchange vitriolic attacks with the establishment Bushes, has taken pains to demonstrate unity since the death of former president George H W Bush, aged 94, on Friday.

Ahead of Wednesday's state funeral -- where Trump will reportedly sit in the front row, but not deliver a eulogy -- the president tweeted he would visit the "wonderful Bush family" at the presidential guest residence Blair House across from the White House.

On a chilly afternoon, former president George W Bush, son of the deceased elder Bush, greeted Trump and the first lady, Melania, outside Blair House and took them inside for the private visit.

Earlier, Laura Bush went over to get a tour with Melania of the White House Christmas decorations.

Trump's relations with the Republican establishment have been rocky since his insurgent campaign took him to the party's nomination and then a shock election win in 2016.

He did not attend the funeral this year of George H W Bush's former wife Barbara, even though former presidents Barack Obama, George W Bush and Bill Clinton were there. (AFP) IJTSub inspector abducted, assaulted by hawkers in Mumbai's Parel

Mumbai, Dec 4 (PTI) A sub-inspector was abducted and

assaulted by a group of hawkers after he objected to their

snide remarks targeted at his wife, police said Tuesday.

The incident took place on November 24 near KEM

Hospital in Parel when the sub inspector, posted at RAK Marg

police station in Wadala, had come to visit his ailing

brother, an official said.

"He had gone with his wife to buy a bottle of water in

the hospital's vicinity when one of the hawkers passed a snide

remark at his wife. He slapped the man, following which a

group of 8-10 hawkers abducted him in a taxi and assaulted

him," the official said.

A patrolling police beat marshal rescued him a little

later following which a complaint was filed at Bhoiwada police

station, he said.

"We have arrested six persons so far for the attack on

the sub inspector. The search for the remaining persons is

on," said Ramchandra Jadhav, senior inspector, Bhoiwada police

station. PTI DC

BNM BNMBhubaneswar, Dec 4 (PTI) The police on Tuesday took the managing director of an NGO on a two-day remand in connection with the alleged sexual abuse of minors at a shelter home run by the organisation in Odisha's Dhenkanal district.

A special POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) court in Dhenkanal town -- 106 km from Bhubaneswar -- on Monday allowed the remand of Fayaz Rahman, who was produced at the court after his arrest.

Police sources said Rahman would be grilled about the accusations of sexual harassment of the minor girls at the shelter home, and involvement of his NGO in alleged religious conversion.

The police will also try to ascertain Rahman's foreign links and details about permission he had obtained to set up shelter homes at 22 places in the state. He will also be asked about his source of funding, the sources said.

Rahman originally hailed from Kolkata and had later obtained US citizenship. He had himself also converted to Christianity, the police said.

He would be produced at the court at 5 pm on Wednesday on completion of the remand period, they said.

Last Friday, the police had arrested the shelter home project director, Simanchal Nayak, assistant director Udit Lima and Rahman after allegations of sexual harassment of girl inmates at the home Beltikiri village surfaced in the media.

The girls at the home had alleged that they were harassed sexually, physically and mentally by Nayak over the past two years.

Nayak, who was arrested last Saturday, had denied the allegations. PTI AAM RG

HMBBhubaneswar, Dec 4 (PTI) The Odisha government Tuesday decided to grant pardon to Abhijit Iyer Mitra, who is lodged in jail for allegedly making derogatory remarks against the state, its people and culture, officials said.

The decision came following Mitra's prayer to Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to consider withholding sanction to prosecute him in certain criminal cases pending against him, a home department official said.

"He (Mitra) has appealed to the chief minister to accept his apology and contrition in having wounded the sentiments of people of Odisha without intention," the official said.

Mitra had further mentioned in his representation that in consideration of his unconditional apology in having hurt the sentiments of the people of Odisha "unintentionally without malice and mal-intent", the Odisha Assembly pardoned him on November 17.

"Taking into account his representation, the government decided not to accord sanction of prosecution in cases where prosecution has been sought for and also decided to take steps to withdraw other cases pending against him by following laid-down procedures," the official said.

The Delhi-based journalist and researcher was arrested on October 23 after he posted a video on his Twitter handle, allegedly criticising Odisha, Lord Jagannath, Konark temple and the Odisha lawmakers.

Two cases were registered against Mitra at Saheed Nagar Police Station in Bhubaneswar and Konark Police Station in Puri district.

He was arrested under various sections of IPC, Information Technology Act and Ancient Monument & Archaeological sites & Remains Act.

In his petition to the state government, Mitra requested the chief minister and the chief secretary to withdraw the sanctions prosecuting him under Section 196 of the CrPC.

He also apologised for the video saying he didn't intend to hurt the sentiments of the people of Odisha.

The Odisha Assembly had on November 17 pardoned Mitra after he tendered an unconditional and unreserved apology for his statement against the lawmakers.

The assembly accepted the recommendations made by a House Committee which was set up to enquire into the question of alleged breach of privilege relating to the statement made by Mitra.

The committee was set up on September 20 following concerns expressed by MLAs cutting across party lines.

Mitra, who has been lodged at the high-security Jharpada Special Jail in the state capital, was admitted to a hospital in Bhubaneswar after he complained of illness on December 2. PTI AAM SKN SBN ZMNLucknow, Dec 4 (PTI) The son of the police inspector killed in mob violence over alleged cow slaughter in Bulandshahr said his father wanted him to be a good citizen who doesnt provoke violence over religion.

"My father has lost his life in this Hindu-Muslim dispute. Whose father is next?" Abhishek Singh said.

Inspector Subodh Singh, who had initially probed the 2015 lynching of Dadri resident Mohammed Akhlaq over rumours about beef consumption, and a 20-year-old man were killed Monday during an attack on policemen.

The inspectors sister alleged the killing was a conspiracy by the police.

"My brother was killed in a conspiracy by the police as he was probing a cow slaughter case (the Akhlaq lynching case), Sunita Singh told reporters Tuesday.

He should be given a martyrs status and a memorial should be constructed in his name in our native place," she said.

The cow is our mother, I accept that. My brother has given his life for her. The CM used to chant 'gau, gau, gau. Why cant he come for cow protection? she said in an emotional outburst against Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Abhishek Singh said the last time his father called he asked about his studies and if he had eaten. PTI ABN ASH

ASHNew Delhi, Dec 4 (PTI) The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) sent notices to the Uttar Pradesh government and the state's police chief Tuesday over the killing of a police inspector and a 20-year-old man in an incident of mob violence in Bulandshahr over alleged cow slaughter.

A day after the shocking incident, heavy security was deployed in the area and tension spiralled as the angry families of the victims demanded justice for their kin.

"The NHRC has taken suo motu cognisance of media reports and issued notices to the Uttar Pradesh chief secretary and the director general of police, seeking a detailed report, including action taken against the miscreants in connection with the incident," a senior official of the rights panel told PTI.

Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, who had probed the Mohammad Akhlaq lynching case initially, and 20-year-old Sumit Kumar died of gunshot injuries Monday as a rampaging mob protesting against alleged illegal cow slaughter, torched a police post and clashed with the police personnel.

The commission, in the notices, has observed that it is "indicative of yet another incident of violent protest and rampaging by an unruly mob, exposing lawlessness and failure of the administration to tackle sensitive issues and situations".

Four persons have been arrested in connection with the incident so far. PTI KND RC(Eds: Updating with NHRC notice, other details)

Bulandshahr (UP), Dec 4 (PTI) Police arrested four people on Tuesday and were hunting for a Bajrang Dal activist in connection with mob violence in Bulandshahr that left an inspector and a passerby dead, as angry families demanded action amid criticism of the UP chief minister and suggestions of conspiracies.

A mob of some 400 people, including right-wing activists, fought pitched battles with police on Monday in Siana area of Bulandshahr district, apparently after right-wing activists were angered by the discovery of cow carcasses strewn in a nearby jungle. They set fire to dozens of vehicles, hurled stones and also fired guns at police who retaliated with gunfire. In the violence, Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, the station house officer of Siana, and 20-year-old Sumit Kumar were killed.

A video emerged Tuesday showing what a young man with his hand over a bleeding wound near the abdomen, being helped by other people as they all run. Someone is heard in the audio saying the man has been shot. It was not clear if the man is Sumit Kumar.

The National Human Rights Commission issued notices to the Uttar Pradesh government and the director general of police over the incident, officials said. Police said on Tuesday that four persons were arrested, but the main suspect, Bajrang Dal district convenor Yogesh Raj, was on the run. They said 27 people have been named in the FIR while cases have been lodged against 50-60 unidentified people. Of the 27, at least four are workers and functionaries of right-wing organisations such as Bajrang Dal, the officials said.

There was heavy deployment of security forces in the area and tension spiralled as angry families demanded justice for their kin.

There was confusion about the number of those arrested with police officials first saying four, then three and finally four again.

Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Anand Kumar told reporters that six police teams were working on the case and trying to identify the accused by monitoring video footage.

"Tension has eased in strife-torn Bulandshahr and efforts are on to ensure there is no trouble in future," he said in Lucknow.

Though both Singh and Sumit died of gunshot injuries, the inspector, who was posted at the Siana Police Station, also received injuries from hard and blunt objects, Kumar said.

As police continued their investigations, emotions ran high with the families preparing for the last rites. Singh's body, draped in the tricolour, was given a gun salute. From Bulandshahr, the body was taken to his ancestral home in Etah.

The deceased policeman's son Abhishek said his father wanted him to be a good citizen who doesn't incite violence in society in the name of religion.

"My father has lost his life in this Hindu-Muslim dispute. Whose father is next?" he asked tearfully.

Abhishek said he last spoke to his father when he phoned him to inquire whether he had studied and eaten.

Demanding "martyr" status for the slain inspector, who was one of those who initially probed the 2015 lynching of Mohammed Akhlaq, his sister alleged his killing was a conspiracy of the police and demanded martyr status for him.

"My brother was killed in a police conspiracy as he was probing a cow slaughter case... He should be given martyr status and a memorial should be constructed in his name in our native place," Sunita Singh told reporters.

"The cow is our mother, I accept it. My brother has give his life for her. The CM used to chant 'gau.. gau.. gau'.. Why can't he come for 'gau raksha'," an emotional Sunita Singh asked, hitting out at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

In Chingrawati village, Sumit's family refused to conduct his last rites until the government assured Rs 50 lakh compensation, pension to his parents and a police job to his kin.

His father Amarjeet Singh also demanded state funeral as accorded to Singh.

Bulandshahr MP Bhola Singh and local MLA Devendra Lodhi, both from the BJP, visited Sumit's family in Chingrawati.

Lodhi accused the district administration and police of improper handling of the case.

The BJP legislator said locals from the two villages of Mahav and Chingravathi had found the carcass of a cow and reported the matter to the police on Monday morning.

"Police should have registered the case, filed an FIR and taken action accordingly," Lodhi told PTI.

While Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati blamed the "irresponsible and wrong" policies of the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh for the mob violence, the CPI(M) held Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's "communally provocative speeches" responsible. The violence was "planned" in view of 2019 Lok Sabha polls, it said.

According to Additional Director General (Meerut zone) Prashant Kumar, the protestors from Mahaw village and nearby areas pelted stones on police and indulged in arson, set ablaze several vehicles and Chingarwathi Police Chowki, after some body parts of cows were found in a jungle near the village, prompting the police to open fire.

A chilling video showing the body of a policeman slumped to ground from the seat of a police vehicle surrounded by some people came to light after the incident.

The accused have been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including those related to rioting, murder and attempt to murder. PTI KIS/CORR ABN VJ MIN

MINNew Delhi, Dec 4 (PTI) A Delhi court has set aside an order discharging AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan in a 2010 case in which he was accused of threatening and obstructing labour department officers and a NGO team from rescuing child labourers from zari units here.

Special Judge Arun Bhardwaj said the legislator and one Saifiullah Siddiqui were liable to be charged for the alleged offences of abatement to kidnap and criminal intimidation to cause death or grievous hurt.

The Sessions Court has directed both the accused to appear before an Additional Chief Metropolitan magistrate on Wednesday for formal framing of charges against them.

The case relates to the rescue of 15 child labourers by the police and the NGO from Batla House, Jamia Nagar here.

However, a mob allegedly led by Khan and Siddiqui gathered at the spot, threatened to kill the rescuing team and forcibly took away the children.

The magisterial court had discharged the two accused as the police filed the charge sheet in 2016, six years after the lodging of the FIR, which was much beyond the permissible time limit.

The Sessions Court said if the trial court had considered section 473 (extension of period of limitation in certain cases) of the CrPC, "this court is hopeful that the trial court would have taken a contrary view considering that it was a case involving 15 child labourers who were rescued but again snatched back using criminal intimidation by the accused persons and it would have condoned the delay in the interest of justice".

The Sessions Court passed the order on Monday disposing of a revision petition filed by Rakesh Senger, a former National Secretary of NGO Bachpan Bachao Aandolan (BBA), challenging the discharge.

"This is the fact situation in the capital of the country. When an NGO armed with various orders of the courts was part of the rescue team comprising of officers of Labour Department and police, still they had to flee to save their life and the police personnel remained silent spectator while the accused persons threatened them that they will be killed or their bones would be broken," said the order made available on Tuesday.

The court rejected the NGO's plea to charge the accused for the offences under Sections 186 and 353 of CrPC in the absence of a written complaint by the public servant to the court.

It also said the MLA and the other person cannot be charged for the offence of kidnapping as it was not done by the two but by a large group of people who had come with them.

On the maintainability of the revision plea, the court said Senger has a locus standi to file the petition and the NGO with which he was associated was trying to enforce the law wherever the law enforcing agencies have failed to do so.

It said that in a case where offence was committed against a rescue team, there was no third party as the cause was in true sense a common cause in which every citizen of this country was interested.

"It was a duty of every citizen to help the law enforcing agencies to check the child labour wherever the same was noticed and if during the process, any offence was committed against the person who otherwise has no personal interest in the matter, he would be a victim and entitled to assail order of discharge passed by the trial court," the court said.

Senior advocate H S Phoolka, appearing for Senger, had earlier aruged that the wagisterial court, while discharging Khan and Siddiqui, "ignored the evidence and material on record which was contrary to the facts and also against the well settled law".

"The trial court has erroneously held that the rescue team cannot be said to be the guardian of the rescued children.

"It is once again reiterated that the rescue team and the SDM were lawful guardian of the rescued children who were taken away forcibly from their custody by the accused persons...," the petition, filed through advocate Shilpa Dewan, had said.

A magisterial court had on May 3 discharged both the accused and pulled up the police for its "lethargic" investigation.

An FIR was registered in Jamia Nagar police station on November 1, 2010 on the complaint of the then sub-division magistrate, who was leading a rescue team of child labourers in that area.

The FIR had said 15 child labourers were rescued by the authorities from different zari units in a joint raid launched in Batla House area by a task force on elimination of child labour, the sub-divisional magistrate, officials of the Labour Department, the Delhi Police and NGO BBA on November 1, 2010.

The children were taken to a vehicle of the NGO, but the accused (Khan) and others obstructed them from taking them away, shouted at the authorities and had an altercation with labour department officials, it was alleged. PTI SKV SA

SANew Delhi, Dec 4 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the constitution of special courts in each district of Bihar and Kerala for the trial of pending criminal cases against present and former MPs and MLAs.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph passed the directions for setting up special courts in every district of the two states and also sought compliance reports from the Patna and Kerala high courts by December 14.

The apex court directed the high courts to send back cases from special courts, which were already constituted, to jurisdictional district courts. The Supreme Court has given the liberty of constituting as many courts as required in the districts of these two states for trial of cases against the legislators.

The apex court also said the special courts would take take up life term cases on a priority while hearing pending matters against MPs and MLAs.

The court was hearing a PIL filed by lawyer and BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay seeking a life time ban on politicians convicted in criminal cases besides the setting up of special courts to expeditiously try cases involving elected representatives. PTI MNL LLP LLP MIN

MINNew Delhi, Dec 4 (PTI) Popular author Paulo Coelho doesn't like to talk about what he is writing and locks himself in and practically speaks to no one while working on a book.

The master storyteller from Brazil has come out with his new book "Hippie", in which he tells the tale of Paulo, a young, skinny Brazilian man with a goatee and long, flowing hair, who wants to become a writer and sets off on a journey in search of a deeper meaning of his life.

Coelho says all the characters in the book are real but with the exception of two - whose names were changed due to the complete impossibility of finding them.

He took the episode from the prison at Ponta Grossa (in 1968) and added details from two others to which he was subjected to during the military dictatorship (in May 1974, when he was working as a songwriter).

"When I write a book, I lock myself in and practically speak to no one, and I don't like to talk about what I'm writing," he says.

"Christina Oiticica (his wife) pretends not to know, and I pretend to believe that she doesn't know," he adds.

In "Hippie", published by Penguin Random House, Coelho, drawing on the rich experience of his life, takes readers back in time to relive the dreams of a generation that longed for peace and dared to challenge the established social order.

Paulo's travels take him from South America to the famous Dam Square in Amsterdam filled with young people wearing vibrant clothes and burning incense, meditating and playing music, while discussing sexual liberation, the expansion of consciousness, and the search for an inner truth.

There he meets Karla, a Dutch woman in her 20s who has been waiting to find the ideal companion to accompany her on the fabled hippie trail to Nepal. She convinces Paulo to join her on a trip aboard the Magic Bus that travels across Europe and Central Asia to Kathmandu.

They embark on the journey in the company of fascinating fellow travellers, each of whom has a story to tell, and each of whom will undergo a personal transformation, changing their priorities and values along the way.

As they travel together, Paulo and Karla explore their own relationship: a life-defining love story that awakens them on every level and leads to choices and decisions that will set the course for their lives thereafter.

Incidentally, Coelho's wife drew the map of the entire Magic Bus route.

Coelho's books have been translated into 80 languages. His 1988 novel, "The Alchemist", has been cited as an inspiration by people as diverse as Malala Yousafzai and Pharrell Williams. PTI ZMN RDS

RDSCong in Karna to file police complaint over audio clip

Bengluru, Dec 4 (PTI) A day after an audio clip

triggered fresh charges of attempts by BJP to topple the HD

Kumaraswamy ministry, the state Congress Tuesday said it would

lodge a police complaint over the issue while asserting all

MLAs of the party and its ruling partner JDS were with the

government.

On behalf of the KPCC, we are lodging a complaint to

find out between whom the conversation took place...

Conspiracies are being hatched, which must be investigated at

the government level," Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee

president Dinesh Gundu Rao told reporters here.

He asserted that no MLA from the Congress or JD(S) was

ready to switch sides. "We all are together."

The audio clip which surfaced Monday and went viral

contained purported conversation between a confidant of BJP

MLA B Sriramulu and a Dubai-based businessman discussing that

at least 10 to 11 MLAs from the Congress and JD(S) were ready

to switch sides with specific names being mentioned.

"They have been offered Rs 20 crore to Rs 25 crore and

ministership. By the second week it has to happen," the

confidant is heard purportedly saying in Hindi in the audio.

Sriramulu Tuesday rejected the charges and questioned

the authenticity of the audio clip.

The former Ballari MP told reporters that his personal

assistant never spoke in Hindi.

Meanwhile, Ballari-based mining baron and former BJP

minister G Janardhana Reddy Tuesday visited the Jindal

Naturecure Institute in the city, adding more fuel to the

speculations since two Congress MLAs were undergoing treatment

there.

However, both the MLAs denied any contact between them

and Reddy.

The ruling coalition had in the past too accused BJP of

attempting to poach its MLAs, a charge denied by the saffron

party. PTI GMS

VS VSBengaluru, Dec 4 (PTI) Right-wing outfit Sanatan Sanstha Tuesday accused the SIT probing the Gauri Lankesh murder case of "framing" it and distanced itself from the 18 people named as accused in connection with the crime.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) which has so far arrested 16 people with two still at large, had named an organised crime syndicate inspired by the Sanatan Sanstha in its additional charge sheet filed before a court here recently.

Sanstha spokesperson Chetan Rajhans flayed the alleged

attempt to "fix" the outfit and sought to know how the law

enforcement agencies would react when a Jehadi or a Naxalite

is caught.

"Attempts were made to fix us in the Malegaon (blast case) and we came out clean. This is Malegaon-2. If a group inspired by our book makes us answerable, then who should be accountable for 'Jihad' and Naxalism?" Rajhans said at a press conference here.

The SIT had said in the charge sheet that members of this organisation (crime syndicate) targeted persons who they

identified to be inimical to their ideology and belief.

"The members strictly followed the guidelines and

principles mentioned in the 'Kshatra Dharma Sadhana', a book

published by the Sanatan Sanstha," the SIT said.

Rajhans said the book was published 23 years ago and was never brought out in the last 10 years for being unpopular.

He charged that the SIT still wanted to frame the

organisation based on the statement by the accused persons

(about being inspired by it).

Stating that the accused named in the case were never

associated with Sanstha, Rajhans said, "We never believed in

violence as our primary objective is Sadhana (spiritual

practises) on the lines of Sanstha's philosophy."

Hindu Janjagruti Smriti spokesperson Ramesh Shinde

conceded that Amol Kale, an alleged mastermind, was associated with the organisation, but had left it 10 years ago and had no more links with the outfit.

Shinde also alleged that the investigation into the killing of another rationalist Narendra Dabholkar was taking place in a "shoddy" manner.

Advocate N P Amruthesh, who fights cases for various

Hindu organisations, said the SIT had failed to provide a copy

of the charge sheet till now.

He vowed that he would fight for innocent Hindus "fixed

on flimsy charges".

Known for her left-leaning and strong anti-Hindutva

views, Lankesh was shot dead in front of her house here on

September 5 last year, triggering a national outrage and

widespread condemnation.

PTI GMS RA APR SRYIndia's largest design meet opens in Kochi on Dec 11

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 4 (PTI):Seeking to leverage

path-breaking design solutions in rebuilding flood-ravaged

Kerala, the state government is organising a two-day "#Design

Kerala" summit from December 11 in Kochi.

The summit forms the key segment of India's largest

design festival, the six-day 'Kochi Design Week'.

The festival, which will be attended by leading design

luminaries, architects and decision-makers from around the

world, concludes on December 16.

The summit will have panel discussions, interactive

sessions, debates and dialogues centering round designing of a

futuristic and sustainable ecosystem for Kerala, a press

release said.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will address the Summit

on December 12.

The event, which will take place when Kerala is getting

into a crucial phase of reconstruction, is helmed by the state

Department of Information Technology.

"The event will showcase technology options which can be

used during the rebuilding phase as installations so that

various stakeholders can experience them.

Ideas emerging out of the event will be distributed to

relevant departments for their reference," said M Sivasankar,

Electronics-IT Secretary, at a press meet here on Tuesday.

"Building on the tempo set by the digital summit #Future

held earlier this year, the Kochi Design week is meant for

boosting innovative design and solutions in the state and

equip it with futuristic technology and architecture to deal

with natural calamities more effectively, Sivasankar added.

Rahul R, Managing Director, Kerala Tourism Development

Corporation (KTDC), said that it was high time that the KTDC

looked beyond traditional models.

"We are happy to associate with such events as the design

elements could attract more tourists. The future of tourism

hinges on these kinds of summits," he added.

KTDC is the official host of this event.

While the central theme of the meet is "design a

sustainable ecosystem for the future", various sessions will

take up for deliberation, topics like public infrastructure,

technology infrastructure, tourism, handloom uplift and living

spaces.

Experts from each area will innovate and outline models

that ensure a sustainable ecosystem for a better Kerala. PTI

UD

APR APRThree juveniles stab schoolmate to teach lesson

New Delhi, Dec 4 (PTI) Three juveniles allegedly stabbed a schoolmate to teach him a lesson for bullying them in south Delhi's Madangir area on Tuesday, police said.

Bhanupratap, 18, was a Class 10 student, they added.

Two juveniles, who were fleeing the spot after allegedly attacking the victim, were apprehended, they said.

The blood stained knife and clothes of the juveniles have been recovered, the police said, adding a case has been registered.



**************

Man held for lifting motorcycles

New Delhi, Dec 4 (PTI) A 26-year-old man was arrested for allegedly lifting motorcycles, police said Tuesday.

The accused was identified as Mukesh, a resident of Mangol Puri.

On Saturday, the police arrested him from Central Market in Punjabi Bagh, a senior police officer said, adding that four motorcycles, two scooters and an i-Phone was recovered from his possession.





*****

Two arrested from southwest Delhi for stealing motorcycles New Delhi, Dec 4 (PTI) Two men were arrested from southwest Delhi for allegedly stealing motorcycles, police said Tuesday.

The accused were identified as Manoj (32), a resident of Farukhabad district in Uttar Pradesh, and Nilesh (28), a resident of Mainpuri.

During interrogation, they revealed that they used to steal motorcycles from Delhi and sell them in Farukhabad, the police said, adding that nine motorcycles were recovered from their possession. PTI SLB AMP NIT SLB DPB

DPBLucknow, Dec 4 (PTI) Amid a political furore over killing of a police inspector and a man in Bulandshahr in a case of mob violence, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday night ordered a thorough probe and directions were issued for strict action against those involved in the alleged cow slaughter, said to be the trigger for the brutal incident, a senior official said.

A day after the tragic incident, Adityanath held a meeting in Lucknow with chief secretary, DGP, principal secretary (home) and additional director general of police (intelligence).

The chief minister has already faced the flak from the opposition parties for attending a laser show in Gorakhpur when the violence broke out in Bulandshahr on Monday. The Opposition has said that such incidents are part of attempts to incite communal unrest in the society ahead of polls.

After the chief minister's meeting, Additional Chief Secretary (Information) Avinish Awasthi said, "The UP Chief Minister directed (officials) for a thorough probe in the incident. Instructions were also issued to take stringent action against people involved in cow slaughter."

"The incident is part of a bigger conspiracy, and hence all those directly or indirectly related to cow slaughter should be arrested in a time-bound manner," he said.

It was not clear whether any decision was taken to act against those responsible for killing of Police Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and 20-year-old bystander Sumit Kumar in the mob violence.

Adityanath announced Rs 10 lakh financial assistance to the family members of Sumit from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund, Awasthi said.

The police inspector's family has alleged a police conspiracy in his death.

Awasthi said that since March 19, 2017 all illegal slaughter houses had been closed and instructions were issued to all district magistrates and superintendents of police to ensure that such activities do not take place in any of the districts.

The chief secretary and the DGP have been instructed to ensure that this order is followed at all levels.

Instructions were also issued that a campaign is run to identify those persons who are vitiating the atmosphere and stringent action is initiated against them, Awasthi said. PTI NAV ABH BJ ABH

ABHLucknow, Dec 4 (PTI) A 35-year-old Uttar Pradesh woman succumbed to burn injuries Tuesday, days after she alleged being set ablaze by five men on resisting harassment by them, police said.

According to a complaint filed by the woman's mother, she was returning home on November 24 when the men attacked her in Shahjahanpur's Tilhar area.

The woman was taken to a hospital in Bareilly where she succumbed to injuries Tuesday.

The police said it has registered a case against the accused under various sections of the Indian Penal Code.

In a statement given to a magistrate, the woman before her death mentioned the names of the five men who had attacked her.

"The woman said that she was harassed by them when she was returning home. She also said in the statement to the magistrate that they had allegedly poured kerosene on her and then set her afire," a police statement said.

The body has been sent for post-mortem, the police said.

The NHRC is also said to have sent a notice to the UP government over the tragic incident. PTI NAV

DPB(Eds: Updates with compensation announced)

Lucknow, Dec 4 (PTI) A leader of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) was stabbed to death allegedly by some unidentified persons in Mahanagar area here, police said Tuesday.

Pratyush Mani Tripathi, 40, was attacked Monday night near Badshahnagar, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kalanidhi Naithi said.

Tripathi was rushed to trauma centre of King George's Medical University where he was declared brought dead.

An FIR was registered in the matter and a probe underway, the SSP said.

Additional Chief Secretary (information) Avinish Awasthi said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has announced compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the kin of the deceased.

The chief minister has also directed the police to take stringent action against the accused persons, he said. PTI NAV/ABN

DPBNew Delhi, Dec 4 (PTI) The decomposed body of a man from West Bengal, who was strangulated to death a week ago allegedly by his friend over a monetary dispute, was found at his residence in east Delhi's Ashok Nagar on Tuesday, police said.

Bampi Pal, a native of Malda in West Bengal, was killed on November 25, they said.

Police said neighbours alerted them about a foul smell emanating from the rented flat.

On reaching the spot, policemen broke open the main door and found the decomposed body of the 20-year-old inside, Pankaj Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East), said.

Pal was staying with Tapas Halder (24), the accused, at the flat for a few days.

On the day of the incident, the duo had argued after consuming alcohol inside the flat when Halder asked for the Rs 15,000 he had loaned to Pal. After that, he strangulated Pal using a rope, he said.

After the incident, Halder fled to his native place in Malda, from where he was arrested on November 30, the officer said.

Police said the post-mortem of the deceased was conducted on Monday and the report stated the cause of death as strangulation. PTI AMP AMP ABH

ABHWesterly, RI (02891)

Today

Scattered snow flurries and snow showers this evening. Becoming partly cloudy later. Low 29F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 60%..

Tonight

Scattered snow flurries and snow showers this evening. Becoming partly cloudy later. Low 29F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 60%.A third of households would struggle to pay for a boiler replacement should it breakdown, a new study has revealed.

As the winter weather threatens to move in, many Britons are currently under prepared for plummeting temperatures, according to research commissioned by Hiber, a new boiler installation company.

It found that boiler replacement and installation is a stressful - and costly - process for many families, with 36 per cent admitting that they haven't had their boiler checked or replaced in the last decade.

A third of UK households have said that they would struggle to pay for a boiler replacement

Kilian Pender, chief executive of Hiber, said: 'Britain has a boiler blind spot. Many of us never think to check our boilers until we have a problem with the heating or water.

'Boiler breakdown can be a real challenge, and aside from the unexpected costs to get them fixed, there's the stress of having to go without hot water and heating for a period of time.

'If you haven't checked your boiler for a good few years, then it is worth doing to get prepared for the colder weather and more importantly, to avoid being caught out'.

The company spoke to 1,000 people across Britain and found that one of the top concerns for families was being hit with a high energy bill, with concerns heightened after the Met Office warned that this could be one of the coldest winters on record.

A worrying number of families are still living in fuel poverty with many households across the country struggling to pay their bills due to low incomes, poor housing standards and higher energy prices.

How much will it cost on finance? At present, the option to take out a plan on finance is only open to those who telephone Hiber. However, it is planning to roll out this service on all platforms in the New Year, helping households spread the cost of purchasing a new boiler. As an example, for a boiler and installation that costs 2,100, the customer would pay 27.64 per month, spread over 120 months. This equals interest of 9.9 per cent.

This is not helped by the anticipated arrival of the second Beast from the East with 60 per cent of Britons saying that they are worried about the potential damage that it could cause.

Nearly 40 per cent of homeowners have also experienced problems with their boiler installation and repair, with issues ranging from property damage to paying unexpectedly high costs for the service.

While the industry is worth a massive 7billion, Hiber says it offers households an alternative option aside from the big players, such as British Gas, who take up a huge chunk of the industry but have remained unchanged for years.

It is looking to offer a 'one stop shop' for energy products, that is primarily focused on convenience and strong customer service.

Hiber's plan is to make having a boiler replacement or installation easy, quick and painless.

It is offering boiler recommendations, installation, 10 year-warranties and an aftercare service to give its customers peace of mind.

It claims that households will be able to receive a fixed and guaranteed quote in minutes via their website, as well as booking and financing their boiler through their online platform or the telephone, with installation in as little as 48 hours.

At present, the financing option is only available over the telephone - but will be rolled out online next year.

Pender said: 'For too long, the heating industry has been a minefield of rogue installers, missed appointments, misleading headline prices, upselling, and scare tactics.

'We want to be a breath of fresh air in the industry and put homeowners first. We want to become a brand which homeowners can trust.'

Hiber recently received backing from a number of finance and renewable energy investors, as well as some other well known companies, including Innocent, Bulb Energy and Graze.

In the future, it says it plans to grow and diversify to include home energy technology that will be driven by a greater awareness of climate change, energy efficiency and consumers seeking smart energy management.The lead stars of Disney's newest live action movie Cinderella are guaranteeing that the lead character of the film will be no pushover, and will be someone all girls can look up to.

"This Cinderella is a really powerful, strong character - I wanted to bring a strength of spirit to the role," Lily James who plays the title role told The Hollywood Reporter.

Her co-star Richard Madden, who plays the prince said that Kenneth Branagh's modern tale is pretty impressive and will definitely empower women.

"This young woman in distress doesn't need a man to save her. That's totally irrelevant - she'd be fine without the prince, she'd get on with it."

Madden's take on Prince Charming will definitely make audiences laugh since he has a "sense of humor - the ability to make fun of himself and have a bit of banter with his dad."

Disney is also working on another live action movie, which is Beauty and the Beast. And James could not be more thrilled that fellow Downton Abbey star Dan Stevens landed the male lead role alongside Harry Potter alumna and UN ambassadress Emma Watson, who will be playing Belle.

"I'm so excited he's playing the beast! I couldn't believe it, I texted him immediately," she said.

James already advised Stevens to brush up on his dancing skills because he's going to need it a lot once they start shooting!

"Practice your dancing, because you're gonna have to do it at some point!" James said.

It seems like British actors are dominating fairy tale movies, which even started with Maleficent, which starred Angelina Jolie. Even James cannot fathom why British actors are getting highly covetable roles all of a sudden.

"I don't know! It's weird! On set, there was a sense of theater of company, of epic storytelling in an intimate nature. I don't know whether British actors are more theater?" she said.

Madden also weighed in on this, saying that maybe it's because fairy tales are a big part of European culture. "Maybe it's just because it goes back further - fairytales are just bred in us. Or maybe it's just coincidence! I don't think it's deliberate," he said.

A good friend of the actors, Matthew Goode, brought his daughter to the screening of Cinderella and even had an idea why. "Good on the Brits, yes! It's because of the wild, imaginative people that the Brits are," he jokingly said. "I think it's merely because we're cheap - that can be the only reason, because there's so many good American actors!"Households are being badgered into getting a smart meter even after they have refused one, Money Mail can reveal.

Following our three-page smart meter investigation last week, readers have complained that they are being bombarded with calls, emails, letters and texts.

Some say they feel harassed after being sent unasked-for installation appointments, which they then struggle to cancel.

In one shocking case an SSE customer was threatened with bailiffs and incorrectly told the meters were a 'legal requirement'.

Following our three-page smart meter investigation last week, readers have complained that they are being bombarded with calls, emails, letters and texts

Our Stop The Smart Meter Bullying campaign, launched earlier this year, called on energy regulator Ofgem to set strict rules on marketing to stamp out such tactics. But energy firms are still aggressively pushing the new meters on customers.

Ofgem has told firms they can 're-contact' households which have previously refused one in case they have changed their mind.

It means suppliers are allowed to press customers who have said no and they continue to book unwanted appointments.

Under a government scheme, suppliers have been ordered to offer all households and small businesses smart meters by 2020.

They show customers how much they are spending on energy by the minute and enable suppliers to take readings remotely.

People can refuse to have one installed many worry about giving energy firms so much data about their power usage.

But if suppliers cannot prove they made every effort to contact households they will be hit with hefty fines.

Former IT professional Brian Steventon says Npower sent him half a dozen emails in less than 12 months to schedule dates to fit a smart meter, as well as calling him.

Brian, 70, who lives with his wife in Wombourne, Staffordshire, said he tried to ignore the approaches, but when they did not stop, he emailed Npower to insist he did not want a new meter. But they still phoned him.

Contact only stopped after he threatened legal action. He says: 'They make you feel like it's obligatory.'

Smart meters show customers how much they are spending on energy by the minute and enable suppliers to take readings remotely

Mike Nellist received about ten letters from Npower in 12 months, telling him it needed to install a smart meter.

The retired electrical engineer, 71, got another a letter on Friday telling him Npower would 'like to' fit a smart meter on December 17.

The letter instructed him to call or to visit Npower's website if the date was not convenient.

Mike, who lives with wife Judith, 71, in Hartburn, Stockton-on-Tees, went online and eventually found an option for 'I don't want a smart meter'.

He was directed to call a number, and failing to get through, he had to write to say he did not want one.

'I think they deliberately make it difficult for you when you do not want one,' he says.

Energy suppliers are allowed to schedule these 'pre-booked appointments', an Ofgem spokesman confirmed. 'However customers can cancel or re-arrange.'

The energy watchdog says that when customers refuse a new meter, it expects suppliers to contact households again after an appropriate period of time.

It is up to the supplier to decide the length of time. Ofgem says, for example, that if an appointment is unsuitable for personal reasons, the customer should be contacted again once it is resolved.

However, in an open letter to suppliers earlier this year, Ofgem wrote: 'Overly repetitive and coercive approaches to consumer engagement, as opposed to innovative and tailored re-contact strategies, can be counterproductive to the successful achievement of the rollout obligations.'

Tessa Wilson, of Broadstairs, Kent, says she was wrongly threatened with bailiffs by an SSE employee, after refusing a smart meter. The retired maths teacher, who lives alone, began receiving calls and letters about having a smart meter in 2016.

'I would just say I wasn't interested,' says Tessa. But in 2017 she says a particularly pushy adviser, told her having a smart meter was a 'legal requirement'.

Energy suppliers are allowed to schedule 'pre-booked appointments', an Ofgem spokesman confirmed. 'However customers can cancel or re-arrange'

She said the caller then said: 'You don't want to have the bailiffs come knocking on your door.'

SSE later apologised and reduced her bill by 60.

Ian Lindon, 70, believes that the behaviour of British Gas constitutes harassment.

The retired police superintendent from Bexley, South-east London, has had calls offering a smart meter for four years.

Each time he declines and asks not to be contacted again. Yet in October Ian was told by the energy company engineers would be visiting his road to fit smart meters within a fortnight.

'I know they are under pressure to roll these out, but it does amount to harassment,' he says.

Tory MP Grant Shapps says providers have been using 'dubious tactics' from the 'very outset'.

Steve Playle at the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, says firms could be committing crimes if they use aggressive tactics. But he says energy companies are 'caught between a rock and hard place' with the deadline.

Robert Cheesewright, of Smart Energy GB, says: 'The smart meter rollout is a crucial upgrade to our creaking energy network.'

However, he adds no one is obliged to have one.

An Npower spokesman says: 'We're sorry Brian and Mike felt pressured into a smart meter.

'We offer customers appointments to have a smart meter installed because our licence obligations require us to 'take all reasonable steps' to reach our smart meter targets.'

Npower understands Brian had called to change his first appointment to a more convenient time, adding that customers could refuse smart meters if they wished.

A SSE spokesman says Ms Wilson's complaint came after a call about replacing her old meter before it became a 'safety hazard'.

He adds: 'SSE contacts customers to let them know this is the case and uses this opportunity to introduce customers to smart meters.'

A British Gas spokesman says Mr Lindon was offered a smart meter 'in case he'd changed his mind, but as he made clear he hasn't, we'll now update our records accordingly'.

f.parker@dailymail.co.ukStuck in the middle: One reader has been left utterly exasperated trying to transfer her ISA from NS&I to Skipton

I sent a form on September 25 to transfer 40,000 to my Skipton Building Society cash ISA from my National Savings and Investments (NS&I) Direct ISA.

I contacted Skipton three days later and staff confirmed they had sent it by first-class post to NS&I.

On October 5 the transfer had not gone through and Skipton confirmed they were still awaiting a response.

On October 22 they confirmed that they had chased NS&I a few times but had still not heard back.

Three days later I contacted NS&I which confirmed the money had not gone.

They said they had received an illegible letter from the Skipton and that they had not received the transfer form.

I asked why they couldn't speak to each other about it and they said they couldn't discuss a customer's account with another bank/building society. I, therefore, had to contact Skipton again to try to get this sorted out.

I wonder which of the two providers will compensate me for loss of interest when this is finally sorted?

S. S., Lincoln.

Well, this is a case of Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee with both parties blaming the other and you and I being left to get to the bottom of it.

Skipton's records show that it sent a letter and transfer papers to NS&I as soon as it received them. It chased a week later when it didn't hear back from NS&I, and again two weeks after that.

It was only when you contacted NS&I that you and Skipton were made aware that NS&I couldn't find the full paperwork.

NS&I, for its part, confirms that Skipton wrote on October 10 stating they had sent a transfer request but the funds had not been received.

NS&I says that as it could not find the forms, it wrote to Skipton on October 12 but did not receive a reply.

It received a letter from Skipton on October 26 and replied on October 29 saying there was no transfer showing  presumably meaning the money was still sitting in your NS&I account!

In the end, your transfer went through on October 30, a month after you requested it.

All of this just underlines how daft it is that 28 years after Tim Berners-Lee invented the world wide web, NS&I and building societies are playing with paper systems for something as important as an Isa transfer. No doubt they also work out your interest on an abacus.

The good news is that Skipton will backdate the interest to the point of your application and has apologised to you, as well as offering a goodwill payment.

Straight To The Point My mother recently died. What will happen to her bank account? A. J., email. When someone dies, banks and building societies typically freeze their accounts until the person in charge of dealing with their will  the executor  has applied for a grant of probate. In the meantime, the executor will usually only be able to access money to pay for the funeral. If there is only a small sum in the account, many banks will allow bereaved family members to close it with just a death certificate. # Each organisation has its own limit for how much they will release without probate, but it typically ranges from 5,000 to 50,000. *** In May I decided to have my roof space insulated with the company HomeSense and gave them 440 by cheque as a deposit. Two days later workers arrived, but their equipment failed, so they left before they could even start. That afternoon I decided to cancel. I was told by the chief executive I would be refunded. Yet despite many calls and letters, I still have not received my money back. G. B., Cornwall. I rang HomeSense for you and was told that the chief executive you spoke to is no longer with the company. However, the new chief executive was very apologetic your requests had been ignored. Part of the delay was down to the company having the wrong sort code for you, which meant the transfer was declined. The money should now be back in your account. *** Each month a sum of 138.24 is listed on my BT account as unpaid. I do not owe this money and BT have accepted this. Yet despite calling the firm weekly for months, this amount still appears. D. R., Cheshire BT has now identified the original bill where this amount was applied  back in 2016. It has now corrected your account so the supposed debt should not appear on your next bill. *** I read an article about dividing a property into two halves by becoming tenants in common. Is this arrangement possible between a parent and their offspring? S.P., London Anyone can be tenants in common regardless of their relationship, even friends or business partners. You are each named as part owners of the property. And unlike when you are joint tenants, you have the right to leave your share of the property to any beneficiary you choose upon your death.

For more than 30 years we had a business account with BT.

In 2016 we had the worst time of our lives when my husband was made bankrupt and we lost our business and family home. I wrote to BT asking it to cancel the phone contract and to give us a cheaper domestic line.

Eventually it stopped sending bills to the business and put them into my name. I have written several times providing proof of the bankruptcy, but BT still keeps us on a business account.

After my last letter BT staff said they could not cancel the business account without considerable cost. I asked for confirmation in writing but have not received it.

Mrs F. E., Wirral.

It seems that BT had been supplying the old account number rather than your new domestic one.

It has now contacted you and placed you on to the best possible deal, it says. BT has also arranged a refund of a year's line rental as a gesture of goodwill.

In addition, you have been provided with the senior customer service team's details so you can contact them in the future should you need to.Buying a single investment fund that's simple and broad enough to do everything for you is a tempting idea.

It's especially appealing to novices, who want something straightforward as a first step while they get the hang of investing.

Pension freedoms have also seen many older people taking active control of their retirement investments for the first time.

Those who until now just kept their money in workplace pension default funds understandably like the notion of drawing an income from a single fund that's as easy to run and monitor as possible.

One stop shop funds: Appealing to novice investors and retirees who previously kept their pension in workplace default funds

There are plenty of investment firms touting 'one stop shop' funds to accommodate these investors.

These funds are typically multi-asset, meaning that they hold shares, bonds and other investments, well diversified, and avoid anything too exotic that could suddenly skew performance.

Yet, however attractive all this might sound, investing in just one fund contradicts an important tenet of investing - that you shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket, not even when that's a fund holding a large array of investments.

When we asked finance experts the number of funds investors should ideally hold in their portfolios, they told us rookies can start out with one but aim for 10 to 16, and 20 tops.

So, below we take a look at what people tempted to go all in with a single fund should weigh up beforehand, and how to pick one delivering decent and reliable returns.

We also profile a fund that's popular among experienced investors with varied portfolios as well those wanting a one stop shop option, Baillie Gifford Managed. And we round up some other tips - both trackers and actively managed funds - that might fit the bill.

Should you buy a one stop shop fund?

'They are not going to be for everyone,' says Adrian Lowcock, head of personal investing at broker Willis Owen.

'They are a great starting point or they are suitable for people who just don't want to be as involved in monitoring funds and don't want to make decisions for themselves.

Adrian Lowcock on higher one stop shop fund fees: 'It impacts potential returns but it's not necessarily a negative. You are paying for a service'

'They are also good for diversification because you have an experienced manager, plus pooled money, and you effectively get scale which means you can get access to areas you couldn't really invest in easily yourself.

'What you have got to decide is what you want from your one stop investment. A lot of them still follow traditional allocation which is a mix between stocks and bonds and not much more than that.'

Lowcock also notes that they tend to be aimed at people who want a cautious or moderate risk investment, and are not designed for adventurous investors.

He says people should look closely at the type of assets in a fund - shares, government and corporate bonds, property, and commodities like gold - and the split between them, with a high stocks exposure making a fund more adventurous.

Lowock also warns that funds promoted as one stop shops tend to cost a bit more - 1 to 1.5 per cent or even higher, compared to 0.75 per cent on a typical fund. This is because many contain other funds, so you are paying their fees as well as your own fund's costs.

If you buy a passive multi-asset fund, which just tracks markets rather than trying to beat them, that will be cheaper at around 0.6 per cent, he says.

However, that again will be more expensive than an ordinary tracker cloning the FTSE All Share or the US S&P 500, which you can get for 0.1 per cent, or an emerging markets tracker that would cost around 0.3 per cent.

On fees, Lowcock says: 'It impacts potential returns but it's not necessarily a negative. You are paying for a service.'

When it comes to retirees looking for a single investment fund for old age, there are quite a few 'target-dated' ones about that tailor investments towards an end date, and sometimes a specific goal as well.

But Lowcock warns that these will never be tied to your personal situation, and your needs such as your state of health at a certain date in the future - although you could buy a series of target-dated funds for different years to try to get around this.

'To run out of money or not have enough available when you need it to be is not a very comfortable situation to be in retirement when you have no cash flow coming in from elsewhere,' he cautions.

Sam Lees, head of research at FundExpert.co.uk, says: 'The one-stop shop idea is a nice one. If you can pick the right "one-stop shop" fund then you just need one. You can invest-and-forget.'

'However, in practice that doesnt work. Theres nothing intrinsically wrong with a multi-asset fund that tries to do it all but you still need criteria that you can use to review those funds and the discipline to do that on a regular basis.'

Lees goes on: 'Investors must have a review process that will enable them to pick the best funds and know if their choices are under-performing. They also need to have a stop-loss [triggering a sell at a set point] to protect themselves from prolonged market falls.

'We would say that theres no such thing as a buy-and-hold fund because any fund can underperform. It doesnt mean its a bad fund but if its doing badly you dont want to get stuck in it for a long period.'

Lees suggests investors could look to FundExpert.co.uk's 'vintage-rated' funds for guidance. To achieve vintage status, a fund has to be in the top 40 per cent of performers 60 per cent of the time. This means 120 overlapping six-monthly periods in the last 10 years, with recent periods given a higher weighting.

FundExpert.co.uk's current vintage-rated funds in the Mixed 40-85% Stocks sector are below.

'Vintage-rated' funds in the mixed 40-85 per cent stocks sector (Source: FundExpert.co.uk)

'Higher risk investors might pick from the 40-85 per cent or flexible sectors. Lower risk would look in 0-35 per cent or 20-60 per cent.

'One obvious risk of buying only one fund is that youre concentrated in that one fund. Even if its multi-asset it can still do badly. You could obviously select a mixture of funds from the sectors so you might end up with three funds, one from each of the mixed sectors.'

Lees says investors can review their vintage-rated choices every 12 months and adjust as required.

What should you consider when selecting a one stop shop fund?

Lowcock suggests using the following criteria if you decide you just want just one fund.

1) Cost: This is likely to be higher on a fund which tries to do it all, for the reasons explained above. Any cost coming out of the fund impacts your returns so you need to balance that against performance

Are you looking for a one-stop-shop fund? The Investing Show recently discussed two funds that investors wanting one-stop-shop options could consider for their portfolio - the Ruffer and Personal Assets investment trusts. Watch it here.

2) Active asset allocation: Check you aren't just paying for a 60/40 equity and bond split, and the manager is actively adjusting asset allocation for the fees they are getting.

3) Performance: You will often be paying managers to pick both other funds and shares, which require different skill sets.

Sometimes a manager will concentrate on identifying other fund managers that can do well, and draw on the expertise of others within their firm to stock pick for them.

'It's not an exact science. Just because you are a good stock picker doesn't mean you are a good fund picker,' says Lowcock.

4) Risk: This is a matter of assessing performance in relation to risk, and ensuring you have the right balance,

Lowcock explains that if a manager of a moderate risk fund is being aggressive about equities and getting results, you might welcome that in the short term but you should be aware that it could cause you a problem in future.

'If a manager is more adventurous than appropriate, and if the market turns, they are not as protected as they might be,' he says.

5) Portfolio construction: This is about achieving the right amount of diversification within a fund, and Lowcock says it's a hard one to pin down.

Iain McCombie: Co-manager of the Baillie Gifford Managed fund

But basically, you don't want a fund where the investments all point in the same direction at the same time, even though you might be happy about it if they all happen to be doing well right now.

'Ensure not all your ideas are performing at the same time. There's a chance they will all perform badly at the same time as well,' says Lowcock.

One stop shop funds to consider

The objective of the Baillie Gifford Managed fund is to produce capital growth over the long term. It has returned 54.1 per cent over five years, 38.2 per cent over three years and 2.6 per cent over one year.

That handily beats peers in the Investment Association Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares sector which on average returned 31.3 per cent over five years, 20.8 per cent over three years and are down 1.5 per cent over one year.

It has faltered more recently, down 8 per cent against rivals' drop of 5.3 per cent over three months, although still beating them with a 3 per cent drop versus 3.4 per cent fall over the past six months. The fund yields 1.8 per cent at present.

On fees, the Baillie chart below puts its Managed fund as the most competitively priced among the actively-run contenders in the IA Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares sector - so the very cheapest at 0.43 per cent, before you hit the passive funds.

Fees and performance: How does Baillie Gifford Managed stack up against rivals in the Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares sector on charges and returns (Source: Baillie Gifford)

Sam Lees of FundExpert.co.uk, which includes the fund in its Mixed 40-85% Shares vintage range shown above, says: 'BG Managed has a big tech focus, a feature across the board in their funds.

'Theres also biotech in the top holdings which we like for the long term but its a sector that can certainly go through rough patches. The fund has done well over 10 years, up 178 per cent.'

The chart below shows the fund's top 20 holdings, illustrating Lees's point about its bent towards tech stocks.

What does the fund hold: Amazon, Netflix, Tesla, Alphabet and Facebook are in the portfolio (Source: Baillie Gifford)

Adrian Lowcock of Willis Owen suggests taking a look at the funds below. He puts them under 'cautious' and 'moderate' headers, but notes that the Investment Association has scrapped these terms, and 'adventurous' as well.

He says it has replaced them with the following sectors, 'basically because what is adventurous to one person might be moderate risk to another individual so the terms have no actual meaning on their own'.

Cautious  IA Mixed Assets 0-35% Shares

Moderate  IA Mixed Assets 20-60% Shares

Adventurous  IA Mixed Assets 40-85% Shares

What is an ongoing charge? The ongoing charge is the investing industry's standard measure of fund running costs. The bigger it is, the costlier the fund is to run. The ongoing charge figure can be found in the Key Investor Information Document (KIID) for any fund, usually at the top of page two. To track down these documents, put the fund name and 'KIID' together in an internet search engine. Read more here about investment charges.

Cautious

Jupiter Merlin Conservative Portfolio (active): 'This fund aims for long-term capital growth with income and has a minimum exposure of 45% to bonds and cash,' says Lowcock.

'The team run a relatively concentrated portfolio and adopt an incremental approach to asset allocation which limits manager turnover.

'The team's investment process starts with a thorough assessment of the macro environment, which guides portfolio allocation and influences manager selection.

'As with manager selection, the team's approach to asset allocation is relatively high-conviction and long-term. Jupiter does not double charge on in-house funds, and they are used extensively within this strategy to limit overall costs.'

Ongoing charge: 0.97 per cent

Yield: 2.8 per cent

Vanguard LifeStrategy 20% Equity (passive): 'This is a strong offering for investors seeking a straightforward, low-cost cautious-allocation fund.

'The 20 per cent exposure to shares is split is 25 per cent UK versus 75 per cent overseas, and within bond part of the portfolio the split is 30 per cent UK and 70 per cent overseas. The fund is limited to equities and bonds because it uses index tracker funds.

'Within the fixed-income portion there is a bias towards government bonds, and no sub-investment-grade exposure is held. This is because government bonds have generally provided more effective diversification from shares.'

Ongoing charge: 0.22 per cent

Yield: 1.4 per cent

Moderate

BMO MM Navigator Cautious (active): 'The multimanager team responsible for the fund is one of the most experienced and stable within the UK.

'It is led by Gary Potter and Robert Burdett, who have worked together since the early 1990s. Their main focus is on manager selection and providing competitive performance versus their sector peers.

'They aim to add value from asset-allocation decisions but tend not to take large bets. Their detailed knowledge of fund managers means they are able to include new managers who are showing potential as well as long-established industry names.'

Ongoing charge: 1.61 per cent

Yield: 2 per cent

SLI MyFolio Market II (passive): 'MyFolios investment approach has three key inputs - strategic allocation, tactical allocation, and fund selection - and makes broad use of SLIs resources.

'Strategic asset allocation is concerned with setting model portfolio allocations for the portfolio. Tactical positioning around the model portfolio allocations of each risk level is managed by SLIs well-resourced multi-asset investing team.

'Fund selection input is relatively limited and focused on identifying low-cost and low tracking error index funds.

'MyFolio Market II has been running for about eight years and has been managed consistently with its objective over this period, while delivering strong performance that is helped by its low ongoing charge of 0.35 per cent.'

Ongoing charge: 0.35 per cent

Yield: 1.3 per cent

Retirees looking for income

JPM Multi-Asset Income (active): 'Manager Michael Schoenhaut relies on 13 underlying managers to select investment opportunities within each sector.

'The fund aims to deliver a high income but with lower risk than its benchmark. This fund is run with relatively high weightings in high-yield bonds and international shares compared to some peers. The dividend yield is typically in the range of 4 per cent to 6 per cent.'

Ongoing charge: 0.80 per cent

Yield: 3.8 per centHalf a million more low paid workers could be deprived of pension top-ups unless the Government fixes a 'cruel' tax quirk by next April.

The number of workers affected is set to swell next year due to pending tax changes, and the 'lottery' of what type of pension scheme their employer has chosen, say experts.

Some 1.22million people are already estimated to be missing out on up to 720 of government pension cash a year, while the better off are paid top-ups automatically.

Tax quirk: Well over a million people are estimated to be missing out on up to 720 of Government pension cash a year

Three quarters of those currently facing a hit to their pension pots are low paid women, according to the latest HMRC figures.

Critics are demanding urgent government action, warning that otherwise the problem will get worse before it gets better.

This is because Government has just announced that the earnings threshold at which people are automatically enrolled into pensions will be frozen at 10,000.

However, the Chancellor already said in the Budget that the level at which people start to pay tax is set to rise from 11,850 to 12,500.

Some people who earn between those two sums lose pension tax top-ups - but whether or not you miss out depends on the tax mechanism used by your work pension scheme. See the box below.

Why are some lower earners losing pension top-ups? Most master trusts, which manage centralised funds for lots of employers at once, use a tax mechanism called 'net pay' that is convenient for top-paid staff but penalises lower earners. This allows higher rate taxpayers on 46,350-plus a year and additional rate taxpayers on 150,000-plus a year to avoid filling in annual tax returns to get Government pension top-ups, in the form of tax relief on their contributions. They get them automatically. But it means anyone in the workforce earning between 10,000 and 11,850 a year loses their top-ups for good, with no option available at present to claim them back. There is an alternative tax mechanism which master trusts can use called 'relief at source' that does not disadvantage people on low wages. It gives the low-paid workers their Government pension top-ups, which they would otherwise be denied, while better paid workers still end up getting their full whack by submitting a tax return. Basic rate taxpayers are not affected either way. Read more here.

The tax change next April could easily add nearly half a million to the number of people already affected, according to Steve Webb, former Pensions Minister and now policy director at Royal London.

'The gap between the point at which people are enrolled into a pension and the point at which they start paying tax will become a chasm in 2019,' he says.

'This means hundreds of thousands more workers will find that whether or not they get tax relief will depend on the lottery of what pension arrangement their employer has chosen for them.

'Government cannot keep kicking the can down the road on this issue. It now needs to be resolved as a matter of urgency.'

Tom Selby, senior analyst at AJ Bell, said: 'The 'net pay' auto-enrolment problem looks set to get worse before it gets better as the gap between the point at which members pay income tax and the earnings level at which they get automatically enrolled widens from April next year.

'Over a million people in net pay schemes are already thought to have been affected by this anomaly, which robs them of the valuable tax relief they are entitled to when saving in a pension.

'It is particularly cruel that this flaw in the system affects the lowest earners.

'The Department for Work and Pensions has now passed the buck to HMRC, hoping that the shift to becoming 'one of the most digitally advanced tax administrations in the world' will provide a ready-made solution.

'But until that happens this pension tax injustice will continue.'

Workers auto-enrolled into pensions are told the money they pay into their retirement pots will be topped up with both employer and government cash.

Experts fear a new pension mis-selling scandal is brewing, as many low earners realise that this well-publicised promise is not being fulfilled because of a tax quirk the Government has failed to address so far.

They have long sounded the alarm, calling the tax technicality 'indefensible' and an 'utter scandal'.

Ex-Pensions Minister and campaigner Ros Altmann has declared it an injustice and warned it would undermine faith in the successful auto enrolment initiative, stirring a chorus of support from other financial experts.

It is particularly cruel that this flaw in the system affects the lowest earners Tom Selby - AJ Bell

Just ahead of the Budget, Altmann, Webb, industry experts, a leading charity and the TUC, among others, signed a letter to Chancellor Philip Hammond calling on him to act urgently.

A probe by pension consultant Hymans Robertson earlier this year found 14 out of the 17 top master trusts use the payment system which prevents low earners from getting government top-ups, while the rest pay them to all workers.

However, one of the 14 firms, NOW:Pensions, reimburses low-paid members their lost top-ups, so they do not end up out of pocket.

Jesal Mistry, senior investment consultant at Hymans, said: 'The planned rise in the personal allowance to 12,500 may not be all good news for some of the UK's low-earners and part-time workers.

'The widening gap between auto-enrolment and the income tax threshold will lead to nearly twice as many savers missing out on the pensions tax relief which they are owed.

'The Government and industry urgently need to think creatively about how to address this inequality and the recent budget was an opportunity missed.

'For example, we could amend the current income tax system to provide members with some form of credit or look to provide a "bonus" into their pension of the amount they should have received in tax relief.

'What is clear is that the government needs to tackle it seriously and urgently. Auto enrolment minimum contributions are also set to rise to five per cent of income in 2019.

'This means that crucial steps need to be taken now in order to correct a system that is currently penalising the country's lowest earners.'

What does the Government say?

'The Government is looking at the opportunities provided by the move to a modern digital tax system to tackle any differences of treatment in provision of tax relief for pensions,' said a spokesperson in response to the letter to Hammond.

It previously said on the issue: 'We are committed to helping people save for retirement and building on the success of automatic enrolment with 9.5million people now newly saving or saving more as a result.

'Both net pay and relief at source arrangements have advantages, with relief at source arrangements being particularly appropriate for lower earners  but ultimately is up to employers to decide what is most appropriate for their staff.

'NEST [the state-backed auto enrolment scheme], which now has over 6million members, operates a relief at source arrangement as do several other large schemes used for automatic enrolment.'Agent Million, National Savings & Investment's bearer of good news, has hit a milestone after the anonymous worker presented the 400th lucky Premium Bond holder with a jackpot prize of a million pounds.

The Agent, known only by their alter-ego, made a special visit to the 400th Premium Bond millionaire, a woman in Kent, to let her know that she is the latest person to scoop the top prize in time for Christmas.

The 400th Bond winning number was bought just five months ago in July 2018, with the unknown woman holding 5,300 in Bonds, much less than the average jackpot-winning holding of 2018, which is 35,135.

The anonymous Agent Million with proof that a Premium Bonds holder has won 1million

The Agent also visited the 399th winner, a woman from London, who has 40,000 invested in Premium Bonds, from the most recent draw.

Her winning Bond number was bought in January 2007 as part of a 5,000 investment.

The role of the anonymous Agent is to visit one person each month to personally deliver the news that they are the lucky recipient of the 1million Premium Bonds jackpot prize, while also making sure that the winner's identity is protected.

Agent Million can only let the winner know that they have won the big prize, so if they're not at home, they have to come back later as the message can only be conveyed to the winner.

The journey to London is becoming a regular one for the Agent, with it being their fifth visit to the capital this year  marking the highest number of visits to the city in a single calendar year.

Since the first Premium Bonds millionaire was made in 1994, Agent Million has covered the breadth of Britain, including six trips to Northern Ireland, 22 visits to Scotland, 17 excursions to Wales and a trip to every county in England at least once.

Premium Bonds Winners Prize Area Value of bond 1,000,000 Bristol 18,000 1,000,000 Bristol 5,000 100,000 Wales 4,000 100,000 Birmingham 20,000 100,000 Oxfordshire 47,800 100,000 Tyne and Wear 4,000 100,000 Leicestershire 20,000 100,000 Surrey 5,000 More November 2021 winners View list of November 2021 winners

Jill Waters, retail director at NS&I, said: 'Premium Bonds have made a real impact on people's lives since the first prize draw in 1957, and while many good news stories never reach NS&I, Agent Million has endeavoured to deliver the news of a 1million jackpot win come rain or shine, leaving with warm tales of the positive impact on the winners' lives.

'Striving to offer customers what they want is also important, and we will soon be making it easier to buy and manage Premium Bonds, through our recent announcements to lower the minimum investment to 25, introduce gifting to a wider range of people, and the launch of a new app.'

It can be a very rewarding job, according to the Agent, who NS&I won't reveal is male or female. They said: 'I arrived the other day at a house to find a "for sale" sign outside. I thought, "Oh no, they've moved".'

'But they were selling because they had fallen on hard times and couldn't pay the mortgage anymore, so winning 1million immediately changed their lives.'

Life changing: The number of Premium Bond millionaires has now topped 400

Amazingly, not everybody is happy with their win. The Agent revealed that one person initially turned down the cash.

They said: 'One woman said she didn't want the 1million. She didn't want her life changed. I talked to her for a while. She then agreed to accept the money but give it to charity.'

There can also be a downside to remaining anonymous. The Agent told us back in 2012 - when we knew her sex - of one incident: 'I have been mistaken for "the other woman". The wife refused to let me in, and I couldn't tell her why I was there.

'We have to tell the winner first - no one else must know before him or her. She clearly suspected I had arrived to reveal he was having an affair. I waited and waited, kept coming back.

'He was hours late from work that night, by which time his wife was getting really agitated. We all had a good laugh when it was sorted out.'

Other times, the Agent has found themselves in unpredictable circumstances. They said: 'I arrived once to find the person had died. Their estate got the money, which is allowable up to 12 months after death.'

The latest win serves as a reminder to Premium Bond holders across the country to make sure that NS&I have all their up-to-date details, otherwise large prizes could be left unclaimed.

There are over a whopping 1.5million prizes left unclaimed, worth 60million, in total with 190,000 unclaimed prizes, worth a staggering 7.8million in London alone.

The highest unclaimed prize in the capital is worth 50,000, which was won in May 2016, belonging to a woman who currently has 9,175 invested.

There is even a 25 prize that has been sat waiting from December 1958.

The way that customers can receive Premium Bonds has changed since its introduction in 1994.

Many customers now choose to have their Bonds paid into their bank account directly, as opposed to waiting for a letter through the door.

In Kent, there are also over 39,000 unclaimed prizes worth over 1.5million, with the oldest dating back to April 1959. The highest unclaimed prize is 50,000, which was won by a woman with just 128 invested.

A further 27 prizes of 1,000 are waiting to be reunited with their owner.

Since the first draw in June 1957, ERNIE, NS&I's Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment, has drawn 423million winning prizes, to the value of around 18.9billion.

In the Budget, the Treasury-backed provider said it will lower the investment limit in Premium Bonds from 100 to 25, while it will be easier to gift them in the future.

More than 75billion is invested in Premium Bonds, which typically have a return of 1.45 per cent.Almost two-and-a-half years after Britain voted to leave the European Union and UK SMEs finally have some indication of what Brexit could mean for them, maybe.

Parliament may yet reject the Prime Minister's Brexit deal when it goes to a vote on 12 December and ardent critics of the withdrawal agreement claim it is already dead in the water after multiple high profile cabinet resignations.

Whether the ongoing political turmoil unseats Theresa May and topples the deal remains to be seen, but the draft agreement offers the first indication of how trade outside UK borders will work for British businesses, providing the bill is passed.

Pamela Kennedy of International Beauty says some of her clients based in Ireland are concerned of the cost of trade in the future

Pamela Kennedy is one such business owner and for her, the detail outlined in the draft bill is particularly crucial.

She runs International Beauty in Lisburn, Northern Ireland which exports beauty products to shops in Ireland.

'I have spoken to some of our clients who also run small businesses and they have bluntly told us they are worried over costs, paperwork and product turnaround/delivery,' she says.

'Like all businesses they need to do what is best for them, even if that means breaking ties with a company they have trusted and used for years.'

While she concedes that the back stop is a last resort for Northern Ireland, she's still worried.

'We are having to consider opening an office in the south to try and keep our network intact - which again will impact our turnover and running costs, but we can not trade without customers.'

So what does Theresa May's proposed deal mean for small and medium sized businesses across Britain? We have broken down the detail on how, if it passes, Brexit could affect you.

Irish border

One of the most contentious issues in Mrs May's plan concerns the Irish border. At present, SMEs based in Northern Ireland can trade goods and services between Britain and the Republic of Ireland with few restrictions as both the UK and Ireland are part of the EU single market and customs union.

But this could all change once the UK formally leaves the 27 nation bloc in December 2020.

The latest Northern Irish government figures show that businesses registered in the region exported over 3.4billion worth of goods and services to the Republic of Ireland in 2016, and almost all of this was done by micro and small businesses.

To put that in context, Northern Irelands exports to Ireland accounted for 15 per cent of the total goods and services sold outside of its own borders in 2016.

Northern Irelands exports to Ireland accounted for 15 per cent of the total goods and services sold outside of its own borders in 2016

In the event of a no-deal Brexit, industries that have extensive cross-border supply chains could be seriously damaged.

Both the EU and the UK want to avoid this scenario and have agreed a backstop - which is essentially an insurance policy - that would align Northern Ireland more closely with the EU's customs rules and production standards if a new trade deal is not reached by the end of the Brexit transition period.

Kennedy said: 'What would be preferable would be to remain in the EU single market for trading within Ireland and the UK, no border to split our country - it was a long hard road to get rid of it once before.'

Tina McKenzie, Northern Ireland policy chair at the Federation of Small Businesses, said the backstop is a 'significant step back from the cliff edge which would result in a chaotic no deal Brexit that would be deeply damaging and dangerous for our small firms.'

Rights of EU workers

The withdrawal deal has been agreed by both sets of negotiators as well as the UK cabinet - it now has to get the stamp of approval from Parliament and, finally, the EU

Commitments over EU citizens' rights after Brexit have also been agreed between between the UK and the EU.

EU citizens living in the UK will maintain the right to work and study in the UK and can be joined by close family members at any point in the future, as long as the relationship still exists when the family member comes to Britain.

Annie Summun of Kisiel said that Brexit has left a bitter taste with some of the firm's European contingent

This bodes well for businesses in industries such as construction which relies heavily on European labour. In numerical terms, around 12 per cent of Britain's 2.1 million construction workers come from outside of the UK, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The measure is welcomed by Annie Summun, general manager at London based construction firm Kisiel, who last year told This is Money that the business would be forced to downsize if the EU nationals they employ weren't able to work in the UK.

However, she said the delay in announcing the deal has left a bitter taste with some of the firm's European contingent.

Recent Government statistics revealed that EU net migration fell to its lowest level in nearly six years during the year to June 2018 - extending a decline seen since Britain voted to leave the EU in 2016.

The number of EU citizens moving to Britain, minus those leaving, dropped to 74,000 over the period - its lowest since late 2012 and down 28 per cent year-on-year, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Summun said: 'I think the deal has come a little too late. Some of our eastern European workers have already made their minds up to move back home. The whole scenario has made them feel unwelcome.

'We are trying to be positive about it as we feel that Brexit will create new opportunities for us in the long term. There is a huge skills shortage in our industry and European workers have helped to plug that.

'Once Brexit kicks in, we won't necessarily have the same supply of workers from the EU, but we'll have the opportunity to encourage young people to get into construction.'

Transition period

Under the agreement, the UK won't be free of EU rules and customs overnight come Brexit day on 29 March 2019.

A notable tidbit from the agreement Products with geographical names would be protected from imitation and evocation throughout the EU - so we get to keep Cornish pasties and Welsh lamb.

Instead there will be a 21-month transition period under the agreement to allow time to address trade arrangements as well as other loose ends and smooth the path to the UK and EU's future permanent relationship.

If no trade deal is in prospect by July 2020, the two sides could agree to extend the transition period instead.

The transition period is viewed as a plus for businesses because it limits supply chain disruption.

The finer details are yet to be penned

The withdrawal agreement has been given the stamp of approval from the EU, but still needs the okay from parliament to be put in motion.

Prime Minister Theresa May intends to hold the crucial Parliamentary vote on the deal on 12 December, but there is no guarantee that MPs will give the green light to her Brexit deal.

In fact, there is almost a consensus in Westminster that the PM's deal will be defeated with a number of her own party MPs publicly opposing the agreement.

Even if it passes, the ins and outs of the Brexit deal have yet to be finalised.

Things like VAT rules for trade with the EU and whether national intellectual property rights will be protected at the European Union Intellectual Property Office are still up in the air.

Crucially, a new trade deal with the EU, which will affect a great number of UK SMEs, is still to be hammered out.

Assuming all goes to plan, this will happen during the 21-month transition period which starts in March next year.

How will SMEs fair in a 'no deal' scenario?

Prime Minister Theresa May intends to hold the crucial Parliamentary vote on the deal on 12 December, but there is no guarantee that MPs will give the green light to her Brexit deal

A 'no deal' scenario is looking increasingly possible.

Bank of England governor Mark Carney warned last week that SMEs would struggle to cope if the UK crashes out of the EU with no exit agreement as more than half haven't made an contingency plans for a no-deal Brexit.

The FSB estimates that only one in seven is planning for this extreme outcome.

Mike Cherry, FSB national chairman, said: 'Put simply, a chaotic no deal Brexit will damage jobs, cut growth and hurt the economy.

'This cliff edge will disproportionately be felt by our smaller businesses that do not have the same capacity or resources as big businesses to make adequate contingency plans to soften the impact of this scenario - or to deal with the costs of suddenly trading on the basis of World Trade Organisation rules from April 2019.

'With time ticking ever faster, our smaller businesses need support and advice to start planning.'

Both the FSB and the Institute of Directors have called on the Government to following the lead of Ireland and the Netherlands and issue Brexit advice vouchers which SMEs can redeem to purchase legal and professional advice on how they can prepare for Brexit.

Emma Jones, founder small business support network, Enterprise Nation, said: 'Small businesses need clarity to begin the planning process ready for Brexit.

'Unlike larger companies, they haven't been able to spend millions of pounds on expensive advice; with 20 weeks to go, they are only now just putting their heads above the parapet to consider making contingency plans.

'If this agreement is thrown out, and political chaos ensues, they may well put their heads straight back in the sand, leaving them exposed if there were to be a no deal Brexit.'

HM Revenue & Customs, the UK tax authority, is offering small business advice on how to cope in a no deal scenario which can be found here.Roots Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides apparel, leather goods, footwear, and accessories under the Roots brand in Canada and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Direct-To-Consumer, and Partners and Other. The Direct-to-Consumer segment sells products through the company's corporate retail stores and e-commerce. The Partners and Other segment primarily engages in the wholesale of Roots branded products to the company's international operating partners. This segment is also involved in licensing Roots brand to manufacturing partners; and wholesaling Roots branded products to retail partners. As of January 30, 2021, it operated 111 corporate retail stores in Canada, two corporate retail stores in the United States, 117 partner-operated stores in Taiwan, 26 partner-operated stores in China, and two partner-operated stores in Hong Kong, as well as an eCommerce platform and partner-operated eCommerce channels in Taiwan and mainland China. W. Roots Corporation was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Read MoreGulu Grade One Magistrate Court presided over by Isaac Kintu on Monday adjourned the Arua by-election saga case involving Bobi Wine and others to January 10, 2019.

The adjournment of the hearing follows the prayer by Paul Weponde, the state prosecutor who said the police are yet to complete investigations into the case.

Bobi Wine and several others are alleged to have caused havoc in during the Arua by-election that was won by Wadri Kasiano months ago.

Stories Continues after ad

Earlier on, Counsel Tony Kitara, who is one of the lawyers representing the accused persons, said court should proceed with the case.

He urged court to prevail over the prosecutor and police so that the case goes on to avoid what he called persecution of his clients.

He also asked for a longer adjournment of the hearing since majority of the accused are peasants who struggle to raise money to report to court and that some stay in faraway districts like Kampala and Arua.

In his ruling, Isaac Kintu asked the prosecutor to speed up the investigations since most of the accused persons come from outside Gulu district.

I have heard from both the state and the defense teams. Accordingly, the state is called upon to speed up their investigations because I also note that most of the accused persons come from outside this jurisdiction, said Kintu before adjourning the case to January 10, 2019 for further mention.

Hon. Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine, the MP for Kyadonodo East and one of the accused said despite them full filling their responsibilities, the outcome is not encouraging.

We came to court today to full fill our side of responsibility although the outcome is not encouraging, for example we have been given a very nearby date to show up to court even though our lawyers tried to bring it up to the judge that we need some time as the state goes on with investigation. Said Hon. Kyagulanyi

Hon. Kasiano Wadri, the Arua Municipality MP said they will stop reporting to court if the required six months elapsed before investigation is completed.

The charge against us is of a capital nature and the law is very clear in its provision that when a suspect is brought before court of law for capital offense of that nature, the investigation must be completed within six months so that the evidence is produced before court to be taken to high court. Said Hon. Kasiano

This therefore means we are counting the months weve reported to court and should we clock and hit six months to report here and police continue dilly darling that they are not through with their investigations, we shall by the law, stop coming to court. He went on

Hon. Kasiano Wadri, Hon. Robert Kyagulanyi and 33 others are facing charges of treason following the saga of the Arua Municipality by-election on 13th August.

Meanwhile the court has issued criminal summons for Ntungamo municipality MP, Gerald Karuhanga and Jinja east legislator, Paul Mwiru after they failed to appear before court alongside others.

Defence lawyer Henry Kirima informed court that Mwiru was not obliged to appear for mention of the case while MP Karuhanga was in Burundi for inter-parliamentary games that are scheduled to take 10 days.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.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of Laboratory Co. of America: 1957285 Ontario Inc. dba Quality Underwriting Services, 2089729 Ontario Inc., 2248848 Ontario Inc., 3065619 Nova Scotia Company, 3257959 Nova Scotia Company, 896988 Ontario Limited, 9279-3280 Quebec Inc., Accupath Diagnostic Laboratories Inc., Alpha Medical Laboratory LLC, Assets of Pathology Inc, Beacon LBS IPA Inc., Beacon Laboratory Benefit Solutions Inc., CannAmm GP Inc., CannAmm Limited Partnership, Center for Disease Detection International, Center for Disease Detection LLC, Centrex Clinical Laboratories Inc., Chiltern, Clearstone Central Laboratories (U.S.) Inc., Clearstone Holdings (International) Ltd., Clipper Holdings Inc., Colorado Coagulation Consultants Inc., Colorado Laboratory Services LLC, Correlagen Diagnostics Inc., Covance Inc., Curalab Inc., Cytometry Associates Inc., Czura Thornton (Hong Kong) Limited, DCL Acquisition Inc., DCL Medical Laboratories LLC (DE), DCL Medical Laboratories LLC (FL), DCL Sub LLC, DIANON Systems Inc., DL Holdings Limited Partnership, Decision Diagnostics L.L.C. (aka DaVinici/Medicorp LLC), Diagnostic Services Inc., DynaLifeDX, Dynacare - Gamma Laboratory Partnership, Dynacare Company, Dynacare G.P. Inc., Dynacare Holdco LLC, Dynacare Laboratories Inc., Dynacare Laboratories Limited Partnership, Dynacare Northwest Inc., Dynacare Realty Inc., DynalifeDX Infrastructure Inc., Endocrine Sciences Inc., Esoterix Genetic Counseling LLC, Esoterix Genetic Laboratories LLC, Esoterix Inc., Execmed Health Services Inc., FirstSource Laboratory Solutions Inc., GDML Medical Laboratories Inc, Gamma Dynacare Central Medical Laboratories GP Inc., Gamma Dynacare Central Medical Laboratory Limited Partnership, HHLA Lab-In-An-Envelope LLC, Health Trans Services Inc., Home Healthcare Laboratory of America LLC, IDX Pathology Inc., Impact Genetics Corp, Impact Genetics Inc., Kaleida LabCorp LLC, Lab Delivery Service of New York City Inc., LabCorp BVBA, LabCorp Belgium Holdings Inc., LabCorp Central Laboratories (Canada) Inc., LabCorp Central Laboratories (China) Inc., LabCorp Central Laboratories (Singapore) Pte., LabCorp Development Company, LabCorp Employer Services Inc., LabCorp Health System Diagnostics LLC, LabCorp Indiana Inc., LabCorp Japan G.K., LabCorp Limited, LabCorp Michigan Inc., LabCorp Nebraska Inc., LabCorp Neon Ltd., LabCorp Neon Switzerland S.a.r.l., LabCorp Specialty Testing Billing Service Inc., LabCorp Specialty Testing Group Inc., LabCorp Staffing Solutions Inc., LabCorp Tennessee LLC, LabCorp UK Holdings Ltd., LabWest Inc., Laboratoire Bio-Medic Inc., Laboratory Corporation of America, Lifecodes Corporation, LipoScience Inc., Litholink Corporation, MEDTOX Scientific Inc., MNG Laboratories, Medical Neurogenitics LLC, Medtox Diagnostics Inc., Medtox Laboratories Inc., Monogram Biosciences Inc., Monogram Biosciences UK Limited, Myriad Autoimmunes Vectra Testing Business, NWT Inc., National Genetics Institute, New Brighton Business Center LLC, New Imaging Diagnostics LLC, New Molecular Diagnostics Ventures LLC, Orchid Cellmark Ltd., Orchid Cellmark ULC, PA Labs Inc., Path Lab Incorporated, Pathology Associates Medical Lab LLC, Pee Dee Pathology Associates Inc., Persys Technology Inc., Pixel by LabCorp, Princeton Diagnostic Laboratories of America Inc., Protedyne Corporation, ReliaGene Technologies Inc., SW/DL LLC, Saint Josephs-PAML LLC, Sequenom Biosciences (India) Pvt. Ltd., Sequenom Center for Molecular Medicine LLC, Sequenom Inc, Sequenom Inc., Southern Idaho Regional Laboratory, Tandem Labs Inc., The LabCorp Charitable Foundation, Tri-Cities Laboratory LLC, Viro-Med Laboratories Inc., Visiun, and Yakima Medical Arts Inc..SPDR Bloomberg Barclays Investment Grade Floating Rate ETF's stock was trading at $29.95 on March 11th, 2020 when Coronavirus (COVID-19) reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization. Since then, FLRN stock has increased by 2.2% and is now trading at $30.60.

View which stocks have been most impacted by COVID-19.The following companies are subsidiares of Whirlpool: 1900 Holdings Corporation, ADC, Aeradriatica S.p.A., Airdun Limited, B. Blend Maquinas e Bebidas S.A., BUD Comercio de Eletrodomesticos Ltda., BWI Products Limited, Bauknecht AG, Bauknecht Hausgerate GmbH, Bauknecht Limited, Beijing Embraco Snowflake Compressor Company Limited, Bill Page Orchestra, Bill Page Orchestra Inc., Brasmotor S.A., Brunson Place Properties, Brunson Place Properties LLC, CNB Consultoria Ltda, Cannon Industries Ltd., Centro de Desarrollo Tecnologico e Innovacion WHM S. de R.L de C.V., Comercial Acros Whirlpool, Comercial Acros Whirlpool S. de R.L. de C.V., Consumer Appliances Service Limited, Ealing Compania de Gestiones y Participaciones S.A., Elera Delaware, Elera Delaware Inc., Elera Holdings Corporation, Embraco Europe S.r.l., Embraco Eurosales S.r.l., Embraco Industria de Compressores e Solucoes em Refrigeracao Ltda., Embraco Luxembourg S.a r.l., Embraco Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Embraco Mexico Servicios, Embraco Mexico Servicios S. de R.L. de C.V., Embraco North America, Embraco North America Inc., Embraco RUS LLC, Embraco Slovakia S.r.o., Everest Campus, Everest Campus LLC., General Domestic Appliances Holdings Ltd, General Domestic Appliances International Ltd., Guangdong Whirlpool Electrical Appliances Co., Guangdong Whirlpool Electrical Appliances Co. Ltd., Haceb Whirlpool Industrias S.A.S., Hefei Rongshida Sanyo Electric, Hefei Whirlpool Enterprise Management Service Co. Ltd., Hoover Comercial Limitada, IRE Beteiligungs GmbH, Indesit Argentina S.A., Indesit Company, Indesit Company Beyaz Esya Pazarlama A.S., Indesit Company Beyaz Esya Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., Indesit Company Ceska S.r.o., Indesit Company Domestic Appliances Hellas Mepe, Indesit Company International Business S.A., Indesit Company Luxembourg S.A., Indesit Company Magyarorszag Kft, Indesit Company Nordics AB, Indesit Company Polska Sp. zo.o., Indesit Company Singapore Pte. Ltd., Indesit Company UK Holdings Ltd., Indesit IP S.r.l., Indesit International ZAO, Indesit Ireland Ltd., Indesit Middle East FZE, Indesit Ukraine LLC, Industrias Acros Whirlpool S. de R.L. de C.V., Industrias Acros Whirlpool S.A. de C.V, Jackson Appliances Ltd., Joint-Stock Company Indesit International, KitchenAid, KitchenAid Australia Pty Ltd, KitchenAid Australia Pty Ltd., KitchenAid Delaware Inc., KitchenAid Europa Inc., KitchenAid Global, KitchenAid Global Inc., KitchenAid Inc., KitchenAid Korea Limited, KitchenAid Promotions, KitchenAid Promotions LLC, KitchenAid Trading Co., KitchenAid Trading Co. Ltd., LAWSA S.A., MLOG Armazem Geral Ltda., Maytag Corporation, Maytag Limited, Maytag Properties, Maytag Properties LLC, Maytag Sales, Maytag Sales Inc., Maytag Worldwide N.V., Merloni Domestic Appliances Ltd., Nineteen Hundred Corporation, Polar S.A., Qingdao EECON Electronic Controls and Appliances Co., Qingdao EECON Electronic Controls and Appliances Co. Ltd., South American Sales Partnership, THC Assets Corporation, Up Points Servicos Empresariais S.A., Vitromatic S.A. de C.V., WCGP Nova Scotia Co., WHirlpool EMEA Finanace S.a r.l., Whirlpool (Australia) Pty. Limited, Whirlpool (B.V.I.) Limited, Whirlpool (China) Co. Ltd., Whirlpool (China) Investment Co., Whirlpool (China) Investment Co. Ltd., Whirlpool (Hefei) Trading Co., Whirlpool (Hefei) Trading Co. Ltd, Whirlpool (Hong Kong) Limited, Whirlpool (Japan) Co. Ltd., Whirlpool (Thailand) Limited, Whirlpool ASEAN Co., Whirlpool America Holdings Corp., Whirlpool Argentina S.r.l., Whirlpool Asia B.V., Whirlpool Asia Holdings S.a r.l., Whirlpool Asia Inc., Whirlpool Asia LLP, Whirlpool Belux N.V./S.A., Whirlpool Bermuda Euro Ltd., Whirlpool Beyaz Esya Sanayi Ve Ticaret A.S., Whirlpool Bulgaria Ltd., Whirlpool CIS Ltd., Whirlpool CR, Whirlpool CR spol. s.r.o., Whirlpool CSA Holdings S.a r.l., Whirlpool Canada Co., Whirlpool Canada Co. (post 9/1/05 amalgamation company), Whirlpool Canada Holding Co, Whirlpool Canada Holding Co. (post 4/18/06 amalgamation company), Whirlpool Canada Investments S.a r.l., Whirlpool Canada LP, Whirlpool Canada Luxembourg Holdings S.a r.l., Whirlpool Chile Limitada, Whirlpool Colombia S.A.S., Whirlpool Comercial Ltda., Whirlpool Company Polska Sp. z o.o., Whirlpool Company Ukraine LLC, Whirlpool Croatia Ltd., Whirlpool EMEA S.p.A., Whirlpool Ecuador S.A., Whirlpool Eesti OU, Whirlpool El Salvador, Whirlpool El Salvador S.A. de C.V., Whirlpool Electrodomesticos S.A., Whirlpool Eletrodomesticos AM S.A., Whirlpool Enterprises, Whirlpool Enterprises LLC, Whirlpool Europe B.V., Whirlpool Europe Coordination Center, Whirlpool Europe Holdings Limited, Whirlpool Ev Aletleri Pazarlama Ve Ticaret A.S., Whirlpool Finance B.V., Whirlpool Finance Center Corp., Whirlpool Finance Luxembourg S.a r.l., Whirlpool Finance Overseas Ltd., Whirlpool Financial Corporation, Whirlpool Financial Corporation International, Whirlpool Floor Care Corp., Whirlpool France Holdings SAS, Whirlpool France SAS, Whirlpool Germany GmbH, Whirlpool Global B.V., Whirlpool Global Investments B.V., Whirlpool Greater China Inc., Whirlpool Guatemala, Whirlpool Guatemala S.A., Whirlpool Hellas S.A., Whirlpool Holdings Corporation, Whirlpool Home Appliances B.V., Whirlpool Home Appliances Limited Liability Company, Whirlpool Hungarian Trading Limited Liability Company, Whirlpool India Holdings Limited, Whirlpool Insurance Company, Whirlpool Insurance Company Ltd., Whirlpool Internacional S. de R.L. de C.V., Whirlpool International GmbH, Whirlpool International Holdings S.a r.l., Whirlpool International Manufacturing S.a r.l., Whirlpool Ireland Appliances Limited, Whirlpool Ireland Limited, Whirlpool Italia Holdings S.r.l., Whirlpool Italia S.r.l., Whirlpool Japan Co. Ltd., Whirlpool Japan Inc., Whirlpool Kazakhstan LLP, Whirlpool Latin America Corporation, Whirlpool Latvia S.I.A., Whirlpool Lietuva UAB, Whirlpool Ltd Belgrade, Whirlpool Luxembourg Holdings S.a r.l., Whirlpool Luxembourg Investments S.a r.l., Whirlpool Luxembourg S.a r.l., Whirlpool Luxembourg Ventures S.a r.l., Whirlpool MEEA DMCC, Whirlpool Magyarorszag Kereskedelmi Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Whirlpool Management Services S.a.g.l., Whirlpool Maroc S. a r.l., Whirlpool Mauritius Limited, Whirlpool Mexico Holdings LLC, Whirlpool Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Whirlpool Mexico S.A. de C.V., Whirlpool Mexico Ventures LLC, Whirlpool Microwave Products Development Limited, Whirlpool NAAG Holdings Corporation, Whirlpool NAR Holdings, Whirlpool NAR Holdings LLC, Whirlpool Nederland B.V., Whirlpool Nordic, Whirlpool Nordic A/S, Whirlpool Nordic AB, Whirlpool Nordic AS, Whirlpool Nordic OY, Whirlpool Oceania Inc., Whirlpool Overseas Holdings, Whirlpool Overseas Holdings LLC, Whirlpool Overseas Hong Kong Limited, Whirlpool Overseas Manufacturing S.ar.l., Whirlpool Peru S.R.L., Whirlpool Polska Appliances Sp. z o.o., Whirlpool Polska Sp. z o.o., Whirlpool Portugal, Whirlpool Portugal S.A., Whirlpool Product Development (Shenzhen) Company Limited, Whirlpool Properties, Whirlpool Properties Inc., Whirlpool Puntana S.A., Whirlpool R&D S.r.l., Whirlpool RUS LLC, Whirlpool Realty Corporation, Whirlpool Romania S.r.l., Whirlpool S.A., Whirlpool SSC Limited, Whirlpool Slovakia Home Appliances spol. s.r.o., Whirlpool Slovakia spol. s.r.o., Whirlpool South Africa (Proprietary) Limited, Whirlpool Southeast Asia Pte, Whirlpool Sweden Aktiebolag, Whirlpool Taiwan Co. Ltd., Whirlpool Technologies LLC, Whirlpool UK Appliances Limited, Whirlpool UK Pension Scheme Trustee Limited, Whirlpool Ukraine LLC, Whirlpool WW Holdings B.V., Whirlpool do Brasil Investements B.V., Whirlpool do Brasil Ltda., Whirlpool of India Limited, Whirlpool Osterreich GmbH, Whirlpool Osterreich GmbH, Xpelair, Xpelair Ltd., Yummly, Yummly Canada Ltd., and Yummly Inc..The following companies are subsidiares of Allstate: AIMCO Private Fund I Holding LLC, AIMCO Private Fund I LLC, AIMCO Private Fund II LLC, ALIC Reinsurance Company, ALINV Mosaic LLC, ANIHI Newco LLC, AP Real Estate LLC, AP Riverway Plaza LLC, AP Timber LLC, Allstate Assignment Company, Allstate Assurance Company, Allstate County Mutual Insurance Company, Allstate Digital Ventures LLC, Allstate Distributors L.L.C., Allstate Enterprises LLC, Allstate Exchange Services LLC, Allstate Finance Company Agency Loans LLC, Allstate Finance Company LLC, Allstate Financial Advisors LLC, Allstate Financial Corporation, Allstate Financial Insurance Holdings Corporation, Allstate Financial LLC, Allstate Financial Services LLC (1), Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Company, Allstate Global Holdings Limited, Allstate Indemnity Company, Allstate Insurance Company, Allstate Insurance Company of Canada, Allstate Insurance Holdings LLC, Allstate International Assignments Ltd., Allstate International Holdings Inc., Allstate Investment Management Company, Allstate Investments LLC, Allstate Life Insurance Company (2), Allstate Life Insurance Company of Canada, Allstate Life Insurance Company of New York, Allstate Motor Club Inc., Allstate New Jersey Insurance Company, Allstate New Jersey Property and Casualty Insurance Company, Allstate Non-Insurance Holdings Inc., Allstate North American Insurance Company, Allstate Northbrook Indemnity Company, Allstate Northern Ireland Limited, Allstate Property and Casualty Insurance Company, Allstate Settlement Corporation, Allstate Short Term Pool LLC, Allstate Solutions Private Limited, Allstate Texas Lloyds, Allstate Texas Lloyds Inc., Allstate Vehicle and Property Insurance Company, American Heritage Life Insurance Company, American Heritage Service Company, Answer Financial Inc., Answer Marketplace LLC, Arity 875 LLC, Arity International Limited, Arity LLC, Arity Services LLC, CE Care Plan Corp, Castle Key Indemnity Company, Castle Key Insurance Company, Complete Product Care Corp, Current Creek Investments LLC, E.R.J. Insurance Group Inc. (3), Encompass Floridian Indemnity Company, Encompass Floridian Insurance Company, Encompass Home and Auto Insurance Company, Encompass Indemnity Company, Encompass Independent Insurance Company, Encompass Insurance Company, Encompass Insurance Company of America, Encompass Insurance Company of Massachusetts, Encompass Insurance Company of New Jersey, Encompass Insurance Holdings LLC, Encompass Property and Casualty Company, Encompass Property and Casualty Insurance Company of New Jersey, Esurance Holdings Inc., Esurance Insurance Company, Esurance Insurance Company of Canada, Esurance Insurance Company of New Jersey, Esurance Insurance Services Company of Canada, Esurance Insurance Services Inc. (4), Esurance Property and Casualty Insurance Company, First Colonial Insurance Company, Identity Protection Strategic Solutions LLC, InfoArmor Aggra Inc., InfoArmor Inc., Insurance Answer Center LLC (5), Intramerica Life Insurance Company, Ivantage Insurance Brokers Inc., Ivantage Select Agency Inc., Kennett Capital Inc., NBInv AF1 LLC, NBInv AF2 LLC, NBInv AF3 LLC, NBInv AF4 LLC, NBInv AF5 LLC, NBInv AF6 LLC, NBInv AP1 LLC, NBInv AP2 LLC, NBInv AP3 LLC, NBInv AP4 LLC, NBInv AP5 LLC, NBInv AP6 LLC, NBInv AP7 LLC, NBInv AP8 LLC, NBInv APAF1 LLC, NBInv Riverside Cars1 LLC, NBInv Riverside Management LLC, North Light Specialty Insurance Company, Northeast Agencies Inc. (6), Pablo Creek Services Inc., Pafco Insurance Company, Pembridge Insurance Company, PlumChoice Business Services Inc., PlumChoice Inc., Protection Plan Group Inc., Right Answer Insurance Agency LLC, Road Bay Investments LLC, ST Product Care Corp, Signature Agency Inc., Signature Motor Club Inc., Signature Motor Club of California Inc., Signature Nationwide Auto Club of California Inc., Signatures Nationwide Auto Club Inc., SquareTrade Australia Pty Ltd, SquareTrade Canada Inc., SquareTrade Europe Limited, SquareTrade Holding Company Inc., SquareTrade Inc. (7), SquareTrade Insurance Services Inc., SquareTrade Limited, SquareTrade Protection Solutions Inc., SquareTradeGo Inc., Tech-Cor LLC, and West Plaza RE Holdings LLC.Dan Raymond, owner of Zachary's Pastry Shoppe in East Greenbush, was eliminated from "Holiday Baking Championship" on Monday night.

The competition's week five challenges were making rugelach and tiramisu. After the verdict was announced, Raymond said, "I'm ready to go home and get ready for the holidays."

Read the back story on Table Hopping.

Food Network is looking for New York state chefs to compete on its "Chopped" cook-off series. Although the application page doesn't specify as much, Table Hopping was told New York chefs are of particular interest during this round of casting.

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As far as I know, only two Capital Region chefs have competed on "Chopped": Ric Orlando of New World Bistro Bar in Albany, who made it to the "Chopped" champions round in 2010 (and was on "Beat Bobby Flay" five years later); and Krista Espinal, founding chef of Malcolm's in Schenectady and currently at Innovo Kitchen in Troy, who was on "Chopped" a few years back while executive chef of Birdsall House in Peekskill.

What local chef would you like to see on "Chopped?" Comment on the Table Hopping blog.Bethlehem

Police said they've arrested the fleeing driver who nearly ran into a Secret Service agent who was acting as part of a counterfeiting sting closing in on him Monday.

Now, Adam N. Ruf, 29, of Guilderland faces scores of charges, from having forged materials to reckless driving, authorities said Tuesday.

The investigation into Ruf's activities began Nov. 20 as Bethlehem police and the U.S. Secret Service were looking into jewelry purchases via Craigslist using several hundred dollars in counterfeit money, Bethlehem Police Commander Adam Hornick said.

Authorities arranged the sale of another item to the suspect on Monday and when Ruf arrived he gave an undercover officer several hundred dollars in counterfeit cash for the purchase, officials said. Police then tried to arrest him.

"(Ruf) fled in his vehicle and drove towards police, almost striking a U.S. Secret Service Agent with his vehicle," Hornick said in a statement. The chase went through Bethlehem, Albany and Rensselaer, where it was ended "due to the reckless nature of the suspect's driving."

Within a few hours, Ruf and the vehicle were found by Bethlehem Police at a Guilderland home. Ruf was taken into custody without incident and the vehicle was impounded.

Hornick told the Times Union that Ruf was on probation for felony burglary.

Ruf was charged with a total of 59 counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument, reckless endangerment, criminal weapon possession and scheme to defraud. He was also charged with misdemeanor counts of petit larceny, unlawfully fleeing a police officer, reckless driving and vehicle and traffic violations including failing to obey a police officer and speeding.

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Ruf was arraigned and sent to the Albany County Jail without bail, scheduled to return to Bethlehem Town Court Friday morning.

The United States Secret Service and Bethlehem Police were assisted by Guilderland Police and the Capital Region Crime Analysis Center. Anyone with further information or who was a victim of a similar incident, is asked to contact Bethlehem police at 518-439-9973.

If Craigslist shoppers are nervous about meeting a stranger for a transaction, Hornick says "they are welcome to arrange a transaction here at the police station. We'll even test the paper money for them if they want us to."Washington

The nation's capital embraced George H.W. Bush in death Monday with solemn ceremony and high tributes to his service and decency, as the remains of the 41st president took their place in the Capitol rotunda for three days of mourning and praise by the political elite and everyday citizens alike.

With Bush's casket atop the Lincoln Catafalque, first used for Abraham Lincoln's 1865 funeral, dignitaries came forward to honor the Texan whose efforts for his country extended three-quarters of a century from World War II through his final years as an advocate for volunteerism and relief for people displaced by natural disaster.

President from 1989 to 1993, Bush died Friday at age 94.

In an invocation opening Monday evening's ceremony, the U.S. House chaplain, the Rev. Patrick J Conroy, praised Bush's commitment to public service, from Navy pilot to congressman, U.N. ambassador, envoy to China and then CIA director before being elected vice president and then president.

"Here lies a great man," said Rep. Paul Ryan, the House speaker, and "a gentle soul. ... His legacy is grace perfected."

Vice President Mike Pence and Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell also spoke.

Political combatants set aside their fights to honor a Republican who led in a less toxic time  and at times found commonality with Democrats despite sharp policy disagreements. Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi, past and incoming House speaker, exchanged a warm hug with George W. Bush and came away dabbing her face. Bush himself seemed to be holding back tears.

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Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, placed wreaths in the short ceremony before the rotunda was to be opened to the public.

Sent off from Texas with a 21-gun salute, Bush's casket was carried to Joint Base Andrews outside the capital city aboard an aircraft that often serves as Air Force One.

Cannon roared again outside the Capitol as the sun sank and his eldest son, former President George W. Bush, stood with his hand over his heart, watching the casket's procession up the steps.

He will lie in state in the Capitol for public visitation through Wednesday. An invitation-only funeral service is set for Wednesday at Washington National Cathedral. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump are to attend.State Police photo

CLIFTON PARK  State Police said Tuesday they arrested the man responsible for a robbery last month at Target.

On Nov. 25, troopers responded to the store for a report that a man who was stealing property from the store threatened a Target Asset Protection employee with a knife.ALBANY  The College of Saint Rose is among the most recent targets of a series of lawsuits filed against colleges and other organizations related to their websites.

The plaintiffs say the legal actions represent a growing movement to make online portals more accessible to the disabled  in this case, the blind or visually impaired. Attorneys for the defendants categorize them as nuisance suits.

In a suit filed in federal district court, New York City resident Jason Camacho, who is legally blind, contends that the Saint Rose website violates the Americans with Disabilities Act since it cant accommodate special software that would let him use the site.

Camacho is the listed plaintiff on 47 other suits, all filed in November, against colleges and schools nationwide. Those include the Los Angeles College of Music, Gettysburg College, Manhattanville College and Bennington College, to name a few.

"If you are a blind person, how do you get information?" asked Jeffrey Gottlieb, whose law firm represents Camacho in the suits. "If the website is not accessible, you're shut out."

He added that websites can be specially coded so that if a suitably equipped visitor hovers a cursor over, for example, a picture of a college library, it would prompt an audio description of the building.

Adam Morey, spokesman for the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York, characterized the actions as cut and paste" lawsuits in which lawyers file mass numbers of complaints against a given class of defendants in hopes of getting settlements or collecting lawyer fees if they win.

They just file lawsuits en masse, said Morey, whose organization believes its too easy to file such suits and do economic damage to the defendants.

Gottlieb wouldnt say exactly how many defendants he has taken to court on this issue, or the outcomes so far.

Colleges have been getting these suits occasionally over the past year. Similar plaintiffs have sued grocery stores, casinos and cruise lines as well as retailers and restaurants.

Some restaurants have even taken down their websites rather than risk lawsuits.

Seyfarth Shaw, a Chicago-based law firm that tracks such suits, has tallied 7,663 similar legal actions nationally in 2017, up from 2,722 in 2013. They predict that 10,000 will be filed this year.

The legal basis for the suits lies with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, the landmark civil rights law designed to prevent discrimination against those with disabilities, including blindness or visual impairment.

The problem, both sides agree, is that the federal Department of Justice has never promulgated regulations about how the ADA applies to these situations.

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As it is right now, businesses dont know how to comply with that law, said Morey.

He added that New York's courts have provided fertile ground for such suits through recent decisions in the Southern and Eastern districts that have characterized websites such as those promoting colleges as being public accommodations, said Morey.

That is what sort of opened the floodgates, he said.

Disability advocates and lawmakers have asked the federal DOJ to write regulations giving a clearer sense of what constitutes compliance regarding websites and the blind, but the agency hasnt done so  and President Donald J. Trump's administration has made it policy to stand down on establishing new regulations.

There are not rules out there except what the courts have said, Gottlieb noted.

Groups focusing on rights for the blind may be caught in the middle. Chris Danielsen, spokesman for the National Federation of the Blind, said in an email that, The issue of college and university websites, online courses, course materials (and more) being inaccessible is a legitimate one, but we are not involved in this batch of lawsuits and have no opinion on their individual merits.

rkarlin@timesunion.com 518 454 5758 @RickKarlinTUALBANY  Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is sending a message with the location of his inaugural address for the start of his third term.

Ellis Island, the historic entryway for immigrants to America, will host the New Year's Day event, which kicks off another four years in office for the governor. Cuomo delivered his second inaugural address in Manhattan at One World Trade Center four years ago, and held a ceremony in Albany for the start of his first term in 2011.

In a statement announcing the location of the address, Cuomo described Ellis Island as an "enduring symbol" of the nation's identity.

"This historic gateway to America reminds us of the core values that built our state and our country, and it will serve as a fitting location to launch a new term fighting for New Yorkers and for the soul of this nation," he said.

Immigration has emerged as a key issue for the governor in recent years, as he has staked out positions in stark opposition to President Donald J. Trump, who supports a wall along the border with Mexico and embraced anti-immigrant rhetoric. During the governor's re-election campaign, he repeatedly tried to link GOP opponent Marc Molinaro to Trump, including the federal government's longstanding family separation policy along the southern border.

New York Immigration Coalition Executive Director Steven Choi wants the governor to use his inaugural address pulpit to get the ball rolling on legislative priorities that would protect immigrants.

"The governor has the opportunity to announce his support for expanding driver's licenses for all and a sweeping pro-immigrant agenda in New York, not just criticize the Trump administration," he said.

"Now is the time for leadership, but New York lags behind 12 other states plus D.C. that have already enacted common sense driver's license legislation to make sure a traffic stop doesn't become a deportation order, protect immigrant families and keep New York moving," Choi said. "In 2019, we're counting on Gov. Cuomo to change that."

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In 2007, Gov. Eliot Spitzer championed driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants, but his push was met with stiff opposition, including from Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, who was then-Erie County clerk. The proposal has failed to pass either house of the state Legislature.

Legislation expanding benefits for children of undocumented immigrants, including college tuition assistance, is expected to have a better chance of passing in the upcoming session, which begins in January. It's odds increased with the Democratic takeover of the state Senate, as Cuomo and the state Assembly are already behind the bill, which is known as the DREAM Act.

David.Lombardo@timesunion.com - 518.454.5427 - @poozer87WASHINGTON - The body of former President George H.W. Bush arrived at the U.S. Capitol on Monday afternoon to begin several days of Washington tributes with all the solemn ceremony befitting a nation's late leader.

The president's cortege, in a flight of gleaming black limousines, arrived on a fading autumn day at the traditional site of public leave-taking after a journey from Houston, where Bush died Friday at the age of 94.

As the sky grew pink and the U.S. Army Band played hymns, an eight-man military team of bearers carried the casket up the long flight of stairs at the eastern front of the Capitol.

The crash of an artillery salute echoed over the grounds.

Inside, the casket was placed on the same pine board catafalque, covered in black fabric, that held the coffin of Abraham Lincoln after he was assassinated in 1865.

One hundred eighty feet above, in the "eye" of the Rotunda, was the 1851 fresco depicting the exaltation of the nation's first president, George Washington.

Scores of dignitaries and legislators were gathered and were unanimous in their praise. Among them was Vice President Mike Pence.

"President Bush was a great leader who made a great difference in the life of this nation," he said. "But he was also just a good man, who was devoted to his wife, his family and his friends."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called Bush a hero and "a steady hand."

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrived about 8:30 p.m., long after the ceremony. They bowed their heads in silent meditation before the president saluted and the two left.

Amid the speeches and the pomp, George W. Bush, a former president and one of George H.W. Bush's sons, looked haggard with grief.

The late president's casket and his family had arrived at Joint Base Andrews on the jet that usually carries Trump. It landed at the base in suburban Maryland about 3:20 p.m.

The plane arrived under a blue sky and rolled down an empty runway. When it came to a stop, a blue truck bearing the presidential seal pulled up to remove the casket from the aircraft.

As an Air Force band played a hymn, and a blue Air Force flag flew at half-staff, the president's casket was placed in a black hearse, which left for the Capitol at 4 p.m.

Outside the base, bystanders with cellphones and cameras took their positions as police asked them to move back off the sidewalk, to keep the Secret Service from getting nervous.

At the Admiral Place apartment complex across the street, neighbors went to their balconies as the breeze blew briskly and the sun started sinking.

Nearby, Bryan Ingram waited.

Ingram, 35, has been here for the funerals of Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford, as well as Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.

"It's a final tribute," he said. "It's a way to pay my respects to a fallen statesman. . . . He brought dignity to the office of president. That's not something we have today."

Nearby, Deborah Gwaltney, a retiree and Upper Marlboro, Maryland, resident, sat in her car waiting for the motorcade. "They don't make men like that anymore," she said. "Men of his caliber."

Elsewhere outside the base, a woman held a sign echoing George H.W. Bush's last words to George W. Bush: "We love you too, Mr. President."

As the motorcade passed, she said quietly, "There he is."

Sherdette Daniels, 55, of Fort Washington, Maryland, saluted the motorcade as it left the base.

"Yes! Yes!" she said as former first lady Laura Bush and her daughter Jenna Bush Hager waved from one of the SUVs.

"This is awesome! That's it! Woo! Amen, amen," Daniels said. She then turned to a woman standing beside her who had her hand on her chest. The strangers hugged.

"I thought I was going to cry," the older woman said.

As the motorcade swept up Constitution Avenue, Sherry Smith, 45, a probation officer who lives in Dallas, stood on the sidewalk outside the Capitol and placed her hand across her heart.

"I don't know why I did it," Smith said seconds after the motorcade passed. "It was automatic. . . . It's a solemn feeling. . . . He was a war hero. He spent his whole life protecting our country."

On the west side of the Capitol, as the artillery salute boomed near the memorial to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, 9-year-old Sebastian Cabrera Zuniga became alarmed.

"That's loud!" he shouted, his hands covering his ears. "Daddy, are they destroying anything?"

His father, Nick Pasqualicchio, 58, from New Jersey, told his son, "No, they just make a lot of noise."

Earlier in Houston, another band played the haunting "Eternal Father, Strong to Save," known as the Navy hymn, and smoke from an artillery salute blew across the airport tarmac as the late president began his final journey to Washington.

As wind blew the ceremonial flags and the bearers struggled to hold them upright, the body of the former president arrived at Houston's Ellington Field, where it was placed aboard the presidential jet for the trip to Joint Base Andrews.

The band played ruffles and flourishes and "Hail to the Chief," and George W. and Laura Bush led the family aboard the blue and white jumbo jet.

The public viewing in the Rotunda will continue Tuesday and will end at 7 a.m. Wednesday.

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An hour before the 7:30 p.m. start of the public viewing Monday, a few hundred people already had lined up outside the Capitol.

"It's historical," said Terry Davidson, who works for the Small Business Administration. "We are from Texas. President Bush was from Texas. We thought it was a great opportunity to pay respects to a man we admired because of his patriotism, his courage and leadership."

Across the street, Alex Roberts, 22, a flight attendant, and his friend Rasheed Evelyn, 22, a student at George Washington University, looked up at the Capitol dome.

"It's really amazing to show this honor to a former American president," Roberts said. "It really is an end of an era for someone who held the office with dignity. My politics differ from him, but I respect his service to the country. He was an American icon."

The line moved steadily throughout the night, with a brief slowdown when Trump arrived.

Webb Jay IV, 37, of Destrehan, Louisiana, had arrived in the District earlier Monday for a conference and thought he would stop by to pay tribute to a former president. Jay, who described himself as a lifelong Republican, remarked on the unique opportunity.

"It's not very often you have the opportunity to pay your final respect to a president," said Jay, a real estate broker. "I looked at it as an opportunity to participate in something that very few individuals get to do."

The last president to lie in state in the Rotunda before Bush was Ford, from Dec. 30, 2006, to Jan. 2, 2007. The last public figure to lie in state there was the late senator John McCain on Aug. 31, according to the Senate Historical Office.

The U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony, originally set for Wednesday, was rescheduled to 5 p.m. Thursday.

A funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday at Washington National Cathedral, as the Bush family requested.

After a departure ceremony at 10 a.m. at the Capitol, the former president's body will be taken to the cathedral via a motorcade that will move along streets including Constitution Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue, Massachusetts Avenue and Wisconsin Avenue.

The state funeral - based on the burial rite in the Episcopal Church's Book of Common Prayer - will be led by the Rev. Michael Curry, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, the cathedral said.

Also participating will be the Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Episcopal Bishop of Washington; the Rev. Randy Hollerith, dean of Washington National Cathedral; and the Rev. Russell Levenson Jr., rector of St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston.

Bush is to be eulogized by his son George W. Bush, as well as former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney, former senator Alan Simpson and historian Jon Meacham, according to CNN.

The cathedral also hosted the state funerals of Ford in 2007, Reagan in 2004 and Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1969.

The cathedral hosted the official burial service for Woodrow Wilson in 1924.

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The Washington Post's Mike DeBonis, Paul Kane, Jenna Portnoy, Faiz Siddiqui and Clarence Williams in Washington and Brittney Martin in Houston contributed to this report.

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Video Embed Code

Video: Host Libby Casey and Washington Post reporters provide live coverage and analysis as George H.W. Bush's casket journey's to the U.S. Capitol, where the public may pay their respects to the 41st president of the United States.(The Washington Post)

Embed code:TROY  A judge on Monday rejected a motion filed by the state attorney general's office that sought to reargue the dismissal of criminal charges against Rensselaer County District Attorney Joel E. Abelove over his handling of a fatal police shooting case.

State Supreme Court Justice Jonathan D. Nichols summarily rejected the motion, filed last July, without issuing a formal written order that explained his decision.

The ruling by Nichols may not signal the end of the criminal exposure for Abelove, who lost re-election to a second term last month, because the office of Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood has also filed a notice of their intent to appeal the judge's dismissal of the case.

The motion filed nearly six months ago had asked Nichols to vacate his June 11 dismissal and reinstate the indictment that charged Abelove with lying to a grand jury and manipulating the investigation that cleared a Troy police sergeant in the fatal 2016 shooting of an unarmed DWI suspect.

Nichols ruled the state attorney general's office exceeded its investigatory authority under state executive law and did not have the statutory jurisdiction to prosecute Abelove on charges of felony perjury, which allegedly took place when he testified before the panel that indicted him.

Abelove was indicted a year ago in a case that probed his controversial decision to rush the shooting case before a grand jury less than a week after Edson Thevenin was fatally shot in April 2016. Abelove was charged with felony perjury and two misdemeanor counts of official misconduct.

The attorney general's office had also examined the circumstances of the fatal shooting, but the office did not seek to overturn the grand jury's decision that cleared the officer of wrongdoing. The grand jury proceeding had been clouded, in part, because at least two civilian witnesses who had called into question the police account of the incident did not testify before the grand jury.

Still, it would have been difficult to unwind the grand jury's decision because Abelove had given immunity from prosecution to Sgt. Randy French, the officer who fired the fatal shots.

William J. Dreyer, Abelove's attorney, declined to comment on the decision issued Monday.

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"Our indictment detailed a disturbing pattern of misconduct that violated the law and undermined a criminal investigation," said Amy Spitalnick, a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office. "Were reviewing the decision in order to determine next steps. We remain steadfast in our determination to hold Mr. Abelove accountable for his actions."

Nichols did not dispute that the attorney general's office had authority under an executive order issued by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to investigate the circumstances of the fatal shooting, including whether Abelove had committed official misconduct in its aftermath. But the judge ruled the attorney general improperly pursued a perjury charge that was beyond its authority.

Nichols wrote that the felony perjury charge was "so inextricably intertwined" with the misdemeanor counts of official misconduct -- and may have damaged Abelove's credibility with the grand jury he was accused of lying to -- that he dismissed those charges as well. The attorney general's motion said it was wrong to dismiss any of the charges.



ALBANY  A New York City law firm that handles cases with the Manhattan district attorney's office is representing the state district attorneys association at no cost in a lawsuit challenging legislation signed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo creating a special commission to investigate prosecutorial misconduct.

The legal work is being done pro bono by Walden Macht & Haran, a prominent Manhattan law firm.

Records indicate the firm, which handles criminal defense and other types of law, has had clients with cases before various district attorneys  including Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance.

Albany County District Attorney David Soares, who is president of the non-profit district attorneys association, said the organization's members could have filed the lawsuit against Cuomo and legislative leaders, but they preferred the "unjaundiced eye" of an outside law firm do the work and leave the prosecutors free to focus on public matters.

"This was something we went over internally, and felt entirely comfortable with," Soares said, noting the association was fully transparent about the pro bono nature of the representation and had announced the firm was doing the work last month.

The association, which receives some public funding, could have paid for legal representation through its members' dues, Soares said, but he preferred the nonprofit use its resources for other purposes, such as training prosecutors.

Jim Walden, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs in the case, has represented a number of clients before Vance's office, including several cases involving professional athletes in New York City. In April, Walden was profiled by the New York Times for his representation of those high-profile clients.

Soares said that Walden does not currently have any cases pending before Vance or other New York district attorneys, and that Walden's cases with Vance's office were limited. In the future, Walden would seek a waiver if any potential conflicts arose.

Last year, Vance's office declined to bring charges against a Walden client, former New York Knicks forward Kyle O'Quinn, who had been accused of choking a woman outside a New York City bar.

Walden stated at the time that O'Quinn was innocent. The attorney for the woman who was allegedly choked, however, told the New York Post last year that Vance's decision had shown "extreme favoritism" to the celebrity.

In 2014, former Knicks guard Raymond Felton reached a plea with Vance's office on a felony gun possession charge, an agreement that allowed Felton to avoid jail time. Represented by Walden in the matter, Felton thanked Vance for "being fair to me in this whole situation."

Walden's June court appearance in Brooklyn with UFC star Conor McGregor, who had been videotaped attacking a busload of other fighters, was Walden's lone appearance in front of the Brooklyn district attorney's office, Walden said. The representation lasted only briefly.

The petition, filed by the district attorneys association in state Supreme Court in Albany in October, challenges legislation Cuomo signed in August creating the Commission on Prosecutorial Conduct. The 11-member panel would review complaints of misconduct by prosecutors and recommend any disciplinary action to Cuomo, who would have the power to remove a district attorney for cause.

"Our criminal justice system must fairly convict the guilty and exonerate the innocent," Cuomo said in a statement after signing the legislation. "When any prosecutor consciously disregards that fundamental duty, communities suffer and lose faith in the system, and they must have a forum to be heard and seek justice."

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Walden was interested in working on the case, at no charge, largely because he believes the law creating the commission is unconstitutional, Soares said.

"The New York state Constitution clearly sets forth the distinct roles and responsibilities of each branch of state government,"states a memorandum filed in court by Walden's firm. "It is a bedrock principle of our democracy that no statute, no matter how noble its ostensible purpose, may violate that constitutional structure."

Walden's memorandum outlined seven areas of the law that were unconstitutional.

An analysis by the state attorney general's office agreed with that position, concluding the legislation was poorly crafted and would likely not withstand a court challenge because of "several constitutional defects."

Cuomo has acknowledged the bill "suffers from several flaws," but said those issues would be handled by amending the legislation when the state Senate and Assembly return to Albany for the 2019 session in January.

The state officials named as defendants in the case have also lined up notable private attorneys  including several from Albany  at taxpayers' expense. In addition to Cuomo, the private attorneys are representing Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb, Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan, and Senate Minority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins.

Attorney General Barbara Underwood's office had declined to represent the lawmakers, citing a potential conflict of interest.TROY  The citys second-highest paid employee in 2017 will soon be without union protection if the City Council approves a new contract Thursday with the Uniform Fire Chiefs Association.

The tentative agreement signed by Mayor Patrick Madden and Deputy Fire Chief Dave Paul, president of the UFCA, would remove Fire Chief Thomas Garrett from the union. Garrett would have to reach his own contract agreement with Maddens administration after he leaves the UFCA on Feb. 8, 2019.

Garrett, who has been chief since 1996, would become a management employee and no longer covered by the contracts overtime provisions. This would put the fire chief in the same category as the police chief  relying on an individual contract.

The city's budget showed Garrett's budgeted base salary at $103,245 compared to $135,600 for Police Chief Brian Owens. In the past, overtime and other payments resulted in Garrett making the same or more than the police chief. Garrett earned $146,617 in 2017.

Garrett referred all questions about the contract to Paul.

The fire chief title was to come out of the contract when Garrett retired, Paul said. The provision as part of a new contract sped up the process, said Paul, who declined to offer any further explanation.

This will be the first contract between the UFCA and the city since the last one expired on Dec. 31, 2010. The new contract would run through Dec. 31, 2022.

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Garrett celebrated the start of his 46th years as a Troy firefighter Monday. His first day on the job was Dec. 3, 1973.

Effective February 8, 2019 the title Fire Chief shall be removed from the UFCA and shall not be represented by the UFCA. The Fire Chief shall have a separate employment contract with the City Of Troy. Said contract shall be personal to the individual named in the contract and will not pass forward to the benefit of their successor, the contract provision reads.

A spokesman for Madden did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the new contract provisions regarding the fire chief.

Its a good deal, Paul said regarding the overall contract which will cover the assistant fire chief, deputy fire chief and four battalion chiefs.

The contract continues provisions for the chiefs to receive the same pay raises as the Uniformed Firefighters Association, which represents the citys rank and file department members; pay the chiefs the same paramedic rate as the firefighters; increase health insurance co-pays; and shall pay the health insurance costs for a spouse if a UFCA member is killed in the line of duty or dies after retiring.ALBANY  A self-described perv secretly filmed a woman showering in her Albany hotel room, posted the images online and tried to shake her down to have them removed more than three years later, according to a $100 million lawsuit.

The woman, a law school graduate from Chicago, was in town to take the New York bar exam when her privacy was grossly invaded at the downtown Hampton Inn and Suites in July 2015, the suit said.

The legal action was filed in Virginia, where Hilton Worldwide Holdings, the hotels parent company, is based. The suit was filed by Alexandria, Va.-based attorneys led by Roland Christensen. It alleges negligence on the hotel, which it contends employed a John Doe allegedly responsible for the invasion of privacy.

"It was like I had been hit by a truck. It just knocked the wind out of me," the woman, who asked to remain anonymous, told "Good Morning America." "I had no idea who took the video. I had no idea who this guy was, and all I could think is my life is over."

In a statement, a spokeswoman for Hilton said: "We take the safety and well-being of our guests incredibly seriously, and find the details included in the civil filing distressing. We will support the independent ownership and management of the property as they investigate, respond, and cooperate with any law enforcement investigations."

The suit described the sequence of events as follows:

On Sept. 30, the woman received an email stating, This is you right? It included a link to a video on an internet pornography site that included the womans name and showed her showering naked.

That night, the woman received another email from the same person. This time it included personal details about her  where she worked, where went to college, that she had taken the New York bar exam.

I dont want to embarrass you please reply, the emailer said.

On Oct. 1, the woman received another email saying: I'm a perv. I don't hurt anyone. I like to watch. No need to worry about me I just like to watch and then I move on to the next.

Later that day, the person sent an email saying: Promise me my own show. That's the hottest. No need to show your face. Then I disappear and remove the videos forever before they get copied on every website.

The person sent the woman another email the same day saying: "Are you here still? I know it's you. I don't want to embarrass you. Please reply before it's too late to stop it."

The next email, again on Oct. 1, said: "You have until midnight to send me something good. Or I will post videos, your name, info everywhere. Then I send to people you know. You can enjoy being famous."

On Oct. 11, the video of the woman was posted to several pornographic websites. The woman was able to get some of then taken down. On Oct. 19, the person sent another email: "Why'd you take down my video??? It's ok it's already up on a bunch of sites lo!. You already hit 1000 views on one. Just sent you in to a new one. Want to know which one? Do you want me to stop?

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The next day, the person sent the woman an email, attached to an image of her in the shower, saying: "Round 2 starts today. This time I start by emailing people you know. You think you're better than other people but you 're just a whore. Either we talk or this goes out. Either you be my bitch or (you) will be everybody's bitch. Be smart."

On Oct. 26, the woman received emails from colleagues and former classmates who had received what appeared to be an email from the woman about her daring art project.

Time to talk yet? the person threatened in an Oct. 26 email. All those views are people you know. HUNDREDS. Some maybe watched more than once :) You want this to stop. You want me to stop. Right? Do I need more from ? Maybe youre ready. I can do that. A little bit of money and it all goes away.

The person demanded $2,000 that day and $1,000 for every day of the month.

The woman did not give in.

Officer Steve Smith, a spokesman for Albany police, said the department had only learned of the incident on Tuesday. He said there was no present investigation but these are incidents that we take very seriously and if the victim, someone representing the victim or another law enforcement agency involved in a criminal investigation pertaining to this case contacts the Albany Police Department, we will do whatever we can to assist. 

Steve Hughes contributedUL Hospitals staff, which includes Nenagh Hospital, have joined forces with An Gardai Siochana, Rape Crisis Mid-West, Adapt House, Clare Haven and Ascend Services as part of the international campaign 16 Days of Action Opposing Violence Against Women.

The campaign started on November 25, the Global 16 Days Campaign on the UN Day opposing Violence against Women. Violence against women is embedded as one of the UNs Sustainable Development Goals which the international community have signed up to in order to address global problems of poverty and inequality.

Organisations in the Mid-West will join others around the world in running a range of activities to raise awareness about issues of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence until December 10.

The Medical Social Work (MSW) Team at UL Hospitals offers a confidential, support and information service to those who are affected by domestic violence across all the UL Hospitals Group. They meet and work with women, children and families who attend UHL Grouphospitals having experienced, or who are at risk of, abuse.

Anne Hegarty, manager of Medical Social Work Services at UHL, said it was important to look at this years campaign theme, Change the Conversation, which puts a focus on how we discuss and speak about domestic violence and femicide. The campaign highlights myths surrounding domestic violence and challenges these. One-in-five women experience some form of domestic violence in Ireland and women continue to face deeply ingrained myths in our society.

Local support service can be had through: Medical Social Work Team UHL: 061-482965/2467; Adapt House, Limerick: 1800-200504/061-412354 (24 hr helpline); Clare Haven, Ennis, 065-6822435 (24 hr helpline); Ascend, North Tipperary: 0505-23999 (Monday-Friday 9am-5pm); Rape Crisis Centre Midwest, Limerick, 1800-311511.On November 13, 2018, Patchara Samalapa, president of Kasikornbank, a major banking group in Thailand, paid a visit to Linglong Tire with his team. Wang Feng, chairman of Linglong Tire, warmly welcomed them, and the two teams had many fruitful discussions.

Kasikornbank was established on June 8, 1945. In August 2013, Linglong Tire entered into a strategic partnership with the bank, which has since been providing the tire maker with financial support in Thailand.

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After a welcome meeting, Samalapa and his team were given a tour round Linglongs nationally recognized R&D center and intelligent manufacturing plant. According to the tire manufacturer, they were impressed with the technologies at the facility and the operations of the factory, which reinforced Kasikornbanks confidence in the collaboration between the two companies.[December 04, 2018] American Campus Communities Commences Construction on ACE-Funded Holloway Student Housing Apartment Community at San Francisco State University

American Campus Communities (NYSE: ACC), the nation's largest owner, manager and developer of high-quality student housing has commenced construction of a new on-campus student housing development in a public-private partnership with San Francisco State University (SF State). This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204006155/en/ Representatives from SF State, American Campus Communities, and the project team celebrate the commencement of construction of the university's newest on-campus student housing. (Photo: Business Wire) San Francisco State University is a public research university that serves nearly 30,000 students and is part of the California State University System. This student housing project marks the first equity-financed public-private partnership for the California State University System. With a waitlist of more than 2,000 students wanting to live on the SFSU campus, the partnership will allow for a state-of-the-art solution to the need for updated student housing at affordable price points in the market. The project is the result of a development collaboration with Pacific Union Development Company (PUDC) and RLR Ventures (RLR), who have been working with SF State on the Holloway Avenue revitalization project since 2014. "This public-private partnership with American Campus Communities and Pacific Union Development Company will help us meet the demand for modern, on-campus student housing," said Jason Porth, SF State's vice president for University Enterprises. "It has also created an exciting opportunity to contribute to the revitalization of Holloway Avenue." Upon completion in 2020, the project will be located on the southeast edge of the SF State campus, serving as a hub of student life activity and pedestrian connection between the University and its surrounding community. The 584-bed, mixed-use community will feature fully furnished apartment-style units with private and shared accommodations. Residents will have access to nearly 14,000 square feet of modern amenity space, including social and recreational lounges, and an Academic Success Center. Additionally, the community will include nearly 15,000 square feet of on-site retail. The development is designed sustainably and will pursue a LEED Gold certification. "We're excited to kick off our partnership with the California State University System," said Jamie Wilhelm, ACC executive vice president/public-private transactions. "We look forward to delivering modern, purpose-built student housing and we're very proud of the work that PUDC and RLR have done in helping SF State meet its needs through a unique partnership model." The new facility adds o the University's ongoing revitalization of Holloway Avenue, which is emerging as a vibrant campus gateway. In addition to the student housing community, the corridor includes the university's first new academic building in over two decades-the Liberal & Creative Arts Building. The four-story, 76,000 square foot building will house SF State's Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts program, administrative offices, television studios, a newsroom, radio station and interdisciplinary lecture and active learning classrooms. It, too, will be open for the Fall 2020 semester.



"This project is designed to support the academic success and social interaction of SFSU students and provide vibrant retail and gathering space for the University and the surrounding community," said Joel Roos, PUDC Principal, vice president of development. "We are enormously proud to play a role in the University's vision for unmatched student living as a key component of the Holloway Avenue neighborhood vision," said Ross Robb, RLR Ventures president.

The transaction was structured under the American Campus Equity (ACE) program, which gives universities the opportunity to expand and modernize their student housing offerings without the use of university financial resources. Under the ACE program, ACC delivers high-quality student housing at lower development costs and operating expenses as well as affordable rents to residents, without the use of taxpayer or university funds, which allows universities to dedicate their capital to educational and research facilities. About American Campus Communities American Campus Communities, Inc. is the largest owner, manager and developer of high-quality student housing communities in the United States. The company is a fully integrated, self-managed and self-administered equity real estate investment trust (REIT) with expertise in the design, finance, development, construction management and operational management of student housing properties. As of September 30, 2018, American Campus Communities owned 168 student housing properties containing approximately 103,500 beds. Including its owned and third-party managed properties, ACC's total managed portfolio consisted of 202 properties with approximately 131,900 beds. Visit www.americancampus.com. About Pacific Union Development Company Pacific Union Development Company is a privately-held real estate development, investment and property management firm located in San Francisco. Founded in 1975, PUDC has distinguished itself as a leader in the development and management of large-scale commercial, residential, and mixed-use properties throughout the Bay Area. The firm's broad portfolio of projects includes multi-family, student housing, mixed-use, senior housing, affordable housing, retail, hotels, museums, schools, parking facilities, medical office buildings, subdivisions, and single-family homes. For more information on PUDC, please visit www.pudco.com. About RLR Ventures RLR Ventures, LLC is a Tempe, Arizona based development and advisory firm specializing in structuring public-private transactions for colleges and universities, K-12 school districts and municipalities. About San Francisco State University San Francisco State University is a doctoral public university serving students from the San Francisco Bay Area, across California and beyond, with nationally acclaimed programs that span a broad range of disciplines. Nearly 30,000 students enroll at the University each year, and its more than 253,000 graduates have contributed to the economic, cultural and civic fabric of San Francisco and beyond. Through them - and more than 1,700 world-class faculty members - SF State proudly embraces its legacy of academic excellence, community engagement and commitment to social justice. For more information, visit sfsu.edu. Forward-Looking Statements In addition to historical information, this press release contains forward-looking statements under the applicable federal securities law. These statements are based on management's current expectations and assumptions regarding markets in which American Campus Communities, Inc. (the "Company") operates, operational strategies, anticipated events and trends, the economy, and other future conditions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks and uncertainties, which are difficult to predict. For discussions of some risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, please refer to our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017 under the heading "Risk Factors" and under the heading "Business - Forward-looking Statements" and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, including our expected 2018 operating results, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204006155/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] Startup Hiber Celebrates Lift-off of First Global Connected-Tech Network in California

'NewSpace'* startup Hiber celebrated the lift-off of its "HiberBand" nano-satellite yesterday at 10.32am PST at the Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Dutch-government backed Hiber is the first truly global satellite solution, opening the door for the 90% of the world currently unable to use connected tech. The launch will be available to replay here: https://hiber.tv/ Less than 10% of the globe is covered by a connected-technology ready network. Existing networks (like WIFI) only work in urban areas and wealthier countries, while traditional satellites that provide wider coverage are expensive and power hungry. For these reasons, many connected-tech applications and services are currently unaffordable. For example, it is currently unviable to monitor soil moisture to improve production efficiency and crop quality in the third world countries that rely on farming the most. Hiber has launched into the orbit to change that. Once fully operational, the nano-satellite will fly over earth's poles 16 times a day and the entirety of the equator twice a day, providing the planet with the ability to stream data to and from connected devices. Using a process that is up to 20 times cheaper than existing global solutions, it works by transferring data from modems and antennas owned by customers directly to the nano-satellites. Data is then sent back to earth via the two existing satellite stations in Spitsbergen in Norway and Delft in the Netherlands. Hiber is colaborating with Amazon Web Services and was named the AWS Commercial Launch Startup of 2018 on the 25th November. Hiber has also partnered with IBM Watson and Actility (News - Alert) for easy integration into existing cloud services, allowing customers to easily build unique applications with global data-streaming capabilities.



The network will be commercially operational from Q1 2019, serving more than 25 pilot customers. Hiber estimates there is a potential 3.5Bn opportunity for growth as potential IoT projects currently falter due to a lack of connectivity. One of its pilot customers, the British Antarctic Survey, will be using the network to transmit data from remote measurement stations currently without access to satellite communications. The ability to stream data from the stations will result in more frequent information gathering at a lower cost and the strain on the environment will be reduced as visits are lessened. Other customers include a Dutch company which will be bringing climate stations to schools in rural communities in Peru, Tanzania and Sri Lanka to educate tomorrow's smart farmers and Blik Sensing, which helps manage water resources by providing insight into global groundwater levels.

"It is beyond exciting to be the first company bringing full IoT-connectivity to the globe - as well as being the first ever commercial Dutch Satellite operator," said Laurens Groenendijk, Co-Founder of Hiber. "The commercial applications for Hiberband in the IoT-industry are limitless. We look forward to powering diverse projects, from tracking cattle to tackling climate change and more effectively growing crops." Hiber celebrated the launch of its first satellite at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India on the 29th November, 20:28 PST. The startup expects to launch dozens of satellites in the next 12 to 18 months to meet the enormous demand for connected tech around the world. -- Ends -- About Hiber Hiber (formerly Magnitude Space) is a so-called 'NewSpace' startup. Founded and led by a dream team of satellite experts and tech entrepreneurs, these 'Hibernauts' are literally working on a moonshoot goal: to launch and own a nano-satellite constellation in space. Each nano-satellite will roughly be the size of a large shoebox. To date, around 10 million in funding has been invested in the company. Thanks to subsidies, innovation loans and informal investors, on 19 November Hiber will take its first step towards realising its dream of becoming the Netherlands' first commercial satellite company. More than 40 employees work on the ground-breaking, patent-pending technology behind Hiber and Hiberband at its offices in Amsterdam and Delft. (*) Definition of NewSpace from Wikipedia. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005609/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] Surviscor's 2018 Canadian Mobile Brokerage Rankings

Interactive Brokers is the leader in Mobile Brokerage Experience in Canada according to Surviscor Rankings TORONTO, Dec. 4, 2018 /CNW/ - Interactive Brokers provides the best mobile brokerage experience amongst Canadian self-directed brokerage firms according to Surviscor's 2018 Canadian Mobile Brokerage scorCard Review. Interactive Brokers became the new Canadian leader in its inaugural Surviscor review, dethroning BMO InvestorLine who dropped into 3rd place while Questrade remained in second. Individual firm reviews can be found at www.surviscor.com.



The scorCard Review is the most comprehensive analysis in North America, providing an impartial assessment of the mobile-based customer experience at Canadian self-directed brokerage institutions. The firm scores are based on each firm's ability to provide its customer base with established, industry-wide features and functionality available through the various mobile devices. "Overall, it's been a quiet development year in the Canadian self-directed brokerage industry" said Glenn LaCoste, President and CEO of the Surviscor Group of Companies. "At first glance the scores can be shocking, but it is important to understand that they do not reflect the overall merits of any of the firms. The take-away is that most industry firms fail to provide a seamless mobile accessible experience for the base online offering. The bar has now been raised and we congratulate Interactive Brokers on their convincing win and strong mobile customer experience" added Mr. LaCoste.

"Interactive Brokers Group has always focused on three major things: providing clients with exceptional value, breadth of product worldwide and superior technology," said Jean-Francois Bernier, Director of Interactive Brokers Canada. "We have worked very hard on developing our mobile offerings, so that our clients can trade wherever they are and access the sophisticated trading tools we offer on our feature-rich desktop trading platforms." Surviscor's proprietary scorCard methodology measures over 3900 objective usage-related criteria questions over four main device families, reviewing each firm by six independent categories, each weighted according to industry importance through direct feedback with industry firms. For further information, or to view individual firm reviews, visit www.surviscor.com or contact Surviscor at 1-866-299-7267 or email [email protected]. About Surviscor Inc. Surviscor is a North American leader in the analysis and ranking of Canadian digital customer experiences provided by service firms. Surviscor's popular digital brokerage and banking reviews are powered by its proprietary scorCard methodology, identifying the BEST and WORST digital customer experiences. All studies and analyses serve as industry benchmarks for consumers and industry participants by identifying digital offerings considered to be leading-edge as compared to the industry standard. SOURCE Surviscor Inc.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 03, 2018] Blumenthal Presses FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr to Disclose Evidence of '5G Safety'

The National Institute for Science, Law & Public Policy (NISLAPP) applauds Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) for pressing FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, Esq. to provide documentation substantiating the Commissioner's remarks defending '5G safety.' NISLAPP seconds this request. Jim Turner, Esq., President of NISLAPP, says: "NISLAPP considers it a mistake to place new high-frequency radiating antennas in local communities, in very close proximity to homes, offices and schools, when no pre-market health testing at scale has been conducted on the effects of the radiation emitted, to our knowledge, and when much safer hard-wired internet access technologies are readily available. We strongly support Senator Blumenthal's request of FCC (News - Alert) Commissioner Carr to provide the documentation evidencing the FCC's 'safety determination for 5G,' along with the supporting scientific citations used in making that determination." Senator Blumenthal's formal request to Commissioner Carr requesting these documents was announced at a press conference in Hartford this morning. In the letter, Blumenthal explained that recently, in a Senate Committee field hearing in South Dakota regarding 5G, Mayor Paul TenHaken of Sioux Falls, SD was looking for "clear direction, talking points, studies that have been done that show that there is no harm to our constituents and to the taxpayers on putting these small cells on towers close to libraries, close to schools, close to their homes." And that Commissioner Carr responded at the time, saying, "Federal law actually says that state and local governments can't take [radiofrequency] concerns into account given how much work has gone into this issue at the federal levelBoth at the FCC and other expert health agencies in Washington, they stay very much up to sped on these issues and have reached the determination that these are safe."



Following this exchange, Senator Blumenthal is presently calling on FCC Commissioner Carr to send the following documentation to his office: The 5G safety determination from FCC and other relevant health agencies to which Commissioner Carr referred during the field hearing. Current citations for the studies informing that safety determination. He said his own constituents have similar concerns about 5G, and that he wants to provide them with accurate information.

Senator Blumenthal said we "are interested in acquainting ourselves with the latest studies evaluating the health effects of high-band frequencies and modulations that would be used in 5G networks." He noted "Most of our current regulations regarding radiofrequency safety were adopted in 1996 and have not yet been updated for next generation equipment and devices." He also mentioned the large U.S. government funded study by the National Toxicology Program, published this year, using earlier generation technologies (2G and 3G), showed a link between radiofrequency radiation and cancer. Blumenthal added, "Carriers will also need updated guidelines governing the authorization of devices to be used with 5G," and "We also believe it is critical for the FCC to act on its March 27, 2013 Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Inquiry to ensure all individuals, and especially those working in close proximity to the hundreds of thousands of small cell facilities to be deployed, are protected from any kind of excess radiofrequency radiation." The Communications Workers of America was present at the press conference, as was science writer and expert in electromagnetic fields, B. Blake Levitt. See Levitt Remarks. The National Institute for Science, Law and Public Policy considers Senator Blumenthal's line of inquiry about the extent of safety evaluations of next generation 5G radiation to be critically important. Camilla Rees, Senior Policy Advisor to NISLAPP, says, "All Members of Congress, as well as state and local government officials, might consider asking similar questions about the new, different and dangerous fifth generation radiofrequency technologies that the telecom industry intends to deploy widely within our living environments, about which scientists around the world are warning." International scientists in many countries are calling for a moratorium on 5G until the potential hazards are fully investigated. Additional Warnings about Radiofrequency (RF) and 5G Health Effects from Scientists:

Beatrice Golumb, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine, UC San Diego

Martin Pall, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Washington State University

170 Review Studies on RF Biological Effects prepared by Martin Pall, PhD NISLAPP Paper Explains the Far Better Alternative to 5G 'Antenna Densification'

"Re-Inventing Wires: The Future of Landlines and Networks" by Timothy Schoechle, PhD

http://electromagnetichealth.org/electromagnetic-health-blog/wires-long-press-release/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181203006017/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 03, 2018] A.M. Best Changes Credit Ratings of Merced Property & Casualty Company; Downgrades Credit Ratings of Remaining United Heritage Financial Group, Inc.'s Operating Entities

A.M. Best has changed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) to a Non-Rating Designation of F (In Liquidation) from A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) to "f" from "a-" of Merced Property & Casualty Company (Merced) (Atwater, CA (News - Alert)), following the announcement on Nov. 30, 2018, that the California Insurance Commissioner filed a petition to place Merced into liquidation. On Dec. 3, 2018, the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Merced, is expected to enter an Order Appointing Liquidator. Merced's impending Order of Liquidation resulted from significant claims from the Camp Fire in Northern California that destroyed Paradise, CA, and surrounding areas in Butte County. The homeowners claims filed are far in excess of the company's current assets, surplus and catastrophe reinsurance protection. Concurrently, A.M. Best has downgraded the FSR to B+ (Good) from A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term ICR to "bbb-" from "a-" of United Heritage Property & Casualty Company (UHPC) (Meridian, ID). A.M. Best also has downgraded the FSR to B++ (Good) from A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term ICR to "bbb" from "a-" of Sublimity Insurance Company (SIC) (Sublimity, OR). The outlook for these Credit Ratings (ratings) has been revised to negative from stable. Lastly, A.M. Best has downgraded the FSR to B++ (Good) from A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term ICR to "bbb+" from "a-" of United Heritage Life Insurance Company (UHLIC) (Meridian, ID). The outlook of the Long-Term ICR has been revised to negative from stable while the outlook of the FSR remains stable. The ratings for UHPC reflect the company's balance sheet strength, which A.M. Best categorizes as strong, as well as its marginal operating performance, limited business profile and marginal enterprise risk management (ERM). The ratings for SIC reflect the company's balance sheet strength, which A.M. Best categorizes as strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, limited business profile and marinal ERM. The ratings for UHLIC reflect the company's balance sheet strength, which A.M. Best categorizes as strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, neutral business profile and marginal ERM.



The rating actions on these entities reflect a change in their ERM assessments to marginal from appropriate following the imminent liquidation order for Merced, as modeled exposures proved insufficient in estimating overall capital at risk after an extraordinary catastrophic event. Merced also faced a concentration of exposures and inadequate reinsurance protection. This raised concerns at A.M. Best regarding the overall adequacy of the organization's ERM framework, and as a result, the ERM assessment has been lowered at all operating subsidiaries under United Heritage Financial Group, Inc. The Long-Term ICR downgrades for UHPC and SIC also reflect the removal of lift received from the life company, given the lack of support for Merced. The Long-Term ICR outlook revisions to negative reflect the ongoing regulatory and operational risks arising from damage to the companies' reputation caused by the recent events of a member company. These Long-Term ICR outlooks further reflect A.M. Best's concerns regarding the strategic importance and support of the property/casualty operations in UHFG's overall business model and profile.

This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on A.M. Best's website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see A.M. Best's Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Understanding Best's Credit Ratings. For information on the proper media use of Best's Credit Ratings and A.M. Best press releases, please view Guide for Media - Proper Use of Best's Credit Ratings and A.M. Best Rating Action Press Releases. A.M. Best is a global rating agency and information provider with a unique focus on the insurance industry. Visit www.ambest.com for more information. Copyright  2018 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181203006018/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 03, 2018] ThroughPut Inc. Appoints World-Renowned Just-in-Time, Lean & Kaizen Expert Mr. Takao Sakai to Executive Advisory Board

MENLO PARK, SILICON VALLEY, Calif., Dec. 3, 2018 /CNW/ -- ThroughPut Inc., the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Supply Chain pioneer that enables companies to detect, prioritize and alleviate dynamic operational bottlenecks just-in-time today announced the appointment of global lean & Just-In-Time expert, Mr. Takao Sakai, to the Executive Advisory Board. Takao Sakai currently serves as the President of Global People Solutions Inc., and as the Founder of Lean X. His family is responsible for inventing the renowned "Just-In-Time" philosophy that is commonplace across all leading supply chain operations today. Mr. Sakai's great-granduncle is Dr. Kotaro Honda, the father of the "just-in-time" philosophy, inventor of Kichiei Sumitomo Steel, and Nobel Prize-nominated Physicist. Dr. Honda helped Kiichiro Toyoda from an early stage with his startup, Toyota Motor Company, until the 1950s. Those that Kotaro Honda advised were called Honda School Leaders. While he performed technical consulting for Toyota Motor, Honda sent many of his fellow workers into the company for the purpose of establishing an automobile industry in Japan. The family has continued his legacy for generations. "We are incredibly honored to have Takao Sakai join the ThroughPut advisory board", stated Ali Raza, CEO of ThroughPut Inc. "Mr. Sakai's family is responsible for bringing the concept of Just-In-Time to the world. Just-In-Time has become the global benchmark for manufacturing and supply chain efficiency. Nearly every ThroughPut client demands Just-In-Time implementation. Today, we are fortunate to have someone influence our platform from the family that helped create Toyota Motor Company, perhaps the greatest corporate exponent of just-in-time ever. Mr. Sakai and ThroughPut share the common vision of creating world-class Just-In-Time Kaizen software. We hope that ThroughPut's platform ELI can one day be accessible to every operations team in the world to democratize the Just-In-Time culture, reduce excess inventory, and eliminate waste across global supply chains."



When asked about the appointment, Mr. Sakai commented "I am very happy to advise the ThroughPut team in the Industry 4.0 era. I believe this team is creating the ideal process improvement software that enables process value and profit sustainability in the manufacturing industries of Japan, as well as those around the world. As Ali showed me at our first meeting at te San Jose Marriott in 2017, ThroughPut's Kaizen AI is truly unique in its current capabilities and ambitions."



When prompted about how software can influence the future of manufacturing & supply chain, Mr. Sakai shared "I believe through software, we can now democratize Just-In-Time to be available at unprecedented scale to all Kaizen professionals and related areas such as Lean Manufacturing and Lean Six Sigma. With Industry 4.0 and IOT initiatives around software, there is excellent potential for manufacturers to optimize end-to-end production processes throughout the product lifecycle. Industry 4.0 may finally help engineering managers everywhere do what Toyota Product Development (TPD) and Toyota Production System (TPS) achieved decades ago. These concepts are technically complex and hard to translate often outside of Japan. I believe through software they can be simplified and made accessible to a greater audience for bigger, more sustainable wins. With the adoption of data analytics, organizations can now leverage Japanese principles at a speed and scale to run leaner and be more profitable. I believe ThroughPut can continue to digitize this knowledge. The ThroughPut ELI Artificial Intelligence (AI) system can thus now augment the Chief Engineer system. This platform can be Kaizen-for-the-people, helping everyday workers, factory line managers, process engineers, data analysts, financial officers and company executives run smoother, less stressful, zero-waste operations." Takao Sakai is a Graduate School of Engineering at The University of Tokyo. He joined the NTT (Nippon Telephone and Telegraph Corporation) Research Center upon graduation. He later started his own business for consultation around talent management, organizational structures, and TPD style product development strategies for technology companies. He gives seminars globally, evangelizing the Toyota-Way of product development, product development organizations, and talent management. He has written two bestselling and award-winning books titled, "The Age of Talents: Corporate Talent Management Strategies of Companies that Continue to Win" and "The Secret Behind the Success of Toyota", analyzing the detail of human resourcing and talent management at corporations that have made large impacts across global industries.

In addition to Takao Sakai joining the Board of Advisors, the Founder of NetIQ and a University of Pennsylvania-Wharton MBA, Mr. Hon Wong, as well as an Apple Computer Product Launch Expert & serial entrepreneur, Mr. Cameron Nazeri, have also joined the team as well recently, along with other renowned industry experts and entrepreneurs. About ThroughPut Inc: ThroughPut Inc. is the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Supply Chain pioneer that enables companies to detect, prioritize and alleviate dynamic operational bottlenecks in real-time. ThroughPut's Supply Chain AI Platform, ELI, includes the only Bottleneck Management System (BMS) that utilizes existing enterprise databases, such as ERP, MES, IMS, TMS, WMS, PLC, SCADA and other data systems, to solve the bottleneck problem across global supply chains already today. ThroughPut's systems are designed by Fortune 500 geomarket logistics leaders and Silicon Valley analytics and domain experts with decades of experience in the space. ELI thinks like an operations manager and provides human domain expertise and insights, which current static Business Intelligence and Analytics tools do not effectively capture. ThroughPut's dynamic insights include real-time resource allocation recommendations, granular root causes, and operational process stability analysis. ELI enables process improvement experts and operations managers to reduce cycle times and operational unpredictability across some of the most advanced process industries, including automotive, manufacturing, oil & gas, transportation & aviation, chemical processing, and energy. More information about ThroughPut is available at www.throughput.ai Contact:

Tina Jacobs

+1 215-606-8552

[email protected]

ThroughPut Inc View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/throughput-inc-appoints-world-renowned-just-in-time-lean--kaizen-expert-mr-takao-sakai-to-executive-advisory-board-300758837.html SOURCE ThroughPut Inc.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 03, 2018] KBRA Assigns Preliminary Ratings to Brazos Education Loan Authority, Inc. Federal Student Loan-Backed Notes, 2018-1

Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) assigns preliminary ratings to one class of notes issued by Brazos Education Loan Authority, Inc. Federal Student Loan Backed Notes, 2018-1, ("BELA 2018-1"). This is a $63.8 million term ABS (News - Alert) securitization. The collateral securing the notes consists of Federal Family Education Loan Program ("FFELP") student loans. The majority of the proceeds from the sale of the Notes will be used to refinance all the outstanding notes previously issued under the BSFC 2003-1 Trust. FFELP loans are guaranteed against default by a third-party guarantor for at least 97% of principal and accrued interest, depending on the loan disbursement date, which is reinsured by the U.S. Department of Education. As of the October 31, 2018 statistical date, 99.8% of the loans in this transaction are guaranteed in an amount up to 98% of such loans' principal and accrued interest. The Brazos Higher Education Service Corporation, Inc. ("BHESC") is a nonprofit corporation, founded in 1980, which manages, by contract, a group of several nonprofit companies ("Brazos Managed Companies") all founded by Murray Watson, Jr., with the first nonprofit formed in 1975. Brazos Higher Education and the Brazos Managed Companies have been dedicated to providing assistance for higher education for over 40 years. BHESC is headquartered in Waco, Texas. BHESC is the master servicer for the trust and will oversee the servicing duties of the subservicers. The subservicers for this transaction's FFELP portfolio are the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, Nelnet, Inc. and Navient Solutions, LLC. As of the October 31, 2018 statistical date each subservicer services 60.0%, 30.7% and 9.2%, respectively, of the portfolio loans. Total parity for this transaction at closing will be 103.57%, with an initial credit enhancement level of 3.57% of the original note balance. Credit enhancement consists of overcollateralization, excess interest on portfolio loans and a reserve account funded at closing. KBRA applied its Global General Rating Methodology for Asset-Backed Securities as part of its analysis of the transaction's underlying collateral pool and the proposed capital structure. KBRA also conducted an operational assessment of Brazos as well as a review of the transaction's legal structure and transaction documents. KBRA will also review the operative agreements and legal opinions for the transaction prior to closing.







Class Preliminary Rating Principal Balance A AAA (sf) $63,800,000

To access the ratings, presale report and disclosures, click here. Related Publications: (available at www.kbra.com) Brazos Education Loan Authority, Inc. Federal Student Loan-Backed Notes, 2108-1 Pre-Sale Report CONNECT WITH KBRA Twitter

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YouTube About KBRA and KBRA Europe KBRA is a full service credit rating agency registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an NRSRO. In addition, KBRA is designated as a designated rating organization by the Ontario Securities Commission for issuers of asset-backed securities to file a short form prospectus or shelf prospectus, is recognized by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners as a Credit Rating Provider, and is a certified Credit Rating Agency (CRA) by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). Kroll Bond Rating Agency Europe Limited is registered with ESMA as a CRA. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181203006028/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 03, 2018] Fenergo Recognised as FinTech Exporter of the Year to Asia

SINGAPORE, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Fenergo's Asia expansion and accelerated growth is recognised with FinTech exporter of the year award Fenergo today announced that it won the Asia Matters FinTech Exporter of the Year Award. Fenergo has an established APAC presence and provides CLM solutions to eight of the region's leading financial institutions. With offices in Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Sydney, Fenergo recorded revenue growth in APAC at 290% in the year ending March 2018. APAC revenues amounted to 24% of its overall revenue in FY18. With increasing regulatory change and the urgency to digitally transform the client journey, demand for Fenergo's Client Lifecycle Management (CLM) platform has accelerated amongst financial institutions in Asia. "Our local presence and proximity to our clients in the region allow us to augment our CLM solutions to enable financial institutions to comply with a wide range of global and region-specific regulations while providing a streamline, digital client onboarding experience for the end-client. As a result, we are engaged in a number of projects with financial institutions across Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan and Australia," said Brett Hodge/span>, VP, APAC, Fenergo.



Asia Matters Business Award nominees included Huawei Technologies, Toyota Financial Services, First Derivatives, Cubic Telecom to name but a few. The Asia Matters Business Awards were supported by The Asian Review and the Ireland Chinese Journal. Fenergo was recognised by Asia Matters, a business think tank focussed on building dynamic business links and informed understanding between Asia and Ireland to drive mutually beneficial partnerships and economic growth. In addition to the aforementioned media parties the awards were supported by Ireland's Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and IBEC.

About Fenergo Fenergo is the digital enabler of client and regulatory technology for financial services. It provides Client Lifecycle Management (CLM) software solutions for Financial Institutions including; Corporate & Institutional Banking, Commercial & Retail Banking, Asset Management, Private Banking & Wealth Management. Counting 70 global Financial Institutions as clients, its award-winning CLM suite digitally transforms how Financial Institutions manage clients; from initial onboarding to KYC/AML and regulatory compliance, to client data management and ongoing lifecycle KYC reviews and refreshes. Fenergo CLM empowers financial institutions to deliver a faster, compliant and digital customer experience while achieving a single client view across channels, products, business lines and jurisdictions. Fenergo's community-based approach to product development allows clients to collaborate on solution design on a global scale. Its rules-driven solution ensures compliance with multiple global and local regulatory frameworks including AML, KYC, Tax (CRS, FATCA, 871M), OTC Derivatives (EMIR, Dodd-Frank, MiFID II, Margin Requirements) and data privacy rules (GDPR). It supports the collection, centralization and sharing of client and counterparty data and documentation across the institution and deploys an API-first approach to advanced integration with a host of external KYC, AML and entity data providers, KYC and industry utilities. The solution is underpinned by next generation Artificial Intelligence, Robotics Process Automation and Machine Learning technologies, using advanced OCR and NLP capabilities to extract information, expedite compliance and improve operational efficiencies. SOURCE Fenergo

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 03, 2018] Calastone Launches World-First Blockchain Powered Global Funds Marketplace in May 2019

HONG KONG, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Calastone's entire global fund transaction network to be migrated to blockchain in May 2019

The first transition to blockchain for the global funds sector - making funds more accessible to all market participants and investors across 40 markets, and more than 1,700 financial organisations

Calastone's Distributed Market Infrastructure will transform the trading of mutual funds, creating a global funds marketplace best equipped to meet the needs of future generations of investors

The DMI has the potential to reduce the overall global cost of fund distribution by as much as US$4.2 billion * per year Calastone, the global fund transaction network, today announces that its entire global network of more than 1,700 financial organisations, across 40 markets around the world and in Asia, will be migrated to blockchain in May 2019 via the company's new Distributed Market Infrastructure (DMI). The migration, a world-first, connects one of the largest communities of global financial organisations using distributed ledger technology, marking a significant step for the digitalising of the funds sector. The DMI creates a global funds marketplace, in which buyers and sellers can connect and transact. It creates an ecosystem within which the trading, settlement and servicing of funds is friction free, eliminating ever-growing risk and costs for fund managers and investors, embedded within the current system. At the same time, organisations can leverage the open technology on which the DMI is built, allowing them to innovate, stay competitive and offer new services and investment opportunities better suited to the changing, more sophisticated needs of modern investors. Calastone believes that the overall global cost of fund distribution could be reduced by as much as US$4.2 billion*, achieved through the technological mutualisation of the trading and settlement processes. Campbell Brierley, Calastone's Chief Innovation Officer, comments; "Calastone's DMI will totally transform the trading and servicing of funds and has the potential to realise significant long-term value . "By bringing all trading relationships together, within our shared blockchain-enabled infrastructure, all participants benefit through the real-time view of each record and powerfully, from a data perspective, a single version of the truth. Instantly this alleviates common friction points that exist today, including areas such as reconciliation and settlement, which are rsolved automatically with all transactions being performed in the same environment. By making friction-free trading accessible to all parties in the value chain, we are creating an environment that marks an inflection point for the future of the funds sector, optimised to meet the needs of customers and investors now and in the long-term."



The funds industry trails other financial services sectors, still beset by manual processes, outdated systems and technologies. This has led to a high cost of distribution which ultimately impacts the investor and marketability of funds, which themselves compete with other forms of investment. This largely results from the traditional way funds are traded, which is opaque, fragmented and doesn't work in the interest of investors. This is particularly the case in Asia, which encompasses a range of distinct markets. There are significant pressures on the industry to adapt to meet investor demands for greater speed, transparency and return on capital.

The DMI addresses this directly, in creating a platform that digitalises the trading, settlement and distribution of funds by bringing together all market participants and equipping them with the tools to innovate, grow and differentiate. Clients using the DMI will be able to leverage the benefits of the technology through a range of new services and capabilities, alleviating risk, cost and improving investor experience across all parts of the value chain. Leo Chen, Managing Director and Head of Asia, states: "The Asian funds industry develops rapidly with a surge in sophisticated investors and is expected to accelerate its growth through various fund passporting schemes. Industry participants continue to look for options to innovate and to stay competitive. The DMI can be an enabler of new business models and revenue streams. "Asia is an emerging leader in fintech innovation, testament to the highly supportive stance regulators have taken towards financial technology testing and development - as we have seen from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), who have proactively cooperated with industry to create a favourable environment for financial services infrastructure advancement. The DMI is a shining example of that innovation. "We are already working with a number of clients who recognise the capability that the DMI can offer immediately and for the long-term. The migration from our global transaction network onto the new DMI will be a seamless experience for our customers, all of which will quickly and easily be able to leverage the advantages that distributed ledger technology affords." Julien Hammerson, Calastone's Chief Executive Officer, comments; "The launch of our DMI marks an exciting step for the industry in accelerating the digitisation of the funds sector and is a significant achievement for Calastone. The migration of our global network is the culmination of years of hard work and continued investment in innovation. "Funds remain a vital investment vehicle, though remain hampered by continually rising costs and threat of competition, ultimately rendering the current system economically and operationally unsustainable. Through leveraging blockchain technology, the DMI transforms the way in which funds are traded, enabling an investment management community that can meet the changing needs of investors." *Calastone has calculated the potential cost savings of moving to a distributed and mutualised market infrastructure using data from Deloitte's study "Europe's fund expenses at a crossroads; The benefits of mutualizing the cost of distribution" alongside data from the 2018 Investment Company Fact Book. Calastone's calculation has been applied to mutual fund assets under management for the global funds market, excluding the USA. About Calastone Calastone is the largest global funds transaction network, connecting many of the world's leading financial organisations. Our mission is to make funds accessible to everyone by reducing the frictional cost of trading. We use smart technology solutions and industry collaboration to lower operational risk and enhance client profitability through digitisation and automation. Over 1,700 customers in 40 countries and territories benefit from Calastone's services, processing over 9 million messages and 170 billion of transactions each month. Calastone is headquartered in London and has offices in Luxembourg, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Sydney. For more information, please contact: Teneo

Jenny Lai

[email protected]

Tel: +852-3655-0517 SOURCE Calastone

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 03, 2018] Prophet To Further Expand in Asia with Appointment of Eric Hor as Associate Partner

HONG KONG, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Prophet, the leading global consultancy, has announced the appointment of Eric Hor as an Associate Partner, based in its Asia headquarters in Hong Kong. Eric brings deep expertise to Prophet's fast-growing team in Asia, with more than 10 years of experience in business and brand strategy, notably in the area of corporate strategy, customer & brand strategy, omni-channel strategy, market entry, as well as digital transformation. He approaches strategy with a strong emphasis on customer-centricity to help brand leaders unlock growth opportunities. Eric will be working closely with Prophet's team in Hong Kong, in addition to the Shanghai office. "We are excited to welcome Eric to our fast-growing team. Prophet has had a strong year in Asia in 2018, helping many Chinese and Asian clients to achieve unparalleled growth and digital transformation. Eric's extensive industry knowledge and experience will undoubtedly play a key role in bringing fresh perspectives and reinforcing our offerings. We are confident in our capabilities to continuously support the evolvig needs of our clients in the region." said Jay Milliken, Senior Partner and Asia Regional Lead at Prophet.



Eric has supported various leading global and Chinese brands, such as Walmart, Nike, Danone, Pernod Ricard, Estee Lauder, J&J and City Chain, in attaining their growth ambition in the region. Prior to joining Prophet, Eric drove the Southern China Consumer Products & Retail Strategy practice in Monitor Deloitte. Before that, he was part of the founding team rebuilding OC&C Strategy Consultants in China. Recently, Prophet unveiled the results of its third annual Brand Relevance Index TM for China. Marketing magazine named Prophet the Brand Consultancy of the Year (Silver), Design Agency of the Year (Bronze) and Best Agency Culture (Bronze) at the 2018 Agency of the Year Awards. Furthermore, the firm was honored with 7 awards, including 4 Gold, at Transform Awards Asia-Pacific 2018, a prestigious international award recognizing excellence in brand development.

About Prophet Prophet is a consultancy that helps clients find better ways to grow by focusing on three important areas: creating relevant brand and customer experiences, driving accelerated growth strategies and leveraging digital as a transformative force in their business. We operate differently than other consultancies, blending insight, strategy and creativity with an optimistic yet pragmatic approach. We have partnered with some of the world's most successful companies, including Cathay Pacific, AIA, UBS, Bank of East Asia, Marriott, GE and Emart. With ten global offices and more than 350 experts in marketing, innovation, digital and design, we are able to bring together the right people with the right experience to solve our clients' business challenges. For more information about Prophet, visit Prophet.cn. SOURCE Prophet

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 03, 2018] Nuveen Closed-End Funds Declare Distributions

Several Nuveen closed-end funds have declared distributions. These funds represent investment strategies for investors seeking diversified sources of income to prepare for and sustain their retirement income needs. For further information regarding fund distributions including earnings, undistributed net investment income, and notices please visit http://www.nuveen.com/cef. The following dates apply to today's monthly distribution declarations for the following tax-exempt and taxable closed-end funds:







Record Date December 14, 2018 Ex-Dividend Date December 13, 2018 Payable Date December 31, 2018

Monthly Tax-Exempt Municipal Distributions Monthly distributions from Nuveen's municipal bond closed-end funds are generally exempt from regular Federal income taxes, and monthly distributions of single-state municipal funds are also generally exempt from state and, in some cases, local income taxes for in-state residents. Unless otherwise stated in the funds' objectives, monthly distributions of the municipal funds may be subject to the Federal Alternative Minimum Tax for some shareholders. Monthly Tax-Free Distribution Per Share Change From Ticker Exchange Fund Name Amount Previous Month National NXP NYSE Nuveen Select Tax-Free Income Portfolio $.0455 - NXQ NYSE Nuveen Select Tax-Free Income Portfolio 2 $.0420 - NXR NYSE Nuveen Select Tax-Free Income Portfolio 3 $.0435 - NUV NYSE Nuveen Municipal Value Fund, Inc. $.0310 - NUW NYSE Nuveen AMT (News - Alert)-Free Municipal Value Fund $.0560 - NMI NYSE Nuveen Municipal Income Fund, Inc. $.0360 - NIM NYSE Nuveen Select Maturities Municipal Fund $.0265 - NZF NYSE Nuveen Municipal Credit Income Fund $.0660 - NVG NYSE Nuveen AMT-Free Municipal Credit Income Fund $.0655 - NMZ NYSE Nuveen Municipal High Income Opportunity Fund $.0565 - NEV NYSE Nuveen Enhanced Municipal Value Fund $.0565 - NID NYSE Nuveen Intermediate Duration Municipal Term Fund $.0425 - NIQ NYSE Nuveen Intermediate Duration Quality Municipal Term Fund $.0295 - NHA NYSE Nuveen Municipal 2021 Target (News - Alert) Term Fund $.0150 - NEA NYSE Nuveen AMT-Free Quality Municipal Income Fund $.0535 - NAD NYSE Nuveen Quality Municipal Income Fund $.0535 - California NAC NYSE Nuveen California Quality Municipal Income Fund $.0555 - NKX NYSE Nuveen California AMT-Free Quality Municipal Income Fund $.0515 - NCA NYSE Nuveen California Municipal Value Fund, Inc. $.0285 - NXC NYSE Nuveen California Select Tax-Free Income Portfolio $.0410 -.0030 NCB NYSE Nuveen California Municipal Value Fund 2 $.0540 - New York NRK NYSE Nuveen New York AMT-Free Quality Municipal Income Fund $.0450 - NAN NYSE Nuveen New York Quality Municipal Income Fund $.0480 - NXN NYSE Nuveen New York Select Tax-Free Income Portfolio $.0420 - NNY NYSE Nuveen New York Municipal Value Fund, Inc. $.0300 - NYV NYSE Nuveen New York Municipal Value Fund 2 $.0425 - Other State Funds - NAZ NYSE Nuveen Arizona Quality Municipal Income Fund $.0415 -.0025 NTC NYSE Nuveen Connecticut Quality Municipal Income Fund $.0410 - NKG NYSE Nuveen Georgia Quality Municipal Income Fund $.0345 - NMT NYSE Nuveen Massachusetts Quality Municipal Income Fund $.0410 - NMY NYSE Nuveen Maryland Quality Municipal Income Fund $.0440 - NUM NYSE Nuveen Michigan Quality Municipal Income Fund $.0445 - NMS NYSE Nuveen Minnesota Quality Municipal Income Fund $.0510 - NOM NYSE Nuveen Missouri Quality Municipal Income Fund $.0430 - NNC NYSE Nuveen North Carolina Quality Municipal Income Fund $.0360 - NXJ NYSE Nuveen New Jersey Quality Municipal Income Fund $.0545 - NJV NYSE Nuveen New Jersey Municipal Value Fund $.0450 - NUO NYSE Nuveen Ohio Quality Municipal Income Fund $.0455 - NQP NYSE Nuveen Pennsylvania Quality Municipal Income Fund $.0470 - NPN NYSE Nuveen Pennsylvania Municipal Value Fund $.0405 - NTX NYSE Nuveen Texas Quality Municipal Income Fund $.0445 - NPV NYSE Nuveen Virginia Quality Municipal Income Fund $.0435 - Monthly Taxable Distributions Monthly Distribution Per Share Change From Ticker Exchange Fund Name Amount Previous Month Preferred and Income Securities JPC NYSE Nuveen Preferred & Income Opportunities Fund $.0610 - JPI NYSE Nuveen Preferred and Income Term Fund $.1355 - JPS NYSE Nuveen Preferred & Income Securities Fund $.0560 - JPT NYSE Nuveen Preferred and Income 2022 Term Fund $.1185 - Floating Rate NSL NYSE Nuveen Senior Income Fund $.0355 - JFR NYSE Nuveen Floating Rate Income Fund $.0600 - JRO NYSE Nuveen Floating Rate Income Opportunity Fund $.0605 - JSD NYSE Nuveen Short Duration Credit Opportunities Fund $.1035 - JQC NYSE Nuveen Credit Strategies Income Fund $.0385 - Mortgage-Backed Securities JMM NYSE Nuveen Multi-Market Income Fund $.0300 - Taxable Municipals NBB NYSE Nuveen Taxable Municipal Income Fund $.1030 - Emerging Markets Debt JEMD NYSE Nuveen Emerging Markets Debt 2022 Target Term Fund $.0375 - Global High Yield Debt JGH NYSE Nuveen Global High Income Fund $.1070 - Corporate High Yield Debt JHY NYSE Nuveen High Income 2020 Target Term Fund $.0390 - JHD NYSE Nuveen High Income December 2019 Target Term Fund $.0325 -$.0025 JHB NYSE Nuveen High Income November 2021 Target Term Fund $.0465 - JCO NYSE Nuveen Credit Opportunities 2022 Target Term Fund $.0470 - Monthly Cash-Flow Based Distributions Each of the three taxable funds listed immediately below have adopted a cash-flow based distribution program. Historical distribution sources have included net investment income, realized gains and return of capital. If a distribution includes anything other than net investment income, the fund provides a notice of the best estimate of its distribution sources at the time of payment which may be viewed at: www.nuveen.com/CEFdistributions. These estimates may not match the final tax characterization (for the full year's distributions) contained in shareholders' 1099-DIV forms after the end of the year. You should not draw any conclusions about a fund's past or future investment performance from its current distribution rate. The following dates apply to today's monthly cash-flow based distribution declarations for the following closed-end funds: Record Date December 14, 2018 Ex-Dividend Date December 13, 2018 Payable Date December 31, 2018 Monthly Distribution Per Share Change From Ticker Exchange Fund Name Amount Previous Month Mortgage-Backed Securities JLS NYSE Nuveen Mortgage Opportunity Term Fund $.1135 - JMT NYSE Nuveen Mortgage Opportunity Term Fund 2 $.1125 - Real Assets JRI NYSE Nuveen Real Asset Income and Growth Fund $.1060 - Quarterly Taxable Closed-End Fund Distributions The goal of a fund's managed distribution program is to provide shareholders relatively consistent and predictable cash flow by systematically converting its expected long-term return potential into regular distributions. As a result, historical distribution sources have included net investment income, realized gains and return of capital. If a distribution includes anything other than net investment income, the fund provides a notice of the best estimate of its distribution sources at that time which may be viewed at www.nuveen.com/CEFdistributions. These estimates may not match the final tax characterization (for the full year's distributions) contained in shareholders' 1099-DIV forms after the end of the year. Under a Managed Distribution policy, each of the four funds listed immediately below seeks to maintain an attractive and stable regular distribution amount that, over the long term, matches the fund's total distributions paid to its total return. You should not draw any conclusions about a fund's past or future investment performance from its current distribution rate. Actual returns likely will differ from projected long-term returns (and therefore a fund's distribution rate), at least over shorter time periods. Over a specific timeframe, the difference between actual returns and total distributions will be reflected in an increasing (returns exceed distributions) or a decreasing (distributions exceed returns) fund net asset value.  A return of capital is a non-taxable distribution of a portion of the fund's capital. When fund returns exceed distributions, return of capital may represent portfolio gains earned, but not realized as a taxable capital gain. In periods when fund returns fall short of distributions, it will represent a portion of your original principal unless the shortfall is offset during other time periods over the life of your investment (previous or subsequent) when the fund's total return exceeds distributions.  For additional information about managed distributions, please see Understanding Managed Distributions. The following dates apply to today's quarterly managed distribution declarations for the following closed-end funds: Record Date December 14, 2018 Ex-Dividend Date December 13, 2018 Payable Date December 31, 2018 Quarterly Distribution Per Share Change From Ticker Exchange Fund Name Amount Previous Quarter Hybrid Equity JTA NYSE Nuveen Tax-Advantaged Total Return Strategy Fund $.2700 - JTD NYSE Nuveen Tax-Advantaged Dividend Growth Fund $.3350 - Domestic Equity JCE NYSE Nuveen Core Equity Alpha Fund $.2775 - Multi-Strategy JDD NYSE Nuveen Diversified Dividend and Income Fund $.2400 - The information contained on the Nuveen website is not a part of this press release. Nuveen Securities, LLC, member FINRA and SIPC. * Nuveen does not provide tax advice; consult a professional tax advisor regarding your specific tax situation. Income may be subject to state and local taxes, as well as the federal alternative minimum tax. 683248-INV-O-12/19 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181203006085/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] ATTOM Data Solutions CEO Rob Barber Named 2018 HousingWire Vanguard

IRVINE, Calif., Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- ATTOM Data Solutions, curator of the nation's premier property database, today announced its CEO Rob Barber has been selected as a 2018 Vanguard by HousingWire for his outstanding executive leadership contributions in the housing finance industry. In its fourth year, HousingWire's Vanguard award program is recognizing 52 executives who have led their respective companies to spectacular success, as evidenced by expanding products, services, and profits. This year's recipients were carefully selected by HousingWire's editorial board, chosen for their vital contributions to their companies and the dynamic way they are changing the industry. The majority of the award recipients are leading from the C-suite, and many are also founders or co-founders of their businesses. Others are making invaluable contributions in business development, strategy, risk management and more. "As the Vanguards award program continues to grow and become more successful, the entry point gets tighter. These winners are truly the best Vanguards in the mortgage finance industry, and they all deserve the highest honor in the space," said HousingWire Editor-in-Chief Jacob Gaffney. This year's Vanguards represent various sectors of the housing economy, including residential mortgage lending, servicing, investing and real estate, and were selected based on their accomplishments in the last 12 months in both their companies and the industry sectors they represent. "I'm deeply honored to be recognized as a HousingWire Vanguard, and I'm committed to continuing to drive ATTOM's mission to increase real estate transparency by arming businesses and consumers with the property data needed to make wise decisions," said Rob Barber, CEO of ATTOM Data Solutions. Under Barber's leadership over the past year, ATTOM has successfully completed several strategic initiatives including the addition of best-in-class neighborhood data through the acquisition of Onboard Informatics and launching multiple new products and services to bring more comprehensive real etate data to the marketplace: Pre-Mover Leads; a revamped marketing list creation platform, ATTOM List; the new lender-grade ATTOMIZED AVM; a consolidated API platform; and the migration of the 155-million-property ATTOM database to the cloud.



Barber, a 25-year veteran in the real estate information services industry, joined what was then RealtyTrac as CEO in 2015 and spearheaded the creation of the ATTOM Data Warehouse and the company's subsequent rebranding as ATTOM Data Solutions in 2016, and since then has worked diligently to solidify the company's brand as the leading supplier of premium property data fueling real estate transparency. About HW Media

HW Media is the leading digital community for real estate, financial services and fintech professionals to engage, connect and gain knowledge. Founded in 2016 through the acquisition of HousingWire, HW Media is based in Dallas, TX with team members across the country. HW Media is owned by Riomar Capital.

About HousingWire

HousingWire is the most influential source of news and information for the U.S. mortgage and housing markets. Built on a foundation of independent and original journalism, HousingWire reaches over 40,000 newsletter subscribers daily and over 4 million unique visitors each year. Our audience of mortgage, real estate, financial services and fintech professionals rely on us to Move Markets Forward. Visit www.HousingWire.com or www.solutions.housingwire.com to learn more. About ATTOM Data Solutions

ATTOM Data Solutions provides premium property data to power products that improve transparency, innovation, efficiency and disruption in a data-driven economy. ATTOM multi-sources property tax, deed, mortgage, foreclosure, environmental risk, natural hazard, and neighborhood data for more than 155 million U.S. residential and commercial properties covering 99 percent of the nation's population. A rigorous data management process involving more than 20 steps validates, standardizes and enhances the data collected by ATTOM, assigning each property record with a persistent, unique ID  the ATTOM ID. The 9TB ATTOM Data Warehouse fuels innovation in many industries including mortgage, real estate, insurance, marketing, government and more through flexible data delivery solutions that include bulk file licenses, APIs, market trends, marketing lists, match & append and more. Media Contact:

Christine Stricker

949.748.8428

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/attom-data-solutions-ceo-rob-barber-named-2018-housingwire-vanguard-300759530.html SOURCE ATTOM Data Solutions

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] GSTR 9 Deadline Announced - LegalDocs Launches GSTR 9 Filing for MSME

MUMBAI, December 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- First time in history of GST, Indian businesses have to comply with Annual GST filing under GSTR 9. There is a lot of confusion amongst small business owners regarding compliance of GSTR 9. Entrepreneurs, Businessman and Taxation executives are unaware of the processes to be followed. Professional support system to MSMEs is fragmented and there is no established player who provides accessible guidance to MSMEs. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/793286/LegalDocs_Logo.jpg )

LegalDocs understands this pain-point of MSMEs & with the help of expert CA panel onboard, the company is resolving this issue. LegalDocs is leveraging digital mediums like blogs, videos and live seminars & have successfully educated more than 25,000 MSMEs on the process of updating GST. With the introduction of GSTR 9, LegalDocs will be helping MSMEs to understand annual compliance of GST. Consultation includes procedure to file GSTR 9 , what are the forms to be filled, preparation required to file it & all other related issues. Last date of filing GSTR 9 is 31st Dec, 2018 for financial year 2017-18 After 31st Dec there will be penalty charged based on per day.



Team LegalDocs from their vast experience from MSME says, "People feel non-compliance of MSME is a big issue which is pulling them behind. But we believe the real problem is Education. There is no single platform which gives MSME all information & guidance regarding compliance. MSME owner looks after multiple things like business growth, profitability, hiring, funding, etc. so they look for a single person who can handle all compliance work. There is huge gap in getting quality & trustworthy professional at affordable prices." LegalDocs has launched free assistance to all MSMEs looking for help & guidance for GST return and GST registration. All MSMEs can dial to GST helpline number +91-90221-19922 or chat live at https://legaldocs.co.in/.

LegalDocs is using state-of-the-art automation to serve their huge MSME client base. Their technology plays key role in keeping prices affordable & provide best of industry services. As per section 44(1) of CGST Act, every registered person is required to file annual return on or before 31st December of the year succeeding the financial year in form GSTR-9. So more than 1 crore+ GST holders have to complete filing before 31st December, 2018. Details from July 2017 to March 2018 are to be provided in GSTR 9 for this year. LegalDocs offers range of services from private limited company registrations, LLP registration, Trademark filing, to FSSAI registration and tax filing services. About LegalDocs: LegalDocs is India's fastest growing marketplace for Business Loan, Taxation, and Legal Compliance. LegalDocs makes access to credit, accounting and Legal work Easy, Secure and Valid. Using India Stack infrastructure, LegalDocs is creating state of art experience of Digital India for MSMEs of India. LegalDocs is growth partner of thousands of Indian MSMEs.

Media Contact:

Parag Manikpure

[email protected]

+91-9022119922

Head - Digital Marketing

LegalDocs



[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] EP & Clean Tech China 2019 to Gather Clean Pharmaceutical Technical Equipment and Assist with Green Production of Clean Plants

SHANGHAI, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Regulation and standards for "clean plants" have been increasing in recent years as China's pharmaceutical R&D and production industry develops rapidly. EP & Clean Tech China 2019, hosted by CCCMHPI, UBM EMEA and UBM Sinoexpo, is an annual event of the pharma clean industry, that will blow a strong, new pharma clean wind in Hall N4 of Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC). Over 100 Chinese and overseas quality clean enterprises will gather on-site, to showcase the latest pharma cleanroom equipment and products, engineering technologies, and solutions, etc. A super-large exhibition area, and an appearance of clean brands The new session of EP & Clean Tech China will take place at SNIEC Shanghai, China on June 18-20, 2019. Occurring concurrently with P-MEC China, CPhI China and bioLIVE China, the show will cover all the 17 exhibition halls of SNIEC, with a total of 200,000m2 exhibition area, and welcome over 3,200 exhibitors and more than 50,000 Chinese and overseas professional visitors, to jointly participate in the annual event of the pharmaceutical industry. Over 100 Chinese and overseas exhibitors represented by Dynaco, Gusu, MAX, Sinoarch, Linsen, and Sujing, etc. will showcase their newly upgraded purification products and equipment, project cases and solutions. They will bring an international, high-quality annual event of the pharmaceutical and clean industries for over 50,000 professionals relating to procurement, project, and cleanness of pharmaceutical enterprises on the site.







Exhibitors' Profile Cleanroom machinery & material Cleanroom engineering Air filter Clean clothes & material Clean air conditioning Cleanroom doors and windows Clean stainless steel equipment Clean room project management Cleanroom engineering design Cleanroom installation Cleanroom certification

Gathering global professional buyers, and running through the pharmaceutical industry chain EP & Clean Tech China 2019 will take root in the pharmaceutical industry, and gather relevant industry professionals from pharmaceutical industry chains, including APIs, fine chemical and intermediate, pharmaceutical excipients, preparations, contract research, biopharmaceuticals, natural extracts, and animal health and feed, etc. It will become an excellent platform to showcase pharmaceutical green production, and clean technical equipment and projects. Furthermore, the exhibition will become more international to attract international buyers. In 2018 exhibition, proportions of visitors from Asia (excluding China), Europe, and America separately accounted for 76%, 14%, and 7%, with proportions of European and American buyers rising again. High-end technology forum and buyer matching meetings, to help seize early opportunities of the industry The "Pharma Cleanroom Technology Forum 2019" will gather an audience of 100+ people from pharmaceutical enterprises and biotechnology industry and focus on hot topics such as energy conservation and high efficiency, and innovative clean equipment. The forum in 2018 attracted heads of procurement, R&D, and quality departments from well-known pharmaceutical enterprises, including Fosun Pharma, Shanghai Pharma, Sinopharm, Weikang Pharmaceuticals, Zhuhai United Laboratories, Bayer, Merck Chemicals, and WuXi AppTec, etc. Furthermore, the host will hold the "EP & Clean Tech Buyers Sourcing Event and Discovery Tour" to meet the needs of pharmaceutical plants with recent plans for new plant construction, plant renovation, and equipment upgrading. The event is expected to gather nearly 20 Chinese and overseas interested buyers, match suppliers and Chinese and overseas buyers precisely, and give them a closer look at the simulated cleanroom, clean equipment, and project stands. EP & Clean Tech China 2019 will continue to furnish pharmaceutical enterprises and professionals from biopharmaceuticals, clean project, and clean equipment industries, etc. with a diversified communication platform that connects "exhibition" and "conferences". Please visit http://en.pmecchina.com/ for more information. 2019 EP & Clean Tech China

18-20 June, 2019 | SNIEC Shanghai, China

Add: No.2345 Longyang Road, Pudong New District, Shanghai, China

http://en.pmecchina.com/ Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20181203/2314130-1-a

Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20181203/2314130-1-b

Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20181203/2314130-1-c

Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20181203/2314130-1-d SOURCE Shanghai UBM Sinoexpo International Exhibition Co., Ltd

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] Park Systems Announces the 2nd NanoScientific Forum Europe on September 11-13, 2019 to be held at University of Bologna, Italy

MANNHEIM, Germany, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Park Systems and University of Bologna are proud to announce the 2nd NanoScientific Forum Europe (NSFE2019) to be held at University of Bologna Sept. 11-13, 2019. Registration begins Feb. 2019. The NSFE2019 will include an open AFM user forum, keynote lectures on AFM applications, live hands on AFM sessions and much more. For the conference details please click here: www.parksystems.com/NSFE2019



NSFE 2019 will be hosted by Dr. Tobias Cramer, Asst. Professor and Researcher at Department of Physics and Astronomy of University of Bologna, and co-organized by CNR-ISMN Bologna, Italy. A special session will be dedicated to the characterization of novel semiconducting materials with multimodal scanning probe microscopies. "Advances in fabrication and nano-scale processing have provided access to multifunctional semiconducting materials with unprecedented performance and property combinations. Examples are semiconductors with soft mechanical properties, semiconductors that combine ionic and electronic conductivity or solution printable semiconductors to name a few. The progress opens enormous opportunities for innovative devices in ICT, biomedical or energy related applications," explains Dr. Cramer.

Sponsored by Park Systems and NanoScientific Journal, NanoScientific Forums are offered world-wide to showcase advanced AFM applications and methodology, creating a link between research needs and technological solutions, driven by voices from the field. The NSFE 2019 will included keynote lectures on different AFM applications, poster sessions and contributed lectures enabling young scientists to present their research projects, live hands-on-sessions on Park Systems AFM instruments, where you can learn the tips and tricks on various AFM techniques, and an exciting social program. About Park Systems Park Systems is a world-leading manufacturer of atomic force microscopy (AFM) systems with a complete range of products for researchers and industry engineers in chemistry, materials, physics, life sciences, and semiconductor and data storage industries. Park's products are used by more than a thousand institutions and corporations worldwide. Park's AFM provides the highest data accuracy at nanoscale resolution, superior productivity, and the lowest operating cost, thanks to its unique technology and innovative engineering. Park Systems, Inc. is headquartered in Santa Clara, California with its global manufacturing, and R&D headquarters in Korea. Park's products are sold and supported worldwide with regional headquarters in the US, Korea, Japan, Singapore, Germany, China, India and Mexico and distribution partners throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Visit http://www.parksystems.com for more information. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/park-systems-announces-the-2nd-nanoscientific-forum-europe-on-september-11-13-2019-to-be-held-at-university-of-bologna-italy-300759517.html SOURCE Park Systems

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] Wirecard and lastminute.com Announce Extended Partnership to Offer Multi-currency Visa Cards for Travelers

ASCHHEIM, Germany, December 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- - The solution will target around 10 million monthly users of the lastminute.com website - The partnership allows cardholders to load multiple currencies onto the lastminute.com Visa Card, avoiding currency conversion fees - Prepaid lastminute.com Visa Cards will be issued by Wirecard and can be used at millions of acceptance points worldwide

Wirecard, the global innovation leader for digital financial technology, has extended its partnership with lastminute.com to offer multi-currency Visa Cards. The two companies have been collaborating in the field of acquiring as well as Supplier and Commission Payments (SCP) for subsidiaries of lastminute.com for several years. The new solution, known as the lastminute.com Visa Card, will allow travelers from next week onwards to pay in the local currency at millions of acceptance points worldwide, avoiding currency conversion fees. The widely-accepted Visa card will be also quickly reloadable, making it as convenient as possible for users to leverage on the cheapest exchange rates while traveling. As issuer of the lastminute.com Visa Card, Wirecard will support main functions including card activation and reloading via the mobile app. In the lastminute.com dedicated, branded app, cardholders can manage their expenses via the multi-currency dashboard, view their transaction history, carry out wallet-to-wallet transfers, and even lock their cards if necessary. Kathrin Klausa, Head of Product Management Sales Travel at Wirecard says, "As the global innovation driver for digital financial technology, it is essential to us to reduce barriers when paying electronically and digitally in a foreign currency. Offering digital solutions together with Visa and lastminute.com to make payments abroad easier is very exciting for us. Our extended partnership with lastminute.om shows our innovative drive and attention to the needs of the international travel market."



Sergio Signoretti, Chief Financial Officer at lastminute.com comments, "As we celebrate our 20th anniversary this year we are delighted to announce this modern and convenient payment solution backed by our trusted partners Wirecard and Visa, which will go a great way to enriching the lives of travelers. We want the card to become the preferential payment method on our properties to help the 10 million monthly users of our website save money and our lm cardholders gain exclusive advantages when using the card. We look forward to cooperating further with Wirecard in developing smart and innovative travel solutions for the next twenty years and further." The lastminute.com Visa Card will offer many benefits to both novice and experienced travelers: cardholders will be able to use their cards to pay around the globe, while uploading it in British Pounds, US Dollars, and Euros. In addition, they will be able to use the cards to withdraw cash from Visa-branded ATMs and to complete online purchases. Additionally, the cooperation will enable travelers to take advantage of more competitive exchange rates and to travel cash-free. Finally, the lastminute.com Visa Card will offer some exclusive voucher rewards for early adopters of the card that can be used for their next trips - with a maximum of 250 in vouchers potentially up for grabs (t&cs apply).

About Wirecard: Wirecard (GER: WDI) is one of the world's fastest growing digital platforms in the area of financial commerce. We provide both business customers and consumers with a constantly expanding ecosystem of real-time value-added services built around innovative digital payments by using an integrated B2B2C approach. This ecosystem concentrates on the areas payment & risk, retail & transaction banking, loyalty & couponing, data analytics & conversion rate enhancement in all sales channels (online, mobile, ePOS). Wirecard operates regulated financial institutions in several key markets, holds issuing and acquiring licenses from all major payment and card networks. Wirecard AG is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (DAX and TecDAX, ISIN DE0007472060). Visit us on http://www.wirecard.com follow us on Twitter @wirecard and on Facebook @wirecardgroup. About the lm group: lm group is among the worldwide leaders in the online travel industry and operates a portfolio of well-known brands such as lastminute.com, Volagratis, Rumbo, weg.de, Bravofly, Jetcost and Hotelscan. The Group's mission is to be the most relevant and inspiring travel company, committed to enriching the life of travelers. Every month, the Group touches 45 million users across all its websites and mobile apps (in 17 languages and 40 countries) who search for and book their travel and leisure experiences with us. More than 1,200 people enjoy working with us and contribute to providing our audience with a comprehensive and inspiring offering of travel related products and services. lastminute.com N.V. is a publicly traded company listed under the ticker symbol LMN on SIX Swiss Exchange. Wirecard media contact:

Wirecard AG

Jana Tilz

Tel.: +49(0)89-4424-1363

Email: [email protected]



lm group media contact:

Spider PR

Tel.: +44(0)207-403-6900

Email: [email protected]





[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] AVITA Medical Announces Institutional Placement of A$40.0 Million to Support Commercialization and Pipeline Advancement

AVITA Medical (ASX: AVH, OTCQX: AVMXY), a global regenerative medicine company, today announced an institutional placement of A$40.0 million (Institutional Placement) to fund the marketing and sales effort to support U.S. market launch of the RECELL System, clinical and research and development to facilitate pipeline advancement, and general working capital requirements. Avita has received under the Institutional Placement commitments from U.S., Australian and international institutional and sophisticated investors for a placement of A$40.0 million at an issue price of A$0.080 per share, with the placement to occur in two tranches. Tranche 1 of the institutional placement, totaling A$24.5 million, is expected to settle on 7 December 2018 without the need for prior shareholder approval. Settlement of Tranche 2 totaling A$15.2 million is subject to shareholder approval at an Extraordinary General Meeting to be held in January 2018. "The recent U.S. approval to the RECELL System for the treatment of burns was a transformative event for AVITA, and we appreciate the support of our shareholders as we advance to the U.S. market launch," said Dr. Michael Perry (News - Alert), Chief Executive Officer. "Proceeds from this placement will ensure that we are positioned to fully realize the opportunity provided by the FDA approval and allows us to advance our pipeline beyond burns in additional high-value areas such as the treatment of traumatic wounds and vitiligo." Institutional Placement The Institutional Placement was managed by Cowen and Company, LLC in the U.S. as lead placement agent and Bell Potter as lead Australian manager. The Company has received commitments for A$40.0 million at an issue price of A$0.080 per fully paid ordinary share. Upon completion of the placement, the Company will issue up to 500 million shares to U.S., Australian and international institutional and sophisticated investors to whom disclosure was not required pursuant to Chapter 6D of the Corporations Act 2001. The issue price of $0.080 per share represents a 2.4 percent discount to the last closing price on 29 November 2018 price prior to the Company seeking a trading halt. The new AVITA shares to be issued under the Institutional Placement will rank equally with existing AVITA shares on issue. Tranche 1 of the Institutional Placement totals A$24,803,761 of proceeds and the issuance of 310,047,015 shares. For Tranche 1 the Company will issue 186,028,209 shares under its 15 percent placement capacity (under ASX Listing Rule 7.1) and 124,018,806 shares under its 10 percent placement capacity (under ASX Listing Rule 7.1A, referred to below as the "7.1A Placement")). Tranche 2 totals A$15,196,239 of proceeds and the issuance of 189,952,985 shares, and settlement is contingent upon shareholder approval at Extraordinary General Meeting to be held in January 2019. Share Purchase Plan To recognize the support of current shareholders of AVITA, the Company is also announcing a share purchase agreement (SPP) that will allow eligible shareholders to purchase up to A$15,000 of AVITA Medical ordinary shares at a purchase price of A$0.080 per share, limited to A$3.0 million in total. Eligible shareholders are those who are recorded on the Cmpany's share register at 5:00 p.m. AEDT on 3 December 2018. Details of the SPP will be provided to shareholders this week in a separate communication.



Additional Disclosures Regarding 7.1A Placement As the Company is issuing Shares under its ASX Listing Rule 7.1A capacity, it provides the following further information (pursuant to ASX Listing Rule 3.10.5A):

Existing shareholders will be diluted by 8.5% as a result of the issue of the 7.1A Placement under ASX Listing Rule 7.1A (although, to the extent the investors are already shareholders, their relative holdings will increase or decrease to a lesser extent);

As announced below, the Company also intends making an offer to existing Shareholders under a Share Purchase Plan at the same price as under the 7.1A Placement. This proposed offer under the Share Purchase Plan is limited in aggregate to $3.0 million and the Company considered it was in the best interests of shareholders to undertake the 7.1A Placement as the most efficient and most certain means of raising capital quickly and attracting cornerstone institutional investors, but while still offering existing shareholders the ability to participate in the SPP at the same price as the institutional investors;

The 7.1A Placement was not underwritten, but managed by the lead placement agent and the lead Australian manager, for which the Company will pay a base commission ranging from 6 to 7 percent of the 7.1A Placement depending on the location of the investor, and;

The Company has also incurred further legal and listing fees in relation to the 7.1A Placement. ### ABOUT AVITA MEDICAL LIMITED AVITA Medical is a regenerative medicine company with a technology platform positioned to address unmet medical needs in burns, chronic wounds, and aesthetics indications. AVITA Medical's patented and proprietary collection and application technology provides innovative treatment solutions derived from the regenerative properties of a patient's own skin. The medical devices work by preparing a REGENERATIVE EPIDERMAL SUSPENSION (RES), an autologous suspension comprised of the patient's skin cells necessary to regenerate natural healthy epidermis. This autologous suspension is then sprayed onto the areas of the patient requiring treatment. AVITA Medical's first U.S. product, the RECELL System, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in September 2018. The RECELL System is indicated for use in the treatment of acute thermal burns in patients 18 years and older. The RECELL System produces Spray-On Skin Cells using a small amount of a patient's own skin, providing a new way to treat severe burns, while significantly reducing the amount of donor skin required. The RECELL System is designed to be used at the point of care alone or in combination with autografts depending on the depth of the burn injury. Compelling data from randomized, controlled clinical trials conducted at major U.S. burn centers and real-world use in more than 7,000 patients globally, reinforce that the RECELL System is a significant advancement over the current standard of care for burn patients and offers benefits in clinical outcomes and cost savings. Healthcare professionals should read the INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE - RECELL Autologous Cell Harvesting Device for a full description of important safety information including contraindications, warnings and precautions. In international markets outside of Europe, our products are marketed under the RECELL System brand to promote skin healing in a wide range of applications including burns, chronic wounds and aesthetics. The RECELL System is TGA-registered in Australia, CFDA-cleared in China, and received CE-mark approval in Europe. To learn more, visit www.avitamedical.com. CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This letter includes forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "expect," "intend," "could," "may," "will," "believe," "estimate," "look forward," "forecast," "goal," "target," "project," "continue," "outlook," "guidance," "future," other words of similar meaning and the use of future dates. Forward-looking statements in this letter include, but are not limited to, statements concerning, among other things, our ongoing clinical trials and product development activities, regulatory approval of our products, the potential for future growth in our business, and our ability to achieve our key strategic, operational and financial goal. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. Each forward- looking statement contained in this letter is subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statement. Applicable risks and uncertainties include, among others, the timing of regulatory approvals of our products; physician acceptance, endorsement, and use of our products; failure to achieve the anticipated benefits from approval of our products; the effect of regulatory actions; product liability claims; risks associated with international operations and expansion; and other business effects, including the effects of industry, economic or political conditions outside of the company's control. Investors should not place considerable reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this letter. Investors are encouraged to read our publicly available filings for a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements in this letter speak only as of the date of this release, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any of these statements. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181203006101/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] Agari Introduces First Purpose-Built Phishing Incident Response Solution for Cloud Office Suites

Agari, the next-generation Secure Email Cloud that restores trust to the inbox, today announced Agari Incident Response during Black Hat Europe. Agari Incident Response is the only purpose-built phishing incident response solution for post-delivery remediation in Microsoft (News - Alert) Office 365 environments. Agari Incident Response eliminates error-prone and time-consuming reporting and response with automated investigation and remediation workflows that reduce phishing incident response time by up to 90 percent-enabling businesses to prevent and contain breaches before damage is done. In a survey of more than 300 security professionals, Agari determined that the average company responds to 23,053 phishing incident reports per year-yet 50 percent are false positive reports from users. Responding to a phishing incident takes an average of 353 minutes (almost six hours); and even false positives take an average of 238 minutes (four hours). All of these reports and hours add up-at a cost of $253 per phishing incident-or nearly $4.3 million per year. "Many organizations' security operations teams report that their work around investigating suspected phishing emails is heavily repetitive and requires many meticulous steps, such as checking multiple blacklists and different IT systems within the company," reports Gartner (News - Alert) Research VP and Distinguished Analyst Anton Chuvakin and VP Analyst Augusto Barros in Preparing Your Security Operations for Orchestration and Automation Tools, in February 2018. However, the cost for not investigating phishing incidents is even higher. According to a 2018 IBM/Ponemon study, the average cost of a data breach in the United States is $7.9M. The 2018 Verizon Data Breach Inident Report indicates that phishing represents 93 percent of all breaches investigated-with email as the main entry point in 96 percent of cases. The Verizon (News - Alert) DBIR also notes the disparity in breach response: the average breach exfiltrates data from an organization in hours, but the average time to discover a breach takes months.



Agari Incident Response is a one-touch phishing incident response solution that seamlessly integrates with Microsoft Office 365 to automatically remove all phishing emails from user inboxes. Agari Incident Response delivers detailed impact analysis-including URL, attachment and sender forensics-enabling security teams to ignore false positives and slash phishing incident response times. A centralized dashboard records breach containment metrics and measures reductions in phishing incident response times, so security teams can demonstrate a positive ROI. By streamlining phishing incident response times and automatically removing malicious emails from inboxes, Agari Incident Response contains breaches in minutes instead of months. Training end users to identify and report phishing emails is challenging; it is a time-consuming and error-prone process for both end users and security operations. Many businesses accumulate tens of thousands of user reported phishing incidents per year, which have a 50 percent false positive rate. These reports take an average of 5.9 hours per phishing incident to analyze and require complicated manual processes involving multiple tools to remediate.

Security orchestration, automation and response (SOAR) tools that claim to address this challenge but are expensive and complicated to implement, requiring custom coding to integrate before they add value. When a SOAR system was implemented, 50% of respondents reported incident response times over 1 hour per incident compared to 59% for non-SOAR adopters, a minimal reduction. "Security operations shouldn't have to spend all their time on chasing false positive user reports, while other security breaches go undetected," said AJ Shipley, Vice President of Product Management, Agari. "Agari Incident Response is changing the variables in the phishing incident response equation to take less time and with less errorand the solution is to provide demonstrable savings to the business." Agari Incident Response is a part of the Agari Secure Email Cloud, a next-generation email security solution that detects, defends against and deters phishing and identity deception attacks. Agari Incident Response will be generally available to all customers within 30 days. To learn more about Agari Incident Response: Visit the website www.agari.com/products/incident-response

Meet with Agari at Black Hat Europe at booth #400

Request a free trial of Agari Incident Response at www.agari.com/free-trial/

Calculate the ROI of Agari Phishing Incident Response www.agari.com/roi-calculator About Agari Agari is transforming the legacy Secure Email Gateway (News - Alert) with its next-generation Secure Email Cloud powered by predictive AI. Leveraging data science and real-time intelligence from trillions of emails, the Agari Identity Graph detects, defends, and deters costly advanced email attacks including business email compromise, spear phishing and account takeover. Winner of the 2018 Best Email Security Solution by SC Magazine, Agari restores trust to the inbox for government agencies, businesses, and consumers worldwide. Learn more at www.agari.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005297/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] OpenGate Capital Completes Acquisition of Fichet Security Solutions

OpenGate Capital, a global private equity firm, announced today that it has completed the acquisition of a non-core division of Gunnebo Group (GUNN: CPH), and renamed the business Fichet Security Solutions ("Fichet"). A provider of security products, services and solutions, Fichet has operations in France, Belgium and Luxembourg. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Recognized as an integrated security solutions provider, Fichet has two production sites and 12 sales branches in France, and a sales office in Luxembourg and Belgium. Fichet offers products and services across five lines: electronic security, security doors and partitions, safes and vaults, cash management and entrance control. The acquisition includes "Fichet Bauche," a well-established brand for high quality safes and vaults. Fichet is trusted by a variety of customers including banks, industrial and high-risk sites, retail outlets, public and commercial buildings, internal points of sales, mass transit system providers, and other enterpriss.



Andrew Nikou, OpenGate Capital's Founder and Chief Executive Officer stated, "We are proud to bring Fichet into the OpenGate portfolio today. We have a detailed strategy for driving renewed focus and performance into the business and are excited to work with the team at Fichet toward achieving real growth in the coming years." OpenGate Partner Sebastien Kiekert Le Moult, who led the transaction commented, "The investment in Fichet Security Solutions represents many of the hallmarks of a traditional OpenGate acquisition where we have successfully created new value. As an underperforming corporate carve-out with a well-established, customer based, solid management team, and a highly regarded brand, Fichet has the fundamentals to build upon and we're excited to begin our work immediately."

Fichet Security Solutions is the ninth platform acquisition in OpenGate Capital's first, institutional fund following earlier acquisitions of Power Partners, Bois & Materiaux, Energi Fenestration Solutions, Alfatherm, EverZinc, Hufcor, Mersive Technologies and Jtul. About OpenGate Capital OpenGate Capital is a global private equity firm specializing in the acquisition and operation of businesses to create new value through operational improvements, innovation and growth. Established in 2005, OpenGate Capital is headquartered in Los Angeles, California with a European office in Paris, France. OpenGate's professionals possess the critical skills needed to acquire, transition, operate, build and scale successful businesses. To date, OpenGate Capital, through its legacy and fund investments, has executed more than 30 acquisitions including corporate carve-outs, management buy-outs, special situations and transactions with private sellers across North America and Europe. To learn more about OpenGate, please visit www.opengatecapital.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005370/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]MANRS Hits Major Milestone with More Than 100 Network Operators Now Participating in the Global Routing Security Initiative

The Internet Society, a global non-profit organization dedicated to the open development, use and evolution of the Internet, today announced that the number of network operators that have agreed to Mutually Agreed Norms for Routing Security (MANRS) has surpassed 100, with each participating operator representing dozens, hundreds or even thousands of autonomous system numbers (ASNs). On 17 October, the 100th participant, Magticom agreed to take the four actions specified by the MANRS initiative to improve the resilience and security of the Internet's routing infrastructure. Launched four years ago with a group of nine operators, MANRS membership doubled in 2018. This year the initiative expanded to include Internet Exchange Providers (IXPs) and now the total number of participants stands at 109 with 25 IXPs committed to the MANRS IXP Programme.

The Internet Society, which supports the global MANRS initiative, is encouraged that more than 50 network operators joined MANRS in 2018 alone. By taking recommended actions on filtering, anti-spoofing, coordination and global validation, the new participants enabled the MANRS initiative to double its engagement and secure a much larger portion of the global Internet. "We set this goal to demonstrate that we can facilitate an exponential growth, which is an indication of a snowball effect," said Ms. Salam Yamout, the Internet Society's Lead for the MANRS initiative. "These independent network operators have shown that when we work together, we can protect the public core of the Internet."

The growing number of network incidents over the past year underscores the importance of MANRS and the Internet Society has accelerated efforts to promote this initiative globally. These include a white paper on "Internet Routing with MANRS" by former IETF chair Fred Baker, an explanatory video on route hijacking, route leaks and IP address spoofing; and its MANRS Best Current Operational Practices (BCOP) guide became Document 706 in the Reseaux IP Europeens (RIPE) Network Coordination Centre. The organization also amplified its outreach to network operators and IXPs and published a paper on Routing Security for Policymakers. As a result of these resources, operators have greater insight into the four MANRS Actions associated with membership.

The MANRS initiative expects participating operators to complete the first three of the following actions, with the fourth considered an extension of the minimum package:







1. Prevent propagation of incorrect routing information. Operators can ensure the correctness of their own announcements and those from their customers to adjacent networks through various network routing prefix filtering techniques. 2. Prevent traffic with spoofed source IP addresses. Operators can implement a system enabling source address validation, such as unicast reverse path forwarding (uRPF) and anti-spoofing filtering, to prevent packets with incorrect source IP addresses from entering and leaving the network. 3. Facilitate global operational communication and coordination between network operators. This common but effective way of addressing problems in Internet routing simply entails an operator noticing an issue and then calling someone who is able to fix it. 4. Facilitate validation of routing information on a global scale. This advanced action requires operators to have publicly documented routing policy, ASNs and prefixes intended to be advertised to external parties. Global validation tools could include Internet Routing Registries (IRRs) and Resource Public Key Infrastructure (RPKI).

Additional momentum for the MANRS initiative comes from the growing participation in the IXP Programme. Launched in April 2018, this programme broadens support by introducing a separate membership category for IXPs. All 25 current participants in this programme have committed to preventing the propagation of incorrect routing information and promoting MANRS amongst their membership. IXP Programme participants also agree to take action either to protect the peering platform, facilitate global operational communication and coordination, or provide monitoring and debugging tools to their members.

The successful adoption of MANRS among both network operators and IXPs indicates that challenges involving routing security, such as the need for collective action and a lack of market differentiation, have not proved insurmountable. Related governmental efforts may also be contributing to the momentum this year. The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) special publication 1800-14, "Protecting the Integrity of Internet Routing," for instance, calls for path validation via several techniques, including Border Gateway (News - Alert) Protocol Security (BGPSec), which align with MANRS.

Looking ahead, the Internet Society plans to support continued growth through MANRS Lab, an online course that will offer network engineers implementation guidance for MANRS Actions. It also intends to deploy MANRS Observatory, a tool that will monitor and report on the security and resilience of the Internet system and its evolution with a view toward tracking the overall level of routing hygiene, adherence to MANRS Actions and identification of problematic areas.

Network operators interested in joining the MANRS initiative can sign up online, at no cost. Internet Exchange Providers interested in the IXP Programme are encouraged to visit www.manrs.org/ixps to learn more and join.

Supporting Resources:

About the Internet Society

Founded by Internet pioneers, the Internet Society (ISOC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring the open development, evolution and use of the Internet. Working through a global community of chapters and members, the Internet Society collaborates with a broad range of groups to promote the technologies that keep the Internet safe and secure, and advocates for policies that enable universal access. The Internet Society is also the organizational home of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005126/en/[December 04, 2018] Eutelsat Takes Home SSPI Better Satellite World Award for Its Support of the Crisis Connectivity Charter

Regulatory News: The Space & Satellite Professionals International yesterday recognized the signatories to the Crisis Connectivity Charter, including Eutelsat (News - Alert) (Paris:ETL), with the Better Satellite World Award during a ceremony in London, which annually acknowledges the contributions of the satellite industry to the global economy, safety, security, governance, development and health. The Crisis Connectivity Charter was signed in late 2015 between the Global VSAT Forum (News - Alert) (GVF), the EMEA Satellite Operators Association (ESOA), the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Aid (OCHA) and the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC) to help the humanitarian community by enhancing their access to vital satellite-based communications when local networks are affected, destroyed or overloaded following disasters. It entered into its operational phase in May of this year through the signature of contribution agreements with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), on behalf of the ETC. In the context of the Charter, Eutelsat has committed pre-allocated bandwidth on four of its satellies[1] across the globe, complemented on the ground by ready-to-deploy satellite kits, enabling emergency telecommunications services to be deployed in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas within 24 hours of a crisis.



Simon Gray, Vice President of Humanitarian Affairs of Eutelsat, commented on the award: "We are honoured to be receiving this award as a signatory of the Crisis Connectivity Charter. The resilience and quick deployment of satellite solutions place our industry in a unique position to support relief efforts and we are proud to be the first industrial sector to be undertaking such a unified effort to standardise disaster response on a global scale." About Eutelsat Communications

Founded in 1977, Eutelsat Communications is one of the world's leading satellite operators. With a global fleet of satellites and associated ground infrastructure, Eutelsat enables clients across Video, Data, Government, Fixed and Mobile Broadband markets to communicate effectively to their customers, irrespective of their location. Over 7,000 television channels operated by leading media groups are broadcast by Eutelsat to one billion viewers equipped for DTH reception or connected to terrestrial networks. Headquartered in Paris, with offices and teleports around the globe, Eutelsat assembles 1,000 men and women from 46 countries who are dedicated to delivering the highest quality of service.

Eutelsat Communications is listed on the Euronext Paris Stock Exchange (ticker: ETL).

For more about Eutelsat go to www.eutelsat.com

[1] EUTELSAT 10A, EUTELSAT 21B, EUTELSAT 70B and EUTELSAT 65 West A www.eutelsat.com - Follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) @Eutelsat_SA View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005446/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] Juniper Research: Healthcare Chatbot Interactions to Reach 2.8 Billion by 2023, as Conversational AI Becomes the Future of Healthcare

New findings from Juniper Research forecast that AI-powered chatbots will soon become the first responders for citizens' engagements with healthcare providers, as the number of chatbot interactions exceeds 2.8 billion annually by 2023. This is up from an estimated 21 million in 2018, an average annual growth of 167%. For more insights on the market readiness for healthcare chatbots, download the free whitepaper: Will Digital Health be Ready for Complete AI Dominance? Hospitals Turn to AI & Chatbots to Make Cost Savings of $4 billion by 2023



The new research, Digital Health: Disruptor Analysis, Country Readiness & Technology Forecasts 2018-2023, found that the adoption of chatbots will ramp up in the future, due to: Citizens becoming more comfortable using chatbots to discuss their healthcare requirements.

Chatbots becoming an important component of healthcare providers' customer experience strategies.

Shortages of medical practitioners to support ageing populations; for example, the German government expects that it will need 3 million more nurses by 2060.

Increased sophistication of conversational AI platforms leading to a greater percentage of enquiries being completed entirely via chatbots; freeing up the medical staff time and saving countries' healthcare systems around $3.7 billion by 2023. Chatbot Adoption Will Shake Up the Healthcare Value Chain

The research found that the first priority for healthcare providers will be to ensure that the information collected is transferred to a person's medical record and other applications, such as appointment scheduling or for those for dispensing prescriptions. This means that providers of medical records and line of business applications will need to make their existing systems interoperable with chatbot providers. Research author Michael Larner explained: "Chatbots have the potential to transform the way in which patients engage with their healthcare systems and go some way to take the pressure off overstretched staff. But if deployments are not backed up by investment in record keeping, then financial and time savings will evaporate". Juniper Research (News - Alert) provides research and analytical services to the global hi-tech communications sector, providing consultancy, analyst reports and industry commentary. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005467/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] Defective Road Designs and Complex Intra-Government Coordination are the Biggest Hurdles for Road Safety

NEW DELHI, December 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Lawxy conducted its third annual workshop on road safety on 30 November and 1st December 2018 at National Law University, Delhi. The workshop forms part of the World Health Organization's Legal Development Programme (WHO LDP) which aims to train young professionals on legal and policy aspects of road safety. The LDP has drafted legal and policy recommendations on improving sub-standard road design and engineering which will be submitted to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH). On this issue, Mr. T. Krishna Prasad (DGP and Chairman of Road Safety Authority in Telangana) mentioned that a lot of road crashes occur because of defective road constructions and black and blind spots. He also said, "State governments should train officers so they can conduct proper and detailed investigations into the causes of road crashes. The mentality that the bigger vehicle is at fault should change." He further added "It's the duty of the Government and civil society to bring in a cultural change of responsible driving amongst the citizens." Mr. Navdeep Asija (Traffic Advisor, Punjab) mentioned that coordination within both State and Central Government authorities is extremely complex and a hurdle to implementing road safety policies in Punjab. Mr. Asija stressed on using technology for enforcement and spoke about 'Safe Punjab Project' to improve roa safety in Punjab. Mr. Asija also mentioned that the MoRTH's definition of a black spot is inconsistent with the globally accepted definition and should be amended.



The LDP has also drafted legal and policy recommendations on improving the compensation model and MACT. On this issue, Dr. Arun Mohan (Senior Advocate) emphasised that compensation should be paid as (monthly) Annuity Certificates to the claimants instead of cash. This will deter false claims and also ensure safety of the money in the recipients' hands. Mr. Puneet Jindal (Senior Advocate) said that road safety has been a priority for the judiciary and gave examples of the Supreme Court Committee on road safety and the ongoing case in the Punjab & Haryana High Court. He said, "While public interest litigations have been successful, the Government should be more pro-active and not leave this to the judiciary."

The LDP members debated on the status of the Motor Vehicle Amendment Bill if the Lok Sabha dissolves and the bill is still pending in the Rajya Sabha. Mr. Rituj Chopra (Advocate) mentioned that until the Amendment Bill is passed, existing provisions in the Motor Vehicles Act are sufficient towards ensuring road safety. Dr. Dinesh Mohan (Road Safety Expert) mentioned that the provision making engineers personally liable for faulty design could discourage design improvements in India and should be removed from the bill. The LDP also introduced the International Road Safety Research Journal (IRSRJ) and invited contributions. Vishwam Jindal (WHO LDP Core Team Member) said, "IRSRJ will encourage research and be a source for all road safety research and data." All sessions of the workshop have been recorded and will be uploaded on YouTube and the IRSRJ website in due course. About Lawxy E-ventures Private Limited Lawxy was incorporated as Lawxy E-ventures Private Limited in India in October 2015 under the Companies Act 2013. Lawxy was founded by three dynamic and experienced lawyers but has since then grown to include designers, illustrators and engineers. Lawxy creates innovative technology products and imparts training and education to help legal professionals simplify their practice management. PocketLawyer.com is one of the technology products created by Lawxy - an online marketplace and a safe reliable virtual resource to help you resolve your legal issues online. Media Contact:

Nishant Bhaskar

[email protected]

+91-8800559859

Core Member LDP India

Lawxy E-ventures Private Limited

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] FusionHealth Announces New Collaboration in $45M Clinical Trial to Test Sleep Apnea Treatment in Stroke Survivors

ATLANTA, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Atlanta-based FusionHealth announced today a new research collaboration with the University of Michigan for a clinical trial called Sleep SMART (Sleep for Stroke Management and Recovery Trial), during which researchers will investigate whether obstructive sleep apnea diagnosis and treatment improves stroke recovery or reduces the likelihood of another stroke. While the association between stroke and sleep apnea is clear, experts still don't know the nature of it: whether many patients' sleep apnea was always there, and may have led to the stroke, whether the sleep apnea was exacerbated or created due to the stroke, or whether it's a combination of the two. Nonetheless, the association offers a prime treatment opportunity. "Not only do the majority of post-stroke patients suffer from sleep pnea, but they are also often at a heightened risk of another stroke," said Dr. Jeffrey Durmer, sleep expert and co-founder of FusionHealth, a sleep health technology company that provides employers and healthcare systems with population-based solutions to address sleep issues such as obstructive sleep apnea. "The results of this study could be revolutionary in providing both preventative and recovery care to patients following a stroke."



Researchers at 110 sites, via the National Institutes of Health-funded StrokeNet clinical trial network, plan to enroll 3,000 post-stroke patients in this randomized, controlled trial. Patients will begin the trial while still in the hospital, so the treatment group can begin right away, says co-principal investigator Devin Brown, M.D., M.S., a neurologist and longtime stroke researcher, who is also co-director of U-M's Regional Coordinating Stroke Center, part of NIH StrokeNet - http://www.nihstrokenet.org/ . The study will compare the standard treatment for sleep apnea, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), with standard usual care after stroke. At three and six months after random assignment to one approach or the other, the investigators will compare the treatment group's stroke-related outcomes with those of the control group. The aim is to determine whether going forward, future patients who have a stroke should be screened and treated for OSA.

FusionHealth will supply the sites with sleep apnea testing and CPAP equipment, incorporating telemedicine to better monitor patient adherence and results without requiring overnight sleep apnea tests or constant clinic visits. Funding for the trial comes from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) at the National Institutes of Health (U01NS099043). The researchers are working closely with NIH StrokeNet centers at the Medical University of South Carolina, which provides the national data management center, and the University of Cincinnati, which serves as the national coordinating center. FusionHealth

FusionHealth, headquartered in Atlanta, is a sleep health technology company that provides employers and healthcare systems with population-based solutions to address the central problem of poor sleep health. Partnering with FusionHealth, businesses reduce their healthcare spend, improve safety, increase productivity and improve the overall wellbeing of their associates. For more information, visit http://www.fusionhealth.com . View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fusionhealth-announces-new-collaboration-in-45m-clinical-trial-to-test-sleep-apnea-treatment-in-stroke-survivors-300759326.html SOURCE FusionHealth

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] Astrocast Launches First Test Satellite of IoT CubeSat Network

Today, Astrocast announced the successful launch of its first test satellite for the Astrocast, low Earth orbit, Internet of Things (IoT) CubeSat network from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Using L-Band frequencies, Astrocast's small form factor modules, powerful antennas, and optimized data protocol make it the most advanced nanosatellite on the market today. With Astrocast, companies can securely extend IoT applications to the 90% of the globe currently not covered by cellular networks. "We're thrilled that the complete success of Spaceflight's SSO-A mission placed payloads from 34 organizations on orbit," said Curt Blake (News - Alert), president of Spaceflight. "This mission was dedicated to smallsats, many of them experiencing their first launches and we're proud to have played a role in enabling access to space. We look forward to seeing the impact of Astrocast's solution as they continue to build and launch their constellation of nanosatellites." Astrocast's network delivers high performance, low latency, and low cost two-way communications to maritime, oil and gas, mining, supply chain, and logistics industries. Astrocast provides chipsets, modules, and communications data plans for the network. Designed for IoT applications, Astrocast's small form factor modules are optimized for battery-powered applications. Two-wy architecture allows customers to monitor and control remote assets. Some applications include:



Maritime: fishing and environmental buoys, emission monitoring/scrubbers, electronic cargo seals

Oil & Gas: wellhead sensors, pipeline monitoring, personal security

Mining and Agriculture: heavy equipment monitoring, irrigation control

Smart Cities: critical LPWAN backup "We are extremely pleased of our partnership with Astrocast for the provision of Airbus UNIT (Universal Network for Internet of Things) solution for space based IoT connectivity communications. It will enable Astrocast to offer global and efficient IoT services, and marks an important milestone in the Airbus development of space-based IoT satellite communication solutions," said Arnaud de Rosnay, Head of Telecom Satellites at Airbus.

"Since the launch of SwissCube, we've been working diligently to bring about a new era of satellite communications. Together with our partners, we're making the satellite market accessible for millions of new applications. We are very excited for this first launch and the ability to fulfill this promise," said Fabien Jordan, CEO of Astrocast. About Astrocast Astrocast SA, in partnership with the European Space Agency, Airbus, and Thuraya (News - Alert), is developing an advanced nanosatellite network for the Internet of things (IoT). Airbus and Astrocast have developed a low-cost ASIC and module that provides the most power efficient satellite modem for IoT applications. The constellation will consist of 64 CubeSat satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and will provide low latency global coverage. Astrocast was founded in 2014 by the developers of SwissCube, one of the longest lasting, operational nanosatellites in space. For more information visit www.astrocast.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005301/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]Banks Partner to Award $7K Grant to Disabled Texas Veteran

Michael Byrne, a retired U.S. Marine, will receive a $7,500 Housing Assistance for Veterans (HAVEN) grant from Texas Capital Bank and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas). The grant helped fund a home built by Operation FINALLY HOME, a nonprofit dedicated to providing American veterans with custom-built homes mortgage free.

The media is invited to the home dedication ceremony at 9:45 a.m. on Wednesday, December 5 at The Groves at 13714 Overton Wood Drive in Humble.

HAVEN is a unique grant program offered by FHLB Dallas through its member institutions, such as Texas Capital Bank, that reach out to veterans and active-duty service members who have been disabled in the line of duty since September 11, 2001. HAVEN provides grants up to $7,500 to support necessary home modifications. To qualify, veterans must also meet income eligibility requirements.







WHAT: Home Dedication WHEN: 9:45 a.m., Wednesday, December 5, 2018 WHO: Jenny Leighton-Guzman, Vice President, Community Development, Texas Capital Bank Rusty Carroll, Executive Director, Operation FINALLY HOME Michael Byrne Melanie Dill, Community and Economic Development Product Manager, FHLB Dallas WHERE: The Groves 13714 Overton Wood Drive Humble, Texas 77346

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005029/en/[December 04, 2018] Tetra Bio-Pharma Convenes First National Medical Advisory Board

ORLEANS, Ontario, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc (Tetra or TBP), (TSX VENTURE: TBP) (OTCQB: TBPMF),  announced that it held its first National Advisory Board meeting in Toronto, on November 30, 2018 as a platform to validate their drug development and commercial programs. Physicians from diverse medical specialties, including oncology, palliative care, as well as mental health, family medicine and anaesthesiology had the opportunity to discuss the place for cannabinoid derived medicines as a potential therapeutic option in pain management. There was a genuine interest into evidence-based medicine to further substantiate their position on cannabinoid derived therapies.

I am confident that this will be the first of many transparent and collaborative exchanges that Tetra organizes with physicians as we seek to bring cannabinoid-derived medicines into our healthcare system, said Steeve Neron, Senior Vice-President, Marketing and Medical Affairs. The level of engagement was encouraging and leads me to believe that physicians are open to consider cannabinoids as a drug they can incorporate into their practice, but without the evidence, they simply will not. This is where Tetras scientific data will be invaluable. About Tetra Bio-Pharma Tetra Bio-Pharma (TSX-V: TBP) (OTCQB: TBPMF) is a biopharmaceutical leader in cannabinoid-based drug discovery and development with a Health Canada approved, and FDA reviewed, clinical program aimed at bringing novel prescription drugs and treatments to patients and their healthcare providers. The Company has several subsidiaries engaged in the development of an advanced and growing pipeline of Bio Pharmaceuticals, Natural Health and Veterinary Products containing cannabis and other medicinal plant-based elements. With patients at the core of what we do, Tetra Bio-Pharma is focused on providing rigorous scientific validation and safety data required for inclusion into the existing bio pharma industry by regulators, physicians and insurance companies. For more information visit: www.tetrabiopharma.com



Source: Tetra Bio-Pharma Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-looking statements

Some statements in this release may contain forward-looking information. All statements, other than of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, without limitation, statements regarding potential acquisitions and financings) are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by use of the words "may", "will", "should", "continue", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "believe", "intend", "plan" or "project" or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's ability to control or predict, that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, without limitation, the inability of the Company to obtain sufficient financing to execute the Company's business plan; competition; regulation and anticipated and unanticipated costs and delays, the success of the Company's research and development strategies, including the ability to obtain orphan drug status, the applicability of the discoveries made therein, the successful and timely completion and uncertainties related to the regulatory process, the timing of clinical trials, the timing and outcomes of regulatory or intellectual property decisions and other risks disclosed in the Company's public disclosure record on file with the relevant securities regulatory authorities. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results or events not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. While no definitive documentation has yet been signed by the parties and there is no certainty that such documentation will be signed. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company does not undertake an obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise unless required by applicable securities legislation. For further information, please contact Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc.

Robert (Bob) Bechard

Executive Vice President, Corporate Development and Licensing

514-817-2514

[email protected] Media Contact energi PR Carol Levine Stephanie Engel [email protected] [email protected] 514-288-8500 ext. 226 416-425-9143 ext. 209



[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] Jinergy's HJT Products Qualified for DEWA Distributed Renewable Resources Generation Programme

JINZHONG, China, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Jinneng Clean Energy Technology Ltd (Jinergy) announced that HJT(Heterojunction) solar modules manufactured by its wholly-owned subsidiary, Jinneng Photovoltaic Technology Ltd are listed in Equipment meeting eligibility requirements for DEWA Distributed Renewable Resources Generation Programme and get access to the United Arab Emirates market. Listed products are JNHM60 (275W to 310W) and JNHM72 (330W to 370W) solar modules featuring leading temperature coefficient of -0.27%/C, excellent performance in weak light, and ultra-low degradation. Due to bifacial design, power generation of Jinergy's HJT modules can be increased by 10% to 30% in different applications, such as grassland, concrete floor, desert and reflective cloth. Overall power output of Jinergy HJT modules can be 44% hgher than that of regular poly modules.



Jinergy is the first PV manufacturer to realize mass production of HJT solar modules in mainland China and also the first photovoltaic enterprise to receive the certification under new IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) standard, which has raised requirements on design and production of PV module. Average HJT cell efficiency in mass production will expect to reach 24% by the end of 2018. Production capacity of Jinergy's HJT cell and module manufacture base will expand to GW scale and cost will drop to make breakthroughs in LCOE. As a photovoltaic enterprise committed to the "go-global" strategy, Jinergy has accelerated the pace of developing overseas markets. Dr. Liyou Yang, general manager of Jinergy revealed, "Jinergy already exports high-quality modules to India, Pakistan, Mexico, Argentina, Australia, Japan, Ukraine and other countries and regions. It's estimated that in 2018 Jinergy's overseas shipments will account for 30% of total shipments and the number is expected to be 50% in 2019."

About Jinergy Founded on December 31, 2013, Jinergy is a global leading PV manufacturer and clean energy provider incorporated under clean energy sector of Jinneng Group, one of the largest state-owned energy groups in China. Jinergy follows technology iteration strategy and has deployed three generations of cutting-edge technology, i.e. poly-crystalline, PERC mono-crystalline and HJT, with total production capacity of 1.8GW. Learn more at http://en.jinergy.com Logo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20180528/2144424-1LOGO SOURCE Jinneng Clean Energy Technology Ltd.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] Caelum Biosciences Announces Two Oral Presentations of Additional Data from Phase 1b Study of Anti-Amyloid mAb CAEL-101 and Preclinical Imaging Study at 60th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting

Phase 1b data confirm efficacy in AL Amyloidosis with two cardiac markers correlated with survival

Preclinical data demonstrate the potential of using radiolabeled CAEL-101 for real-time imaging of human amyloidosis in vivo NEW YORK, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Caelum Biosciences, Inc. (Caelum), a company focused on developing treatments for rare and life-threatening diseases, today announced additional global longitudinal strain (GLS) data from the Phase 1b study of CAEL-101, a light chain fibril-reactive monoclonal antibody (mAb) 11-1F4, in patients with cardiac amyloid light chain (AL) amyloidosis, which further confirmed CAEL-101s efficiency improving GLS and NT-proBNP. The Company also announced imaging data from a preclinical study that demonstrate the potential of using radiolabeled CAEL-101 for real-time imaging of human amyloidosis in vivo. The data were presented during two oral sessions at the 60th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting by Divaya Bhutani, M.D., and Jing Fu, Ph.D., of Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC). In the Phase 1b study of relapsed and refractory systemic AL amyloidosis, 10 out of 19 patients had cardiac involvement, with a median NT-proBNP of 1186 (range 699-3964) at screening. CAEL-101 was administered weekly for four weeks with sequential doses of 0.5, 5, 10, 50, 100, 250 and 500 mg/m2 in a dose-escalation design. All patients underwent transthoracic echocardiograms at screening and 12 weeks post-therapy. Eight of 10 patients who had cardiac involvement were considered evaluable for NT-proBNP response. Six out of the eight patients (75%) with cardiac involvement met cardiac response criteria by having a decrease in NT-proBNP = 30%. Among echocardiographic parameters, mean GLS improved significantly in nine out of 10 patients from -15.58  -4.14% at screening to -17.37  -3.53% at week 12, p = 0.004 of the trial. Four out of seven patients (57%) with renal involvement met renal response criteria with = 50% decrease in 24-hour urine proteinuria. Median time to organ response was three weeks. There was no change in patients without cardiac involvement. Seventeen of 19 patients studied were alive at follow up of 19 months. We are pleased that these data demonstrate CAEL-101s ability to induce rapid organ responses in patients with AL amyloidosis. We also found that improvement in GLS corresponds with improvement in NT-proBNP in patients with cardiac AL amyloidosis treated with CAEL-101. It is important to note that GLS is a sensitive measure of left ventricular function that is correlated with survival in AL amyloidosis, said Dr. Bhutani, Assistant Professor of Medicine at CUMC. The preclinical study explored the diagnostic potential of CAEL-101 radiolabeled with a positron emitting radioisotope for systemic amyloidosis and its use as a companion biomarke to stratify patients for CAEL-101 immunotherapy. CAEL-101 successfully imaged 100% of mice bearing human amyloid extracts of both kappa and lambda subtypes derived from the heart, spleen, liver and kidney. These findings indicate that using CAEL-101 with positron emission tomography (PET) imaging may facilitate diagnosis of systemic amyloidosis, stratify patients for CAEL-101 immunotherapy and quantify peripheral organ amyloid fibril deposition pre- and post-anti-amyloid therapy. The study of mAb CAEL-101 confirmed the findings of previous studies with the murine monoclonal antibody, which was evaluated in preclinical and clinical studies.



We successfully used PET imaging to visualize cardiac-derived amyloid fibrils from AL amyloidosis patients, with clinically significant imaging of both kappa and lambda fibrils. Because heart failure is the most critical condition that can impede AL amyloidosis patients survival, successfully conducting in vivo imaging of cardiac amyloidosis is essential for diagnostic purposes, said Dr. Fu, Associate Research Scientist at CUMC. As a result of our findings, we anticipate that dedicated gated cardiac PET and computerized tomography (CT) imaging of radiolabeled CAEL-101 will be successful in visualizing cardiac amyloid deposits in patients, especially with the rich blood flow in cardiac tissue and newer-generation, highly sensitive, high-resolution digital PET scanners. About AL Amyloidosis

AL amyloidosis is a rare systemic disorder caused by an abnormality of plasma cells in the bone marrow. Misfolded amyloid proteins produced by plasma cells cause buildup in and around tissues, nerves and organs, gradually affecting their function. This can cause progressive and widespread organ damage and high mortality rates.

AL amyloidosis affects roughly 30,000  40,000 patients in total throughout the U.S. and Europe, and it is estimated that there are approximately 3,000  4,000 new cases of AL amyloidosis annually in the U.S., though actual incidence is likely higher as a result of under-diagnosis. Amyloidosis has a one-year mortality rate of 47 percent, 76 percent of which is caused by cardiac amyloidosis. About CAEL-101 (mAb 11-1F4)

CAEL-101 is a light chain fibril-reactive monoclonal antibody (mAb) that has completed a Phase 1a/1b trial at Columbia University for the treatment of patients with AL amyloidosis. While current treatment with chemotherapy is aimed at reducing production of the amyloid-forming light-chain protein, CAEL-101 attempts to reduce and / or eliminate the amyloid deposits. About Caelum Biosciences

Caelum Biosciences, Inc. (Caelum) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing treatments for rare and life-threatening diseases. Caelums lead asset, CAEL-101 (mAb 11-1F4), is a novel antibody for the treatment of patients with amyloid light chain (AL) amyloidosis. Phase 1a/1b data support CAEL-101s potential to be a safe and well-tolerated therapy that promotes amyloid resolution. CAEL-101 has received Orphan Drug Designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a therapeutic agent for patients with AL amyloidosis, and as a radio-imaging agent in amyloidosis. For more information, visit www.caelumbio.com . Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain 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, as amended. Such statements include, but are not limited to, any statements relating to our growth strategy and product development programs and any other statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are based on managements current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could negatively affect our business, operating results, financial condition and stock price. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated include: risks relating to our growth strategy; our ability to obtain, perform under and maintain financing and strategic agreements and relationships; risks relating to the results of research and development activities; uncertainties relating to preclinical and clinical testing; risks relating to the timing of starting and completing clinical trials; our dependence on third-party suppliers; our ability to attract, integrate and retain key personnel; the early stage of products under development; our need for substantial additional funds; government regulation; patent and intellectual property matters; competition; as well as other risks described in our SEC filings. We expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in our expectations or any changes in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, except as required by law. Contacts:

Caelum Biosciences, Inc.

Michael Spector, President & Chief Executive Officer

(212) 574-2811

[email protected] Media Relations

Tony Plohoros

6 Degrees

(908) 940-0135

[email protected]

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] Celtra Hires Eli Chapman as Senior Vice President of Brand Strategy and Sales

NEW YORK, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Celtra, the leading enterprise Creative Management Platform (CMP), announced that Eli Chapman has joined the company as Senior Vice President of Brand Strategy and Sales. In his role, Chapman will be responsible for the acceleration and growth of Celtra's brand direct business, which includes some of the largest and fastest growing brands in the world. Chapman will lead strategy and guide execution for brands that leverage Celtra's Creative Management Platform, working closely with marketers, their agencies and their consultancies, to help them transform their marketing initiatives. A veteran marketing professional, Chapman spent nearly two decades leading digital transformation efforts across the advertising industry. Most recently, as Managing Director/Global Head of Media and Connections at R/GA, Chapman helped clients develop and execute digital-first strategies for online and offline media innovation, building out an integrated cross-functional talent-rich team. Prior to R/GA, Chapman was Senior Director, Client Partner at TubeMogul, where he developed and implemented the company's client partnership model and led a bespoke team designed to onboard and grow the company's most strategic brand-direct relationships, including L'Oreal USA, Johnson & Johnson, and Heineken. He preiously founded his own digital agency where his largest clients included The Coca-Cola Company and Proximo Spirits.



"Eli is a seasoned marketing innovation leader with frontline experience at the intersection of creative, media, technology, and data," said Miha Mikek, CEO and co-founder, Celtra. "It's at that intersection that Celtra has built our industry leading Creative Management Platform, and we are thrilled to have Eli's skills and expertise on our team." "As marketers begin to realize the promise of technology and data, there is still a divide between the beauty of big creative ideas and the reality of digital marketing," said Eli Chapman. "No one is better positioned than Celtra to bridge that divide and help scale great creative across digital channels. I feel privileged to join the world-class Celtra team in our mission of building out a Creative Management Platform that helps brand marketers and creative professionals transform their creative strategy across their entire organization."

Chapman will operate out of Celtra's New York City office and report directly to Jonathan Milne, Chief Revenue Officer, Celtra. His appointment is effective immediately. To learn more about Celtra's leadership team, visit: https://www.celtra.com/management/ About Celtra

Celtra is the Creative Management Platform (CMP) for digital advertising. Celtra's enterprise CMP is cloud-based, self-service software for managing the entire creative lifecycle of digital advertising  improving advertising effectiveness while reducing operational costs. Media consumption has radically changed, and consumers' expectations are higher than ever. In order to connect with consumers, brands need to create experiences that are meaningful and relevant. Celtra's enterprise software platform enables global brand marketers to centralize control over the creative lifecycle, and quickly and intelligently deploy relevant, personalized creative across display, video and social channels. Celtra is headquartered in Boston (MA), with offices in New York City, San Francisco, London (UK), Singapore, and Ljubljana (SI). For more information, visit Celtra at www.celtra.com or @CeltraMobile on Twitter. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/celtra-hires-eli-chapman-as-senior-vice-president-of-brand-strategy-and-sales-300758818.html SOURCE Celtra, Inc.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] Infotools Launches Mobile Data Alerts for its Software Platform, Infotools Harmoni

AUCKLAND, New Zealand, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Infotools, a global leader in market research analysis solutions, today announced that its "data alerts" feature is now live for users of the Infotools Harmoni platform. When changes in data are worthy of urgent business attention and action, the feature immediately notifies the right stakeholders. Changes that spur alerts can include those that show significant changes and impact key performance indicators, exceptions or breaks in data, as well as letting users know when new data is available, or when specific metrics are  or are not  met. "This newest feature provides a proactive approach to monitoring data, so that our clients don't have to take time away from strategic thinking and data exploration. It provides peace of mind that the day-to-day issues are covered automatically, eliminating the need to manually check performance," said Johan van Kuyk, Director of Product at Infotools. "If anything 'newsworthy' happens, they'll be alerted." The alerts are customizable by the user. For example, senior management can have top-line trends and KPI updates pushed to their mobile devices, giving them a constant up-to-date overview. Users are then able click through to dashboards from their mobile devices or visit the full nalysis tool on their workstations. Future releases target machine-generated text and audio-commentary of these alerts as well as descriptions of significant trends.



Infotools Harmoni is a cloud-based software platform purpose-built for market research data  from data processing through to analysis, reporting, visualization, dashboarding, distribution, and data alerts. It is data agnostic, and supports a wide range of other data sources such as SQL, SPSS, Excel, CSV, tab delimited files as well as live API connections to leading data collection platforms. The platform harmonizes data from multiple sources into one usable data set, using the power of automation and machine learning, along with extensive domain expertise. The result is real-time insights based on the very latest available data, presented and shared through advanced reporting, dashboards and storytelling capabilities. About Infotools

Infotools is an award-winning software and services provider, with particular expertise in processing, analyzing, visualizing and sharing market research data. The company offers a powerful cloud-based software platform, Infotools Harmoni, which is purpose-built for market research data, together with the services of data experts who can drive research design and management, data design and organization, and insights discovery, analysis, visualization and reporting. Established in 1990, and with a presence in the US, Europe, South Africa and New Zealand, Infotools works with some of the world's best-known brands, including Coca-Cola, Orange, Samsung and Mondelez, as well as boutique research agencies such as MDI and Quantum Market Research. For more information, visit www.infotools.com or follow on Twitter @infotools.

Media contact: Marie Melsheimer, [email protected] , +1-541-815-3951 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/infotools-launches-mobile-data-alerts-for-its-software-platform-infotools-harmoni-300759490.html SOURCE Infotools

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] Newell Brands Announces Tender Offers for $1.5 Billion of Outstanding Debt

Newell Brands Inc. (NYSE: NWL) (the "Company" or "Newell Brands") announced today that it has commenced debt tender offers to purchase for cash (i) any and all of the Company's outstanding securities listed in Table I below (the "Any and All Notes") (such offer, the "Any and All Offer"), and (ii) up to the Maximum Waterfall Tender Amount (as defined below) in aggregate principal amount of the Company's outstanding securities listed in Table II below (collectively, the "Waterfall Notes" and, together with the Any and All Notes, the "Securities"), subject to the Acceptance Priority Levels as defined below (such offer, the "Waterfall Offer"). The "Maximum Waterfall Tender Amount" is an aggregate principal amount equal to $1.5 billion less the aggregate principal amount of the Any and All Notes validly tendered and accepted for purchase in the Any and All Offer. The tender offers are intended to allow the Company to repurchase the Securities and reduce the amount and cost of the Company's outstanding indebtedness. The Company expects to fund the tender offers with the proceeds from divestitures under the Company's Accelerated (News - Alert) Transformation Plan (including the divestitures of the Pure Fishing and Jostens businesses, if consummated), together with available cash on hand.







Table I

Securities Subject to the Any And All Offer Title of Security(1) Principal

Amount

Outstanding CUSIP/ISIN Early

Tender

Premium(2) Reference U.S. Treasury

Security Bloomberg (News - Alert)

Reference

Page/Screen Fixed

Spread

(basis

points) 3.150% Notes due 2021 $350,000,000 CUSIP: 651229 AU0 ISIN: US651229AU09 $50 1.250% UST due 03/31/21 PX5 30

(1) The Total Consideration will be determined taking into account the par call date, if applicable, for such series of Securities. (2) The Total Consideration payable for each $1,000 principal amount of Securities validly tendered at or prior to the Early Tender Deadline and accepted for purchase by us includes the applicable Early Tender Premium. In addition, holders whose Securities are accepted will also receive accrued interest on such Securities. Table II Securities Subject to the Waterfall Offer Title of Security(1) Principal

Amount

Outstanding CUSIP/ISIN Acceptance

Priority

Level Early

Tender

Premium(2) Reference U.S. Treasury

Security Bloomberg

Reference

Page/Screen Fixed

Spread

(basis

points) 5.500% Notes due 2046 $1,750,000,000 CUSIP: 651229 AY2

ISIN: US651229AY21 1 $50 3.000% UST due 08/15/48 PX1 265 3.900% Notes due 2025 $300,000,000 CUSIP: 651229 AS5

ISIN: US651229AS52 2 $50 3.125% UST due 11/15/28 PX1 180 5.375% Notes due 2036 $500,000,000 CUSIP: 651229 AX4

ISIN: US651229AX48 3 $50 3.000% UST due 08/15/48 PX1 240 4.200% Notes due 2026 $2,000,000,000 CUSIP: 651229 AW6

ISIN: US651229AW64 4 $50 3.125% UST due 11/15/28 PX1 165 3.850% Notes due 2023 $1,750,000,000 CUSIP: 651229 AV8

ISIN: US651229AV81 5 $50 2.875% UST due 11/30/23 PX1 138 (1) The Total Consideration will be determined taking into account the par call date, if applicable, for such series of Securities. (2) The Total Consideration payable for each $1,000 principal amount of Securities validly tendered at or prior to the Early Tender Deadline and accepted for purchase by us includes the applicable Early Tender Premium. In addition, holders whose Securities are accepted will also receive accrued interest on such Securities. Subject to the Maximum Waterfall Tender Amount, the amounts of each series of Waterfall Notes that are purchased in the Waterfall Offer will be determined in accordance with the acceptance priority levels specified in Table II above (the "Acceptance Priority Levels"), with 1 being the highest Acceptance Priority Level and 5 being the lowest Acceptance Priority Level. The tender offers are being made pursuant to, and are subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the terms and conditions, including a financing condition relating to the receipt of net proceeds from the completion of the Pure Fishing and Jostens divestitures, set forth in the Offer to Purchase, dated December 4, 2018, and the related Letter of Transmittal (as they may each be amended or supplemented from time to time, the "Offer Documents"). The tender offers will expire at midnight, New York City time, at the end of January 3, 2019, unless extended or terminated (the "Expiration Date"). Tenders of Securities may be properly withdrawn at any time at or prior to 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on December 18, 2018, but may not be properly withdrawn thereafter, except where additional withdrawal rights are required by law. Holders of Securities that are validly tendered and not properly withdrawn at or prior to 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on December 18, 2018 (unless extended, the "Early Tender Deadline") and accepted for purchase will receive the applicable Total Consideration, which includes the applicable early tender premium specified in the applicable table above (the "Early Tender Premium"). Payment for Securities that are validly tendered and not properly withdrawn at or prior to the Early Tender Deadline and accepted for purchase will be made as soon as reasonably practicable following the Early Tender Deadline (such date with respect to the applicable Offer, the "Early Settlement Date"). The Company expects that the Early Settlement Date will be December 26, 2018, the fourth business day after the Price Determination Date. Holders of Securities who validly tender their Securities following the Early Tender Deadline and at or prior to the Expiration Date will only receive the applicable "Tender Offer Consideration" for Securities accepted for purchase, which is equal to the applicable Total Consideration minus the applicable Early Tender Premium. The prices to be paid for each series of Securities subject to the tender offers and accepted for purchase will be determined at 11:00 a.m., New York City time, on the first business day following the Early Tender Deadline (as it may be extended with respect to the applicable offer, the "Price Determination Date"). Promptly after 11:00 a.m., New York City time, on the Price Determination Date, the Company will issue a press release specifying, among other things, the Total Consideration for each series of Securities and the aggregate principal amount of Securities validly tendered at or prior to the applicable Early Tender Deadline and accepted for purchase. Payments for Securities purchased will include accrued and unpaid interest from and including the last interest payment date applicable to the relevant series of Securities up to, but not including, the applicable settlement date for such Securities accepted for purchase. If the Waterfall Offer is not fully subscribed as of the Early Tender Deadline, subject to the Maximum Waterfall Tender Amount, Waterfall Notes validly tendered and not properly withdrawn at or prior to the Early Tender Deadline will be accepted for purchase in priority to other Waterfall Notes tendered following the Early Tender Deadline, even if such Waterfall Notes tendered following the Early Tender Deadline have a higher Acceptance Priority Level than Waterfall Notes tendered at or prior to the Early Tender Deadline. Waterfall Notes of a series may be subject to proration if the aggregate principal amount of the Waterfall Notes of such series validly tendered and not properly withdrawn would cause the Maximum Waterfall Tender Amount to be exceeded. Furthermore, if the Waterfall Offer is fully subscribed as of the Early Tender Deadline, holders who validly tender Waterfall Notes following the Early Tender Deadline will not have any of their Waterfall Notes accepted for purchase. Newell Brands' obligation to accept for payment and to pay for the Securities validly tendered in the tender offers is subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the conditions, including a financing condition relating to the receipt of net proceeds from the completion of the Pure Fishing and Jostens divestitures, described in the Offer to Purchase. The Company also intends to call for redemption all of its 3.150% Notes due 2021 (the "2021 Notes") not tendered in the Any and All Offer in accordance with the terms and at the redemption price, plus accrued and unpaid interest to, but not including, the date of redemption, stated in the 2021 Notes and the indenture governing the 2021 Notes. The Company may deliver such notice at any time prior to or after the Expiration Date. However, no assurance can be given that such 2021 Notes will be redeemed as contemplated or at all. Neither the Offer to Purchase nor the accompanying Letter of Transmittal constitute a notice of redemption. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC is serving as the Lead Dealer Manager, and RBC Capital Markets, LLC and Wells Fargo (News - Alert) Securities, LLC are serving as Co-Dealer Managers, in connection with the tender offers. The information agent and tender agent is Global Bondholder Services Corporation. The full details of the tender offers, including complete instructions on how to tender Securities, are included in the Offer Documents. Holders are strongly encouraged to read carefully the Offer Documents, including materials incorporated by reference therein, because they will contain important information. Copies of the Offer Documents and related offering materials are available by contacting the information agent at (212) 430-3774 (banks and brokers) or (866) 807-2200 (all others). Questions regarding the tender offers should be directed to Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Liability Management Group, at (212) 357-0215 or (800) 828-3182 (toll free). None of the Company or its affiliates, their respective boards of directors, the dealer managers, the information agent and tender agent or the trustee with respect to any Securities is making any recommendation as to whether holders should tender any Securities in response to the tender offers, and neither the Company nor any such other person has authorized any person to make any such recommendation. Holders must make their own decision as to whether to tender any of their Securities, and, if so, the principal amount of Securities to tender. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation to buy or an offer to purchase or sell any securities. The tender offers are being made only pursuant to the Offer to Purchase and only in such jurisdictions as is permitted under applicable law. About Newell Brands Newell Brands (NYSE: NWL) is a leading global consumer goods company with a strong portfolio of well-known brands, including Paper Mate, Sharpie, Dymo, EXPO, Parker, Elmer's, Coleman, Marmot, Oster, Sunbeam, FoodSaver, Mr. Coffee, Graco, Baby Jogger, NUK, Calphalon, Rubbermaid, Contigo, First Alert, and Yankee Candle. For hundreds of millions of consumers, Newell Brands makes life better every day, where they live, learn, work and play. This press release and additional information about Newell Brands are available on the company's website, www.newellbrands.com. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other federal securities laws. These "forward-looking statements" are statements other than statements of historical fact and may include, among other things, statements in relation to the Company's current expectations and beliefs as to its ability to consummate the tender offers and redemption, including the timing, size, pricing or other terms of the tender offers, and other future events. All information set forth in this release is as of the date hereof. The Company does not intend, and undertakes no duty, to update this information to reflect future events or circumstances. Actual results are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties and may differ materially from the current expectations and beliefs discussed in this press release. Certain potential factors, risks and uncertainties that could affect the Company's business and financial results and cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements include the Company's ability to complete the tender offers and satisfy the conditions thereto, and other potential factors, risks and uncertainties under the captions "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations," in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017 and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2018, which are on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC (News - Alert)") and available at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005339/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] From Complexity to Clarity: Merger of Focused Consulting Firms Yields New Force Multiplier Approach for Organizations

NEW YORK, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Organizations seeking a more comprehensive approach to their growth, profitability and technology strategy can now rely on a single source of expertise. Khiron Advisors and Fischer Jordan LLC, two established consultancies with differing focus areas, have combined under the FischerJordan name to create a unified front for addressing multi-disciplinary business issues. Instead of addressing a more limited set of client needs as separate disciplines, FischerJordan represents the fusion of the two companies' specific and developed perspectives in Strategy, Analytics, and Technology. This approach gives clients a clear view of how to achieve their strategic objectives, together with specific actions and measurable results for getting there. "While other firms may contain similar practice areas," says Partner Boaz Salik, "they typically exist side-by-side and have minimal interaction with one another. This siloed dynamic limits their effectiveness. We saw an opportunity in the market to leverage our diverse expertise and provide multiplied client value. We know this approach will represent a quantum leap in our ability to deliver relevant, measurable value to our clients, and that excites us." Headquartered in span >New York with locations in Denver and Mumbai, FischerJordan draws on an international network of consulting talent. This allows the firm to provide outstanding advisory services, as well as interim operational expert leadership where necessary, which other consultancies are typically unable to deliver.



"I am excited to bring Khiron's technology insight and FischerJordan's strategy capability together," says Partner Gustav Hoyer. "Both firms were built on foundations of Humanity, Integrity, Conviction, and Resolve, which is what makes us a great fit. Our accumulated professional expertise will help us look at our clients' complex problems and bring powerful insights to help them find clarity for action." Adds Salik, "Our focus is to make complex systems more manageable. Whether we do this primarily from a Strategy, Analytics, or Technology perspective depends on the client's needs and priorities. In most cases, we bring a combination of these skill areas to bear in order to maximize the accuracy, impact, and implementability of the work."

FischerJordan is a cross-disciplinary consulting firm that helps businesses achieve uncommon clarity, gain control and win in the marketplace. We combine Strategy, Analytics and Technology to generate maximum value for our clients. We believe that our work should improve the lives of people and be connected to meaning beyond profit.

Contact Information

Boaz Salik

[email protected]

800.970.4197

Website: www.fischerjordan.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/from-complexity-to-clarity-merger-of-focused-consulting-firms-yields-new-force-multiplier-approach-for-organizations-300758297.html SOURCE FischerJordan

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] Happeo Introduces Integrations for Slack and Google to Kickstart the Intranet of Things

AMSTERDAM, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Social intranet platform Happeo announces a global integration with Slack, the world's leading collaboration hub, and Google's new tool, Chat, to give the Internal Communication department the help they need to drive conversation to the most suitable channels. The integration allows selected posts from channels in Happeo to be directly sent to one or multiple channels in Slack, or Chat. This way employees get to choose where they continue the conversation. The integration creates a two-way communication stream, bridging the gaps that isolated Software as a Service (SaaS) tools can create. "Information silos are the death of any company's growth," says Perttu Ojansuu, CEO and founder of Happeo. "Communication within companies and teams doesn't scale when conversation gets lost or becomes inaccessible. Centralizing company communication and work into an ecosystem of tightly integrated platforms is the future; we call it theIntranet of Things. Our integration with Slack and Chat is a step closer to that ideal. This means employees own the conversation  and the place it happens  keeping them happy and engaged."



Modern-day technology has disrupted the way companies communicate. Email gets lost in a box, instant-messaging conversations are fleeting and traditional intranets don't push conversation enough. Different communication platforms serve different communication needs, making integration the only way to prevent information silos. Mike Klein, Principal of internal communications consultancy agency Changing The Terms says: "In my research, internal communicators around the world are calling for more integrated solutions. For those fortunate enough to be G Suite customers, Happeo offers unprecedented integration  working across Gmail, Docs, Calendar and now Chat. Adding an integration for Slack users makes it an even more compelling proposition."



About Happeo Happeo is the leading all-in-one digital workplace platform that empowers internal communicators to connect with employees in entirely new ways. The platform brings together intranet, collaboration and social networking into one unified solution. Large enterprises and fast-growing organizations, such as Randstad Sourceright and Groupe Chantelle, use Happeo to reach, engage, and listen to more than 220,000 employees worldwide and unlock the value of employee engagement.

Our mission is to accelerate growth from within for our clients. We believe business success today depends entirely on talent and a company's ability to overcome silos. Happeo brings together a diverse workforce across generations, locations and time zones. In 2017 Happeo was recognized as one of Europe's most promising startups by the European Union and we continue to grow with 230% year on year. To learn more about Happeo visit https://www.happeo.com. Media contact: Lidia Luttin, [email protected], +31682185439, Media kit View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/happeo-introduces-integrations-for-slack-and-google-to-kickstart-the-intranet-of-things-300759577.html SOURCE Happeo

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]Network Cables Market Intelligence - Supply Market Forecasts, Cost Drivers, Trends, Category Management Insights Now Available from SpendEdge

SpendEdge, a global procurement market intelligence firm, has announced the release of their Global Network Cables Category - Procurement Market Intelligence Report.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005423/en/

Global Network Cables Category - Procurement Market Intelligence Report. (Graphic: Business Wire)

The growing need for high-speed internet services is driving the demand for the network cables market in regions like APAC, North America, and other regions. However, the manufacturing of such equipment calls for bulk investments, which inadvertently multiples during the production. This is creating a major challenge for investors to cater to the consumer's demand for low-cost but high-quality equipment. Read the free sample of our network cables market intelligence report to know what are the other critical drivers that are impacting the cost structure of the network cables market.

This procurement market intelligence report does not limit its scope to just highlighting the challenges but also identifies the best ways to overcome challenges and capitalize on the key growth drivers to make the most of a thriving network cables market. It also offers a coverage of the sustainability practices and the risk mitigation strategies to improve category spend in the network cables market. Reach out to us to customize the network cables market intelligence report.

"Considering the increasing procurement expenditure, buyers should prefer suppliers who are located at close proximity to the buyer's facility. This will significantly reduce the buyer's logistics cost," says SpendEdge procurement expert Tridib Bora.

SpendEdge's procurement market intelligence experts believe that the following factors will influence the growth in the network cables market:

Automation can help buyers achieve cost savings of 40%-60%

Rising prices for raw materials such as copper, glass, and silicone during the forecast period will significantly affect the network cables price.

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View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005423/en/President Yoweri Museveni has revealed that there is corruption in well remunerated government institutions of Uganda Revenue Authority and Bank of Uganda.

Speaking during the anti-corruption dialogue held at Imperial Royal Hotel, Museveni said there is still a lot of corruption in spite of all these efforts made to man it down.

But remuneration cant replace integrity because some of the areas where there is a problem, people are well remunerated URA, they get very good salaries and so why would you have corrupt people there. Bank of Uganda,there is corruption there and so there is Kawukumi (Bean weevils), Kawukumi, there is muwembe and gradually Kawukumi has come in there now and so remuneration is not a cure but patriotism first  President Museveni said.

Stories Continues after ad

During the State of the Nation Address Museveni instituted a parallel team led by former Secretary General of Uganda National Teachers Union (UNATU) James Tweheyo, former Mbarara Resident District Commissioner Ms. Martha Asiimwe and sister Akiror to manning corruption desk in his office. The team was to directly report cases to him.

Museveni said that during bush war, their effort was that patriotism will be reinforced by the popularly elected leaders, as legislations and the institutions look after them, The whole population is fed up of corrupt people because they know them, but with patriotism, corruption is defeatable, he added.

Eagle Online reported that yesterday during cabinet meeting, Mr Museveni is reported to have rejected pleas by Finance Minister Matia Kasaijja to have the ongoing inquiry in parliament halted. Kasajias request was supported by government Chief Whip, Ruth Nankabirwa.

However, as the debate was gaining momentum, the president chipped and said I advised those people (BoU) against closing Crane Bank, I even went on to suggest that we carry out a silent investigation and I went ahead to contact Abdu Katuntu who agreed with my suggestion but they refused and so let parliament do its work and let them face music the president is quoted to have said.[December 04, 2018]

Infinia ML Increases Research Contributions to NeurIPS, the World's Top Machine Learning Conference

DURHAM, N.C., Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Infinia ML, an advanced machine learning company that delivers transformative automation solutions and data science to enterprise businesses, is celebrating more accepted research papers at the world's most prestigious machine learning conference.

The Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS, formerly NIPS), which has been compared to the AI world's version of SXSW and CES, accepted less than 21% of submitted papers in 2018.

Among the accepted works is a paper co-authored by Infinia ML Research Scientist Hongteng Xu. "Distilled Wasserstein Learning for Word Embedding and Topic Modeling," proposes a machine learning method for hospital patient admission records that could help predict mortality and recommend procedures.

Dr. Xu and his colleagues are conference veterans. Infinia ML Chief Scientist Larry Carin co-authored three papers at NeurIPS this year, including Xu's. In 2017 he was the event's most-published researcer with ten papers. Altogether, Dr. Carin has contributed 44 papers to the conference since 2004. Infinia ML Data Scientist Ricardo Henao has contributed eleven since 2009.







This year's NeurIPS conference is in Montreal through Saturday December 8th, 2018.

About Infinia ML

Infinia ML is a team of advanced machine learning experts helping enterprise clients reduce costs, increase efficiency, and achieve breakthroughs. Infinia ML serves industries from manufacturing and healthcare to marketing and human resources. The company's capabilities include natural language processing, recommendation engines, object detection, 3D image modeling and anomaly detection.

The Durham, N.C. company is led by Chief Executive Officer Robbie Allen, an experienced AI entrepreneur; Chief Scientist Lawrence Carin, Ph.D., one of the world's most published machine learning experts; and Duke University's Vice Provost for Research and Executive Chairman and Carrick Capital Partners Managing Director Mike Salvino. Together, the Infinia ML team has produced 31 patents, 11 books, 7 Ph.D.s and more than 575 published papers. Learn more at InfiniaML.com.

Media contact:

James Kotecki

[email protected]

202-531-5884

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/infinia-ml-increases-research-contributions-to-neurips-the-worlds-top-machine-learning-conference-300759621.html

SOURCE Infinia ML[December 04, 2018] Hitachi Vantara Delivers More Valuable Data Insights With Pentaho 8.2

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hitachi Vantara , a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), today announced Pentaho 8.2, the newest release of the companys data integration and analytics platform software, providing new, out-of-the-box integration with Hitachis industry-leading object storage platform, Hitachi Content Platform (HCP). Pentaho 8.2 better integrates Hitachi Vantaras portfolio of products and enables users to address key industry use cases with access to unstructured data from HCP. This release also enables customers to manage a hybrid cloud environment in new ways and expands support for the analytic ecosystem.

Pentaho 8.2 Makes Unstructured Data Available for Analytics

According to Harvard Business Review , less than half of an organizations structured data is used in making business decisions, and less than 1% of unstructured data is used in any way at all. With Pentahos new integration with HCP, users can now build data pipelines that include structured and unstructured data sources  such as text, video, audio, images, social media, clickstreams and log files  allowing data analysts and data scientists to generate better insights that drive more business value. Pentaho 8.2 opens new industry use cases in areas such as: Banking: Financial services institutions can address compliance requirements by correlating trading transaction data with email communications.

Financial services institutions can address compliance requirements by correlating trading transaction data with email communications. Healthcare: Medical researchers can make new drug discoveries by blending patient data and medication history with unstructured MRI scans.

Medical researchers can make new drug discoveries by blending patient data and medication history with unstructured MRI scans. Retail: Retailers can analyze the shopping preferences of each guest and the traffic flow of each in-store brand by combining in-store video footage with point-of-sale data.

Retailers can analyze the shopping preferences of each guest and the traffic flow of each in-store brand by combining in-store video footage with point-of-sale data. Public Safety: Law enforcement can combine video footage with crime reports, enabling faster access to evidence and improved decision-making while staying compliant with regulations. Easier Hybrid Cloud Data Management

With so many alternatives for data lakes  including NoSQL databases, public cloud options from Microsoft Azure, Amazon and Google, and on-premises object stores  organizations are taking a closer look at the best way to spend on data management and govern this data to comply with regulations. Pentaho 8.2 delivers access to new and better ways to manage data when used together with Hitachi Content Platform. For example, users can now onboard data into HCP, which functions as a data lake. Then they can use Pentaho to prepare, cleanse and normalize data within HCP. Pentaho may then be used to make the logical determination of which prepared data is approprite for each cloud target. By reducing unnecessary data sent to the cloud, organizations can now better manage costs with Pentaho 8.2.



Expanded Analytics Ecosystem Support

Pentaho 8.2 expands support for its growing ecosystem of third-party products and technologies that help organizations optimize their data pipeline and analytics projects: AMQP support: Pentaho customers can access this popular messaging protocol that helps organizations read and publish streaming data from edge devices to the cloud for addressing emerging IoT use cases.

Pentaho customers can access this popular messaging protocol that helps organizations read and publish streaming data from edge devices to the cloud for addressing emerging IoT use cases. Improved Google Cloud security: Support for customer managed encryption keys (CMEK) gives Pentaho users additional protection by controlling their own data encryption keys while accessing data in Google Cloud Storage and Google BigQuery.

Support for customer managed encryption keys (CMEK) gives Pentaho users additional protection by controlling their own data encryption keys while accessing data in Google Cloud Storage and Google BigQuery. Python Step: Pentaho 8.2 users can operationalize machine learning and deep learning models built with Python and make API calls to popular libraries such as scikit-learn and TensorFlow.

Pentaho 8.2 users can operationalize machine learning and deep learning models built with Python and make API calls to popular libraries such as scikit-learn and TensorFlow. OpenJDK support: Pentaho customers can now switch from OpenJDK, which now comes with commercial terms, to a free and open source version of OpenJDK. Supporting Quotes

With Pentaho 8.2 and Hitachi Content Platform, were able to leverage both structured and unstructured data on a single platform to send cleansed, prepared data to AWS and Microsoft Azure, and will achieve a 20-30% compute cost reduction and a 50%-60% storage cost reduction as a result, said Andrew Buffone, director of data management at CARFAX Canada. Were also able to better govern both the structured and unstructured data we deliver to our business and data science teams by managing it all in one place.

Supporting modern data analytics projects involves the creation of agile data pipelines that are able to rapidly and automatically integrate both structured and unstructured data from multiple sources and make it available for multiple use cases, said Matt Aslett, research vice president of data, AI and analytics at 451 Research. Given its portfolio of products, such as Pentaho 8.2, Hitachi Vantara is well placed to help customers become more data-driven, especially in industries with an abundance of unstructured data. Product Availability and Resources Hitachi Vantara's Pentaho 8.2 software will be generally available on December 6, 2018. To learn more, visit: https://www.hitachivantara.com/go/pentaho.html About Hitachi Vantara

Hitachi Vantara, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., helps data-driven leaders find and use the value in their data to innovate intelligently and reach outcomes that matter for business and society. We combine technology, intellectual property and industry knowledge to deliver data-managing solutions that help enterprises improve their customers experiences, develop new revenue streams, and lower the costs of business. Only Hitachi Vantara elevates your innovation advantage by combining deep information technology (IT), operational technology (OT) and domain expertise. We work with organizations everywhere to drive data to meaningful outcomes. Visit us at www.HitachiVantara.com .



Connect with Hitachi Vantara Twitter

LinkedIn

Facebook About Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, delivers innovations that answer societys challenges, combining its operational technology, information technology, and products/systems. The companys consolidated revenues for fiscal 2017 (ended March 31, 2018) totaled 9,368.6 billion yen ($88.4 billion). The Hitachi Group is an innovation partner for the IoT era, and it has approximately 307,000 employees worldwide. Through collaborative creation with customers, Hitachi is deploying Social Innovation Business using digital technologies in a broad range of sectors, including Power/Energy, Industry/Distribution/Water, Urban Development, and Finance/Social Infrastructure/Healthcare. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at http://www.hitachi.com . MEDIA CONTACTS

Amanda Lennon

Hitachi Vantara

[email protected]

+1 650.703.7610 Ashley Paula

Weber Shandwick for Hitachi Vantara

[email protected]

+1 415.262.5975 HITACHI is a trademark or registered trademark of Hitachi, Ltd. All other trademarks, service marks, and company names are properties of their respective owners.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] EZ Texting Refocuses on Core Brand to Deliver Powerful Mobile Messaging to Businesses

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- EZ Texting, the leader in mobile marketing for business, announced it is consolidating all its communication brands, including CallFire, under EZ Texting. This move reflects the growing importance of text messaging as a business communications solution and supports the rapid growth of the company's flagship text messaging platform used by small and medium-sized businesses to more effectively reach their customers. EZ Texting is revolutionizing how businesses personally connect with their audience. The company currently serves over 50,000 customers, consistently reaching over 40% of U.S. mobile users through its massively scalable platform. As the leader in the mobile messaging space, EZ Texting distinguishes itself by providing customers with a rich suite of communication tools that are simple to use and require no technical expertise to implement. "We have a true passion and commitment to helping our customers connect with their customers via mobile messaging. We excel at delivering simple solutions that scale with our customers' needs, and now is the time for our company to unite behind the EZ Texting brand," said the company's co-founder and Chief Growth Officer, Punit Shah. "We already provide the easiest messaging solutions for business and it's our mission to create an experience that delights and engages every mobile user." In the mobile world, innovation is key to bring real value to users. EZ Texting has demonstrated its dedication to this principle by delivering products that level the playing field for small and medium-sized businesses, allowing them to compete with much larger rivals. Some of the new capabilities include: Text-to-Landline: With EZ Texting's Text-to-Landline, companies can receive and reply to text messages on their existing business phone number, even if it's a landline or toll-free number. In addition to reducing phone calls and customers on hold, Text-to-Landline incrases customer satisfaction; in fact, 80% of customers prefer to communicate with businesses by text. "I love their ability to plug into our landline phone number so customers get used to texting and calling that number," says EZ Texting customer Scott Randall from Thumbtack.



Automated Reminders: Automating appointments and reminders with text communication can not only be a significant time-saver, but a boost to customer satisfaction and revenue. EZ Texting users can mass text real-time updates or schedule one-time and re-occurring informational notifications. The online interface makes it simple to set and forget  reducing no-shows and saving workers valuable time. "I have already and will continue to recommend EZ Texting due to the ease of use, nothing complicated here. I am able to send meeting reminders and event reminders to everyone at once," explains Wanda Belanger of Southeastern Louisiana Home Builders Association. Picture Messages: Adding images or other media to a text message can dramatically increase its impact. EZ Texting customers can realize a 30% improvement in response rates just by adding media to their text content. "I'm a curriculum designer who sends out monthly texts to teachers who would be interested in my resources. My customers are visual and like to see my resources in action!" says Brittany Wheaton of The SuperHERO Teacher.

Rich Communications Services (RCS): RCS is a communications standard that upgrades SMS with features like integrated branding, rich media and secure transactions. This year EZ Texting joined Google's Early Access Program for RCS and can customize implementations for enterprise customers. According to GSMA Intelligence, there are expected to be 4.3 billion RCS-enabled devices by 2020. "RCS represents the future of mobile marketing. We're excited to help brands leverage this cutting-edge technology," says TJ Thinakaran, EZ Texting's COO. One of EZ Texting's great strengths is that it allows customers to get up and running with texting in a matter of minutes. Customers can go to www.eztexting.com , answer a few questions, and then try the service. There's no need to enter a credit card or download any software. Kym Secrist, COO of Scripcorp explains, "It's very easy and affordable to use, especially compared to other services. What really impressed us was the phone call we received from the tech trainer who was not just super-intelligent, but friendly and supportive." About EZ Texting: EZ Texting is the #1 mobile marketing platform for business. With over 50,000 customers and 40% of all mobile users in the U.S. consistently receiving communication from our solutions, EZ Texting is revolutionizing how businesses personally connect with consumers. The company simply delivers the fastest and easiest way for businesses of all sizes to delight and engage their audiences through mobile devices. EZ Texting empowers businesses to execute marketing campaigns, send real-time alerts, promote events and provide customer service, ultimately driving higher revenue and adoption for millions of products and services. Text "TRY" to 858585 to see how it works. EZ Texting has continuously been voted a Best Place to Work and is headquartered in Santa Monica, CA with major satellite offices in Austin, TX and Kiev, Ukraine. For more information about EZ Texting or its technology, please visit the company at: www.eztexting.com . View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ez-texting-refocuses-on-core-brand-to-deliver-powerful-mobile-messaging-to-businesses-300759476.html SOURCE EZ Texting

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] Lynx Technology Partners Becomes a National Underwriter of the National Security Technology Coalition in 2019

PITTSBURGH, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Lynx Technology Partners (Lynx), one of Inc. Magazine's fastest-growing private companies and ranked among the top US security companies for consecutive years, will become a National Underwriter of the National Technology Security Coalition (NTSC) in 2019. By supporting the efforts of CISOs to influence policies that improve national cybersecurity standards and awareness, Lynx will participate in NTSC conferences, events, and meetings with CISOs and other cybersecurity policy stakeholders in 2019. "Cybersecurity is a growing concern for government and the private sector, and it has enormous implications for government security, economic prosperity and public safety," said Aric Perminter, Founder and Chairman of Lynx Technology Partners. "We see the National Technology Security Coalition as a unique non-profit, non-partisan gathering of CISOs across all industries using their collective voice to talk to lawmakers in Washington D.C. about issues essential to what we see in our work every day. It's an honor to support such an important organization, and we look forward to closely collaborating with the NTSC and its board of CISOs in 2019. Our goal is to leverage our deep expertise in governance, risk and compliance to help affect positive change in the cybersecurity industry." "Lynx's team is immersed in all aspects of the cybersecurity industry across Fortune 500 companies and federal agencies, and they speak the same language of the NTSC and its Board of Directors," aid Patrick Gaul, Executive Director of the NTSC. "Their subject matter experts know the ins and outs of regulation as they navigate highly regulated industries and create sophisticated governance, risk management, compliance, and cybersecurity programs for companies. In 2019, we welcome the participation of Lynx's team across our conferences, events, special programming, and ongoing dialogue in Washington D.C. as we continue bringing the voice of the CISO to lawmakers when they consider legislation about national cybersecurity policy."



NTSC National Underwriters work with a prestigious board of CISOs representing leading companies including Aaron's, Aflac, AIG, Archer Daniels, AutoNation, Baxter, Citi, Cox Automotive, Discover Financial Services, Dollar Tree, Ellie Mae, Globe Life, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services, Huntington Bank, Johnson & Johnson, MassMutual, Mastercard, McKesson, Motorola Mobility, NCR, Oceaneering, Ohio State University, Pulte Group, Synovus, TaxSlayer, Technology Association of Georgia, TransUnion, Turner, Unisys, United Airlines, US Bank, Voya Financial, Western Digital, and Zocdoc. About Lynx Technology Partners, Inc.

Lynx Technology Partners is the trusted Information Security and Risk Management Advisor that customers in highly-regulated industries worldwide depend on to improve security posture, facilitate compliance, reduce risk, and refine operational efficiency. With world-class skills and knowledge capital built over 30 years, Lynx security experts help customers recognize and control IT-related risks and maintain compliance with major industry and government standards. Through consulting, security and risk assessments, penetration testing, managed security services, cyber ranges and immersive training, and an award-winning GRC solution, Lynx supports many critical projects for security-conscious leaders in Financial Services, Federal, Energy, Healthcare, State Government, and Higher Education. For more information, please visit LynxRiskSolutions.com. About the National Technology Security Coalition (NTSC) The National Technology Security Coalition (NTSC) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that serves as the preeminent advocacy voice for Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) across the nation. Through dialogue, education, and government relations, we unite both public and private sector stakeholders around policies that improve national cybersecurity standards and awareness. Twitter @NTSC_CISO To learn more about joining or underwriting NTSC, visit ntsc.org. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lynx-technology-partners-becomes-a-national-underwriter-of-the-national-security-technology-coalition-in-2019-300759783.html SOURCE Lynx Technology Partners

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] CyberLink to Showcase the Future of AI and Facial Recognition Technology at CES 2019

CyberLink Corp. (5203.TW), a pioneer of AI and Facial Recognition technologies, will be participating in CES (News - Alert) 2019 on January 8 - 11, 2019 at booth #26056, Hall South 2, Las Vegas Convention Center. At CES 2019, CyberLink will demonstrate its innovative FaceMe Facial Recognition Engine and how it can be deployed in Smart Retail, Smart City, Smart Security, and Smart Office scenarios. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005421/en/ CyberLink to Showcase the Future of AI and Facial Recognition Technology at CES 2019. (Photo: Business Wire) FaceMe recently ranked among the top solutions in the world-renowned MegaFace Challenge. This makes FaceMe one of the world's leading facial recognition engines powered by deep learning and a neural network algorithm. Its high precision yields up to a 98.41% true acceptance rate (TAR) with a false acceptance rate (FAR) of less than 10-6 (0.000001). At CES 2019, CyberLink will demonstrate the uses of FaceMe in a Smart Retail scenario, where cameras can track store traffic and capture visitors' gender, age, and emotions as they look at signage and kiosks. Such informatin available in real-time provides retailers with intelligence that helps them adjust displays, enhance individual customers' shopping experience and even customize digital signage to each unique visitor. Furthermore, CyberLink will showcase the anti-spoofing capability of its Smart Security system powered by FaceMe, which can recognize a live person, while filtering out fraudulent identities such as a face from a picture or a moving portrait video.



"AI technology is becoming more mature and is enabling a number of practical use cases that will penetrate every aspect of daily life in the near future. As a leading multimedia company, CyberLink strives to develop AI technology that can be flexibly integrated into solutions and products across a variety of industries," said Dr. Jau Huang, CEO of CyberLink. "FaceMe provides a flexible and ready-to-use AI facial recognition engine, enabling multiple AIoT applications that can transform user experience across a number of scenarios, enhance security solutions and provide invaluable business insights." FaceMe provides excellent cross-platform capabilities that support Windows, Linux, Android (News - Alert) and iOS under a variety of hardware configurations, such as digital signage, CRM solutions, Kiosks, access and security systems, and personalized robots. In addition, the edge-based technology offers lightning-fast response time, as it not dependent on cloud-based server.

At CES 2019, CyberLink will also showcase FaceMe for Smart Office through a live demonstration of its virtual makeup and background blur powered by PerfectCam and U Meeting. This powerful AI technology works as a virtual camera plug-in compatible to various popular video conferencing services such as U, Skype (News - Alert), and Google Hangouts. It helps users look their best and hold meetings in a completely private setting without having to worry about background distractions. 2019 International CES

January 8th - 11th, 2019

Las Vegas Convention Center

Booth #26056, Hall South 2 For meeting appointment, please contact

Press Meeting: Click here to make an appointment

Sales Meeting: Click here to make an appointment About CyberLink Founded in 1996, CyberLink Corp. (5203.TW) is the world leader in multimedia software and AI facial recognition technology. CyberLink addresses the demands of consumer, commercial and education markets through a wide range of solutions, covering digital content creation, multimedia playback, video conferencing, livecasting, mobile applications and AI facial recognition. CyberLink has shipped several hundred million copies of its multimedia software and apps, including the award-winning PowerDirector, PhotoDirector, and PowerDVD. With years of research in the fields of artificial intelligence and facial recognition, CyberLink has developed the FaceMe Facial Recognition Engine. Powered by deep learning algorithms, FaceMe delivers the reliable, high-precision, and real-time facial recognition that is critical to AIoT applications such as smart retail, smart security and surveillance, smart city and smart home. For more information about CyberLink, please visit the official website at www.cyberlink.com. All companies and product names mentioned herein are for identification purposes only and are the sole property of their respective owners. Copyright  2018 CyberLink Corp. All rights reserved. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005421/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] ArtistWorks Launches its Big Giveaway

ArtistWorks, the leading provider of online music education and creator of Video Exchange Learning has announced its Big Giveaway. Two Winners will be flown to the company's headquarters for an in-studio experience where they'll participate in separate meet and greet sessions; one with award-winning Bluegrass musicians Bryan Sutton and Andy Hall, and another with renowned Ukulele duo Craig Chee and Sarah Maisel. Winners will spend the day with the artists and crew in the video recording studio. "We have a one-of-a-kind product and offer such a unique experience to our students online, it takes creative ways to get the word out. The response to this contest has been overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic so far - we look forward to making experiences like this a part of our ongoing contribution to the world of music," said John Graves, Vice President of ArtistWorks. Big Giveaway contest winners will receive air and ground transportation up to $500 as well as hotel accommodations for two nights. The in-studio experience includes the meet & greet, lunch, a reserved seat in the control room during the video recording session, an on-camera lesson & jam with the artists as well as a one year VIP subscription to ArtistWorks online learning platform. Winners will also receive video footage and photos of their time in the studio with the artists. About the Artists Bryan Sutton is arguably the best flatpick guitarist since the late great Doc Watson. During his exceptional career, he has appeared as a leading session guitarist on albums from Dolly Parton, the Dixie Chicks, Rhonda Vincent, and more. He has also played in the legendary bluegrass bands Kentucky Thunder and Hot Rize. Bryan won his first Grammy award in 2007 and has received IBMA's 'Guitarist of the Year' eight times. Bryan joined the ArtistWorks family in 2011, launching a dedicated bluegrass guitar course for students around the globe and was named ArtistWorks "Teacher of the Year" in 2017. Andy Hall graduated from the BerkleeCollege of Music in Boston, MA with a degree in Music Production and Engineering. Andy is a founding member of the acclaimed band, The Infamous Stringdusters, who in 2007 won 3 IBMA awards for their debut album, "Fork In The Road". Andy has enjoyed a formidable career, playing Dobro with many legends in the studio and on stage such as Dolly Parton, Earl Scruggs, Emmylou Harris, Zac Brown, and Charlie Daniels. He brings forth a new generation attitude and remarkable passion toward the traditional Dobro guitar in the online lessons at ArtistWorks.



Craig Chee is a world-renowned ukulele performer and educator who infuses his energetic and just plain "fun" style into many genres of music. He's known for his collaborations at different music events and for touring the world playing and teaching ukulele with his wife, fellow uke player, Sarah Maisel. Craig is passionate about crafting the best ukulele lessons online at ArtistWorks and teaches beginner to advanced lessons. Sarah Maisel discovered ukulele while attending college. Studying under Frank Leong, Sarah dove into the jazz stylings of golden age Hawai'i songs and arrangements inspired by ukulele legends like Lyle Ritz, Benny Chong and Byron Yasui. Sarah found a passion for sharing the art of playing ukulele by teaching and performing around the world with her husband and fellow uke master, Craig Chee. Sarah has been featured at many ukulele festivals, music conferences and cruises around the world. Along with Craig, she has been teaching ukulele at ArtistWorks since 2015 and heads one of the fastest growing courses at the company.

ArtistWorks Big Giveaway runs until December 18, 2018. Bluegrass fans should enter on the ArtistWorks website at: https://go.artistworks.com/bluegrass-big-giveaway-contest Ukulele fans should enter on the ArtistWorks website at: https://go.artistworks.com/ukulele-big-giveaway-contest About ArtistWorks, Inc. In 2008, former AOL executive technologist David Butler (News - Alert) set out to finally master jazz guitar. With no acceptable teachers in his area, he built a revolutionary online system to enable anyone to get direct feedback from a master teacher anywhere in the world. Founded by David and former financial executive Patricia Butler, ArtistWorks is the leader in a new generation of online learning platforms. This multi-patented Video Exchange Learning platform enables world-renowned musicians to "teach the world music" by presenting their teaching legacy in the form of extensive video lessons and direct feedback to subscribing students - creating an innovative, two-way online learning experience called "Video Exchange". For more information, visit https://www.ArtistWorks.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005302/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] AST Introduces New Financial Reporting System to Ensure Compliance and Boost Efficiency

AST, a full-service, tech-enabled professional services firm that helps companies and shareholders across North America maintain momentum through the use of secure corporate data, analytics and advisory services, today announced the launch of a new, proprietary financial reporting system that empowers companies to more easily produce SEC (News - Alert) and IRFS-required equity compensation information for their quarterly and annual filings. The robust reporting system allows users to complete a range of tasks more efficiently than ever before, offering them the ability to: Maintain all equity expense reporting in one platform;

Reduce audit costs through detailed source reporting;

Eliminate offline support files;

Maintain an audit trail of any changes by authorized users;

Comply with ASC (News - Alert) 718 and IFRS 2 rules; and

Reduce transition risk by tying back to reported financials, not the prior saved report from a financial reporting module. "AST is always innovating and, at the same time, working to add value to our existing offerings," said Jeffrey Cohen, Executive Vice President of AST Equity Plan Solutions. "We're proud to offer our clients an integrated, transparent solution for all their financial reporting needs, while greatly reducing administrative headaches." The system offers valuation, expense, diluted earnings-per-share and tax accounting capabilties for all equity award types. In addition, the system supports modifications, re-measurement and repricing of options, warrants and restricted shares. It includes configurable allocation templates for graded, straight-line and retirement eligibility, and supports liability award, non-employee expense accounting, market award and performance award probability accounting.



The system supports: U.S. GAAP Award expense calculations and amortization; disclosures and dilution requirements; non-standard service period requirements; performance and service-based awards; grant modifications; and period lockdown. The solution is SOC-1-compliant and calculations were certified by an industry-leading equity compensation consulting firm. "Our team of experts and support professionals are ensuring an easy, streamlined onboarding process for all clients," said Marty Flanigan, CEO of AST. "In addition to plan administration, AST's clients can benefit from a range of integrated services that help them move their businesses forward."

For more information about how AST helps clients attract and retain talent through equity-based compensation, please visit: https://www.astfinancial.com/equity-plan-solutions. About AST AST was originally founded as a transfer agent over 45 years ago. Through organic growth and strategic acquisitions, AST has pioneered a new model of integrated ownership services and financial technology in the industry. AST affiliates include AST Trust Company (Canada), D.F. King & Co, Inc. and Donlin, Recano & Company, Inc. Today, AST offers a full scope of ownership services that include registry services, corporate proxy solicitation and advisory solutions, employee plan services, information agent, mutual fund proxy solicitation, shareholder identification and asset recovery offerings. For more information, please visit www.astfinancial.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005022/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] Oseberg Launches New Consulting Division Built on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

OKLAHOMA CITY, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Oseberg, a leading SaaS and data intelligence company in the oil and gas industry, announced today the creation of a new consulting practice dedicated to delivering actionable data intelligence from physical and scanned documents. Dean Williams, a former IHS Markit executive with over 25 years' experience in upstream Oil & Gas, has been hired to lead this business unit. "We are thrilled to launch this new practice and welcome Dean Williams to our team," said Evan Anderson, CEO at Oseberg. "We can now apply Oseberg's expertise in extracting text from document images using machine learning to unlock opportunities trapped in proprietary documents just as we have with public data." Oseberg combines deep upstream land, legal, and regulatory expertise with the same machine learning they have matured that extracts valuable information from millions of public documents. The approach and technology is being used e.g. by one of the largest management consulting irms in the world to better understand well economics and macro cost trends in the service sector. Customers are also determining shallow/deep rights, potential breaches of covenants found within oil and gas leases and solving complex questions like open acreage in Texas and current spacing in Oklahoma.



"I am excited to join the Oseberg crew and to be on the cutting edge of data capture technology using AI and machine learning. This is an entirely new way to think about the role of data and information currently trapped in documents. We're providing the power to discover and unlock business opportunities by applying data science workflows that go well above and beyond basic data analytics. Oseberg has created an innovative process that allows the industry to rapidly create unique datasets in a very short time," explained Mr. Williams. "Consulting is our bridge to bring this expertise and process to our customers' proprietary documents and workflows." To learn more about how Oseberg can help transform unstructured data into actionable insights, please contact them at https://oseberg.io/resources/contact .

ABOUT OSEBERG

Oseberg is a next-generation oil & gas information and data analytics company that offers a compelling new approach to rapidly convert public regulatory and county-level data into actionable intelligence. We aggregate the most inaccessible state, federal, and county records and deliver them to our users via a suite of all-encompassing B2B SaaS products that enable our users to search, map, mine, and perform statistical analysis on every strand of data. Our technology reduces weeks and months of work to hours and seconds, empowering our users to rapidly uncover leasing, drilling, enhanced completion, and acquisition opportunities. Contact: [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/oseberg-launches-new-consulting-division-built-on-artificial-intelligence-and-machine-learning-300759867.html SOURCE Oseberg

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] Socialbakers Releases 2019 Social Media Trends Report; Offers a Deep Dive Into What's Hot, What's Not on Social Media

PRAGUE, December 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Socialbakers, the leading AI-powered social media marketing platform, today released its 2019 social media trends report for industry professionals and brands who want to work smarter in social media to engage with audiences at scale. The comprehensive report offers detailed information about the state of social media engagement and advertising, as well as emerging themes for the year ahead. It dives into demographics and brand trends, advertising effectiveness, engagement best practices, and emerging trends involving influencer marketing and privacy and security. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/649919/Socialbakers_Logo.jpg )

In developing the comprehensive report, Socialbakers leveraged its social media data set, one of the largest in the industry. Data for the report was culled from more than 10 billion pieces of social media content which is generated by more than 17 million profiles. Socialbakers also has visibility into $3 billion of ad spend on social, which allows it to set industry benchmarks. The complete Socialbakers Social Media Trends Report is available for download now. Key findings from the trends report: When comparing ad spend distribution by social media platform from 2017 to 2018 between the two main Facebook owned services, Instagram ads increased in 2018, while the percentage of overall ad spend on Facebook decreased. Overall brands are shifting their investments between the services. Photos are the most heavily promoted type of content compared to any other format. However, video promotion soared in 2018 and converged with photos in September, indicating that the popularity of this type of medium is on the rise. In 2018, Instagram ad campaigns rose, reaching their highest adoption rate in June. Though it has tapered off, as Instagram audiences continue to grow, so will marketers' advertising investments. Facebook usage on mobile is overwhelmingly dominant, as mobile users consum more ads than desktop users.



Engagement Trend: Facebook vs. Instagram While the report examined multiple social media platforms, it found that marketers looking to drive value for their businesses via digital marketing can find more value in terms of scale and audience engagement from Facebook and its family of applications than they can from competing platforms. With 2.6 billion monthly active users, Facebooks family of applications is still where most consumer-to-brand engagement happens online.

However, in terms of engagement per user, Instagram reigns supreme. Socialbakers' data found that while Instagram has a smaller total audience compared to Facebook, Instagram users are far more engaged than Facebook users. Instagram is becoming increasingly powerful as a platform for capturing quality engagement within small, targeted communities. "Instagram is becoming the number one social media platform when it comes to engagement for brands," said Yuval Ben-Itzhak, CEO of Socialbakers. "When we look at engagement on an absolute level, Instagram has a lot more engagement for brands than Facebook does, despite having a significantly smaller audience size. As a result, we see businesses leveraging Instagram for advertising more than ever before." Mobile Continues to Be an Important Trend According to Kleiner Perkins, an average user spends over three hours per day consuming digital media on mobile -- a growth of nearly four times over just the past five years. Mobile ads present a huge opportunity for marketers, but they need to utilize mobile-friendly content formats. "The key with mobile content is to focus on understanding each of the personas in your audience and tailor mobile-first content at scale. Brands should leverage digital platforms to identify the personas and learn what content sparks a conversation with each of them. That content will then drive engagement and achieve their marketing performance goals," said Ben-Itzhak. The Influencer Industry and Minimizing Fraud Influencer marketing is projected to become a $10 billion market by 2020. It has become an important marketing tool for many brands across industries around the world. With so much money on the table, it's not a surprise to find fraud in the influencer marketing space. The first challenge involves identifying real versus fake accounts. Right now, a bulletproof strategy does not exist. However, Socialbakers has been able to identify three types of fraudulent activity within influencer marketing: fake followers, fake engagement and fake interests. The research showed that brands can minimize the risk of working with fraudulent influencers by looking at two key data points: the influencer's performance over an extended time period, and their engagement level per 1,000 fans. In addition, benchmarking the performance of a few influencers over time can help to identify anomalies resulting from fraud. In the Digital world, Data is still King For the foreseeable future, data will form the foundation for any successful campaign, empowering companies to communicate effectively with customers, make strategic changes quickly, and ultimately build strong brands. "If you want to successfully leverage digital platforms like Facebook and Instagram for your marketing efforts, you need solid data to drive your decision making. In 2019, good data will still be imperative to help you know precisely where to invest your advertising budget in order to maximize reach, engagement and business impact," said Ben-Itzhak. About Socialbakers Socialbakers is the trusted social media management partner to thousands of enterprise brands and SMBs. Leveraging the largest social media data-set in the industry, Socialbakers' social media marketing platform helps brands large and small ensure that their investment in social media is delivering measurable business outcomes. With over 2,500 clients across 100 countries, Socialbakers is the leading social media management platform. Socialbakers has been a Facebook Marketing Partner since 2011, a Pinterest Marketing Partner since 2017 and a LinkedIn Marketing Partner since 2017. Socialbakers was named in the 2018 Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in Europe. For more information, visit http://www.socialbakers.com. SOURCE Socialbakers

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] Dave Dutch, Former CEO of PayLease, Joins Growth Street Partners as Senior Advisor

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Growth Street Partners , a San Francisco-based early growth capital firm, today announced that Dave Dutch joined the firm as Senior Advisor. Prior to joining Growth Street, Dave served as the Chief Executive Officer and a board member of PayLease, an online payments and SaaS platform that serves the property management space. As Senior Advisor, Dave will provide strategic guidance to Growth Street and its portfolio companies, as well as assist in finding and partnering with the country's best founders. "We have known Dutch for many years, first at PayLease and then as a friend and mentor. Dave's unique and fun leadership style combined with his sharp intellect make him a fantastic addition to the Growth Street team. He is an ideal sounding board for Growth Street's entrepreneurs," said Steve Wolfe, Co-Founder of Growth Street Partners, who previously served on the Board of PayLease. Over his seven years as CEO of PayLease, Dave helped the company grow to over 200 employees, integate an add-on acquisition, and navigate two successful transactions. Originally a management consultant, Dave rose to President of Networkcar (acquired by Hughes Telematics), CMO of Vignette (acquired by OpenText), and ultimately to CEO of PayLease (acquired by Francisco Partners and then Vista Equity Partners). Dave is originally from Michigan, where his father passed along a deep love for his Michigan State Spartans.



"After getting to know Steve and Nate during my tenure as the CEO of PayLease, I am excited to work with them again, partner with Growth Street's portfolio company founders, and help them grow the firm," explained Dutch. "We are thrilled that Dutch is joining the Growth Street team. Growth Street and its founders will benefit immensely from his experience, network, and magnetic personality," said Nate Grossman, Co-Founder of Growth Street Partners.

Growth Street provides early growth capital to vertically-focused, rapidly growing SaaS and technology-enabled services companies located in underserved U.S. markets. The fund invests $3-10 million behind founders who lead $1-5 million annual run-rate revenue companies. An investment from Growth Street allows an entrepreneur to accelerate growth without losing control. Growth Street Partners

Growth Street Partners provides early growth capital to vertically-focused, rapidly growing SaaS and technology-enabled services companies located in underserved U.S. markets. The firm partners with founders who have personally lived through the problems their businesses solve. Existing investments include ChildCareCRM, Hotel Effectiveness, Pear Deck, and Visual Lease. To learn more about Growth Street, visit www.growthstreetpartners.com . View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dave-dutch-former-ceo-of-paylease-joins-growth-street-partners-as-senior-advisor-300759883.html SOURCE Growth Street Partners

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] Walkup Melodia Wildfire Litigation Team Issues Resource Guide for Homeowners Dealing with Post-Fire Recovery Issues in Butte County, California

In response to widespread damage caused by California's deadliest fire in state history, which incinerated thousands of homes and left more than 80 dead in Butte County, California, the fire team at Walkup, Melodia, Kelly and Schoenberger has issued a list of important considerations and resources for fire victims dealing with personal injuries and property losses. The November 2018 "Camp" fire incinerated over 120,000 acres and thousands of homes destroying the entire city of Paradise. To date, the fire is thought to have caused at least 88 deaths, with the number of individuals still missing at 25, according to reports. Walkup Melodia's resource guide which quickly gained attention on social media with hundreds of shares, walks Butte County fire victims through seven areas to consider in order to protect their legal interests, find support in the community and recover benefits available under their insurance policies, from government programs and potentially against PG&E (News - Alert). "Individual team members of the Walkup law firm have close ties to Butte County, wih firm family members and friends that have sustained fire related losses. We understand the issues that are confronting survivors including shock, trauma, vulnerability, emotional distress, loss of priceless personal property, loss of homes and businesses," said Walkup Melodia managing partner, Michael A. Kelly. The seven areas covered in the resource guide are as follows:



1. Understand Your Homeowners Insurance Policy 2. Coverage for Home Replacement

3. Underinsurance Issues 4. Rebuilding 5. Mortgages on Destroyed Structures 6. Replacement of Possessions 7. Property Tax Issues This short guide contains detailed information on each topic. For example, the firm recommends that homeowners review the coverage and replacement terms of their insurance policies to understand the benefits they are legally entitled to. Also, homeowners who discover that their homes are not insured to value, may have certain legal rights that come into play if their insurer failed to provide proper notice of a reduction of limits or elimination of coverage. At a time when so many Butte County residents need quick assistance and necessities, the guide also provides details on numerous local resources, including donation sites, direct cash assistance programs, assistance for animals, and short-term and long-term housing options. The team of fire lawyers at Walkup Melodia is available to help Camp fire victims in Butte County on a wide-range of fire-related legal issues. Individuals who need legal advice and assistance on insurance claims, as well as injury and wrongful death claims, can contact the firm at 415-981-7210. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005285/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] CoverWallet Launches Cutting-Edge InsurTech Platform for Commercial Insurance Exclusively for Agents

CoverWallet, the leading insurtech company that makes it easy for small businesses to understand, buy, and manage insurance online, today announced CoverWallet for Agents, a dedicated platform for insurance agents. Through the technology platform, agents benefit from a fast, simple, and efficient way to provide commercial insurance to businesses, with a single point of entry to access top carriers for multiple types of policies. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005657/en/ CoverWallet for Agents. The easiest way to quote, bind, and service your customers. All online, in minutes. (Photo: Business Wire) "Since launching our sleek and intuitive technology platform for small businesses, we have had countless requests from agents to work with CoverWallet," said Inaki Berenguer, CEO and Co-Founder of CoverWallet. "Today there are 40,000 insurance agencies in the U.S., and we are making it easy for agents to harness the power of data, design, and technology to serve more clients better and faster than ever before." CoverWallet for Agents leverages the award-winning CoverWallet platform and provides agents with instan quotes, online bindable policies, and real-time proof of coverage. Through a dynamic online application that uses data and analytics, agents instantly receive quotes from top carriers for lines of business including General Liability, Business Owners Policy, Workers Compensation, and Professional Liability. The platform is currently integrated with top national carriers including Chubb, Starr, CNA, and AmTrust.



CoverWallet has more than quadrupled its business in the past year and has tens of thousands of customers. According to CB Insights, the small business insurance market is valued at $100 billion. With the launch of CoverWallet for Agents, the company increases its distribution to the millions of businesses that buy insurance through insurance agents. "We were able to launch CoverWallet for Agents re-using the advanced technology that we built from the ground up for our small business platform," said Aman Khaira, Vice President of Product at CoverWallet. "Agents are an integral part of small business insurance, and we are making it easy for them to leverage technology without needing to build their own complex integrations or to have direct relationships or appointments with carriers."

Prior to publicly launching the platform, CoverWallet conducted a pilot program. "Being able to quickly get quotes for multiple carriers with competitive premiums is a huge advantage in today's fast-paced, consumer-driven marketplace," said Joel Wagner, founder of WHINS Insurance Agency and a member of the pilot program. "CoverWallet's platform is amazingly easy, and we encourage other independent brokers to take advantage of their unique system." Sheri Bongers from Denver Insurance added, "CoverWallet for Agents is user friendly and has been quickly incorporated into my routine. The application is fast, generating immediate quotes. It's easy to update, bind, and sign, and payment is done electronically." In addition to helping small businesses obtain coverage, agents also benefit from: Financing integrated at checkout with a click of a button for customers who prefer to pay annual insurance over time, with multiple forms of accepted payments including credit cards, debit cards, or bank accounts

A dynamic and searchable online appetite guide that indicates how likely an account is to get an instant quote based on its location and class of business

Automated risk analysis, benchmarking, and data analytics to see what coverage will cost and the policies businesses in a specific industry typically purchase

A simple document management system and instant online generation of certificates of insurance

Automation for adding additional insureds to policies

Predictive analytics for coverage recommendations, as well as peer risk comparisons and claims support With the launch of the new platform, Michael Konialian has been promoted to Vice President and General Manager of CoverWallet for Agents. For more information on CoverWallet for Agents and to start using the platform, please visit agents.coverwallet.com. About CoverWallet CoverWallet is the leading tech company reinventing the $100 billion U.S. commercial insurance market for small businesses. Based in New York and launched in 2016, it has received more than $30 million in funding from renowned investors including Union Square Ventures, Index Ventures, Two Sigma, and Foundation Capital, as well as Zurich Insurance Group and Starr Companies. Powered by deep analytics, thoughtful design, and state-of-the-art technology, the company is the easiest way for small businesses to understand, buy, and manage insurance online. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005657/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] BlackRock Real Assets Sells Operating Portfolio of French Solar Plants to International Consortium

BlackRock Real Assets ("BlackRock") has reached an agreement with the Consortium of Samsung (News - Alert) Securities ("Samsung") as the financial investor, Samchully Asset Management ("Samchully AMC") as the asset manager with Schroder AIDA ("Schroders") as the asset management advisor, on the sale of a portfolio of 14 operating solar projects (the "Portfolio") across France. This marks the first realization for BlackRock's Renewable Power platform and offers Samsung, Samchully AMC and Schroders an attractive foothold into the European renewables power market. The Portfolio achieved commercial operations between 2013 and 2015, and has demonstrated a robust track record with consistent production. The Portfolio was optimized by BlackRock through aggregating individual projects, bringing them through construction and completing a refinancing of the project level debt facilities. The de-risked Portfolio provides Samsung, Samchully AMC and Schroders with long-term income from a high-quality core infrastructure asset. Rory O'Connor, Head of Europe for BlackRock Renewable Power, commented, "We are delighted to partner with Samsung, Samchully AMC and Schroders on this renewable power transaction. This portfolio is testament to BlackRock's strong investment, partnering and technical capability in renewable power. We are very pleased with this sale and the realisation of value from this portfolio for our clients, and we will continue the strategy of selected realizations over time." Jae Kyun Lee, CEO and Representative Director of Samchully AMC, said, "It is a remarkable achievement for Samchully AMC and the Korean financial investors to enter France's renewable market for the very first time. After 10 years of overseas investment in energy, power and utilities - mainly in North America, we are excited to add this solar photovoltaic transaction to our portfolio. We look forward to the synergies with our partners BlackRock, RBC Capital Markets, Samsung Securities, and Schroders AIDA. We also hope to identify and explore future opportunities with BlackRock in the renewables sector." RBC Capital Markets and Linklaters LLP are the financial and legal advisors for this transaction for BlackRock. About BlackRock BlackRock helps investors build better financial futures. As a fiduciary to our clients, we provide the investment and technology solutions they need when planning for their most important goals. As of September 30, 2018, the firm managed approximately $6.44 trillion in assets on behalf of investors worldwide. For additional information on BlackRock, please visit www.blackrock.com | Twitter (News - Alert): @blackrock | Blog: www.blackrockblog.com | LinkedIn (News - Alert): www.linkedin.com/company/blackrock.



About BlackRock Real Assets In today's dynamic and complex global investing market, we help our clients access real assets that could help meet their investment goals by providing a distinct range of well defined, outcome orientated strategies, along the investment risk - return spectrum.

Our dedicated teams of industry and sector specialists deliver global reach, with deep local expertise. They have decades of relevant experience, are deeply embedded in their operating industries by sector and geography, and have developed strong partnership networks over time. BlackRock's culture of risk management, knowledge sharing and investment discipline sets us apart and underpins all that we do. With over 380+ professionals in 27 offices managing over US$47bn in client commitments as of 30 September 2018, BlackRock Real Assets partners with clients to provide solutions tailored to individual portfolio needs such as income, growth, liquid or balanced real assets outcomes. About Samsung Securities Samsung Securities Co., Ltd. ("Samsung Securities") is the investment banking arm of Samsung Group. Since its founding in 1982, Samsung Securities has been a leading securities house in Korea. Samsung Securities provides a wide range of financial services including brokerage, wealth management, corporate finance and in-depth financial solutions to both individual and institutional investors based on differentiated capabilities. The investment banking division of Samsung Securities has accumulated a proven track record of underwriting approximately USD 4bn in equity and debt of real assets, such as aviation, shipping, infrastructure and real estate, in domestic and international markets over the last three years. About Samchully AMC Established in 2008 as a joint venture with Macquarie Funds Group, Samchully AMC is a Korean financial investor that specializes in overseas energy infrastructure and power with investments across the North American region. Samchully AMC's parent company is Samchully Co., the largest gas distributor in Korea with vast pipeline networks and services over 3.3 million households and industry customers. Samchully AMC's senior leadership and investment professionals have extensive expertise in the energy sector, which allows us to target investment opportunities with long-term revenue streams and real capital growth throughout the energy infrastructure value chain. We have offices in both Seoul and Houston for deal sourcing, execution, and asset management, which gives us access to attractive investment opportunities as well as insights into various deals and markets. Over the last ten years, Samchully AMC has built a robust track record of numerous midstream transactions, upstream transactions, power generations, and renewables amounting to an AUM of $1.3 billion. About Schroders Established in 1804, Schroders benefits from a stable ownership structure and a strong balance sheet. Our focus is on pure asset management and our overriding objective is to maximise returns for our clients and invest in a responsible way. With 508.2bn assets under management and administration, we offer a diverse range of asset classes across equities, fixed income, multi-asset, private assets and alternatives to our institutional, intermediary and wealth management clients around the world. Schroder Aida is an affiliate of Schroders, registered as societe par actions simplifiee authorized and regulated in France by the Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF) as an asset management company (Societe de Gestion de Portefeuille) under the number GP-17000027. It experienced a very strong growth for the last 3 years. The team of 14 professionals based in Paris and London raised nearly 2.2 billion of capital for debt and equity investments in European infrastructure assets from institutional investors. This material is for distribution to Professional Clients (as defined by the FCA Rules) and Qualified Investors only and should not be relied upon by any other persons. Issued by BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered office: 12 Throgmorton Avenue, London, EC2N 2DL. Tel: 020 7743 3000. Registered in England No. 2020394. For your protection telephone calls are usually recorded. BlackRock is a trading name of BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited. Any research in this document has been procured and may have been acted on by BlackRock for its own purpose. The results of such research are being made available only incidentally. The views expressed do not constitute investment or any other advice and are subject to change. They do not necessarily reflect the views of any company in the BlackRock Group or any part thereof and no assurances are made as to their accuracy. In Hong Kong, this material is issued by BlackRock Asset Management North Asia Limited and has not been reviewed by the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong. This material is for distribution to "Professional Investors" (as defined in the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap.571 of the laws of Hong Kong) and any rules made under that ordinance.) and should not be relied upon by any other persons or redistributed to retail clients in Hong Kong. This document is for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer or invitation to anyone to invest in any BlackRock funds and has not been prepared in connection with any such offer.  2018 BlackRock, Inc. All Rights reserved. BLACKROCK, BLACKROCK SOLUTIONS, iSHARES, BUILD ON (News - Alert) BLACKROCK, SO WHAT DO I DO WITH MY MONEY and the stylized i logo are registered and unregistered trademarks of BlackRock, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and elsewhere. All other trademarks are those of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005719/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] Moody's Analytics and Oliver Wyman Announce IFRS 17 Collaboration

Moody's Analytics, a leading provider of financial intelligence, and Oliver Wyman (News - Alert), global strategy consulting firm, have announced a new collaboration in Canada, the United States, and Germany as part of the Moody's Analytics PartnerAlliance Program. Through this partnership, Moody's Analytics and the actuarial practice of Oliver Wyman will work together to offer insurers expertise and solutions to help them efficiently address International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 17, the new standard governing insurance contracts. "We are pleased to announce this partnership with Oliver Wyman," said Christophe Burckbuchler, Head of Insurance Strategy and IFRS 17 Solutions at Moody's Analytics. "Oliver Wyman's actuarial consulting expertise, combined with Moody's Analytics solutions, will help clients with the transition from current insurance accounting frameworks to IFRS 17. We look forward to working with insurers as they move towards the implementation of this new reporting standard." "Our consultants will be able to apply their specialized actuarial knowledge of IFRS 17 alongside Moody's Analytics solutions to provide actuarial engine and IFRS 17 accounting system integration that supports the needs of our clients," said Les Rehbeli, Director of the Actuarial Consulting Practice at Oliver Wyman. Oliver Wyman is joining as an Elite member of the PartnerAlliance Program and will create a center of excellence around the Moody's Analytics RiskIntegrity IFRS 17 solution that will complement their existing practice around the Moody's Analytics AXIS actuarial system.



This alliance is non-exclusive, and both companies remain independent to collaborate with other parties in the best interest of clients. Click here to learn more about the Moody's Analytics IFRS 17 solution offering.

Click here to learn more about PartnerAlliance, the Moody's Analytics global partner program. About Moody's Analytics Moody's Analytics provides financial intelligence and analytical tools to help business leaders make better, faster decisions. Our deep risk expertise, expansive information resources, and innovative application of technology help our clients confidently navigate an evolving marketplace. We are known for our industry-leading and award-winning solutions, made up of research, data, software, and professional services, assembled to deliver a seamless customer experience. We create confidence in thousands of organizations worldwide, with our commitment to excellence, open mindset approach, and focus on meeting customer needs. Moody's Analytics is a subsidiary of Moody's Corporation (NYSE: MCO). Moody's Corporation reported revenue of $4.2 billion in 2017, employs approximately 12,600 people worldwide and maintains a presence in 42 countries. For more information about Moody's Analytics, visit www.moodysanalytics.com. About Oliver Wyman Oliver Wyman is a global leader in management consulting. With about 4,700 professionals and offices in 50+ cities across nearly 30 countries, Oliver Wyman combines deep industry knowledge with specialized expertise in strategy, operations, risk management, and organization transformation. The Actuarial Practice of Oliver Wyman uses mathematical and statistical modeling skills and qualitative assessment methodologies to assist their clients in evaluating and addressing risk. For more information about the Actuarial Practice of Oliver Wyman, visit: www.oliverwyman.com/our-expertise/capabilities/actuarial.html View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005724/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] United Arab Emirates to Boost Economies, Political and Social Stability in the Arab World through Digital Economy

"A common vision for Arab Digital Economy" is the bold plan supported by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE's Armed Forces (pictured) and executed by the Council of Arab Economic Unity (CAEU) at the League of Arab States to boost political and social stability in the Arab World through Digital Economy. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005756/en/ His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces (Photo: AETOSWire) The Council of Arab Economic Unity at the League of Arab States praised the UAE's support to promote the digital inclusion, knowledge-based legislative and technology infrastructure, and public and private framewoks; eventually boosting security, welfare and prosperity for the Arab societies.



The UAE is renowned for its knowledge-based approach and youth empowerment. The UAE has been fostering a number of initiatives for skills development like the one million Arab coders project and the e-learning platform offering over 50 million Arab students across the world access to education among other projects that support sustainable development for the Arab societies. The Council of Arab Economic Unity (CAEU) is the execution arm for the plan. CAEU delegation met with Mourad Wahba, Assistant Secretary-General, Assistant Administration and Regional Director for Arab States at UNDP and with senior officials from the United Nation's Division for public institutions & Digital Government. CAEU noted that the investments directed towards the Arab regions by UNDP is one Billion US Dollars.

The World Bank noted the importance of the strategy in paving the way for inclusive economic development opportunities in the Arab world. UN, UNDP and the World Bank support the initiative and CAEU for its work for comprehensive development and enhancement of cooperation between the Arab states. "This initiative will be the foundation to promote the social and economic security for the Arab societies. That is why it is important to cooperate with international organizations and bring together Arab and International thinkers and practitioners for the development of the strategy. Such involvement will ensure global influence and introduction," stated CAEU in a press statement. The UAE is creating a new model for developing Arab world's economies to tackle global challenges. The UAE is putting its expertise and successes to use to boost sustainable development in the Arab states. The strategy will be presented in an international conference that will be hosted in Abu Dhabi on 16 & 17 December 2018. The outputs will be presented to the Arab Leaders at the Arab Summit scheduled in March 2019 in Tunisia. *Source (News - Alert): AETOSWire View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005756/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] Razer Redefines The Ultraportable Laptop

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Razer, the leading lifestyle brand for gamers, announced today the release of their redesigned 13-inch ultraportable laptop line consisting of three new configurations. The new Razer Blade Stealth is now available with individually calibrated micro edge thin-bezel displays with up to 4K resolution, increased battery life of up to 13 hours, and available NVIDIA GeForce dedicated graphics. Display The new Micro Edge 4.9mm thin side bezels are over 60% thinner than the previous version for a visually stunning edge-to-edge picture. For retina-shattering clarity, the Razer Blade Stealth is available in a 13.3" 4K (3840 x 2160) resolution with touch functionality and supports 100% sRGB color space. Each laptop display is now individually custom calibrated for amazing color accuracy out-of-the-box. The display is also available in a Full HD matte (1920 x 1080 pixels) resolution that enhances gaming with full-frame fluid motion graphics. The Full HD display provides 100% sRGB color space for vivid colors, and improved power efficiency for longer battery life. For additional security and convenience, the Razer Blade Stealth comes with a IR web camera that supports Windows Hello, a first for the Razer Blade family. Razer also retained the ideal web camera placement at the top of the screen to avoid awkward shots. Mobility The Razer Blade Stealth has been redesigned and delivers increased performance in a compact chassis with up to 13 hours of battery life. The unibody frame is fortified using precision CNC-machining of high-grade aluminum, and its matte black color is anodized deeper into the aluminum at a sub-molecular level for maximum durability. Despite packing more power than previous models, the new Razer Blade Stealth has a more compact surface area with the micro edge thin display bezels. Emblazoned on the back is a subtle black tone-on-tone Razer logo that will both blend in and stand out. All configurations include a built-in 53.1Wh battery that has been optimized for all day mobility. Additionally, the laptop can be charged almost anywhere with the compact 65W USB-C charger that works on most flights with AC power available. Power For the first time ever, the Razer Blade Stealth is available with NVIDIA GeForce graphics for up to 4X performance improvement when gaming and editing graphic content. Razer included the more powerful 25W NVIDIA GeForce MX150 4GB GDDR5 graphics, double the memory of similar 13-inch systems. All models are also equipped with Intel UHD Graphics 620, while dedicated graphics models leverage NVIDIA Optimus technology to dynamically switch between the integrated and dedicated graphics to provide maximum performance and battery life when users need it. Razer advanced thermal system and new power management options have been integrated into Razer Synapse 3 software to maximize battery life, quiet fans in a meeting, or provide full power when gaming. "The Blade Stealth has excelled at being the best productivity laptop on the market" says Razer's Co-Founder and CEO, Min-Liang Tan. "We pushed the boundaries further by incorporating NVIDIA graphics with up to four times the graphics performance while continuing to keep the system incredibly compact and thin. The results of our efforts have lead Razer to create one of the world's most powerful ultraportable laptops ever." All configurations of the Razer Blade Stealth feature the new Whisky Lake 8 th Gen Intel Core  i7-8565U processor. The new quad-core processor outperforms its predecessor in throughput and responsiveness with Turbo Boost speeds up to 4.6 GHz. The base model of the Razer Blade Stealth comes with 8GB of 2133MHz dual-channel memory while dedicated graphics models are loaded with 16GB of 2133MHz dual-channel memory for power users.



Full Connectivity The anti-ghosting keyboard has been optimized to feel punchier and more responsive. It now utilizes a single-zone RGB lighting system with full key backlighting and 16.8 million color options all powered by Razer Chroma and customizable through Razer Synapse 3 software. For pin point accuracy, Razer also improved the touchpad with a larger glass surface area and Microsoft Precision support.

Connectivity options include Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C), USB-C 3.1 Gen 2, two USB-A, and a 3.5mm audio combo port. The included Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) port features 4 lanes of PCIe for up to 40 Gbps of blazing fast transfer speeds. A seamless connection from the Thunderbolt 3 port to Razer Core external desktop graphics enclosures boosts the performance by connecting to desktop graphics cards. The Razer Core is compatible with the latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX, NVIDIA Quadro or AMD XConnect enabled Radeon and Radeon Pro cards for high end gaming and content creation. Sound quality has improved dramatically in the new Razer Blade Stealth. The speaker count has doubled to four upward-firing speakers equipped with a Smart Amp to boost audio with greater clarity. Dolby Atmos replicates sound in a 3-dimensional space for lifelike immersion. Availability The new line of Razer Blade Stealth laptops will start at $1,399 MSRP and will be available starting today from Razer.com and select retailers in the United States and Canada and coming soon to the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Nordics, China, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan. For more information, visit razer.com/blade-stealth. Images:

Product Images  For digital screens (websites, mobile, social media) Specifications Windows 10 Home (64-bit)

Quad-Core 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8565U Processor with Hyper Threading 1.8 GHz / 4.6 GHz (Base/Turbo)

Graphics Options

NVIDIA GeForce MX150 (25W) 4GB GDDR5 VRAM + Intel UHD Graphics 620



Intel UHD Graphics 620

Display Options

13.3" FHD Matte (1920 X 1080), 100% sRGB, 4.9mm thin side bezels, individually calibrated



13.3" 4K (3840  2160), touch display, 100% sRGB, 4.9mm thin side bezels, individually calibrated

(3840  2160), touch display, 100% sRGB, 4.9mm thin side bezels, individually calibrated Up to 512GB PCIe M.2 (Graphics Model) / 256GB M.2 SATA (Base Model)

Up to 16GB LPDDR3 2133MHz dual-channel onboard memory (Fixed)

Battery life up to 13 hours (Base Model)

Keyboard with Razer Chroma single-zone full key backlighting and anti-ghosting technology.

Glass touchpad (Microsoft Precision Touchpad)

Intel Wireless-AC 9560 (IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac), Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity

Input & Output

Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C), power port, 4 lanes of PCI Express



USB-C 3.1 Gen 2, power port



2x Type-A USB 3.1



3.5mm headphone/microphone combo port

Windows Hello compliant infrared camera, HD 720p

Audio

Stereo, 4 Speakers + Smart Amp



Array microphone



Dolby Atmos

Intel Platform Trust Technology (Intel PTT) security embedded, TMP 2.0

Razer Synapse 3 enabled with programmable keyboard

Temper 6 CNC precision milled unibody aluminum chassis, anodized black finish, tone on tone Razer logo

Approx. Dimensions | Height: 0.58" / 14.8 mm, Width: 11.99" / 304.6 mm, Depth: 8.27" / 210 mm

Compact 65W USB-C power adapter

Approx. Weight From 2.82 lbs. / 1.28kg (Base Model) ABOUT RAZER Razer is the world's leading lifestyle brand for gamers. The triple-headed snake trademark of Razer is one of the most recognized logos in the global gaming and esports communities. With a fan base that spans every continent, the company has designed and built the world's largest gamer-focused ecosystem of hardware, software and services. Razer's award-winning hardware includes high-performance gaming peripherals, Blade gaming laptops and the acclaimed Razer Phone. Razer's software platform, with over 50 million users, includes Razer Synapse (an Internet of Things platform), Razer Chroma (a proprietary RGB lighting technology system), and Razer Cortex (a game optimizer and launcher). In services, Razer zGold is one of the world's largest virtual credit services for gamers. Razer Pay is the e-wallet designed for youth and millennials, and Razer Game Store is the only games download store that offers rewards for gamers. Founded in 2005 and dual-headquartered in San Francisco and Singapore, Razer has 15 offices worldwide and is recognized as the leading brand for gamers in the USA, Europe and China. Razer is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (Stock Code: 1337). PRESS CONTACTS: Americas

Kevin Allen

[email protected] Alain Mazer

[email protected]

Europe/Africa

Jan Horak

[email protected] China

Evita Zhang

[email protected] Asia Pacific

Raymond Lau

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/razer-redefines-the-ultraportable-laptop-300759479.html SOURCE Razer

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] Achronix Announces Immediate Availability of Speedcore Gen4 eFPGA IP for AI/ML and Networking Hardware Acceleration Applications

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Achronix Semiconductor Corporation, a leader in FPGA-based hardware accelerator devices and high-performance eFPGA IP, today announced immediate availability of its Speedcore Gen4 embedded FPGA (eFPGA) IP for integration into users' SoCs. Speedcore Gen4 increases performance 60%, reduces power by 50% and die area by 65% while retaining the original Speedcore eFPGA IP's abilities to bring programmable hardware-acceleration capabilities to a broad range of compute, networking and storage systems for interface protocol bridging/switching, algorithmic acceleration and packet processing applications. With the Speedcore Gen4 architecture, Achronix adds the new Machine Learning Processor (MLP) to the library of available blocks and delivers 300% higher system performance for artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) applications. MLP blocks are highly flexible, compute engines tightly coupled with embedded memories to give the highest performance per watt and lowest cost solution for AI/ML applications. "Achronix Speedcore eFPGA with Gen4 architecture provides an optimal balance of hardware acceleration previously found only in ASIC implementations," said Robert Blake, president and CEO of Achronix Semiconductor. "Our new architecture adds the flexibility and reprogrammability of our proven FPGA technology to support exploding demand for new AI/ML and high data bandwidth applications." The dramatic increase in fixed and wireless network bandwidth, coupled with the redistribution of processing, and the emergence of billions of IoT devices will stress traditional network and compute infrastructure. Classic Cloud and Enterprise Data Center computing resources and communications infrastructure can no longer keep pace with exponential growth in data rates, the rapidly changing security protocols, or the many new networking and connectivity requirements. Traditional multicore CPUs and SoCs cannot meet these requirements unaided. They need hardware accelerators, often reprogrammable to pre-process and offload computations to increase the systems' overall compute performance. Speedcore Gen4 is the Optimal AI/ML Accelerator

In addition to the general requirements of compute and networking infrastructure, AI/ML demands a significant increase in high-density, targeted computing. The new Achronix MLP exploits the specific attributes of AI/ML processing and increases performance for these applications by 300% compared to previous Achronix FPGA products. This is done through multiple architectural innovations that increase operating performance and the number of operations per clock cycle. The MLP is a complete AI/ML compute engine. Each MLP includes a local yclical register file that leverages temporal locality for optimal reuse of stored weights or data. The MLPs are tightly coupled with neighboring MLP blocks and larger embedded memory blocks to deliver the highest processing performance, the highest operations per second and the lowest power profile. The MLPs support multiple precision fixed point and floating point formats including Bfloat16, 16-bit, half-precision floating point, 24-bit floating point and block floating point (BFP). Users can select the optimal precision for their application for performance, power and area.



To complement the MLP and increase the AI/ML compute density, Speedcore Gen4 look-up-tables (LUTs) can implement multipliers that are 2x more efficient than any industry standalone or embedded FPGA products. Leading FPGAs implement 6x6 multipliers in 21 LUTs whereas Speedcore Gen4 implements 6x6 multipliers in 11 LUTs and can operate at 1 GHz. "The AI/ML wave continues to gain momentum with more IP geared toward AI applications. Achronix's announcement about its new IP architecture is encouraging and offers substantial improvements in performance, power and area: all issues that are important to silicon designers," said Rich Wawrzyniak, senior analyst, ASIC Services. "The introduction of eFPGA IP aimed at AI/ML applications that can be cost effective in both Cloud servers for training and in end-point devices for inference applications reinforces the view that AI functionality will become a 'check-list' item in most silicon solutions going forward."

Architectural Innovations Increase System Performance

The new Speedcore Gen4 architecture has many architectural innovations that increase overall operating performance by 60% compared to the previous generation of Speedcore products. All aspects of the LUTs have been enhanced to increase area efficiency and reduce resource usage which reduces power and die size and increases performance. Changes include doubling the size of the ALUs, doubling the registers per LUT, support for 7-bit functions and some 8-bit functions in a single level-of-logic delay, and dedicated high-speed connections for shift registers. The routing architecture also has been enhanced with an independent and dedicated bus routing structure that includes dynamically selectable bus muxing that effectively create a distributed, run-time-configurable switching network. This is the first time that run-time logic functionality is available in the routing structure and it provides an optimal solution for high-bandwidth and low-latency applications. How to Evaluate Speedcore Gen4

Achronix's ACE design tools include pre-configured, Speedcore Gen4 eFPGA example instances users can use to evaluate Speedcore Gen4 quality of results for performance, resource usage, and compile times. The ACE design tools with support for Speedcore Gen4 are available today. Speedcore is a modular architecture easily sized to users' requirements. Achronix uses its Speedcore Builder tool to instantly create new Speedcore instances to match user requirements for quick evaluation. Users interested in receiving die size and power information can contact Achronix for details on their specific Speedcore Gen4 eFPGA size and process requirements. Availability

Achronix is using its proven methodology to deliver Speedcore Gen4 eFPGA technology to users who want to combine the benefits and flexibility of eFPGA IP with enhanced AI/ML capabilities. Speedcore Gen4 IP is available for licensing on the most advanced FinFET processes today. Contact Achronix for details about supported process technologies. About Achronix Semiconductor Corporation

Achronix is a privately held, fabless semiconductor corporation based in Santa Clara, California. The Company developed its FPGA technology, which is the basis of the Speedster22i FPGAs and Speedcore eFPGA technology. All Achronix FPGA products are supported by its ACE design tools that include integrated support for Synopsys Synplify Pro. The company has sales offices and representatives in the United States, Europe, and China, and has a research and design office in Bangalore, India. Find out more at https://www.achronix.com. Achronix and Speedster are registered trademarks and Speedcore and Speedchip are trademarks of Achronix Semiconductor Corporation. All other brands, product names and marks are the property of their respective owners. Contacts:

Steve Mensor Nanette Collins

Achronix Semiconductor Corporation Nanette V. Collins Marketing and PR

408-889-4144 617-437-1822

[email protected] [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/achronix-announces-immediate-availability-of-speedcore-gen4-efpga-ip-for-aiml-and-networking-hardware-acceleration-applications-300759692.html SOURCE Achronix

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] Datawords and Assist Partner to Accelerate the Internationalization of Automated Assistant Platforms

NEW YORK, SAN FRANCISCO and PARIS, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Datawords, the global leader in e-multicultural technologies, and Assist, the automated assistant platform for messaging and voice, announced a strategic partnership to optimize the international rollout of automated assistant platforms to support brand marketing strategies. This newly signed partnership will allow Datawords to help current and future clients integrate messaging and voice marketing tools to their digital marketing strategies. It will enable Assist to benefit from Datawords' tech and multicultural expertise to deploy its platform at an international level by integrating new cultures, languages, etc. Thanks to exponential improvements in Artificial Intelligence in recent years, automated assistant platforms have become essential tools for digital marketers around the world. Consumer brands now have the opportunity to reach customers and cater to their specific needs in a more scaled and efficient context than ever before. But just as consumers behave differently on websites and social networks across different regions of the world, the same can be said about how they use automated assistant platforms. Datawords' multicultural understanding of the international digital landscape combined with Assist's key expertise in automated marketing platforms will allow digital marketers to unlock the doors to these international consumers Founded in 2013 in San Francisco, Assist has developed a unique expertise in automated marketing platforms to deliver advanced conversational experiece for brands. Assist is a featured partner with the key players in this field, namely Facebook Messenger, Google Assistant, Twitter Business Messaging and Amazon Alexa. Assist currently works with premium brands including Sephora, Samsung and Lonely Planet. Sephora has for instance chosen Assist technology to develop a bot for Messenger to enhance client experiences in the US (with book in-store appointments, try-on-make-up using the camera in their Messenger App based on augmented reality etc.).1



Alexandre Crazover, CEO and Co-founder of Datawords, stated: "Our partnership with Assist based in the US is a strategic development as we are convinced of the potential of automated assistants for messaging and voice and their growing role in the digital marketing space. As a tech leader, Datawords wants to partner with the very best tech companies and already has signed partnerships with Adobe and Salesforce. Assist is leading the field in terms of artificial intelligence applied to digital marketing and we are proud to be partners in offering brands the possibility to provide more personalized client experiences wherever these clients are." Shane Mac, CEO and Co-founder of Assist, added: "We feel a very strong cultural fit with the Datawords team and we are thrilled about this partnership. Datawords' international digital marketing expertise in very diversified sectors will take our platform to the next level globally. Building great automated conversations in multiple languages requires the expertise and local knowledge that Datawords brings to the table. We are excited to expand this partnership globally."

About Datawords Created in 2000, Datawords combines the understanding of local cultures and technological expertise to implement the international strategies of major global brands on any digital platform. Headed by a team of co-founders, Datawords is today established in Europe, Asia and the USA. Datawords differentiates itself with e-multicultural technologies and the diverse backgrounds of its 600 employees who represent 50 nationalities and more than 60 languages. Datawords recorded a $70m turnover in 2017 and works with prestigious brands such as Benefit Cosmetics, Tiffany & Co, Michelin, Audi, L'Oreal and more. Please visit www.datawords.com and our LinkedIn page for more information. About Assist Assist is the leading automated assistant platform in the enterprise. Based in San Francisco and NYC, the Assist platform is trusted by brands like Sephora, Fandango, 1800Flowers, Hyatt, and more. Assist is an official partner with the messaging and voice platforms like Facebook Messenger, Google Assistant, and Amazon Alexa. [1] Case study available upon request View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/datawords-and-assist-partner-to-accelerate-the-internationalization-of-automated-assistant-platforms-300758871.html SOURCE Datawords

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] 4G to Become the Dominant Mobile Technology in Latin America by the End of the Year, Finds New GSMA Report

4G is set to overtake 3G as the prevailing technology in Latin America by the end of 2018, according to a new GSMA (News - Alert) report published at the Mobile 360 Series - Latin America event in Buenos Aires this week. The study - 'The Mobile Economy: Latin America and the Caribbean 2018' - outlines that 4G networks will account for the largest share of the region's connections (38 per cent) by the end of the year, up from just 8 per cent three years earlier. With 4G also reaching critical mass in terms of coverage (82 per cent of the population), operators will be investing substantially in network upgrades to support accelerating smartphone and data use, setting the path towards the 5G era. 4G is forecast to account for almost two-thirds of total connections by 2025, by which point the first 5G networks in the region will have been deployed in major markets such as Brazil and Mexico, accounting for 8 per cent of total connections in the region. "Consumers across Latin America are now rapidly migrating to 4G services, driven by video consumption and social media usage - and traffic growth is requiring significant network investment to be able to support new and existing digital services," said Michael O'Hara, Chief Marketing Officer at the GSMA. "We expect mobile operators in the region to invest almost $50 billion (capex) between 2018 and 2020 on network upgrades prior to the move to 5G. However, future success will depend heavily on a flexible policy environment that will encourage continued operator investment in networks, and in turn, deliver the benefits of high-quality mobile connectivity to end users." Subscriptions Grow, but Policy Incentives Are Still Needed to Bridge the Digital Divide More than two-thirds of the region's population are now connected to a mobile network. By mid-2018, there were 442 million unique mobile subscribers1 across Latin America and the Caribbean (68 per cent of the population), a figure forecast to grow to 517 million (74 per cent) by 2025. However, there is a wide variation in subscriber penetration levels; a number of countries - such as Argentina, Chile and Uruguay - are approaching full penetration, while others, including Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, still have plenty of headroom for future subscriber growth. "Today around half of the region's population are connected to the mobile internet - this is set to grow to 65 per cent by 2025, but it means there is still to work to do to ensure millions of citizens are digitally included and benefiting from the social and economic opportunities of getting online," added O'Hara. "It is therefore vital that the mobile industry is able to work in tandem with overnments and other stakeholders to address the barriers to mobile internet adoption, such as excessive tax burdens and fees that negatively impact affordability and access."



A Major Contribution to the Economy Last year, mobile technologies and services generated 5 per cent of GDP in Latin America, a contribution that amounted to $280 billion of economic value added2. This contribution is forecast to rise to $330 billion (5.2 per cent of GDP) by 2022. The region's mobile ecosystem also supported around 1.6 million jobs in 2017 (directly and indirectly) and made a substantial contribution to the funding of the public sector, with approximately $36 billion raised in 2017 via general taxation and sector specific levies.

Mobile Driving Innovation and Delivering Social Good Latin America's mobile ecosystem is supporting a wave of innovation across the region, driven by growth in new technologies, services and use cases. For example, mobile operators are making a significant contribution to the Internet of Things (IoT) market; the number of IoT connections in the region is set to triple between 2017 and 2025, reaching 1.3 billion, transforming both the consumer and industrial sectors. The report cites examples of where mobile-based innovation is having a positive impact, contributing to the achievement of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In Cordoba, Argentina, Claro (News - Alert) built a partnership to develop an IoT solution that connects machines and farm animals with sensors, allowing product traceability. In La Guajira, Colombia, Telefoinica and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) are using mobile big data to measure how climate change contributes to the internal displacement and movement of citizens. This initiative, part of the GSMA's Big Data for Social Good (BD4SG) programme, aims to provide governments and organisations with the insights needed to make more informed decisions and targeted policy interventions. 'The Mobile Economy: Latin America and the Caribbean 2018' report is authored by GSMA Intelligence, the research arm of the GSMA. To access the full report and related infographics, please visit: www.gsma.com/mobileeconomy/latam. -ENDS- About the GSMA The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting more than 750 operators with over 350 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and internet companies, as well as organisations in adjacent industry sectors. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as Mobile World Congress (News - Alert), Mobile World Congress Shanghai, Mobile World Congress Americas and the Mobile 360 Series of conferences. For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com. Follow the GSMA on Twitter (News - Alert): @GSMA GSMA Latin America represents the mobile industry in the region. For more information in English, Spanish and Portuguese, please visit www.gsmala.com. Follow GSMA Latin America on Twitter @GSMALatam and Linkedin www.linkedin.com/showcase/gsmalatam 1 A unique mobile subscriber represents an individual that can account for multiple SIM connections. There were 674 million connections (excluding IoT) in Latin America at the end of 2017, forecast to rise to 775 million by 2025. 2 GDP contribution includes direct mobile operator contribution (0.85% of GDP); related industries (0.4%); indirect contribution (0.4%); and productivity improvements (3.4%). View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005077/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] LotLinx to Release New AI-Powered Inventory Marketing Solution at NADA, Invites Car Dealers to Exclusive Launch Event and Giveaway

CHICAGO, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- LotLinx, the leading dealer inventory marketing technology company, announced today an expansion of their proprietary /AI/ product suite with the January 2019 release of LotLinx TURN 3.0. The award-winning LotLinx TURN platform uses artificial intelligence to match buyer demand to specific VINs according to each dealer's vehicle sales goals. The 3.0 release will feature a completely redesigned user interface, mobile-friendliness, advanced reporting, and market insights. 3.0's machine-recommended campaigns will address specific inventory strategies such as volume units, risk units, aged units, incentive/finance units, and more- making TURN the first truly AI-powered inventory marketing platform in the industry. A recent LotLinx study confirmed that implementation of /AI/ can reduce overall used vehicle inventory Days On Lot by up to eight days on average (according to a test of 13,344 vehicles compared at Year-Make-Model-Trim-level). "When dealers identify vehicles they have in stock for risk, aged, volume, or margin, they are then in the advantageous position to design a marketing strategy that can achieve the best results for their spend. With our /AI/ in place, they tend to turn vehicles faster with greater financial efficiency," noted Thomas Gage, Chief Strategy Officer at LotLinx. In support o the NADA 2019 convention, the company will be releasing TURN 3.0 to a closed group of dealers at an appointment-only event at the Samovar Tea Lounge in San Francisco on January 25th and 26th, 2019. The event will also house the special NADA Edition of Gage and longtime digital automotive expert Brian Pasch's most recent publication, Just Faster: Reimagining Automotive Retail, which tackles automotive digital retailing challenges and shares insights on efficient inventory strategies. The pair will be signing copies of Just Faster in addition to copies of their earlier publication, Who Sold It? which analyzes automotive marketing attribution. The companies will announce details on how dealers can secure a copy of the limited edition book in mid-December.



Dealership owners, managers, and marketers can request access to the TURN 3.0 launch event in San Francisco and receive a free /AI/ branded Google Home Mini by visiting www.lotlinx.com/smartlounge . About LotLinx: LotLinx is the leading inventory marketing technology company for the automotive industry. Its proprietary /AI/ platform helps dealerships Sell Cars Smarter by increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of their digital marketing spend. In the past five years, the company has grown rapidly, earning it the No. 1 spot on Crain's Chicago Business' 2018 Fast 50 list, along with a spot on the Auto Remarketing Power 300 for 2018. Dedicated to delivering the best results at the lowest cost to their customers, LotLinx partners with many leading brands, including Audi, GM, FCA, Ford and Mazda, for Cooperative Advertising programs that reimburse up to 100% of a dealer's marketing spend. Founded in 2012, LotLinx now serves thousands of rooftops including many of the nation's Top 100 Auto Groups. To learn more, visit www.lotlinx.com .

Media Contact:

Sam Bolda

312.971.9283

[email protected]

200 W Madison Street, Chicago, IL 60611 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lotlinx-to-release-new-ai-powered-inventory-marketing-solution-at-nada-invites-car-dealers-to-exclusive-launch-event-and-giveaway-300759957.html SOURCE LotLinx

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] Everise Acquires Trusource Labs; Expanding Customer Support to Internet of Things

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Singapore-based Everise , parent company of C3|CustomerContactChannels {C3} , announced today that it has signed a binding agreement to acquire Trusource Labs . The acquisition is expected to close before the end of 2018. Trusource Labs specializes in technical support for Internet of Things (IoT) and help desk experiences for Apple users. Trusource Labs joins the Everise family of companies, each focused on disrupting and elevating the delivery of customer experiences globally. With the explosion in internet-connected devices in the home and the workplace predicted by Gartner to reach more than 21 billion devices by 2020, this acquisition will uniquely position Everise to capitalize on this massive market opportunity by providing highly complex, fully integrated technical and customer support solutions. As part of the acquisition, Trusource Labs will maintain its headquarters in Austin, Texas and its experience delivery locations in the US and Europe. The existing co-CEO, Alton Martin, will remain with the company, working closely with sister companies C3, Hyperlab , and Globee under the unified Everise mission of fusing human and digital teams to transform how global firms deliver customer experiences. Bain & Company, a Global Management Consultancy, predicts that the global IoT market is expected to double by 2021 to almost US$520 billion as everything from refrigerators to security cameras and phones become connected to the internet. Basic home appliances will become much more complex and will require specialist customer support that has the technical abilities to provide fast, efficient service. Trusource Labs delivers this and has a proven track record of delivering service excellence in the IoT space from the initial Beta stages that products go through to mass adoption. Everise will be able to build on this, leveraging its Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities and technological innovations, to meet the needs of customers and clients as they become increasingly connected. Sudhir Agarwal, CEO of Everise commented, "We connect 'things' to make our lives easier, allowing us to shop, research, call, monitor, power and so on  even remotely - all in the name of convenience. This is a great concept until one device stops communicating with another, and the need for support arises. Everise is now uniquely positioned to support this explosive segment of the BPO market." Agarwal added, "This is the 3rd major expansion in 2018 for Everise and our second acquisition in two months. As one of the fastest growing BPO firms globally, we are bringing together the strongest alent that this industry has to offer, and we are transforming customer experiences globally. Trusource Labs rounds out our delivery capabilities into product and help desk experiences, and Everise will strengthen these by infusing many of the technological innovations our teams have developed to benefit the end user ultimately."



By bringing Trusource Labs into the C3 family, the company continues its mission to elevate and provide resources across multiple platforms that will ensure the best, seamless customer service experience possible. C3's goal is to combine the latest in technology, innovation and people to exceed the level of service needed in today's customer-centric environment and meet the customer service challenges brought by IoT innovations. These acquisitions and partnerships have allowed Everise to evolve into a holistic customer service provider, one that merges technology with human talent. This has resulted in better customer satisfaction, better first-person experiences and, most important, better brand loyalty for its clients around the world.

"Becoming a part of Everise is an exciting milestone and opportunity for all Trusource Labs employees as this gives us the edge we need to transform our user experiences further," added Alton Martin, Trusource Labs Co-CEO and Co-Founder. "The near-term synergies we have identified will offer meaningful value to our prestigious client base, and we know this value will continue to grow exponentially over time. "Creating a good customer experience is the heart of any business. Every contact with our clients determines whether or not they will (or won't) come back. So, it's imperative to exceed expectations every time and make every aspect of their experience better than expected." Trusource Labs employs over 500 team members in the US. This enhances the Everise footprint in the US, which currently employs approximately 7,000 team members under the C3 brand. Dave Palmer, C3's Chief Operating Officer, added, "We have been extremely impressed with how well the Trusource Labs mindset aligns with that of C3 and all the Everise companies. Their mantra of working differently to generate results in a collaborative work environment has been instrumental in their success and differentiation in the market. I am looking forward to the heightened experiences we will collectively deliver on behalf of our global clientele." About Everise

Everise, owned by Sunrise BPO Services Pte. Ltd., Everstone, and ACPI, is the only Asia-based global experience company that provides, through its operating companies around the world, a full range of customer contact management services for corporate brands from both U.S. and international locations. The company's vision is to create an Experience Company, meeting the need for innovation and disruption in the BPO industry through smart partnerships and technology, and by providing high-quality end-to-end customer experiences. In 2018, Everise partnered with Microsoft to develop an Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform to disrupt the Contact Centre and BPO industry through an omnichannel customer service solution that targets voice, video and text interactions and delivers an unprecedented intelligent, customer-centric experience by leveraging the power of AI. Everise owns C3|CustomerContactChannels, Hyperlab, Trusource Labs and co-owns Globee, a Global Business Service center in Malaysia focusing on global clients looking for a multi-lingual solution. For more information, visit www.everiseholdings.com . About C3|CustomerContactChannels

C3|Customer Contact Channels, Inc. (C3), is an Everise company. With US headquarters in Florida, C3 is a leading international provider of outsourced customer relationship management solutions and meets growing customer demands by providing omnichannel customer service experiences around the world, creating loyal FANS and returning significant ROI for clients. C3 goes beyond traditional customer service, leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) to increase the range and scope of services for clients and disrupting the global BPO industry. With over 10,000 employees worldwide, C3 provides multilingual omnichannel support to clients. With every client, customer, and employee experience, C3 maintains one simple goal, "We'll make a FAN out of you." For more information, visit www.c3connect.com . About Trusource Labs

Trusource Labs is an Austin-based company dedicated to providing outstanding complex technical support services to innovative companies worldwide. Trusource's teams are experts in providing positive and beneficial customer experiences related to the Internet of Things and Apple devices. In addition to the traditional 24/7 help desk with the phone and chat support, Trusource employs innovative self-service approaches like instructional videos, social media and knowledge base articles so end-users can get common issues addressed without having to pick up the phone. They can also help clients create a custom, out-of-the-box support experience while meeting privacy and security needs. For more information, visit www.trusourcelabs.com . View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/everise-acquires-trusource-labs-expanding-customer-support-to-internet-of-things-300759961.html SOURCE C3|CustomerContactChannels

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] ONAP Releases Casablanca, Enhances Deployment Capabilities Across Open Source Networking Stack

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- LF Networking (LFN), which facilitates collaboration and operational excellence across open networking projects, today announced continued progress to ease deployments across the open source networking stack. New platform releases from ONAP (Casablanca) and OPNFV (Gambia) bring additional support for cross-stack deployments across new and existing use cases such as 5G and Cross-Carrier VPN (CCVPN) , as well as enhancements to cloud-native VPN. Additionally, the organization's compliance and verification program recently announced its expansion into virtual network functions (VNF) testing and is now recruiting Beta participants. VNF testing will help ease deployment pains and improve VNF quality and interoperability across real-world deployments. "New and enhanced deployments of our platforms are popping up every day across the globe, and with tighter cross-community integration and an expanded compliance and verification program, we are well-positioned to facilitate innovative industry progress," said Arpit Joshipura, general manager, networking, the Linux Foundation. "The latest releases of ONAP and OPNFV usher in a new era for LFN as the community continues to foster an expanding commercial ecosystem." "We are pleased with the continued growth and the diversity of contributors to ONAP, a key project within Linux Foundation Networking. The Casablanca release is a major step forward for this effort. With wide-scale service provider and equipment supplier participation, ONAP is becoming the de facto automation platform for carrier grade service provider networks," said Chris Rice, senior vice president of Network Cloud & Infrastructure at AT&T and Board Chair, LF Networking. "AT&T remains committed to actively contributing new code; leading technical areas; partnering on new 5G initiatives; orchestrating services across VNFs, PNFs, and soon CNFs (Container Network Functions), as well as developing leading edge, model driven platform enhancements like the Controller Design Studio." New Platform Releases Enhance Deployability

Together, LFN projects are crossing the open networking chasm by maturing capabilities that enhance deployability across an expanding commercial ecosystem. Supported by a growing list of top vendors, carriers, and other organizations, ONAP  which brings together top global carriers and vendors with the goal of allowing end users to automate, design, orchestrate and manage services and virtual functions  has expanded into a truly scalable platform with multiple, parallel threads. OPNFV  a system-level integrations, deployment, testing and feature development project  advances the state of NFV around cloud native and moves toward implementing continuous delivery (CD) to better support DevOps (a model that is growing importance to communication service providers) and infrastructure automation. Key enhancements included in each release: ONAP Casablanca introduces two new blueprints, sets the stage for a rich VNF ecosystem to emerge around ONAP, demonstrates community expansion, and adds new functonality making ONAP suitable for global deployment.

introduces two new blueprints, sets the stage for a rich VNF ecosystem to emerge around ONAP, demonstrates community expansion, and adds new functonality making ONAP suitable for global deployment. Building on a common theme of automation enhancements across LFN, OPNFV Gambia progresses the state of NFV around continuous delivery, cloud native network functions (CNFs), testing, carrier-grade NFVI features and upstream project integration. OPNFV was a pioneer with NFV continuous integration and is now taking a first step towards DevOps and continuous delivery.



Compliance and Verification Expands

Concurrently, expansion of the OPNFV Verification Program (OVP) is underway. Initially started as a program to test and verify the readiness and availability of commercial NFV NFVI/VIM products based on OPNFV functional testing capabilities, OVP is broadening its purview in 2019 to include testing and verification of VNF applications as well as third-party lab support. VNF testing will soon be in beta with active code that includes VNFSDK testing code. Vendors are encouraged to participate by submitting their VNFs for early testing to help shape the direction and future of virtualized deployments. More details on ONAP Casablanca are available at this link and details on OPNFV Gambia can be found here . To learn about how to get involved in the compliance and verification program  or to submit a VNF for testing  send queries to [email protected] .

Accenture Joins LFN

Additionally, LFN is excited to announce that Accenture has joined the project at the Gold level. Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Accenture joins additional Gold members Aptira, Inocybe Technologies, Lumina Networks, Microsoft and Telstra. "ONAP continues to make great progress to help the industry evolve toward programmable network platform architecture via groundbreaking innovation and the ability to orchestrate cross-domain services," said Amol Phadke, a managing director at Accenture and the company's Global Network Strategy and Portfolio lead. "We are bringing a comprehensive and customizable 'as a Service' solution to the ONAP community that service providers can leverage and operationalize using a vendor-agnostic open-source approach." Upcoming Community Events

LFN will be onsite at KubeCon+CloudNativeCon North America in Seattle, December 10-13, 2018. Join us to learn how LFN projects enable cloud native network functions (CNFs) and integrate across the container landscape. More information about the event, including registration, full agenda and details on the co-located FD.io Mini Summit, are available here: https://events.linuxfoundation.org/events/kubecon-cloudnativecon-north-america-2018/ The next ONAP Developer Design Forum will be conducted jointly with the OPNFV Gambia Plugfest in Paris, France from January 8-11, 2019. The event will focus on Dublin release planning and explore various synergies with OPNFV as well as provide a forum for beta testing VNF compliance. Both members and non-members are welcome to attend the co-located events. Learn more here: https://events.linuxfoundation.org/events/onap-ddf-opnfv-plugfest/ Supporting Comments from LFN Members:

https://www.onap.org/announcement/2018/11/28/onap-casablanca-supporting-comments-from-members About the Linux Foundation

The Linux Foundation is the organization of choice for the world's top developers and companies build ecosystems that accelerate open technology development and commercial adoption. Together with the worldwide open source community, it is solving the hardest technology problems by creating the largest shared technology investment in history. Founded in 2000, The Linux Foundation today provides tools, training and events to scale any open source project, which together deliver an economic impact not achievable by any one company. More information can be found at www.linuxfoundation.org . The Linux Foundation has registered trademarks and uses trademarks. For a list of trademarks of The Linux Foundation, please see our trademark usage page: https://www.linuxfoundation.org/trademark-usage . Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Additional Resources

Download ONAP Casablanca

Get the ONAP Architectural Whitepaper

Get the ONAP 5G Blueprint Overview

Get the ONAP CCVPM Blueprint Overview

Download OPNFV Gambia

OPNFV Verified Program

Join LFN as a Member Media Contact

Jill Lovato

The Linux Foundation

[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/onap-releases-casablanca-enhances-deployment-capabilities-across-open-source-networking-stack-300759982.html SOURCE The Linux Foundation

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] Respond Software Partners with ForeScout to Strengthen ICS Cybersecurity Programs

Respond Software teams up with ForeScout Technologies, Inc., a leading IoT security company, to roll out a new technical integration called Virtual ICS Threat Analyst Logic (VITAL). The partnership was initiated by SecurityMatters, now part of ForeScout, to help automate threat analyst decision-making processes for industrial control system (ICS) asset owners. The complexity of industrial environments has led to an increasing number of ICS-specific cyber-threats, in which asset owners have no visibility. Finding and scaling a team of skilled ICS security operation center analysts, threat hunters, incident responders, and forensic analysts is a challenge for all asset owners. The lack of available skilled security personnel, combined with the fact that today's security teams are incredibly busy, makes it challenging to focus on priority issues. The integration between ForeScout's SilentDefense and The Respond Analyst streamlines ICS security operations for critical infrastructure asset owners by escalating and prioritizing critical incidents, while eliminating false positive alerts. "Ensuring the availability of critical infrastructure means being able to defend these systems against malicious intent. It's not feasible to hire enough security experts that understand the nuances of ICS systems and cyber threats," says Curley Henry, deputy CISO, Southern Company. "We need solutions that bridge the gap and give us the capability to continuously monitor and analyze key networks and quickly make appropriate decisions." ForeScout analyzes industrial network communications, provides rich information about network assets and generates alerts in real time in respone to cyber threats. Respond Analyst is the first-of-its-kind security decision automation software. Joint customers who implement VITAL can feed detailed ICS analytics data from SilentDefense to Respond Analyst. The Respond Analysts' Intelligent Decision Engine comes pre-built and ready to analyze and triage ICS alerts and escalate detailed security incidents that require immediate response by a security team.



"The success that leading ICS asset owners in the U.S. are already having with VITAL is very exciting," said Damiano Bolzini, vice president of industrial and OT business unit, ForeScout. "Since today's security teams are working harder than ever, this integration between ForeScout's SilentDefense and Respond Analyst is strengthening our joint customers' ICS security teams by allowing them to focus on the serious security issues." "It's becoming increasingly important to protect our nation's ICS infrastructure with consistent and continuous monitoring," said Chris Triolo, vice president of customer success, Respond Software. "The Respond Analyst decision engine has the combined experience of Respond Software and ForeScout built in. Customers can add the critical capacity and capability necessary to protect ICS assets - without adding additional staff."

About ForeScout:

ForeScout Technologies, Inc. helps make the invisible visible. Our company focuses on providing Global 2000 enterprises and government agencies with agentless visibility and control of traditional and IoT devices the instant they connect to the network. Our technology integrates with disparate security tools to help organizations accelerate incident response, break down silos, automate workflows and optimize existing investments. Learn more at www.forescout.com About Respond Software:

Respond Software delivers instant ROI to organizations in their battle against cyber-crime. With its patent-pending intelligent decision engine, PGO, Respond Software's product uniquely combines the best of human expert judgement with the scale, thoroughness, and consistency of software. This quick-to-implement, cyber-security decision automation software delivers the equivalent of a virtual, best-of-breed analyst team that dramatically increases capacity and improves monitoring and triage capabilities at a fraction of the cost. Respond Software was founded in 2016 by security and software industry veterans. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005300/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] Esri Partners with the Ocean Health Index Team to Release New Ocean Health Data

Esri, the global leader in location intelligence, today announced a partnership with the team behind the Ocean Health Index (OHI), the first program to comprehensively assess ocean health. The OHI itself is a joint project of Conservation International and the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis. Together, the organizations have integrated OHI scores as a data layer in Esri's ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World and will launch Ocean Health Hubs, online tools that enable ocean managers to explore data to better understand regional ocean health. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005761/en/ OHI assesses ocean health by looking at the social, ecological, and economic benefits that oceans provide to people. (Photo: Business Wire) Dealing with ocean health data is complex. OHI assesses ocean health by looking at the social, ecological, and economic benefits that oceans provide to people. There are over 100 global datasets that power OHI's annual assessments, and they will serve as the foundation fr Ocean Health Hubs. Developed with the help of ArcGIS Hub, Esri's citizen engagement platform, Ocean Health Hubs will display these global datasets with local data and allow faster progress on establishing ocean policies and setting priorities.



"Ocean Health Hubs will streamline data management, target setting, and communication into one tool that can be easily accessed and updated by multiple collaborators," said Eva Schemmel, OHI director and Conservation International science adviser. "Citizens, scientists, managers, nonprofits, and governmental agencies can use the hubs together, making engagement more efficient and effective." Ocean Health Hubs can be used as the first step in regional OHI assessments or on their own to track ocean conservation investments and sustainable ocean management within a region. Esri's mapping and analytics software will bring this data to life, allowing users to visualize ocean health through Living Atlas and explore open-source datasets for a specific region through hubs.

"Esri is happy to partner with OHI to further unlock data and lower the barriers for ocean managers and policy makers," said Dawn Wright, Esri chief scientist. "These newly accessible datasets will allow users to better understand their regional ocean health and make sustainable ocean management decisions. Our involvement is part of Esri's broader support of initiatives within Conservation International and is in concert with the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis." To learn more about the data behind OHI Global Scores that will form the basis for the new Ocean Health Hubs, visit ohi-science.org/ohi-global/index. About Esri Esri, the global market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software, offers the most powerful mapping and spatial analytics technology available. Since 1969, Esri has helped customers unlock the full potential of data to improve operational and business results. Today, Esri software is deployed in more than 350,000 organizations including the world's largest cities, most national governments, 75 percent of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. Esri engineers the most advanced solutions for digital transformation, the Internet of Things (IoT), and location analytics to inform the most authoritative maps in the world. Visit us at esri.com. Copyright  2018 Esri. All rights reserved. Esri, the Esri globe logo, The Science of Where, ArcGIS, esri.com, and @esri.com are trademarks, service marks, or registered marks of Esri in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products or services mentioned herein may be trademarks, service marks, or registered marks of their respective mark owners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005761/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] Knightscope Selects Clovis School for Safer Schools Initiative

Knightscope, Inc., a developer of advanced physical security technologies focused on enhancing U.S. security operations, today announced that it is has taken a major step in its commitment to help better secure schools across the country by selecting Clovis Unified School District in California as its beta testing location for a suite of new technologies under development. The Company had prior announced this effort earlier this year (press release here) when it solicited students to get involved and submit essays on how Knightscope's fully autonomous security robots could help in a school setting. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005806/en/ Knightscope Autonomous Security Robots Envisioned to Operate At Clovis North High school as part of Safer Schools Initiative (Photo: Business Wire) "With over 100,000 schools in the country, we need to develop a new set of tools and technologies as a critical part of our long-term mission to better secure the United States of America," said William Santana Li, chairman and chief executive officer, Knightscope, Inc. "Being able to utilize a real-world environment to test, sample, and iterate on new capabilities while inspiring students to pursue STEM careers is certainly a winning combination," continued Li. "As a teacher of thirty years, my philosophy has always been to be proactive instead of reactive, and the idea of security robots monitoring a school is definitely a proactive approach to school safety. Knightscope's robots will provide the authoritative presence needed on a school campus and provide actual intelligence by filling in the blind spots with their 'eyes and ears,'" said Clifford A. Nitschke, Jr., AP United States Government and Politics Instructor, Clovis North High School. Mr. Nitschke's class submitted the winning proposal to Knightscope. "We are honored to be chosen by Knightscope and to be given the opportunity to pilot a new and exciting technology in the field of school safety." The Clovis United Unified School District Governing Board is scheduled to meet on January 16, 2019 to formally accept the beta testing program by Knightscope. The meeting is planned to occur at 6:30pm at the Clovis Unified Professional Development Building, 1680 David E Cook Way, Clovis, CA (News - Alert) 93611. Assuming an approval by the Board, the parties will determine implementation timing thereafter.



To learn how Knightscope's technologies can better secure your school or commercial property, or for information on how to invest in Knightscope by purchasing shares in the Company's Series S Preferred Stock offering, please visit www.knightscope.com. Follow Knightscope on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

About Knightscope Knightscope is an advanced security technology company based in Silicon Valley and builds the ultimate in security guards. Our security robots deter, detect and reportautonomously. Our long-term ambition is to make the United States of America the safest country in the world. Learn more about us at www.knightscope.com Knightscope is a private company and its stock is not freely tradable. The Company does file certain periodic reports with the SEC (News - Alert) under Regulation A of the Securities Act of 1933, which are available on the EDGAR website and which provide additional information about the Company, including its financial statements. These filings may be found here. Legal Disclaimer www.knightscope.com is operated by Knightscope, Inc. Any Investment opportunities are "private placements", are subject to long hold periods, are illiquid investments and investors must be able to afford the loss of their entire principal. Offers to buy or sell any security can only be made through official offering and subscription documents that contain important information about risks, fees and expenses. You should conduct your own due diligence including consultation with a financial advisor, attorney, accountant, or other professional that can help you to understand the risks associated with the investment opportunity. Security transactions are administered by WealthForge Securities, LLC, a registered broker/dealer and member FINRA | SIPC. Knightscope and WealthForge Securities, LLC are not affiliated. Forward-Looking Statements This release may contain forward-looking statements regarding projected business performance, operating results, financial condition and other aspects of the company, expressed by such language as "expected," "anticipated," "projected" and "forecasted." These statements also include estimates of the pace of customer adoption of the Company's products, engineering developments and prototype capabilities. Please be advised that such statements are estimates only and there is no assurance that the results stated or implied by forward-looking statements will actually be realized by the company. Forward-looking statements may be based on management assumptions that prove to be wrong. The Company's predictions may not be realized for a variety of reasons, including due to competition, customer sales cycles, and engineering or technical issues, among others. The Company and its business are subject to substantial risks and potential events beyond its control that would cause material differences between predicted results and actual results, including the company incurring operating losses and experiencing unexpected material adverse events. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005806/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] Project Led by Concord Law School Wins Award For Expanding Access to Justice

A team of legal educators and innovators coordinated by Concord Law School at Purdue University (News - Alert) Global, the nation's first fully-online law school, has won the inaugural Wolters Kluwer Leading Edge Prize for Educational Innovation for its work improving access to justice for low-income clients. The award was given for the project Expanding Access to Justice and Practical Legal Training, a collaborative effort of two related start-up firms - Proboknow and Lowboknow - geared toward bridging the access-to-justice gap, especially prevalent among clients with limited access to affordable legal help. The project team was brought together by Concord Law School Dean Martin Pritikin, who said the award reflects the school's commitment to seek greater affordability, flexibility, and access to a law degree - and to legal services. "Concord Law School continues to set the bar for developing and supporting innovating programs that revolutionize the way students can obtain a law degree," said Pritikin. "We also believe strongly that greater access to affordable legal education will lead to greater and more equitable access to the legal system, especially in underserved communities." Concord, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, joined the Purdue University system in April when it was acquired, along with the former Kaplan University, and began operating as part of Purdue University Global. Proboknow is a not-for-profit online platform that connects newer attorneys with low-income clients in need of pro bono help, as well as more experienced attorneys who can serve as mentors. Proboknow is supported by Lowboknow, a for-profit start-up that connects those who earn too much to qualify for free legal help, yet not enough to afford market rates, with attorneys and mall law firms willing to take on their cases at a lower fee.



Pritikin said the $10,000 prize will help fund the two start-up companies' expansion from Southern California to Boston to help grow the network of participating lawyers and clients on the east coast and demonstrate the program's scalability to a national platform. "As a fully online law school, we're highly focused on the use of technology to meet the needs of our students," said Pritikin. "Partnering with technology companies to expand access to the legal system is a natural extension of our mission and our commitment to connect Concord's distinguished faculty with experts from the courtroom to the boardroom, with both public and private sector experience."

The winning team included Pritikin; Proboknow and Lowboknow's co-founder and chief operating officer, Scott Barnes, and its co-founder and chief executive officer, Chad Trainer; Gabriel Teninbaum, professor and director of the Institute on Legal Innovation and Technology at Suffolk University Law School; and William Tanner, director of clinic and pro bono programs at Veterans Legal Institute and the executive director of the Consortium on Access to Justice. In addition to offering a Juris Doctor (JD), Concord was the first online law school to develop an Executive Juris Doctor (EJD), a program designed for students who aren't interested in becoming a lawyer, but want advanced legal knowledge and skills to help advance their careers. The $10,000 prize awarded by Wolters Legal & Regulatory U.S., part of Wolters Kluwer N.V., recognizes teams that demonstrate "a vision for improving outcomes and educational opportunities for law school students and new associates." Winning teams will be discussing their projects at a live webinar hosted by Wolters Kluwer on Jan. 16. In announcing the prize winners, Vikram Savkar, vice president and general manager, international and higher education markets, Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S., said: "The winners of the competition demonstrated a great deal of creativity to help solve some of the most significant challenges that the legal community is facing today." About Purdue Global Purdue University Global is the extreme personalization online university, providing students the competitive edge to advance in their chosen careers. It offers a hyper-tailored path for students to earn an associate's, bachelor's, master's or doctoral degree, based on their work experience, desired pace, military service, previous college credits and other considerations -- no matter where they are in their life journey. Purdue Global serves approximately 29,000 students, most of whom earn their degree online. It also operates 14 locations in Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Maryland, Maine, Missouri and Wisconsin. Purdue Global is a nonprofit, public university accredited by The Higher Learning Commission. It is affiliated with Purdue University's flagship institution, a highly ranked public research university located in West Lafayette, Indiana. Purdue University also operates two regional campuses in Fort Wayne and Northwest, Indiana, as well as serving close to 6,000 science, engineering and technology students at the Indiana University-Purdue University (IUPUI) Indianapolis campus. For more information about Purdue Global, please visit www.PurdueGlobal.edu. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005875/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] AHF Thanks Judge for Putting Brakes on CVS-Aetna Merger

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) thanked Judge Richard Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for insisting on deliberate judicial review of the integration and its potential anticompetitive effects. AHF believes the merger is particularly bad for HIV patients. "Allowing one company to control both ends of the service spectrum for a person with HIV interferes with patients' control over their treatment, eliminates choice by reducing competition, and will likely increase prices," said Donna Tempesta, CPA, Vice President - Northern Region and Finance for AIDS Healthcare Foundation. According to Modern Healthcare, Judge Leon announced that CVS and Aetna have until December 14 to show him why they shouldn't hold off on their consolidation, and he will hold a hearing on December 18 to consider the parties' arguments. He rightfully expressed distaste for what he called the parties' "rubber-stamp approach" to his role, insofar as the parties and Department of Justice appear to be proceeding as if the court's sign-off were a done deal. As noted by Modern Healthcare "Courts have to oversee Justice Department settlements in cases like these to make sure they are in the public interest and not the result of sweetheart deals with the administration in power." Congress has amended federal law "to strengthen the judiciary's oversight of the executive branch's ati-trust decrees."



"This merger raised many red flags," said Michael Weinstein, President of AHF, "which state and federal regulators glossed over in granting approval. We thank Judge Leon for putting the brakes on this deal that will harm patients and the public to allow for the Court's careful review of the anticompetitive aspects of the deal." Last week, AHF sharply criticized the merger of CVS Health and Aetna, (CVS-Aetna Merger Expected to Go Forward This Week After Securing Final Approval from New York Regulators, Kaiser Health News 11/27/18), noting that it would be particularly bad for HIV/AIDS patients and other individuals with chronic health conditions. In October, at a hearing held by New York regulators on the CVS-Aetna merger, AHF expressed its objections to the merger. Last month, AHF also sent a letter outlining five (5) specific areas of concern to the merger to the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance's Office of Solvency Regulation.

About AIDS Healthcare Foundation AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to more than 1,000,000 individuals in 42 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook (News - Alert): www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us on Twitter (News - Alert): @aidshealthcare. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005923/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] FinDev Canada invests USD 20 million in Climate Investor One to support transition to renewable energy in developing countries

The investment will have a positive impact on climate change mitigation by avoiding 1.2 million tons of CO 2 emissions MONTREAL, Dec. 4, 2018 /CNW/ - FinDev Canada announced a USD 20 million commitment made to Climate Investor One's (CIO) Construction Equity Fund to support the transition to renewable energy in emerging markets, helping avoid approximately 1.2 million tons of CO 2 emissions. CIO is an innovative blended finance initiative which is helping fast track some 1,100MW of renewable energy, benefiting 8 million people and mobilizing up to USD 3 billion in private capital. In addition to the positive impact in climate change mitigation, the projects supported by CIO are expected to create over 25,000 temporary and permanent jobs, according to FinDev Canada estimations. "FinDev Canada and Climate Investor One are responding to the urgent call for a more sustainable economy by funding new sources of renewable energy," said Paul Lamontagne, Managing Director of FinDev Canada. "The latest reports are clear: global temperature is on the rise and we must act now. Quoting one of the studies, 'the scale and pace of current action remains insufficient' and we are determined to have a positive impact by supporting a faster transition to sustainable sources of energy." FinDev Canada will bring additional value through its participation in the Fund's Advisory Board, offering capacity to the Fund in areas such as women's economic empowerment and financial innovation. Climate Fund Managers, the manager of the CIO facility shares with FinDev Canada a focus on climate change mitigation and adaptation, women's economic empowerment and job creation, contributing to several of the Sustainable Development Goals. The participation of FinDev Canada and other Development Finance Institutions is expected to have a mobilizing effect in attracting commercial investors. With this investment, FinDev Canada is the first North American insitution to commit capital to CIO's Construction Equity Fund.



With a focus on solar, wind and run-of-river hydro technologies targeted across Africa, Asia and Latin America, CIO will mobilise further commercial funds and build approximately 20 renewable energy projects, delivering an estimated 3,200 GWh of additional capacity. Approximately 70% of the fund's projects will be built in least developed countries (LDC) and low-and-middle-income countries (LMIC.)

Climate Fund Manager has adopted a responsible investment framework, which requires that all projects meet country specific environmental and social laws as well as international standards, including IFC Performance Standards. Innovative finance and mobilization of the private sector Climate Fund Managers announced the Fourth Close of Climate Investor One (CIO) at USD 555 million with the inclusion of FinDev Canada. The Fund's innovative structure connects three separate funds that finance the different stages of each project: development, construction and operations. This offers different risk-return preferences, including de-risked and stable options in the construction and operations phase, suitable for commercial investors. On this milestone, Mr. Andrew Johnstone CEO of Climate Fund Managers, said: "Climate Investor One is a serious response to the threat of climate change. Using new blended finance structures and investment approaches, Climate Investor One brings together like minded and climate committed investors to make a difference. We are very pleased to welcome FinDev Canada to the Climate Investor One community and expand this vital mobilization of capital to parties on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean." CIO's Construction Equity Fund already made its first investment, a 100MW pan-Asia corporate & industrial (C&I) rooftop solar platform with a strategy to expand to 450MW. About FinDev Canada The Development Finance Institute Canada (DFIC) Inc., operating under the FinDev Canada brand, is a Canadian institution dedicated to providing financial services to the private sector in developing countries with the aim of combating poverty through economic growth by focusing on three main themes: economic development through job creation, women economic empowerment, and climate change mitigation. The Development Finance Institute Canada (DFIC) Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Export Development Canada (EDC). About Climate Investor One CIO was launched in partnership between Dutch Development Bank, FMO, and Sanlam InfraWorks  part of the Sanlam Group, of South Africa. CIO, managed by Climate Fund Managers comprises three separate, but operationally interlinked funds: the Development Fund, the Construction Equity Fund and the Refinancing Fund, each tailored to finance a stage in the renewable energy project's lifecycle: development, construction and operations. CIO also enjoys support from the EU through its External Investment Plan as part of its wider commitment to sustainable development and climate change mitigation, as well as cornerstone support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and Nordic Development Fund (NDF) and USAID (Power Africa). View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/findev-canada-invests-usd-20-million-in-climate-investor-one-to-support-transition-to-renewable-energy-in-developing-countries-300760105.html SOURCE FinDev Canada

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] Singtel Integrates Global Cybersecurity Capabilities Under Trustwave to Create an Industry Powerhouse

Singtel today announced it has pooled the cybersecurity capabilities, technologies and resources of Singtel, Optus (News - Alert), Trustwave and NCS, into a single global corporate identity operating under the Trustwave brand. The strategic measure forms one of the industry's most comprehensive global cybersecurity companies offering a complete range of managed security services, consulting, education and leading-edge technologies to help organizations worldwide contend with rapidly evolving external and internal threats. Through the integration, the new Trustwave can harness the synergies and strengths of Singtel's global cybersecurity business, revenue, capabilities and teams across the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. Trustwave's global cyber business now has about 2,000 security employees, a global network of ten connected Advanced Security Operations Centers (ASOCs) supported by its elite Trustwave SpiderLabs security team, millions of businesses enrolled in its cloud-based security platform, more than 10,000 managed security services customers, and nearly 1,000 channel partners and numerous technology partners worldwide. The Trustwave portfolio includes many services and technologies recognized as industry-leading by analysts. "Uniting the security assets and deep expertise of Singtel, Optus, Trustwave and NCS under one brand and single vision - what we call the new Trustwave -- is a pivotal milestone for our customers, partners, employees and company," said Arthur Wong, Chief Executive Officer at Trustwave. "Trustwave is well-positioned to further its role as a recognized leader in cybersecurity and managed security services, areas vital for effective security programs as enterprises accelerate their digital transformation. Customers benefit by having a trusted security partner with true global reach and intelligence, offering around-the-clock monitoring, detection and eradication of threats in addition to deep regional security expertise necessary for successfully addressing global threats and localized attack campaigns." As part of the integration, Trustwave has re-designed its logo, giving it a bold modern look with new brand identity and color scheme, and launched a new corporate website at www.trustwave.com. The website serves as the digital hub showcasing all Trustwave offerings, including those from Singtel, Optus and NCS. Benefits of the integration include: Broader security services portfolio --The new Trustwave portfolio includes manage security services, security testing, consulting, technology solutions and cybersecurity education. The integration provides Trustwave with additional managed security services, third-party technology solutions and cybersecurity education and training services like the Cyber Security Institute in Singapore.

--The new Trustwave portfolio includes manage security services, security testing, consulting, technology solutions and cybersecurity education. The integration provides Trustwave with additional managed security services, third-party technology solutions and cybersecurity education and training services like the Cyber Security Institute in Singapore. Increased focus on industry-leading technologies --Trustwave will continue to offer both its own technologies and those from third parties. Trustwave has added and will continue to add more industry-leading third-party technologies that are integrated or wrapped with its managed security and consulting services to offer even more compelling solutions that solve cybersecurity problems and challenges.

--Trustwave will continue to offer both its own technologies and those from third parties. Trustwave has added and will continue to add more industry-leading third-party technologies that are integrated or wrapped with its managed security and consulting services to offer even more compelling solutions that solve cybersecurity problems and challenges. More cybersecurity resources and talent --Through the integration of Singtel's global cybersecurity assets under Trustwave, the company has added more resources, employees and services to help customers protect their data and reduce risk. At a time when there is a world-wide security skills shortage, the company has about 2,000 security professionals worldwide delivering, selling, marketing and supporting Trustwave cybersecurity solutions and managed security services. The added personnel complements ten interlinked Advanced Security Operations Centers responsible for delivering continuous threat monitoring, detection and threat elimination along with threat intelligence to ensure organizations are continuously protected regardless of location.

--Through the integration of Singtel's global cybersecurity assets under Trustwave, the company has added more resources, employees and services to help customers protect their data and reduce risk. At a time when there is a world-wide security skills shortage, the company has about 2,000 security professionals worldwide delivering, selling, marketing and supporting Trustwave cybersecurity solutions and managed security services. The added personnel complements ten interlinked Advanced Security Operations Centers responsible for delivering continuous threat monitoring, detection and threat elimination along with threat intelligence to ensure organizations are continuously protected regardless of location. Advanced security training and continued education --Trustwave has combined the training and continued education assets from Singtel's cybersecurity businesses including Trustwave Academy and the Cyber Security Institute into a comprehensive program delivered on-premises and remotely. Cybersecurity education has become paramount to addressing the threat landscape through knowledge and best practices. Customers, partners and employees can learn the latest techniques for detecting threats, defending networks, protecting data and optimizing technologies from many of the world's top minds in cybersecurity. Options for earning industry recognized certifications and accreditation in penetration testing, data forensics, incident response and other fields are offered.

--Trustwave has combined the training and continued education assets from Singtel's cybersecurity businesses including Trustwave Academy and the Cyber Security Institute into a comprehensive program delivered on-premises and remotely. Cybersecurity education has become paramount to addressing the threat landscape through knowledge and best practices. Customers, partners and employees can learn the latest techniques for detecting threats, defending networks, protecting data and optimizing technologies from many of the world's top minds in cybersecurity. Options for earning industry recognized certifications and accreditation in penetration testing, data forensics, incident response and other fields are offered. Separate business unit focused on compliance --Trustwave has created a separate global Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance and risk management arm to help organizations achieve and maintain regulatory compliance. The division represents a continued commitment to focus on compliance, risk and data privacy customer challenges while building upon Trustwave's foundation as a payment card industry data security standard (PCI DSS) pioneer.



Industry Recognition Demonstrates Trustwave Momentum (News - Alert) and Leadership In 2018, renowned industry analysts worldwide recognized Trustwave for its leadership in cybersecurity and managed security services.

Gartner (News - Alert), Inc., a leading information and technology and advisory company, placed Trustwave in the Leaders quadrant in the 2018 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Managed Security Services, Worldwide.1 International Data Corporation (IDC) named Trustwave a Leader in the IDC MarketScape U.S. Incident Readiness, Response, and Resiliency Services 2018 Vendor Assessment - Beyond the Big 5 Consultancies.2 IDC also named Trustwave a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Asia/Pacific Managed Security Services 2018.3 Additionally, IDC named Trustwave a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Canadian Security Services Providers, 2018 Vendor Assessment.4 Most recently, Frost & Sullivan (News - Alert) presented Trustwave with the prestigious 2018 Singapore and Southeast Asia Managed Security Service Provider of the Year award. About Trustwave Trustwave is a leading cybersecurity and managed security services provider that helps businesses fight cybercrime, protect data and security reduce risk. Offering a comprehensive portfolio of managed security services, security testing, consulting, technology solutions and cybersecurity education, Trustwave helps businesses embrace digital transformation securely. Trustwave is a Singtel company and the global security arm of Singtel, Optus and NCS, with customers in 96 countries. For more information about Trustwave, visit https://www.trustwave.com. About Singtel Singtel is Asia's leading communications technology group, providing a portfolio of services from next-generation communication, technology services to infotainment to both consumers and businesses. For consumers, Singtel delivers a complete and integrated suite of services, including mobile, broadband and TV. For businesses, Singtel offers a complementary array of workforce mobility solutions, data hosting, cloud, network infrastructure, analytics and cyber-security capabilities. The Group has presence in Asia, Australia and Africa and reaches over 700 million mobile customers in 21 countries. Its infrastructure and technology services for businesses span 21 countries, with more than 428 direct points of presence in 362 cities. For more information, visit www.singtel.com. Follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) at www.twitter.com/SingtelNews. 1 Source: Gartner, "Magic Quadrant for Managed Security Services, Worldwide" by Toby Bussa, Kelly M. Kavanagh, Pete Shoard, Sid Deshpande, February 27, 2018. 2 Source: IDC MarketScape: IDC MarketScape U.S. Incident Readiness, Response, and Resiliency Services 2018 Vendor Assessment - Beyond the Big 5 Consultancies, (IDC# US44257117, October 2018). 3 Source: IDC MarketScape: Asia/Pacific Managed Security Services 2018, (IDC# AP42609818, June 2018). 4 Source: IDC MarketScape: Canadian Security Services Providers, 2018 Vendor Assessment (IDC# CA3005218, March 2018). View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005902/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] Humana Announces Key Strategic Leadership Appointment and Care Delivery Realignment

Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM), one of the nation's leading health and well-being companies, has named Vishal Agrawal, M.D., to the position of Chief Strategy and Corporate Development Officer. Humana also announced that it is realigning its Care Delivery Organization under the leadership of Chief Financial Officer Brian Kane. In the role of Chief Strategy and Corporate Development Officer, Agrawal will report directly to Humana President and CEO Bruce Broussard, and will serve as a member of Humana's Management Team. Agrawal will be responsible for advancing the company's strategic insights and planning process, establishing direction for merger, acquisition and joint venture activities, while maximizing capabilities to create competitive advantage. He will assume the role effective December 10, 2018. Agrawal brings more than 20 years of experience in planning and implementing strategies to drive growth and performance improvement across publicly traded and privately held health care organizations. He comes to Humana from The Carlyle Group, a Washington, D.C.-based financial services and investment firm, where he served as Senior Advisor. Previously, Agrawal oversaw strategy for Ciox Health, a health care information management company, as President and Chief Growth Officer. Agrawal has also served as President of Harris Healthcare Solutions and Partner at McKinsey and Company. "As a physician and a highly strategic health care business leader, Vishal's expertise spans multiple domains," said Broussard. "His unique perspective will help Humana continue to advance its integrated care delivery market strategy, which revolves around the health plan member, with a particular focus on seniors living with chronic conditions." Agrawal is a graduate of the Yale University School of Medicine. He also holds a master's degree in molecular biophysics and a bachelor's degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry, both also from Yale. As Chief Strategy and Corporate Development Officer, Agrawal succeeds Christopher Hunter, who rcently assumed leadership responsibility for the company's Group, Specialty and Military lines of business. Hunter, who joined the company in 2014, has played an instrumental role in advancing the company's strategy, particularly as the company emerged as a stand-alone entity after the termination of the Aetna transaction. Chris succeeds Beth Bierbower in this role, who as previously announced, is leading the company's efforts to develop a new senior health care experience in the company's recently created Humana Studio H in Boston. Both Hunter and Bierbower are members of the Management Team reporting to Broussard.



In addition, Humana's Care Delivery Organization will now become part of the company's Finance organization, under the leadership of Chief Financial Officer Brian Kane. An important part of Humana's integrated care delivery strategy involves expanding clinical capabilities with a commitment to providing care delivery solutions to serve the members of many different payors. "Our desire to grow payor-agnostic care delivery through acquisitions and de novo centers will be further realized by realigning the entity to the Finance organization," said Broussard. "There, the Care Delivery Organization can leverage the operational and financial expertise of Brian Kane and his leadership team to advance its primary care capabilities."

Reporting to Kane will be Renee Buckingham, president of Humana's Care Delivery Organization. In a short period of time, Renee and her team have helped facilitate the reorganization of existing Florida and Texas care delivery assets into Conviva, consummated the acquisition and subsequent integration of central Florida's Family Physicians Group, and driven the growth of Partners in Primary Care (PIPC) by entering new markets with PIPC centers, broadening the relationship with several of the company's joint venture partners and establishing a strategic partnership with Walgreens to co-locate senior-focused PIPC centers in certain Kansas City-area stores. About Humana Humana Inc. is committed to helping our millions of medical and specialty members achieve their best health. Our successful history in care delivery and health plan administration is helping us create a new kind of integrated care with the power to improve health and well-being and lower costs. Our efforts are leading to a better quality of life for people with Medicare, families, individuals, military service personnel, and communities at large. To accomplish that, we support physicians and other health care professionals as they work to deliver the right care in the right place for their patients, our members. Our range of clinical capabilities, resources and tools - such as in-home care, behavioral health, pharmacy services, data analytics and wellness solutions - combine to produce a simplified experience that makes health care easier to navigate and more effective. More information regarding Humana is available to investors via the Investor Relations page of the company's web site at www.humana.com, including copies of: Annual reports to stockholders

Securities and Exchange Commission filings

Most recent investor conference presentations

Quarterly earnings news releases and conference calls

Calendar of events

Corporate Governance information View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005752/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] Tamara L. Schock to Join MetLife as Chief Accounting Officer

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET) today announced that Tamara L. Schock will join the company as executive vice president and chief accounting officer, effective March 4, 2019. Schock will succeed Bill O'Donnell, who, as previously announced, has been named MetLife's U.S. chief financial officer. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005896/en/ Tammy Schock named as MetLife's Chief Accounting Officer (Photo Business Wire) In the role of chief accounting officer, Schock will lead all accounting operations and internal controls, which include reporting MetLife's financial results on both a U.S. generally accepted accounting principles and local statutory basis. Schock will report to John McCallion, executive vie president and chief financial officer of MetLife, and she will be based in New York City.



"Tammy's strong leadership and extensive financial experience across a variety of industries will serve MetLife and our shareholders well," said John McCallion. "We look forward to Tammy joining MetLife." Schock joins MetLife from Exchange Income Corp., a Canadian public listed company with businesses in aviation, aerospace and manufacturing sectors. Prior to joining Exchange Income Corp. in 2015, Schock served as partner at Deloitte (News - Alert). Her career at Deloitte spanned 19 years where she served clients primarily in the insurance, banking and asset management sectors in both Canada and the United States, and held the position of Professional Practice Director, Winnipeg, Canada from 2007 to 2011.

Schock received a Bachelor of Commerce (with Distinction) from the University of Saskatchewan. She is a Certified Public Accountant (U.S.), Chartered Professional Accountant (Canada) and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Professional Accountants, Manitoba, Canada. She currently serves on a number of civic boards, including the board of directors of CPA Canada, the country's national association of professional accountants. About MetLife MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), through its subsidiaries and affiliates ("MetLife"), is one of the world's leading financial services companies, providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to help its individual and institutional customers navigate their changing world. Founded in 1868, MetLife has operations in more than 40 countries and holds leading market positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.metlife.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204005896/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] Leidos to Implement Cloud-Based Solutions to Help Modernize Federal Trade Commission's IT Services

RESTON, Va., Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Leidos (NYSE: LDOS), a FORTUNE 500 science and technology leader, was selected as one of the awardees for the FTC Information Technology Support Services (ITSS) Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) to help modernize its IT infrastructure and related services. The multiple-award BPA has an estimated total value of $100 million over a 5-year period of performance. Leidos will apply user-centric design and agile implementation to help provide the FTC's ITSS program a secure, rapidly scalable, and interoperable IT infrastructure. Also as part of its task, Leidos will leverage shared staff, services, and solutions across multiple government programs the company supports to proactively offer and implement proven IT solutions and best practices to lower costs and risks for FTC.



"Leidos has partnered with the FTC for nearly 20 years," said Angie Heise, Leidos Civil Group President. "That experience and our approach to providing tailored enterprise IT solutions allows our customers' to meet their modernization goals for their most critical and unique missions. This award not only expands our existing footprint supporting the FTC, but also further enhances our ability to implement secure, cloud-based solutions and shared services that create efficiencies." About Leidos

Leidos is a Fortune 500 information technology, engineering, and science solutions and services leader working to solve the world's toughest challenges in the defense, intelligence, homeland security, civil, and health markets. The company's 32,000 employees support vital missions for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, Leidos reported annual revenues of approximately $10.17 billion for the fiscal year ended December 29, 2017. For more information, visit www.Leidos.com. Statements in this announcement, other than historical data and information, constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause our actual results, performance, achievements, or industry results to be very different from the results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Some of these factors include, but are not limited to, the risk factors set forth in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 29, 2017, and other such filings that Leidos makes with the SEC from time to time. Due to such uncertainties and risks, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof.







Contact: Melissa Koskovich Erin Tindell

(571) 526-6850 (571) 526-6996

[email protected] [email protected]

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/leidos-to-implement-cloud-based-solutions-to-help-modernize-federal-trade-commissions-it-services-300760179.html SOURCE Leidos

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] Gensource Announces Final Closing of Private Placement Totalling $1,626,539.28

Further to its news release dated November 30, 2018, Gensource Potash Corporation ("Gensource" or the "Company") (TSX.V: GSP) announces today it has completed its non-brokered private placement financing (the "Offering"). The Offering consisted of the non-brokered sale of 13,554,494 flow-through shares (the "Flow-Through Shares", the "Offered Securities") at a price of at $0.12 per Flow-Through Share for gross proceeds of $1,626,539.28. As part of the Offering, certain officers of Gensource (the "Insiders") purchased an aggregate of 833,333 common shares. Participation by the Insiders in the Offering was considered a "related party transaction" pursuant to Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). Gensource was exempt from the requirements to obtain a formal valuation or minority shareholder approval in connection with the Insiders' participation in the Offering in reliance of sections 5.5(b) and 5.7(a) of MI 61-101. The Company was not in a position to file a material change report more than 21 days in advance of the closing of the Offering as the details of participation by the Insiders was not known at such time. In relation to the Offering, the Company paid commissions to certain licensed finders. The commissions paid to the finders consisted of cash payments of $74,919.95 and the issuance to the finders of 624,332 agent's warrants exercisable into Common Shares at $0.12 per agent's warrant for a period of 18 months following the Closing Date. The Company intends to use the gross proceeds from Offering to fund "Canadian exploration expenses" ("CEE") (within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the "Tax Act")) related to the Company's projects in Saskatchewan. The securities issued pursuant to the Offering are subject to a four month and one day statutory hold period, and completion of the Offering is subject to approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. Mike Ferguson, President & CEO commented, "We are pleased to be in a position to announce an over-subscribed private placement. The speed with which the placement was completed in addition to the over-subscription speaks to the foresightedness of our stron shareholder base. With project financing progressing well, we believe we are in a strong position entering 2019 to move ahead with Vanguard One project execution, while at the same time, beginning efforts to launch the second project in the Vanguard Area. The on-going and goal-orientated support, based on fundamental belief in the Company's business plan, of our shareholders is key to our ability to reach these key milestones.



About Gensource Gensource is based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and is focused on developing the next potash production facility in that province - but with a radically and fundamentally different approach. Gensource's President & CEO, Mike Ferguson, P.Eng., has assembled a management and technical team with direct and specific expertise and experience in potash development in Saskatchewan.

Gensource operates under a business plan that has two key components: (1) vertical integration with the market to ensure that all production capacity built is directed, and pre-sold, to a specific market, eliminating market-side risk; and (2) technical innovation which will allow for a small and economic potash production facility, which is much friendlier to the environment to construct and operate - the output of which can then be directed to a single, specific market. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release may contain forward looking information and Gensource cautions readers that forward- looking information is based on certain assumptions and risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations of Gensource included in this news release. This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements", which often, but not always, can be identified by the use of words such as "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "estimates", "may", "could", "would", "will", or "plan". These statements are based on information currently available to Gensource and Gensource provides no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements with respect to Gensource's future plans, objectives or goals, to the effect that Gensource or management expects a stated condition or result to occur, including the establishment of vertical integration partnerships and the sourcing of end use potash purchasers. Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results relating to Gensource's financial condition and prospects, the ability to establish viable vertical integration partnerships and the sourcing of end use potash purchasers could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements for many reasons such as: failure to settle a definitive joint venture agreement with a party and advance and finance the project; changes in general economic conditions and conditions in the financial markets; the ability to find and source off-take agreements; changes in demand and prices for potash; litigation, legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; technological and operational difficulties encountered in connection with Gensource's activities; and other matters discussed in this news release and in filings made with securities regulators. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of Gensource's forward-looking statements. These and other factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on Gensource's forward-looking statements. Gensource does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by Gensource or on its behalf, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204006001/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] New Mexico Entrepreneurial Community to Get a Boost, Thanks to $19K Grant

Wells Fargo (News - Alert) and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) today awarded $19,500 in Partnership Grant Program (PGP) funds to ABQid, a nonprofit that supports New Mexico's entrepreneurial community with educational resources. The funds will help fund ABQid's programs and operational expenses. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204006134/en/ ABQid received $19,500 in Partnership Grant Program funds from FHLB Dallas and Wells Fargo to assist with the nonprofit's programs and operational expenses. (Photo: Business Wire) Representatives from the banks presented the funds today at a ceremonial check presentation at ABQid's offices in Albuquerque, New Mexico. "ABQid deeply appreciates the grant from FHLB Dallas and Wells Fargo," said Harold Lavender, director of business development and finance at ABQid. "We have used and will continue to use these funds to further our mission of economic development in New Mexico." ABQid's mission is to provide New Mexico's entrepreneurial community with startup support programming, seed fund investment and stakeholder engagement. As the only curriculum-based, venture-backed business accelerator in New Mexico, the organization as served more than 1,200 entrepreneurs and assisted 36 companies through its bootcamps, workshops and educational support.



The structure of the PGP (News - Alert) allows FHLB Dallas member institutions like Wells Fargo to make a contribution of $500 to $4,000 to a community-based organization (CBO), which FHLB Dallas will match at a 3:1 ratio. "ABQid is committed to supporting New Mexico's entrepreneurial community by helping them build great businesses that create jobs in our state," said Pat Nie, vice president/community relations with Wells Fargo. "We are very pleased to support them in their mission."

Melanie Dill, community and economic development product manager at FHLB Dallas, said the PGP strengthens the relationships between its members and local nonprofits. "The PGP is so popular because it is truly impactful on the communities and nonprofits that receive awards, enabling them to further their mission and purpose," she said. For more information about the PGP, visit fhlb.com/pgp. About Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.9 trillion in assets. Wells Fargo's vision is to satisfy our customers' financial needs and help them succeed financially. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, investment and mortgage products and services, as well as consumer and commercial finance, through 7,950 locations, 13,000 ATMs, the internet (wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has offices in 37 countries and territories to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 262,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 26 on Fortune's 2018 rankings of America's largest corporations. News, insights and perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells Fargo Stories. About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas is one of 11 district banks in the FHLBank system created by Congress in 1932. FHLB Dallas, with total assets of $73.7 billion as of September 30, 2018, is a member-owned cooperative that supports housing and community development by providing competitively priced advances and other credit products to approximately 825 members and associated institutions in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas. Visit fhlb.com for more information. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204006134/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][December 04, 2018] First BanCorp. Announces Payment of Dividends on Preferred Stock

First BanCorp. (the "Corporation") (NYSE: FBP), the bank holding company for FirstBank Puerto Rico, announced today that its Board of Directors has declared the following monthly cash dividends on its outstanding shares of Series A through E Noncumulative Perpetual Monthly Income Preferred Stock (the "Preferred Stock"):







Series Monthly

Dividend Per

Share Outstanding

Shares Record Date Payment Date A $0.14843750 197,386 December 27, 2018 December 31, 2018 B $0.17395800 296,146 December 15, 2018 December 31, 2018 C $0.15416670 249,852 December 15, 2018 December 31, 2018 D $0.15104167 285,522 December 15, 2018 December 31, 2018 E $0.14583330 415,240 December 15, 2018 December 31, 2018

The Corporation's ability to continue to declare and pay dividends on the Preferred Stock is dependent on certain Federal regulatory considerations, including the guidelines of the Federal Reserve Board regarding capital adequacy and dividends and on the Corporation's agreement with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (the "Federal Reserve") to obtain regulatory approval to pay dividends to stockholders. Although there is no assurance that any dividends will be declared on the Corporation's Preferred Stock in any future periods, the Corporation intends to continue to request the Federal Reserve's approval to enable it to continue to pay the monthly dividends on its Preferred Stock. About First BanCorp. First BanCorp. is the parent corporation of FirstBank Puerto Rico, a state-chartered commercial bank with operations in Puerto Rico, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and Florida, and of FirstBank Insurance Agency, LLC. Among the subsidiaries of FirstBank Puerto Rico are First Federal Finance Limited Liability Company and First Express, Inc., both small loan companies, and FirstBank Puerto Rico Securities Corp., a broker-dealer subsidiary. First BanCorp's shares of common stock trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "FBP." Safe Harbor This press release may contain "forward-looking statements" concerning the Corporation. The words or phrases "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "look forward," "should," "would," "believes" and similar expressions are meant to identify "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are subject to the safe harbor created by such sections. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Corporation's ability to declare dividends on the Corporation's Preferred Stock in any future periods and the Corporation's intention to request the Federal Reserve's approval to enable it to continue to pay the monthly dividends on its Preferred Stock once regulatory approvals expire. Such statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and contingencies that may cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations, intentions, beliefs, plans, estimates or predictions of the future expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and contingencies include, but are not limited to the factors described in the Corporation's Annual Report on Form 10-K, in its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and in other filings with the SEC (News - Alert). The Corporation does not undertake, and specifically disclaims any obligation, to update any "forward-looking statements" to reflect occurrences or unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statements, except as required by the federal securities laws. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181204006148/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]December 04, 2018

By Paula Bernier, Executive Editor, TMC





Implementing highly customized contact center engagement strategies can be a real bear.

It can require many steps,, departments and likely involves various integrations. And it can take weeks or even months to complete, particularly for contact centers serving heavily regulated industries.

But there are solutions that eliminate these hurdles, enabling contact centers compete faster than ever before. A webinar Thursday, Dec. 13 will explain how.

Click here to register.

The 1 p.m. EST online event How a Teleservices Contact Center Became +60% Faster at Launching New Business Lines will tell the story of how Performant Financial Corp. was able to shrink its speed to market significantly. The companys business analyst, Edward Abreau, will provide the details.







Hell be joined by representatives from LiveVox (News - Alert), a leading provider of enterprise cloud contact center solutions. LiveVox manages more than 12 billion interactions annually across a multichannel environment.

The contact center industry faces a dramatic shift as tech leaders such as Google (News - Alert) and Amazon accelerate innovation beyond multichannel connections and into new realms of digital engagement such as chatbots/AI. As a result, customer expectations for more personalized, instantaneous interactions across multiple channels are increasing faster than ever  leaving the vast majority of contact centers struggling to keep up, LiveVox noted in a blog last month introducing its LiveVox [U] Series. The LiveVox [U] Series [provides] a comprehensive engagement platform with omnichannel solutions spanning CRM, WFO, and digital  automatically integrated into a single solution.

In addition to the webinar, readers are invited to attend a new event called The Future of Work Expo, which will analyze and introduce new AI- and ML-powered solutions that help businesses improve their efforts related to customer service and the contact center, business communications and collaboration, human capital management, marketing, and sales.Yesterday (Dec. 3), Verizon announced its first 5G smartphone in a partnership with Samsung, and the phone is due out in the first half of next year. Not to be outdone, AT&T also announced that it too will launch the same 5G phone from Samsung in the near future, with a more-specific release window of spring 2019.

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

By the time the device launches, AT&T's 5G network could be active in as many as 19 cities. Right now, the carrier plans to introduce 5G in 12 markets before the end of 2018, including Atlanta, Indianapolis, San Antonio and New Orleans. AT&T also said it was still on track to begin shipping its first 5G device, Netgear's Nighthawk M5 Fusion hotspot, later this month.

Details on the phone itself are slim, though AT&T has confirmed to Tom's Guide that this will be the same 5G phone Verizon announced yesterday.

We don't know what it will look like, nor do we know if it will echo elements we expect to see in the upcoming Galaxy S10 line, like an in-screen fingerprint sensor and bezel-free Infinity-O display. The S10 series is expected to launch around the time of Mobile World Congress in late February, so this 5G Samsung device will almost assuredly arrive afterwards.

That said, there's a possibility AT&T and Verizon could simply be teasing the 5G-capable variant of the Galaxy S10 that was rumored last month. According to reports, Samsung is prepping a halo model of its next flagship with 5G connectivity in honor of the Galaxy S line's 10th anniversary. Then again, this mystery phone could just as easily be a totally different device entirely, with an exclusive design and running gear.



MORE: Samsung and Verizon Releasing 5G Phone In Early 2019

AT&T's major carrier rivals are also preparing to introduce their first 5G products. Technically, Verizon already has  its 5G Home modem/router combo is available now in select markets and delivers 5G speeds to residential networks. However, Big Red's mobile 5G network is still a work in progress, and the first product to support it will either be Samsung's phone or the 5G Moto Mod that snaps onto the back of the Moto Z3. Verizon says both will be available in early 2019.

Meanwhile, Sprint has chosen LG as its partner for its first 5G phone, and is also targeting a first-half 2019 release. We know as much about that phone as we do about this one.

With three of the four major carriers having already announced their first 5G phones, this seems as appropriate a time as any to stress once more that being first to something isn't the same as being the best. That's probably why Apple is reportedly waiting until at least 2020 to deliver 5G iPhones.

Anyone who remembers the sorry state that LTE launched in roughly eight years ago knows what happens when products and infrastructures are rushed out before they're clearly ready  and so far, the 5G race is giving us a serious case of deja vu.(Image credit: Qualcomm)

At the Snapdragon Tech Summit 2018, Qualcomm announced the companys first 7nm mobile processor, the Snapdragon 855. The company touts huge performance increases that could even allow it to overtake the Apple A12 Bionic.. Qualcomm also announced support for 5G in multiple countries coming next year.

Snapdragon 855

As the Snapdragon 855 will be manufactured on a 7nm process node, just like Apples A12 Bionic and Huaweis Kirin 980, the chip will benefit from significant improvements in performance and energy efficiency.

Together with a new Kryo CPU core (likely based on Cortex-A76), the chip is expected to see an increase in performance of 45% over the CPU found in the Snapdragon 845. Apples A12 Bionic can achieve a score of 11,515 on Geekbench 4 benchmark, while the best performing Snapdragon 845-powered Android device, the HTC U12+, can achieve a score of over 9,000 (9,014, to be exact). If you apply Qualcomm's 45 percent number, the Geekbench 4 score on the 855 would go to 13,070.

That means the A12 Bionic is roughly 28% faster than the Snapdragon 845. Therefore, in theory, the Snapdragon 855 could be quite a bit faster than the A12 Bionic, but that remains to be seen when devices with it ship in the first half of 2019.

The GPU promises a performance boost of 20% over Qualcomms current offering, too, while also receiving new features such as support for Vulkan 1.1 support, HDR10+ (a first for mobile), and physically-based rendering, all of which should contribute to more realistic-looking games, according to Qualcomm.

The Snapdragon 855 mobile platform also gains a new Hexagon 690 processor with twice as many vector cores as the previous Hexagon 685 processor found in the Snapdragon 845, as well as a redesigned Hexagon Tensor Accelerator that helps the new Snapdragon 855 chip achieve 3x machine learning performance over the Snapdragon 855.

Its not yet clear if this is sufficient to beat Google, Huawei, and Apples latest ML accelerators, as Qualcomms Hexagon processor used to be quite behind in terms of ML performance not too long ago. However, the ML performance of the new Hexagon ML accelerator should be within the same ballpark as the others.

Devices with Snapdragon 855 should also see a significant improvement in computational photography thanks to the new Spectra 380 image signal processor (ISP), which will include computer vision capabilities. The new ISP will be four times more efficient than its predecessor.

Other features for the Snapdragon 855 mobile platform include the companys latest generation of 3D Sonic Sensor, which would allow smartphone and notebook makers to embedded fingerprint sensors beneath the devices screens, freeing manufacturers to also create devices with edge-to-edge screens (at least those which have been unwilling to put the fingerprint readers on the back of smartphones). As it uses ultrasonic technology to unlock the devices, the 3D Sonic Sensor will work with wet fingers, which is not possible with existing fingerprint readers.

The new mobile platform comes with a new HEVC and VP9 codec decoder that is seven times more efficient, and Qualcomm claims this means you wont need to look for the charging cable while watching movies on Snapdragon 855-powered devices in the future.

The new chip also supports VR games at 8k resolutions and 120 frames per second, which should enable much more immersive mobile virtual reality experiences.

5G Devices Coming Next Year

Earlier this year, Qualcomm announced the worlds first 5G modem, the X50, which is supposed to increase download speeds by up to 20x over what most mobile users currently experience. However, it seems like this modem may not be integrated into the Snapdragon 855 mobile platform. It will come as a separated modem that manufacturers will have to buy and integrate into their devices. The Snapdragon 855 platform will come with a Cat-20 4G modem offering up to 2Gbps download speeds, called the X24.

Qualcomm X50 modem. (Image credit: Qualcomm)



Samsung, LG, Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint have all promised to sell 5G smartphones in 2019, all of which will likely use Qualcomms X50 modem (at least in the U.S.). Although Intel promised to ship its own 5G modem in 2019, Apple is expected to launch devices with 5G modems only in 2020. Apple has had a rough relationship with Qualcomm lately, so it looks like the company now depends on Intels own roadmap to deliver new advances in wireless technology to its customers.Razer has completely redesigned its ultraportable, the Razer Blade Stealth, with a sleek look, thinner bezels and dedicated graphics. Its available today and starts at $1,399 in the U.S. and Canada. It will come soon to the UK, other parts of Europe, Australia and Asia.

CPU Intel Core i7-8565U GPU Intel UHD Graphics 620 / Nvidia GeForce MX150 (25W) 4GB GDDR5 RAM Up to 16GB LPDDR3 2133MHz Storage Up to 512GB PCIe M.2 (GPU model) / 256GB M.2 SATA (base model) Display 13.3 inches, 1920 x 1080 or 4K Battery Life 53.1Wh Up to 13 hours (base model) Ports Thunderbolt 3, USB Type-C, 2x USB 3.1 Type-A, Headphone jack Dimensions 12 x 8.3 x 9.6 inches / 304.6 x 210 x 14.8 millimeters Weight 2.8 pounds / 1.3 kg Starting Price $1,399

The new look echoes what weve seen on the standard Razer Blade, with squared off edges and a flat, unibody, matte black frame. Perhaps my favorite design element is that the tri-headed snake logo is now black-on-black, making it less ostentatious than before. Additionally, the bezel is far thinner at just 4.9 millimeters, though theres still room for an infrared camera that supports Windows Hello. During a brief hands-on, I appreciated the sleeker design, especially because Razers typical green logo can stand out a bit too much on its own.

Razers new laptop is powered by an Intel Core i7-8565U CPU, but there will be two graphics options. You can stick with integrated graphics, or, for the first time, get discrete graphics in the form of a 25W Nvidia GeForce MX150 with 4GB GDDR5.

The keyboard supports Razer Chroma RGB lighting in a single-zone. A Razer representative suggested that the lack of multiple zones is one of the features that would help improve battery life.

According to Razer, the new Stealth and its 53.1Wh battery will last up to 13 hours on a charge on the base model (without the discrete graphics). That would be a feat, as battery life has been a flaw on previous models. Thats more likely on the FHD option, rather than the 4K touch display.

We look forward to seeing what kind of strides Razers latest ultraportable have made when it shows up on our test bench.(Image credit: Tom's Hardware)

Overclocking your CPU, RAM or GPU always boosts your performance, but what about your street cred? You can boast about your achievements to friends, but when youre ready to show the world your skills, theres competitive overclocking. Competitors enjoy a vast community online and at events worldwide. Of course, there are also valuable prizes for winning competitions and breaking records. Competitive overclockers ultimate destination is HWBot, which hosts global team and individual overclocking competitions and maintains a database of world records. Place near the top of one of its ranking boards, and youve made it. Read their FAQ page to get familiar with the sites basics, like rules and requirements.

Sound exciting? For those new to overclocking or interested in competing, were here to help. Here are successful professional overclockers best tips for getting started.

Start with CPUs or RAM, not graphics cards.

Premium graphics cards are usually more expensive than CPUs or RAM kits, so youll be more upset if you accidentally kill one by pushing it too hard. Beyond being easier on the wallet, CPUs and RAM are also easier to overclock.

CPUs are the most popular starting point. Like other components, they also have built-in safety features, like thermal throttling, to help avoid damage from excessive voltage or inadequate cooling. In addition, keeping your CPUs heat at bay is easier than cooling most reference GPUs and cheaper when you use an aftermarket cooler, according to Albrecht Mesotten, whos been competing since 2009.

"Its also much easier to test stability for a CPU than for a GPU with programs like Intels Extreme Tuning Utility and get results in minutes," he added.

You dont need the most expensive components.

When you check out the top scores on HWbot, youll see premium, expensive components listed. This makes the idea of buying your way to the top enticing, but besides the fact that some of those people might get their components for free from sponsors (more on that later), overclockers we spoke to say you dont need the priciest components to make your mark. You can also still gain points and move up the rankings with older or cheaper components. And, as we said, competitive overclocking is about more than pushing GHz, so getting the most expensive components and binning them to find the highest possible clock speeds doesnt guarantee you victory.

For example, Mesotten points to the different skills and requirements needed for the particular benchmarks, such as choosing specific operating systems, even outdated platforms like Windows XP. One of the trickiest parts is that you need to have a multitude of operating systems available for your setup to get the best performance, he said.

And again, if you spend a lot, youll be that much more in the hole if a product gets damaged during testing.

You do need to go beyond air cooling.

If you're air cooling your CPU, youll probably hit a maximum of 4.8-5.2GHz on Intels 7th generation and later K-series processors, depending on your luck with the silicon lottery--variances in silicon that result in different performance among processors with the same model number. AMDs 2nd generation Ryzen processors will reach 3.8-4.2GHz with a beefy air cooler.

If you want to go higher (including with other types of components), you need to upgrade your cooling, a milestone for serious overclockers. To be highly competitive, youll want to get into liquid nitrogen (aka LN2).

But you dont have to start with LN2. Cooling is one of the biggest challenges for newbie overclockers. So, consider working your way up from air or water cooling to single stage cooling and cascade cooling before graduating to liquid nitrogen.

Whether the new overclocker wants to do 2D processor benchmarking or 3D graphics card benchmarking, the most important aspect to overclocking is ambient cooling testing. The first step for beginners is to obtain a high-performance air cooler or some variety of liquid cooler, David Miller, a competitor since 2010, told us.

Also, consider building your own water cooling loop. Mesotten said that, while all-in-one water coolers are nice, they dont offer as good of performance as a custom setup.

When youre ready, single stage cooling uses a compressor that can let you reach sub-zero temperaturesaround -40 to -60 degrees Celsius (-40 to -76 degrees Fahrenheit). If you move onto cascade cooling, you can hit around - 80 degrees Celsius (-112 degrees Fahrenheit). But liquid nitrogen will let you drop your CPU temps even further to -197 degrees Celsius (-322.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

The trick is really to find each particular component that is good, and then bring them in and build something out of it.

Choose your equipment with care.

Enthusiasts are very vocal about their preferred brands. Unfortunately, there is no magic formula of brands and products thatll guarantee a record-breaking rig. However, we did get some advice from the experts for building your overclocking system.

Its always good to test each individual component and then build them up. The trick is really to find each particular component that is good, and then bring them in and build something out of it. Because if you have one weak component, obviously thats going to be your weakest link, Joe Stepongzi, a competitive overclocker since 2009, said. Its usually good to test each individual component separately in some way, so we use different benchmarks to do that. Once we're happy with that, we bring them all together and put it to work.

Choosing a CPU to overclock

Which CPU is best to start your overclocking career? Experts we spoke to recommended Intels K series, such as the 8700K or 9900K, which are unlocked for overclocking. Mesotten strongly advises against high-end, non-K SKU Intel CPUs, since these CPUs are locked and not as overclockable. Almost all AMD CPUs, meanwhile, have unlocked multipliers, which will help you easily bring out a few hundred MHz of extra power.

Choosing RAM

To work with a motherboard with the Z390 chipset, a popular platform for Intel overclocking, look for memory modules based on Samsung B-Die integrated circuits (ICs). This type of memory has become synonymous with high frequency, tight timings and the most efficient benchmark results, and certain XMPs (Intel Extreme Memory Profiles stored inside the actual memory, allowing users to apply rated frequency and timings) are nearly impossible to hit without Samsung B-die memory, Miller said.

8GB RAM modules with Samsung B-Die are popular and typically sold in kits of two. According to Miller, when buying RAM, the main factors to consider (besides memory size and physical features) are clock speed and timings. Depending on the operating frequency, Miller recommends looking for the following timings for a better chance of ensuring you get Samsung B-die silicon:

RAM Maximum Clock Speed Timings 3200MHz 14-14-14 3600MHz 16-16-16 4133MHz 19-19-19,19-21-21

Overclockers are picky about their RAM. Preferences vary, but you can also check out our picks for the best RAM.

Choosing a GPU to overclock

If you do eventually go down the GPU route, Stepongzi said Nvidia GPUs are the fastest, (which we second in our GPU Performance Hierarchy page) and points to the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti as the best.

Many overclockers prefer Asus because all the BIOS settings are there, and thats the most important thing. We dont have enough options with the standard BIOS settings, Mesotten said.

Choosing a motherboard

Motherboard choice depends on the competition youre entering. Consider that you can be tasked to work with older technologies, such as Slot A, the socket formerly used by AMDs desktop Athlon CPUs.

Mesotten recommends a motherboard that gives you ample BIOS settings, and both he and Stepongzi pointed to Asus, whose ROG line is built for gaming and overclocking. Remember, its not just about clock speed, so youll want the flexibility to do things like tune memory and dial other settings to achieve winning scores.

Many overclockers prefer Asus because all the BIOS settings are there, and thats the most important thing. We dont have enough options with the standard BIOS settings, Mesotten said.

We always cover firmware and software in our motherboard reviews. For more help on choosing a motherboard, including the requirements for overclocking, check out our Motherboard Buying Guide, as well as our list of favorite motherboards.

For overclocking RAM, Miller suggests picking a motherboard with two DIMM slots for memory, which are far superior to four-DIMM motherboards since theres a shorter distance between the CPU and DIMM slots.

Choosing a power supply

A decent power supply is a priority for any overclocking rig; you dont want to be falling short on power delivery. As such, consider high-end brands, like Cooler Master, Corsair and Seasonic. Mesotten recommends a PSU with a minimum of 1,000W for overclocking a single component. But if youre overclocking multiple graphics cards or using an extreme cooling method (like LN2), he recommends going up to 1,200W. We have a list of some of these behemoths in our picks for best PSUs.

Additionally, Stepongzi believes your PSU choice should, to a certain degree, depend on the benchmark. Depending on the benchmark, an 18-core CPU can pull 1,300-1,400 watts. You'll need a solid power supply because many will trip the OCP (overcurrent protection) at a certain wattage and shut down. For example, overclocking an 18-core CPU with liquid nitrogen can even trip a circuit breaker in a U.S. home if you have other electronics connected to the same circuit. (Pro tip: Stepongzi usually finds a separate circuit in his house to run the PSU for overclocking and connects any other electronics to a different circuit.)

Choosing cooling products

Make sure you have a good temperature meter and temperature probes (dont forget batteries!). Stepongzi recommends the Fluke 52 II dual-probe digital thermometer.

Fluke 52 II Fluke 52 II

(Image credit: Peter Sobolev / Shutterstock)

If you plan on working with liquid nitrogen, youll need a dewar, which is a type of vacuum flask for storing cryogens. Stepongzi usually opts for 30-liter dewars. A dewar can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars when new, but you can find them for a couple of hundred bucks on eBay. (Warning: you may see listings discuss storing cow semen, another use for dewars). Stepongzi noted that in the U.S. you could also rent dewars from welding supply companies like Airgas.

While youre at it, grab yourself a dewar flask for distributing liquid nitrogen, which usually occurs by pouring it from a large dewar, to a flask, and then to the "pot" that holds the LN2 and mates with the component. Also, consider buying a blow torch to heat the pot when needed.

For any subzero cooling, Miller favors Kingpin products, including its T-Rex line of CPU containers ($325-$399) and KPx thermal paste ($11.99).

Choosing SSDs

Miller recommends getting at least three SSDs. You probably wont need more than 60GB per drive, but its good to get a few for storing different operating systems.

When I use liquid nitrogen to overclock for world rankings, I will often use three or more different operating systems in one afternoon. For this reason, it is not only convenient but also necessary, to pre-load SSDs with various operating systems in order to quickly change tasks, Miller explained.

For shopping help, use our SSD buying guide and picks for best SSDs.

Its not just about pushing clock speeds.

The best overclockers arent just focused on boosting clock speeds but are also interested in demonstrating the ability to drive better performance from a systemperhaps without adjusting any voltages.

Were planning ahead here, but to further your ranking after breaking the top 10 in a particular category, youll have to do tweaking that takes you beyond growing GHz. More advanced tactics, like playing with driver settings, or trying an older version of a driver or another operating system, are what it takes to cross the threshold into true competitiveness and eventually improve your ranking.

For example, Superpi 32M is a single-threaded benchmark very sensitive to memory usage and speed. Mesotten said benching it on Windows XP leads to better overclocks then benching on Windows 7. He also pointed to legacy 3DMarks where youll get better scores with Windows XP and Windows 7 than Windows 10, where you can expect a drop in efficiency and, therefore, your competitive score. Todays competitive overclockers often need 32-bit and/or 64-bit versions of Windows XP, 7, 8.1 and 10, depending on the benchmark.

An example with drivers is seen in older AMD GPUs, where overclocking with an older driver can make a huge difference, depending on the benchmark, according to Mesotten. He noted you'd see better performance on the GPUPI benchmark with an older SDK AMD driver.

One tweak at a time.

(Image credit: Iammotos / Shutterstock)

A disappointing score may make you want to push voltage sliders to their maximum or trash your current setup and start from scratch. However, its better to do one tweak at a time and then test those results, rather than make multiple changes at once. Mesotten points to a trianglespeed, temperature and voltagesthat you have to push, yet keep in a safe zone without straying too far.

A lot of times if you change too much when youre going through a system it ends up causing more issues, and you just bang your head everywhere, Stepongzi said.

When you start competing, first develop some good testing practices and methods that youll use all the time. You can listen to others advice, but Stepongzi said that you need to work on this yourself a bit to find yourself and your own setup.

And know when to stop. If your motherboard shuts down erratically or youre getting blue screens, its time to pause to avoid breakage. These things are usually a sign that condensation is forming somewhere, according to Mesotten.

For GPUs, Mesotten recommends increasing clock speeds 25Mhz at a time. Test your favorite game, and if things are stable, you can push some more.

When benchmarking, Miller said that its best to focus on one test at a time and learn to perfect your score by running it repeatedly before going for more aggressive overclocks. The goal is to keep the processor, memory and motherboard settings constant while you compare the scores on different operating systems and different settings within the operating system. There are many factors besides processor speed that can affect the score in Cinebench R15, for example.

Simply comparing ... Windows 10 and Windows 7, for instance, one will find that the score on Windows 7 is substantially better. One might even see a score variance of up to 1 percent between each benchmark result without changing anything. Committing your time and energy to one benchmark and learning everything you can about it is the best way to succeed, Miller said.

Use the overclocking community.

Overclocking communities can really help you boost your competitive edge and achieve better efficiency and scores. You can use them to find other overclockers willing to critique and advise on your set-up, testing and scores.

Check out forums, like here on Toms Hardware. Overclock.net is also friendly for noobs and has a large and successful USA overclocking team. Also, Overclock.net is launching a new competition for both 2D (non GPU-related) and 3D overclocking in December and is encouraging beginners to join. Experts like Miller will be sharing tips and advice there.

There are also communities to tap on HWbot and even Facebook. Look for people you can relate to who arent against sharing information. You can also check out YouTube, including channels like Stepongzis Bearded Hardware.

(Image credit: Albrecht Mesotten / HWbot)

Finally, get free tips from scores posted on HWbot. Look at the screenshot for things you may not have considered, like driver versions, operating systems or tweaking tools used.

Start off with team competitions.

When youre ready to compete for the first time, its better to enter a team competition instead of a solo one. You get the backing and knowledge of an entire team to help improve your best overclocks. Additionally, youll get access to honest feedback on whether you have a potentially winning score or not. You may think you have an idea of how youll rank by looking at scores already posted, but often overclockers sandbag and withhold their best scores until the competitions about to close.

Picking a team

You can join a team on HWbot, but our experts recommend starting off on an Overclock.net team for your first time because of the sites novice-friendly nature.

Stepongzi also recently launched a team on HWbot called Bearded Hardware specifically for people looking to learn.

When submitting scores, be thorough and share pictures.

Photo included in HWbot submission (Image credit: David Miller / HWbot)

You can find HWbots general rules and guidelines here. Each individual competition has its own rules and requirements, so be sure to read those thoroughly too. If you fail to meet a requirement and theres not enough time to remedy, you may be disqualified.

But its not just about being eligible. HWbot is a database, so your results will be stored for a while. Producing detailed, informative submissions is a good way to make a name for yourself, especially if youre new to the world of competitive overclocking. So be sure to share screenshots and, if possible, pictures of your system and components.

Try to take pictures; dont just put up a score. Most people want to see how you did it and what youre about, Stepongzi said.

Many of the best overclockers, including Miller and Stepongzi, are sponsored, which means that a component company supplies them with products, making it cheaper for them to compete. But those free components come with a lot of pressure attached. Those vendors expect you not just to win competitions, but to break world records. Meeting expectations is not easy. For example, a CPU that a company expects to run at 5.8 GHz may end up running slower thanks to the silicon lottery. Some sponsored overclockers find themselves forced to test almost nightly because if a product from another vendor is posted with a higher score, they get a call from their sponsor who always wants to hold that number-one spot.

Still, Stepongzi, who found his first sponsor a year after competing, feels that to be really competitive, you need a sponsor. Sponsors reach out to overclockers, or you can reach out to them. But in either scenario, youll need proof that you have what it takes to overclock their product to the top of the record books. Being in the top 20 or top 10 in the world is a good way to get attention.

You just need to get your name out for name recognition. it kind of works from there. The trick is to almost take anything off the bat, and work for it and show people what you can do. Because if you want to get into this world, you need to show them first, Stepongzi said. An opportunity can come out of nowhere; youd be surprised.String of fires has neighbors on edge KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -- People in one KCMO neighborhood fear for their homes. Vacant houses in the area are catching fire threatening nearby buildings. There are at least four abandoned houses on one block alone. Two of them, caught fire last week.

In 2012, Mayor Sly James promised to clean up so many abandoned houses blighting local neighborhoods. He even jumped on a construction vehicle to show his commitment . . .. . . This week, Kansas City homeless have been busy burning down empty local houses that remain despite good intentions now long neglected.Read more:Aston Martin announced that it was selling the design and tooling for its Vanquish model, but it didnt specify who it was sold to for 20-million or around $26-million. Now, a new report indicates that the buyer was, in fact, low volume car manufacturer Morgan. Morgan has since announced new models. The math seems pretty simple here, right?

It was initially believed that either Mansory or Ares Design made the Purchase, not Morgan.

However, the British automaker denied it completely and apparently Aston Martin officials arent allowed to say who it was either.

Automotive News quotes Andy Palmer, the Aston Martin CEO, as saying "We turn down about 80 percent of opportunities that come to us. This one looked good. The company apparently agreed to it after receiving "reassurance about the way the car was executed.

So even if its denying it, Morgan has announced it will be making two new models that are due for launch within the next five years.

First is a more traditional style, wide-body model, followed by a more modern flagship.

Currently, Morgan sells three main models: the Three-Wheeler (the only one available for purchase Stateside), the Plus 4, and the Roadster, but in the past, it has had a wider range to choose from, often including more modern models alongside the old-school ones.

Morgan is not a company thats foreign to borrowing platforms and engines from other manufacturers. Take the Aero 8, a model launched way back in 2001 and built until 2010; during the 2015 Geneva Motor Show, Morgan officials reportedly said the manufacturer would launch a more modern version of it in the near future, and this Aston Martin-based model could be it.

The old Aero 8 have a BMW-sourced V-8 engine, as well as manual and automatic transmissions from ZF, although no official mention that its platform could be derived from something else was ever made. It could have been a similar deal to the one Morgan is now believed to have signed with Aston Martin, only this time we have more information on the matter and are able to make more connections.

Further Reading

Read our full review on the 2018 Aston Martin Vanquish S.

Read our full review on the 2015 Aston Martin Vanquish.

Read our full review on the 2015 Morgan Aero 8.

Source: Automotive NewsOn the other hand, sales of passenger vehicles, including sedans, are down 13.3 percent in the same period. This tells us that more and more American buyers are buying SUVs and pickups compared to sedans. Its no surprise, then, that when we compiled the top 10 list of best-selling vehicles in the U.S. in the first ten months of the year, the upper half of that list was dominated by, you guessed it, pickups and SUVs.

2018 has been a big sales year for automakers in the U.S. From January to October 2018, car sales in the U.S. have reached 14,262,604 sold units. That represents a 0.2 percent increase in total sales compared to the first ten months of 2017. If you take it from that perspective, Americans are buying more vehicles this year than they did last year. But there are a lot of pieces involve in this numbers, too. These pieces paint a more accurate picture of the automotive landscape in the U.S. in 2018. Sales of light trucks  these include SUVs and pickups are up 8.3 percent compared to their sales numbers from January to October 2017.

Ford F-150

Americas best-selling model through the first ten months of the year is the Ford F-Series. Granted, this includes the F-150, F-250, and F-350 Series pickups, but its indicative of the models popularity that sales of the F-Series are close to doubling the sales of the second model on this list. In the first ten months of the year, 749,456 units of the F-Series were sold. Thats more than 300,000 units than the Chevrolet Silverado.

For a bit more perspective, the total number of F-Series models to find new owners this year is more than the sales volume of the top two SUVs  the Toyota RAV4 and the Nissan Rogue  combined.

Likewise, the 325,000-unit gap between the F-Series and the Silverado is more than the total amount of Honda CR-V models  302,454 units  that found owners this year. By the way, the CR-V is the sixth best-selling model in America in the first ten months of the year. The Ford F-Series sales dominance isnt a one-time thing either. It also topped the sales charts last year with a final sales figure of 896,764 units. Given the 2.02-percent increase in sales of the F-Series this year, dont be surprised if sales of the pickup line break the 900,000- unit threshold by the time 2019 rolls around. The Ford F-Series is the dominant model in the US in 2018. Its been that way for 36 years, and it looks like that trend isnt slowing down anytime soon.

Read our full review on the 2018 Ford F-150.

RAM Pickup - 424,769 units

Give the Silverado and F-150 some stout competition

Is this a case of the early bird getting the worm? Just like the Chevrolet Silverado, the all-new RAM pickup made its debut at the North American International Auto Show back in January. But unlike the Silverado, which only started delivering the all-new Silverado in August, RAM did the same much earlier. It rolled out the next-gen 1500 pickup in the first quarter of the year. That gamble seems to have paid off for RAM because, through October 2018, it has outsold the Silverado by the slimmest of margins.

In the first ten months of the year, RAM sold 424,769 units of its pickup, edging out Chevrolet, which sold 424,403 units in the same period.

If recent trends continue, RAM could have enough to maintain its place in the rankings. Since May 2018, sales of the RAM pickup have increased compared to their month-by-month figures from 2017. August 2018 was a particularly hot month for RAM as it sold 11,000 more units compared to its numbers from August 2017. The Ford F-Series is dominating the rankings yet again, but keep an eye out for the battle for second place between the RAM Pickup and the next model on this list.

Read our full review on the 2019 Ram 1500.

Chevrolet Silverado - 424,403 units

As it has done for quite some now, the Chevrolet Silverado comes in at third place in this ranking, usurped by the Ram Pickup. Its still the third best-selling model in America, but it remains stuck in the shadow of the Ford F-Series. Thats not a good feeling for the Silverado, but it is what it is. The good news is that business remains great for the Chevy pickup. This year, a total of 424,403 units of the Silverado were sold, a healthy number for the all-around workhorse.

The bad news is that sales are down for the Silverado in the first ten months of the year compared to where they were in the same period in 2017.

Last year, 471,747 units of the Silverado were sold in the first ten months of the year. Chevrolet has a little bit of ground to make up in the last two months if it wants to reclaim its second-place spot from Ram. Its going to take a good push in the last two months of the year, but if history is any indication, December is going to be the Silverados make-or-break month. If it can replicate this year the 25-percent sales increase it had in December 2017 compared to December 2016, the Silverado could overtake the Ram Pickup for second place on this list in the 11th hour. Heres something to take note off, too: since the all-new Silverado became available as an early 2019 model last August, sales of the pickup have actually gone down. That trend should correct itself, soon, though.

Read our full review on the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado.

Toyota RAV4 - 353,149 units

Through October 2018, the king of the SUV market in the U.S. is the Toyota RAV4. So far, Toyota has sold 353,149 units of the RAV4 in the first ten months of the year.

Comparing it to its own run in 2017, sales of the RAV4 have picked up by 1.97 percent.

Its not a big leap, by any means, but its still a noteworthy improvement considering how competitive the SUV market has become. The Nissan Rogue is the RAV4s closest competitor, and its only behind Toyotas compact crossover by around 15,000 sold units. Looking at its month-per-month sales total, the RAV4s biggest gains happened in the first quarter of the year. Since then, sales have been right where they were in the same period last year. Its not that sales of the RAV4 are slowing down, its that theres a good chance that a lot of buyers are just waiting it out for the fifth-generation model to become available. Toyota has said that the all-new RAV4 will hit dealerships in December 2018 as a 2019 model. That could help Toyota finish the year off on a high note before sales of the all-new model go full-swing next year. For now, the looming shadow of the fifth-generation RAV4 hasnt been enough to dissuade people from buying the current model. Thats helped the model maintain its status as Americas best-selling SUV.

Read our full review on the 2019 Toyota RAV4.

Nissan Rogue - 337,727 units

The Nissan Rogue has had an interesting 2018 sales year in the U.S. On the one hand; its already approaching a record sales year with two months left in the current year.

Last year, Nissan sold 403,465 units of the Rogue. Through October 2018, it has sold 337,727 units.

That represents a year-over-year increase of 3.21 percent, the largest in this entire list. If Nissan can keep up its pace and sells the Rogue at the rate its going; theres a good chance that it could pull off the upset of upsets and sneak past the RAV4 to become the best-selling SUV in the U.S. in 2018. That would be an incredible feat for Nissan, which hasnt had the best of luck in selling its sedan models. On the other hand, its hard to imagine the Rogue continuing its torrid sales run in 2019, especially with Toyota rolling out the next-generation RAV4 and Honda starting Year 2 of the fifth-generation CR-V. For now, though, the Nissan Rogue deserves a share of the spotlight for whats shaping up to be another record-setting sales run this year.

Read our full review on the 2018 Nissan Rogue.

Honda CR-V - 305,454 sold units

The Honda CR-V is the sixth best-selling model in America through the first ten months of the year.

With 305,454 sold models through October, its unlikely that the CR-V will surpass either the Toyota RAV4 or the Nissan Rogue in the rankings.

Fortunately, the next model on this list  the Toyota Camry  is well behind at 289,901 sold units, so its safe to assume that the CR-V has this spot on lockdown. It will be interesting, though, how it fares in the last two months of the year. Overall sales this year have dipped by 1.27 percent compared to last year. Thats largely because of the downturn in sales volume in the first quarter of 2018. Sales of the CR-V have picked up since then, but with Toyota rolling out the all-new RAV4 this month, the CR-V could have a hard time competing with that. 2019 should be a better year for Hondas top-selling model as updates come in. For now, though, it looks like the CR-V will remain as the third best-selling SUV in the U.S. in 2018.

Read our full review on the 2018 Honda CR-V.

Toyota Camry - 289,801 units

The next four cars on this are sedans, and it is headlined by the Toyota Camry, Americas best-selling sedan in 2018.

Through the first ten months of the year, Toyota has sold 289,801 units of the Camry.

Thats a healthy enough number to make it on this list, but it also doesnt paint the entire picture on what the sedan segment is going through in America these days. The total sold Camry units through October 2018 represents a decline of 6.14 percent in sales compared to sales of the model in the first ten months of the year. Back then, Toyota sold 308,759 units of the Camry through October 2017. Its even more alarming when you consider that the current Camry only arrived last year. Typically, all-new models experience positive sales growths in their first full year in the market. That hasnt been the case with the Camry, though, to be fair, its less of an indictment on the model itself as it is a picture of the downturn in the sedan market as a whole. If this trend continues into 2019, the Camry wont be the only sedan thats going to suffer. In fact, a lot of its rivals are already experiencing the crunch this year.

Read our full review on the 2018 Toyota Camry.

If you thought the Toyota Camry had it bad, the Honda Civic has it worse. Still regarded as the best-selling compact sedan in the U.S., the Civic is experiencing its own sales crunch as only 277,486 units have been sold in the first ten months of the year.

Sure, thats still a healthy number, but its nowhere near the 314,699 sold units in the first ten months of 2017.

Do the math on this numbers, and youre looking at sales decrease of 11.82 percent, a whopping number for a model thats supposedly one of the best-selling sedans in America. It hurts that the current-generation Civic is heading into Year 3 of its production cycle so its possible that a lot of customers have held off on buying one, content on waiting for the mid-life cycle update, which could happen sometime in 2020. To paint a clearer picture on how bad sales have gotten for the Civic, the year actually started off on a high note for the Honda compact sedan. May and June 2018 were particularly strong months for the Civic. Then things took a dive in July as Honda reported selling 10,000 fewer units compared to its sales volume in July 2017. From there, sales have torpedoed as Honda reported selling almost 40,000 fewer units in the last four months alone. November and December havent been particularly strong sales months for the Civic, so its worth keeping an eye on if the trend of declining sales continues in the last two months of the year.

Read our full review on the 2018 Honda Civic.

Toyota Corolla - 257,188 units

The Honda Civic has taken a sales beating in the last four months. But the Toyota Corolla has had it worse because Toyota has yet to report a month where it increased its sales compared to its numbers in the first ten months of 2017. Through October this year, sales of the Corolla have been down every month.

The Corolla had it really rough in September 2018 when it sold only 20,797 units, a decrease of almost 30 percent compared to the 32,769 units it sold in September 2017.

For the year so far, Toyota has sold 257,188 units. Thats a steep decline of 11.30 percent compared to the first ten months of 2017. Toyotas hoping that with the arrival of the 12th-generation Corolla  inventory of the model started appearing in U.S. dealerships back in July 2018  sales of the model will pick up once again once the calendar flips to 2019. Its still a tall order even for Toyotas most iconic model. As timeless as the Corolla has become, its not immune to the pickup and SUV invasion happening in America now. If this trend continues, this could be the last year we see the Corolla make the list of best-selling cars in America. Thats whats at stake here for the automaker. You can be sure, then, that its everyone in the company will be closely monitoring how the 12th generation model sells in the coming year.

Read our full review on the 2018 Toyota Corolla.

Honda Accord - 239,077 units

Rounding out this list is the Honda Accord, which has taken the biggest beating of all the cars on this list. In the first ten months of the year, sales of the Accord have dropped a staggering 13.86 percent compared to its sales volume in the first ten months of last year.

Through October, Honda has sold 239,077 units of the Accord compared to 277,542 units in the first ten months of 2017.

Unlike the Civic, the Accord didnt experience a sudden downturn in the middle part of the year. Its decline can be attributed to lower sales in each of the first ten months of 2018 compared to their respective month-by-month sales figures in 2017. Take a more general outlook at the Accords sales, and youll notice that total sales have declined continuously since Honda posted a record-setting sales year in 2014 with 388,435 sold units of the Accord. At its current pace, its highly unlikely that Honda can even reach 300,000 sold units in 2018 with only two months left in the year. If that happens, it would mark only the fourth time since Honda started selling the Accord in 2004 that the company failed to reach 300,000 sold units for an entire year. The Accord is still popular enough to make on this list, but given the way it performed this year, its chances of making it on next years list is looking very bleak. Heres to hoping that the 10th-generation Accord makes a sales about-turn in 2019. Otherwise, it could give way to models like the Ford Escape, Ford Explorer, Toyota Tacoma, and Jeep Wrangler, the four models that are nipping at the Accords heels.

Read our full review on the 2018 Honda Accord.The core business of the 24th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP24) opened on Monday, 3 December 2018 in Katowice, Poland.

At the Katowice Conference Centre, more than 20,000 people all over the world are expected to gather to push for effective climate deal.

There is a remarkable level of expectation at COP24. Stakeholders expect this years climate talks to rekindle the momentum around climate finance and commitment to limit global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees. It is a case, no less, of agreeing on the ways and means to give the pdf Paris Agreement (505 KB) real force, so that the commitments made do not remain a forlorn hope.

Developed countries have pledged to increase climate financing for developing countries to $100 billion by 2020. Developing countries, including the 54 African countries, are expecting clearer commitments on this financing promise from the advanced countries.

And yet, only about 30 Heads of State and Government, essentially from Africa, the European Union and Small Island States made the journey to Katowice for the opening of COP24. The presidents of Nigeria, Benin, Senegal, Botswana, Mauritania and Congo, for example, are present in this climate talks.

On the other hand, none of the leaders of the G20 member states, who are responsible for 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions, seem to have listed Katowice as a priority on its diplomatic agenda.

General feeling of climate emergency

The world is at a crossroads. The reality of climate change is clear and its impact increasingly being felt in various ways. In early October, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published an alarming report, which reveals that at the current rate of warming, the 1.5C threshold will be breached between 2030 and 2052.

In mid-November, a study published in Nature Climate Change modelled the extreme concurrent disasters to which humanity will be exposed by 2100, if we fail to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

On the eve of the opening of COP24, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reiterated that if current trends in the concentration of greenhouse gases continue, the average surface temperature of the globe is set to increase by 3 to 5 degrees Celsius by the end of the twenty-first century.

Such scenarios do not bode well for Africa, which is bearing the brunt of the effects of climate change. In other words, Africa needs to unite all its advocacy efforts and strength to fight climate change and counter its effects.

At COP24, the African Development Bank (AfDB) will therefore pursue its advocacy work and mission to help the countries of Africa address the issue of climate change and begin their transitions towards green growth and low-carbon development.

Africa, on the front line of climate change impact

The degree of urgency is especially acute in the case of Africa, one of the regions of the world most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, as evidenced again by the terrible drought in East Africa in 2017 and the drought endured by South Africa in 2018. In the 10-year period from 1995 to 2015, the African continent has suffered 136 episodes of drought, 77 of which have been in East Africa alone.

Drought, flood, rising sea levels, extreme weather events that threaten peoples food security, climate migrants  the list goes on, and the bill for climate change proves a high one for the African continent, despite its contributing less than 4% of world greenhouse gas emissions.

Of the 10 countries in the world considered most threatened by climate change, 7 are in Africa: Central African Republic, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and South Sudan. And climate change is even responsible for shaving off 1.4 points of GDP in Africa every year.

As the president of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, has repeatedly said, it is urgent to act. At stake: the future of the continent  and its development and most importantly, the survival of the entire planet.

With climate change there are no winners and no losers. Either we all win together, or we all lose together, Adesina often says.

MDBs announce a joint framework for aligning their activities with the goals of the Paris Agreement

Nine Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) on Monday announced a joint framework for aligning their activities with the goals of the Paris Agreement, reinforcing their commitment to combat climate change.

In a joint declaration, the MDBs committed to working together in six key areas considered central to meeting the goals of the Agreement, which aims to limit the increase in global temperatures to well below 2C, pursuing efforts for 1.5C.

The global development agenda is at a pivotal point, the joint declaration says. There is international consensus on the urgent need to ensure that policy engagements and financial flows are consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development.

The MDBs and the International Development Finance Club (IDFC) had already pledged in December 2017 to align financial flows with the objectives of the Paris Agreement. To realise this vision, we are working together to develop a dedicated approach, the joint MDB declaration adds.

The MDBs plan to break their joint approach down into practical work on six core Paris Alignment areas  the building blocks  including: aligning their operations against mitigation and climate-resilience goals; ramping up climate finance; capacity building support for countries and other clients; plus an emphasis on climate reporting.

This approach builds on the on-going MDB contribution to climate finance, which, in 2017, amounted to US$35 billion to tackle climate change in developing and emerging economies, mobilising an additional US$52 billion from private and public sector sources.

The MDBs will report back to next years COP25 gathering on their progress under the six building blocks.

The nine MDBs are: The AfDB Group, Asian Development Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Investment Bank, Inter-American Development Bank Group, Islamic Development Bank, New Development Bank, and the World Bank Group (World Bank, IFC, MIGA).

Africa Day at COP24

The opening day of the COP24 Leaders Summit was marked by the celebration of Africa Day, a joint initiative of the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Union Commission (AUC), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UN-ECA) and the New Partnership for Africas Development (NEPAD).

This years event was held under the theme, The Africa Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Hub: Going further and faster with NDC implementation in support of Agenda 2063, and was jointly organized by the four Pan-African institutions along with the Kingdom of Lesotho and the Republic of Gabon, and with the participation of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) and the African Risk Capacity (ARC).

The event sought to focus on how to ensure that all development partners deepen their partnerships and commitments to deliver concrete actions and resources towards providing effective and adequate means of implementation for African countries to deliver their NDC targets and enable the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

The programme comprised several highlights, including a high-level statement by H.E. Mr. Regis Immongault, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Gabon on behalf of H.E. Mr. Ali Bongo Ondimba, President of Gabon and Coordinator of the Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change; and H.E Amb. Josefa Sacko, Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, who also represented H.E. Mr. Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the AUC.

A high level Ministerial panel and a Parliamentary dialogue provided a platform for detailed discussions on this years theme and Africas position at COP24. The last segment of the Africa Day was an expert panel discussion from various technical institutions on the theme of the day.

Some excerpts to the opening included H.E. Immongault who stressed on the outcomes of COP24 to facilitate development in Africa. To that effect, he emphasised the implementation of NDCs in Africa with strong partnership.

I also extend appreciations for the Africa NDC Partnership Hub for reaching out to Partners to support Africa. In this regard, I wish to urge more Partners to come on board to support the African countries in the implementation of the NDCs for the achievement of the Paris Agreement in Africa, he added.

H.E Amb. Josefa Sacko, Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture stated that African countries have demonstrated over the years and remain committed to tackling climate change and its impacts. Countries in Africa continue to suffer from the adverse impacts of climate change with the costs of climate change threatening the realization of the Aspirations of Agenda 2063, The Africa we want.

Climate change is also partially to blame for increased migration of African youths to Europe through the deadly Mediterranean Sea as it is shrinking livelihood opportunities. She further underlined on the link between climate change and conflicts in Africa as demonstrated by Boko Haram insurgency in Western and Central Africa partly as a result of the shrinking of Lake Chad.

As Parliamentarians we carry the hopes, aspirations and concerns of the peoples of Africa. Africa Day accorded us an opportunity to emphasize the need for parties to adopt concrete actions towards effective and adequate implementation of the Paris Agreement, especially in the context of the African Climate Legislation Initiative (ACLI), said Hon. Kone Dognon, Chairperson of the Pan-African Parliament Committee of Rural Economy, Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Dr. Anthony Nyong, Director of Climate Change and Green Growth, representing the President of the African Development Bank Group said, African countries require significant resources to meet their Paris Agreement commitments.

The Africa NDC Hub hosted at the African Development Bank, represents a concerted effort by development partner institutions to leverage each others comparative advantage in mobilizing resources necessary for Africa to embark on a low-carbon and climate-resilient development pathway.

In a statement read on her behalf by Dr James Murombedzi, Officer in Charge of the African Climate Policy Centre, the Executive Secretary of the UNECA, Dr Vera Songwe, said that the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa is implementing organizational reforms which will deepen engagement with the public and private sectors and ensure that public policy provides incentives for the private sector to contribute to the implementation of the NDCs and to take advantage of the investment opportunities offered by the transition to carbon neutral development pathways.

Background

Africa Day is organized at the request of African Heads of State and Government and has been held at every COP since COP17 in Durban.

Three years after the Paris Agreement was signed at COP21, Africa continues to consolidate its efforts, focusing particularly on partnerships to ensure that African nations are able to pursue a low-carbon and climate-resilient development path through the implementation of their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

This calls for the developed countries to meet their responsibilities and commitments the Paris Agreement, especially with regards to providing new and additional funding at scale. This is in line with the roadmap for the Africa Agenda 2063  The Africa we want, the UNs Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the African Development Banks High 5s.

The Africa Nationally Determined Contributions Hub (Africa NDC Hub) was launched on Africa Day during COP23. Africa NDC Hub is a support platform set up by the African Development Bank with support from intergovernmental pan-African institutions (AUC, UNECA, NEPAD, AMCEN) and has drawn together a dozen other development partners.

The Africa NDC hub works in collaboration with the global NDC Partnership to deliver targeted support to African countries as they implement their NDCs.

The Africa NDC Hub with Secretariat hosted by the AfDB, has now developed a roadmap for coordinated support to Member States with long-term climate actions based on country-driven processes aligned with the Paris Agreement, the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Africa Agenda 2063; an increased mobilization of means of implementation and advocacy; and Enhanced advocacy and effective partnerships for NDC implementation.

As of November 2018, 49 African countries out of 54 had ratified their NDCs  representing 90% of African nations. This demonstrates the continents level of awareness of and commitment to fight climate change. It is estimated that Africa would need about US$3 trillion to implement the adaptation and mitigation targets in their NDCs by 2030.

Despite this huge need, Sub-Saharan Africa received an average of US$12 billion per year in 2015/16. There is urgency to shift the billions to trillions. The inability of African countries to deliver their NDC targets will endanger the global ability to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.

The Africa Day discussions focused on how to ensure that all development partners deepen their partnerships and commitments to deliver concrete actions and resources towards providing effective and adequate means of implementation (finance, capacity building, and technology development and transfer) for African countries to deliver their NDC targets and enable the achievement of the Paris Agreement goals.Air New Zealand's inaugural flight between Auckland and Chicago landed at O'Hare International Airport last Friday afternoon. Flight NZ26 departed at 5:01PM local time in Auckland and landed in Chicago at 12:11PM local time in Chicago.

Air New Zealand's inaugural flight between Auckland and Chicago landed at O'Hare International Airport last Friday afternoon. Flight NZ26 departed at 5:01PM local time in Auckland and landed in Chicago at 12:11PM local time in Chicago.

With a flight time of approximately 15 hours northbound and just over 16 hours southbound, the flight is Air New Zealand's longest, taking over from Auckland-Houston which has a flight time of 13.5 hours.

Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Christopher Luxon, who travelled on the inaugural flight, says the airline's new Auckland-Chicago service means exciting new opportunities for travelers to explore the United States' third-largest city, along with more of the East Coast of the US and Canada.

"We're excited to offer our customers a direct link between New Zealand and Chicago. With our alliance partner United operating more flights out of its hub of O'Hare International Airport than any other airline, the new service to Chicago provides customers with convenient one-stop codeshare connections to approximately 100 destinations across the US.

"New Zealand already welcomes around 340,000 visitors annually from the US and we anticipate this number will grow with the introduction of this new service. We expect the route will contribute around NZD$70 million annually to our economy  and we know 50 percent of spending by US visitors is done outside the main centers," says Mr. Luxon.

Chicago is an exciting destination with plenty to offer its 55 million visitors each year. Among the biggest attractions are: Chicago's fascinating history, world-class museums and stunning architecture; the internationally renowned jazz and blues scene, and award-winning restaurants and culinary dishes, including the iconic deep-dish pizza.

Jamie L. Rhee, Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Aviation says the City of Chicago is proud to partner with Air New Zealand to welcome new service to Auckland from O'Hare International Airport.

"As the best-connected hub in the U.S., the addition of new service to Auckland enhances Chicago's growing global connectivity, as well as traveler choice, by making Chicago one of few cities with direct air services to the six major inhabited regions of the world. We want to thank Air New Zealand for its commitment to Chicago. This new route is expected to generate $75 million in annual economic impact in the Chicago area, and will spur new jobs and opportunity for those who call Chicago home," says Ms. Rhee.

Air New Zealand's direct Auckland-Chicago service, operated by its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft, will depart Auckland on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday as follows:

Flight No. Operated by Aircraft type Departs Arrives Effective dates Frequency NZ26 (UA6728) Air New Zealand Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner Auckland 20:10 Chicago 16:15 2 Dec 2018  8 Mar 2019 Wed, Fri, Sun NZ26 (UA6728) Air New Zealand Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner Auckland 20:10 Chicago 17:15 10 Mar 2019  29 Mar 2019 Wed, Fri, Sun NZ27 (UA6727) Air New Zealand Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner Chicago 19:10 Auckland 06:30+2 30 Nov 2018  8 Mar 2019 Wed, Fri, Sun NZ27 (UA6727) Air New Zealand Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner Chicago 20:10 Auckland 06:30+2 10 Mar 2019  29 Mar 2019 Wed, Fri, Sun

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Mayor Reed Gusciora is under fire for being thin-skinned after blocking one of his biggest critics on social media  an unconstitutional move that got the POTUS slapped down by a federal judge earlier this year.

The infamous Michael Ranallo, a Paul Perez supporter who has established himself as one of Mayor Guscioras biggest detractors, learned from the citys response to his public records request that he was the only person on a banned/blocked list preventing him from accessing and interacting with the mayor on a government-related social media page.

Its a First Amendment issue, said Ranallo, who was a plaintiff in the notorious munchkin man lawsuit that accused the mayor of bribing and electioneering his way to a historic win over Perez in the runoff race.

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey said silencing critics on government-run pages is a big no-no.

You cant block someone from a governments social media platform just because they have different opinions, Jeanne LoCicerro, legal director at the ACLU-NJ, told The Trentonian on Monday in a phone interview.

Ranallo, who goes by Mike Ranallo on his Facebook account, provided The Trentonian with the citys response to his public records request demanding a list of all Facebook accounts blocked by Mayor Reed Gusciora (the official Facebook account of the Mayor and any other account used to discuss and comment on City related issues).

The city acknowledged in its Open Public Records Act response that an account belonging to Michael Ranallo was on an official banned/blocked list.

The mayor admitted blocking Ranallo on the personal Facebook page he uses and openly identifies himself as the mayor of Trenton while regularly commenting on city business.

But he contends he never blocked Ranallo from accessing the mayors official Facebook page, which the mayor says he rarely accesses because its run by an aide.

The ACLU-NJ legal director noted separation between public officials personal and public social media pages is murky.

And thats what seems to have Gusciora back-peddling.

The mayor claimed he blocked Ranallo because his mortal enemy posted a picture of his mother that Gusciora felt bordered on stalking.

Hes going to be blocked again. Hes gone off the deep end. If he wants to sue me for blocking him or unblocking him, he can be my guest, the mayor shouted.

Ranallo wouldnt commit to bringing suit against the mayor, but said, If he wants to claim Im stalking him, let him get a restraining order against me.

Gusciora called a reporter back later in the night and claimed Ranallo was no longer blocked from his social media account.

Ranallo initially asked for the mayors and citys banned/blocked list on Oct. 25, after hearing another city official, West Ward councilwoman Robin Vaughn, had gone on a tear silencing dissenters on her Facebook page.

His request for Vaughns records was shut down once city officials concluded Vaughn primarily used her personal Facebook page as a private citizen even though she often posted about government business impacting residents.

However, the city acknowledged the citys and mayors official Facebook pages, or ones used primarily to in official capacities, are subject to OPRA.

City clerk Dwayne Harris confirmed Ranallo was the only person singled out on the Trenton governments do-not-disturb list, which worked in tandem with the mayors official page.

At-large councilman Jerell Blakeley was surprised to learn about the alleged government crackdown, noting he doesnt block anyone from interacting with him.

A free and open dialogue on social media is crucial, he said. They shouldnt do that. Like the French philosopher Voltaire said, I may disapprove of what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it. Even on Facebook.

The New York Times has dubbed the constitutionality of public officials blocking critics on social media platforms a novel issue that has been explored in a few high-profile cases, including one involving President Donald Trump.

Earlier this year, a federal judge ruled in favor of seven plaintiffs who filed suit Trump after he or an aide blocked them from viewing or replying to his Twitter posts.

In a ruling with wide-ranging implications for other public officials, Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald determined the Trump administrations censorship tactics violated the First Amendment since he used his Twitter account as a public forum.

In another case in Maryland, Gov. Phil Hogan agreed to settle with the ACLU of Maryland to allow critical viewpoints on his official Facebook page after he was sued when several people complained of being blacklisted from the governors official Facebook page for expressing critical opinions.

Gusciora said he was familiar with the Trump ruling but felt he is still entitled to privacy.

Let him waste more time, the mayor said of Ranallo. He files OPRAs on a weekly basis. I dont have time for his nonsense. He seems to be unbalanced.  I think even Donald Trump has a right to block people that are malicious.

Speaking of the POTUS, in another example of government censorship, CNN sued the White House last month to restore the press credential of White House correspondent Jim Acosta.

Acosta had access yanked after he was involved in a verbal tiff during a presser with the commander-in-chief.

In recent weeks, Gusciora, who during his campaign for Trenton mayor likened opponent Perezs outbursts to Trump Twitter tantrums, apparently allowed the orange-faced leaders press-limiting stunts to rub off on him like a bad spray tan.

Last week, the mayor denied he or his administration purposely excluded The Trentonian from a news conference because it didnt approve of the newspapers coverage of his pick for police director.

Multiple media outlets showed up to a news conference in which the mayor and city police director Carol Russell discussed a brazen midday execution of a Crip gang member that was caught on tape.

But Gusciora claimed what started as one media outlets request for an interview with Russell spiraled out of control when other news stations just showed up.

Coincidentally, the snub job happened the same day the newspapers published a critical story about city officials pooh-poohing the mayors and Russells idea to bring back a deputy police chief to help her out.

Im still talking to you, he previously told a Trentonian reporter.amansharma@tribunemail.com

Mumbai, December 4

The Ethiopian police have taken into custody three Indian officials of crisis-hit IL&FS over non-payment of taxes and workers' salaries even as five Indian employees continue to be in captivity of the unpaid staff in the African nation, a source said.

The source said IL&FS had 15 Indian employees in Ethiopia, seven of whom were held captive by the local staff. Of the seven, two were released last week on medical ground.

The three employees, out of the eight employees who were not held captive, were taken into custody, he said.

"The three employees are in police custody in Wolliso (in central Ethiopia)," the source said.

It wasn't immediately known on what charges the three employees have been arrested.

The company did not immediately respond to email sent for comments on the issue.

IL&FS arm ITNL through its wholly owned subsidiary, Elsamex SA, has been executing road projects across three sites in Ethiopia. IL&FS has defaulted on paying both taxes and local employee pensions for nine months.

The workers in Ethiopia have allegedly not been given salaries for the month of October and November by the ITNL's subsidiary.

The source said IL&FS has assured to clear the pending dues of local workers in the next one or two days.

On November 25, local Ethiopian workers of IL&FS Transportation Network (ITNL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of cash-strapped IL&FS, took hostage seven Indian employees of the company for not having received salaries since the past two months.

The five employees who continues to remain in captivity are Sukhvinder Singh, Bishnu Nagaraju, Chaitanya Hari, Khurram Imam and Neeraj Raghuwanshi.

While Singh, Nagaraju, Hari and Imam are under house arrest at one of the locations of Nekemte-Bure road project of Elsamex SA in Ethiopia, Raghuwanshi is been held hostage at a different location at the same project site.

The two ITNL's employees - Harish Bandi and Bhaskar Reddy, who were freed last week, are on their way back to India, the source said. Both of them were held hostage at ITNL's Ambo-Wolliso Road Upgrading Project site in central Ethiopia.

ITNL's subsidiary has employed close to 800 Ethiopian workers for its three construction sites.

Indian employees of ITNL in Ethiopia too have not received salaries from July 2018, according to the source.

In a statement on Saturday, IL&FS had said it has been making all-round efforts, in coordination with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Indian government and the Indian Embassy in Addis Ababa, to ensure the safe and early return of its employees.

ITNL had sought approval on November 16, 2018, through its authorised dealer bank, to remit funds overseas but approvals are awaited, the statement had said.

IL&FS Group and its various subsidiaries, including ITNL, are facing a liquidity crisis and have defaulted on various debt payments.

As of October 8, 2018, the total debt of the group stood at Rs 94,215.6 crore.

After the IL&FS crisis had a cascading effect on the market, the government on October 1 superseded its board and appointed a seven-member board headed by Uday Kotak as the chairman. The new board is working on a resolution plan for the debt-ridden company. - PTIsanjiv@tribunemail.com

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 4

A Panjab University (PU) panel, in its report regarding invalid PhD degrees of two teachers of DAV College here, blamed former Vice-Chancellor Prof Arun Kumar Grover in the case.

The panel, which recently visited CMJ University in Shillong (Meghalaya) to verify the teachers degrees, also called for disciplinary and criminal proceedings against the two teachers  Mandeep Josan and Gagandeep Singh Brar  for allegedly claiming benefit of invalid PhD degrees.

Both Josan and Brar are from the computer science department of DAV College, which is affiliated to the PU. The PU panel comprised Senators Ashok Goyal, Prabhjit Singh and Controller of Examinations Prof Parvinder Singh.

The report of the PU panel will now be placed before the Syndicate on December 8.

Findings of the report

The panel report said Mandeep Josan and Gagandeep Singh Brar submitted representations in terms of the directions issued by the Supreme Court and were granted an opportunity of hearing by the Meghalaya Governments committee on the validity of teachers PhD degrees. No degree awarded by the CMJ University to PhD candidates was found to be valid. The degrees of Gagandeep Brar, Mandeep Josan and Vinod Kumar have also been declared invalid (on March 31, 2014), said the report.

It also added that the notice of cancellation of degrees of Gagandeep Brar, Mandeep Josan and Vinod Kumar was duly conveyed by speed post and such a material fact about the invalidation of the degree has been deliberately concealed from the PU.

The report questioned why the PU granted unconditional and unqualified approval rather than provisional approval to these candidates (without awaiting verification about their PhD degrees).

Such an action on the part of officers/officials is in aid of the candidates who were guilty of suppressing facts from the PU and is furthermore in derogation of the orders passed by the Supreme Court of India. Separate proceedings are required to be initiated to identify the role and conduct of such officers/officials, the report commented.

The candidates were called upon to furnish affidavits as per the decision of the Syndicate dated January 25, 2015, about the validity of degrees. The affidavits were submitted in May, 2015. Pertinently, none of the affidavits state categorically that their degrees had not been cancelled. The office/Vice-Chancellor appeared to have deliberately omitted such a declaration in the language of the affidavit as the record made available by the Government of Meghalaya reveals that the candidates had been informed in 2014 about their degrees being declared invalid, added the report.

The record further reveals that vide cover letter dated 12.10.2017, an affidavit of Mandeep Josan, which was attested on 13.10.2017 (a day after the cover letter) was received, wherein she has stated that her PhD degree has never been cancelled. The affidavit is not only false in view of the foregoing facts but it also surprising as to how a document created on 13.10.2017 could be tagged with a forwarding letter dated 12.10.2017. The Principal of the college (BC Josan) seemed to be in a hurry more than the candidate herself in the matter, said the report.

I had no additional role. The entire processing was done by the then DCDC (Dean, College Development Council). Nothing was hidden from the Senate and Syndicate, said Prof Arun Kumar Grover, former Vice-Chancellor.

Josan and Brar couldnt be contacted.

SC ordersanjiv@tribunemail.com

Mohali, December 4

Thieves decamped with cash and jewellery worth Rs 10 lakh from the house of Raminder Singh (63), a former Assistant General Manager of Punjab and Sind Bank in Sector 69.

Raminder Singh said he had gone to Delhi for the treatment of his wife on December 1 and returned to his house in Sector 69 the next day. He said he found the locks of the main gate and the door of the house broken and immediately informed the Police Control Room.

He said the thieves took away Rs 32,000, $500 and gold ornaments, the details of which would be provided to the police soon.

The Phase 8 police have registered a case in this regard under Sections 457 and 380 of the IPC.

Investigating officer Rajesh Kumar said they had asked for the details of the stolen gold ornaments.SS Sodhi

SS Sodhi

Former Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court

THE ever-increasing number of disappointed parents at not being able to secure admission for their children in schools of their choice denotes that all is not well with our education system.

In a welfare state, education is primarily the responsibility of the state. Private institutions can only supplement what the government is required to provide. The requirement is for many more schools, but one rarely sees the government setting up new quality schools. Those that do exist are lacking in infrastructure and do not provide education that can put them in the competent category of good schools.

The common perception is that the quality of education imparted by private schools is of a higher standard. No wonder the preference is for private schools, even though they are more expensive. But the truth is, there is a dearth of good private schools, and there is every discouragement for more quality schools to come up.

Consider what it takes to set up a good private school: land bought at commercial rates; a building in consonance with what a modern school ought to be; furniture; and most importantly, a faculty with requisite experience and qualification. Besides, there are sundry expenses: ever-growing maintenance costs and salaries of staff. There is also the added cost if a new course or facility is to be introduced.

One can well imagine the heavy expenditure involved to establish a school. Yet, what the schools are permitted is an annual 8 per cent hike in fee. Incidentally, they often draw flak for the fee they charge. Any increase in fee is criticised, but there is hardly any mention of the quality of education they impart. Not infrequently, knowing the fee structure and other expenses that the school charges, parents seek admission for their child, and once it comes through, they start protesting against the fee.

Each private school has its own standard of fee. What the annual 8 per cent increase in fee means to a school charging Rs 8,000 a month as fee cannot be compared with one that only charges Rs 500 a month. There is, indeed, a school being run with an annual grant of over Rs 1.5 crore!

Another aspect is the Right to Education Act, requiring schools to undertake 25 per cent admission of EWS children. Moreover, such students have to be promoted to the next class every year, regardless of whether they are fit, or even ready, for it. The school has to keep promoting them till class VIII, when they leave school. One fails to understand how it would help students. Such students also deprive other students of the general category who were denied admission on account of this reservation.

Further, the Act requires the government to pay schools for admitting EWS students, but has the government been doing so? The Supreme Court has ruled that no child should have to pay for the education of another child, but this is what in effect happens when the government does not pay for EWS students, and in time.

No nation can progress and prosper unless there are good schools for all children. It is imperative to have more schools. There is little hope of many new government schools coming up, as our powers that be are more enamoured of doling out populist lollipops in the hope of getting votes rather than spending on schools and other such necessities that society requires.

Hope clearly lies in the private sector coming forth to build more schools, but to get it to do so, the government will have to do away with the cap on annual increase in fee and also let them come up, even with a commercial motive.

The more schools there are the greater will be the competition among them, which will, inevitably, in due course, improve the quality of education and also make them affordable. Schools will have to step up their game to attract students. What is more, the greater the number of students going to expensive schools, the lesser will be the pressure for admission to affordable schools. What the government needs to do is to pay greater attention to the quality of education being imparted by schools.

What a contrast there is in the attitude of the government towards private hospitals as against private schools. There is no check on what such hospitals charge. With so many private hospitals coming up, it is left to patients to choose the hospital where they feel the treatment will be affordable. These private hospitals have reduced the pressure on government hospitals, while with private schools, however, the government seems to be concerned only about the fee.

Our country cannot attain the stature it aspires for in the comity of nations unless it can ensure good educational facilities for all our children.vermaajay1968@gmail.com

Syed Ali Ahmed

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 3

The CBI has filed a charge sheet against Delhi health minister Satyendra Kumar Jain, his wife Poonam Jain and his four business associates  Ajit Prasad Jain, Vaibhav Jain, Sunil Kumar Jain and Ankush Jain in a disproportionate assets case.

The CBI in an official statement said that the minister and others were booked under 109 of IPC (abetment) and 13(2), 13(1)(e) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The move comes days after the Ministry of Home Affairs granted the CBI the sanction to prosecute Jain in a case registered by the probing agency on August 24, 2017 for acquiring assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. The case was registered to investigate the allegations of acquisition of assets disproportionate to his known sources of income during the check period February 14, 2015 to May 31, 2017. His wife and associates had allegedly abetted the commission of said offence. Searches were also conducted at the premises of accused that led to recovery of certain incriminating documents, the statement said.

Investigation has revealed that the minister and his family members allegedly controlled or have stake holding in the four companies based at Delhi. The minister was Director in three companies and resigned from the directorship before the election in 2013, the CBI said.

The CBI said, Ministers family members however continued to hold shares in all these four companies. Investigation further revealed that the companies had allegedly received Rs15,361,167 as accommodation entries from Kolkata-based shell companies during the check period.

CBI alleged, the ministers shares with respect to the said Delhi-based companies got transferred in his wife's name on February 10, 2015 and even after resigning from directorship of the companies, he exercised effective control through her.

The disproportionate assets against accused has been worked out to Rs14,760,497 approximately, the CBI said.

Reacting against CBI's action, CM Arvind Kejriwal said that people of the capital would give a befitting reply to the PM Narendra Modi's government. Deputy CM Manish Sisodia claimed that some day, the BJP's own member would expose it by revealing who was pressuring the CBI to do this.ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

UTTAR PRADESH has done it again. The year began with communal violence at Kasganj; mid-year, a clash broke out between two communities at Shahjahanpur; Moharram processions saw rioting in September. Interspersed were incidents of mob lynching and fake police encounters. As the year nears its end, it is Bulandshahr, where a police inspector and a youth were killed and five policemen injured in mob violence following the discovery of suspected cow carcass in the fields of a former gram pradhan. Five Rapid Action Force companies and additional companies of Provincial Armed Constabulary have been rushed to the district. The State, whose saint-and-king Yogi Adityanath exercises autocratic sway, is a picture of social anarchy.

It is a delicate time for Indian polity, poised for the high-stakes 2019 General Election. The odds are compelling  for the king, kingmakers, and those seeking The Throne. The fight more exacting than ever. With no clear wave, all is fair: inversion of truth, polarisation, lynchings and social mayhem. Anything for that one vote! And so, in that self-proclaimed Hindutva spirit, UP Chief Minister-cum-Chief Campaigner Yogi Adityanath has diligently taken upon himself to show how a State is run: to Telangana, learn from UP: say the name, we will change it (Hyderabad is potential Bhagyanagar); to Kerala, see how we run hospitals; to the credulous masses: a 220-metre Lord Ram statue. To rivals, the warning: you will be forced to flee.

If Mr Yogi would care to see, UP is no good guide in matters of governance. Ahead of his visit to an Agra hospital, patients and kin were locked up. In his home turf, Gorakhpur, several children died at a government hospital for want of oxygen cylinders. An agenda that isnt for all and confines select sections to the cold fringes cant inspire. Home Minister Rajnath Singh claims: We dont believe in doing politics on the basis of caste, race or religion. Justice and humanity are the basis of our politics. If only our leaders practise it, the last Hindu, and non-Hindu vote, would be theirs.editorial@tribune.com

Deepender Deswal

Tribune News Service

Hisar, December 3

Amid the Kartarpur corridor project which aims at connecting the Sikh shrines of Dera Baba Nanak Sahib and Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, Kartarpur, the social media has brought closer Haryanavi people sharing one culture and lifestyle despite having different religious identities.

Even after nearly seven decades, those from Haryana who migrated to Pakistan under the prevailing circumstances are nostalgic about their birthplace and neighbours. Today, when they are settled in various towns and villages in Pakistan, their lifestyle is still Haryanavi. They are known as Rohtaki, Bagri or by the name of their village back in Haryana. They speak Haryanavi dialect and perform ceremonies similar to Haryanavi people here.

Muhammad Alamgir (30), a Multan resident, whose ancestors had migrated from Jewra village in Hisar district, has given a platform to them via the social media to exchange the feelings and get connected to their roots, virtually. Alamgir told The Tribune that he got curious about his roots during his wedding. We marry our young boys and girls in our communities of Haryanavis only. Despite staying in Multan, I am known by my village, Jewra. My maternal uncle is from Kai village in Panipat district. Similarly, the migrants from Haryana called Muhajirs living in Punjab, Sindh, Multan states and places such as Bhavnagar, Bhawalpur and Okara are identified by villages back in Haryana, he said.

He has launched a Facebook page Haryanvi Language and Culture Academy of Pakistan and uploaded videos of interviews with elderly people who have memories of their roots in Haryana.

Mohammad Munir Bhyan, who currently lives in Chak No 571/EB, Sunariwala, Vehar district in Punjab province, said he was 15-year-old when they migrated from their native Kheri Barki village in Hisar district. Adjoining villages include Kirori, Bahbalpur, Juglan, Bado, Kirara, Sarsod, Bichpari,Jewra. Hindu Jats and Muslim Jats (Mula jat) residing in Kheri Barki, Sarsod, Bichpari and Jewra belonging to Bhyan gotra were blood relatives as they were said to be offspring of one person. We used to get together on every occasion, happy or sad, and shared common feasts, recalled Bhyan.

Down memory lanevinaymishra188@gmail.com

Sumedha Sharma

Tribune news Service

Gurugram, December 3

Those planning to party on MG Road this Christmas or New Years Eve will have to get themselves registered biometrically at clubs as the Gurugram police are set to record fingerprint and face profile of party patrons to ensure a crime-free nightlife.

The clubs and lounges on MG Road have come under the police scanner yet again with the Punjab and Haryana High Court partially vacating a stay on its previous order barring police from taking coercive action against club owners. The court also sought detailed suggestions by December 20 to make the citys nightlife crime-free.

Acting on the orders, Commissioner of Police KK Rao, who spearheaded a drive against illegal activities such as prostitution on clubs premises, has formed a panel to draft a detailed plan.

The police will install biometric machines in clubs that will not only record fingerprints but also take pictures of partygoers. Besides keeping an eye on club activity, the data will allow the police to identify daily visitors and trail/nab drug dealers, sex traders, etc, running illicit trade from such places.

We will speak to our counterparts in Mumbai and Bengaluru before chalking out a plan, says Rao.editorial@tribune.com

nit Dhawan

Tribune News Service

Rohtak, December 4

The election for the post of Mayor has become a prestige issue for BJP nominee and industrialist Manmohan Goyal as well as for the camp of veteran Congress leader and two-time Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

Goyal, scion of late minister Seth Shri Kishan Dass, has jumped into the mayoral poll fray on the BJP ticket and faces a litmus test to prove his political mettle.

On the other hand, the Hooda camp, which has borne the shock of getting defeated on the Rohtak Assembly seat in the last elections to the Vidhan Sabha, has its image at stake.

The Congress may not be contesting the mayoral or municipal elections on symbol, but local leaders owing allegiance to the party who aspire to win the mayoral seat have been making efforts to get Hoodas backing.

The Hooda camp wants to retain its hold on the seat while the ruling BJP wants to wrest it to prove that electors are happy with its performance and endorse its policies and programmes.

Political observers feel that the outcome of these municipal elections, especially the mayoral poll, will have an impact on the upcoming elections to the Assembly.

The CPM has fielded womens rights activist, academician and Bhim awardee Jagmati Sangwan, who is making an effort to reach out to the maximum number of electors in her intensive poll campaign.

Sanchit Nandal, son of INLD district unit president Satish Nandal, has been made the INLD-BSP nominee for the post of Mayor. The Aam Aadmi Party has decided not to field any candidate for the post of Mayor or councillor on the party ticket though the party will support independent candidates having a clean image and non-criminal background.editorial@tribune.com

Abhinav Vashisht

KULLU, DECEMBER 4

The administration will carry out inspection of 50 more commercial establishments in the 4th and final phase of sealing drive of illegal establishments as per the orders of the High Court in and around Kasol in the Manikaran valley of this district on December 6.

Kullu SDM Amit Guleria said that inspection of commercial establishments in Tulga, Pulga, Kalga, Suma Ropa, Grahan and Tosh areas would be carried out as per the orders of the High Court.

The administration had already sealed over 106 commercial establishments in the three phases of sealing drive against illegal establishments. Now the administration has prepared a list of 50 more commercial establishments. The SDM said these cases were not of encroachment on forest or government land and only registration documents of various departments would be checked. He added that erring establishments would be sealed till they complete the necessary formalities.

The High Court had ordered sealing of 40 hotels, guest houses, home stays, dhabas in the first phase. In the second phase on June 26, as many as 48 business establishments were sealed following the High Court orders. Out of these 11 hotel owners had completed the formalities and one guest house had been closed. In the 3rd phase, the administration sealed 30 more commercial establishments after inspecting 62 of them on September 20.

The district administration had submitted the report of inspection of various hotels and commercial establishments to the High Court in four phases after which the High Court ordered shutdown of illegal establishments. Some of the establishments lacked necessary registration documents with tourism and other departments, while others were totally or partially encroached on forest or government land.

The SDM said that teams comprising officials from Tourism, Revenue, Forest, Electricity, the State Pollution Control Board and Town and Country Planning departments will carry out the sealing drive in Kasol, Manikaran and Tosh. He said that the administration had taken necessary precautions to avert any untoward incident during the sealing drive.

The SDM said as per the directions of the High Court, demarcation would be done again after razing the illegal portions. He said that the commercial establishments, which complete all formalities, would be reopened.

Acting on the directions of the High Court, 106 commercial establishments were sealed in Manikaran valley. Some of them have been restored. The High Court has issued orders that those establishments, whose formalities are fulfilled, would be reopened.

106 sealed so far after HC ordereditorial@tribune.com

Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, December 4

The militancy-hit south Kashmir is playing host to one of the tallest Tricolours in the Kashmir valley.

The Tricolour has been hoisted 68 feet high by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) at the headquarters of one of its battalions at the famous tourist resort of Pahalgam in Anantnag district.

This is the highest Tricolour in Kashmir, said Inspector General (IG), Operations (Kashmir), CRPF, Zulfiqar Hassan. He unfurled the Tricolour at Pahalgam on December 1 along with the 63-foot-high CRPF flag.

Hassan said the move was aimed at encouraging tourists to visit the Valley. Kashmirs basic industry is tourism and now people, especially tourists, feel that it is unsafe. But if we have the national flag and the CRPF flag flying high in one of the most popular tourist destinations of Kashmir like Pahalgam then people will know that there is normalcy and it is safe to come to Kashmir, the IG said.

He said the second aim was to inculcate a sense of nationalism among the CRPF deployed in the area which sees the highest tourist footfall after Srinagar.

Commandant of 116 Battalion of the CRPF Raj Kumar said the Tricolour, 12 feet by 18 feet, would remain illuminated at night. There is a Tricolour at Srinagar airport too and it might be higher, but if we consider the altitude of Pahalgam then probably it is the highest point in the Valley from where the national flag is flying.

The famous hill resort of Pahalgam also serves as a base camp for the annual Amarnath yatra.editorial@tribune.com

Srinagar, December 3

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has castigated Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath for his anti-Muslim speeches and attempts to instigate communal violence in the country.

In a statement issued here, the party condemned Yogis recent speech in which he had stated that if the BJP came to power in Telangana, Asaduddin Owaisi, president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, would have to flee. It is not about Owaisi alone, it is the feeling which is being created across the country due to which a hate campaign against Muslims is being launched, said former minister and senior PDP leader Naeem Akhtar. He also warned that such a mindset being exhibited by BJP leaders, particularly Yogi Adityanath, was very dangerous and could be very harmful to the integrity of the country. He slammed the UP Chief Minister for linking Muslims with terrorist activities, stating that an impression was being given that Muslims were the root cause of all problems the country was facing.

It is worrisome to find that the poison is being spread even to those areas where communities have been living very peacefully in harmony for centuries and it is quite unfortunate that the Muslim community is being pushed against the wall with targeted violence in the form of lynchings, threats and intimidations taking toll, said the PDP leader.

Akhtar said Owasi was a Member of Parliament and had sworn his allegiance to the Constitution and why should he have to leave Hyderabad even if he were to lose the elections there. Yogi Adityanath should stop behaving like a proverbial ostrich and instead of suggesting new names for Muslim cities and towns, he should restore a sense a safety among people of his own state, he added.  TNSeditorial@tribune.com

Sumit Hakhoo

Tribune News Service

Jammu, December 4

As the Indian and Pakistan governments recently decided to build the Kartarpur Sahib corridor for Sikh pilgrims, the demand for allowing the pilgrimage to the Sharda Peeth shrine in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is growing louder in Jammu and Kashmir.

From mainstream political parties to displaced Kashmiri Pandits, everyone has kept their fingers crossed when the two countries would take the decision to allow pilgrims to visit the shrine, abandoned for the last 71 years after Pakistan invaded and occupied a part of the state in the 1947 war.Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti has already written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi while National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah has pitched for the opening of all traditional routes with Pakistan and PoK from J&K.

Important learning centre

Historians say the Sharda Peeth temple has great significance for Hindus and was a spiritual and religious centre.

Kashmir in ancient times was called Sharda Desh and was one of the important learning centres for Hindus and Buddhists. Scholars from across the Indian subcontinent used to come to the shrine and take advise from religious scholars to verify the texts written by them, said Padma Shri Ved Kumari Ghai, one of the eminent Sanskrit scholars in the country.Ghai has translated Nilamata Purana, an ancient text from Kashmiri into English. Nilamata contains information on history, religion and folklore. If the pilgrimage is allowed, it will be a historic event, she said.

The shrine is also linked to Adi Shankara, an 8th century philosopher and theologian who consolidated the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta.Ramesh Tamiri, a researcher on Kashmiri history and culture, said Adi Shankara had visited the place and engaged in a discourse with scholars.

It was at Sharda that he wrote the beautiful Saundarya Lahiri, in which he expounds the concept of Sri Chakra. The shrine also has a link with Saraswat Brahmins who once lived along the Saraswati river. Pandits also trace their ancestry to that civilisation, says Tamiri.The temple is not exclusive to Pandits. There are several shrines linked to Sharda across the subcontinent after people living along the Saraswati migrated to other regions when the great river has dried.

Shrine in ruins

The Sharda temple is surrounded by snow-capped Himalayas and dense forests. From the shrine is visible a panoramic view of the Neelam valley, now under the occupation of Pakistan. The gateway to the shrine is through a staircase which has two flanking walls. Around 64 big steps and nearly 200 small steps lead to the shrine. The temple was severely damaged in the October 8, 2005, earthquake and is in a dilapidated condition.

As per the information provided by activists in PoK, the Deputy Commissioner of Neelam has said that 70 kanals belongs to the shrine. But its revenue documents are in J&K. We have started efforts to reach out to the revenue officials in the state, said Ravinder Pandita, founder member, Save Sharda Committee.

Demand forLoC bus service

Since the opening of the bus service between the two divided parts of J&K in 2005, Kashmiri Pandits have been demanding that they be allowed to use the service. However, only those who have relatives on either side can use the bus service.The Supreme Court of PoK on a letter sent by the Save Sharda Committee in 2017 had issued directions to the PoK government to take steps to protect the abandoned temple and also trace other temples and gurdwaras to put them on the heritage list for preservation.

In 2013, Vinod Pandita, chairman, All Party Migrant Coordination Committee, had started a hunger strike in Porbandar, Gujarat, over the issue. Both countries should allow Hindus and Sikhs to use the cross-LoC bus service to visit the shrines in PoK, said Pandita. In January 2016, a group of social activists in PoK had visited the temple and sent pictures and videos allowing people to have a glimpse of the shrine in decades.

Flourished during Dogra rulesanjiv@tribunemail.com

S.K Sharma

Labour law and trade unions have been in existence in India since the colonial era after the British introduced a series of laws to regulate the working condition of labour in our country. Labour unions in the post-independence era have raised their voice for the rights of workers and to ensure their freedom and rights, the Government of India came out with a set of laws to protect this community. Human resource or workforce is, undoubtedly, an important part of any country. They are the key agents of growth and economic stability. Thus, managing them with timely grievance redressal is of utmost importance. This requires domain experts and advocates. Today, labour law has become one of the most interesting specialised areas of study and also a great career choice for students in India.

Getting in

Although as a lawyer, you must possess many years of post secondary study coupled with practical experience, but for starters, a student must finish his/her law school and pass the state bar exam before practising law. And a labour lawyer must specialise in legal proceedings that encompass employers and employees, mainly. However, in India, very few programmes are available that have a direct focus on labour law. A law school student should, therefore, look for various labour law courses to become an expert in this domain.

Students can pursue labour law training courses such as UG one-year diploma or Master of law (LL.M) in labour law from any of the renowned universities or institutes. Some of the best universities to pursue labour law in India are: Indian Law Institute, Delhi

Aligarh Muslim University,

Aligarh

Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University New Law College, Pune

Faculty of Law, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi

Mahatma Gandhi Labour Institute (MGLI), Ahmedabad

Faculty of Law, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi

Amity Law School, Delhi.

So, after completing BA L.Lb, a student should choose labour law as his field of specialisation and make sure to take as many internships as possible.

Work profile

As an advocate of labour laws, you will be responsible for resolving the complex issues between employer and employee at the workplace such as harassment, gender discrimination, and safeguarding workers rights. The problem, however, arises due to a dearth of knowledge about rights among the labour force. And this is where, you, as an advocate will be utilising all expertise and proficiency gained during your labour law course and help the aggrieved individuals.

Where to work

Those practising labour laws can work in all types of legal employment. For instance, they can work on behalf of the unions to negotiate a contract with employers. They might also work on behalf of a corporation or organisation to deal with the union. In your work tenure, you might also get an opportunity to work for the the National Labour Relations Board. While working in this domain, you will come across various key topics such as employment contracts, health and safety, wage regulation, pensions and insurance, and trade union and collective action.

After pursuing the essential degrees, students can go for a plethora of positions such as employee manager, consultant, HR manager, NGO worker, EPF officer, among others. The average salary package in these domains for fresh graduates will range from Rs 2.25 lakh to Rs 4.5 lakh.

Labour law vs employment law

Labour law involves dealing with unionised employees, their respective unions, and their employers; whereas employment law speaks of governing legal matters in the workplace. So, what does a labour lawyer do? S/he acts as a legal counselor for maintaining both employment and labour relations. For this, they must have good analytical skills, research and communication skills, problem-solving skills and most importantly, the talent to listen to their clients patiently.sanjiv@tribunemail.com

Names of 10 winners of the 8th edition of the Women Entrepreneur Quest (WEQ) 2018 were announced recently by the AnitaB.org India, a non-profit organsation focused on the advancement of women. WEQ is a unique contest for technology start-ups founded by women. All winners received an all-expenses-paid experiential learning visit to the Silicon Valley, US.

The WEQ 2018 finale was held during AnitaB.orgs flagship conference in Bangalore in November. More than 5,000 women from across the world attended the conference. The winners were selected from 266 applications received from across India. The applicants were evaluated on their product/solutions and business model. Anushka Shetty, founder of Bangalore-based Plop Chat; Kalyani Khona, founder of Delhi-based Inclov and Neha Satak, founder of Bangalore-based Astrome were among the top three winners.

WEQ 2018 is sponsored by the AnitaB.org India and the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India.  TNSshalender@tribune.com

Manpriya Singh

Most of them have juggled quite a few balls made cold calls, donned a chefs hat, if need be even fixed ovenswhatever it takes to survive in the fiercely competitive hospitality industry. In the case of Chandigarh, make it unpredictable too. Nevertheless, that wasnt enough deterrent for these young restaurateurs who dived headlong into the food industry and all before they celebrated their 30th birthday (half of them still havent). Here is catching up with some.

Keen eye

Shubham Sharma was all of 21 when last year, he decided to further extend the family business comprising catering and other related ventures to Boathouse at Elante Mall. I knew I always wanted to do this, shares the pass-out from Christ University, Bangalore. While he refuses to take full credit for the venture, he does admit to being instrumental in crafting the menu. And then, of course, pushing things around. For instance, if weve hired somebody for the graphics, I can immediately spot any aberrations and even highlight them point blank.

Personal flavour

Gunkaran Singh was 25 when he brought the first F-Bar property to Chandigarh. Five years later, he is at least five such similar ventures old; despite no formal academic background in the food industry. My family is into real estate business and I am an investment banker. Its something that initially started as just another investment, but in a different vertical, says Gunkaran, born and brought up in Chandigarh. Be it a club, a bar or a restaurant, I always try to bring in what would I want in terms of food, ambience and crowd.

Shack experience

Its a similar story with 26-year-old Kunal Kansal, who being a marketing and finance guy, didnt know much beyond numbers. With his lounge, Lazy Shack, all set to open doors this Friday in Sector 26, he raises a toast to places that invite people to do just come and laze around for hours. Inspired by shack experience, our focus is on coastal food, which is not easily available in the city, and cocktails, which have taken months to come into being.

Be innovative

There a few changes Gunkaran Singh would rather be instrumental in bringing about. Everyone is doing alcohol and live bands, its time we put the focus back on cuisines and its presentation. Agrees Ayush Mittal, 25, who recently opened Sector 13, in Sector 17, earlier this year. People are getting the same thing at every restaurant; live bands and same liquor and very similar menu. Its time we moved beyond. For instance, it would be nice to promote stand-up comedy gigs in restaurants, opines Gunkaran, who was born in Muktsar and shifted back from abroad last year.

Shake it up

Rajkanwar Singh Bhangoo was sick of nobody thinking twice about being served the fancy, colourful, shakes. Little do they know that anything on their platter comes with at least 10 harmful chemicals. Thats when a couple of years ago, his first independent venture, AJA in Sector 11, came into being; with the purpose of strictly serving healthy and natural food. With around 250 dishes in our menu, we try to fill the large existing gap in vegan and gluten-free food. We use certified organic produce wherever possible and absolutely no preservatives or additives, shares the born and brought up in city, who graduated in culinary arts from IHM Aurangabad.

Ease the rules

Ayush Singla, 32, whose brainchild Playground opened its second premises in Sector 26 five months back, after doing well at Elante, says, Night life grows with extended deadlines, so I wish the deadlines were a little more relaxed. Also if anyone wants to enter the industry or open a restaurant there are 10 different licenses one needs to get. The process has to be eased out, shares the pass-out from Sanawar and Symbiosis, who shifted to the city five years back.

We hope that happens soon!

manpriya@tribunemail.comeditorial@tribune.com

Ludhiana: A conglomeration of world cultures marked the Punjab International Folk Dance Festival organised by the Punjab Cultural Promotion Council (PCPC) in collaboration with Ishmeet Singh Institute at Ishmeet Auditorium here on Monday. A fusion of African, Colombian, Punjabi bhangra, salsa and Indian classical dances was well received by the audience. La Escuela de Danzas Folcloricas-Palma Africana folk dance ensemble from Colombia was the star attraction on the occasion. The Colombians, led by Maria Carmen Melendez, group director, made vibrant presentations of folk dances from Colombia through Cumbia, Mapale, Mix Carnaval, Salsa and Guacherna. The Cumbia dance represented the hybrid culture of European, Africans and Indigenous communities, giving out the message of happiness. Carnaval De Barranquilla was a cultural representation mixed with different dances and musical expressions of the colonisation period. Sharing the festival theme, Dr Davinder Singh Chhina, festival director, Punjab International Folk Dance Festival, said since 2002, the PCPC had invited 43 international folk delegation from all over the world to the Punjab International Folk Festival, promoting peace, international friendship, multi-culturalism and cultural diversity. TNSeditorial@tribune.com

Our Correspondent

Raikot, December 4

The Raikot Circle police have booked two members of a gang of travel agents that has duped innocent villagers on the pretext of sending them abroad. The duo has been booked on a statement of a victim from Acharwal village, who was duped of Rs 8 lakh by the gang. It is suspected that the gang has duped around 26 persons of about Rs 2 crore.

The suspects booked by the Hathur police under Section 420 and 380, IPC, have been identified as Lakhwinder Singh of Tarkhan Majra, Patiala, and his woman accomplice.

Raikot DSP Gurmit Singh Tejey said the woman and Lakhwinder had been booked on a complaint lodged by Sukhchain Singh of Acharwal village. Investigation revealed that the woman looked for victims for Lakhwinder, who was settled in Armenia at the time the complainant was duped by the woman. The woman lived close to the house of the complainants sister, Baljinder Kaur.

Sukhchain was offered a greener pasture in Portugal for Rs 8 lakh. Lakhwinder got Rs 5.7 lakh transferred in the account of one of his friends through a money exchanger of Raikot and $ 3,400 was paid to him when Sukhchain reached Armenia on September 14 this year.

Referring to information provided by the complainant, Tejey said the suspects had duped many victims who were staying at Armenia and waiting for a chance to enter Portugal as promised by the gang. Harjot Singh of Pakhokey, Gurdip Singh of Pakho Kaincheeyan, Ramjan Din of Bhadaur, Nardev Singh of Ghuman Kalan and Pardeep Singh of Samadh Bhaie are among those who are hopeful of getting back their money.

The police raided the possible hideouts of the suspects. We have deployed teams to raid the probable hideouts of the suspects, said Tejey, maintaining that the victims are being asked to lodge complaints.uttara@tribuneindia.com

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 4

A two-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) will look into 186 cases of 1984 anti-Sikh riots and not a three-member panel, the Supreme Court ordered on Tuesday.

A three-judge Bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur modified its January 11 order that talked of a three-member SIT to supervise investigations into 1984 anti-Sikh riots in view of refusal of retired IPS officer Rajdeep Singh on the panel for personal reasons.

The two-member SIT consists of former Delhi High Court judge Justice SN Dhingra and serving IPS officer Abhishek Dular. The SIT was to submit its first report in August.

Almost 3,000 people were killed, most of them in Delhi, in the anti-Sikh riots that broke out following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984.

Justice Dhingrawho heads the SITwas a trial judge when punishments were handed out in 1990s to the accused of the Trilokpuri massacre of 1984. Kishori Lal, dubbed as the butcher of Trilokpuri, was among those sentenced by him.

On Monday, the court was told that it may not be necessary to find Singhs substitute and the SIT can start probe with just two members.

Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand had told a two-judge Bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur that the government had no objection if Justice Dhingra and Dular continued with their work without waiting for appointment of the third SIT member.

"Let us have the two-member SIT and they should proceed, the ASG told the Bench which also included Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Hemant Gupta.

Since the January 11 order setting up a three-member SIT was passed by a three-judge Bench, the two-judge Bench couldnt modify it on Monday.

The top court is seized of a petition by S Gurlad Singh Kahlona member of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committeeseeking further probe into anti-Sikh riot cases in the national capital.

After coming to power in 2014, the Narendra Modi Government had set up an SIT headed by Pramod Asthana, an IPS officer of 1986 batch to re-investigation of the 1984 anti-Sikh riot cases. Rakesh Kapoor, a retired district and sessions judge and Kumar Gyanesh, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, Delhi Police were the other two members.

The top court had in January noted that the previous SIT headed by Asthana had not carried out further probe into these 186 cases in which closure reports were filed. It had taken the decision after perusing the report of a two-judge supervisory panel comprising Justice JM Panchal and Justice KSP Radhakrishnan which scrutinized 241 cases relating to 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi closed by an earlier SIT formed by the NDA government for re-investigation.

After perusing the supervisory panels report submitted on December 6 last year, the top court had made it clear that it would not reopen cases in which accused had been acquitted. So far charge sheets have been only in very small number of cases taken up for further probe by the SIT.ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Shahira Naim

Tribune News Service

Lucknow, December 4

The police on Tuesday arrested four Bajrang Dal activists in connection with Mondays mob violence over alleged cow slaughter that left two, including Siyana Station Officer Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, dead. A hunt is on to nab outfits Bulandshahr coordinator Yogesh Raj, the key suspect.

Edit: Bulandshahr erupts

A mob fought pitched battles with the police in Siyana area of Bulandshahr, apparently after right-wing activists were angered by the discovery of cow remains strewn in nearby fields. Dozens of vehicles were torched and gunshots fired at the police, prompting retaliation. In the violence, Inspector Singh and 20-year-old Sumit Kumar, who was a part of the mob, were killed.

According to the police, seven persons have been booked for the alleged cow slaughter, while another case has been slapped against 87 persons, of whom 27 have been named, for murder and damage to public property.

ADG Intelligence SB Shirodkar, who is heading a probe, is expected to submit his report within 48 hours. He refused to reveal any preliminary findings, saying he

would submit his report to the state government tomorrow evening. ADG (Law and Order) Anand Kumar said four persons had been arrested and several detained for interrogation.

The arrests came after the second FIR was filed by the colleague of the slain SO and Siyana police station Sub-Inspector Subhash Singh.

Kumar said on the basis of video footage of the incident, six police teams were carrying out raids to arrest the other accused, including Yogesh Raj. Soon after the reported discovery of cow remains in the fields of former gram pradhan in Mahav village Raj Kumar, Yogesh Raj had got an FIR registered, naming five persons, all members of a local masjid committee.

Preliminary investigations, however, suggest none of those named in the FIR were present in the village as they were participating in a three-day religious congregation around 50 km away in Bulandshahr, where 25 lakh persons had gathered.

Meanwhile, the slain police officer was cremated with full honour at his ancestral village in Etah. The cremation was delayed as villagers and relatives demanded Chief Minister Yogi Aditynaths presence.

His elder son Shrey lit the pyre. Speaking to reporters, Singhs second son said his father had been martyred while preventing Hindu-Muslim violence.

According to the Siyana Nagar Palika chairperson Rais Malik, it was a conspiracy to foment trouble on the last day of the congregation. A mob led by Yogesh Raj carried the cow remains in a tractor-trolley and blocked the Bulandshahr-Garh road used by people returning from the congregation, he claimed.

The police officer did not allow the blockade, as a result of which he was targeted, claimed Malik. The theory has been confirmed by the ADG (Law and Order).

It was yet to be established whether Sumit died from a police bullet or one fired by the mob, said the police. The Bulandshahr police have urged people to refrain from spreading false news, adding the religious congregation was not linked to the violence.

NHRC notice to UP, DGP

New Delhi: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sent notices to the UP Government and the state police chief over the Bulandshahr deaths. The NHRC has taken suo motu cognisance of media reports and issued notices to the UP Chief Secretary and the DGP, seeking a detailed report, including action taken against the miscreants in connection with the incident, said a senior official of the rights panel. PTIamansharma@tribunemail.com

Bhopal, December 4

Union minister Uma Bharti on Tuesday said she won't contest the next Lok Sabha elections.

The senior BJP leader's announcement came days after her cabinet colleague Sushma Swaraj said she won't contest the next LS polls.

Bharti said she will instead concentrate on the issues of Ram temple in Ayodhya and cleanliness of the River Ganga for the next one-and-a half years.

Bharti said she would "embark on a pilgrimage to devote time for Ganga river and Lord Ram by leaving power".

The Drinking Water and Sanitation Minister, however, clarified that she was not quitting politics.

External Affairs Minister Swaraj, who represents Vidisha Lok Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh, had last month announced that she would not contest the 2019 polls due to health reasons.

When asked about Swaraj's announcement, the Jhansi MP said, "I am so sorry. I have said so (won't contest elections) one or two years ago. Sushmaji has said it now. Don't link both these things which are same, but the time and reasons are different".

Bharti announced that she would set out on a 2,500-km yatra (pilgrimage) along the Ganga river on foot from Makar Sankranti in January next year for nearly one-and-a-half years by "leaving power".

"I believe that one has to go to the banks of the Ganga river by leaving power and I am doing so for next one-and-a-half years. But I will be campaigning and would do politics till my last and that too with energy," Bharti told reporters at her official residence.

"I will not do anything for the next one-and-a-half years except (working) for the Ganga and Lord Ram," she said.

Bharti's statement came amid demands by the Sangh parivar to expedite construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya.

The saffron leader, who was a prominent face in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement of 1990s, said she is not retiring from politics.

"I am not taking 'sanyas' (from politics). 'Sanyas' is a different thing. I will do politics till my end. Nobody can force me to leave politics. I will do it while being in the BJP only. But for one-and-a-half years, I need Ganga (river)," the Union minister said. - PTIuttara@tribuneindia.com

Smita Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 4

UAE has extradited Christian Michel to India in a shot in the arm for the Modi government in the election season.

Michel, a suspected middleman in the Agusta Westland VVIP helicopter deal faces charges of money laundering and bribery in India.

In its charge sheet filed against Michel in June 2016, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) claimed that he received 30 million euros (about Rs 225 crore) from Agusta Westland as kickbacks. Diplomatic sources confirmed to The Tribune that Michel is being flown into Delhi tonight. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has chosen not to speak about reports of Michels extradition, with officials maintaining that it hasnt received a formal communication from UAE. But top diplomatic sources have now confirmed on condition of anonymity that Michel would land in Delhi later tonight.

Michels extradition coincides with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swarajs visit to UAE for the 12th session of the Joint Commission Meeting for Economic and Technical Cooperation with her counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Without making specific references, Secretary Economic Relations in MEA Tirumurti said to the press earlier that consular and extradition matters were discussed between the two sides.

The Tribune had reported earlier that around August 26-27, UAE authorities had asked a Dubai court if extradition of a foreign national (Michel is a British) to a third country was possible. The court gave its reply to UAE authorities in early September.

Michel is one of the three middlemen that ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation are investigatingthe others are Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa. Both the agencies have had an Interpol red notice issued against him after the court issued a non-bailable warrant.

Asked by The Tribune about the extradition, UAE Ambassador to India Dr. Ahmed Albanna replied last week: There is a legal system, there are agreements signed between UAE and India. There is a legal system, we believe in our judicial system. We trust our judicial system. We leave it up to them to decide what to do or what not to do.ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 4

If perceptions are key to any elections then after the shocking Bulandshahr violence in UP, BJPs Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje may have a reason to worry, that too just two days before people decide her fate.

The killing of an inspector and the violence over cow slaughter has the Opposition gunning for UPs missing CM Yogi Adityanath, while adding to the problems of the BJP and Vasundhara, already suffering from the perception of being inaccessible, having done nothing in her five-year tenure and going soft on gau rakshaks.

Like Adityanath, Raje suffered humiliating Lok Sabha defeats during her tenure and has also been accused of not doing enough to control cow vigilantes. Rajasthan has emerged as a laboratory for cow vigilantes under Vasundhara Raje, CPM leader Hannan Mollah alleged recently.

Vasundhara is already bogged down by traditional supporters Rajputs, who are threatening to go against her. Accounting for around eight per cent of the vote share, they have the potential to tilt the scale against her like the Jats, another dominant community, who account for around 15 per cent and complain of poor representation in her council.

While she appeared to have got her way when she thwarted BJP chief Amit Shahs attempt to appoint a state party chief of his choice and also influenced ticket distribution, sources say the central leadership is aware of the ground situation and had been trying to limit the damage. Top central leaders are camping and criss-crossing Rajasthan to change peoples mood, they say.ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Patna, December 4

BJP legislators today staged a dharna outside a police station here, demanding the arrest of JD-U vice-president and poll strategist Prashant Kishor besides the release of arrested ABVP activist Ravi Kiran.

They alleged Kishor had violated the model code of conduct ahead of the Patna University Student Union poll to be held on December 5.

The protest against Kishor, a close confidant of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, came a day after an Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activist was arrested for pelting Kishors vehicle with stones while he was coming out after a meeting with Patna University Vice-Chancellor. The vehicle was damaged.

BJP legislators, including Nitin Navin, Arun Kumar Sinha and Suraj Nandan Prasad, and other political activists staged a dharna outside the Pirbahore police station here. They alleged Kishor tried to influence the Patna University Student Union poll by holding a four-hour meeting last night.

In spite of prohibitory orders on the varsity campus in view of student body poll, Kishore went to meet V-C Ras Bihari Singhs at his residence last evening, said BJP MLA Nitin Navin.  TNSmonicakchauhan@gmail.com

Hanumangarh, December 4

Prime Minister Narendra Modi used the Kartarpur corridor linking Pakistan to India to hit out at the Congress on Tuesday and said the party will have to answer why this was not done 70 years ago.

Addressing an election rally here ahead of the elections in the state on December 7, he said Kartarpur went to Pakistan due to the lack of vision and sensitivity of then Congress leaders.

The foundation stone for the much-awaited corridor linking Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur - the final resting place of Sikh faith's founder Guru Nanak Dev - to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Gurdaspur district was laid last week.

According to Modi, Kartarpur is in Pakistan today because then Congress leaders had no idea about the importance of Guru Nanak Dev and had no respect for Sikh sentiments.

"The credit of the Kartarpur corridor goes to your vote. Correcting Congress mistakes was my destiny," he said at the rally.

The headlines five years ago were about corruption and scams, the prime minister said. "Have you seen any news of this kind in the last five years," he asked.

Focussing on farmers and their problems, he said his government wants to make farmers "energy givers" and asked them to install solar panels, use drip irrigation and other modern methods of farming.

"The naamdar does not know the difference between red and green chillies," he said, hitting out at Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who he has often referred to as "naamdar" (dynast).

"If you tell him that farmers are getting high prices for red chilli as compared to green chilli, he'll say farmers should grown red chillies," he said, alleging that the Congress was responsible for the pain of farmers. PTImonicakchauhan@gmail.com

Shahira Naim

Tribune News Service

Lucknow, December 4

Bulandshahr Coordinator of Bajrang Dal Yogesh Raj is the main accused in the violent killing of Syana Station Officer Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh and the killing of a member of the lynching crowd, Sumit.

While Raj is still to be arrested the district police have already arrested four of his associates and Bajrang Dal activists.

According to the police two cases have been registered in the matterone against seven named persons for the alleged cow slaughter case and another against 27 named and 60 unnamed for the murder of the police station Syana SO Subodh Kumar Singh and Sumit along with the ransacking of the police post and damage to public property.

Sources point out that the appointment of a probe to be headed by ADG Intelligence SB Shirodkar who is expected to present his report within 48 hours shows the seriousness of the police department to get to the bottom of the conspiracy in which a police officer has become a victim of mob violence.

Shirodkar is on the spot making enquiries and interrogating the accused already arrested, inform policemen posted in Syana police station. He however refused to reveal any preliminary findings saying that he would submit his report to the state government tomorrow evening.

The arrests and hunt for the remaining accused started after the filing of the second FIR by the colleague of the slain SO and Syana police station sub inspector Subhash Singh.

The FIR has 27 named accused and another 60 unnamed accused for Mondays violence and killing of SO Subodh Kumar Singh.

While the arrest of four persons has been confirmed by ADG Law and Order Anand Kumar he said that several persons have been detained for interrogation.

Kumar said that on the basis of the video footage of the incident six police teams are conducting raids for the arrest of the other named accused, including the mastermind Yogesh Raj.

Interestingly, immediately after the discovery of the reported cow remains in the fields of former gram pradhan in village, Mahav Raj Kumar, the main accused Yogesh Raj had lodged an FIR naming five local Muslims all members of the local masjid committee.

However, preliminary investigations revealed that none of those mentioned in his FIR were present in the village for the last few days as they were participating in the 3-day ijtema (congregation of Muslims' for throwing light on the Holy Quran and its significance for achieving salvation) being held in Bulandshahr where 25 lakh Muslims had gathered.

According to the Syana Nagar Palika Chairperson Rais Malik SO Subodh Kumar Singhs martyrdom resulting in the averting of a major conspiracy to create trouble on the last and concluding day of the ijtema when people were to disperse.

Mischief makers led by Yogesh Raj had carried the remains of the cow in a tractor-trolley and blocked the main Bulandshahr-Garh road on which many people from the ijtema had already started returning.

By not permitted the blocking of the main highway the SO had defeated the design of the Hindutva trouble makers planning to brew communal tension. But in the process he was targeted and first brutally injured in the brick batting and then shot dead by the mob, said the Chairperson of Syana Nagar Palika, a theory which has now been confirmed by the ADG Law and Order Anand Kumar as well.

The second person to die, Sumit was among the mob spreading violence. But if he became a victim of a police bullet or the firing from the mob is yet to be established, said the police.

Meanwhile, the Bulandshahr Police have requested not to spread false news. In a tweet, they said the ijtema has successfully concluded and was in no way related to the violence in Bulandshahr on Monday which had occurred under Syana police station area around 40-50 km away.

Furious at the worsening law and order situation in the state CM Yogi has convened an emergency meeting of senior police and officers of the department of home tonight at his official residence to review the law and order issue.

Meanwhile, the slain SO Subodh Kumar Singh was cremated with full honour at his ancestral village in Etah after much delay as villagers and relatives demanded the presence of Chief Minister Aditynath.

Every eye was moist when elder son Shrey lit the funeral pyre. Speaking to reporters the other son said that his father had been martyred to prevent Hindu-Muslim violence.

The inconsolable wife said that he was an honest officer who had been injured thrice on duty never shying away from the call of duty.

In a late night decision chief minister Yogi Adityanath announced a compensation of Rs 40 lakh for his widow and another Rs 10 lakh for his aged parents.

The deceased policeman's son Abhishek said his father wanted him to be a good citizen who doesn't incite violence in society in the name of religion.

"My father has lost his life in this Hindu-Muslim dispute. Whose father is next?" he asked tearfully. Abhishek said he last spoke to his father when he phoned him to inquire whether he had studied and eaten.

"My brother was killed in a police conspiracy as he was probing a cow slaughter case... He should be given martyr status and a memorial should be constructed in his name in our native place," Sunita Singh told reporters.

"The cow is our mother, I accept it. My brother has give his life for her. The CM used to chant 'gau.. gau.. gau'.. Why can't he come for 'gau raksha'," an emotional Sunita Singh asked, hitting out at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath. With PTI inputsvinaymishra188@gmail.com

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, December 3

A petition challenging the reservation for the Maratha community in educational institutions and government jobs was filed in the Bombay High Court today.

According to the petitioner, advocate Gunaratna Sadavarte, the 16 per cent quotas for the Marathas recently announced by the state government was violative of the Constitution. The plea also pointed out that the state government had exceeded the 50 per cent cap on reservations imposed by the Supreme Court. The petition will be taken up for hearing in due course.

Earlier, the petitioner had sought and obtained police protection after allegedly receiving threat calls, the police said.

According to sources here, a number of groups representing Other Backward Castes (OBCs) and parents of students in the General Category are planning to file petitions challenging the quota for the Maratha community.

Last week, Vinod Patil, a petitioner from the Maratha community, had filed a caveat in the Bombay High Court seeking to be heard before any order was passed staying the quota.

The Maharashtra Government also filed a caveat in the Supreme Court apprehending attempts by various parties to obtain a stay on the Maratha quota, state government sources said here.

The quota demand for the Brahmins has also become stronger. The Akhil Bharatiya Brahaman Mahasangh has sought a survey by the Backward Classes Commission along the lines of the Maratha on the grounds that 80 per cent of the Brahmins in Maharashtra are socially and educationally backward.

The Marathas have been given reservation under the newly created Socially and Educationally Backward category.Uganda has become the latest on the continent to submit the instruments of ratification of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA. The development was confirmed by Moussa Faki Mahamat, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AU) who is hopeful that other countries would follow suit.

As of July 2018, six countries had submitted ratification instruments  Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Niger, Chad, and Eswatini with the expectation that many more would do so before the end of the year.

In March 2018, 44 African countries out of the 55 AU member states signed the vital continental free trade agreement in Kigali, Rwanda to enable the long-awaited economic integration and movement of goods and persons across member states.

Stories Continues after ad

This agreement was first introduced in January 2012 during the 18th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The member states adopted the decision to establish the Continental Free Trade Area by 2017.

The agreement is meant to establish a single continental market for goods and services; enhance free movement of business persons and investments; enhance competitiveness at the industry and enterprise level through exploiting opportunities for full-scale production.

It will also bring together the 1.2 billion African population with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of more than US$2 trillion with the commitments of the countries to remove tariffs on 90 per cent of goods, with 10 per cent of sensitive items to be phased in later.

However, 11 countries at the time did not sign the agreement for diverse reasons. The countries are Nigeria, South Africa (which later signed in July), Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Namibia, Sierra Leone and Zambia.

One of the reasons for these countries not to sign is that they faced pressures from business leaders and labour unions who believe the agreement could affect their economies.

Five more countries signed the AfCFTA at the African Union (AU) summit in Mauritania in June, bringing the total number of countries committing to the agreement to 49 by the end of July.

For the agreement to take effect, at least 22 countries must submit instruments of ratification to commence the process. Depositing the instruments of ratification means the country has undertaken all required internal legislative and legal measures in readiness to implement the agreement.

During the signing of the agreement in March this year, African Union Member countries set a deadline of 180 days to ratify the agreement through their respective legislative bodies.

The UN Economic Commission for Africas (ECA) Conference recently urged African countries to speed up the ratification and adoption process of the agreement with reasons that it is a powerful tool for driving industrialisation, economic diversification and development.

The implementation of the agreement could also boost intra-African trade from its current level of 16 per cent to 52 per cent by 2022, according to estimates by the ECA.ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Naveen S Garewal

Tribune News Service

Hyderabad, December 4

It was a day of high political drama in Telangana with Congress state working president Revanth Reddy being picked up from his house in the wee hours ahead of caretaker CM K Chandrashekar Raos rally and the high court calling his detention illegal.

The police picked up Reddy from his house in Kodangal town of Vikarabad district after he had, during a speech, allegedly asked his supporters not to allow KCR enter Mahbubnagar district as the Telangana Rashtra Samithi government had ignored the region during its four-and-a-half-year rule.

Around 3 am, a huge police posse accompanied by Hyderabad Task Force personnel swooped on Kodangal and took away Reddy along with about 50 of his supporters. ADGP Jitender told the media that the Congress leader had been detained to ensure KCRs rally at Vikarabad was not obstructed and that all of them would be released after the rally.

Reddy challenged his detention in the Andhra Pradesh High Court, which came down heavily on the police calling their action illegal. It asked the police to explain on what basis the Congress leader was detained. The police claimed they had an intelligence report that suggested KCRs rally was to be disrupted. The high court directed the police to submit proof saying it would not allow an illegal arrest to be shown as legal.

The video of the police action soon went viral and all Opposition parties accused the caretaker CM of using police force to silence his rivals. KCRs supporters, however, tweeted that Reddys men allegedly threw stones at them to protest his detention. Reddy was released after 12 hours following massive protests, but not before KCRs rally had ended.gspannu7@gmail.com

Naveen Grewal

Tribune News Service

Hyderabad, December 4

The Hyderabad High Court on Tuesday dubbed the detention of Telangana MLA and Congress working president Revanth Reddy as illegal, giving the grand alliance a chance to lambast the caretaker TRS government a day before campaigning comes to an end.

Reddy was picked from his home early today morning by security personnel on the charge of giving a bandh call ahead of chief ministers visit to his Kondangal constituency.

The Congress proposes to make it a big election issue against the caretaker TRS government on the last day of campaigning tomorrow.

The Congress has written a letter to CEO accusing him of issuing orders to the police and blaming him for the loss of campaigning time and money made for helicopter and other arrangements.ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Smita Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 4

In what may be a shot in the arm for the Narendra Modi government ahead of the 2019 General Election, the UAE has extradited to India Christian Michel, wanted by probe agencies in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter case.

Michel was brought to Delhi on a Gulfstream Jet at 10.35 pm on Tuesday, said official sources. In a statement, the Central Bureau of Investigation said Michel was extradited to India in an operation under the guidance of National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.

The middleman is wanted on charges of money laundering and bribery. The Enforcement Directorate (ED), in its chargesheet filed against Michel in June 2016, alleged that he received euro 30 million (about Rs 225 crore) from AgustaWestland in kickbacks.

Michel is one of the three middlemen, besides Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa, being probed in the case by the ED and CBI. Both agencies had notified an Interpol red corner notice against him after the court issued a non-bailable warrant.

The UAE government had cleared the extradition of 57-year-old Michel after his appeal against the move was turned down by a court there.

Michels extradition coincides with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swarajs scheduled visit to the UAE for the 12th session of the Joint Commission Meeting for Economic and Technical Cooperation with her counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Trouble for Gandhis

Michel is known to be a Gandhi family loyalist. His extradition and custody could spell serious trouble for the Congress first family.  GVL Narasimha Rao, BJP Spokespersonshriaya.dutta@tribuneindia.com

New Delhi, December 4

The Indian maritime forces on Tuesday was celebrated for their role in the 1971 India-Pakistan War as leaders from across party lines hailed its men and women on Indian Navy Day.

President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were among the firsts on Twitter to pay their tributes to the naval force.

"On Navy Day, my good wishes to all men and women of the Indian Navy. Nation is proud of your commitment to protecting our maritime frontiers, securing our trade routes, and providing assistance in times of humanitarian emergencies," their Commander-in-Chief tweeted.

Navy Day greetings to all valorous personnel of the Indian Navy and their families. India is grateful to our Navy for protecting the nation and the commendable role the Navy plays during disaster relief.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) 4 December 2018

"Navy Day greetings to all valorous personnel of the Indian Navy and their families. India is grateful to our Navy for protecting the nation and the commendable role the Navy plays during disaster relief," Modi said.

In the attack in 1971, the Indian Navy sank four Pakistani vessels and ravaged the Karachi harbour fuel fields killing over 500 Pakistani Navy personnel.

Three missile boats of the Indian Navy, INS Nipat, INS Nirghat, and INS Veer played a pivotal role in the attack. Navy Day is celebrated annually on December 4 every year to honour that maritime operation.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said Navy Day "serves as a reminder to our enemies, of our strength and valour when the hour beckons".

On Navy Day, my good wishes to all men and women of the Indian Navy. Nation is proud of your commitment to protecting our maritime frontiers, securing our trade routes, and providing assistance in times of humanitarian emergencies #PresidentKovind  President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) 4 December 2018

"Navy Day is celebrated to honour the victorious, martyrs and veterans of the Indian Navy. This day also serves as a reminder to our enemies, of our strength and valour when the hour beckons. My best wishes to all ranks of the Indian Navy. Jai Hind," he tweeted.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Minister of Railways and Coal Piyush Goyal and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also paid their tributes to the Navy.  IANSrchopra@tribunemail.com

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 4

The Narendra Modi government reciprocated Pakistans efforts on the Kartarpur corridor, making way for a virtual bridge between the two countries.

There was a mediation meeting between former Norwegian PM Kjell Magne Bondevik and separatist leaders in Kashmir, which Norway said was in his personal capacity. Indias official stance is that there can be no third-party mediation in Kashmir. However, such a meeting could not have been possible without the back-channel concurrence of the Centre.

Governor Satyapal Malik dissolved the J&K Assembly, suggesting that it was an independent decision irrespective of what the Centre wanted and then voicing threat of transfer. After the initial criticism, he seems to have earned goodwill for taking a strong stance.

Are the above three diverse incidents in quick succession part of a bigger plan of the BJPalready under attack for not doing enough to ease the situation in Kashmir for the past four and a half yearsfor the 2019 general election?

Whether a change of tack or otherwise, usually matters related to Pakistan are employed to whip up anti-Muslim sentiment in the Hindu heartland. But with less than six months to go before the general election, the sudden thaw between Pakistan and India has generated a whole lot of possibilities for the BJP looking for a second consecutive term.

Bondeviks trip to the troubled region came a day after the launch of the much-publicised Kartarpur corridor on the day Mumbai was attacked 10 years ago. Ordinarily, the BJP would have shied away from holding a big political show on the day.

Also, the Centres sudden decision on the corridor came after BJP and Akali leaders relentless attack against Congresss Navjot Singh Sidhu for publicising Pakistans decision to allow Sikh pilgrims a direct access to the Kartarpur gurdwara.

Soon after the move, Prime Minister Narendra Modi compared the Kartarpur corridor to the Berlin Wall while Jammu and Kashmir leaders, including former CM Mehbooba Mufti, saw it as a new beginning of reconciliation between India and Pakistan.

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah also urged India and Pakistan to imitate the spirit of the Kartarpur corridor in the troubled state by opening all routes across the 749-km-long Line of Control and 198-km-long International Border.uttara@tribuneindia.com

Smita Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 4

United States must allow functioning of the World Trade Organisation for it to remain relevant, says Norwegian Ambassador Nils Ragnar Kamsvag.

Backing a resolution sponsored by India along with 11 others including EU, China, Canada, Norway and Australia, Ambassador Kamsvag said that United States must stop single handedly blocking a proposal to fill four vacancies at WTOs Appellate Body (AB).The highest adjucating body to settle disputes at the World Trade Organisation has been reduced to three serving judges of seven positions and will have a single judge left by December 2019 after two others including Ujal Singh Bhatia from India retire.

If WTO has to remain relevant in future we have to have an organisation which has bodies that can function and deal with eventual conflicts, said Kamsvag in a conversation with The Tribune.

The BRICS heads of states and governments, including Modi, Putin and Xi Jinping, after a meeting on sidelines of the G20 summit in Argentina urged for the vacancies to be filled up. Its effective functioning will give members the required confidence to engage in future negotiating in the WTO. We therefore urge that the Appellate Body selection process be initiated immediately, as an essential prerequisite for the stable and effective functioning of the WTO dispute settlement system, the statement said.

Kamsvag also criticised Donald Trump for his downplaying of climate change threats and pulling out of the Paris Agreement. Underlining the critical collaboration between India and Norway on five joint research projects, the envoy reminded that melting of Arctic ice is impacting the Himalayan glaciers too. Human activity influences climate which is the basis for Paris Agreement. It is unfortunate that people question this. We disagree very strongly with President Trump on this and it is in variance with scientific reports prepared in the US, the envoy said. Welcoming Delhi governments efforts towards switching to electric vehicles, the envoy said that Norway, could be a testing lab for new technology solutions.

The Scandinavian country is the worlds third largest market for electric vehicles. Incentivising green technology, ensuring adequate charging stations and digital apps to provide information about their locations along with political will is crucial for steering any such green change, advised the envoy from Norways own experience.vinaymishra188@gmail.com

Dubai, December 3

The tiny, energy-rich Arab nation of Qatar today announced it would withdraw from OPEC, mixing its aspirations to increase production outside of the cartels constraints with the politics of slighting the Saudi-dominated group amid the kingdoms boycott of Doha.

The surprise announcement from Qatars minister of state for energy affairs Saad Sherida al-Kaabi again throws into question the role of the cartel after needing non-members to push through a production cut in 2016 after prices crashed below $30 a barrel.

It also marks the first time a Middle-East nation has left the cartel since its founding in 1960. OPEC (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) is the worlds leading oil producing bloc. In a statement, al-Kaabi said Qatar, the worlds largest exporter of liquified natural gas, planned to increase its exports from 77 million tonnes of gas per year to 110 million tonnes.

He also said Qatar wanted to raise its oil production from 4.8 million barrels of oil equivalent a day to 6.5 million barrels. In light of such efforts and plans, and in our pursuit to strengthen Qatars position as a reliable and trustworthy energy supplier across the globe, we had to take steps to review Qatars role and contributions on the international energy scene, al-Kaabi said in a statement. There was no immediate comment from Vienna-based OPEC, which is to meet this month and discuss possible production cuts.

In November, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said OPEC and allied oil-producing countries would likely need to cut crude supplies, perhaps by as much as 1 million barrels of oil a day, to rebalance the market.  APmonicakchauhan@gmail.com

New Delhi, December 4

The Supreme Court was on Tuesday informed that there were 4,122 criminal cases pending, some for over three decades, against present and former members of Parliament and legislative assemblies.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi will on Tuesday take up the issue relating to the criminal cases against the present and former legislators on a Public Interest Litigation.

The apex court had sought detailed data on the pending criminal cases against the present and former legislators from the state and various high courts so as to enable the setting up of adequate number of special courts for expedited trial in these cases.

Senior advocate Vijay Hansaria who is assisting the court as amicus curiae in the matter along with advocate Sneha Kalita filed the data received from states and high courts and submitted it to the apex court.

The data compiled stated that in 264 cases, trial has been stayed by high courts. Further, the report said in several cases, which have been pending since 1991, charges have not yet been framed.

The court will hear the PIL filed by lawyer and BJP leader Aswhini Upadhyay seeking a life time ban on politicians convicted in criminal cases besides setting up of special courts to expeditiously try such cases involving elected representatives. PTIROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Raj Sadosh

Abohar/Hanumangarh, Dec 4

Stepping up his attack against the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today alleged that Kartarpur went to Pakistan at the time of Partition in 1947 because the partys leaders of that time had no vision and respect for Sikh sentiments.

Addressing a rally in Hanumangarh, he said Congress leaders failure to arrange for Indians visit to the holy Sikh shrine of Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan despite ruling the country for seven decades showed the utter neglect, ignorance and lack of vision the Congress had for Indian culture.

My destiny has been to fix Congress wrongs. The holy work of Kartarpur corridor has also come to me. We should ask the Congress, why they had let Kartarpur go to Pakistan at the time of Partition. We should ask the Congress why they had not got the corridor built in the past 70 years, Modi said. He said the reason that work on the corridor was being done now was due to people who had voted the BJP government to power. I dont claim credit for the corridor. It goes to your vote.

Cong was in a hurry to come to power

The then policy makers of Congress were in a hurry to come to power. Partition happened and in that too several mistakes were made due to which Kartarpur Sahib went to Pakistan A little bit of wisdom and sensitivity at that time would have ensured that Kartarpur, which is just 3 km away (from India), would not have been away from us. Narendra Modi, Prime Ministermonicakchauhan@gmail.com

New Delhi, December 4

The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Income Tax Department to carry on with the exercise to reassess the tax of Congress president Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi for 2011-12 in connection with the National Herald case.

A three-judge Bench headed by Justice AK Sikri, however, restrained the department from giving effect to its order in the proceedings against Rahul and his mother during the pendency of the case in the apex court.

It adjourned the matter for further hearing on January 8 next year. The Bench, which also included Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice S Abdul Nazeer, said it was passing an interim order without going into merits of the case as the limitation period for completing the assessment was expiring on December 31.

Sonia and Rahul were granted bail in the case by the trial court on December 19, 2015.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the IT Department, said the top court should not restrain it from implementing the assessment orders against the Gandhis and Oscar Fermandes. He requested the Bench to hear the matter and pass appropriate orders.  TNSamansharma@tribunemail.com

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 4

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked Patna and Kerala high courts to assign criminal cases involving former and sitting lawmakers to as many courts as considered "expedient" so as to speed up disposal of cases against 'netas'.

"This, according to us, would be a more effective step instead of concentrating all the cases involving former and sitting legislators in a Special Court(s) in the district," said a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi.

Noting that at this stage the order should be applicable only to Bihar and Kerala, the Bench sought compliance reports from Patna and Kerala HCs by December 14, the next date of hearing.

The order came after Amicus Curiae Vijay Hansaria submitted his report which said there were 4,122 criminal cases pending, some of them for more than three decades, against present and former Members of Parliament and Legislative Assemblies. Hansaria had suggested that each district should have one Sessions and one Magistrate court designated as Special Court.

Acting on a PIL filed by Delhi BJP leader and advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, the Supreme Court had in December last year ordered the Centre to set up 12 special courts to exclusively try cases involving politicians. It had said the issue of imposing a life ban on convicted politicians would be taken up for later.

The Bench asked high courts of Patna and Kerala to send back cases from special courts, which were already constituted, to jurisdictional district courts.

It had sought detailed data on the pending criminal cases against the present and former legislators from the states and various high courts so as to enable the setting up of adequate number of special courts for expedited trial in these cases.

Hansaria has filed a compilation of data received from states and high courts, which revealed that 4,122 criminal cases were pending against sitting and former lawmakers across India. Out of the total 4,122 cases, 2,324 cases pending against sitting MPs, MLAs and 1,675 cases pending against former MPs, MLAs.

In 1,991 of these cases charges had not been framed and some of these cases were more than three-decade old. If convicted, in 430 cases the accused could be sent to life imprisonment. In 264 cases, trial has been stayed by high courts.

The Bench has already set up 12 special courts to exclusively try lawmakers for which the Centre had earlier earmarked Rs 7.8 crore.rchopra@tribunemail.com

United Nations, December 4

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has told UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres that the motivation for his strong commitment to climate action is rooted in the ancient Hindu scriptures, the Vedas.

Modi and Guterres met last week on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where the two held discussions about climate change and Indias support for the Paris Climate Agreement.

The UN chief thanked Modi for his commitment to increasing Indias nationally determined contributions to the Paris Agreement. Guterres had also held discussions with Modi during his three-day visit to India this year coinciding with Mahatma Gandhis birth anniversary on October 2. During that visit, Guterres had presented the Indian leader with the United Nations Champions of the Earth Award for policy leadership for 2018.

[]Its not only Christianity, I was speaking to Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi of India recently and asking him what was his motivation for his very strong commitment to climate action and he said its in the Vedas, the founding books of Hinduism. I think this is felt in all religions, Guterres said at a press conference in Poland on Monday.

He was responding to a question on whether he thinks religions have a role to play in the field of climate change. The transcript of the Secretary Generals joint press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda was issued by the UN spokespersons office here.

Guterres is in the Polish city Katowice for the high-level UN COP24 Climate Change Conference. The two-week 24th conference of the parties to the UN Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) marks the deadline for the 197 parties that signed the Convention, to adopt guidelines for the implementation of the historic 2015 Paris Agreement.

In Paris, three years ago, countries collectively agreed to keep global temperature rises to no more than 2C above pre-industrial levels, and if possible, to limit the rise to 1.5C. Now, in Poland, they have to agree on how they will achieve this collectively.

Guterres was asked the question in a reference to Pope Francis views on climate change.

I do believe that if one is a believer and one believes that the world is created by God, it must be terrible to see human beings destroying Gods creation. So I think its perfectly normal that a religion that believes in the work of the Creator is totally against the destruction of the work of the Creator that human beings are [carrying out at present]. So I think it is perfectly normal that his Holiness the Pope, not only this Pope, it comes from the past, have a very positive position in relation to climate action, he said.

Pope Francis has in the past called for a revolution to combat climate change, saying the consensus was clear and doomsday predictions can no longer be met with irony or disdain.

Kicking off the high-level event in Poland, along with several other high-level representatives, Guterres highlighted key messages for the thousands of representatives of the worlds nations, non-profit organisations, UN agencies and private sector companies gathered in Katowice.

The Secretary-General noted that climate change is already a matter of life and death for many people, nations and countries of the world, and that the science is telling us we need to move faster.

Citing various alarming UN reportsincluding one on rising global CO2 emissions and another one on increasing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmospherehe called on nations to pay attention to the science and step up their pace as well as their ambitions. PTImonicakchauhan@gmail.com

Hyderabad, December 4

Police in Telangana on Tuesday detained state Congress Working President Revanth Reddy ahead of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao's election rally in Vikarabad district.

He was picked up from his residence earlier in the day to prevent any untoward incident during Rao's rally in Kosgi, Kodangal, and was shifted to an undisclosed location.

Reddy, who quit the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to join the Congress earlier this year, represented Kodangal in the dissolved Assembly.

His detention came in view of Reddy's threat to disrupt the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief's rally. He had called for a shutdown to protest it.

The Election Commission had also issued a notice to Reddy for his threat.

The police have booked two cases against the Congress leader.

Tension prevailed in Kodangal following Reddy's detention. The police have already imposed prohibitory orders in the town to prevent any untoward incident.

Elections to the 119-member Telangana Assembly are scheduled for December 7.

IANSvinaymishra188@gmail.com

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

Jaipur/Nagaur/Dausa, December 3

When Rajasthan Police killed gangster Anandpal Singh last June, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje had no idea his ghost would return to haunt her.

Resentment over the alleged fake encounter of Singh, a Ravana Rajput, has peaked this election season with the slain gangsters family openly campaigning against the ruling BJP and in favour of the Congress.

Kamal ka phool, hamaari bhool is the slogan Singhs daughter Yogita is heard chanting at all poll rallies which she and her mother Nirmala Kanwar routinely attend these days to back the Congress. The majority of demographically dominant Rajputs in Rajasthan are livid at Raje over the killing of Singh, hailed by villagers across the Nagaur belt as a good gangster.

He never troubled the poor. Members of his gang respected women so much they would offer their own seats to women in roadways buses. Anandpal Singh routinely gave money to Rajput families in villages to wed their daughters. He was unfairly eliminated, says Surender Singh Chouhan of Dausa, who feels the Rajput anger against Raje is justified.

Anandpals killing, coupled with the release of film Padmaavat last year, fuelled Rajput angst against the ruling dispensation with the local Rajput Karni Sena aggressively posturing against the BJP in elections.

The Karni Sena was not in favour of the crimes Anandpal Singh had committed. But we are against his fake encounter. He deserved to face the justice system like any other citizen. He did not deserve to be killed, says Madho Singh, a Karni Sena office-bearer in Dausa. Rajput-backed outfit Janata Sena has this time fielded independent candidates in many areas like Udaipur where they will harm BJP prospects.

Besides this, the Raje Government is also facing trouble from two formidable former colleagues  former Education Minister and six-term MLA Ghanshyam Tiwari and former BJP lawmaker and sitting Independent MLA from Nagaurs Khinvsar Hanuman Beniwal.

Tiwari, a senior leader who presided over the first Rajasthan BJP convention in Sikar, fell out with Raje over the years, leaving BJP recently. His newly floated Bharat Vahini Party has fielded candidates in 64 seats. Himself a sitting MLA from Jaipurs Sanganer, Tiwari is challenging city Mayor Ashok Lahoti, who is BJPs official nominee from this segment.

Ghanshyam Tiwari is among the fathers of BJP in Rajasthan. He won Sanganer seat with 67 per cent votes in 2013. He will influence government formation, says Bharat Sharma, a BVP worker.

To add to BJPs woes, Tiwaris BVP is contesting in alliance with another new outfit  the Hanuman Beniwal-led Rashtriya Loktantrik Party, which is fighting on 57 seats. Beniwal, a strong Jat leader, is drawing huge crowds to his rallies.

Caste equations stacked against it  Rajputs are angry, Jats confused and upper castes disenchanted over the Union Governments recent reversal of SCs order diluting the Prevention of Corruption against SCs and STs Act  the BJP is increasingly banking on PM Narendra Modis appeal to get home on December 7. The latest saffron poll slogan in Rajasthan explains it all: Rajasthan ki paramparaa Modi sang Vasundhara.rchopra@tribunemail.com

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 4

In good news for India, US Secretary of Defence James Mattis has expressed confidence on getting India a waiver from the threat of sanctions saying we will sort out all those issues.

Mattis remarks came before he met Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her high-level delegation in the US on Tuesday.

Mattis was speaking to the media in the US where he was asked, They (India) have sealed the deal for the S-400 with the Russians. We talked about it when you were in New Delhi (on September 6). Do you expect them to get the waiver?

The US Secretary of Defence responded, You know, India has spent many, many years in its non-aligned status. Its drawn a lot of weapons from Russia. And were here today to talk about all the issues that bring us (India-US) closer together, and we will sort out all those issues here today, and in the days ahead.

On October 5, India ignored US sanctions to announce the S-400 Triumf air-defence missile deal from Russia.

The US, in June, passed the Countering Americas Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) that requires imposing curbs on nations that have significant defence relations with Russia. There is a provision for a waiver and New Delhi has argued out its case to the US. The waiver authority is not a blanket waiver. Waivers are considered on transaction basis. We cannot prejudge any sanctions decisions, the US had said after the Indo-Russian deal.

India needs a presidential waiver to get around the punitive CAATSA sanctions.

In the past, India has argued that it has a strategic partnership with the US but has made it clear to Washington that India-Russia military relations stand separate from the India-US ties and that these are not connected.

Meanwhile, at the India-US meeting Sitharaman remarked. The inaugural 2+2 inter-ministerial dialogue hosted by India in September was a landmark in our relations, and has set the stage for strategic-level consultations between us.

This was the fourth meeting in a year between Sitharaman and Mattis.

Earlier, on October 10--just five days after the Indo-Russian deal--US President Donald Trump during an interaction with journalists at the White House had said India would find out what action the US took against it for defence deal with Russia sooner than you think.

India is going to find out, arent they, Trump had said while responding to a question about India-Russia S-400 deal.vermaajay1968@gmail.com

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 4

The Indian School of Business (ISB)  campuses in Hyderabad and Mohali  on Tuesday announced an interim progress update on the ongoing placements for the Class of 2019 of the flagship Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP).

Week 1 of the integrated-placements process concluded last week. The school saw an increase of 29 per cent in the number of recruiters who participated in the process this year.

The ISB is the preferred partner for several companies. In some cases, the ISB is the only campus where companies visit for placements in India," said Professor Rajendra Srivastava, Dean, ISB.

Companies such as Amazon, Bain, BCG, Deloitte, Flipkart, Google, HDFC Bank, LEK Consulting, McKinsey, Microsoft,

Oyo Rooms, Reliance Industries, Rivigo, Samsung, Uber have reported their largest single-campus hiring from the ISB this season, according to a press release.

Top international recruiters include Apple, E&Y, GrabTaxi, Li and Fung for locations in the Middle East, Hong Kong, North Africa and Singapore.

The institute continues to attract government and quasi-government bodies. Punjab Bureau of Investment Promotion (InvestPunjab), Government of Punjab, visited the campus for the first time to hire students. Of the total offers made, 35 per cent were for women candidates.editorial@tribune.com

Parvesh Sharma

Tribune News Service

Barnala, December 4

Three employees were killed after fire broke out in a factory at Ugoke village in the district today. Fire tenders from four districts took four hours to douse the flames at Bansal Industries.

Deputy Commissioner Dharampal Gupta has ordered Barnala SDM Sandeep Kumar to conduct an inquiry into the incident and submit a detailed report.

Local residents said they heard a blast in the foam-manufacturing factory around 10 am and saw smoke billowing from the premises. The DC, the SDM and other senior officers reached the spot and called fire tenders from Sangrur, Mansa, Bathinda and Barnala districts, besides the Bhisiana Air Force Station (Bathinda).

As per a preliminary inquiry, the fire was caused by a gas cylinder blast. The factory had no signboard. Its owners (Vijay Kumar and Shimpy) fled after the blaze spread. Their mobiles numbers were found switched off, SDM Sandeep Kumar said.

After dousing the fire, officers were unable to enter the premises for some time due to the intense heat. Later, the charred bodies of three factory workers were found. They were identified as Jagjeet Singh (24), Sikander Singh (25) and Sadhu Singh (27).

The SDM will ascertain whether the factory was being run illegally. We will take action as per the report, the DC said.monicakchauhan@gmail.com

Washington, December 4

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Gina Haspel is slated to brief a small group of lawmakers Tuesday on the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to a congressional source.

Haspel will brief the chairmen and ranking Democrats of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the Senate Armed Services Committee and the State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee, a senator, who will be attending the meeting, told CNN on Monday.

The meeting will take place at 11 am in the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility in the basement of the Capitol Visitors Centre.

Last week, senators rebuked President Donald Trump's administration when they were denied a CIA briefing on Khashoggi.

Khashoggi -- who was a US resident, a Washington Post contributor and a frequent critic of the Saudi Arabian government -- was killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary James Mattis traveled to Capitol Hill last week without Haspel for a closed-door briefing on Yemen for Senate lawmakers at which they emphasized the strategic importance of the US-Saudi relationship and defended the administration's response to Khashoggi's murder.

Pompeo said after the briefing that there was "no direct reporting" that connected Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the killing.

But the CIA has concluded that the Crown Prince personally ordered Khashoggi's killing, despite the Saudi government's denials that the ruler was involved. IANSgspannu7@gmail.com

Kano (Nigeria), December 4

The number of soldiers killed in a Boko Haram attack on a military base in northeast Nigerias Yobe state has risen to eight, security sources said on Tuesday.

Gunmen from Boko Haram faction of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) attacked the base on Saturday in Buni Gari village, 60 kilometres (37 miles) from Damaturu, the state capital.

Two soldiers and six insurgents were initially said to have been killed in the attack. But sources on Tuesday said eight soldiers were killed.

The death toll is now eight. Six more bodies of soldiers were later recovered and moved to Damaturu, a military officer, who did not want to be named told AFP.

A civilian militia fighting jihadists in the area confirmed the recovery of six more bodies of soldiers.

All the eight dead soldiers are now in the morgue at the specialist hospital in Damaturu, said a spokesperson for the militia, who asked not to be identified for fear of sanction.

Military authorities were not immediately available to comment on the new toll. The insurgents destroyed an armoured vehicle and stole a truck during the attack.

Sources said air support and reinforcements from a military base in the nearby town of Buni Yadi helped push out the militants from the base.

Buni Yadi district is a known ISWAP stronghold.

The Boko Haram faction has in recent months intensified attacks on military targets in Borno and Yobe states. The two regions, along with nearby Adamawa state, have borne the brunt of nine years of jihadist violence that has claimed 27,000 lives and forced 1.8 million people to flee their homes.

Since July, AFP has reported 19 attacks on military bases in Borno and Yobe and ISWAP has claimed responsibility for most of them.  AFPshalender@tribune.com

Abu Dhabi: A digital interactive museum showcasing the life, works and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi and the founder of modern UAE Shaikh Zayed was jointly inaugurated by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her counterpart Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The Gandhi-Zayed Digital Museum is part of the celebrations by the two nations to mark 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma and centenary celebrations of the birth of Shaikh Zayed. PTI

Four new gravitational waves detected

Washington: Scientists have made four new detections of gravitational waves-ripples in the fabric of space and time-emanating from separate black hole mergers. So far the US-based LIGO and Europe-based VIRGO gravitational-wave detectors have recorded gravitational waves from a total of 10 black hole mergers and one merger of neutron stars. The new events are known as GW170729, GW170809, GW170818, and GW170823, in reference to the dates they were detected. PTI

Tumblr bans porn to clean up the blogging platform

San Francisco: Tumblr has said it is banning adult content from the Yahoo-owned blogging platform, which saw its app pulled from Apples App Store last month over child pornography. Tumblr will begin enforcing its new policy on December 17, giving users who host unwanted explicit content a chance to take their imagery elsewhere, according to chief executive Jeff. There are no shortage of sites on the Internet that feature adult content, he said. AFP

Duterte jokes about smoking marijuana

Manila: Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, whose war on drugs has taken the lives of thousands in the country, caused outrage after he claimed he smoked marijuana to stay awake though he later claimed the comment was just a joke. Duterte described lengthy international meetings he had to attend as President as a killing activity and bemoaned that the reading and preparation often kept him up late into the night. But at my age, I am not really bothered because I take marijuana to stay awake, he said. Later, he brushed aside allegations he had caused offence with his marijuana comment. IANSshalender@tribune.com

Paris, December 4

Frances Prime Minister on Tuesday suspended planned increases to fuel taxes for at least six months in response to weeks of sometimes violent protests, the first major U-turn by President Emmanuel Macrons administration after 18 months in office.

In announcing the decision, PM Edouard Philippe said anyone would have to be deaf or blind not to see or hear the roiling anger on the streets over a policy that Macron has defended as critical to combating climate change.

Along with the delay to the tax increases that were set for January, Philippe said the time would be used to discuss other measures to help the working poor and squeezed middle-class who rely on vehicles to get to work and go shopping.

Earlier officials had hinted at a possible increase to the minimum wage, but Philippe made no such commitment. He warned citizens, however, that they could not expect better public services and lower taxes. If the events of recent days have shown us one thing, its that the French want neither an increase in taxes or new taxes. If the tax-take falls then spending must fall, because we dont want to pass our debts on to our children. And those debts are already sizeable, he said.

The so-called Yellow Vest movement, which started on November 17 as a social-media protest group named for the high-visibility jackets all motorists in France carry in their cars, began with the aim of highlighting the squeeze on household spending brought about by Macrons taxes on fuel.

However, over the past three weeks the movement has evolved into a wider, broadbrush anti-Macron uprising, with many criticising the president for pursuing policies they say favour the rich and do nothing to help the poor.

After three weeks of rising frustration, there was scant indication Philippes measures would placate the yellow vests, who themselves are struggling to find a unified position.

The timing of the tax U-turn is uncomfortable for Macron. It comes as governments meet in Poland to try to agree measures to avert the most damaging consequences of global warming, an issue Macron has made a central part of his agenda.  Reuters

The Yellow Vest movement

Named after the high-visibility jackets worn by supporters, the Yellow Vest movement emerged on social media in November after months of swelling anger over rising fuel prices. It quickly grew into wider protests against rising costs of living, especially among rural and small-town voters who accuse Macron of representing a Parisian elite with little understanding of their monthly struggle to make ends meet.gspannu7@gmail.com

Islamabad, December 4

A senior Pakistani minister and top aide of Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday claimed that US President Donald Trump was compelled to do a reality check, days after his offensive tweets against Islamabad for failing to help America in combating terrorism.

Taking to Twitter a day after Khan said the US president has written a letter to him, the Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari said Trump was compelled to seek help from Pakistan in bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table to end the brutal war in Afghanistan which has been going on for 17 years.

Last month Trump also said Pakistan does not do a damn thing for the US, saying Islamabad helped al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden hide near its garrison city of Abbottabad.

Mazari, known to be a hawk, in a series of tweets, said, PM Imran Khans response to Trumps offensive tweets against Pakistan compelled Trump to do a reality check and write to PM Khan asking for help in bringing peace to Afghanistan!

So much for those in Pakistan who were quivering after Imran Khans tweets went out! she added.

In response to Trumps anti-Pakistan comments, Khan had hit back, advising Washington to assess its efficiency in the war on terror instead of making Pakistan a scapegoat for its failure.

Meanwhile, Mazari also criticised US State Departments Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad for his approach towards Pakistan.

She advised tough-talking Khalilzad to bring a less arrogant and hostile mindset during his ongoing visit to Islamabad.

Khalilzad, the veteran US diplomat tasked with making efforts to end the bloody war in Afghanistan, is known as a blunt negotiator.

Although both the US and Pakistan now have a commonality of views on seeking a political solution to the Afghan problem, the trust deficit between the two is the real stumbling block.

Relations between the two countries are tense despite recent efforts to reset the troubled ties, the Express Tribune reported.

At the heart of their stalemate is the US insistence on Pakistan to do more to bring the Afghan Taliban on to the negotiating table. Washington still believes that Islamabad holds a considerable sway over the insurgent group.

Pakistan, however, insists that bringing the Taliban on the negotiating table is a shared responsibility of all the players.  PTIshalender@tribune.com

Colombo, December 4

Embattled Mahinda Rajapaksa Tuesday filed an appeal in Sri Lankas Supreme Court against a court order that barred him from acting as Prime Minister.

The Court of Appeal in an interim order temporary halted Rajapaksa and his Cabinet from functioning in their positions in response to a case filed by 122 legislators against his disputed government. The court set the hearing of the case for December 12 and 13.

MP Gamini Lokuge said the appeal was filed in the Supreme Court against the interim order issued by the Court of Appeal, Daily Mirror reported. Rajapaksa had said on Monday that he would appeal against the Court of Appeals interim order.

We will not agree with the interim order issued by the Court of Appeal today suspending the Cabinet. We will appeal to the Supreme Court first thing tomorrow against it, Rajapaksa said in a statement.

He said that it was the Supreme Court which has the power to interpret the Constitution.  PTIshalender@tribune.com

Brussels, December 4

US President Donald Trumps top diplomat promised on Tuesday a new democratic world order in which Washington will strengthen or jettison international agreements as it sees fit to stop bad actors such as Russia, China and Iran from gaining.

In a twist on Trumps America First policy, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Trump was not abandoning its global leadership but instead reshaping the post-World War Two system on the basis of sovereign states, not multilateral institutions.

In the finest traditions of our great democracy, we are rallying the noble nations to build a new liberal order that prevents war and achieves greater prosperity, Pompeo told diplomats and officials in a foreign policy speech.

We are acting to preserve, protect, and advance an open, just, transparent and free world of sovereign states, Pompeo said, adding that Chinas ability to benefit from the current US-led system of trade and other agreements was an example of the poisoned fruit of American retreat.

Pompeo said Trump was also pushing both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to stop funding countries such as China, saying they already had access to financial markets to raise capital. Pompeos address rejected concerns among many traditional US allies that Trump is undermining the West by withdrawing from climate, free-trade and arms control accords.  ReutersAs Trinidad and Tobago recorded its highest Covid-19 death rate of 31 yesterday, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley again appealed to the population to act now and get vaccinated.

In his highly anticipated address to the nation last night, which lasted 45 minutes, the Prime Minister warned that the parallel healthcare system is under immense pressure, and the time may come when drastic decisions would have to be taken. As with any emergency response, as the demand on healthcare resources increases, we may have no choice but to redirect our efforts from providing the highest level of care to a few, to providing the greatest good for the greatest number of persons. This is the reality that we face, he said.I urge each and every Tobagonian eligible to vote in the December 6 Tobago House of Assembly (THA) elections to come out and exercise their franchise.

The right to vote under Universal Adult Suffrage was not always available to our people until its introduction to Trinidad and Tobago in the July 1, 1946, Legislative Elections and subsequently the October 28 County Council elections held that same year.-:- Message from Tripadvisor staff -:-

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We remove posts that do not follow our posting guidelines, and we reserve the right to remove any post for any reason.I am planning to travel to Sydney in the beginning of February 2018 from London (Heathrow/Gatwick). I will be travelling to visit my boyfriend for the very first-time who is living in Sydney, but wanted to get your advice on a few things. fyi, I am 26 female don't know if that helps..

1. Tips for travelling to Sydney from London? Anything from best flights, stop overs (1 night max to revive) and airlines to go with. I am a bit of a fearful flier.. my longest flight I've ever taken is 3.5 hrs so I understand this is a huge difference, and I get anxiety before a flight and a little during. Any tips or tricks?

2. Tips for a lone-flier? Things to do/anxiety remedies on a 21 hr flight? Again I'm an anxious flier so any recommendations of how to deal with it, much appreciated!

3. He will be working some of the days I am there. Is there any recommendations of things to do whilst he is working? I will be on my own probably unless I make some friends? I will be staying nearer to the city centre.

Any more general comments or words of wisdom I will be thankful for :)The Great Ocean Road needs at least 2 nights in different locations, returning via the inland. Getting single night's coastal accomodation in peak of summer could be difficult.

The gold mining town is presumably Ballarat, Sovereign Hill itself could take a day and there are other things to see as well so allow for an overnight stop there.

Tasmania is a state with two main airports so the short options are to visit the north or the south or do a one way trip between them, however even for that you want more than 3 days.

If nature is the appeal perhaps look at adding a stop in the Grampians National Park to your Mel-GOR-Ballarat-Mel road trip.

Phillip Island is along the coast in the opposite direction to the GOR. As the penguins come in at dusk, plus there's more to see in the region, that's another overnight stop.

Perth or Cairns is a chalk and cheese question. If you want to see the Great Barrier Reef you need a suitable destination somewhere along its length and you need to think about the implications of visiting the tropics at that time of year. Perth is on the other side of a continent of similar size to the US so while it's a great destination it's a long flight to get there. If you want alternative destinations to consider what about Brisbane, Gold Coast, etc in subtropical southern Queensland? Or Canberra between Sydney and Melbourne? But don't try to fit in too many destinations and waste time sitting on planes. If you tell us more about what you are interested in and what appeals to you about the places being discussed we can help you choose which will give you the sorts of experiences you are seeking.

Be aware January 26 is a public holiday.

Post a draft daily itinerary even if it's incomplete.Hi all,

Just thought I'd write an update.

So upon hearing the advice here I was all set to go and get an emergency passport for my daughter before leaving Belgium and then we couldn't even find her birth certificate, which pretty much settled it for me.

We went to Brussels Zaventem on the 24th of December. We were flying with Emirates. The lady who was checking us in made no fuss at all upon seeing two of us with Australian passports and one with a Belgian. She didn't even request to see the e-Visa which I had gotten for my daughter.

Upon arrival in Australia (on the night of Xmas) the lady at the immigration desk didn't bat an eyelid. She also didn't even ask for the e-visa (I'm not sure if this showed up on her system or what). The lady wasn't even particularly friendly, so I was a bit confused.

I don't know if it was because I was travelling with two little girls, because it was Xmas eve/day or if this particularly enforced. But that was our experience.We arrive on the 21rst afternoon.

Depart 29th afternoon

first time visiting (from EST US)

4 kids in town, 14 years to 15 months

We are an adventurous, food loving, off the beaten path, trekking bunch

We love nature and unique local experiences but not so much crowds

Having a little bit of a quandary figuring where to stay and what the best itinerary is and yes I know its high season and we are pretty last minute planners

We have only so far booked our tickets into SJO and hired a driver who will accompany us the entire time (except for one day)

We were thinking to divide our limited time between the Fortuna area and Manuel Antonia, but our driver also suggested Bijagua for a couple of nights near the Rio Celeste. Considering distances not sure this is the best use of time (vs. simply day tripping it from Fortuna).

Also having a hard time figuring out where to stay especially near Manuel Antonio.

Any help or alternative itineraries during our limited stay appreciatedDo you have your international tickets yet? If so, which international airports are you using?

What do you like doing? Zip lining/adventure activities, hiking, mountains, beach, wildlife, staying at touristy or remote and less developed places, etc?

What method of transportation are you planning to use? Certain areas are better with a rental car, others are fine without it, some cannot be driven to (or access might depend on the season, or be boat access only year round).

All the above might help to suggest things that you might like.

As for how long in each place, ppl often ask this Qn, but I struggle to understand how some strangers can advise you on that. It depends on you, your interests and personality. And budget. Do you need to be constantly entertained or you can sit and watch a sloth crawl (and it takes time! LOL) and be happy to be able to witness it, surrounded by pretty nature? The sloth is just an example, btw. Some ppl schedule 2-3 tours a day and post for Help what else they might try to squeeze in the few hrs before their flight. Others tend to try and tell them to slow down.

You have a month, you can visit and do lots ( though it takes longer to get places in CR than looking at the map of this country might make you think), but do you want to cover as much as you can, or you want to really focus on certain areas that better suit your interests ( and the interests of those traveling with you, if you are not going on your own)?

Edited: 2 years agoHello,

I am trying to fine tune a 14 day itinerary and get a good mix or cultural, rural and nature experiences. I prefer to experience places rather that see lots of sights. I have been to Vietnam before but on this trip I will be travelling with my daughter 27 yr (1st time visitor).

We were looking at flying in and out of Hanoi (to Sydney). Due to time constraints we were thinking of the including the following places:

Hanoi

Hanoi - Ninh Binh (train) (2-3 nights) I will see if Toan is available for 2 day tour

Hoi An (4-5 nights) (Fly Hanoi to Danang then fly back to Hanoi)

Hanoi

I'm not sure whether it is possible to add anything else into the itinerary as it will be too rushed. What do you think?

Any advice on when to have the longer stay in Hanoi - beginning or end or trip? Does the order make sense?

Thank you in advanceAfter nearly 4 years I decided to return to Phu Quoc for a long weekend get-a-away (enjoying the benefits of living in HCMC).

As I stayed along Long Beach last time it was time to do something different - so Ong Lang it was. I am actually impressed with the area. While I hardly recognised the area where I stayed last time as it has changed a lot, Ong Lang still looks a bit under-developed, which I love. The beach might not be as nice, but I prefer Ong Lang now.

I still found plenty of restaurants and bars (including one of the best bars I have ever visited during a trip) there and I took the chance to relax a bit on the beach - and I finally managed to dive on Phu Quoc. Another area covered for diving - yay.

I have summarised the first two days (minus the diving) in my first blog entry below. The section of diving and exploring the island by motorbike will follow shortly.

I hope it is of some help for fellow travellers...Hello Belfast_Bowler

But costly.

Your bank will transfer funds for you for a fee and at their retail rate of exchange.

Any intermediary/corresponding bank will take a cut of the funds in transit.

The receiving bank will usually take a fee on receipt too.

But certainly doable as I've done from Australia this year to a bank account in Hanoi.

But a cheaper way is to use a Vietnam centric funds transfer service as overheads and fees are very much cheaper and far less bureaucratic if transfer is less than US$10,000. equivalent.

Best regards. Ian/AngkorladThe price of non-alcoholic beverages will vary. It depends on where you are when you drink them. If you go to a high end cocktail bar and order a tonic water, that will probably cost you more than if you do the same at a pizza joint.

When you start getting into designer "virgin" cocktails, with various essences, juices, herbs, etc they can be quite pricey. Pricier than something like a beer but generally not as pricey as similar cocktails with alcohol.

One beverage that is very common in the U.S. is Iced Tea. You might consider that a little more "adult" than something like coca cola or what you call "lemonade" (we have a different type of lemonade here and it's more of a fruit juice than a fizzy bar mixer). Most restaurants will have iced tea available. Bars may not.

Another choice is club soda or sparkling mineral water (San Peligrino, Topo Chico, Perrier). Add a splash of cranberry juice and you have a fairly satisfying, inexpensive bar drink. Or just drink it on its own with meals.

But if you want to drink, then have a few drinks. The price of alcohol is more expensive but not so expensive to make it completely affordable. It's all about moderation and avoiding the swankiest places with prices to match..

Note that we tip for drink service at the bar, even if you end up ordering something non-alcoholic.Everybody loves avocado, right? I bet you have heard of the golden hass avocado. The hass avocado is the most popular Kenyan avocado produced mainly for export purposes. It has a good market in continents such as Europe compared to other types of avocados. This type of avocado was first grown in Guatemala. Read on to know everything about hass avocado farming and how to grow it in Kenya.

Source: pixabay.com

Source: UGC

Hass avocado farming is really profitable to farmers because it has a ready international market for the locals. Hass avocado exports have actually taken the place of major cash crops such as coffee. The government has negotiated with firms such as Kakuzi to buy the fruits from farmers, which has helped in eliminating brokers thus yielding more returns for farmers. Farmers are required to deliver quality fruit and in return Kakuzi buys them at a very good price. Payment is always done seven days after delivery. This is guaranteed payment. The most prominent feature is that it turns dark purple when ripe. Hass avocado offers several benefits which also apply across the family of avocado.

They are a significant source of good cholesterol. High in protein and mineral content as compared to animal proteins. Used in the manufacture of facial and hair oil. They boost farmers economically besides earning foreign currency for the exporting country.

READ ALSO: How to manage dairy farm in Kenya

What is the difference between a hass avocado and a regular avocado?

Regular avocados are larger in size and smooth skinned while the hass avocados are smaller and have a pebbly skin that turns dark purple when ripe. However, the biggest difference is the nutritional value in terms of fat content. For instance, two or three slices of a hass avocado contain 4.6 grams of fat and the same portion of a regular avocado contains an estimate of 3 grams of fat.

Source: unsplash.com

Source: UGC

How to plant hass avocado tree

Avocados can be grown from either seedlings or seeds. Through grafting, farmers are able to improve variety by increasing its resistance to diseases and increasing its adaptability to different types of soils. Planting materials should be inspected to ensure that they are free from diseases. Seeds should also be treated with hot water not exceeding 50 degrees Celsius.

Land preparation

Land preparation should be similar to that of other crops. It is advisable to plant an annual crop before in order to achieve the desired tillage if the land is newly cleared. Also ensure there are windbreakers such as hedges if there are strong winds in the area.

READ ALSO: Fish Farming in Kenya Business Plan and Tips

Planting holes

Farmers are advised to plant the trees in a straight line to ease crop husbandry and harvesting. For hass avocados in Kenya, the rectangular pattern of planting is preferred as it eases movement of machinery between the rows. This method also makes it easy for pruning, thinning and inspection.

Planting

Use two buckets of farmyard manure mixed with topsoil, 250gms of double superphosphate fertilizer and a certified insecticide to fill the holes. Ensure that planting is done after the start of rains when the rainwater has penetrated the soil properly. Be careful not to damage the roots when filling up the holes. Irrigation should be done after the first shoot appears and the young plant should be tied to sticks for support.

Pruning

This starts at the planting stage if the roots are too long and do not fit the planting hole. Trees at an early age are trained in order to maintain a good framework. Pruning is mainly done before the plants begin to flower and upon completion of harvesting. The general rule is that the tree canopy height should be 70% of row width to allow dissemination of light. Pruning is beneficial to the trees as it enables them to yield and provide a superior structure.

READ ALSO: Avocado farming to create next millionaires - Raila Odinga

Thinning

It involves removing some of the already formed fruits to reduce competition for nutrients thus producing high-quality fruits. Lack of thinning leads to the production of small-sized fruits.

Source: pixabay.com

Source: UGC

Weed control

This reduces competition for both water and nutrients. Weed control can be done by cover cropping, mulching and mechanical cultivation.

Pest and diseases

The best economical way for pest and disease control is pest prevention.

In Kenya, avocado trees can be affected by pests but rarely do they need chemical application for control. However, some of the major pests include;

Night flying moth

Scale insects

Thrips

The common fungal diseases that may affect avocado trees and need to be checked are;

1. Anthracnose it attacks fruits, forming dry, dark brown spots. It is most likely to attack mature fruits. It can be controlled using copper-based fungicides. Chemicals such as Benomyl, Metiram, Propineb, Thiabendazole, Mancozeb or Triforine may also be sprayed to control the disease.

2. Root rot- mostly found in areas with poorly drained soils and areas prone to flood. Preventive measures include use of fungal and hot water treatment of seeds and grafting on resistant rootstalk. The chemicals used to combat this disease are, Ridomil, active ingredient Metalaxyl. It is a granular formulation applied in the soil. The second chemical is known as Alitte and is applied on the leaves.

3. Scab- this disease attacks fruits, leaves and the twigs. Scratches emerge as little dark spots a little raised and are oval or extended. This disease is controlled using the same methods as those of Anthracnose.

4. Cercospora- also known as fruit spot. It leaves small light yellow spots which eventually turn brownish on the leaves and fruits. It is also controlled using similar methods to Anthracnose.

READ ALSO: Is onion farming in Kenya worth a shot?

Harvesting

The Kenya hass avocado flowers on October and are ready for picking between June and September. Farmers should identify the correct harvesting period because the avocado fruits are picked raw and ripen off the trees. Farmers should consult avocado experts for better harvesting results. Harvest a few fruits and store them in favorable conditions to ripen. If the fruits ripen evenly, they are considered to have matured. After ripening, the farmer can now carefully pick similar fruits from the trees

Hass avocado yield per tree

Source: unsplash.com

Source: UGC

A unit of tree if irrigated well will provide 1,000 fruits per year. Proper pest and disease control, plant density and soil fertility are the major factors affecting the yields of hass avocado. Usually, the average yield in Kenya is 87,780 fruits per hectare. There is great potential of hass avocado production especially in Mt. Kenya region and the Rift Valley region because of the favorable climatic condition However there is a great challenge of lack of understanding among some farmers on the pesticide minimal residual levels guidelines by the European market. This poses a great danger because farmers might produce fruits only for them to be rejected by exporting companies.

Hass avocado tree spacing

Spacing depends on factors such as climatic conditions and soil fertility. It may range from 6m by 7m to 8m by 10m. The planting holes should be around 60cm to 70cm.

Where to buy hass avocado seedlings in Kenya

Source: pixabay.com

Source: UGC

Farmers who want to invest in avocado farming can buy quality hass avocado seedlings from, Oxfarm Organic Ltd (Kakuzi). Farmers are advised not to buy seedlings or seeds alongside the road as they may be of poor quality. A hass avocado seedling costs between ksh 150 to ksh 400.

How long does it take for a Hass avocado tree to bear fruit?

Any avocado tree must reach a certain age before it can bear fruit. Trees sold commercially are grafted from mature avocado varieties and produce fruit more quickly and reliably than trees grown from seed. A tree grown from an avocado pit will take at least 10 years old, and farmers may have to wait up to 15 years. Hass avocado maturity period is considered to be less and can take as much as three to four years to bear fruits.

READ ALSO: Kenya to sell KSh 5.4 billion worth of avocados to South Africa

How much can an avocado farm make?

One hass tree can give an average of Ksh 3.500 per cycle. A farmer who has planted 100 hass avocado trees per acre, for instance, can get Ksh 700, 000 per year sold at a cost of Ksh 5 per fruit as the trees produce twice annually. It is good to know that market prices also go up to Ksh.35 per fruit which will automatically change the profit margin.

How big does a Hass avocado tree grow?

Source: pixabay.com

Source: UGC

The hass avocado tree is fast-growing and yields quality fruits with a long shelf life due to its husky skin. The trees are medium, spreading, evergreen trees that grow up to 30-40 feet high 35 feet wide.

Avocado growing is basically a long-term investment, and therefore there is need to be careful when venturing into it. Hass avocado is mainly cultivated by both small scale and large scale farmers in Kenya. Kenya produces an estimate of 115,000 metric tonnes of avocado per year. 70% of this is grown by small-scale farmers. Previously, avocados were only sold in local markets but this has significantly changed over the years, where a big percentage of the avocado grown are now exported to other countries. Most of the avocado farmers are found in Nyeri, Muranga, Meru, Kiambu as well as Kisii.

Source: Tuko NewspaperJust when people thought the Central Business District(CBD) matatu ban could not get any messier, a pregnant woman delivered her baby boy while on the way to hospital.

The middle-aged woman was trying to compete against time in a bid to reach Kenyatta National Hospital when her waters broke.

Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens

READ ALSO: 21 matatu Saccos sue Mike Sonko over CBD ban

Just when people thought the Central Business District(CBD) ban could not get any messier, a pregnant lady delivered her baby boy while on the way to hospital.

Source: UGC

According to eyewitness accounts, the woman walked from Ngara and upon reaching Uhuru Park, her labour pains grew worse.

"She had walked from Ngara and when she was asked to go to a private clinic, she strongly disagreed. She only wanted to be attended to at Kenyatta National Hospital, " a passerby told TUKO.co.ke.

READ ALSO: More pain for Nairobi commuters after court declines to suspend matatu ban

Luckily, both the mother and the child are safe and in perfect condition.

Nairobi Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko stated the ban is aimed at resolving the notorious congestion issue at the CBD.

READ ALSO: Governor Sonko apologises to commuters for pain over matatu CBD ban

While appearing before Senate Public Accounts and Investment Committee (CPAIC) on Monday, December 3, the governor said the ban will also help Kenyans stay fit.

Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja moved to court to seek suspension of the ban but as fate would have it, his application fell through.

"We cannot disadvantage the majority for the benefit of the minority. I will move to court to ensure the ban is suspended until the County government put in place measure to solve the crisis," Sakaja said.

Story by Enock Ndayala, TUKO correspondent.

Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news.

KNEC chairman declares student pregnancy a pandemic in Kenya| Tuko TV

Source: Tuko- The new tax targets traders with annual turnover of between KSh 500,000 and KSh 5 million

- It will not apply to persons in professional services, rental businesses and incorporated companies

- It is understood this is one of the measures the government is taking to raise revenue for development projects

As from January 1, 2019, small traders across the country will be required to remit 15% of their single business permit or trading license fee to the county government, Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has announced.

The presumptive tax targeting all the small businesses in the informal sector will be collected by the county governments on behalf of KRA and as per the Finance Act, 2018.

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READ ALSO: Mudavadi warns Income Tax Bill 2018 will hurt Kenyans if passed

Small traders will be required to pay 15% of their business permit or license when either acquiring or renewing the license at the county level as from January 1, 2019. Photo: KRA.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Cost of bottled water, soda and juices likely to go up as govt moves to impose tax

In a public notice seen by TUKO.co.ke on Tuesday, December 4, KRA noted the tax would be paid when acquiring or renewing business permit or trade license at the county level.

"The tax shall only apply where the turnover from business is less than KSh 5 million per annum. The tax does not apply to persons engaged in management or professional services, rental businesses and incorporated companies," the taxman explained.

READ ALSO: National Youth Service facing fresh probe over disappearance of KSh 10.5 billion

In order to pay the presumptive tax , eligible taxpayers with turnover of between KSh 500,000 and KSh 5 million would be required to register and log onto the iTax.

Once logged in, they would be able to generate a Payment Registration Number (PRN) on iTax under the Presumptive Tax Payment.

"They can pay through M-Pesa Pay Bill Number 572572 or any other partner bank," KRA noted.

READ ALSO: Kenyans to spend more on internet as service providers effect 15% tax in line with Finance Act 2018

Presumptive tax is one of the many taxes the National Treasury had proposed in the Finance Act, 2018, as the government struggled to increase domestic revenue.

The new tax, TUKO.co.ke understands, will replace the 3% of gross sales that the traders have been paying on quarterly basis.

The tax is likely to push up the cost of doing business and consequently the cost of living as traders may be forced to pass over the tax burden to the consumers.

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.

A grandmother's pain over the Nairobi CBD Matatu ban - On Tuko TV

Source: Tuko- Sang handed over his resignation letter on Tuesday morning citing personal reasons

- He said he would not be renewing his term expected to end in April 2019

- Sang's resignation came amid claims the company lost KSh 2 billion through fuel spillage

- The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) was invited to probe the huge losses

Kenya Pipeline managing director, Joe Sang, has resigned following reports 21 million litres of fuel valued at more than KSh 2 billion could not be accounted for.

Sang, whose term was expected to expire in April 2019, tendered his resignation letter on the morning of Tuesday, December 4, as investigation into the alleged massive losses at the state corporation kicked off.

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READ ALSO: Top Kenya Pipeline official's home raided by EACC over KSh 647 million tender

Kenya Pipeline Managing Director Joe Sang handed over his resignation letter on Tuesday, December 4, stating he would not be renewing his term which was expected to end in April 2019.Photo: Nation.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Stolen NCPB KSh 1.9 billion meant for 2022 presidential campaigns - ODM

A statement issued by the Kenya Pipeline board indicated it received and accepted Sang's letter who simply said he would not be seeking a second term as MD due to personal reasons.

"The board acknowledged the various contributions made by Joe Sang during his tenure and welcomed his assurance of full cooperation during the transition," the letter, seen by TUKO.co.ke on Tuesday, read.

READ ALSO: 40,000 tonnes of sugar shipped back to Brazil for failing KEBS specifications

The board further noted it held a meeting and resolved to invite the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to investigate the mysterious disappearance of millions of litres of fuel.

"The Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) through their joint company, Supplycor Kenya Limited, to conduct a forensic audit of stock positions which should be completed by December 31, 2018," the board stated.

READ ALSO: Prices of commodities shoot up in Kakamega as transportation costs go up due to traffic rules

A deadly row had erupted between Kenya Pipeline and major oil companies in the country concerning the missing fuel worth billions of shillings.

Kenya Pipeline had claimed the fuel had spilled in the fields over the last two years and that some of it was lost through theft.

The oil companies in October 2018 penned an angry letter to KPC demanding an independent forensic audit on the oil stock statements and loss records.

KPC holds fuel on behalf of the oil companies.

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.

Small Business Ideas for Kenyans With Low Investment - On Tuko TV

Source: TukoA typical Kenyan will describe President Uhuru Kenyatta as a stern, no nonsense man who sometimes lets his hair down and shows off his wild sense of humour.

A South African, however, will portray him as the hilarious man in the memes. Yes, our leader is the star in most South African memes. Lol we laughed a bit too.

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READ ALSO: Sassy TV girl Doreen Majala and husband opt for divorce after marriage hit rock bottom

READ ALSO: Former TV girl Sheila Mwanyigha parades killer curves in tight swimwear during Coast vacation

So TUKO.co.ke was casually scrolling through the streets of Twitter and what did we find?

A bunch of tickled netizens who were trying to come to terms with the fact that the man in the memes is actually a president.

South Africans had a bunch of hilarious gimmicks that went hand in hand with Uhuru's unique and tickling facial expressions.

READ ALSO: Uhuru's daughter Ngina Kenyatta parties alongside A-list celebrities in South Africa

The whole time they shared our president's photos on the internet, they had no idea he carried a whole nation on his back. Nope, not even a hint!

However, one of them caught wind when she spotted Uhuru on the big screen and boy was it a pleasant surprise.

Quickly, the tweep known as Nomfusi Lengs alerted her compatriots and the whole Twitter was thrown into laughter.

Kenyans chipped in on the interesting thread as they added a few more photos to spice up the conversation.

Ah people, what would the world be without some laughter? Here are a few of the photos, please prepare to laugh till you drop.

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.

Meet Nandy-The African princess| Tuko TV

Source: TukoA single mother shocked millions of listeners after she publicly narrated how her ex-hubby forced her to breastfeed three snakes belonging to his mother.

The woman who withheld her identity said her ex's kin rear snakes in their homestead which they use for rituals.

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READ ALSO: 17 super hilarious reasons why women ask what men do for a living before dating

In a candid interview with Radio Jambo, she recalled how she was first taken to the home then informed a visitor would soon follow suit.

"When I was taken to their home, I was told there would be a visitor and if they appeared, I should not run away. I quietly sat still because I did not know the visitors were actually three snakes," she narrated in agony.

READ ALSO: Uhuru Kenyatta's hilarious memes take South Africans by storm and it is funny

One of the vipers slithered to her back while another struggled to around her chest. Oh the horror! All this while, her baby was also suckling.

"One went to my back while another suckled my breasts. While all this was going on, my baby was also suckling. I however managed to get away from that home," she said.

The woman who hails from Bungoma county was married to a man from Siaya.

READ ALSO: Alex Mwakideu's sister reveals how ex-hubby Robert Burale nearly caused her to take own life

"I met my husband in Bungoma town and beside being a night runner, he has also abandoned his parental responsibilities," she continued.

The lady claimed the family she was married into used their snakes to feast on people who dared unearth their secrets.

On top of being tasked with nursing the snakes, the lady was required to feed them with sugar free porridge while kneeling.

The mother of two further claimed the snakes have so far claimed over 24 innocent lives.

Story by Enock Ndayala, TUKO correspondent.

Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news.

Meet Nandy-The African princess| Tuko TV

Source: Tuko Breaking News- The attires were tailored by the National Youth Service at Kenya School of Government

- The uniforms were unveiled by Uhuru and would be launched officially on Jamhuri Day

- Majority of Kenyans were not impressed by the outfits with some preferring the older ones

- Boinnet said the new attires are meant to improve visibility of the men and women in uniform

The Inspector General of Police, Joseph Boinnet, and his deputy, Edward Mbugua, on Tuesday, December 4, grabbed everyone's attention when they emerged in the new police uniforms which a section of Kenyans had disapproved of.

Photos of the two police bosses donning the new uniforms evoked mixed reactions on social media as Kenyans once again gave their views about the regalia, which TUKO.co.ke understands were being tailored at the Kenya School of Government (KSG).

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READ ALSO: Police officers to officially wear new uniforms on Jamhuri Day

The Inspector General of Police, Joseph Boinnet, donning the brand new police uniforms ahead of the official unveiling on Jamhuri Day. Photo: Kenya Police Service.

Source: Original

READ ALSO: Another lot of Form Four leavers captured insulting Interior CS Fred Matiang'i as they burn books

Boinnet and Mbugua appeared nevertheless excited in the brand new police uniforms as they posed for photos and showcased the attires from every possible angle.

Below is how the IG and his deputy looked in the photos shared on social media by the police.

READ ALSO: Inspector General of Police defends new uniform after criticism from Kenyans

Tailors at National Youth Service (NYS) have been burning the midnight oil to meet the deadline for the controversial police uniforms which will be officially launched during Jamhuri Day celebrations on Wednesday, December, 12, 2018.

President Uhuru Kenyatta unveiled the new uniform in September 2018.

Boinnet proceeded to signed an MoU with NYS for the production of the attires at the Kenya School of Government.

READ ALSO: Crisis looms as North Rift MPs vow to rally farmers against delivering maize to NCPB

The new attires, the IG said, were meant to improve visibility of the men and women in uniform but not all Kenyans were impressed.

Many disapproved of the outfit, describing it as ugly and uninspiring while others noted it was a copy of what Chinese police wear.

Boinnet, however, defended the uniforms and insisted they are here to stay.

He urged Kenyans give suggestions on how to make the uniforms better instead of complaining.

"There seems to be discomfort about this, but the public is welcome to give ideas on the new uniforms, he said.

The IG's sentiments were echoed by National Police Service Commission (NPSC) Commissioner, Ronald Musengi, who said the officers had no right to criticise the uniforms but had a right to give their opinion.

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.

Raped by Police While Seeking Asylum - On Tuko TV

Source: Tuko.co.ke- The man was accused of committing the act in November 2018

- The complainant argued the man was fully aware he was infecting her with HIV

- According to the Sexual Offences Act, infecting another with HIV whether with or without knowledge is punishable by a 15-year jail sentence

A Mombasa man is in trouble after he was accused of deliberately infecting a woman with HIV/AIDS.

bernard Otieno was arraigned on Tuesday, December 4, after he was accused of committing the heinous act in Mishomoroni within Mombasa county on November 17.

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The man is accused of deliberately infecting a lady with HIV

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Father and his daughter on spot for killing man, stealing his car in Nanyuki

Charges against him indicated he willfully and intentionally had sexual intercourse with the his accuser with full knowledge that he was sick.

If the complainants allegations prove to be true, Otieno could face up to 15 years behind bars in accordance with the Sexual Offences Act.

READ ALSO: Kakamega woman sets house on fire after husband fails to return home

The suspect was consequently slapped with a KSh 500,000 bond with a surety of a similar amount, with the case set to be heard on December 20.

The question of sexual offences has been a heated topic particularly in Parliament, with leaders divided on what should be the most effective form of punishment for such offenders.

Majority leader Aden Duale at one point called for the castration of men found to have committed sexual acts such as defilement and deliberatly spreading Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs).

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

Raped by Police While Seeking Asylum | Tuko TV::

Source: Breaking NewsOne of the jobs that has been made very difficult with the advent of COVID-19 is that of teachers.

They have been forced to adapt to the virtual world in order to ensure the success of future generations.Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said he is convinced that Russian President Vladimir Putin's statement at the G20 summit proved that the Russian leader organized aggression in the Sea of Azov.

He stated this, speaking on the Freedom of Speech show on the ICTV channel, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.

"Putin's statement at the G20 summit proved that this issue was organized by the top leadership, directly by the president of the Russian Federation. All the orders were given, including the order to open fire, when our ships entered neutral waters. A pirate attack was committed. What makes them different from Somali [pirates]? Nothing. There is no law," Poroshenko said.

Putin said at a press conference after the G20 summit in Buenos Aires on December 1 that the issue of the exchange of 24 Ukrainian sailors from three Ukrainian Navy ships detained by Russian military in the Kerch Strait was not yet on the agenda.

On November 25, Russian border ships aggressive actions against Ukrainian vessels that were en route from the port of Odesa to the port of Mariupol. Russian special forces fired on and captured three Ukrainian ships and 24 sailors in the Kerch Strait.

On November 26, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the law approving a presidential decree on the introduction of martial law in ten regions of Ukraine for 30 days due to Russian aggression.

opUkraine will file a claim at the UN International Court of Justice against Russia for its aggressive actions against Ukraine in the Sea of Azov.

President Petro Poroshenko stated this during the talk show Svoboda Slova on ICTV Channel, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

I gave instructions to the Minister of Foreign Affairs to ensure appropriate consular assistance, there were appeals to the ECHR and a claim is being developed to the United Nations International Court of Justice regarding the responsibility of the Russian Federation for aggression against our state, Poroshenko said, when commenting on the seizure of the Ukrainian sailors by Russia in the Sea of Azov.

The President stressed that, according to the UN resolution, it was the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine that took place in the Sea of Azov. He also stressed that the Ukrainian sailors illegally captured by Russians are now prisoners of war.

At the same time, Poroshenko assured that the authorities do everything they can to save the Ukrainian sailors.

As reported, on November 25, Russian border ships committed the acts of aggression against three Ukrainian ships heading from the port of Odesa to the port of Mariupol. The Russian special forces fired and seized three Ukrainian ships in the Kerch Strait. There were 24 sailors aboard.

On November 26, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the law approving the presidential decree on the introduction of martial law in ten regions for 30 days in connection with the Russian aggression.

iyThe parliament of Estonia passed a statement in support of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine in connection with the Russian aggression in the Kerch Strait.

A total of 79 MPs approved the relevant document on December 3, according to the report posted on the website of the Estonian parliament.

In the statement, the Estonian parliament expresses Estonias support to Ukraines inalienable right to protect its territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Also, Estonia condemns the attack on Ukrainian ships and detention of Ukrainian sailors by the Russian Federation in the Kerch Strait.

The Estonian parliament emphasizes in the statement that Russia must immediately release the Ukrainian ships with their crews, and allow them unhindered passage to Ukrainian ports.

In addition, the Estonian MPs urged all nations to support Ukraine in defending its territorial integrity and condemn Russias aggression against the sovereign Ukraine, and not recognize the illegal annexation of Crimea.

As reported, on November 25, Russian border ships committed the acts of aggression against three Ukrainian ships heading from the port of Odesa to the port of Mariupol. The Russian special forces fired and seized three Ukrainian ships in the Kerch Strait. There were 24 sailors aboard.

On November 26, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the law approving the presidential decree on the introduction of martial law in ten regions for 30 days in connection with the Russian aggression.

iyAhead of the meeting of NATO foreign ministers (December 4-5), the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) wrote to Canadas Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, calling for a united response by Canada and NATO Allies to Russias aggression against Ukrainian vessels in the Sea of Azov.

The UCC calls on Canada and our NATO allies to significantly strengthen sectoral sanctions against Russia for its continued aggression against Ukraine, the letter reads.

The UCC asks Canada to increase military assistance to Ukraine, including providing Ukraine with naval armaments, surface-to-ship missiles, patrol boats, radar systems and surveillance equipment; demand the immediate release of the 24 Ukrainian sailors taken prisoner by Russia on November 25, and the immediate release of over 70 Ukrainian political prisoners illegally jailed by Russia; increase NATOs naval presence in the region to deter further Russian maritime aggression against Ukraine and other states.Ukraine has expressed a protest at the Maritime Safety Committee of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) due to Russia's armed attack on Ukrainian military boats. Thirty-four IMO countries supported Ukraine's position, according to the Embassy of Ukraine in the United Kingdom.

"On December 3 this year, the Ukrainian delegation to the Maritime Safety Committee of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) expressed a categorical protest against the Russian Federation in connection with its armed attack and capture of three Ukrainian military boats and their crew members," reads the report.

It notes that the Ukrainian side condemned numerous facts of discriminatory inspections of vessels heading for Ukrainian ports, which is a violation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and bilateral Ukrainian-Russian agreements.

"Delegations from 34 IMO member countries, including Australia, Britain, Georgia, Canada, Germany, France and the United States, spoke out in support of Ukraine's position. They supported the demands of the Ukrainian side and condemned another act of Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine," the embassy said.

On November 25, Russian border ships aggressive actions against Ukrainian vessels that were en route from the port of Odesa to the port of Mariupol. Russian special forces fired on and captured three Ukrainian ships and 24 sailors in the Kerch Strait.

Russian-controlled "courts" in the occupied Crimea arrested all detained Ukrainian sailors for two months. They are charged with "illegally border crossing."

opUkraines Interior Ministry is expanding cooperation with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

This issue was discussed at a meeting of Deputy Interior Minister Tetiana Kovalchuk with JICA's Permanent Representative in Ukraine Takaaki Kawano, the press service of the Interior Ministry reported on Facebook.

"The Interior Ministry is expanding cooperation with the Japan International Cooperation Agency. In particular, the parties agreed to expand the range of training programs and courses with the assistance of the Japan International Cooperation Agency for representatives of all the bodies of the Interior Ministry," the report reads.

The Interior Ministry wants the representatives of all bodies of the Ministry to undergo training in programs with the assistance of the Japan International Cooperation Agency, Kovalchuk stressed.

In turn, Takaaki Kawano stressed that JICA was ready to deepen cooperation.

ishA meeting of the working subgroups of the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) on the settlement of the situation in eastern Ukraine is taking place in Minsk, Belarus.

The Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Belarus reports this on its Twitter page.

"A meeting of the working groups of the Trilateral Contact Group on the settlement of the situation in eastern Ukraine is being held in Minsk," the report reads.

The previous meeting of the subgroups was held on November 22.

ishUkrainian Ambassador to Hungary Liubov Nepop has appealed to the Hungarian side with a request to support Ukraine by strengthening the sanctions against Russia over the latest act of aggression in the Black Sea region.

Nepop stressed that the latest act of Russian aggression required an adequate response from the international community and called on the Hungarian side to support Ukraine by strengthening sanctions against the Russian Federation, increasing NATOs presence in the Black Sea and terminating the construction of Nord Stream 2, the press service of the Embassy of Ukraine in Hungary reports following the meeting of the ambassador with Hungarian Minister for Innovation and Technology Laszlo Palkovics.

In turn, Palkovics said that Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban had clearly stated that the Hungarian government was pro-Ukrainian and supported Ukraine. As for the issue of Nord Stream 2, Budapest is interested in keeping gas transit through Ukraine, the minister noted.

During the meeting, the launch of Mukachevo-Budapest railway link in the near future and the prospects for new Lviv-Budapest flight were also discussed.

In addition, the parties exchanged views on practical steps for implementation of the infrastructure projects, development of border infrastructure, interaction in the environmental issues and resumption of the work of the commission for scientific and technical cooperation.

olPresident Petro Poroshenko has said that 2.630 million people with disabilities live in Ukraine.

He stated this at the All-Ukrainian meeting dedicated to the issue of proper environment for persons with disabilities, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

I want to remind everyone  its not about a thousand or tens of thousands of people. Its about 2.630 million of our fellow citizens, Poroshenko noted.

According to him, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities is a very good opportunity for both the authorities and local governments, for public organizations and for all citizens to assess what has been done in the sphere of protection of people with disabilities.

At the same time, Poroshenko stressed that the All-Ukrainian Assembly of People with Disabilities and its head Valery Sushkevych at all international platforms draw attention to such a grave consequence of Russian aggression as a violation of the rights of persons with disabilities.

The International Day of Persons with Disabilities was marked on December 3.

iyThe Prosecutor's Office of Georgia has officially brought charges against six Ukrainian citizens and a Georgian national, according to RFE/RL's Echo of the Caucasus.

"The Prosecutor's Office of Georgia has officially filed charges against six Ukrainian citizens and one Georgian citizen detained during a special operation for the acquisition and possession of weapons," the statement said.

It is not clear when a court hearing will be held.

Earlier, the Georgian Interior Ministry reported that Beretta and Makarov pistols, homemade automatic firearms and various types of ammunition had been seized following a search operation in hotel rooms. The investigation continues under articles of the Criminal Code of Georgia regarding the illegal acquisition and possession of firearms, ammunition, explosives or explosive devices by a group of individuals.

According to Georgian TV companies, a detained Georgian citizen - Luka Chkhetia - is a former Georgian soldier who fought for the Donbas volunteer battalion. His father, Sergo Chkhetia, told reporters that his son was about to take part in an opposition protest rally in central Tbilisi.

Earlier, Samopomich Union deputy Semen Semenchenko named Ukrainian citizens detained in Georgia on December 3 - Dmytro Kurahin, Roland Melia, Oleksandr Novikov, Yuriy Korosteliov, Ihor Orlenko, Serhiy Kladko. According to the deputy, Ukrainians arrived in Georgia on November 28-30 to meet with their companions-in-arms with whom they fought in eastern Ukraine. In addition, he said that Ukrainians did not come to Georgia for provocations and that the weapons had been planted.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry confirmed the detention of six Ukrainians in Tbilisi and added that lawyers had been appointed for them.

opUkraine's State Border Guard Service (SBGS) has recommended that Ukrainians refrain from traveling to Russia, at least for the period of martial law imposed in Ukraine.

Oleh Slobodian, an aide to the SBGS chairman, said this live on the Priamy television channel.

"Although the Russian Federation stated that it would not introduce tit-for-tat measures with respect to Ukrainian citizens, we are seeing that Russian border guards, without providing any explanation, refuse entry to Ukrainian citizens," he said.

Slobodian noted that the SBGS acts within legal framework and hands Russians a copy of documents on refusal to cross the state border. The Russian side simply sends Ukrainian citizens back to Ukraine without giving any explanation and without handing over any documents.

"Given the current situation, we anticipate that this is not the only risk for Ukrainian citizens. Another risk is to come under pressure from Russian special services at the border or after crossing it," he said.

Slobodian noted that given this situation, Head of the State Border Guard Service Petro Tsyhykal had recommended that Ukrainians refrain from traveling to Russia "at least for the period when martial law is in force."

He also said that 680 Russian citizens had been banned from entering Ukraine after the introduction of martial law in certain regions of Ukraine.

opQuesto comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

Market Overview:

Transforming urban capes and lifestyle have increased the intake of food preservatives to support the changed eating patterns and ensure nutritional benefits. Mold inhibitors are the right component that can meet the requirements. An unprecedented surge can be witnessed in the global mold inhibitors market generated by sectors such as foods & beverages, bakery & confectionery, meat & meat products, and other food products in the lookout for an increased shelf-life. Fish industry is also experiencing a spurring growth as people have started consuming fish more for its nutritional value. This can result in aquaculture triggering a sizeable demand for the product. Apart from these industries, mold inhibitors enjoy significant demands from paints, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, paper, wood, and leather industries which would inevitably boost the global market during the forecast period (2017-2023), explains Market Research Future (MRFR) in a detailed analysis.

However, a few market deterrents such as the fluctuating price of the raw materials and mold inhibitors mal-effect on the human body can restrain the market for a considerable time span. But with advanced technologies, the sector can expect some results that would definitely go in its favor.

Top Key Players Analysis: The market is witnessing huge potential in mergers and acquisitions, and key players have already started making their move. For instance, to expand the regional range, Kemin has acquired Agri-Marketing Corp and set up a base in Quebec, Canada. Archer-Daniels-Midland Company is also having a business discussion with French company Neovia and can acquire the latter to ensure strong portfolio.

Some of the key of the global Mold Inhibitors Market are E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (U.S.), Associated British Foods Plc (U.K), Kemin Industries, Inc. (U.S.), Niacet Corporation (U.S.), Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (U.S.), BASF SE (Germany), Eastman Chemical Company (U.S.), Handary SA (Belgium), Koninklijke DSM N.V. (the Netherlands), and Hawkins Watts Limited (New Zealand) and others.

Industry Trend: Corbion has recently launched an organic vinegar product that utilizes clean-label buffer along with natural powder products branded as cultured sugar and vinegar. These products contain less sodium and enhance shelf-life protection. These ingredients also save products from pathogens.

Perstorp has recently launched Perfect Mixx, an organic acid-based additive which can help to gain better results in mold inhibition. The product uses esterified organic acids which enhances reliability.

Segmentation: The global mold market inhibitor can be segmented by type, source, and application.

Type-wise segmentation includes natural, and synthetic. Synthetic is widely available and cost-effective, features that have helped it gain the premium position. However, ecological concerns have pushed the demand for natural molding inhibitors demand forward following which, it can enjoy a significant boost.

Source-based market segmentation comprises plant, animal, micro-organism, and others. Animal-based segmentation is dominating the market. Meanwhile, plant for its easy availability is gaining much traction in recent times.

Based on application, the market is segmented into foods & beverages, animal feed, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics & personal care, and others. Food & beverage sector is dominating considerably owing to a demand for better shelf-life that is currently driving the market.

Regional Analysis: Geographically, the mold inhibitors market encircles North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), and Rest-of-the-World (RoW).

North Am erica is currently spearheading the market as countries such as the U.S. generates a huge amount of demand for food products with extended shelf-life. In addition, growing awareness of the natural mold products has also spurred the regional market.

The APAC follows the North American trend closely and assumes the second position. Countries in the region such as India, China, Japan and others are getting slowly exposed to packaged food that will propel the regional market growth. Furthermore, the packaging of seafood can also galvanize the market.

Get a Sample Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/5339December 3, Ukrainians and Norwegians held a rally near the Russian embassy in Oslo in protest against Russia's aggressive actions in the Kerch Strait.

"Many thanks to everyone who today has joined the protest rally NO to Russian aggression! Such a big number of Ukrainians and Norwegians was a very pleasant surprise," reads the post on Facebook account of the Ukrainian community in Norway.

The participants in the action demanded to release all Ukrainian prisoners of the Kremlin, in particular the captured Ukrainian sailors, to stop the occupation of Crimea and the armed aggression in Donbas.

As reported, on November 25, Russian border ships committed the acts of aggression against three Ukrainian ships heading from the port of Odesa to the port of Mariupol. The Russian special forces fired and seized three Ukrainian ships in the Kerch Strait and 24 sailors aboard.

Now Ukrainians in many world countries hold rallies against the latest Russias act of aggression against Ukraine.

Photo: Facebook

olName: Keiko Odashiro from Kobe, Japan

Job title: Ethics officer focusing on protection from sexual exploitation and abuse. More than five years with UNHCR, working in Uganda, South Sudan and Switzerland. Currently based in Geneva.

Why did you become an aid worker?

Before going to college, I went backpacking through Southeast Asia.

At the temple complex at Angkor Wat in Cambodia, I met a girl, aged about six, who was begging in the main street. She had no hands and no feet and had probably been maimed by her parents. When she saw me, she gave me a big, beautiful smile. I felt she is trying to live, she is trying her best. I thought, This girl really has strength and potential. Meeting her moved me. I felt I wanted to help.

Later in my travels, I met a Japanese aid worker who had built a school in Phnom Penh for children who couldnt afford an education. He was doing something constructive and I thought, This is what I want to do. It made me want to work in aid.

After I graduated, I co-founded an NGO working with children and survivors of human trafficking in the Northern Mariana Islands, in the western North Pacific Ocean. I started with UNHCR in 2013 in Uganda. I subsequently worked in South Sudan, before taking up my current post in Geneva.

What are the most rewarding/challenging things about your job?

I was hired by UNHCR specifically to work on protection from sexual exploitation and abuse, or PSEA. That is a positive sign. This is something that we need to do more on.

We operate in 128 countries around the world, and each office is asked to appoint a senior focal point on PSEA, to move the agenda forward. To make a difference.

Every day, we are working to build the trust of the refugees that we work with. Sexual exploitation and abuse is not tolerated as it is a betrayal of the people of concern that we work with. We need to make sure that they know it is wrong if they are asked for sexual favours in exchange for registration, or for aid items, or the promise that they are going to be resettled. They need to know their rights. They also need to know the mechanism to report abuse to us, so that we can take appropriate action.

UNHCR staff member, Keiko Odashiro, meets children and families at Doro refugee camp in Maban, South Sudan.  UNHCR/Eujin Byun

Keiko holds a newborn baby girl from South Sudan at a refugee camp in Uganda.  UNHCR/UNHCR

Keiko meets women displaying their arts and crafts on World Refugee Day in Maban refugee camp, South Sudan. The project was developed to empower women and girls.  UNHCR/UNHCR

Keiko meets the kids at a child's rights club at a school in Maban refugee camp, South Sudan. The children are given awareness-raising sessions about early and forced marriage.  UNHCR/UNHCR

Keiko hosts a focus group for adolescent girls at a camp for internally displaced persons in South Sudan where incidents of children and young people committing suicide had occurred.  UNHCR/UNHCR

Imagine if you depend on aid workers or NGOs for your lifeline. You receive food, you are given shelter, and your basic needs are met by them. When abuse occurs, you have to think, Will reporting it help me or my family, or will it do me more harm?

Most of the reports we receive involve women and young girls. We also work with lesbian, gay, bi- and trans-sexual people.

One of the challenges we have is getting some groups to report abuse, like men and boys. Male survivors are not coming forward. If you grow up in the cultural context in which men dont cry, then being abused brings not just shame on you, but on your whole family. We need to change that culture. We are facing a big wall. You cant really break it down in a day, but we are making progress, and we need to have faith that we can make a difference.

This is the year of Me Too. Gender-based violence never got enough attention. All the media attention with Me Too is positive. We need to ride on that.

What was your worst day at work?

We had a huge issue with child marriage in South Sudan.

A young girl of about 12 years old was kidnapped on the street, raped and then, days later, returned to her parents. She was in very, very bad shape. She was pregnant, bleeding and in need of immediate medical attention, but her parents would not let her go to the clinic.

We tried to reach out to the family but they did not want to deal with us. It was further complicated because they were armed, which is common in the north of the country. They said, This is not your issue, its our child.

We wanted to get her medical care. We also had a case management team, who could have made sure that she was recovering and going to school. As it is, we dont know if she died, or if she survived.

At that age, 12 years old, getting pregnant means your childhood ends there, because you become a mother. Your education stops, your options become very limited and there is a higher likelihood that you will be a victim of domestic violence.

I felt really helpless. I kept asking myself why. Why did this have to happen to a child? That girl could become a doctor. That girl could save many people. That girl could be a teacher, a role model. That girl could be an engineer. That girl could become the president of the country.

What was your best day at work?

Tackling sexual and gender-based violence requires a behavioural change, a change of mindset. When I started working in South Sudan, it was taboo to talk about rape and taboo to talk about child marriage, but that is slowly changing.

There was a day in South Sudan when I realized that what we were doing was having an impact, when a girl escaping a forced marriage came running to us for help.

She was about 13 or 14. First, she ran to the community leaders home, who referred her to UNHCR. With the help of our national staff, who are leading that process of change, we arranged mediation with the family.

See also: Child sexual violence survivor faces bleak future in Niger

The girl subsequently got into school and attended mediation meetings with her parents and community leaders. Then one day she stood up in a meeting and said, in a clear voice in English, in front of everyone, I dont want to get married. We were crying. The community leader was crying. I just thought, Yes! She did it!

She is continuing in school. Her family agreed that she should decide at 18 whether she gets married or not.

The word then got around by word of mouth. Other girls in her situation had a sort of network. They knew where to go to get help. And then more girls started coming to us.

How do I feel about that? I think its great.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, works in 128 countries helping men, women and children driven from their homes by wars and persecution. Our headquarters are in Geneva, but most of our staff are based in the field, helping refugees. This profile is part of a series highlighting our staff and their work.Poroshenko is confident of succeeding.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said Ukraine will defend itself against Russian aggression on its own.

Read alsoPoroshenko accepts resignation of his envoy to Crimea

"Russia has found itself in total isolation. This is the result of our joint international coordination. But let me emphasize: we will defend our country ourselves. And the only thing we are going to seek now is NATO membership to build a defense system (and here it's so important to vote for amendments to the Constitution, making it is a direct task of all authorities in Ukraine  the president, parliament, government) along with membership in the European Union," he told Ukrainian ICTV channel on December 3.

Poroshenko expressed confidence that Ukraine "would succeed."

As UNIAN reported, three Ukrainian vessels were captured on November 25 by Russian forces at sea near the Kerch Strait, which is the only outlet to the Sea of Azov and controls access to two major Ukrainian ports. The two Ukrainian artillery boats and a tugboat were heading from Odesa on the Black Sea to Mariupol on the Sea of Azov. Twenty-four sailors were detained and "courts" in Russian-occupied Crimea ruled that they be detained for two months, pending trial.

On November 29, the sailors were transferred to Moscow's Lefortovo and Matrosskaya Tishina prisons.There is no factor in society now that may instigate a revolution, Hai said.

Civil volunteer, Donbas war veteran, head of the Mir & Co charity fund Myroslav Hai has given his forecasts as for the probability of new Maidan-like protests in Ukraine.

"Only a big tragedy the political leaders of Ukraine could be blamed for may bring Ukrainians to the streets. However, this is quite difficult to do without the anger of people being switched to Russia," the expert said during an online Q&A session with the Ukrainian news outlet Glavred's readers.

In his opinion, such a turn of events is possible if Russia provokes a new large-scale tragedy like the downing of a plane with Ukrainian paratroopers or new encirclement of Ukrainian troops, which would be accompanied by information and psychological warfare.

Read alsoParubiy reveals some Maidan leaders had Plan B

"That is, people may gather for Maidan [protests] over a big tragedy like in Vradiyivka [protests triggered by local police's crimes], the Ilovaisk 'pocket' [Russia's brutal attack that took lives of 366 Ukrainian soldiers and left 429 wounded], and others. But I'm not sure if this could be a revolution. Because there is no factor in society now that may instigate a revolution," the volunteer said.

Hai also reiterated the failed attempts of mass protests in Ukraine, initiated by leader of the Movement of New Forces Party in Ukraine, ex-Governor of Ukraine's Odesa region and ex-President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili and the so-called Euroblachers [nominal owners of cars with foreign registration brought into Ukrainian customs territory who pressed for legalization of their vehicles in Ukraine without payment of customs clearance costs].

"If these rallies are compared to the Maidan when hundreds of thousands of people, a million came out  that was a protest. And today's rallies are not revolutions. Russia has been trying to provoke revolutionary uprisings here, but two or three 'cripples' come out, and that's all," Hai added.Ukraine also expressed its strong protest at the International Maritime Organization over Russia's recent attack on Ukrainian boats in the Black Sea.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said Ukraine is going to lodge a lawsuit with the International Court of Justice to make Russia liable for a recent act of aggression in the Black Sea.

"A lawsuit is being prepared for the International Court of Justice over the act of aggression. This file has already been registered. [It seeks] the Russian Federation's liability for aggression against our state," he told Ukrainian ICTV channel on December 3.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukraine's delegation expressed its strong protest at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) over Russia's armed attack on three Ukrainian Navy vessels near the Kerch Strait in the Black Sea on November 25.NATO allies are also now investing more in defence.

Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Jens Stoltenberg says NATO has implemented the biggest reinforcement of its collective defence since the end of the Cold War.

"NATO has implemented the biggest reinforcement of our collective defence since the end of the Cold War, with higher readiness of our armed forces, with combat battalions in the eastern part of the Alliance. Allies are also now investing more in defence. NATO Allies are strengthening our collective defence as a direct response to what we have seen Russia has done against Ukraine," he said ahead of meetings of NATO Foreign Ministers in Brussels on December 4, 2018.

Read alsoNATO chief condemns Russia's use of force against Ukrainian sailors

He also mentioned NATO's support of Ukraine.

"All Allies and NATO provide strong political support and strong practical support to Ukraine. Ukraine is not a NATO member but we strongly support Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity," he said. "NATO Allies will also continue to help modernise and strengthen the Ukrainian armed forces. NATO is also helping with different trust funds on cyber, on command and control, and we also help to modernise the Ukrainian Navy. Then I think we also have to remember that because of the aggressive actions of Russia against Ukraine, illegally annexing Crimea, destabilizing eastern Ukraine and now we have also seen what they have tried to do in the Sea of Azov."

In addition, Stoltenberg called on Russia to free recently captured Ukrainian sailors. "We also call on Russia to release the sailors and the ships they have seized," he said.

As UNIAN reported, three Ukrainian vessels were captured on November 25 by Russian forces at sea near the Kerch Strait, which is the only outlet to the Sea of Azov and controls access to two major Ukrainian ports. The two Ukrainian artillery boats and a tugboat were heading from Odesa on the Black Sea to Mariupol on the Sea of Azov. Twenty-four sailors were detained and "courts" in Russian-occupied Crimea ruled that they be detained for two months, pending trial.

On November 29, the sailors were transferred to Moscow's Lefortovo and Matrosskaya Tishina prisons.Since being deployed by the previous Conservative government in the wake of Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, Canadian troops have trained almost 8,000 Ukrainian soldiers.

Canada is being asked to renew its military training mission to Ukraine  a proposal that's taking on a whole new level of urgency as border tension ramps up with Russia.

Canada's deployment of 200 soldiers is up for renewal in March, Canada's CBC News reported.

Moscow seized three Ukrainian naval ships and their crews Sunday in waters off Russian-annexed Crimea. Tensions in the region  particularly over the Kerch Strait  have been building for months and aren't likely to dissipate soon, said Ukraine's ambassador to Canada in an interview with CBC News.

Read alsoRussia partially unlocks Ukrainian ports in Sea of Azov  Omelyan

"All of these provocations by Russia, they are a good reason to reinforce what we already do," said Andriy Shevchenko. "We expect and hope Canada will renew its Operation Unifier, which is this wonderful training mission that Canada has in Ukraine."

Since being deployed by the previous Conservative government in the wake of Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, Canadian troops have trained almost 8,000 Ukrainian soldiers in advanced small combat team skills, bomb disposal, medical care and military policing.

The operation comes under the umbrella of the Multinational Joint Commission, which includes Canada, Ukraine, Britain and the United States. It is not a NATO mission, but its intention is to bring Ukrainian forces up to the standard of Western militaries.

Shevchenko suggested there is a political imperative to remaining engaged in his country because of its upcoming elections.

"Next year is going to be a very important year in Ukraine," he said. "We'll have our presidential election, our parliamentary election. I say it will be a workshop to learn how Russia is going to interfere in the politics of other countries."

And countering that interference "is the kind of experience we would like to share with our Western friends."

The not-so-subtle message is that Canada, with a federal election of its own happening next year, would benefit from staying involved in Ukraine, Senior Defence Writer for CBC News Murray Brewster writes.

The Liberal government has not said whether it will renew the training mission. It will be subjected to a standard policy review this winter.

Canada's top military commander, Gen. Jonathan Vance, told CBC Radio's The House on Saturday that events surrounding the Kerch Strait and the subsequent imposition of martial law in 10 Ukrainian provinces (known as oblasts) "won't have an immediate impact on our mission."

Increased tension with Russia, however, is something policymakers will note.

"It will certainly be taken into consideration as the government looks to the future with any of its engagements in Ukraine," Vance said.

"It may very well change the dynamic at the government level in Ukraine. They're approaching an election, the imposition of martial law  all of that will have an impact in Ukraine."Tsygykal stressed that citizens of Russia or other countries who work for Russian special services may come from European countries.

Head of the Ukrainian Border Guard Service Petro Tsygykal has said his agency has asked heads of the border agencies of the neighboring countries in the west to beef up border security.

Read alsoAlmost 100 Russians refused entry to Ukraine in past day

"I've signed letters addressing almost all the heads of the border agencies of the countries we border: Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania... We asked the senior officials of those countries' border structures to beef up border security on their side for us to introduce joint measures. Since we are sending part of our units to strengthen the east, we have slightly weakened the security system in the west," he said in an interview to UA:TV.

According to him, the Ukrainian border service conducts thorough checks of people crossing the state border in the western part of Ukraine. Tsygykal stressed that citizens of Russia or other countries who work for Russian special services may also come from European countries.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukraine barred Russian men aged 16-60 from entry for the entire period of martial law until December 26.Compromised e-mails, infected with malware, had been sent to computers in various bodies of the country's judiciary system.

The security service of Ukraine successfully blocked an attempt by Russian intelligence to carry out a large-scale cyberattack on information and telecommunication systems of Ukraine's judicial authorities.

The SBU experts spotted that the cyberattack had begun by sending emails with malware-infected fake accounting documents attached to them. After the files were opened, malicious software penetrated the affected computers in a concealed way to ensure unauthorized interference with judicial information systems and theft of confidential information, the SBU press service reported.

Read alsoRussian disinformation on Facebook targeted Ukraine well before 2016 U.S. election - WP

According to the agency, the malware detected was connected to control and command servers, which, in particular, had Russian IP addresses.

"According to the experts, the plan of the Russian intelligence was to hinder the stable functioning of Ukraine's judicial information system. Thanks to joint efforts with the State Judicial Administration and the State Special Communications Services, we managed to localize the effect of the cyberattack and prevent its further spread," the report said.Ukraine has made progress on reforms, Stoltenberg says.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says the organization recognizes Ukraine's aspirations to become member of the Alliance.

"We also restated NATOs solidarity with Ukraine. We recognize Ukraines aspirations to join the Alliance," Stoltenberg told a press conference in Brussels following the meeting of the North Atlantic Council with Georgia and Ukraine in Foreign Ministers' session on Tuesday, according to an UNIAN correspondent.

The NATO chief says "progress has already been made on reforms" in Ukraine, while "challenges remain."

Read alsoNATO sees biggest reinforcement of collective defence since end of Cold War  Stoltenberg

"[W]e encourage Ukraine to continue on this path of reform. This is crucial for prosperity and peace in Ukraine," said Stoltenberg.

He also noted that the Allies "greatly value our unique partnerships with Georgia and Ukraine."

"In different ways, each of them contributes to our shared security. And NATO remains committed to strengthening our ties with both countries," Stoltenberg said.This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For over 14 years and 30,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

Frozen Fruits and Vegetables Market Overview:

The changing lifestyle and work culture have infused the need for convenience food which is likely to drive the market growth for frozen fruits and vegetables. The increasing product offering of frozen fruits and vegetables coupled with easy availability in stores will complement the expansion of the market over the next couple of years. Furthermore, the introduction of Ready to Eat (RTE) products cut down the task of peeling and slicing which is likely to aid global frozen fruits and vegetables market proliferation. The catalyzed demand for RTE food is poised to accelerate the sales of frozen spinach and legumes. The frozen fruits and vegetables industry leaders facilitate the supply of seasonal products throughout the year which has accelerated revenue generation from the market and is likely to continue the trend over the assessment period. The growing demand for confectionery, bakery and dairy products will propel the revenue creation from frozen fruits segment of the market due to increased sales of kiwi and apricots.

The technological innovations adopted by the industry leaders for preserving the nutritional content and taste of fruits and vegetables while enhancing shelf life will further propel the market growth globally. However, some loss of nutrition during freezing is inevitable which is likely to hold the market growth during the review period. Other factors responsible for hampering the growth of frozen fruits and vegetables market include preferences for fresh fruits and vegetables, impacts on the environment, etc.

Major Key Players Analysis: The key players profiled by MRFR in its report include Dole (U.S.), HJ Heinz (US), Simplot Australia PTY Ltd (Australia), Ardo NV (Belgium), General Mills (U.S.), Pinnacle Foods Corp. (US), Findus Sverige AB, (Sweden), and Bonduelle Group (France) among others. The strategies employed by the key players for gaining prominence in the market include the increased supply of products, competitive pricing, packaging innovations, acquisitions and mergers, product developments, etc.

Industry Developments: In July 2018, Patanjali, an Indian consumer goods company, has announced its plan to foray into frozen vegetables market. The company has successfully launched a couple of products and is planning to add 6-7 more vegetables to its frozen vegetables product line.

Market segmentation: By type, the Global Frozen Fruits and Vegetables Market is segmented into fruits and vegetables.

By form, the frozen fruits and vegetables market has been segmented into whole, pureed, dried, and others.

By application, the global frozen fruits and vegetables market is segmented into fruits and vegetables. The fruits segment is sub-segmented into fruit juices & smoothies, breakfast cereals, salads & desserts, bakery foods, yogurts, and others. The vegetables segment has further been sub-segmented into pizza toppings, salads, Ready to Eat Food (RTE), noodles & pastas, soups, and others.

By packaging, the frozen fruits and vegetables market has been segmented into <10 kgs, >10-15 kgs,15-30 kgs, and >30 kgs.

Regional Analysis: By region, the Frozen Fruits and Vegetables Market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and South America. Asia Pacific will hold the largest share of market size during the projection period which accounts for more than 50% of the market size. The increase in per capita income coupled with a rising population will drive the market growth in the region. Furthermore, the consolidation of emerging economies such as India and China will encourage the Asia Pacific frozen fruits and vegetables market expansion.

North America and Europe market will witness growth due to technological advancements in preserving the frozen fruits and vegetables with minimum loss of nutrients. The changing lifestyle in these regions has fueled the demand for convenience food which will catapult market growth in Europe and North America.

South America market will thrive moderately due to the presence of emerging markets such as Brazil and Mexico among others. The region will hold potential for growth throughout the forecast period.

Get a Sample Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/728Spinning fake stories about Ukraine can be compared to the release of TV series, on which the entire 'Kremlinwood' has been working.

Deputy Minister of Information Policy of Ukraine Dmytro Zolotukhin took part in an expert discussion on preventing third-party interference in electoral processes in Ukraine and across European Union held in Brussels Dec 3.

The event was organized by the Permanent Missions of Ukraine and Poland to the EU, according to the press service of Ukraine's Ministry of Information Policy.

At a session dedicated to enhancing resilience to hostile disinformation on the eve of an election, the Deputy Minister noted that at the moment, the government is only able to implement a few mechanisms: monitoring the developments and explaining them to citizens. According to Mr Zolotukhin, as Russian propaganda is constantly repeating itself, disseminating fake news in the framework of the same narratives, it is important to have an understanding of the Kremlin's previous special information operations carried out during the pre-election period.

Read alsoRussia massively employing social networks to sow panic as Ukraine introduces martial law

"Spinning fake stories about Ukraine can be compared to the release of TV series, on which the entire 'Kremlinwood' has been working. Each 'series' of Russian disinformation is divided into 'seasons,' which is a more complex set of ideas within the 'series.' Among such series of Russian propaganda are: ISIS-Ukraine ties, Ukraine Army crimes, MH17 crash, NATO troops in Donbas, Ukraine as a failed state, etc." said Zolotukhin.

During the expert discussion, it was noted that Russia is constantly improving and diversifying the technologies and tools of hazardous and harmful interference, including in the functioning of critical infrastructure. The participants concluded that mass media and social networks should not be used to change political systems in independent states and manipulate public opinion.

The Ukrainian-Polish initiative was intended to help develop effective mechanisms of coordination between Ukraine and the European Union to prevent third countries (in particular, the Russian Federation) from interfering in the presidential and parliamentary elections in Ukraine, as well as the European Parliament elections in 2019.Eight individuals have been informed that they are suspects in the criminal case launched earlier.

The Prosecutor-General's Office (PGO) of Ukraine has presented a re-enactment of the Russian Coast Guard's attack on the Ukrainian naval vessels near the Kerch Strait.

The investigation collected 17 volumes of evidence proving that Russia had committed an act of aggression against the Ukrainian Navy, PGP spokesperson Larysa Sargan wrote on Facebook, according to LB.ua.

In particular, we interviewed 75 witnesses (Navy Command, officers on duty and their assistants, the crews of the Horlivka and Balta ships, and other military officials), as well as three victims  relatives of the wounded sailors; made 51 reviews of documents and websites; inspected two ships (Horlivka and Balta), which returned to the port of Odesa; obtained evidence [in the form ] of radio communications between the ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the Border Service of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), the Russian air force and air defense about the aggressive actions, the attacks on the Ukrainian Navy vessels and their crews; the voice samples of the main witnesses, the crews of the Horlivka and Balta ships were taken; and warrants for temporary access to items and documents in Odesa and Kyiv were received," she reported.

Eight individuals have been informed that they are suspects in the criminal case launched earlier.

Read alsoCaptured Ukrainian Navy men have status of "prisoners of war"  Ukrainian prosecutor

Among them are Adm Gennadiy Medvedev, chief of the Coast Guard and deputy chief of the FSB's border guard service; Alexey Salyaev, commander of the Don coast guard ship (that rammed a Ukrainian tug); and Andrei Shipykin, commander of the Izumrud coast guard ship (that fired on the Ukrainian vessels).

Also, according to the PGO press secretary, the court issued subpoenas for all the suspects to attend a court hearing on putting them into custody.

In the near future, the notices of suspicion are expected to be served to over 10 servicemen of the Russian Black Sea fleet, the FSB border guard service, the air force and air defense, ranging from junior officers to generals.

As reported earlier, on Nov 25, the Ukrainian Navy's small armoured artillery boats Berdyansk and Nikopol, as well as the Yany Kapu tugboat were sailing from the Black Sea port of Odea to Mariupol on the Sea of Azov. Four Russian coast guard ships intercepted the group near the Kerch Strait. The Russian border ship, Don, rammed the Ukrainian tugboat, damaging it.

Read alsoPressure exerted on captured Ukrainian sailors to get "confessions" - lawyer

The Ukrainian naval group decided to continue their journey since they were acting within the framework of international maritime law. When the boats approached the Kerch Strait, Russia announced that the passage was closed.

The Ukrainian crews then reversed and started moving towards the exit from the strait, but the Russian ships began the pursuit. They opened fire and eventually captured the ships and their crews. On Nov 27-28, a Russia-controlled court in Crimea arrested all the Ukrainian sailors, including the injured ones, for 60 days. They were accused of "illegally crossing the Russian border".

Ukraine informed the United Nations Tribunal for the Law of the Sea on the aggression of the Russian Federation in the Kerch Strait. Also, Ukraine is preparing to file a lawsuit with the International Court of Justice.

The State Duma of the Russian Federation decided to award the border guards who had seized the Ukrainian vessels.Klimkin will hold a meeting with his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto at the OSCE ministerial summit in Milan.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said that Kyiv will firmly defend its interests in the row with Hungary, at the same time doing everything to help the Hungarian community in Ukraine.

Speaking with journalists following a Tuesday meeting of NATO foreign ministers with top diplomats from Ukraine and Georgia in Brussels, Klimkin noted that he would hold a meeting with his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto at the OSCE ministerial summit in Milan, according to an UNIAN correspondent.

After consultations held this week  both comprehensive consular consultations and economic consultations  we are on an upward trajectory, there are serious questions to be further discussed. But we understand what can be done; our Hungarian colleagues understood that we have a consistent position: on the one hand, we will firmly defend our interests, and on the other, we will do everything to help our Hungarian community, the minister said.

Klimkin expressed his conviction that the discussion with the Hungarian side was very productive, and noted that on Dec 6, he would tell about the results of the negotiations after meeting with Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijjarto in Milan.

Read alsoKlimkin predicts thaw in relations with Hungary in near future

But even today, when speaking during the ministerial meeting, he [Szijjarto] also expressed hope that we will have further steps and real progress, Klimkin said.

As UNIAN reported earlier, relations between Ukraine and Hungary deteriorated after the Verkhovna Rada adopted a new law on education in 2017.

Hungary has been blocking Ukraine-NATO Commission meetings, alleging that the language provision of the law on education, which stipulates that the national language is the language of the educational process in educational institutions violate the rights of Hungarians living in Ukraine.

The Hungarian Foreign Minister demanded that Ukraine amend the law on education and postpone its implementation until 2023, otherwise Budapest will block important meetings for Ukraine at the level of the European Union and NATO

Read alsoIssues with Hungary should not affect UA cooperation with NATO, EU - Poland

In addition, after the situation with the secret distribution of Hungarian passports to Ukrainians in Zakarpattia region, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said that Ukraine could expel the Hungarian Consul in Berehove and would continue implementing the pro-Ukrainian policy in the region. In turn, Szijjarto threatened to resort to new measures to hinder the European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine.

On October 4, the Hungarian Consul in the town of Berehove was declared persona non grata. He had to leave the territory of Ukraine within the following 72 hours. In a retaliation move, Hungary announced the expulsion of the Ukrainian Consul in Budapest.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on November 15 echoed Vladimir Putin in claiming that it was impossible to reach an agreement with today's leadership of Ukraine. He expressed hope that following presidential elections scheduled for 2019, it will be easier for Budapest to come to terms with Ukraine leaders.Prodan is suspected of embezzling about US$3.2 million to buy two apartments, two houses in Turkey and three cars.

Kyiv's Solomyansky district court has ruled that former head of Ukraine's State Fiscal Service Myroslav Prodan who is charged with illicit enrichment be released as nine Members of Parliament act as surety for him.

At the same time, Prodan is not allowed to change his place of residence and is obliged to wear an ankle monitor, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Ukrainian service reported.

This ruling was announced by Judge Iryna Usatova in the early hours of December 4.

Nine lawmakers seven of whom were present in the courtroom act as surety for Prodan.

The Specialized Anti-corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO), which has been probing into the Prodan case, insisted that the court should remand the suspect in custody for 60 days and alternatively set bail at UAH 89 million (about US$3.2 million).

Read alsoUkraine's fiscal service acting head Prodan resigns

It was the amount spent by Prodan to buy property with embezzled funds, SAPO prosecutor Serhiy Kozachyna said in court. According to him, Prodan bought real estate and other assets in Ukraine and Turkey, acting by proxy.

His family's official income for this period and declared savings totaled about UAH 7 million (about US$250,000), but the expenses were more than ten times higher, the prosecutor said.

Moreover, according to the prosecutors, Prodan purposely went abroad where he had his health checked in a German hospital to avoid summoning for interrogations.

For his part, Prodan argued that he returned from the EU to Ukraine on November 26 because he was not hiding from court and investigators. According to him, he does not want to leave his pregnant wife and a small child unattended and is ready to defend himself in court.

What is more, Prodan's lawyers accused the prosecutors of illegally obtaining evidence, violating the requirements of the law during a call for interrogation. Moreover, they insist that the evidence gathered by the SAPO is inconsistent.

On November 16, the SAPO indicted Prodan in absentia; he is suspected of illicit enrichment. SAPO prosecutors said Prodan had not appeared for investigative and procedural actions, and also did not provide evidence that he was abroad for valid reasons.

Prodan is suspected that while working as head of the State Fiscal Service, he embezzled UAH 89 million to buy two apartments, two houses in Turkey and three cars.Lutsenko promised to disclose the identity of the mastermind behind the assassination as soon as the investigators had enough evidence.

Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko has named a key figure in organizing a deadly acid attack on Kherson activist Kateryna Handziuk, having disclosed only his second name.

"Another very important indictment has been brought against citizen Levin, who is known in the criminal world aka Moskal Jr. This man was [earlier] convicted along with his father. His father was sentenced to life imprisonment. And the son was sentenced to 15 years for organizing murders and attacks on drivers in Kherson region. The total number of proven killings was 15 people," Lutsenko said at a meeting of law enforcement chiefs in Odesa, an UNIAN correspondent reported.

The prosecutor general added that Levin had been set free on parole under the so-called Savchenko Law," "but we suspect this was not justified."

Read alsoHandziuk murder: Kherson regional council claim chief on vacation, refuting allegations of "fleeing justice"

The Savchenko Law, developed by MP Nadiia Savchenko, provided that one day of pretrial detention had to be counted as two days of imprisonment. Later this rule was abolished in June 2017.

Lutsenko noted that Levin, according to investigators, is a key figure in organizing the acid attack.

As for the mastermind behind the assassination, the prosecutor general said the investigation had many theories, but most of them came down to specific individuals, however he promised to disclose their identities when the indictment was ready. "At the moment, the news is that another side of the attack on Handziuk was citizen Levin, in addition to the organizer who has already been indicted," Lutsenko said.

According to him, Levin fled Ukraine on the day when the detentions in the Handziuk case began, and now measures are being taken to detain him abroad.

However, he assured the absence of Levin in Ukraine would not affect the investigation, "which is close to provide legal grounds to convict the customer." Lutsenko also said the investigation had agreed on the key theory: "We see a motive that links both an assistant to an MP and a criminal boss, thus we see the one who ordered [the assassination]."

Lutsenko promised to disclose the identity of the mastermind behind the assassination as soon as the investigators had enough evidence.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Kherson activist, adviser to the Mayor of Kherson and acting manager of affairs at Kherson City Council's executive committee Kateryna Handziuk on July 31 survived an act of acid throwing. Handziuk's injury was over 30% of the total body surface area, and doctors assessed her condition as serious.

She was transferred to a Kyiv hospital, where she died on November 4 after long treatment. She reportedly died of a blood clot.

Police originally qualified the attack on the official as an attempted murder committed with extreme cruelty, then its status was changed to completed murder.

Six suspects were detained, one of whom, Mykola Novikov, was later released from custody as charges against him were dropped.

Three suspects  Vyacheslav Vishnevsky, Volodymyr Vasyanovych, and Viktor Horbunov  are now under house arrest.

The alleged organizer of the assassination, Serhiy Torbin, remains in custody. His arrest has recently been extended until December 3. Mykyta Hrabchuk, another suspect in the case, is also under arrest.

On November 5, the media reported that Torbin had allegedly received money for the attack on Handziuk from Ihor Pavlovsky, an assistant to Member of Parliament from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc parliamentary faction Mykola Palamarchuk.

Palamarchuk in turn dismissed any accusations of his possible involvement in the assassination attempt on the activist. He also said he had dismissed Pavlovsky.

On November 12, a court detained Pavlovsky until December 3. According to the SBU Security Service, he is suspected of complicity in the Handziuk murder.

Lutsenko announced on December 3 that the investigators had identified all the individuals who had ordered the assassination.Ukraine offered to hand over 23 Russian detainees in exchange for 23 Ukrainian political prisoners held in Russia, as well as to pardon 66 so-called separatists in exchange for the release of 19 Ukrainian military held by Russian-backed militants in Donbas.

Russian delegation at the Donbas settlement talks in Minsk refused Ukraine's offer to exchange hostages on December 27, according to first deputy chair of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's humanitarian envoy to the Trilateral Contact Group, Iryna Gerashchenko.

"The Ukrainian side once again conveyed its proposal to release the arrested Russians in exchange for Ukrainians held in Russian prisons and to pardon separatists in exchange for Ukrainians held in the occupied territories. We passed specific lists and proposals in the format of 23/23 and 66/19 with a proposal to release our military and civilians from the occupied regions of Ukraine ahead of the New Year and Christmas holidays," Gerashchenko wrote on Facebook.

Read alsoEU calls on Russia and Ukraine to pursue detainees swap by year-end

"We are ready to repeat last years success and hold the next stage of liberation on December 27. Unfortunately, the Russian Federation and its puppets refused another initiative of Ukraine and thwarted the proposal to release Ukrainians. Responsibility for blocking hostage release lays completely on the Russian side," she emphasized.

As UNIAN reported earlier, on December 27, 2017, a hostage exchange was held in Donbas. Ukraine handed over 233 convicts detained in connection with the war in the east who had been serving their sentences in Ukrainian prisons in exchange for 73 Ukrainian hostages. Among the released Ukrainian hostages were 32 military and 41 civilians.Three enemy troops were killed and another three were wounded, intelligence reports say.

Russia's hybrid military forces mounted 14 attacks on Ukrainian army positions in Donbas in the past 24 hours, with two Ukrainian soldiers reported as wounded in action.

Read alsoRussian proxies shell Ukraine Army positions three times on Monday

"Two Ukrainian soldiers were wounded in the past day. According to intelligence reports, three occupiers were killed and another three were wounded," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation said in an update published on Facebook as of 07:00 Kyiv time on December 4, 2018.

Russian occupation forces opened aimed fire from grenade launchers, heavy machine guns and small arms, attacking the defenders of the town of Avdiyivka, and the villages of Krymske, Troyitske, Stepne, Slavne, Chermalyk, Vodiane, and Hnutove.

The enemy also employed 82mm mortars twice to attack the defenders of Krymske, while 120mm mortars were used to shell the Ukrainian fortified positions near the village of Pisky.

"Since Tuesday midnight, Russian-led forces haven't attacked the Ukrainian positions yet," the report said.The chamber's security and anti-corruption committee would look into the matter of honouring the troops.

The speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament plans to give state awards to the border guards who fired on and seized three Ukrainian vessels and 24 sailors a week ago, Russian media say.

Vyacheslav Volodin said they acted "faultlessly, courageously" to thwart what Russia describes as a violation of its maritime border in the Black Sea, according to the BBC.

Ukraine and Western countries have condemned the incident as a flagrant violation of international law.

They deny it was in Russia's waters.

Read alsoUkraine to lodge lawsuit with International Court of Justice over Russian aggression in Black Sea

It was the most dangerous clash between the two since Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in March 2014.

At least three of the 24 Ukrainian service personnel were injured in the incident, and all were detained for 60 days.

Mr. Volodin said, quoted by RIA news agency: "I want to emphasise that this is the opinion of all the political factions in the State Duma - our border guards conducted themselves faultlessly, they courageously and efficiently carried out the task of protecting our borders, and followed all international norms and rules."

The chamber's security and anti-corruption committee would look into the matter of honouring the troops, he added.

This is not the first time Russia has proposed state awards for internationally controversial figures.

In March 2015 one of the suspects in the 2006 murder in London of the Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, Andrei Lugovoi, was given a medal for "services to the Motherland" by President Vladimir Putin.December 4 2018

The Glasgow Institute of Architects have published the winners of this years Alexander Thomson scholarship competition, which tasked entrants with imaging what the city might look like in the year 2168.

Peering into his crystal ball Craig Higgins won out with a topical vision of the hollowed husk of Glasgow School of Art standing amidst a shattered landscape populated by beggars.

Look Down presents a bleak vision of the city 150 years from now in order to raise awareness of contemporary ills, with Higgins advancing the view that the city is not about buildings but the people who inhabit them. He warns that todays focus on gentrification and conservation risks expanding an underclass of the dispossessed, as architects too often turn a blind eye to the problems around them by fixing their gaze upwards.

Higgins wrote: We live and practice in a city where we no longer even look at the homeless sleeping around our feet because our eyes are fixated on the bricks and mortar above us. The tenements that were built to alleviate the conditions of the poorest in society are now preserved for the affluent, while todays poor make do with cheap imitations.

We forget that the buildings we worship were built for and by the people of Glasgow. We stop dead in our tracks to mourn the loss of a beloved building, and dedicate millions to its restoration, but stride past those in our city who are living in constant need. I hope in 150 years that we as a profession will have learned once again to stop and look down.

GIA guest judge Toby Patterson praised the work for conveying issues of today through the lens of tomorrow, adding that science fiction is always really about the present and concluding that righteous anger can be turned to positive effect.December 4 2018

Taylor Wimpey with Optimised Environments have filed plans with Inverclyde Council for a mix of 100 private and affordable homes at Planetreetetts, Kilmacolm.

Situated in an existing residential area close to the village centre the development will include a new area of open space at the corner of Finlaystone Road and Quarry Road.

Lesley McVeigh, strategic land and planning manager for Taylor Wimpey West Scotland, commented: We are delighted to be submitting this planning application, which followed extensive community engagement, and aims to deliver a vibrant and sustainable residential development.

There are many from Kilmacolm who want to stay in the village but are not currently able to do so due to a shortage of appropriate housing.

The site will also connect to the National Cycle Network.The Eurogroup an informal body comprising finance ministers of the eurozone expressed its concern on Tuesday over the slow reduction of public debt in certain members of the euro area, issuing a statement regarding the countries' submitted draft budgets for 2019

BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th December, 2018) The Eurogroup an informal body comprising finance ministers of the eurozone expressed its concern on Tuesday over the slow reduction of public debt in certain members of the euro area, issuing a statement regarding the countries' submitted draft budgets for 2019.

"The Eurogroup reiterates that a slow pace of debt reduction from high levels in a number of Member States remains a matter for concern and should be decisively addressed ... The Eurogroup recalls in this context that the focus on sufficient debt reduction and the adjustment towards the MTO [Medium-Term Budgetary Objectives] are an integral part of the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP)," the group said in a press release.

However, the European ministers also noted that for the first time ever all members of the euro zone are expected to have their budget deficit below 3 percent of GDP in 2019.

The Eurogroup brings together the finance ministers of the European Union members that have adopted euro as their national Currency along with the body's president, the vice president of the European Commission charged with economic and monetary policy and the president of the European Central Bank (ECB).

During their regular, usually monthly, and informal meetings, the ministers address some of the key economic and financial issues concerning the euro zone.

The EU financial and fiscal rules the Stability and Growth Pact stipulate that the members' budget deficit must not exceed 3 percent of GDP and that the country must also have a public debt that is below 60 percent of its GDP. The member states who fail to comply with these rules must take measures to reduce the deficit.

The 2019 Draft Budgetary Plans (DBPs) demonstrated that as many as 10 euro zone members are planning to have a surplus next year, which is expected to help the euro area lower its debt-to-GDP ratio to 85 percent in 2019 from 87 percent in 2018, according to the European Commission's forecast.Lebanon and Iraq agreed on the need to build power transmission lines and railroads, as well as to develop oil and gas transportation capacities for effective use of the Lebanon's transit potential, the press service of the Lebanese Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

BEIRUT (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th December, 2018) Lebanon and Iraq agreed on the need to build power transmission lines and railroads, as well as to develop oil and gas transportation capacities for effective use of the Lebanon 's transit potential, the press service of the Lebanese Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

This agreement was reached at the meeting of Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil and Iraqi President Barham Salih.

"An agreement was reached on the need to link once again Lebanon and Iraq by railroads and lines for transporting oil, gas and electricity, as well was to create joint projects that will enable Lebanon to serve as a gateway for transit trade with Iraq and for Iraq's to access Western markets," press service said in a statement.

Bassil is currently on an official visit to Baghdad, where he has met with the Iraqi leadership and discussed bilateral relations of Lebanon and Iraq and joint economic projects.

Railroads in Lebanon have been lacking since the civil war in the country. It was repeatedly reported by local media that the Lebanese government intended to restore a railroad that could link the country's major ports with industrial areas. Moreover, the Lebanese authorities expect a railroad to contribute to increase transit trade from Europe through Syria to Jordan, Iraq and the Gulf States.(@rukhshanmir)

Many Swiss companies are doing good business in Pakistan and more are interested to explore Pakistan for partnerships and investment as they consider Pakistan a potential market for business activities.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Dec, 2018 ) :Many Swiss companies are doing good business in Pakistan and more are interested to explore Pakistan for partnerships and investment as they consider Pakistan a potential market for business activities.

These views were expressed by Deputy Head of Mission, Switzerland Embassy Bernhard Furger during an interaction with local business community here at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI).

He accompanied Beat Ineichen, Senior consultant (South Asia) of Switzerland Global Enterprise which is an umbrella organization of Switzerland to promote the Swiss exports and joint ventures of the Swiss companies in other countries.

Speaking at the occasion, Beat Ineichen said the Western media was not projecting good image of Pakistan while things here were much better.

He said that he wanted to bring more Swiss companies to Pakistan so that they could see the real potential of Pakistan and explore business partnerships.

He said the initiatives of the new government in Pakistan have created positive sentiment in foreign investors.

He said that Swiss companies were interested in booming sectors in Pakistan and in the first phase they were looking for partners to promote exports to Pakistan while in the second phase they could come to Pakistan with technology transfer to invest in promising sectors of Pakistan's economy.

He said that Swiss advanced technology, expertise and knowledge would benefit Pakistan, especially its SMEs. He said the purpose of his visit was to study Pakistan's market for partnerships and investment.

Speaking at the occasion, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry Ahmed Hassan Moughal briefed the delegation about the potential business opportunities in various sectors of Pakistan's economy.

He identified automobile, construction, energy, oil and gas, mining, IT, hoteling and tourism as potential areas for JVs and investment for Swiss companies. He emphasized that Swiss investors should bring technology and cooperate with Pakistan in hydro power, renewable energy, dairy farming, construction of new five star hotels and housing units.

Senior Vice President Rafat Faridsaid that Switzerland was quite strong in tourism while Pakistan has great potential for tourism which still remained untapped. They stressed that Swiss companies of tourism sector should set up joint ventures in Pakistan for promoting its tourism industry.The first batch of senior students and alumni of Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET) here on Tuesday recalled their memories while visiting the campus on the invitation of varsity management.

HYDERABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Dec, 2018 ) :The first batch of senior students and alumni of Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET) here on Tuesday recalled their memories while visiting the campus on the invitation of varsity management.

The first batch was passed out in 1971 and during the campus's visit after 51 years, emotional scenes witnessed when the group of around 80 senior students and alumni went round different parts of the campus specially the hostel rooms.

The Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Muhammad Aslam Uqaili while welcoming the visiting senior students and alumni said that after passage of 51 years then engineering college turned into one of the best higher learning institutions of the country and imparting quality education to the students.

The passed out graduates are not only playing pivotal role for the country's development, but they also earned good name of the motherland with their outstanding professional skills abroad, he said.Despite hurdles, the university management continuously striving for bringing more improvement in the campus, he added.

While briefing the development plans of the campus, the Vice Chancellor informed that the university management had received a plot of land in Karachi and after establishing Jacobabad Campus of the university, the construction for setting up another campus in Karachi would be kicked off.

The graduate engineer of 1971 batch, Iqbal Tareen underlined the need of learning lessons from the past with formation of new strategy in the field of education. The students must realise their responsibility and adopt new technologies with setting up their future in private sector except to make their future in dark while wasting time for getting government jobs, he advised.

Among others, senior students including Ghulam Nabi Morai and Iqbal Memon also shared their memories and called upon the students to concentrate on their education so that they could play their due role for the country's progress and prosperity.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Minister of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination, Aamer Mehmood Kiyani Monday visited Federal Government Polyclinic (FGPC) hospital to review the service delivery system of the hospital.

ISLAMABAD,(UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Dec, 2018 ) :Minister of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination, Aamer Mehmood Kiyani Monday visited Federal Government Polyclinic (FGPC) hospital to review the service delivery system of the hospital.

he directed the hospital staff to ensure their attendance and issued directives to ensure immediate improvements in mother and neonatal healthcare services and convert it into a state-of-the-art facility.

He asked the hospital management to ensure provision of best treatment facilities to the patients.

He also asked the hospital management to ensure availability of medicines at hospital besides taking special care of those patients admitted at emergency ward of the hospital.

The minister also visited emergency and different wards of the hospital and expressed zero tolerance for any sort of negligence.

He highlighted the need to ensure upgradation of medication and intensive care units. He directed that all pending projects of the hospital should be completed within a set time frame.

The minister also expressed his concern over state of cleanliness in the hospital.

He said the federal government is issuing health cards to all eligible households and approximately more than 25 million deserving people will be benefiting from it.

In line with the vision of the Prime Minister Imran Khan, the federal government is giving extra attention to health and education. People will avail the improved health services in Naya Pakistan, he added.The three-day anti-polio campaign will start across the division from Dec 10 to immunise around 1,349,909 children under five years of age with polio vaccine.

SARGODHA, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Dec, 2018 ) :The three-day anti-polio campaign will start across the division from Dec 10 to immunise around 1,349,909 children under five years of age with polio vaccine.

Health Services Director Dr Rana Muhammad Abdullah said the campaign would continue till Dec 12 and a total of 3,632 teams including 3,053 mobile, 406 fixed and 173 transit would participate in the campaign.

The health official urged the people to cooperate with the health department for making the campaign successful.Development work is in full swing in various uplift schemes related to works and communications, health, industry, agriculture, livestock, planning, power development in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Dec, 2018 ) :Development work is in full swing in various uplift schemes related to works and communications, health, industry agriculture , livestock, planning, power development in Azad Jammu and Kashmir AJK ).

According to official documents, the ongoing projects in AJK includes 48MW Jagran-II Hydropower Project to be completed by 2020, Nauseri-Leswa Bypass road 52 killometer and Authmuqam-Karan bypass road 40km, Rathoa Haryam Bridge across reservoir, Medical College Mirpur, Muzaffarabad Medical College and work on Legislative Assembly AJK.

Other ongoing projects including water supply and sewerage schemes in Mirpur City and other hamlets.

Meanwhile, senior officials of AJK Tourism and Archeology Department said that Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government has declared 2019 as "Tourism Year" to promote tourism sector in the valley.

They said that in this regard all the departments have been conveyed to organize activities for promotion of tourism sector in Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

The officials said that 'tourism Calendar' of the tourism promotion events for 2019 would be issued to each department.

Azad Jammu Kashmir offers beautiful tourists spots including unique valley, mountains, pasture lands, rivers, streams, brooks, glacial lakes and forests. The government also recently introduced e-facilitation including smart card solution at entry points, mobile app for tourist and sms service via cellular networks to facilitate tourists.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 04th Dec, 2018) The number of workers who participated in the awareness campaign of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (ADJD) has increased by 35% beyond the target set for the year 2018; the number of participants rose from 100,000 to 135,000 workers spread over 19 labour villages in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Al Dhafrah regions.

Yousef Saeed Al Abri, ADJD Undersecretary, stressed that ADJD workers' awareness campaign, launched in 2018, has achieved its objectives, which are to promote the propagation of legal culture amongst workers and brief them about their rights and duties guaranteed by UAE law. This comes based on the directives of H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, and Chairman of the Judicial Department, to achieve the strategic priority of contributing to maintaining security through sustainable participation with all components of the community.

Al Abri emphasised the importance of awareness campaigns to introduce workers' to their rights, duties and obligations, the situations that deserve to be brought to the labour courts and ways of amicable settlement of complaints. This contributed to the decrease in the number of complaints and labour cases during the ongoing year 2018, by 42% compared to the same period last year, as cases dropped from 16,897 cases in 2017 to 9,979 cases in 2018.

Ahmed Al Marzouqi, Head of the ADJD Labor Awareness Committee, unveiled the plan to expand the geographical scope of the Committee's work during the coming period to include all the workers' villages in the Abu Dhabi Emirate and the conduct of visits to employers to raise their awareness of their rights and duties of the employer and the worker.

He also indicated that awareness campaigns focus on organising activities in labour villages to ensure access to a large segment of the target group, with keenness to provide the lectures in five languages, including Arabic, English, urdu, Pashto and Bengali, to shed the light on the most important legal articles guaranteeing labourers rights in the UAE. This in addition to answering all questions and inquiries, which amounted to about 1000 questions and requests for legal advice, centered mainly on how to calculate end of service gratuity and leave balance, and the complaints submission mechanism.

Al Marzouqi pointed out the organisation of 24 lectures to explain the UAE labour law, the rights and duties of the worker and the mechanism to open a case as well as the prohibitions that must be avoided so as not to fall under legal liability and the procedures of safety and security in labour camps.(@rukhshanmir)

SHARJAH, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 04th Dec, 2018) The Sharjah Economic Development Department, SEDD, has issued its seventh annual report for 2017, which highlighted its efforts throughout the year.

The report included the services, activities, initiatives and policies implemented by the department in the context of its economic vision to achieve economic well-being in the emirate at the local and Federal levels.

This edition is a development version of previous publications, during which the department was keen to provide details of the economic planning and strategic performance for 2017 at the level of the department and the emirate.

Sultan Abdullah bin Hadda Al Suwaidi, SEDD Chairman, stated that the report reflects the vision and direction of H.H. Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, in achieving sustainable development of the economy through steps taken by the department in 2017.

He added that the department has succeeded in designing and implementing a number of economic initiatives and policies that have reached the customers from major investors and businessmen. In addition, SEDD has concentrated on working with customers using the digital and technological environment, since the department achieved 100 percent digitisation working with several local and federal departments and agencies to facilitate procedures. Al Suwaidi pointed out that "Amaal" service centres completed more than 54,351 transactions during 2017, which was 10 percent more than 2016.

In addition, the SEDD Chairman stressed that the UAEs economy in general and Sharjahs, in particular, are growing fast, despite the global economic challenges, changes and the global market volatility. He pointed out that there is a high per capita share of GDP in the emirate and diversified economy structure that doubles foreign direct investment. Such things are driven by the tremendous achievements of the Ruler of Sharjah, which has strengthened the emirate's economy and maintained its high competitiveness as the third largest economy in the country.

Al Suwaidi explained that the department has followed the application of value added tax through campaigns and meetings preceding the tax legislation and implementation. A comprehensive field control plan was also organised to ensure that all economic establishments in the emirate comply with tax laws. In 2017, a fraud complaint service through smartphones was also launched.

He stated that it was easy for parties to review the annual report and develop the prospects and future of development in the emirate. Such a report documents the economic progress of the emirate by monitoring and recording all developments and changes achieved annually and reflects the efforts to promote economic and social development in implementation of the directives of the Ruler of Sharjah.

The department also released a booklet titled "The Central Region of Sharjah" which covers the central region as a treasure of investment and for its enjoyment of environmental, social and economic richness. SEDD has also increased the number of workers in the central region to accelerate the process of facilitating transactions and increased the number of commercial officers by 100 percent in 2016. It also held regular meetings with investors in order to deepen the investment and trade relations with them.

The chairman stated that the central region witnessed an unprecedented boom in the total number of licences issued and renewed during the past years, jumping from 3,447 licenses to 6,305 ones in 2016 with an average growth rate of 23 percent.

In addition, SEDD issued the fourth version of the licences report, which includes the movement of business licences in the emirate, the economic anatomy of geographical regions and the relative weight of the sectors and main activities.

Thus, the total number of registered active licences reached 73,111 ones in 2017, as compared to 71,660 last year or a 2 percent rise. Commercial licences rose to 47,705 in 2017 with a growth rate of 2 percent compared to 2016.ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 04th Dec, 2018) H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and Smt Sushma Swaraj, External Affairs Minister of the Republic of India co-chaired the Ministerial Meeting of the 12th session of the UAE-India Joint Commission Meeting, JCM, held on 3rd and 4th December, 2018 at the Ministry's Headquarters in Abu Dhabi.

While welcoming the Indian delegation, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed emphasised that the UAE has always shared strong historical ties with India. He noted that the relations between the two countries are based on mutual respect, trust and aimed at enhancing the mutual benefit of the people of the two friendly countries.

Smt Sushma Swaraj congratulated the leadership, government and the people of the UAE on the occasion of the celebration of the 47th National Day of the nation and expressed satisfaction at the pace of growth in bilateral relations in all areas of cooperation. She thanked the UAE Government for the warm hospitality extended to her and her delegation.

Both sides reviewed the entire scope of bilateral ties and took stock of the developments in the region. They underscored the importance of sharing views on regional and international development. Both sides further strengthened their resolve to combat extremism and terrorism in all its forms, regardless of the perpetrators and their intent.

Both the Foreign Ministers thanked the members of the Senior Officials Meeting, SOM, for their efforts in doing the preparatory groundwork for holding a successful JCM. The SOM was led by HE Mohamed Sharaf, Assistant Minister for Economic and Commercial Affairs at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and Shri T.S. Tirumurti, Secretary for Economic Relations at the Ministry of External Affairs, India. The discussions at SOM were held under eight subcommittees -bilateral matters, consular field, space, education, agriculture & livestock and development cooperation, civil aviation, and economic and trade, investments, banking & finance cooperation.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the two Foreign Ministers signed the Minutes of the 12th session of the UAE-India Joint Commission Meeting. They also witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for Development Cooperation in Africa between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates and the Ministry of External Affairs of the Republic of India. The MoU was signed by Sultan Mohammed Al Shamsi Assistant Minister for International Development at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and T.

S. Tirumurti, Secretary for Economic Affairs at the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.

The Agreement on India Rupee / UAE Dirham Currency Swap between the UAE Central Bank and the Indian Reserve Bank was also exchanged in the presence of the two Foreign Ministers by Mohammed Ali bin Zayed Al Falasi, Deputy Governor of the UAE Central Bank of UAE and Navdeep Singh Suri, Ambassador of the Republic of India to the UAE.

On the sidelines of the JCM, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed and Smt Sushma Swaraj attended the unveiling of the plans for the Zayed-Gandhi Digital Exhibition accompanied by Noura bint Mohammed Al Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi.

Scheduled to open its doors to the public in March 2019, the exhibition is organised by the Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development in cooperation with the Mahatma Gandhi Digital Museums and is the first joint digital between the UAE and India.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed said that the Zayed-Gandhi Digital Exhibition would contribute to conveying the philosophy of the two world leaders to the future generations, enabling them to learn about their lives, achievements and deeds.

Swaraj noted, "The enunciation of peace, tolerance and sustainable living by Mahatma Gandhi, our beloved Bapu and the UAEs Founder Sheikh Zayed lovingly called Baba Zayed, has been portrayed beautifully at the Gandhi Zayed Digital Exhibition. Both leaders with their love for humanity and indomitable spirit continue to inspire us. I am delighted to jointly attend the launch of this Exhibition with H.H. Sheikh Abdulla bin Zayed Al Nahyan today, as we celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and 100th year of Sheikh Zayed."

"The exhibition is designed in a way that goes beyond the concept of a traditional exhibition. It is a cultural forum that promotes cultural exchanges and dialogue among peoples and takes visitors on a journey entitled Love, the Nation, and Wise Leadership, through the values of Peace, Tolerance and Fraternity," said Noura Al Kaabi. She stressed that the exhibition is an opportunity to meet two exceptional leaders on the centenary of the birth of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the Founding Father of the UAE, and the 150th anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi, through interactive content, photographs and videos representing their lives, which stand testimony to their achievements.(@FahadShabbir)

KHARTOUM, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 04th Dec, 2018) Dr. Mohamed Yousif Kibir, Vice President of the Republic of Sudan, has commended the efforts of the Human Appeal International (HAI) in Ajman and the great achievements it has made through its philanthropic and humanitarian activities carried out in the country for more than 30 years.

During his meeting at the presidential palace, Dr. Kibir met with the delegation of the charitable organisation headed by Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Nuaimi, Chairman of the board of Trustees of the HAI, and was briefed on the projects and all the work carried out by the HAI in Sudan, which operates under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Welfare and Social Security.

The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the HAI, following the meeting, said that the HAI's humanitarian and charitable projects have reached more than AED150 million over the past ten years.

He said that the Human Appeal International is currently implementing a new project called "Zayed Charitable Complex" in the Sudanese city of Bahri, which includes a number of educational and health facilities and others at a cost of AED4 million.(@rukhshanmir)

Chief Minister (CM) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Mahmood Khan Tuesday said that Bus Rapid Transit Peshawar (BRT) project would be ready by the end of March.

PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Dec, 2018 ) : Chief Minister (CM) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa KP ) Mahmood Khan Tuesday said that Bus Rapid Transit Peshawar (BRT) project would be ready by the end of March

"All the concerned including government functionaries, contractors and companies are bound to meet the deadline." he added.

He was talking to a delegation of Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industries led by Faiz Muhammad at CM Secretariat here.

He said that Swat Motorway would also be completed as per the stipulated time limit under any circumstances.

Provincial Minister for Information, Shaukat Yousafzai, Special Assistant to CM Abudul Karim, administrative secretaries and others relevant officers also attended the meeting.

Speaking on the occasion, CM dispelled the impression created by certain quarters doubting timely completion of both mega projects and assured that compromise would not be made on timely completion of BRT and Swat Expressway.

CM said that both the projects were of supreme importance that would change landscape of the province by integrating the whole region and opening KP for promoting of tourism industry, agriculture productivity, improving infrastructure development for Reshakai Economic zone and opening new vistas of trade and commercial activities in the province.

Highlighting government's policy for industrialization, Mahmood Khan assured provision of one window operation for investment and industrialization.

He said that investors would be offered unmatched incentives and a business friendly environment.

Recognizing role of business community, he said that government considers them the backbone of provincial economy.

"Security related issues have considerably resolved and we have yet to go from an appropriate environment towards an ideal environment by combined contribution of government, business community and people", he said adding our efforts would yield multidimensional benefits in terms of industrialization, agricultural productivity engaging maximum investors for raising exports, job creation, and engaging youth for increasing productivity.

Assuring the timely completion of Swat Expressway, Mahmood Khan told that government was set to extend Swat Motorway from Chakdara to Swat. He assured to visit Peshawar Dry port and resolve problems of business community.

He assured utilization of already allocative 100 mmcf gas for rapid industrialization in Reshakai, Hattar and other parts of the province.

He said that effective mechanism would be made for preserving culture heritage of Masjid Mohabat Khan and its surroundings.

He also assured a reasonable attraction to investors affected by Bus Rapid Transit Peshawar and other projects.Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan Monday announced to increase job quota special persons from 2 to 4 percent besides clearing the special people's act from Provincial assembly soon.

PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Dec, 2018 ) : Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan Monday announced to increase job quota special persons from 2 to 4 percent besides clearing the special people's act from Provincial assembly soon.

"The special people deserve special focus and PTI government is taking practical initiatives to bring these people to the main-stream of the society, "he added.

Chief Minister expressed these views in a function marking the International Disabled Day at Nishtar Hall Peshawar.

He said that ever-since assuming power in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2013, the provincial government had been relentlessly working on its agenda of change, the focus of which is to introduce a culture of good governance in the province.

Mahmood khan said that the special people, being a sensitive part of the society, will be given their rights.

Their look after was a collective responsibility for the society and responsible societies shoulder their shares of the burden, he remarked.

The enactment of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information Act 2013 through the Provincial Assembly was one major initiative of the government in this regard. The RTI law besides promoting transparency and accountability in the function of government departments has also provided a fundamental right to the citizens as enshrined in article 19-A of the Constitution.

He said till now 12,526 citizens filed RTI requests with different public bodies of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 11,491 citizens received the desired information.

Mahmood Khan said special people were also a vital part of the society, the provincial government will now particularly focus on expanding the social safety net duly focusing on the disabled persons.

He told in line with the 100-day agenda, the Social Welfare department is given mandate to look after the interests of the disabled.

He said that he will also ask RTI Commission to arrange special awareness seminars for the disabled in all districts of the province so that they are able to know and receive their rights using the KP RTI law.

The CM said through an inclusive system, the disabled will get respect rather than charity and the true potential of the disabled will be trapped he asserted.

He said that Social Welfare department will introduce an MIS system, so that the government has a complete picture of the disabled living in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which will help the government in preparing realistic plan for the welfare of the disabled.

On the occasion the CM congratulated RTI Commission for organizing the event and giving a chance to him to be with special people on the International Day of person with disabilities.

He assured the disabled persons that provincial government will go all out to provide relief to them. He further said the provincial government has recently taken a major initiative for preparing shelter houses for the poor and destitute in a few districts of the province. This will be further extended on need basis, he added.(@mahnoorsheikh03)

Dr Shahid Masood is accused of misbehaving with a journalist.

Islamabad (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News  4th December, 2018) Renowned anchor Dr Shahid Masood has been sent to jail on physical remand for 14 days.

According to details, Dr Shahid Masood is accused of misbehaving with a journalist.

Dr Shahid Masood appeared before the court of judicial magistrate Hafeez Ahmad in the case pertaining to snatching cell phone of a journalist.

During the hearing, the court ordered to send Dr Shahid Masood to jail on 14-day physical remand.

A District and Sessions Judge had on November 28 issued arrest warrants for tv anchor Dr Shahid Masood in the case.

According to details, an FIR was registered against Dr Shahid Masood in Ramna Police Station at the complaint of the said journalist where he contended that Shahid Masood snatched his mobile and deleted all the data of his coverage while he was performing duties at Islamabad High Court a few days ago.

The petitioner in his plea had pleaded that Shahid Masood also used harsh words and warned me of dire consequences as well as snatched his cell phone.

The court after hearing the plea had issued arrest warrants for the TV anchor as well as rejected the pre-arrest bail request filed by Masood.State Minister for Interior Shehryar Afridi on Tuesday announced a special package for family of martyred Superintendent of Police Tahir Dawar, stating his heirs would be given Rs 70 million and his brothers would get jobs in government departments.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Dec, 2018 ) :State Minister for Interior Shehryar Afridi on Tuesday announced a special package for family of martyred Superintendent of Police Tahir Dawar , stating his heirs would be given Rs 70 million and his brothers would get jobs in government departments.

Speaking at a press conference along with Inspector General Police Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and brothers of martyred SP Tahir Dawar here, he said it was responsibility of the government and state to take care of heirs of the martyred security personnel.

He said SP Tahir Dawar was looking after four families and he was martyred while he was on duty and the Prime Minister directed that a package should be given to his heirs.

He said everybody had the right to do politics but those forces that were using the people to spread disinformation and destabilize Pakistan would be countered.

"We will not allow any such force to act with hostility against Pakistan and we will make an example of them. Propaganda is being launched by anti-Pakistan elements on social media." The minister said there was consensus among the political leadership and the armed forces on issues of security.

He said the key stakeholders should realize their responsibility regarding peace and security of Pakistan.

"Some elements are creating differences in society but we have to promote positive thinking. The state is strong and it will not compromise on its principles." He said some influential personalities were perpetuating propaganda on the social media about the anti-encroachment drive which would continue against the untouchables, however he added as per direction of the Prime Minister poor segment would not be disturbed and dislodged from their homes.

The minister told that the Prime Minister had directed formation of five-member parliamentary committee to review progress in the investigation of SP Tahir Dawar case.

Three members would belong to treasury benches and two members would be from opposition in both houses National Assembly and Senate.

Answering a question, he said the security cameras installed in the capital under the Safe City Project could not recognize the face and vehicles number plates and investigation was being held as to how 90 percent advance payment was made for such cameras.

He appreciated performance of Inspector General Police Islamabad and said crime rate in the capital city had fallen by 40 percent.

Inspector General of Police Khyber Pakhtunkhwa said KP police fought guerrilla war against the terrorists in the province and rendered sacrifices of more than 1500 of its officers and jawans.

The KP police was being reformed on modern lines and KP Safety Commission and e policing were the prominent features of the reforms.

In the first 100 days, 25 projects were initiated as part of the reforms being carried out, he added.

Answering another question regarding the murder of Maulana Samiul Haq, he said investigation was in progress and would be shared with media after its completion.

Ahmed Din, brother of SP Tahir Dawar thanked the government for announcing the package for his family and reposed his confidence in the parliamentary committee and the ongoing investigation.The police have established a 'Khidmat Counter' at the District Head Quarter (DHQ) Khanewal hospital to facilitate people regarding initial procedures involving issuance of a medico-legal certificate (MLC).

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Dec, 2018 ) :The police have established a 'Khidmat Counter' at the District Head Quarter (DHQ) Khanewal hospital to facilitate people regarding initial procedures involving issuance of a medico-legal certificate (MLC).

Talking to Private news channel ,District Police Officer (DPO) said, this is the first such counter to be established in any public sector hospital in the district that will be managed by educated and trained police personnel.

The DHQ Hospital administration and police are at loggerheads over the issue of medico-legal certificates (MLCs), he added.

He said that the police docket, which was an official document keeping record of reported crimes and investigations into them, would be issued at the counter.

This document is usually issued by the police station concerned for the issuance of an MLC, he informed.

DPO further said that the counter had been linked with police stations online and the police station concerned would be updated through the system as well as wireless about issuance of a docket so people could avoid visiting the police station concerned from a hospital.

Legal action would be taken by the investigation officer of the police station concerned, headded.

Meanwhile, he said these counters will also be established in other hospitals of the city and districts.Minister for Planning, Development and Reform Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtyar Tuesday said the present government give top priority to cheap renewable sources of energy and its part in the energy mix would be improved up to 20 percent in the coming 10 years.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Dec, 2018 ) :Minister for Planning, Development and Reform Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtyar Tuesday said the present government give top priority to cheap renewable sources of energy and its part in the energy mix would be improved up to 20 percent in the coming 10 years.

He said this while co-chairing a meeting on integrated energy planning with Minister for Energy (Power Division) Omar Ayub Khan here.

Secretary Planning, Zafar Hasan, Project Director China Pakistan Economic Corridor Hassan Daud and senior officials from Ministry of Energy Power and Petroleum Division attended the meeting.

Officials of the ministry of energy briefed the meeting about the progress on China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Energy projects while Member Energy, Planning Commission Tahawar Hussain briefed the meeting on integrated energy planning.

Bakhtiar said Pakistan's energy needs were growing with the economic growth that required continuous power generation. "Pakistan would utilize its indigenous sources of Thar Coal and hydel to meet the rising demands," he added.

The minister further said besides generation, modern evacuation and distribution system would be developed to introduce a holistic approach in the energy sector.

This approach would support to eradicate line losses and issues of circular debt on a permanent basis.

He instructed for fast-track implementation of the important Matiari to Lahore 660kV HVDC Transmission Line Project vis--vis the CPEC energy projects in Thar.

The minister while instructing for expediting work on Gwadar Power project said this initiative was a backbone for development in Gwadar.

He said all matters with respect to energy projects would be finalized jointly with the provincial governments and instructed quarter concerned to take necessary steps for an early launch of construction work on the Kohala Hydro Project.

Khusro Bakhtiar further said the issue of payments of energy projects had been settled to a great extent, however, further measures would be ensured to resolve the matter amicably.

On the occasion, Energy (Power Division) Omar Ayub Khan said the government promotes the development of renewable energy sources to achieve cheap and green energy.

He further told that with the innovation in technologies, renewable part in energy mix could be enhanced even beyond 20 percent.

During the meeting, officials of Planning Commission and Ministry of Energy were instructed to sit together and develop an integrated energy plan.(@rukhshanmir)

Discussing measures to enhance bilateral trade to achieve annual target of US $ 5 billion through facilitation of business communities, scaling down of trade barriers and speedy progress on facilitating preferential trade, Pakistan and Iran have agreed to hold 21st session of the Joint Economic Commission (JEC) early next year

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Dec, 2018 ) :Discussing measures to enhance bilateral trade to achieve annual target of US $ 5 billion through facilitation of business communities, scaling down of trade barriers and speedy progress on facilitating preferential trade, Pakistan and Iran have agreed to hold 21st session of the Joint Economic Commission (JEC) early next year.

The agreement to this effect was reached during the 10th round of Pak-Iran Bilateral Political Consultations held here on December 3, a foreign office statement issued here on Tuesday said.

Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua, and Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran Syed Abbas Araghchi, who had arrived Islamabad on Monday for the meeting, led their respective delegations in the meeting. Bilateral Political Consultation between Iran and Pakistan was one of the several important institutional mechanisms to regularly review and chart the way forward in various areas of cooperation.

During the meeting, both sides expressed satisfaction at the continuing warmth in the bilateral relationship anchored in religious and socio-cultural affinities.

In addition, a long 'border of friendship' between the two countries has provided a means for regular people-to-people contacts over the centuries.

In recent years, both countries have also provided each other principled support on the issues of Kashmir and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Pakistan and Iran are close neighbors enjoying similarity of views on most regional and international issues.

The Bilateral Consultations provided the opportunity to review the progress made under various other institutional mechanisms concerning consular, economic, trade and border related issues between the two sides.

Both side agreed on the need to further improve railway connectivity between the two countries.

Ways and means were also discussed to facilitate the growing number of Zaireen traveling every year to Iran from Pakistan. Pakistan and Iran, as the major geographic neighbors of Afghanistan also have commonality of views and future approach to restore complete peace and stability in the country.

Both the countries have been affected adversely due to the 40 years old conflict and instability in Afghanistan which has resulted in serious challenges including millions of Afghan refugees, the narcotics trade, illegal migration and the rise of new terrorist outfits like Daesh in the war ridden country.

It was noted that fully supporting an Afghan-owned Afghan-led peace and reconciliation process was the best way to overcome the serious security and politico-economic challenges faced by Pakistan and Iran.

A coordinated approach in this regard was important to safeguard the core interests of both Pakistan and Iran in this situation.

Views were also exchanged on other important regional and international issues including the situation following the US unilateral withdrawal from JCPOA, the situation of human rights in Kashmir, and the conflict in the middle East.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

ISLAMABAD, Dec 4 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Dec, 2018 ) :Deputy Chairman Senate Saleem Mandviwala Tuesday said Pakistan and Morocco would further boost the Parliamentary linkages to mutually benefit and support each other in economic, education and social sectors.

While talking to the Mohamed Karmoune, Ambassador of Morocco who called on him here at Parliament House, hesaid that Pakistan and Morocco shared many commonalities and both had supported each other on International issues.

He said there was a need to enhance cooperation in economic, education and tourism for mutual benefits of the two sides.

He said that exchange of Parliamentary delegations would steer the agenda to enhance bilateral ties and economic relationship.

The deputy chairman said Morocco could benefit from Pakistan in different sectors especially education and training.

He said both the countries could further cement their relation in tourism, education, livestock and dairy development sectors.

He said that tangible were required to develop a strong link between business communities and create an enabling environment for investment in mutually beneficial projects.

The Ambassador welcomed the remarks of Deputy Chairman Senate and agreed with the views to enhance bilateral cooperation in different sectors.

Senators Muhammad Javed Abbasi and Sajjad Hussain Turi were also present on the occasion.They also underscored the need for enhanced parliamentary linkages by activating the friendship groups at bilateral levels to learn from experiences of each other.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

ISLAMABAD, Dec 3 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Dec, 2018 ) :The government's Spokesperson on Economic and Energy, Dr Farrukh Saleem said Pakistan had received an information of bank accounts having 11 billion Dollars that belonged to Pakistani people.

We have agreements with some 26 countries to share information of assets or bank accounts belonging to Pakistanis, he stated while talking to a private news channel.

To a question regarding Federal board of Revenue (FBR), he said there was a need to have some changes or capacity building in the organization to achieve tax target.

To another question about investment, he said oil companies operating in Abu Dhabi, were showing keen interest in Pakistan.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

ISLAMABAD, Dec 4 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Dec, 2018 ) :Speaker National Assembly (NA) Asad Qaiser Tuesday said the parliamentarians would steer the country out of the present challenges with collective efforts and sagacity.

All the political parties including Opposition would follow the decorum of the NA and play their role to address the issues of common man besides making legislation, he stated while talking to a private news channel.

The government and Opposition should realize the fact and responsibility, he said adding that the matters relating to appointment of chairman of Public Accounts Committee, would be resolved with consensus of members of the assembly.

To a question, he said that registering protest was not an issue but it should be done according to the tradition and norms of the parliament.

"We should work for the betterment of the common man and development of the country, " he added.(@mahnoorsheikh03)

Advocate Baloch has announced to withdraw the case against the prime minister seeking his disqualification in the Sita White Case.

Islamabad (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News  4th December, 2018) Advocate Abdul Wahab Baloch of Pakistan Justice and Democratic Party has joined the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), clearing Prime Minister Imran Khans way in the Sita White case.

According to media reports, Advocate Abdul Wahab Baloch, the secretary general of former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhrys Justice and Democratic Party, announced to join the PTI after meeting senior party leader Naeem ul Haque.

Advocate Baloch has announced to withdraw the case against the prime minister seeking his disqualification in the Sita White Case.

Prior to elections, Imran Khans nomination from NA-243 was challenged by Iftikhar Chaudhry using the Sita White case.

Chaudhry had filed a petition against Khan in Supreme Court under Article 62-1(f) over allegations that he fathered a love child.

Chaudhry had adopted that we want someone free of these allegations to be the leader of the country. People trust leaders and he should be clean. This issue will be taken to its logical conclusion.

According to Article 62-1(f) regarding eligibility of parliamentary candidate, a person who is not wise and honest is not eligible to be elected in National Assembly.Two-day CAC Pakistan Exhibition opened with an objective to promote agriculture sector of Pakistan here at Expo Centre on Tuesday.

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Dec, 2018 ) :Two-day CAC Pakistan Exhibition opened with an objective to promote agriculture sector of Pakistan here at Expo Centre on Tuesday.

Provincial Minister for Excise and Taxation Hafiz Mumtaz Ahmed, who was representing Chief Minister Punjab and Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) President Almas Hyder jointly inaugurated the exhibition.

Speaking on this occasion, Provincial Minister hoped that exhibition would help tap true potential of agriculture sector, adding that the latest technology was need of the hour to enhance per acre yield in Pakistan that was low compared to the other countries. China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would open up new avenues of cooperation in agriculture sector as it would help transfer technology pertaining to agro chemicals, pesticides, seeds and fertilizers.

LCCI President Almas Hyder said that well performing and high yielding agriculture sector was need of the hour and Pakistan could not do well without improving agriculture sector. For ensuring viability of economy and long-term growth, it was necessary that all the sectors of economy pick up and complement each other to excel. He said that agriculture sector could not be left out due to inherited limitations of resources and various challenges in the way of moving from conventional method of farming to modern technologies.

The present scenario demands that both government and private sector should join hands to make the most of the available resources through introducing innovative ways at affordable prices to the farmers. "We desperately require locally developed as well as imported solutions in the fields of fertilizers, pesticides, seeds, agriculture machineries and equipment etc. We are glad that our Chinese friends who have developed cost effective solutions in these areas, are offering these solutions at reasonable rates to us.

It is important to mention that these Chinese companies are gathering a lot of success on account of improving their standard and products range," Almas Hyder added.

Ms. Maggie Mah from Sub-Council of Chemical Industry, China, said that Pakistan was one of the top ten exporting markets for China and recent visit of Prime Minister of Pakistan was successful and further strengthened the mutual relations. She said that two-way trade had reached to US $ 13.2 billion and hoped that it would grow with the passage of time.

LCCI Senior Vice President Khawaja Shahzad Nasir and Vice President Fahim-ur-Rehman Saigal said it was encouraging to see that some of the local manufacturers of pesticides had started to export their products to middle East and African countries. It was the result of importing Chinese machinery displayed in last three editions of CAC Pakistan.

Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) Chairman Engineer Jawed Saleem Qureshi said that Punjab was agriculture based province but its per acre yield was lower than Sindh. He said, "we have to take revolutionary measures to grow our agriculture sector. Since Punjab has 80 to 90 per cent of small farmers therefore government's priority should their welfare." Chairman Crop Protection Association of Pakistan (CPAP) Chairman Sheikh Muhammad Arif said that growing interest of Chinese companies in CAC Pakistan Exhibition was a welcome sign.

Director of China Council for Promotion of International Trade Ms. Isabel Dong, and exhibitors and a large number of people belonging to agri sector attended the opening ceremony and show keen interest in agri products displayed at over 50 stalls set up by 34 Chinese and 16 Pakistanis companies.(@mahnoorsheikh03)

The prime minister has termed Dar the best choice for youth policy

Islamabad (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News  4th December, 2018) Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Usman Dar has been appointed as the special assistant to prime minister on youth affairs.

According to details, Usman Dar called on Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday. Following the meeting, the prime minister appointed him as his special assistant on youth affairs.

The Cabinet Division has issued a notification in this regard after the approval of the prime minister.

PM Imran has decided to bring a national policy for youth and Usman Dar has been given the task of this policy.

The prime minister has termed Dar the best choice for youth policy while the government also aims to launch youth programme in the coming days.

Meanwhile, Dar has announced not taking his salary as the special assistant. He said that he will spend all the money on youth.

He said that we wont spend on laptops only. The prime minister wants to empower the youth, he added.(@FahadShabbir)

Senate Functional Committee on Government Assurances on Tuesday assured work on double road between G-13 and G-14 would be started within a month and would be completed by February, 2019.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Dec, 2018 ) : Senate Functional Committee on Government Assurances on Tuesday assured work on double road between G-13 and G-14 would be started within a month and would be completed by February

The meeting of the Senate Committee was held here at the Parliament House under the chairmanship of Senator Muhammad Tahir Khan Bizinjo.

The meeting was attended by members of the committee including Senator Usman Khan Kakar, Senator Dr Asad Ashraf, Senator Asif Kirmani, Senator Krishna Kumari and senior officers of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Establishment Division, Government of Pakistan and the Communications Division, Government of Pakistan. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan was also attended the meeting.

The meeting began with consideration of a commitment made by the Minister for Housing and Works in response to a question, asked by Senator Muhammad Usman Khan Kakar regarding completion of work on the double road between G-13 and G-14 within two months subject to approval of revised PC1.

Deliberating over the present status of assurance given by Minister Incharge Establishment Division in the Senate sitting held on January 19, 2016 regarding introduction and passage of constitutional amendment in either House of Parliament for employment quota.

The Committee showed concern that the quota system is extremely essential to mitigate the grievances amongst smaller provinces and the underprivileged areas of the country.

Since implementation of quota was a problematic subject, it was stressed that the Ministry would need to look into the implementation of the quota system in letter and spirit.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said that in principal, he agreed that this quota needs to be extended. He said that since business has lapsed the bill must be reviewed once again and placed before the House. He stressed the need for the opposition to play its role in Constitutional amendments.

Discussing the present status of the assurance given by Minister for Communications in the Senate sitting held on January 26, 2018, the Committee was informed that the whole road from Taxilla to Haripur was 42.5 Km, out of which 31 Km has already been completed. He said that for this NHA funds were being used. The Committee assured that the road would be completed by the end of this financial year.MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th December, 2018) Around 15,000 Syrians, who evaded the duties of military service, including among refugees and former members of illegal armed groups, were granted amnesty in Syria as of Monday, head of the Russian Defense Ministry's Center for Syrian reconciliation Lt. Gen. Sergei Solomatin said on Tuesday.

"As part of the implementation of the decree of the President of the Syrian Arab Republic Bashar Assad dated November 9, 2018, the Syrian authorities continue to work on amnesty for those, who evaded from military service, including those among refugees and former members of illegal armed groups. As for December 3, 2018, in total 14,732 were granted amnesty," Solomatin said.

Solomatin also said that no ceasefire violations had been registered over the past 24 hours.

The official added that the reconciliation center held a meeting with the administration of a settlement in the province of Deir ez-Zor, having discussed the social and political situation as well as preparations for winter.

As the Syrian government has regained control over most of the country's territories that were seized by terrorists, it is now focused on creating favorable conditions for repatriating refugees. Moscow is assisting Damascus in this, along with providing humanitarian aid to civilians and being a guarantor of the ceasefire.(@rukhshanmir)

Turkish security forces have killed, captured or forced to surrender at least five militants linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) during air operations carried out in the north of Iraq on Monday and Tuesday, local media reported, citing military officials.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th December, 2018) Turkish security forces have killed, captured or forced to surrender at least five militants linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) during air operations carried out in the north of Iraq on Monday and Tuesday, local media reported, citing military officials.

The Anadolu news agency reported, citing the country's General Staff, that a number of ammunition depots belonging to militants and hideouts had been destroyed during the air strikes.

According to the outlet, the neutralized militants were preparing to launch attacks on Turkish military bases.

The PKK is officially listed as a terrorist organization in Turkey. The Turkish government has been fighting the group, which demanded to establish a Kurdish autonomy in Turkey, since the early 1980s. In 2013, the PKK and Ankara signed a ceasefire agreement, however, it collapsed just two years later over a number of terror attacks allegedly committed by the PKK militants. Turkish security forces carry out regular anti-PKK raids across the country and conduct airstrikes against the group in Iraq.(@FahadShabbir)

Austrian-born panda twins, Fu Feng and Fu Ban flew to Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, Tuesday.

CHENGDU,(APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Dec, 2018 ) :Austrian-born panda twins, Fu Feng and Fu Ban flew to Chengdu , capital of southwest China 's Sichuan Province, Tuesday.

The twins traveled by air from Vienna on Sunday local time, stopped in Frankfurt for one night, and arrived in Chengdu at 2:55 a.m. Tuesday.

The twins were born on Aug. 7, 2016, in Austria. Fu Feng, female, weighs 60 kg. She is naughty and loves bamboo shoots and sweet potato. Fu Ban, male, weighs 55 kg. He is sociable and curious, and loves climbing and playing in the snow.

The twins will be kept in quarantine for a month at Shenshuping protection base in Wolong National Nature Reserve. A zookeeper from Vienna has accompanied the twins to China and will help them settle.

China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Pandas has established giant panda cooperation with 15 zoos in 13 countries. A total of 32 Chinese giant pandas have been to the zoos, giving birth to a total of 19 cubs.KATHMANDU, Dec. 3 (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Dec, 2018 ) :Officials from Nepal and China on Monday agreed to complete the ongoing bilateral economic and development cooperation projects in a timely manner, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said here.

The consensus was reached during the first meeting of 'Mechanism for Facilitation on the Implementation of China-Nepal Cooperation Programs and Projects in Nepal' held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kathmandu, the ministry said in a press statement.

"The meeting made a comprehensive review of the progress made in programs and projects related to reconstruction, infrastructure, energy and airport, among others," the ministry said in the statement.

The meeting dwelled on the progress made on the China-supported several ongoing projects in Nepal, including Pokhara International Airport, Koteshwor-Kalanki section of Ring Road, reconstruction of Bashantapur Durbar Square in Kathmandu and schools in different parts of the country, among others, officials of the ministry who participated in the meeting told Xinhua Monday evening.

The two sides agreed to take appropriate measures to ensure smooth and timely implementation of the programs and projects through joint efforts, according to the officials.

During the meeting, leaders of the both sides expressed happiness over convening of the first meeting of the mechanism and emphasized on the timely completion of all bilateral economic and development cooperation projects.

The Nepali side in the meeting comprised of senior officials of the ministries and relevant agencies responsible for implementation of the Nepal-China programs and projects while the Chinese side included senior officials of the Embassy of China and project implementing agencies.

The meeting was co-chaired by Foreign Secretary of Nepal Shanker Das Bairagi and Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Yu Hong.

Nepal and China established the joint oversight mechanism to resolve issues and expedite the projects developed with Chinese involvement during Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli's visit to China in June this year.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, on Monday called for closer cooperation between her country and Panama on AIDS prevention as well as women and children affairs.

PANAMA CITY, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Dec, 2018 ) :Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, on Monday called for closer cooperation between her country and Panama on AIDS prevention as well as women and children affairs.

Peng, who was in Panama City accompanying Xi for a state visit to the Central American country, made the appeal in a meeting with Panamanian First Lady Lorena Castillo Garcia.

The Chinese government attaches great importance to AIDS prevention and treatment and to care of AIDS patients, and has made tremendous efforts and important achievements in those aspects, said Peng, who is also a World Health Organization goodwill ambassador for tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.

The Chinese side, she added, highly appreciates the enormous work Panama has done in those fields.

Meanwhile, Peng, also a UNESCO special envoy for the advancement of girls' and women's education, said China always pays high attention to women and children affairs, and strives to improve the health and education of women and children.

She suggested that the two sides join hands to make greater contribution to elevating the well-being of women and children not only in the two countries but also across the whole world.

Castillo, who is a special ambassador for UNAIDS in Latin America, spoke highly of China's achievements in AIDS prevention and treatment, as well as in the protection of women's and children's rights.

The Panamanian first lady expressed her willingness to work with the Chinese side to push for more progress in those areas.

After the meeting, Peng and Castillo posed for photos holding colorful paper butterflies -- which symbolize the Zero Discrimination campaign -- to show their solid support for the global cause against AIDS.

Peng gave a thumbs-up to Castillo's active participation in AIDS prevention, stressing that China and Panama share common aspirations in eliminating HIV/AIDS.

She expressed her hope that the two countries will inject fresh vigor into bilateral cooperation and make unremitting efforts to help realize the UNAIDS-proposed goal of ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030.Lima, Dec 3 (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Dec, 2018 ) :Alan Garcia, a former president of Peru embroiled in a corruption scandal, left the embassy of Uruguay in Lima on Monday after his request for political asylum was rejected, officials said.

"To put it simply, we have not granted the request for asylum," Uruguay's President Tabare Vazquez told a press conference in Montevideo.

Vazquez said his government took the decision after reviewing Garcia's request and documentation submitted by the Peruvian government.

Peru's Foreign Minister Nestor Popolizio told the RPP radio station in Lima that he had been informed by the Uruguayan ambassador that Garcia had left the embassy.

The 69-year-old Garcia took refuge in the Uruguayan embassy on November 17 after a Peruvian court investigating bribes allegedly paid by Brazilian contractor Odebrecht barred the former president from leaving the country.

Garcia, a social democrat who served two separate terms as president, maintained he was the target of political persecution, a charge denied by Peru's President Martin Vizcarra.

"In Peru, nobody has a crown. Our democracy guarantees the independence of powers and due process," Vizcarra said on Twitter.

Garcia had returned to Peru in November to testify in the Odebrecht case when the court issued an order barring him from leaving the country for 18 months.

"In Peru, the three powers of state operate autonomously and it is the judicial branch that is carrying out the investigations of possible economic crimes," Vazquez said at a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa.

"For strictly legal considerations we are not granting political asylum to Mr Alan Garcia," the Uruguayan president said.

The Odebrecht payments were allegedly made during his second term in office, from 2006-2011, to secure a contract to build the Lima metro. He had previously been president from 1985-1990.

Odebrecht has admitted to paying $29 million in bribes to Peruvian officials over three administrations.

The Peruvian press also has reported that Garcia received a $100,000 payment from an illicit Odebrecht fund for giving a speech to Brazilian business leaders in Sao Paulo in May 2012.

Last week, while Garcia was in the Uruguayan embassy, Peruvian prosecutors opened a new investigation into irregularities in another public contract.

Prosecutors allege that Garcia and 21 other officials conspired to enable Dutch company ATM Terminals to win a 2011 concession to operate a terminal at the port of Callao, near Lima.The exact date of Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to the United Arab Emirates is unknown at the moment, the time frame has not been discussed via diplomatic channels yet, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said on Tuesday.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th December, 2018) The exact date of Russian President Vladimir Putin 's visit to the United Arab Emirates is unknown at the moment, the time frame has not been discussed via diplomatic channels yet, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said on Tuesday.

"The invitation exists and, of course, it cannot be excluded that our president will go there sooner or later. But the exact dates have not been discussed via diplomatic channels or through the administration," Ushakov told reporters.(@rukhshanmir)

Gabon's top government officials gathered Tuesday in Rabat where President Ali Bongo is recovering after treatment for an illness that has not been officially revealed, his office said.

Libreville, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Dec, 2018 ) :Gabon's top government officials gathered Tuesday in Rabat where President Ali Bongo is recovering after treatment for an illness that has not been officially revealed, his office said.

The 59-year-old leader, who fell ill on October 24 at an economic forum, arrived in Morocco last week following a month's treatment at a hospital in Saudi Arabia.

Prime Minister Emmanuel Issoze Ngondet, Vice President Pierre-Claver Maganga Moussavou and the head of the constitutional court, Marie-Madeleine Mborantsuo, were among the senior officials to join Bongo in Rabat, the president's office told AFP Tuesday.

A day earlier, Morocco's King Mohammed VI, a long-time friend of Bongo's, visited the president at the military hospital.

The palace later released a handout picture and a short video which it said showed the pair's encounter.

Both leaders are seen seated together -- with Bongo smiling and dressed in a turban and djellaba robe -- next to the flags of their countries.

The move came after persistent rumours over the health of the Gabonese president for more than a month.

After an extended period of silence, the Gabonese presidency eventually admitted last month that Bongo was "seriously ill" and had undergone surgery, but said he was on the mend.

His recovery would take weeks, or even days, a source in the presidency said last week.

A lack of official news -- along with memories of the secrecy-shrouded death of Bongo's father Omar Bongo in 2009 after decades at the helm -- had sparked numerous rumours, including speculation he was incapacitated or even dead.

The Bongo family has governed Gabon for five decades. Ali Bongo was elected head of state after his father's death.

He was narrowly re-elected in 2016 after beating opposition challenger Jean Ping by a few thousand votes following a presidential poll marred by deadly violence and allegations of fraud.(@rukhshanmir)

German arms company Rheinmetall has been selling weapons to Saudi Arabia despite a complete halt in exports ordered by Berlin after the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, local media reported on Tuesday.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th December, 2018) German arms company Rheinmetall has been selling weapons to Saudi Arabia despite a complete halt in exports ordered by Berlin after the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi , local media reported on Tuesday.

The German government suspended new arms sales in October until the circumstances of the journalist's death at a Saudi consulate were cleared, and put the agreed deliveries on hold weeks later.

But an investigation by the Stern magazine together with the ARD broadcaster has revealed that Rheinmetall has been shipping arms to Saudi Arabia through subsidiaries in Italy and South Africa.

Rheinmetall board member Helmut Merch reportedly admitted in a conference call with bankers in mid-November that these two export channels were "not affected" by the ban.

Merch estimated the annual exports at more than 100 million Euros ($114 million), while Fabio Sgarzi, the chief of the company's Italian division RWM Italia, said it planned to triple production capacity.

Saudi Arabia, media reported, was also seeking to increase the share of its state defense firm SAMI in Rheinmetall's South African joint venture by acquiring the minority stake of another partner.

Khashoggi went missing after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. After weeks of denials, the Saudi chief prosecutor admitted that the US-based Washington Post columnist had been killed inside the diplomatic mission. The Saudi government claims he died as a result of a rogue operation.A set of measures will take effect next week to prevent conglomerates from entering industries that small merchants need for their livelihood, the SMEs ministry said Tuesday.

SEOUL, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Dec, 2018 ) :A set of measures will take effect next week to prevent conglomerates from entering industries that small merchants need for their livelihood, the SMEs ministry said Tuesday.

The ordinance passed by the Cabinet goes into force on Dec. 13, setting the details of who can apply for industry designation, the operation of a deliberation committee that will decide on applications and any exceptions to the rules.

Organizations with more than 30 percent membership by small merchants can apply for a particular industry to be designated as exclusive to those traders. Korea Commission for Corporate Partnership will review the application and pass it on to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups on approval.

The 15-member deliberation committee will make the final decision based on majority voting.

Once an industry has been designated as exclusive for small merchants, big business groups cannot enter the sector. Any violation will be punished with fines of up to 5 percent of sales, ministry officials said.

The ordinance also includes exceptions to the rules, allowing conglomerates to engage in businesses set aside for small merchants if it affects international competitiveness, consumers' interests or the soundness of the industry.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Bratislava, Dec 3 (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Dec, 2018 ) :Hundreds protested in Bratislava on Monday against the detention without bail of 12 Greenpeace activists who staged a protest at Slovakia's largest brown coal mine, a move that the EU country's president and premier have both criticised.

Protesters gathered in the city centre touted banners saying "Activism is not a crime" and "Don't imprison people who want to save your life", among others.

The 12 activists were detained last week after hoisting a banner saying "End coal age!" on the tower of a lignite mine in Novaky, central Slovakia.

A regional court on Sunday denied them bail. The activists -- from Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany and Slovakia -- are accused of criminal acts and face up to five years in prison if found guilty.

Slovakia's liberal President Andrej Kiska, in a statement Monday, was sympathetic to the plight of the detained Greenpeace activists.

"I don't understand the court's decision and I don't understand how can we put activists into the role of criminals," he said.

His words were echoed by populist left Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini.

"We should really consider whether it is the best solution to keep 12 young people in custody," he wrote on his Facebook page on Monday.

Asked by AFP, Justice Minister Gabor Gal said that alternative ways of monitoring, such as electronic ankle bracelets, could be more appropriate in such cases.

"Our laws allow using these devices. I believe that the attitudes of prosecutors, policemen and judges have to change in this respect," Gal said.

The environment ministry also criticised the pre-trial detention of the activists on Monday, saying on its Facebook page that "they were always decent, constructive and pointing out specific issues regarding environmental protection.""It's the first time in the history of the Slovak Republic, that environmental activists are being held in pre-trial custody," Ivana Kohutkova, president of Greenpeace Slovakia, told AFP on Monday referring to the court's decision.

"No one was injured, there was no harm done to any property, this was a non-violent action," Kohutkova said, adding that pre-trial custody is "usually used for extremely dangerous criminals."(@FahadShabbir)

China's J-10C fighter aircraft, currently taking part in the Pak-China joint air force exercise, is equipped with an Active Electronically Steered Array system (AESA) as well as an optoelectronic detection system.

BEIJING,(APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Dec, 2018 ) :China's J-10C fighter aircraft, currently taking part in the Pak-China joint air force exercise, is equipped with an Active Electronically Steered Array system (AESA) as well as an optoelectronic detection system.

An improved version of China's J-10, the aircraft was activated for the combat missions in April this year, Wang Zhiming, a Chinese military expert told the news website China.org.cn on Tuesday.

He said the J-10C was more capable of locating targets and the new technology on-board gave it an edge during an air-to-air combat, adding, "It is a significant upgrade to the Chinese Air Force, and significantly improves China's air defenses." The contingent of Chinese Air Force is participating in Pak-China Joint International Air Exercise "Shaheen-VII" being held at an Operational Air Base of Pakistan Air Force.

The Chinese Air Force contingent comprises combat Pilots, Air Defence Controllers, and technical ground crew along with fighter jets, bombers, and early warning AWACS planes.

The exercise will help enhance close relations between the two countries in general and develop the mechanism for interoperability of both Air Forces in particular.

"Shaheen-VII", is the seventh in the series of Joint Air Exercises with Chinese Air Force, which is conducted each year in both countries on an alternate basis. PAF contingent participated in "Shaheen-VI" which was conducted in China last year.

Next year's "Shaheen" air exercises, which have been annual events since 2011, will be held in China.DAMASCUS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th December, 2018) Japan has donated 557 million Yen (almost $5 million) for the restoration of Damascus' suburbs of Eastern Ghouta and humanitarian aid to local residents, the Japanese Embassy to Syria said on Tuesday.

The funds have been allocated to the UN Development Programme's project on humanitarian restoration of Eastern Ghouta.

They will go to the restoration of basic infrastructure such as a local hospitals and schools, assistance to the most vulnerable residents and improvement of security situation, according to the embassy's statement

Thus, Japan's total humanitarian assistance to Syria since 2012 has reached $445 million.

The area of Eastern Ghouta suffered greatly due to the militant activities, however as of recently it has been liberated from terrorists with many Syrians returning to their homes in the area.MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th December, 2018) More than 14,500 Syrians who evaded the duties of military service, including among refugees and former members of illegal armed groups, were granted amnesty in Syria as of December 2, head of the Russian Defense Ministry's Center for Syrian reconciliation Lt. Gen. Sergei Solomatin said on Sunday.

"As part of the implementation of the decree of the President of the Syrian Arab Republic B. Assad dated November 9, 2018, the Syrian authorities continue to work on amnesty for those who evade from military service, including those among refugees and former members of illegal armed groups. As for December 2, 2018, in total 14,522 were granted amnesty," the statement says.

Solomatin also said that one ceasefire violation had been registered in the Idlib de-escalation zone over the past 24 hours, adding that militants attacked the village of Hifsin in the province of Hama.

The center calls on the commanders of the illegal armed groups to abandon armed provocations and take the path of peaceful settlement in the areas under their control, he added.

As the Syrian government has regained control over most of the country's territories that were seized by terrorists, it is now focused on creating favorable conditions for repatriating refugees. Moscow is assisting Damascus in this, along with providing humanitarian aid to civilians and being a guarantor of the ceasefire.(@rukhshanmir)

MEXICO CITY (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th December, 2018) A total of 53 former intelligence agents, who worked during the rule of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, were sentenced by a court to various prison sentences.

According to the VTV broadcaster, the agents were found guilty of the murder of eight member of the Communist Party in 1976. The victims were kidnapped and murdered as part of a special operation.

The former agents were sentenced to 3-20 years in jail depending on their role in the crime.

Pinochet led a coup in 1973 that deposed the elected government, and ruled Chile until 1990. He died under house arrest in 2006, although he was never persecuted for political killings and disappearances of thousands of people under his regime. According to official figures, almost 3,200 people were killed for political reasons, 1,200 went missing while some 28,000 more were tortured.Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani is scheduled to visit Kuala Lumpur where he will hold talks with Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir on Thursday, aimed at promoting bilateral relations.

DOHA, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Dec, 2018 ) :Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani is scheduled to visit Kuala Lumpur where he will hold talks with Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir on Thursday, aimed at promoting bilateral relations.

The two leaders are expected to talk on a number of regional and international issues of common interest, Bernama reported on Tuesday.

The Emir of Qatar will honour the winners of His Highness' International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award during a ceremony in Kuala Lumpur this Friday, being held in cooperation with the United Nations.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

The balance of power in the world may change due to the failure of Western policies on Syria and North Korea, both of which have demonstrated great resilience during this time, Syrian President Bashar Assad said on Tuesday.

DAMASCUS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th December, 2018) The balance of power in the world may change due to the failure of Western policies on Syria and North Korea , both of which have demonstrated great resilience during this time, Syrian President Bashar Assad said on Tuesday.

Assad made the remarks during his meeting with North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, who is in Syria for an official visit.

"US aggression against independent states has no geographic borders.

The defeats of the Western projects and the stamina of such states as Syria and North Korea may change the international scene and create a new balance of power," Assad said, as quoted by his press service.

The Syrian president added that the West's pressure on Syria and North Korea was aimed at weakening them because of their decisions to act independently from the West.

Both Syria and North Korea are regarded by Western countries as rogue states and therefore targeted by sanctions.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

US President Donald Trump indirectly asked for negotiations with the Iranian side three times this year, but Tehran declined invitations, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Tuesday.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th December, 2018) US President Donald Trump indirectly asked for negotiations with the Iranian side three times this year, but Tehran declined invitations, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Tuesday.

"Last year, the United States asked for negotiations with Iran eight times directly and this year, 3 times indirectly, but we did not accept their invitation to protect people's dignity," Rouhani said at a Student's Day ceremony in Semnan University of Medical Sciences, as quoted by his official website.

Rouhani did not specify on what issues the US side proposed to hold meetings.

Earlier in the year, Mahmoud Vaezi, the chief of staff of Iran's president, said that during Rouhani's visit to New York for the United Nations General Assembly session in 2017, Trump had asked the Iranian delegation eight times to have a meeting with him.

Relations between Washington and Tehran have been hostile for decades, with the United States designating Iran as one of the state sponsors of terrorism. The relations deteriorated even further after the United States withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, in May and reimposed sanctions on Tehran.

The sanctions are aimed at exercising maximum pressure on Iran and force it to negotiate a new nuclear deal. As part of its campaign, US wants all countries to eventually reduce their Iranian oil imports to zero to damage the country's economy.

In September, Rouhani in his address at the UN General Assembly called on US to return to negotiations within the framework of UN Security Council Resolution 2231 on the Iranian nuclear program and to lift sanctions against Tehran.The peaceful nuclear energy cooperation projects of Russia and Argentina could be worth millions or even billions of dollars, Russian Ambassador to Argentina Dmitry Feoktistov told Sputnik

BUENOS AIRES (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th December, 2018) The peaceful nuclear energy cooperation projects of Russia and Argentina could be worth millions or even billions of Dollars, Russian Ambassador to Argentina Dmitry Feoktistov told Sputnik.

On the sidelines of G20 summit in Buenos Aires on Saturday, Russia and Argentina signed a strategic document on partnership in peaceful use of nuclear energy. The signed documents were exchanged in presence of the two presidents, Russia's Vladimir Putin and Argentina's Mauricio Macri.

"Here, in this field, it is about millions and billions of dollars," the ambassador said.

Feoktistov added that the sides were considering various options for future nuclear energy cooperation, including a large reactor, a small reactor, or a floating power plant.

"Building a fully-fledged plant with two reactors costs up to $10 billion. Of course this does not mean that this plant will be built," the ambassador said.

Feoktistov added that there was no agreement yet.Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro will meet in Moscow on Wednesday to discuss the development of bilateral trade ties, among many other issues.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 04th December, 2018) Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro will meet in Moscow on Wednesday to discuss the development of bilateral trade ties, among many other issues.

Venezuela became the first Latin American country to have its independence recognized by Russia on December 17, 1857.

Diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Venezuela were established on March 14, 1945. The ties were interrupted on June 13, 1952, by decision of the Soviet government due to the absence of conditions for the normal work of Soviet representatives in Venezuela. On April 16, 1970, the two countries resumed diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level.

In December 1991, Venezuela recognized Russia as the successor state of the Soviet Union.

The states signed the Treaty on Friendship and Cooperation between Russia and Venezuela on May 24, 1996, setting legal foundation for their bilateral relations.

Moscow and Caracas have been intensively developing political dialogue, working together to expand and diversify bilateral ties in various fields and to boost strategic partnership.

The Russian and Venezuelan presidents first met in September 2000 in New York on the sidelines of the 55th session of the United Nations General Assembly. Then-Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez repeatedly visited Russia (in 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010).

The important milestones in the relations between the two countries were the first-ever visit of the Russian president to Venezuela on November 26-27, 2008, and the visit of the Russian prime minister to Venezuela's capital Caracas on April 2, 2010. These visits gave a new impetus to the strategic partnership of the countries in the political, trade and economic, energy, financial, scientific, defense industry and other fields.

More than 40 cooperation agreements on culture, higher education, sport, as well as on mutual recognition and on the equivalence of diplomas, were signed following the visits.

On July 1-2, 2013, Venezuela's newly-elected President Nicolas Maduro paid his first official visit to Russia. He participated in the second summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) participating states and met with Putin. His substantive talks with Putin reaffirmed the mutual desire of Moscow and Caracas to continue gradually deepening their strategic partnership.

In January 2015, Putin and Maduro met during the latter's brief visit to Russia as part of his tour to oil-producing countries.

On May 9, 2015, the Venezuelan president attended celebrations in Moscow commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Great Patriotic War victory.

The same year, the two leaders met in September on the sidelines of ceremonies in Beijing marking the end of World War II, and later, in November, during the third summit of the GECF in Tehran.

In October 2016, the Russian and Venezuelan leaders held talks on the sidelines of the World Energy Congress in Istanbul.

Putin met with Maduro in Moscow on October 4, 2017, the Issues of bilateral, political, trade and economic cooperation were discussed during the talks. Maduro also took part in the Russian Energy Week forum.

On July 9, 2018, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Maduro had a brief conversation in Ankara before the inauguration of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Intensive contacts between the Russian and Venezuelan foreign ministers continue to form a significant part of bilateral political dialogue. In 2011, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was in Venezuela on an official visit, while in May 2015 Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez visited Russia. In February 2017, Rodriguez arrived in Russia for a working visit again.

On February 27, 2018, Lavrov had a brief conversation with his Venezuelan counterpart Jorge Arreaza in Geneva.

On September 26, Lavrov met with Maduro on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Consultations between foreign ministries on the international issues and bilateral relations are held on systematic basis. The countries also develop inter-parliamentary and inter-ministerial contacts.

In October 2018, a Russian delegation headed by Deputy Finance Minister Sergey Storchak visited Venezuela and held a meeting with Maduro.

Russia-Venezuela relations in the trade, economic and investment spheres are developing steadily. Russian companies, such as Rosneft energy giant, Gazprombank, energy holding company Inter RAO and Rostec state corporation, are actively working in the Venezuelan market. The basis of the investment cooperation is joint energy projects, primarily the exploitation of oil and gas reserves.

Russia and Venezuela are discussing the possibility of assembling cars on Venezuelan territory, vaccine production, investment projects in the Venezuelan Arco Minero area, famous for its gold reserves.

Russia and Venezuela, together with other countries, are taking measures to stabilize the situation on the oil market, and are closely coordinating their actions in this area with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the largest independent oil producers.

According to the Russian Federal Customs Service, Russia's trade with Venezuela totaled $68.4 million in 2017, with Russia exporting $67.6 million worth of goods and importing $755,000 in goods.

In January-September 2018, the volume of foreign trade between Russia and Venezuela amounted to $79.4 million. Russian exports totaled $78.7 million, while imports reached $720,000.

Russian exports to Venezuela mainly include food and agricultural products, chemical industry products, machinery, equipment and transport vehicles and others. The imports are represented mainly by food and agricultural products.

The main mechanism for developing trade and economic cooperation between Russia and Venezuela is the Intergovernmental Russian-Venezuelan High-Level Commission, established on December 23, 2002. A meeting of the commission was held in Caracas in April, 2018.

Defense industry cooperation between the two countries is developing on the basis of an intergovernmental agreement signed in May 2001 during Chavez's visit to Moscow.

The first contracts in the field of defense industry were signed in Caracas in 2005. A contract for the supply of Russian AK-103 Kalashnikov rifles was signed in May, 2005. They were delivered to the Venezuelan army in 2006. Mi-family helicopters, Tor-M1 missile systems, Su-family fighters, other weapons and military equipment have also been delivered to Venezuela.

In 2006, the parties signed a contract for the construction of a helicopter maintenance and repair center, which opened in 2013, as well as a plant to produce Kalashnikov assault rifles and their ammunition. The plant is expected to be launched in 2019.

In April 2018, Defense Minister of Venezuela Vladimir Padrino Lopez took part in the 7th Moscow Conference on International Security (MCIS-2018). Padrino Lopez also held negotiations with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. In July, Venezuelan soldiers took part in the international military games Army-2018, which had been held in Russia.

Cooperation in the educational, cultural and humanitarian fields plays an important role in the bilateral relations. The number of student exchanges and contacts between scientists and artists of the two countries are growing, which contributes to the increase of mutual understanding and sympathy between the two nations.

In November 2018, Russian representatives took part in Venezuela's 14th International Book Festival in Caracas.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

South Korea has established an inter-agency task force on legal issues related to recent Seoul court rulings against Japan's wartime forced labor, a government official said Tuesday.

SEOUL, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Dec, 2018 ) :South Korea has established an inter-agency task force on legal issues related to recent Seoul court rulings against Japan's wartime forced labor, a government official said Tuesday.

It involves the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Government Legislation, the Office for Government Policy Coordination and other relevant authorities.

"A meticulous review of the rulings is under way. We are trying to pool wisdom and craft the best possible method," the official said. "Some time is needed." In November, the Supreme Court ordered Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. to compensate 10 Koreans who worked at its shipyard and other production facilities in Hiroshima and Nagoya in 1944 with no pay and a bereaved family member of another on two separate suits.

The court upheld two appellate court judgments -- one that ordered Mitsubishi to disburse 100-120 million won (US$89,000-109,000) each to four female victims and the family member, and the other that ordered it to pay 80 million won each to six elderly men.

The South Korean government immediately said that it respects the court decision and that it would reset its policy on the matter.

Japan, however, has fiercely protested the rulings, saying they run counter to the 1965 state-to-state pact on settling reparation issues, connected with Japan's 1910-45 colonization of Korea, and normalizing bilateral diplomatic ties.

Tokyo's top diplomat, Taro Kono, warned that his government will seek countermeasures unless Seoul addresses the issue. He did not elaborate.

"We can't contain our disappointment (over such remarks)," the official said. "Our government will take countermeasures as well if necessary."What's more important is for Japan to stop seeking to evade legal and moral responsibilities for its past atrocities and handle the problem with a sincere attitude, the official added.Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika called off a meeting with visiting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday because of ill health, the national news agency APS reported.

Algiers,(APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Dec, 2018 ) :Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika called off a meeting with visiting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday because of ill health, the national news agency APS reported.

It said the 81-year-old president, whose health has been fragile since he suffered a stroke in 2013 and is rarely seen in public, was "in bed with a heavy flu".

Bouteflika postponed a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in February 2017 and was last seen on Algerian television on November 1 laying a wreath at the country's independence war memorial.

Prince Mohammed, who has been making his first foreign tour since the October 2 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, held talks instead with Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia, Algeria's presidency said.

The visit would focus on "partnerships and investment projects", the Algerian presidency said before the prince arrived in Algiers late Sunday on a flight from Mauritania.

Like a previous stop in Tunis, the crown prince's visit has drawn criticism from political and academic circles in Algeria over the Saudi-led war in Yemen and Washington Post columnist Khashoggi's grisly murder in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

It was jointly denounced by 17 intellectuals, journalists, Muslim scholars and other figures in the North African country, in a statement obtained by AFP.

They said the "whole world is certain that he ordered a terrible crime against the journalist Jamal Khashoggi".

Khashoggi's killing has put mounting pressure on Riyadh and Prince Mohammed, who Turkish officials -- and reportedly the CIA -- have concluded was behind the critic's death.

Saudi authorities have vehemently denied the crown prince was involved.(@rukhshanmir)

Seoul has not begun discussing the issue of easing sanctions against North Korea with Moscow yet as it does not see enough progress in the denuclearization, South Korean Ambassador to Russia Woo Yoon-keun said on Monday.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd December, 2018) Seoul has not begun discussing the issue of easing sanctions against North Korea with Moscow yet as it does not see enough progress in the denuclearization, South Korean Ambassador to Russia Woo Yoon-keun said on Monday.

"As regards easing sanctions, we have not started such a discussion with Russia as we do not see enough progress in the issue of North Korea's denuclearization," Woo told reporters.

Russian Ambassador to North Korea Alexander Matsegora said in November that Moscow was in favor of gradual easing of sanctions against Pyongyang.

The sanctions have been imposed by the UN Security Council over the country's nuclear and ballistic missile tests.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

They were promised a "peace diamond" dividend in the Sierra Leone village of Koryardu after the stone they handed over for auction fetched $6.5 million (5.7 million euros) a year ago.

Koryardu, Sierra Leone, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Dec, 2018 ) :They were promised a "peace diamond" dividend in the Sierra Leone village of Koryardu after the stone they handed over for auction fetched $6.5 million (5.7 million Euros) a year ago.

But they are still waiting to see the benefits.

"Absolutely nothing happened," said Pastor Emmanuel Momoh, who manages the team of diggers that found the 709-carat diamond in March 2017, in eastern Kono province.

The idea of handing the diamond over to the government to sell was that it would generate money to be ploughed back into developing the local community.

But at the village school, Peter Baimoi, who helps teach its about 190 pupils, said there was no sign of the promised government funding.

With no qualified teachers in the village, parents rely on their children being taught by some of the better-educated local people who can read and write, like Bamoi who finished high school.

They do it voluntarily, the pastor said.

The government had promised that 15 percent of the total sale price -- nearly one million Dollars -- would go into a fund for Koryardu to develop water, electricity, health and education.

A year on, Koryardu still has no electricity and no clinic -- and the nearest state school is in Koidu, about 14 kilometres (nine miles) away.

The hamlet lies 10 kilometres from the main highway -- and the road into the village is still impassable for six months of the year, during the rainy season.(@rukhshanmir)

Slovakia's prosecutor general said on Tuesday he had ordered the release of 12 Greenpeace activists who had been held "unlawfully" for staging a protest at the EU country's largest and oldest brown coal mine.

Bratislava, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Dec, 2018 ) :Slovakia's prosecutor general said on Tuesday he had ordered the release of 12 Greenpeace activists who had been held "unlawfully" for staging a protest at the EU country's largest and oldest brown coal mine.

The campaigners from Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany and Slovakia were detained without bail last week after hoisting a banner saying "End coal age!" on the tower of a lignite mine in Novaky, central Slovakia.

Their detention and bail rejection sparked a protest in the capital Bratislava on Monday and criticism from Slovakia's top politicians including the president and prime minister.

Greenpeace had also called for their immediate release.

"Today, I issued an order to release all 12 people," Slovakia's prosecutor general Jaromir Ciznar told local media on Tuesday, adding that "these people are detained unlawfully".

He added that the district court, which had ordered their detention without bail on Sunday, had "improperly" defined their actions.

Slovakia's liberal President Andrej Kiska said in a statement Monday that he did not "understand how we can push activists into the role of criminals".(@ChaudhryMAli88)

A Togo opposition appeal for an economic shutdown to protest upcoming parliamentary elections failed to muster support on Tuesday with many businesses ignoring the call and staying open as usual.

Lome, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Dec, 2018 ) :A Togo opposition appeal for an economic shutdown to protest upcoming parliamentary elections failed to muster support on Tuesday with many businesses ignoring the call and staying open as usual.

The West African nation's main opposition has vowed to boycott elections this month over alleged fraud and had called on workers to stay at home on Tuesday at the start of campaigning.

But in the main markets in the capital Lome's Adawlato and Hedzranawoe districts, most shops were open with plenty of activity during the morning. Some stores were closed in the Be neighbourhood, an opposition stronghold.

Banks were also open, as well as public administration offices. In Deckon district, where cellphone sellers operate, businesses went about their selling as usual.

"I can't even think about closing my store because we are right about the time of end of year celebrations and everything closes up then," said one mobile phone vendor.

"This call (for a shutdown) doesn't interest me, nor do the elections." Togo has been hit by protests since September last year.

The opposition has called for President Faure Gnassingbe to step down after more than a decade in power and for constitutional reform to limit presidential mandates.

Gnassingbe has been president since the death of his father, Gnassingbe Eyadema, in 2005. Eyadema himself ruled Togo for 38 years.

A coalition of 14 opposition parties also objects to the composition of Togo's Independent National Election Commission (CENI) and wants it revamped.

A total of 850 candidates for 12 political parties and independents have presented their candidacy for the legislative elections scheduled on December 20.London, Dec 4 (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 5th Dec, 2018 ) :London will allow refugees living on a UK military base in Cyprus since 1998 to settle in Britain following a long legal dispute, a spokesman said on Tuesday.

The group of six families are among 75 people from Ethiopia, Iraq, Sudan and Syria who landed on the southwest coast of Cyprus after the boat in which they were travelling to Italy foundered.

They were recognised as refugees but then interior minister Theresa May decided they could not be admitted to Britain and they have since been pursuing a legal challenge.

The refugees have been living on the Dhekelia base, which is British sovereign territory.

"Given the unique and highly unusual circumstances of these refugees and their children we have made an exceptional decision to bring an end to this long-standing issue, enabling them to leave Dhekelia immediately and settle in the UK," a British interior ministry spokesman said.

While they could in theory claim asylum in Cyprus, many say they have little prospect of finding work or permanent residency on the island.

The dispute has rumbled on for so long that many of the refugees have married and had children, all within the boundaries of the seven-square-kilometre (three-square-mile) outpost where they live, although they are able to go outside.

"We are delighted that the current Home Secretary has done the humane thing and agreed to grant our clients and their families leave to enter the UK for permanent residency," Tessa Gregory, a solicitor at Leigh Day, said in a statement.

Tag Bashir, the lead claimant, said: "We only want to thank everyone who has worked so hard to help us escape this 20-year nightmare.

"I cannot express how happy our families are to be given the opportunity to come to the UK and start our lives again," he said.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

The UK Ministry of Defense denies BBC Russia's reports alleging that several groups of the British Army's 77th Brigade have been stationed in Ukraine, a spokesperson for the ministry told Sputnik.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd December, 2018) The UK Ministry of Defense denies BBC Russia 's reports alleging that several groups of the British Army 's 77th Brigade have been stationed in Ukraine , a spokesperson for the ministry told Sputnik.

On Sunday, BBC news Russian reported that several groups of the British Army's 77th Brigade, a top-secret unit that deals with electronic and psychological warfare, are currently stationed in Ukraine. According to the broadcaster, the UK servicemen in Ukraine have three main areas of activities - carry out military tasks in the internet, as well as psychological and information operations.

"No members of 77x Brigade are currently deployed in Ukraine. The UK delivers capacity building training to the Ukrainian Armed Forces through our training mission, Operation ORBITAL. Up to around 100 UK Defence personnel are deployed on Operation ORBITAL at any one time, the majority of which are Army personnel," the spokesperson said.WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th December, 2018) The United States regrets the Pakistani government's decision to expel 18 international aid groups from the country, the Department of State said in a press release.

"The United States regrets that the government of Pakistan has required 18 INGOs (international non-governmental organizations), many of which have been working in Pakistan for many years, to close their operations in Pakistan," the State Department said.

The United States recognizes "the vital role" that INGOs play in Pakistan on the country's development on multiple fronts, the State Department said. The US calls on Pakistan to engage with international partners "who share their commitment to a bright future for Pakistan."

On October 2, Pakistan's Interior Ministry ordered at least 18 international aid groups to wrap up their activities in the country within 60 days after their applications for registration under the rules regulating the presence of foreign-funded groups were rejected.

Shortly after the announcement in October, Said Nazir Mohmand, a defense and security analyst at the Pakistani Institute of Policy Studies in Islamabad, told Sputnik the decision to expel NGOs was consistent with Islamabad's policy on updating rules governing the presence of foreign-based aid groups in the country and streamlining the aid sector to get rid of NGOs that harbor spies.

"The government's policy regarding NGOs is being updated and most stringent measures and parameters are laid to remain focused on their activities. The government considers it as one of the course of espionage," the expert said.

He praised some NGOs for doing useful work but said others were "infested with spy moles" and engaged in manipulating sensitive information.

Mohmand singled out the case of UK-based and US-funded Save the Children as a warning bell for Islamabad regarding NGOs. Save the Children played what it has called an unwitting role in the 2011 US raid on Al Qaeda (terrorist organization banned in Russia) leader Osama bin Laden's hideout in Pakistan. Islamabad accused the NGO of "anti-Pakistan" activities and shut down its offices over its involvement in a bogus hepatitis B vaccination program which helped the CIA track down bin Laden.Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Portugal on Tuesday for a two-day visit to boost economic ties.

Lisbon,(APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Dec, 2018 ) : Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Portugal on Tuesday for a two-day visit to boost economic ties.

His two-day stay will include the signing of cooperation agreements, one of which will bring the southwestern port of Sines into what China calls the "new Silk Road". The initiative offers loans to build railways, roads and ports across Asia, Europe and Africa.

"Portugal is an important hub in the land and maritime silk routes," Xi said.

Andre Verissimo, editor of the leading business newspaper Jornal de Negocios, said: "If Portugal joins the initiative, it will become the first country in western Europe to do so." Portugal, one of western Europe's poorest countries, opened to Chinese investment after being hit hard by the 2008 global financial crisis.

Chinese investment accounted for 3.6 percent of Portugal's GDP between 2010 and 2016, according to figures from Spain's ESADE business school.

China now owns a 28 percent stake in Portuguese energy utility EDP, the country's largest firm, via China Three Gorges and China's state-owned international investment company CNIC.

It also has a stake in Portugal's biggest private bank, BCP, and its leading insurance company, Fidelidade. According to estimates, Chinese investment in the country could total 12 billion Dollars.

China has risen to Portugal's 11th-largest trade partner in the decade since 2008, when it was 28th on the list.Welcome to Volume 3, Third issue, of Everyday Urology - Oncology Insights. In this issue, the applicability and utility of SpaceOAR Hydrogel will be reviewed as well as the trials that led to its regulatory approval. SpaceOAR was designed as a means of diminishing rectal radiation toxicity. With a phase III trial reporting a decrease in acute and long-term rectal toxicity, as well as an enhanced patient, reported quality of life outcomes, SpaceOAR is quickly being adopted as a component of prostate cancer radiotherapy.Daniel J. George, MD, and Robert G. Uzzo MD, FACS, review Nephrectomy in the era of targeted therapy, focusing on the significance of the CARMENA trial and the decision making involved regarding whether to proceed with a cytoreductive nephrectomy or not for patients with metastatic disease. Importantly, the clinical value and trial data of Sunitinib without cytoreductive nephrectomy is reviewed.Ashish Kamat, MD, succinctly details within Blue light cystoscopy: insights on recurrence, progression, and clinical management, regarding the application of blue light cystoscopy, now recommended by both the American Urologic Association and Society of Urologic Oncology guidelines for cystoscopic evaluation for patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. He analyzes the specific benefits of blue light cystoscopy for bladder cancer surveillance as well as during resection. Over the spring and summer, leading urologists and oncologists have assembled at global meetings in order to share their research as well as to debate the merits of new data and diagnostics and their potential impact upon clinical decision making. These well-known international conferences enable collaboration across geographic boundaries, and thus this edition will further spotlight some timely developments in prostate, bladder and renal cancer research most recently presented.From the 73rd annual Canadian Urological Association meeting was held in Halifax, Nova Scotia from June 23-24. Geoffrey Gotto, MD, discussion on the use of abiraterone acetate with prednisone in the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer and Sumanta Pal, MD, an overview of treatment updates in renal cell carcinoma, including results of CheckMate 214 and IMmotion 151 are both presented in this edition.Also, highlights from Julys 2018 Congress of the Mexican Association of Oncological Urology include a talk by Bernardo Gabilondo Pliego, MD on nephron-sparing surgery , as well as a presentation by Daniel Olvera Posada, MD, on emerging biomarkers for prostate cancer detection, are presented.As always, thank you for reading Everyday Urology - Oncology Insights.Sincerely,The COP24 Climate Conference taking place in Katowice, Poland continues Tuesday with negotiators getting down to the finer points of the meeting.

By Lydia O'Kane

A series of technical talks got underway aimed at finalizing the rules that define the 2015 Paris agreement on curbing global warming. The diplomatic discussions come a day after U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made a dramatic appeal to governments to act boldly to avert a catastrophic rise in temperatures before the end of the century.

Paris Agreement rule book

Attending the conference is the relief and development agency, Christian Aid which works with hundreds of local partner organisations in some of the world's most vulnerable communities. Speaking from the summit in Katowice, Communications Manager for the charity, Joe Ware, explained more about this rule book, saying, one of the big issues thats being discussed here is creating the operating manual for the Paris Agreement, which was the big agreement signed in Paris in 2015 and so, were creating this rule book which will lay out and which will allow us to assess all the national pledges that different countries have put forward So, this rule book is one of the crucial things theyre discussing and hopefully that will be something that will be signed at the end of this summit in two weeks.

Listen to the interview with Joe Ware

Dramatic warning on Climate Change

Speaking about the UN Secretary Generals powerful opening speech to the conference on Monday, Joe described it as, an emotional address. You dont usually get such emotion and such passion from the boss of the UNand I think it reflects the fact that we have had this recent report from the World Scientists, the IPCC saying that we really are facing a potential crisis if we dont accelerate this transition to a low carbon economy, he said.

Despite the fact that US President Trump has announced that he will pull his country out of the Paris Accord, the Christian Aid Communications Manager noted that, it has actually shown how strong the agreement is, because we assumed that as soon as America pulled out, China would pull out; Russia would pull out; all these other countries would take the opportunity to get out, but actually none of them have done

Christian Aid and advocacy

As an anti-poverty charity, Joe said that Christian Aid was at the COP24 summit to advocate on behalf of partner organisations and vulnerable communities who are severely affected by climate change. He went to say that sadly, climate change is that ultimate injustice and thats why we need a fair and equitable process that will deal with that problem.The Ambassadors of Ireland and Britain to the Holy See speak about their respective governments anti-slavery policies at an event remembering the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery.

By Sr Bernadette Mary Reis, fsp

While participating at an event hosted by the International Union of Superiors General, the Ambassadors of Ireland and Britain to the Holy See took the opportunity of presenting their respective governments anti-slavery, anti-trafficking policies.

Ireland against trafficking

Derek Hannon, the Irish Ambassador to the Holy See said that Ireland is committed to combatting human trafficking, both domestically and in cooperation with our international partners. Central to the development and execution of our national action plan to combat human trafficking, is the implementation of the UN Global Plan of Action Against Trafficking in Persons, the Ambassador said. Ireland developed this plan after consulting partners at both the national and international levels, and those representing society at large as well. It contains a clear, collaborative program to advance the fight against trafficking and enhance protection of victims. Ireland, he said, has also established an anti-trafficking unit, updated its legislation, inaugurated structures at the judicial, investigative and medical levels, and is committed to placing victims and their human rights at the centre of the response to human trafficking.

Britain combats modern forms of slavery

Sally Axworthy, the British Ambassador to the Holy See explained the programs adopted in the UK to eradicate modern forms of slavery. She said that Britains modern slavery policy began in 2004 when 23 Chinese fishermen working under slave conditions in Morecombe Bay died because their gang master put profit over their safety. It shocked public opinion that such a thing could happen, the Ambassador said. Not only is there a modern slavery problem in the UK, Axworthy said, but it also gets a lot of publicity. In seemingly very normal places, there will be people being trafficked in the UK to work in car washes or nail bars, she said.

Statistics of modern slavery in the UK

Forced labour and sexual exploitation are the leading areas where victims of trafficking find themselves, followed by domestic labour. Of the roughly 1,650 cases reported to the National Referral Mechanism between April and June 2018, 695, or 42%, involved minors. Internationally, at any one time in 2016, an estimated 40.3 million people were experiencing modern slavery. That means for every thousand people, there are 5.4 victims. One in four victims is a child. Modern slavery affects women and girls disproportionately: 99% of women in the sex industry, and 58% in other forced labour areas.

Britains response to modern slavery

Britain passed the Modern Slavery Act in 2015 which brought together all our existing offenses into one Act, the Ambassador explained. Prevention is one component of Britains response. There are lots of posters in the UK, telling people how to spot when people are at risk, Axworthy said. Victim support is a second category through which victims have access to such things as housing, health care, education counselling for a period of 45-90 days. Supply chains are a particular focus of scrutiny. Any company with more than 250 employees must to produce a report saying how they are tackling modern slavery. In this way companies are encouraged to be aware if there is slavery in their supply chains. Bringing human traffickers to justice has resulted in 1000 convictions for modern slavery offenses since 2010, the Ambassador said.

At the international level

Along with the Holy See, Britain lobbied for Sustainable Development Goal 8.7 so that it remains on the United Nations agenda. Prime Minister Theresa May launched a Call for Action in 2017 at the UN which sets out all the things that we think make part of an effective response to modern slavery. Around 80 countries have signed on to it as Britain seeks to revitalize international collaboration. Britain aldo funds projects overseas. Some of these funds go to the International Union of Superiors General who, through Talitha Kum, is actively part of anti-trafficking activity, especially in Africa. Finally, she mentioned the Santa Marta group, a collaboration between Bishops, and law enforcement where information is exchanged at an annual meeting.Lu ethnic women in Hon village, Tam Duong district, Lai Chau, weave fabrics and sew clothes (Illustrative photo: VNA)

The resolution includes support policies to encourage agro-forestry-fishery development and technology use in agricultural production.

Between 2016 and 2018, Lai Chau has provided 53,000 households with more than 86 billion VND (3.7 million USD) worth of saplings, animal breeding, fertiliser and pesticides. More than 72,000 families have taken charge of protecting more than 296,000 hectares of forests, while 36,000 poor and near poor households have received loans.

Giang A Tinh, Vice Chairman of the Lai Chau Peoples Committee, said the province has allocated a large amount of funding for districts with high poverty rate and a number of border communes. The financial assistance came from not only the provincial authorities but also individuals, organisations and businesses.

Vocational training has been prioritised, particularly in the farming, garment-textiles and electricity sectors. As of November 2018, Lai Chau had created jobs for nearly 21,000 people and sent 276 others to work overseas.

During 2016-2018, the province has invested in improving infrastructure in poor areas, including the building of rural roads, irrigation systems, school facilities, health centres and a FM radio station, to help residents better access educational and health services, information and clean water.

To date, 1,030 of 1,169 local villages have roads suitable for motorbikes and 92 percent of households have access to electricity from the national grid.

In reviewed period, the rate of poor and near poor households annually decreased by 4.95 percent and 0.08 percent, respectively, meaning 12,000 families escaped poverty.Ambulance workers took to the streets and gathered close to the National Assembly in downtown Paris to complain about changes to working conditions amid anti-government protests. (Source: AP Photo/Michel Euler)

PARIS: French leader Emmanuel Macron faced growing pressure on Monday (Dec 3) to find a way out of the deepest crisis of his presidency after protests over taxes sparked Paris' worst rioting in decades.

As dozens of people were brought to court over Saturday's clashes, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe met with ministers and with the heads of the main opposition parties to discuss ways of resolving the tension.

A meeting was planned on Tuesday with moderate members of the movement, which has waged two weeks of nationwide demonstrations over fuel tax and the rising cost of living.

But on Monday, "yellow vest" representatives who had extended a hand of dialogue after the Paris riots said they had decided against attending the talks with Philippe for "security reasons".

Jacline Mouraud and Benjamin Cauchy, two of the leaders of the protests, told AFP they had received threats from hardline protesters who warned them against entering into negotiations with the government.

Macron has vowed not to back down on the anti-pollution fuel taxes that sparked a revolt in small-town and rural France, but on Monday the government indicated that it might make concessions.

Philippe's office said he would announce "measures" in favour of the protesters.

Culture Minister Franck Riester told reporters the premier would announce "a strong conciliatory gesture in the coming days", without giving details.

Macron postponed a planned visit to Belgrade due to the "problems" at home, his Serbian counterpart President Aleksandar Vucic announced on Monday.

MACRON SILENT

Macron has not spoken publicly about Saturday's destruction in Paris since his return from a G20 summit in Argentina at the weekend.

On Monday, he had lunch with police from a Paris barracks that was involved in trying to quell the riots.

The 40-year-old centrist was elected in May 2017 on a pro-business platform that included measures to encourage companies to invest to create jobs.

Immediately after coming to power, he pushed through tax cuts for entrepreneurs and high-earners.

Those measures stirred anger among the "yellow vests" who have blocked highways around the country over the past two weeks.

Some of the protesters are demanding that a fuel tax increase planned for January be suspended.

But many are holding out for more, including a rise in the minimum wage and pensions.

Mass street protests have repeatedly forced previous presidents into U-turns.

"The longer this goes on, the higher the political price," Bruno Cautres of the Cevipof political research institute told AFP.

TRUCKERS COUNT LOSSES

Paris police said 412 people were arrested during the clashes in the capital on Saturday and 363 remained in custody, according to the latest figures.

Some of those who appeared in court Monday had long criminal records for violent crime and clashing with police, but others included a 21-year-old with a master's degree in finance, sources said.

The unrest degenerated into arson and looting around the Champs-Elysees avenue and other tourist attractions on Saturday.

Business leaders warned it could cause shoppers to flee during the busy end-of-year holiday period.

Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Monday that hotel reservations had fallen by "around 15 to 20 per cent" since the start of the protests.

On Monday, the protests spread to around a hundred schools nationwide, which were partially or totally blocked by teenagers voicing frustration over university entrance reforms.

At the Spanish border, thousands of trucks were caught in tailbacks stretching nearly 20 kilometres as the protesters blocked roads.

Far-right National Rally party leader Marine Le Pen, who has been cheering on the protests, tweeted that she had asked Philippe during their meeting to "end the strategy of confrontation chosen by Emmanuel Macron for the past three weeks."

SOLUTION: LOWER TAXES?

A state of emergency had been mooted after rioters ran amok in Paris, attacking the police, torching cars, vandalising shops and setting six buildings alight.

But on Monday deputy interior minister Laurent Nunez said that was "not on the table for now".

Le Maire, the economy minister, said the solution for tackling low purchasing power for struggling families lay in reducing the overall tax burden in France, which is among the highest in Europe.

"We must speed up the reduction of taxes," he said. "But for that we must speed up the decrease in public spending."The conference will be held in Long Xuyen city in An Giang province (Photo: Huu Truc)

Around 500 delegates will join the event, including leaders from diverse government agencies, provinces, and municipalities in the delta as well as Ho Chi Minh City, besides economic experts, business associations inside and outside the province, business executives, and foreign partners.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc will chair the conference.

On the occasion, An Giang will approve the investment proposals of 23 projects across the five sectors of agriculture, trade-services-tourism, industry, construction, and urban development valued at more than VND27 trillion ($1.17 billion) in total committed capital.

Seven projects worth more than VND101 trillion ($4.4 billion) are expected to receive investment certificates. Also, the best-performing businesses in the province will receive badges for the cause of An Giangs construction and development to reward their outstanding contributions to the provinces development.

According to Pham Thanh Nhon, deputy director of the An Giang Department of Planning and Investment, the provinces potential and advantages, as well as an investment wish-list and associated investment incentive policies will be fully presented at the conference, hoping to attract more leading businesses to set up shop in the province to avail themselves of the abundant local potential, particularly in agriculture and tourism to promote sustainable development.

The event is also expected to play a part in successfully implementing An Giangs socioeconomic development targets set in the Resolution of the tenth Provincial Party Committee Conferences 2015-2020 tenure.

The event is also expected to play a part in successfully implementing An Giangs socioeconomic development targets set in the Resolution of the tenth Provincial Party Committee Conferences 2015-2020 tenure.

Le Van Nung, Deputy Chairman of the An Giang Peoples Committee, said, This investment promotion conference will be like a host serving good dishes to entertain guests, and I do expect the media will contribute to bringing more guests to the province.

Nung also said he hopes media agencies will do their utmost to deliver precise and multi-angle information about the province to businesses, investors, and authorised management bodies.

He added that besides its many advantages, An Giang like many other localities faces certain difficulties in development, such as a lack of cleared land bank and restrictions in transport infrastructure. Provincial leaders, therefore, are committed to doing their best to usher An Giang onto a sustainable development path.Witnessed by the Duke of York, Logivan will represent Vietnam to take part in Pitch@Palace Global 3.0, at St. Jamess Palace in London on December 12, 2018.

There are a number of organisations, including starting and scaling businesses, and we are one of those numbers, but we are trying to be different in the sense that we are trying to work with the businesses, grow them, and not seek to only invest in them but to enhance their prospects of growth. I am very impressed by what I have seen today, with the range of different ideas, and I think there is a lot more in Vietnam in the coming time, Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, told VIR.

Pitch@Palace Vietnam 1.0 was presented by The Duke of York

The Duke added that the most important thing was that this programme is in Vietnam, for Vietnam, and with Vietnamese entrepreneurs.

We will continue to diversify the countrys economy and increase the connection between Vietnamese entrepreneurs and the global community, he added.

Pitch@Palace was founded by the Duke of York in 2014 as a platform to amplify and accelerate the work of entrepreneurs.

The programme guides, helps, and connects entrepreneurs and early-stage businesses with a global network of potential supporters, including CEOs, influencers, angels, investors, mentors, and business partners.

Pitch@Palace Vietnam 1.0 had a broad technology theme and showcased companies that have developed innovative technologies across a wide range of areas, including biotech and medical technology, consumer technology, and the Internet of Things, industrial technology, as well as artificial intelligence and robotics.

Pitch@Palace Vietnam 1.0 was sponsored by Dragon Capital, Jardine Matheson, and Standard Chartered Bank who have been supporting the growth of Vietnamese business and entrepreneurs for over 20 years and are excited to witness the growth of the next generation of successful Vietnamese businesses.

"By launching Pitch@Palace Vietnam 1.0, Dragon Capital, Jardine Matheson, and Standard Chartered are delighted to assist in an event which facilities entrepreneurs in accelerating their business, introducing them to new investor segments and influential networks who can help them grow their business," said Alain Cany, chairman of Jardine Matheson Vietnam.Hundreds of villagers, incensed over the death of the sacred animals, pelted stones at officers sent to quell the violence just 130 kilometres from New Delhi AFP

Police fired shots in the air as hundreds of villagers, incensed over the death of the sacred animals, pelted stones at officers sent to quell the violence just 130km from New Delhi.

Anand Kumar, an additional director general of Uttar Pradesh state police, said word spread quickly in Bulandshahr district when carcasses believed to be cows were found dumped near a village.

Cows are considered sacred by many Hindus and some accused of slaughtering the beasts have been lynched by vigilante mobs in the past.

"These were suspected cow carcasses and the villagers were angry about it," Kumar told reporters.

"There were around 400 people from three neighbouring villages. They indulged in heavy stone pelting and arson. Police baton-charged and tried to bring the situation under control.

"Police resorted to firing in the air to control the crowd."

Subodh Kumar Singh, a police inspector, and a local villager were killed in the violence.

It is not yet clear how they died. Police have launched an investigation and said post-mortem examinations would be conducted.

Footage shared online showed vehicles on fire and huge crowds of men hurling objects at police. Kumar said more than a dozen cars were set alight.

It is illegal to slaughter cows or even possess beef in many Indian states. Some carry life sentences for transgressions.

Uttar Pradesh, the scene of Monday's violence, prohibits cow slaughter.

Its chief minister Yogi Adityanath, a firebrand Hindu priest turned politician, has pushed for slaughterhouses to be closed and cow shelters to be constructed.

Cow slaughter is a powder-keg issue in India and one that rights group say has been stoked by Hindu hardliners to provoke violence against Muslims and other minorities.

In two prominent cases last year, a dairy farmer was murdered on a highway for transporting cows and a Muslim teenager accused of carrying beef was stabbed to death on a crowded train.

Critics say vigilantes have been emboldened by the 2014 election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.

Modi, who will seek a second term in office in elections by May, last year condemned murder in the name of protecting cows after a string of vigilante killings sparked protests.A huge number of motorbikes were damaged by storm Usagi in Ho Chi Minh City last week

For days after the floods from storm Usagi, motorbike repair shops across the city have been overloaded. While compulsory motorbike insurance only offers compensation if drivers get in accidents, only a few locals purchased physical insurance covering fire and flood damage.

According to the latest statistics of the Vietnam Association of Motorbike Manufacturers (VAMM), the total number of motorbikes in Vietnam hit 52 million. However, only one per cent of motorbike users buy extra motorbike insurance, according to Liberty Insurance Vietnam Limited Company.

The little interest in motorbike insurance is also the main reason behind people having to pay VND700,000-1 million ($30.4-43.5) per repair, according to the insurer.

With the huge number of local motorbike riders, the awareness forphysical insurancepresented by storm Usagi is a golden opportunity for insurance firms. Thus, it is high time for insurance firms have to change strategies and lay down on local motorbike users.

In fact, the majority of insurance firms already said that the relatively small value of motorbikes is the main reason behind the disinterest in physical vehicle insurance, while car owners are far more eager to buy insurance.

Dantri.com.vn cited Liberty Mutual Insurances (the parent company of Liberty Insurance Vietnam) representative as saying that the company has received nearly 1,000 calls from customers after the storm Usagi, mostly about car rescue and information enquiries. This was a record number of requests in the past several years.

Vtv.vn stated that the majority of people only buy vehicle insurance because it is compulsory, without even knowing what coverage it offers.

In Vietnam, vehicles are required to purchase compulsory insurance that covers accidents. Additionally, most automobile owners buy voluntary insurance to cover physical damage, including the vehicle and parts damaged by natural disasters or certain unexpected accidents.There are great opportunities in smart and connected technology in agriculture (Image source: thegioinhanong.org)

The introduction of mineral fertiliser and the industrialisation of production processes, connectivity, and data management are bringing the Fourth Industrial Revolution into farming. Smart digital farming has been recognised as the highest-ranking technology opportunity in terms of its expected positive impact on society.

While precision agriculture (the use of satellite navigation, remote sensing, and other tools to farm each square metre as efficiently and sustainably as possible) has been evolving for some time, and information technology has now reached a point where it is not only possible to collect vast quantities of data, but also to use quite inexpensive, small processors to make use of this information to control different pieces of equipment or monitor individual animals.

A report of Agri-Business Working Group at Vietnam Business Forum 2018 today noted that a growing number of farmers in Asia and in Vietnam are starting to adopt digital technology and data-driven innovations. Thanks to digital connectivity, intelligent agricultural machines can connect in a working process by consulting, for instance, weather data and ordering spare parts or accessing field-specific information from a central, cloud-based farm management software.

Big Data can deliver bigger yields and greater environmental protection. Farms in Germany using advanced digital technology have reported higher yields per hectare while reducing nitrogen levels significantly, as well as cutting herbicide and diesel use by 10 and 20 per cent, respectively.

However, in Vietnam, farmers are still operating with the tools of the Third Industrial Revolution, utilising a basic personal computers, the Internet, and simple ICT, with many a whole era back, relying on the telephone and internal combustion engines. They are a long way from understanding or utilising the benefits of Industry 4.0.

For Farming 4.0 to become a reality, David Whitehead, the head of the VBF Agri-Business Working Group, said that Vietnam needs dedicated joint efforts between the public sector, industry players, and the farming community. Above all, decision-makers and the government need to ensure the fundamental digital infrastructure for rapidly growing data flows, network coverage, and transmission rates in rural areas.

"We need supportive government policies that help to address the investment gap in agriculture, particularly in times of low commodity prices, as well as boosting farmers' ability to invest in those innovative digital technologies and equipment that have proven beneficial to both the society and the environment," added David.

In parallel, industry players must strive to create a competitive and innovation-friendly landscape that enables the flow of data streams and encourages fair competition at all levels. It is also important to ensure that the necessary digital skills are developed and that there is an openness about potential new business opportunities and models that may be available for the digital transformation.

For instance, with retailers and consumers increasingly interested in the traceability of the food they purchase and eat, the ability to collect data on exactly how a crop was grown or an animal reared could become an invaluable asset, particularly if Vietnam wants to be competitive on the world stage and in the global supply chain. This can help producers deliver high-quality specialised produce, fully traceable to the field, and could allow supermarkets to offer a better choice to their customers.

Farming 4.0 is coming along with investment opportunities in high-tech agriculture, and a new farming revolution triggered by the adoption of staggering new technologies like satellites, high-precision positioning systems, smart sensors, and a range of IT applications combined with high-tech engineering and robotics.Illustrative image (Source: VNA)

During the event, VAVA President Sen. Lieut. Gen Nguyen Van Rinh said between 1961 and 1971, US troops sprayed some 80 million litres of herbicides which contain Agent Orange (AO) over southern Vietnam. About 4.8 million Vietnamese people are exposed to AO/dioxin, of whom over 3 million are victims and hundreds of thousands of children are in the third and fourth generations.

Apart from attention and help from the Vietnamese Party, State and sectors, the AO/dioxin victims receive assistance from organisations and individuals in and outside the country, including those from Japan, Rinh said.

The Japanese guests affirmed to continue cooperating with the VAVA in caring and help AO/dioxin victims.The former president of Cambodias main opposition party, Sam Rainsy, has declared himself leader of the party despite its current leader, Kem Sokha, being held under house arrest in Phnom Penh by Prime Minister Hun Sens government.

The announcement was made at a gathering of overseas party members in Atlanta, GA, this week, which was billed as the first Cambodia National Rescue Party world conference outside the country and supporters of Sokha had opposed.

This is the action that the situation has required us to do, Rainsy said in an interview with VOA Khmer. We have to make sure that the CNRP is restored because the dictatorship regime wants us to remain stagnant and has no leadership by prosecuting me and imprisoning [CNRP President] Kem Sokha.

The CNRP won more than 40 percent of the national vote in local elections in 2017. But the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party targeted Sokha and the CNRP over what it said was evidence that the opposition had engaged in a conspiracy to overthrow the government, though it has yet to provide evidence to support the claim. Sokha was arrested in September last year on treason charges.

Since the partys dissolution, dozens of CNRP officials have left the country, fearing arrest.

Some 400 party supporters and officials living in the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia, attended the conference in Atlanta.

Since the CNRP was banned in Cambodia, it has also been quiet overseas because we dont have a clear leadership, said Ung Rithy, president of the CNRP U.S. branch. Our task force cannot work together. We have a split within the party, but we have been trying to hide it, but now weve come together to show that we wont be split anymore.

Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha are like one person, said Sam Rainsy. This is our spirit, our slogan, and our symbol. We will work together and unite as one.

The CNRP now plans to lobby western governments to apply pressure on Hun Sen to release Sokha.

In a statement, supporters of Sokha criticized Rainsy for making the unilateral move.

They said a decision made by such a conference cannot force or require CNRP or its permanent committee to implement its order because attendees of this conference do not have legal rights to propose, nominate, or appoint an acting president.Delegates from 200 nations are in Poland hoping to keep the world's attention on combating the potentially devastating effects of human impacted climate change. But with global instability on the rise and the United States having withdrawn from the Paris Climate accord, progress is slow -- as VOA's Kevin Enochs reports.Political leaders eulogized former U.S. President George H.W. Bush at the U.S. Capitol on Monday after he arrived in Washington from Texas. The 41st U.S. president died in Houston, Texas, on Friday at the age of 94. His remains will lie in state at the Capitol until early Wednesday and will then receive a state funeral at the Washington Cathedral. VOA's Zlatica Hoke reports Bush was praised for his military courage, his political accomplishments, and his courteous personality.It's often said that if you want a friend in Washington, get a dog. For the last six months, President George H.W. Bushs friend was Sully, a service dog.

The yellow Labrador retriever visited the president's casket in the Capitol Rotunda on Tuesday alongside people in wheelchairs who benefited from the Americans With Disabilities Act that Bush signed in 1990.



John Miller, the president and CEO of America's VetDogs, said the Bush family contacted Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after the late president's wife of 73 years, Barbara, died in April. America's VetDogs chose Sully in part for his calm temperament.

"After Mrs. Bush's death, general companionship was a big part of Sully's job,'' Miller said in a phone interview. "One of the things that I think was important to the president was the rest command, where Sully would rest his head on the president's lap.''



Sully is 2 years old. He was named for retired airline pilot Chesley "Sully'' Sullenberger III, who became famous for landing a damaged passenger jet on the Hudson River in 2009, saving everyone aboard.

Sully the dog achieved worldwide fame after a Bush family spokesman tweeted a photo of Sully lying by Bush's flag-draped casket with the caption: "Mission completed.''



The pup traveled to Washington with the funeral retinue. And on Tuesday morning, officials issued a two-minute warning for Sully's arrival in the Rotunda. Sully padded in, his leash held by Valerie Cramer, America's VetDogs service dog program manager.

At her command, he lay down  and threw a glance over his shoulder at the photographers scrambling to get his photo. He didn't seem fazed. Cramer then led him around the casket to sit among the others. After a few minutes, the procession headed out.



Sully is headed back to America's VetDogs in Smithtown, N.Y., where he was born and trained, Miller said. Then he'll go for training at Walter Reed to help brace, retrieve items for and otherwise assist the veterans getting care there. Sully will be working with two dogs already in service at the veterans hospital, Sgts. Dillon and Truman.

It can cost upward of $50,000 to breed, train and place dogs like Sully, but Americas Vetdogs provides them free to veterans in need of their services, Miller said.Three astronauts who were launched into space aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft Monday entered the International Space Station nearly eight hours later, a relief to relatives and scientists months after a rocket failure aborted another mission.

The hatch of the capsule carrying NASA astronaut Anne McClain, David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency and Oleg Kononenko of Russian space agency Roscosmos was opened while the station was flying over the southern coast of Yemen.

The three were greeted upon arrival Monday by the stations current crew members, who had waited outside the hatch after the astronauts' capsule docked and underwent safety checks.

Their Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft launched from the Russian-leased Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Monday at 5:31 p.m. (1131 GMT; 6:31 a.m. EST) then entered a designated orbit just under nine minutes later. The spacecraft made four orbits over six hours as it chased down the space station for the docking.

The astronauts were the first sent to be sent to the space station since a crewed Soyuz launch was aborted in October after a booster rocket failed to separate properly, crippling the rocket. The families of the crew, other astronauts and space officials from several nations breathed a sigh of relief after observing the flawless launch.

NASA and Roscosmos said all onboard systems operated normally and the astronauts felt fine during the six-hour trip to the space station. After two hours of waiting in their capsule to confirm their ship was firmly docked to the station, they exited the capsule to join three astronauts already aboard the orbiting outpost at 1:37 a.m. (1940 GMT; 2:40 p.m. EST.)

The stations current crew of NASAs Serena Aunon-Chancellor, Russian Sergei Prokopyev and German Alexander Gerst were waiting to greet the newcomers. They are scheduled to return to Earth on Dec. 20.

McClain, Saint-Jacques and Kononenko will spend more than six months at the space station doing research and experiments in biology, Earth science, physical sciences and technology.

A Soyuz-FG rocket carrying NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos Alexei Ovchinin failed two minutes into its flight on Oct. 11, activating an automatic rescue system that sent their capsule into a steep ride back to Earth. They managed to emerge safely despite the harrowing ordeal.

A Russian investigation attributed the failure to a sensor that was damaged during the rocket's final assembly.

NASA announced Monday that Hague and Ovchinin will now launch to the space station on Feb. 28, along with NASA astronaut Christina Hammock Koch.

The Soyuz accident in October was the first aborted crew launch for the Russian space program since 1983, when two Soviet cosmonauts safely jettisoned after a launch pad explosion.

Russian space officials took measures to prevent the repeat of such a rocket failure. Since the October mishap, four successful unmanned Soyuz satellite launches have been conducted to clear the path for the crew's launch on Monday.

After Mondays successful launch, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine tweeted his thanks to his Russian counterpart Dmitry Rogozin and to NASA and Roscosmos space teams for their dedication to making this launch a success.

The Soyuz spacecraft is currently the only vehicle that can ferry crews to the space station, but Russia stands to lose that monopoly in the coming years with the arrival of SpaceXs Dragon and Boeings Starliner crew capsules.Brazil's right-wing President-elect Jair Bolsonaro is considering placing indigenous affairs under the ministry of agriculture, his future chief of staff said on Monday, a move that could give ranchers an upper hand in land conflicts.

Bolsonaro's top aide Onyx Lorenzoni told reporters the move has not been decided yet, but said Bolsonaro believes that native tribes should be able to integrate to improve their living standards.

The plan reflects Bolsonaro's view that Brazil's indigenous people should not be kept apart from society on reservations and their lands should be opened to commercial activities that are currently banned.

In Brazil, killings over land are common and seldom punished, as powerful landowners, who often wield influence over local police and government officials, clash with farmers and others for control of lucrative agricultural and logging land.

Fights over land resulted in the killings of 71 activists and indigenous people in 2017, according to the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT), a watchdog linked to the Catholic Church. It was the bloodiest year since 2003.

Six of those killed last year were members of indigenous tribes trying to protect their reserves, according to the CPT's annual report on rural violence, most of which takes place in the Amazon rainforest region.

'Like Us'

Bolsonaro last week repeated his vow to stop creating new reservations and compared the indigenous peoples living on them to animals trapped in a zoo. He has said the tribes should be allowed to charge royalties for the extraction of minerals on their lands.

"The natives want doctors, dentists, television, internet.

We will give them the means to be like us," Bolsonaro, who takes office Jan. 1, said at a military academy graduation ceremony.

Some 517,000 natives, about two-thirds of Brazil's indigenous population, live on reservations that represent 12.5 percent of the country's territory.

Environmentalists say the indigenous on the reservations are the best guardians of Brazil's tropical forests and their biodiversity. The issue has gained more importance as the destruction of Brazil's Amazon hit a decade high, the government said last month.

That destruction is primarily caused by illegal logging, ranching and farming, officials say. Anthropologists and rights say allowing mining companies into reservations would also destroy native cultures.Brazil's Supreme Court said on Tuesday it had authorized a federal investigation into allegations that the incoming chief of staff for far-right President-elect Jair Bolsonaro had taken illegal campaign donations.

Prosecutor General Raquel Dodge asked the top court to allow an investigation into whether Onyx Lorenzoni, a longtime federal congressman who will serve as Bolsonaro's chief of staff, took illegal campaign donations from the world's largest meatpacker, JBS SA.

Lorenzoni said in a statement that he was not worried about the case and was sure it would be dismissed.

In plea bargain testimony last year, executives of JBS said they made 200,000 reais ($52,290) of payments to Lorenzoni between 2012 and 2014, according to court documents seen by Reuters.

The testimony was part of a deal with prosecutors that saw J&F Investimentos SA, the holding company that controls JBS, pay a record 10.3 billions reais fine for bribing over 1,800 politicians at all levels in Brazil in recent years.

Lorenzoni's future cabinet colleague as justice minister, Sergio Moro, who as a judge led a massive investigation into political corruption, said on Tuesday he had full confidence in Lorenzoni. He said Lorenzoni was a strong supporter of anti-corruption measures prosecutors wanted Congress to pass.

The investigation is the second accusation of graft made against a top member of the incoming government of Bolsonaro, who was elected on a law-and-order platform and has vowed to end widespread political corruption.

Last week, federal police opened an investigation into Paulo Guedes, the future economy minister, and whether he committed fraud tied to pension funds of state-run firms. Guedes' lawyers said he had done nothing wrong.

($1 = 3.8248 reais)Cameroon is the recipient of a new public health emergency center constructed with the support of the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency. The facility, which provides training for hospital staff and helps to detect disease outbreaks, was inaugurated Monday by Cameroon's prime minister, with the U.S. ambassador on hand.

Prime Minister Philemon Yang said the Yaounde Public Health Emergency Operations Center will enable Cameroon to meet the objectives of the Global Health Security Agenda, launched in 2014 with the goal of making the world safe and secure from infectious disease threats.

"We require the continuous availability of detection capacities and the rapid deployment of operational teams as well as drugs and adequate logistics. This public health emergency center is at the heart of this mechanism," Yang said.

Cameroon joined the United States and 28 other nations as founding members of GHSA.

The government committed itself to improving food safety, to prevent the emergence and spread of drug resistant organisms, and to reduce the number and magnitude of infectious disease outbreaks.

The new emergency operations center cost $3.5 million to build. The U.S. ambassador to Cameroon, Peter Barlerin, said the U.S. has also assisted Cameroon through the construction of a National Public Health Laboratory, development of Ebola and cholera preparedness plans and supported the national surveillance systems in public and animal health.

"The important thing is to be able to react quickly and efficiently and this operation center will give Cameroon the opportunity to do that and to coordinate among different regions and with international authorities," Barlerin said.

Etoundi Mballa, head of disease control in Cameroon's Ministry of Public Health, said neighbors like Gabon, Chad, Equatorial Guinea and the Central African Republic will also benefit from the services of the new center.

He said threats of infectious diseases that loom over Central Africa and affect mostly the poor include cholera, measles, yellow fever, polio and tetanus.

Mballa said the public health emergency operations center the people of America have helped Cameroon to construct will enable the central African states' health officials to detect disease outbreaks at the earliest possible moment, respond effectively with eradication or repost methods to save the lives of not only Cameroonians but the people of the entire central African sub region.

Cameroon has so far been spared the Ebola outbreaks that have hit several other African countries but experienced a cholera outbreak in July that killed at least a dozen people.Eight-year-old Bella Maloney woke up next to her little brother in a queen-size bed at a Best Western hotel and for breakfast ate a bagel and cream cheese that her mother brought up from the lobby.

And then she was off to school for the first time in nearly a month.

For Bella, brother Vance and thousands of other youngsters in Northern California who lost their homes or their classrooms in last month's deadly wildfire, life crept a little closer to normal Monday when school finally resumed in most of Butte County.

"They're ready to get back," Bella's mother, Erica Hail, said of her children. "I think they're sick of Mom and Dad." At school, "they get to have time alone in their own space and their own grade and they get to just be by themselves."

Schools in the county had been closed since Nov. 8, when the blaze swept through the town of Paradise and surrounding areas, destroying nearly 14,000 homes and killing at least 88 people in the nation's deadliest wildfire in a century. About two dozen people remain unaccounted for, down from a staggering high of 1,300 a few weeks ago.

About 31,000 students in all have been away from school since the disaster. On Monday, nearly all of them went back, though some of them attended class in other buildings because their schools were damaged or destroyed, or inaccessible inside evacuation zones.

Bella was shy and not very talkative but agreed she was excited to be going back. She wanted to see her friends.

The small, tidy hotel room with two queen beds has been home to the family of five for some two weeks. Since they lost nearly everything to the fire, there was little to clutter up the space. The Hails are booked there until February.

"Bella, what time is it?" Hail asked her daughter, waking her up in their hotel room.

"Seven dot dot three five," came the 8-year-old's sing-song reply. 7:35. It was time to brush her teeth, comb her hair and hit the road for a nearly hourlong drive to school in the family SUV.

A few minutes later, at seven-dot-dot-four-seven, they were out the door.

Some families driven out by the inferno have left the state or are staying with friends or relatives too far away for the children to go back to school in Butte County.

The Hails  whose five-bedroom, two-bath home in Paradise was destroyed  are staying in Yuba City, a long drive from their new school in Durham.

It was shortly before the 9 a.m. start of the school day when they pulled up to Durham Elementary School, where Bella is in third grade and Vance is in half-day kindergarten.

Across the county, nearly all of the teachers are returning to provide a familiar and comforting face to the children.

"It's important that the kids are able to stay together and have some sort of normalcy in the crazy devastation that we're having now," said Jodi Seaholm, whose daughter Mallory is a third-grader.

Mallory underwent radiation in October to treat a recurrence of brain cancer and showed no fear, Seaholm said, but "this situation with her house burning down has absolutely devastated her."

Counselors brought in from around the country were in nearly every classroom Monday to help children who were distressed by their escape through a burning town and the loss of their homes, Paradise school Superintendent Michelle John said at a celebratory news conference. Many of the teachers lost their homes as well.

"Our kids are traumatized," John said. "Their families are traumatized."

Most of Paradise High School survived but is inaccessible.

The district doesn't have space yet for intermediate and high school students whose classrooms were rendered unusable, so for the 13 days before the holiday break begins, they will learn through independent study. They will have access to online assignments and a drop-in center at a mall in Chico where they can get help from teachers or see classmates.

Schoolwork will probably be secondary to dealing with trauma and reconnecting with friends, said Paradise High Principal Loren Lighthall.

"They don't have their church, they don't have their school, they don't have their work, they don't have their friends. They don't have any of that stuff, and we're asking them to write five-paragraph essays?" Lighthall said. "It's just unreasonable at this point. We're going to do it, but we're going to be super flexible with what we require."Key U.S. senators said Tuesday there was overwhelming evidence that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was behind the killing of a dissident Saudi journalist inside Riyadh's consulate in Istanbul, rejecting President Donald Trump's claim that the case against him wasn't convincing.

"If the crown prince went in front of a jury, he'd be convicted (of murder) in 30 minutes," Senator Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters after hearing Central Intelligence Agency director Gina Haspel describe evidence U.S. investigators had compiled in the killing and dismembering of Jamal Khashoggi on Oct. 2.

Corker said "it would be very easy for the president to step out" and say the crown prince "killed a journalist." Instead, Corker said, Trump "says it's OK to do it."

Another prominent Republican lawmaker, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said, "There's not a smoking gun, there's a smoking saw," referring to Saudi agents who used saws to cut up the body of the 59-year-old Khashoggi.

The journalist lived in the U.S. and wrote opinion articles for The Washington Post that were critical of the crown prince and Riyadh's involvement in the years-long war in Yemen. He had gone to the consulate to get documents he needed to marry his Turkish fiancee.

Graham called the crown prince "crazy," declaring, "Business as usual (on long-running U.S. aid to Saudi Arabia) has come to an end for me."

Graham said he went into the briefing with Haspel "believing it was virtually impossible" for the Khashoggi killing to be carried out without the crown prince's knowledge. He left the briefing with "high confidence" that his assessment is "correct."

Haspel's briefing took place after the CIA was excluded last week when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis spoke with senators about the journalist's killing. They supported Trump's claim of uncertainty in responsibility for the killing.

Trump last month voiced continued support for Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter and an ally of the U.S. in containing Iranian aggression in the Middle East.

"If we abandon Saudi Arabia, it would be a terrible mistake," Trump said. "We're with Saudi Arabia. We're staying with Saudi Arabia."

Trump condemned the Khashoggi killing and said "it could very well be that the crown prince had knowledge of this tragic event."

But Trump equivocated on whether the crown prince's ordered the killing, saying, "Maybe he did and maybe he didn't!"

Whatever the case, the U.S. leader said American business deals with Riyadh and U.S.-Saudi military cooperation in confronting Iran outweighed condemnation of the crown prince's links to the Khashoggi killing. Riyadh has indicted 11 operatives in the killing, seeking the death penalty for five of them.

The U.S. has sanctioned 17 Saudis for their alleged involvement in the Khashoggi killing, meaning they can't enter the U.S. and any assets they have in the U.S. are frozen.

U.S. lawmakers are now debating whether to cut off arms sales to Saudi Arabia, which Trump claims could total $110 billion in the coming years, and whether to end aid to Riyadh for the Yemen conflict.

Last month, when Trump expressed his ongoing support for Saudi Arabia, he said he understood that some lawmakers might disagree with his assessment of whether the crown prince was involved in the Khashoggi killing and might want to sanction Riyadh.

"I will consider whatever ideas are presented to me," Trump said, "but only if they are consistent with the absolute security and safety of America."More than one year after its liberation from Islamic State terror, the Iraqi city of Mosul still suffers from scars left behind.

Families and children of the terror group have returned to their homes in Mosul, facing rejection and shame by the local community. One widow of a former IS fighter in Mosul, who requested anonymity, told VOA she and her two children have been going through a distressing situation for being linked to an IS member.

"My husband was an IS member, but what does this have to do with me? If my husband joined the al-Qaida group, what does this have to do with my children? The family and parents have nothing to do with someone's affiliation with a terror group," she said.

She added that her entire family is punished for being related to a former IS member. Her father has been in prison for two years now after being accused of having relations with IS.

WATCH: Islamic State Families Face Rejection

The widow said her ex-husband was killed when U.S.-backed Iraqi forces freed the town of Hamam al-Alil in southern Mosul.

Hamam al-Alil was liberated from IS in November 2016.

IS stronghold

Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, was a major IS stronghold when the group's leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi announced his so-called caliphate in 2014.

Some 20,000 women were widowed, and at least 13,000 children were orphaned, during the Mosul battle, London-based Asharq Al-Awsat Arabic reported.

According to Amnesty International, many women and children with perceived ties to IS members were placed in different Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps. Those who were able to return were subjected to attacks, evictions arrests and other abuses.

Rehabilitation calls

Some civil society groups and humanitarian organizations have voiced concern about the situation, calling on the Iraqi government and international bodies to take the issue seriously.

Some activists said supporting reintegration and reconciliation efforts among Iraqi communities could be one way to tackle the issue.

"We are facing a reality today. The families of IS who were sent away to camps are placed together, and this extremist thought will continue to grow and will spread among them," Badar Fares, a Mosul-based civil society activist, told VOA.

He added that if society and Iraqi authorities continue to ignore these families and leave them to their own fate, the result will be even more resentment, which could in part spread extremist thought among them.

"If we reintegrate them with the rest of society, and they see how the people are living and interacting with each other with forgiveness, peace and love, it will passively affect them," Fares said.

Analysts such as Loay Ghanim echo Fares's concerns, and charge that rehabilitation of former IS families is a situation everyone must face.

"There might be assassinations or explosions, because they [IS family member] will see themselves as outcasts. No one will accept them or want to deal with them because we chose to isolate them," Ghanim said. "It is necessary for them to be reintegrated into the society."

Ghanim added that coming up with a practical solution to the issue will protect IS fighters' children from taking the path of their fathers.

In October 2016, Iraqi security forces launched a major military offensive on the city of Mosul to liberate it from IS militants. The offensive lasted nearly nine months.

But despite being liberated, the city has witnessed several major terror attacks in recent months. Authorities are blaming the attacks on remnants of IS militants in the region.Historian Thomas Carlyle, chronicler of the epoch-shattering French Revolution, thought the French were unrivaled practitioners of the art of insurrection, characterizing the French mob among the liveliest phenomena of our world.

Mobs in other countries by comparison, he argued, were dull masses lacking audacity and inventiveness.

French President Emmanuel Macron is now facing the latest iteration of the French mob  in this case "gilets jaunes," or "yellow vests," named after the fluorescent jackets French motorists are legally obliged to keep in their vehicles.

The "inventiveness" of the "yellow vests" has turned violent thanks, some say, to far-left and far-right infiltrators, but seemingly the protesters, according the opinion polls, remain broadly popular in France, a country that historically has a high threshold for robust street protest stretching back to the bread riots of the 17th century.

For more than two weeks now the "yellow vests" have disrupted France, bringing the French capital, Paris, to a violent standstill three weekends in a row, paralyzing highways around the country, blockading refineries and fuel depots and gridlocking traffic in major cities from Marseilles in the south to Lille in the north.

Saturdays protests left Paris looking like a war zone after the "yellow vests" torched cars, smashed shop windows, looted stores and battled police in the worst spate of violence since the 1968 student uprisings. Police said 133 people were injured and 412 protesters were arrested. They had to use more than 10,000 tear gas and stun grenades to combat rampaging demonstrators.

The French leader, on his return from the G-20 summit in Argentina, summoned the cabinet to consider deploying troops and declaring a state of emergency to prevent any repetition, but decided  at least for now  against the move.

The agitation, originally was intended as a one-day event by campaigners, whove been organizing via Facebook and other social media platforms, to protest high fuel prices, hiked to dissuade the French from using their cars for the sake of the environment.

Modern bread riots?

But the leaderless, grass-roots movement, especially strong among low and middle-income earners in rural and small-town France, known as La France peripherique, has morphed quickly into a furious revolt against the business-oriented centrist Macron and his economic policies in general.

"Yellow vests" dub the 40-year-old Macron, President of the rich and accuse him of high-handedly neglecting the daily struggles of ordinary French people and not appreciating how living costs have risen fast.

As the movement hardens Macron is facing the same question many of his predecessors in the Elysee Palace have had to confront when it comes to civil unrest. Is the protest a temporary expression of political rage that will burn itself out much as bread riots of old did or could it develop into a more serious challenge to the authorities and the presidency?

Adding to Macrons dilemma is that this drawn-out protest is not being planned or led by known labor figures or opposition politicians, who can be engaged with by the government for a deal to be negotiated. The "yellow vest" movement is as sprawling and amorphous and non-hierarchical in organization as the Occupy movements in the United States.

The eclectic nature of the movement and the mix of grievances protesters are expressing  as well as the open disdain they hold for Macron  makes it even harder for government officials to comprehend it, let alone develop a strategy to defuse it. Some officials hope that the amorphousness of the movement will end up being its downfall.

To act or not to act

Part of the risk for Macron is getting the answer wrong about whether this a modern equivalent of a bread riot or something that has got greater staying power, say analysts. Being too light-handed risks allowing the unrest to grow when it could be stamped out by firm action; being too tough when it may be just a flash in the pan could make a bad situation worse and make the riots even more deadly adding to a death toll that stands now at four.

The government appears caught in a quandary. Macron has said hell never accept violence, but has instructed his prime minister, Edouard Philippe, to meet protest groups and opposition politicians this week in an effort to ease tensions and at very least stop extremists from infiltrating street demonstrations.

On Sunday, Macron refused to offer any concessions, but on Tuesday the government offered a partial back down announcing a suspension of the new fuel taxes. Whether that will be enough to tamp down the fire remains to be seen. The list of grievances of the Yellow Vests is now a long one and includes Macrons tax cuts for the wealthy and businesses. Many of the protesters want Macron to resign or to dissolve the government and call new elections.

Clearly the government is pinning its hope that the fuel tax suspension will take the sting out of the protests. Announcing government ministers said the violence must stop. It is out of the question that each weekend becomes a meeting or ritual for violence, said interior minister Christophe Castaner. He, though, is likely to face tough questioning Tuesday from a senate committee over how thousands of protesters were able to play cat and mouse with riot police through central Paris for hours on Saturday.

The trajectory of French mobs is hard to calculate, as Carlyle observed. The thing they will do is known to no man; least of all to themselves, he wrote.An Israeli software company calls the allegation that its spyware played a part in the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi "unfounded."

A fellow Saudi dissident and Khashoggi friend living in exile in Canada  Omar Abdelaziz  is suing NSO Group, alleging the Saudi government used NSO's Pegasus spyware to track his and Khashoggi's movements and communications.

The two dissidents had been working on a pro-opposition project targeting the Saudi government and calling for democracy in the kingdom.

Abdulaziz says Saudi authorities used Pegasus to track their communications and believes it was a "crucial factor" in the decision to kill Khashoggi.

NSO Group calls the lawsuit unfounded and says there is no evidence its software was used in connection with the killing.

"Our products are licensed for the sole use of providing governments and law enforcement agencies the ability to fight terrorism and crime in the modern age," a company statement read Monday. "We take an extremely scrupulous approach to the licensing of our products, which are only provided after a full vetting and licensing by the Israeli government."

Several news agencies report the Saudi government bought Pegasus from NSO last year for about $55 million.

The human rights group Amnesty International has been trying to suspend NSO's export license, alleging that "human rights-violating regimes" use Pegasus to spy on the opposition and on Amnesty staff themselves.

Khashoggi was a dissident Saudi journalist who wrote for The Washington Post newspaper. He was tortured and killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October. His remains have not been found.

U.S. intelligence says Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who Khashoggi once called a "beast," ordered the killing.

Saudi officials admit Khashoggi was killed inside its consulate, but said the prince had nothing to do with it.Senegalese refugees in Guinea-Bissau are getting identification cards after years  and, for some, decades  of living in a state of limbo.

Ibrahima Ingo has lived in Pelundo, near Guinea-Bissau's border with Senegal, since 1992 when he fled southern Senegal due to unrest in the country's Casamance region. Today marks the first time he will register to receive his national identification card as a Guinea-Bissau citizen.

He says the documents are important because they will allow him to move about the country freely without having to pay small bribes to the police  a tax often applied to foreigners.

This year, the United Nations Refugee Agency, UNHCR, began registering the nearly 10,000 Senegalese refugees living in the country, after Guinea-Bissau announced it would grant citizenship to all Senegalese refugees within its borders.

Like Ibrahima, many of them arrived more than two decades ago.

Since 1982, waves of Senegalese have fled Casamance, the site of a low-intensity conflict between the government and the separatist Movement of Democratic Forces for Casamance.

UNHCR official Bigna Tona says that before becoming naturalized, the refugees had trouble moving around the country freely. The national ID cards also will enable them to acquire a passport for international travel.

Guinea-Bissau ranks as the 11th least-developed country on the U.N. development index.

Despite a lack of economic opportunities, Guinea-Bissau residents have been welcoming of their Senegalese neighbors, says Ingo. When he arrived, Pelundo residents gave him land he could use to grow cashews and earn an income.

Otcha Kamara, a resident of Pelundo, says he does not mind if the refugees stay as long as they follow the rules of the country. In addition, he says, the government should register all refugees who choose to stay in Guinea-Bissau.

Ami Diatta is one of 333 Senegalese refugees in Pelundo getting ID cards are on the same day.

She says that without paperwork, you're treated like a foreigner. But with the papers, she will have fewer problems.

That also means almost 27 years after Diatta fled her village, she will have the freedom to call Guinea-Bissau "home."The Russia probe led by special counsel Robert Mueller appears to be entering a new phase in the wake of last week's guilty plea by Michael Cohen, who had long served as President Donald Trump's personal attorney. Now, legal analysts are debating whether the Russia investigation is moving toward a conclusion, and if so, what the stakes could be for the president and for the country.

WATCH: Jim Malone's video report



Last week in New York, Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress to mislead lawmakers about Trump's interest in a building project in Russia while he was running for president.

Cohen, who once famously bragged he would "take a bullet" for Trump, told investigators in August that then-candidate Trump had ordered him to illegally arrange payments to buy the silence of two women who claimed affairs with Trump prior to the 2016 election.

A short time after Cohen's plea last week, Trump told reporters at the White House that Cohen was lying to get a better deal from the special counsel.

Trump was also asked if he was worried about what else Cohen might tell investigators.

"No. Not at all. Not at all. I am not worried at all about him," Trump told reporters shortly before he left for the G-20 summit in Argentina.

Twitter attack

The president was back on the attack on both Cohen and Mueller on Monday. In a series of tweets, Trump said Cohen was a "proven liar" and said he should serve a "full and complete" jail sentence.

Trump also lashed out at Mueller and his "out of control band of Angry Democrats." Trump tweeted they "don't want the truth, they only want lies."

The Cohen plea moves the Russia investigation closer to possible ties between then-candidate Trump and Russia, according to Virginia Democratic Senator Mark Warner.

"This is one more example of one of the president's closest allies lying about their ties to Russia and Russians," he said.

Warner and Republican Senator Richard Burr lead the Senate Intelligence Committee investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

"Our mandate is at the end of this is to get as close to the clear truth as we possibly can. And we can't do it on conjecture. We have to do it on facts," Burr told a recent gathering in Texas.

Approaching the endgame?

Some legal analysts believe that recent developments suggest the Russia probe could be headed for a climax.

"I would expect that we would see some sort of conclusion of this within the next few months," said Ohio State legal expert Ric Simmons via Skype. "Again, he [Mueller] does not have a timeline that he is required to meet by law and he does not have to tell us where he is, so we can't know for sure."

The Cohen plea along with past indictments and guilty pleas have bolstered the credibility of the Russia probe, even though the president continues to dismiss it as a witch hunt.

"It does, I think, add more legitimacy to the investigation," said University of Connecticut law professor Doug Spencer. "And that there is actually a lot of smoke going on in this particular realm that deserves investigation. I think it undercuts the claims that this is a hoax, or that this is a witch hunt."

Spencer also said he thinks public support for the investigation "has begun to increase again."

2019 looms decisive

Throughout the Russia probe, Mueller has said nothing publicly about where the investigation is headed, but analyst Simmons believes that 2019 could prove to be a pivotal year.

"He has done a lot of work with other witnesses that have flipped, and he has had months to work with them too. So I would expect that we would see some sort of conclusion of this within the next few months," Simmons said.

Spencer also notes that the president recently submitted written answers to Mueller, reportedly in response to questions about possible collusion between his presidential campaign and Russia.

"Because he was able to get some of these responses in writing, that does suggest that he is reaching the final stages of the people that he wants to interview and that he has reached the final stages of fact collection."

The investigation may be entering its final phase just as Democrats reclaim the majority in the House of Representatives in the wake of the recent midterm elections and just as the president prepares for his re-election bid in 2020.South Korean President Moon Jae-in says a potential visit to his country by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would be "very meaningful."

President Moon expressed his opinion on the matter Tuesday during a visit with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in Wellington. Moon and Kim have held three summits this year, including a visit to Pyongyang by Moon back in September, where Kim promised to reciprocate by visiting Seoul in the near future.

Moon told reporters no timetable has been set for such a visit, which would be the first by a North Korean leader to South Korea since the Korean peninsula was divided after World War Two. He said whenever the visit took place, it would "accelerate the denuclearization" of the peninsula, and help improve relations between Pyongyang and the United States.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un signed a vague agreement during their historic summit in Singapore in June that calls on Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons program. But the two sides have been at odds over North Korea's intentions and how soon it would carry through with its promise.

North Korea has warned it will consider reviving its nuclear weapons program if Washington fails to lift its crippling economic sanctions against the regime. North Korea is also seeking a peace treaty with the United States and South Korea that will formally end the 1950-53 Korean War.

The fighting ended with an armistice, leaving North and South Korea in a technical state of war.Kosovo will keep its 100 percent tariffs on Serbian goods until Belgrade recognizes Pristina, Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj said Monday, defying calls by the European Union and United States for the tariffs to be abolished.

Last month Haradinaj's government raised tariffs on locally-produced Serbian and Bosnian goods to 100 percent from 10 percent because Belgrade blocked Kosovo's membership of Interpol.

The decision effectively halted trade between the two states and was criticized by EU and U.S. officials.

"The tariffs of 100 percent for the goods on Serbia and Bosnia are to protect national security and sovereignty," Haradinaj wrote on his Facebook page after meeting EU's Commissioner Johannes Hahn in Pristina.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in a statement Pristina's measures would lead to the destabilization of the region. He added that there would be no counter measures.

Improved relations is key to the efforts of both Serbia and Kosovo to join the European Union. Both countries agreed to a Brussels-sponsored dialogue in 2013, but little progress has been made. On Monday, Hahn met Vucic in Belgrade.

Kosovo's mostly ethnic Albanian population declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a decade after a NATO bombing campaign to end the killing of Albanian civilians by Serb forces during a two-year insurgency.

It is now recognized by more than 110 nations but not by Serbia, Russia or five EU states. Belgrade and Moscow have blocked Kosovo from joining the United Nations.

According to official figures, Serbia's exports to Kosovo amounted to 450 million euros, while imports amounted to 48 million euros.Ukraine says Russia has begun allowing some ships to enter Ukrainian ports on the Sea of Azov, in what could be a possible sign of easing tensions in the area.

A statement Tuesday attributed to Ukraine Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan said the Berdyansk and Mariupol ports have been partially unblocked, adding that ships are coming and going through the Kerch Strait towards Ukrainian ports.

The minister said he hoped the ports would be fully unblocked in the coming days.

But the United States said Tuesday that even a partial blockage is unacceptable, both under international law and Russias obligation under its agreement with Ukraine regarding the usage of the passageway.

The Kerch Strait is the only passage to and from the Black Sea and the inland Sea of Azov, which is jointly controlled by Russia and Ukraine.

We dont see that as a success, a senior State Department official told press traveling with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the NATO meeting in Brussels.

Generally, from a NATO-wide perspective, no one will see that as a satisfactory move or end of the matter, the administration official added.

The United States is working closely with European allies to raise the costs for Russia following a November 25 incident, in which Russia fired on two Ukrainian naval ships and rammed a third vessel in the Black Sea, seizing the ships, and claiming they illegally entered its territorial waters.



The clash has driven tensions between Russia and Ukraine to their highest point since Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014.

Russia and Ukraine have blamed each other, with Moscow closing the strait to all traffic and Ukrainian officials accusing Russia of denying passage to Ukrainian commercial traffic in and out of Mariupol and Berdyansk.

Ukraine also put its forces on alert and imposed martial law in its border regions after the military confrontation.

A State Department official told reporters Tuesday that the United States is working with allies on possible repercussions for Moscow.

We have complete consistency on our concerns and messaging, right now were assessing how to get the crew and ships out; there are a variety of options for that, said the State Department official without elaborating.

The official told reporters Tuesday that during a North Atlantic Council meeting on Black Sea security, the United States reiterated that we condemn this Russian act of aggression, that Crimea is Ukraine, and that the Russian action in Kerch is a clear military escalation and violation of international law and freedom of the sea.Police in Minneapolis have charged a man with allegedly threatening a group of Somali teenagers with a gun inside a McDonald's restaurant.

The suspect, Lloyd Johnson, is facing felony charges when he appears in court at a date to be determined.

According to the complaint against Johnson, two girls were trying to pay for their food with a digital app that was not working.

Johnson stood behind the girls and remarked that they were probably trying to pay with an EBT card  an electronic card many poor citizens use to obtain government food assistance.

When one of the girls turned around, Johnson allegedly raised his fist. When other Somali teens approached, Johnson is accused of stepping away, pulling a handgun, and backing out of the restaurant.

Police used a cellphone and a McDonald's security camera to identify the suspect.

A Hennepin County, Minnesota, prosecutor accused Johnson of doing "everything he could" to provoke a confrontation, adding it is sheer luck no one was hurt.

There has been no comment from Johnson or an attorney.

The Minneapolis-St. Paul area has one of the largest Somali diaspora in the United States. The Cedar-Riverside neighborhood in Minneapolis is known locally as "Little Mogadishu."Streams of mourners filed past the flag-draped casket of former U.S. President George H.W. Bush in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, a day ahead of the state funeral for the country's 41st president.

Visitors included ordinary Americans, people who served under Bush in his various jobs, as well as past and present directors of the CIA. Among them was former Senate majority leader and presidential candidate Bob Dole, who was brought to the Capitol Rotunda in a wheelchair. An aide helped him stand up and once he was steady, the 95-year-old saluted his fellow World War II veteran.

"Just incredible. Thank you Senator Dole," Jeb Bush, the late president's son, posted on Twitter.

IN PHOTOS: Washington Remembers George H.W. Bush

U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump privately offered their condolences to Bush's son, former President George W. Bush, the country's 43rd president, former first lady Laura Bush and other Bush family members at Blair House, the presidential guest house across the street from the White House. Before that meeting, the first lady escorted Laura Bush on a tour of the holiday decorations at the White House.

Trump and his wife joined mourners Monday night at the Capitol Rotunda. They paused steps from Bush's casket for a minute, with Trump saluting and Melania Trump placing her hand over her heart, before they quietly walked away.

Trump has often aimed political taunts at the Bush family, long a symbol of the traditional, more moderate wing of the U.S. Republican party that often is at odds with Trump's populist supporters. The elder Bush never warmed to Trump and voted for Trump's 2016 challenger, Democrat Hillary Clinton.

But Trump wrote members of Congress to hail him as a man who "led a life that exemplified what is truly great about America. President Bush worked selflessly throughout his long life to bring about a world of justice and lasting peace."

Before the public started walking past Bush's casket, U.S. political dignitaries praised him as an American hero in World War II, a statesman, a world leader and, perhaps most of all, as a decent man full of grace. Bush died last week at the age of 94 at his home in Texas after years of failing health.

Vice President Mike Pence said "President Bush was a great leader who made a great difference in the life of this nation. But he was also just a good man, who was devoted to his wife, his family and his friends." Pence said there was a kindness about Bush "that was evident to everyone who ever met him."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said America stands with the Bush family "in mourning but also in gratitude. Gratitude for lives well-lived and duties thoroughly fulfilled."

House Speaker Paul Ryan said "here lies a great man, a gentle soul. ... His legacy is grace perfected."

The public viewing of Bush's casket extends until early Wednesday when the casket will be transported to Washington National Cathedral for the state funeral.

The Episcopal service will include four eulogies, from George W. Bush, former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, former U.S. Senator Alan Simpson and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Evan Meacham, who wrote a biography of Bush. The Trumps are attending the funeral but are not expected to speak.

What does it mean to lie in state?

Trump has designated Wednesday as a national day of mourning in Bush's honor. The New York Stock Exchange will be closed, as are most government offices.

Political analyst Larry Sabato at the University of Virginia said Bush's stature among the country's 45 presidents has grown in the quarter century since he left office.

"It's pretty obvious as people look back, and as people are recollecting the Bush presidency, it looks a heck of a lot better than it did at the end of it," Sabato told VOA. "Bush, of course, was defeated for re-election, and most people at the time considered him a failed president" because of a recession during his time in the White House.

"But now, I think we can see in retrospect that he was actually quite successful," Sabato said, particularly in foreign affairs, as he helped shape the Western response to the demise of the Soviet Union and the reunification of Germany. He also led the U.S. to a military victory in reversing Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's takeover of Kuwait.

Moreover, Sabato said, Bush benefits from a comparison with Trump's demeanor nearly halfway through the current president's first term in the White House.

"To be honest," Sabato said, "at one point in history, it would not have been exceptional to have a president who obeyed and appreciated the norms of the American system and of the presidency, who was civil, who was kind to people and who rose above petty squabbles. But you know, things have changed, particularly in the last couple years. And the contrast between George H.W. Bush and the current president could not be more stark."Panama and China on Monday signed 19 cooperation agreements on trade, infrastructure, banking, tourism and other areas on Chinese President Xi Jinping's inaugural visit to the isthmus nation after the two countries opened diplomatic ties last year.

Xi arrived on Sunday night in Panama City for a 24-hour visit at a time when China is extending its influence in Central America, to the mounting chagrin of the United States, which has long viewed the region as its backyard.

After a private meeting, Xi and Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela sealed the 19 accords, including one under which China will provide non-reimbursable aid to Panama to carry out various projects, though the amount was not disclosed.

The accords included an extradition treaty and memoranda of understanding on commercial, tourist, educational matters.

Varela thanked the Chinese leader for his visit, and recalled that when opening an import fair in China in November, Xi had told him China's economy was an ocean.

"I want to complement those words by saying Panama connects two oceans, and his visit consolidates our country as China's commercial arm and gateway to Latin America," Varela said in a televised address.

In June last year, Panama broke diplomatic relations with Taiwan and established ties with China instead. This year, the Dominican Republic and El Salvador did the same, and other countries in the region may soon follow suit.

The diplomatic breaks sparked concern in Washington, which in August said that Beijing is offering economic incentives in order to dominate the countries.

However, relations between the United States and Central America have been tested by the U.S. presidency of Donald Trump.

Trump has threatened to cut aid to the region if Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador do not curtail the illegal immigration of their citizens to the United States.

Taiwan has formal ties with 17 countries, many of them small nations in Central America, the Caribbean and the Pacific.

Beijing regards Taiwan as a rebel province.

Panama, which is negotiating a free trade agreement with China, has played down the complaints of the United States, and says that its relationship with Washington is solid.Angry Iraqi lawmakers halted an attempt by Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi to appoint the remainder of his government on Tuesday, disrupting a parliamentary session meant to include a vote on his candidates for key ministries.

The deadlock over forming a cabinet has raised the prospect of further unrest as the country struggles to rebuild and recover after three years of war with Islamic State.

MPs banged on tables shouting "illegitimate," eventually forcing an end to the session as Abdul Mahdi and his proposed ministers left parliament, one lawmaker said, showing Reuters a video of the session taken on his mobile phone.

The MPs were mostly from a grouping led by populist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and allies on the list of former premier Haider al-Abadi, who opposed his picks for the hotly contested interior and defense ministries.

Abdul Mahdi later said he would let parliament propose a date for the vote, effectively throwing the ball in their court to choose suitable names for the eight portfolios still empty.

He told journalists he was "waiting for parliament to give a date to complete the cabinet after they come to an agreement," saying that a "state of chaos" had prevented the formation of a government, state TV reported.

"We will not present more ministers. Parliament (should) vote on the current list, or another list", state TV quoted the premier as saying.

The incident vividly showed the depth of disagreement over who should fill the remaining government posts, and Abdul Mahdi's weak position in the face of divisions between parliament's two strongest groupings.

The rivalry between Sadr and Iran-backed militia leader Hadi al-Amiri, who lead the two biggest blocs after a general election in May, has intensified preventing the formation of a full government, which currently has 14 out of 22 ministers.

Interior minister dispute

Sadr says candidates not affiliated with political sides must be presented. Amiri wants his ally Falih al-Fayyadh, former head of an Iran-backed paramilitary force, for the position of interior minister.

Abdel Mahdi said in a statement on Monday he would present Fayyadh as his candidate for the interior for parliament to vote on.

Sadr and Abadi's lists refused to attend the session in response but stormed in halfway through, charging that the session did not have a quorum to take place.

Sadr has threatened to withdraw support for the government if it is not formed soon and whip up popular protests.

Lack of jobs and services led to mass protests in the southern city of Basra in September.

On Tuesday police dispersed dozens of protesters in Basra in a similar but small demonstration, witnesses said.Tensions between Greece and Turkey over the divided island of Cyprus are rising. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is accusing the Greek Cypriots of pursuing aggressive policies, while local media report Ankara is planning to build a naval base on the Turkish side of the Mediterranean island.

On Monday, Turkish newspapers allied with Erdogan reported a naval base could be constructed by 2019 on the Turkish Cypriot side of the island. It (the report on the naval base) should be taken seriously, said international relations professor Serhat Guvenc of Istanbul's Kadir Has University.

It has very many vocal advocates in the Turkish public among opinion makers. It has not become the official policy yet; however, the possibility of a base is stronger than for more than 10 or 20 years.

Ankara has so far not denied reports of plans to build the installation. In the last few years, the Turkish military has embarked on a new policy of building permanent overseas bases, including in Somalia and Qatar. Unconfirmed reports say a Turkish naval base is also under construction on a Sudanese island in the Red Sea.

Building a naval establishment on the contested Cyprus Island, analysts say, would be a controversial step.

Cyprus has been divided since a Turkish invasion following a Greek-inspired coup in 1974. Only the Greek Cypriot administration is internationally recognized.

In the last few months, the Turkish navy has stepped up its presence around Cyprus in response to Nicosia pursuing energy exploration in Cypriot waters.

As the Greek Cypriot side ignores the rights of the Turkish Cypriots and continues its aggressive policy, so we will continue to take the necessary measures, Erdogan said Sunday at a press conference at the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires.

Ankara is demanding Nicosia collaborate with the Turkish Cypriot administration in the exploration for oil and gas reserves  a demand Greek Cypriots reject, saying they are the sole legitimate representatives of the island.

Turkey should be taken seriously in the eastern Mediterranean, said Guvenc. The Turkish pattern of behavior around the energy issue has been very consistent. Turkey has not refrained on relying on its naval muscle to show its intentions on the division of resources around the island.

The latest display of military might is widely seen as an empty threat. The Turkish-Greek conflicts are like American wrestling  its not real, said analyst Atilla Yesilada of Global Source Partners.

You see people pounding each other kicking, slamming one another in the ring, but it's all prearranged, Yesilada added. Nothing serious has happened since 1974. So, I am fairly sure of a lot of posturing and jingoism, but not one shot will be fired.

Nicosia has strongly condemned Ankara's increasingly muscular approach as blackmail, and called for support from its European Union partners. Paris has reportedly agreed to deploy warships to the Cypriot port of Larnaca. The French oil giant Total is one of the international companies that bought a drilling license for Cypriot waters.

Erdogan is standing firm. Turkey does not intend to reduce its military contingent in Northern Cyprus, he said in October. The EU has also attempted to apply double standards in relation to the Turkish Cypriots.

Nicosia seeks to broaden its support by courting international partners to develop its energy reserves. Last month, the Greek Cypriots signed a deal with Israel and Greece to build a pipeline to Europe to distribute recently discovered Israeli and Greek Cypriot natural gas.

I attach particular importance to the interest shown by the U.S. in participating in the tripartite Greece-Cyprus-Israel (pipeline), which I expect will soon be confirmed in practice, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades said on Tuesday in an address to the 6th Cyprus Energy Symposium in Nicosia.

The pipeline deal thwarted a Turkish initiative to distribute Israeli gas to Europe. Ankara is seeking to make Turkey a regional energy hub.

Some analysts suggest Ankaras increasingly muscular approach toward Cyprus over energy rights should be viewed through the prism of domestic politics.

There are talks now. Is Erdogan leading the military, or is the military leading Erdogan when it comes to this muscular approach in Cyprus, said former senior Turkish diplomat Aydin Selcen. This muscular approach could also be due to domestic politics, because we are going toward local elections.

Selcen points out that with Erdogans ruling AK party struggling in opinion polls, he is out courting nationalist voters ahead of elections in March for control of Turkey's main cities. A tough stance on Cyprus plays well with nationalists.

Ankaras stance could also be a reaction to the fading hopes of a solution to the divided island.

They (Ankara) have not given up on the prospect for a solution to the problem, Guvenc said. But I guess deep down, they know that the negotiations will not likely lead to a meaningful solution.

Ankaras assumption was a reunified or reconfigured island. The two communities will agree on the distribution of the (energy) resources if there is a risk of a permanent partition of the island, Guvenc said. Turkey will probably up its claims on Cyprus and other parts of the eastern Mediterranean. And to show its seriousness, it may take more and more demonstrations of naval power.A boat carrying 20 men believed to be Rohingya Muslims has landed on Indonesia's Sumatra island, the latest in a growing wave attempting to flee persecution in Myanmar.

Myanmar authorities have recently been stopping scores of boats filled with Rohingya migrants attempting to sail to Malaysia. The detained Rohingyas were fleeing cramped refugee camps in neighboring Bangladesh, where over 700,000 of them have been huddled after escaping a brutal military crackdown launched last year in Rakhine state. Myanmar considers the Rohingyas as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, and have denied them citizenship and other basic rights.

The United Nations has accused Myanmar's military of carrying out the crackdown with genocidal intent.

The latest crisis involving the Rohingyas has raised concerns of a repeat of 2015, when scores of Rohingyas were left stranded at sea after Thailand cracked down on regional human trafficking networks in 2015.The U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State has targeted and killed a senior leader of the group in Syria who was linked to the murder of an American citizen.

Pentagon spokesman U.S. Navy Cmdr. Sean Robertson told VOA on Monday that coalition forces killed Abu al-Umarayn and several other Islamic State members during a precision strike Sunday in the Badiyah Desert.

"Al-Umarayn had given indications of posing an imminent threat to Coalition Forces, and he was involved in the killing of American citizen and former U.S. Army Ranger, Peter Kassig," Robertson said in an emailed statement.

The terrorist was directly involved with executing several other IS prisoners.

IS currently controls just 1 percent of the territory it once held in Iraq and Syria. The U.S.-led coalition is still working with local partners to push the group out of its last stronghold in Syria's Deir el-Zour.Following the Group of 20 (G-20) meeting in Argentina this past weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump said that he not only was looking forward to a possible meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in early 2019, but also supported a trip to Seoul by Kim to meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, possibly before the end of the year.

Yoon Young-chan, the presidential secretary for public affairs told reporters, The two leaders agreed that Chairman Kim Jong Uns visit to Seoul would provide additional momentum to their joint efforts to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Assistant Professor at Kyongnam University Institute for Far Eastern Studies, Cho Jin-goo adds Kim coming to Seoul would be meaningful, allowing him to speak directly to South Koreans as Moon did in September while in Pyongyang.

In that sense, it could be a milestone, he said.

In a White House statement, the administration said that Moon and Trump agreed on the importance of maintaining vigorous enforcement of existing sanctions to ensure the DPRK understands that denuclearization is the only path to economic prosperity and lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.

The DPRK is an abbreviation of the Norths official name, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea.

Moon told reporters after the G-20 that Trump has very favorable views toward Kim and that he likes him," adding the American president asked me to tell Chairman Kim that he wants to implement the rest of their agreement together and he will fulfill Chairman Kim's wishes."

Goals for Seoul

Its unclear what objectives will be achieved when Kim makes the trip south from Pyongyang to Seoul, regardless of whether or not it takes place in the waning days of 2018.

Cho notes that such a trip, the first by a North Korean leader, will be symbolic.

However, the question remains whether the practical outcome will arise, says Cho, despite Moon pledging to make the visit take place while in Pyongyang during the third inter-Korean summit held in September.

Nam Sung-wook, professor of Korean Unification, Diplomacy and Security at Korea University, identified three reasons the Moon administration has pursued Kim coming to Seoul before 2019 arrives.

First of all, he says, the Moon government wants to improve its approval ratings. Domestic politics have not been favorable because of the sluggish economy.

Recently, Moons Realmeter approval rating has dropped to 48.4 percent, his lowest level since taking office and marked a steady decline over the past two months when his approval rating soared to over 65 percent following the Pyongyang summit in September.

Nam says a second reason and potential outcome for the visit would be to convince people that North Korea has changed and that North Korea and Kim can keep their word. Nam says it may persuade those still holding onto negative views.

Finally, he says, if Moon can hold another meeting before the second Trump - Kim summit, then inter-Korea relationships can help improve North Korea - United States relationships.

Ultimately he says whether or not the meeting takes place is now up to Pyongyang.

From Kim's perspective, he's still doubtful what he can earn from Seoul. Though there is a strong request from Seoul, North Korea will calculate whether this is the best moment to make Kims visit, says Nam.

Prospects for positive outcomes between Trump and Kim

While Nam reiterated that both the South Korean and American presidents saw a Seoul summit as a positive move before a second U.S.-North Korea summit in January or February 2019, the leaders also reaffirmed the principle that there is no easing sanction at the same time.

But last month, North Korea said via its official state media it would reconsider building nuclear weapons.

"The improvement of relations (with the United States) and sanctions are incompatible," said the official Korean Central News Agency.

Because sanctions and punishment are hurting North Korea economically, Nam expects Pyongyang will attempt to persuade China and Russia to convince the United States to ease sanctions next year.

With regard to a second Trump-Kim summit, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence told NBC News in November, the United States would not require Pyongyang to provide a complete list of nuclear weapons and locations, but that the meeting must produce a concrete plan.

North Korea cannot reverse the course of discussions because theyve been stated to the international community [their desire] to denuclearize. They cannot nullify their statements, said Cho.

He adds that the second summit should produce more specifics than Singapore meeting last June, and it seems that President Moon directly persuaded Kim to do so.

Lee Ju-hyun contributed to this report.Two more jailed Catalan separatist leaders awaiting trial for their role in the region's failed bid to secede from Spain joined a hunger strike started two days ago by two of their companions to protest against their treatment by Spanish courts.

After Catalonia declared independence last year, Madrid took direct control of the region and brought charges including misuse of public funds and rebellion against Catalan leaders, nine of whom are in jail awaiting trial.

Two of the leaders in custody, Josep Rull and Joaquim Forn, released a statement saying they would join the hunger strike started on Saturday by Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Turull.

"We also voluntarily renounce food intake as of 8:00 p.m. on Monday," the men said in a statement.

The men said they were fasting to support Sanchez and Turull's protest against the failure of Spanish courts to process numerous appeals in relation to their cases.The University of California at Berkeley on Monday settled a free speech lawsuit accusing the school of discriminating against speakers with conservative views.

Under the settlement filed with the federal court in San Francisco, the university will modify its procedures for handling "major events," which typically draw hundreds of people, and agreed not to charge "security" fees for a variety of activities, including lectures and speeches.

It will also pay $70,000 to cover legal costs of the Berkeley College Republicans and the Tennessee-based Young America's Foundation, which filed the lawsuit in April 2017.

The settlement followed an April 27 decision by U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney letting the plaintiffs challenge what they called the university's "secret" or unfairly restrictive policies toward conservative speakers.

She also let the plaintiffs pursue an equal protection claim over a security fee charged to host conservative commentator Ben Shapiro that was well above a fee for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, part of the court's liberal wing.

In a statement, the university said its new fee schedule is consistent with its treatment of other student groups, and called changes to its major events policy "non-substantive."

"It has been that very policy that has enabled the campus to work effectively with the Berkeley College Republicans as they hosted numerous events featuring prominent conservative speakers without incident or interruption," spokesman Dan Mogulof said.

Harmeet Dhillon, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the settlement addressed university policies that were "flatly unconstitutional" under the First Amendment.

"It is no longer able to tax speech on campus when it finds the speech to be disfavored or unpopular," she said in an interview. "The university has taken a very important liberty-enhancing step to cover these fees."

Dhillon added: "We wanted a settlement that doesn't benefit just conservative students, but all students."

The U.S. Department of Justice in January filed a "statement of interest" in the case, accusing the university of applying a "double standard" by imposing tougher rules on the Berkeley College Republicans.

Justice Department official Jesse Panuccio applauded the settlement in a statement on Monday, calling it a "win for protecting free speech on public college campuses."

The case is Young America's Foundation et al v Napolitano et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 17-02255.Envoys from Britain, France and the United States voiced concern Tuesday at the United Nations following Iran's test-firing of a medium-range ballistic missile last Saturday.

"Iran's recent ballistic missile test was dangerous and concerning, but not surprising," U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said in a statement. "The United States has repeatedly warned the world about Iran's deliberate efforts to destabilize the Middle East and defy international norms."

Haley said the missile test was "provocative" and urged the international community not to keep "turning a blind eye every time Iran blatantly ignores Security Council resolutions."

On Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Iran of carrying out the launch in violation of U.N. resolutions and called on Tehran to cease such activities.

A 2015 U.N. resolution endorsing the Iran nuclear deal "calls on" Tehran not to engage in missile development, but it does not expressly forbid it.

State-run news agency IRNA quoted Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi as saying the country's missile program is "defensive in nature" and does not violate any U.N. resolution. He did not confirm or deny carrying out the test.

Britain and France called for the closed-door discussions Tuesday in the Security Council.

"We recognize that Iran has a legitimate role in the region and we recognize that she has legitimate defensive needs," British U.N. Ambassador Karen Pierce told reporters. "But we also believe, and our information is, that the sorts of missiles she test-launched on 1 December go way beyond legitimate defensive needs and, in respect of her overall role in region, we look again to Iran to cease her destabilizing activity and play a constructive role in this very important region."

France's U.N. envoy said there was "widely-shared concern" among the 15 council members related to the launch. Francois Delattre said the test firing was "inconsistent" with U.N. resolutions, but he did not go so far as to say it was a violation.

Israel, Hezbollah

Meanwhile, Israel began a military operation against tunnels it says were built by the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. There was no immediate reaction from Hezbollah.

Operation Northern Shield is taking place on the Israeli side of the joint border.

"Israel has no interest in escalation, but we will do whatever it takes to defend our sovereignty and our citizens," Israel's U.N. envoy Danny Danon told reporters.

He said Tehran's ballistic missile tests and Hezbollah's tunnels are all connected.

"When you see tunnels in Lebanon, it's connected to ballistic missile tests. It's all coming from Iran. Iran is funding all of those terrorist activities," Danon said.

"This is another example of Iran's revolutionary foreign policy that is expansionist and destabilizing for the Middle East, when Iranian-backed Hezbollah is digging tunnels into another country beneath their borders," said U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook. "So we condemn this activity and support Israel in its military operations to address these tunnels."Human rights activists in Colombia say they are being gunned down by hitmen who can be hired for as little as $100, a top United Nations official said Monday, urging the government to combat a rise in murders.

A peace deal in Colombia signed two years ago that ended the nation's half-century civil war has led to a 40 percent decline in the overall murder rate, but killings of activists have risen, Michel Forst, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights defenders said.

According to a July report by British-based campaign group, Global Witness, nearly four land and environmental activists were killed each week last year, in the deadliest year on record, with Latin America faring the worst.

"In rural areas, where the absence of the state is combined with a large presence of organized and illegal armed groups, men and women (human rights) defenders are an easy target for those who see in them or in their human rights agenda an obstacle to their interests," Forst said in a statement after a 10-day visit to Colombia.

"I was surprised to learn that for 100 dollars you can 'get away with it' or at least hire a hitman," he said.

Activists working on human rights and land rights, those defending LGBT+ rights, and community leaders from Afro-Colombian and indigenous groups are most at risk, Forst said.

"I was really appalled by what I heard from them," Forst, who met with more than 200 activists across Colombia, told reporters in the capital Bogota.

Mothers gave him photographs of their sons and daughters who have gone missing, and Forst also heard testimonies from activists who had suffered attacks that he described as "the most appalling experience" of his career.

"The situation I see in Colombia is really dramatic," Forst said.

Activists are being gunned down at a rate of one every two days this year in Colombia, according to Indepaz, a Bogota-based think tank.

Forst noted that during his 10-day official visit, four activists had been murdered.

Forst said he was also concerned to hear testimonies from Afro-Colombian activists who claimed attacks on them may have directly or indirectly involved foreign companies operating in Colombia, mainly those from the extractive sector.

The new government of conservative President Ivan Duque has condemned the violence since coming to office in August, pledging more measures and a national action plan to better protect activists.

According to government figures, 213 rights activists have been killed from January 2016 to October 2018.

"I feel a commitment at the highest levels of state," Forst said. "We will see in the months to come if this political will is followed by concrete implementation."The United Nations is launching a $21.9 billion humanitarian appeal for 2019 to help nearly 94 million people in 42 countries survive conflict, hunger, homelessness, deprivation, and the impact of climate change.

The United Nations said it expects its 2019 appeal will reach a record-breaking high of $25 billion after Syria's humanitarian needs are fully assessed early next year.

The beneficiaries of the appeal constitute the most vulnerable of nearly 132 million people across the globe. More than one-fifth of the funds requested or $4 billion will go to Yemen, which the United Nations considers the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mark Lowcock said conditions in Yemen are worsening. Up to 24 million people or 75 percent of the population will need humanitarian assistance next year.

"The U.N. is planning to meet the needs of 15 million of those people  and that includes providing emergency food assistance to 12 million people," he said. " Other countries where the situation has deteriorated include Afghanistan because of the mixture of drought, instability, insecurity, the economic challenges and so on. And, Cameroon and the Central African Republic, where we are seeing an upsurge of conflict and violence."

The United Nations reports donors provided a record $13.9 billion in humanitarian aid last year. While welcoming this generosity, U.N. officials say this still represents a significant funding gap in the $20 billion requested for 2018.

Lowcock noted the lion's share of money from the current appeal will provide life-saving aid for people caught in conflict situations. But, he added an increasing number of the recipients will be victims of natural disasters.

He said scientists forecast an 80 percent chance of an El Nino next year  an event which could precipitate or worsen drought, floods and tropical cyclones in 25 countries.U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, is demanding that Iran release its political prisoners following the publication of a joint letter written by families of those detained in Iran.

"Our hearts hurt for the families around the world whose loved ones have become political prisoners in Iran," Haley said Monday.

Iran's practice of detaining foreigners, including Americans, "is just another example of Iran's violations of international norms," she said.

The families of seven political prisoners being held in Iran wrote an open letter Monday to world leaders, rights organizations and media outlets asking for urgent action in the prisoners' release.

"We come from many countries, with different backgrounds and different perspectives, but we have banded together now to come to you as one voice. We shall remain quiet no longer," the families wrote.

The families said over 50 people who have some connection to a western power have been detained by Iran since 2007. "The evidence is conclusive, and we should call this what it is  hostage taking," the families wrote.

The families said they first met in September at a side event during the United Nations General Assembly and again a few weeks ago with the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran. They said the similarities between their loved ones' cases is "striking."

"Over several agonizing years, our loved ones' cases have each been treated individually. But while they are all unique and complicated cases, this is not an individual problem. It is a pattern  a pattern we call on world leaders to help end," they said.

Haley said "Iran invented reasons to throw these innocent people in jail and keeps them there with no end in sight and no fair judicial process for them to pursue."U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry said on Tuesday he would soon visit Qatar and Saudi Arabia, a trip expected to occur after this week's meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

"I'm headed to the Middle East later here to Qatar and then to the kingdom," Perry told the annual meeting of the National Petroleum Council, a group of more than 200 company executives and analysts that advises the Department of Energy.

Perry said he would make the trip during "interesting times," but did not give specific dates. It will be his first trip to Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, since the killing of columnist Jamal Khashoggi in October in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Top U.S. senators said on Tuesday they were more certain than ever after receiving a CIA briefing that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was culpable in Khashoggi's killing.

Saudi Arabia has said the prince had no prior knowledge of the killing, which has strained Saudi Arabia's ties with the West.

Qatar said this week it would leave OPEC to focus on gas production, in a swipe at Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of the group, which is trying to show unity in tackling an oil price slide.

Energy Department spokeswoman Shaylyn Hynes said Perry would "engage with his energy counterparts in the region." Perry and Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al Falih are alumni of Texas A&M University and longtime friends.

President Donald Trump, who has stood by the crown prince, has urged Saudi Arabia to keep oil output high after Washington left an international agreement on Iran's nuclear program in May. The Trump administration reapplied sanctions on Iran's oil exports in November, which led some analysts to worry crude prices would rise.

But global economic weakness and fears of an oil glut as U.S. production rises have pushed crude oil prices down in recent weeks.

OPEC and its allies are working toward a deal this week to reduce oil output by at least 1.3 million barrels per day.

Russia, which has worked with OPEC recently on production agreements, has been the main stumbling block to a deal on a major cut. OPEC will meet on Thursday in Vienna, followed by talks with allies such as Russia on Friday.Washington's special envoy tasked with finding a negotiated end to Afghanistan's bloody 17-year-old war met Tuesday with Pakistani officials, and a Taliban official said four members from the group's political office in the Middle Eastern state of Qatar were also in the Pakistani capital.

But the visit by the Taliban leaders, which included a former Taliban ambassador and a former governor who is also on a United Nations sanctions list, is "private," the official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Pakistan routinely tells a grumbling Washington that its influence over the Taliban is exaggerated, yet in the past have exhibited sufficient sway over the insurgent movement to summon their leaders to Pakistan for quiet talks.

On this occasion, the Taliban official told the AP, the group's Qatar office sent Shaha-ud-din Dilawar, a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia; Zia-ur-Rahman Madani, former governor of Logar province who is on the U.N. sanctions list for providing funding for the Taliban; Suhail Shaheen, a former diplomat and Sala Hanafi.

There was no indication who the four might meet or how long they would stay in Pakistan but it was expected their visit would be a prelude to further discussions in Qatar when Zalmay Khalilzad visits later this month.

The resurgent Taliban, who ruled Afghanistan before U.S. forces invaded in October 2001, carry out near-daily attacks on Afghan army and police forces. They view the U.S.-backed government in Kabul as a dysfunctional Western puppet and have refused repeated offers to negotiate with it.

U.S. and NATO troops formally concluded their combat mission in Afghanistan in 2014, but still provide close support to Afghan forces and carry out counterterrorism operations. Some 15,000 American forces are currently serving in Afghanistan.

Since his appointment in September, U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has accelerated efforts to find an Afghan peace pact that would allow for the eventual withdrawal of the United States from its longest war, which has already cost Washington nearly $1 trillion.

Khalilzad will also travel to Afghanistan, Russia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Belgium, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in stepped-up efforts to find a peaceful end to the war.

In November, Khalilzad held three days of talks with the Taliban in Qatar, according to the Taliban. The United States has neither confirmed nor denied direct talks with the Taliban, a longstanding demand of the radical religious movement. Khalilzad, however, has said he has held talks with all Afghans, a sideways reference to include the Taliban.

On the eve of Khalilzad's visit to Pakistan, U.S. President Donald Trump a wrote a letter seeking Prime Minister Imrah Khan's his cooperation, even though he has been a harsh and often belligerent critic of Pakistan and even engaged in a twitter battle with Khan. Khan told reporters Monday that his government will do whatever was possible to ensure peace in Afghanistan.

The U.S. still has about 14,000 soldiers in Afghanistan, mostly in support and advisory roles, yet their mission continues to be deadly. Last week in eastern Afghanistan an improvised explosive device killed four U.S. troops, the deadliest attack against U.S. forces in Afghanistan since June 2017. The Taliban claimed responsibility.

Washington's own Congress-appointed watchdog says the Taliban control or hold sway in nearly 50 percent of the country.

Still, Khalilzad said earlier this month in Kabul that he held out hope that a peace agreement, which he referred to as a "roadmap for the future," was possible between the Taliban and an Afghan government appointed team. Khalilzad even suggested it could be in place ahead of Afghanistan's scheduled presidential elections on April 20.

The spokesman for Pakistan's powerful military, Gen. Asif Ghafoor, told a briefing of foreign journalists Tuesday that Pakistan's influence over the Taliban is overstated, yet he said Pakistan has repeatedly told the insurgent group to join the peace process.

He said the release of senior Taliban officials from Pakistani prisons, including a co-founder of the movement, Mullah Ghani Baradar, was part of the peace process. Prisoner releases were also long standing demands of the Taliban.

Ghafoor also cautioned against a hurried U.S. retreat from Afghanistan that leaves behind a vacuum, warning it would result in chaos. He said a peaceful Afghanistan was in the interest of Pakistan, saying Afghanistan is one of the few countries with which Pakistan has a trade surplus.

Ghafoor also said that until 2014 the Pakistan military, which has lost more soldiers than NATO and the United States combined fighting the anti-terror war, was focused on battling its own insurgents, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and ignored demands to widen the war to include Afghan insurgents, including the Haqqani network.

But after 2014, he said the Pakistan army launched its operation in the North Waziristan tribal area to rid the area of foreign insurgents, including Afghan Taliban and Uzbek insurgents, but when they fled across the border into Afghanistan the U.S. and Afghan forces failed to corral them.

Pakistan has begun construction on a 2,611-kilometer (1,622-mile) fence along its border with Afghanistan, a move that has infuriated Afghans, who still dispute the border known as the Durand line that separates Pakistan and Afghanistan.Conflicting White House messaging about a reported breakthrough on U.S.-Chinese trade disputes, coupled with relative silence from Beijing, left many American lawmakers unsure where, precisely, trade matters stand between the two economic giants.

For days, President Donald Trump has hailed agreements he says he reached with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, at the G-20 summit in Argentina, from a 90-day deferment of additional tariffs on each other's exports to a Chinese commitment to purchase U.S. agricultural products to a reduction of China's duties on American automobiles.

"I think it's a good step," North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis told VOA on Tuesday. "Now, what we need to see is formal acknowledgment. It'll be interesting to see if that's backed up by actions on the part of China."

Chinese officials have confirmed no details of a trade breakthrough and withheld public comment so far.

Meanwhile, Trump's top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, has clarified that there was an "assumption" China would eliminate auto tariffs, not a specific agreement. On Tuesday, both he and Trump suggested that the groundwork has been laid for a grand trade accord between Washington and Beijing, but that such a deal has yet to be reached.

"But if a fair deal is able to be made with China, one that does all of the many things we know must be finally done, I will happily sign. Let the negotiations begin," the president tweeted.

"This was a huge first step," Kudlow said. "I think we're going to make great progress."

On Capitol Hill, senators searching for concrete answers appeared perplexed.

"Obviously, we would want a pause [in tariff hikes], but it's not clear at this point," Michigan Democrat Debbie Stabenow said. "So, like much of what the president does, you have to wait and see."

"What did they [Trump and Xi] really agree to?" Virginia Democrat Tim Kaine asked. "We have not had the administration come brief us: 'Here's what we're doing. Here's what we're trying to accomplish.'"

Kaine added, "What we don't see yet from the administration is a plan. The whole trade war thing has had an ad hoc feel to it."

Senators from farming states welcomed the prospect of a major Chinese purchase of America's agricultural output. Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley told VOA many of his constituents would benefit.

"Soy bean farmers, for sure. Maybe corn, agriculture generally, because I heard that they [the Chinese] are immediately going to start buying agricultural products," he said. "I think it's good news from the standpoint that it seems like there is serious talk [between the U.S. and China]."

Asked whether Trump deserves credit for tackling thorny trade issues, Grassley nodded.

"Oh, heaven's yes! The United States for 70 years had taken the view that we could have very liberal trade [practices] with other countries because they had to build up their economies," the Iowa senator said. "Now, China's economy is suffering as a result of what Trump is doing. So, from the standpoint that they need stimulus for their economy, maybe they realize that they've made some mistakes on trade and how they've treated the United States."

Virginia Democrat Mark Warner said Trump has deployed a faulty strategy in pursuit of legitimate goals. He said "there's a growing recognition that China is playing an unfair game in terms of theft of intellectual property, in terms of forcing American companies to give up source codes in order to get into the Chinese market."

"There was a real opportunity to create a broad-based international coalition against China's unfair practices," he added, "but that opportunity was blown when, instead of zeroing in on China, this White House started calling Canada, Mexico, our European allies national security threats. So, I see no grand strategy here other than a one-off picking of fights."

No so, according to the economic adviser. "There was real chemistry between the two leaders [Trump and Xi], real chemistry," Kudlow said. "And as President Trump's tweets indicate, only they can get this done. I think that's correct."

Much work remains to be done, according to senators of both political parties.

"We've got a lot of things we need to work on in terms of intellectual property, technology transfer, barriers to agriculture," Tillis said.

For now, while some lawmakers express cautious optimism, others voiced skepticism.

"I wouldn't be surprised if Donald Trump, as is his style, was simply making things up [about a U.S.-China trade deal] to try to get a single day of good press stories," Warner said.The Pentagon's pick to be the next commander of U.S. Central Command said Tuesday that the high rate of Afghan security forces losses were not sustainable even as the fight against Taliban militants was at a stalemate.

"Their losses have been very high. They are fighting hard, but their losses are not going to be sustainable unless we correct this problem," Lieutenant General Kenneth McKenzie said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

The assessment comes as both Western-backed security forces and the Taliban have pushed to gain the momentum at the same time as efforts have stepped up to find a peaceful settlement to end the 17-year-long war in Afghanistan.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani last month said that since 2015 more than 28,000 members of the Afghan security forces had been killed.

McKenzie said that the United States would have to work with Afghan forces to improve how they recruit, train and carry out missions.

He added that Afghan forces were not currently capable of securing the mountainous South Asian country without help from the nearly 14,000 U.S. troops deployed there.

"If we left precipitously right now, I do not believe they would be able to successfully defend their country," McKenzie said.

He said he did not know how long it would take for Afghan forces to be self-sufficient and that Taliban fighters were estimated to currently number 60,000.

President Donald Trump wants to end the conflict between Afghan security forces and the Taliban, who are fighting to drive out international forces and re-establish their version of strict Islamic law after their 2001 ouster.

McKenzie said he was not aware of any plans to significantly change the U.S. military footprint in Afghanistan.

Recent attacks underscore the pressure on Afghanistan's overstretched security forces, suffering from their highest-ever level of casualties, estimates from the NATO-led "Resolute Support" mission show.

The Kabul government no longer releases exact casualty figures, but officials say at least 500 men are being killed each month and hundreds more wounded, a tally many consider low.

In November, dozens of elite commandos were among the casualties suffered by Afghan security forces as the Taliban claimed to have taken a district in Ghazni province.

U.S. commanders have said they expect the Taliban to step up military efforts to better their position while they maintain contacts with U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad aimed at opening peace negotiations.A U.S. Army sergeant described by former colleagues as a onetime "model soldier" was sentenced to 25 years in prison at a federal court in Hawaii on Tuesday after pleading guilty of providing material support to the Islamic State militant group.

Ikaika Erik Kang, 35, agreed to a plea deal in August on four counts of breaking anti-terrorism laws in which he accepted a proposed 25-year sentence. U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway accepted the terms of the plea deal at Tuesday morning's hearing, court records showed.

Kang had begun expressing support for Islamic State, which the United States deems a foreign terrorist organization, by early 2016, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Undercover agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation began meeting with Kang earlier this year, some of them posing as members of the militant group.

Kang gave them military gear and classified documents and agreed to teach them hand-to-hand combat in a video-recorded session, according to federal prosecutors.

Lawyers for Kang filed three letters of support in court that described him as a diligent but withdrawn soldier who struggled with his mental health.

Kang's older sister, Erika Takahashi, wrote that Kang grew up in a "very abusive household," adding that he "is a good person on the inside."

Two soldiers who worked with Kang in air-traffic control at Alabama's Fort Rucker military post used their letters to urge the judge to help Kang get counseling.

Thomas Maia, who was Kang's first supervisor at Fort Rucker, called Kang a "model soldier" but said he had worried about Kang's odd behavior. This included staring at a wall for hours on end, saying he was trying to listen to the sound of his blood running through his veins, Maia wrote.

Maia wrote that his efforts to secure a mental health evaluation for Kang were rebuffed.

"He didn't seek out ISIS on his own, he was approached and socially engineered by the FBI at the Army's request," Maia wrote, using an acronym to refer to the Islamic State. "If he would have been given adequate mental treatment back when I asked for it, none of this would have happened."

Federal prosecutors say Kang agreed to swear an oath of loyalty to Islamic State in a pseudo-ceremony organized by the undercover FBI agents. After the ceremony, Kang told the agents he was ready to take his rifle to downtown Honolulu and start shooting, whereupon he was arrested.The United States has warned Russia that it has 60 days to show that it is complying with the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, or the U.S. will quit the agreement.

Speaking at a NATO Foreign Ministers meeting in Brussels Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washingtons patience had run out.

It makes no sense for the United States to remain in a treaty that constrains our ability to respond to Russias violations. Russia has reversed the trajectory of diminishing nuclear risk in Europe, Pompeo told reporters.

He accused Russia of deploying "multiple battalions of the SSC-8 missiles"  land-based, intermediate-range Cruise missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Moscow has denied deploying such weapon systems.

The 1987 INF treaty, negotiated by then U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, eliminated all nuclear missiles with a range between 500 and 5,500 kilometers, reducing the ability to launch a nuclear strike at short notice.

NATO allies have voiced concern over the U.S. threat to withdraw, fearing a new arms race in Europe. However, NATO foreign ministers agreed to formally declare Russia in "material breach" of the treaty in a statement in support of the United States Tuesday.

The U.S. secretary of state delivered a pointed message to European allies, says Jonathan Eyal, international director at the Royal United Services Institute in London.

Instead of complaining all the time about the United States walking away from the treaty, the Europeans should spend a bit of time looking at why the United States is withdrawing from the treaty," he said.

WATCH: INF Treaty

No European state has contradicted the American position. That intelligence information indicates a Russian gross violation of that treaty. So I think the American argument would be, Let us get together and convey a strict message to Moscow that if it wants the treaty saved, it will have to make a concession and it will have to abide by the treaty,'  Eyal told VOA.

Meanwhile in a separate speech in Brussels Tuesday hosted by the German Marshall Fund of the United States, Pompeo dismissed claims that the United States was withdrawing from the international stage under President Donald Trumps "America First" policy.

In the finest traditions of our great democracy, we are rallying the noble nations to build a new liberal order that prevents war and achieves greater prosperity, Pompeo said.

He added that President Trump was reshaping the global system based on nation states, not multilateral institutions.

We are acting to preserve, protect, and advance an open, just, transparent and free world of sovereign states, Secretary of State Pompeo told the audience of diplomats and government officials.

He took aim at the European Union and said Britains decision to quit the bloc was evidence that supranational organizations were not working.

A spokesperson for the European Commission said Pompeo was "one of those people who come to Brussels and coin an opinion without knowing how our system works."Bich Ngoc loves Instagram food shots like any other self-respecting millennial, but not just for their photogenic allure: She gets on social media to check if certain cuisine is safe. Ngoc, 18, is among the growing number of Vietnamese who have become increasingly alarmed at the perils lurking in their rice bowls. She follows social media influencers, as well as reads comments on the review site Foody, when deciding whether to trust a particular restaurant, brand, or dish.

As I understand, our health is very important, she said. If I have a stomachache, a small one is OK but for a bad one, Id have to get treated. So it's better to prevent this than to get sick.

Food scandals are common in Vietnam, and businesses and consumers are looking for solutions as the scandals mount. Street vendors have been known to reuse cooking oil so many times it becomes toxic. Video clips have been posted showing a merchant dyeing vegetable greens to make them more colorful. And more recently, the mixing of battery chemicals with coffee and pepper led to five arrests in April.

Food Safety Problems are Widespread

Problems with food safety cost Vietnam $740 million in productivity and top the list of worries among the public, according to the World Bank. Cases of lost productivity range from employees who get sick and must stay home from work, to farmers who must throw out crops that go bad or chickens that die prematurely.

From romaine lettuce in California, to strawberries in Australia, no place is immune to food risks. But in Vietnam, the risks are seen as less of a fluke and more of a sadly common reality. Rare is the diner who has never experienced food poisoning in the country of 100 million people. And the poisonings can happen whether one is eating on a sidewalk stool, or at a five-star hotel.

Chain Stores vs. Open Markets

These concerns explain the changing face of Vietnams food and beverage sector. Eatery chains like Pho Hung noodles or Thai Express are multiplying. And there has been an explosion of convenience stores, with 7-Eleven entering the communist country in 2017 to compete with Americas Circle K, Japans Family Mart and Vietnams Coopmart.

Customers recognize the brands and believe, rightly or not, that it is safer to buy clams and okra packaged in plastic, in an air-conditioned shop, than at the open market.

Similarly the spread of full-scale grocery stores gives shoppers the assurance of consistency.

The issue is how to adapt to [customers] demands, said Le Thi Minh Trang, quality director at Auchan Vietnam supermarkets.

She said her company sources 90 percent of its inventory domestically, controlling quality by holding suppliers to certain standards. For example, some must have GAP, or Good Agricultural Practices, certification, and others are beholden to the companys list of prohibited items.

Other businesses trying to improve sanitation levels include C.P. Vietnam, known for farmed products like eggs and duck meat. It is focusing on traceability, so people can follow their purchase throughout the supply chain.

Misuse of Chemicals

There is also Phoenix, a large rice trading company, which is fighting the indiscriminate blanketing of rice fields with pesticides and herbicides. It is working with farmers to drain fields early so they dont need as much fungicide to kill mold.

A lot of agrichemicals are being used in Vietnam, Vivek Sharma, Phoenix vice president in Southeast Asia, said last week at a food safety conference in Ho Chi Minh City put on by the World Banks International Finance Corporation.

But there is also the potential for overkill, or unfortunate consequences of the push to make food safer. Just as businesses jumped on the organic label bandwagon in the United States, so are Vietnamese store fronts slapping organic or green and clean on their signs for the branding benefit, with no guarantee they are selling anything of the sort.

Open Air Markets still Strong

However, Vietnamese still buy 80 percent of their food from traditional markets, according to the World Bank.

That includes Nguyen Ngan, who sells snacks like fish balls and quail eggs from a box hitched to his motorbike. As a shopper he said he cant afford supermarkets, but also likes open-air markets because he can buy fresh products directly from farmers and fishermen.

I think the fish is of good quality, I eat it and dont have any problems, Ngan, 51, said.

But Vietnam hasnt reached the balance of, say, Thailand, where street food is affordable but considered relatively safe. So Vietnamese will look for clean options, especially as alternatives to what they consider cheap and unsafe imports from China. Consumer surveys show Vietnamese are increasingly willing to spend more money on safer food. According to the World Bank, this is the biggest concern for locals, even more important than issues like corruption or the cost of living.Female parliamentarians have called for a global network to combat issues including online abuse from the public, threats to their safety and discrimination by male colleagues.

A gathering of female members of parliament (MPs) from dozens of countries across the world highlighted shared challenges over gender equality in politics and urged a joint response, said a report on the conference published on Monday by British politician Harriet Harman.

"Women in parliament are pioneers," said Harman, a member of the opposition Labour party who is the longest-serving female MP in the British lower house of parliament, in a statement. "We have been elected to sit alongside men in our legislatures. But we are, as yet, not on equal terms."

Women make up less than a quarter of parliamentarians worldwide, according to data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), an independent organization promoting democracy.

The past year has seen women question why they remain under-represented in public life and senior business positions in a global debate over gender roles after the #MeToo movement spurred a wider debate over their position in society.

"Virtually all" taking part reported they had faced opposition to their participation in politics, including abuse online and threats in person, said the report on the first "Women MPs of the World Conference" in London last month.

Many said they had been "overtly discriminated against" by colleagues, including not being called on to speak and being blocked from taking roles on committees.

Some younger MPs also said they had been sexually harassed by older male parliamentarians, while women also said they had faced criticism over their appearance in a way that men did not.

Harman said there was support for the conference to be repeated annually in different parliaments around the world so female MPs can continue to support each other and share ideas.

The push for a global network and future conferences to combat discrimination in politics were backed by democracy organizations.

"Sexism and sexual harassment ... should not exist in politics, nor anywhere else," Silvana Koch-Mehrin, the founder of the Women Political Leaders Global Forum, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "We welcome every effort to combat such discriminatory practices."The World Bank will give equal weight to curbing emissions and helping poor countries deal with the "disastrous effects" of a warming world as it steps up investments to tackle climate change in the first half of the 2020s, it said on Monday.

The bank and its two sister organizations plan to double their investments in climate action to about $200 billion from 2021-2025, with a boost in support for efforts to adapt to higher temperatures, wilder weather and rising seas.

The latest figures on international climate funding for developing nations show barely a quarter has been going to adaptation, with the bulk backing clean energy adoption and more efficient energy use, aimed at cutting planet-warming emissions.

"We live in a new normal in which disasters are more severe and more frequent," World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva told the Thomson Reuters Foundation at U.N. climate talks in Poland.

"We have to prioritize adaptation everywhere, but especially in the most vulnerable parts of the world," she said, pointing to the Horn of Africa and the Sahel, coastal regions and small island states.

Of the $100 billion the World Bank plans to make available in the five years from mid-2020, half would go to adaptation measures, it said.

Those include building more robust homes, schools and infrastructure, preparing farmers for climate shifts, managing water wisely and protecting people's incomes through social safety nets, Georgieva added.

The World Bank said the money would also improve weather forecasts, and provide early warning and climate information services for 250 million people in 30 developing countries.

"Climate change is an existential threat to the world's poorest and most vulnerable. These new targets demonstrate how seriously we are taking this issue," World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said in a statement.

From 2014-2018, the World Bank spent nearly $21 billion on adaptation, which accounted for just over 40 percent of the climate benefits generated by the institution's funding overall.

Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the bank's pledge to use half its climate finance to find solutions to deal with changing weather patterns was "important."

"Climate change is already having a disastrous impact on people right around the world and we are nearing the point of no return," said Ban. "So we must take bold action to adapt to the reality of the threat facing us all."

A recently launched Global Commission on Adaptation, which Ban chairs with Georgieva and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, aims to put political muscle behind efforts to keep people safer in a hotter world.

The remaining $100 billion in promised World Bank Group funding will come from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which works with the private sector, and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, as well as private capital the group raises.

"There are literally trillions of dollars of opportunities for the private sector to invest in projects that will help save the planet," said IFC chief Philippe Le Houerou.

The IFC will identify opportunities, use tools to make investments less risky, and attract private-sector cash in areas including renewable energy, green buildings, clean transport in cities and urban waste management, he added.

Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine said her low-lying Pacific island state was struggling with fiercer storms and increasing seawater flooding that is contaminating fresh water with salt.

The new World Bank funds would "help to build resilience, make us safer, and improve lives," she said.

"Global action needs to accelerate before it is too late," she added.

The "Big Shift Global" coalition of aid agencies and climate justice campaigners said the World Bank Group's new commitment signaled that developing countries should receive far more support to tackle climate change.

But it overlooked "the desperate need to radically scale up financing for off-grid renewable energy" to help the poorest gain access to electricity, they added.While visiting Yemen two weeks ago, World Food Program Executive Director David Beasley met scores of skeletal children in an overcrowded hospital in the capital, Sana'a. He said the children he saw had a chance of survival. He also said he worried about the children he did not see, noting they had been sent home to die for lack of space to treat them.

Beasley said one child dies every 10 or 11 minutes in Yemen because of the humanitarian consequences of this brutal war. He said WFP could reach about 1 million of the estimated 2 million acutely malnourished children, but that there was no access to 1 million children living in mainly Houthi-controlled areas.

But Beasley said he hoped that conversations he and his team had with Houthi leaders during his visit would lead to a breakthrough, because if we do not reach those million, they will die. We anticipate  I think it is 400,000 would die in the next few months if we do not get immediate access to those children. It is that realistic. It is that stark. It is that horrible."

Beasley said the country's economy was at the point of collapse after more than three years of war. He said 12 million people were starving and that food prices were skyrocketing in a country that is forced to import most of what it eats.



What gives him a modicum of hope that this debilitating war will end, he said, is the utter mental, spiritual and physical exhaustion of all the warring parties.

"From the ones I have talked to, they are yearning for a solution, he said. And let us hope that these peace talks that start tomorrow or the day after will yield to a path forward to provide us with some hope for the children of this country."

Currently, the World Food Program spends $100 million to feed 8 million people a month in Yemen. Beasley said the number of severely food-insecure people was expected to rise to 12 million, pushing costs up to $160 million a month.* Before becoming president, George H.W. Bush already had an impressive resume of foreign policy experience having served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency, ambassador to the United Nations, envoy to China, and President Ronald Reagan's vice president.

* During his four years in office, Bush earned the respect of the many foreign leaders he had to deal with, including British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and French President Francois Mitterrand.

* One of Bush's major foreign policy achievements during his four years in office was to steer the United States and its allies through the collapse of the Soviet Union.

* Following the collapse of communism, Bush pushed for the reunification of Germany in 1990. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a statement Saturday that Bush's support for reunification was invaluable. "The German people had in him a true friend who recognized the significance of this historic hour and gave us his trust and support.''

* Bush's crowning foreign policy achievement as president was in organizing an unprecedented international military coalition that reversed Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait. The 1991 war lasted just 100 hours and was a major victory for the United States and its allies.

* While a military triumph, the invasion left Hussein in power, and set the stage for a second Iraq War when Bush's son, George W. Bush, invaded Iraq in 2003. Twenty-seven years after the first war with Iraq, U.S. forces are still in the country.

* Other notable foreign policy actions Bush took included ordering an attack on Panama in 1989 to overthrow strongman Manuel Noriega.

* Elsewhere in Latin American, Bush ended U.S. support for the contra guerrillas in Nicaragua. In exchange for economic aid, the leftist Sandinista government agreed to free elections, and the following year were voted out of power.

* Bush was president when China cracked down on demonstrators in Tiananmen Square in June 1989. Bush took a measured response  one that his critics said did not go far enough  in suspending military sales with China, but sending one of his top advisers to Beijing to discuss the situation with Chinese leaders.

* Bush's administration also negotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, a measure that was ratified by the Senate in President Bill Clinton's first term.Zimbabwes fighters of the liberation struggle of the 1960s have called for a constitutional amendment for raising the presidential age limit from 40 to 52 years.

This move was immediately rebuffed by Zimbabwes main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change led by Nelson Chamisa, which said the amendment is targeted at the 40 year-old, who contested this years disputed presidential election won by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Victor Matemadanda, secretary of the Zimbabwe National War Veterans Association, told journalists in Harare that all presidential candidates should be mature enough to fully grasp the gravity of what it means to run a country.

But the MDC said Matemadandas remarks are targeted at blocking Chamisa from contesting the next presidential election.

Section 91 of the countrys constitution stipulates that a person qualifies for election as president or vice-president if he or she is a Zimbabwean citizen by birth or descent; has attained the age of forty years; is ordinarily resident in Zimbabwe; and is registered as a voter.I cant decide if this weeks column will ruin Matt Nelsens career or help make it.

The fact is, the boy  along with his writing partner, Marty Schousboe  may be a comic genius. Unfortunately, he and his cohort (including producer Karla Rodriguez) are also comic pragmatists. Or, is that fortunate? Its hard to say.

Favors and frugality have resulted in a shoestring film that packs a punch every bit as hard as an indie made for 50 times the amount. Thats amazing, because it exists, right? Yes. Problem is, its troubling for the same reason.

Directed by Nelsen, shot and edited by Schousboe, scored courtesy of Don Giovanni Records, and starring a Whos Who of the New York improv community, including Carmen Christopher, Ana Fabrega, Jessica Frey, Josh Greenwood, Wes Haney, Eleanore Pienta, Lorelei Ramirez, John Reynolds, Gary Richardson, and Nelsen himself, A Maine Movie is a small miracle.

The film is a powerfully funny, inspired, and incredibly simple ensemble comedy that begins with Gary Richardson proposing to Jessica Frey, whos really gotta poop, and ends quietly on a beach, with the relics of a larger friend group whove just spent one very eventful and totally believable 24 hours together at an Airbnb. Sounds  like a student film sorta? No, no. Its a real movie, a marvel of millennial mumblecore and airtight retroscripting. And it was shot in seven days on the back of a sparkling group effort. This cast and crew are clearly a family so precisely dialed into each others wants, needs, and sensibilities that they were able to pull off the impossible.

Unlike countless horror flicks that are made for under $250K and go on to earn millions, or even tens or hundreds of millions of dollars, comedy is really tough to sell internationally because making someone laugh relies on a more subjective response than horrifying them. This means that the opportunities for a group like Nelsens to hit it big with an indie comedy are slimmer than, say, the makers of Paranormal Activity. And that means that there will be fewer outlets for licensing and distribution. And that means that there may be the same level of financial support (or even less) for Nelsen and his crew the next time they want to make a movie, even though they created something great. Perhaps because they did. Thats the really shitty part. They pulled it off once, so cant they do it again? For $75K? Probably, but shouldnt they be rewarded for their success?

Yes, of course they should. Objectively.

They wont be unless the public gives A Maine Movie the cult-classic status it deserves.

Lets get to work.

Luke is executive producer at Big Breakfast and a watcher of many web videos. Send him yours @LKellyClyne.The President of Ecuador spoke with Paul Manafort about his desire to remove Julian Assange from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, a Manafort spokesperson confirmed Monday.

"When Mr. Manafort met with President Moreno of Ecuador to discuss the China Development Fund, the president raised with Mr. Manafort his desire to remove Julian Assange from Ecuador's embassy," Jason Maloni, a Manafort spokesman, told CNN in a statement.

Continents and regions Eastern Europe Ecuador Embassies and consulates Europe Government and public administration Government bodies and offices Government departments and authorities International relations International relations and national security Investigations Julian Assange Latin America Lenin Moreno Misc people Paul Manafort Political Figures - Intl Political Figures - US Politics Russia Russia meddling investigation South America State departments and diplomatic services The Americas Donald Trump Non-profit and NGO organizations WikiLeaks

"Mr. Manafort listened but made no promises as this was ancillary to the purpose of the meeting," Maloni's statement added. "There was no mention of Russia at the meeting."

The New York Times was first to report that President Lenin Moreno and his aides had expressed their desire to have Assange leave the embassy in at least two meetings with Manafort in exchange for concessions from the US like debt relief, citing three people familiar with the talks. Assange has been holed up at the Ecuadorian embassy, since 2012.

At the meetings, which took place in mid-May 2017 in Ecuador, Manafort reportedly suggested he could help broker a deal that would include the handover of Assange to the United States, the sources tell the Times.

Ultimately, there was no deal made with Ecuador, the Times reports. There is no evidence Manafort was working with President Donald Trump or other administration officials, according to the Times.

Manafort flew to Ecuador primarily to see if he could potentially land a large commission by brokering a deal where China would invest in Ecuador's power system, the Times reports. Manafort was facing mounting debt and needed to pay off legal bills, according to the Times.

CNN's Carl Bernstein reported that last week special counsel Robert Mueller's team has been investigating a meeting between Manafort and Moreno in Quito in 2017 and has asked if WikiLeaks or Assange was discussed in the meeting, according to a source with personal knowledge of the matter.

Mueller's office is considering bringing more criminal charges against Manafort, after it accused the former Trump campaign chairman of violating his plea deal to cooperate with prosecutors. Manafort pleaded guilty earlier this year to two charges of conspiracy and witness tampering, while publicly admitting he committed several financial and lobbying crimes. He separately was found guilty by a jury in Virginia of eight financial fraud charges related to his Ukrainian lobbying proceeds.

There is no evidence Manafort's meetings with Moreno were motivated by WikiLeaks' involvement in aiding the Russian effort to help Trump win the 2016 presidential election, according to the Times.UPDATE: The lockdown was lifted around 12:30 p.m.

---

According to the Lauderdale County Sheriff's Office, Brooks High School in Killen was placed on soft lockdown Tuesday around 7:15 a.m. when school started this morning.

The sheriff's office said it was notified of a social media threat for BHS but determined it was a retweet from February referring to a school in New Mexico. It was determined there was not a credible threat for Brooks High School.

According to the Lauderdale County Board of Education, the soft lockdown is still in effect for the school, which means students can still move around as normal inside the building.The Thrive Alabama healthcare clinic had an open house Monday night to celebrate its expansion to primary healthcare.

The Director of Development and Marketing, Mark Moore, said the clinic started serving the general population, including those without insurance, just a couple of months ago on October 1st. He said they are are already seeing the friends and family of their initial HIV patients.

Moore said the expansion has been roughly two years in the making, and the clinic plans to grow even more.

"We want to be a one stop shop for people. Once we're complete with our growth we'll be able to offer healthcare, dental, vision and behavioral healthcare all under one roof," Moore said.

Right now Thrive is based out of a facility on St. Claire Avenue in downtown Huntsville, but Moore said they are already raising money to move into a larger facility. Thrive also has clinics in Florence and Albertville.Athens Police are on the hunt for two men who they say terrorized an apartment complex.

Police say nine shots were reportedly fired outside the complex on Cloverleaf Drive after a rash of armed robberies.

WAAY 31 talked with some of the victims who were terrified for their lives.

The most traumatic experience ever to see your window kicked and to know somebody was right there," said one woman who was too afraid to be identified on camera.

She said she got home Sunday night and realized someone was trying to break in to her apartment while her sister and 7-year-old nephew were inside.

If we hadnt have pulled up, they might have successfully gotten in that back door," she said.

Her apartment wasnt the only one hit. Police say the armed robbers held one woman at gunpoint and stole her TV.

Another neighbor, who was also too scared to be identified said he wasnt home, but his TV was stolen, too.

At first, I was worried about everything they took, but honestly, Im just glad that I wasnt there because I would have to go through therapy after something like that," he said.

He and his neighbors agreed, its not so much about the items taken, but that multiple shots were fired afterwards.

They robbed our peace of mind," one victim said.

But the victims say they still dont understand the motive.

I dont have an enemy in this world. They dont have enemies. We dont cause problems. We stay to ourselves.

The neighbors said theyre just glad the outcome wasnt worse.

It was God. We just dodged a big bullet," one victim said. "God had his whole hand on this whole apartment building," another victim added.

All three victims said the incident makes them want to move, but theyve got a message for those who stay.

I was one of those people who thought that something like this would never happen to me; so get you some cameras, get you a surveillance systemwhatever youve got to dobecause you never know when youll be next."

Workers at the Wastewater Treatment Plant in Athens told police some of the bullets hit their building, but police say they found no evidence of that. They also found no evidence that anyone was wounded by bullets.

Police say both men involved were dressed in all black and wearing ski masks. One was described as about six feet tall and the other one was around 5'8".

If you have any information about this incident, you're asked to call the Athens Police Department.During the winter of 1911, the obviously German town of Mitterfirmiansreut was in dire religious straits. Because of the snow, people couldn't travel to the nearby town to worship at the only church in the area. So in order to not be fair-weather friends with the Lord, they asked the German State Church for funds to build their own church ... and were rudely refused. But instead of sulking, the people of Mitterfirmiansreut used their ingenuity and made do with what they had at hand -- which happened to be a metric ton of snow.

Das Schneekirche, or the Snow Church, was 46 feet long, 23 feet wide, and 13 feet high. More impressively, it wasn't just for show, or something Mitterfirmiansreut (it really does get more fun the more times you say it) could use to raise the middle finger to their stingy higher-ups. The Schneekirche started conducting weekly services on March 28, 1911 and did so for several months until attendance dropped heavily, on account of the structure melting. Fortunately, by then the protest had gone the 1910s equivalent of viral, and the village received enough donations to build a house of the Lord out of much more permanent stone.

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But fast-forward a whole century, and in 2011, people decided to revive the old Mitterfirmiansreutian spirit and build a new 21st-century Snow Church. The modern Schneekirche was formed out of blocks of ice coated with snow, and was affectionately referred to as "God's Igloo" by the press.Rome's Christmas markets, both traditional and alternative, create a festive atmosphere in the capital each December. Here is a selection of the city's best markets offering original present ideas during the Christmas 2019 season.

Mercato Monti Christmas Market

14-29 Dec. This trendy urban market in Monti is bigger and better than ever before, with a large selection of vintage-style clothing, accessories, collectibles, books and illustrations, combining affordability and quality with an exclusively Made in Italy brand. Free entry. 10.00-20.00. The dates are 14-15 Dec, 21-24 Dec, 28-29 Dec. Via Leonina 46 (Metro B Cavour), for info see . This trendy urban market in Monti is bigger and better than ever before, with a large selection of vintage-style clothing, accessories, collectibles, books and illustrations, combining affordability and quality with an exclusively Made in Italy brand. Free entry. 10.00-20.00. The dates are 14-15 Dec, 21-24 Dec, 28-29 Dec. Via Leonina 46 (Metro B Cavour), for info see Facebook page

Ragusa Off: La Fabbrica degli Elfi

6 Dec-6 Jan. 200 stands offering decorative handcrafted objects and fashion items, many of them made using sustainable materials, at the . 200 stands offering decorative handcrafted objects and fashion items, many of them made using sustainable materials, at the Ragusa Off venue . The market includes kids' events and Santa Claus House. For details see website . Ragusa Off, Piazza Ragusa.

Natale all'Auditorium

8 Dec-6 Jan. In addition to its programme of live music, including the annual . In addition to its programme of live music, including the annual Roma Gospel Festival , the Auditorium Parco della Musica hosts a Christmas village with a market and Santa Claus house as well as its popular ice-skating rink. For details see website

Piazza Mazzini Christmas market

1-27 Dec. The Christmas version of the twice-monthly market of collectibles takes place at the usual Piazza Mazzini venue in the heart of the Prati district. The market offers Christmas decorations and antique gifts and is open daily from 08.00-20.00.

Mercatino Giapponese: The Christmas City

14-15 Dec. With 200 stalls, the Christmas version of the Mercatino Giapponese will be held at the PratiBus District over the weekend of 14-15 December. Tickets, valid all weekend, cost 4, and kids go free. Pet friendly. For details see . With 200 stalls, the Christmas version of the Mercatino Giapponese will be held at the PratiBus District over the weekend of 14-15 December. Tickets, valid all weekend, cost 4, and kids go free. Pet friendly. For details see Facebook page . Viale Angelico 52.

Urban Bazar - Christmas Edition

14-15 Dec. A Christmas-themed edition of Urban Bazar takes place at MAXXI, offering hand-designed clothes, jewellery and design items, with plenty of festive fare. Open for free 11.00-20.00 each day. Via Guido Reni 4A.Missing branches from Rome's Netflix-sponsored tree will be re-attached.

Rome's Christmas tree, sponsored by Netflix, has got off to an inauspicious start, already earning the nickname 'Spezzacchio' thanks to its "broken" or "split" state.

The 20-m high fir is missing a large part of its central section after branches were cut off to assist its transit from Varese in northern Italy. However the company behind its installation, IGP Decaux, said the branches had been sawn off deliberately, insisting that they would be stuck back on in time for the lighting-up ceremony with Rome's mayor Virginia Raggi on 8 December.

The tree was quickly christened #Spezzacchio on social media, following last year's "mangy" Spelacchio fiasco, and led to a flurry of ironic tweets from disgruntled Romans such as "Cosa c'e di piu triste di un albero senza foglie? Semplice, un albero senza rami" (What's worse than a tree without leaves? Simple, a tree without branches).

Once its branches are re-attached, the tree will be decorated with 60,000 LED lights and 500 baubles, at a total cost to Netflix of 376,000.

The Vatican's Christmas tree, a 23m-high fir from Italy's northern Friuli region, will be illuminated in St Peter's Square on 7 December.

Photo taken by Wanted in Rome at 09.00 on 4 December 2018.It is unclear how much of the information  even if it is entered into the court record  may be released to the public. Many of the documents being sought by the plaintiffs are held by third-party hotel operators. Attorneys for Trump have also signaled that they plan to try to block the subpoenas by continuing to fight in court.President Xi and I want this deal to happen, and it probably will, Trump wrote. But if not remember, I am a Tariff Man. When people or countries come in to raid the great wealth of our Nation, I want them to pay for the privilege of doing so. It will always be the best way to max out our economic power.If he submits it to Congress and that very same day says, In 60 days Im pulling out of NAFTA, and you have no agreement that lowers tariffs, and go back to what the law was before 1993, it seems to me that its going to force Congress to act, even if you disagree with parts of it, Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) said Monday on the radio show Adams on Agriculture.